Gaijin 
Part 11
Hunted!
++++++++++++++++
Usagi Tsukino was lying in the hospital, tubes protruding from her throat 
forced oxygen down her throat. The mechanical rise and fall of her chest sent 
chills down Ami Mizuno's spine as she watched her friend lie there helpless.
"Damn him," she muttered as she watched Usagi. The girl's condition was 
growing better, but it had been three days now. Usagi hadn't woken up yet.
Ami closed her eyes as she thought about that moment again. The boy was 
acting even weirder than before. He had actually tried to help Usagi after he 
slit her throat wide open. She couldn't figure it out. It was as if he was 
afraid of something, something more than the girl dying. She couldn't put her 
finger on it, but it sounded right.
She turned when a hand fell on her shoulder gently. It was soft enough that 
she didn't jump. "How is she?"
"She's getting better," said Ami as she turned her head to look at Mamoru. 
The boy's face was etched with worry as he frowned down at he girl for a long 
moment. "The doctor thinks she'll pull through."
"Thanks to you," said Mamoru.
"I'm not the only one who tried to save her," muttered Ami under her 
breath.
"I'm sure the others did everything they could to help," said the boy gently 
as he smiled at her weakly.
Ami said nothing, but frowned a little at the thought. "Who is he? What does 
he want? Why did he do that? Why did he try so hard to...." She clenched her jaw 
in frustration. "It doesn't make any sense!"
"Pardon?" asked Mamoru in confusion as he looked away from Usagi.
"It's nothing," muttered Ami. "He's too dangerous. I hate to say it, but 
killing him is our only choice." The thought wasn't very comforting.
++++++++++++++++++++
"Any luck?" said Makoto as she watched Rei concentrate in front of the fire. 
She was sitting in the middle of the shrine with sweat on her brow.
Rei growled angrily. "Nothing. All I can get are confusing images of a man in 
black, and a sword. It's not telling me where this boy is."
"Do you think...maybe that man is him?" asked Makoto as she scowled at the 
girl.
"He won't live to be that old," said Rei coolly. "Besides, this man, he 
feels...like a friend...or maybe a lov..." Rei cut herself off and shook her 
head. "I think that perhaps this boy's destiny lies with him. He may be the one 
who defeats him in the end."
"I want him," said Makoto firmly.
"I just want him gone. I don't care who does it," replied Rei coldly.
"What about this guy? Future boyfriend?" asked Makoto as she smirked at the 
girl.
"It could be," nodded Rei. "He could be the one any one of us..." She snorted 
at this and glared at Makoto. "It doesn't matter." Her mind was suddenly filled 
with another vision. This time the figure was intimidating and strong. He had a 
cold scowl on his face and eyes that burned with the flames of hell itself. 
"He's dangerous as well. I'm getting conflicting images of him. He could be a 
friend, or an enemy."
"Or a lover?" said Makoto as she smirked at the girl.
"It is a possibility. As I said, it could just as easily be you." Rei gazed 
at her coolly and Makoto blushed. "In any case, that isn't what we should be 
discussing."
Makoto nodded. "What now?"
"I'm not sure, this image is very powerful, and blocks my mind whenever I try 
to find him. It looks like we'll have to find him another way."
Makoto nodded and stood up. "We should start looking then."
Rei frowned as the memory of the boy falling off the edge of the roof came 
into her mind. Her blast hitting along with the stars from the ninja girl. She 
hadn't seen how he'd made it onto that bus in the end, but it seemed absolutely 
impossible. He was dangerous, and very skilled. She knew that speaking about 
killing him, and doing it were two entirely different things.
"Damn him."
++++++++++++++++++++
"What's wrong with him?" asked Gia as she looked at Mei Lin and frowned. The 
pair was in the doctor's apartment, sitting across from each other with frowns 
on their faces.
The girl shook her head and sighed. "I'm not sure, he's been sitting there 
for two days now. He hasn't moved."
"I can't talk to him, he just grunts and looks away. Spike can't even get 
through to him; they always got along well. I'm worried."
"He doesn't seem all that depressed. I've asked him about it, and he says 
'I've got thinking to do.'" Mei Lin frowned and shook her head. 
"This is annoying, but what can we do?" grumbled Gia as she sighed.
"He's been eating all right, he seems healthy. He's just been brooding for a 
couple of days. It looks like he's genuinely thinking about something to me," 
replied Mei Lin.
"Well, I hope it doesn't last too much longer." Gia frowned again. She hadn't 
even been able to force him to do anything. He just sat there, ignoring her 
threats with a strangely contemplative looking frown on his face. In the end, 
she had given up and left him alone.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot was sitting in the corner of his room. He was looking at the wall 
opposite him with a thoughtful frown on his face. "What the hell am I going to 
do?" It was a whisper almost when he spoke. 
Clenching his eyes shut, the image of Usagi's face as she hit the ground 
filled his mind. "She's out of it. This is the worst possible time for this? 
What the hell am I gonna do now? Those damn girls...they don't stand a chance 
without her!" He clenched his fist and growled in anger. "Beryl." He was no 
fool; he knew what his chances were of taking her on. He also knew that there 
was no ignoring the problem without Sailor Moon around to beat her. Sooner or 
later, he would have to face it regardless.
He frowned again, and looked at the slip of paper in his hand. It was an 
address, a room number to hospital where Usagi was being kept. He'd made a few 
calls when no one was around, asking all the area hospitals about her, claiming 
to be her little brother. It had worked rather well, and within a half an hour 
he had the address, room number, and a list of people who had been to see her 
within the last few days.
