SC - [FFML][Fanfic][SM] (repost/revision) Terrible Things to Waste: Part 3

Fri Jan 8 12:25:08 PST 1999

[The scene pans through a place that had been ravaged with 
 chaos and devastation.  As it pans further, it approaches a dark
 figure hunched over his tool of death and destruction, the silencer
 who must put the final touches upon the doom wrought to this once
 majestic place.  The scene finally focuses upon the dark figure as he 
 broods.]

Bastion: <mumbling as he dips his mop in the water pail> Last 
damn time I volunteer to host a New Year's party. 
<Looks up> Oh hello.  Um, just doing a little cleaning, and I humbly
wish you all a great 1999 as well as presenting another installment of 
Terrible Things, (three more payments and it's mine ya know).

Before we can begin, a warning to those looking at this for the first
time, (considering anyone in their right minds knows to stay away
after the first time, <evil grin>).    

*NA Dubbish names are being used for my lack of tast-I mean, knowledge
of the Jap. names.

*Strong violence, words, etc, nothing you wouldn't see on FOX or anything.

*Furry felines changing to humans like crazy in this one . . . Well no, I'm lying,
but we can pretend. . .  

*I have a Comment deficience, and I need a steady diet of Vitamin C&C, so
please don't hesistate to donate some of them to me.  Please?
It could make the difference between life and death. 

Today's dedication goes to Doug Whiddon, wherever he is, 
may he rest in peace.

Terrible Things to Waste

Part 3: Inquiry

	The sun slowly crept over the horizon, as Tracer passed by
shops crammed together along the street.  His long black bangs
shielded his face from the incoming rays of the sun, as well as
the bustling crowd of people off to work.  

	He needed to concentrate on his main objective.  He was the
hunter and the Society was his prey, but the trail was cold.  To
pick it up, he needed to think like his quarry, anticipate their
movements. Once he knew what they were after, he'd have a place
to start.  

	What would his prey want from this dimension?

	Perhaps they wanted the power he could sense residing within
this time stream.

	The scent wasn't obvious when he first arrived, but slowly his
senses caught it.  He compared the feeling to reaching into a
well and any beings who could reach its depths

would have to be very powerful indeed.  Tracer had a feeling
that if he could find these beings, his prey wouldn't be too far
behind.

	It was strange, really, Tracer never had any sensitivity to
power like this before, but now he could 'smell' its odor around
him.  Tracer knew it had to be the sword.  It already saved him
from the grips of death itself, gave him visions when needed,
and, now, his new found sensitivity.  Tracer could see the
pattern, the sword was slowly bestowing him new abilities. 
Given the power of the sword, the possiblities were endless.  

	Oh, he could taste the sweetness of his revenge against Halebit.

	Unfortunately, Tracer's unfamiliarity with the dimension's
history posed the biggest obstacle to his revenge.  

	"Damn my luck," he cursed quietly.

	Before Tracer could sulk further, something caught the corner
of his eye.  He whirled around to behold a newspaper being
displayed within the protective casing of steel.  Tracer
inspected a slot where one would have to deposit coins to gain
access to the paper within.  Tracer, unfortunately, lacked the
proper coins to get a paper.  

	Tracer growled to himself at his predicament and pondered a
solution.  A moment later, the man smirked.

	"I'm a genius,"  Tracer breathed to himself while flexing his
right hand.  

	The action caused the lower part of his right arm became
engulfed in a silver liquid.  It spread to cover his hand and
extended past his hand to come to a sharp point at each finger
tip.  The man took his index finger and inserted it into the
slot.  Getting no results after a minute or so of prodding,
Tracer impatiently jabbed three of the sharp fingers into the
crevice of the door.  He ripped open the box, snatched a
newspaper, and casually walked away from the scene of the crime. 

	After getting safe distance away, Tracer read the headline that
first caught his eye:

	"Where Are They Now?  An Update on the Mysteriously Heroic
Sailor Scouts."

