(Steve Stachowicz)
gerrek@hotmail.com
(Matthew Frey)
MAFREY@charter.net 

Webpage:  http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/shores/2307

                           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 Four - Misunderstanding part IV
                    *****************************************

**WARNING: This chapter contains graphic violence and events, which may offend
some readers.

This happens to be my (Matthew's) first fan fic, so how are we doing? This
chapter is mostly flashbacks to provide some background on the two individuals
we introduced earlier (Kevin, Scott, and the other Immortals) and to introduce
a few more complications. To give you a little more background, on us tune in
at the end for some stuff about what happened after we started writing this.
Well on with the Fan Fic.

We hope you enjoy the story as much as we do so far.

                             *     *     *     *

April 22, Tokyo, Juuban Ward

	Makoto dialed the number on the card she held in her hand, wondering how
she was going to explain to her new boyfriend that she had to cancel their
first weekend date.

	"You see, I'm a Sailor Senshi and I have to go talk to this guy who just
might be a serial killer instead of going to a movie after shopping at the
new mall," she muttered to herself as the phone started ringing. "Oh good
Makoto, that'll go over, like a lead balloon."

	The other end was picked up and a very tired sounding voice came over the
phone line.

	"Mushy, mushy," the voice said.

	Makoto giggled a little recognizing her boyfriend's voice, then grew
serious. "Hi, Kevin I was just calling to let you know... I mean... you see
...," she stuttered to a stop.

	"Oh, Hi Makoto, I was just about to call you," He interrupted sleepily.
"I'm going to have to postpone our date this morning.  I'm not going to be
able to make it to the mall, because a friend of mine needs a little help
with something. Don't worry about the movie tonight though. I've already got
the tickets and the dinner reservations. See you at five o'clock this
afternoon?"

	Makoto was stunned, and a little angry that she had gone through all of
that worry for nothing. She forgot for a moment that she had called to cancel
the date in the first place. Then she realized that she was being a little
silly.

	"Okay Kevin, I'll see you at five then," she said, still a little 
confused.  She then hung up the phone and finished cleaning her apartment. It wasn't until
she was on her way to the shrine that she realized that she didn't know what
the problem her boyfriend was helping his friend with was.

                    **************************************

	Kevin O'Connell was a little annoyed with the older man he was following.
Not that it was the other man's fault, just that he was Kevin's reason for
being here in the first place.

	"You had better hope my new girlfriend is a very understanding young lady,
or I'm taking all the grief she gives me out of your hide in our next practice
bout," He muttered darkly at the calm from in front of him.

	"I wonder what her parents would think of the fact that she's dating a
man over forty times her age, hmm?" Scott shot back, trying to keep from
laughing at his friend's grumbling. "You, know it's not really healthy for you
to be going after young girls like that. Your going to be 720 in a few months
and that would probably put her out of any mood if she found out."

	"Hey, nothing like that is going on, I mean we go to movies and the mall
 and stuff like that," Kevin muttered to himself.

	"Not for the lack of you trying, though if I know you at all," Scott then
laughed as he saw the blush rising on his friend's face. "So, you have tried,
but the lady hasn't gone along with the plans, ehh? I've got to meet this
girl, if she can get you to do what you hate, then stop you from getting
everything you want then there might be something there," He continued,
laughing harder than before.

	"Well, all I can say is, at least I have a girlfriend," Kevin muttered to
himself, then winced and looked at his friend apologetically. "Sorry Scott,
forget I said that."

	"It's okay, now that she's back I have to get used to the memories," Scott
replied, his agitation becoming visible for the first time. "The good thing is
that she can't remember anything about 'us', so I don't have to worry about
her pitying me or anything like that. Nothing can go on between us now any
way, so it's just as well," He then quickened his pace, leaving Kevin to
trail behind him as they entered the grounds of the ancient Nashimoto shrine.

	"You know Scott, maybe you and she can get together," Kevin said as they
passed the home of the caretaker, nodding to the young man as they passed.
"I mean, it's not as if she were married, or still an infant or something
like that, you know."

	Scott growled at his friend sending him an angry glare. "Shut up, Ziggy.
I'm not like you," he said angrily. "I'm not going to let her ruin her short
life, just so I can have her in mine. It's better that she doesn't know what
we meant to each other then."

	Kevin looked surprised at his friend's passion. "Hey man, I didn't mean
anything by it," he said backing a little away from his glaring friend. "Well,
it's just that I think you should maybe wait on this decision until you ask
'HER' opinion of the situation," He held up his hands, as Scott was about to
interrupt.  "I don't mean you have to tell her, just ask her what she thinks
you should do... well maybe that won't work either. Just think about it, you
could be getting yourself into a lot of trouble if you don't tell her, and let
her help make this decision. I mean it involves both of you,"

	"Go to hell Ziggy," Scott grumbled, glaring at his friend. "You have no
idea what your talking about."

	"Well anyway, you go talk to the honored ancestors, Scott," Kevin laughed
unrepentantly. "Maybe you can convince them. I, however, will wait out here,
since we both know that they would probably kill me if you took me in there."

	Scott nodded and entered the shrine, bowing to each of the alcoves in
turn. Kevin started to walk around the grounds and decided that the best use
of his wait would be to practice his training in concealment. So, he climbed
one of the ancient trees at the entrance and settled in to wait for the Senshi
to arrive.

                    **************************************

	Makoto and the other Senshi met at the Hikawa shrine, and then proceeded
to walk toward the rail station.

	"I still can't believe you agreed to talk to him, Usagi," Haruka grumbled,
remembering how easily the shopkeeper had dealt with every attack she had
attempted. "I mean, the man has killed at least six people in cold blood, so
he probably would have no problem with a few more murders, just to keep his
secret."

	"Well, I don't know about the murders, but the way he stopped us cold
really gave me the creeps," Rei interjected. "I mean how can one person hold
off all of us without even breaking a sweat? And why wouldn't he tell us how
he knew our old names? What was he trying to hide?"

    Ami looked up at the others from the book she was reading. "Maybe he wasn't
trying to hide anything," She suggested. "Maybe it was just as he had said,
he was tired and wanted to get some rest before he told us the reason for
what he had been seen doing. The thing that confuses me is why he told us to
meet him at the Nashimoto shrine. I mean he even emphasized the fact that it
was holy ground when he suggested it. Why would that be important?"

    The other Senshi agreed that there was definitely something strange about 
the
meeting place, but they all had no idea what it could be. As they boarded the
train to Kyoto, none of them noticed the strange girl who had followed them
from the shrine.

	"So they are going to meet Schwartzstern at his family's shrine, hmm?"
Annie chuckled approvingly. "Very good, Scotty. You know there's no way we
could get near it without you finding us first. Very clever indeed," Then she
laughed shortly and walked into a short alley and opened a portal. There was
no way she could get the two little ones away from the group they were always
surrounded by. She would just have to wait for them to be alone.

                    **************************************

	Kevin heard female voices approaching the shrine from the direction of
the train station, and jumped down from his tree to go warn Scott that his
guests were arriving, so he missed the bright flash of light that accompanied
the girls' transformations into the Sailor Senshi. He jogged down the path,
and arrived, just as Scott exited the main building. He jogged up to Scott
then laughed at the knowing expression on his friend's face.

	"How did you know they were here," Kevin asked, chuckling a little at his
friend's mysterious expression. "They just got here maybe two minutes ago."

	Scott suddenly grinned at his friend's confusion, then laughed at his
annoyed expression. "I could say that it was an ancient samurai trick,"
Scott said looking down his nose humorously at Kevin. "The thing is, it was
almost time for the meeting so my alarm went off. We should probably go to
the office to wait for them since that's where I told them we would meet."

	Kevin nodded as he joined his friend walking back down the path to the
simple building in a clearing a short distance away. As they approached the
clearing, a flash of white caught their attention as the Senshi entered it
from the other direction. Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus were several feet
behind the others and appeared to be struggling.

	"Well it looks like the two blondes are pretty tired," Kevin said,
amusement coloring his voice. Then Sailor Jupiter caught his attention."Is
that...No it can't be. She looks nothing like Makoto," Kevin thought to
himself.

                    **************************************

	The Senshi stopped when they saw the two men at the other end of the
clearing.

	"Who is that guy with him?" Sailor Uranus said suspiciously.

	"According to my scans, that is the man who waved at us last night,"
Sailor Mercury answered. "The energy signature is identical."

	"Hey, he looks like my new boyfriend," Jupiter said, looking a little
confused. Everyone looked at her in shock. "What would Kevin be doing here.
I mean, he said he was going somewhere to help an old friend of his," she
continued hardly noticing the bewildered looks she was getting from her
friends.

	"Do you know who that guy with the shopkeeper is Makoto?" Sailor Moon
asked softly.

	Sailor Jupiter looked up at the question, then blushed a little as the
others stares finally registered. "Well, umm, you see he kind of looks like
my new boyfriend Kevin," she mumbled a little self-consciously. "The thing is
Kevin and I talked on the phone this morning, and he said he had to go help
an old friend with something important. I guess this meeting was it."

	The Inner Senshi turned to look at the man standing with Schwartzstern,
and realized that he was in their homeroom class. He was wearing black jeans,
a dark green dress shirt, and a long black overcoat. The hat that completed
his normal outfit was in his hand.

	"Well, I guess we had better go over there," Sailor Mars said finally.
"Just remember, Jupiter, don't let him know who we are. We don't know which
side he's on yet," After throwing the others a warning look she started
towards the two men, with Sailor Moon right beside her.

