Title: Brother of Fire - Chapter 3 (revised)
Author: Viper Inferno
E-mail: viperdvman@hotmail.com
Genre: Action Drama 
Rated: PG

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

                              Brother of Fire
                             By Viper Inferno

                                 Chapter 3

	Makoto's apartment...

	After the rather unusual battle, the girls went ahead and removed 
their transformations before even reaching the apartment complex, 
anticipating Kyodai to be there waiting for them to return. They 
wouldn't have wanted Kyodai wondering why the legendary Sailor Team 
would be paying the apartment complex a visit, would they? Nor would 
they have wanted Kyodai knowing that they, especially his little sister, 
were the Sailor Senshi. So that was the best course of action for them. 
Plus it made for great cover too, and made it look to Kyodai like they 
really were on an errand.

	As they approached the apartment complex, sight of Kyodai's old 
coupe caught Minako's eye. But what had finally prompted her to dash 
toward it was the man stepping out of it. Kyodai barely had the time to 
close his door before receiving a near flying tackle from the blushing 
blonde, her arms instantly wrapping themselves around his chest.

	"I'm glad to see you too," said Kyodai as he closed the driver's 
door and lumbered over to his sister and her friends, with Minako 
weighing him down. It wasn't that he was dragging her, but the fact 
that she was hanging on him while she was walking that was weighing 
down on him.

	"Minako, you don't need to hang all over him," said Usagi, who 
was getting rather disgusted with Minako's rather open and overdramatic 
display of affection, as were the other girls.

	"Fine, I see how you are," Minako replied as she reluctantly let 
go of Kyodai and joined the other girls, with Kyodai trailing a little 
bit behind. They all walk inside the high-rise apartment complex and 
hop on the elevator.

	Once they arrived at Makoto's floor, they casually made their way 
to the door to Makoto's apartment. They were rather silent the whole 
trip there, except for a few uttered words between Makoto and Usagi, 
which Kyodai could barely make out even in the elevator. He had spent 
the whole trip in the elevator standing a short distance from Minako. 
Sure he was taking her to a movie that night, but he preferred to take 
it slow with girls, no matter how shy or how outgoing they were. 
Besides, what better way go catch glimpse of a girl than from a 
distance, especially since he hadn't gotten much of a chance to get a 
really good look at her with her throwing himself on him. Their eyes 
had met just before they had reached Makoto's floor, prompting Kyodai 
to turn away to hide a slight blush. He couldn't help but to admire her, 
even if she was so openly affectionate.

	Their eyes didn't meet again until the group had welcomed 
themselves into Makoto's apartment. Makoto immediately made her way 
into the kitchen, while Ami took her place back at the kitchen table 
where she was earlier, taking her book out and casually continuing 
her reading as if she had never left in the first place. Rei took her 
seat on the char at the head of the coffee table, while Usagi and 
Minako sat next to each other on a couch in front of the coffee table, 
and Kyodai sat on the couch across from them.

	"So Makoto," said Rei, getting her busy friend's attention. Makoto 
turned and glanced over the bar to acknowledge. "What are you cooking?" 
she asked.

	"Chicken Cordon Blue," Makoto replied, "I haven't made it in ages. 
I thought it'd make a for a really good lunch, even if it is a late 
lunch."

	"Oh god, I haven't had that since I left for college. It's my 
second favorite dish," said Kyodai, "Aunt Ryeka used to make some of 
the best Chicken Cordon Blue there was.

	"Really?" said Makoto excitingly, with her eyes sparkling at the 
little story he told of how he loved what she was making, "That's one 
of my favorite to cook, next to meatloaf."

	"I like that too," said Kyodai, "Aunt Ryeka made great meatloaf 
too."

	The anxiety just overwhelmed Makoto as she thought to herself, 
'A cute guy who loves the same foods I cook, who's strong and athletic 
like me...' Then reality set in and that anxiety quickly turned to 
bitterness toward someone else in the room, 'But Minako wants him too... 
No problem, I'll win him over with my skills as a cook. I don't need to 
flirt with him and be all over him to seduce him. Next time, he'll be 
with me at the movies. Oh yes, he will be mine.' With those thoughts in 
her mind, Makoto walked back into the kitchen to work on impressing 
Kyodai with the best chicken cordon blue she's ever cooked.

	Back in the living room, Minako sat across from Kyodai, her eyes 
fixed on his face as her foot gently caressed his under the coffee 
table. His eyes dared not meet hers, for he was a little anxious from 
her rather friendly game of footsies.

	"So," said Usagi, getting Kyodai's attention as he turned his 
eyes to hers and away from the coffee table, "Have you heard of Sailor 
Moon?"

	"And the rest of the legendary Sailor Team," Makoto added from the 
kitchen.

	"Oh have I ever heard of them," Kyodai quickly replied, though a 
little enthusiastically, especially since he had fought alongside them. 
Plus he knew of them long before today's battle. "I haven't met them, 
but I have a Sailor V poster up in my room," he continued.

	"Really?" said Minako, excited that he's probably another Sailor V 
fan, "Did you know that Sailor Venus was Sailor V, the original Sailor 
Senshi?"

	"You believe that rumor?" Kyodai asked, "Half of the Azabu Tech 
soccer team are Sailor V fans, and most of them are spreading rumors 
that Sailor V is back as Sailor Venus."

	"Well, what do you think?" Minako asked, turning the attention 
back to Kyodai.

	"Actually, I do have reason to believe Sailor Venus is Sailor V," 
said Kyodai, "When I heard Sailor V had died in a warehouse explosion, 
I was in shock. It wasn't just the fan in me saying 'No, she's not dead. 
She can't be' like many fans thought, rather it was something in me 
that told me she wasn't dead. I knew she was still alive, but it made 
me wonder what happened that made her disappear like that." 

	That explanation only took Minako's eyes off of Kyodai for a 
moment as she glanced down at the coffee table, with thoughts going 
through her mind. Her foot rubs also paused. 'Onee-sama... she and 
Alan... that's why I left.' She shut her eyes really tight and shook 
her head before turning back to Kyodai, resuming her foot caressing.

	"We're great fans of the Sailor Senshi," said Usagi.

	"You know, it's odd how we look so much like them," said Minako, 
"Take me for example. Usagi once told me I looked just like Sailor V. 
And I said she looked like Sailor Moon."

	Kyodai turned back to Minako for a moment, wondering where she 
had gotten that statement from, once again analyzing her features, 
"Minako-san, you do look a lot like Sailor V."

	"You really think so?" Minako asked, her ears perking up at such 
a compliment, and from a handsome man such as Kyodai too.

	"Yes, I do," said Kyodai.

	Minako gasped almost noticeably at his observation, wooed by the 
compliment. 'Wow, and he admires my beauty as Sailor V, even if he 
doesn't know I WAS Sailor V,' she thought to herself as she just smiled 
at the man.

	"My favorite is Sailor Moon," said Usagi, returning to the subject 
of conversation at hand. "She's the leader of the group and is the best 
of them, though some people may disagree," she continued, glaring over 
at Rei with that last comment.

	"Are you kidding? Sailor Moon's a ditz, not like Sailor Mars. If 
anyone deserves to be leader, it's someone with a cool, calm, and 
collected mind, like Sailor Mars," Rei argued back, "Besides, Sailor 
Mars doesn't whine and cry like Sailor Moon does."

	"Hey, at least Sailor Moon is the one who finishes the youma off 
in battle with that wand of hers," Usagi retaliated, "I don't see 
Sailor Mars using a wand, or even her tiara as a weapon."

	"That's because Sailor Mars doesn't need a wand you idiot," Rei 
rebuked.

	Kyodai merely hung his head in disgust, listening his sister and 
her friend argue with each other like little children. 'Idiots,' he 
thought to himself, 'The Sailor Senshi are nothing to fight over.'

	Minako was the first to notice Kyodai's rather disgusted attitude 
when he pulled his foot away from hers. "Uh, Rei-chan, Usagi-chan, we 
do have a guest here you know," she said, trying to get their attention.

	Rei quickly turned to Minako, wearing the same angry face she was 
when she started arguing with Usagi, "Oh really, Minako-chan? You have 
no room to talk with your hanging all over..." She cut her sentence off 
right there when she too caught Kyodai's disgusted look. She let out a 
sigh and cleared her throat in response as she rested back in her chair, 
with Usagi sitting back down in on the couch next to Minako.

	"So Kyodai-san, who's your favorite Sailor Senshi?" Usagi asked, 
resuming the conversation.

	Kyodai looked back up at Usagi, satisfied that their argument was 
over. "Well," said Kyodai as he began thinking about each of the Senshi, 
"Sailor Venus is the pretty one, even when she was Sailor V. I like the 
fact that she seems to be the most skilled out of the senshi. If she 
really is Sailor V, then that explains why she seems more skilled than 
the other Sailor Senshi, being around even before Sailor Moon first 
appeared."

