----------

	"What is this?" Cobalt asked curiously.

	All the other children looked at her as if she was crazy.
They very carefully kept their mouths shut, lest one of the olders,
who had learned brutality before anything else, took offense.

	Ytterbium, the oldest of the survivors, slowly, carefully
walked over to Cobalt and put a hand on her shoulder.

	Cobalt smiled warmly at Ytterbium. Of all of them, Ytterbium
was perhaps the only one to remember what had happened when the
world ended. She screamed and yelled at the olders, but Cobalt knew
that was only to keep them in line. The olders were much like the
ones before the end of the world, and needed a lot of guidance to
keep from attacking each other or the youngers.

	"This is meat," Ytterbium explained, carefully choosing her
words so that Cobalt would understand them. "It's the flesh of a
animal, heated until the juices come out. It also has salt, water,
and dried herbs in it."

	"What are herbs?" one of the young children asked.

	A moment of uncertainty passed across Ytterbium's face. The
scar, which ran down her left cheek, flashed bright green for a
second, but then returned to its normal pale shade.

	"You know, I'm not sure," she admitted in embarrassment. She
chuckled and placed a hand behind her head. "I think it may be
certain kinds of plants."

	"And I'm supposed to put this in my mouth?" Cobalt queried
dubiously.

	Ytterbium nodded. "You should try. It might make you feel
sick, but it shouldn't hurt you.

	Nervously, Cobalt nodded. She took the small brown lump and
placed it in her mouth.

	It was... *incredible*. She had tasted salt before, and knew
coolness of fresh water that sometimes trickled through the caverns,
but this new taste... this new taste was something entirely
different. It was stunning! It was wonderful.

	Before she knew it, Cobalt had made a squeal of joy. All the
other children had crowded around her, looking curiously at her.

	"Like this," Ytterbium instructed. She mimed moving her
mouth open and close.

	Still stunned by the explosion inside her mouth, it took
Cobalt a few seconds to comply. After a second or two, she started
opening and closing her jaw in the manner Ytterbium had indicated.
If anything, this was even more wonderful. This 'meat' was being
crushed between her teeth, releasing more and more of its wonderful
flavor. After a few minutes, however, the flavor was gone and all
that was left in Cobalt's mouth was a sticky, mushy paste that
threatened to choke her.

	"Now swallow," Ytterbium urged. She gently lifted Cobalt's
jaw until the masticated food slid into the back of her throat.

	Something happened to Cobalt that never had before. Her
tongue seemed to move by reflex. Her throat seemed to open of its
own accord.

	She clutched at her chest. She could *feel* the lump of
matter just below her breastbone. It hurt, more than little bit, but
at the same time it felt immensely gratifying. Cobalt had discovered
something that had been missing for her entire life.

	"It's... inside me," she stated fearfully.

	Ytterbium exhaled noisily. "Is it uncomfortable?"

	"A little."

	"Does it feel like it wants to come back out?"

	Cobalt shook her head.

	Ytterbium sighed. "This may just work..."

	Cobalt awoke from her dream, her eyes blinking in the
darkness. Warily, she reached behind her, pulling a human-made
flashlight out of her pocket. She shined it at her wrist. The watch
told her that it was almost four P.M. on earth.

	"Are you ready, General?" a voice whispered in the darkness.

	"Yes. Wake up everyone and get them ready."

	Cobalt thought back on her dream as stirrings of movement
began to take place all around her.

	In the end, many of the children *did* get sick from eating
the tiny slice of hamburger Ytterbium had given them. After an hour
or so Cobalt certainly felt like she wanted to cut her abdomen open
to let out whatever had gotten inside. Unlike some of the others,
however, she refused to listen to her body's urgings to purge her
stomach. After the initial nausea had passed, Cobalt discovered that
the only ill effect from her experience was that she wanted more and
more.

	If General Cobalt had her way, no child of the Dark Kingdom
would ever go hungry again.

----------------------------------------
Hidden in Darkness

A Bishojou Senshi Sailor Moon fanstory

by Chris Jones

Chapter 1: The Court
----------------------------------------

	Ami Mizuno stared at her watch in horror. The alarm had just
gone off.

	"Dr. Mizuno?"

	Even though she had set it a decade ago, the alarm should
*never* have gone off. The only thing that could set it off was dead
and gone, right?

