Skysaber's Choice 

Part Seven 

by Jared Ornstead 
  
=====

    Nephlite was on a rise, surrounded by four of his largest Sailor 
Hunter youma. The youma were something the Pheonix Mage could handle, 
the general was another kettle of fish entirely. 
    Jared began to withdraw his gratefulness that this attack had 
occurred. 
    "So, Sailor V, who are your friends?" Nephlite taunted, coming 
slightly forward. 
    Jared got a weird inspiration. His bandaged chest was hidden under 
his newly self-repaired armor, so the Negaverse general hadn't any 
cause to believe that he was in as bad a condition as he was, ie, 
critically injured and with his spells badly distorted. 
    Hard to believe one youma had hurt him so badly, but it was so. 
    The pearl clad mage stepped forward, preparing to speak. 
    Jared's plan got interrupted by Nephlite striking fast, throwing 
his hands forward and blasting out a burst of dark energy. Jared 
instinctively replied with a spell suited to the attack and reflected 
the black bolts right back at Nephlite. 
    Nephlite dodged them adroitly. 
    ~Okay, deceiving this guy is out of the question. He's too quick on 
the uptake.~ Something firmed within the mage, as he swiftly analyzed 
and discarded various plans that would involve running chases, evasions 
and diversions that had too high a cost or offered too small a chance 
to succeed. 
    ~There is only one option: Blaze of Glory. I can't deal with *both* 
general and those youma and survive. The Sailor Scouts are to be 
preserved at any cost. My own life is an acceptable price for that, and 
I'm confident of destroying the general. That ought to make the 
Sailors' time tolerable for at least a while.~ 
    Jared drew himself up, biting down on a special tooth he'd gone to 
great trouble and expense to enchant, using up the reserve power there 
and feeling his body thrum with renewed vigor as his battle injuries 
departed. He would have liked to have lived longer, but wasn't going to 
stop and gawk now. He didn't have the time. 
    "GO!!!!" The mage screamed to the two Sailors, jumping away from 
their sides and into the air. Nephlite looked decidedly pale and the 
two Scouts were stunned, for what reason the youth couldn't immediately 
divine. 
    The Pheonix Mage sprouted a dozen fans and set them whirling like a 
living blender. One of the youma charged and was carved into pieces 
instantly. Nephlite was scrambling back, the mage noted, and so used 
the opportunity to blend the next of the youma into disgusting 
fragments. 
    ~If Nephlite is actually stupid enough to let me kill all of his 
bodyguards...~ 
    The Negaverse general reacted as if stung, getting Jared 
suspicious, but the mage remained too busy dealing with an energy 
attack to spend the time. Getting drained at a time like this would 
provide insufficient escape time to his charges. He was to survive long 
enough for them to get to safety, and ideally kill this guy so they 
wouldn't have to deal with him later. 
    ~It's a pity, though. Nephlite was the only of Beryl's generals 
fated to learn how to throw off the mind control the Negaverse Witch 
had put them all under. Not that it did much good, Zoicite killing him 
even as Nephlite learned it, but better to die a good guy than a bad 
one. And there was that girl the general fell in love with, of 
course...~ 
    The brief picture of Molly holding a wounded Nephlite in her arms, 
as the two of them discussed love and joy even as the reclaimed general 
died from injuries briefly flitted across the boy's mind. 
    Jared flung a dozen fans, glittering with blades, at the general 
and wondered why the guy was looking so out of sorts? He could have 
killed him already if he'd been coordinating his assault with the 
youma. As Jared ducked under the swinging limb of one of the huge 
monsters, kicking back to slam the creature in the face, he began to 
think that he might actually inflict enough harm here to provide the 
Sailors enough time to flee and then get away himself. 
    Then he saw the pair of them, standing numbly where he'd left them, 
and the mage knew that his life had just ended. They'd failed to flee. 
All of this delay was for nothing. He should have expected it, but he 
was used to a higher brand of fighting companion. 
    There he stopped himself. They were kids! They were kids doing an 
incredible job and *they* couldn't help it if he had a few hundred more 
years fighting experience and saw holes in their style! Give them time 
and a decent instructor and they'd be fit companions for any situation, 
good or bad. Of course, *Artemis* wasn't likely to be the best 
instructor, being too interested with his own agenda, but even so give 
the girls time and there'd be no way in a hot and unpleasant place that 
anyone could drag an unkind word from his lips about them. He'd not 
been half so fine a warrior at their age. 
    ~And give them a few years and they'd be devastatingly sexy, too.~ 
    The mage actually closed his eyes a moment and shied away from the 
thought about how he felt about them, as he finished off one of the 
remaining two youma. He didn't *normally* get this introspective during 
a fight. Something was wrong. This was like thinking in a half-doze, 
though thankfully he didn't see any slowing of his physical reactions. 
