Fighting Beneath a Silver Moon
(And the insanity that goes with it)

By Ardweden

Chapter 1 or Electromagneticohydrodynamical WHAT?!

	Serena sighed.
	"Is there something wrong, Meatball Head?" asked the man sitting 
next to her.  He had black hair and sparkling blue eyes.  His smile was 
warm as the girl sighed again.
	"Oh, no.  Just the opposite.  Everything has been so peaceful 
since Rini went home... and now I finally have you, Darien."  She 
snuggled closer to him.
	Darien smiled and fondly touched the buns on her head, what he 
called "meatballs."  "Maybe evil took a break."  They were about to 
kiss when Serena's communicator beeped.
	"Oh, now what?  Can't the bad guys ever rest?" Serena asked no 
one in particular.
	She pulled out her communicator and pressed a button.  Lita 
showed up on the screen.  "Serena, Amy called an emergency Scout 
meeting at Raye's place.  She said it was urgent."
	Serena moaned as she put the communicator away.  "So much for 
peace and quiet.  Bye, Muffin."  She gave him a quick peck on the cheek 
before she ran out the apartment door.
	Darien frowned.  If Amy said it was important... nah.  It's 
probably nothing.  Besides, he could always sense if Serena was in 
danger.
	Unfortunately, he couldn't sense the portal opening behind him, 
or the hand that pulled him in.

	"I... got here... as fast as I could, guys," Serena gasped as she 
ran up the temple steps.
	Raye, who was sweeping the grounds, looked up to see hurricane 
Serena running at full force towards her.  Unable to get out of the way 
in time, she braced herself as Serena knocked her into the ground.
	"Meatball Head, why don't you watch where you're going?" Raye 
snapped as she tried to get up.
	"Why are you always so mean to me?" Serena whined, wiping tears 
off her face.
	"Maybe ow!" Raye pushed Serena's foot off of her black hair.  
"Maybe if you weren't such an airhead I wouldn't be," Raye finished.
	"Who you callin' an airhead?"  Raye and Serena looked up to see a 
grinning Mina standing over them.  Artemis was draped conveniently over 
her shoulder.
	"Yeah," Serena said as she stood up as well.
	Raye saw that she was outnumbered.  "All of you blonde ditzes," 
she growled, trying to save face.
	Mina and Serena giggled.  "Blonde ditzes of the world, unite!" 
Mina laughed.
	"Let's toast this non-believer!" Serena giggled, pointing at 
Raye.
	"Ahem," the three girls and cat turned to see a black cat with a 
crescent moon on her forehead standing in the temple doorway.  "Are you 
going to the meeting or not?" she asked.
	Mina, Raye, and Serena sweatdropped.  "Yes, O Great One," Artemis 
said as he followed Luna through the doorway.  Serena and Mina giggled 
while Raye rolled her eyes.  The white cat winked at them over his 
shoulder.
	Inside, Amy and Lita, the Scouts who were already there, sat on 
the floor in the room with the Great Fire.  Amy was typing furiously on 
her mini computer, apparently puzzled by something.  Lita was unpacking 
her famous chocolate chip muffins.
	"Oooooh, food!  Can I have some, Lita, please oh please oh 
please?" Serena asked eagerly.
	"Sure," Lita replied.  She knew what was going to happen, but it 
really pleased her that Serena liked her cooking so much.
	"Oh, thank you!" and Serena attacked the muffins.
	"Won't you get sick if you eat that much?" Mina asked curiously.
	"But they're soooo yummy!"
	"You'll get fat and bloated if you keep this up," Raye said.
	"I am NOT fat!" Serena cried, sending crumbs everywhere.
	"Ew, gross!" the raven-haired girl complained, brushing off 
crumbs.
	Amy finally looked up from her computer.  "Good, you're all 
here," she said while Serena swallowed the last muffin.  "I have 
something very important to tell you."
	"What could be so important that you had to interrupt my date 
with Darien?" Serena asked, interested.
	"I'm not sure, but I think," Amy steeled herself, "that the 
Negaverse is back."
	Everyone stared at her in shock.  "Are you sure?" Mina asked.  At 
the same time Serena screamed, "No!  They're supposed to be moondust!"
	Amy ignored her meatball-hared friend.  "I'm fairly certain.  
There have been reports of recent youma sightings in Europe and North 
America."
	"That can't be true!  Didn't Serena kill them with her crystal?" 
Lita asked, incredulous.
	"It is possible that you girls only defeated Queen Beryl, not the 
entire kingdom," Luna said thoughtfully.
	"Yes, and here is the worst part," Amy continued, "According to 
my calculations the amount of energy required to open portals in more 
than one landmass is enormous, something the Negaverse did not have 
when we fought them."
	"So that explains why they only attacked Japan," Raye said, 
violet eyes thoughtful.
	Amy nodded.  "In order to get that much energy, they must have 
another source.  The Negaverse was gone far too long to get it from 
Earth."
	"Couldn't your calculations be wrong?" Serena asked innocently.
	Amy stared at her, shocked at the idea.  Then she fainted while 
everyone in the room sweatdropped.  "She'll be okay," Artemis said, 
checking the blue-hared girl's pulse.
	"Okay, scratching the idea that Amy's wrong," Mina said, "The 
Negaverse is back or there are new bad guys that we have to take care 
of, and either way they have tons of energy coming from a mystery 
source.  This doesn't look good, guys."
	"Yeah, but it's a great way to kick some butt," a smiling Lita 
said, cracking her knuckles.  The rest of the group (minus Amy) looked 
at her, annoyed.  "So I've been bored the past week.  All of this 
peacefulness is getting to me."  Everyone else just sighed.
	"Didn't Darien join the Negaverse?" Artemis asked.
	"Hey!  He didn't want to join.  He was brainwashed!" Serena 
corrected quick to defend her boyfriend.
	"Whatever.  Anyway, why don't you ask him if he heard of a 
possible energy source?"
	Luna looked surprised.  "Wow, Artemis, you finally got a good 
idea," she said to the other cat.  He stuck his tongue out at her.  
"Why don't you go ask him right now, girls?"
	"Yeah!"  Serena brightened considerably at the thought.  Any 
excuse was a good excuse.  "Let's go visit him!"  She pulled Amy, who 
just regained consciousness, to her feet and ran out the door.
	The other Scouts sighed.  "Hey, Meatball Head, wait for us!" Raye 
yelled after her.

	A breathless Serena banged on the door of Darien's apartment.  
"Darien, I know you're in there!  Open up!  It's important!" she 
screamed at it.
	"Serena, quiet down!  You'll give us all a headache!"  Raye 
yelled even louder than her friend did.
	Serena just turned towards Raye and blew a raspberry.  Raye blew 
one back.  Everyone else sighed.  "This is very strange," Amy 
commented.  "Darien should be home right now."
	"Well," Raye said, putting her tongue back in her mouth, "I am 
getting some really bad Nega-vibes."
	Everyone, including Serena, blinked in surprise.  "And you never 
told us?" Mina asked.
	"I just told you, didn't I?!  Now let's transform!"
	The Scouts looked along the deserted street, making sure nobody 
was around.  (Isn't it strange that whenever they need to transform, no 
one is there?)  Serena pulled out her locket.  "Moon Crystal Power!"  
It opened, revealing the Imperium Silver Crystal.  Ribbons of light 
flashed around her body, forming her fuku, boots, and gloves.  Next 
came her choker, earrings, tiara, and the jewels in her "meatballs".  
When she was finished, she did her stance.  "I am Sailor Moon!"
	Raye, Amy, Lita, and Mina each raised their transformation sticks 
to the sky.
	"Mars Star Power!"
	"Mercury Star Power!"
	"Jupiter Star Power!"
	"Venus Star Power!"
	Raye was surrounded by flames, Amy by water and ice, Lita by 
lightning, and Mina by beams of light and yellow energy.  When they 
were finished they emerged as Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, Sailor 
Jupiter, and Sailor Venus.
	Sailor Jupiter faced the door.  "Jupiter Thunder," she yelled, 
crossing her arms.  An antenna grew from her tiara and gathered 
lightning.  She curled herself into a ball.  "Crash!" she finished, 
uncurling and throwing out her arms.  A bolt of lightning flew into the 
door, completely knocking it off its hinges.
	A satisfied Jupiter walked into the apartment, the other Scouts 
trailing behind.  Sailor Mercury, being the last person to walk in, 
tried the knob on the now useless door.  "Um, Jupiter, it was 
unlocked."
	Sailor Jupiter looked embarrassed while everyone else 
sweatdropped.  "Come on, let's find out what's wrong," Sailor Moon said 
eagerly.  The other Scouts nodded and followed her into the living 
room.
	The Sailor Senshi gasped as a chill ran through the air.  
"AAAHH!" Mars screamed, clutching her head and falling to her knees.
	A concerned Sailor Moon knelt by her friend's side.  "Sailor 
Mars, are you all right?"
	"I'll be fine, Meatball Head, but there was something evil here, 
and it feels a lot like Beryl," Sailor Mars replied, straightening.
	Sailor Moon smiled, then looked annoyed.  "Don't call me 
'Meatball Head'!" she whined.
	"Okay, I'll just call you 'Meatball Brain' instead.  After all, 
it's what you--"
	"What is THAT?" Sailor Venus interrupted, pointing at a 
multicolored portal floating in the middle of the room.  The arguing 
pair broke off and gaped at it.
Sailor Mercury immediately twisted her right earring, activating her 
visor.  Then she pulled out her computer and started typing at light 
speed.  As she scanned it she said, "It appears to be an 
Electromagneticohydrodynamical Vortex."
	After receiving blank looks from the rest of the Scouts, Mercury 
sighed and explained, "It's a portal to another world."
	"Can you figure out where it goes?" Sailor Moon asked, eager to 
find Darien.
	Sailor Mercury typed something in her computer and shook her 
head.  She twisted her earring, deactivating her visor.  "No, there's 
some kind of interference.  I have no idea where it goes.  All I know 
is that Darien went through."
	"It could be to the Negaverse," Venus cautioned.  The other 
Scouts shuddered.  They didn't want to go there again.
	"Or any of a gazillion other places," Jupiter said.  "There's 
only one way to find out."  They all looked at Sailor Moon.
	"Let's do it.  Darien's in there!" she decided.
	They jumped through the portal...

Chapter 2 or A Whole New World

	And landed on a forest floor.  Sailor Moon got up and brushed 
herself off.  She gasped.  They were definitely in another world, and 
it was beautiful.  The trees' leaves were bright yellow.  The leaves of 
grass were green on one side and blue on the other, and depending on 
the direction the wind blew appeared to be one color or the other.
	Sailor Moon stopped her inspection of the ground and let her eyes 
travel farther upward.  The sky was blue with a purplish tint.  The 
full moon was almost directly above her, casting a silver glow in spite 
of the fact that the sun was also in the sky.  "I don't think we're in 
Kansas anymore," she said to the other Scouts.
	"Where are we?  This doesn't look anything like the Negaverse," 
Sailor Venus commented, getting up.
	Mercury, who was scanning and typing away, looked up long enough 
to say, "It probably isn't, but appearances can be deceiving.  We 
should be on our guard at all times."
	"Oh, no!" Jupiter interrupted, "the portal's closing!"  The 
others turned to see it disappear.
	"No turning back now," Sailor Mars said wryly.
	"So, which way do we go?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
	"Where no one has gone before!" Moon declared.  The other Scouts 
sweatdropped.  "Sorry guys, I just couldn't help myself," she giggled.
	"Get serious, Sailor Moonbrain.  We're stuck on some alien world, 
Darien's gone, and all you can do is quote some stupid American science 
fiction show!" Mars snapped.
	"You're such a pickle puss, Mars," Sailor Moon whined, on the 
verge of tears.  She stuck her tongue out at the red Scout.
	"Well, you're a crybaby and a whiner, and I don't know why I have 
anything to do with you!" Mars shot back.  She returned the favor by 
sticking her tongue out at her leader.
	"Why don't you argue later?  Right now we have to find Darien," 
Sailor Venus interrupted.
	Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars looked sheepish.  "Right," Sailor 
Moon agreed.  "Which way do you think we should go, Mercury?"
	"Well, there appears to be something about this world that 
naturally resists the technology of my computer," Sailor Mercury stated 
while typing something into it.  It beeped, and she gave it a slightly 
annoyed look.  "However," she continued, still looking at the computer 
screen, "before this world's defenses kicked in, I was able to get 
enough of a fix on Darien's energy signature to know that the enemy, 
whoever it is, took him deeper into the Yellow Leaf Forest."
	The Sailor Scouts took a moment to digest this.  "Wait a minute," 
Sailor Jupiter said, "How do you know that we're in the Yellow Leaf 
Forest?"
	Mercury smiled.  "Well, besides the fact that the trees have 
yellow leaves, that," she replied, pointing at a wooden sign sticking 
out of the ground.  On it was symbols that could pass for characters of 
an alphabet.  Sailor Jupiter stared at it as the front of the sign 
shimmered for a moment.  When it was finished, the sign read in legible 
Japanese, 'Welcome to the Yellow Leaf Forest.'
	The other Scouts, who were also looking at it, blinked in 
surprise.  Jupiter just said, "Oh."
	"I also think we should go deeper into the forest," Sailor Mars 
said.  "There's something very powerful in there..."
	"Is it good or evil?" Sailor Moon asked nervously.
	"I don't know.  Something, or someone, is interfering with my 
ability to tell the difference.  All I know is that it's powerful."
	"It might be Darien," Sailor Moon said hopefully.
	"And it might not," Venus warned her.
	"We have to take that chance," Sailor Moon decided.  "Let's go."  
And they walked deeper into the woods.  

