Sailor Moon:
                            Seven Knights
                            *************
                        Part 3:  "Re Genesis"


                        Written by Strike Fiss
                        Ninja Crowbotics, 1999











                               Prologue
	






	Dave would have never thought he would be saying this to himself, 
but they were fools.  
	All of them.  Even when he looked at William, though the boy 
tried to humour his theory, Dave could see the same aimless joy in that 
he saw in the others. 
	
	The Universe was intact.

	With the exception of three Keys being destroyed, nothing else 
had been changed.  The power re-assembled itself and drifted to the 
vast reaches of space.  There was a good chance that even if some far-
distant mage from a race in the future managed to form some of that 
power into another Key, the other two would never be resurrected.  
Armageddon was now impossible.  
	And the Armageddon that the Universe just suffered didn't seem to 
be all that bad.  Somehow, the balance had been saved.  Records on both 
parties of the Omega Web showed identical histories, and perfect time 
continuation.  Nothing had changed.  
	That afternoon, the Web had assembled their collective 
intelligence and came up with the all too easy conclusion that 
everything was perfectly fine.  Good and Bad.  Right and Wrong. Coke 
and Pepsi.  Everything was still in balance, and nothing was out of the 
ordinary.  

	It was too good to be true.

	So Dave had ordered the immediate halt on all other projects 
until the next Point Calculator could be constructed.  They were flying 
blind in a reality that just suffered a very close call with mortality.  
The Calculator would at least give Dave some piece of mind that they 
had windshield wipers.  
	That order, of course, created an uproar in the Web's ranks.  
Dropping everything was something that they weren't used to.  Dave 
mused that maybe they had been so vocal on the subject because it would 
mean a few of the older members, and the lower-ranking members, would 
actually have to do some hard work for once.  
	Fuck them.  Dave knew he was right.  If he didn't get the Omega 
Web Employee of the Year vote because of this, then it wouldn't be any 
difference to him.  
	
	He looked out over the horizon, standing on the top of the Empire 
State Building.  The slightly cleaner, but always smoggy New York air 
clung to the Earth below.  
	Just like always.
	
	Bullshit, he told himself.  

	Something had changed.  

	They just hadn't found it yet. 









	





                              Chapter 1










	Miharu ran at the red fire-hydrant, sword extended.  With little 
more than a flick of her wrists, the blade cleaved through the top 
half, causing water to spurt up in the frozen air. 
	"MERCURY!  ICE BUBBLES!  FREEZE!" Ami yelled, directing a flow of 
ice crystals at the water, grabbing it like a hand, then forcing it up 
and over to spray on the apartment building that had just caught fire 
on it's roof.  
	An ambulance just swerved around the corner, slamming into 
another parked car in it's hurry.  It recovered from the skid finally, 
though, and roared down the street towards them.  Chris and Andrea both 
came running out of the building.  Hooze had a baby under each arms 
while Fiss carried an elderly man on his back.
	"There's one more in there!  Ami!  We need you!" Andrea dropped 
the kids off gently on the ground and took off with Sailor Mercury back 
into the building.  
	Chris was coughing almost as much as the old man was, and 
gratefully accepted the medic's complimentary oxygen mask to regain his 
breath as they attended to the family.
	"Dad...you should get back to the hotel." Miharu scolded, 
sheathing her sword.  "You didn't recover from that vortex thing yet."
	"I'm fine." He hacked.  "Just need a break."
	The truth is he did feel a whole lot better than that morning.  
The few hours of sleep had been nice, and knowing that the entire 
universe wasn't turned into a fiery hell put his mind at ease.  It had 
just been some riots that started the blazes.  
	Someone had told the media that Armageddon was coming, and people 
panicked.  Tokyo was in a state of shut-down as the police tried to 
keep it under control.  Sailor Moon and the others had been forced to 
return to help, but Mars and Mercury stayed behind to help with 
Edmonton and the surrounding areas.  It was current public belief that 
Sailor Scouts were going to cause the End Of The World, and had to be 
killed.
	Though that may have been true two days ago, the End Of The World 
was over and done with.  A few more cities had begun to rally, but even 
that was stopping.  Andrea proved to be an excellent Public Relations 
manager, explaining to the live broadcast that the danger was over, the 
Scouts were helping to stop the fires and riots, and that whoever 
started the rumors should bite her.  
	The fires had been confined, and were the only real problem 
remaining.  Melting snow managed to keep everything from spreading too 
fast, and between the Senshi and the fire departments, it was almost 
over.  
	But there had been a death-toll.  Rather high, even for this kind 
of disaster.  Most of it had been in Tokyo, but at least a hundred 
thousand people were dead or missing in rubble.  In less than three 
days, too. 
	Their first week as political entities, and they weren't doing so 
well.  
	Andrea and Ami emerged from the building just as a balcony fell 
down, blocking the entrance.  The gathered tenants all gasped and a few 
broke out in tears.  "It was too late..." Hooze whispered, sitting on 
the snow next to Chris, accepting his offer of mask-usage.  
	Ami re-doubled her efforts to direct the spraying hydrant into 
the building, and in a few minutes, only a light smoke was rising from 
the burnt roof.  Her entire body sagged, relaxing for the first time 
that day.
	"You know, in all this confusion, I forgot to ask..." Miharu sat 
down with the three soot-smudged Senshi and breathed a sigh of relief.  
"Anyone got marshmallows?" she smiled.
	They all groaned at the lame joke, until Chris pulled out a small 
packet of marshmallows from his tuxedo vest and tossed it over to his 
daughter.  They all looked up at him.  He shrugged.  "I never leave the 
house without them."
	


	



	A few blocks away, the last of the big fires was raging out of 
control.  "This isn't working." Maury grumbled, arms crossed.  
	Four fire-trucks had joined the fight to try and put out this 
multi-building blaze, but it had already spread to three older, run-
down shops, adding to the problem.  He and Rei had been helping to try 
and contain the blaze by carrying hoses and other equipment back and 
forth from truck to truck.
	"Of course it's not working." Rei sighed, brushing the back of 
her hand on her brow to move a stray hair away from her face.  The snow 
on the ground did little to keep everyone cool.  "The only help I can 
give is my knowledge of fire.  And that blaze is not slowing down 
anytime soon."
	The main building in the middle had been evacuated, but was a 
tall, rickety old residential project.  Maury sighed.  "The problem is 
that it isn't burning clean enough.  Fire is still licking the other 
buildings." A smile lit up his face.  "Wait a minute..."
	Rei saw the expression on his face.  "You have a plan?"
	Maury nodded.  "Come on, you can help too."
	They walked past the line of fire-fighters despite their safety 
advice to the contrary.  "What are you DOING?" the chief ran up to 
them.
	Maury turned, and gave the man his best 'I'm in charge here!' 
look.  "Turn off the hoses!  You're going to have a few minutes to re-
pressurize the trucks back to full."
	"What?  Turn OFF the hoses?  That blaze is still at top speed!  
ARE YOU MAD, MAN?" he bellowed.
	"YES!" Maury cackled back.  "Not crazy...but MAD!  Now do what I 
say before I get crazy too!"
	Reluctantly, the chief turned to his men, circling hand in the 
air as a signal to cut the flow and re-charge the fire-truck's 
pressurized water tanks from the hydrants.  A few men looked at him 
like he was crazy, but they followed orders.  
	"Maury, I hate to say it, but that's probably not going to help 
putting out the fire." Rei sighed as the water stopped and the blaze 
roared back to full strength.  
	"Just help." Maury smiled.  He raised his arms, spreading the 
front of his black trenchcoat open.  "SOL FLARE!!!!!"  His body lit up 
with fire and shot out to slam into the side of the building.  The fire 
inside gathered strength.
	Rei shrugged.  "MARS FIRESTORM IGNITE!!!!"  Her gloves turned a 
bright red and yellow, then shot out a stream of liquid fire, adding to 
the blaze.  
	"Keep it coming!" Maury told her.  "Don't stop till I say!"

	Everyone watched in horror as the residential building turned 
into a pillar of fire that shot up into the sky.  It looked like Hell 
on Earth.  Anything that hadn't already been lit on fire in that 
structure was now nearly vaporized.  The fire trucks pulled back 
desperately once the men saw the tires begin to melt from the sudden 
temperature increase.  
	That's when they noticed that the central fire was sucking 
everything up into itself.  Loose wood and cardboard were sucked into 
the fire.  Oxygen whisked away from the fringe blazes, putting them out 
in less than a few seconds.  
	Finally, after a good minute of intense solar heat and blazing 
fire, the entire building collapsed like a pile of matchsticks.  Not 
much more than a frame left.  Maury cut off his power, returning to a 
smoking black color, instead of the human torch.  
	Rei took the cue and stopped a second later.  The fire dissipated 
with no more fuel to burn, leaving only a small crackling mess and half 
a dozen smoking buildings around it.  
	The fire trucks zoomed in to secure what was left of the fire.  
Amazed, the fire chief turned to Maury and gave him a giant hug, nearly 
crushing the younger man.  "That was AMAZING!" he said, ecstatic.  
"Thank you thank you thank you!" he shook Maury vigorously.  
	Mo finally managed to pry himself free and gave him a dizzy 
smile.  "Don't thank me, sir..." Maury turned to an invisible camera-
angle.  "Thank the Discovery Channel and their informative program 
series on forest fires!" he raised his thumb and winked in salute.
	Rei eyes rolled back.  "Yeah."
	As they walked away from the cheering crowds, Maury turned to 
her.  "Marshmallows?" he reached into his coat and produced a 
smoldering gooey pile of plastic and sugar.
	Rei cringed.  "No thanks..."
	Maury sighed.  "Shit.  I forgot to take them out before I did 
that Sol Flare." He shook his head.  "You know...I've lost more drivers 
licenses and bank cards that way..." he pried something green and white 
off of a chunk of marshmallow.  "Dammit!  There's another one!" he 
shrugged, licking it.  "Though, at least they make the bank cards taste 
good."
	












	

                                 Chapter 2









	Dave stormed through the Omega Web.  William and Sonia struggled 
to keep up behind the twin back flaps of his lab coat.  "Why didn't you 
TELL me Pain was still in the Web?" he demanded.
	"It took a few hours to scan the training ground, Dave..." Will 
explained.  "Not to mention all the anti-protons that were floating 
around."  He fell silent when he remembered that it was he who did most 
of the shooting.  
	"It's going to take three weeks, Dave." Sonia sighed.  "That's 
just to forge the crystal.  And we need at least another week to 
generate enough compressed plasma for another star."
	"I don't care." Dave replied.  "Everyone who isn't on the Point 
Calculator is scanning for something out of the ordinary.  No 
exceptions."
	"What about the riots?" Will said.  "At least three more..."
	"The Senshi are doing just fine." Dave interrupted.  "Now, what 
about this woman?"
	"We don't know much about her, actually.  Turns out she was off 
planet ten years before the ice.  She was an astronaut, actually.  One 
of NASA's hush-hush projects." William sighed.  "We didn't have any 
operatives in NASA at that time, though."
	"Mm." Dave nodded.  "What about the fuzz?"
	"Fuzz, sir?" Sonia blinked.
	"The cop." He smiled.  "You know.  Da fuzz.  Piggy piggy.  Po-po.  
Men In Blue.  Donut eaters."
	"Oh." William sighed.  "She died.  I think she figured out a way 
to destroy both her and Pain's key.  Kind of a loop-hole in the whole 
Justice idea, I suppose." He paused.  "We were waiting for your orders 
on what to do with the body."
	"Tell Jessie in New York to arrange something so it doesn't look 
suspicious." He sighed.  "But full honors.  The whole-nine-yards 
funeral.  She definitely deserved it from what you're telling me.  
Chances are she saved the Universe."
	"That's another thing, Dave." Will said.  "Two of the keys were 
destroyed, and the vortex was spinning out.  Even if Chris did get 
inside that thing before it collapsed, not all the power was 
centralized."
	"Armageddon happened.  I don't care what theory makes sense.  
I'll believe it when I get the Point Calculator up and running."  
Dave's look told William that the conversation was over.  
	They rounded the corner, taking them from Western China to 
Central Europe in a matter of foot-steps.  This brought them to a small 
series of rooms, all connected to the hall by a clear glass door.  Dave 
found the one that wasn't empty and looked inside.
	A young woman sat in the comfortable white chair with her knees 
up against her chest.  Though she probably knew she was a temporary 
prisoner of the Web, she looked to be ecstatic.  On her face was a 
genuine smile that could have lit up any dark room.  Her long, jet-
black hair was spread out over her shoulder, and she seemed to be 
enjoying the feeling of having it freshly washed.  Dave turned to the 
others.  "SHE had the Key of Pain?"
	They both smiled and nodded.  "It appears she's enjoying her new 
freedom from it." Will pointed out happily.  "At least Armageddon 
wasn't a total disaster."  
	"Perhaps." Dave sighed.  "Okay, I'm going to talk to her for a 
bit.  If she is clean, we may as well set her up with a new life.  It's 
the least we can do."

	Pain looked up in surprise when she saw a door appear and open on 
what had looked like a perfectly white, smooth wall.  She couldn't help 
but giggle.  "That's a neat trick..."
	"Well, we're very good at stuff like that." Dave said with a 
smile.  He walked over to a point just ahead of her, then pressed a 
button on his watch.  An identical white leather chair rose from the 
floor and he sat down across from her.  "I'm Dave Reinquest." He 
paused.  "I'm afraid I don't know your name."
	"I'm afraid neither do I." She said playfully.  "I suppose I 
should get one."
	Dave crossed his fingers in front of his chest.  "As far as our 
records can tell...and let me assure you that they are extensive...you 
were some kind of astronaut for NASA back in nineteen eighty-four." He 
raised an eyebrow.  "Do you remember anything about that?"
	She nodded silently.  "I...well, that was a few years after I got 
my..." her eyes closed.  
	"It's okay..." Dave said.  "You're in no hurry to explain what 
happened.  If you want, I can transfer you to a nicer room and you can 
get some sleep."
	"Sleep?" Pain's eyes widened.  "Oh my goooood..." she sighed 
happily.  "That's right!  I can finally sleep now!"
	"You mean you couldn't before?"
	She shook her head.  "No...the Key made sure of that." Her eyes 
narrowed.  "Even trying to rest made my mind more open to the pain.  
Keeping awake was the only way to make it bearable.  Even after all 
those years with it in my body, it could still surprise me..." she 
sighed.  "Once in a while, anyway."
	Dave nodded sympathetically.  Even the mind-expanding seizures 
that each Omega Web member went through couldn't come close to what 
pure pain was like.  If the Key of Pain could indeed deliver that 
horrible amount of sensory overload, it would make anything any human 
had experienced feel like a tap to the shin.  
	This woman had lived with it, without respite, for over a 
millennium.  
	"What about you, Mr. Reinquest..." she sighed.  "Do you sleep?"
	"I do." He smiled.  "We don't have to as much as most people, but 
I usually try to sleep a few hours a week.  I guess I enjoy dreaming 
too much."
	The blissful smile returned to her face.  "That's what this all 
seems like to me.  A dream." She sighed.  "I'm so scared I'm going to 
wake up and it will come back."
	"Sometimes it feels like that." Dave sighed.  "I'm still worried 
about Armageddon, and what it might have done to our reality."  He 
shook his head.  "But that doesn't matter until it happens.  If this is 
a dream, you will wake up, and have something nice to hold on to."
	"Mmm.  I guess." She smiled.  "It's kinda weird.  I was looking 
forward to Armageddon so badly.  It would have meant an end to my 
suffering." She shrugged.  "I never thought that it could have this new 
start."  A tear came to her eye.  "Sara...she sacrificed herself to 
save me."
	"If you don't mind..." Dave said "I'd like to hear more about 
that.  It will help me figure out what's going on."
	She nodded.  "Of course." She rubbed the palm of her hand against 
her eye, drying her tear.  "Anything if it means I can stay in this 
pleasant dream."
	Dave stood and the chair beneath hum sunk back into the floor.  
"For now, though, you will be a guest of the Omega Web.  I expect you 
to at least get a good night's sleep before you so saving the world."
	"Aye aye sir." She yawned.  
	
	Sonia smiled as Dave exited the room.  "I'll set up a room on the 
guest level."
	"Good." Dave nodded.  "Oh, and post a guard outside her room." He 
grinned.  "Someone who doesn't volunteer.  I don't want anyone slacking 
off thinking they have an easy time."
	"A guard, Dave?" William raised an eyebrow.  "You've been 
watching X-Files again?"
	"Just in case." He replied.  "She probably knows more about the 
end of the universe than we do.  I don't need her accidentally stepping 
into our Bio-Lab and vaporizing off half her skin."















                             Chapter 3





	"Fire officials across the city are hailing the Scouts help as a 
life-saving effort.  Our own resident Sailor Scouts, Prince Destiny, 
Sailor Hooze, and Strike Fiss, along with help of local authorities put 
out over two dozen blazes, some as big as a city block."
	Camera angles of fire-licked roof-tops and people running for 
cover were next as the local news-station's helicopter did flybys.  
Chris smiled.  "Well, at least they didn't say 'Strike Fish' like last 
time."
	Rei chuckled.  "The anchor-woman was a rookie.  I'm sure her 
directors chewed her out enough about that."
	Andrea pointed excitedly to the TV as she and Maury were seen 
making faces behind the woman reporting.  "RIGHT ON!" she laughed.
	"Ah, NOW, we're famous." Maury smiled.  "You aren't anyone till 
you're on the news." He said as his image on the screen began to 
pretend to bite the neck of the reporter.
	"This came after the apparent apocalypse so many were fearing had 
been stopped." The reporter continued.  "Rumors are still flying to 
what happened earlier on today, but it appears the danger has been 
averted.  We managed to get a clip from Sailor Hooze's press conference 
earlier today."
	The screen changed to the side of another road, where Andrea was 
standing up next to a microphone.  "...managed to get the situation 
under control with no adverse side-effects happening to the world." She 
said.  "It's very safe to say that the danger is over.  If all you 
crazy people who think we can't handle a little thing like Armageddon 
would calm down a little, I'm sure your fears will be put to rest." She 
cleared her throat.  "Otherwise, bite me."
	"That spirited speech," the woman smiled "managed to get most of 
the hysteria under control.  No new riots have broken out since, and 
police are on alert for the rest of the day to make sure there will be 
no new problems."
	"In other news, Bill Gates was convicted of two accounts of 
manslaughter today..."
	Chris shut it off.  "Man, I'm sick of hearing about Bill Gates." 
He turned to the rest of them.  "Anyone want to watch Pizza Cats?"
	Maury smiled.  "Maybe it was your innate dislike of Microsoft 
that made Armageddon turn him into a triple-homicide suspect."
	"That's not funny." Chris replied, but after a moment added: "But 
then why aren't the Spice Girls gone?"
	Everyone looked over to him.  Andrea raised an eyebrow.  "Spice 
what??"
	Chris' eyes widened.  
	They all smiled.  "Gotcha."
	"Not funny." He replied again.  "You know what a big deal this 
all is.  I don't like not knowing what the hell I did to our universe."
	"Well," Maury sighed "the taps don't pour Jolt Cola yet...so 
maybe Serena was right and it didn't work."
	"Yeah.  Probably not." He nodded hopefully.  "Yeah...and maybe 
I'm a Chinese jet-pilot." He stood.  "I'm going for a bath.  That sand 
is nasty shit."
	Maury shook his head.  "Well, I'm going out for pizza.  See if I 
can get a discount for saving the city.  Demeter, you wanna come?  I'll 
pick you up a sheet of welding glass on the way."
	Demeter smiled eagerly.  "Sounds great."
	Chris flung Mo his keys.  "Don't crash, or you'll wish Armageddon 
vaporized you." He smiled.  
	"Okay, I'll keep it under nine-hundred and sixty." Maury 
promised.
	"No need to go THAT slow." Chris replied.  "Under a thousand will 
be fine."
	"Bye, ya' all." The two boys left the hotel room.  Chris walked 
over to the bathroom and shut the door, humming a little song.




	Finally, it was quiet.  After dinner, most of the group had gone 
off on their own little adventures of daily life.  Shopping or down at 
the hotel's swimming pool.  Rei was finally left with her thoughts and 
a wide-screen TV to test out. 
	She had just found a nice show on Discovery Channel when a knock 
on the door interrupted the narrator's speech about the mating cycle of 
sperm whales.  
	Ami came out of the next room, drying her hair from a shower.  
"What's up?"
	Rei shook her head.  "Nothing much.  They're just going to get 
some food." She mentioned absentmindedly as she changed the channel on 
the TV.
	"When are you coming back?" Ami asked suddenly.
	"Uh?" Rei blinked.
	"Well, I just wanted to know what to say to Serena and the gang." 
Ami explained as she folded her towel neatly and placed it on the 
couch.  "I'm catching a plane back to Japan in the morning.  We have a 
lot going on over there, and now that everything's settled here..."
	"I don't know." Rei sighed.  "What do you want me to say?  That 
I'm not staying here forever?"
	Ami nodded sadly.  "Rei, you're happy.  You have a family now.  
You have a life with them just like you had one with us and Grandpa.  I 
can understand your need to replace the parts that are gone but..." she 
stopped when she saw Rei's hurt expression.  "I just want you to know 
that we need you too."
	She nodded.  "I know..." Rei closed her eyes and swallowed back a 
lump in her throat.  "I'm not replacing you guys.  I'm just..." she 
looked up.  "I just need some time to live life here for a change.  I 
want to wait till this is all over and I can leave knowing I'm not 
deserting anyone.
	"Over in Tokyo, you guys hardly need me right now." Rei 
continued.  "But here, Chris needs me for the first time he's ever 
needed anyone in his life as much.  Miharu can't fill my place, and I'm 
sure needs the support just as much."
	Ami nodded, calculating each word.  In the end, though, she just 
stood and smiled.  "Okay.  Goodnight.  Hopefully, we'll see you soon."
	Rei smiled back and stood to hug her blue-haired counterpart.  
"Have a good flight, Ami."
	
