Chapter Four: Sailor Moon and the Star Guardians
Tokyo - present
Corner of Cherry Blossom Lane and Carma Avenue
Luna basked in the sunlight streaming in through
Serena's window. The life of a common house pet wasn't
idyllic - but then again, it wasn't so bad either. Luna
chuckled inwardly, *It's a good thing Serena can't hear my
thoughts at this moment.* she thought. Frankly, she hated
the thought of waking up and going to school every day, as
much as Serena did. *Or at least she DID.* Luna frowned in
thought. The 'new' Serena was taking a lot of getting used
to. After pushing Serena to do her homework, remember her
duties as the leader of the Sailor Scouts (remember simple
things like her lunch and her school bag) for the past two
years, it was slightly unnerving for her to suddenly do
everything by herself. *Heck, SLIGHTLY? It's ENORMOUSLY
unnerving! Luna corrected herself. *Not that I've really
had to remind her to take her duties as a leader seriously.*
The last Negaverse attack had been over six months ago; life
had gotten so peaceful lately that even Artemis had agreed
that meeting every week was a waste of time. The most like
outlook was that the Sailor Scouts wouldn't be needed till
Crystal Tokyo appeared in the far future. Their meetings
had fallen to once a month and the training sessions had
dwindled to nothing more than separate Martial Arts classes.
*Funny about that though. Even Serena kept up her karate
classes after we stopped having training sessions.* Luna
yawned and stretched as she padded over to the window. From
Serena's room, she could just make out the edges of the
park's trees. Serena wasn't going to be home for another
two or three hours - *Not that she needs me to be here
anyway.* - and the thought of going to the park for no
other reason than to sleep and enjoy herself, made Luna
smile. *When WAS the last time I did anything for myself?*
she wondered idylly as she jumped out of Serena's window and
climbed down the tree to leap onto Sammy's shoulder.
"Hey Luna!" Sammy exclaimed, grinning, "Coming to the
park with me?" he asked cheerfully, "We're building a tree
house today, you can watch."
Luna just purred. *Heck, a free shoulder ride to the park -
which SHOULD I do anything?* she thought as she settled in
for the trip.
Luna slept peacefully on a tree branch in the park,
listening to the sound of the children playing on the
equipment nearby. Several yards away, Sammy and his friends
were playing at the playground, their building trials over
for the day. Suddenly, the sound of the children laughing
ceased, to be replaced by the less soothing sound of
screaming. Luna jumped - instantly awake - as she saw the
monster that had appeared suddenly in the middle of the
playing children.
Panic hit first - she didn't know where ANY of the
Sailor Scouts OR Tuxedo Mask was. Followed just as quickly
by ire: *Damn it all!* Luna leapt from the tree, running
straight for the gates. She KNEW that none of the Sailor
Scouts were ready. After all, the Negaverse had been
defeated, and the Uncanny Sisters and Rubeus were out of the
picture. *Fool us!* Now, a new enemy had arrived, and LUNA
didn't know where any of the Sailor Scouts were!
Serena was walking home when Luna caught up with her.
"Quick, Serena! There's a Negaverse monster in the park,
and those children are going to be drained if you don't get
there to destroy the monster!" she gasped out.
Serena nodded without asking questions, "MOON CRYSTAL
POWER!" the rush of the magic flowed through her, and the
power streamed around her, transforming her clothes into the
all too familiar uniform wrapped itself around her body.
Then Sailor Moon stood there once more in the uniform, the
long meatballs trailing to the ground. *I wonder if those
meatballs ARE part of the uniform, or whether I can't change
my hairstyle as Sailor Moon?* Serena thought vaguely as she
ran down the pavement towards the park near her home.
"Oh Luna! Sammy said he was meeting his friends at the
park today!" she whispered, panic in her voice, "They were
going to build their tree house there today!"
Luna stole a glance at Serena... this sounded more like
the old Serena, panicky, and emotional, *Of all the times
for her to revert.* she groaned inwardly, "Don't have
hysterics, Sailor Moon." She warned, "We've always beaten
the Negaverse monsters before, and we will now as well."
And not for the first time in three weeks, Serena surprised
Luna by nodding, all hysteria and panic gone from her
surface as she ran into the park, her blue eyes worried.
The Negaverse monster was smaller and uglier than the
normal ones that the Sailor Scouts normally fought. Twenty
tentacles stretched out from her head like little snakes.