	After searching for hours, the Sailor Senshi came upon a 
clearing.  In the center of a circle of normal trees (normal for this 
world, anyway :)) there was a tree that appeared to have late-bus-
passes growing on its branches instead of leaves.  Chained to it was a 
man with black hair and sparkling blue eyes.  He was wearing a black 
and white robe.  A key hung from around his neck.
	"Darien!" Sailor Moon screamed.  "What have they done to you?"
	I sense... five powerful presences, Sailor Mars thought.  Out 
loud she yelled, "Sailor Moon!  It's a trap!"
	She was too late.  A fireball hurled Sailor Moon into a nearby 
tree while the man's chains unlocked themselves.  Four people, who 
looked about nineteen or twenty years old, walked into the clearing 
from the direction the fireball came from.  Each wore a robe and had a 
key around their neck.  They surrounded Darien, who was no longer 
chained to the tree.
	Sailor Venus ran over to Sailor Moon.  "She'll be okay," she told 
Jupiter.  "Her fuku took the worst of the blast.  She only has a few 
cuts and bruises."
	"Good.  Those Nega-creeps are gonna get it.  First they kidnap 
Darien and now they hurt Sailor Moon!" Jupiter stated.
	"Yeah, let's save him!" Mars agreed.
	"Right."  Mars, Venus, and Jupiter were prepared to attack the 
group and save Darien when Sailor Mercury stopped them.
	"Wait," she said as she scanned Darien.  "His metabolism's twice 
as slow as when I scanned him on Earth.  His heartbeat's also a little 
slower...  That isn't Darien!  Everything's almost identical, but the 
energy signature is radically different!"
	"What could be the reason for something like that?" Sailor Mars 
asked.
	"I think he's a clone of Darien."
	The other three Senshi nodded.  Now they were certain the 
Negaverse was behind this.
	"Wha...?  Darien!  Nobody impersonates my boyfriend and gets away 
with it!" Sailor Moon declared, snapping back into consciousness.  She 
got on her feet.  "I am Sailor Moon, champion of love and justice!  I 
will right wrongs and triumph over evil!  In the name of the moon I 
will punish you!"
	"I won't allow you to use Sailor Moon's love for Darien for your 
own twisted purposes!  I am Sailor Venus, and on behalf of Venus, I 
will punish you!"
	"My fire will cleanse this world of your evil.  I am Sailor Mars!  
In the name of Mars, I will punish you!"
	"You kidnapped Darien for the last time.  I am Sailor Mercury, 
and in the name of the planet Mercury I will punish you!"
	"Your evil must be stopped, and we're going to do it!  I am 
Sailor Jupiter!  On behalf of Jupiter I will punish you!"
	The people on the other side of the clearing fanned out and stood 
in battle-ready positions.  The Darien look-alike spoke in a foreign 
tongue.  The Senshi just stood there with blank looks on their faces 
until the Colors of the Wind blew by and translated it into perfect 
Japanese.  "Neat speech.  Can we try?"
	Sailor Moon blinked, then nodded.  "Go ahead."  After all, they 
put up with the Scout's speeches.
	The Darien impostor stepped forward.  "I am William, Lord of the 
Ants, leader of The Magic Few."
	A girl with long, dark brown hair with a reddish tint stepped 
forward.  She had dark brown eyes and was wearing a light blue and 
white robe.  "I am Ardweden, Empress of Bulvaria."
	Another girl, this one with dark brown hair done in a braid, 
stepped forward.  She, too, had dark brown eyes.  She wore a green and 
white robe.  "I am Cherden, owner of a billion-gold peso toothpaste 
company."
A third girl who wore a red and white robe took a step forward.  She 
had light brown hair and brown eyes.  "I am Nephadia, Queen of the 
Pyramids of Viti-alamin."  She paused, and her eyes changed from brown 
to red.  She laughed insanely.  "I am Pepperalki, twin sister of 
Nephadia, and also queen of Viti-alamin."
	A boy wearing a pure white robe took a shaky step forward.  He 
had light brown hair, and his eyes were constantly changing color.  
"I'm Dannysmartful, member of the Council of Teshi and um... I hang out 
with these guys."
	"We are The Magic Few," Will finished, "and in the name of 
Ineckey we shall... run away!"  And the TMF (The Magic Few) bolted into 
the woods.
	"Come on, we have to follow them!" Sailor Moon shouted.  The 
Scouts started to run into the woods when they noticed that Jupiter was 
missing.  They ran back into the clearing.
	Sailor Jupiter was standing there, starry-eyed.  "What are you 
waiting for?!" Sailor Mars yelled.
	Jupiter ignored her and said, "Guys, I know he's the enemy, but 
Dannysmartful looks just like my old boyfriend.  He's so dreamy."  She 
sighed.
	The entire team sweatdropped as Sailor Venus took Jupiter's arm.  
"Girl, you have had one crush too many.  Come on."
	Sailor Jupiter nodded and the Sailor Scouts once again ran after 
the TMF.

	"Will, Nephadia has a question," Pepperalki said as the TMF ran 
through the Yellow Leaf Forest.
	"What is it?"
	"Why are we running from a bunch of teenaged girls in 
miniskirts?"
	"Dannysmartful picked something from one of their minds.  They're 
very powerful, and very angry.  They want to kill us!"
	"So?" Cherden interjected.  "We faced the Shadows; we can take 
them."
	"Yeah, nobody can defeat Pepperalki!" Pepper cried.  She paused.  
"I am not being egotistic," she said to herself.
	The others ignored her; they knew that she was talking to her 
twin, Nephadia.  "We probably could take them, but Dannysmartful said 
that they are much stronger if they're together.  We have to split them 
up."
	"Speaking of Dannysmartful, where is he?" Ardweden asked Will.
	William just pointed to the sky.  Dannysmartful was flying 
overhead.  "Show-off," Ardweden muttered.
	The T.M.F. continued running and flying until they reached 
another clearing.  Will smiled.  "Let's do it here."

	The Sailor Scouts, with the limited help of Mercury's computer 
and Mars' abilities, finally reached the clearing three hours later.  
"There here," Sailor Mercury stated, looking at the computer screen.
	"Where?  I don't see them," Sailor Jupiter commented, looking 
around.
	"I can't sense them, either," Mars said.
	"This is too weird, Mercury.  Are you sure there isn't a bug in 
the program?" Venus asked, also looking around.
	Sailor Mercury nodded.  "I'm sure.  It's probably worth 
searching, anyway."
	Sailor Moon nodded.  "Let's spread out and look for the Nega-
scum."
	The team fanned out, carefully searching the clearing.  Sailor 
Mercury stayed behind, tapping the keys on her computer.  The blips on 
her screen were becoming more and more well defined, and one was on top 
of her...
	She dodged just in time as a figure, Ardweden was it?, jumped out 
of a tree and attempted to kick her in the head.  Ardweden just grabbed 
her key and pointed it at the scout.  An ice crystal went straight 
toward Mercury's head, and she barely ducked in time.
	Sailor Mercury gasped.  Ardweden was too fast for her; she needed 
to slow her down.  "Mercury Bubbles," she cried, calling her powers, 
"Blast!"  The immediate area was covered by a dense, cold fog that 
would make it difficult for anyone to see clearly.

	Sailor Mars noticed the commotion at the other side of the 
clearing.  "Don't worry, I'll help!" she yelled, running toward the 
fog.  The girl with light brown hair intercepted her.
	"No, you won't."
	"Get out of my way or you'll be burned!  Mars Fireballs Charge!"  
Sailor Mars stuck a scroll on Pepperalki's forehead.
	Pepper screamed as her eyes changed from red to brown.  "How dare 
you hurt my sister like that?!" an enraged Nephadia screamed.  She 
ripped the piece of paper from her forehead.  "Eat this!" with that, 
she fired a jet of flame from her key at the raven-haired Senshi.
	A shocked Sailor Mars jumped out of the way.  It don't get no 
weirder than this, she thought as she summoned her power.  "Mars Fire 
Ignite!"

	Sailor Jupiter was carefully searching her area of the clearing.  
Peering into the trees, she spotted a figure.  "Gotcha," she whispered.  
"Jupiter Thunder Crash!"  A bolt of lightning came from the sky and hit 
the place where the person should have been.  "Where did he go?" she 
wondered out loud.
	"Looking for me?"
	She whirled around to see William standing behind her, a sardonic 
smile on his face.  "Yeah.  You're gonna pay, Nega-clone!"  Sailor 
Jupiter summoned her power.  "Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!"  She threw a 
ball of lightning with pinpoint accuracy at Will.
	Responding in kind, his key glowed black as he called his own 
ball of black lightning.  The two met in the middle, causing both 
Sailor Jupiter and Will to be thrown backward.  Jupiter was immediately 
on her feet and began to pound William into a pulp.

	Sailor Moon was looking warily around when she heard Sailor Mars 
screaming at someone.  She started to run towards the sound when the 
ground under her glowed green and vines sprang up, effectively caging 
her in.
	"Alright, which one of you Nega-jerks is it?" Moon called out 
with more bravado than she felt.
	"That would be me, I suppose."  Cherden stepped out from her 
hiding place from behind the trees.
	"Oooh, are you gonna get it.  Moon Tiara Magic!"  Sailor Moon 
threw her tiara, which had become a glowing discus, directly at 
Cherden.  It cut though the vines and headed straight for her.
	Cherden screamed and jumped out of the way.  "Tiara, trap her!" 
Sailor Moon commanded.  It winged around and pinned Cherden's arms to 
her in a circle of light.  The Senshi pulled out her scepter.  "Moon 
Scepter..." she began.

	"You can't get away from me!" Sailor Venus exclaimed as she ran 
after a terrified Dannysmartful.
	"AAAAAAHHH!" he screamed.  His key glowed white and he levitated 
himself into the air.
	"Oh no," Venus said.  "Venus Love Chain," she yelled, forming a 
chain of hearts in her hand, "Encircle!"  The chain went out like a 
whip and snagged Dannysmartful by the ankle.  Sailor Venus pulled him 
down to earth.
	Dannysmartful pulled out a sword made out of late bus passes and 
cut the chain off.  Venus swore.  "Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" she 
shouted, firing a beam of light at him.
	Dannysmartful dodged and slashed with his sword.  Sailor Venus, 
caught off guard, got hit in the arm.  If he could do that, why was he 
running away from me? she wondered, clutching her bleeding arm as she 
readied another Crescent Beam.

	Ardweden looked around in the fog.  It was difficult to see a 
foot in front of her face, much less find the blue Scout.  She searched 
the area, warily walking around and peering into the mist surrounding 
her.
	"Mercury Ice Storm Blast!" came a voice out of the fog.
	"AAAHH!" Ardweden screamed as she fell to the ground.  A bolt of 
ice flew right above her; missing by a mere three inches.  "Okay, 
that's it!"  Ardweden took off her key and pointed it in the direction 
of the voice.  An ice crystal formed in midair and flew towards the 
voice.  Mercury saw the crystal coming, dodged it, and sent another Ice 
Storm at Ardweden.  They continued this for quite a while.
	How do I defeat her?  This fog keeps me from seeing anything 
around me... of course!  The fog!  Ardweden summoned her power and the 
key began to glow very brightly.  "Take this," she yelled through the 
mist.  "Freeze!"
	Ardweden pointed in the general direction of Sailor Mercury, and 
the mist around her froze, creating a wall of ice around her.
	"What?  Mercury Ice Storm blast!" Mercury shouted.  The ice and 
water she sent at the wall added to it.
	"Okay," Ardweden said, peering at the Scout through the wall.  
"Why do you want to kill us, exactly?  And can you please get rid of 
this annoying fog?"

	Sailor Jupiter stood, having completed the task of beating 
William to a pulp.  Will, who was at her feet, coughed blood as he got 
up, clutching his side.
	"Now I'll warn you one last time," he gasped painfully, "stay 
away from me."
	"Yeah, like I'd do something like that," was the reply.  "It's 
just a trick to make me stop."
	"I guess you could say that."
	"Then take this, Nega-slime!"  Sailor Jupiter leapt at William, 
knocking him onto the ground (again).  Will's key started to glow black 
and it crackled with energy.
	"You think you can use electricity to stop me?!  Get a clue!" was 
Jupiter's comment when she noticed what was happening.
	"Well..." Will said as he grabbed the Scout's foot.  Black 
lightning was channeled from his key, through his body, and into 
Jupiter's.  Jupiter looked rather surprised by this and then started to 
scream.  She continued this until she finally fell, unconscious.  She 
could take much, much more electricity than a normal person, or even a 
Scout, but even she could stand only so much.
	William released his hold.  "Yeah," he finished as he collapsed 
on top of her.

	Sailor Venus was not having much luck against Dannysmartful.  She 
gave up trying to fire Crescent Beams with an injured arm and resorted 
to using her Love Chain like a whip.  Dannysmartful continued to use 
his late-bus-pass-sword, only now it glowed white, like his key.
	Venus jumped out of the way as Dannysmartful lunged for her.  She 
snapped her chain at him, hitting the place he should have been.  She 
knew she couldn't go on like this, not while she had an injured arm.  
As long as Dannysmartful's sword glowed with white light, he seemed 
unbeatable.  A white light... like his key...
	The key!  That was where his power came from!  And Sailor Venus 
knew what she had to do.  She dodged Dannysmartful's slash again and 
used her chain to trip him.  While he was lying on the forest floor, 
she grabbed his key.
	"Don't touch it!"
	Venus ignored his warning and continued to pull at the key.  
Finally, it broke of its chain.  She felt enormous power; the power of 
light and mind.  She stared at the key for a few seconds, and then her 
brain snapped.
	"Hello?  Anybody in there?" Dannysmartful asked Sailor Venus as 
he waved his hand in front of her eyes.  She just sat there, humming a 
nameless tune as she stared vacantly into space, key clutched tightly 
in both hands.
	Dannysmartful gave up and tried to pry the girl's hands open.  
Jeez, she's strong, he thought to himself after his unsuccessful 
attempt.  Once again, he waved his hand in front of her eyes.  "Why do 
people keep doing that?" he asked no one in particular as he tried to 
open Venus' hands.

	Cherden's key glowed green, each pulse getting brighter and 
brighter.
	"Moon..."
	The TMF member looked terrified, her key reflecting her emotions 
perfectly.
	"Scepter..."
	The key, somehow sensing what was going to happen, flashed a 
brilliant green light filling the entire clearing.
	Sailor Moon's concentration was broken, and her energy was 
dissipated.  "Now I have to try again."  She pointed her scepter at 
still trapped Cherden.  "Moon..."
	Cherden's key started to glow.
	"Scepter..." Sailor Moon continued, now ready for another flash.  
She was surprised when there was none.  She was about to say, 
'elimination' when she heard a soft buzzing sound.  The fighter of love 
and justice turned around to see...
	Bees!  Hundreds and hundreds of bees!  All going straight for 
her.
	"Nyaaaaaah!" she screamed, running for her life.  "Somebody get 
them away from me!"
	Cherden, still trapped by the tiara, watched Sailor Moon run.  
That was too close; she just hoped Elizabeth the Queen Bee and her 
troops could fly out of the way of any Moon Scepter blasts.