His smirk turned somewhat cold. Beryl was going to win; there was little 
doubt of that now. "I've got you, you little meatball head. You're at my mercy, 
as are your friends." His smile widened again. He knew from experience that 
sneaking into a place like that would be child's play for him. "One quick 
strike, and I would be Beryl's most trusted minion. Heh. Those tactical morons 
Zocite and Kunzite...I'd be the best, and probably the most powerful of them 
within a week. It would be...so easy."
Usagi's pleading eyes flashed in his mind again, asking him why. Images of 
the Youma that had attempted to assassinate him surfaced as well. Mei Lin and 
her weak powers was the next memory. Rather than pull at his conscience these 
images strengthened his resolve. "Heh. It would be so easy. I'd have something 
even those crazy ninja would be helpless against. I'd wipe them all out." His 
evil looking grin widened as he clenched his fist in front of his face. 
"I've thought about this enough. It's time to go," he said as he stood up and 
started towards the door. 
"Carrot?" asked Mei Lin as she stumbled back in the hallway. She was 
surprised to see him up and about. 
"You want to fight evil do you?" he snorted in disgust.
"I...um..." she blinked at him and stepped back in confusion.
"I'll see you later, I've got something to do. I'll be gone a while, so don't 
wait for me." He started walking and left her standing in the hallway 
dumbly.
"Wait! I..."
"You'll see me again in a short time," he replied as he walked out the door 
of the building and into the street.
++++++++++++++++++++
"Can I help you?" asked the small man who looked at Carrot nervously. He was 
standing behind a counter that was protected by a wire mesh. It had a small 
opening for passing goods and money through.
"I need something from you," said Carrot calmly as he leaned against the 
grimy counter. The room was tiny, and had a small rusted out staircase that went 
up to a second level with boxes and boxes of various items.
The tiny man frowned at him and snorted indignantly. "You're not authorized 
to buy from me. I'm afraid I need something from your boss telling me why you 
need..."
"Shut up. This is an easy order for ya," said Carrot as he chucked a large 
wad of bills on the counter.
The man looked at the cash. "I guess I got a small 9mm I can let you use..." 
he muttered greedily.
"I want something else from you. I've got no real use for a weapon like 
that," said Carrot after a moment of thought. He considered it briefly, but 
decided the risk was just a little too much for his liking. 
This caught the tiny man's interest. "What do you need?"
"It's not really illegal, but asking for it elsewhere is bound to get 
questions asked," replied the boy with a small shrug.
++++++++++++++++++++++
An hour later, Carrot sat in a small empty shed on a rooftop somewhere. The 
sky was cloudy outside, and there was little doubt a storm was coming. He 
smirked as he worked on the black cloth in his lap and sewed. He wasn't sure 
where he'd gotten the idea from, but it would definitely be a little fun to play 
with. He eyed the sky outside as he worked and chuckled. "I wonder how long it 
will take to find them?" 
+++++++++++++++++++++
Several hours later...
Mei Lin frowned, he wasn't home yet. His words were confusing when he'd left. 
She wondered if he was planning on coming back at all. Still, she didn't think 
he'd leave her all alone here. It sounded like he was coming back to her. He 
could be so irritating at times. He seemed to take a special joy out of giving 
confusing answers. 
"Maybe she's right. Maybe he is a jerk?" muttered Mei Lin as she looked over 
to the wall that separated Gia's home from theirs. "I wish he would take 
advantage of me though. I'm getting tired of waiting for it." She shook her 
head. Maybe she was playing too innocent? If she acted a little more forward, he 
might catch on? It was something to think about later, as it was; she was going 
to have a pretty boring night.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Sailor Mars glared at the thing in front of her with a rage in her eyes. 
"Mars Fire Soul!" she screamed as she blasted it with her flame attack. 
The thing jumped nimbly aside. It looked like a giant monkey, wit purple hair 
and a circlet on its forehead. In it's hand was a staff and it wore a loincloth 
to hid its crotch from view.
Jupiter was feeling rather sick at the sight of it. The loincloth was doing a 
rather poor job of it, and every time the thing jumped, they got a rather 
unobstructed view. "Damn! This thing is fast!" she said painfully as she 
clutched at her side.
Venus and Mercury were hanging back, taking pot shots at the creature 
whenever possible. It was outmaneuvering them quite easily though. It cackled at 
them and spoke.
"Foolish humans! I'll destroy you all! You'll give your power to the 
omnipotent! Soon, we will rule..."
"Ya know, you guys should really get some new dialogue," replied a voice in 
English.
Everyone in the room turned to face the voice, only to see nothing.
"Hearing that crap gets old after a while," continued the strange voice from 
the shadows.
"Show yourself!" cried Venus in Japanese.
"Who's there?" asked Ami in her native tongue as well.
"Heh." A dark figure waved at them from above. He was hanging upside down 
just over the girl's heads with his legs tucked up to his chest. He was dangling 
from a thin line that ran to the ceiling. "Sorry. I don't speak Japanese very 
well." He responded in English calmly.
"What the?" snarled the Monkey thing in Japanese. "What is this thing?"
"Who are you to talk?" snorted the shadowy figure as he dropped from his line 
onto the ground.
Minako was the first to react. It was typical of course, her eyes went wide, 
and she got an odd looking grin on her face. "Wow! What a babe!" she muttered in 
English.
