Sailor Moon is copyright 1992 by Naoko Takeuchi.
North American Rights for Sailor Moon are owned by
D.I.C.

Rating: PG-13

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  Life  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Part II - Unravelings
Chapter V - Friend or Foe?


	Sailor Moon stared at the man clothed in Arabic
garments.  'Why is _he_ here?'

	She started to worry that Mamoru had been
injured or brainwashed again, but . . .

	'What the hell?!?!'

	Three other men stepped out of the shadows and
joined the single one, similarly dressed.  The only
difference was the color of the headband that held
the cloth over their head in place.

	The tallest one had a red one.  The second
tallest, the first one who had injured the youma, had
a gray band.  The third tallest had blue.  And the
shortest of the four had green.

	The one in gray walked over to the youma and
drew back his already bloody sword with one hand.  In
one quick thrust, he stabbed the Cyclops through its
heart, or where the heart would be had it been human.

	The youma let out a painful cry and
disintegrated into dust.

	Sailor Moon could not stop staring.  She stood
up unsteadily.  "Who are you?" she demanded.

	The one in gray looked at her.  "That is not
yet of relevance."

	It was a voice that sounded vaguely familiar.
Like Sailor Moon knew it, but not . . .

	Sailor Jupiter arrived.  Out of breath.
Raising her arms, she called out, "Jupiter Oak Evo-"

	"NO, Jupiter!" Sailor Moon barked out harshly.

	Jupiter halted her attack abruptly.  Her arms
lowered hesitantly.  "What . . . What's going on?"

	Sailor Moon pointedly ignored her.  Jupiter
eventually and slowly moved over to Mars' stilled
body.

	"It is of relevance to me," she countered
evenly.  "I demand to know who you are."

	The one in green looked up at the sky and then
back at her.  "The time is not yet ripe."

	"I didn't ask if the time was right," she
paused, confused for a moment at the wordplay.  "or
ripe or whatever.  I asked who you were.  Now, tell
me-"

	"We have to go," the one in blue interrupted.
They all turned and as Sailor Moon began to protest,
he continued, "Check on your friend."

	Sailor Moon turned around quickly and when she
reached Sailor Mars' side, asked Jupiter, "Is she
breathing?"

	Jupiter nodded mutely.

	Sailor Moon looked up in the direction the men
had disappeared to.  They were completely out of
sight.  Like they had disappeared.  Like Tuxedo
Kamen.

	Sighing, Sailor Moon shook Mars.  "Wake up,
Mars!" she urged.

	Eventually, Mars' eyes fluttered open.  She
moaned and lifted her head off the cement slightly.
Sailor Moon stood up and dusted herself off.  She de-
transformed.

	"Can you get her home?" she asked Jupiter.

	Jupiter nodded.

	"Good."

	Usagi began walking away.

	"Usagi?"

	She paused but didn't turn around.

	"What happened?"

	Usagi was silent for a moment.  She looked
around her and softly said, "I don't know."

	And she continued to walk away.

	Again.


^ ^ ^  Noriko/Zared's apartment  ^ ^ ^


	Four men raised their heads in confusion and
pain.

	"Kuso!  My head hurts!"

	"What happened?  I feel like I just got run
over."

	"Ohh, my head!"

	"My back!"

	Three of them looked at Riko.  "What?" he
groaned.  "I fell into a weird position, okay?!  My
head hurts, too."

	"Yeah, what happened?  Did we just all fall
asleep?" Jiro asked groggily.

	"Not possible," Zared replied, rubbing his
temples.  "What are the chances of us all falling
asleep at the same time?  And then waking up at the
same time?"

	"Probably as good as us all getting headaches
and nightmares at the same time.  Oh, wait!  We did!"
Jiro said sarcastically.

	"I'm just saying, something _happened_ to us."

	"But what?  The last thing I remember is . . ."
Kiyoshi thought for a moment.

	All four of them exclaimed, "USAGI!!!"

