DISCLAIMER :  NO, I did not create Sailor Moon and company.
They are a property of Naoko Takeuchi and others I don't
know of...  Still, the crew of the Deep Sea Station are my
creations, and so are all other characters in there which
are not a part of the normal Sailor Moon Universe.  I am
using the characters which are not mine without permission,
but suing me would be pretty useless, since I don't have
much.

Note :  This story takes place between episodes Worth a
princess' Ransom and Molly's Folly of the first season of
the American version of Sailor Moon.  So Zoycite is a girl,
and the NEGAVERSE wants to wake up the NEGAFORCE.

Story by Yannick Lamarre.





Sailor Moon

Dreamer's end

Prologue

	Deep Sea Station, 9:00 PM, in the middle of the Pacific
Ocean.  The silence outside  the base was overwhelming.  It
could calm the most perturbed of men and silence the
noisiest ladies on earth.  The darkness so deep under the
sea could not be breached by the brightest of lights.  It
was an never-ending night.  Down here the Deep Sea Station
was being created.  It was still under heavy construction,
but most of the vital areas were done.  Suffice it to say
it could now sustain life, along with military and
scientific activities.  A small crew of soldiers were
patrolling, as only soldiers can so deep under the ocean.
The silence and darkness couldn't be broken by anything.
Or so the people inside the base thought.
 
	" Sir, we've made visual contact with the object of our
recent research, said Captain Katrin Kerrigan in her
comlink, it seems to be a giant block of ice."

"Very good, soldier, bring it back here for further
research, answered Commander Kerrigan.  And be careful.
You're my daughter after all."

"Don't worry, dad, I'll be right back on board."

She closed her comlink and swam around the crystal.  They
had noticed it a few days before while doing an
experimental energy scan around the base.  The level of
energy it generated was, to say the least, phenomenal.
Almost on a nuclear level yet with no deadly radiation.
The scientists on board were jubilant, especially Professor
Dunkins, the local energy expert.  Yet, no one had dared
touch it up to today.  For some strange reasons, people who
approached it felt a strange presence, and it gave them the
chivvies. But someone had to get this thing inside, and
that someone was going to be her and her squad.  She gave
her orders to her men through her comlink again.

" Red squadron, listen to me.  We have to get this thing
inside.  We'll use the magnetic locks to get it moving.
Once we're on our way we'll light our boosters to speed
things up.  Not before.  Is that clear? "

The squad answered in unison.

" Yes, sir. "

She was pretty proud of her team.  They were mostly all
soldiers she had herself hand-picked.  All young men and
women who were only a few years younger than her.  The
squad had been together for a few years now, and had quite
a good service record.  Perfect, in fact.  They had done
all sorts of missions, and being posted here was probably
the most interesting one yet.  Over the years, all the
members of the squad had grown closer, some as friends,
others as lovers.  That was one of the reason they worked
so well together.  They cared for each other.

" Lost in your thoughts again, eh Katrin ? "

 She snapped to attention, surprised at herself.  She was
becoming just like her father, which wasn't necessarily a
good thing.  Her second-in-command floated before her,
grinning.  The rest of the squadron were still prepping the
crystal.

" And what about you ?  Is hovering around your command
officer more important than the mission, Lieutenant
Commander Matthew Hicks ? "   

She smiled as she said his rank, making him remember they
were in an official mission and that she was in command.

" No, but making sure my boss is still with us and not
worlds away is. "  retorted Matthew.  

His grin changed from ironic to gentle smile. 

" What were you thinking about this time ? "

Katrin looked at her working soldiers-in-arms. 

" Us, the red squad, the past... "  

She trailed off pensively then shook herself.  

" Come on, lieutenant, we've got a job to do. "

The two of them joined the rest of the squad. 

	Commander Eugene Kerrigan turned away from the
communications console and took a look outside using the
giant oval window which was part of the personal quarters
he had chosen.  He passed his hand in his hair and sighted.
Much to his disappointment, it was slowly starting to turn
gray.
Must be from worrying too much.
He hated to send his daughter on a mission, even if it was
a simple retrieval mission.  True, her and the red squad
were the best the fleet had to offer.  True, out there she
was surrounded by friends.  But, for some strange reason,
he always had a bad feeling about everything when it
concerned his daughter.  Even his own orders.  He tended to
overthink orders which should have been pretty easy to
make.  That was why he originally didn't want Katrin with
him on this station.  Deep Sea was still under heavy
development, and something could go wrong any second.  Hull
breach, falling parts, unsealed decks and other such
hazards were all common around here.  Not to mention the
very heavy risk for all out war.  So many countries were
involved here, the slightest mistake from any of the
political leaders of the ones involved could lead to total
chaos down here.  So would it be the case if Deep Sea
Station's real goal were to be revealed to those very same
countries. The project's public goal was to create the
first undersea  scientific base, protected and led by a
military presence and up to now, that segment of the
project was well developing.  All the governments had
agreed to work on that side of the  project.  But as for
the real plan behind it all, well, it was so top secret not
even the commander of the base himself knew about it.  All
he knew was that it concerned secret rooms not on any of
the official maps, the transfer of secret agents onboard
and suspicious looking silos being constructed outside the
base.  The necessary material to construct a military base
able to withstand a war was all here, and the most powerful
countries in the world, like Japan, China, France, England
and Egypt, were all participating in this.  And none knew
about it.
For the moment, anyway...
He turned away from the window and headed for his desk.
There he sighted then picked up a small photo showing a
younger himself, and young woman and a small child.
I should have listened to you all those years ago, he
thought, touching delicately the face of the woman, and
retire. 
He sighted again and put the photo where it was.
Now look at the mess where your oh-so precious position put
you and your daughter in. He could almost hear his late
beloved wife complaining about his career.  
Well, at least it looks like my last job will be the most
interesting one, he thought to himself in consolation.
He once again turned and looked through his window.  Fishes
were swimming back and forth in front of it, worryless,
without a care in the world.  For a brief moment he was
envious of them.  Then something bleeped behind him.  He
turned around and saw that  the communication light was
blinking, and he went back to the console.

"Yes?" he answered, apprehending the worst.

"Dad, I think what we've found might be of interest to
you." came the voice of his daughter.  

He found himself sighing in relief.

"Really?  I'm coming right away.", he answered. 

" Dad ? Were you worried about me ? ", Katrin asked.

Damn, I can't keep anything from that girl, just like her
mother.  Again he sighed.

" Of course not.  I knew you could handle this one just
fine. "

He heard his daughter chuckle. 

" I'll be waiting in loading bay three.  Bring that Dunkins
guy.  And hurry. "

His daughter closed the comm.  He opened another frequency
and pushed the talk button.

" Dunkins ? ", he asked.

The grumpy voice of his old scientific friend answered.

" Yeah ?  What is it this time ? "
He knew Dunkins was never in the mood for small talk, so he
got right to the point.

" We need you in loading bay three about that recovery you
were so frantic about. "

" Really ?  You finally have it.  I'll be right there.
Dunkins out. " 
  
Dunkins closed the communication.  Eugene had never seen
Dunkins so excited about something.  And why did Katrin
want him down there anyway ?  He shrugged in
non-understanding and walked out the room.  
What now ?, he thought as he exited the room, what now ?

	Professor Robert Dunkins closed his communication
console and stormed into his private laboratory.  He
hurriedly picked up a few scanners and other equipment and
closed the light.  This was the discovery of a lifetime.
The energy readings of the crystal were way off scale.
Nothing even came close in comparison.  Of course he had
neglected to tell that fact to the Commander.  Only he knew
about it.  After all, why would he tell only the United
States, if this was an international base.  He smiled as he
passed through his quarters sliding doors.  He was going to
be rich with this.  The highest bidder would receive the
information... No one else.  People said from him he was a
bastard, a jerk, or other unimportant insults, but frankly
he didn't care.  He was rich and getting richer by the day.

" And after this... ",  he said to himself as he entered
the loading bay three, seeing for the first time this
magnificent crystal, " I'm never going to have to work
again. " 
  
He grinned with a wicked smile, and headed for Squadron
Captain Katrin Kerrigan.  He absolutely had to get his
hands on her report.  He started toward her in a slow but
firm pace.

	Katrin sat a few meters away from the crystal.  It
glowed strangely with a eerie light.  She looked around
her.  Everywhere in the loading bay three her men talked to
each other, some flirting with the girl members of the
squad, others joking among themselves.  Usually, she waited
for her father standing up, as the others also usually did,
but today they all felt weary from the mission.  So instead
of standing up, they waited for their commander sitting
down.  She threw her long black hair backwards and sighted.
She noticed Matthew staring at her.  Turning her head in
his direction, he rapidly turned his gaze somewhere else,
and dared not look again.  Katrin smiled gently.  This man
was the one on the team who seemed to care the most about
her...  Could it be because he loved her ?

" Nawww... ", she convinced herself.  

But still, the doubt remained.

" Excuse me, Captain ? ", came a voice behind her...

Katrin grumbled something and turned around.

" Why hello Professor Dunkins, what can I do for you today
? "

She had never liked her father's old friend.

" Where is your father ? ", he asked coldly.

" How should I know ? ! ! ", she responded, letting the
professor's tone get to her.

Just as she said that her father entered.  He eyed the
crystal for a few seconds then headed for her and Dunkins.
Completely forgetting about her, the professor turned to
her father.
Fine, be that way, thought Katrin as she stood up to greet
her commander.


	Commander Kerrigan was impressed.  This crystal was
huge.  He sighted Dunkins heading his way, and diverted his
eyes to look at him.  Dunkins ran up to him... Ran, for
god's sake.  He hadn't seen Dunkins run since high school.
Behind him, his daughter backstabbed Dunkins with her eyes.
Eugene fought the urge to smile.  For some strange reason
Katrin hated Dunkins' guts.

" Kerrigan ! ", shouted Dunkins, " At last you're here. "

The commander got right to the point.  He knew Robert would
like it this way.

" What is it you require to study it ? "

Robert Dunkins was prepared.  He began to list what he
needed.
Eugene sighted.  This was going to cost a lot.
But it would probably prove to be interesting.

And inside the crystal, eyes flickered open.

DISCLAIMER :  NO, I did not create Sailor Moon and company.
They are a property of Naoko Takeuchi and others I don't
know of...  Still, the crew of the Deep Sea Station are my
creations, and so are all other characters in there which
are not a part of the normal Sailor Moon Universe.  I am
using the characters which are not mine without permission,
but suing me would be pretty useless, since I don't have
much.

Note :  This story takes place between episodes Worth a
princess' Ransom and Molly's Folly of the first season of
the American version of Sailor Moon.  So Zoycite is a girl,
and the NEGAVERSE wants to wake up the NEGAFORCE.

Story by Yannick Lamarre


Chapter 1
First signs


        "Serena, aren't you suppose to be studying ?", asked
Luna as she surprised Serena watching the stars.

"Luna, how do you want me to study when it's such a
beautiful night outside ! ", complained Serena.  " Besides,
maybe I'll see Tuxedo Mask in the sky tonight."

"I don't think flying around on top of rooftops in the
night sky for no apparent reason except your personal
pleasure is one of Tuxedo Mask's habit."

"We never know ", distractedly answered Serena, her mind
slowly drifting away from reality.

        Luna meowed.  She was desperate.  She was beginning to
wonder when, if ever, Serena would take her
responsibilities seriously or if she should really keep her
role as Sailor Moon.  Not that she had any choice in the
matter, actually...  Sailor Moon Power wasn't something you
gave to someone.  It was already in Serena.  All Luna did
with the locket was awaken that power.  But Luna had to
agree with Serena.  It was getting late and she was
beginning to tire a little.  Luna stretched her feline body
and slowly rounded up into a ball of fur.  Slowly she began
to close her eyes.  A few seconds later, she fell asleep.
Her last thought was that she must really be tired to go to
sleep before Serena.

        Serena slowly turned away from the window.  
Perfect, she thought, Luna's sleeping.
She quickly rose from her contemplating spot and went into
her small wardrobe. She needed something cool and new for
her party tonight.  Yes ! !  Her, Serena, had been invited
to a party.  Not just any party, but Andrew's birthday
party, no less.  The invitation had come in the mail.  It
wasn't signed, but she was certain Andrew had written it
just for her.  Serena had known neither her mother nor Luna
would let her out tonight without having her studying, and
she just didn't feel like studying.  Not tonight.  Tonight
was her and Andrew's night.  She felt like partying all
night.  The invitation had come in about a week ago.  That
came to her as a real surprise. A pleasant surprise.  She
hadn't known Andrew cared.  After rejecting a few dresses
as being too much out-of-it, she finally chose what she
thought was her finest dress.  A pink T-shirt with a green
mini-dress. 
Flashy colors, she thought, doesn't matter.
She rapidly put the dress on and opened the door of her
room, subtly.  It wasn't time to get caught by her parents.
That would be disastrous.  No stupid brother in sight or
any parental units.  She tiptoed out of her room, and
closed the door behind her.

        Back in Serena's room, Luna opened one of her eyes.
She had been only lightly sleeping as most cats usually
are.  And the noise that woke her up wasn't good.  The door
had been opened and closed.  

"Serena?"

No answer.  She looked at the window Serena had been
staring out from a few minutes ago.  It was empty.  She
looked at the bed.  Empty.  
Now where has that girl gone to ? ,wondered Luna.

        Serena closed her home's door, still trying to make as
less noise as possible.  She was probably gonna get it when
she'd return, but there was no way Serena was missing
Andrew's party... even if the price to pay meant passing
the rest of her live chained with Rei.
Now there was a scary thought.
A smile appeared on Serena's face as she thought that.  Rei
and her were friends, of course, but there was some kind of
tension between the two of them.  Especially since she
started going out with that stupid Darien.  She went in the
backyard and took her bike from the bike rack.  She didn't
use it very often, but when she did, it habitually was for
good reasons.  Reasons such as tonight.

"SERENA!!"

Serena knew that voice too well.  She looking upward at her
room's window.  Luna stared sharply at her.

" Luna... you're suppose to be sleeping... "

" No way I'm sleeping while you're out there.  Come back
now.  You've got studying to do, and besides it is getting
pretty late for a girl like you to be outside.", almost
ordered Luna.

Who does she thinks she is, my mother ? ?

" Ha, get real, Luna.  The only thing I'm going to do
tonight is go to Andrew's party."  
With that, Serena got on her bike and rode off.  

" Serena !", desperately called Luna.  

Too late, though.  

" What am I going to do with that girl ? ", asked Luna as
she went back inside through the window, more to herself
than to anyone else.

        Rei waited in front of the temple.  All lights were out
except for a few candles here and there which were kept
always lighted.  She sighed.
He's late again.  It's almost as if he does it on purpose.
She got up and walked toward the front gate.  Before her
waited the long stairway that reached the street down
below.  Rei sighted.  Darien and her hadn't been together
for very long, but at least they were something now.  They
had gone to a few places together.  She smiled.  She just
couldn't see how Serena could think of Darien as being
nothing else but some kind of jerk who's just there to
bother her.  Darien has many aspects to him, some of which
even Serena would appreciate.  And Rei was the only one who
could now truly enjoy them.  True, he was distant sometimes
and didn't seem to show much interest in most of the places
they went to together, but at least she wasn't alone
anymore.  She and him were a couple.  Maybe forever.  She
stared at the red dress she was wearing.  She hoped it
wasn't too much.  It was, after all, only Darien's friend's
birthday party.  A red car stopped in front of the temple.  
He's here !
She started down the stairs to meet with Darien.

