Transformations of Time
A Sailor Moon fanfic by Beholder

Standard disclaimers apply.  I do not own Sailor Moon, those characters are owned by 
Naoko Takeuchi.  All other characters are owned by me.

Thanks go to:
DQBunny, Lady Snowbreeze, Lady Amethyst, and many others for editing/critiquing
DQBunny, Ajax, Elizabeth Turkwood, Tim Nolan, and John "P-chan" Laughlin for 
writing some very good stories that inspired me to write this, and some ideas which I 
borrowed from those stories, changed and incorporated into mine.
Some creatures are based on those found in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons by E. Gary Gygax.
All books referenced in this chapter are real books and can be located on www.amazon.com.


Translations:

"Daijobu?"  =  "Are you OK?"
"Daijobu."  =  "I'm OK."
"sugoi"  =  "cool", "great"
"konbanwa"  =  "Good evening"
"goshuujin-sama"  =  "Master"
"onegai" = "please"
"gomen", "gomen ne", "gomen nasai" = "I'm sorry"
"minna" = "everyone"
"baka" = "idiot"
"suteki" = "cool"
"Kami-sama" = "God"
"shimatta" = "oh, no", "damn", "shit"
"shi ne!" = "die!"
"yamu natai" = "Stop it!", "Hold it!"
"shisho" = "librarian"
"Ai no seigino!  Seeraafuku bishoujo senshi Sailor Moon!  Tsuki ni kawatte oshioki yo!" = "For love and
	justice, the sailor-suited pretty soldier Sailor Moon!  In the name of the Moon, I'll punish you"
"kuso" = "shit"
"chikushou" = "damn"
"ginzuishou" = "silver crystal"
"konbanwa" = "good evening"
"ja" = "bye"
"obasan" = "aunt"
"ojisan" = "uncle"
"obaasan" = "grandmother"





Chapter 4:  Renewal of Hostilities


	Jadeite stared down at the thick book laid open before him on the wooden table in the vast 
library, his hands cradling his head.  His green eyes twitched in anger and frustration as he flipped page 
after page, scanning each one, then muttering an obscenity and going on to the next.  He glanced to his 
left at the huge stack of books on the table next to him; he figured close to fifty books were haphazardly 
piled there.  He looked down by his right elbow to a notepad and pencil.  The paper had dozens of little 
snippets and notes written, carefully numbered, but each one was crossed out in such a way that Jadeite's 
growing frustration could be marked by the method he crossed out the entries.  The top of the sheet, he 
simply scratched out the entry with a single line.  By the bottom of the sheet, he was scribbling each one 
out so thoroughly that the words were indecipherable.
	On the floor, at the right end of the table, relative to Jadeite, his slave girl kneeled obediently.  
But from her spot, she could clearly see the frustration on his face and she shrank back, fearful that when 
he finally did "pop a bolt", she would be his target.  It had been this way for many days, she thought.
	At first, when Baatezu granted Jadeite access to the library, he thought it would be a short search 
to find some sort of clue about the book of the Taiyounotsue, but by the close of the first week, he could 
find no mention of it in any of the books he read that focused on the Silver Millennium or the Moon 
Kingdom.  He began to search for any mention of the Taiyounotsue in other mythology books, and also 
those of the other planetary kingdoms.  He still had no luck.  By the end of the second week and start of 
the third, Jadeite's slave girl noticed a growing irritability in him, and also that he was unusually rough 
and cruel with her, both in her daily tasks as well as in the bedroom.
	It was now nearing the end of the third week, and Jadeite had amassed many literary leads for the 
Taiyounotsue, but each one wound up being a dead end, which just angered him more.  The slave girl 
knew that he would reach his limit soon and explode.
	Ironically, no sooner had she thought it, than with a sudden release of frustration and anger, 
Jadeite slammed his arm down on the table and with a single shove, hurled the stack of books on his left 
off the table.  Two books escaped, but in a rage, Jadeite grabbed each and threw them to his right, 
narrowly missing the head of his slave girl, sending the books crashing against a set of bookshelves and 
knocking off several other books onto the floor.  He grabbed his note paper, crumpled it up and threw it in 
front of him.  Jadeite grabbed the open book before him and split the spine of the book with his bare 
hands, then hurled the two halves over his shoulders behind him.  As a final act of venting, he picked up 
the pencil and effortlessly snapped it in two.
	"Goshuujin-sama?" the slave girl said softly, cowering under the edge of the table.  "Perhaps, 
goshuujin-sama should take a break?"
	Jadeite grabbed the girl by her long brown locks and pulled her alongside his chair.  "What did 
you say?  Who said you could think, slave?" he shouted at her, then drew his hand back, as if to slap her 
across the face.
	"Onegai, goshuujin-sama!  Slave only meant to express concern for you!"
	Jadeite narrowed his eyes and drew his hand back again, but after a moment, relented and 
lowered his hand, shoved the slave girl away, and turned to stare across from the table, propping his chin 
up with his elbows.  "There must be a better way," he thought out loud.  "Perhaps I am looking in the 
wrong place?"
	He suddenly stood and walked away from the table, through the stacks of books towards the exit, 
but on his way, he shouted behind him, "Return to our quarters, slave, and wait there."
	"Hai, goshuujin-sama," she replied, but he was out the door already, and she did not know if he 
heard her.
	Jadeite marched through the hallways of the keep, down several flights of stairs to the entrance of 
Baatezu's private chambers.  The huge group of guards still milled about outside the huge gold ornate 
doors.
	He walked right up to a hobgoblin, guzzling a mug of ale and chatting with his comrades in a 
little circle, and shoved him in such a way that the hobgoblin spun and was facing the blonde man.  
Jadeite was pissed, and he planned to let everyone he met know it.
	"Inform Baatezu-sama that Jadeite is here and wishes to speak with him," Jadeite commanded.
