Title: Old Foes
Name: Agent Anderson
E-mail: eppinger@fmi.uni-passau.de
Chapter: 2

Rating: R (I think)

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer:
        I do not own the characters I?m using in the story. They
        belong to who ever invented them or has claims on them.
        The same goes for any ideas I?m using unintentionally.
        In this particular case the charaters have been invented
        by Naoko Takeuchi and belong to the companies who have a
        rightful claim on them.
        If this fiction hurts the intentions that the inventor of
        these characters had planned, I?d like to apologize.

                                Old Foes
                            by Agent Anderson

                               Chapter 2

On the outskirts of the Solar System a huge shape appeared.
Slowly it drifted into the system. On closer examination the huge
shape seemed like a spaceship only almost half the size of the
satellite of the planet it just passed. The automatic sensors
registered the features of our home system and send them to the
central computing unit. The CCU compared the data with the plan
layout it was given half an eternity ago. The two data blocks
matched. If the CCU had been able to feel enthusiasm it would
have felt it now. It started the routines that led to a complete
boot up for the vessel.

Ami leaned heavily on her door. <Wheew, that was quite close.> As
she walked over to her closet, her thought returned to her
earlier encounter with her crush from a time long past. She
smiled. He still could make her heart flutter, she sighed. She
had made her choice and he wasn?t it. Another sigh. But still,
she had been quite surprised that when he stood right before
here. But then he greeted her as if they had met only yesterday.
Ami gave a short laugh it had been yesterday but she hadn?t known
it then.

"Moin, Ami."

She couldn?t quite place the greeting. It wasn?t in the official
language of the Alliance, and it hadn?t been in English that he
usually prefered. She left that question open for a later time.
She didn?t know if he could understand Japanese so she answered
in her best English.

"Morning Andie."

A smile lit his face. "No need for that. I capable to speak and
understand your native language, Ami."

That had taken her by surprise, but she recovered quickly. He
always liked to throw people off.

She started walking. "So why did come here?"

He stayed at her side. "I wanted to apologize personally." With
that he made a short bow in her direction.

"Why didn?t you do it at the shrine?"

"I didn?t want to show myself to the others."

"No need. I told them about you."

"Yeah, but then I couldn?t have fun with them, or could I?" He
looked at her with a face full of mischief.

She shook her head. Some things would never change.

The two walked in silence for a while. Then Ami reached into the
pocket of her jacket. "By the way," she said and flipped a coin
in his direction. "I believe this is yours."

"Thanks," he replied. "You?re alright now?"

"No, I?m not alright," Ami shook her head. "But I?m grateful for
it. Otherwise I wouldn?t have remembered."

"In that case it was a lucky coincedence." He remarked.

"What do you mean?" She looked at him puzzled.

"That guy you fought yesterday in the park. He was a trespasser."
He made a short pause. "He made a illegal cross. He attacked a
person of continuity."

"So you killed him." She said with a voice full of bitterness.

"That was an accident," he said. "More or less." He amended after
her accusing glare.

"Yeah, sure." She muttered. She didn?t quite buy that.

He suddenly stopped. "Um, sorry. I gotta go. See ya." And with
that he flickered and vanished before her eyes there was short
gust of wind as air filled the remaining vacuum.

Ami always wondered how that worked. She had asked him in the
past about this ability he had. He had said that he simply
imagined himself at a place then triggered something and he was
there. She shook her head someday he would have to tell her the
whole story.

She started to think again about the fight at the park. Andie was
perfectly able to attack and kill someone, no doubt about that.
He had said that himself. She knew that this hadn?t been an
*accident* as he tried to tell her. He was too good for that, he
can stand up to Senshi without a problem. His agility was close
to theirs. There is no way that he killed it by accident.

She thought about what he had said. He had listed the crimes.
Trespassing, making an illegal cross, attacking a person of
continiuty.

She didn?t know about the regulations of his agency, but it was
possible that at least on of those crime had a death-sentence on
it.

While she reflected on the subject her body steered her on
autopilot home. Ami blinked at the sight of the apartment door.
But then she shrugged and got her keys out.

As she entered the apartment she noticed that her mother?s
slippers were missing. "Mom?s home?" she murmured wonderously.
"Better not take a chance of going into a questioning led by her."

She put on her usual calm face and a slight smile. "Mom, I?m
home!" she called out, putting her slippers on.

"Good morning dear." her mother greeted her, as she came out of
the kitchen. "Did you have a good sleepover with your friends?"

