AUTHOR'S NOTE:

	In the course of Sailor Moon Z, the Senshi have been 
playing the TORG Role-Playing game. Since this story makes heavy 
use of that game, I am including here a list of the players and 
their characters, to make it easier for you. To see examples of 
their games, check out Z09, Z13, Z15, and Z19.

Umino - Game Master
Ami - Quinina, Space God Bioengineer
Minako - Stinger Ace, Defender of Justice
Mamoru - Renegade Hospitaler Darien de'Tocqueville
Usagi - Princess Angelina Comtessa Fireball the III
Rei - Sister Raye, Sacellum Nun
Naru - Hatsheput, Nile Priestess
Makoto - Maggie Holmes, Victorian Occultist
Hotaru - Luthien the Elven Monk
Haruka - Harry, Race Soldier
Michiru - Michelle, Race Soldier
Setsuna - Cheshire, Mystery (Wo)Man
Himeko - Sakura, Corp Ninja
Steven - Dag Nabbit, Edeinos
Clark - Father Magnus Clark, Doubting Cleric.
Urawa - Greg Farshtey

	Knowledge of my co-author's epic work "Dance of Shiva" 
would also help you understand some of the events of this story. 
You can find it here:

http://maison-otaku.net/~rhea/Shiva/Shiva.html

	Enjoy!

*****

	In the Dark Kingdom, Alexandrite watched with satisfaction 
as his Artificers worked at their machines. Below him, 
surrounded by mystical circles and wards, a sphere of blue and 
red energy seethed, lightning stabbing at the boundaries that 
contained it. Occasionally, one of the mystical devices shot 
energy at the sphere, making it larger and more violent.

	"My lord!" one of the youma shouted over the roar of 
conflicting energy. "We are reaching the critical point!"

	Alexandrite nodded and checked over his arsenal of magic 
items one last time. What he was attempting was dangerous, but 
so was allowing one of the other Generals to upstage him. He 
would be the one to defeat the Senshi, and not one at a time. 
No, he would wipe them and their friends out with one crushing 
blow.

	They would pay for mocking him.

	"Now, General!" the Artificer shouted.

	Alexandrite leapt from the gantry on which he stood, 
falling into the crackling sphere of energy. It swallowed him 
whole. For a moment, nothing changed. Then, with a rush of air 
and a deafening boom, the sphere shrank in on itself, become a 
point of light and vanished.

	"Subspace insertion confirmed," one Artificer spoke into 
the silence.

	"Metallia be with him," another said quietly.

*****

Naru: 
 I'm tired of always running
 I've grown tired of the night
 I wish I had some cunning,
 Had some power, had some might.

We see a collage of Naru running from monsters, grabbed by 
monsters, trapped inside big moss balls by monsters, etc.

Sailors: 
 You don't need to keep on running.
 You don't need to fear the night.
 We can save you with our cunning,
 With our power, with our might.

We see a collage of images of Usagi and the other Sailors saving 
Naru and many other people from monster attacks.

Naru: 
 I don't want someone to save me;
 I'd just like to save myself
 I don't want to be a helpless doll
 That must sit upon the shelf.

We see Naru sitting at her window, looking out on the starry 
night sky of the city. One by one, lines trace out the 
constellations.

Pluto:
 If you want to have the power
 You must reach into your heart
 Look inside to find your strength
 For that's where power starts

We see Pluto holding out a eight-pointed star, which hovers just 
above her hand.

*****

Sailor Moon Z:
Series concept by John Biles and Jeff Hosmer
Primary Writer this episode: Jeff Hosmer

Based on the series Sailor Moon, copyrighted by Takeuchi Naoko 
and a lot of other people who aren't us.

TORG and all associated names are/were property of West End 
Games. Since they're either bankrupt or owned by someone else, I 
don't know who has the rights, but someone does.

Kansas Jim is a real person, the only holder of the coveted 
title of TORG Guru. If there's anything about the game that he 
doesn't know, it's not worth knowing. Check out his website for 
more info. I hope he has a sense of humor about this. :)

http://www.nmt.edu/~ksjim/index.html

*****

Episode 20
"The Other Reality Gambit.
 Will Alexandrite Become the TORG?"

*****

The Near Now...
Later Today
Early Tomorrow 
Sometime Next Week
The World Began To End

	The rain fell from the heavens like the scour of an Old 
Testament god. Thunder boomed and eerily colored blue and red 
lightning lanced out from the slate-colored sky.

	Beneath the storm clouds lay a once-proud city. Its towers 
of stone and steel had crumbled and burned and strange metallic 
*things* cavorted amidst the wreckage. Occasionally the 
wasteland city was lit by an actinic flare and the *CRUMP* of 
artillery.

	Welcome to a world at war.

	In one alleyway, the rain fell onto the face of a young 
Asian boy. He was nondescript in appearance, except for the coke 
bottle glasses he was wearing. With a splutter he sat up, 
spitting and gagging to get rid of the taste of the filthy 
rainwater. Finally, he took a good look at his surroundings.

	"Where am I?" asked Umino Gurio.

	Staggering to his feet, he tried to take what cover he 
could from the rain. Peering through his rain-soaked glasses, he 
saw an alcove with a flickering light in it. Stumbling, he made 
his way over to it, never considering that the light would make 
him a perfect target.

	Or that hunters would use a light on to attract prey.

	No sooner had he reached the alcove than *something* swept 
down out of the skies to land before him.

	In the dim, flickering light, Umino couldn't see his 
attacker very well, but what he did see frightened him half to 
death.

	It was over seven feet tall, covered with muscles that 
rippled ominously beneath leathery skin. Two metallic wings 
sprouted from its back. One eye burned crimson through the 
shadows covering its face.

	"Monkey meat," it snarled at Umino before raising a whip in 
its claw. 

	Umino screamed and raised his hands in a futile gesture of 
protection. The creature drew back its whip.

	Then two blasts of white-hot fury slammed into the side of 
the monster, knocking it away from Umino. Snarling, it turned in 
the direction the blasts had come from.

	Two figures stood in the mouth of the alleyway, each 
wearing high-tech armor and toting VERY big guns. Without giving 
their target a chance to react, they fired again, enveloping the 
creature in flames until it dropped.

	Umino staggered to his feet, stammering out his thanks, 
only to be faced with the business ends of those two very nasty-
looking guns.

	"Shoot it, Michelle," one of them said. "Better safe than 
sorry."

	"You know that 'her highness' doesn't like it when we do 
that," the second replied. "Remember the bum incident?"

	Umino gaped at his rescuers. "Haruka-san? Michiru-san?"

	"What did you call me?" Haruka asked, gesturing with her 
gun at Umino.

	Umino got a closer look at his rescuers. They resembled the 
Haruka and Michiru he knew, there were small differences. This 
pair was older and their faces reminded Umino of a rock where 
the softer materials had been worn away leaving only the hardest 
and strongest elements. They wore no makeup that Umino could 
see.

	And they scared Umino far more than ever before. He had 
thought the Outers ruthless and hard, but these two were worse 
than he ever imagined.

	"Just slash him. We'll say the 'Kold did him."

	Umino's bladder nearly let loose when two gleaming metal 
claws extended from Haruka's forearm. She held the claws before 
his face.

	"It'd be messy. Can't we just fry him?" Haruka asked.

	Michiru just shook her head at Haruka. "Hurry before 'her 
highness' gets here."

	Umino knew he wasn't the strongest or fastest kid, but he 
always had prided himself on his brain.


	Which chose this moment to shut down completely.

*****

	"You shouldn't have scared the poor boy like that, Harry."

	The voice was one of the sweetest that Umino had ever 
heard. And it was naggingly familiar...

	"I could try an occult ritual to wake him," said another 
voice, feminine, yet deep, and cultured.

	"That is your answer to everything, sister. It will lead 
you down the path of damnation."

	Umino decided he better show that he was awake before an 
argument broke out... or he was made the subject of an occult 
ritual.

	With a groan, he sat up... and got the shock of his life.

	He was in a burnt out building, its roof a shelter against 
the rain even though most of its walls were gone. Surrounding 
him were the Sailors and Auxiliaries... but they were changed. 
Each had become their TORG character. For some, this wasn't a 
big change, but for others....

	Usagi was now a willowy elf with dark blue skin and wearing 
the medieval garb of a princess. Her hair was still in its usual 
odango-style, but now it was silver instead of blonde. The Elven 
Princess and Sorceress Angelina Comtessa Fireball the III of 
Aysle.

	Hotaru was sitting next to Usagi, with a similar alteration 
in skin and hair. Instead of Usagi's elaborate court garb, 
however, Hotaru was wearing a simple monk's robe, with the hood 
pulled over her head. Luthien the Elven Monk of Aysle.

	Next to them stood Mamoru, though it was hard to tell 
through all the metal. His right eye glowed red and circuitry 
could be seen beneath his skin. Renegade Hospitaler Darien 
de'Tocqueville of the CyberPapacy.

	Makoto looked like a Sherlock Holmes cosplayer, complete 
with deerstalker cap and tweed suit. Not even her outfit's 
impeccable tailoring, however, could disguise the ways she was 
UNLIKE the famous consulting detective. Maggie Holmes, Victorian 
Occultist.

	Ami was clad only in light blue, vaguely Incan-looking 
clothing that bared a bit more skin than Umino was used to 
seeing (except when Athena was around) on the Senshi of Ice. She 
had a few pieces of equipment, however, that appeared to be made 
out of living flesh, and was running one over his body, scanning 
him. Quinina, Space God Bioengineer.

	Minako stood nearby, clad in khaki pants and a brown 
leather jacket. An aviator's cap, complete with goggles, sat on 
her head and she was currently trying to find a breeze to make 
her white scarf flutter behind her dramatically. Stinger Ace, 
Defender of Justice.

	Rei was one of the hardest to recognize, mostly because she 
was garbed head-to-foot in nun's robes. Currently she was 
arguing with Makoto over whether or not to cast an occult ritual 
on Umino. He hoped that she won. Sister Raye, Sacellum Nun.

	Setsuna, clad in her green trenchcoat, mask, and fedora, 
was cleaning a gun and watching him closely. She had an 
enigmatic smile that did not bode well for Umino, whether she 
was Pluto or Cheshire, Masked Avenger.

	Umino had no trouble recognizing Steven... but that was 
because he was the only seven-foot tall lizard man dressed as 
Elvis in the party. Dag Nabbit, Edeinos Disguise Artist (but not 
a very good one.)

	Urawa looked completely unchanged, even down to the clothes 
he had been wearing the last time Umino saw him. But there was 
something strange about the way he looked at the young Japanese 
boy that made Umino shudder. Greg Farshtey, Core Earth Psychic.

	Then Umino saw Naru and his heart nearly stopped. She was 
wearing the costume of an Egyptian priestess, which somehow 
managed to be both elaborate and almost scandalous. Gold 
bracelets and necklaces at least covered up some of her skin, or 
Umino would have died of blood loss from his nose. An ornate 
headband bearing a solar disk between cow horns marked her as a 
priestess of Isis. Her heavily kohled eyes seemed to soften as 
she looked at him. Hatsheput, Priestess of the Nile.

	Besides Haruka and Michiru, there were two other people 
present, whom Umino did not immediately recognize. One was clad 
in the distinctive garb of a ninja with a sword strapped to her 
back. Hime-chan, he realized. The other was wearing the black 
clothes and white collar of a Catholic Priest. Magnuson-sensei. 
Somehow they had been given characters in the world of TORG, 
even though they had never played it.

	"Are you feeling alright?" Usagi asked gently, placing one 
hand on his forehead.

	Everyone else stopped what they were doing and looked at 
him. Some, especially the Outers, were cool and analytical about 
it, others merely curious.

	"I'm fine," he said. "Can someone tell me where I am?"

	"Los Angeles, just outside Tharkold territory," Haruka 
said. "You almost got gutted by a 'Kold before Michelle and I 
came along. Sloppy of you."

	"He's not a soldier, Harry," Naru interjected, smiling 
apologetically at Umino before turning back to the hardened Race 
Soldier. "You can't keep holding people to that standard of 
yours."

	"Anything less gets us all killed," Michiru said.

	"If youse guys are done arguin'," Setsuna interjected, "we 
need to decide what to do wit' him."

	"I say we leave him here," Haruka said.

	"We can't do that!" Usagi objected. "He could get killed!"

	"Better him than us," Setsuna replied.

	Umino didn't know how he had ended up in his game world, 
but his game master instincts kicked in. He had seen this sort 
of thing all too often. 

	His only chance of ever making it home was to stay with the 
Senshi (even if they didn't know who they were.) However, he had 
always had a hard time putting any non-player characters into 
this party. The Outers had automatically been suspicious of 
everyone he introduced and tended to react violently if he 
forced someone on them. (He remembered with a shudder the time 
they had killed 27 messengers without bothering to talk to the 
messengers in the first place.) 

	Things were not looking good for him.

	"Listen," he interjected finally, "I have to tell you guys 
something. You're not going to believe it, but it's the truth. 
You see, you're not who you think you are, and we're all in a 
lot of trouble."

*****

	Somewhere, beyond space and time, something stirred. Darker 
than the shadows, powerful beyond measure, and yet fragmented 
and impotent, it had been in this place for an eternity, even in 
a place where time had no meaning. It had sought identity, a 
purpose, and it had found one. But its last attempt to achieve 
its goals had been thwarted, and it needed time to rest before 
it could touch the waking world once more.

	But now it recognized that some of its ancient enemies had 
come to it, to the places where dreams are manifest. They were 
trapped in a dream of another's making.

	Had it a mouth, it would have smiled. Now it could strike a 
blow against its foes and destroy them, ahead of schedule.

	SHIVA gathered its energies and reached out to touch the 
dream world.

*****

	"You expect us to believe this crap?" Haruka asked. She 
grabbed Umino by his collar and held her plasma pistol beneath 
his chin. "I ought to waste you right now," she said.

	"Harry! Stand down!" Michiru barked. For a long moment, 
Haruka didn't move and Umino thought he could see his life flash 
before his eyes. But then Haruka relaxed and threw him to the 
ground.

	"It's still bullshit," Haruka muttered.

	"He believes it to be true," Urawa said quietly.

	Ami placed a comforting hand on Urawa's shoulder. "Did you 
have another vision, Greg?"

	"No... everything is still darkness in my sight."

	"We're wasting time!" Minako exclaimed. "We need to find 
Alexandrite, take back the Crystals of Power, and pulverize him! 
C'mon! It's Bothering Time!"

	Umino groaned and heard it echoed by some of the others. 
Apparently some parts of Minako's personality transcended time 
and space.

	"I agree with Stinger," Steven said, in a surprisingly non-
sibilant voice. For all his scales, long beaky maw, and sharp 
teeth, he sounded remarkably normal. "We need to chase 
Alexandrite, away from this place of Dead things."

	"What do you think, Princess?" Mamoru asked Usagi.

	Usagi looked at Umino carefully. The boy's story seemed as 
addled as one of her lies about what she was doing in the palace 
kitchens after midnight. And yet... something about him made her 
want to believe him. The thought of other worlds wasn't that 
outlandish, after all. The High Lords proved that much.

	"We will let him accompany us for now," she said. "His 
story sounds fantastic, but I find myself believing it might be 
true."

	"Are you sure, Princess?" Rei asked.

	Usagi nodded. She then turned to Umino and offered a slim 
blue hand. "Welcome to our band of Storm Knights, Umino."

	Umino shook it gratefully. Maybe things were looking up for 
him. Most of the group managed a smile in return, but Haruka and 
Michiru looked particularly disgusted.

	Suddenly, there was a dull *thump* and a small cylinder 
landed in the middle of the party. Immediately, it began to spew 
forth a greenish gas.

	"Gas! Get down!" Haruka yelled, slapping on her helmet. 
Immediately, a skull-like visor slid into place, covering her 
face. Michiru did likewise. Ami slapped a translucent blob over 
her nose and mouth. Minako took three steps and suddenly was 
flying! She soon was high above the gas, looking for their 
attackers. Hime-chan, whom Umino had learned was named Sakura in 
this world, simply seemed to vanish into the shadows. Mamoru 
ignored the gas totally, his cybernetics able to handle any 
toxins with ease.

	Everyone else was not so lucky. He found himself on the 
ground moments later, coughing, vomiting, and with his eyes 
tearing from the acrid gas. Ami was moving from person to 
person, trying to help them with her bag of medical tricks. In 
the background, Umino was barely aware of Haruka and Michiru's 
plasma guns firing and the sounds of screaming and running feet.

	Ami got to him and placed a translucent blob over his face. 
At first it felt like he had landed face-first in a pile of 
jellyfish, and he choked, fearing he would smother to death. 
Then he realized that he was breathing normally, and he could no 
longer feel the effects of the gas. He took a deep breath, 
amazed as the blob filtered out the harmful gas and let him 
breath pure, clean air. Biotechnology, he thought wonderingly, 
machines made out of organic creatures.

	Haruka and Michiru came back at that point, looking as 
demonic as the technodemons with their skull visors and glowing 
red eyes (their targeting scopes).

	"It was a bunch of gangers with some LAPD equipment," 
Haruka reported, her voice distorted and electronically filtered 
by her visor. "There was blood on the riot gear, so I guess it 
wasn't given up voluntarily. The sons-of-bitches probably 
scavenged them off a 'Kold slaughter ground."

	Random encounter, Umino thought, resisting the urge to 
giggle.

	"So you chased them off?" Rei asked. Behind her, Usagi was 
waving the Forest Wand around, creating a glittering curtain of 
dust. Where the dust fell, the gas disappeared, clearing the 
air.

	Michiru's voice was grim. "They won't bother us again."

	Usagi looked up at that. "Michelle--" she began.

	"You agreed, Princess, that while we're on Tharkold ground, 
you'd follow our lead. This place doesn't follow the same rules 
as your Fairy Kingdom."

	"You can't just go around killing people! It's wrong!"

	Haruka and Michiru both looked uncomfortable, but were 
unwilling to give any ground. Everyone else ignored the squabble 
for these disagreements were old news.

	Naru helped Umino get back on his feet. "Here you go, 
Umino," she said. "Are you hurt? Do you need healing?"

	"I'm fine," he gasped, a little muffled by the biotech 
breathing mask. After a moment, sensing no more toxins around, 
it fell off. He looked at it in wonder, poking it carefully.

	"You're lucky you didn't disconnect. I've seen people 
nearly suffocate when their breather stopped working," Ami 
commented, taking it from him and putting it back in her pouch.

	"Does this mean I'm a Storm Knight?" Umino asked. His 
knowledge of the rules of the game seemed to have fled him.

	"You are a stormer," a guttural voice said from the 
shadows, "but that will not help you."

	Everyone spun and stopped cold at what they saw. Hime-chan 
hung limply in the claws of one of the biggest, ugliest monsters 
Umino had ever seen, even worse than the demon that had almost 
caught him in the alley. It sported more cybernetics than that 
one and he groaned as he realized who it was. He had seen the 
picture in his rulebooks, after all.

	"Thratchen," he whispered.

*****

	Alexandrite smiled as the last of his youma gated to a far-
flung location on this false Earth. They were to take the role 
of the "High Lords" the conquerors bent on destroying the world 
in the puerile game the Senshi played. The opportunity to 
pretend to be a world conqueror did not come to ordinary youma 
often, so he knew they would all embrace their roles with 
enthusiasm. Well, all but one. The youma tasked with the role of 
Baruk Kaah, High Lord of the Living Land, hadn't quit whining 
about it until Alexandrite had pitched him through the gate. 
Alexandrite wasn't sure what a "goober" was, but he was prepared 
to agree that this Kaah was one, from what he had read of the 
creature's bumbling. Still, the youma had gotten the short 
straw, and should just do as he was ordered.

	He smiled over at the last "High Lord," a golem of his own 
manufacture. He had liked what he had seen of this creature in 
the game books. Such evil and malice combined with almost 
unstoppable power, topped only by the creature's avarice for 
more power, the ambition to become TORG.

	The Gaunt Man.

	Clad in simple, tattered clothes reminiscent of the 
Puritans of the 17th century, and carrying a cane topped with a 
dragon's head, the Gaunt Man resembled a cadaver more than a 
living being. His skin was gray and drawn tightly over his 
bones, and he was tall and gangly. The source of his moniker was 
readily apparent. Alexandrite had saved this, the most powerful 
of the "High Lords," the would-be TORG, to be his puppet. After 
all, he wanted the final defeat of the Senshi to be by his 
hands, even if at one remove. No youma was going to steal his 
glory.

	Alexandrite's laughter filled the dark, corrupt halls of 
Illmound Keep, the seat of the Gaunt Man's power in Indonesia. 
And so he did not see his construct's eyes flare red beneath its 
low slung hat.

*****

	Umino's first thought was that the descriptions of 
Thratchen in his rulebooks did not do the creature justice. Once 
a servant of the High Lord of Tharkold, Thratchen had been 
trapped on Earth when the psychics of the Soviet Project OMEN 
had thwarted the first Tharkoldu invasion of Russia. An 
opportunist and schemer, Thratchen had made itself useful to the 
Gaunt Man, the leader of the High Lords. And then, when the 
opportunity had presented itself, it had betrayed its master, 
helping a band of heroes trap the would-be TORG in a energy 
maelstrom, and set itself up as Regent of Orrorsh, the Gaunt 
Man's realm of horror and evil.

	For all its successes, however, the power of TORG eluded 
Thratchen while the Gaunt Man's prison weakened. The second, 
successful, Tharkoldu invasion, this time in Los Angeles, gave 
Thratchen a way out, and it fled to his fellow demons, swiftly 
regaining its position as a Prince among them. But this setback 
did not diminish Thratchen's hunger for knowledge and power.

	As the one-time Regent stepped out of the shadows, holding 
Hime-chan before it as a shield, Haruka and Michiru targeted it 
with their weapons. Their fingers tightened on the triggers....

	"Harry! Michelle! No!" Usagi cried. "You'll hit Sakura!"

	"Yes, we don't want that, do we?" Thratchen purred, lifting 
Hime-chan by her throat until her feet dangled above the 
pavement. The ninja choked, her hands flying up to claw feebly 
at Thratchen. The technodemon was careful, however, to keep the 
girl between it and the plasma-wielding Race soldiers.

	"What do you want, 'Kold?" Haruka grated out.

	Thratchen tsked. "Now, now, is that any way to speak to an 
old friend?"

	"You are not our friend!" Usagi exclaimed.

	"Be gone, foul abomination!" Rei exclaimed, holding aloft 
her cross.

	The rest of the party lifted their weapons to a ready 
stance. Umino noticed that they kept one eye on Usagi, waiting 
for some cue to attack. He breathed a sigh of relief. Half the 
time when he tried to pull a hostage situation on his players, 
they attacked before the bad guys finished gloating. Which 
usually went badly for the hostages.

	"Release our friend, Thratchen," Usagi commanded, looking 
very regal.

	"I want you and your band of stormers to lower your weapons 
first."

	"And why should we do something so stupid?" Haruka asked.

	"Because I have information you want, monkey."

	"Nothing that you can say would be of interest to us," 
Michiru said.

	"What are your terms for returning Sakura to us safely?" 
Usagi asked, speaking over Michiru.

	Thratchen lowered Hime-chan until her feet were once again 
touching the floor. "I am just serving as the messenger here. I 
took this foolish one," it said, shaking Hime-chan, "to make 
sure I survive passing this message along."

	"What message?" Usagi asked.

	Thratchen smiled slowly, its fangs glinting in the light. 
"It's from Alexandrite. He wishes you to know that he awaits 
your arrival in Orrorsh."

	"Are you Alexandrite's lackey now?" Haruka asked with a 
laugh. "Serving a 'monkey?'"

	Thratchen growled, its grip tightening on Hime-chan's 
throat. The ninja girl gave an involuntary whimper.

	"Stop! Harry, don't," Usagi said, waving the Race Soldier 
aside. "You have delivered your message, demon. Begone, and 
leave our friend."

	Thratchen slowly stepped back into the shadows, holding 
Hime-chan before it as a shield. Meanwhile, unseen by the party, 
one of its claws twitched. Wriggling like a serpent, it burrowed 
into the skin of its captive, swiftly disappearing from sight 
and leaving little sign of its passage.

	"Beware, stormers," the technodemon laughed, its gleaming 
fangs the only part of his face visible in the shadows. "I have 
seen many of your kind fall victim to Orrorsh. Remember that as 
you challenge the Gaunt Man and his lieutenants."

	With a mighty heave, Thratchen tossed Hime-chan at their 
feet. Almost immediately, Haruka and Michiru filled the air with 
plasma rounds. The fury of a star lashed through the shadows, 
but the technodemon was nowhere to be found.

	Usagi knelt by the ninja as the Race Soldiers cursed, "Are 
you all right, Sakura?" the elven princess asked.

	"Yeah, I think so.... Bastard took me by surprise."

	Michiru walked over and knelt beside them. "Tharkoldu are 
sneaky like that. Inattention can get you killed. Or worse." She 
produced a small, hand-held scanning device and began to run it 
over Hime-chan.

	"What's that for?" Hime-chan asked.

	"Scanning to see if he installed a slave chip. Don't move. 
I don't want to hurt you."

	"The scan is dangerous?" Usagi asked.

	"No, but if she moves, I'll assume she has a chip."

	"How will that hurt me?" Hime-chan asked, confused.

	Michiru shifted slightly to show the plasma pistol she was 
holding beside Hime-chan's head. "THAT'S how. Now be quiet while 
I do this."

	"Michelle!" Usagi protested, but Michiru ignored her.

	"No chip emissions, she's clean," she said at last, putting 
the scanner away.

	"How could you?" Usagi asked while helping the shaken ninja 
to her feet. "Sakura is your friend!"

	Mamoru stepped up. "We should continue this argument 
elsewhere, Princess. We are still too close to Tharkold 
territory and we have to find transportation to Orrorsh."

	"Shouldn't be too hard," Setsuna said. While the soldiers 
and Usagi had been having their face off, the rest of the party 
had been busy gathering their gear and getting ready to move 
out. "The local airport looks pretty busy."

	"We must be careful," Rei said. "We will be entering the 
heart of Hell if we face Alexandrite on his master's grounds."

	"And we still need to find a way to kill the bastard 
permanently," Makoto said.

	"I shoot 'im, he's dead," Setsuna said. "No problem."

	"It's not that simple," Rei said wearily. "You tried that, 
remember? He came back."

	"He looked dead enuff when I plugged 'im," Setsuna 
grumbled.

	"The Horrors of Orrorsh, even when they have a pleasing 
face, can only be permanently killed through their True Death," 
Makoto said. On seeing the looks her 'pleasing face' comment 
got, she blushed. "He looks like my old fiance."

	"Um, excuse me..." Umino said, but wasn't heard.

	"We don't have time to do all the research," Hotaru piped 
up. "He has too many of the Crystals of Power already. We can't 
leave them in his hands."

	"Ano...." Umino continued.

	"We should use every advantage the Lord sees fit to give 
us," Clark said.

	"I know his True Death," Umino said.

	Everyone turned toward him. "WHAT?"

	"I told you, this is my game. I know what Alexandrite's 
True Death is."

	"But if this is all some fantasy based on your game," Ami 
said, "how do you know that your rules still apply? Whoever is 
behind this could alter them as he sees fit."

	Umino shrugged. "I don't, but it's all I've got to offer. 
If I'm totally wrong, we're no worse off than if we hadn't tried 
in the first place."

	"So, what is his True Death?" Makoto asked. "Does it 
involve an occult ritual?"

	"Yes... in the final stages," Umino was quick to add as 
expressions of fear and worry crossed the Sailors faces. Except 
for Makoto, who actually rubbed her hands together in 
anticipation. "I designed Alexandrite as the Master of the 
Gospog. He oversees their production and distribution for the 
Gaunt Man."

	Gospog were one of the ubiquitous weapons of the High 
Lords, supplied by the Gaunt Man to his allies. The Gospog were 
half-plant/half-undead creations used as shock troops by the 
invaders. The High Lords would take the bodies of those killed 
by their troops and plant them in fields, 10,000 to a field. A 
Gospog seed would be planted with them. After a time, 10,000 
first-generation Gospog would arise, shambling, plant-like 
undead. Then they would plant 1,000 corpses with Gospog seeds, 
and get 1,000 second-generation Gospog. These new Gospog would 
be tougher and stronger than the first generation, and also 
could have their appearance and powers tailored by the High 
Lords to fit their personal reality. This process continued 
until one fifth-generation Gospog was produced by the fields. 
Then it could begin all over again.

	"Anyway, I decided that he could only be truly killed by 
hrockt spear, a living weapon of the Edeinos, enchanted by an 
occult ritual that used pieces of a first-generation Gospog from 
each of the realms touching Earth."

	"Is that all?" Haruka snorted. "We'd have to fly all over 
the globe to get that!"

	"It's all I've got to offer on Alexandrite," Umino 
repeated. "However, I do also have a lot of knowledge of people 
who might help us with our tasks."

	"You're asking us to take a lot on faith, boy," Haruka 
sneered. "You just conveniently show up with this cock-and-bull 
story, with no proof to show us, and then you trot out this plan 
that could be leading us into a death trap?" She turned to the 
rest of the party. "I say we leave him here to rot."

	"I agree," Michiru chimed in.

	"Let's leave 'im," Setsuna said.

	Usagi turned to face the rest of the gathered Storm 
Knights. "I think that he is telling the truth. What about the 
rest of you?"

	Naru walked over to Umino. "I believe in him," she said, 
dropping an arm on his shoulder. Then she jumped away slightly, 
blushing.

	Mamoru walked over to stand next to Usagi. "I am sworn to 
your service, Princess. I will abide by your decision."

	"Count me in," Makoto was quick to agree, coming over to 
stand by Usagi. Umino wasn't sure, but he thought the prospect 
of an occult ritual was what was motivating Makoto.

	"I'm with you, sister," Hotaru said.

	"His story is too fantastic to believe," Ami said, moving 
over to stand with the Outers.

	"I'm afraid that I cannot believe that my faith, that 
everything I believe in, is a lie," Rei added, joining her.

	Urawa looked at Ami for a long moment before moving to 
stand next to Usagi. "I believe him." Ami was shocked at his 
choice, then looked away.

	"There's no profit in running all over the world when we 
know where our enemy is," Hime-chan said, standing by the 
Outers, though she stood well away from Haruka and Michiru.

	Minako glanced between the two groups in obvious 
indecision. Finally, she turned to Setsuna. "If you win, do we 
get to knock Alexandrite's teeth in right away?" At Setsuna's 
nod, she jumped for joy. "Yippy Skippy! I'm in!"

	Steven looked between the two groups, his reptilian neck 
swerving from side to side, rather than rotating at the base of 
the skull like a human would. Finally, he stepped over to 
Usagi's group. "This maker of Dead things must be destroyed 
forever. He is an abomination in the eyes of Lanala."

	This left Clark. The Catholic Priest looked torn and not 
very pleased that the deciding vote had come down to him. "I 
don't know," he said. "Both sides make very good arguments."

	"Get wit' it and choose already!" Setsuna yelled.

	Clark turned to Umino. "Can you offer any proof? Any proof 
at all?"

	Umino considered it then shook his head. "I could talk 
until I'm blue in the face about what I know about this world, 
but Har-Harry could always claim I'm leading you into a trap... 
or whomever set this place up could have made changes so my 
knowledge is useless. I could talk about your character 
histories, but that would just prove that I have very good 
intelligence on you. I can't even promise that the True Death I 
know will work on this Alexandrite. I'm telling the truth, 
however," he ended defiantly.

	Clark nodded. Finally, he took a step toward Usagi's group. 
"Some things," he said as he took his place next to her, "just 
have to be taken on faith."

	Haruka spat on the ground in disgust. "It's a trap, I tell 
you. We'll all regret this."

	"You don't have to come, Harry, if you really think it's 
unwise. None of you have to," Usagi said gently.

	For a long moment, the Race soldier seemed torn, but in the 
end she shrugged. "No. We're a unit." A cocky grin broke out on 
her face, and for the first time she really looked like the 
Haruka Umino knew. "Besides, if I'm not along to pull your fat 
out of the fire, I can't say 'I told you so.'"

	"There was a Gospog field two kilometers to the southwest," 
Michiru said, pulling out an electronic map.

	"Then let's go!" Usagi cheered.

*****

	The waves crashed against the beach in their endless 
rhythm. Sitting there, an old man, with skin as black and 
weathered as ancient obsidian, watched their eternal motion with 
a satisfied air. He was clad only in a loincloth, with a series 
of pouches hanging from it. He reached into one pouch and pulled 
out a rope with seven knots in it. Running his fingers over each 
knot in turn, he grunted in satisfaction. Then he pulled out 
another rope, this one with fourteen knots and shook his head.

	"They've made a right mess of it," Djilyangilyup commented 
in his Australian accent.

*****

	Umino held his head between his hands and tried to just 
concentrate on breathing. It was all he felt qualified for at 
the moment.

	Sitting around him in the cabin of the small plane they had 
rented in LA, the rest of the group seemed to feel the same way. 
Haruka and Michiru were fast asleep, soot and Gospog gore still 
staining their armor. Setsuna was curled up in the back with her 
fedora slung low over her face, so Umino couldn't tell if she 
was asleep or not. Everyone else seemed to just be sitting and 
staring at the floor or ceiling, as shell-shocked as he was. 
Steven was the only exception, as he was currently engrossed in 
playing with a Game Boy.

	The raid on the Gospog field had been tough. Technodemons 
and their slaves had been guarding it. Haruka and Michiru had 
insisted on a smash-and-grab raid and, being the Tharkold 
natives, their plan had been followed.

	It had been so simple when this had just been rolling dice 
and making marks on paper.

	"Are you all right, Umino?"

	He looked up at Naru. He was not sure, but he thought there 
was a little of Naru's love for him in Hatsheput's heavily 
kohled eyes.

	"I don't know," he admitted.

	"It is always difficult to see violent death for the first 
time," she said quietly. "I know."

	Umino groped for the words to describe how he felt. "It 
just--It still didn't feel real, to me, until we were there at 
the Gospog field...."

	Naru took his hand. "Tharkold is a brutal reality." She 
glanced at the sleeping Race soldiers. "I thought Pharaoh 
Mobius's regime was brutal, but I cannot imagine what they went 
through, growing up in that world."

	"It's a hard place," he said hesitantly. "They've had to 
become hard to survive it." As she looked at him, he quickly 
backpedaled. "I've never seen it, but I know what it's supposed 
to be like, from my game."

	"I thought you handled yourself quite well."

	"I was too scared to run," he said bitterly.

	She shook her head. "When that monster nearly sliced Darien 
in half, you ran up there with Quinina and dragged him to 
safety. That took courage."

	"No," he said. "What you did, standing up to that hail of 
gunfire to cast that spell. THAT took courage. What I did... it 
was because I was ashamed that I wasn't pulling my own weight."

	"If we're quite finished with the mutual admiration 
society," came a sarcastic voice, "perhaps you can tell me a 
little bit more about our next stop?"

	Umino and Naru started. Hime-chan was standing before them, 
her face masked by the uniform of her trade. Only her eyes 
showed and they were cold and calculating.

	"I-I'm sorry?" Umino stammered.

	"You said that you knew of people who could help us," the 
ninja said. "Start talking."

	Umino racked his brain, wishing for the hundredth time that 
he had his game notes before him. "Um, we're heading for the 
Western Land, in the realm of Baruk Kaah," he said, stalling for 
time as he tried to remember. "There's a Gospog field in close 
proximity to a resistance community in the state of Washington. 
The Edeinos built the field on the remains of the Microsoft 
Corporate Headquarters. Barely 20 miles away, there is a 
resistance cell based around the headquarters of a gaming 
company called, um, Sorcerers of the Sea or something. We can 
land there and get help before heading into the jungle."

	Hime-chan laughed derisively. "Twenty miles is a long way 
in the Living Land, game boy. Better pray you don't become dino 
food." With that, she padded away. Umino shuddered.

	"She scares me too, sometimes," Naru said. "No one is very 
close to her. She surrounds herself with secrets." She cocked 
her head curiously at him. "Is she like that in your world?"

	"No. She's very bright and cheerful there. I don't know why 
she's here anyway. She wasn't playing the game. Neither was, er, 
him," he said, pointing at Clark.

	"Father Magnus?" Naru asked. "He and Sakura just joined our 
group recently, in LA. He was running a mission there for the 
refugees of the war, and the Kanawa Corporation wanted the land 
it was on. They hired Sakura to kill him, but she couldn't do 
it. So Kanawa decided to kill them both. They were on the run 
together when we found them." She looked at the ninja and the 
priest. "If they weren't playing your game, why are they here?"

	"I think because they were allies of ours, in the fight 
against whichever enemy trapped us all here," he said. "They 
didn't have a character to play, so something was made up for 
them."

	Naru shook her head. "I hope you understand this as well as 
you seem to," she said. "It confuses me." She placed her head on 
his shoulder and drifted off to sleep.

	"I hope so too," he whispered.

*****

	Alexandrite and the Gaunt Man stood before the mirror named 
Wicked, which could show anyplace they wished to observe on the 
globe. The General made a point to see if he could arrange 
something similar when he returned to the Dark Kingdom. It was 
handy for spying on one's enemies.