	The picture underneath, though, not the headline, had drawn his
attention.  The picture featured a girl wearing a tiara and a
skimpy dress with a particular hair style that stood out in his
mind.  The two pig tails of hair jutting out of her head
resembled a style of the woman in his vision that led him to
this dimension.  The picture resurrected Tracer's memory of the
vision.  He remembered her elegant beauty, especially her large,
expressive lovely blue eyes that reminded him of. . . of. . . 

	Tracer shook his head and reminded himself he had to figure out
what Halebit wanted with these Scouts.  Suddenly, one historical
term stood out in his mind.

	"The Silver Crystal,"  he whispered to himself.

	Tracer scanned the article:

	". . .The Scouts have made numerous appearances around the city
stopping crimes and defeating monsters.  The Juuban district of
Tokyo that used to be a hotbed for Sailor sightings,  nowadays
has been lucky to hear one dramatic speech . . . "        

	Tracer dropped the paper.  The hunt had commenced.

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The early morning light filtered through the blinds of
Victoria's bedroom window.  The young child rubbed her eyes and
welcomed the new day with ambivalence.  She really didn't want
to leave the comfort of her bed, but, then again, she didn't
want to miss the morning cartoons.  

	Slowly, the frail child crawled out of bed and stretched life
into her limbs.  The electrifying sensation of circulation
forcibly squeezed her large violet eyes shut, while making her
hold her breath.  She had always loved stretching, especially in
the morning.  It gave her an opportunity to feel alive, to feel
good.  She enveloped herself in the sensation as long as she
stand before relaxing limbs with a huff.  

	Upon opening her eyes, she noticed her dark hair hanging over
her eyes.  She moved to run her hand through her hair to clear
her view, when she noticed her small hand.  She stared at it
wondering just how much power that hand possessed.  She knew
this hand could breath life into the dying, but could it bring
about the final silence of death?   She sometimes had nightmares
where she lost control of her power and everyone she ever loved,
everything she ever cared for would be obliterated.  After the
first such nightmare, she vowed that she would never lose
control to insure the safety of her friends and that her
nightmares ended with her waking up.

	Harmless nightmares.  Victoria giggled.  Yes, that's all they
were, harmless nightmares.     

	The child giggled once more and threw her hands to her sides,
she wondered if there was going to be pancakes for breakfast. 
Victoria could smell a strong scent of something sweet being
cooked down the hall.  Letting her nose lead the way, Victoria
wondered out of her room towards the kitchen.  The closer she
got to the kitchen, the more her nose twitched at the scent.  As
she crossed the living room toward the kitchen, the small child
closed her eyes relishing the  fragrance.  Once Victoria could
feel the cool tile of the kitchen under her feet, her eyes
fluttered open.  

	"Eeep!"  she yelped as she nearly jumped out of her skin.

	A tall stranger with long blond hair stood over the stove,
eyeing the cuisine cooking on a skillet.  The yelp caused the
stranger to whisk around. 

	"Huh? Wha-?"  The stranger caught a glimpse of a small figure
rushing out of the kitchen, "Who's there?"  

	As Victoria rushed down the hall, she ponder the situation. 
She knew that they were not expecting company last night and she
had no idea what this stranger was doing here.  Perhaps she was
a homeless person who had snuck in that morning to use their
kitchen.  Whatever the case, the stranger had seen her. 
Victoria quickly ducked into the master bedroom where she could
see the continuous contour of two bodies laying on the bed.  

	Victoria shook the closer of the two bodies, "Wake up, wake up!
 There's a strange lady in our house!"

	"Whaa?"  One of the bodies underneath the sheets groaned. 

	"There's a strange lady in the kitchen!"  Victoria whispered as
she eyed the doorway.

	The grouchy Erica casted the sheets aside as she drearily sat
up, "A burglar?"

	"I think so," Victoria replied sheepishly.

	"Alright, then, I'll throw out this strange lad-" 

	As Erica began to get up, her memory of last night's events
reemerged.  The dinner, the Time Guardian's arrival, and their
conversation with the blond woman.