	"Dr. Mizuno? Are you listening?"

	What could have caused it? It was vaguely possible that
random quantum fluctuations had set it off, but it was every bit as
likely that the earth would be instantaneously swallowed by a black
hole.

	"Dr. Mizuno? What were you just saying about crystal
filtering?"

	Ami looked up, realizing that she had been completely
ignoring her host for the last minute and a half.

	"I'm sorry?"

	"Your watch," an older man told her. "It went off and..."

	"I'm very sorry. I've just been paged. It's a very serious
emergency."

	"Ah, I understand entirely," the man noted sagely. "We
doctors are ruled by our beepers, after all. I can reschedule our
appointment for a later date."

	"Please," Ami said, bowing apologetically. "I'm so very
sorry. This presentation is very important to me, but--"

	"It's okay!" the other doctor said. "Please, take care of
your emergency. Your work is fascinating, so I promise that I'll
hear your proposal at a later date. It has the potential to help
thousands who suffer from a whole range of illness, after all."

	Ami nodded, thankfully. "I must be going now."

	"I'll have my secretary call you!" the doctor shouted as the
young woman literally ran from his office.

* * *

	Nine thirty in the morning was the best time to be on TV if
your target audience was younger than six years old. The producers
of 'Rabbit Room' would be damned if they would *ever* give up the
slot.

	"Good morning, everybody!" The show's blonde host called
out, bouncing into view of the camera.

	"Good morning, Bunny!" the legion of puppets called out at
once.

	Usagi Tsukino, clad in bunny-ears, a tuxedo-top, tap pants,
and lots of face paint, beamed before her audience.

	"How are we doing today?"

	The show proceeded along the predictable lines as most of
its kind did. There were 'important lessons', 'educational
messages', and the occasional 'inspirational' song and dance number.
Everything said was carefully couched in terms designed not to fly
over the head of small children.

	After a few minutes, Usagi's co-host loped into prominence,
also wearing lots of face-paint. Like Usagi, she was wearing a
costume that covered very little of her body-- but in a wholesome
way.

	"How are you doing today, Kitty?" Usagi asked.

	"Dandee-rific," Minako Aino answered. "Couldn't be better!
There is one thing, though."

	"Oh?"

	"I have an important message from the King of Funville!"
Minako announced.

	"Let's hear it," Usagi replied playfully.

	"Just as soon as I can remember..."

	Usagi sweat-dropped. In the script they rehearsed, Minako
was supposed to have stated the message right away. So that meant...

	"You really did forget, didn't you, Kitty."

	"You betcha, Bunny!" Minako replied. "Haha! You'd think I
had left my brain at home."

	Much to the director's eternal rage and the audience's
everlasting glee, about half of 'Rabbit Room' was improvised on the
spot due to the eccentricities of its two lead actresses.

	"Hmm... Let me guess and you tell me if I'm right," Usagi
hazarded. She had just read the script after all. "Did it have
something to do with pie?"

	"No, I don't think so," Minako replied. "I'd have remembered
if it was about something that yummy."

	Usagi sweat-dropped again. Was it possible that she had
forgotten what the script said too?

	"Oh, I remember!" Minako shouted in relief. "It was about--"

	It was at precisely that moment that both women began to
beep. Both Usagi and Minako looked at their watches in panic.

	"It must have been that the People of Funville were going to
put on a special play today, right?" Usagi improvised flawlessly.

	"That's right!" Minako agreed, taking the cue. "It's the
lazy cat who hogs the spotlight after all."

	"And I'm not going to even ask what that meant," Usagi
noted. "Puppets?"

	The three puppeteers who manned the 'Rabbit Room' set
sighed, realizing that once again, they were going to be responsible
for carrying the show. Usagi and Minako ran off stage as fast they
could.

* * *

	Still wiping traces of white and black make-up off their
faces, Usagi and Minako arrived at the Hikawa Shrine just after ten.

	"Late as usual," Rei noted, sweeping the walk.

	"Just because *some* of us have Mondays off doesn't give you
an excuse to gripe," Usagi sniped back.

	"That's true," Rei admitted. "Makoto's not here yet, either.
She was hip deep in a catered brunch."

	"I'm here now," the tall woman announced, running up the
steps.

