Mars Fire Ignite
by Soumitra Choudhury
--------------------- 
Chapter 2: The Assassin Awakens
The five men waited nervously in the darkened room they had been ushered into. 
It disturbed them tremendously to be here, for they prided themselves on being 
clean, innocent, and upstanding citizens, a far-cry from their actual selves, 
which was riddled with greed and deceit. Still, it was a testament to their 
foolish pride that they squirmed in their seats now, waiting for their contact. 
Just as their agitation grew to unbearable levels, they realized suddenly that 
they were not alone. Seated in the shadows at the far end of the table was 
someone, shrouded carefully in the shadows. "You require my services," came a 
chillingly soft voice that could freeze blood. 
The five men glanced at each other, wondering who of them would speak up. 
Finally, the man in the middle, a middle-aged lanky man with a sniveling 
countenance, stood up and cleared his throat. "We, we want you to, um, er..." he 
fumbled over his words, dreading having to say it himself. 
The voice interrupted. "You want me to kill someone. Is that correct?" He didn't 
need an answer, for he already knew that was why these men had shown up. He 
enjoyed, however, making his clients fidget. "Who, and why?" he continued 
flatly. 
The lanky man looked to his comrades for support, but saw that none was 
forthcoming. Swallowing hard, he tried to grow a backbone. "Cole Gishumi," the 
man said loudly, defiantly, "and you don't need to know why. That is not why we 
are paying you." 
The ensuing silence notified the fool that he had perhaps overstepped the bounds 
that had governed the encounter so far. The slight rustle of wind on cloth was 
the only warning he had when he realized that someone - or something - had 
landed on the table in front of him. Suddenly, hands grabbed the lapels of his 
trench coat and dragged him close to the assailant's face, an action that caused 
the other men to slide away from the table hurriedly. 
In the dim light, the lanky man could barely make out the cloak enshrouded 
figure that held him with white gloved hands. A darkly comic outfit in any other 
light, but the lanky man knew his life hung ever so slightly from a bare thread, 
and he knew this because he could clearly see the assailant's face, or rather, 
what covered the assailant's face. 
It was a plain, gleaming white porcelain mask. It had a nose, but no mouth. Much 
more to the point, though, were the eye holes. The eyes behind that mask were 
black, too black for mere darkness. Black to stick your finger in and wonder if 
they would meet resistance, or perhaps there was nothing. And floating in this 
nothing, in place of pupils, were two scintillating violet gems that pierced you 
with a gaze so hard, you wondered if perhaps they could see your soul, or 
whatever passed for it. 
Those two gems fixed themselves on the lanky man. "It is you who has hired me. 
If you wish to continue with these preparations, you will answer my inquiries. 
Otherwise I may not be able to do my job. Do you understand?" The hideous voice 
seemed to emanate from the mask. 
The victim nodded fiercely, eyes wide in terror, and the assailant promptly let 
go. Leaping back, the figure landed quietly back in his chair and once again 
took a seat. "Now then, why am I to kill the owner of a highly successful 
electronics company?" 
Regaining what little of his composure as he could, the lanky man sat back down. 
"Mr. Gishumi is incapable of running the company, and is slowly sending Gishumi 
Electronics into bankruptcy. As a board of direct- er, a concerned employee, I 
believe it would be for the best to have Mr. Gishumi removed from office." 
The figure had not missed the slip of the tongue, and knew, even before his 
client was finished, that he was lying. A glinting object appeared in one hand 
from a fold in his cloak. 
"Strike two." 
There was a moment of whistling wind, and then something thunked into the table 
just in front of the liar. Jumping back, the fool saw that it was an 
eight-pointed steel shuriken, landing less than an inch from the end of the 
table where he had been sitting just a second ago. 
The voice returned. "Don't bother continuing to say anything, for I fear you 
will simply talk yourself to death." A quiet chuckle. "You, the board of 
directors for Gishumi Electronics, want the owner, 18 year old Cole Gishumi, 
assassinated, not because he is doing a poor job, but because he owns such a 
successful company at such a young age. None of you are satisfied with the 
wealth you are making right now, and so, with the last company heir out of the 
way, the business, I suspect, will be turned over to the greedy board of 
directors - you." 
More silence followed, as the five men shifted and squirmed, feeling naked under 
the scrutiny of this assassin. 
"I want $20 million up front, and $20 million more when the company is yours. 
The men almost exploded in outrage - almost - but then remembered who they were 
talking to, and how much money they would have when this was all over. Pulling 
out a briefcase, they placed it on the table and opened it. "$20 million," the 
lanky man said grudgingly, "but, you must kill him tonight." 
The assassin mulled this over. "These things take time." 
"No!" replied one of the other men, "It must be done tonight. Cole will be 
receiving an award tonight. It must be done there, in plain sight of everyone." 
"This is highly unorthodox, and extremely dangerous," replied the assassin 
matter-of-factly. Pondering this for a moment, he figured out why this had to be 
done in this manner. He chuckled again, a sound that sent shivers running up and 
down the directors' spines. "Very well. I will kill the boy in plain sight of 
everyone so that they cannot implicate you in the killing. However, I will need 
another $20 million up front." 
Sheepish about having been discovered so easily, they pulled out another 
briefcase, another $20 million. 
What little light there was surrounding the assassin flickered out. "Good day 
gentlemen. You will hear from me after the deed." 
*****
Two months had passed since the accident at the mall, and Cole and Rei's 
relationship blossomed nicely. Though they were not officially dating (much to 
Serena's consternation), they spent a great deal of time together. Cole 
eventually was introduced properly to the other girls, and even met Darien. In 
fact, the two guys hit it off rather well, probably because of the similarity of 
age. 
