Andy Combs (Note: This is a fanfiction written as if it was the next TV series following Sailor Stars. It is *not* a darkfic, despite the title. It is a mix of the silly and the serious. Sappy romance, hard-hitting super-hero action, with a few mysteries tossed in for good measure. In other words, standard Sailor Moon fare. It is also set firmly in the Sailor Moon Expanded fanfic universe.) Previous chapters available from: http://www.texas.net/~android/sme_main.txt Argent walked along the docks, frowning at what the humans had done to this world. This was one of the worst examples of it. The harbor was so fouled with the reek of the humans that little still lived in it. He stared out at the human ships, coming and going constantly. Argent yearned to strike at the humans who so polluted this world. But that wasn't his mission. His was just to probe the Sailor Senshi for all information he could get. Argent halted, a sudden idea taking form. He stopped and stared out over the harbor. Yes. It just might work. He could strike a blow at the disgusting humans, and give the Senshi quite a tough time. And all at the cost of no troops whatsoever. He grinned. Mentally, he began to weave a small hole between the worlds. This would take some time to set up, but would be well worth the effort. Time to do some hunting. The hole fully formed, he stepped forward and vanished from this plane of existence. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From a nearby rooftop a small figure watched. Macavity's voice spoke softly. "Argent, you are just too predictable, old friend. Quite creative..., but predictable." Cue Moonlight Densetsu as the opening music. Gomen ne sunao ja nakute (Shot of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, back to back, in defensive poses.) Yume no naka nara ieru (Shot of Sailor Mercury and Starhunter in similar poses.) Shikou kairo wa shotto sunzen (Shot of Mars and Venus is similar poses.) Ima sugu aitai yo (Shot of Jupiter and Laura in similar poses. Macavity tumbles past Makoto and Laura, who both sweatdrop.) Nakitaku naru you na Moonlight Denwa mo dekinai Midnight (Shot of Luna and Artemis, both sitting on their haunches, slowly orbiting each other.) Datte junjou dou shiyou Hatto wa mangekyou" (Macavity suddenly appears between them, douses both from a seltzer bottle, then vanishes, leaving two wet and obviously pissed off kitties.) Tsuki no Hikari ni michibikare (Shot of The Chairman. He is standing against a dark background, and has his hand stretched out towards the camera, a lot like Jadeite did with his energy ball in the first few TV episodes. Instead of an energy ball, The Chairman is holding a globe, which he then closes his hand around, crushing the globe. Throughout, his face is emotionless.) Nandomo meguri-au (Shot of Argent sitting on a tree branch, waving his index finger at the camera in a "No, no, no." motion.) (Brief instrumental (organ?) riff) (Shot of Laura at her equipment, frantically punching buttons and turning dials) (Macavity appears behind her, sneaking up on her. She casually grabs a pillow from somewhere and tosses it behind her, tagging Macavity before he can get close to her.) Seiza no mataki kazoe (Close-up of Eternal Sailor Moon, a sad look on her face) Uranau koi no yukue (The view pulls back. Eternal Sailor Moon is sitting, looking out at a view we cannot see. She's not alone. Tuxedo Mask is right behind her, hands on her shoulder, comforting her.) Onaji kuni ni umareta no Mirakuru Romansu (Continue to pull out. The rest of the cast is now seen. Macavity is at Sailor Moon's feet, while the Inner Senshi and Laura are in a small semi circle behind her.) Shinjite iro no Mirakuru Romansu (Finally show that the whole gang is looking out over a pristine, untouched landscape. A couple of fairies (butterfly girls) fly by as the opening fades out...) Sailor Moon Dark War Episode 3: Of Ships, Sailors, and Sea Monsters. A tale of Sailor Moon Expanded Written by Andy Combs What has gone before: After six months of peace following the defeat of Galaxia, a leprechaun named Macavity appears before the Senshi warning of a new enemy. With Macavity's help the Senshi have easily defeated the first two attacks of the new enemy, whom Macavity calls the Dark Ones. The leader of the Dark Ones, known only as The Chairman, has put their plans on hold while his servant Argent continues to probe the abilities of the local defenders, the Sailor Senshi, and tries to solve the mystery of why they have a leprechaun assisting them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argent walked along the shore of a dark lake. This was normally not an area he would choose to visit. Few visited here anymore, not since the local resident arrived. Those that visited generally didn't return. A soft splash sounded from out on the lake. Argent heard, but didn't take notice. When one was hunting, one didn't spook one's prey. Which was certainly exactly what the prey thought. His target thought itself the hunter, but would soon learn the truth of the situation. Argent continued to walk calmly along the shore, ignoring the dark shape that had risen almost silently from the water behind him. Long and slender, one end disappeared back into the murk of the lake, so that no indication of the thing's true size was