by

Eric Metcalf

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Naru sat down beside Usagi at lunch with a strange look, as if she was a doctor examining Usagi. "Usagi, are you feeling all right?" she asked.

Usagi looked at her, taking another bite from her sandwich. "Yeah, Naru, I feel fine. Why?"

"Oh, just the fact that you've handed in the last five homework assignments on time, and haven't failed a test in two weeks."

Usagi giggled. "Well, Ami finally decided to really try to make me work, and I guess it's helping."

Ami walked over to them. "I just heard my name. What are you two talking about this time?"

"Oh, I was just telling Naru how you've been helping me with my homework and studying. She thought I was sick or something."

Ami smiled. Evidently, Usagi didn't want to tell Naru about Ean for some reason, so she decided to play along. "Yeah, I finally decided I was being selfish to study by myself when Usagi needed help."

Naru nodded, then pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket. It was a flier, advertising a "peace rally" that afternoon. The majority of the flier was a picture of a handsome young man standing behind a podium, looking proud and sincere. "Are you two going to this thing this afternoon?"

Usagi frowned at it. "I doubt it, it looks pretty boring."

Ami studied the paper a bit more closely, then looked concerned. "Maybe. Mind if I keep this, Naru?"

Naru shrugged. "Sure, you can keep it. I'm surprised you two didn't trip over them getting to school, they're all over the place. See you later." After Naru got up, Ami slipped out her computer and scanned the page.

Almost immediately, the palm-sized machine began beeping, and she scowled. "I'm picking up traces of Dark Kingdom energies on this flier, Usagi. I think we need to go."

Usagi frowned. "The Dark Kingdom wants war, not peace. What would they be doing organizing or helping a peace rally?"

Now it was Ami's turn to frown. "I don't know, Usagi. I'd like to talk this over with Luna, but we'll barely have enough time to get there if we leave right after school. We won't even have time to go get Rei, so I hope she's seen one of these and decides to go too. Come on, lunch's over." The two walked back inside, both decidedly uneasy. And it's such a pretty day, Usagi thought, looking up at the cloudless sky. Count on the Dark Kingdom to act up on a day that should be for walking in the park.

Rei was waiting for the other senshi when they got out of school. Ami and Makoto mirrored her dour expression. Usagi and Minako were both upbeat.

"Well, it's good you didn't get thrown in detention today, Usagi, or we'd have to leave you behind."

Usagi frowned. "Oh, Rei, you're always so mean to me. I guess you're going to the rally too."

Rei nodded. "Yeah, I'm getting bad vibes from this flier, so I decided we needed to investigate."

"I scanned the flier, and it's definitely Dark Kingdom energy. What they want, we don't know, but they're involved."

Minako looked at the flier starry-eyed as they set off towards the plaza where the rally was going to be held. "He is such a hunk. Why would anybody that good looking get involved with the Dark Kingdom?"

Makoto looked at her. "Remember, girl, you've got a boyfriend, or have you forgotten that Ean's liable to have a very jealous streak?"

"Why do you say that, Makoto?"

"A lot of those police and army types have this big hang-up on loyalty. What makes you think Ean doesn't?"

"What about Kenjiro? He's a cop."

"Yeah, but you don't see me ogling some guy whose probably either a youma or a flunky for a youma. We've been down this road before." The others nodded, remembering the numerous times they had charged into situations like this before.

Usagi smiled. "Yeah, and we've always beaten the youma. Why is everybody so concerned?"

Rei spoke up. "Just because we've beaten them before doesn't mean that they haven't learned, or are you forgetting that beating we got a few weeks ago?"

Usagi shrugged. "That turned out all right. With Ean and Mamoru now to rescue us, why should I worry?" Rei scowled and shook her head.

Karaso smiled as he glanced around at the preparations for the rally. The group had come together quickly and had worked feverishly to promote the message of their leader. Karaso smiled broader as he saw Isoruku being prepared for his speech. The young man had some charisma, and an honest belief in what he said. Karaso had provided him with an organization and some subtle telepathic help, to boost him from a street-corner loudmouth to his present status as the darling of the Japanese peace movement.

Isoruku got up from the makeup table and walked over to Karaso. "You smile broadly, my friend. Do you believe we can succeed today?"