                       ********************

	Scott watched the heated discussion among the Senshi, then nodded as they
resumed their approach. Motioning to Kevin, he also began to walk toward the
office, with O'Connell a few paces behind him.

	"Hello ladies, Princess Serenity," He began. "Welcome to Nashimoto Shrine.
Please, make yourselves comfortable" With this he motioned them into the
shrine offices. Several servants bowed to him as he entered then quietly left
the room.

	Sailor Mars glared up at him as he waved expansively at their
surroundings, indicating seats for them all. "Who are you that you can take
over this shrine like this," she ground out accusingly.

	He glanced at her in surprise, then laughed a little; realizing how
strange the situation would look to anyone who was actually from Japan. "Yes,
I can see how strange it must look to you having a gaijin giving orders in
what is quite obviously an ancient family shrine," he began, making calming
gestures to the servants who had stopped and were looking very angrily at the
young girl. "You see, in all actuality this shrine does belong to me as the
last remaining member of the Nashimoto Clan. So, you see, I am well within my
rights to act in this way."

	He glanced around at the others to gauge their reactions. Most of the
Senshi appeared a slightly stunned, but strangely, Sailor Jupiter was staring
at Kevin for some reason, and looked as if she hadn't heard any of what he
had said.

	"Why did you invite someone else to this meeting, Mr. Schwartzstern?"
Sailor Moon asked, indicating Kevin. "This was to be only between us."

	"Well Princess, the reason I invited my friend, Mr. O'Connell here, to
this meeting is that the information involves him as well," Scott replied,
laying a hand on Kevin's shoulder. "Kevin is involved in this as much as the
rest of us, and was in fact invited to this meeting by your own guardian," He
added, indicating Luna who nodded her agreement.

        "Luna?" Sailor Moon said looking down at the black cat.

	"Yes, Your Highness, I did invite Mr. O'Connell to the meeting, because he
is as involved in these events as any of us," Luna responded, indicting that
she would go no further in her explanation. The Senshi looked at her in
surprise, then looked back at Kevin.

	"Well, I guess we might as well get on with the real reason for this
meeting," He said rather pointedly to get their attention. "To answer the
question of who I am, my name is Gerrek Bontrager, and I am the First Prince
of Minerva," Everyone blinked at this pronouncement, and then Kevin started
coughing as if trying to keep from laughing. Scott glared at his friend then
glanced around at the Senshi to gauge their reactions.

	Sailor Mars and Sailor Uranus looked as if they didn't believe him. Sailor
Mercury was furiously typing into her computer, while Sailor Chibi-Moon was
handing Sailor Saturn what looked like 5000 yen. Sailor Neptune returned his
glance with a questioning one of her own, Sailor Jupiter was glaring at Kevin,
while Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus just looked confused. Scott sighed in
resignation at the mistrustful looks he was getting from Mars and Uranus.

	"All right, if you don't believe me, ask me some questions," He grumbled,
looking at each of them in turn. "I know you have a lot of them so go ahead."

	"Okay, 'Mr. Bontrager', just how do you explain the fact that you killed
that man yesterday, and don't appear to feel even a hint of remorse," Sailor
Mars said accusingly. "You say you are one of the Princes of Minerva, but we
have no proof that such a place even exists let alone that you are from that
place."

        "The last is easily answered, Krystal. Minerva was a loose confederation
of asteroids that were under the rule of a queen. At least until the end of
the Silver Millennium," Scott began. "Shortly before Beryl's attack on the
moon, she sent three of the seven shadows to Minerva in secret. Shortly
afterward several of the Minerva asteroids exploded, killing all of its two
billion inhabitants," He shook his head as if to clear the image from his
mind.

	"As to the answer to the first, that will be a little more difficult,"
Scott said with a rueful grin at her doubting expression. "You see, my dear
girl, he was trying to kill me, and it came about that the only way I could
stop him was to kill him as I did. You see, had I not beheaded him , he would
not have died and after a short time he would have come after me again, and
perhaps succeeded in doing so to me. Now you may wonder why I had to behead
him in order for him to die. It so happens that Austin Derrindelle, the man
that those two young ladies were unfortunate enough to see me kill, was
Immortal, as are Kevin and myself."

	The Senshi' faces showed their shock and disbelief. Kevin shrugged as
they directed an unspoken question at him. "It's true enough," Kevin
responded.  "I will be having my seven hundred and twentieth birthday in
October, while my really OLD friend Scott there is two thousand and twenty-one
years old. Derrindelle was a relative newcomer, but then he was only around
two hundred," The Senshi looked at him in disbelief, except for Sailor Jupiter
who was watching his every movement with a look of horror on her face.
"What?!?" he said defensively as her expression changed to a dark scowl of
anger.

        Just as Sailor Uranus was starting to shout an accusation at Scott, a
very calm alto voice said, "Hello Siegmund, long time no see," They all turned
in surprise to see Sailor Pluto walking up the path looking straight at Kevin.
"Just what are you doing on the grounds of the stronghold of your old enemies?
And in the company of the Last of the Nashimotos no less. I wouldn't have
expected you to be getting along so well. " Then she turned and blinked when
she saw Scott. "SO! Prince Gerrek of Minerva is the last heir of the
Nashimotos," She then muttered to herself.  "I wonder how that came about."

	Kevin groaned when he remembered the last place he had seen her. "Oh man,
can't you just leave it alone Kiana, I mean that was 300 years ago," He looked
at Scott who only looked a little amused at his predicament. Then he hunched
his shoulders looking like a 17 year-old caught doing something he shouldn't.
At the change Scott burst out laughing as if he couldn't get over the harried
look on his friend face.

	Sailor Pluto looked at the laughing man questioningly. "Oh, don't mind me
Kiana, I just was wondering when you two last met," Scott said after he
regained control of himself. "I mean, we haven't tried to kill each other in
over a hundred years," He glanced over at the other Senshi, who looked like
spectators at a tennis match.

	Sailor Pluto also turned to the other Senshi and smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, these two clowns are Prince Gerrek Bontrager of Minerva, and
Prince Siegmund Drakkar of Neptune," Seeing the shocked question in Neptune's
eyes she smiled. "Yes Sailor Neptune, He is your older brother," Turning back
to the now dumbfounded O'Connell she looked at him questioningly. "The only
thing that confuses me is that you haven't gotten any older. Aging was
supposed to stop at a later point," She muttered to herself. She then looked
at Sailor Uranus questioningly.

	The object of her scrutiny shook herself out of her daze and walked over
to her. "Sailor Pluto, I don't know who these men were before, but that one
you call Gerrek killed a man yesterday, by beheading him," Sailor Uranus said
urgently. "He says it was because the man was Immortal, and so are he and his
friend there. But what does that have to do with it."

	Sailor Pluto glanced quickly at Scott and Kevin, with surprise and a
question in her eyes. At Schwartzstern's nod she took a steadying breath.
"Well, well, no wonder you didn't age Siegmund," She laughed ruefully. "That
would explain a great number of things in fact. When were you chosen, if you
don't mind my asking."

       "Well, I don't know about Scott, but I was 'chosen', as you call it in
1296 fighting the thieving English for Robert the Bruce," Kevin said, falling
unconsciously into a very thick Irish brogue. He glanced angrily around as if
challenging the girls to say anything.

        "What do you mean 'chosen', Pluto?" Sailor Mars asked, looking at the two
men, bewildered. "What's so special about them?"

	"Simply put, Sailor Mars, they are what are called Immortals and they have
been chosen to participate in the ultimate quest for knowledge and power,"
Sailor Pluto said evenly, looking toward the confused Senshi. "In aid of that
quest, they do not age and are far tougher than any of you or even I myself
could ever hope to be. They and the others who have been chosen are involved
in a constant struggle to become the last of their kind in order to gain the
prize of absolute omniscience. However, the only way an Immortal can die is
by being beheaded. This requires the chosen ones to meet each other in duels
to the death, the winner receiving what they call the quickening. This
'Quickening' seems to be the entirety of their opponent's life force and
accumulated knowledge and power." The glazed look in the eyes of the other
Senshi caused Pluto to sigh and glance over at the two men, the younger of
the two pretending to be asleep against one of the walls.

	Sailor Pluto cleared her throat pointedly and Kevin O'Connell stood up
straight and smiled at her obvious displeasure. Scott glanced over at his
friend and shook his head at the younger man's apparent lack of tact. As the
Senshi' eyes cleared, she noticed a very dangerous light coming into Sailor
Jupiter's eyes as she looked at O'Connell, and wondered what had happened to
bring about this meeting, but whatever had happened earlier these two men
were going to become necessary. The Senshi would need their help even more
than they had in the closing days of the Silver Millennium.

	Sailor Jupiter continued to glare at O'Connell, as Sailor Moon shook her
head and looked at Sailor Pluto. "Pluto are you sure we should get them
involved in our problems?" She asked, glancing apologetically at Scott.
"I mean, from what you're telling us, the most important thing in their lives
is this search for knowledge and power, which seems could get pretty
dangerous. So can we get them involved without endangering them or ourselves?"

	"Sailor Moon, your concern does you credit," Pluto replied. "But, know
this, you must find all of the remaining planetary knights to defeat this new
menace. These two will assist you in discovering your new enemy, but be
warned, the oldest enemy of the Moon Kingdom backs this new force," Scott
jerked upright at this looking at Sailor Pluto in horror.