Grandpa Hino didn't particularly enjoy the prospect of his granddaughter hanging 
around with boys, but once he met Cole and saw how loaded he was, Grandpa took a 
liking to him, though Rei always got an earful whenever she went out with him. 
Deep inside, the old man was happy that Rei had found such a well-to-do guy with 
such charm and kindness, but that didn't stop him from making it uncomfortable 
for Cole to visit Rei at the temple. 
Summer vacation quickly fell away to the second year of high school. It became 
something of a habit for Cole to pick Rei up to go to school, but it was one he 
enjoyed. He was up early anyway. Rei insisted that he not pick her up after 
school, though, for she usually wanted to meet up with the girls to walk home, 
or float over to the arcade, where he would drop by also. 
*****
The girls were all situated in a booth at the soda shop, Serena stuffing her 
face with a pizza. 
"Gosh, Serena, how can you eat that whole thing all by yourself?" Rei asked, 
sipping on her sundae. 
"It's ... easy... Rei. All ... that studying ... " and the rest was lost in a 
mouthful of pepperoni and cheese crust. 
Lita sniffed disdainfully. "I can make better pizza than this place," she 
mumbled to herself. Mina nudged her in the ribs and stuck out her tongue. Ami, 
of course, was trying to study for her calculus test in two weeks. 
"By the way, Rei," Serena said after washing down her pizza with a root beer 
float, "where's Cole?" She grinned, expecting Rei to blush, just like she did 
every time Cole's name was mentioned. 
Rei, of course, blushed slightly. "He's getting his cast removed." 
"Oooo! That means he's going to ask you out finally!" Serena was fairly jumping 
out of her seat, and caused her float to fall, splashing all over Lita next to 
her. 
"Serena!" the green-eyed tomboy yelled, scrambling for napkins to wipe herself 
off. The blond-haired leader sputtered over an apology, but then cried, 
"Darien!" and crawled over Lita, then Mina, to get out of the booth. 
"Hey muffin," Darien replied, amused at her antics and trying to pry her off 
from around his waist. "You seem to be in rare form today." 
Serena smiled sheepishly as she saw Lita and Mina, the latter who was now 
sitting on the floor after being knocked off the booth, flash her with stares of 
icy daggers. "He he, hey guys. It was an accident." 
Lita and Mina stood up and raised their claws as if to strangle her. 
Moving behind Darien, she whispered, "You'll protect me, won't you muffin?" 
Darien stepped aside, smiling. "Afraid not." 
Screaming, Serena dashed out the soda shop, with the tall brunette and the 
pretty blonde closely at her heels. 
"So," Darien began after ordering a coke, "where's Cole?" 
Ami grinned, looking up from her textbook to watch the growing blush suffuse 
Rei's face once again. "He's getting his cast removed," Ami replied in her cute 
crystalline voice. "This was the topic of discussion moments before you showed 
up." 
"Ahh. So, why aren't you at the hospital with him?" 
Rei gave him a quizzical look. "Why would I do that?" 
"Well, I thought you guys were, you know..." 
The dark-haired beauty narrowed her eyes dangerously. "No, I don't know. Why 
don't you tell me." 
Darien, shocked at Rei's hostility, glanced at Ami, who was subtlely shaking her 
head in the negative. Shrugging nonchalantly, Darien returned, "Nothing. It's 
none of my business." 
Rei smiled maliciously. "Good. You're learning." 
*****
The distinctive beep of a Ferrari horn behind her made Rei turn around as she 
ascended the temple stairs. It was Cole of course, looking chipper with no cast 
to hinder his movements anymore. Vaulting over the door (it was a convertible), 
he ran up the steps, grabbed Rei in a hug, and twirled her around. Rei's 
laughter tinkled out like silver bells to his ears. 
"What was that for?" she asked after he had released her. She wouldn't admit it 
to anyone, but that felt very good, to be held in his arms. 
"Why, because I have an arm again! I can do stuff again! I can begin my fighting 
routines again, I can go to the bathroom normally again, and," he paused here to 
look at her, "I can properly ask you to be my date to the awards banquet on 
Friday." 
She looked up at him, surprised, and then away, sweeping her hair out of her 
face. "Um, what awards banquet?" 
"Well, I'm supposed to get some award for best company or something. I don't 
know, but apparently it's a big honor, and they'd be disappointed if I didn't 
go. And I'd be disappointed if you didn't go with me." 
Rei nervously fumbled with her book bag, thinking how wonderful it would be to 
go with him. And maybe I can wear that dress, she thought happily. Still, he was 
so much older than her that she didn't want to raise her hopes up unnecessarily. 
"Oh, come on, Cole. Surely there's a line of gorgeous women who want you to take 
them. You shouldn't feel like you need to take me." She carefully kept her eyes 
off of him. 
Shocked at this response, Cole mulled this over. He prided himself on being able 
to read her like a book, and right now he thought she was feeling insecure. 
Gently taking her chin in his hand, he turned her around and raised her head so 
that their eyes met. "Lady Rei, there is absolutely no one else I would rather 
take than you," he whispered in a very serious tone so that she could not 
mistake him for frivolity. Then, taking her hand in his, he kissed it lightly, 
and bound off, calling back once, "I'll pick you up around 5 on Friday!" and 
sped off. 
Rei watched him leave, a soaring joy swarming up her spine. Spinning on her 
heels, she ran into Grandpa, standing behind her with a scowl on his face. 
"Oh, er, hi Grandpa! I just got back from school," she stammered. 
"That wasn't that Cole boy, was it?" he asked, a tad bit hostilely. 
Rei shrugged, pretending nonchalance. "You know how it is when you're popular." 
Grandpa Hino tried desperately to maintain the frown, but Rei easily blew away 
his defenses with a peck on the cheek as she continued past him and into the 
temple. Sighing, he followed her in, mumbling, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen." 