        Amy stared at a small invitation card she had received
almost a week ago.  It was for a small celebration tonight.
For Andrew, the employee at the arcade whom Serena seemed
so fond of.  But, quite frankly, Amy just didn't have time
tonight.  She threw the small card in a nearby waste paper
basket and returned to her desk, where various study books
waited for her.  She sighed.
For once I wish I didn't have all this studying to do...
but becoming a doctor is hard, and I have to accept the
fact that I have much less free time than the others.
She opened one of her books and began studying.


Serena got there early, for the whole place was still dark.
She got off her bike and started walking beside it, looking
for a spot to put her bike.  She saw a bike rack near the
entrance, and put it there.  She made sure it was well
locked then headed for the front of the arena.

"Great, maybe I'm going to be able to spend  some time
alone with Andrew before the guests arrive."  

Serena looked around a bit before going inside.  No cars
were parked in the parking lot, but a familiar one waited
at the end of the street from where she'd come.  She just
couldn't remember where she'd seen it before.  She slowly
started to walk toward the entrance, still looking around
suspiciously.    
The arena sure is a strange place for a party, she thought.
Wait a minute... What if this isn't a party at all, but
just Andrew's way of asking me here because he wants to
tell me something.
Serena's hearth began to beat faster.  If so, this would be
even more worth being grounded for a year.  She reached the
doors.  On it a small paper said the place was closed.  But
when she tried opening one of the doors, it gave no
resistance.  She entered.  The place was dark.

" Huh, hello ? ", she called into the darkness.  " Anyone
here ?  Andrew ? "

Just as she walked in the arena, she noticed banners saying
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW" suspended all over the place.  A
nasty doubt suddenly appeared in her mind.  A doubt
confirmed by the voice that greeted her. 

" How are you doing, meat ball head? "

Serena's mind froze.  Her beating hearth went down a few
beats.  No...  Not...

"Darien?  What are you doing here ?  We don't need you to
spoil the party! "  

She didn't know why she reacted so coldly to him.  Just
seeing him made her feel so angry.  It was really strange.

" Why would I spoil it, meat ball head, I organized it!"  

Darien had to go and call her that again.  And what was
that about organizing this party ?
Oh no !  This must be a surprise party.    
There went all of Serena's hopes to have a romantic evening
with Andrew.  She was disappointed, but at him she had
someone on whom to direct those feelings. 
Might as well let him have it, she thought.

" I'm impressed to see you could have organized such a
complicated matter, Darien."  

It wasn't the best she could come up with, but for an
opening statement it was good enough.  She looked around
the room they were in, but the two of them were obviously
alone here.  The main doors leading to the arena were
closed, and she could hear some mumbling inside.  No sign
of Andrew.  Of course there would be no sign of him.  This
was a surprise for him.
Andrew hadn't invited her, Darien had.  For all she knew,
Andrew didn't even know she was going to be here.  She
might as well leave.

" You know, I almost didn't invite you at all, meat ball
head, but since you always hang around at the Game Center
and all, I told myself: why not?  Besides, Rei even said it
would be a good idea to do so.  Just make sure you don't
make me regret it! "

Now, why had Rei said that... Bet she probably knew what
I'd think about all this and decided to have a good laugh
at my expense.

" Don't worry, Darien, I'm not going to embarrass you.  I
still know how to behave. "

I'll stay just to make Darien anxious, decided Serena,
smiling like a small devil would. 
Darien shrugged, suddenly showing no interest in the
matter.  He returned to the main doors, gazing outside to
see if anyone was coming.  "Anyway, you're the last one to
get here, so you might as well get with the others and wait
for Andrew."  She stared at him a few seconds, then turned
away.
Serena mumbled something nasty in return and went inside.

        The room was large, and totally dark, but Serena could
still see and here people here and there.  The whole place
was filled with chairs.
Must be a long guest list if they have so many chairs.
She couldn't say who was there exactly, all she could see
when she concentrated on someone's face were vague
features, nothing to identify someone exactly.  
With so many people around, there were no way Andrew would
have time for her.  She tried to look around for anyone she
knew, or for anywhere to sit, but with little success.
I wonder if I should leave.  I could wish Andrew happy
birthday tomorrow, in private.  She looked back at the
doors...  Her way of escape...  But she decided against it.
Maybe she could steal some time with him tonight.  She
finally spotted an empty chair.  With difficulty, a few
excuses for walking on people's feet and bumping into a few
others, she finally got herself to the chair and waited.
No one seemed to be paying any attention to her.  Then she
heard footsteps stopping behind her.  Before she even had
time to wonder who it was, the person began to talk.

" Hey, Serena, looks like you finally made it, I thought
you'd died or something!  By the way, I sure hope you
didn't crush too many people's feet getting here, you clots
!"

Now she knew who it was.
No, thought Serena, not her too!

" Rei, what are you doing here ? ", asked Serena, even
tough she thought she knew the answer.

" Darien's my boyfriend, remember ? I'm here with him. "

Rei's comment opened a golden occasion for Serena.  She saw
her chance to attack both Darien and Rei at the same time,
and considering the mood she was in, she jumped on the
occasion.  Gladly.

" You two really go together well, you know that ?  One is
as much annoying as the other! "

" Why don't you mind your own business for once, Serena? "

" What, you mean to tell me that your continuous laughs at
my expense aren't my business? », asked Serena, trying to
sound as aggressive as she could, which wasn't really hard,
considering the mood she was in.

But someone appeared behind them, and the tone of voice in
the man's voice cut both of them from continuing the fight.

" YOU TWO KNOCK IT OFF, warned Darien, his tone of voice a
bit higher than he intended, YOU ARE BOTH ACTING LIKE
KINDERGARDEN KIDS..."  

Darien's tone suddenly changed from angry to peaceful.

" ...besides, he continued, warning everyone at the same
time, he's coming."

Both Rei and Serena sunk in a corner of the room, and shut
up , for the moment anyway.  

        Outside, a car parked in front of the arena and a young
man came out. Andrew looking completely worn out, came out.
He didn't want to be here.  The best place for him to be
right now, in his humble opinion, was his bed.  What the
hell was he doing at the arena ?   He looked around.  No
cars anywhere, although he saw Darien's car parked at the
corner of the street.  And there was this bike in the rack
beside the arena...  It too looked strangely familiar...
and out of place this late in the night.  Aside from that,
the place was silent and empty.

" Darien ! », he shouted. « Darien, if this is some kind of
joke... "

" No joke, pal. », said Darien, coming out of the arena. «
Come on in, we've got to talk. "

Andrew gave him a suspicious look, but since he hadn't
noticed anything completely wrong since he arrived and
there seemed to be no one here besides Darien, he shrugged
and followed Darien inside the arena.  Everything was
completely dark inside.  There was not a soul in sight.
That's when he noticed Darien was gone.
Now where has he gone to ?  And why did he invite me here?
We could have talked at his house or somewhere...why the
arena?  

" Hello ? », he called. « Is anybody here?  Darien, if you
don't... "

" Relax, cut in Darien. «  I'm here. "

" So, what's up? ", asked Andrew. " What was so urgent that
I had to come here in the middle of the night?  And how did
you get in anyway, the place's closed... And whose bike is
that in the rack outside ? "

" Well... The bike probably belongs to some kid who forgot
his bike here.  As for the rest..."

Darien abruptly opened the lights and pushed Andrew in the
main room of the arena.  That was the signal.  Serena and
all the others in the arena suddenly rose up and shouted.

" SURPRISE!"

Balloons started floating, shouts of joy and good wishing
rang in the air.  The crowd flowed towards Andrew, who
stood there, stupefied. All, except for Serena, who waited
until everyone had pulled back to approach Andrew.

" Hey Andrew ! " , she called when she finally could
approach him alone.  

" Serena, nice to see you here. "

He smiled and actually looked sincere.  A warmth burned in
Serena's hearth and she smiled.
He means it, she thought.

" What ?", she said, trying to sound playful. " Did you
actually think I wouldn't be here? "

Andrew smiled at her and shrugged.

" Hey !" Andrew answered, on the defensive.  "I didn't
think anybody except Darien would be here. "

" Right."

She smiled at him.  
He's so nice to me, even tough I'm years younger.  Maybe he
does care for me.
Serena felt herself flush.  She only hoped Andrew wouldn't
notice.  She looked elsewhere to hide her reddening face.
Her eyes landed on a pile of still unopened presents.
Serena suddenly realized something horrible.
Oh no!  I didn't get him any presents.  

" Anyway, Serena..."  Andrew continued.  "I'll see you
later, ok ?  I've got other friends to meet. "

" Uh, sure, go right ahead ! ", Serena replied, wondering
what she'd done wrong to make him run like this.

Andrew walked away and Serena stayed with her thoughts.
Behind her people talked.  If she'd paid attention, she
would have seen Andrew's sister kissing him on the cheek as
she gave him a present and left, saying she had an
important work to do for the next day.  And she would have
seen the note from Rita, Andrew's girlfriend, as he opened
his present from her, saying she was sorry she couldn't be
there, but that they could plan a special dinner the next
day...  But Serena didn't see any of that.  She was lost in
reverie and deep thoughts.
Perhaps I should tell him how I feel...  I mean if he
really cares for me...
She caught Darien in the corner of her eye.  He was a bit
apart from the others.  Rei was with him, blabbing about
something she just couldn't understand from this far, and
strangely, she seemed to be bothering him.  Serena raised
her eyebrow in suspicion.
Perhaps Darien wasn't as stupid as he seemed to be if he
was finally getting bored with Rei.  
Still, Rei was her friend, even if they looked like bitter
enemies.  Serena felt a bit sorry for her.  Oh well, it's
none of my business who Darien loves or not.  Rei will find
out soon enough he's not as interested in her as she is in
him.
She looked at the door leading outside.  She really didn't
have anything left to do here.  Andrew wouldn't have time
to spend alone with her.  She had seen him, had wished him
happy birthday, and now she was alone.
Perhaps she ought to leave. 
Andrew is too occupied with his friends to bother with me,
anyway.
She sighed and headed for the door.

" Hey, don't go, meatball head, the cake hasn't been served
yet!"

Serena stopped with surprise and shock.  
DARIEN is asking ME to stay.  O.K., that was weeeeiiiird.
What next, I'm going to  accept to go out with Melvin?
Ewwww!

" I wasn't told anything about a cake...", said Serena,
suddenly realizing what Darien had said.

I am getting hungry...

" Of course no one told you about it, it was a surprise.
Just make sure you don't go around telling everyone and
spoil that surprise!  You almost spoiled the last one,
leaving your bike in the rack like that.  You should have
brought it inside or something.  You're such a stupid
meatball head."

" DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!  And I'm not as stupid as the
airhead you hang around with. " she said, throwing an icy
cold look at Rei, who stood behind Darien.  

Darien saw it, and decided to interfere before things went
out of hand.

" Hey, back off, meat ball head.  Let's not start a war,
here. " 

Serena looked up at Darien in frustration, then walked
away, furious. Rei laughed in the background.  She really
was having a kick out of laughing at Serena.  But Rei
hadn't seen Darien's attitude toward her a few minutes ago.
Perhaps he's not going to hang around her for long, after
all. 
She smiled and walked for the tables, already thinking of
the cake which was waiting for her.


        In a mansion on the far side of town, owned by
millionaire Maxfield Stanton and his company, Neflyte, also
known by common mortals as the very same Maxfield Stanton,
observed a star map, which apparently was suspended in the
air, with great concentration.  There was something strange
about this night.  There was a bizarre... energy in the air
tonight.  Something which he felt strangely familiar with.
He closed his eyes and started focusing, the energy he
released causing his brown hair to float around him.
Slowly he started reciting his usual formula.

" The stars know everything..."

As he said that, the stars on the map shifted and a form
appeared.  Neflyte froze.  Not only had he barely begun his
focus, but the face the stars showed was all too familiar.

" How can this be?  How can he still be alive!?"

Neflyte switched the map off with a thought.  And began to
laugh.  If he, wherever he was, was really coming back,
then things really were going to heat up for him and his
Queen. 

" How interesting... "

He smiled and walked out of the room.


Somewhere in Tokyo, she woke.  Her master was coming.



Deep Sea Station.  6:00 am the next morning.

" How's it coming, professor Dunkins ?", asked Commander
Eugene Kerrigan.

The answer came through the intercom on the wall.  The
Commander himself had asked for the complete isolation of
the crystal they had found.  It didn't take very long to
discover something or someone was inside.  Put there by god
only knows who.  He had hesitated to add that in his report
to his official "boss", afraid of what they might ask him
to do.  And what he had feared the most they might say,
they said.  So now they were trying to free it.  Not that
he had agreed with the decision.  The orders had come from
above, and there wasn't anything he could do about it.  He
had to obey the government alliance.  He only hoped
whatever was in there wasn't dangerous.  He had a daughter
to think about, for god's sake.  He frowned at the intercom
as the answer took time in coming. 

" Not so good, Kerrigan.",  answered Dunkins. "This stuff,
whatever it is, is tough. "

Eugene decided to ignore the lack of discipline and respect
Dunkins showed in calling him Kerrigan.  They were, after
all, going to live here for quite a few years together.

" Continue your work, Robert. "

He showed the same disrespect calling him that.  They were
even now. 

" Yes, Eugene, I shall do that... It's not like I have the
choice..."

The comm. clicked off.  The commander smiled and turned
away heading for his daughter's quarters.  Wake up call had
been an hour ago, and he still hadn't seen her this
morning.  And she  hadn't brought in her report on last
night's retrieval mission yet.  That was a bit strange.
Being late wasn't in Katrin's list of usual behaviors.
Something was wrong.  He had that strange feeling deep down
inside him that told him something was wrong with his
daughter.  He reached her door.  Everything seemed silent
inside.
Don't tell me she's not even up yet ! ! !
He frowned again, this time more of worry than of
impatience.  He knocked on her door.  No answer.
Something's wrong here.  Better go inside and see what the
problem is. 
Decided, he went in.  All lights were closed in the room.
There were no sounds except for the sound of slow but easy
breathing.

" Katrin ?", he asked.

No answer came.  He reached for the switch on the wall and
opened the lights.  His daughter was peacefully sleeping in
her bed.  The electronic alarm clock had been deactivated.
Looks like his daughter, for the first time in her career,
had decided to sleep late.  He hated to do this, but a
soldier, even if she was his daughter, was still a
soldier...

" Captain Katrin Kerrigan! ", he shouted as he would to any
soldier he'd find still in bed. 

" Wake up call was ONE hour ago.  And can I ask you where
is your report on last night's mission?"

