OBLIGATORY LEGAL DISCLAIMER : None of these guys are mine. The Sailor 
Senshi belong to DIC and Kodansha, while the Yoroiden are owned by 
Sunrise and Graz Entertainment. Okay? So don't bother suing me. I'm a 
student. 

                    RONIN SUMMER 4 : INNER BATTLES
            
         A Sailor Moon / Yoroiden Samurai Troopers cross-over

             by Morgan Hudson (dataraven_659@excite.com)



Part 10 : MASQUERADE

	Shin Mouri smirked as he kneeled on the cold cobblestones and 
bowed. "It is done, Lord Jadeite," he said in a sinister tone, "those 
pathetic fools, the Sailor Senshi, are finally dead." 

	"Yes," hissed Rei Hino, "I crushed the life from Sailor Venus 
with my own hands. It was so..." She stretched, arching her back like 
a cat. "...wonderful." 

	"Like, definitely!" Ami Mizuno added, loudly chewing her gum.
"That Mercury nerd was, like, so outclassed! I totally wiped the floor 
with her!"

	"Please!" Makoto Kino snorted and cracked her knuckles. 
"Compared to the way I dropped Sailor Jupiter, you were using kid 
gloves! You want I should demonstrate, you brainless ditz?" 

	"Not bad," the Owl admitted as he leaned against the cool stone
wall of the Hikawa Jinja and watched the four. "You really seem to 
have the personalities of your doubles down pat. Although, if I may 
suggest, Shin : don't refer to Jadeite as 'Lord' when you actually meet
him. Nise Suiko likely wasn't so formal around him. How are the fuku 
fitting, girls?" 

	"Pretty good, I guess..." Rei discreetly pulled down on the 
black pleated skirt attached to her blood red fuku. "Although I never
noticed that their dresses were THIS short..."

	Makoto smiled as she tugged on her new dark green uniform. 
"Mine's a little tight in the chest... and she called herself a clone!"

	"Has anybody seen Minako?" Ami asked, removing her gum and 
wrapping it in a piece of paper before throwing it out. She smacked her
mouth slightly : that sugary gunk left an awful aftertaste. "She is 
supposed to come with us, isn't she?" 

	"Minako has left the building," a sly and evil voice snarled, 
as a young woman in an orange fuku appeared atop the stone walls 
surrounding Rei's temple. "Perhaps you pathetic imposters will settle 
for... SAILOR LIGHTSTORM!" Lifting a barbed chain over her head, she 
began twirling it in circles around her body, laughing maniacally.

	"That's a very good way to get yourself blasted, Minako." Shin 
groaned and let the yoroi crystal of Suiko slide out of his fingers 
and back into the pocket of his dark gray slacks. "For a second there, 
I almost thought your double had gotten out of those ropes. Just be 
glad your cat gave you away."

	"Huh?" The blonde girl in the orange and black fuku looked 
down, where a small white cat was curling protectively around her 
ankles. "ARTEMIS! What do you think you're doing? I'm trying to be 
Sailor Lightstorm, and you're wrecking it!"

	"Well, excuse me for interfering with the Drama Queen's grand 
performance!" The cat sniffed, and looked the other way. "Excuse me for
actually wanting to say good-bye to the girl I've been watching over 
and taking care of since she was thirteen! Excuse ME for..."

	"Oh, Artemis!" Minako quickly scooped the cat into her arms as 
he tried to get away. "You know I wouldn't leave you behind if I didn't
have to : we're Sailor V and Artemis! The team supreme! But I have to 
go and save Sailor Moon, and you can't come with me, got it? Just stay 
here and look after Seiji, okay? Hang out with Luna, or something."

	"Look after...? HANG OUT WITH...?" Artemis made several noises 
which had no human equivalent. 

	"We really do need to go, Sailor Venus," Owl pointed out 
gently, as he motioned for the girl to join her friends in the loose 
circle they had all formed. "Jadeite must already be impatient : he 
expected you five back yesterday." 

	"Right! On my way!" Minako tossed her cat back onto the 
ground. "Bye-bye, Artemis! I'll get you something nice!" 