	She raised her hand to stop him when he was about to question her. "I'm
sorry Prince Gerrek, but I can only warn you that this new foe is well known
to you," She then turned to face Sailor Moon and whispered. "Princess you have
found two of the Planetary Knights, though you did so before I thought you
would. The others should be appearing soon enough, however you must find the
Princess of Minerva at all costs or all will have been for nothing," She then
raised the time key and disappeared.

	"So, we know when the kid over there was reborn, but what about you Prince
Gerrek?" Sailor Uranus said belligerently.

	"I was 'chosen' at the end of the Silver Millennium," Scott said quietly,
casting an involuntary glance in Mercury's direction. "I was never reborn in
the sense that Kevin or you others were. In fact I saw the effects of the
spell that sealed Beryl and Metallia with their army in the Negaverse, and
sent all of the dead or dying into the future. I also saw Luna and Artemis
placed into stasis and sent to Earth. When I saw the numbers of the dead, I
only wished we had gotten there sooner," He shivered in horror as the memories
washed over him.

	"What do you mean 'gotten there sooner'?" Sailor Jupiter snapped, causing
the other Senshi to glance at her in surprise. "As Planetary Knights why
weren't you on the Moon at the beginning of the attack?"

	Scott glanced at the angry girl and sighed. "In order to answer that, I
will have to tell you the story of what happened at the end of the Silver
Millennium... It was the day of the Princess' Birthday party, when her
betrothal was to be announced, as well as those of two of her court. The
gala had been planned for over three months, and the dancing had already
begun. Two of the evening's participants had not arrived since they were on
special assignment for the queen, but were expected arrive in time for the
announcements.

                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	
      "Well, how does it feel to know that tonight is your last as a
completely free man?" Siegmund asked as he checked the sensor readings on
their cutter. Slightly smaller than the exploratory cruisers that the queen
had recently authorized, it was still the largest ship that could safely land
on a planet's surface. He looked up and laughed at the mildly annoyed
expression he saw on his companion's face.

	Prince Gerrek Bontrager of Minerva glared at the man sitting in the
pilot's seat for a few more minutes, then proceeded to check his own
engineering and science instruments. He was scanning for any signs that the
Negaverse had forced a breakout on Mercury or Earth to corroborate the report
the Queen's advisors had received. If they had it would be an act of war which
would bring the wrath of the entire solar system down on the unfortunate
perpetrators' heads. 

	Drakkar smiled at his friend's back, and then turned back to his own
instruments. This mission had sprung up out of nowhere on the eve of the
announcement of both his friend's engagement, and his own as well as that of
Princess Serenity to Prince Endymion of Earth. Queen Beryl of the Negaverse
had issued an ultimatum that either the Government surrender Princess Serenity
to her, or her troops would destroy the Moon Kingdom.

	Siegmund smiled at the exact wording of the threat. Princess Beryl of one
of the petty kingdoms of Earth had developed an infatuation for Prince
Endymion on a state visit to the planetary court, and had been outraged when
she heard of his Betrothal to the much younger princess of the Moon Kingdom.
The magnitude of this outrage had not been fully appreciated until the then
Princess Beryl had vanished, then a full year later returned as Queen Beryl of
the Negaverse. Since that time the Negaverse had staged numerous raids in
force on Kingdom outposts including several attempts to assassinate both
Queen Serenity and her daughter. The heightened security measures applied in
response had resulted in heavy casualties for the Negaverse.

	On Earth, demon attacks had escalated enormously and all planetary
garrisons had been placed on alert. These measures had not been in time
however, for Princess Beryl's family. In one night, every member of her
family had been killed by Negaverse constructs. It was believed that these
attacks were carried out on Beryl's orders, but there were undocumented
reports that the leader of the constructs had destroyed each after it
carried out it's mission to prevent the construct from reporting mission
completion to Beryl.

	Siegmund himself didn't believe for a moment that the report was accurate,
especially since he had met Beryl during that fateful party where she had
learned of Endymion's upcoming betrothal. The look in that girl's eyes had
been frightening when the announcement had been made that there were marriage
negotiations in progress. Her entourage had very shortly there after left, but
Siegmund and Gerrek had seen enough to worry them. King Endymion had down
played his warning, but Gerrek had also quietly warned Prince Endymion and
Queen Serenity of the possible danger, and they had taken the necessary
precautions.

        Unfortunately, their precautions had only stopped her minions from
attacking the planetary strongholds themselves, and the creatures were
becoming more audacious as the Planetary Guards were forced further back
toward the strongholds.

	Siegmund shook his head as a threat warning lit up on his board, and he
rapidly shifted his sensors to concentrate on that area. The gravitic sensors
localized the emission source at the same time that Gerrek's energy sensors
told him that there was a massive portal opening in the very center of the
Mercury Stronghold. As Drakkar's visual sensors came on line Gerrek gasped at
the image they displayed. The capital of Mercury was in ruins, and there were
massive gaps in the defensive walls of the stronghold. As he watched assault
transports began coming through the now stabilized gate and smaller personnel
gates began appearing all over the city. Mercury had already fallen, and from
the reports they had received before their departure, Earth could very likely
be next.

	Siegmund shifted his pilot's seat back to its flight position. The cutter
spun on its axis, accelerated through an extremely tight skew turn, and raced
toward Earth. As they approached Venus they saw multiple explosions coming
from its surface, then a blinding flash of light, after which all
communications from that world ceased. They were nearing Earth orbit when all
signals from the Minerva star platforms stopped, and an enormous explosion
became visible in the distance.

	At the same time, the communications panel howled as a priority
transmission was broadcast from Tranquility base.

	"Alert, all stations alert," the voice of the base commander came on as
the system came online. "This is not a drill. Multi-point breakouts have been
detected on all system planets. All units are to report in to Tranquility Base
as soon possible. Situation is as follows. Breakouts detected on all planets.
Null signal from Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Minerva, Neptune, Uranus and
Pluto. Evidence of total destruction of Minerva, and one hundred percent
casualties on all outlying planets. Assault carriers have been detected
in..." the transmission cut off as a flash was seen from the surface of the
moon.

	The landing beacons from the near side base failed and was immediately
replaced by the far side emergency field beacon. As they were bringing the
cutter in for a landing at Ingenii base they saw a gate open and several
assault transports spill through. They landed at the edge of the landing
apron, and grabbed their mission recording to turn in with their report. When
they reached the end of the ship's ramp they gazed in horror at the battle
going on near the control tower. As they watched the guards defending the
tower were swarmed under and the audible beacon indicator shut down as the
beacon was destroyed.

	Siegmund drew his sword as he ran toward the transport hanger at the end
of the field, with Gerrek right behind him. Their swords glinted in the field
lights as they rushed to assist the royal guardsmen defending the armored
transport craft. They carved their way through the demons, which were trying
to get to the transports and use them to continue their attack, just as the
last guardsman fell. Siegmund glanced inquiringly over at Gerrek who nodded
imperceptibly at his friend, then twisted the hilt of his sword, and raised
it above his head.

	"Minerva Wolf Activation!!!" Gerrek shouted, glaring at the demons
charging to attack them.

	Suddenly a blinding white light surrounded him, and when the light
cleared he stood there in black and purple plate mail with a howling wolf on
the breastplate, and his sword glowed purple with immense power. The lesser
demons they had been fighting took one look at him and ran screaming for the
nearest gate. Gerrek smiled at Siegmund who simply placed the blue crystal
from his medallion onto the hilt of his sword and saluted his friend.

	"Neptune Dragon Activation !!!" he roared, raising his sword to the sky.

	A dark blue glow pulsed out from the crystal on the hilt of his long
sword, and immediately surrounded him. When the glow dissipated, he smiled
back at his friend. He was now dressed in black and sea green armor with a
dragon on the breastplate. His sword continued glowing dark blue as he lowered
it and motioned for his friend to precede him into the hanger.

	The first assault tank they came to was on ready status and fully loaded
for ground assault. Siegmund climbed into the pilot's seat while Gerrek manned
the main weapon console and slaved the turrets to his control. Siegmund
brought the reactor to full power then eased the tank forward out of the
hanger. The entire field including their cutter was in flames as they came
back into sight of it. With a grim salute to those who had fallen defending
Ingenii Base, Siegmund turned the tank toward the capital road and shifted to
high gear. The tank blasted away at three times the speed of sound as the
repulsion plates on the bottom activated lifting it above the ground.

	"Palace One, this is Dragon Knight, I repeat Palace One this is Dragon
Knight, request status report on enemy movement between Ingenii base and
Capital," He listened as nothing but silence came back through the satellite
link. He cursed heatedly, then glanced back at Gerrek. "They got the
satellites, so I guess were on our own until we can get a line of sight link
with the palace," He said, then turned away and muttered to himself "if it's
still there."

                    **************************************

	"Palace, this is Dragon Knight, repeat, Palace, this is Dragon Knight,
are you there?"  Dragon Knight sighed, tired of repeating the message.

        "Dragon, this is Gryphon, Palace is receiving." Gryphon Knight said 
sounding harried.  "What is your status?"

        "We borrowed a Grendel tank from Ingenii Base."  Siegmund replied. "Dragon
and Wolf are inbound on the Capitol Road.  We need a gate designator."

	"Head for gate 28 South, I'll have the Wolf Pack meet you there."  

        "What did I tell you?" Siegmund said as he finished talking to Gryphon 
Knight. "I knew we'd get here in time."

	"Yeah, I know."  Gerrek growled.  "You're the man.  But did you have to 
drive like that?  I swear you are the craziest driver I've ever seen."

        "Crazy huh?"  Siegmund said, smiling maniaclly. "I'll show you crazy!"  