They just felt detached. 
    One left to go before it was him versus the oddly recalcitrant 
general. If Nephlite weren't so disconcerted from something this would 
have been over by now. He never could've dealt with both general and 
youma together. But it'd almost been him against the youma alone, and 
they weren't much without support. 
    Nephlite fired another dark bolt, but was staggering back and 
wild-eyed still. Jared finished the last of the youma, its bloody 
pieces falling in shards around him and converting to black dust. 
    ~Nephlite vs Me without my magic = I'm hosed. Nephlite vs 
Undefended Sailors = They're hosed. Result: Exact what price in blood I 
can and figure the weakened bad guy will have to back down before 
facing my friends.~ 
    Then a new noise entered the fray and the Pheonix Mage shuddered. 
    Across a battlefield drenched in youma blood Zoicite's voice cut a 
harsh swath. "So, Nephlite, having a little trouble with this new 
threat? I wouldn't have thought that little Sailor brat had it in her 
to find anyone significant." The female general played with her hair 
between the tips of her fingers and laughed. "Jedite certainly didn't 
seem to have any trouble with her. Do you think she's able to attract a 
man powerful enough to turn the whole tide against us? I think not." 
    ~Actually, Sailor Venus is decidedly *too* good looking for my 
peace of mind. I would have an easy choice if all the Scouts weren't 
equally attractive in their own way. But they all have strengths the 
others lack and deciding between... They combine into such an excellent 
team, unique qualities fitting together so nicely, that any one of them 
taken separately doesn't seem half so attractive as that same one does 
with the group to bolster her weaknesses. But the fact that I am 
falling in love with each and every one of them and would gladly marry 
them all, given the chance and if it were legal, is just my dirty 
little secret that I'll take with me to my grave.~ 
    Zoicite reacted as if slapped, and it finally penetrated his 
molasses-like mental state what was going on. 
    ~My thoughts are being broadcast.~ 
    ~Oh dear, what I said.~ 
    Before any other thought could force its way through he was already 
casting a counterspell, stopping the leakage of information from his 
head. Some of the things revealed were highly tactical and important, 
the rest just embarrassing and potentially disastrous. But it was past 
time to stop the flow. 
    Zoicite turned to Nephlite, who was rapidly pulling himself 
together from the barrage of Jared's thought broadcast. Any second now 
and they'd turn on the mage. 
    His thoughts were again his own, he could feel the clarity of mind 
returning to him, but he was able to enjoy the new and entirely unlucky 
turn of events from this next disastrously altered spell effect. The 
counterspell had paralyzed him and he was now frozen in place, unable 
to move a muscle to even speak. 
    "Meteor Beam Shower!" 
    Zoicite dodged Venus' attack by shimmering and fading out of 
existence before it, then reappearing besides Nephlite. The fact that 
all others had been listening to his quasi-drunken internal dialog 
explained why they'd been so distracted before now. 
    ~So what have we got?~ Jared swiftly analyzed some possibilities, 
and the wand concealed on his left forearm began to twinkle under the 
bracer he wore there. Zoicite and Nephlite were in a discussion that 
might lead to the pair of them joining forces for one fight. That would 
be bad beyond bad. 
    Artemis ran out from the doors of the hospital, having finally 
navigated the stairs. 
    Suddenly, rough crystals blazing quietly with black flame began to 
materialize and drift down in clouds to settle on objects. Laughing cut 
across the field, and Venus and Mercury both began to crowd in close to 
Jared's sides. 
    The first crystal touched ground, and sprouted a hairy, ugly thing 
that looked like a successful cross between a manticore and a werewolf: 
ugly bat wings, hairy furred body with twisted human face leering with 
fangs, and twin scorpion tails looming up over both of the creature's 
shoulders. 
    Dozens of crystals landed and sprouted more of the exact same, ugly 
creations, each one easily radiating five times the power level of a 
Sailor Hunter youma, making them individually fifteen times as powerful 
as Sailor V, and there were scores of them springing up from 
everywhere. 
    Nephlite and Zoicite turned back to back as a ring of these 
creations sprang up from the ground around them. The two generals could 
sense the teleport block going up in place around them. Zoicite had 
lost her carefree demeanor, whispering aside to Nephlite. "This is more 
youma power than we fielded to destroy the Moon." 
    Venus and Mercury were hugging close to Jared's sides, seeking 
sanctuary despite the fact that he could not move an inch. 
    The laughter resolved into a female voice speaking, sourceless over 
the battle field. "I feel it... The wave of the people of a white 
moon..." 
    The Pheonix Mage emerged from his momentary paralysis, changing his 
stance he cried out. "Who are you?" 
    If the female voice could answer it did not reply, going on it 
said. "I will kill all who are affiliated with the Silver Millennium. 