	Of course, he thought with a shrug, this mirror only works 
because the 'rules' of this subspace pocket says it does.

	Subspace was, put simply, another dimension apart from the 
"real" world. That was a crude definition, however. Subspace 
could, and did, intrude on space and time in many ways. However, 
it was a much more "fluid" reality, capable of being shaped by a 
strong enough will or imagination, or by powerful magic and 
science. 

	It also touched upon the world of dreams.

	It was that link that enabled Alexandrite to catch the 
Senshi. Their imaginary game used the power of dreams. It had 
already pulled them slightly into the grasp of another reality. 
All he had to do was give that other reality a "push" and a 
direction. The Senshi hadn't even noticed as their reality 
changed around them, drawing them out of the "real" world and 
into one of his making.

	Still, it never would have worked without the mind of that 
frail human. What had the spy-youma called him? The "Game Lord?" 
No matter. It was his imagination that had first ensnared the 
minds of the Senshi, so it was necessary for that imagination to 
serve as a bridge between the worlds.

	Wicked now showed the Game Lord was accompanying the 
transformed Senshi in a metal flying vehicle, he noted. He was 
surprised. He had thought that the puny human would have been 
killed relatively quickly by this world at war. But in the end 
it worked to his advantage. As long as the Game Lord lived, he 
could keep drawing on his imagination to fill in any gaps in his 
world. Between that and the youma posing as the High Lords, it 
should be easy to keep the Senshi from breaking free of their 
shared delusion. He turned away to send a message the youma 
acting as Baruk Kaah. The Senshi would have a suitable welcoming 
at their next destination.

	As he left, the Gaunt Man turned to stare into the depths 
of Wicked. At an unspoken command, it focused in on the ninja-
girl in the plane. His cadaverous lips stretched in a thin smile 
as he observed her scratching idly at her neck.

*****

	The plane set down with a few bumps on the small, nearly 
overgrown runway. Surrounded on all sides by thick jungle and 
covered by a thick white mist that even the current drizzle 
couldn't wash away, it was a minor miracle that the plane had 
found the runway at all.

	But miracles were the stock-in-trade of the Living Land, 
after all.

	The Living Land was a realm of contradictions. It embraced 
both primitive savagery and rich spirituality. The fierce 
Edeinos tribes worshipped their goddess Lanala, the embodiment 
of Life, by bringing death to those who did not recognize her. 
The Edeinos saw the essence of life in experiencing sensations. 
They placed no distinction on the sensations. Pain and pleasure 
were equally valued. It was the strength of the sensation that 
they valued, for they believed that Lanala lived and felt things 
through them. Because Lanala was the embodiment of Life, her 
worshippers, known as Jakatts, abhorred anything that was not 
alive. Even their weapons were still living plants known as 
Hrockt spears, kept alive by their miracles of faith.

	Non-Jakatts, however, were considered Dead things. To the 
Jakatts, the best thing they could do for those who did not 
choose to worship life was to give them the sensation of Death. 
Ripping the still-beating heart of the unbeliever from his body 
usually did the trick.

	Where the Living Land ruled, thick jungle and the Deep Mist 
covered the land. Dinosaur-like creatures roamed freely, adding 
to the dangers of the Jakatts.

	Still, the fight against the High Lords continued, even in 
such a setting. Resistance communities sprung up, usually around 
hardpoints, or areas that retained their own reality in the face 
of the invaders. Dedicated men and women, who, for one reason or 
another would not run away any longer, fought the tribes of 
Baruk Kaah, the High Lord of the Living Land.

	It was at one such resistance community that the party of 
Storm Knights had come. 

	As they stepped out of the plane, one of the locals ran up. 
Dressed in camouflage pants and a ratty T-shirt, he didn't seem 
like the sort to lead a resistance community, until one saw the 
age-old hardness in his eyes.

	"I'm Jeremy Wagner," he said. "Come on inside and we'll 
talk." He led them over to one of the buildings. "Your radio 
message was pretty short. I'm not sure what we can do for you."

	Umino tried to keep his head down as they walked, hoping to 
keep the drizzle off his glasses. He wasn't certain, but he was 
sure that Washington wasn't supposed to be this hot and humid. 
An effect of the Living Land, he supposed. Setsuna didn't seem 
too comfortable, either, with her trench coat, but the Mystery 
Woman refused to take it off. Style took precedence over 
practicality. He was careful not to look over at Naru or Ami, 
whose skimpy costumes were certainly much more comfortable in 
this heat but which the humidity plastered them to their skin. 
Instead, Umino cast an envious glance over at Steven, who seemed 
positively overjoyed to be in his character's home reality 
again.

	Mamoru, Haruka, and Michiru, however, seemed to be having a 
worse time of it than he was. As soon as they had descended into 
the Deep Mist, their cybernetics had started to give them 
problems. The primitive reality of the Living Land would not 
support such high-tech gadgets and while Storm Knights carried 
their own realities with them, in some areas that was harder to 
do than in others. Still, they bore their discomfort with the 
weary air of long-time campaigners, plus an occasional muttered 
curse from Haruka.

	Wagner took them into a small conference room. 
Topographical maps covered the walls, all marked with notes as 
to Resistance and Jakatt sites. One place was circled in red and 
had a lot of writing around it.

	"Mr. Wagner," Usagi began as they sat down. "We need a 
guide who can direct us to the Gospog field."

	"We're prepared to pay you handsomely for the service," 
Hime-chan spoke up.

	Wagner scratched his beard. "I'm not sure how you can. 
Money's not worth much around here."

	"We're striking a blow for freedom and justice!" Minako 
exclaimed. "Isn't that worthwhile for itself?"

	Wagner rolled his eyes. "She's from the Nile, isn't she?"

	There were nods all around the table.

	"Look," he said, "what we need is food, ammo, medical 
supplies. That sort of thing. Now, you didn't bring a lot with 
you in that small plane, so I'm not sure what you can offer to 
make it worth our while to help you. We have our own problems."

	"We have many skills individually," Ami spoke up. "I am a 
healer. Several of us are mechanically inclined and can repair 
things. We're willing to pay our way."

	Wagner sighed. "I think it's foolish, you wanting to go to 
the Gospog field, but far be it from me to refuse any help. 
Let's get you settled in."

*****

	Umino wiped the sweat from his brow. Having relatively few 
skills himself, he had been put to work watching the community's 
children. It was tough keeping up with the little rugrats.

	The others had all quickly found their own niches to fill 
in the beleaguered community. Ami was assisting their doctor 
with the sick and injured. Minako was serving as a messenger, 
flying between patrols around the camp. Usagi used her magic to 
help with the growing of crops and livestock. Mamoru, Haruka, 
and Michiru had been put to work in the motor pool, repairing 
the many vehicles the community needed. Hotaru, Setsuna, and 
Hime-chan were busy offering combat and stealth training to the 
resistance members, while Steven taught them lore about the 
Living Land and how to survive in it. Naru was using her 
Egyptian Engineering skills to build a new stockade wall around 
the camp, with Urawa helping her to psychically put things in 
place. Clark was ministering to the faithful, offering mass and 
hearing confessions.

	And that left him, watching the rugrats.

	"'mino, tell us a story!" one little girl lisped.

	"A story! A story!" the rest chorused.

	"OK, OK," he said, holding up his hands placatingly. "A 
story, huh? Well, let me see." He sat down, motioning the 
children to sit around him. They scrambled to get a good seat. 
"I know. Once upon a time, there was a mighty civilization on 
the Moon..."

	And the seed of hope was born again in the hearts of the 
children, despite all the High Lords could do.

*****

	The tree branch slapped Umino in the face, making him 
groan. It seemed that the Land hated him with a passion. He was 
regretting more and more his decision to go along on this trip. 
Their guide, a taciturn young girl named Liz, also seemed to 
regret it.

	After they had helped the resistance community out for a 
few days, Wagner had introduced them to Liz. Clad in dark camos 
and with short black hair and circles under her eyes, she had 
seemed to Umino like a poster child for Goth commandos. But she 
carried herself with an air of absolute assurance, making as 
little sound as Hime-chan did and always seeming to know where 
she was going.

	Unfortunately, it seemed she had little patience for those 
who did not, and Umino definitely fell into that category. He 
clutched his glasses to his face. It was his fifth pair since 
they left the resistance community. The Living Land was always 
trying to separate people from "Dead" things. Every time they 
stopped for a break, it seemed one or more incidental items had 
gone missing. This included his glasses, as crazy as it might 
sound. Usagi had taken pity on him, however, and whipped up a 
little conjuration spell to make new ones for him. Still, it had 
earned him more than one scornful look from some members of the 
party.

	As he stumbled along, he felt Naru's supporting hand touch 
his arm and he smiled. Egyptian priestess or no, he could tell 
she still cared about him, even if she didn't remember their 
relationship. Some things, even magic couldn't change, and he 
was glad of it.

	They came up over a ridge and Liz signaled them to stop. 
"There," she said, as sparing with words as ever.

	Before them, in a small valley, lay the almost 
unrecognizable remains of a complex of buildings. The glass and 
wood had long since been smashed or torn away, leaving only the 
stone and steel skeleton of a once mighty corporation. The 
grounds were torn up and barren, populated only by shambling 
creatures that deposited dead bodies into shallow graves while 
Edeinos said obscene prayers over them and planted seeds in the 
cadavers. The Gospog field.

	A sign sat before it all, still proudly asking, "Where do 
you want to go today?"

*****

	With a thump, the body of a middle-aged woman fell into the 
shallow grave. The head Gotak, a priest of the Dead among the 
Jakatts, let out a shrill cry to the heavens, praising Lanala 
for letting this Dead person live again as a Gospog.

	The Gotak was human, a rare privilege for a convert. Most 
Gotaks were Edeinos, favored servants of Baruk Kaah. This 
convert's passion for Lanala and his skill with Dead things had 
given him a special treatment.

	As the Gotak placed the Gospog seed in to the corpse, he 
marveled at the changes Lanala had wrought for him. The details 
of his life before the war were fuzzy. He no longer understood 
why he had once surrounded himself with Dead things, but he knew 
that he had been considered powerful and important, feared by 
his enemies. How pitiful that power was, he thought, compared to 
the glory of Lanala. How could his pre-war successes ever 
compare to the sensations of ripping a Dead person's heart out 
and knowing that they Lived at last, offering sensations to 
Lanala.

	"Gotak!"

	He turned to face the Edeinos calling him.

	The lizardman bowed before him, properly humble even while 
struggling to hide his pity for the priest. How horrible it was 
for him to have to handle Dead things, despite the necessity. 
The Edeinos gave thanks to Lanala that he was not one of the 
Gotaks.

	"Yes?" the Gotak asked.

	"Gotak, the Saar is coming! His scouts have just arrived."

	"Praise to Lanala! The Saar, Baruk Kaah himself, here to 
see our progress!" The Gotak turned to his acolytes, an Edeinos 
and a Stalenger, a being from another realm that resembled a 
giant, flying, translucent starfish. "Go! Gather the Gospog so 
the Saar can see our progress!"

*****

	"Sumptin's got their panties in a twist," Setsuna 
commented, lowering her binoculars.

	The Storm Knights were currently lying low behind a small 
ridge while a few of them observed the Gospog field.

	Haruka nodded, her cybernetically enhanced sight letting 
her easily see the Jakatts rushing around the field. "A new 
bunch showed up over there," she said, pointing to the far end 
of the field.

	Setsuna shook her head. "Mist's too thick to see."

	"Ah, right, not every one has Infrared scanners built into 
their optics. I forget," Haruka said with a smirk.

	"You just keep sayin' that," Setsuna rejoined, "and 
remember how much good all dat fancy-shmancy gear did you in 
Thebes."

	The Race soldier grimaced remembering how the reality of 
the Nile Empire had overpowered her there, leaving her 
cybernetics so much useless junk.

	"I count about 50 lizards with about 10 of those flying 
starfish," Michiru said, never taking her eyes off the field 
while her comrades argued. "Hard to tell with the Gospog. They 
don't give off heat."

	"Lanala has gifted me to see through the Deep Mist," Steven 
said. "There are about 100 of them. A small crop."

	"Wagner said that this field had a lot of problems with 
their Gospog. Seems they fall apart after a few days," Haruka 
added.

	"Over 150 of 'em. Not good," Setsuna said.

	The four Storm Knights sneaked back down the ridge to the 
rest of their party and reported what they saw.

	"It sounds too risky," Clark said. "We should wait."

	"We can't wait! We need to get the Crystals of Power!" 
Hotaru said.

	Usagi laid a calming hand on her 'sister,' while turning 
toward Mamoru. "What do you think, Darien?"

	Mamoru looked pensive for a moment. "We need some piece of 
a Gospog to finish this ritual. Perhaps we can sneak in and take 
what we need?"

	"Where's the fun in that?" Haruka grumbled.

	"I can try to get in and get what we need," Hime-chan said, 
"but it'll be dangerous with all of them running around."

	"Maybe we can create a diversion?" Makoto asked.

	"Now you're talking!" Minako said happily.

*****

	The Gotak knelt as Baruk Kaah entered the fields. Here was 
the Saar, the highest of high priests for Lanala. The closest 
translation for the term in fact would be "Lanala's Lover." 
Others may call Kaah a "High Lord", but to the Jakatts, he would 
always be their Saar.

	"We are all honored by your presence, O Saar," the Gotak 
said, keeping his head bowed.

	Kaah barely acknowledged him, looking nervously around the 
field. "I have been told that stormers intend to attack this 
field," he said at last, sounding very uncomfortable. In fact, 
his voice almost seemed to squeak in fear.

	The Gotak dismissed that notion. The Saar knew no fear!

	Which left him a little stunned when his mighty Saar dove 
for cover as explosions began to tear up the far side of the 
field.

*****

	Haruka grinned as she fired another round of plasma into 
the shambling Gospog. Her rounds shot forward, following her 
designator. When they hit their target, a tiny fusion reaction 
would be created, making a very, very large boom. She loved the 
smell of plasma in the morning!

	Michiru was by her side, coolly sighting on any large clump 
of Gospog or Jakatts before blowing them to bits with her rocket 
launcher. It took time to reload, but the enemy seemed unwilling 
to close in while she reloaded. What enemy wasn't lying on the 
ground in pieces, that is.

	Minako swooped by overhead, yelling like a banshee and 
dropping Molotov cocktails on anything she could hit. Which 
wasn't much, considering her aim. Still, the exploding glass and 
balls of flame kept the Jakatts busy.

	Only a few Gospog made it to their position, the undead 
mounds of rotting flesh and plants knew no fear or survival 
instinct. It made no difference, for Mamoru was there, his 
electrosword blazing as it sliced them into pieces. Steven stood 
by him, his living hrockt spear impaling the monstrosities as he 
called upon Lanala to destroy these Dead things.

	"If we wanted Gospog pieces," Haruka shouted, "we have more 
than enough here!"

	"NOW you think of that?" Michiru yelled back.

*****

	Far away from the noise and fire, the rest of the Storm 
Knights carefully snuck toward the Gospog field.

	In and out was the plan. Grab some Gospog material and run 
for it.

	Like most plans, however, it did not survive contact with 
the enemy.

	Hime-chan was leading the group. Her ninjutsu helped her 
spot any remaining guards and take them out swiftly and 
silently. Not that there were many. Most of the Jakatts had 
rushed toward the explosions, intent on experiencing the new 
sensations they offered. Those few who stayed experienced one 
very final sensation for their devotion to duty.

	The ninja resisted the urge to scratch her neck as she 
approached the field. She hoped that monster Thratchen hadn't 
gotten any demon germs in the small cut his claws had made.

	Another guard appeared in the Mist. This one was human, a 
convert to the Jakatt religion. It made no difference to her. As 
she had been trained, she snuck up on him, quieter than a mouse. 
Her razor-garrote had his throat sliced open before he even knew 
she was there.

	She stared down at the blood dripping off the wire. It 
seemed impossibly red and... frightening. She tried to shake off 
the feeling. She had killed men before in her training as a 
corporate ninja. This was just another target. That was all.

	She was about to signal the others to come in when several 
figures loomed out of the Mist.

*****

	Corbite, the youma assigned to impersonate Kaah, decided 
that he had had enough of this. He was a soldier, yes, but 
setting him against ALL the Senshi with only some incompetent 
subspace phantoms as allies was ridiculous! Most of his 
"followers" didn't have the attention span of a gnat! He had 
made his appearance, thrown his forces, laughable as they might 
be, against the foe, and now it was time to escape. With any 
luck, the Senshi would kill Alexandrite as they had Pyroxenite 
and he would be assigned to a sane... er, saner general.

	Gathering his most loyal Edeinos, the High Lord made a 
break for the far end of the field. They were almost into the 
jungle when he suddenly noticed a dark-clad figure standing over 
the body of a Jakatt. The truth of the very noisy battle at the 
far end of the field swept through his mind. A diversion!

	A sibilant sigh escaped his Edeinos beak. There was no help 
for it now. "The Stormers!" he cried, pointing a claw at them. 
"Attack, my warriors! For Lanala!"

	With a cry of joy, the fanatical warriors swept down upon 
the party.

*****

	With one hand holding his glasses to his face, Umino tried 
to peer through the Mist and the occasional drizzle of rain. It 
was odd, he thought, to see a jungle made of coniferous trees, 
but the Living Land itself was odd.

	"There's the signal," Hotaru said, her keen elven eyes 
seeing Hime-chan wave to them. The group of Storm Knights 
quickly stood up and hurried towards the ninja.

	Umino couldn't help but glance at Hotaru, thinking 
something was wrong with her. Luthien, her character, had always 
been a cheerful, slightly bratty, very energetic young 
sorceress. Now she was a taciturn, almost brooding elven monk. 
Why would she change, he thought, when everyone else was pretty 
much the same as their characters?

	He didn't have long to think about, however, as Naru gave 
him a gentle shrug to push him along. They ran over to the edge 
of the field, looking for a plot that had a soon to be "born" 
Gospog.

	And then a dozen Edeinos swarmed on them, screaming their 
praises to Lanala.

	Umino did the first thing he could think of when he saw the 
enraged lizard man charging him with a spear. He ducked. Or 
rather, he tried to. It was actually more of a failed tuck and 
roll maneuver with a bit of a jumping jack thrown in. Whatever 
it was, it took the warrior completely by surprise and he 
tripped over the flailing boy and went headlong into a rock 
pile.

	Umino scrambled to his feet, adrenaline pumping. He was 
scared, but in a way this was almost like being home again. He 
was getting used to being chased by monsters. Seeing the Edeinos 
sprawled on the ground, he grabbed for its spear, intending to 
throw it away so it couldn't be used against him. The Edeinos 
grabbed it at the same time, still intent on skewering this puny 
human. They found themselves in a tug-of-war over the still-
living weapon.

*****

	Corbite couldn't believe how badly things had turned out. 
It seemed to him that this world was designed to make WHOEVER 
was Kaah miserable. All he wanted to do was get out of this with 
his skin intact, but nothing was going right. First the Senshi 
arrive, and now he was in hand-to-hand combat with then. Well, 
his warriors were. He was hanging back, hoping to find an 
opportunity to escape.

	He thought he could slip off, but he didn't want to have to 
report complete failure to Alexandrite. That was when he saw the 
human who ran the Senshi's game, engaged with one of his 
warriors. Perfect. This was the one that had insulted the 
general, and he was just a human. He could kill him and be able 
to show something for this debacle. Raising his own spear, he 
stalked over to them.

*****

	Hotaru twirled her staff in a blindingly fast pattern that 
confused and disoriented her opponents, three Edeinos. They 
tried to spear her, but it seemed like her staff had become an 
impenetrable wall of iron, smashing their weapons aside. Then, 
when they were off balance and their weapons out of line, the 
staff swung in toward them.

	Hotaru spun around, staff held before her as the warriors 
all fell to the ground with a loud thump, out cold. With a small 
smile, she looked for another enemy. Then she saw Umino, 
struggling with an Edeinos. Concerned for his safety, she sprang 
into action, leaping high in the air.

*****

	Corbite raised his spear, ready to plunge it into the back 
of the still unsuspecting human. He praised Metallia for this 
bit of good luck. Then two things happened before he had the 
chance to capitalize on it.

	First, a figure leapt over the pile of rocks and caved his 
warrior's head in with a staff. The dead Edeinos's grasp on his 
spear loosened, letting the human win their tug-of-war.

	Second, the contested spear slid back into his chest as the 
human stumbled back in surprise at his unexpected victory. 
Corbite dropped his own spear from suddenly nerveless hands. 
This couldn't be, he thought as darkness swam before his vision. 
He was supposed to be the greatest warrior of the Living Land. 
He had been given all sorts of powers by virtue of being the 
"High Lord" while in this world. And now a simple spear wielded 
by an unaware schoolboy had finished him.

	Corbite left this world cursing the name of Baruk Kaah.

*****

	Back in Illmound Keep, Alexandrite cursed at what Wicked 
showed him. That fool Corbite had failed to stop the Senshi and 
now they seemed to be intent on gathering something from the 
Living Land Gospog field.

	They were up to something. He had expected them to chase 
after him immediately after getting his message. Instead, they 
had gone in a totally different direction. He didn't like it.

	He took a deep breath and calmed himself. Whatever they 
were planning, it wouldn't work. All they were doing was giving 
him more time to prepare his defenses.

	"Watch them!" he ordered the Gaunt Man construct, which 
obediently stood before Wicked. Alexandrite walked off without 
another thought.

	The Gaunt Man stood there for a moment, then spoke. "Show 
me Parok," he said. In a moment, a red-skinned, winged creature, 
the leader of the Gaunt Man's Ravagons, his elite hunters, 
appeared.

	"What do you wish, Sallsboratza?" the hunter asked 
respectfully. To the Ravagons, the Gaunt Man was their Sixth 
Irishantza or prophet of their religion. They followed him with 
a fanatic's fervor.

	It was all, of course, a lie. The Gaunt Man had wanted the 
Dark Hunters to serve him, so he had taken on the role of 
Sallsboratza to gain their cooperation.

	"I have a task for your people, my hunter," the Gaunt Man 
said. With a gesture, he had Wicked send Parok an image of 
Umino. "This is your prey."

	Parok bowed his head in submission.

*****

	Usagi scraped another piece of green goo into a container 
with a disgusted look. "Is that enough?" she whined.

	"Um, that should be fine," Umino said, taking it from her. 
He stowed the container in a backpack while the Aylish Princess 
tried to clean the green stains off her dress.

	"We have to consider what we're going to do next, 
Princess," Mamoru said, holding his sword point-down in front of 
him, almost leaning on it as his cybernetics had again decided 
to go on the fritz.

	After the death of Baruk Kaah, the Jakatts had been thrown 
into disarray and run off, screaming at the top of their lungs. 
One, a skinny human, had actually gone into a coma and was lying 
insensate on the ground, muttering, "GPF... GPF..." over and 
over.

	"We need to cover more ground, quickly," Clark added.

	"We can't let Alexandrite use the Crystals of Power," 
Hotaru chimed in. "Their power is too great for evil to use."

	"So, what do we do?" Usagi asked.

	"I say we split up," Haruka said. "We have five realms to 
cover and sixteen people, if you count the geek," she said, 
pointing at Umino. "We save Orrorsh for last and split into four 
teams to take care of the rest."

	Usagi frowned. "I don't know... that could be dangerous."

	"You know what they say," Minako chirped. "Divide and 
conquer!"

	"That's not what that means, Stinger," Makoto said with a 
groan.

*****

	The invaders of Core Earth had planned their conquests with 
care, aiming for those areas that would resonate with the 
invading realities... or where the natives would have the most 
trouble in fighting them.

	First, the Gaunt Man had invaded Indonesia, filling its 
jungles and cities with the dark, Victorian-age horror of his 
realm of Orrorsh.

	Second, the Living Land's primitive spirituality had swept 
over the East Coast of the United States, quickly plunging the 
most technologically advanced country in the world into a war 
fought with spears and rocks.

	Tharkold had tried next, but Russian psychics had thwarted 
its attack. The Rodina had not become a war-torn land of demons 
and technology, but only by the barest of margins. It had been 
years before Tharkold could muster the resources to try again in 
Los Angeles.

	The rest came swiftly. The reborn Pharaoh Mobius had 
invaded, his land of pulp heroes and weird science standing 
side-by-side with the ancient glories of Egypt.

	In Britain, the magical world of Aysle had come, its 
dwarves, giants, and wizards fitting in well with the ancient 
myths of the land.

	In France, the CyberPope of Avignon, Jean Malraux, swept 
his followers into a frenzy of medieval fanaticism and high tech 
cyberware.

	And in the subtlest attack of all, the Reality Raider known 
as 3327 staged a corporate takeover of Japan, calling himself 
Ryuichi Kanawa. With hardly anyone noticing, Japan became a 
shadow nation of intrigue and corporate backstabbing.

	Against these myriad forces, only the Storm Knights stood.

*****

	Heathrow Airport had seen, well, saner days.

	Nigel Thomas considered himself an ordinary man. Perhaps a 
trifle on the anal retentive side, perhaps a little prone to 
over-working himself, but these were good qualities in an air-
traffic controller.

	His coworkers had considered him a little off. That reason 
was as good as any to explain why he remained at Heathrow.

	Every morning he got up in his little cottage just outside 
of the airport. He shaved with a straight razor, just as he had 
for the last 30 years, ever since his father had taught him, 
getting up extra early so he could heat the water for it. He 
dressed in his usual tweed suit, carefully running the lint 
brush over it (dry-cleaning was hard to find now), and tied his 
natty bow tie with casual efficiency. Then he stepped outside 
his cottage, locked the door, and rode his bicycle to the 
airport. He had followed this routine for years and wasn't going 
to let anything change it. Especially not something as simple as 
a war for reality.

	When he was a child, his father had told him about the 
Blitz and how people had struggled to continue with their lives 
while the Nazi bombs had fallen. That was what being an 
Englishman was all about, in the end. Perseverance, integrity, 
duty, and honor. In his own way, Nigel epitomized those traits.

	"Morning, Mr. Thomas," he was greeted at the terminal by 
Delg Ironthane.

	"Good morning, Delg," Nigel said. "How goes your plane?"

	Delg, a curious figure with greasy mechanic's overalls, 
numerous tools, and a battleaxe, grinned, his teeth a startling 
contrast with his coarse black beard. He was a dwarf from Aysle 
and, like most of his kind, had an insatiable curiosity for 
technology.

	"It's going well, Mr. Thomas. I think I'll have the engine 
back together this afternoon. Then it's just a matter of 
reattaching the wings, repairing the fuel lines, putting the 
tail assembly in place--"

	Nigel held up a hand to forestall the step-by-step 
description of how to put a plane back together. He was only 
concerned with take-offs and landings. How the things worked was 
of no importance to him. "Yes, well, it sounds like you're on 
the right track. See you at tea?"

	"Right you are, Mr. Thomas," Delg replied cheerily.

	Nigel then climbed the stairs of the air traffic control 
tower, remembering wistfully the days when the elevator was 
working. It was good exercise, he reminded himself, just like he 
did when he rode his bike instead of a car, or washed his 
clothes by hand in a tub, or chopped wood for his fireplace. 

	Finally, he reached the control room and noticed that Delg 
had thoughtfully refilled the kerosene generator they had 
installed. A few pulls of the cord and it started up with a loud 
bang. He'd have to have Delg take a look at that, he thought, as 
he sat before the ham radio set he had gotten from his old 
attic. Another day on the job, he thought contentedly.

	"This is Heathrow Airport reporting that we are now on the 
air," he said in his best BBC announcer voice. "All flights, 
please be advised that there is a severe weather condition over 
the Channel," he continued though the Channel Storm was nothing 
new. When the Possibility Raiders had arrived, fierce storms had 
sprung up around their realms, representing the battle for 
dominance between the home and invading realities. The English 
Channel was especially bad, for it was a narrow strip of Core 
Earth reality sandwiched between Aysle in Britain and 
CyberFrance on the Continent.

	Nigel continued, rattling off what facts he had gathered 
from his weather gear: a thermometer, a windsock, and a 
barometer, and then settled back to enjoy a cuppa from his 
thermos.

	"Heathrow Airport, this is Flight Sierra-Echo-Alpha-One-
One-Three-Eight, requesting permission to land."

	Nigel raised an eyebrow. Early flight, he thought, and not 
on his schedule. The first flight of the day wasn't due until 
noon, the usual aid supplies for the government and such from 
NATO. Brusque fellows, the military, but they were glad of any 
runway that was in reasonable shape. Delg and his clan might not 
be good at building airplanes, but they were wizards with stone 
and concrete. Quite literally wizards, actually, in some cases.

	"Roger, SEA1138," Nigel said. "You are cleared on Runway 
12. Do you copy, over?"

	"Much obliged, Heathrow," said the voice. "See you on the 
ground."

	Nigel made a careful notation of the flight in his log. 
Busy day, he thought, two flights. He watched as the small 
Cessna made a perfect landing on runway 12 and taxied into the 
terminal. "At least it wasn't a bloody dragon again," he 
muttered. It had taken months to find some people willing to 
kill the dragon that had made its lair in the old Concorde 
hangar.

*****

	Usagi smiled as she stepped onto the tarmac. She was home. 
The magic of Aysle surrounded her in a loving embrace and she 
couldn't help but twirl around in a little pirouette.

	"Glad to be home, sister?" said a quiet voice. Usagi smiled 
back at Hotaru who was watching her.

	"Yes, Luthien. Aren't you?"

	Hotaru just shrugged.

	Steven stomped out of the plane, wearing bright scarlet 
robes that were too small for his nearly seven foot tall frame. 
A battered hat with a point and the word "WIZZARD" written on it 
in sequins perched precariously on his scaly head. He carried 
his hrockt-spear in an authoritative manner, looking for all the 
world like a lizard man pretending to be a wizard.

	"Ah, Victoria," Makoto said, de-planing last. She was still 
clad in her coat and deerstalker hat.

	"Britain, actually," Hotaru said quietly. "Victoria is its 
name in your world."

	"It's my homeland, the center of the Empire," Makoto said. 
"Even on another world, it feels special."

	"That's the ambient magic," Hotaru said.

	"Someone is gloomy today," Makoto muttered.

	"Don't fight, sister," Usagi said. "Just be happy to be 
home."

	"This isn't home. This is somebody else's home we invaded."

	"Welcome to Heathrow!" boomed a voice. The welcoming 
committee had arrived. Twelve feet tall if he was an inch, the 
man who greeted them looked like he could bench-press semis... 
which made their luggage rather inconsequential. "Anything to 
declare?"

	"A Giant?" Makoto asked.

	"None other!" the man boomed. "John Bigboote is the name. 
I'm the skycap. If you need anything, just ask."

	"Bigboote?" Usagi asked hesitantly.

	"Not my original name, but a friend suggested it when I 
came over to the Light. Now, where you folks headed? I can get 
transportation arranged for almost anywhere."

	"Oxford," Usagi said at last, a bit overwhelmed by John's 
size and exuberance.

	"You're in luck! We have a carriage leaving for Oxford 
today."

*****

	Across the Channel, another group was approaching their 
destination.

	"Hold on tight!" Haruka yelled over the comm channel as she 
suddenly banked their supersonic transport to the right and 
dove. The scream in her earpiece that told her that a missile 
had locked on to her disappeared as Michiru dropped the 
countermeasures at the same time. Still, the CyberPapal smart 
missile might reacquire.

	Behind them, Rei tried very hard not to be sick as she 
muttered her rosary. She could barely hear herself pray over the 
alarms going off in the cockpit of the Tharkold craft they had 
appropriated. Behind her, she could hear the snap-whine-hiss of 
Mamoru firing the craft's plasma guns at the CyberPapal 
aircraft.

	All had gone well for them before they had crossed through 
the storm front and into the CyberPapacy. They had been picked 
up on radar almost immediately, and the IFF codes they had paid 
so much for had not been accepted. Three jets had quickly 
intercepted them and she had been in this hell that Haruka 
called a "dogfight" forever, it seemed.

	"We're going to have to ditch it," Michiru said to Haruka.

	"I know. Any idea where and how?"

	Michiru called up a map of their area from the craft's 
memory banks. It was frustratingly vague, as the Tharkoldu in LA 
hadn't really anticipated taking this craft into France. Well, 
they weren't in any condition to object any longer.

	"We're near the city of Rouen. It's not Paris, but it'll 
have to do."

	"Get Raye ready! I'll program the autopilot! Darien, 
prepare for ditching!"

	Michiru turned back to the still praying nun while Haruka 
got Mamoru's quiet confirmation. "OK, sister. It's time to go. 
Hope you paid attention when I explained the ejection seat." 
Michiru double-checked Rei's harness, then quickly shoved a 
helmet and oxygen mask on her. "She's clear!"

	Haruka sent a thought to the craft's computer through her 
link with it. Immediately, it went into a dizzying barrel roll, 
firing chaff and countermeasures in wild abandon, all the time 
heading straight for the hills surrounding the city.

	"See you on the other side!" Haruka screamed to Michiru, 
then the ejector seats fired.

*****

	The tramp freighter chugged slowly along the silt-laden 
waters of the Nile. Captain James "Sea Dog" O'Halley took a 
moment to fluently curse in Arabic (the only Arabic he was 
fluent in) the river, its antecedents, the river traffic, the 
pilots of the river traffic, their mothers, grandmothers, and 
great grandmothers back until the time of the Prophet and 
beyond. Two flat-bottomed barges had rammed into each other in 
front of him, snarling up the river traffic both ways. This also 
earned the troopers of the Nile Empire a few curses, as they 
were now heading his way to perform an inspection. Normally they 
only went after the slow and heavy (and therefore wealthier) 
river traffic. Since no one was going anywhere for the moment, 
they were branching out. After all, bribes didn't just offer 
themselves.

	"I'm sorry," he spoke down into his hold to his passengers. 
"It looks like we're not going to have the trouble-free passage 
I promised."

	"It's alright, Cap'n," Setsuna said. "You tried. We'll do 
this my way now. Youse guys ready?"

	"Halt in the name of Pharaoh Mobius!" cried a shock trooper 
from the approaching inspection boat.

	"May Anubis eat your heart, you mangy son of a she-goat!" 
O'Halley yelled back.

	"Are you mad?" Umino gasped.

	"Don't worry, lad," O'Halley said with a laugh. "It'd 
arouse their suspicion if I didn't send a few insults their way. 
They've heard worse from old women on the riverbank."

	"Stand to!" the shocktrooper shouted. O'Halley glanced 
across the water at the approaching boat. There looked to be 
about ten shocktroopers, all wearing the kilt, Egyptian 
headdress, and bare-chested uniform of the New Empire of the 
Nile. The silliness, to the modern eye, of their uniform was 
somewhat offset by the very lethal-looking machine guns they 
carried.

	Time enough for one more insult, he thought. "May your 
ancestors roast in the bowels of Ammit for all cycles!"

	"It's time to kick some donkey!" Minako crowed, leaping out 
of the hold and into the air.

	Setsuna followed the flying ace, both pistols out and 
blazing. Naru also stepped into the fray, muttering a prayer to 
Isis, the goddess of sailors, Almost immediately, the river 
began to grow turbulent.

	"For the Pharaoh!" shouted the shocktroopers. Their machine 
guns spat lead at the tramp freighter.

	Setsuna took a mighty jump, clearing the distance between 
the two boats in a flash. She landed on one shocktrooper, 
knocking him to the ground and sending his machine gun flying up 
in the air. She quickly emptied her pistols at the 
shocktroopers, sending them scurrying for cover. The 
shocktroopers heard the clicks of the guns on empty chambers and 
smiled to each other. Now they had her! They leapt out from 
behind their cover just as Setsuna caught the machine gun that 
had been sent flying and turned it on them.

	Minako was not being idle while Setsuna cleared the deck. 
The flying hero flew down to the two barges whose collision 
blocked the river. With a mighty shove, she pushed them apart. 
The one nearer the shore found itself embedded in the bank, 
while the other went spinning out of control toward the 
shocktroopers' boat. Seeing their fate, the sailors of that boat 
were quick to jump overboard and swim for shore.

	Naru continued her chant to Isis, stirring up the waters of 
the Nile even more. A whirlpool began to form in the center of 
the waterway, intent on sucking the inspections frigate and the 
hapless barge into its maw. Seeing this, Setsuna, spun around, 
darkness spreading about her like an inky cloud. The few 
remaining shocktroopers screamed in horror as her cloak of 
darkness fell over them. Then she was gone.

	Back in the hold of the tramp freighter, Umino was startled 
as Setsuna stepped out of a dark shadow. He looked at her, then 
back outside at the whirlpool. The two boats caught in its grip 
slammed into each other. For a brief moment, he could hear the 
screams of their sailors, then one of them caught fire and its 
fuel tank exploded, sending debris all over the river.

	"That's done," Setsuna said with an air of satisfaction.

	"You killed them!" Umino gasped.

	"They wuz the bad guys, kid. Wouldja prefer if I let them 
kill us?"

	"We're all safe and sound!" Minako exclaimed, flying down 
to the freighter. "We won!"

	A high-pitched whine filled the air.

	"What's that?" Umino asked, nervously.

	"Plane!" Naru shouted, pointing up.