	Nephadia and Sailor Mars were in the middle of a literal 
firefight.  Both sides took heavy damage; each had numerous cuts, 
blisters, and burns.  "You just don't give up, do you?" Nephadia asked 
the Sailor Scout.
	"We never give up!" Mars declared.  "Mars Celestial Fire--"
	Fortunately, she broke off just in time to see a screaming Sailor 
Moon running between her and Nephadia.  On her tail were numerous bees.
	"Surround!" Sailor Mars re-aimed her fire so it scared the bees 
off.
	"Ow!  Did you have to cut it so close, Mars?" Sailor Moon whined.
	"Shut up and help me beat her!"
	"Oh yeah.  Moon Scepter Elimination!"
	"Mars Fire Ignite!"
	A blast of moon energy with the power of fire traveled at 
blinding speed straight towards the terrified Nephadia.
	"STOP!"
	The fire and moon energy dissolved in a puff of smoke.  The three 
girls looked to the center of the clearing to see two glowing figures 
slowly becoming a man and woman.
	The woman who shouted the command giggled.  "I always wanted to 
do that."
	"You would, Ariel," the man commented with a sigh.  He waved his 
hand, completely dissipating Mercury's fog, revealing Ardweden and 
Sailor Mercury.  He then snapped his fingers, shattering the wall of 
ice surrounding Mercury, and changing the ring of light trapping 
Cherden back into a tiara.
	Sailor Moon, now completely recovered from the sudden arrival, 
looked around.  Dannysmartful was losing a hopeless battle to recover 
his key from the mind-numbed Sailor Venus, William and Sailor Jupiter 
were both unconscious, and Sailor Mercury and Ardweden were just 
standing there, confused.
	Sailor Mars also noticed all these things.  As Nephadia ran off 
to help Dannysmartful recover his key, the red Senshi looked defiantly 
at the figures.  "Who are you and what do you want?"
	"Oh!  I haven't introduced us," the man said calmly, "I am the 
God Leinis, and she," he gestured towards the woman, "Is my sister, the 
Goddess Ariel.  We have no quarrel with you, Serena, or any of your 
friends."
	"Really?" Sailor Mars sneered, "Prove it."
	"Fine, we will," Ariel snapped, annoyed by Mars' attitude.  "How 
would you like us to?"
	"Can you heal my friends?" Sailor Moon asked eagerly.  She was 
terribly worried about them, especially Jupiter and Venus.
	"Sure."  Ariel clapped her hands.  A soft white light filled the 
clearing and slowly disappeared.  When it was finished, all of the 
Scouts and TMF members were completely healed of injury.  Mina dropped 
Dannysmartful's key with a remark of, "Wow, what a trip."
	Before the Scouts could transform and start fighting again (they 
detransformed during the healing process) Serena shouted, "Everyone, 
pay attention!"
	After everyone's ears stopped ringing, they looked at the center 
of the clearing.  The Magic Few immediately ran up to Ariel and Leinis, 
greeting them.  The Scouts looked confused and ran up to Serena and 
Raye, bombarding them with questions.
	Leinis had enough.  "SHUT UP!" he yelled.  The clearing was 
immediately silent.  "Thank you.  I am Leinis, and this is Ariel.  We 
are both Gods.  We know why you are here, Sailor Scouts, and we also 
know your names.  Yes, the Negaverse, as you would call it, is back.  
No, we are not your enemies, and neither is The Magic Few.  The fact 
that William looks like Darien is a fluke, and we gave Nature a good 
talking to."  Here he paused to catch his breath.
	"It's getting late," Ariel interrupted.  "Why don't we all go to 
bed and talk about it tomorrow?"
	"Good idea!" Serena stated.
	Raye rolled her eyes and was about to reply when she yawned.  
Apparently, healing makes people very, very tired.  Her friends were in 
similar states.  "Sounds good to me." Amy said.  "Let's be on our 
guard, though."
	"Fair enough," a tired William said, "Where should we go?"
	"How about my place?  It's the closest." Ardweden volunteered.
	The sun was setting on the horizon.  "Good.  See you tomorrow." 
Ariel said cheerfully.  She and her brother vanished.
	 Tranquil music filled the air as Raye ran into Darien's arms, 
"Oh, Darien, lets run away together where Serena will never find us."
	"Uh, Raye, I would love to run away with you but that isn't 
possible.  You see... uh, I'm married."
	"Yes, let's leave her behind and go back to Tokyo." Raye 
whispered while wrapping her arms around Darien's neck, about to kiss 
him.
	"Raye, I didn't know you had a passion for trees." Serena said.
	Raye opened her eyes to see herself falling into a late-bus-pass-
tree as William ran and hid behind Dannysmartful, who was scared out of 
his mind, and had been trying to climb a tree.  Apparently, the tree 
was too weak and was bending under the weight of both teenage boys.
	Raye stood up, embarrassed.  As she brushed herself off she tried 
to contain the color that was building up on her face while she heard 
the others laughing behind her.  She slowly turned around to see Mina, 
Ardweden, Nephadia, Cherden, and Lita falling into gales of helpless 
laughter.  Serena was standing behind her with a huge smile on her 
face.  Amy stood on the other side of the clearing, cursing her 
computer and not paying any attention.
	Raye put on her patented 'look' and did her best to look angry.  
"What are you laughing at?" she sneered.
	Mina and Lita noticed the look and stopped laughing, although a 
titter escaped Mina every now and then.  Serena still had the smile on 
her face as she turned to see William and Dannysmartful trying to get 
down the tree.  This was too much, and she fell over laughing.
	Ardweden and Cherden immediately stopped, as Nephadia ran over to 
help William and Dannysmartful down the tree.  Since the Colors of the 
Wind didn't bother blowing by, Raye had to repeat her question.  
"Well?"
	Cherden smiled.  "Why, you of course."  And she and Ardweden 
cracked up again.  
	Nephadia walked up to the two giggling girls and knocked them on 
the head.  "Stop it!  Can't you see that they're very tired and would 
like some rest?"
	"Oh, right," Ardweden said between giggles.  She smiled at Raye.  
"Would you like to come to my place, or do you still not trust us?"
	Raye frowned, unsure what to make of this sudden change of heart.  
One minute they seemed ready to kill her and her friends, and now 
they're laughing with them and seemed to let all of their defenses 
down.  "We have to talk," she said, dragging Lita, Mina, and Serena to 
where Amy stood, fiddling with her computer.
	"Ow!  Raye, why do you have to drag so hard?" Serena cried.
	"Maybe you were laughing too much," William offered, with a 
Darien-esque smile.
	Serena was about to stick her tongue out at him when she caught 
herself.  He's the enemy... or was.  But he wasn't now, if they were to 
believe what that Leinis person said.  Still, he nearly killed Lita, 
and that couldn't be good... oh, she's so confused!
	"Do you mind?" Lita growled, "This is supposed to be a private 
conversation."
	William just shrugged and walked to where the rest of The Magic 
Few were trying to get Dannysmartful down the tree.  It snapped back up 
when Will got off, and now Dannysmartful was clutching to the top 
branch fifty feet up.
	"So, what are we supposed to talk about?" Serena asked.
	"Duh!  On whether or not to trust them!" was Raye's reply.
	"I don't see why not.  After all, Ariel healed us, and they don't 
seem to 	want to kill us anymore." Mina said.
	"Yes, but this could be a Negaverse plot," Serena added.
	"Sleeping in a bed would be better than sleeping in the forest," 
Lita said.
	"They seem to trust us.  Ariel and Leinis felt more powerful than 
anyone I've ever sensed.  Ever.  I think that they could have killed us 
instantly if they wanted to," Raye put in.
	"Looks can be deceiving," Amy objected.  "However, we don't know 
much about this world.  There's no other viable option, so we should 
go.  But while we sleep, there should be someone on watch."
	"Right, that's the best idea.  Let's do it," Serena decided.  
She's getting used to this leader stuff.  "Let's go tell them."
The Scouts walked up to the tree Dannysmartful was clutching to.  
"Still no luck?" Lita asked Cherden.
	The older girl shook her head.  "He's just too scared."
	"Why doesn't he levitate down?" Mina asked curiously, thinking 
back to the battle.
	Cherden slapped her forehead.  "That's right!  LEVITATE DOWN!" 
she screamed up at him.
	Unfortunately, this caused Dannysmartful to let go of the branch 
to cover his ears.  Too late, he discovered that he was falling, and 
fast.  He instinctively used his powers to break his fall, but he 
didn't have enough time (or concentration) to stop himself completely.  
With a thunk, he landed on top of Mina.
	"Ouch.  Are you okay?" he asked the girl he was sitting on.
	"I'd feel a lot better if you got off me," she gasped.
	"Oh.  Sorry."  Dannysmartful stood up and helped Mina off the 
ground.
	Nephadia cleared her throat.  "So, have you reached your decision 
yet?"
	"Yes, it's--" Serena began.
	"You still don't completely trust us, but you'll come with.  And 
your names are Amy, Serena, Lita, Mina, and Raye." Dannysmartful 
finished.
	"How did you--?" Raye stuttered.
	"I can read minds."
	The Sailor Scouts blinked.  "You're not serious," Mina said.
	William shrugged.  "Sure he is."
	"Then you--" Raye blushed.
	"Oh, stop looking at me like that," Dannysmartful ordered.  "I 
only pick up surface thoughts."
	"But if you wanted to, you could find out anything you want, 
right?" Lita asked.
	"Yeah, but I'd probably pass out."
	The Scouts sighed in relief.  "Should I call for a carriage or do 
you want to take us there?" Ardweden asked Dannysmartful.
	"How would you call for one?  Would you use a phone?" Serena 
asked.
	"What's a phone?"
	"Never mind."
	"I'll take us there," Dannysmartful said.  With that, he 
teleported them to Ardweden's home.

(Author's note: If you think Raye is slightly out of character in this 
chapter, or maybe completely out of whack, I agree with you.  I was 
feeling extremely silly when that part about the tree was written, and 
it was too funny to leave out. ^_~)

Chapter 3 or Questions and Answers

	It turned out that Ardweden's place was a castle.  It was a large 
one which was seated on the outskirts of a city the TMF called 
Chicagle.  It stood there, proud and welcoming at the same time.
	The Sailor Scouts stared at it, mouths wide open.  "Are you 
okay?" Ardweden asked worriedly, "I know Nephadia and Pepper's palace 
is bigger, and so's Cherden's mansion.  We could go there, if you 
want."
	"N-no.  This will be fine, thank you," Lita replied.  Sure, the 
Scouts were all princesses, but they didn't really remember living in 
the Moon Palace, aside from a few dreams.  It was kind of nerve-
racking.
	The others just nodded.
	Ardweden beamed.  "Then come in and meet Sandre.  He's my chief 
advisor.  I'm sure you'll like him."  She walked through the front gate 
with the rest of the group trailing behind her.

	"You want to <what>?" Sandre asked again.  They were seated in 
his office, a cozy room with soft carpeting and a polished wooden desk.
	"I want you to arrange things so the Sailor Scouts can stay here 
for the night," Ardweden said firmly.
	"No, that's not right.  What do you know about these people?  
Nothing.  They're from another world, for heaven's sakes!" Sandre 
objected.  He was a pudgy, balding man with large eyes, so he always 
seemed to be staring at you.  "For all we know, they could be taking 
over the world!"
	Cherden sighed.  "Of course they could, but they're not.  Ariel 
and Leinis said so themselves.  Besides, you can't expect us to just 
leave them in the Yellow Leaf Forest."
	"Um..." Serena said nervously, "We really don't want to be any 
trouble..."
	"Of course you're not being any trouble," Sandre said kindly.  
"You'll probably end up staying."
	"Huh?" Raye stared at the chief advisor.  "But you were just 
arguing with Ardweden..."
	"Oh, that?  I'm supposed to.  It's my job as chief advisor, after 
all.  If her decisions don't match up to my arguments, then it's 
probably not a good idea to go through with them."
	Nephadia nodded.  "My advisor does that, too.  He isn't half as 
good as Sandre, though."
	Sandre smiled.  "That's just because there's two of you to out 
argue him, Nephadia.  Now, back to business... Why not put them in 
Cherden's mansion?"
	"Because some of them might be allergic to cats," Ardweden said.  
The Scouts giggled at this, but she didn't notice.  "Besides, there's 
plenty of room here.  And it gets kind of lonely."
	"Okay, you win."
	Ardweden giggled.  "I knew I would.  Come on, guys, I'll show you 
your rooms," she said as she walked out the door.

	At the Sailor Scouts' requests, they all stayed in the same room.  
Still, it was extremely spacious.  Ardweden gave them some of the spare 
pajamas found in a few of the closets, and they coincidentally matched 
each of the scout's uniform color and size.  When they were certain the 
Scouts were comfortable, the TMF left, Cherden saying that she really 
should talk to Ariel about messing with time.
	"Finally, a chance to sleep," Raye yawned.  Serena was already in 
her bed and snoring away, and Lita, exhausted from the fight, didn't 
seem to be winning her fight against sleep either.
	"Go to sleep," Amy said calmly.  "I'll guard the door, since I 
was the least affected by the fight.  Besides, I really need to modify 
my computer to this world's defenses."
	Raye mumbled thanks and fell fast asleep.

	Mina awoke with a start.  Where am I? she wondered, peering into 
the darkness around her.  Clutching the unfamiliar bedsheets, she let 
her eyes wander around the room, as the memory of yesterday came to 
her.  Once again looking around the room, she heard the soft beeping of 
a computer nearby.
	"Amy?" she whispered.
	"You're awake.  You've been asleep for nine hours." Amy's voice 
replied.
	"Nine hours?"
	"Yes.  Apparently, the nights here are thirteen hours long."
	"Oh.  You really should get some sleep, Amy."
	"That's not necessary.  I can stay awake longer as Sailor 
Mercury."
	"You transformed?!"
	"Yes.  How else can I watch over you in complete darkness?"
	Mina couldn't answer that.  There were a few moments of silence 
when Mina spoke up again.  "Do you think they're trustworthy?  The TMF, 
I mean."
	"I don't see why not.  From what I've discovered of their powers, 
they're much more powerful then us.  They didn't seem to be out to kill 
us, just contain us."
	Mina nodded, remembering the feeling she got when she touched 
Dannysmartful's key.  Such power... she felt like she could do 
anything.  "Do you think one of us should have a look around anyway?"
	"Mina, what are you trying to do?"
	"Well, I think it would be a good idea if one of us--"
	"You're curious about this castle."
	"Um... I..."
	"Don't worry about it. I would have done the same if I didn't 
feel the need to watch all of you.  Go ahead, if you think you won't 
get caught."
	Mina grinned and whispered her thanks as she silently slipped out 
the door.  Sailor Mercury smiled, shook her head, and turned back to 
her computer.