The man who had jumped into the room was dressed in a tight fitting black 
bodysuit. His face was covered in a full mask, with two large plastic eyes with 
a mirrored surface. On his chest was a strange symbol that went all the way 
around to his back in the same manner. It was a giant white spider that took up 
more than half of the space on his torso up.
He pointed at the monkey thing with a smile that everyone could see through 
the mask. "Just your friendly neighborhood Spiderman."
"Spiderman?" muttered Makoto in confusion. "That's kinda gross. What kind of 
superhero names himself..."

"Die!" snarled the monkey as it jumped into action again. It charged forward, 
towards the newcomer first.
Spiderman jumped straight up and over the thing, shooting a line of some kind 
out of his wrist and swung across the ceiling. He flipped through the air and 
landed on a stack of boxes in a crouching position. "Too slow!"
"Oh," said Makoto dumbly. 
The girls weren't quite sure what to do, the figure bounced around the room 
skillfully, avoiding the monkey easily as he dodged and swung through it's 
defenses and proceeded to beat the living hell out of it with only minimal 
effort.
The monkey screeched as the thing swung unto his face feet first. Spiderman 
performed a back flip and landed in a crouching position in front of it, waiting 
for the next move.
The youma staggered back clutching its face in agony as it righted itself 
again and stared at the puny thing in front of it in a mad rage. "I'll swallow 
your soul!"
Spiderman tensed his body and readied himself. "Come get some."
The beastly Youma roared and rushed forward, the smaller human jumped 
straight up and over the thing kicking his feet into its back and sending it 
sprawling across the ground. "Don't just stand there! Kill it!" he cried to the 
girls who were merely standing around the scene dumbly.
Rei reacted first. "Mars Fire Soul!" her attack slammed into the hairy 
monster, burning it to a crisp within a few seconds.
With the danger finally subdued, the four girls turned to face the 
newcomer.
"Who are you?" asked Minako in English.
The man seemed tense, he backed away from them as if he didn't want them too 
close and seemed somewhat distrusting of them. "I told you, I'm just your 
Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman." He jumped up onto the top of some boxes and 
seemed to fade into the shadows. "I'll be seeing you kids around. Later."
"Wait!" cried Makoto as she rushed up to the pile of boxes. "Damn."
"We didn't even get his number!" cried Minako.
"He looked...just like my old sempai!" muttered Makoto with a sort of haunted 
look about her.
"He was wearing a mask!" snapped Rei. "I don't trust him." She glared up at 
the roof and scowled.
"What do you mean? He was a total babe!" cried Minako.
Ami was blushing; the costume the boy was wearing didn't leave much to the 
imagination. Fortunately, he appeared to be wearing a cup. There was something 
off about his chest as well. It took her a moment of thought to realize he was 
wearing some sort of body armor over his chest and back. She had to admit that 
he had a rather tight rear as well. Rei seemed to be staring at her and she 
blushed a bit more. "Sorry."
"Calling us kids. He didn't sound much older than we do."
"Well, I think he can understand us, but he says he doesn't speak Japanese 
very well," said Makoto
"Right," agreed Venus casually as she watched the area where he had vanished. 
"He seems friendly enough. Although why he'd pick something as creepy as 
'Spiderman' is beyond me."
"He appears to base his fighting style off of spiders. Maybe some kind of 
ninja?" replied Ami as she looked thoughtful for a moment. "His clothes had some 
sort of padding in the chest as well."
"You mean, that body was fake?" said Makoto in disgust.
Ami shook her head. "I doubt it. It's more likely it was some sort of armor. 
He was too strong and fast for those muscles to be fake."
Rei nodded her agreement on that statement. "She's right. He's dangerous, we 
shouldn't trust him."
"That's what you said about Mamoru too," snorted Minako. "Maybe he's destined 
to be one of our boyfriends?"
Rei gasped and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "It can't be..."
"What is it?" asked Ami suddenly.
"It's nothing. I can't be sure just yet," she responded calmly. "Even if it's 
true, we�re not sure if he's an enemy or not! I don�t even know if he�s the man 
I�ve been seeing in that vision," she thought to herself in frustration.
"In any case, we won't find that boy tonight. It will just have to wait. It's 
getting late anyway," said Ami.
The others agreed, if somewhat reluctantly. The group dispersed and left the 
empty warehouse behind.
In the shadows above them, Spiderman smirked to himself as he pulled off his 
mask. A long scar ran down his face and his eye was closed shut on the right 
side. His messy brown hair now stuck up in every direction after removing the 
mask. 
Carrot smiled as he leaned against the boxes and thought about what he was 
doing. 
"This is stupid. The disguise works, and I can fake a limited knowledge of 
Japanese to keep them off my tail for a while at least." He hated playing super 
hero, but Usagi's problem gave him no choice, he'd have to pick up some of her 
slack until she returned. Then he could go back to normal again. He'd had a bit 
of trouble getting his hands on the body armor, even after bribing the idiot at 
the yakuza's weapons storage. 
He also had to be careful about using his powers for now. The Senshi wouldn't 
take long to figure out who he was if he started lobbing iron poles around, and 
if they saw him throwing lines around as Carrot, they'd probably put two and two 
together as well.
The disguise might be good for fooling Kei and her friends once or twice as 
well, but beyond that he was doubtful. Add that to the fact that he now had a 
secret identity to keep up at home as well, and that just made things even more 
complicated.
