(Steve Stachowicz)
gerrek@hotmail.com
(Matthew Frey)
MAFREY@charter.net
Webpage: http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/shores/2307
New Swords of Destiny
By
Eric Thorsen and Stacko
LEGAL STUFF:
** The characters and concepts used here are the property of those people and companies
holding the copyrights to the respective storylines, series, and movies. The only
exceptions are those created by the demented minds of authors of this story. The use of
this material should be seen as the sign of respect that it is. Besides, suing either of us
would be a waste of time since we don't have any money to begin with.
CHAPTER TWO
"Today we have an update of the Oni murder in the Roppongi district that
happened three days ago." The morning news commentator announced as a news bulletin
interrupted the normal TV schedule. "As little is known of this crime as all similar cases,
there was no mark on the body except for the mark on the victim’s forehead as with the
others. The latest victim, a senior American Naval NCO was slain in grizzly fashion
while on liberty from his post at Yokosuka Naval Station. His decapitated body was
found a few feet from his car, while his head was found several meters away, in the
parking structure of his hotel. The US ambassador has refused comment on this, the latest
of these bizarre slayings. The Police have no leads and are baffled by the seeming
randomness of the killings. The Tokyo Police are asking that anyone who may have
information regarding these killings contact the police in their area. This station will keep
its viewers apprised of any further developments in this breaking news story. We now
return you to your regularly scheduled programming."
"EWWWWW, Gross!!!!" Chibi-Usa gagged slightly as the images of the blood
splattered garage and sheet covered body flashed across the screen during the news report
before being replaced by the anime she had just started watching returned to the screen
further along than when the news bulletin started.
"Chibi-Usa-Chan how many times do I have to remind you that we have to get
this project finished soon? With Sasami-Chan not feeling well these past three days, we
need to get working on it." Hotaru muttered. "Honestly, you're acting more and more like
Usagi every day."
"I do not, you take that back Hotaru!!" Chibi-Usa yelled as she walked back over
to the computer desk where Hotaru was sitting. Grumbling she sat down and picked up
the intricately detailed scabbard lying on the table.
“Yeah, I miss Sasami also. I keep thinking of what happened at School that day
and the boys really didn’t do anything but hold her on the ground. When she screamed
out, I thought she was screaming to get a teachers attention, but the more I think about it,
when she screamed, it was a scream of panic.” Chibi-Usa said after she set down the
scabbard.
“I wonder what had happened to Sasami that was so bad that she would have a
panic attack that bad.” Hotaru said.
“I don’t know, Scott-san won’t tell me, but the only thing I was able to make out
was something bad had happened to her, but it wasn’t from anyone in her family.”
“I guess we just have to wait until she feels ready to tell us, we just can’t keep
thinking what could be the problem.”
"You’re right; we should just wait until she feels better. I wish she would talk to
us when we call her. But you are right, we should get to work on the project until Sasami
can join us again, so, what do we have on the scabbard?" she murmured as she looked at
the cover page that Hotaru had just set up on the computer.
"What we have is a scabbard that belonged to one of Totoyama Hideyoshi's
Generals over 400 years ago, and was given to his youngest son before the battle of
Sekigahara in which the general died." Hotaru read, "It was passed down in the son's
family for four generations until the last heir of that line died leaving it to his most
faithful student and friend. It had been passed down until 1912 when the last of that line
had willed it to the great-grandfather of the shopkeeper's friend."
"So what we have here is a really old sword thingy that people have been giving
to their kids because they didn't want it anymore?" Chibi-Usa asked a little confused.
Hotaru sweated a little at that, "More or less, but don't forget that Scott-san said
we would be getting more information from his friend."
Just then, there came a knock on the bedroom door and when Hotaru said to come
in, Michiru stuck her head around the door.
“Hotaru dear, there is a phone call for you.” Michiru said.
“Thank you, Michiru-mama.” Hotaru replied and got up to get the phone. When
she was down in the hallway, she picked up the phone to answer it. “Moshi moshi.”
“Hotaru?” Came a female voice on the other end that Hotaru recognized.
“Sasami.” Hotaru replied.
“Yes.”
“Are you all right, we’ve been trying to call you for the past couple of days but
you wouldn’t return our calls?”
“Sorry about that, but the incident at school spooked me more than I thought it
would.”
“So are you okay right now?”
“Yes, I think I’m okay after my panic attack, but the reason I called was, I was
wondering if you and Chibi-Usa would like to come over so we can work on the project.
I know both of you have been working on it, and I need to put my share into it, so if you
want to, come on over and we can work on it. Also I can tell the both of you what
happened to me, the two of you have a right to know. If you can, I’ll call Chibi-Usa to
ask her if she could join us.”
“You don’t have to call her; she’s here with me right now. If you can hold on, I’ll
ask her if she wants to come over and to ask my guardians if it’s all right for me to come
over.”
“Okay.” Sasami waited for several minutes when she heard Hotaru picked the
phone back up.
“Chibi-Usa says that she can go. We can be over in a bit.” Hotaru replied.
“Okay, I’ll see the both of you shortly.” Sasami said and then hung up the phone.
Hotaru hung up the phone and ran up to her room to gather her things and saw the
Chibi-Usa was slowly getting ready. Hotaru grabbed her notebook and backpack and
dashed out of her house. Chibi-Usa was shaking her head at Hotaru’s antic’s while she
was gathering her school bag, the scabbard, and then giggled when she saw Hotaru's key
chain lying on the end table in the living room. Grabbing the keys, she closed the door
and then ran after her friend. When she caught up with Hotaru she shook the keys in her
friends face laughing at the blush on her cheeks.
"Now who's acting like Usagi, ehh Hotaru?" Chibi-Usa giggled as her friend
grabbed her keys, blushing hotter.
* * * * *
Scott was sweeping the front walk of his shop, waiting for Sasami to get done
talking to her friends. When she came out to see him, she was also holding a broom and
was helping him out while she waited for her friends to arrive. After they got the front
walk done, Scott gathered the brooms and took them to the closet. He was on his way
back to the office to check his answering machine, while Sasami followed him, when he
felt that familiar jangling of his nerves that announced the presence of another of his
kind.
He was returning to the front of the shop, after he told Sasami to stay behind and
wait, when he noticed that the shadow in the doorway was too short to be anyone he
knew. He then called out to Sasami to stay behind, who realized what was going on and
followed what Scott told her to do, and he altered his course to bring him close to the
racks of swords in the middle of the room, and forced a smile.
"Can I help you sir?" he asked politely wondering why the man was just standing
in the doorway.
The man chuckled maniacally, as if Scott had just said the funniest thing he had
ever heard. "Help me?" the man laughed. "Like you helped Amanda perhaps? What did
she ever do to you to make you kill her in that way? She hadn't even taken a head in two
hundred years!" Having said this, the man drew a rapier from his dark green overcoat.
Scott drew his Katana from its scabbard on the nearest rack just in time to parry
the cut aimed at his throat, and then did a backward dive roll to get some distance
between them. The man kept coming, driving Scott back into the rear storeroom and
when Scott found himself backed into the door the man hit him with a snap kick,
knocking him through the door. Shaking his head clear the fog from it, Scott merely
defended himself for a few more minutes to get his bearings back. Finally, heartily tired
of the man's constant ravings, he dodged further out the man's way to get some breathing
room.
"I don't know what you think I've done, nor do I really care." he shouted back at
the man a trifle breathlessly. "What I can tell you is that I have never heard of you,
whoever the hell you are, or this Amanda you keep raving on about. If you plan to kill
me, don't you think you should at least tell me who you are and why you want me dead?"
"Very well then demon, I shall tell you of your crimes." The man growled out.
"Know this, I am called Austin Derrindelle, and two nights ago I came to my home to
find my wife, Amanda, lying in her own blood, with a sigil burned into her forehead. By
her hand I found your name written in her own blood. She had not even been killed
cleanly. You slowly crippled and brutalized her until she couldn't bear anymore. Then
you killed her. For this evil deed shall you die, to avenge my love's pain and suffering."
Scott grew even more bewildered as Derrindelle continued with his story until as
he finished Scott could only stare at him in disbelief.
