Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Death and Rebirth ❯ Death and Rebirth 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Death and Rebirth

By Twinsnake

This fanfic is based on both the Anime and Manga "Sailor Moon" (slightly more on the anime) and the original Crow movie, starring the late Brandon Lee. I'd like the Crow part to be more based on the comic books. But I haven't got the chance to read it yet. If anyone can help, many thanks.

This story takes place approximately two years after "Sailor Moon Stars". The inner senshi are 18 years old, the outers are 20 (I believe they're two years older) and Hotaru is apparently 14. Technically she's three, (enhanced growth remember?). This is my first fanfic so don't expect too much. Anyway I hope you enjoy it.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, created by Naoko Takeuchi.

The Crow, created by James O'Barr.

Prologue:

Tokyo Shinagawa district, the waterfront:

The darkness was so intense that it could be felt trough all the senses. The sea and sky were eerily calm, but the sound of thunder was a herald to the upcoming storm. Not a soul was at the port that night; there was no one to be seen. A blinding flash of lightning and suddenly there was a figure present. The figure was male; he was all hunched over, soaked and shivering from the autumn chill. Had there been any witnesses they would be wondering how had this person appeared out of nowhere, but no human eye was present, only avian.

Chapter One:

Hotaru couldn't help but scold herself when she heard the thunder roar. {Why didn't I bring an umbrella like Setsuna-mama told me?} She sighed; Hotaru was having a really bad week. It was about two years after the senshi's confrontation with Sailor Galaxy. And life, outside of the occasional daimon, was getting pretty much back to normal. Everybody was getting on with his or her lives. Ami was in medical school, Minako started working at a local theater, Rei was doing great at the temple and Mamoru and Usagi were happily married. Mamoru was in his senior year and Usagi was doing quite well in college, surviving at least. Everyone had things looking up for them. Only Hotaru was having a bit of a hard time. She was doing well in life, her talents at poetry and music helped her obtain admiration from her teachers, and recently she had developed an affinity towards drawing. She giggled; Michiru-mama was really looking forward to having another musician in the family. The problem was that her abilities also intimidated her classmates a bit. They still avoided her, but at least they didn't reject her like before. Yesterday she had been invited to a party, it was more out of cordiality than friendship, but Hotaru accepted gladly. The food was tasty, and the music was good, she even had a minor conversation or two. But she tired all too quickly, everybody hardly knew her and vice-versa, so she decided to leave. Hotaru heard the thunder again and looked up as a raindrop hit her forehead, she let out a sarcastic laugh -{The perfect end for a perfect day}.

Hotaru started running; Makoto's place was nearby. Maybe she could spend the night there considering how late it was already. She was distracted with these thoughts when all of a sudden something or someone ran into her. "What the?" Hotaru quickly went into a defensive stance. There on the floor she saw a boy a little older than her, laying on the floor in fetal position, shaking like a leaf. "What's wrong with you? Have you been drinking?" Hotaru asked as she reached over to the stranger. The moment she touched him her eyes went wide. "Kuso, you're freezing!" she was so upset that she didn't notice all he was wearing were his pants, nor noticed his pale complexion. She pulled out her cell-phone and called a hospital, the guy was about to die from hypothermia! And her powers could only heal open wounds. After notifying the authorities, Hotaru went over to the boy and held him close in order to get him warm. She heard him mumble something in what she figured out to be Spanish:

"Mamá, papá, Carmela... "

She then noticed a bracelet around his left wrist; it had letters, which read C-A-R-L-O-S. Hotaru turned to see Carlos' face-he looked so lost. "Hang in there Carlos, help is coming."

*****

Juban Central hospital:

Hotaru sat in the waiting room as she filled out the paperwork. It's amazing just how far bureaucracy goes. She was about to throw away all those useless forms when she heard a familiar voice; "Looks like you could use a warm drink, ne?" She looked up and saw Ami holding up a cup of coffee. She had been working part-time in the hospital for a few weeks now.

"Arigato, " said Hotaru.

Ami sat down next to her. "So who's the victim? " she asked.

"I really don't know," Hotaru answered. "He ran into me as I was leaving the party. At first I thought I was under attack, but when I saw him I knew that he needed help."

Ami's face went blank. "You just stayed there with him!? Suppose it was a ruse or that he was meant to distract you."

"It wasn't like that!" Hotaru retorted. "You weren't there Ami, the guy was practically ice and that look in his face-" she paused, "-he seemed so...."