It's allies, their enemies... You can't get away!" 
    "I feel enormous negative energy!" Venus warned, giving up all 
pretense and securely fastening herself to Jared's side. 
    Mercury glomped herself to the other one. 
    "I'm scared." Mercury cried. 
    "And now!" The female voice continued. "Get them, my servant!" 
    A black flame curled up from mid-sky and resolved into a figure 
well-known to all present, though a figure that was altered from its 
original guise and now wore black, spiny armor and whose face was half 
composed of steel. 
    "Jedite!" Both remaining dark generals called in simultaneous 
recognition. 
    "It's been sweet. my friends." The altered dark general called, 
standing in mid air like it was the most natural thing, the eye in the 
steel half of his face a glinting stone of amber. Jedite waved a hand. 
"But all good things must end. Beryl doesn't know what true power is, 
I've been transformed. Now... Kill them slowly, my nega-beasts!" 
    One of the hulking monstrosities around the Mage and Sailor Scouts 
leaped forward. Both Scouts shrieked, hiding their faces in Jared's 
chest. 
    "Dead Scream." 
    A hurtling bolt of power ripped along the ground and punched right 
through the dark creation that was menacing the trio of good guys. 
Going on, the bolt of power shattered and eliminated nearly a dozen 
more before expending itself. 
    Jared turned himself toward the source of the blast. 
    "It's you..." 
    On the steps of the hospital Artemis whispered. "... Sailor Pluto." 
    A woman with deep green hair stood atop a nearby building. She was 
wearing the familiar Sailor uniform, a garnet-tipped staff held by her 
side. The Pheonix cocked his head to her, asking. "Why are you here?" 
    The woman answered. "In between time and space I saw enormous 
twists I've never seen before." Her head turned as she saw the 
nega-beasts start to move. "But it appears that I don't have time to 
explain." 
    "Get them... Now!" Jedite shrieked from where he floated. 
    Another voice cut across the battlefield. "We are going back to war 
again." 
    "That is our destiny." Another woman's voice joined it. 
    "Now! Sailor Scouts! Transform!" Pluto shouted, waving her staff 
dramatically. 
    A field of invisibility from a previously unoccupied space of 
ground flickered as a young woman's voice cried out. "Uranus Planet 
Power!" 
    The invisibility field warped and died, overcome into shattering 
fragments by the immense amount of magical energy it was trying to 
hide, an energy so intense as to be almost blinding to those able to 
look at it. A silhouette of a young lady, featureless and filled with 
glowing, sparks of rainbow energy, waved her brightly radiant 
transformation pen in a circle all around her, a corresponding arc 
written in yellow flames on the dirt below as it moved. The young 
lady's image hung still, then the circle drawn over the ground erupted 
in a volcano of energy, shock waves like flame passing over her body, 
transforming her into a Sailor Suited warrior. 
    Almost casually, the blonde young woman tossed her hair about, 
relishing in the sensations of the change. 
    A second invisibility field warped and lost its existence, strained 
under a cry of: "Neptune Planet Power!" The sequence was repeated, with 
a slightly different glowing form and a pillar of water and cascading 
tide instead of the first's volcano. 
    The aqua-haired young lady tossed her hair as well, confident and 
attractive, now revealed in a full Sailor costume. 
    A surge of dark power erupted as the changed Jedite thrust a fist 
skyward. "Get them! Kill them all!" And scores more of the flaming 
black crystals appeared and floated down, creating nearly sixty more of 
the hairy warriors and doubling their numbers to well over a hundred. 
    In the background, Zoicite and Nephlite cringed where they were 
surrounded. 
    The lack of concern showed by the pair of newly arrived Sailors was 
almost frightening to see. Their confidence in the face of the horrible 
threat was awesome to behold. 
    The blonde warrior spun in place dramatically. "Emboldened by the 
power of unsullied bravery, the Magnificent Fighter Sailor Uranus, 
acting gorgeous." 
    The aqua-haired young girl also spun and posed without the least 
concern for the threats opposing them. "Empowered by feelings of 
greatest kindness, the Elegant Fighter Sailor Neptune, acting 
graceful." An amused noise came from her throat. 
    A wave of the hairy beasts charged them, and the self-assurance 
that both of the new Sailors had while facing that was simply wondrous 
to look upon. 
    Uranus raised a fist to the air. "World Shaking!" And the ground 
about her feet erupted in shock waves that accumulated rapidly into a 
globe around her fist, which she used to strike the earth beneath her, 
sending a rippling earthquake like an arrow toward the charging 
monsters, the globe of yellow energy leading it and picking up speed as 
it rushed toward them. 
    Neptune brought both hands high above her head. "Deep Submerge!" 
And a churning maelstrom of water rose into existence around her, 
blocking out sight of the Sailor for a brief moment. When this receded, 
the Sailor was revealed holding a globe of blue power, which she 
released toward her foes. 