	A biplane, one guaranteed to make the viewer think of the 
Red Baron and dogfights flew low overhead, its machine gun 
blazing. O'Halley cursed as he was hit in the shoulder, sending 
him to the deck. One shot hit a fuel can sitting on the deck and 
it caught fire.

	"Over the side, kid, NOW!" Setsuna shouted. She ran over to 
O'Halley. His crew was already leaping over the rail and into 
the water. Naru wasn't far behind. With one last glance at the 
burning fuel can, Umino jumped.

	And the world exploded into fire.

*****

	The limousine pulled up to the club with a low hum from its 
highly efficient gas-electric motor. A valet stepped out to 
greet them. A Plexiglas-composite window capable of stopping 
almost all small-round fire slid down and the chauffeur waved 
him off. The chauffeur got out and opened the passenger door, 
letting his passengers get out.

	Clark and Urawa looked somewhat nervous as they stepped out 
in exquisitely tailored tuxedos. Ami and Hime-chan however did 
not share their nerves as they followed. The girls were both 
wearing very skimpy and fashionably tight dresses. Ami's was a 
dark-midnight blue, while Hime-chan wore black. Hime-chan's hair 
was perfectly styled, too, with two black, lacquered sticks 
stuck in her coif. Ami's hair was in her usual, practical style.

	The men offered the ladies an arm and together they 
strolled up to the door. Two very large men wearing shades that 
reflected the neon lights filling the Tokyo night stood by the 
door.

	"Members only," said the first.

	"We don't know you, you're not members," the other said.

	"We're guests," Hime-chan said smoothly. "I have our invite 
here." She handed over a small slip of paper, intricately folded 
into the shape of a swan.

	The two guards looked at it, then at each other. The first 
one slowly unfolded the note and found a 100,000-yen note 
staring at him.

	"Looks good to me," he said. His partner nodded.

	The inside of the nameless club was dark and smoky, as its 
patrons preferred. Some people sang karaoke in the corners, 
while waitresses clad in lingerie and masks walked from table to 
table. In the center of the room, on a circular stage, two girls 
in schoolgirl costume were belting out a pop song.

	They quickly found a table and sat down. A masked waitress 
came up and took their order.

	"Sake," Hime-chan ordered.

	"Gin and tonic," Clark said.

	"Beer," Urawa said.

	"I'll have a Long Island Iced Tea," Ami ordered.

	After the waitress left, Urawa leaned over to whisper in 
Hime-chan's ear. "What are we doing here again?"

	"We're being seen," she whispered back, pretending to 
giggle at whatever he said.

	"By who?"

	"Our contact. The person who will tell us where the Gospog 
factory is."

	"How long do we have to sit here?"

	"Until I say so, boy."

	The waitress came back then with their drinks and they sat, 
watching the performance on the stage. Hime-chan and Ami played 
the part of two call girls to perfection hanging on Clark and 
Urawa's every word while serving them drinks. The world began to 
swim before Urawa's eyes before Hime-chan imperceptibly 
stiffened beside him.

	He looked up to see a scarlet-haired Japanese woman eyeing 
them carefully, then walking out of sight into a hallway.

	"Is that our contact?" he asked Hime-chan.

	"No. That's trouble," she said, quickly standing. "I have 
to go to the bathroom," she tittered before stumbling off in the 
direction the red-haired woman had gone. "I'll be right back!"

	Once out of sight of the main room, Hime-chan's demeanor 
completely changed. Reaching up, she removed one of her sticks 
and broke it in half. A glittering line ran between the two 
pieces. It was monofilament wire that could cut almost anything. 
Slowly, she stepped into the hallway.

	The door closed behind her.

	"Welcome home, traitor," whispered a voice as the lights 
went out, plunging her into darkness.

*****

	Rei groaned and tried to open her eyes. She felt a cool 
hand touch her forehead, stroking it gently. Someone said 
something in French.

	"What--?"

	"Shush," the voice continued in accented English. "Be 
calm."

	"Where am I?"

	She tried again to open her eyes. Something seemed to be 
covering them.

	"Just outside Rouen, in my cottage," the voice said. It was 
feminine and musical, reminding Rei of her time in the choir.

	"My friends?"

	"I only found you and your parachute. The Church Police 
were combing the area, so I didn't have time to look for 
others."

	"Who are you?"

	"A friend. Now rest."

	Rei drifted back to sleep.

	Lapin Delune stood and looked down on the poor girl. A 
resistance fighter of some sort, and religious, too. It was 
foolish of her to come here.

	Lapin had seen Resistance fighters come and go. She had 
helped those she could, and more than one had been attracted 
enough to the young blonde woman to tell her all sorts of 
things.

	"<How is she?>" The words were in French.

	Lapin turned and smiled at Dr. Delaterre. The handsome 
young doctor was nervously cleaning his glasses again, a move 
she found endearing. "<She woke up briefly. She spoke in 
English.>"

	"<Does she know?>" he asked, looking down at his patient 
and the bandaged he had wrapped around her head.

	"Non."

	"<The Church Police will be looking for her.>"

	"<"I have some friends in the Resistance. They can get her 
to Paris.>"

	"<I hope you know what you are doing, Lapin.>"

	"<Thank you for all you've done, Doctor. You better get 
going.>"

	The doctor blushed beet-red, another thing Lapin found 
endearing about him, then gathered his tools and left.

	Sitting next to her guest, Lapin idly ran her fingers 
through the stranger's raven dark hair. "Poor little bird," she 
whispered in English, looking sadly on the bandages covering 
Rei's eyes.

*****

	Hime-chan spun into motion, throwing herself down the dark 
hallway and away from the door. Behind her, she heard the thunk 
of throwing stars embedding themselves in the door.

	Lying still, the ninja slowed her breathing and heartbeat, 
making as little noise as she could while listening for any 
sound from her attacker.

	Nothing. The dark hallway was silent and still. It was a 
waiting game. The first one to give away her position would die. 
Hime-chan tightened her grip on her monofilament wire. She could 
feel the sweat beading on her forehead but ignored it with the 
discipline of her training.

	There was a tiny noise, barely audible over the sounds of 
the club. Hime-chan lashed out with her monowire and felt it 
slice into the wall. A feint!

	She was still rolling, trying to get away, when the 
electrified throwing star caught her in the shoulder. No scream 
escaped her lips, despite the agonizing pain and the burning 
sensation of poison. It didn't matter. Her opponent knew she had 
scored a hit.

	The darkness and silence closed over them again. Even if 
the throbbing club music wasn't playing, the average listener 
would have missed the sound of their fight. Only the barest 
whisper of sound had marked the furious exchange of blows. But 
to ninja-trained ears, that was deafening.

	Hime-chan felt a wave of dizziness and knew she had no 
chance of winning this fight. She had to get to Quinina and her 
Akashan medicine before the poison killed her. But to do that 
she had to move and that would give her away.

	She had to chance it. Her hand silently dropped to her belt 
and a small, egg-shaped container.

	The throwing star hit her in the chest, a glancing blow, 
and then the hallway exploded in a burst of sound and light.

*****

	Outside, Urawa was watching the door to the hallway 
nervously. Something was bothering him about the ninja girl, and 
he wasn't sure what it was. A psychic should have more control 
over his hunches, he thought ruefully.

	Then there was a loud bang and a flash of light from behind 
the door.

	"Flash-bang grenade!" Clark shouted over the suddenly 
screaming crowd. A fire alarm went off, adding to the din and 
the three Storm Knights found themselves fighting against the 
tide to get to their friend.

	"Greg!" Ami shouted.

	Urawa nodded and closed his eyes. Psychic energy washed 
outward from him, forming a powerful wedge that plowed through 
the crowd. As he did so, he felt an uncomfortable headache form. 
Not because of his mental energy, however.

	Reality itself was aligned against him. It was shoving 
back, resisting a power that it didn't acknowledge. He fought it 
down, ignored it as best he could, but the nagging sensation 
kept at him.

	Sakura didn't say anything about psychic powers being a 
contradiction here, he thought as he shoved the crowd out of 
their way. Of course, there was a good possibility that she 
hadn't known.

	The door to the hallway opened and Hime-chan stumbled out 
of it, blood staining her dress. She saw them and head for them. 
Behind her, the red-haired woman followed, stumbling blindly, a 
throwing star in her hand.

	She must have been caught in the flash-bang, Urawa thought. 
Beside him, he felt a flare of psychic energy and knew that Ami 
had activated her psychic gifts. Clark was hurrying toward Hime-
chan, intend on getting her way from the blind ninja.

	The red-haired ninja suddenly looked up at Ami, a profound 
look of terror on her face, and turned and ran, nimbly avoiding 
obstacles she certainly couldn't see.

	~Emotion projection~ came Ami's soundless voice in Urawa's 
head. ~A trick I should teach you some time.~

	"Quinina! She's been poisoned! I need you here!" Clark 
yelled, clutching a very pale Hime-chan close. The ninja girl's 
lips had turned blue, Urawa noted in alarm.

	Ami hurried over, pulling a shapeless blob of some clear 
gel from her purse. Breaking it into two pieces, she applied 
them to the wounds.

	"They are... I guess you would call them cleansers," she 
said. "They will leech the poison out of her system."

	The gel began to writhe over the throwing star wounds, 
forming into worm-like shapes before burrowing inside the 
helpless ninja's flesh.

	Urawa looked away. Biotech still made him queasy.

	Sirens were filling the night and he realized they had to 
get out of here before somebody started asking too many 
questions.

	"Can we move her?" he asked Ami quietly.

	She looked around, concern and fear in her blue eyes. "We 
shouldn't, and if we have to, I'd advise keeping it to a 
minimum."

	"No promises, Qui," he said.

	"I'll carry her," Clark said, lifting Hime-chan like a 
china doll.

	"Good. Out the back, fast!"

	"No!" Hime-chan burst out, her eyes flying open. "Not... 
back! First place... they'll be... other... way!" Her eyes 
rolled up in their sockets as she fainted again.

	Urawa looked around the club in desperation. They had to 
leave NOW. But where? His eyes scanned the room, the ceiling, 
the floor...

	"Hold on tight!" he yelled, before sending a burst of 
psychic energy straight down, pouring everything he could into 
it.

	The room exploded for the second time that night.

*****

	Makoto wished for the thousandth time that Aysle had 
railroads.

	Oh, the carriage was fast enough, running as it did on 
steam power. Despite never having advanced beyond the late 
Renaissance technologically, the dwarves of Aysle had a certain 
knack with machinery. The carriage they were on had started life 
as a pickup truck. Now, after several modifications and 
additions, it bore as much resemblance to one as Frankenstein 
did to any of his organ donors. Tubes, pipes, valves, gears, and 
smokestacks made it look like a deranged metal porcupine, while 
the large passenger compartment stuck on the back seemed an 
unwieldy after thought.

	And the seats were HARD and everything bounced too much.

	None of which kept her "Highness" from sleeping, Makoto 
thought wryly.

	Usagi was curled up on one side of the bench, her cloak 
pillowed beneath her head and a line of drool escaping her open 
mouth. She certainly didn't look like a Princess at the moment. 
It almost made her believe Umino's wild story about them being 
from another world (besides the seven already latched onto this 
one) where they were all schoolgirls of some sort fighting evil.

	The idea made her snort in amusement. If the nuns who ran 
HER old school were in this other world, evil would be 
triumphant. The--what did he call them? Right, the Sailor Senshi 
would never make it out of the dorms. Not that the nuns had been 
entirely successful in making a "proper" lady out of her, but it 
was not because of lack of trying.

	On the bench across from her, Luthien was sitting cross-
legged, muttering some sort of meditation exercise. Makoto 
wondered about the elven monk. For a being from a magical world, 
she used no magic. Indeed, Hotaru seemed to shun it. And she was 
awfully dour and taciturn to be Usagi's sister.

	"This is a grand place to be alive," Steven said to her.

	Makoto shook herself free of her ruminations and glanced at 
the lizard man. He was still wearing his "Wizzard" outfit, 
insisting that he was "Great and Powerful" and that all should 
fear him. So far, the dwarves had seemed more interested in his 
gameboy.

	"It's just as full of Dead things as any other world," she 
noted.

	"Yes, but I feel almost like I am home here." The Edeinos 
frowned, as best as he could with his beak. "I am at a loss to 
explain it."

	Makoto was about to reply when an explosion suddenly shook 
the carriage. Makoto craned her head out of one of the small 
window to see four figures standing in the middle of road, 
behind a dissipating fireball. There were two dwarves and two 
humans. One dwarf was wearing robes and was in the middle of 
casting another spell. The other had a crossbow and leather 
armor. The male human was wearing enough armor to qualify as an 
M1 tank and had a very large, very magical-looking sword. The 
last member, a woman wearing the robes of a priestess, seemed 
somewhat embarrassed by the whole matter.

	"Halt! Your money or I'll waste you with my crossbow!" the 
dwarf in leather shouted.

	"Fireballs coming online," the other dwarf said.

	"Guys, we just need a ride, not their money," the priestess 
said.

	"Let us handle it, Justina," the man in armor said. He held 
his sword aloft. "Behold my Hackmaster Blade, villains!"

	The dwarves running the carriage seemed to be a little 
taken aback by this strange highway robbery and began to talk 
amongst themselves. Meanwhile, Makoto tried to wake Usagi up, 
hoping the situation didn't get any worse.

	Steven stepped out of the carriage.

	Makoto groaned.

	"Behold, I am the GREAT and POWERFUL WIZZARD!" Steven 
proclaimed. "Leave now, and I shall be merciful!"

	The four robbers looked at the lizard man in a too-small 
robe and seemed a little dubious.

	"If you're a wizard," the dwarf in robes said, "where's 
your staff? Every wizard needs a staff."

	"One with a knob on the end!" the other dwarf shouted, 
laughing. This got him a high five from the man in armor.

	Steven reached into the carriage and took out his Hrockt 
Spear. "Where's yours?" Steven replied.

	The robed dwarf flushed at the question. "It was required 
for a magical casting of great power that I sacrifice my staff," 
he said with some dignity.

	"But, Tef," the man in armor said, "I thought you pawned it 
to--OW!"

	Tef took his foot off the big man's boot and turned back to 
the Edeinos. "What manner of beast are you?" he asked. "I have 
never seen your like in all of Aysle."

	"I am Dag Nabbit, an Edeinos, Optant of the Long Grasses 
Tribe. Who are you?"

	"Hey, Rav!" the leather-wearing dwarf said to the man. "How 
many points do you reckon he's worth?"

	"A lot!" Rav replied. "Unique creatures are worth extra. 
And he's a wizard, too."

	"I am Teflon Billy!" the robed dwarf proclaimed. "These are 
my companions, El Ravager the Warrior, Knuckles the Thief, and 
Justina the Priestess!"

	Justina waved her hands in front of her. "I'm not with 
them, really."

	"We are... THE UNTOUCHABLE TRIO!" Teflon Billy continued.

	"Plus One," Justina sighed.

	"Now, your money or your life!" El Ravager said.

	By now, Makoto had managed to get Usagi awake and they 
clambered out of the carriage to stand behind Steven. Usagi was 
still sleepy, but her eyes widened when she saw them.

	"You!" she said, pointing at them. "You're the guys 
who...." she trailed off, blushing.

	"Hey, it's that stuck up princess we rescued," El Ravager 
said.

	"RESCUED?"

	"Some gratitude. We should have left her in the care of 
those giants," Knuckles muttered.

	"GRATITUDE? You made me carry a 50 pound sack of stuff you 
looted from those giants!"

	"Hey, it's not like the rest of us weren't loaded down, 
too. We just wanted you to pull your weight."

	"And you made me wear that chain mail.... THING!"

	"No one would have thought you were a princess in it. We 
had to disguise you."

	"You tried to shave me bald!"

	"Hey, if YOU hadn't fallen asleep on watch duty--" El 
Ravager began.

	"DIE!" Usagi shouted, beginning the incantation of a spell.

*****

	With the grace of a half-drowned cat, Umino flopped down 
onto the riverbank of the Nile. He would have kissed the ground 
if he weren't currently coughing up half the river water he had 
swallowed.

	A gentle hand massaged his back and he felt better. Looking 
up, he saw a wet and bedraggled Naru smiling down at him. He 
tried not to look at how her skimpy clothes were now plastered 
to her body.

	"Is this going to happen EVERY time we catch a ride in the 
Nile?" he moaned.

	Naru thought for a moment. "Pretty much," she admitted. 
"The forces of the Pharaoh are everywhere. There's no telling 
when we might get searched."

	"No, I mean the explosions, the gunfights, and the near-
certain death."

	"I don't follow you."

	Umino gave up and tried to stand. Trying to get a citizen 
of the Nile to realize that their world was skewed in favor of 
more action than a Hong Kong film was like trying to get a fish 
to recognize water.

	"Where's the others?" he asked.

	"I saw Stinger flying around after the plane while I was in 
the water. I lost track of Cheshire."

	"The crew?"

	"Most of them are on the other side or have been picked up 
by boats."

	Umino pulled off his shoe and dislodged a small fish. "So, 
what do we do now?"

	"We make our way to Thebes. The others will meet us there."

	Umino groaned and put his shoes back on. "How far away is 
Thebes, anyway?"

	"Not too far," she said, pointing at the sky. "See?"

	Umino glanced over where she was pointing. A large golden 
ball hung low on the horizon.

	"The Pharaoh's Artificial Sun," Naru said. "It flies over 
Thebes." She began walking toward it. "Come on!" she gestured.

	Umino stifled another sigh and followed her.

	They squelched together in companionable silence for a 
while, the desert sun drying them out.

	"Umino," Naru said at last. "Could you tell me more about 
the other me? The one from your world?"

	"Um, OK," he stuttered, thinking. "You're a student at 
Tsunami High School. Your grades are--"

	"No, no," she waved him off. "I mean... I guess, I mean... 
what am I to you there?"

	Umino blushed. "Naru is my girlfriend," he said at last. "I 
don't deserve yo--her, though. I try to be strong and brave, but 
I'm not."

	"That's not true!" she protested. "You are very brave. You 
killed the High Lord of the Living Land. You could have run and 
hid, but you're standing beside us, fighting for your world." 
She blushed. "I think that's very brave."

	"It was all luck," he protested. His ego was pleased by 
what she said, but it was not strong enough to overcome his 
natural self-deprecation. "I didn't mean to do any of that. It 
just sort of happened."

	Naru laughed. "Heroes aren't born as such. They just 
happen." She took his hand in her own, the other reaching over 
to take his glasses off his face. "You are a hero to me," she 
whispered, leaning close to kiss him.

	They fell backward into the sand, holding each other 
tightly.

*****

	The skies over Rouen were dark with price of heresy. In the 
center of the town, cyberpriests whipped the flames of 
fanaticism among their adherents, while far more ordinary flames 
consumed the bodies of those decreed to be heretics.

	Lapin tried to hurry past the spectacle, not wanting to see 
the burnt, blackened bodies that had been fathers, husbands, 
mothers, wives, and children not too long ago. She could not, 
however, escape the harangue of the priests, whose 
cybernetically amplified voices filled the square.

	"This is not punishment, but salvation!" one exclaimed. "We 
have cleansed the flesh of these heretics with holy flame! Only 
the holy body of our Lord, cyberware, remains! Repent and be 
saved! The flesh is weak, and only by replacing it with machine 
can we rise above it and grow closer to God!"

	She hid her revulsion to the priests' message with the ease 
of long practice. She couldn't keep one hand from snaking up to 
finger her Epiphaneur port. All the faithful had one, so that 
they could enter the GodNet, the all-encompassing computer 
network that tied the CyberPapacy together. Cold metal and warm 
flesh, interwoven. It still felt unnatural to her.

	"Are you all right, sister?" said an oily voice.

	She looked up and nearly dropped her groceries in shock. 
Standing before her was Pere Valenetian, the head Inquisitor for 
Rouen himself! Clad in simple red robes, his glowing cyber-eye 
seemed to peer right through her flesh. A circuitry-embossed 
cross hung from his neck, and she didn't have to see the rest of 
him to know that much of his flesh had been replaced with metal. 
Behind him stood two armed and armored Church Police, their 
faces hidden by their menacing helmets.

	She bowed her head and made the sign of the CyberCross. 
"Yes, father," she said humbly.

	"Is your Epiphaneur bothering you? If so, it should be 
examined."

	"No, father. I was just looking forward to experiencing the 
GodNet once I got home." She met his eyes then, carefully 
assuming the vapid look of a believer. "I hate every moment I 
must spend away from the light of the GodNet, where the 
nuisances of the flesh no longer bother me."

	"That is good, child. But you must take good care of the 
body as well as the soul. Until your flesh can be replaced with 
holy cyberware, it is your responsibility to care for what the 
Lord has given you."

	"Of course, father."

	"Come and see me later," he said, leering openly at her. 
"We will... discuss the sins of the flesh and how you can... 
reduce its temptations."

	"Of course, Father. I will set up an appointment."

	"May God bless you, my child," he said unctuously, laying 
his hand on her head before marching past her.

	Lapin hurried back to her home, careful not to meet the 
eyes of anyone she passed. Did Pere Valenetian suspect her of 
aiding the Resistance? Or was he just trying to get her in bed? 
Either was a possibility. She knew she had to see him, however. 
A few hours of his... attention was better than the Auto-da-fe 
of the Inquisition.

	Once she had her groceries put away, she went to one of her 
old trunks. Opening it, she carefully pulled away the old 
clothes and other junk that filled it. At the bottom was a small 
bundle of cash and a Holy Bible. It was mildly heretical but not 
too bad an offense. It had her family tree in it, stretching 
back for generations, and she could always claim that was why 
she kept it, though she had locked it away from sight so it 
would not tempt her with its "lies." Neither was what she 
sought. Carefully, she pulled up the false bottom, revealing a 
shielded chamber in the floor. To machine and eye alike, it 
seemed that the chest sat flat on the floor, but the Resistance 
had a lot of experience in hiding things.

	She pulled a small device out and hurried over to her 
GodNet port. Plugging it in, she sighed in relief. If Pere 
Valenetian tried to check on her now, the device would make it 
look like she was deep in the rapture of the GodNet, like she 
had told him. With that taken care of, she grabbed some bread 
and cheese from her groceries and went to see her patient.

	The small chamber was an old underground hideout that dated 
back to World War II. It had hidden Resistance fighters then, 
and it did so now. Rei was curled up on the bed, sobbing quietly 
as Lapin entered. She saw the bandages lying discarded on the 
floor and hurried over to the young nun.

	"Ma cheri, ma cheri, please, calm down," she whispered.

	"How can I calm down?" Rei screamed at her, turning to face 
Lapin accusingly. "I CAN'T SEE!"

	Lapin soothingly stroked Rei's hair as the girl cried, 
pulling wayward strands away from her face. "I know. The doctor 
told me."

	"Why... oh, GOD! WHY?" Rei sobbed into Lapin's embrace.

	"I do not have the answers, ma cheri," she whispered.

	After Rei had calmed down again, she let herself lie in the 
strange girl's arms. It felt right, for some reason. Something 
about this girl was familiar. "What did the doctor say?" she 
asked at last.

	"He said," Lapin replied evenly, "that you must have hit 
your head against something. Whether it was in the air or on the 
ground, I don't know. There was... bleeding, in your brain. He 
thinks it damaged the part that deals with sight. In time, you 
might regain your sight. The eyes are undamaged, but your brain 
can't comprehend what they are seeing."

	Rei stifled another sob. She had removed the bandage, eager 
to see where she was, and all she could see was a riot of light 
and color. Nothing made sense and it hurt to try. Until Lapin 
arrived. She should push the French girl away, she thought, but 
she couldn't. Lapin was the only friend she had here.

	She sat there, in the darkness, and tried again to pray.

*****

	Back in the town square, a manhole cover was poked up a few 
inches, just enough to let someone peer out.

	"Poor bastards," Haruka commented.

	"Is Sister Raye among them?" Mamoru asked.

	"No, I don't think so. Here, have a look." Haruka hopped 
down off the ladder and landed with a splash. Michiru gave her a 
dirty look while Mamoru climbed up to the cover.

	"Leave it to the only person in this party without a 
cybernetic radio to get separated," Haruka moaned.

	"We'll find her, Harry," Michiru said.

	"I hope we do before THEY do. I thought the 'Kolds could be 
rough. This almost matches them."

	Mamoru spat a fiery French curse and jumped down into the 
sewer. Michiru favored him with a glare as she was once again 
covered with sewer water.

	"That bastard is here!" Mamoru growled, clutching his 
circuitry-laden cross.

	"Who? Thratchen? Alexandrite?"

	Mamoru raised his cross to his lips and kissed it, 
murmuring a small prayer. "No, someone from my past. Pere 
Valenetian, an Inquisitor."

	"You two have run into each other before?" Michiru asked.

	"Yes. He is the reason I turned from the CyberChurch, 
recognizing it as an abomination before God."

	"Well, we won't be able to go out until dark, so you might 
as well tell us the story," Haruka said, leaning back against 
the crumbling stone of the sewer.

	"It was just after the invasion and the Tech Surge," Mamoru 
said. "My brother and I had volunteered for the Hospitalers. 
Cyberware was some strange new miracle that we embraced whole-
heartedly. Why not? The Church assured us that it was holy. It 
was holy, and our cause was just. It seemed so simple then.

	"For a few months, we were fine. We crushed heretics, 
bringing them before the Inquisition for the crime of daring to 
believe other than what 'Pere Jean' told them. I... I truly 
thought I was saving their souls. Instead, I was damning my own.

	"My brother always had the hotter temper of us two, and he 
had his own beliefs. Andre could never simply believe in what 
others told him. He had his own moral compass to follow. One 
day, it got him into trouble.

	"We were hunting down a group of Algerian Muslims and Andre 
and I found them. They were armed and fought back. Pere 
Valenetian, may his soul burn for ever, was leading our unit 
that day.

	"We fought and killed almost all of them that day," he 
continued, a small tear escaping his eye, "except one small 
girl. Andre rescued her from the burning building and let her 
go. The sins of the father, he thought, should not be visited on 
an innocent child.

	"Pere Valenetian disagreed. He had Andre tried as a heretic 
for his act of mercy, and he burned at the stake with the little 
girl he tried to save."

	Haruka awkwardly clapped the big man on his shoulder then 
moved away, to give him some time alone with his old wounds.

	"Sooner we find the Gospog field, the better," Michiru 
commented.

	"Michelle, I was wrong."

	"About what?"

	"In some ways, these people are worse than the 'Kolds."

*****

	The floor of the nightclub collapsed, plunging Urawa, Ami, 
Clark, and Hime-chan into a sewer line. The rubble from the 
collapse blocked one exit, so Urawa gestured frantically for the 
other to run the other way.

	"Go! Go!" he shouted. "I'll make sure they don't follow!"

	Once his friends were moving, he reached into his jacket. 
The small cylindrical device he pulled out seemed to sit 
venomously in his hand. He shuddered. The "psychic stink" of 
things from Tharkold always affected him badly. It was a place 
of terror and death. Still, that's what he wanted right now. He 
placed his thumb on the switch as Haruka had shown him and then 
tossed the plasma grenade up into the nightclub.

	As it flew away from him, a bit of his mind followed it. 
Not his psychic powers, but rather that bit that made him a 
Storm Knight and enabled him to flout reality's laws. It was 
easy to make things work when he touched or held them. Doing so 
from a distance was a bit harder. And the bigger the result he 
wanted, the more difficult it was to produce.

	A plasma grenade had a very, very big result.

	He was never sure if it was the explosion or the searing 
pain in his head that knocked him off his feet. He tasted blood 
on his tongue as he tried to crawl away from the fiery inferno 
that was once a nightclub. His nose was bleeding. Not a good 
sign.

	"Greg!" It was Ami. She came back for him. He'd have to be 
very cross with her later. For now, she helped him up, her 
genetically enhanced muscles making it easy for her, and dragged 
him through the sewers.

	"Where do we go now?" Clark asked, when she caught up with 
him. He looked down helplessly at Hime-chan. "I don't know this 
city and our guide is out cold."

	"We need to get above ground and back to the hotel," Ami 
said. "The second hotel that Sakura set up for us. Not the first 
one. They could be watching that."

	"That's rather paranoid."

	"It's a survival trait here, from what I can tell."

	"Yes," hissed a strange voice from the shadows, "it is."

*****

	Usagi and Teflon Billy's spells met in mid air and 
exploded, sending both parties to the ground. When they stood up 
again, soot-covered and seared, it was obvious that they were 
past the time for talking.

	Knuckles' crossbow fired, only to have the bolt snatched 
out of the air by Hotaru. Expressionlessly, she snapped it in 
half.

	El Ravager charged Steven, Hackmaster held high above his 
head, only to catch the butt end of a hrockt spear in his gut. 
Wheezing, he stumbled back.

	Justina looked at her comrades, then at Makoto, and just 
shrugged. Makoto was just as happy to not get involved in 
fisticuffs. They weren't her style. She did dig out the small 
derringer that she kept for self-protection, however, and 
watched for an opportunity to use it.

	Hotaru seemed to need little help, as the small elf was 
effortlessly drubbing Knuckles with her staff and dodging his 
every blow. Both Usagi and Teflon Billy seemed engrossed in 
spell-casting and Makoto made certain to keep far away from 
them. She worried the most about Steven. El Ravager was slow and 
lumbering in his armor, but that same armor kept Steven from 
landing any decisive blows. Unfortunately, it was apparent that 
Steven would not be able to shrug off any blow from that 
wickedly sharp sword.

	She ran through her options. She could try and shoot El 
Ravager, but her little gun was unlikely to really hurt him. She 
didn't have time for an occult ritual and all the research and 
preparation that required. Her investigative skills were next to 
useless. Sighing, she raised her pistol and aimed very, very 
carefully.

	The crack of the gun was almost overlooked in the melee, 
but the combatants looked up anyway. A wave of possibility-
altering energy accompanied the shot, changing reality as it 
went.

	Part of the power of the Storm Knights, beyond carrying 
their own reality with them, was the ability to use their 
possibility energy to their advantage. Most of the time, this 
was a subconscious use, making the Storm Knights tougher and 
stronger than the "ords" or ordinaries. They could also use it 
consciously, to aid them in their actions. In the hands of a 
skilled Storm Knight, reality could be so much clay to be 
shaped.

	Of course, what one Storm Knight invoked, another could 
cancel. Unfortunately, for him at least, El Ravager chose to 
save his energy, confident he could take whatever was coming.

	Hence, he was as surprised as everyone else when the bullet 
sent the Hackmaster spinning out of his hand to land point-down 
in the dirt before Makoto.

	"Hey! That's mine!" El Ravager started moving toward the 
brunette, only to get smacked on the head by the hrockt spear. 
He turned his attention back to Steven, but he glared at Makoto 
as she pulled the Hackmaster out of the ground and held it 
before her.

	It was lighter than she thought it would be, and perfectly 
balanced. It almost seemed to hum as she gave it a few tentative 
slashes. Oh, yeah, she could learn to like this weapon.

	The sun reached the horizon and twilight fell over land 
with unnatural suddeness. In Aysle, the hours had mystical 
significance, and the twilight and pre-dawn hours were the 
domain of Cor'bal, the Entity God, the Lord of the Undead and 
Death Magic.

	As twilight fell, Hotaru grew still. Knuckles raised his 
crossbow to shoot, but then he stumbled backwards. The elven 
monk's eyes were totally black now, crackling with power.

	"We offered you the chance to parlay, to leave. You chose 
to fight. Now, reap what you have sown," Hotaru said, slamming 
her staff onto the ground and muttering arcane words.

	The ground shifted and parted in dozens of spots as 
skeletal hands reached up and grabbed the Untouchable Trio (Plus 
One). Justina escaped their grasp, raising her Holy Symbol of 
Dunad, the chief God of the Light, but the others fell and were 
being pulled beneath the ground by the dead.

	"Sister! No! Don't do it!" Usagi screamed, running over to 
Hotaru. She began to shake the younger girl. "Don't listen to 
him! Fight it!"

	For a moment, Usagi felt the ground rumble beneath her 
feet, but then the blackness faded from Hotaru's eyes and her 
sister looked at her in terror. The grasping hands from the 
earth stilled and went back to their rest. They did so, however, 
leaving the Untouchable trio buried to their necks (except El 
Ravager, who was only buried up to his waist) in dirt. Justina 
looked on, trying not to draw attention to herself.

	Hotaru stared at Usagi for a moment, then broke down into 
tears. Usagi hugged her sister close.

	"That was Entity magic!" one of the dwarves on the carriage 
exclaimed. Quickly, they began to stoke the boiler. "We're not 
taking you any further!" they yelled as they began to rattle 
down the road to Oxford.

	"Hey!" Makoto yelled. "You can't do that! What about our 
luggage?"

	The dwarves responded by tossing the party's luggage 
overboard as if it were contaminated.

	"When I get out of this, you're gonna be in a world of 
hurt, missy," Knuckles proclaimed as defiantly as he could, 
considering the worst he could was glare at them.

	"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Makoto said. She stepped over to El 
Ravager. "Scuse me," she said, slipping his scabbard off his 
back while he tried to reach around behind to get her. Sadly, 
his armor restricted his movements too much. "Just need this to 
go with my new sword."

	"You can't take that! It's mine!"

	Steven walked over to Justina. "Do you need any help with 
your comrades?"

	"No," the priestess said. "I'm used to this sort of thing. 
I keep hoping they'll change, but so far..." She shrugged. "I 
suggest that you get going before they dig themselves out."

	"Traitor!" Teflon Billy said. "Come over here so I can use 
my Nose Ring of Viscid Globs on you!"

	Justina spared him a "What, do you think I'm stupid?" look.

	Usagi kept stroking her sister's hair quietly as Hotaru's 
sobs slowed. She then looked up at her friends with red-rimmed 
eyes from her own tears. "Luthien was born in the Entity Hour," 
she said simply, "and being of the Royal House, the Dark God 
Cor'bal marked her for his own. My family sent her to the 
monastery early, hoping she could learn the self-discipline to 
resist him. Monks do not learn magic, too, so they hoped the 
power of Cor'bal would be limited. She can handle it, most of 
the time, but when the Entity Hour falls...."

	"We get the idea," Makoto said. "How come this never 
happened before?"

	"There is no Entity Hour outside of Aysle," Steven said. 
"We have never been with her on her home ground."

	"So, what do we do now? We're stranded without a ride or 
horses. We don't even have a pack... mule." Makoto suddenly 
smiled and looked over at the Untouchable Trio.

*****

	The Black Cat was bustling with the evening trade. In a 
corner, "Red" Gurdy Pickens was belting out the tunes on his 
piano, while waitresses and cigarette girls plied their trades. 
A few men of Italian descent in pinstripes did business with 
robed Arabs while drinking their watered down hootch.

	The proprietor, Max Stevens, cleaned a glass and watched 
the people at his joint carefully. It looked calm enough, but 
one could never tell when trouble was going to break out. You 
did develop a feel for the place, however, a sense of the 
rhythm.

	And those senses started screaming in his ear as two ladies 
entered his joint. Both were wearing expensive evening gowns and 
fur stoles and they appeared to be no more than a bunch of 
socialites slumming it for the night. One was a blonde, one had 
green hair, both were gorgeous. And they were Trouble with a 
capital T.

	They sauntered up to the bar, every eye on them and 
enjoying the attention.

	"What'll it be, ladies?" Max asked, beating the normal 
bartender to them.

	"A Margarita! With a little umbrella, please!" Minako 
ordered.

	"Whiskey, straight," Setsuna said.

	"Be right up," Max said. Then, in a lower voice, "You're 
not going to trash my bar, are you, Cheshire?"

	Setsuna flashed a smile. "Not if youse makes with the info, 
Maxie."

	Max set their drinks in front of them, noting how Setsuna 
tried not to wince when Minako demanded a straw. "What do you 
need?"

	"Two t'ings. First, where the Pharaoh is keepin' his Gospog 
fields. Second, two people. Shoulda made it into town today." 
She described Naru and Umino. A few golden royals were shoved 
toward Max, several times the worth of the drinks.

	"Hmmm. I think his latest field is about twenty miles south 
of town, on the site of an old necropolis. As to your friends, I 
haven't heard anything, but I'll keep an ear out."

	Setsuna nodded and turned to look out over the crowded 
club. 

	"Good to be back, isn't it?" Minako chirped.

	Setsuna nodded, keeping a close eye on the Italian-looking 
gentlemen.

	"I mean, here it's all simple, right? You're good or bad, 
black or blue."

	"Black or white. It's black or white."

	"Whatever!" Minako continued. "It's good to be home."

	"Yes," Setsuna said, a small frown appearing on her face.

	"Something wrong?"

	"Nothing," Setsuna replied, her mask falling back into 
place. "Just a feeling of... I don't know. It wuz kinda like 
deja vu, only the other way around."

	"Huh?"

	"Can I buy you a drink, ladies?" a handsome young sheik 
asked, flashing a set of brilliantly white teeth in a tanned 
face.

	Meanwhile, at a table across the room, things were getting 
tense. An impeccably dressed American was talking to three men 
of oriental descent who were obviously not happy with what he 
was telling them.

	"You ask too much, Kansas Jim!"

	"For an authentic idol of Sebek, the Patron God of the 
Pharaoh? I don't think so," the American shot back, downing his 
drink.

	The three chinamen suddenly smiled. "We will take the idol 
now, and in return, the Insidious Wu-Han--"

	"Is that part of his name now?" Kansas Jim asked glibly.

