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Mars Fire Ignite
Chapter 3: Inconspicuous?
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There was a shy knock at Cole's door, and Rei walked in, her wounded arm 
bandaged and placed in a sling. "Hello?" 
Cole's face shot from extreme boredom to beaming elation to obsessive concern. 
"What happened to you?" 
Rei fiddled with her fingers. "Oh, I, uh, got scratched by, er, some falling 
debris," she stammered. 
An eyebrow shot up in outrage. "Scratched?! It looks like your arm's broken! 
Sailor Mars told me she had gotten you to safety!" 
"She had," Rei replied, pulling up a chair to his bed. "There was some explosion 
nearby, and I got hit by the debris after Mars had escorted me to the lobby." 
Cole gnashed his teeth in frustration. "The lobby! Next time I run into her, I'm 
going to have to teach her a thing or two about 'safe distances'." 
Rei blinked at Cole's hostility, then burst into a fit of giggles that washed 
all negative emotions out of him. He was impressed that, even after all that had 
happened, she could retain such an innocent and angelic laugh. 
"So, what brings you to my humble abode, my lady?" 
"Well, I just wanted to see how you were doing." 
"As you can see," he replied, "I'm not dying anymore." 
Rei threw him a startled look. "What do you mean by that?" 
Cole scratched his head, puzzled. "Hadn't you heard? I thought that's why you 
came by." Seeing her blank stare, he continued on. "Apparently, the poison in my 
body was slowly killing me. I was in a coma until earlier today. All the doctors 
were ranting and raving about how much of a miracle it was. They didn't have an 
antidote." Cole shuddered slightly at the notion. 
The dark-haired beauty paled and her eyes widened in shock. "Then, how..." 
"One of the nurses thought she had seen Sailor Moon earlier last night. She 
thought Sailor Moon probably had healed me." He glanced over to the window. 
"They said that my window had been opened sometime last night." He turned back 
to her, and saw her deathly pallor. 
She remained silent, staring at him for a minute, then calmly regained her 
composure, if not her color. "Sorry, I must be more tired than I thought. I'll 
come by later on to check up on you." And she left. 
*****
In the middle of the board of directors' meeting, the phone rang, and the lanky 
man put it on the speaker. "Gishumi Electronics." 
A familiar crypt-like voice answered. "Leave the $20 million at the following 
address." The voice began to recite an address, but was interrupted. 
"He's not dead, you fool!" cried the lanky man. He took courage in knowing that 
the assassin could not get him through the phone. 
Silence. 
"Look at the front page of the newspaper, and don't call us back until the job 
is done." Then the director slammed off the phone triumphantly. 
*****
Serena and the scouts walked into Rei's room, bearing flowers, mangas, and other 
gifts. "Hey Rei! It's good to see that you're up and about," Lita said, putting 
down a cake on the night stand. 
Rei had been standing by the window, gazing out when they had walked in. Now, 
tears streamed down her face, and she sobbed quietly, her shoulders shaking ever 
so slightly. 
Always the observant one, Ami put down the stack of mangas and came over to her, 
the others close behind. "Is something wrong?" the blue-haired girl asked 
softly. 
The injured scout spun around and buried her face in Serena's shoulder, weeping 
uncontrollably now. Feeling downright uncomfortable with this strange display of 
emotion, Serena took Rei in a hesitant embrace, confusion showing on her own 
face. "Shhh, there, there. Everything will be alright." 
Through the blonde's sweater, they all heard a muffled, "Thank you, Sailor 
Moon." Lita, Mina and Ami smiled at that, knowing that Rei had found out about 
last night's healing escapade. Serena gently pulled her up and wiped away Rei's 
tears with a tissue Ami handed her. She gave her a great ear-to-ear grin. 
Rei accepted the pampering without a word. She let them lead her back to the 
bed, and she sat down wordlessly, a slightly embarrassed expression on her face. 
She ran her good hand through her less than luxuriant hair, tangled as it was 
without the proper care she usually gave it. 
Mina pulled out a brush from her purse and plopped down behind Rei, frowning at 
the unkempt locks. Such negligence to beauty tended to grate on Mina's nerves. 
She started in on the silky waves. Gosh, I wish I had dark hair like this, Mina 
thought wistfully. 
A comfortable silence settled over the room, Rei taking the time to compose 
herself. It bothered her that she had become an emotional wreck with such ease, 
especially with the others watching. A puzzling notion came to her, and she 
raised her head to gaze at Serena. "Why, Serena?" 
"Why what?" 
"Why didn't you tell me that he was dying?" 
Serena looked genuinely surprised at the question, and glanced over to Ami and 
Lita, then back to Rei. "Don't you know?" 
Rei's quirked her mouth. "If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you, now would I?" 
Chuckling at the return of the typical Rei response, Lita stepped forward to 
take over. "Rei, how do you feel when you think about Cole?" 
"Er," Rei shifted her eyes around at nothing, blushing softly, "he's a nice 
guy." The rest of the girls gave her considerable frowning countenances. "What? 
It's true. He is a nice guy. You guys think so, don't you?" 
"Of course we do," replied Mina from behind her. "We're all friends here, Rei, 
so there's nothing to hide. We won't laugh or pass any kind of judgment on you. 
Just tell us what you feel past 'he's a nice guy'." 
The raven-tressed young girl didn't much like the direction the conversation was 
being led towards. She laughed in a strained way. "I have no idea what you guys 
are talking about." 