She was built like a dwarf, squat and ugly, with huge hands
that seemed to be made out of more tentacles. The lifeless
bodies lay scattered around the playground - most of them
horribly small. Sailor Moon closed the distance between the
monster and herself in a burst of speed, leaping up onto the
monkey bars in an easy jump. She gasped as she perceived the
bodies of more children captured within the monster's
tentacles. The children were losing their energy rapidly.
Their initial screams had died down to whimpers as their
bodies lost their life-force.
"Stop right there, Negaverse trash!" Sailor Moon
snapped, "I'm Sailor Moon, Champion of Lo-" for a second,
Sailor Moon paused, then she shook her head, "I am Sailor
Moon, Champion of Justice! In the name of the Moon I will
right wrongs and triumph over evil - and THAT means YOU!"
she said, and without even waiting for the startled monster
to reply, she took off her tiara, "MOON TIARA MAGIC!" she
shouted.
The golden tiara became a blur. The monster had barely
reacted before its torso was blown into dust. The last of
its captives fell to the ground with barely audible groans.
Sailor Moon looked stricken as she ran over to one still
body, "Damn it!" she cursed, "I've got to cut down on those
stupid speeches - five more seconds and the paramedics
wouldn't be able to save them." She whispered, tears
shinning in her expressive eyes as she looked at Luna, "The
monster drained their energy - but she didn't return it when
I destroyed her. Do we have a new, powerful enemy?"
"JUPITER THUNDER..." the voice trailed off, "Wow! Looks
like we aren't needed." Sailor Jupiter said as she ran in
with the rest of the scouts, "Good work Sailor Moon." She
added.
"MERCURY ICE BUBBLES..." Sailor Mercury trailed off as
well, surprise on her face, "Good work, Sailor Moon." She
glanced around at the littered ground, frowning, then she
pressed the side of her circlet and lowered the visor as she
started analyzing the ground, "Guys... you know those
tentacles..." she said.
Even as Sailor Mercury was speaking, there was an odd
shimmering, and the tentacles grouped together into a
vaguely female form. The tentacles vanished, leaving a
beautiful female standing there, her hair a curling, hissing
nests of snakes.
"Foolssss." She hissed, showing snake fangs and a forked
tongue, "Medusa alwaysss returnsss." She held out one snake
wrapped arm, "SNAKE WRAP!"
Four black snakes shot out of nowhere, and wrapped itself
around Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon screamed as she fell to the sand underneath
the monkey bars. The snakes started to suck her energy and
the two other Sailor Scouts stood in frozen surprise as the
snakes bit into Sailor Moon's flesh, leaving black marks as
gold colored energy crackled around their leader.
"MARS CELESTIAL FIRE, IGNITE!" Sailor Mars screamed out,
appearing out of nowhere.
The fiery rings shot out, but Medusa jumped out of the way,
shooting another four black snakes from her arms.
"Black sssnake ring." She called calmly.
Sailor Mars fell to the ground, the black snakes forming a
circle around her body.
Within seconds, the two other scouts had also tried
their powers only to find themselves shot with more black
snakes.
"Their reaction times are down - this is ridiculous, half
a year ago, they'd already be finished with this youma."
Luna muttered.
"Couldn't agree more, Luna. After this monster is
finished with, we're going to have to train double time."
Artemis said, appearing next to her, "That is to say, if
they win this time." He muttered - four of the scouts were
already down, that was three more than usual.
As if on cue, Venus appeared, standing before Medusa, "VENUS
LOVE CHAIN - ENCIRCLE!" she shouted.
Not standing still long enough for Medusa to aim her deadly
snakes, the blond warrior leapt upwards, flipping out of the
path of attack even as Uranus appeared behind Medusa.
"EARTH SHAKING!"
Medusa stumbled slightly, shaking her head as she took both
attacks, then she shot out more black snakes. Both Venus
and Uranus were on the ground.
"You Ssssailor Scoutsss aren't ass tough ass the rumors
sssay." Medusa hissed, "Masster will be pleased that I
finished you off." She held up her hands, "Black Snake...
drain!" she shouted.
"I think not." A male voice exclaimed.
Six red roses appeared out of no where, severing the black
snake rings around the sailor scouts. The six sailor scouts
collapsed on the earth as they stopped gasped for breath,
the black snake rings had done their work quickly.
Tuxedo Mask used a defense he rarely used - whirling the
cane quickly till it was moving so fast that none of the
snakes could get past the metal of the sticks. Four of the
five snakes bounced off with light 'dings', unfortunately,
the fifth and last one richoted off his cane, and bit deeply
into his arm. Black blood poured from the wound as the
black snake started sucking out the blood even as it
injected the poison in its fangs. The world whirled for
Tuxedo Mask, and he fell to his knees as he ripped out the
snake. He tried to stand again, but the poison sent his
mind reeling, he struggled. Sweat ran down his face as he
fought the poison.
