A Different Kind of Evil
Part 1

A Sailor Moon original Flavor fanfic
By: M.H. Torringjan

	Well, I'm finally getting on with this fic that I've been going on and on 
about for the longest time (really, just ask my friends!).  I would have started 
it sooner, but I've had a bunch of things going on for a while now besides 
classes.  At least my computer's finally feeling better after a reformatting and 
a soon-to-come keyboard replacement.  Now, just to take care of my major...
	As I believe I've mentioned in the past, this series is going to be a bit 
darker than the norm for me (excluding anything with Gerolus in it).  It's 
really kind of a semi-crossover (although not completely, because the premise is 
only slightly similar to this other series) and mostly a shonen-oriented plot 
(more action-packed, less emotion-centered, although that will still be present; 
after all, it *is* Sailor Moon).
	Anyway, let's get this part over with.  I don't own Sailor Moon.  Naoko 
Takeuchi does.  I'm using the series without the permission of Madame Takeuchi, 
and am not profiting from it in any way.  I made up the character of Donovan 
Winslow, so he's mine.  Any resemblance to anyone else, fictional or not is most 
probably coincidental and not the product of character stealing, so there.  Now, 
if there's nothing else, then I'll get on with it.
	One last thing, I'm going to start off with someone who isn't Sailor Moon.  
Just stick with me for a while, and they'll be there.

	The bright light of an interrogation lamp shone on the face of a young man 
in a back room of the LA International Airport.  He stared at his captors 
levelly through the darkened shades over his eyes, waiting for them to make the 
first move.  A grimace creased his thin face as he leaned back in the 
uncomfortable plastic chair.  They hadn't said a thing for the past ten minutes 
and didn't look to be saying anything anytime soon, so he decided to start it.
	"I'd really like to leave now," he said.  "You've already made me late for 
my flight.  Don't make me take a late dinner."
	"You're not going anywhere except a jail cell," the head security officer 
said.
	"I didn't do anything!" the young man in the chair shot back almost 
automatically.
	"It appears as though you vaporized a young woman and her baby!" the 
security officer exclaimed.
	The grimace on the young man's face was momentarily replaced with a sly 
grin.  "And their carry-on luggage, too," he said, seeming very pleased with the 
accusation.
	"So, you admit it?"
	"I admit killing something.  Not something human, but something," the 
young man said.
	"Oh, god, not one of *these*," the officer sighed, rolling his eyes.  
"Okay, let's try this-" the burly man reached on the table behind him and 
produced a silver gun-shaped object about six inches long.  "How did this weapon 
get past security?"
	"I could tell you," the young man said, his voice changing to a mockingly 
menacing tone, "But then I'd have to kill you."
	The officer didn't take very well to the young man's sarcasm, as evidenced 
by the clenching of his fist.  "Why don't you take off those damn shades?"
	"Because I enjoy wearing them, thanks," the young man replied.
	"That wasn't a suggestion, it was a request.  It's about to become an 
order," the officer said, trying to maintain a level voice.  The young man 
removed his shades and folded them before placing them in the chest pocket of 
his long coat, revealing a pair of piercing, grey eyes.  "Now, Mr.-" the officer 
began again, checking the passport they had found on the young man, "Winslow, 
because of your age, we've called your parents to notify them of what you've 
done."
	"Ha!  Good luck," Winslow commented bitterly, the grin falling back to a 
grimace.
	"No, really!  I personally made the call before I came in here, assuming 
this passport's real," the officer said.
	"My parents are dead, you asshole!" Winslow exclaimed.  "Don't suppose 
your intelligence told you that!"
	"Well, someone obviously recognizes you.  Whoever it was said they'd be 
here soon," the officer replied.
	"Aw, damn!  Tim isn't going to like this," Winslow replied.  The officer 
took out Winslow's ticket and looked at it.
	"So, you were headed to Tokyo?  What for?" the officer asked.
	"Business," Winslow replied simply.
	"Really?  What sort of business?"
	"Important business," Winslow replied.  He added for effect, "Nunya 
business."
	"I'm finding it difficult to take you seriously when you don't take me 
seriously," the officer said.
	"Get used to it," Winslow said.
	"If you don't want to cooperate, we're going to have to persuade you."
	"If you want to try, go ahead.  I'm a hard sale, though," Winslow said, 
grinning.
	"You're only hurting your own chances here," the officer said.  "The 
interrogation's being recorded for use if necessary."
	"Oh, so I have the right to remain silent, do I?" Winslow said.  "Funny, 
nobody mentioned that to me yet."
	A nervous look crossed the officer's face.  "What are you talking about?  
You were read your rights!"
	"What, you mean after the beating?"
	"What beating?"
	"Before the beating, then?"
	"There was no beating!" the officer yelled, obviously directing his 
comments at the recorder's location.  "Look, I don't know which detainment you 
were at, but I was told you gave up peacefully."
	"Right, you weren't there, were you?" Winslow asked.
	"No, I wasn't.  What I *was* doing is none of your business," the officer 
said, anticipating Winslow's next question.  Behind him, the door swung open, 
flooding the room with light from the hallway.  "Hey!  The hell you think you're 
doing!  I've got an interrogation going on here!"
	"Sorry, but it's over now," said the new person, who was walking through 
the door.  He was fairly tall, had brown short hair and a discontented look on 
his face.  He walked over to Winslow and stared him down, the piercing blue eyes 
trying to bore a hole through him from behind his thick glasses.  "Donovan, you 
can stop playing with him now."