Exasperated, Serena burst forth, "Tell us that you love him!" 
Everyone turned to their pig-tailed leader, amazed at the outburst and the 
severe lack of tact with which it had been displayed, no one more than Serena 
herself. She clapped a hand over mouth in shock, waiting for the crack of Rei's 
deadly, whip-like temper to lash out at her mercilessly. It never came. 
The beautiful girl's shoulders sagged visibly as the truth of the words smashed 
into her with the force of a crashing wave. There it was. She hadn't been able 
to admit to herself her feelings. All her life she had erected calm, emotionless 
barriers to ward off first the loneliness she felt without her parents, and then 
the loneliness she felt because she wasn't very good at making friends. She had 
let those walls down long enough to fall for Darien, but that was an event that 
was literally destined to fall apart. The tryst with Darien had meant more to 
her than she realized, and so once again she had slammed up those obstacles of 
emotionlessness within her being, confident that nothing would hurt her again. 
And then Cole blew into her life with the subtle caress of a patient and gentle 
summer's breeze. First the gifts, then the rescue at the mall, and then the 
friendly outings that they had engaged themselves with with delightful fervor. 
Slowly but surely, the walls had crumbled, bit by bit, until Cole could finally 
see the glowing sensitive soul that illuminated her, a soul he had sensed the 
first time he had run into her. With careful ministrations, he had managed to 
touch her heart as no one had before, with perhaps the exceptions of Sailor Moon 
and her loving band of scouts. 
The attack on Cole had shaken her up fiercely, for it was the first time she 
realized how little of her defenses were left. Apparently, though, Sailor Moon 
had seen right into her heart and recognized the extent of her feelings for the 
young man. Thus knowing, she had been willing to use the exhausting, and often 
dangerous, power of the Silver Imperium Crystal. It was a deed Rei could not 
simply shrug away with sarcastic remarks and playful barbs of cynicism that were 
her usual methods of hiding her gratitude. 
Her head tilted up and upon her face was a look of such serene dignity and joy 
that even Serena was taken aback. "Yes, Princess, I do indeed love Cole. If I 
ever needed another reason other than my undying loyalty for you to remain at 
your side and fight to protect you, then it is the gratitude I feel for you 
having saved my love's life." She then tossed her an impish grin. "Of course, 
don't let this get to your head, Meat ball Head." 
Girlish giggling trilled throughout the room and spilled out into the hospital 
hallway. 
*****
Deep underground, in an expensive, and expansive, hideout, the assassin sat 
comfortably at his ornately carved wooden desk, mulling over this new situation. 
In his fifteen hundred years, he had never once failed to accomplish a hit, and 
this first grated upon his twisted sense of pride. This had not even been a 
difficult one, he mused silently. 
Of course, the presence of Sailor Mars had been mildly surprising, but he had 
always taken into account the element of surprise in each of his missions. In 
fact, the challenge had been quite welcome. Too many years had been spent 
amassing a devastating amount of wealth with so little effort, he had become 
lax. The use of the poison had been a bit extravagant, and that had been the 
weakness that had been his failure in this mission. Once the plan had been 
interrupted by that fire-toting wench, he should have simply walked up to the 
boy and have done with it. There was nothing as sure as a swift thrust of a 
sword through the heart. 
Now, he would have to be doubly careful, for the prey would know that he was the 
target of an assassin's eye. Smiling to himself, for the mask remained 
dispassionate to any emotion, he relished the challenge. If this young woman was 
going to act as his victim's protector, he would have to gage her prowess. This 
meant using a considerable amount of his power, but that didn't bother him. His 
underground network of spies, assassins, and... other members... was nearly 
limitless in funds and strength. 
And, of course, he had the most powerful artifact of magic known to Man. 
Gliding wraith-like through the numerous halls and passageways of his 
subterranean palace, he delved deeper into the Earth until he came to the 
crystal double doors that marked the deepest and darkest room at his disposal. 
He paused, taking a moment to silently marvel at these doors. Constructed of a 
clear quartz, each would have been transparent, allowing sight into the chambers 
beyond. They were, however, a rich opaque scarlet in color, with intricate fell 
runes etched on both sides of each door. The color was due to the fresh blood 
that had been poured into the hollow interior of the quartz. Both the blood and 
the runes were a means of protection, in case things got out of hand inside the 
chamber. 
Rumbling out a word of power, the runes darkened in response, and the doors 
silently slid open, revealing a chilly, deathly black room. Calmly stepping 
inside, the assassin didn't concern himself with the closing portal behind him. 
He strode to the middle of the dark room, knowing instinctively where he needed 
to stand. The twin gems of purple burst to life, their light slicing through the 
darkness like a knife, and settling upon the far wall. Slowly, the wall rippled 
and wavered, sagging into glowing violet slag, and beyond the wall lay a horrid 
swampy landscape, an earthy odor of putrescence filtering into the air. The 
ground seemed to be a perpetual pond of mud and stagnant water, patches of fog 
clinging tenaciously. Great dead trees stood out of this mire with inconsistent 
frequency, most sickly brown with rot. More importantly, though, was the large, 
piercingly black spider that contentedly chewed away on a hapless creature of 
some sort, though the rending pincers had long since made the prey 
unrecognizable. 
"Greetings, Kha'less," rumbled the assassin, performing a mock bow. 