    "Dead Scream." Pluto added in a whisper, gathering a red ball of 
power toward the end of her staff and twirling, bringing it to bear on 
her foes amidst a rush of grey winds all about her. 
    The three glowing orbs of power ripped forward and caught the 
charging wave of man beasts, converting the front ranks to steam 
without slowing down. The balls curled and twisted, knocking about 
nega-monsters that had not been involved in the charge, until, after 
the blasts and explosions had faded away, there was not a single of the 
hairy monsters remaining. 
    Burning black hairs and bits of scorpion tail burned up as the last 
of the energy that had powered them vanished. 
    The transformed Jedite scowled and grit his teeth in frustration. 
    Uranus and Neptune leapt up and joined Pluto, putting their backs 
together and taunting in triplicate. "We know who you are..." 
    "But if you think you can bring something evil into this world..." 
    "Well," Neptune concluded, smirking. "Then you had best reconsider, 
as we just can't allow that." 
    Jedite's face twisted in impotent rage, and with a swirl of black 
fire, he vanished. 
    The trio of new Sailors leapt down, joining the two Sailors plus 
mage already on the ground, forming up on the girls now unclinging 
themselves from Jared's sides in wonder over what was happening around 
them. 
    "Well?" Was all that Uranus asked, flexing the knuckles of one fist 
while she looked disparagingly at the two remaining generals. 
    "We've got seconds if you're not satisfied with your first order." 
Neptune added, looking straight at the bad guys. 
    Both Nephlite and Zoicite vanished in record time. 
    "See you later, Sailors." Uranus called, in the act of leaping away 
beside Pluto and Neptune. 
    "Wait!" Mercury called, but it was too late, the trio of outer 
Scouts had vanished. 
    "Hey!" Artemis came running up. "You've got to go look for them! 
You've *got* to find them! If Sailor Pluto is involved in this who 
knows what might happen!" 
    "Right!" Venus gave a firm nod, ready to leap away, but she paused 
to look at Jared and that stopped her. He had returned to paralyzed 
state, unmoving from that first position he'd been in. 
    "Jay-chan, whatever could be the matter?" Mercury queried. 
    With a long, drawn out sigh, the young man collapsed down to his 
knees. Both girls were instantly beside him, concerned for him and 
trying to help him up. He stood, but a little wobbly. 
    The mage shook out his hair, under his left bracer, the wand had 
ceased its unnoticed glowing. Drawing breath, the mage started to 
speak. "They'll be no need to go looking after them, Artemis. None of 
what you just saw actually happened." 
    "WHAT??!?" A round of confusion. 
    He opened his mouth to explain, then his eyes suddenly flew wide. 
Floating a good two yards off the ground, the mage's head was thrown 
back and his arms splayed wide, legs close together as he looked for 
all the world like a merman leapt from the sea to glory in a moment of 
sunshine cascading across his body. A golden beam of light shot 
directly down from above and dwelt on his chest, illuminating his 
entire body in a brief halo of energy. 
    When it was over the young man's body floated a moment longer, 
spinning slow and graceful as it lowered to rest itself on the ground, 
brief energy particles running across his extremities and form while it 
did so. 
    It concluded without sign that it had ever happened, and the mage 
sat up with a strange expression. 
    "Wow. *THAT* solves more questions than I'd asked for." He shook 
himself, standing up, and brushing out his sleeves. 
    "What was THAT!??" Artemis demanded. 
    Venus just carefully took the mage's sleeve, and when she'd caught 
his attention looked into his eyes. After a moment, she glowed, finding 
what she'd been searching for. She smiled and tossed her head. "Say, 
care to tell us what that was?" 
    Mercury took one of his hands. 
    The mage nodded. "I'll be happy too, but let's do it while we 
walk." 
    "Where should we change?" Mercury asked. 
    A good question. He looked around, nothing presented itself. 
    "You could all go into one of those buildings." Artemis presented. 
"You could change in the bathrooms and go out the other side. 
    But Venus shook her head. "No, Artemis. I'll change here if I have 
to. I'm *not* going to be separated from Jared for even that long!" 
    Mercury made an agreeing sound. 
    "Okay," the mage resolved. "Let's do this. Mercury can use her 
attack to fog the area, and we all change and leave." 
    "I have an attack?!" 
    Mercury seemed surprised. 
    The mage nodded. "Yes, and from what I understand it resembles 
Battleshroud gas, used on my own world. You apply it to an area, 
blinding all within to any form of visual sight. It also slows those 
caught within it so their reaction time is destroyed and they don't do 
much. The cloud will also cling to any who are caught within it, so it 
isn't easy to leave. What's more, since you are Silver Millennium 
powered, it's a fair bet that yours will be friend or foe exclusive, 
meaning that your allies will be able to see inside it just fine, won't 
be slowed by it, and can generally enjoy all of the benefits without 
any of the drawbacks. Also, if you aim your attack directly at a 
person, that creature suffers some minor, actually I don't know about 
minor as it's as good as my fireballs, anyway, that person suffers cold 
damage. Used as a direct attack you can trigger the fog, or not, as you 
wish." 