	Rei was, again, left alone with her thoughts.  
	








	The city of Edmonton was dark with cloud and smoke, but it had 
still been light enough to see the shadow.
      It cast across the sky, landing on clouds, only to disappear 
below just as quickly.  It descended faster than any aircraft would 
have been able to.  Few birds would have been able to match it's dive. 	
	Finally, the silent, plummeting shape reached the rooftops of the 
city, swooping up slightly to reach a suitable destination.  Large, 
full wings, aggressively angled, cut the air like it was nothing.  
	As the form approached the pointed roof of a church, the wings 
folded up to it's body, changing color from a dirty white to a dusky 
blue.  
	Arms reached out at the last moment before gravity took hold, 
grabbing the iron lightning rod on the highest spire of roof.  It spun 
around the pole once, losing momentum until it could drop to a lower 
balcony safely.  

	A young man stood from his crouched landing position, clothed in 
a dark blue trenchcoat and black boots.  He pulled his coat around his 
body for warmth, not used to the cool air.  
	His dark, haunted eyes scanned the city around him, taking in the 
sights.  "What an interesting place..." he whispered to himself.  
"...so many castles." His lips turned up in a smile.  "He must be 
around here, then.  In the Ruling City."
	He jumped down another story, landing on a window-ledge no more 
than a foot wide.  Crouching again like a gargoyle, he pulled his coat 
around himself and smiled.  "Tomorrow shall be a great day." He patted 
the long outline of a sword and scabbard at his side.  

	As the last remnants of the sun fall behind the curve of the 
horizon, the figure never moved.  Watching.  Waiting.  Looking.  
Smiling.  










	He tried to remember where he had seen that kind of green before.  
It was much brighter than a forest-green, but not so close to a lime.  
The color flooded over him, and he rolled his hand around in the light, 
attempting to remember.  He had seen it before.  
	But his thoughts were interrupted by a long, drawn-out squeak.  
Off in the distance, a door opened.  Curious to why he hadn't seen the 
door before, Strike Fiss walked down the green-flooded hall.  The semi-
soft rubber soles on his shoes made little noise, but sounded like they 
were walking across smooth marble or tile.  
	As he got to the door, cracked open on an invisible frame, the 
scene changed.  Each step he took now was echoed.  It also made a wet 
sound.  He looked down to confirm his fears.  A lake of ankle-high red 
filled his vision.  
	Back in the hospital.  
	Strike Fiss tried to stay calm this time, though.  He needed 
answers.  
	"Why do you keep coming here?" a familiar voice asked behind him.
	He turned, but saw nothing behind him.  With a silent shrug, Fiss 
turned back to his front.  Standing a few meters ahead of him was Him.
	Chris.  Bokken in hand, red stained mouth.  His hospital clothes 
were splashed with blood.  "Why do you keep coming here?" he repeated.
	Fiss took a step back, feeling for his sword.  It was there, as 
always.  "I keep coming here?" he frowned.  "Not by choice, that's for 
sure."
	Laughing, Chris took a step towards him, reclaiming the space 
between them, but no more.  "You would not be here if you weren't so 
fucking stubborn." His features became jaded and angry.  "How many 
times must I kill you?  When will you be convinced that you are not 
welcome here?"
	"I...I don't understand?" Fiss admitted.  "I have no quarrel with 
you...you are me.  You yourself have told me that many..."
	"WHAT?!?!" Chris roared, covering the slick few steps with ease 
and grabbing Fiss' vest, lifting him up effortlessly.  "You DARE 
compare yourself to ME?"
	Strike Fiss was promptly thrown into the air, landing with a 
sickening splash in the blood a few meters away.  He stood as soon as 
he realized he had landed, and in a smooth motion, withdrew his katana.  
"Do NOT touch me." He growled.
	Chris now had a raised eyebrow.  "Mmm, maybe I was wrong." He 
smiled.  "Maybe we do have something in common." He spun his wooden 
sword around expertly.  "But the differences still sicken me." He 
continued.
	"Why are you two fighting?" another voice asked.
	They both turned to see the small Chris from before.  Hey eyed 
their weapons nervously.  Strike Fiss smiled.  "Hi again."
	"Do not talk to him, Chris." The larger Chris growled.  
	Strike Fiss looked back up to Chris.  "Wait a minute..." he 
paused.  "Why don't you want me talking to him?"
	"He's scared of you." The little Chris smiled happily.  "But I'm 
not scared of you, Mr. Fiss!"
	Fiss was about to smile, when he felt something jam through his 
chest, knocking out all the breath in his body.  Chris stood over him, 
bokken through his back.  "Give up." He hissed.  "You can't win him 
over.  He's mine..."

	He raised his fist, then brought it down fast at Strike Fiss' 
eye.

	BANG BANG BANG!  "Chris!  Are you alright!?!"




	


	Chris woke up in the bathtub.  The water around him was cold, the 
lights dim.  He shivered and stood.  "Yeah, I'm fine." He yelled back.  
	"What happened?  You weren't answering...and the door is locked." 
Rei replied from the other side of the wall.
	"I'm fine!" he sighed.  "Just fell asleep, that's all."  He 
leaned over and twisted the hot-water tap to full, re-heating the water 
so he could at least finish his bath.  
	"Okay..." Rei said.  "Mo and Demeter just got back...so hurry up.  
Your pizza's getting cold."
	"No problem." Chris nodded to himself, descending back into the 
water, taking a deep breath.  
	It was starting to come together.  If he could just talk to the 
younger boy more...maybe he could find out what all these dreams were 
about.  
	"Too many Chrises." He sighed.  
	

	





	















                              Chapter 4









	"What do you MEAN we have an intruder?" Dave yelled, disappearing 
momentarily and coming back out of his closet with a small hand-gun 
like weapon.  
	William looked too nervous to speak.  "I...I don't know...the 
alarm went off and..."
	"All hell is breaking loose..." Dave mumbled as they ran out his 
office door and down the hall way.  "And people keep telling me nothing 
happened?"
	"It's just one person!" Will insisted.  "They aren't armed, and I 
think that they were more shocked to be here than we were of him 
coming."
	"Nobody can get in or out of this place without either self-
energy manipulation, or time control." Dave raced.  "You can't just 
stumble on the entrance and hit the wrong button." He grumbled.  "This 
must be a bad dream.  Yeah, I'll just click my heels together three 
times and that will set everything back to normal."
	The two men skidded around the corner where a crowd of seven 
heavily armed Omega Webbers stood around one of the entrance nodes.  
Kneeling before them was a young man, who was looking up in absolute 
terror at the men and women pointing Pookies at him.  
	"Stand down." Dave ordered quickly, but kept his own smaller 
pistol ready at his side.  
	"Where am I?" the man asked, looking around at the strange 
corridor.  "Am I in a hospital or something?"
	"How much has he been told?" Dave asked.
	"Nothing, Dave." Will whispered back.
	He nodded.  "Okay..." he knelt down, pocketing his weapon.  "Sir, 
I'm afraid you stumbled onto a secret military site.  We're going to 
have to ask you a few questions."
	"I...I was just...I mean, I found my grandfather's texts..." he 
chattered nervously.  "This wasn't supposed to happen!  I didn't think 
it was real...but I was desperate!"
	Dave snapped his fingers and the man dissolved into a shower of 
light, then whipped off down the hall.  "I want a full background check 
on that man.  Get this text that he was mumbling about.  Rip this man's 
life apart if you need to.  Something's changed, and I want to know 
what it is NOW!" he growled, standing.
	"Where...did you transport him?" William asked, catching up to 
Dave, who had already took off down the hall.  
	"Medical room." Dave replied.  "We'll wipe his memories and get a 
consciousness dump.  See what the fuck he was doing before he got 
here."
	"You could have just asked him." Will mumbled.
	Dave's hand came up to Will's chest, stopping him instantly.  
"Will, my friend.  You've only known me for a month or so, is that 
correct?"
	Will nodded quickly.
	"In that time, when have I ever been wrong?"
	Nothing came to mind.  Will sighed and nodded.  "Dave, I DO trust 
you...I just wish I was following your train of thought."
	"I don't need that poor bastard mumbling on for a day about how 
he didn't know what the hell he was doing." Dave explained.  "We need 
to get inside this man's head.  Make sure it's not something I'm 
already pretty sure it is."
	"What do you mean?" Will asked as they resumed walking down the 
hall.  "You have an explanation for all this?"
	"I was too busy being worried about what happened at the end of 
Armageddon." Dave smiled.  "Not very smart.  What I should have been 
worrying about was what I already knew had changed."
	"What changed?" 
	"The Keys." Dave said.  "Three no longer exist." He raised an 
eyebrow.  "Their powers got mixed back into the universe."
	Will stopped walking as the possibilities hit.  "Oh my god..."
	Dave nodded.  "This universe just got a whole shit load of magic 
dumped back into the mix." He said.  "Just like I feared.  Magic's 
back."
	"You mean that guy got into the Web with magic?"
	"It's the beginning of a whole new Universe, Will." Dave called 
back.  "Gotta be ready for anything."









	

	He frowned at the strange squiggles on the green plastic sign.  
They looked like writing, but were all garbled.  The letters were too 
wide, and though one or two looked similar to Theban script, they 
didn't form any words.  
	Not only that, but the script was too high to reach.  The strange 
metal pole they were put up upon was easily a match for his reach.  
"Excuse me..." the young man spun around, grabbing the shoulder of 
another man who had been walking past.  "What does that say?"
	The man blinked, looking at him like he was crazy or something.  
"What?  Can't you read, pal?  You're on White Ave." he angerly shrugged 
off his hand and continued down the street.  "Crazy pot-head..." he 
mumbled."
	Frowning, he turned back to the street sign.  "Who's this pot-
head fellow?" he sighed, opening up the front of trenchcoat.  
	His fingers wrapped around the hilt of an elaborate wood and 
metal sword-hilt, and pulled the weapon free from his side.  In less 
than a second, everyone who was on the street was gawking at the young 
man.  "HE'S GOT A SWORD!" one woman screamed.
	Indeed, he did.  It was a beautiful, but wicked weapon.  A long, 
double-edged blade that varied in width along it's length.  It was set 
between four smaller blades that curved out from the grip, forming both 
an effective hand-guard, and a secondary cutting surface.  The handle 
itself was striped in rich black and gold, and ended in a sharpened 
pommel.  The entire sword looked like a large, slender hornet.  As 
people ran screaming for cover, and vehicles began to swerve around him 
as they saw the weapon, the young man ignored them.
	With a quick slice, the metal pole was down on the ground.  
SHNNICK!  He put his sword away back in it's scabbard, then set about 
the task of trying to read the sign.  "Mmm, White Ave...that's a 
start..." he knelt down and pressed his hand against the white 
lettering.  

	Nothing happened.

	The man stood, almost falling backwards in shock.  "What the 
hell?!" he looked around desperately, trying to find what he was 
looking for.  Maybe it was a little different in this world.  Nothing 
to be alarmed over.  "Shit.  Now what the hell am I supposed to do?" he 
mumbled to himself, throwing the useless sign on the ground.  
	His eyes turned to the distance where a large bridge span the 
river, connecting the two halves of the city.  "Ahh!  Finally!  A 
drawbridge!  That must mean the castle is just over..." he looked along 
the bridge to a number of large commercial buildings.  He laughed to 
himself.  "Of COURSE!  Those spires must be where he lives!" he nodded 
his approval.  "Very impressive castle.  I will have to ask him how he 
makes them reflect the sky like that."
	Suddenly, he heard something.  It was like a combination of 
screaming birds and howling babies.  He did not like it...especially 
when a police car came screeching around the corner, lights flashing.  
"What manner of fucked up demon is this?" he mused, letting the hilt of 
his sword float free of his coat.  
	The car came to a halt and let out a final siren blip.  A second 
later, two police officers got out from the doors, wide-eyed.  
	"A coach?" he frowned.  "Where the hell are the horses?" he took 
out his sword.  "YOU SIR!" he walked over to a point just in front of 
the police cruiser.  
	The cop blinked.  "Who?  Me??" he hadn't been quite expecting the 
man to ask him any questions.  They had gotten the call of some guy 
high on crack with a sword who had been cutting down street-signs.  
Perhaps another attempted riot.  
	"Yes, my good fellow." He said, tapping the impressive sword 
against the hood of the car.  "I was wondering what drives this 
contraption."
	"Sir?" the police officer blinked.  
	"He MUST be high on crack..." the other whispered to his partner.  
	The young man raised an eyebrow.  "Oh!" he smiled.  "I forgot to 
introduce myself!  How thoughtless of me!" he sheathed his sword and 
bowed slightly.  "I am the Archangel Michael, Knight of SkitZ.  Virtue 
to the Pool of Angels."
	Both police officers looked at each other, a smile cracking their 
lips.  "Okay, buddy.  A night in the drunk-tank should help." The 
second officer chuckled, taking out his hand-cuffs.  "Then, you can 
explain why you were carrying around that fancy steak-knife."
	Michael frowned.  "Uh...yeah.  Anyway, I was wondering if I might 
trouble you for directions.  Your signs don't appear to be working."
	The two cops looked over to the street signs.  Excluding the one 
or two Michael had cut down, they stood there, quite clean and visible.  
"What do you mean, 'not working'?" 
	"Are you quite sure you are awake, sir?" Michael sighed.  "You 
have not answered a single question of mine.  You are starting to annoy 
me." He took a tentative step towards the first officer.  "Being 
annoyed always makes me get crazy.  I don't think you'd like that."
	"Okay buddy." The second cop stomped around the front of the car.  
The humour in his tone had been dropped completely.  "Hands behind your 
back."
	He frowned at the two men.  "Fine.  I will be on my way then." He 
pushed past the officer with an aggressive shoulder check.  
	That prompted a rather direct reaction from the cops.  Both drew 
their guns, training them on the young man's chest.  "HOLD IT RIGHT 
THERE!"
	Eyes wide, Michael's jaw dropped.  "Are you threatening me?" he 
growled, letting his left hand rest on the handle of his sword.  Both 
cops took a step back.  "I said...are you threatening ME?" the sound of 
ringing steel sung out through the air and the long, tapered blade of 
his sword rested against his forehead as he looked at the two cops past 
the metal.  
	"Sir..." the first cop said nervously.  "We don't want to hurt 
you.  Please put down your sword and come with us."
	"My sword?" he growled.  "You must be mad if you think I will 
relinquish my sword to you." His eyes growled back louder than his 
voice ever could.  The look that the young man gave the cop was only a 
slight bit less frightening than it would have took to make the poor 
cop fall over in fear.  "Now, I shall demand that you point the way to 
the Royal City.  The sooner you tell me, the sooner I can forget your 
blasphemy."
	"Shut up!" the second officer growled, feeling his courage 
returning.  "Put your weapon on the ground and your hands on the hood 
of the car!" he cocked the firing pin on his weapon, making an 
impressive click.
	Michael motioned to the car.  "This is a...'car?'"
	"Of course it is!  Now DO IT!"
	He smiled an evil, toothy smile, and dropped his sword on the 
pavement.  It hit with a resounding clang.  Then, he kicked it under 
the car.  "SKITZ!" he cackled.  The blade lit up in a blinding flash of 
white, and a high pitched scream filled the air.  
	Everyone on the street cried out in pain.  The two police 
officers dropped like rocks, holding their ears desperately.  Michael's 
sword underneath the cruiser continued to vibrate.  The vehicle started 
to hum, adding the ring of metal into the air.  
	"Okay, that's enough, SkitZ." Michael said, his voice the only 
thing cutting the high pitched scream of his sword.  
	It stopped abruptly, and everyone rose as the man retrieved his 
sword.  The two cops were the last to stand, unsure what to do.  "My 
god...what the hell was that?" one whispered to himself.
	Michael, Knight of SkitZ, walked past the two men and leaned over 
to the front of their car.  He smiled, raised his pinky-finger, and 
tapped the door frame of the car.
	Everyone gasped as it dissolved into dust.  The only thing left 
intact in the pile of sand was a small puddle of gas and anti-freeze.  
Both cops fell over on their asses, their guns long forgotten.  
	"And now, I take my leave." Michael said with a grin a mile wide.  
He sheathed his sword and turned to walk off.  "No help from either of 
you."
	
	Their eyes widened as the back of Michael's coat split and began 
to change color to a dirty white.  
	"Oh my god..." the first police officer gasped.
	The second officer could only cross his heart as the young man 
took flight.		




















                             Chapter 5









	That bloody witch.  

	Dave watched the information stream around him in the 3-D 
display.  It was the numerological representation of a section of human 
Mind.  Right now, it was displaying the last few moments before this 
man had stumbled upon the Omega Web's entrance.  
	Harvey Grape, besides having a stupid name, had a fairly 
interesting family.  His grandparents had dabbled in the arts of magic 
and witchcraft.  Though their power had been limited to psychological 
and herbal spells and crafts, Harvey's grandfather was a rather 
excellent scholar on the subject, and recorded much of his research in 
a book.
	Apparently, distraught that his ex girlfriend had found him 
cheating with a younger woman...thereby breaking up with him...Harvey 
was desperate for a solution to get her back.  
	Looking over his grandfathers' old texts, he searched for a love-
potion or something to give him the edge he needed to win his girl 
back.  However, he lacked many of the ingredients to make the said 
love-potion.  So, instead, he came across a spell of sorts to turn back 
time.  
	The plan was simple.  Go back a few days, fix it so he wouldn't 
have slept with the female bar-tender at the bar, and everything would 
turn out okay.
	God, Harvey was stupid.  Dave rubbed his temples with the tips of 
his fingers.  Time was never that easy to circumvent.  Normally, it 
would be out of the question, too.  

	But Harvey had preformed the spell perfectly.  And in close 
proximity to an Omega Web entrance node.  

	The next thing he saw was seven heavily armed Webbers pointing 
bazookas at him.  Dave couldn't believe it.  This middle-aged loser of 
a man had pulled off the first successful spell in what had to be 
thousands of years.  
	Science based on Thought.  AKA, Magic.  It was dangerously new 
territory even for the Web.  What little had been recorded in times 
that Magic had been existent was long lost to previous Omega Web civil 
disputes.  One of the reason why Dave had been so adamant in studying 
the Senshi was the fact that their weapons were based largely on magic 
and thought.  Looks like it wasn't enough, though.  Now, the future was 
upon them.
	It had been a long-shot, but Dave had actually seen a version of 
this reality in the last Calculator Dump.  Some far-fetched future that 
occurred after one or two of the Keys had been destroyed by their own 
devices.  That one-in-a-zillion chance was now happening, however, and 
Dave was beginning to wish he ordered the construction of the new 
Calculator even sooner.  

	He stood from the chair, cutting off the mind-readouts of Harvey 
Grape.  The poor man was already back home, memories of the Web 
replaced by a lonely evening of Jack Daniel's whiskey and self-
repentance over his cheating.  Hopefully, he'd use the memories well 
and apologize to his ex.  
	In the mean time, though, Dave needed to talk to a few people.  
He would have to update Sailor Moon and the Prime Minister for a start.  
Confirm his fears, and make sure they were on the right track.  Then, 
have a nice long chat with Pain.  See what he could piece together from 
her accounts as well.
	It was going to be a long week.  Dave could tell that right now.  
Very long.







	
	Day broke, and with night's shattered pieces flying everywhere, 
managed to spill forth a healthy Spring-Sunrise.  Rei felt, for the 
first time in months, the warm glow of sun on her side when she woke.  
Even though Chris wasn't there to share it with her, she smiled.  He 
was up.  Smells were coming from the kitchen.  
	Probably the most admirable trait that he and Maury had was the 
fact that they loved cooking.  They both helped out with chores and 
treated their women like gold.  They took turns cooking, and even did 
their own laundry.  
	However, when they cooked, it was a sight to behold.  Or, to be 
afraid of.  Despite their enthusiasm, they often mixed together 
foodstuffs that should not mix in any non-zero-gravity environment.  
And by the spicy smell of the air, Rei feared that they had mistaken 
the quantities of "water" and "ground-cloves" for each other again.  
	
	When she finally dawned a house-coat and overcame her fears, she 
found that not only were Maury and Chris cooking...but they were 
teaching Demeter as well.  

	"Now, the secret to this dish..." Maury explained, gathering the 
ingredients "...is making everyone think that it will taste horrible."
	Demeter's confused expression asked the question for him.
	"That way," Chris continued "when they finally DO have some, it 
will be so unbelievably good that they'll have an orgasm and melt into 
a drooling puddle of lust." 
	"But...Andrea can't melt unless she's heated to a temperature 
of..."
	Maury shook his head.  "No no no...you don't want to kill the 
poor girl, Demeter." He smiled, showing pretty much all of his teeth in 
the process.  "Killing is generally really bad for their health."
	"Exactly.  Women are usually a lot more seductive if they don't 
have third degree burns." Chris offered.
	Maury walked over to the fridge and pulled out a tray of sliced 
apple halves.  "Remember, this recipe is TOP SECRET, Demeter...you may 
only show members of the male sex this secret...and only if you trust 
them with your life."

	Rei's eyes widened and she walked silently behind the corner, 
curious to hear what they were up to.