	Mina could barely contain herself as she crept down the hallway.  
It's been so long since she could do something like this!  When she was 
Sailor V, she did many things that wouldn't be approved of, like drive 
and go into bars.  All for a good cause, of course.  But her favorite, 
and most secret, illegal thing to do was infiltrate a building in the 
middle of the night.  She never did it in her pajamas before, but the 
feeling of blending with the shadows, and the excitement of knowing 
that you could be caught at any time, was the same.
	Mina stealthily walked through the castle.  Finished with her 
tour, she began to head back to her room.  "What are you doing here?" a 
voice asked curiously.
	Mina whirled around, seeing Ardweden, also in her pajamas, 
standing behind her.  "I... um... I was looking for the kitchen.  I'm 
starving," Mina said quickly.
	"Right," Ardweden replied.  "I forgot that you people need to eat 
twice as often as we do.  But that still doesn't explain why you were 
sneaking around like that."
	"Sneaking?  Me?"  Mina's voice began to squeak.
	Ardweden laughed.  "I think that's what you were doing.  I've 
been following you for the past hour."
	Mina didn't know what to say.  She let her mouth hang open and 
her eyes bulge.  She was never, ever caught before!
	"Don't look so alarmed," Ardweden continued.  "I've been trained 
at the University of Thievery in Usoa.  They train the best thieves 
there are.  Besides, sneaking's fun."
	Mina nodded.  "It is, isn't it?  I thought I was crazy to enjoy 
it so much."
	"The crazy people are the ones who don't enjoy it."  The girls 
continued their conversation as they walked back to the Sailor Scouts' 
room.  Mina found herself enjoying the company of Ardweden, and she 
desperately hoped Amy was right about the TMF. 

	The next morning, after breakfast, Leinis and Ariel appeared to 
the TMF and Sailor Scouts.  "Is everyone ready for a question and 
answer session?" Ariel asked sweetly.
	The TMF and Scouts nodded.  Leinis and Ariel had a lot of 
explaining to do.  "Good.  What is it you would like to know?"
	"Why did the Sailor Scouts attack us?" Nephadia asked curiously.  
She no longer wore a robe, but a red tunic and pants.  All of the other 
members of the TMF wore the same outfit, the colors being their 
specific color.
	"We thought you were the enemy," Lita stated.
	"Obviously not!  Where do you think you slept last night?"
	"We know that now!  Besides, you attacked us first," Raye argued.
	"No, you were trying to kill us!  Sailor Moon was going to 
strangle Will!" Cherden pointed out.
	"Hey!  I was not!" Serena whined.
	Leinis clapped his hands, and a crack of thunder boomed 
throughout the room.  The Scouts and TMF fell silent, though Nephadia 
and Raye sent each other dirty looks on occasion.  "Thank you.  Now, on 
with the discussion.  We need your help, Sailor Scouts."
	Amy blinked.  "What for?  I've scanned the keys that the TMF have 
with my computer; they have much more power than we do."
	"And we need to find Darien," Serena added.
	"Yes, but did you wonder why the TMF didn't contain you Sailor 
Scouts outright, instead of fighting you?  After all, they have more 
power, like you said, Amy," Ariel asked.
	"Hey!  Why didn't we do that?" Dannysmartful whispered to Will.
	"I don't know.  The power didn't seem to be there.  Shh," William 
replied.
	"The power you measured is their potential," Ariel continued.  
"Normally, The Magic Few can use their keys and abilities to their full 
potential, but there has been a problem."
	"The magic is being drained out of Ineckey by what you would call 
the Negaverse," Leinis said bluntly.  "They're using five crystals to 
do this, each one is guarded by a guardian, each equivalent in power 
to... hmm... one of those generals you fought while the Negaverse was 
trying to take over your world."
	Mina whistled.  "That's where they got the energy from."
	Ariel nodded.  "Magical energy is extremely powerful, but doesn't 
last as long as, say, the kind of life energy you have on Earth.  We 
think the Negaverse is planning to drain our world dry, and move on to 
your world afterwards."
	"How long can you last like this?" Serena asked, eyes wide with 
concern.
	"At the present rate of energy drainage, I'd say about... two 
weeks.  Then all of Ineckey's magic will be being used for keeping the 
world alive, and the TMF powers will be useless.  Give it another month 
or so and the world will be destroyed."
	"This is terrible!  We have to stop them!" Lita shouted, coming 
to her feet.  The other Scouts nodded.
	"And save Darien," Serena added, eyes watering.  Raye moved to 
comfort her.
	Leinis smiled a smile of relief.  "Even though Fate and Destiny 
told me to bide our time in stopping this Negaverse, I did so very 
reluctantly.  Now, I see I made the right choice."
	"Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" an annoyed Cherden 
asked.
	"By the time this came to our attention, the chances of all of 
you destroying the crystals and getting out alive were 10%.  Even then, 
I was going to tell you.  Only Fate and Destiny stopped me."
	Ariel chuckled.  "He lost at another game of dice to them."
	The TMF laughed while Leinis looked embarrassed.  He cleared his 
throat.  "We can teleport you near the crystal locations.  You will be 
going in groups of two, each group's powers the opposite of the crystal 
you need to destroy: fire, water, wind, darkness, and death."
	"Thanks to Cernos, we can't give you any more help, except this," 
Ariel said, handing silver rings out to the Scouts.  Amy's had a 
sapphire set in hers, Serena's had a diamond, Mina's had an amber, 
Lita's had an emerald, and Raye's had a ruby.
	"The silver in those rings is the same kind of silver that was 
used to make the chains which the TMF wear with their keys.  It will 
allow you access to some of the magic Ineckey has, while strengthening 
your bonds with each of your particular planets," Ariel explained.  
"The result will be greater powers; a new attack and defensive move for 
each of you."
	Amy, who was scanning her ring with her computer while Ariel 
talked, looked up and said, "It seems safe."  She stood up, put her 
ring on her right ring finger, and holding her transformation stick she 
shouted, "Mercury Silver Power!"
	The sapphire in her ring glowed a deep blue as she was surrounded 
by water and ice.  When it was over, Sailor Mercury didn't look any 
different, except her golden tiara was replaced by a silver one, and a 
silver ring sparkled on her right hand.  "That was incredible!" she 
exclaimed as she felt a new power flow through her.
	Leinis nodded.  "Your powers are now on par with one of The Magic 
Few's.  Your strengths and weaknesses will still be there.  For 
instance: your attack won't be a strong as Jupiter's, but your 
defensive move will be much better."
	The other Scouts, realizing it was safe, stood and transformed.
	"Mars Silver Power!"
	"Jupiter Silver Power!"
	"Venus Silver Power!"
	"Moon Silver Power!"
	The Scouts' uniforms underwent the same changes Mercury's did, 
and each grinned as they felt the power at their disposal.  "The TMF 
are usually more powerful than this?" Sailor Mars asked, disbelief in 
her voice.
	Cherden shrugged.  "I guess so.  We didn't notice we had less 
power until we were told, though."
	"What was before doesn't matter now," Leinis told them.  "Are you 
ready to fight the Negaverse?  The longer we wait, the weaker the TMF 
will be."
	The group nodded.  Leinis waved his hand and they all 
disappeared.  "Good luck.  You're going to need it."

Chapter 4 or Eye of the Storm

	Sailor Jupiter and William stood at the base of a mountain.  
"Where are we?" Jupiter asked, eyes examining the rocky landscape.
	"Oatmeal Mountain," came the short reply.
	Yeah, like that's supposed to mean anything, Jupiter thought.  
She stole a quick glance at Will.  His black hair ruffled in the breeze 
as his eyes widened in surprise.
	"Look at that!"  Will pointed at the mountain peak.  Winds 
whirled around it, causing a miniature tornado.  "Want to bet that's 
where the crystal is?"
	Sailor Jupiter scowled. She hated heights.  "Well, we'd better 
get started."  She began to climb up the mountain's steep path with 
Will close behind.

	After climbing for what seemed like an eternity, Sailor Jupiter 
stopped and turned around.  William, who was struggling more and more 
to keep up, collapsed.  "Are you okay?" Jupiter asked him.
	"Yeah," Will panted, "but a rest stop wouldn't be such a bad 
idea."
	Sailor Jupiter nodded and sat next to him.  Winds were beating on 
them the entire time, making staying on the path, much less climbing, 
very difficult.  She wiped some of the sweat off her brow.  "So, tell 
me about The Magic Few," she said, trying to start a conversation.
	William shrugged.  "Not much to tell.  Dannysmartful was the 
first, followed closely behind by Cherden and Ardweden.  They worked as 
a team long before the rest of us.  Nephadia and Pepperalki were the 
last two to join.  I'm the leader."  He paused as a crooked smile 
spread over his face.  "You know, it's funny.  I left home in hopes of 
getting the TMF to help me, I never expected to join.  Then they slap 
me with the title of leader."  He shook his head in disbelief.  "How 
about you?"
	Jupiter was about to reply when a heartbreaking wail pierced the 
air.  "What was that?" she asked instead.
	Will was on his feet, looking much less tired than a while ago.  
"Banshees.  Come on!"  He dragged her to her feet and began to run.
	Sailor Jupiter followed, looking over her shoulder.  A near-
transparent woman was hot on her tail, flying gracefully without wings, 
her arms spread apart.  She had long, flowing hair and was only about 
three feet tall. The banshee opened her mouth to wail again, revealing 
a set of sharp, pointed fangs.
	The wind blew harder at Will and Jupiter, and the banshee was 
gaining on them.  The faster they ran, the harder the wind blew, making 
it nearly impossible for them to gain any ground.  William stopped 
abruptly.
	"Now what?" asked Jupiter, looking over his shoulder.  The 
banshee must have called in a few of her friends, because they were 
blocking the path ahead of them.
	"Now, we fight," was the reply, and the Sailor Scout turned to 
face the banshees behind them.  There was a swarm of them, and one 
shrieked a battle cry.  William immediately used his black lightning to 
electrify the ones in front of them, and Jupiter was about to do the 
same when she noticed a group diving straight at her.  Time for a 
change in plans.
	"Jupiter," she cried, folding her arms around her.  The air 
crackled with electricity as the banshees swooped nearer.  "Static 
Shock!"  The immediate area around Jupiter glowed bright green, as the 
banshees who dared to come near her shrieked in pain from the 
electricity.
	William, who cleared the area in front of him, grabbed Jupiter's 
wrist and began to run again.  They made progress this way, with Will 
blasting the banshees in front while Jupiter protected them with her 
Static Shock.  The wind continued to blow, and they barely managed to 
reach the top.
	The peak was a plateau, and as William and Sailor Jupiter gasped 
for breath they barely noticed that the wind stopped.  "You okay?" Will 
asked Jupiter.
	"I'll be better after we take care of them," was the short reply.  
'Them' was a swarm of banshees who surrounded the Scout and TMF member 
and were slowly closing in, licking their lips.
	"Oh, yuck.  I'll get this side, you get that one."  Without 
another word, Will charged his key and released the energy.  A massive 
black lightning bolt shot down from the sky and started to sweep the 
banshees away.
	Sailor Jupiter felt her hands glow pure white and cackle with 
electricity.  Instinctively, she raised her arms to the sky.  
"Jupiter," she called as heavy black clouds rolled overhead, "Lightning 
Storm!"  A pure white lightning bolt came down and zapped the nearest 
banshee.  It screamed and vanished in a puff of smoke.
	"What, that's it?" Jupiter asked in disbelief as the rest of the 
banshees closed in on her.  She lowered her hands.  "Wasn't I supposed 
to have the most powerful attack?  Will, tell Leinis he's a--"  Another 
lightning bolt came down, electrocuting the second banshee.  Then a 
third, and a fourth, until all the banshees were gone and lightning 
started striking at random.
	Will was jumping around as he tried to avoid the lightning.  
"Turn it off!  Turn it off!"
	Sailor Jupiter blinked.  "I don't know how!  Oh, shoot."  She 
dodged as a lightning bolt nearly hit her.  "Um... lightning, stop!"  
And it did.
	William ran over to her.  "What was I supposed to tell Leinis?" 
he asked.
	Sailor Jupiter ignored him.  "That was so cool!  I could never 
turn my power off before."
	"Um... yeah.  You might want to try to make your target more 
specific to the lightning next time, okay?" he suggested.
	Jupiter nodded happily.  She must be going through some power 
trip, Will thought.
	A gust of strong wind blew against William and Sailor Jupiter.  
"Enjoy that small victory, children," a melodious voice said, "It's the 
last you'll ever have."
	William rolled his eyes.  "That was stupid.  How many villains 
come out with that kind of opening line?"
	Sailor Jupiter snapped out of her euphoria and narrowed her eyes.  
"Who are you?"
	The voice laughed as a small tornado of wind appeared in front of 
them.  The wind cleared, revealing a woman with wings folded around 
her.  Her dress was yellow, and she had leather brown sandals on her 
feet.  Long, black hair whipped about her face, which was pointed to 
the ground.  "An angel,"
	or a demon." She finished as she lifted her head to them.  She 
had long, soulless black eyes, a sharp nose, and fanged mouth.  In the 
middle of her forehead sparkled a pale yellow crystal.
	"Oh, yuck," Sailor Jupiter said this time.  "We have to break 
that thing?" she asked as she pointed at the crystal.
	"Only if you can, dear," the demon laughed as the crystal glowed.  
She spread her wings as powerful gusts of wind carried her into the 
air.  She pointed her hand at two of the saviors of Ineckey.  Her claws 
grew and headed straight for Jupiter.
	Before she could say 'Jupiter Static Shock', a dome of black 
lightning surrounded her.  The claws stopped short as lightning 
traveled to the demon.  She screamed, and withdrew.  William grinned.
	"Why, you- you'll pay for that!" the demon shrieked as she tried 
to smooth her poofy black hair.  The crystal glowed again and William 
found himself pinned to the ground.  The demon teleported next to him 
and picked him up, digging her nails into his throat.
	Sailor Jupiter gasped, and was about to zap the demon when she 
held William in front of her as a shield.  "Oh, no," she laughed.  
"Hurt me, and hurt your little friend, too."  She dug her nails deeper 
into Will.  A small trickle of blood came out of his wound.
	Jupiter looked from the demon to Will and back with despair in 
her eyes.  She swore.  What could she do?  Once again, she looked at 
William, whose key glowed black.  He closed his eyes and nodded.
	Sailor Jupiter didn't waste any more time.  "Well, if you want it 
that way..." she whispered.  Her hands began to glow.  "Jupiter," she 
said as she raised her hands to the sky.  Please let this be easy on 
Will, she prayed.  "Lightning."  Electricity was building up as she 
concentrated.  A power surge rushed through her, but she beat it down.  
Don't think about the power.  Don't loose control.  "Storm!"  She 
pointed at William.
	He screamed as the lightning was channeled through his key.  "Ha!  
I didn't feel a thing.  You really must work on your aim, child--" the 
demon began.  William's key glowed brighter and brighter until a 
beautiful, deadly web of white and black lightning surrounded him and 
his captor.  The demon shrieked as the lightning gathered at her 
forehead, and the Wind Crystal shattered.  She crumbled to dust, and 
Will fell, face first, into the ground.
	Sailor Jupiter ran up to him and felt for his pulse.  Weak, but 
there.  Sighing with relief and exhaustion, she collapsed to her knees.  
The air before her shimmered, and she looked up, afraid of another 
demon.
	Leinis appeared in gold sparkles, and picked up Will.  He held 
out his hand to Jupiter, who took it gratefully.  "What did you want to 
tell me?" he asked as they vanished in a wash of golden light.