"Yes, I did." She answered cheerily. Inwardly she winced. <That
was much to cheery for me. Mom?s going to get suspicious.> she
thought desperatly.

But her mom didn?t seem to notice. "Say dear," She interrupted
her daughter?s thoughts. "Since I have the day off would you like
to go shopping with me?"

Ami imidiately jumped at the opportunity to distract her mother
from her unusual behaviour. "Sure mom, I?d love to."

"Then go get changed and we?ll be off." Her mother smiled.

Ami nodded and headed for her room. As soon as she had her back
to her mother, she breathed out in relief. <Phew, that was to
close for comfort.> She thought elated as she entered her room.

She never saw the frown in her mothers face.

The boot-up had been completed without any problems. The
emergency-pilot brought the vessel to a halt. Section after
section, the whole ship came back to life.

Usagi was on her way home from Rei. Luna had chosen to go over to
Mina?s to apologize to Artemis. For once she could do what she
wanted on a Saturday.

That thought made her stop. No Luna, meant... no comments about
going to the arcades. A nasty smile made its way to her lips.

Immidiately she took off in the direction of the Crown Arcades.
But as soon she rounded the first corner she made a new
aquaintance.

"Ouch!"

<Oh boy, Usagi you did it again.> she thought in dismay as she
picked herself up. "I?m sorry, I should look where I?m going."
She apologized. "I?ll be more careful in the future." She finally
looked up at the person she bumped into this time.

It was a young man in his twenties. He was well built and quite
attractive. <But not quite in Mamo-chan?s league.> Usagi thought.
Something about his movements seemed pecuiliar. They were
cautious, as if he was expecting something to happen any second.

"I?ll say," the man said. "You are dangerous to traffic."

"You are the right one to talk," Usagi excailmed in protest.
"Standing in the way of other people."

Usagi had balled  her hands into fists, put them to her hips and
glared at him. He looked down at her and her defiant posture, and
had to stiffle a laugh. Usagi grew even more angry at him. How
dare he laugh at her.

"What are you laughing at?" The tone of her voice indicated that
it better not be her.

He controlled his laughter before he answered her. "Say, are you
some kind of warroir for uneventful traffic on the streets of
Tokyo?" His voice was dripping with irony.

Usagi reacted at the irony, she exploded. "As a matter-of-fact
I?m..." She trailed off as she realized what she was saying.
Usagi smiled nervously up to his face.

"Yes," He said, his voice becoming definitely curious. "You were
saying." He tried to encourage her, when she didn?t continue.

Usagi got even more nervous. "Um,... Er, I?m... uh..." she
stammered.

"You are...?" He leaned forward, as not to miss one word.

Usagi tried to find a way out of this perdicament she guided
herself in again. "I?m... Um, I?m..." Suddenly an idea hit her.
"I?m late!" She shouted and broke into a dead run away from him.

Seconds later, four blocks away from her close encounter. Usagi
leaned against the wall. "Phew, that was close." She exhaled,
wiping the sweat from her forehead. She looked back over her
shoulder. "Strange guy..."

She frowned. He seemed familiar. But she couldn?t remember seeing
him before anywhere. Could it be that he was from the past?
Another incarnation? It seemed to be right somehow.

She concentrated. Something about her mother. <Could it be...
that he...? Naah!> she thought dismissively. She shrugged the
impression off.

After she got her breath back, she pushed herself off the wall.
"Now where was I..." She wondered rubbing her chin. "I know, the
arcade!" She exclaimed.

"Gangway!"

The medical section was busy as a bee-hive. Robots rushed from
one end to the other. The characteristic hiss of hypnosprays
filled the air as the robots tried to wake up the most important
staff first.

Makoto had been walking down the street to Rei?s temple when she
noticed Usagi. Usagi had been running down in her direction, when
she saw that Usagi was likely to bump into the man that had been
coming out from a side street.

Makoto had winced when the two connected, remembering her own
time she met Usagi like this. Her friend doesn?t know her own
strength.

She could almost hear Usagi muttering apologies as she stood up
again, but in effect couldn?t because she was too far away.

He then must have made a comment on her demeanor or something
because Usagi went into her argument pose. He took one look at
her and laughed.

Makoto blinked. Why would he laugh, she asked herself. Makoto saw
that Usagi?s pose grew more defiant. She wondered what was going
on there and started walking in their direction.

She then saw him wipe away a tear and trying to control his
laughter, Usagi must have obviously asked him something. His
answer didn?t please Usagi, because she exploded.