	"I've been here for a bit," Ami said, stepping out of the
shrine. "I'm sorry I made you all leave work."

	"No biggy," Minako accepted. "Our contracts specify
unexplained absences, but... There really isn't a monster attack is
there?"

	"I don't know," Ami admitted. "It's just... well... look at
this," she said, holding the Mercury computer out to the five other
women.

	Rei hissed when she saw the display.

	"I don't get it," Usagi admitted.

	"It's *them*," Rei hissed.

	"Who?" Makoto asked, a little worried.

	"This is the energy signature of the Dark Kingdom," Ami
explained.

	"Hey! Wait a second," Minako interrupted. "Dark Kingdom? I
don't think so. We totally kicked their asses ten years ago!"

	"That's what I thought at first too," Ami said. "But I set
the computer to sound an alarm if it ever detected this signature
again. I thought that it would never happen but would be a wise
precaution. This morning, when I was pitching my new dialysis device
to the hospital, that alarm went off."

	"Dark-kingdom, huh." Makoto said tonelessly. "Well, it was
rough... but we did beat them a long time ago. Why after all this
time? We haven't had a monster attack in over a year."

	Ami shrugged. "It's possible that they've regained some of
their power. It's also possible that these are time-travellers, like
the Black Moon Family."

	"We really should check it out," a new voice stated.

	Artemis and Luna hopped into view. Artemis landed lightly on
Minako's shoulders, from his perch in a nearby tree, but Luna
swaggered out slowly from under the Shrine itself. Her abdomen was
swollen with feline pregnancy, and she moved carefully to protect
her unborn.

	"Luna's right," Minako agreed. "Hopefully, we can be done
with this before lunch."

	"But Mama-cat's not going, right?" Usagi chided the pregnant
feline.

	"I'm still perfectly capable of advising you," Luna
disagreed.

	"You're also perfectly capable of getting kicked around in a
fight, Luna," Artemis noted. "I thought we discussed this. I'll stay
with the girls and you can keep in touch with us the communicators."

	"Should we tell the Outers before we go?" Rei suggested.

	The four other girls developed looks of serious
exasperation.

	"And pick another fight?" Makoto asked sarcastically. "We
can try to get hold of Hotaru-chan, and maybe Setsuuna. If we try to
get Haruka or Michiru involved in this..."

	Usagi shook her head sadly. "Please, let's not fight about
that. This could be nothing. We shouldn't bother anyone else unless
it's serious."

	* * *

	"Report, Achorite," Cobalt commanded.

	"Situation nominal," the youma replied, saluting in a
military style. "We are at forty-eight percent capacity."

	"Not here," Cobalt cautioned, adjusting her leotard. "You're
standing too stiffly. You're supposed to be more energetic."

	Achorite nodded and shook her arms. She took a few seconds
to straighten her tights and adjust her own leotard. "This is really
uncomfortable," she complained.

	Cobalt nodded. "I know. It will be over soon, though. Any
sign of... *them*."

	"No. Will they really be in disguise?"

	"It's probable. Go relieve Baricite at the front door and
send her to me."

	* * *

	"A health club?" Minako asked curiously. "Didn't we already
do this one?"

	"A few times," Ami noted dubiously. She closed her computer
and placed it in her coat pocket.

	"Actually, it looks pretty nice," Usagi said. "Nicer than
the club Mamo-chan and I go to at any rate. Are you sure, Ami?"

	The shorter woman tilted her head slightly at the young
woman in a leotard in front of the club who was handing out fliers
and coupons to pedestrians passing by.

	"Notice anything strange about that girl?" Ami asked the
others.

	"She's really pretty," Usagi guessed, stating the obvious.

	Rei was the first to see it. "Her eyes aren't right. You
don't see that shade of green in nature."

	"She could be wearing contacts," Makoto offered, "But she's
also a little on the pale and scrawny side for someone who works at
a health-club. There's no fat on her, but there's also no muscle.
She looks like she'd blow away if you waved at her. Not exactly the
exactly the person you'd choose to advertise your gym, huh?"

	"It's faint, but it's there," Rei added. "She's not human."

	"A youma?" Usagi asked in dread.

	Rei bit her lip and nodded.

	There were a few shudders around the small group at the
thought of getting into yet another fight with the Dark Kingdom.