	Demeter nodded to the two guys.  "You can trust me." He bowed 
slightly.  "I consider it an honor to be taught."
	"As you should!" Maury nodded.  "This is the way you make a batch 
of:"
	Both Chris and Maury raised their voices in proud salute, and 
recited in unison:  "MO AND FISS' HOLD-YA-DOWN-AND-SCREAM-FOR-MERCY 
CHOCOLATE KISSES!"

	Rei raised her eyebrow, almost laughing. 

	"Now, we're still working on turning the recipe into a song, but 
we still can't find any other food-word that rhymes with 'NyQuil,' so 
you're just going to have to wait on that one." Chris said, taking out 
a bunch of bowls and utensils from the cupboards.  
	"We have all the ingredients set out here." Maury explained.  
Rei's curiosity won over caution, and she peeked around the corner to 
see what they had.  Chilled apples, a tin of instant iced-tea crystals, 
a few other spices, and some chocolate milk mix.  Some strawberries and 
kiwi fruit lay in a small bowl next to them.  On the stove sat a 
bubbling pot with a bottle of NyQuil and Jack Daniel's next to it.  
"And as you know, you must always mix everything into..."
	Chris raised his hand.  "Wait a minute."
	Maury's eyes widened.  "Oh my god!"
	"Exactly." Chris nodded sadly.
	Demeter looked back and forth at them.  "What?  What is it?"
	"Demeter, my friend...we forgot the most important ingredient of 
all." Chris explained.  "We better go downtown and pick some up."
	Rei decided to make her entrance.  "Did I hear something about 
going downtown?"
	All three boys jumped back in horror...their secret ritual nearly 
interrupted by a *GASP!* female!  They all relaxed, though, trying to 
seem like nothing was going on.  "Oh, yeah!" Chris nodded quickly as 
Maury and Demeter hid the ingredients behind their backs.  "I need to 
go later.  You wanna come?"
	Maury elbowed Chris from behind.  "Are you CRAZY, man?" he 
whispered.  "You'll give away our secret ingredient!"
	"Don't worry...I can sneak it past her..." Chris whispered back.  
	"What's going on here?" Rei asked coyly, peeking behind the boys.  
"You teaching Demeter how to cook?"
	They all nodded quickly.
	"Aww.  How sweet!" Rei smiled, walking back down the hall.
	
	They all breathed a sigh of relief as Rei went off to the 
bathroom.  Demeter raised an eyebrow.  "So what's the secret 
ingredient?"
	"Ahhh...not yet, Demeter." Maury patted him on the back.  "Only 
when you see the final result will we tell you what the final secret 
is."
	"Not only that, but it's a safety device in case any women are 
listening." Chris nodded.  "We NEVER say the ingredient's name out 
loud."

	"Do you mind if we come along too, Chris?"
	The boys mouths dropped as Rei, Dana, Miharu and Andrea all stood 
at the kitchen entrance, somehow already dressed in their best shopping 
clothes.  
	"Uh..." Chris blinked.
	"That is unless you want to be all secretive about something..." 
Rei pushed.  "Say...what IS it that you're making there?"
	"Fine!" Chris said quickly.  "Well, look at the time!  We better 
go before the mall closes!"
	
	The door closed behind them as they left for the mall...sealing 
their fate.
	Maury and Demeter looked gravely at each other.  "Today...our 
secret is put to it's ultimate test, Demeter." Maury whispered.  "If 
the Women find out about it...all hope is lost.  It would be a 
disaster."  He shuddered.  "Chris must sneak past those cunning ladies 
the most important and deviously clever ingredient known to mankind."
	"Godspeed, Chris..." Demeter prayed.  "And good luck."
	Beavis, snoozing on the top of the fridge, just sighed and shook 
his head.  "Retards..."
	Maury looked over to Beavis.  "Hey!  At least we get some!"
	"I'm going for a walk." Beavis mumbled, hovering over to the 
window.  



	

		
	

	














                              Chapter 6









	Despite the fact he would have to sneak a container of...THE 
SECRET INGREDIENT...past not only his sister, daughter, and fianc‚, but 
Dana as well, Chris was in a wonderful mood.  The roads were clearing 
up nicely in the warmer weather, "Cherub Rock" played on the stereo and 
he was returning to his driving hobby of out-accelerating any car next 
to him.  
	"So, ladies." Chris smiled as he punched the gas and they zipped 
around a city bus.  "Armageddon is over, the city is back to normal, 
and Bill Gates got convicted on the third count of murder in the first.  
Do you think this day could get any better?"
	Andrea grinned.  "Well, YOU are still here...that's one thing 
that could change"
	"Don't make me drive off a bridge." Chris grinned back.
	They gravitated finally to the good old West Edmonton Mall, much 
to the dismay of Rei and Andrea.  "I thought you said we'd avoid this 
place." Rei said.  "I don't have very good luck with this building."
	Last time any of them had gone to the Biggest Mall on Earth, it 
was to find and fight Sailor Moon, who was well under the effects of a 
nasty virus.  "At least Serena isn't here this time." Andrea smiled 
hopefully.
	"Quit your complaining." Chris said happily as they parked and 
got out of the car.  "I need to pick something up, and I know I can 
find it here.  I just need to look around a bit."
	"Oooh!" Miharu said happily.  "Can we check out the swords?  Can 
we?  Huh?"
	Dana smiled.  "Most kids want to look at Barbie's and Lego's."
	"Most kids can kiss my ass." Miharu smiled back.  
	"You let you daughter talk like that?" she turned to Chris.
	He smiled and shrugged.  "She has a sword.  I'll let her do 
whatever she wants."
	







	Beavis landed on the Planet of the Tumblers what would be 
considered a few hours after leaving Earth.  His blue glow subsiding as 
he hit the soft, dead sand.  
	Right away, his spirits sunk.  The Temple was still there.  Sound 
only came to Beavis in the form of his own heart fluttering.  At the 
entrance to this great monument to one of the evils of the cosmos...

	His friends.

	The cloudy sky turned their robes a dusky red where once pure 
white had been.  Their bones were bleached by the sand.  Sinewy jaw-
bones lay open in silent laughter.
	He had no idea so few had been left.  The skeletons of no more 
than twenty Elders stood silent guard over the entrance, just like they 
had sworn to do.
	Their final bit of power froze the structure, forming an icy tomb 
to whatever dust had been left inside.  Even if Tumbler came back, he 
would not have the option to use his own shackles as weapons.

	And so, the Last Elder...Beavis the Hedgehog, was finally alone.

	And he alone bore the pain of Tumbler's curse.  The simple 
displeasure of having known the monster was perhaps the only thing 
worse than to be killed by him.
	It was also then, when he realized that Armageddon had done 
nothing to Tumbler's existence, that he realized the Elders were needed 
once again.  The bastard would be back.

	"I am sorry, my friends." He whispered in the dead air, gazing 
into the empty eye sockets of each of his comrades.  "We are dead.  All 
of us." He shook his head.  "I cannot be an Elder alone."
	He looked up into the sky.  Eyes wet with tears.  "They are the 
new Elders.  The original Senshi." He looked back down to the dirt.  
"We have been selfish..."

	Beavis' words...hours of thinking of the perfect speech, the most 
touching monument to his friends, and all his soul searching...were 
interrupted by tears.

	"By god...though..." his voice cracked.  "We were a grand 
people." He whispered proudly.  "But...we are not the last.  Not the 
last."






	The Universe's final Elder wept for hours.
























                              Chapter 7




	



	Talk about a lucky break!  Rei and Miharu went over to the 
bathroom, Dana was busy wrestling with the ATM machine into giving her 
some cash, and Andrea was ordering food at her favorite little sandwich 
place.  
	Chris stood slowly from his seat, making sure he knew where they 
all were.  Nobody was looking at him.  

	NOW!

	He took off down the hall at speeds that would have left a little 
puff of dust if he were a cartoon character, dodging shoppers and 
diving behind potted plants.  When he turned around, he looked through 
the foliage to see Andrea and Dana returning to their seats, realizing 
Chris wasn't there, and then desperately looking around for him.  
	"Hehehe..." he cackled to himself.  "Still haven't lost it at 
your old age, Fissy."  He slunk away, making sure to put lots of 
distance behind him before he stood to his full height, just in case 
the girls would be able to pick him out of a crowd.  
	




	Rei and Miharu came back, distraught to see Chris gone.  Andrea 
and Dana shrugged apologetically.  Taking charge, Rei nodded.  "Okay.  
Andrea and Dana, you take the upper floor.  Check out any food stores 
first, but you never know, so just keep a general eye out."
	They both nodded.
	"Miharu, you check out to the right." She pointed past the food-
court and down the mall's main hallway.  "Don't forget to check out the 
skating rink and the water-park.  Both have food-places." Rei 
continued.  "I'll go left just in case he found some smaller place in 
that quarter of the mall."
	Miharu smiled and nodded.  "Sounds like a plan."
	Just before they split up, "Remember, girls..." Rei said.  
"...This mission could revolutionize the battle of the sexes!  We need 
that recipe!  It's one of the few things that stand in our way of total 
victory." She raised her fist, bringing it down, clattering the table.  
"Let's GO!"






	Chris walked out of the hardware store happily.  In his hand was 
a small bag.  Triple wrapped in alternate layers of plastic and 
paper...making SURE nobody would be able to see through the package, 
and giving it enough padding that the girls would never guess what it 
was in a million years.  
	Carefully, he slid the mysterious package into his coat pocket 
and decided to take his time going back to the food court.  His extra 
long absence would make the girls fret about it a little more.  Serves 
them right, he figured.  Trying to learn the almighty recipe for "MO 
AND FISS' HOLD YA DOWN AND SCREAM FOR MERCY CHOCOLATE KISSES!" was like 
trying to find the holy grail.  Sure, it must be a tempting target for 
a willing explorer, but even Indiana Jones and his father realized it 
would be better left to the dusts of time.  
	He walked on the second floor of the mall...not too far away from 
where he had been caught on camera so many years ago; firing his weapon 
at Sailor Moon no less.  Must have made an interesting impression on 
the world.  He briefly wondered if that was why he had so much pull 
with the government.  Anyone who could beat the fuck out of the Bearer 
of the Silver Crystal deserved a little respect.  All of that, however, 
seemed millions of years away.  
	It was nice to walk down these familiar halls once more as just a 
person doing some shopping.  Not trying to save the universe.	
	The sky was beautiful outside.  REAL sunshine...not just the 
stuff that filtered down through clouds and smoke...lit up the entire 
building through it's giant sky-lights.  
	Clouds drifted by lazily, reflecting yellow, gray and purple.  
Chris smiled, stopping to sit on a bench that was under the direct sun.  
"I'll have to take Miharu on a training mission or something today." He 
said to himself. 






	A few other people seemed to be taking in the sunlight as well, 
joining Chris around the balcony overlooking the skating rink below.  
Including a young man in a dark blue trenchcoat.  His black, leather 
boots hand-made from some unknown skin.  Under his coat, he wore 
rugged, old clothing that any woodsman would be proud to have owned.  
Though hardly much like the shirts and sweaters of the crowd, he 
blended in quite well. 
	His eyes widened as he noticed Chris.   
	"Well well!" Michael smiled to himself.  "Little Fiss grew up."
	Humming at his side, his sword resonated happily, recognizing 
Strike Fiss.  "That's right SkitZ!" he whispered.  "That's him!  It has 
to be." He squinted, looking over across the open balcony at Chris.  
"He even looks like him...though the hair is shorter."
	Michael sighed and stood from the bench, stretching.  "Well.  
Might as well get this over with.  It's not going to get any easier 
later on."





	Chris casually glanced over to the other side of the rink, 
observing the crowd.  Something caught his eye on mid-glance, though.  
A kind of strange light reflecting off of something.  
	Wings.  Angel.
	He blinked.  They were gone, but on a mirrored surface, a kind of 
bright ghost image slid past it's reflection.  He stood, looking around 
the crowd again.  This time, he glanced over to the roof, which was 
half-covered in mirrors.  
	Wings.  Light.  
	Again, he saw it.  It fluttered through his vision like a phantom 
cloud, registering not even as an image, but an afterthought. 
	Walking to the edge, he noticed that the cloud seemed to be 
following someone.  Someone who's eyes were transfixed on his own.  A 
young man who was himself walking around the balcony.  

	He passed another mirrored wall...and Chris' eyes widened. 

	In the man's reflection, he wore wings.  

	They followed behind him, moving like a cape, folded slightly at 
his back.  A strange, unreal light traced a trail as he walked through 
the crowd.  His movements were exact, demanding obedience from the 
people around him.  Even so, his walk was smooth as glass.  
	At his hip sat the long scabbard of a broadsword, only party 
hidden by his long blue coat.  
	
	Chris didn't even notice that he was walking until they had 
almost met.  Both men stopped less than a meter from each other.  
Michael looked him over, then stopped on his eyes.  In an even, but 
somehow playful voice he said "Defend yourself."
	"Excuse me?" Chris stammered.
	SMACK!  Chris fell over on his ass as Michael flattened him with 
a punch to the jaw.  He looked up, rubbing his face, not sure what had 
happened.  Atheist or no, he was pretty certain that an Angel had just 
decked him.
	An Angel that had just pulled his sword out of it's scabbard and 
pointed it at Chris' throat.  "Let's try this again." The man demanded, 
this time without humour.  "Defend yourself."

	TINK!  

	Michael's eyes were wide as he felt his sword leave his hand and 
skitter along the floor.  A slender, mirror-like blade pointed at his 
throat now.  Chris held the other end.  "You don't have to tell me 
twice." He stood, never taking either his gaze or the tip of his katana 
off the man. 
	"Mm, this should be fun." Michael smiled.























                                 Chapter 8










	
	Chris transformed in the few moments it took Michael to retrieve 
his sword.  They now stood opposite of each other, circling the other 
like sharks.  Though very elaborate, only a fool would think that 
Michael's sword was decorative.  It was a very lethal weapon indeed, 
and welding of such a blade denoted caution on Chris' part.
	"What are you?" Chris demanded as they circled.  "I saw you in 
the mirror...why are you inside my head?"
	"I am Michael, Knight of SkitZ." He stated proudly.  "And I have 
not been inside your head." He laughed.  "I'm sure I would have noticed 
if I had been.  It would have been a tight fit."
	"I don't believe you." Chris replied, eyes narrowed.
	"And why would that distress me?" Michael smiled back, then held 
out his sword.  "NOIZE!" he screamed.
	His sword's blade shot out a pulse of sound at Chris, slamming 
him back and causing an awful ringing in the air.  People screamed in 
pain as they doubled over into fetal positions.
	Head ringing with the sound, Chris finally managed to stand up 
from the ground again, fighting off a wave of nausea.  "You want noise?  
How's THIS!" he swiped his sword up at the ceiling, letting fly a 
bright blue arch that slammed into the tile and brought a large chunk 
of plaster and concrete falling down towards Michael.  
	His sword came up, slicing the largest chunk away from his head, 
and was about to take a run at Chris when he was hit by a blast of blue 
force, square in the chest.  
	Michael stumbled backwards, slipping on some of the plaster dust.  
He then hit the balcony railing, smashing through it and falling over 
the edge. 
	The crowd around Chris gasped, and all was quiet.  Chris blinked, 
then slowly walked over to the edge.  The moment he looked down to see 
where Michael had landed, a flap of wings shot the young man up, and a 
quick knee to Chris' jaw sent the Senshi flying backwards.  
	The crowd gasped in a mixed mass emotion of both awe and fear as 
Michael landed, folding his wings against his back.  The crowd was 
stunned.  Half of them whispering prayers and crossing their hearts, 
promising they'd go to church next Sunday.  He smiled and motioned to 
the people.  "Friendly folks you have here, my friend."
	"I don't even know you." Chris stood, rubbing his jaw.  "And I am 
most certainly not your friend."
	"That's no way to talk to your pal!" Michael laughed, and with a 
great flap of his wings, propelled himself at Chris, sword out.  
	There was no way for Fiss to counter the sheer momentum of the 
attack and he was flattened against the wall hard...saved from 
Michael's blade only by his own.   
	"That's a nice vest." Michael said, picking at Chris' suit with 
his free hand.  "Ooh!  And armored too!  You must tell me the name of 
your tailor." He laughed as Chris finally managed to push him away.  
	Bracing his foot on the wall, Chris propelled himself forward, 
much the same way Michael had done.  CLASH!  CRACK!  Chris hit one side 
of his opponent's blade, then crashed down on the hilt, forcing the 
weapon to the ground.  Though Michael kept a firm grip, his balance 
failed and he landed on his face.  "That looked like it hurt." Chris 
smiled as he waited for the angel to stand back up.  
	"Glad to see you've been practicing." Michael grumbled, rubbing 
his chin.  "I like the sword.  Nice and fast." He smiled.  "Suits you." 
He raised his own weapon.  "SKITZ!"
	This time, Chris was ready.  He jumped out of the way as the near 
solid block of sound crashed toward him, and was about to strike when 
the sound rebounded off the hard marble wall and slammed into him from 
behind.  
	The impact was bone-jarring.  Michael simply stepped out of the 
way as Chris slid past his foot.  Though his vest had taken the impact, 
it didn't look like he would be getting up any time soon.  
	"You know...you did a lot better than I thought you would." He 
smiled.  With a stretch of his arms, the two wings folded around his 
body and changed color.  A second later, he was wearing his coat.  He 
gently kicked Chris over onto his back with his foot, and brought the 
tip of his sword to the Senshi's throat.  
	Chris lay helpless, sword a few heartbeats away from his hand.  
Those inches may have well been miles.  Consciousness was pleading to 
take a five minute nap in his head.  Not to mention his back felt like 
it had been ripped open.  
	"Now." The angel said, his voice low and dangerous.  "Do you 
concede?"  His blade was almost touching the flesh on Chris' neck.
	"No." Chris answered back, his eyes looking along the deadly 
sword.  "I do not give up."

	Michael nodded slowly.  With a quick swipe of his sword...it was 
back in it's scabbard.  Now, instead of a weapon, he held out a hand.  
Chris, confused as hell, just stared at it.
	"You answered correctly." Michael said, taking Fiss' hand and 
pulling him to a wobbly stance.  His smile became wide and toothy.  
"God DAMN it's good to see you!" he gave Chris a big hug.
	Chris just blinked, then fell over, exhausted.  













	Rei, Miharu, Dana and Andrea came running onto the scene.  "God 
damn I hate this mall..." Rei sighed as she saw the caved in roof.
	Between the destroyed railing and the body-shaped indentation on 
the wall, half a dozen feathers littered the ground.  Police were 
trying their best to record the events that had happened from the fifty 
or so witnesses to the fight.  A large, forty-something woman was 
nearly screaming at the poor rookie cop in charge of taking her 
statement.  "And then that Strike Fiss guy gets attacked by the angel, 
and I thought for certain that maybe it was one of them demons..." she 
gibbered.  
	"What?!"  Rei walked over to her.  "Strike Fiss got attacked?" 
she turned to the cop.  "Where is he?"
	"Well, the angel was about to kill him, but then he helped Mr. 
Strike Fiss to his feet and gave him this big hug...and I was thinking 
what the hell was going on...and then Mr. Fiss passed out, and the 
angel guy was kinda worried, so his coat turned into his wings again 
and they flew out through the roof..." the woman pointed to the sky-
light.  A large, jagged hole was through one of the panes of glass.  
"He was so graceful!  I knew he must have been one of the nice 
angels..." the woman nodded profusely.  "You know...like that nice 
young man, Nicholas Cage on that movie."
	Rei turned back to the other three girls, who were all looking at 
her with similar dropped jaws.  
	"Where are they now?!?" Rei demanded, grabbing the woman's 
collar.  "Did you see what direction they went?"
	"Well, they circled around once, so I don't know..." the woman 
nodded.  "But they must have went to the beach like off of that movie."
	Rei shot her a dry look.  "Edmonton has a beach?"
	The woman blinked.  "Oh...I guess not..."
	"Grrr." Rei dropped the woman and walked past the others.  "Come 
on.  Looks like the shopping trip just got cancelled."























                               Chapter 9










	Strange how wading through an endless puddle of blood would begin 
to feel familiar after a while.  Almost expected.  When his mind raced, 
and he let his thoughts drift, it still scared him more than most 
things.  But after nearly a dozen times finding himself walking through 
the sticky human waste he was able to think of it more like a 
confirmation that he was dreaming.
	The blood was just there as scenery.  The real terror was what 
else shared the dream with him.
	Strike Fiss smiled as he saw his younger self instead of the 
hideous parody named Chris.  The little boy sat in the endless red 
ocean, faced away from Fiss as he walked towards.  
	"What are you doing here?" Fiss asked playfully.  "You should be 
in school or something.  Out playing with your friends."  Besides those 
facts, he couldn't quite distinguish how odd it was for the child to be 
sitting in blood in the first place.
	The little Chris never turned around.  "I'm playing." He said 
simply.  Not even moving.
	"Oh." Strike Fiss shrugged, then smiled.  "What are you playing?" 
he asked, redoubling his efforts to get to know the young boy.  
	"I'm playing peek-a-boo." He replied in a happy voice, still 
content to look out over the endless red horizon, showing Fiss only the 
back of his head.
	"Peek-a-boo?" Strike Fiss looked around, uncertain.  "I don't see 
anyone else around her to play with."
	"That is because you are blind." The little child sneered, 
turning to Fiss.  

	Strike Fiss nearly fell backwards.