But right then Usagi grew nervous. Extremly nervous. And this guy
pressured her more and more. Until Makoto heard the shout that
was able to clear Tokyo?s streets faster than a hurrican.

"I?m late!" She heard her friend shout before only dust marked
the way she went.

Makoto frowned. How dare he scare her friend. That... that...
Makoto didn?t know what she should call him, but one thing was
clear to her. She would make sure that he was sorry. More than
sorry. She started running.

"HEY, YOU!" She shouted totally enraged.

The guy turned surprised at her voice. When he had spotted her,
he gulped obviously scared by her appearance. That was good.

When she was close enough, she grabbed him by the collar and
shoved him into the wall behind him. Hard. "What?s the big idea
scaring my friend like that!!" she yelled in his face.

The guy didn?t know where to look, his feet tried to take him
away from her. "I...I,I..." he stuttered. "I d...didn?t mean to
scare her."

"Oh yeah?!" Makoto snarled. "It didn?t seem that way to me. What
did you do to her?"

"I was just curious," he answered defensively, getting more
control about his reactions. "Your friend nearly had babbled out
something apparently important, I just thought I would tease it
out of her. Didn?t think that she would react that way." The last
sentence he mumbled out. "I?m sorry!"

Makoto peered at him levely. She decided that he was burned out
so to speak. She let him off the hook and released her grip.
"Well," she mutter. "I guess that?s good enough. But don?t you
scare people like that again." She waggled her finger at him.

He dusted himself off. "Oh," he said, eyeing her sarcastically.
"Like you?!" He remarked with a smirk.

Makoto blushed, and suddenly looked very sheepishly. He laughed
heartily. "Don?t let it get you down girl. Shows you got spirit."

She gave him a small smile.

"You?re quite protective ?bout your small friend." He commented.
"How?s come?"

"Well," Makoto drawled out. "I was new at her school and..." She
heaved a small sigh. "And because I had quite a reputation
everybody stayed away, only Usagi had enough courage to come
near." She raised a finger to her chin and looked at musingly at
a part of the wall behind him. "In retrospective, it might have
been not her courage but her stomach that drew her to me." She
gave a small laugh. "Anyways she tugged me out off my loneliness.
And I owe it to her that I got friends now."

He nodded solemly. "I understand that. A reputation tends to
bring lonliness, it doesn?t matter if it?s good or bad. Makes you
unapproachable."

She nodded sadly. He was right.

"Well," he said, startling her out off her refery. "I guess I
should be on my way."

She looked up and nodded. "I shouldn?t hold you back if you got
somehing important to do." She blushed as she recalled how she
had held him back. "I?m sorry about shoving you into the wall
like that."

"Think nothing of it." He smiled warmly at her. "But you better
make sure your friend isn?t causing too much accidents on her
way."

"Yeah, I guess you?re right." Makoto said. "I should check up on
her. I?ll see you around."

"Yup," he replied. "See you around."

Makoto turned to walk in the direction Usagi went off to. As soon
as she had turned around, she felt someone pinch her bottom.
<Someone?> She thought. <Him!>

She turned around again to lecture him again but he already
rounded the corner.

Makoto shook her head. "Strange guy." She muttered.

She started to walk down the street again. "I better check on
Usagi." She decided aloud. "Wonder were she could be?"

She shook her head. She knew she should stop wondering about
Usagi whereabouts. There?s only one place that she could be at
now.

The arcades.

The first to awaken after the sleep was the captain. Over his bed
was a hovering monitor with the actual data. A few stirrs
indicated that he was about to wake up.

A few moments later his eyes fluttered open and saw for the first
time in many, many years.

After his mind emerged out of miles thick layers of cobwebs, he
actually noticed what he saw before his eyes. His heart felt
elation and joy.

After so many years. Finally they have arrived.

His throat escaped a small croak that represented his joy.

Minako was bouncing happily down the street. Today was the
Virtual Fighter final. The twenty best of each group came
together to find out who was the best.

Artemis on the other hand wasn?t as happy as her. For one thing
he didn?t like that Minako bounced with him on her shoulder.
Every jump meant for him to get her shoulder hard in his guts.
The other reason he wasn?t so happy was that he felt miserable
about the way he had treated Luna. However true it had been what
he had said, he should have told it in the way he did. He sighed
softly, it was too late now.

"Ey, Minako," he whispered. No response. "Minako," he tried
again. Her mind was far away it seemed. "Mina!" He managed to
shout while whispering.

"Huh?" She snapped to attention. "What?s up Artemis?"

