Title: Five-Alarm Fire - Chapter 3
Author: Viper Inferno
E-mail: viperdvman@gmail.com
Genre: Action Drama
Rated: PG

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                           Five-Alarm Fire
                          By Viper Inferno

                              Chapter 3

	The next day, at the Dark Kingdom headquarters...

	Queen Beryl sat quietly at her throne, slowly waving her hands 
around her crystal ball as her many minions watched from the walls of 
the throne room. With her crystal, she had projected in the air in front 
of her various moving images of the people of Tokyo carrying on with 
their lives. Scenes ranged from the streets of the Juuban District, to 
Juuban Park, to the Tokyo Tower, to Tokyo Disneyland, to even a soccer 
game in progress. Beryl examined each of them carefully, seeking out a 
target for her next attack as her minions silently watched on.

	"Well, well, well," said Beryl to her minions, "Just look at all
those people carrying on with their pitiful little lives, oblivious to 
their vulnerability. What a perfect opportunity to attack this is." 

	Her minions only nodded to her in agreement, not daring to 
interrupt her thoughts. She had thought about the bounty she had sent 
out, and the rather small response she had gotten from it. However, the 
thought of having a powerful bounty hunter who was once of the Dark 
Kingdom gave her hope, figuring his former loyalty would play a key role 
in motivating him to rid her of the Mars Prince and the Sailor Team, as 
if the money involved wasn't enough. She then turned back to the 
projected images and thought about how perfect of an opportunity it 
would be to lure those sailor senshi out in the open and attack them. 
And in the process, she would also lure the Mars Prince as well. And 
with that plan in mind, she tapped on her crystal ball with her index 
finger, causing the floating image to disappear.


	"Jadeite, Zoisite, Titanius, get your asses in here," Beryl 
harshly summoned. 

	Within moments, Jadeite and Zoisite teleported into Queen 
Beryl's throne room almost in perfect unison and bowed politely to their 
queen. However, Titanius took much longer to arrive, as he walked into 
the throne room no longer than 15 seconds after Queen Beryl's summons. 
"You summoned, Queen Beryl-sama," he said, bowing to her along with the 
other 2. With 3 of her minions assembled, Beryl began her briefing.

	"I have a mission for you. It's time to see just how powerful 
you are, Titanius," said Beryl.

	"He's powerful, Queen Beryl-sama," Jadeite reassured, "I've seen 
him in action many years ago before our first attack on the Moon. He'll 
stand a great chance against those senshi."

	"That's what I'm counting on," said Beryl, "I want to lure those 
sailor senshi into battle on purpose so Titanius can take them out."

	"So where do we want to lure them?" Zoisite inquired.

	"It's a Sunday morning. The people will be all around town," 
Jadeite responded, "Downtown Tokyo sounds like a good place. The urban 
landscape will bottle them all in and make the fight easier."

	"The park is another good place since there're a lot of people 
flocking there. It's a perfect opportunity to steal their energy," said 
Zoisite.

	"Great idea," said Jadeite, "You can probably possess some of 
them too and make it harder for the senshi to take the youma on."

	"But you'll have to concentrate on that pretty little brat, 
Sailor Moon," Beryl rebuts, "She'll be able to heal them in no time."

	"That'll also bring in that little prince of hers too," Jadeite 
added.

	"Wherever you send me, and whoever shows, I'm ready to take 
anything on," said Titanius, "They and the Mars Prince will be a good 
challenge for me on my first mission."

	"Then it's settled. Zoisite, send one of my youma to the park," 
Beryl ordered, "We'll lure those senshi in, as well as those pesky 
princes. Jadeite, you stay here and collect the energy that the youma 
steals. As for you, Titanius, get yourself ready and wait for my order 
to attack," Beryl orders.

	With that, Titanius and Jadeite stood by while Zoisite summoned 
a powerful youma and sent it to the park. With the youma on his way, 
Beryl tapped her crystal ball again and projected a large image of the 
park between her and the 3 men. As they watched on, they hoped that 
their plan would work to not only gather some much-needed energy for 
their Great Leader, but also rid themselves of the Mars Prince and the 
Sailor Team when they show up.


	The Hikawa Jinja...

	"Kyodai, time to get up," Rei called into Kyodai's room.

	Kyodai groaned and began stirring around under his sheets and 
blanket. With thoughts about last night's big date with Minako on his 
mind and lingering in his dreams, he did not want to wake up. Instead, 
he wanted to stay in that dream, reliving last night's date. Although it 
was his second date with the beautiful blonde, it represented the first 
girl he had dated in a little over a year, even if she was 4 years 
younger than he was. He certainly had grown to appreciate her energy, 
whether it's her overly flirtatious moves or her more subtle advances. 
Then, thoughts of her in that ivory halter dress invaded his mind. 'She 
looked so beautiful in that dress. That's a sight I will definitely 
cherish for a long time,' he thought to himself as snuggled himself 
under his blankets even more, 'Although she has her overly giddy and 
flirtatious moments, she sure knows how to be a sophisticated young 
lady. She's not quite like most other younger girls who've thrown 
themselves at me. And she's leagues ahead of Ariana.' 

	Suddenly, his door slid partially open as Rei peeked her head 
inside, "Come on, Kyodai. It's 10:21, time to get up."

	"But I wanna sleep in," said Kyodai.

	"That's because you've been out too damn long last night, 
silly," said Rei, "You're gonna miss brunch."

	Kyodai lifted his head from his pillows, his sheets and blanket 
still covering his boxer-clad body, and sniffed the air. Immediately, he 
picked up the fine morning aroma of sausage cooking. "I smell sausage. 
What're you trying to cook?"

	"Pancakes, scrambled eggs, and sausage," Rei replied, but 
quickly caught on to her brother's sarcasm, "Don't worry, Gabianni's 
helping me. We'll have some milk and orange juice, too."