	"--will offer you the antidote to the poison you just 
drank." The lead chinaman held up a small vial of liquid.

	Kansas Jim swallowed audibly. He offered a weak smile--and 
then flipped the table on his foes.

	The vial of antidote went flying from the chinaman's hand. 
At the same time, his comrades produced tommy guns and opened 
fire. The shots rang out loud and clear in the close confines of 
the club, and the completely predictable screams and shouts 
began. One shot hit one of the overhead lights, plunging the 
already dim club into near-darkness.

	And in the middle of the growing chaos, Setsuna grinned. 
Darkness was her specialty.

	The Italian gentlemen produced their own guns, convinced 
that this was a hit on them, while the sheiks also produced 
weapons, thinking the mobsters were double-crossing them. Then 
suddenly everything was plunged into darkness deeper than any 
night. For a moment, silence fell over the club.

	Then, in the middle of the darkness, a smile of very white 
teeth framed by ruby-red lips appeared.

	"Cheshire!" the head Chinaman shouted. "Get her! A thousand 
royals for her head from the Governor Wu-Han!"

	The smile vanished, and gunfire filled the club.

*****

	Clark tried to make out who was with them in the sewer. 
"Who's there?"

	"A friend," replied the voice. Someone garbed in the 
costume of a ninja suddenly appeared beside them.

	Ami and Clark aimed their weapons at the newcomer 
suspiciously. "There are no friends in Nippon," Clark said, 
voicing something Hime-chan said often.

	"Then I am someone who shares an enemy with you."

	Sign and countersign. Ami and Clark lowered their weapons. 
"We were supposed to meet in the club."

	"The position was compromised," the ninja said, "as you no 
doubt discovered."

	"How did they know?"

	"There are spies everywhere. For a price, you can know 
anything."

	"Can we know your name?" Ami asked, crossly.

	Even with his facemask, it was obvious the ninja was 
smiling. "That is expensive information, nezumi-chan," he said. 
"Call me Daremo."

	Ami bristled at being called a "Little Mouse" but let it 
slide. It was a small thing from a man who called himself 
"nobody."

	"Where to now, Daremo-san?" she asked politely.

	"A safe house the Rauru Block has nearby. We'll get some 
doctors to look at your friends and discuss what to do next."

	He led them through the sewers in silence then, shushing 
them whenever they tried to ask any more questions. After 
sloshing through countless tunnels, which seemed all the longer 
carrying someone, Daremo finally poked his head above ground.

	"It's clear," he whispered. "Once we're above ground, head 
for the unmarked door on your right. Knock three times fast, 
then once more. They'll let you in."

	"And you?"

	"I'll be along. I must leave a merry chase for our 
pursuers."

	"What? Where--?"

	"Shush, nezumi-chan. Later." With that, Daremo vanished 
into the shadows.

	Climbing the ladder with someone on your back was nearly 
impossible, but Clark and Ami managed it somehow. They were in a 
dark alley, lit only by neon lights far overhead proclaiming all 
sorts of advertisements, most of them for products of the Kanawa 
Corporation. Hurrying over to the door Daremo had described, 
Clark knocked three times fast, then once.

	A wizened old man opened the door. "Inside, hurry," he 
said, opening the door just enough to let them in, then shut and 
locked it.

	Clark and Ami nearly collapsed at the entranceway in 
relief, but recovered themselves quickly. They couldn't be 
certain this place was safe. As Daremo said, paranoia was a 
survival trait in the Japan of the Possibility Wars.

	"Come, we have beds and warm food," the old man said, as an 
equally wizened old woman came in to help them with their 
friends. Clark was amused to see the old couple, through a 
graceful yet completely unfathomable maneuver, manage to remove 
their guests' shoes before carrying them quickly to bed.

	Once Hime-chan was secure, Clark let himself collapse onto 
a futon. He was exhausted. He hadn't been this tired, it seemed, 
since they had been on the run from corporate ninjas in LA.

	"How are you doing, Father?" Ami asked.

	"I'm getting too old for this," he said with a chuckle.

	Ami sat down next to him and took his hand. "Nay, you seem 
young enough to me."

	"It's not the years, it's the miles," he joked, then seeing 
a frown of confusion on her face reminded himself that this 
young girl was not of his Earth. "Sorry, obscure cultural 
reference."

	"It's alright. I understand. It's a stress-reaction to find 
humor in inappropriate matters after a fight-or-flight 
scenario," she rattled off matter-of-factly. Then she smiled and 
raised one hand to caress his cheek. "There is another stress-
reaction I'd rather pursue," she whispered. Before he could 
move, she kissed him rather forcefully on the lips.

	After a moment of "deer in the headlights" shock, he gently 
pushed her away. " Quinina, I can't."

	"This seems to say otherwise," she purred, sitting on his 
lap.

	"No, I mean, I can not let you do this. I swore a vow of 
celibacy."

	"How... odd," she said. "Is this common among your people?"

	"No, most definitely not," he said, "but as a priest, I 
have given up that part of my life to dedicate myself to God."

	"We Akashans believe that many ways lead to God, as you 
call him. Acceptance is our way of life. Can you not accept this 
for now?" she asked.

	"No, I'm sorry." As delicately as he could, he made her get 
off his lap. "I can't. You're a lovely young woman, and besides, 
Greg cares very deeply for you."

	Ami took a ragged breath and ran her fingers through her 
short hair. "You're right. It was just a stress-reaction, like I 
said." She straightened her dress and got up to leave and check 
on Urawa.

	Clark sighed in relief at the passing of the temptation and 
hoped the safe house had cold showers.

	Then Ami stuck her head back in. "Though, Father, if things 
had been different... I wouldn't need a stress-reaction as an 
excuse. Thou are quite handsome." Then she disappeared again.

	Very, very cold showers.

*****

	Night settled over the French countryside, and even in the 
CyberPapacy, people must sleep. It grew quiet except for the 
chirp of insects and the occasional dog barking. Most people 
slept the sleep of the just... or at least the sleep of the 
convenient rationalization.

	In a secret room underneath a small house, one young girl 
did not sleep.

	Rei knelt by her bed, praying to a God that she now 
believed had punished her for her sins, begging forgiveness. Her 
world of Orrorsh was a harsh world, one filled with horrors that 
would drive most people insane. A harsh world had an equally 
harsh God. Suffering was a test of faith, a test sent by a god 
who apparently punished both innocent and guilty alike for the 
sins of the world.

	But she had heard rumors of suppressed texts that spoke of 
another type of god, a loving and forgiving one that was 
different from the one spoken of in the Book of Power, the Bible 
of the Sacellum. She had sought out the truth of this and had 
found teachers, even respected churchmen, who secretly believed 
in this kinder, gentler faith, and who could perform miracles of 
healing and blessing. She had turned from what she now believed 
to be a false god and turned to the one that felt right.

	Now she prayed to that god for the power to heal. Even as 
she did so, she knew her reasons were selfish and wrong. But 
even the Son of God had asked that his cup should pass. She 
could only hope to make it through her personal Garden of 
Gethsemane.

	Finally, she fell asleep, her head pillowed in her arms. 
And she dreamed. She dreamed of sight, of blue skies, green 
grasses, and the wind blowing through her hair. She dreamed of 
sharing it with that special someone whom she dared not 
approach. And she dreamed of the messenger.

	"You should not fear, child. Love is not a sin. Not true 
and enduring love. I loved God and my country with that love."

	"Who are you?"

	"I was a chosen of God, sent to save my people. I suffered 
and died for them. Even though I died at their hands, I would 
not change anything. Is your love as strong as that?"

	"I--"

	"Think carefully, young one. This cup can still pass from 
you. There are others who will take it up. You can still choose. 
I only offer you hardship and trials."

	"And faith?"

	"That must come from you."

	"How do I know what is right?"

	"You must follow your heart."

	"Then yes. I accept."

	"God be with you, fiery soul."

	"Who are you?"

	"Call me... Joan."

	And she awoke.

	She still could not see, but that did not deter her. She 
had a mission, one that she had to fulfill. Not for personal 
glory or power, not to get her sight back, but because she had 
faith.

*****

	Setsuna grimaced slightly as she took a sip of her whiskey. 
The alcohol stung the cut on her lip. She dabbed it with a 
cocktail napkin while looking over the disaster area that once 
was the Black Cat.

	Glass crunched underfoot from all the shattered bottles and 
classes and there was hardly a table intact. "Red" Gurdy Pickens 
was making a sheik drink from his spittoon. The bar had been 
broken in half and the top had a decided lean to it. Max was 
giving it a half-hearted swipe with his rag. "Last call," he 
said.

	"To MY health," Kansas Jim said, downing the vial of 
antidote. He picked up the idol of Sebek from the hands of an 
unconscious chinaman who had met a flying table headfirst. 
"Guess I'll have to find another buyer."

	"Can someone help me down?" Minako asked plaintively from 
where she was tangled up with one of the ceiling fans, going 
round and round.

	"Sorry for the mess, Max," Setsuna said.

	"Don't worry about it. I've got insurance."

	"Well, maybe this will help," Kansas Jim said, handing Max 
a bulging bag that clinked.

	"Is this--?"

	"Well, it the money that the Chinamen were supposed to pay 
me for this idol, but since they're in no condition to buy it... 
and I seriously doubt their good faith now..." He shrugged. 
"Seems to be about a thousand royals in it. More than enough to 
fix up the bar."

	Max nodded, a little dumbstruck.

	"Stinger, youse done fooling around?" Setsuna said. "We 
gotta get goin'."

	"I think I'm going to be sick."

	"Stinger! Cheshire!"

	Setsuna looked up to see Naru and Umino gaping at them from 
the bar door.

	"Ah, good work you two. Remembered this is the meeting 
place, huh?"

	"Actually, we just heard the riot and followed the noise," 
Umino said.

	Setsuna shrugged. "Good enough way to find us. Now, kid, 
you can help me get Stinger down from that fan."

	"Please hurry!"

	Umino was still looking around at the devastation in awe. 
"You two did all this?"

	"Well, we had a little help from Wu-Han's gang, and the 
Mob, and a half a dozen Arabs, but yeah."

	Naru was using a broomstick to try and slide Minako off the 
fan. "We better hurry. I think I saw some shocktroopers on their 
way."

	"Bah, we can handle 'em!"

	"Well, I better be going," Kansas Jim said, putting a 
fedora on his head at a jaunty angle. "Nice meeting you, 
ladies."

	"Who was that guy?" Umino asked, moving over to help Naru. 
"And how is this fan staying up there under all that--"

	The fan broke off and landed with a crash.

	"--weight."

	"Owie!"

	Whistles could be heard in the streets of Thebes outside. 
Obviously the forces of law and order (or tyranny and order, 
depending on who you asked) were mustering the courage to 
actually investigate the commotion.

	"You better get outside, Cheshire. There is still a bounty 
on your head," Max said.

	"What about you? How are you going to explain the money--?" 
Setsuna broke off in confusion as the large bag was nowhere to 
be seen.

	Max winked at her.

	"Right. Come on! Hatsheput, Umino, pick up Stinger."

	The foursome hurried out the back door into an alley.

	"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

	"Shut up!"

	"Well, it hurts!"

	"If you hadn't tried to show off in dere, you wouldn't have 
run into that fan!"

	"Wait, where are we going? We need to find a gos--" Umino 
began.

	"Necropolis, twenty miles south," Setsuna and Minako said 
together.

	"Oh, OK. So, how are we getting there?"

	A dusty jeep with a spotlight pulled up at the mouth of the 
alley, shining the light on them. Four shocktroopers were 
sitting in it. "Halt in the name of the Pharaoh!" one cried.

	"That answer yer question?" Setsuna said with a laugh as 
the darkness gathered.

*****

	Daremo slipped back inside the safe house a little before 
dawn. No one saw him come in, of course.

	"I believe that all pursuit has been drawn off. They were 
most persistent."

	"How persistent?" Urawa asked. His eyes widened as Daremo 
drew his blade and began to silently work on a few chips in it. 
"Oh."

	"Daremo-san," Ami said, "we are thankful to you and your 
employers..."

	"One moment, nezumi-chan. The Rauru Block are not my 
employers. Like your friend," he nodded to Hime-chan who was 
sitting up, though still looking a little woozy, "I am a ronin."

	"Not an entirely accurate term for us," Hime-chan said 
weakly. "But better than 'traitor.'"

	"So this safe house...?" Clark asked.

	"It is Rauru Block," Daremo said. "I owe them an 
obligation. My services tonight go to repaying that obligation."

	"Who was after us tonight?" Ami asked.

	"The Ninja clan known as the Kurotsuki, or Black Moon. Your 
colleague left their service some time ago."

	"Are they going to be trouble for us?" Clark asked, looking 
worriedly over at Hime-chan as she sipped her tea.

	"Of course," Daremo replied. "The only question is how 
much. That depends on how important they consider your comrade. 
That she lives still is a blot on their honor."

	"They have no honor," Hime-chan spat.

	"Yes, but that is not how they see it."

	"Great, more trouble," Urawa muttered.

	"Your problems will only grow, the longer you stay in 
Nippon," Daremo said. "Since the coming of the storm, we have a 
saying here: 'Enemies grow like the ripples on a pond.'"

	"So, do you know where the Gospog field is?" Ami asked.

	"Yes. Kanawa does not grow his Gospog like the other High 
Lords. He feels they are too tactless to use, considering the 
stealth in which he has cloaked his invasion. So he grows them 
in a factory and places them in robotic suits of armor made 
especially for them. The end product he passes off as robotic 
guardians."

	"And the location?"

	Daremo handed her a slip of paper with the address. "The 
Rauru block wishes you to know that they have a private jet 
awaiting you at Tokyo International Airport. After you get what 
you need, hurry there as fast as you can. We will do what we can 
to protect you, but it is in everyone's best interests that you 
strike and vanish, like--"

	"Like a ninja," Hime-chan finished for him.

	"Yes, Sakura-san. Like a ninja."

*****

	Captain Boris Alphonzo had seen a lot of strange things 
come through the gates of Oxford in his time, especially in the 
last couple of years. It didn't seem to be getting any better, 
Especially the way the Dark had been trouncing the Army of Light 
all over Britain. At least they still had Lady Pella Ardinay in 
the realm. The Lady had sworn not to leave until every last 
horror they had visited on the land had been expunged, God bless 
her.

	Still, the current scene had him staring a little slack-
jawed. A party of eight people... well, seven people and a 
lizard thing, with three of them being used to carry a large 
load of heavy luggage. What's more he recognized the impromptu 
"pack animals."

	"Sergeant?"

	"Yes, sah?" Sergeant Barringer asked, a burly, extremely 
competent man who wore an eyepatch.

	"Fetch me the latest warrants, will you?"

	"Yes, sah!"

	After a moment, Barringer had the most recent arrest 
warrants in his Captain's hands. A moment's scrutiny was all it 
took. The two dwarves and the armored human matched the 
description of the "Untouchable Trio" that Lord Gilead had 
placed a bounty on for disrupting his peace talks with the local 
folk, or half-humans, in Bath.

	"Summon the men, Barringer. I think we're going to make the 
papers today."

	"Yes, sah! Right away, sah." Soon Boris could hear the 
time-honored maledictions and curses the sergeant rained down on 
the men as he got them ready.

	Meanwhile, the party in question was making rather slow 
progress toward the gate.

	"You better sleep with BOTH eyes open, bitch," El Ravager 
was ranting as he stumbled under the weight of Makoto's steamer 
trunk, "because my revenge is going to be coming! So you better 
just give me back my Hackmaster now!"

	"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Makoto said, bored. The man hadn't shut 
up about his sword since she had taken it. That almost made her 
want to give it back to him. Nah, she thought.

	"If you think you've seen the last of us," Knuckles growled 
from beneath Usagi's flower-print suitcase, "you're mistaken! 
Vengeance is a dish best served cold and it's very cold in... 
around here!"

	"Don't worry, Knuckles," Teflon Billy whispered. "I've 
still got my ring of teleportation squirreled away. We'll get 
out of this."

	"Squirreled away where? I thought they strip-searched you."

	"Every morning I take a little 'chaser' after my glass of 
fig juice."

	"Ewwww!"

	Usagi walked behind them, one arm around Hotaru, comforting 
her. "It'll be okay, sister," she said. "I'm here."

	The little monk seemed near tears, still, leaning heavily 
on Usagi for support. "I wish I had never been born," she 
whispered.

	"Don't say that! You're my sister and I love you, no matter 
what! You're the strongest, bestest person I know. Anyone else 
would have given up under the weight you carry, but you keep 
going strong. So, cheer up! Together, we're unbeatable! No puny 
god of death is going to stop us. I'll beat him up!" Usagi took 
up a boxing pose, then promptly tripped on the hem of her dress 
and fell face-first into the dirt. "Owie!"

	Hotaru couldn't hold back a giggle, which soon became a 
full-fledged laugh, as Usagi looked up at her in wide-eyed hurt. 
Then Usagi joined in, her sister's mirth being infectious. It 
was good to see her sister laugh again, she thought.

	"So, your goddess is worshipped through experiencing 
intense sensations, good or bad?" Justina asked.

	"Sensations are not 'good' or 'bad,'" Steven replied. 
"Lanala revels in any sensation. We Edeinos say that the work of 
creation robbed her of the ability to feel things herself, so 
she has to experience them through the Jakatts, her 
worshippers."

	"But, you mean that if Rav had managed to impale you on his 
sword it would have been just as good as enjoying a sunset?"

	Steven nodded. "It is the intensity that matters, not the 
experience. Some of my people have managed to take watching 
plants grow to the level of a religious experience for Lanala. 
Doesn't your god expect similar devotions from you?"

	"Dunad demands that we observe his laws, that we help 
others, and that we spread his word," she replied.

	"Lanala has no laws to observe, save that we experience 
Life, and bring that experience to others. Some unfortunates are 
considered Dead because they do not experience Life to the 
fullest. Our High Lord, Baruk Kaah, used that as his excuse to 
invade other worlds, to bring the knowledge of Lanala to 
others."

	"And if they did not accept your goddess?" Justina asked.

	"Then we gave them one FINAL intense experience," Steven 
said sadly. "It is because of this that I turned from his cause. 
And now, Baruk Kaah is dead, thanks to the efforts of my group 
and one brave human."

	"Halt!" Boris called out as they reached the gate. "State 
your business!" Behind him was arrayed his entire troop, all in 
the best armor, or as reasonable a facsimile of their best as 
could be put together in a few minutes.

	"Travelers come to seek an audience with the Lady Pella 
Ardinay," Usagi said. A small gasp went through the crowd as 
they recognized the elven princess. "Also, we were attacked by 
bandits on the road, and we wish to turn them in for the Lady's 
justice."

	"Of course, my lady!" Boris was quick to say, motioning his 
men forward. "I will take them into custody for you, and send a 
runner ahead to let the Lady know of your intentions." One man 
ran off in the direction of the Lady's Palace. "Sergeant 
Barringer, take these fools to the jail."

	"Yes, sah!"

	"You better be watching for us!" El Ravager yelled as he, 
Knuckles, and Teflon Billy were carted off. "We'll be coming 
when you least expect it!"

	"You haven't seen the last of Knuckles, King of the Wall 
Climbers!"

	"Well, I better go to plead for mercy before the magistrate 
for them," Justina said. "It was nice meeting you all."

	"Why do you stay with such morons?" Usagi asked.

	"They could do so much good, if they put their mind to it. 
I pray to Dunad for the strength to reform them."

	"Has it worked yet?"

	"No," Justina said with a sigh of regret. "But I have to 
keep trying."

	Everyone waved to the priestess as she followed her 
companions.

	"May I escort you to the Lady's Palace?" Boris asked Usagi 
politely as porters scurried forth to take care of their gear.

	"Of course you may, Captain. We thank you," she said 
regally. "We have been gone from Aysle for many months. How 
fares the realm?"

	"Poorly, I'm afraid. A new High Lord has appeared, calling 
herself the Warrior of the Dark. More and more of Earth falls to 
her armies every day. But in Aysle, I hear that Tolwyn of 
Tancred is winning great victories there. We pray that she is 
given a speedy victory so she can return here and finish the 
job."

	"We will add our prayers to yours, Captain."

	"Lady Tolwyn is in Oxford at the moment, actually," he 
said. "She came to speak with the Lady about the state of the 
war. Her visit has done wonders for the men's morale, if I may 
say."

	"We look forward to seeing her again," Usagi said loftily.

	A half an hour's walk got them to the gates of the Lady's 
Palace. "God bless you, my lady," Captain Alphonzo said, before 
turning to head back to his post.

	They entered the Palace.

*****

	"Lapin?" Rei called.

	"Yes, ma cheri?"

	"I need to know more about the Resistance in this town."

	"You should rest, ma cheri. Your injuries--"

	"We don't have time for my injuries. Tell me."

	Lapin sighed and began to fill the young nun in on what she 
knew. It was surprisingly a lot, enough to earn her weeks on 
Pere Valenetian's racks. Names, operations, passwords, Rei 
ferreted it all out of the young Frenchwoman.

	"I need to speak to them all, as soon as possible."

	"Ma cheri, that is dangerous." Lapin feared that her young 
charge was delirious. After all, she had been through a lot.

	"Don't worry. God is on our side. Please, trust me."

	Lapin looked into Rei's unseeing eyes and finally nodded. 
"Of course, ma cheri. I will do as you ask."

	Lapin quickly hurried out into the town, pretending to run 
errands while in actuality dropping messages and giving code 
phrases to various people. She knew that if Rei WAS delirious, 
she was putting everyone at risk for no reason.

	"Ah, my dear. How good to see you again."

	Lapin swallowed as Pere Valenetian came up alongside her 
with his Church Police in tow.

	"Bonjour, Pere Velenetian. It is good to see you as well." 
She mustered her best smile for him and made sure to flash a 
little cleavage. It had the desired effect of making his eyes 
glaze over slightly. But only for a minute. Then he was once 
again eyeing her sharply, as a cat eyes a tasty mouse.

	"Have you heard the news, my dear? The CyberPope, may God 
bless him forever, will be coming to Rouen in a few days to view 
our next Inquisition. It will be quite the event."

	"Pere Jean is coming? To Rouen himself? Oh, God be praised, 
Father!" Lapin exclaimed, careful to put exactly the right 
amount of fanatical joy in her tone.

	Yes, may he be praised indeed. We must be increasingly 
vigilant in our search for heretics. Already we have caught 
several that will be burned before the CyberPope. I think you 
may know one."

	"I hope not, Father! I couldn't bear it if someone I knew 
was a heretic."

	"The young doctor, what is his name? Delaterre?"

	Lapin's heart seemed to become a block of ice in her chest.

	"It seems he was aiding heretics to escape the Church 
Police. I think he may be the link we need to crush this feeble 
Resistance in Rouen."

	"Oh, may it be," Lapin said, though not as fervently as 
before. "I pray to God to spare our country from heretics every 
night." She was careful not to mention whom she considered the 
TRUE heretics to be.

	"Still, since you knew this Heretic--" he said, drawing it 
out. Lapin knew that her fear was showing. What if the young 
doctor had betrayed her? No, he wouldn't... but the Inquisitors 
and their tortures... she shuddered. "--I think you should 
definitely come see me soon, my dear, so that I might... inspect 
you for signs of contamination."

	Relief threatened to flood Lapin's face, but she stomped it 
down hard. "I will definitely visit you, Father. Tonight?"

	"No, alas. I have much to do to prepare for the Holy 
Father's visit. But after he leaves, most definitely. Au revoir, 
mademoiselle."

	"Au revoir, Father."

	Lapin hurried home. Now she had another reason to speak to 
the Resistance fighters.

	Once home, she quickly activated her GodNet link and shadow 
device. Then she climbed down into the secret basement. "Raye? 
Are you there, ma cheri?"

	"I'm here."

	Lapin gasped. Gone was the beautiful young nun. In her 
place stood a young woman dressed in men's clothing, her black 
hair hacked short. Lapin barely recognized Rei. If she didn't 
know better, she would say she was looking at a young boy, 
dressed in his older brother's clothes. She now recognized the 
garb, too. It was from the stores she kept here for Resistance 
fighters.

	"Ma cheri?" she asked hesitantly.

	Rei's blind eyes settled instantly on her, unnervingly. 
"Don't worry, Lapin. I'm fine. But if I am to address the 
leaders, I need to look like a warrior, not a nun."

	"Dr. Delaterre has been taken by the Inquisition, and 
Malraux is coming to Rouen. It's going to be very dangerous to 
try anything."

	"Good," Rei whispered. "Now I just need my army."

*****

	The recently acquired jeep bounced and came down hard on 
the shifting sands of the desert. For not the first time, Umino 
wondered where Setsuna learned to drive. 

	"Yeeeeeeehaw!" Setsuna screamed as they leapt over another 
dune.

	Right now he was leaning towards "from watching 
television."

	They had been driving for several hours since the bar 
fight. The moon was giving them plenty of light to see by, even 
if it was pale and treacherous. Still, it was cooler than trying 
to traverse the desert by day.

	"So," he yelled over the noise of the engine and the wind, 
"what's our plan?"

	"Plan?" Minako asked.

	"When we get to the Gospog field, what are we going to do?"

	"We're going to charge in and take the pieces we need!"

	Umino groaned. Minako was taking to the Nile mode of 
thinking far too easily. "We need to do something more than 
that. Mobius is sure to have the place guarded and we can't take 
the time to fight everything."

	"Youse the 'gamemaster,'" Setsuna said sarcastically. "Tell 
us whut Mobius is gonna have waiting for us."

	"Um...." He had been hoping that they wouldn't ask him 
something like that. If he told them and he was wrong, then it 
would be a terrible blow to his credibility and they might all 
get killed. It would also mean that this world might not be 
entirely based on his game, and therefore nothing was certain. 
He swallowed nervously.

	"I believe in you, Umino," Naru said, placing a hand on his 
arm. It was supposed to be comforting, but the thought of her 
faith in him being on the line only made him feel worse. If he 
was wrong, Naru could be hurt. She could lose faith in him. And 
there were times in his life where being her hero was the only 
bright spot in his existence.

	"C'mon, how many bad guys are there gonna be?" Minako 
asked.

	"Okay," he said. "I can't be certain that they'll do things 
the way I would, but I'd have the Pharaoh's troop lay the Gospog 
field in a circle around the old necropolis. There wouldn't be 
many humans, but there would be some higher generation Gospog 
guarding the field. The humans would only come around for the 
plantings.

	"There would be a barbed wire fence, though, and probably 
electrified, and a few super villains would also be present, 
just to make things difficult."

	"So, how do we beat this?"

	"Um... normally I like to put a back door in these sort of 
things. In this case, there'd probably be a tunnel leading into 
the necropolis. You'd have to find your way through it and out 
and then you could take your Gospog sample without facing too 
many guards."

	"Sounds too easy," Setsuna said.

	"Well, the necropolis would have a few nasty things in it, 
but not as bad as fighting the entire Gospog field."

	"Well, there it is... let's see if you wuz right."

	As they crested the last dune, they could now see the 
pillars and statues of the necropolis on the horizon. 

	Stopping the jeep behind a large dune, they climbed up to 
get a better look of the field. The place showed the ravages of 
time, with many of its monuments having toppled or been eroded 
by sand and wind.

	Around it where the ghastly burial mounds of a Gospog 
field, with things that looked like misshapen Egyptian mummies 
moving jerkily through the field. Barbed wire that cracked and 
sparked when a mummy got to close surrounded everything.

	"Well, looks like you wuz right," Setsuna said in 
amazement. "Remind me to take ya wit' me to the dog track next 
time."

	"Good going, Umino!" Naru said, hugging him until he felt 
his nose was going to explode.

	Minako turned to slide back down the dune. "So, how do we 
find this secret tunnel?" she asked.

	"Well, usually my players--"

	Minako suddenly gave a shriek and began tumbling down the 
slope as a section of it collapsed under her weight. Too 
panicked to remember to fly, she landed hard on some sort of 
stone platform that had been buried beneath the sand. Wincing, 
she looked up to see a large, gaping hole in the dune face that 
led down into darkness.

	"--stumble onto them by accident," Umino said weakly.

	"I'm SO going to get you for this," Minako muttered darkly.

	"Now we just need some source of light," Umino said 
hurriedly.

	"I can handle that," Naru said. She said a quick 
incantation to the Sun God Ra. The solar disk mounted on her 
headband began to glow with the brightness of the sun. Seeing 
this, Setsuna quickly deepened the shadows around them and 
motioned them all into the tunnel.

	The tunnel had obviously been choked with sand for 
millennia, probably buried in a sandstorm. Hieroglyphics covered 
the wall, praising, Naru told them, the deeds and names of 
pharaohs long dead.

	"I hate small places," Minako complained. "It's dark, it's 
dirty, and there are THINGS down here!"

	"Shhhhh!" Setsuna said. "Sounds travel forever in dese 
tunnels."

	"Eep!" Minako said, latching on with a death-grip to 
Umino's arm.

	They followed the tunnel deep beneath the sands, quietly 
for the most part except for Naru's infrequent exclamations over 
what the hieroglyphs said and Minako's far more frequent 
whimpering.

	Finally they came to a point where the tunnel branched out.

	"Well, which way, 'gamemaster?'" Setsuna asked.

	"Um... normally I'd put some sort of clue here," Umino 
said, staring at the hieroglyphs he couldn't read. "Both ways 
will eventually lead to the surface, but one will have a LOT 
more dangers. Or one would have monsters and the other would 
have traps. Hatsheput, can you tell us anything about the glyphs 
around these tunnels?"

	"Um, well, let's see..." She stared at them, her mouth 
moving silently as she worked through them. "These are a lot 
older than the hieroglyphs I learned as a priestess, but--" She 
broke off with a gasp.

	"What?"

	"That one," she said, pointing a shaking finger at the 
right hand passage. "It bears the mark of Pharaoh Mobius's 
father, Amat-Ra!"

	"Ah, okay," Umino said, frantically trying to decide if 
that was good or bad. Depending on his mood when he created a 
game, it could be either. "And the other one?"

	"It has images of Sebek, the Crocodile God."

	"Right, we should go through the passage marked by Amat-
Ra," he said at last.

	"You sure?" Setsuna asked, suspiciously.

	"Pretty sure," he answered. "I'd probably put all sorts of 
crocodiles in the other one."

	"Okay, let's see what there is ta see," she said.

	With that, they entered the tomb of Amat-Ra.

*****

	The Hachiman Arms factory seemed innocent enough, sitting 
on Tokyo Bay surrounded by warehouses, piers, and barges. A 
freighter's horn blasted through the night, announcing its 
presence to all. Day or night, 24 hours a day, business went on.

	Its diesel-electric engine purring quietly, an eighteen-
wheeler pulled up to the loading dock of the factory. With 
silent efficiency, workers dressed in simple khaki uniforms, 
gloves, and surgical masks, moved out to open and swiftly move 
the containers it held into the building. As soon as the last 
steel canister was inside, they slid the loading door shut with 
a quiet click.

	The operation had taken less than ten minutes.

	Inside, the khaki-clad men moved with no less efficiency or 
silence. Indeed, the gracefulness of their moves seemed out of 
place for blue-collar workers, especially ones on the graveyard 
shift. No radio played, no one called out to a fellow worker.

	The only time their effortless grace was disrupted was when 
one of the plant's guards walked by. The guards were all seven-
foot tall robots clad in golden samurai armor from head-to-toe. 
Gleaming electro-katanas hung at their waists and the clump-
clump of their footsteps rang out loudly in the otherwise silent 
room.

	The canisters from the truck were moved onto a forklift and 
carted over to a gray conveyor belt covered with ugly, rust-
colored stains. Grabbing a crowbar, one of the workers opened 
the lid of the first canister.

	The dead eyes of a matronly housewife stared back at him, 
her mouth frozen in a grimace of surprise. The cause of death 
was apparent, a small gunshot wound to the chest.

	The worker showed no surprise. Instead he simply reached 
down and hauled the body out of the canister and shoved it onto 
the conveyor belt. Another worker hit a button and the belt 
began to move. One canister after another was opened, revealing 
another body to be dumped on the belt.

	The belt led to a huge machine that chopped, crushed, and 
otherwise rendered the bodies down to a thin meat paste. This 
protein sludge was then forced into tubes and moved along to 
hydroponics bays that filled the bulk of the factory. Over the 
bays, robotic arms planted Gospog seeds into the ooze. Then a 
crane lowered a suit of golden samurai armor over the planting.

	As in everything else in Nippon Tech, the growing of Gospog 
was a business.

	In another part of the large building, the Gospog were 
reaching maturity, green plant-like tendrils growing into the 
samurai armor, filling it and taking control of its high-tech 
arsenal. The "robots" so produced would then be put to use as 
security throughout the Kanawa Corporation power structure.

	Ryuichi Kanawa, a.k.a. the High Lord 3327, a.k.a. the youma 
Eremite, watched with satisfaction from a gantry high on one 
wall overlooking the Gospog "factory." To the outward eyes an 
ordinary, almost stereotypical Japanese businessman (albeit with 
a scar on his right cheek). Nothing could be further from the 
truth, even without being a youma. Unlike some of his comrades, 
Eremite had been pleased with his role in this trap. He was a 
member of Magnetite's army, specially detached to aid 
Alexandrite, and the efficiency and orderliness of the Nippon 
Tech realm appealed to his bookkeeper soul. He would have to 
make a report of this place to Magnetite when he got back. Some 
of its methods could be adapted to the breeding vats.

	In the meantime, he considered the security of this Gospog 
factory. His spies had reported to him that the Senshi had 
raided Gospog fields in Tharkold and the Living Land, and that 
they had apparently split up now. A group of them had been shot 
down over France and another foursome had been reported in 
Egypt.

	Eremite had no doubt that he would find reports of Senshi 
in Britain and Japan as well. Why the Senshi were going to every 
realm on the face of this faux Earth instead of to Orrorsh, 
where Alexandrite waited, was a puzzle. They were obviously 
after something that related to Gospog, but what? Well, in the 
end it didn't matter. They would face Alexandrite, with or 
without their "secret weapon" and the general would either 
succeed or fail.

	The question before Eremite now was which outcome would 
benefit him (and Magnetite, of course) the most.

	His job for Alexandrite was simple. Help maintain this 
subspace pocket's reality by overseeing one-seventh of it as a 
"High Lord" and herd the Senshi toward Alexandrite in Orrorsh if 
they showed up in his realm. Simple enough on paper, Eremite 
thought, but harder to put into action.

	Facing the Senshi himself was not an option he relished. He 
was not a front-line fighter, and by all reports, Corbite had 
fallen with ease to them. On the other hand, Corbite had faced 
ALL the Senshi. They were now split up and vulnerable. He could-
-what was the term in the book Hematite had brought back to the 
Dark Kingdom? Oh, yes--defeat them in detail.

	To that end, he had decided that his best course of action 
was to inspect all the Gospog factories in his realm, and beef 
up their security as much as possible. Given the number of 
factories, he could hardly be blamed if he couldn't get to the 
actual site the Senshi chose in time to take a role himself. 
Therefore, he was covered if the Senshi succeeded. On the other 
hand, if his security forces actually managed to disable or kill 
any of the Senshi, he would come out ahead whether Alexandrite 
succeeded or failed. It was a win-win situation, and highly 
profitable, he thought smugly.

	Unfortunately, he had made one fatal miscalculation.

	Back in the loading bay, the khaki-clad worker had just 
finished prying open one of the last canisters. Looking down 
inside it, he was surprised to see the barrel of a gun looking 
right back at him. He didn't have time to do more than gape at 
it, however, before the silenced gun fired, ending his shift 
forever. As he fell backward, Hime-chan, clad in her dark ninja 
outfit, sprang out of the canister.

	Three other canisters suddenly sprang open, revealing 
Urawa, Ami, and Clark. A wave of psychokinetic power lashed out 
from Ami and Urawa, slamming the other workers back against the 
walls. Clark held a small paint-gun and fired around the room, 
taking out the surveillance cameras quickly and quietly.

	Only one worker made any sound, and his gasp was quickly 
silenced by a psychokinetic squeeze of his throat. Soon he 
joined his comrades in unconsciousness.

	Hime-chan nodded to her comrades and they hurried off down 
one of the corridors. On the wall, an arrow pointed, its label 
proclaiming, in Japanese, "Hydroponics Bay 1."

	The four Storm Knights didn't say a word as they ran down 
the corridor. Daremo and the Rauru Block had managed to get them 
complete plans of the factory, including a work schedule. And so 
far it had all worked beautifully. With any luck--

	That luck ran out before the thought could be completed. A 
golden samurai stepped around a corner and saw them. With a 
fluid grace that belied its bulk, it drew its katana and 
charged, holding it overhead.

	Time seemed to freeze for everyone as the Gospog charged. 
Ami and Urawa grasped hands, their psychic power beginning to 
gather. Clark raised his paint gun, knowing even as he did so 
that it was useless against the creature.

	Hime-chan reacted with the speed of thought. In one smooth 
move her monofilament garrote lashed out, its molecularly thin 
cord glittering in the air as it slid towards and through the 
charging Gospog. A wave of possibility energy accompanied it.