*****
Friday evening showed up more slowly than Rei could possibly have imagined. All 
week she floated somewhere between cloud eight and cloud nine, reminding herself 
occasionally that she didn't need to raise her hopes so high. Of course, this 
was something she couldn't keep from the rest of the girls, and so they had 
insisted being there to help her get ready. It took a lot of wheedling on 
Serena's part, but in the end, Rei got so tired of hearing her whine that she 
consented. Besides, she had thought later on, it would be nice to be the center 
of attention for once, rather than Serena and Darien. All the girls had been 
eager, with the exception of Ami of course, but Ami tagged along nonetheless. 
The blue-haired brain of the group had come up with the only supporting argument 
for Rei. 
"I think Rei will probably want to do this on her own, guys," Ami had said in 
her small, shy voice. Rei had been tremendously grateful to her for that simple 
insight. 
"Nonsense," Mina retorted, eyes gleaming with excitement. Getting Rei ready for 
the date was something that was right up the blonde's alley, and she wasn't 
going to miss the opportunity for something as trivial as Rei's anxiety. "You're 
going to need help with that dress and makeup and stuff, so you're definitely 
going to need me there." 
Rei narrowed her eyes to slits at the accidentally implied insult, to which Mina 
had clamped a hand over her mouth and backed away behind Lita. 
"See, Rei? We just want to help this be the best date you've ever been on," 
Serena tittered cheerfully. 
"I can do all that on my own, meatball head." 
For once, Serena waved away the insult. Seeing that the fiery priestess was 
going to be somewhat adamant about this, she did the only other thing she could 
think of: she got down on her hands and knees and begged. "Please, Rei? Please? 
Please?" 
Rei turned to the other girls, her eyes silently pleading for help, but Lita and 
Mina, in cruel humor, kneeled down themselves and began begging themselves. Ami 
chuckled silently at the scene. 
In the end, Rei had thrown up her arms in exasperation and had said they could 
come help. 
Now, she soaked luxuriantly in her tub, sighing away some of her nervousness as 
Lita gave her a good head massage. The rest of the girls were also in the 
bathroom, telling her what to do and what not to do, but she wasn't paying too 
much attention. It felt really good to just lie here... 
"Rei!" 
Startled, Rei jumped a little, splashing soapy water out. She had drifted off, 
much to everyone's amusement. Serena waved her finger back and forth. "Now, now 
Rei. None of that. We don't have time to waste. He's going to be here in two 
hours." 
"Serena's right," piped in Mina, "so how do you want your hair?" 
Rei blinked. "What's wrong with it down the way it usually is?" 
Lita shook her head. "No, that won't do at all. He ALWAYS sees your hair down 
like that. It needs to be done up somehow." 
Suddenly, the Shinto priestess got nervous all over again. "But I didn't prepare 
to have my hair done!" she whined, sounding considerably like Serena. 
"That's why we forced you to let us be here with you. Now, wasn't that a good 
idea?" 
Rei grumbled something underneath her breath. 
Ignoring her, Mina tapped her lips thoughtfully. "Let's see. A French braid?" 
Serena scrunched up her face in distaste. 
"Okay," Mina continued, "how about a pony tail?" 
"No, no, a pony tail is too informal and drab," Rei remarked, and then screamed 
"Ouch!" as Lita whapped her on the head. "No offense, Lita," she added meekly. 
"Well, I think she should put her hair like I do," Serena said innocently. All 
the girls stared at her for a bewildered moment, then burst out into hysterical 
laughter, much to Serena's consternation. 
"Okay, seriously," Mina began again, wiping away her tears of laughter, "what 
other hair styles are there?" 
Ami glanced up from the textbook she had been reading the whole time. "What 
about putting it up in the traditional Japanese form, wrapping it around those 
sticks that they used to do?" 
Mina thought about this, eyeing Rei's head the whole time, then burst into a 
smile. "That'll look great! Especially with that dress!" 
Serena nudged Ami in the ribs playfully. "Sticks?" she asked, grinning. 
Ami shrugged. "I don't know what they're called. As you can tell, I'll never 
have any use for them." She fingered her short blue-tinged hair, then went back 
to advanced chemistry. 
About an hour later, they were gathered in Rei's room, the owner of the room 
seated in front of her dresser and mirror with Lita and Mina fussing over her 
silky locks, while Serena lounged in the bed reading Rei's newest mangas and Ami 
studying in a chair. Serena was waking the dead with her laughter. 
Trying to ignore the ditz, Rei pointed to a few bottles of essence. "Cherry 
blossoms, honey and tulips, or jasmine?" 
"Honey and tulips," said Lita. 
"Jasmine," said Mina, and the two glared at each other. 
"Cherry blossoms," came Ami's crystalline voice from across the room. That's 
what I think, Rei thought, spraying a bit under her chin. "Alright, I'm going to 
get changed." 
As Rei strolled into the bathroom with the shimmering dress, Luna, who had been 
asleep on Rei's bed along with Artemis, roused herself. "Do you girls think this 
is wise? What if you need her while she's gone?" 
Mina waved the questions aside. "This is Rei's moment, Luna. Let's not spoil it 
with pessimism. Besides, we haven't seen any trouble in a week." 
Lita plopped down on the bed besides Serena. "Anyway, she'll be with Cole, so 
she should be okay. With the amount of security that will be at the banquet, 
she'll be fine." 
Luna calmly licked her paw. "Still, it pains me that we'll be vulnerable tonight 
without Rei, or Rei will be vulnerable without us." 
At this, Serena perked up from the comics, having secret been paying some 
attention. "You know, we could spy, er, keep a lookout in the vicinity, just to 
make sure things go smoothly." 
Ami groaned inwardly at this. "Isn't this a breach of privacy?" 