	"Okay, okay, I'm getting up, he said as he sat up in his bed, 
letting his blanket fall to his waist. However, he was still in only his 
boxers and Rei was still in his room. "Hey Rei, I need a shower," said 
Kyodai, waving his hand at Rei to shoo her out.

	"That's why I'm waking you up now, so they'll be ready by the 
time you use up all the hot water," Rei said sarcastically, "See 'ya, 
Kyodai." 

	With Rei out of his room, Kyodai threw his blanket and sheets 
aside and swung his feet around and to the floor. Thoughts of Minako 
still swam through his mind, thoughts about their shopping at the mall, 
their date being cut short by that Dark Kingdom soldier at the park, and 
the movie afterwards. "Damn, I do need to hose myself down," Kyodai 
muttered to himself under his breath as he rose from his bed and walked 
out of his room, in the direction of the bathroom. Once inside, he 
turned the water on and waited for it to get to the right temperature.

	Moments later, as the water heated up to a hot yet comfortable 
temperature, Kyodai striped off his boxers and stepped inside. "Ahhh, 
perfect," Kyodai said to himself as he relaxed under the showerhead. As 
the comfortably hot water soaked his long hair and streamed down his 
body, thoughts about last night with Minako once again filled his mind. 
The first thoughts to come were those about the park, about how carefree 
and full of energy Minako seems to be. However, the time at the mall 
could've been better if it wasn't for that Dark Kingdom soldier wreaking 
havoc back at Juuban Park. But at least his date wasn't ruined as he and 
Minako showed off some of their best fashions to one another. Then 
finally, thoughts about their movie date flooded his mind as he thought 
to himself, 'Ah, the movie with Minako. That was a great movie though, 
and I spent it with a great girl like her. She does kind of remind me of 
Ariana, though. But at least Minako has some class to her, and can be a 
real lady instead of a ditzy airhead. She looks so damn good too, 
especially in that ivory halter dress she showed me. And she's athletic 
too; she'd make a great cheerleader if she wanted to with all that 
energy she has.' Kyodai's thoughts about that night continued, once 
again focusing on the movie and especially their long kiss afterwards. 
All of a sudden, a burning sensation broke him from his trance, 
"AAAGGGHHH!" He leaped back from the near scalding hot water, almost 
colliding with the wall. Once away from the intense heat, he then heard 
that the toilet had been flushed.

	"Sorry, Kyodai. I just couldn't resist," said Rei, giggling at 
him.

	"I'm gonna pound you, you little brat," Kyodai snarls.

	Rei only giggled again at his displeasure as she dashed out of 
the bathroom. With Rei gone, Kyodai quickly washed his hair and the rest 
of his body before the water would cool down. Once finished in near 
record time, he shut the water off and stepped out of the shower. He 
first dried his long hair, taking his time to soak up all the water from 
his long jet black hair. He then wrapped the towel around his waist and 
marched out of the bathroom and over to his room. There, he finished 
drying his body off and threw the towel aside. Then, he opened his 
wardrobe and began browsing through his rather diverse collection. 
"Hmmm, what to wear," he said to himself as he browsed. And almost as 
quickly as he had opened his wardrobe, he pulled out a red button-up 
shirt and a pair of black jeans. 

	Moments later, fully dressed, he walked out of his room and 
smelled an even stronger aroma of eggs and sausage filling the shrine. 
He easily concluded that brunch was, all nice and ready. So he followed 
the smell all the way into the kitchen, where Rei and Gabianni were 
finishing their cooking. Rei caught him walking in out of the corner of 
her eye and tunes to him. She once again giggled at him, giggling at her 
prank of flushing the toilet on him. 

	"It's not funny Rei," said Kyodai. 

	"What? I thought it was hilarious," said Rei, "Anyway, brunch is 
ready anyway. I'll go get Romano, Yuuichirou, and Grandpa." And with 
that, Rei walked past him, gently brushing herself against his arm in a 
more sisterly manner, and to the hallway. "Hey Yuuichirou, Romano, 
Grandpa, brunch is ready," she hollered down the hallway. And as Kyodai 
was grabbing a few plates to help Gabianni set the breakfast table, the 
other three filed into the dining area like cattle in a stampede. Rei 
then walked into the kitchen and grabbed all the finished breakfast 
items, and took them into the dining area as Kyodai and Gabianni 
finished setting the table. Once she served them all, she took her place 
next to Kyodai at the breakfast table, across from Romano and Gabianni. 
Grandpa sat at the head of the table, with Yuuichirou on the opposite 
end.

	"Wow, Rei, this is actually good," Kyodai commented as he 
partook in Rei's and Gabianni's American-style breakfast.

	"Kyodai!" she said, glaring at him.

	"That's because she had me to baby-sit her through her cooking," 
said Gabianni, "She does a good job when under adult supervision."

	"Geez, Gabianni, you too," Rei snarled, glaring at him too.

	"Adult supervision or not, Rei-san sure did a good job cooking 
breakfast for us," said Yuuichirou as he was digging into the scrambled 
eggs.

	"Thank you, Yuuichirou," said Rei, "At least SOMEONE here 
appreciates my gesture of good will."

	"I'm only picking on you," said Kyodai, "Just like you flushing 
the toilet on me while I was in the shower."

	"It kept you from using all the hot water, didn't it?" Rei said, 
grinning at him mischievously. 

	"But you did do a great job with breakfast. Thank you, 
Rei-chan," said Kyodai, surrendering in their friendly little teasing 
contest.

	"You're welcome, Onii-san," said Rei, giving her brother her 
best smile.

	Halfway through breakfast, Rei's communicator begins beeping 
from her room, loudly enough for all at the breakfast table to hear. 