Katrin rose suddenly from her bed and took a standstill,
hands behind her back.  She was still in uniform.  Her eyes
were weary and she looked a bit confused, but still she
knew a command when she heard one, even if that command had
been given by her father and that she had been sleeping
when he gave it.  Eugene was proud of her for that.  But he
noticed she hadn't changed, though.
She didn't even change before going to bed.

" Sorry, sir, I guess I overslept, sir, she answered. "

" I can see that, captain. "

Eugene gave her a severe look, but when he saw the look on
his daughter's face, he knew she knew he was only kidding.
He could never be truly rigid when it came to his daughter. 

" Daaad, stop kidding me around...", Katrin said, using her
weak little childlike voice she hadn't used in years,
breaking the fake seriousness which seemed to have
installed itself in the room.  

She smiled at her father.  The commander was surprised by
that change of tone.  He finally relaxed.

" So, care for an explanation ?" asked Eugene. "What
happened last night that made you so tired?"

Katrin yawned and shook off the tired sensation which still
hung on her, then shrugged in answer to her father's
question.

 " I don't know.  When I returned from the mission, I felt
really drained.  I was so weak I could barely keep my eyes
open. "

Eugene raised an eyebrow in questioning, then smiled.  He
HAD been a bit exigent lately.  Maybe a shore leave was in
order...  They could all benefit from a little vacation.
He'd have to give thoughts to that idea.  

" I see.", understood the commander. "I'll wait for your
report in my office at 700 hours."

His tone had obviously returned to seriousness.  Katrin
understood she was now talking to her commander, not her
father anymore.

" Understood, sir !" answered Katrin.


        " AHHHHHH!  I'm gonna be late for school again!", came
the familiar cry in the morning.  

Luna had been awake for quite a while and watched as Serena
rapidly dressed up in about a few seconds and headed
downstairs.  
There must be a way to turn the speed and agility she uses
to prepare herself for school to our advantage.
Luna smiled at the thought and slowly stretched herself,
and followed her downstairs, where her usual milk bowl was
waiting for her.  Serena ate her toasts as she ran, kissed
her mom, and headed out.  Luna sighed.  This scene was way
too familiar.  Luna jumped on the counter and used the
window to get outside, as she did everyday.
Time to check up on central command.
Luna headed for the arcade.  It was still closed for three
hours, so she had time.  She got there quite early and,
using her secret passage, which was actually the
ventilation systems, she got in.  Once inside, she headed
for the "Sailor V" game.  A few weeks ago she had the idea
to use this console which Serena was so fond of to create a
relay station with central command.  It had been quite a
challenge, but now that it was done, she was glad she had
taken the time.  She put her paws on the screen and it
blinked on.  The familiar voice of central command spoke.

"Say the password.", came the cold voice of the computer.

"When the cats are not there, the mice dance.", answered
Luna.

"Acknowledged."

"Is there anything going on these days ?  I feel something
strange, but cannot pinpoint it."
 
" There is something evil happening somewhere in the world.
For the moment, we cannot give you any more information. "

" That's it ?", said Luna. "No directions, no precise
location ?  Just somewhere in the world. "

" We will contact you again when we know more."

The contact was cut.  Luna stepped from the game console
and exited the arcade.

" At least...", she said, "I'll tell the girls to be
ready."


Serena had reached school late again.  She sat in the hall,
half-sleeping.  The party had ended so late last night,
Serena had barely had 4 hours of sleep.  She was down and
out for the count.  To her surprise, she saw Amy coming
down the corridor.

"Amy ?  What are you doing out of class ? ", Serena asked.
It wasn't like her to be skipping classes.

Amy stopped at Serena's side and explained.

"My teacher asked me to bring this book back to the
library."

Amy showed Serena a big book she was holding, the kind
Serena would never read in a thousand years.

"So, how was the party last night ?  Was it fun ?", Amy
questioned.

"So-so...  Rei told me she had sent you an invitation.  Why
didn't you come ?"

"I had to study.", explained Amy. "I have a test today".

"Really ?  That's too bad.  It would have been more fun
with you around.", Serena said, smiling at her friend.

You can always count on Serena to say the best things to
cheer one up.  Amy smiled and waved toward the library, at
the end of the hall.

"Yes, well I'll try to make it next time.", Amy said.
"Listen we'll see each other at lunch later on, right ?
Now I must bring this before my teacher begins to worry."

"Sure !  See you at lunch !"

Amy smiled one last time at Serena then went on her way.
Serena sighed and waited patiently for Miss Haruna's
punishment.
 
        Rei was only partially listening to her teacher.
Partially because right now, she was in French course and
frankly, she hated French.  And the fact that she was
half-asleep didn't help.  Last night's party had been hard
on everyone.  It had ended around 3:00 AM.  She sat near
the windows, where she could see outside.  She was gazing
through one of them right now, in fact.  It was a
beautiful, sunny day.  Birds flew peacefully in the sky,
children walked with their mothers in the park.  A perfect
day to be outside.  A perfect day to be working at the
temple or to take lovely walks with Darien.  And here she
was, at school, wasting her time listening to some stupid
French course.  Her teacher said something about spelling
something, and the next thing she knew, she was being asked
to spell castle, in French.  Rei rolled her eyes and sighed
before rising and answering.

" Err...", she hesitated, then began, "C-H..."

That's when she felt it.  A sensation that something was
wrong.  Hitting her like waves hit a beach, continuously.
Coming from everywhere.  It was overwhelming, and the
initial shock of the energy was enough to almost make her
fall backward in her seat.  She looked around the room, and
found nothing wrong.  It was coming from somewhere farther,
but it was so intense and powerful that she could somehow
feel it from a huge distance.  She looked at her teacher.
She was frowning at her, as if waiting for something. 

" Well ?", asked the teacher.

Oh right !  The spelling !  Rei realized she had stopped in
mid-word.  She reassembled herself and finished.

" A-T-E-A-U.", she finished.  "Excuse me, Miss Carla, can I
go to the bathroom? "

Miss Carla raised her eyebrow in suspicion, then shrugged.
Rei had never caused any problems.  Why would she begin now
?

" Sure, Rei.  Just make sure you're back before class
ends."

"Of course."

Rei exited from the class, confused.  The feeling still was
there, everywhere.  She couldn't do a thing about it.  She
had to tell the others.  It could be... In fact, it had to
be Sailor business.  She headed for the bathroom and took
out her communicator.  Once there, she looked around and
made sure she was alone, then clicked open her
communicator, but hesitated.
Who do I call, and what do I say ?  Hey, I've got a strange
feeling, could you come check it out ? Yeah !  Right.
She closed her eyes and concentrated.  The feeling was
still there but somehow seemed to have subsided.  Fine with
her.  At least now she could live with it, and not feel
like her head was being directly bombarded by nega-energy.
Whatever the feeling was, she couldn't do anything else
about it, and she doubted any of the scouts could.  She
might as well not bother anyone else and wait until the
next scout meeting to tell them about this.  Whatever the
danger was, it was still far away anyway.  She hid the
communicator in her uniform, shuddered, and went back to
class.

        She laid in her large, worthy of a princess' bed,
waiting.  She could feel him.  He was coming.  She was
ecstatic.  He was coming back.  



DISCLAIMER :  NO, I did not create Sailor Moon and company.  They are a
property of Naoko  Takeuchi and others I don't know of...  Still, the crew
of the Deep Sea Station are my creations,  and so are all other characters
in there which are not a part of the normal Sailor Moon Universe.  I  am
using the characters which are not mine without permission, but suing me
would be pretty useless, since I don't have much.

Note :  This story takes place between episodes Worth a princess' Ransom
and Molly's Folly of  the first season of the American version of Sailor
Moon.  So Zoycite is a girl, and the  NEGAVERSE wants to wake up the
NEGAFORCE.  And yes, I know I’m using Mina in here  even though she hasn’t
met the scouts yet.  She still hasn’t in my story either, but I wanted her
to  appear at least somewhere in this story.  Call it a personal touch if
you want.  I just like Sailor V.   But Mercury is still the best.

Story by Yannick Lamarre

Chapter 2
The awakening

        Deep Sea Station, 1 :00 PM, the same day. The station was
strangely silent that afternoon.  No soldiers walked down the tall
corridors, no  scientists argued about something while drinking coffee at
the mess hall.  Nothing.  People were  either all overly occupied at their
post, or replacing staff members who were exhausted and went 
back to sleep in their quarters.  No one realized how many were doing that
today.  If they had,  they would have been horrified.

        In Laboratory 27, the situation wasn’t all that better.  Of the
team of scientists assigned to the  crystal, only one remained at his
work.  And quite frankly he did so not to further scientific knowledge,
but his own goals...

        Robert Dunkins had it.  He had been working on that blasted piece
of shining rock for over  ten hours now, and all he had achieved to do was
a single crack.  ONE SINGLE CRACK!  When  he had come down here, it was as
a chief scientist, not as some kind of rock specialist, obliged to 
use rude pieces of equipment such as drills...  Where the heck had the
rest of his team gone to ???   Needless to say, he was mad.  Real mad.  At
this rate he’d be able to open the rock in something  like 10 years, and
by then there wouldn’t be as much potential buyers of his findings as
there  would be now.  He really needed that money.  If he wanted to take
his retirement this year...  And  the fact that he could barely keep his
eyes open didn’t help. Why the hell am I so damned tired...?
He put the drill down, shook his head a little to clear it of the feeling
of sleepiness, then picked up  the drill again.  He put its extremity in
the crack.  As soon as he did that the crack glowed red,  and a shock
coursed through his body.  He screamed in surprise and flew off the
crystal with the  shock.  He landed with a loud crash in the tables
surrounding the crystal, sending papers, cups of  coffee, notes and such
flying through the air.  He groaned and slowly rose off the ground, his 
steps uncertain.  He looked at the crack in the crystal.  It had begun
glowing crimson red. 

"Oh god.", he managed to say, awestruck.

If what I felt is part of the power which is held by this thing, then I’ve
just hit the jackpot... Big  time ! !  Now do I tell Eugene about this or
not... He looked at the communication console.  Then at the crystal again.
He focused his eyes on the  strange shape apparently trapped inside.  It
didn’t seem to have moved... Was it a... man ?
With the red glow, the shape was almost distinguishable.  He looked back
at the console.  If it  was someone who was incredibly powerful, maybe he
should report back... He had no use for a  man with power...  Maybe his
body will be useful once he or she’s dead...  A sudden attack of 
sleepiness hit him, and he almost fell unconscious.  Struggling to stay
awake, he reached the  communication console and Eugene’s switch.  The
voice of the commander replied.

" Yes ? "

The commander’s voice seemed as tired as Robert felt.  He took a breath,
mentally steadied  himself, cleared his voice and began his report.

" Well, Eugene, not getting enough sleep, are you ? "

"You sound half-dead yourself Robert...  Why are you reporting now ? "

"Well, my dear and oh-so loved commander, the crack I’ve reported making 6
hours ago has  seemingly begun to glow. "

" To glow ? "

The surprise in Eugene’s voice was apparent, even though he had no idea
why the fact that the crystal was glowing so much a surprise...

" Yeah... Crimson red...  Why do you sound so surprised ?  This is no
normal diamond we’re dealing with."  

Robert couldn’t suppress a yawn...  Eugene didn’t seem to notice.

" All right, Robert.  Continue your work if you feel like it...But you’re
also allowed to take a short break, you know... "

Strange how I’m tempted by that right now.  But I can’t relax...  Too much
money’s involved in this ! ! ! 

"I don’t think so... Too much risk is involved in this. "

"You’re probably right... But once it’s over I want you to take a break !
"

Oh, I’m gonna take a break all right... For the rest of my life.  Robert
smiled.

"Yeah, I’ll do that... "

"Fine then... Report as soon as you discover something new... "

"Sure. ", simply answered Dunkins.  

He closed the console then turned back to the crystal.  It was still
glowing.  Even perhaps a bit  brighter...  He slowly approached it, still
fighting yet another wave of fatigue.  He touched it 
gently, admiring its composition... Such a solid material, whatever it
is... A piece of crystal fell on his hand.

"What in the world ?", he said, looking up at wherever this came from.

His eyes opened wide as he saw the small crack in the crystal begin to
grow bigger.  He took a  few steps back and watched in awe as the whole
crystal began to shatter. Maybe I’d better report this. He turned his back
on the crystal and activated the communications console.
****

        Commander Kerrigan really was beginning to understand how his
daughter had felt that morning, and how Robert must been feeling right
now.  Katrin had been tired all morning since his rude awakening of her
this morning.  He himself was barely keeping awake.  It was almost an 
unnatural feeling.  That’s part of the reason why he had sent her to sleep
early, at 1200 hour.  Too bad he couldn’t do the same, but he had to stay
awake until the next shift, in about three hours.  

Damned shift might as well be a whole day away !

        He yawned and sat in front of his computer.  He still had to fill the
day’s report, as well as check all the going-ons of his station.  He
sighed and got to work.  But the communication light blinked 
again.  Grumbling and even swearing, he rose and activated the console.
The lighting around him seemed to dim, as if even the computer itself was
tired.  The Commander frowned in concern, but the channel finally opened.
Robert Dunkins’s voice came again.

"Eugene, I believe we’ve got one hell of a major development here.  You
better get down...A.S.A.P.  This could be... "

        The Comm unit went dead.  The lights dimmed and burned themselves out.
The whole station seemed to grow silent as the exterior lights also went
out.  To everyone still awake’s surprise, the power went out.

" What in the... ", exclaimed the Commander.

Don’t tell me Dunkins caused a short circuit or something ?  Probably why
he called.

        He switched the console off so that when the power returned it
wouldn’t start spitting static, turned and headed for his door.  The
emergency lights kicked in, flowing the room in an eerie red 
light.  Dunkins had asked him down there, which meant this was probablyhis
doing.  So that’s where he would be.  He stopped, wondering briefly if he
should sound the alarm.  This could turn out to have something to do with
the crystal.

        Why don’t you tell out aloud you’re scared senseless of what’s in
there while you’re at it?  This is probably nothing anyway.

        He looked at the emergency button, but it looked miles away, at the
other side of the room.  He yawned in fatigue again, and decided against
sounding the alarm. It’s probably nothing important.
****

        Dunkins kicked the console with all his might as the lights closed
and left him in total darkness.  He stopped moving, waiting for the
emergency lights to kick in.  For a few seconds he was left in the crimson
red glow of the crystal.  He shuddered.  

"Creepy thing ! ! ", he yelled at the crystal. "You had to start glowing
now, didn’t you ?  I would’ve preferred to be left in the dark." 

The emergency red lights kicked in, and the crimson light was intensified
by them, making the whole room look like it was painted in red.  Robert
checked if emergency power had brought the Comm console back online.  It
didn’t.

        Great !  I guess all I can do is wait for Eugene to get here.  Damn,
this is going to very worth the pay I’ll get !  I think I’ll ask for more
when I sell those secrets.

He looked back at the crystal.

OH MY GOD !  IT’S OPEN !

With the realization came a vague of fatigue, and Dunkins fell to his
knees.  