	"Really?" said Minako, ears perking up again as she jumped over 
the coffee table and into Kyodai's lap, "She's my favorite too. She 
stands for love and beauty."

	Kyodai tensed up as Minako landed in his lap, mostly out of pure 
shock from a sudden move. 'God, I've never dated a girl so openly 
flirtatious like her, though I have known a few,' he thought to himself, 
'I just hope she's not always like this.'

	"Oh, damn that Minako," Makoto swore under breath. 'The second he 
mentions anything about her as Sailor Venus or Sailor V, she falls for 
it. Typical Minako,' she thought to herself.

	"Anyway," Kyodai said, gently pushing Minako off of his lap, 
setting her down next to him on the couch, "Sailor Jupiter, though, 
seems to be the tough one in the bunch. She's the one who's not afraid 
to take the fight to the enemy. I admire a strong willed girl like her."

	That comment prompted Makoto to peek over the bar, though hiding a 
slight blush from Kyodai's comment, "Jupiter's my favorite Sailor 
Senshi. It's not only how strong she is, but also the fact that the 
lightning she wields is a perfect match for her strength and will. And 
what a powerful bolt of lightning it is."

	"Then there's Sailor Mars," Kyodai continued after looking back at 
Makoto as she put in her two cents on Sailor Jupiter, "If you're 
impressed with a girl who unleashes the fury of lightning, I love a 
girl who handles fire so well, both tenderly and furiously. That tells 
me that she's the one in the group who's both tough-willed and tender-
hearted." 

	Rei turned away, blushing at the sound of her own brother praising 
her abilities as a Sailor Senshi. It wasn't just that, but it was also 
the sound of her brother complimenting his little sister as if he 
admired her, at least what it sounded like. 'Why are you thinking that 
way, Rei? He doesn't know you're Sailor Mars. For all he knows, Sailor 
Mars could be someone that either he knows or is a complete stranger to 
him,' she thought to herself, 'I mean I love you, Onii-san, but not 
like THAT.' She cringed at that last thought as she cleared it from her 
head and turned back to Kyodai and the conversation.

	"But my favorite is Sailor Mercury," Kyodai continued.

	That sound caught Ami's attention as she peeked her eyes over her 
book, blushing ever so subtly so as not to grab the attention of a 
certain guest, "My favorite Senshi is Sailor Mercury too. She's the 
smartest of the Sailor Senshi and tends to use her intelligence and 
analytical skills in battle rather than her powers."

	"And guess what?" Kyodai continued after listening to Ami's 
comments in total agreement, "I actually saw them in action for the 
first time today."

	All five girls turned right at him, eyes wide open in awe, "You 
did?!"

	'Oh God, I hope he didn't see us transform on our way back,' Rei 
thought to herself right as Kyodai had mentioned seeing them in battle. 
Then reason settled back in, 'Of course not, there's no way in hell he 
could've seen us transform. We made sure of that.'

	"Yes, I was on my way back here from the university when I 
witnessed the battle," Kyodai explained, trying to cover up the truth 
he experienced as Tuxedo Inferno, "So I... parked the car and watched 
it... with some other spectators. It was so cool to watch."

	Minako leaned over to Kyodai and wrapped her arms around him, 
"Please tell us about it."

	"Minako-chan, we've seen them in action before," said Ami, 
obviously disgusted with Minako's over-flirtatious attitude almost as 
much as Makoto was.

	Kyodai didn't know exactly how to explain the battle, except to 
explain what he saw as Tuxedo Inferno. "They were fighting this one 
evil guy dressed in black armor, quite powerful. The Sailor Team may 
have struggled against him but they remained ever so vigilant."

	"That's what they're best at," Usagi commented.

	"Even Tuxedo Mask was having a tough time with him. I've heard of 
how well he can distract the enemy in addition to how well he can fight, 
but it didn't seem to work," Kyodai continued explaining, "The evil guy 
knocked Sailor Moon out and was about to finish Sailor Mars off when 
another man attacked him. I've never seen him before, but he looked a 
lot like Tuxedo Mask except that he wore maroon... and his hair was 
longer. With his help, the Sailor Team and Tuxedo Mask emerged 
victorious."

	"Oh, you tell the story so well," said Minako, giving him a little 
squeeze.

	"Lunch is ready," Makoto called from the kitchen, with a light 
chicken aroma making its way into the living room. Minako quickly jumped 
over the coffee table again and sat next to Usagi, while Rei scooted the 
chair closer to the coffee table as Makoto brought lunch out to the 
group. 

	First, she served Ami, who was still studying at the kitchen 
table. She then made her way to the coffee table where the others sat. 
After serving each of the girls, she fixed her eyes on Kyodai's, 
trying to hide a little sparkle as she handed Kyodai his plate. "Here 
you go Kyodai-san, try it out," she said, smiling, "Tell me if this 
compares to your Aunt's." 

	Minako glares at Makoto with that comment, thinking, 'Oh no you 
don't. You're not going to try and steal my man with your cooking.'

	Makoto only glared back, 'This is WAR, sister.' She then placed 
her own dish on the table and sat next to Kyodai, teasing Minako even 
more over that man.

	After the group had begun eating with little or no conversation, 
Usagi gulped hers down in a matter of seconds and casually walked into 
the kitchen for another helping. "She sure eats a lot," Kyodai said to 
Rei while Usagi is in the kitchen, disgusted with Usagi's near lack of 
table manners.

	"Tell me about it," Rei agreed.

	"Hey Makoto-san, this is stuff is pretty good," Kyodai 
complimented, not even daring to compare her cooking with his aunt's, 
being as polite as any gentleman would.

	"Thank you," said Makoto, "I'm glad you like it."

	"You know, for someone your age, you sure are good when it comes 
to cooking," said Kyodai, "I wonder how well you make other stuff."

	Makoto turned away, embarrassed yet flattered at the same time, 
'He does like my cooking.' However, Minako caught that slight blush 
from Makoto, noticeable only to Minako, and glared right at her. It was 
going to be competition, competition over the same man they both shared 
feelings for. However, Makoto was subtler, more elegant with her 
feelings while Minako was more open and aggressive. But Minako did have 
the upper hand with the fact that she was going with Kyodai to the 
movies, while Makoto was just with an old friend of hers, a girl 
nonetheless.



	After lunch, Makoto grabbed each of the plates, doing her best to 
be as good of a host as she can, even if all but one of her guests were 
close friends. She once again glared at Minako, accompanied by a shady 
grin, as she grabbed her plate and made her way into the kitchen. 

	"That was good lunch," said Usagi to the rest of the group, "You 
want to go outside for a little bit?"

	"Yes, that would be nice," Kyodai replied as he, Rei, and Ami got 
up from their seats and made their way to the door. "We'll be back in a 
little bit, alright Mako-chan?" While the trio walked outside, an irate 
Minako stayed behind, still sitting on the couch and glaring back at 
Makoto.

	"So, trying to steal my man with your cooking, huh?" said Minako.

	"Steal?! He's not even yours," Makoto argued.

	"He is taking ME to the movies tonight and not you," Minako 
countered.

	"That's because I'm going with my friend tonight," Makoto yelled.

	"Excuses, excuses," said Minako, shaking her head, "But he does 
think I'm cute."

	"He never said YOU were cute."

	"No, he said Sailor V was cute."

	"He doesn't even know you're Sailor V, so what's the point?"

	"The point is he likes me."

	"Only because you're hanging all over him and flirting with him 
like you want to get laid right there. I really don't think he likes 
that," Makoto explained, before countering with another shot, "Besides, 
he likes my cooking."

	"What are you talking about? Everybody likes your cooking."

	And there they argued some more, each trying to yell over the 
other, to prove the other wrong, or prove something true. Then Usagi 
walked back inside, right in the middle of their argument.

	"Excuse me," said Usagi, trying to get their attention. But the 
two just continued egging each other on, oblivious to the odango-haired 
girl standing there.

	"Excuse me," she summoned, a little louder this time in hope that 
they would hear her and acknowledge her. But it was useless as Usagi 
balled up her fists in frustration. "HEY!" she yelled, nearly shaking 
the entire apartment. The whole floor probably heard her, so there was 
no way those two couldn't have heard her that time.
 
	It did work as Minako and Makoto stopped their arguing and looked 
at Usagi. "Yes?" they said in unison. 

	"What are you two fighting about?" Usagi asked, dumbfounded.

	"Nothing," they replied in unison.

	"Come on, we gotta get going," said Usagi.

	"Where to?" Makoto asked, wondering why they were leaving for the 
second time that day. The movie wasn't until that night anyway.