"You mean to tell me that you intend to kill me because your wife died, all be it
rather gruesomely, and my name was written in her blood?" Scott said perplexed. "Has it
ever occurred to you that it might have been someone trying to set me up by writing my
name there?" he demanded angrily.
Upon hearing this denial Derrindelle roared like a wounded lion and charged
Scott driving him further down the alley.
* * * * *
Hotaru and Chibi-Usa were walking now, Chibi-Usa holding an ice-cream cone
with two scoops of blue colored ice cream on it. Hotaru was muttering darkly about being
late and ice cream until finally she couldn't stand watching Chibi-Usa eat peacefully any
longer.
"I told you to hurry up or we would be late," Hotaru said disgustedly. “But did
you listen? No! You had to spend twenty minutes in an ICE CREAM SHOP. Honestly
Chibi-Usa-chan you really are becoming more and more like Usagi these days."
"You take that back Hotaru, you were the one who wanted to get something cool
after running half a mile." Chibi-Usa growled back. "Besides Usagi doesn't even like
bubble gum ice cream, she says it tastes wrong." she added needlessly.
Chibi-Usa finished her ice cream and then ran to catch up with Hotaru who had
run ahead after making her comment. As they turned the corner the shop came into view.
* * * * *
Scott had been driven three blocks from his shop before he could return to the
offensive. He finally got tired of simply blocking Derrindelle's strikes and drove the man
back for about fifty feet. It wasn't long before he knocked Derrindelle's sword from his
hand and stopped again.
"For the last time Mr. Derrindelle, until you showed up, I had never heard of your
wife. I hadn't even heard of you before you came here, nor have I taken anyone's head in
the last two hundred years." Scott growled out impatiently. "What do you say we stop
this idiocy, and I'll help you look for the man who did this?" He gasped a little winded
from the nearly 30 minutes of fighting they had been doing.
Austin just stood looking confused and muttering to himself. Seeing that he
wasn't going to attack soon Scott lowered his sword even more. Then moving a little
away from the still muttering maniac he propped himself against the wall with on hand
on his knee. As he leaned back, the front of his shirt, which had been cut by a near miss,
fell open and the medallion he had worn for the last 2000 years fell out and the sigil on it
glimmered in the sunlight.
The only warning that Scott received was the hoarseness of Derrindelle's
breathing before the mad man's sword came whistling through the space formally
occupied by Scott's neck.
"You almost convinced me of your innocence fiend, but that medallion bears
some of the sigil I found burned into my love's forehead when I found her. For this too
you shall die then DEMON!"
Blocking the mad man's sword yet again, Scott staggered back muttering about
near-sighted idiocy.
* * * * *
Hotaru and Chibi-Usa stood in shock at what they had just heard. They had
almost come to the door of the shop when they had heard the shriek of metal on metal,
and someone shouting something about demons. With a horrified look at each other they
ran down the alley following the sounds of fighting. They were getting very close to the
source when Chibi-Usa suddenly slowed looking a little worried.
"Don't you think we should call the others and wait for backup?" She whispered
to her friend, who had stopped with her. "I mean what if we can't handle this demon
oroneofusgetshurtor...?"
"You know Chibi-Usa-chan; you are really starting to remind me of Usagi now."
Hotaru interrupted, annoyed by the whiny note in the girl's voice. "You go ahead and call
them and wait for backup, and I'll go stop the Demon." Hotaru then continued toward the
sounds, which had gotten a little further away.
"I...But...Hotaru wait for me!" Chibi-Usa squealed as she ran to catch up with the
other girl. They moved further down the alley until they reached a small side street and
then stopped in horror at what they saw.
* * * * *
Scott was getting tired after the last 25 minutes of fighting, and the other man's
hoarse gasps were roaring in his ear as he set his teeth. Then he drove the man back
twenty feet, and changed his target from the man to his sword. As he drove Derrindelle
even further back down the side street he realized he was about half a mile from his shop,
and after repeated strikes on the man's sword, Scott heard a tell tale change in the clash of
the swords, then grimly raising his Katana one last time, he cut down, removing the last
nine inches from the end of Derrindelle's blade. At the protesting shriek of his sword
Derrindelle gaped at the blade of his sword in shock.
"For the last time, Derrindelle," Scott shouted to get his opponents attention, "I
have no idea who killed your wife, nor do I truly care any more. If you don't stop this
insanity here and now you will die here."
Derrindelle's only response was a roar, followed by a wild charge. Blocking the
ferocious attack, Scott set his mouth into a grim line.
"There can be only one." He muttered in disgust. Then, parrying Derrindelle's
wild swing, Scott turned his Katana, suddenly, to Derrindelle's horror, the last 26 inches
of his swords exploded into fragments, and Scott smoothly removed the man's head on
the backstroke.
Then the Quickening took him.
* * * * *
Hotaru stared, horrified at what she had just seen. When she and Chibi-Usa had
arrived on the scene they had been shocked to silence by the sight of Scott, the young
owner of an antique shop and guardian of Sasami, fighting a crazed looking man with a
sword. Scott was calmly parrying every attack the apparent lunatic made with no effort
at all. They then noticed a slight shift in the shop keeper’s attacks shortly after they
arrived, but they were as surprised as his opponent when he suddenly removed the last
few inches from the poor man's sword. As the man stared at his smaller sword, Scott-san
had spoken to him angrily as if trying to change the man's mind about something.
However, what he was saying only seemed to anger the man more, resulting finally in the
man attacking with the shortened remnants of his sword.
Scott had parried the man's attack then in a blinding flash of speed had apparently
shattered the other man's sword. Then on his return stroke the man's head had gone flying
a meter away. Chibi-Usa was still over by a trashcan losing her lunch over that. Then the
really strange part had started. A strange white mist had formed around the dead body
and severed head.
As the haze touched Scott, he stiffened and the mist vanished, as absorbed into his
body. Then something like lightning had erupted from his body and the dead man, and he
shook as if he were being electrocuted. Arcs of power were everywhere, scorching the
walls and destroying every street lamp in sight. Scott screamed, then, as quickly as it
appeared, the lightning vanished leaving Scott-san to fall to his knees looking exhausted.
Hotaru slipped over to where Chibi-Usa was finally getting control of her stomach
again. Chibi-Usa looked up as she approached her and wiped her mouth with the back of
her hand.
"Well, Hotaru I guess it's up to us now," she muttered smiling sickly at her friend.
"Let's try not to get killed, okay?"
Chibi-Usa and Hotaru transformed and prepared to fight. Then, Sailor Chibi-
Moon stepped into the side street as the man finally struggled to his feet.
"Hold it right their Nega-creep," Sailor Chibi-Moon yelled. "I am Sailor
Chibi-Moon, and on behalf of the moon, I will right wrongs and triumph over evil, and
that means you." She posed dramatically only hearing the giggles behind her once her
speech was finished.
* * * * *
Scott stared in surprise at the two Senshi in front of him, wondering what was
going on. One minute the quickening was receding, the next he was being confronted by
a short, irate little girl with pink hair, dressed in a Senshi uniform. The second girl was
very familiar somehow; the problem was it seemed that the little one thought he was from
the Negaverse. Turning to the one who had spoken, he glared at the insult.
"I don't know who you are, but I am not in the mood to be insulted by little girls
playing dress up. So if you don't mind, I'll be leaving now." He growled, walking toward
the other end of the street where the opening to another alley could be seen.
Seeing Scott walking away and ignoring them, Sailor Saturn summoned the
Silence Glaive, and started walking toward him. Scott stopped moving when he saw the
second girl apparently summon a rather wicked looking pole arm from thin air. As he
finally recognized who the girl was, she began speaking.
"For betraying the trust of others, and murdering innocents I, Sailor Saturn, the
Senshi of Silence shall punish you." Having said this she swung the weapon at Scott's
head.
Scott was stunned. "Are they all back now? They must be if she's here." His eyes
refocused suddenly as he caught the glint of the sun off metal from the corner of his eye.
Ducking, he rolled away coming to his feet out of the pole arm's range.
"Watch where you swing that thing, Talia." Scott yelled as he came to his feet.
"You could hurt somebody." He then ran the remaining 20 feet to the open alleyway and
down the alley. "Got to get away, must not hurt those two." he muttered to himself a he
ran down the alley.