"Put me down, Minako." He said low. "I?m getting sea-sick up
here."

"Geez, you?re grouchy this morning." Minako said as she put him
on the ground. "What?s wrong with you?"

Artemis looked up at her as if to say ?Do you really want to
know?? but Minako didn?t catch his gaze. Instead she looked
straight ahead.

They walked in silence for several minutes. Minako had picked a
route which took her through the park.

Up ahead on one of the paths they saw a familiar black shape.
"Say isn?t that Luna there?" Minako asked wonderously. Artemis
looked up, his feline eyes narrowed. It was Luna, but her head
hung low and she dragged her tail along behind her.

Minako shaded her eyes. "She looks a bit down." She said
wonderingly, apparently she didn?t recall yesterday?s incident.
She also didn?t hear Artemis? sigh. "Come on let?s cheer her up."
Minako decided. Artemis hadn?t got a chance to stop her, before
he could utter a sound Minako shouted. "LUNA!"

"Minako!" He hissed desperately. He didn?t need a tongue lashing
again. Yesterday had just been luck that he caught Luna on the
wrong foot. Today he was sure that he would get it back ten-fold.
However today wasn?t his lucky day, Minako had already sprinted
ahead.

Luna?s head had jerked up at the call. "Hello Minako," she said,
her voice sounded depressed. "Do you know where I can find...,"
she trailed off as Artemis came up running behind Minako.
"Artemis!" She exclaimed happily. Her tail lifted several inches
from the ground. "I wanted to..."

Artemis interupted her. "Minako," he hissed sternly. "Have you
forgotten that we only should talk on open streets only in
emergencies or if we are truely alone!" Minako blushed in
embarrassment and smiled sheepishly.

Luna?s tail flopped down onto the ground again. She sighed. <So
he still...> She wasn?t able to finish her thought it bore too
much pain. She sighed again. "Artemis," she said weakly. "I?d
like to have a word with you. In private." She amemded after some
thought.

Artemis winced inwardly, totally missing the sad tone of Luna?s
voice and looked up to Minako. <Now look what you?ve gotten me
into. She wants ?to have a word? with me.> He thought bitterly.
<Thank you so very much, Mina.> He added acidly in his mind.
"Alright." He said still looking up, his voice cold from his
thoughts of Minako?s behaviour. He started to walk in the
direction of the bushes along the path.

Luna felt a chill flow down her spine, as Artemis looked up to
Minkao. <She must have had a word with him.> She thought, seeing
the displeased look in his eyes. <He?ll do it only for her.> The
thought strangled her heart. When he headed for the bushes she
followed him three steps behind her head again low and dragging
her tail through the dirt. She didn?t notice that his demeanor
was excatly the same.

Minako watched them go. <I wonder what got them down.> She
shrugged it off. "Catch you later, Artemis!" She called after
them. Then she took off again to the Virtual Fighter final.

She reached the place just in time. The other teams were standing
at the ready for the opening ceremony. Minako quickly changed
into the outfit and joined her team.

The proprietor then began the opening ceremony. He welcomed the
audience and the gamers. He then went on about he made his way
and how this game-center had become a meeting point for the youth
and yadda-yadda, bla-bla... At the end he addressed the audience.
"... Today, ladies and gentleman, you will be able to witness the
fight through helmet-cams as well as six fixed cameras installed
through out the battle ground. And now... Gamers take your
positions."

As the teams left, Minako spotted a member of an other team
playing idily with his gun. She heard two of her teammates
whisper behind her about him.

"He?s the one I told you about."

"Really? He doesn?t look like it."

"My brother saw him in here once. He wanted to have a go for an
hour but, after he shoot him out five times in the quater of an
hour, he left."

A new voice entered the conversation. "I heard it takes him five
minutes to pick a gun."

<Five minutes?> Minako thought. <That quite some time. Especially
for picking only a gun.> She looked at him again this time more
observant. He had started juggling and twirling the gun around.
Minako noticed that every time the gun pointed at someone his
finger twitched. <He?s an foe that will be the most dangerous.>
Minako mused.

She hadn?t taken the opportunity to fight only to have fun, she
wanted to practice some of her skills she had gained. And this
guy was perhaps able to give her a good workout. She smiled.

The voice of the announcer ripped through her thoughts. "Gamers
take your positions."

As soon as the announcer?s voice stopped echoing through her ears
she went to her group entrance. The assigned leader of her group
looked nervous. Minako had to fight back a snicker, even Usagi
was able to stay calm right before battle, but this guy actually
looked ready to wet his pants.