	Usagi shook her head in disgrace as she walked over to her friend 
and whispered into her ear, loud enough to where Minako could hear as 
well, "Senshi meeting, you idiot. We can't have Rei's brother here while 
we discuss the battle. He'll get suspicious."

	"Oh," Makoto replied, while Usagi winked at Minako, making sure 
Minako got the message as well.

	Both girls stood back up, their attitudes totally changed as they 
had stopped with their evil glares at each other, concentrating on a 
more important task at hand. They followed behind as Usagi walked back 
outside, where Kyodai, Rei, and Ami were waiting.

	"Kyodai-san, I'm sorry to cut this short, but Minako and I have an 
errand run," said Usagi, trying her best not to look suspicious with the 
five of them always leaving.

	"Oh it's alright. I'm going to the arcade with Mamoru anyway," said 
Kyodai, "You girls go on ahead."

	"It was a pleasure meeting you, Kyodai-san," said Usagi, bowing to 
him respectfully and actually remembering her manners this time.

	"It was a pleasure meeting you as well," said Kyodai, "Rei-chan 
has good taste in friends."

	"I'm looking forward to tonight," said Minako after walking out 
the front door.

	"Yes, I'll see you tonight, Minako-san," said Kyodai, bowing to 
her before he turned around and made his way to the elevator.

	"Same here, Kyodai-san," Minako replied, returning his bow.

	Right as the elevator door closed behind Kyodai, the girls turned 
to each other. "Okay, Kyodai-sama is gone now," said Minako, "Where are 
we going for our little meeting?"

	"Come inside, we'll discuss it here," Usagi replied as she walked 
inside.

	The girls sat around the coffee table while they discussed today's 
events. Usagi sat in the chair at the head of the coffee table, while 
Makoto and Minako sat at a couch next to the table, and Rei and Ami sat 
on the other side of the coffee table. This setting made for more of an 
executive board meeting.

	"The Dark Kingdom is definitely up to something," said Usagi, 
"They've been getting more aggressive as of late."

	"Tell me about it," Rei agreed, "We've seen these soldiers being 
used before, mostly recently. We only saw our first one right before we 
met Minako. But this Thrul is one of the toughest enemies we've had to 
face."

	"It's not just the soldiers. It's the appearance of Tuxedo Inferno 
that really bugs me," said Makoto, "He has to be a minion of the Dark 
Kingdom."

	"Now why the hell would the Dark Kingdom send somebody to kill one 
of their own?" Rei asked.

	"He did help us defeat Thrul, that's what matters. But somehow I 
still don't trust him," said Usagi, "I mean he says he remembers us, 
but we don't remember him."

	"He also said he remembered Tuxedo Mask from way back," said 
Minako, "But even Tuxedo Mask said he didn't remember him. Plus, I've 
never seen the guy before."

	"Do you think Luna could remember him?" Rei asked.

	"I don't know, but we could ask her," Usagi responded as she 
pulled her communicator out. "Luna, could you sneak out and scurry over 
to Makoto's apartment?" she said to the image of the crescent-headed 
black cat on the screen.

	"For a Senshi meeting?" Luna presumed, taking into account today's 
battle.
	
	"Yes Luna." Usagi replied.

	"I'll be there. Tell me about it when I get there," said Luna as 
she broke the connection from her end.

	Usagi put her communicator away and decided to hold off the rest 
of the conversation about Tuxedo Inferno until Luna arrived. Until she 
arrived, they decided to keep the focus of the meeting on their battle 
with Thrul and the Dark Kingdom.

	"How was Thrul able to withstand most of our attacks for so long?" 
Minako asked.

	"He seemed to have some kind of resistance to most of our attacks," 
said Ami, "Even Tuxedo Mask's usual tactic for distracting the enemy 
and cheering us on had no effect until we weakened him."

	"You mean until Tuxedo Inferno jumped in and helped out," Makoto 
added, "This is all too circumstantial."

	"Makoto-chan, lay off your suspicions," said Minako, "We don't 
even know if he is with the Dark Kingdom."

	"Yeah, remember that WE weakened Thrul before that Tuxedo Inferno 
finally got to him. That allowed us to finally defeat him," said Usagi.

	Suddenly, there is a scratch at the door, followed by a rather 
loud meow. "Luna's here already? That was quick," said Usagi as she ran 
to the front door. She opened it, seeing a black cat walking around in 
front of the door.

	"Luna, where's your crescent?" Usagi asked, noticing that the cat 
had no crescent on its head. It looked like Luna, though.

	"That's just a regular house cat, Odango," said Rei, "It's 
probably somebody else's cat that had just gotten out or something."

	"Oh yeah, one of the tenants down the hall owns a black cat," said 
Makoto, "He's always getting out, though." Makoto laughed at that 
comment, "But at least he finds his way back home."

	Right before Usagi closed the door, feeling the embarrassment from 
mistaking that cat for Luna, another meow sounded down the hall.

	"That's Luna," said Usagi excitedly, shaking off the embarrassment 
as she opened the door to let the cat in. Luna dashed past the other 
cat, almost receiving a swat in the face from surprising it, and 
quickly hopped onto Ami's lap. Usagi closed the door walked back over 
to the empty chair she had gotten up from and resumed the meeting. 

	"So Usagi, what business are we discussing?" Luna asked.

	"We're talking about today's battle, what do you think we're 
discussing," Usagi responded sarcastically.

	Luna hung her head, sweatdrop hanging and all, "I know, you idiot. 
I meant what about today's battle?"

	"Well, Thrul was sure a tough one to beat," said Minako.

	"Yeah, his lightning attacks were more powerful then mine," said 
Makoto.

	"And he recovered from all of our attacks rather quickly," Rei 
added.

	"That sounds typical of the Dark Kingdom," Luna commented, "When 
one set of monsters fails to kill you, they send stronger ones after you."

	"But they're getting more aggressive in their attacks every time," 
said Usagi, "This is only the third soldier we've had to fight, and he 
was the strongest one."

	"They all were powerful, Usagi-chan," Ami commented.

	"And your point is?" Luna asked.

	"Something is going on if they're sending the Dark Kingdom's 
soldiers after us," Usagi replied, "It's definitely more aggressive 
than even turning people into monsters."

	"What else is it the Dark Kingdom wants other than to release 
themselves from the prison Queen Selenity locked them in," Luna 
commented, "However, with Thrul being the strongest soldier you've 
faced, there are bound to be more. And you can bet they'll be stronger 
than Thrul."

	"Thrul's power wasn't all that bothered me," said Minako.

	"Yes, the reason Usagi called you down here in the first place. An 
unusual man appeared in the middle of the battle and helped us take him 
out," Ami added.

	"And peculiarly so easily," Makoto added.

	"He calls himself Tuxedo Inferno," said Rei, "He looks like Tuxedo 
Mask only dressed in maroon."

	"He's nobody we ever knew, past nor present," said Makoto.

	"I don't trust him either Luna," said Usagi, "He claims to be on 
our side, he claims to know us, but it's like Makoto said, we've never 
seen him before in our lives. And she is right that he made his part in 
the battle look a little too easy."

	"Do you know anything about this Tuxedo Inferno?" Ami asked, 
trying to stay with the reason Luna was summoned.

	"I can't be certain. Describe him," Luna replied.

	"Well, like Rei said, he's dressed like Tuxedo Mask, only in 
maroon. His hair was longer and he used fire attacks," Usagi described.

	"Now that you describe him, he sounds familiar. The man using fire 
attacks is what strikes me as familiar. But I still don't remember what 
or where from," Luna replied.

	"So you don't remember either," said Rei.

	"I'm sorry, Rei-chan. I don't," said Luna, hanging her head in 
sorrow.

	"With his appearance and the ease of his fighting, could he 
possibly be working for the Dark Kingdom?" Makoto asked.

	"It's unlikely since he did help you defeat Thrul," Luna replied.

	"He says he knew Tuxedo Mask from a long time ago, but Tuxedo Mask 
doesn't even remember him," Usagi described.

	"Now Usagi-chan, you know better yourself that he has little to no 
memories of that 'Long time ago'," Luna reminded.

	"Rei-chan, you could do a fire reading," said Usagi, "You have 
that sixth sense of yours that's helped us out a lot."

	"We don't even know if he's an enemy or not," said Rei, "A fire 
reading would not do much good. But I'll try tonight and see what I can 
learn."

	"Aren't you spending time with your brother tonight?" Usagi asked, 
"You looked really excited about him moving back in with you."

	"You girls can go on without me," said Rei, "Kyodai can go with 
Minako."

	"And I'm still taking my friend out," Makoto added.

	"Besides," said Rei before a slight feeling bashfulness took to 
her, with her cheeks hinting at it, "I sort of don't have anyone to 
take."