	"Playing?!" the officer exclaimed, gaping.
	"How long have you been out there, Tim?" Donovan asked.
	"A couple of minutes," Tim replied.  "I was stopping, counting to ten a 
couple of times, trying to hold myself back from killing you."  He ran a hand 
over his face in exhaustion.  "You know, the usual drill."
	"Hey, it's not my fault!  I was just doing my job!" Donovan exclaimed.
	"Look, let's just get out of here.  We'll talk about this on the way 
back," Tim said.
	"What? Hold it, he's not going anywhere!" the officer exclaimed, his face 
flustered.  "We're holding him for murder!"
	"Oh, sorry, almost forgot," Tim said, reaching in his pocket.  He produced 
a sheet of paper and handed it to the officer.  The officer's eyes scanned the 
text nervously, his frown increasing by the moment.
	After a minute, the officer said, "Give me just one second."  He pushed 
the door open and walked out of the room.  As the door closed behind him, he 
started talking to someone outside the room.  Donovan decided to ignore him.
	"What did you give him?" Donovan asked.
	"That's not important," Tim said.  "How about you?  Why've you gotten 
arrested this time?"
	"I was taking care of a morph," Donovan replied.
	"In the middle of Los Angeles International Airport?!" Tim exclaimed, 
struggling not to yell.
	"Hey, we knew they were on the move," Donovan replied.
	"I'm not surprised that they were here!  The point is, you could have 
handled this differently!  Security's already tough enough around these places 
without them thinking there's a nut running around with a gun, indiscriminately 
dusting bystanders!" Time exclaimed.  "You know, you're the only one this 
happens to.  All the other hunters know how to be subtle.  Subtle, Donovan!  You 
know, trying *not* to be noticed!"
	"Hey, I didn't want to miss my flight," Donovan said.
	"Well, you did!" Tim yelled.  He took a moment to compose himself.  "I 
talked to the reps of the airline company and convinced them to let you take a 
later flight.  You're flying out in a week, and I suppose we'll have to explain 
ourselves to the airport security to let you back in, just in case the letter 
didn't do the job."
	"Yeah, what was in that letter, anyway?" Donovan asked.
	"It was a letter from the governor to get you off the hook," Tim replied.
	"Damn, man!  How'd you get a letter out of that jaded bureaucrat so fast?" 
Donovan asked.
	"He gave us a form to copy for when we needed it.  Speeds up the process 
and keeps us out of his hair," Tim replied.
	"Smart," Donovan said, grinning.
	The door opened again, filling the room once more with light.  The officer 
walked back in, his face flushed with anger.  "I don't know what the governor 
wants with you, but you can go."
	"Thank you, officer," Tim said levelly.  "Sorry for the trouble.  We'll be 
back by in the next couple of days to speak with you again."
	"Whatever.  Just get the hell out of here now," the officer said.  The 
pair walked to the door en route to leaving for home.  On their way out, Donovan 
turned around and took a moment to give the officer a stunning display of his 
middle finger.

	The warm covers of Serena's bed laid over her head, blocking out the dim 
morning light that shone through the window of her room.  She had been having 
trouble sleeping of late; an odd occurrence for her under most circumstances.  
She turned over once more and snuggled deeper into the covers in a final attempt 
to regain her comatose state.  She'd been trying for the past hour.  By this 
time, it was just becoming uncomfortable.  After enduring the discomfort for a 
few more minutes, she gave up and threw the covers from her head.
	She looked at her clock and frowned at the hands reading seven o'clock.  
Well, the upside was that she could get to school on time.  After the past 
couple of days this had happened, you'd think that Ms. H was going to faint from 
the shock.  She supposed that she'd be expected to have her homework done next.
	Serena got out of her bed and changed into her school uniform before 
heading downstairs.  In the kitchen, her parents were reading the newspaper as 
they calmly ate their breakfasts.  Sammy was also at the table, his school 
supplies beside his chair and ready for him to leave.  He looked at Serena and 
grinned snidely.
	"Wow, the end must be coming!  That's a record for waking up on time!" he 
said.
	"Shut up, runt," Serena replied.  She sat down beside her mother and took 
a bite from the food on the plate before her.
	"Why have you been waking up so early, dear?" Ikuko asked.
	"I've just been having trouble sleeping, Mom," Serena replied.
	"Well, why is that?  Are there problems at school we should know about?" 
Ikuko asked.
	"No, nothing out of the ordinary," Serena said.  She saw a twinkle in her 
mother's eye that said that she remembered Serena's last math test.
	"Then is it a problem with your friends?" Ikuko said.
	"No, they're fine," Serena replied.
	"A problem with that boy- what was his name? - Darien?" Ikuko asked.  
Serena heard her father mutter something under his breath about ages and dating.
	"No, he's all right, too," Serena said.  "I really don't know what it is.  
All I know is I've only been sleeping half the night for the past couple of 
nights."
	"Would you like to go see a doctor about it?" Ikuko asked.
	"I should be fine after a while," Serena said.  "It's just really annoying 
right now."  She couldn't tell her mother that she had been sensing a problem 
during those sleepless nights; something was not right with the world.  She was 
thankful that nothing had gone wrong to affirm her feelings, but she wished that 
the sense of dread would leave her mind in peace, one way or another.  The 
Bureau of Bad Behavior had fallen a full month before that, as had the Oppositio 
Senshi and Apsuu.  There should have been peace, but it seemed as though Sailor 
Moon would be needed again.