evident. The shape hesitated for a few moments, appearing to analyze Argent carefully. Argent forced himself to be patient. The target had to make the first move for this to work. The shape finally made its decision, and moved rapidly towards him, apparently preparing to encircle the much smaller human form. At the last moment before the shape struck him, Argent's eyes glowed with energy, and a field could be seen taking shape around him. In part, it was a typical kinetic defense shield. Argent had very strong innate shield generation abilities. But that was only part of the shield. The rest was what had taken so long to set up. An elaborate spell woven by himself and several other crack wizards. Under the Chairman's mandate, he had been able to secure their services in its casting. Especially since it had been a no-risk activity for them. It wasn't like he was asking them to travel to Earth to fight the Senshi. The dark tentacle struck, wrapping itself around him just as he had expected. Argent spoke the keyword, bringing the extra spells around him to full life. The shield flared as it pulsed with energy. Realizing something was wrong, the tentacle began to release Argent, but he quickly grabbed it himself. The hunter had become the hunted. The tentacle began to whip around, as the creature sought to free itself, but Argent was unmovable. The last aspect of the spells around him had been a variant on a simple ensnare spell meant to hold an opponent immobile. The variant held Argent's lower half in place, but left his upper half free. Free to grapple the creature, and cast any other spells he needed. It would take more strength than the creature had to have any hope of moving him. Argent could feel the energy flow through him. The main spell was a typical life-force drain. Executed correctly, it would sink any living creature into unconsciousness. Argent didn't actually consume the energy himself, though. He would have use for it later. So for now he just shunted it off into his personal reserves. Slowly the struggles slowed, then stopped, as the creature lost the ability to resist. Argent held tightly to the tentacle. If he let it go and slip back into the water, this would all have been for nothing. Argent send out a mental call, and two huge forms emerged from the surrounding foliage. Ogres, they would help him prepare his catch for transport. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi was gliding freely through a heaven of her own making. A moon-lit night, a walk along the harbor, and her Mamo-chan at her side. Life didn't get much better than this. Well, maybe if Macavity and those weird fang-faces hadn't showed up. But they had, and she would defeat them just like she had defeated the rest before them. There was no doubt in her mind of the eventual outcome. She leaned into him, letting him support her weight a bit. That was what he was, the pillar of support for her world. When he had gone missing, during his first trip to America, it had been as if that support had been knocked out from under her. Her friends had done their best to keep her spirits up through those times, but it had been tough. And then there had been Seiya to complicate the situation. Seiya. If she hadn't had Mamoru, might she have actually fallen for him? Sure, she had cared for him, deeply, but as a friend. But had she not been longing for Mamoru, might she have possibly fallen in love with Seiya? There was no way to know. She shoved the might-have-beens aside. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Macavity arrived shortly after Usagi and Mamoru. He nodded in satisfaction as he saw them below. Well, almost everyone is in place, now we just need the guest of honor to show up. Or was that guest of horror? Macavity mentally shrugged. Whichever. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argent concentrated briefly, opening the gate. It had to be big to accommodate his catch. As soon as the gate was in place, he sent a call to the ogres, who easily tossed their burden through. They then turned to return to their business, their roles done. Argent pondered them momentarily. They were slow and stupid, but strong and nearly invulnerable. If he could somehow get even one of them to the other side, it would make for a very interesting test of the Senshi's abilities. Something to keep in mind for the future. The drain of keeping such a big gate open brought him back to reality, and he stepped through himself before letting it collapse behind him. Once through he quickly oriented himself. He was hovering right over the center of the harbor. Perfect. He could feel the slow pulse of life of his catch in the water below. With a nod he released the energy that he had gathered from it, allowing it to return to its owner, who would quickly awaken once it returned. Satisfied, he began to search out a spot from which to watch the coming fun. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Macavity sighed. The two love birds below him were getting a bit boring. He'd never been the one for playing voyeur on other's sex lives. Wowing the ladies himself was more his stile. On the other hand, until recently it had been an eternity since he had seen another of his species, let alone a female. That made for a pretty dull sex life. A soft beeping sounded in his ear, and he muttered a phrase in response to activate the communications link. Laura's voice sounded in his ear. "Master, we've got problems. Argent's got a gate open. It's in the water, just like you predicted, but it's bigger than you thought. This is the biggest gate we've seen yet. Easily fifty feet across. Oh, it just closed. Whatever he's bringing across, it's here." "Fifty feet? In Serenity's name! What does he need a gate that size for?" "Master? Obviously it's not the seaborne hoard you expected. What else could he be doing?" Macavity frowned out at the water. "With a gate that large he could even bring across a... No. Even he wouldn't do that..." "Master? I'm on my way..." "NO! You stay put! I don't like the looks of this, and I don't want you anywhere near this." "As you say, Master." Macavity cut the link. "don't like the looks of this" didn't come close to what he was currently thinking. If Argent had done what he feared, things were going to get very ugly, very soon. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mamoru relished the quiet times like these. He sometimes wished they could last forever. Well, in a sense they would. He knew that he would be alive for a long time, with his Usako at his side throughout. But things would certainly not be quiet that whole time. No, there would be enemies and allies, and a country to rule. Rule? Him? Well, technically it would be Usagi, or rather Neo Queen Serenity, ruling, but he knew her too well. She had no organizational skills at all. If she was in charge of the day-to-day running of a household, let alone a kingdom, things would be a mess in no time. No, she might become the heart of Crystal Tokyo, and she would likely be the driving force behind the big decisions, but she would need someone to make the small decisions. To keep the rest running so she could do what she did best. And the logical candidate was himself. He knew he would be there at her side, so he felt he needed to be as useful to her as possible. And that led to his reasons for schooling in America. He would be running the day-to-day operations of Crystal Tokyo if he had his way, and that meant he needed to learn as much as he could about business. He had already been in Japanese business school for the previous several years. Now he was learning what the Americans could teach. They had different ways of doing things. Not necessarily better, but different. He wanted to know as many different ways of leading as possible, so that when the time came, he would have options to choose from. The side effect of this was that he had to spend time away from Tokyo. Away from his Usako. That was hard, but in the long run it was necessary. Well, it had seemed necessary until a new enemy had attacked right after he had returned. Leaving during a time of peace was one thing. Leaving when the Dark Ones were attacking was quite another. On the other hand, the Dark Ones had only attacked twice, and both attacks had been easily dealt with. Sure, Macavity had warned against overconfidence, but with enemies of the caliber they had had so far, that was difficult. He hadn't told Usako about his internal debates over returning to America. He knew she would lobby for his staying, and he wanted to make the decision independently. Oh well. He had one week remaining before his return flight to America. He could put off the decision a little longer. He guided the two of them towards a fishing pier. For now he would try to forget such decisions, and just bask in his Usako's love, returning that love multiplied a hundred-fold. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hate! Anger!! Pain!! Never had it been treated thus. It was the ruler of this lake. It had been thus since awareness had first crept into it. And now something had dared to hurt it in its very home. Hate! Hate!! HATE!!! Then it began to taste the waters around it. Foul! The water was so filled with various poisons it could barely be stood. A lesser creature might have died. But it was too strong for that. It could feel the strength returning to its numbed limbs. Sensing upward it could feel the shapes of many objects floating on the surface above. It could also feel the sparks of many living beings above. And living beings meant food. It had regained most of its strength, but in this new, poisoned environment, food was of more importance than ever. It began to make its way toward the surface and supper. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Macavity was worried. The Dark Ones had seaborne troops. That was what he had been expecting from Argent. They were tough, but being mostly confined to the water they would have been easy targets for Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. But troops would not have required a fifty-foot gate. The amount of energy needed to open a gate rose exponentially with the size of the gate. While a small gate could be held indefinitely, a large gate would exhaust the caster rapidly. According to Laura, Argent had held the gate open for barely fifteen second. Very little time if one was trying to bring over an army, but plenty of time if one was just dumping one large object over. One large, monstrous object, he suspected. Macavity didn't know what Argent had tossed through, but it couldn't be good. There were a number of sea-monsters that size, and none were exactly friendly. "I take back what I said earlier." he spoke softly to no one in particular. "Argent, you've caught me totally by surprise. Quite a feat." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi was still lost in her romantic thoughts as the two of them walked out to the end of the fishing pier. She could hear the water quietly lapping at the rocks below. The reflection of the moon shown in the water beside them. For a moment she realized the symmetry, as the moon lay across the water of Earth, the existences of both intertwined. Just like her and Mamoru's existences were forever linked. They reached the end of the pier and just stood there for a while, not saying anything, just lost in each other's presence. That's part of why it took a few moments for the screams to register. Usagi blinked. Screams? She broke her eyes away from Mamoru and looked out over the harbor. "Umm, Mamo-chan?" Absently "Yes, Usako?" "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" "If you're seeing a giant tentacle grabbing that ship, then yes, I think we're both seeing it." Usagi sighed. "I was afraid of that. Time to get to work, then." Mamoru nodded, and reached inside his jacket to pull out a cane, triggering his transformation as he did so. Usagi tapped her watch and sent a quick status report to Luna before she transformed herself. "Moon Eternal Power, Make Up!" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argent had found himself a good place to watch from. Right by the water's edge, but far enough away from the creature that there was little chance of his getting drawn into the situation. He had to congratulate himself. This was one of his better ideas. The creature could wreck quite a bit of damage on the filthy humans in retribution for their abuse of the waters of the harbor, and when the Senshi arrived, as they surly would, it should be quite illuminating seeing how they chose to deal with it. He relaxed and watched the show unfolding. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once the tentacles started rising from the water to enwrap one of the nearby ships, Macavity was able to quickly identify the creature. A Kraken. This was not good news. He cursed quietly to himself. People screamed and ran from the area as the kraken raised a second tentacle to grab the ship. Fortunately, no one had fallen into the water, or they would have been kraken food almost at once. "Hey, sea slug!" came Sailor Moon's voice. Macavity quickly looked around, and spotted her on top of the wheel-house of the ship under attack. Tuxedo Mask was standing at her side. "Attacking the shipping that fuels the Japanese economy is unforgivable! In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!" The tentacles just continued to enwrap the ship, totally ignoring her. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask sweat-dropped. The two exchanged glances, and Tuxedo Mask nodded, before leaping away from her, his cane flashing as he attacked, using it like a sword. Sailor Moon, meanwhile, had materialized her scepter, and was looking down at the tentacles, obvious anger flashing in her eyes. She began to twirl. "Silver Honey Moon.... Crisis Kick!" Macavity raised his eyebrows. Even he could feel the amount of magical energy that was contained in the attack. Any doubts he had had about her effectiveness were gone. If she could throw around that much power... But then the attack reached the kraken. There was a pretty pyrotechnic display, but that was all. The kraken was unharmed. In fact, it had noticed the attack about as well as it had noticed her entry speech. Tuxedo Mask was doing better, though not by much. He definitely had its attention, as he wove his cane around him with a speed that would have done some of history's more famous swordsmen proud. Of course, they hadn't had the enhanced strength and agility that Tuxedo Mask possessed. But he wasn't hurting the creature either. Sailor Moon could be seen shaking her head in frustration. Macavity raised his eyebrows in surprise as she shifted her grasp on her scepter, now holding it as if it were a mace of some sort. Was she actually planning on attacking the kraken physically with that thing? Apparently so, as she leapt off the wheelhouse to join Tuxedo Mask. But disaster struck as she landed on the wet deck, lost her footing, and went sprawling to the deck. Her scepter was knocked from her hand and clattered away. And, as if that wasn't bad enough, Macavity spotted one of the tentacles headed straight for the spot where Sailor Moon was. Tuxedo Mask noticed her dilemma as well, and leapt for her, arriving a fraction of a second before the tentacle. Macavity winced as the tentacle swept through the space where Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were. The power in one of those tentacles was enough to injure even a Sailor Senshi. And if they had been swept into the water, as it appeared, they were as good as gone, for that was the kraken's home turf. Macavity looked around, but saw no sign of his two allies. He cursed softly. Argent's little plan seemed to have paid off. Another tentacle slipped up from the water and began to encircle the ship again. If the kraken got enough of them around it, it could