Ami kept silent, she knew that it took a lot to frighten the senshi of death and rebirth. Finally Ami broke the silence. "You're lucky that Haruka and Michiru are not back from Monaco yet."

Hotaru smiled. "Yeah, well mama-Setsuna can more than make up for them." Both girls laughed and went on to other topics.

A man walked into the hospital lobby; he was about five feet tall, bald and had the appearance of a movie tug. If anyone had dared look into his eyes, they would tell that he was up to no good. As he walked into the hospital a nurse at reception stopped him. "Excuse me sir. May I ask where you're going?"

The bald guy turned to her and showed a ring he was wearing. "Just come over to see me old chum luv, you know Ah come here every week or so."

The nurse's eyes went blank for a moment and the shook her head. "Yes...of course sir, go right ahead." Baldy smiled and went on his way.

In a hospital room, a young man who Hotaru identified as Carlos laid on the bed. His temperature was near to normal, so the doctors left him alone. He appeared to be sound asleep when his eyes went open suddenly; he took a quick glance at his surroundings then got up and went towards the door as if there was nothing wrong. He'd felt something, he didn't know what, but he knew that there was someone he had to meet, who had to pay. At the window, a crow stood silent vigil over his ward.

The bald man stood in an empty corridor and fished something out of his pocket; it looked something like an egg. "Okay pretty, you go play while da gets some work done." He left the egg on the floor and went off, while it started to steer and cracked. Something started to come out and it wasn't good.

"So you got bored huh?" said Ami.

"Hai, " Hotaru answered with a sigh. "I guess if you plan to go to a party you should know a few people at least."

"You really should keep your mind on other things," said Ami. "You know that a high IQ isn't good alone in an aptitude test."

Hotaru rolled her eyes. Some things just didn't change; she was about to retort when…

"MONSTER!!"

Both looked up to see a doctor run into the room. "There's a monster in the hospital!" Ami and Hotaru looked at each other and nodded. They ran over to find a place with no witnesses and when they did…

"Mercury/Saturn crisis power, make up!"

A flash of color and Sailors Mercury and Saturn appeared. They ran off to find this daimon, hoping to be there on time.

The bald man was now at a supplies closet trying to figure out a complicated gizmo he'd brought along. "Cor! Ah really hope this gadget 'ere is worth all the trouble," he said as he heard the screaming downstairs. Finally he managed to set the damn thing in place and was about to leave when he heard a quite frightening voice.

"'Ello Willy." Willy turned around to see a teen standing at the door. He wore hospital pajamas, his skin was deathly white and his hair hid most of his face.

Willy was quick to recover from his initial scare. "I don't know who the bloody hell you are boy, but you better be gettin' out of me way if you know what's good for ye." The teen just stood there as if he hadn't heard him. "Are ye makin' fun o' me boy?" Silence. Now Willy, is a man with a very short fuse; he cocked his arm and threw a punch at the boy, who had his hand already waiting to intercept. Before Willy knew what happened, he heard the bones in his wrist crack, and before he could feel the pain, he was thrown over as if he was a rag doll. Willy crashed into the wall and fell. He looked up towards his attacker, who kept a calm demeanor. "What...what did I do to ye?"

The youth spoke again. "I don't remember...yet."

Mercury and Saturn had finally caught up to the daimon. They found it in an empty O.R. The good news was that the daimon seemed more interested in trashing the place than hurting people; the bad news was they were facing something like a giant green cockroach.

"Right now I think I'd prefer taking on Gojira on my own," remarked Mercury as she saw the bug.

"Take a number; let's get that thing." Saturn charged first, swinging her glaive. The daimon tried to evade but was too slow; Hotaru made a slash in its exoskeleton. It seemed as little more than a dent, but from its scream, she knew she'd done some damage. The insect-daimon stepped back and sized up its opponent, who was now in a ready to attack stance. It took a look at Saturn's weapon. It raised its front legs and grew shears like a mantis.

Saturn smiled. {Seems that I'm in for an interesting match.} Both opponents charged and engaged in deadly combat. True, Saturn was weak physically, but her dexterity with her weapon made her a formidable opponent. Mercury, meanwhile was keeping her distance as she wasn't much good in hand-to-hand combat, so she went on to use her real strength, namely strategy.

The boy started walking slowly toward Willy. Willy knew the look he saw on the kid's face, he'd given it to others many times before, murder. He was lifted up by the collar of his jacket, Willy closed his eyes and prepared for the worse, suddenly he was dropped. He opened his eyes to see the teenager holding his head and shaking. He didn't know what was going on and he didn't care all he knew was that he had to take this chance. He ran, leaving a shaking boy behind.