	Artemis hopped out of Minako's purse and looked curiously at
the club. "I'll start nosing around."

	"Be careful!" Usagi warned him. "Luna will claw me to death
if anything happens to you."

	The cat nodded and disappeared across the street in a white
blur.

	"Well, there's nothing for it," Makoto said after several
minutes. "Let's go work out and see what they're up to."

	* * *

	"Free trial membership?" Achorite offered the two blonde
women who strode up to the front door.

	"Free trial, huh?" The woman with straight hair asked her,
taking the flier she mentioned. "They've got hot tubs and tanning
beds! Not bad."

	"*Way* better than the club Mamo-chan and I go to," her
companion noted, as if they had been discussing it beforehand.

	"That's right!" Achorite exclaimed. "We have the newest,
state of the art tanning beds. They're really nice."

	"You've used them?" the first woman asked. "Do you like
them?"

	"Oh, they're great!" Achorite replied, happy that she was
doing so well.

	"You must use a really good sunscreen," the other said.
"Your skin is so pretty!"

	"Well, you do have to be concerned about UV radiation,"
Achorite said. She thought that a few customers might ask questions
about the tanning beds, so she did her best to be prepared. "We sell
some tanning lotion at the front counter, if you're interested. We
have quite a few beds, so there shouldn't be any wait."

	"I bet not," the straight-haired woman said. "Well, what
d'you say, Usagi. Should we work out?"

	"I have workout clothes in my bag for later," the other
woman replied. "How about you, Mina-chan?"

	The straight-haired woman pulled the corner of a leotard out
of her purse. "I'm always prepared!"

	"Right this way," Achorite said happily, gesturing the two
women into the club. After pointing them in the direction of the
front counter, she stepped back outside and began to hand out fliers
again.

	"Oh look, girls!" A dark-haired woman exclaimed as she and
her friends walked up to Achorite. "They're giving away free
memberships!"

	Achorite smiled and went into her sales-pitch again. This
was easy!

	* * *

	"If she's ever used a tanning bed, I'll give up chocolate
for the rest of my life," Minako hissed as they walked into the
club.

	"Shibuya* girl, she's not," Usagi agreed. "Still, she
handled herself really well, don't you think?"

*(Shibuya is a shopping district in Tokyo infamous for the sheer
volume of teenage girls with artificial tans, dyed hair and
overabundant eye-makeup who hang out there.)

	Minako rolled her eyes. "Something like that. Look, here's
another one at the counter."

	A short distance behind them, Ami, Rei, and Makoto walked
in, looking around curiously just like any other first-time customer
would.

	"I'm going to go check out the tanning beds," Ami said,
taking her leave of the other two.

	"Why don't we peek in on the aerobics class then?" Makoto
suggested as she and Rei walked through the club.

	The two women walked into the locker rooms located
immediately behind the front counter and quickly changed into the
new workout clothes they had just bought. Curiously, Makoto poked
her head inside a few of the lockers and into the showers.

	"Do you mind?" a naked woman in the showers exclaimed
indignantly as Makoto tried to tell if she was human or not.

	"Uh, sorry," Makoto apologized, averting her gaze. "I'm new
and just wanted to see how the place was laid out."

	Rei glanced at her questioningly, but Makoto shook her head.

	"I think the aerobics studios are this way," Rei said, once
they were both changed. Rei had changed into a red and black striped
leotard and tights while Makoto had opted for a pair of shorts and a
tank-top. Re gestured and lead the taller woman out of the locker
room.

	After a short walk, the two found themselves in front of a
windowed studio. Inside, about a dozen women and girls were doing
aerobics, keeping good time with the instructor. Fast-paced dance
music was audible through the glass and the instructor could be
heard shouting instructions and encouragements.

	"Can you see her?" Makoto whispered.

	"Not clearly," Rei replied, tilting her head to one side to
get a better view. They could occasionally catch glimpses of the
instructor through the crowd in front of her, but nothing clear
enough to tell them anything about the woman.

	After a few minutes, however, the class ended and the
exercising women began to move towards the glass doors.

	"Whew! What a workout," one leotard-clad housewife mentioned
within earshot of Rei and Makoto.

	"I'll say. I certainly earned my dessert today," another one
huffed.