"Tuxedo Mask... you're our only hope..." Sailor Jupiter
whispered as she pulled herself to her knees.
Tuxedo Mask rose shakily to his feet, "The Negaverse will
never win." He swore, though his voice was shaky and his
face was strained. He clenched one trembling hand over the
wound and gritted his teeth as he tried to make out which of
the three monsters he could see was the real one.
"I am Sailor Moon! Champion of Justice!" Sailor Moon
rose to her feet, leaning on the moon scepter, her face was
white and her eyes half closed as she fought to stay up,
"MOON SCEPTRE..." she gasped for breath, weaving dangerously,
"Power wash!" the scepter sent out waves of energy.
Medusa staggered, her form wavering, but not disappearing.
"She needs another dose, Sailor Moon." Sailor Mercury
cried weakly.
Sailor Moon rose her scepter again, "MOON POWER-" she
nearly fell down as the drain became too much, "I can't do
it..." she whispered, "Wash..." The last words were whispered
as she fainted, her face a deadly white as the pull of
energy became too much.
This time, the radiating wash of energy barely stunned
Medusa.
"So much for you Sailor Scouts and your weirdly dressed
friend." Medusa laughed and put her hands together; a dark,
smoky shape was forming in front of her, it looked vaguely
like a cobra rearing back to strike, "Snake of the darkness,
come forth and feed upon your tithe, I Medusa -"
"I think not." A new voice said.
Medusa sighed, "How many must I beat before I can destroy
you all?" she grumbled, "Black snake encircle!" she
pointed her finger at where the voice came from.
"STAR FLAME - STOP!" a female voice commanded.
A star shot from one gloved finger, shooting through the
center of the snake circle, its flames flaring out from
around it. The black snake circle fell back to the ground,
crisped.
"Who - who are you?" Sailor Jupiter murmured, looking
up.
Four people stood on the path leading into the clearing.
The rays of the sun glimmered against the black, full body
armor they were wearing, and distantly, through the maze of
dizziness, Jupiter could make out the stars half encircled
by a yellow, crescent moon on their forehead.
"SHOOTING COMET - BLAST!" a male warrior said, pointing
a finger at Medusa.
A blazing white ray (or comet as it had been named) blazed
through Medusa, reducing her to nothingness in a matter of
seconds.
"Who are you?" Sailor Mercury rose unsteadily to her
feet, "Artemis, Luna? Are they new sailor scouts?" Sailor
Mercury's eyes rolled and she started to crumble.
The only female of the four rushed to her side, holding her
up, "Your energy has been drained to dangerous levels." She
said, "I can revitalize all of you, but I can give you
enough to rise above the danger level." She bit her lip,
mumbling slightly under her breath something that sounded
suspiciously like: 'I hope I remember how to do this.'
"Star Energy - RE-ENERGIZE!" she closed her eyes, and
blue-white energy flowed into all the Sailor Scouts and
Tuxedo Mask.
"You won't remember us, though we remember you." one of
the three male warriors said, helping Sailor Jupiter to her
feet.
Luna walked up, followed closely by Artemis, "Who are you?"
they asked.
"I'm known as Comet." The tallest male, the one who had
destroyed Medusa said, bowing.
"My full name is Star Energy, but call me Star - it's
quicker." The only female said with a grin.
"I am the Lord-Guardian of the Third Star, call me
Guardian." The blonde male nodded politely, "The leader of
the Star Guardians."
"I am Red Star, or Red." The last one with the long, red
hair said, bowing gallantly, "You probably can't remember
us, Sailor Scouts, but we still remember you." he added
mysteriously, he glanced around, a frown marred his face,
"Do you usually suffer such defeats in battle?" he asked.
Sailor Mars shook her head, "We thought we'd destroyed this
monster, but she returned."
"From those tentacle things, and usually, when we destroy
a monster, our energy returns to us." Sailor Jupiter said,
"It didn't this time." She added needlessly.
Tuxedo Mask stood up slowly, Star had given to him
helped a bit, but the world was wavering. He leaned
against the cane. He noticed from out of the corner of his
eye that Sailor Moon was still on the ground. Terror that
she was dead flowed through his body, and he tried to move
over to her. . .
His vision faded in and out and he felt his control over his
disguise waver as waves of tiredness flowed over him.
"Sailor Moon..." the blond warrior called Guardian was by
her side, lifting her up from the floor, "Her life-force is
below the danger level, Star!" Guardian said urgently, "She
*must* have known this would be the effect from using the
Imperium Crystal after being drained of most of her energy!"