	The little boy's eyes were stitched shut.  Blood ran out from 
each puncture, pooling down the sides of his face, then dripping down 
his chin to join the endless amount at their feet.  
	"You are all blind." The boy continued, his voice oozing with 
venom.  "Weak.  Stupid.  Blind." He hissed.  
	"Oh my god..." Fiss whispered to himself as the boy raised his 
hands to his eyes and wrapped his fingers around some of the ragged 
leather twine that bound his vision.  
	
	And pulled.

	Flesh tore away quietly as the boy clawed at his own eyes.  Dark 
red and black tissue glistened underneath.  Flecks of bone now exposed 
as well.  His eyes were now free...gazing back up at Fiss with lidless 
glares.  
	The child now looked to be a ghoul, and spoke with a slow, 
certain tone.  "You can't have one or the other..." he said.  "Even 
though they try.  You both try so hard." He laughed happily, oblivious 
to the gore running down his face.  "And you both think you will 
succeed.
	"But you cannot have death without life, or life without death." 
He said.  "Nor can life kill death.  Remember that."
	Strike Fiss stood back, too stunned to speak.  
	And with a final, happy smile, Chris' young form raised his hands 
over his eyes once more.  "Peek-a-boo!"







	

	"GGAAAWHHHHH!" he woke with a jump rivaled only by a person under 
defibrillator paddles.  
	Reality, or what went by the name reality anyway, rushed over 
Chris, forcing him to wonder where the hell he was.
	When a gust of cold wind blew over him, and he realized he was 
looking straight down a few hundred feet to the ground below, he really 
wished he was back asleep.
	
	"You're awake."

	Chris turned, finding himself on the ledge of a building's roof.  
Behind him sat Michael, resting up against a large transmitter antenna.  
The young man...or whatever he was...looked up and smiled at him.  "I 
was beginning to think that I might have killed you.  That would have 
kinda sucked.  Ruin my entire trip."
	"Yeah..." Fiss coughed, testing his dry throat in the even drier 
air.  "My pleasure..."
	"Mmm."  Michael nodded.  "I hear you kept your name.  I'm 
surprised you were even told."
	"What?" Chris stood carefully, putting some distance between him 
and the ledge.  "What the hell are you talking about?  My name is 
Chris."
	"Your name, actually, is Fiss." Michael said, picking at his 
finger nail with one of the smaller hand-guard-blades on his sword.  
"Your inherited name, that is.  My given name is Michael, yours is 
Chris...but we both have our Knight names.  Fiss and SkitZ."
	Chris felt at his side...and was somewhat surprised to find his 
sword still there.  "But...that was just my nickname...how do YOU know 
it?  As far as I knew, it was just some gibberish my grandfather made 
up in place of 'Chris'."
	"Ah...good old Yamato." He smiled happily.  "Always kept the 
mystery going for as long as he could.  Awesome story-teller.  Just the 
way he hinted at things and talked kept us riveted for hours."
	Fiss' eyes were wide.  "You knew my..." he paused.  "HOW did you 
know him??!!"
	"So many questions!" SkitZ stood, then grabbed onto the 
transmitter tower, starting to pull himself up it's side on the ladder.  
"Too many questions.  Hell, I don't even have all the answers."
	"How about starting on who the hell YOU are?" Chris offered 
angerly, watching SkitZ climb halfway up the tower.  "And would you 
STOP doing that?"
	SkitZ stopped, then shrugged, jumping back down a good fifteen 
meters, and landing as light as a feather.  "You already know my name."
	"Then WHAT are you?" Chris asked.  "How do you sprout those wings 
whenever you want??"
	Michael looked at Chris as if he had just asked "How do you spell 
CAT?"  "I'm an angel.  I thought I told you that already."
	"But..." Chris faltered.  "Where's your halo?  Why aren't you 
glowing?  How come you tried to kill me?"
	"Well, I don't know what kind of angel you're thinking of...but I 
can assure you that I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing." 
He chuckled.  "Since when can angels glow anyway?" he shook his head.  
"And I didn't try to kill you.  If I had tried to kill you, you would 
be quite killed by now."  He shrugged.  "Just making sure you were who 
I thought you were."
	Chris sighed, slumping over, trying to figure out what the hell 
to ask.
	"My turn." SkitZ said after a moment's silence.  "How did you get 
that hard air to stay at the top of the castle?"
	"What?"
	"You know..." he continued.  "That air that breaks when you pass 
through it.  It's rather remarkable."
	"Glass." Chris replied.  "It's called glass.  It's not air...it's 
sand that's been heated and purified."
	Michael looked at Chris in amazement.  "Sand?  You must have some 
powerful mages here to work sand into air!"
	"No." Chris shook his head.  "We just have a lot of glass.  Now, 
my turn." He looked at SkitZ carefully.  "Are you the one I keep seeing 
in the mirror?"
	Wide already from the explanation of glass...SkitZ's eyes somehow 
got wider.  "Mirrors?  You have mirrors!!?" he threw up his arms.  
"Holy SHIT!  I didn't even notice them!  I walked past mirrors!" he 
laughed.  "REAL mirrors!  And I forgot to even notice!?!  WOAH!"
	"Uh...excuse me...but you didn't answer my question." Chris 
interrupted SkitZ's little ranting dance.  
	He stopped in mid-rant, turning to Chris.  "Oh...sorry.  Well, I 
can assure you that I am not appearing in any mirrors.  I haven't seen 
a mirror since my tenth birthday!" he cackled.  "What a wondrous place 
this is!"
	"Ugh." Chris sighed, sitting down on a heater box.  "Are all 
angels screwed in the head like you?"
	SkitZ regarded Fiss with a strange look.  "No...Actually...I'm 
the only one that's like this."
	Chris blinked, noticing the change in Michael's voice.  "Oh...I 
didn't mean that...I was just mumbling out loud."
	"You would be a little...strange...too." He continued.  "If you 
saw the things I saw." He raised an eyebrow.  "Ironically, if you had 
seen those things, I wouldn't be here to tell you how crazy I am." He 
grinned crookedly.  
	"You don't seem too crazy." Chris mused.  "Then again, I'm 
probably the last authority on sane right now."
	"That's one of the things I must talk to you about." SkitZ shook 
his head slowly.  "You are in danger, my friend.  The dreams are coming 
to you, aren't they?  Terrible dreams.  Dookie dreams.  Ones that seem 
almost real?"
	Chris found himself nodding even before Michael had finished 
asking.  "Yeah.  For about a month now...and headaches.  The only time 
I get a break is when I can sleep...and that doesn't last too long 
because I get these fucking dreams where I'm killing myself in big 
pools of blood and there's all these fucking severed heads and sewn 
eyes." Chris grumbled, stopping himself before he got carried away.
	SkitZ was just smiling at him.  "Woah...You were right.  You are 
pretty crazy." He laughed.
	"But you know why I'm having these dreams?" Chris asked 
hopefully.
	Nodding happily, SkitZ sat back down on one of the ladder rungs.  
"Oh yeah.  It's actually very simple.  You're going through puberty."
	"WHAT?" Chris stood up.  "Hey hey HEY hey, hey HEY HEY HEY!" he 
said.  "I can assure you that THAT boat passed a long time ago!  I'm 
almost twenty!"
	"No no..." Michael laughed.  "Not like that.  Don't 
worry...that's the standard version.  I wasn't talking about that."
	Chris frowned.  "Then what the hell are you talking about?"
	"It's the mental version." SkitZ said.  "It comes part of the 
ownership of the Virtues." He pointed to Fiss' sword.  "I assume you 
know what your little knife can do, right?  You know it's linked to you 
in a number of ways." He sighed, thinking of the correct wording.  "You 
know how salmon have to go..."
	"Yeah yeah." Chris nodded. "Spawn upstream and all that fun 
stuff.  Travel for millions of miles just so they can get jiggy in the 
place they were born."
	Michael nodded. "Anyway, when you are old enough to use your 
sword at it's full potential, you must first return to the Pool of 
Angels before it can happen."
	Chris rubbed his temples.  "So where's that?  Mount Fun-Noop, or 
some impossible to spell ancient place?"  
	"It's not in this universe." Michael said with a shrug.
	"Great." Chris sighed.  "So now what?  Am I supposed to live with 
these damn dreams for the rest of my life or something?"
	"You can't." Michael said sternly.  "If you can't get to the Pool 
of Angels in a few weeks, you'll die."
	"What?"
	Michael nodded solemnly.  "The dreams will continue to get worse.  
Eventually, they'll break through your perceptions of reality and time.  
Pretty soon you'll be at least half as crazy as I am." He raised an 
eyebrow.  "You wouldn't like that."
	Chris blinked.
	"From there, it goes downhill." Michael continued.  "Only one 
other like you has survived this long without visiting the Pool.  He 
went stark raving mad in another week, and his head exploded the next." 
He cringed.  "It wasn't pretty."
	"No shit..." Chris blinked, not quite believing what was 
happening.
	Here he was, sitting on the roof of some commercial building 
downtown, talking with an angel about how his head was going to explode 
in two weeks time.  An angel who knew his name...his grandfather's 
name...and seemed to know everything about his dreams.  
	SkitZ sighed and stood, walking over to Chris and placing his 
hand on his back.  "Here's the deal, my friend.  And I know you're 
confused.  There's a lot you need to be told, and a lot that you need 
to tell me." He shook his head.  "But right now, you are in danger of 
ripping apart your own mind."
	"But..." Chris looked up wearily.  "You said that this Pool of 
Angels place doesn't even exist in this universe.  What kind of chance 
do I have to get to it if it isn't even here?"
	"Oh...but it does exist." Michael smiled.  "In OUR universe."
	
	
























                              Chapter 10







	"It was weird when I first arrived." Michael said as they flew 
across the sky, holding Chris by the back of his vest.  "I noticed a 
lot of people have these long coats.  At first I figured they must all 
have wings like me."
	Chris nodded, trying not to look down too much.  The truth was 
that he was actually beginning to enjoy himself.  Michael didn't fly 
too fast, and cornered in large circles to make it easier to carry him.  
So long as he looked ahead, to where they were going, it was quite a 
wonderful ride considering the only thing holding him up were a pair of 
hands.  "Oh?  The trenchcoats?" he smiled.  "No...no wings...they're 
just really good coats."
	"I liked your gray one." Michael smiled.  "That color is very 
rare where we come from." He flapped his wings lightly, gaining a 
little extra lift.  "When we fold our wings into the...trenchcoat was 
it?"
	Chris nodded.
	"When we do that, they change color.  We have no control over it, 
and it ends up being our seal color.  Kind of like a coat of arms for a 
household." He grinned.  "You should have seen the look on the artist's 
face when he saw my coat.  This color is next to impossible to find 
paint for.  Took him a month just to get started."
	"You keep talking about Knights." 
	Michael nodded.  "That's what we are."
	Chris frowned.  "What exactly ARE Knights?"
	"You could say we're the leaders of the Seven Houses.  That's 
just the title, though.  The actual definition are those who are 
blessed by the Pool of Angels.  There are a few other angels in our 
universe, but they are mostly prophets and scholars.  Knights of the 
Pool are the warriors."
	"Was my grandfather a Knight?" Chris asked.
	"No." SkitZ admitted.  "But to many people, he was even greater.  
He actually taught many of the Knights.  He did not have our powers, 
yet he could teach us to use them.  He was a very rare man."
	"That makes a lot of sense." Chris smiled.  "He loved teaching.  
On days where one would not want to get out of bed, he was up, ready 
with a sword, and dragging out of bed to show me some new move."
	"Sounds like him." SkitZ smiled.  "I only had the pleasure of 
learning from him for a year and a half.  But it was time I missed 
greatly ever since."
	"Are there any Knights here?" Chris asked.  "Besides you?"
	"Hell no." he replied.  "Most don't even know that this place 
exists.  When I told my house where I was going, they thought I was 
crazy." He paused.  "Well, of COURSE I'm crazy...but they thought it 
was just the Noize talking."
	"Head Noise?" Chris raised an eyebrow.  "Sounds like what a few 
of the people here get sometimes.  Maybe we could get some doctors to 
look at you."
	Michael's response was dry as a desert.  "It is not like ANYTHING 
any of your people have.  That, I can assure you.  And there is no 
cure."
	Chris was silent, not wanting to provoke him while they were 
zipping past skyscrapers.  
	"Sorry." Michael sighed.  "Just that it's nothing you could ever 
understand." He raised an eyebrow.  "No...wait...you could...but if you 
ever did, you would wish you hadn't." he forced his wings into a long, 
powerful flap, and they shot up and forward, assisted by some unseen 
hand of magic that Chris figured must be part of the wings.
	"Why haven't you told me anything about why you're here?" Fiss 
asked.  "I mean, you said you were going to take me to this Pool of 
Angels and save my head from popping...but how did you know how to get 
here...and how DID you get here?"
	Michael considered this for a moment.  "I'll show you later.  
Right now, we'll just get back to your...what did you call it?"
	"Car."
	"Yeah.  Your car." Michael smiled.  "Man, you sure have funny 
names for things here."
	"Be thankful I haven't mentioned Telletubbies or Furbies yet." 
Chris shuddered as they circled down around West Edmonton Mall.
	"Sounds like evil magic." SkitZ commented.  "Are they weapons?"
	"I think so." Fiss smiled.  "Very evil little objects."
	Michael smiled.  "We shall have to exchange information when 
you're safe from your headaches.  It will probably take a lot of time."
	
	They finally found Nacho parked in the lot, and Michael swooped 
down, dropping him off, did a quick flutter to slow down, and landed on 
the ground, wings already around his body in coat form.  
	Chris walked over to his car and pulled what looked like a 
traffic ticket off the windshield.  "A note?" he blinked.  
	"I don't hear anything." Michael replied.
	"Not that kind of a note." Chris held up the paper.  "I'm in 
trouble."
	Michael blinked and reached for his sword.  "What?" 
	"Not that kind of trouble..." Chris stopped himself.  "Well, then 
again, Rei's probably wondering where I am...so we may need weapons."
	"Who's Rei?" he smiled.  "Is she cute?"
	"Beautiful." Chris smiled, opening the door.  "But she's taken."
	"Ah." Michael nodded.  "So...where are we going?"
	Chris leaned over and opened up the passenger side door for 
SkitZ.  "You hungry?"
	"Thought you'd never ask!" Michael grinned, hopping into the 
seat.  "What is this thing?"
	"Well, most of us don't fly around." Chris explained.  "And 
walking is too slow.  So, we have cars." He turned the key.  A second 
later, popped it into gear.  "Lock N load."







	Dave felt something was wrong a full second before it happened.  
Some would say that even if this man wasn't the most intelligent member 
of the Web, he was definitely the best when it came to foresight.  
	"BROOOOOOOOOOOM!" 
	By the time Dave's mind had recognized the sound, distance, and 
accounted for the Omega Web HQ's space distortion, he was already in 
transport.  A quick mental flicker summoned his energy-form to pick up 
emergency support clothes, put them on, and check the oxygen levels of 
the gas mask.  
	He materialized in time to see the remains of the Point 
Calculator crystal bouncing a second time.  The surreal glass shards 
bounced like rubber off of the hard white floor.  Each time they hit, 
they left little trails of purple color hanging in the air.  
	As the final shards settled, Dave sighed, looking around at the 
faces of the Forging Team.  Each was a grave expression.  Even if Dave 
was one to chew out the mistakes of his team, he wouldn't have needed 
to.  They looked like shit.  That was enough.
	Dave, with a flash, removed his emergency clothes, returning to 
his lab-coat.  Sonia was there and walked over to him, putting her hand 
on his shoulder.  "We rushed...I'm sorry."
	"What now?" another asked.
	"Do it again." Dave said, walking towards the door.  "Still have 
enough time to do this three more times.  Just get it done."
	"Where are you doing?" Sonia asked as two of her team began to 
clean up the shattered crystals.  
	"I need to talk to Strike Fiss." He paused.  "He's the last 
person I know that might have any clue what's going on."  
	
























                             Chapter 11








	Everyone looked up with wide eyes as a tall man with short, spiky 
hair and a leather blue trenchcoat poked his head into the room.  "Hi!" 
he waved happily.
	Maury's entire arm began to glow as he pointed it at SkitZ.  "You 
better not be Avon calling."
	Chris walked in behind him.  "Don't worry, guys!  He's with me."
	"Where the hell WERE YOU!?!" Rei jumped up from the couch and ran 
over to him, giving him a big hug.  
	"Just flying around." SkitZ replied happily.  "You must be Rei." 
He extended his hand.
	Rei blinked, then shook his hand.  "And who are you?"
	Michael stood to his full height proudly.  "Archangel Michael, 
Knight of SkitZ and Virtue to the Pool of Angels."
	Everyone in the room's jaw had dropped.  
	Fiss walked smoothly over to the fridge and poured a glass of 
milk.  "What?  Haven't any of you seen an Archangel before?"
	Rei, still wide eyed, walked over to Chris and leaned over, 
whispering in his ear.  "Chris...do you KNOW what an Archangel is?  
Michael is supposed have power equal to, if not greater than 
Lucifer...this man is one of the most powerful...THINGS...in the 
universe!"
	He just shrugged.  "He seems like just a regular guy with wings 
to me." Chris turned to SkitZ.  "So, what do Archangels eat?"
	"Uh...well, I like peaches, myself." Michael replied absently, 
turning most of his attention to Maury's trenchcoat.  
	Maury watched nervously as SkitZ began to lift up the back of his 
coat and sniff it.  "Are you trying to turn me on?" he laughed.  "Cause 
it's working."
	Michael dropped Maury's coat and jumped over a chair to go over 
to the window.  He smacked his head on the glass, falling over.  
Everyone blinked.  He stood a moment later with a toothy smile.  "Hehe.  
Oh yeah...Glass..."
	Rei sighed.  "So much for organized religion."
	Demeter smiled and walked over to Michael, unlocking the patio 
door.  "Here.  Most of the doors around here work on these little 
latches."
	"Amazing." Michael blinked.  
	"Took me forever to figure out." Demeter grinned, sliding open 
the glass.

	Michael stepped out onto the balcony, smiling.  Across the city 
lay the color of gold.  Sunlight bounced off the sky scrapers and the 
crystal white snow.  The gray and brown roads turned into tiny rivers 
of light, crisscrossing the land precisely and flowing up impossible 
hills.  
	"Can you fly?" he asked quietly.
	Chris walked out to join him.  "No.  I can't fly."
	Michael turned to look at him.  "You're lying."
	He blinked.  "What?"
	"I...saw you flying." SkitZ whispered.  "You were flying." He 
closed his eyes.
	Slowly, his coat melted off of his back, shifting to gray and 
white feathers.  Maury, Rei, Miharu, Demeter and Andrea's eyes went 
wider.  
	"In that car, I saw you flying." SkitZ grinned, turning his head 
to Chris.  "These wings are just feathers.  Your car is just metal and 
fire and glass.  The magic is real, though."
	Chris looked out over the horizon with him, arms on the railing.  
"It feels good..." he sighed.  "Gets rid of the headache."
	"And for me, it silences the noise in my head."  Michael nodded.  
"But we can't fly forever, and the longer you're on the ground, the 
closer you're going to come to death."
	"When do we need to go?"
	"Anytime you're ready." Michael said.  "Sooner the better."
	Slowly, looking back into the hotel suite, he saw his friends and 
family.  Each person Chris would trust with his soul, and protect with 
his life a thousand times over if he only could.  "Give me a day."
	Michael nodded, his wings around him like a cloak.  "There's 
something else, Chris."
	"Mmm?"
	He took a long, deep breath.  "I came here for two reasons.  I 
knew because of what's happening in my home, you would be in danger 
from your headaches." He shook his head.  "The noise in my mind lets me 
see things nobody else can."
	"What's the second reason?" Chris asked, eyebrow raised.
	He shook his head.  "I can't tell you." He smiled.  "But, I can 
show you.  Not here, but later on."
	Chris blinked.  "What do you mean?"
	"I can't let you come with me until you know the full deal." He 
sighed.  "It would be dishonest of me to trick you to come with me.  
I'll have to show you later." He blinked.  "But for now, I need you to 
let me have your sword." 
	"What?" Chris backed off.  "No...nobody touches my sword...not 
after all the shit that's been happening."
	SkitZ nodded.  "Fine...you can do it.  But you have to trust me 
on this one." He pointed at Chris' katana.  "Take off the handle."
	Chris looked at SkitZ long and hard...debating weather or not to 
listen to the request.  He had never taken his sword apart.  Never 
needed to.  The damn thing was nearly invincible, and the grip hadn't 
needed replacing yet.  Finally, he sighed and walked back inside.  "I 
need a screwdriver."
	Maury found one in the desk drawer and handed it to Chris.  
"You're actually going to listen to him?" 
	"He knew Yamato, Maury..." Chris said.  "I trust him at least 
that much."
	He withdrew his sword and lay it on the floor.  With his fingers, 
he felt the leather grip for the place he was looking for...a tiny 
bump.  He carefully parted the leather wrappings to reveal a small pin.  
	Repeating the process to the other side of the handle, Chris then 
began to hammer the pin through to the other side, then, once it was 
far out enough, pushed it through with the screwdriver.  It fell to the 
carpet with a light thud, probably made from the same metal the blade 
was.  
	Carefully, Chris gripped the bare blade and began to pull on the 
handle.  Slowly, easing off like a piston, the wood and leather grip 
slid off the blade's end, revealing a smoky, blue-steel few inches, 
marked by some writing and the pin's hole.  Chris held up the blade and 
showed Rei.  "What does that say?" he asked, pointing to the writing.
	Rei shook her head, trying to make out the characters.  
"It...it's not Japanese...I have no idea what language that is."
	Some of the letters squiggled and curved, ending in tiny circles 
like a star-map.  Others could almost be of some alphabet, but were 
combined with extra lines and curves.  SkitZ walked over and knelt 
besides Chris.  "That is Theban Script." He said.  "One of the dozen or 
so Angelic Alphabets."
	"What...what does it say?" Chris asked weakly, gazing at the 
naked blade.  
	"Touch it." Michael said simply.  "Touch it and watch."
	His shaky hand finally slid over the etched script.  At first, 
nothing happened...but as he took his hand away, something was 
different.  The letters began to cast different shadows...dripping down 
off the sword like honey.  
	Everyone watched in absolute fascination as the shadows began to 
draw light from the room, and form a picture in mid-air over the sword.  
It was a circular crest.  It looked almost as if it was carved from 
wood...polished so it gleamed like metal.  Over the top, written along 
the edge, sat the same script that had been on the sword.  "That means 
Fiss." Michael whispered, touching the ghostly image.  "In the centre, 
this symbol means Guardian." He pointed to four smaller runes that were 
surrounding the centre.  "Protection, Life, Death, and Infinity." He 
smiled.  "Very nice combination.  Brings power to whatever cause you 
choose to protect."
	"What is this thing?" Chris asked, not even moving.  His eyes 
totally entranced by the hovering symbol.
	"It's your seal." Michael said.  "This is who you are...much more 
than your name ever could be." He smiled.  "Think of it as your soul's 
footprint.  All the Knights have them."
	Rei looked over to SkitZ, then Chris.  "What...what do you mean?"
	The seal disappeared with the break in concentration, and 
returned to the engraving on his sword.
	"I'm not from this universe." He sighed.  Everyone looked over to 
Chris.  He blinked.  "Well *I* didn't know about it!  Why are you all 
looking at me?!?"
	