	Artemis watched as his human joined the other five forms and 
vanished in a ball of light. "Good-bye Minako," he whispered, "for 
your own sake, try to be careful for once..."

**********

	Korran crossed his arms and scowled as he opened the door to 
his brother's chambers. "And what exactly do you think you're doing, 
little brother? If I were anybody else, you'd have much to answer for."

	His twin brother Kirin looked up guiltily and made motions to 
conceal the rope in his hands behind his back. "Korran! What right do 
you have to be breaking into my chambers like this?" 

	Korran threw back his long black cape and strode forward, boots
clicking on the stone floor. His long, pointed ears twitched slightly, 
as though seeking the true meaning behind his brothers words. A pair 
of sharp canines gleamed as he sneered. "Let's see what you have here, 
little one. Grappling hooks, rope, hacksaw... if I didn't know any 
better, I'd think you were planning a jailbreak."

	"So what if I am?" Kirin said defensively, running a gloved 
hand through his short red hair. "They're holding her daughter hostage,
Korran. Her DAUGHTER! Tell me : what kind of honour is there in such 
treatment of our enemy?" 

	"Are you crazed, boy?" Korran crossed his arms and scowled at 
his twin. "Even if I do agree with you in how Sailor Moon is being 
treated, it is not our place to judge the behaviour of our leader." 

	"Then perhaps he should be our leader no longer!" Kirin's 
sharp features were filled with anger, his pale white skin flushed 
in his rage. "Perhaps the Owl is in the right!" 

	"You're beginning to sound like too much like him, Kirin." 
Korran shook his head sadly. "You know better than anyone that the Owl 
is dead : you helped me bury the man. If we try to rebel against 
Jadeite, he will retaliate, and the people will suffer." 

	"The people are already suffering, brother." Kirin argued, 
raking the air with his clawed gloves. "You are serving a madman!"

	"AND YOU ARE BECOMING ONE!" Korran slammed his hands down on 
the other man's bed, knocking off several implements. "Listen to 
yourself : you are spouting the same rhetoric HE did, all those years 
he raised us..."

	"It was never rhetoric, brother. It was truth, it was justice, 
and I think maybe you should have paid more attention. Owl didn't just 
teach us HOW to fight : he tried to teach us WHEN. I had thought you 
learned both lessons well." Kirin sighed, and turned away. "I see now 
that I was mistaken."

**********

	The creature known as Abadon shuffled through the dark wine 
cellar of Jadeite's fortress. Here, the racks of bottles and giant 
barrels were scattered haphazardly, forming an intricate labrynth in 
which nobody could see more than an inch in front of their own faces. 
It was a place where many young youma came to be alone, a place where 
literally anything could be happening one rack over, and everyone was 
too involved in their own - he chuckled at the word - affairs, to 
notice.

	Abadon loved the shadows. He loved the way they freed all 
creatures under the mask of anonymity, and turned a dusty old wine 
cellar into a magical, romantic world. Of course, he conceded, not 
all of the creatures in this darkness had thoughts of romance on their 
minds. Case in point, the cloaked and helmeted figure pacing back and 
forth, muttering under his breath.

	"Greetings, Owl!" Safe in the shadows, 'Abadon' felt free to 
lower his guise and reveal the chiseled features of Anubis, Masho of 
Darkness and Yoroiden of Yami. "What's wrong? Something seems to have 
put your beak out of joint this evening."

	"It is a matter... of no concern to you." Owl lifted one hand,
as if to chop each word from his mouth with it. "I have learned from 
my counterpart on Earth that the Sailor Senshi are infiltrating, 
disguised as their clones. I need you to make sure they don't go and 
get themselves killed. Help them out with little details, and see if 
they can use their position to be of use to us. Perhaps open the gates,
or free the Pit Fighters..."

	"Gladly," Anubis said, and shrugged. Hey, if Owl wanted to talk
business, so could he. "Speaking of Pit Fighters, how fares Tuxedo 
Kamen?"