	He suddenly swerved down a side street, chasing a squad of negaverse 
soldiers.  He followed them everywhere, even through buildings.  When the 
last of them had been run over by the tank, he turned and the gate they had 
been told to go to was right in front of them.  After they had passed through,
Siegmund looked back at his pale friend grinning.

	"Now that was crazy!"  he said, missing the warning light indicating an 
unknown energy source on the tank.  Gerrek just shook his head in disbelief 
and motioned for Siegmund to exit the tank first.  They were walking toward 
the Palace when Gerrek heard gravel shifting behind him.  He spun around, 
summoning his sword, but it was too late.  As one of the changeling's Rune 
covered daggers bit into his right hand.  He felt a flash of extreme pain, 
then everything went black.

                    **************************************

	Prince Gerrek smelled smoke as he opened his eyes. He tried to get an
idea of his surroundings, but his face was covered with a sheet. From what he
could tell he was in a very cramped, cold, dark space. He reached over his
head and found what seemed to be a door, but there was no handle. Thinking
that he had been captured and was now in an isolation cell, he smiled that
they hadn't removed his sword. Then he noticed he was also still dressed in
his armor. Confused, but grateful that he still had his powers, he
concentrated for a few minutes.

        "Howling Wolf Cyclone!" he shouted, picturing a tornado directed above
his head. With a shriek of tortured metal, the door was gone allowing a small
amount of light into his cell. He slid himself out trying to get his balance,
when he noticed the voice blaring over the intercom.

	"Perimeter Breach in the Royal Compound," the voice he recognized as
Siegmund Drakkar's shouted. "Perimeter Breach in the Royal Compound. All
guards retreat to the command center passages, and prepare for operation
breakout," Behind Drakkar's voice people could be heard shouting and
explosions could be heard in the distance.

	Something was very wrong here, Gerrek thought. Glancing up at the time
display on the wall, Gerrek noticed that it was approximately two hours after
his arrival at the palace. Still confused, he took a look at his surroundings,
and shuddered when he realized he was in the Guard Morgue. He was horrified
at the thought that he had almost been buried alive, then spun warily when he
heard a shuffling noise in the passage outside. Holding his sword at the
ready, he walked to the open entry hatch.

	Gerrek glanced down the hall, just in time to see another changeling slip
around the corner toward the war room with a pulse rifle in its hands.
Swearing, as he realized that the guards had not been moved in time Gerrek
gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and quickly followed the evil creature.
As he rounded the corner, he looked down the passage in horror. Dozens of
guards lay dead or dying as the demons in front of him tore into their
comrades. Then Gerrek caught a flash of color out of the corner of his eye,
and looked on in disbelief as he saw the younger Senshi, and two Planetary
Knights sneak down a side stairway. In the middle of the group was Princess
Serenity struggling with Siegmund Drakkar, and shouting for her mother. At
that very instant, the changeling that he had been following heard her and
motioned some of its fellows to follow it. He swore as he saw a black shape
detach itself from the shadows in front of fleeing group. Just as they were
about to turn the corner that lead to the hall of gates, Gryphon Knight ran
corner followed by Gerrek's little sister, Cassandra. It looked like they were
running from something, and it was soon evident what as a group of negaverse
soldiers rounded the corner.

        Gerrek was about to shout a warning, when Jadeite stabbed five year old
Cassy in the back. Gryphon Knight whirled as if he sensed her death, and
Zoicite removed his head before he could defend himself. Both groups stopped
and looked at each other in surprise, then the Negaverse troops recovered and
a voice that Gerrek recognized easily ordered them to kill the entire group.
The small group trying to take the Princess to safety had just run into Queen
Beryl and her generals.

        As the Senshi squared off with the Generals, he watched the shadow move
toward Beryl's position and just as it was about to reach her, the changeling
he had been following fired, hitting the shape. Suddenly the shadow resolved
itself into a man in formal dress wearing a mask.

	The man started running at Queen Beryl with a weapon in his hand, but she
saw him coming in plenty of time, and hit him with a powerful energy blast.
As the blast hit, the mask flew off revealing Prince Endymion of Earth's face.
The cry of anguish from Princess Serenity caught his attention, as she
collapsed from the feeling of Endymion's death resonating over their soulbond.

	Prince Gerrek moved to assist his friends, but it was too late. He watched
helplessly as Tiger Knight was torn apart by demons. Then the Senshi began to
fall. As he watched Venus crumpled as Zoicite withdrew his sword from her
body, and Neptune fell impaled by a spear. The distraction of her love's
death caused Uranus to miss a parry, and she fell, as Sailor Mars's neck was
broken by Jadeite. As Mercury, Jupiter, and Prince Siegmund drew together to
protect the Princess, Sailor Saturn was surrounded by a dark glow, then
vanished, leaving only the four Senshi behind.

	The Generals surrounded the remaining defenders, grinning evilly as they
encircled them. Gerrek was almost to them, when General Jarosite shot Sailor
Jupiter with an energy blast. As Siegmund's knees buckled from the pain of
that blast, Zoicite laughed and plunged his sword through Drakkar's heart.
Kunzite smiled as he reached out and lifted Sailor Mercury over his head.
Then her brought her down again, breaking her back. Gerrek stumbled as waves
of pain washed over him, and then abruptly stopped. He glanced up in wonder
at the bright light coursing down from the council tower. As the Generals
backed away from it, cursing, each of the fallen Senshi, Prince Endymion,
Princess Serenity, and the last two Planetary Knights were surrounded by
glowing energy.

	"I will not permit this," a thunderous female voice said, crashing over
the palace compound, shaking it to its foundation. "Depart Evil Scum, you are
hear-by banished from this plane. BE GONE!!!!"

	Beryl and her Generals screamed as they were suddenly surrounded by
painfully bright light that grew brighter until Gerrek could no longer look
at them. When the light faded, they had vanished.

        "This will not be the end," the voice from the tower continued. "GO
FORWARD, BE REBORN INTO A BETTER, HAPPIER TIME," As the voice finished this
pronouncement the glowing spheres around the Senshi pulsed then faded,
vanishing quietly. Then the light pulsing from the tower faltered and died.
Gerrek retrieved his sword from where his nerveless hands had dropped it, and
made his way back toward the war room.

        When he arrived there, no sign of the enemy could be seen on any of the 
operating monitors. He was looking around for surviving guards, when he heard
a groan from the council chamber. He quickly moved to the door and gasped at
the scene inside. The Elder Senshi lay in a ring around the barely moving
form of Queen Serenity. He checked each of them, but the queen was the only
one still breathing.

        Propping her up, Gerrek drew a flask of water from the table and held it
to her lips. After a short drink, she started coughing, so he drew the flask
away. He held her for a short time then she stirred again and looked into his
eyes.

	"Prince Gerrek," she said in some surprise, then understanding replaced
it. "You have been chosen for the Great Struggle," she said, sadness clouding
her features. "I had hoped you would go with my dear daughter to assist her
in the future, but now I must lay an even more dreadful burden upon you. Go
to Earth, on the largest landmass you will find a man chosen millennia ago as
you were. Find him and tell him that the Kingdom of the Moon is no more. Tell
him that Beryl and her minions have been banished from our plane, but that
the time shall come when they shall return. Then the Moon Kingdom shall rise
again and never be extinguished. Now go, and when you reach Earth, seal the
portal so that the Moon alone shall die," After she said this, the queen
shuddered, then lay still.

	Gerrek laid her down gently, then slowly left the Counsel Hall.  In the 
War room, he saw a strange case near a dead Negaverse soldier. Opening it, he
quickly realized that it was designed to carry the talismans of the Planetary
Knights. Taking the case with him, he continued down the hall toward the gate
chamber.  When he reached the site of his friend's doomed struggle, he caught
sight of their talismans lying in the rubble.  Gathering all of them, he
placed them gently into the case, then got to his feet and walked to the hall
of gates.

	The room was in shambles.  Several of the gates were shattered, and all of
the permanent gates showed hostile environment warnings.  Stepping to the
emergency gate behind a secret panel, he took out the portal key, making a
return trip impossible.  Glancing out the window, he saw the first
fluctuations of the protective dome as it began to collapse.  Saluting his
ruined home, he activated the gate and stepped through, saying fare well to
all he had known and loved.

	As he appeared in the middle of the stone ring, he smiled sadly, and
transformed back into his uniform.  He looked at his own talisman, his sword,
then put it in the case with the others. With a sigh, he buried the case under
one of the support stones for the alter, using his Knight powers, then went
in search of the man his Queen had given him a message for.  As he left the
Dolmen, for the first time he felt completely alone.

                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	As Scott finished, he glanced around at his audience.  Sailor Moon,
Sailor Saturn, and Sailor Chibi-Moon were lying against each other, asleep.
Uranus, Neptune, Mars, and Venus were looking rather stunned, Mercury had an
extremely curious look on her face, and Sailor Jupiter was still glaring at
Kevin, who seemed to be getting more uncomfortable as each minute passed.
Luna was talking to Artemis, who seemed to disagree with something she had
said a little earlier.

	He cleared his throat to break the silence, and froze in shock when
Artemis' voice shouted into the silence.

	"But Luna, he and Sailor Mercury were betrothed for three years before
that happened," At this, Sailor Mercury glanced at them in confusion,
blushing hotly.

	"It doesn't matter Artemis," Luna replied. "Just because Prince Gerrek
and Sailor Mercury were engaged in the Silver Millennium doesn't mean they
can't be now," Sailor Mercury glanced over at Scott now with comprehension
slowly becoming a certainty, then her blush grew hotter as she remembered.