	"Waita minute."

	Suddenly, the blond stranger entered the room, causing Victoria
to yelp once more and jump to Erica's side.  The stranger's
apprehension manifested itself in her smile as Erica eyed her
suspiciously.

	"So you're the one scaring Vicky, huh?"  

	Cindy smiled weakly in reply, "I'm sorry, really, I didn't
mean-"

	"Don't."  Erica raised her hand.

	"You don't have to apologize," Erica's lips curled to a coy
smile, "I understand, Cindy."

	The blond sighed as Erica crept out of bed.  Victoria shadowed
Erica, staring at this stranger, Cindy, who smiled back in
return.  

	Erica's nose soured as a foul smell hit her senses, "Is
something burning?"

	Cindy's eyes shot open, "Oh, my Lord!  They're burning!"

	Running out of the bedroom, Cindy rushed to the rescue the
remnants of breakfast.

	Erica followed the panicked blonde to the kitchen streaming a
steady strings of black smoke.  Within the kitchen, Erica found
Cindy desperately trying to extinguish the smoldering food upon
the skillet.  Erica stifled a laugh before coming to Cindy's aid
and put out breakfast.

	"What's going on?"  A tired voice yawned from across the
kitchen causing Cindy to freeze. 

	Erica turned slightly toward her partner with the disheveled
green hair, snickering, "Oh, Cindy and I were just putting the
finishing touches on breakfast, that's all, Miche."

	By now, Cindy's face burned with embarrassment, unable to
believe her bad luck.  First, she had scared the child and, now,
she had ruined breakfast.  The morning couldn't have gotten off
to a worst start.  She had to alleviate all of this somehow.

	Cindy quickly whisked around and bowed apologetically, "I am
truly sorry for all trouble I  have caused.  I'll clean this up
immediately."

	The weary Michelle smiled, "Cindy, it's okay.  We'll help clean
this up."

	Cindy felt her embarrassment drain from her face, and lifted
her head.  As she lifted her head, Cindy caught sight of the
small child clutching Michelle's leg.  

	Cindy smiled gingerly at the child as she knelt down and
offered her hand, "Um, hello.  I'm Cindy.  And you are?"

	Michelle looked down at the child, replying, "She's Victoria. 
We adopted her a few years ago."

	Cindy gazed at Victoria, trying to seem as disarming as
possible, "I see.  So are you always this shy?"

	Victoria nodded as Michelle smiled, "Not always, but it takes
her awhile to warm up to people sometimes."

	"Alright,"  Cindy punctuated as she sprang to her feet, "I
think I should start cleaning up the mess I made."

	Abruptly, the kitchen became engulfed in crimson light, and as
the light faded Victoria whispered;

	"Pluto."

	Cindy found herself staring into the stern visage of the Time
Guardian, "You're presence is requested, Traveller."

	"Wh-"  Cindy uttered, before vanishing in a flash of crimson.

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The morning sun welcomed three girls as they entered the
grounds of the Cherry Hill Temple.  

	The tallest of the three looked down the street, "She's late."  

	"Yes, she's very late,"  her friend added as she checked the
tray she held, "And the cookies are getting cold."

	The third girl quietly nodded and joined the tall brunette in
her gaze down the street.  A stiff breeze blew as they all stood
there, waiting for their friend.      

	After a few minutes, the third girl could see a figure in the
distance rushing towards them, "There she is."

	The brunette folded her arms as their tardy friend joined the
group, 	"Man, you're late again.  I thought you promised to get
better at this?" 

	"Geez, this is really bad habit you've gotten yourself into,"
the other commented as she carefully steadied her tray as she
straighten the red ribbon in her hair.

	"Yeah. What kept you, Amy?"  Serena turned to their exhausted
blue haired friend.

	Amy took a moment to recover her breath and huffed, "Sorry, I'm
late, you guys. I was talking with Greg this morning, and - "

	Instantly, the three girls had huge grins pasted on their
faces.  Amy quickly went silent realizing her mistake, but it
was too late.