"Wh-What’s happening here ? ", he moaned, as his consciousness slowly
faded away.  

        He took one last look at the crystal, and his eyes landed on another
pair of red glowing eyes. It took all the strength he had left to scream.
****

        Rei suddenly rose from her chair and looked around.  The feeling
had returned, full force, seizing her hearth in panic.  Sweat rolled down
her forehead as she tensed at the feeling.  She’d never felt such...
hatred before.  Where was it coming from ? Her teacher looked at her
strangely, but she didn’t care.  She was dizzy, felt weak and disoriented.

" Are you O.K, Miss Hino? ", asked her teacher.

        No, I’m not.  Something’s wrong.  Everything is wrong.  Can’t you feel
it ?  No, calm down Rei.  Of course she can’t sense this.  She’s not a
scout or a priest.  Just calm down.  It’s not the teacher’s fault
SOMETHING’S WRONG !

" Would you excuse me from class, please ?", she finally asked. "I just
remembered the director has asked me to meet him this afternoon concerning
my after-class project. "

        She’d lied twice in a row today, and both times to her teachers, no
less.  She hoped this time would work as well as the last time.  Ms.
Hazuki had learned to respect and trust Rei when it came to that kind of
thing.  Surely she would also do so today.  She looked at Rei with a
curious glance.  So did everyone else in the room.  Rei could barely
stand.  Her head  was spinning.  Sweat was rolling down her forehead.  Her
eyes were those of a cornered and panicked animal.  She had to go outside,
NOW !!

        " Uh... Sure, Rei.  Just be back soon. Are you sure you’re all right ?
Maybe you should go to the infirmary ?"

        Rei nodded and gave her teacher a small thank you in answer and
rapidly walked out the room.  Once outside, she rested on the wall and
sighed.  She shook her head and put it in her hands to try 
and shake off the dizziness.  After a few minutes of head clearing, she
raised her head and looked around her.  Nobody was in the corridor, and
there was no sound of footsteps showing someone was coming.  She ducked
into a small storage room.  It was mostly empty, which was good.  No 
one would come here looking for something.  Satisfied, she took out her
communicator.  This was way worse than this morning, and she had to tell
someone about it.  She couldn’t just ignore it anymore.  She couldn’t call
Serena, that was sure.  She could try Amy, but she was probably in 
the middle of class, so calling her was probably not a good idea.  That
left Luna as the wisest choice.  She clicked on the communicator and chose
Luna’s signal.  She pushed a few buttons and waited.  Nothing happened for
a few seconds, as the call proceeded toward Luna’s communicator, and she
had to give Luna time to answer too.  She could feel the darkness slowly  
crushing her, making her breaths short.  Rei could feel her strength
fading and her dizziness getting worse. 

Come on, Luna!  Answer before I faint.

"Luna here, what is it Rei ?", finally answered Luna.

"Luna... ", Rei hesitated, took a deep breath in a last effort to clear
her mind, then continued. "I’m feeling something very strange...Some kind
of overwhelming darkness...Everywhere...  It’s crushing me, Luna ! "

Luna frowned.  She appeared worried.

" Calm down, Rei.  I’ve been feeling something kind of like that, too.
Since this morning.  The feeling will subside in time, trust me.  Just go
out and take a walk, let this out of your mind, take a bit of fresh air...
It’s helped me deal with it."

Rei was surprised.  So she wasn’t the only one.

" Any idea what it could be ? ", she asked Luna.

Luna again frowned.

"None.  Not a clue.  And Central Command has no idea either.  The only
thing I was told was that something was wrong somewhere in the world.  No
clues as to what and where. "

Rei sighed.  So all they really could do was wait.

"O.K.  Warn me if you learn anything new, all right ?"

"Of course.", answered Luna. "But I don’t think I’ll learn anything new
until at least our next meeting.  Be on the lookout yourself until then."

        Rei nodded in agreement.  Her feelings where already beginning to
subside, as Luna had said they would.  But it was still much stronger than
it had been this morning.

"See you there, then !", said Rei

Luna nodded.
.
With that Rei clicked the screen off.

        Well, at least I know I’m not alone to feel that way.  As if that
really helped.  I still have no clue what’s wrong...  I can’t just head
back to class just yet.

Shaking her head to clear it, she walked toward the entrance and started
to slowly walk outside, following Luna’s tip.
****


        Back at Serena’s house, Luna wondered if another particular cat
she knew felt the same way she did right now.
****

        Artemis paced impatiently in front of Mina’s class, hoping he
wouldn’t be spotted by a passing janitor or teacher.  When Mina finally
came out he meowed and jumped into her arms.  Surprised, she looked down
at him.

"What is it Artemis ?"

        He looked toward a small closet where they could talk undisturbed.
She nodded.  She walked toward the closet, looked around to make sure no
one was watching, and entered the closet.  Once inside, she put the white
cat on the ground and she crouched beside him.

"Well ?", she asked.

"Have you felt something abnormal recently ?  An uneasy feeling or
something like that ?"

"Hmmm...", Mina thought deeply, "Not really, except if you’re talking
about that emptiness and that strange growl in my stomach..."

"I’m not talking about your appetite, Mina!  I should’ve known that was
hoping for too much.  Oh, well... "

"Seriously talking, Artemis, I’ve felt this weird uneasiness deep inside,
but nothing much.  Just a strange feeling that there’s something going on
I should be doing something about."

Artemis’ eyes grew wide in surprise.

Could it be ?  Could I have finally found something she can sense ?

"Yes, well, I’ve sensed it too.  It seems to be some kind of danger, but
not anywhere near Tokyo.  Until it gets here, we can’t do anything about
it. "

Mina frowned in contemplation.  Then she looked at Artemis with an air of
understanding.  But again she frowned.  Artemis knew her well enough to
know this meant she was wondering something.

"What is it ?, " he asked.

"Well, what tells you the danger is coming here at all ?"

Artemis looked in her blue eyes.

"Trust me, I know it’s coming here."  
****

Deep Sea Station, 1 :16 PM.
Commander Eugene Kerrigan slammed his fist on the door to the
laboratories, which obstinately refused to open.  With the emergency power
systems online, the door should be opening.  Swearing, he punched in his
entry code again.  No success there.  The pad which was used to enter the
code was dark and silent.  The emergency power should have reactivated it.
Something was very wrong here.  And why did he feel more tired here than
he did in his office ?  The situation should be keeping him awake, not
doing the opposite.  He looked around him for any kind of help.  The whole
station had gone silent, with most of the crew resting in their chambers 
and the main systems offline because of the power shortage.  But emergency
was online.  Why weren’t the systems operating under emergency power.  The
communication system was down.  As were each and every systems on board.
Even the doors.

        I should have sounded the alarm, he suddenly realized.  I should have
pushed the damned button !

        Again he slammed the door.  But surprisingly, something happened this
time.  A loud cry rang in the air.  It lasted a few seconds,  then
everything grew silent again.  The voice was barely recognizable, but
Eugene Kerrigan knew who it was.

" Dunkins !!!", he shouted, redoubling his efforts on the doors before
him. "Open up you bastard."

        And surprisingly, the doors did open, even though there seemed to be
no power to make them open.  Even though no human force on earth could
have opened them.  The doors opened.  Eugene took a few steps back and
stared inside.  The only light came from the emergency lights and the
crimson red color of the shining crystal.  A crystal which had been
shattered.

"Oh my god !  Whatever was in there is free. ", he realized.
****

        Katrin ran through the corridors of Deep Sea station, scared,
lost, alone.  She was only a child now, barely seven years old.  She ran
from the creature that followed her.  She screamed her father’s name,
looking desperately for him.  But he wasn’t there either.  But a white
glow suddenly surrounded her, and she fell to her knees.  

Who is there !, she shouted.  

A calm, strong masculine voice answered her.

Do not fear the General, soldier of the Earth.  For it is time for you to
wake up, soldier of the Earth.  Wake and find the others.

A shadow appeared before her.  That of a man in an old-style armor, a
sword in his hands.

Remember your oath, soldier of the Earth.  Wake and find the others.

        The shadow wavered for a few seconds, then disappeared.  Katrin didn’t
understand any of this.  Who was that man and what did he want her to do ?
But before she had any time to try and clear this situation, a man flew
toward her, holding the body of her father.

I have killed him, he said.  And now, after I have killed all of them, I
shall kill you.

The man had blond hair and wild, crazy eyes.  The shone red in the
darkness.

You are the last, Katrin, said a the same masculine voice as before.  But
also the first.  Find the others.

The floating man let the body of Eugene Kerrigan fall to the ground and
attacked Katrin.
****

        Katrin Kerrigan woke with a sudden cry of fear and distress.  Her
breath rate was rapid, her hearth menacing to come out of her body anytime
now.  She sweated all over and her hands where still shaking from fear.

A nightmare...Only a nightmare, she realized.

But what a nightmare it had been.  Katrin put her head in her hands,
sitting in her bed, and took a deep breath.  She looked at her watch.  She
had barely been asleep an hour.  And yet, strangely, she felt completely
relaxed.  Her earlier fatigue seemed to be completely gone.  She rose from
bed and started walking in the darkness, heading for the shower.  She
reached for the light switch.  Nothing happened.  She tried it again.
Still nothing.  She looked at her alarm clock.  It showed no digit.  It
was completely powerless.  She couldn’t hear the hum of the Air provider,
or the hum from the engines.  Just like in her dream.  Everything was
dead.  Panic seized her.  She felt her reasoning escape through the pores
of the skin on her head, replaced by a sick, silent torment.

He’s here.  He’s going to kill your friends, your teammates, your
father...you !  You can’t escape him. 

She couldn’t help screaming...

"NOOOOO ! ! ! ! ! "
****

        "Damned bullshit ! ! ", swore Eugene Kerrigan as he entered the
reddened laboratory.  

The laboratory was silent, as was the rest of the base.  The emergency red
lights were still on, giving the room a strange, reddish glow which gave
the lab an eerie effect.  The crystal in the center of the room had been
completely shattered.  One table had been turned over, and all that was on
it had been left on the floor.  The crystal glowed with an strange crimson
red light.

" Dunkins ?", the commander called.

        Silence was his answer.  He stepped slowly into the lab.  His
footsteps echoed in the stillness of 
the room.  He looked around, searching for Dunkins.  There were no signs
of him anywhere.  He walked slowly around the shattered crystal, looking
for whatever had caused this mess.  A yawn escaped from his mouth, as if
this was the right time for this to happen.  He caught a movement with the
corner of his eye.  He turned sharply in that direction.  And gasped in
surprise.  Dunkins was there, all right.  His clothes were shredded.  He
looked as thought he had been carbonized.  His hair was literally gone.
His eye sockets were sunken in his face.  Dunkins’s skin was now a 
dark brown color and wrinkled, as though it had grown too large for him in
a matter of hours.  Eugene ran to his friend’s side and took his head in
one hand, and rose him slowly.  He was, miraculously, still alive.

"Dunkins ?", he asked gently, knowing he probably wouldn’t get an answer.
"What happened here ?"

A dark laughter was his answer.  Eugene Kerrigan had never heard its like.

"Who... ", he began to ask, twisting around to see where the laughter was
coming from.

His strength suddenly disappeared, and he fumbled to the ground, on top of
Dunkins, who let out a weak breath.

" What’s happening ? ", he managed to ask to whoever was in the room.  His
strength was diminishing greatly.  He could feel his consciousness going.

No... It can’t end this way...  Katrin...

He saw, before giving way to unconsciousness, the remnants of the crystal
glow with an even redder light. From behind a piece of it came a man,
laughing.  He wore a gray suit, and had blonde hair.  His eyes shone red.
His suit was scratched, and he seemed to have just survived a battle.  A
wound on his leg bled green blood.  He was holding a small ball of energy
in his hands.  And the man laughed again.  And again.  And again.

" I’m free", he shouted, "You hear that, Beryl, FREE ! ! ! "


DISCLAIMER :  NO, I did not create Sailor Moon and company.  They are a
property of Naoko Takeuchi and others I don't know of...  Still, the crew
of the Deep Sea Station are my creations, and so are all other characters
in there which are not a part of the normal Sailor Moon Universe.  I 
am using the characters which are not mine without permission, but suing
me would be pretty useless, since I don't have much.

Note :  This story takes place between episodes Worth a princess' Ransom
and Molly's Folly of the first season of the American version of Sailor
Moon.  So Zoycite is a girl, and the NEGAVERSE wants to wake up the
NEGAFORCE.

Chapter 3
Panic Across the World

        Tokyo, 1 :39 p.m.  She knew he was awake by now.  It was more than
a feeling, it was certain.  She looked from her small window in her room,
toward where she knew he was.  She could feel him.  She knew the first
place he'd be going to once he returned to Tokyo would be here.  So she
had to be ready for him.  She slowly walked around her bedroom and opened
her closet.  Various robes and dresses awaited her.  She had not bothered
to dress up this morning.  It was her day off.

        Which one among these would please him the most? Smiling at
herself, she chose a beautiful red dress and headed for the shower.  
****

        Still in Tokyo, at the exact same time.  A mansion on the
outskirts of the city, down a small road which led deep in the forest.  It
was his home.  Neflyte's home. He had been staring out from his window
ever since he had looked at the star map, his mind racing for plans, for a
way to use the sheer power he was feeling.  For a way to use his... fellow
nega-soldier.  He could feel it.  The astonishing amount of power that had
awakened today.  He wasn't certain, but he could almost say it was
stronger than Beryl's aura.  Jedite was free.  He didn't know how it had
happened, or why, but it had.  He didn't know why he now had all this
power, but he did.  And if he didn't find a way to use this power, he
could be destroyed by it.  Surely Jedite would be mad at the one Beryl 
had chosen to replace him.  His eyes became two slits as he kept thinking.
He could still feel it.  Strong, perhaps too strong.  Through the walls,
the forest, the city, the world...  He could almost taste the power.  And
if he felt it, others also could.  Maybe even those measly scouts, but he 
doubted it.  He wondered for an instant if Beryl could also feel it.
Probably.  He smiled as he imagined their Queen shaking in fear after
receiving a power blast from her crystal ball. He slowly rose from the
window and went into his star map room.  A deep silence welcomed him.  A 
tranquillity that seemed to calm the constant buzzing of his mind.  He
smiled.

        I should've prepared a bit more for this.  I never considered Jedite
would find a way to escape his so-called eternal sleep...

        "Ah !", he said out loud this time. "So great is the Queen's power.
She can't even keep a nuisance such as Jedite under wraps."

        He closed his eyes and concentrated again, preparing himself to ask
for the star's guidance in the coming conflict.  For conflict there would
be, of that he was certain.  He knew Jedite enough to know the man would
want vengeance...  On the Queen and on the Scouts...  He had to prepare
the right way of receiving him here.  Once again, he began to concentrate.
The stars moved, slowly, shaping the familiar form of the tall blond man
in his gray suit.  He could clearly identify him this time.  The power he
released was more than enough to allow him to do that.  His eyes still
closed, he began speaking...

        "The stars know everything.  And now I, their humble servant, ask for
their knowledge."