Before she was able to calm him down a siren went off, indicating
that the final had started. All of her teammates immidiately went
astray in the maze, running down different paths. She looked
around once more before walking into the maze.

The spectators outside didn?t need to wait long before the first
laser-fire started. immidiately several screens went blank. Bets
were flying around which team would be first to be wiped out, who
would go into the showdown, who would win.

After the first five minutes of the final there were only seven
left. Two red, three green, Minako and the mysterious guy from
the blue team. Then a new feaure in the arena set in, the walls
began to move.

Minako was surprised at first but immidiately adjusted to the new
environment. She rushed down the new corridor and stood face to
face with one from the green team. Before her adversary could
even blink she had pulled the trigger and went on.

In a nearby corridor she heard two guns blaze and two bodies
falling onto the floor. <Double K.O.> She thought, <Three more to
go!>

Rushing down another corridor she faced another green member.
Luckily for her his back was turned. She took aim and shot him
down. Just then the walls moved again.

Minako stood face to face with the last finalist, the mystery man
from the blue team. At his feet laid the last red finalist,
defeated in the same instance as the green one.

Now they were watching each other carefully, warily. Nobody
daring to make the first move. They were making a stand off.
Minako holding her gun with both hands straight up over her left
shoulder. The mystery man holding it straight down in one hand at
his right side. They were standing there for a minute everybody
outside was holding his breath.

Then both slowly put their weapons back into their holsters. They
were making a stand off.

In the control room the owner of pushed the operator aside. He
hit a couple of buttons and the maze slowly dissapeared.
Revealing the two figures in the center of it.

The audience held its breath as the walls of the maze lowered.
Their eyes were fixed onto the pair in the center. The tension
they radiated gripped the audience. The nearly constant murmur
died down and silence reigned in these moments.

The pair in the center started slowly to circle each other. Their
hands close to the guns. Ready to draw at slightest twich of the
opponent. Their eyes lock in a contest of their own. Trying
through mere contact to break the other and make him back down. A
battle of wills and minds.

Their audience was capivated in their dance. Slow, graceful,
beautiful, dangerous and deadly. The excitement they felt hold
the silence equal to the one of a cemetary.

Then the dance stopped. Minako saw the guy beginning to smile.
Slowly it spread over his lips. Slow and cold. And a bit of
unnerving. Something inside her reacted at this sight. It called
to her: Come on, girl. Make him eat that smile.

In a flash of movement she drew her weapon. Pulling the trigger
without looking twice. Time slowed.

In the same moment as Minako fired the guy threw hmself on the
ground. In mid-fall he drew his own weapon. Aimed and fired.

One. Two. Three. Four. Four bursts of light came from the gun.
Minako only saw the first two. The first hit the gun in her hand,
the second impacted between her eyes the flash blinding her. The
next shot triggered the ?Game Over? in her suit. The last one hit
Minako in the stomach.

It was a bit of overkill in this game. But nevertheless it was a
shot and a ?kill? to the rules.

The next few minutes were like a blur for Minako. She didn?t
remember much of the prize ceremony and the likes. She the great
Sailor V has been beaten in a game she more or less had been
participating in for a long time in the real life.

Her shoulders slumped she walked down the road heading home. She
was in much need of a shower and she did need the time to think
about what had happened. Even as she walked home she saw the
smirk on the face of that guy. She never would forget that smirk
on that face.

The captain looked at the assembled members of his crew. There
had only been a few dead due to the malfunctioning of the kyro-
tubes. He had summoned all of his men to the recreation center of
his ship because only this deck had the room to accomodate the
mass standing before him. He raised his arms and the murmur died
down. He spent a few moments revelling in the silence. Then he
began his speech.

"Comrads, compagnions and friends," he intoned. "Today after
uncounted years, Fate granted us the chance to take vengeance on
those who are responsible for our misery." Cheers answered him.
"Centuries after our great leader made a sacrifice that allowed
us to survive, we have come back to haunt those who have haunted
us and our families." Cheers followed up again. "As you all know,
my comrads, shortly after She-Who-Has-Gone-To-The-Gods," He had
to pause again as the crowd cheered at the name of their great
leader. "Has sent us into deep space, we have put ourselves into
the tubes. We knew that we had a long way home, so for us to
survive the hardships of our voyage, and to face the greatest of
threats, time, we had to sleep the sleep of those who saw the
end. We have visited the plain of the dead and came back from it
as ghost from the past. Ghost who torment those put terror into
our people. After more two thousand years seeing the light at the
end of the tunnel, we are back. We are back for revenge on our
surpressors. We are back to honor the sacrificce She-Who-Has-
Gone-To-The-Gods has made. WE ARE BACK AS GHOSTS. WE. ARE. BACK.
WITH. A. VENGEANCE!" Loud cheers answered him without end.

