Name: The Winds of Fate: Part 7-The Hunt
Author:Black Gryphon
Rating: PG13 (Violence)
E-Mail: blackgryphon21@hotmail.com
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					The Winds of Fate: Part 7
							by
						Black Gryphon

	Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, they are the property 
of the people at DIC and all other companies involved in the production and distribution 
of Sailor Moon. 
	Because of the abrupt ending to production of the North American version 
of Sailor Moon I decided to take matters into my own hands and write a season of my 
own.  This season is frozen in time between the final battle with the Doom Phantom and 
The opening of Season 4. For the most part, all the previous points apply. Comments are 
welcome, look at the end for my address.
On a separate note, while I am very flattered by some of the fan mail, please note 
that I am a straight male, thank you.
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				           Episode 7: The Hunt

	
With a swirl of black cloth he sat down heavily, his mind filled with everything 
that had recently happened.  King Obsidian was less than thrilled with his failure to 
defeat the Scouts with the Constructs, but they were just too strong.  Still... Obsidian was 
very powerful, while he could probably defeat the Scouts one on one, Obsidian could 
obliterate him with the ease of stepping on an ant. His king was too powerful, however, 
he could not leave for, as one, Earth's people could most likely defeat him, and he alone 
could not be discreet.   
He pulled his sword from the scabbard at his side and, still lost in thought, began 
to examine it for any damage; finding none he carefully re-sheathed it and hung it on the 
wall.  He glanced back at the long cloak that was now part of his uniform, he had worn it 
so long that it seemed to be a part of his body. 
He sat down again, thinking how he might make up for the loss of the Constructs, 
especially Lord Brie'Og, the Earth Construct.  Unfortunately, the one answer would be to 
destroy the Scouts, no small task.  
He sat there pondering this for what must have been an hour before the painfully 
simple answer came to his head:  He knew who Sailor Moon was in her real life and she 
was powerless if denied the chance to transform, kill her, and perhaps one other, and the 
scouts will fall apart.  He decided not to tell Obsidian about this plan, should he fail it 
would be his worst defeat, and should he win the King would easily excuse him his 
breach of protocol. 
He quickly planned his work, it would be easy enough to get near her in this 
crowded world, and just as easy to vanish.  He stood to choose his weapons, he depended 
less on his powers these days.  In the end he had laid out the apparatuses of his wrist-
sheaths for throwing daggers and a small crossbow he could hide at the small of his back.
He chose the clothes that would allow him the best access to young Serena, armed 
himself and set out to hunt.
				**********************

Luna found her way back to Lita's apartment around eight-thirty the morning after 
the ritual.  She had expected the two girls to be asleep, but was surprised to find them 
both awake and hard at work at translating the book.  "You two are up early." She 
remarked as she entered the room.
"Actually," Lita said, a little hint of worry in her voice, "I'm up early, Amy's up 
late."
"What?" Luna asked, worried herself now. "Amy, I know that you were up very 
early yesterday.  It's not healthy to be awake for more than twenty-four hours."
"I know," Amy said, obviously exhausted, but steadfast. "But I can catch up on 
sleep, this is more important.   The faster I translate this, the more people we can help." 
As she finished she turned back to the papers and began again.
Luna was about to make another argument when Lita raised a hand to tell her to 
be quiet, without wasting a movement she gestured for the Guardian Cat to follow her 
into her room.  When they were there Lita answer Luna's unspoken question.  "She's not 
going to listen to either of us, she holds her duty very highly.  I'm sure you know that, 
she's been a Scout longer than me." Lita made a small shrug before continuing. "Last 
night, around ten I guess, we said good night to each other.  I woke up at around seven to 
find her working and that the fold-out-bed in the living room hadn't been slept in."  Lita 
sighed sadly. "I'm worried about her overworking herself."
Luna nodded, but seemed more optimistic, "I wouldn't worry that much about 
her, she's smarter than the rest of us combined.  She'll stop before she hurts herself."
"I hope you're right."