	"Insolent worm," the guard sneered back.  "I will cut you down like the dog you are!"
	The guard drew his sword and the entire room backed away.  Jadeite simply grinned evilly at the 
hobgoblin as he slashed straight down at Jadeite with his sword, but he easily dodged the attack by taking 
a single step to his right.  Jadeite allowed the guard to get to his feet and to take a horizontal slash at him, 
but Jadeite jumped and did a flip right over the guard's head, landing behind him.  The guard turned to 
see Jadeite spin and smash his foot into the side of the guard's head.  The hobgoblin reeled from the blow, 
but did not go down.  While the guard was stunned, Jadeite drew his own sword, the blade appearing 
normal at first, but with a thought, ignited into black flames.  The guard shook off the kick and lunged at 
Jadeite again and brought his sword crashing down, but Jadeite blocked with his black flaming sword.  
For several seconds, Jadeite held back the attack of the hobgoblin, neither of them gaining or losing.  
Then, with a spin and flick of the wrist, Jadeite spun out from under the hobgoblin's sword and to the side 
while simultaneously slashing with his sword and slicing the hobgoblin neatly in two, right at the waist, 
then on the second revolution, neatly sliced the hobgoblin's head from the torso while still in mid-air.  
The three hunks of hobgoblin splattered to the ground as Jadeite stood over with a self-satisfied grin.
	A deep rumbling laugh echoed through the chamber.  "Excellent, Jadeite-kun.  You handled 
yourself well," the unmistakable voice of Baatezu boomed.  On the opposite end of the chamber from 
Jadeite, the gold ornate door that led to Baatezu's private portion of the castle began to open.  Jadeite 
powered down his sword and sheathed it as he strode confidently to the doorway, glancing to his sides at 
the other guards, fear and respect evident in their eyes.
	Jadeite walked into the main chamber, and this time, noted Baatezu seated in his throne.  He 
walked before the throne and knelt down to one knee, in respect.  "Baatezu-sama, I regret to inform you 
that my research is not progressing as well as I had expected."
	"That is unfortunate.  Perhaps I made a poor choice in recruiting you, Jadeite-kun.  You have 
spent three weeks researching with no results."
	"I have another idea, Baatezu-sama.  If the book truly exists, then by this time, it is either buried 
deep in the earth, has been discovered, or is destroyed.  If the first or third possibility is true, then this 
operation cannot proceed.  However, if the second possibility is true, then the book is either on display in a 
museum somewhere, or it is in the possession of a collector.  I request permission to return to Earth and 
investigate the second possibility."
	"Why, Jadeite-kun!  Is my library not good enough for you?" Baatezu bellowed.
	"Lord Baatezu-sama, your library is excellent, however, it is not as up-to-date as the Earth's 
newspapers and magazines.  I would like to travel back to Tokyo with a youma, and research the existence 
of the book there."
	Baatezu leaned back in his throne and pondered Jadeite's request for several minutes.  The truth 
was that Baatezu decided within the first few seconds to allow Jadeite to return, but just wanted to make 
him sweat for a while, and remind him who was in charge.  "Granted, Jadeite-kun.  You may take one 
youma.  Make your choice."  Baatezu and his throne disappeared with a clap of sound, and the four youma 
"vendors" reappeared.
	Jadeite looked to the shadows and the lemures, then to the table with the chemistry equipment, 
then finally to the spinagon at the blackjack table.  His eyes finally settled on the spinagon who possessed 
the tried and true youma that he used frequently back in the days of the Dark Kingdom.  He walked up to 
the spinagon holding the box with the slot.  "I desire a youma.  What must I do?"
	"Put your hand in the slot," the spinagon replied.
	Jadeite removed the glove from his right hand and placed his palm inside the box, up to his wrist.  
The spinagon began to chant incoherently.  Jadeite stood there for nearly a minute and noticed nothing 
happening, aside from the mumblings of the demon.  He was about to yank his hand out of the box and 
tell the demon to go to hell, but two things stopped him.  First, they were already in hell, and second, a 
bright flash of light sprang from the slot of the box, and then through the seams of the box.  The spinagon 
immediately stopped chanting and Jadeite could feel what seemed like needles poking into his hand, but 
strangely, there was no pain.  After several seconds, the light disappeared as quickly as it came.
	"Remove your hand," the spinagon commanded.
	Jadeite pulled his hand out of the box, palm down.  He clenched a fist, turned his hand over, 
palm up and unclenched his fist.  In the center of his palm, a symbol glowed brightly, then faded away.  
Jadeite looked at his palm and grinned.  It was just like old times, he thought.
	A dark portal opened in the center of the room, a swirling mass of dark energy and gases, beyond 
which was the image of an alley that led to a street where people and cars passed.  With a few moments of 
concentration, Jadeite transformed his apparel into a simple white shirt with collar and black slacks, 
taking on the appearance of a typical Japanese businessman, abandoning the uniform until he needed it.   
He took a deep breath and stepped through the portal and immediately crossed over into the Earth realm.
	Jadeite glanced behind him and saw that the portal had vanished the moment he stepped foot 
through it.  He hoped that a portal for the trip back would be equally as prompt when he needed it.  He 
walked down the alley and immediately blended into the crowd of people walking along the street.
	He walked for hours through the streets of Tokyo until he reached a large building in the Juuban 
district, the main offices of the Japan Times.  After straightening his shirt and slacks, he walked inside the 
large main doors to the huge front lobby, where a young woman occupied a horseshoe-shaped wooden 
desk, probably in her late teens or early twenties.
	"May I help you, sir?" the woman asked Jadeite.
	"Yes, could you direct me to your archives, please?"
	"Certainly, sir.  Take the elevators to your right to the 6th floor, then when you get out, take a 
right, and there will be a door on your left."
	"Arigato."