	"Then it's done," said Luna, "You girls are pretty good at not 
letting the Dark Kingdom ruin your daily lives. Rei-chan, try and find 
out what you can on this Tuxedo Inferno. You other girls, keep your 
communicators handy. Like I said, I doubt this'll be the last of those 
soldiers." 

	Luna hopped down from Ami's lap as Usagi walked back to the front 
door to open it for her. "Damn I regret this, but I'll have to tell 
Kyodai that I won't be joining him tonight," said Rei.

	"Did you have other plans with him before we brought up our movie 
plans?" Usagi asked.

	"Not really," said Rei, looking away a little bit, "I mean I 
haven't seen my brother in months, when he usually visited every couple 
weeks."

	"I'm sorry, Rei-chan," said Minako, sensing Rei's disappointment, 
"It's my fault."

	"No, it's not that," Rei reassured, "The Dark Kingdom and this 
Tuxedo Inferno are on my mind too. That sort of makes tonight feel a 
little bit better. You go on ahead and have fun with my brother tonight."	

	"Oh you can bet on that," Minako replied as she began walking 
toward the door behind Ami and Usagi, "I'll see you later Rei-chan."

	With that, all 4 girls left Makoto's apartment and made their way 
back to their own homes, getting ready for the night's events full of 
fun, relaxation, and hope that the Dark Kingdom wouldn't turn it all 
into a living nightmare.
 

	Later that night (7:15 p.m.)...

	It was nearing the time for Kyodai's date with Minako, though he 
was somewhat reluctant to show any excitement over it. He just thought 
of this date as just another one of those times he'd take a girl to 
dinner or to a movie, which most of the time never went any further 
than that. But for all he knew, Minako was excited as hell with her big 
date with Kyodai. Just the way she flirted with him almost the entire 
time he was there was what had brought him to that conclusion. So 
Kyodai walked into the living room, still wearing his maroon slacks and 
sport coat. It was descent enough attire for a movie with a girl.

	"You ready, Rei?" he summoned, letting his sister know he was 
ready to go, figuring she was getting ready herself.

	Rei was in her room, but she was far from getting ready to spend 
at least some time with her brother before Minako would take that time 
away. She was in her red and white miko kimono, preparing for her 
rather unscheduled fire reading, which was nothing unusual to her. But 
Kyodai, however, knew little about even her scheduled fire readings. So 
it was no wonder that Kyodai had asked about her being ready to leave.

	Rei had to come up with an excuse and fast. She hated it, she 
regretted having to ditch him like that, but at least Minako would help 
keep him some company, well a lot actually. She walked out of her room 
in response to Kyodai's hail.

	"Rei-chan, you're still in your kimono?" said Kyodai, wondering 
why she didn't look near ready to go, "We're leaving in 5 minutes."

	"Oh, Kyodai. I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you. I had something 
planned for tonight," Rei replied with a good enough excuse, "I'm 
sorry, I was so excited about you being back living with us that I 
totally forgot." She had grabbed onto his sport coat with both hands, 
practically begging forgiveness.

	"Rei, calm down. It's alright," Kyodai reassured, "I sometimes 
forget things too. We can go to the mall tomorrow if that's alright 
with you." That left him to deal with Minako alone that night. Whenever 
he did date a girl, it was usually in a double date with one of the few 
close buddies he had. But tonight, he would've rather had his sister 
there with him to keep Minako in line. Better yet, it would've been 
great to have either just him and his sister hang out at the mall that 
night, or at least some quality sibling time. But he couldn't turn down 
Minako's pleas to take her with him to a movie, fearing he'd hurt her 
feelings or even make her mad at him. He surely understood why Usagi 
seemingly didn't care for Mamoru too much as cold as it had sounded 
like he was toward her. Then again, he had never known Mamoru to be 
that cold toward any girl. As for the time he would rather have spent 
with Rei, there was always tomorrow. And tomorrow suited him just fine.

	"Sure Kyodai, thank you," Rei replied, feeling more at ease as she 
wrapped her arms around him, giving him a nice sisterly hug.

	"I love you, Imuto," said Kyodai, returning his sister's hug. He 
then took his keys from a table in the living room and walked out the 
front door as Rei made her way toward the temple.



	Earlier, the small group had planned to meet at Makoto's before 
their trip to the downtown theater. That made it easier for the group 
since Makoto lived closer to downtown than Usagi and Minako. So that 
was where Kyodai was driving. It didn't matter to him where he picked 
Minako up from since he was the one who had a car and town driving 
never really bothered him that much. 

	Besides, Minako would be the first girl he actually went on a date 
with since high school. One would think that at a college, girls would 
flock all over him and Kyodai would actually crawl completely out of 
his shell. And girls did throw themselves on him too, especially the 
freshman girls who praised and revered the only freshman starter, and 
had the hots for him too. But Kyodai's excessive studies and time spent 
on the field dominated much of his time. So the flocks of lovely ladies 
were definitely not on his list of priorities. So being in college 
didn't make Kyodai any less reluctant to ask a girl on a date.

	So this particular date was something for him to experience all 
over again, even if he was a little nervous about it. Kyodai thought 
about this during his drive to Makoto's. It wasn't the fact that Kyodai 
didn't take much time to date girls that made him reluctant to go with 
Minako, but rather it was her seemingly immature nature and over-
flirtatious advances that made him even more reluctant to date her. She 
was a 14-year-old for God's sake. But somehow, he saw through that boy-
crazy immaturity and saw that Minako was, in all reality, more serious 
and more mature than any of the other 4 girls, his sister included. 
Perhaps that was what made Kyodai say yes to her wanting him to take 
her to the movies. Kyodai only hoped his sixth sense wouldn't fail him 
and turn this date into a disaster.

	Minutes later, he arrived at Makoto's apartment. He easily found a 
parking spot in the visitors parking area, and in the same spot he had 
parked in earlier that day. He stepped out of his car and walked up to 
the front door. But just as Kyodai had walked inside, the sight of a 
familiar figure caught his eye, almost startling him. Standing right 
next to the elevator was Minako, watching the front door like a hawk, 
and waiting for Kyodai to walk through it. He certainly wasn't 
expecting her to be standing in the foyer waiting for him.

	Her clothing was quite different to what it had been earlier. She 
was wearing a lighter lavender dress, with the skirt cut almost a 
quarter-way up the knee. Beautiful blue and soft violet flowers adorned 
various spots on the dress, giving it less of a bland look. And her 
neckline was round-cut modestly between her bust and her throat. And to 
top it all off, she wore white cross-strapped sandals, with the heels 
just high enough to give her a slightly noticeable boost in height. 
However, Kyodai couldn't make out the sleeves, wondering if they were 
long or short, since she was wearing her blue denim jacket over it. It 
was quite appropriate since it wasn't exactly going to be on the warm 
side that night.

	Minako actually didn't dash toward him like an Olympic sprinter to 
much of Kyodai's surprise, but rather smiled at him and casually walked 
toward him as he approached her. As they met, Minako lightly wrapped 
her arms around him and laying her head on his chest. Kyodai tensed up 
for a minute as Minako hugged him, but then relaxed in almost an 
instant before returning her embrace. "Are you alright, Minako-san?" he 
asked, "You were literally throwing yourself on me earlier today."

	Minako released her hold on him and looked into his dark amethyst 
eyes. "I'm fine," she replied, "Really." Minako then wrapped her arms 
around his left arm and held it close to her body, "Shall we go now?"

	"Already?" said Kyodai, wondering what hurry Minako was in to get 
to the movies, "Shouldn't we wait for Makoto and Usagi?"

	"Usagi isn't coming," Minako replied, loosening her hold on his 
arm, as she looked away, "The idiot she was supposed to be going with 
dumped her for another girl."

	"Really?" Kyodai asked.

	"Yeah, and what was worse is that she didn't find out until she 
called him an hour ago," Minako continued, which explained to Kyodai 
the reason she had looked away when Kyodai asked about Usagi. Kyodai 
surely didn't need his sixth sense to understand what Minako was 
feeling, as it literally screamed out how disgusted she was at the guy. 
"When she heard it, she started crying like you wouldn't believe. I'm 
surprised ships didn't try to dock here with that foghorn wailing she 
was causing. Please forgive my language, Kyodai-san, but that guy 
really pissed me off leaving her like that for another girl."

	"Apology accepted," said Kyodai in response, "I can see why 
anybody would be upset at that."

	"Yeah, it's bad enough she has to put up with Mamoru, but at least 
she deals with him, and for a good reason too. But this guy was 
supposed to be a guy she could go and see a movie with, a guy she could 
spend a romantic time with, even if she does prefer another guy over 
him," Minako explained.

	"What are you trying to say?" Kyodai asked, trying to piece 
together what Minako was saying as they made their walk out toward his 
car.

	"This was supposed to be her first date, Kyodai-san," she replied, 
"And that bastard took that away from her and gave it to another girl... 
I'm sorry, Kyodai-san." She apologized again after letting another word 
unbecoming of a lady slip out.