Sailor Saturn stared after him blankly for a few seconds. "How...?" she muttered
to herself then swore because he was getting away. "Idiot that was the point of the attack,
to hurt HIM!" She then started chasing him, with Chibi-Moon not far behind.
Scott sent his sword into subspace, and then made several random turns in an
attempt to lose the two Senshi, but he couldn't seem to shake them from his trail. That
was when his luck ran out again. He rounded a corner looking behind him and ran
through a cloud of steam from a vent, straight into a brick wall. Literally. He got up and
dusted himself off as he heard running steps come up behind him. He turned to meet the
two Senshi as they ran around the corner. He tried to reason with them again.
"I don't know why you're after me Talia, but I can tell you I'm not from the
Negaverse," he began. "You see I'm..."
"Silence Negaverse scum," Saturn interrupted. "You have killed at least five
innocent people in cold blood for their life energies. This will be stopped now."
Having said this, Sailor Saturn attempted a number of overhand strikes, missing
repeatedly. In the background she could hear Sailor Chibi-Moon giggling. Enraged
beyond thought she charged at the man, attempting to impale him with the Silence
Glaive.
As the blade neared him, Scott dodged to the side and grabbed the shaft of the
pole arm just under the blade. Using Sailor Saturn's momentum, he lifted her off her feet,
carrying her through an arc which ended with her landing, screaming, in a dumpster
belonging to the restaurant backing onto this alley.
Feeling an unfamiliar tingling at the back of his neck, Scott dropped and rolled as
a blue-white energy beam hit the wall at the level of his chest. Turning as the beam
dissipated, he saw that it had from the pink haired Senshi that he didn't recognize. With a
disgusted shrug he drew his sword and walked toward the girl.
Sailor Chibi-Moon shrieked as the man approached her with his sword drawn, and
then suddenly stopped as she slumped to the ground, unconscious from the blow on her
head from the sword's pommel. In the distance he heard sirens approaching. He turned
back to the dumpster and yelled to girl he could hear struggling to get out.
"Talia, if you don't want to spend a very uncomfortable evening answering
questions, I suggest you get your unconscious friend here and get home," he shouted.
"Don't worry about the Silence Glaive, I'll take care of it and you can get it back later at
'The Lost World of Wonders' on Nakamura Street. I'll see you later there." This said he
walked out of the alley and headed back to his shop.
Hotaru climbed out of the dumpster covered in rotting food a few minutes later
just as Chibi-Usa woke up. As she changed back, the slime settled into her school
uniform. Standing up, Chibi-Usa changed back, and then wrinkled her nose as Hotaru
approached.
"Yuck, Hotaru, you smell awful," she said holding her nose. "Why didn't you wait
to change until after you were out of the dumpster?"
"I did, smart-alec, it didn't go away with the other stuff," Hotaru grumbled. "I
think we had better go tell the others what's going on. Besides, we're going to need a lot
of help if we're going to get the Silence Glaive back," she said mumbling the last part in
self-disgust.
"WHAT? You mean he took it with him?" Chibi-Usa shrieked. "But, I thought no
one from the Negaverse could touch the talismans?" she said in confusion as they walked
down the side street away from the sound of the sirens now blocks behind them.
"That's right, Chibi-Usa-chan, no one from the Negaverse can," Hotaru said as she
turned at the gate to the Hikawa shrine. “But this wouldn't be the first time they used
humans as tools to collect energy. We MUST get the others, and stop him before he can
get in contact with his masters." She then thought about something. “What about
Sasami?”
They climbed the steps hurriedly, hoping that Rei was home.
* * * * *
Scott came into his shop through the shattered back door while he was thinking
about confrontation with Sailor Saturn and Sailor Chibi-Moon. He had noticed that
Sasami had started to straighten out the shop when Derrindelle attacked him. When he
entered the shop, Sasami noticed him and ran over to him and gave him a hug. After he
calmed down Sasami, she noticed the Glaive in his hand. He told her that the Glaive was
from an acquaintance of his. So Sasami went back to fixing what she could of the
damage to the shop while Scott looked at the Glaive in his hand. He then sat on a bench
stool looking at the Silence Glaive thinking:
"Now what am I going to do about you. I know Talia will come looking for
you. Might as well get you presentable for her." So he grabbed his polishing kit and
started to clean the Glaive. After he was done polishing the Glaive, he set it in a display
case that it fit into and set it out in the main display area of his shop, to wait for Talia and
the others to arrive to claim it. He then went back to the storeroom to help Sasami finish
the cleaning of his shop.
After he finished sweeping up the broken glass Scott went and opened the
package that had arrived earlier that day. In it were the extended history of ownership
forms that his friend had promised and a few newspaper articles. On top were some
articles about something called "The Oni Murders", the last was simply a very grainy
photograph showing what appeared to be ten figures in rather short skirts, scattering. The
writing on the last said, "Another photo for your strangeness collection, Kevin"
Looking closely at the figures Scott muttered to himself, "So they ARE all back. I
wonder if she even remembers me." Placing the clipping on his desk, he walked up to
Sasami and told her that they were going to head to the airport now. Sasami agreed to go
since her friends seemed to have failed to show up and failed to call her if something had
came up.
* * * * *
A man in a green overcoat, with short brown hair glanced across the rooftops at
the man staring into the distance. His face showed contempt for the man as well as a
twisted humor.
"So the great Scott Schwartzstern I was warned of is merely a dreaming
shopkeeper," Daryl Thorne muttered to himself. "Oh, well if I must attack the man, at
least he might beg for mercy like that woman. And the look on her man's face when he
found her was priceless. Too bad he went so quickly. I wonder what about that symbol
Damian gave me was so damaging to Schwartzstern's image though. Maybe he'll tell me
before I kill him." Chuckling to himself he walked down the storefronts looking in every
so often.
He didn't notice the tall, auburn haired man in a black duster following him at a
discrete distance. Or the dark look the man cast him as he realized his quarries next
target.
* * * * *
While they were driving to the airport, Sasami had asked Scott why they were
going to the airport. Scott replied that they were picking Miyuki up and Sasami had told
him she thought she was coming the next day. Scott told her while she was recovering
from her incident at school, he had called Mrs. Saotome to talk to her about the arrival of
Miyuki, and Mrs. Saotome let slip that Miyuki was coming in a day early. So Scott told
Sasami that he was thinking that Miyuki wanted to surprise them and Mrs. Saotome
messed up her plan.
So before they arrived at the airport, Sasami mentioned that they should play a
joke on Miyuki instead. Sasami told Scott what she had planned and Scott put in his few
comments and smiled at what they had planned. So when they pulled into the airport
parking garage, Scott told Sasami to see if they could get Mrs. Saotome to play along,
Sasami nodded happily and they both entered the airport to look for Mrs. Saotome.
* * * * *
Mrs. Saotome stood by the baggage claim, waiting for a passenger to show up.
After waiting a few minutes, she noticed the person who she was waiting for. It took a
few moments before that person noticed Mrs. Saotome and ran over to her and gave her a
hug.
“Mother!” The person said once the person reached Mrs. Saotome.
“Hello, Miyuki-chan.” Nodoka said smiling. “How was your flight?”
“It was long and boring like most flights. Plus I had to put up with the most
idiotic people ever. It’s a wonder that they allow those people onto planes.” Miyuki said
as she picked up her bags again and both of them started leaving the baggage claim area.
“Any trouble with customs and such?”
“Not really, just the usual hassle.”
“That’s good.”
Miyuki had a nagging feeling that something was going on, because her mother
was acting a little nervous. Before she could ask her mother what was wrong, her danger
sense kicked in warning her of danger. Right when she was about to look around, a light
blue blur tackled into her, causing her to fall onto the floor. She looked down at the thing
attached to her and saw light blue colored hair in two ponytails. It was then that she
realized who had tackled her.
“Sasami-chan?” Miyuki asked. The person looked up and Miyuki saw that it
was Sasami.
“Hi, Miyu-chan.” Sasami replied.
“What are you doing here?” Miyuki asked when someone walked up and stood
by her head. She looked up and saw Scott smiling down at her.
“She came here with me.” Scott replied. “Sasami, why don’t you get off so she
can stand up again.” When Sasami got off of Miyuki, Scott helped her to stand up.