    Artemis was standing with his jaw hanging open. 
    Mercury frowned at the cat. "That would have been nice to know 
about beforehand." 
    "But... but..." Artemis could only gasp. 
    Venus eyed the camera crew who'd been there for a while, too far 
distant to hear any of their whispers even with microphones. "So lets 
get out of here, okay?" 
    "Right." Mercury nodded firmly, charging up to her attack sequence. 
    "Mercury Bubbles, Blast!" 
    "Artemis? Turn your back, will ya?" Venus asked. 
    "Turn my back? On what? Where are you guys?" 
    All three youths looked down on the kitty cat, who was standing 
practically at their ankles and staring about wildly in what looked to 
them like merely a minor fog. 
    Both others looked to Mercury, who smiled gaily. "Looks like it 
worked, didn't it?" She laughed. 
    The others joined her and they all dropped their transformations. 
Jared noticed and noted that, while both of them were naked briefly 
during the change, neither one had asked or seemed at all displeased 
that he was there and witnessed this. Though if he'd thought about it 
beforehand his back would have been turned. 
    Catching their eyes, they were glad it'd worked out that way. 
    ~Oh, deary me, am I in trouble.~ 
    "Where are we going?" Amy asked, taking Jared's right arm. 
    Mina paused and thought about it before scooping up her cat, who 
acted startled at the unexpected, unseen contact. "Pipe down, Artemis. 
Are you coming or not?" The cat settled nervously in the hold that he 
could not see, and Mina took Jared's other arm. 
    "So you want to tell us what happened?" Mina asked as they all 
trotted off. 
    Jared bobbed a nod. "Sure. Last to first. That last thing, with me 
floating around. To explain that I have to go back a step and explain 
that I once played a style of game where you created wizards and 
warriors to battle evil using spells and fantastic artifacts. Then came 
a weird twist of circumstance where the actual me landed in a shop that 
specializes in curses. I couldn’t leave without buying something, so I 
outsmarted the shopkeeper into blending me with the best character I’d 
had from the game, one who was both a wizard and a warrior and no 
slouch at either. Now I remember being both the human who played that 
game, and the elf who was one of that human's favorite people to play. 
I got blended into one being by magic capable of rewriting the history 
of worlds." 
    They emerged from the fog about a block away from their starting 
point. To their continued amusement, a small cloud of the vapor clung 
to Artemis and the cat still could not see. They shared a laugh at 
that. 
    Artemis was trying to be good-natured about it. After all, he was 
learning things about this mage that might be very important! 
    Jared went on. "Okay, we did have little alterations to the 
official system, though. The best definitions for a character start 
with their profession - called class, and their experience in that 
class - measured in levels. By official rules, once you had beaten up 
enough monsters, accumulated sufficient treasure, or whatever, then you 
retired from adventuring for months or weeks to get training and rise 
up a level in your class. We did not play this way. By *our* rules, 
once you had adventured sufficiently to qualify for your new level, you 
had a 'religious experience' and gained your new class powers right 
there, with no wait time." 
    He chuckled. "I just didn't expect it to be so flashy. I am now a 
twentieth level druid, with corresponding increase in my other 
abilities and powers as well. What troubles me is that my martial art 
and fighting expertise also improved, as well as my mage and druid 
ones. That confuses me because, One: I'd retired as a monk and kensai, 
so my abilities should not, any longer, improve as they did. And, Two: 
as a monk I'd already reached the pinnacle of my abilities. It was not 
possible by those rules to get any better than I am, but I just did. 
Perhaps the warping of magic around here had something to do with it." 
    Amy laughed brightly. "I'm sorry, it just seems too funny to get 
concerned over something that really seems quite a benefit." 
    Mina shot her a glance and then laughed herself. Her hunk had 
improved, and this was a problem? Might all her problems be that way! 
    "And what about the other three Sailor Scouts? Why aren't we out 
looking for them?" Artemis asked testily, as the vapor around him 
finally dissipated. 
    Jared tossed the cat a sober wink. "Simple, kitty. None of that 
ever happened. Those other Scouts weren't ever actually there. It was 
all an illusion that I cast." 
    "But that's impossible! We saw them. They defeated that monster who 
was directing all those ugly beasts! How could they *not* have been 
there?" 