	"No wonder you're acting a little different," said Kyodai as they 
reached his car. Actually, this behavior struck Kyodai as that of the 
more mature side of Minako he had sensed, perhaps a little too mature 
for a girl her age. She had expressed to him concern for her friend and 
anger toward the person who woefully upset that friend. In addition, 
she didn't even give hint to the boy-crazed, playful, and teasing side 
of her.

	Kyodai gladly opened the car door for Minako, which drew a few 
sparkles from her eyes at his kind gesture. 'And he's a gentleman too,' 
Minako thought to herself as she gladly stepped inside and took her 
seat, not surrendering her dreaminess to her concern for Usagi that 
easily. Kyodai walked around the back of his car and opened the 
driver's door before sliding inside.

	"So where's Makoto, if you don't mind me asking?" Kyodai politely 
asked, going back to his original question.

	"Makoto went to take Usagi to Ami's," Minako replied, "She's still 
coming with us, but she'll be a little bit late getting there."

	"I see," said Kyodai as he started his engine and put the car in 
reverse. He backed out of his nice little parking space, shifted gears, 
and left the parking lot just as easily as he had gotten into it. After 
that, it was off to the Downtown Theater. The trip, however, gave the 
couple plenty of time to continue their conversation. This was 
something that Kyodai gladly welcomed, as it helped to distract him 
from his feelings of anxiety. Plus, it helped to keep the conversation 
away from how cute he was, what he liked, and other 'let's get to know 
each other' questions.

	"How could someone ditch Usagi like that, and right as she was 
getting ready for her big date?" Kyodai asked while he drove.

	"Well, he's the type who wants to be seen with the popular 
cheerleaders and not girls like Usagi," said Minako, "He's one of those 
big shot soccer players at the school who're so full of themselves. No 
offense." 

	"None taken," Kyodai honestly replied, "Sure I was a star soccer 
player when I was in high school, but I never dated any of the 
cheerleaders." That attempt of keeping the conversation away from him 
had failed. Bringing up him not dating cheerleaders had gotten him 
thinking about his high school days. Mostly though, he thought about 
the few girls he had actually taken to lunch, or dinner, or the movies. 
It wasn't often that he had done so, but almost every time had had 
taken a girl out, he enjoyed it. He enjoyed their company, the time 
they spent together, and even the occasional kiss from a select few. 
Those thoughts right then were making Kyodai wonder why he didn't date 
girls more often, and why he didn't start searching for that girl in 
his dreams. Perhaps this date with Minako was to be the beginning of 
that search.

	Moments later, Minako noticed the rather spaced-out look on 
Kyodai's face. He was driving fine, but he had all of a sudden gone 
silent after his last sentence. "Kyodai-san, are you all right?" she 
asked.

	Kyodai snapped out of it and turned to Minako, "I'm fine." Then he 
turned back to the road, looking as if he were about to fall back into 
that trance. In response, Minako took a hold of his hand and gave it a 
gentle squeeze. This prompted Kyodai to turn back to her at the 
stoplight, where he smiled at her and returned the gentle squeeze. 
'He'll be fine,' Minako thought to herself, smiling back at him.


	Downtown Theater...

	It wasn't long after the end of that conversation that they made 
it to one of the downtown movie theater. The parking lot was rather 
crowded, and free parking spaces were hard to come by. This didn't 
surprise Kyodai at all since a crowded theater was usual for a Saturday 
night. Nevertheless, he did find a place to park, even though it was 
toward the back of the parking lot. Once parked, Kyodai got out of the 
car and walked to the passenger side, being a true gentleman and 
opening the door for Minako. She took his hand in hers as she let 
herself up and out of the car.
	
	While on their way across the parking lot toward the ticket booth, 
Minako wrapped her arms around Kyodai's left arm and lightly leaned on 
it. It was then that they discussed what movie it was they were going 
to watch.

	"How's 'Wizards of the Starlight'?" Kyodai asked.

	"Nah, something with a little more... romance," said Minako as she 
buried the side of her head deeper into his shoulder and pulling 
herself ever so slightly closer.

	"Romeo and Juliet?" Kyodai suggested, "This is a remake of 
Shakespeare's famous story of how true love brings together 2 members 
of feuding families."

	"Shake-who?" Minako asked, not remembering going over his plays in 
school.

	"Bard Willie," Kyodai replied, wondering how she doesn't know 
about Shakespeare. Everyone knows about him. "Tell me you've not heard 
of Romeo and Juliet," he continued.

	"Of course I have," Minako replied.

	"Well, how about it?" Kyodai asked, returning to the original 
topic of discussion.

	"Nah, too depressing toward the end," Minako replied.

	As the couple nears the movie theater, Kyodai scans the names of 
the movies playing, hoping it would help him decide. Minako, however, 
was too busy enjoying the short walk with the incredibly cute guy to 
even notice the billboard. It didn't take Kyodai long to scan the names 
before one caught his eye, "Ah, something with action and romance. How 
about Fantasy Gardens?"

	"Action and romance, hmm? Sounds good to me," Minako replied, 
barely even letting up from Kyodai, let alone glance up at him or the 
movie posters.

	"Then again, I wonder what Makoto and her friend are gonna watch," 
Kyodai wondered.

	That question finally prompted Minako let her head off his 
shoulder and look up at him, "Don't worry about them. Tonight's 
supposed to be about us."

	'Damn, stupid,' Kyodai scolded to himself in his head, 'It IS 
supposed to be about you and her. Don't you dare ruin this date. It's 
your first one in over 8 months. Just focus on the time you have with 
her, and things will go well. Just... hope and pray she doesn't hang 
all over you and embarrass you in the theater like she did this morning, 
or even try to kiss you every few minutes. God I hate it when girls do 
that.'

	"Kyodai-san, are you all right?" Minako asked, breaking him from 
his self-coaching session.

	"Oh, sorry, Minako-san. I was just..." Kyodai tried to explain, 
pausing right when the couple reached the ticket booth, "So, Fantasy 
Gardens, right?"

	"Yes," Minako quickly replied, blinking and smiling in response.

	Kyodai then turned to the woman in the ticket booth. "Two adult 
for Fantasy Gardens please," said Kyodai as he handed the clerk the 
money. In almost no time at all, the clerk pulled up two tickets and 
handed them to the rather calm couple. "Enjoy the movie," she said.

	With tickets in hand, they walked into the theater immediately 
walked up to the doorman. Without second thought, Kyodai hands him 
their tickets. "Theater 12, to your left. Enjoy the movie," said the 
doorman, tearing their tickets and returning to the couple their stubs.

	They casually walked down the hall and into theater 12. It was 
still a half-hour before the movie, and there was already a rather 
large crowd filling the seats from wall to wall. It took a little bit 
of walking before Minako spotted a number of empty seats more toward 
the back of the theater. They squeezed themselves through a few people 
before they finally made it to the cluster of empty seats. Relieved, 
the couple finally took their seats.

	"New stadium seating, huh?" Kyodai commented, making note of the 
new stadium-style seating that had recently become a trend in America 
and Europe, "They never had these when I was still living here."

	"They remodeled 3 of the theaters last year," said Minako, 
knowing this all too well with how much she loved to go out to movies. 
Almost immediately after the couple had taken their seats, more people 
filed inside and scurried to the empty seats like packs of hungry rats. 
It wasn't very long before the theater empty seats ran scarce.
 
	"Nice crowd, must be a big movie," Minako commented.

	"A new one called 'The Starlight Warrior', is coming out next 
week," said Kyodai, "It's supposed to be bigger than even 'Black Velvet 
Cruise'."

	"Another romance?" Minako guessed.

	"Sort of. I saw the trailer for it a couple weeks ago when I saw 
'Black Reign.' It looks to be full of action, adventure, and romance," 
Kyodai explained.

	"Sounds like a good movie," said Minako. "I wanna see it."

	The movie came on minutes later. 'Fantasy Gardens' seemed to be 
more of a fantasy adventure than a true romance or a true action movie. 
But it did have both, and that suited the couple just fine. Besides, 
Kyodai was a sucker for adventure stories, so he was more than content 
with this movie.

	Later, in a slightly romantic scene, Minako gently rested her head 
on Kyodai's shoulder. It had been a long time since she had been this 
close to a guy. In fact, the last place where she was this close to a 
guy was back in England. With that slight display of affection, of 
desire to be close to Kyodai, came mixed emotions. She was very much 
content to be this close to Kyodai, one of few guys who actually saw 
something beyond her usual fun-loving attitude, as well as her more 
childish traits. Yet, it also brought back some more painful memories, 
namely those of Alan. He was the only other person who loved her for 
her, and not just the fact that she's a cute and innocent young girl.