The spider, clearly larger than a horse, spun about in with the dazzling speed 
only an arachnid could muster, and charged for the assassin, its eight faceted 
eyes glinting crimson. Moments before it reached the room, a burst of eldritch 
purple energy exploded about the creature, tossing it back like an old rag. 
Kha'less splashed a few feet away, spraying up a great deal of water and mud, 
screaming wildly and flailing its front legs madly at a nearby tree, reducing it 
to splinters. 
This continued for a few minutes, as the assassin watched impassively. 
Eventually, though, the giant spider calmed down and approached the melted wall 
cautiously, stopping a few feet from the energy forcefield that blocked passage 
from that fell plane and the prime material plane. 
"I trust you are quite finished," whispered the assassin graciously. 
"Why have you disturbed me once again, impudent fool?" demanded a distinctly 
feminine voice. 
"Is that anyway to treat an old friend?" 
The monster hissed angrily and took a menacing step forward before remembering 
the forcefield. "I do not consider the Grell amongst my friends." Suddenly the 
spider shimmered darkly, melting away and reforming into a fey, elvish being. 
Beautiful beyond imagining, she was tall and lithe, her skin retaining the black 
shade of the spider, but her hair fell in silky waves down to her waist, the 
color of freshly fallen snow, all but hiding the delicate points to her ears. 
Only her dress and eyes retained the malevolence that was apparent in the 
arachnid. Her eyes still held the deadly flash of crimson. Her dress, in 
actuality, was composed of thousand of spiders, writhing and twitching to 
maintain the integrity of the evil garment. "What do you wish of me?" 
"I require you to perform a mission for me," replied the Grell coolly. 
The black elf sniffed disdainfully. "I do not DO missions." 
As much as the assassin enjoyed the verbal fencing, his irritation with Kha'less 
was slipping through the seams of his composed demeanor. "I am not asking. I am 
ordering you." 
"Need I remind you," she huffed, fixing him with a malicious glare, "that I am 
considered a goddess on many other worlds?" 
"And need I remind YOU," the Grell hissed, "that you have no worshipers here on 
Earth, and thus very little power?" He, in turn fixed her with a cold stare. 
She held for a few moments, then turned away with a growl. What the assassin had 
said was true: without the power of faith and fear, given to her by adoring 
disciples, she could not hope to defeat the Grell and rid herself of his 
annoying tasks. She still held more power than any mere human, however, and 
perhaps she could amuse herself with slaughtering a few. 
Finally, she turned back to him. "What do you want?" 
"I require you to find and kill this individual." He waved one gloved hand, and 
an image of Sailor Mars showed up in the air in front of him. 
Kha'less scoffed at him. "What is this? A human wench? You ask me to use my vast 
powers to destroy a mere human wench? Is the vaunted Grell so afraid of this 
girl?" 
The Grell ignored her taunting. "Do not underestimate her. She has power over 
flames, and she has friends who control other forms of energy. I care nothing 
for what you do to her friends, but Sailor Mars must die." He paused, then 
continued. "You may have to cause... a disturbance, to get her attention." 
The evil being's red orbs flashed, and she broke into a vile grin of 
anticipation. "Agreed," she purred smoothly. 
Knowing that her need for chaos and destruction would override her want for 
killing him, the Grell winked the forcefield out of existence and watched the 
elf step tentatively into the room. She made an attempt to teleport out of the 
room and onto the surface of the Earth, but some ward of protection negated her 
abilities within the room. She crossed her arms about her chest and tapped a 
delicate foot impatiently. 
Amused, he waved his hand again, and the crystal doors slid open. "Remember. 
Kill Sailor Mars. Then you may rampage to your heart's content." 
No sooner had the words emanated from his mask than she disappeared. The Grell 
stood silently for a moment more, contemplating his plan. He had no doubt that 
the capricious elvish monster would fail. She indeed was more powerful than 
almost any other being on the planet, but he knew instinctively that these 
Sailor Scouts were among the few that were stronger. No matter. He was using 
Kha'less so that he could ascertain their weaknesses, especially this Sailor 
Mars. 
As he closed the portal to the resident plane of Kha'less, he briefly considered 
demanding more money from the board of directors, but shrugged it away. This 
mission was no longer about getting paid. 
The game was afoot. 
*****
Later on the same day that Kha'less had been released, Rei sat comfortably in a 
chair beside Cole's bed, playing a game of Canasta with the young man while 
watching TV. She wasn't really into the game, though. She had been bothering him 
about the encounter at the banquet. 
"Cole," she began hesitantly, "wasn't it a little strange that the person who 
shot you had used a crossbow and poison instead of a gun or something?" Or, for 
that matter, balls of magical energy, she added silently. 
Cole shrugged. "I've mulled the matter over myself. Seems like the guy wanted to 
kill me, but I haven't been able to figure out why poison." He shivered for a 
moment, then looked at her soberly. "You don't mind if we not talk about this, 
do you?" 
Rei shook her head. "Of course not. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up." 
She lowered her head somewhat. 
"No, no," Cole replied, stroking her hair, "It's quite alright." 
At that moment, a special bulletin interrupted the show that the two had 
previously not been paying attention to. Apparently, a woman with shining white 
hair and deep black skin was rampaging through the city, killing and maiming 
everyone in her way, destroying whole city blocks with dark energy. 