"With your ideas and charisma, I have no doubts that we can succeed. The war-mongers would do well to be very careful these days, with you opposing them."

Isoruku nodded and patted Karaso on the shoulder. "I would be nowhere without your organizational skills, Kechi." His smile slipped. "I hope that they do not react to angrily. I would hate to have these people injured on my account."

Karaso focussed on him, telepathically directing this fear into anger. "They would not dare, they know that we are right. I would not worry about them."

Isoruku nodded. "Yes, you are right, they would not dare." He shook his head and smiled again. "Come, my friend, enough of this depressing talk. Let us see how the preparations are coming."

Usagi looked around, open-mouthed. The others looked less surprised, but none of them were really ready for what they saw. The square was filled with people from end to end. A raised platform dominated one side, with a large banner across the back and a podium set in the center of it, with a row of chairs behind the podium. Right now, the platform was unoccupied except for a few workers finishing up in various spots.

"Wow, I had no idea there would be this many people here. Maybe Mamoru's here somewhere." At the thought of Mamoru, she started looking harder, looking for some sign of his tall, black-haired form.

Rei chuckled. "Give it up, Usagi. There's no way you're going to see him in this crowd. Besides, it'd be easier to let him see you than to go chasing off after every guy that looks like him."

Usagi scowled, but nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. Listen, let's see if we can get closer. As long as we're here, I want to hear what this guy's going to say. Besides, if it is some youma trick, we'll be that much closer to stopping it."

Usagi dove into the crowd, Minako at her heels. "Maybe, but we also won't be able to transform with so many witnesses," Ami said under her breath. Makoto nodded, but just shrugged, and the other three also entered the crowd, Makoto carving a path for them with her long arms and hard glares. They finally caught up with Usagi and Minako about four meters from the foot of the stage, when the crowd was just too thick for them to proceed any further. Only Makoto could see beyond a few inches in the press of bodies.

Ami pulled out her computer and started scanning. "Rei," she said just loud enough for Rei to hear her, "are you feeling any Dark Kingdom energy?"

Rei closed her eyes for a moment, her brow furrowed and jaw tight in concentration, then she opened her eyes. "A little, but it's like the youma isn't using it's power, or else it's really far away. What do your scans read, Ami?"

"About the same. Wait a minute, it's spiking." The readings on the detector abruptly jumped.

Usagi turned around and snarled at the two. "Be quiet, you two, something's happening." A group of people had come out on stage, filing in to fill up the seats. Then, the curtains along the back of the stage opened, and the young man from the posters stepped out, head high, smiling at the crowd. The crowd responded with a cheer that verged on a roar. Rei's eyes went wide as Usagi, Minako, and Makoto started cheering along. Rei gritted her teeth and concentrated. In a moment, the girls stopped cheering and looked around.

"Hey, what happened?" Usagi said.

Sweat beading on her brow, Rei opened her eyes. "Well, we found our youma, and whoever he is, he's a telepath. He's sending out broad-based signals, making you like the speaker. I can't tell who it is, I'm doing all I can to shield you from the signals."

Usagi gasped. "Why would they do that?"

Makoto clenched her fists and snarled. "I don't care, I say we deal with this now. I don't know about anybody else, but I don't like having my head messed with."

Rei shook her head as sweat dripped into her eyes. "Remember what you were saying about the crowd? We can't transform here. We also don't know who the youma is, or have you forgotten that there are probably eight or nine innocent people on that stage? With a telepath like this, they could be helping and not know what they're doing." Makoto looked down and unclenched her fists, chastened.

Usagi started to snap at Rei, but Makoto shook her head, and Minako leaned back. "Be quiet, you guys, we're trying to hear." Makoto snorted at the idea.

Minako rolled her eyes and turned back, in time to catch the word "warmongers". "Who are these 'warmongers' he keeps talking about?" she asked Ami. Ami swallowed, as if unwilling to answer.

The speaker answered for her. "You know who I am talking about, these warmongers, these American occupiers and their lapdogs in the government, the army, and the police!"

It was Minako's turn to gasp. "He's talking about Ean, and his friends."

Ami nodded. "A lot of these peace activists go after the Americans. Hey, what's that back there?" She motioned to the black clouds rolling in behind the stage, spilling across the blue sky like oil over water. Low peals of thunder rolled across the square, causing some in the crowd to look up and murmur.