	Kyodai, after having convinced himself to go with it, and after 
determining that Minako wasn't desperately trying for a kiss, wrapped 
his arm around her shoulder. This return of affection prompted Minako 
to wrap both arms around his chest, which caused Kyodai to tense up 
for a minute from her immediate and more profound display of affection. 
'It's all right, Kyodai. She just wants to snuggle up to you and enjoy 
the movie, with your company,' he told himself in his mind, again 
giving himself a little coaching. This was his first date in a long 
time as well, so he really didn't want things moving too fast on their 
first date. With a girl snuggled up to him, and a movie that Kyodai was 
starting to like, he figured this first date was going to go quite well.

	However, an hour into the movie, the sound Minako's communicator 
interrupted their almost perfect evening. Minako immediately let go of 
Kyodai and sat up in her chair after letting herself off of him.

	"You've got a pager too," Kyodai commented, remembering Usagi's 
pager. And since Minako's pager sounded the same as Usagi's, he figured 
that it was probably her wanting to call Minako and ask her how the 
date was going. Kyodai almost cringed at the thought of two girls 
sharing the very intricate details of their date, just like typical 
girls.

	Minako opened the left side of her jacket, pretending to really 
have a pager in her inside pocket. Then she regretfully looked back up 
at Kyodai, "Kyodai-san, I'm sorry. I'll be back, okay?" She then got up 
from her seat and barely squeezed through the row of knees and legs. 
Once she made it to the aisle, she walked swiftly up the aisle and left 
the theater, apparently in a big hurry. Though it did make Kyodai 
wonder why she was in such a hurry, and what kind of phone call 
would've prompted her to be in one.

	Once in an empty and secluded corner near one of the theater's 
side exits, Minako pulled her communicator from her jacket pocket. 
"Yes?" she answered to whomever was on the other side.

	"Minako-chan," Luna replied as her image appeared on the miniature 
screen, "Rei found nothing from her fire reading on Tuxedo Inferno. But, 
there's a disturbance not far from the very theater you and Makoto are 
at. Somebody HAS come to avenge Thrul's death, just as my gut intuition 
told me might happen."

	"God, don't these jerks ever give up?" Minako commented, obviously 
upset at the Dark Kingdom ruining her big date with Kyodai. "I'm on my 
way," she reluctantly said as she closed her communicator.

	'Dammit, dammit,' Minako swore to herself, 'I can't believe it. 
This is the first time I've been on a date since I left England, and 
the Dark Kingdom has to show up and ruin it. God I hope Kyodai forgives 
me. I really hate to have to leave him in the middle of the movie.'

	She then began walking toward the front of the theater where she 
met Makoto, standing at the front door waiting on her. "Did you hear?" 
Minako asked.

	"Yes, Rei called me," Makoto responded as they joined each other 
and abruptly walked out the front door, "I can believe these bastards 
are at it again. We can't even have a descent enough life without them 
raising hell somewhere, dragging us out there to clean up their mess. 
Let's go find someplace to transform and get this over with." 

	"I agree," said Minako. Quickly, the girls walked around to the 
side the building, where there was nobody to be found, and quickly 
raised their henshin pens.

	"Jupiter Power, Make-Up!"
	"Venus Power, Make-Up!"


	Downtown Shopping District...

	After having transformed and left the theater area in a big hurry, 
the two Sailor Senshi arrived in a shopping district further downtown, 
not far from the very theater they were at. So it didn't take them very 
long with their, super power enhanced running and jumping, for them to 
make it to the battle zone. There, they found Sailor Moon and Sailor 
Mercury already engaged in battle with this soldier Luna had warned 
about. This particular soldier resembled to Thrul in almost every way, 
being clad in very similar black armor although it was more decorated.

	"He does look like Thrul now that I see him," Minako commented, "I 
wonder if all the Dark Kingdom's higher ranking soldiers look like him."

	"Never mind what they look like," Sailor Jupiter commented, "Let's 
just join in, kick his ass, and get back the theater. I'm already 
missing quality time with a friend I haven't seen since two weeks 
before I moved to Juuban Junior High."

	"Yeah, and I had to leave poor Kyodai behind," Sailor Venus 
commented as she and Sailor Jupiter approached the battle area, "Every 
time I do get a date, I have to leave him because these inconsiderate 
jerks want to start fights anytime they damn well feel like it."

	The two senshi, however, weren't alone. Just before they had 
reached the battle zone, Sailor Mars appeared from out of an alleyway 
and immediately aimed her pointer fingers at the soldier just like a 
gun. "Fire Soul!" she chanted aloud as she sent a ball of fire flying 
at the soldier at high speed.

	Unfortunately, the soldier had noticed her right as she released 
the ball of fire. Acting on impulse, he drew his sword and swung at the 
ball of fire as if it was a baseball, connecting with it and sending it 
flying right back to its origin. Sailor Mars barely had time to react, 
as the fastball slammed into her chest and sent her flying back into 
the alleyway.

	After Sailor Mars was taken out of the picture, Sailor Mercury 
quickly formulated a plan after witnessing the soldier's rather adept 
display of baseball. "Usagi-chan, remove your tiara and get ready to 
attack," she commanded.

	Usagi nodded in reply as obediently removed her tiara and stood 
fast.

	"Shabon Spray!" Sailor Mercury chanted, swinging her arms tout to 
her sides and sending a volley of bubbles flying throughout the 
shopping district, blanketing it in a thick fog.

	"Great idea, Ami-chan," Sailor Moon praised. She then he began 
spinning her little tiara around, charging it. "Moon Tiara, Action!" 
she yelled as she hurled her golden tiara at where the soldier was like 
she was a major league pitcher. The soldier never saw the tiara coming 
until a split second before it struck him in the chest, knocking him 
back and draining much of his strength. Sailor Mercury's ingenuity once 
again didn't fail her.

	Out of desperation, the soldier released a wave of dark energy all 
around him to attempt to blow away this fog. It only proved marginally 
successful as it merely thinned it out rather than burned it off. But 
it was enough for him as he caught sight of the two Sailor Senshi and 
charged at them with what strength he had left. Sailor Moon grabbed her 
wand and prepared to ward off this speeding bull before a bolt of 
lightning electrocuted him, utterly knocking him over onto his face.

	Sailor Moon glanced up and spotted the two movie goers  as they 
arrived on the scene of the battle. "So you've made it," she commented, 
"Quick, help us out here. He's gone berserk, though there isn't much of 
him left."

	"Yeah, but be careful, Usagi-chan. An animal is more dangerous 
when he's wounded," said Sailor Jupiter. Her words began proving to be 
true as the soldier almost jumped back to his feet in an instant. 
Immediately, he turned around and dashed at Sailor Jupiter and Sailor 
Venus like a raging bull, with his eyes glowing bright yellow. 

	Sailor Venus immediately threw her pointer finger in the air, 
hoping to charge her attack before the soldier made it to her. But it 
looked as if she wasn't going to be fast enough as the soldier was just 
a few feet in front of her in almost an instant. She flinched hard and 
braced for impact, somehow knowing subconsciously that she wasn't going 
to just jump out of the way. But as she flinched, nothing happened. 
That is nothing except for a rather hot gust of wind blowing by right 
in front of her.

	She opened her eyes to find the soldier not even there, but lying 
against a broken pane of storefront glass with his armor smoking from 
one vicious burn. She turned the other way to find Sailor Mars standing 
in the alleyway, her pointer fingers still aimed at where the soldier 
was and smoking like a recently fired gun.

	That effort proved to be useless as this soldier made his way to 
his feet as if he hadn't even been shot. It was an attribute that 
struck the Sailor Team as one like that of Thrul, which made them more 
apprehensive about this battle.

	"Uh... this make take longer than we thought..." Sailor Venus 
commented, with her hopes of getting back to Kyodai in a hurry becoming 
very uncertain.

	"No it won't," said Sailor Moon as she removed her tiara again, 
"Everybody, attack all at once, and quickly before he strikes."

	"Shabon Spray!"
	"Fire Soul!"
	"Supreme Thunder!"
	"Crescent Beam!"
	"Moon Tiara, Action!"

	Their attacks strike the soldier almost in sequence, with the last 
shot coming from Sailor Moon's tiara knocking him down almost 
flawlessly. He fell on his hands, breathing heavily, but was still not 
completely down and down.

	"What the hell?" Sailor Jupiter wondered.

	"That should've killed him," said Sailor Mars.

	Still breathing heavily, the soldier then looked up at Sailor Moon, 
with his eyes glowing bright yellow. "If I go down, I'm taking you with 
me," he said in a monster-like voice as if he were possessed.

