Scribbler's Note: Time for the PG warning, folks. A little language, some strong situations, as what had been a game becomes increasingly serious.

Nephrite sat at a lone table and nursed a Bloody Mary. All the other chairs were up, the lights mostly off, the stage deserted excepting a tangle of cables and a broken mic stand.

"Well well well," said a sardonic voice. The blue eyes of the blond General flashed in cynical amusement as she strolled out of the shadows.

"You have business here, Zoicite?"

"Oh, nothing important is happening here," she waved languidly at the deserted tiki lounge. "Why do these pathetic creatures interest you so much? You must be easily amused."

"You don't even begin to understand," he said tiredly. He felt his age, now, more than ever. He had been one of Beryl's generals for many hundreds of years. He had been there when she first partook of the Negaforce, and came to power in blood and rebellion. Zoicite was too young to know any of that. And too cocky, by half.

He tried, just once more, to explain. "Yes, they are physically weak, uncontrolled emotionally, hobbled with all these silly beliefs about compassion and honor. But in every one of these little souls is enough passion to power every dark spell you or I could conjure over a month of trying."

"And there's more." He pointed about the room. "When we trampled the combined forces of the planets and battered down the gates of the Moon Palace the humans were wearing skins and waving swords. Now they have tanks and bombs, computers and cruise missiles, and I'm not so sure they would still be a push-over for our troops."

Zoicite laughed her glittering laugh. "Oh, come now, Nephrite!" She laughed again. "Can you really sit here, and tell me there is some human out there you think might be your equal in battle?"

"Well, no," Nephrite bristled. "Of course I don't think that."

"You've gone native," his fellow General said bluntly, "and it doesn't look good on you. No wonder our Queen sent ME to find the Rainbow Crystals."

"Rainbow Crystals?" Nephrite looked up in interest. He had heard only the barest of legends about them, but those legends spoke of great power.

"That bitch Serenity captured seven of our best warriors. She sent their essences to Earth in the seven Rainbow Crystals, to be held for eternity within human vessels. I'm going to be freeing them, and bringing the crystals back to the boss."

She brandished the black homing crystal triumphantly. Nephrite was able to let his eyes narrow as if in anger and greed. Zoicite was as foolish as she seemed. She was far too transparent as well; it would be a wonder if the Queen didn't already know Zoicite intended to betray her and keep the crystals for herself.

The Rainbow Crystals. There was something about the story of those crystals that touched a long-ago memory, a memory of those final moments of the battle against the Moon Kingdom, when Serenity had stood alone against the might of the Negaverse... This bore thinking on, indeed.

"I have to go now," Zoicite said merrily. She tossed the homing crystal up in the air, caught it again. "Have to see a man about a monster!"

THE SEARCH FOR THE MOON PRINCESS

Episode Thirteen : Temple of Doom!

Doctor Mizuno, Pediatric Resident at Juuban Central Hospital, frowned at the case history in her hand. Laceration l. femoral......50 mg hespirin i.m....epinephrine ordered 9:05...mild dyspnea, pos. flail chest...exposure through ant. lat. incision....ortho called 11:45...reduction and fixation with delayed closure...

The words slithered and slipped, refusing to line up in meaningful phrases. It was a typical history for a trauma admission, and injuries typical to a car wreck. It was shattered bones and a patient in shock, deep surgical cuts and large-bore IV's and powerful drugs working quickly to save a life.

It was her own daughter.

She pushed the glasses up off her nose, rubbed her tired eyes with her fingers. The office was dark about her, only her desk lit with a shaded reading lamp.

Amy was out of danger. Still in the hospital, still under observation...the danger of infection loomed large at this stage. But the worst of it was over.

There had been an odd episode in the E.R. The open fractures had them treating for hypovolemic shock, and her core temperature had dropped to critical levels before a visiting clinician had correctly diagnosed neurogenic shock and helped the trauma team stabilize her.