His head became flooded with images the minute he lifted Willy. He saw him beating up a man who was already badly bruised. More images and sound came, he saw a woman and her daughter crying, as their bodies were violated, he heard screams, pleading and sadistic laughter. When he finally opened his eyes Willy was gone, no matter, he didn't know how he did it, but if he found him once he could find him again. He went off to find his prey.

Mercury assessed the situation. She had to find a way to get the insect-daimon outside. True, there had been no casualties yet, but she couldn't afford the chance. Since the battle had moved outside of the room, she took a look at her new surroundings and saw a window down a corridor that was behind the beast; Mercury came up with a plan to compensate. Saturn, in the meantime, had her hands full with the mantis-roach. She had taken a few cuts during the fight, nothing serious, but the had also managed to hurt the daimon a bit more; however, neither of the two were gaining the upper hand. There was a pause in the action while both fighters were trying to figure out their next move.

Saturn was just ready for a new round, when she heard, "Saturn, duck!" She had just gotten down when she saw a waterspout flying over her head, slamming into the daimon. The beast was thrown through the corridor and out the window. Both senshi ran over and looked out the hole it had made, expecting to find the bug splattered; instead the daimon popped up from below, fluttering. It was expecting to catch its opponents off-guard, but Mercury had anticipated the wings.

"Shabon spray, freezing!" The beast felt its wing harden and gravity pulling down on it. A large sweat drop ran down the side of its face. The senshi saw the thing crash down in the parking lot, but they knew it would survive that.

"Let's finish it," said Saturn as she jumped down, Mercury closely following.

Willy emerged on the rooftop, looked at the sky anxiously and then at his watch. "Where the bloody 'ell is he?" He started walking when he caught a glimpse of the ground far bellow and stepped back terrified, acrophobia setting in. He'd been a little reluctant about being picked up at the hospital rooftop, but the others said, "keep away from the edge, you'll be fine." This would have been true, if someone else hadn't come up with him.

"Nowhere to run to, Willy; all you can do now is pay." Willy turned; it was still that crazy kid. Before he could do anything, he grabbed him and threw him over around the floor. Willy tried to defend himself, but his right hand was broken and anyway, he was too slow for this opponent. Willy was punched, kicked and slapped all around, being drawn closer and closer to the edge.

When Willy noticed what was going on he pleaded, "No please, get me down from here."

"Scared to fall are we?" the teen mocked. "Maybe you shouldn't have come up here in the first place."

To say that Willy was scared would be an understatement. "Please, you said I didn't do anything to ye, so let me go okay?"

"Wrong!" The teen's voice had taken an infernal register. "You hurt me, hurt my family, and now you and your friends will pay!"

Willy's eyes suddenly went open with recognition. "That's impossible, you are...."

Down at the parking lot, the battle between senshi and daimon kept going. Saturn and Mercury were about to beat the thing when it drew another card out of its sleeve, or rather, mouth. The beast started spitting acid! Saturn was barely able to leap out of the line of fire.

"This daimon seems to have every insect characteristic that is useful in battle," Mercury stated.

Saturn was getting quite annoyed. "Lots of help that is! If only I could get a clear shot!" The daimon kept spitting at the senshi; it wasn't really aiming at them. It was firing randomly in order to keep its foes at bay. Neither side could do anything to break this stalemate that is until...

"Sparking Wide Pressure!"

Suddenly there was a flash of electricity, striking the creature's back. Saturn didn't hesitate; the moment it got distracted, she leapt up and slashed at the thing's neck. One split second later, the head fell right at her feet. Catching her breath, Saturn looked up at the newcomer, "How did you know where to find us Jupiter?"

Jupiter gave a smile. "I just followed the signal you guys where sending, no big deal."

Saturn turned over to look at Mercury who was holding up her mini-computer. "Pays off to pause before you charge, you know." Saturn was about to say something, but kept quiet.

Jupiter then noted something peculiar on the daimon. There was a whirlpool mark on its forehead. "Hey guys, what do you think this is?" The other two where about to look when they heard a scream over their heads. Looking up, they saw someone falling down from the building.

"Ara...Shabon spray!" The bubbles caught the person and slowly lowered him to the floor. Mercury rushed over to administer first aid, the others close behind. The fallen person was Willy. His face was all bloody, but there were no fatal wounds, apparently.

"How is he?" Jupiter asked.

