"How will we know when our military arsenal is "good enough"? When our weapons are so effective that wars aren't even worth fighting anymore. There's a reason that there have been no nuclear wars to date, and it's definitely not because people have stopped wanting to kill each other."
- Seras Tuko

Black Dragon Productions presents...
A Guardian sequel/spinoff...
Which also happens to be a Sailor Moon crossover...

All characters not created by me don't belong to me. Like, duh. This chapter features prominent Warhammer references, specifically of the Chaos variety. You don't need to know all the particulars to enjoy or understand the story, but a few hours on Wikipedia can explain quite a bit if you're curious.
Knowledge of Guardian is required for full enjoyment of this fanfic. An unstable mind fueled by black rage and madness is NOT required, but recommended nonetheless.
Notes: Story may contain references to stuff in Guardian that haven't happened yet. To answer any and all inquiries to this effect, YES, that stuff will eventually happen.
Other Notes: Sounds, computer readouts, 'thoughts', (side comments)

Millennium
Chapter 11
Black Dawn
********************************************************************

Asuka desperately fought off a yawn as she typed away on her laptop, feeling her eyelids flicker.

With a deep, determined breath, she fell back into the task at hand, trying to think of the lives that possibly hung in the balance here.

'It's not just Hino that's in trouble. If the vampires mobilize fully, they can cripple the city's defenses easily. Thousands could be killed in the confusion, and every dead human equals a new undead enemy.'

She didn't really know if the vampires had either the resources, knowledge, or ingenuity to lay the city flat on its back with a single, wide-scale, coordinated attack, but she could think of dozens of terrible things that SHE would do were she in their place, and the results troubled her.

'Core's already on alert, stepping up night-time patrols and shuffling around the city leaders, but they won't take my warnings too seriously. Police protection outside of the DAPC is useless; no police officer without a handgun can or should confront a vampire. As far as offensive forces go, we have, well, us, the Senshi, Shikodan... and ironically enough, the Freedom's Angels.'

It surprised her as much as anyone when she'd picked up the reports of heavy firefights going down in dance clubs between FA cyborgs and some mysterious defenders that Core was unable to identify. Of course, had someone in the DAPC spent five minutes observing the ruins of the buildings, they would have identified the carbon dust that littered the blood-spattered wreckage as vampiric remains, but at the moment Asuka and her men had too much on their plate to be doing forensic investigations. Besides, Asuka was smart enough to put two and two together from the relative comfort of the DA's headquarters.

Of course, the police captain had little to no means of harnessing the power of the terrorists' cybernetic armies, to say nothing of the Angels' indiscriminate battle tactics making them a significant threat to the people that she was trying to save. Ultimately, Asuka wasn't sure whether it would be good to have her enemies fight her battles for her, and if their forces met then a cease-fire was out of the question. One more complication in a long line of problems.


Turning away from her computer, Asuka picked up her coffee cup reverently, the fumes helping to ward off the traces of sleep that tugged at her consciousness.

After taking a long gulp, she stared across the table at Ranma.

The pigtailed man hadn't had much sleep, that she could tell, but she wasn't sure she could blame him. Ranma considered protecting people to be his best and only talent, and he had let the enemy take Rei from right under his nose. Although Asuka was quite frustrated herself at being outmaneuvered by Mortis, she was rational and pragmatic enough to simply learn what she could from what went wrong, and put the failure aside to concentrate on the next task.

Ranma didn't think like that. To him, success was a responsibility, and failure was something that needed to be corrected and avenged. She imagined that being unable to save Sailor Mars was devastating to him.

Although none of that really explained why he kept disassembling and reassembling his gun while poking it repeatedly.


"How you holding up, Saotome?"

Ranma looked up in the concerned, weary eyes of his superior, and then looked back down at his gun, which looked entirely inert and non-sentient at the moment. "As well as I can. I'm a little restless, though. When I get my hands on that bastard Ran, I-"

"You'll follow orders and do what you must," Asuka said firmly, interrupting him. "And you know damn well that Ran may not be your opponent."

Ranma twitched, and the police captain saw his shoulders shake slightly as he clenched his teeth.

"I know you pretty well, Saotome," Asuka mumbled. "I know that you just want to win. But this is more important than that. We need to succeed. Winning is all well and good, but if you win and still fail, it means nothing. We saw that last night."

Ranma suddenly stood up, his hands planted flat against the table. "Then what am I supposed to do?!" He shouted. "Winning is all I'm good at! And... And if I can't even manage that..." he choked slightly as his arms started to shake.

"You'll manage that if you need to," Asuka said firmly, though she could tell she was losing her fragile grasp on Ranma's morale. "But for now the important thing is that we prepare for the next battle. Which means you need to rest."

"I can't just REST!" Ranma snarled, standing up straight. "People are dying out there! My FRIENDS are dying out there! I won't just-"

"I will tolerate a lot of crap from my officers, but heroic deaths aren't one of them!" Asuka interrupted sharply. "We all want to save Hino. We all want to save as many innocents as possible, but my responsibility is to complete the greater task at hand and keep you alive. I've already put you to far greater risk than is reasonable. I can't afford to lose you, Saotome."

Almost immediately after she said it, Asuka regretted the admission. Not only did Ranma disdain risk to his life, but the implication that he couldn't win was a further blow to his ego.

"But we can afford to leave Rei to the vampires?" Ranma groused, his hands balling into fists.

"You know very well that that's out of my control-"

WHAM! A rather large concave dent formed in the table as Ranma slammed his fist down into it. "What I KNOW is that some bloodsucking monster has his hands and fangs all over Rei, and you want me to take a nap! If I'm just some kind of TOOL to you, then hurry up and use me!"

"Ranma-kun..." The tension promptly wilted as Usagi's voice came from behind the pair, and Ranma whirled around to see the cyborg girl standing in the doorway, her hands clasped together over her chest.

Tears were trickling down her cheeks, but Usagi smiled sadly as she walked up to Ranma. "Thank you. Thank you for all you've done."

Ranma flinched. "But... But they took her..."

"And I know that if you could have traded places with her, you would have. Even though you've known each other for such a short time." She sniffled briefly, and a robotic arm curled over her shoulder to wipe her eyes with a handkerchief, very nearly ruining the otherwise touching scene. "I'm sure Rei-chan knows it too... wherever she is..."

Ranma didn't really have a response to that, and lowered his head miserably to stare at the floor. "Still... I'm sorry. I'll do better next time. I won't lose."

Without any further warning from the girl, Usagi suddenly lurched forward, grabbing a surprised Ranma in a tight hug.

"It's... It's okay, Ranma-kun. You shouldn't have to bear so much on your own," the blonde insisted, sniffling as she buried her face into Ranma's shoulder.

"And more importantly, you're part of a team, Saotome," Asuka said from behind the pair, looking quite exasperated at the scene before her. "We all do our jobs to achieve the objective. What kind of leader would I be if I put everything on your shoulders?"

Ranma felt an uncomfortable tightening in his throat as raw emotion threatened to overcome his composure. For most of his life, people had simply thrown their responsibilities at him by the dozen, using Ranma as a solution for their own incompetence or apathy. The fact that he was more important to Asuka than solving the current crisis left him shaken.

"Hey, what's with all the mushy stuff going on? It's not even noon!" Snapped Snake as he trudged into the room, his hair in disarray and his uniform missing. Instead he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt, which made it much easier to see the bandages wrapped around much of his arms. Asuka guessed that his legs were fairly wrapped up as well simply from the brief explanation of his encounter with the German vampire.

Usagi quickly backed up away from Ranma, bowing sharply as her face flushed.

Minako followed behind the American, looking quite put out. "Well, since you won't let me change your bandages myself, at least let me check them! Tuko-san's obviously had enough rum to kill a normal man!"

Snake scowled as he landed heavily in a chair opposite Asuka. "He was sober enough to fix up Tsukino, wasn't he? If he could manage that, he has to be good for taking care of a few scratches like this."

"He was having a conversation with his foreceps," Makoto noted grimly as she entered behind Minako.

"My POINT is that you," Snake pointed at Minako, "are an untrained civilian who seems to think looking cute in a nurse's uniform qualifies you to practice medicine. Tuko is an educated and graduated doctor of healing, judged by the highest professional standards of competency and skill!"

Ranma blinked. "No he isn't."

"Not helping," Snake snapped at Ranma before turning back to Minako. "Anyhow, don't you have more important things to be worrying about than trying to get my shirt off?"

The blonde girl simply stared earnestly at him, a light flush on her face. "So... you think I'd look cute in a nurse's outfit?"

Snake turned wearily toward Asuka. "Can I just go home?"

The blue-haired woman shook her head. "Although normally I'd gladly send you home for a few days to recuperate, we've reached a critical point in our investigation against the vampires."

"So we're gonna strike back, right?" Makoto said, clenching her teeth as she pounded a fist into her palm. "We have to get Mars back!"

"Well, there's more than one problem with that," Asuka murmured. "Putting aside what - and who - we may have to fight when we track them down, we only have one half-decent lead on where Ran might be."

"So where's that?" Makoto asked, quickly sitting down next to Snake.

"It's Ran's penthouse," the police captain mumbled. "Which SOUNDS really juicy, but in all honesty it's the last place one would go to perform one's final preparations for the war against all humankind. We MIGHT be able to find clues there as to what Ran's been doing or where he's been hiding, but... it's pretty unlikely."

"Why's that?" Usagi asked.

"Because it's smack-dab in the middle of the city, surrounded by ordinary, non-suspicious humans. The kind that go to work in the daytime and haven't reported missing family members. Any major operation of his would have either attracted the attention of such a dense population center, or drawn enough young, stupid vampires there that they would have eventually used the locals to feed. Naturally we'll check it out anyway, but I have a strong suspicion that the real deal is going down elsewhere."

Asuka turned toward Snake. "Snake, I'm going to write up a legal order to have the entire building evacuated. What you do with it is your business."

Snake clasped his hands solemnly before him as he stared at the police captain with an expression of pure joy. "You are the wind beneath my wings."

"This still leaves us without a primary target," Asuka said wearily, rubbing her head. "We need to strike soon, and we need to strike hard, but where?"

"Ami-chan said that she couldn't detect Rei-chan for some reason, so I don't know..." Usagi trailed off sadly, lowering her head.

"Actually, I have a lead," Makoto said hesitantly. "Well, it's more like a possibility of a lead, but it's something. I've contacted Michiru and Haruka. They should be here soon."

"Oh! That's right! Neptune's mirror!" Usagi said suddenly, brightening considerably. "I'm sure that'll work! You're a genius, Mako-chan!"

Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Neptune? Oh! They're more of your Senshi?" She promptly recalled the registration records, fishing for the names. "If Michiru is Neptune, then Haruka would be... Uranus, correct?"

Makoto smiled nervously, nodding. "Well, yeah, hopefully it'll come through, but... well..." She cleared her throat, and then walked over to Usagi, poking the mechanical arm mounted on her shoulder. "I didn't realize it until today, but they've been kind of out of the loop, you know? I'm not sure how they're going to handle seeing you like this."

Usagi's expression flashed from shocked to worried to determined in the space of a second. "That... That doesn't matter," she said firmly. "Whatever problems they have with this body or anything else can wait until AFTER Rei-chan is safe."

Makoto blinked, obviously impressed. "Well... okay, yeah. You're right." Then she frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Although... I think something else is up with them. They seemed really upset when I called, though not at me. Also, they said it would be just them two."

"What? No Saturn or Pluto?" Minako asked, clearly distressed by the idea.

"Any help we can find is appreciated," Asuka cut in. "I've actually called in some extra guns as well. All we need is a location. If the other Senshi can provide it..."

"It's worth a shot!" Makoto said decisively, nodding. "So... ah... they're actually meeting us here, by the way. And... they don't know anything about you guys, so..."

Asuka nodded and stood up. "Understood. I'll be in the next room getting some rest if you need me. Saotome, you should find some place to do the same. Snake, I believe you have a building to knock down."

"Understood, Captain!" Snake shouted, saluting.

Minako smiled and inched closer to the American. "Can I go with you?"

"Can you obliterate a man at ten meters?" Snake asked, turning toward her.

"Yes!" The blonde said happily, nodding.

"I don't care. You still can't come," Snake said as he headed toward the garage.

Minako's face darkened, and Asuka sweatdropped.

"Uh... it's really not much of an insult that Snake doesn't want you around on a mission," the bluette explained awkwardly. "He's very picky about partners. He just felt that your skills probably wouldn't be needed."

"Hey, Yamazaki-kun!" Came Snake's voice from the next room, "Wanna help me blow up a building?"

"No! Why would I want to do that?" Replied Tiro, also within earshot of those in the briefing room.

"Too bad. Get a bigger gun and meet me in the garage."

"But I'm useless and unattractive!" The lecher whined.

"Whatever. Move it."

Asuka sweatdropped more as an aura of gloom enveloped Minako. "Well, I should move on out of here before your friends arrive..."


Ranma got up as Asuka left the room, staring hard at the reassembled Jackal in his hand. "Usagi-chan, do you know where Seras is?"

"Tuko-san was in the sub-levels with Ami-chan," Usagi responded. "Ami-chan was trying to scan the vampire for an energy type she could trace, and Tuko-san was playing quarters with a small lizard stuck in a beaker of chemicals. I think he was losing, too..."

The pigtailed man nodded and left, holding up the Jackal before him.

"Everything's back to normal. No teeth, no eye, no ominous writing on the sides, no green stuff..." Ranma mumbled to himself as he descended to the lower levels via elevator.

While he wasn't particularly upset at having his gun return to normal, he considered it something of a maintenance issue to find out if it was still possessed or not. After all, the corrupted nature of the gun tended to make the shots less accurate and sometimes, after firing, the weapon would shoot again without him pulling the trigger again. All of these things were pretty well compensated for with the incredibly powerful, ectoplasmic-charged bullets, but they were the sorts of things that could really mess him up in a sensitive situation if he wasn't expecting it.

Also, he wanted to know if he'd have to feed the damn thing.

'I hope it just eats meat, and not souls or anything,' he thought ruefully as he exited the elevator onto the containment floor. 'That'd be just my luck, having to carry ammo and human spirits around with me.'

Seras was, as expected, lying next to a metal crate and mumbling to himself while glaring at an empty glass bottle in his hand.

"Stupid midget iguana thinks he's all that," the scientist grumbled, his face red from both embarrassment and intoxication. "I'll show him... just 0.2 ounces of ammonia in his nutrient bath and then we'll see who laughs last!"

"Hey, Doc, you busy?" Ranma asked, walking up behind the medical officer and leaning over the crate he was sitting against.

Seras snorted. "As a matter of fact, I-"

"Great. Could you help me out with this gun for a minute? I think there's something wrong with it," Ranma said, pulling out the weapon and placing it on its side on top of the crate.

Seras looked annoyed as he glanced up at the pigtailed man. "Why are you coming to me with this? I'm not an expert on guns or weapons."

"I figure if you're drunk enough, I can convince you that you are," Ranma reasoned. "Also, you're the only person I know who's both stupid enough to believe what happened to me and smart enough to possibly help me with it."

"Those are both excellent points, and by that I mean I wasn't really listening," Seras said, struggling to his feet and then planting his hands on the top of the crate, staring down at the Jackal. "So, what's the problem?"

"My gun doesn't seem to be possessed," Ranma said, rubbing his chin. "It was possessed before, and now it's not. I'd like to know why."

"Gun's possessed the what now?"

Ranma sighed. "I was fighting a vampire last night, and she possessed my gun to try and turn it on me. The Jackal grew teeth and an eye, and started snarling at me. But then I beat it up, and from then on out it pretty much did what it was supposed to. But now the gun seems to be back to normal."

Seras frowned. "You know, if I wasn't drunk, I'd say you were just messing with me."

"But you are, so..."

The sloshed scientist shrugged. "Still, I don't know anything about ghosts..."

"Sure you do," Ranma lied.

"Oh. Right," Seras agreed immediately. "Well, we can rule out the ghost suddenly vanishing or leaving. You see, possessing something takes a great deal of energy, so your typical ghost wouldn't just corrupt your gun and then take off at the first opportunity. Also, ghosts don't just spontaneously depart to the afterlife; either something banishes them, or whatever was tying them to the mortal plane is resolved. So I'm pretty sure the ghost is still in the Jackal, just dormant."

"Dormant?" Ranma asked.

"Yeah. Ghosts only have so much energy to expend, just like anything else. It probably can't manifest during the daytime as a result." Seras nodded to himself. "Ghosts usually receive energy either from a psychic focus or some object or place of great supernatural power. Barring that, a ghost not tied to a special location or object will receive energy from the moon, and as a result will not be able to manifest during the day."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "The moon? Are you sure?"

"No, I just made that up," Seras said, his expression utterly serious. "But you don't have any better explanations, do you?"

"I guess not," Ranma admitted, picking up his weapon and inspecting it closely as he pulled back the slide. "So you think it'll go all haunted again when night falls?"

"I think you're crazy is what I think," Seras clarified. "But sure, why not?"

"Okay. Thanks," Ranma said earnestly. Although Seras had been less helpful than Ranma had hoped - not that he had any reason to expect better - it at least provided him with some ideas.

"So what's the progress on the vampire?" Ranma finally asked, holstering the Jackal.

Seras shrugged. "Captain's cousin's been sitting in front of it with that computer and yakking at it for going on a full hour now. Don't know what good it'll do; that bastard's as smug as ever. Keeps saying that he won't tell us a thing unless we give him another dose of your red stuff."

Ranma suppressed a sudden shudder. He hadn't really given it too much thought before, but now that he had been classified as a regular food supply for the vampires, the thought of people constantly draining his blood to drink it was quite unsettling.

Not that he'd say as much; compared to what he went through under the effects of the T-virus, sipping human blood wasn't all that bad.


"Damn that arrogant... filthy... stuck-up... argh!" Ranma and Seras glanced over to the side as Ami barged through the door into the main vault area, her face flushed with anger and the Mercury Computer tucked under her arm.

"Didn't go so well, huh?" Ranma asked.

"That filthy monster tricked me!" Ami snapped, scowling as she stalked by the pair of men. "And after I gave him the rest of the blood, too!"

"Wh-What?" Seras said, jerking to attention suddenly. "You did what?"

Ami flushed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, he still claims he doesn't know where to find Ran, but he did offer me the location of a night club that turns people into vampires, and he said the vampires there would know more!"

Ranma blinked. "And?"

"AND, I cross-referenced the club name and location after I gave him the blood," she muttered ruefully. "The Dark Hearts club was the first to be leveled! And I get the feeling he knew it, too!"

As Ranma sweatdropped, Seras shook his head. "Look, whatever, forget about that. What do you mean you gave him 'the rest' of the blood?"

Ami winced. "Well... I thought that a bigger quantity would get him to tell us anything he'd been hiding... Saotome-san's blood seems to have genuinely addictive properties to vampires, so-"

"SO, you decided to give him all of it?" Seras snapped, scowling. "You moron! Do you have any idea how valuable that blood is?"

Ami flinched back, confused. "Wh-What? Why? Because the vampires-"

"Forget the vampires!" Seras shouted, causing the girl to flinch again. "Saotome's blood happens to be the breeding grounds for one of the most powerful and capable microorganisms known to modern science! His blood is the cure for the most devastating man-made biotoxin on the planet! His blood can create medicines to restore sensitive tissues instantaneously! THIS MAN'S BLOOD CAN CURE CANCER, WOMAN!"

Ami fell backwards onto her rear, completely overwhelmed. "Uh... um... r-really? But then, why did you say I could feed it to the vampire?"

"I said you could feed a dose to the vampire!" Seras shouted.

"But then, why did you give me the entire case of blood bags?" Ami asked desperately.

"Because I've had enough whisky to put down an elephant, nitwit!" The scientist ranted. "Why did you give that overgrown parasite the whole freakin' case?"

"Hey! One of my best friends is in danger, here!" Ami shouted back, starting to get angry herself. "You think I'm going to throw away a chance to save her to preserve a few blood samples?"

"T-virus! Cure! Medicine! CANCER!" Seras screamed back.

"All right, all right! Knock it off!" Ranma finally said, pulling back Seras before the drunkard can continue. "Look, she made a mistake, all right? And not half as bad as some of the one's YOU'VE made. Just get off her back," the pigtailed man demanded as Seras and Ami both fumed silently. "Besides, you can always get more blood, right?"

"Actually, you seem to be spilling most of it in combat nowadays," Seras said ruefully. "The Captain says I can't draw any more blood until this vampire thing has blown over. Says she needs you sharp and whatnot," the scientist mumbled.

"Yeah, well, that's just how it is," Ranma mumbled back, inwardly glad that Asuka was so considerate. Involuntary blood loss was a common hazard for Ranma, but he found the voluntary kind to be unsettling and uncomfortable, and it had a definite effect on his reflexes. "I'm sure things'll work out."

Ami sighed and sat on a crate, massaging her head. "I just hate being so helpless. I keep thinking that there must be some piece of evidence I didn't consider, or some piece of the puzzle that I'm just not seeing..."

"Well, I doubt you're going to get anywhere messing with that jerk in the cage," Ranma said, jabbing a thumb in the general direction of said vampire. "But apparently your friends have some sort of plan involving a mirror or something. They're upstairs."

Ami nodded unenthusiastically. "It's far from perfect, but it looks like it's the best lead we have. Thank you, Saotome-san."


Ranma and Seras watched the bluette enter the elevator, and then Seras fidgeted for a moment once she was gone.

"So... how about just a few-"

"Nope, sorry," Ranma said immediately. "No blood. Gotta save it for the fights."

"Oh, come on!" Seras complained. "What about the numerous hypothetical children that could be saved from horrible diseases?"

"That guilt trip would work on me if it weren't for all the hypothetical children that could be EATEN ALIVE in the next couple days," Ranma deadpanned.

Seras fumed. "So, what? Being food is worse than dying of disease? At least they're serving an ecological purpose!"

"There is something wrong with you, you know that?"

Far away from DAPC headquarters, on the outlying perimeter of an abandoned warehouse, a pair of men conversed quietly while the sea air whipped their long cloaks about their feet.

Both men were far more heavily clothed than the weather called for, even taking into account the frigid wind; wrapped in thick, dark cloaks and cowls that hid everything but their eyes, the two were incredibly suspicious, but both had powers that necessitated convenience over discretion.

For Ran, the reasoning was simple; he could walk out in the open during the daytime, but frankly, he hated it. He should have been at home in the coffin under his bed at the moment, but recent events had been very demanding, and as such sleep would have to wait.

The Prophet had... other reasons for covering himself up. Ran suspected that the strange man would have been far more suspicious with his body moderately exposed than he was wrapped up like some sort of fantasy warlock.

"The preparations are taking much longer than anticipated," Ran groused, stifling a yawn. "Our new weapon has been... VERY reluctant to take on her new role."

The Prophet nodded slowly. "You should... expect as much... it will... not be easy... but... she... will fight."

"Yes. Ultimately, she will do as I will it. However, her attitude has me worried."

"About what... Master?" The Prophet asked, his head leaning slightly to one side.

"It's the DAPC," Ran groused, turning away from the other man. "It may happen that we'll have to fight both the blasted humans and those Senshi brats when they try to get Mars back. With that sort of power and expertise arrayed against us, I fear that only the might of me and my remaining elder circle will be able to triumph." He pursed his lips. "I see little chance for Mars to destroy them all herself, particularly if she's reluctant to fight."

The Prophet simply nodded again. "As a... freshly turned... nosferatu... she does... not impress... I imagine," he rasped. "However... there are... ways... to increase... her power..."

Ran raised an eyebrow. "Go on."

"It is not... from me... that the knowledge comes... You... vampire prince... you have... the power... to gift your servant... with the strength... she requires..."

Ran scowled. "Oh. That. Yes, I suppose I could lend her my own might, but if I am weakened, how am I to triumph in the engagements to come? Do you really think a strengthened Mars could compensate for my own weakness?"

The cloth shielding the Prophet's mouth wrinkled in such a way that Ran imagined the man smiling. "I promise you... you will be... surprised... by the results..."

Ran mulled it over for hardly two seconds before he nodded. All the trouble he had gone through to take Mars had been on the Prophet's word in the first place; it wouldn't have made much sense to start distrusting the man now. "Very well. With any luck, I'll be able to teach the girl a bit before we have to fight the DAPC again. That and rest up myself. What else is there?"

"Tonight... will be... a pivotal point... in your campaign..." the Prophet mumbled, pointing a ravaged finger toward the warehouse they stood in front of. "With your... power... call all... the midians in Tokyo... to this... point. They are... to gather... And... at that point... the dawn... of the future... a future... wreathed in darkness... shall be born..."

Ran nodded, now looking far more pleased. "It is as you say, then." He began to step toward the building, but stopped and turned around. "And what of you, Prophet?"

"Hmmm?" The strange man gave Ran a questioning look.

"You have aided us considerably in this task, and now we stand at the apex of a new era," Ran explained. "The rewards for ushering in the new rulers of this world should be considerable, no? I was wondering what you desired for your efforts. It is not beyond my power to grant you unlife, no matter how... impure you may be."

The Prophet chuckled deeply; a throaty, phlegm-choked noise that made Ran want to vomit. "I am... but a messenger... a tool... of the fates... to guide those... that have been chosen..." He shook his head. "My life... is not my own... my desires... are but shadows... before the will... that speaks to me..." The ever-present crystal sphere floated in a sudden whirlwind all about him. "I require... no rewards... I am party... to something... much greater than... the happenings... of this realm..."

Ran frowned. "Oh? Like what?"

The Prophet shook his head again. "Time... is of the essence... You must hurry..."

"Right, right," Ran mumbled, walking toward the warehouse. He was interested in the Prophet's powers and motivations, but didn't really feel it was important at this juncture. After all, the happenings of this realm were his paramount concern as of the moment.

The warehouse they stood in front of was one of a great number of facilities that had been abandoned by its owners in the financial chaos surrounding the city as of late. While Tokyo had extensive experience in surviving and rebuilding after major catastrophes, having so many people murdered in such a small time span still wreaked havoc with the local businesses, and some properties simply fell through the cracks.