				*******************

He looked down from the rooftop where he sat.  He knew that Serena would be 
here, she always was on Saturdays.  He drew out his crossbow, it had been a long time 
since he'd used it, but, he kept it well, it's aim was true.  His gaze shifted back over the 
roof's edge to the arcade door; she had to be here soon enough, it was already three in the 
afternoon. He'd been here since dawn. He pulled back the string and laid a bolt into the 
slot, it couldn't be much longer.  
"Come on, come on." He murmured, his nerves were as taught as the bowstring at 
this point and he wanted to kill something, badly.   Strangely, as though he had willed her 
there, he saw the blonde that was his quarry.  Serena looked so innocent as she came up 
to the arcade, no one would suspect her to be the heroine who had saved them all, time 
and again.
He pulled up the bow and carefully took aim, *It's almost a pity,* he thought to 
himself. *She is a great warrior, it would be far more satisfying to defeat her in combat.* 
He lowered his bow and thought for a minute.  *On second thought,* he said to himself 
as he raised the bow again, *I'm not an idiot.* 
He quickly made all the adjustments and compensations needed, and slipped his 
finger over the trigger.  *A clean head-shot, right through the temples.* As he finished 
the thought he pulled the trigger.   The shaft flew from the bow almost faster than the eye 
could follow, its steel tip made for the sole purpose of rending flesh.  He congratulated 
himself mentally as the bolt reached the point in the center of the two, no controlled 
human movement could let her dodge the bolt from this distance.
Serena's head flew sideways and was pinned by a foot of metal to the wall, the tip 
of the crossbow bolt embedded firmly into the brick.   Back atop the building, a black-
gloved slammed down on the stone in anger.   The stupid girl had SNEEZED!  The shot 
had caught one of her meatballs and pulled her into the side of the building.  He started to 
pull back the string on his bow.
Far below him, Serena was trying, frantically, to free herself.  She tried to pull the 
bolt from the wall, but it would have been easier to pull the brick it was in from the wall; 
nor could she snap the shaft, seeing as it was wrought from solid steel.  Finally, one of 
her fingers caught in her hair and undid the meatball.  Serena's hair fell straight and she 
ran immediately, just as another bolt struck the wall where her head had been.   
Serena ran as fast as her legs could carry her, her mind was numb with fear.  As 
Sailor Moon, she'd faced things that defied description, things of pure evil; but now, she 
was merely Serena, fleeing for her life.  Less than a minute later, a man who had been 
walking on the street fell right beside the girl, clutching his arm where a bolt was 
imbedded clean through.  She glanced up to the rooftops and saw a black shadow 
jumping from building to building after her, she started to run again, leaving the injured 
man.  
The dark figure leapt from roof to roof easily, one thing he liked about Japan was 
that all the buildings were close together and, ergo, easy to run across.  He shot two more 
bolts at the young woman far below him, the first was thrown aside by a gust of wind, but 
the second did hit it's target.  The tip grazed one of Serena's shoulders and drew some 
blood, however, with the amount of adrenaline in her system, she didn't even notice.  
Serena came to a corner and turned away from the cloaked man.  For a moment 
she though that she might be safe; however, she saw, far above her, the figure jumped 
across the street to the next roof.  He had misjudged the distance and had to pull himself 
up, but the chase was on again and Serena began to run.   The young girl ran with all the 
strength she could muster, darting through alleys and nearly getting hit by several cars as 
she fled the relatively constant rain of crossbow bolts.  Twice, her life had been saved 
because she tripped when her foot caught and she watched a steel shaft break through the 
asphalt.  
The young woman finally saw hope in the distance: the mall.  She knew that she 
could probably lose him inside, provided she reached it.  Behind her, yet another bolt 
struck the sidewalk right where she'd been a second before; she realized that almost 
thirty shots had been fired, she vainly hoped for a moment that he would run out, but the 
thought was shattered as another shot clipped her ankle, drawing blood.  
The figure pulled back his bow again, the girl was entering the parking lot, his 
best chance was now.  The open area made the wind stronger, but more predictable, as 
the buildings made a wind tunnel prone to gusts, many good shots had been thrown off 
because of them.  He took his aim and fired, he swore that nothing could stop the shot, 
but again luck was on the side of the young blonde, a car started up and the antenna rose 
up and deflected the bolt, just enough to cause it to miss.  