	"I'm exhausted," a college-aged girl said. "I wonder if
every class is that strenuous."

	Finally, the instructor stepped out of the room, and headed
straight towards Rei and Makoto. She had a defensive look on her
face, but was wearing a tight-lipped smile. Unlike the youma girls
manning the front door, she was muscular, if almost inhumanly
slender. She also had long, electric-blue hair. Even Ami's hair was
not so blue.

	"I saw you two watching," she greeted the pair. "Interested
in taking a class?"

	Makoto nodded. "Somewhat. I'm Makoto. This is Rei."

	"I'm Callie," the aerobics instructor introduced herself.

	"You're the manager of the club?" Rei guessed.

	"That's right," the woman replied. "I've put a lot of work
into it. I hope you like it."

	"It's a nice place," Makoto admitted, a little defensively.

	"My next class is in thirty minutes," Callie responded. "If
you're interested, hang around. I'll give you a great workout."

	"I bet," Rei agreed, noting the women still hanging around
the studio trying to catch their breaths.

	"I may have been a bit hard on them. It's been a long time
since I've done any instructing. I'll have to go a little easier on
my next class. Not too easy, though," she joked, nudging Makoto
slightly. "Feel free to look around until the next class starts.

	"Do you mind if we check out the studio?" Rei asked.

	Callie hesitated nervously for just a second before she
agreed. "Sure! There are some stepping blocks in the closet if you'd
like to try them."

	"Well?" Makoto asked once they were alone in the studio.

	"I'm not sure. She certainly looks a little strange, but..."

	"She's acting a little oddly," Makoto said suspiciously,
looking the entire room over for anything out of place. "What'd you
want to bet that there's something... strange... behind that wall,"
she said, pointing to the mirrored surface behind the instructor's
platform."

	"We should get Ami to scan it when she's done with the
tanning beds."

	"In the meantime, let's look around some more."

* * *

	"There, can you feel it?" Minako asked quietly as she began
to pedal her stationary bike.

	Usagi shook her head, matching Minako's pace.

	"Turn the tension all the way down," Minako instructed, the
noise of the other exercisers around them drowning her out to
everyone but Usagi.

	The blonde-haired woman nodded and adjusted the controls on
her bike. After a few seconds, she was pedaling against no
resistance at all. Still, she could feel how much effort it was
taking to keep her legs moving.

	"I think that's it," she said. "Subtle, isn't it?"

	Minako continued to pedal. "Too subtle," she said as she
watched a biker leave and another take his seat.

	The first biker huffed and puffed for a few seconds, but
rather than collapsing of exhaustion and drainage, he took a deep
breath and ambled off in the direction of the free weights.

	"It's not quite what I expected," Minako continued. "They're
definitely draining energy somehow, but it doesn't seem like anyone
would notice. I don't even think we would have noticed if we weren't
looking for it."

	The communicator on Usagi's wrist began to beep. She feigned
taking a cell phone out of her pocket and began to speak into her
wrist.

	"Hello?"

	"The tanning beds are clean, Usagi-chan," Ami's tinny,
distorted voice said through the communicator. "I stripped one down
to parts.

	"It's genuine?"

	"It still had factory tags on it," Ami said. "If they're
using them to drain energy, it's too subtle for me to detect at all.
You would probably burn more energy running hard for a few minutes."

	Usagi's eyes widened at Ami's choice of words. "You should
come check out the treadmills and stuff, then. It's not real
obvious, but Mina and I both think they're draining people very
slowly."

	"I'll be right there," Ami promised.


* * *

	"We'd like to sign up for a membership," Rei announced.

	Achorite's eyes widened. "You like the club?" she asked.

	Makoto nodded. "So what kind of information do you need?"

	"Uhmm... Just a second. I'll go get the forms," she
promised. She stepped into a room behind the front desk and came
back out a few seconds later with two clipboards and ball-point
pens.

	"If you'll fill these out, we'll get you a membership card
made up. We're currently running a grand-opening special on
quarterly membership so--"

	"Can you help me with this?" Rei asked, interrupting her.
She pointed to a place on the form.

	While Achorite's back was turned, Makoto stepped into the
room she had just come out of. She was back out seconds later.
Achorite never noticed.

	"And here, for referrer?" Rei asked.