This particular warehouse had still been maintained by a few union workers when the Prophet had pointed it out, but that hadn't been a problem. Ran had even put the ghouls that resulted to good use, and one of the poor undead men opened the door awkwardly as the vampire lord stepped into the building.

"You. Find something to cover those windows," Ran said to the other ghoul that was stumbling about inside the building, "sunlight disrupts my concentration."

The ghoul, devoid of any considerable intelligence, promptly plastered its body as best it could over the panel of glass that was allowing the warm sunlight to reach its master's body.

Ran took a deep breath, and an aura of white light began to build around him.

After a few seconds, loose objects in the warehouse began to vibrate rapidly, and a crate sitting next to the nosferatu slowly rose into the air, shifted by the catastrophic buildup in psychic power.

After a few more seconds, Ran's body suddenly flashed brightly, and then the aura faded.

"It is done," Ran said simply as he stepped out of the building and passed by the Prophet. "Every vampire in the country should have heard that call, and should begin arriving immediately."

"Excellent..." the Prophet rasped. "And then... with Mars as your general..."

"I shall lay waste to the pitiful 'masters' of this city," Ran snarled, baring his fangs, "and take my place as this land's rightful ruler, sovereign over the masters of the undead!"

"Yessss..." the Prophet hissed, stepping into the warehouse as Ran left in the opposite direction, looking extremely pleased. "So many possibilities... open to you now..." Again, the cloth over his mouth wrinkled. "Such a shame..."

"GWAH!" Junko promptly bolted upright in bed, throwing the covers off of herself. "Ow! My head!"

As the redhead massaged her skull, the covers shifted again, and a well-built man in his thirties stirred from his sleep.

"What's the matter? Hangover?" He couldn't imagine that, as Junko hadn't drunk heavily at all the previous night; their lengthy sexual encounter hadn't required much intoxication of either of them, and Junko in particular preferred making love sober.

The woman in question clenched her teeth as she squeezed her eyes shut. "No, just a psychic pulse."

The man blinked. "A what?"

Junko cracked one eye open, waiting for her mind to adjust to her sudden state of alertness and organize her thoughts. 'Wait... how did I know that?'

Honestly, she couldn't say why she knew the rapidly fading pain in the back of her mind had been a surge of psychic energy, but like most aspects of her powers, she was willing to simply take the knowledge for granted.

'What was it? I got a... strange feeling from it... a message?'

Her eyes widened. "Vampires!"

Her current paramour raised an eyebrow. "Vampires? Are you feeling okay?"

"Not really, no," Junko admitted, rolling out of bed and pulling out her underwear drawer. "I need to get to work."

"Eh? You have a gig in the middle of the afternoon?"

Junko raised an eyebrow as she slipped on her panties and started putting on her brassiere. "I'm a cop, hon. My 'gig' runs pretty much all day."

The man in her bed looked shocked. "What? You're... You're a cop? Seriously?"

"Well, duh," the redhead deadpanned as she started putting on her street clothes. "Why did you think I was wearing a police uniform?"

He sweatdropped. "Well... sure, you were in uniform... but then you crashed our bachelor party and started undressing, so..."

"Yeah, okay. Fine. GET OUT," Junko snapped, a vein popping up on her head. She didn't find it particularly offensive to be mistaken for a stripper, but since apparently the mistake was made, she WAS annoyed that no one had offered tips.

As the stranger rapidly gathered his clothes and made to leave, Junko slipped on her jacket and found her badge on her dresser.

'What does it mean? I've never felt anything like this before, not even when I was around the vampires attacking us. And my psychic powers should be suppressed, too! This is really bad. I have to warn the others...'

With a quick run of the brush through her hair, and a cursory search of her bedroom to make sure what's-his-face didn't leave anything behind, the amorous officer was out the door and on her way to headquarters.

While Junko was busy starting her day almost four hours late, other forces were already gathering at DAPC headquarters, preparing for the storm that was rapidly brewing.

Haruka's face was grim as she squeezed Michiru's hand, gazing up at the heavily damaged government building.

"Jeez, what happened here? It looks like someone bombed out this place," the blonde mumbled, looking around the parking lot.

"I still think it's extremely suspicious that they're meeting here," Michiru mumbled. "Why a police station? It's hardly the best place to have an important secret meeting."

Haruka shrugged as she led the pair up the front steps. "I'm sure they have their reasons. Then again, if they don't, we'll just move everything somewhere else. Don't stress over it."

Michiru sighed and nodded weakly. "I know. I just... I really wish we had approached the Inners sooner about Hotaru-chan. Before something like this had forced them to come to us."

"I know, I know," Haruka groused as she entered the building, "we talked about this before. We were hoping it was just some mundane thing. You know, a girl gets lost in the mountains, and the search teams do their thing. And how were we supposed to expect that Setsuna would go completely AWOL on us?"

Michiru glanced around the lobby, frowning as she realized no one was there. "I don't like this, Haruka... what do you think happened to Hino-san?"

Before the blonde could answer her lover, a door to the side of the lobby opened, and both of the Outers' eyes locked onto Makoto as she gestured them into the next room.

"Thanks for coming, you guys," Makoto said earnestly, bowing slightly. "We know that it's sudden, and there's a lot to explain, but we're really in a bind, here."

"Yeah, about that," Haruka began, holding tightly onto Michiru's hand while remaining rooted to the spot, "are there any cops in this headquarters? It looks abandoned."

"Oh, there are," Makoto said, nodding, "but we can talk in private without having to worry about them."

"How can you be sure of that?" Michiru asked, her brow creasing. "Wouldn't it be safer to talk somewhere else?"

Makoto pursed her lips. "Well... it's difficult to explain, but secrecy really isn't a high priority right now..."

The Outher Senshi both raised their eyebrows.

"Look, just come in and sit down, please!" Makoto said, feeling her temper get the better of her.

Haruka sighed, but finally moved to comply with the brunette. "All right, fine. I suppose we have too much on our plate as it is; lead on."

Makoto nodded gratefully, and the two Outer Senshi reluctantly followed her into the briefing room.


Haruka was satisfied to see that there were no surprises within the room; all the Inner Senshi were there save Rei, all looking grim-faced and impatient. Michiru took a cursory glance around the room, and was pleased to find that the only security camera in the room was unplugged and turned around toward the corner of the wall. Although she imagined that plenty of people could have been spying on them in other ways, seeing the most obvious forms of observation foiled was comforting.

"Haruka-chan, Michiru-chan, thank you for coming," Usagi said rather sternly. She had meant to sound cheerful at their presence, but honestly the situation, coupled with the inevitable conversations that were soon to ensue, sapped even her considerable Happy Reserves.

Haruka sighed as she and Michiru sat down. "All right everyone. I know you have a lot to tell us, but before you do, we have something we have to tell you."

Michiru's lips pressed into a thin line, and she squeezed her lover's hand tighter.

"Hotaru-chan is missing," Haruka continued, ignoring the expected double-take from the others. "She was on a class trip going to the mountains, and she got separated from her group. They're still searching for her, but we've had no good news so far."

"A-Are you serious?" Minako asked, standing up. "When did this happen? Why didn't we hear about it?"

"This happened a few days ago," Michiru mumbled, "or at least, that's when we were informed. As for why we didn't contact you immediately, it didn't really occur to us. First we contacted the search parties that are still looking for her, then we looked into the Aqua Mirror, and finally we actually went there ourselves and spent a full day combing the mountain on foot. Nothing."

Ami was already on her computer, typing away rapidly. "I can see how a manual search could fail, and I'm not picking anything up on my computer... but the Deep Aqua mirror shouldn't be so easy to foil. Even if something had happened to her, it should have given some sort of indication..."

Michiru clenched her teeth as she stared down into her lap. "I... I don't know. It just didn't work! I can't explain it, and I don't know what to do!"

Haruka sighed wearily, hoping that her lover could stave off tears for the purposes of this meeting. "In related news, we haven't seen Setsuna in about a week now. And I don't mind saying that she'd better be the in the heat of battle against some sort of Hell-spawned eldritch horror right now, because if I find out that she was watching from a safe place while Hotaru-chan disappeared for the 'sake of the timeline' or some bullshit reason like that, I'm going to shove that stupid-looking key so far up her ass that-"

Meanwhile, at the Gates of Time...


"Dead Scream!" Pluto shouted, sending another ball of unstable temporal energies into the swarm of gibbering, multicolored creatures that continued to lurch toward her.

The energy bolt tore through the nightmarish abominations, each one releasing a high-pitched wail as its essence was undone and returned to the Empyrean that spawned it.

"HEEEEEEOOOOOUGH..." As more of the brilliant, rainbow-colored flames slowly started to appear all around her, a great tentacle with dry, cracking skin of a bright red emerged from the swirling portal that had replaced the Gates of Time proper.

"Back! Back, daemon!" Pluto snapped as the revolting appendage crept toward her, arcane lightning crawling up the length of the tendril.

Thwack! Bzrt! The tentacle flinched away as the Garnet Rod smashed into its tip in an explosion of iridescent energies.

"Damn it, there's no end to them!" The Time Guardian growled as the scattered flames withered away into rapidly expanding balls of multi-hued flesh.

"It doesn't matter how many of you there are!" She declared defiantly. "You will leave this place, either of your own feeble will, or as a misaligned temporal singularity! Dead Scream!"

"-surgery just to get dressed in the morning!" Haruka finally finished, her face red as her chest heaved with wrathful energy.

Everyone else in the room gaped at Haruka, their faced either a bright red or pale white at some of the imagery the racer had used.

"Well... uh... never thought I'd say this, but if that's the case, I certainly hope she's in danger," Makoto mumbled.

"Yes. Well," Ami began, coughing lightly as the color returned to her face. "This is extremely troubling, but unfortunately, Rei-chan's situation is dire enough that we can't delay her rescue to help search for Hotaru-chan."

Haruka frowned as she rested her cheek against her fist. "Really. So what happened to Hino?"

"She was snatched by vampires last night," Minako said tactlessly.

Thwump! Haruka's cheek slipped off of her fist, and her head slammed against the table. "Ow! Sonuva..."

"V-Vampires?" Michiru asked incredulously. "You mean-"

"Vampires. Yes. Suck blood, turn into bats, hate garlic, etc. etc. Those vampires," Makoto said straightforwardly. "We've been having some trouble with them recently. They've been cleaning the streets at night, so we attacked one of their leaders and Rei-chan attacked one of their clubs, I guess. Anyway, long story short, last night they got her and took her away somewhere, and now we need to find her."

"You... were fighting vampires?" Haruka asked as she rubbed her head.

"Well... it's not so much WE were fighting them," Ami explained awkwardly. "It's more like we found out that the police that operate here were fighting them, and we wanted to help."

"Waitaminute. You're telling me that this isn't even our fight?" Haruka asked.

"That's not true!" Usagi blurted, standing up suddenly. "Even before Rei-chan was taken, these monsters were killing and feeding on innocent people, trying to increase their numbers! Eventually they were even going to go to war against humankind!"

"All right, all right, fine. I get it," Haruka mumbled, rubbing her head. "You have a point. So vampires have Hino, and we need to go save her. Fine. What are we waiting for?"

"Well..." Makoto, Minako, and Ami all glanced at Usagi, who swallowed nervously and sat back down.

"Well, there is... you know... 'other stuff' that we should probably get out in the open," Usagi hedged, fidgeting with her fingers. "Nothing as important as Rei-chan, just a few little details that you probably missed..."

"Details?" Michiru repeated, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah. Little things like people being turned into cyborgs and police departments that know all about us," Usagi said quickly, waving her hand lightly as if to brush off the topics. "Anyway, we should hurry up and rescue Rei-chan before-"

"Stop." Haruka demanded, holding up a palm. "I'm going to let the cyborg thing pass, because frankly, I can't really imagine what you're talking about. But what's this about police knowing all about you?"

"No, not 'us' as in the Inner Senshi," Minako clarified, much to the others' chagrin, "she meant 'us' as in the Senshi. They know all about you, too."

Seeing the older women gape, Usagi quickly started waving her arms about defensively. "Wait! Before you get upset, this is like, ninety percent Pluto's fault! She said it was okay to trust the DAPC and put in your registration paperwork and everything!"

"Are you serious?" Haruka growled, balling her hand into a fist and slamming it on the table. "So, what, we're working with the government now? What are we, civil servants?"

"Oh! Right!" Venus suddenly clapped her hands together as she remembered something, and then stood up and left the room.

"It's not as complicated as all that," Ami assured Haruka gently. "It's just a matter of accountability. It's difficult for the police to keep the peace if they simply ignore vigilantes running amok."

"Running amok? We're saving people!" Haruka protested.

Ami thought about pointing out that the Outer Senshi should've been the last people to protest that their actions were entirely benign and heroic, but held her tongue. It wouldn't do any good to provoke Haruka at this juncture. "And occasionally people get hurt and buildings get leveled in the process. Look, I'm not saying it's completely fair or harmless, and we certainly do not answer to the government. But it's already been done - without ANY of our permissions - and there's not much we can do about it."

"Oh really?" Haruka said, raising an eyebrow. "What about memory wipes?"

"You're going to brainwash my boss?" Usagi asked, horrified.

Ami promptly slapped herself in the forehead.

"Your BOSS?" Haruka parroted as Michiru gaped at the admission, stunned.

"Uh... yeah. Right. Also, I work for the DAPC now," Usagi said meekly, rubbing the back of her head as she stuck out her tongue. "So actually, I guess I answer to the government. But the rest of you don't have to!"

"YOU'RE THE PRINCESS!" Haruka protested, throwing her hands up.

"Well, until I find someone to pay me for being royalty, I need a job like everyone else," Usagi explained, shrugging. "Things just sort of worked out this way."

As the two older women stared incredulously, Usagi decided to simply forge ahead and get everything on the table. "Oh! Also, I'm part machine now. Look! I have Pez!"

Usagi happily snapped her wrist up, and a tiny candy tablet bounced out onto the table.

Whump! Haruka fell back down into her chair heavily, her face pale as she clutched the side of her head. "What... how did... but... not supposed to... can't..."

Michiru was about to say something to complement Haruka's mumbling when the door on the side of the room suddenly opened, and Minako stepped back in holding a small stack of plastic cards.

"Here you go, guys! These are your registration cards!" Minako put the two for Sailor Uranus and Neptune in front of their respective owners, and the both of them stared down at the cards numbly. "Asuka-chan says to be careful not to lose these! If you don't have one, she can't punish her men for shooting you!"

Haruka twitched violently, staring down at the tiny card as she ground her teeth together.

"Mina-chan, please, you need to learn how to read a situation," Makoto said wearily.

"Oh! Right! Sorry!" Minako said, adopting a serious expression. "So what did we decide to do about Rei-chan?"

"Hino isn't the one that needs help, here!" Haruka suddenly shouted, slamming a fist on the table again.

Minako blinked. "Are you sure? I know Rei-chan is no pushover, but-"

"That's not what I meant!" Haruka growled. "What the hell is going on here? People know our identity, we're fighting vampires on behalf of the government, and now the Princess is a Goddamn robot?!"

"I'm a cyborg, not a robot!" Usagi protested, frowning. Ami had insisted there was a difference, so she wanted to make sure there was no confusion.

Michiru finally spoke, her expression far more composed, but no happier than Haruka's. "I have to agree. It seems that you've all lost sight of what the Senshi are about. What we are supposed to be. To say nothing of the role we have to play in the near future. Compared to what you've just told us, Hino-san's capture is a mere inconvenience."

"I-Inconvenience?" Usagi sputtered, her body trembling.

"Sailor Mars isn't going to be the one to hold the fate of humanity in her hands," Haruka snapped. "While you were gallivanting around playing cops and robbers with B-movie horror monsters, did you ever stop to think about the future? The future we've all fought and sacrificed for?"

At that moment, Usagi experienced a flash of rage that would normally be referenced as "seeing red". However, due to her current bodily nature, it was a shining, icy blue that eclipsed her eyes as she slowly stood up from her chair.


Clack!

Everybody suddenly whirled around at the sound of the door to the briefing room opening, and much of the tension evaporated as a complete stranger walked into the room.

The man was huge, in terms of height and stature, and was wearing a thick, dirtied trench coat while carrying a massive bundle of some sort over his shoulder and a large, silvery crucifix around his neck. His thick black hair was in disarray, clearly unused to any sort of attention beyond those demanded by basic hygiene, and his gray eyes stared straight ahead as he walked up to the table.

Thwump! The stranger dumped his package on the table, and then sat down behind it, immediately leaning back in his seat and staring dully at the ceiling.

Absolute silence dominated the room as the women all glanced at each other.

Finally, Minako cleared her throat and turned toward the man. "Uh... Hi?"

He turned toward her, stared expressionlessly into her eyes for roughly two seconds, and then went back to staring at the ceiling.

"Wait, let me try that again," Minako said with determination, visibly steeling herself to enter conversation with the foreigner once more. "Hi! We were kind of in the middle of a private discussion here! Who are you?"

The man turned toward her again, looking exactly as uninterested as before. "I am Shikodan Rayden. If I am intruding, I apologize. I was told to meet Captain Takami at this place."

Minako was about to go further and explain that they needed privacy, when suddenly Haruka interrupted.

"You know what? No. I don't even care if some stranger overhears anymore. I am SO beyond this." She turned toward Usagi again and pointed toward her. "You need to grow up and step out of this 'magical savior of love and justice' crap! You had a quarter of your life to play superhero and save people, and that's fine, but now is the real deal! You're a PRINCESS, Tsukino. That does not mean ponies and pretty dresses and lots of servants to clean up after you! That means you have decisions to make, people to lead, and a future to build! You have RESPONSIBILITIES, and it's about Goddamn time you woke up and realized that!"

Usagi trembled mightily as emotion once again washed over her. "And... what? Rei-chan isn't one of those responsibilities?"

"We're not saying that," Michiru interjected, though she was clearly far more uncomfortable with the strange man in the room than her lover. "We're not even saying that we shouldn't rescue Hino-san immediately. But without realizing it, you've let yourself be led to a point that will be very difficult to return from. Our goals, our future... there's a lot riding on your shoulders, and you've clearly forgotten that. We aren't guardians of Japan or even Tokyo. We're guardians of the Silver Millennium, of Crystal Tokyo, and a destiny that encompasses the entire planet. You can't let yourself throw that aside so easily."

Usagi stared down at the table in front of her, unsure what to say. Normally at times like these, she would call upon some inner strength to suddenly stand up straight and say something queenly, but this time she was at a complete loss for words; the only thing she could think of was Rei, and concern for one of her dearest friends had reduced Haruka and Michiru's stern reprimand to gibberish in her mind.

"If I may interject..." Rayden suddenly said, surprising everybody.

The Russian gave the others a stony stare as they all focused on him, and then he continued. "Keeping in mind that I do not know any of you or the particulars of your situation, I have some experience in matters of great responsibility and sacrifice."

As he spoke, Rayden broke eye contact with the women and slipped a pistol out of his coat, ignoring the girls' startled gasps.

"I have known a number of truly great men and women, and watched them rise to power only to fall from grace, becoming at one moment the most magnificent and the next the most wretched members of the human species." As he spoke mechanically, he started to break the handgun apart into pieces, setting them apart in a careful configuration in front of him.

"All people reach greatness from similar beginnings. It is that spark of innocence that drives them; their naive, wishful desires. Whether it be for family, country, humankind, or even the perfectly noble goal to improve oneself, they all shoulder their way through hardship to achieve magnificence."

The Senshi watched with rapt attention, practically mesmerized, as Rayden took out a cloth and some gun oil as he kept up his lecture. "Those that fall from such heights are not those who are weak or soft-hearted, but those who lose themselves to their responsibilities and ambitions. I have seen many a general needlessly sacrifice his own people to win a battle, simply because a general's job is to win battles, not to preserve lives. Too many I have seen that do what they must to reach a goal, only to realize far too late that the goal has long been forsaken on the altar of 'necessity' and 'duty'."

Rayden finished cleaning the gun parts arrayed before him, and then glanced to the side, meeting Usagi's eyes. "Do as you will. The responsibilities of great people are not to be taken lightly. But ensure that you do not lose sight of why you are fighting in the first place. Do not forget what it is you want to protect."

With that, the gunman started reassembling his weapon and went back to completely ignoring the strange young women in the room.

"Uh... I, uh..." Haruka slowly turned back toward Usagi, but was quickly cut off.

"Michiru!" Usagi suddenly barked, her face stern and determined. "Transform. We've wasted too much time already!"

"Wh-What? But-" The emerald-haired woman was silenced by an uncharacteristic glare from the ponytailed blonde.

"There is no 'but'," Usagi snapped. "We filled you in and you said your piece. We're all done there. Now it's time for you to do your part so we can go rescue Rei-chan."

"What about-" Haruka began desperately.

"Anything else can wait!" Usagi declared, crossing her arms over her chest. "What we're going to do RIGHT NOW is find Rei-chan, save her, and then annihilate any and all vampires we find along the way! THEN we're going to see about finding a way to locate Hotaru-chan! Do you have a PROBLEM with that, Uranus?"

Haruka flinched as Usagi stared down at her with narrowed eyes, and suddenly felt much, much smaller. "Well... no... not as such..."

"Well, you're just wasting our time then, aren't you?" Makoto interjected, smirking along with the rest of the Inner Senshi at the sudden change in atmosphere. "Neptune? We're waiting."

Michiru gulped and pointed none-to-discreetly at Rayden, who had finished reassembling his pistol and was now taking apart a submachine gun.

"Oh, relax. He's not even watching," Minako scoffed.


Sure enough, Rayden didn't so much as look up from his weapons during Neptune's entire transformation sequence, though he did lift his hand slightly above his eyes to block out some of the excess light.

"It figures that I'd end up fighting alongside blasted witches. I should have known better than to return here," the Russian mumbled softly to himself.

"What was that?" Minako asked, being the closest one.

"It was nothing. So you too hunt the blighted dead?" The Catholic asked, still focused on his weapons.

"If by that you mean 'want to vaporize the vampire scum that captured our friend,' then yeah, we're all about that," Makoto said, pounding a fist into her palm. "Did Asuka-chan call you in to help?"

"If by that you mean 'promised the location of the foul undead that infests this city so that I might destroy them,' then yes," he replied in a perfectly dead tone of voice.

Makoto snickered at the man's reply, then turned toward Ami. "Hey, I think I like this guy! If there are more registered vigilantes like him around, maybe we could all get together and hunt down evil together!"

Ami sweatdropped. "He, uh... doesn't really look like... how to put it... much of a 'team player'," she whispered quietly enough that she hoped the man across from her hadn't heard.

Rayden did, of course, but didn't care enough to look up from his gun maintenance. Besides, he didn't want to discourage the blue-haired girl from dissuading the brunette from bothering him.

"I think I found it!" Neptune suddenly shouted. Everyone except Rayden immediately whirled on her.

The water Senshi looked up from the Deep Aqua mirror. "I can see the power of Mars building to the north, in a mausoleum at the edge of the city!"

Minako immediately jumped out of her chair, and once again left the room.

Michiru was confused at her sudden departure, but put the strange behavior aside. "I see... there's a deep, stagnating darkness around her. The vision gets cloudier as I zero in on the location, but Mars is definitely there!"

Neptune looked up as the side door swung open, and then blinked as a blue-haired woman she'd never seen before walked up to the table and then planted her hands flat on top of it.

"Hello ladies," she said smartly. "I'm Captain Asuka Takami of the Department of Abnormal Phenomenae Containment. I'd drag the rest of my men up here and introduce them, but we're rather pressed for time."

"Wait, so you're Tsukino's boss?" Haruka demanded.

"I'm Tsukino-san's commanding officer, yes," Asuka replied. "I'm well aware that this presents some... challenges within your own unique chain of command. We can address those matters in due time, but for now, you have a location I need."

"I've got it!" Ami said excitedly, turning the Mercury computer around so that everyone could see the map she had brought up. "This is the only mausoleum located on that edge of the city! The land is currently in a dispute with the government that wants to pave over it, since it's rarely used anymore, and it's fallen into disrepair! It'd be a perfect hideout for our target!"

"I'll get the guys together and gear up," Asuka said immediately.

"Hold it," Neptune said to the new woman, trying to avoid making eye contact with Usagi, "I thought we weren't working for the government. What's going on here, exactly?"

Asuka regarded the Senshi of Neptune briefly before she smiled softly. "You're correct, of course. You're not working for the government. We're working for you."

Haruka blink-blinked. "Say what?"

"It's not especially complicated," Asuka insisted, crossing her arms under her breasts. "You're all legal residents of Japan, at least as far as your registration records can confirm, and me and my department are police officers. It's our job to protect and rescue the citizens of this city, and I don't recall an ordinance that limits that responsibility based on a citizen's ability to knock down a building with an energy beam. Why should I stay clear of danger while you all risk your lives for your friend? I have a job to do, here!"

While that explanation was impressive enough to shut up Neptune right away, Haruka shook her head.

"There's no point in you guys coming; you're just ordinary humans! You'll only get yourselves killed!"

Asuka chuckled as she turned around. "If that's the case, we'll do our best to stay out of your way while you ladies take care of things. But hopefully you'll find that ordinary humans can be useful, too."

The police captain turned away from the briefing room and was about to leave for her phone when the door leading to the lobby suddenly burst open.

"Captain! There you are!" Junko gasped, pressing a hand against her chest as she tried to catch her breath. "Thank goodness! Listen! I know where the vampires are gathering! The warehouses by the docks! We've got them!"

Asuka blinked. "What did you say?"

Sitting atop said warehouse, a lone figure wrapped completely in conspicuous rags chuckled as flickers of images, sounds, and even thoughts poured forth from the glowing sphere of iridescent light.

"Now... the choice... must be made... only one... path... can be taken..."

The Prophet was pre-cognizant, to be certain. His future sight was no trick or illusion.

But like all tools that could divine the future, it was flawed. While other devices such as the Gates of Time crystallized thousands of possible timelines based on probabilities, his visions were beholden to a greater power. As such, his predictions were absolutes - at least as far as he could tell - but the only predictions he could make were of events of enormous importance that were all but impossible to avoid, or events that he himself could affect to ensure it came to pass.

