Title: Five-Alarm Fire - Chapter 1
Author: Viper Inferno
E-mail: viperdvman@gmail.com
Genre: Action Drama
Rated: PG

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                           Five-Alarm Fire
                          By Viper Inferno

                              Chapter 1

	"Dark Kingdom? What are you talking about?" a soldier pleaded, 
backing away from a man in a maroon tuxedo, maroon top-hat, and maroon 
cape with purple inner liner. The soldier himself was dressed in a full 
suit of black armor, covering every inch of the soldier that donned it. 
In his right hand, the soldier held a seemingly normal-looking 
broadsword.

	"Inferno Fire Beam!" Tuxedo Inferno chanted aloud, waving his 
arms in kung fu fashion. He then aimed his open palms at the pleading 
soldier and fired an intense beam of fire. The beam struck its mark, 
drilling the soldier in the chest and knocking him flat on his back? 
With the soldier lying on the ground, seriously weakened from the fire 
beam and an earlier onslaught of fire-based attacks, Tuxedo Inferno 
slowly marched up to the weakened soldier and drew his flame sword from 
his obsidian jewel ring.

	"Who are you?" the soldier cried.

	"I am Tuxedo Inferno, warrior of fire and protector of good. In 
the name of the planet Mars, I will burn you," he replied. With that 
answer, he raised his flame sword high above his head as fire began to
collect into his sword seemingly out of thin air, setting the blade 
ablaze, "Flame Sword, Strike!"

	With all his might, Tuxedo Inferno struck the fallen soldier 
with his fiery blade, setting the soldier instantly and completely 
ablaze. Within seconds, the fire abruptly burned itself out, leaving 
only a pile of ashes to blow away in the wind. With the enemy soldier 
effectively dispatched, Tuxedo Inferno magically sheathed his sword 
inside his obsidian jewel ring. He then turned and began to walk out of 
the battle field and down the streets of western Tokyo.

	"He wasn't lying," Tuxedo Inferno said to himself, thinking 
about why the soldier was pleading the way he was when Tuxedo Inferno 
had painted him as being of the Dark Kingdom. "He didn't look like 
somebody from the Dark Kingdom. Even so, somebody from the Dark Kingdom 
must've sent him."



	On top of a nearby building, overlooking the battlefield, 
Jadeite witnessed the entire battle first hand, observing Tuxedo 
Inferno's battle with the soldier in black. He not only watched the 
battle, but with a parabolic microphone, he also listened to it as if he 
were in the middle of the battle. He seethed as Tuxedo Inferno struck 
the soldier down with his fiery sword. "Damn, he knows we're behind 
this," he said to himself as he turned away from the battlefield. 



	Inside the Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl was also witnessing the 
battle through an image projected into thin air by her crystal ball. 
"The Mars Prince is tougher than we thought," Queen Beryl said to 
herself, trying to keep herself calm, "Jadeite's gonna pay for his 
stupidity, sending a soldier who knew nothing of his enemy."



	After walking some distance from the battlefield, and getting 
quite a bit of attention from various admirers, Tuxedo Inferno had to 
get out of his alter ego and fast so he could continue on with his life. 
Finding an alleyway to hide in, Tuxedo Inferno turned the corner and hid 
next to a dumpster, out of sight from any onlookers. He focused on his 
obsidian jewel ring and closed his eyes, and in an instant, magical fire 
enveloped his body. Within seconds, the flames extinguished, revealing 
Hino Kyodai, Tuxedo Inferno's civilian form.

	After transforming back, Kyodai sat against the wall next to the 
dumpster, with thoughts of the battle flowing through his mind. 'That 
soldier was different than the others I have fought in the last couple 
months,' Kyodai thought to himself, 'It's like somebody from the Dark 
Kingdom had just walked up to him and recruited him on the spot, gave 
him a sword, some powers, then gave him a target and sent him into 
battle. It's as if he was some kind of scout, allowing for someone else 
to watch and see how I'd fight him.'

	Having concluded the circumstances surrounding the battle, 
Kyodai rose to his feet and made his way out of the alley and back into 
the real world, where the people casually walked the streets. After a 
short jaunt down the sidewalk, mingling with a few pedestrians in the 
process, Kyodai spotted his old coupe, a dark red 1979 Datsun Silvia 
hatchback, powered by a stock 1.8L turbocharged 4-cylinder. It wasn't in 
the best of condition, with the paint having lost its luster over the 
years, but it was a very reliable and a fairly sporty little coupe, and 
was easily able to pass Japan's mandatory inspections, something that 
gets expensive for older cars. The only modifications Kyodai had done to 
his car since he had gotten his license in the middle of Grade 12 was 
some dark window tinting and a pair of fog lights. 

	It was a hassle to get this old car for a reasonable price, but 
for Kyodai, it was well worth the effort as he was easily able to 
commute all around Tokyo. It also made it possible for him to move back 
to and live at the Hikawa Jinja, register a parking space there, and 
commute to the Azabu Institute of Technology. So Kyodai slipped his key 
into the door lock, opened it, and climbed inside. The inside of the car 
was actually in pretty good shape, with vinyl seats slightly worn but 
not torn in any places. The dash was in good condition, although it 
could've used a little shine, and the manual shifter shifted almost like 
it was brand new. Once seated in his car, Kyodai took a glance at his 
watch, which read 11:12 am. 

	"Damn, I gotta go pick Minako up," he swore to himself, 
remembering the arrangements he had with Minako the day before. He was 
to meet up with her so that they could spend their day off from school 
together. Kyodai didn't have soccer practice today, and Minako didn't 
have any major tests coming up, so all they had to worry about on this 
fine Saturday was their time together. However, the battle with this 
Dark Kingdom soldier had taken up a lot of Kyodai's time, giving him 
very little time to drive to Minako's house to pick her up. So he 
hurriedly slid the key into the ignition and started the engine of his 
old coupe. Without second thought, he shifted the car into first and 
punched the gas, making his car's rear tires sing a shrieking soprano 
as it sped off into the streets of Tokyo.


	Minako's House...

	After speeding through the streets of Tokyo, briskly yet 
cautiously passing cars along the way, Kyodai finally made it to 
Minako's house and pulled into an empty spot in front of her house. 
Afraid he was late, he checked his watch, reading 11:27am, and breathed 
a sigh of relief. "Thank God I made it. And thank God the police didn't 
catch me speeding," he said to himself as he shut his engine off and 
stepped out of his car. He quickly brushed off his shirt, recomposed 
himself, and casually walked up the pathway to Minako's front door. Once 
there, he took a deep breath and rang the doorbell.

	Moments later, the door open and Minako's beautiful blonde-
haired, blue-eyed face peeked through the opening. Seeing who it was 
that had rang her doorbell, excitement overcame her as she swung the 
door open and threw herself, arms wide open, at Kyodai.

	"Hi Kyodai-kun," she gleefully said as she threw her arms around 
him, "I'm so glad you made it."