	"Oh, that would be the person who told you about the club.
We have a special discount for--"

	"Well, that would be you, since I never heard of your club
before today. What's you're name, miss? Something-ite, wasn't it?"

	"Achorite," the youma responded autmatically. Her eyes
widened in horror as she realized what she had done. "I mean, Akie!
You can call me Akie!"

	Her eyes flicked back and forth between the two women in
panic. "Urr... I think I need to talk to the manager to get your
cards set up. I'll be right back."

	She ran away quickly, as if she was being hounded.

	"Well, I think I've seen enough," Rei stated nonchalantly.

	"They've even got pictures of us in the storage room over
there," Makoto added darkly.

	"Pictures?"

	"Newspaper clippings of the Sailor Senshi," she whispered.
"The faces are blown up, but so distorted that they're hard to make
out. You can't even see Usagi's pigtails clearly."

	Rei rolled her eyes. "I'd be willing to bet that Miss
Achorite just went to warn her boss."

	"Rei-chan!" Usagi's voice called out over the dark-haired
girl's communicator. "Ami says the exercise equipment is draining
energy!"

	"Right," Makoto said, glancing over Rei's shoulder. "Let's
transform and meet near the free-weights."

	* * *

	"Cobalt, they're here!" Achorite blurted out.

	The blue-haired woman jumped and dropped her soda. "What?
Already? You're sure it wasn't just women who look like them?"

	"They tricked me into telling them my name-- my real name!
What're we gonna do?"

	Cobalt shook her head and threw her towel down on the floor.
"We're going to follow our plans. Start the evacuation. Youngest
first, just like we discussed."

	Crying, Achorite nodded an ran back out of the room.

	Cobalt stared at the ceiling of the tiny break room and
swore loudly. "One day. One fucking day before it all goes to hell.
No wonder Jadeite got his ass kicked so easily."

	She stormed out of the kitchenette and into the main workout
area just in time to see five bright flashes of light. Shielding her
eyes, she could just barely make out the form of five sailor-suited
women.

	"Scramble!" she shouted. "Evacuate, now!"

	* * *

	"There is no forgiveness for evil monsters who steal energy
from people who are just trying to work off a few calories!" Sailor
Moon stated, pointing at a girl who had been handing out towels just
a few seconds ago. She immediately felt stupid for saying it, but
continued her posing. "I'm the beautiful warrior for love and
justice, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon, I will punish you!"

	"Waah!" the towel youma bawled. "I don't wanna be punished."

	"Run!" Achorite said, leaping in front of her.

	"That's not right," Sailor Mars noted curiously.

	Indeed, the other Sailor Senshi began to glance around
themselves suspiciously. Rather than take up a defensive stance,
Sailor Mercury dodged behind the much taller Sailor Jupiter and
began to use her computer to scan around them.

	The strange thing was, none of the youma were fighting. All
of them-- all appearing to be girls clad in leotards and workout
clothes, were scrambling around crazily. All around them, the tired
patrons of the club looked around in terror or even curiosity at the
strange situation.

	"Stupid Youma!" Achorite called out. "Do as you're told!
Run!"

	"We won't let you steal energy from innocent people any
longer," Sailor Venus cried out. "Stand and fight."

	"I won't let you hurt her!" Achorite screamed, shielding the
other youma with her own body.

	Sailor Jupiter was about to raise her hands in preparation
to attack, but paused at the display. Both of the youma appeared to
be crying. They certainly weren't fighting back.

	Sailor Mercury put a gloved hand on Jupiter's forearm,
adding her agreement to Jupiter's hesitation.

	"Follow the plan!" a new voice called out. "Get her out of
here, Achorite!"

	The leotard clad youma nodded and carried the towel-youma
away from the Senshi as fast she could.

	Confused by the situation, none of the Sailors gave chase.

	"I'm you're opponent, Sailor Moon!" the new voice called
out. In front of them, in a shower of confetti, a new figure
materialized. It was the aerobics instructor, Callie. A second or so
later, her clothes blurred, and became the grey uniform of a Dark
Kingdom general.

	All five of the Sailor Senshi gasped, even though they had
been expecting something like this.

	"You wanna fight?" Sailor Jupiter asked coldly. "You got
it!"

	"Give me your best shot," the youma general challenged.
"You'll never take me alive!"