    Artemis and Mina were supportive of Amy's question, and Jared 
replied with a wink. "The very simplest illusion will fool anyone if 
they don't know what to look for. I will explain. First off, who 
expects a mage to cast an illusion that benefits his enemy? Answer: no 
one. So no one was prepared to believe that *I* would create an 
illusion of extra dark forces showing up! They all just accepted it as 
fact, even when those forces turned out to be an extra dark army that 
wasn't friends with anybody, and was, in fact, against us all. Still, 
they wouldn't suspect me of calling into being something that'd hurt me 
in an already tough bind." 
    He chuckled. "So when extra forces of light arrived and blew away 
all of the new bad guys it had to be real, didn't it? I mean, only a 
very powerful illusion could affect in the slightest anything that was 
truly real. And they blew away a whole army of incredibly tough bad 
guys, how could they be anything *but* the real thing? There was also 
that magic being thrown about. Any mage knows that magic auras and the 
feeling of spells is not something an illusion frequently covers. 
Except for me. I see magical energy as easily as you see light. So I've 
learned how to counterfeit the aura to make my illusions look and feel 
more real. I even bumped the power levels of everything I created with 
that to astronomical heights." 
    The youth smiled. "What really happened was that I created an 
illusion of extra dark forces, showed the real bad ones things they 
were in a mindset to believe, like the new bad guys wanting to wax us, 
and then had another illusion show up and beat my first illusion, and 
then bluff the *real* bad guys into retreating! Now the overall effect 
of this is as follows: Our enemy believes that Jedite has gained extra 
powers and is in league with forces beyond their own. They will be 
cautious, as they believe now there are extra bad guys who want the 
same Earth as them, and in fact have declared their eagerness to kill 
them as well. Beryl will spend energy and time looking for something 
that does not exist, and not finding it she'll only worry because that 
*has* to mean it is just hiding really well and could strike at any 
moment." 
    The redhead enjoyed a laugh. "Then, to continue, *we've* apparently 
got allies that took down forces beyond anything the Negaverse has, and 
did it with ease! How is that going to effect the bad guys plans? 
Answer: They'll be more cautious, do things less openly and with 
greater care. All of this means that they'll be doing fewer. After all, 
if a single youma can drop in with impunity and raid, then return with 
energy, they can do a hundred times what they could if they're required 
to send in a strike force with well-coordinated backup and plans for 
retreat, concealment and infiltration. It means they'll have less 
energy to spend as well, because they have to be on guard against an 
attack that would never happen, but they believe they've got to be 
prepared against anyway." 
    He laughed again. "And above all, *I've* been simple and direct, 
with charges and frontal assaults my trademark every time they've known 
they were encountering me. It is entirely against anything they've 
observed about me for me to do anything that sneaky!" 
    Both the girls laughed in admiration. In Mina's arms, Artemis had 
eyes the size of saucer plates. 
    They arrived at the cherry hill temple and started up. Jared began 
speaking more freely once they got among the trees, raising his tone to 
normal conversational levels. "One of the fun parts about all of this 
is that time has been most critical for us. We need some to prepare in, 
and now we'll hopefully have it." 
    They came to a stop before a person sweeping the steps. 
    "I'm sorry, the shrine isn't open right now. Please come back at 
another time." 
    Jared released his hold on the two girls beside him. "Rae?" 
    The shrine maiden blinked. "I'm sorry, do I know you from 
somewhere?" 
    He gave a BIG sigh and nodded gratefully. "Yes, but before we go 
into all that we should probably retire inside first. How did you get 
up so soon, anyway? I thought it was going to another few days before 
you woke up at all." 
    The dark-haired shrine maiden blinked at him. "What do you know 
about that?" 
    Jared suddenly realized that she was still thinking in terms of 
Jedite and hadn't heard the explanation as yet. He bowed shallowly. 
"Rae Hino. It was I who ventured into the fortress of Jedite, the true 
name of your assistant Jed, and rescued you and all the other 
teenager's he'd captured. I have been caring for you since that time. 
Your ravens, Phobos and Deimos, can vouch for me." 
    Rae stared at him, shocked. 
    "Are you sure you should be telling her all that?" Amy ventured 
from his side. 
    Mina shook out her long hair, brightening considerably. "No, it's 
alright. This is Rae Hino. She's one of the ones on *our* side! How do 
you do?" Mina bowed politely. "I'm Sailor V." 
    Rae dropped her broom. 
    "And I'm Amy Anderson, only just today I became Sailor Mercury." 
Amy also bowed. 
    Rae, flustered and off balance, didn't know what to say. THESE 
were... ? And Sailor V had a new ally? Who was the guy? 
    Jared nodded his head to her. "Rae, I am the Pheonix Mage, who's 
been on the news alot even if you've been asleep for it. We are telling 
you these things because you have the power to become Sailor Mars." He 
flashed a smile. "And be able to get the better of people like Jedite 
if or when you encounter them again." 