Serena reached the doors, she quickly pulled at them and ran in, she almost hit the 
second pair before she forced herself to stop and open them too.  As she ran into the mall 
she glanced back and saw the figure aim his last shot.  As she saw his hand jerk slightly 
when he pulled the trigger on the crossbow, she dove to the ground and covered her head.  
The bolt relentlessly pierced the air, both panes of glass in the mall doors 
shattered as it passed effortlessly through.  The steel bolt made a dull 'Thunk' noise as it 
embedded itself into its final destination.
Serena slowly lifted her head and thanked every god she'd ever heard of that she 
still alive.  Her gaze passed first to the doors and the trail of glass shards that ended a 
mere foot from her legs.  She looked in front of her and saw two mannequins that had 
suffered the fate meant for her, the first had been split in half by the force of the shot, the 
second had half of the bolt sticking out of it.  She glanced back and saw that the black 
figure was reloading the bow, she quickly stood up and ran into the mall.
Back outside of the mall, the man thought to himself, *Clever girl, there's a dozen 
exits to that place and I can't call for any help.  Also, there are dozens of places to hide in 
there and there's too many people to be able to hunt.* He smiled to himself, *Well 
played Sailor Moon, but I can try as many times as I need to.* He looked down at the bolt 
in his crossbow and fired it at the car whose antenna had stopped his shot.  With that, he 
turned and left.

                                                        ****************

Back, a long way across town and oblivious to Serena's flight, Lita watched Amy 
working diligently on translating the ancient tome that Raye had brought back.  The tall 
brunette felt a sense of wonder and worry as she looked on: Wonder because of the ease 
and skill that the young woman worked; worry because she had been working for almost 
twenty-four hours at this point.   She had watched for hours, seeing the blue-haired girl 
slowly fade.   She was never sure how long it was, but eventually Amy stopped for a 
moment to stretch and as she did so, she finally nodded off.   
Lita let out a small sigh of relief, it was too long coming.  She gently stood up, 
walked over to the couch-bed that Amy was supposed to have use the night before and 
pulled back the covers.   She then walked back over to Amy and carefully picked her up, 
Lita was surprised that Amy weighed as much as she did, she was too small for any real 
fat to make up the weight, thus, she must have been stronger then she let on.   The 
brunette had no trouble lifting the young woman, however; even weighing more than she 
expected, Lita's strength more than made up the difference.  Before long Lita had laid 
Amy on the bed, covered her and turned off some of the lights so she could sleep easier.
"That was a touching moment." Luna said behind Lita, nearly scaring her out of 
her skin.  When she turned, she saw that the cat was smiling at her, "Sorry about that, it 
was a touching moment though."  
After getting her breathing back in check Lita answered the guardian. "I just 
forgot you were here Luna.  She's about the only company that stays here that long." She 
said, gesturing to the sleeping form in the bed.   Lita made her way over to an armchair 
she had and settled into it. 
Luna jumped up onto one of the arms and started talking to Lita again, "Don't 
worry about it, I live with Serena and even she forgets I'm around." Luna looked up at 
Lita to she that she was staring at Amy wearing a face that was lost in thought.  "Is there 
a problem Lita?"  
Lita jumped a bit at the sound of her name, "Excuse me Luna?"
"Is there a problem?" The cat repeated, "What are you thinking about?"
Lita made a sound somewhere between sighing and chuckling before she put her 
chin in her hands and answered, "Just... What has been, what could have been..." She 
trailed off for a moment, "What will be and what could be." She sighed again.
"Everything and Nothing?"
"That's about it.  I mean," The brunette looked at the cat, "I wasted two years, I 
could have lost her to Greg, or anyone else who took some initiative, we both died.   I've 
fought against the Negaverse before I was a Scout, and I've never been afraid to ask a 
guy out... but it took me two years to admit to someone I fell for when I first saw them I 
cared for 'em."  She looked down at her feline friend and asked, "What were we on the 
Moon?  Were we together?"
Luna had to laugh at that one, she almost fell off the chair as she fought for air.  
Finally, she was able to speak and answered, "You don't remember?  Or haven't figured 
it out?"