	The brunette nudged Amy in the side and chimed, "It's getting
pretty hot between the two of you, huh?"

	"Well, uh, not really, Lita - "

	The blonde girl next to Serena moved to the other side of Amy
and spoke with a tone of controversy, "So have you guys kissed
yet?"

	Amy's face turned to a dark shade of red as she squeaked,
"Mina!  Uh, um, let's not keep Raye waiting."

	"She's right you guys,"  Serena urged much to Amy's comfort,
"You know how Raye gets when you keep her waiting too long."

	The girls standing on either side of Amy shrugged to each other
in agreement.  The last thing they wanted to be welcomed with
was one of Raye's tirades.

	As the girls approached the temple, Amy noticed something amiss.

	"Serena, where's Darien?"

	Serena's expression harden subtly, "He's in Osaka."

	"Since when?"  Amy coughed.

	"He called this morning."  Serena's voice rung with
disappointment, "Apparently they needed his help with some lab
experiment or something."

	"Did you tell him about our situation?" Amy incredulously
inquired.

	"Yes, he said he would try to hurry back here,"  Serena kept
her eyes transfixed on the temple entrance.

	The four girls entered the temple in silence.  

- -------------------------------------------------------------------

	"And she convinced Sailor Pluto to keep the Traveller here," 
Luna internally cringed as Raye's eyes grew larger, and her
scowl grew deeper.

	Luna felt the young priestess was taking the news better than
she had expected, but couldn't help but notice the whiteness of
Raye's knuckles as she gripped her ceremonial white robes
tighter.  The black feline looked for some support from the
young girl seated next to her on the floor of Raye's bedroom.

	"But Puu said she would take her somewhere safe,"  Reenie's
attempt at calming the raven haired priestess failed.  

	"So you're telling me," Raye's temples throbbed as she spoke
each word, "Serena had promised a total stranger to protect her,
even against the advice of Pluto?"  

	The other two glanced at each before answering in unison,
"Well, yes."

	Raye began to implement her deep breathing exercises to
alleviate her urge to scream.  She knew that Luna and Reenie did
not deserve her venting, they were only the messengers.  No it
was Serena that deserved this venting.

	That ditz had finally outstepped her bounds as the leader of
the Scouts because some stranger has a sob story.  Raye
chastised herself for ever believing that naive nincompoop could
responsibly make the right decisions as their leader.  She felt
like such a fool.  She felt so. . . so. . .  betrayed. 

	"Hello Raye, how are you?" Amy's voice made Raye aware of the
four girls in her bedroom.

	"Fine, considering we're starting late. . . *again*,"  the
young priestess growled.

	The tardy streak Amy ran lately irritated Raye almost as much
as Serena's dubiousness.  Amy's tardiness especially irritated
Raye, considering Amy always used to be early to these meeting.  

	Amy lowered her head in shame and spoke softly, "I am really
sorry."

	Serena piped in, "Raye, give her a break, I mean she was
talking to her boyfriend."

	Amy's face reddened as did Raye's but for differing reasons.

	The priestess got right in Serena's face, her brow arched down,
"Listen, Meatball-head, I wasn't getting after her about her
talking to Greg, I'm getting after her about delaying our
meetings."

	Serena narrowed her eyes, but spoke in a calm and tempered
tone, "Raye, just give her a break."

	Serena's calmness fueled Raye's temper further, but before she
could explode the tall brunette interrupted Raye's impending
tantrum.

	"Alright.  Enough with the fighting, we have some serious
business we have to get down to,"  her stern tone was punctuated
by her imposing stance.

	"Fine, Lita.  Let's get going," Raye grumbled as the others sat
in a circle near Raye's bed. 

