March 28, 2028

      Linna looked at the weapon rack again.  It was full of weapons
she had never seen used.  An ornately carved sword with herons and ravens 
worked into a pattern on the hilt sat next to a fire-blackened bokken, three 
naginatas, two decorated maces, five daggers, a long spear with ravens 
carved onto the blade, and two well made four foot staves on the top of the 
rack.  A long metal staff with a loop on the bottom and a broken off top stood 
in the back and a pair of hand claws, a length of chain with hooks on each 
end, three egg-shell grenades, a second, plain sword, and a .357 magnum 
sat on the bottom of the rack.  Over the rack, a handmade composite bow and 
a quiver of arrows hung on the wall.  The rack was enclosed in a glass case 
that looked like it hadn't been opened in a long time.

       "Master, why do you keep these weapons if you never use
them?"

      "They are reminders of foes I have defeated, friends I have lost, and the 
past that is no more.  The bow would be locked in there too, except that I use 
it for target shooting sometimes."  Master Hiromi sighed and ran her 
fingers through her long grey hair.  "I have not fought using a weapon for 
nearly thirty years now."

      Linna blinked.  "Why not?  Were you too dependent on them?"

      "The person I once was reveled in weapons.  She was a violent
vengeful fool and spilled too much blood.  Then one day, I faced
myself and was horrified."

      "I don't understand."

      Hiromi sat down.  "Let me tell you a story.  Once upon a time in
Tokyo, there was a young girl who loved a boy.  The girl was a
mighty martial artist, and she acknowledged no equal in her skills but him.  
All those who came near the boy tasted her wrath, and those who thwarted 
her were lucky to escape with minor injuries.  She did not understand how 
she seemed to others, for she cared only for him and herself."

       Linna sat down and listened.

       "She was not alone in her love for the boy.  She had to fight for
his love.  In the end, she won.  Her skills grew, as did her pride.
There was another girl, not a rival, but a friend of sorts, the kindest, 
gentlest woman that this girl had ever known.  They had become friends 
despite the girl's bad temper and foolish pride, for the kind girl could see 
beyond her outward flaws and saw the good in the heroine of this story.  
There was a boy who believed he loved the kind girl, but she did not love 
him.  He was persistent beyond measure, and the kind girl was too kind to 
get rid of him.  So our heroine decided to apply her own solution:  she beat 
the crap out of him."

        Linna blinked.  She was sure her master had to be talking
about herself, but she couldn't believe Master Hiromi had ever
beaten anyone who didn't deserve it.

       "He was wroth, but no fool.  It might have ended there, but there were 
powers at work in the city.  The end of the millennium was coming, and 
things that should not be stalked the streets of the city.  The boy dabbled in 
arts best left to professionals, seeking vengeance.  He found something, or 
maybe it found him. "

        Master Hiromi paused, the story clearly painful to remember.
"Do you believe in monsters, Linna?"

       "Hell no."

       "Another aspect of your education I must remedy."  She sighed.
"He stalked her friends, one by one, leaving their severed heads for
her to find.  Others died as well, those the dark spirit's master
wanted slain.  Those who contract with dark powers for vengeance
get what they asked for, but usually a lot more as well..."  Her voice trailed 
off.  She took a deep breath.  "The girl and her love sought the killer.  They 
found him.  It was the fiercest battle of her life.  Finally, they defeated him.  
The girl raised her sword to sever his head, but her friend intervened.  She 
pleaded for his life, telling the girl that it was not his fault, that he was 
possessed.  Somehow, her friend drove the spirit from his body with the 
power of the goodness that dwelt in her.  She redeemed him and brought 
peace and life where the girl had only found death.  Her friend had saved a 
man she did not even like, when almost anyone would have sought revenge.  
She was shamed beyond measure.  All her might, her skill, could bring only 
destruction.  For two weeks, she went nowhere and talked to no one but  the 
man she loved."

       Linna stared.  Could this all be true?  People don't get
possessed, she thought.  The man must have just snapped, but...

       "Then the millennial riots began.  In her despair, the woman had 
forgotten one thing.  The spirit had been driven out, not slain.  You were not 
alive then, but I will never forget it.  Rampaging labors crashed through 
her neighborhood.  They tried to claim after the Millenial Riots that a virus 
was responsible.  The girl knew better.  She awakened just as her love's 
head was crushed by a labor.  She could feel the presence of the spirit that 
had slain her friends.  Now it had taken her love as well.  It was more than 
any mind could bear."

       Linna gasped.  "That's...Oh god, I'm sorry."  A mental image of
a Labor squashing her boyfriend's head ran through Linna's mind.
She winced.

       "I do not know how long she wandered, her mind gone.
Somehow she avoided death in the riots.  Somehow, she avoided
the fires.  Somehow, she avoided starvation.  Perhaps she was
blessed by the gods.  Days, weeks, maybe months later, her friend
found her, and slowly began the process of healing her."

       Master Hiromi took a deep breath.  "She threw away her entire
life to regain her sanity.  She changed her name, her hair, her whole
way of life.  For a time, she clung to her friend like a lifeline, trying to be 
like her in all things, for she was sorely shamed of all she had been."

       "Then why do you teach martial arts now?"

       "I'm getting to that.  Be patient."

       Linna nodded.

       "For a time, she was content, but slowly, she became
dissatisfied.  Much as she admired her friend, she could not be her
friend.  No one is so bad that they should throw away every aspect
of their self.  She had a dream, and realized what she was called to
do.  She had skills and wisdom that she had learned, skills and
wisdom that must be passed on.  She took up the Art once more, but
differently.  Where once she had struck with weapons to destroy,
now she used her body to protect.  She learned new arts and refined
old ones.  She dreamed of creating a new art and a band of
followers who could seek out the monsters who had destroyed her
life and prevent them from destroying more lives.  She had walked
Shiva's road and it destroyed her, she had tried to walk Brahma's
path, but it was too hard for her, now she turned to Vishnu's way,
and in it she found her peace.  She had made only one mistake."

        "What mistake was that?"

        "No one believes in monsters anymore, nor could she find the
one who had destroyed her life.   In twenty eight years since then,
she has seen neither hide nor hair of the beast that slew her friends, her 
love, and her old self.  She has found few who would believe the tales she 
told, and fewer yet who could learn her skills."

       "I'm trying as hard as I can!"  Linna sighed.  I just can't get the
hang of half the stuff she tries to teach me.

      "You're the best student I've ever had."

      Linna gasped.

      "If only I could have begun when you were younger.  You would
surpass me by now, I know.  I will not likely find another as apt as
you in the years to come."

       Linna didn't know what to say.

       "Indeed, in some ways, you surpass me already.  I have not
loved again since I lost my one and only love.  I cannot walk
Brahma's path anymore.  It is beyond me.  I cannot create, for my
heart still aches and I do not know how to heal it.  You have suffered a grave 
loss, and yet, you have learned to love and live again.  I wish you could teach 
me how you did it."  Her voice was soft and very faint.  "All three ways are 
open to you, to walk as you must in the story of your life.  I can teach you 
the roads of Vishnu and Shiva, and teach you I shall.  Brahma's path, the 
road of creation, love, and life renewed, you must walk alone, for it is 
beyond my ken now."

        Linna tried to understand, though her brain kept wanting to
glaze over.  "I wish I knew how to help you, master."

      "Just remember, sometimes, living can be a far more horrible
fate than death."


***************************

Chapter 16:  Priss's Choice

***************************

      Linna headed home early, arriving just in time for the phone to
ring.  She rushed and picked it up.  "Hello?"

       "Hi!  This is Robert.  Mind if I come over?"

       "Sure!  I don't feel like being alone tonight."

       She had a wonderful night.  

***************************

      Washuu, Sylvie, Anri, Meylia, and Priss sat on 'chairs' in
Washuu's sub-space laboratory.  "So do you think you can help us,
Washuu?"

       "Sure!  It'll be a challenge.  So how are you going to actually
FIND this thing once I get you into sub-space?"

       "Uhh..."  Priss said.

       "Linna's a dreamwalker,"  Sylvie said.  "She can guide them.  A
lot depends on how well hidden it is."

        "Mom, can we go with her to help her?"  Anri asked.

       "Sure.  I'll set up a sub-space beacon you two can home in on to
get everyone back once you find it...Sylvie, can you go find my parts
for that?"

        Sylvie nodded, got up, and vanished in a spray of light.

        Meylia said, "So, you, me, Linna, Sylvie, and Anri.  That makes
five.  Should be enough, I hope."

        A voice spoke from nearby.  "It is a good number for a princess
of the Moon Kingdom."  It was Sasami.  "The crystal will be well-
guarded, though I'm not sure how."

       "Can you come with us, Sasami?"  Priss asked.

       "I will be needed here.  The curtain is about to rise on the final
act of this story.  Shiva will strike once he knows that either he has 
obtained the crystal or you have."

      "I hope we can stop him,"  Anri said.

      "We will never have a better chance.  If you can find the crystal
and free Saturn, then his fate will be sealed.  If he gets to Saturn
first...I hope you've made your funeral arrangements."

       This was not something they really wanted to be reminded of .

***************************

      "So do you think this can work?"  Ryu asked Nene.

      "I've never seen him on a date, so I don't know.  I think he's too
ecchi for your sister, but maybe he'll behave himself.  With us along, he 
should stay in line."  she replied.  "So the plan is dinner and a movie, 
basically, right?"

       Ryu nodded.  "Assuming we can find one we all agree on.
Manami tends to like these really awful artsy films.  Especially if
they have loud music."

       "Oh, did Wasyuu-chan fix up those CDs for us?"

       "You wanna hear it?"

       "Will I be able to keep my sanity?"

       "Define sanity."

       "Let's just listen to one of my CDs, then."

***************************

      Z floated in the void, his host body asleep, communing with his
master.  "I have found her, the dream walker whom you sent me to
find."

       ARE YOU SURE IT IS THE ONE?

       "She walks even now, as we speak.  Shall I slay her?"

       NO.  SHE WILL LEAD US TO WHAT WE SEEK.  WATCH
HER AND SEE WHERE SHE WANDERS.

       "As you command."

***************************

      Quincy listened to another agent report to him.  Normally, Cain
would have reported to Eve, but this was an investigation that
Quincy was especially interested in.

      "Well, I finally found those records.  They did a good job of
covering their tracks, but I think I have enough evidence to prove it."  Cain 
was a tall man with short, neat black hair.  He was holding a  long pointer 
and pointing to various faces and names on a large monitor screen on the 
wall.  "Here's a photo of Dr. Mizuno Ami in 2000 AD.  Here's a picture of 
her in 2033 AD.  There's NO difference.  Here's a photo of her husband, 
Urawa Ryo, in 2001 AD.  Here's a picture of him now.  He had better hair 
in the first picture, but still..." He clicked through more names and faces.  
"There's at least twelve of these people.  We also have Saul's report on
Mizuno's anagathics research.  I think she's made a major breakthrough.  
Either that, or they're all time traveling boomers."  He laughed.  "Which 
isn't bloody likely."