Mercury checked. "No pulse." She started CPR but got no response, finally after a few tries she gave up. "He's gone..." she said, sorrow in her voice. Saturn looked at his face; it looked as though he'd seen something terrifying. "There's nothing we can do for him now, let's report this to the authorities and leave." The other senshi nodded.

As they were leaving, Saturn heard a noise overhead; it seemed to be wings flapping. She looked up and managed to see a person standing on the edge of the building. Probably the one who pushed this one! Without a word she leapt towards him.

"Saturn?" Jupiter called out to her teammate. "She must have seen something." Both she and Mercury followed.

On the rooftop, Saturn found a dark figure leaning by the stairwell. "Hold it right there mister. You've got a lot to answer for." Her threat was ignored; he just turned around the corner and hid from her view. "Hey!" Saturn ran after him, but when she turned the corner she found, no one. He'd just disappeared into thin air. She looked around, she was too far from the edges, and even so, he wouldn't have just jumped. Unless it wasn't a person. Saturn sighed and went to her friends, who were looking at something on the floor.

"Found something?" Mercury asked.

"Only shadows apparently."

"Well we found something as bit more useful," Jupiter said as she pointed downwards, "check this out."

Saturn did. On the floor, painted with blood, was the silhouette of a bird. A crow, judging by the beak.

The trio sighed; things were about to get complicated for the senshi, again.

On the rooftop of a building near the hospital, a lone figure stood, male with an athletic build. He reached into his pocket and took out a sort of device. "Paul reporting." He waited until the static was replaced by a response.

"{What is the situation?}"

"As you predicted sir, there was senshi intervention. This didn't stop the mission from being accomplished, though."

"{Any losses?}"

Paul took time to recollect. "The drone was destroyed sir, and it seems that Willy took a nasty spill from the roof."

There was a pause. "{That is a terrible shame. That prototype drone took a lot to create, not to mention the loss of an expensive hypno-ring.}" Paul couldn't help but shudder a bit at his superior's indifference. "{Return to base, nothing else left to do.}"

"Yes sir," Paul responded. As he turned to leave, the moonlight reflected on a decoration on his jacket, a metal whirlpool.

Down in a dark alley, Carlos sat with his head between his hands. Why did he push the guy? And why was he so angry? All he knew was, he wanted revenge. It wasn't clear yet what for, but he would get it.

"Caw!"

Carlos looked up and saw a crow looking down on him, almost as if he wanted to tell him something. "I suppose you now what the hell is going on, huh?" The crow gave a few hops then looked over its shoulder at Carlos. "You want me to follow you?" The bird merely turned away and flew. Carlos took a deep breath "Okay, tú eres el jefe." Just as he was starting to walk, something caught his eye. He came closer to take a better look. It was the poster for a kabuki show. As he saw the painted faces, an image came to his mind, something that would help in his mission. Looking up to find his feathered companion, he went on his way.

*****

Outer senshi's manor:

The senshi arranged for a meeting the next day. The whirlpool symbol that Jupiter had noted raised certain suspicions, not to mention what might have been a murder. Everybody was present, except for Haruka and Michiru who wouldn't be back from Monaco for a few more days; and Rei, who was late. Finally Rei arrived and the meeting started. Hotaru related the whole incident at the hospital, trying to point out every single detail.

"What seemed curious," said Ami, "was that this daimon didn't seem to have any magic supporting it. Almost as if it was a natural creation."

"As if it had been genetically engineered, you mean," Setsuna pointed out. Ami nodded.

"Terrific!" Usagi said, mournfully. "Two years of peace and quiet, and now we have to face a mad scientist."

Mamoru leaned over to his wife. "Usako...."

"I'm okay, just a little disappointed. It finally seemed that it was all over," Usagi said with a sigh.

There was a brief period of silence and Makoto was the one to break it. "Ami, did you find out what killed the murder victim?"

Ami hesitated a bit, "Hai. It seemed that he died of a heart attack. That fall literally scared him to death."

"Isn't it the sudden halt at the end what's supposed to kill you instead of the fall?"

"MINAKO!" Everyone turned over to scold the blonde.

Minako cowered. "Gomen."

"Anyway," Ami continued, "the forensics officer found the same whirlpool symbol on the victim's jacket. It's obvious that he's the one who sent the daimon."

Mamoru spoke, "And while you two were fighting the daimon, he was probably going through the hospital doing the dirty work. Classic."

"And we have to find out exactly what it is he was doing," Usagi pointed out. "Ami, you check that out okay?"

"Hai, Usagi-chan," Ami answered.