Add to that the fact that he'd just pretty much picked his side against the 
Youma and Metallia, making him an even bigger target than when he was still 
neutral. His life was going to hell in a hand basket, and this time he was 
diving into the mess headfirst. "It's all my damn fault anyway." He growled 
angrily and hung his head in defeat. Being Spiderman wasn't so bad, his powers 
seemed to be similar anyway, so he just figured 'why the hell not?'
He melted back into the shadows and put on his mask again It was time to go 
home anyway.
+++++++++++++++++
Usagi Tsukino opened her eyes, everything was a blur. Images faded in and out 
of her sight and a blurry figure could be seen looming over her. "Where?" she 
tried to say out loud, but no sound came.
"Usagi? How are you feeling?" said a sweet and familiar voice.
"Ami?" she mouthed.
"That's right, don't try to talk...you're fine now."
The blonde girl nodded and said nothing; she relaxed her neck and allowed her 
head to fall into the pillow. It was soft and it relieved some of the pressure 
on her throat. The pain there subsided somewhat and she flinched slightly.
"You must feel terrible," muttered Ami. "You've been here for a week now. You 
started waking up yesterday, but you probably don't remember. You were never up 
for very long."
Usagi nodded slowly. The room she was in was large and spacious; she was 
alone and had a window that looked out over the city.
"The scar on your neck won't ever go away, not without surgery," said Ami as 
she noticed the girl reach up to her throat idly. She seemed sad for some 
reason.
Usagi nodded again, she felt incredibly weak. She noticed the IV in her arm 
and frowned slightly. It looked rather unpleasant despite being hidden by the 
bandages.
"You can't have any solid foods for a while Usagi. I'm sorry to say it, I 
know how much you like eating."
This statement irked the girl slightly and she scowled at her friend for a 
moment.
"The good news is that in a week or so, you'll be able to have all the ice 
cream you want. So it's not so bad."
Usagi's face lit up at this announcement. She smiled warmly in 
anticipation.
Ami looked nervous, as if she was skating around something. "I shouldn't tell 
you...I...Oh Usagi!" The girl burst into tears and gave her friend a gentle 
hug.
Usagi hugged back, not able to do any more than that. Words just wouldn't 
come to her, and her throat was so sore.
"Usagi, I'm so sorry!" said Ami as she pulled back. "I should go. I'll send 
in your family. They're waiting on you, and it would be selfish of me to take up 
all your time."
The girl cocked her head and watched her friend leave in confusion. She 
wasn't quite sure what to say or do. "I..." she mouthed the word again, her 
throat too raw to do anything more.
Ami paused in the doorway. She tensed up and turned to look at her friend 
again. "Please stop that. I know you don't know yet, but don't try to talk."
Usagi blinked and looked at her for a moment.
"Usagi, your vocal chords were cut in half. You'll never talk again," said 
the girl quietly as she left the room.
The blonde sat in bed working her mouth open and closed. She simply stared 
forward, not sure what to think about that. Fear was the first reaction that 
seemed to hit her, then uncertainty. 
Her family walked into the room; they were all quiet and smiled at her 
warmly. Her little brother looked nervous, and her father had a scowl on his 
face. Before anyone could speak. Mrs. Tsukino burst forward and started to sob 
loudly. She grabbed her daughter and tried to squeeze the life out of her as 
best she could. "WAAAAAHHHHHHH! Usagi!!! My baby girl!"
Usagi tried to tell her mother that she was fine, and not to worry, and to 
please let her go because she couldn't breathe. However, nothing escaped her 
lips besides soundless air. She furrowed her brow as she struggled to breathe. 
This could get annoying.
"Wow. This room is much nicer than the one from before," commented her little 
brother. Her father was trying his best to pry Usagi's mother off their daughter 
so she could breathe again.
Finally, the woman let go. "Usagi. How did you do this? I knew you'd been 
hanging around a new group of friends lately, but... we can't accept something 
like this!"
Usagi blinked in confusion. She looked at her mother dumbly for a long 
moment.
"The specialists! The room! We can't afford all of this! You must tell us who 
is paying for all of this! We have to ask them to stop! It's not right, I 
appreciate it, and you're not in danger anymore. They've already done enough!" 
Her mother grasped the girl by her shoulders and smiled at her.
"Honey, she doesn't know what you're talking about. She's been sleeping..." 
said her father as he pulled her gently aside.
"One of my friends is paying for all of this?" thought Usagi in shock. She 
had tears in her eyes as she looked up at her mother. She had such wonderful 
friends! She could never repay them for this! There was just no way!
+++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot smirked as he flipped the cellular phone in his hand closed. "That 
didn't take too long. It's good that she's awake now." The doctor had called him 
with an update, and he'd thanked the man politely before hanging up. They'd 
never suspect his hand in this, and he didn't really care if they did or not. 
All he wanted was a quick recovery, so he could stop playing hero faster. 
Naturally, he'd paid for the best doctors he could find. It didn't take as much 
money as he'd thought it would.
The sooner Usagi Tsukino was on her feet, the sooner his life could get back 
to normal. 
Carrot sighed and hung his head. "Somehow, I seriously doubt that will 
happen, a guy can hope can't he though?" He looked up at the sky and shook his 
head. "Man, this really sucks!"