	As Luna coughed trying to get the meeting started, a white blur
streaked from the rafters directing its course with the black
cat.  Unfortunately, poor aiming caused the white blur to
narrowly miss Serena's head.  Finally, the white mass tumbled
upon the floor until it lost its momentum.  The group whirled
around to see a white, male cat with a crescent shaped mark on
his forehead laying upside-down on the floor.  As the cat tried
to regain his sense of balance, the blonde girl shook her head
and giggled;

	"Nice try Artemis.  However, you missed Luna by about three
feet."  

	The white cat managed to grin at his blonde owner, "Keeping in
practice, the enemy can strike when you least expect!"  

	The other talking cat groaned, "I believe you need practice on
cutting down on catnip, Artemis."

	Her partner's unbroken grin was his only response.		  

	The blonde girl giggled once more as she gingerly set down her
tray of cookies in the middle of the circle, "Okay who wants
cookies!  They're fresh from the oven!"

	"Thanks Mina!"  Reenie hopped to her feet and picked up a
cookie, "I hope these are as good as the last batch!"

	Usually the girls would cautiously approach anything that Mina
would make, but under with the proper instruction from someone
experienced, Mina had proven she could cook.  Everyone quickly
dug into the pile of cookies and took one giant bite out their
sugar enriched treat.  But once the taste settled onto their
tongues everyone spit it out.

	"Man, Mina what happened?" Raye garble in-between coughs.

	The blonde girl was lost for an explaination, "I followed
Lita's recipe exactly as it said, like she told me to."

	The dumbfounded Mina produced the list out of her pocket, which
Raye quickly snatched.

	Raye read over the ingredients carefully and remarked, "Mina,
which sugar did you put in the mix?"

	"Of course, I put in the white stuff in the can with the 'S' on
it. . ."  Mina replied.

	Amy interrupted her before she got any further, "You know,
Mina, salt is also white like sugar."

	"And the sugar at home is marked 'Sugar,'"  the white cat added.

	Mina opened her mouth as she realized she had lost all her wind
in her retort.  

	She bowed her head in embarrassment, "Oh.  Heh, heh, sorry."

	"Can we start now?"  Luna's impatient tone made the girls put
down their cookies, "Anyway, as I was telling Raye earlier, this
time traveler, Cindy, has asked us for our help, and Serena
convinced Pluto to let her stay here, promising her our
services."

	"Yeah, without our consent." Raye shot in, causing Serena to
frown slightly.

	Luna continued, "And Serena wanted to know what you thought of
all this before she proceeded further."

	"I, for one, would like to talk to this 'Cindy' woman, before I
can trust her."  Raye spouted insolently as she crossed her arms
in front of her chest..

	"I must agree with Raye on this one, Serena," Amy declared, "It
would be wise to let us question her to come to any absolute
decision."

	The other girls nodded in approval at this and Raye smiled
smugly at Serena.  Serena had resisted bringing Cindy before the
Scouts since it would involve Pluto.  Serena shivered at the
memory of Pluto's penetrating stare.  

	Yet, Serena knew that her actions were futile, the others were
still too skeptical of her judgment.  Serena sighed in defeat
and turned to Reenie.

	"Reenie, will you please call Pluto on your Luna-P, and ask her
to bring Cindy here at our request."  Serena calmly ordered the
child.

	All the girls gapped in shock, Serena was actually going to
order Pluto, the oldest and wisest Scout of them all, to bring
the Traveller here.  They all believed that the events of last
night had to be a fluke because Pluto never conceded to anyone's
demands.  

	Reenie hesitantly picked up a round black ball, closely
resembling a cat's head, and pressed a sequence of buttons on
the eyes, nose, and mouth.  Taking a moment for the Luna-P to
compute, an image of Pluto's face appeared in its mouth.

	"Yes, Small Lady?"  The Time Guardian asked with restrained
irritation.

	Reenie detected the irritation in Pluto's voice, making her
slightly uncomfortable, "Uh, Serena, by the other Scouts
request, um, would like you to bring Cindy here. . . Please?"