"There's still one other thing," Makoto pointed out. "Who pushed that guy from the roof?"

"Well, the drawing we found is a clue," Hotaru pointed out, "and I'm certain that I saw someone up there. Do you think we should investigate this further?"

Usagi was about to answer, but Mamoru beat her to it. "We'll leave that case to the police. I don't believe that should concern us, for now."

Hotaru got up from her seat. "Well, if we're done here, I have to pay a visit to the hospital."

"Why?" Setsuna asked.

"I have to check on Carlos," she answered. "I want to make sure he's all right after what happened."

Usagi and Minako switched into interrogation mode, another thing that would not change. "Carlos who?" they asked.

"Just someone I helped last night, " Hotaru said in a defensive tone. "I don't even know him." Before the two blondes could pester her further, she rushed for the door.

"Hotaru-chan."

Hotaru cringed at the voice. "Hai, Setsuna-mama."

"We still have to talk about this Carlos person."

Hotaru sighed. "Hai." With that she was gone.

Mamoru walked up to Setsuna and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You knew this would come up, whether you saw it in the timeline or not."

Setsuna nodded. "I know. It's never easy for parents to see their children grow up."

*****

Unknown location:

The place was practically empty. One table with five chairs around it, one of which would no longer have an occupant. There was a lamp overhead and a birdcage in one corner with a mottled gray-and-black pigeon inside.

Two people sat at the table. One of them had short black hair and had a look on his face that read, "don't talk to me". The other had long red hair and kept a grin that indicated he found everything funny, meaning everything. Both were wearing black pants, boots and leather jackets, and on their shirt over their left breast you could see a whirlpool symbol. They were keeping themselves busy emptying a bottle of scotch, the one with black hair was talking about something that seemed important, but the redhead was in the clouds. When he noticed, his frown got even more frightening.

"Hey Blaze! Did you hear a word I said?"

Blaze turned over to look at his companion, "Wha? Uh, yeah. You were... saying what a great guy the boss is. That's a mighty fine thing, Chris."

Chris grumbled, "I said, weird. And I would never say anything positive about that freak."

Blaze's countenance got perplexed. "What's up with you lately? When we all started this job you were fine and now you're getting all paranoid about who the boss is."

Chris calmed down a bit but kept frowning. "I was never fine, for starters." He looked at Blaze in the eye, and commented, "Didn't you ever stop to wonder who the boss really is? He gets five insane murderers out of jail, trains us to be better killers, lets us do what we like and keeps us clean, and all we have to do to repay him is be loyal and kill an occasionally choice victim." He sighed and added, "And now he's coming up with ideas to rule the world, gives us these weird gizmos and super bug monsters."

Blaze merely nodded. "Okay, so maybe the boss is some kind of mad scientist, but hey, we got a good life and get to do what we like. So why complain?"

Chris just shook his head. Trying to talk about something serious with Blaze was a lost cause. Blaze was about to relate his most recent exploits when two people came into the room. One was a woman, long black hair and mocha skin, with a very inviting figure. The other was a black man with short hair and a few dreadlocks hanging in the back of his head. His muscular build indicated he was some sort of street tough. Both wore the same black uniform as the others, only the female had altered hers a bit to show some of her 'talent'.

Blaze turned over to greet the newcomers. "Well, if it isn't chaste little Kara and Birdman Paul."

Paul just ignored him and headed over to the birdcage. "Blaze, I've had a very long day and I'm really not in the mood for your jokes."

"And what time is anybody in the mood for him?" said Chris. "So Paul, is it true what we heard about Willy?"

Paul nodded as he petted his pigeon. "It's all true. Our companion Willy is with us no more. He is liberated from our painful existence."

"Yeah, well good riddance," said Kara. "I never did like the guy. And that accent was just too fake. What was he supposed to be, British?"

"Actually it was more like Irish," said Paul.

Blaze gave a perplexed look. "European? I thought he was one of the 'Beverly Hillbillies'."

Chris grumbled. "Blaze, just shut your trap. By the way Kara, you didn't report last night. Where were you exactly?"

Kara walked over in a suggestive manner. "I could tell you where-" her voice then took a more seductive tone, "-but it's not as interesting as showing you what I was doing."

"Careful Chris! You don't know where that's been!" quipped Blaze.