	"You've got a pager too, Rei-chan?" said Kyodai, surprised that 
most of the girls in Rei's group of friends group have pagers.

	"Excuse me for a moment," she said as she rose from the 
breakfast table and walks into her room. Once inside, she slid her door 
shut and walked over to her desk where she kept her communicator. She 
removed it and pressed a button and answered it, "Rei here."

	"Rei-chan," a voice replied as an image appeared on the screen, 
revealing the face of a blonde-haired girl with her hair pulled up in a 
pair of signature dumplings. "I'm at Juuban Park. There's another youma 
wreaking havoc here, draining the people's energy. I'm sending for the 
other senshi and transforming."

	'Damn, not the Dark Kingdom again,' Rei swore to herself, 'And I 
was having such a good time enjoying breakfast with Kyodai and the 
others.' Rei could've easily counted the number of times that her times 
with her brother not only were cut short by the Dark Kingdom, but will 
be cut short in the future. And those thoughts only fueled her anger. 
"I'll be there," said Rei as she shut off her communicator and quickly 
changed out of her Shinto kimono and into a red t-shirt and black pants. 
She then walked out of her room and back to the breakfast table. "Guys, 
I'm sorry to leave you in the middle of brunch, but I have to run an 
errand for Makoto," she said, coming up with a perfect excuse to cover 
up her duties as Sailor Mars.

	"I understand," said Kyodai "I'll see you later, Imuto-chan. 
Thank you so much for brunch."

	"You're welcome, Onii-san," Rei replied, smiling again as she 
turned and walked to the front door, "You guys can have what's left on 
my plate." She then slid on a pair of black flats and walked out the 
front door of the shrine. Once outside, she quickly turned and ran 
toward the dojo, knowing that know one was there, and hid inside. Once 
inside, she took out her transformation pen.

	"Mars Power, Make-up!"

	Once transformed, Sailor Mars dashed out of the dojo and out of 
the shrine, running in the direction of Juuban Park.


	Juuban Park...

	After a rather quick senshi power-enhanced run to the park, 
Sailor Mars arrived at the park to find Sailor Moon gathering groups of 
children and leading them to safety. She was leading them away from a 
rather odd-looking youma, a sort of human/octopus hybrid. It had a human 
torso, head, and arms with the 8 tentacles of an octopus in place of its 
legs. And in 2 of those tentacles, the youma held a woman hostage as it 
was draining her energy.
 
	Sailor Mars knew she couldn't use a fire attack and risk burning 
the woman. So she leaped over 30 feet in the air, doing a couple of 
somersaults like those of an Olympic gymnast, and landed on the youma's 
tentacle, jabbing it with her high heels. With all her weight driving 
her heel into its tentacle, the youma roared in pain and released its 
grasp on the woman. The woman fell lifelessly to the ground. And with 
the youma writhing in pain, Sailor Moon ran up to the woman and pulled 
her away from the youma and to safety, then withdrew her Moon Stick.

	"Moon Healing Escalation!" 

	She bathed the woman in the pure energy emitted by the Silver 
Crystal, restoring her life. As the woman began to regain consciousness, 
Sailor Moon threw the woman's arm over her shoulder, supporting her 
weight, and carried her out of the battlefield.  Moments later, the 
youma recovered from having one of its tentacles stabbed and wrapped 4 
of its uninjured tentacles around Sailor Mars. It then lifted her into 
the air and began to thrash her about. 

	Quick to think, Sailor Mars engulfed her hands in flames and 
began throwing wild punches at the youma's tentacles, desperately trying 
to get it to release her. But as Sailor Mars charged her right hand with 
a massive ball of fire to throw the money shot, Sailor Jupiter suddenly 
flew at the youma from out of nowhere. Her left heel connected with the 
youma's side, kicking it with bone-shattering force, knocking it to the 
ground and causing it to release Sailor Mars. Once knocked down, Sailor 
Jupiter dashed over to the youma and grabbed a hold of its body and 
lifted it over her head. But as she was about to give it an earth-
shaking body slam, a few men tackled her from behind, causing her to 
drop the youma.

	Sailor Mars's eyes opened wide in pure amazement. "Oh my god," 
she gasped as she backed from another group of men and women slowly 
advancing toward her like zombies. "USAGI!" she summoned fiercely.

	Sailor Moon immediately dashed over to Sailor Mars to find out 
what was happening.
 
	"That youma's controlling some of the people," Sailor Mars 
explained. 

	"It sounds like Kunzite's behind all of this, since I remember 
he and Zoisite both possessed people," said Sailor Moon as she stood 
firm next to Sailor Mars, ready to take on the lumbering possessed 
humans. As one of the men lunged at Sailor Moon, a beam of light 
struck the man from the side, knocking him out of the air and hard into 
ground a short distance away from the two senshi. They both turned their 
heads to find Sailor Mercury and Sailor Venus joining them in battle. 
Sailor Mercury immediately stopped and crossed her arms in front of her, 
"Shabon Spray!"

	She sent a large barrage of bubbles at the possessed people, 
confusing some of them, making others nauseous, and covering the 
battlefield in a thick fog. With the battlefield masked, Sailor Moon 
immediately removed her tiara and charged it up, "Moon Tiara Stardust!" 
With all her might driving it, she threw her tiara at the group of 
confused possessed people, healing every one of them in a matter of 
seconds. With the evil energy purged from their souls, the people all 
dropped to the ground unconscious.

	Meanwhile, the youma had recovered from Sailor Jupiter's earlier 
attack and grabbed onto both Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter. With 
both senshi tightly bound in its tentacles, it began to drain away their 
energy. Fed up with hostage situations, Sailor Mars decided to take 
things into her own hands as she clasped them together and began forming 
a large ball of fire at her fingertips.

	"Fire Soul!" 

	She launched a powerful ball of fire at the youma, setting it on 
fire and scorching her friends in the process. 