"No, no. We'll just stay out of sight." 
"But how do we get in? We didn't get tickets, you know," Mina inquired. Oh no, 
not Mina too! thought Ami. 
Serena smirked slyly. "We girls didn't get invitations, but the Sailor Scouts 
can go where they please." 
Lita and Mina beamed happily, while Ami's face dropped into her hands in 
despair. Luna frowned. "How are you justifying this, Serena? You can't just 
transform into Sailor Moon and galavant around town to spy on Rei." 
"Oh, we're not going to galavant. We're just going to, er, um, make sure Rei is 
safe by herself. After all, being with a big time executive of a company like 
Cole is bound to bring some hoodlum." By the cheerful way she had put it, it was 
clear Serena was stretching to come up with a reason to spy on the date. 
Luckily, Ami found an out. 
"Well, if you put it that way," Ami remarked absently, "then every time you and 
Darien go out on a date, the rest of us should trail you also.. just to make 
sure you're alright, of course." Luna could have hugged Ami. 
Lita and Mina, knowing they were had, chuckled slightly. Serena glared hard at 
her intelligent nemesis-in-friend's-clothing. "You wouldn't." 
Ami shrugged with that purely innocent look on her face, and went back to 
advanced chemistry. 
Miffed that her plan to spy on Rei had backfired, Serena grabbed another manga 
and grumbled through it. 
*****
An hour later from that, Cole came knocking at the temple's door. He hoped Rei 
would answer it before her Grandfather did, seeing as how he gave her such a 
hard time about him. He gave himself the once over to make sure he look alright 
for the fortieth time. 
He was dressed in a perfect black tuxedo, complete with a cane, coattails, and 
red silk vest to match her dress. Behind his back he held a shimmering white 
rose to contrast with her dress and ebony tresses. 
The door swung open to reveal Lita and Mina, surprising him. "What are you guys 
doing here?" 
"Nice to see you too," replied Lita sarcastically. "Rei will be out in a 
minute." 
"I'm sorry. It's just that I wasn't expecting you guys to be here also." Cole 
scratched his head nervously. Behind him, William waited patiently outside of 
the limo that he was chauffeuring the couple in. This brought a couple of stares 
from the girls, and Cole smiled knowingly. "You know, one of these days, all of 
us are going to have to go on a trip or something.. my treat, of course." 
The girls' eyes widened tremendously at that. "Really?" Mina gaped. 
"Sure, why not? It'll be fun. Discuss it with the other girls and Darien, and 
then tell me what you guys want to do. It gets boring taking all these vacations 
all by myself." That's got em, Cole thought in amusement. 
"If you guys are done, I think I have a banquet to attend," floated a soothing 
voice from within the temple. 
Cole glanced over the Lita's shoulders, and promptly dropped his mouth wide 
open. Rei was standing in the room, and looking more ravishing than he had ever 
seen her to look before. The dress fit perfectly, its silk shimmering and 
darkening in the various light. It came down to her ankles, and the slits down 
each side of the dress showed a daring amount of leg, shapely and smooth as they 
were. The top half was sleeveless, and the neck of the dress enclosed her throat 
like a choker. It didn't take much make up at all to enhance Rei's natural 
beauty: a bit of lipstick, a slight amount of blush, a tad of mascara. And with 
her hair put up in the Japanese form around two hair sticks of sandalwood, Cole 
found his breath literally swept away. As a passing thought, he noted with glee 
that she was wore the ruby necklace, and he also noticed the long, elegant, red 
elbow gloves that she had donned, and the small scarlet purse clamped tightly in 
one of those hands. 
Mina took one finger and pushed up on Cole's chin, shutting his mouth. 
Sinking to one knee, he held up the rose for Rei. "Ah, my Lady Rei. There are 
simply no words in any language known to man to describe the divinity I see 
before me. Please accept this woefully poor attempt at an offering." 
Blushing slightly, Rei took the rose with a chuckle. "You're very sweet, Cole, 
but do mind getting up? This kneeling to me is very disturbing." 
Meanwhile, Luna rolled her eyes skyward, perched as she was on Ami's shoulder. 
Serena, Lita, and Mina fairly melted into putty at Cole's words, eyes full of 
hearts. "Aaaaaawwwwwwww" they breathed all at once. Rei shot them an imperious 
look. 
"Shall we go then?" Cole asked, offering his arm to her. 
Rei graciously accepted, and they started out the door. Once past the threshold, 
she stopped and glanced over her shoulder. "Oh, and girls?" she directed towards 
the two blondes and the brunette, "If I catch you spying on me, there won't be 
so much as a strand of hair left for the police to find when I get through with 
you." Throwing a sweet smile at them, she proceeded on to the limo with Cole. 
William smiled down at the couple, and opened the door for her. "It is very good 
to see you again, Miss Rei. You look quite lovely." 
Rei smiled back, being helped into the car by Cole. "Why, thank you William." 
Cole slid in on the other side. "Would you like anything to drink?" He pointed 
to the small bar and refrigerator. "I took the liberty to remove my typical 
stash of booze and liquor, and replaced it with soft drinks and juices, though I 
do have a very nice fruity wine." Rei could tell he was putting her on about the 
alcohol. 
"Hmm, that's too bad. I like a good rum and coke every now and then." 
Cole blinked, surprised, causing Rei to fall into giggles. 
*****
Ami stepped into her house, eager to get some work done. As much fun as it was 
to help Rei out with her date, Ami found such events pretty tedious and 
superficial. Then again, she thought wryly, I've never been on a date myself. 
Shrugging noncommittally, she began to make dinner for herself. 