Chapter 5 or The Whirlpool Effect

	"We have to fight here?"  Sailor Mars looked towards the 
crashing, blue-green waves of the sea.  A small, blue and gold boat was 
beached on the shore, its sail swaying in the breeze.
	Nephadia shrugged and got on the boat.  "We are going after the 
Water Crystal, after all," she explained kindly.  Reaching down, she 
offered the Sailor Scout her hand.  Mars scowled and boarded the boat 
by herself.  The waves washed around the boat, and the two girls were 
carried out to sea.
	They sat in uncomfortable silence for a long time, until Nephadia 
said, "Why are you helping us?  You were obviously against the idea 
from the beginning."
	With a snort, Sailor Mars replied, "Because that stupid, 
meatball-headed dork is our leader, and she told us to," more quietly, 
barely above a whisper, she added, "and this is probably a trap, so I 
won't let her be killed by you."
	The second part wasn't supposed to be heard, but Sailor Mars' 
companion obviously did.  She smiled a little sadly.  "You remind me of 
my sister; you share the same spirit.  And we're not going to hurt 
Serena."
	"What sister? Are you some schizophrenic maniac?  I don't trust 
you.  The only reason I'm going is to make sure my friends don't get 
hurt."
	Nephadia cocked her head.  "The battle's about to begin, so I 
might as well show you.  Raye, meet my sister, Pepperalki."  She closed 
her eyes, and her face contorted into an angry, vicious expression.  
When the eyes were opened, they were red, and a flicker of insanity 
went across them.
	"How dare you be so cruel to Nephadia!" Pepperalki screamed.  
"She's the nicest, most dedicated, non-violent person you'll ever meet!  
Do you have any idea how much your words hurt her?"  Her hands acquired 
a deep red glow, and fire danced in their palms.  Danger seemed to be 
radiating from her, and Mars sensed an enormous amount of power 
building up around Pepper.
	Sailor Mars sneered.  Silently, she built up the energy necessary 
for an attack.  "So, Nephadia, you are schizophrenic.  And now you're 
telling me you're not violent?  Don't make me laugh.  I know what you 
did to me."  She grimaced at the thought of the blisters, cuts, and 
burns she received.
	An insane laugh escaped Pepper's lips.  "Oh, we're very different 
people.  I'm surprised we're even related."  She narrowed her eyes.  
"Make no mistake, if it was Nephadia going through what I was during 
that battle, you would have suffered ten times worse, and Leinis and 
Ariel would have been picking up the pieces.  I don't let anybody hurt 
my sister."
	Mars opened her mouth to reply when she heard a small sucking 
sound.  Startled, she looked frantically about as the sound grew louder 
and louder.  Pepperalki's terrified scream alerted her to the danger: 
the water below.  It formed a giant whirlpool and caused the boat to 
spin.
	"No!" Pepper shrieked, "I don't want to be cleansed!  Make it go 
away!  Nephadia!"
	They were pulled under.

	A scream.
	Sailor Mars opened her eyes and brushed damp, black hair from her 
face.  With a groan she rolled over.
	Another scream, more frantic than the first.
	Shaking her head groggily, Mars sat up as her eyes adjusted to 
the light.  She was in a cavern, and an underground river was flowing 
through it.  An eerie blue light pulsed from under the water, 
illuminating the area.  Yet another scream pierced the air, this one 
the most desperate.  Sailor Mars searched for the source.
	A young woman with light brown hair and soggy clothes was curled 
in a fetal position on the ground.  She was lying in a puddle, and 
crying.  A red aura surrounded her, and it flickered wildly in and out 
of existence.  Sailor Mars slowly stood and walked over to her.
	It wasn't until the Scout stood over the woman that she realized 
her companion was Pepperalki.  It wasn't Nephadia... it wasn't even the 
Pepperalki she met on the boat.  It was a frightened child in a 
teenager's body, not the caring, calm Nephadia or the insane, dangerous 
Pepper.
	"Alone... all alone," the girl sobbed, unaware of the other's 
presence.  "Daddy, don't leave me!  No!"  She screamed again.  "I'm not 
a demon!  I don't wanna be cured!  No!"
Sailor Mars reached out to the girl she didn't trust in compassion.  
With a gentle touch to the girl's forehead, she felt her suppressed 
psychic powers come back to her, more powerful than before.  She could 
see the girl's soul-no-two souls, one calm, steady, and the other 
flickering dangerously out of control.  She could see the black void 
that surrounded them, and let herself be swallowed in.
	"Water!  I don't want to leave!  Nephadia!" one flickered.
	"No, not this time.  You won't run away.  I won't let you," the 
other replied.
	"But Daddy hates me.  He's going to cleanse me... I'm going to 
have to leave!"
	"You're not a demon.  No one hates you.  You didn't do anything 
wrong."
	"But... but the water!  It's going to... I don't want to die!"
	Raye could feel the fear in the flickering soul.  She looked into 
her emotions and projected as much kindness and sympathy as she could 
to it.  Quietly, she tried to speak.  "I don't hate you."
	The two souls started, and in a flash Sailor Mars was tightly 
clutching a sobbing teenager who was screaming incoherently about 
demons, water, purification, her father, and a dark, scary room.  Mars 
held her tightly until she calmed down enough to draw a few, shaky sobs 
and look up.
	The eyes were red and glazed over.  Insanity filled those eyes, 
and it was as if Pepperalki was there, but not there.  She stared into 
Sailor Mars' face for what seemed like forever, and asked quietly, "You 
don't hate me?"
	"I don't hate you."
	The older girl sniffled, and looked at the puddle, then at Mars, 
then back.  She spoke in a cool, collected voice.  "I'm a demon.  I 
don't belong in this body; I must be removed.  Purification by fire or 
by water."  She laughed.  "I'm a fire demon.  It must be by water.  I 
must be removed."  She stood and walked to the edge of the underground 
river.  Dangerous currents swirled underneath the raging surface-ones 
that could easily drown a person.  "Nephadia will be purified."
	"Don't!"
	Pepper turned around and looked into Mars' violet eyes.  The 
other girl's hand was extended to her.  "Don't do it," Sailor Mars 
continued, "You're not a demon.  You don't need to be purified."
	There was another laugh, this one on the edge of hysteria.  "I 
am.  I only came out at night.  I control fire.  I enjoy pain I inflict 
on others.  I am a demon, and I must be banished.  Nephadia's father, 
King of Vita-Alamin, commands it."
	Sailor Mars' look of sympathy turned to one of anger.  She wasn't 
going to give up that easily.  "Fine, jump," she snapped, putting as 
much of a sting into her words as possible.  "You're obviously a demon 
if you don't care about your sister.  You're just going to let her 
drown, aren't you?"
	Pepper's eyes widened in horror and some of the film over her 
eyes left.  "No, I wouldn't... after I'm gone, she'll be here..."
	"What, in that?"  Mars pointed at the river.  "Neither of you can 
last three minutes in there, demon or no demon.  And how would she feel 
if you died, huh?  You're typical of demons, only thinking of 
yourselves.  Not caring a bit about human existence."
	Pepper stared at Mars for a full minute until she burst back into 
tears, crumpling to her knees.  "But... but my daddy doesn't love me!  
He put me in that dark, scary room.  He doesn't love me!"
	Sailor Mars stepped forward, and knelt.  "Maybe he doesn't," she 
said quietly, "Mine doesn't."  Pepper looked up in disbelief.  "But 
that doesn't mean no one does.  I know a certain sister of yours who 
loves you very much.  And you love her."
	Pepperalki blinked, and most of the glaze left.  She reached 
forward and embraced the Scout.  Sailor Mars felt the pull to the void 
again, but this time she was welcomed in.
	"Thank you.  This is the one place Pepper can't hear us; I wanted 
to speak with you alone."
	Raye looked around.  It was the same as the other place: black.  
She mentally shrugged.  Maybe, if she were touching soul to soul 
instead of soul to mind, it would look different.  "You're welcome.  I 
trust Serena's decision making abilities... don't tell her that... and 
the words I said on the boat were in the heat of the moment."  It was 
quite a shock to Raye to discover that lying was impossible here.
	"I understand.  Let me just say this before you go back: we, but 
Pepper especially, had a very uneasy childhood.  My father, who passed 
away not long ago, thought she was a demon and must be banished from my 
body by means of water.  She has an incredible fear of it, and at times 
completely snaps when coming into contact with it.
	"What enables us to use our keys is our personalities.  Pepper 
embodies the spirit of fire and is the better fighter of the two of us, 
and the most willing of all the TMF members to use her powers.  I 
wouldn't and couldn't help much when fighting a monster, but my sister 
would be fearsome, indeed.
	"I thought someone like you would be able to help her to get over 
her fear, at least temporarily.  I apologize for using you in this 
way."
	Raye was completely speechless for the first time in her life.  
She knew what it was like to have a father who didn't love her, but 
what Pepper went through was unbelievable.  Perhaps they were the same 
spirit, like Nephadia said.  "I accept your apology," she said, and 
retreated back into her body.
	Sailor Mars found herself looking back into those red eyes, but 
Pepperalki had control of herself now.  The older girl smiled crookedly 
and awkwardly, saying, "Thanks.  I would have killed myself if it 
wasn't for you."
	Mars nodded and helped Pepper to her feet.  They explored the 
cavern for hours, but always came back to the underground river.  Every 
time, the blue glow was brighter and brighter, until it was almost 
blinding.
	"I am so sick of going around in circles!" Sailor Mars snapped 
irritably after what seemed like their millionth return to the river.  
"Why doesn't this monster show up?"
	"Really," Pepper commented with a frown.  She closed her eyes and 
reopened them.
	"Warn me when you do that next time," Sailor Mars growled.
	"Sorry," Nephadia giggled.  She turned her attention to the 
water.  "I'm sure this blue glow has something to do with it."  Holding 
up her key, she sent a jet of flame into the light.  There was a loud 
rumble, and the waves began to crash violently against the floor.  
"This looks bad... Pepper's taking over."  She closed her eyes.
	A pillar of water rose from the river and crashed into the cave 
ceiling a hundred feet above them.  As it came back down, it revealed 
an enormous aquamarine serpent.  Its green crest rose as its brilliant 
blue eyes sparkled with amusement.  A large, blue gem twinkled in its 
forehead.  Grinning a grin that showed a million glistening, pointed 
teeth, it watched the tiny humans before it.
	"So you're the girls who want to destroy my pretty crystal.  Not 
very impressive," it commented.
	"I'll show you impressive!" Pepper yelled as she threw a large 
fireball at the serpent.  It laughed as the fire bounced harmlessly off 
its scales and sizzled in the water.  Using its tail, it splashed some 
of the water at Pepper, who yelped and jumped against the wall.
	"Silly, silly little girl.  Afraid of a little thing like water?" 
the serpent taunted, splashing water closer and closer to the quivering 
Pepper.
	Without warning, Sailor Mars jumped in between the serpent and 
the object of his amusement.  "Hold it!" she ordered.
	The serpent smirked.  "Oh?  Amuse me."
	Mars desperately wanted to wipe that smirk off the serpent's 
face, and could feel her anger boiling inside of her.  Like she did so 
many other times before, she turned it to energy, directed at the 
enemy.  "Mars," she chanted, feeling fire burning in her palms.  She 
brought her hands forward, and cupped a small fireball in them.  
"Inferno."  The fireball grew, in intensity and size.  "Engulf!"  It 
flew at the serpent, growing bigger all the while, and surrounded the 
water creature's head in the blazing orange, yellow, and red of flames.
	As the serpent howled in pain, Sailor Mars helped Pepperalki ease 
away from the wall.  "Are you okay?" she asked.
	Pepper jerked her head up, looking over Mars' shoulder, and 
shouted, "Look out!"  They jumped in separate directions as the serpent 
sent a torrent of water at them, leaving a dent in the wall.  "You'll 
pay for that," it snarled at Mars.  "You almost hurt me."
	The serpent hissed and darted in, snake like, trying to snap the 
Sailor Scout in half.  Mars danced nimbly out of the way.  Recovering, 
the serpent lashed out again, and Sailor Mars dodged, but just barely.  
Pepperalki was staring at the serpent in shock.
	"Nothing hurts him... unless..." She raised her voice, "Mars!  
Get him over here!"
	Sailor Mars raised an eyebrow but didn't question the order.  The 
next strike the serpent made brought him closer to where Pepper stood.  
And the next, still closer.  After a little while, it was almost on top 
of her.
	What Mars witnessed next was one of the most amazing, remarkable, 
ridiculous things in her life.  She watched, wide-eyed, as Pepperalki 
pulled a white feather, which was almost as tall as her, out of her 
sleeve.  Pepper proceeded to vault onto the monster's neck, and tickled 
him under the chin.
	"Coochie coochie coo."  Pepper laughed an insane laugh usually 
reserved for people confined in mental hospitals.  And the serpent 
laughed.  "Now!"
	Suddenly realizing what her companion wanted, Sailor Mars 
summoned more energy.  "Mars Inferno Engulf!"  The searing flame went 
through the monster's mouth, and straight into his gullet.
	Pepper leaped off, and watched, fascinated, as the serpent 
writhed in pain.  "That's one serious case of heartburn."  Sailor Mars 
moaned and rolled her eyes.
	With a hiss, the serpent started to pick itself back up.  Pepper 
sent fire bolts at it repeatedly, all of which bounced harmlessly off 
its scales.  "I'm not finished with you, girl," it growled, and with a 
swipe of its tail held a helpless Sailor Mars in the middle of the 
river.
	Pepper shrieked and ran to the edge of the river.  The sea-
monster laughed.  "Try anything, and I'll squeeze the life out of her."  
Pepperalki stopped, unable to step into the water.  "So," it turned its 
attention to the Scout.  "Have anything to say for yourself?"
	Sailor Mars wiggled in its grasp, struggling to get her hands 
free.  Distract him.  Do anything; Pepper will help.  She looked 
directly into the monster's eyes and spat.
	If the serpent could raise an eyebrow it would.  "Trying to add 
insult to injury, Sailor Mars?  You are a feisty one."
	Sailor Mars grinned nastily.  Both hands were free.  She extended 
them, palms forward, as the serpent chuckled.  "You know your inferno 
can't hurt me."
	"Mars."  Predictably, the heat built up around the palms, and a 
small ball of fire hovered in front of them.  "Fire Star."  The ball 
expanded, becoming an eight-pointed star.  "Flash!"  Clapping her hands 
together, Sailor Mars destroyed the star.  There was a flash of red and 
orange, and the monster looked around, confused.
	"Where are you?"  It turned its head this way and that, until it 
saw what it thought was Sailor Mars.  Hissing, it reared its head back 
and shot a stream of water at enormous force at the image.
	Pepperalki stood in wide-eyed terror as the water came at her.  
She raised her arm, and pointed a finger at the serpent's forehead as a 
hundred thousand thoughts whirled through her mind.  The water came 
closer.  Still enough time to dodge.  A tiny spark of flame at the tip 
of her index finger.  The water came closer, spelling banishment, 
purification, death. Her father was yelling at her, locking her in a 
room.  She trembled, and the spark in her finger went out.  She 
screamed as she saw Sailor Mars wrapped in the coils of a giant 
serpent, slowly being killed.  No more time.
	The spark at the tip of Pepper's index finger came back, and with 
a shriek she shot a searing, white-hot flame at the water crystal.  The 
crystal cracked, and the serpent howled in pain as the source of its 
life was destroyed.  The torrent of water pushed Pepper through the 
wall as the serpent, with the last of its strength, flung Sailor Mars 
after her.