        Quincy cocked his head and turned to a nearby terminal.  "Hold
on a moment."

        Soon, more images appeared on the screen, quite similar for
the most part to the ones already present.  "Would you say these
pictures look like those?"

       "Yes, sir.  I take it someone else already discovered some of
this?"

      "I think we've just found some people I've been looking for for a
while.  Get them all as soon as you can."

       "Yes, sir."

***************************

      "Do you understand your instructions?"  Kate Madigan asked the
woman standing before her.  The woman was tall, with long black
hair with a greenish tint to it and reddish eyes.  She wore a uniform 
familiar to the people of the city of Mega-Tokyo.

       "Follow Shinohara Noa everywhere, and report back every three
hours as to her movement.  WITHOUT being seen.  I'd rather you lose her 
than be spotted."

       The woman nodded.  "So why am I reporting to you instead of
Adam and Eve?"

       "Adam is likely permanently indisposed and Eve has other things on her 
mind.  If she enters the university campus, notify me immediately.  We've 
lost several agents there."

      "I have no intention of dying any time soon."

       "Neither did they.  Now get on it."

       The woman nodded and walked out.

        Kate frowned.  I'd much rather assign a human to this, but who
can I trust?  Those aliens could be anywhere, looking just like
us...possessing people.  She didn't want to believe in possession,
but Genom was on the verge of being able to successfully record
over people's brains with new brain patterns, which was the next
best thing.  It didn't surprise her that aliens would already have such a 
capability.  Even Eve could be one of them.  Quincy could be...no, he wouldn't 
have told us if he was one of them.  Unless...

      She dismissed the thought.  That way lies infinite regressive
loops of paranoia, she thought. 

***************************

     The machine was huge, resembling a giant castle doorway,
complete with gargoyle heads on the knockers, surrounded by wires
and flashing lights and beeping widgets and what resembled giant
electronic spaghetti strainers.  It was, to say the least, weird looking.

       "You sure this thing will work?"  Priss said dubiously.  It looked like a 
bad joke to her.

       "I am the greatest genius in the universe!  Only five people in
all of creation could duplicate this device and it would take them
decades!"

       "Why were those boxes labeled sub-space doorway kit, then,
Mom?"  Sylvie asked, smiling.

      Wasyuu frowned.  "Back me up here!"

      "It'll work,"  Anri said.  "I have faith in Mom."

      "See!  At least ONE of my children appreciates me."  Wasyuu
said.

      "Right."  Priss said, transforming, as did the others into battle
garb, except for Linna, who didn't have a transformation sequence to call 
her own.  Watching them all transform wasn't quite the best way to get her 
confidence up for this either.

       Linna yawned.  "Couldn't you have let me sleep a little later?"

      "If I'd done that, the doorway would turn you into a kumquat,"
Wasyuu noted.

      Linna said, "WHAT?"

      "Well, not really, but I wanted to see how you would react if I
said that."

      It took a while for them to pry Linna's hands off Wasyuu's throat even 
with four superhumanly strong people in the room.

***************************

     The sun shone down brightly as Haruka raced down the track,
passing his only real competitor, some old guy who kept showing up at these 
races and losing to him.  He was pretty good, he thought, but I'm better.  
Still, for someone who must be at least twenty years older than anyone else 
here, he's pretty good.  Haruka glanced up in the stands.  Yep, the guy's wife 
was up there too.  She was a cute young thing with a funky hairstyle and 
tattoos on her forehead.  For a moment, Haruka lost himself in thought, 
trying to remember their names, but it kept running out of his mind like 
sand through a sieve every time he almost remembered it.

        Haruka didn't even realize his competitor had passed him again while 
he was distracted until a cheer went up.  He cursed to himself.  I got so 
distracted trying to remember this guy's name that I slowed down and he 
beat me.  She looked up in the stands and saw a quite attractive woman with 
long white hair that belied her age, which looked to be in her early 
twenties.  She was laughing, and somehow, Haruka knew this was her fault.  
Haruka sighed and crossed the finish line.  I hate coming in second, he 
thought.  He could hear Michiru cheering for him, but it only hurt him to 
know he'd lost anyway.

         He looked up in the sky and saw dark clouds slowly creeping
west from the bay.  Storm's coming, he thought.

***************************

      Noa got up and headed out into the countryside, blissfully
unaware she was being followed.  The spy followed her, blissfully
unaware that she too was being followed.  She was about to deliver
her first report when a voice whispered two words and a blast of
energy reduced her to ashes.

       The first report went in, but with somewhat different content
than it should have possessed.

***************************

      The group held hands in a ring with Linna concentrating.  They
could feel themselves moving, but in the roiling chaos of subspace,
they could not see any landmarks to give them a real idea of how
fast.  Endless minutes turned into hours, or at least seemed to do so.

       Finally, Priss' patience gave out.  "Damnit, I'm sick of this fog.
I'm sick of just standing here.  I want to DO something!"

       Sometimes wishes come true.  The fog boiled away, and the
group stood in the streets of Mega-Tokyo, just outside Genom tower.  
Dozens, maybe hundreds of boomers were erupting from the tower, 
rampaging through the streets of the city.  Priss swore.  "Shit.  Something 
must have gone wrong.  We have to stop those things!"

        Meylia stared in horror as building after building exploded from 
boomer assaults.  "DAMN YOU!"  She leapt into the air and zoomed towards 
the boomers, hurling bolts of destruction.  Sylvie and Anri took to the air as 
well, assaulting their errant siblings.  Priss drew her sword and leapt into 
the fray, cutting a swath of destruction through the horde.

        Linna sighed.  We can't fight all those boomers.  I wish Wasyuu
had had time to revamp my hardsuit so it would work in subspace,
so I could have brought it.  Suddenly, her hardsuit materialized
around her.  She blinked and the realization struck her.  None of this was 
real.  We're still in subspace.  "STOP!  THIS ISN'T REAL!"  she shouted.

       They couldn't hear her, or perhaps they didn't want to.  They
each had their own reason to hate Genom and to want it and all its
minions dead.  Linna had her moments of anger, but she was not the
eternal vengeance type.  She could have sworn hatred forever when
her parents died at the hands of boomers, but she didn't.  She knew
better than that.  They didn't.  If she didn't do something, they'd
never escape their revenge fantasy except by death.

       But how can I stop them?  She concentrated.  I've got to will this out of 
existence.  She focused, and GENOM tower began to waver. She ignored the 
explosions and mass destruction of boomers and put all of her will into 
simply erasing it all.  She could feel their wills sustaining this.  Part of 
them wanted this, to go down taking as many of their enemies with them as 
possible.  Linna knew better.  Dying won't avenge those you loved.  Living 
well IS the best revenge.  She spoke with her mind, bending subspace to her 
will.  Something got through to the others and their wills began to withdraw 
from the setting before them.  It became translucent, then two-
dimensional, then winked out entirely.

        Priss looked embarrassed.  "Some leader I was...Is this going
to happen again?"

       "If we're not careful.  Subspace responds to our minds and
desires.  That's why it is the land of dreams."  Linna concentrated
and her hardsuit vanished.  "And the more you believe in what it
offers, the more real that offer becomes."

       "But it only reshapes this world."

       "I think so.  I'm hardly an expert."

       "You know more than us.  Lead on, Linna."  Anri said.

       Linna still didn't want to lead, but there was nothing she could
do about it.

***************************

     "How soon will they be back?"  Kiyone asked Sasami.  Sasami,
Ryouko, Tenchi, Aeka, Kiyone, and Mihoshi were having a strategy
session.

      "Not soon enough,"  Sasami replied.    "Either one of Shiva's
minions will beat them to the crystal, or he will strike as soon as he knows 
his servants have failed.  At least he cannot use the satellites against us."

       "So what do we do now?"

       "Neutralize GENOM's space capabilities so they can't be used
against us."

       Ryouko laughed.  "I'll go get my pirate hat."

***************************

     More minutes passed, or hours, or even days.  Time has little
meaning in subspace, for nothing ever happens without a will to
make it so.  "This is boring as hell,"  Priss said.

     "May you live in interesting times is an old Chinese curse,"
Meylia said.  "I think it applies here as well."

      "Any idea how close we are, Linna?"

      "Um, closer than we were."  At least I hope so, Linna thought.
We could be going round and round.  "If we all think about it, we can
conjure up some chairs to sit on if you're getting tired of standing."

       "Good idea!"  Anri said.  Soon, they were all squared away in
comfy chairs in a tight little circle.

       "So does anything actually live here?"  Meylia asked.

       "Sasami told me that there are beings who live in subspace that shape 
parts of it to their will.  Hopefully we won't run into any of them.  They 
tend to dislike intruders.  The ones that don't usually like to play with 
intruders.  Sometimes the intruders even survive that."

       Anri shivered.  "I hope we don't run into anything like that."

       "Try not to think about it.  The more we think about such things, the 
more likely we are to meet one."

       Telling people to NOT think about something is notoriously
futile.

***************************

     Monitor duty at Genaros station was usually a very boring activity.   
Basically, the monitor was a glorified switchboard operator, given that the 
odds of any thief making it onto the station was basically nil.  A  boomer 
could do the job, in fact, a boomer often DID do the job, but sometimes 
humans were put in charge, either as punishment or when a lot of classified 
communications were expected to come through.

     Jonathon Frakes was there for reason one.  He was bored out of his skull.  
The worst part were the external monitors.  "What's the point of these 
stupid things.  It's not like someone's gonna do a driveby shooting..."  he 
muttered to himself, staring at images of the sides of  the station and deep 
space.

     He could see the usual boring nothing going on.  Turning to examine the 
images of internal station business, nothing of any interest whatsoever was 
going on there, either.  He therefore turned to the only interesting aspect of 
monitor duty, trying to pick up TV and radio signals from Earth.  He was 
getting pretty good at it.  One of the  monitors blanked, then 'One Life to 
Live', one of the longest running TV shows of all time, came up.    It was 
utterly moronic, but he didn't care.  It beat boredom.  Cutting off his own 
fingers would have been more interesting.

      Sadly, the screen he chose to blank was the one where he might have 
actually seen something to warn him of the attack on the station that was  
about to start.  

***************************

      Manami finished making herself up.  She was rather nervous.  I
haven't had a date in a couple of months, she suddenly realized.  I
really haven't gotten to know Mackie very well...I guess I'll find out.
He's only two years younger than me.  I wonder what kind of music
he likes.  Dozens of thoughts ran wild through her head until finally, there 
was a knock at the front door.  Ryu, Nene, and Mackie were there.  They 
were all dressed fairly casually, while Manami was wearing a rather 
formal kimono.  Nene blinked.  "Were we supposed to dress formally?"

       Manami blushed.  "Umm...let me change into something
simpler."