As of now, however, his future sight was nearly blind, and only fleeting possibilities would reveal themselves to him.

"I wonder... is this uncertainty... my lord's will... or the will... of those involved...?"

To be sure, a number of powerful people would be clashing soon, but currently it was a single woman who held the future in the palm of her hands.

Oddly enough, it was not the magical reincarnated princess of a long-dead interplanetary empire that had any pressing decisions to make, but rather a mere police captain faced with a difficult strategic decision.

"Are you sure about this?" Asuka asked, her face grim as Junko sat in front of her.

The redhead nodded. "Pretty sure. I mean, I don't have any proof or any evidence other than the weird surge this morning..."

"A psychic message? Are you serious?" Makoto asked skeptically.

Asuka rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I know it doesn't sound credible, but her 'psychic hunches' have always turned out accurate before."

"Well, so what? We know where Mars is, right? Who cares about those other freaks?" Makoto protested, getting impatient.

"It's not that simple," Asuka grumbled, staring down at the map of the city. "If Chikiko is right, those other freaks may number in the hundreds, and will happily slaughter thousands of innocents just in the course of feeding themselves. If we ALSO assume that Neptune is correct, and that Sailor Mars is being held in that mausoleum, we can expect only a few vampires to be with her and not meeting at the warehouse. Those will probably be the leaders, and while they're the most dangerous, they're still sharply limited in the amount of damage they can do by themselves if they choose to attack on their own."

Ranma and Kyle, who had entered the room earlier while Junko was explaining herself, glanced at each other.

"So we either go after the army, or the leaders?" Ranma asked, frowning.

"Well, then we're going after the leaders, right?" Minako asked. "I mean, don't they say that you should cut the tail off the iguana to win a war?"

"That's cutting the head off a snake," Asuka deadpanned. "And yes, there's some merit to that argument. If we eliminate Ran, I'm confident that the other vampires can be hunted down and destroyed without any fear of this 'vampire uprising' making significant progress... but the chaos in the meantime could be devastating."

She sighed and rubbed her head. "And that's also discounting the possibility that Mars is being used as bait."

"Bait?" Usagi asked.

"Yes. Putting aside whether she's... still saveable or not, our enemy has to expect that we'd have some way of finding her. Meaning that even if it isn't necessarily a trap, they're going to be prepared for us." Asuka sat down and balled one hand into a fist, grinding it against her forehead. "But there's very little chance they could have predicted that Chikiko can pick up an abnormally powerful psychic pulse, especially seeing how none of us expected such a thing. If we do go to save Mars, we could be giving up a perfect opportunity to wipe out this threat once and for all!"

"I don't really see what the problem is," Haruka said, looking irritated. "Why don't you people go attack the vampires? We'll take care of Mars."

"Well, naturally, I assume you'll be pursuing Mars no matter what we do. That's not the question..." Asuka murmured, turning toward Usagi. "I'll also be contacting Core, but it'd take a damn miracle to get them mobilized on my word alone. More than likely they'd send a couple guys in to get butchered, and then move in once the vampires all scattered. We need to act fast if we're going to get anything done here."

The blonde cyborg stared back at her, uncertainty in her eyes. "Asuka-chan... I-"

"That's 'Captain Takami' to you," Asuka reminded her for the hundredth time. "And if you're worried that I might drag you off to the warehouses with us, don't be. Naturally I assume you'll be going to save your friend, and I wouldn't try to stop you."

Usagi gulped as she tried to keep herself from sniffling. "I'm... I'm not worried about that."

As the older woman raised an eyebrow, Usagi walked up to her side and laid a hand on her shoulder, tears leaking from the corner of her eyes. "Asuka-chan... I'm scared. For Rei-chan and for us, but also for you. I've seen how strong you are, and I... I don't know if we can win on our own."


Haruka nearly did a double-take. "What? You're kidding! What can these guys do that we can't?"

Ami leaned over to whisper in the blonde's ear. "Well, besides sharpshooting and planting bombs, I imagine they'd also be less reluctant to destroy a vampiric Senshi," she whispered harshly.

"Wh-Wha?" Haruka looked shocked at the explanation.

"We're all still hanging onto a bare thread of hope that Rei-chan still hasn't been turned, but if she has, then what?" Ami continued quietly, her eyes narrowing. "Do we restrain her? Reason with her? Try to heal her back to being human? Do you expect Usagi to have a plan for that? I can promise you, Asuka-chan does."

Haruka frowned. "And what if that plan involves killing Mars for good?"

"Rei-chan once asked a similar question of Usagi-chan," Ami whispered back, "and I rather liked Usagi's answer: she'll do what she has to. No more, and no less."


Asuka continued staring at the map of the city below her, her chin resting on her hands and Usagi still standing at her shoulder.

"Tsukino, what do you want me to do?" She asked finally, looking up at the cybernetic blonde. "If you want me to help you take down Ran, I will."

To her surprise, Usagi shook her head.

"No. I won't make that decision," Usagi said firmly, surprising the shorter woman. "Asuka-chan, you're one of the strongest girls I know. You're much smarter than me, and you have a much more important job. I haven't worked here for very long, but it's obvious why you're in charge even though some of the guys are better fighters."

Usagi smiled as she looked down at the police captain, and an articulated robotic limb idly wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. "I'm weak and not very smart, so I end up thinking with my emotions all the time. I guess that's fine if it's just us Senshi, but there are too many people counting on you." She sniffled again. "Please, you have to decide yourself. It's too important for me to choose."


Sailor Neptune twitched. "Did... Did a robot arm just come out of her shoulder?"

"You get used to it," Makoto said.


"If I'm such an impressive figure to you, then call me Captain, already," Asuka snorted as she pushed herself to her feet, forcing Usagi to back away. "Anyway, it's true that the vast majority of the vampires are vulnerable elsewhere and that a lot of damage could result from leaving them unchecked..."

Then the bluette turned toward Usagi, her eyes narrowed. "But you have a point about being weak and thinking with your emotions. Now that I think about it, leaving you in charge of fighting the most powerful vampires in the country is a tremendously bad idea. Especially seeing as it might be trap."

Usagi blinked in surprise, and then she sweatdropped. "Well, that wasn't really what I meant when-"

"I may have a responsibility to the citizens of this city, but I first have a responsibility to my subordinates!" Asuka declared, turning away and walking between Ranma and Kyle. "And I couldn't live with myself if I did something so stupid as let you charge into a vampire den without someone competent to tell you what to do. So I really have no choice."

She clapped Ranma on the shoulder and looked up into his eyes. "Gear up, soldier. This time we're in it to win. Can you do that?"

Ranma grinned and started cracking his knuckles. "Just get me close to that Ran jerk and say the word. I'll carve his stupid heart right out of him if I have to."

Asuka nodded, but lowered her voice. "Easy there, big guy. It might not be Ran you'll be fighting..." Then she turned back toward the room proper. "We'll be moving out within the hour! That includes you, Shikodan!"

The Russian finally took his attention from cleaning his guns - which he had been doing all throughout the various dramatics taking place in the room - and glanced behind him. "I have the location of the vampire masses. I can proceed on my own to-"

"Blah blah blah, cleanse the blighted undead from the city, blah blah," Asuka snapped, glaring at the superhuman. "Drop the annoying lone wolf routine and pack up your weapons. I didn't call you here just to act gloomy and spout insightful crap about responsibility. You're coming with us. We need the extra heavy guns."

Rayden's expression didn't budge. "And why do I suddenly take orders from..."

The Russian trailed off as he realized that all the DAPC officers had ignored him and walked out of the room, leaving him alone with the Sailor Senshi.


"So! I guess that just leaves us vigilantes, eh?" Makoto said cheerfully, walking up behind the only man in the room and slapping him on the back. She wasn't sure why, but something about the gloomy foreigner cheered her up considerably. She didn't know anything about him, but somehow she felt much safer for him being around.

"It would seem so," he groused. The girls would have guessed that he was extremely unhappy about the current situation, but the man's expression had never actually changed.

"Oh! Usagi-chan, don't you have to change?" Minako asked, turning toward the only member of their group that was also a police officer.

"You're right! Hold on!" Usagi closed her eyes briefly, and Haruka and Neptune flinched back as a circle of light appeared the cyborg's neck and floated down into the floor, replacing her blouse and skirt with a skin-tight black bodysuit.

"What? But then, Sailor Moon..." Haruka stuttered out.

"Oh, I'm over that," Cyber Moon said cheerfully as she turned to the side and raised one knee into the air. "Mina-chan, look! I found out how to change the outfit!" She pointed to the letters "DAPC" that were now stamped onto her thigh in thin, blue, italicized cursive font.

"Huh. Not sure about the font choice, personally," Minako mumbled. "A bit flowery for a police logo, don't you think?"

"I cannot help but wonder why I keep returning to this place," Rayden deadpanned as he stared listlessly at the wall. "It is as if something frequently clouds my memory as to the madness contained within these walls."

"Hey! What is this thing, anyway?" Makoto asked, poking at the bundle that Rayden had dropped onto the table when he entered.

If Rayden was any more annoyed at the brunette's question than he was at having to be in the same room with her, it didn't show. "That is the deliverance of sinners and monsters from this world. A gate of fire and steel to see those that would harm God's children to their final damnation. To the faithful, its roar is the choir of Earthly salvation. To the damned, it is the jury's call that marks the end of their mortal lives."

Makoto blinked repeatedly, mulling over that explanation. "So... I'm guessing it's either an MP3 player... or... a portal? You carry around a portal?"

"I dearly wish the Captain would make haste," Rayden deadpanned, his eye twitching.

"Heh heh heh... hahhh... very good... Captain..."

The Prophet stood up awkwardly as his crystal ball floated up above his shoulder, and the man stepped toward the edge of the roof and onto some crates that were stacked up next to the warehouse like stairs.

Wham! "Gugh!" The side door to the warehouse suddenly burst open, and a young man with numerous cuts and bruises was shoved out into the sunlight.

"Hey! You bastards!" The man snarled, quickly covering his eyes and panting weakly as he rolled to his feet.

A pair of larger men stood at the doorway, scowling down at him. Behind them emanated a constant stream of noise; shouting, conversation, and the occasional sound of violent impacts all mixed together chaotically.

"Watch yourself, pup," the larger of the men said, baring his fangs as he grinned. "Out there in the sun, you're just some weak little kid! Be careful the cops don't catch you!"

His partner started laughing at the taunt. "That'll teach you to take us lightly, brat. You can sit out there and cook for a while."

They were about to turn around and enter the building again when the Prophet leapt down before them, a pair of heavily bandaged legs landing heavily upon the ground as layers of rags fluttered down around them.

"Wha? Who're-"

The Prophet quickly waved a hand at the vampire. "Silence yourself, brute. You have said your piece."

He turned around and offered his hand to the young man who was knocked down, who in turn looked only halfway disgusted by the gnarled, misshapen appendage as he pulled himself up.

"We stand on the apex of a new era, and you, the supposed inheritors of this world, bicker like children. Tell me, when our enemies unite against us, will you be able to stand back to back with this young man in battle, or will you scorn him then, too?"

The two larger men glanced at each other, utterly confused. "What? What're you going on about, old man?"

"Hey, who are you, anyway?" The second asked, walking up to the prophet and reaching forward to pick him up by the front of what passed for a shirt.

Before the midian could manage even that, the crystal sphere floating above the Prophet's head flashed brilliantly, and the three vampires all flinched back from the sudden searing brightness.

"Gwah!" Holding their hands in front of their eyes, the two vampires at the door staggered backward into the warehouse, and several people stopped what they were doing as they directed their attention toward the new source of commotion.


The Prophet entered the warehouse interior wordlessly, his crystal ball lowering itself into his hand as he stepped through the ranks of confused midians.

The vampire that was being bullied quickly darted inside behind the mysterious figure, still rubbing his eyes painfully, but glad to be in out of the sunlight.

"NOSFERATU..." the Prophet gasped out, somehow amplifying his normal wheezing mode of speech to echo through the relatively large building and overwhelm the hundreds of people that had crowded there. "EVEN AS... WE SPEAK... YOUR MASTER... RAN... IS FINALIZING HIS PLAN... TO ASCEND HIS RACE... YOUR RACE... TO MASTERY OF... THIS FEEBLE LAND..."

The Prophet glanced around, noting many of the young vampires whooping and cheering. "TO THOSE OF YOU... WITH LINGERING DOUBT... OR ATTACHMENT... TO THE WORLD... OF THE LIVING... NOW IS THE TIME... TO PUT SUCH TRIFLES... ASIDE... THAT WORLD... IS NO LONGER YOURS... THAT WORLD... WILL SOON CEASE..."

He threw his hands up, and his magic orb rose into the air, beginning to glow a brilliant cascade of colors.

"FOR AT THIS MOMENT... A NEW ERA DAWNS... ONE WHERE... HUMANKIND BENDS KNEE... ONE WHERE... STRIFE AND DESTRUCTION... REIGN FREELY... AND THE STREETS... ARE AWASH WITH BLOOD..."

Many of the vampires started licking their lips at this particular imagery, and the Prophet couldn't help but chuckle as he reached the climax of his speech.

"CHILDREN OF DARKNESS... YOU HAVE BEEN VITAL... TO USHERING IN... THIS NEW DARK AGE..." the Prophet took an especially long, gasping breath, and his hands began to glow a bright green. "YOUR SACRIFICE... IS APPRECIATED..."

"Wait... sacrifice? What?" One of the nearby midians asked nervously.

"You mean, like, in the war to come, right?" Another one guessed.

As if in answer, the entire warehouse interior suddenly lit up brightly, and the vampires looked about in surprise and panic.

The walls of the building were covered from top to bottom in strange, archaic scribbling that only now appeared in bright, writhing green flames. Halfway between eldritch runes and childish doodling, the runes were accompanied by bizarre drawings of eight-spoke wheels, stylized skulls and flames, and occasionally diagrams involving bizarre creatures and incomprehensible formulae.

"What's going on?"

"What have you done?"

"Get him!"

BWOOM! As a few midians made a dash for the traitorous sorcerer, a shock wave of power blasted outward from him, knocking them flat on their backs as an enormous inscription of a wheel with eight spokes ending in arrows outside the circumference of the circle flickered into being on the floor of the warehouse.

"AS FORMER MORTALS... DRAGGED UNWILLINGLY... TO UNDEATH... I AM SURE... YOU CAN APPRECIATE... THE SUDDEN AND DIRE... FLEXIBILITY... OF THE FOOD CHAIN..." He raised his arms into the air, and the masses of vampires started to collapse all around him, howling in pain. "NOW COME... MY DARK MASTERS... FEED... ON THESE BLOATED SOULS..."

His single eye began glowing a fierce red, and his cloak started floating on an invisible wind as the nosferatu around him screamed in agony.

"YESSSS... AT LAST... IT HAS BEGUN..."

"Damn it Nagase, hurry up! We should've been there by now!"

The girl in question was currently resting against a building, panting heavily from having to make such an exertion in broad daylight.

Further up the street, a young man wearing dark shades and a baseball cap frowned at her, arms crossed over his chest. "I know it's hard, but do you think you could get your fat butt in gear? I mean, if we're late, what, it's only the birth of a new civilization, right? No big deal?"

Tsuna glared at the boy harshly, and then glanced down at herself. "My butt is NOT fat..."

"It'd better not be, after making me stand there and judge your stupid glamour cantrip for a damn hour," the boy growled.

"Well, I can't help it! It's not like I could use a mirror, and I wanted to make sure I looked okay!" Tsuna protested as she pushed herself to her feet. Although she had been advised to keep her usual human appearance for the sake of tricking Rei - not that it had helped much - now that the whole Mars fiasco was over with, she had been quick to learn how to shape the body to clear up imperfections and achieve a higher standard of beauty.

Not that she was vain or shallow or anything. Of course not. But the new vampire age was about to start soon, and she'd be damned if she was going to enter a new dark golden age while she was still too big to fit into her old high school uniform.

"Why don't we have reflections, anyway? It makes no sense! How does being a vampire affect the light bouncing off of a reflective surface as opposed to the light entering your retina?" She complained, quickly catching up to her companion.

"I dunno. MAGIC," the boy snapped as they rounded a building, reaching the warehouse docks that bordered that section of the city. "We're almost there! I hope nothing important's started without us..."

"Wait! What's that?" Tsuna gasped, pointing out into the harbor.

The male vampire was about to shout something insulting at her, but quickly lost his voice when he saw what she was referring to: a relatively small, black submersible emerging from the surface of the water. It definitely looked to be of military construction, and boasted a considerable gun turret on the front.

Neither of the midians were well-versed in military weapons design, but if they were, they would have come to the decisive conclusion that the submarine was designed primary to be a transport vessel. It's wide berth spoke of an expanded hold for weapons, supplies, and men, while its small size spoke of a lack of weapon systems that would be found on a standard warship.

"I... I don't know..." the boy mumbled.

Tak! Both vampires looked up as they heard a noise above them, and both barely caught a glimpse of someone dashing over the rooftops before the figure vanished from view.

"This is bad. This is really bad," Tsuna mumbled.

"Come on! We have to warn the others!" The young man insisted, moving into a sprint as Tsuna rapidly moved to catch up to him.


They made it to the appointed warehouse in short order, but both immediately stopped in their tracks once they saw the building in question.

The windows, which had been blocked from the inside, emitted a subtle green light, and both of the young vampires could feel a dark, unsettling power emerging from the structure.

Besides that, there were the screams. Even new vampires had enhanced hearing, and the both of them were absolutely sure that they could hear people dying within the warehouse.

"What's going on in there?" The male vampire demanded, walking up to the structure and opening the door.

Fzash! Immediately, a wash of green light poured over him, and it was only his sunglasses that prevented complete blindness.

Then again, given what was happening inside, he probably would have preferred to be blinded.

The floor of the warehouse was littered with nosferatu, many of them screaming in pain, but most already having expired. Those that were already dead were not, as was usual, reduced to a pile of dust, but rather they had become skeletons; clean, bleached, fanged puppets of bone piled on the ground and frozen in contortions of pain.

Those who were not yet dead provided a clue as to what had happened, as their flesh and muscle rapidly withered away in random, disparate chunks leaving only fresh bones behind. These individuals screamed and writhed, groping for crates, doors and windows even as they were robbed of the muscles and nerves necessary to manipulate their skeletal fingers.

"What's going on here?" The young man demanded, moving to step into the warehouse.

"No! Don't!" Tsuna screamed, grabbing hold of him and dragging him back. "Don't go in there!"

The boy could hardly find a good reason to disobey, and they both watched in morbid horror as the last of the tortured midians finally expired, their flesh evaporating off their bones.

"I can't... believe it..." Tsuna whispered, tears leaking from her eyes. "Who did this? What happened?"

"There's some kind of writing on the wall..." the boy mumbled. "But it doesn't look like any language I've ever seen."

"Wait! The sky!" Tsuna shouted, stepping back in surprise.

The boy looked up, and then his mouth hung open as a great swarm of darkness began to seep from the roof of the warehouse, stretching up into the sky like a massive swarm of insects.

"Could this be..." Tsuna gasped out, mesmerized as the great shadow ascended.


The wave of darkness stretched up slowly into the sky, at first looking for all the world like an abnormally fast plume of smoke.

Then... it began to expand.

Stretching wider and wider, the wisp of black grew, oozing across the sky and slowly covering up the mid-afternoon sun.

Within seconds, the sunlight was lost to the two vampires outside the warehouse, and both midians gasped as they felt strength returning to their body.

"The sun... it's gone! It's really happening!" The boy said in awe. "The world has been cloaked in shadow! It was true!"

"But... it makes no sense..." Tsuna mumbled, collapsing to her knees. "They're dead. They're all dead. What's the point of eternal night if the vampires have been all but eradicated? This wasn't what we were expecting..."

"It doesn't matter!" The young man said, pounding his fist into his chest. "We're still here, aren't we? Even if ALL the vampires besides us die, we can still go on! With the sun blotted out, the entire world will be at our mercy!" He raised his fists into the air, his expression one of insane glee. "We can create a new vampire race! Or just live by ourselves! It doesn't matter anymore! We're the masters of our destiny! And we have all eternity to make the most of it!"

Thoomp! Before the young man could lower his arms, a concussion grenade slammed into his side, knocking the midian right off his feet and sending him flying into the warehouse.

BWOOOM!!

Tsuna's eyes trembled in shock and terror as the structure shook from the force of the blast, and she slowly turned her head around.

Standing at the edge of the alley, at the head of a squad of cyborgs, Igov's lip curled into a smirk around a burning cigarette. "Is nice to have dream, no?" He lowered his left arm, which snapped back into standard Gatling mode, closing the grenade tube shut.

"Y-You're General Yutchzky! The Red Death!" Tsuna stuttered, caught halfway between horror and awe. "Wh-What are y-you doing here?"

"Igov is merely sweeping trash from lower Tokyo, ensuring that dregs of society can go about business with only fear of fellow humans to worry themselves." The Russian cyborg spoke amiably enough as he approached the young woman, his footsteps resounding heavily upon the pavement.

Tsuna wasn't about to stick around when she had her full vampiric power available, meager as it was, and she rapidly hopped to her feet, promptly dashing away from the terrorist general.

Igov saw the girl stand up, and he thrust his right hand toward her.

Zwom! A faded gray tendril of energy surrounded by twinkling lights shot from Igov's hand and touched the midian girl just as she began to pick up speed.

Tsuna was immediately surrounded by an energy field similar to the wave that Igov had just emitted, and her movements slowed to an absolute crawl as she was surrounded by glittering lights.

Igov wordlessly approached the young vampire as the cyborgs behind him moved toward to enter the warehouse, the soldiers automatically shifting to assault formation as grenadiers took position outside the windows.

General. Initial scans show no activity within the structure.

Igov glanced toward his cyborgs, who had frozen in place while awaiting new orders. "Stand down," the Russian mumbled, "but maintain combat readiness. Something is not right here."

The moment the vampire girl was in reach, Igov snatched her bodily with one hand, holding her up in the air roughly as the energy field dissipated.

"Wh-What? What was... How...?" Tsuna paled and began sweating desperately and she found Igov's hand clamped firmly around her neck, holding her up into the air.

"That is new module being tested for use with chronosphere. Is called 'stasis beam'." Igov took a moment to spit his cigarette to the side. "With it, quick prey such as you at Igov's mercy. Now..."

The Russian turned toward the warehouse and moved to enter it, still carrying the panicking midian in one hand.

Once they were inside the building, the eyebrow over Igov's organic eye rose. The floor was littered with skeletons, all of them with very conspicuous and inhuman fangs. They also seemed unusually intact, save for a rather large circle of them that had been scattered among a layer of vampire dust; no doubt the results of his concussion grenade.

"What happened here? Who got to vampires before Igov?" The Russian demanded stonily, holding the vampire girl up above him as he glared into her eyes.

"I d-don't know! I arrived right before you did! All I know was that everything was glowing and there was all this weird writing on the wall!" Tsuna said desperately, clawing uselessly at the hand gripping her throat.

Igov glanced around the room, seeing no apparent trace of any writing. "Igov follow numerous vampire here from hidden warrens; was surprised to see creatures gather in such numbers during day. Why is this?"

"We were called her by Lord Ran! He's the master vampire in Tokyo!" Tsuna said, her eyes tearing. "His psychic call led us here, and me and my friend were late! When we arrived, it was already too late!"

"I see. You do not know who enemy is?" Igov asked.

"No! I mean, we have plenty of enemies, but no one that could do anything like this! Even the Sailor Senshi couldn't have pulled this off without also incinerating the entire block!"

His hostage seemed to be very cooperate so far, so Igov released some of the tension from his fingers as he continued. "And Igov supposes you also know nothing about dark cloud that appear out of nowhere."

Tsuna gulped. "Uh... well..."

At feeling the cyborg's grip tighten slightly, she squeaked and started talking. "Wait! No! I'm sorry! That was supposed to happen! We didn't know how Ran was planning to pull it off, but somehow the sun was supposed to be eclipsed today!"

"Eclipsed?" Igov repeated skeptically.

"Well, not really eclipsed, but... well... what just happened, I guess..." Tsuna trailed off. "Today the sun was supposed to be blocked for good, so that vampires could roam freely day or night-"

"Thus negating critical strategic weakness," Igov said humorlessly as he turned around and carried Tsuna back outside. "Is quite clever, in short term, Igov admit."

THWAM! Before Tsuna knew what was happening, Igov had thrown her straight down into the concrete, and the vampire girl felt ribs and pavement alike crack as an impact crater formed underneath the mighty Russian.

As the midian started gasping in pain, Igov planted a foot on her stomach, and Tsuna whimpered at the amount of weight that threatened to crush her with but a slight shift in balance.

"As in all other things, in this too you are fools," Igov snapped. "You feed on human, no? What do you think happen to human sources of sustenance when sunlight is banished from world? Idiocy."

Tsuna coughed weakly, hacking up a bit of blood before she groaned. "It wasn't... my idea..."

"Regardless," Igov snapped, "I suppose you have no idea how to neutralize shroud, correct?"

The vampire girl nodded, and then paused to cough several more times.

"Do you know where this leader of yours is, at least?" Igov asked wearily.

Tsuna shook her head. "Ran doesn't... ugh! Make himself easy to find. He was supposed to come here eventually, but... I have no idea where he is now."

"Then you are useless to me."

Tsuna's eyes shot open in shock at the general's proclamation, and she gasped out a desperate protest as Igov lifted up his foot.

CRUNCH!


"Number 117, status report," Igov demanded as he lifted up his foot again, this time to brush off the wet bits of gore as most of Tsuna's body turned to dust.

There are no unusual energy signatures in the area. There are no signs of further midian activity. Area is secure. A nearby sensor drone buzzed, the antennae on its back raised into the air. Reports indicate that a directive has been filed with Core regarding this location. No dispatch has yet been made. There is considerable confusion over the sudden atmospheric blackout. What's more, the phenomenon is spreading rapidly from this point. Sixty-eight percent of Japan has now been afflicted. At this rate, the phenomenon will reach a global stage within two hours.

Igov snorted. "And here is Igov, with army at heels and building full of dead vampires. Hmph. What is DAPC doing?"