“What are you two doing here?” Miyuki asked.
“It’s my fault, dear.” Nodoka said.
“What?”
“I let slip that you were coming in today. I didn’t know you were going to
surprise them.”
“I guess it’s all right.” Miyuki said and then turned to Scott. “What’s Sasami-
chan doing here?”
“She’s staying with me now.” Scott replied.
“How’d that come about?” Miyuki asked.
“Well, let’s go have lunch and I’ll explain everything that has been going on,
my treat.” Scott said.
“You’re on.” Miyuki said smiling and returned the hug that Sasami was giving
her. So the four of them left to go have lunch and explain everything that has been going
on.
* * * * *
Chibi-Usa ran into the courtyard of the Hikawa shrine, and started looking for
Rei, as Hotaru trudged up the stairs behind her holding her school uniform as far away
from herself as she could. When she reached the top, Phobos and Deimos flew from the
tree they were in and went toward the back of the shrine. Following them, Hotaru called
to get Chibi-Usa's attention. As they came around the back of the shrine, they saw Rei
raking leaves. Rei stopped as the two girls came around the office, and then stared at the
miserable young girls.
"What happened to you Hotaru," she gasped. "You look like you were dumped
into a trash heap."
Chibi-Usa collapsed into a giggle fit rolling on the ground, as Hotaru blushed
hotly. After a few minutes, Chibi-Usa regained control and glanced apologetically at her
friend.
"That probably because she was Rei," she said.
"Who did that to you, Hotaru," Rei muttered darkly, her expression promising
great pain for the culprit.
Chibi-Usa glanced quickly at her friend then said, "It was the Beheader, Rei. We
actually know who he is. But he's a really good fighter and we got beat up."
As Rei got ready to yell at them Hotaru spoke up in a small voice. "He also took
the Silence Glaive." She muttered.
Rei stopped with a shocked expression on her face. "What?" she gasped. "We
had better call the others to an emergency meeting."
As Rei went to start calling, Hotaru stopped her.
"Would you please have Michiru-mama bring me some new clothes when she
comes, Rei," she asked pathetically. "I'll be taking a REALLY long shower." This said
she walked into the shrine and went into the bathroom.
Rei shook her head in sympathy, and then went to start calling the others.
* * * * *
It was a quiet afternoon in the apartment that Haruka and Michiru shared with
Setsuna and Hotaru. Setsuna had removed herself from the time stream for some reason,
and Hotaru was out with Chibi-Usa visiting their friend to work on a history project. So
they were enjoying the afternoon to themselves. Michiru was sitting at one end of the
couch with Haruka lying down on the same couch with her head on Michiru's lap
watching a romantic movie. They were enjoying the scene that was on the television
when the phone rang and Haruka reluctantly got up and went to answer the phone.
"Moshi Moshi?" Haruka said.
"Haruka?" The voice on the other end asked.
"Rei?"
"Yes."
"What can I do for you?"
"There is going to be an emergency Sailor meeting here at the temple."
"Why?"
"Hotaru and Chibi-Usa had a confrontation with the Beheader. They're here now
while we're waiting for the others."
"We'll be there soon then."
"See you then. Oh, and bring a change of clothes for Hotaru. She needs it."
"Okay, why?"
"Tell you when you get here." Said Rei as they then said their good-byes and
hung up the phone. Haruka then went over to Michiru and informed her of what was
going on and then left to go to the temple.
When they got to the Hikawa shrine, they saw that all the inner Senshi were
already there waiting for them. Michiru handed Rei Hotaru's clothing and Rei went to
give Hotaru her clothes in the bathroom. They all waited around ten minutes for Rei and
Hotaru to return, when they did, they started talking.
"So what is going on?" Asked Haruka.
"Chibi-Usa and Hotaru saw who the Beheader is. But they weren't smart enough
to call for help when they confronted him." Said Usagi teasingly.
"Hey, he was about to leave, we had to stop him." Replied Chibi-Usa trying to
defend herself.
"So who is the Beheader?" Asked Makoto
"Scott-san, Sasami’s guardian." Replied Hotaru quietly
"What!" Exclaimed everyone except Chibi-Usa and Hotaru. Then everyone
started shooting out questions about the antique dealer, the safety of the two girls, what
they were going to do to help Sasami, and what they want to do to the antique dealer
when Ami said out loud for the group to hear.
"Let’s get all of what happened from Chibi-Usa and Hotaru before we jump to
conclusions and point out what the problems in what they did or did not do."
"Sorry. Tell your story to everyone." Said Usagi.
"Hotaru and I were going to see Sasami to work on our history project after she
gave us a call. Well, when we were heading to the shop, when we heard a fight and the
sound of metal clanging together. I guess our curiosity got to the both of us and we
decided to see what was going on. We peered around the corner and saw Scott-san
fighting with someone else with swords.
"We were both too far away to hear what they were saying, but it looked like they
were arguing over something. The other guy more seemed to be the one arguing more
than Scott-san. Scott-san broke the other man's sword and said something to him, but the
other guy got madder and swung at Scott-san with his broken sword. Then Scott-san
swung his sword, shattered the remaining part of the other guy's sword and cut the other
man's head off. We were both shocked when we saw that, but we were even more
shocked when we saw a white haze form around the dead guy’s body and head towards
Scott-san.
"Once the white mist came into contact with Scott-san, he stiffened and the mist
absorbed into him. Then it looked like wind was blowing around him as this 'lightning'
came from out of nowhere and surrounded his body. The lightning went all over the
place, destroying whatever it touched. It looked like he was screaming in pain and
shaking quite a bit. When the lightning disappeared, he dropped to his knees and looked
really exhausted. That was when we decided to change and confront him. When we
stopped him, he looked very surprised to see us." Said Chibi-Usa when Hotaru
interrupted saying.
"I think he was more surprised to see me then you. He called me by my OLD
name, like he knew me in the Silver Millennium."
"I guess so. Well, we attacked him and he ran to a dead end alley. Hotaru
attacked him using the Silence Glaive, but he was dodging all her swings, and when she
charged at him with the Glaive, he grabbed it and used it to toss her into a nearby
dumpster. Hotaru lost her grip on the Glaive when she was tossed, so he was holding it
when I tried to get him by trying to blast him. He ducked under my blast like he knew it
was coming and drew his sword out. He came up to me and knocked me out cold." Said
Chibi-Usa.
"When I was coming out of the dumpster, he called out to me that if I wanted my
Silence Glaive back, I should go to his shop. I saw him walking out of the alley with my
Glaive and his sword. I got out of the dumpster and transformed because the police were
coming. I helped Chibi-Usa up and we disappeared from the alley as quick as we could
and came straight here. That is what happened." concluded Hotaru.
"Usagi is right. You know who the guy is; you should have gotten our help
before you took him on. You guys are lucky you only got away with only a few bruises."
said Rei.
"Sorry." Said Chibi-Usa and Hotaru quietly.
"Well, now you know better." Said Rei to the two girls, and then to the rest of the
group, "Now the question is, what are we going to do about this Antique Dealer. We
can't go to the police because he's probably from the Negaverse. So what are we going to
do?"
"I say we go fight him and kick his Negaverse butt." Commented Makoto.
"I agree. He hurt Hotaru, he needs to pay." Said Haruka angrily.
"But we need to plan carefully. He gets energy from killing people, so we need to
be careful on how we face him." Said Michiru.
They planned on how to challenge the antique dealer in the best and safest way
that they could come up with. They tried the deep aqua mirror for answers, but the
mirror revealed nothing that could help them. It simply stayed blank. They agreed that
they had to stop him as soon as possible and that they had better do it that evening. The
plan was that they should capture him, and then force him to tell them the Negaverse's
plans. They decided to attack in small groups, and that of all of them, Makoto, Haruka,
and Rei would be the first ones to go in. They knew that they had to start by surprising
him and catching him off guard. When they were about to leave, Hotaru brought one last
item to their attention.
"Wait." Said Hotaru. "He gave us some coins. They could be from the
Negaverse."
"Do you have one of them?" Asked Ami.
"Yes. Here it is." Said Hotaru handing over her coin to Ami.
Ami set the coin on the table and pulled out her computer from subspace and
started scanning the coin. The others waited quietly until she was done. When the scan
was done, Ami's eyes widened in surprise and she whistled as she read the results.