Knowing her mother was at the hospital, Ami took her dinner up to her room, so 
she could eat while she worked. Pulling out a couple of books and her computer, 
she started in on a program that would help with some of the calculus. As the 
first forkful of spicy mandarin chicken reached for her mouth, the computer 
began tracking something out of the ordinary. Forgetting about dinner, Ami 
pulled the computer close to analyze the situation. What she found shocked her, 
and she tore out her communicator and buzzed Serena. 
Serena, meanwhile, had fumed all the way home. "That no good Rei! Always taking 
the fun out of everything! Is it too much to ask to just see how their date is 
going?" 
Luna, padding quietly behind her, sighed heavily. "Serena, shouldn't you be past 
this phase by now? You are in high school, after all." 
The blonde girl grumbled something as they entered her house. Inside, things 
were quiet. Serena's parents had gone out for the evening, and her bratty little 
brother Sammy had gone over to his friend's house. 
"Yaah! I get the house to myself! I totally forgot! I should call the girls and 
ask them to come over!" She picked up Luna and twirled her around happily, then 
dropped her unceremoniously onto the floor and ran to the kitchen. "But first, 
I'm hungry." 
What's new, Luna thought maliciously as she shook her head to stop the spinning 
of the room. Just then, the communicator started beeping. Groaning at having 
been interrupted from her goal of a meal, Serena answered it grudgingly. Ami's 
face, pale with worry, showed up. 
"Serena! Rei might be in trouble!" 
"What?!" All thoughts of food were sublimated, giving way to a wash of concern. 
"Well, I was scanning with my computer to do some homework when it picked up on 
a strange energy reading. It's coming from the Convention Center where Cole's 
banquet is going to be held." 
Serena gritted her teeth in frustration. "Stupid Negaverse! Always putting-" 
"No Serena," Ami interrupted, "it's not the Negaverse. It's some energy 
signature I can't recognize. I think it might be magical." 
Luna leaped up onto Serena's shoulder. "Magical? What do you mean?" 
"Well, the energy pattern is like none I seen before. It's definitely not 
technologically based, but it's not dark energy from the Negaverse either. Not 
totally, but it's something akin to the energy of Tuxedo Mask!" 
Serena gaped. "Tuxedo Mask? What's he doing at the banquet?" 
Ami shook her head. "No, Tuxedo Mask isn't at the banquet. Something that has 
the same sort of energy as Tuxedo Mask is at the banquet. Look, perhaps we 
should go to this ceremony after all and check this out." 
"Alright, I'll call Lita. You call Mina." The blonde leader grinned maliciously 
for a moment. "Let's not tell Rei yet. This should be a surprise." 
The defender of Mercury closed her eyes in frustration. She agreed that they 
didn't need to notify Rei quite yet, but not for the same reason as Serena's. 
"Fine. We'll meet you there." She clicked out. 
Serena turned to Luna. "So, what do you make of all this, Luna?" 
The feline gave the cat equivalent to a shrug. "It's hard to say with so little 
information, but I don't like the sound of this. Surprises like these give me 
the chills." 
Hugging the cat to her, Serena prepared to call Lita. These little surprises 
gave her the chills too. 
*****
As the sun descended far to the west, blanketing the city of Tokyo with a 
collage of vibrant colors, a form darker than the growing shadows silently made 
its way towards the Convention Center. With the fluid grace of a dancer, it 
stalked carefully, avoiding the eyes of the city folk. When it came time to 
cross major streets, heavily trampled by the scurrying people, the form would 
stop. Watching for a moment, as if looking for something, it would then step 
into a nearby shadow and disappear utterly from sight, only to emerge from 
another secluded patch of darkness across the street, and continue on its 
stealthy way. 
*****
As the limo approached the front of the huge Convention Center, Cole groaned. "I 
hate this." 
Rei glanced out the tinted windows. Crowded around the entrance was a horde of 
reporters, waiting eagerly for the young entrepreneur to show himself. "You 
don't much like being a celebrity?" 
"No," he mumbled. Then he smiled. "On the other hand, you're going to knock them 
off their feet, they'll be so stunned." 
Rei glanced back out the window, struggling vainly to sublimate the excitement 
growing in her. This was something she understood well, for she greatly enjoyed 
being in the spotlight. Unlike other people, who floundered in nervousness, she 
actually felt calmer and more composed when being the center of attention. "Yes, 
this should be fun." 
Across the street, on the roof of the five story office building, a fully 
shrouded figure perched easily on the edge, gazing down as Cole and Rei made 
their way through the throng of reporters. Deep within the cowl of the hood, 
twin points of violet light glowed like tinted candlelight. 
With a slight swirl of the cloak, the assassin glided over to a patch of shade, 
and vanished. The same assassin quickly made his way across the roof of the 
Convention Center to the lone door that led into the building. 
Night had fully fallen by this time. 
*****
The banquet had been fabulous. Hundreds of people had shown up, all dressed in 
their finery, most hoping to outdo the others. A good number of business leaders 
were present also, some who wanted to set up deals with Cole. The young man 
would have none of that, however. He was extremely pleased with himself for 
having brought Rei, as she had taken the crowd by storm. With a regal refinery 
that rivaled even the best of etiquette, she swept from person to person, group 
to group, leaving a sense of wonder behind her wherever she went. Though there 
were very few who were near her in age, Rei didn't seem to mind. With a fine, 
rapacious wit, and stunning beauty that was quickly making her the envy of the 
party, more than a few individuals had come to Cole to congratulate him on such 
exquisite company. 
Cole, for his part, enjoyed nothing less than to sit back and watch his 
attractive friend. It did wonders for his well-being to know that he hadn't drug 
Rei to some boring event that she would soon grow tired at. 
Moments later, she sidled up to him as he discussed some technical jargon with 
the owner of Honda. Excusing himself, he led her to their table. "So, Little 
Miss Social Butterfly, how are you faring?" 