       "You don't have to if you don't want to,"  Mackie said.  "You look
really good in that."

       Manami said, "I'd feel odd being the only one dressed up."  She
headed into her bedroom and plunged headlong into her closet,
questing for something to wear.  She soon found a blouse and a skirt that 
sort of matched, so she put them on and ran back out.

       Ryu straightened up from fiddling with her CD box.  "Don't you
have anything worth listening to?"

       "Everything I have is worth listening to."  She swept over to
Mackie and dragged him out the door.  "Unlike that garbage you
favor."

       "Ahh.  Then you won't mind if I borrow some of your CDs to play for 
your mom?"

       Manami froze for a moment.  "Don't you DARE!"

       Mackie said, "Well, I thought you had some good music in your
collection, Manami."

       The group headed out into the hallway.  "Whose car are we
taking?"  Manami asked.

       "I thought we'd take my car,"  Ryu said.

       Manami laughed.  "Right."  She swept down the hallway with
Mackie in tow.

       Ryu looked over at Nene.  "I have a bad feeling about this.  She
normally hates riding in my car."

       Nene shrugged.  "Don't ask me."

***************************

     Subspace winked out of existence around them in an instant.  To
their surprise, Priss and her friends found themselves standing in a great 
hall, hung with tapestries of funerals, death, and the dying.
Great gold torcs hung on the wall as well, bejeweled and hand-
crafted.  All around them stood a legion of skeletons, armed with
swords and axes.   A man, clad in black and red, with black hair in a
widow's peak, sat on a huge bone throne before them, a silver
diadem upon his brow.  To say the least, this was not the droid they
were looking for.

       "It has been long since we had visitors," the man said, his voice 
booming through the chamber as if he had a microphone in his
throat.

       "Uh, sorry to trespass,"  Linna said.  "We'll just be moving on."

       She concentrated, but the place remained quite stable.

       The man frowned.  "To reject my hospitality is quite rude."

       "We're on a very urgent mission, sir,"  Meylia said.  "Perhaps
we could drop in on the way back."

       "May I ask who you are?"  Sylvie asked.

       "I have used many names.  You may call me Arawn.  I am the
lord of the dead."

       Looking at the decor, Priss wasn't too surprised.  "Get us out of here, 
Linna,"  she whispered.

       "I think he must be maintaining this place," she replied.  "I can't will 
it away."

       "Indeed, I am."  Arawn said.  "I am no phantasm of your mind.
This is but one of my many houses and the many faces that I wear.
Come.  Eat with me and then I shall let you continue on your way."

       Priss' stomach rumbled.  Maybe that's not such a bad idea, she
thought.  "Right.  Lead on."

       They soon adjourned to the adjacent feast hall.  There were
dozens, hundreds, maybe thousands of people there.  It was difficult to tell 
how large the room was or how far it extended.  On the other hand, it was 
easy for them to recognize the other guests at their table.  Easier than they 
would have wished.  Their dead had come to greet them.  The first to arrive 
at the table were Linna's parents, Moemi and Takashi, and Irene Chang, 
followed by Meylia's husband, Douglas Stingray, and her son, Katsuhito.  
Close on their heels were three people without last names, Nam, Meg, and 
Lou, born in a factory, and died in a space station a year ago.  Finally, a
small knot of people approached the table together.  A young woman, Sho's 
mother, a young man in biker leathers, Fang, Priss' old boyfriend, and 
finally, a trio of older adults.  Priss's mom and dad stood together, just as 
she last remembered seeing them, and near them stood the woman she had 
come to see as also her mother, her birth mother, Queen Serenity.

       For a moment, the five stood in silence, staring at those who
had come to their table, unable to believe it was true.  The tears
took them and they rushed forward to those whom they had lost.
For long minutes, none of them could speak, simply drinking in the
presence of lost friends, family, and loves.

       Linna hugged her mother, and cried.  "Mom...mom...mom..."
She couldn't speak coherently.  She wanted to stay there and shelter in her 
mother's loving arms forever.

       Meylia clung to her husband, Douglas Stingray,  like a barnacle to a 
ship.  "My beloved husband, I have missed you so much."

       "And I have missed you, my love.  I have waited so long for
you."

       Sylvie and Anri lost themselves in a group hug with their three
friends who had sacrificed themselves so that Sylvie and Anri could escape 
Genaros.  "I'm sorry...we failed you.  We couldn't even keep ourselves alive.  
You died for nothing."

       "You did your best,"  Meg said.  "There's nothing to be ashamed
of."

       Priss was completely incoherent, clinging to her mother and
father like a five year old baby and crying enough tears to make her
own river.  She tried to speak, but words failed her.  Her friends and family 
gathered around her, supporting her wordlessly as she cried her love for 
them.

       Finally, Priss managed to get out a coherent sentence.  "Mom,
Dad, I love you.  I've missed you so much.  Oh, god, I've failed you,
I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

       Priss' mother squeezed Priss tightly.  "You haven't failed us.
We're very proud of you.  I could never have done half the things
you've done.  We love you, Priscilla."

       Priss' father spoke, "You can be whatever you set your mind to,
Prissie."

       "You...you're not angry with me?"

       "How could I be angry with my only child?"

       Priss glanced over at Queen Serenity, who stood nearby,
smiling silently.  "Mom, I..."

       "I know, dear.  She told us.  Don't worry.  We still love you.
It's not like I didn't know I didn't give birth to you, dear."

       Priss laughed faintly.  Something nagged at her for a moment,
but she dismissed it.  This was not a time to worry about whatever
her stupid brain wanted to pester her with this time.

       Later, none of them was sure how long the reunion lasted.
Finally, the tears drained away and the pain and joy faded to more
humanly bearable levels.  They took their places at the table, where by 
means unknown to them, a great feast was laid out, although Arawn 
apparently didn't believe in silverware, other than knives.

        The food smelled delicious.  Waves of anticipation rushed
through them, though the more fastidious part of Meylia's mind
wished she had learned how to make forks and napkins with her
powers.  Arawn smiled and raised his flagon.  "A toast to our
visitors."

        Everyone raised their flagons.  Priss looked at her parents, who 
smiled back proudly at her.  She looked at Queen Serenity, who had taken 
the seat next to her, but looked troubled.  "What's wrong?"  she whispered.

        Queen Serenity's lips moved without words for a few seconds,
then she closed her eyes and concentrated.  Arawn was yammering
in the background.  Time seemed to almost slow to a halt as
Serenity finally choked out, "Those who eat in the land of the dead
may never leave."

        Priss dropped the glass like a snake.  Meylia, nearby,
overheard this and said, "Like the legend of Persephone..."

        Anri and Sylvie turned.  "The what?"

        Linna turned to Arawn.  "You tried to trap us."

        Arawn frowned, his visage darkening.  "Damn it, I wrought my
lures too well."

        Serenity stood.  "What I was, I do no know, only what you have
made me, and what you have made will have no part of this."

         "Then you shall be remade."  Arawn gestured and Serenity
began to blur, fading away.  The hall began to darken and the doors
slammed shut.

        Priss howled.  "NO!  MOTHER!!!!!!"

         Linna concentrated and summoned her hardsuit.  "It's all a
trick, Priss.  The dead don't go to subspace...and if that had been
the real Queen Serenity, where's her husband, your birth father?"

        Priss' face darkened.  "I.  Don't.  Like.  Being.  Used."

       Arawn laughed.  "Alive or dead, I'll have you.  I can use beings
of power.  Kill them."

        Their friends, relatives, and loves rose up and attacked.  Meg,
Lou, and Nam grappled Sylvie and Anri.  "You left us to die.  You
don't care about anyone but yourselves or you would have wanted to
stay with us!"

        Anri couldn't bring herself to fight them.  "No!  We wanted to
stay and die with you!  You told us to go on!"  She lay limply as Lou
began to crush her.

        Sylvie, on the other hand, wasn't ready to go gently into the
good night.  "You're all FAKES!  You have no right to accuse us!
DAMN YOU!"  She threw Meg into the wall, even though it tore her
up inside, then leveled her hand at Nam.  "Don't make me kill you."

        "You haven't got the guts."  Nam lunged forward.  Sylvie closed
her eyes and fired.  Nam lost her head.  "I'm sorry," she whispered.
Then Meg peeled herself off the wall and charged her again.

        Linna tossed her parents and Irene around like tenpins.  They
couldn't possibly hurt her in her hardsuit, but she couldn't quite bring 
herself to hurt them.  Damn you, Arawn, she thought.  Damn you to hell.

        Meylia shook off her husband and son.  She rose into the air,
flying out of their reach, even after they climbed up on the table.
She formed an energy sword.  "Arawn.  I'm coming for you."

         It was worst of all for Priss.  Fang stabbed her in the leg as
she tried to toss her mother away before her father could grab her too.  
Sho's mother was trying to chew on her leg, but she managed to boot her 
away.  There was nothing left but a blur of Serenity.  She howled in pain 
from the leg blow and kicked Fang in the balls.  To her surprise, he ignored 
the blow and stabbed her again.  She knew they were fakes, but she couldn't 
bring herself to go all out on them.  If I don't fight harder, I'm going to die, 
she realized.

       Sylvie closed her eyes again and blew Meg to powder, then
turned Lou into hamburger.  She cried as she slew them.  "Anri.
Save Priss.  I'm going after Arawn."

        Meylia dived at Arawn and some of the dead rose into the air
and attacked her.  They were people she barely remembered, some
real, some fictional, some glimpsed only briefly, others whom she
had gone to school with.  She steeled herself and laid about her with her 
energy blade.  The dead fell in droves, but more kept coming.

        Linna saw Meylia and almost slapped herself.  She lept away
from her parents to Meylia's aid, flailing away with her
monofilament whips.

        Priss struggled, trying to find the strength to actually go all
out against the shades, but unable to locate it.  Anri plunged in and blew off 
Fang's head.  Priss howled, watching him die again.

       Arawn laughed, watching the battle with glee.  "Live or dead,
you'll never leave this realm while I live."  Suddenly Sylvie appeared 
behind him and blew a large hole in his chest.

      "We'll just have to see what happens if you die, then."  She
blasted him again and again.

       He staggered, howling in pain.  "No, you can't kill me!  I am the
god of death!  I am the lord of the land of the dead!  You cannot slay
death!"

       "I've been dead, and I don't remember you.  You're a fake, and
you're gonna be a dead fake."  Sylvie fired at Arawn again.

        The blow struck home.  "No!  I am the Lord of Death!  I am..."
His voice trailed off as he dissolved into nothingness.  Only his
crown endured, rattling to the ground.

        The 'dead' gave a great shout of joy and dissolved away into
the mist as did the entire castle.  Within seconds, only Priss' wounds and 
the crown remained to give any evidence that Arawn or his realm had ever 
existed.  Priss gave a great shout and chopped the crown with her sword.  It 
turned black and crumbled.  A howl erupted from it, shaking them to their 
very bones.  As the howl faded, the last remains of the crown blew away into 
the mist.