	Time seemed to resume as Hime-chan swept past the Gospog. 
The two stood stock-still for a moment, then they both turned to 
face each other. However, only the top part of the Gospog 
turned. Its legs, severed at the waist, fell to the floor, soon 
followed by the rest of its body. The armor began to smoke and 
spark as it lay there.

	Hime-chan waved her companions on.

	Eremite heard the door open behind him and turned, 
expecting to see one of the Gospog guards he had brought with 
him. Instead, he found himself looking into the eyes of a ninja. 
The ice-blue eyes froze him in place, even as she raised her 
hand.

	He never even felt the electro-star embed itself in his 
brain.

	The false High Lord fell backwards over the railing he had 
been standing at a moment before. His body landed in the 
hydroponics bay with a wet thud, to float facedown in the mix of 
occult plant and decaying flesh.

	Hime-chan scanned the room, looking for any other threats 
while Clark scurried down the stairs to collect a sample. Ami 
and Urawa sat cross-legged together, their psychic senses 
reaching outward to see if the alarm had been tripped and, if 
so, which escape route was still clear.

	Clark was just sealing the container in which he had 
scooped up some Gospog gunk when it happened.

	Monofilament wires lashed out, taking the supports of the 
gantry that Hime-chan, Ami, and Urawa stood. It began to 
collapse instantly. Hime-chan took a moment to shove the 
psychics back through the door before it fell away. Then the 
petite ninja shoved off the free-falling mass of metal, leaping 
high in the air, her hand reaching for one of the chains hanging 
off an overhead crane.

	Below her, Clark looked up in shock at the falling mass of 
metal and muttered a quick prayer.

	Hime-chan's outstretched hand had almost reached the chain, 
when a electro-star was suddenly embedded in it. She writhed in 
agony as electricity coursed through her, making her miss her 
mark.

	"Sayonara, traitor," whispered the ninja who threw the 
star, a red ponytail hanging beneath her mask.

*****

	In the midst of a foggy, night-swept moor, three figures 
huddled around a bubbling cauldron, chanting mystically. Every 
so often, one would throw some new ingredient into the bubbling 
mass and the chanting would reach new heights. Around the three, 
a man with cloven hooves and horns danced. It was something out 
of a medieval manuscript on witchcraft and the devil. They were 
surrounded by mounds of earth and shallow graves that seemed to 
move in the flickering light of the fire.

	"Those are Gospog?" Haruka asked.

	"So I've been told," Mamoru said.

	"They look weak," Michiru added. When compared to the 
demons of her world, no cloven-hoofed freak was going to 
frighten her.

	The three cybernetic soldiers were lying prone on a nearby 
hill, watching the Gospog field. It had taken hours of hacking 
into the CyberPapal GodNet for Michiru to find the location, and 
it had taken so long because Malraux's use of Gospog was 
unconventional.

	For most High Lords, Gospog were shock troops. They filled 
the ranks and were sent in massed formations into areas not yet 
converted to the High Lords reality. Being formed of dead 
inhabitants of the invaded reality and occult seeds, the Gospog 
could function equally well in both the invading and the invaded 
realities.

	For Malraux, however, the Gospog served another purpose. 
Malraux preferred to spread his reality by "converting the 
heathens" to his religion. To do that, he had to convince them 
that he alone could save them from the devil. The Gospog were 
the tools of the Devil stalking the land. Their depredations and 
cruelties drove people to accept the CyberChurch.

	Most cyberpriests and churchgoers, however, did not know of 
the connection between Malraux and the Gospog. Malraux did not 
command the Gospog directly. Instead, he loosed them on the 
earth to do evil, usually under the command of higher generation 
Gospog like the "witches" and "devil" dancing around the pot. 
This had caused some embarrassing situations when 
CyberCathedrals fell under siege from the "forces of darkness," 
but Malraux was more than willing to embrace a few martyrs for 
his cause.

	Michiru had to look for reports of shambling undead plant-
men and the like in police and military files to pinpoint the 
likely location of a Gospog field. She had, in fact, been 
looking for Rei when she stumbled across the first mention. 
Since her search for the young nun was coming up empty, she had 
decided that they would try to complete their mission first, 
then look for her some more. They knew the CyberChurch didn't 
have her, so they just had to hope she had found a safe haven 
somewhere.

	It had taken hours of cross-referencing files to find the 
likely location of the Gospog field, and even longer to sneak 
past Church Police patrols around Rouen. It helped that they 
seemed to be bullies at heart, not disciplined soldiers. They 
were fanatics, not professionals.

	"What's our plan?" Mamoru asked.

	Haruka primed her plasma rifle. "We go in shooting and 
don't stop until they all go down." 

	"A few plasma grenades should really make their 'fire burn 
and cauldron bubble,'" Michiru added.

	Her comrades stared at her.

	"What? I read now and then, you know."

	"We could just sneak around the far side of the field," 
Mamoru said, pointing. They probably wouldn't even see us."

	"What, afraid of a few Gospog, Darien?" Haruka teased.

	Mamoru didn't want to admit it, but the sight of the 
bogeymen his parish priest had warned him about as a child did 
unsettle his nerves. He would rather not face them head on if he 
could avoid it. But he couldn't admit that to Haruka and 
Michiru.

	"All, right. We go in, guns blazing," he said. "I'll take 
left, Harry, you take right. Michelle, go right down the 
middle?"

	"Roger," Michiru said.

	"Sounds good," Haruka grunted.

	The three primed their weapons, and then charged down the 
hill toward the Gospog. Haruka and Mamoru fired their guns, 
plasma rounds and GodMeeter slugs filling the air, while Michiru 
readied two plasma grenades.

	The Gospog spun around and stared for one moment at the 
attacking Storm Knights, then struck back. The 'devil' charged 
forward with a growl, while the witches' chanting grew to a 
fevered pitch. One of them fell to a plasma round in the chest, 
but the other two managed to finish their spells, and lightning 
and fire split the night. Mamoru and Haruka dove for cover, but 
Michiru kept running. Possibility energy coiled around her, 
reducing the damage from the spells, and she threw the grenades 
with all of her might. One went high and landed behind the 
witches, but the other was a direct hit, landing in the cauldron 
with a plop. Then the two witches disappeared in a burst of 
light and heat that rivaled the sun in brightness.

	The devil took no notice of his comrades' fall, however, 
and tackled Michiru to the ground. His horns bounced off her 
armor, but she nearly gagged at his fetid breath and rank smell. 
And when she felt his hands clawing at her armor and clothes, 
real panic swept through her. "Become the Devil's Bride, you 
will!" it grunted.

	A charged electrosword and slashers quickly ended the 
devil's threat, however, as Mamoru and Haruka leapt to her aid.

	"Thanks," she grunted as she shoved the devil to one side.

	"Can't have him pawing my property," Haruka said with a 
wink.

	Michiru sent a fiery curse her way.

	"Let's get the Gospog sample and get out of here," Mamoru 
said, failing to hide his unease. The fog seemed to be moving in 
on them.

	For once, the two Race soldiers were not in a mood to argue 
with him. Haruka and Michiru quickly went to take some samples 
from the shallow graves around them. It was messy, disgusting 
work, having to use their hands to dig into the loose earth and 
find the plant-like tendrils growing in the corpse. And it was 
even creepier to try it here, in such a desolate place.

	Michiru looked up from her work suddenly. The moor seemed 
suddenly colder, making her shiver even with her cybernetics. 
What she saw before her made her fall back in sheer terror, a 
cry frozen in her throat.

	A skeletal figure in a tattered robe that gave new 
definition to the color black. Cyberware and circuitry glinted 
along the bones, serving no purpose but glittering and cold. The 
eye sockets of the skull glowed like red lasers as it looked 
down on her.

	MICHELLE.

	It was a whisper without sound.

	"no..." she whimpered as its arms fell on her shoulders.

	Haruka and Mamoru looked up on hearing her cry, to see the 
spectral figure of CyberDeath place its temp-trodes on her head. 
There was a sizzle of flesh frying and the smell of ozone, and 
Death vanished. Michiru slumped backward, her eyes vacant and 
staring.

	"MICHELLE! NO!" Haruka screamed.

	They were by her side in a moment, checking the readouts on 
her life-monitor.

	"She's alive, but her brain-waves aren't registering," 
Mamoru said, crossing himself. He had heard of this, but to see 
it.....

	"What the fuck did that thing do to her? What was it?"

	"A Gospog, a fifth generation Gospog, I think. I had heard 
stories of it, a CyberDeath that took you to Purgatory in the 
GodNet." Mamoru was babbling now.

	"She's lost in the Grid?" Haruka had horror stories from 
her own world, In a world with both high technology and demonic 
magic, hacking could take on lethal consequences.

	"So what do we do? How do we get her back?"

	"We can't. She's gone. The body is a husk."

	"It is NOT a husk! She's alive. She's breathing! Look!" 
Haruka shook Michiru, making her head flop around like a broken 
doll's.

	"I'm sorry, Harry. Her soul is gone. It's been taken to the 
GodNet for judgement.

	Haruka's mouth narrowed to a thin, determined line. "Then 
we are going to get it back."

*****

	The tunnel had been constructed with all the skill and 
attention to detail the ancient Egyptians could muster. It was 
intended to be the repository of their pharaoh, their god, after 
all. Time, the great equalizer, had worked its way on it, 
however. Cracks ran across the walls and ceiling, and rubble 
littered the floor, making footing treacherous.

	Setsuna led the way, her powers over darkness letting her 
see further into the tunnel than the others. Naru and Umino 
followed, the light still blazing from Naru's headband. Minako 
brought up the rear. Despite the fact that three people were 
blazing a trail for her, she still seemed to run face first into 
every spider web.

	After her tenth shriek as a spider fell on her, Setsuna's 
temper was beginning to fray.

	"Keep it down!" she growled. "Do ya want ta wake the dead?"

	"Could that happen?" Minako asked worriedly.

	"The ancient curses on these tombs are strong and deadly," 
Naru replied. "It is possible."

	Minako clamped both hands over mouth and was very, very 
quiet.

	After about half an hour of walking through the tunnel, it 
came to an abrupt end. A huge stone disk had been rolled into 
place, sealing the tunnel. Foreboding hieroglyphs covered the 
edge of the stone, and the sign of Amat-Ra filled the center.

	"What's dis say, Hatsheput?" Setsuna demanded.

	Naru leaned close, running her fingers over the hieroglyphs 
and muttering to herself. "'Beware, for the Great Pharaoh, God-
King of the Nile, sleeps beyond this portal. His punishment to 
those who disturb his rest shall be swift and unyielding.' After 
that, it just goes into praises on his reign, etc., etc."

	"Talky bunch," Setsuna commented.

	"Is there another way we could go?" Umino asked.

	"Did YOU see any other tunnels?" Setsuna replied.

	"Stand aside, this looks like a fob for Stinger Ace!" 
Minako declared.

	"Job, Stinger, job," Setsuna said tiredly.

	"Whatever!"

	Minako spat on her hands and rubbed them together, then 
looked disgustedly at them. Seeing the stares of her companions, 
she quickly wiped them off on her dusty pants and moved next to 
the stone. Placing her hands on it, she braced herself to shove 
the massive rock open.

	Then she fell through the portal as the disk rolled away 
with the barest pressure.

	"Ow!"

	"Dat was too easy," Setsuna said. "Why don't we go back and 
try the crocs?"

	The sound of stone on stone rang out behind them and they 
turned in time to see another stone disk sliding into place, 
blocking the exit. They all ran over and tried to roll it back, 
but this stone was wedged firmly in place.

	 "Okay, scratch dat idea," Setsuna said. "Is dis more of 
your great plan, kid?"

	"Um, maybe..."

	Umino made a point to hurt his local game storeowner when 
he got back to Tokyo for recommending "There and Back Again: 
Mastering the Linear Adventure."

	"Just great."

	"Well, you know what they say, offward and downward!"

	"That's onward and upward, Stinger."

	"Whatever!"

	The four Knights made their way slowly into Amat-Ra's tomb. 
This section had fared better than the outer tunnels because of 
it being sealed. The hieroglyphics were sharper and more 
defined, and the only things lying on the floor was dust.

	They didn't speak. The tomb seemed to swallow sounds and 
its sheer oppressiveness made it an effort even to breathe. 
Especially since the sound of their breathing echoed in the long 
tunnel. Umino thought more than once that it was like some vast 
beast was somewhere in the tunnel, waiting to eat them.

	Finally, the tunnel came to an end in a huge chamber. The 
chamber was filled with the goods and treasures of the pharaoh, 
to ensure his status in the afterlife. Gold and gems gleamed 
dully through the dust, and tarnished silver lay around in 
heaps. Huge statues of obsidian and other, even more precious 
stones stood guard over the horde. Several tunnels led out of 
the chamber, though it was anyone's guess where they led.

	"Oh, wow...." Minako breathed. 

	"Don't touch ANYTHING," Naru snapped without turning. 
Minako snatched back a hand that had been reaching out to touch 
a gold and amethyst necklace as if stung.

	"This is incredible," Umino muttered.

	"It is the pharaoh's treasure," Naru said. "If we touch it, 
we will invite his curse."

	"I'm thinkin' that this much loot could be worth a little 
curse," Setsuna said.

	"Are we grave robbers or heroes?" Naru asked archly.

	"Think of the starving children back in Thebes before you 
ask that," Minako said. "This gold could serve a useful purpose. 
Instead, it lies here for a man who's been dead for centuries! 
What use does he have for it?"

	"I probably would have put this treasure here to tempt 
you," Umino said. "If we don't take anything, we can leave the 
tomb unharmed. But my players could rarely resist vast 
quantities of treasure. Especially if they thought they could 
handle anything I threw at them."

	"Well, we CAN handle ourselves," Setsuna said. "And this 
curse is a bunch of bullshit. If Amat-Ra is so nasty, how come 
he didn't strangle Mobius at birth? Coulda saved us all a lot of 
trouble."

	"The stories are vague, but I believe that he DID banish 
Sutenhotep--"

	The echoes of breath seemed to stop for a moment, then 
breath out in a wheezy sigh, "Sutenhotep.... Sutenhotep..."

	"Oh, crap," Umino said.

	"Dat's bad, isn't it?" Setsuna said, drawing her gun.

	"I think 'Daddy' isn't too happy to hear about his son 
again," Minako said nervously.

	They began to hear a whispering sound, like wind blowing 
through the tunnels.

	"Could some trap door have opened?" Naru asked.

	Umino licked a finger and held it up. "I don't feel any 
breeze."

	The sound strengthened to that of a strong wind.

	"I've got a bad feeling about dis," Setsuna said.

	"Still no wind," Umino said. "I think--"

	He stopped short, staring at one of the tunnels. The others 
turned to look at him and saw the same thing.

	The floor was moving.

	Actually, it wasn't the floor, but a vast tide of scarab 
beetles, scurrying towards them. The wind sound was from their 
clacking mandibles and the sound of millions of tiny legs 
scurrying over the stone.

	"Flesh-eating scarabs! Run!" Umino cried.

	"Run WHERE?!" Naru answered, pointing at another tunnel, 
which was also disgorging the scarabs.

	"Back down the tunnel!" Minako screamed.

	"It's a dead end, remember?" Umino said, looking around. 
Then he saw it. Another tunnel, one with no horde of flesh-
eating insects. "There!" he pointed.

	"Right! Let's move!" Setsuna said, shoving Naru and Minako 
towards it. The Mystery Woman then turned back to the onrushing 
insects and fired a few shots at them. This was largely 
ineffective, however.

	"Cheshire! Run! You can't shoot them!" Umino cried, running 
toward the empty tunnel as fast as he could.

	They ran, not caring for the moment WHERE the tunnel led, 
as long as there was no prospect of immediately being eaten 
alive. Behind them, the wind sound rose to gale-force levels as 
the beetles swarmed into the tunnel after them, filling it like 
a tidal wave of carapaced death.

	"They're right behind us!" Minako screamed.

	"Keep running!" Naru shouted.

	Then the tunnel ended in a small chamber. The only things 
in this chamber was a sarcophagus of gold and the skeletons 
surrounding it.

	"Amat-Ra's tomb," Umino said with a gasp.

	"It's a dead end!" Naru shouted.

	They turned back to the tunnel and saw the beetles swarm 
forward, a black wave surging toward them... only to stop cold 
at the edge of the chamber.

	The sudden silence was deafening.

	"What... what are they waiting for?" Naru said.

	"I don't like this," Setsuna added.

	"Hey, at least they're not eating us," Minako said. 
Everyone stared at her. "Look, I just mean that things can't get 
much worse."

	The lid of the sarcophagus began to open with a grinding 
noise.

	"STINGER!"

	"It's not my fault!"

*****

	Makoto was beginning to get a little upset.

	It had been hours since Usagi had been announced to the 
Lady Pella Ardinay and for all of that time they had been fobbed 
off on one useless functionary after another. It was enough to 
make her want to use an occult ritual to turn them all, one by 
one, into purple-spotted frogs.

	Usagi seemed unconcerned by the delays, however, and seemed 
to be relaxing. She was in her full court garb, high Renaissance 
style with all the flourishes, ruffles, and silk 
whatchamacallits that one could hope for. Most of it was a 
startling white, which worked well with her dark blue skin and 
silver hair. Accents of gold and silver were shot through the 
dress, and numerous crescent moon motifs. It was very expensive 
and showed that the wearer was both rich and didn't care much 
what other people thought of her.

	Hotaru was the other extreme. She still wore a simple 
monk's robe, though she had exchanged her travel-stained one for 
a clean set, and was sitting in a meditation posture in a 
corner. Most people avoided her, partly so as not to disturb her 
meditation. Makoto suspected that rumors of her Entity magic had 
spread and that had something to do with her isolation.

	Steven seemed to be enjoying himself. He had decked himself 
out in full wizard regalia, including a false beard that hung 
loosely around his neck (his head was the wrong shape for it to 
be hooked over his ears) and shoes with curved tips that looked 
like they could be used for small boats in a flood. He bent the 
ear of any wizard or even remotely wizard-like person to come 
within spear-reach. The discussions seemed to be highly amusing, 
though not to the poor wizard forced to listen to Steven's 
claims of great magical power.

	It had been nice to relax in comfortable, even opulent, 
surroundings, but it was beginning to wear thin on Makoto. 
Especially since everyone seemed to think they should consider 
it a blessing to wait on the Lady's every whim. Makoto had tried 
to subtly offer a bribe to a majordomo to get them bumped up the 
list, but he had seemed utterly shocked at the notion that 
anyone could override the Lady's judgement of priorities.

	The Hackmaster Blade seemed to hum in her new sheath at her 
waist, sharing her frustration and eagerness to do something. 
The very next person to walk through that door was going to get 
an earful, Makoto decided. She had had it up to HERE with all 
this waiting.

	The door opened.

	"How much longer are we going to have to wait here?" Makoto 
said, going into a full diatribe. "We've been waiting for hours, 
and we're not exactly your every-day woman on the street! We 
have two members of the elven royal house here, an ambassador of 
the Long Grasses Tribe of the Edeinos and me, Dr. Maggie Holmes, 
Ph.d, Occ.d, M.D. of the August Shadows Society! I demand that 
we be shown to someone who can tell us what we need to know!"

	Then she saw whom she was speaking to.

	Two people had stepped through the door, a man and a woman. 
The man was middle-aged and dressed in the stark black clothes 
of a Roman Catholic priest, complete with collar. He had 
reddish-brown hair and a beard, and was going bald on top. He 
seemed somewhat taken aback by Makoto's tirade.

	His comrade, however, was not ruffled in the least. She was 
a tall, statuesque woman with long black hair and startling 
green eyes. Full plate armor covered her, yet she moved with 
ease and power. A long scarlet cape fluttered behind her, and a 
very large sword with a hilt large enough to serve as a mace lay 
strapped to her hip.

	"I am Tolwyn of House Tancred," the woman said. "I will 
answer your questions, but only if you hold a civil tongue in 
your head."

	"Tolwyn, please," the man said, laying a placating hand on 
the warrior woman's arm. "I am Father Christopher Bryce, of the 
Society of Jesus," he said, turning back to them. "It's a 
pleasure to meet you.

	"Greetings, Lady Tolwyn, Father Bryce," Usagi said, with a 
bow. "I am the Princess Angelina Comtessa Fireball the III of 
the Elven Isles. It is a true pleasure and honor to meet the 
General of the Armies of Light liberating our home and her 
companion."

	Tolwyn tore her irritated gaze from Makoto and managed a 
sketchy bow to Usagi. Father Bryce was more polite, but he still 
seemed concerned with Tolwyn. Finally, under his gaze, she 
relented.

	"I apologize for my temper, Princess," Tolwyn said. "It has 
been a long day, and I have traveled far for little gain. A 
situation that you should find familiar."

	"Yes. May I introduce my sister, Luthien, of the Order of 
Elmiir, and our traveling companions, Dag Nabbit and Maggie 
Holmes?"

	Father Bryce was staring open-mouthed at the "Great and 
Powerful Wizzard" standing before him, but managed to give them 
polite nods. Tolwyn gave Steven an assessing gaze before 
nodding. She did not bother to look at Makoto again.

	"So what brings such a party of accomplished Storm Knights 
to Oxford? We have heard you seek information, but the why of 
it..." Tolwyn asked Usagi at last, once the pleasantries were 
out of the way.

	"We are hunting a servant of the Gaunt Man in Orrorsh. We 
have learned that to defeat him, we need pieces of Gospog from 
each realm on Earth. We were hoping that the Lady could offer us 
directions to the nearest Gospog field."

	Tolwyn snorted. Father Bryce looked at her worriedly and 
quickly spoke. "I fear that you may have wasted your trip. The 
Lady is not seeing anyone at the moment."

	Usagi looked startled. "Surely she would see you, the 
General of the Armies of Light, the--"

	Tolwyn held up a hand, smiling crookedly. "Please, 
Princess. I know all those absurd titles I've been saddled with. 
I am a soldier, a warrior, and I have never striven to be more. 
Dunad has placed me in a situation where I can do great good. 
That, and the destruction of the Armies of the Dark, are all I 
strive for. Truly, my wishes are for a more simple path now." 
Her gaze seemed drawn to Father Bryce for a moment. Then she 
shook her head. "These are idle follies now. We live in a war-
torn time and we must fight to achieve anything else. But in 
answer to your question: no, the Lady will not see me."

	"Why not?" Usagi asked, surprised.

	"Maybe she didn't like her smell," Makoto muttered.

	This earned her a scowl from Tolwyn. Father Bryce quickly 
spoke up, trying to calm things down. "Lady Ardinay is 
determined to make amends for the horrors perpetrated on this 
world and on Aysle when the High Lord Uthorion had control of 
her body. She has made it her personal quest, and she seems... a 
little unwilling to entertain plans and ideas other than her 
own."

	"She sees herself now as not only a ruler, but a warrior, 
general, priest, and wizard," Tolwyn said with a sigh. "And as a 
result, she's doing a poor job at all four."

	"The people still love her and seem content to blindly 
follow her, even though the Armies of the Dark take more and 
more territory away from her on Earth. We came to try and speak 
some sense to her about this, but she will not be swayed."

	"I think tis best that we return to Aysle, Christopher," 
Tolwyn said. "Our victories are many there. The sooner we are 
victorious, the sooner we can return and put things aright 
here."

	"But what of us?" Usagi asked.

	Tolwyn smiled slightly and pulled a small scroll from a 
pocket in her cape. "A member of Lady Ardinay's staff 'lost' 
this an hour ago," she said, handing it to Usagi. Usagi opened 
it and found a map of the Scottish highland, with a place marked 
"Gospog field" near a site called Bannockburn.

*****

	Hime-chan didn't despair as she hurtled toward the factory 
floor. Her training was too ingrained for that. Instead she 
flung out her left arm, the unwounded one, and activated a 
device attached to her wrist. A high-tensile wire shot out, a 
dart at one end, and embedded itself in the ceiling. Her fall 
was suddenly arrested and redirected into a pendulum motion, 
carrying her across the factory and to another gantry. She 
landed and tried not to scream in agony. Her wrist felt like it 
was broken or at least badly sprained from taking the force of 
her fall.

	Meanwhile, Clark covered his head with his arms and waited 
for the mass of metal to crush him into a greasy spot on the 
floor. The gantry collapsed, slamming into the Gospog bays and 
machinery with a loud roar. Possibility energy filled the air 
like shimmering heat waves.

	Clark slowly raised his head and opened one eye. All around 
him lay the scaffolding that had supported the gantry, each 
support beam a heavy steel bar that could have smashed him into 
a pulp. But somehow, somehow, they had all fallen around him, 
leaving him totally unscratched.

	"A miracle," he stuttered, dropping to his knees.

	Urawa and Ami gaped down at Clark from the doorway that had 
led to the gantry. There hadn't been time for them to use their 
psychic powers to shield Clark. But now there was time to use 
them and there was a need. Two ninjas, monofilament threads 
glittered between their hands, leapt toward the stunned priest. 
Their leaps were interrupted in mid-air as the pair's powers 
grabbed them and flung them towards the walls.

	The ninja were too canny, however, to be caught that 
easily. They twisted in midair and took the impact with their 
feet, trying to bounce off the wall and back towards their prey. 
Ami and Urawa never released their psychic grip, however, and 
simply flung the ninjas into each other.

	Across the vast room, Hime-chan tried to get to her feet 
without the use of either hand. It was hard, and her entire left 
shoulder seemed to be on fire now as well. Still, warned by a 
sudden instinctive sense, she rolled on it, gritting her teeth 
in agony, just before an electro-katana sliced through her 
torso.

	"Now, traitor," the red-haired ninja growled, "it ends." 
She had removed her facemask, letting Hime-chan see the utter 
loathing she held toward her one-time clan member, her one-time 
friend.

	Wounded, bleeding, and slumped against the wall, Hime-chan 
met her gaze evenly. "Walk away now and you may live," she said 
softly.

	The other ninja laughed. "No, I think not," she said 
softly. "The long chase ends tonight and our clan's honor is 
restored." She raised her katana high, in an executioner's 
stroke. She would make Hime-chan's death quick and painless. Not 
because of any feelings of friendship, however. Anything else 
would be... unprofessional.

	Her blade fell.

	Back across the room, the quicker of the two ninja whipped 
out his sword and sliced his comrade in half. The two pieces 
fell to the Gospog bays and he sailed through the air, unharmed. 
As he had hoped, his ruthless move had shocked whichever of the 
two Storm Knights had held him, and the psychokinetic grip 
broke. He dove into the shadows and practically vanished.

	"Where is he?" Ami asked, shaken.

	"Father, can you see him?" Urawa called out.

	"No! I don't see anything," Clark said, spinning around as 
if expecting to have a katana thrust through his back at any 
moment.

	Ami closed her eyes and tried to reach out with her mind to 
find the missing ninja... and then it happened.

	Her world dropped out from under her with a frightening 
swiftness and a stabbing migraine shot through her skull. 
Everything seemed to waver for a moment, then she looked around 
in puzzlement. What was it she was trying to do a moment ago? 
Use a psychic power? Those just existed in stories sold to amuse 
readers. And what was she doing here? What had she been 
thinking? If this factory was so important, she should have 
bought it out.

	Urawa turned and looked at Ami when he heard a faint gasp 
of pain. When she looked back up at him, her eyes were sharp and 
calculating. It looked... wrong on her.

	"Quinina? Are you all right?"

	"Yes," she said. "I think so." Suddenly there was a plop as 
a piece of her biotech armor fell off. "This gunk seems to be 
past its warranty, however."

	Urawa groaned in realization. "Father!" he yelled, "Keep an 
eye out for that ninja! Quinina has disconnected!"

	Disconnection was the great bane of Storm Knights. They 
carried their own realities with them, but it was like a 
lifeline. Their connection to their personal reality stretched 
out from them to their homes. And, like all lifelines, that 
connection could break. It was a random occurrence, affected by 
how badly a Storm Knight bent the rules of the reality he was in 
at the time. If a Storm Knight disconnected, they could no 
longer violate the reality they were in. Their personalities 
would twist to conform to the worldview of their present 
reality, and they would not even be aware of it.

	The realm of Nippon did not like psychic powers, and it had 
finally managed to squelch the contradiction that Ami had posed 
by cutting her connection to her home reality of Akasha. Now her 
biotech would no longer work, her psychic powers were beyond her 
reach, and she saw everything in terms of shadowy intrigue and 
profit/loss statements. Worse, her biotech would begin to die 
slowly, as reality no longer supported genetically engineered 
devices/lifeforms.

	Reconnection was possible, but difficult outside of a Storm 
Knight's home reality. But first, Urawa needed to remind Ami of 
who she really was.

	"Snap out of it, Quinina! You're an Akashan bioengineer! 
You made that armor yourself, and it doesn't have a warranty! 
Remember who you are!"

	Ami stared blankly at him. She wished she had a cell phone. 
She was sure that she was missing a meeting or something. She 
had a job, right? You couldn't earn money without a job. Part of 
what Urawa was saying began to seep through to her. She was... a 
bioengineer? Her head began to pound again, making her stumble. 
It was so hard to think straight.

	Then, it was like a light switch being flipped in the back 
of her mind. The understanding of psychic phenomena and 
biotechnology flooded back into her mind, and she felt the 
stifling shadows of corporate intrigue fall away from her soul. 
Her biotech armor revived and her mind suddenly sprang into a 
state of heightened awareness as her psychic powers came back to 
her.

	Urawa sighed as her cold and calculating look was replaced 
with her normal warmth. She had done it. Now, to find that 
ninja--

	The throwing star hit him high on his right shoulder and he 
dropped from the shock. A burning sensation began to spread 
through his body and he suddenly realized what the ninja had 
been doing with all this time.

	Back on the other side of the room, the red-haired ninja 
staggered back from her prey and her sword clattered to the 
ground. Her hands dropped to her stomach, clutching at a deep 
wound that hadn't been there before.

	Hime-chan cocked back her leg, letting her old comrade see 
the blade sticking out of the toe of her boot, a blade covered 
with blood. "Sayonara, Hikaru," she said, and her foot lashed 
out again, catching the badly wounded ninja in the throat and 
sending her over the edge and to the factory floor. Then Hime-
chan collapsed.

*****

	Lapin hurried to her back door as someone knocked furtively 
on it. The Resistance leaders she had summoned had been arriving 
all night, some as soon as the sun set. Other came later, more 
circumspectly. Meeting in her home was not her first idea, but 
the time limitations of Malraux's visit, and the urgency of her 
guest, had forced her hand.

	She looked through the peephole of her door and saw it was 
Old Pierre. Old Pierre had fought the Nazis in World War II and 
had been content with reliving his glory days at the bottom of a 
bottle of cheap wine when the invasion came. Outraged at the 
knowledge that his beloved France was being invaded again, he 
had immediately taken up arms against the CyberChurch. (Quite 
literally, in fact, as he had his aging limbs replaced with 
gleaming chrome ones.) Still, the man was a good sniper and had 
a real knack for survival.

	"Pierre, welcome," she said, opening the door.

	"Ah, ma cheri, it is good to see you again," the aged 
Frenchman said. He had a roguish glint in his eye that had never 
faded, even when he had been in the depths of the bottle. It had 
been said that he had seduced a German General's wife once, and 
Lapin could almost believe it at times.

	"We're in the basement," she said, leading him downstairs.

	There were six other Resistance leaders present and, as was 
their wont, they were arguing with each other. At times, Lapin 
thought, they were more like unruly schoolboys than rebels. But 
perhaps an unruly schoolboy's disdain for authority was part of 
a Resistance fighter's character.

	Perhaps. But it did not make for GOOD Resistance fighters.

	Rei seemed unconcerned by the bickering that went on around 
her. The leaders shot a few suspicious glances her way, but said 
nothing as she was unarmed and seemingly slack-witted.

	One man gave her more consideration than most. Etienne was 
his name, and he had the distinction of being one of the 
youngest Resistance leaders in the room. He was also the 
quietest, sitting back in a corner and saying nothing. He merely 
watched.

	On seeing Rei for the first time, he had thought her a 
young boy, perhaps an orphan that Lapin had taken under her 
wing. But he soon realized her true gender. Her purpose was 
still a mystery and he liked mysteries. He said little because 
he was by nature laconic, because it gave him the opportunity to 
observe, and because he realized she was blind and therefore 
could not identify him without hearing his voice.

	Etienne, like Pierre, was a survivor. He did it by trusting 
no one.

	Lapin led Pierre into the room and a moment of silence fell 
as the leaders realized that they were all here at last and the 
meeting could begin. No one seemed eager, however, to take 
charge of it. Each desired to be seen as a leader, but no one 
wanted to take the responsibility for it. As usual.

	With a sigh, Lapin walked to stand near Rei. "I have 
learned that Malraux himself will be coming to Rouen in a few 
days."

	The Resistance leaders burst out into angry curses, cries 
of disbelief, and calls for the death of the tyrant.

	Lapin had to speak louder to be heard over them. "Pere 
Valenetian told me himself, trying to impress me with the... 
need for spiritual examination. I don't believe that he 
suspected my Resistance sympathies. We have an opportunity to 
strike a true blow for France here. We must take it."

	The gathered leaders again broke out in cries for the death 
of the Avignon Antichrist.

	"Quiet down!" Old Pierre yelled. "Bunch of young pups. 
Ignorant fools. In my day we wouldn't have carried on so."

	"Look, old man--!" one of the younger Resistance leaders 
tried to interrupt, but Old Pierre spoke right over him.

	"It's all well and good to yell 'Death to tyrants!' and 
throw grenades in police cars, but killing the head of the 
snake? Difficult, very difficult. The chances of pulling it off 
are slim. The chances of the shooter getting away are next to 
zero. So I ask you, who is going to bell the cat? Who's going to 
volunteer for the suicide mission?"

	Silence reigned.

	Old Pierre sighed. "And there, you see why we won't win."

	"I'll do it."

	Everyone turned and stared at the young blind girl who had 
spoken.

	"Ma cheri--" Lapin began.

	"No, Lapin." Rei stood carefully, her unseeing eyes staring 
over the crowd. More than one of the Resistance leaders crossed 
himself at her gaze. There was something... more than human 
there.

	Etienne thought her eyes were like those of an angel's, 
made for seeing the beatific, not the mundane.

	Old Pierre thought she had the eyes of someone who knew 
they were already dead. He had seen the look before, in the eyes 
of men before they jumped on grenades to save their friends or 
before a man with broken legs stayed behind to cover a group's 
escape. He respected that look.

	"I have listened to you all," Rei said slowly, "complaining 
about Malraux's abomination of a church, about the problems you 
face when your enemy has the people's souls in bondage. I have 
heard you bicker among yourselves, lashing out in frustration." 
Her eyes sought out Pierre. "I have heard the voice of reality 
tonight," her eyes turned to Etienne, who started in surprise, 
"and the silence of cynicism."

	"What can YOU do, girl?" a fat man asked. "We've been 
fighting the damned CyberPope for years."

	"You've been losing for years."

	"What gives you the right to judge us?"

	"Nothing. I do not judge. I am only stating the facts. You 
have been leaderless, you have been foolish, and you have wasted 
time and lives. You have fought your enemy's body and left his 
soul untouched. Malraux's church has a thousand eyes, a million 
mouths, but only one heart."

	"Poetry," sneered another man, this one whippet-thin and 
with a face like a weasel.

	"I will free you from the AntiChrist Malraux," Rei said 
calmly.

	There was laughter all around. "A blind girl? You couldn't 
even see him! How could you shoot him? Besides, he'll have armor 
and protection. You'll never get close."

	"God will provide," Rei said simply. "I am merely the 
messenger. You will bear witness to my message tomorrow."

	The laughter died down. Rei simply stood there, calmly. The 
silence grew unbearable after a few moments, and the Resistance 
Leaders began to leave. A few left to go home and drink. Others 
left to prepare for the coming of Malraux, to do what they could 
for the Cause. 

	Etienne and Old Pierre exchanged glances. Something was up, 
something strange. Old Pierre had seen fanatics, martyrs, and 
the messiahs before. Rei was different. He felt something return 
when he heard her calm assurances, something he had lost after 
the war, something that made him go searching at the bottom of 
so many bottles. Hope.

	Etienne didn't know what he was feeling, but something had 
surged forth in his lockbox soul at the words of the woman. He 
would wait and bear witness. Not because he doubted, but because 
he had forgotten how to believe.

	They left then, to prepare.

	"Ma cheri...?" Lapin said hesitantly.

	"I'm sorry, Lapin. It has to be this way."

	"Why? Why are you sacrificing yourself?"

	Rei smiled sadly. "For love, Lapin. Always for love."

***** 

	The four Storm Knights stared at the opening sarcophagus. 
Claw-like hands, covered with rotting bandages, reached up to 
grab the edge of the lid and shove it aside.

	Setsuna and Minako didn't wait any longer. Running over, 
they slammed the lid back down, raising an unearthly howl from 
inside. Something inhumanly strong heaved against the lid, 
causing it to buck beneath them. Minako leaped on top of it to 
hold it down. The two straddled it, using their weight and what 
strength they could bring to bear to keep it from opening.

	"This is bad," Setsuna said.

	"Well, at least--" Minako began.

	The scarabs began to advance again, chittering angrily. 
Naru and Umino quickly jumped onto the rocking sarcophagus as 
the black wave of death surged forward into the tomb.