	"They've been apart for 2000 years Luna," Artemis responded, exasperated. 
"Besides 
she probably doesn't even remember it now."

	"She does now, idiot," Scott said with some annoyance, as his plan to go
slowly around his former fiancee was rendered unnecessary. "Honestly, can't
you two keep a secret at all," 

	The cats looked up at him in surprise, then worriedly glanced over to
Mercury for verification. The look on her face as she tried to come to grips
with the new revelation left them no room for doubt that she had heard
everything they had said. The Inner Senshi were looking between Sailor
Mercury and Scott in confusion, then Sailor Venus leaned over to Sailor Moon
with a sly looked on her face and whispered something in her ear. Sailor Moon
gasped at the comment, then seeing Mercury's red face, started giggling
uncontrollably.

	Sailor Jupiter glared at Kevin for a while longer then blinked as if
something had just hit her.

	"So, Kevin, what did Pluto mean when she said she was surprised to see
the two of you on such good terms," she said with a hard look in her eye.

	"Yeah, what's going on that you haven't told us?" Sailor Mars said
glancing at the two men.

	"Well it's kind of hard to explain really," Scott said, scratching the
back of his head self-consciously. "I guess you could say it had more to do
with who we were hanging around with than anything else."

                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

JAPAN 1701, HOKKAIDO ISLAND

	Akuji Nashimoto stood watching as the sky darkened into night, then
continued on his way to check the guards charged with ensuring the safety of
his Daimyo. As he neared the Daimyo's palace, he was reminded by one of the
sentries, that it was his brother, Tenchi who was responsible for the guard
tonight. He smiled and nodded as he continued on eager to see his brother and
scare the guard into being especially vigilant tonight. The Daimyo of the Edo
Province had demanded that Lord Shinusuke should swear fealty to him and drive
all gaijin from his lands. Lord Shinusuke had refused and a state of war had
been declared between the two provinces. The shogun had spoken to both lords,
and agreed that they had just cause for their dispute. Some of the clans of
the Edo province did not however, wish to come against the armies of Hokkaido,
so it was rumored that they had hired the Nakijima Clan of Ninja, to remove
the present Daimyo, and his family, in favor of his more amenable cousin.

	Akuji was smiling as he walked up to his brother and bowed semi-mockingly.
His brother smirked in return, then called the guard detail to attention.
After the inspection they walked back to their quarters.

	"So Akuji, anything new on princess detail," Tenchi said, laughing when
his brother blushed at the mention of his current assignment.

	"Not really new, brother, but there is something concerning me about Lady
Michiko," Akuji replied checking to ensure that no one was listening since he
was discussing the Daimyo's youngest and favorite daughter. "On five separate
occasions she has vanished from her rooms without anyone seeing her leave. On
her reappearance from one of these occasions, her elder sister saw her in the
baths, and reported later to their mother that the girl had abrasions on her
breasts and thighs. When her mother examined her she found that the girl was
still a virgin, and on questioning the girl said that the marks had been a
trick of the light. Since they were no longer there, her mother was forced to
agree, but the girl's maid has noticed some rather odd behavior. Lady Michiko
has been caught singing in a very strange language, and when questioned
denies that she was singing anything but traditional songs. Finally, the girl
has been painting pictures of some strange land. It looks nothing like the
surrounding countryside, or from all my travels, anywhere in Japan."

	"What can be going on in that girl's mind?" Tenchi's grumbling comment
struck a cord in Akuji's mind as he cast back over his memories looking for a
possible solution.

	"I have a possible idea what is going on here," Akuji said scathingly to
his brother as a possibility struck him. "First, when was the last time she
vanished?"

	A little surprised Tenchi stuttered, "J-j-just this morning, and she
returned from the bath house not more than ten minutes before I inspected
the guard detail," As he looked at his brother's retreating back he wondered
what had struck his brother.

	Akuji swore as he hurried to the Laundry area hoping it wasn't to late.
As he arrived, he saw the Princess' maid bring a basket of clothing into the
room. Stopping her before she gave the clothing to one of the washer women
Akuji examined all of the clothing. On the undergarments, he found several
suspicious stains but no other evidence. He had almost given up when he
noticed a hair on the hem of the kimono. As he drew the hair off, he knew
instantly from the color that the princess had not been truthful in her
denials.

    He walked to the women's quarters muttering darkly to himself that it had
better not be what he thought it was, or that girl had endangered his
brother's life as well as her own. He arrived in the gallery level and
proceeded to the observation point for Michiko's quarters. As he watched, the
princess came in from the gardens singing softly to her self. Initially the
song was to soft for him to make out the words, but when he finally heard the
words she was singing his blood ran cold. That language was not from Japan or
any land near it. He cursed softly as he quietly left the gallery and hurried
back to his brother's quarters with his findings.

	When Akuji burst into Tenchi's room, he was gasping a little from the run.

	"She's sneaking out to meet with a gaijin, Tenchi," He blurted as he tried
to get his breath back. "The proof of it is right here," Having said this, he
waved the incriminating hair at his brother.

	"What is that, a hair?" His brother said in confusion.

	"This hair was on the hem of the Kimono that she was wearing this
morning," Akuji replied, showing the strands he had found to his brother. "No
man or woman born on this island has hair this color. Also, I know the
language that she was singing in when her maid couldn't understand her, and
it is from a land that is far from here. Based on the stains on her
underclothes, the song, and the color of the hair I found, I'd say little
Michiko has gotten herself rather heavily involved with a gaijin. Now based
on her mother's examination, the gaijin may not be male but even so a gaijin's
presence in this province is against the Shogun's edict. If the princess knew
this and she did not report it to her father, her life would be forfeit. With
Edo agitating for Lord Shinusuke's removal I firmly believe that it could
result in the loss of the entire family."

	Tenchi stared at his brother, stunned at the horrible situation one girl's
love life had caused. Then he jumped from his chair, as the palace alarm rang
out signaling an attack.

	Grabbing their swords from the racks set aside to hold them, Akuji and 
Tenchi
ran as they saw smoke rising from the stables, then paused when they saw the 
black
shrouded figures at the guard entrance. They drew their swords and charged the
ninjas, killing two before they could defend themselves.  The other two didn't
last much longer and then they were in the palace itself.

	They encountered numerous guards and were passing the women's quarter,
when they heard screams from behind the door. Tenchi continued toward the
Daimyo's chambers, while Akuji entered the women's quarter. Several maids lay
dead in the passage where the ninjas had surprised them. Screams could be heard
coming from the wives' chambers then cut off suddenly.  He ran toward the
princesses' quarters, and just a he reached entrance, he felt a familiar
tingling in his nerves. Glancing around, he heard a muffled argument coming
from Michiko's room. Swearing, he ran to the door and thrust it open to find a
ninja, trying to drag Michiko to a window. The girl was struggling heavily
though so it was taking longer than the man had obviously anticipated. Akuji
was about to rush to the princess' rescue when her words finally registered.

        "Ka'van, I must help my sisters," she was shrieking at the man. "I can't
just let them be killed," Saying this she tried to break free once more."

	Then the man spoke, as if he had heard her say this before. "Michi, you
have to leave now," the man said in a voice Akuji recognized. "There is
nothing you can do for your mother or sisters. It will be a miracle if we can
escape unnoticed just by ourselves. I know you want to help them, but the best
way for you to help anyone, is for you to come with me now and help me to
protect Ryonusuke. If he doesn't survive then there is no hope of your family
ever regaining control of this province.  Your cousin Shinji will become the
undisputed ruler, and you will have no hope of living peacefully anywhere in
the islands," After he said this, Michiko stopped struggling, nodded
reluctantly, and then walked to the window and slid down the rope tied there.

	The ninja was about to follow when he turned and stared in surprise at
Akuji. He then pulled his mask off revealing a grinning face surrounded by
dark red hair.

	"Well, well, Scott old friend fancy seeing you here," the man said shaking
his head ruefully. "What have you been doing for the last five centuries or
so, that you can't keep in touch with your friends," Seeing Scott's bare blade
his grin faded a little and he drew the sword at his back.

	"You come to my lord's domain and endanger the lives of two entire
families, and you greet me as 'friend'?" Scott raged moving toward the
red-haired man cautiously. "Kevin O'Connell, you shall die for your treachery
this day," As he said the last he charged O'Connell attempting a cut the man's
face.

	Kevin O'Connell jumped backward as his friend and mentor tried to remove
his nose, then brought his sword up to block the return strike aimed at his
neck. As their swords clashed he jumped back again just as Scott did the same.
Smiling confidently he lowered himself into a guard position and simply
watched his opponent.

	Scott muttered under his breath as he realized that he had been stopped by
a counter that he had taught O'Connell himself. Then grinned as he remembered
that he had learned many new skills since the Nashimoto had adopted him. He
drew his self up and launched into an extremely intricate sword dance, which
would result in decapitation if not halted. But Kevin was no longer in his
path as he reached the ending sequence. Scott spun finding his opponent
attempting to sneak out of the room. With a rush Scott blocked Kevin's escape
route, and smiled at his enemy's disappointment.

	Kevin glared at Scott, then spoke very softly. "If you really want a fight
Scott, I'll give it to you but we need to hurry or someone is going to notice
Princess Michiko and her little brother are missing, and start searching for
them. If I don't get them out of here soon, we may not escape. So let's get
on with this if we must," Having said this he took several steps backward then
sank into a guard position.