	Serena decided to let the matter drop and continued digging away at her 
meal.  By the time her plate was half empty, Rini came trudging down the stairs, 
sleep still weighing heavily on her eyelids.
	"Morning, Rini," Serena greeted.
	"Morning," Rini replied as she sat down to her plate.  "Wait, you're up on 
time again, Serena?  Are you feeling all right?  You must be sick."
	"You be quiet, too," Serena growled back.  She kept on eating until her 
plate was empty.  She cleaned off her dishes and went back to her room to gather 
her things for school.  On her still-unmade bed, Luna was doing what cats do 
best - sleeping.  Her eyes opened at the sound of Serena gathering her school 
supplies.
	"Luna, I need to ask you something," Serena said.
	"All right, Serena, what do you need to know?" Luna asked.
	"Do we have any more enemies that we'll need to fight?" Serena asked.
	"Wow, Serena, it's odd to hear that question from your lips," Luna said, 
grinning.  "But, I don't really know.  Everything since Beryl has come as a 
surprise to me.  As far as I know, though, the danger is over."
	Serena smiled at the reassurance.  "Good, I was hoping to get back to a 
normal life."
	"If anyone deserves it, you do," Luna replied.  "Out of curiosity, why do 
you ask?  The question seems kind of out of the blue."
	Serena paused, considering whether to tell Luna about her bad feeling.  
Luna didn't seem worried about an attack, so what was she worked up about?  Raye 
was the one who sensed danger, not her.
	"No, it's nothing," Serena said.  "Thanks, Luna."
	"You're welcome, I suppose," Luna said suspiciously.  "Serena, I've known 
you long enough to know when you're holding back on me," she continued after a 
short pause.
	"It's weird," Serena said.  "I feel like something's going to happen 
soon."  She turned back to stare at her mirror; the girl staring back at her was 
frowning, too.  "I don't want to fight anymore, Luna."
	"But if someone attacks, you have to fight," Luna interjected.
	"I know!" Serena replied reluctantly.  "I never said that I wouldn't.  I 
just wish the enemies would leave us alone!  Why do they do it, anyway?  Why 
attack the Earth?  Why not Mars or Saturn or something?"
	"If we knew that, Serena, we'd be able to stop them before they came," 
Luna said.  She looked at her reluctant pupil carefully.  It was good that 
Serena was taking her role as Sailor Moon so seriously; the battle with Uranus 
and Neptune seemed to have set a few things straight in her mind, but Luna had 
never expected her to take it quite so seriously.  She didn't enjoy seeing 
Serena in such a quandary, when her responsibilities caused her pain instead of 
inspiring her to new heights.
	"Rena, it is true that our enemies have kept us on our toes in the past," 
Luna began, trying to force a cheery smile onto her lips.  "Right now, though, 
there is peace.  I will worry about any oncoming danger, and I want you to try 
and enjoy your rest.  Now, I have an order for you as your guardian."
	"I thought you wanted me to relax?!" Serena said, confusion showing 
plainly on her face.
	"My order is for you to go out with Amy, Lita, Mina, Raye, and Darien to a 
movie tonight," Luna said.
	"But I don't have the money for a movie," Serena objected, grinning.
	"Then go window shopping at the mall!  Go to the arcade!  Something to 
take your mind off of this," Luna said.  "Please, Serena, I don't like seeing 
you so down over this."
	Serena said, smiling, "I'll try my best to carry out your orders to the 
T."  Serena finished gathering her things and walked to the door, ready to 
leave.  Before she opened the door, she looked back at Luna, still smiling.  
"Thank you, Luna."
	"It was nothing," Luna replied.  She watched as her student left.  What 
Serena had said concerned her.  It might be worth her time to look into any 
potential problems.  She jumped through the window and descended carefully to 
the ground below.  I should tell Artemis about this, she thought as she began 
walking in the direction of Mina's house.

	Serena walked down the street towards school slowly, relishing the extra 
time that was available thanks to her disturbed slumber.  The street was less 
crowded than normal because it was so early; it was a nice change for Serena, 
who was used to the constant jostling of passers-by in the opposite direction.  
Serena's thoughts danced over what she might do with the others later on.  
Luna's reaction had caught her off guard earlier.  She had expected the cat to 
applaud her caution and tell her to keep up with the good work.  Not that she 
needed to be told that.
	The nagging feeling had hung over her mind for the past couple of days 
like an elephant sitting on the sofa; she couldn't ignore it, but she didn't 
feel right talking about it.  Everyone else had been so happy that peace had 
come, and she didn't want to take that away from them for what might be a bout 
of normal paranoia.  She supposed that she hadn't wanted to admit it to herself, 
either, so that she might maintain some semblance of normalcy in her own eyes.  
But, it was probably better than Luna knew about it, at least.  Luna would know 
what to do.  As annoying as she could be, she'd be able to tell Serena for sure, 
and hopefully set her mind at ease.
	Serena had almost reached her school by then.  The looked to her left and 
saw an odd sight for just before eight o'clock in Tokyo.  Well, fairly odd for 
almost anytime, anywhere.  There was a young boy with blond hair standing in an 
alleyway, holding a map of the city.  She stopped to watch him for a moment.  
His gaze pored over the map for a few minutes as he mumbled to himself 
incoherently.  He looked lost to Serena.