There was a strange note in his voice; Guardian turned to
Star, "You're too weak to feed her more energy. I'll do
it."
"Guardian, we haven't tested whether you guys can feed
energy yet." Star warned.
Guardian shrugged, "Best time to test it." he said, and
shut his eyes before Star could say a word.
Both him and Sailor Moon started glowing.
"Sailor Moon, please return to me." Tuxedo Mask doubted
that any but he heard those words - so softly spoken were
they - as he was the closest.
Slowly, the golden light faded and Guardian looked paler,
all his energy gone into Sailor Moon, "Please come back."
He murmured.
There was a low moan, and Sailor Moon opened her eyes,
"I ache all over." She whispered.
"Better than to be dead and leave me all alone."
Guardian said, helping her stand up, he smiled, "You fought
well Sailor Moon, you have more bravery in the face of
battle than I've ever seen." He added, holding her close as
she stumbled.
Tuxedo Mask felt jealousy rise as Sailor Moon looked up with
a smile.
"Thank you." she said weakly, and Tuxedo Mask felt the
jealousy fade slightly as she pulled herself from his hold,
"Where did you four come from?" she asked, walking
haltingly to a park seat.
"We fought once in the Moon Kingdom." Guardian said, the
blonde fighter looked as if he was deciding between helping
her and picking her up to carry her to the seat. Luckily,
he didn't have to choose for Sailor Moon made it to the seat
before she collapsed, "We were known then as the Star
Guardians." Guardian finished.
"All you have to know is that we fight with you now. And
that we fight for good." Comet said, and bowed, "We must
go." Comet, Red, Star and Guardian turned to leave.
Guardian paused, and turned around, "Sailor Moon... I have
something that belongs to you." he said, "I was the
Guardian or Custodian of it for all these long years. It
was entrusted to my care as a sign of our - friendship." He
said softly, throwing something to Sailor Moon, "If you ever
need me, use that. I will come." He promised, and then he
and the other three Star Guardians vanished.
Sailor Moon stared at the object she'd caught. All
Tuxedo Mask could see was a flash of gold that moonlight
caught before Sailor Moon clenched her hand so that nobody
could see.
"Oh god. I don't think I'm going to be able to move
tomorrow." Mina groaned as she swallowed, "Thanks for
coming to our help Uranus, I know Neptune's returning home
from the US today." she added.
Haruka smiled tiredly, "Neptune will understand that duty
sometimes comes first. I'm going home." she said, not
bothering to say anything else in her usual, quiet way.
Artemis spoke then, "We've got to have scout meeting
tomorrow, this Negaverse monster is more powerful, if those
Star Guardians hadn't come to rescue us, we'd have been
dead." He said sternly, then he turned to Sailor Moon,
"Good work, Sailor Moon. That was incredibly brave of you
to drain yourself like that."
Luna frowned in the background as Sailor Moon shrugged.
"It isn't bravery, there was nothing else I could do."
Sailor Moon said, glancing at Tuxedo Mask for a second,
"I've got to go, Mum and Dad will be worried enough with
Sammy missing as it is - I need to be there when we go
search for him." she said, touching her broach, "I'll call
the ambulance at the street corner." she added, "It doesn't
look like anybody in the park escaped to call the press,
hospital or police."
Her scout uniform flickered and vanished to be replaced with
her street clothes, Serena nodded to all of them, and walked
slowly out of the park, her steps weary and tired.
A strange ripping feeling filled Darien as he watched her
leave. *She didn't even say anything to me.* he thought
sadly, *I can't believe it's really over.*
"I've got to go as well." Mina said.
They all mumbled good byes and walked tiredly off, there
was time to talk about the 'Star Guardians' and who they
were, time to talk about how easily the Medusa monster had
defeated them, but the time wasn't now. Ami shuddered to
think how close it had come to there never being *any* time
for any of them ever again.
The Hitachi Temple
Rei glanced around the small group in her greeting
room. "Right, Ami, Mina and Artemis are here." she said,
the two scouts both looked terrible, and Artemis had his
'serious business' face on, "Lita, Michiru and Haruka are
here." she added as the three walked in to the room, "As
usual Serena is -"
"Looks like we're all here." Luna's voice interrupted
the start of Rei's usual whinging on Serena's lateness.
They all glanced up and nearly face fronted when they saw
Serena.
"You're - you're *on time*." Rei mumbled, imagining a
huge sweat drop appearing at the back of her head, like in
the Japanese cartoons on TV.