	"He fought his tenth match today. All acounts indicate he's 
having the time of his life : all the fun of beating up youma, and none
of the work of tracking them down first." Owl chuckled dryly. "He also 
took care of two more of Jadeite's assassins this afternoon. The fools 
attacked away from the supression field, while he had his rose. They 
will not make that mistake - or any others - ever again." 

	"It's good to know the boy hasn't lost his touch," Anubis 
admitted gruffly, "although I admit he always did have a flair for this
sort of thing. I take it he's fitting in well down there?"

	"Fitting in?" Owl snorted. "According to the messages I've 
recieved through the network, he's damn near the second in command as 
far as those youma are concerned. Some of the biggest, meanest, most 
brutal fighters in the entire Dark Kingdom, and most of them are afraid
to even go to the bathroom without his express permission."

	Anubis grinned as he pulled the rough burlap cowl back over 
his head. "You'll be glad for it later, if I know Tuxedo Kamen. Now, 
if you'll excuse me, young king, I have a few children whose hands 
need holding..."

**********

	The light faded, and Shin tried to blink away the blurs of 
light and colour that filled his vision. Once he got a better look at 
the surrounding area, he almost wished the spots would come back.

	The Dark Kingdom was desolate. Not like the Dynasty, where 
everything and everyone was just plain wrong, and always had been. 
This was a more natural desolation : farmland filled with dried out 
husks of corn and wilted beanstalks, a town where the paint had long 
ago peeled off of the weather-beaten wooden planks of the buildings, 
and at least two feet of dust covered everything in sight. A window 
shutter banged emptily against a grimy and broken window, and doors 
stood open against vast, yawning portals no living creature had crossed
in centuries. 

	There was a well, Shin noticed as he idly combed his fingers 
through his newly crimson mane of hair, but even from this distance 
the Yoroiden of Suiko knew it had long ago dried up. Jadeite's castle 
loomed over everything, a vast spire of twisted, blackened rock that 
seemed almost alive, like a giant predator crouching over the last 
remains of its latest victim and warily watching the intruders who had 
disturbed its feast. Preparing to eat them next.

	"Wait a minute," Minako said softly, "THAT'S Jadeite's castle? 
And we're actually going IN there? On PURPOSE?" 

	"We got no choice," Makoto reminded her friend, gently placing 
one hand on the blond girl's shoulder, "Usagi's in that place, and we 
have to go and get her out, right?" 

	Rei blinked and shook her head in disbelief. "Shin," she softly
whispered to the boy as he lifted a handful of dust from the street and
watched it blow away on the wind, "I know this sounds weird, but I 
can't read any bad vibes from anything. This whole PLACE is bad vibes."

	"I know what you mean." Shin slowly stood up, and looked 
around. "You know, coming from a place like this, I almost can't blame 
them for wanting to take Earth so badly..."

	"Oh, it's not so bad," a gruff voice interjected. "A couple 
of throw rugs, maybe a few pillows... I'd say it has real potential 
as a 'fixer-upper', wouldn't you, Shin no Suiko?" 

	Shin clutched his temples and fell back down to his knees as 
the kanji on his forehead glowed blue. ** TRUTH... ** 

	** PIETY... ** 

	A second kanji gleamed in response, casting a golden light 
where before there had been only shadows. The darkness rippled, and the
brown and black armoured form of Kujuurou Sasaki stepped gracefully 
from the gloom of the alley. "Greetings, Sailor Senshi," he said 
as he brushed his red silken cape aside and bowed to the four ladies. 
"I have been sent by Owl to help guide you on the path to Jadeite's 
castle. There, I am known as Abadon, a hunched and pathetic thing, but 
I assure you, I remain your eternal servant, Anubis of the Masho." He 
kissed the back of Rei's hand, and relished the dirty look Shin gave 
him.

**********

	Usagi Tsukino stopped and looked up from the card game she was 
playing with Chibi-Usa as a man in a black jumpsuit with a long gray 
cape and a strange helmet vaulted through her window. Her eyes 
widening, she pushed the small girl behind her and stood, clutching 
her brooch with one hand. 