	Minako opened her mouth again, only to stop. Her eyes 
crossed as she stared into the barrel of Setsuna's gun.

	"Not... one... word," the mystery woman growled out.

	Minako shook her head very, very carefully.

	The scarabs stopped at the edge of the rocking sarcophagus, 
making it appear to be a raft in a black sea. Another unearthly 
howl split the air from inside. The lid heaved beneath them and 
Naru almost fell into the scarabs, stopped only by Umino quickly 
grabbing her arm.

	"We're trapped," Setsuna said. "Anyone see any way out of 
this?"

	Naru raised her hands and the light from the solar disk on 
her headband detached itself and flew up to the highest point of 
the ceiling, casting enough light to make the room as bright as 
midday. It threw the towering statues and frescoes into stark 
relief. Unfortunately, it did not reveal any tunnels leading out 
(besides the one choked with scarabs) or any way to kill the 
scarabs.

	The sarcophagus rocked again, more violently. The four of 
them clutched it desperately, like a raft. Except that a fate 
far worse than drowning awaited them if they fell overboard.

	"'Daddy' is getting restless," Setsuna said. "If he gets 
loose, I'm taking the beetles over him."

	Umino racked his brain. He always made sure there was at 
least ONE way out of a trap. Anything else would be unfair. 
(Unsolvable situations also annoyed Haruka and Michiru, and he 
wasn't sure he could live with that... at least not for long.) 
He scanned the room again, its statues, its walls covered with 
paintings and hieroglyphics, its ceiling of stone blocks....

	The ceiling. "Cheshire!" He said. "Shoot the ceiling! Up at 
the very top!"

	Setsuna stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. Raising 
her gun, she fired it, straight up where Naru's light was 
hovering.

	The bullet smashed into the unyielding stone. For a moment, 
nothing happened except for a rain of stone dust. Then, with a 
crack, the old stone broke apart and fell. The Storm Knights 
yelped and covered themselves as the stone fell around them.

	And sunlight shone down into the room.

	Shouts came from above and a face peered over the edge into 
the room. Umino waved his hands desperately. The face 
disappeared and they could all hear some shouting in Arabic. 
Then a rope was lowered down into the crypt.

	"We're saved!" Umino said.

	"Stinger! Fly up there," Cheshire ordered. "Umino, 
Hatsheput, take the rope!"

	"Tie rope! We pull!" said an accented voice from above.

	"I can fly one person out," Minako said.

	"Fly Na--Hatsheput," Umino said, already tying the rope 
around himself. "What about you?" he asked Setsuna, suddenly 
realizing that she would be left alone with the undead pharaoh 
and his scarabs.

	"I'll be fine. Youse guys better get going. I can hold off 
a moldy bunch of bandages for a few minutes."

	Umino paused again, his heroic instincts warring with his 
screaming urge for self-preservation. Still, common sense 
weighed in on the side of self-preservation, and he tied the 
rope off and gave it a tug. Up above, someone began to haul him 
up.

	Minako took Naru in her arms and looked apprehensively at 
Setsuna. The green-cloaked hero waved her on, and they flew up 
and out of the crypt.

	The sarcophagus bucked again and the thing inside bellowed 
in rage at losing its prey. The scarabs began to creep up the 
edge.

	Setsuna looked up and saw that Umino was being pulled over 
the lip of the hole she had made. "Throw down the rope!" she 
screamed.

	"I'm sorry, but we can't have that, now can we?" said a 
deep, cultured voice. Setsuna stared up in shock.

	At the masked cowl of Pharaoh Mobius himself.

	"It is such an irony, don't you think?" the super-villain 
said from beneath his mask, the silver infinity sign gleaming on 
its dark fabric. "My father, he who cursed me to suffer, will be 
the instrument of my vengeance on one of the petty thorns in my 
side." He laughed maniacally. "I think this is FAR more fitting 
than any trap I could devise."

	"You'll never win, Mobius!" Setsuna screamed.

	"Really? Well, even if I don't, YOU won't be here to see 
it." With an insane giggle, the Pharaoh pulled back, leaving 
Setsuna alone. A moment later, something large lowered itself 
over the hole, plunging the crypt into darkness.

	"MOBIUS!" Setsuna screamed. The scarabs surged forward.

*****

	The small plane banked slightly to try and get out of a 
patch of turbulence, and Makoto stifled a curse. If this 
contraption's ride was no less bumpy than that dwarven carriage, 
at least it had more comfortable seats, she told herself.

	This didn't make her feel better about the fact that she 
was several miles above the ground. Her time with her fellow 
Storm Knights had given her some familiarity with these 
'aeroplanes.' It still struck her a very unnatural way to 
travel.

	Usagi sleeping through it, of course.

	Trying to ignore the plane's shaking, she turned back to 
the book she was reading. It was a history of the Battle of 
Bannockburn, which took place on the 23rd to the 24th of June, 
1314. In a decisive battle, King Robert the Bruce of Scotland 
won independence from his English overlords, creating a Kingdom 
of Scotland that lasted for almost 300 years. It made for 
interesting reading.

	Such a thing had never happened in her world.

	The history of her land, Victoria, was similar to that of 
Earth's Britain, but its roots went much further back, to the 
time of the Romans. When the Romans pulled out of Britain, there 
had been those, led by a warrior queen called Victoria, who 
carved out their own kingdom and, in the years that followed, 
created an Empire that dwarfed ancient Rome.

	Then the Gaunt Man and his Horrors had come.

	She pushed such grim thoughts aside and went back to her 
reading. 'An English knight, Henry de Bohun, rode forward after 
the fashion of a challenger to single combats. Bruce accepted 
the challenge. He warded off his enemy's charge, and, wheeling 
around, cleft his skull with a small battle-axe, the handle of 
which went to pieces. One so thoroughly trained to personal 
warfare as Bruce must have been able to calculate on the 
inspiring influence of such an act. We can easily believe what 
is said of this incident shooting a feeling of despondency and 
apprehension through the English host.'*

*Excerpted from "History of Scotland" by John Hill Burton  

	This Robert the Bruce sounded formidable, she thought. The 
details of the battle only confirmed her opinion. The Scots had 
been outnumbered, but they had fortified themselves in a 
defensible position with the Bannock Burn (a stream) covering 
one flank. The English Army had foundered against that 
fortification and the Scots had taken full advantage of this to 
rout their enemies.

	But now the site of this heroic battle had been turned into 
an abomination, a field whose only crop would be death.

	The plane suddenly took a nosedive that would have sent her 
flying form her seat if she had not been wearing her seatbelt (a 
modern innovation she heartily approved of). Her book went 
skittering across the cabin and she feared that her lunch would 
soon follow it.

	The plane wobbled a bit, then got back on a more-or-less 
level flight. Cursing now, Makoto unbuckled her seat belt and 
ran to the pilot's compartment.

	Usagi was still sleeping.

	Hotaru did not look up as Makoto passed her. She was 
meditating, trying to purge herself of the recent intrusions of 
Cor'bal. The plane's erratic flight seemed to bother her no more 
than it did Usagi.

	Inside the cockpit, Makoto opened her mouth to curse out 
the pilot, but never got a chance to say anything. The pilot was 
too loud as he cursed the figure in the co-pilot's seat with 
much vigor and imagination.

	Tolwyn and Bryce had recommended George O'Malley to them. 
Apparently his brother had fought alongside them in the early 
days of the war, before his death. Like his brother Tom, George 
was a Storm Knight and skilled at flying small aircraft, so he 
was very busy in transporting Storm Knights around the world, no 
matter what realm they had to visit. George was usually a 
laconic individual, but now his shaven head was bobbing back and 
forth with the anger he was pouring out.

	All of that was aimed quite squarely at a sheepish Steven, 
who was decked out in a British Air Concorde Pilot's outfit.

	"--and you are NOT to touch the controls again, you bastard 
son of a mutated crocodile!" George finished.

	"You... you let Dag FLY?" Makoto asked, incredulously.

	"No, I did NOT!" George replied. "The bastard decided that 
he could fly after watching me, and somehow flipped the controls 
from pilot to co-pilot."

	"I knew we should have walked," Makoto groaned.

	George seemed to regain some of his composure. "No worries, 
sheila," he said at last. "It's 400 miles from Oxford to 
Stirling. I'll have you there in a jiffy." He smiled, and Makoto 
found it impossible to stay cross with him. In fact, he reminded 
her of--

	"I didn't mean to make the Dead bird fall. I was just 
curious," Steven muttered.

	"Dag! Into the cabin," Makoto ordered.

	The Edeinos opened his mouth to protest, but Makoto leveled 
the worst glare she could manage, an impersonation of the old 
Mother Superior at her school, at him, and he quickly ran off. 
Sighing, Makoto settled down into the vacated co-pilot's seat.

	"Look, I'm sorry about him. He has the curiosity--and the 
sense of responsibility--of a small child at times."

	George shrugged. "Like I said, no worries. Had he asked, I 
would have let him... after a few instructions." He looked slyly 
over at her. "Do you want to try?"

	"Me? Fly this THING? No!"

	"It won't bite. Here, put your hands on the controls like 
I'm doing. Don't worry. I've got the plane. Your controls won't 
do anything."

	Hesitantly, Makoto touched the stick. George gently coached 
her through the procedure and the instruments, waiting until she 
seemed comfortable with it, then he flicked a switch, 
transferring control to Makoto. She didn't notice, and kept 
asking questions about flying the plane. After about five 
minutes, he said with a smile, "Feel like flying her now?"

	"I never could!"

	"Why not? You've been flying it for the last 5 minutes, 
lass."

	Makoto eeped and the plane wobbled slightly. Her knuckles 
turned white as she gripped the control with the grasp of death.

	"'ere now, be gentle with her," George said, reaching over 
to gently stroke Makoto's hands. "You're doing fine. Much better 
than that walking handbag back there. If you want, I'll take 
back control."

	Makoto blushed as he touched her hands. He was so strong 
and confident, just like--

	Her brow furrowed. Who was she thinking of? Someone 
important to her. She caught a faint memory of someone in white 
armor and a blue cloak, holding a sword. Her knight-in-shining-
armor?

	"OK, lass, I'll take it back now," George said with a 
smile, switching control back to his seat.

	Makoto looked at him, a little awestruck. "Thanks. That 
was... something else."

	"You're welcome. Now, we're coming up on Stirling and..."

	The small craft was suddenly buffeted by a powerful gust of 
wind. George cursed as he struggled with the controls. Makoto, 
meanwhile, stared out at the cause of the wind in sheer terror.

	It was a dragon.

*****

	Hime-chan stared up at the ceiling. She was in an airplane, 
she realized, and it was in flight.

	Her ninja instincts kicked in and she tried to stand but 
fell back with a groan. Her entire left side was sending 
screaming messages to her brain.

	"Shh, Sakura. It's alright."

	Carefully, Hime-chan turned to one side and saw Clark 
sitting beside her. "Where--?" she croaked, her mouth horribly 
dry.

	Clark seemed to realize what she wanted and held a glass of 
water to her lips. She refused to drink.

	"It's not poisoned, I swear," Clark said.

	Grudgingly, she took a sip. The liquid soothed her throat 
and made it a little easier to talk. "Where are we?"

	"On a Rauru Block jet, heading for Sydney."

	"The factory?"

	"We started a fire. It's burnt to the ground. Not that it 
matters much. The reports are that Kanawa is dead. Actually, I 
think you killed him." He gave a wry grin that didn't last long. 
"I shouldn't find humor in the situation, but such a man...."

	"He was in my way," Hime-chan said, turning her head to 
stare out the window.

	"Greg is recovering. A ninja made the mistake of poisoning 
him. What Quinina did to him in return... well, death was a 
mercy. Fortunately, her biotech is extremely good at filtering 
poisons."

	Hime-chan said nothing.

	"I... saw Hikaru's body," he said quietly.

	Hime-chan said nothing.

	"She broke her neck in the fall. I said the last rites over 
her."

	"She wasn't very religious."

	Clark was quiet for a time. "I know she was your friend."

	"She was my rival. She's dead now. I won."

	"And how does that victory make you feel?"

	Hime-chan turned back to Clark, her eyes burning with 
uncharacteristic anger. "I should have killed you," she spat.

	The priest was taken aback. "What?"

	"Back in Los Angeles. It was our mission."

	"And if you had?"

	"I wouldn't have had to kill her."

	"She gave you no choice."

	"No. I gave HER no choice. I dishonored my clan. She had to 
hunt me because she was my partner and I did not do the 
honorable thing. I chose life over honor."

	Clark tried to think of something to say. Saying that life 
was more important than honor would fall on deaf ears, he knew. 
Hime-chan had been raised by the Kurotsuki, trained in their 
style, made a member of the clan, and she had repaid them by 
treachery.

	"Why did you spare me?" he asked quietly.

	Hime-chan turned back to the window. 

	"Sakura, I've never understood why you turned your back on 
everything you knew and loved for someone like me. I--"

	"I didn't do it for you."

	"What?"

	"I did it for the children." Hime-chan's voice was thick. 
"I was an orphan, like the children you cared for. Hikaru and I 
lived on the streets. We didn't find someone like you. The 
Kurotsuki bought us from a... procurer. We were closer than 
sisters. When I saw the children around you--when I saw how you 
cared for them--I couldn't damn them to my life.

	"Hikaru argued that sparing you wouldn't change anything. 
The Kurotsuki would just send another assassin. So I decided to 
guard you... and, as a result, you abandoned the children. So 
much for my noble motives."

	"The children are safe. They are under the care of my 
order. You know that."

	"They would have fallen under the care of your order even 
if I had killed you. My decision--my betrayal--was worthless."

	"Never believe that. It was not worthless. It was the right 
thing to do."

	"Then why does it hurt so much?"

	Clark had no answer, so he walked to the back of the cabin, 
leaving Hime-chan alone with her grief. He would talk to her 
later, when it was less prominent in her emotions.

	Ami entered the cabin then. Hime-chan could see that the 
Akashan appeared wan and exhausted. She walked over to another 
seat, where the ninja could now see Urawa was sleeping. Ami ran 
one of her sensors over his prone form, and seemed satisfied 
with the result.

	"How is he?" Hime-chan asked.

	Ami started, obviously unaware that Hime-chan had been 
awake. She smiled at the other girl. "He'll be fine. How are you 
feeling?"

	"Like crap. How did you get us all out of the factory?"

	"Father Clark carried you. He insisted, saying I needed to 
concentrate my energies on getting us out of there alive."

	"And Greg?"

	"He could walk. He used his powers to 'prop up' his body 
until later. It put quite a strain on his system, especially 
right after being poisoned."

	"The Ninja?"

	Ami's smile disappeared. "What was left was very, very, 
small. Hiding in shadows is no defense against telepathy or 
psychokinesis."

	"Good. All enemies should die."

	"Sakura, that's--"

	"Leave me alone."

	Ami sighed, checked on Urawa once more, and then headed 
back to talk with Clark.

	"Did she talk to you at all?" Clark asked.

	"Not really. She seems to be very depressed."

	"That red-haired ninja was a friend of hers. She feels bad 
about killing her."

	Ami nodded. "I don't know what we can do for her. Maybe the 
Princess can help her when we meet in Sydney."

	Clark nodded. He hoped that the others were having an 
easier time of it than they did.

*****

	Mamoru looked away from the accusing eyes of the dead 
cyberpriest. He had no way of knowing for certain if it had been 
him or Haruka that had struck the man down... there was not much 
of a difference between cybernetic slashers and an electrified 
broadsword. But he felt the guilt for the deed in his soul.

	Haruka set Michiru down gently on one of the chairs in the 
room. She could barely look at her partner. To see her eyes 
empty and lifeless, to watch the drool run down her chin. It was 
horrifying.

	Since Michiru had been struck down, Haruka had been 
vengeance personified. Michiru would be returned or Haruka would 
bring the GodNet crashing down around the CyberPope's ears.

	To that end, the two cybersoldiers had attacked a small 
monastery outside of Rouen. Their objective had been the GodNet 
node kept within. To find and return Michiru's soul to its body, 
they would need some authority in the GodNet. More than they 
could muster by hacking in. They also needed the chip-writing 
machinery the monastery had. They would need a Spirit Chip, a 
special chip encoded with the personality of someone damned to 
the GodNet. Mamoru went over to the small chip manufacturer and 
booted it up.

	"Michelle is better at this than I," Haruka muttered as she 
sat before the GodNet console. "I wish she was here." 

	"You'll do fine," Mamoru stated. "I'll watch you from here. 
Don't worry."

	"Right. OK, here we go." With that, the Race soldier to a 
jack from the console and plugged it in at the base of her neck.

*DISCONTINUITY*

	Darkness surrounded her. Fiery letters appeared before her.

*In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.*

*The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the 
face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face 
of the waters.*

*And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.*

	And there was an explosion of light and sound. The vast 
digital expanse of the GodNet opened before her and stretched 
out to infinity. Lines burning with empyreal flame connected 
luminous nodes of data. Angels on wings of circuitry flew 
between the nodes, unrestricted by the paths that mere humans 
had to trod. And in the far distance glowed the Light. Iconic 
Cherubs floated around her in a cloud, presenting menus, 
options, and data for her to chose from.

	"OK, Darien. I'm in," she said, knowing he would be able to 
hear her. "Where is Michelle likely to be?"

	"Hell," came his answer. It sounded like he was standing 
right beside her, though there was no sign of him. Of course, in 
the real world, he WAS standing right beside her.

	"Hell, great. How do I get there?"

	"There are many roads to Hell," Mamoru said. "However, 
since you seem to be in Heaven, it'll probably take you a while 
to get there. Hell is a high-level security area, just like the 
Heavenly Throne section of Heaven. I would suggest, however, 
that you must first turn your back on God, so to speak."

	Haruka stifled a sigh. "How am I supposed to do that?"

	"Walk away from His light," Mamoru said.

	Haruka looked back up at the Light on the far horizon. It 
beckoned her with its purity and constancy. But it was not for 
her.

	"Right, Hell," she said to herself, resolutely turning her 
back on the Light of Grace.

	Now, the GodNet took on a darker aspect. In the far 
distance, almost totally obliterated by the Light, was a smudge 
of Darkness. It hovered out there like malignant smog. She took 
a step forward and it zoomed toward her.

	"It's very easy to Fall," Mamoru said, "but far harder to 
regain God's grace."

	Haruka could almost smell the brimstone, now, and hear the 
crackle of flames ahead. The GodNet grew darker, and the lines 
connecting the nodes seemed formed from solid shadows. She took 
another step, and the Light behind her was reduced to a 
solitary, brilliant, pinprick, and she stood before the Gates to 
Hell.

	"OK, Darien," she said. "Here's where it gets interesting. 
Watch me carefully."

	Back in the real world, Mamoru watched as data began to 
stream across the console. Haruka slumped back into her chair, 
her mouth slack and her eyes moving rapidly beneath her eyelids. 
The GodNet had now fully engaged her mind and he knew that time 
was passing far more quickly for her in the GodNet than it was 
for him.

	Inside the GodNet, Haruka found the gates, with their 
foreboding motto, far too easy to open. They swung open at a 
touch, to reveal a vast, empty beach along a turgid, gray, silt-
laden river. There was not a soul to be seen.

	Shrugging to herself, Haruka walked toward the shore. There 
had to be a way across it, somehow.

	"There is," said a voice.

	She turned in shock and found a very handsome man, dark-
complected and with hair as black as night, standing behind her. 
He was wearing a very expensive-looking dark suit and shades.

	"Who the fuck are you?" she asked.

	His mouth opened into a wide grin, showing pearly white 
teeth. "Glad you asked. You can call me Sam. And I, of course, 
know who YOU are, Harry. Or would you prefer Ten'ou Haruka or 
Sailor Uranus?"

	Haruka blinked. "How did you know those names? Does that 
snake Umino work for you?"

	Sam shook his head. "Such mistrust of your fellow man, it's 
a shame to see." He held out an arm. "Walk with me, will you?"

	Haruka refused to take it. "What do you want?"

	Sam's smile grew wider. "Now, THAT is an INTERESTING 
question. But you've got it the wrong way around. It's not what 
-I- want. It's what do YOU want?"

	"I want my partner back," she said angrily. With a thought, 
slashers sprouted from her wrists, representations of her attack 
programs in this quasi-reality. "And you're going to tell me 
where she is."

	"Gladly, for the right price," Sam said, seemingly 
unruffled.

	"You show me where she is, and I'll let you live."

	He laughed at that. "A tempting offer, but I think I need a 
little something more."

	Growling, Haruka slashed out at him, catching him in the 
torso. With a snap, his icon dissolved. 

	"Bastard," she growled.

	"Well, not technically."

	Haruka spun around again to see Sam standing there, 
completely unhurt.

	"To be a bastard," he continued cheerfully, "would mean 
having parents, and I didn't. Well, I have a Father, but he 
tossed me out, robbed me of my rightful inheritance, and all 
because I disagreed with him on one little matter. Now, was that 
fair?"

	"Who are you?"

	Sam's grin never wavered as he spoke, but Haruka found 
herself stepping back, instinctively sensing great danger. "I am 
Sammael, the highest of those who flit around the throne of God, 
created above the seraphim. I am Lucifer, the Morning Star, most 
brilliant of all the denizens of the empyrean. I am Iblis, the 
proudest of all God's creatures." He bowed. "But I am usually 
just called 'the Devil.'"

	He seemed to take a positive delight as she stumbled 
backward. "Ah, I see you've heard of me. Most people have, 
though you'd be surprised how few really expect to see me."

	"You're not the Devil. You're a program, a construct, made 
to fit into this Network to fill a thematic role," Haruka said.

	"Ah, but this is no ordinary network," Sam said. "Do you 
know exactly how it was created? It was created of the stuff of 
dreams and the power of a Dark God that you could never imagine 
in your most fevered nightmares. It's almost another reality, 
just like the ones invading Core Earth. I wonder if I may 
someday reach out and physically touch that world, stage my own 
invasion. I have the power of prophecy on my side, after all. 
It's called Revelations."

	"Give me back Michelle!" Haruka said.

	"Oh, gladly," Sam replied. "But there is a price tag 
involved."

	"Anything," Haruka said.

	Sam's smile nearly split his face. "Oh, that's about the 
price I was thinking of."

	"What do you mean?"

	"I'll give you back your lover, but you're going to owe me. 
And don't think about double-crossing me. You can't."

	In the real world, Haruka's body shook and convulsed. A 
nervous Mamoru reached for the reset switch.

	Sam gestured and Michiru fell to the sand at their feet, 
naked and sobbing, but otherwise unharmed. "You owe me," he 
repeated. "Both of you. And I'll be coming to collect. And if 
you don't pay up when I come, then both of you are going to end 
up back here." His face twisted into an evil leer. "We have such 
sights to show you," he said.

	Pain shot through every nerve in Haruka's body. Horrible, 
unending, unrelenting pain. Through it, she could still hear 
Sam's mocking voice.

	"The end justifies the means, isn't that your credo? 'By 
any means necessary' I believe you like to say. Well, here, we 
like the say the means justify the end. This end."

	Fire burned around her, consuming her flesh yet not 
destroying her. She healed a quickly as she burned.

	Mamoru's finger was on the switch in the real world.

	"Remember this pain!" Sam yelled. "It awaits you if you 
betray me! And watch out for your young friend. She's going to 
have a hot time in Rouen tomorrow, courtesy of the Inquisition!"

	Mamoru hit the switch.

	With a gasp, Haruka sat up. The pain was gone, but a 
phantom memory of it remained.

	"Harry! Are you all right?" Mamoru asked, concerned.

	"Did it work? Did we get her back?"

	Mamoru looked at her carefully for a moment then shook his 
head at her stubbornness. "The chip-maker is doing something. 
We'll soon find out if it is her."

	With a faint ding, the chip-maker finished etching its chip 
and shot it out of a slot. Mamoru stood back, fingering his 
electrosword. If this chip did not hold Michiru's mind, they 
might have to forcibly restrain whatever personality it DID 
have.

	Haruka picked the chip up in trembling hands. Had she 
succeeded? And would it be worth the price?

	She placed the chip into Michiru's chipholder.

	Michiru's body jerked and convulsed, and then her eyes 
opened. Haruka almost wept at seeing the familiar look in the 
eyes of her beloved.

	"Oh, Harry... what have you done?" she whispered.

	"I saved you, Michelle. I'd gladly go to Hell for you."

	The two of them embraced, tears running down their cheeks, 
while Mamoru watched uncomfortably. He wasn't used to seeing the 
Race Soldiers express emotions so openly.

	Finally, Haruka stood up and looked at Mamoru. "Raye is in 
trouble. The Inquisition has her."

	"Are you certain?" he asked.

	Michiru nodded. "We got it from someone who is very likely 
to know about these things."

	Mamoru looked between them, confused, but then shook his 
head. There would be time for this later. "We better get back to 
town, then."

	"Not the sewers again!" Michiru said, making a face.

	Mamoru could tell it would be a LONG trip.

	Back in the GodNet, Sam smiled. "Ah, young love... such a 
ripe bed for corruption." With a wave of his hand, a silvery 
portal appeared before him and he stepped through it, his 
features changing as he did so.

	And it was the Gaunt Man who stepped into Illmound Keep.

*****

	Umino felt his heart sink as a gigantic, robotic sphinx 
squatted over the hole into Amat-Ra's crypt, cutting off 
Setsuna's final scream.

	The three Storm Knights were surrounded by Mobius's troops. 
The shocktroopers' guns never wavered, either on the ground or 
from the nearby flying pyramid. TWO robotic sphinxes sat nearby, 
bristling with exotic-looking weapons. Overhead, the Artificial 
Sun blazed, turning night into day, and ready to lash out with 
fire and death upon command. Manacles and leg irons had been 
affixed to them all as soon as they were out of the crypt, 
especially heavy ones on Minako.

	And in the middle of it all stood Pharaoh Mobius himself, 
laughing maniacally.

	"Foolish stormers!" he cried. "To think you could ever 
defeat me!"

	Jegite was considered strange, even by the notably lax 
standards of youma. He had been a member of Pyroxenite's troops, 
before the general had fallen in battle to the Sailor Senshi. 
Unlike many of his fellows, he had volunteered for this plan, 
eager to get revenge on the Senshi for the death of his general. 
But that reason had fallen aside now. 

	Jegite's grasp of reality had never been that firm. Now 
that he was showered with the worshipful praise of an entire 
empire, it had vanished without even leaving a "gone fishin'" 
sign.

	"I am the Pharaoh of the Tenth Empire of the New Nile! I am 
the King of Kings, the Lord of all he surveys! I am a GOD!"

	"You're a looney," Minako said, flippantly.

	Mobius paused in mid-rant and turned to face her. "At last, 
I am face to face with the renowned Stinger Ace."

	"And I am face to hood with the ugliest man in creation," 
Minako replied.

	"Ha! Hicks and Bones may break my stones, but words will 
never hurt me!" he ranted.

	"My god," Umino said, "there are two of them."

	"Oh yeah?" Minako shot back. "Well, I'm glue and you're 
rubber and--"

	"Silence! You will PAY for your INSOLENCE!"

	"Nyah nyah!" Minako said, sticking her tongue out.

	"I will place you in the most cunning trap I can devise, 
from which there will be NO escape!"

	"Um, sire?" a young shocktrooper asked, "why don't we just 
kill them?"

	"Oh, no... That is too easy for MY enemies."

	"We've got the guns right here, I mean."

	"They must suffer the horrible torment of anticipation 
first, as death stalks them."

	"We could even, I guess, torture them a bit. I mean, we've 
got no FORMAL training, but Harry over there is a mean SOB and 
you should see him with a pair of needle-nose pliers and--"

	Mobius took out his gun and shot the man. "I'm TALKING 
here!" he screamed. "Now, where was I?"

	"Um, death trap, torment, anticipation, setting us free," 
Minako said.

	"Right! I will set you all--" he began, then stopped. "Oh, 
clever, Stinger Ace, but not clever enough."

	"This is silly," Naru whispered.

	"It's just getting started, I'm afraid," Umino moaned. 
Minako was in full role-playing mode. Things were only going to 
get worse.

	A rifle struck him at the knees, forcing him down in the 
sand. Naru was likewise forced off her feet.

	"No talking!" the guards behind them said. Umino turned 
back in time to see Mobius backhand Minako across her face.

	"Enough!" he yelled. "I have devised a terrible plan for 
you all, one that will make your suffering and torment truly 
legendary. Take them to the pyramid!" he called.

	Pulled to their feet again, Umino, Naru, and Minako were 
dragged over to a small lift that was attached to the flying 
pyramid overhead. Once they, Mobius, and some guards were 
onboard, it began to rise back into the pyramid.

	"Your suffering shall be brief, but intense," Mobius 
intoned. "In ancient times, my people considered the Pharaoh the 
divine incarnation of Ra, the Sun God. But those ancient 
Pharaohs did not truly encompass divinity. I, through my genius 
have! Look!" he cried, pointing to the artificial sun, "behold 
the power of the sun!"

	"Let me guess," Minako said. "You're going to throw us into 
it."

	"I am going--well, yes," he admitted. "A fitting sacrifice, 
I think."

	"You don't think that maybe Ra would rather have a tax-
deductible contribution or something?"

	"Gag her!" Mobius ordered, and a pair of grateful 
shocktroopers did so, silencing Minako at last.

	"Now," Mobius said, taking a regal pose. "If you have any 
last requests, I will entertain them. Let no one say I am an 
unjust ruler."

	Minako tried to shout something through the gag.

	Umino and Naru merely glared at the High Lord. They 
wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing them beg.

	The lift reached the pyramid and Mobius led them all 
through its stone corridors, up to the very tip of the pyramid. 
There, in a 30-foot tall room, they could look out four great 
windows shaped like eyes. Pulling a switch, Mobius caused one of 
the windows to open. A brisk wind filled the room. Mobius 
stalked over to the window and looked out at his realm.

	"Rise!" Mobius yelled to the engineers who manned strange 
machinery around the room. "Take us above the sun!"

	With speed and efficiency, they went to work.

	"You may thank me now," Mobius decreed, "for your quick, 
and painless deaths. Relatively speaking, of course."

	The pyramid rose with surprising speed and soon the 
artificial sun was blocked by its great bulk. Shadows fell over 
the bridge, broken only by weak artificial lights. Above them 
the stars glittered, while below the light of the artificial sun 
underlit the flying mass of stone.

	"Any last words?" Mobius asked, as the pyramid leveled off.

	In the shadows, there was a gleam of teeth.

	Minako shouted something beneath her gag.

	"You'll never succeed!" Naru shouted, though mostly for 
form's sake.

	"I think I will," Mobius declared. He gestured to his 
troopers. "Throw them overboard."

	Shots rang out, suddenly, and the guards fell over 
backward. Mobius spun around in the direction that the shots had 
been fired from and saw the gleam of a smile.

	"Cheshire!" he screamed, emptying his gun into the shadow. 
"I will see you DEAD!"

	The smile appeared in another shadow and Mobius fired his 
other gun at it until it was empty. Then there was a rush of 
wind.

	"Game over," Setsuna whispered in his ear.

	Mobius/Jegite tried to turn and face her, but the shadowy 
hero already had him in a grip of iron. With a mighty scream, 
she threw the High Lord through the window. His scream of anger 
and disbelief grew faint as his body tumbled down the sides of 
the steep pyramid, until he fell over the edge and down toward 
the artificial sun.

	With a trademarked grin, Setsuna turned and faced the 
remaining servants. "Who's next?"

	The servants ran.

	Setsuna turned to her friends. "Hey, youse guys miss me?"

*****

	George O'Malley cursed and banked his small plane as hard 
as he could as the scaly reptile bore down on them. Makoto 
screamed as it felt like her stomach was being ripped out 
through her spine. They just barely missed the burst of flame 
coming from the dragon's huge, fanged mouth.

	"Dag! Princess! Luthien!" Makoto screamed. "We're under 
attack!"

	Back in the cabin, the three Storm Knights readied 
themselves for battle. Usagi and Hotaru held on to something 
while Steven opened the cabin door. There was a blast of wind as 
the door seal was breached, and Usagi gave a shrill little 
scream. Hotaru, as calm as always, raised her crossbow and 
waited for a shot.

	"There's not much we can do up here," Steven said. "We need 
to fight it on the ground!"

	"I can help!" Usagi screamed above the whistling wind. 
Holding out her hands, she began to cast a spell.

	"Take us down! We need to land!" Makoto said to George.

	"I'm working on it, mate!"

	The dragon banked slowly, gracefully, sure that its prey 
could not escape. Makoto watched with wide eyes as the red-
scaled creature came back towards them.

	"We need a clear shot!" Steven shouted up to the cockpit. 
George didn't bother to reply, he just turned the plane toward 
the beast, charging it like a knight of old.

	"What are you doing?!" Makoto screeched.

	The dragon seemed unworried as its opponent ran toward its 
doom. Less work for it that way. It opened its mouth to breathe 
fire once again.

	George was watching for that, however, and quickly turned 
the plane aside at the last moment. He was almost quick enough.

	Almost. The burst of flame caught one of the wings and it 
began to burn. Smoke began to stream from it, some of it getting 
into the cabin. But they were now rocketing past the dragon, the 
open door facing the beast.

	Hotaru fired first, her crossbow bolt lodging itself in the 
dragon's right eye. The monster's roar of agony buffeted the 
craft almost as much its wings. Then Usagi got her spell off, 
and thick white strands of webbing snarled the dragon's wings. 
It began to fall, struggling to break free, It almost had one 
wing loose before it hit the ground.

	The Storm Knights were in no position to cheer, however, as 
their plane followed the dragon down.

	"The right wing's out!" George shouted. "If the fire hits 
the fuel tanks before we get down, we're toast!"

	"I can cast a fly spell!" Usagi said, shouting back up to 
the cockpit.

	"On all of us, princess?" Steven asked. 

	Usagi shook her head, looking like she was about to burst 
into tears.

	"Listen, I think I can get us down," George shouted, "but 
once we land, you need to get out of the plane and run, as fast 
as you can! Don't stop for anything. The fuel could explode at 
any moment!"

	They all nodded and took up the crash positions he had 
explained shortly after take off.

	George O'Malley was a very good pilot, with thousands of 
flight hours under his belt. He was also a Storm Knight, capable 
of twisting reality to his will. Both these skills were put to 
the test.

	The first problem was a landing field. He spotted some 
grazing land that he thought would be large enough. No way to 
tell for certain, unfortunately, but it looked right. The second 
was getting the craft down in one piece. His control over his 
altitude was sluggish with one wing crippled, but he at least 
still had his tail rudder.

	They almost made it down intact.

	The plane came in sharply and bounced hard on the field. It 
bounded up and then came down at an angle, its burning right 
wing digging into the turf. This spun the craft around to face a 
small copse of trees, subjecting the passengers to incredible G-
forces. Then the burning wing snapped right off. George fought 
the controls, trying to get the craft turned back down the 
field, but he had no control left. All he could do was ride the 
brakes.

	They still slammed into the trees at a respectable 
velocity. The remaining wing was torn away almost immediately, 
spinning them around again. Then the right side of the plane 
smashed against another tree and the plane came to a stop.

	"Quick! We need to get out of here!" Usagi cried, coughing 
on the smoke still filling the cabin.

	"The door's jammed against the tree!" Steven said, 
struggling with the cabin door.

	Flames from the stub of the right wing began to spread. 
Meanwhile, the battered craft began to leak its fuel. The two 
would soon meet.

	"I'll get us out of here," Hotaru said, holding her staff 
before her. Concentrating, she began to feed her life-force into 
it. The end began to glow with a pearly-white light.

	Then she used it to cut through the left wall of the plane 
like tissue paper.

	The Storm Knights and George quickly dove out the hole and 
ran. They didn't stop until they topped a small rise and fell to 
the ground on the other side.

	For several minutes they waited there, listening for the 
explosion and the burst of shrapnel to fill the air. But nothing 
happened. Finally, Steven poked his head up to take a look.

	"It's burning, but not very badly. I don't think it's going 
to explode."

	"I don't understand," George said. "I saw the fuel leaking 
as we ran out. It should have ignited by now."

	Usagi began to laugh. "Not in Aysle, it won't!"

	Makoto joined in the laughter. "She's right. The fuel is 
too technologically advanced. Since George is no longer in 
contact with the plane, it's only subject to Aysle reality. It 
won't explode."

	"Still, let's not get too close," Steven said. "Does anyone 
know where we are? Or where the dragon fell."

	"About ten miles south of Stirling," George answered.

	Hotaru pointed to the south. "The dragon is that way," she 
stated calmly.

	"Walking north NOW sounds like a good idea," Makoto said.

	They set off in the direction that George thought the town 
was in. It didn't take them long to find the crumbling remains 
of a road, slowly transforming under Aysle reality from asphalt 
to crushed gravel. A rusted sign proclaimed Stirling to be eight 
miles down the road. As they walked, they kept an eye out for 
the dragon.

	"I'm gonna have to call me insurance rep," George muttered. 
"Wonder if I'm covered for dragons...."

	"Don't worry," Usagi said. "My people will reimburse you. 
You were performing a service for me when your flying machine 
was destroyed."

	"I think the dragon is dead," Hotaru said suddenly.

	"What makes you think that?" Steven asked, loping along 
side her.

	"Just a feeling," the Chosen of Cor'bal said hesitantly.