easily tear the ship in half. Suddenly a rose embedded itself in the tentacle. The tentacle writhed in pain before slipping off the ship. Macavity looked up. There, wings spread wide, was Sailor Moon, hovering over the ship. Tuxedo Mask was with her, one arm holding himself at her side. His other hand already held another rose, ready to throw. A tentacle shot from the water, but Sailor Moon easily eluded it, while Tuxedo Mask impaled it with the rose. Macavity had to grin at their ingenuity, but he knew this was no real solution. The roses were doing no real damage to the beast. At best it was a stalemate, with the kraken unable to reach them, but them doing little more than annoying it. The problem with kraken was that they were really only vulnerable at the core, where the brain and other organs were located. And the core tended to stay under the water where it was all but impossible to attack. And in the evening gloom, just locating the core was impossible, let alone attacking it. Blast it, there had to be some way to turn the situation around. Unfortunately his abilities were of little use against something like a kraken. Macavity spotted a figure over by the harbor's edge, quietly watching the fight. Argent. Macavity frowned. Argent was quite powerful. Quite possibly a match for the Senshi. That he was just standing on the sidelines watching made little sense. Macavity paused at that thought. The sidelines... His face split in a wide grin and he disappeared. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argent was debating taking a few shots at the hovering Sailor Moon. She had obviously not noticed him, so he could quite likely blast her from complete surprise. And if he timed it right, he could drop them both down into the water, where the fight would be all but over. The main thing holding him back was the absence of the rest of the Senshi. They were certainly on the way to reinforce their comrades. If they should arrive to see him blast their friend, they could easily cut him down before he knew they were there. As it was, he was a nameless spectator. No reason for the Senshi to attack someone just standing and watching the fight. Argent watched the continuing fight. It really had reached a stalemate. Tuxedo Mask was hitting every tentacle that arose, but he was doing no real harm to the creature. One item of note was the fact that Sailor Moon herself was launching no attacks on the kraken. Maybe it was taking all her power to fly as she was. Something to remember. Suddenly he heard a voice behind him. "Hey, Argent! Take a swim!" He had barely begun to spin to assess who it might be, when something hit him in the back, upsetting his balance. He toppled ungracefully over into the water. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sailor Moon was tiring. Flight wasn't one of her easier powers, in spite of the wings, which was why she rarely used it. And especially carrying Tuxedo Mask. Her wings were beginning to ache, and she began to think she might have to retreat. She obviously couldn't land here at the harbor, or this reject from a tentacle-porn anime would get them. That left flying away, defeated, something she hated to do. But getting munched by this thing would serve no one any good. The biggest problem was that with the bulk of the thing hidden beneath the darkened waters, there was no way to know exactly where to strike. Nowhere to attack to try to destroy it. Suddenly the tentacles stopped attacking, vanishing beneath the waves. Sailor Moon took the opportunity to land on top of a nearby loading crane, where she could still keep an eye on the water below, ready to move if the monster should attack again. A commotion erupted off to one side, and the water in that area came alive with tentacles flailing wildly. "It's attacking someone!" Sailor Moon realized aloud. She tensed to launch into the air once more to assist whoever it was. "Don't bother, Lady Moon." came a voice from near her feet. Macavity. "He can take care of himself." "He? You know who it's attacking?" Macavity chuckled. "Know? I pushed him in! He was paying so much attention to your fight, he neglected his own safety." Sailor Moon glared at the leprechaun. "So you pushed someone in just because they were careless? How cruel." "Cruel for the kraken, maybe. Even underwater, the kraken'll be no match for him." Which appeared to be true, as the monstrous form of the kraken was now rising out of the water, lifted from below. Then they could see the figure doing the lifting. A dark red battle aura glowed around him as he rose from the depths, lifting the kraken from the water. Several tentacles of the kraken were wrapped around the figure, vainly trying to crush it. Then the figure rose up into the air, the still struggling kraken now completely removed from the water. "I refuse to be eaten by the likes of you" spoke the figure, which cocked back a fist. The fist began to glow white. "Die, you stupid beast!" With that, a beam of energy leapt from his hand, piercing the kraken through. An animal scream split the air, and the kraken disintegrated in the beam. The figure was left, hovering in the air, still glowing. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Argent was livid. It had been ages since he had been humiliated to this degree. The last time had been... He dismissed that thought. Keep focused on the here and now. He could see Sailor Moon standing on a nearby crane, obviously tired from her recent fight. Argent was tired as well, but not that much. Now was an excellent opportunity to finish off one of the Sailor Senshi. The leprechaun appeared before him. "You know, it's against the law to go swimming around here. Supposed to be dangerous for your health, or some such." That voice. It was the same as the voice he had heard just before he was pushed in. "Why you little..." He brought a fist forward and fired off a short burst of energy at the leprechaun. Not much, but more than enough to fry a leprechaun. The leprechaun vanished a split second before the energy hit him, only to reappear a few feet away. "Now, that's not nice." Argent forced his temper down. He had seen how the wee one worked. If he kept flailing at the wee one in anger, it would be exactly what the wee one wanted. His anger began to rise again when he realized that the wee one had already gotten Argent to do his work, destroying the kraken. If Argent had simply teleported out of the water, the kraken would still be on its rampage. Instead he had been tricked into letting his anger rule him and destroyed his own tool. Argent quickly clamped down on the new anger. This was not the time or place for it. The wee one was far too fast for him to hit, tired as he was. Fortunately, he had other targets, like the exhausted Sailor Moon. He turned his attention back to the nearby crane... ...and frowned to see that Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were no longer alone. They had been joined by the rest of the Inner Senshi, who were standing guard over their comrade at full battle readiness. Argent sighed. While they were not attacking him at the moment, that would change instantly if he tried to finish off Sailor Moon. And he held no illusions about who would win that fight, considering his current condition. He returned his attention to the leprechaun once more. "This battle belongs to you, wee one. But the real war has yet to even begin. I won't forget your deeds this day." And with that he teleported away. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuxedo Mask watched as the mid-air standoff ended. He was glad it was over. Sailor Moon was conscious, but would obviously be of little use if the fight had resumed. He had his arms around her, and had been ready to flee with her at a moment's notice if needed. He might not be able to fly like her, but he was by far the fastest and strongest jumper among the group, and was sure he could get them to safety if need be. It hadn't been needed. The rest of the Inner Senshi had arrived, ready to fight, and taken up a defensive perimeter around him and Sailor Moon. He had relaxed a little, but remained ready for a hasty retreat with Sailor Moon if the situation had changed again. The incident had answered one thing, however. The new enemy was no pushover, no matter how the first two battles had been won. In fact it had been Macavity who won the battle for them this day with his tricks. He and Sailor Moon had been almost useless. No, there was no question about it. With a enemy to fight, there was only one place for him, and that was at his love's side. Now, and forever, that was his place. He would return to America once more just long enough to reclaim his belongings, and then come back home, at least until this current threat was dealt with. After the man who destroyed the sea monster vanished, Macavity drifted down to join them on the crane. "Well. That ends another one." he said in that jovial voice of his. Sailor Mars tried to grab him by the lapels of his little suit, but he darted back out of her reach. She stopped at the edge of the crane, glaring at him as he hovered just out of reach. "Okay, you little joker. I've had enough. What was that in the water, who was that guy, and most of all, what in the hell is going on with these enemies?" Macavity's grin just grew wider, which did nothing to calm down Sailor Mars. "Well, let's see. The creature was a Kraken, the guy was Argent, and what the hell is going on is a long story." Mars grinned evilly. "We'll make the time, but I think we need to hear the long story. It's about time we knew who we were fighting." Macavity bowed in mid air. "As you wish, Lady Mars. When would be a good time?" "Today is Friday. How about tomorrow afternoon at the shrine?" "Very well." He reached into his coat and pulled out the pocket watch, flipping it open momentarily. He nodded at what he saw then closed the watch and returned it to his coat. "I'll see you there at 2 PM. And remember, no cats." With that he vanished. Tuxedo Mask shook his head. An enemy that dumped kraken into Tokyo Harbor and a capricious, halfway insane ally. What a world. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Luna watched from around the edge of a nearby shipping crate. So that was the mysterious cat-hating leprechaun, Macavity. Strange. Luna had the weirdest sense of familiarity about him. Almost deja-vu. On the other hand she was sure she had never met a leprechaun before. So why did this Macavity seem so familiar? Oh, well. That was a question for another day. End Dark War #3 Comming Soon: Dark War #4: Face of the Enemy