	Sailor Mars moaned, clutching her head, and wondered if this was 
like having a hangover.  She was obviously out for a while; her Sailor 
Scout healing abilities left her with only superficial wounds.
	Pepperalki, however, was another matter.  She was out like a 
light, and bleeding from a head injury and many severe cuts.  Mars was 
afraid to move her because of the several broken bones she had.
	The raven-hared Scout favored the older girl with a small smile.  
Nephadia was right; they did act very much alike, even though it scared 
her.  She frowned at the thought of being afraid of water.  If Pepper's 
father was alive she'd...
	As if on cue, Pepper moaned.  Mars turned her attention back to 
her companion and helped her sit up.  "Did we win?" the brown-hared 
girl asked weakly.
	"Yeah, you really got that crystal," Sailor Mars replied with a 
grin.  "Do you have any idea where we are?  We washed up here, and I 
didn't check the area because I couldn't leave you alone."
	Turning her head, Pepperalki looked into the cave they came out 
of, and shuddered.  She looked around for a few minutes longer, until a 
thoughtful frown appeared on her face-something that looked very out-
of-place where Pepper was concerned.
	"What?  Is there something wrong?" Mars asked worriedly.
	"You bet there is," Pepper answered.  She raised her voice to a 
shout.  "Can someone get us out of this ditch?"
	Sandre showed up a moment later with someone Sailor Mars didn't 
know: a girl with shoulder-length black hair and extremely pale skin.  
She wore a purple dress, a beautiful sky-blue pendant, and ruby 
slippers.  They were carrying a stretcher.
	It wasn't until later that Raye finally managed to ask Nephadia 
what Pepperalki found so wrong.  She laughed and said, "Leinis won a 
game of dice with Fate and Destiny... that's why you ended up in the 
moat of Castle Ardweden."

Chapter 6 or A Matter of Life and Death

	"This place is so creepy," Sailor Moon said with a shiver.  She 
and Cherden were standing in an enormous cave, with a stone floor and a 
ceiling so high it was like another sky.  A large, stone castle stood 
in the distance, next to a black rushing river.  Nothing except the two 
girls was in color, just black, white, and shades of gray.
	"It's supposed to be.  This is the world of Death in Prosperity, 
and nothing short of creepy will do," Cherden replied.  She nervously 
tugged at her braid.  "But this isn't right; the dead of Ineckey should 
be around here somewhere."
	Sailor Moon shrieked.  "Dead people lying around are a good 
thing?!"
	Cherden laughed.  "No, no.  This is the... um... afterlife.  
They're people just like us, except in black and white.  It's run by 
Mary, Queen of Death," she explained.  "See?"  She pointed at the 
castle.  "That's where she lives.  If we follow the river Styx we 
should reach it."
	"Is she nice?" Moon asked.  Cherden nodded.  "Let's go ask her 
what's going on."
	They followed the river in silence, Cherden wondering what was 
going on and where all the cute guys went, and Sailor Moon worrying 
about Darien.  Finally, Sailor Moon broke the silence.  "What are dead 
people like?"
	"Well... no different than when they were alive, I think.  They 
remember everything... but I was only down here a few times while I was 
alive, and I don't really remember when I was dead, except that one 
time when everyone died and there was a huge shortage of space.  Mary 
didn't have enough time to throw us all into Styx River before we were 
brought back to life.  Maybe you should ask Dannysmartful.  He was dead 
for two years, and remembers all of it."
	Sailor Moon gave a start.  "You were reincarnated, too?"
	"Um... we were all reincarnated once and died twice, except 
Dannysmartful; he died three times.  Reincarnation's such a pain.  Had 
to wait five hundred years and then that dork Leinis screwed up and put 
Nephadia and Pepper in the same body!  They were supposed to be twins!"
	Making a face, Sailor Moon said, "Tell me about it.  We were 
reincarnated a thousand years after we fought an all out battle against 
the Negaverse on the moon.  Time travel's even worse, though.  I had a 
daughter visit myself from a thousand years in the future.  Now I know 
that I'm really destined to be with Darien."
	"Isn't that the guy you're trying to save?" Cherden inquired.
	"Yeah."  Sailor Moon acquired a dreamy look.  "My Tuxedo Mask.  
It's hard to believe anyone looks just like him."
	Cherden snorted.  "Well, I think it's hard to believe anyone 
looks like Will."  Before they could continue with this fascinating 
conversation, they reached the castle.  It was at least twice the size 
of Castle Ardweden, and loomed over the two girls threateningly.  
Sailor Moon gave a squeak, she didn't think it would be so big up 
close.  "I'll go see if anyone's home," Cherden said.  She ran up to 
the front door.
	Sailor Moon chewed her lower lip nervously.  This place was so 
scary!  If only Darien were here... but he wasn't.  That's what she was 
here for, to save Darien.  He could be hurt, or worse, and she had to 
be strong for him.  Her handsome Darien, with his bright blue eyes, and 
always saving her just in time...
	She was so lost in thought she didn't feel the ground open 
beneath her and fell with a startled cry.  A green glow enveloped her 
and vines sprang from the sides of the pit, carrying her above ground 
safely.  Cherden ran up to her with a worried expression.
	"Are you okay?" she asked.  The same green that enveloped Sailor 
Moon was radiating from her key.
	"Y-y-yeah, I'm okay," Sailor Moon said shakily.
	They heard a high pitched laugh, and the air was filled with the 
sweet fragrance of cherry blossoms.  Cherden frowned.  "Pepper, what 
are you doing here?"
	"I don't think that's Pepper," Sailor Moon said nervously.
	"Very good, Sailor Brat.  I didn't know you had it in you."  
There was another laugh as swirling petals appeared before the 
companions.  A woman stepped out of the petals.  She had pale, white 
skin and light, wavy gray hair.  A dark gray general's uniform was on 
her, complete with black boots and light gray piping.  A small crystal 
in her forehead swirled with a sickly gray color, and Sailor Moon could 
feel her life being slowly sucked away.  The only part about the woman 
that wasn't gray was her brilliant emerald green eyes, blazing with 
hatred.  "Now you will pay for what you did."
	"Zoisite.  We wondered what happened to you, you witch."  Sailor 
Moon glared at the guardian of the Crystal of Death with contempt.
	"I couldn't care less."  Zoisite turned her attention to Cherden.  
"Who's your new playmate?"
	Cherden took a step back and looked from Sailor Moon to Zoisite 
with confusion on her face.  "What's going on?"
	"It doesn't matter," Zoisite sneered.  "All you need to know is 
that I'll do anything to avenge Malachite.  Zoi!"  A flurry of cherry 
blossoms were released from her hand and flung into the girls' faces.  
Sailor Moon shut her eyes and reflexively reached back for her Moon 
Scepter, and was surprised to find a silver rod instead.  Runic symbols 
decorated the handle, and a diamond star was near the top.  There was a 
soft silver glow, and the Silver Imperium Crystal appeared and floated 
in all its glory to settle at the tip.
	Zoisite laughed.  "What are you going to do?  Hit me with that 
baby rattle?  Zoi!"  Deadly ice crystals materialized and flew at the 
two.  Cherden and Sailor Moon gasped and quickly leaped away.  Zoisite 
flung volley after volley at the girls, until she tired of doing things 
the hard way and conjured a crystal behind Cherden.  It impaled itself 
between her shoulder blades, and she screamed as she fell face first.
	Confident of the meddler's inaction, Zoisite advanced on Sailor 
Moon, who was staring in horror at Cherden's body and trying not to 
scream.  "Ready to die, Sailor Brat?"  Another wave of ice crystals 
appeared from all around.  Sailor Moon clutched the silver rod in front 
of her and swallowed.  The crystals were released, and flew at their 
target.
	Unbidden, words sprang into Sailor Moon's mind.  "Moonlight," she 
chanted as the crystal pulsed with a silver white light.  "Barrier!"  
The glow expanded, forming a silver and white sparkling dome around the 
Moon Princess.  When the ice crystals touched it, they disintegrated.  
Zoisite swore and sent more and more crystals flying, all of which did 
no good.
	Sailor Moon couldn't keep it up, though.  Eventually, a crystal 
got through and cut her leg.  She fell to her knees, more from 
exhaustion than from injury as Zoisite laughed.  A fireball appeared in 
the general's hands as she casually tossed it from one to the other.
	"One Sailor Scout, burnt to a crisp.  Oh, how I wish I could be 
killing Cape Boy too, but this will have to do.  This one's for 
Malachite!"  Zoisite threw an enormous fireball with all her strength 
at Sailor Moon, who shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
	The inevitable never happened.
	A green sphere surrounded the guardian of the Death Crystal, and 
the fireball sizzled against it.  Zoisite turned and glared at the girl 
who dared do such a thing.  Cherden was standing, power brilliantly 
blazing from her key.  A gaping wound was in the middle of her back, 
but it was surrounded by a green aura, and slowly sealing itself.  She 
glared back.
	"This isn't possible!" Zoisite cried, throwing ice crystals and 
fireballs at the glowing bubble.  "I tested your abilities.  Not enough 
power to destroy a mouse."  Screaming in rage, she tried to teleport 
out, only to reappear where she vanished.
	"It's always easier to destroy than to heal," Cherden responded 
quietly.  She felt the key's energy being depleted as time went on.  
Dizziness and nausea threatened to overcome her as she clenched her 
teeth in pain.  Zoisite hurt her friend, was trying to destroy her 
world, and all she could do was contain the general for a little while.  
Of course, she couldn't let Zoisite know that.
	"No, no!"  Zoisite was frustrated, throwing fireball after 
fireball at the sphere.  "It's not supposed to be this way!  It can't 
end this way!"  She shook her head, on the verge of tears.  "Malachite, 
how can I avenge you now?"
	"You don't need to avenge anyone," Sailor Moon objected.
	"Yes I do!" Zoisite screamed.  "You killed him, Sailor Brat!  For 
all your talk of love and justice, you couldn't spare the life of the 
one I love!  All that time of pain and torment, never seeing him, never 
knowing, trapped in the darkness without hope, is all because of you!  
I have to avenge him!"
Sailor Moon blinked back tears herself, seeing her enemy in so much 
pain.  "But couldn't you-"
	Zoisite laughed bitterly, hot tears streaming down her cheeks, 
but she was beyond caring.  "You don't understand, do you?  That little 
brat who brought me back has the power to bring Malachite back the same 
way.  Unless I kill you, it will never happen.  I.  Have.  No.  
Choice."  She struck her fist out at the sphere in frustration, and was 
surprised to feel it slightly give way.
	"But..." Sailor Moon shook her head.  "But there has to be 
another way..."
	"There is another way," Cherden interrupted weakly.  "She's being 
deceived.  I'm pretty sure the enemy has nothing to gain by bringing 
this Malachite person back.  If he has the power to bring Zoisite back 
from the dead, he can destroy her.  You have to heal her."  Sailor Moon 
nodded.
	Zoisite pushed at the boundaries of her prison, and felt it give 
way more and more... just a few more minutes...  "Zoisite."  She 
started at the suddenly kind and sympathetic voice, and turned 
distrustfully to its owner.
	"Zoisite," Sailor Moon repeated.  "I can take you to Malachite.  
I know how.  Do you trust me?"  Zoisite searched the Scout's eyes for 
the fear, contempt, disgust, anger, or any of the other things she saw 
there earlier, but didn't find it.  Instead, she saw kindness, empathy, 
sympathy, and more than a tinge of pity and sadness.
	The general shook her head in disgust with herself.  It didn't 
matter.  In a few minutes, Sailor Moon will be dead, in a few minutes 
her love would be alive...
	To live under the rule of one crueler than Beryl, to never be 
fully alive, if, of course, the little demon was telling the truth, and 
would keep the promise he made with Zoisite...
	Any one of her enemies was more trustworthy.  A few minutes was 
too long a wait.  She wanted to be with Malachite now.  Lowering her 
arms, Zoisite bowed her head to the Moon Princess.
	Not hesitating a moment, Sailor Moon hastily stood, wincing at 
the pain.  She held her silver rod in front of her, and felt energy 
gathering at the tip.  "Moon."  The crystal glowed a brilliant silver 
white light.  "Crystal."  The glow intensified, until it was almost 
blinding.  "Purification!"  She poured all she had into it and more as 
the bright beam of silver light penetrated Cherden's sphere and 
surrounded Zoisite.  The general's look slowly turned to one of peace 
as the light gathered around the Death Crystal, shattering it.  
Zoisite's features changed, her hair grew darker and straighter, her 
uniform turned into a dress, a black scepter appeared in one hand, and 
many other things, until a bewildered looking Queen of Death stood in 
her place.
	Cherden stared in awe at what took place.  "That was amazing, 
Sailor Moon!"  There was no response.  "Sailor Moon?"  Turning, she saw 
an unconscious Sailor Scout lying on the ground.  Cherden ran up to her 
and fumbled for her pulse.  Finding it, the shallow heartbeat faltered.
	No.  She won't let this girl die, not one who cares for her 
enemies as well as her friends.  A very, very faint glow surrounded her 
key, and Cherden swore.  Not enough energy to save her, unless...
	Placing her hands on Sailor Moon's forehead, Cherden concentrated 
until a healthy green glow covered them.  "Serena," she whispered to 
her friend as she fed her life energy through the contact, "don't die 
now."