        He didn't have to ask the stars for this.  But he liked the idea of
the stars being the ultimate leaders of all souls...  The masters of
everyone's destiny.  That was a power much stronger than Beryl could ever
have.

        "Help me find a solution for the coming conflict.  Make it so that I
can decide just what to do and how to do it in order to come... "

        His speech to the stars was cut by a slight shimmering of the air,
followed by a small wind which made small flower petals fly through the
air in a round fashion.  Neflyte knew that effect too well.

        "Neflyte !", called a sharp voice behind him.

Ah, my favorite rival for the Queen's affection...

        "What brings you here, Zoycite ?"

        Despite all his self-control, he could barely keep the hatred from his
voice.  This pitiful love struck treacherous and power hungry woman
thought she could do as she pleased because the Queen had made the error
of giving her the important mission of finding the Imperium Silver 
Crystal.  And because she happened to be the object of affection of the
strongest of the four of them.

        " Beryl wants to see you right away.  What did you do wrong this
time?"

        She said that but didn't even look at him or care for his answer.  Her
voice sounded a bit more uncertain than it habitually was and a certain...
uneasiness could be felt in it.  And she was looking everywhere around
her, looking for the source of her uneasiness.  Neflyte smiled inwardly.
Let her stay in her ignorance.

        "So...You feel it too.", said Neflyte, knowing what was bothering her,
yet not telling.

        "What could be so powerful we can feel it from so far away ?"

There was a definite amount of fear in her voice.  He enjoyed seeing her
like this. Neflyte grinned but didn't answer.

Let her wonder.

        "Come on !" he simply said. "Our Queen awaits us. "

She looked around one last time, then nodded.  They both left, vanishing
without a trace, except for a few petals on the floor.
****

        Still in Tokyo, same time.  Rei didn't bother returning to class
this time.  She couldn't concentrate on anything.  She told her teacher
she didn't feel well, and was sent home.  Just as she wanted.  As she
walked in the school, heading for the exit, she could feel the evil again.
Still crushing her.  She breathed hard, trying to filter the air from the
evil.  Walking rapidly, she came out of the school and headed home.  She
had to figure out what this was, then alert Amy and Serena...  if she had
to.  Taking this on her own would certainly show Luna how responsible she 
was.  Head still spinning, she arrived at the temple.

Time for a fire reading !

        She went into her room to change into some more appropriate robes.
When she came out she wore her white priestess costume with her familiar
red skirt.  She entered the temple and headed for its center.  She put
some dust into the flames and watched as it temporarily grew in size.  She 
then sat down in front of it.  She concentrated, letting her spirit reach
the spirit of the all-knowing sacred flame, asking for its guidance.
Closing her eyes, she began reciting her "spell".  The flame grew in heat
and intensity, and Rei could feel the heat in the room.

I hope I can find my answer.
****

        Luna ran to Crossroads school.  She could have used the
communicator to talk to Serena, but this was too important.  Rei was
already doing a fire reading, and they all had to know the results as soon
as possible.  She had to find a way to get Amy and Serena out of school,
then have them come to Rei's temple for the results of the reading.  This
was going to be an emergency scouts meeting.  She only hoped whatever they
learned wouldn't be so bad...  Somehow she had the feeling it wasn't going
to be.
****


        Jedite walked slowly around the rumbles of the crystal which
surrounded him.  A small ball of energy sat in his right hand.  He stared
at it for a while, not quite knowing what to do with it.  He frowned and
the energy seemed to penetrate his skin as he absorbed the energy that had
been left in his hands and continued walking.  He hadn't been able to do
that before.  The energy he used to collect was for the Negaforce, not for
himself.  To his surprise, and a bit his disgust, he had become like the
numerous youmas he had used throughout his career, an energy collector.  
He now craved energy for himself.  He had never thought it felt that good.

No wonder some of them kept some energy for themselves sometimes.

        But there was something more to this.  Something he doubted even his
youmas experienced.  And it was the most interesting.  Judging from the
strange thoughts and memories floating in his head, he appeared to have
absorbed the memories of those whose energy he had gathered and absorbed.

Fascinating !

        That sure didn't came from him.  Probably the scientist whom he had
first attacked.  He approached the two men who were unconscious behind the
crystal.  They both breathed irregularly and seemed very weak.  The
memories of the first man he had absorbed, Dunkins,  identified the
tallest one as Commander Kerrigan.  

        "Well commander. ", he said with a still shaky but deep voice. "It
looks like you're going to help me find out where I am and how to get out
of here. "

        The memories from Dunkins where rapidly fading, and he couldn't make
out much of them anyway, since he had gotten them while Dunkins was
panicked.  The commander's memories would be better anyway, since the man
probably knew everything about this place anyway. Jedite slowly extended
his hand.  White strays of energy came from the man and reassembled itself
in front of him, under the shape of a small ball.  He concentrated again
and slowly the ball separated itself into small strands of energy again
and went toward him.  He laughed as it penetrated his skin and entered
him, filling him with strength and  knowledge.  He rapidly searched
through the memories, leaving out what was of no use to him.  Things like
emotions or personal memories were of absolutely no use whatsoever.
However, the strategic and technical knowledge of this place were there
too.  Kerrigan knew a lot about wherever he was.  The place was called
Deep Sea Station.  And it was at the bottom of the middle of the Pacific
Ocean.  Very deep in the bottom.  Jedite clenched his fist and frowned,
barely containing a sudden attack of rage.

Damn it !  How am I going to get out of here ?

        On the ground behind him, Kerrigan groaned weakly as whatever was left
of his strength slowly faded away.  Jedite looked at him on the floor,
then at himself.  His suit was torn, and some cuts made to him still
appeared on his body.  He didn't know how long he'd been trapped in that 
damned crystal, but apparently not long enough to heal his wounds.

I must remember to include the Sailor Scouts in my vengeance plans.

        He smiled as already something began to take shape in his mind.  He
looked around himself.  He was in some kind of laboratory.  Laboratory 27,
according to Kerrigan's memories of the place.  The door leading to it was
wide open.  He slowly walked out of the room, inspecting his surroundings.
Nothing moved in the darkened and depowered corridor.  This was also new.
He had used mechanical energy to awaken himself.  Could he actually feed
on that too ?

        What the hell have I become ?  An unforeseen side effect of being
trapped in the crystal, perhaps ?

        He searched the memories of Kerrigan for a map of this place.  He
found one pretty fast enough.  To his left where the crew quarters.  To
his right laid the many diplomatic offices of the station, along with
about thirty other labs.  Plenty of chemical and mechanical instruments in
those he could no doubt use.  A sudden strike of weakness struck him, and
his knees seemed to fail him for a second.  He put his hand on the wall to
stop himself from falling.  He was getting weaker already.  The energy he
had gotten was leaving him rather rapidly.

        If I am to get out of here, I must find energy to collect.  I can't
seem to be able to keep the energy I gather very long.  I have to find a
way to bring people to me !

        An idea crossed his mind, or more like it crossed Eugene Kerrigan's
mind.  He looked around for something then found it.  Across the room was
the small red alarm button.  But because he had absorbed the energy of
everything on board and had deactivated everything upon awakening, it 
had not been sounded.  Well, that was as good a way as any to bring people
to him.  He doubted mere soldiers could give him trouble, even in his
weakened condition.  Not with his newfound powers.  An evil smile appeared
on his face.

This is going to be a test of my limits, as well as a true feast of
energy.

With a gesture of his hand, he powered up the alarm system.
****


        Katrin Kerrigan fell in surprise as she heard the alarm sirens.
She had been running down the corridors of the station, rather aimlessly,
she realized.  At first she had been looking for her father, so she
guessed her final destination probably had been his office.  The road to
get there was a bit... erratic.  The red lights flashed and finally shed
some light on the corridor.  She stayed on her back, eyes wide open,
shocked at the sudden sound, quite a few seconds.  She was exhausted.  
The thought of staying on the hard metallic floor and let herself die did
occur to her, but an up to now unknown part of her mind resisted it.
Probably the same part from where that crazy dream had come.  She had
trouble breathing, felt weak and tired.  But, with all the strength she
had left, she rose again.  Once on her feet, she looked helplessly at the
chaos which unfolded before her. Guards were coming out of their many
cabins.  She was surprised to see them there.  Many were supposed to be on
duty at this time.  

What is wrong with this station ? ? ?

        An hand grabbed her shoulder and twisted her around.  Panicked, she
gave a small cry and swung her fist at her opponent.  He grabbed it with
one hand.

        "Captain Kerrigan...  Katrin, are you all right ?"

        It was Matthew.  He looked as bad as she felt, and he looked
frantically at her, up and down, making sure she was all right.  She
smiled to reassure him.

        "I'm all right, Matthew.  Tired and surprised, but otherwise okay  How
about you and the others?"

        "We're all right.  We were chatting in the mess hall when this alarm
came on.  I went to your quarters to find you, but you weren't there.  Any
idea what's going on ?"

        "No. ", she answered. "Where was the alarm declared ? "

        Matthew looked at a panel on the wall where a yellow section was
lighted up.  Katrin slapped herself on the forehead.  She should've
thought of that.  What was she thinking anyway ?  Hicks enlarged the
yellow section and highlighted a red section.  And gasped.

        "What is it ?  Where's the alarm ? "

Katrin grew suddenly very alarmed at her friend's reaction.

        "Lab... Laboratory 27", answered the second in command of the Red
Squadron. Lab 27.  Oh my god !  That's where we put the crystal we found.
Probably what Matthew realized.

        Katrin nodded.  Her calm and coldness that came when she jumped in
Captain mode slowly returned.  Breathing deeply, Katrin gathered her
strength.  Men and women were running crazy around her.  She grabbed one
she recognized as leader of the Blue Squadron and stopped him.

        "What is wrong, Home?  Can't you recognize an alarm when you hear
one?", she asked the Japanese officer.

        He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at her, his eyes suddenly
gaining some conscience.  He seemed to snap out of his trance.

        "N...No Captain Kerrigan.  Thank you for bringing me back to my
senses. "

        "Just make sure you stay that way.  Find the other Squadron leaders,
form your squadrons, and get your butt to Laboratory 27.  NOW !"

        Home nodded and looked around the crowd, looking for the other
Squadron leaders.  Katrin nodded, satisfied.  THIS situation was solved,
for the moment anyway.  She turned back to Matthew, who looked expectantly
at her, awaiting her orders.

        "Gather the whole Squadron at Lab 27.  I'm going ahead of you to check
things out."

And to see if my father is still alive.  

Matthew hesitated.

        "That's an order !", she said.

        "Yes ma'am !".  

        He nodded and ran back to the mess hall.  Katrin watched him leave
then looked around herself again.  People were calming down as the various
squadron leaders took charge of the situation.  She waited until everyone
was gone to Laboratory 27 before going on herself.  She could move 
faster alone, and, if need be, use a less exemplary conduct if things came
to that.  She ran across the once more empty corridors of the station,
fearing that what she'd find at her destination.  She just prayed she'd
arrive in time to save her father from whatever had caused the alarm.
****

        Matthew Hicks entered the mess hall, running.  The main doors
opened to reveal his team, Red Squadron, waiting for him to return with
news.  Anya Rucinsky, the deadly Russian among them, playing joyfully with
a knife.  Falcon, the Gulf War Veteran.  His real name was lost in time
and files he didn't bother to read.  The only certain thing about him was
that he was American.  And that you'd find him with a gun in his hands.
Hitachi Durue, computer expert and Master of Martial Arts combined into
one.  He was sitting on a table, pocket computer in hand.  He was
Japanese.  The two lovebirds of the team, Rachel Turner, a Canadian, their
science expert, and Roberto D'angela, their weapon specialist.  An odd
pair those two.  The story of how they met was never told, but Rachel was
sweet and gentle, while Roberto was cold, sometimes cruel.  And, of
course, the new addition to the team who also happened to be the youngest,
Kathy Blaire.  She came from England and was Katrin's cousin.  Right now,
her post was Communication and Infirmary, until they found something
better for her.  Her innocence and naiveté was cute, but dangerous in the
battle field.  She wasn't even twenty yet.  Why she was here was still a
complete mystery to him.  Then of course there was himself and Katrin.                  
                All of them had code names, which he used most of the time.
Anya
was Ruskie, for obvious reasons, Falcon was... well... Falcon, Hitachi was
Scion, for reasons he never told. Rachel was Racket, a deformation of her
name used in her childhood, Roberto was known as Cold Burn.  He was cold 
all right, but boy could he make things burn.  Then Kathy, who was
currently called Newbie, until she could find a code name.  He was X, from
his last name Hicks, which is X pronounced in French.  Katrin was called
Kat or the Boss, depending on who's addressing her.  Matthew sighted.  He
was glad to be on this team, but they were some days he wished they
wouldn't be so successful.  They way they cheated death sometimes scared
even him...

        "Hey, X, have you found the boss ?", asked Falcon with his usual gruff
voice.

All looked at him.  He nodded.

        "Break's over, squadron!  The captain needs us at Lab 27 right away."

They all looked at him, puzzled.  Rachel came forward.

        "Why ?  What's going on ?", she asked.

        Her beautiful blue eyes seemed to be scanning his soul, and for a
brief moment he envied Cold Burn.  The guy didn't deserve her.

        "I don't have a clue, Racket.  Apparently something has gone wrong
with the crystal we recuperated yesterday."

        Everyone sitting jumped on their feet.  They all took out their
weapons.  Trouble was the major feeling that came from the crystal, and
they all had learned to listen to their feelings.  Anya grinned and put
her knife in her mouth while she detached her gun from its harness in
her back.  She sometimes still gave him the creeps.  How she had managed
to gain Katrin's trust was still a mystery to him.  But she had, and he
had to live with that decision.

        "At last some action. ", she said.

She smiled a smile he hated to see on her face.  It usually was a warning
for upcoming bloodshed.  He shuddered.

        "I agree.  This is going to be fun. "

As always no emotion whatsoever was evident in Roberto's voice.  Cold as a
rock, except when it came to Rachel.  He sighed.  This was going to be one
of those days.

        "Well, let's go."

They all nodded and came out of the room running.
****

        The throne room wasn't habitually a place where you liked being.
The fact that the Queen was in a bad mood didn't help.  And yet, in a way,
Neflyte was a bit glad to see Queen Beryl so worried.  It was all he could
do to resist the urge to laugh out loud.  She truly had no idea of what 
was going on.  This was good.

        "I did as you ordered, my Queen.", said Zoysite.

She then teleported herself away, leaving Neflyte to face Beryl alone.

        "Well, Neflyte, you are the one currently assigned to monitor Earth.
Have you felt anything wrong recently ?"

Neflyte nodded.

        "I have, my Queen.", he said, keeping his tone even, not letting
anything show.

        "Well ?  What is it ?"

What he was about to do would be seen as an act of treachery, but he had
no choice if he wanted his plans to work...  He had to lie...

        "I have no idea, My Queen."

        "Well, Neflyte, you have better find out.  This has become your new
mission.  Find out what is happening and fix it.  Am I making myself
clear?"

Neflyte didn't move.  He simply nodded again.