	"No!" Usagi cried out, her bottom lip trembling slightly as 
her grip on the brooch tightened. "I won't you let you take her away 
again! I've BEEN good! Just... just stay back! You can't have her! 
SHE'S MINE!" 

	Owl responded the way any sane man would : he blinked in 
confusion and tried to figure out what the hell the girl was saying. 
After a few seconds, he was pretty sure he had it. "Please, Princess, 
I assure you that I bear you no ill will. My name is Owl, and I am 
an ally in your war against Jadeite. I have come to help you destroy 
him!" 

	"I... I can't!" Usagi wailed, grabbing Chibi-Usa and holding 
her tightly. "He'll take her away again... he'll hurt Mamoru! Please, 
just go away! Get out of here, before he catches you!" 

	Owl sighed and let his shoulders slump. He'd have argued with 
her... if he hadn't heard those exact words one thousand years ago. 
"I understand, Princess. Believe me, I do. My fath... the Owl before me
once thought as you do. I shall respect your decision." With infinite 
care, he placed one foot back on the windowsill. "Farewell, Sailor 
Moon. I somehow doubt we shall ever meet again in this life." 

	"I'm sorry," Usagi whimpered, "I want to help... but I just 
can't let them hurt her..."

	"Your love is your greatest strength. Never regret the choices 
it leads you to." Owl said, not unkindly, and left, his cloak flaring 
in the breeze as he flew away. Usagi closed the window behind him, and 
watched as he flew out of her life, trying to quell the fear that her 
last chance may have left with him. Wiping away her tears, she smiled 
in relief and turned to the pink haired child still sitting on the 
floor. 

	"I think it's your turn, Chibi. Draw a card." 

**********

	Anubis fiddled with the ragged burlap robes he wore as the 
six walked the front gates of Jadeite's castle. "You were supposed to 
get here yesterday," he explained under his breath as the five heroes 
listened closely, "so you need a cover story that Jadeite will buy. 
Tell him that Nise Suiko was injured, and Sailor Firestorm wouldn't 
let you come back until he had regenerated. She was sweet on him, so 
it ought to stick. And for your own sake, sound disgruntled about it!" 

	"Why?" Makoto asked softly as she tried to ignore the youma 
guard staring at her. 

	"The Storm Senshi don't get along too well. In fact, you and 
Sailor Firestorm are usually at each other's throats. And if you want 
to stay in character, go beat up that guard! He's checking you out! 
Blacken his eyes, like Sailor Thunderstorm would!" 

	"Right!" Makoto whispered, and turned on one heel. "Hey! You 
got a problem?" She yelled at the guard, clenching her fists. "You 
like what you see? You want a close-up? Come on! I'll show you a 
close-up, you piece of scum!"

	"Tell him you'll do what you did to the chef!" Anubis 
whispered to the tall brunette. 

	"Or do you want a bit of what I gave to the chef? Huh? He got 
himself a REAL good close-up!" Makoto had to supress a smile as she 
watched the youma stumble over his own feet running away. 

	"What exactly DID Sailor Thunderstorm do to the chef?" Ami  
Mizuno asked Amubis curiously. 

	"Let's just say that he developed a sudden aversion to his 
knives, and he'll probably never walk the same way again."

	"Good Lord," Shin murmured. 

	"Actually, your double said something along the lines of 'Good 
Work'. Then again, he WAS a little angry about her choice of target. 
Apparently, Nise Suiko had been planning to kill him, and claimed that 
she 'ruined it, because now he WANTS to die'." Anubis grinned wolfishly
under his cowl. "Charming creature, your double. I'm glad he's dead."

	Rei nodded absently. "Believe me, we all are." 

	'Abadon' came to a stop outside a large pair of double doors. 
"This is Jadeite's throne room. Remember, act submissive, but a little 
surly. You don't LIKE taking orders, but you know you have no choice. 
He's as cuckoo as a Swiss clock, and he'll vaporise you as soon as 
look at you, so if you want to live long enough to help your friends, 
just PLAY ALONG!" That said, the ragged and shadowy figure pushed open 
the doors and shuffled out of the way. 