	Scott sank into his own guard position then advanced, holding his sword
before him. Kevin retreated a little then struck with lightning speed at
Scott's off-side sweeping his sword upward, only to be stopped at the last
instant by Scott's blade. He then dropped and rolled away as Scott counter
attacked. He got to his feet just as Scott got back with range, and brought
his sword up barely in time to stop the sweeping head cut Scott had aimed at
his neck.  Kevin then smiled as their weapons bound, and then as they
struggled against each other he leaned in and gave his friend a kiss on the
check then broke away laughing at the look on his friend's face.

	Scott glared at his laughing opponent, then began moving again. As one
they both started a pattern dance that lasted for a number of minutes before
both swords flew from their owners' hands. Scott's landed near the door, while
Kevin's landed point first in the floor near the window. As both men scrambled
to retrieve their blades, Scott turned just in time to see Kevin reach the
window, salute him with a grin, and cut the rope performing a perfect dive
roll to the ground below. As Scott watched helplessly from the balcony,
Kevin and his two companions, the princess and her young brother, fled into
the cover of the forest at the edge of the clearing.

	With a curse Scott returned to the women's quarter which was now filled
with the silence of the dead. Rivulets of blood ran from many of the doorways
to the other princesses' rooms and one of them was laying at her doorway with
her Kimono torn from her body. At this Scott ran to each door then swore in
disgust as he saw that all of the Daimyo's daughters down to the youngest were
dead, and all of them had been raped before they were killed. He then
proceeded to the nursery and saw that the three babies had been beheaded, and
their mother's lay about the room gutted. When he finally got to the wives'
quarters, he felt sick at the carnage. When he entered the quarters, he swore
in rage at the site before him. The wives had been caught unaware by their
attackers, and had been unable to escape. Each had been tied to her bed, then
repeatedly raped. After all of their attackers had had their fill, they had
been gutted like animals. All that is with the exception of the Daimyo's wife.

	She had killed on of the men who attacked her and taken up his sword,
killing several of them before one had removed her hand at the wrist. They had
then cut her breasts from her body and as she was bleeding to death from her
wounds they had taken the sword she had used and run it into her body through
her vagina. At the sight of her mutilated form Scott lost control of his
stomach, stumbled to a corner, and added the contents of his stomach to the
blood and gore covering the floor.

	When he finally regained control, he ran back out of the women's quarter,
and then stopped at the sounds he heard. Gone were the sound of fighting,
replaced by an eerie silence that filled him with foreboding. He ran to the
Daimyo's room to find it deserted except for the dead. In one corner near a
window he found the Daimyo's decapitated body. A short distance away he found
Tenchi. Both of his hands missing, and he had been mutilated after death.
Scott reached up and closed his brother's eyes then stormed out of the palace,
noting the dead guards. When he came to the guard compound he heard more
fighting, and ran to the gate. The ninjas still held the gate hear, but they
were not expecting an assault form behind them, and soon the guards streamed
out of the compound then stopped when they saw Scott.

	"Lord Akuji, what is happening up at the palace?" One of the guards
demanded noticing the blood on Scott's clothing. "Where is Lord Shinusuke?"

	"Lord Shinusuke and his family are dead except for Lord Ryonusuke and his
sister the lady Michiko who have been captured," Scott responded, then paused
to let that statement sink in. "The Nakijima clan has succeeded in their task
and Lord Shinji is now the Daimyo. This can mean only one thing for all of you
and the entire Nashimoto clan. Unless we can recover Lord Ryonusuke, we are
all Ronin and shall be killed by the Edo soldiers as they see fit. We must do
so or all of Lord Shinusuke's work to protect the innocent shall be for
nothing. Who will follow me to rescue the Daimyo and restore him to his
rightful place as the heir to Lord Shinusuke?" After he said this he gazed in
surprise as the men glanced around uncomfortably.

	"Have you no honor then, that you will not help me?" Scott roared at them.
Then one of the men came forward and glared at Scott.

	"It is not a matter of honor, but of possibility, Lord Akuji," The Captain
of the Guard said gruffly. "Why should we fight to recover a boy of three, when
his uncle is a man of power. We shall instead look for the boy and give him to
his uncle as a sign of our good faith, and allegiance," 

	Scott stared in horror as the rest of the guard nodded, then his shoulders
slumped in defeat.

	"Very well then, if this is the way you show your allegiance to Lord
Shinusuke then I cannot stop you," Scott said, then raised a hand in warning.
"But, remember this well, as long as I live the Nashimoto shall survive, and
no man among you will sleep safely." Having said this Scott spat at the guard
captains feet, walked to the horse paddock, placed his saddle on his black
horse, and rode from the compound, stopping only to throw a flaming torch
into the Daimyo's palace. A short while later the palace burst into flames.

                    **************************************

	Scott Schwartzstern led his horse up the gangway onto the merchant ship he
had booked passage on. The last of his family had committed seppuku rather
than subject themselves to Lord Shinji's reign. Over the past year since Lord
Shinji had been proclaimed Daimyo many things had occurred in Japan. The
remnants of the Nashimoto clan had petitioned the emperor for redress of the
wrongs the Edo troops had committed, but they had been rejected, and in
desperation had launched an assault of their own on Edo Palace. When it
failed they had returned to their homes, and the head of the family had
called Scott in and ordered him to depart the country.

	Scott had hunted the Nakijima clan to near extinction but had found no
sign of Kevin O'Connell or the Daimyo's children.  Finally he agreed to his
clan leader's demand, and had booked passage to Europe. When he glanced back
at Japan as the ship sailed out of the port, he saw the port burning. The
Lord of Edo had become the Shogun, and no gaijin was permitted to live in the
empire.

	Scott walked to the bow of the ship and as he watched the sun set, swore
an oath that one day he would return and cleanse Japan of the Nakijima,
Especially Kevin O'Connell.

                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Scott glanced up and saw all of the Senshi staring at him in awe. All of
them that is, except for Sailor Jupiter who was again staring at Kevin with
death in her eyes.

	"Wow, you really were a Samurai hundreds of years ago?" Sailor Chibi-Moon
blurted out, only then realizing where the information he had given her about
the scabbard had come from.

	"Wait a minute," Sailor Mars said, looking between Kevin and Scott. "If
you swore to wipe every member of the Nakijima ninja clan from the face of
the Earth, why is he still around, let alone hanging around with you?" She
said pointing at Kevin.

	Kevin coughed and looked a little uncomfortable. "Well, you see I'm not an
actual member of the Nakajima ninja clan," he said looking uncomfortably at
Sailor Jupiter who was still glaring at him. "I was friendly with them for
about 200 years before the attack on Lord Shinusuke but the fact that they
accepted the contract to destroy every man, woman, and child of the man's
family kind of drove us apart. They themselves have been after me for the
last 230 years since I just happened to help the only heir of the old lord
escape with his sister. The main reason that the Nashimotos could not find the
two kids I spirited away was that they didn't think to look in Ireland. Little
Ryonusuke was raised in my castle there until he was 20, then he made his way
back to Japan. He led an army against the forces of his uncle, and regained
control of his father's lands. Michiko stayed with me in Ireland until she
died in 1715."

	The look in Sailor Jupiter's eye's hardened, then softened a little when
she saw the pain in his eye's when he mentioned the girl dying.

	"That still doesn't answer the question of why both of you are still
around," Sailor Uranus said flatly, as if she still didn't believe the
explanation Kevin had given them.

	"Yeah," Sailor Jupiter added belligerently. "Why didn't one of you kill
the other the next time you met?"

	Scott looked at Kevin who was looking a little uncomfortable, then laughed
shortly.

	"Well that meeting took place in the late 1790's..," he began.

                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Paris, France 1795

	Scott Schwartzstern walked sedately through the square as he tried to
block out the sound of the crowds cheering as "Madame le Guillotine" claimed
victim after victim. He shuddered slightly as the pitch of their cries grew
louder, then were cut off by the intervening buildings. As he proceeded down
the small side street, he felt an all too familiar tingling sensation at the
back of his neck and slipped into a doorway. Then he caught a flash of red and
saw a tall red-haired young man wearing a black greatcoat and tricorn hat,
come out of a building several yards down the street. The man looked his way
for a moment, then shrugged and went on his way in the opposite direction.
Scott swore when after waiting a while he realized that the man was someone
he recognized. He smiled grimly and made his way after the man, drawing his
sword from his coat. He was almost to the Seine when he heard a voice from the
shadows in an alley.

	"Scott old man, whatever are you doing in this neighborhood,"
Kevin O'Connell said chuckling a little at his old friend's look of surprise.
"I would think that you would still be living in the orient," Scott's eyes
burned with hatred at these words.

	"Kevin O'Connell, for the crimes of your clan against mine I shall
destroy you," Scott said bringing his katana to high guard.

	"Really Scott old bean, what are you talking about?" Kevin said while
drawing his ninja-to from his greatcoat and shrugging the coat off. "My clan
as you call it has never been near Japan let alone committed crimes against
the Nashimoto."

	"You know very well what I'm talking about you honorless worm!" Scott
grated then rushed forward swing for Kevin's neck.

	Kevin parried the stroke, then glared at his opponent as he forced the
swords away from himself. "Honorless...? How dare you...?" He grunted,
wrenching his sword around. "And you know so much about my honor, eh? I'll
take many things from a man who was at one time my friend, but accusations
of having no honor is not one of them," Kevin smiled at Scott, then slashed
at his arm forcing him to jump back out of the way to avoid being literally
disarmed.