        "I'm counting on you, Neflyte !", said the Queen, with a voice still
threatening.

        "I won't disappoint you, my Queen."

        "Very well.  You can go."

Neflyte bowed and disappeared from the Queen's presence.  She stayed
silent a few seconds, then began laughing.  If Neflyte thought he could
hide things from her, he was wrong.

        "Zoysite, come here !"

Flowers floated in the air as the female general appeared before her.  She
bowed before the Queen, as she had learned to do over time.

        "Yes, My Queen ?"

        "I want you to learn what Neflyte is up to.  I do not trust him.  Do
whatever you wish is necessary."

Zoysite could barely control her grin.  This was the perfect opportunity
to finally rid herself of Neflyte and take his place.  Malachite would be
so proud of her.

        "Yes my Queen.", and, with that, she dematerialized in a storm of
flowers.
****

        Neflyte waited at his home.  He was concentrating on the stars again,
letting their energy fill him.  He had stood there ever since his return,
well aware of the presence floating behind him.

        "Are you going to be watching me very long ?"

        "I have the right to be here, Neflyte.  Looks like you've finally
destroyed the little trust the Queen had left in you."

She laughed with her usual, bothering fake sounding laughter.  Neflyte
frowned.

        "What do you mean ?"

        "The Queen knows you're up to something.  And I'm convinced of it
too."

Maybe I underestimated the Queen after all.

        "I don't know what you two think I'm up to, but I think you'll be
fairly disappointed."

        "Oh, I don't think so, Neflyte.  You are up to something, I'm sure of
it.  I'm going to find out what it is, and then I'm going to destroy you,
Neflyte.  I'm going to use every power I have to destroy you once and for
all as the traitor that you are."

She laughed again, and Neflyte frowned again.

Not if I destroy you first.  And with Jedite's help, I just might...
 DISCLAIMER :  NO, I did not create Sailor Moon and company.  They are a
property of Naoko 
Takeuchi and others I don't know of...  Still, the crew of the Deep Sea
Station are my creations, 
and so are all other characters in there which are not a part of the normal
Sailor Moon Universe.  I 
am using the characters which are not mine without permission, but suing me
would be pretty 
useless, since I don't have much.

Note :  This story takes place between episodes Worth a princess' Ransom and
Molly's Folly of 
the first season of the American version of Sailor Moon.  So Zoysite is a
girl, and the 
NEGAVERSE wants to wake up the NEGAFORCE.



Chapter 4
Escape from Deep Sea

        Home and the rest of the Green Squadron arrived at the scene of the
alarm at the same 
time the other two Squadrons did.  As always, there was no signs of the Red
Squadron.  How that 
team of rag tag renegades had managed to keep such a clean record was beyond
him.  All the 
Squadron Captains went forward, looking around for anything suspicious, until
the converged at 
the middle of what had become a circle of soldiers in front of the entrance to
Laboratory 27.  No 
sound whatsoever came from inside.

"So what do we do now, everyone?", asked Home.

"There doesn’t seem to be any kind of trouble.", said Blue Squadron leader
Samson Triden.

"I say we check out the lab.", said Yellow Squadron leader Anthony Braswick.

"You crazy Braswick ?!", said Triden. "What if all this bullshit has something
to do with that 
crystal thingie ?"

Home, as always, him being the oldest and the wisest, took control.

"I will go inside the Lab alone to see what is wrong.  Maybe it’s a computer
bug, maybe there is a 
reason behind this all-security alert.  Just wait here while I check things
out."

The two other captains nodded.  Home nodded in return and slowly began walking
toward the 
closed gateway.  His Squadron took a step forward, but he stopped them with a
wave from his 
hand.  They stopped, nodding their understanding.  He approached the closed
doorway.  No heat 
was coming from it.  No cold.  No sound.  Nothing.  No sign of trouble,  but
no sign everything 
was all right either.  He touched the control panel which opened the door,
fully expecting it to 
stay closed since the power was out...

Wait a minute...  If the power’s out, then how come...

He never finished the thought, as the doors opened in front of him.  He stared
inside.  Darkness 
was everywhere.  Even the emergency lights were off.

"Hello ?", he called in the darkness.

He slowly stepped inside the room, looking cautiously around.  Behind him, the
rest of the 
soldiers waited anxiously for something to do, be it return to sleep, which
some of them were 
really beginning to feel like doing, or get to action.  This waiting was
killing them.

"So nice of you to come to me.  You’re saving me a lot of time.", came a voice
from inside.

Home took out his weapon, aiming it at the darkness.

"Who’s there ?", he screamed, panic suddenly seizing him.

Behind him, the doors slammed shut before anyone had time to do anything.  The
soldiers of the 
Green Squadron  all ran for the door, trying to open it, without success.
Inside, Home was left in 
the darkness.

"I really have nothing against you.  Except for your name and grade and some
personal 
information from the Commander’s memories, I know nothing else of you."

Jedite came out of the darkness, his eyes now shining red, an evil smile
appearing on his face.  
Home took a step back, weapon aimed at Jedite’s head.

"Do-do-do not approach me !  I will FIRE!"

"Please, do so."

Home fired at the still approaching figure, floating toward him, not walking.
Jedite raised his 
hand, stopping the bullet in mid-flight.  He frowned at Home.  He took another
step back, now 
right in front of the doors, with no way of escape.

"Get...  Get away from me!", he commanded.

Jedite sent the bullet back at full speed, and it hit Home’s leg, sending him
screaming to the floor.  
He laughed and kept approaching.

"Tell me human, why I should spare you?"

"I have...  a wife...  and kids...", tried Home, desperate to survive, holding
his bleeding leg on the 
floor.

"You should have thought of that before joining the army, or shooting at me."

Jedite kept approaching.  He was going to enjoy this.  Very much.
****

The dead body of Captain Home flew through the exploding laboratory doors,
hitting a 
few soldiers and sending them all to the floor.  Jedite appeared floating
above them all, laughing 
maniacally.  All soldiers began firing at him.  He simply rose a shield around
himself, on which 
all the bullets bounced harmlessly.  He then extended his arms, and
concentrated on releasing the 
energy within him outward, toward the soldiers.  Intense blasts of energy came
out of his arms, 
blasting into the soldiers, sending them all dead or unconscious.  Those still
up fired again, trying 
to get through his shield, still in vain.  He glared at them and released a
force beam, which 
impacted with them with the force of a raging elephant, breaking all their
bones and sending them 
broken and useless to the floor, like puppets from which you cut the strings.
In under thirty 
seconds, all the soldiers from Deep Sea Station laid dead, unconscious or
dying at Jedite’s feet, 
except for the Red Squadron.  Jedite once again concentrated, and all the
energy of the soldiers 
slowly converged into one huge ball in front of him.  He smiled and stepped
into the ball, letting 
the energy fill him.  He was ready to get out of here, and bring this place to
the ground.
****

        Katrin hadn’t followed the rest of the soldiers to the doors of Lab
27.  She knew if she had 
done so, she couldn’t have accessed the lab, so to avoid that she had used
another way, the air 
ducts.  As she crawled around in them, searching for the right exit point, she
wondered briefly 
what was going on, hoping it was nothing like in her dream.  She finally made
it to the right 
place.  She kicked the small grating and it landed loudly on the floor.  Not
caring about the noise 
she made, Katrin jumped down to the floor and looked around the room.  The
first thing she 
noticed was the broken crystal.  The second were the exploded doors.  The
third was her father, 
laying unmoving behind the crystal.  She ran and kneeled by his side.  She
lifted him off Dunkins, 
slowly, gently.  To her satisfaction, both were still breathing.  In fact,
they seemed to be 
recuperating, as Dunkins’ body seemed to be healing itself.

How’s he doing that?

"Dad ?  Can you hear me?", she gently called.

He didn’t answer.  He was still recuperating, it seemed.  She lifted him on
her back, and headed 
for the exploded doors.

"I’ll return for you later, Dunkins."

"Assuming you live, Katrin. ", came a dark voice, the voice of her dreams.

She twisted around to face the man of her dreams, the man who killed all her
friends, her father, 
and who now was coming for her.  She let her father fall to the floor.  He was
barely a meter away 
from her, and he was approaching slowly.

"How do you know my name ?", she screamed.

"The same way I know how to get out of here...  Through your father’s
memories.  It’s a new 
power of mine.  I find it very convenient.", he explained calmly.

Jedite was glowing with power.  He had never felt like this, so strong he
could probably take on 
Metallia herself.  Katrin managed to get out her gun, and aimed it at Jedite’s
head.

"By the way, I’m Jedite.  No one else around here knows my name, but I wanted
at least someone 
to be able to curse me once I have killed them."

A detonation was heard and Jedite erected a shield in front of him...  But he
was hit on the side, 
and the shock and impact sent him to the floor, holding his wound and
screaming in rage.

"Assuming you live, Jedite.", said Matthew Hicks, in the same tone Jedite had
used seconds 
earlier.

Behind him stood the six other members of the Red Squadron.  Falcon had fired,
holding the still 
smoking weapon he used most of the time.  It was by most laws illegal, but who
really cared?  By 
his side, Scion was holding his computer, calculating data.  Probably
analyzing everything he 
could about Jedite.

"You okay, Captain?", asked Kathy.

Katrin slowly went toward the rest of her team, dragging her father along with
her.  Newbie ran 
for her and picked him up.  Katrin raised and joined Matthew’s side.  The
Squadron was now 
complete.  Matthew had locked in a staring match with Jedite.

"You can’t beat me.  I just killed all of the other Squadrons and absorbed
their energy.  I’m too 
strong to be stopped here."

"We don’t need to stop you.  Only contain you.  Cold Burn ?"

As he said that, Cold Burn unstrapped a bizarre gun and fired it.  The blast
headed right for 
Jedite, who once again raised a shield.  But it proved ineffective, as the ray
became some kind of 
energy net and surrounded Jedite.

"How can this be?"

"Technology will do that to you.", stated Roberto.

Matthew turned to Katrin.

"What now, boss?"

"Now, we get out of here."
****

        Tokyo, Japan.  2 :00 P.M.

Something’s wrong with the flames!

Rei was sitting in front of the sacred fire, as she had been for the past
twenty minutes or so.  She 
was frowning, concentrating heavily on keeping them under control, as they
were struggling to 
give her the information she wanted.  The fact that they hadn’t yet proved her
something was 
wrong.  She heard a few steps and voices behind her.

"Hurry you two.  Rei must be waiting for us.", came the voice of Luna.

"We ran all the way up here.  I think we’ve done enough worrying for a day.",
came the whining 
voice of Serena.

"Come on, Serena.  This could be important.  And we are on Scout business.",
came the calming 
voice of Amy.

The doors to the temple opened and closed.  She didn’t turn to face the ones
who came in.  She 
was too busy right now with the flames.

"Sure is hot in here...  Can I go get myself a glass of water?"

"Serena !  Sit down and don’t bother her.  We’ll wait until she’s finished.",
came Luna’s 
command.

Serena mumbled something and sat down.  Silence fell upon the room.

"What’s she waiting for?"

"Let her do her job, Serena.  She’s a priestess, she knows what she’s doing.",
explained Amy.

"I hope this doesn’t take too long.  I’ll use this afternoon off to go to the
arcade."

"I’m going back to school as soon as this is over, and so should you."

"But school is boooring."

"Let’s not start on THAT again, Serena."

"Amy...", began Serena, obviously wanting to convince her friend not to return
to school and 
come with her instead.

Rei opened her eyes.  She’d had enough.  Without turning around, she talked.

"Serena, can you please SHUT UP !  I’m trying to concentrate here, and your
CONSTANT 
talking is NOT helping."

"But Rei...", began the meatball headed blond girl.

Rei kept herself from turning around, always keeping her gaze on the flames.
She could lose 
everything she had gained in the past twenty minutes if she turned to face
Serena.

"Serena, I thought I WAS CLEAR! ", Rei said, rising her tone of voice.

"...  Okay..."

Serena looked down.  She had done it again.

Why is it everything I do in this temple always end up as upsetting Rei ?  Am
I really so clumsy ?  
It’s not my fault...  IT’S NOT MY FAULT !

Tears were beginning to form in her eyes when Luna interfered.

"Serena, don’t let what Rei said get to you.  She’s just trying to
concentrate, and your constant 
talking is not helping.  I’m sure you can understand that, right ?", Luna said
calmly, not too loud.

"IT’S NOT MY FAULT !", Serena screamed, startling Luna and Amy, and completely
breaking 
Rei’s concentration.

Serena started to cry and ran outside.  Amy looked at Luna, puzzled, then rose
to follow Serena 
outside.  Luna stayed inside with Rei.

"Why do you have to be so mean with her all the time ?  You could have
explained to her calmly 
why she had to stop talking instead of snapping at her like that.", said Luna.

"Luna, don’t you start.  She just broke my concentration, and I must start
this all over again.", Rei 
said, ignoring Luna’s question.

She started concentrating again, letting her mind flow to the flames, calmly.
Luna sighed.  There 
was no use to try and reason this girl.  Luna walked out of the room.

"At least call once you’ve found something."

Rei nodded.
****

        Jedite sat on the floor, surrounded by the energy net.  The Red
Squadron had all escaped 
through the doors, heading for an escape pod, and looking for survivors.
There were none.  The 
non-soldiers aboard the station had all fallen into a deep coma, due to his
long range absorbing of 
their energy.  And now, he’d had enough.

"4.", he said, rising from the floor.
****

        Katrin ran, holding her father on her back.  He had awakened a few
minutes ago, but was 
still too weak to run on his own.  But he seemed to be getting better by the
second, so his request 
didn’t come as a surprise.

"Put me down, Katrin.  I can run on my own now.", said Eugene Kerrigan, his
voice sounding as 
strong and certain as ever.

"All right, dad.", she said, gently letting him off her back.

He was very thin now, his energy absorbed by that monster.  But he looked
strong and confidant 
on his legs, so she let him run on his own.  The rest of the Squadron kept
running, with Falcon 
holding Dunkins over him.  Matthew was running beside him, alongside Kathy,
who proved 
herself to be a nice runner.  She had both speed and endurance.  More and more
Katrin was glad 
she had been assigned to the team.  To help with speed, Roberto was holding
Rachel.  Behind 
Katrin was Anya, who had volunteered to close the group, protecting their
backs.  She wanted to 
deal with the creep first if he returned.  That was Anya all right.  As they
started running again, 
she felt a chill down her spine, and she looked behind her.  Nothing was
wrong.

Yet ! ! !

She shook her head to rid herself of that thought.  Nothing would go wrong.
She was going to get 
out of here with her father and her team intact.  All of them!
****

        Jedite stood in the room, slowly extending his arms.

"3.", he said.
****

"X ?   Which pod will we be using?  19 or 20 ?" Falcon asked while running.
They were nearing 
an intersection, and they needed to know where to go.

"20 !  It’s the closest one to us.", shouted Matthew in answer.

"I agree.", said Scion, showing Matthew and Falcon a map he had just called up
on his computer 
screen. "It will also cut our running time by a good 2.3 minutes."