	"I'm glad to see you too," Kyodai replied as he casually 
returned her embrace. 'She's always so open with her feelings,' Kyodai 
thought to himself as Minako's arms affectionately wrapped tighter 
around his waist and her body pressed tighter against his, 'And she 
certainly likes to be held. Then again, I haven't known very many girls 
who weren't this affectionate.'

	Moments later, Minako pushed herself off of Kyodai, with her 
arms still wrapped around his waist, and gazed into his dark purple eyes. 
"So," Minako said as she took one hand and began to gently caress his 
perfectly-shaved face, "where're we going?"

	Kyodai only grinned, "You'll see."

	"Oh, I love surprises," she replied, letting go of Kyodai and 
jumping up and down excitedly. 

	With Minako off of him, Kyodai began examining his beautiful 
girlfriend. The most striking feature that always grabbed his attention 
was the cute red bow in her hair, holding her ponytail in place. She was 
wearing a pale blue t-shirt under a dark blue jumper, with the skirt cut 
at just above her knees. With it, she wore white socks halfway up her 
shins. However, she had no shoes on, having no chance to slide into any 
before throwing herself at Kyodai. "You look great, Minako-chan," he 
complimented.

	"Why thank you, Kyodai-kun," Minako replied as she gave him a 
gentle kiss on the cheek and turned back toward her front door. "I'll be 
out in a minute," she said as she went back inside.

	Kyodai didn't have to wait very long before Minako had emerged 
from her front door, with a small purse and wearing black mary janes. 
"Ready, Kyodai-kun?" she said rhetorically, wrapping her free arm around 
his as they walked toward his old coupe. Once there, Kyodai slid the key 
into the lock of his passenger-side door before opening it for Minako.

	"You're such a gentleman Kyodai-kun," she said, smiling at him 
as she climbed inside.

	"Thanks," he replied as he closed the door and walks around to 
the driver's side to get inside. Once inside, he took one glance into 
Minako's beautiful blue eyes and smiled at her, taking note of the 
beautiful girl sitting in the passenger seat of his pride and joy. He 
then started the car and drove off, albeit much more gently than his 
earlier trek to her house. He had a lady in his car, so there was no 
need for him to unleash his old coupe's sportier nature.


	Juuban Park...

	Once arriving at the park, Minako's face lit up with joy, "Oh my 
god, I love the park. Thank you, thank you, Kyodai-kun." Once Kyodai had 
parked his car, Minako unbuckled her seatbelt and let herself out of the 
car. As Kyodai opened the door to get out, Minako was already running 
into a grassy field in front of the lake. Once Kyodai shut the door, he 
gazed out toward the large blue lake, with flecks of gold flickering 
about it as the sun kissed its surface. 

	However, his attention once again turned to Minako, who had her 
arms outspread and was spinning gleefully like a figure skater, her 
blonde hair swaying elegantly in the wind as she spun. Kyodai only 
smiled at her athletic yet graceful display of sheer excitement and 
began walking toward her. But that beautiful display was short-lived as 
Minako ran up toward him and threw herself at him, colliding with him 
and throwing her arms around him, "Oh, Kyodai-kun. It feels so good 
being here, especially with you."

	However, the embrace was also short-lived. Minako let Kyodai go, 
took a hold of his wrist, and led him further into the park and toward 
the glistening lake. Kyodai tried to follow casually, but Minako was  
walking much faster to the point that she was tugging at his wrist, 
seemingly in a hurry. "C'mon, Kyodai-kun, let's go to the lake," Minako 
urged. Giving up on dragging him, she let go of his wrist and ran toward 
the lake, chasing down a poor white duck in the process as it ran, 
flapping its wings and quacking in panic.

	'Silly girl,' Kyodai thought to himself, chuckling yet trying to 
hold back a laugh. Although he knew she wasn't always like this, her 
excitement and her giddy schoolgirl act did bring a smile to his face, 
and only helped her to admire her carefree personality. He did sense a 
more serious side to her, one that wasn't so carefree but was more 
focused, and one who has seen some ups and downs in life and learned to 
live with it. However, in the week that he has dated her thus far, he's 
had yet to see the more serious side of her. It didn't make him like her 
any less, though. It did, however, make him want to see more from this 
beautiful young lady. He could only watch as Minako ran all the way to 
the edge of the lake.

	"Minako-chan, we've got all afternoon," he called out, getting 
her attention, as he continued walking toward her at the lakeside, "You 
don't have to run. Besides, my surprise isn't 'til tonight."

	"Really?" she said anxiously, "Oh I can't wait."

	Once Kyodai had finally joined Minako's side, they sat down near 
the edge of the lake and watched as the ducks and swans swam 
effortlessly by them. Kyodai reached into the pocket of his slacks, and 
into a bag he had gotten out of his car, and pulled out a handful of 
grain. He gave a little bit to Minako, letting it pour gently into her 
cupped hand, and tossed the rest out toward the ducks. They watched as a 
dozen ducks swam frantically toward the floating bits of grain, gobbling 
up individual pieces in a heartbeat as they passed them by. Once nearly 
gone, Minako tossed her small amount toward the flock, watching as the 
ducks turned on a dime and toward the newly arrived bits of food.

	She then glanced up toward Kyodai, who only smiled at the sight 
of the ducks flocking so frantically toward the food like they hadn't 
eaten in days. It drew a smile from her in response, and she leaned 
against his side, laying her head on his shoulder. Kyodai wrapped his 
arm around her shoulder in response and snuggled her closer to him. And 
there, the couple gazed toward the glistening lake as the ducks had 
finished competing over the last of the bits of grain. It was a much 
more relaxing time for the both of them, enjoying the serene beauty of 
the lake and taking in the warm fresh air, free from the worries of 
life. It was certainly a side of Minako that Kyodai enjoyed, as it was 
something he could share in with her so much more easily than her 
giddy side. At the least the girl can settle down and relax once in a 
while.

	"Hi Kyodai-san, Hi Minako-chan," a familiar voice gleefully 
greeted moments later. Just as the couple was getting a little bit 
cozier, the voice had startled them, causing Kyodai drop his arm from 
Minako's shoulders and Minako to sit upright from Kyodai's shoulder. 
They then turned toward the origin of the somewhat cheerful, if not 
startling, greeting to see Usagi and Makoto walking toward them. 
"What're you guys doing?" Usagi asked when her eyes met theirs.

	"Feeding the ducks and enjoying some time together," Kyodai 
replied. 

	"Yeah," says Minako, "He's gonna take me some place tonight." 

	"Really? That's great," Usagi replied. Although she had a 
bright smile on her face, both upon hearing the news and while watching 
the couple enjoy their time together, Makoto only grimly starred at 
them. 'So you got Kyodai, huh?' Makoto thought to herself, 'You may have 
won the battle, but the war is far from over.' But, she and Minako were 
friends, and she really didn't want Kyodai to come between them, just 
like what had happened when her last love had gotten between her and a 
very close friend of hers before she met Usagi. So she merely submitted 
to reason. "Enjoy your time together," she said, keeping her composure.

	"We will," said Minako as Makoto and Usagi turned and continued 
about their business.