      "Priss!  You're hurt!"  Sylvie ran over to Priss.

      "I've had worse.  This isn't even as bad as what Anri did to me
that time."

      Anri blushed.

       "We don't have anything to bandage you with,"  Meylia said.

       Linna concentrated.  Instant bandages.  "Here you go, from the
subspace dispensary.  Hopefully, you'll stop bleeding before we
leave subspace, cause I don't think these things can go with you."

       "Can we just will her wounds away?"  Anri asked.

       "I don't think this works on people who are physically present.
Otherwise, we could just wish ourselves all-powerful."

        "Well, maybe Priss can affect herself.  Try it!"

        Priss shrugged.  She tried concentrating on not being hurt.  Her 
wounds closed up, though she could still feel the pain and they
clearly weren't fully healed.  "Shit."

        "You always were hard to kill, Priss,"  Linna said.  "Good guess, Anri."  
I wonder if we could wish ourselves all-powerful.  Linna tried. As far as 
she could tell, nothing happened.

***************************

     Kate Madigan waded through paperwork while she waited for the
agent to report back.  The call finally came in.  "You'll find this
interesting."

      "What?  Where did she go?"

     "SDPC."

      Kate choked.  "How long as she been there?"

      "She went in, I got ready to call in, then she left a few seconds
ago in one of their vehicles, heading out west of the city."

       More trouble with SDPC, Kate thought.  Just great.  "Keep an
eye on her."

       "Yes, ma'am."

       We'll see what Quincy thinks about this.  If they stole the
Ingrams and the laser satellites...someone's playing an intricate
game here to have kept our agents inside SDPC from finding out.
We've been betrayed.  She would have been even more panicked if
she knew her 'agent' was laughing at her.

***************************

      Everyone settled down in the car.  Ryu said, "Nene, can you turn
on the radio?  Assuming it works today."  Nene reached over and
turned on the radio.  'Howl at the Moon' by Ozzy Osbourne seized
control of their ears at 110 DB.  Nene was nearly flung through her
seat.  She managed to turn down the volume to where it was nearly
off and the music settled down to a more bearable lesson.  Ryu
sighed.  "Manami, did you change the radio station?"

       Manami began to laugh.  Mackie said, "Nice song.  What
language is it in?  Serbo-croatian?"

       "English, I think,"  Nene said.  "Not that anyone could tell."  She
tried changing the station.  There was no escape from Ozzie.  "Hey,
it's claiming I'm changing channels, but..."

      Finally, the music changed, not that it helped.  As Ryu pulled out
of the parking lot, Ozzie faded out and 'I'm your angel of death', by
the Warrens faded in.  Then 'Be kruel to your skool', 'Smash your
neighbor's skull', 'Master of Puppets', and 'The 21 chainsaw and
backfire salute' followed as Nene desperately spun the radio dial.
"AAAAAAAAAAA"  Nene couldn't stand it.  Mackie rocked on, as did
Manami.

       Ryu briefly contemplated suicide, then said, "Lemme guess, you
did something to the radio."

       "Your mom and I fixed it so that your radio only plays good
music."

       "Can I get you guys to do this for my car then?"  Mackie asked.

       Ryu ground his teeth.  "Nene, put in that CD."

       Nene said, "Are you sure she won't blow up your car if I do
that?"

       Mackie blinked.  "Huh?"

       Ryu put in the CD he and Wasyuu had made.  "You'll love this,
Manami.  It's a handmade CD."

       "Of what?"

       "It's a mix of Zylcanian Xsither music, Wayne Newton, Barry
Manilow, Vogon poetry set to music, and this one other CD."

        Manami ground her teeth.  "You wouldn't dare.  What other
CD?"

       " 'Why are there so many songs about banjos?' CD."

       "You can't break me!"

        Ryu laughed.  "Okay, Nene, hit it."

        Only years of etiquette training enabled Manami to not rip off
her brother's head.  It couldn't stop her from fantasizing about it,
though.

***************************

       Images flickered ever so briefly in the mist, forming and
vanishing too quickly for them to see.  Suddenly, something they
hadn't expected loomed before them.  It was a huge wall that
stretched to infinity.  Priss blinked.  "A WALL?"

       Linna laughed.  "There has to be a door or something.  Maybe
we can blow a hole in it."

       Sylvie said, "I'll phase through it and see what's on the other
side."  She passed through the wall, out of sight.

       Meylia said, "I wish I could do that."

       Anri smiled.  "Mom taught us some nice tricks."

       Linna said, "If my master had ever succeeded in trying to teach
me to astrally project, I could get through it."

       "Your master tried to teach you to astrally project?"

       "All I ever got was a headache.  If I'd actually believed in the
possibility, I might have done a better job.  She tried to teach me a
lot of stuff...I'd have studied harder if I'd actually BELIEVED half the
stuff she tried to teach me.  It usually involved a lot of funky mystic
stuff that went way over my head."  Linna sighed.  "I wish I had time
to go back for some brush up lessons now."

        They waited a while.  Sylvie still hadn't come back.  "Maybe I
should just stick my head through and see what's keeping her,"  Anri
suggested.

        "Let's blast a hole in the wall.  She ought to be back by now."

       They opened fire with everything on the wall.  It ignored them.
Linna tried kicking the wall with her suit and her fist went right
through it as if it wasn't there.  She blinked.

       Meylia laughed.  "I guess we forgot to try touching it."

       They stepped through the wall together, ready to face whatever
might lie beyond.

***************************

      Dr. Mizuno Ami peered through the microscope.  She sighed.
Still no results.  There's something I'm missing, she thought.  I can
identify this thing's chemical structure, but I can't duplicate it.  What
am I missing?

       A woman spoke nearby.  "Dr. Mizuno Ami?"

       Ami turned around.  She didn't recognize the immaculately
dressed woman.  "Can I help you?"

       The woman smiled.  "Yes."  She grabbed Ami, gagged her, and
carried her off before Ami could even blink.

***************************

       Noa drove back from the training ground and picked up her
husband from work.  "Ugh, I'm exhausted,"  she said.

       "Don't sweat it.  I don't feel like cooking either.  Let's go out
to eat."

       "Where are we going?"

       "Well, we do own a restaurant, you know."

       Noa laughed.  "Eat at our own restaurant.  What a concept."

***************************

      Sylvie was pounding and blasting away at the wall as they
stepped through.  "I couldn't get back to you!"

       Linna tried touching the wall.  It was solid from this side.

       Meylia laughed nervously.  "I think that's a hint."

       They pressed onwards through the mist.  Sooner than they
expected, it parted, revealing a archway.  A figure stood, clad in
loose white clothing of an arabian style in the doorway.  Its face was
hidden, though a few strands of black hair poked out from under its
hood.  Its voice was clearly male, and it spoke.  "My duty now is to
guard this threshold.  Who are you who would pass?"

       "Sylvie Hakubi."

        "Anri Hakubi."

        "Yamazaki Linna."

        "Meylia Stingray of the House of Jurai."

        Priss thought for a moment.  "Princess Courage of the House
of Serenity, First Princess of the Sword of the Moon Kingdom.  I am
known also as Priscilla Samantha Asagiri, a member of the Knight
Sabres and lead singer for Priss and the Replicants."

       "What is your quest?"

       A thought struck Meylia's brain and she tried not to laugh.
Sylvie muttered something about the Holy Grail and Meylia nearly
lost it.  Priss tried to ignore them.  "We seek the Silver Crystal of the
Moon Kingdom that we might liberate the sleeping Sailors from their
slumber of over thirty years."

      The figure stared at each of them.  "Why have you come?"

      Priss paused.  "Didn't I just answer that?"  There was something
familiar about the voice, though she couldn't quite place it.  She felt
like she had met this guy somewhere.

       "Yes, YOU have."

       Sylvie said, "Oh, you're asking the rest of us?"

       The figure nodded.  Sylvie said, "I've come to help my best
friend.  I'll ride into hell itself if I have to, to help her."

        Anri said, "Where Priss and Sylvie go, I will go."

       "I have come to aid my friend,"  Meylia said.  "And I have come
to enjoy adventure, I must admit.  Plus, we will need the Sailors'
help, I think, in the days to come."

       "I had to come.  They couldn't find the crystal without me,"
Linna said.

       "But why did you come?"

       "I just told you."

       "No you didn't."

       Linna stared at the man.  "I don't understand."

       "You usually don't."

        Now Linna was starting to get irritated.  "Look, I told you.  They
needed me."

        The man simply stared at her.

        Priss thought for a moment.  "Maybe he's asking why you cared
that we needed you."

       "Because Priss needed me.  She's my friend, and I want to help
her.  This is good practice for my dream-walking skills too."

        The man smiled.  "Your final question."

        There were audible sighs of relief.  Priss thought hard.  I know
this voice.  Who is this guy?  She whispered to Linna, "Does this guy
sound familiar to you?"

       "He vaguely reminds me of that DJ on the Oldies station."

        Priss laughed.

       "How many times must a person die?"

       Linna blinked.

       "At least once,"  Sylvie said.

       "As rarely as possible, since you can't normally come back,"
Anri said.

       "Who's judging the must here?"  Meylia asked.

       The figure was silent.

       "Well, you have to be born twice to enter the kingdom of
heaven...I think,"  Linna said, trying to dredge up childhood
memories of occasional visits to the Christian church her mother
had attended.  "So I'd say once."

       Meylia shrugged.  "I'm clueless."

        "As many times as is necessary,"  Priss said.  "I'll die a
thousand times if I have to."

        The figure smiled faintly.  "You may enter. "  He stepped
backwards through the doorway and vanished into the mists, leaving
behind only a white rose.  "My long vigil is over.  I pray that you will
set us all free."  His voice faded now as well.

        They all stepped through the doorway.  Meylia said to Linna,
"So how can someone be born twice, anyway?"

        "Wait for Washuu to find you,"  Priss said, smiling at Sylvie,
who laughed.

***************************

       Mackie, Manami, Ryu and Nene waited for their order to come
though.  Mackie looked around Alphonse's.  "This is a pretty nice
place.  You come here often, Manami?"

       "My advisor brought our class here a few months ago,"  Manami
said.  "I thought you'd like it."

       Mackie stared at the Ingram.  "I've always wanted to drive one
of those things.  It's so...big."

       Nene laughed.  "Better not let the manager hear you wanting to
run off with her Ingram."

       Manami nodded.  "I got to meet her last time."  She looked
around.  "Hey, she's over there.  I guess that must be her husband
and, uh...daughter maybe?"

       Nene looked over.  "Hey, there's Lt. Shinohara.  She must be..."
Nene slapped her forehead.  "I'm a moron today.  I knew vaguely
that her mom ran this place.  My brains must be fried."

      Mackie looked longingly at the Ingram.  "I wonder if she'd..."

      "I hear she killed the last person who asked."  Ryu said, smiling
faintly.