	"Hot, hot, hot," they both yelped as they hit the ground and 
flailed about. 'Oh well, at least it let them go,' she thought to 
herself, shrugging. Sailor Venus ran up to both girls and proceeded to 
walk them out of the way as she glared at Sailor Mars. Sailor Moon too 
turned to Sailor Mars and glared at her. "Why did you do that? You knew 
that they would be hit too," she scolded.

	"I'm sorry. I had no other choice," Sailor Mars argued, "It was 
either risk scorching them, or let that youma drain them of all their 
energy."

	However, the youma only grew stronger and more furious as it 
doubled its own size. It then threw all 8 of its tentacles at the sailor 
senshi, scattering them about the park as it grew even stronger.


	The Dark Kingdom... 

	Zoisite and Titanius stood in front of Queen Beryl in the throne 
room as they watched the battle unfold on the image projected by her 
crystal ball. They both smiled in pure delight as their plan to lure the 
Sailor Team into battle and put them in a pinch seemed to be working. 
"Good," said Zoisite, "Those sailor senshi are right where we want 
them."

	"Excellent," said Beryl, "I see your youma is actually doing a 
good job at not only taking it to the sailor senshi but also gathering 
energy for Jadeite to collect. How we just have to wait for those 
princes to show up."

	The trio of men and Queen Beryl both continued to watch the 
battle unfold, with Beryl laughing in sheer ecstasy as she watches the 
youma grab onto Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter and slam them into the 
ground. "They should be arriving any minute now," Beryl commented before 
she turned to Titanius, "Titanius, it's time."

	"They're as good as mine," Titanius said in a deep voice. He 
quickly turned and left the throne room. He joined a couple of soldiers 
waiting outside the throne room and made his way out of the headquarters 
and on to Tokyo.


	Back at Juuban Park...

	As Titanius was busy making his way toward the battlefield, the 
Sailor Team had gotten the upper hand as they launched a combined attack 
at the youma's face, causing it to wince in pain and released the 
battered Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter. Afterward, Sailor Moon had 
run over to the two weakened senshi and drew out her Moon Stick and 
began to heal them and restore their energy. With Sailor Moon busy 
healing her friends, the Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus combined their 
attacks against the youma.

	"Fire Soul!"

	"Crescent Beam!"

	The combined attack struck the oversized octopus youma in the 
face, weakening it and causing it to fall on its back and its tentacles 
to fall limp. With Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter healed and their 
energy restored, Sailor Moon returned and stood beside Sailor Mars and 
Sailor Venus. "Sailor Moon, finish it off," Sailor Venus ordered. 

	"Right," Sailor Moon replied as she removed her tiara and 
charged it with her powers.

	"Moon Tiara Action!"

	With her sailor senshi-enhanced power, she hurled her tiara at 
the weakened youma, striking it in the chest and disintegrating it in a 
matter of seconds. With the battle won, the 5 sailor senshi gathered 
together to conclude their battle. But before any of them could utter a 
word, a couple soldiers suddenly attacked them, colliding with them and 
scattering them about. They all recover rather quickly and begin 
examining what had attacked them.

	"Oh no, not two of them," said Sailor Mercury.

	"Geez, there's just no end to these guys," Sailor Mars 
commented, thinking about her brother and the others waiting for her 
back at the Hikawa Jinja.

	"The Dark Kingdom just doesn't know when to quit, do they," 
Sailor Jupiter added.

	"Then we'll just have to take them out too," said Sailor Venus.

	"Right. Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, take that soldier," Sailor 
Moon ordered, "Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mercury, you take the other 
soldier." But just as the senshi separated to attack the soldiers, they 
suddenly dashed at Sailor Moon with amazing speed and tackled her to the 
ground. And just as they had both drawn their swords to finish her off, 
a sharp pain shot through their backs as roses pierced through their 
armor. The roses struck them hard enough to cause them to wince in pain 
and drop their swords to the ground. 

	Sailor Moon turned over onto her hands and knees and looked 
behind her to find Tuxedo Mask, standing on a light post with his cape 
blowing in the wind. "Tuxedo Mask," she exclaimed joyfully with hearts 
in her eyes.

	"Your costumes are hundreds of years out of style, especially 
when wearing them in the serene environment such as this park," he said 
as he hopped down from the light post and advanced toward the soldier 
duo, "Sailor Moon, be strong, and be swift. I'll help you slow these 
metal speed demons." And with that witty speech, he dashed at the 
soldiers and threw a volley of roses at the, striking them in various 
weak joints on their armor and piercing the soldiers beneath. With the 
soldiers seemingly weakened, the senshi combined their attacks on one of 
the soldiers.

	"Shabon Spray!"

	"Fire..."

	As they were attempting their attacks, the soldier swiftly shook 
the roses from his body and launched a powerful wave of dark energy, 
knocking all 5 senshi back and preventing them from utilizing their 
attacks. And the other soldier shook the roses from his body and 
attacked Tuxedo Mask with amazing speed, quickly throwing him aside. 
With one prince out of the way, the soldier then bum rushed Sailor Mars, 
tackling her hard to the ground. Sailor Mars quickly recovered and shook 
off the tackle, only to receive a blast of dark energy from the other 
soldier knocking her back down to the ground. 

	Sailor Jupiter also recovered from the dark wave and crossed her 
arms in front of her. An antenna popped out from her tiara as lightning 
struck it, charging her attack. 

	"Supreme... AAGGHH!" 