They have no activity posted to the normal police channels. It appears they are out of contact with their normal defense division.

"Igov doubts that will remain case, with sun blotted from sky," the Russian mumbled.

Finally, he shrugged. "All units, back to docks! Today the damnable midians have escaped our wrath by their own inexplicable self-destruction. The true guardian of Tokyo can deal with matter further. For now, we depart."

Igov's cyborgs needed no explanation other than the order, and without fanfare or hesitation the mechanical soldiers turned away from their unnecessary siege and stomped off toward the docks.

"Okay, seriously, what the hell?" Tiro asked, gaping as he gestured to the blackened sky. "That didn't actually happen, right? I'm hallucinating or something."

"Nope. It's real," Ranma confirmed, staring upward with his hands on his hips. "The sky just went totally dark at mid-afternoon, just minutes before we could attack the head vampires."

"Oh. Okay. So WHY ARE YOU SO DAMN CALM?!" Tiro shouted, clutching his head with his hands. "This is crazy! What's going on?"

Asuka shook her head from where she was loading a shotgun. The Senshi were transformed and gathered next to Cyber Moon, who had her mechanical, bunny-like sensor fins up to scan the bizarre cloud of darkness. The DAPC gathered slightly away from them, each checking their weapons and waiting for the order, save Hunter, who was resting lazily behind the rhino APC. Rayden sat on the hood of one of the police cruisers, staring expressionlessly into the gates of the graveyard containing the mausoleum.

"What's going on is the beginnings of a titanic shift in power," Asuka groused, cocking her weapon and turning toward the gates. "It seems events have been put into motion already."

Tak! It was probably because everyone was so on edge at the sight of the sky darkening, but when a masked man in a tuxedo landed behind the group, opposite the mausoleum, he froze in panic at the sight of several guns and magical girls all whirling about to aim at him.

"Wait! It is I, Tuxedo Kamen!" He shouted, managing to keep his knees from shaking. "Sailor Moon, I've come to aid you!"

Almost everyone looked relieved once the newcomer was identified.

Almost everyone. "Snake, put your gun away," Asuka deadpanned.

Sailor Jupiter nodded. "So you decided to come after all."

"I couldn't let you all face danger without me," he declared gallantly, approaching Cyber Moon while sweeping his cape to the side and trying to keep someone between him and Snake at all times. "However, I'm confused to see... these people here as well."

Sailor Venus sighed. "Okay, look, we're not going through all this again. Short version: Rei's kidnapped by vampires. We're saving her. DAPC is here too. No questions."

"But-"

The masked hero was cut off as Cyber Moon suddenly took his hand, clasping it between her own.

"I'm sorry Kamen-sama, but we really don't have time now. For now, I just need you to fight with us."

Hesitation vanished from Tuxedo Kamen's face, and he nodded seriously.


"All right people!"

Everyone turned away from the touching scene of Cyber Moon and Tuxedo Kamen and focused on Asuka, who was leaning against a police cruiser and pointing up at the sky.

"As you can see, things just got a lot worse for us. We will be charging in directly. They will be ready. They will have their strongest vampires on the defense, and they will have their full powers now that the sun is inexplicably out of action."

She gestured to the large mausoleum in the middle of the land, several dozen meters beyond the gates. "Mercury says there are power surges in that structure. We're going to push our way in fast and hard. Snake, Moon, I want you to keep anything from coming at us fast from the front. If you see any zombies with bloated stomachs, shoot out their legs. The rest of the Senshi should form an artillery core and take turns wiping out everything in the path of our advance! Shikodan, Commander, you cover our flanks! And if bats suddenly start swarming the area, everybody needs to get as far away from Snake as possible and hit the dirt; he has something special as a countermeasure."

Asuka turned toward her subordinates. "DAPC! Our primary objective is to eliminate Ran! Secondary objective is to keep the Senshi alive! Tertiary objective is the elimination of any vampires in the area! Remember: don't stop shooting until they've turned to dust!"

She turned toward the Senshi. "I don't believe I have to list objectives for you ladies. Do what you have to do, and try not to let the fanged freaks get too close."

"Enough of this," Rayden said suddenly, standing up and slipping a cigarette out of his pocket. "The enemy comes."

Sure enough, as assembled warriors fell silent, they could hear a number of harsh scraping noises amidst the trees and gravestones ahead of them as well as some faint moaning noises.

Asuka jumped down from the hood of the cruiser and walked up to the gates, which were being held shut by a single locked chain.

BLAM! Ch-chak! The chain fell to the ground in a rain of twisted pieces, and Asuka glanced back toward everyone else.

"Well? What're you all waiting for?"


Sailor Neptune sighed wistfully at Asuka as everyone started moving toward the gates. "She's really cute, isn't she?"

Sailor Uranus chose to ignore the comment, instead pointing at Hunter. "So, seriously, NOBODY is going to explain what the hell that thing is, and why we're not shooting it?"

"Here they come!" Asuka yelled, throwing an arm forward as ghouls began staggering into view from behind bushes and tombstones. "Open fire!"

Kimiko clicked her tongue as she walked down the main hall of the mausoleum, her eyes glowing faintly as they penetrated the darkness of the aging crypt.

"Lord Ran. The enemy comes," she said simply as she reached the inner sanctum, her voice echoing within the cavernous tomb.

A lone figure stood facing away from her, staring up at the ceiling as the sound of gunshots and the occasional magical explosion reached his ears.

"I see..." the vampire lord mumbled, still staring upward. "They arrived much earlier than expected. And yet, they are far too late..."

He grinned. "You can feel it, can't you? The sun... The sun is-"

"The sun has been blocked, yes," Kimiko interrupted, "but may I remind you, Master, that the DAPC has fought elder vampires at night and emerged unscathed before? And they have arrived alongside the Senshi, in greater numbers than ever before. I can only imagine the... inexplicable banishment of the sunlight has merely leveled the playing field."

Ran only chuckled from where he stood. "So even though it's gone this far... you still doubt our victory?"

"I have doubts that extend far beyond whether or not we succeed," Kimiko deadpanned, "but at the moment, my immediate concern is our survival. They enemy is cutting down the ghouls like wheat. We have a dozen or so other vampires that Kliff and I keep as attendants, but they're too weak to even slow the enemy down."

"I see," Ran mumbled, adopting a more serious expression. "Well then. Have Mortis unleash her horde. Usher them into this place, and then join me on the balcony."

Kimiko winced. "It's unimaginable that even her ghouls will cause any casualties. And she was quite upset at the total loss of her forces last time..."

"She will have an eternity to create more of her corpse dolls. Give the order," Ran snapped. "I wish to have our opponents sufficiently warmed up by the time they get here. It promises to be quite a show..."

Kimiko frowned deeply. "It is... as you wish, Master." She turned around to leave. "And do be careful. In your current weakened state, you may be unable to fend off that pigtailed fellow on your own."

Ran snorted. "I only wish the fool could live long enough to face me. I would personally repay the suffering he's caused our brethren."

"From what Mortis told me, he has a way of granting such wishes," she mumbled as a nearby explosion caused a slight tremor to run through the building, disturbing the many layers of dust on the walls and fixtures. "It begins."

"No..." Ran said, grinning. "Today... it ENDS."

"They're still coming! From the right!"

Kyle's minigun hummed noisily as it spat out a constant stream of destruction, ripping apart dirt and stone as bullet casings poured from the machine's ejection feed. Over his shoulder he carried the massive cylinder of interlocked weapons that was the Kujo 4B Mobile Armory, held in place with his free hand.

"Is it really possible to properly fire a weapon of that size one-handed?" Sailor Mercury shouted toward Asuka as she continued typing away on her computer.

"The Leiutenant Commander is at his best when he doesn't know that the things he does are impossible!" Asuka shouted as she shot at a few stray ghouls with her sidearm. "We're going to reach the mausoleum soon! Get ready!"

BLAM! BLAM! Rayden blasted a charging vampire at mid-range, causing the midian to stagger and clutch his chest. Then he tucked the shotgun under his arm and took out his lighter to light up his cigarette.

The vampire spent a moment to gape, and then sprinted straight for the Russian, aiming to tear the foreign man's throat out.

At the last moment, Rayden burst forward, turning slightly to smash the end of his still-wrapped cannon into the midian and knock it off its feet.

The moment the vampire hit the ground, Rayden raised a foot over the monster's chest.

"Peace be with you." CRUNCH!

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"

"Venus Crescent Moon Beam!"

Waves of magical power crashed into the rows of monuments and tombstones surrounding the mausoleum, digging craters among the graves as vampires and ghouls vanished in bursts of searing energy.

"Wait!" Sailor Mercury shouted. "There's something coming! No... A lot of somethings! Watch out!"


Crash! The cracked double-doors to the mauoleum burst outward as an abomination shouldered through the doorway, a gutteral moan emerging from within its helmet.

"What the hell is that?!" Uranus screamed at the sight of the monstrosity, a sentiment echoed by Tiro and Junko who were following the formation near the back.

Asuka clenched her teeth at the sight of the giant undead, but then brightened when she saw a few of the pot-bellied suicide ghouls scampering out from between the monster's legs. "Aim for the small ones! The small ones! Stop them there!"

The crack of gunfire, the screech of sizzling plasma dischargers, and a few unnaturally accurate roses greeted her command as those with less cumbersome methods of attack shot down the agile little zombies. Within two seconds, the last of the explosive pawns keeled over, rolling limply into a puddle of its own blood as its belly started to swell even further.

BWOOOM!! BWOOOM!! KABOOM!! The abomination was lost to sight for a moment as it was surrounded by detonations, and when the noise of the explosions had faded, the gurgling howl of the devastated golem filled the air.

Thwump! What was left of the abomination fell heavily onto the ground, already lit aflame by the explosions that had destroyed both legs and much of its torso.

"There's more coming!" Jupiter shouted as she saw several shadows leaping from the roof of the mortuary into the scattered gravestones all around. Meanwhile, more shapes appeared from within the building itself, the groans and gasps of ghouls floating above the sounds of heavy footsteps.

"They're the fast ones! They're vulnerable right before they make a lunge!" Asuka shouted. "Moon! Senshi! Throw something into the mortuary while they're still packed together!"

"Right!" Cyber Moon shouted as her missile racks popped up out of her shoulders.

"How about this? World Shaking!" Uranus cried, trying her best to focus on the objective and not on all the bizarre things that kept coming out of Usagi's body.

WHOOM! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

BLAM! "Ha ha ha! I knew today was gonna be special!" Snake cheered as he blew away a clawed ghoul that was lunging for him. To his side, Hunter dragged down another of the undead puppets that had made a particularly poor choice of targets. "Almost there! Come on!"

"Hunter! Guard our exit point!" Asuka shouted back at the warbeast. "We might have to get out in a hurry, so keep this place clear, all right?"

"HRAAAAH!!" The zergling growled and then scampered off into the scattered gravestones, pouncing at a vampire who quickly darted away in fear at the beast.

"Entrance is clear! Move in!"

Kimiko frowned as she alighted on the balcony next to Ran, her enhanced hearing picking up even the approaching warriors' conversations amongst the explosions and gunshot.

"Master, they will be here soon," she said wearily. "The special ghouls managed to stall them. Nothing more."

"As expected," Ran mumbled, his body fading into the darkness until it was little more than a faded outline. "These are not ordinary opponents. I look forward to the upcoming battle."

Kimiko would have thrown her hands up in the air in exasperation if she hadn't possessed such enormous self-control. "I still cannot fathom how we are to stop them." Her body too began to fade away.

"Sit and watch, servant," Ran said as he spread his arms. "Watch the true power of the nosferatu, combined with ancient power from the stars! Watch, and see our deliverance manifest!" He grinned again. "They have arrived."


"Everybody, get into cover! Watch for loose rubble that could fall on you, and mark an exit route!" Asuka shouted, flattening her back against a column as everyone entered.

"It's almost pitch black in here!" Sailor Venus complained. "Cyber Moon, don't you have a light or something?"

Fwoosh! Before Cyber Moon could check for any lighting devices, or any of the police officers could reach for an emergency flare, several torches positioned all around the inner sanctum suddenly lit ablaze.

Sailor Jupiter blinked as her eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden light. "Well... that was ominous."

FWOOM! Most of the assembled warriors flinched as they heard the sound of flames behind them, and a glance back revealed the entire hall behind them awash with fire.

"Aw, crap," Uranus mumbled. "Are they going to burn the building down around us?"

"No, I don't think so," Asuka said, observing the fire for a moment. "The fire isn't spreading. It's a wall... to keep us in."

Fwoom! Fwoom! Fwoom! One by one, the small openings and windows leading out of the inner sanctum were engulfed in immobile firestorms that burned without any apparent source of fuel.

"This isn't so much a trap... as it is an arena," Asuka spat.

"Wait... what is that?" Cyber Moon asked timidly as she pointed to an object in the middle of the room.


Everyone had already seen the object briefly, but most had largely dismissed it, occupied as they were with their escape routes being cut off. It was the only thing in the crypt that didn't look old and decrepit; a black lacquer coffin wrapped in chains that were attached to the surrounding floor and wall.

What Cyber Moon had noticed that the others didn't, and the reason why she had gone terribly pale, is that the sigil of Mars was stamped atop the vessel.

"No... No! We didn't make it in time!" Moon shouted, slumping to her knees as her fellow Senshi surrounded her.

"INDEED, YOU ARE TOO LATE," Ran's voice suddenly boomed.

Everyone promptly began searching around the mausoleum, their weapons ready.

"Where are you, you bastard?"

"Show yourself, coward!"

"God's justice is inevitable where it is not swift, creature. Reveal yourself and face redemption."

"HA HA HA! WHAT A HEARTY MIX OF THREATS YOU HAVE FOR ME! I'M FLATTERED, BUT SADLY, I WILL NOT BE YOUR OPPONENT TONIGHT."

Clang! Clang! Clank! One by one, the chains around the coffin broke apart.

"I HAVE A NEW ADDITION TO MY INNER CIRCLE TODAY, YOU SEE..."

"No... No... No..." Cyber Moon chanted as she fell to her knees, clutching her head.

"AND IT'S TIME FOR HER FIRST MEAL. ARISE, MY LOVELY REI, ARCHON OF FLAMES! DEVOUR THEM ALL!"

Kthunk! The lid of the coffin clattered onto the dusty stone floor as the figure within slowly stood up, her movements uncertain and wobbly.

"M-Mars? Is that you?"


Standing up from within the coffin was Rei Hino. Her skin, which had always had a light, creamy complexion was now a smooth alabaster, and her sleepy, confused eyes glowed a bright crimson. She was wearing an elegant black silk gown that perfectly matched her hair, and a few strange sigils appeared to have been tattooed onto her arms and hands.

Rei seemed groggy as she stood up and looked at everyone assembled in front of her, and her confused expression turned to one of dread as realization dawned.

"Rei-chan..." Cyber Moon gasped painfully, stepping forward.

"No! Stop!" Uranus shouted, quickly grabbing hold of the girl and holding her back. "Don't get close!"

Rei shook her head weakly for a moment, and then scowled before glaring up at the ceiling. "What is this?! Some kind of sick joke?"

"OH, NO, I ASSURE YOU, THE TIME FOR JOKES AND SCHEMES HAS PASSED. ASSEMBLED BEFORE YOU ARE YOUR FRIENDS AND ALLIES FROM YOUR PAST LIFE. YOU WILL NOW FEAST ON THEM. OR REDUCE THEM TO CINDERS, IF YOU WISH; IT'S ALL UP TO YOU!"

"Forget about it, you bastard!" Rei shouted defiantly. "No way am I-GAAAAAAAAH!"

The various warriors looked about in confusion as the newly turned vampire suddenly collapsed onto her knees, clutching her head.

"I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT TRY TO RESIST AT FIRST... BUT SADLY, YOU HAVE NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER. YOUR WILL IS MINE; TO RESIST ONLY CAUSES SUFFERING."

"Guh! Rgh!" As she struggled with the intense pain bombarding her, Rei's hand lit ablaze, the fire building rapidly into a proper projectile.

"Rei-chan! Fight it!" Cyber Moon said desperately, looking around the room. "We'll find a way to help you! I promise!"

Asuka shook her head. "Can we locate Ran at all?"

"No, something's interfering with my sensors," Sailor Mercury said through clenched teeth. "As far as I can tell, Mars is the only thing around other than us."

"What about those fire walls?" The police captain asked.

"I could try a deep submerge," Neptune volunteered. "It might be enough to clear one of the paths out."

At that point, Rei let out a terrified scream, and a fireball erupted from her hand and sailed toward the middle of the attackers.

"MOVE!" Everyone dove away from the projectile, which exploded violently in front of the entry hall, blowing flames and bits of debris away from the flaming pit that it left behind.

Cyber Moon trembled as she saw Rei shaking on the ground. "Rei-chan..."

"You bastard..." the Senshi of fire mumbled as she stared at the ground, clenching her teeth. "Stop it! I won't fight them! STOP!"

"OH, YOU'LL FIGHT THEM," Ran's voice assured everyone. "THE MORE YOU RESIST MY CONTROL, THE MORE YOU WEAR YOURSELF OUT. MANIPULATING A SERVANT VAMPIRE IS AS EASY AS BENDING THE LIMBS OF A DOLL. RESISTING A MASTER VAMPIRE... WELL, LET'S SEE HOW FAR YOU CAN GO, SHALL WE?"

"URGH!" Rei threw herself on the floor as flames started to build all around her, none of them bending to her will. "No... c-can't... stop him..."

She gazed up at Cyber Moon, tears falling from her eyes and boiling away to vapor before they hit the floor. "Please... you have to kill me... I don't... I don't know how much longer... I can hold out..."

"No! I won't do that!" Moon screamed back, shaking her head furiously. "There has to be another way! We'll save you!"

"This is ridiculous," Rayden mumbled as he stepped up next to Asuka and grabbed the rags wrapped around Judgment.

Sshrip! Ch-chunk! The massive cannon was promptly leveled at the prostrate vampire, and the gunman took a brief puff of his cigarette. "I can finish this myself. These fools can blame me for her murder if they wish."

Asuka seriously considered giving the Russian man the nod to go ahead for a moment, but before she could stop him, Ranma stepped up and gently pulled the cannon barrel down.

"No. I'll take care of this," the pigtailed man said quietly. In his hand he held a rebreather and a pair of extrasensory goggles. "I should have the exits cleared in about a minute. Have everyone hit the ground right before then," he said to Asuka before walking past her, pulling the goggles down over his head.

Asuka blinked as Ranma passed by. "Wait... what's happening now?"


That question was on everyone's mind as Ranma walked out into the middle of inner sanctum while fastening the rebreather mask. Cyber Moon blinked away her tears as she stared in confusion, and Rei looked up hesitantly from where she was still kneeling.

"Look, before anything else happens, I wanna say I'm sorry," Ranma said, the mask muffling his voice somewhat. "I know it isn't really my fault, but I was in a position to stop the vampires when they captured you, and I screwed up."

Rei wiped her eyes for a moment, confused at the sudden shift in the situation. "You tried everything you could! It's my fault for letting my guard down!"

"Even so... I feel like I should take responsibility here," he said sadly, gripping the barrel of the Jackal at his belt.

Rei blinked. "Uh... wait... take responsibility... how, exactly?"

BWOOM! Rei lurched to the side as a silver bolt wreathed in green flame barely missed her and instead impacted her coffin, reducing a full half of the vessel to blackened splinters.

"Shrrreeagh..." The Jackal, once again sporting sharp, curved teeth and a single eye where the iron sight should be, growled at its target, who remained frozen in shock.


"Wait, I'm confused. Is Ranma-kun going to kill her?" Junko asked.

"I don't know," Asuka said simply, staring at the scene in the middle of the inner sanctum.

"Why does his pistol have teeth?" Sailor Mercury asked, horrified by the turn of events.

"I don't know," Asuka repeated.

"So, if Saotome's fighting vampire Mars, what should we do?" Snake asked, looking annoyed.

"I don't know," Asuka repeated again.

Uranus threw up her hands. "Well, is there anything useful that you DO know?"

Asuka thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "Judging by the gradual thinning of the air and the currents, and despite the flames all around us being magical in nature, they're consuming oxygen at a normal rate. If we don't escape from here or create a significant source of air flow soon, we'll all suffocate before anyone gets a chance to eat or immolate us."

"Well, that's just swell," Sailor Jupiter snapped. "Should we blast a hole in the ceiling, then?"

"Not yet," Asuka said firmly. "Ranma said he could handle this, and I'm going to give him his chance. Simply stay put and be ready to take cover."


"You... You..." Rei's shocked expression melted into an enraged one as she shot up to her feet. "You shot at me! You asshole!"

"Well, you said you wanted to die, didn't you?" Ranma asked, patting his pistol approvingly.

"I WASN'T TALKING TO YOU!" Rei screamed furiously.

"I don't see what difference it makes if you want to die so badly," the pigtailed man scoffed. "Personally, I didn't think you were that weak, but taking care of this sort of thing is my job, so-"

SVSH! The pigtailed man vanished in a blur as Rei suddenly slashed at him with a trio of flaming talons.

"I'll show you who's weak!" The nosferatu growled, her hands erupting in flame as Ranma landed a good distance away from her. "Shadow flare!"

Ranma jumped to the side as twin fireballs veered by him, detonating on the wall. "I really don't see how Ran thinks this is going to work. I mean, it's bad enough you can't bring yourself to fight us, but I doubt you'd last ten second even if you could!"

A vein popped up on Re's head. "Well, since you've taken care of that first little problem, let's see how long I last, shall we? Soaring vulcan!" A burst of fire summoned a dozen flaming birds around her hands, and one by one they dove at Ranma, exploding on pillars and piles of rocks as he flipped and weaved around the tomb interior.


"Moon, aren't you going to stop this?" Tuxedo Kamen demanded. "If we don't hurry, one of them is going to kill the other for sure!"

Cyber Moon didn't turn to regard the masked prince, her eyes locked on the combat in front of her. "I..."

The other Senshi leaned in closer, awaiting their princess' orders.

"I trust Ranma-kun," she said finally, watching as Ranma spat another insult and again dodged a flurry of fireballs. "I don't know what he's doing, but he's doing it for us. And for Rei-chan, too."

"And if she dies? Or him, for that matter?" Sailor Neptune asked, her arms crossed under her breasts. "You're telling us you won't regret this decision?"

Cyber Moon turned toward the Senshi, a sad smile on her face as a tear ran down her cheek. "It's too late to worry about regrets. But I'm going to give Ranma all the time he needs. Besides, I don't think he intends to kill Rei-chan."

"What makes you think that?" Uranus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Because if he did," Moon replied, turning back to the battle, "I think Rei-chan would be gone already."


"Yeesh! You couldn't hit me if I stood still and painted a big target on my chest!" Ranma taunted, completing his third circuit around the midian.

Asuka's eyes narrowed as she noticed Ranma's hand, which was spread open conspicuously as he leapt from point to point.

"Then stay still and let me hit you, already!" Rei snapped, summoning another flock of fire birds.

"Hey, I'm just trying to be constructive," Ranma said, pulling in his thumb and then his forefinger into a fist. "You're supposed to be the vampire superweapon, right? The bloodsuckers don't stand much chance if this is the best you can do!"

Asuka nodded firmly as Ranma pulled in his middle finger.

"Shut up, jackass!" Rei screamed, her flames building all around her. "Before I get really mad!"

At seeing everything but Ranma's pinky pulled into a fist, Asuka suddenly dove onto the floor. "EVERYBODY, HIT THE DIRT!!"

Rei immediately halted in surprise. "Wait, we're doing what now?"

Ranma ripped off the rebreather as he felt the waves of heat surround him, and he gathered his energy into his free hand as he tossed the mask aside. "HIRYU SHOTEN HAAA!"

HwoooooOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

"Gods below, what a complete waste," Mortis griped as she lounged atop a tree branch, her arms crossed over her chest. "It's rare enough that I'm ever in a situation where I get to USE the abominations, and this one was wiped out before it could even put up a fight! It's disgusting!"

Leaning against the tree below, Kliff rubbed his eyes wearily. "Please, stop talking. It's hard enough staying awake all day without you boring me into oblivion."

"I'm serious!" The woman complained, gripping a hand into a fist. "The countless nights I spend assembling and soul-bonding those ghouls, all wasted! And not in a fair fight, like last night, but in a useless charge as the enemy just steamrolls through them!"

"At the end of the night, ghouls are still merely ghouls," the German said scornfully. "You were foolish to invest so much effort in such weak servants."

Mortis bristled. "Oh, shut up! It's not like your precious underlings managed to..."

The blindfolded vampire trailed off, a wave of nervousness washing over her. "Hey... do you feel that?"

"Eh? What? Is the sun coming out again?" Kliff asked, suddenly alert and on his guard. He was as pleased as any nosferatu that the sun had been inexplicably banished, but he didn't expect it would last for as long as Ran hoped.

Or at the very least, he hoped it didn't. His primitive education during the reign of the Holy Roman Empire was only dimly remembered, but he was pretty sure that sunlight was a pretty important aspect of the natural world to dispense with completely.

"No. It's... something else..." Mortis mumbled, staring off at the main mausoleum through the band over her eyes. "It's as if... the spirits of the dead are unsettled. Their tombs are being destroyed."

Kliff snorted. "Is that all? Don't bring up such things. We have far more important responsibilities than being grave caretakers."

Mortis shook her head. "You shouldn't dismiss lesser undead so easily. They can be very dangerous in their petty spite."

"Any ghost that has issue with me is free to try their luck in approaching me," the German said mockingly. "I would be happy to relieve them of the undeath that tortures them so."

Mortis tsked and turned up her nose, annoyed at the other vampire's disrespect for his fellows.

"Besides, soon the attackers will be dead and the destruction will stop," Kliff reasoned, "so there's no point in worrying about the damn phantoms."

"Are you sure?" Mortis said skeptically.

"Just look at that place," Kliff said, pointing to the mausoleum in the distance as flames burned constantly at every possible entrance and exit. "They've been sealed inside an enormous TOMB surrounded by FIRE. How could they possibly escape to cause more havoc?"