Doctor Mizuno wished she could have thanked him properly. He might have saved her daughter's life. But the American with the dark hair and the flawless Japanese had vanished as mysteriously as he arrived, leaving only a single name.

It couldn't be real. It didn't even make sense. Amy had never as much as sprained an ankle before. She'd never even stayed home with the sniffles. Of course, Doctor Mizuno did wish her daughter cared more for playing outside. Maybe if she didn't have her nose in a book all the time she might have collected more of the normal run of scrapes and sprains.

She smiled, just a little, in the quiet of her private office. Amy had always been such a little lady. Never in trouble, always home on time. Doctor Mizuno allowed, ruefully, it was a good thing, what with her own medical career.

The changes had begun when they moved to this neighborhood. Amy had made new friends here, and an interesting crowd they were. Doctor Mizuno had met the Tsukino child several times and approved highly of her. Serena was not much of a student, but that alone might be a welcome influence.

Then the Osaka child, who had been at the hospital regularly during her mother's mysterious illness. Doctor Mizuno rubbed her eyes again. She had the strangest impression that her daughter knew more about that whole incident then she had let on.

Recently Amy had been spending time at a local Shinto Shrine. Perhaps it was just her friendship with the rather striking-looking girl there, a girl from another school. Doctor Mizuno smiled again at a thought. Soon enough she'd have to worry about the strange boys Amy would be hanging around with.

No, it was no use playing the ostrich. She might not have the raw intelligence that blazed in her daughter, but stupid people rarely made residency at a major hospital. Something very strange was going on in Tokyo, and it had been going on for several months now, and her daughter was at the very least sharp enough to know it.

Amy had been at the jewelry store where Molly's mother and several shoppers collapsed. Oddly, she said Serena had done the workman-like first aid on their injured friend, and Doctor Mizuno believed her. When those two buses full of children had gone missing, Amy was also out very late; she had come home without explanation.

And then a police detective had brought her daughter to the emergency room. And refused to give a detailed explanation. And vanished into the bowels of his own bureaucracy allowing no further questions.

What had Amy been doing that night? Why was she so weakened she had nearly died in E.R.? And what could have struck her with such force as to break every bone in both legs, shattering them in almost a dozen places?

It was going to be a long, painful recovery for the both of them. It was too early to tell but the head of orthopedics assured her -- as a colleague, and not just as a mother -- that not only would Amy regain full mobility, but that scarring would be minimal.

Except. Except. Except for the reason she was down here, hiding in her little office, instead of by her daughter's bedside. Amy was carrying some secret, terrible burden with her. A burden that had weighed her down until she could no longer fight.

Perhaps that was what Jarod had seen with those piercing black eyes of his, and thus understood the danger she was in from neurogenic shock. Amy had given up. She almost quite fighting for life on the table, and she wasn't fighting now. She barely picked at the soft foods she had been graduated to, and she went through the range-of-motion exercises with a plodding dullness.

What had happened to Amy? What was happening to her world? Doctor Mizuno bent slowly, folding over herself as the tears began to come. Her forehead touched the table. And stopped there.

No. She wouldn't quit on her daughter. Not now, not ever. The young doctor straightened in her chair. The wall clock behind her slowly clicked towards midnight.

In the morning, then. They were well overdue for a little mother-daughter talk.

Darien was dancing. At the edges of his dream vision was the shining white marble of the grand ballroom of the Moon Kingdom. She was in his arms, so light on her feet she seemed to be floating. She was so close all he could see were the great blue depths of her eyes and the soft skin of her cheek, white-lit by earthlight.

Her breath tickled as she spoke. "Find me, my Prince. It is our destiny to be together always. The Seven Rainbow Crystals are the key. They will lead you to me."

It was now four A.M. Greg dreamt, too. He dreamt of futures unknown, futures that might have been, and futures that would be. He saw the Scouts, smart and determined in their colorful uniforms, as they fought to save their world. He could see clearly, now, how without their Princess to guide them and bond them into a team they drifted apart. He could see each Scout as she fought alone; fought, failed, and was overcome.