Rei's head snapped towards the TV, and she absorbed the news stoically. "Cole, 
I'm getting a little tired, so I'm going to take a nap." She got up to leave, 
feigning a yawn. 
"Now?" Cole asked, surprised that she wasn't interested in the news. "There's a 
monster on the loose. Don't you want to hear what happens?" 
"I'm really tired of monsters. After all, I wouldn't be here if it weren't for 
one." 
Cole's eyes flattened into simmering rage. "No, Rei. You wouldn't be here if 
Sailor Mars hadn't been so careless and left you to get hurt," he said, his tone 
grating with anger. 
All she could do was nod, and walk out. It hurt her that her seeming simple lie 
had backfired so much, but she couldn't worry about that now. Her presence would 
be need, for the Sailor Scouts were bound to be on their way to the scene. 
Rolling her shoulder gently, she tested the strength of her injury. Sharp stabs 
of lightning shot through the arm, but she thought she could grit her way 
through the pain. She quickly dressed in some casual clothes, and ran out of the 
hospital, evading the nurses and orderlies. 
*****
Kha'less laughed hysterically as the windows of a flower store exploded inwards, 
shattering from the force of her power. Dark fire coruscated about her arms, and 
she threw balls of the flames at anything that met her fancy. "Kneel down to 
me!" she screamed to the people scrambling out of another store down the road, 
and she fired a burst of fire, incinerating them to ash. 
"Stop, vile being! How dare you hurt these people!" 
Kha'less looked up on top of the nearest building, and saw a young blonde girl 
with the longest two pig-tails and an outfit that vaguely matched that of her 
true prey. 
"I am Sailor Moon, champion of love and justice. For the horrors that you have 
committed, I will punish you." For once, the little intro sounded grimly 
serious. 
Stepping out upon the street before the black were three other girls, similar to 
her prey, but with different outfits and looks to them. Sailor Mars was not 
present. 
"I am Sailor Venus!" yelled the other blonde. 
"... Jupiter!" from the brunette. 
"... Mercury!" from the blue-haired girl. This caught Kha'less's attention, for 
on one world where she was considered a goddess, rare members of a rival race of 
elves had blue hair, denoting their nobility. Smiling in malicious glee, she 
sent her dark fire towards this Mercury, who nimbly leaped out of the way. 
"Where is the Sailor Mars?!" the black elf woman screamed, blasting away at all 
the scouts, fast enough that all the girls could do was dodge or risk 
incineration. 
"What do you want with her?" yelled an angry Jupiter, hiding behind a trash 
dumpster. She dove for another dumpster as gouts of flame smashed into her 
previous barrier. 
"Why, to destroy her, of course." She spun about very quickly, a web of silk 
surrounding the black elf in a cocoon. Then the cocoon exploded in globs of 
webbing, revealing a very large black widow spider. 
"Ewwww!" Serena cried, coming out of hiding and frowning at the monster. "You 
should turn back to that black girl. You look a lot better that way." 
Meanwhile, Mercury and Venus had snuck around during the creature's 
transformation, flanking it on both sides. 
"Mercury Ice Storm BLAST!" 
"Venus Crescent Beam SMASH!" 
A blast of icy blue energy raced to engulf the spider from the left, while a 
slicing beam of light aimed to pierce it from the right. Bending its legs, 
Kha'less bound into the air and landed easily on the side of a building. The 
twin attacks barely missed the two girls. 
"Wow, that thing is fast!" Jupiter mumbled to Serena when they got back 
together. "We'll have to get in a surprise attack in order to hit it, or else 
we'll be here forever." 
Serena nodded calmly, and ran forward to distract it. "Hey, you overgrown bug! 
Why don't you come bother me!" 
The giant spider aimed its spinnerets at the foolish girl and released a line of 
spider silk. Sailor Moon attempted to dodge out of the way, but slipped on 
something and crashed down onto the ground. The web stuck all over her, ensuring 
that she couldn't get up. "Oops!" 
"Now, where is Sailor Mars?!" came the clicking scream of the spider queen. 
Jupiter threw a sizzling ball of lightning, but Kha'less leaped away, landing 
near Sailor Moon. A great portion of the building disintegrated under the impact 
of the electric sphere, raining debris over the street. 
Kha'less scampered over to the blonde leader of the scouts, and placed one 
sharpened leg gently upon the girl's neck. "Get back, you fools, or this one 
will surely die!" 
Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter stopped in their tracks, surrounding the creature 
and Sailor Moon on three sides, dismay written across their faces. 
Suddenly, a column of roaring fire shot forth from a side alley, caught the 
monster spider in the side, and slammed it up against a brick wall. 
"So, you've been looking for me, have you?" came the snide remark as Sailor Mars 
marched out of the shadow passage. Her bad arm still hung uselessly, but her 
other one still trailed a few wisps of flame. 
Taking what chances they had, Venus and Jupiter released their powers, removing 
great chunks of flesh from the creature's body. Weakened by the flaming attack, 
and sorely wounded by the lightning and light beams, Kha'less attempted to rise 
to her feet, but only five would respond. "You insolent fool!" she hissed, 
wobbly balancing herself on those remaining legs. Mercury focused a geyser of 
freezing spray towards the creature, forming ice and frost blocks that entrapped 
the spidery legs. 
Realizing that she would be banished away, Kha'less made one last attempt at 
fulfilling her mission while Jupiter and Mercury began releasing Sailor Moon. 