	"Hey, there," Serena greeted.  She'd see if she could help out the little 
kid.  "You look lost."
	The boy gave a start and looked up at Serena, a frown creasing his face.  
He didn't reply.
	"I'm sorry for sneaking up on you like that.  Would you like some help?" 
Serena asked.
	"No," the child replied simply.
	"I know you're not supposed to talk to strangers, but I'm not going to 
hurt you.  Are your parents around anywhere?"  The boy didn't reply.  Serena 
frowned.  "Do you live near here?" Still no reply.  "How about this, do you 
understand Japanese?"
	After another pause, the boy looked up and said, "Are you quite finished?"
	Serena bit her lip to keep from losing her temper at the child.  The 
nerve!  Here she was being nice, and the little kid completely ignored her!  
That was just as bad as Rini used to be!  Maybe if she could coax it out of 
him...
	"All right, then, I'm just going to go now!" she began in her teasing, 
singsong tone.  "You'll be here all alone with no one to help!"
	He stared levelly at her and replied, "You act as though I'm supposed to 
care."
	"All right, then, be that way!" Serena exclaimed, losing control of her 
temper.
	"You aren't gone yet.  The least you could do is follow through with your 
'threat,'" the boy said.  "If that's what you call it."
	"You little brat, I hope you never see me when you do need help!  Because 
I won't give it to you!" Serena growled as she stomped away towards her school.
	As the young boy watched her storming away, the boy said to himself, 
"Something odd about that girl.  I hope I don't see her again."  She could mean 
trouble.  Then, it couldn't be as much trouble as he was going to cause.  His 
forces' escape from America had taken a toll on their numbers, due to tight 
security, but that didn't really matter.  Their remaining numbers were already 
hard at work reproducing and positioning themselves to begin extermination.  To 
add to that, more of them were slipping in by the day, completely unnoticed by 
the humans.
	If all went well, they'd be completely in control by the end of the month.  
The boy laughed and looked back at the map.  They had established their nest 
here, on the outskirts of the city.  The best plan would be to take as much as 
they could as quickly as they could.  Maintaining it against any resistance 
would be a simple matter.  As a matter of fact, they had a first strike prepared 
to start any time now.  He kind of wished that he could be there, but he'd be 
better served to survey the territory.  After all, you couldn't win a war 
without information.

	Luna looked up at the window to Mina's room from the sidewalk outside of 
the house.  If she knew Artemis very well, he'd be asleep on Mina's bed, waiting 
for Mina to get home from school.  Too bad she had to disturb him with this sort 
of news.  It was all for the better, though.  She'd rather have him around just 
in case.  He might not always be the most reliable, but when she needed him, she 
knew he'd be there.
	She began preparing for her climb to Mina's window by crouching, storing 
her energy for the jump.  When she had stored enough energy, she sprung forward, 
digging her claws into the large tree that stood outside of Mina's house.  Her 
paws moved as a blur, adding small amounts of energy to the jump to try and 
counter-act gravity for a few more seconds.  She reached the top of her climb 
and stopped.  The branch that led to Mina's house at the right height was just 
below her.  I can't imagine how the humans get by without claws, Luna thought to 
herself, smirking.
	She jumped to the ledge at the corner of Mina's house and padded along it 
to the window of Mina's room.  Sure enough, Artemis was on Mina's bed, snoozing 
in the sun's rays that lay across the room.  Luna lowered her head and pressed 
it against the pane of the window, pushing as hard as she could to open it.  She 
was lucky that Mina had a window like Serena's; otherwise, they'd never be able 
to get ahold of Artemis when she needed to.  She jumped to the bed and landed 
beside Artemis.  His eyes lazily opened and he looked up at her.
	"Now, there's a sight to wake up to," he commented, grinning at her.
	She raised an eyebrow and stared at him for a moment.  What had he meant 
by that?  Shaking her head, she decided to ignore the comment.  "Not now, 
Artemis, we've got something to do," she said.
	Artemis sat up on his forearms and asked," What's up?"
	"Serena told me this morning that she's been having bad feelings about 
some coming darkness," Luna replied.  "She's getting tensed up because she 
thinks it's a premonition."
	"So, you think we should go check it out?" Artemis asked.
	"I promised Serena that we would to set her nerves at ease," Luna said.  
"I'm really worried about her.  She hasn't been able to sleep well the past 
couple of nights, and the other day, she didn't eat any dinner."
	"Okay, now I *know* something's wrong," Artemis said.  "Serena not eating, 
Serena having premonitions, are you sure she hasn't been replaced by an alien 
clone?"
	"Look, this won't take very long at all, I'd expect," Luna said.  "If 
something was wrong, I'd think someone else would have sensed it, too."
	"Maybe Serena's found her psychic stride," Artemis suggested, grinning.
	"Now, let's not go overboard," Luna sighed.
	"So, where are we supposed to start looking for something that we don't 
know what it is?" Artemis asked.
	"Someplace that isn't downtown," Luna replied.  "I don't really feel like 
becoming a cat pancake during rush hour today."
	"Agreed," Artemis said, grimacing.  "Why don't we start around here and 
move our way out?"
	"Sounds like as good a plan as any," Luna said.  The two walked out and 
climbed to the ground to begin their investigation.  During the first couple of 
hours of searching, nothing of any interest came up.  By the time that they 
reached the Kurawa shopping Center, nothing had occurred, and Artemis was 
beginning to become restless.  When they entered the parking deck of the center, 
Artemis stopped her.