A vision was becoming clearer, coming forth from the mists of what might be, becoming the shape of what must be. He saw the Moon Princess discovered at last. Without the Scouts, then, she faced Queen Beryl alone.

In the eyes of that tiny, frail blond in the long white dress, Greg saw reflected the only decision she could make. He saw her begin her walk towards Beryl and the dark pool of the Negaforce itself.

These days, he hardly bothered to wake up screaming.

Grandpa cried out. Chad dropped the sword and hurried to him. It was morning, and chill, at the Hikawa shrine; the sun had yet to reach through the trees to touch the buildings or ground.

"Don't worry, Grandfather," Chad said as he helped the old man sit and began to knead the muscles in his back. "I was studying massage even before I came here. I might not be very good at the kata, but cramps I can deal with."

"This body betrays me," Grandpa groaned, "and just when my daughter needs me most."

"I understand," Chad said. "I understand." He did. He knew the danger Raye faced. It filled him with such pride to watch her work, to see her skill and strength. But he was also so afraid for her. It was all he could do to stand aside. Yet, in this hour of need his own body was not up to the task. He didn't have the speed or the coordination to last a second against the enemies she fought. Sometimes, he thought ruefully, dumb courage just isn't enough.

He continued massaging his teacher's back, working to relieve the pain that had struck him down once again. There was a little awe in him. Chad wondered if Raye truly understood just what Grandfather Hino had been in his day.

He had spoken just a little. Once he told Chad of Tama Hino. In the thirties she had been a tiny thing with flashing eyes and the same long black hair as her granddaughter. About her lips and eyes was always a sparkling laugh; she was quick to see the humor in the everyday, and just as willing to laugh in the face of danger.

It had been one of the things Grandfather loved about her. He didn't say, but Chad understood from the few bits of stories he'd gotten out of him that Ichiro Hino had been a practiced martial artist, a world-traveler, and just a bit the heroic adventurer himself. Between the two of them they had tackled demons and supernatural threats from a Yeti in Tibet to an attempt to assassinate the Russian premier.

Perhaps they were just stories. Perhaps in the twilight of Grandfather's days he wished to see himself as someone who had accomplished great things in his time.

Be that as it may, Grandfather was his sensei, his teacher, and Chad valued what he was learning. He might never get very good, but against the danger Raye faced, every little bit had to help.

Grandpa motioned him to stand again. Chad took the sword. Sweat was coming freely from his brow. He moved yet one more time into the steps of the kata.

It was full day and hot. Raye sweated in the thickness of her official Miko outfit. The crowds pressed about her with Saturday gaiety. The air was thick and muggy and something not too far away had gone bad. Raye tried to replace her frown with the ethereal gaze of a Shrine Priestess. She felt a head-ache coming on.

Grandpa had been up early again, trying to train Chad. He was pushing himself too hard, Raye knew. He was losing focus, already stumbling although the hour was only a little past noon. The morning mail had brought a letter from the Shrine Association that had him muttering unhappily, but he had refused to show it to her or explain what it had said.

Before ten a policeman had dropped by. Many Japanese referred to the local policeman in his blue koban, or on his bicycle or strolling about his route, by the friendly nickname "Mister Walkabout." This policeman had not been a friendly neighbor. He had visited cold and officious, not caring how the thronging visitors to the shrine looked sidelong and wondered and even pointed sly fingers.

Grandpa had held this shrine during wartime. Raye had heard, here and there, how the government had taken over the shrines for the institution of "State Shinto." How the thought police and the Kempetai were everywhere during those years. Grandpa never spoke of that time to her, but she was sure that even now the presence of cops in the shrine unsettled him.

Another brat came by to be blessed. The doting mother made a fuss about finding enough coins for the two-hundred yen "donation." As Raye knelt and made the three passes, the child started crying. The mother quickly handed his ice cream back...which promptly transferred itself to Raye's clothing as well.