"Of course, I'm the head of the Sailor Scouts, I should
be on time." Serena said as she sat down, "The first thing
we've got to talk about is what happened yesterday." She
said, "Firstly: Luna, Artemis, can you remember anything
from the Moon Kingdom about the 'Star Guardians'?" she
asked.
The other Sailor Scouts were staring at her. *SERENA?
Taking her duties as Leader seriously?* Ami thought, and
then felt guilty for thinking such a thing about her friend.
"Do you remember anything about those Star Guardians,
Artemis?" Luna asked, "I've got vague memories of them.
But nothing I can pin down." She said, shaking her head,
"I'm getting weird vibes from this entire thing."
"Hey, isn't that usually *my* line?" Rei said with a
grin, then turned to Serena, her face serious, "I can try a
fire reading, if you want Serena." She said.
"Do that, Rei. I don't think we should put our full
trust in the Star Guardians till we're sure they're not
another ploy from the Negaverse. This latest monster was
incredibly strong, and whatever happens, the destruction of
the monster doesn't mean that we get our energy back.
That's dangerous as it is. The Negaverse will gain enough
energy for whatever they want if they keep sending monsters
at us long enough." They all nodded, Serena looked at
Artemis, "Can you remember anything about the Star
Guardians?"
Artemis shook his head - to be truthful, his dreams kept
repeating, the two Princess Serenitys, "Just vague memories
like Luna. I think that the Star Guardians might have once
fought along side the Sailor Scouts, but it couldn't be at
the Last Battle, I'm sure about that." He said firmly.
"It could be that they fought alongside the Senior Sailor
Scouts, and not you girls." Luna put forward, "That may be
why Artemis and I only have vague dreams."
"But considering how you two have this habit of getting
your memories back only *after* the event, it might not."
Lita added, for once, neither Luna nor Artemis looked
insulted for that remark, "Which reminds me, where's
Darien?" she asked.
There was an uncomfortable silence, and Serena sighed, "Look
guys, can we just make this clear? Darien and I are
history." She said into the silence, "From now on, Tuxedo
Mask and Sailor Moon fight the Negaforce, that's the only
thing we'll do together." She said firmly.
"Sorry I'm late." Darien's voice interrupted Mina from
speaking. Darien was dressed all in black today, which just
made the paleness of his skin look worse, "I missed the
alarm." He added, sitting cross legged next to Serena,
"What are we discussing?"
"The Star Guardians - neither Luna nor Artemis have more
than vague memories of them. They think that the Star
Guardians might have been the allies of the parents of the
Moon Kingdom Sailor Scouts, and not us." Mina said, "The
next thing we need to talk about, Serena, is what Guardian
gave you."
Serena nodded and took out something from her pocket, "This
is it." she said, holding out a necklace.
It was obviously pure gold, and finely made, though not
something that would cost a mint to buy or create - that
much they all could tell. The most extraordinary thing
about the plain gold chain dangling from Serena's hand was
the pendent hanging from it. A crescent moon that was a
miniature in every way of the crescent on the Moon Wand
Serena had lost after she'd fought Queen Beryl. A blue
sapphire glistened in the hollow of the crescent.
"Wow, that is beautiful." Lita was the first to speak.
"It's more than beautiful, Lita." Artemis stood up and
padded over, "It's a Moon Necklace. The heir to the Moon is
given a Moon Necklace on her eighteenth birthday." He said
softly, "When she takes the throne, the Silver Imperium
Crystal hangs from another crescent moon on the chain." He
sat down again, "If Guardian had this, he can be trusted
entirely." He said, "I'm not sure precisely what the
legends are, and whether they're true or not, but I do
remember that the Blue Sapphire will not allow any person
carrying it to harm the heirs of the Moon Kingdom." He said
solemnly.
"Then the Star Guardians - or at least Guardian - can be
trusted." Serena said with a nod, "Right, then the next
thing we need to talk about is who our new enemies are. Who
sent Medusa after us."
"And if this is the sign of how hard it's going to be to
destroy the monsters - how are we going to beat him or her?"
Ami added.
Darien stared at Serena, his thoughts refusing to
concentrate on the meeting, all he could think of was
Serena's blue eyes, and how beautiful she was. . . *And
how much I miss going out with her.* he added wryly. *I'm
not even sure whether she's right. Whether what I'm feeling
is true love or just lust.* Serena shifted slightly, moving
so that she was sitting on the low couch they were both
leaning against. Darien moved without thinking, shifting as
well so that he's shirt was just touching the still dangling
pendant - and more importantly, touching her hand.