	"Okay, Luna, we haven't found anything, and we still don't have any idea 
what we're looking for," Artemis said.  "Can we go home yet?"
	Luna looked around the parking deck, not responding.  She felt an odd 
sensation passing through her body.  It was the same sense that she got whenever 
danger was near.  But it felt, somehow... different from the normal danger 
sense.
	"Luna?" Artemis said.
	"Artemis, do you feel that?" Luna asked.
	"I don't feel a thing," Artemis replied.
	"I think something strange is going on around here," Luna said.  "Let's 
head in and check it out."
	Luna led the way through the automatic doors, into the darkened department 
store.  They were met by the sight of dead and dying people sprawled about the 
room.  The sight visibly shook Luna, to say the least.
	"Artemis..." Luna began.
	"This does not look good," he replied.
	"Who'd do this?" Luna said.
	"I don't know," Artemis answered, "But we've got to try and do something 
about it."
	"I wish the Scouts could be here.  It looks like we won't be able to take 
care of this on our own, whatever it is."
	"I wonder why the alarm isn't going off," Artemis commented.
	"Maybe whoever did this turned off the alarm," Luna said.
	"Judging by the smell in here, this happened a while ago," Artemis said.  
"If the alarm had been going off, the police would have already been here."
	"Then let's set it off ourselves," Luna said.
	"Alright, so, what are we going to vandalize first?" Artemis asked, a 
frown crossing his face.  Well, if you wanted to make an omelet...
	The two cats ran to the front window, which had been covered with a 
blanket.  A tall mannequin wearing a red dress stood in the display area, 
looking out at where the street would be.
	"So, let's push this through the window.  If it doesn't set off an alarm, 
it'll get someone's attention.  Then, they'll call for help," Luna said.
	"All right," Artemis replied.  The two pushed their shoulders up against 
the legs of the mannequin, pushing as hard as they could.  It was a heavy 
mannequin, though, and all they could do in that position was turn it at a 
slight angle.  "This isn't working!" Artemis grunted after a few futile moments 
of work.
	"Let's try this," Luna replied.  "You keep pushing, and I'll jump up and 
kick it higher up."
	"Will that make a difference?" Artemis asked.
	"Torque, Artemis, torque," was all Luna could reply as she jumped into the 
air, turning so that her feet faced the mannequin.  When she reached the top of 
her arc, she kicked her feet out as hard as she could.  She felt the mannequin 
give way a bit, just enough, judging by Artemis's surprised cry.
	When she landed, the two of them began running away from the impending 
broken glass.  They didn't get very far before the crashing sound ran through 
the air, accompanied by the loud beeping of the alarm system going off.
	"Okay, now, let's go look for some information," Luna said to Artemis.  A 
frightened look crossed his face at that moment ad he looked behind Luna.  She 
turned quickly to see a large, grey creature with no hair and a humanoid face 
swinging its clawed hand around at her, and she wasn't able to jump away quickly 
enough.  A grunt escaped her lips as the hand slammed into her side and threw 
her across the room.  Artemis heard the thud as she landed on the ground and had 
the presence of mind to jump out of the way of the second swipe that was aimed 
at him.
	When Artemis landed, he bolted towards Luna, who had recovered quickly to 
a reasonably safe hiding place, underneath a clothes rack.
	"What in the world is *that*?!" Artemis exclaimed.
	"I don't know, but I don't think it wants to get to know us," Luna 
exclaimed.
	The rack they were hiding under rose into the air as a second grey-skinned 
creature lifted it barehanded.  Luna and Artemis jumped out of the way just as 
it slammed the rack into the ground, trying to crush them.
	"We've got to retreat for now!" Luna exclaimed.  "Whatever they are, 
they're way too strong!"
	"I think that you've got a point!" Artemis exclaimed.  The two cats made a 
break for the door they had used to get in.  Just before they reached it, one 
more of the creatures had moved to block their path.  It brought its hand around 
in a fist, swatting Luna into a display case.  Shards of glass flew through the 
air, along with the injured cat.  Artemis was close behind her as the creature's 
other hand came around and sent him flying.  The two landed in a pile with a 
thud.  Artemis jumped quickly off of Luna and looked around for a potential 
escape route.  There was something advancing quickly on them between them and 
the window, them and the door, and them and the stairs to the second floor.
	"I think that we may be in a bit of trouble, Luna," Artemis said.  When 
she didn't reply, he looked at where she was still laying on the ground, 
breathing steadily.  Apparently, she had received a harder hit than he had.  
"This is hardly the time for a nap!" he exclaimed, as though she had a choice in 
the matter.  She was too heavy to carry anywhere, but he couldn't just leave 
her!
	Artemis took a defensive stance and prepared to make a stand.  He couldn't 
win, but by the gods, he'd try.  For Luna's sake.  When the first beast was in 
range, Artemis lunged at its face, apparently surprising it.  He dug his claws 
deep into the creature's skin and slashed.  The creature didn't give him the 
time to land a second blow, reaching up and flinging him forcibly into the wall.  
Air flew from Artemis's lungs from the force of the blow, and he flopped to the 
ground.