Kara was about to break open the bottle of scotch on his head when a new voice was heard: "If you are all quite done, we do have business to take care of." Everyone turned their sights to a door that had been previously hidden. On the threshold stood the leader of this outfit. A six-foot tall man with a strong build and long unkept black hair. He wore a black cloak and a medal depicting the group's insignia. As soon as he entered the room everyone stood up, more out of fear than respect. The man looked over his subordinates and spoke. "As you know; we have lost one teammate, so I'm afraid that some double shifts will have to be pulled from now on."

"Excuse me sir," Paul interrupted.

"Yes Paul, what is it?"

Paul hesitated as he held his pigeon closer, "Um, aren't you the least bit concerned about the senshi? They defeated the drone and might be able to find us because of the insignia."

The leader nodded. "Paul, the senshi would have found out about us sooner or later. The drones will keep them distracted while we do our work. Willy should have known better than taking an assassin prototype though."

"Yes sir, but what about Willy? We all know he would never go near the ledge by his own will. He was pushed over, and it had to be someone strong to do that."

"That's right," Blaze added. "Even Paul here often had a hard time arm-wrestling with the stiff. Hey boss, do you think it might have been those broads who pushed him?" Kara gave Blaze a killer look at that comment.

The leader took his time before answering, "No, Blaze, that isn't the senshi style. And as for whom it was, well, that hospital has a psychiatric wing, so it was probably a patient who's back in his room by now." Everyone nodded, but only Chris looked doubtful.

"And do you really believe that, Allen?" Everyone turned in surprise. Up until now, only Kara had called the boss by his name.

Allen's face went dark. "That is the best fitting scenario, Chris. Now leave, be back tonight for your mission briefings."

Everyone left, except for Kara, who moved over to Allen. "Allen, are you okay? You seem so stressed lately."

Allen turned to see her face and caressed her cheek. "I am fine love, only too many things turning up in such little time."

Kara smiled. "If you like, I can help you relax a little bit."

Allen smiled. "You go ahead, I'll be with you soon." He kissed her and let her go on her way. His face went from a smile to frown as he went back through the door; he turned a corner and came into a laboratory. "Hawkins, is the scanner working properly?"

A skinny man with an Einsteinesque hairdo and Coke-bottle glasses got up with a start. "Wha, who, ah, yes Sir Mr. Poe. The scanner William set is in working order surprisingly." He pointed to a large screen. "As you can see, we have many good prospects in the area."

Allen nodded. "Choose one and report his or her identity to me. We have wasted plenty of time already." He started to walk away when he suddenly stopped clenching his chest.

"Sir?"

"I'm fine! Just give me a dose of the serum." Hawkins complied and went to get a syringe. Allen closed his eyes, silently asking, -{Where are you?} -.

*****

Hospital:

Hotaru didn't have much difficulty getting into the hospital. True, there was a little confusion left from the attack last night, but things were as normal as they could be this morning. She went straight towards the reception desk. "Hello, " she said to the nurse, "I'm Tomoe Hotaru. I'm looking for a gentleman named Carlos who checked in last night."

"Of course, Tomoe-san," the nurse responded. Hotaru noted a bit of concern in the nurse's voice. As if something had gone wrong. The nurse told her to wait a while and left.

As she waited, Hotaru couldn't help overhear a conversation between two gentlemen. It caught her attention when she overheard the name 'Dark Feather'. 'Dark Feather' was an industrial conglomerate that had established a branch in Japan a year and a half ago. It quickly gained popularity and soon, there wasn't a place or time you wouldn't hear about them. From what she heard, they were offering a sizable sum to help reconstruct the hospital. The hospital representative gave thanks for the company's generosity. Hotaru huffed. {Charity shmarity, all they're after is good public relations}. She then frowned at herself. When did she get so cynical?

The nurse returned, she cleared her throat and then spoke. "I'm afraid I have some bad news. After the daimon attack last night we made a head count of all the patients and staff. Everyone was accounted for, only a few injured, no casualties, but one person came up missing. The patient registered under the name Tomoe." Hotaru's face went blank; she was barely able to give a response. "Was he family, Miss?" the nurse finally asked.

"Umm, ie, I mean. He's just someone I tried to help last night."

The nurse nodded. "I see," then went back to work.

Hotaru stood there for a moment. She took a deep breath then left, no point in staying there any longer. As she walked down the street all sorts of thoughts began to fill her head. Mamoru had pointed out that the daimon was usually a distraction while the real damage is done elsewhere, and now it seemed that Carlos had been the targeted victim. But the enemy usually just took something like a dream mirror or a stellar seed. They never kidnapped anybody before. And what was so special about Carlos? Hotaru was really beginning to worry. She just had to tell the others about this.