	With Usagi and Makoto walking far enough from the couple, far 
enough out of earshot, Makoto turned to Usagi and whispered into her 
ear, "She'll get tired of him. I give them a week."

	"And what then, Mako-chan?" said Usagi, "You'll nab him, right?"

	"Something like that," Makoto replied, cackling. 'He will be 
mine someday, oh yes he will.' 



	Back at the lake, Kyodai and Minako watched on as more ducks 
swam by, gliding along the surface of the lake without so much as a 
ripple or a wake. Minako scooted herself closer to Kyodai and went back 
to leaning against him and lying her head on his shoulder. Kyodai 
responded by wrapping his arm back around her shoulder, holding her 
tightly against him, and lying his head on the top of hers. Together, 
they enjoyed the sight of the flocks of ducks swimming about the lake 
without a care in the world. But more so, they enjoyed the breathtaking 
beauty of the glistening lake as the sun kissed its rippling surface. 
Then, one particular sight grabbed the couple's attention, watching on 
as one duck was doing some sort of courtship dance to a potential mate. 
It was that sight prompted Minako to wrap her arms around Kyodai's 
chest, giving him an affectionate squeeze before placing a gentle kiss 
on his cheek. 

	"Beautiful day, isn't it?" said Kyodai, returning Minako's 
affectionate squeeze with one of his own.

	"Yes," Minako replied, "I just love watching these ducks and 
swans. And the lake looks so beautiful. Plus, I like to both relax here 
and have fun here with the others. That's why I love being here at the 
park." 

	After another moment, a thought suddenly hit Minako's mind. "Hey 
Kyodai-kun," she said as she gently let herself up from Kyodai's 
shoulder, sat upright, and turned to him, " Do you wanna go to the 
mall?" 

	Kyodai looked back at her to see her smiling and swiftly batting 
her beautiful baby-blue eyes in an attempt to provoke a 'yes'. And how 
could one say no to such an inviting face like Minako's? And Kyodai was 
enjoying his time with this rather beautiful young girl, whose beautiful 
blue eyes and that cute red bow in her long blonde hair could convince 
any man to give in to her desires, and possibly even some of their own, 
however benign. "Sure," he gladly replied.

	With that response, the couple rose from their spot at the edge 
of the lake. Minako wrapped her arm around Kyodai's, and held that hand 
with her other, as they began a slow and casual walk toward Kyodai's old 
coupe. While walking, they both looked around to see if Usagi and Makoto 
were anywhere to be seen. However, they had long since left that section 
of the park and were probably enjoying each other's company elsewhere in 
the park, or perhaps they had already left the park. Even with their 
short little interruption, it didn't take away from the wonderful yet 
relaxing time they were having together. And with that thought, Minako 
leaned her head against Kyodai's shoulder as they continued their slow 
journey back to Kyodai's car.

	Once at his car, with Minako still wrapped around his arm, 
Kyodai slid his keys into the passenger-side lock and opened the door 
for Minako. "Such a gentleman," she commented as she let him go and 
climbed into the passenger seat, "Thank you, Kyodai-kun."

	"Anytime, Minako-chan," he replied as he shut the door and 
walked around to the driver's side. He then opened his door and climbed 
inside, finding that Minako had already buckled her seatbelt and was 
ready to go to the mall. 

	'Minako certainly has a love for mall strollin,' he thought to 
himself. Once inside, Kyodai grabbed his CD case from under his seat and 
began browsing through it. Inside, he had a seemingly endless cache of 
CD's covering various genres, ranging from: Pop, Rock, Jazz, R&B, and 
even classic Japanese Traditional. Minako only watched, gazing toward 
his eyes as they browsed through each CD in the endless cache, and 
smiled at him.

	Finally, after a few minutes of browsing through CD's, and 
Minako silently gazing at him with her beautiful blue eyes, Kyodai found 
a CD to play on their trip toward the mall. So he removed the CD from 
the case, started his engine, and put the CD into his portable CD 
player. He had to use a portable CD player with an in-car adapter since 
his old coupe used an aftermarket cassette player. 'Whatever car I 
decide to get, it'd better have a CD player,' he thought to himself as 
the CD began playing.

	"Oh, I love this group," Minako commented, recognizing the first 
few notes of the song. Minako sat back in her seat and closed her eyes 
as the melody and lyrics of the R&B song flowed through her mind. And 
Kyodai put his seatbelt on, shifted his car, and left the park. After a 
few minutes of driving, the song changed to a mellower track, sending a 
warm and fuzzy feeling flowing through Minako. In response, she looked 
over to Kyodai, who was mostly occupied by his driving, and gently 
placed her hand on his shoulder. She would've taken his hand into hers, 
only he needed that hand for shifting gears. So she was perfectly 
content with his shoulder. Kyodai looked back at her and gave her a warm 
smile, letting her know the feeling was mutual, and went back to his 
driving.

	Moments later, after a few more tracks had played, they arrived 
at the mall, and at a rather jam-packed parking lot. "Wow, there sure 
are a lot of people here," Minako commented, having removed her hand 
from Kyodai's shoulder.

	"It's Saturday, of course there's going to be a lot of people," 
Kyodai replied as he drove around the parking lot, looking for an empty 
spot that didn't require him to walk a long distance to the mall. 
Fortunately, he discovered a car backing out not that far from the mall 
itself. So Kyodai stopped and waited for the car to back out and leave 
before sliding into that parking spot himself. Once parked, he turned 
his CD player off and turned the car off. Afterward, Kyodai got out of 
his car and walked around to Minako's door to let her out, like the true 
gentleman he's been for the whole week they've been going out.

	"Thank you, Kyodai-kun," she said as she climbed out of the car. 
In her mind, Minako couldn't stress enough how much of a gentleman 
Kyodai was being. She absolutely adored it. And in response, she once 
again wrapped one arm around Kyodai's and took that hand into hers as 
they began their trek toward the mall. 

	"Hey Kyodai-kun," a voice called out moments later as the couple 
had made it halfway to the mall from Kyodai's car. 

	The couple turned toward the summons to find Yoruno Obake at his 
car, his driver-side door opened, waving to Kyodai, "Is that Kyodai-kun 
with a girl?" Seeing Kyodai with a girl surprised Obake, since Kyodai 
had never once accepted any proposals for dates from some of the girls 
back at Azabu Tech, especially while Kyodai was living there. Academics 
and soccer were what dominated Kyodai's time. "I never knew you had time 
for a girlfriend," he commented.

	Kyodai merely hung his head, sweat drop hanging from his head, 
"Surprise, Surprise." Only two people would've teased Kyodai about how 
seldom he dated girls, and even more when he actually had a date, and 
those were: his grandfather, and his friend Obake. 

	"Hey Kyodai-kun, who is that guy?" Minako asked, leading Kyodai 
toward Obake's car, a brand-new '93 Honda Civic SiR, top-of-the-line 
sport hatchback, which Kyodai had concluded long ago as obviously a gift 
from his father who was a surgeon at one of Tokyo's finest hospitals.