"I can find no trace of Negaverse energy in the coin. In fact, it's about 80% pure
gold, and around a thousand years old. At present rate, its worth about 500,000 yen."
"What!" Exclaimed everyone.
"What he gave them is a very old and rare gold coin." Said Ami putting away her
computer and giving the coin back to Hotaru.
"So, any trace of Negaverse energy in it?" asked Minako
"No, none." Replied Ami.
"Well Hotaru, you have a small fortune in that coin then. You better take care of
it." Said Michiru to Hotaru while in the background they could hear Usagi trying to
persuade Chibi-Usa to give her the coin she had. After they got Usagi to stop pestering
Chibi-Usa, they started off to the antique shop to confront the antique dealer. While they
were heading out Chibi-Usa whispered to Hotaru:
“What about Sasami, do you think she knows about Scott-san being the
Beheader?” Chibi-Usa asked Hotaru.
“I don’t know, but if she doesn’t, we have to help her.” Hotaru replied.
“Do you think she’s going to be mad that we didn’t show up?”
“I don’t know.” Hotaru said quietly as they followed the rest of the Senshi.
* * * * *
Later that evening, the Senshi arrived on the roof of a shop across the street from
the Antique shop to see if anything was out of the ordinary in the area. When they didn't
see anything odd, they had Mercury start scanning the area. She pulled out her computer
and popped on her visor and started scanning the shop and surrounding area. When she
got done scanning, she told the others what she found.
"There are three Silver Millennium energy signatures coming from inside the
shop. Two are from items and the third is from a person. There are two other people
inside the building, one has a great amount of life energy and the other has a great
amount of energy that seems alien. Another energy signature on the roof of the building
to the right is also a person, but this person has Negaverse energy all over them and
another, unknown energy pattern. The first person in the shop also has that unknown
energy pattern coming from them, but it is much stronger. The person on the roof seems
to be making their way to the Antique shop, but at a very slow, almost careful pace, as if
they were trying to hide." Sailor Mercury announced.
"So what are we going to do now?" Asked Sailor Uranus.
"I suggest that we wait and see what's going to happen, and then we go kick some
Negaverse butt." Suggested Sailor Jupiter.
"I'm for that." Said Sailor Venus. So they waited for events to unfold before they
entered the situation.
* * * * *
Scott was in the back room going over those months’ bills, while Miyuki and
Sasami were talking together to catch up on what has been going on with each other,
when he felt another immortal approaching. He grabbed his sword and told Miyuki and
Sasami to stay where they were at. When they saw him holding his sword, they knew
what was going on and nodded their heads in agreement and Scott started looking around.
He started in the shop room and slowly made his way to the main display room of his
shop. After a few minutes of looking around but not finding anything, he still felt the
presence of another immortal.
“Who’s out there?" Called out Scott.
Suddenly, Scott heard glass breaking above him and looked up seeing someone
coming through the skylight as he tolled away. Scott got into a defensive crouch as the
man landed. His uninvited guest brushed the glass off of himself and then stood up and
faced Scott with his own sword at the ready.
"Scott Schwartzstern, I presume." Said the man with a small smile.
"Yes. And who might you be?" Asked Scott still on the defensive.
"Daryl Thorne." Stated Daryl.
Scott looked at the man across from him and figured out that he may be the
hunter. With this final clue he figured that Daryl Thorne was the man that Austin
Derrindelle had been after.
"Were you the one that killed Amanda Derrindelle?" Asked Scott.
"Yes." Grunted Thorne.
"Why?"
"She was an obstacle for a plan and had to be eliminated."
"You're lying. Why?"
"The Boss doesn't want you to know and be in the way. So I'm supposed to take
you out."
"Then I guess I got no choice but to fight, huh?"
"Nope."
After Daryl said that, they both charged each other and the clash of swords filled
the night as they started fighting. Daryl was knocking over display cases to get at Scott,
who was using them to keep Daryl at a distance. Their swords met each other in sprays
of sparks, several times and more display cases were destroyed, but the fight continued.
* * * * *
Right before Daryl jumped into the Antique shop, Sailor Mercury was keeping an
eye on the shop and her computer started beeping.
"The man on the roof is moving faster now." blurted Sailor Mercury, shocked at
the speed. She then gasped "He just dove in through the skylight."
"I wonder what's going on in there?" Asked Sailor Mars.
"The only thing we can do is wait and see what happens next." Replied Sailor
Uranus, slightly baffled at this turn of events.
Most of the Sailor Senshi was waiting by the edge on the roof trying to see what
was happening in the shop, while Sailor Moon, Sailor Chibi-Moon, and Sailor Saturn
slept nearby. Sailor Mercury continued to scan the inside of the shop while they waited.
In a few minutes, they could hear the sound of fighting, clanging of metal, and breaking
glass.
"They appear to be fighting each other." Said Sailor Mercury.
"Should we go in?" Asked Sailor Venus.
"I say we just wait for a moment before we do. If one kills the other, then I say
we go on in." Said Sailor Jupiter.
"I say we wait and see what they do. If they attack and start threatening others,
we had better be ready for them." Sailor Uranus said.
"Agreed." They all said.
So they woke up the sleeping Senshi and continued to watch and wait to see what
will happen inside the shop.
* * * * *
Back inside the shop, both men stood facing each other as they were breathing
heavily and sizing up there opponent. Daryl had a small smile to his face since he knew
that his energy sapping blast would make Scott very weak and unable to defend himself.
Scott was glaring at Daryl knowing that Daryl could never beat him in a fair fight, so he
must be hiding something. So he tried to think of what trick Daryl could use that would
help him win the fight. Scott decided to try and talk to him to delay whatever trick was
planned, and to his boss's plan from him.
"So, why did you write my name in her blood?" Asked Scott.
"You're an obstacle. You have to be eliminated." Replied Daryl.
"Why?" Scott asked as he moved to get in a better defensive position.
“That’s for me to know and for you to simply die!” Daryl then started attacking
again and Scott easily defended himself.
After a few moments, Daryl realized that defeating Scott fairly was out of the
question, so he planned to use the power blast of his. After a few more moments of
fighting, Daryl had charged up his blast, and when Scott was in position, he let the blast
go. Scott was caught off guard as he saw the blast coming towards him, so he was not in
any position to dodge the blast. So the blast hit him directly into his chest, throwing him
backwards a few feet until he stopped at the wall.
Scott could feel his strength leaving him as he slumped on the wall. He knew
Daryl would pull a trick to win the fight, but to hit him with a strength sapping blast was
far from what he was thinking. The problem with the blast was that he had a nagging
feeling that he had felt it before, but couldn’t remember when. He looked around and
noticed that his sword was out of reach; it was then that he heard Daryl laughing.
“Well, now the famous Scott Schwartzstern is down.” Daryl said.
“What was that, that was not fair.” Scott replied.
“All’s fair in this fight.” Daryl laughed. “Now it’s time for you to die.”
Scott started looking around to see if there was anything that could help him. As
Daryl was approaching him, his eyes caught on one of his antiques that could help save
his life. So Scott slowly started crawling away from Daryl and his way towards what he
needed to save his life. Scott had made his way to the item just as Daryl reached him.
Daryl raised his sword to get ready to kill Scott.
“Good bye Scott.” Daryl said as he started the down swing of his sword.
Suddenly Scott reached out and grabbed a nearby shield that was knocked over
during the early fighting and used it to block Daryl’s attack. Daryl was so surprised that
Scott was still able to move, much less defend himself that he staggers back a few steps
in surprise. Once he got over his surprise quickly enough, he tried attacking Scott again.
Scott used the shield again, but he knew the shield won’t last long and grabbed hold of
his knife. When Daryl started to hack away at the shield and a part of the shield was cut
off, Scott thrust the knife into Daryl’s left thigh and used the shield to push Daryl away as
Daryl stumbled backwards. When Daryl got his footing back, he was about to attack
Scott again when the both of them heard police sirens in the distance.
“Looks like you get lucky this time, but I will get you next time we meet.” Daryl
said as he then ran over to the front window and threw out a nearby antique to break the
front window and stumbled his way out of it and away from the shop. When he was in an
alley he summoned a portal and went through it.