Lita thought hard for a minute, but came up blank. "What?"
"Skating!" Luna almost yelled.
Lita was still confused, "What do you mean?" 
Luna sat back and decided to be patient, "Remember that time with Sasha and 
Misha, the figure skaters?" The girl nodded, "Think slowly, what happened that day?"
Lita leaned back and thought, "Let's see, I got on the ice and started to do some of 
the things my mother had taught me, simple jumps and turns and such." She stopped to 
think for a minute, "Then someone said, 'she's amazing' I turned back and saw that it 
was Amy and... I just... took off." She finished by resting her forehead in her hands.  
"In the Moon Kingdom, Princess Mercury was always going away as she was one 
of the finest minds in the kingdom.  You couldn't go with her and decided that you would 
do something at least symbolic of your love for her."
Lita caught on, "And ice skating was almost like becoming one with the ice."
Luna smiled, "Exactly, so yes, you were together.  In fact, you were engaged."
It was Lita's turn to smile then, "That's one thing that I hope will happen again."
The pair talked on for about an hour or two; maybe more, maybe less; but as they 
talked, Lita felt much more sure of herself in regards of her relationship with Amy.  They 
were still talking when the doorbell rang.  
Lita stood and quickly went over to see who it was;  when the door opened, she 
saw a very shaken Serena standing in the threshold. "C-can I come in?" The blonde 
asked, barely able to keep her voice steady.   
"Of course," Lita said, her voice was edged with worry.  As Serena passed her, 
she noticed that one of her meatballs were undone and there was blood pooled on her 
shoulder.  After Serena had taken a seat and Lita had closed the door, the brunette asked, 
"What happened, Serena?"
Serena looked up, unsure of how to answer, finally she said, "Could you please 
call the others?" Something in her voice made Lita abandon any questions and simply 
nod. "Thank you." She finished.

                                                   ***************

Within the hour the other Scouts had arrived, Lita had woken Amy who in turn 
disinfected and dressed Serena's cuts.   Finally, Serena sat on the bed and told the others 
what had happened.  When she was done, Luna quietly stalked away to the other room.  
"So its clear now?" Mina said, "Our enemy is Alex, and he knows who we are." 
Serena started to nod, but stopped, "I think so, but with the Negaverse back, it 
could be anything."  She realized what she was saying and shook her head, "What am I 
saying, it had to have been him. I feel as though I should apologize to Luna though."
Lita stood up and said, "Serena, what say we get you out of those clothes? I know 
some tricks to get rid of blood." She then went over to her drawer and started rummaging 
through.
"Lita, your clothes will swim on her." She heard Amy say behind her, "I brought 
some extras when I came, I'll get them."   
Serena, who was taking the whole ordeal remarkably well, asked, "What has she 
learned?"
"I don't know, she worked through the night and fell asleep before she told me." 
Lita shrugged, "but she may have something we could use."
Almost on cue, Amy returned.  She handed the clothes to Serena, who left for the 
bathroom to change.  Raye quickly asked Amy the same thing that Serena did.  Amy 
thought for a minute and said, "Not much, I know that it's written in three languages, 
English, French and German.  The order is completely out though, or actually there 
doesn't seem to be one.  I have a page done and the order of sentences is French, 
German, German, German, French, German, English, and so on.  It's very slow going."
Serena walked in at this point, she looked a little odd wearing Amy's clothes.  
She had on a pair of Jeans and slightly loose sweater; or they were on Amy anyway.  It 
was easy to forget two things: one, that Serena is slightly shorter than Amy, without the 
meatballs that is; and two, that Amy's frame is slightly larger than Serena's, in general.  
The clothes hung off of her, not uncomfortably, but very noticeably.  *At least I didn't 
take Lita's clothes.* She thought to herself.  Serena looked at her friends, who were 
obviously trying not to laugh at her and said, "What happens now?" 
Mina perked a bit at that, "Hey, since we can't do anything about this guy yet, 
why don't we get your mind off of things with an ice cream cone?" Quickly deciding that 
Serena needed some consoling more than defense, they all agreed.