	Scott smiled viciously in return then struck repeatedly, forcing Kevin
into a narrow side street. Kevin jumped backward as he parried the vicious
cuts, trying to avoid the blade as well. Finally, his back came up against
the wall. Grimly, he set his jaw and after his last parry struck back,
forcing Scott to give ground. Neither man spoke, saving their breath for
the extremely serious task of staying alive. As Kevin drove Scott backward
toward the mouth of the alley, Kevin slipped on some garbage and barely
blocked Scott's attack as he followed up his advantage.

	Kevin grunted as he heaved himself back to his feet, and drove Scott into
an alley even narrower than the one they had just left. Very quickly, Scott
found himself with his back to the river as he was driven further back.
Stepping onto the bank he gave ground further until they both were standing on
a narrow ledge only two feet wide. As both men realized their position, they
backed a little away from each other as if by mutual agreement to let the
other regain their balance though it was nothing of the sort. When they were
sure of themselves they continued fighting neither man gaining the upper hand
until more than half an hour, and three miles from the beginning of the fight,
they found themselves across the river from Notre Dame. Glancing at the
massive building they both stopped, saluted the building, and by mutual consent
walked half a mile from the cathedral. Then they resumed their combat driving
each other away from the building.

	As the reached a bend in the river Kevin was driving Scott further
downstream when he heard an odd note in the ring of the sword's clashing
together. As he puzzled this over in his mind he raised his sword to parry the
stroke Scott had aimed at his side. When the swords came together there was an
extremely odd note to the ring of steel on steel. Then he stared in shock at
what remained of the two swords as they were surrounded in a cloud of metal
fragments.

	Both men stared at the remnants of the two swords in disbelief, then Kevin
looked from his hilt to Scott's then back to his own for a second then started
laughing. Soon he was laughing so hard he could barely stand. Scott continued
to stare at the hilt for a moment, then glanced up at Kevin, and froze in
surprise as he remembered the last time he had seen this occur.

                   **************************************

	The system wide Martial Championships were a test of skill and ability
with arms of all members of the military as well as the planetary knights and
Senshi. Each year the people had gathered to decide whom the best warriors
were. Gerrek himself had entered into the sword dueling competition for since
his 15th birthday made him eligible. At age 17 he had won the championship
for the first time and defeated the current champion, Prince Siegmund Drakkar
IV of Neptune. The following year saw the same match up, and Prince Siegmund
had emerged as the victor. This pattern had continued for two more years until
in the final championship match before the end of the Silver Millenium.

	The first two points had been evenly divided between them both and the
final bout had lasted for three-quarters of an hour before, during a
particularly heated exchange of blows, both swords had exploded due
crystallization. At that point the bout had been called a draw, as was the
championship. In the history of the Championships, they held the record for
the longest bout, as well as the only draw ever recorded. That had been the
final straw, and the Martial Championship Board had honored them both by
giving them the rank of grand master, not incidentally forcing them both to
retire from competition. They had been friends since the second bout had
reversed the results of the first. The fact that they were both Planetary
Knights had only made their friendship stronger over the years. 

                    **************************************

	As these memories faded from his mind, he realized that the reason for the
memory coming to the surface was not just the situation he found himself in.
He realized that he had subconsciously recognized Drakkar in Kevin centuries
before when they had met for the first time. He shook his head to clear the
remaining memory fragments and saw Kevin lying on the ground still laughing.
His friend's position on the ground as well as his laughter finally got to
Scott, who started laughing silently, then finally broke into deep chuckles
as his friend started rolling around still laughing. After a few more minutes
of this, Scott noticed two city guards walking toward them. Walking over to
Kevin he nudged him with his foot then assisted him to his feet. They nodded
to the guards as they walked past them, then returned to Kevin's lodgings.

                    **************************************

	Over the next two days the story of what had happened to each of them in
the intervening years since they had last seen each other came out. It was
only when Kevin related the story of what had happened to the Princess Michiko
ten years after their arrival in Ireland, that Scott's anger returned to him.
As he stormed around the apartment, Kevin watched him closely, then flinched
when Scott spun around, and glared at him.

	"Who would do this kind of thing?" he grated out looking for answers to
the reasoning behind the fact that the Princess had been left stretched out
on their bed, and disemboweled during one of Kevin's rare market trips
without her. Kevin's eyes still held the horror of the memory of his discovery
on his return that night.

	"That would be Damian Rochefort, the one and only student I ever had the
misfortune of teaching," Kevin said, his voice becoming gravelly as he
remembered the man. "When I wouldn't teach him the more advanced patterns of
the Nakijima sword techniques he accused me of reserving them for the purpose
of eliminating him when he wasn't expecting it. The note he left in a pouch
attached to the dagger driven into Michiko's neck said that it was a warning
that for my 'treachery' he would destroy everything dear to me, then kill me
in 'the slowest, most painful way' he could find," Kevin shrugged at that
comment.

	"All I have noticed is that over the last 70 years three of my very close
friends have died from unnatural causes, and Rochefort left notes somewhere on
their bodies to prove it to me," Scott shivered at the implacable look on
Kevin's face when he said this. "Five years ago he made and attempt to have a
few of the benighted fools who have become his acolytes kill me. Unfortunately
for them I have never been a heavy sleeper, and one of the idiots actually
poisoned me, then bragged about it in a bar I frequent and I showed him my
disfavor later that day. He didn't poison anyone else after that, but then
it's rather difficult to poison someone if you don't have any hands," Kevin
was grinning evilly as he said this last. Scott nodded approvingly at the
punishment meted out.

	The two men spent the next few years chasing Rochefort, until in the
spring of 1808 Scott received a message from a friend in North America that
something had happened to the caretakers of his homestead in the colonies.
He had left shortly after the message was received. Kevin found information
pointing to Rochefort's influence in some of Napoleon's policies. Since he
couldn't find any sign Rochefort, nor had there been any for ten years, he
finally started to experience boredom in the search. To relieve his boredom,
Kevin finally decided to by himself a commission in the British Army.

                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Kevin and Scott paused when they heard someone being sick and looked over
to see Sailor Chibi-Moon and Sailor Moon standing in the bushes, losing their
lunches. Looking around at the other Senshi, Kevin noticed that they all
looked a little green except for Sailor Jupiter who was staring angrily at
him again. Shrugging good-naturedly, Kevin waited patiently as they
regained their composure. Finally, Sailor Mars looked enquiringly at Kevin
when she recovered.

	"You just stopped looking for this guy, and he left you alone until now?"
She asked, surprised and very doubtful. "Why is he coming after your friends
now then?"

	Kevin smiled at the questions. "It's rather simple really," He said,
glancing over at Sailor Jupiter who was making him even more uncomfortable
by glaring at him. Then he noticed that Sailor Mercury was staring at Scott,
and smirked a little in amusement at the angry glare his friend was sending
at the two moon cats. "You see he did continue to come after my friends. In
fact one of his minions was in love with me at one point. Unfortunately, she
was a spy for Napoleon during the Peninsular War, and when I found out, I
tried to convince her that she would be better off becoming a double agent.
She didn't react to it that well, but then considering she had died after
being raped by British Soldiers during the Hundred Years War, I really can't
blame her that much for her hatred of all things British. When I told her
that I knew of her connection to Rochefort, and told her my real name, not
the name I had been going under, she became horrified, and fled the country.
I later eliminated the rest of her network but she never returned, so I
don't know why she ran off. I still miss her sometimes."

	Jupiter looked at him in surprise and anger at this last comment. "Who
was this 'Paragon' that you can't forget her name."

	Kevin glanced over in surprise at the anger he heard in the tall senshi's
voice. "It doesn't really matter anymore. Most people just called her Annie,"
He shrugged as if it were extremely unimportant. Then he glanced down at his
watch and swore violently. It was almost 4 p.m. and he still had to get back
to his apartment for his date.

	Glancing at the surprised Senshi, he smiled apologetically. "I guess that
is about enough to think about for one day, isn't it?" He asked looking over
at his friend. At Scott and Sailor Moon's nods, he smiled. "Then I guess I'll
be seeing you Scott old buddy. Ladies, it has been truly an honor meeting you.
Meri and Hadria..," at this Sailor Neptune and Uranus jumped. "I will see you
two in a couple of days after I finally get used to the idea that I have a
sister. 'Til then, see ya!!" With that he threw something to the ground and
disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared he was gone and
Mercury's computer couldn't pick him up. The Senshi shrugged, said their
good-byes to Scott, and left the shrine grounds.  They walked down the
street for a few minutes, then before they got to any busy streets they
slipped into an alley near an old warehouse. Glancing around to make sure no
one was around, they detransformed and went their separate ways. On the roof
of the warehouse, a man in a black leather duster and a black Stetson watched
Makoto walk angrily toward her apartment. Only two words escaped his mouth as
he realized the trouble he was in. 

	"Oh boy."

                    **************************************

	Hotaru and Chibi-Usa walked down the street smiling happily as they went
along. Now that the events of the previous day were cleared up they could go
and talk to Scott and get more information on the scabbard he had given them.
As they neared the store though, they slowed down as another problem dawned
on them.

	"How are we going to explain to him why we didn't show up for our meeting
yesterday Hotaru?" Chibi-Usa wailed as they turned the corner.

	Hotaru smirked at her friend, then smiled reassuringly. "We'll just tell
him I was sick yesterday, and we lost the business card. He'll understand
completely."

	"Okay," Chibi-Usa said, still unconvinced.

	The bell rang as they opened the door and walked into the shop. After
they gave Scott their explanation, he smiled reassuringly a pulled the notes
Kevin had left with him for them. After giving them some more information he
made an appointment to see them again on Saturday when Kevin could explain to
them more of the scabbards history.