Back in the shop, Scott was now getting back to his feet while leaning on one of
his display cases.
“Scott? Are you okay there, old man?” Miyuki asked as she and Sasami entered
the shop and went over to Scott.
“I thought I told you to stay upstairs.” Scott told them.
“We were until I felt some weird energy.” Miyuki replied. “But we did stay out
of the fight, we do know the rules.”
“But we did set a time limit on the fight.” Sasami replied.
“You guys called the police.” Scott said.
“Yep.” Sasami said as she helped steady Scott as he tried to stand up.
“What happened to you, old man, you look like you’re out of strength?” Miyuki
asked in concern as she also helped steady Scott.
“Daryl had some sort of energy blast that sapped my strength.” Scott replied but
noticed the police cars suddenly pull up in front of his shop. “Well, we better get ready
for a long night of questioning.”
Miyuki and Sasami sighed and then helped Scott over to a chair and waited for
the police to come in and start their questioning.
* * * * *
Outside, the Senshi were waiting on the roof and waiting for Sailor Mercury to
tell them what the scans told her of what was going on inside the shop. As the fight
inside continued on, Mercury was telling them what she could tell what was going on
inside. Then they heard police sirens approaching and all that Mercury was able to tell
them, was that there seemed to be a stand-off going on in the shop. They heard the sound
of breaking glass, and the Senshi that were watching the shop saw something fly through
the window. Then a man jumped out through the broken window and hobbled down the
street with a sword in his hand and holding his left thigh like it was injured. He kept
glancing back as if he were really afraid of what was behind him and looking in the
direction that the police sirens were coming from before disappearing into an alley.
"So what should we do now?" Asked Sailor Moon.
"It appears that the police are arriving, so let’s wait until they leave before we
strike." Said Sailor Jupiter.
"That would be a good idea." Agreed Sailor Neptune.
So they waited.
* * * * *
It was now almost eleven at night, and the last of the policemen left Scott’s shop
after getting all the information that they could from Scott, Miyuki and Sasami. So with
the permission of the police, Scott, Miyuki, and Sasami were picking up what they could
at the time. Scott and Miyuki were sweeping up broken glass while Sasami was taking
out of the room, all the broken antiques that she could find. Scott was sweeping up some
of the broken glass from a broken display cases when he heard the sound of glass being
stepped on and he turned around to see a girl with long black hair in a red and white
Sailor Fuku coming at him with a high kick.
Scott on instinct used the broom to deflect the kick and then knocked her down by
sweeping her feet out from under her. When she tried to get back up and attack again,
Scott threw her against the wall knocking her out cold. He was about to check on her
when he saw two more people coming in through the window. Both were dressed similar
to the first one, but one was in green and white, while the other was in light blue and
white with yellow accents, and they both seemed to want to attack him as well, but
Miyuki had then joined him to help out.
The rest of the Sailor Senshi made their way down to the street just in time to see
Sailor Uranus get thrown out the window. They saw her get back up and run into the
shop and then a few moments later, fly back out the window. This time she waited for the
rest of the Senshi to catch up to her before she went back in. The first few Senshi that got
into the shop saw that their easy assault was not so easy after all.
They saw Sailor Mars slumped against a wall unconscious, and Sailor Jupiter
pinned up against a display case with a red haired woman with a black stripe of hair over
her left eye, holding her in an arm lock seeming to be in a little pain. They saw Scott
standing at the ready with a broom stick in his hands, waiting to see what the Senshi’s
next act was going to be. They also noticed that Sasami was in the room, but staying out
of the way for just incase another fight started. Sailor Venus went over to check on
Sailor Mars’ condition. Then Sailor Moon came in and started with her usual speech.
"I am Sailor Moon; I stand for love and justice. And we are here to take out low
life's that kill people and take their energy, and in the name of the moon, I will punish
murderers and that means you."
The man looked her with a questioning look then said "You sound just like
Princess Serenity, you know."
That surprised all of the Senshi, but to their minds, it confirmed that he was from
the Negaverse.
"You're from the Negaverse. Collecting energy by killing people and the fact that
you recognize her proves it." Said Sailor Venus. She was a little surprised when she saw
him get an angry look on his face as if they had insulted him when they said he was one
of the enemy.
"I'm as much from the Negaverse as you are, Ruri." Scott grunted in a sarcastic
tone.
"Why did you call me that?" Sailor Venus gasped.
"Because that is who you are, Ruri Cathal, princess of Venus." Scott replied.
"You know who we all are?" Asked Sailor Neptune.
"All except the one calling herself Sailor Moon and the one with the pink hair."
Scott muttered.
"You're from the Negaverse. We saw you kill a man and take his energy," said
Sailor Chibi-Moon. Scott was about to comment again when he was interrupted by
another Senshi, one he really wasn’t ready to see again.
"He's telling the truth. He's not from the Negaverse." Said Sailor Mercury
walking up to the group surrounding him. The others stared at her in surprise, except for
Sailor Uranus who watched the man carefully. She was the one who saw him pale as if
he was seeing a ghost when he finally saw Sailor Mercury.
"What? How can that be?" the others asked Sailor Mercury.
"I scanned him. No trace of Negaverse energy in him, but there is a large amount
of Silver Millennium energy and an unknown energy pattern." Replied Sailor Mercury.
Uranus saw their quarry pale even more when he heard her say that, and the
woman holding Jupiter raised one of her eyebrows when she heard that.
"Sailor Moon." The man said suddenly, with a note of panic in his voice.
"Yes." Replied Sailor Moon cautiously.
"You're the leader of this group, right?"
"Yeah."
"Since we are at a standstill here, I would recommend we make a deal here."
"What kind of a deal?"
"We'll release Natasha here if you promise that none of the others will attack us,
so we can speak in a more civilized manner. Do we have a deal?"
Sailor Moon looked at the other Senshi that were around, and saw that Sailor
Mars was now standing up, and then to Sailor Jupiter who was looking like she was
trying to get out of the woman’s hold but couldn't, then up to the man. She knew they
had the numbers to probably overpower them, but they seem to be more skilled then them
to even out the fight between them. She made her decision and cautiously nodded her
head.
"You have my word that we won't attack you until we heard what you have to say.
Unless you start attacking us that is. Are we agreed?" She said ignoring the shocked
stares she was getting from the other Senshi.
"If you or the others don't give us a reason to, we won't attack you either." Scott
said nodding slightly.
"Agreed then." Said Sailor Moon.
Scott turned to look at Miyuki and nodded his head. So Miyuki quickly released
the arm lock she had on Jupiter and took several steps away to give her some room and
stood beside Scott with Sasami standing on the other side of him, bringing over a chair
for him and he then sat down in it. Sailor Jupiter looked as if she wanted to try hit him or
Miyuki but a look from Sailor Moon made her calm down a little so she quickly went
over and joined the other Senshi glaring at the shopkeeper and the two people with him.
When Sailor Moon was sure that Jupiter was all right, she looked over at Scott, and then
sat in a chair and indicated he should start talking.
He nodded then relaxed a little looking wary and very tired.
"Who are you?" Asked Jupiter. "And how do you know our old names?"
"To answer your second question first, I was also in the Moon Kingdom when it
fell to the Negaverse around two thousand years ago." Scott replied.
"So my mother sent your soul to the future also?" Blurted out Moon.
Scott gave at her with a questioning look, raising his left eyebrow.
"So you are Princess Serenity?" Scott asked.
"Uh... so what if I am. Who are you all?" Asked Moon.
"I now go by the name Scott Schwartzstern, Antique dealer. I went by another
name during the Silver Millennium." Scott began.
"And what was that?" Sailor Chibi-Moon interrupted.
"A name from my past which is now dead." Scott replied with a hint of anger in
his voice.
“Who are the others?” Neptune asked while the others were to busy commenting
among themselves on what Scott said.
“The taller one is Miyuki Nashimoto, my adopted daughter. The other one is my
ward, Sasami Masaki.” Scott replied. “What else do you want to know?”
"What about this unusual energy patterns that you all have?" Mercury asked.
"And what about that person that you killed?" Asked Venus.
"It will take me too long to explain that all to you tonight. It's late out and I can
tell most of you are tired because I can see you yawning at times. How about we talk
about all this tomorrow when we are all rested up. Plus I have had a really bad day today
to begin with."