	Princess Serena of the Moon Kingdom stood in the gardens of the 
Moon Palace.  The beauty of the scene struck her, and she went from 
flowerbed to flowerbed, fascinated with the silver, delicate alien 
flowers.  She heard a laugh behind her and whirled around, her gown 
making a rustling sound.
	Before her was Zoisite, but not the Zoisite she knew before.  A 
kind smile was on her face, and her emerald green eyes sparkled with 
something close to mischief.  The general's uniform was white, and her 
strawberry blond hair fell loosely upon her shoulders.  "This always 
was your favorite place."
The princess nodded as snatches of memories came back to her.  "It was, 
was it not?"
	"Yes."  Zoisite stepped closer, and a breeze ruffled her hair.  
"Princess, thank you for saving me."
	"I- you're welcome."  Serena fidgeted as she looked around again, 
soaking up all the images in her mind.  "It's so peaceful here.  I 
could stay forever."  A faint whisper of protest passed over her.
	"Don't do that!" Zoisite ordered.  "You're still needed.  Do you 
hear that whisper?"
	"Yes."  The whisper returned, trying to tug the princess away.  
She felt the urge to follow it, but looked longingly at the palace, and 
uncertainly at Zoisite.  "Will you be okay?"
	With a laugh, Zoisite replied, "I'll be fine.  You'd better get 
out of here, or I'll never have my date with Malachite."
	Princess Serena stole one last look at her surroundings, and 
finally at the beaming general, and nodded.  She heard the whisper a 
third time, and followed it back to where she was needed.

	Cherden was growing very weak from the depletion of energy, and 
knew she couldn't maintain the link much longer.  "Serena, you have to 
wake up," she commanded the body.  The other girl could come back 
whenever she wanted to, but wasn't responding.  Steeling herself, 
Cherden was about to force more life energy through when she heard a 
soft groan.
	Sailor Moon opened her eyes and stared up at Cherden's face with 
a smile.  "Zoisite," she said, "is cured.  She's finally happy."  With 
a content sigh she fell back to sleep, but with a steady pulse.
	A shadow fell over Cherden, and she looked up nervously.  Mary, 
Queen of Death, stood over her with her death scepter ready.  Cherden 
gulped and readied herself against an attack, but was really too weak 
to defend herself from anything.  "I won't hurt you," the queen said 
with a deathly calm voice, "That wasn't me the entire time.  Another 
force took over my body; I think it was that crystal... no matter.  I 
must repay you for saving me and my kingdom from such an awful future, 
and I think repayment should start with healing."  With a wave of her 
scepter, Cherden and Sailor Moon vanished in a puff of yellow smoke.

Chapter 7 or Twist in the Dark

	Sailor Venus stared at the cave opening.  All around it were 
runic inscriptions, carved in a language that the Colors of the Wind 
stubbornly refused to translate.  It was a beautiful day outside; the 
sun and moon were shining, but any light that came near the mouth of 
the cave seemed to be sucked into it.  "Are you sure we have to go in 
there?" she asked.
	Dannysmartful nodded, rebuckling his late-bus-pass-sword around 
his waist.  "Where else do you think the crystal would be?"
	"I don't know... it's just..." Sailor Venus continued to stare 
into the cave, and wondered what would happen if she fired a crescent 
beam into it.
Laughing, the brown-hared boy said, "Don't worry about the dark.  I'll 
create enough light for both of us."  A small globe of light hovered 
above his right palm.
	"Who said I was worried?"  Venus assumed a thoughtful expression.  
"How will we understand each other when we're in that cave, anyway?  
It's not like the wind's going to translate for us."
	"I'm surprised you didn't notice.  We've been speaking Ineckian 
ever since this morning."  With that, Dannysmartful turned and walked 
into the cave.
	"Hey!  Wait for me!" Sailor Venus shouted as she ran after him.

	"How long have we been down here?"
	"I don't know... maybe two hours?"
	"Why does that light of yours keep flickering?  I can barely 
see."
	"Why don't you try using your powers?  No, don't remind me, you 
can only use them to fight."
	"As far as I can tell.  Where are we going?"
	"Beats me."
	The two continued their journey through the labyrinth in silence 
for quite a while longer, until the little ball of light stopped.  "Did 
you feel that?" Dannysmartful asked as a shiver went through his spine.
	"Yeah," Sailor Venus said as she noticed the same sensations.  At 
the very edge of the light Dannysmartful cast, she spotted a puddle of 
black slime.  She idly fired a crescent beam, and it shrank back into 
the darkness.  The beam impacted a corner of the dead end they were 
walking into, and lit it up for a second.  In that second, Venus' eyes 
widened as she saw a hulking black figure, absorbing the light.  "Did 
you see that?" she whispered.
	Dannysmartful nodded, and drew his paper-thin sword.  It exploded 
into pure, white light, and he leapt at the creature.  Sailor Venus 
partially saw the short skirmish, illuminated only by the sword, but it 
ended with a cry as Dannysmartful flew backwards onto the floor.
	"Okay... let's see you take this," Venus dared as she summoned 
her new powers.  "Venus Sun Sword," she chanted as a glowing, slightly 
curved yellow sword appeared in her outstretched hand.  Leaping at 
where she thought the creature was, she brought it down in a golden 
arc.  "Slash!"
	There wasn't a single sound when Sailor Venus felt a force push 
her back, right into Dannysmartful, who just stood up.  "May I make a 
suggestion?" He asked politely as he set her on her feet.
	"Shoot."
	"Run!"
	The two ran as fast as they could through the winding, twisting 
passages of the dark labyrinth.  Sailor Venus felt a tingling in the 
back of her mind, and it began to grow in size and pain.  She tried her 
best to ignore it but it grew, faster and faster.  It wasn't like a 
headache, more like she was on fire from the inside.  Biting her lip, 
she shut her eyes and staggered on as the pain engulfed her.  Just a 
little farther... get away...
	It stopped, as quickly as it came.
	Sailor Venus clutched her head and opened her eyes.  It was 
completely dark.  "Dannysmartful?"  She didn't hear a sound.  Sighing, 
she concentrated on making a light.  The gem in her tiara began to glow 
in response.
Grinning, Venus was about to walk back the way she came, when she heard 
the cry of a child.  She ran, following the sound of the crying, until 
she spotted a small figure sobbing in a dead end.  It lifted its head, 
and looked at her in fear, then surprise, then joy.
	"Sailor Venus?"
	Venus blinked, and stepped forward for a closer look.  It was a 
little girl, only about half Sailor Venus' height.  Her clothes were 
torn and muddy, and scratches were on her arms, legs, and face.  Large, 
red eyes were puffy from crying, and occasionally broke contact with 
Venus' to dart in search of something.  "My God... Rini, what 
happened?"
	"They kidnapped me," Rini replied in a small voice.  "They wanted 
to make me bad again, to hurt Mommy.  They tried to make me older, but 
the machine broke, and I wasn't gonna cooperate.  So they threw me in 
here."  She shakily got to her feet, and ran towards Sailor Venus, 
enclosing her in a fierce hug.  "Don't let it hurt me!  Please, please 
don't let it hurt me!" she screamed as she cried into Sailor Venus' 
uniform.
	"Shush."  Venus knelt so she was face to face with Rini.  "I 
won't let anyone hurt you, I promise.  We have to get you out of here, 
but the only way I think we can do that is to find my friend.  Have you 
seen him?  He has brown hair, a sword, is a little taller than me..."
	Rini grinned happily.  "Yeah!  He went that way."  She pointed in 
the direction Sailor Venus wasn't intending on going.
	"Well then, girlfriend," Venus said as she got to her feet, 
"Let's be off."

	Dannysmartful ran.  He felt a light tingling in the back of his 
head, and tried to pass it off as nothing.  It grew in size and pain, 
though, and soon he could no longer ignore it.  Stopping altogether, he 
closed his eyes and concentrated his energies on the fire in his head, 
pushing it from his mind.  After what might have been a minute or an 
hour, he couldn't tell, he managed to banish it in favor of a migraine.
	Great.  I trade one headache for another, he thought.  Taking 
extra time to wall off his thoughts in the event of another attack, 
Dannysmartful looked up.  "Sailor Venus?"  The glowing sphere 
intensified as he looked about, but there was no Sailor Scout.  He 
sighed and continued walking.

	Sailor Venus and Rini walked in almost complete silence.  Venus 
looked about frantically for Dannysmartful, while Rini looked about 
just as frantically for whatever 'it' was.  Finally, Sailor Venus 
sighed.  "Hey Rini, do you want to talk about anything?"
	"Like what?"
	"Well... who kidnapped you?"
	Rini snorted.  "Who else?  The Negaverse."
	"Isn't that a bit odd?  I didn't know they were capable of time 
travel."
	"Yeah, well..." Rini fidgeted.  A scraping sound cut her off.  
She looked up in terror.  "There it is!"
	Sailor Venus' head snapped up.  Before her was an enormous black 
creature roughly in the shape of a man.  It looked slimy, and had three 
glowing eyes, all staring intently at her.  Displaying its rotten 
yellow teeth, it smiled, and said in a rasping voice, "Now, Rini, you 
die."
	Venus stepped in front of Rini.  "Venus Sun Sword!" she called, 
and the golden sword of light formed in her hand.  "I don't think so."

	Dannysmartful had just about given up all hope of finding Sailor 
Venus, when he saw her.  Her head was facing another direction, but he 
knew it was she.  He ran towards her, and she looked up.
	The look she gave him stopped him cold.  It wasn't one of 
recognition, but of fear and surprise.  Still, he smiled warmly at her.  
"Sailor Venus, I've been looking all over for you.  Let's stop that 
dark crystal guardian."
	"Venus Sun Sword!"  Dannysmartful was taken aback as Sailor Venus 
pointed the glowing sword towards him.  "I don't think so," she said, 
fierce determination in her voice.

	The monster looked surprised, and took a step back.  Sailor Venus 
didn't waste any time and jumped at it, slashing her sword downwards.  
At the last second, it leaped aside.  Turning, the Scout lashed out at 
it again, but her sword was blocked by a black one.  The monster began 
to attack, and Venus found herself backing up, trying to defend.

	Dannysmartful took a step away from Sailor Venus.  "Now look, I 
know we fought yesterday, but that's no reason to- ack!"  He jumped 
away from the sword strike.  Spinning, she followed it through with 
another strike, and Dannysmartful parried with his sword.
	A million thoughts raced through his mind.  Was this the real 
Sailor Venus?  What has gotten into her?  He remembered the tingling in 
his head earlier.  Could that be the cause of all this?  There was only 
one way to find out, but it would take too much time.  Unless... 
"Forgive me," he said to the Scout, and began to attack.

	Sailor Venus gasped for breath, and blocked another attack.  It 
was obvious the monster knew what it was doing; it kept her so busy 
defending that she couldn't do anything else.  She had to do something; 
she was so tired it wouldn't be long before the monster wounded her.  
And if that happened... she looked at Rini, who was screaming and 
crying for all she was worth.
	Words sprang unbidden into her mind.  "Venus," she began.  The 
monster stopped attacking, and looked as confused as a monster could.  
"Crescent."  She traced a pair of crescent moons in the air with her 
fingers.  "Shield."  The crescents started to glow a golden yellow.  
"Surround!"  They sprang to life, whirling around Sailor Venus as fast 
as the eye could see.  Venus smiled grimly, and attacked the monster, 
which blocked with its sword.

	Dannysmartful dodged a sword swipe and blocked another.  Things 
were going great until a little while ago: he was tiring Sailor Venus 
out with his superior skill with a sword.  Sure, she was probably 
stronger and faster, but he trained under Leinis himself, and God-
training is no laughing matter.
	That was, until she did that crescent shield thing.  They whirled 
around her faster than his eye could trace.  He spotted many openings 
in her defense with the sword, but couldn't tell exactly where the 
crescents were, and he didn't want his sword cut in half right now.  
Time to try something different.
He threw his sword to the side.