	"Obake-kun, this is my girlfriend, Aino Minako," said Kyodai, 
letting go of Minako and properly introducing her to his friend, 
"Minako-chan, this is my friend, Yoruno Obake. We're co-starters on the 
soccer team."

	"Pleased to meet you, Yoruno-san" said Minako, bowing politely. 
Afterward, she immediately noticed his appearance. 'Wow, he's not a bad 
looking guy at all. But, he's not as cute as my Kyodai-kun. Are all of 
the Azabu Institute of Technology's soccer players this hot?' she 
thought to herself.

	"Thank you, Aino-san. I'm pleased to meet any friend of 
Kyodai's," Obake replied, noting the bow in Minako's hair as she bowed 
to him, then her attractive physique as she stood again. 'Wow, he has 
himself a real beauty,' he commented to himself. "But yes, Kyodai and I 
are both starters in the upcoming season opener," Obake explained, "He 
may be a year behind me, but Kyodai here's a great soccer player."

	"And Obake here is one of the quickest forwards on the team," 
Kyodai added, "So of course he's going to be a starter."

	"I don't know, Kyodai-kun," Obake rebutted, "I think you might 
actually qualify as one of the better players on the team, for a first- 
year nonetheless."

	"So what are you doing here, Obake-kun?" Kyodai asked, changing 
the subject of who can give the better compliment.

	"Oh, I'm going to the department store," Obake replied, "You two 
wanna come along?"

	"No, thank you," Kyodai politely declined, "I'm just here 
spending some time with Minako. I promised her I'd spend the day with 
her."

	"It's okay, I understand," said Obake as he shut his car door, 
turned his car alarm on, and began walking toward one of the mall's 
department stores, going a different direction than Kyodai and Minako 
were heading. "See you at practice tomorrow," he said, waving to the 
couple.



	Moments later, after a slow walk with Minako clung tightly onto 
Kyodai's arm with that hand in hers, the couple entered the vast mall. 
It was still in the middle of autumn, with no holidays approaching, so 
the mall wore its usual architectural décor. It was a 2-story mall, with 
wide passageways and a wide 2nd-floor balcony. In the middle of the 
first floor was numerous large indoor gardens, a few ponds filled with 
various native Japanese fish and plenty of water features, and a large 
number of benches, tables, and other sitting areas. In the center of the 
mall was a large, magnificently-sculpted fountain reaching all the way 
up to the second floor, with its water features spraying water almost 
all the way to the exquisitely-crafted crystal glass skylight. The rest 
of the ceiling was littered with many exposed, yet painted metal 
supports and was lined with numerous skylights at regular intervals. It 
often hung large banners of various advertisements, store names, store 
logos, and the common mall logo. And during any holiday season, the same 
ceilings and metal supports, and even the 2nd floor railing, wore the 
decorations, colors, banners, streamers, and even the lights of 
whichever holiday was approaching.

	However, today, the ordinary beauty of the mall was overshadowed 
by the rather large crowds of people taking up the wide halls on both 
floors. "Wow," Minako said in amazement as some of those from the crowds 
pass her and Kyodai by, "There really are a lot of people here." 

	"Like I said, it's Saturday," Kyodai added, "But I don't often 
see this many people here. And it's not even a holiday."

	The couple continued on inside the crowded mall, with Minako 
still hanging onto his arm not only to show off her love for the man, 
but also for dear life so as not to get sucked away into the crowd. 
Simply walking around the mall wasn't going to be enjoyable for the both 
of them, trying to fight their way through this crowd as if they were 
swimming the first leg of the Triathlon. Once they had made their way 
further into the mall, they found some empty benches in one of the many 
sitting areas in the middle of the first floor halls. Without any words 
spoken, they both decided to sit and relax for a minute and then decide 
on what they were going to do at the mall.

	"I want to go to the music store," Kyodai suggested, "I love 
music and love to collect a wide variety of music. Plus, I'm always 
looking to expand my collection. And I'm sure Rei-chan would want 
something there as well."

	"We can look at clothes after that," Minako added, "I love 
shopping for clothes. I am always looking for the latest fashions." 
However, she hung her head, with another sweat drop hanging, "However, I 
only manage to get a hold of about a third of them. I'm only a junior 
high student, after all."

	"We can go to the department store for that. Besides, I could 
use a new blazer," said Kyodai, "As if I didn't already have enough of 
those."

	"I can look at some dresses as well, and maybe something I can 
wear on a future date," Minako added, winking at Kyodai.

	"Then it's decided," Kyodai declared as he stood from his bench, 
proud and determined, "Are you ready to battle this monstrous horde of 
people on our way to the music store?"

	Minako only smiled at his response, quickly turning into a 
gleeful giggle, "Oh Kyodai-kun, you sound just like one of those 
romantic heroes from the movies, fighting for a good cause." She then 
stood from the bench next to him and wrapped her arm around his, leaning 
her head into his shoulder, "We'll take on the crowd together. Let's 
go."

	After a long and slow journey through the crowded mall, easing 
their way through the sea of people without causing any unnecessary 
confrontations, the couple arrived at the music store. There, they had 
hoped they would finally find refuge from the sea of people flooding the 
rest of the mall. However, as they entered, they both hung their head in 
disappointment. "My God, it's crowded in here too," Kyodai said to 
Minako.

	"You're telling me," Minako replied. They both let out a 
discontented sigh as they decided to tough it out and make their way 
into the store and toward the CD racks. As the couple began browsing 
through various CD's, Minako and Kyodai separated, with Kyodai browsing 
some Pop titles and Minako flipping through some R&B titles. "Hey 
Kyodai, come here. They've got a new album," said Minako, referring to 
the group they listened to on their way to the mall, as she waved Kyodai 
over to her. 

	Kyodai took little time to walk to Minako and look at the CD for 
himself, and then just as quickly took the CD and continued browsing, 
"Thank you, Minako-chan."

	"Anytime, Kyodai-kun," Minako replied. The couple spent the next 
half-hour scanning through various genres of music, with Minako staying 
mostly in the Pop and R&B sections, and Kyodai going all over the store. 
After a while, Kyodai was carrying 8 CD's, 3 for him, 3 for Minako, and 
2 for Rei. Minako herself had a couple CD's, both pop CD's from two of 
her favorite idols. As the couple made their way toward the counter, 
Minako's communicator began beeping. "Sorry Kyodai, I gotta check my 
pager," Minako said as she fumbled through her purse and pulled out the 
money to pay for her CDs, and handed both it and her CD's to Kyodai, 
"I'll be back, okay?"

	"Sure, take your time, and be careful in the crowd," Kyodai 
replied as Minako left the music store seemingly in a hurry.

	She briskly swam through the crowds of people with much less 
effort than her earlier journey to the music store, and quickly found 
the ladies' room. "No one here," she said to herself, checking each of 
the stalls, "Good." She then removed her communicator from her purse 
and turned it on, "Yes?"