	"Zared, page her!  We have to make sure she's
okay," Kiyoshi ordered.  There was this need in each
of them to protect the girl.

	Zared immediately went to the phone and punched
in several digits.  Five minutes later, Usagi called.

	"What's up?" Usagi asked, sounding tired.

	"Usa, daijoubu?"

	"Huh?"

	"You called earlier."

	"And . . .?"

	"And there was a youma attack!"

	Usagi realized what he was getting at.  "Oh!
Don't worry.  I'm fine."

	"Are you sure?  You didn't get hurt?"

	"Nope.  I think the Sailor Senshi got it."

	"Are you sure you're alright, though?"

	"Yes!" Usagi answered exasperated.  "You go
rest or something.  I'm fine, really."

	"Okay.  Be careful," Zared cautioned.

	"Yes, Zared dearest," Usagi said mockingly
sweet.

	"Don't push it, little one," he growled back.

	Usagi laughed a little.  "Ja, Zared."

	"Ja."

	He hung up the phone and turned towards the
others.  "She's okay."

	There was a moment of silence.

	"We still don't know what happened to us," Jiro
said, stating the obvious.

	"So, what do we do now?" Riko asked.

	"Nothing," Kiyoshi answered.

	"What?" Zared said after a minute of confused
silence.

	"There's nothing we can do.  We don't even have
the slightest inkling of what the hell is going on.
It's obviously not a medical thing.  We know that
much.  It's got to be related to the dreams and
headaches."  Kiyoshi started for the door.

	"Hey!" Jiro called out indignantly.  "Where are
you going?  Aren't you going to at least finish the
dream?"

	Kiyoshi shook his head.  "I've got to get to my
class.  Plus, I have school tomorrow."  He looked at
all of them.  "You and Riko have work.  Zared, you've
got class.  We've all got too much going on right
now.  We'll have to talk about this later.  Besides,
I need to think.  We all do."

	The rest nodded in agreement.  Jiro silently
followed Kiyoshi out the door after a couple silent
farewells.


^ ^ ^  Hikawa Jinja  ^ ^ ^


	"Hey, Rei," Makoto said.  "How you feeling?"

	Rei groaned.  "Could be worse."

	"Mako, tell us again what happened," Ami
implored.

	Makoto sighed.  "All I saw when I got there was
Sailor Moon asking these four guys, who were dressed
like Tsukikage no Knight, who they were.  Rei was
unconscious.  The youma was history."

	"Four Tsukikage no Knights?" Ami mused.

	"Well, their thingys were different."

	"Thingys?" Ami questioned, raising an eyebrow.

	"Those bands that wrap around the head," Makoto
said, gesturing around her own head.

	"How were they different?"

	"Color.  One had red; the other blue; and then
gray and green."

	Ami frowned in concentration.

	"Did they make any attempt to harm you or Rei
or Usagi?"

	Makoto frowned slightly, searching her memory.
"Um . . . no, not really.  But Usa was pissed.  They
wouldn't tell her who they were."

	"Did they seem familiar in any way?"

	"Nope," Makoto said, shaking her head from side
to side and standing up.

	As she was gathering her things, Minako asked,
"Where you going, Mako?"

	"Out," she replied, slightly defensive.

	Rei, Ami, and Minako exchanged glances.

	"With your, um, other friends?"

	"Yeah."  Makoto looked at Minako hard.  "Why?"

	"Nothing!  Nothing.  I was just wondering.
You've been spending a lot of time with them lately."

	"I spend time with you guys too!" Makoto
protested angrily.

	"I know!  I know!  I . . . it's just something
that I noticed.  That's all," Minako finished
quietly.

	"They've been there for me before, Minako."

	"We're here for you, now, Mako," Rei said
softly.

	"I know."  She sighed.  "Look I'll talk to you
guys later, okay?"  She headed towards the door.

	They said their good-byes and she left.

	The remaining three sat silently.

	"I'm worried about her, you guys," Ami said.