She was about to run back home when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Hotaru spun around to see a young man standing before her. He looked a little older than she did and a bit taller; he had long black hair held in an improvised ponytail and wore sunglasses. He said: "Stop worrying." and left.

It took Hotaru a while before she was able to recognize him. "Carlos-san?" She began to follow him but a skater zoomed in front of her, almost knocking her down. "Baka!" she called out. She looked for Carlos but he was nowhere to be seen. Hotaru shook her head, {just what I need, more mysteries}.

A local theatre:

Minako was having a hard time memorizing her lines. Maybe she shouldn't have been so ambitious and taken the smaller part instead. She sighed; she was mature enough now to know that her dreams of stardom would take a lot of work to accomplish. But she still had to jump at every chance that reared its head. {Just concentrate on your lines, Minako}, she told herself.

As she kept on reading, another person came up to her. "Hello, Minako-san."

Minako turned over to see an emerald-haired girl. "Saori-san, how are you?" She ran up to hug her. "I heard what happened at the hospital last night. Is your brother all right?"

Saori nodded. "He's doing fine. In fact, he's scheduled to leave the hospital in a few days now." Minako smiled, she met Saori and her brother when she started working at the theater a few months ago and they all became fast friends. It pleased Minako to have found someone else with the same passion towards acting. Saori hadn't shared Minako's life, however. Her parents had gone through a difficult divorce; afterwards it had been drugs, shoplifting and several other minor crimes. A month before she met Minako Saori had started on her rehabilitation and was doing quite well. But two weeks ago her brother was involved in a car crash from which he barely survived. If Minako hadn't been there for her, Saori would have fallen so deep no one could help her.

"I'm so glad to hear that," said Minako. She then handed Saori a copy of the script. "Think you can help me a little with my lines?"

Saori gave Minako a sunny grin. "Sure."

*****

Nightfall, unknown location:

Everyone was accounted for and waiting for Allen. The boss had become very strict about punctuality lately and woe to the one that came in late. Allen came in and everybody got up for the greeting. Allen wasted no time. "Paul and Kara, you two will go set scanners at these locations. Blaze and Chris, I have another victim for you to take care of."

Everyone looked surprised. "Uh, boss? Not to question you but, you usually send the whole gang to take care of these select pickings."

"That is true, Blaze. However, time is no longer a luxury for us. We must be taking care of many things at once."

Chris walked up to Allen defiantly. "And since when do we have to worry about deadlines, sir?"

Allen frowned and his eyes went dark. He gave off a deep stare towards Chris. He trembled for a bit and then fell to his knees. If one was to look into Allen's eyes, one was to feel the touch of nightmares for a week. Chris had to learn this the hard way. "Whatever you need to know, I will tell you in time. Now go! Take one drone each, skeletons, I don't want to waste any more prototypes." Everyone left the room in a hurry, while Chris took the time to give Allen one last dirty look.

Hawkins came into the room. "He seems to become more rebellious each day, sir. Shouldn't we take precautions?"

Allen took his time before answering; "I'll give him one more week Hawkins. If we still get no results, dispose of him."

"Yes, Mr. Poe," said Hawkins and went back to his lab. Allen sat at the table and held his head in his hands. All those projects and ambitions about to crumble. His empire was about to crumble before arising. And yet he couldn't help but smile, he had the feeling that tonight his luck was about to take a turn.

*****

A park somewhere in Juban:

A lot of issues went through Hotaru's mind as she walked home: the insect daimon, the fallen body, the suspected murderer, the bird drawing and finally Carlos. He told her not to worry about him, but after such an encounter how could she help not to? Plus, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something…peculiar in the way she felt when she thought about him. She shook her head. {Hotaru, this is no time to think about boys. We're about to enter a crisis!}

"Caw!"

The birdcall caused her to look upwards. Yes, it was a crow, the second one she saw in two days, this one flesh and blood. It was perched on a bough, looking straight at the violet-eyed girl. Hotaru returned a curious stare. "Why do I have the feeling that you bring bad tidings?"

Without a sound, the crow opened its wings and left.

Minako wiped the sweat from her brow. Finally, she was done with the last of the props. When she started working here she didn't expect any hard labor, but in a company this small, everyone had to do all they could.

Saori came into the room. "Are you done here Minako-san?"

"Hai, do you need a ride home?"

"Arigato, but I'm actually heading back to the hospital. I want to make sure my big brother's all right."

"Do you want me to come along?" Minako asked.

"Ie, it's okay. My parents are coming over and I'd really like to spend some time with them."