	"Minako-chan," a familiar voice replied as the face of a black 
crescent-headed cat appeared on the display, "We've got trouble at 
Juuban Park. Another soldier is wreaking havoc at the park, and a couple 
odd-looking youma are with him.  I've already sent Usagi out and am 
calling the others."

	"I'm on it," Minako replied as she slipped her communicator back 
into her purse and she quickly left the ladies room, keeping her eyes 
out and making sure Kyodai didn't catch her leaving him like this. "I'm 
so sorry, Kyodai-kun," Minako said to no one in particular, "I don't 
want to do this, but duty calls. Please forgive me." This time, she made 
no effort to carefully swim through the crowd as she hurried through, 
bumping into a couple of people on her way out of the mall. Once 
outside, she hid in a small niche and pulled her henshin pen out of her 
purse.

	"Venus Power, Make-Up!" 

	In no time at all, she transformed into Sailor Venus. And 
without a moment to lose, she jumped onto the roof of the mall with no 
apparent effort and began running toward Juuban Park. Even with the 
distance Kyodai had to drive from the Juuban district toward the mall, 
Minako had to give it everything she had to help her friends and get 
back to her date with Kyodai.

	She soon arrived at the park to find the soldier with his youma 
terrorizing the people. As awe-inspiring as the scene was, what really 
struck Sailor Venus was the fact that she and Kyodai were here not much 
more than an hour ago. The soldier was a rather tall man, clad in plain 
bluish-black armor and black riding boots. His youma were rather odd as 
Luna had earlier described, bearing both humanoid and non-humanoid 
features. They both had human torsos and heads mixed with animal-like 
extremities and other appendages. The youmas were making quick work of 
the people, easily overpowering them and draining them of their life 
energy. With the other senshi having not yet arrived on the scene, 
Sailor Venus launched her attack on one of the youma, "Crescent Beam!" 

	She fired a laser at the youma, knocking it off of a hapless 
woman and sending it on a ride quite a distance through the park. 
Weakened, it slowly staggered to its feet and began advancing toward 
Sailor Venus. The other youma had just finished draining another park 
visitor of their life energy when it saw its companion take the attack 
from the sailor senshi, as it too began advancing on her. As the youmas 
neared Sailor Venus, a large blast of fire struck one of them, sending 
it on a ride across the grassy field and into a tree. Although weakened, 
this youma too slowly staggered to its feet.

	Sailor Mars arrived on the scene and took her place beside 
Sailor Venus, "Are you okay, Venus-chan?"

	"I've never been better," Sailor Venus replied, "Why does the 
Dark Kingdom have to attack now while I'm on my date with your brother?"

	"You know better than I do that they can attack at anytime," 
Sailor Mars replied, "So let's end this so you can go back to your date 
with him." Both senshi took it to the youmas, dodging attacks and firing 
away. With the senshi's hands full with the youmas, the soldier took his 
opportunity and began draining energy from the nearby people. The fact 
that neither senshi was getting the upper hand with the youmas made it 
that much easier for the soldier to concentrate on stealing life energy 
from the people without fear of retaliation.

	Suddenly, flashes of lightning-enhanced bubbles struck both 
youmas off-guard, knocking them both to the ground and severely 
weakening them. Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter quickly joined their 
friends, with Sailor Moon not far behind them, and stared down the 
struggling youmas.

	"There's just no end to these guys, is there," Sailor Jupiter 
commented.

	"Sailor Moon, do it," Sailor Mercury cheered on.

	"You got it," Sailor Moon replied as she removed her tiara, 
"Moon Tiara Action!" With her powers, she charged up her tiara and 
hurled it at both of the crippled youmas, disintegrating them both into 
ashes.

	The soldier, having finished draining the energy of another 
small group of people, watched on as his youma fell at the hands of the 
legendary Sailor Moon. Although he had seen that all five of the sailor 
senshi had arrived, the soldier merely grinned, "Ah, perfect. With all 
the senshi here, we can carry out our plans."

	"Plans?" Sailor Moon commented, dumbfounded, "What are you 
talking about?"

	"You'll see," the soldier replied as he launched a large ball of 
dark energy at the senshi, scattering all five of then about the grassy 
field.


	The Dark Kingdom...

	Inside the throne room of the Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl sat at 
her throne, instinctively waving her hands around her crystal ball. 
There, she was watching the battle as it unfolded, using her crystal 
ball to project an image of the battle in thin air for her and all her 
minions to watch. Along with her minions, Jadeite stood before her in 
the middle of the throne room, watching the projected image of the 
soldier draining the people's energy and the Sailor Team destroying the 
youmas. Jadeite had to be present to watch this battle unfold, 
especially since he was the one who had planned this operation after 
being punished by Queen Beryl for his previous failure.

	Queen Beryl grimaced as she witnessed Sailor Mercury's and 
Sailor Jupiter's combined attack overtaking and weakening the youmas 
after they had done such a good job keeping the other two senshi busy. 
As tempted as she was to lash out at Jadeite for yet another apparent 
failure, she merely bit her tongue as she listened to the words of the 
soldier as they sounded about the throne room like they were played at a 
movie theater. It was then that she grinned, remembering what she and 
Jadeite had earlier discussed before the operation had commenced. 
"Perfect," she commented, "We use this soldier and his worthless youmas 
to lure those sailor senshi."

	"Yes," Jadeite agreed, "That part of the plan worked wonders 
just as I thought it would. Hopefully, it'll be enough to lure the Mars 
Prince as well."

	"But we still have to find out his connection with them," Beryl 
added, thinking back to the first battles where she had witnessed Tuxedo 
Inferno and the Sailor Team fighting together. Sure, she had seen the 
Tuxedo Inferno interfering in many of Nephrite's, Zoicite's, and even 
Kunzite's operations by himself many times, but his recent appearances 
alongside the Sailor Senshi had further peaked Beryl's interests in him, 
as if she weren't already disgusted with him. This was why she had 
Jadeite plan this operation to ferret him out. "Let's try concentrating 
on one of them at a time," she suggested, "And we'll see if he's 
anything like Prince Endymion with that brat, Sailor Moon, and shows up 
when a certain senshi is in danger."

	"You got it, Queen Beryl-sama" Jadeite replied. As he extracted 
a crystal-like transmitter from his pants pocket and spoke some orders 
into it.


	Back at Juuban Park...

	Immediately, the soldier charged at the 5 Sailor Senshi with 
lightning speed, bowling them over and scattering them about the park 
like bowling pins. He then turned back to the scattered senshi and began 
to choose one to concentrate his efforts on first. Immediately, he saw 
Sailor Mercury coming to her feet after her short trip through the air. 
With his first target sighted, he drew his sword, a 19th century style 
army saber, and charged at the unsuspecting Sailor Senshi.

	Just as Sailor Mercury made it to her feet and shook off the hit 
she had earlier taken, she turned toward where she figured the soldier 
would be. Her eyes widened in shock as she caught sight of the soldier 
dashing toward her at high speed like an angry bull, his saber extended 
down and to his side. She immediately threw her crossed arms in front of 
her in a desperation defense as the soldier threw his free arm in front 
of him and connected with Sailor Mercury, knocking her back to the 
ground and sending her sliding across the grass. He then took his saber, 
charged it with his dark energy, and slashed at the air toward the 
downed Sailor Mercury, sending a powerful wave of dark energy at her, 
striking her before she could even sit back up and knocking her 
unconscious.