	Jadeite bowed slightly to the receptionist, then strode across the huge lobby, took the elevator up 
to the sixth floor, stepped out, turned to his right, walked several feet down the hall until he found the 
door on his left labeled, "Archives" just as the receptionist had said.  He turned the knob and walked 
inside.
	Another young woman sat at a desk just inside the door, and before Jadeite could really get his 
bearings or examine the room and equipment, she said to him, "May I help you?"
	Jadeite turned and flashed a brilliant, but devilish smile to the girl.  "Hai, I need to search your 
archives."
	"OK, come with me."
	The woman stood and walked into another room ahead of the first room, Jadeite in close tow.  
They walked into a larger room, with twenty to thirty cubicles, about half of them occupied.  The cubicles 
each had a computer and various instruction books on an upper shelf.  The woman guided Jadeite to an 
empty cubicle where he sat down and looked at the computer, slightly befuddled.
	"Where is the microfilm machine?" Jadeite asked.  It had been years since he'd been on Earth 
and when he was last here, microfilm was still being used to archive old editions of the newspaper.  
Computers were not yet powerful enough to take up the task.
	"We got rid of those years ago.  Now, you can search with the computer, and find exactly what 
you are looking for in seconds!  Just type in the key words for what you want to find, and hit the 'go' 
button.  Simple!" she said, snapping her fingers.
	"Very well.  Leave me."
	The woman gave Jadeite a weird scowl behind him, and walked away as Jadeite cracked his 
knuckles and began to ponder what to search for.
	His first search was for the obvious.  He punched in "Taiyounotsue" and got nothing.  For his 
second attempt, he tried "Silver Millennium" and "Moon Kingdom".  He got a hit on "Silver 
Millennium", but the subject of the article did not relate to the Silver Millennium that he was looking for.  
On his third attempt, he put in "Solar Staff", and to his surprise, got a hit!  He clicked the link to the 
article and discovered that a local museum had put on display, several rare or unique books that were 
either owned by private collectors, or belonged to other museums, along with brief descriptions of the 
contents of the books.  It was in the descriptions of those books that the following appeared:  "While this 
book is written in a language that no longer appears to be spoken on the Earth, scientists and linguists 
have deciphered enough of the bizarre language to learn that the book appears to be a manual of some sort 
for a mysterious relic called the Solar Staff."
	The mention of the Solar Staff was insignificant, almost an afterthought, which made Jadeite 
laugh inwardly.  If they only knew the true power of the Taiyounotsue, he thought.  He read the article, 
and once satisfied that it was what he was looking for, he printed it out, making sure that the name of the 
museum and the curator were listed.  After a mere two hours of searching, he had found his first solid 
lead, and he was not going to waste any time checking into it.
	Moments later, Jadeite was confidently walking down one of the Tokyo streets, plotting his attack 
on the museum curator and demanding the book, when at the same time, only about 200 feet behind him, 
a group of five girls, one man and two cats were steadily walking in the same direction, totally unaware 
that one of their first adversaries during the Dark Kingdom battles was directly ahead of them.
	"But, Rei-chan!" Usagi moaned.
	"Come on, Usagi!  We have to go to the travel agency and get our plane reservations," Rei 
snapped.
	"Usako, we only have a month to go until we have to move to America.  We have a lot of work 
and planning to do," Mamoru sighed.
	"Mamo-chan, onegai?  We haven't been there in ages!" Usagi looked up at her fianc饠with 
puppy-dog eyes-eyes that she knew could get her anything she wanted.
	"Actually, I'd love to go there, too!" Ami piped up, much to everyone surprise.
	"Not you, too, Ami-chan," whimpered Rei.
	"In Ami-chan's case, it makes sense," Minako said, idly stroking Artemis's back.
	Rei turned face-forward and walked with a grimace on her face.  "Traitors," she grumbled.  "All 
right, but we can't stay long."
	"Sugoi!" Ami and Usagi shouted, simultaneously.
	Jadeite and the group of senshi eventually reached a busy street corner where a large group of 
people was waiting for the traffic lights to change, so they could cross.  As Jadeite approached, he turned 
to the right and stood, while the senshi blended in with the group that wished to cross straight ahead.  All 
of them stood, waiting for a full minute mere feet from each other, and never realized it.
	That was not totally true.  As Rei stood with her friends, waiting for the pedestrian light to 
change, she caught a faint feeling of an evil aura nearby.  She dismissed it as her imagination, but the 
feeling nagged at her.  It was hard to tell these days if it truly was a premonition or paranoia.
	Finally, the cars received a red light in all directions and the "walk" sign lit up.  The masses of 
people on all four corners of the intersection began to swarm in their desired directions.  Jadeite blended 
into the crowd crossing in his direction, while the senshi walked the other direction.  Rei got another flash 
of the evil aura and instinctively turned to her right, looking at the crowd crossing the street adjacent to 
them, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary and the feeling completely faded as quickly as it came over 
her.
	"Hey!  Rei-chan!  Hurry up!"
	Rei turned back to the direction she was walking, and found that her friends were already on the 
other side, while she was only halfway across.
	"Rei-chan?  Is something wrong?" Makoto called to her again.
	"Iie.  It's nothing," she replied, running to get out of the street before the light changed once 
again.
	Rei, Usagi, Ami, Makoto, Minako, Artemis, Luna, and Mamoru walked on a little further to the 
destination that Usagi and Ami had insisted upon, the Crown Fruit Parlor.  At the same time, Jadeite 
walked on a bit farther to his destination, the museum.
	He walked up the wide stairs made of granite to the huge main doors of the museum and into the 
foyer.  The museum was designed to be a single open room, with Greek-style pillars placed strategically 
through the high-ceilinged room, but sometime after the initial construction, glass partitions were added 
along the side walls to divide the various exhibits.  A central hallway between the partitions on each side 
became a commons area, with a small fountain in the center of the building.  At the end of the building 
opposite the main doors, a tiny sign indicated the direction to the restrooms as well as the business and 
curator's offices.