The speaker glanced up, then continued without missing a beat. "Even the sky hears our outrage at these crimes against humanity, and shakes with it own anger, a mirror to our anger."

The crowd roared in approval, and even Ami had to nod. "Whatever else he is, he's good." Makoto snorted as the clouds covered the square and raindrops began pounding down.

"I'm not sure good is the word I'd choose. Maybe dangerous." She looked over at a deep breath from Rei, whose eyes were wide as a near-river of sweat poured off of her brow. Curiously, she was also shivering, as if the rain was ice water.

"This storm, it's full of Dark Kingdom energy. I'm not sure I can keep up this thought-shield if it keeps up. We might not even be able to transform." Ami nodded, her expression pensive, while the others gasped, even as the heavy droplets started soaking through their light uniforms. Suddenly, a loud, cackling laughter echoed over the thunder and the crowd. Minako and Makoto looked at each other, eyes wide as the laugh echoed again.

"That sounds like.." Minako started, then a form appeared over the platform. As it approached, they saw that the form was a woman, or at least, it looked like a woman. A woman, that is, with wild, silver hair and an overly-slender body. Minako and Makoto gasped.

"Who is that," Usagi asked, wide-eyed.

Minako swallowed hard. "The youma that attacked us and Ean."

Makoto growled. "The one that made us look like fools." The crowd was pulling back, recoiling from this strange woman who walked on air and, from the looks of it, commanded the storm.

"You pathetic fools," she said, her high voice carrying through the storm, "you think that dreams and talk will bring you peace. Well, here is the price for such foolishness." She floated over the speaker and held out her hand imperiously, palm down and fingers spread. A lightning bolt leaped from her hand to strike the speaker. He screamed and jerked as the bolt electrocuted him. The crowd recoiled further now, the people in front pushing back, trying to get away. The senshi were pushed back, carried along by the flow. The group on the stage was running to the back, except for two of the largest workers, who had run to the speaker's side. The woman reached into her robes and pulled out a large, black gem. She held it out, as if showing it to the crowd. The gem began to glow with purple light, weak at first, but growing stronger.

"Behold, the power of fire and ice!" A beam of purple energy lanced down from the gem, splitting in half on the way down and striking both men, bathing them in a purple glow. They roared in pain as the beam changed them. The one on the left seemed to freeze into a solid block of ice, the other to burst into a human pillar of flame. When the two forms began to move, walking forward and stepping off of the stage, the crowd screamed almost as one and recoiled, people rushing pell-mell away from the stage. The senshi were pushed along, carried by the human wave, until Ami stumbled and fell. She shrieked as the crowd began to kick her and step on her.

"Ami," Makoto shouted, and reached down for her friend, swinging her long arms to push the panicked people away. She swung Ami up as easily as a baby. Ami coughed and cringed, holding her stomach.

"Ami, are you okay?" Usagi asked, fear in her eyes. Ami coughed and nodded. Rei looked back as the two youma began firing blasts of fire and ice into the crowd, killing several of the stragglers and lending new impetus to the flight of the others.

"She may be all right, but we'll be dead if we don't do something about them."

"What are we going to do?" Makoto asked, still cradling Ami. "As you keep reminding us, we can't risk transforming in front of all these witnesses, even if they are scared to death, and we're a long ways from any concealed place." Suddenly, over the thunder and the screams, they heard another sound, a high-pitched whine, becoming louder and higher. As they looked up, suddenly cables dropped through the clouds and rain, as if out of the sky itself. The youma turned and looked and laughed, as if unconcerned. The cables whipped and skittered in the wind.

"What are those?" Usagi asked, eyes wide.

"Cables of some sort," Ami coughed, "but I don't know what they're connected to." A whirring shriek filled the air, then men appeared, sliding down the ropes. Dressed in dark uniforms, helmets and military vests, they hit the ground one after another then drew weapons and starting shooting at the youmas as soon as they hit the ground.

One of the first down, a large shotgun in his right hand, started yelling out directions. "First team, off to the left; second team, move right. Catch 'em in a Vee! Move, move, move!" The Senshi gasped almost as one at the familiar voice, only slightly muffled by the facemask he wore.