"Well," she began, clasping onto his arm, "I haven't been to one of these 
before, so I hope I'm not embarrassing you." 
Cole gazed at her in shock. "What are you talking about? You're the hit of the 
party! I think people have forgotten that they came to see me accept an award 
because of you." He grinned at her good-naturedly. 
She blushed cutely, melting his already softened heart. 
"Can we have everyone taking their seats please? We will begin the award 
presentation soon," said the host, a finely dressed elder man with blazing white 
hair. 
"Well, this is it," Cole whispered to her as they sat down, inhaling a large 
breath and letting it out slowly. 
Rei gave him a puzzled look. "You're not nervous are you?" 
He coughed slightly. "About getting an award? No. About giving a speech? Yes." 
She took one of his hands and squeezed it reassuringly. "You will do 
wonderfully." 
The attendees found their seats quickly enough, and the host began a nice little 
introduction about the award and what it meant. He threw out a few jokes, and 
the crowd tittered with polite laughter, but eventually it all died down, and 
Cole was called up to receive his award. He got up from his seat, then kissed 
Rei on the cheek as he strolled up to the podium, leaving a bewildered girl at 
the table, her hand slowly stroking the spot where he had placed his lips. 
Suddenly, Rei felt the psychic emanations of evil that she had diligently 
trained herself to detect. She glanced around the room, searching, probing for 
the source. As large as the room was, however, it didn't seem to be coming from 
inside. As a passing note, she thought it odd how the table with the board of 
directors seated at it seemed so uncomfortable. 
Closing her eyes and canceling out Cole's speech, she tried again to focus on 
the source. Her awareness slowly floated out, reaching... reaching... 
Her eyes snapped open, and she turned slowly towards the windows of the control 
room up above on the back wall. It was dark in there, but she trusted her 
psychic training more than her eyes. 
A stirring simmer of rage began to boil steadily within her as she stood up and 
carefully wove her way to the outside hallway. Casting one last glance up at the 
windows of the control room, she thought she could make out a pair of glowing 
purple points of light, but she wasn't sure. Then she stepped out, and moved 
quickly to a stairway, letting her hair down as she went. Sailor Mars doesn't 
need her hair all bunched up on her head, she thought grimly. 
*****
The assassin entered the control room, easily padding to the window silently and 
in the darkness. He looked through it, and saw his quarry immediately, walking 
calmly to the podium. Satisfied that this would be simpler than he had thought, 
he pulled out a small, finely crafted wooden crossbow from within the folds of 
his cloak. Pulling back the hood, he kneeled down to situate himself in front of 
the window. Out of the corner of his jeweled eye, he saw the beautiful 
dark-haired girl in the red dress leave the room, but dismissed it as 
unimportant. 
He pulled back the sleeve to the shroud on his left arm, revealing the small, 
slim wooden box that was strapped to the forearm. He unstrapped it, and opened 
it up, revealing three bolts, each intricately made of steel and crystal. 
Carefully removing one, he snapped the box shut and placed it to the side. 
Slipping the bolt into place on the crossbow, he quietly slid the window open. 
Calmly, coldly, he raised the weapon and laid careful aim for the victim's 
heart. The poison in the bolt was needed to be quickly distributed throughout 
the body to take maximum effect. The poison would decrease the rate of the 
heartbeat slowly, until he died in a few days. He rather enjoyed this method, 
because of the effect, and the duration of the poison. As far as he knew, there 
was no antidote. Cole Gishumi would simply begin to stop functioning, growing 
weaker and weaker, until death claimed him. If the assassin could smile, an evil 
grin would be plastered on his face. 
A sudden sixth sense of danger warned him a split second before the door to the 
control room crashed open. Standing in the doorway was Sailor Mars, eyes glaring 
in anger. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" she hissed viciously. She 
barely acknowledged the crossbow that had twirled to point at her. On the other 
hand, she did take a step back when she saw the glowing gemstone pupils and the 
gleaming mask of porcelain. 
"I have not the time for you, little girl," he threw back in a crypt-like voice, 
and stretched out one arm, palm out. Another violet glow, this in the form of a 
sphere the size of a baseball, materialized. Mars dove sidelong, missing the 
shooting ball by mere inches as it exploded into the wall behind her, showering 
her in plaster and wood and leaving a hole bigger than herself. 
Taking advantage of the delay, and noting the sudden confusion that had 
overtaken the crowd at such an explosion, the assassin leaped out the window, 
flipped a couple of times in midair, and landed nimbly on a table, kneeling and 
aiming at Cole. 
Cole, for his part, heard the explosion, and immediately his thoughts went to 
Rei, who he had seen leave just a few minutes ago. He meant to run out and look 
for her, when he saw the shrouded figure twirling through the air and land on 
the table, a nasty looking crossbow pointed at him. 
"Who are you?" yelled Cole, taking up a defensive stance and not expecting to be 
shot. After all, there were so many witnesses. 
The trigger clicked. "Your death," came the reply, as a shocked Cole looked down 
at the bolt protruding from his chest. Suddenly, breathing became extremely 
difficult, and he collapsed into a sitting position, still gazing bewildered at 
the bolt in his chest. 
*****
"NOOOOOOO!!!" 
The assassin, and a number of other people twisted around to see Sailor Mars 
perched on the edge of the window ledge of the control room, ready to jump down. 
Her eyes were wide with terror, mouth gaping open in a horrid scream of pain. 
She slipped from the perch, and barely managed to land on her feet, slipping 
down to a knee wobbly. Her eyes were fixed on Cole and his injury. 
Three security guards ran into the room at all the commotion. Pulling their 
guns, one of them cried "Freeze!" 