	Jadeite confidently strode down the central hallway, noting the high number of people in the 
museum, especially considering it was just about one o'clock in the afternoon on a weekday.  They should 
all be at work or at home, he thought.  He continued on to the other side of the building, took a right at the 
far wall and arrived at the business offices.  He opened the door and entered.
	Sitting at a desk in a small, but comfortable, reception area was an older woman, probably in her 
mid-fifties, wearing reading glasses with a chain attached, wrapping behind her neck.  She wore a 
multicolored blouse, and her hair was done up in tight curls, with an odd bluish tint that seemed to gleam 
when the light caught it right.  The sight of this woman reminded Jadeite of the stereotypical old librarian 
who couldn't stand her patrons so much as mumbling without popping a bolt and shushing them.
	"May I help you?" she croaked.  Obviously, this woman smoked a great deal as well.
	"Hai, I am here to see the curator, Yoshida-san," Jadeite said, politely.
	"Yoshida-san hasn't returned from lunch yet.  Would you like to leave a message for him or 
wait?"
	"I'll wait."
	"May I get your name?"
	"Jay Daitou," he said, quickly recalling a pseudonym he had used once a long time ago when he 
posed as a radio DJ.
	"Very well.  It'll just be a few minutes."
He turned and walked to a row of chairs along the wall opposite the receptionist's desk, small 
end tables with piles of magazines at each end of the row.  Jadeite picked a magazine at random, Sports 
Illustrated as it so happened, sat down, flipped the magazine open and pretended to read.
	A few minutes later, a short, bald, and portly man in a neatly pressed blue pin-stripe suit walked 
into the office and up to the receptionist's desk.  "My name is Kurasawa Kenji.  I have an appointment at 
1:30 with Yoshida-san," the man said.
	The receptionist looked through the appointment calendar on her desk.  "Ah, hai, Kurasawa-san.  
Yoshida-san is still at lunch, but he should be back shortly.  Would you mind waiting?" she replied.
	"Not at all."
	Kurasawa walked to the opposite end of the row of chairs from where Jadeite sat, picked up a 
magazine from the table, sat down, and began to read.
	Several more minutes passed.  Jadeite impatiently looked up to the clock on the wall and saw that 
it was nearly 1:20.  At this rate, this fat bastard next to me is going to get ahead of me to see Yoshida-san, 
Jadeite thought.  However, an opportunity presented itself almost right after the thought crossed his mind.
	The receptionist picked up a large stack of folders and walked around her desk to file them away 
in a couple of large filing cabinets, just adjacent to the seat where Jadeite was waiting.  Unfortunately, the 
receptionist did not notice a small snag in the carpet, and she tripped, spilling the files across the floor 
from the edge of the desk, almost right up to Jadeite's feet.  He immediately crouched down and began to 
help the receptionist gather up the files, which only took a few seconds.  Both he and the receptionist 
stood and met in the center of the room.
	"Arigato," she croaked and was about to take the files from Jadeite, but he held onto them.
	"My dear lady, you look tired and overworked," he began, placing his hand on her shoulder, 
comforting her.  "Perhaps you should sit down?"  He took his hand from her shoulder and for a brief 
moment, the youma symbol glowed brightly on her shoulder then vanished.  Jadeite looked into the older 
woman's eyes and saw the momentary red glow emanate that indicated that the transfer of the youma was 
successful.  "Well?" he prodded.
	"Hai.  I think I will sit down," the old woman croaked, but in a manner that seemed more 
disconnected and dreamy than before.  She released the files to Jadeite and obediently went to sit behind 
her desk again as Jadeite put the files on top of the filing cabinet, sat down and picked his magazine up 
once again.  He glanced up to the receptionist and saw her staring straight ahead, unmoving, in a sort of 
trance.  Jadeite grinned evilly; everything was going according to plan.

	"Ahhhhh!"
	"Ami-chan!"
	Usagi looked around the table in the Crown Fruit Parlor that she and her friends regularly sat in.  
Minako, Makoto, Rei, and Mamoru were all staring.  In front of each of them was a small sundae bowl, 
each contained ice cream and their favorite toppings, all now partially eaten to one degree or another.  
Looking down, Usagi noted her own sundae.  It was in a larger dish, had twice as much ice cream as the 
others' and a mixture of toppings, and was also partially eaten.  But even her huge sundae didn't compare 
to the size of the sundae that was in front of Ami-the sundae that she just finished eating.
	Ami sat back in the booth, a look of ice-cream-induced ecstasy on her face, but then she noticed 
the stares in her direction, and she shot upright in the seat.  "Gomen!" she cried.
	"Ami-chan, daijobu?" Rei asked, picking at her sundae.
	"Hai!"
	"I can't believe she ate that whole thing!" Minako commented under her breath.
	"Usako doesn't even eat that much ice cream in one sitting!" Mamoru added.
	"Ami-chan, 'eating for two' is just an expression," Makoto added, with a note of concern.
	"Gomen nasai, minna-chan!  I don't know what came over me!" Ami cried in desperation.
	"Ami-chan, daijobu?" Rei asked again, still picking at her sundae.
	"Hai, I just had this sudden craving when Usagi-chan suggested coming here!"
	"But, Ami-chan, you usually only have a fruit juice or a dish of sherbet when we come here," 
Usagi said.
	"Hai?"
	"What on Earth possessed you to order a banana split today?" Usagi asked, alarmed.
	"Gomen-"
	"You don't need to apologize, Ami-chan," said Rei.
	"It just sounded really good, Rei-chan!  I don't even know why I ordered it.  I'm not even all that 
fond of bananas."