She spit forth a black fireball that shrieked through the air. Too weak to dodge 
out of the way, Sailor Mars was engulfed in black flames and thrown back to the 
ground. 
Sailor Moon screamed in grief, but stopped mid-scream when the flaming form rose 
up off the ground. Slowly, the black flames that clung tenaciously to Mars 
flowed over the girl and gathered in her good arm's hand, just as large as it 
had been when it had come out of Kha'less's mouth. Mars closed her eyes in 
concentration, and the blackness of the flames dissipated to the ruddy glow of 
red. "You err, foul demon. I am Sailor Mars, Master of Flames... ALL flames!" 
And with that, she flung the fireball back at the creature. The sphere blasted 
into Kha'less's head, blowing it apart in a hail of gore and ichor. As the body 
began to collapse, it lost its consistency and became insubstantial, slowly 
fading away into a grey mist. 
"Wow, that was pretty good Mars!" Sailor Moon piped in as the girls freed her. 
"You really have that kind of control over all flames?" 
Mars gave her a wan smile. She collapsed to her knees, phenomenally exhausted. 
Her arm throbbed from the wound she had received from the shuriken, and the dark 
flames, even though they had not harmed her, had been exceptionally difficult to 
control. Gasping for breath, she fell to her back. 
"Mars!" Venus ran over and cradled her head, gently pushing away the midnight 
hair. "What's wrong?" 
"Too much... exhausted, that's... all." Even as she spoke, the scout outfit that 
was hers to summon took on a transparent hue and magically disappeared, leaving 
her clad in the clothes she had run out of the hospital with. 
Alarmed, Jupiter and Mercury scanned around to make sure no one had seen the 
transformation. They breathed a sigh of relief when they saw no one. "We need to 
get her back to the hospital," Mercury murmured, scanning over Rei with her 
computer. "The wound to her arm has opened up, and she's extremely low on 
energy. She needs rest." 
The others nodded and helped Rei stand. She was so tired, she didn't think she 
could walk, but somehow she managed to get to the sidewalk with help. Sailor 
Moon ran to call an ambulance. 
Little did the scouts know that the transformation had indeed been witnessed. 
*****
Excitedly, the Grell entered the computer room that he had had built for 
information gathering. Its database was one of the most complete in the world, 
with secret links into all of the major military and security systems of various 
nations. This, of course, was unnecessary for the information he needed. He knew 
where to find the black-haired girl's profile. The school system was very 
thorough. 
Punching it up, the Grell waited silently as the computer brought up the file. 
To the screen displayed the pretty picture of the girl, along with various 
pieces of tidbits: weight, height, hair color, eye color, address, name. The 
last two were what he was looking for. 
"Rei Hino," the Grell whispered to himself. "Such a pretty name." 
He sat back, pondering all that he knew about her. So, she was a Sailor Scout. 
That kind of knowledge could be very useful in the proper places. There were a 
number of criminals that had been put behind bars because of the interference of 
the scouts, and the name of even one of them would fetch a hefty price indeed. 
In fact, he could follow all the scouts and find out who they really were if 
there was just cause, but alas, there was not. He had no quarrel with any of the 
rest of them. The fire-child, however, had interfered with his last kill. He was 
not sure how she had managed to find a cure to that poison, but somehow she had, 
and thus had endeared herself to a great deal of suffering by his hand. 
He suddenly realized that the girl had had her shoulder professionally bandaged. 
Judging from her vast exhaustion from the battle, it seemed to him that she was 
perhaps at the hospital. Hmm, he thought to himself, two birds with one stone. 
Within the hour, he was sneaking his way into the hospital. This was the tricky 
part, though. For all of the mask's great powers, it could not be removed, and 
thus disguising himself was something of a problem. A wandering cloaked figure 
begged to be noticed. The only thing to do was to hide away and wait for the 
coming night. Less people to worry about, and with all the shadows that were 
bound to be about, he could move relatively silently. 
*****
Serena stared distractedly out the huge window, waiting patiently for Darien's 
plane to land. It irritated her that she couldn't be here alone to greet him, 
but Ami had insisted that a meeting including Darien was imperative. They had 
gone so far as to sneak Luna and Artemis into the airport also. 
She sighed softly. A Sailor Scout's work is never done. She missed Darien a lot 
while he was off on some research trip for the last two weeks, but a romantic 
moment with him would have to wait. They had to find out what that energy 
reading that Ami had gotten the night of the banquet was, and they were hoping 
that Darien would know or remember something. 
"Serena!" yelled a familiar voice from across the terminal. 
Serena spun around ran into Darien's waiting arms, hugging her very close. Gods, 
he smells good! she thought to herself. 
Someone cleared her throat behind the couple. "Oh, hello girls," Darien greeted, 
noticing the rest of the scouts for the first time. "I felt the tug of Sailor 
Moon yesterday and the day before, but I couldn't get back. I hope..." He 
trailed off as he realized that Rei wasn't with them. "Where's Rei?" he 
whispered, half in concern, half in panic. 
Ami replied, "She's okay. Perhaps we should go somewhere more... private." She 
waved around to indicate the airport. 
An hour later, they were comfortably seated in Darien's apartment. The prince, 
who couldn't get anything out of the unusually quiet girls, even Serena, was on 
the verge of hysteria. Lita's admonitions that everything was more or less okay 
did nothing to help his state of mind. 
"Now, will somebody tell me where Rei is?" he asked, his voice slightly 
cracking. 