	Even Minako raised an eye at that one. "Excuse me?"

	"METASPIKE!" the general shouted, raising one hand.

	Jupiter and Mercury dodged as a large, blue crystal impacted
the floor just in front of them. It shattered on impact, sending
razor-sharp shards in all directions.

	All the Senshi were able to dodge the attack, and scattered.

	Sailor Mercury dodged behind a wall, and picked one of the
shards out of her hair. She began to scan it while the others
started to fight.

	"MARS SPIRT FLARE!"

	"VENUS SPOTLIGHT!"

	The general dodged both the blinding laser and the torrent
of flame, which scorched the floor where she was standing. She
flipped end over end, and raised her hands again.

	"METASPIKE!"

	Another blue crystal hit the floor near Sailor Mars, causing
her to roll away from the blast. After leaping back to her feet, she
stared curiously at the general, who leapt at Sailor Jupiter.

	"JUPITER FLUX TUBE!" the warrior called out, sending helix-
shaped bolts of lighting at the Youma General

	Much to the Sailors' surprise, she didn't dodge quite fast
enough and was caught in the attack. She screamed and writhed in
agony as electricity coursed through her. She dropped to the floor,
gasping.

	"Now, Sailor Moon!" Venus shouted.

	Sailor Moon raised her wand, but paused for some reason. She
stared in uncertainty at the general's fiery, defiant eyes.

	Glaring, the general staggered to her feet, and glanced
around her. She raised her hands again, weakly.

	"Metaspike!" There was no accompanying crystal, nor
detonation. "Metaspike! Metaspike! Metaspike!" the general screamed
futilely. Her powers seemed to have left her. "Another day then,
Sailor Moon!" she called out defiantly, her voice wavering. The
colored specks of confetti began to swirl around her, but died off
after just a few seconds.

	Her teleport failed, the youma general simply ran for the
front door of the club.

	The Sailors watched in confusion as she fled.

* * *

	Cobalt ran, swearing under her breath, and clutching at the
place on her side where Jupiter's attack burned her. Her general's
uniform had already faded, leaving her only in the leotard she had
been wearing before. It was now burnt and charred in places, and
completely gone over her injured side.

	Grunting in pain, she ducked into a nearby alley and threw
herself into a dumpster. She buried herself as quickly as she could,
pulling plastic bags and other refuse over her body.

	"Status report," Cobalt gasped out into the human-built
radio she had been carrying. "Bandylite, Achorite, Calomel, report."

	"Calomel reporting," a voice came through the radio. "We got
as many of the children as we could through the gate and then self-
destructed it. I only had to carry two batteries away."

	"Good," Cobalt whispered. "Achorite?"

	"I think they got Bandy, General," Achorite's sobbing voice
came back over the radio.

	Cobalt winced as a rough piece of trash aggravated her
electrical burn. She struggled to keep from crying herself. It
wouldn't be good for them if she let them hear her cry.

	"No, I'm okay!" Bandylite's voice came through the radio. "I
had to help Canasite get out of the storage room. We got away."

	"Thank Metallia," Cobalt cried out loud. "Achorite?"

	"I'm here, general. I'm still doing a head count, but I
think everyone got out."

	"Okay, as soon as you're done with the head count, follow
plan 'R'. Everybody take off in groups of four and find shelter like
we discussed. Two children and two adults in every group."

	"I'm sorry we failed so badly," Achorite cried through the
radio. "I'm sorry I let them know who I was."

	Cobalt held her tongue on that score and did her best to
speak in a soothing tone. "You did just fine, Akie. There was no way
we could have known who they were. They must have been there for a
while to even notice that we were skimming energy, so even *I*
missed them, okay?"

	"We're heading out, General," Bandylite said. "Are you sure
we can't meet you again?"

	"The Sailor Senshi know what you look like now," Cobalt
replied. "That's not worth your life. Now go, and forget you know
anything at all about the Dark Kingdom!"

	"Understood, General!"

* * *

	It was sometime later that the Sailor Senshi, plus Mamoru,
Luna, and Artemis were sitting in large corner booth in a restaurant
near Usagi and Minako's studio. They were quietly discussing what
had happened and trying to figure out *why* it had happened.