       Mackie winced.  "You're kidding, right?"

       Nene said, "It can't hurt to ask.  I'm sure she probably enjoys
talking about her exploits."

       Manami said, "If I thought she'd remember me, I'd try
introducing you."

       "I know Lt. Shinohara.  I'll bring you over, Mackie."

       "Thanks!"  Mackie followed Nene over to the other table.

        Ryu leaned over to Manami.  "Well, what do you think?"

        "I'm sure she'll at least talk to him about it."

        Ryu laughed.  "Nice dodge.  I mean, what do you think of
Mackie?"

        "He seems like a nice young man.  And we like the same
music, which is nice."

        Ryu nodded.  "Nene's told me some wild stories, but he seems
to be on his best behavior.  Maybe he's only ecchi with people he
knows well."

       "Or when he has nothing to lose.  You're not worried about me,
are you?"

        "You could vaporize him in five seconds.  While unconscious.
I'm not worried.  I'm just hoping this will all go okay.  I know you
haven't had a date in a long time and..."

        She interrupted him.  "I've been busy.  I've got a lot of
homework this semester and..."

       "I'm not trying to lecture you, Manami.  I'm just trying to be a
good big brother."

       "Half-brother."

       "Same difference.  You know my mom and your mom act like
we're both their own flesh and blood.  And Grandma loves you just
as much as me.  Maybe more so because you're more gullible."

       "I am NOT gullible!  I have the sense not to submit to any of
Washuu-obasan's experiments."

      Ryu began to laugh very loudly.  Manami had a sinking feeling
she had missed something.

***************************

      Haruka headed home on his motorcycle with Michiru.  "Damnit, I
should have won.  That woman did something to me."

      Michiru sighed.  "Like what?  Cast a spell on you?  I don't think
so."

      Haruka sighed and looked in his rearview.  "Someone's following
us."

      "What?"

       "This woman's been following me for about the last five miles."

       "Maybe she's just heading across town like us."

       "I can tell."

       Michiru sighed.  My husband is so paranoid.  "Then take the
next exit and see if she follows."

       "Good idea."  Haruka waited until the last second and roared off
down the exit.  The woman followed in her sports car as soon as he
did so.  "I was right!"   He roared off into the maze of streets to try to
lose her.

***************************

     Kate Madigan finished reporting to Quincy.  "It seems there is
something wrong with SPDC, sir."

      He frowned.  "Everything is coming unhinged at once."

       "Has something else happened?"

       "We've lost Genaros."

       "We've WHAT?"

       "Follow me.  I've already called an executive meeting.  We have a
major mounting crisis."  They rushed off to the meeting.

***************************

     A recording played, staticky and faint.  " slkdjflskdj...breaking 
down the doors...sldflwoeiur...Boomer armnaments can't stop 
her...sljsk.w..known it wasn't an asteroid...slkdfjldskjwoeur....  
Asteroids don't change course.  There's a hole in the ..sdjflsvkcjkjkjruo..."

     The voice on the tape changed.  An amused female voice.  Where the 
previous voice had spoken in English, this one spoke in accented 
Japanese, with a rural accent.  <Radio.  I didn't even think of jamming 
the radio transmissions on these frequencies.>

      There was another burst of static and a third voice, or was it?  In 
fact, it sounded rather like some sort of cat meowing.  Static swallowed 
all sound entirely.

      Mr. Holsom punched the off button.  "That was our last transmission 
from Genaros station.  We can only assume that either the USSD has taken 
over the station or there has been some sort of successful terrorist take 
over."

     "It could be another rogue boomer incident like those sexaroids who 
escaped last year,"  suggested one of the other executives of GENOM in 
the room.

      "Doubtful.  The voiceprint for the woman doesn't match that of any 
boomer in our registry.  Nor does she match the print of any of the human 
crew.  USSD continues to assert their innocence in this affair.  We can 
only conclude that someone on the station betrayed us and helped smuggle 
in terrorists, somehow."

     "It could be SCHAFT or another of our competitors,"  a third 
executive suggested.  

      "Possibly, but so few companies have the resources that such a deed 
would call up only a very  short list of suspects.  We are, of course, 
investigating this possibility.  It seems unlikely, given that there is 
nothing on the station worth the effort of an actual takeover."  Mr. 
Holsom paused.  "The biggest question remaining is why the approach of 
the ...whoever they are, went unnoticed.  It seems far too likely that
those responsible for the missing laser satellites have struck again."

     Quincy walked in.  "Couldn't wait for me?  Well, I think I have the
answer to our questions, and it is not an answer we are going to like."

***************************


      Beyond the doorway, the mists were gone.  The team of five
stood within a dark stone maze.  Tunnels ran hither and yon in all
directions.  Priss turned to Linna.  "Which way do we go?"

       Linna concentrated and felt a slight pull down one of the
tunnels.  "This way, I think."

       Slowly, she guided them through the maze, praying she wasn't
just imagining which way to go.  Finally, they came to a huge room,
riven with a chasm whose bottom was too deep to see.
Furthermore, the chasm was nearly 200 feet across, too far to jump.
The walls were riven as well, the chasm extending beyond the room
out of sight through the rock.

       For Sylvie and Anri, this was about as much of a barrier as a
line of tiddleywinks.  They simply teleported across.  Linna
concentrated and called up her hardsuit, then jumped across.
Meylia could fly.  Priss, on the other hand, was out of luck.  "Gee,
thanks, guys."

       Linna shouted back.  "Just call up your hardsuit and do a power-
assisted jump!"

       "How do I do that?"

       "Just think about it!  It's not like I'm the only person who can do
this, you know!"

       Priss concentrated and her hardsuit formed around her.  She
took a deep breath and leaped across the chasm.  She made it,
though the suit dissolved away as soon as she landed and lost her
concentration.  "That was too easy."

         "Well, if you'd come alone, you'd still be looking for a way
across."

        Priss sighed.  "If I had come alone, I'd still be in Arawn's
realm, if I'd even gotten that far.  I feel like I haven't done anything right
since I got here."

       Anri hesitantly put a hand on Priss' shoulder.  "Don't feel so bad.  We 
all would have fallen for Arawn's trap if we hadn't been warned."

       Meylia nodded.  "And she wouldn't have been there to warn us
without you."

       Priss straightened up and moved forward.  "Let's get this over
with."

***************************

      Across town, a series of kidnappings mostly went off rather
smoothly.  A few, however, did not go so well.  One boomer lost her
targets in a chase through the backstreets of Mega-Tokyo.  A
second broke into a school counselor's office only to discover that
the school counsellor had called in sick.  A break-in at the
counsellor's house revealed that she wasn't home either.  Preparing
to think of other options, the boomer then heard someone whisper
something, shortly after which it was blasted to bits.

        The one which went wrong the worst...well, not counting that
last one, was a double snatch and grab of a school teacher and her
husband.  It started out well enough...

        Usagi answered the door.  "Hi!  Can I help you?"

        "I'm selling vacuum cleaners.  Mind if I show you one of our
models?"

       "Sure.  Come on in."

        The boomer made small talk and ran through some snappy
patter, carefully drawing out the admission that Usagi's husband
would be home soon.  She successfully drew out her routine until
Mamoru walked in the door.  Just as she was about to grab and sedate
both of them, someone started pounding on the front door.

        Mamoru answered the door and Haruka and Michiru ran in.
"Can we use your phone?"

       "What's wrong, Haruka-kun?"  Usagi asked.

        Haruka glanced over at the boomer, clearly not wanting to talk
in front of her, despite being unaware she was a boomer.

        "She's Hitomi, Haruka.  She's a vaccum cleaner salesman.
Hitomi, these are my friends Haruka and Michiru."

        The boomer blinked.  More of the targets?  Can I grab them
all?  She radioed the boomer who was supposed to be following
these two.

        "There's a woman who's been following us all over town and we
don't know why.  I'm sorry we lead her this way, but we needed to
get to a phone and we didn't want to lead her to our house."  Haruka
sighed.  "So we led her here.  I'm sorry."

        "Go right ahead,"  Mamoru said.  "I'll go see if Leon is home."

        "Leon?"

        "He's with the ADPolice."

        If boomers swore, Hitomi would have sworn.  Great, my targets
live next door to an ADPolice officer.  This isn't going to be good.
The screaming when she burst out of her skin was the most
satisfying part of a frustrating evening.

***************************

    Mackie headed back to his table with Nene just as another
unexpected set of visitors arrived at Noa's table.  It was Kanuka
McClaine and her husband, John.  He was of medium height and
broadly built with wavy hair.  Well, what was left of his hair was
wavy and gray.  He was dressed in a nice suit.  He was also the
most paranoid looking man that Noa had ever seen.  He glanced
over at the Ingram.  "That thing can't move by itself, can it?"

      Noa laughed.  "Only in a cheesy horror movie."  Not counting the
Millennial Riots, she thought.  Let's not think about that.

       Her daughter Moemi threw back her head and laughed.  "What,
like Labor Day Labor Massacre?  'Surely, there must be a scientific
explanation for this!'  'Only the science of...black magic!'"

        They all laughed, except John, who muttered to himself
something about hotels.  Noa called over a waitress for them and
they quickly placed their orders.  The food soon arrived, and they all
started eating.  "So you're in the ADPolice, Moemi?"  John asked.

        Moemi nodded.  "Yeah."

        "I heard your headquarters got taken over last Christmas?"
Kanuka asked.

        Moemi blushed faintly.  "I hate to admit it, but yes."

        She turned to her husband.  "See, it doesn't just happen to
YOU!  Everyone has these kind of problems."

        "Three days, max.  That'll give us enough hospital time
afterwards to recover before we have to fly home."

        She sighed.  "You're incorrigible."

        "Next time we go to the Grand Canyon.  No one can take over
the entire Grand Canyon."

        Asuma laughed.  "I take it your vacations have gone badly in
the past?"

        "I think I was born with a 'Terrorists please attack me and my
family' sign on my head.  My first wife finally left me after the sixth
or seventh hostage situation...with her as the hostage.  Heck, I met
Kanuka during another one of them.  I'm NEVER going back to the
Kennedy Space Center.  EVER."

        Everyone laughed, not realizing it was all true.

***************************

     The maze continued, then opened out into a huge beautiful
garden under a starry sky.  Far across the garden was a beautiful
palace, and in the sky over the palace hung the huge, beautiful
Earth, dominating the sky.

       "The royal palace,"  Priss whispered.

        Anri looked around.  "Wow, this place is so pretty."

        Linna said, "I think this means we're almost there."

       Slowly, they walked through the garden towards the palace, a
gentle breeze making the branches of the trees rustle as they
passed.  They were all nervous with anticipation.

        They crossed half the garden before they realized that the sky
was getting darker.  Looking up, they could see black storm clouds
covering the sky.  Linna and Priss suddenly had a very bad feeling.
"Run."  Priss said.