	"Hmmm.  Sounds like the irrational cravings of a pregnant woman," Mamoru said, thoughtfully, 
which caught Usagi's attention.
	"How would you know, Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked with narrow eyes, immediately making 
Mamoru sweatdrop.  "How many other pregnant women have you known?"
	"I?uh?Chibi-Usa told me?about you in the future?and your weird cravings when you were 
pregnant with her," he stammered.
	"What did she say about me?" Usagi whimpered.
	"She just said you became obsessed with meat buns and salt-water taffy."
	"Meat buns I can see, cause she's obsessed with them now!" Rei said, earning her a stuck-out 
tongue from Usagi.  Rei didn't hesitate to return it.
	"Why would I crave salt-water taffy, though?  I can't stand the stuff!" Usagi announced.  
"Anyway, have you been craving other weird things, Ami-chan?"
	"Well," she started, putting a finger up to her lips and staring up at the ceiling in thought.  "I've 
been leaving the mustard off my chicken sandwiches and putting mayonnaise on instead." 
	Everyone at the table sweatdropped.  "That's hardly a craving, Ami-chan," Minako said.
	"It's just odd for me because I can't stand mayonnaise and I love mustard," Ami replied, 
blushing.
	"Anyway, Ami-chan, we're not shocked just because of what you ordered today," Makoto said.
	"Eh?"
	"It's the fact that you finished before both Usagi and Minako-chan.  They both usually inhale 
their ice cream!" Rei said, teasingly.
	"Rei-chan's being mean again!" both Usagi and Minako cried, causing everyone else at the table 
to start laughing, even Ami who was still blushing uncontrollably.
	After the laughter died down a bit, Luna and Artemis leaned up against the table.  "Minna," 
Luna began, "we have a lot of planning and preparing to do.  This is not going to be an easy transition for 
any of you. You'll all be essentially going to America with nothing except for yourselves, each other, and 
whatever you can fit into a few suitcases.  You're going to basically start new lives.  We must make some 
decisions now about the future."
	"You're right, Luna," Usagi said then resumed nibbling on her sundae.
	"The first issue we should address is housing," Artemis said.  "As I see it, there are three options:  
dormitories, sororities, or apartments."
	"I think we can safely strike the dormitories idea," Rei said.
	"Why, Rei-chan?  It'd be a great way to meet all those gorgeous American men!  Imagine, a few 
hundred men and women, living in close quarters--love is bound to bloom!" Minako said with zeal.
	"The dorms wouldn't allow children," Ami said quietly.
	"Nor cats," Rei added.  Artemis and Luna both drooped their heads.
	"I doubt they'd allow in a non-student," Makoto said.
	"Mamo-chan and I couldn't be together!" Usagi cried, then wrapped her arms around one of his 
arms and snuggled close, startling Mamoru at first, but then he looked down at her and smiled.  The other 
girls, except for Ami, and the cats leveled their gaze at Usagi.
	"Baka," Luna whispered.
	"I guess it's safe to say that the dorms are not an option, and that probably also rules out 
sororities.  That leaves apartments," Artemis announced.
	"Hey, instead of that, what if we pooled the money that Setsuna, Haruka, and Michiru gave us 
and just buy a big house?" Usagi said.
	Jaws dropped all around the table.  "Nani?!" Usagi asked indignantly, seeing the reaction to her 
suggestion.
	"That made a lot of sense, Usagi-chan," Minako said softly.  "It's kinda scary when she does 
that," she then whispered to Makoto and Rei on each side of her, but loud enough that everyone could 
hear, even Usagi.
	"But it's not like we could step off the plane and buy a house the same day," Makoto added.  "I 
remember when I was little, the hassles and time my parents had to go through to buy our house in 
Nagoya.  The whole process took almost a year!"
	"What are we supposed to do?  Live in hotels for a year?" Rei asked.
	"Perhaps Setsuna can help us?  She does have real estate contacts, doesn't she?" Ami suggested.
	"Hai!  She's a real estate tycoon!" Rei added.
	"Perhaps she can get in touch with a realtor in Philadelphia and start looking for a suitable house 
for us now?" Ami said.
	"Perhaps," Mamoru said, thoughtfully.  "I'll try and call Setsuna when we get home."
	"Sugoi!" Usagi shouted and cuddled even closer to Mamoru.  "Arigato, Mamo-chan, you're the 
best!"
	"Rei-san!"
	Rei stood up and turned around, looking out into the dining room of the Crown Fruit Parlor, to 
see who was calling her.  Surprisingly, the source was just feet away from the table.
	"Kenji-san!  Tadashi-san!  Takahiro-san!" Rei said with a big smile.
	The three boys walked up to the table.  Hearts immediately appeared in Minako's eyes when she 
saw them, and Makoto went pale.
	Kenji cleared his throat, indicating to Rei that she'd better introduce them.  "Minna," she started, 
"these are some friends of mine.  They're musicians!"
	"Suteki!" Minako, Makoto, and Usagi said in chorus.  Then, Usagi remembered she was still 
firmly grasped onto Mamoru's arm.  She looked up slowly, blushing hard and caught his gaze.  He was 
looking down at her with a half knowing smile.
	"Usako?"
	"Gomen, Mamo-chan," Usagi said, hiding her face behind his arm, but then slid up his arm and 
whispered in his ear, "I may be engaged and love you very much, but I'm not dead."
	"Isn't that my line?" Mamoru replied, sarcastically, making Usagi sweatdrop and giggle.
	"So it is!" she said.
	The three boys stood along the edge of the table.  Rei indicated each as she introduced them.  
"This is Kenji-san, Tadashi-san, his brother, and Takahiro-san!"
	Kenji extended his hand to Makoto who was still in a trance.  She managed to shake his hand 
after considerable concentration, but never took her lovelorn eyes from his face.  "His hands are so soft--
just like those of my sempai, who spurned me," she whispered.