	Before she could release the power of lightning, the soldiers 
double-teamed her with a combined rapid-fire energy beam, knocking her 
over hundred feet back and back to the ground. One soldier decided to 
concentrate on other senshi while the other went for Tuxedo Mask as he 
recovered from the beating he had taken. Tuxedo Mask withdrew his cane 
and clashed with the soldier's sword. In a valiant display of true 
swordsmanship, Tuxedo Mask began getting the upper hand on his foe. 
However, as he was about to knock the soldier back, the soldier's eyes 
glowed a bright purple as they fired lasers at him, knocking Tuxedo Mask 
back and causing him to wince in pain. And as the soldier raised his 
sword to rush at the weakened Tuxedo Mask, a ball of fire struck the 
soldier from behind, sending him flying over Tuxedo Mask's head. After 
his flight, he immediately recovered to see Sailor Mars glaring at him 
with near fury.
 
	"Dammit, I've had enough of you," he swore as he launched a 
large ball of dark energy at her, sending her flying into a light post 
with the force of a charging bull and seriously injuring her.


	Meanwhile, at the Hikawa Jinja...

	Kyodai sat with both Yuuichirou and Romano in Yuuichirou's room 
as they watched a soccer game between Japan and South Korea on TV. They 
all cheered Japan on as they led South Korea by 1. Soccer was always 
something Kyodai enjoyed, both as a participant and as a spectator. And 
it was something he shared with Romano, the youngest of the shrine 
workers that Kyodai's grandfather had taken in. Romano too was a soccer 
enthusiast, and played on Juuban High's soccer team as a forward, much 
like Kyodai was in his high school days. In fact, soccer was the one 
thing all 3 men shared with each other. While Yuuichirou was the 
religious follower of the sport as a spectator, Kyodai and Romano were 
the athletes who participated as well as followed as spectators. So they 
sat in Yuuichirou's room, cheering for Japan as they played and cursing 
at South Korea whenever they scored.

	Suddenly, Kyodai a strange sensation began to overtake Kyodai 
during a commercial break. He immediately closed his eyes and placed his 
fingers on his temple, trying to deduce the meaning of the sensation. 
Yuuichirou noticed immediately, "Hey Kyodai, you okay?"

	"Yeah," he responded, looking back up toward the TV screen, 
"I'll be fine."

	As the soccer game came back on, Kyodai tried to forget the odd 
feeling and did his best to concentrate on the game. Very little 
interesting was going on in the game as both sides merely traded 
possession every time one team even tried to advance toward the other's 
goal. However, Kyodai was once again overwhelmed again by the same odd 
feeling, like someone close to him is in danger. This time, Romano was 
the one to notice it, "Are you sure you're okay, Kyodai-san?"

	"I'm sorry guys," he replied as he stood up to leave, "I just 
forgot I had to do something this morning. I'm heading out for a bit, 
but I'll be back. Keep me posted on the game, will 'ya?" 

	"No problem," said Yuuichirou.

	Once out of Yuuichirou's room, he ran into his own room and shut 
the door. Assured that no one was listening, he raised his left hand, 
bearing his obsidian jewel ring, and summoned the power of fire, 
transforming him into Tuxedo Inferno. Once he donned his maroon tuxedo 
and cape, he leaped out his open window and dashed at full-speed toward 
the park.


	Juuban Park...

	Throughout their tough battle, tangling with a pair of swift-
footed soldiers, the senshi had managed to defeat one of them. However, 
the defeat of just one of the soldiers came at a rather high price. 
Sailor Mars had taken a wild thrashing from the soldiers' double-team 
attacks and was out of commission, and Sailor Moon wasn't much better 
off. She was struggling to even stay on her feet, wobbling from side to 
side and having a difficult time focusing on a target. Tuxedo Mask was 
also out of the battle field and unconscious after suffering a double 
lariat from the hypersonic duo. So that had left 3 senshi to contend 
with the remaining soldier.

	"Our combined attacks are too slow for this soldier," said 
Sailor Mercury, "We'll have to divide ourselves..."

	Sailor Mercury's advice was cut short as the speedy soldier 
dashed around behind her and struck her in the back of the head with the 
pommel of his sword. She fell to the ground, totally limp and utterly 
unconscious. Sailor Venus watched on in awe as her friend was quickly 
neutralized. Sailor Jupiter, however, only let it fuel her rage as she 
stepped forward and crossed her arms in front of her, summoning forth a 
vicious lightning. With the soldier in her sights, she unleashed the 
lightning's ravenous fury. However, the soldier spotted her attack as 
she was summoning the lightning and swiftly dodged her attack. Once he 
sidestepped her attack, he flew at her as quickly as his agile feet 
could carry him and struck her with the pommel of his sword before she 
could even react, knocking the Senshi of Thunder to the ground in a 
daze.

	The soldier then focused his attack at the awe-struck Sailor 
Venus. Before he could react, he fired a ball of dark energy at her, 
blasting Sailor Venus out of his way. With all the senshi knocked down 
or dazed, and barely beginning to recover, he turned his focus back on 
the unconscious Sailor Mars. Remembering Queen Beryl's strategy to 
focus on one particular senshi, he ran back to the stricken Sailor Mars 
and attempted to finish off her for good, by draining the rest of her 
energy. But as he reached for her, a beam of fire struck the soldier 
from the side and knocked him away a good distance from her. 

	All the other sailor senshi and even Tuxedo Mask had witnessed 
the attack as they were recovering from the beatings they had taken. 
They looked toward the origin of the fire beam to find Tuxedo Inferno on 
top of nearby gazebo, with his long hair and cape flying effortlessly in 
the wind. His appearance further motivated the senshi to quickly recover 
from their thrashings, giving them a new found energy. 

	"He's come again," said Sailor Venus.

	"I hope he's fast enough to contend with that agile soldier," 
said Sailor Mercury.

	However, only Sailor Jupiter glared at him with utter suspicion, 
yet remained silent as she too recovered from her beating. The soldier 
also recovered from the fiery attack and decided to make another attempt 
at finishing off Sailor Mars, completely ignoring the tuxedoed warrior. 