"She's in the hospital," Lita replied bluntly. "We've had a couple of run-ins 
with the typical demons, and Rei had to take one on her own. She didn't come out 
to well." Lita whispered the last. 
"Well," Mina added, "they weren't quite typical." 
"Anyway, Rei got hit by a shuriken in the shoulder and lost a lot of blood, but 
she recovered. Yesterday, though, we fought off a spider monster, and Rei came, 
even with her injury. She exhausted herself considerably in the attack." 
Darien drank this all in without a word. He had debated coming home early from 
the trip to see if he could help, but had known he would not get back in time. 
Now he wondered if perhaps he should have tried. 
Serena squeezed his hand gently, a reassuring smile on her face. "Don't worry 
about it. Rei will be fine." 
"More importantly, however," Ami began, "is the energy reading I got from the 
masked demon." 
Something tingled in the back of Darien's mind at that, and he noticed that all 
the girls were looking at him with hopeful expressions. "What kind of mask?" 
"From what we could gather from Rei, it was a white porcelain mask with no mouth 
and-" 
"-purple gems in the place of the eyes," Darien finished with a shuddering sigh. 
It all came washing back to him the moment the description of the mask had 
started. 
The Grell. The most deadly and powerful assassin known to man. 
"Then you know what we're up against?" asked Serena. 
Darien put his face in his hands. "Ah, gods. Would that I didn't," he murmured 
in resigned terror. The fear and horror all came back to him in seconds. The 
death of the captain of the guard. The assassination of the Queen, his mother. 
The destruction of the city of Tol Amoth. The battle of Demon's Gorge. The list 
went on and on, and the Grell had a hand in all of them. 
"Yes," he said after a moment, composing himself for the girls. Hardening his 
resolve, he continued, "He goes by the name of the Grell. An assassin to put all 
others to shame. Back in the days of the Silver Millennium, he caused a great 
deal of pain here on Earth, including," he paused, closing his eyes at the pain, 
"the death of my mother, the Queen." 
The girls were stunned into silence. Not one could remember ever seeing so much 
pain and terror in Darien's eyes, but there it was. Whoever this Grell was, he 
was a force to be reckoned with. Serena wrapped an arm around his shoulder for 
support. 
Grateful for the encouragement, Darien strode forward with his tale. "We tried 
for so very long to capture him, and failing that, destroy him altogether. All 
failed. He was the most skilled warrior, and when we tried magical means to stop 
him, he shrugged them off and returned our attacks tenfold." 
"And then, just before the attack of the Negaverse, he disappeared. All of his 
attacks stopped. We looked for him, hoping he wasn't getting ready for another 
scheme, but to no avail. I had thought that someone had managed to kill him, but 
I guess I was only fooling myself." 
"That's all in the past now," replied the gentle Ami. "He's apparently 
reappeared, and he has something against Cole." 
Darien jumped. "Cole?" 
"Yeah!" grated Lita, fist clenched in balls. "He shot Cole with a poison dart at 
his banquet, and he killed a few security guards. Sailor Mars was there, though. 
I think she stopped him before he could finish anything more. That's when Mars 
got hurt." 
Darien leaped to his feet. "What?! Rei fought the Grell all by herself?! Where 
were you guys?" 
"We tried to get there in time, but it's a long way from here to the Convention 
Center." She explained the events leading to the awards banquet. 
He pondered this for a moment. "Well, I haven't seen Rei yet, so let's go to the 
hospital. If the Grell is really after Cole, then he is going to need 
protection. Plus, there might be something Rei saw that will help us." 
Serena spoke up. "Cole is already being guarded by the police." 
Darien sighed heavily. "If the Grell is about, a whole platoon of police would 
not be enough." 
*****
Seven hours later, the Grell was typing calmly on a doctor's computer. Said 
doctor lay on the floor, an ugly bruise forming on his temple. 
A moment later, he crept out of the room, and shadow-walked to the stairs. 
Second floor, third floor, fourth floor... seventh floor. Rei's floor. Making 
sure no one was about, he stealthily padded his way through the corridors, 
occasionally having to backtrack to avoid detection. In the end, though, his 
caution paid off, for here he was, in front of the fire-child's room. 
As quietly as possible, he opened the door, peering into the dimly lit room. 
Apparently, the girl was sleeping, her hair blanketing her face as she seemed 
curled up in the covers. Silently closing the door, he walked over to her. 
According to the medical reports, she had been readmitted after escaping early 
yesterday. Her diagnosis was severe exhaustion and a reaggravated shoulder wound 
that had recently been sliced open by a throwing star of some sort. The 
recommendation had been plenty of rest, with a couple of sedatives to help her 
on her way. She would never know what hit her. 
"You are powerful, Sailor Mars," he whispered softly, drawing a needle-thin 
stilleto, "but alas, I am much stronger than the spider queen, Kha'less." 
"Mars Fire Ignite!" 
A gout of flames blasted through the flimsy blanket, and slammed into the 
assassin point blank. The cloaked killer flew backwards into the wall, and 
continued through it as the force of the blast demolished the room's barrier. He 
landed in a heap in the hallway outside, clouds of dust billowing about. 