	Beavis padded down the hall, leaving tiny paw-prints as he 
walked.  He hit planet side as the sun was setting.  The night seemed 
to filter into the darkened hotel.  An occasional person or two walked 
past him, not even paying any attention as he skittered in the corners.  
	That was, until a white and gray shoe slammed down an inch from 
his nose.  "So..." a dry voice said.  "We meet again, Bond."
	The hedgehog looked up, eyes wide, as Dave Reinquest stood over 
him.  "You?"
	"Me." Dave frowned.  A flash of light and a moment later, they 
were thirty thousand feet in the air.  

	And falling.

	Beavis gasped as they began to plummet.  "DAVE!  What are you 
DOING?!!"
	"I'm sure by now you will have noticed that I am suppressing your 
ability to fly." Dave said calmly as they fell.  He seemed to be able 
to stand straight up and down like he was simply on an elevator that 
was descending.  "Not only that, but by my calculations, you have less 
than two minutes until you hit the ground." He smiled happily, doing a 
little flip.  "Do you know what that means?"
	"You have my undivided attention." Beavis replied quickly, trying 
not to notice how fast the ground was coming up at his feet.
	"Exactly." Dave nodded.  "Now, I don't normally eavesdrop.  But, 
I was able to figure out something today." He took a deep breath.  
"Your Senshi, Chris, is not from our universe."
	"WHAT?" Beavis sputtered.  "That's impossible!"
	Dave regarded the plummeting hedgehog with a smile.  "Ah, the 
Elders.  So worried about what was impossible that they never thought 
to let their own universe work things out via the natural course of 
things.  Did you ever think that maybe Tumbler had a purpose in the 
grand scheme of things?  Perhaps, at least, to rid the universe of a 
race that would control it?"
	"How DARE YOU!" Beavis growled back.
	"Very easily, considering we are now about eighty-four seconds 
from touch-down, if you don't mind the expression." Dave said.  "Now, I 
know what you did in Armageddon.  I saw it.  I didn't stop it because 
quite frankly I didn't know what else to do." He frowned.  "And I was 
hoping you knew something I didn't."
	Beavis was silent as they fell.
	"You tried to make them go into Armageddon with the intent on 
changing something." He raised a hand to his chin.  "Now...let's 
see...what would YOU change...out of all the bad things that have 
happened in the entire..."
	"WOULD YOU GET TO THE POINT?!!!" Beavis yelled as they passed 
through some clouds.
	Dave nodded.  "You tried to alter time, destroy Tumbler, and fuck 
up everything that the Sailor Scouts have gained...just because you 
lost the battle to that bone-faced asshole.  But, like always, your so 
called good-intentions were not good for the universe." He crossed his 
arms.  "If Tumbler had been nuked from all existence, you can not even 
begin to conceive of the damage to our home.  Chances are that our 
timeline would be erased, and WE would join the poor bastard in non-
existence.
	"If you can't start fighting for the right reasons then you're as 
same as our enemy, my little friend.  And don't think that I cannot 
take you down like the little rodent you are." Dave leaned forward, 
looking into Beavis' eyes.  "Do you understand?  Forty seconds."
	Beavis nodded wearily.
	"Good." Dave nodded.  "Now, Chris touched Armageddon.  That would 
be bad normally.  However, his heart, mind and soul were focused on 
another universe when he did.  He saved us all from Armageddon by 
directing it to a place that probably doesn't even exist anymore.  From 
what I know, Tumbler got to his old universe." He paused.  "But 
something else has happened.  And I'm going to need a few days to check 
it out.  You need to stall Chris and his new friend Michael from going 
on their trip.  Just for a few days.  I'll show up to help when I know 
more."
	"Michael?" Beavis asked.
	"You don't have enough time to ask questions." Dave said, looking 
down.  "He needs you as a guardian.  Hell, that's the only reason 
you're not dead.  Are you going to do that for me?"
	"They're all dead." Beavis said quietly.  
	Dave blinked.  With a snap of his fingers, they stopped falling.  
"What?"
	The hedgehog looked at him with tired eyes.  "The Elders.  
They're all dead." He shook his pointy nose.  "I haven't been one since 
I betrayed my personal feelings for the safety of the universe, and I 
will have to live with that for a rather long time." He sighed.  "My 
place is with the Senshi...like it has been for a while.  You have 
nothing more to fear from me.  I cannot save a race that is already 
extinct."
	Dave...despite his mindset to give the little guardian one hell 
of a lecture...felt sorry for him.  His features softened and he took a 
long breath.  "I'm sorry...I had no idea."
	"As I looked at them...frozen in their own death throws...I had 
kind of a realization" he sighed.  "An epiphany.  All these centuries 
have been a waste of time for me.  I've been doing it all wrong."  
Beavis smiled weakly.  "You Omega Web people...you've had it right.  
Non-interference.  Only guidance.  Let the people who live in the 
universe decide it's fate."
	"We all live here, Beavis." Dave sighed.  With a snap of his 
fingers, they were back in the hotel hallway.  "And that's why we all 
need to stick together."  He knelt down to Beavis' level.  "We survived 
the hardest part.  Stopped the universe from committing suicide or 
going insane.  But the trouble isn't over, and it's just going to get 
weirder." He gently petted Beavis' back.  "Just make sure you don't 
make it any harder than it is, and everything will work out."
	Beavis sighed and waddled off.  "I think I'm going to get really 
drunk tonight."


























                           Chapter 12









	"I hope I didn't scare your friends." Michael said as he began to 
hover.
	Chris smiled to himself as he huddled in his own coat.  
"Actually, Sailor Moon, our leader, can sprout wings when she needs to.  
We're pretty much used to it."
	They were outside now, a few miles away from town in some 
undisturbed field of snow near a farm.  Michael was using his flying 
magic to literally walk on top of the field without leaving footprints.  
He took out his sword and began to trace Theban into the snow.  "Have 
you ever had wings?"
	"Nope." Chris laughed.  "I'm no angel."
	"That must be because you were re-born here." SkitZ said, moving 
over a few steps and continuing to trace in the snow.  "Though I still 
don't know how all that works."
	"WE don't even know how it works." Chris admitted.  "Every time 
there's a rule or guideline, one of us seems to break it.  As long as 
our heart-crystals are intact, it seems..."
	"Heart-Crystals?" Michael blinked, looking up from his drawing.
	"I haven't seen one myself." Chris explained.  "Apparently, we 
all have them.  They carry our life-energy and all that fun stuff." He 
paused.  "Maybe you can teach me how to write like that, and I can show 
you what I mean."
	"Good idea." Michael nodded, continuing.  "This is how we pass 
down most of our stories and history, but this language is banned from 
most of the populous because it's so dangerous."
	"Dangerous?"
	SkitZ nodded.  "If you don't have a lot of practice, and 
misrepresent a thought or mind-set, it's possible to drive someone mad 
just by letting them read." He grinned.  "Don't worry, I have a lot of 
practice."
	"Who wrote the seal on my sword?" Chris asked, looking down at 
his freshly assembled weapon on the hip of his coat.  
	"It's possible Yamato did." SkitZ said.  "He was a blacksmith as 
well as a teacher."
	"Really?  Back then too?" Chris smiled.  "Guess some things never 
change."
	"How long did you know him?"
	"Only a month in this life." Chris said sadly.  "And what I 
remember of my past lives comes in dreams.  I haven't had any new 
dreams in a while, though...just nightmares."
	Michael turned to Chris.  "He died?"
	Chris nodded.  "The first year I came to Japan...he...well, he 
was killed by one of my enemies." He sighed.  "Actually, he was killed 
by my clone."
	"Mm." Michael sighed.  "Well, at least it was by someone worthy.  
He was a great man.  If some thug robbed him in his sleep, that would 
give me enough reason to shove my sword up the poor bastard's ass and 
drive him insane for the last hour of his life before he bled to death 
anally."
	Chris nodded.  "Lovely thought.  I managed to destroy him on the 
molecular level...how's that?"
	"That will do."  Michael smiled.  
	"I never knew he was from another universe." Chris sighed, 
brushing some snow off of a hay bale so he could lean against it as 
SkitZ wrote.  "He was old by the time I started to remember things from 
my childhood.  Then, in this lifetime, I only met him that one month." 
He paused.  "Will you tell me a bit about him?"
	Michael nodded, still working on the intricate designs and 
patterns.  "Sure.  What do you want to know?"
	"I don't know..." Chris shrugged.  "Just tell me a story." He 
smiled.  "You can do that, right?  You don't need to write everything 
down."
	SkitZ thought for a moment.  "There was this one day during the 
first month of my training, where he was getting really pissed off at 
me." He raised his sword.  "I kept doing this."
	SkitZ's blade began emitting what could be called music...but it 
was mostly just an annoying, low buzz.  Chris laughed.  "How do you do 
that?"	
	"Well, SkitZ here..." he tapped his sword "is a weapon of sound.  
Yours is...well...I really don't know what kind of power yours 
has...but mine runs on thought and sound.  It's a nice mixture.  Let's 
me level people to the ground just by knowing the exact sound that will 
shut their minds down."
	"Mmm, sounds handy." Chris nodded.
	"Yup.  And Yamato was getting pissed off at me, because for 
hours, I'd just be making noise with it.  He he." He turned the bulk of 
his attention to the snow.  "So, one day, he comes up to me while I'm 
just dancing around, half naked, with my sword and making all the birds 
in the forest run for cover with all this noise.
	"'Michael,' he says, 'I will make you a deal.  If I can make more 
noise than you, you will be quiet when not using your powers to train.  
If you win, then I won't bother you any more about it, and you can make 
noise all day long.'" He smiled happily.  "Obviously, I thought he was 
crazy, but that I had a sure fire victory.  So I agreed to the bet."
	Chris smiled.  "What happened?"
	"He says that, when he nods, to start making as much noise as I 
can.  And he reaches over and touches my forehead, making some kind of 
pattern.  Then, when he's finished, he steps back and nods." SkitZ 
grinned evilly.  "So I pumped every ounce of NOIZE into my sword and 
let it fly!" he laughed.  "But it took me a second to realize that I 
didn't hear anything." He smiled.  "Absolutely nothing.  I couldn't 
even hear the wind or the birds chirping.  So, after trying really 
hard, I finally gave up.
	"So, Yamato leans over, wipes my forehead, and then suddenly I 
can hear.  He grins at me, opens his mouth, and yells at me.  I fall 
over on my ass, stunned.  He walks away happily, and I'm pretty much 
quiet except when I have to practice."
	"How did he do it?"
	SkitZ smiled.  "He wrote Theban for 'Silence' on my forehead.  
Though I WAS making a lot of noise, I couldn't hear it.  I didn't 
realize it was a trick back then, and so, he won.  All he had to do was 
not flinch when I was trying."
	"Smart man." 
	"Yup.  He knew his shit.  Anyone who can shut ME up has my 
respect." Michael cackled.  "He was also a great father-type person, 
but I guess you knew about that.  Taught me a lot."
	Chris nodded.  "Yeah.  He was the only family I had back on 
Enceladus...the first moon I ever stayed on.  Really boring there."
	"Do you remember anything about your first three years?" Michael 
asked.  "I got to see you as just a wee littl' baby." He laughed.
	"What?!" Chris blinked. 
	SkitZ grinned wide.  "Last time I saw you, you were about as long 
as my forearm, and your head looked like a large potato."
	"Then how come we're the same age now?" 
	"Actually, you're about half a year older than me, I think." 
SkitZ said, making an elaborate curve with the tip of his blade.  
"You'll know more of what I mean when I finish my little drawing here."
	Chris looked down at the snow.  It was rather amazing.  Michael 
continued to add to the intricate patterns.  Each symbol was just as 
important as it's relation to the others, Chris realized.  The most 
intricate vines and iron-fences wouldn't have been able to match the 
complexity.
	"This really is amazing." Chris said, motioning to the work of 
art that was unfolding.
	"Let's just hope a gust of wind doesn't come." SkitZ smiled.  He 
wrote the symbols that made up 'Fiss' at last.  Michael brushed his 
sword clean on his coat and sheathed it.  Then, he walked back over to 
Chris, never making any imprint with his boots on the snow.  "Okay.  
Two things you need to know."
	"Mm?"
	"You can stop this at any time by shifting concentration from the 
script to anything else." Michael said.  "But you shouldn't.  Not until 
you have your answers."
	Chris nodded.  "What else?"
	Michael looked at him with a stern eye.  "You will want to stop 
the vision.  And that is why you need to come with me." He pointed over 
to the patterns.  "Just go over and jump into the script."
	With a deep breath, Chris walked over to the edge of the snowy 
masterpiece.  "Just...?"
	"Just jump in." Michael smiled.  
	"Okay." Chris nodded.  Slowly, he took off his coat, tossing it 
away.  He checked to make sure his sword was at his side.  "Story 
time." 

	He jumped.























                                Chapter 13









	When Chris looked up, everything was dark.  He hadn't been 
expecting anything like this.  The symbol that jumped out of his sword 
had been pretty damn amazing...but this?

	This was a whole new world.

	Light and sky melded with the clouds, rolling into a giant storm 
both above and below.  For a split second, Chris felt an incredible 
feeling of vertigo.  It was like flying while standing on a conveyer 
belt.  
	It looked like Heaven.  "Heeeeeeere Cupid Cupid Cupid!" Chris 
called out with a laugh.  
	Instead of giggling Cherubim, however he heard a scream.  As he 
turned, the world shifted to night.  A rumbling storm swept over the 
sky and fire from below tossed smoke into the air, choking his vision.  
From the clouds rose six long pikes arranged in a triangle.  The way 
they slid in between the smoke sent a shiver through Chris.    
	He walked on the clouds towards them.  Each pole was metal.  
Rough and unpolished.  Raw from the earth.  The only clue that showed 
they were not some kind of twisted tree or root was that each was 
sharpened to a blunt, but obvious point.  
	The scream returned.  Louder than before.  It came from just over 
his shoulder...crying into his ear with frightful clarity and obvious 
pain.  "FISS!" he growled, mustering all the courage he could into one 
fluid motion.  Withdrawing his katana and spinning it around in a wide 
arch, anything behind him would be cleaved in two.

	Nothing was behind him.

	His blade shivered against the empty black sky, lit only by the 
distant fires below his feet.  Chill like he had never felt before was 
running through his bones, threatening to tear his senses away from 
them.
	"Shit..." he breathed out a jagged breath, reaching out with his 
fingers to his scabbard, sheathing his blade.
	That's when it started.  
	A low, crying moan.  Chris slowly turned back to the spikes.  

	Michael's lifeless eyes stared back.

	Chris almost fell over.  The man hung over one of the poles, 
impaled through the back.  Three feet of dripping red metal adorned 
where his rib-cage had split apart from the inside out.  His wings were 
stained with his own lifeblood, shedding silent feathers that fluttered 
to the smoke below, or stuck to the gore on his arms.  
	But the moan didn't stop.  It got louder.  It came from Michael 
and everywhere and up and down and inside and out.  Whispering the 
promise of pain.
	And it grew louder when Chris turned his head away, only to see 
another spike, covered with an angel's bleeding corpse.  This one was a 
woman.  Young and frail looking.  She had armor on her body, but it had 
been no defense against the intruding pile of metal.  Her back was 
nearly split open by the pike.  Bone mixed with once beautiful 
feathers, shredding what had been left of her wings.  Her open mouth 
spoke only the quiet drip drip drip of blood.
	Chris turned again, shaking.  His nightmares upon him now in the 
day.  As he turned back to the crying, the spikes had re-assembled in 
his single vision.  Each had a broken body over them.  Michael had been 
in the front, but he and the young woman had been joined by four 
others.  One angel had ripped, worn wings, but a massive body.  
Muscular and war sturdy.  His long, wild hair and beard were stained 
with dark red slashes of color.  His stomach and bowels dripped down 
from the spike-ripped flesh.
	Another, hung face down in a similar way, was a thin, tall man.  
His wings and limbs lay scattered in a mock crucifix; bone and joints 
stabbed through his own flesh, and let his extremities form unnatural 
shapes.  His face had been nearly torn off, from one cheek to his chin.  
Chris could swear he saw bite marks along the ghostly white skin.
	A gnarled, witch like woman hung on the next.  Her eyes black and 
dead.  Her body too small to hold the spike, yet it ripped through her 
throat, and hung her like a noose.  Wings wilted along her arms.
	The next looked like the giant spine had been driven down through 
his back as he sat hunched over.  It folded his back, and Chris 
couldn't make out a face because of the oily red mess that splattered 
against the dark white and orange wings. 
	Finally, as the moan had lengthened to a scream, there was the 
final angel, who's only distinguishing feature was the fact that most 
of her skin had been ripped off.  Glistening white bone stung through 
her breast, and exploded out against her face and limbs.  Tiny, 
delicate wings that looked like a butterfly's, were torn into shreds.  
She couldn't have been any older than Miharu's age.
	"Oh god...oh god..." Chris whispered to himself.  "I'm in 
hell..."
	He turned to run, and the scream stopped.

	Silence.  

	Blessed silence.

	Stealing himself against what might be next, Chris turned to the 
pikes again.
	
	And he saw himself looking back.

	Oh, there were differences.  This man had pale white skin, void 
of color.  Dark brown hair that framed his face and an all too familiar 
crooked smile.
	Black wings.  Folded around him like a robe.  Each feather shone 
in perfect glassy conformity.  

	Fiss looked back and smiled.  In a quiet...nearly whispering 
voice, he spoke.  "Hello, Christopher."









	"CHRIS!  CHRIS!  STRIKE FISS!  SNAP OUT OF IT!" Michael's 
powerful arms lifted him up like a rag doll, shaking him.  "LOOK AT 
ME!"
	"No!  This..." Chris shivered, shaking his head back and forth.  
"No!  NO!  FUCK!" he managed to pry away Michael's grip.  "HOW DID YOU 
KNOW!!!?" he demanded, reaching for his sword desperately, but not even 
being able to draw it.  
	Michael looked down at Chris as he sat, shaking in the snow.  "My 
god...I didn't think you'd get that far into the prophecy..." he closed 
his eyes and shook his head.  "You saw him, didn't you."
	"I SAW ME!" Chris yelled back.  "I saw the SAME fucker that keeps 
torturing me in my dreams!" he clawed desperately at what was left of 
the script on the snow.  "Was THAT who I was?" he looked up, voice 
shaking harder than his body was.  "Am I that god dammed bloody..." he 
screamed.  "SHIT!  I need to KNOW, SkitZ!"
	Michael folded his wings around himself.  "What do you want me to 
say?  Yes?  That the man who killed me and the other Knights to 
maintain his own power has some control over you?  That he IS you?"
	"I didn't kill you...I didn't kill them..." Chris whispered to 
himself.  "Who...who was the last one??  How old was she?  Jesus...I 
could never kill someone like that..."
	He turned away.  "I came here because I need your help, Chris."
	"YOU need help?!" Chris laughed, finally regaining some breath.  
"Sheeeit!  I'm seeing dead angels who looked like they exploded from 
the inside out." He shook his head.  "Michael...what the HELL is going 
on?"
	"Revelations." He sighed quietly.  "We're at war.  My brothers 
and sisters are not the same as the good days.  I need your help to 
fight to get them back."
	Chris' jaw had dropped.  "A...an angel war?  You want me to help 
you fight in an angel's war?"
	"IT IS YOUR WAR!" Michael spun, lifting Chris back up to his feet 
with one hand.  "Don't you understand?  Somehow, we're back.  Our 
universe died.  We never existed.  But now, everything's back.  Only 
Fiss and I know what happened.  I will do everything in my power to 
keep it from happening again.  So will Fiss...but only because he's 
scared of losing his throne." He sighed, putting Chris down.  "I need 
you to fight with me.  I need you to give me and my allies the edge we 
need to stop him."
	Chris closed his eyes.  "You mean...he's there?  Right now?"
	Michael nodded slowly.
	"How...how do I know you're the side I should be fighting for?" 
Chris asked.
	"Well." Michael sighed, walking back over to Nacho.  "You don't 
know.  This will be a leap of faith on your part." He shook his head.  
"I will take you to the Pool of Angels, and I will let you heal your 
nightmares.  If you wish to fight with me after that, I will be 
grateful, but if you wish to go home, I will send you back here and you 
can live out your days as the last survivor of a dead universe, instead 
of the Knight of Fiss."
	Chris opened his mouth to object, but he realized he couldn't.  
The headaches were getting worse every day.  The nightmares would soon 
make the prophecy he had just seen look like a picnic.  Even if Michael 
was taking him to his death, he had to risk it.
	He couldn't leave Rei and Miharu.  Not if he could help it.  Not 
when he had just gained them.  He had to try.
	"Deal." Chris sighed.
	Michael nodded quietly.  "Do you have liquor in this universe?"
	"Hell yeah."
	"Good." SkitZ sighed.  "I think we could use a drink."

