A strange look came over Serena's face, her blue eyes
slightly glazed. All eyes turned to her and they all gasped
as the pendant started glowing. It turned slowly, the glow
becoming more pronounced. Serena blinked and stared at the
still glowing pendant.
"What - what's happening?" she murmured, as if she was
just waking up.
She shook her eyes and lifted her hand to stare at the still
glowing sapphire. The moment she lifted it, the glow
stopped.
"What in all the worlds?" Luna murmured, a thoughtful on
her face.
"What was that all about?" Lita asked.
Whatever might have been found out then was halted as a
shrill beeping was emitted from Ami's laptop. They all
jumped and turned. Ami was already typing furiously on her
laptop.
"It's a new program I created." She explained, "It scans
the police radio bands, the Internet and the media bands for
any reports on something strange - something that might
equal Negaverse attacks or activities - it also has a radar
tuned for Negaverse energy." She added, "It just reported
that there's a Negaverse monster down town."
They all stared at each other in silence, after the near
disaster the last time they'd fought -
"We can't let the Negaverse monster destroy down town
without even trying to save it." Serena said, standing up,
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER!" she shouted, transforming, "At least
we can divert the monster from more destruction till they
can evacuate the area."
The rest nodded, the old Serena would never have said
something like that, but all of them were beginning to
believe that this new Serena was nothing like the old
Serena.
"JUPITER POWER!"
"MARS POWER"
"MERCURY POWER!"
"VENUS POWER!"
"URANUS PLANET POWER!"
"NEPTUNE PLANET POWER!"
***
Corner of Green Avenue and Monster Market Block
The fight with the monster was going better than the
one with Medusa - barely. Together, the Sailor Scouts had
blasted Jugen - as it called itself. They'd blown it up
once, but the dust of the 'dead' monster just merged again
and Jugen had returned twice as powerful. Sailor Venus and
Jupiter were on the ground, Sailor Neptune and Uranus were
almost spent, Sailor Mars and Mercury were still shooting
their arsenal, but from how weak Mercury's blows were
becoming, she wasn't going to last long, and Rei had started
wavering. Only Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon were still
unspent - early in the fight, Sailor Moon had been trapped
underneath some leftover cardboard boxes from a store, not
hurt, but put out of the fight for some time. Tuxedo Mask
had come to her rescue, and because of that, they were
better off than the rest of the Scouts.
"Sailor Moon! Tuxedo Mask!" Luna whispered worriedly,
"Blast all you have at Jugen, I think the police got most of
the people from here, and we can stop fighting for a while."
she said urgently, "The other scouts need time to get out of
here. It's up to you two to make a distraction."
The two of them nodded. For some reason, at this moment,
Darien remembered how Serena had sworn to win his love back
in the battle with Rubeus and the four sisters. *Maybe I
can win Serena's love back.* He shook his head mentally,
pushing the thought back, there was something more important
to think about right now. *More important than your love
for her?* he pushed the thought away - stunned at his own
selfishness. His own life could suffer, especially with so
many lives at stake.
"Ready?" Sailor Moon asked.
He nodded, "As always." He flipped his wrist and twelve
thorny roses appeared in his gloved hand.
"MOON SCEPTRE... ELIMINATION!"
Jugen turned at the sound of Sailor Moon's voice, and took
the attack, full in the face. At the same time, Tuxedo Mask
threw his roses. Jugen fell with a groan to the ground, the
roses sticking in his flesh. The roses stared glowing as
the monster struggled to his feet again. Jugen roared, and
the roses crumbled.
"He was barely stunned." Tuxedo Mask murmured as he
threw a barrage of roses.
Sailor Moon continued shouting out the attack phrases, but
to no avail. She looked pale as she finished her arsenal of
weaponry, "MOON SCEPTRE POWER WASH!" she screamed finally,
and turned pale as Jugen took the attack without flinching,
"It's like hitting a brick wall." She whispered.
Tuxedo Mask glanced around and blanched, "This gets worse."
He whispered back to her, "We were too late. The other
Scouts can't move, they're backed into an alley, and they're
too weak to even climb out." He said helplessly - there was
nothing either of them could do...
*Or was there?* Serena knew of one way, deep inside
her. Something she knew was possible. But it was
'dangerous... Was it really needed? Sailor Moon looked, and
felt her heart sink as she realized he spoke truly. Even as
they watched, Jugen casually knocked all of the Scouts but
one out. Sailor Mars had managed to escape the blow only by
jumping aside at the last minute, and she didn't look like
she could do anything else now.