	Pluto felt a tinge of frustration cross her brow.  She did not
have to comply, but she did not want to risk discrediting her
reputation with Serena of the future, the Neo-Queen.  Curse that
Traveller, she couldn't see pass the present with her here.  She
wouldn't lose face, though, if the other girls' ridicule would
change Serena's decision. 

	A slight smile almost cracked Pluto's lips, "As the Queen
wishes."

	Instantly, the image in the mouth went blank, and Pluto
appeared before the group with the blonde Traveller.  The other
girls gasped in unison at her sudden appearance, and smiled
nervously.  The blonde, just now figuring what happened, smiled
back.

	"Uh, hi.  It's nice to finally meet you all,"  the Traveller
stammered, "You must be the  Sailor Scouts, right?"

	"Yup, that's who we are.  Uh, and hi to you too.  I suppose." 
Mina's eyes darted around at the other girls, who were still
trying to find words to say.

	"Sooo," Mina leaned forward, "Do ya wanna a cookie?  Freshly
made this morning by yours truly."

	As the others were about to warn Cindy, someone approached the
door of Raye's room.

	"Hey, Raye, are you in there!"  Came a young male voice, as the
panel door slid open.

	"Oh, no it's Chad!"  Raye exclaimed as she leaped at the door
slamming it shut.

	"Raye!"  Chad yelped in surprise, "What was that for?"

	Raye held the door closed, desperately trying to think of an
excuse.  She couldn't let him see Pluto or the woman or he'd
surely blabber it to the newspaper people who were here a few
days ago.

	"We're talking about private things, Chad.  You know, girl
stuff,"  she shouted sternly through the door, "So buzz off!"

	Chad stepped back from the door, and frowned.  Now he had to
sweep the grounds by himself.  He started to walk away as he
muttered under his breath, "Isn't it a little early to be that
time of the month again?"

	THWAT!

	The bristles of a broom responded by striking Chad on the back
of his head.  He spun around to be met with a glowering Raye
holding a broom posed to strike again.

	"Be glad there aren't any mallets handy,"  she growled and she
slammed the door once more.

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Back inside Raye's room, the girls pondered questions to ask
the blonde Traveller. 

	"So how is it possible for you to travel through time?" Lita
asked cautiously.

	Cindy smiled as she answered the question, "I'm not sure,
exactly.  Legend goes that something my people called the
Genesis Accident ripped a hole through time and space causing
all the survivors to - "

	Amy's loud gasp stopped Cindy in mid-sentence.  Amy had taken
her time to discreetly scan the Traveller with her ever trusty
compact computer.  It fascinated Amy what she could make that
small thing do, from scanning whole wide areas to detecting when
danger was near.  What it was detecting from Cindy disturbed her
greatly.   

	"What is it Amy?"  Serena responded.

	Amy brought her eyes to the Traveller and pointed with a
quivering finger, "She inorganic!"

	"English, Amy, English!"  Raye shouted.

	"She's 75% metal!"  Amy exclaimed.

	Now everyone threw a suspicious gaze at the blonde Traveller. 
She stood firm against their stares, and fought off the feeling
that the Time Guardian cracked a smile at her predicament.

	"Calm down, I was going to explain that.  As a result of the
Genesis Accident, we were blessed with dimensional traveling,
but we were cursed with mercury.  You see, all descendants of
those survivors have the same condition, their blood slowly
turns to mercury.  Many generations died of blood poisoning."

	"So how did you guys survive?" Reenie slid closer in earnest.

	The Traveller smiled softly at the young child and continued,
"One man pioneered a science that used tiny machines that would
run off the mercury in our blood, and it helped our vital organs
to function.  Bio-technology."

	"So little machines are running your heart?"  Mina questioned.

	Cindy nodded.

	"Interesting." Amy tapped her chin thoughtfully.

	Cindy smiled, as well as Serena.  Raye frowned.    	

	Lita broke the momentary silence, "Who is it that's trying to
kill you?"  