                              Chapter 14








	Chris looked up from his laptop to see Rei standing in the 
doorway, leaning up against the frame.  "Michael's sleeping on the 
couch.  I think he's done puking." She sighed.
	"Guess he wasn't quite ready for my Jolt and Jack combination 
drink." Chris smiled widely.  "How's it going?"
	Rei shook her head and closed the door.  "You look hilarious when 
you're drunk." She smiled.  "You keep trying to be serious, but you 
just end up looking goofy when you smash your head into things."
	"Hey!  I don't smash my head into things!" CRACK!  He blinked, 
then picked his head up from the desk.  "See?  I just crack it into 
things."
	"You're still goofy." She snickered, walking over and pouring 
herself a drink from what was left of a bottle of Jack Daniel's and 
some Jolt that Chris always seemed to have an extra bottle of.  Chris 
watched her, hypnotized as she poured the liquids.  "You really are 
drunk, aren't you?" 
	"Yup." He breathed out a long sigh.  "Ugh.  Long over due.  
Sometimes I wish I was an alcoholic.  It would probably go well with 
this line of work."
	"You act drunk half the time anyway." Rei smiled sweetly as she 
sat across from him on the tiny table. 
	"True." Chris nodded.  His head movements exaggerated from the 
liquor.  "But the last time I got drunk was just before Tumbler killed 
everyone."
	Rei's eyes darkened at the mention of his name, but she nodded.  
"Yeah." With a quick tip of her head, she downed almost the entire 
glass...then immediately regretted it.  "Ohhh GEEZE that's strong..."  
her voice wasn't much more than a gasp.
	"I was about to warn you...but I'm a little slow right now." He 
smiled sympathetically, taking a sip.  
	"What..." she coughed "What made you two need to get drunk 
anyway?  See something?  Another dream?"
	Chris shook his head.  "No.  Worse."
	"Tell me about it." She insisted, tipping her glass back, 
managing to get it down to half-full without flinching this time.
	"It turns out that me, in my old universe, is not the nice 
friendly fuzzy Fiss you know and love." He sighed.  "He's trying to be 
a god.  He's winning the support of the other angels.  If Michael is 
who and what he says he is...then he's losing the war.  He needs help, 
Rei."
	Rei nodded slowly.  "And you have to provide that help."
	"Among other things." He shrugged.
	There was a long pause.  Rei finished her glass.  "I'm going 
too."
	Chris' eyebrow raised slightly.  "No you're not.  I don't even 
know if you can come along.  It might not be possible."
	Rei's nose wrinkled up.  "It might not be possible?"  she shook 
her head with a sigh.  "Chris...when has that ever stopped us?  When 
has the impossible been nothing more than something we just needed to 
work on.  It's not a brick wall...it's Jell-O.  The impossible is just 
a quirk we sometimes need to get around.  And if you don't let me come 
along on this little crusade, then I'm scared that you're going to 
forget what you have in THIS universe." 
	"Rei..."
	"I'm serous." She said quietly.  "If you have a cause to fight 
for, you give it your full attention.  What if that cause takes you 
away from your family?  Your friends?" she gave him a weary smile.  
"That is all too possible."
	Chris sighed, swirling his drink around in it's glass.  "So you 
want to come." He smiled.  "I want you to come too.  I suppose it would 
be a good idea...especially if we need more help than just I can 
provide." He looked up.  "Miharu will want to come...Maybe even Maury 
and Hooze.  I'll ask Michael to see if it's okay."
	Rei nodded her head happily, satisfied at the answer.  "Sounds 
perfect.  Now, there's just one more thing I need to know."
	"Oh?" Chris said, putting a little more Jolt in his glass.
	"What did you buy earlier on at the mall?" she asked casually, 
hoping Chris' drunken mind wouldn't pick up.
	Chris nodded.  "I got the secret ingredient to Mo and Fiss' Hold 
Ya Down And Scream For Mercy Chocolate Kisses."
	"And that is?"
	He looked left, then right, expecting spies but finding none.  
Slowly he leaned over the table.  Rei's eyes widened and she leaned 
over to hear him whisper.  He cleared his throat, and said:  "The 
secret ingredient is..." he smiled  "a secret.  And you must think I'm 
pretty drunk if you thought I was about to tell you."
	Rei fell over onto the table.  "Dammit!  Chris...I AM going to 
find out, you know."
	"Not in a million years." He smiled happily, touching his glass 
to hers, making a light crystal 'ting.'
	"Then I'll live a million and one years, and figure it out then." 
She smiled.
	"Deal." He nodded, leaning over and kissing her on the nose.
	"So if I try and seduce you when you're drunk, is that illegal?" 
Rei asked sweetly.
	"I'm not sure." Chris shrugged.  "I suppose you'll have to try to 
find out." 
	"I was hoping you'd say that." She smiled, standing and going 
over to the light switch, dimming the living room's lights.  Chris 
watched with a raised eyebrow as she went over to the cupboards and 
took out some candles.  







	Andrea opened her eyes to a bizarre smelling odor.  "What on 
EARTH?" she laughed as Demeter came into the bedroom with a tray of 
food.  
	Well, food was a relative term.  They were about the size of 
mushrooms, and looked to be about the same shape...except that they 
were a glossy chocolate color with little square chunks poking out of 
the otherwise rounded objects.  Demeter smiled proudly, setting the 
tray down next to her plate on the little table they were sharing for 
dinner.  They sat on the floor, however, next to the low window, 
watching the stars and city below.  
	"So what are these anyway?" Andrea asked, pressing her finger 
against one of them.  It squished quietly, then rebounded like a 
marshmallow.  
	"Just something Chris and Maury helped me whip up." He smiled 
happily. 
	"Whip up, huh?" she laughed.  "Sounds kinky."
	He smiled and started dishing out the food.  "Can I ask you 
something?"
	"You just did." Hooze smiled cockily.
	"Damn...I always fall for that..." he shook his head.
	"It's okay." Andrea grinned.  "Just bugging you."
	He sat down across from her and nodded.  "Okay.  The question." 
He raised an eyebrow.  "Do you ever think about the future?"
	Andrea looked up at him with a half-smile.  "Is that supposed to 
be a joke, Demeter?  I'm the co-caretaker of Time."
	"I meant..." he paused.  "More of...our future."
	She blinked, then nodded to herself.  "A lot, actually."
	"It's strange." He sighed.  "I've known you only a few hundred 
days on this planet, but I could tell you things about yourself that 
you probably don't even know."
	Andrea raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" she smiled.  "Like what?"
	"Well, for instance, you like to have someone watching over you 
when you sleep." He smiled slightly as Andrea blushed to a beet red 
color.  "Your mind relaxes a lot more when you know you can dream 
safely.  Even if I'm just sitting on a chair in the same room, it seems 
to help."
	Andrea looked up from the burning candles and into Demeter's 
crystal clear eyes.  "I...didn't know that...but I guess I have been 
sleeping better since you came."
	"I know you also like my hair." He grinned.  "Even though I 
almost got it to be perfectly human now."
	"I like the sound it makes." Andrea smiled.  "That one's easy." 
She reached over across the table and brushed a lock of stray hair from 
his eyes.  It made the faintest sound of a wind-chime as she did.  "You 
have awesome hair."
	"Yours is copper, you know?" 
	"Uh?"
	"Under sunlight." Demeter said.  "Your hair is normally brown, 
but it gets little flecks of copper when it's really sunny outside."
	"Demeter...are you trying to flatter me?"
	"Is it working?" he looked up hopefully.
	Andrea smiled, mostly to herself.  "Yes, actually."
	"I have yet to begin." He stated proudly.  "Hehe."
	There was a long pause.  "Demeter, can I ask you a question?" 
	"You just did." He smiled.
	She shook her head.  "WHY are you trying to flatter me?"
	He paused, then shrugged a bit disappointedly, "Well, we ARE you 
know...a couple...I don't see why I should have to explain it..."  He 
looked down, then up at Andrea again, who seemed to have paled 
slightly, "I dunno...I guess I'm still not used to the time?  I'm 
trying!"
	"No, no..." Andrea sighed, her goofiness muted by a more serious 
tone.  "Hell, out of the two of us, you know what you're doing more 
than I do half the time."
	"So...I didn't screw up?" he smiled, "That's one small step for 
man..." he added to himself.
	Andrea scratched at her head, "I...I get scared sometimes, that's 
all."
	Demeter blinked.  "What...of me??  Andrea, you know I'd never 
hurt you or..."
	"Not like that," she smirked softly at his innocence.  "I mean 
how intense my feelings got for you in so little time...it scares me 
that, even though I know better, that you're not going to stay."
	"W-what?!" he said bewildered, "Hey!  I floated in space for a 
thousand years to be with you!"  Demeter's eyes softened to something 
Andrea saw to be very human, "And I'd do it all over again if I had 
to."
	She hugged him.  She hugged him so tight that Demeter flinched a 
little.  They sat on the floor in her room.
	"I know..." she whispered, "That's what scares me!"
	He laughed.  "Afraid you're turning into a stalker like me, eh?"
	"What do you mean turning??" she smiled evilly.  They were both 
quiet for a moment, and Demeter shifted to rest his head on her lap.  
Andrea brushed her hand through his hair, smiling at the tinkling it 
made.
	"...I get scared sometimes, too." Demeter whispered, "Scared that 
I'm too far behind to catch up to you."
	Andrea kissed his forehead, then looked into his eyes.  "Are you 
kidding??  All this mayhem and re genesis has pretty much nuked 
anything we could consider tradition, or normal society."  She closed 
her eyes, "We have a chance to start probably the ONLY non-pre-destined 
relationship in the entire bunch with a whole new set of rules!  It's 
gonna be great."
	The Zistle thought a moment, "Wow...and all it took was an 
Apocalypse, an Armageddon, and a crazy alternate universe to bring us 
closer."
	Andrea grinned, "Now, if only that could happen for more 
relationships, the world would be a better place."
	"You're right...I feel much better."
	The smile widened on her lips, "I've never felt so groovy before 
as I do with you, Demeter.  I love you." 
	Demeter cuddled closer and took her hands in his, looking up from 
his resting spot on her legs.  "I love you too, and whatever groovy 
means, I'm guessing I'm feeling that too."
	"Now then..." she cleared her throat, "Can I have a kiss?"
	Demeter looked lost, but quickly found again, "Oh!  Yeah, they're 
on the tray.  I'll get you one."
	"That's not what I meant..." she winked, then pressed her lips 
against his.
	He smiled widely afterward, "Wow!  Girls don't even have to EAT 
them for them to work?!  God bless Maury and Chris..."
	Andrea shook her head, "C'mere, you..." she grabbed his shirt and 
hauled him in for a kiss.  "Keep talking sweet to me, and you won't be 
thanking Maury or Chris..." She whispered.  "Though you might be 
thanking me."
	"Is that a promise?" Demeter replied with a raised eyebrow.
	Andrea nodded with a smile, pulling him in closer.  "Ooh yeah."
	



















 






                           Chapter 15







	
	Simultaneously, eyes opened and lips smiled across the connected 
hotel rooms.  The MOST delicious smell was coming from the kitchenette.  
Even Maury, who had rose to Lita's wonderful breakfasts on more than 
one occasion, had to admit that this was even better.  
	Michael, who had been tossing and turning most of the night on 
the couch, nursing his hangover, nearly leapt off of the cushions in an 
effort to get to the kitchen first.  
	When he and Maury poked their heads inside, they were surprised 
to see Dave Reinquest and Beavis setting the table.  
	"Dave?  Beavis?" Maury blinked, wiping his eyes.  "Am I still 
dreaming or something?"
	Dave had a long apron on that said "Shag the Cook" on the front, 
and a tall chef's hat.  He turned to the young men and smiled.  "Boys!  
Nice of you to join us!  We made breakfast!" he pointed over to the 
sunshine-lit table.  
	Michael was instantly at the table, perched like a bird on one of 
the chairs, scooping waffles and sausages into his hands, then eating 
them happily.  "Gooo stuuu!" he complimented the cooks over a mouthful 
of bacon.
	Maury took another seat and showed Michael the virtues of a plate 
and utensils before he got too messy with the maple syrup.  Dave had 
poured them some coffee as Chris and Rei walked in, looking at the 
feast prepared with wide eyes.  
	Beavis beamed at the two.  "Good morning, Fiss, Miss Mars."
	"Did you cook all this, Dave?" Rei asked, astonished.  The entire 
table was a mountain range of alternating kinds of food.  It smelled 
like a dream, and looked delicious.  
	"Naw.  Beavis helped." Dave said, setting a bowl of fruit next to 
the two boys who were already busy competing to see who could belch the 
loudest.  
	"My way of saying sorry for the Armageddon incident." The little 
hedgehog said, zipping across the counter to retrieve some butter.  "I 
should have told you all more about it to begin with."
	Chris shrugged and sat down next to Maury.  "Cool.  A free 
breakfast for every end of the world!"
	"Did someone say breakfast?" Andrea yawned, stumbling around the 
corner.  Demeter poked his head around a moment later.  His hair 
tinkling slightly.
		

	They all were busy chewing and scarfing down when a thought 
occurred to Rei.  "Dave...why are you here?" she asked, setting down a 
cup of tea.
	"I'm coming with you." Dave said with a smile.  
	They all looked up and blinked.  "What?" Chris asked.
	Dave took off his giant chef's hat and placed it on the counter.  
"I assume a few of you are planning a trip to another Universe.  I 
would like to come along."
	Michael blinked, turning to Chris.  "How does he know about our 
universe?"
	"He knows pretty much everything, SkitZ.  That's who he is." 
Chris said, turning back to Dave "But why he would want to come along 
with us is beyond me."
	Michael frowned.  "Not to mention I am NOT taking back someone 
that I don't even know."
	"Pish posh!" Dave said, producing a glass of orange juice from 
out of mid-air.  "I'm perfectly harmless.  I suppose the big reason I 
want to come is to make sure OUR world is intact.  I want to compare 
notes.  Get some Point readings.  Look around.  See if anything bad is 
happening to here because of there." He drank his glass in one gulp.  
"But I am also curious as hell to check out another Universe." He 
smiled wide.  "Not only that, but one back from the grave?  It's 
amazing.  It defies every law in the cosmos!  I can't wait to meet it!"
	Chris turned to Michael.  "How many people can you bring with 
you?"
	Michael blinked.  "I was only going to take you and I back 
through the boundary."
	"That's another thing I look forward to." Dave mentioned.  "Might 
help me figure out some timeline breaches and continuity problems on 
the Point Calculator."	
	"I am not TALKING to you." SkitZ said firmly.  "I am talking only 
to my fellow Knight.  The rest of you simply aren't invited."
	"SkitZ..." Chris warned. 
	"I'm SERIOUS!" Michael growled, standing up.  His coat made a 
sharp leather whipping noise as he did.  "This is not a camping trip 
into the woods.  This is fighting a war against angels just as powerful 
as me or Fiss." 
	"We know the risks.  We've fought wars before." Rei said.
	"Do you know what an angel is?" Michael said.  "I don't know what 
you've been taught in this silly poky universe, but where I'm from, I'm 
pretty damn sure." He slid his sword out of his scabbard.  "This is who 
we are.  We kill all day.  We fight wars that nobody sees.  We turn 
cities into salt.  Destroy galaxies when we feel like it." He leaned 
over, looking at Chris intently.  "Your counterpart and I once turned 
fifty thousand men into piles of screaming dust, then let them fill a 
desert with their endless howls of pain.  You can still hear them to 
this day.
	"And when we DON'T do that, we try to protect whatever we think 
is worthy of our attention." He sheathed his sword.  "And that alone 
makes sure there is an endless supply of fuckers who think they can 
destroy it."
	Rei placed a hand on Chris' shoulder.  "And what if he dies while 
you're trying to get him to this Pool of Angels?" she said.  "What if 
something happens, and just when you need a little extra backup, you 
get attacked or ambushed or something else you're not prepared for 
happens."
	Michael crossed his arms, shaking his head.  "Then at least only 
we will be dead.  Not half of your own universe's Knights." He paused.  
"That's what the Senshi are, aren't they?  Guardians who try their 
damnedest to protect what they think is right and just?  I'm not going 
to risk you all for our war."
	Chris looked over to Dave, who seemed just itching to say 
something.  He took the hint and nodded.  "Michael, my friend." He 
walked over, putting his hand on SkitZ's shoulder to the obvious 
discomfort of the angel.  "It is my understanding that you need another 
Knight to even begin to balance out the powers in this war.  Correct?"
	"Yes...?" Michael growled, knowing he would regret answering very 
shortly.  
	"But Chris here," he pointed to Fiss who smiled "is not from your 
universe.  Well, even if he was, and his soul in general is, his body 
and current powers have not been as rooted in this other existence like 
yours have been."
	"So?"
	"So, what if you get to the Pool of Angels, do whatever you need 
to do, and find out that all it did was get rid of Fiss' nightmares?" 
Dave shrugged.  "Oh oh.  You only have the help of Strike Fiss, Prince 
of Saturn...no offence, Fiss..."
	"None taken." Chris shrugged.
	"And not Fiss, Knight of blah blah blah." Dave waved his hand 
around for emphasis.  "There is a phrase we use in this universe that 
describes that situation.  You will be 'shit out of luck.'" Dave 
smiled.
	Michael said nothing, continuing to look angry at Dave's hand on 
his shoulder. 
	"Or, even worse...heaven forbid...Chris is unaffected by this 
pool, and he goes insane." Dave shook his head.  "I don't think he's 
going to help you win a war then."
	"I am well aware of the risks." Michael grumbled.
	"Yes, perhaps you are.  But these risks would be a LOT less if 
you had us come along as well." He smiled proudly.  "I can do my best 
to help Chris till we get back to our universe, and then I'm sure the 
Key of Purity..." he shook his head.  "Sorry, Armageddon talk...the 
Silver Crystal...can hopefully save his head as a last resort.
	"Also, I know for a fact that each and every one of the people in 
this room is able to fight a small army by themselves." Dave continued, 
motioning to the group.  "And I'm not really bound by extreme Omega Web 
non-interference acts if I decide you ARE the right side to fight for."
	"Mmph..."
	Dave smiled.  "Oh, not to mention I might be able to figure out 
the fabric of Cosmotic space-time and Formation.  That means I might be 
able to protect universes like ours from people like Tumbler in the 
future.  No more Armageddons.  No more non-existence.  Didn't you say 
you were fighting to keep your universe alive?  Well, this is a rather 
good research opportunity in that direction."
	Despite his scowl, Michael was listening.  "Go on..."
	"Also, once we leave this universe, I can probably copy the 
sequences to a scientific model, and we can travel back and forth 
easier than on...excuse the expression...wings of an angel." Dave said, 
pointing out the window.  "You'd have a permanent refuge from enemies, 
and an emergency meeting place in case you need it."
	Chris walked over to Michael.  "You asked for my help.  I'll go, 
but my friends are also willing to go if it means fighting for a good 
cause.  If I can't fight as well as your hoping, then their help would 
be exactly what you need."
	"It's the neighborly thing to do." Demeter smiled.
	"Fine." Michael sighed.  "But I can only take one or two of you 
extra.  I can only carry so much."
	"Not a problem." Dave said.  "I'll take care of the weight, as 
long as you get us there."
	"How?" Michael demanded.
	"If he says he can," Chris smiled.  "he can...and he's probably 
already packed and ready to go."
	Michael looked at them all.  Looking each of them over, centreing 
on Chris a few times with an angry look.  "Fine.  But I am not 
responsible for anyone who does not make it back to this world."
	"When do we leave?" Dave asked eagerly. 
	"I need time to draw the script." Michael said.  "And a large 
field or something to do it in.  Undisturbed snow or sand.  It has to 
be absolutely perfect."
	Dave smiled.  "I have just the place!  I'll just un-dock a part 
of the training dimension to somewhere safe.  You'll have all the sand 
you need."
	"It will take a day to draw." SkitZ said.  "If you can have it 
set up, we'll start right away."
	With a flick of his wrists, a small cellular phone was in his 
hands.  Dave pressed a button and raised it to his face.  "Undock ten 
thousand square meters of the training universe to the following co-
ordinates." He punched in a bunch of numbers.  "Thanks." He turned to 
SkitZ.  "Ready when you are!"
	Michael turned to Chris.  "You better be sure about this.  By the 
time we're ready to go, you better make sure everyone knows what 
they're getting into.  I'd offer to show them, but only Knights can 
read the level of Theban that you saw."
	"When he's done, I'll call." Dave said, straightening his coat.  
"Come to the warehouse on ninth.  It's an Omega Web building.  Should 
be filled with sand by now."
	They all nodded.  Michael turned to Dave.  "Can you fly?"
	"Yup."
	"Good." He grinned.  "Try to keep up."  His coat exploded open 
and formed his wings in less than a second.  Even Chris was surprised 
how fast they were.  
	They walked over to the balcony, and jumped off, into the sky.






