"Are you just trying to get away?" Asked Mars belligerently.
"No, Krystal. Even if I did, you know what my name is and what I look like. So
you would only have to tell the police, and I would soon be caught." Scott replied.
"Where and when do you want to meet?" Asked Moon.
"There is a shrine on the outskirts of Tokyo, the Nashimoto Shrine. We'll be there
tomorrow at two in the afternoon. You know where the place is?" Scott asked.
"We'll find it." Mars confirmed.
"All right then. We'll meet there at two in the afternoon. Remember no attacks
and no Police." Scott announced.
"What about the Silence Glaive?" Saturn asked, stepping up and looking around
for her weapon. Scott looked at her and smiled.
"Look inside that case behind you, Talia." Scott responded, looking as if he were
trying not to laugh.
Saturn glanced down behind her and saw the weapon case that Scott was talking
about. Saturn glanced toward Mercury, who quickly scanned it. After verifying it was
safe to open, Saturn opened the case and pulled the Silence Glaive out. When she got a
good look at it she was surprised to see that the Glaive had been cleaned and polished,
and had purple ribbons tied to it. She looked at it then up at a smiling Scott.
"I knew you would be coming back for it, so I polished it up for you as a way of
saying sorry of what I did to you earlier." Said Scott apologetically
"Um, Thanks." Said Saturn quietly, blushing slightly at the memory of what he
had done to her that afternoon.
"No problem. You better go and get some sleep, I'll see you all tomorrow." said
Scott.
"So we will meet you at the shrine tomorrow at two in the afternoon, right?"
Jupiter asked.
"That's right." Scott replied.
"Why do you want to meet there?" asked Mars.
"It is Holy Ground. It would not be polite to attack there." Replied Miyuki.
Then the Senshi left the shop and walked down the street too meet up with Luna
and Artemis, who were waiting for them in an alley way.
"So what happened?" Asked Luna impatiently.
"We're meeting him at the Nashimoto Shrine tomorrow to talk." Sailor Moon
replied, a little bewildered at the way events had turned out.
"Why?" Asked Artemis confused as to why they hadn't fought the Antique
Dealer, but instead set up a time to talk with him.
"So we are all rested enough to fight if need be." Mars said angrily as she thought
about her humiliating defeat at the shopkeeper's hands.
"He noticed that some of us were tired and he looked pretty tired himself. He
asked us if we could talk tomorrow and we agreed." Mercury said as seeing the looks of
confusion that both cats had on their face.
"He said he was from the Silver Millennium. Do either of you know him?"
Neptune asked.
"No, he doesn't seem familiar." Artemis replied glancing over at Luna.
"You girls go home and get some sleep. We'll watch him and see what he does.
We'll call if anything happens." Luna assured the girls.
"Okay Luna." Sailor Moon said nodding and yawning hugely at the mention of
sleep.
While the Sailor Senshi walked home, Luna and Artemis made their way towards
Scott's shop to observe him and see if they could find any clues to his identity.
* * * * *
Once the Senshi had left the shop, Scott realized that it was getting too late and
decided to wait until the next day to finish the cleaning. So he had gotten Miyuki and
Sasami to grab some wood boards and block the window. He placed a ‘Closed for
repairs’ sign on the front door and all three of them went to the apartment area to talk
about what just happened.
Scott started explaining to Miyuki and Sasami about the Silver Millennium and
who the Senshi were. He explained who each of the ones he knew were and what had
happened at the fall of the Silver Millennium. He told them that was when he became
Immortal and how he met Methos. He then started talking about his life during the Silver
Millennium and had started talking about his first love.
Movement outside a window caught Scott's eye and he looked out the window but
didn't see anyone. Miyuki and Sasami had a puzzled look on their faces when Scott
abruptly stopped talking and looked out the window. Scott looked back at them and said
quietly: "There's someone outside." That made Miyuki and Sasami tense up and they
nodded their head to acknowledge Scott. They all got up and went to separate areas in
the shop.
* * * * *
"I don't think he saw me." Said Luna when she landed next to Artemis on the box
next to the other window.
"They seem to be splitting up." replied Artemis after he glanced inside briefly.
"I'll follow the women. You go after the Antique Dealer."
"Okay."
They split up, looking for their personal quarry. Artemis went around the back of
the shop to see what he could find. He got to the back door and saw it slowly closing.
He quickly made his way to the door to look around and inside. Before the door shut, he
quickly slipped inside.
Artemis did a quick look around and only saw what appeared to be a workshop of
some sort. He saw many antiques that appeared to need cleaning set on a table. He made
his way to the table and jumped up to look at the antiques when a picture caught his
interest. It was a picture of the Senshi, but blurred enough that you couldn't make out
who they were. There was writing in the corner that said 'another photo for your
strangeness collection' and was signed, 'Kevin'. {Must be a friend of his}. He was so
busy looking at the picture, that he failed to noticed that the person he was supposed to be
following was sneaking up behind him. He noticed him when Scott grabbed him with
one hand and lifted him into the air.
"Gotcha." Scott laughed.
Scott lifted the now squirming and hissing white cat from his worktable, laughing
a little at the futility of the animal's struggles. Then he noticed that the cat had a strange
crescent moon mark on its forehead and that gave Scott a nagging feeling like he should
know where he has seen it before. Scott got his hand placed just right so the cat couldn't
bite or scratch him, and made his way to the kitchen. When Scott made it to the kitchen,
he saw Miyuki and Sasami already there with Sasami carrying a bag with something
squirming inside of it and Miyuki staying away from whatever was inside the bag. When
he got closer, he was able to hear the sounds of a cat hissing from inside the bag.
"See you caught yourself a cat also." Said Sasami when she saw the white cat in
Scott's hands.
"It was the only thing sneaking around my workshop." Replied Scott.
"This cat was the only thing we found outside. What should we do with them?"
"I don't know. But this one seems familiar to me somehow."
"If you say so. You know what's strange?"
"What?"
"The cat that we caught is similar to that one."
"How so?"
"Instead of being all white, this one's all black, but it also has that crescent moon
mark on its forehead."
"Hmmm?"
"You know something, don't you?" Miyuki knowing the look on Scott’s face.
"I might." Replied Scott.
Scott looked down at the struggling cat in his hands and then with a toss and a
flick of the wrist, he twirled the cat so it was now facing him. The cat was momentarily
so dazed by the quick twirl that when it got refocused, it was looking straight into Scott's
eyes. Artemis saw that the man holding him was smiling strangely, which didn't speak
well for his chances, so he prepared to scratch his captor.
"Hello, Artemis." Said Scott, smiling a little more. That caught everyone off
guard. Artemis momentarily forgot that he was about to scratch Scott. Miyuki looked at
Scott as if she were afraid that her father had lost his mind. But Artemis decided to
pretend he was still a normal cat.
"Meow?" Meowed Artemis, hoping the guy would let him go, but Scott still held
onto him, smiling even more.
"Sasami, open the bag so I can throw him in with the other one." Scott said,
turning to Sasami.
"Uh....Okaaaaay." Sasami said still confused a little about what was going on.
Sasami held out the bag and opened it. Scott tossed Artemis in before Luna could
react to the bag opening. Sasami then quickly closed the bag and tied it off. She then
handed the now struggling two cats in the bag to Scott. Scott took the bag and set it on
the kitchen table. The two cats tried to roll the bag off and would have succeeded if Scott
didn't grab a chef's knife and drove it between the two cats, pinning the bag to the table.
Both of the cats yelped when the knife struck the table. The two cats quieted down very
quickly.
"Now, are you going to behave, or are we going to have trouble here." Scott
growled, but got nothing but silence in response. "It's now one in the morning, I'm tired,
I’ve had a really bad day so far and I don't have time for all of this. I know both of you
can talk, so drop the 'normal cat' routine okay."
"Cat's can't talk old man." Said Miyuki really starting to worry about Scott's
sanity slipping.
"We can." Came a female voice from the bag.
"What the!?!" Exclaimed both Miyuki and Sasami when they heard the voice.
"Hello, Luna, good to hear you again." Said Scott.
"Sorry if I don't return the greeting, but I don't talk to strangers." Said Luna with
a hint of anger touching her voice.