                                                   *************

High above the city streets, the dark figure kept his vigil.  He learned that the man 
he had shot had lost his arm, he took some vicious pleasure in the knowledge that not all 
of his bolts were shot in vain.  He leapt from roof to roof around the city, he was the 
hunter in a great game of Cat-and-Mouse, and he enjoyed the idea.  Out of the corner of 
his eye he caught the golden hue of blonde hair, but it proved to be nothing more than a 
passerby, not who he was looking for and it was best to save his arrows.  
As he was about to scan another block of the city, he saw something that grabbed 
his attention.  A young girl, not the blonde he was looking for, but her hair had a bluish 
tinge he knew was rare.  He considered picking her off, but a moment later he saw 
another three girls enter into view from around a corner, he thought he had his quarry.  
Unfortunately, the blonde in the group was not the one he was seeking, a moment later, 
however, she did come around the corner.  He knew that these had to be the whole lot of 
them.  * The trick now, * He thought to himself, * Is to decide the order. *  He knew that 
one should always know their enemy.  Sailor Moon was their leader, should she die first 
they would all turn on him with a high level anger, that was not a good idea.  The blue-
haired girl he had noticed first? No, her powers were defensive and she wouldn't have the 
same kind of attacking power as the other. Besides, he knew that Jupiter was physically 
the strongest, and from the way they walked together, her rage would be greater than if 
he took out Serena.  * Vise Versa, no, a defensive force can be turned into a powerful 
offensive with the right brain and incentive.  She has the one, no need to give her the 
other.* His thoughts continued as he watched them enter a construction yard.  * Mars' 
attacks are very spread out and fast, like a shotgun; and Venus' are relatively slow and 
while the end is wide, the body of the attack is whip-like.*  
They were about halfway through the yard when he made up his mind.  He loaded 
the crossbow and aimed it at Mars, or at least that's who she was when she was 
transformed.  The arrow shot out of its housing cleanly as though eager to drink from the 
girl's blood.  The moment seemed to slow for him as he watched the bolt fly towards the 
teenager.  
Far below, Raye heard the snap of the bowstring and reflexively jumped straight 
up. He training had saved he life, but the blade still struck across the back of her leg as 
she leapt clear, it was a glancing blow, but enough to slow her down somewhat.  
Back on the rooftop, the Sniper was already reloading his weapon.  He had many 
magical attacks he could use, but he didn't take the same pleasure from it.  His 
imprisonment had warped him.   As he finished readying his weapon, he noticed that the 
girls were running for cover.  He again aimed for Mars, but his shot was never fired; far 
below and to his left was Jupiter, or Lita as she was called in her current form.  She had 
used one of the rose earrings she always wore and had thrown it at him, much the same 
as when she first met Zoicite.  The sharpened flower caught him in the back of the hand 
and caused him the drop the crossbow, it plummeted to earth and shattered on the 
asphalt. 
Raye called her thanks over to Lita, who responded with, "Anytime, now let's 
transform and get rid of this guy."
"Right!" Serena had been the one to speak then.  "Moon Prism... Oh No!" She 
felt around in her pockets, but with no luck. "I don't have my locket!"  Her mind raced 
back to try and find it, it only took a moment: It was still on her blouse, which was 
currently in Lita's bathroom.
Raye's face dropped, "What do you mean...?! Nevermind, we'll do it." She 
reached for her transformation pen, however she too couldn't find it.  "Oh man, I left it 
by my bed when you called me!"
"Me too!" Mina called over, their voices were starting to sound a little frayed. 
The three of them looked to Amy and Lita, a bit of fading hope in their eyes.  As they too 
shook their heads, they all knew they were in trouble.
"I'm impressed," A deep voice called to the Scouts; they turned to see the one 
who had nearly killed Raye standing on he ground near them.  "Very few have ever 
survived a single shot from me, let alone break my bow.  However, it seems from your 
expressions that you cannot transform, so if you surrender, I'll be quick and you won't 
have to face my master." He was serious: deadly serious, and it chilled Serena to the 
bone.  