    THAT got Rae's agreement, even if she wasn't ready for it. She 
seized upon the closest thing for mental support, which was the 
temple's filthy yard. "Uh... That is... I'd invite you all in, but 
it'll be a while before I can join you, though. It'll take me forever 
to get this in order, and I promised myself I'd get a start on it as 
quick as I could as soon as I saw it this morning." 
    "Not a problem." Jared replied. He crossed his arms before his 
chest, closing both his eyes. 
    "For the service of a lord 
    summon now a Servant Horde 
    doing work without reward 
    in harmony, without discord." 
    He frowned when nothing happened, then chuckled. "I ought to be so 
lucky all the time. Sorry, that was *meant* to clean up your yard with 
about five hundred or so Unseen Servants, but my spells have all been 
distorted since the battle before last. Can we all go in and talk about 
it? You can get to the yard a little later. I'll even help, with 
muscles this time as my spells are a little unpredictable. I’m 
fortunate that one only failed." 
    In numb astonishment, Rae nodded. For an instant, she got an 
impression of him talking with hundreds of people, and it had knocked 
her spiritual senses haywire. 
    They walked inside and Michelle waved to them, shutting off the 
television and hopping over to them with tons of energy. "Hi! Glad to 
see you back." She blushed demurely, then, noting the girls all around 
him, frowned a little. 
    The redhead didn't notice, checking out his former patients. "How 
did you get so well so quickly? Michelle, yesterday you collapsed from 
walking. What's up?" 
    The aqau-haired beauty shook out her long hair happily, now 
smiling. "I don't know, but I *feel* all rested." 
    "You mean it wasn't some medicine or other that you gave us?" Rae 
asked. 
    Jared slapped his own forehead. "I have been a fool." He held out a 
potion bottle. "A potion of Vitality. Each of these is worth one week 
of food, water, and rest. But I forgot that they can be used to 
compensate for a lack of those as well as prepare you to go without. I 
mostly use them for long marches, and I slipped each of you one when I 
was leaving, so you'd not be in bad shape if I couldn't come back and 
keep watching over you as I'd been doing. But it rather missed my mind 
that you were suffering from long exposure to a kind of energy drain 
that made you *need* extra food and rest. So the potion did its work, 
negating your extra need, and you woke up. I've been stupid in not 
giving you them long ago." 
    "Hey!" Mina shouted perkily. "Does that mean now that you can cure 
the energy drain they cause us?" 
    Jared nodded a little dubiously. "For as long as my supply of those 
potions lasts, sure." He passed out one to each girl. 
    Then the air seemed to split, though quietly, causing Mina, Amy, 
the two other contacted girls, and the redhaired boy to nearly jump out 
of their assorted footwear. The cat merely settled for turning into a 
puffball of startled fur. 
    The figure that stepped out of the split was... 
    "A BOOMER?!" Three girls said simultaneously, having seen Bubblegum 
Crisis many years ago. Michelle began to wonder what the others knew 
and she didn't, and how dangerous that robot might be... 
    "Oh, there you are. Jared the Phoenix, right?" The Boomer slung a 
large sack onto the ground. 
    Jared blinked. Supernatural, yes. But an odd combination of 
technology around a central body that had supernatural origins, though 
certainly not evil. "And you are?" 
    "Grey. Guardian Daemon Trainee, Fourth Class, Asgard. Currently 
getting ready for a Twelve Labors makeup test. Hang on," the armored 
figure started rooting around in the pack. "Look, I caught what you did 
at the Spells R Us shoppe, and I couldn't do anything about it directly 
but it looks like my screwing around with the door program landed you 
here. Instead of in the Abyss, where you most didn't want to be, you 
ended up here, where you're most needed. Still, it's my fault, so I've 
asked around and made some arrangements." 
    There was a loud "tink"ing noise as Mina rapped on metallic plates. 
"It's real?" 
    "Full conversion cyborg," answered the daemon as it pulled what 
looked like a music CD (except for the thickness and lack of a central 
hole) out of the pack. "Here it is. Standard issue spellbook from 
Shadarian Imperial Mage Corps, plane of Aramar. Got your basics like 
Invisibility and Grease, but it's also got MIRV on it, I think." 
    "MIRV?" Jared was sure he hadn't heard of that one before, though 
it did sound familiar. It was missile terminology for a rocket with 
many warheads. 
    "Multiple Incendiary Rotating Velocity points. Something like 
'Meteor Swarm' crossed with Lina Inverse's 'Dragon Slave', useful in 
removing unwanted mountains and the like. For smaller targets like your 
average youma I'd suggest 'Holy Fire' or one of the White Magic 
enchantments. Anything that feeds on negative energy is likely to find 
those hard to digest." The cyborg handed the disc over. "You can see 
magic, so you ought to be able to access those without much problem." 