                                Chapter 16









	Everyone sat around the table, sipping their tea.  Andrea and 
Demeter.  Maury and Chris.  Rei and Miharu.  Beavis sipped tea from a 
saucer silently as everyone waited for someone to speak.
	"He's right." Chris said finally.  "This isn't a camping trip.  
This is a war we're going to."
	Rei crossed her arms.  "You already know how I feel."
	Everyone nodded their encouragement.  Maury downed the rest of 
his cup.  "Remember when we were called to the Negaverse to try and 
help out, Chris?" he smiled.  "We had no idea what to expect.  No clue.  
Hell, we had only heard stories about brief encounters up until then."
	"But we still helped." Andrea nodded.  "Kicked the shit out of 
the bad guys.  I'd say that was a fairly good war in itself."
	"Yeah.  For two days." Chris shook his head.  "We're talking 
months now.  What happens if we're in there for two months?  Or even 
two weeks for that matter?  Even if we decide to get the hell out of 
there after I get to this Pool of Angels, and we just go home right 
afterwards." He paused.  "Two weeks would probably be the minimum." He 
turned to Maury. "I know you have some survival training.  You love to 
camp and shit like that, Mo...but hell, even you have no idea what to 
expect in another world.  What if the fucking trees have fangs and they 
are all able to fly?"
	Everyone was silent.  
	"Not to mention that we're probably going to meet up with me." 
Chris said coldly.  "Who I was.  The fucker I keep having nightmares 
about.  That alone is enough to give ME second thoughts about going."
	Miharu shook her head.  "But you have to go."
	"And you don't." Chris replied quickly.  "None of you do.  Dave 
maybe.  If it helps him figure out how to save our universe from future 
Tumblers or Armageddons, I say that's fine.  But what if something 
happens, and only people FROM that universe can survive?  You'll all be 
dead." He sighed.  "And before you start refuting that, you should know 
that anything is possible.  Hell, a million new deaths in every 
universe.  Who knows?"
	Beavis cleared his throat.  "We are all quite aware of the 
dangers."
	"Are you?" Chris frowned.
	"What happened to you, Chris?" the hedgehog demanded suddenly.
	Chris blinked.  "Pardon?"
	"I remember a time when you were damn near jumping out of your 
seat, ready to kill and die if it meant being a hero." He said, pacing 
across the table.  "Meanwhile, you've gotten used to the routine.  
What's worse, is that you're scared to do anything about it in fear of 
your nightmares getting worse." He shook his head.  "What happened to 
you?"
	"I grew up." Chris said, crossing his arms.  Immediately, though, 
Beavis saw the twinge of regret on his face.  
	"Here's the NEW deal, Strike Fiss." Beavis said, using a 
commanding tone of voice.  "We are going.  We are going on what could 
possibly be the greatest adventure of our lives.  Exploring not just a 
new world, but a new set of rules.  A new reality.  A new existence.  
Where angels exist, writing jumps out at you, and maybe even flying 
trees leap at you in the night with razor fangs, but we are going 
nonetheless.
	"Like always, each event and fight leads to the present, and we 
are willing to test our skills against whatever this new universe holds 
for us.  If we fail, we just go home.  If we win, we may be able to 
help the forces of good and justice regain a foothold in what appears 
to be a rather bleak existence from what you've told me." Beavis said 
triumphantly.  "And we WILL win.  It's who we are.  Who you are.  Who 
we ALL are." He walked over to Miharu, who was smiling happily.  "And 
you'll be able to let your daughter have a REAL adventure.  Not a fight 
to the death, or a desperate last-second race against evil.  An honest 
to goodness ADVENTURE!" his voice soared.
	Everyone smiled as Beavis walked back over to Chris.  "And if you 
want to come along...then be our guest." He bowed his head.

	Silence.

	Chris held his head for a while.  Cradling his chin on the top of 
his fist.  His other hand curled forgotten around his tea.  "Fine.  A 
two week adventure.  But if it's a hopeless war, we're leaving."
	"Sounds fair." Maury nodded.
	Miharu's eyes brightened ten-fold and she leapt at him with a big 
hug.  "Thanks dad.  Don't worry, we'll all be fine!" she giggled 
happily.
	He nodded slowly, waiting for her to let go of his shoulders.  
When she did, he stood.  "It's settled then.  Twenty hours from now, 
we'll meet at the warehouse and be on our way." He said.
	"Where are you going?" Andrea asked as Chris walked towards the 
door, slipping into his coat. 
	Chris shrugged.  "Since this is our last day here for what could 
be a while, I'm going to spend it enjoying this universe."
	They all blinked, suddenly realizing how true that was.  This was 
their last day.  "Good idea." Andrea stood, dragging Demeter with her.  
"Come on, baby." She smiled.  "Let's go for a night on the town."
	
	Rei turned to Miharu as Chris closed the door behind himself.  
"This is just what he needs.  A trip.  Something to do." She sighed 
hopefully.
	Miharu nodded.  "I hope so."

























                                 Chapter 17









	I wrote a letter today.  Sent it to a few people that might care.  
Basically, just a warning that the Senshi wouldn't be around for a few 
months.  
	One went to the Premier.  Poor guy.  I still feel bad about 
putting him in the spot-light like I did.  But at least we got his 
attention.
	The second went to the Police.  God, they've been amazing this 
last year.  I think that if people would stop looking at the super-
heroes and flashy powers, they'd realize the REAL heroes were the men 
and women who busted their asses all day, every day, on the streets and 
knee-deep in scum.  I donated all the money I had to the local 
precinct, as a kind of thank you, I suppose.  I hope, somehow, it helps 
them keep things okay while we're gone.  
	The other to the Mayor of Edmonton.  Apologizing for the messes 
and promising we'd come back soon as possible to finish what we 
started.  

	Imagine my surprise when I got a reply e-mail from him ten 
minutes later.  

	I read it right now as I look out over the city.  Something 
magical about the words and the view.  "You have a home here.  All our 
support.  Anything you need.  Any time, anywhere.  I know there are 
many more evils out there, and we cannot monopolize your time.  But 
also know that we will welcome you back with open arms, and pray for 
your safe return."
	
	Fuck.  When did this all turn into a crusade?  When did this stop 
being a dozen and a half kids trying to balance school, puberty, and 
fighting evil in one lifetime?  When did it turn into what it is now?  
A nightmare world, where the only salvation is knowing that the next 
dream might be a happy one.  A world where the evils have spotted us, 
and now see us as their next target.

	But...

	While the evil's fighting us, it's not hurting the World.

	Someone once told me that the worst evil is within ourselves.  
That's why I'm going to this place with a man I have only known a day 
and a half.  Not to be cured from nightmares, but so I can see if this 
is true.
	See if I can stop myself from becoming what I keep seeing in the 
mirror.  
	Ohh...but damn if I'm not close.  

	This.  Close.  To regaining everything I've lost.  Just a little 
more, and I can find out what I'm made of.  Find out who I am.  Good or 
evil, it doesn't matter, so long as I start with the truth on my way to 
salvation or damnation.  
	
	I just wish I could hold on to it this time.  The truth.  The 
wonderful clarity.  It keeps slipping.  I drive around in Nacho, and my 
spirit soars.  Then, I look at my reflection, and what I gained dies 
faster than any man I've killed.  I spend an evening with Miharu, 
teaching her how to be me, so maybe, the evil has a harder time keeping 
up.  But I put down my sword, and I can feel my mind closing in.  I 
spend a night with Rei.  We talk, we converse, we think as one mind; 
and maybe one body if we're really all not too tired.  But that all 
fades when I wake up from the nightmares of her severed body laying on 
the ground in a pool of blood a thousand miles wide.
	
	That's enough to knock the clarity from anyone's head.

	And yet, Beavis had a point today.  With all of his romanticized 
talk of grandiose adventuring...had a real point.

	I've been so caught up in the evil that I forgot how great it was 
to fight against it.  To wake up the morning after some horrific fight 
to the last man...and realize that you just saved the ENTIRE FUCKING 
UNIVERSE!  

	I miss that feeling a lot.  I miss fighting for what I believe 
in.  Too worried about fighting to save my own ass to do that.  Damn 
I'm stupid.  A man cannot live on the saving of his own ass alone.  He 
has to have things.  Things to fight for.  To believe in.  To hope for.  

	And so, for a start, I have one hope.  One dream to believe in. 

	I'm going to ram my sword down the throat of the man in the 
mirror, and split him open.  Yeah.  That's a nice thought.  

	That's a start.  

	









	Dave sipped his tea as he watched Michael float above the sand, 
dragging his sword across it in tiny patterns.  It had been five hours 
since they came to the warehouse and he had started on the design.  His 
wings were half extended from his body, like a light gust of wind was 
keeping him up.  The light black undercoat he wore under his wings 
didn't flap, though.  "Don't you get warm with all those coats on at 
the same time?" Dave asked, breaking a long standing silence.
	Michael looked up, annoyed, but with a shrug.  "Not really.  Our 
wings just feel like part of us.  We're used to them.  Even when we 
hide them." He took a moment to stretch his back and arms.  "Don't you 
get tired of wearing that coat?"
	Dave smiled, looking down at his lab coat.  "Never."
	Michael nodded.  "It's nice.  Too bright, though.  You can't go 
anywhere without being seen."
	"Don't worry about that." Dave nodded.  
	"Mmm.  So you keep telling me." He turned his attention back to 
the sand.
	Finishing his tea, Dave made the little plastic cup vaporize into 
thin air.  "Tell me, Michael." He cleared his throat.  "What made you 
come here?"
	"I told you." He mumbled from over his chest as he looked down, 
tracing in the sand.  "I needed help.  I knew he needed help too.  
Figured it would be a great trade, so I chanced crossing the barrier."
	"How did you know Strike Fiss was in danger?" Dave inquired.
	Michael grumbled.  "I'm busy if you don't mind.  This is going to 
take until morning to complete."
	"And stopping for five minutes to answer my questions won't set 
you back an hour." Dave pointed out.  "Now, I'd like to know what's 
going on."
	Michael glared at Dave, but finally shook his head in a quick 
nod.  "Fine.  I had a dream." He said.  "We don't dream like you do.  
Like anyone does.  Our dreams are prophecies and visions.  Sometimes, 
we have dreams that are entire worlds and galaxies.  Sometimes, we have 
dreams that are the insides of a flower." He pauses, shaking his head, 
unsteadily.  "I had a dream where there were two of him.  Fiss."
	"Go on?"
	"It was..." Michael swallowed hard.  "Devastating.  I have never 
seen a battle like that before.  It was the kind of thing that makes 
seasoned warriors look on in shock.
	"But, then, just as what I could determine to be the good 
Fiss...THIS universe's Fiss...was about to strike a winning blow to his 
counterpart..."
	Dave blinked as Michael's eyes went dark.  It was a physical 
change.  "Michael?"
	He nodded.  "But just before he won, he fell."
	"What?" Dave asked after a pause.  "You mean he tripped?"
	"No." Michael almost laughed.  "He fell.  He lost his wings, and 
he fell." He looked up at Dave with his eyes still clouded over with 
some kind of dark mood.  "Now do you understand why I knew he was in 
trouble?  To fall is for an Angel to die.  To be banished from himself.  
To lose the ability to fly."
	Dave nodded, arms crossed.  "It must have been hard for you to 
watch."
	"It was." Michael admitted.  His words slow and calculated.  
Something Dave had never heard before.  "It is our greatest fear.  That 
somehow, we fail.  That we lose a battle, and fall.  It doesn't matter 
if the battle is to destroy a galaxy, or cause a tree to grow.  In 
everything we do, we must do it with our entire being." He paused, 
looking back over his shoulder to his wings.  "If we don't?"  They 
turned back into his coat, and he dropped down onto the sand with a 
light thump, landing like a cat.  "Then we fall."
	A long pause interrupted them.  Dave allowed SkitZ to recover 
from the memories and unfold his wings again, hovering just above his 
own footprints.  "What does the Pool of Angels do?"
	SkitZ smiled, the darkness in his eyes receding.  "Good 
question." He took a long, deep breath.  "Basically, it shows you what 
you need to do to be an Angel.  The rules you must follow.  The word 
you must obey.  Teaches you how to keep your wings on your back.  Also, 
it's a good test to see if you can swim or not." He grinned.  
	"That's why Chris needs to get there?" Dave asked.  "He's in 
danger of falling?"
	Michael raised a finger.  "He's in danger of never even lifting 
off.  That's even worse.  That's when demons are born."
	"He hardly seems like a demon." Dave replied.  
	"Maybe not yet." SkitZ nodded.  "But he will be.  The dreams will 
take him." He looked at the sand.  "I lied.  If he never gets to the 
Pool, he will live.  He will probably live a great many years, and be a 
great warrior." He looked up.  "But he will be like Fiss in our 
universe was.  Even worse, without the other Knights to keep him in 
check."
	"Agreed." Dave sighed.  "I've seen the way he fights lately.  
It's cold and efficient.  Too easy for him."
	Michael's eyes widened, but a smile was on his face.  "So he's 
used his sword?  How good is he?"
	"The best." Dave sighed, rubbing his chin.  "Quite frankly, if I 
picked up a sword and memorized every technique, I doubt I could beat 
him.  He adapts so quickly to any fighting style.  It's impressive to 
watch."  
	"That's not the demons directing him." Michael smiled.  "That's 
the other half.  The half we need to make sure he keeps.  It's the 
angel in him.
	"It makes you a fighter.  Vicious and efficient.  Cold and 
perfect in the ways of killing." He continued.  "But it is in defense 
of your wings.  Of what you believe in.  What you protect."
	"What do you protect?" Dave asked suddenly.

	Michael was silent for a long time.

	That's when Dave saw it.  Something else in his eyes.  Something 
he had only seen one other time before.  "You saw it, didn't you." He 
said quietly.  It was not a question.
	"What do you mean?" Michael shook the question off.
	"Was it like they say?" Dave continued.  "Was it that horrible?  
Watching time around you collapse and rush over you in shattered pieces 
like a tidal wave?" he thought back to Seeker, the tiny star, and the 
screams it made during death.  

	"Did it scream?"
	SkitZ was shaking...unable to speak.	

	Dave nodded slowly.  "My god...it did, didn't it?" he closed his 
eyes for a moment.  "And you remembered those screams."
	"How..." SkitZ coughed.  "H-h-how do...y-you know about that??" 
he shook his head, back and forth.  "No...you're not supposed to 
know..."
	"Neither were you." Dave looked up with sad eyes.  "You weren't 
supposed to remember the death of your own reality.  You shouldn't have 
remembered that, for thousands of years, you did not exist." He looked 
up to see Michael sitting on the ground, holding his knees up to his 
chest.  "You still hear it, don't you?"
	The angel nodded slowly, eyes blank.  "I can hear it right now." 
He whispered.  "It's not as loud as when it happened...but...it haunts 
me." His face cringed and his hands came up to his ears.  "FUCK!  I 
can't get it out of my FUCKING HEAD!" he nearly tore out hair as he 
forced his hands off of his head.  "You want to know what I fight for?" 
he demanded.  "I fight so nobody except me has to hear this fucking 
noise.  Ever."
	Dave knelt down in front of SkitZ and nodded.  "Me too."
	"You...you heard it?!" Michel stood suddenly.
	"Sometimes." Dave sighed, standing.  "I almost heard it...just 
over the horizon.  When Armageddon came." He laughed weakly.  "I have 
the ability to see just a tad into the future.  Unfortunately, that 
ability will haunt me for some time now."
	
	They were both quiet for a long time.  Very long.  It had to be 
half an hour.  They both just looked at the wall, blank.  Trying to rid 
their minds of the noise by filling it with silence.  
	It wouldn't get rid of the noise.  Never completely.  But at 
least it didn't add to it.  Adding to it only made it want to stay 
longer.  
	"I trust you now." SkitZ said finally, standing on shaky legs.  
"Anyone who has heard the Noize fights against it."
	Dave nodded.  "And now I know why you're here." He smiled weakly.  
"And now that I'm sure we're on the same side, I would like to help you 
with this drawing."
	Michael took a long, cleansing breath and nodded quickly.  "We 
better get to work."
	
	They both stood over the sand, discussing what to do next.
























	

                               Chapter 18









	"How much did you see of this place?" Dave asked as they sat 
across from each other, drinking coffee.  
	"It's nice." He said quietly.  "Lots of noise, but it's a nice 
noise.  The sky is really nice.  Do wars exist here?"
	"Not lately." Dave nodded.  "And not around this part of the 
planet."
	"That explains it.  The skies are so clear." Michael said, taking 
a sip of his mug.  "And the coffee is great." He grinned.  "Normally, 
I'd be asleep by now."
	"That's Web-Cola.  Tastes like coffee, but we also have also have 
water and beef-jerky flavors.  Induces REM sleep while you're drinking 
it.  Helps clear your mind.  Five times more efficient than sleep."
	"Skeetoes!" SkitZ smiled.  "How much are you bringing with us?  
It might come in handy."
	Dave stretched his arms out, noticing the morning sun was hitting 
the back of his hand through the windows.  "Well, I'm going to bring 
some supplies for the trip.  Webbers can create pocket universes around 
their minds.  It's basically storage space, but you can use it for a 
few other things.  We just call it PenguinSpace."
	SkitZ frowned.  "Penguins?" he grumbled.  "You mean those little 
black and white birds who live near ice?"
	"Exactly." Dave nodded.  "Though the world isn't quite ready for 
the truth, I CAN say that they are more advanced life forms than they 
usually let on.  They do the same thing, and can create little 
universes like we can."
	"So what are you bringing?" SkitZ asked finally, finishing off 
his drink.
	"Medical supplies mostly." Dave sighed.  "We are going to be 
fighting in a war, right?"
	"Mmm.  Good idea." SkitZ agreed.
	"Food, water, all the basics.  Shelter." He smiled.  "And a few 
Pookies."
	SkitZ just shook his head.  "Whatever.  I've learned enough new 
terms to send my head spinning for the next week."
	"I'm also bringing some computer equipment." Dave said.  "To map 
out the jump from universe to universe.  If all goes well, we might be 
able to prevent..." he paused.
	"Armageddon." SkitZ sighed.  "Good.  Anything to stop it from 
happening again."
	"That's not the bad part, SkitZy." Dave said.  "Armageddon in our 
universe probably was what allowed you to break through and contact 
Fiss.  It also destroyed a number of very bad things.  In a way, we got 
the best possible Armageddon.  It turned out to be not so bad." He 
paused.  "And it might also let us stop it from happening ever 
again...in ANY universe."
	SkitZ's eyes brightened considerably.  "You think so?"
	"It's my job." Dave smiled.  "I plan on getting a raise sometimes 
soon, so I may as well earn it."
	They both turned back to look at the script drawn out on the 
sand.  It was breathtaking.  Like a winding, snaking hedge, the nearly 
endless script spun around a central symbol, making it's way in a 
expanding star-like pattern.  
	Only one more character was needed to complete it.  One last 
swipe of his sword, and SkitZ would complete the centre script.  If all 
went well, they could jump through then.  "So how exactly are you going 
to take us all?" Michael asked.  "I can only take one other body with 
me.  Anything too far away from the centre will be vaporized when we 
jump."
	Dave smiled happily.  "I'm going to stuff everyone in 
PenguinSpace."
	SkitZ blinked.  "I thought you said you could only store so much 
in it?"
	He nodded.  "And that's why I can't bring along more.  But 
hopefully, I'll be packing enough supplies as it is, so it won't be a 
problem."
	"Tell me again how it has to do with Penguins?"
	"Sorry." Dave winked.  "They wouldn't like it if I gave away all 
their secrets quite yet."







	The tires of Nacho crept forward, slowly, as the Senshi inside 
tried to read the street signs.  "Is this it?" Chris asked, squinting.  
He wasn't used to the bright morning sun without his sunglasses, and 
already missed a few street signs.
	Maury, who still had his, nodded.  "YES!  Now let's go already!"
	"Where the hell am I going to park?" Chris realized.  No sooner 
than he had said that, then a large industrial garage door appeared on 
the side of the warehouse and slid open smooth as glass.
	Andrea and Demeter were almost bouncing up and down in the back 
seat with excitement, driving Maury to the edge of insanity.  "I can't 
wait to kill somebody." He mumbled under his breath.
	"Whee!  We get to go kill some bad guys!" he sung.  "Do dat funky 
yeah, man!  Jam!  Baby baby baby JAM!"
	"That's the spirit." Miharu grinned happily, hanging off of Rei's 
neck. 
	"Don't bounce." Rei gasped.  "You're getting heavier."