"Ean!" Usagi yelled. Ean swirled, and his eyes widened in recognition. He moved toward them, side-walking, firing his shotgun at the youma. The rest of the policemen had also opened fire, and the crowd started screaming and covering their ears against the assault of the noise from the guns.

As Ean drew near them, he motioned to them with his left arm, as if pushing them back. "Get back, get the hell back!" He didn't act like he knew them, but his voice brooked no argument, with a hard edge they knew meant trouble. As they scrambled back, they could see the two youmas staggering from bullet and shotgun slug strikes, but they didn't seem to be injured. Ean cursed as he pumped a shell into the fiery one, got a solid hit, but it barely flinched. The ice youma fired a sphere of ice at some of the men, but they dove out of the way before they were hit, and they were only stung by bits of flying ice.

Ean growled to himself as he tried to think of something. "How do you fight fire?" he said to himself. "You fight fire with water and, of course!" He stood up, dodged a fireball, and stood up again, yelling to one of the men with him.

"Ozaka! Keep up fire on the iceberg! First Section! With me, target the fireball!"

Ozaka yelled back at him. "We're not doing anything!"

Ean smiled, even though no one could see if under the mask. "Just keep hitting 'em, it'll be enough." I hope, he added to himself. Moving further around to the left, he waited until he had the fire youma and the ice youma lined up, their backs to each other. He brought the shotgun to his shoulder, sighted, and snapped off three shots in tight succession. The youma staggered back, and, for a brief instant, the two youmas touched. A brilliant flash of light flared into a ball of energy that engulfed the area around the youma, causing Ean and the other policemen to flinch away. When the light died away, two men lay on the ground, unmoving.

The flying youma snarled. "You mortals have caused me enough difficulty for one night. Prepare to meet your doom." The policemen fired at her as she imperiously raised her right arm, but the bullets didn't seem to reach her. Ean prepared himself for the pain of the shock, when suddenly a rose struck her arm, piercing right through it. The youma shrieked and grabbed at the wounded arm. Every eye turned to one of the buildings framing the square, where a man stood in a tuxedo, top hat, and billowing cape. A cane was in his left hand, and another rose in his right.

His voice, powerful and deep echoed over the square. "I will not allow you to further endanger either these innocent people or the heroes that protect them. Demoness, meet your end!" He flung the next rose, this one striking the youma in the left shoulder. With a shriek, she soared into the sky and vanished. The storm dispersed as quickly as it had begun, and Tuxedo Kamen disappeared likewise.

Ean slung his shotgun over his right shoulder and started walking around to his men, giving orders. "Ozaka, until the detectives get here, you and I are going to get statements. The rest of you, start giving first aid to those that need it, and mark the more serious cases for the paramedics. Good job so far, let's finish it off good. Let's move, people!" The policemen also shouldered their weapons and dispersed, pulling up their goggles and facemasks to the tops of their helmets. Ean did likewise and walked over, as casually as possible, to the senshi.

As he walked up to them, Minako jumped up, ran up to him, and hugged him fiercely around the neck. "Wow, you were great!"

Ean tried his hardest to look embarrassed at the attention. "Uh, thank you, miss." When Minako looked at him questioningly, he whispered, "I'm not supposed to know you." She detached herself from him and sat down, looking ashamed. He smiled a little at her, hoping she wouldn't feel to badly, as he squatted down in front of them. Rei, Makoto and Usagi were looking at him questioningly, but Ami nodded slightly, as if she understood.

Ean nodded to her, since she was still holding her stomach. "Are you all right miss? Do you need one of the medics to come over?"

She shook her head. "No, officer, thank you. I'm fine, just a bit sore."

Ean nodded, then pulled out a pad and pencil from one of the pockets of his vest. "Your names, please." As they gave their names, Minako glanced at the pad, and saw that Ean was writing them down in a completely different order than the one that they were giving them to him in. So this was the same Ean, she thought, but why is he acting so funny?

"Thank you. Now, why were you girls here in the first place?"

Usagi shrugged, finally catching on. "We thought it'd be kinda cool." Ean nodded, but his eyes held questions. Rei mouthed the word "youma" and he narrowed his eyes at her, but mouthed "later" when she was about to explain further.

One of the other policemen came up, walking over to Makoto. "Are you injured, miss?" he asked.

Makoto's jaw dropped as she recognized his face. "Kenjiro! I thought you said you were a cadet at the Academy."