	With Sailor Mercury down and out of the fight, the soldier 
scanned about the park grounds for his next target. His search was 
deemedunnecessary, as he caught Sailor Venus racing toward him at full 
speed. "Fool," he said to the speedy sailor senshi as she slashed his 
sword through thin air toward Sailor Venus, sending another wave of dark 
energy at her. Sailor Venus stopped dead in her tracks and threw her 
hands in front of her face as the foreboding wave of energy barreled 
toward her. However, Sailor Jupiter immediately dashed at Sailor Venus 
and tackled her to the ground, effectively saving her from the 
destructive force of the soldier's dark energy.

	After the dust from their landing settled, Sailor Venus opened 
her eyes to discover Sailor Jupiter on top of her, having protected her 
from the soldier's attack. "Thank you, Jupiter-chan."

	"Anytime," Sailor Jupiter replied as she pushed herself off of 
Sailor Venus and back on her feet. Although Minako had stolen Kyodai's 
love from her with her overly flirtatious and at times melodramatic 
advances, she would throw all their friendly rivalries aside as Sailor 
Jupiter and stand up for her friend. There would always be time when 
they were back in their civilian forms to continue with their little 
friendly battle over Kyodai's love. So she turned her attention back to 
the soldier, only to discover him running toward the pair with his saber 
extended to his side and behind. She only lowered her eyebrows and 
assumed an aggressive battle stance, ready to take him on in a battle of 
brawns. 

	As the soldier neared Sailor Jupiter, he raised his saber and 
began charging it with dark energy. But as the soldier swung it to 
strike down the meddling sailor senshi, Sailor Jupiter grabbed his 
wrist, effectively stopping his attack, and threw him down behind her 
and to the ground with a well-timed jiu-jitsu move. The soldier quickly 
recovered and rushed at her again, only to end up in a grappling match 
as Sailor Jupiter had taken both his wrists and was pushing against him 
with every ounce of strength she had.

	Sailor Venus watched on as the two battled it out, pitting their 
strength against one another. "Now is our chance," Sailor Mars' voice 
sounded as she joined Sailor Venus by her side, "We had better take him 
down while Jupiter-chan is busy with him."

	"Right," Sailor Venus replied as she threw her pointer finger 
into the air, "Crescent Beam!"

	"Fire Soul!" 

	Sailor Jupiter immediately released the soldier and leaped out 
of the way just in time as the combined attack drilled the soldier 
square in the chest, sending him flying into a tree with armor-crushing 
force.

	"NO!" Jadeite's voice screamed through the soldier's headset. 
The soldier wore a small headset receiver and microphone under his 
helmet to assist Jadeite in coordinating his operation with the soldier 
as he and Queen Beryl observed from the safety of the Dark Kingdom 
itself. Although the soldier couldn't see it, the silence after the 
outburst told the soldier that Jadeite was more then displeased with 
him, clinching his fists in anger while Queen Beryl was glaring at him. 
"Concentrate on those two," Jadeite's voice yelled through the soldier's 
headset after a short pause.

	"Yes, Master Jadeite," the soldier replied as he pushed himself 
back to his feet. He then turned back toward the pair of senshi that 
fired the combined attack at him and quickly chose his target. Then 
immediately, he fired a swirling ray of dark energy straight at Sailor 
Venus, connecting with her and sending her flying into the lake, scaring 
away a number of ducks that were swimming in it. But as he was about to 
do the same to Sailor Mars, a bright light caught his attention from the 
corner of his eye. He quickly turned his eyes to catch a glimpse of a 
flying disk of light sailing toward him. However, he had noticed the 
flying disk a split-second too late as it struck him in the side, 
knocking him to the ground and sliding him over a hundred feet down the 
field.

	The flying disk then flew back to its origin as quickly as it 
had struck the soldier. Sailor Moon caught her flying tiara and quickly 
donned it without even changing her angry facial expression. "How dare 
you interrupt my friend on her date with a good-looking guy. And how 
dare you hurt my friends like that," she said to the soldier as she 
began striking her battle pose, "In the name of the Moon, you'll be 
punished."

	"Sailor Moon, stop it with your speeches and just finish him 
off," Sailor Mars ordered.

	Sailor Moon sneered at her in response, "Okay, Miss 'I want to 
be leader'." She then drew her Moon Stick and charged up the Silver 
Crystal, then quickly aimed it at the struggling soldier and fired a 
beam of light. The beam struck the soldier, engulfing him in pure light 
and thus disintegrating him into a pile of ashes. "Alright, we did it," 
Sailor Moon cheered, jumping up and down in celebration. 


	The Dark Kingdom...

	"NO!" Queen Beryl and Jadeite both exclaim as they witnessed the 
soldier disintegrating on their holographic display of the battle. 
Jadeite clinched his fists in anger, extremely disappointed in his 
soldier failing to complete his mission and falling so easily to the 
Sailor Team. And just as quickly, the thought of more punishment from 
Queen Beryl for failing in his operation invaded his mind, sending a 
chill through his body.

	"I told you concentrating on one at a time wouldn't work," said 
Beryl, "How the hell are we going to carry out our plans if your 
soldiers can't even take those damned Sailor Senshi on."

	"But, didn't you tell me to concentrate on one at a time to find 
out which one brought the Mars Prince into the battle?" Jadeite 
questioned.

	"Of course I did, and I had an idea it wouldn't work," Beryl 
replied.

	"Then I'll have to send in another soldier and change my 
strategy," said Jadeite, "We still have to draw out the Mars Prince. 
I'll use as many soldiers as I have if that's what it takes."

	"You had better," Beryl demanded, "Or you know what kind of 
punishment you have coming for you if you fail me again."

	"Yes, Queen Beryl-sama," Jadeite replied as he spoke some orders 
into his crystal transmitter.


	Back at Juuban Park...

	Having defeated the soldier, and in doing so restored the energy 
of all the people that the soldier and his youma had drained from, the 5 
Sailor Senshi regrouped to conclude their battle and part ways. Although 
the people's life energy had been restored, many of those who weren't 
struggling to even push themselves up were still lying on the ground 
unconscious.

	"Well, that takes care of that soldier," said Sailor Jupiter.

	"I swear, I really hate it when they interrupt our lives," 
Sailor Moon commented, "Why do they have to attack on a day off from 
school?"

	"Now I can go back to my date with Kyodai," said Sailor Venus, 
her comment provoking a shrewd glare from Sailor Jupiter. But as she 
turned to depart and continue on her date, a ball of dark energy slammed 
into the quintet from out of nowhere, scattering them about the park.