	"Okay," Shin whispered, looking back at the four Senshi, "here 
we go. Everybody ready?" 

	"Limp!" Ami whispered quickly. "You're supposed to be injured, 
remember? Drag your leg a little, and remember which one! If you get 
mixed up, we're all dead!"

	"Right!" Shin responded, and began dragging his right leg as 
the five walked side by side into the mouth of the monster, and 
prepared to meet the Devil in Hell.

**********

	Jadeite, ruler of the Dark Kingdom, gently swirled the wine in 
his crystal goblet and watched as the torches lining the walls of his 
throne room reflected hypnotically in the liquid. "Who made this wine,
again, Vepres?" 

	The plantlike creature standing beside him nodded slightly. 
"It'ssss from a sssmall vinyard in Italy, on Earth." 

	"Really?" Jadeite took a small sip. "It's wonderful! Without a 
doubt, the best wine I've ever tasted." He took another look at the 
swirling, intoxicating beverage. "Vepres? Go burn down the vinyard and 
kill the owners. Nobody else should be able to drink wine this good."

	Vepres gazed at Jadeite a moment, then slowly nodded once more 
and sank into the ground. "Thy will be done, Lord Jadeite."

	"You better believe it," Jadeite sneered, and turned to welcome
the five people walking towards him. "Ah! I see my general and his 
elite troops have returned victorious! I'll admit I am surprised. I had
kind of figured I was sending you all to your deaths! Still, never 
look a gift horse in the mouth, they say..." He raised his goblet in 
salute. "I congratulate you! Drink up : you'll never have wine this 
good again, if Vepres does his job right."

	A youma quickly and quietly placed crystal goblets in the hands
of Shin and each of the Senshi. They all eyed the crimson liquid 
suspiciously. After a brief silence, Shin sucked in a deep breath and 
spoke. "Excuse us, Jadeite... if we don't." Turning the glass, he 
poured the wine onto the ground. "After all," he said as calmly as he 
could, "now that we've served our purpose, it would be rather 
convenient if we should be... REMOVED from your concerns."

	"You're absolutely right, of course." Jadeite smiled. "The wine
was indeed poisoned. You're quite wily, Nise Suiko, and I should have 
known better than to test you like that. Just don't get TOO wily, or 
I'll become less playful. What took you so long in coming back?" 

	"Nise Suiko was injured battling Shin Mouri," Ami offered 
helpfully, and barely supressed a shudder as Jadeite's wild purple eyes
passed over her for a second. "I mean, like, you know..." She quickly 
remembered to add, "he was, like, totally trashed."

	"Yeah," Makoto growled, "and that useless bimbo Firestorm 
wouldn't let us leave until her little 'Nise-chan' was all better. I 
should've just finished them both off, and saved us all a whole lot of 
trouble..." 

	"Yes, I had noticed that you were favouring your leg, Nise 
Suiko. The left one, wasn't it?" Jadeite leaned forward and steepled 
his fingers together, resting his chin on them. 

	"The right," Shin corrected him, "and it still hurts. That 
little bitch," sorry, Rei, he thought, "Sailor Mars blasted me again...
Guess I'm not healing as fast as I usually do." 

	"Ah, well." Jadeite leaned back again and smiled to himself. 
"Regardless, I'm sure Sailor Firestorm is more than eager to get you 
alone and kiss it better, aren't you, my dear?" 

	Rei began to sweat nervously. "Oh, definitely," she purred, 
and pressed herself up against Shin, lightly stroking her fingers over 
his chest. She tried to ignore the sudden lump in her throat. 

	"Well, far be it from me to stop you." Jadeite rested his head 
on one hand. "Go ahead, kiss him. Let's not stand on ceremony, here."

	Shin felt his knees tremble. Oh no, he thought, Jadeite knows,
or at least suspects, and when Rei refuses to do it he'll kill us 
all... He opened his mouth, to tell her to run for it...

	"Don't mind if do," Rei said in a sultry tone, and promptly 
clamped her lips over his own. Shin was very glad she was leaning 
against him so hard, because he was pretty sure he would have fallen 
down without her support. She moaned slightly, and squeezed his 
shoulders. What? Shin wondered what she was trying to tell him, but 
he was a trifle distracted by how warm and soft and... his arms! That 
was it : she must have been warning him to respond, or Jadeite would 
suspect them! He marvelled at how easily she was able to stay in 
control of the situation, and put his arms around her. 

	Rei was certain she was going to die. Some insane impulse had 
made her start this kiss, and she honestly couldn't think of a reason 
why she would want to stop it. At this rate, she'd suffocate... oh, 
wait, she could breathe through her nose. Well, that was ONE problem 
solved. Good heavens, she thought to herself, my first kiss ever and I 
jump right into the deep end. Despite herself, she moaned and squeezed
Shin's shoulders, and the man she hadn't quite told she loved held her 
in his arms. 

	Good thing, too. She would have fallen down, if he wasn't 
supporting her. And who the hell kept clearing his throat?

	"AHEM." Jadeite tried one last time, before losing his temper. 
"Hey, you two! That's enough! Halt! Desist! I have a Kingdom to run, 
you know! Put your tongues back where they started, and get out of 
here!"

	"Yes, sir, sir-de-sir-sir-sir!" Shin said with a cocky (if 
dazed) grin and a jaunty salute. 

**********

	"Wow!" Minako said with a huge grin as they left Jadeite's 
throne room and were rejoined by Abadon. "Way to go, Rei! I thought we 
were goners for sure!" 

	"Yeah, great job, Rei." Makoto grinned slyly and tapped her 
friend on the shoulder. "If I didn't know any better, I would have 
thought you actually WANTED to kiss Shin. REALLY good job." She winked,
and Rei blushed. 

	"Don't go getting any ideas!" She said crossly. "I had to do 
that! Jadeite was onto us! Shin and I are just friends, and that's 
all! I HAD to!"

	Abadon began to snicker uncontrollably. "I'm sorry," he said 
between choked guffaws, "but I think I need a drink of water." He 
shuffled away, muttering. "Just friends? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

	"I wonder what his problem is?" Shin pondered, stroking his 
chin with one hand. "I don't recall Anubis acting quite so erratic the 
previous times we met... in fact, he always struck me as one of the 
more stable gents working for Kayura." 

	Minako eeped and tugged on Shin's sleeve. "Ixnay! Ixnay! Creepy
dude with a crystal ball at four o' clock!" All four Senshi flattened 
themselves against the walls of the coridor and watched with bated 
breath as a sickeningly familiar form in flowing purple robes floated 
past, stroking his glowing crystal orb with shimmering hands. Shin 
simply stood in the corridor and shouldered his harpoon, staring at 
the strange creature as it swerved around him.

	"I don't believe it... that was WISEMAN!" Minako gasped, 
clutching her chest with one hand as she tried to catch her breath. 

	"B-but he's dead!" Makoto whispered, her green eyes wide. "I 
mean, he got blasted by TWO ginzuishos! Vaporised, moon dust, call in 
the vaccuum cleaners! How can he be here?"

	Ami snapped her fingers. "It's a paradox! The Wiseman Sailor 
Moon destroyed was from the future, and had come back into our time, 
remember? This Wiseman must BE from our time. Years from now, he'll 
go into the past with the rest of the Dark Moon Kingdom and be 
destroyed. He isn't dead because we haven't killed him yet!"

	"Oh man," Rei admitted, as she began to bite her fingernails, 
"if Wiseman's here, we'd better move fast. Minako, go grab Sailor Moon.
We're getting out of here as soon as possible. Shin and I will try to 
find Tuxedo Kamen. Makoto and Ami will start setting up the 
arrangements that Owl told us about. Tomorrow morning, the Samurai 
Troopers and a very large army of rebels are attacking this castle, 
and we need those gates OPEN when they do it. Okay? Let's get to work."

To Be Continued...