	"Kami-sama, you ALWAYS say that, Mako-chan!" Rei scolded, which broke Makoto's trance.  
"Is there any man that doesn't remind you of your sempai?"
	"Your grandfather," Makoto replied, dripping with sarcasm.
	"Well, arigato Kami-sama for that!" Rei responded.
	"Obviously, you all are pretty close friends," Tadashi remarked, catching all the girls' attentions, 
then bringing smiles to their faces.
	"Is it that obvious?" Minako asked.
	"Hai," Kenji replied, half-chuckling.
	Mamoru checked his watch, and then his eyes went wide.  "Shimatta!  I'm supposed to meet my 
apartment building manager in fifteen minutes!"
	"What for?" Usagi asked.
	"I need to schedule a check-out time and do some cleaning."  He stood up from the table, but took 
Usagi's hand and kissed it gallantly.  "Gomen, Usako.  I'll make it up to you tonight.  Dinner?  My 
place?"
	"Hai!  Can't wait!" she responded, then kissed him before he left through the side door right by 
the table.  Usagi sighed.
	"We were just on our way home to call you, Rei-san, and give you the news, but since you're 
here, we may as well tell you!" Takahiro said.
	Rei blushed at the word "call".  It's been ages since any boys called me, she thought.  "What 
news, Takahiro-san?"
	"Zombie Horseradish got a gig!" Kenji announced.
	Rei's face lit up and she bounded from her seat by the window, over Minako and Makoto, and 
stood with the boys at the end of the table.  "Really?  SUGOI!" she shouted.
	"Zombie Horseradish?" Usagi asked with an odd look on her face.
	"Hai.  Don't let the name fool you, these guys are great musicians," Rei changed the tone of her 
voice, letting her ego get the better of her, "and I am their lead singer!"
	"Really, Rei-chan?  Sugoi!" Ami said, followed by a chorus of "Sugoi" around the table from the 
others.
	"Isn't it cool?" Rei asked rhetorically, then turned back to Kenji.  "Where is the gig at and 
when?"
	"Well, I entered the band into this contest that J-Wave was sponsoring to open for a well-known 
national band.  I sent in a demo tape of all four of us, and we won!  Two weeks from this Friday, Zombie 
Horseradish makes its debut!"
	"Suteki!  Who's the band we're opening for?"  Rei was jumping up and down in anticipation.
	"Cringe," Kenji replied.
	Instantly, Rei felt like someone had just let the air out of her.  Her joy and happiness vanished in 
a split second and was replaced by dread, fear, and terror.  The blood drained visibly from her face.
	"Rei-chan?  What's wrong?" Minako asked, noting Rei's sudden change of demeanor.
	"You look like you've seen a ghost!  You're white as a sheet, Rei-chan!" Ami added with 
concern.
	Rei felt her legs and hands start to tremble, the "fight or flight" response kicking in.  Tears began 
to brim in her eyes.  "No?" she whispered, "?I can't?"
	"Nani?" Kenji asked her.
	"I can't!  I can't!  I can't!" Rei screamed over and over, then shoved her way past the three boys 
and bolted out the side door right by the table, flew down the stairs to the street level and ran across the 
street against the light, nearly getting run over several times in the oncoming traffic.
	"Follow her!" Makoto shouted.  The three boys took off, not waiting for the booth to empty.  
Makoto, Minako, and Artemis ran in pursuit immediately, but Usagi paused for a second.
	"Luna, you and Ami-chan stay here," she commanded.  Both of them nodded in response as 
Usagi clambered out of the booth and followed her friends in pursuit of Rei.

	Back in the museum offices, Jadeite was growing impatient for the curator to return.  He glanced 
up to the clock on the wall, which read 1:31.  He turned his eyes to his right, where the bald man in the 
suit was still sitting and reading through the magazines.  The other man just happened to glance at 
Jadeite, then to the clock, then back to Jadeite with a knowing grin.
	"Hmph," Jadeite grunted with an evil grin, causing the other man to get uncomfortable to turn 
back to his magazine.  He looked straight across the room to the receptionist who was still acting like a 
total zombie, sitting perfectly straight in the chair, eyes glazed over, not moving or saying anything, and 
smiled to himself.  My ace in the hole, he thought.
	The door to the offices suddenly opened and a tall, thin man with short blonde hair wearing a 
striped shirt and black slacks walked in and stopped at the receptionist's desk.  "Ah, Junko-san!  Sorry I 
was so late getting back.  Some kids ran across the street up at the corner and caused a bit of a jam."
	"Hai, Yoshida-san," the receptionist replied softly.
	Jadeite smiled when he heard the receptionist identify the newcomer.  My target, he thought.
	Yoshida turned to Jadeite and Kurasawa.  "I hope you haven't been waiting long," he said.
	"Not a problem, Yoshida-san," Kurasawa replied.
	Jadeite said nothing.
	"Just give me a minute to get my messages and I'll see each of you," Yoshida said then 
disappeared into his office, closing the door behind him.
	A couple of minutes passed, then a voice came over the receptionist's intercom.  "Junko-san, 
please send in my 1:30 appointment."
	The receptionist slowly stood and robotically walked to the office door and opened it.  "Jay 
Daitou, here to see you, Yoshida-san," she said in a monotone voice.
	Jadeite slowly rose to his feet and started to walk to the door, but Kurasawa jumped up out of his 
seat at the same time.  "Nani?" Kurasawa exclaimed.  "I have the 1:30 appointment!  I've had it for two 
months!  How dare you-"
	Jadeite turned to Kurasawa and with a flick of his wrist and a thought, hurled Kurasawa across 
the room, smashing into the filing cabinets with a loud thud mixed with the sound of crunching metal.  