	"The Counsule.  A group of five elders that have been
supressing my people, " Cindy inwardly sneered as she pondered a
moment, "They sent two of their Timelords, or soldiers, here to
this dimension, their names are Malance and his superior
Halebit."

	"I see.  How do we know you're not in league with them?"  Raye
eyed the woman suspiciously, "I mean, how come you know so much
about us?"

	Cindy stiffened before forcing a smile, "I know so much about
all of you because I was an historian before I joined the
Society."

	Raye narrowed her eyes, "So that means the guys who followed
you here probably know about us too.  You've put us all in
danger by coming here."

	"No I haven't!  I came to this dimension because I studied it's
history in great deal.  On top of that, it's not even enough.  I
mean, I still don't know your real names, and the names I do
know are wrong anyway," Cindy fought back the tears, "The last
thing I wanted to do was put anyone in harms way."   

	Raye crossed her arms, unimpressed, "That's exactly what you've
done."

	Cindy was speechless, she never wanted that.  She only wanted
their support, not their lives.  She had idolized them in her
youth when she studied history in school.  She was an
inconvenience to them, they hated her.  She could feel the tears
roll down her cheeks.

	'By the Lords, don't let them see me like this.'  Cindy hid her
face in her hands.

	"Listen Raye," Serena stood before Raye, "You have gone too far
this time.  This woman has genuinely gone through a lot.  She
has seen her everyone she ever loved die before her eyes, and
has been forced to fight a losing battle since.  She has
experienced a great deal of anguish and all you can do is dig
the knife in deeper.  Can't you feel her pain?  Can't you feel
some sympathy in your heart?"

	Serena peered into Raye's eyes, "I can."

	Raye couldn't find the words to reply, and neither could any of
the others.  

	Pluto sensed the power of Serena's crystal emanating.  She
looked closely at the crystal situated in Serena's brooch that
hung from the collar of her shirt.  The crystal Serena possessed
was one of the most powerful relics on Earth, and the source of
her abilities as Sailor Moon.  She noticed Serena's Silver
Crystal reacting to her emotional outpour.  They had to be very
strong emotions to spurn such a reaction.  

	Pluto frowned, things were not going according to plan.

- --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Chad rubbed the back of his head, and shuttered at the thought
of Raye chasing after him with a huge mallet around the shrine. 
 Chad found a broom and reluctantly started to sweep around the
shrine without giving it much more thought.  

	He wondered why Raye treated him so rudely in front of her friends, 
even though, by her own private confessions, that she really liked him.  She
could always act so strangely at times, but Chad just shrugged
it off as one of those 'women things.'  

	Chad continued to sweep unaware of a tall dark stranger standing 
at the temples entrance, until, that was, he ran into him.  Chad, jolted back
to reality, found himself looking at the back of the stranger.  

	"Uh, very sorry, sir,"  Chad mumbled in hast as he
apologetically brushed the wrinkled material of the stranger's
dusty trenchcoat, "Would you like a charm or a fire reading?"

	The stranger turned around, giving Chad a good look at the
vertical scar along the right side of his face.  He stared
intently at Chad's face, making the young man incredibly
nervous.  The stranger's intense stare penetrated the thick
brown hair covering the upper half of Chad's face.

	The stranger smirked at the young man's squirming;

	 "Nah.  Just scouting around.  Taking my time." 

	'The scent is strongest here, there's no denying it,' the
stranger's lips curled to a slight smile, 'Soon, so very soon
now.' 

	Tracer patted his sword hidden underneath his trenchcoat that,
unbeknownst to him, glowed with intensity.     

- -End of Part 3-

Side Note:
A huge THANK YOU to David Johnston for helping turn this part
from sucky to medicore.  Thanks Dave.

And of course thanks to you, the readers.  And as much as you want
to deny that you read my stuff, I love ya'll anyway!  Ya know, I'm malevolent 
that way, <wink>.

All original characters are owned and copyrighted by Bastion (c)1999. 
And Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi and in America by DIC.

Thanks for reading, and please come again.

Bastion
bastion at ix.netcom.com

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