"Oh god, Ami, Lita, Mina, Haruka, Michiru, Rei." Sailor
Moon murmured, bring up the scepter, *One life in exchange
for six others.* it didn't sound like such a bad swap, she
would be reborn - she knew that much. Serena Usagi Tsukino
would die, but Sailor Moon and the Moon Princess Serena
would live on. *So be it.*
"Please let me have enough energy." She whispered
almost too low for Tuxedo Mask to hear, "MOON ENERGY!" she
shouted and turned paler as the Moon Scepter shot out a pure
line of energy to Sailor Mars. She would have collapsed if
Tuxedo Mask hadn't caught her.
"Oh Serena." He said softly, holding her close - and
wishing that she wouldn't push him away the moment she woke
up. *How can you not love me? How can I not love you? It
feels so good to hold you, be with you.* he thought sadly.
He felt pure fear as he saw her chest rise and fall
unsteadily, *Oh god! The power drain might be too much!
She's dying!* he thought, *Dear Gods above, don't let her
die.* he thought, seeing her struggle for breath, and
knowing that there was nothing he could do, all the energy
at his disposal, and he could do *nothing* to help her.
There was a bright flash of light from Sailor Moon's
chest, where the Moon Necklace was hanging. Tuxedo Mask was
thrown back as Sailor Moon rose half a meter in the air, the
Blue Sapphire hanging above her like somebody was pulling
her up by the pendant. The Blue Sapphire started glowing
and something red shot straight towards Sailor Mars, fire
flaming from its depths as it flew. . .
*
Rei saw Serena collapse as she felt Sailor Moon's
energy transfer into her body. *You shouldn't have Serena.*
she thought sadly, *We're doomed.* She gritted her teeth,
*I am the spirit of fire, and DAMNED if I don't go down
without making sure that Negaverse monster suffer!* she
thought fiercely. She closed her eyes, tapping deep inside
her, where the heart of her belief and where her power came
from.
"Mars fire, give me strength. Help me vanquish this
Negaverse monster." She murmured several spells her
Grandfather had taught her.
A strange sense of calm filled her, and she felt something
fall into her hands. She opened her eyes and saw the tiara
there. A firebird with two red rubies as its eyes, its two
wings forming the arch behind it. She saw Serena's body
floating in the air then, the Blue Sapphire glowing
brightly.
"The Blue Sapphire is powerful." Artemis called from
behind Jugen - who'd been gathering his energy to destroy
them all.
Rei pulled off her old tiara - which disintegrated into
nothing as it left her forehead - and put the firebird tiara
on, "MARS... FIREBIRD TIARA... FLAME!" she shouted.
The tiara seemed to blaze hotly against her brow, then - as
if she was in a dream - she saw two blazes of fire shoot out
and destroy Jugen totally.
"Sailor Moon." A soft, male voice spoke then.
Rei leaned against the wall, and watched as one of the Star
Guardians, the male warrior with the short blonde hair
called Guardian, lifted Sailor Moon's still body from where
it was still floating.
"Why didn't you call me?" if it hadn't been so quiet,
Rei wouldn't have heard Guardian at all as he cradled Sailor
Moon to his chest, "I would do anything to stop you from
harming yourself this way." He said so sadly that Rei felt
something twist inside her; Guardian turned to Tuxedo Mask
and Rei.
"You must stop her from draining herself. Whether this is
a higher level of stupidity or bravery, I don't know. But
she cannot go on this way. First she drains herself so much
she could barely stay alive, then a mere three days later,
she drains herself to the dredges, THEN transfers all that's
left to someone else. She can't be allowed to continue this
way." He said, concern on his face, "It's dangerous to use
the Imperium Crystal and the Blue Sapphire even in the best
health. To use both till there's barely enough energy to
keep her heart beating is courting Death." He looked like
he would say more, but stopped.
His form flared and thin lines of golden energy withdrew
from his body and entered Sailor Moon's. Guardian staggered
slightly, then put Sailor Moon gently onto the ground.
"Call me if you ever need the Star Guardians's help." He
said in farewell, then vanished.
*
Darien lifted Serena's frighteningly still form close
to his chest, staring down at the Blue Sapphire - which was
still glowing.
"Tuxedo Mask - we've got to go to your apartment." Rei
said as she helped Haruka and Michiru to their feet,
"There's bound to be questions if we take them all back to
their homes in the state their in." She added in
explanation.
Tuxedo Mask nodded, and felt something twist inside him as
he saw that Serena still didn't show any sign of waking up...
*If she dies... if she is harmed in anyway...* he shook away
the thought. Even if Serena would hate him, would never
talk to him again, he'd at least still have the chance to
see her briefly somehow, but if she was dead... if she was
dead...