HWOOOOOM! Both vampires flinched back as a tremendous blast of wind blew out of the mausoleum in a burst of dust and debris. The flames surrounding the crypt were blown out instantly, and the top of the structure was ripped off as a small tornado ripped through it.

Kliff gaped as Mortis sighed.

"Well, in your defense, that seems pretty impossible to me," Mortis remarked, standing up on the tree branch.

"What in the hell is happening over there?" The German asked, watching in shock as the tornado - suspiciously shaped like a dragon flying straight upward into the sky - narrowed into a thin, focused cyclone that steadily ripped apart the mausoleum roof and sent it flying up into the air.

After a few moments, Kliff saw figures dashing out of the dust of the explosion, and he clenched his teeth.

"Unbelievable! I should have known better than to believe that the new chick could handle things on her own!"

"I don't know what's going on in there, but it looks like we have to play trashman," the female midian said, stretching her arms. "A good thing too; I'm going to need fresh ghouls after this fiasco."

"Whatever," Kliff mumbled, his body slowly fading away as he arranged a teleport. "I don't care. You can even have that pigtailed bastard, if you find him. Let's just get this night over with. I get cranky when I'm up too late."

HWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

Rei struggled desperately against the cyclone as it battered her body relentlessly, tossing her about in the air and sapping her strength.

'What is this? How did he create a force like this so quickly?'

Numerous possibilities came to light: everything from the wily policeman being a youma in disguise to the possibility he was a reincarnated prince of the Moon Kingdom.

At present, however, the only relevant matter was how she was going to get out of this tornado without being thrown through six tons of concrete.

"Whoa!" She barely managed to twist to the side as the pieces of a shattered column flew up right past her, joining the remains of the roof it had once supported.

"Damn it Ranma, where are you!" The former Senshi screamed against the wind. "Did you do this? Answer me!"

In response, Rei felt the winds around her weaken considerably, and very nearly threw herself into a wall as the force she had been fighting against suddenly ceased. "What? What happened?"

She glanced around at the wind-swept ruins, noting with relief and growing dread that she couldn't find anybody among the scattered rubble and broken fixtures; neither her friends, nor her opponent.

"Ranma? Show yourself!" Rei demanded.

After a few moments of silence, she sighed and looked down. "Look, I'm sorry I fought you. You're right, after all. It doesn't matter who finishes me. It's probably better that it's one of you and not Usagi." She spread her arms apart as she floated in the air. "Go ahead! Finish it!"

For several moments, only silence greeted her request.

"Don't stop fighting," said a voice from behind.

Rei turned hesitantly, and her eyes widened as a chunk of rubble smacked into her, plastering her against a nearby wall.

Wham! "OW! You jerk!" The dark Senshi complained as she kicked away the chunk of marble. "I'm a vampire, you idiot! That doesn't even damage me, it just hurts!"

Ranma snorted as he stood atop a ruined statue, kodachi in his hand. To Rei's surprise, the corrupted Jackal was holstered at his side, though the gun occasionally twitched and snarled to indicate its displeasure at being ignored.

"If you die that easily, Usagi-chan won't forgive either of us," Ranma said sternly, flipping the blade around with his fingers. "I know it's hard, but you have to fight."

Rei shook her head in confusion. "Fight... you?"

"Here I come..." Vsssh! Ranma's body became a blur, and the blade in his hands lashed out in a blazing arc of silver light.

Thwoom! Rei's body, in response, seemed to disintegrate into a cloud of fire, and Ranma's weapon did little but disturb the flames as his target vanished.

"Huh. That's a neat trick," the pigtailed man mumbled, bouncing off a column and landing in the middle of the room.

Fwoom! Fwoom! Fwoom! All around Ranma, Rei-shaped bodies of fire flickered into being, each one's hands exploding into blazing fireballs.

"Okay... if you want a fight so badly..." the fire dolls began as the temperature in the room climbed, "YOU GOT IT!" BOOM! BOOM! KABOOM!!

"Hack! Cough! Geez! Hack! Are we Gasp! clear?" Asuka shouted as she staggered out of the dust cloud, immediately dropping behind a gravestone for cover.

"I don't Cough! know! I think everyone Cough! got out okay!" Sailor Uranus said as she followed the police captain, waving the dust out of her face.

Sailor Neptune emerged next, holding her hand over her mouth until she was clear of the suffocating debris. "What WAS that?"

"That was Saotome," Asuka deadpanned. "That's just how he does things. One minute he's shooting and stabbing people like any sane human being, and the next? BOOM! Tornado."

"Seems like a handy guy to have around," Sailor Neptune mumbled, staring back at the crumbling mausoleum.

"Oh man! Cough! You have no idea! Cough!" The women sweatdropped as Tiro stumbled out of the dust cloud. "Ranma keeps this team alive, I'm telling ya!" Another brief coughing fit ended with him suddenly falling against Neptune, who yelped in surprise and held him up.

"Speaking of Saotome, is he going to be okay in there? I mean, aside from the tornado thing, he's in there alone against Vampire Mars." Uranus groused, planting her hands on her hips.

"I'm not that worried. Saotome-kun can take care of himself, and knows how to run away when he's outmatched." She frowned. "What I'm more worried about is us. Partially because Tiro is with us and he's useless..."

"Hey!" Tiro shouted in protest from where he was now almost wrapped around Neptune's leg as the green-haired woman tried to pry him off.

"... But more because nobody but us seems to have retreated the way we came," Asuka continued. "If we get separated, the enemy may be able to pick us off before we can regroup and attack again."

Uranus nodded. "That makes sense. We should find Moon, quickly!"

"I was thinking more along the lines of Snake, but that could work too. I guess. Maybe." Her expression looked more and more doubtful the more she thought about it. "Well, it's possible they got lost together."

"Would somebody get this guy OFF of me?" Neptune suddenly shouted, stamping her feet.

"Eh?" Sailor Uranus turned around, and then raised an eyebrow as he saw Tiro standing away from Neptune while dusting himself off. "What do you mean? He's not even touching you."

Neptune, for her part, looked absolutely surprised by the truth of this fact, and remained silent as she groped for something to say.

"Nice reflexes," Asuka mumbled to Tiro as she walked past him through the graveyard.

"Self-preservation instinct," Tiro replied sagely, giving his superior a thumbs-up.

Before Tiro's lechery could be explored further, Asuka spat out a curse and ducked behind another monument.

"Crap! There's more out there!"

"What? More what?" Sailor Neptune asked.

"Ghouls. The nasty ones," she replied, peeking around the stone. The only indication she could see was a rotted arm hanging off the ground, barely visible from behind a statue of a WWII major. "It looks like an ambush."

"I didn't think those things were that smart," Neptune commented as she crouched down next to the police captain.

Asuka turned away and nodded. "Ordinarily they're not. Which means that there's probably someone close by coordinating them." She thought for a moment, and then slung her shotgun over her back while pulling out her sidearm. "We should change our position. If the ambush isn't working, they'll probably try to surround us before they attack, since they're apparently using strategy now. If we can force them to leave cover, or find some of the others, we should be able to finish this easily."

As she finished speaking, she noticed that Sailor Neptune was still staring at her, almost mesmerized. "What?"

"You have very pretty eyes," she said softly, smiling.

Asuka sweatdropped. "Uh... what?"

"Hey! We have work to do, here!" Uranus shouted angrily, a vein popping up on her head. "Cut that out!"

"What? It was just a compliment!" Neptune said defensively as she stood up. "You don't think she has pretty eyes?"

"As a matter of fact, I don't!" The blonde said heatedly before shaking her head. "I mean, that doesn't matter! We're in the middle of a battle! You should be fighting, not flirting!"

"Sounds to me like the pot calling the kettle black," Neptune said smugly, crossing hers arms over her chest.

"Wait... what's going on here? I'm confused," Asuka mumbled, holding her head.

"Heh heh. This is so cool," Tiro said, watching the conflict intensely.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAGH!" An otherwordly screech from behind the group finally silenced the two bickering Senshi as a pot-bellied ghoul scurried between the graves, its jaw hanging open as it leaked drool and other repulsive fluids onto the ground.

"I'd like to rescind my earlier comment," Tiro said blithely as he pressed his back up against a gravestone. "This bites."

"Stop complaining and shoot it!"

"We've got more on the left!"

Blam! Blam! KABOOM!

"Now where are we?" Sailor Jupiter asked, idly running a hand through her ponytail to try and get the dust and bits of rock out of it.

"It seems we ran pretty far, didn't we?" Venus said nervously, glancing back at the mausoleum. "I thought the others would follow us when the entrance blew open, but..."

Snake, who was the only other person there aside from the two Inner Senshi, raised a hand to silence his companions. "There's something over there," he said quietly, pointing toward an intricate marble shrine that towered over the surrounding graves. "Come on."

Sailor Venus followed the American with undisguised enthusiasm, but Jupiter was more cautious. "Shouldn't we head back and try to find the others?"

"You can do whatever you want. I'm not your boss," Snake said apathetically. "As for me, I have a mission to kill some bloodsuckers, and the only bloodsucker I could find back there is locked in epic combat with my buddy." He grinned. "I have to find some fresh targets. I haven't killed enough today."

The Senshi of Jupiter felt a chill crawl down her back at the sight, while Venus simply sighed in joy as she stared at the man with stars in her eyes.

Not wanting to abandon the Senshi of love to the officer's destructive tendencies and cruel indifference, Jupiter followed them to the shrine, entering the small structure and looking around for any sign of the enemy.

Snake looked up at the structure, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he worked out the architecture in his head. "Let's see... the ceiling looks pretty heavy, but it's not solid... the openings in the front between the column leads to the gap between the interior ceiling and the roof..."

The Senshi turned and stared at him. "What are you mumbling about?" Jupiter asked suspiciously.

"Bombs," Snake responded, turning around. "But never mind that. There are some folks waiting to introduce themselves, I think."

The Senshi gulped as multiple figures started to emerge from the trees and tombstones scattered outside the shrine.

"Heh, we've got a sharp one, here!" One vampire said happily, cracking his knuckles as he emerged.

"Feh, there's only three of 'em. And those two in the back are too skinny," a haughty-looking vampiress groused as she hopped down from the trees.

"I kinda like the skinny ones," another man said. "The blood goes down easier."

"Plus you can have more fun with 'em before you kill 'em," a shorter midian giggled as he bounced onto a statue. "I don't like fat chicks."

"You're disgusting, you know that?" Another woman growled as she stepped into view. "Let's just kill them and report to Master Kliff. Save your ape-like behavior for the civilians."


As Jupiter and Venus stepped closer to each other within the safety of the shrine, moving into combat stances, Snake frowned.

"What? FIVE of you? That 'aint fair..."

"Yeah, life is tough, isn't it?" One of the women chuckled. "Don't worry, it won't be a problem for much longer."

"Snake-kun, what are we going to do?" Venus asked, much to Jupiter's chagrin. While the brunette could appreciate that Snake probably had more combat experience than all the Senshi put together, she hardly thought of the psychotic American as a good leader, much less a good leader of a troop of magical girls.

Snake, in response, bounced a concussion grenade up in his hand before pulling out the pin. "Just stay where you are for a sec," he mumbled, tossing the grenade in a high arc behind him.

Pink! Both Senshi blinked in confusion as the grenade sailed into the crevice above them, landing in the gap between the ceiling and roof that Snake had mentioned briefly earlier.

"Wait... why-" Jupiter began, her face paling.

BOOM! Both Senshi screamed in surprise as the ceiling above suddenly came down on top of them, and Snake smiled happily as a wave of dust washed past his legs.

"Ow! Ow ow ow! What the hell are you doing?!" Jupiter snapped, struggling to push a particularly large chunk of marble off of her.

"Cough! S-Snake-kun, I think you missed," Venus said weakly, gagging on the dust that was kicked up.

The vampires, meanwhile stared in wide-eyed shock as the American rested his shotgun over his shoulder.

"Well... it's still not quite fair with only five of you, but at least you have a chance now," Snake said regretfully, pulling another grenade from his belt. "Did you guys want to attack first, or should I go ahead?"

The vampires continued staring, their expressions mixes of confusion and terror.

"Is... Is running away an option?" One of the girls squeaked, her body shaking visibly.

"No! It's... j-just a trick!" Another vampire shouted unconvincingly. "He's trying to psyche us out!"

"He just incapacitated two of his allies for kicks! This is crazy!"

Snake looked annoyed. "Okay, fine. I guess I'm attacking first." The grenade went sailing through the air toward one of the midians. "You brats better put up a fight, though."

The frag grenade, which had been armed and active well before Snake had actually thrown it, promptly exploded right next to one of the vampires before it even hit the ground, eliciting a scream of pain and surprise from the undead woman and sending shrapnel into two others that were standing nearby.

"Slow! Too slow!" Snake shouted as the unharmed midians attacked. "Fight harder!"

BLAM! BLAM!

"-and that's why I think launching cars with catapults should be an Olympic sport," Kyle finished, crossing his arms over his chest as he nodded seriously.

Junko and Sailor Mercury sweatdropped in confusion, both of them occasionally glancing back at the smoke-filled mausoleum behind them.

"That's... ah... actually a rather thoughtful proposition," Mercury said hesitantly, "but I really think we should be focusing on the matter at hand, here..."

"Okay. Yeah, you're right," Kyle agreed, shifting the massive cylinder of interlocked weapons on his back. "...... So, do you think there's any way we can solve this problem by launching a car with a catapult?"

Junko's face darkened. "Which problem is that, again? Do you mean Ranma-kun being left alone to fight a vampire superweapon, us getting separated from the rest of the group, or the fact that we can't find the boss vampire?"

"The last one. Definitely the last one," Kyle said without hesitation.

Mercury shook her head. "I still can't pick up any energy signatures except for Rei-chan's. It appears that after being released from that coffin, she radiates enough energy for me to track her, but everything else in the vicinity is being obscured by that." The genius Senshi pointed up into the sky.

Kyle frowned. "That bat is obscuring the scans?" He asked, his brow furrowing as he reached for a weapon.

"No, I meant that... thing blocking out the sun," Mercury mumbled, typing away on her computer some more. "It's not a real cloud or smoke or anything; it's an amoebic energy life-form of some sort."

"What? It's alive?" Junko asked, horrified.

"In the strictest sense, yes," Mercury mumbled. "I see no indication that it has any sort of intelligence, but its energy readings are comparable with that of other energy-based life-forms I've scanned in the past, and have a definite biorhythmic pattern. And it's radiating so much power that it easily hides the relatively meager energy patterns of the vampires." She frowned as she stared upward. "What I don't understand is that while it's been expanding exponentially to cover more and more sky, it's been consuming energy at precisely the same rate."

Junko, who was rubbing her forehead trying to keep up with the Senshi of ice, looked even more confused. "Why doesn't that make sense? That sounds perfectly reasonable to me."

"It's not so much that it's unreasonable," Mercury explained, "but it provokes the question of where it's getting so much energy in the first place. Usually I'd expect an energy surge comparable to that one to be related to an incredibly powerful energy source, or perhaps a large-scale draining of all the humans in the vicinity, but none of my scans can make any sense of it. Where is it getting all its power? And more importantly, what will happen when it runs out?"

Junko whistled softly. "Wow... that's pretty deep, actually." She turned to Kyle, and elbowed the man in the side. "Hey, Commander, you getting this?"

"Nah, I wasn't listening," Kyle said bluntly, staring up at a nearby tree.

Mercury sighed, fairly used to her longer explanations being ignored or misunderstood; besides it wasn't as if comprehension would have really helped. "Well, what are you staring at so intently?"

"It's that bat from earlier," Kyle said, looking rather irritated at the small mammal as he pointed to the creature hanging from a tree branch. "Are bats' eyes supposed to be all red and glowy?"

Both women flinched back at that comment, and the bat slowly spread its wings as Kyle stared up at it defiantly.

"No, I don't believe that's usual for bats," Sailor Mercury said nervously as she stepped back, putting her computer away.

"Thought so," Kyle said, dropping the 4B Mobile Armory on the ground behind him. "Which just leaves one question." He gripped his hand into a fist. "What's a flying squirrel doing out at this time of night?"

Thwump! The bat promptly lost its grip and fell flat onto the ground below.

Mercury almost joined the tiny mammal in the dirt before tugging gently on Kyle's sleeve. "That's... not a flying squirrel, Tekai-san."

"Oh. Never mind, then." He turned around and pointed toward the mausoleum. "Let's go find the captain and the others."

Shoom! Junko and Mercury flinched to the side as a wave of force passed by them, and Kyle jerked to a stop suddenly, his eyes wide.

"Do not take me lightly, human," Kimiko said as she slowly grew to human form, her mantle wrapping around her as if materializing from mist.

Sailor Mercury gasped as blood spattered on the ground underneath Kyle. "Are you okay?"

"I..." the superhuman stuttered for a moment, blinking. "I honestly don't know."

Kimiko raised an eyebrow, surprised that the psionic burst didn't punch the officer's abdomen straight out of his body. "Of course this couldn't be easy..." she muttered under her breath, energy gathering around her hands.

Clack! Before the vampiress could launch another attack, Kyle grabbed a lever from the armory behind him, pulling the attached machine free and turning it on the elder vampire. Bwoom!

Kimiko's body blurred as she phased to the side, allowing the projectile to sail past her harmlessly.

KROOM! The explosion that sounded behind her caused Kimiko to wince as she felt a wave of heat across her back, and she threw her arms forward as she unleashed a pair of blue fireballs at the blond man.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Sailor Mercury shouted, throwing a blast of water in the path of the eldritch energies. Both vanished in a flickering burst of competing energies, and Kyle fired another round from the heavy cannon he had pulled from the 4B.

This time Kimiko's mantle spread out before her, and the shell stabbed into the delicate strip of otherwordly cloth as it wrapped around the projectile, gently robbing it of its momentum.

"THAT'S not good," Junko decided as she ran for cover amidst the gravestones.

"Look out!" Mercury shouted, leaping away herself as Kimiko's mantle tossed the explosive shell back at its origin.

KABOOM! "OW!"

Crash! Crack! Thump!

Cyber Moon kept her eyes squeezed shut as she felt rubble rain down all around her, completely confused as to what was happening.

For one thing, there was the tornado. That had really caught her by surprise. Such surprise, in fact, that she had pretty much been the only one that didn't duck behind something when Asuka had given the word. So whatever was going on by now, she had to admit it was a stark improvement over being thrown across the length of the tomb and embedded in a stone column.

Secondly, due to her being caught in the blast from Ranma's surprise attack, she had still been in the effective range of the cyclone once it had narrowed and was no longer destroying the whole mausoleum interior. In her desperation not to get swept away, she had mostly just clung to the pillar and hoped for the best.

At some point during these trying times, she had been pried loose from the pillar, and was now being rained on with debris. She was guessing the tornado had managed to shake her free from her anchor, but she had no idea where she was, where she was going, or why she was still moving. Judging by the noise though, she was better off simply keeping her eyes closed until things calmed down.

'Hey, computer?' she thought to herself, 'can Ranma-kun use magic?'

Scans indicate only trace energies within Unit Saotome currently identified as "magic". Earlier weather anomaly was a small-scale ion storm mimicking the conditions of natural tornado formation. Although the heat required for the reaction was supplied by Unit Mars, Unit Saotome's catalytic energy is categorized as "ki". This energy type is identical in wavelength and function to psychic or psionic energy.

'What does all THAT mean?' Cyber Moon thought, once again exasperated that her personal cranial computer was wordier than Ami ever was. The worst part was that the computer could apparently only communicate by floating words over her field of vision; at least if it was spoken, she could get some sort of feel for the sentence and what it should mean, but seeing the unfamiliar characters scrolling in front of her eyes simply reduced it all to gibberish.

A synonymous and simplified explanation would be that Unit Saotome can apparently create tornadoes with his mind.

'Oh. Well, that makes sense.'

This unit disagrees. That Unit Saotome was able to replicate such weather conditions and somehow generate a full-scale cyclone with "cold ki" violates twelve distinct physical, thermodynamic, and meteorlogical principles. The fact that Unit Saotome cannot manipulate "magic" energy wavelengths further complicates analysis.

Cyber Moon tried to shrug, but found her arms somewhat restrained. 'Well, it doesn't really matter, as long as everyone gets out okay... Hey, did we stop moving?'

Affirmative. Current temperature and contaminant particle count indicate that Unit Cyber Moon has departed conflict area.

'Conflict area? What do you mean by-'

You are outside now.


Cyber Moon's eye blinked open suddenly, as she was pleasantly surprised to see Tuxedo Kamen standing in front of her, looking concerned.

"Ah! You're all right! Thank goodness," the masked man said, sighing in relief. "You seemed okay, but you weren't responding at all."

"Oh! Yeah, I'm fine!" Moon said, flushing slightly. "What happened?"

Tuxedo Kamen frowned. "That pigtailed fellow's technique almost blew you away along with Mars, is what happened. I saw that you were caught up in the storm and came to your rescue!"

Cyber Moon flushed more deeply. "You broke into the tornado, pulled me free, and then carried me out of the building?" She gasped, deeply impressed.

Tuxedo Kamen sweatdropped as he maintained his heroically nonchalant expression. "Well... I did have SOME help."

It was about this time that Cyber Moon finally realized that she was still being held above the ground despite the fact that her would-be rescuer was right in front of her. Craning her neck to the side, she saw that the huge Russian man was currently holding her securely under one arm while holding his cannon in the other.

"Are you able to walk again?" Rayden asked blandly, feeling a slight soreness in his arms from carrying the abnormally heavy girl while plowing through walls and flying debris. He didn't particularly care that the masked man was taking credit for the rescue when he had done little more than shout "Sailor Moon! Hang on!" but if he had to carry the girl much longer, she was going to be a serious burden in the battle to come.

Cyber Moon gulped, her elation melting away into nervousness. "Uh... yes?"

Thwump! She yelped as the super-soldier unceremoniously dumped her on the ground.

"Excellent. Ensure you are more careful in the future," the gunman deadpanned as he stepped past her. "I may decide it is not worth my time to save you."

Tuxedo Kamen shot the man a glare, but said nothing to him as he stepped up to his fated lover. "Sailor Moon, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said quickly, pushing herself to her feet. "Th-Thank you, scary foreign guy!" She bowed respectfully to the gunman, who completely ignored her.

"Forget about him, Sailor Moon. We need to find the other Senshi," Kamen said. "We got separated during the tornado, but-"

"Oh! Right! Before I forget, I'm Cyber Moon now!" The blonde cyborg said, interrupting Tuxedo Kamen.

The masked man blinked. "What? What do you mean?"

"Well, I can't do the normal transformation anymore, and..." she trailed off as she suddenly felt something strange in her throat, and her cheeks swelled up the next moment as it was pushed up into her mouth.

"PWAH!" The blonde blinked in surprise as she coughed up a thick cloud of dust and dirt. "Eww! What was that?"

Respiratory engine has been cleared of excess contaminants. Now functioning at one hundred percent efficiency. Recommend that Unit Cyber Moon initiate filtration system when experiencing similar conditions in the future.

"Well, a little warning would be nice!" Moon suddenly snapped, causing Tuxedo Kamen to flinch back.

"Warning? About what?" Kamen asked, quite confused.

"No, I was talking to the thing in my head," the cyborg said, not noticing her fated lover twitch at the explanation. "Anyway, like I was saying, I can't turn into Sailor Moon, but I've got this neat cyborg costume instead. So now I'm called 'Cyber Moon'. Do you like it? I came up with the name myself!"

Tuxedo Kamen sweatdropped, completely at a loss for words.

Rayden, however, was not. "While I hesitate to interrupt your meaningless babbling, there are things afoot of far greater import than your name," the Russian grumbled, slipping another cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it.

Tuxedo Kamen glared at the foreigner again. "Come... Cyber Moon," he said awkwardly, turning away with a flourish of his cape. "We don't need to stand here and be insulted by this foreign brute. We should find the others and then-"

Before he could continue much further, a swirling column of darkness erupted in front of him, causing the masked man to leap back.

"What in the-" again, before he could finish his sentence, a pitch black hand emerged from the swirling energies, reaching for his throat before he could react.

Blam! The hand flinched back as Rayden calmly shot a hole through its palm, and the distraction was just long enough for Tuxedo Kamen to summon a trio of roses and throw them into the bizarre appendage, impaling it and stunning it further.

"What's happening? What is that?" Cyber Moon asked fearfully as she rushed up next to Tuxedo Kamen.

Scans detect bio-rhythmic energy patterns consistent with Unit Ran.

"It is our foe," Rayden said simply before Moon could explain her readings to the others. "All creatures that defy God's light must be purged. It matters not which particular beast this one is."

The swirling blackness coalesced into Ran's body, and the vampire straightened as he gazed at the trio in annoyance. "How... irritating. I was under the impression that Rei would be enough to stop you, especially after I lent her my strength."

Rayden dropped his pistol as his hand went to Judgment. "I haven't time to converse with you, creature. Many of your kind awaits their end at my hand." Thoom!

Ran smirked as the heavy cannon fired, and raised a hand as the 80 mm. shell streaked toward him.

Almost comically, the projectile slowed to a crawl right before it impacted the vampire lord, who casually plucked the explosive out of the air.

"You've got quite a modern touch for a religious zealot," the nosferatu said, observing the shell as he turned it about in his hand. "Most of your kind comes at us with swords and crossbows and such rubbish."

He tossed the weapon behind him carelessly.

KWABOOM!! "But it will take far more than this for you to escape this place alive," the vampire lord said, his fangs lengthening as the blazing explosion behind him cast a long, writhing shadow in front of him. The shadow itself seemed to grin at the warriors, a pair of crimson lights glowing from the spots in the shadow where Ran's eyes would be.

Cyber Moon gulped, but activated her combat gauntlets. "We have far more than that, don't worry. You're going to pay for what you did to Rei-chan!"

Tuxedo Kamen whipped out several more roses between his fingers as his cape flapped in the breeze. "Darkness will never triumph before the guardians of justice! So long as we are pure of heart and do not give up, you cannot win here!"

Rayden took a deep drag off of his cigarette as he kept Judgment aimed at Ran's head. "Perish, nosferatu scum."

Thoom!