Just as the guns trained themselves on the masked figure, the assassin dropped 
the crossbow, flicked his right hand, and drew a pair of slight curved Japanese 
short swords, or wakazashis, all in a few fluid movements. Two of the guards 
dropped their guns and gurgled as blood sprayed from their jugulars from the 
shurikens that had lodged themselves in their throats. The third, unnerved at 
the amazing quickness of the target, took a nervous step back. 
Suddenly, the gemstone pupils flared brightly, scintillating and vibrant. The 
lone guard paused, gazing deeply into those shifting, colorful lights. The gun 
dropped slightly in its aim, and that was all the killer needed. 
He leaped forward into the air, and came down slashing right in front of the 
guard. He stood there a moment to let the man figure it out. 
The guard wondered briefly why he couldn't fire the gun, until the bursts of 
pain bombarded into him and he screamed hideously as both his arms fell to the 
ground, cleanly severed at the shoulders. 
The assassin calmly stepped over the bodies and was about to make good his 
escape, when he glanced over his shoulder once to see the carnage he had caused. 

"STOP!" yelled a firm female voice, and he turned to it. 
Sailor Mars, onyx orbs glinting coldly, stood resolutely ten feet away. "You 
will die for this, murderer!" She clapped her hands together and thrust out her 
index fingers at him. 
"Mars..." a small flame sprang to life at the end of her fingers. 
"Fire..." the flame grew somewhat in size. The assassin flicked his right arm 
again, and a shuriken flew unerringly towards her. 
"IGNITE!" The flame shot forward, the force of it changing the steel star's 
direction slightly. Mars grunted in pain as it sliced through her shoulder, 
digging until it thunked into her bone. 
The assassin took the full brunt of the flaming attack, sending him flying back, 
and crashing him into the next room's wall. Surprisingly, though, he calmly 
raised himself up, and donned the hood once again. He swept his left arm 
forward, and another violet sphere of power soared towards Mars. This time, she 
hit the deck, and it sailed over her head to explode into the buffet table on 
the far end of the banquet room. When she raised her head, the assassin was 
gone. 
People were scrambling about in confusion, most trying to get through the 
several exits. Ignoring them all, Mars struggled to her feet. She glanced down 
at her shoulder, and grasped the protruding part of the shuriken. She was 
bleeding profusely from the wound, and she really needed to patch it up, but try 
as she might, all that came out was a whimper of pain. The shuriken firmly held 
on to her bone. 
Clutching at her shoulder in an effort to staunch the flow, she stumbled weakly 
to the sitting form of Cole, and kneeled down next to him. He still was staring 
dumbly at the bolt. Ever so gently, she pushed him back until he lay upon the 
ground. It was a considerable battle, but she forced herself not to burst into 
tears at the sight. 
Slowly, Cole's gazed moved from the bolt to the beautiful heroine. "Well, well," 
he mumbled, "this is quite an honor." He coughed slightly, his face scrunching 
up in pain. 
"Shhh, don't talk, help is on the way." Mars pulled out her communicator , and 
beeped for the other scouts. Seconds later, Sailor Moon's face showed up, awash 
with worry. 
"Mars! Are you alright? Don't go anywhere. There's something strange prowling 
around over there, or that's what Mercury told me." Somewhere in the back of 
Mars' mind, she was proud that Serena had had the sense to use their scout 
names. 
"Yeah, I know already. Where are you guys?" 
"We're a couple of blocks down." 
Mars grimaced as another stream of agony slashed up and down her wounded arm. 
Serena noted this, and worry turned into near-panic. "Mars! You're hurt!" 
"Thanks for stating the obvious," the fire child replied sarcastically. "Send 
Mercury here as soon as you get here. the rest of you should probably look for 
the assassin." 
"Assassin?" 
Mars collapsed a little bit. "Yeah. Black cloak. White mask. Purple jewels for 
eyes. He stands out in a crowd." 
Sailor Moon hesitated slightly, then nodded. "We'll get him. Mercury is on the 
way." 
As an afterthought, for Mars' thoughts were jumbling sporadically, she mumbled, 
"Be careful. He's extremely quick and very deadly. He has some control over 
magical energies." Then she clicked out. 
"Sailor Mars, you're hurt." 
She turned her attention back to the handsome young man before her, and her eyes 
misted over a bit. She looked away to hide them from him. "It's nothing. We 
Sailor Scouts are a lot tougher than we look." Well, it's not too much of a lie. 
We ARE tougher. 
Suddenly, Cole tried to sit up. "Rei! Rei might be hurt! I've got to go find 
her!" 
She held him down gently, tears flowing freely this time. "Rei's fine. I ran 
into her before the fight, and made her get to safety." 
He relaxed considerably, his eyes struggling to stay open. "I'm so tired. Do 
you... do you mind removing this thing from me?" 
Mars cringed slightly, but with a nod, she grasped the bolt firmly and slid it 
out with a jerk. Cole hissed in pain, and covered the hole in his chest as a 
gout of blood squirted out. "Thank you, Lady Mars." 
The room tilted nauseously, and Mars fell back, too weak to sit up. Where's 
Mercury, she thought bitterly, realizing that this weapon had to be removed 
quickly. She was getting extremely weak with blood loss, but she couldn't go get 
help. 
"You know," she heard Cole whisper, "you look... an awful... lot... like my 
Rei." 
Tears fell unbidden from her eyes at that. Her grief threatened to engulf her at 
that moment. Thankfully, she slipped into unconsciousness. With her weakened 
condition, however, Sailor Mars' transformation reversed itself, and only Rei 
remained behind, her dress quickly soaking up her blood, her hair splayed out 
beneath her. 
Cole turned his head towards her, his own consciousness fading quickly. His last 
thought was "Is that Rei?" 
*****
Rei felt like she had been run through a meat grinder when her consciousness 
returned. She could feel the dull booming throb of her shoulder, but it was 
vastly more tolerable than the piercing screams of agony that had characterized 
it before. Slowly opening her eyes, she squinted at the bright sunlight 
streaming in through the hospital room's window - HER hospital room's window. 