Rei tried to occupy herself with chores. But her conscience
wouldn?t let her do that despite her wishes. She had lied to a
friend. Worse even she had lied to Ami.

Mamoru hadn?t been the reason why she was so interrested in the
history of the Moon Kingdom. She felt earlier that her relation
only had been that of two distant relatives who felt for
eachother. Nothing more, nothing less. No, the real reason why
she wanted to know more about it was ?him?.

Ever since Usagi had truely been awakened, she had reoccurring
dreams about ?him?. Lately they had been getting even more
frequent. Which worried Rei, normally dreams were only getting
more frequent if the event or the occasion was getting closer.

She sighed and looked at the steps absently. No one came today.
There was no buisness at all to take her mind off ?him?. Not a
single soul coming to the temple. Sighing she turned and returned
to sweeping the front steps of the shrine.

She had fully turned yet when she felt a presence behind her. Rei
whirled around the broom raised into a defensive posture.

She stopped face to face with a young man. He was tall, with
brown hair. He had a smile on his face that seemed to say,
"Gotcha!" as if he had just played a trick on her. His eyes
seemed to glimmer with mischief. His body was well toned, it was
just on the edge handsome.

Rei didn?t notice all this. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!" She sreamed in
surprise. She didn?t think that he would be that close.

The visitor jumped back and held his hands up in front of him.
"Hey! Woah! Easy girl!" He shouted, obviously surprised at her
outburst.

Rei blushed. She didn?t like it when something like this
happened. She didn?t want to have the people think she was easy
to scare. It certainly wouldn?t do good for her reputation. Out
of embarrassment she snapped at him, "Who?re you? And what do you
want?" She did that also to cover up her confusion as to why he
could make into the shrine ground that far without her noticing
it.

"Hey," he answered smiling. "Calm down girl. I won?t hurt you."
At these words Rei relaxed slightly, he noted it smiling and
continued. "I?m Smith. John Smith. As for my being here, I?m on
vacation and thought of visiting this temple. Is there something
wrong with that?"

Rei smiled sheepishly, and relaxed totally, pushing her confusion
back for later. "I?m sorry you just surprised be, that?s all."

"Oh? Then I think I owe you an apology." He smiled disarmingly
and bowed. "I just came to buy a good luck charm. And seeing that
such a lovely lady is working here, I?m sure that the charm will
do more than just bring luck."

Rei blushed at the compliment. To hide her embarrassment she
quickly walked to the booth where the shrine had its charms.
Getting into the booth she asked, "How may I help you? Do you
have a particular sort of charm in mind?"

He chuckled softly. "No, I don?t have a particularr cham in mind,
but may I choose."

Rei blinked at that. She looked at him confused. "Sure be my
guest."

Smith nodded his thanks and moved his hand over the row of the
charms. Suddenly Rei felt something tugging at her mind and at
the same moment a charm jumped from the stack into his hand.
Rei?s brows narrowed suspiciously. Smith looked up and asked
completely innocent. "How much do I owe you?"

"450 Yen." Rei replied a bit preoccupied, she was more busy
probing Smith? mind for his intent. But she wasn?t able to get a
thing she simply slid off, as if there was a shield around it.

He gave her the money, and nodded his good-bye to her. As Rei put
the money away she had to stop watching him. It had only been a
moment but a she looked up again Smith was nowhere in sight only
the sound of air rushing remained. And again the tugging in the
back of her mind.

Frowning she stepped out of the booth. She looked around trying
to spot Smith but she didn?t even saw his shadow anywhere. Only
the tugging at her mind from before remained.

Disturbed she looked around if she could spot a trace of him but
nothing had remained except the money he gave her and the memory
of the tugging in her mind.

Trying to clear her mind she picked up where she had left
sweeping the temple ground. But try as she might there was
nothing she was able to do than think of that mysterious man.
Sighing loudly she left the broom standing against one of the
walls and went to the sacred fire for a reading.

Sitting down in front of it she began chanting under her breath
and soon enough slipped into he meditation trance that allowed
her to read the future or gain cryptic knowledge over a person.

After spending an hour in the trance she came up with nothing but
a few indication about the Moon Kingdom and several scenes of him
jumping the Queen and/or the Princess with a weapon.