Falcon nodded.  The intersection was getting closer, so he prepared himself to
turn right to reach 
escape pod 20.  In Roberto’s arms, Rachel opened her closed eyes.

"NO !  Forget Pod 20.  Use pod 19!", she suddenly shouted at the two men in
lead.

Scion looked back at her and frowned.  He didn’t really like it when his
analysis were put in 
doubt.  Roberto looked down at her.

"Are you certain that’s the right one, my sweet ?", he asked tenderly, loud
enough so only her 
would hear.

The others didn’t need to know he could use so tender a voice.  Rachel nodded.

"You had better use the Pod 19, then.", he shouted at Matthew and Falcon.

They both nodded.  Over the years, Rachel’s "intuition" had always proved
right, and they had 
learned to listen to her about such matters.  Scion mumbled something obscure
but followed the 
others and nodded.

"Left it is, then.", Falcon said.

They all headed for Pod 19.
****

        Jedite closed his eyes and two energy balls formed in his hands.

"Two.", he said.
****

        Kathy tried hard to keep a cool face about all this, but she was
scared.  Really scared.  
Enough to make her wonder why she had actually looked forward to serving here.
She knew this 
was going to be dangerous work.  She knew she would have to face situations
such as this one 
day.  She knew she would have to face her fears this way, she just never knew
she’d have to do it 
so soon.  But something she couldn’t quite name had convinced her to come.
Some kind of deep 
feeling that was screaming at her this was the place to be.  As she ran, she
could feel her stamina 
slowly diminishing.  She was fast, but endurance on such a long panicked run
was hard to keep 
up.  Matthew slowed down a bit so the two of them would be running
side-by-side.

"So, how are you keeping up, Kathy?", he asked kindly.

She looked at him.  They were in a mission, and yet he had called her Kathy,
and not that 
annoying name they’d given her, Newbie.

"Just fine, sir.", she answered, smiling at him.

"Don’t "sir" me in these situations, Kathy.  Just call me Matthew, or X.  But
if you call me X, I’ll 
call you Newbie.", he said, a very serious tone in his voice.

She nodded.

"I’ll remember that, s... Matthew.", she answered.

He nodded and started slowing even more, heading for Katrin behind her.  She
reluctantly 
watched him go.
****

        Jedite’s hands disappeared in two balls of energy, and the net slowly
started disintegrating.  
He was freeing himself.  No simple net such as this one could hold him
anymore.  He was more 
than what he had ever been before.  He smiled maniacally.

"1.", he said. 
****

        Katrin saw Matthew heading for her after talking to Kathy, and smiled.
Even though this 
wasn’t the moment to cite protocols, the second in command was always supposed
to lead the 
group should the leader not be able to.  This was one of those times.  Why was
he coming to see 
her ?

"What are you doing here ?  You should be leading !", she said to him once he
was within hearing 
range.

"Well, excuse me for actually wanting to know if you were all right ! ! "

"Sorry, I was just surprised you’d quit your post for my well-being.  How is
the team holding, 
X ?"

"Fine, considering the situation, CAPTAIN. ", Matthew answered, obviously
frustrated by her 
constant using his code name.

She smiled.  She was just doing this to do exactly this, upset him.  For
reasons she could not 
fathom, she loved teasing him.

"Good, now that you’re here, you might as well know I’m fine too.  Just glad
my dad is alive, 
along with the lot of you."

"Are you sure it’s wise to make him run like that ?  He just barely woke up."

"He seems completely recuperated, as if nothing had happened.  Now I wonder
why it’s taking a 
longer time with Dunkins..."

"Yeah.  Maybe he’s too much of a blockhead to see he has the capacity to
live.", Matthew said, 
grinning almost childishly.

Katrin smiled at him, and for that instant there were only the two of them, no
Jedite, no Red 
Squadron, no run for their life, just the two of them...  And it felt great.
And a bit more in front of 
them, Kathy looked away, small tears in her eyes.
****

        The net evaporated as Jedite released his energy.  He floated in the
air, slowly sensing the 
location of the Red Squadron.  It wasn’t hard.  They were the only beings left
alive on the station.  
He could sense them like bees sensed honey.  He smiled as he began making his
way through the 
station, melting away all the walls that were in his way, heading in a
straight line for the 
Squadron.

"Time’s up."
****

        Eugene Kerrigan watched with a proud smile as his daughter and the
young man called 
Matthew Hicks talked and smiled at each other, even in a situation such as
this.  He was proud of 
her.  The way she was handling this situation was remarkable.  He looked once
more behind him, 
to see Anya with a knife in her mouth.  She looked very worried and kept
looking backwards.  
That wasn’t a good thing.  A soldier’s instinct was one of the best around.
She noticed him 
looking at her, so she took out the knife of her mouth and smiled at him.

"Don’t worry, sir, I’ve got your rear ends covered!", she said, giving him her
most innocent smile.

Eugene felt himself shudder.  If such a woman was guarding their backs, then
that creature had 
absolutely no hope of getting to them.  And yet he felt something missing
without his gun in his 
hands in such a situation.  So he took it out, just to make sure, and
continued running.  Strange 
how he didn’t feel the least bit tired after such an horrible experiment as
the one he had just come 
out of.  And the rest of the Squadron didn’t seem to feel the least bit tired
either.  It’s as if on 
them the effects of that monster were only temporary.  Which he was really
glad of.  Dunkins was 
in such a bad shape...  How come Dunkins was staying that way and not him was
a mystery 
though...  Perhaps his will to live...  A sudden crashing sound behind him
stopped his train of 
thoughts.  He stopped running and turned around, as did all of the Squadron.
Hicks and Katrin 
were beside him in seconds.  Anya had put her knife in her hand, and was
silently watching the 
darkness behind her, slowly stepping towards the rest of them.  Her gun was
now in her hands as 
well.  It was one of those specially built weapon that could penetrate through
anything, as well as 
use explosive bullets for more damage.  It was illegal, of course.

"Ruskie ?", Katrin asked.

On a mission code names were used.  It wasn’t only a station rule, but a
Squadron rule as well.

"Got it covered boss.", the Russian answered.

Her eyes were scanning the area behind her.  The sound was coming closer and
closer, and she 
suddenly understood he was coming through the walls.

"Everybody run, I’ll...", she started to say.

She never had time to finish, as the wall beside her blew apart, sending her
crashing into the 
opposite wall.  The impact alone made something in her body break.  She wasn’t
sure what, but 
the pain was indicating her right leg.  She had managed to keep her weapon in
her hands, so she 
rose the gun and aimed at the monster’s head.

"Go ahead.  You people have made me mad enough already.", he challenged.

Anya swore in her native tongue and fired.  The bullet flew through the air
but stopped there, a 
few meters away from Jedite, where it exploded upon hitting an invisible wall.

"Very interesting.  Explosive bullets.  Too bad it didn’t hit.", Jedite said,
watching the small 
explosion.

He raised his hand and Anya could feel some sort of pressure building up on
her.  She gasped and 
tried to move, but her body refused to.  Eugene was closer to the scene than
the others.  He began 
to run towards Jedite.

"DAD!  What are you doing ?!", shouted Katrin after him, taking a few steps
forward herself.

Matthew began to run towards Anya.

"He’s giving us the time we need to escape.  ALL OF YOU, RUN FOR IT!  IT’S AN
ORDER!", 
he yelled backwards at the Squadron.

Eugene screamed at the top of his lungs and jumped to grab a hold of the
floating Jedite, who was 
surprised at this pathetic man’s initiative.

"You foolish man.  You have no hope of stopping me.", Jedite said, releasing
his hold on Anya to 
deal with this weakling.

"I don’t have to.", Eugene said, grabbing Jedite and bringing him down to the
floor, hard.

"KATRIN!  GO !  SAVE YOURSELF ! !", he shouted.

Katrin stood unmoving, shaken by her father’s sudden attack.  She had stopped
running when 
she’d heard the command to go.  Matthew, with Anya in his arms, was running
toward her.  Anya 
looked all right, and she was even complaining to Matthew that she could have
handled him just 
fine and didn’t need his help running.  He gave it anyway.  Tears began to
roll down Katrin’s face 
as the tension of the past half-hour caught up to her.  Her father was going
to die, just like in her 
dream.  She couldn’t take it.  She began to run toward her father, to help
him.  But was stopped 
short.  A strong hand grabbed her and stopped her from aiding Eugene.

"FALCON!  Release ME NOW!", she yelled, as the big man took her on his
shoulder.

"Sorry, but if the captain becomes unable to do so, the second in command
gives the orders.", he 
said, looking at Matthew.

The Red Squadron ran towards Pod 19.
****

        Eugene crashed to the floor along with Jedite, who took most of the
impact on himself.  
Using every chance he had, Eugene, who was now on top of Jedite, slammed his
fist on Jedite’s 
face.  Jedite responded by releasing a force blast which sent Eugene crashing
in a wall.

"You HURT me, old FOOL! ", Jedite spat, blood coming out his nose.

"HA, some monster you are, nose bleeding already.", Eugene said, slowly rising
from the floor.

"If you think I am going to go down to using my fist, you are seriously
mistaken.", Jedite said as 
an energy blast came out of his hand and headed for Eugene.

Eugene jumped aside and the blast exploded into the wall, sending shrapnel of
metal everywhere.  
A large piece of it fell to the floor with an infernal shrieking sound.
Eugene received a piece of 
metal in his leg, and fell, surprise and pain freezing him for a few seconds.

"Now you die, Kerrigan!", Jedite said, rising both his hands.

A ball of energy formed, and the following energy blast flew toward the fallen
commander.  
Eugene grabbed a fallen piece of the wall and shielded himself with it.  It
was too thin.  The metal 
was overheating and melting, letting the deadly energy through.  He was going
to die.

Katrin, I’m sorry I couldn’t take better care of you.  Please forgive me...
I’m coming, Marla...  At 
long last...

Jedite kept blasting until nothing was left.
****

        They had made it to the pod.  Falcon slowly let Katrin down, and she
crumpled to the 
floor, crying.  Matthew told the others to get inside it.  Falcon looked down
at Katrin, then up at 
Hicks again.  With Dunkins still on his shoulder, he stepped inside.  Roberto
and Rachel, now on 
her feet, both passed before him and stepped inside.  None of them said
anything.  Kathy started 
to say something, but Matthew signaled her not to and to step inside.  Scion
followed, still 
analyzing some data, probably from this encounter with Jedite.  He wouldn’t
say anything for 
hours.  Katrin stayed on the floor, still crying.  Matthew kneeled in front of
her.

"Katrin.  We have to go.", he said gently.

"I can’t.  I’m staying here until he comes.", she said darkly, tears still
spilling from her eyes.

He sat down beside her.

"Then I’m staying with you.", he stated, not giving her any choice in the
matter.

She looked up at him, eyes red with tears.

"I’m...  I’m ordering...", she began staying.

"I’m not staying as a soldier, but as your friend.  You can’t order a friend
around.", Matthew said, 
calmly.

Behind them the pod started to heat up.  They barely had two minutes left.

"Why?  Your duty is to the Squadron, not me...", she said, controlling a bit
more her emotions.

A crashing sound came from down the corridor.

"You know he wouldn’t like to see you this way...", he began.

"SHUT UP!  I’ve been holding back my emotions all my life because I wanted to
be a soldier.  
Now I want at least to cry a bit for my father!!", she snapped, entering
another crying phase.

She put her head in her hands.  Matthew approached her, and put arm around
her.  She didn’t do 
anything, so he sat a bit closer.

"Katrin, I know it’s hard.  I’ve been through this, remember?  I know what
it’s like to lose your 
father.", he gently said, feeling the ground beneath the pod tremble.

They had barely a minute left.

"No, you don’t know.  You still have your mother.  I’m all alone now...  I
lost both of them.", she 
said, rising from the floor and wiping her eyes.

"Come on, let’s go, Katrin.", Matthew said.

"I’m going, but only so I can GET this BASTARD who did this.  We’re going
after him as SOON 
as we get out of here.", she said, clenching her fist.

"Of course.", Matthew said.

They both entered the pod.
****

        It was too late to get to them in time, that he knew.  Jedite looked
around himself.  For 
some reasons he seemed to be keeping the energy and memories from the
soldiers, but not from 
the commander.  Strange, but unimportant.

Time to get out of here, and to bring this place to the ground.

He looked at the power lines passing through the broken wall.  He had two
choices.  One was to 
simply go to the core and make it blow, which would take unnecessary time and
energy, or just 
send an energy wave through those cables back to the core, which would
overwhelm it and make 
it blow.  He opted for that option.  He put his hands on the cable.
Surprisingly, he received no 
electrical shock.  Pleased, he charged up a blast and let it go.  The energy
ran back toward the 
core.

"Now, time to go.  I have things to do, people to meet, revenges to take.", he
said, blasting an hole 
through the ceiling, letting some water in.

He flew through the water, uncaring for the pressure of the water, and escaped
from Deep Sea, 
while the core suddenly began to overload.
****

In their escape pod, the Red Squadron saw Jedite escaping the station through
the blackness of 
the water up to the ocean floor and then to the sky.  They watched as
meanwhile pod 20 exploded 
upon emergency departure, and thanked their god they had listened to Rachel.
They watched as 
Deep Sea Station exploded, bringing with it their few friends, their comrades
in arm, and Katrin’s 
father.
****

        Rei’s eyes suddenly opened.  Luna approached her.

"Have you found something?", she asked.

Serena and Amy were waiting with Rei’s father, helping him around the temple.
Rei and Serena 
still hadn’t solved anything between the two.

"It’s moving.  Whatever it is, it’s moving.", she said, eyes wide, almost
hysterical.

"Calm down, Rei.  Where is it heading?", Luna asked, suddenly very afraid of
the answer.

Rei looked down at the small black cat.

"Here, it’s heading here.", Rei answered.

Luna gasped as the flames suddenly grew large, and a face appeared.  Luna and
Rei both 
recognized it at the same time.

"JEDITE ! !"
****

        She could feel him getting closer.  She couldn’t explain her bond with
him, but right now, 
she could actually feel him as much as she could touch a wall or a table.  It
wasn’t a vague 
sensation, it was real.

"At last.  Welcome back.", she said to no one present in the room.
****

        Neflyte tensed.  The stars were reshaping slightly, showing Jedite
moving from his initial 
location, heading east, toward Japan.  Behind him Zoysite hadn’t noticed.  She
was twisting her 
hair around her finger, as she always did when she was nervous.  Why he was
allowing her to stay 
here was beyond him.  Well, at least once he gets here, I’ll be rid of that
woman.  Of all of them, 
in fact.  He was glad this was happening now.  Everything would turn out
perfectly.  He began to 
laugh.  Zoysite stared at him.

"What are you laughing about?", she asked.

"Nothing to concern yourself of.", he answered.
****

        When they got out of the pod it had been an hour since the explosion.
Coming back to the 
surface, especially in such a pod, always took an hour.  Jedite was long gone
by then.

"We have to find out where he’s gone to.", Katrin said to the others.

As suspected, government agents were waiting for them upon arrival.