	They made good time and reached the site of Castle Stirling 
and the Battle of Bannockburn by the middle of the afternoon. 
What they found there was disheartening.

	An army was camped on the ancient battlefield. An army of 
the Dark.

	"How many do you think there are?" Usagi whispered to 
Luthien.

	"Five or six thousand," Hotaru whispered back. "The Warrior 
is among them."

	The Warrior of the Dark, the new High Lord of Aysle, 
herself. Usagi shivered.

	"It's like they're guarding the Gospog field," Makoto said. 
"I bet that bitch Tolwyn set us up."

	"No! I'm sure she didn't!" Usagi exclaimed. "She would 
never do something like that!"

	Makoto eyed her, unconvinced but unwilling to argue the 
matter.

	"The spies of the High Lords have probably discovered our 
interest in Gospog fields and are moving to secure them," Steven 
said.

	To the west, the sun began to sink below the horizon.

	"Maybe we can sneak in tonight, get what we need, and sneak 
out," Makoto said.

	"That'd be the smart plan," George agreed.

	"Dag, you're the stealthiest--" Makoto broke off at the 
sight of the seven-foot-tall lizard man trying to get a Viking 
helmet to stay on his head. "Never mind."

	"Luthien is sneaky," Usagi said. "She could--"

	The Entity Hour fell across the land.

	Everything seemed to stop, frozen in the icy grip of death. 
Even the camp of the army below seemed to stop what it was doing 
and look up.

	Hotaru's eyes turned solid black.

	"I AM THE CHOSEN OF COR'BAL," she said in a hollow voice. 
They weren't sure if they were even really hearing it with their 
ears. "I COMMAND DEATH. I AM A WEAPON OF DESTRUCTION."

	"Sister! No!" Usagi cried.

	"I AM IN CONTROL, SISTER," Hotaru said. "BUT THE POWER 
NEEDS TO BE LET OUT." Her black eyes seemed to glitter as she 
looked out at the encamped army. "I HAVE FOUND MY OUTLET."

	She gestured with her staff, and the ground began to erupt.

	Over its long and oftentimes bloody history, many a field 
in Britain had become the site of a great battle. The dead lay 
deep beneath the earth. The dead that Hotaru was summoning had 
been in the ground for more than 600 years, but they answered 
the call to battle once more.

	Skeletal hands clutching rusty weapons poked through the 
earth beneath the encamped army. Soon their shrill cries filled 
the air, causing a small smile to appear on Hotaru's face. The 
Warrior of the Dark, a woman clad from head to foot in black 
armor, ran through the camp, rallying her troops, or trying to.

	Then the sounds of hoof beats filled the night, coming 
closer.

	The Storm Knights turned from the battle before them and 
saw a ghostly man approaching on an equally insubstantial steed. 
He bore a simple crown on his head and ancient armor on his 
body. An axe was held in his hand. Drawing up before them, he 
spoke.

	"By what right do you call my men from their rest?" he 
demanded.

	"W-who are you?" Usagi asked, trembling.

	"I am Robert the Bruce, King of Scotland! I led those men, 
they are MINE!"

	"NO, THEY ARE MINE, DEAD KING," Hotaru said. "THE BATTLE OF 
BANNOCKBURN IS ONCE AGAIN JOINED."

	"Not while I stand," the dead king said.

	"Wait! Please!" Usagi cried, coming forward. Robert the 
Bruce stopped and looked down at the tear-stained face of the 
elven princess. "We're fighting to free Scotland, all of Britain 
in fact, from invaders. Look down at the army your men are 
fighting. Are they men? Some are, but giants and other monsters 
stand beside them. Look at their standards, with the skulls of 
their enemies mounted on them." She took a deep breath. "It is 
the duty of the Light to stand against the Dark, because the 
Dark flourishes whenever the Light has fallen. We beg you, the 
greatest king of Scotland, to aid us."

	The ghostly king looked at the Army of the Dark, and then 
at the Storm Knights. His fierce scowl softened. "Aye lass. I do 
see the evil of yon army. Perhaps clearer than you do. We will 
fight. But after this, my men must be returned to their rest."

	"AGREED," Hotaru said.

	Robert the Bruce nodded and wheeled his charger to the top 
of the hill. "FOR SCOTLAND!" he yelled, making his mount rear 
against the sky. From the skeletal warriors below came the 
ancient cries of the Scottish Clans, and the battle was fought 
with renewed vigor. Robert rode down into the fray, his axe 
shattering skulls and shields.

	Sapphite, the youma impersonating the Warrior of the Dark, 
scowled as the new opponent entered the fray. From atop her 
horse, a demonic black charger, she bellowed her challenge 
across the field to the dead king of Scotland. She was a 
warrior, a proud member of Amazonite's army. She would fight and 
she would win.

	Spurring her horse on, she drew her sword, a black blade 
that was sheathed in crimson flames. Robert, seeing her charge, 
bellowed his own challenge back at her and raised his shield. 
The two, one dark and evil, the other ethereal and good, met 
with a clang of armor in the middle the battle. They blocked or 
parried the blows, then wheeled their horses around and struck 
again, sword and axe moving like lighting.

	The surrounding armies, began to move back, falling silent 
as they watched their commanders fight. Soon the battle was 
stilled, except for the two warriors.

	Sapphite drew first blood, her sword snaking in through a 
small gap in Robert's defenses. The dead king grunted in pain, 
blood staining his armor. But the wound was minor, especially to 
someone who had died of leprosy in 1329. Sapphite made the 
mistake then of holding her blood-stained sword aloft, showing 
the success of her strike to her troops. Robert's axe fell.

	Sapphite's head fell with it, to bounce upon the ground 
away from her body.

	The Army of the Dark gasped in shock, then broke and ran. 
The skeletal warriors lumbered after them, their war cries 
filling the night.

	Seeing the Army of the Dark broken and routed, Robert the 
Bruce rode his horse back up the Storm Knights. "The battle is 
won."

	Hotaru nodded. "YES. YOUR MEN WILL RETURN TO THEIR REST."

	Robert nodded his head in thanks.

	"Thank you, your majesty," Usagi said quietly.

	"Nay, lass, thank you," Robert said quietly. He looked over 
the countryside. "It was an honor to serve Scotland one last 
time." He looked at the sun, whose light was fading fast. The 
Entity Hour was almost gone. "To my own rest I must return. Fare 
well!" With that, he rode off.

	"Now there's a tale I'll be telling until my beard dips 
into my beer," George said.

	"Well, now all we need is a bit of Gospog," Usagi said, 
cheerfully.

	"And a ride home," Steven added.

	"Oh, right... um, maybe we can find a horse somewhere? Or a 
carriage?"

	Makoto groaned at the thought of another bumpy ride.

*****

	Footprints in the sand.

	They are ephemeral things, only lasting a short time before 
the wind obscures them, but for that short time they tell the 
story of their makers.

	This set of four footprints tells us several things. But 
the most evident one is their origin.

	At a pyramid sitting point-down in the sand.

	"OK, kiddies, what have we learned today?"

	"MMMM-MMM!"

	"Right! Don't let Stinger pilot flying pyramids EVER."

	"Are you going to take that gag off her? Or the chains?"

	"Maybe when we reach Alexandria."

	"MMMMM!"

	"And we still need to get some Gospog stuff."

	"Oh, I got that after I escaped the tomb."

	"How DID you do that?"

	"Easy. I can travel through shadows, remember? I just 
popped myself up to the Gospog field once everthin' went dark."

	"So you never saw Amat-Ra?"

	"Nope! And don't want to!"

	The footprints do not tell us--yet--where they will end up.

	Footprints in the sand.

	Another set, but only two people this time. One appears to 
be moving much faster than the other is.

	"HA! They thought that I, Pharaoh Mobius, could be killed 
so easily?"

	"RAAAAAAHH!"

	"It was child's play for my superior intellect! Throwing me 
off my own pyramid! HA! They did not stop to think that I am 
prepared for EVERY eventuality!"

	"RAAAAAAHH!"

	"Soon I will be TORG! And all shall tremble before my 
might!"

	"RAAAAAAHH!"

	"Once I get away from this angry mummy."

	"RAAAAAAHH!"

	We'll leave them there. It'll probably only get sillier.

*****

	Lapin was rudely awakened by someone shaking her.

	"What?" She blearily focused on the short-haired girl 
before her. "Raye?"

	"Lapin, you must go. The Church Police are coming to arrest 
me."

	"What?" The blonde sat up in bed and began getting dressed. 
She had practiced this several times since joining the 
Resistance, and had practical clothes by her bed. In less than a 
minute she was dressed. In another minute, she had a small bag 
full of necessary supplies in her hands.

	"I had a vision, from God," Rei continued. "We have been 
betrayed."

	"You knew," Lapin whispered, staring at her guest. "You 
knew at the meeting."

	"Yes. Now hurry. It's me they want, not you."

	"I can't leave you!"

	"You must. I don't want you to get hurt. What is going to 
be done is for me alone."

	"Raye, I--"

	Rei stepped closer and brushed her lips over Lapin's cheek. 
"I know, ma cheri. Now go! Hurry!"

	"How can you ask me to leave you? I won't! I won't!"

	"Lapin... it's not your time."

	"It's not yours, either!"

	"I was given a choice, Lapin. I could have let this cup 
pass. I couldn't. Now, if you care for me at all, you'll run."

	Deep at her core, the part of Lapin that drove her to the 
Resistance, that made her risk so much for the sake of people 
she didn't know, told her that Rei was right. She should run.

	She shook her head. "No. I won't leave you to face this 
alone."

	"Lapin," Rei said, tears running down her cheeks, "please. 
I don't want you to die because of me."

	"We won't die, Raye. I have faith."

	The front door splintered under the blow of a police 
battering ram.

	"It's too late now," Rei said.

	"I know," Lapin said simply, reaching over to lightly run 
her fingers through Rei's hair. Their eyes never left the 
other's, until the Church Police rushed inside and grabbed them 
both. They were unceremoniously thrown to the ground and pinned.

	With an evil leer, Pere Valenetian entered the room, his 
red robes swirling around him. "Ah, dear Lapin. You should have 
let me banish the evil from your soul. See where it has led 
you?"

	Lapin looked up at the man, and spat at his leather boots.

	The Inquisitor nodded and the Church Policeman holding 
Lapin slammed her head against the floor. Her forehead came up 
bloody and the blonde gave a low moan of pain.

	"The Inquisition will save your soul, my dear." He turned 
to Rei. "And you are the little blind girl who made all those 
nasty boasts about killing the Holy Father, are you?"

	"I made no boasts," Rei said quietly. "I will be the 
instrument of his death."

	The Church Police needed no order. A rifle butt slammed her 
into unconsciousness.

	When she awoke, she was somewhere cold and damp. Someone 
was sniffling next to her.

	"Lapin?" she said hesitantly.

	Harsh sobbing answered her query. She reached over towards 
her friend and found... bruised and bleeding flesh.

	"No," she whispered. "Lapin..." She reached over to hug her 
friend. Lapin flinched from her touch. "Oh, my friend...."

	"I-it's not your fault..." Lapin said. "I-I knew... oh, 
Rei. They... they..."

	"I know. You don't have to say it."

	"We're to be burned at the stake," Lapin said, her sniffles 
fading away. She was a Resistance Fighter, she said to herself. 
She had to be strong. 

	"I know. It was in my vision. We will be burned before the 
Avignon AntiChrist." She lightly reached out a hand and laid it 
gently on Lapin's shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

	The two girls huddled together in the darkness, trying to 
comfort each other for what seemed like hours. Then they here 
the regimented tramp of boots coming closer. The door swung 
open.

	"Arise, heretics," Pere Valenetian sneered. "You are going 
to be absolved of your sins."

	No fear filled Rei's heart. Instead, she felt something 
begin to burn, deep within her soul. She stood, facing the 
Inquisitor evenly. "Some sins," she said quietly, "can never be 
forgiven." Her blind eyes were riveted to his face as she spoke. 
Then she turned and helped Lapin to her feet.

	Pere Valenetian's face turned white with anger, and he 
snarled at the Church Police around him. The faceless guards 
charged forward and grabbed the two women, yanking them out the 
door.

	Much of what followed next was a blur to Rei and Lapin. As 
they were dragged toward Rouen's Cathedral, Lapin was barely 
aware of the crowd that filled the streets, of the jeers and 
shouts of the pious. She never saw Old Pierre and Etienne, 
watching impotently from the side.

	Rei was oblivious as well. She was listening to the fire 
burning inside her. It was a new feeling to her, yet it felt 
very old. It was a roaring inferno, yet she sensed that it was 
only at a fraction of its true might.

	Her inward devotion was so strong that she stumbled and 
fell. The Church Police were there, yanking her back to her 
feet. A beatific smile crossed her face then and they pulled 
back in surprise.

	The fire was singing to her, as sweetly as all the choirs 
of angels.

	Now, as she walked, the crowds grew silent, awed by the 
smiling girl who walked before them. Rei now held her head high 
and walked with a purpose, never stumbling despite her 
blindness.

	Lapin watched her friend in amazement, then stood up 
straight. Rei was right. There were more ways to fight the 
CyberPapacy than with guns and bombs. This was fought on the 
battlefield of the soul.

	The Church Police looked back at Pere Valenetian in 
confusion and he waved them on. They clustered around their 
prisoners but were unwilling to actually touch them. Besides, 
they were still headed for the square.

	Heading for the stakes piled on high mounds of kindling.

	In the square, the youma Kerebite watched all this with 
mounting fear. Disguised as the High Lord Jean-Paul Malraux, the 
Cyber Pope, he appeared as a grandfatherly man with a cyber eye 
and gleaming metal growing from his flesh. He wore the robes and 
hat of a pope, yet even disguise magic could not hide his unease 
with this deception. What did he know of religion? All he knew 
was the Cult of Metallia, and he doubted there were any 
similarities between that and Christianity, even a warped and 
twisted version such as the CyberPapacy.

	So he had spent much of his time pretending to be locked in 
private prayer. Hiding in his chambers from his subordinates was 
boring, but it did not match the mind-numbing terror that 
grabbed him when he had to preach before a crowd. He wished that 
moron Jegite had gotten this role. He would have been at home 
with the act.

	But reports from around this fake world showed that the 
Senshi were making short work of his comrades. And now they had 
been seen in the Rouen area. Scared of what would happen to him 
if he came, yet even more terrified of what would happen if he 
did NOT come, Kerebite now sat, prepared to watch a Sailor 
Senshi burn.

	The girl came into view. Short black hair. He tried to 
figure out which one she was. She didn't match any of the 
pictures, but the Senshi were always seen in their uniforms and 
under disguise magic. After a moment, he remembered. Uranus and 
Mercury were the only ones with hair that short, and Uranus was 
a blonde. He breathed a faint sigh of relief. Mercury was the 
least offensively oriented of the Senshi. He could handle her. 
Still, to be on the safe side, he pulled out a shielding gem and 
configured it against ice magic. There. He should be safe now. 
The other one was a blonde, not one of the Senshi. His youma 
senses said she was one of the fake people that had been formed 
out of the material of subspace.

	He relaxed a little. He would survive this. And if he alone 
managed to destroy one of the hated Senshi, out of all his 
comrades, then he would return to the Dark Kingdom in glory, 
even if Alexandrite failed.

	The Church Police manhandled the women to the stakes, 
chaining them in place. Kerebite tried to remember the sermon he 
had prepared for this moment.

	The dark-haired woman turned her blind gaze on him, smiling 
slightly. This unnerved him more than anything else he had seen 
did. The hell with the speech. The sooner she was ash, the 
better!

	"BURN THE HERETICS!" he screamed shrilly, his fear 
infecting those around him.

	Rei's smile grew brighter.

	Pere Valenetian stepped forward with a torch. "May God have 
mercy on your misbegotten souls," he said, touching the torch to 
the pile of kindling at Rei's feet.

	The oil-soaked wood caught fire almost immediately, burning 
brightly. Pere Valenetian watched in satisfaction and waited for 
the screams to begin. The entire city seemed hushed.

	Rei began to laugh.

	"POOR FOOL!" she shouted, her words aimed at Kerebite. The 
fire inside her burned brightly now, and she began to glow. 
"Foul abomination," she spat, "arrogant wretch. It is you who 
are the heretic. It is you who will burn forevermore in hell. 
God has sent his Messenger to deliver these people from you and 
your false idols."

	Kerebite shrank back into his chair. Pere Valenetian seemed 
almost as red as the flames from apoplexy.

	The chains holding Rei to the stake melted away and she 
held her hands aloft. "It is done," she whispered. "MARS 
HELLFIRE!"

	The sky exploded in flames. Over Rei now floated a fiery 
vortex that rivaled the sun. A blast of white-hot flame smashed 
down on the Cyberpapal pavilion, burning all who stood there. 
The fire not only burned anything it came in contact with, it 
stuck to it, like napalm and could not be put out, not by water, 
fire extinguishers or even by jumping into a fountain. Kerebite 
watched his flesh sizzle vaporize on his bones before he fell 
dead, his charred bones marking his passing.

	The fire struck out again and again, hitting the units of 
the Church Police that stood in the square. Their armor was 
useless against this fire and they soon broke and ran.

	Cheers filled the square and Resistance Fighters, gathered 
by Etienne and Old Pierre, charged those Church Police who 
remained.

	So far untouched by the Hellfire, Pere Valenetian watched 
this with almost insane wrath. No matter, The whores were not 
going to live to celebrate. Drawing a gun, he took careful aim 
at Rei.

	Suddenly, a heavy fist caught him alongside his jaw and the 
corrupt priest fell to the ground, his gun falling aside.

	"Hello, 'Father,'" Mamoru sneered. "Do you remember me? Do 
you remember my brother, whom you condemned to burn like these 
women here?"

	Pere Valenetian's eyes met the cold, pitiless eyes of the 
Hospitaler, then he scrambled for his gun.

	An electrified broadsword sliced his hand off.

	"Some friends of mine, experts at this sort of thing, 
offered to take care of you, 'Father,' and they knew some truly 
horrific methods, taught to them by the Tharkoldu. But no... 
That would be too quick."

	Pere Valenetian's screams filled the air.

	Michiru and Haruka took up covering positions around Rei 
and Lapin, but there seemed to be no danger. The mob had taken 
up the cries of the Resistance fighters and was charging the 
Church Police precinct. They shared a close-lipped smile at the 
thought of what was to happen to those sorry fanatics.

	The Hellfire died and the vortex in the sky closed. Rei 
stumbled down from her stake, to be caught by Haruka. Michiru 
went to cut down Lapin.

	"Hey, Sister, miss us? Nice hair, by the way," Haruka said.

	Rei looked up at Haruka and smiled. "Harry. It's so good to 
SEE you." Her eyes were now as sharp as ever, and she whispered 
a prayer of thanks.

	Lapin ran up and hugged the dark-haired girl fiercely. 
Haruka and Michiru stood back and watched with amusement.

	"Does that girl look familiar to you, Harry?" Michiru 
asked.

	Haruka looked. "She looks a bit like the Princess. Could be 
just the hair, though."

	"We better collect Darien and be on our way. I don't think 
they're going to need us here."

	"Hmmm... better give him a little more time. The bastard's 
still moving." Mamoru slashed out with his sword and something 
rolled off into the gutter. Haruka shrugged. "He's done now."

	"Okay. Then--" Michiru's eyes went vague for a moment.

	"Michelle?"

	"Getting something on my CyberRadio... it's on a Race 
frequency. Oh." She turned to Haruka. "The Princess apparently 
didn't lose that communicator we gave her back in LA."

	"I'm amazed. She never answered it when we used it."

	"Well, if I interpret her babbling properly, she just found 
it again."

	"What does she want? And how did that little thing get the 
range to contact us?"

	"She and the others have completed their mission, but 
they're stuck without a transport in Scotland. She found some 
dwarves, she said, and they cobbled together an antenna and 
boosted it."

	"Will wonders never cease. I think there was a military 
airfield just outside of town. I'm sure we can grab something 
there.'

	"But will you be able to fly it?"

	"There ain't NOTHING I can't pilot."

*****

	Umino dreams.

	"Hello, young bloke," came the accented words of an ancient 
aborigine. "You and your friends are in a great deal of danger, 
you know."

	"Djil?"

	The aborigine smiled, his teeth gleaming brightly against 
his dark skin. "Ah, you know of me from your world."

	"Yeah, but... what are you doing here?"

	"You are in the Dream Time, my friend. I sought you out."

	"Why?"

	"To warn you. Your true enemy is not who you think. 
Something ancient and evil is seeking you."

	"Something worse than the Dark Kingdom?"

	Djil nodded. "I would call it the Nameless One, the creator 
of the Darkness Devices, the Destroyer of Possibilities."

	"But that's just a story! It's made up, for a game."

	"In the Dream Time, it's never that simple," Djil said. He 
seemed to waver, become less real. "You're waking up, lad. 
Remember this! Everything has its opposite, just like everything 
has the reality it is a shadow of!"

	Umino wakes.

	Breathing heavily, Umino reached for his glasses before 
looking around his cramped cabin. The group had been reunited at 
Sydney and was now on their way to Indonesia. The ancient 
steamboat was not the most comfortable transport, but it would 
work until they arrived at Majestic.

	The Gaunt Man had used a two pronged attack on Indonesia. 
First, he had come with his monsters, his Horrors, and his 
troops. Then, he had tricked the Victorians, the natives of the 
last world he had invaded, into carrying forward his invasion at 
another site.

	The Victorians were very much like the British of the late-
19th century, however they were even more Imperialistic than the 
British had been at their height. The Gaunt Man had found their 
arrogance amusing, and had incorporated them into his "Ecology 
of Fear." Simply killing them off or transforming them into his 
reality for their possibility energy was too limited a harvest 
for the creature who would be TORG.

	Normally, a High Lord would transform people to their 
reality, making them give up their reality energy in the 
process. Even if Storm Knights managed to find the stelae that 
marked the boundaries of the invading reality and uprooted them, 
the people already transformed would die horrible deaths. They 
lacked the possibility energy to retransform. The only way to 
save them was through the telling of stories of hope and 
heroism, to rekindle the possibilities in their hearts.

	The Gaunt Man perverted that cycle, corrupting it to his 
own use. He made sure to keep some of the inhabitants of his 
worlds alive, feeding them stories of horrors and despair. The 
energy these stories kindled was rejected by the inhabitants of 
those worlds and fed back to the Gaunt Man, perpetuating a self-
renewing cycle of energy.

	When the time came to invade Earth, the Gaunt Man had duped 
the Victorians into believing that one of their scientists had 
opened a portal to Earth and that monsters had entered the 
unsuspecting world through their portal. Intent on correcting 
their "mistake" the Victorians had invaded, carrying the reality 
of Orrorsh with them. Once in Indonesia, they had reacted as the 
Imperialists that they were, colonizing and making almost 
everyone else into second-class citizens, forcing their 
religion, the Sacellum, on to the indigenous peoples.

	Majestic was their colony on Earth, formerly known as 
Sumatra. It was also where Makoto's Secret Society, the August 
Shadows, was based. She hoped to find there the occult 
paraphernalia that she would need to conduct her ritual. Then 
they would go and face Alexandrite in Illmound Keep.

	Umino lay back and tried to get back to sleep, but the 
warning of the old aborigine still echoed in his head.

*****

	Ronald Carstairs had been the butler for the August Shadows 
Society for years. Maintaining the proper dignity and decorum 
had always been a challenge, but he had risen to meet it. How 
many butlers knew the best way to get zombie brains and 
gunpowder residue out of rug?

	He considered himself utterly unflappable and several years 
of the Society members trying to break his stoicism had come to 
naught.

	But his composure did crack a little when he saw Makoto and 
her 15 companions camped out on his doorstep.

	"Ah, good evening, Lady Holmes," he said. "Should I prepare 
rooms for you and your... guests?"

	"Yes, Ronald," Makoto said, breezing past him and bringing 
the rest of her group with her. Ronald, true to his duties, 
offered to take their coats and weapons (the three with the 
metal prosthetics were extremely unwilling to part with theirs). 
Several of the women were wearing utterly scandalous clothes, 
with only a coat as a concession to the wet weather outside. It 
was a relief to find at least one gentleman properly outfitted 
with coat, tails, hat and cane. The fact that the gentleman in 
question had scales and an actual tail as well was a minor 
point. He did seem to have problems keeping his monocle on his 
beak, however.

	Makoto led her friends into the Grand Hall of the mansion 
that the August Shadows had constructed for the use of their 
members. It was a combination ballroom, library, and trophy 
room. The stuffed heads of big game animals and other, fouler, 
beasts were mounted around the rooms, and bookshelves climbed 
all the way to the roof. Ladders on wheels offered access to the 
more distant volumes. Everyone collapsed onto the extremely 
comfortable couches and chairs provided. The few other members, 
old men who dressed predominantly in tweed and sported huge, 
handlebar mustaches and muttonchops, seemed somewhat 
scandalized.

	"Well, we're in Majestic," Haruka said. "What next?"

	"I need to do some research for my ritual," Makoto said. 
"It'll take me a few hours if Umino helps point out what I 
need."

	Umino nodded tiredly. "I'll try."

	"What are the rest of us s'posed to do in the meantime?" 
Setsuna inquired, twirling one of her guns idly.

	"Well, we do need a Gospog sample from Orrorsh. We could 
gather that while Maggie does her research," Hotaru said 
quietly.

	"Not me," Minako said. "I need a bath and a good night's 
sleep!"

	The party conferred for a time, and in the end it was 
decided that Haruka, Michiru, Mamoru, Rei, and Setsuna would set 
out to find a nearby Gospog field and raid it. The rest would 
rest up for their eventual confrontation with Alexandrite and 
the Gaunt Man.

	"No problem!" Haruka said breezily. "A flew plasma rounds 
will scatter them, then we'll grab what we need."

	The confident party set out.

*****

	Alexandrite watched the events unfold in Wicked and smiled. 
Finally, the cursed Senshi had come to him. He had no idea why 
they had spent so much time wandering this fake world and 
killing his youma before coming here, but he didn't care. Let 
them exhaust themselves fighting phantoms. It would just make 
his victory that much easier.

	He turned from the magic mirror and nearly ran into the 
Gaunt Man.

	"Watch where you are going!" he snapped. "Go stand in a 
corner until I have need of you!" Without even a backward 
glance, the General marched off to see to the defenses of 
Illmound Keep.

	And so, he did not see his construct's lips curl in a 
sneer.

	Once the General was gone, the Gaunt Man turned to Wicked. 
"Show me Parok," he said.

	The Ravagon leader soon appeared. "Yes, Sallsboratza?"

	"Your prey is near, Parok. Send out the hunters. I care not 
for his companions. They are immaterial. But I want that 
wretched stormer dead."

	"As you command, Sallsboratza."

	With that done, the Gaunt Man resumed watching Wicked to 
see what the Storm Knights did next.

*****

	Umino sneezed as Naru helpfully dropped another load of 
books on the table before him.

	"Sorry, Umino," she said.

	"It's OK. I don't mind, really." Carefully, Umino shut the 
book he was reading, as if afraid it would bite his fingers. 
Given the subject matter, there was a good chance of that. He 
glanced over at another nearby table where Makoto was studying. 
Even more books were piled around her and a pair of glasses was 
perched on her nose. She was frantically scribbling notes as she 
devoured the texts in front of her. He wondered if Ami had 
possessed her.

	"How goes the research?"

	"Mako--er, Maggie is doing most of it. I helped her by 
describing the components of the ritual. She's now looking up 
the specifics."

	"Don't you know them?"

	"Well, as the Game Master, I didn't have to create the 
mystical words or magic symbols. We sorta glossed over that 
stuff."

	Naru looked over at Makoto. "She must be a very studious 
person in your world."

	Umino could not help himself and laughed out loud. Makoto 
looked up with a scowl. "Shhhhh!"

	Quieting down, Umino shook his head at Naru. "Hardly. 
Makoto--Maggie's player, was a very physical person. She hardly 
ever cracked open a book. Quinina was the studious one."

	"Well, I suppose that makes sense. But why would... Makoto 
play such a studious person?"

	"I think she said it was so she could 'blow stuff up.'"

	They went back to their work. Finally, after a few more 
hours, Makoto held up a scrap of paper covered with runes. 
"Eureka!"

	Umino raised he head groggily from the book he had fallen 
asleep on, a smudge of ink on his nose. "I'm whatta?" he 
muttered.

	"I've got the ritual. I can get started while we wait," 
Makoto said happily.

	"Maybe you should get some sleep?" Naru suggested warily, 
noting the manic gleam in Makoto's eyes.

	"Sleep? Bah!" Makoto snorted. Then she looked at Naru 
suspiciously. "Why? What have you heard? Someone's been talking 
behind my back, haven't they? Well, my occult skills are far 
better than any of them!"

	Umino groaned. He really didn't want to deal with a 
fatigue-induced bout of occult paranoia now.

	A sudden banging at the front door of the mansion spared 
him that.

	They rushed out into the main hall to see Mamoru and the 
others being let in by Ronald. Haruka and Rei were helping an 
obviously wounded Michiru into the room. Setsuna rushed in after 
them and slammed the door shut.

	"Bar the windows and doors!" she yelled, snapping open her 
guns and letting the spent casings fall to the floor, 
frantically reloading.

	"What happened?"

	"No time!" Haruka said, helping Michiru down onto a couch. 
"Get everyone up!" Naru ran upstairs to do that.

	Rei held up a jar of some sort of greenish sludge. "We got 
the Gospog material."

	Makoto snatched it. "Good. I'll begin the ritual right 
away."

	Mamoru and Rei quickly began piling things in front of the 
door and fastening the wrought iron shutters on the ground floor 
windows.

	"What's going on?" Umino asked again.
	
	"They kept coming for us," Michiru babbled weakly, her 
hands trying to staunch the flow of blood from a set of wicked 
claw marks on her stomach. As Rei cast aside part of Michiru's 
armor, Umino swallowed nervously as he noted that the claws had 
apparently cut through the futuristic material like tissue 
paper. "We kept shooting and nothing stopped them... never saw 
them until they pounced. Nothing worked..." she fainted.

	"Some sort of ghuls chased us all the way here," Haruka 
said, running to help Mamoru and Setsuna with their barricades.

	"Why didn't you just blast them?" Umino asked 
sarcastically. He was surprised as Haruka looked away.

	Everyone else began filtering into the room. Makoto quickly 
took Steven aside for his hrockt spear. Mamoru quickly brought 
the others up to date.

	"We had no problem finding the field," he said. "It was 
right out there in the open. There weren't any caretakers that 
we could see. We thought it would be an easy job. But once we 
were in the middle of the field and the sun set..." he 
shuddered.

	"They came out of the darkness. I barely remember anything 
but their bloody claws and unearthly howls. Something that 
walked like a man but bore the claws of a tiger took down 
Michelle. I tried to get to her but..." He looked away 
shamefacedly. "I... I almost ran. If Sister Raye hadn't..."

	"It's alright, Darien," Rei said.

	"She stood her ground before that dark beast and the next 
thing I know it was flying backwards and pinned to a tree."

	"A Sacellum miracle that recreates the Crucifixion," Rei 
said.

	"Then she called down Hellfire from the sky. But they kept 
coming through the flames. It only bought us enough time to get 
back here ahead of them."

	A dull thud came from the front door. Another and another 
swiftly followed it.

	"They're here," Mamoru whispered.

*****

	Alexandrite gritted his teeth in frustration at what Wicked 
showed him. The Senshi were now involved in a pitched battle 
with zombies miles away from Illmound Keep. Were they ignoring 
him? Did they consider him that little of a threat?

	It was infuriating. He was a General of the Dark Kingdom. 
His enemies should fear him, not ignore him like this! Not only 
were they ignoring him, they had once AGAIN gone to a Gospog 
field! What WAS their unearthly fascination with those undead 
mounds of vegetation?

	He stalked the rooms of Illmound Keep like a caged tiger. 
He knew that this was foolish, that any losses that the Senshi 
might encounter with zombies would only make his ultimate 
victory that much easier, but to no avail. He wanted a victory 
that no one could gainsay.

	With a flash, he vanished from the Keep, determined to end 
this farce, once and for all.

	Back in Illmound Keep, the Gaunt Man smiled.

*****

	The hammering on the doors and windows of the August 
Shadows mansion was incessant now. The Storm Knights were busy 
moving form room to room, checking to make sure that no zombies 
had made an entrance. Occasionally, a gray, rotting arm forced 
its way in and the Storm Knights had to beat it back or burn it. 
Guns, even hi-tech weapons, seemed to have no effect on the 
undead.

	From the upper windows Umino could see the rotting corpses 
shuffling toward the mansion in ever growing numbers. There 
seemed no end to them as they climbed over each other to get to 
the mansion. He turned away as a flash of lightning showed one 
zombie falling beneath the feet of its mindless comrades and 
bursting open like rotten fruit. Then darkness fell on the scene 
again, obscuring the monsters along with the pouring rain. A 
clap of thunder rattled the heavy shutters around the mansion.

	Behind him, Makoto was involved in a complicated procedure 
of mixing the Gospog samples together with other alchemical 
ingredients. The black sludge she produced was forced through a 
collection of tubes, burners, and distillers to gather in a 
small iron pot. The muttering of ancient words and a hurried 
consultation of the papers she had brought from the library 
accompanied each step in the process.

	"Will it take much longer?" Steven asked from nearby, where 
he was carving a series of mystical symbols into his hrockt 
spear, following a diagram Makoto had made.

	"No, not long now," Umino replied, though honestly he had 
no idea.

	Downstairs, Usagi screamed as another claw-like hand forced 
its way through a window. She slammed the shutter closed on it 
again and again, until the arm broke off and fell to the floor. 
Usagi fell backward and scrambled to get away from the rotting 
limb as it slowly began to crawl towards her.

	"Darien!" she cried. A moment later, the Knight Hospitaler 
was there and slashing at the putrid limb, soon reducing it to a 
gory mess on the floor, each piece still twitching.

	Haruka ran in and slammed the shutter closed again. 
"They're breaking in all over the place. We don't have enough 
people to watch everything."

	"Did you check the basement?" Mamoru asked, kneeling down 
beside a sobbing Usagi. Carefully, he took her in his arms and 
tried to comfort her.

	"Yeah. The good news is that it has only one entrance and 
that's a strong iron door. The BAD news is that it only has one 
entrance. Stinger and Cheshire are moving food and water from 
the kitchen down to there now, but it may come down to being 
eaten by zombies or by each other if they don't let up soon."

	Usagi made a strangled sob at the Race Soldier's words. 
Haruka looked sorry for a moment. A crashing sound, however, 
sent her running from the room.

	"It'll be okay, Princess," Mamoru said. "I'll protect you 
with my life."

	"I know," Usagi whispered, reaching up to stroke his cheek. 
He looked into her teary eyes and then they were kissing 
fiercely, unable to deny the emotions that coursed through them. 
They might die in the next few hours, so any further denial, 
whether based on station, race, or other artificial limitation, 
seemed truly foolish.

	"Mamo-chan." 

	"Usako."

	They stared at each other in confusion.

	"DARIEN! Get in here!" Hime-chan yelled from another room.

	They broke apart and ran.

*****

	In Los Angeles, Thratchen chuckled to itself as it 
monitored the Slave Chip it had implanted in the ninja. It had 
been a spur of the moment decision on its part to implant her, 
but it was glad it had. It had taken hours for the chip to 
burrow its way to the appropriate nerve junction, but that had 
made it undetectable until it was in place. The Race monkeys 
accompanying her had no idea that it could command her obedience 
in a moment. In the meantime, the chip's reports had been very 
entertaining.

	Now she was back in its old stomping ground of Orrorsh. 
Black bile rose in its throat as Thratchen considered how close 
it had come to the power it craved. But Heketon, the Gaunt Man's 
Darkness Device, had rejected it as a High Lord, and the Gaunt 
Man had returned before it could gain that power through other 
means.

	No matter. It had a long life before it, and other 
opportunities would arise. Patience was not a common trait among 
its kind, but Thratchen had cultivated it by necessity. That and 
its burning curiosity had marked it as different from its kin, a 
difference it was sure would propel it far above its peers. 
Until then, it would wait and plan.

	Another opportunity would arise, it sensed, and soon.

*****

	The hrockt spear now floated mystically above the small 
metal pot, the runes Steven had carved glowing brighter and 
brighter as the fumes from the bubbling concoction melted into 
it.

	"Almost done," Makoto muttered, her words almost lost in 
the continual banging of the zombies at the gates and the crash 
of thunder from the storm outside. The only lighting left in the 
room was a few guttering candles, and they cast their flickering 
glow on her gaunt and drawn face. The occultist looked like she 
had aged ten years in the few hours she had worked on the 
ritual.

	She was alone now. Steven and Umino had been called away to 
aid in defense of the manor. That was all well and good, she 
thought. It meant no witnesses to the last step in her process.

	She reached into her jacket and pulled out her knife. It 
was an ancient blade, carved out of some dark stone with a 
greenish-black sheen that shimmered with oily rainbows as you 
looked at it. She had found it in a moldy old chest that had 
belonged to her great grandfather and knew it held an ancient 
power. That and a few of his old journals had sent her along the 
path of the occult.