He jumped off the edge of the roof, sending a line of wire out onto another 
building. The line went taught as he swung across the skyline of Tokyo with an 
odd looking smirk hidden beneath his mask. The wind blew against his body, 
giving him a slight chill through the thick fabric that made up his costume. His 
body armor lessened the sensation somewhat though, he was quite comfortable 
despite the chill in the air that night. It was an oddly free feeling to move 
the way he was. He pulled back the line and sent out another, performing an 
acrobatic flip in mid air as he did so.
+++++++++++++++++
Kei frowned as she looked on from the street, her eyes locked on the 
mysterious figure that sailed overhead. "What the hell is that?" she muttered 
under her breath as she watched it flip through the air for a moment before it 
vanished. She stepped out of the shadows she had been hiding in and tried to 
catch another glimpse of it. 
"Something disturbs you?" asked a silky tone from her side.
Kei turned her head towards the shadows and then looked up at the moon again. 
"I saw something�strange." She thought about it for a moment and turned it over 
in her mind a few times. "Seems our friend has a new wardrobe. He just passed 
over us." The technique was unmistakable, it had to be him.
"Interesting," commented the tall thin ninja that walked out to her side. 
"I�m halfway tempted to go after him." He smirked behind his mask. He was 
dressed in a traditional looking ninja uniform, loose fitting black clothes, a 
cowl and facemask. 
"If I had recognized the technique he was using sooner, I�d have gone myself. 
We�ll never catch him now though, he was moving too fast." Kei growled at her 
lapse for a moment, but quickly pushed it aside.
"I�ll pass the information along, why don�t you go see if you can catch him?" 
said the tall ninja in amusement as he turned and melted back into the 
shadows.
"Right," grumbled Kei irritably as she jogged off into the streets.
+++++++++++++++++++
Carrot smirked to himself as he watched the scene unfold below him. He had 
circled back and landed on the rooftop above the pair the instant his new sense 
started to react. It was definitely a useful skill. He peered over the edge and 
watched as the taller of the pair seemed to slither through the shadows in the 
opposite direction.
"Those two could be trouble. I didn�t figure this would work to fool them." 
He sighed and shook his head as he removed his mask for a moment and wiped his 
forehead with his arm. "Still, at least it�ll get those crazy senshi off my ass 
for a while."
"Well, hello there," said a familiar voice from behind him.
Carrot whirled around with anger clear on his face. Kunzite was standing 
directly behind him, with a rather superior looking smile of his own. "You!"
"Yes, me," replied the man calmly as he strolled across the rooftop towards 
the boy fearlessly.
Carrot stepped towards the edge, his body tensing slightly as he prepared to 
run.
"Have you considered my offer?" asked Kunzite as his smile widened a 
little.
The boy snorted and gripped the mask in his hand a little tighter. "I might 
have, if I hadn�t figured out you and your friends have been trying to kill me 
all along."
"My, aren�t you the smart one?" said Kunzite lazily as his smile fell a 
little.
"Mind explaining that?" said Carrot as he seemed to calm a little. The man 
wasn�t moving towards him anymore.
"It�s not personal, and I can promise you that if you join us, it will stop," 
said Kunzite with a sudden seriousness in his tone.
Carrot smirked. "You�re afraid of something."
"Pardon?" said the man with a disgusted sounding snort.
"I�m not sure what it is, but there�s something that�s got you worried. I�ll 
bet that�s why you�ve been trying to get me on your side. Something�s going on 
here, and I don�t like being in the dark."
"You�re more foolish than I�d thought," snorted Kunzite as he narrowed his 
eyes at the boy.
"Maybe I am," replied Carrot as he stepped onto the edge of the roof. "I�m 
not interested in your deal. When you lose this stupid war, I�m not going to end 
up dying with you."
"Lose? My dear boy, we are winning," replied Kunzite coldly.
"You haven�t gotten rid of one of those Senshi, and two of your pals have 
died. Looks bad from my point of view." The boy jumped off the roof and swung 
through the air away from the scene as Kunzite merely growled and watched him 
for a moment. 
"So, you have chosen your path? So be it boy," he said angrily as he turned 
and vanished in a flash of dark power.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot puffed as he glanced around nervously as he landed on the roof of a 
two-story building. He whirled around in every direction, searching for pursuit 
of some kind. No one had followed him and he cursed under his breath. Running 
away really sucked, not as much as fighting and getting all beat up, but it 
still made him feel like a complete loser.
He sighed and started to relax, when a scream broke the silence. The boy 
blinked and looked around the area where he was standing. The roof was empty, he 
was alone, but the scream sounded awfully close.
He peered over the edge of the roof and almost groaned in frustration. 
Naturally, there was a hold up going on below him. He settled down with his 
elbows resting on the edge of the roof and watched.
A boy in a leather jacket was holding a knife up to an older man and woman. 
He relieved them of their valuables and the woman screamed. She received a slap 
for the noise and the old man tensed. He held back though and the punks taunted 
him.
Carrot sighed and rolled his eyes at the scene fate was throwing at him.
The punk snorted and turned away, running into an alley with his loot. Carrot 
watched him run, and the old man helped the woman up to her feet. They were 
probably married or something. He didn�t particularly care. 
The robbery was over and Carrot smirked to himself. He turned to look up at 
the sky and raised his fist at it, shaking it angrily. "Ha! I didn�t do nothin! 
How do ya like them apples ya jerk!?" He was quite proud of himself.
A soft crying floated up to him from below and he jerked rigid. "Oh man. I 
should probably go now�before�"
"That was my mother�s necklace! Oh! Mother, please forgive your foolish 
daughter for this!" cried the old woman as she simply fell to her knees and 
cried in the middle of the street.
"Now darling, I�m sorry, but there really isn�t anything we can do. I just 
hope I can manage to pawn enough to make the rent this month! That was the last 
of our money!" said the older man, in a rather pathetic attempt to console 
her.
Carrot looked up at the sky and growled. "You realize that I hate you."
+++++++++++++++++
He was a rough looking boy of about seventeen. A thick leather jacket hung 
from his shoulders as he lumbered through the street with a group of boys 
surrounding him. They were all as ugly as he was, but in different ways. It was 
obvious they were your stereotypical delinquent boy gang. A few of them even had 
a Band-Aid on their cheeks.
"Say Knife! Tell us about the look the old woman got on her face when you 
pulled it out!" said a skinny looking punk with a shock of red hair that rose 
into the sky.
"Sure thing, she looked like dis!" chortled the boy as he did a rather poor 
imitation of the woman�s look. It was obvious to everyone but him that they were 
laughing at him, and not his joke.
"Wha�d ya get?" asked the scrawny boy.
"A few thousand yen, and some worthless jewelry," replied the boy with a 
disinterested shrug. He tossed the necklace over his shoulder carelessly, not 
noticing the hand reach down from above to catch it.
"I don�t think robbing old ladies is funny at all," said Spiderman as he hung 
just behind them. He was upside down and his eyes were level with the lead punks 
gaze. 
The group turned around and stared at him for a moment. 
"In fact, I think you should probably apologize to her. It wasn�t a very nice 
thing to do at all."
"What the hell is that?" said the skinny looking punk fearfully. The other 
three generic punks pulled out various weapons and circled around the hanging 
boy warily. 
"You know, I really don�t feel like this right now. How about you give all 
that stuff back to me now instead of me taking it from you? I could just bring 
it back to them, and we�ll forget all about this!" His voice was hopeful, but it 
was obvious that he seriously doubted that the boys would do it.
"Uh. Okay," said the lead boy as he stared at the rather intimidating figure 
hanging in front of him. He pulled a wad of cash, and a few trinkets from his 
pocket and stuck them into the confused Spiderman�s palm. 
"What? Boss?" said the skinny punk in shock. The others looked surprised as 
well.
"Oh. Thanks," said the black clad figure as he climbed up his wire and swung 
away.
"What were you thinking?" cried the skinny punk in shock.
"I read too much manga ta tangle wit a guy like dat!" replied the older boy 
angrily. "Youse guys is stupid! Don�t ya know a superhero when ya see one?"
The others looked at each other and shrugged.
"Sure was a nice guy. Even let us give it back without no trouble," agreed 
one of the dumber looking punks.
"Yeah. I thought so too," agreed the leader with a small shrug. "Come on. I 
know a place dat�ll sell us some beers."
The group cheerfully wandered off to terrorize the streets of another 
area.
++++++++++++++++++
The old man was lying on the ground, clutching at his chest. The woman was 
kneeling over him with her hands on his chest and stared at Spiderman as he 
looked at them dumbly.
"Git! Git away from my husband! I won�t let you take him away from me!"
"Huh? What the heck are you talking about? I got your stuff back from those 
punks for ya." He shoved the money and jewelry into her chest and peered down at 
the old man. "Is he all right?"
The old woman looked down with him and screeched. "Ah! Honey! Are you all 
right?"
The man simply stared at Spiderman with his eyes wide. He was clutching at 
his chest and gasping for breath.
"Do something!" cried the old woman.
"What? Do I look like a doctor to you?" he said as he turned his head towards 
her. "Sorry about that old guy."
"Don�t scare me like that!" cried the old man as he finally got his breath 
back. "I ain�t as young as I used to be! I coulda died!"
"Right. Look, I�ll just be going now. You just be more careful next time." He 
turned away.
"Me be careful? You almost gave me a heart attack! Jumping out at strangers 
in an outfit like that! What�s wrong with ya boy!"
Carrot was growing severely annoyed by this mess. He�d had about all he could 
take for one night, and he was getting tired. He should have been home hours 
ago. "Whatever." He replied with a small wave as he jumped ten feet into the air 
as if it was normal and sent out a line to swing away.
+++++++++++++++++
A half-our later, he was swinging towards home yet again. The novelty of 
swinging around was wearing off, and he was doing it mostly because it was 
faster than walking. The sooner he made it home, the less likely he was going to 
run into more trouble.
His eyes went wide as a familiar tingling sensation started on his chest. It 
was growing more and more intense at a rather alarming rate. He gasped and 
released the wire he was swinging on, performing a tight flip in mid air as he 
did so. He spun around and landed on the roof of a car that was parked beside 
one of the apartments. 
Of course, this left a rather nasty dent in the metal, and cracked the 
windshield. It also hurt quite a bit. 
"YEOUCH!"
"Every time I see you, I�m more impressed," said Kei as she walked calmly 
down the middle of the empty street and smirked at him. She arched her eyebrow 
as he stood upright shakily from his landing. "Nice outfit."
"Yeah, thanks," he muttered painfully as he popped his back and jumped down 
from his landing spot. 
The girl pulled out her knife and smiled at him. "Shall we start?"
"Can�t we skip this for once?" he muttered irritably. 
"Sorry, this knife is cursed, it must taste your blood to be appeased," she 
replied coldly.
"Literally, or figuratively?" he asked her.