	And in an almost an instant, to the Senshi's surprise, his human-
like body ripped apart as he transformed into an ugly grayish-purple 
demon. His body was easily three times the size of the Sailor Senshi's, 
giving him a very distinct size advantage over the Senshi. His bulging 
muscles easily gave away his massive amounts of brute strength, which 
made the Senshi aware of his strength advantage as well as his size. 
And to top it all off, his claws were as long as knives and as sharp as 
straight razors. 

	With his first target in sight, the legendary Sailor Moon, he 
leaped forward, landing right in front of the awe-struck Senshi in a 
single bound. With his oversized arms, he batted her aside, easily 
knocking her into a building.

	"What the..." Sailor Venus commented, equally awestruck.

	"A berserker," Sailor Mercury concluded, not even needing her 
minicomputer and visor to make that assumption.

	Without comment, without even second thought, Sailor Jupiter bum 
rushed the demon from behind and grabbed one of his oversized arms, 
attempting to overpower this demon with her Sailor Senshi enhanced 
strength.

	"Mako-chan, are you crazy?" said Sailor Mars, "There's no way 
you're going to take that berserker on like that.

	"Watch me," Sailor Jupiter grunted, struggling with the immense 
upper body strength of just the demon's one arm. However, just as the 
demon fought harder against her strength, Sailor Jupiter turned that 
resistance in her favor and stepped into him, turned, and managed to 
shoulder throw him into a light post, knocking it over as if it were a 
twig.

	Unfortunately, that little jiu-jitsu move proved useless as the 
demon recovered rather quickly and blasted Sailor Jupiter with a 
purplish bolt of lightning, giving the unfortunate Sailor Senshi her 
frequent flyer miles. That took Sailor Jupiter out of the fight as well, 
leaving only 3 to contend with this berserker.

	'Damn, I have to do something,' Sailor Mars thought to herself. 
She quickly decided to be the next one up to try and take the demon on. 
If physical attacks had no effect on it, then maybe their senshi powers 
would work on him. So with that strategy in mind, Sailor Mars clasped 
her hands together and aimed her pointer finger at the demon.

	"Fire Soul!" she chanted as she launched a ball of fire at the 
demon, striking him dead in the chest and sending him flying into 
another light post, knocking it down and setting it on fire with his 
burning body. Again, the senshi's attacks proved to be useless as he 
recovered in seconds and effortlessly doused the fire. Then, as quickly 
as he had gotten up, he dashed at Sailor Mars and quickly snatched her 
up by the throat with his oversized hands. While holding her struggling 
body off the ground, he gave her neck a good squeeze, utterly weakening 
her. And finally, he threw her into a parked cargo truck, denting its 
door with her body and knocking her unconscious.



	Meanwhile, back at the theater, Kyodai continued watching the 
movie. Minako having to leave in seemingly such a hurry wasn't a big 
deal to him at first. He figured she would be back soon after calling 
whomever it was that paged her. So he decided to continue enjoying the 
movie while he waited for Minako to return. Kyodai actually had gotten 
to enjoy two things at once tonight, and that was a date with a girl 
and a movie at the theater. Kyodai loved movies and often watched them 
on TV when he had nothing else to do at any particular moment. It was 
his form of entertainment when he wasn't studying or playing soccer. He 
didn't visit the theaters much, though, except for the one near the 
Azabu Institute of Technology. And that one was a smaller theater. That 
small theater fed his need for the newer movies, while the rental place 
near the college fed his need for all the other movies. But as far as a 
movie with a girl, he hadn't done that in a long while. So this one was 
a looking to be a nice experience.

	But while after Minako had left supposedly to make her call, 
Kyodai checked his watch to find out just how long she had been gone. 
'Where is she?' he asked himself in his mind, 'I hope she didn't just 
leave me here in the middle of the film. Was it my fault?' It had 
gotten him thinking that he had done something wrong, or wasn't 
affectionate enough. It was a possible reason as to why Minako was in 
such a hurry to leave. He had his fair share of good dates in the past, 
what little dates he did go on. But he's also messed up a couple dates 
and even been slapped by a couple girls. 

	Then reason returned to him, 'Of course not. She seemed to be 
enjoying this date as much as me. And surely she would've come and 
told me if she had to leave for some reason.' It was true, Minako was 
actually less openly affectionate this evening, though her feelings for 
him were still there. Kyodai sensed them in her, and that was what had 
brought reason back to him. And moments later, it was that ESP that was 
telling him that something wasn't right. After one last attempt to try 
and enjoy the movie, Kyodai worrying about Minako, especially after he 
checked his watch again, 'God, I hope everything's alright.'

	Just when that thought hit his mind, another feeling suddenly came 
over him. It wasn't his worries over Minako, worries about his date 
going bad, or even guilt for somehow causing Minako to leave him. But 
it was a feeling more familiar to him, especially since it had come to 
him earlier that day. It was a feeling he couldn't ignore since it was 
literally screaming at him in his mind, filling his thoughts with a 
girl screaming in agony, calling to him for help. He squeezed his eyes 
shut for a moment and tried his best to fight it off, to suppress it, 
to make it more bearable. But knew what this feeling was and why it was 
calling to him, so it was no use fighting it.

	"Dammit, why now?" Kyodai swore under his breath, very reluctant 
to have to leave. 'I'm on my first date in months, and this damned 
feeling has to show up now,' he thought to himself as she stood from 
his chair and began squeezing himself past the other people, 'I hope 
Minako doesn't come back and find me gone, she'd never forgive me. 
Dammit, what a way to screw up a date.'

	He finally made it through the crowd of people and out of the 
cinema. He then turned down the hall and began running toward the side 
exit of the theater. Once out, he found only to find a couple kissing 
by the door, glaring at him as he burst out the door. 

	"Uh, sorry. Carry on," he meekly said with a slight bow as he 
turned and ran toward the corner to the back of the theater, hoping no 
one would be there. When he rounded the corner, relief fell upon him as 
his hopes proved to be true, "Nobody back here. Good." Satisfied with 
his makeshift hiding place, he lifted his obsidian jewel ring and 
concentrated on the power that lied within. In almost an instant, 
flames surrounded his body as the power in the ring surged throughout. 
Once the flames subsided, he had transformed into Tuxedo Inferno.

	With his sense of purpose in mind, he began running further 
downtown, following both the sense of evil and the sense of a girl's 
screams. After a few minutes of running as fast as he could, hopping 
on top of a city bus, and dashing through alleyways, he arrived in the 
shopping district where he sensed the call for help. There, a large, 
muscle-bound demon was holding Sailor Moon in the air, by the throat, 
while Sailor Venus was blasting the demon from behind with Crescent 
Beam. Tuxedo Inferno decided to stay in the alley and watch the demon's 
movements, figuring a way to take this behemoth on. 

	Sailor Venus' attack caused the demon to wince in pain, but it 
didn't make him release his grip on Sailor Moon as he held on tight. He 
turned and ran at Sailor Venus, then batted her into a nearby car. 
After having taken care of Sailor Venus, he took Sailor Moon and 
slammed her onto the asphalt, drilling a nice Sailor Moon-sized pothole 
into the asphalt and knocking the leader of the Sailor Team unconscious. 

	Right then, Tuxedo Inferno lost his patience. He wasn't going to 
let this behemoth defeat the Sailor Team, not if he had anything to do 
about it. So he leaped onto the balcony on the front of the building 
and then jumped back down, landing right in the middle of the 
battlefield.

	Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter immediately noticed his entrance. 
"He's back," said Sailor Mercury.

	"I see," Sailor Jupiter replied as she balled up her fists and 
began marching up to the fiery fighter, as if she were going to punch 
him in the face, "And just what the hell are you doing, fire boy?"

	"Move," he said as he waved his hands out to his sides, 
"Inferno..." A ball of fire appeared seemingly from within his own body 
and began floating above his head, as if it were controlled by 
telekinesis. However, Sailor Jupiter was still standing there, taking 
up a fighting stance and itching for a fight. "I said move, dammit," he 
yelled. 

	Sailor Jupiter jumped out of the way, more out of shock than 
anything, as Tuxedo Inferno waved his arm at the demon, "...Flame!" On 
command, the ball of fire hurled towards the demon, striking him in the 
face as he had turned toward the yelling. The demon stumbled backward, 
wincing in pain, as Tuxedo Inferno drew a sword from his obsidian jewel 
ring. 

	Meanwhile, Sailor Mars recovered from her fierce attack to see the 
maroon-tuxedoed man taking it to the demon with a sword as Sailor 
Mercury helped out with her bubbles attack. It proved useless as the 
demon shoved both Tuxedo Inferno and Sailor Mercury back. Sailor Mars 
lowered her eyebrows and stood tall, then aimed her pointer fingers at 
the monster, "Fire Soul!" She launched a ball of fire of her own at the 
monster, doing her best to distract him while Tuxedo Inferno raised his 
sword, "Flame Sword..."