Rose Apartments
2B
Darien bit his lip as he sat and watched Serena
struggle for another breath. The rest of the Sailor Scouts
had just needed a half an hour or so to revive, all they'd
suffered from was partial energy drainage. But Serena's
eyes hadn't even fluttered since he'd put her on his bed.
Four hours ago, her Sailor Scout uniform had faded away to
be replaced with her street clothes, which only made him
more worried. Didn't Ami once say something about how the
scout uniform took energy to hold in place?
"Oh Serena." He murmured taking her hand, "I love you so
much." Was it his imagination, or did she pull slightly
away from him?
"Hello? Darien?" a new voice said.
Darien startled, standing up. He recognized the man
standing there as Jason somebody - a student at the same
university that he went to. They'd met and talked several
days ago. Right then, Jason was standing there, looking
sheepish - a basket in his hand.
"What do you want?" Darien asked, struggling to keep the
impatience from his voice.
"My friends just gave me this basket of -" Jason
shrugged and opened the cover, showing a pile of chocolate
chip muffins, "And well, frankly I've got a dentist
appointment tomorrow evening, so I don't want to eat too much of
this sweet stuff. I figured you might like some." He added,
then his eyes caught Serena's still form, "God -" he murmured,
walking to the body like something was pulling him, "She's
beautiful." He added, and blinked as Darien cleared his throat,
"Ah - is she your girlfriend? What's wrong with her?" he was
turning a faint shade of pink.
"She used to be my girlfriend." Darien said with a sigh,
feeling hungry all of a sudden.
Jason sat down on the bed, still looking at Serena, "Did you
dump her?" he murmured, then blinked again, "Um, muffin?" he
asked, putting the basket on the bed.
"No, she dumped me." Darien said shortly, taking a muffin.
Jason nodded, "Serena... what a beautiful name." He breathed.
Serena's eyelids twitched suddenly, and she sat up
slowly, moving the way one did when one was sore all over,
"Is that chocolate chip muffins?" she asked with a weak
smile, "Oh hi, Darien." her tone dropped several degrees.
"Hello. My name is Jason. Do you want a chocolate
muffin?" his neighbor asked with a grin, offering the
basket to her.
"Thanks." Serena was staring at Jason as well, and
Darien stood up quietly, feeling something break in him.
"Do you want to go down to the VR center - tomorrow,
lunch time?" Jason was asking now.
"Sure."
He felt the broken thing twist painfully in his chest as he
watched Jason leave, "I'll walk you home."
"Thanks." They walked out of the apartment together.
*I guess she really doesn't love me anymore.* he thought,
running a hand through his hair as the silence in the
apartment grew. *Oh god, Serena.* he stretched out on the
couch, and wondered briefly on the chances of getting
untroubled sleep tonight.
Goalea Apartments
5A
Arein sat on the piano chair, playing a song softly.
Agein watched her, unbeknownst. He recognized the song,
it'd been old even back in the Moon Kingdom. The last time
she had heard it being played had been just before Queen
Beryl's armies had attacked. He remembered it only because
Arein had looked so lonely and unhappy while all other
couples had twirled and danced around the ballroom. He'd
wanted to ask her to dance with him, but knew she would say
no. The enemy alarm had been a blessing for him, gave him
the chance to have her to himself. *And even if she hasn't
loved me all this years, I would rather die than miss out on
a single moment I've had with her.* he thought with a
slight smile. She was singing now, he recognized the words
as well. A love poem that intersected very well with the
tune.
"Some people say true love is merely lust." Agein
commented as he walked into the room.
The plaintive notes came to a halt, "That's what you think."
Arein said stiffly.
Agein sighed inwardly, "Why don't you get out of the
apartment, Arein? Shop or something? Enjoy yourself." He
asked.
Arein's eyes narrowed, "You're creating another monster
aren't you?" she demanded.
Agein ignored her, taking out the thing the humans called a
'wallet' and taking out one of the slim cards they called
'credit cards' that was supposedly safer to use than the
paper they used as money. Frankly, the Humans were stranger
than any creature out in the world. It'd taken him a whole
of five minutes to make himself a millionaire, "Go shopping
Arein, or I'll knock you out so you don't disturb me." he
said frankly.
Arein slumped, and took the card, walking out of the
apartment. Agein watched her leave and sat at the piano -
it was true he needed to create several more monsters and
plan a new strategy since brute force wasn't working as per
example from his first two monsters, but that could wait.
The apartment was silent for several seconds, then the
strains of a love song started.