	Struggling to his feet, Artemis turned to face the three approaching 
creatures.  He launched himself again at the nearest enemy and was surprised 
when it ducked, grabbing him around his midsection.  It brought him down, close 
to its face, and its gleeful smile filled Artemis's eyes.  Artemis felt the hand 
around his chest begin to tighten, crushing the remains of his air supply from 
his lungs.  As he lost consciousness, his hearing and sight left him.  He felt a 
jolt, like the creature had let him drop.

	At the end of the school day, Serena waited outside of the school building 
for Lita and Amy to emerge.  She had already arranged with the two of them about 
the movie for that afternoon.  She'd just have to call Mina and Raye to tell 
them about it.  The probably wouldn't believe her; Amy and Lita had looked a bit 
suspicious at first, but they had eventually agreed.
	"Hey, Serena!" Lita called as she and Amy came out of the building.  
"Ready to go on that super-secret, ultra-important mission from Luna?"
	"Any time you want to!" Serena replied, smiling.
	"I don't know, sounds like a pretty tough mission to me!" Lita chided.  
"Do you think we'll come back alive?"
	"Seems like it'll be a pretty close call!" Serena replied.
	"Serena, are Luna and Artemis coming with us?" Amy asked.
	"I don't know," Serena said.  "Luna told me that she and Artemis had 
something to do today.  I don't think that they'll be meeting us, though."
	"I bet you just tied them up and threw them in a closet," Lita said, 
grinning slyly.  "Not that I'm against that every once in a while."
	"Should we call the others?  They'll probably be out of class by now," Amy 
suggested.
	"Yeah, let's call them before they get too close to home," Lita said.
	"I still don't know why Raye has to come," Serena said.  "I'm supposed to 
be relaxing, not arguing with a brat."
	"You don't always argue with her," Amy said.  "And besides, it would be 
impolite not to offer it to her."
	"Oh, I guess so..." Serena conceded.  She took out her communicator to 
call up Raye and Mina.  Raye was the first to pick up.
	"What's up, Serena?" she asked.
	"Well, I was just calling to tell you what was going on tonight," Serena 
said.  Mina's face appeared in the window, splitting the image in half.
	"You mean, besides the study session?" Raye said.
	"Well, the others and I have kind of decided that that's off," Serena said 
sheepishly.  "Luna specifically told me to take the day off, so we're going to a 
movie."
	The reaction of the other two couldn't have been much more opposite.  
Mina's face lit up excitedly at the announcement, while Raye's began working as 
though she was fighting not to yell.
	"That's so great!  I'm in!" Mina exclaimed excitedly.  "So, where are we 
going?  What movie are we going to see?"
	Serena waited to reply, waiting for Raye's reaction.  She was going to get 
a lecture for sure!
	"As much as I want to admit I'm suspicious of you claiming that Luna would 
tell you to do that," Raye began.  To Serena's surprise, she smiled widely.  
"I'll go, too.  We've been working pretty hard for the past couple of weeks, so 
I think a break would be nice.  For JUST one day."
	Serena finished giving the others the information of where they were going 
and turned off the communicator.  "Wow, Serena said, half to herself.  "She 
wasn't mean to me!"
	"Well, I guess she felt like coming," Lita said.  "Now, let's get going, 
or we'll be late."
	"Okay, Serena said.  The trio walked quickly to the theater to meet the 
others.

	A couple of hours later, Serena, Amy, Mina, Lita, and Raye walked out of a 
small theater in the business district.  Serena carried in her hands a box of 
candies, which she was devouring happily.
	"Thanks for buying me the candies, Lita," she said.  "After buying my 
ticket, my pocketbook was cleaned out!"
	"You're welcome," Lita replied. "I'm just glad we were able to find a 
theater that still had that film in it.  I've been wanting to see it for such a 
long time!"
	"It was a pretty good film," Raye said.  "I haven't seen a good romance 
film in a long time."
	"I hope I get a guy like that someday!" Mina sighed dreamily.
	"Me, too," Lita replied.
	"It's too bad Luna and Artemis couldn't join us," Amy said.
	"Luna told me this morning that she and Artemis were going to be looking 
into something today," Serena told Raye and Mina.
	"You mean, the same way she told you that we should blow off studying for 
a movie?" Raye asked.
	"She didn't use those exact words, but that was the idea," Serena said.
	"Not that I mind missing one day of studying," Raye said, "But I really 
doubt that Luna would tell you that."
	"She did!" Serena exclaimed.  "She told me that we should take a day of 
because-" she paused.  Did she really want to tell them about her feeling?  Like 
she had been telling herself all day, it was nothing.  Luna would tell them if 
they needed to know anything.  "Because she did!"
	"Okay, okay, don't get so worked up," Raye said exhaustedly.
	"I don't think they'd allow cats in there, anyway, Amy," Mina said.  They 
walked on in silence for another few moments.
	"So, do you want to go do some window shopping until we go home?" Serena 
asked suddenly.
	"That sounds great!" Mina exclaimed.  "Where are we going to go?"
	"Guys, hold it!" Lita exclaimed, stopping in her tracks.  Everyone stopped 
and turned to face her.
	"What is it, Lita?" Amy asked.
	A frown crossed Lita's face as she stared off to the group's left.  "I 
just got a bad feeling about that guy," she said.
	"Which one?" Raye asked, glancing in the same direction as Lita.
	"Long hair, sports coat," Lita replied.  "I saw a glint of silver in his 
pocket that doesn't look like jewelry."
	"What do you mean?" Mina asked.  "Is it a gun?"
	"I think so," Lita replied.
	"Well, it's not a crime to have a gun," Mina said.