	The demon looked back at the tuxedoed warrior to see fire 
appearing out of thin air and collecting into his sword, setting the 
blade ablaze. "Strike!" Tuxedo Inferno yelled, striking the demon with 
all his strength and sending it on a ride hundreds of feet back. The 
demon was ablaze, but still struggling to get up. Sailor Venus 
recovered from her ride into the parked vehicle to see the flaming 
berserker making one final attempt to lay it all upon the Sailor Team. 
"Crescent Beam!" she chanted as she fired a beam of light at the demon, 
finally destroying it as it lied there on the road in a pile of ashes. 

	With the battle over, Tuxedo Inferno walked over to the fallen 
Sailor Moon, who looked to be in the worst shape. It was logical since 
the other 4 senshi were either still standing or back on their feet. He 
kneeled over the legendary leader of the senshi and checks for a pulse. 

	Sailor Jupiter protested as she ran toward him, ready to push him 
away, "You, get your ass away from her." 

	He turned back to the raging senshi and held a burning hand 
towards her. "Get back and let me help her," he yelled. Shocked, she 
back off and decided to let him tend to Sailor Moon. "She's hurt 
pretty badly. That demon was very unusual. I mean very few can take it 
to the legendary Sailor Moon like this," he said. The other senshi 
watched on as he laid his hand on the fallen senshi's chest. 

	He bowed his head down and began summoning the power of fire 
within him. "Inferno Phoenix..." he changed as a fiery bird suddenly 
descended from the sky. It's body was glistened in gold as fire shot 
from its long wing and tail feathers. It was a beautiful sight for the 
Sailor Senshi, watching the legendary bird fly gracefully through the 
air as it descended toward the duo. "Revive!" Tuxedo Inferno chanted 
aloud, throwing his head back and gazing at the sky. The bird then 
transformed into pure fire on that command. Tuxedo Inferno removed his 
hand from Sailor Moon's chest and backed.

	He and the Sailor Senshi watched as the flames reached the ground 
and surrounded Sailor Moon's body, and then disappeared into her. With 
the boost of energy from the power of fire, she opened her eyes and 
struggled to get up. Tuxedo Inferno slowly began backing off as Sailor 
Mercury and Sailor Venus ran over to her to help her up. They kneeled 
down to her and threw their arms around her, embracing her close. 
Sailor Mercury then turned to the man who helped Sailor Moon, "Thank 
you, Tuxedo Inferno." 

	Sailor Jupiter couldn't take it. She walked up to Tuxedo Inferno, 
still glaring at him, "You may have helped to heal our leader, but I 
still don't trust you. How do we know you're not one of the Dark 
Kingdom's bastard children playing ruse on us."

	"You'd better leave before she severely hurts you," said Sailor 
Mars, joining Sailor Moon and the others. With that, Tuxedo Inferno 
walked back as flames appeared right behind him, from out of nowhere. 
He continued walking backward, right through the fire as if it weren't 
there. After he completely immersed himself into the fire, it 
diminished, with the tuxedoed warrior nowhere in sight. 

	"I still don't completely trust him, not yet at least," said 
Sailor Moon, "He did help us out, so maybe he's not such a bad guy." 
After she finally made it to her feet under her own power, the 5 
senshi jumped on top of a building and began discussing the recent 
events. "Rei-chan, what did you get from your fire reading," Sailor 
Moon asked.

	"The Dark Kingdom is definitely up to something... something evil, 
and I believe part of it revolves around Tuxedo Inferno. However, I got 
nothing on Tuxedo Inferno himself... nothing," she said.

	"What if he IS on our side? Then it would be logical to sense 
something like that. The Dark Kingdom may be after him if he's that 
powerful. It's something they can use in their favor," Sailor Mercury 
explained.

	"He's definitely an odd character, but quite a good fighter," said 
Sailor Venus.

	"He seems to be very talented in the art of fire," said Sailor 
Mercury before looking back at Sailor Mars, "I hate to admit, but more 
talented than even you, Rei-chan."

	"He may have helped us both times we've seen him," said Sailor 
Jupiter, "But I think this is still some kind of a trick. We all know 
the Dark Kingdom can be very deceptive."

	"We'll talk about this Tuesday at our next meeting," said Sailor 
Moon, "I have to get back home with Ami-chan before Mother worries. 
Let's go."

	"Oh yes, I have to get back on my date with Kyodai," said Sailor 
Venus as she turned and ran off back toward the theater, "Oh God, he's 
not going to forgive me." And that was the final cue for the rest of 
the senshi to separate and go on about their lives.


	Downtown Theater...

	Back at the theater, the movie was almost over, making Kyodai 
aware of about how long that battle was. After having removed his 
transformation in complete stealth at the back of the building, he 
walked front and began looking for Minako, hoping she didn't come back 
and find him gone before leaving him completely. He checked back inside 
the cinema where 'Fantasy Gardens' was playing, but Minako was not 
there. He walked all around the theater, and even checked the payphones. 
Minako was nowhere to be found. So Kyodai walked back out the front 
door and leaned against the wall, wondering if Minako really did leave 
him. 'I knew it, damn this sixth sense of mine,' Kyodai thought to 
himself, figuring Minako had left after finding him gone. As much as he 
valued the power he had, the power to fight alongside the legendary 
Sailor Moon and rest of the Sailor Team, he sometimes saw it as a curse 
in that it often interrupted the busy life he led. It sure as hell 
interrupted one of those rare dates he went on tonight.

	Minutes later, Minako walked out the front door. She had snuck 
back inside from one of the side doors after her battle as Sailor Venus. 
Relieved to see Kyodai standing outside, yet worried about how he may 
have felt about her leaving him like that, she slowly walked up to him. 
"What are you doing out here?" she asked, trying desperately to revive 
her cheery personality and failing.

	"Wondering if you had forgotten about me," Kyodai replied, feeling 
relief himself after concluding that she really didn't leave him. The 
young girl wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled herself 
close to him, "I would never forget about you. I'm so sorry I had to 
leave like that... I had to go... take care of something right quick. 
I'm so sorry."

	"It's okay, Minako-san, I forgive you. I had to leave and take 
care of something myself," he replied, before the worry over their date 
hit his mind, "Some date, huh?" 

	"Don't worry about it, we can do it some other time, okay?" Minako 
reassured as she pressed her body against his and gave him a nice 
squeeze, letting him know she still liked him.

	"How about next weekend?" Kyodai asked, "We have school all week, 
you know. That and I have soccer practices after classes."

	"I would love to," she said as she gave him another squeeze, 
almost to the point of squeezing the air from his chest. She then took 
a hold of his hand as the couple walked out to Kyodai's car. Once there, 
Kyodai played the role of the gentleman once again, opening the 
passenger door for Minako. After she climbed inside, he walked around 
the back of the car and climbed in on the driver's side.

	"I do wonder," said Kyodai, "I haven't seen Makoto the whole time 
we were there. Where was she?"

	"She and her friend saw 'Wizards of the Starlight'."

	"So, where to next?" Kyodai asked.

	"Home," Minako replied, "It's getting late. Mother may never let me 
go on a date with guys again if I come home late."

	"Understood," Kyodai replied as he started the engine and easily 
made his way out of the crowded parking lot, with few other cars to 
contend with. "So, where's your house at?" he asked as he made it to 
the street.

	"I'll guide you there," Minako replied as she began giving Kyodai 
the directions to her house. The drive wasn't very long, though it took 
Kyodai out further away from the Juuban District. But in 15 minutes, he 
made arrived at Minako's house after learning a few shortcuts from her.

	The house Minako lived in wasn't bad at all, rather it was a 
fairly decent house, one similar to the one he lived in with his aunt 
and uncle. He parked alongside the sidewalk. And like a true gentleman, 
he walked around and opened the car door for her. "Kyodai-san, I really 
did enjoy tonight, even though it was sort of cut off at the end."

	"Yeah, even though be both missed the last third of the movie, 
and it was getting interesting too," said Kyodai, with both laughing. 
Minako wrapped her arms around Kyodai and pulled herself into a tight 
embrace.

	"To be quite honest, it's the first time I dated a guy in a while," 
she said. She drew herself closer and softly kissed him on the cheek. 
She then let go of him and walked toward the front door. When she 
opened the door, she looked back at Kyodai and smiled, "Good night, 
Kyodai-san." Once the door closed, Kyodai winced and covered his hears 
when joyful squeals and cheers filled the house and yard, obviously 
coming from Minako.

	"She sure is giddy," Kyodai said to himself as she hopped back 
into his car. He then started the engine and drove off into the night, 
toward home, with thoughts in his mind about his date with the cheerful 
Minako. 'She's not so bad after all,' he thought to himself, 'But she's 
still young, as am I.'
 
----------------------------end of chapter 3---------------------------

...Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and most of the characters ain't mine, but 
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 
all I thank them for is bringing' it to America, nothing' 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