Clangk! Ktank!

In the inner sanctum of the mortuary, two streaks of color flew through the air at high speed, bouncing off of the walls and fixtures and colliding with each other in bursts of flame and sparkling blue energy.

Skssh! Ranma skidded along the ground after landing, and his hand went for the Jackal.

Rei slowed herself in mid-air, and quickly began drawing a symbol in the air with her finger, the digit trailing hot red fire.

BWOOM! Rei barely managed to lurch out of the way as a Jackal round obliterated the energies she was assembling, and she clicked her tongue as she dipped straight down into the floor, a fiery pentagram flickering into view where she vanished.

"Where..." Ranma glanced back and forth, stretching his senses out to search for where his opponent would emerge.

Honestly, he needn't have bothered; Rei's exit point became quite obvious when a flaming pentagram appeared right under him.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ranma pointed his weapon at the circle and fired at the same time that Rei's hand emerged from the stone below, morphed into a set of fiery talons aimed to rend him apart.

SHRAK! BWOOM!


Tump! Klunk! The Jackal clattered across the scorched stone floor of the mausoleum, eliciting irritated and pained snarls every time it bounced. Once it stopped at the other side of the building, the corrupted pistol growled fiercely and started writhing about on the floor in protest to such treatment.

"Hah... hah... oh man..." Ranma panted heavily as he held Rei's wrists tightly, his face slightly charred. "That... that was close."

Rei would have been panting just as heavily were she still human. Seeing as how her heart didn't beat any longer, however, she instead just kneeled in front of her opponent, stunned, while occasionally glancing down between her legs at the considerable crater that the Jackal had created in the floor.

Ranma finally caught his breath, and then let go of Rei's arms. "Okay, so, are we done here? You feeling better?"

Rei blinked, totally confused. "Done? What?"

"Well, I'm hoping by now that the others managed to find Ran and start fighting him," Ranma reasoned, rubbing the back of his head, "so he probably can't concentrate on making sure you're killing me. Or at least, that's what my idea was. I don't really know how this vampire control thing works, but obviously just having you try to resist him wasn't working out."

Rei recoiled suddenly, falling onto her rear. "Wait... so... you were fighting me before... to get Ran to leave me alone?"

"Did it work?" Ranma asked, standing up. "If he's not distracted, he might just force you to fight again. You should leave now while we move in to finish him off."

The vampiric Senshi stared for a long moment before she shook her head, staring at the floor. "I... I don't understand... why are you doing this?"

"What do you mean, 'why'?" Ranma asked, raising an eyebrow. "If we kill Ran before he can take control of-"

"Not that! Why are you helping me?" Rei demanded, hot tears rolling down her cheeks as she stared up at the pigtailed man. "I'm already dead! Beyond saving! I'm a monster now!" She snapped. "Stop playing around and finish me off!"

Ranma blinked in surprise at the request, and then rubbed his chin briefly. "Hmmm... no."

"What do you mean 'no'? It's your job!" Rei argued, pointing to him.

"I don't want to," Ranma said stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest. "And Captain Takami didn't say anything about it either way."

"I'm telling you to do it!" Rei snapped.

Ranma turned his head away. "Why do I have to take orders from you?"

Rei growled ferociously for a moment at Ranma's defiance, her hands clenching into fists. "Listen, you! Your stupid pity is going to get you killed one of these days!"

"Who says it's pity?" Ranma shot back defensively, leaning over the raven-haired woman. "I said I'd take responsibility, didn't I?"

Rei blinked. "You... what?"

"Whether or not I got you into this, I'm definitely going to get you out of this!" Ranma declared. "I don't care whether you're a vampire or under mind control or whatever! I'm going to protect you, and that's final!"

Rei flinched back from the statement, and her cheeks began to heat up considerably as what little blood was in her body shifted to her face. "I... uhm... okay. But... what about-"

"Anything that comes after this can wait," Ranma said decisively, holding out his hand to help the vampiress up. "I need to concentrate on getting you out alive. Or, undead. You know, whatever."

Rei continued flushing as she took Ranma's hand and pulled herself up - which in itself was a rather silly gesture, considering she could make herself weightless at will - and then cleared her throat once she stood.

"I'm... sorry about getting mad and... well... trying to kill you," the vampiress said timidly, holding onto Ranma's hand tightly.

"Eh, no problem. I get that a lot," Ranma said dismissively, causing Rei to sweatdrop. "Besides, I can tell you were holding back, just like I was."

More sweatdrops appeared. 'Was I holding back?' Rei wondered to herself.

"Anyway, I gotta go help the others put down Ran. You should take off," Ranma said as he let go of Rei's hands and walked across the inner sanctum to recover the Jackal.

"No way!" Rei said firmly as she followed after the pigtailed man. "I'm not leaving everyone behind to fight for me!"

"But if we run into Ran, he'll just make you fight again," Ranma said as he recovered his pistol and patted the growling firearm along the slide to sooth it.

As he was trying to placate the corrupted weapon, Rei grabbed his arm, startling him.

"If that happens, then please, fight me again!" Rei said seriously, staring Ranma directly in the eyes. "If it's you, then I can do it!"

"Do... what, exactly?" Ranma asked, confused.

"Fight back with lethal force without hesitation!" Rei clarified. "It can only be you, so please, stay with me!"

Ranma's face darkened. "Oh. Okay, sure." Really, he couldn't think of a reason why it wouldn't work a second time, but honestly, he was really hoping he wouldn't have to fight Rei again. He was already fairly exhausted from the constant dodging, and he could feel dozens of light burns from where he hadn't dodged quite far enough. He wasn't really in the best shape to survive another battle where he couldn't kill his target.

Rei brightened remarkably at his acceptance. "Okay! Then we should find Moon and-"

Chomp!

The vampiress bristled as a sharp pain came from the hand that was still holding onto Ranma's arm, and she glanced down to see that the corrupted Jackal had sunk its fangs into her wrist.

"OW!! What the hell was that for?!" Rei screeched, yanking her hand back. Unfortunately, the grip of the Jackal's jaws were greater than Ranma's, and before long the vampiric Senshi was swinging her arm about wildly with the gun still attached to it.

"Hey! Careful! Jackal, let go of her!" Ranma demanded sternly, like a parent reprimanding a mischievious child.

"Shooouh!" The gun snarled, finally releasing Rei's hand and dropping to the ground.

"You creepy little bastard! I'm going to exorcise the living hell out of you!" Rei growled, arcane symbols etched in flame appearing around her hands as she glared at the weapon.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down, there!" Ranma said nervously, snatching up the Jackal as it glared and snarled angrily at the vampiress. "Let's just calm down! You heal crazy fast anyway, right? No harm done!"

"No harm done? It bit me!" Rei shouted, holding up her bloodied hand. "And look! It's not healing fast at all!"

"Wow. You're right," Ranma said, obviously impressed as he stroked the Jackal's muzzle. "That'll come in handy when I fight the stronger vampires later!"

The pigtailed man flinched as he felt the local temperature rise several degrees, and then bigsweated as he glanced at Rei, whose eyes were a solid, bloody red as she glared at him.

"I... I mean... bad Jackal! Don't bite Rei-chan! What are you doing?" He said, bigsweating as the Jackal simply grumbled in general discontent.

"Better," Rei snapped, whirling around as she floated above the floor. "Now come on; I feel a lot of power rushing around, so the others are probably in trouble."

Ranma sighed as the vampiress went on ahead, and once again patted his possessed sidearm over its muzzle. "Maybe I should have just kept fighting her..."

"Only a few more!" Asuka shouted as a clawed ghoul swung at her, its remaining arm coming down in a clumsy vertical swing.

Clangk! She blocked the rusty talons with her pistol, and then followed up with a swift kick in the ghoul's stomach that knocked it on its back, vulnerable. Blam!

After shooting off the creature's head, the police captain whirled about to see how the others were faring.

Tiro was faring fine, and was even now running across the length of the graveyard as a clawed ghoul lunged at him uselessly.

Uranus was doing far better, having cleaved a fourth ghoul in two with her sword while Neptune attacked the slower armored ones that would actually give the Senshi enough time to use their magic attacks.

"Deep submerge!" Sailor Neptune shouted, unleashing a blast of pressurized water and demolishing a pair of the lumbering armored ghouls.

Asuka nodded approvingly, and was about to kill off the one chasing Tiro when she saw a dark shape swooping down from the trees toward Neptune's back.

"Neptune! Look out above you!"

Neptune whirled around, and then froze for a critical moment as she saw a winged, rotting corpse diving toward her, its hands stretched out for her throat.

Whumph! In the split-second before impact, Asuka tackled the monster out of the air, and both she and the ghoul rolled along the ground until Asuka managed to slam the ghoul's back into a tombstone.

Shwwk! Asuka struck like lightning, unsheathing her combat knife and slicing the ghoul's neck all the way to the spine, severing the crucial nerves that even undead required in order to function.

"They can come from the skies, too! Watch yourselves, people!" Asuka barked, shaking the blood off of her knife as she stood up from her recent kill. "Yamazaki, you have a gun for a reason, dammit! Do I have to do all the work myself?"

Sailor Neptune, for her part, simply remained in place, frozen as a deep blush crept up to her cheeks.

"Hey! You awake?" Came Uranus' voice from behind her as the blonde waved a hand in front of her lover's face.

The emerald-haired woman shook her head to clear it, and then did her best to look undisturbed from almost being dive-tackled by a flying cadaver. "Yes, I'm fine, thanks to Asuka-chan. Did you SEE her? I've never seen anything like it!"

Sailor Uranus' eyes narrowed. "Oh, so she's 'Asuka-chan' now? You two sure got close awfully fast."

BLAM! "Okay, I got it! On the right, it's one of the flame zombies! Tiro, back up and open fire!"

Sailor Neptune idly ran a hand through her hair. "It's not that. I've simply figured out why the Inners think so highly of these people and trust them."

"Oh, really? So suddenly you trust these people we've never met before? The ones who know all our secret identities? And invite other creepy foreign guys to fight in their battles? And own a GIANT F---ING MONSTER? Oh, and let's not forget that one of them has a possessed handgun! Why, with that kind of track record, what was I even worried about?"

Ratta-tatta-tatta! "I got its legs!"

"Then what are you waiting for? Finish it off!" Blam! Blam!

Sailor Neptune huffed irritably. "I don't know what you're being so hostile for! That woman saved my life!"

"Saved your LIFE? Are you kidding me?" Uranus asked, throwing up her arms. "What, being touched by a flying corpse is enough to kill you now?"

"It could have had diseases!" Neptune snapped back. "BAD diseases! You don't know!"

BLAM! "Damn, I'm almost out of shotgun ammo!" Asuka cursed, turning away as an armored ghoul crumpled to the ground behind her.

Tiro had stopped shooting by now, and was now observing the argument going on behind them in earnest. "You know, if they're just going to argue with each other while we do all the work, they'd better at least make out at the end."

"Tiro, stop your stupid-" Asuka suddenly stopped her default response to Tiro's lechery as something tugged at her mind. "Wait... why would they make out?"

"Lesbians do that sometimes," Tiro said happily, rubbing his hands together. "Ideally, out in the open where they can be observed."

"Lesbians?" Asuka repeated, blinking repeatedly. "Oh." Then her eyes widened. "OH." Then she winced badly. "Oh..."

"Yeah, I think you have an admirer. Well, another one, I mean," Tiro said, grinning. After all, it was no secret that he had feelings for his commanding officer, even if it was doubtful that such feelings had any origins above his waist.

"That's... really not important right now," Asuka said firmly, cocking her shotgun and chambering the last shell. "It looks like the area is finally secure, so we should move on."

"Hey, I'm not the one who needs convincing," Tiro said, jabbing a thumb at the pair of Outer Senshi.


"I hardly think you have any right to throw a jealousy tantrum!" Neptune accused. "You've done much worse!"

"Yeah, and then you get mad at me for it! So who's the hypocrite here?" Uranus challenged.

"Isn't the situation a little precarious right now to be arguing over such a trivial thing?" A third voice interjected, giggling slightly.

"Hey! You keep out of this!" Uranus growled, turning and pointing at the blindfolded woman behind her. "Wait... who-"

Asuka's breath seized in her throat. "It's Mortis! Get back! Now!"

Uranus glanced behind her, then back at the almost terminally skinny woman grinning at her. "Oh, I get it. Another vampire, huh?" She raised the Space Sword as she prepared to charge. "Feh, she doesn't look like much to me."

Mortis giggled and stretched her arms out in front of her. "I've heard that before. But before you dismiss me so easily, you should pay more attention to where you are!"

"Pff. Whatever," Sailor Uranus scoffed as she moved forward, aiming for a single, decapitating strike.

Thump! Instead, the blonde ended up falling flat on her face as she found one of her legs unable to move, being in the surprisingly powerful grip of a skeletal hand reaching from out of the ground.

Mortis chuckled at the sight, tattoos appearing all over her skin as she drew more power to her.

Ptwang! Klang! The figure of a bloodied, headless woman briefly flickered into view next to Mortis as Asuka opened fire, deflecting the bullets as if it was a plate of proper metal armor rather than an incorporeal aura.

"I think you'll find that your sad little toys won't work on me here," the vampiress said cheerfully as she kicked away Uranus' Space Sword. "There are many spirits gathered here, and many are upset about the violence surrounding their places of rest!"

"What, like that's our fault?" Tiro retorted, hiding behind Asuka.

Sailor Neptune leapt back as an arm jutted out of the ground, groping for her. "You won't get away!" She shouted, beginning the movements to launch her Deep Submerge as magical waters burst all around her.

"I'm not the one that should be worried about escaping!" Mortis crowed, snapping her fingers.

"Wh-What?" Neptune gasped as she felt her arms freeze, and her face paled as she found herself being held by gray, translucent figures in varying states of bodily abuse. "What is this?"

"Neptune! Hold on!" Uranus shouted, trying to kick away the skeletal hand as more limbs began to emerge from the dirt around her.

Blam! Blam! Blam! Tiro swallowed as his face paled, watching as Asuka emptied the rest of a clip into the ghost protecting Mortis. "Bad. Bad. Very bad! What do we do? We can't shoot her!"

Asuka took a moment to think as she holstered her pistol, once again taking up her shotgun. "I'll find a way to break her concentration; that seems to be a good way to neutralize vampires' powers. You get that sword back to Uranus before she's swallowed up or-"

The police captain trailed off as a hand suddenly burst from the ground, and she barely managed to leap away as rotting digits closed around her ankle.

"Damn it!" The bluette cursed, dropping into a full sprint straight toward Mortis.

"Ha ha ha! And what are you going to do?" The vampiress taunted, a symbol resembling an eye appearing over her blindfold.

The ground between Mortis and Asuka burst upward, and the midian smirked as a muscular ghoul with an iron mask tugged itself free of its earthen prison.

Asuka didn't slow down, but rather held the shotgun out in front of her as she ran. BLAM!

Its ammunition spent, the police captain let it fall as the burrower ghoul flew back onto the ground, most of its innards having been ejected out of its back.

Mortis blinked at the turn of events, and then she grit her teeth and threw her arms forward as Asuka lunged. "HAAH!" A white, glowing phantom seemed to fly from her hands, its shadowy face moaning in agony as it spread its arms to embrace its target.

Asuka felt her heart stop for a moment as a deep, soul-chilling cold suddenly overwhelmed her, instantly paralyzing her muscles. "Ugh... uhnn..." Her legs stopped moving, and before she could do anything in response, she fell forward onto her knees, her body numb.

Mortis looked pleased, if not also a bit relieved. "Heh... a nice try, to be sure. What did you think you were going to do to me, anyway?"

A small cylinder fell from the captain's shivering fingers, and Mortis scowled.

"Ah, the garlic spray. Kimiko-sama told me about that stuff. Very clever!"

The vampiress seized Asuka by the neck, tilting her head up so that they could stare each other in the eyes. "I don't like feeding on women, and I'm not really hungry anyway. But I'll definitely have to make you suffer for killing my precious abomination!"

Then the midian noticed Tiro aiming his rifle at her. "Hmm? Are you going to try something stupid, too?" She asked, licking her lips. "I certainly hope not. You're the only one of these idiots I can have some real fun with before you die. So why don't you just stand there and wait? I'll just be a moment..."

Tiro gulped nervously, but started creeping forward. "There... There's no way... I'm just going to let you kill them!"

"And what are you going to do?" Mortis asked. "You can't stop me."

"Don't underestimate me!" Tiro said, hopping to the side as a hand emerged to grab his legs. "I'm not strong, but I'm not helpless either! Hold on, Captain! I'll save you!"

Asuka let out a long wheeze as she managed to get her voice back, working against the paralysis. "Tiro... no you won't..."

"No, I have a plan!" Tiro said, still shaking slightly as he moved away from the ghouls that were pushing their way up from the graves behind him. "I can do this!"

"Tiro... shut up," Asuka gasped, surprising both her subordinate and the vampiress holding her. "Seriously... you can't do anything. I'm not desperate enough... to use a plan of yours yet."

Tiro looked honestly surprised by that. "Uh... you're not? I kinda feel like you should be. You're about to die."

In response, Asuka whistled. It was sort of weak, given that her lungs were still numb, and only served to confuse everyone around her.

"Look out below," the police captain said softly, smiling.

Kwoom! Mortis flinched as she heard something erupt from the ground behind her, and she raised her arm to shield herself as dirt and rock rained on top of her.

"What in the-" her question was cut short as pair of zergling claws stretched out for her shoulders at the same time a vicious, razor-sharp beak carved into her abdomen. "Gugh! AAHG! HYAAAAAAAAH!!"


Asuka coughed weakly as she fell to the ground, trying to ignore the bits of blood and gore that speckled her back from the carnage immediately behind her.

"Captain! Are you all right?" Tiro asked, rushing up to his superior officer and offering her a hand up.

"Uhhn... suddenly I'm exhausted," Asuka mumbled, taking Tiro's hand and pulling herself up. "But I'm not hurt."

"My arms are loose!" Neptune said, finally tugging them free as the phantoms around her slowly faded away.

Uranus also managed to pull herself to her feet, quickly scampering away from the numerous hands that were holding her down. Those hands had apparently gone completely limp, and those that didn't have sufficient rotting muscle keeping them together had fallen apart into bits of bone.

"Is everyone okay? We're going to need to move along soon," Asuka said bluntly as she started stretching, trying to get more feeling into her arms.

"Yeah, we're fine, but..." Uranus gulped as she pointed to the creature that was rapidly choking down Mortis' leg. "What is that, again?"

"That's Hunter," Asuka explained nonchalantly. "Also known as 'Plan B'."

"Hrruunh..." Hunter made an unpleasant growling noise as he finished devouring his opponent, annoyed as it slowly disintegrated in his belly.

"But what IS it?" Sailor Neptune asked, unwilling to take a step closer to the beast.

"He's either an alien, a clone, a cloned alien, or a rather inexplicable plot device," Asuka deadpanned. "I try not to dwell on it."

"Why didn't you bring him up earlier?" Tiro asked, scratching his head.

"I didn't really think of it until I saw the ghouls emerging from the ground," she explained as she drew her pistol and reloaded it. "I was wondering earlier where Hunter went; I had just assumed he saw another ghoul and wandered off to eat it. Then I remembered that Saotome trained him to burrow when left outside, so that he wouldn't keep freaking out everyone who saw him."

"Th-That's amazing," Neptune said, stunned.

"I know; I never figured Saotome would be good with animals, much less murderous warbeasts, but somehow they just get along together." Asuka shrugged.

"Ah, that's not what I-" Neptune started again, only to be interrupted.

"Look, I know we're all a bit shaken, but we can't stop here," Asuka said impatiently. "We have to find the others. There's no reason to think they got off any better than we did."

"She's right," Uranus said grudgingly, "and I doubt that Morty or whoever was the worst vampire they've got around here."

"All right, move out!"

BLAM! Chak! BLAM! Chak! BLAM! Chak! Snake dashed to the side as he blew the legs off another vampire, and then hit the ground rolling as one of the women jumped for him, fangs and claws outstretched.

Whump! She barely missed the American, and managed to roll into a crouch before leaping away again.

BLAM! Snake grinned as the midian's headless body tumbled onto the ground, rapidly turning to dust as another empty shotgun cartridge bounced onto the ground.

"Man, I live for this stuff!" He shouted, the very picture of glee as he cocked his shotgun again.

"Not for long, you won't!" Another voice shouted, quickly darting out from behind a nearby statue and slashing for Snake's face.

Clangk! As he couldn't turn his weapon quickly enough, Snake raised his gun to block the attack instead, gritting his teeth as he felt the midian's claws puncture the shotgun.

"Die!" The vampire snarled, slashing desperately at the sandy-haired man. Snake continued to block which his shotgun, holding the weapon at each end as his foe rent the gun down the middle.

Skrak! Clang!

Releasing the muzzle of the shotgun, and heedless of the fact that there was a considerable tear along the side, Snake fired off a shot as the midian moved into to continue his attacks.

BLAM! "GAUGH!" The vampire screamed as part of the discharge blew out the hole in the shotgun's side, causing further damage to the weapon and incidentally blasting twelve-gauge shot into the midian's face.

Thwack! Snake knocked the vampire onto the ground by smacking his ruined gun into it like a baseball bat, and then tossed the weapon aside as the midian struggled to get up.

"I really liked that gun," Snake mumbled to himself as he took out a fragmentation grenade and grabbed the vampire by the shoulder.

Clomp! "Hmmrguff?" The vampire, which had turned to bite at the man grabbing him, suddenly found his fangs sinking into a large metal cylinder that had been shoved in his mouth.

Snake kicked the vampire away onto the ground, and then calmly tossed a grenade pin aside. "I know you can't see right now, but just so you know, I look REALLY happy."

BOOM!


"Ugh!" Jupiter grunted as she pushed aside the last piece of debris that was pinning her leg down, and then pulled her lower body out from under the collapsed stone that had landed on it.

"Finally! Geez!" The Thunder Senshi gasped, standing up and brushing off her legs. "I can't believe that jerk! He could've gotten us ALL killed!"

Sailor Venus simply sighed adoringly from where she was still mostly buried in rubble, stars in her eyes. "But instead he killed all of them himself! Isn't he the coolest?"


Blam! Snake shot the head off the last vampire that was trying to crawl away while its legs regenerated. "Huh. That was fun, but... unsatisfying," he mumbled to himself, glancing around at the shattered tombstones and piles of dust.

"You! What were thinking?" Sailor Jupiter shouted as she pulled Venus from the debris.

"I was thinking that there was hardly enough action between five of those losers to satiate my immediate bloodlust, never mind you two," Snake answered bluntly. "Besides, you're fine, aren't you? No harm, no foul."

"That definitely qualifies as harm!" Jupiter seethed. "What if one of the vampires attacked us while we were stuck?"

"If they were that competent or dangerous, then I wouldn't have buried you in the first place," Snake said calmly, as if it were the most reasonable and obvious thing in the world.

"Why you little-" Sailor Venus quickly grabbed hold the taller Senshi to prevent her from throttling the American.

"Wait! Wait! We can't fight now! We need to find the others!" Venus said desperately as Jupiter fumed.

"Orange Skirt is right, Green Skirt," Snake said seriously, which only further infuriated the Thunder Senshi, "we have more important things to worry about than me almost killing you."

"Of course," said a new, masculine voice, "you should be worrying about ME killing you."

Jupiter and Venus gasped as a handsome German man appeared in front of Snake, his image slowly materializing until it was completely solid.

"Hello again, worthless cattle," Kliff said amiably, flexing his fingers in preparation. "I'm glad I found you before the others. There's hardly enough liquids between the three of you insects to satiate my immediate bloodthirst. I'm sure you understand," he chuckled, revealing a pair of sizeable, dagger-like fangs.

To everyone's surprise, Snake chuckled as well. "Ha! That was pretty good! I'm almost going to be sad once I smoke you!"

"Snake-kun, stand back! We'll get him!" Sailor Venus said, twirling about. "Venus Love & Beauty Shock!"

Kliff snorted as his body winked out of existence, leaving the energy blast to plow uselessly through a line of columns and gravestones.

"Where'd he go?" Jupiter asked, her ponytail whipping about as she searched all around.

Snake walked up to a statue that was close by and pulled out a small disc from one of his leg pockets. "I've fought that guy before. He's a shifter."

"A what?"

"He can teleport at will," Snake clarified as he set the device in his hand and slapped it on the side of the statue opposite himself. "Not just his body, either. The guy can set entry and exit portals, too. There are no safe spots while he's around."

"Ha ha ha!" Laughed a disembodied voice. "How astute of you! You were paying rapt attention last time!"

Swsh! Snake leapt forward and rolled along the ground as a hand emerged from a portal behind him, swiping for his neck.

"Unfortunately for you, so was I! I saw where you put that bomb; you won't catch me with the same trick twice!"

Sailor Venus posed as she summoned a chain of hearts around her body. "We won't lose to you! This time he has us with him!"

"Joy. A pair of magical cheerleaders instead of heavily-armed super-soldiers. Lucky me," Snake muttered under his breath as Kliff appeared in front of him.

"Venus Love Me Chain!" The Senshi of Love shouted, sending her weapon sailing toward the nosferatu right before he vanished again.

Jupiter turned and pointed to the top of a statue behind them. "There he is! Sparkling Wide Pressure!"

Kliff shook his head sadly right before he vanished once more, letting the attack smash into his perch uselessly in a loud crackle of magical energies.

"Too slow. Far too slow," the German vampire sang, appearing behind Jupiter and swiping at her neck.

Jupiter leapt forward just in time, rolling along the ground before landing in a crouch. By that time, however, Kliff had already vanished. "He's too fast!"

Click! "Yeah, I guess I really didn't make that clear before," Snake said as he set another explosive on a gravestone. "I doubt your magic is going to work here."

"Just keep firing! Something's bound to hit him!" Sailor Venus said, charging up more energy in her hands.

"That's totally not true, but you guys go ahead," Snake said as he sprinted across the clearing toward the collapsed shrine.

Vwom! Kliff appeared before the American, his hands in his pockets. "Hey now, where do you think you're going?"

Snake declined to reply, instead grabbing his combat knife and slashing at the midian in front of him.