       Sylvie and Anri grabbed Priss and teleported to the palace
doors, while Meylia took to the air and Linna conjured her hardsuit
once more, running as fast as possible.  As Priss opened the doors,
the clouds finished swallowing the sky.  The whole world suddenly
went silent and a great red eye opened in the clouds, glaring down
balefully at them.

       "Shit."  was all Priss could say.

***************************

      Anri and Sylvie managed to drag Priss into the palace.  Priss
seemed unable to move, but for whatever reason, they were not
affected.  Sylvie turned and slammed the doors shut, trapping the
light outside.  Priss gave a great shudder and whispered, "Metallia."

      "Who?"

       Priss looked around.  "Where's Linna and Meylia?"

       "I think they're still outside."

       "Shit!  We can't leave them out there!"  She moved to open the
doors, but Sylvie grabbed her hands.

       "You'll just get paralyzed again.  I'll go help them.  It doesn't
seem to effect me and Anri.  Anri, you go with Priss."

       Anri nodded quietly.

       "I can't just leave them!"

       "Priss, if you go out, you'll just get paralyzed again!  I seem to
be immune, so I'll go out."  Probably because I'm not really human,
she thought.  "Go find the crystal.  Something must be trying to keep
us from getting to it."

       Priss swore repeatedly and pointlessly, then turned to head into
the building.  "Come on, Anri.  Let's go search the palace."

        Anri went with her silently as Sylvie phased through the door
and out into the yard.

***************************

      Leon charged into the Chiba's apartment.  He knew he should
wait for backup, but he knew they'd never get there before it was too
late.  Why the hell is a boomer attacking them, he wondered.
They've never done anything to hurt anyone.

       He stood in the doorway.  "Freeze!  ADPolice!"  He recognized
the boomer as a fairly new-model C-class cyberdroid.  He leveled
his gun.  Against a C-class, he might have a chance.  Not much of a
chance, but it was better than nothing.

       Usagi was unconscious on the table.  Michiru was down on the
floor with the couch on top of her.  The boomer had Haruka pinned
under one foot and was applying an anesthetic to him.  Mamoru
was trying to beat the boomer with a cane.  It wasn't accomplishing
much.

        The boomer finished off Haruka, then looked up at Leon.
"ADPolice, eh?  I'm just doing your job, bringing in these renegade
sexaroids."

        Leon blinked.  "WHAT?"

        "I understand you've done some investigating of that case
yourself."

        No way, Leon thought.  My neighbors are not renegade
sexaroids.  Something nagged at his mind, but he was too busy to
think about it.  "And how would you know about that?"

        "Someone hacked into our records.  Someone in ADPolice."

        "I'm no hacker."

        "They used your account."

        I'm going to KILL Nene, Leon thought.  Leon kept talking,
hoping his backup would arrive before the boomer was ready to
fight.  

***************************

      The yard plunged into anarchy.  Shadows rained down from the
sky.  Where they struck, the garden became blighted and twisted.
The ground erupted and figures of rock and clay, cast in a crude
parody of human shape, burst forth and began to close in on Linna
and Meylia who were unable to move.

         Sylvie erupted through the doors and saw them, teleporting to
their sides in an instant.  Dozens, maybe hundreds of the monsters
were closing in.  It tore her heart to see the beautiful garden
destroyed and turned to corruption and death.  Her rage ignited and
she began to blast the monsters with great gouts of energy.  They
blew up easily, but there were dozens more where those came from.
She soon realized this was a fight she could not win.

***************************

       Despair raged in Meylia's soul.  She could not move.  She was
powerless, helpless, a mere mortal in the face of undying wrath.
She was failing her friends as she had failed her husband and her
son, failed her father, failed everyone.  She had never felt so
worthless since the day she had decided to run away from home.

        She could feel the evil of the cloud, power beyond measure.  It
dwarfed her, reminding her how insignificant she was.  'The evil that
men do lives on, the good is oft interred with their bones', one poet
had said, and she saw the truth of that now.  In the end, all things
went down to destruction.  Sylvie was fighting desperately, but she
would be overwhelmed.  Entropy increases over time.  It was the
darkest moment of Meylia's life.

***************************

      If Linna could have seen what was going on, she might have
despaired.  Linna, however, did not see the mounting battle.  For
her, the world had winked out the instant that the eye had opened.
She floated, naked, in the misty void once more.

        For a few seconds, she didn't know where she was, then it all
came back to her.  How did I get here?  Where is everyone?  Hey,
I'm naked!  She concentrated and her exercise outfit appeared on
her.  She laughed faintly.  I could wear anything here and I end up
with this.

       "Ahh, but it is more lovely on you than a fine gown on many
women."  The strong male voice cut through the silence.  It was the
voice of her boyfriend, Robert Bruce.

       Linna started.  "Robert?  What are you doing here?"

       "I have come to make you an offer, my love."

       Linna blinked.  "An offer?"

       "Do you know that you talk in your sleep?"

       "I what???"

       "I heard much last night, as you lay sleeping.  I had long hoped
you were the one I had looked for.  It is so rare that I find one like
myself, a potential immortal."

       "I...Immortal?"

       "For such as us, death is not the end, for we can survive the
death of our bodies and find new flesh.  Let me show you the way,
Linna, and then we can be together, forever."  He moved closer and
took her hand.  "Walking in dreams is only the beginning.  You will
be like a god, as I am, the world ours to mold as we will."

        Even my boyfriend is all-powerful, Linna thought.  "I don't
understand."

        His voice was soothing.  "Did you truly think your heritage was
normal and mundane?  Like your friends, you possess an
inheritance of power.  Everyone has an astral body, but yours is
more powerful than most.  It uses your body, but it doesn't need it.
Even if you die, you will live on if you let me teach you, for I can
show you how to find a new body.  In fact, here in subspace, you
could make your own body, though it would be of no use beyond this
world.  I have lived for millennia, Linna, and I'd like you to join me."

        Linna stared.  "I...uh..."  A thought struck her.  "Where are my
friends?"

       Robert's face darkened.  "The defenses of the Silver Crystal lay
them waste.  Only you could I save."

      "Liar."  Another voice broke through the silence of the void.
"Your minions haven't killed them yet, and this is all your fault."   A
second figure emerged from the mists.  It was Master Hiromi.  Her
voice was tight with barely controlled rage.

      Linna blinked.  "Master Hiromi?"

      "Don't listen to her, Linna!  It's a trick!  Someone's trying to
deceive you!"

      Master Hiromi closed in on Robert.  "He would condemn you to
his own fate of damnation, Linna.  That was his eye you saw.  He
followed you here so he could take the crystal for himself and
destroy you all.  He is a servant of Shiva, the lord of destruction.  All
he can offer you is eternal evil."

       "Liar!  I love Linna!  I just want her to be able to be with me
forever!"

       "You want to possess her forever, maybe.  You know nothing of
love.  Those who give themselves to destruction can no longer
create, can no longer love.  At best, they can only parody such
things."  Master Hiromi had almost reached Robert now.  Linna,
stared, uncertain what to do.  "You slew my friends.  You slew my
only love.  You slew my ability to love.  I almost gave myself to your
master in my despair and I can barely avoid his grasp even now.
Perhaps if I destroy you, I will fall into the same void from which you
were spawned.  I don't care anymore.  Finally, I have found you, and
I WILL SEE YOU DEAD!"  She moved, and her attack was beautiful
to behold.  Fluidly, she moved across the intervening space and
grasped Robert to her like a lover, then leapt into the air and
slammed him into the ground.  She danced upon his skull, then lifted
him high again to lay him low.

       It was like watching a combat ballroom dance marathon.
Robert was clearly outmatched.  Blood flew and bruises mounted on
his flesh, while he could hardly lay a hand on her.  Finally, she had
him pinned on the ground, her hands around his throat.  Linna could
bear no more.

       She rushed over.  "Stop!  You'll kill him!  There has to be a
mistake!"

       "I can smell it upon him.  The same spirit I fought so long ago.
He is the one.  I will kill him if it damns my soul to hell.  I will have
vengeance or death.  I would welcome either."  Her grip tightened.

       "Help me, Linna," he choked out.  "She's killing me."

       Linna hesitated.  She'd never seen Master Hiromi like this
before, so angry.  She wouldn't be doing this unless Robert really
was the one...no, that's not possible!  I couldn't love such an evil
being, could I?  "Stop it!  You've got to be making a mistake!"

        "He is the one.  I will have his heart for what he has done."
The anger controlled her voice now, and her face was contorted with
hate.

        Robert begged, choking out the words, "Linna...please..."

        It was more than she could bear.  "I'm sorry, Master.  I have to
do this."  She struck at Hiromi's wrists, forcing her to release her
grip, then grabbed Hiromi and tossed her aside.  "Snap out of it,
master!  Didn't you always tell me that revenge was bad?"

         Master Hiromi got to her feet.  "He must be destroyed.  There
is no other cure for his evil.  Some infections must be cut out."

         "But who appointed you the judge of all mankind?"  Linna
helped Robert get up.

        Master Hiromi winced.  "We all must lay judgment every day.
It is inescapable, much as we would like to escape it.  You have the
sight, Linna.  Use it.  Remember what I taught you.  You can see his
heart and judge for yourself."

       Linna gulped and turned to Robert.  She tried to clear her mind
as he tried to remember how to breathe.  She opened her eyes wide
and truly gazed into his soul.

       His clothing peeled away before her sight.  He stood naked
before her in her mind's eye, as he had lain in her bed the previous
night.  Memories of that night tried to seize her mind, but she
shoved them away, and dug deeper.  He shimmered and a starry
space filled her vision.  She peeled away the stars and gazed upon
his soul.

***************************

      Quincy gave the orders.  GENOM forces began to move into
place around the world.  Carefully, he went over his plans.  At least
Z is too busy to try to 'improve' on my plans, he thought.  I can't
decide whether to hope that he gets the Crystal or to hope they kill
him.  It would spare me the trouble.

***************************

      Priss and Anri wandered through the palace.  "This thing could
be anywhere."

      "You have no idea where we might find it?"

      Priss thought.  "The throne room."

      "Okay, we go to the throne room.  Where is it?"

      "I have no clue."

       Anri facefaulted.

***************************

       Only three times in her life had Linna successfully followed her
master's teaching and truly gazed upon someone's soul.  The first
had contained beauty beyond her imagining.  The second time had
been the most baffling of her life.  The third time was a nightmare.
Millennia of destruction stretched out before her.  Birth in a strange
glass tube in a dark laboratory.  Baby's first steps carried him
through the void of space at his father's command.  Teething upon
an earthquake that destroyed a city.  The power of command over
earth and rock was his.  Across countless light-years and centuries
of time, the being Linna had known as Robert Bruce had hopped
from body to body, spreading destruction at his master's command,
seeking those upon whom the master's wrath must be poured out, in
a legacy of vengeance with three goals.  The House of Jurai must
be destroyed.  The scientist Wasyuu who had betrayed the master
must be destroyed.  Most of all, Tsunami, must be destroyed.  They
had slain Walyn, the beloved child of the Great One, Shiva.