	"He just doesn't give up," said Tuxedo Inferno, "It's time for a 
little diversion." 

	He hopped down from the gazebo and waved his hand in the 
soldier's direction, "Inferno Laughing Spirit!" 

	Suddenly, a burning ghostlike spirit materialized from thin air 
and flew toward the soldier. It began to fly around him, laughing at him 
maniacally. The soldier took his sword and swung it at the cackling 
spirit with all his might, but the spirit vanished into thin air, 
effectively dodging the attack. It then reappeared right behind the 
soldier and continued with his psychotic laughing. The soldier turned 
swiftly, swinging his sword at the pesky spirit, only to miss again as 
it disappeared. It then reappeared right in front of his face, stuck his 
tongue out, and blew raspberries at him. The soldier swung his sword at 
the spirit again. However, the sword passed through the flaming ghost as 
if it were nothing but air, and the spirit continued on with his utter 
laughter.

	With the soldier completely occupied with the meddlesome spirit, 
Sailor Moon found her opportunity and removed her tiara, "Moon Tiara 
Action!"

	The soldier never saw her attack coming with the spirit 
constantly flying around him and laughing at him. The tiara slammed him 
in the face, reducing him into a pile of armor plates and ashes almost 
instantly. 

	The flaming spirit disappeared as Tuxedo Inferno and Sailor Moon 
dash over to Sailor Mars to check on her as the other senshi watched on. 
Tuxedo Inferno knelled down to her and placed his hand on her neck, and 
luckily felt a pulse. However, her fuku had received a few small slashes 
and was quite tattered, and her body was completely limp.

	"She's hurt pretty badly," he said, "She must've taken one hell 
of a beating."

	"Oh my god, Sailor Mars," she gasped.

	"Don't worry, I can help her," he said as he placed his hand on 
her chest and closed his masked eyes, "Inferno Phoenix..." As he uttered 
those words, a fiery bird appeared in the sky and descended toward the 
trio. "Revive!" As the bird descended closer to the trio, fire began to 
form around Sailor Mars' body. Then Tuxedo Inferno pulled his hand away 
as the bird transformed into pure fire and bonded with Sailor Mars, 
engulfing her in its life-giving flames. The senshi watched on as the 
flames subsided, leaving Sailor Mars with her fuku completely restored 
and any visible wounds heeled. She opened her eyes, looking upon the 
masked face of Tuxedo Inferno and the concerned face of Sailor Moon.

	"Sailor Moon," she uttered as Tuxedo Inferno took her by the 
hand and helped her to her feet.

	"I'm so glad you're okay," said Sailor Moon as she threw herself 
at Sailor Mars and her arms around her, "Tuxedo Inferno here saved us."

	Sailor Mars wrapped her arms around Sailor Moon in response and 
turned to Tuxedo Inferno, "Thank you, Tuxedo Inferno." 

	But before Tuxedo Inferno could reply, a deep, dark voice 
suddenly began laughing at the senshi. They all turned to its origin to 
see a man in red and black armor with his red cape and long black hair 
waving in the wind.

	"And who the hell are you?" Sailor Jupiter said with great 
anger.

	"I am Titanius," he replied, crossing his arm in front of him 
and taking a polite introductory bow, "Queen Beryl told me about you and 
sent me here to send every one of you straight to hell." 

	He then withdrew a large futuristic-looking rifle, aimed at the 
trash-talking sailor Jupiter, and pulled the trigger. The rifle fired an 
intense green beam at her, sending her flying backward into a nearby 
tree with great force. The remaining senshi and Tuxedo Inferno scattered 
as Tuxedo Mask waved his arm at the new enemy, throwing dozens of sharp-
tipped roses.

	Titanius quickly reacted and threw up a force field, deflecting 
each and every rose that would've found their mark. And just as quickly, 
he pointed his blaster at Tuxedo Mask and fired, striking him dead in 
the chest. The beam had struck with such great power, that it sent him 
on a ride toward the lake, causing him to skip across its entire 1/4-
mile width.

	"Hey Titanius," a Sailor Moon's voice yelled to him. He turned 
to see Sailor Moon removing her tiara and charging it up, "In the name 
of the Moon, you'll be punished! Moon Tiara Action!"

	Sailor Moon hurled her tiara at Titanius with all her might 
driving it. However, Titanius jumped aside, dodging the flying tiara 
and counterattacked by firing his blaster Sailor Moon. However, Sailor 
Moon saw him pointing his blaster at her and turned to run away as the 
beam fired, missing her by inches. Having missed, Titanius quickly 
trained his blaster on the running Sailor Moon and took aim. And just as 
he was about to pull the trigger, Sailor Moon's tiara struck him in the 
back of the head on its return trip, knocking him to the ground.

	With Titanius busy, Tuxedo Inferno turned to Titanius, seeing 
his opportunity attack, and teamed up with Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus.

	"Fire Soul!"

	"Crescent Beam!"

	"Inferno, Flame!

	The combined attacks connected with Titanius, giving him his 
frequent flyer miles as he flew into a nearby playground, dropping his 
blaster as he landed. In almost an instant, he pushed himself back to 
his feet and retrieved his blaster. He then turned to the first senshi 
he could find, Sailor Mercury, and began charging toward her.

	"Oh no you don't," Tuxedo Inferno said as he dashed at Titanius 
with amazing speed, "Inferno Fire Dance!" At near light speed, he dashed 
all around Titanius, setting the area around him ablaze and striking him 
with well-choreographed dance moves. As he finished his fiery dance, he 
stepped back to observe the results. However, his eyes under his masked 
opened wide as he discovered that Titanius was still standing after 
taking such a swift and powerful attack. He simply stared at the amazed 
Tuxedo Inferno square in his masked face and raised his blaster, aiming 
straight for his chest. But just as he was about to pull the trigger and 
put the tuxedoed hero out of his misery, a tiara slammed into it, 
knocking it out of his hand and shattering it into many small pieces.