He could very well being an enemy from what she saw. An assasin
bought to kill the Royal Family. But how did he survive these
attempts and how in the name of all gods could he live for all
this time. A sidethought struck her, what if by some chance of
fate he had been reincarnated along with so many others.

Questions over questions and no answers and no one who could give
them by any chance.

Sighing loudly again Rei went to prepare for a meeting with the
rest of the Senshi. They would come by to discuss the matter with
Ami?s old friend again.

Rei snickered. Good ol? shy Ami had a boyfriend in the Millenium.
Who would have thought? Her snicker developed to a giggle as she
pictured Ami during a date.

The captain looked sternly at the assembly of his officers as he
spoke.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. As you possibly know we have entered our
homesystem." He joked. "Now we need to do a reconnaiconce of the
whole system. This is why I gathered you here. You are the best
Mechsuit-Pilots we have. I will send ten of you down on the
planets and on our homemoon. Once there you will gather every
piece of information you can get." He paused for a short time.
"There are several factors we do not know at the moment so you
will be on your own. The mission you will be on is going to
dangerous beyond believe or boring as hell. But what ever it is
do proceed with caution you go you into the unknown."

He stopped his speech and let it sink into their heads. After a
few minutes he looked at them again. "So Ladies and Gentlemen I
take only volunteers for these historic moments."

Not one of his officers stepped down from that offer.

Artemis looked back at Minako?s retreating form. He sighed sadly.
<She can be more than a bit clueless sometimes.> He turned and
walked to a secluded area of the park head and tail still handing
low.

Luna walked beside him. Her thoughts were going in circles. She
tried to think about the best way to apologize for her former
behavior, but her pride wouldn?t let her lower herself down to the
peasant as she still regarded Artemis as.

The walk was silent and the silence was laying heavily on both as
they finally reached their desination. A small group of trees in
the park where practically nobody walked by, so they couldn?t be
overheard talking.

The two cats settled down in the shadow of one of the trees. Luna
was trying find the guts to begin her apology. Minutes passed
without a word uttered from either of them. Fiannly Artemis was
getting fed up with it and snapped at her with more force than
intended. "Will you talk already!"

Luna saw her conclusion that there was nothing that she was able
to do to salvage their friendship be true as he yelled at her.
Sighing sadly she mastered to gather the rest of her courage and
was finally able to apologize. "Imsorry." She managed to mumble.

Artemis blinked as he heard the these words. "Huh?"

Taking his response that he wanted to hear the apology more
clearly and with more volume behind it she took a deep breath. "I
apologize profoundly, Artemis!" She said with more force behind it.

Artemis looked confused at Luna. "Huh?" He made again.

Now getting slightly irritated Luna repeated. "I apologize," she
said then clarified. "I have treated you unfairly. What you have
said yesterday, although said in rage was nevertheless true. I
have judged you by your upbringing." She paused.

Artemis looked at her in astonishment. This was a side of Luna he
had not seen yet. <I?ve must hit something inside her that made
think about her actions.> He thought wonderously, but he wasn?t
able to get further, Luna had taken a deep breath again and
continued.

"I see now that you are more than my equal in class, if you will."
She explained. "Your better than me in the respect of stategy and
tactics, while I have only learned diplomatics and politics. You
knew things and did thing I wanted but wasn?t allowed to know and
do. And the rules that were made so that no one misused his
authority... You ignored them, and applied them when useful." She
drew anotherdeep breath. "I admired you sometimes you were so much
what I wanted to be but never could,... because I was afraid of
it. I tried to showed you that admiration I felt for you. Then and
now. But I always turned around at the last possible moment and
showed you up against my birthright. I tried to build up a
friendship to you." <And something more...> "But I failed,..." She
drew a shuddering breath. "And...and now I?ve ruined that chance."
She broke down sobbing.

Artemis didn?t know what to think. He came here for a severe
tonguelashing and what he got was a self analysis, complete with
breakdown.

Then he noticed that Luna?s form wavered. It grew, her limps
lengthened, and slowly took a human form. Her fur vanished more or
less leaving only a fur two piece, a pair of wrist bands, the same
at her ankles, these reached down and looked like fur-coated shoes
and the hair on the head. Her hair fell softly down her form and
pooled around her kneeling form. She had her face in her hands and
great sobs shook her body.

Unsure what to do Artemis simply sat there and stared. Then a
memory tickled his awareness. And he felt the same change wash
over him.