	Sailor Venus stopped her attack as the sword fell with a clang.  
"Sailor Venus."
	"Who said that?" she asked warily, not taking her eyes off the 
monster.
	"I did.  Dannysmartful."
	"You knew I could read minds and you didn't think I could do 
this?" the voice questioned, amused.  "Listen, but don't talk.  
Whatever you thought you were fighting was me.  Something invaded your 
mind.  I tried to make you tired enough to give myself a chance to 
touch you and get rid of it, but that obviously didn't work.  Anyway, 
you have to do it; it's in your head, so only you can see it, and I 
can't do it blind because by now it knows I'm here."
	Sailor Venus blinked.  See it?  She didn't see anything 
threatening except the monster, which already identified itself as 
Dannysmartful.  The only other creature here was Rini, and she hasn't 
done anything.
	But some things didn't add up... Sailor Venus turned around, and 
walked towards Rini.  "What are you doing?" Rini asked in a frightened 
voice, "The monster's that way, Sailor Venus!"
	"Rini," Venus said, smiling sweetly, "what's my real name?"
	"Huh?"
	"You haven't once called me by my real name.  Did you forget?"
	"Um... I..." Rini looked about frantically for a way to escape.
	"How exactly did you get here, Rini?" Venus continued, cornering 
the small girl.  "Who are the other Sailor Scouts?  Who are your 
parents?  What's your favorite color?"
	"I... I..."
	"Are you really Rini?"
	Rini burst into tears.  Sailor Venus continued smiling sweetly at 
the girl, and waited for a response.  "I... I..." the crescent moon on 
Rini's forehead began to glow, yellow at first, then darker and darker.
	"I'm NOT."  The same monster Venus was fighting appeared where 
Rini once stood.  It growled and grabbed her by the arm.
	Sailor Venus frowned.  Nobody messes with her mind.  Nobody.  
"Venus Crescent Shield Surround," she said calmly, almost without 
emotion.  The crescents cut at the monster's arm, and it let go, 
howling in pain.
	Pressing her advantage, Sailor Venus cried, "Venus Sun Sword 
Slash!" And lashed at the monster with her sword multiple times.  The 
monster was stunned, and fell to the ground without another sound.
	"Well," Sailor Venus said with a smile, "that was easy."  She 
fainted.

	"Sailor Venus!"  Dannysmartful knelt by her collapsed form, and 
noticed black ooze dribbling out of her ears.  "Oh yuck."
	The ooze gave a hissing laugh, and started to form a shape.  The 
first thing Dannysmartful saw was the black crystal it was making.  "No 
you don't," he said conversationally as he fired an intense beam of 
light from his index finger at it.  The crystal shattered and the 
monster turned to ash.  "Looks like Venus did all the work already."
	Turning his attention back to his friend, he was shocked to find 
her energy being drained.  "You must have overworked yourself," he 
commented to the unconscious girl.  Without another word, he teleported 
them away in a flash of light.

Chapter 8 or Out of the Frying Pan...

	"Reaching that opening appears to be a problem," Sailor Mercury 
noted as she and Ardweden looked up a volcano.  The hard, jagged 
surface was very imposing, not to mention the ominous roaring and smoke 
coming from the top.  Mercury's computer already had a fix on the fire 
crystal; it was inside the volcano.  And the only way in was a small 
opening near the top.
	Ardweden nodded as she appraised the situation.  The surface was 
too steep to be trusted, and any handhold they were likely to find 
would probably break.  A difficult surface for climbing, indeed.  "I 
think there's an answer," she said after a few more minutes.  In her 
hands appeared a pair of ice crystals, very sharp at each end, and wide 
enough to be held comfortably.  "Follow me."
	With that, the thief pushed one of the crystals into the side of 
the volcano, followed by the one in her left hand a bit higher.  
Standing on her toes, she conjured a couple more and placed them as 
high as she could.  She climbed onto the first two, created more 
crystals, and stuck them in still higher.
	Mercury nodded and climbed after the thief, using the crystals 
already embedded in the rock.  She wasn't going as fast as Ardweden, 
though, and the ice was melting from all the heat.  "Ardweden, they're 
melting," she said as her grip began to slip.
	"Don't look down," Ardweden warned as she climbed backwards.  
When she was only a few crystals above Sailor Mercury the scout felt an 
aura of coldness above her, and the crystals slowed the melting 
process.
	"Thank you," she said gratefully.
	Ardweden just nodded and looked up.  She swore.  "Most of the 
crystals melted; I need to do this all over again."  She set about to 
do just that.
Sailor Mercury continued climbing after Ardweden, and though the thief 
slowed down for her, she still wasn't fast enough.  Once again, she 
felt her grip slipping.  This time she didn't warn her partner; 
instead, she thought about the coldness around Ardweden.  Thinking of a 
way to duplicate the effect, she whispered, "Mercury Bubbles Blast."
	Ardweden blinked as she felt a gust of wind below her, and looked 
down.  Instead of seeing Sailor Mercury, she saw a mist moving towards 
her.  Trusting that it was Mercury's doing and not wanting to see just 
how high up she was, she resumed her climbing.
	Gasping for breath at the entrance, Ardweden said, "That wasn't 
so bad."
	"Well," replied Mercury, "Let's get going."  She looked at her 
computer and gestured forward.
	The cave looked innocent enough; gray rock carved out to make a 
passageway to the center of the volcano.  But along the way it slowly 
started to change.  It got hotter and hotter, and the walls started to 
softly glow a red-orange color with flashes of yellow.  Ardweden 
gritted her teeth and used a bit of her power to keep from passing out; 
she couldn't tell if Mercury was doing the same thing.  That girl was 
absolutely engrossed in her computer.
	Sailor Mercury stopped.  Normally, whenever she did that, she'd 
instruct Ardweden on which way to go... which turn to take in a fork, 
or whether to go down this passageway.  But this time, the Scout 
stopped in the middle of a corridor without openings.  Ardweden frowned 
and asked, "What is it?"
	"What's that?" Mercury asked as she pointed at a small stone 
formation in the glowing wall.  
	Ardweden walked closer and examined it.  "It looks like... an 
ear?"
	"Get down!" Sailor Mercury screamed as she tackled Ardweden to 
the floor.  A small fireball whizzed above their heads.  Badly shaken, 
the two got up, both sighing with relief, when Ardweden glanced behind 
her.
	"Uh oh..."  Five more fireballs were coming at them.  Ardweden 
rapidly created ice crystal after ice crystal and threw them at the 
fireballs.  They each hit accurately, and evaporated harmlessly.
	Sailor Mercury was about to comment on Ardweden's skill when a 
hissing sound alerted her to the other end of the hallway.  Eight 
fireballs were heading her way.  She started to do a Mercury Ice Storm 
Blast when an impulse urged her to try something else: see what her new 
powers could do.  Not one to follow impulses, especially in battle 
situations, she did it anyway.  "Mercury," she said quietly as she 
closed her eyes.  Her hands acquired a deep blue aura.  "Ice."  She 
traced a large circle in the air, leaving a trail of blue where her 
hands were.  "Mirror."  The blue filled in the area inside the circle, 
turning into ice.  "Reflect!"  The fireballs impacted the ice mirror.  
There was a flash of orange and blue, and the fireballs ricocheted in 
the other direction.
	Ardweden's eyes were filled with awe.  She opened her mouth to 
say something when Sailor Mercury whacked her on the side of her head 
and placed one gloved finger to her lips.  The brown-hared girl closed 
her mouth and nodded, showing she understood.  Turning at the hissing 
sound at the other side of the corridor, she quickly dispatched eleven 
fireballs.
	The two girls continued down the corridor in silent, reassuring 
company.  Each knew that a sound would send more fireballs at them.  
Sailor Mercury envied Ardweden's soft leather shoes; it seemed much 
easier to walk without a sound in them.  She had difficulty silencing 
her own hard-soled boots, but it was much, much too hot to take them 
off.
	They stopped in front of an opening into a large room.  The floor 
was a pool of lava, and brown outcroppings of rock poked out of it, 
each big enough for someone to (barely) stand on.  A hot, red haze 
filled the room, making it difficult to see very far in.  Mercury 
gained a determined look, and stepped onto the first rock.
	There was a ticking sound, and Mercury felt a hand yank her back 
into the corridor.  Blinking in surprise, the Scout saw the rock erupt 
into a flaming geyser.  It calmed down, and changed back into the rock 
it was before.  Ardweden had a thoughtful look on her face as she 
pulled a dagger out of her sleeve and placed it on the rock.  Sailor 
Mercury nodded in approval as they counted the ticks.  Six.
	Sailor Mercury peered into the red mist, trying to figure out a 
path through the lava.  Ardweden caught her companion's worried look, 
and countered with a confident grin and wink.  Before Mercury could 
stop her, she was gone, jumping from rock to rock.
	Mercury waited pensively, staring into the room, and was about to 
follow when she heard the whoosh of the geysers.  Astonished, she 
stepped back as Ardweden jumped high off the rock closest to the 
corridor, flipped in the air, and landed softly on her feet.  A tick 
later the rock erupted.
	Ardweden still had that confident gleam in her eye, and she 
flipped a bit of hair over her shoulder.  Sailor Mercury had to keep 
from laughing; it was so incredibly obvious that her companion was 
showing off.  Still grinning, Ardweden motioned for Mercury to follow 
her.  She did, always making it a point to keep two rocks between them, 
so after Ardweden jumped on one it had time to erupt and reform.  The 
red haze enveloped her, making it incredibly hot, but there was no time 
to create a mist.  She just concentrated on the task at hand, and after 
what seemed like forever they reached the other side.
	They continued down the corridor like they did before, side by 
side.  This time, though, their journey was cut short by the appearance 
of a bright red door.  After inspecting the walls for "ears", Mercury 
stated quietly, "The fire crystal's on the other side."
	The brown-hared girl nodded and tried to open the door, but it 
wouldn't budge.  Pulling a lockpick out of her sleeve, she bent over 
the doorknob.  After a few minutes, she coughed in embarrassment and 
whispered, "There's no lock."
Impulses come at the strangest times.  If you follow them, good or bad 
may happen, sometimes a mixture of both.  Amy Anderson was not a person 
to follow impulse; it was much too unpredictable to be trusted.  So it 
was to her immense surprise that she followed it twice in one day.
	Brushing Ardweden to the side, Sailor Mercury held her hand in 
the air, inches from the doorknob.  "Mercury Acid Rain," she said in a 
low whisper, very quickly so a full attack wouldn't build up.  A small 
gray cloud appeared under her outstretched hand, and tiny raindrops 
fell on the doorknob.  They ate through the metal with wonderful 
efficiency.
	Pushing on the door, Mercury opened it without a creak.  The two 
girls entered another large room, red haze obscuring their vision.  
They stopped dead in their tracks as they saw two large, yellow eyes 
coming toward them.  "Welcome to my parlor," the owner of the eyes said 
in a deep voice.  "If you want the fire crystal, you'll have to take 
it."
	A large fireball appeared out of the haze, and Ardweden and 
Sailor Mercury dodged to each side.  Can't see through this haze, 
Mercury thought.  She crossed her arms in front of her.  "Mercury 
Bubbles Blast!"  The blue and red mists canceled each other out, 
leaving clear vision in the room and a whole lot of steam.
	"Thanks, Mercury!  It was so hard to-oop."  Ardweden's words were 
cut short as she looked directly at the owner of the glowing yellow 
eyes.  He was a giant, fiery red wolf, and he snarled ferociously, 
showing his pointed fangs.  A large, deep red crystal was set in the 
middle of his forehead.
	"I don't like you," the wolf growled angrily as he circled the 
pair slowly.  "Lowering the temperature is not going to get you on my 
good side."  Red flames shot from his eyes at Ardweden.
	"Destroying the world is no way to get on mine!" Ardweden snapped 
as she recovered her composure.  Leaping away from the fire, she threw 
an ice crystal at the wolf.  A shield of fire winked into existence in 
front of the wolf and evaporated the ice.
	"Is that all?  I'll have no trouble destroying you," the wolf 
laughed as it began to slink towards Ardweden.
	"Let me try," Sailor Mercury said.  She raised her hands, palms 
first, to the wolf.  "Mercury."  She let the power build up inside her, 
taking plenty of time to say the words.  "Acid Rain!"  A large storm 
cloud materialized above the monster, and deadly raindrops fell.  The 
wolf merely laughed and redirected his shield, so not a single drop 
touched him.  In retaliation, another fireball hurtled towards Mercury, 
who exclaimed, "Mercury Ice Mirror Reflect!"  The fireball flew at the 
wolf instead, and to Sailor Mercury's dismay it dissipated harmlessly 
against his fur.
	Ardweden threw a few regular daggers; since they weren't water-
based, maybe they wouldn't evaporate.  She was right.  They melted 
against the shield instead.  The wolf smiled evilly, and started to 
truly play with his prey.  He fired flames at the girls, making them 
literally dance for him.
	"Did you notice," Sailor Mercury said as she jumped out of harm's 
way, "that when he covers one side, he leaves the other open?"
	"Yeah," Ardweden replied as the wolf howled.  It won't be that 
long until he's finished toying with us, Ardweden thought as the wolf 
threw more fire at her, Think, Ardweden, think.  And a light bulb went 
off in her head so brilliantly that it was almost visible to the naked 
eye.  "Distract him!" she ordered as she ran to the other side of the 
room.
	Sailor Mercury was about to ask why when the wolf was on her.  He 
was definitely getting tired of letting them live.  Almost without 
thinking, she threw her attack at him.  "Mercury Acid Rain!"
	Ardweden's eyes widened as she saw Mercury's attack.  She was 
distracting him already?  No time to catch my breath, she thought as 
she ran at the wolf, I have to do it now.
	The wolf predictably adjusted the fire shield to block the rain, 
and Ardweden was running at a vulnerable spot.  But just before she 
reached him, he turned to face her.  Piercing, yellow eyes met 
determined brown ones, obscured by a wall of fire.  With a scream, 
Ardweden ran through the flames.  Her key flared to life, surrounding 
her with a flickering icy blue aura, trying to keep her from melting as 
fiery pain lanced through her.  In one hand, a large ice crystal 
appeared, and she plunged it into the fire crystal.
	Sailor Mercury found herself being blown back by the resulting 
explosion.  Squinting her eyes, she found the two combatants surrounded 
by a fiery inferno.  She fought against the heat and the pain, but the 
world slowly faded away...

	Mercury regained consciousness face first on the floor.  Spitting 
out some dirt, she got up, wincing at severe burns she received.  Her 
eyes widened in shock and fear as she saw the large pile of ashes 
before her.  She stumbled towards it, dread rising as she came closer.
	When Sailor Mercury reached it, she fell to her knees from the 
pain.  She sifted through the pile, looking for a sign, any sign, of 
life.  Near the bottom, she spotted a small key, one that glowed with 
an eerie blue light.  Grabbing it with trembling hands, she clutched it 
to her chest.  She distantly felt Ariel's gentle touch on her shoulder 
as the tears began to fall.