       This body was just another shell, though a special one, provided
by his master.  Why it was special, she could not see.  All that she
had seen in him before this moment had just been a mask, a shell
he had painstakingly created for her benefit.  And yet, he did love
her, as best he could.  His offer was sincere.  He did want her to be
with him forever.  Even a being such as he needed companionship.

       The vision faded, and the world returned.  She wanted to run
away and cry, to curl in a ball at the horror she had seen.  His offer
had tempted her.  She feared the power he had to offer, and yet, she
craved it as well, feeling outmatched by all those around her.

        His face darkened.  "So be it.  We could have been so good
together, Linna."  Master Hiromi leaped to her feet.  Robert said, "I
should have come back for you a long time ago, but I thought it
better to let you live and suffer.  X may think I lack subtlety, but he
just doesn't understand me."

       "Frankly, I couldn't care less,"  Master Hiromi said, moving
forward to attack again.

       As Linna pulled herself together, Robert moved, grabbing
Master Hiromi.  "Die," he commanded.  Black bolts of energy
coruscated around her frame.  Before Linna's eyes, she began to
age and rot.  She clenched her teeth and drove blows into Robert's
frame, though her blows grew weaker.

       Linna saw what was happening.  She called up her hardsuit and
opened fire, blasting Robert away from Master Hiromi.  She ran over
to her.  "I'm sorry I didn't trust you.  Oh god, this is awful."

       Master Hiromi, barely more than a withered mummy, smiled.
"This is only my dream self.  He cannot slay me.  Remember what I
taught you."

       Robert got back up, his wounds closing.  He frowned.  "You'll
pay for that."

       Master Hiromi began to fade away.  "Linna, this is all in your
mind...a dream within the dreamworld.  Your body is standing
defenseless.  If he keeps you busy for too long, your body may be
slain as well."  She coughed and her voice grew fainter.  "A high
price will be demanded of you, Linna.  I pray you will find the
strength to pay it.  Remember, that death is not the end, especially
for one such as you.  There is power in sacrifice, and the greatest
sacrifice is..."  She vanished before she could finish her sentence.

        Robert stood in the heart of a swirling black maelstrom.  "This
is your last chance, Linna.  Join me and live, or defy me and die."

        Linna mustered her courage and charged forward, her heart
aching.  "You won't kill me.  This is my mind and my dream, and I
rule here.  DIE!"

        Robert vanished the instant before the beam Linna fired from
her hands would have struck him and obliterated him.  The next
thing Linna did was open her eyes.

        Meylia stood paralyzed next to her.  A few feet away, Sylvie
was desperately blasting incoming golems, trying to keep them away
from her and Meylia.  Linna opened fire, blowing several apart.

        Sylvie blinked.  "Hey, you're moving."

         A voice boomed from the sky.  "Not for long.  I tire of this
game."  The eye in the sky glowed with a black light.

        Linna recognized the light.  It was the same ray of destruction
she had hurled at Robert in her mind a few seconds ago.  It seemed
that turnabout was fair play.  This bolt would be large enough to
obliterate them all.  "Sylvie, when I signal you, grab Meylia and
teleport away."

       "What about you?  I can't take both of you!"

       Linna's voice was strangely calm.  "Priss always said all these
boyfriends would  be the death of me one day."  I have to make him
think I'm dead, she thought.  I just hope I don't really die in the
process.  "GO!"  She leaped over the horde and charged off towards
a handy tree she could use to help her.

        Sylvie swore, grabbed Meylia and teleported.

         The bolt stabbed down from the heavens at Linna.  She
prayed her plan would work.

***************************

      "So what else are we going to have to face, Priss?"  Anri asked.
She strained to hear some hint of what might be going on outside,
but the palace was silent except for her and Priss' footsteps

      Priss shrugged.  "I have no clue.  I'm not even absolutely sure
the crystal is in here...we may have just stumbled into another trap."

       They pushed open a set of double doors and answered their
doubts.  Beyond the doors lay a huge, beautiful throne room.  It
stretched out before them, two lines of pillars forming a highway to
the throne, upon which slept a sleeping warrior.  She looked to be in
her early twenties, clad in the fuku of the Sailor Warriors.  Upon her
brow was a tiara and in her hands she clutched a glaive.  She drew
the eye to her, and even in her sleep, she made those viewing her
very uneasy.

       Yet, her presence was dwarfed by what floated before her.  A
multi-faceted gem, like a diamond, yet somehow different in some
intangible way, hung five feet from her head with no visible means
of support.  It shone with a pure white light, obliterating all shadows
in the room.  It was the Ginzuishou, the Silver Crystal of the Moon
Kingdom.  It sang with a song of comfort and joy that Priss could
hear in her soul.

        She stepped into the room, moving almost like a zombie
towards the crystal.  Anri tried to follow, but she was unable to step
into the room.  Priss could feel the warmth coming from the crystal
as she drew closer.  The glow was blinding.  As she moved closer to
the crystal, a figure began to form in the air between her and the
gem, but she couldn't see it clearly.

        Anri's augmented sight, however, could.  She couldn't believe
it.  "PRISS!  WATCH OUT!  It's LARGO!"

        Priss blinked.  The light of the crystal dimmed to a more
bearable level.  The being known as Largo stood before her.  She
couldn't believe it.  This had to be a trick.  What the hell would Largo
be doing here?  "I won't let you trick me."

        Largo smiled.  "Trick you?  I have not come to trick you.  I have
come to do homage.  Soon you will become what I only dreamed of
becoming.  You will be a god among mortals.  Compared to the
Silver Crystal, the laser satellites I commanded were nothing."

       Priss frowned.  "Then why haven't you taken the crystal?"

       "I can no more wield the Silver Crystal than you could have the
Black Box integrated into your body.  You are of the House of
Serenity, the House of Jurai, for the two lines are one.  To them is
given the crystal to wield.  To them is given the power to become a
god."

       Priss said, "So you're not going to try to stop me from taking it?"

       He laughed.  "I want you to take it.  We have a common goal.
We both wish to see GENOM destroyed.  You can succeed where I
failed.  Take the crystal, and you will be unstoppable.  With the
Crystal, you could rip GENOM Tower up and fling it into the ocean.
You could find where the REAL Quincy is hiding and kill him.  But
that is not all.  As soon as you take the Crystal, Saturn will awaken.
Her power plus that of the crystal would be unstoppable, and she will
be yours to command.  You could reshape the world to your vision.
Don't you dream of a better world?"

        Priss had come this far without really thinking about what she
planned to do with the crystal besides liberating her sister.  "Nothing
is that powerful."

       "With the crystal, your mother obliterated an entire army.  She
gathered millions of souls and sent them thousands of years into the
future.  With the crystal, the original Queen Serenity turned the
moon from a lifeless rock into a habitable world.  All it takes is will
and a vision of what should be.  I know you possess both."

        For a moment, that vision possessed her mind.  She could see
herself destroying GENOM Tower.  Horrible deaths for all those who
had wrecked her life.  She remembered the prosperity and peace of
the Silver Millennium.  That could live again.  She could restore its
wisdom, awaken everyone's memories of that time that it might be
rebuilt.  It would all be so easy.  She had only to reach out and take
the gem and she would be avenged.

        She stepped closer to the gem.  Largo got out of her way.  Anri
tried to shout something, but Priss couldn't hear her.  She tried
blasting Largo, but her shots wouldn't pass through the doorway.
Priss was inches from taking the Silver Crystal, when a second
voice cut through the stillness that had settled on her mind.

       "Who died and made you God?"  It was Leon's voice.

       Priss froze in place and turned.  Largo stood to her left, and
Leon stood to her right.  "Leon?  How the fuck did you get here?"

       "Answer my question.  Where did you get the right to judge the
world and destroy all those you find wanting?"

       "Damnit, Leon!  I have the power!  I have to act!  If I can stop
GENOM and I don't, then I'm responsible for what they do!  They've
wrecked my life and millions of others!  The blood of innocents is
crying out for revenge!"

        "You can't repay evil with evil.  If you kill millions of GENOM
employees, you'll become worse than them.  Most GENOM
employees are just ordinary people trying to make a living.  And who
gave you the power of life and death?"

        "They killed my boyfriend, my best friend, and her closest
friend!  Their machines killed your first partner and they've killed
hundreds of others!  They've got to PAY!"

      "You've killed too, Priss.  Dozens of times."

      "They were all a bunch of piece of shit boomers!"

      "Are all boomers evil too?  So who isn't evil?  Why not just kill
all of humanity and start over if you're going to be Goddess Priss?  Isn't
everyone flawed?  Don't we all do bad things sometimes?  Or will
you just kill those you don't like and spare the rest?  Should we burn
offerings to you to appease your wrath?"

        "You should know she would never do that,"  Largo said.
"She's not a maniac."

        "You're not that way now...but power corrupts.  Do you really
think you can wield all that power like that and stay the same?"

        Priss hesitated.  "Don't you trust me, Leon?"

        "Do you really trust yourself that much?  Is this what your
mother would want you to do with the heritage she left you?  Do you
think this is what your sister would do?"

        "He's just trying to confuse you,"  Largo urged.  "Don't listen to
him.  If you don't take the crystal and use it, someone else will.
Don't you want your revenge?"

        Priss thought about what Leon had said.  What would Usagi do
with it?  Not destroy GENOM, that was for sure.  She was a healer,
not a warrior.  She turned and gazed upon the crystal.  It hung in the
air, waiting for her to take it.  It could heal or kill, as she desired.
I didn't come here for vengeance, she thought.  I came here for love.
I wanted to help my sister, to heal her, to set her free.  I can't believe
I almost let LARGO of all people lead me astray.  She stepped
forward and grasped the crystal.  White power rushed over her in a
tidal wave, washing through her body and soul.  She had made her
choice, and she chose life over death.

         Her uniform transformed as she assumed the traditional
uniform of the First Prince -- or in this case, Princess -- of the Sword.
She wore knee high brown boots and tan pants.  A black vest covered a tan
shirt with poofy sleeves.  There were black parallel slash-like tattoos
upon her cheeks, giving her a look somewhat like a racoon, and a blue
tattoo of a sword upon her brow.  Black gloves covered her hands,
one of which grasped her sword.  She brought the crystal around to
the sword and it fused into the hilt.  She held the sword high above.
"I, Princess Courage of the house of Serenity, have come to claim
that which belongs to my line, the Silver Crystal.  Let the Senshi
awake from their slumbers!  SET THEM FREE!"

        Largo snarled and evaporated.  The final test was over, and
Priss had passed it.  Leon smiled.  "Your mother would be proud.
My work is done.  I pray your friend will do as well in her trials to
come."  He faded away too, no more the real Leon than that had
been the real Largo.