	"No, but it is to use it on someone, and he's been fingering it like he's 
going to do just that," Lita replied.
	The man Lita had been watching was staring at another person, his hand on 
the verge of reaching for whatever was in his pocket and grinning.  A pair of 
dark greenish shades sat on his face, hiding his eyes from the world.
	The girls moved closer to the boy, being careful to stay out of his field 
of vision.
	"So, first day here, and I already found some more scum," the boy said.  
He appeared to be in his early teens, had light black hair, almost silver, and 
did, in fact, have a silver-handled something in his pocket.  "Four critters..."
	He approached the person he was following and tapped him on the shoulder.  
As the person turned around, he brought up a hand and swiped the mysterious boy 
across the face, sending the shades flying through the air off to their left.  
The boy went tumbling to the ground, a surprised expression crossing his face.  
The crowd around the pair moved out of the way of the scuffle as the boy jumped 
up again and drew the weapon.  A split second passed before people realized what 
was going on and began to panic.
	The boy frowned and pulled the trigger at the person.  Whatever sound the 
weapon made was muffled by the screams of the people, but the effects were 
evident.  The person had completely disappeared, leaving only a thin trail of 
smoke.
	"Come on, guys, I don't know what's going on, but I think that we should 
stop it," Lita said.
	"Right," Raye exclaimed.  The group ran for cover to find a place to 
transform.
	"Mercury Star Power!"
	"Mars Star Power!"
	"Jupiter Star Power!"
	"Venus Star Power!"
	"Moon Cosmic Power!"
	As the lights from the transformation dimmed, the Scouts ran back around 
the corner to find the boy being restrained by three people, two of them on his 
arms and legs.  They had disarmed him, the gun laying broken on the street a few 
feet away from him.  The remaining one began to change, its skin turning grey 
and its facial features fading.  His hair drifted lazily from his head to the 
ground.  The fingernails, which had moments before been too short to see, 
lengthened and narrowed, becoming a set of claws.  The creature drew back its 
hand, preparing to strike.
	"Venus Love Chain, Encircle!" Venus called, just before the blow came to 
the boy.  The force of the attack threw the creature back and to the ground.
	"The boy took his chance to pull his foot away from the surprised man and 
kick him in the face.  The man fell back, releasing the boy's other foot.  The 
boy bent backwards and pushed the second man's head back, trying to pull his 
arms free.  As the tension built in his body, he groaned in pain.  He wouldn't 
be able to hold that position for much longer.
	"Let's go take care of that monster over there!" Jupiter exclaimed.
	"What about that guy?" Moon asked.
	"We don't know what his deal is, so we'll take care of the monster first," 
Mars replied.
	A scream came from the boy as the man that held his arm bit down into his 
hand.  The boy pulled his hand free quickly, revealing a set of gleaming teeth 
in the man's mouth.
	"Hold down the fort for a minute.  I'm going to help him," Moon said 
quickly.
	"Moon, help us first!" Venus exclaimed.  She hadn't seen the teeth that 
were menacing the boy.
	"Stubborn!" Mars exclaimed.
	Moon ran over behind the man and pulled at his head, trying to free the 
boy from his grip.  The man released the boy's arm to land a punch to Moon, 
sending her falling to the ground.  That was just enough time for the boy to 
grab the other arm of the man and throw him onto his back.  He pulled his other 
arm free and reached into the left pocket of his pants.  A second weapon, 
identical to the first, emerged from his pocket.  He aimed it and fired, a soft 
discharge echoing through the now-empty street.  The man that had been lying on 
the ground only moments before had disappeared, leaving only a trail of smoke.
	"Thanks for the help," the boy said in faltering Japanese.  "Now, get out 
of here."
	"What?  No, we're here to help you," Moon said.
	"Get out!" he exclaimed, diving to the side.  One of the creatures had 
snuck up behind Moon as she tried helping the boy and was poised to strike.  
Moon scrambled out of the way, crying out from fear and surprise.  The boy 
pulled the trigger again, eradicating the creature with the same soft discharge.
	"Mars Celestial Fire, Surround!" Mars exclaimed from further down the 
street.  The others were still working on the third creature.
	"You wait here, we'll be right back," Moon said to the boy, who rolled his 
eyes.  She hadn't figured it out, had she?  Moon ran back to join the others.
	"Nice of you to join the party, meatball head!" Mars said sarcastically.
	"Are you guys ready for me?" Moon exclaimed.
	"Anytime you're ready!" Venus exclaimed.
	Moon gathered all her energy and exclaimed, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!"  
The energy from her attack flew from her body in a beam, striking the creature.  
Moon sustained the beam for as long as she could, only letting go when she 
thought that the creature would be beaten.  When the light faded, Moon lowered 
the Scepter and stared, amazed.  The creature was still alive.
	"I gave that all I had!" Moon exclaimed.  The creature grinned as he 
crouched for an attack.  It was staring straight at Moon.
	"Look out!" Venus exclaimed as the creature launched itself forward.  She 
lunged at Moon and got both of the out of the way just before it struck.
	"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Mercury exclaimed.  A blast of icy water rushed 
from her hands and slammed into the creature as it landed.
	"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Jupiter exclaimed.  The creature was stunned by 
Mercury's attack and was at the mercy of the oncoming wave of electricity.  A 
shriek of pain escaped its lips, and then, was silenced.  It fell to the ground, 
still breathing.