"Wouldn�t you like to know? Then again, there isn�t much about me I wouldn�t 
tell you if you asked the right way." She arched her back, winked, and blew him 
a kiss at the same time.
"Yeah. I�d noticed that," he responded sourly as he sighed.
"Come on lover boy, I wanna see if you learned anything," she said as she 
stepped into a combat stance.
"Well, I learned that that knife of yours is really sharp," he replied calmly 
as he crouched low and waited.
"Not so quick on the attack this time?" she asked coolly.
"I�m not dumb enough to make the same mistake twice," he replied as he slowly 
backed away.
"Always thinking of escaping? You�re starting to make me think you don�t like 
me hon."
"I�m starting to think you�re too stupid to realize that I don�t," he 
replied.
Kei attacked, she jumped forward and Carrot felt a tingling point on his 
chest. He shifted to avoid the stab that she lashed out with as she landed. His 
reflexes weren�t enough to stop her next attack though. Rather than land, she 
pushed herself into a handstand with the momentum and pushed off the ground.
Carrot let out a muffled curse as her thighs wrapped around his head and he 
fell back onto the pavement with her sitting on his face. She smirked as she 
clenched the muscles in her legs just tight enough to hold him there. 
"Well, I could get to like this," she said playfully as she looked over her 
shoulder at the top of his head. She blinked and felt an unusual sensation. 
"Ooh�" she said as her eyes drooped slightly. A half-second later she jumped 
straight up and screamed in pain. Her hands went down to her crotch and she 
cursed loudly as she glared at the boy as he slowly stood up and shook his head. 
His mask was now up over his nose and he was wiping his mouth off with his arm. 

"Cleaner than I�d thought," he muttered just loud enough so that she could 
hear him.
Kei narrowed her eyes at him and pulled her hand away from her crotch. Her 
fingers were covered in blood and she growled angrily. "Bastard."
"I�ll bet you forgot that I knew you keep knives in there," he responded with 
a small chuckle.
"I�m impressed you managed to reach them," she replied coolly.
"Ready to call it quits?" he asked calmly. "You should do something about 
that cut, there�s a lot of dangerous veins down there. You could bleed to death 
if you�re not careful."

Kei frowned at him and looked down at her leg. There was a steady stream of 
blood that now reached her ankle. She considered attacking again and stumbled, 
it hurt to walk. "I�ll get you for this."
"I know. I stopped caring about that a while ago. Get lost before you pass 
out," he said calmly as he backed away from her and into the shadows of a nearby 
alley.
"Jerk," grumbled Kei as she staggered into the darkness as well. The wound 
was going to be a bitch to patch up. Almost casually she reached under her 
uniform and pulled out a small bloody throwing knife. She tossed it aside in 
disgust and slumped down against the wall while searching through her robes for 
one of the bandages she kept on her body to stop the bleeding. She was already 
feeling light headed as it was. 
With a small frown, she took out a sai and put the rolled up bandage on the 
end of the handle. She closed her eyes as she inserted it and pressed it up 
against the wound inside her. It wasn�t very large or all that deep. Sitting as 
she was now while stopping the blood flow for a half-hour or so would probably 
be enough really. She closed her eyes and rolled her head back to look up at the 
stars from between the two buildings. She laughed humorlessly and sighed, she 
wasn�t going anywhere for a while.
++++++++++++++++++++
Carrot landed on the roof of his home and almost kissed the gravel. He�d 
never been so happy to see the place before. Well, there were the other times 
he�d almost gotten himself killed by one person or another. Tonight was a little 
different though. He�d made it home without a single wound. Gia wouldn�t be able 
to spend the rest of the evening tormenting him with her hellish creams and 
ointments! He ripped the mask off his head and laughed out loud. 
Then he realized that he didn�t have a change of clothes on him.
"D�ou!"
++++++++++++++++++
Carrot frowned through his mask as he hung outside his window and glared at 
Mei Lin. The girl was changing her clothes and was quite naked. 
"Stupid girl! Now I�ve got to hang out here till you�re done!" he growled as 
he climbed up the line to wait just out of sight. 
It was right about this time that he realized what he had just been watching. 
He blinked and smacked his forehead. "What the hell am I thinking?" He lowered 
himself down again and continued to watch her change. He was a healthy 
fourteen-year-old boy after all. 
Mei Lin clipped on her bra and pulled her panties up as she shifted around 
through the closet for a moment, looking at what she wanted to wear. 
"Well, I guess I could wear this�" she muttered as she looked at a pair of 
jeans and a button up shirt. She frowned and peered at it for a moment. "Hmmm. I 
suppose it could work�they�re a little loose though�"
She tossed the pants aside and looked at a very short pair of shorts that 
she�d pulled off of a small pile on the tiny clothes dresser that sat on her 
side. Her clothes were folded neatly on one side, while Carrot�s were tossed 
into his half rather messily. Most of what was on the floor should have been on 
a hanger anyway. She narrowed her eyes at this and sighed. She�d just have to 
clean it up later. 
After several moments of debate, she decided that it was too cold to wear 
something like that. She had to show him something though, it was frustrating 
the way he seemed to ignore her. 
Carrot, who, ironically enough, had seen everything, was hanging outside the 
window still. He was clinging to the small wire that connected him to the roof 
with both hands, and his arms were starting to get tired. "Stupid woman! Hurry 
it up will ya?" he growled quietly.