Rising to his elbows, the Grell considered the sensation of pain that suffused 
his body for the first time in centuries. Standing in the hole just created in 
the room was the deadly young woman that he was quickly coming to respect, 
dressed in the red and white outfit of Sailor Mars. As he tried to brush away 
the debris covering him, he vaguely noticed the screams of the doctors and 
patients as they scrambled to get away. What he did not miss was the firm visage 
of unadulterated rage that took over the otherwise angelic face of Rei Hino. 
"Mars Celestial Surround!" 
Four rings of blazing fire shot from her hands and surrounded the Grell in a mad 
circling dance. They did not touch the assassin, but they were a sure deterrent 
for moving hastily. 
"Why have you come?" she hissed to him, who was slowly getting to his knees. 
"To kill you, of course." 
Sailor Mars gritted her teeth at this. "Why?" she repeated. 
For a moment, the Grell pondered lying to her, but decided that it wasn't worth 
the trouble. "Because you interfered with my last mission." He slowly rose to 
his feet, but she didn't seem to care. 
"You were sent to kill Cole?" 
"Yes." 
"Why? No forget that. Who sent you?" 
He shrugged. "Now, now. That is confidential." 
Sailor Mars flicked a finger, and one of the rings got close enough to burn 
through the cloak for a moment. "I won't ask again. Who sent you?" Already she 
could here the commotion of security guards approaching. 
Pausing dramatically, he replied "The Gishumi Board of Directors." 
If she was surprised by this, she didn't give any indication. However, with her 
string of injuries, maintaining the control she needed over her powers was 
becoming a severe strain on her already faltered will power. Sweat beaded on her 
brow, as her considerable rage slowly gave way to the numbing wave of 
exhaustion. Her good hand was, in fact, trembling with the effort. 
The Grell did not miss this. He watched with horrifying composure as her 
strength began to ebb. Perhaps a little nudge would quicken matters. 
"So, Sailor Mars, or should I say, Rei Hino. How long will you keep up this 
facade without Mr. Gishumi finding out?" 
Sailor Mars' eyes widened in shock, and her willpower slipped a notch more. 
"Sailor Mars!" 
She twisted her head to see the girls and Darien coming running out of the 
elevator, along with a group of police. 
Once again, the Grell wished he could smile. Knowing that her concentration had 
been sufficiently broken, he raised his gloved hands, palms out. Tiny motes of 
purple light coalesced in both of these palms, forming into his trademarked 
spheres of energy. He added a good deal more power than usual however, and they 
grew to the size of basketballs. And then he released them. 
They didn't have far to go. As soon as they touched a fiery ring, there was a 
shock wave of colliding forces, and the Grell's won. Without the strength to 
maintain the capturing barrier, it shattered under the attack, and the residual 
energy smashed into Sailor Mars with the weight of a sledgehammer. With a 
disgruntled 'oof!', she flew back into the room, which was also being demolished 
by the wave of force, and slammed through the window overlooking the street 
seven stores below. With the presence of mind that only a disciplined Shinto 
priestess could summon, she managed to grab one edge of the window pane with her 
bad arm. The sudden stop of her body in the direction of the force dislocated 
her shoulder, sending a firestorm of agony slashing through the arm. Willing her 
self not to pass out from the pain, she growled through gritted teeth, her mind 
exploding in white hot bursts of pain. 
A few seconds later, Darien and Lita were there, with Serena going into 
hysterics behind them. "Oh my god! Mars!" 
As the two pulled up a whimpering and moaning Sailor Mars, the last vestages of 
her strength gave out, and she reverted back to Rei. When they had her safely in 
the room, Darien gently grabbed her bad shoulder to support her. She screamed in 
hideous agony, causing him to jerk his hand back. Ami shoved her way forward, 
moving Darien aside and taking over with cool composure, even though her eyes 
spoke of her worry. After probing tenderly and scanning with the computer, she 
turned to the others with a look of sheer panic. "She dislocated her shoulder, 
and her vital signs are dropping. She lost too much strength!" Even as she 
spoke, Rei collapsed against Lita, her face drained of color, and her breathing 
shallow. 
Mina held Serena in support, trying to calm down their leader. "Is she going to 
be okay?" she asked Ami, concern in her voice. 
"I don't know," the genius replied sadly. "So much has been asked of her in the 
last few days; she really needs uninterrupted rest." 
Serena removed herself carefully from Mina's embrace, looking very determined. 
"Well then, we need to take her some place safe, and this" she waved her arms 
expansively to indicate the hospital, "is not what I mean." 
"She's right," Lita added, cradling Rei. "We can't protect her here. Let's take 
her to my apartment. I have plenty of room there. And, there won't be anyone 
else other than myself to bother her. Hopefully, she'll be safe there." 
Ami hesitated, then nodded. "Alright, but I am staying until I feel she's out of 
the woods. She's in an extremely fragile state right now." 
Outside the room, police scrambled every which way to help the doctors and 
patients get to safety, some chasing after a shadowy figure who had decimated 
through their ranks, and still others moaning from various wounds resulting from 
the shadowy figure. The Grell had escaped once again. 
*****
Rei awoke very slowly. Her arm had gone completely numb, tingling slightly. She 
remembered having dislocated it, but apparently things had changed since the 
injury, for it was okay, if tender and sore. She then noticed that this was not 
the hospital. She attempted to get up to her shoulders, but a wave of dizziness 
nearly sank her to unconsciousness again. A firm hand gently pushed her back 
down onto the bed. "Stop that. You need to rest." It was Ami. 
"Where... where am I?" she croaked softly. 