	"What the hell?!" Titanius exclaimed, his hands still 
outstretched as if it were still holding his blaster as he stared down 
at what remained of his blaster, "You just destroyed my favorite 
blaster."

	With Titanius wide open and awe-struck at the destruction of his 
powerful weapon, Tuxedo Inferno took the opportunity and waved his arms, 
"Inferno Fire..." He then threw his hands in front of him, "...Beam!" 
With that chant, he fired an intense beam of fire at Titanius, 
connecting with his chest and sending him flying into a covered picnic 
area. He casually pushed himself back to his feet, only to discover the 
4 remaining senshi and Tuxedo Inferno staring straight at him, ready to 
finish him off. 

	"You may have won the battle," he said, "But the war has just 
begun. We shall meet again." He threw his arm in front of him, releasing 
a smoke screen. The smoke covered the entire covered picnic area and 
enveloped the senshi and Tuxedo Inferno, causing them to cough and gag. 
Moments later, the smoke cleared, revealing only the covered picnic 
area. Titanius was gone.

	"Who was he?" Sailor Venus wondered.

	"Apparently, he's that bounty hunter that the Dark Kingdom had 
sent after us," Sailor Mercury replied as she analyzed her minicomputer, 
which she had been using throughout the battle to gain data on Titanius, 
"And he has to be the most powerful guy we've had to fight yet."

	"Do you know him," Sailor Moon asked Tuxedo Inferno.

	"I've never seen him or even dreamed of him before," he 
responded, "So I really have no idea who he is."

	"I understand. I'll go check on Sailor Jupiter," Sailor Moon 
said as she ran off, with Sailor Venus trailing behind her. The rest of 
the senshi also turned away and ran toward the fallen Tuxedo Mask to 
check on him. 

	"Well, my work here is done," Tuxedo Inferno said to no one in 
particular as he turned and ran out of the park, back toward the Hikawa 
Jinja.

	"You okay, Sailor Jupiter?" Sailor Moon said as she and Sailor 
Venus reached her. 

	Sailor Jupiter merely groaned as she struggled to push herself 
back to her feet, "I've been better."

	"Tuxedo Inferno came back and helped us defeat Titanius," said 
Sailor Moon.

	"Is he still around?" Sailor Jupiter asked, with not even enough 
energy to take an aggressive stance if Tuxedo Inferno was still around.

	In response, Sailor Moon looked about the park, only to see no 
sign of Tuxedo Inferno. "Nope, he's gone," she replied, "But it looks 
like he's the least of your worries."

	"Yeah, that Titanius is one powerful guy," Sailor Jupiter said 
as the others come to their position.

	"Where's Tuxedo Mask?" Sailor Moon wondered.

	"He recovered when we got there and left shortly after," Sailor 
Mars responded.

	"So is Tuxedo Inferno," Sailor Venus added.

	"I saw that. And I wanted to thank them both for coming to our 
aid," she said, rising to her feet and letting out a heavy sigh, "Oh 
well."

	She then looked at all 4 of her senshi, all looking at her with 
concerned faces, yet curious ones as well. This battle was by far the 
toughest they've had to endure since Kunzite's first appearance. And it 
all had them worried. Sailor Moon only nodded to them all in response as 
she came up with a quick solution to their concerns. "Meeting at 
Makoto's?" Sailor Moon proposed. 

	"Right," the other senshi responded as they all ran out of the 
park and in the direction of Makoto's apartment.


	The Hikawa Jinja...

	After this battle with the Dark Kingdom, Kyodai arrived back at 
the shrine in his civilian form. The soccer game was foremost on his 
mind as he ran up the steps of the shrine, with thoughts of the Dark 
Kingdom interrupting his time with the guys at the shrine. It was 
supposed to be a time when he could bond with the guys since he was 
living at the temple, and would in time help him to accept them as 
surrogate brothers. And as Kyodai reached the top of the steps, he hoped 
that he still had time to pick up where he had left off before the 
battle.

	Once inside, he removed his house slippers at the door since he 
was still wearing them when he transformed in his room. At least he 
still had socks on. So he merely walked casually in the direction of 
Yuuichirou's room, pretending to have just returned from the errand he 
said he had to run. He opened Yuuichirou's door, finding him and Romano 
still watching the soccer game. He let out a big sigh of relief, "Good, 
I made it in time."

	Yuuichirou and Romano both looked at Kyodai. 

	"Kyodai-san, you're back," said Romano.

	"You didn't miss too much while you were gone," said Yuuichirou.

	"Hey, Yuuichirou. Hey, Romano," he replied, waving to them both, 
"So what's the score?"

	"At 62 minutes, it's Japan 4, South Korea 2," Yuuichirou 
answered before he turned back to the TV, only to see the Korean players 
celebrating, "Oh man, Korea just scored."

	Relieved to still have a third of the game left to go and things 
starting to get interesting in the game, Kyodai took seat on 
Yuuichirou's bed as the 3 watched the game. On the TV, the Korean 
players and the Korean fans were still celebrating their recent goal, 
prompting the men to yell and throw popcorn at the TV in response. And 
with that, the battle with the Dark Kingdom quickly left Kyodai's mind, 
and all his worries with it.

 
	Later, at Makoto's Apartment...

	The door to Makoto's apartment opened, and all five girls in 
their civilian forms walked inside with Luna and Artemis trailing behind 
following. As they were making their trip to Makoto's, Usagi had 
contacted Luna while Minako contacted Artemis. Both girls had wanted to 
include the cats in their meeting, especially with the appearance of a 
new enemy weighing heavily on their minds. So as the girls had made 
their way inside, they took their seats on the couches surrounding 
Makoto's coffee table. Luna hopped up on Ami's lap, while Artemis jumped 
into Minako's as they both listened to what the girls had to say.