	"It's kinda mean for me to say it," Minako said, "but it was
really kinda pathetic. They didn't put up any fight at all. The only
one who even attempted to attack us was the general."

	"Even then, she couldn't really do anything," Makoto agreed.
"Those crystal bombs she thew at us were kinda weak. I mean, they
probably would have hurt if you got hit with one, or were right on
top of one when it exploded. I saw one of the guys who was working
out pick up a shard and poke his buddy with it."

	"The energy-draining mechanisms underneath the exercise
machines shut down and self-destructed just as soon as she started
fighting," Ami noted. "I tried to get back inside to get a sample
but the police had already roped the building off. I may be able to
get one tomorrow."

	Artemis, who was sitting down in the booth with Luna so as
not to be noticed by the wait-staff, coughed uncertainly. "I guess I
should tell you what I saw, then. I sensed dark energy coming from
the warehouse back behind the club. When I went to check it out, I
was just in time to see about twenty or thirty youma evacuating.
There was a fire inside, but the sprinklers had already put
everything out. I couldn't tell what was on fire, just that
something large and metallic had melted to slag."

	"This just gets stranger and stranger," Mamoru noted. "No
fight at all?"

	Usagi shook her head.

	"Usually," he said, "Usually, if Usako is under any kind of
stress at all, I can feel it. Today, I wouldn't have known anything
had happened to put her in danger if you guys hadn't called me at
work."

	"I think that we can count the fire in the warehouse as
another 'Self-destruction'," Rei surmised. "But at least thirty
youma, and they didn't come to aid their boss? Did you notice
anything strange about them, Artemis?"

	"Well, some of them were disguised as human children, but
we've all seen that sort of thing before. I wouldn't even mention it
if this wasn't already so weird."

	It was at that moment that all those present froze.

	"Callie! Let me help you!" a familiar voice said quietly
from behind them.

	"I told you, I'm okay," another replied.

	Usagi and Rei leaned over slightly, glancing in the booth
next to theirs.

	"Will this be allright?" The waiter asked as he seated two
women immediately next to Usagi's group.

	It was Callie, the woman that Rei and Usagi recognized as
both the aerobics instructor from the health club as well as the
youma general who had fought them. The girl next to her was
Achorite, the youma who had refused to leave her companion behind
during the fight.

	"It's just fine," Callie said hastily.

	"I'll be back in just a second to take your order," the
waiter said after he gave menus to both women.

	After several seconds of silence, Callie sighed loudly. "I
should have made you go with everyone else."

	"I can't leave you, especially after you got hurt," Achorite
replied in a whisper tone.

	Makoto winced guiltily.

	"But, everything went according to plan," Callie continued.
"Everyone is safe, and the police believed me when I told them that
a monster had trashed the club."

	"That's a relief," Achorite said. "We might even be able to
rebuild."

	"And leave a target for *them* to destroy whenever they want
to? No, it's better to cut our losses and move on to another kind of
business-- maybe one that won't be obliterated the first day it's
open."

	Five women, one man, and two cats sat in silence as they
eavesdropped on the conversation. It could have been a woman and her
friend innocently discussing how best to go about spending an
insurance claim on their destroyed business. If they hadn't *seen*
what the two had been up to with their own eyes, they wouldn't even
have overheard the conversation, let alone pay attention to it.

	"Are you ready to order?" The waiter asked when he came back
to the table.

	"I'll have a garden salad," Achorite ordered.

	"And you, Miss?" the waiter asked Callie.

	"I'll have the prime rib steak," General Cobalt replied.
"Medium rare. I've *earned* it today."

- - -

~to be continued...

----------

Cobalt is 5' 10" tall, muscular, and has waist-length, electric blue
hair. She has a pretty, but not remarkable face.  130lbs.

Achorite is 4' 11" tall, slender, and has short blonde hair. She is
attractive, but skinny and short to the point of looking
undernourished (for a human.) She has bright green eyes that are too
bright to be normal. 90 lbs.

As always, all C&C is welcome. The plot is pretty much final, so you
shouldn't expect it to change too much based on C&C. Discussion on it
is still quite welcome, however.

For those who are interested, the first couple revised chapters of 'The
Clan' are available at my website, along with a bunch of new fanart.
Kudos to Dave Menard for his wonderful artwork!

http://www.furinkan.net/fanfic/

----------


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