She was truly glad to see Serena. For a long moment she wanted to retreat to the cool shade of her room, shut out the bothersome crowd, and read comic books with Serena until evening. "Raye, your blond friend is here," Grandpa called to her. "You have such pretty friends," he burbled on.

Raye turned red. Didn't he realize what it sounded like when he said something like that? That was all they needed, for him to get the reputation of being a dirty old man!

At that moment her eye was caught by a flash of blue. Another uniformed officer. That did it. Someone, somewhere, was trying to stir things up. Someone must have decided the shrine really did have something to do with those missing buses -- the buses she had rescued from the Negaverse.

"Serena!" she called as her friend bounced towards her. "I'm so glad to see you!"

She dropped Serena off at her room and pointed her to the latest issue of Sailor V. Not that Serena needed pointing. Then Raye shucked the ice-cream damaged Miko outfit for more comfortable jeans, and headed to the central room to see what help her visions might give her.

Evening was coming. The visitors had slowed to a trickle. Grandpa was exhausted. The now and the then blurred for him. Sometimes it was he and Tama Hino as they fought together against evil. Sometimes it was Raye, the very image of her grandmother. Raye and no-one else; she fought alone. His time was over; he had no strength left in his frail body. That boy Chad was nice enough, but he, too, did not have the strength he needed to help her now.

And evil had come to the shrine again. Grandpa could feel it with every instinct he had.

"You are right, old man," the woman said. Grandpa blinked. He hadn't noticed her until now. And had he been speaking his thoughts aloud?

"But you haven't looked close enough for your evil, old man. You need to take a better look...at yourself!" For some reason that struck the blond woman as funny. She laughed, a tinkling brittle laugh.

Grandpa couldn't see her clearly. It wasn't just his failing eyes; it was, he realized, growing dark. He hadn't even noticed to turn on the lights. Something in the woman's hands was glowing, however. He found his eyes pulled towards that glow. Something stirred deep inside him in answer to that beacon.

Then it hit him with the sharp pain of a heart attack. Something was being pulled from his very soul! He cried out, hoarsely. Before his unbelieving eyes a crater opened in his chest.

It had caught him by surprise. He was too rusty by far. He still rallied as quickly as he could, bringing all his spiritual resources to bear.

It was agony. He bore it, reaching for strengths he had almost forgotten he had. The hole closed again.

"Why does everything go wrong for me on this crappy planet!" the strange woman snarled. "Zoi!" she shouted. Blossoms of energy rained down at Grandpa, slashing into him, forcing him to his knees.

"Let's see if that softened you up a little!" The woman gave a harsh little chuckle. Her hand raised again, the glowing thing in it, and Grandpa felt the inexorable pressure again...

Serena heard a scream and started running. Raye popped out another door somewhere ahead of her and ran, too.

It was dark outside, but light was pouring from Grandpa, lighting the Negaverse General and the black crystal in her hands. As Grandpa fell silent his chest opened up. A yellow jewel emerged, floated across towards the blond woman.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Serena said. She meant it. She liked Raye's Grandfather a whole lot. She couldn't bear to watch what the Negaverse woman was doing to him.

"Don't bother, brat," the woman said. "Do us all a favor and die, instead!" She raised her other hand, began a gesture...

A black shadow whipped through the air just in front of her. "You might want to pay attention to business, Zoicite," a new voice said.

"Tuxedo Mask!" Serena cried. "You're going to save us!"

And she had thought things couldn't get any worse. The tall young man in the black tails and the white mask turned slowly. His eyes were different then they had been and they looked at her with only polite interest. "Some other day, perhaps," he said coolly. "All I came for this time is...this."

Zoicite opened her own hands and swore. In the white glove of their one-time rescuer was a glittering yellow jewel. "With these," he said as softly as if to himself, "I may find out who I really am."

Then he moved a swiftly as a shadow and vanished into the evening.

Grandpa was gone. In his place was something larger. It moved, chest rising to pull in air, thick arms bracing to help itself off the ground. Raye saw red skin, horns, a tiger-skin loincloth. "Oh, shit," she said. "Serena!" she yelled. "Get out of here! Now!" She gave her friend a brutal shove.