Serena then proved herself braver than any of them would have ever given her 
credit for.  Her voice rose, scared, but strong, "Take me instead." She waited until she 
had his attention before repeating herself and continuing. "Take me to your master, do 
whatever you want, but leave my friends alone."  He slowly walked up to her, as he did 
he slowly drew a sword from under his cloak.  Serena closed her eyes with fear of the 
pain, but held her ground.  As he came close to her, she began to shiver, but still she did 
not move.  
"You have guts," he said finally, "but not brains.  You all die, or I die.  There is 
no 'instead', just now or later."  
Serena's eyes opened, and filled with tears at her inability to save her friends.  
She watched, helpless with defeat as the blade rose up in readiness to finish her.  Again, 
her eyes closed as the blade began to fall, and she waited for her life to end, but the blade 
never struck her.  Her eyes slowly reopened, unsure: There, just a foot in front of her was 
Mina, in her hands she held a crowbar and was holding back the sword.  
Serena ducked out of the way as Mina's knees began to buckle.  As soon as she 
was clear, the blonde too slipped away, still holding the crowbar.  A strange humming 
noise passed Serena's ear as another rose earring was thrown at the enemy, but this one 
was easily deflected.  
"So, you want to die fighting.  Very well then." With that the dark figure ran for 
Lita.  The girl ducked under the blade's swing, but was hit by the hilt as it went by, the 
blow sent her sprawling. He went up to the prone girl and drew the sword over his head 
to finish her. Amy, who was closest, saw what was about to happen, for the first time in 
her life she let anger rule her and she ran at him and punched him in the head.   
As he reeled under the unexpected attack, Lita jumped up and quickly cleared the 
danger zone.  She was amazed that Amy had that kind of strength, but she remembered 
earlier when she had carried Amy and how much she had weighed.  When she was 
cleared, she looked back to see that the dark man had regained his composure. 
The enemy was now in a rage.  "Why you little!  It's only a matter of time before 
your luck runs out!"  He was about to charge for Amy, but before he could even start, and 
solid kick from Raye stopped him.  He turned to the black-haired girl and seemed to turn 
into some type of animal as he advanced on her.
He was about to strike at her when a blow from behind knocked him sideways.  
Raye looked past him to see Mina standing a few feet in back of the enemy, the crowbar 
that she had used to save Serena was still in her hand.  
He got back to his feet and turned away from all four of them and started to back 
away.  "Hey!" A voice said behind him, when he turned, Serena hit him across the face 
with a large wrench. 
He reeled from the attack, but it didn't seem to faze him all that much.  He 
grabbed the wrench and threw it away.  "Alright, you want to fight, I'll be back when you 
can actually hurt me."  With that he cast a gate and left.
The girls were surrounded by a sudden and thunderous silence.  They had won: 
That was the unbelievable and undeniable truth.  They had won.  With no powers, no 
special abilities and no magical weapons.  As they looked to each others' faces they all 
knew that they had won more than the fight, they had won the knowledge that the Sailor 
Scouts were stronger than even they had assumed and that knowledge was more precious 
than gold.   They were now able to go at their enemies with more surety, even though 
they hadn't gained a new power.  Actually, maybe they had.
                                         *************** 
As the day came to an end, Lita bid farewell to all of her friend as they left her 
apartment to return home for the night.  As she closed the dorr, she returned to her living 
room and found Amy already trying to translate the book.  "Amy," She said with love, 
sincerity and a little frustration. 
"Hmm?" Was the answer she got.
"Would you do something for me?"
"Of course." Amy looked up at this point, one eyebrow raised.
"You promise you'll do it?" Lita asked, still being sincere.
"All right." Amy said slowly, very unsure of what was about to be asked of her.
"Go to bed."  Lita said flatly.
Amy laughed, but did as she was asked and in a moment Lita went to her own 
room.
                                                          ************

	Back in the Negaverse, the one who had fought with the Scouts now held his head 
in pain.  "Bloody little!  They didn't even have powers!"  He paced for a minute before 
adding, "I'll get them for this!"
	Two other figures in black cloaks watched their comrade, as he left them broke 
out laughing.  One, a woman asked, "Think we should tell Obsidian?"
	The other, a man, replied, "No need, he's already dug his own grave."