Luna jumped as she felt two arms envelop her in an embrace.
Confused and curious she looked up to see a handsome male face
framed with long white flowing hair, and with the most intriguing
eyes she?d seen only on one person. She sighed wrapped her arms
around his torso and let her be comforted.

Artemis looked down to young girl on the verge of womanhood with
hid golden eyes and his slightly red pupils. He guess her age in
this form. It had to be about seventeen years. Then he looked down
at himself and guess himself to about twenty. He noticed his
clothes consisted of a loin-cloth that covered his intimate parts
completely, the cloth went from the front to the back in one
piece. It was held up by a chain-link belt. He had fur-boots on
and on his wrist were bands. Everything in the color of his fur.
He wore another chain-links as a necklace with a egg-formed plate
as a pendant. Its cold brushed uncomfortably over the thick and
knotted scars over his stomach.

They held eachother for a long time, until...

"Hey guys. Should I rent you two a room or what?"

Both of them jumped and whirled to see a blue cat smiling smugly
at them. "My, my. What a cute couple you two are. When?s the
marriage?" It addressed them.

Their minds whirled a bit, they didn?t know any blue Lunar-cats,
then finally made the right connection. "Heavens, Andie. Are you
trying to kill us?" Luna cried. "What?s the big idea sneaking up
on us?"

He just sat there grinning smugly. Artemis looked at his old buddy
and smiled warmly. "Don?t be too hard on him, you know how much he
like to play hi little jokes on people." He tried to calm her down.

"Hmph." Was the only answer he got.

His smile was slowly fading as he walked closer. He brushed his
paw against the ground. "I?m sorry Luna. I didn?t mean to cause
you a heartattack." Then his smile came back, this time not smug
but friendly. "I believe, these are yours. ENLARGE!" He said and
from where he had brushed the ground now sprang a long sabre, and
two belts of knifes.

Artemis stood up, took the sabre and attached it to his belt. He
grinned as he put his hand on the handle. Luna put one belt around
her waist and slung the other over her shoulder wearing it across
her torso. Then both breathed one word. "Finally."

Anderson smiled up at them. "Glad you like it." Then he turned
around. "Now change back and let?s go. I assume that there?s a
meeting for my appearance."

The two Lunar-cats nodded and changed back. Luna looked at
Anderson curiously. "Why the cat-disguise?"

"Guess"

Luna shook her head. "One time you?ll kill some one by giving him
a heartattack that way."

There where ten streaks of light flying away from the station.
Eachone heading straight for it destination. Two of them stayed
closer together than the others because their targets were close
together.

When they seperated, one headed for a grey ball and the other
headed for a blue one, Earth.

It closed and began scanning. There were much surprising data, such
as the changed geography and the low energy level or the high
pollution. Then a sensor registered an abnormally high source of
energy even for its own standards.

It closed in on a small island close to a larger landmass. The
energy signal came from the biggest city on the island. <If you can
call this slum city.>

It descended farther and as drew closer to the location the energy
reading had been in fact several close together. As he drew closer
he was finally able to make visual contact.

Though he was shocked that this amount of energy was emitted from
living beings he clicked the documentary camera online. Then he
landed on the ground on the hill he had hovered above for a few
seconds, a few milli-klicks away from the group of nine beings.

END OF CHAPTER TWO

CONTINUED IN CHAPTER THREE

I hope you?ve enjoyed it. Tell me how much you,...

        ... liked it.
        ... hated it.
        ... cursed about the dumb author for writing such a piece
            of shit.

You can also tell me if you think at a certain point I have left
something out. Or if I missed something vital for the Sailor Moon
Timeline. Or if you didn?t understood a certain passage or a
character?s behaviour.

NOTES:

        Heh... I forgot to mention when this takes place. It?s
after the Black Moon Arc in SM R. Sorry for not mentioning it
before.
        The feedback I got on the story was very motivating.
Unfortunately I wasn?t able to respond to all of the mails
apologies to those whom I didn?t answer.

ACKNOLEDGEMENTS:

        The Changing scene of Luna and Artemis was an idea that
struck me from a comic I?ve read. WARLORD. Apologies to DC, who is
the owner I think.

        The desciption of Artemis I took from a german SF-Series.
PERRY RHODAN. It is the description of Atlan. Apologies to them
too.

COMMENTS/CRITICS/QUESTIONS

mail to:

Anderson (a.k.a. Armin Eppinger)

eppinger@fmi.uni-passau.de

I put up a homepage, it?s not much much but I?ll work on it.

http://www.fmi.uni-passau.de/~eppinger

Thanks for reading.

BYE