Showing no concern, Jadeite strode into the office; the receptionist right behind him as screams and 
shouts began to filter through the main room of the museum and people began to peek into the office to 
see what created such a loud noise
	"What the hell?  Who are you?!" Yoshida demanded, but Jadeite kept his gaze firmly fixed on 
him.
	"I will make my intentions clear and brief," Jadeite said.  "I am here for the book, and once I get 
it, I will not hesitate to kill you."
	"You're insane!" Yoshida shouted, then grabbed the phone and started dialing.
	Jadeite made a simple hand gesture.  The receptionist instantly leaped over Yoshida's desk, 
grabbed him by the lapels, slammed him into the bookshelves and glass cabinets behind him, smashing 
them, then threw him over onto his desk on his back.  Jadeite grabbed Yoshida's hair and pulled his head 
over the edge of the desk nearest him, transformed into his uniform which also revealed his sword, drew 
the sword, ignited the blade in black flames, then held it an inch from Yoshida's throat.
	"That was foolish.  Where is the book of the Taiyounotsue?" Jadeite demanded.
	"N?Nani??  What book?" Yoshida asked, glancing back and forth between Jadeite and the 
black-burning blade at his throat.
	Jadeite reached into his pocket, pulled a sheet of paper out, shook it open, and then shoved it in 
front of Yoshida's face.  "THAT book."
	Yoshida looked at the paper.  It was a copy of the newspaper article Jadeite had found with the 
paragraph highlighted which mentioned the Solar Staff.  "Nani?  This is what you are after?" Yoshida 
asked, nervously, trying not to provoke the former Dark Kingdom general.
	Unfortunately, Yoshida's diplomatic skills were not his strong point.  Jadeite bared his teeth and 
furrowed his brow in anger, pushing the edge of the blade against Yoshida's throat.  Yoshida could feel 
the cold flames and the razor sharp edge of the blade barely slice into his skin.  "WHERE IS IT?" Jadeite 
shouted in Yoshida's face.
	"It's not here!"
	"LIAR!"  Jadeite drew the sword up high over his head, preparing to slice down and remove 
Yoshida's head from his body.
	"It's true!" Yoshida spat out as quickly as he could, making Jadeite pause.  "The book was on 
loan from a friend of mine, a book collector in America!  That showing was nearly two years ago!  I don't 
even know if he still has it!  It's no good to you anyway!  It's written in a totally alien language that no 
one on this Earth can understand!"
	"Except for me, baka!"
	"Nani?  You know the language?"
	"Shut up!  I want the name and address of your friend, now!"
	"S?sure!  But he's on a tour right now and won't be back there until sometime next month!  I 
don't know where he is right now!"
	Jadeite grabbed a pad of paper and a pen off Yoshida's desk and tossed it to him.  "Write!" he 
commanded, waving the sword above his head, menacingly.  Yoshida quickly grabbed the pad and pen 
and scribbled away, then ripped the paper off and handed it to Jadeite.  He examined the paper then 
shoved it into his pocket.  "Arigato," he said, lowering the sword.  Yoshida sighed in relief.
	Suddenly, Jadeite brought the sword up again and leveled a murderous gaze at Yoshida.  "SHI 
NE!"
	"Yamu natai!" a new voice called into the office, causing Jadeite to stop again and look towards 
the main door to the offices.  Three policemen stood in the doorway, guns drawn.  "Put down the sword 
now and come out with your hands up!"
	Jadeite grinned evilly at the intrusion, but did not stand down.
	"Release your hostages!" the lead policeman ordered.
	Jadeite looked around, trying to decide whom he had as hostages, but then realized the cop was 
talking about Yoshida and the receptionist.  "The receptionist can go free!" he called to the cops.  "The 
curator stays with me until my demands are met!"
	"Fine!  Miss, please walk out here slowly!"
	Jadeite nodded to the receptionist and she complied, walking slowly and methodically out of 
Yoshida's office, through her own office, then past the cops and stood behind them.
	"Now, let the man go, or we will open fire!" the lead policeman ordered again.
	"I don't think so!  Come out, youma!" Jadeite shouted.
	The policemen looked at each other, puzzled, then a bright flash of light came from behind them.  
All three of them looked behind them and gasped.
	The receptionist's body was morphing, contorting while emitting a bright yellow glow.  The 
woman's hair went from soft blue-white curls to neon blue hair poking straight up out of her head, like 
the spines of a porcupine.  Her body transformed from a five foot four frail frame into a six foot one 
athletic build.  The multicolored conservative dress she wore radically changed into a very short dress 
with splashes of neon colors all over it.  The most drastic change happened to her arms and legs as all of 
her limbs appeared to suddenly change into wood, except for her hands and feet.
	"Shisho!" the youma shouted and struck a pose.
	A woman behind the youma in a glass exhibit partition shouted at the top of her lungs, 
"Monster!"  Immediately, echoes of the word bounced around the museum and a stampede of patrons 
began to rush for the door.
	"Shisho," Jadeite yelled, "destroy them!  Feed on their energy!"
	"Shisho!" the youma replied and grabbed one of the policemen and hip tossed him through the 
glass partition behind it.  Not only did the glass shatter into a million pieces, but his body kept flying 
through several more partitions before finally coming to rest halfway to the main doors.
	The other two policemen ran off, firing their guns blindly behind them, in the direction of the 
youma, but the bullets simply bounced off it and struck the walls or shattered more glass partitions.  
Shisho held out its right arm and the forearm rolled to the side, revealing several small cards stuffed into 
a compartment.  The youma quickly flipped through the cards as the policemen emptied their guns at it.  
Shisho finally found the card she wanted and yanked it out of her arm.  "Ah, you like cops and robbers?  
Here's a book I think you'll like by Jerome H. Skolnick and James J. Fyfe that came out in 1994!"
	The policemen exchanged curious looks.  "Huh?" they said simultaneously.