       Priss was transfigured in shimmering light, white feathery wings
sprouting from her back, waves of power rushing out from her,
across subspace and into realspace.  Saturn's eyes snapped open.
The Awakening had begun.

***************************

       Sylvie stared in horror across the now destroyed garden.  Linna
had evaporated in the bolt from above.  Tears flowed from Sylvie's
eyes.  Someone gave themselves to save me again, she thought.
She's gone.  Sylvie's face hardened as she looked up into the cloud.
If you can die, I WILL kill you, she thought.

        At that moment, light erupted from every window and door of
the palace, washing across the grounds like a wave.  In its wake, the
damage that had been done was washed away.  Trees stood straight
and tall once more.  Flowers reached to the sky.  The grass was no
longer torn with great gashes of stone and clay.  The light struck the
cloud and it howled with a voice that sounded like the death cry of
an entire world.  Sylvie clutched her ears.

        The light washed through Sylvie.  She felt like her soul was on
fire, growing lighter by the second as parts of it caught fire and
burned away to ashes, which blew away in a spiritual wind.  What
remained behind glowed with a shining light.  If she could have seen
herself, she wouldn't have recognized herself.

         She could barely recognize Meylia when she turned to her.
Twin shining wings of blue light streamed out behind her, and her
hair blew in the wind of the crystal's power.  The tattoos upon her
cheeks and forehead shone with a soft blue light, and all her years
of age had dropped away.  She looked no older than Sylvie now.  As
she stood erect, all traces of the fear and worthlessness that had
paralyzed her was gone.  Sylvie hadn't realized her own clothing was
gone until she saw that Meylia was naked.  It was not the nakedness
of an adult, tainted by either arousal or shame, but that of a child,
who needed no clothing to stand before the world, the nakedness of
man and woman before the fall.

        For a  moment, all the tragedies of human existence faded
away.  All the pain of their lives took a vacation, and their hearts
were filled with joy.  The stars shone down upon them once again;
the evil, observing cloud burned away by hope and love.  Who knows
what joy lurks in the hearts of man?  

***************************

       Linna hovered in the mists above the cloud.  She gave a great
sigh of relief.  Same trick worked for me as worked for him, she
thought.  A voice boomed through the air.  "Fool me once, shame on
you.  Fool me twice, shame on you."  The cloud boiled up around
her.  She tried to teleport away, but it felt like pushing through a wall.
Shit, she thought.

       "Subspace is malleable to will, and my will is stronger than
yours will ever be.  I'm sorry I have to do this, Linna, but you leave
me no choice."  The cloud tried to force itself through cracks in her
hardsuit.  She focused her will and the cracks closed.

        Now the air pressure increased and her suit began to buckle.
She thought harder and the suit sprang back into shape, but the
pressure became stronger and stronger.  Mocking laughter
surrounded her as her suit finally gave way.  "You might have
beaten me if you'd chosen the right tactics, but a weakling like you
could never beat me in a test of strength.  I destroyed an entire city.
All you can destroy is yourself."

         Linna struggled, trying to fix the suit with her mind.  Normally,
she might have despaired and given up, but she wouldn't let this
bastard beat her.  "You can kill my body, but you won't get my soul,
you murdering bastard.  At least now I know why you sucked in bed."
She couldn't resist a last jab.

       "WHAT?  I do NOT suck in bed!"  The pressure eased slightly.

       Linna smiled faintly.  Guys can be so stupid sometimes.  "I tell
you, it was pretty hard faking an orgasm for your benefit."

       There was silence for a moment.  "You're lying."

        "So did you have your real one replaced with a toothpick or
were you always like that?"  Linna knew she was only delaying the
inevitable, but maybe someone would save her somehow if she
could keep him busy, or he might slip enough to enable her to try to
teleport away through subspace again.

        Unfortunately, he now chose to play the berserk rage card.
Linna could feel herself being crushed.  Bones hovered on the verge
of breaking.  At the same time, he wasn't thinking clearly enough to
block her well.  She gathered her will to try to flee one more time.

        Just as her ribcage began to break, he gave a great howl of
agony that nearly drove Linna deaf.  Linna seized her chance and
fled in a panic, vanishing into the mists.  As she vanished, the edge
of a wave of light struck her.  Seconds later, both she and her
tormentor were gone.

***************************

       Leon swore over and over and over at himself for being an idiot.
Now a boomer had him by the throat and was about to kill him.  A
second boomer was picking up Haruka and Michiru.  "Stop screwing
around and kill the guy already,"  she said.

         There was a moan from the table, and Usagi sat up, rubbing
her head.  The first boomer blinked.  "Didn't I anaesthetize you?"

         "Run, Usagi,"  Leon choked out.

         Usagi saw Leon being held by the throat, her friends being
carried off, and her husband lying battered on the floor.  "NO!  You
can't do this!"

         "Stop me."  the first boomer said.

         Usagi began to scream, an ear piercing wail that cut through
the walls, waking people up in adjacent buildings.  The second
boomer turned off its audio sensors in time. The first one
instinctively put its hands to its ears in a fit of stupidity, dropping
Leon in the process.  It was the most hideous sound it had ever
heard.  It tried to move forward and knock her out, but the sound
was too much for it.  The second boomer sighed and headed for her.

        It was at that moment that the two boomers picked up strange
radiation pulses from all the people in the room except Leon and
themselves.  They hesitated, trying to deduce the meaning of this.

        Leon, on the other hand, had a momentary vision, the first one
of his entire life.  He saw Priss, clad in pure white with wings like an
angel, holding a sword, hovering in the air before him.  She was
more beautiful than he had believed possible.  "Help us," he
whispered.  Something washed through him, a feeling of
reassurance and calm.  Somehow, he knew everything would be
okay.

       Usagi's screaming cut off like a switch turning off.  For a
moment, she was utterly silent, then she spoke in a voice that was
calm and full of assurance.  "Please go away.  I don't want to have
to hurt you."

       The first boomer laughed.  "As if you could hurt us."

        Usagi stood on the table and put her hand on the brooch that
was pinned to her blouse.  "I could destroy you, but I don't want to
have to.  Please don't make me."

        "Oh, I'm trembling."  The boomer walked forward, now that the
awful sound was over.

        Leon quietly crawled towards his gun.  Keep it up, Usagi, he
thought.  Keep them talking while I get my gun.

         "So be it,"  Usagi said sadly.  She raised one arm to the sky.
"MOON ETERNAL POWER!"    A wave of light rushed through the
room and she became Eternal Sailor Moon.  Her wings promptly
knocked a fifty thousand yen painting off the wall.

        The boomers hesitated for a moment, unsure how to react to
this.  In that second, they lost their chance to survive.  "Moon Tiara
Action!"  Well, actually it was one of her nicer plates, but it cut off 
their heads rather well.  It wouldn't be much use for dinner, though.  She
turned to Leon, "Are you okay, Leon?" then rushed over to her husband.

        Leon stared.  "I'll be better when Priss gets here...I really need
to learn to wait for backup."

        Sailor Moon smiled.  "I wouldn't want my future brother-in-law
to get killed."

        "You...you know?"

        "I know now.  She's coming for you, Leon.  You can trust in
that."

***************************

       Saturn bowed to Priss, smiling.  "Long have we waited for you."
She stretched.  "I feel refreshed.  But then if 30 years isn't enough
sleep for someone, you can't ever get enough sleep."

       Priss laughed.  The glow of the crystal faded now, and she
sheathed her sword.  The wings she had sprouted faded away, but
the new uniform remained.  "Come on, we've got to get back.
Everyone is expecting us."  Anri joined her and Saturn as they
retraced their steps through the palace.  The initial exhilaration of
coming fully into her power had faded, but she felt a strong current
of joy in her heart, and she could tell that Saturn and Anri did too.
They walked quietly through the palace, for they needed no words.

        They emerged into the garden where Sylvie and Meylia stood,
clad once more in their normal garb.  Unlike Priss, they looked
worried.  "Priss, have you seen Linna?" Sylvie asked very quietly.

        "Not since I headed into the palace.  She's missing?"

        "The last we saw of her, she lead the cloud's blasts away from
us, then vanished as one struck her."  Meylia said.  "We don't know
if she's alive or dead."  Her tone of voice was rather clear as to
which option she thought was the case."

        Priss couldn't believe it.  "She can't be dead!  She can't!"

        "Unless she's unconscious somewhere, she ought to be back
by now," Sylvie said quietly.  "I hope she's alive, but..."

        "We've got to find her!"  Priss looked around.  "There's a lot of
ground to search, but..."

        As she looked about, the entire grounds started to become
translucent.  Saturn said, "The test is over.  This place will dissolve
back into the mists."

        "We'll never find her if that happens!"

        "You'll never find her in subspace without someone who knows
the ways of it to guide you."  The group suddenly realized Pluto was
standing behind them.  "She is alive, thanks to you, Priss, but you
will not find her.  She must prepare herself for the test that lies
before her, and that is a road she must walk without you, just as you
faced your final test alone."

      "You knew this would happen, didn't you."  It wasn't a question.

      "What must be, must be.  I know where she is.  I could take you
there."

      "But you won't."

      "The consequences would be horrible beyond your imagination.
Sometimes, one person must drink the cup of suffering
undeservedly that others might be spared a draught that would
destroy them."

       "Damnit, it's my fault she got dragged into this!  Tell us where
she is so we can help her!"  Priss' voice wavered.  "Please.  I don't
know what it is you expect her to do, but if someone has to go, I'll
go.  Linna doesn't deserve to suffer."

        Pluto's calm expression cracked for a moment, and Priss could
see pain in Pluto's eyes.  "Because you believe you deserve to
suffer, you cannot do what she must."

        "How the fuck would you know?"  Priss shouted.  Sylvie laid a
hand on Priss's shoulder and tried to say something to calm her, but
Priss shouted over Sylvie.  "You won't even tell me where she is or
what she has to do!  What kind of goddamn game are you playing?"

       "One who seeks death cannot champion life."  She sighed.
"Until you truly make your peace with the dead, this task is beyond
you."  Pluto stared into Priss' eyes.  "How many times must a person
die?"

        "As many times as is necessary,"  Priss whispered.

        "This is necessary."  Pluto turned.  "Also, your friends need you
more than she does."

        "Linna is my friend, damnit!"

        "The majority of the Sailor Senshi are in the hands of GENOM.
Shiva's servants are on the march, and there is about to be a riot.
The Stingrays, Nene, and the house of Jurai are about to come
under an all out assault.  Finally, the man you love has been marked
for death.  Will you abandon them to their fate to thwart me?"

         Priss winced.  "DAMN YOU!!!"  She sagged.

        "For better and for worse, my soul is beyond mortal power,
much as I might wish otherwise."  Pluto cut open a hole in the
swirling mists with her staff.  "God speed you home and bless your
endeavours.  The curtain has risen on the final chapter of this war."
She stepped through the portal and vanished, leaving words hanging
in the air.  "The dance of Shiva has begun."