She groaned. I'm in a hospital. 
"Rei?" 
She turned her head towards the voice, and saw Serena sitting next to her bed, 
having pulled up a chair. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying, and she looked 
exhausted. This was a side of Serena Rei was shocked to see." 
"Hey there, meatball head," Rei whispered back hoarsely, smiling. 
The blonde girl burst into sobbing fits, and Rei uncomfortably stroked her hair 
with her good hand. "Come on, now. Stop that. I'm fine." 
Serena sniffled after a moment. "But you would have been better had we shown up 
sooner." She wiped away her tears. 
Rei waved the comment aside. "None of us could have known that there was going 
to be powerful monster at Cole's..." her eyes widened. "Where's Cole? Is he 
okay?" 
Serena looked extremely uncomfortable at that. "Well, he's here in the hospital 
too." She said it softly, and seemed to avoid the real question. Rei feared the 
worst. 
"He's okay isn't he?" Rei eyes took on a pleading look, trying to will her 
friend to tell her that the young man was alright. 
In all the time that she had known Rei, Serena had never seen such anguish and 
despair in her usually composed friend. She had never been the emotional type, a 
trait that Serena sometimes found herself envying, the blonde having an 
overabundance of emotion. Rei prided herself on being a rock, a firm foundation 
for the rest of the scouts. 
Now, though, Serena saw fear, terror, and heart-wrenching pain. Suddenly, all of 
the priestess' barriers were down in the blink of an eye, and what was left was 
a scared little girl. 
And because of this, Serena didn't have the heart to tell Rei that Cole had 
slipped into a coma, and was dying. 
She took Rei's hand into her own and patted it companionably. "He's going to be 
fine, Rei. He'll be in the hospital for a few days, but the bolt missed any 
vital organs." she smiled beautifically for her friend's benefit. "Before long, 
you two will be out on the town once again." 
The grateful sigh told Serena that her lie had been taken. "Now, you get some 
rest, and we'll come by later on to see how your doing. Okay?" 
Already, Rei's eyes glazed over tiredly as she nodded. Releasing her hand, 
Serena quietly walked out of the room. 
"Thank you... Serena," she heard behind her as she left. 
In the waiting room, the rest of the scouts jumped in concern as their leader 
stepped in and sank into a chair, exhaustion marking her clearly. 
"Is she going to be okay?" Mina asked hopefully. 
Serena nodded. "Yes, but we have another problem." She told them of the lie she 
had given Rei. 
"Serena," Ami started, "Cole is being over come by a rare poison. There isn't an 
antidote for it. What are you going to tell Rei if he dies?" 
"He's not going to die!" Serena returned forcefully. She sighed softly. "You 
should have seen her face. She was so scared, it broke my heart to have to tell 
her that he was dying. I really think she's in love with him." 
The scouts silently accepted this. Ami had been working on analyzing the poison 
herself, but couldn't get anywhere. It frustrated her that she was so helpless, 
even with her intelligence hard at work. 
Serena came up with the only possible solution that might work. The others 
didn't argue with it, and they didn't voice the one thought that they all were 
thinking: if they weren't successful, Sailor Mars would never forgive herself 
for not preventing Cole's death. 
*****
That night, Sailor Moon and the remaining scouts quietly entered Cole's room. It 
had been an easy matter to bypass the security placed around him, and Ami's 
computer was useful in calling away the lone guard. 
The EEG periodically beeped, maintaining its timing to the beating of Cole's 
heart, but it was obviously much slower than it should have been. Ami had 
managed to figure out that the poison was slowing the body down, thus the 
decreased heart rate. 
Cole breathed softly, with an oxygen mask over his face, IV tubes inserted in 
his arms, and electrodes taped to his head. Peacefully sleeping away in his 
coma, he had no idea the danger he was in. 
Sighing, Sailor Moon drew out the Silver Imperium Crystal from her broach. 
Looking at each of the scouts for support, she closed her eyes and concentrated 
on the healing power of the crystal. Instantly, a pearly white glow merged from 
the stone, basking everyone in its light. Stepping forward, she placed the 
crystal on Cole's chest, and the battle began. 
Sailor Moon almost wilted under the stress, so strong the poison was, but she 
squared up her visage and fought. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed, a 
sickly green mist exuded from Cole as the poison was forced out of his body. 
Finally, no more mist evaporated out, and the hole in Cole's chest began to 
close. 
"No Sailor Moon," Mercury whispered sadly into her ear. "You have to leave the 
wound, or the doctors will get suspicious." 
Nodding in response, the blonde superheroine dampened the flow of energy and 
shut off the crystal. Sailor Jupiter caught her just as she began to collapse. 
The strain had been somewhat more than they had thought it would be. 
While Jupiter and Venus help support the grateful Sailor Moon, Mercury checked 
Cole's pulse and read several of the machines, then analyzed him with her own 
computer. After a few minutes, she looked up at them and smiled, giving the 
thumbs up sign. 
As nurses and doctors rushed into the young man's room, wonder and amazement 
etched all over their features at the sudden recovery of their patient, none of 
them noticed the curtains blowing faintly in the wind created by the open 
window.
========== 
You know the disclaimers. 
Send comments to: 
meech@mindspring.com 
If you have read the first two parts then you might be wondering where exactly 
this little epic fits in. Well, I have watched the North American version, along 
with some of the movies, and have realized that this really doesn't fit in 
anywhere in particular. Call it an alternate universe if you need to. I don't 
have Reenie in this because I didn't much enjoy her. Other than that, I have the 
same disclaimers that everyone else has. Enjoy! 


-Soumitra Choudhury