	"I know.  But she has to do this on her own.
If we try to force her away from them, she'll just go
to them more," Minako said rubbing her temples with
her fingers.

	"But what if she gets hurt?  The last time they
were on the news they were accused of murder!" Rei
exclaimed.  "We can't risk that!"

	"We're talking about Makoto here, Rei!  You
know how she is.  She's proud.  If we said anything,
we'd be questioning her judgment.  I don't think
that's something that would go over well.  There
really is nothing we can do."  Minako looked up at
them tiredly.

	"Are you sure?  Maybe we should say something.
Just to indicate that the gang could affect the
senshi."

	"No, Ami.  We don't say anything about
anything.  Not yet.  Not now."

	Ami nodded mutely.  Minako was the final word
now.  She had 'taken over,' as the term was
tentatively used, Usagi's post as leader.

	"Is there anything else we can do on tracking
down youmas?  These are certainly not random
anymore."

	"Gomen, Minako.  Without their traces of dark
energy or something like that, I can't do anything."

	"I'm a little tired but I can try to use the
fire.  I don't know if it'll-"

	Minako cut Rei off.  "Don't, Rei.  Just get
your rest.  Try tomorrow if you feel up to it.  If
you don't, don't.  Don't stress yourself.  The last
thing we need is a tired senshi.  I have a feeling
we'll be having a lot more visitors."

	Rei nodded.

	Minako stood up.  "I better get going.  I have
to tell Luna and Artemis what's going on.  And I've
got a tutoring session in half an hour."

	The two cats couldn't be found and so were not
informed on the scout meeting.

	"I should be going too.  The sooner I do my
homework, the sooner I get to bed," Ami added.  "God
knows I need it."

	"Okay, bye guys," Rei said.

	"Get your rest," Ami ordered.

	"Call us if you need anything or if you
remember anything, 'kay?" Minako said.

	Rei nodded.

	Right before exiting, Minako paused.  "Wait."

	The other two looked at her.  "Should we tell
Mamoru?"

	Ami nodded slowly.  "He has a right to know.
Besides, he might actually know who the other four
are.  They did steal his costume, ya know?" she
finished dryly.

	The other two snickered.  They never did get
over the costume.  It was something they would always
tease Mamoru about.  He had hung his head in
exasperated defeat when he realized they would never
let him live it down.

	"Must be back in heroic men's!" Minako added.

	"I'll call," Rei offered.

	Minako looked at her suspiciously.

	"I'll be good!" Rei defended.  "I promise."

	Minako eyed her carefully, then nodded and she
and Ami left.

	Rei picked up the phone and thought a minute
before dialing Mamoru's number.  'It's been so long
since any of us have actually communicated with him.'

	On the third ring, a breathless Mamoru picked
up.

	"Moshi, moshi?"

	"Mamoru?  It's Rei."

	"Rei?  Is something wrong?  I felt something
earlier.  Was it Usagi?  Did she transform?  I wasn't
sure."

	"Yeah, but she's fine.  We've got some info we
thought you might want to hear about."

	"Oh.  Can I call you back in about 5 minutes?"
he asked hurriedly.

	"Uh . . . sure."

	"Okay.  Call you right back." And he hung up.

	But before he did, Rei could have sworn she
heard a girl's laughter in the background.


~ ~ ~ End ~ ~ ~

Author's Notes:

	Hey, guys!  Here's chapter 5.  How am I doing?
Email me with your thought and comments.  I'm always
open.

	One quick question:  Are my chapters really
that short?  I thought they were better that way,
leaves you guys hanging.  And I'm not too good at
writing long chapters (just long stories  ^_~).  If
they're that short, I can TRY to make them longer.

	Don't expect a chapter next week, maybe even
the week after that.  I know what I want to write,
but I'm having trouble actually getting it down onto
paper.  Writer's block, you know?

	But until then, email me and take care!

	Thanks to all of you who have emailed me, and
the few who email consistently.  It is greatly
appreciated!


HoNeY
hnymustd@hotmail.com
6/1/00