	As he watched them leave, he didn't hear his phone ringing, and Kevin hung
up deciding that he shouldn't leave the information that he could now
recognize the Sailor Senshi in their secret identities on Scott's answering
machine.

                    **************************************

	"I'm going to KILL HIM!!!!!"

	Makoto was cursing and yelling as she changed to get ready to meet Kevin.
She was still in shock after the revelations this morning. First she found
out that the person they thought was a serial killer from the Negaverse was
one of the Planetary Knights like Tuxedo Mask. Then she found out that her
new boyfriend was 720 years old. The horror she had felt at this revelation
had been quickly replaced by outrage that he had never told her anything about
this and had been hiding out in her high school.

	"Well we'll see about that," she muttered to herself as she got dressed.
"Dirty old man, chasing after young girls," 

	As she finished dressing a photograph caught her eye. It had been taken
three days before, on their last date. They had gone to an amusement park and
on one of the rides Makoto had been so startled she had jumped onto his lap,
and then the flash had gone off. For the rest of the ride she had stayed right
where she was, and they had held hands for the rest of the day. As she looked
at the picture she started to experience doubts for the first time since his
age had been revealed at the meeting.

	A voice in the back of her mind asked "What, you expected him to tell you
he was 703 years older than you after knowing you for three weeks? So what is
so awful about him hiding his age? Come on Makoto get real, if he had said
something like that you would have thought he was out of his mind. Either that
or trying to get rid of you," Makoto thought a little more about it and then
thought of the other reason that she had been enraged. "Well he may not be to
blame for not telling me that he was that old, but what about those girls. How
am I supposed to compete with the memory of a princess, or one of his own
kind?"

	The same voice responded, "You never know until you ask him how he feels.
And you have the perfect opportunity to find out tonight. So go to the movie
with him, then when you get him alone her for the usual after date snack nail
his butt to the wall," Smiling maliciously to herself, Makoto finished getting
ready and headed for the door.

	As she left, only one other thought ran through her mind. "Really Makoto,
you must stop talking to yourself."

                    **************************************

	Kevin was waiting outside the theater, wondering if Makoto would be
standing him up. He wouldn't blame her if she did, but the waiting was killing
him. He smirked as the improbability of that happening struck him. Then he saw
her walking up the street and shivered at the cold look she gave him as she
held out her hand for the movie ticket. Shrugging acceptance of these
circumstances, he handed Makoto the ticket and followed her into the theater.

	Even though they had both been looking forward to seeing the movie,
neither of them paid much attention to the film as they kept glancing at each
other, wondering when the other was going to make the first move. Finally, as
the movie ended and they were leaving the theater, Makoto spoke up.

	"Kevin, we need to talk," she said silently kicking herself for using
such a cliche phrase.

	"Okay, how 'bout we go to your place?" Kevin replied, wondering how she
was going to bring up his age without telling him she was a member of the
Sailor Senshi. At her nod, they walked the two miles to her apartment
building in silence. When they arrived at the door, Makoto unlocked it and
entered without saying a word. After removing their shoes they walked through
the living room and into the kitchen where Makoto handed him a pitcher of
iced tea, and a plate of cookies.

    Walking back into the living room they both sat down and stared at each
other neither wanting to be the first to speak. Finally Kevin got tired of
the silence.

	"You said you wanted to talk, Makoto. What is this all about?" He asked
looking straight at her. Makoto blushed under the pointed regard then cleared
her throat.

	"Well, you see Kevin...Um... I..," She stumbled trying to come with a way
to ask him about his age and the princess. Finally she gave up any notion of
subtlety. "Kevin, how old are you?" She asked, then blushed hotly at how rude
it sounded for her to ask that.

	Kevin smiled encouragingly then laughed self-consciously. "Well Makoto, I
could probably laugh that off and answer it by asking you how old I look, but
you actually want to know, don't you?" At her nod, Kevin sighed, then inhaled
and let it out, trying to stay calm and answer all the questions she was
probably going to have. "To be completely honest with you Makoto, in October
I'll be 720," At her intake of breath, he held up his hand. "Now I know, that
seems impossible, but strange as it may seem, I was born to Shamus and Meghan
O'Connell in Donegal, Ireland in the year 1279. In 1296 our British overlords
conscripted levies from our county and I chose to go in place of my father
who had been injured in the last war and was being recalled."

	"The levies had been called up because, the Scot's were rising against the
English lords set over them. As we marched from our landing site on the coast,
we heard rumors of the English king having restored the right of Prima Noctum.
No man I know of would permit this right of the nobility to go unchallenged,
but we were being called up to put down the 'rebellious' Scots. Needless to
say this did not sit well with us," Looking over at Makoto he saw her nodding
in understanding and continued.

	"The long and the short of it was that on a moonless night when we were
still many miles from the enemy, we walked out of camp as if we were going to
the jakes, and just kept walking. We kept walking until we met up with some of
the scouts from the Scottish army. After they tested us to make sure we weren't
British spies, they brought us to the captain of one of the groups, and we
were told where to bed down. The next day we marched 5 miles to the plains at
Sterling, where we first caught sight of the British soldiers. We were heavily
out numbered but we were extremely confident, especially since our Scottish
allies assured us we had a surprise waiting for the enemy," Kevin took a sip
of his iced tea, then continued. "The battle was going extremely well for us,
and I was in the middle of the fighting, when I felt a searing pain in my chest.
I looked down, and saw an arrow sticking out of me. Then as I pulled the arrow
out, I felt a rush of pain and everything went black. Scott tells me that I
was shot through the heart and left for dead. When I woke up, I was lying in
a cave some distance from the field and there was a fire burning next to me.
When I sat up a strong hand helped me and then released me as the man who had
dragged me from the field stepped around in front of me. I was surprised to
see that it was the captain I had met earlier who had taken my friends and I
into his unit. The only thing he said was 'Well my young immortal, you're
going to need a lot more training to keep your head on your shoulders.' After
that he laughed, and since I felt extremely tired, I let myself fall into a
deep, dreamless sleep."

	When he finished his he saw that Makoto had been listening intently with
some understanding in her eyes. Then he saw her jerk a little as she
remembered another question she had. She smiled a little shyly at him,
started to ask him her question in a high squeaky voice, then cleared her
throat and tried again. "If you've lived that long, you must have met any
number of girls," She said hesitantly. "I can't understand why you would be
interested in me. What makes me so special after knowing and loving
princesses?" 'oops' Makoto thought to herself as she finished that.

	"To answer your question, I'll have to show you something," he replied
taking her hand and leading her to the bathroom. When they arrived he
pointed to her reflection in the mirror. "I want you to look at yourself,"
After ensuring that she had done so, he drew and medallion out from under his
shirt. Pressing a hidden catch on the side he opened the medallion to reveal
two very old looking miniature portraits. He then handed the medallion to
Makoto. Each image was of a girl. The first was a very old portrait that was
faded with age. The second did not appear as old and was done in a style
indicative of the early Edo period. Kevin smiled as she stared at the
portraits, then started to chuckle softly as her face became confused.

	Laying soothing hands on her shoulders he lifted the medallion from her
hands then turned it to face the mirror. "Now, I want you to compare the
images to your reflection. As Makoto looked from the portraits to her
reflection, she was startled to realize one extremely obvious fact. Except
for their clothes and hairstyle both of the girls in the portraits looked
exactly like her. "The girl on the left is the Princess Michiko of the
Hokkaido Prefecture," Kevin explained, looking down sadly at the portrait.
"I have no idea who the other is, I only know that the week after I became
immortal I had dreams about fighting and dying beside that girl. I don't know
who she is, but I do know this. Everything I know about her, and that I knew
about Michiko, matches perfectly with you. Down to the last nuance of
personality," He shrugged at her bewildered expression. "I don't know why I
showed you those pictures or if you will ever understand this, but if you
ever need help, or even just a friend, call me and I'll do anything I can."
Nodding to himself as the confusion in Makoto's eyes lessened a little, Kevin
placed his medallion back inside his shirt and smiled as he patted her
shoulder reassuringly. Then he led her back to the living room.

	"Well I know you have some things to think about so, I'll say good night,"
he said as he put his coat back on. "Take care of yourself Makoto," With that
he walked to the door. Then a smile curved his lips as he turned back and
tossed back at her. "By the way, I liked the Green Mini-Skirt and pink bow look,
they suit you," With that he walked out shutting the door behind him.

      Makoto was in a daze as she cleaned up the living room and got ready
for bed. It wasn't until she was in bed and almost asleep that the full
meaning of his parting shot registered. She sat bolt upright in bed and
stared at the mirror on her dressing table.

	"WHAT?????" she gasped as she realized what he had meant.

                    **************************************

	Author's Notes:

	Special thanks to Ms. Ruthie Grant for her assistance in figuring out how
to salvage Kevin and Makoto's relationship without making it sound too easy.
Also thank to Ray Coldiron for his assistance with the fighting scenes.

	In case you're wondering Steve and I started writing this story in January
of 1998 and since then a lot of things have changed. Me getting out of the
Navy being the biggest of the changes. We hope you like this so far and will
accept constructive criticism gladly. All spelling and grammar errors are due
to unknown spelling of Japanese Transliterations and Micro$oft not making a
Grammar checker for fiction writers. Well until next time.

	Matthew Frey						Steve Stachowicz
	Eric Thorsen						        Stacko

    Source: geocities.com/zciwohcats