Kliff simply chuckled as his body flickered in place, instantly backing up half a meter. "My, how savage. Is this what the famed and feared gunslinger has been reduced to, now? Stabbing at people with knives?"

"Jupiter Thunder Crash!" Sailor Jupiter screamed.

Kliff, predictably, faded from sight just before the bolt of lightning rained down from above, pulverizing the ground in front of Snake. Bwoom!

"Hey! Jupiter, be careful! You almost hit him!" Sailor Venus complained.

Jupiter's eyebrow twitched. "Yeah, that would be just AWFUL..."

Snake, for his part, simply used the time he was given to scamper behind a particularly tall monument and plant another bomb behind it.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Kliff asked, alerting the startled Senshi to the fact that he was hovering directly over them.

"I thought you already figured that out," Snake said conversationally as he rushed to another tombstone and placed the last of the disc-shaped explosives behind it.

Kliff vanished as a beam of white light lanced upward through the sky, barely missing him.

"Although you haven't impressed me so far, I think it's time for this to stop," Kliff said seriously as he appeared before the Senshi, taking one hand out of his pocket.

"Wha-" Before Snake knew what was happening, he had dropped into the ground below, only to fall onto the ground right in front of his opponent.

"DIE!" Kliff's hand blurred as he slashed at the confused police officer, and Snake barely manage to roll away such that the elder vampire's claws raked his arm rather than his throat.

"SNAKE!" Venus shouted in horror at seeing a light fan of blood splatter across the ground. "You bastard!" She screamed, gathering energy in her hands again.

"Uh-uh-uh!" Kliff said warningly, wagging a finger at her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You see, I've been playing it safe, simply teleporting out of the way constantly. But what this gunslinging ape probably didn't warn you about is that I can just as easily aim your own attacks back at you." He grinned savagely, and a shimmering portal appeared in front of him at the same time an identical gateway appeared behind Snake. "Or... your allies. Do you still want to continue?"

Snake winced slightly from the pain in his arm, and then used his other arm to grab a rock lying near his head. "Oh yeah? Redirect THIS!"

With that manly declaration, Snake hurled the stone at the elder vampire's head, which caused everyone else in the area to sweatdrop.

The Senshis' faces darkened as the rock missed both the portal and the target, flying a few inches to the side of Kliff's head and going over his shoulder before it bounced off of a tombstone.

"That was pathetic," the elder vampire said, honestly embarrassed just to be the target of such an attack.

Beep!

Kliff blinked at hearing a strange noise behind him. "Wait-" BWOOM!!

The nosferatu was hurled forward as flame and shrapnel pounded him in the back, courtesy of the proximity mine placed on the other side of the tombstone Kliff had unwittingly teleported in front of.

"That was INCREDIBLE," Sailor Venus said, clasping her hands together in joy.

"Don't just stand there! Shoot him now!" Snake shouted, pulling out his sidearm and emptying it into the wounded vampire.

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Sailor Jupiter shouted as Venus started her own attack behind her.

"Venus Crescent Moon Beam!"

BOOM! Kazzak!

"Gyuaah!" Kliff shouted in pain as he barely managed to jump out of the way so that he didn't catch the brunt of the attacks, instead getting knocked down again by the shock waves. "D-Damn! You won't-"

His cry for vengeance was cut off as he heard more beeping from the side, and he glanced over to see another proximity mine attached to the statue he was trying to use for cover.

BWOOM!!

The Senshi averted their eyes briefly as bits of dirt and stone rained down from the sky, and Venus gripped her hand into a fist. "Yes! We got him!"

"Naw, he's survived worse," Snake said irritably, taking out his last explosive as he got to his feet. This device was a rather large, thick disk that resembled a land mine, but possessed a thick metal pin and safety lever.

"What is that?" Jupiter asked suspiciously.

"Not now, okay?" Snake snapped off the pin and licked his lips as he held the device like a discus, spinning around in place briefly before letting go.

As the Senshi watched the metal disc sail into the aftermath of the explosion, they both flinched in surprise as dozens of bats suddenly erupted into the air, many of them trailing smoke.

Pwoof! The disc popped open in mid-air right in the midst of the swarm, and there was a soft crackling noise as some kind of powder burst from the device and started to glow.

"You might wanna duck!" Snake shouted, clutching his injured arm close as he crouched behind a tombstone.

The Senshi, who were glad just to have a warning this time, quickly followed Snake's example as the fuel-air grenade reached its reaction temperature.

THWOOOOOOM! A bright flash lit up the unnaturally darkened sky, the sound of the shock wave easily overwhelming the dying squeal of every last bat that was trying to escape.

Jupiter and Venus clenched their eyes shut at the waves of pressure and heat that washed over them, and only dared to open them again once they felt the air temperature stabilize. Once they did, a glance toward the detonation area revealed a considerable circle of scorched Earth littered with dying flames and bits of rubble from devastated graves.

Snake was already on his feet, idly wrapping some gauze from his field kit around the gash in his arm. "Ahhh... I LOVE those things," he said happily, his face beaming.

"You did it! We won!" Venus shouted, jumping to her feet.

"We won against THAT guy," Jupiter said grudgingly, "but there are still more out there. We need to get moving."

"Green Skirt's right," Snake said, tearing off a bit of the bandage wrappings with his teeth and then tucking the extra back in his supply pouch. "We can't hang around here."

"I am NOT 'Green Skirt'," Jupiter snapped. "I'm Sailor Jupiter!"

Snake raised an eyebrow. "And... what? Am I wrong about your skirt color?"

"No, but-"

"Then I fail to see the source of confusion," Snake said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't get hung up about you not calling me 'Lieutenant,' do I? Stop wasting my time."

As Sailor Jupiter prepared to throttle the American, Sailor Venus quickly pointed toward the mausoleum, hoping to distract her. "You guys! Hurry up! Cyber Moon needs us!"

"Actually... there IS a problem with rushing off to find more enemies," Snake mumbled, frowning.

"What? Is it because you lost your big gun?" Sailor Jupiter asked unsympathetically.

"It's because I placed a LOT of proxy mines around here," Snake said, scratching his head as he looked around the graveyard.

Jupiter blinked. "You what."

"I figured if I armed enough of them, and put them out of sight of the main combat zone, he wouldn't be able to keep track of where they all were at the same time that he was blinking around to avoid getting shot," Snake explained. "And it totally worked, right?"

Jupiter's eyebrow twitched. "Did... you forget where you placed your own bombs?"

"In all fairness, this is all really your guys' fault to begin with," Snake said, ignoring the incredulous stare he got in return. "I mean, seriously, you magical demon hunters couldn't come up with a better plan than 'arm lots of mines and hope the enemy wanders too close to one of them'?"

"Wh-What? What are you talking about? This is definitely still your fault!" Jupiter shouted, shaking a fist at the American.

Venus swallowed nervously as she tried to calm her friend down. "N-Now come on, both of you... it doesn't really matter who's fault this is..."

"Of course it does," Snake scoffed. "Naturally, it falls to the responsible party to lead the way out... five meters ahead should do it."

"You're horrible!" Jupiter snarled.

"Times a'wastin, kiddos!"

"Hrrg!" Kyle staggered to his knees as Kimiko's mantle stabbed into his abdomen, the enchanted accessory striking with an edge harder than steel.

"Damn it all, what are you? To survive this long..." Kimiko mumbled, annoyed. After a moment the mantle began to twist rapidly, picking up speed to drill into the blond's stomach.

Sailor Mercury coughed as she tried to pick herself up out of the tree she had crashed into, her hands and arms slick with blood from when she had tried to block the vampiress' attack. "K-Kyle-kun! Hold on!"

Kyle grunted in agony as the mantle started to dig further, and then quickly dropped the twisted, useless remains of his minigun before grabbing hold of the twirling mantle, trying to stop it.

To Kimiko's surprise, her weapon promptly halted, unable to move within the blond man's iron grip. "You really are some sort of monster, aren't you? I should have known..."

"Aqua Rhapsody!" Sailor Mercury shouted, launching a powerful blast of water at the nosferatu.

Kimiko yanked her mantle back from Kyle's grasp, and then callously swatted away the magical blast. "Insolence. You should have laid quietly where I left you, brat."

Blam! Blam! Junko, who had spent most of the battle looking horrified, fired a few desperate rounds from behind a tree, hoping to distract the vampiress long enough for Kyle to catch his breath.

"I was mistaken to descend upon you as my targets," Kimiko mused, gathering energy in one hand as she spoke. "Surely there are more powerful or resourceful opponents to be found amongst your little band."

BWOOM! A telekinetic burst more akin to a cannon blast erupted from Kimiko's hand, kicking up a wave of dirt along the ground as it streaked toward Junko.

CR-RACK! The hapless redhead was flung backward into the air once the attack struck her cover, instantly ripping the tree apart and nearly doing the same to the woman's body.

Mercury's face paled as she watched Junko land a good distance away, throwing up a good bit of dirt from the force of her impact. 'It's no good... she's too strong... I can't even imagine how we've lasted this long, with Kyle taking so many hits, but if we don't get help soon, we're not going to make it!'

"Enough of this. Seriously." Kimiko thrust out her hand, and her mantle wrapped around Kyle, who was already dripping blood from several deep wounds. "If you'd just stay still I'll even make it quick. I shouldn't have wasted so much time already..."

"Sh-Shine Aqua Illusion!" Sailor Mercury managed to spit out, a stream of water and ice blasting straight for the female vampire.

With a mild snort, Kimiko's mantle swung Kyle straight into the attack, and Mercury's eyes widened as she desperately cancelled the attack.

Whump! "Ah!" Kyle slammed into the genius Senshi as the magical energies dissipated, reducing the freezing ice to a cold mist.


"Tch. You're only making this harder on yourself," Kimiko mumbled as she hovered over to the pair, her mantle taking on a hardened, knife-like edge as the remainder whipped about in the wind.

"Urgh..." Mercury pushed herself to her feet, trying to ignore the ringing in her head and the two hundred pounds of man tangled up between her legs. "We... We won't ever give in! No matter how stro-YIPE!" Mercury quickly fell to the ground on top of Kyle as Kimiko's mantle slashed at her in a wide decapitating strike.

Sssshrrrrrk... A memorial statue a good meter away started to move as a clean cut appeared, and the top of the stone figure eventually toppled over.

Kyle growled as he pushed himself to his feet, despite the fact that Mercury was staying low now.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't use that man for a shield," Kimiko said honestly. "He's too tough for me to kill normally. I'll probably have to drain his life-force directly, or this could take all day. Besides, don't you think it's a bit cruel?"

Sailor Mercury gulped. "T-Tekai-kun, do you have any more weapons?"

"I dunno. Maybe," the blond replied evenly. "But they're in the armory way over there, you know?"

"Indeed. You are unarmed and helpless," Kimiko said, as if she was negotiating rather than preparing to execute an enemy. "It's time to finish this." Hwoom!

Swirling motes of light encircled the elder vampire's hands, and both Kyle and Mercury prepared to jump away as a pair of impressive azure fireballs coalesced within Kimiko's palms.

Swk! "Hm?" Kimiko raised an eyebrow as she heard a strange noise, followed by a slight twinge in her shoulder.

Shlump! The vampiress sweatdropped as her arm fell off at the shoulder, the energies at her fingertips dissipating as the limp appendage hit the ground.

"That... That shouldn't..." Kimiko trailed off for a moment, confused, though not overly alarmed that she had suddenly been dismembered.

Shlrk! Her eyes widened as her body suddenly split apart straight down the middle, and both halves of the vampiress collapsed onto the ground in a sudden explosion of blood.

Sksssh! Sailor Mercury gaped as a redhead figure skidded to a stop in front of them, a single combat knife in her hand and a decidedly upset expression on her otherwise attractive face.

"Let's see you get up from that, bitch!" Akina shouted, her body still throbbing from the many abrasions and bruises she had gotten from the earlier impact.

Much to the psychic's chagrin, the bloodied hunks of flesh trembled briefly before floating upward and meeting once more, assembling themselves back into a full vampire.

"Chikiko... san?" Mercury asked hesitantly, having no idea where the timid and fairly useless girl had found the strength to suddenly cleave people in half.

"What is it?" Akina snapped, her knife twirling about in her fingers. "Do you know of a weak point I can attack or anything?"

"Does she have any weak points?" Kyle asked, rubbing his head. "I'm pretty sure I shot her chest out earlier, and it just grew back."

"You'll find I've transcended the petty vulnerabilities of my brethren," Kimiko said as the last signs of damage faded from her body. "And speaking of which... what are YOU supposed to be?" She asked, pointing to Akina.

The redhead snorted. "You'll pay for throwing Junko-chan around like that!"

"Wh-Why does she speak as if Chikiko-san were another person?" Mercury asked.

Kyle shrugged. "I dunno. I think it has something to do with electric shocks... or maybe Ritalin. I wasn't really listening when they explained it to me."


Kimiko frowned. "The more I fight these idiots, the stronger they become... Sigh..." Once more, she gathered power into her hands, and then released another burst of telekinetic force in a single tremendous bolt, like she had done to Junko earlier.

"Stay behind me!" Akina demanded, holding back a fist as the ground started to explode in a line coming directly for them.

Just as the attack reached them, Akina calmly pushed her hand forward, palm flat.

BWOOM! BWOOM! The ground on either side of the three warriors exploded into the air, throwing up a considerable amount of dirt and stone but leaving Akina and the pair behind her completely unharmed.

Kimiko gaped. 'What? How could she deflect it so easily? Even that pigtailed fellow shouldn't be able to stop that level of force!'

Akina sighed and reached behind her. "Hey, Kyle, baby? Mind if I take that other knife you got on you?"

"Eh? Oh, sure," Kyle mumbled, withdrawing the weapon and tossing it to the redhead.

"You can stop my telekinesis with barely any effort, yet you rely on weapons to attack?" Kimiko mused as her mantle whipped about in anticipation of combat. "I see now. You must be a psychic. A rather defective psychic, but I can see no other explanation." She smirked slightly. While a psychic could deflect telekinesis with ease, her other, more arcane powers would work just fine.

"Hmph. How's this for defective?" The nymphomaniac asked, her body blurring into motion as she sprinted forward, passing low underneath the vampiress.

Kimiko was fairly surprised by the woman's speed, and barely turned around in time to block a punishing stab with her mantle.

"Hyah!" Akina brought the second knife around, cutting a deep swath in the vampiress, who quickly retaliated with lengthened talons swathed in blue flame.

Akina flipped away from the attack, and then launched herself into motion at the same time that Akina's form started to blur, her eyes glowing a fierce red.

Ktwang! Ssshwk! Sknk! TWANG!

Sailor Mercury typed away on her computer rapidly as the two combatants clashed in the air at high speed, their bodies a series of blurs rapidly colliding with each other.

"Is there something I should be doing?" Kyle asked uncomfortably. "I feel like I should be helping."

Mercury growled in frustration as her scans continued to reveal nothing. "This is impossible! That woman has no weak points, and this interference is keeping me from finding the others! I can't do anything!"

"No weak points? Don't vampires have lots of weaknesses?" Kyle asked, confused.

"Nothing that we can exploit!" Mercury groused, frustrated that she couldn't think of a way out of their current predicament besides panicked retreat. "We have no silver munitions, the sun has been inexplicably BANISHED, and I seriously doubt she's going to be phased by that silly garlic spray!"

"Oh yeah!" Kyle said, fumbling about for his jacket pocket. "I totally forgot about that spray stuff! It could still slow her down or something, right?"

Mercury shook her head. "We should find a way to signal the others! We can't beat her on our own!"

"I dunno, I heard that Seras got rid of her on his own. It's worth a shot, right?" Kyle asked, walking up to the furious clash of blades.

Fwish! Kimiko's mantle slashed low as Akina leapt into the air, tucking her body into a somersault.

Thunk! Thunk! Before the vampiress could draw her accessory back, both combat knives flew at her from above, stabbing into her collarbone and stomach.

Whump! The nosferatu barely had time to stabilize herself in the air before Akina tackled her, the redhead quickly grabbing hold of the knives lodged in her opponent.

Szsht! Szsht! Szsht! Szsht! Szsht! Dozens of sliver flashes appeared as Akina's arms blurred, slicing the vampiress apart as she ruthlessly dragged her weapons through the nosferatu's pale, smooth flesh.

"Hah!" Akina landed on the ground as her foe practically evaporated into a bloody mist, and the psychic staggered for a moment as she felt her exhaustion catching up with her. "Ahh... hah... hah... man... That was... hard... not even sure... if I still have the energy... to get with a guy after this..."

She started as she felt something tighten around her waist, and Akina gasped as Kimiko's mantle lifted her up in the air.

"You won't have the proper appendages either, I'm afraid," Kimiko taunted from behind the redhead, smirking as Akina struggled to turn around. "This has been a very consuming fight," she continued, her fangs lengthening. "I'll need a... snack?"

The vampiress was interrupted as she felt an iron grip take hold of her arm, and she turned her head to see Kyle holding her back while aiming a small canister at her face.

Psht! Kimiko blinked and wrinkled her nose as the mist moistened her face.

"Gh... uh... ACHOO!" She sneezed violently in Kyle's face, who winced and tried to step back.

Whack! He didn't move fast enough as Kimiko slugged the super-human in the cheek, sending him flying back onto the ground. "What the hell was that about? That doesn't even hurt; it's just really annoying!" She seethed, her face and eyes red from the irritation.

Growling, the nosferatu turned around to return to the task of consuming her prisoner... to suddenly find a hand being thrust toward her mouth.

"Gluk!" Kimiko tried to cough as Akina forcibly shoved her own garlic spray down the midian's throat, using a brief spark of kinetic force to puncture the canister before she let go.

"Hrm! Mmnph!" Kimiko's eyes watered as the toxic substance burst from its pressurized container even as it slid down her esophogus. Chomp!

"Ow!" Akina used a small burst of kinetic energy to loosen the nosferatu's jaws, and then tugged her hand free as the mantle suddenly went slack, dropping her. "She bit me! That bitch actually bit me!"

This fact didn't really surprise anyone but Akina, and Kyle decided to make a break for the 4B Mobile Armory while the elder vampiress was still hacking and coughing painfully.

"You Gurk! little twit! Hack!" Kimiko cursed, trying to ignore the pain so that she could turn to mist and hopefully leave the foul liquid behind.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Sailor Mercury shouted, and Kimiko grimaced as the icy magic blast rocketed toward her.

Crik! Unlike the previous attempts, this time the nosferatu was wrapped in ice as the attack struck home, Kimiko's face frozen in a decidedly humorous gagging expression.

Clack! Snap! Kyle thrust his hand into the middle of his personal armory, and then pulled out a medium-length tube before flipping up the aiming sights.

Then the blond man turned toward the frozen midian, grinning as he released the safeties. "Bazooka!"

BWOOM!! Akina and Sailor Mercury averted their eyes as the helpless undead woman was blasted into icy chunks, the pieces scattered all over the decimated graveyard.


Akina frowned. "Why did you shout 'bazooka' before you fired?"

Kyle blinked as he put his weapon down. "Why not? Everyone else gets to shout the names of their special attacks!"

"Shooting a bazooka is a special attack?" The redhead asked, sweatdropping.

"I only have one shot, so I'm pretty sure it qualifies."

Sailor Mercury frowned as she watched the chunks of ice rapidly melting away. "You guys, I don't think she's really dead yet. After everything else we threw at her, I don't see any reason to expect that that worked."

"You're kidding! What are we supposed to do, then?" Akina growled, her fists tightening around the knives in her hands.

"Unless you have any more ideas like the garlic spray, we should go find the others while we still can," Mercury explained, her expression utterly serious. "It must be devastating for you to have moved so fast with those injuries, Chikiko-san. And Kyle-kun is wounded much more seriously."

Kyle blinked as he hefted his armory up onto his shoulder. "I am? I don't feel that bad."

Mercury was about to protest to the contrary, but then realized as she stared at the muscular blond that his cuts and gashes all seemed much smaller, and the bleeding had long since stopped. "What? But... that shouldn't-"

"And I'm fine," Akina said, waving her bitten and slowly bleeding hand negligently. "Most of that crazy stuff I do doesn't actually involve physical exertion anyway."

"Wh-What? How can you-" Mercury's eyebrow began to twitch as a bright, persisting light suddenly flared behind her, and Kyle immediately perked up.

"Hey, it's a big explosion! That must be where Snake is!" The superhuman said cheerfully.

"Snake?" Akina asked, perking up immediately. "What are we waiting for? Get a move on, studly!"

Sailor Mercury continued gaping for several moments as the two police officers dashed away, and then quickly shook her head as she realized she was being left behind. "Hey! Wait! Don't leave me behind, you guys! Slow down!"

Cyber Moon's afterburners roared as she blasted across the graveyard, her ponytails whipping about in the wind as she streaked toward her target.

Fzash! The energy cut a long, bright gash in the swirling darkness that surrounded Ran, and the vampire lord growled in pain as his attacker blasted onward out of reach.

Thwip! Thwip! A pair of roses punched into the nosferatu's arms, and the plants promptly withered and disintegrated within the cyclone of inky black.

"Die! Die, both of you!" Ran snarled, launching volleys of crackling black energy at Cyber Moon and Tuxedo Kamen.

Moon twisted about in mid-air, her shield flickering into place as the dark missiles homed in on her.

Boom! Boom! Bwoom! The cybernetic blonde grit her teeth as the dark magics hammered her defenses, and looked over to see that Tuxedo Kamen had vanished behind a shrine, evading the attack.

While she was quite concerned for her fated lover, she was also quite frightened for Rayden, who was lying in a pile of blood-stained rubble while shadowy tendrils writhed about him, digging into his body and absorbing more blood out of the Russian.

'Computer! Is the foreign guy okay?' She asked mentally, dispersing her shield to fire several plasma blasts at Ran.

Unit Rayden Shikodan - assuming that is "the foreign guy" - is currently in stable condition, but it is deteriorating. As he is immobile and likely in excruciating pain, his combat capability is currently negligible.

'I don't care about his combat capability! How can I help him?' Cyber Moon thought, summoning an energy blade as she closed in on Ran.

This unit is not configured to provide tactical solutions.

'You always say that!'

And still, Unit Cyber Moon persists with invalid queries.

A vein popped up on Cyber Moon's head as she flew to the ground, cutting toward the nosferatu in a wide, sweeping cut that sliced several adjacent monuments and gravestones in two.

The energy blade made its mark in Ran, too, but the cut was rapidly swallowed up and filled by the writhing darkness that curled around him.

"How long do you think you can get away with that?" Ran asked, the shadows swirling around his hand and forming the shape of a large, long-necked bird. "You will all suffer for your impudence!"

The shadow creature took off from its master's hand, releasing a bone-chilling screech as it soared into the air.

"Ah! Um..." Cyber Moon hesitated as she thought of which weapon to use. 'I must have something to use against enemies in the air, right?'

Affirmative. Weapon profile G-7 active. Firing. Cyber Moon's shoulder popped open, and a targeting reticule appeared in front of her as a missile slid out of her back.

"Okay, this should do it! Now..." Moon's enthusiasm dropped as the reticule simply hovered in place, failing to move over her target the way other weapons did. "Wh-What's wrong? Hurry up and fire!"

Shooooom! Streams of tears ran down Cyber Moon's cheeks as the missile took off into the sky, completely ignoring the shadow hawk before the creature of dark magic plowed into her painfully.

"AH! Why didn't that work?" The cyborg shouted, flailing wildly as wisps of shadow stretched from the dark bird's body and wrapped around her.

Lock failure was caused by a lack of adequate heat sources. The missile was unable to track desired target.

'Well, why didn't you tell me it wouldn't work?' Cyber Moon demanded mentally as she tried to struggle free of the black tendrils.

This unit believes tactical solutions were already mentioned in a previous query.

"My computer SUCKS!" Moon complained as she activated her energy blade at half length, trying to cut away the shadows that were wrapping around her.

"SREEEEEEEEEEK!" With a feral shriek, the shadow hawk's wings stretched out and then curved into sharpened claws, and Cyber Moon gasped as they reached around her body to stab into her jet boosters.

"Hey! Wait! No! Don't do that!" The blonde said in a panic as warning signs started flashing before her eyes.

Fzrt! The boosters promptly shorted out as they detected a puncture in the fuel feeds, and the jets let out a final burst of sparks before they died completely.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" THUD!


"One by one, they all fall before me," Ran said happily, the darkness swirling in front of him twisting into the image reminiscent of a jack o'lantern's smiling face.

Fwip! Thwip! Roses came at him like a series of arrows, each one falling apart into a rotten mess as they passed through the shroud of darkness.

"Of course. You're next," Ran said malevolently, raising a hand in the direction of Tuxedo Kamen, who was sniping at him from atop a memorial statue.

Crack! Snap! Krrrrk! The masked man almost lost his balance as the ground beneath him began to shift, and he grit his teeth as several of the tombstones around him rose from the ground, floating in a circle around him.

Tuxedo Kamen vaulted over the first tombstone, and then rolled under the next, dashing across the battlefield as hunks of stone were flung at him from every which way.

The last statue was evaded as the masked man actually jumped onto it and somersaulted away, landing unscathed and flourishing his cape.

BWOOM! The dark energy blast he didn't see coming, unfortunately. Tuxedo Kamen was flung away as the shadowy bolt of power struck him in the back, trailing smoke as he plowed through the dirt.

"Ah! Tuxedo Kamen!" Cyber Moon cried as she continued to struggle against the dark tendrils. "You creep! You won't get away with that!"

"What a silly sentiment," Ran said, turning toward the small crater the cyborg had made upon landing. "You see, this battle was decided before it began. Forces far greater than you or even I have already been set in motion."

He smirked, his fangs gleaming behind the storm of shadows. "I am destined to win here. And then my fate will bring me, and the entire race of the nosferatu, to dominance of this sad state of misery you humans call civilization. That outcome has already been decided, and there is nothing you can do to stop it."

Cyber Moon's shoulders popped open, and her robot arms emerged welding torch attachments that rapidly began burning and tearing away at the darkness that bound her.