"Okay, tell them I said hi." Saori smiled and went out to the door; she wasn't going to get far though.

Up in the rafters, Chris and Blaze looked over the two women. "So which one is it?" Blaze asked. "The blonde?"

"No, it's the one with green hair. But what's the difference? Both of them are dead anyway."

Blaze nodded. "Yeah, like the boss says. Make them see their friends die first, them finish them slow."

Chris grinned. "One of the few things I still like about the creep."

Blaze looked down and stroked his chin faking deep thought. "Hey Chris; do you like mixing work and play?"

Chris' grin grew to a smile. "Blaze my friend, sometimes you really get good ideas."

As Hotaru neared the theater, she thought about telling Minako about that bizarre encounter with Carlos. She had to choose her words carefully; Minako could come up with the wrong conclusion too quickly. Maybe she should just say hi and nothing more. Suddenly the alarm of her communicator goes off. She checked it out. It was Minako! {I'll have to think of you later Carlos}, - she took out her rod and ran to her friend.

Minako assessed the situation, it was pretty bad. The one with black hair was beating Saori around the room while the redhead held and groped her. Plus, they had taken out an insect daimon, which they'd called a drone, to keep guard. It looked like the one Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter had described. Only it was a lot skinnier. But the claws on its legs made him deadly enough. There was no way she could get away so she could change. Her only hope was that someone got the distress signal on time.

Chris had finished beating Saori around and had tied her up. "Don't worry my pretty. You get to live a little longer; first we're going to put up a little show for you." Minako's eyes went wide with shock. "Blaze, tie up blondie here so we can get to work."

Blaze scowled. "Why waste time? I can hold her down."

Chris gave Blaze a stern look. "You can't even hold down Paul's bird! No, take this rope and tie her up." Blaze grumbled but said no more. As soon as Minako was bound, Chris came up and started caressing her cheek with a switchblade. "Beautiful face how does the rest look?" With a swift move he slashed Minako's blouse and bra open, revealing her breasts.

Saori turned away but Blaze called out, "You should keep your eyes open. You'll just picture it in your head that way."

Chris kept playing with his knife. "Such beauty. Pity that the others couldn't make it. Kara would have really enjoyed you." He began to move his hand upwards on Minako's leg when Blaze grabbed his shoulder.

"Ain't you forgetting? I get to do the blondes first," he said with an unusual tone of authority in his voice.

Minako's eyes spilt rage and fear. She couldn't let this hentai creep get away with this. But tied up as she was, there was nothing she could do.

Chris grumbled and stepped back. One of these days he was going to find out about Blaze's fixation on blondes. "Okay carrot-top, what will you do first?"

"He'll step away and go to hell." Everyone looked up to find the source of the voice. Standing on a window frame they found Sailor Saturn. "Get away from those two now!" she ordered.

"Chris, its one of those senshi chicks! She's cute by the way."

"Shut up, Blaze! Drone attack!"

As soon as it heard the order, the drone charged towards Saturn. "Silence wall!" The drone crashed into a force field that appeared around Saturn. It bounced back towards the floor. Pain was definitely present. Saturn had her glaive ready, taunting, "Care to try again ugly?" The drone hesitated for a moment then charged again. Saturn was ready to slash its head off. What she didn't count on was the beast's intelligence. The drone was aiming for the area bellow her feet. Before she realized it, the wall beneath her crumbled and she was dragged outside of the building.

"Sailor Saturn!" Minako screamed.

Chris turned over to Blaze. "Send the other drone. One alone won't last against her." Blaze reached into his pocket and took out an egg. As soon as he threw it to the ground it began to hatch, and in a few seconds there was a fully-grown drone. "Go help your brother," Chris ordered. Without hesitating, the drone headed out the window. Chris turned his attention back to the girls. "Now," he began, "where were we?"

"Caw!"

Chris grumbled and turned to the window, "What now?"

"Just a bird Chris. Relax." On the hole the drone had left a crow now stood, with a look that seemed to pierce deep into the murderers' souls.

Chris was getting peeved. "And just what do you want?" he said to the crow.

A new voice answered: "He just wants to make sure you pay." Everyone turned towards the sound. On the door stood the strangest sight they ever saw. A young man dressed all in black, boots, pants and overcoat. Blaze suddenly realized that he was a dead ringer for the boss, except that he was much younger and smaller. What really surprised everyone was the newcomer's face. It was all white, his lips were black with long lines coming out of the edges and two small slashes crossed his eyes. "And the payment," he continued, "will be your lives."