"We're at Lita's place." Ami took Rei's wrist and measured her pulse. 
Rei looked around, and nodded. It indeed was Lita's bedroom, for there were 
cookbooks lining the small bookshelf across the room, and the wardrobe in the 
closet had a number of outfits that Rei had seen Lita wearing. Not to mention 
the posters of various hunkie guys. She chuckled slightly, but it came out as a 
wheeze more than anything. 
"Why here?" 
Ami finished taking Rei's pulse. "It's the easiest place to hide without anyone 
finding you, namely the Grell." 
The dark haired girl blinked. "The Grell?" 
"That guy with the white mask?" 
"Oh." She pondered this for a moment, willing back the conversation she had had 
with the killer. Her eyes widened. "Cole!" Ami gave her a questioning look. 
"Cole is in trouble! The Grell wants to kill him!" 
"Actually, we have reason to believe that he wants you instead." Now it was 
Rei's turn for a puzzled look. Ami continued. "Think about it. Why did he go 
after you? Cole was a floor below you, and wouldn't have been any trouble 
whatsoever." 
"But, he was guarded by police." 
Ami sagged a bit. "Yes, the assassin killed five officers when he escaped from 
the hospital without compunction. I don't think a couple of guards are going to 
deter him." 
"All the more reason to go and get him!" Rei cried, a trifle tiredly. 
Ami shook her head. "You're not listening. How did he know where to find you? 
You weren't admitted into the hospital as Sailor Mars, after all." 
The priestess thought this through. The Grell HAD addressed her by her real 
name. How HAD he known that she was Rei Hino? She had recognized his evil 
presence by her priestly sixth sense, and had transformed before the assassin 
could enter the room. "But, he was hired by Cole's board of directors. Cole 
needs to be warned." 
"Alright, we'll do that, but I believe the assassin is after you now. According 
to Darien, this guy's real powerful. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say 
he's mad at you because you messed up his... mission." 
"Well, I going to do more than just mess up his missions. I-" 
Ami gave her a flat stare. "YOU are going to do nothing. You are confined to 
this bed until you regain your strength." 
"But-" 
The blue-haired girl's eyes narrowed. "I can, of course, tie you to the bed, if 
you would like." Rei, surprised at the hostility, shook her head meekly. "Good. 
The rest of us are going to take turns watching over you until you get better. 
The rest of them are waiting outside to see how you're doing." She got up to 
admit them, then turned back. "By the way, how did you manage to get the upper 
hand on the Grell?" 
"Simple," Rei replied, a bright smile on her haggard face, "I'm psychic, 
remember? I can detect evil things around me. It comes in handy." 
*****
The Grell groaned slightly as he settled into his seat. He hadn't escaped this 
encounter unscathed as he had assumed he would. The sensation of pain 
disconcerted him, confusing his ego. The last time he had felt such a novelty 
was the time of the Silver Millenium, a time when opposition was at its finest. 
Even then, he had prided himself on remaining relatively uninjured. 
This wench, however, had managed to subdue him with simple tricks and wit. How 
she had known he had intruded upon her rest remained a mystery, a mystery that 
grated on his professionalism. If she had been at full health, he might have 
been overtaken. 
The Grell slammed a fist onto his desk, cracking it slightly. His ribs blazed 
into renewed agony, but he ignored it. Anger was a potent anesthetic. His powers 
would slowly regenerate his body, and then he would truly begin his revenge. For 
now, though, he had a couple of weeks to recuperate. He would prepare by 
investigating further this Rei Hino and her powers, and those of the other 
Sailor Scouts. First, he needed a spy.. or three. 
He sent out a mental command, and minutes later, three individuals entered the 
study. All were of equal height and weight, all dressed in the traditional black 
garb of the Japanese ninja, complete with an oriental short shord strapped to 
their backs. Only their eyes were exposed from their masks, and they seemed 
identically onyx dark and seductively feminine. 
"You called, Master Grell?" inquired the middle woman in a voice soft and 
endearingly childlike. 
"I did indeed. I would like you to follow the girl named Rei Hino. You will find 
a profile of her in the computer. Do not engage in any kind of attack, but, by 
all means, do try to make her life as miserable as possible." 
The woman on the right raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "A human girl? Isn't 
that a bit under our expertise?" Her voice exactly matched that of her middle 
counterpart. 
"A human girl she may be, but she will definitely not be under the expertise of 
Jade, Pearl and Opal," he returned, his voice edged with irritation. "Do not 
underestimate her, or her friends. She is the heroine known as Sailor Mars, and 
the other Sailor Scouts will most likely be nearby to aid her." 
The ninjas bowed humbly, and stepped back in unison. "We apologize for thinking 
otherwise," whispered the left woman, her voice also identical to the others. 
"We most eagerly wish to serve you well." 
The assassin's gems sparkled fiercely. He knew the ninjas before him had been 
waiting for an opportunity to battle the Sailor Scouts. The desperately wanted 
to prove themselves better than the do-gooders, but the Grell had held them in 
check. It had never become necessary to cross paths with them before, and the 
Grell was ever practical. The bound had been overstepped, however, and the three 
women before him were more than pleased. "Remember, Sailor Mars is mine when I 
choose. The rest... " and he shrugged in completion. 
The fates of the other scouts had just been turned over to the eager 
Ninja-Witches. 
==========
Send comments and stuff to: 
meech@mindspring.com
If you have read the first three 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