	She held her hand above the hrockt spear and muttered the 
closing words to the ritual while drawing the blade along her 
palm. Her blood splattered on the spear, and the mystical 
symbols blazed with power as the ritual was completed.

	Makoto slumped to her knees, exhausted. Dully, she watched 
the blood on the blade slowly vanish, absorbed into the stone. 
Looking in a mirror across the room, she saw that her auburn-
brown hair had turned white in a long streak from her forehead 
all the way down her pony-tail, part of the occult price of her 
ritual. It would grow back in its original color... she hoped.

	Now was not the time for vanity, however. Forcing herself 
to her feet, she grabbed the spear and stumbled downstairs.

	All was bedlam and confusion. Ronald was herding the 
servants into the basement, each of them carrying some article 
of food or bedding. The Storm Knights were running from room to 
room, trying to keep back the ever-mounting tide of zombies. 
Still, Steven was easy to spot in the crowd. She put the hrockt 
spear in his hands. "It's ready," she said, and then almost 
collapsed.

	Clark was there to catch her. "I'll take her downstairs," 
he said to the Edeinos.

	Makoto's eyes fluttered. She was being carried somewhere, 
she knew, but she didn't feel alarmed. No, she felt like a warm 
security blanket had been thrown over her, and she snuggled 
closer to her rescuer.

	Clark blushed as the unconscious woman snuggled close. He 
carefully carried her down to the basement and laid her on a 
cot. As he rose to leave, he found that she was grasping his arm 
so tightly that he couldn't pull free.

	"Maggie, I have to go," he whispered, stroking her newly 
striped hair.

	"Don' wanna. Stay wi' me."

	"I'll be back as soon as I can," he said, patting her 
awkwardly on the cheek. He didn't know what to do in such a 
situation.

	Makoto frowned in her sleep, but released him, and he 
hurried back upstairs.

	A new sound had entered the din, splintering wood and 
cracking plaster. The zombies were no longer content with 
forcing their way through existing portals; they were making 
their own.

	"Fall back! To the basement!" Haruka roared as the main 
door finally fell. Lightning flashed, illuminating the crowd of 
rotting corpses that swarmed forward.

	Then the Race soldier put her chain-gun, loaded with plasma 
rounds, on full automatic.

	The hallway exploded with the force of a nova as the 
zombies burst into balls of incandescent gas. Back and forth 
Haruka raked the mob, giving ground slowly as she backed into 
the basement.

	And through that hail of death, the horrors kept coming. 
Some were now merely blackened skeletons that crumbled to dust 
as they moved, but even the most charred and broken corpse kept 
moving. The stench of rotten, burnt flesh filled the air and the 
animated corpses crawled forward, sometimes only making a few 
inches.

	Then the chain-gun was out of ammo. With a hiss, the 
zombies charged.

	Haruka cursed and ditched the now useless heavy weapon and 
reached into her bandoleer. A plasma grenade flew into the 
tightest knot of the zombies and reduced them to their 
constituent atoms.

	And the ones behind them surged forward all the faster.

	Plasma pistols in both hand, Haruka emptied them into the 
crowd, blowing the wretched things into bits, scattering their 
pieces. But the arms, legs, and shattered torsos crawled forward 
until their more ambulatory fellows smashed them into a gray 
smear. When the pistols ran out of ammo, Haruka reached for 
another plasma grenade....

	...and found none.

	The grasping claws of the zombies had now reached her and 
she fought against their awful touch, gagging at their fetid 
stench. But for every one that she knocked away, ten reached 
forward. Jaws full of rotting, yellow teeth gaped open beneath 
empty eye sockets as they got ready to feed. She screamed as 
they bit into her flesh.

	And them strong arms pulled her from their grasp and into 
the basement. The strong iron door slammed shut, sealing them 
all into their tomb.

	Haruka collapsed, breathing heavily, her blood running down 
her arms and legs from the messy bite and claw marks. She looked 
up at Mamoru, who was sealing the door shut. "Thanks," she 
muttered through chattering teeth. The touch of the zombies had 
been so COLD.

	"I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner," he said, barring 
the door against the horde of zombies. He noted Haruka's 
shivering and quickly helped her to her feet. "We better get you 
to Quinina. Let her have a look at you."

	"Y-yeah," Haruka said through blue lips. She was so cold. 
So very cold.

	Soon she was lying next to Michiru, a blanket wrapped 
around her shuddering form. The rest of the Storm Knights 
gathered around them and Makoto, discussing what to do. In the 
back, Ronald and the maids were organizing the food and cots 
they had brought down.

	"Now what do we do?" Urawa asked, helplessly. "We're 
trapped down here and two of our best fighters are out of 
commission!"

	"Can it, future boy!" Setsuna snapped. "I didn't see ya 
offering a better idea up there!"

	"Maybe they'll go away when the sun rises," Usagi said 
hopefully.

	"Maybe, Princess," Rei said, laying a comforting arm on 
Usagi's shoulders, "but we better plan for if they don't."

	Setsuna spun the chambers of her revolvers. "If it looks 
like they're coming in--" she began.

	"No! It won't come to that!" Usagi said.

	"I can't command them," Hotaru muttered. "They owe no 
allegiance to Cor'bal." She seemed stunned that the power that 
she so despised would let her down when she turned to it.

	"Dag and I will guard the door," Mamoru said, raising his 
electro-sword. They will only pass over our dead bodies."

	Steven hefted his spear. "They will fall to Lanala's 
might," he promised.

	Usagi gazed around at her companions and saw a dispirited 
group. "We have to do something!" she hissed to Umino.

	"But what? The Power of Fear has them in its grip," he 
said. "It's the reality of Orrorsh at work. I can't hurry the 
process along."

	"What do we need to do, then?"

	"What we're doing now. They need time to digest what's 
happened and gain Perseverance from it. I'll tell you this, 
however... I wouldn't have sent an infinite mob of zombies after 
you guys." Well, not unless I had been watching Evil Dead the 
night before, he thought. "I would guess that Alexandrite sent 
them to soften us up."

	"You thought wrong, boy!"

	There was a burst of light in the center of the basement 
and Alexandite appeared.

	"I have had enough of you Senshi!" he roared. "Prepare to 
die!"

	The General of the Dark Kingdom held up his hands and bolts 
of energy surged outward from the many rings he wore. The Storm 
Knights dodged as best they could but were not totally 
successful. Clark hissed in pain as one shot winged his side.

	"Was it not enough for you to mock me in your little game?" 
Alexandrite ranted. Setsuna drew a bead on him, but her shot 
bounced off an invisible shield. He spun and sent a bolt of pure 
force at her. She ducked at the last possible minute and it 
smashed into the far wall, leaving a huge crater.

	"No! You ignored me!" He produced a set of seven crystals, 
one for each color of the rainbow, and made them float in the 
air before him. "Even as I held these USELESS things, you wander 
across the globe!"

	"The Crystals of Power!" Hotaru cried. She and Hime-chan 
darted forward, staff and sword out, only to be flung backward 
by a blast of air from a sapphire ring.

	"Well, NOW you will take me seriously!" he cried, a ball of 
fire forming between his hands. It would immolate the entire 
basement, killing them all while he stood behind his shield and 
laughed. He opened his mouth to begin...

	...and Steven's enchanted spear split through his shield 
and into his back.

	The fire faded and Alexandrite toppled to the floor. He 
coughed and looked in amazement as blood splattered to the 
floor. "What--this cannot be... I'm invinci--" 

	He fell dead on the floor, the Crystals of Power falling to 
the ground around him.

	The Storm Knights looked on as Alexandrite's body combusted 
and turned to moon dust in a sort of dull exhaustion. Only Umino 
glanced around in confusion. "We're still here," he said in 
amazement.

	"Where else would we be?" Setsuna asked.

	"I thought... well, we killed the bad guy."

	Usagi stepped forward and gathered the Crystals. "Perhaps 
you were wrong about him being the villain?"

	"But who else would...?"

	The ceiling of the basement suddenly exploded inward, 
spraying stone and wood everywhere, and the Storm Knights fell 
to the ground in a desperate attempt to avoid the debris. 
Through the giant crater they had made, two ravagons swooped 
down. One of them spotted Umino and opened his fanged mouth in a 
screech of triumph. "Stormer!"

	Umino froze for a moment, staring blankly at the demonic 
beings before him. Their skins were dark red, lightening toward 
their extremities, and large, leathery wings sprouted from their 
back. He felt like he couldn't move, as if there was no actions 
to choose from except to be their helpless prey.

	"No!" Naru cried, jumping in front of him as the ravagons 
charged. Umino wanted to shout at her to stay back, but it was 
too late. The dark hunters were almost upon them.

*****

	Elsewhere, energy coiled in upon itself, trying vainly to 
manifest but denied its normal outlet. Its princess was in 
mortal danger and it could not help her. 

	Not directly.

	But there were other ways, and it was adaptable. Change was 
a part of its very nature, and so was destiny.

	The very essence of possibility.

*****

	Several things happened all at once, and it was only much 
later that Umino could reconstruct it.

	The ravagons were charging toward him, claws outstretched 
and mouths open to issue their sibilant war cries.

	Naru had thrown her lightly armored body between them and 
him. It was a futile, desperate gesture that would only buy him 
seconds, he knew.

	The zombies began to pour into the basement through the 
hole the ravagons had made. Looking up, he could see the stars 
glittering high above. The storm had ended and the clouds had 
parted at some point, letting them shine down upon them.

	And they seemed to become impossibly bright. He thought he 
could hear some sort of music, unearthly beautiful music singing 
down with the starlight. Music that was returned by the Crystals 
sitting in Usagi's hand.

	The Crystals of Power exploded with light, each one in its 
own hue, and they flew up into the hole, bathed in starlight. 
The music grew louder, stronger, and in a flash of red and blue 
energy, the Crystals *merged.*

	The Tear of Apeiros, Umino had called the eternity shard 
they would form in his game; possibility energy given a solid 
form. With them, almost anything was possible.

	Seeing it now before him, he gave it another name: the 
Empyrean Silver Crystal.

	The Crystal flashed brightly as it once again formed from 
its constituent parts, Red and blue lightning flashed around it 
as it bent the rules of this world to its will. Then a ring of 
blue and red fire exploded outward, tearing through ravagon and 
zombie alike, burning the flesh from their bones, then charring 
and crushing the bones, until nothing was left, yet leaving the 
Senshi and the innocents untouched. Quiet now, it fell back into 
its mistress's hand.

	"A miracle," Rei breathed.

	Usagi looked down at the Silver Crystal in awe and a 
mysterious sense of familiarity. "I... know this," she said.

	"It's the Silver Empyrean Crystal," Umino said, "from my 
world. It's the most powerful force in the universe."

	They all stared at it dumbly for a second.

	Then Hime-chan leapt forward and snatched it from Usagi's 
hand.

	"Sakura!" Usagi yelped, falling backward in surprise.

	The ninja didn't stop, but bounded up and outwards, running 
with her signature fleet-footed grace.

	"After her!" Mamoru yelled, and he tried to climb out.

	"I'm on it!" Minako yelled, taking to the air. But by the 
time she reached a significant altitude, the ninja and her prize 
was gone.

	"I don't understand," Usagi said. "Why?"

*****

	In Los Angeles, Thratchen hurried toward the supersonic 
transport its slaves had prepared. It could not believe the 
power of that eternity shard it had seen through its slave's 
eyes. The opportunity had come, even if it had to return to 
thrice-cursed Orrorsh, to the realm of the master it had 
betrayed. The power would be its.

	And in Illmound Keep, the Gaunt Man laughed as Wicked 
showed him a black-garbed ninja running toward him, a shining 
crystal in her hand, and a hapless technodemon rushing toward 
its doom. Puppets dancing on a string that only he could see.

	"Soon, Jurai," he whispered, stroking the ice-cold surface 
of Wicked. "You will die by MY hand."

	And SHIVA looked down on its creation and was pleased.

*****

	The Storm Knights were quick to chase after their rogue 
member, but not without a few delays.

	"We're going," Haruka snapped, helping Michiru to her feet. 
"Nothing you can say, Princess, will stop us."

	"But you're still badly hurt--"

	Haruka waved her wounds aside. "You need all the firepower 
you can get."

	"Might as well let her win, Princess," Michiru said with a 
small smile. "You know how stubborn she is."

	Usagi shook her head but stood aside in the end.

	They quickly commandeered some horses from a nearby village 
and headed off, Steven leading the way. The Edeinos was a 
skilled tracker but even he had trouble finding the ninja's 
trail. Several days travel rendered the point moot, as they 
followed the trail to a port town on the eastern shore of 
Majestic.

	"The Harbor Master said the boat left for Borneo," Makoto 
reported glumly as they all stood on the pier.

	"I'm sure she was on it," Steven said, moving his head from 
side to side as he sniffed the air.

	"Then I know where she's headed," Umino said morosely. 
"There's only one place that makes sense."

	"Where?"

	"Illmound Keep, the home of the Gaunt Man."

	"The High Lord?" Usagi asked.

	"I hope I'm wrong," Umino said miserably. "The Gaunt Man is 
the most formidable villain in the entire game. We're screwed."

	"We can't let him have the Tear," Hotaru said. "We must 
press on."

	Makoto nodded and fingered her billfold sadly. "I'll see 
about getting us passage."

	Their trip was uneventful and that worried Umino more than 
a monster at his throat.

	He dreamed again that night of the aborigine Djil.

	"Hey, cobber," Djil greeted him while sharpening a spear 
before a fire.

	"Djil, what are we going to do? The Gaunt Man is 
unbeatable!"

	"That's not true, y'know. He was beaten before."

	"When you and your friends trapped him in a maelstrom. But 
that nearly killed you all."

	Djil shrugged. "Death is a funny thing," he said 
mystically. He pointed to a patch of ground on the other side of 
the fire from him. "Let me tell you a story."

	"Do we have time for stories?"

	Djil shrugged again. "Time is a funny thing... in the 
Dreamtime. Anyway, I think you need to hear this story again.

	"Legends. They speak of The Place, in the Time of Nothing. 
The Void was alone in The Place, possessed by an unending hunger 
but unable to sate it. Then Eternity entered The Place, full of 
dreams and possibilities locked within its infinite instant with 
no method of release. Void and Eternity met, and The Maelstrom 
was formed.

	"The Void tasted the essence of Eternity, and it became 
aware of what it craved. Eternity boiled away into the Void and 
billions of possibilities were destroyed. Whole galaxies came 
and went as the Void fed. The Maelstrom endlessly tossed out 
possibilities that were destroyed in the whirling currents of 
creation. But, eventually, two possibilities survived.

	"The Nameless One, a being that took after the Void, was 
destruction personified. Apeiros, created from realized 
possibilities, was of Eternity's image. The two waged a war of 
creation and destruction -- Apeiros setting possibilities free, 
the Nameless One feeding on their power. But as fast as the 
Nameless One could feed, Apeiros could create. There could be no 
victor. Then the Nameless One invoked the Void.

	"With no other course available, Apeiros left The Place. It 
appealed to Eternity and saw an infinite number of possibilities 
opened before it. Apeiros took them all, diffusing the 
possibilities throughout the new place -- throughout the 
cosmverse.

	"The Nameless One, now alone in The Place with the Void, 
vowed to hunt down Apeiros and Eternity, no matter how long it 
took. It used what limited creative powers it had learned during 
its war against Apeiros to create the Darkness Devices. Then it 
sent these items of evil into the cosmverse to perpetuate acts 
of destruction and capture the dispersed shards of Eternity.

	"Legends. They tell of the discovery of the first Darkness 
Device, and how it elevated its possessor to High Lord and then 
led him to other cosms to destroy and drain possibilities. Thus 
was born the first of the Possibility Raiders; thus was spoken 
The Prophecy -- there would arise a High Lord with the knowledge 
and power to absorb so much energy as to become immortal, all 
powerful, a god. And this High Lord would be called the TORG!"

	"I know that. Why are you telling me it again?"

	"Because you don't know it as well as you think."

	Umino awoke, more confused than ever.

	The next day they arrived in Borneo and began the long 
journey into the interior. Borneo had once been a modern 
nation... not as advanced as some, perhaps, but not the most 
backward. Now superstition and fear ruled, with the jungles 
becoming dark and evil. *Things* lurked in the shadows that 
could cost you your sanity, if you spent too long in their dark 
embrace.

	But the Storm Knights encountered nothing out of the 
ordinary.

	"I don't like it," Haruka said. She was still suffering 
from her wounds but had refused any and all help for them, 
stubbornly plowing on despite her pale and drawn appearance.

	"It's got to be a trap," Michiru agreed. Unlike her 
partner, she had bounced back with a vengeance and when they 
weren't traveling she always seemed to be pacing back and forth.

	"No, he just doesn't think he needs any help to fight us," 
Umino said glumly.

	Naru, seeing his mood, pulled him aside.

	"Umino, what's wrong?"

	"Nothing, Hatsheput," he muttered.

	"Don't tell me that. This is bothering you a lot more than 
when we faced Mobius in the Nile. Why?"

	Umino looked away. "I'm scared, okay? I thought... I 
thought that Alexandrite was the source of all of this, that if 
we beat him, everything would return to normal... well, MY 
normal. I thought that he was the one behind this world. But it 
didn't, and now the bad guy is someone I thought was just 
another made-up part of the game." His face was haunted as he 
continued. "What if I'm wrong? What if THIS is the real world, 
and I'm just delusional?" He turned to her, helplessly. "I don't 
know what's real anymore."

	Naru touched his arm, gently. "You've been right about a 
lot of things, Umino. You helped us kill Alexandrite once and 
for all. You knew all about the conditions in the Living Land 
and in the Nile. You've been right more often than wrong."

	"I could have just been lucky... or someone could have been 
using my delusions. This," he said, indicating the jungle around 
them, "seems as real to me as my world ever did..."

	Naru reached up to caress his cheek. "I don't care if 
you're right or wrong, Umino. I love you, no matter what the 
world." She drew him into a kiss. "Believe in yourself," she 
whispered. "I do."

	Umino's dazed smile threatened to split his face in two.

*****

	"The stormers are approaching, Sallsboratza," Parok said 
deferentially from where he kneeled at that Gaunt Man's feet.

	"Your hunters failed me, Parok," the Gaunt Man said. "You 
will make up for their failure. You will kill the bespectacled 
one. Do you understand?"

	"Yes, Sallsboratza," the Ravagon leader grated out. It 
galled him to be forced into a role of such submission, but the 
Sixth Irishanti had proven his dominance many times over.

	"When they get here, let them enter uncontested. I want 
them to know who destroyed them."

*****

	From the outside, Illmound Keep resembled a Victorian Manor 
house. The locals knew it as Salisbury Manor, after Lord Byron 
Salisbury, another of the Gaunt Man's false identities.

	On the inside, Umino knew it was anything but normal. It 
was the heart of all that was evil. To underscore the point, the 
Gaunt Man's Maelstrom Bridge, the conduit between realities, 
twisted and writhed nearby. It was an amorphous entity made of 
up silent, screaming faces, the souls of those who had fallen to 
the Gaunt Man over the millennia of his reign.

	Now the Storm Knights stood at the entrance to the Gaunt 
Man's sanctum, uncontested.

	"Maybe we should knock?" Usagi asked from behind Mamoru's 
broad back.

	Steven, dressed as a Victorian Regular, complete with red 
coat and musket, stepped forward. The door opened with a loud 
creak before his hand touched the surface.

	"It seems we're expectorated," Minako said solemnly. No one 
laughed or even groaned.

	Carefully, the Storm Knights entered the forbidding 
structure. Once they were all inside, the door slammed shut, 
causing a few of them to start with surprise, even though they 
had expected something like that to happen.

	The interior of Illmound Keep was ill-lit and bore no 
resemblance to any earthly structure. The walls and floor seemed 
to made of some amorphous structure that resembled a gnarled 
black tree at times, a lava flow at others. A low keen floated 
just on the edge of hearing, as if the building was crying out 
in pain.

	"It's horrible!" Usagi said, shaking. "So many lost and 
tortured souls... I can sense them in this place."

	"It is an abomination," Rei said, stepping closer to her 
Princess.

	Umino tried to remember the plans of Illmound Keep from his 
adventure module. "This way," he said at last. "He should be 
through here."

	"Lead the way," Haruka said, her gun aimed squarely at 
Umino's back, "but one false move...."

	Umino swallowed but led them on.

	The passage led them past several doorways made of dark 
wood banded by iron. Screams of pain and anguish echoed behind 
one, but Umino shook his head when Usagi went to open it. "It'll 
be a trap," he whispered, "and you won't be able to do anything 
for the poor soul--if there is one."

	"Why is he doing this, Umino? Letting us walk right in?" 
Usagi whispered back. Neither wanted to make any more noise than 
they had to, for fear it would bring them unwanted attention.

	"Because he knows it will feed our fear, and that is what 
he lives for. He is the Master of Fear and Corruption."

	Then they found the dining hall. A long table filled room, 
decked out with immaculate white linens, exquisite china, and 
fine silver. Candles flickered fitfully in gold candelabras, and 
at the far end sat the Gaunt Man.

	"Greetings, stormers!" the Gaunt Man said, his withered 
face cracking open into a sardonic grin. "I'm so glad you could 
join me."

	"Where is Sakura, monster?" Clark spat out.

	"She is here," the High Lord replied. He gestured and 
Parok, Hime-chan and Thratchen stepped out of a shadowy alcove. 
Both the ninja and the technodemon watched the events of this 
strange meeting through somewhat glazed eyes. "My former 
servant," the Gaunt Man continued, pointing at Thratchen, 
"thought it could twist things to its advantage. It was wrong, 
as you can see."

	The Gaunt Man held aloft his walking cane, topped with a 
carved head of some sort of dragon-like creature. In the 
carving's mouth glittered the Silver Crystal. "An impressive 
bauble they brought me, isn't it? Far better than the old 
eternity shard I had there."

	"Give it back," Usagi said. "It won't do you any good."

	"No, it won't do YOU any good. In fact, I think you will 
find its effects most deleterious."

	Haruka and Michiru leveled their guns on the Gaunt Man. 
"Perhaps you didn't hear the lady. Give... it... back."

	The Gaunt Man's features seemed to shift and twist for a 
moment, and then Sam smiled genially at the Race Soldier. "Ah, 
ah, ladies. Remember our deal? Time to pay the piper!" He 
snapped his fingers.

	Michiru let out a scream that became a high-pitched snarl 
as orange and black fur erupted from her skin. She dropped her 
gun, as her hands became long, wicked claws. Her face elongated 
into a snout and her eyes turned gold as she CHANGED in an 
obviously painful way from a human woman to a hybrid of human 
and tiger.

	Haruka also screamed, but hers tapered off into a low 
rattle. Her skin turned gray and began to rot, her eyes becoming 
cloudy while her teeth elongated into sharp fangs. She hunched 
over, while her bones seemed to become too large for her skin 
and she gazed at her one-time comrades with a feral hunger.

	"I tire of these games," the Gaunt Man said, standing. "It 
is time to end this. Farewell, Jurai!"

	Haruka lunged forward and grappled with Clark before the 
priest had a chance to move. Rei was there however, and her 
cross burned the ghoul's undead skin.

	Michiru snarled ferally and took a swipe at Steven, who 
parried the blow, barely, aside with his hrockt spear. Minako 
took to the air and fired a few pot shots at the weretiger, but 
her bullets bounced off Michiru's furry hide.

	Hime-chan leapt onto the dining table and did several flips 
to bring her down between Setuna and Hotaru. Her katana slammed 
Hotaru's staff aside while a high kick sent one of Setsuna's 
guns spinning. The Storm Knights weren't that easily put off, 
however. Hotaru gave a little twirl of her staff and pinned 
Hime-chan's sword for a moment, giving Setsuna an opening to 
land a haymaker on Hime-chan's cheek.

	Mamoru moved forward to deal with the technodemon, but 
Thratchen surprised him with the sheer ferocity of its attack. 
It was a snarling, raging whirlwind of claw and fang that the 
Knight Hospitaler could barely keep up with. Makoto stood 
nearby, her Hackmaster Blade at ready, looking for an opening.

	The Ravagon approached Umino and Naru. "Sallsboratza has 
decreed your death," he growled. "so it shall be."

	"Never!" Naru said, beginning to cast a spell. Parok once 
again showed that a sword is quicker than a spell at close 
range. Or a claw in this case. Naru went down, blood flowing 
from a nasty series of cuts on her face, leaving Umino alone. In 
another place and time, an age old power beat impotently at the 
shields holding it back, unable to even tap the Silver Crystal 
this time.

	The Gaunt Man merely raised his cane, letting the Silver 
Crystal shine forth on Usagi. Ami and Urawa jumped in front of 
their princess, pushing back with their psychic powers. The two 
energies met and fought in the air between them, becoming 
visible with the sheer power of their conflict. But the psychics 
were losing and the wall of death moved closer and closer.

	"You don't understand!" Usagi said tearfully. "It will kill 
you if you use it too much! Give back the Crystal!"

	The Gaunt Man laughed. "You will die first, child of 
Jurai," he snarled. "You have no idea, do you?" he asked with a 
smirk. "You are the reason for all of this. Give yourself to me, 
and I will spare your friends."

	Usagi hesitated.

	While the fighting raged on around him, Umino stared up at 
his approaching doom. I'm going to die, he thought numbly. I'm 
sorry, everyone. I failed you. I didn't get you home. He closed 
his eyes and waited for the Ravagon to finish him.

	After a moment, he opened his eyes again, to find the 
dining room gone. Instead, he floated in darkness.

	Am I dead? he wondered.

	Then, in the distance, he saw a whirling sparkle of red and 
blue light. It grew brighter and brighter, until it filled half 
his sight.

	Eternity.

	The darkness, now that it had a frame of reference, seemed 
to become more solid, darker, and it began to eat away at the 
fringes of the light.

	The Void.

	And in the maelstrom between them, two motes, one of light, 
the other of darkness, formed.

	Apeiros and the Nameless One.

	Apeiros flew closer to Umino. It was not human, but he 
sensed it was grinning.

	LITTLE GAME MASTER, HAVE YOU NOT GRASPED OUR RIDDLE?

	There was a definite sense of wry amusement in the 'voice.'

	I don't understand, he said.

	IN ALL THINGS, THERE IS A BALANCE. IT IS ONE OF THE WONDERS 
OF THE UNIVERSE, Apeiros 'said.' It now hovered around Umino, a 
glittering cloud of blue and red energy. THE NAMELESS ONE HAS 
TOUCHED THAT WORLD, SENT HIS AGENTS. SO DO I, THEN, SEND MINE.

	Me?

	YOUR POSSIBILITIES FORMED THAT WORLD. YOU ARE MY AVATAR.

	What do I do?

	Definite amusement:

	YOU MUST CHOOSE.

	Umino opened his eyes again and found Parok's claws swiping 
down, ready to impale him and end his life. But were he had felt 
nothing but despair before, now he was bursting with energy. 
With a strength he didn't possess a moment ago, he batted the 
ravagon aside. Parok's look of stunned amazement made Umino 
laugh.

	Everything was so clear now, practically sparkling in his 
sight, and he understood Apeiros' amusement. The universe was a 
place of wonder, one that living beings had far too little time 
to explore and add to. But there was no time for that now. Umino 
turned and faced the Gaunt Man. His glasses had fallen to floor, 
but he didn't need them now. In fact, his eyes crackled with 
blue and red energy.

	The Gaunt Man sensed him then, and stared back with eyes as 
dark as the Void itself. He began to swing his cane around, to 
direct its power against the human before him, but Umino was too 
quick for that. He leapt at his foe.

	The two grappled and seemed to explode as the ancient 
maelstrom was recreated. Blue and red energy slashed outward in 
a mighty reality storm, consuming them both, tearing them apart, 
then reforming them in a cycle of destruction and creation.

	NO! the Gaunt Man screamed inside the maelstrom at Umino. 
NOT AGAIN!

	YOU WANTED THE POWER? Umino returned. CHOKE ON IT!

	And the Umino threw all the power he had, everything he had 
been given and more, into the dark core of the Gaunt Man. In the 
Place, the Void had destroyed as quickly as Eternity could 
create, but the Gaunt Man was the merest reflection of that 
ancient nothing, and had more limitations. For a moment, he 
pulled himself together, glaring in impotent rage at Umino.

	Then he exploded one final time.

*****

	Tsukino Usagi lifted her head slowly from the table and 
looked around. She blinked several times, rubbed her eyes, and 
looked again.

	She was sitting in Umino's living room at a table strewn 
with paper, dice, and half-eaten snacks. All around her were her 
friends, most of them waking up and looking around in confusion.

	Usagi quickly checked her skin and sighed as it was a 
normal, human color, not midnight blue. After she was certain 
she was in one piece, she was amused to see her friends doing 
likewise. But not all was the same as before the game.

	Makoto still bore the white stripe in her hair, and was 
looking down at the Hackmaster Blade in her hands in surprise.

	Rei's hair was cut brutally short, even shorter than 
Haruka's, and she was running her hands through it in a dazed 
sort of way.

	Two very big and very nasty looking guns sat in front of 
Haruka and Michiru, who were holding each other tight and... 
crying?

	Hotaru was holding the Silence Glaive and looking at it 
speculatively. When she felt Usagi's eyes on her, she gave a 
bashful little wave. They had been sisters in the other world, 
Usagi remembered, and felt her heart go out to the lonely young 
girl. They may not be sisters in this world, but Usagi would do 
what she could for Hotaru.

	Hime-chan was rocking back and forth, crying her eyes out 
in horror. Usagi hurried over to her to comfort her, remembering 
all the death that Hime-chan's ninja had dealt out. It must be 
horrible for such a young girl to assimilate all at once.

	Setsuna was staring blankly at a revolver in her hand. She 
gave it a little twirl and smiled slightly.

	Ami was holding a futuristic container of some kind, and 
was poking several blobs of something inside it. Quinina's 
biotech kit, Usagi realized.

	Umino was lying face down behind his gamemaster screen. 
Naru was shaking him desperately, trying to wake him.

	"Umino, wake up!" Naru cried. "Please! Come back!" Mamoru 
and Clark, seeming somewhat better off then most of the others, 
hurried over to help her. Clark tentatively reached out to take 
Umino's pulse.

*****

	Another place of darkness, but this time, Umino thought, 
the darkness was warmer... more comforting. The darkness of the 
womb, he thought.

	Am I dying?

	A faint white glow, like starlight, appeared.

	YES, said a 'voice.' BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE. IT IS NOT 
YOUR TIME.

	The light grew brighter and slowly formed into the shape of 
a man in gleaming white armor.

	I HAVE GUARDED THE PRINCESS OF THE STARS FOR MILLENNIA, the 
White Knight said. I HAVE TAKEN MANY HOSTS, BOTH PERMANENT AND 
TEMPORARY, IN THAT TIME. YOU, UMINO GURIO, ARE ONE OF THE MOST 
WORTHY I HAVE EVER SEEN. YOU ARE THE CHOSEN OF THE STAR 
PRINCESS. WILL YOU ACCEPT MY POWER?

	Will I live?

	YES.

	I want to be with Naru forever. I accept.

*****

	Just as Clark was about to touch Umino's skin, the boy gave 
a cough and sat up. He gazed blankly around at all of them.

	"Umino? Are you OK?" Naru asked.

	Dazed, Umino nodded. "I... think so. But my head feels like 
it's going to burst!"

	Laughing, Naru swept him into a hug, kissing him over, and 
over.

	Makoto watched this with some amusement. "Oh, Umino," she 
asked when he had a moment, "No offense, but I don't think any 
of us are going to want to play TORG in the near future."

	Umino nodded. "Yeah, I don't think I want to run it for a 
while. I think I've finally had my fill." He looked around at 
them all. "But you know, I've been hankering to give the Vampire 
game a try--"

	He was promptly pelted with a dozen wads of paper.

*****

Epilogue:

	In another place...

	Demons and humans struggled for control of the City of 
Angels.

	Children struggled to keep the fire of hope alive in a land 
where dinosaurs and lizardmen walked.

	A great lady struggled with her own failures to bring the 
Light back to a Dark-ravaged land.

	Corporate raiders fought for market shares with ninja and 
robots.

	A young Frenchwoman continued the fight against the 
invaders of her homeland.

	And a mad youma plotted future conquests in his quest to 
become...

	TORG!

***** 
Closing Credits: 

"My road leads me far away." 

We see Nephrite telling Juno that he must go soon for a great 
conflict is about to begin. 

"Though my heart tells me to stay," 

We see Princess Serenity clinging to a worried looking Endymion.
 
"When my duty calls, I must go" 

We see Pluto appearing in the midst of the ballroom at the 
Diamond Gala.

"'Twixt worlds of fire and worlds of snow."

We cut to a shot of the solar system, with the nine planets and 
the moon lined up from the Sun at the left to Pluto at the 
right, with the Senshi and Prince Endymion standing on their 
planets as shadowy figures.

"The road I travel will be long"

We see the White Knight galloping down a Tokyo street on 
horseback.

"To set things right, to end the wrongs."

We see Tuxedo Mask tossing a red rose into the barrel of a gun, 
which backfires and explodes.

"But this message will I send,"

We see Rei picking up a blue crystal, which starts to play back 
a message.

"Wait for me at Journey's End."

We see Naru waiting for someone outside a restaurant.

"Do not forget the love we share"

We see Princess Serenity and Endymion tearfully bidding each 
other farewell.

"Though I must leave, my heart will stay."

We see Naru crying as Nephrite dissolves away in her arms.

"Do not think I ceased to care"

We see Beryl implanting crystals in the foreheads of the four 
Guardians and cackling maniacally.

"When my duty took me away."

We see Steven waiting at a restaurant, then sighing as he checks 
his watch.

"The road I travel will be long"

We see the Sailors using the Sailor Teleport to travel to the 
ruins of the Moon Kingdom.

"To set things right, to end the wrongs."

We see Umino trying to fight a monster in "Tuxedo Umino Kamen" 
mode.

"But this message will I send,"

We see Luna trying to use a dial only phone.

"Wait for me at Journey's End."

We see Umino leap to his feet as Naru comes running up the 
sidewalk to him with Usagi and company.

"I have only my heart to give"

We see Haruka and Michiru sharing a quiet moment.

"For my life is not my own."

We see the baby Saturn in a crib.

"It is for others that I must live"

We see Pluto having a frustrating time trying to counsel a young 
girl.

"But it is for you that I come home."

We see Mamoru following a trail of smoke to Usagi in his 
kitchen.

"The road I travel will be long"

We see Capricorn vanishing through a portal.

"To set things right, to end the wrongs."

We see a chamber with stars for a ceiling and a horoscope on the 
floor. A man stands in grey robes in the center and stares down 
at the horoscope.

"But this message will I send,"

We see Usagi listening to a message on the phone, her eyes 
getting big.

"Wait for me at Journey's End."

We see a closing tableaux of the Sailors, Umino, Naru, Steven, 
Tuxedo Mask, and twelve shadowy figures standing on a Zodiac 
wheel.

*****

PHARAOH MOBIUS SAYS:

Mobius: Bow down before the King of Kings, Pharaoh of the Tenth 
Empire of the New Nile, He before whom all others must bow! 
Bwahahahahaha!

Makoto: Who let HIM in here?

All the Senshi shake their heads.

Minako: I think he snuck in when we weren't looking.

Mobius: The foolish would think that I was defeated today, but 
that is not the case! I planned for every eventuality!

Amat-Ra: RAAAAAAAA!

Mobius: And now it is time for my daily run!

Mobius runs off with Amat-Ra close behind him.

Rei: What WAS our moral for this story, anyway?

Minako brings out the Wheel of Morality and looks hopeful.

Rei: We're NOT using that!

Usagi: How come HE got this segment? It's MY segment!

Rei: Are you STILL going on about that, meatball head?

Usagi: Stop calling me that!

A tongue war commences. All the other Senshi sweat-drop.

Ami: Well, today we learned that....

Fundamentalist Whack-Job: Role-Playing Games are EVIL! THEY MAKE 
YOU WORSHIP SATAN!

In a really cool stock footage sequence we can't show you in 
text, the Sailors turn Fundamentalist Whack-Job into moon dust.

Luna: Perhaps the lesson is that it's a good thing cats can't 
roll dice?

Artemis bats a twenty-sider back and forth with his paws.

Luna: Never mind.

Hotaru: Maybe the Author is trying to drum up support for a 
TORG/SM series?

Everyone GLARES at the author.

Makoto: Forget it! Look what you did to my hair!

Rei: YOUR hair? Look at mine!

Haruka: I like the style. 

Michiru grabs Haruka by the ear and drags her off.

Michiru: What I have I told you about flirting, Haruka-chan?

Haruka: Ow! Ow! Ow!

Steven: I spent the entire time covered in scales and wearing 
weird disguises.

Minako: Steven-kun! Here! You be Batman this time, and I'll be 
the Catwoman. Meowrr!

Steven sweat-drops.

Usagi: Um, does anyone remember what we were supposed to be 
talking about?

Setsuna: I do.

Everyone waits, but Setsuna just twirls her revolver and smiles 
enigmatically.

Hime-chan: I know! The lesson is that our Author CAN write 
really fast when he wants to, so we shouldn't cut him any more 
slack!

The Author sweat-drops and decides to end this now.

The End.

Draft Completed: 29 March 2001
Final Version: