"They would never do that!" The fair-skinned doctor proclaimed. "To think of such a terrible thing, no, it couldn't possibly be them!"

Quatre was rather relieved by her reaction, a heavy weight seemingly lifted from his shoulders. His long internal debate of whether or not Kino-san was an agent seemed to burden his state of mind, the blue-haired doctor's astonished visage comforting his thoughts.

"Are you sure?" He had to ask just to be certain. Besides, more confirmation always helped.

"I'm absolutely positive," she stated sternly. Her big blue eyes appeared uneasy as she defended her old grade school friends. She claimed to know them well. She even claimed that they were like sisters to her despite their lack of contact in the years past.

"What makes you so sure?" Wufei glared at Ami as if trying to see into her thoughts. He wasn't quite sure he believed her since it had been much too easy to formulate the possible reason those women had been following her with this newfound information that Quatre had provided. If she was speaking the truth and her three friends were not at all the highly regarded Sirens, then the three women that attacked her weren't any ordinary crime group.

"I just know," Ami frowned as the girls' biggest secret played in her head.

Quatre and Wufei exchanged glances at her response, both picking up on the suspicious childishness in her statement. Apparently, there was more to them than they could comprehend but it didn't look like Ami was willing to tell them anytime soon.

"Well," Quatre started. "Though they may not be Sirens, two of your friends were still spotted at the police station moments before it burst into flames. Do you think they could have been responsible for that?"

Ami opened her mouth to relay a hasty refute but Wufei interrupted her.

"Think before you answer," he murmured gruffly. "If the women that attacked you were Sirens, then your friends burning down the precinct provides a motive for them wanting to make a lesson of you."

Ami gulped. She had thought of that herself but did not want to believe it. What reason would Rei or Minako have for burning down that police station? Last she heard, Minako was a happy school teacher and Rei was the head of the biggest company in Japan and still growing. Did they even have time to plan these strange activities? Besides that, wouldn't it be a bit counterproductive to burn down the station full of crime fighters when they themselves used to engage in the same type of work years ago? But why did they run?

Neither Minako nor Rei dared return to their homes, a sure sign that they were guilty, and more than likely, Makoto just got caught in the crossfire when they had decided to spend the night at her place. A sickening churn gripped at her gut, their innocence not looking too convincing at the moment.

"No," was her final response. "I know my friends and they would never do that."

"People can change," Wufei grunted.

"Not them. Not like this." She stared blatantly at the Chinese man as if challenging him to say another word. She of course was never a fan of confrontation, but in the case of her friends, she felt it was needed if they persisted any further.

Quatre sighed aloud and stood up, both Wufei and Ami's eyes trailing after him.

"I appreciate the time you've taken to speak with me," he smiled with fatigue. "I will do my best to find your friends and bring out the truth. Hopefully we'll be able to clear their names too if they are indeed innocent."

Ami nodded slowly, unsure of whether or not Quatre actually believed her. However, the Chief of Police appeared rather genuine and she hated to think that he was just a good actor. Quatre bowed politely before making his way outside with Wufei in tow. Once they closed the door, they looked to each other expectantly.

"I hate to ask this of you," Quatre started.

"Don't mention it," Wufei replied. "I was gonna do it either way."

Quatre bobbed his head.

"If you find anything else, just call." With that said, the blond officer parted from Dr. Mizuno's newest body guard. The young genius was definitely hiding something and Wufei was anxious to find out what.

Ami exhaled in disdain, her minicomputer picking up on the quiet voices of her most recent acquaintances. So they hadn't believed her after all and it looked like Wufei would be watching her every waking move. She closed her handheld and frowned. Her own curiosity about the events that had taken place amongst her friends was piqued, the cogs in her mind revving into investigation mode. She would undoubtedly try and piece this one together without Wufei's knowledge but she would have to be careful. One little slip and he might discover a little fact that would condemn Rei and Minako to a criminal record. Ami had not forgotten about their other abilities, after all how could one even forget something so big? However, a certain ability was linked much too closely to the now charred precinct and at the center was Rei and her innate ability to bend fire. If Wufei or even Quatre were to find out, it would be a sure hell for all of them.

000

"So, what is it we're doing?" Minako had asked for the thousandth time and Rei was starting to get irritated.

"We're looking for a guy that calls himself the Phantom of the Opera," Rei repeated for the thousandth time.

"Right…" Minako drifted still uncertain of whether or not Rei had finally lost her marbles in this mad race against…well against the police and now bounty hunter that was trying to track them.

"Isn't that a Broadway musical?" Makoto had asked as she finally remembered why the name sounded so familiar. Her wound had improved immensely, every medicinal herb known to man rubbed over its opening.

"Yes," Rei grumbled. "Yes it is."

Having her friends rejuvenated and able was comforting for her, but their constant questions about her newest plan unnerved her. Why couldn't they just listen to her and be done with it? It wasn't like they hadn't known about her psychic abilities beforehand!

"Hmm," Minako hummed, walking alongside her two friends. "Are you sure you didn't just—"

"I'm dead positive that I didn't misread the fire!" Rei yelled, veins popping out of her neck as she glared at Minako.

"Geez," Minako said with hands in the air as if surrendering. "I was just asking."

With a perturbed frown, Rei snapped her attention back to its former direction as Makoto and Minako resumed following. She had informed them of a plan just hours prior to then and since that time the two were skeptical. Even Rei held her doubts though she was too proud to admit it. If anything, she'd rather attempt to rid herself of this unwanted life of fugitive running and return home. Thus, this plan seemed to be the only progressive step that would lead her closer to her goal.

The further along they got in the infamous Gutter where a crime lord of theatrical proportions reigned with ridiculous protocols and equally menacing disciplinary repercussions, the more normal they appeared despite their…strange attire.

It turned out that Minako was quite a fine designer when she wanted to be and as she sketched out the patterns for these new get-ups, Makoto had taken up the task of sewing them together. Rei helped by forking out the last of her cash to buy bangles and sandals and afterwards, they found flowers that would better help tie their look together. Admittedly, the whole lot of them felt weird, but as they noticed more character-filled costumes adorning the other masked cronies that roamed the streets, they didn't feel too misplaced. However, the whispers and murmurs they heard around them as they passed through were more disconcerting than their choice of apparel…

Golden laurel wreaths wrapped each their heads, their gloriously long hair left to flow loosely across their backs and occasionally over their shoulders. Goddess inspired dresses rippled from their shoulders, varying designs wrapping each their bodies but still cohesively set to link them together. They had thought masks might be useful to conceal their identities but after a moment of contemplation, Rei reasoned it might do them more harm than good. Besides, mug shots of each of them were already parading around the news so it was basically pointless trying to hide the fact that they were criminals despite the perplexing fact that they weren't really criminals but women that had accidentally fallen into a tirade of trouble.

Hence, here they stood in a crowd that had now grown eerily quiet. Makoto, Rei and Minako each froze, eyes skeptical as they tried to figure out what exactly was happening around them.

"Well look at what we have here." The condescending tone was enough to irk all three of them, their gazes falling upon a long-limbed woman who leant casually against a stressed brick wall. Spiked silver hair poked out from the top of her mask, discolored eyes peering from the feathered holes of her costume. "Grecians?"

The crowd collectively gasped, stepping back in caution as if this woman held some extraordinary power that they dared not challenge. Their reaction had been so dynamic that even the trio posing as willing criminals with real supernatural ability had been silently startled, now growing with anxiety as they wondered if they were making a wise decision in coming here.

"Get ready," Rei had muttered before thinking.

She was speaking more to herself, whispers of information sweeping her ears as the fire she had been ignoring for years had eagerly returned to aid her. Their plan relied heavily on this single moment and all three women could feel anxiety welling in their chests as they incessantly contemplated whether or not this was such a good idea.

"Tch, they even have the nerve to come into our territory and strut their tasteless apparel like it means something," someone had commented with a sneer.

Perturbed, Makoto had glanced towards the new spoken woman and frowned in discontent when spotting an averaged height female with sleek brown hair that looked almost black. It stiffly held its shape behind a mask of midnight blue feathers, a leather bodysuit encasing her lithe frame with ample cleavage peering in from the lowly zipped front of her jacket. Makoto could already tell that she'd have problems with that one in particular simply because of the way she skulked towards them with that gait of arrogance that never rubbed well against the brunette's personality.

"How pathetic." Another female had spoken, her fiery orange hair braided with black lace, skin-tight shorts donning her slender legs matched with fingerless black gloves and a silvery vest that left little to the imagination. A black leather mask concealed the top half of her face, deceptively innocent sky blue eyes peering through towards the newly esteemed group of women.

Despite the blatant abhorrence on their masked faces, the three senshi still remained steadfast, their eyes reflectively firm and indifferent.

"We'd like to request a meeting with the Phantom of the Opera," Rei said through grit teeth, feeling completely silly for saying such a ridiculous sounding statement.

Minako had to bite down a laugh, a wavering grin fleeting across her lips before she discreetly coughed to cover her brief slip up. She was even amused by the gasp that had echoed through the audience, their faces widely shocked making it seem as though Rei had done the unmentionable by calling out this Phantom in public.

The platinum blonde snarled, stepping from her casual position against the wall and closer to them. By the way the other two flanked around to her sides, it was clear that she was the leader.

"What makes you think you deserve such a meeting," she scoffed, her hands twitching around her thigh as if she was silently contemplating the possession of a concealed weapon.

In a brief moment Minako had glanced to Rei and saw that the raven-haired woman wasn't quite certain how to respond. And truthfully, neither was she. Yet by the stiff tension that rose amongst the crowd where these masked females were the root cause of this terse situation, she thought it might be useful to at least gain some favor from the crowd who had cowered to the sidelines in anticipation.

"Oh sweetheart," Minako smiled with a twinkle in her eye, flippantly tossing her golden hair over her shoulder. "Didn't you hear? We're the ones that saved your boss some trouble with law enforcement and scared them off his track for you…or were you unaware that they had plans to get friendly so they could tear this shindig apart from the inside..."

Makoto looked shocked, emulating the whispers of the crowd and she quickly shook it off.

"Minako," Rei hissed in a low voice. "We don't know if that's true."

Still charmingly aglow with beauty and poise, Minako shrugged.

"That might be so." She said back. "But the way I see it, they can't kill us on the spot with the possibility that we had helped, ya know?"

Rei frowned, momentarily leaning away from the former school teacher and watching as the crowd around them seemed to forget their fear of these unnamed three of which she now knew were the famed Sirens that the fire had informed her about. A quick glance in their masked direction and Rei was surprisingly pleased to see that the Sirens were angered even more by the ripple Minako had started about their potential inadequacy.

"Bullshit," the averaged height Siren had retorted spitefully.

Makoto scoffed, feeling her blood boil in her general direction. She was certainly going to have a problem with that one.

"Oh my. Such beauty should not be tainted by a dirty mouth, darling," Minako teased, fanning herself haughtily with a wink towards the crowd. "It's simply unbecoming."

Rei scoffed, feeling eased by the crowd's amused laughter, which only nourished the Sirens' poor mood. Even Makoto couldn't hold back a small chuckle and they were both instantly reminded of how Minako always was the charming actor able to swoon crowds in her favor when necessary. Plus, she was the head of the school's Drama department so they figured this Faction was practically made for her.

"Why you little—"

The phrase was left unfinished, uncontrolled rage urging the Siren with the mouth of a sailor to charge towards Minako. The blonde was surprisingly agile, jumping aside just in time to avoid a puncture wound that looked to be aimed suspiciously close to her heart. As if on cue, the other two Sirens were fully engaged in the attack, picking a Grecian styled woman to battle and occasionally switching targets.

The startled crowd inched back in awe, silently impressed to find that these newcomers actually had some gusto to their act.

Makoto purposely intercepted the sleek-haired woman that had wanted Minako's blood, and forced her to redirect her anger once she realized the brunette was not an easy opponent and to ignore her would be deadly. Rei had somehow been pitted against the orange-haired spitfire who pulled knives and blades from unseen pockets in the very little amount of fabric she had covering her body. Completely incredulous, Rei gawked at the amount of weapons this petite woman had concealed but she was forced to abandon her amazement to avoid being cut.

Old karate and senshi practice seemed to rev into full gear as she dodged and countered every blow. Reaching instinctively for a scroll she winced, being unpleasantly reminded that she had abandoned that portion of her life years ago. With a grunt she leapt to the side, thankfully noting that Minako had seemed to be doing fine against the platinum blonde whose go-to weapon appeared to be a large whip.

A laugh escaped. Oh how she would like to see the look on that woman's face when and if Minako could actually manage to pull out her nifty chain…

"Don't ignore me!"

Rei scowled, feeling a splicing pressure against her abdomen and immediately tensing when she heard the fabric of her dress rip open. An awkward breeze swept across her stomach, her hands chokingly grabbing the mousy assailant and thrusting her against a wall in a burst of adrenaline. She hissed when a muscle spasm jerked across her side, the pain momentarily distracting her from the fiery haired Siren and making her stumble slightly. She looked to her side, spotting the steadily growing patch of red and wincing.

"I said not to ig—"

"I know what you said, bitch" Rei cut her off, eyes burning with rage as she resumed her fight with the problematic little wench.

The orange-haired woman couldn't apprehend why her gloves had somehow begun to soften like glue on her hands, sticking warmly to her skin as the heat around the area increased. The amethyst eyes of Rei Hino were ablaze, her counters and hits more vicious and precise than before. She harshly gripped the tiny wrist of her opponent and let her skin sear the unsuspecting woman in torment. She nearly moved to deliver the ending blow but in the corner of her vision she could see that Minako had allowed too much space between herself and the platinum blonde who was reaching for a holster behind her thigh.

Time slowed and panic consumed Rei before she even had a chance to think straight. She could see it in Minako's eyes that she realized her mistake but apart from glowing and attempting to dodge once the shot was made she had no real defense left. A whirl of fire flashed in a second around her hands and from the fluency of motion to the immaculate shaping of a phoenix that had molded itself between the businesswoman's porcelain fingers to make a fiery bow-and-arrow, the entire crowd had fell silent, no longer screaming cheers for their favored group or placing bets.

Makoto and her opponent succinctly ceased fighting; watching as Rei stood with her aim trained on the platinum blonde whose gun had been raised towards Minako.

"Well we're just pulling out all the stops, aren't we?" Minako had muttered under her breath, still tense being as a gun was still pointed towards her.

There was silence all around, the wind picking up much like in an old western movie scene where two gunslingers were having a standoff. Except there was only one gun present and the other was slinging a fully flamed bow and arrow.

"Put it down," Rei demanded between labored breaths. The fatigue from this latest brawl and the days spent running were catching up to her, and she could feel her arms beginning to quake as the fire around her fingers burned with the last of her expendable energy.

She didn't think such a display was possible being as she hadn't used this power in years and had barely managed to make a measly fire in a cavern beforehand. Yet, here she stood, one of her highest-powered attacks in hand and she was certain it wasn't just a hallucination.

Sweat dripped from the bridge of her nose and trailed along the side of her face until falling to the cemented ground beneath her. No one moved. No one made a sound. Eyes of the crowd tried to find the device that could elicit such a god-like display but as they took in the sight of the natural flames and the Goddess who wielded it, they had begun to understand why these three were dressed the way they were. Perhaps they weren't Goddesses per say, but it was assumed they had each created some sort of machine or technology that made such a supernatural display possible. Now, they only wondered what the other two were capable of.

A single applause cut through the stoic silence like a throng of church bells ringing hallelujah on a Sunday morning. Appalled, all eyes had sought out the person responsible only for each of them to straighten up respectfully with sights straightforward and unwavering.

In shiny black dress shoes and a well-fitted tuxedo finely accented by a blood red rose in his pocket, a broad-shouldered man had stepped forward wearing a genial smile that shined through the strange white mask upon his face.

The platinum blonde had gulped, hesitantly lowering her handgun and assuming the same stature as the crowd. Rei still wasn't quite convinced that this was over and as she glanced over her shoulder to see him garbed in the costume that she remembered glimpsing on a Billboard in New York, she was still unable to lower her magnificent weapon. The thought crossed her mind to aim at him instead but she discarded the idea as soon as a sixth sense had warned her such an act could be unhelpful.

Minako had now stood to full height, looking serene as her garments billowed with the wind, unstained and virtually perfect. Even as her milky skin had smoothly stretched out beneath the gathers at her shoulders, so was she a radiant woman of beauty in all its imaginations. Her blue eyes were like beacons of incredible innocence making her appear as though she was never involved in this fight but merely a spectator.

Makoto was quite the opposite. Her dress was tattered and torn, dirt already clumping greedily across the drenched fabric, as she stood tall with mahogany curls that remained frizz-free and only amplified the green depths of her eyes. Somewhere along the way she had put her hair up and it was somewhat amusing that she looked to be an ancient Greek soldier stolen from the past and placed in modern times as her Roman sandals feebly stayed strap to her feet.

With fire still burning in her hands, Rei looked the most ethereal even with the blood that had stained through the side of her ripped dress. She let the flames decimate into thin air and with a look of indifference, she turned to face who she had assumed was the Phantom. Her silky black hair that hinted at violet in the sun flowed like Black Death against her porcelain skin, strong, amethyst eyes burning like embers in their sockets. The gold laurel wreath upon her head glistened with majesty, such a simple ornament that was only spray painted, but it was captivating and the Phantom seemed entranced by her vision.

A single word escaped his lips after his echoing applause and by its mention the three knew they had made a good first impression.

"Fascinating."

Thank you for reading! It only took me about 2 years finish this update lol but that's cool right? ^^; I had it half way finished for so long that I forgot it was there. Anyhow, I hope this was a decent update!

Aurora of Moonblade: I'm glad you liked the previous chapter ^^ It took me a long time but hopefully this chapter was enjoyable too! And of course thank you so much for your review!

angelic aquarian: Thank you for your review. I know Minako/Duo is seen a lot and they are so alike that many think they'd kill each other for being pretty much one in the same but I'm glad you still find it interesting despite my slow attempt to put them together. It may happen or it may not, I never know since I tend to drop off the planet for years at a time so I suppose we'll see? As for Rei/Trowa, that is certainly going to be a challenge. I don't see it often and I'm unsure what I was thinking originally but I look forward to trying XD Again I'm sorry if this has been a confusing story. I think it is safe to say that this is justifiably a crack-fic meant for laughs, maybe some romance, a bit of action and some serious character development on Rei's behalf and partly for the others but mostly Rei ^^

l-annethunder: Thank you for your review! I'm a pretty bad reviewer myself since I often forget to comment on things so i completely understand XD Ami/Wufei has become an infatuation that I accidentally fell in love with so I am definitely looking forward to working with those two in later chapters! I hope this update was decent and again thank you so much for your review!

Oombala: Oombala! I am dying to see an update from you for Spatial Intelligence! XD I know I'm not really one that can talk since I'm pretty bad at updates myself but please please update soon? And of course, thank you so much for your review! I'm glad this has been interesting so far and I hope it continues to be! if not, feel free to be harshly honest! ^^

Neanda: Firstly, thank you so much for all your reviews. Sadly I'm fairly lazy when it comes to writing so my updates tend to be delayed a lot. ^^; Makoto's abilities have always been an infatuation of mine and like you I could use some of her electricity to save me for that bill too XD And true that, her connection to nature is often understated so I definitely liked bringing that up in this story. There are certainly going to be more cool scenes with that power later on if I can kick my bad habit and get to writing it already! Anyhow, I hope you liked this chapter and again thank you so much for your reviews!

angelicmayuka: Thank you for your review. I'm glad you find it interesting and after rereading it a few times myself I finally remembered why I liked writing it in the first place and hope to keep up with that track until this is finished ^^ Makoto and Quatre have never really been my favorite so I had to sit and think of a way and situation that would make me favor them more lol so I'm relieved to see that it was adorable to someone else as well! And Trowa, hah, I love that guy. Its going to be a challenge with him since I originally planned to pair him with Rei and I still intend to. And you're right, her character isn't too likable at the moment. I can say that it is my plan to do some serious character development as to why she has changed so drastically with the help of Trowa and Minako as driving forces so hopefully I can pull it off ^^ Actually, I plan to develop all of them eventually. Anyhow, sorry for rambling. I'm really happy that you find this story interesting despite the character dev. that hasn't quite happened yet. Hopefully this chapter was okay! And again, thank you so much for reading and reviewing!

Alas, any comments, gripes, questions or concerns are easily submitted via the Review link. Thanks once more for reading!

JPandS