Mei Lin�s face brightened up as she happened upon a pair of black spandex 
pants. She pulled them on and smiled at the result. She was about to put on the 
shirt when she stopped and blinked again. "Wait a minute�this isn�t going to 
work." She pulled on the edge of her plain white bra. It was kind of bulky and 
wasn�t very sexy really. She sighed and took it off before opening the small 
dresser inside the closet that held the remainder of her clothes.
She began to shift around through the clothes and grew more and more 
thoughtful.
Outside, Carrot�s arms finally gave out, and he landed face first on the 
pavement. Luckily, it was only about a five-foot drop. It still hurt though. 
"Damn," he grumbled painfully. "Stupid chick."
Mei Lin cried out in triumph as she pulled out a lacy looking black bra and 
held it out in front of her. "It�s perfect!"
Carrot had no idea why chicks had to take so long to get dressed just to sit 
around the house. It irked him as he rolled onto his back and stared at the 
stars. He finally stood up and glanced around. His apartment was on the back end 
of the building, so the only thing he could see was the empty building behind 
him. It was some sort of small office building, and no one was there at this 
time of night. He kicked off the ground and stood up glancing around. 
Mei Lin was finished dressing now and was standing in front of the mirror 
smiling at herself like an idiot. She clapped her hands and looked far to 
pleased with herself for his liking. He wasn�t sure what the hell was going 
through her mind at the moment. That was probably a good thing, because it most 
likely would have scared the hell out of him anyway. He stepped back and let her 
settle down a little before he tapped on the window.
It took about three times before the girl seemed to figure out where the 
sound was coming from. He sighed and looked up at her as she opened the window 
to look at him.
"Hey," he said calmly.
Mei Lin stared at him and blinked. 
"What?" he snapped at her as she cocked her head.
"EEEEEEKKK! An evil spirit of darkness!"
Carrot was thrown off his feet as she shoved her hand forward in a contorted 
gesture. She said something in Chinese and he felt like an invisible wall of air 
slammed into his chest. Fortunately, it was only strong enough to knock him off 
his feet and surprise him.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" he snapped angrily as he sat up.
"Oh no! My powers are still not strong enough!" she muttered as she stared at 
her hand in horror.
Carrot blinked and realized that he still had his mask on. "Oops." He pulled 
it off and stood up. "Stop that you crazy chick!"
The girl blinked at him and stared him down. She leaned forward and narrowed 
her eyes at him. "Just how long have you been out here?"
"Huh? I just got back," he lied. 
"Oh," said the girl as she stood upright and sighed. "Damn, wish he�d been 
here a minute ago�" she thought to herself irritably. "Anyway, come in. Why the 
hell are you wearing that thing?"
"Hey! You�re the one who�s all gung-ho about fighting evil and all that 
crap!" he muttered angrily as he climbed into the window. "I forgot to bring a 
change of clothes back with me."
"Oh. You�ve been fighting evil?" she said as she kneeled down on the ground 
and stared at him for a moment.
"Yeah, what of it?" he snorted irritably.
"You didn�t bring me?!" she snapped as she suddenly grew angry with him.
"Of course not! What good would you do me?" he responded as if she�d just 
asked him if she�d grown a tail or not.
The girl frowned at him and her cheeks flushed with anger. "You�you�Fine! See 
if I care!" she turned her head away and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Whatever. I�ve been taking care of some personal business today. Leave me 
the hell alone, I�m tired."
"Why are you wearing that?" she said as her interest overrode her anger.
"It�s a secret identity. I wouldn�t have told you about it if I hadn�t 
forgotten my clothes. Don�t go telling Gia about this! This is between you and 
me, got it?"
The girl nodded.
Carrot shuddered, if Gia found out he was running around in black tights�he�d 
never live it down! "What the hell was I thinking?" he muttered to himself.
Mei Lin turned away from him and pulled her hair up into a loose bun on top 
of her head. She thought she looked pretty sexy that way. She smiled at him and 
spread her arms. "What do you think?" She had the button up shirt tied into a 
knot in front of her belly, exposing her bra and cleavage in plain sight.
"Huh? About what?" he muttered dumbly as he looked at her. 
She put on her glasses and frowned at him. "What? Are you blind?" she 
snapped.
"Hey, I�m not the one wearing glasses," he responded as he tried to figure 
out what the hell she was on about. "Aren�t you cold in that shirt?"
Mei Lin sighed and hung her head. "I give up. I�m going to sleep."
"Whatever, I�ve got to change," he said as he frowned at her. 
"So go change," she muttered as she pulled out her futon.
"I can�t change in the bathroom if I�m keeping this a secret," he replied 
calmly.
She looked up at him and sighed. "So sleep in it. I�m too tired to wait on 
you."
Carrot blinked and shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. Stay there then." He 
started to strip right in front of her and changed his clothes.
Mei Lin simply stared, for a moment she thought she felt a tickle of blood on 
her upper lip. When she tried to touch it, the spot was dry though. After he�d 
gotten dressed she continued to stare at the wall. 
"I thought you were tired?" he grumbled as he set up his futon on the other 
side of the room.
She blushed and squeaked as she lay herself down on her futon. She purposely 
turned away from him and blushed as she simply continued to stare at the 
wall.
Carrot snorted as he glanced at her for a moment and shook his head. "I�ll 
never understand girls at all." He closed his eyes and went to sleep.
+++++++++++++++++++
TBC�
Next Time: The Senshi�s new friend!

 

--- Carrotglace

--- carrotglace@mindspring.com 

--- EarthLink: It's your Internet.


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