Ean glanced over. "You know the young lady, Kenjiro, I presume? Well, miss, to answer your question, he is both. Fourth year cadets at the Academy work with active-duty units as a form of apprenticeship, and the cadet was assigned to this unit. For your information, this unit is officially the Special Response Force."

Kenjiro smiled. "Although Captain Hoffman-sensei will not admit it, we refer to ourselves as the Avenging Angels, as we prefer the heliborne insertion you saw today."

Ean glared reproachfully at Kenjiro. "I believe there are plenty of injured for you to attend to, cadet." Kenjiro's smile disappeared as he snapped to attention, saluted, and left quickly.

Makoto glared at Ean. "Why did you run him off?"

"He is supposed to be caring for the wounded, not carousing." He added, much softer, "and I can't risk one of you slipping again and him picking up that I know you girls." Makoto nodded as he asked them about the progression of events. After they finished describing what happened up until the point they arrived he nodded and looked up. Seeing a group of men in suits approaching, he stood up. "Well, thank you girls very much. You're clear to leave. If anyone tries to stop you, just tell him or her that I already took your statements. If that doesn't work, just yell, and I'll straighten it out." Rei looked up at him as he stood up, questioningly. Ean nodded and mouthed, "wait at the temple." She nodded, then the girls got up, straightening their soaked clothes and hair, and thanking Ean profusely. Ean walked over to Ozaka as the girls made their way out through the crowd, stepping gingerly over the wounded and the bodies of the dead.

Ozaka motioned to a large police van that had pulled up at the outer edge of the scene. "Looks like our ride's here, Captain."

Ean nodded to him. "Ok, round 'em up." Ozaka whistled loudly then held up his right arm, hand open. He snapped the hand closed into an upraised fist, and the battle-armored policemen began moving towards the two. As they started collecting, a piercing shriek sounded.

"Hoffman-sensei! Captain Hoffman-sensei!" Ean turned around and saw that Usagi and the senshi had been detained by one of the detectives, who seemed to have a hard time hearing right now. Scowling, he started walking toward the detective and the girls. Seeing Ean approach, and seeing Usagi filling her lungs for another shriek, he motioned them past. Ean saw Usagi smile sweetly to the detective as they left. Shaking his head at Usagi's ability to go from annoying to sweet in moments, he rejoined his team.

After going to their respective houses to change, the girls met back at Rei's temple. Rei and Ami were playing chess, while the other girls were discussing the events earlier in the day with Artemis and Luna.

"I still don't get it," Usagi said. "First, why did the youma try and attract people to the peace rally, then attack it? Second, why did they try to kill people, rather than draining their energy like they did before?"

Luna mulled over the questions, looking as confused as is possible for a cat. "I don't have an answer to the first, Usagi, but my best guess on the second is that now, they don't need life energy, since they aren't trying to revive Metallia."

She looked over at Artemis, who did his best impression of a shrug. "As much as I hate to say it, I'm as much in the dark as Luna. This is definitely different from anything that the Dark Kingdom did under Beryl's reign. We don't know whose in charge there now, and that may be the problem. Beryl always relied on Metallia's raw power as her main weapon. With Beryl dead and Metallia destroyed, the new leader's found a new way to work. I just wish we knew more about this new leader. Maybe Ean can shed some light on the situation."

"Talking about me again, eh, Artemis?" Ean said with a smirk as he walked in. Minako and Usagi bounced up and charged over to him.

Just before they ran into him, they bumped heads, knocking them both back a step. "Usagi!" Minako whined, although it looked like her pride was hurt more than her head.

Ean chuckled along with the other girls and the cats. "Some superheroes you girls are," he snickered, then grabbed Minako and Usagi around the waist and pulled them close to him. Usagi laughed and hugged him back, but Minako was considerably less enthusiastic.

Sniffing Ean's shirt, Minako pulled back a bit. "What's that smell?"

Ean chuckled, almost embarrassed, then reached into a shirt pocket and pulled out a partly-smoked cigar. "Celebratory cigars back at the barracks." He stuck the unburned end of the cigar into the left side of his mouth and grinned. "I love it when a plan comes together." When all he got were an array of blank looks, he put the cigar back in his pocket and shrugged. "Well, I guess they never translated 'The A-Team' into Japanese." He turned to Ami, his expression serious. "You look better, I guess you weren't lying to me back there."