	Rei took a deep breath and opened the discussion, "Today's 
battle was unlike any other."

	"Tell me about it," said Minako.

	"First, we have a couple of really fast soldiers attack us," 
Usagi explained, "And then this guy in black armor shows up to crash our 
celebration."

	"He said his name was Titanius," said Makoto, "And he sure 
packed one hell of a wallop. That gun of his was more powerful than any 
weapon I've ever seen the Dark Kingdom use."

	"Luna, do you know anything about Titanius?" Usagi asked.

	"I remember him to be a former member of the Dark Kingdom," Luna 
explained, "But he left the Dark Kingdom long before their attack on the 
Moon Kingdom a thousand years ago. From what I've heard, Titanius had 
become a bounty hunter, a very dangerous one."

	"So he must've been the one from my fire reading," said Rei.

	"So he was a bounty hunter after all," said Ami, "I scanned him 
while we were fighting him. Luna, he wields a lot of power. I can safely 
say that he's as powerful as even Kunzite."

	"And with Titanius back and working for the Dark Kingdom, 
they'll be an even more dangerous threat to earth," said Luna.

	"And us," Makoto added, "If he's the bounty hunter Ami was 
talking about, then the Dark Kingdom does have a price on our heads."

	"What about Tuxedo Inferno?" Minako asked, "How does he fit in 
to all of this." 

	"Tuxedo Inferno seems to be on our side," said Ami, "He even 
helped us to defeat Titanius."

	"I agree with Ami," said Rei, "My fire readings didn't reveal 
anything about him."

	"I still don't trust him much," said Makoto.

	"Why not?" Usagi inquired.

	"This could all be nothing but a trick by the Dark Kingdom," 
Makoto explained.

	"Oh, will you get off your suspicions already," Rei said grimly, 
"He saved me from that soldier. He saved us from Titanius. I think he's 
on our side."

	"I agree," said Usagi.

	"Back to the subject," said Luna, "There have been more soldiers 
lately and less of a variety of youma. I don't know what's doing on."

	"The Dark Kingdom is certainly getting ruthless," said Artemis, 
"First, they send a lot of strong soldiers after us, then they resurrect 
the other 3 Kings, and now they hire a bounty hunter. I don't know 
what's going on either, but the Dark Kingdom is planning some major 
offensive."

	"All more the reason to keep alert," Luna added, "Artemis and I 
will look into things. You girls try to carry on with your lives, but 
keep your communicators and pins handy."

	With that, the girls and cats rose from their seats up and walk 
toward the front door to leave. Makoto, on the other hand with it being 
her apartment, decided to stay and resume her housecleaning.


	The Dark Kingdom...

	Although he was defeated in his first battle with the Mars 
Prince and the Sailor Team, Titanius walked down the halls of the Dark 
Kingdom wearing a grin on his face. He certainly felt completely 
satisfied with the battle, as it was his first real challenge since he 
had left the Dark Kingdom over a thousand years ago. And it was that 
satisfaction that he walked into Queen Beryl's throne room with no fear 
of any possible punishment she had in store for him. Once inside, he saw 
Queen Beryl, patiently awaiting his report as she continued waving her 
hands around her crystal ball. He stopped in front of her and her 
crystal and kneeled down to her.

	"That was a good battle you fought, Titanius. You really sent 
the Mars Prince, Prince Endymion, and those sailor senshi a message 
today. Rise," said Beryl, with Titanius rising from his kneel, "You are 
powerful like Jadeite said you were."

	"Thank you, Queen Beryl-sama," Titanius replied, "It was 
definitely a good challenge, but I lost my only blaster to the Mars 
Prince and that damned Sailor Moon."

	"Don't you have any other powers besides that blaster?" Beryl 
inquired, "You were once a champion of the Dark Kingdom."

	"Indeed I do, but the blaster was my favorite," Titanius 
replied.

	"Then use your powers," Beryl ordered, "You could use a little 
practice at them since you relied on that blaster for so long."

	"Yes, Queen Beryl-sama," Titanius replied. During their 
conversion, Jadeite and Nephrite walked into the throne room, talking 
amongst themselves. 

	"And this is our new bounty hunter, Titanius," said Jadeite, 
waving hand in Titanius' direction to introduce him. 

	"So, he used to be one of ours?" said Nephrite

	"Right, he was a great champion before he left to become a 
bounty hunter," Jadeite explained.

	"I see," said Nephrite, "He should make an excellent addition to 
our ranks."

	"Right you are," said Beryl as she glared at the two men for 
interrupting her briefing with Titanius, "Anyway, good job at sending a 
message to them, Titanius. As for you two, I expect double efforts out 
of you. If you all combine your powers along with Titanius', the Mars 
Prince and those senshi are as good as gone. Dismissed."

	Jadeite and Nephrite bowed to her in response, while Titanius 
gave her a British salute, as they turned to leave Queen Beryl's throne 
room, leaving her and her minions to their thoughts.


----------------------------end of chapter 3---------------------------

...Disclaimer: As usual, Sailor Moon and most of the characters ain't 
mine, but belong to Naoko Takeuchi. And God bless that woman for 
creating such great entertainment for all of us with a lot of free time 
on our hands to enjoy. The English dub belongs to DiC Entertainment and 
Cloverway, and I only thank them for bringing' it to America, nothin' 
more. But Kyodai Hino/Hino Kyodai, Tuxedo Inferno, Titanius, and 
Deanna Kokorono/Kokorono Meijin are MINE (in a growling voice). So, 
please don't sue me. I'm just a lonely man who ain't got anything but 
his pride. Well, y'all enjoy this fanfic and e-mail me.

Have fun Sailor Moon fans,
Viper Inferno
   (Y2V)