	"Try healing it again, Sailor Moon," Mercury suggested.
	"All right," Moon replied.  The brooch on her chest opened and revealed 
the Imperium Silver Crystal.  "Moon Healing-" She was cut off be the soft 
discharge of the boy's weapon.
	"Okay, who the hell are you?!" the boy exclaimed.  His grey eyes shot 
angrily into Moon, and a frown sat on his face.  "And what the hell do you think 
you're doing?!"
	"How about you telling us the same thing?" Venus exclaimed.  "What 
happened to those people?!"
	"They weren't people," the boy replied simply.  "You saw what happened."
	"We saw them change from people to monsters!  I don't know where you're 
from, gaijin, but around here, it happens pretty often!" Mars exclaimed.
	"You girls are completely clueless!" the boy exclaimed, replacing the 
weapon in his pocket.  "Do you know how much danger you were in?"
	"About as much as you were!" Mars exclaimed back.  "If we hadn't come 
along, you-"
	"Would have gotten loose and beaten them myself!" the boy exclaimed.  He 
turned and started to walk away.  "I don't have time for this.  I have something 
much more important to tend to.  Like watching paint dry."
	"Hey, we're not finished with you!" Venus exclaimed.
	"What, are you going to take me on now?" the boy asked, a sneer crossing 
his face.
	"If we have to," Mars replied.
	Mercury stepped forward.  "Hold it, guys.  We don't know what's going on 
here," she said.  "Maybe if you took a second to explain the situation to us, 
we'd be able to understand what you did."
	The sneer on the boy's face faded to a neutral expression.  He said, "You 
don't need to understand.  You need to stay the hell out of my way.  If you 
don't, you will get hurt."
	"Listen, you," Mars began.  She was cut off by the boy's glance at her.  
When he laid eyes on her, his frown became a neutral expression, although his 
eyes remained as hard as ever.  He paused momentarily as though surprised at 
Raye.
	"No, you girls need to listen to me.  I'm going to say it again slowly to 
make sure that you understand me.  Stay away or you'll get hurt.  And it may be 
me doing the hurting," the boy said.  He turned and went off on his path again, 
his hands in his pockets and his head hanging exhaustedly.
	"Should we go after him?" Venus asked.
	"No, I don't think so," Moon said.  "It seems like he wouldn't listen to 
us anyway."
	"So, looks like we don't get a vacation after all," Venus said after a 
short pause.
	"I'd say that's a correct observation," Mercury replied.
	"Is this what Luna and Artemis were looking into?" Jupiter asked Moon.
	"Probably," Moon replied.  "Let's head to my house and see if they're 
found anything out."
	"Right," the others said.  They checked to make sure the street was clear 
and reverted to their civilian forms.  As they made their way away from the 
battlefield, police sirens became louder and closer.
	When they reached Serena's house, there was no one else home.  Serena 
unlocked the front door and ran up the stairs, followed by everyone else.  It 
was getting dark outside, and the shadows laid ever-lengthening across the 
floor.  Serena walked in her room and turned on the light.  She couldn't see 
Luna anywhere.
	"Luna!"  she called out, checking where Luna usually slept, behind the 
bed, in her laundry basket underneath her desk, she even called onto the roof 
for her.  No reply came.  "Wait here, guys," she said, going out of the room.  
The sound of opening doors and tromping downstairs drifted through the doorway.
	"This doesn't feel right," Raye said.
	"Oh, don't be silly," Mina replied, grinning widely.  "She and Artemis 
probably just found somewhere to be *alone* for a while."
	"This may be worse than that, Mina," Amy explained.  "Luna and Artemis may 
have been investigating some creatures that looked like they were ready and able 
to hurt us badly.  They aren't the strongest fighters in the group, to say the 
least.  I believe we can assume that they are in danger."
	"Look at how many 'maybes' were in what you just said.  I don't think it's 
very likely," Mina said.  "Artemis knows better than to stick his nose in a 
fight."  She broke off and looked at the window.  Raye thought she could see 
Mina frowning.  Serena walked back in, a confused look crossing her face.
	"Sorry, guys, but she doesn't seem to be back yet," she said.  "They must 
still be looking."
	"Do you think that we should go look for them?" Lita asked, more 
addressing Amy than anyone else.
	"It might be a good idea," Amy said.  "But the problem is, we don't know 
where to start looking."
	"Maybe we should split up and look in different directions from here," 
Lita commented.
	"I don't know if that's a good idea," Amy said.  "If we get attacked again 
while we're alone, we probably won't be as lucky as last time."
	"So, we're going out together?" Raye asked.
	"All right, but we can only search so far tonight," Amy said.
	"Agreed," Mina said.  "Serena, you should stay here, in case they come 
back."
	"I guess," Serena replied uncertainly.  "Give me a call back if you find 
anything."
	"Of course," Amy replied, smiling.  "Don't worry, Serena, we'll find 
them."
	"We'll eventually have to go home tonight, though," Raye said.
	"You can leave when you need to, it'd be impossible to search everywhere, 
no matter how many people we have," Lita replied.
	"It's all right, guys, I'm sure they'll turn up eventually," Serena said.
	"Right," Mina replied.  "So, you guys ready to go?"  Serena watched as the 
others walked out of the house.  For the moment, there wasn't anything that she 
could do.  Besides, the others were doing all they could.  Why should she worry?
	Even though it was a nice thought, it gave her no comfort.

End Part 1