	In Shisho's hand, the card morphed into a book in a flash of light.  "Shi ne!" it cried then hurled 
the book at them.
	The book landed a few inches in front of them with a thud.  One of the cops picked the book up 
and read the title: "Above the Law:  Police and the Excessive Use of Force".  "Huh?" they asked each 
other again.
	Then the book exploded.

	"What am I running for?"
	Rei slowed to a stop nearly a full block from the Crown Fruit Parlor.  She turned around and saw 
all of her friends catching up with her.
	"Shimatta!" she thought to herself.  "When they get here, they're going to ask all sorts of 
questions.  What do I tell them?"
	Kenji, Tadashi, and Takahiro were the first to catch up to Rei.  "Hey, Rei-san!  Daijobu?" Kenji 
asked.
	"Gomen, I really can't talk about it," she answered.
	"Nani?" Kenji said with a disgusted look.
	A few seconds later, Makoto, Minako, Artemis, and Usagi caught up to Rei as well.  "Baka!" 
Usagi shouted.  "You could've gotten yourself killed back there!"
	Rei lowered her head and sat down on a bus stop bench a few feet away.  "Gomen.  I don't know 
what came over me," she sighed.
	Minako and Kenji sat to each side of Rei on the bench, while the others stood behind the bench.  
"I thought you were a huge fan of Cringe, Rei-chan?" Minako said.
	"I was, Minako-chan."
	"So, what changed, Rei-san?" Tadashi asked.  "This is our big chance to make the dream we all 
share come true!  You still want to perform with us, don't you?"
	"Of course, Tadashi-san."
	"So, daijobu?" inquired Takahiro insistently.
	Rei paused for several seconds then took a deep breath before speaking.  "Minako-chan, do you 
remember that Cringe concert we went to a couple of years back?"  Minako nodded.  "You also remember 
that I was invited backstage, right?"  Minako nodded again.  "Well, I met Masahiro Satou, and let's just 
say he wasn't nearly as nice of a guy as he seemed to be."
	"What does that have to do with anything, Rei-san?" Kenji said.
	"Because he'll be there, Kenji-san!  I'd rather not cross paths with him ever again.  It'd just be...a 
bad idea."
	"Rei-chan," Usagi piped up, "it was two years ago.  He probably doesn't even remember you."
	"I hope that is the truth, Usagi, but I would rather not take the chance."
	"This is ridiculous!  You're going to blow our big break because of some little tiff you had with 
Satou?" Takahiro shouted.
	Rei looked across the street to the museum as she thought to herself.  Am I really going to throw 
away my dream because of that night so long ago, she thought?  They could be right.  Maybe Satou doesn't 
remember me?
	"OK, minna, I'll do it, but you gotta make one promise for me," Rei finally announced.
	"Name it!" Kenji said, the smile back on his face.
	"I can stay in our dressing room until we go on, and we can leave right after our set is done."
	"Anything, Rei-san!  We need you there!"  Kenji placed his hand softly on Rei's shoulder as a 
sign of reassurance and relief that she didn't bail on Zombie Horseradish.  Rei flinched slightly at Kenji's 
touch, but resisted the urge to swat his hand away.  "Well, we need to get going, Rei-san.  I'll call you with 
the details when we get home, OK?"
	"Hai, Kenji-kun," she replied with a small, yet warm smile.  Kenji returned the smile, then stood 
and walked away with Tadashi and Takahiro just as Ami and Luna slowly walked up to the bench.
	"Rei-chan, daijobu?" Ami asked, slightly out of breath.
	"Hai, daijobu," she replied as she turned back to the museum and saw a woman run down the 
stairs and up to two police cars that were parked along the street, three officers standing on the sidewalk 
talking.  The woman frantically spoke with the officers and they hurriedly followed her back up the stairs.  
"Minna, what's going on over there?" Rei asked, pointing to the officers and woman ascending the stairs.
	"I don't know," Makoto said, as she watched the officers disappear into the museum.
	"Come on, minna!  Our ice cream is probably all melted by now!" Usagi whined.
	"Is that all you can think of?" Rei shouted.  "Look, go back and eat your sweets.  I'm just gonna 
sit here for a while."
	"Rei-chan," Usagi said softly, with a tone of concern.  She sighed then suddenly the main doors 
of the museum swung open and dozens of people screaming, "Monster!" began to swarm out.
	"What the...?" Minako said, watching the spectacle.
	"Something's wrong!" Rei said.
	"Minna!  You need to transform now!" Luna ordered.
	The girls and the cats looked around for a place to transform and settled for a nearby alley.  They 
each pulled out their henshin wands and held them high.
	"MOON ETERNAL!  MAKE-UP!"
	"MARS CRYSTAL POWER!  MAKE-UP!"
	"JUPITER CRYSTAL POWER!  MAKE-UP!"
	"VENUS CRYSTAL POWER!  MAKE-UP!"
	After several seconds, flashes of light, and swirls of color, the Sailor Senshi stood in the alley, 
except for Ami.  Usagi, Rei, Minako, and Makoto turned to their friend and saw the look of sadness that 
had washed over her face.
	"I shouldn't transform, not in my condition," she said softly, looking down.
	"Daijobu, Ami-chan," Makoto said.
	"Artemis and I will stay here with Ami," Luna offered.
	"Arigato, Luna," Ami said to the black cat.  "Usagi-chan, keep your communicator open.  I'll do 
what I can from out here."
	"Hai, Ami-chan!" Usagi said then saw Ami's expression perk up and smile.
The sound of gunshots ringing out reached their ears.
	"That's our cue!" Rei shouted, and then all four girls ran out of the alley just as the boom from an 
explosion echoed through the streets.  They weaved their way through the traffic between them and the 
museum, and ran up towards the main doors.  Ami walked slowly from the alley, her pocket computer 
open and in hand, and looked towards the museum, wistfully, before beginning her scans.