	Dave and Michael turned to the far end of the warehouse to see 
Nacho's front end creep through the door.  It was jam packed full of 
bodies.  "If they think THAT'S crowded, wait till they get into 
PenguinSpace." Dave mused.
	Chris parked along the wall and cut the engine as the garage door 
shut and sealed.  The four doors launched open and the NA Sailor Scouts 
emerged.  Even Beavis perched on Chris' shoulder, hanging onto the 
shoulder-strap on his trenchcoat.  "Good afternoon, boys!" Chris 
smiled.  "Enjoy your art class, Dave?"
	Dave smiled.  "It was quite impressive to watch." He pointed over 
to the pile of sand that had been transported to the otherwise barren 
floor.  
	Everyone's jaws dropped as they saw the script.  "Holy shit..." 
Andrea said in awe.
	Demeter walked over to the sand and was about to touch it when 
Michael coughed.  "Don't touch that.  You mess it up, and we could 
transport into a star somewhere."
	"You wouldn't like that." Maury mentioned quietly.  
	"Mmm.  Good idea." Demeter nodded, backing away slowly.
	"Do you have any sand in this other universe?" Andrea asked.
	Michael nodded.  "We won't be going by the ocean if we can help 
it, but we will be passing close to a desert."
	Demeter nodded gratefully.  "Good.  Gotta eat, ya know."
	"I already packed you some extra silicates, Demeter.  Don't worry 
about it." Dave said, then paused.  "That reminds me." He walked over 
to Chris.  "Give me your laptop."
	"What?" Chris blinked.  
	"Give me your laptop." Dave repeated, holding out his hand.  
"Come on, this is no time not to share your toys with others."
	"You're not going to take it back, are you?" he asked.  "I mean, 
I have all my stuff on it!" Chris complained.
	"Fissy, please give me your laptop before I get impatient and 
make all your clothes disappear in order to find it."
	"Mm.  You don't have to be so mean about it." Chris sighed.  A 
moment later, he dug into the deep pockets of his coat, almost around 
to his back, and unzipped the computer pocket he had sewn inside.  His 
hand returned with the amazingly thin computer, and he slowly handed 
over.
	Dave opened it and smiled.  "My my!  You certainly have a hang of 
the Web's assembly languages.  I only know a few people who can 
reprogram the startup sequence."
	"It was too slow." Chris joked.  
	"Well, I agree.  By our current standards, this thing is a 
dinosaur.  The average portable computing unit turnaround time in the 
Web is about three months as opposed to two years in the outside 
world." He flipped the little computer over and found an almost hidden 
access panel.  A second later, he opened it and took out a thin green 
wafer.  
	He then tossed the laptop on the ground.  It vaporized a few 
seconds later.  Everyone's jaw dropped.  Dave just smiled.  In his 
other hand materialized a new laptop.  He opened up the side and slid 
in the wafer crystal.  It booted up a moment later.  Dave then flung it 
over to Chris, who caught it...nearly smacking himself, unprepared for 
how light it was. 
	"You've done a good job keeping the old one a secret." Dave 
explained.  "So long as you continue to use our technology with a 
little desecration, I don't care if you have it."
	"Holy shit..." Chris gasped, pressing a button on the side.  The 
top morphed into a screen, and a kind of holographic keypad.  
	"It's the latest model.  Has all the bells and whistles your old 
one had, but a few extras for our trip.  It couldn't hurt to have two 
computers scanning when we leave.  I have one too." Dave explained as 
Chris retracted the screen and slid it back into his coat.  "Don't be 
fooled by it's weight.  It has about ninety times the power of your old 
one and it's armor would be able to stand up to a few casual blows with 
your sword.  It's our special field model."
	"Hoo haw!" Chris grinned.  "Thanks."
	Dave rubbed his hands together excitedly.  "Here's the low-down.  
From what SkitZ tells me, we'll be landing in a Spring type climate.  
Ditch the winter coats and those trenchcoat liners.  You wont need 
them."
	The group began to undress to their shirts.  Maury and Chris 
unzipped the extra thermal layer of cloth on the interior of their 
coats and packed them up.
	"Looks like you girls will be fine in your fuku outfits and kendo 
stuff.  Also, I doubt Demeter needs to worry too much about the 
elements." He turned to Michael.  "Our winged friend also informs me 
that we will be going through mostly forest and trails.  Horse type 
stuff.  But, since none of you can ride horses, and there ARE non in 
this universe, I suggest walking will be fine." He smiled.
	"What the hell is a horse?" Michael said.
	"Later." Dave promised.  He turned back to Chris.  "How's your 
head?"
	"Good." Chris nodded.  "Didn't sleep too long last night.  Saved 
me from the dreams.  If you're bringing some Flintstones Chewable 
Morphine, however, it would be much obliged."
	"I'm sure I can find something." Dave nodded.  "Speaking of 
which, as I have already informed SkitZ, I am packing most of the 
luggage for this trip.  We don't have to worry about emergency water, 
glass, food, or medical supplies.  Also, I brought some tents and 
camping gear, and some basic climbing equipment." He turned to Rei, who 
had a large backpack on.  "You can ditch the gear past your personal 
belongings and first aide kits.  Even though I have enough, you guys 
can't access my PenguinSpace, and I don't want you to be unprepared if 
we're separated."
	"PenguinSpace?" Maury grumbled.  "You didn't say there would be 
ANYTHING about penguins in this trip..."
	"Relax, Maury." Dave sighed.  "It's just a non-scientific term 
for a pocket universe." He paused.  "And what do you have against 
penguins anyway?"
	"Oh oh..." Andrea sighed.
	"Here he goes." Chris finished.
	Maury's face crumpled up into a sneer as he closed his eyes.  "I 
remember it well..."

	"You see, before becoming a Senshi, I always dreamed of being a 
truck-driver.  Be my own boss.  Live on the open road.  Freedom and all 
that cool shit.
	"But then there was this one night I had a dream.  Way back when 
I was ten.  You see, my grandpa Gus had bought me this cute little 
stuffed penguin for Christmas, thinking I needed a new stuffed toy 
after the dog ate my little Cujo."
	"Cujo was his degu." Chris explained.  "They're kinda like rats, 
only bigger and smarter."
	"I know what they are." Dave nodded.
	Maury cleared his throat.  "ANYWAY, as I was saying, so Grandpa 
Gus gives me this biiiiiiig box for Christmas.  And I'm all flipping 
out how cool he is, and thanking him.  But when I finally open it, it's 
just this little stuffed penguin on a crappy foam iceberg, instead of 
the Knight Rider Semi-Truck I wanted."
	"So you don't like Penguins because of that?" Dave asked.
	"I'm not done yet." Maury continued.  "So I thank Gus anyway, and 
we finish Christmas without incident.  But THEN, that night, Gus, the 
old bastard, decides he's going to be a nice grandfather, and tucks me 
in to bed.  But just before he leaves, he sees that I threw the penguin 
aside with all my other presents.  I don't know why, but he seems to 
think that his present should be special, and starts blubbering how us 
kids today never appreciate anything.
	"So I feel sorry for him and explain I was going to find a place 
for it tomorrow around my room.  But of course, that's not good enough, 
and Gus gets all happy and takes it and puts it right next to me on my 
pillow, saying he found a nice spot for it.  Isn't that sweeeeeet?  
Aww.  Anyway, so then he leaves."
	Maury shifted uncomfortably in his coat.  "And he leaves, and my 
room is all dark, except I can still see this fucking penguin's face 
staring back at me in the dark like a damn nightlight.  It wont let me 
get to sleep because of it's wee beady little stuffed eyeballs 
reflecting the moonlight from my window.
	"When I finally DO get to sleep, it's like two in the morning." 
Maury smiles.  "I'm having one of them cool ass dreams.  You know, the 
really realistic ones that make you glad you're asleep."
	"Humph." Chris mumbled.
	"Well, you know what I mean." Maury amended.  "So, I'm living out 
my dream of being a trucker.  It's awesome.  I have this kick ass rig 
and it's all black, and has a 99 channel CB and I'm just chatting with 
my pals on the road, and we're hauling a big load of aircraft parts 
down to Washington.
	"And suddenly, it's nighttime." Maury's voice got really quiet, 
so everyone leaned in to hear him better.  "I've been driving non-stop 
with orders to get there by daybreak.  That's a good two hours away, 
but I have three hundred kilometers to go still." He explains.  "So I 
start to speed.  But I also start to get really tired at the same time.
	"And then suddenly I see them." Maury gasps.
	"For FUCKS SAKE!" Andrea yelled suddenly.  "Maury!  Shut the fuck 
up!" 
	"NO!" Maury yelled back.  "I'm not DONE yet!" he turned back to 
the group.  "At first, they're just these little black specks on the 
centre line.  I can barely even make them out." He continued.  "But 
then, I see them.  They look like little sacks of sugar dressed in 
tuxedos.
	"Three of them." Maury growled.  "Like little raptors."
	Chris rolled back his eyes.
	"I try to turn away.  At first, I'm not too sure what they are, 
so I don't want to hit anything that's too solid or something that will 
blow a tire." He explained.  "But I'm going pretty fast and I can't 
turn in time.  Their wee little beeeeeeady eyes glint in the moonlight 
at me.  Beaks open, foaming with rabid anger!
	"So I realize I'm going to have to drive over them.  My rig is 
high enough that I probably won't even hit them.  I pop it into the 
highest gear and gun the Cat engine."
	"Cats?" Michael blinked.  "How did cats get into this story?"
	"Caterpillar engine." Dave filled him in.  "Makes the trucks go 
fast."
	"Oh."
	Maury nodded.  "So I gun the engine, and I must be going at least 
a hundred and fifty.  No chance in hell a penguin's going to survive.  
But then suddenly, just a few seconds before they hit my bumper..." 

	"Nothing."

	Maury looked up from the ground.  "For a second, I think I just 
drove over them.  But then suddenly, CRACK!  CRACK!  The two side 
penguins clomp onto my side windows with their beaks!  They start 
clawing their way through the glass, cracking it as they go.
	"And then, I see the last one...he leaps at the front of the 
truck...eyes full of hate and rage...and he hits the glass, shattering 
right through it!"

	Maury was quiet.  Everyone blinked.

	"The last thing I remember was it's beak sinking into my neck." 
Maury whispered.  "And do you know what the creepiest thing is?" he 
began to undo the collar of his shirt.  "When I woke up the next 
morning, the stuffed penguin that Gus gave me was sitting on my chest, 
looking down at me.  And on my neck, was THIS!"
	He pointed to the side of his neck.
	Miharu leaned in for a closer look.  "There's nothing there...?"
	Maury frowned.  "Oh...well...uh...I guess it healed." He quietly 
re-adjusted his shirt and coat.  "Well, the point of the story was that 
THAT dream is why I hate penguins."

	If it had been warmer outside, there would have been crickets 
chirping in the silence.

	Michael had a bright smile on his face.  "THAT'S EXACTLY why I 
hate them too!" he said, moving his finger up and down for emphasis.  
	Chris and Andrea both groaned and went back over to Nacho to get 
their backpacks.  
	"That..." Dave said finally "...was the STUPIDEST thing I have 
ever heard!"
	"You're the one that asked." Maury shrugged.
	
	
	
		
	



 
















                              Chapter 19












	Dave was helping everyone finalize their backpacks and equipment 
when Michael knelt down to Chris.  "You okay?  You've been staring out 
over the sand for an hour now."
	"It's my head." Chris admitted.  "I've never had migraines, but 
this must be at least a close equivalent."
	"Maybe you have head-cancer too." Michael smiled helpfully.
	"With my luck?  Probably." Chris sighed.
	"What's head-cancer?" 
	Chris smiled.  "Dave been telling you things again?"
	Michael nodded and sat down on the sand with him.  "Too 
confusing.  But even if we're only gone a week, I'll be able to learn a 
bit more.  Teach you a lot too."
	"Yeah.  I must admit, the excitement is a nice change from the 
absolute terror." Chris said.  "The unknown is a lot nicer than facing 
certain death."
	Michael looked around at the building.  "You know, I never did 
thank you for coming.  This must really suck for you.  Most of the 
Knights had their entire lives to prepare for the Pool.  You get four 
or five days."
	"Don't thank me yet.  I still might not want to get involved with 
this war." Chris said, rubbing his index fingers against the bridge of 
his nose.  "Fuck this is annoying." His eyes brightened a notch.  
"Don't suppose you can write some script on my head and cure me for a 
bit?"
	"Nope." Michael sighed.  "Don't work with this kind of headache."
	"Shit."
	"You two ready to go?" Dave said suddenly, standing over them.
	SkitZ nodded.  "Anytime.  But I want Chris to ride with us.  I 
can fit three people through the portal."
	Dave nodded.  "Agreed.  Also, it will give his computer a better 
scanning radius.
	Maury walked over to the group.  "Hooze, Demeter, Rei and Miharu 
are all ready man.  Whenever you two feather heads want to go, we're 
all set."
	"Let's do it." Chris nodded.
	Dave smiled and threw his coat down on the floor.  "Okay 
everyone.  Step onto the coat.  Bring your stuff."
	"What?" Rei blinked.  
	"It's going to be a bit crowded, but it's the only way you can 
all fit." Dave explained.  "PenguinSpace."
	"OOOOHHHH NO..." Maury said.  
	Andrea and Demeter both crept up besides Maury and lifted him up 
one arm each.  "There's no penguins, Maury.  Now shut up and get in 
there." Hooze said as Maury struggled.
	They finally tossed him at Dave's lab coat.  Maury promptly 
vaporized.
	"He's okay." Dave said quickly.  "Everyone just follow.  Don't 
trip over the supplies once you're in."
	Demeter shrugged, and jumped.  He zapped into the invisible hole 
hovering just above the cloth.  Andrea jumped a second later, making a 
little snorkel gesture with her hand.
	Rei blew Chris a kiss and jumped in with Miharu.  Beavis 
skittered along the floor, jumped and disappeared next with a little 
squeak.  

	Finally, just Michael, Chris and Dave remained.  Dave put back on 
his coat and briefly closed his eyes to seal up his PenguinSpace for 
safe transport.  "They're sealed and belted in.  Our computers are 
running.  I suggest we blow this Popsicle stand." He said, walking over 
to the edge of the scripture.
	Michael's outer leather coat dropped and changed color, unfolding 
a second later as his wings.  "Both of you, grab on." He smiled.  "But 
no hanky panky on the first date."
	"Aww, damn." Chris laughed, wrapping his arms around SkitZ.  "But 
youze so cute!"
	"I know, I know." SkitZ winked back.  "Now, just don't touch my 
sword.  Clothing is fine, just no bare flesh."
	Dave held onto Michael's other side.  "Ready on this end."
	Slowly, their feet left the ground.  All three began to float in 
mid-air, just a few inches above the ground.  
	"Man, you two eat a lot?" Michael grunted, flapping his wings 
once to gain a little more altitude.
	"Sorry..." Dave said.  A second later, they jumped up another 
three meters into the air.  "How's that?  We each weigh about thirty 
pounds now."
	Michael was impressed.  "Perfect!"	Dave slid the belt out of his 
coat and tied it around their waists a second later. "Final chance to 
back down."
	"I'm always ready." Dave nodded.
	Chris took a deep breath and nodded as well.  "Anything to get 
away from all this snow for a while." He smiled.
	






	Michael's wings spread each feather and expanded to full length 
and size, jutting out from his shoulder blades.  They were all barely 
breathing as they floated over the script below.  Any small disturbance 
might blow over a piece of the sand, and then they would be transported 
to who knew where.  He couldn't even flap his wings, or the gusting air 
might erase hours of work.  
	With a slow, echoing ring of steel, SkitZ drew his weapon free of 
it's scabbard and pointed it toward the circular spiral below.  "I 
suggest you all hold on." Michael smiled wickedly.  "This is quite a 
ride."
	
	With that, they dropped.  
	
	Michael's wings folded around the two passengers and himself, 
angling down to cut through the air like a knife.  The razor sharp, 
double edged tip of his sword slid ahead of their decent, just by a few 
inches past their shoes.  
	As it hit the sand, completing the last of the angelic scripture 
with a needle-thin line, a shattering sound filled the air.  It was 
like the air around them turned into glass and shattered bit by bit, 
falling fast like an out of control elevator car hitting the basement.  
	Chris and Dave looked up in amazement as the sand around them 
turned into a kind of clear, milky liquid and started replacing the 
building around them, melting it away, dissolving it.  Light began to 
swirl up around their feet, taking the ground away just before they 
could touch.  All within the span of a second.  
	It looked like the first few seconds of a video camera booting up 
during the first few seconds of shooting a sunrise.  At first, all 
white; sand and color brightening to a blinding level.  Color drained 
away and dissolved into every direction at once.  Finally, however, the 
white began to fade.  
	WHOOOOOOOSH!  Wind slammed up from their feet, causing wing and 
coat alike to flutter up to the now non-existing roof.  The gust died 
down finally, and SkitZ turned to the two while there was a brief 
second of silence.  "Now watch this." He smiled.

	Reality exploded.

	In the span of what linear minds call one second, all time, all 
matter, all energy and all thought around them shifted half a meter to 
the right, half a meter to the left, then popped.  The explosion 
destroyed itself, then redoubled back to implode around them.  
	As the last shockwaves passed through them, tossing them around 
like a leaf on the surf, the Universe was gone.

	In perfect, pristine silence, Dave, Chris and Michael all opened 
their eyes wide.

	"Oh my..." Chris whispered to himself.  






	Nothing but black surrounded them.  No...it was tinted.  Blue and 
green and red and every color.  But it was still black at the same 
time.  Silver and gold and copper blended into whites and grays until 
they all became one and then redefined themselves like a symphony of 
colors, finally shifting into an endless aurora of spikes and curves.  

	It was everything and nothing at the same time.

	Oh, but there was something else.  They saw it at the same time.  
Dark shadows that bent the light and threw color across to reflect on 
the other shapes.  
	Three.  Chris could make out three.  The closest one was at their 
feet.  Rotating silently like a colossal galaxy.  A sphere cut in the 
middle and squished into a torus.  A cosmic ring an infinity wide and a 
quarter high.  They sped away from it faster than anything in 
imagination could comprehend, yet it was so infinitely huge that they 
could barely notice it moving away. 
	Right next to it...almost colliding into it, was another torus.  
It's equally flawless and shadowy surface hovered what looked like a 
hair's width away from the first.  Almost touching.  This one was 
smaller, or further away.  There was no way to tell in a space with 
infinite dimensions filtered down to three dimensional eyes.
	Dave's eyes widened with realization and he smiled at Chris.  
Chris was too busy being awed to notice, however.  They were flying 
toward the third of the tori.  The third universe.  

	His home.  

	His home before he knew what home was.  At that moment, however, 
he could feel it was right.  What it was.  His home.  A place he had 
not known for millennia but his soul never forgot.

	It could have been minutes, or seconds.  It could have been weeks 
already.  There was no time in this place.  Nothing for the mortal mind 
to understand.  Nothing in the swirl of void and creation but 
imagination.  To Chris, however, it felt like an hour.  Just flying.  
Pure flying.  No gravity, no air, no void.  Just speed.  
	Soon, the third and final Universe filled their entire vision.  
Coming up like a wall that stretched forever in every direction and 
beyond.  Still, it came, after more timeless moments of speeding 
towards it beyond comprehension.  Breath did not concern them, as they 
forgot to breathe.  Nothing mattered except thought, and right now, 
their thoughts pointed them onward to the approaching shadowy wall.  

	Michael looped his arms around them tighter, sensing something 
they didn't.  "Hold on!" he said, never breaking the unending silence.  
	Dave and Chris braced themselves, looking at an approaching 
reflection.  The wall was closing in.  It was their reflection off of 
it's surface.
	SkitZ unfolded his wings, ready to hit.  They saw it too, bracing 
themselves for whatever came next.  Each of them held breaths they 
didn't even have.  

	With one final, mighty flap of his wings, they rocketed forward 
even faster.  "HOLD ON!"















To be continued...







=======================================================================







4 am.  God I love it.  It is the true best time of the day.  2 am is 
nice.  3 am starts the magical 3 or so hours, but 4 is right smack dab 
in the middle.  

Hehe!  Time for author's words!  

Yes.  I'm late, and since I'm not a white rabbit, I have no excuse.  
Wait!  Yes I do!  Hehehe!  I shall blame the horrible delay to moving 
into a new house.  Yup!  Fissy got a nice new room that's all spooky 
keen and even nicer than the last one.  View is great, and hey ladies, 
my bed's always the place to go on a Friday night.  ^_^  Kidding.  I'm 
a hermit.  I'm frightened by female companionship.  (Starts laughing at 
the blatant lie)  But anyway, I'm settled in and rocking.  Drew and I 
share a wonderful corner, and we write faster than before.  I finished 
30 pages in 2 nights.  

For anyone who cares, Drew is the name of my current computer with it's 
fresh hard-drive that has been blissfully free of problems.  

SkitZ is new, as you may have noticed.  I shall have pics of what he 
looks like soon.  

Don't worry about our old palls, the Sailor Scouts.  Sailor Moon, and 
all the others won't be left out just because the NA Scouts are taking 
a vacation to another universe.  SK 4 and up will be a split story, 
explaining what goes on while everyone is on vacation, as well as the 
vacation itself.  I promise it won't be TOO confusing.  


On a sad side note, the real life Beavis has passed away at the ripe 
old age of 6 years.  He was quite possibly the best little hedgehog the 
world has ever seen.  Any donations in his memory can be sent to your 
local SPCA.  


HOME PAGE:

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9110

Yup!  Thousands of readers strong, and always looking for more, Crystal 
Canada is the site you can get all my stuff.  Check it out, you won't 
be disappointed.  Now comes with an easy to digest TXT version, though 
the graphics are pretty, so you might want to look at them too!

E-MAIL:

Strikef@bigfoot.com

My current average reply time is 2 days.  However, that is the average.  
Sometimes, it takes a week.  ^_^  Sorry.  Just write!  I love to hear 
from people!  I love to hear from aliens!  I love to hear from 
dolphins!  Anyone who can write, please do! 

So, stay tuned to this station for the next sugar laced installment of 
SAILOR MOON:  SEVEN KNIGHTS!  The only Sailor Moon Fanfic that needs 
this disclaimer at the end:

"No penguins were hurt in the making of this story."

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