The Oni stood full upright. "Girl!" it hollered, fanged mouth opening in a broad smile. Raye started to run.

She shot towards the corner of the honden and zigged a quick left. She could hear the Oni behind her. She hit the narrow space between buildings, ducked, changing direction quickly. Okay! Now a quick left turn and double back...no, no, right! Right! A taloned, muscular arm barely missed it's grab and Raye shot back towards the main entrance, Oni hot on her heels.

The Negaverse General stood in the clearing before the large torii gate and laughed and laughed.

Raye ducked again, zagged instead of zigged, then zigged instead of zagged. Somehow she was going back towards the honden again, and the Oni was still panting right behind her. Her wind was going, fast.

It grabbed her. Raye shrieked and ran right back at the creature. She dove right between its legs and came up with Spirit Bow in hands. Thank the kami she had reached for it when she first heard the screams!

"Wait, wait!" Raye cried. The Oni continued to advance on her. She pulled back the cord and held a steady aim on his broad chest.

"Threaten Oni with little stick," he said. "Mine is bigger," he said, shifting the club from his shoulder.

"Don't talk to her," Zoicite called. "Just eat her!"

"Not going to eat pretty girl," the Oni complained.

"Y..you can't," Raye said. "We're related." The Oni was still getting closer. "Wait, wait!" she screamed. "Why are you taking orders from her, anyway?"

"Come on, I haven't got all day," Zoicite called. It was bad timing for her.

"Oni have family, too," Raye pressed. "Are you going to hurt one of your family, because some strange woman tells you to?"

"Sound like wife," the Oni said unhappily.

"That's right, let some stranger order you about." Raye let the words come with the rhythm, the gestures of her Grandmother. She laughed, and it was Tama Hino's very laugh. "What kind of Oni are you, anyway?"

"Not liking people order around. Not wanting girl with dark hair now. More flesh on woman anyhow."

It was Zoicite's turn to blanch. As the Oni turned and loped her direction she gestured quickly. The rose-petals that were her signature whipped about her as she beat a quick retreat back to the Negaverse.

Serena had to keep from clapping. She stayed hidden under the low bush at the very edge of the shrine. The big red demon stood with club in hand, looking confused, as the last energy-petal faded away.

"Hokay," it said suddenly. "Settle for girl with black hair after all! Then dinner -- very hungry after five hundred years!"

Raye snarled, a sound of pure rage. Serena gasped as her friend drew the Spirit Bow in one vicious move. Mystic light glared from her forehead as her friend focused her energies. Cool, Serena thought in one corner of her mind. Raye has so much spiritual power she can even make symbols appear on her forehead.

The anger that Raye had so much trouble controlling reached a peak. The Spirit Bow quivered, reaching towards the heart of the creature that had once been her beloved Grandfather.

"Raye! Noooo!" Serena screamed.

The bow shivered with release. The glowing energy-shaft sprouted in the Oni's shoulder. It wailed in pain and disappointment.

Lights were suddenly everywhere. Figures were pounding up the stairs, crashing through the main entrance, spreading out across the grounds. The Oni gave a last sob of pain and dove into the bushes. Raye gave a similar gasp and vanished as well.

Then police were everywhere. Serena huddled lower and began to wriggle backwards. She couldn't see where the Oni had gone, or her friend. Police in riot gear were pounding at all doors, including the very honden itself. Flashlights were everywhere, more cars and vans were appearing, police tape was already unrolling about the scene.

In the middle of the excitement, hands deep in the pockets of his trench coat, was Detective Kenjiro Yamamura.

Next -- Two Scouts down, two Generals now on Earth and Beryl about to fulfil her destiny. But that doesn't faze the new girl in school. Can Lita defeat the Negaverse, ferret out the secrets of Deparment Six, and find a way to forget her old boyfriend?

Be there for "UFO Catchers" ...and I'll show you!

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