"No, it was just some bruising, but I'm really glad Makoto's got such long arms, or it could have easily been worse. By the way, how did you pull off that little appearing-out-of-the-clouds trick?"

"One very good helicopter pilot, and some very long rappelling cable. The chopper was able to hover above the worst of that storm, then we rappelled in."

Makoto looked at him suspiciously. "How many times have you practiced that trick?"

Ean shrugged. "I've done it dozens of times." She gave him an "Yes, and..." look, and he grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, the rest of them have only done it twice, and that was in good conditions."

Makoto gasped along with the rest of them. "You mean you had Kenjiro do something that dangerous?"

Usagi piped up before Ean could reply. "Hey, I thought you'd be proud: they took a big risk doing that, but they did it to save us. And nobody got hurt." Makoto bit her tongue, clearly not convinced.

Luna coughed quietly. "I think it's more important, right now, to try and figure out just what this whole action was about. Ean, do you have any idea?"

"I've got a few ideas, but I'd like to hear the whole story of why the girls were there. Rei mentioned youma before."

Rei nodded. "Yes. The fliers that had been scattered all over the city had strong traces of youma energy. We were there checking that out. During the speech, a youma telepath was working the crowd, making them like the speaker. I was able, barely, to shield us."

Ean started rubbing his chin, his features a picture of concentration. "That's very odd, and not good at all. One more question: what was the point of the speech, after Rei started shielding you?" Makoto sniffed, like it was beneath her dignity to listen.

Minako piped up. "He kept talking about you, well, I mean, he kept talking about Americans, kept calling you 'warmongers'. Is that what you're asking about?"

Ean nodded slowly. "Okay, here's two ideas. The first is that they were supporting the rally in order to get as many people as possible into the area, in order to kill or terrorize as many people as possible during the storm youma's attack. However, that doesn't really explain all of the efforts during the rally. One assumption we've been making is that these youmas were working together. What if that's not true? What if the telepath wanted to set up this rally for some other purpose, and the storm witch stole his show? If this peace movement really got going, it could play havoc with the preparations I'm trying to put in place to give us a chance against this invasion. As it stands, we got a lot of great publicity for that save, and the peace movement got a bite taken out of them, since the 'warmongers' they'd been yapping at saved their bacon."

Makoto snorted. "You really think these youma could come up with anything like that? Come on, we've always seen them working together, with that one time with Naru being the exception."

Luna nodded. "Yes, and we have seen them contrive to get a lot of people together at once. But that doesn't answer the more fundamental question: why are they killing now, instead of draining?"

Ean shrugged. "They may not need life energy like they did before, I don't know. Or, they could be getting it quieter, draining one or two at a time, instead of creating a big scene. This action was almost certainly terrorism: they killed to create fear, not just to kill. Makoto may well be right, I may be giving them too much credit. But it's safer to give them too much credit than not enough."

The apartment was spartan, little more than two beds and a bathroom. Karaso was standing over Tatiara, who was lying on one bed, nursing the wounds Tuxedo Kamen had caused her. Karaso's face was almost as red as his hair, while Tatiara was even paler than normal in the face of Karaso's anger.

"You were told to stay away from that gathering! I had plans for that group, and you destroyed them with you ill-conceived, unauthorized attack! Now, those policemen are heroes, and the group has dissolved."

Tatiara laughed weakly, a sound more akin to choking. "Your little scheme would never have worked, Karaso. The humans aren't stupid enough to lower what pitiful few defenses they do have just because one fool with a loud mouth stands up and tells them to. The fear my attack created is much more useful, and more certain." Karaso's features warped even further into a mask of rage, then, suddenly, the anger seemed to leave him. He looked Tatiara in the eyes. She tensed suddenly, and then a small, strangled cry escaped her throat. Her neck muscles tensed, like she was trying to move her head, to break the gaze, but to no avail. Another, slightly louder cry, then her struggles ceased, and her expression became almost unnaturally calm.

"Who do you obey, Tatiara?"

When she replied, her voice was a flat, almost mechanical monotone. "You, Karaso."

Karaso smiled. "I trust we shall have no further, shall we say, instances of insubordination."

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[to be continued]