"That's all right; I'm not really a stranger." Scott responded calmly.
"You know those cats?" Asked Miyuki with a trace of baffled question in her
voice.
"Yes. They were Queen Serenity's royal advisers until she died in the final battle
of the Moon Kingdom. Now I think they are Princess Serenity's royal advisors."
explaining to both Miyuki and Sasami and the two cats.
"How do you know that?" Came a male voice from the bag.
"Hello there Artemis. Good to see you've decided to join us, and to answer your
question, I was there." Replied Scott
"You could be from the Negaverse and know all that." Said Luna with the same
hint of anger in her voice.
"If you’re trying to get somewhere Scott, it's not going anywhere." Said Sasami
still confused about where this was leading.
"Then I better get to the point." Said Scott
"Yes, please." Said Miyuki somewhat tired from being up this late talking to
Scott and two cats.
"Luna, you stole several fish cakes from the royal cook when she wasn't looking.
I made you return them when I caught you running out of the kitchen. Artemis, I caught
you sneaking looks on the girl side of the royal baths when Princess Serenity and her
court were in there. Any of this ringing a bell?" Asked Scott with a hint of laughter in
his voice.
"I didn't do that." Exclaimed Luna surprised at the memory of that incident.
"I thought I saw a rat go in there." Said Artemis defensively.
Then suddenly, both of them figured out what Scott was playing at. "Oh my God.
It can't be. Gerrek!!" Exclaimed both of the cats.
"Hello you two, remember me now?" Asked Scott.
"What are you doing here?" Asked Luna.
"If you two will behave yourselves, I'll let you out of the bag. I'm getting tired of
talking to it. Do we have a deal?" Asked Scott.
"Yes, you have a deal." Said Luna. Scott reached over and untied the knot that
held the bag shut, and the two cats wiggled themselves out of it and sat in front of Scott,
grooming.
"If you don't believe me why don't you use your psi-powers, Luna, and scan my
mind? It would probably save a lot of questions." Scott with some amusement as she
looked at him disbelieving when she had gotten her fur rearranged.
Luna looked over at Artemis and saw him nod his head. Luna sighed and then
concentrated on reading Scott's mind. What everyone in the room saw was a ray of
yellow light go from the crescent moon mark on Luna's head to Scott's forehead. Where
the beam of light touched on Scott's forehead, the symbol of Minerva appeared there and
then disappeared shortly after the beam did.
What Luna saw when she scanned Scott's mind amazed her. She saw the battle
that destroyed the Moon Kingdom from Scott's perspective and saw that he was killed in
that fight. What really surprised her was that he died long before Queen Serenity had
used her power to send the children of the moon kingdom to the future. But then she saw
that he had come back to life shortly before Queen Serenity had used her power and then
the discussion that he'd had with the dying monarch. She then saw his life passing like
she was watching a movie in fast forward. Seeing his life as he lived from when he
arrived on Earth, over two thousand years ago. Watching, as he saw all his friends die
and other darker parts of his life, but saw no part in his life where he was working for the
Negaverse.
"So was I telling the truth about who I am, Luna?" Asked Scott.
"Yes. You were telling the truth." Replied Luna.
"Good. Now what were you two doing spying on me?" Asked Scott.
"We thought that you were the Beheader, from the news, that is going around
killing people." Said Luna.
"Why would you think that?"
"Sailor Saturn and Sailor Chibi-Moon saw you kill a man."
"Sailor Chibi-Moon? That was the pink haired one, right?"
"Yes."
"I see. Looks like I got a whole lot to explain tomorrow."
"They also saw 'lightning' form around you." Said Artemis.
"So we thought you were from the Negaverse." Said Luna.
"Now I really have a lot to explain." Scott groaned bringing his hands to his face.
"Why don't you try now?" Asked Artemis.
"It's really very confusing, and I would rather only say it once." Scott replied a
little defensively.
"All right." Luna and Artemis agreed.
“So who are these two?” Luna asked.
“Miyuki Nashimoto, my adopted daughter, and Sasami Masaki, my ward.” Scott
replied.
“Why is she standing way back there?” Artemis asked.
“When Miyuki was young, she had a bad incident with a bunch of cats. We have
been working to ease her fears, hell, seeing that she isn’t leaving the room is a good
sign.” Scott replied.
“Well, a part of it is that I’m thinking that they are not normal cats, like what I
had to do with Ryo-ohki.” Miyuki said.
"Well, you two better get back to Princess Serenity before she wonders what
happened to you two." Scott finally said getting to his feet to let the cats out.
"She will be happy to know who you really are." Said Luna.
"You will not tell her, is that understood?" Scott said flatly, glaring at both cats to
make his point clear.
"Why?" Asked Artemis.
"I'll tell her tomorrow." Scott replied.
"But..."
"No buts. Is that understood?"
"Okay." Both cats finally agreed.
Once both of the cats had left the shop, Miyuki and Sasami looked at Scott
sternly.
"Okay, what's going on here?" Asked Miyuki.
Scott sighed and told Miyuki everything that had happened to him from earlier in
the day. He then explained about the Sailor Senshi and the Silver Millennium. After
Scott was done explaining, he locked up and they all went to bed.
* * * * *
In the Negaverse, Damian Rochefort sat on his throne waiting for Daryl to report the
results of his latest mission. He sensed an immortal approaching, and then saw Daryl
walking into the room, then stopped before him, and bowed.
"Report." Damian demanded.
"I was unable to take Schwartzstern out." Replied Daryl, flinching a little at the
finality of those words.
"Why?"
“He was able to withstand that energy sapping blast I hit him with and was able to
still fight back.” Daryl explained. “The police were approaching, so I had to leave.”
"You failed me." Boomed Damian angrily.
"I'm sorry. I'll do better next time." Begged Daryl.
"We shall see. Time to bring in someone better equipped to deal with our
problem. Annie!" Yelled Damian.
They both felt a presence nearby and turned as a woman walked in. The woman
stood about five foot four inches and looked to be around the age of 18. She had dark,
red hair done up in a rather severe style, and jade green eyes. She wore tight black jeans,
a men's white dress shirt and a black leather jacket.
"Yes?" Asked the woman.
"What have you come up with to get back at Drakkar?" Asked Damian.
"It seems that Drakkar's friend, Scott, has two, young, mortal admirers." Began
Annie. "I've been watching his shop and following him wherever he went. I saw the
incident that took place with him today. He was visited by the Sailor Senshi in his shop
after Daryl's assault and in an alley when he took Derrindelle's head."
"Is that right." Said Damian a little surprised at her fast work.
"We could ruin the Senshi at the same time we take care of Drakkar, if my plan
works right."
"How so?"
"The two Senshi that attacked Schwartzstern in the alley, I've seen them
transform. I know who they really are now, and where they go to school, which is the
same school that Schwartzstern’s ward goes to. We can kidnap all three of them and use
them to force Drakkar into our hands."
"I like that. All right, you will give Daryl the details of this plan. You, Daryl,
will kidnap these two Senshi and Schwartzstern’s ward." Said Rochefort.
"Yes, sir." Said Daryl as he bowed.
Annie cleared her throat a little to regain Rochefort's attention.
"Yes, Annie, was there something else?" Rochefort growled.
"My lord, there is a possibility that Drakkar and Schwartzstern may be able to get
the Senshi to aid them if we involve the two Senshi." She said. "Currently they are
distrustful of each other but that may change very rapidly if we involve the Senshi in
what was until now a personal vendetta. It might be better to involve only immortals in
this situation."
"No, Annie, I think it rather more likely that the Senshi would blame Drakkar and
his friend for involving the two youngsters than aid them." Rochefort responded shortly.
"Proceed with your plan, but keep me informed in all events. I want no surprises in this
operation, is that understood," he grated out, glaring at his two minions who nodded
understanding.
"Very well then," he ground out signaling their dismissal. "You have your orders,
proceed. And do not fail me." This last was said with a glower directed toward Thorne.
After Daryl and Annie left to talk about the plans on what had to be done, Damian
smiled to himself and looked into the distance.
"Soon Drakkar. Very soon I will have your head, and an end to your interference.
Then I will rule the world. There will be nothing you can do to stop me ever again.”