	"That didn't feel too good," Sailor Moon commented as she 
quickly recovered, only to find another soldier clad in bluish-black 
armor similar to the previous soldier's. "Oh no, not another one," she 
said as she rolled her eyes back in disappointment. In fact, she was 
more angry than disappointed, at both her celebration being cut short 
and her day off being ruined by the inconsiderate Dark Kingdom. So she 
pumped herself up and charged at the soldier, seeking to quickly end his 
intrusion as the other senshi were recovering from the soldier's attack. 
However, he drew a dark crystal similar to Zoicite's and fired an energy 
pulse at Sailor Moon, stopping her bum rush and knocking her back and to 
the ground.

	With one sailor senshi down, the soldier turned to the other 
recovering senshi and rushed at them without delay. Just as Sailor 
Jupiter had gotten to her feet, the soldier aimed the dark crystal at 
her. It glowed a bright violet and fired an intense beam of dark energy, 
striking Sailor Jupiter dead in the chest and sending her flying across 
the lake, landing just on the opposite shoreline.

	The other senshis' eyes opened wide in awe, watching as their 
friend fell so easily to such a powerful blast of energy. In response to 
such power, Sailor Mercury tapped her earring to don her visor, took out 
her minicomputer, and began scanning the soldier and his dark crystal. 
As she was scanning, Sailor Mars advanced toward the soldier, with 
Sailor Venus not far behind. As the two senshi took it to the soldier, 
Sailor Mercury gasped at the readings she was getting. "Be careful, 
everyone," she warned, "The energy readings on that crystal are off the 
charts."

	"Then find a weakness, and quickly," Sailor Mars ordered before 
the soldier knocked her on her back.

	Watching the soldier bully her friends, Sailor Moon quickly 
removed her tiara and charged it up, "Moon Tiara Action!"

	She quickly hurled the tiara at the soldier, striking his dark 
crystal and knocking it loose from the soldier's hand. However, despite 
her effort, she failed to destroy the dark crystal. The soldier quickly 
retrieved the crystal and continued his attack on Sailor Mars. He 
charged his crystal and fired a beam of dark energy at her, striking her 
dead in the chest and sending her on a ride through the park and into a 
picnic table, shattering it on impact. 


	Mall...

	After having paid for both his and Minako's CD's at the music 
store, and braved the crowds in the mall, Kyodai sat on a chair at the 
department store and patiently waited for Minako. Since they had planned 
to come here after their visit to the music store, Kyodai figured he 
would meet her up here. But it had been a half-hour since Minako had 
left him at the music store in response to her pager going off. And 
Kyodai then began to wonder what was taking her so long. Was it 
something important that she had to tend to, or was she on the phone 
chatting with one of her friends? Fed up with waiting for her, he rose 
from his chair and made his way to the men's clothing section. 'I might 
as well start looking though some coats while I'm waiting for her,' he 
thought to himself on the way there, 'I'm sure she'll find me there.'

	Moments later, he arrived at the men's clothing section and 
began browsing through the large collection of blazers and sport coats. 
Although he liked most of what he saw, what really caught his eye were a 
fancy maroon blazer, a well-made maroon double-breasted coat, and an 
expensive dark maroon business suit. Having found a good collection of 
fine coats and suits, he couldn't help but wonder, 'I wonder if they 
happen to have any good tuxedos here?' He smiled at the thought, 
thinking of both his exploits as Tuxedo Inferno and the costume he wore 
as his alter ego. Then, reason came to him, 'Nah, I'll search the tuxedo 
store on my own time.' As much as he would've loved to have taken the 
coats he had found interesting to the counter, he really wanted to show 
them off to Minako. And his worries over what was taking her so long 
quickly reentered his mind. So he put the coats back up and continued to 
wait on Minako.

	Suddenly, a weird feeling came over him, like someone close to 
him was in danger. Although it was odd to him, suddenly having such a 
feeling coming to him from seemingly out of nowhere, he figured it was 
just his worries over Minako taking a long time to run an errand. So he 
brushed off the feeling as quickly as it had come and continued on his 
walk though the department store. He decided to search the women's 
clothing section, figuring that Minako was probably there doing the same 
thing he had been doing, looking through clothes while waiting for him. 
However, on his way there, the odd feeling came back, and more 
vigorously as not only was it the feeling of someone close to him being 
in danger, but it was a girl's voice crying out for help. And not only 
was the voice beckoning him, but an all-too-familiar sense of evil 
lurking nearby flooded his mind like a sinking ship.

	Unable to bear it any longer, Kyodai ran through the department 
store to find a safe place to transform, getting some bewildered glances 
from people along the way. Finding a good place to hide in a department 
store was no easy matter since there were plenty of people walking about 
and browsing in the different sections of the department store. His 
search became more frantic as he scurried about the store, desperately 
searching for a good place to transform outside the inquisitive eyes of 
both the people and the security cameras. Then, in a stroke of good 
luck, he spotted an elevator. With desperation completely taking him 
over, he sharply pointed to it and let out a short, "YEAH," and ran to 
it. He then began pressing the down button, vigorously and impatiently 
pressing at it constantly. "C'mon, c'mon, work, dammit," he scolded as 
he continued pressing the down button, "Open sesame."

	In what seemed like an eternity and a half, the elevator 
sounded a ding moments before the door began to open, revealing an empty 
elevator, completely safe from the prying eyes of people and cameras. 
"YES," Kyodai cheered as he jumped inside. He then began pressing the 
close door button just as vigorously as he had done with the down button 
to get in. Once the elevator door finally closed, he raised his left 
hand, bearing his obsidian jewel ring, and summoned the power of fire, 
transforming him into Tuxedo Inferno. Once wearing the tuxedo, cape, and 
mask of his alter ego that had made him smile earlier, he pressed the 
button to go to the store's first floor. Once there, he left the 
elevator and began making his way toward the exit. However, along the 
way, he discovered that the first floor was every bit as full of people 
as the second floor. And many people were starring at the rather 
handsome looking man in the tuxedo.

	"Nice outfit handsome," a woman in the kids department 
commented. 

	"Thanks," Tuxedo Inferno replied, waving to the woman as he 
continued walking toward the exit. 

	"Hey lover boy," a man in the furniture department called out as 
Kyodai walked by, "Costume party's in the ballroom across the street."

	"Thank you, sir," Tuxedo Inferno replied, waving to the man.

	As he continued his journey toward the store's exit, more women 
and even some sorority girls he knew from the Azabu Institute of 
Technology noticed him, some whistling at him. Moments later, he reached 
the exit and left the department store with great haste. "Dammit, I'm 
never gonna transform here again," he said to himself as he began 
running direction of the park, letting his sixth sense guide him there.


	Back at Juuban Park...

	Sailor Moon was grappling and struggling with the soldier, 
desperately trying to get to his dark crystal and wrestle it from his 
grasp. This bout proved to be difficult for Sailor Moon, as her opponent 
was nearly twice her size. Every time she tried to go for his dark 
crystal, or even wrestle with him, the soldier easily knocked her aside, 
pushed her to the ground, or even tossed her into the air. But no matter 
how many times she was thrown around, she quickly recovered and 
tenaciously went at him again. 