    Rae caught a shiny glint from the pack and reached in, pulling a 
softly glowing metallic bow out of the sack, and promptly hid it while 
everyone's attention was on the disc. Michelle caught her doing it and 
was opening her mouth to raise a fuss when the shrine maiden blushed 
and snatched out a second item, giving the maid a glowing ring. 
Michelle looked at the item in her hands and said nothing, putting it 
in a pocket in her skirt. 
    The two's attention returned to what the cyborg was saying. 
    "Since I'm responsible, in a way, for so many people getting 
offtrack I'm trying to clear my karma by helping out a little bit 
before I go on those trials." The cyborg hefted the sack, walked back 
into the hole in midair. 
    "Wait." The redhead stopped him and pushed something into the 
cyborg's hand. "If you need me, use this. It can be used to contact me. 
If I'm able, I will come." 
    The cyborg nodded once and vanished. 
    "What a weird chap." Jared commented after a moment, pocketing the 
strange spellbook. "Had to be a fighter. No one else gives away 
spellbooks like that." 
    "I think you have an awful lot of explaining to do." Artemis 
ordered from under a hefty piece of furniture. Both of the new girls 
stared at the talking cat. Rae found her legs suddenly gave way and she 
fell on her rear with a thump. Michelle had to lean against a door for 
support and tried to make it look natural. 
    "In a moment, Artemis. But right now I think you have two 
transformation items to produce. Since it appears you are using 
brooches, we'll need two more. One each for Mars and Neptune here." He 
indicated the two girls. Michelle seemed even more astonished at this 
than before, having to sit down. 
    "I can give one to Mars," the cat admitted, coming out from under 
the furniture. "But I don't hold any access to the sub-dimensional 
warehouse that holds the items for the Outer Scouts. I can't do 
anything for Neptune." 
    "Then Mars will do for a start. Give Rae her item. I'll be going 
down to bring up the bike I parked here this morning. It looks like 
we'll all be up for a while tonight with all the explaining to be done, 
and if my mode of transportation gets stolen I'm not in a state where I 
can safely create another one." 

    As explanations and introductions blossomed behind him, Jared 
started down the shrine steps. Night was falling, the day gone in what 
seemed an endless series of emergencies. 
    He stopped for a moment at the lowest step, pausing to look around. 
It promised to be a beautiful night. The birds were out, and the city 
so quiet. Of course, with citizens fleeing by any methods necessary to 
other countries, it *ought* to be more quiet than regular for a 
Japanese city, but the breaking up of a nation wasn't anything he was 
about to mourn over. 
    People would survive. They always did. And he would ensure they 
did. He was certain at least that he would do his best, and good things 
often came of good people giving their best shot. 
    Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mina trotting down the steps to 
him and started again toward his motorcycle, when a long sedan pulled 
up between him and it. At first Jared was merely puzzled. It looked 
like a family car, nothing to be concerned about, but then all the 
doors popped open. 
    "Jared! Where have you been these last few days?!? We stopped when 
we saw your motorcycle here, and... who is this? Jared, where have you 
*been* for the last few days?" 
    Jared had the totally unexpected experience of watching Sailor 
Moon's mom and dad get out of the car, and the mom immediately rushing 
over to him, enfolding him in a hug, and kissing the top of his head. 
    Sailor Moon's dad came wandering up in the wake of the mom. "That's 
right. Why didn't you call us or something? With all of the monster 
attacks going on I'm afraid I'm going to have to ground you if you go 
off without contacting us again." 
    The redhead was just beginning to consider faking a faint in order 
to get some time to think when he saw little Rini pop out of the car 
behind the Tsukinos. Okay, that explained a few things. The little brat 
had been hypnotizing folks again. 
    Then little Rini was followed out the car by a five year old double 
with blonde hair, tied up in two meatballs. Then the second girl 
tripped over a shadow and fell on her face, bawling. 
    This time he *did* consider fainting, just not as an excuse, but 
the real thing. Sailor Moon was five years old! 
    Jared rallied, fainting wouldn't help anything. 
    Mrs. Tsukino rocked him, cooing softly into his hair, which was 
something his present youth and relative small size made possible. 
    "Are you Jay-chan's parents?" Amy materialized from the bushes 
beside him. "How do you do? I'm Amy Anderson, Jay-chan's fiancee!" 
    "Hey! You can't do that!" Mina shouted, coming off the steps. "I'm 
the one who gets to marry him!" 
    "YOU guys!!?" Rae appeared and shouted. "But... but that's not 
fair! He's been staying at my house for DAYS! He's probably been 
sponge-bathing me! You’ve got to at least give me a chance!" 
    "Is this a party anyone can join in?" Michelle asked, smirking. 
    "WOW!" Rini enthused. "Jay-kun, our mom will be so pleased!" 
    He fainted.