"Humans are such pitiful creatures," Ran said conversationally as he stalked toward Cyber Moon, a smile on his face. "Everything you do is overshadowed by your own mortality; no matter how strong you are or what you have achieved, you will die. And yet, when offered the keys to immortality, to invincible, everlasting life, you turn away out of fear of the darkness! What's the point of your empty, fleeting lives, then? Why should humans rule this world?" The vampire lord demanded, standing before Cyber Moon as the blonde continued desperately carving herself free of her shadowy prison.

"It does not matter," came a deep voice from behind Cyber Moon, and she turned her head around as Ran blinked.

Rayden grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, blood dribbling down his neck and dripping off of his crucifix. "God gave this world to humans, and decreed that vile abominations such as you be destroyed, for you are a blight upon His creation," the super-soldier mumbled. "But it does not really matter."

Shrrp! Rayden tore one arm free from the sharpened black tendrils, ignoring the wash of blood that only seemed to agitate the writhing shadows.

"Humans will grow, fight, and die as they always have. They will always oppose death, and the sane will always oppose the blight of vampirism out of fear and hatred. Why do you think you can change this?"

Ran snorted. "Do you or do you not see the very sun banished from the sky, zealot?"

"And for lack of sunlight, you think humanity broken?" The Russian asked, his voice grim.

Shkrak! Cyber Moon paled as she saw Rayden stand up, his body in tatters as the bloody tendrils that he had freed from his arm simply stabbed into his legs, continuing to siphon away his life.

"You think this, these petty tricks and feeble sorcery, will lay low the world? Or did you think that a mere handful of your fellow parasites could do the job? Never have I seen a general stake so much on so little."

Ran's eyes flared red as the swirling darkness around him coalesced into his hands. "You can reflect on the potency of my 'sorcery' in the afterlife, fool!"

As the nosferatu was about to strike, his eyes suddenly widened, and Ran flinched back as if struck. "Wh-What?! Mortis... Mortis, no!"

Rayden immediately drew a pair of submachine guns from within his coat. "We will not fall. We will not turn our eyes from the light. Our souls be protected by His divine will, our enemies be driven before us by His wrath."

Braap-ap-ap-ap-ap! The Russian began peppering Ran with bullets just as he regained his focus, and the vampire formed the darkness around him into a barrier to deflect the attacks.

"Ridiculous! Weak!" The vampire lord snarled. "How could you insects hope to overcome us? Why do my brothers and sisters die?"

"Gah! GET OFF!!" Cyber Moon shouted, standing up and trying to tug her leg loose from the black tentacles wrapped around it. The cybernetic arms over her shoulders continued to burn away at the darkness as it tried to advance, twisting around her body.

Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! The cybernetic blonde yanked herself loose as several roses slashed through the tendrils still holding her, and she shot a seriously wounded Tuxedo Kamen a relieved glance.

Ran growled and dashed toward Cyber Moon, his hands forming long black talons. "You won't escape! You won't survive! You..." his eyes blinked in disbelief at about the same time everyone else noticed an incredibly bright detonation on the other side of the mortuary. "Kliff?"

"And so this conflict draws to a close," Rayden said stonily, dropping one of his submachine guns and drawing his lighter. "Back to the shadows, nosferatu." Click!

BOOM! BOOM! BWABOOM! BOOM! A line of explosives that Rayden had scattered about earlier consumed Ran in a wall of flame, and for a moment Cyber Moon lost track of her foe as her robotic arms folded away.

"Foreign Guy-san, can you get free?" she asked as her wrist weapons unfolded and missile racks slid up out of her shoulders.

"I cannot," Rayden deadpanned, still standing in a mass of writhing shadows that entangled and tore at his legs.

Shoom! Cyber Moon barely dodged out of the way as a bolt of darkness flew by her, and she frowned as Ran stalked out of the dying flames, his eyes a solid, bloody red.

"Why is this happening?" The vampire lord growled. "Victory is assured... and yet-"

"You think you're going to win because you bit Sailor Mars?" Cyber Moon shouted, pointing at her enemy. "You think your stupid vampire powers can defeat our friendship?"

"I don't give a damn about your friendship," Ran growled as several small bullets impacted his side from Rayden's covering fire. "But my powers can defeat YOU!"

Thoom! "Glugh!" Ran suddenly staggered forward, a mass of blood and gore bursting from his chest. "Wh-What? Where..."


"Heeagh... hrrrum..." The Jackal growled as glowing green spittle dripped from its maw, its single eye glaring at the wounded vampire lord.

"Well, well, look who we found," Ranma said as he pulled up his weapon, Rei standing behind him. "Huh. Looks like he survived the first shot. Guess he's special or something."

"Rei-chan! You're all right!" Cyber Moon said, tears gathering in her eyes.

Rei glared darkly at Ran, but held her arms firm. Any power she summoned could be quickly turned on her friends, so she resolved to hold herself back until Ran was removed from the scene.

"What is this? Why are you together?" Ran growled, his black aura withering slightly as his body struggled to regenerate. "This... This is all wrong. This isn't what was supposed to happen..."

"I must... disagree... dark prince..."


Everyone in the area suddenly felt a deep chill down their backs, and Ran gasped as he caught sight of a bundle of rags and bandages that shambled past Ranma and Rei and steadily approached him.

"Prophet! You're here! Finally!" Ran said, looking relieved. "I n-need your help!"


"Who's THAT?" Tuxedo Kamen said as he limped over to the others.

"I... I have no idea," Rei mumbled. "I saw a few of the other vampires before I... well, before this happened, but I don't remember him."

Ranma, meanwhile, had wasted no time in moving to assist Rayden once he saw the state that the Russian was in, and was busy cutting away at the withering shadows while pulling the gunman free. "Damn, you've lost a lot of blood. Can you walk at all?"

"I will manage," Rayden said emotionlessly. "More important is that our enemy does not escape here. This 'Prophet'... I sense great darkness within him."

"Of course you do," Ranma groused. "Because we can never just spontaneously run into friendly people full of joy and handing out back rubs. No, it's always darkness."

"It is something of a trend," Rayden agreed.


"You need... MY help...?" The Prophet rasped, walking up the vampire lord.

"Nothing has gone right!" Ran claimed, standing up straight as his wound continued to slowly heal. "My inner circle has been destroyed, and the humans are closing in! Even Mars has done nothing to ensure my victory here! Guide me, Prophet!"

"Guide... you?" The Prophet said, lowering his gaze as his magic crystal whirled about his head lazily. "Lord Ran... surely you don't... think that destiny... accomplishes itself? Your efforts here... deserve nothing less... than total defeat..."

"What?! But you said I would win!" Ran growled, his fangs lengthening in irritation.

"I led you... to a powerful weapon... I blotted out... the very sun... to strengthen your kind..." the Prophet's eye narrowed. "Under these... conditions... how could you... not win? Only... your own... incompetence... is to blame... I am not... the leader... of the nosferatu... YOU are... and you... have failed."

Thump! Ran collapsed onto his knees, his eyebrow twitching as the Prophet gazed down at him.


"There they are!" Sailor Mercury shouted as she spotted her allies - and Rei, who was on the edge as such - standing before a clearing in the graveyard.

"It looks like Mars is no longer hostile. That's good," Asuka said as she sprinted next to her cousin.

Ranma turned around to see everyone else that had accompanied them except Hunter approaching from behind. All looked somewhat worse for wear, being either exhausted or injured in combat, although Snake and Sailors Venus and Jupiter looked the worse off, as they were much dirtier and slightly charred.

"What's going on here?" Sailor Uranus demanded upon seeing two unfamiliar figures talking in a clearing ahead. "Are those enemies?"

"We're pretty sure, but something weird's going on," the pigtailed man answered.


"No," Ran suddenly said, his eyes flaring red as his power swirled around him. "No, I will not accept this!"

He glared up at the Prophet, and then suddenly lifted up into the air, darkness swirling around him like a whirlwind.

"How dare you, mortal, think to judge me? I treated you as an ally because you were useful to me, but if your previous counsel was truly such rubbish and you have nothing further to offer, then your only remaining use is as food!"

The Prophet snorted, utterly unimpressed. "I will not lose... to a vampire... stupid enough to fight... during the day..."

Ran blinked. "What?"

And then the vampire lord's eyes widened as he felt the gentle warmth of the sun kiss his flesh.

"Wh-What? No!" Ran shouted, sinking rapidly as the darkness that surrounded him quickly evaporated.

Everyone else stared upward as a hole that suddenly appeared in the dark barrier suddenly began to expand, causing the small beam of sunlight shining onto Ran to grow outward as the darkness disintegrated.

"The barrier is dying!" Sailor Mercury said, quickly checking the readings with her computer. "It's been cut off from its power source! It can no longer sustain its size!" Rei winced as the sunlight covered her, and stealthily moved closer to Ranma as she felt her powers wane.

"With the vampire race... all but stamped out... in Japan... I have no need... to banish the sunlight... any longer..." the Prophet rasped, stepping up to Ran as the vampire lord struggled to get to his feet. "However... my task... is not yet... done..."

"You... You'll pay for this!" Ran shouted desperately, feeling the burning pain within his chest wound with increased intensity. "You think you can betray us and get away with it?"

"Enough of... your foolishness..." the Prophet gasped, extending a hand toward the nosferatu.

Vwom! A magic circle flickered into existence underneath Ran, and numerous jagged runes appeared around the circumference and started to rotate around the greater circle, which itself resembled an eight-spoked wheel with spikes.

"Wait, what's happening here?" Sailor Venus asked, taking a step back.

"I don't know, but I doubt it's good for Boss Bloodsucker," Akina said, chuckling lightly.

"Wait! Please!" Ran shouted as the energy was sapped from his legs, causing him to fall to his knees. "Listen to me! Prophet! There is still a way! I still possess much power! With your help-"

"Your power... will be the wine... of my masters... lurking in the Immaterium... my latest gift... to Chaos..." The Prophet's crystal began to shine brightly in a cascade of colors as it trembled in the air above his head. "Vampires have... a very strong... psychic presence... their souls... tainted... yet rich... a feast... for the daemons... of the Warp..."

"Please! Rei!" Ran cried desperately, falling onto his side as he reached out toward the vampiress. "Help me! I'm your only chance! You think they will let you live? You think this world has any place for us?"

Rei raised an eyebrow as she held out a hand. "Us? Even now, you're still trying to box me in with you pathetic monsters?" She closed her hand into a fist and then turned her thumb down. "Go to hell, Master."

"GEEYAAAAAAAAH!!"


The Prophet stepped back as great torrents of blackness suddenly burst from the ground beneath Ran, seeping upward into the sky.

"Ah hah... so much... so much power..." he whispered, watching as the darkness swirled together in the sky above, creating a black, inverted whirlpool as that section of sky began to darken once more.

"Hey, Rags!" Asuka shouted suddenly. "Are you almost done here? We have a few questions for you!"

"Can't we just blast him?" Sailor Uranus asked.

"Well, although he apparently DID help the vampires, I think killing their leader might make up for that," Cyber Moon said uncertainly, scratching her head.

The Prophet seemed to ignore the warriors behind him as he staggered forward into the circle. "Yes... it is... time... at last..."

He fell to his knees, and several of the assembled men and women behind him flinched as parts of the bandage wrappings bulged and tore themselves apart.

"What the HELL is that?" Sailor Jupiter shouted, her face darkening as a pair of giant fleshy fins tore out of the Prophet's back. "What's going on?"

"Ha ha! Yes... Yes! Thank you! Thank you, Master!" The Prophet screamed to some entity not present as his body swelled further, ripping apart his ragged clothes and the other wrappings.

His face elongated and hardened to form a curved beak at the same time his fingers grew into hawk-like talons, and as his body continued to contort and grow, feathers began to sprout all over as mystical, colorfully woven tapestries grew to clothe him.

"This energy... it's definitely daemonic in origin," Sailor Mercury said grimly.

"Hold your fire, people," Asuka said calmly, stepping to the head of the group.


"Ahh! Yes... it's complete! At last!" The Prophet gasped, his voice turned from a hoarse rasp to an echoing screech as he felt the strength coursing through his new body.

His crystal glowed brightly as it hovered above, and with a gesture of his talons, it turned into a massive staff nearly as tall as he was, and capped by an even bigger iridescent jewel.

As he stretched out his new wings, the newly ascendant daemon turned toward the forces behind him.

"After all my work and sacrifice, at last the Changer of Ways has blessed me! Behold, the fruit of all my suffering and scheming!" The Prophet crowed, sparks of pure energy flaring between his talons. "I am a Lord of Change, the greatest of Tzeentch's servants!"

"That's... uh... great. I guess," Asuka deadpanned. "And what do you plan to DO, now that you're a giant magical vulture?"

"Ha ha ha ha..." the daemon's echoed caused everyone in the vicinity - save Akina, who was too strong psychically - to wince from hearing the noise bounce around in their minds, amplified. "Fear not, humans. As I once said to my... late master, I am but a servant to the fates. I seek to do you no harm... for the moment."

The Lord of Change's beak twisted into an avian imitation of a smile. "You will all play a great part in the coming conflict."

Tiro blinked in surprise. "Wait... ALL of us?"

"Not you," The Lord of Change hissed, which made Tiro feel somewhat disappointed and relieved at the same time. "... Not you either," the daemon amended, pointing to Tuxedo Kamen.

"HEY!"

"So what you're telling me," Asuka interrupted, "is that you've seen some kind of spooky future vision, or have some plan from your ultimate master, and we're important parts of it? That's kind of sad."

The Lord of Change raised its head. "Oh?"

"I mean, considering that only one side is going to leave this place," Asuka continued, making a hand signal behind her that had all the DAPC officers raising their weapons, "isn't it depressing to know that we're a more vital part of your master's plan than you?"

The Lord of Change backed up a step, its eyes narrowing. "You really think to fight me? After I said I would spare you?"

"Yes, and what a generous offer you make us while surrounded by our guns and half a dozen magical girls," Asuka drawled. "Now either put down your giant staff and surrender, or we're going to decorate this whole graveyard with your shiny new feathers."

"Insolence..." the daemon growled, flapping his wings as he took to the air. "I will-"


Asuka didn't give him any more time to talk, throwing her arm forward. "Open fire! Try to shoot off his wings!"

"Hah!" The Lord of Change held his staff before him, and the storm of incoming bullets deflected uselessly off the barrier as he slowly continued to gain altitude.

'Strange. She... She is right,' the daemon thought to himself as a few magical attacks pummeled his shield, weakening it considerably. 'Although these humans feature prominently in Master Tzeentch's plans, I have received no further orders from him! Could it be that I've reached the end of my usefulness?'

His eyes narrowed as he watched the DAPC officers scatter below him, trying to catch him in a crossfire and get by his shields. 'No. How can that be, right when I've attained daemonhood? This must be a test! Yes, a test! If I can-'

"Jupiter Thunder Crash!"

The daemon's thoughts were interrupted as a bolt of lightning lanced straight down from the whirlwind of darkness above, slamming into him and shattering his concentration as electricity seared his body.

BWOOM!! The winged daemon was then sent plummeting to the ground as a round from Judgment's cannon slammed into him, bypassing his defenses.


"Yeah! Good shot!" Sailor Jupiter cheered, giving the Russian a thumbs-up as she grinned.

Rayden's entire body trembled for a moment as the recoil threatened to cause his legs to buckle. "I am reaching my limit. The vampire lord did considerable damage before he perished."

Jupiter's expression grew serious. "Just hang in there, all right? We're going to get through this!"

Honestly, she was now fairly worried about the Russian; because he always wore the same mask of indifferent determination, she had easily dismissed the fact that his legs and arms had been badly shredded, and were still bleeding slightly as he fought to hold up his enormous weapon.

In fact, enough of his coat had been torn away to reveal a tattoo printed in blocky black font on the back of his left shoulder: a simple number, consisting of "091".

'Huh. Kind of an odd tattoo to get. Seems kind of familiar, too...'


THOOM! A shock wave of force blasted outward from the Lord of Change as he bounced to his feet, throwing aside gravestones and monuments along with a prodigous amount of dirt.

"The power of Chaos is at my fingertips!" His voice boomed, the staff floating in the air as spheres of energy appeared around him. "None may face me and live!"

"Up here, Tweety!" Akina shouted, leaping off of a tree branch and diving into the greater daemon like a comet.

SSSKRK! The energy bolts flew in a series of wild, desperate arcs as Akina threw the full might of her telekinetic powers into a long slash. The spheres of power promptly destabilized and shattered, and the Lord of Change was forced back from the blow, unhurt but off-balance.

"World Shaking!"

BWOOM! The daemon managed to block the shock wave attack by plowing his staff into the ground, though the immortal creature grew more irritated as the officer's constant covering fire started to penetrate his defenses.

BLAM! BLAM! The Lord of Change lurched forward as Ranma unloaded his Jackal - no longer possessed, Ranma noted - into the daemon's back, and he launched a quick wave of force in that general direction that barely missed Ranma as the pigtailed man leapt away.

"Deep Submerge!"

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"

"Minigun Barrage!"

"Tekai-kun, really, you don't need to shout anything when you shoot at somebody."

The greater daemon screeched in pain as the magical bolts tore into him, and parts of his body started to break away as his grasp on his power began to wane.

"Moon, get above him and finish this! Somebody slow him down!" Asuka shouted.

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Mercury shouted, firing a wave of ice at the daemon that caught its legs as it tried to take to the air again.

"Venus Love Me Chain!" A stream of hearts wrapped around the greater daemon, entangling its wings and keeping it grounded even as the massive avian smashed apart the ice holding it down.

Clack! Cyber Moon's arms split apart, revealing a pair of glowing yellow rods that crackled ominously as she started the charging procedure for her disruptor cannons, pointing them straight down at the winged monstrosity.

"So, for the victory part tonight?" Snake asked as he walked up next to Kyle, "I was thinking lasagna and then CAKE. With a little wedding cake guy on top, laying on its back with a pin in its chest."

"Nice," the blond said approvingly.

SCCREEEEEEAAAAAAAAH!! The Lord of Change's final death screams were lost in the unyielding screech of Usagi's disruptor weapons, and everybody near the point of impact averted their eyes as the blast blew out a wave of dust and dirt.


"Was... Was that it?" Sailor Neptune asked, stepping away from the massive chasm where Cyber Moon had fired.

Ranma approached the edge of the blast zone cautiously, and sweatdropped once he saw that the beam had drilled a massive shaft straight down. He couldn't see the bottom, but the hole was about three meters wide, and an almost constant stream of warm gases wafted up out of it.

"Well, it's a little deep, but it's not a bad grave," he said, smirking as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe we could carve something on a rock for him, too? 'Here lies the Prophet. Finally achieved lifelong dream of turning into a giant monster bird. Never achieved lifelong dream of living as one.'"

"I really would have preferred he surrendered," Asuka said, sighing. "There are still quite a few answers I'd like to have."

"It is not my intention to spoil our victory here," Rayden said, using Judgment as a crutch as he staggered over to the police captain, "but is there not one more midian that needs to be purged?" He not-so-subtlely glanced over at Rei, who was being tackle-hugged by a blubbering Cyber Moon.

Asuka frowned deeply, and then shrugged. "I don't have an easy answer for that. It may seem hypocritical to try and save her when we've barely hesitated to kill so many others... but what can I do?" She smiled softly as she put away her sidearm. "She was a casualty here, but one that might be salvaged. I'm willing to give Sailor Mars another shot at choosing her own fate."

Rayden was silent for several seconds. "I see. Perhaps this is best," the Russian mumbled.

"Hey! Watcha talking about over here, looking so gloomy?" Sailor Jupiter demanded, slapping Rayden on the back as she appeared and not noticing as the man's body shuddered from the pain. "Cheer up! We won!"

"Victorious or not, I must dress my injuries," Rayden mumbled weakly, trying to stagger away.

"Oh, no you don't! You're coming with us!" The ponytailed girl said, suddenly grabbing the gunman's bloodied arm and pulling it over her shoulders so that she could help hold him up.

"Yeah-ah! Victory party at the HQ!" Tiro cheered.

"Just to set the record straight, I never hurt anyone who was on our side, ever," Snake said loudly as he dashed past Tiro. "Race ya to the cars!"

"All right! Fine! I'm sorry too!" Rei shouted desperately as she tried to pry Cyber Moon off of her. "Let go already, Meatball Head! Everyone's leaving!"

"Do you feel up to a bit of celebrating?" Sailor Neptune said to Uranus, passing by the pair of transformed Senshi.

"That depends; do you feel up to grinding yourself against the police captain all night?" The blonde replied, her eyes narrowing.

Neptune blinked repeatedly. "Wait... was that a question, or an offer?"

"MICHIRU!"

"A party sounds like a nice idea," Akina said wearily, "but what a gyp. With all these new chicks, there's almost twice as many girls as guys! We need some new testosterone around here!"

"There is that masked dude," Kyle offered, jabbing a thumb behind him.

"Really? Where?" The redhead asked, perking up.

"Over behind that shrine, rolling around in the fetal position," the superhuman clarified. "I think he got shot somehow."

"WHY?! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?!"

"And so dusk falls upon the great vampire uprising, and the black souls of Ran and his damned covenant are banished to the underworld at last."

Kimiko's voice was neither jubilant nor sorrowful as she walked down the Tokyo streets toward Ran's apartment penthouse, her mantle blowing gently in the late afternoon breeze.

"I wonder how many vampires are even left in Japan? I've seen no indications that the ones that gathered at the warehouses survived."

To Kimiko, the near-extinction of her species within the country was neither a source of great sadness nor pleasure, but rather a fact to simply be accounted for. While Ran had found great joy in unlife, Kimiko's state of being was one of dull acceptance. She accepted what she was and what she had to do, but there were very few things that could enthrall her to the point of emotion.

Of course, one of them was the abnormally tasty blood of a certain police officer, and honestly, she desperately regretted leaving that behind.

'My unlife, dreary and empty as it is, is still preferred to the unknown void that lays beyond the veil,' the midian thought as she gazed at the horizon between Tokyo's towering buildings. 'I could not possibly risk fighting the more competent of the DAPC's warriors, much less the entire battle group.'

"The sun will fall soon. I really am somewhat disappointed that the darkness enshrouding the planet dispersed so quickly after it appeared. It would have made things far more convenient."

With that complaint still on her lips, she turned the corner.

Kimiko was fairly surprised to see traffic cones and police tape surrounding the entire block dominated by Ran's apartment complex, completely devoid of people. "What? That's strange..."

Pushing aside one of the flimsy fold-up barricades, Kimiko walked up to the front door, frowning as she saw a notice of condemnation posted there.

"What's this about? A bomb threat?" She asked aloud, rolling her eyes and tearing the note off. "I don't have time for this nonsense..."


Entering the building, she found every indication that the structure had been evacuated during the day, with several doors left open to reveal that the other apartments had been rapidly emptied of everything of value.

Everything still worked, however, so Kimiko entered the elevator, inserted her key, and then pressed in the code that led directly to the penthouse.

"Hmmm... I see..."

Upon reaching Ran's complex, it was fairly obvious that the room had been visited since she had last been there. It wasn't anything as obvious as furniture being moved or electronics stolen, but objects had definitely been shifted out of place, especially around the desk and bookcase.

Also, there was a wrapped present on the floor next to a pile of swept up vampire dust. That was something of a clue.

Atop the box was a small paper card, and Kimiko gently picked the card up and opened it, making sure there were no wires or bulges that could be a trigger of some sort.

"To: Children of the Night," she read aloud, looking annoyed, "Sorry about the mess we left behind. We made sure to sweep up as much bodyguard as we could, but you have a very thick carpet and we figured using a vacuum cleaner to gather bodily remains was kind of messed up. As an apology, please accept this gift. Best Wishes Until We Hunt You Down and Destroy You All, DAPC. PS: It's totally not a bomb. Honest."

A vein popped up on Kimiko's head as she finished reading the note.

Clop! The window on the side of the penthouse opened up, and Kimiko flung the package outside as hard as she could.

BWAKOOM!! The vampiress grit her teeth as the explosion caused the window next to her to shatter, blowing glass shards into the room and scattering them all over the floor.

"Idiots. And Ran's an even worse idiot for losing to them," Kimiko seethed as she turned toward the desk.

"I just need to gather his account information and then I can leave this place and all its bad memories behind."

Ran had an extensive fortune from his occasional business dealings, which usually involved killing someone important and taking their assets, or hypnotizing humans into making simple and extremely costly business deals with him.

As for Kimiko, though vampires rarely wanted for money, she had no intention of camping from here on out, nor did she want to have to use the same methods for acquiring cash that Ran used. Hypnosis was not her strong suit, and killing the rich and powerful attracted far too much attention for her tastes.

"Here's his account information," she mumbled, pocketing the proper documents. "Now if I remember correctly, he also had some petty cash hidden away in here..."

She shifted through the papers in the drawers, and then opened the cabinet above the desk surface.

"Gwah!" The vampiress jumped backward as she saw a block of plastic explosives attached to the inside of the cabinet door, along with a trigger mechanism that she was completely unfamiliar with.

"Wh-What is th-this? Another one?" She stuttered, backing away into a gas fireplace.

Clunk! A clock that had been placed above the fireplace fell onto its face as she nudged it with her elbow, and Kimiko's face went white as she saw a small explosive charge pressed to the back.

"H-How many bombs did they put here?" The nosferatu asked, her voice shaky.

It was about that time that thirty-two distinct detonator triggers began beeping as they began activating their various firing charges.

Kimiko sighed, slumping onto the floor. "I really hope vampiric mind control doesn't work in the afterlife... I don't want to work for Ran anymore..."


BWOOOM!! BWOOM!! KABOOOM!! BWOOOM!!

The apartment complex shook considerably as the topmost apartments were nearly vaporized by a rapid string of explosions, briefly lighting up the sky before a shower of smoking debris and flame rained down onto the streets below.

And so ended that turbulent day as the sun finally sank below the horizon, finally allowing true nightfall to grace the weary city of Tokyo.

Vampires dusted: 13
Vampires absorbed into the Immaterium to feed daemonic powers: 368
Ghouls smashed: 41
Senshi corrupted: 1
Graves desecrated: 90
Major structures heavily damaged: 2

End Chapter 11