	"Sailor Moon," Sailor Mercury summoned, getting her attention. 
Sailor Moon looked toward Sailor Mercury to find out what she wanted. 
However, this gave the soldier a perfect opportunity as he threw Sailor 
Moon hard into the ground. After a few seconds on dream street, she 
looked back up toward Sailor Mercury and shook the cobwebs from her 
head, "What is it? Can't you see I'm busy with this oversized hunk of 
metal?"
 
	"Fire and thunder can take this guy out," Sailor Mercury 
commented.

	"But Sailor Mars is way over there," Sailor Moon argued as she 
pointed to the picnic table where Sailor Mars was just beginning to 
struggle back to her feet, far too weary to act on Sailor Mercury's 
advice. "And Sailor Jupiter's on the other side of the lake," she 
continued, pointing at Sailor Jupiter's unconscious body.

	Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a powerful beam of fire drilled 
the soldier in the chest, sending him on a ride into the lake. The 3 
standing senshi took toward the origin of the fire beam on a nearby 
hill. There, with his maroon cape and long jet black hair waving in the 
wind, stood Tuxedo Inferno, with his palms still outstretched, pointing 
toward where the soldier once stood.

	"He's back," Sailor Venus commented, "And he easily sent that 
soldier flying."

	"Maybe we should trust him," Sailor Mercury suggested.

	"Maybe," Sailor Moon responded, with some doubt lingering in her 
mind, "Venus-chan, go over to Jupiter-chan and make sure she doesn't 
lash out at him. If fire works against this soldier, then this Tuxedo 
Infernocould be of help." 

	"Right," Sailor Venus replied as she began running around the 
lake to where Sailor Jupiter had just began recovering from her short 
but violent ride over the lake.

	Moments later, the soldier recovered and began making his way 
out of the water. Once out, he quickly scanned the park for whoever had 
him with that surprise attack, only to realize that he had lured the 
Mars Prince as planned. "Good, you're here," he commented as he pointed 
his dark crystal at Tuxedo Inferno, "Now face my dark crystal." The dark 
crystal began to emit a violet light, charging itself with dark energy. 

	In response, Tuxedo Inferno brought his arm across his body, 
with his two fingers by his ear. "Inferno Blaze," he chanted before 
swinging his arm out to his side, "Wall!" With that swift motion, he 
sent a powerful wall of fire rushing at the soldier, knocking his dark 
crystal loose from his hand and shattering it into multiple pieces. With 
the soldier disarmed and more vulnerable, Sailor Mercury and Sailor Moon 
took this opportunity to finish the soldier off.

	"Shabon Spray!"

	Sailor Mercury's bubble attack struck the soldier dead in the 
face, stunning him and enveloping the area around him in a thick fog.

	"I've had enough of Dark Kingdom ruining our day off," Sailor 
Moon snarled as she drew her Moon Wand, "In the name of the Moon, 
you'll be punished!" She charged up the Silver Crystal and fired a beam 
of light at the woozy soldier, striking him in the chest disintegrating 
him into a puff of purple smoke.

	With the second soldier utterly defeated, the other senshi began 
converging on Sailor Moon. Sailor Jupiter, having recovered from her 
attack and walking toward Sailor Moon with Sailor Venus, spotted Tuxedo 
Inferno on the nearby hilltop. "YOU," Sailor Jupiter yelled, taking a 
few aggressive steps toward him and assuming her battle stance, ready to 
electrocute the man in the maroon tuxedo.

	"Calm down, Jupiter-chan," Sailor Moon yelled, startling her 
friend and effectively stopping her from doing anything rash, such as 
attack the very man who had helped them to defeat the soldier. She then 
turned back to Tuxedo Inferno, "Thank you for your help, Tuxedo 
Inferno-sama."

	"Don't sweat it," Tuxedo Inferno said as he turned and exited 
the battlefield in a hurry, remembering his date with Minako. With the 
strange tuxedoed warrior gone, she then turned back to Sailor Jupiter, 
"Jupiter-chan, he helped us out."

	"That's right," Sailor Mercury agreed, "He used fire to weaken 
the soldier while Sailor Moon finished him off."

	"But it's all too damn coincidental," Sailor Jupiter argued, "I 
still don't trust him."

	"We need to hold a senshi meeting at the shrine," said Sailor 
Mars.

	"What about your brother?" Sailor Mercury, worried about Kyodai 
discovering their identities.

	Suddenly, Sailor Venus remembered that she had left Kyodai back 
at the mall to help fight off the Dark Kingdom's soldiers, "Oh my God, I 
forgot about him," she exclaimed, "Ohhh he's gonna be so mad." She 
quickly turned and ran back toward the mall with the speed of an Olympic 
sprinter, not forgetting to transform back into her civilian form when 
she found a secluded alleyway to safely do so.

	"Let's go," Sailor Moon said as she and the other senshi begin 
walking in the direction of the Hikawa Jinja.


	The Dark Kingdom...

	Queen Beryl and Jadeite had witnessed the entire battle from the 
safety of the throne room, letting Beryl's crystal project the images of 
the battle for all in the throne room to observe. Although the soldier 
was utterly defeated in battle, she and Jadeite both smiled at the 
results before she broke out into laughter.

	"Ha, ha, ha, great," Beryl cackled.
 
	"When the senshi are in trouble, the Mars Prince comes to help," 
said Jadeite.

	"No, you idiot" Beryl snarled, "The pretty little brat's prince 
would've showed up as well. There must be some connection between him 
and that pyromaniac, Sailor Mars."

	"But none of the senshi, not even she, know about him," Jadeite 
argued.

	"Still, now that we've studied him a little, it's time to carry 
on with the rest of our plans," Beryl continued. She had already had 
this plan in the works since Tuxedo Inferno's first fight alongside the 
Sailor Senshi. But she had to study his connection with them and what 
had prompted him to join them in the first place before she could even 
execute her plan. With this information, that time had finally come to 
act. "Set a price on him," she ordered, "Make sure we get the best 
bounty hunters on him."

	"Bounty hunters?" said Jadeite, weary of her intentions.

	"Yes, bounty hunters," Beryl responded, "Nothing will make 
warriors, especially bounty hunters, more dangerous than their love for 
money. So put a price on his head. Such a reward will only motivate them 
to do a better job than any of you Four Kings have at ridding us of the 
Mars Prince."

	"Yes, Queen Beryl-sama," Jadeite replied as he turned and walked 
out of the throne room.


------------------------------end of chapter 1-------------------------

...Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and most of the characters ain't mine. They 
belong to Naoko Takeuchi, and I thank that woman for creating such great 
entertainment. The English dub belongs to DiC Entertainment, and I thank 
them for bringing' it, and finally the S season, to America. Anyways, 
Russell Hino, Hino Kyodai, Tuxedo Inferno, and all his other identities 
are MINE (in a deep, dark, growling voice). The new villain I'm 'bout to 
introduce is also mine. So, please don't sue me. Well, y'all enjoy this 
fanfic and e-mail me.

Have fun Sailor Moon fans,
Viper Inferno
   (Y2V)