"If you’re talking about the thing that came out of the water about an hour
ago, it headed west.  
What happened down there?", said the man apparently in charge of this
retrieval operation.

"We’ll fill you guys later.", she said, effectively shutting him up.

She turned to the rest of the Squadron.

"Appears he went west, guys.  Any idea where he went?", she asked to the lot
of them.

"He could have gone anywhere...", began Scion, showing a map of Europe.

"Japan.", Rachel said, standing beside Cold Burn.

"Japan, huh ?  Are you sure?", Katrin asked, even though she knew Rachel was
sure.  She was 
always certain of those things.

"Yes.  Jedite went to Japan.", Rachel said, looking directly at Katrin.

"Good, then that’s where we’re going."

All of Red Squadron nodded.
To be continued...

DISCLAIMER :  NO, I did not create Sailor Moon and company.  They are a
property of Naoko 
Takeuchi and others I don't know of...  Still, the crew of the Deep Sea
Station are my creations, 
and so are all other characters in there which are not a part of the
normal Sailor Moon Universe.  I 
am using the characters which are not mine without permission, but suing
me would be pretty 
useless, since I don't have much.

Note :  This story takes place between episodes Worth a princess' Ransom
and Molly's Folly of 
the first season of the American version of Sailor Moon.  So Zoysite is a
girl, and the 
NEGAVERSE wants to wake up the NEGAFORCE.

Note :  Ofuda is the correct term for Rei’s banishing papers, so it is the
name I will use from now on.  Thanks to Mike Chenoweth for this
information.

Note :  A youma, by the way, is the name given to the "monsters" in the
first season...  I also know that because of Mike Chenoweth’s fanfics.




Chapter 5
Homecoming

Somewhere over Europe, 6 :03 PM
        Jedite flew over Europe, heading directly for a small apartment in
the middle of Tokyo, where he knew SHE would be waiting for him, as Jedite
himself had ordered her to.  He hadn’t really planned this.  He had just
told HER that if something was to happen to him, she had to leave and wait
for him there until he returned or she died.  His eyes shone red in the
darkness, and his blond hair gave him a terrifying look for anyone who
would have cared to look up that evening.  The night had fallen about one
hour ago.  Jedite sped up a little.  He was almost there. Only a few
minutes more.
****

Tokyo, same time.

        Amy was typing away a program on her computer in an effort to
ignore her fear.  Amy was a scientific person.  And, according to science,
people didn’t return from the dead.

Science doesn’t believe in fire readings either.

"Rei is my friend and I trust her, " she replied out loud to her silent
thought.

It had been a few hours since Rei had told them what the fire reading had
told her.  Rei had been clearly panicked.  Serena was nearly hysterical
from fear, and Amy just started analyzing data on her computer screen.
Not that she had much to analyze.  It was just her way of doing things.
She couldn’t do much anyway.  They had all agreed to let Jedite make the
first move, and to prepare for it as best as they could.  Which wasn’t
much, really.  Amy put her computer down and looked out at the stars
through her window.  How Jedite could have returned was beyond her.   The
guy had been run over by a plane!  No one could have survived.  An idea
suddenly crossed her mind.  

What if he had never died ?  What if he only teleported himself away to
recuperate, and asked that new guy, Neflyte, to take over in his place ?
That would put things under a new perspective, and they avoided the return
from the dead thing.  But if things were like that, then what did it take 
to kill one of these negaverse monsters ?

Amy sighed.  This was getting very, very complicated.  She closed her
computer.  Maybe she was thinking too much...  Amy smiled.  She rose from
her chair.  What she needed wasn’t this.  She needed some kind of action.
She grabbed her small coat.  No, what she needed was fresh air.

"Mom !  I’m going out," she called out to her mom in her room on the upper
floor.

"Are you sure ?  It’s getting late, dear."

Amy smiled.  There wasn’t much that could really hurt her these days, now
that she was a Sailor Scout...

"I’ll be all right.  I’m not going out for long anyway, " she responded.

With her mom’s approval, she headed out into the new night.
****

        Cherry Hill Temple, about the same time.

The temple was silent as it always was this time of night.  The moon shone
in the sky, ever watchful, surrounded by its stars.  But something was
wrong with the atmosphere tonight.  The temple seemed too dark, and the
only light present was the one coming from the praying room, where a young
lone priestess was chanting in front of a small fire.  And although she
appeared concentrated, her thoughts were on another matter entirely.

"You shouldn’t have stayed up so late last night, " she repeated to
herself softly as she fought the urge to yawn again.

She frowned as she tried to concentrate again on the fire and the praying,
but found that she couldn’t.  All of this didn’t really make much sense to
her.  In her opinion, they shouldn’t have all separated like this.  It was
all Serena’s fault!  She was the one who whined about being tired, 
forcing Luna to have them all retreat to their homes to prepare and rest.

That’s not what we should be doing!  We’re Sailor Scouts!  We should be
training!  Preparing for Jedite’s return!  We should be doing SOMETHING !!

Her expression changed from a calm one to a deep frown in a matter of
seconds, and she suddenly rose, forgetting completely her prayers.  But
she calmed herself when a thought crossed her mind.

I wonder if I should go see Darien...  What if something happens and...

She stopped her chain of thoughts when she felt the atmosphere around the
temple.  It wasn’t warm and inviting as usual, but cold and dark.  She
came out of the room and looked around. Fobos and Dimos were sitting on
top of the temple, and her grandfather had gone to bed.  No candle were
lit and a small wind was blowing.  Is that what would become of the temple
if she were to die ?  Her grandfather could never handle it on his own...

She suddenly clenched her fist and a well-known fire reappeared in her
eyes.

"No!  I won’t die!  I...We will survive this, no matter what happens!
We’ve fought Jedite before!  We’ll do it again!  And this time we’ll
definitely WIN!"

Suddenly full of courage and confidence, she began to run for the woods.
Even if they had to wait for Jedite to make his first move, it didn’t mean
she would remain here uselessly waiting. She would train on her own.  As
she ran, she took out a small pen from her subspace pocket, and 
shouted.

"Mars Power!"

Sailor Mars disappeared in the woods, eager to do something.
****

        The Tsukino home, around the same time...

"Serena, you should go to bed early.  You will need all the energy you can
if Jedite is really returning," Luna commented, following Serena up the
stairs and toward her room.

Serena stopped and turned to face Luna, who looked up at her.

"There’s no way I could sleep Luna !  I have too much on my mind", Serena
replied, before continuing her walk to her room.

"Since when does Sailor business keep you from sleeping," Luna asked, not
believing what she was hearing.

They both entered the room, and Serena closed the door.

"I am a bit worried about this, but I’m more worried about Rei...  Why is
she hating me so much?"

She sat down on the bed, and Luna jumped up beside her.

"Rei doesn’t HATE you," she said, "She just wants you to understand that
Sailor business is important business, and wants to help you become the
best Scout possible."

Serena sighed heavily and a bit too dramatically and let herself fall on
her back on her bed.  She stayed silent for two long minutes, then raised
her head to look into Luna’s bright blue eyes.  The black talking cat
stared back, wondering silently what was going on in that crazy head of
hers.

"Luna, I have to apologize to Rei for this afternoon," she suddenly
announced, as she suddenly rose from her bed and headed for her closet,
looking for her small coat. Finding it, she quickly put it on, not
listening to Luna as the cat kept explaining how this isn’t the right
time, how Serena should be resting and how bothering Rei right now
wouldn’t be a good thing.

Serena ignored all of it, and came out of her room.  Luna sighed.  She
would never get through to this girl’s common sense...

Serena arrived downstairs.  Helene and Ken Tsukino were both in the living
room, the first quietly watching some show on television, the second
reading an article in that morning’s newspaper.  Sammy was upstairs in his
room, planning his latest prank on his sister.

"Mom, dad, I’m going out, " Serena announced suddenly to her parents.

Both looked up from their business.

"Isn’t it getting a bit late," Ikuko asked, obviously worried.

Her father agreed with a nod.

"This isn’t a suitable time for girls your age to be going out...  and
don’t you have school tomorrow," he said.

"I’m only going at Rei’s, it’s only six, and I’m already 14, dad..."

The two parents looked at each other, then both agreed to let Serena go,
if she promised to return by eight, which she did.  Serena left the house,
followed by Luna.

I’m not certain Rei will accept this apology calmly, so I might as well
limit the damage...

Luna shook her head in silence.  Just how much more of this could Serena
take ?
****

         "You know, Zoysite, I never thought I would one day have you as a
dinner guest", Neflyte stated as he sat down to eat.

Across the room Zoysite floated in a corner, staring at him with so much
fire and hatred he could swear he actually felt the heat.  She was playing
with her hair with her small finger, as she often did.  When Neflyte
spoke, she looked down at him and laughed maniacally, as she always did.

"Don’t even think I’m going to sit down there with you.  I’m going to go
eat with Malachite and be back in half an hour.  I doubt you’ll have time
to do much in such a small period of time", she responded.

She laughed again and disappeared, leaving behind her a whirlwind of
flowers.  Neflyte rose from the table and walked to a window.  Half an
hour didn’t leave much time for him to prepare for what he was about to
do, but he didn’t have the choice.  He walked back into his Star Chamber.  
It was almost time.
****

        SHE took a breath of fresh air on the balcony, then returned
inside.  Her answering machine was on, and she would take no calls
tonight.  SHE threw her beeper on her bed and sat down on a small chair in
the kitchen.  And waited.  A sudden crash came from her bedroom window,
and she rose in surprise.

A burglar ?  Oh, why now, of all nights ! !

"ELECTRA !", shouted a commanding voice.

A voice she recognized very easily.  Electra hurried into the room, and
gasped.  Hovering above the bed was Jedite.  His body had a strange red
aura around it, and his eyes were also red.  His gray costume was torn.
But still he looked the same.  He looked even stronger.  He stared
directly into her eyes, and she bowed her head.

"I am here, Master Jedite."
****

        Amy walked calmly in the night, letting the fresh air ease her
worries.  This was most of the time what she used to do to let her mind
relax, and it worked pretty well.  She just walked, with no particular
destination in mind, letting her subconscious guide her.  Amy breathed in
and let the air clean her soul.  She continued walking this for about half
an hour, free of worries, free of doubt, free of everything...  Where she
was going she didn’t know or care. She just kept on walking...  And
walking...  For about half an hour...  Before a sharp cry snapped her out
of her stupor.

"Mars Fire, IGNITE !"

She froze, her mind rapidly waking up and determining where she was.  Amy
stood before the stairs leading to the Temple.  She blinked unbelieving.

Why here ?

Movements in the surrounding forest grabbed her attention.  A flash of
light followed by a burning noise and smoke confirmed her suspicion.
Sailor Mars was in the woods, probably training or just unleashing her
frustrations, which sounded like a very good thing to do right now.  
She looked around her.  Nobody was there.  Rapidly she went up the stairs,
took out her transformation pen, and, while running, she held it up and
shouted...

"Mercury POWER !"

She followed the lights to find Mars in the woods.
****

        "Mars fire, IGNITE!"

A ball of flame came out of her fingers as she pointed them towards a
small target she had constructed out of wood and paper.  They were
originally made for her small ofuda, but were now used as fire ray
practice.  The target was engulfed in flames and was reduced to cinders in
a matter of seconds.  Mars landed on her feet a few meters away, fingers
still pointed.  She flung her hair backwards.

"This is way too easy!  I need a moving target," she said out loud.

How am I supposed to let go of some steam if I can’t practice on something
moving?

Another target rose behind her, powered by a small motor her grandfather
had installed, and she jumped backwards and simply aimed her fingers
again.

"YAAH, " she simply yelled, not bothering with her power words.

The familiar ball of flame erupted and again hit its target.  She landed
kneeling, eyes scanning the area for other things to shoot at.

"How about a moving target," said a voice above and behind her.

Mars turned to face the familiar voice.  Mercury stood on the branch of a
tree, staring at Mars.

"How about a friendly fight", she suggested.

Mars grinned.  This was just what she wanted.

"All right," she agreed. "The first one to get hit or to lose her balance
has to pay dinner for the other...  and Serena!"

Both smiled, knowing the price of this little match would be high.
Mercury nodded.

"Let’s go," Mars shouted, aiming for Mercury and leaping into the air.

Mercury leapt after her.  This was the perfect way to release her worries.
****

        Serena whistled happily as she ran toward the Temple grounds.  She
was going to apologize to Rei, and then she would ask her to be allowed to
read some of her comic books. Those were SOOO good!  She didn’t really
understand why everyone felt so tense and worried about Jedite.  They had
dealt with him before, and she was certain they could do so again.  She 
had no doubts about it.  When she reached the stairs, she began climbing
them two by two, exhausting herself after eight stairs.  She never noticed
Luna following her, then suddenly stopping and staring into the woods.
She never noticed the screams and flashes of light either. Instead she
continued going up, now one by one, calling out for Rei.

"REEEI !  Where are you ?  I’m SOOORRY ! "

Luna sighed and let her head fall in exasperation.

Doesn’t she realize it’s getting late and people are sleeping ?

Serena continued, and Luna decided it was time to stop her.  She hurriedly
got in front of Serena and jumped at her face.

"SERENA," she yelled.

The twin pony-tailed blond girl screamed in surprise and fell backwards on
her butt, a few millimeters away from a painful fall down the stairs.

"ARE YOU CRAZY, LUNA ?  I ALMOST KILLED MYSELF ! !  WHY DID YOU, "  Serena 
yelled, on the verge of crying.

"Serena, shut up and look into the woods, " a mad Luna interrupted.

The angered tone almost made Serena start to cry again, but she obeyed
Luna and looked into the woods.  Flashes of light and fighting screams
finally reached her eyes and ears.  Serena looked at her small black
talking guardian cat.

"Luna ?  What’s happening ?  Those voices sound like Amy and Rei..."

Luna stared into the woods for a few seconds, silent, then said without
diverting her gaze :

"We should go find out, Serena...  And you’d better transform. "

Serena nodded and took her brooch in her hand.  She rose it in the air and
shouted her transformation words, careless, to Luna’s horror, of who could
be watching.

"MOON PRISM POWER ! "

Sailor Moon jumped into the woods, heading straight for the various sounds
and lights.  More than once she nearly tripped and fell.  Luna easily
passed her by and hurried to the scene. Grumbling and complaining, Sailor
Moon reached Luna’s side...  and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Luna ?  What’s happening ? "

The scene before her was unsuspected, to say the least.  Mars fired three
fireballs at Sailor Mercury, who leapt in the air and over Sailor Mars’s
head to avoid them. Then Mercury let a stream of bubbles loose straight
for Mars, who made a run for it and hid in the cover of the trees.

"I think they’re... training, " concluded Luna.

"WHAT ? ?  WITHOUT ME ? ! "

Luna silently promised she would never tell Serena about the many training
sessions she and the scouts did while their "leader" was in detention.
Sailor Moon leapt after Rei.  Luna saw her prepare her Moon Tiara, and her
eyes widened in horror, her heart skipping a beat.

"Sailor Moon, NO !  Your tiara is much too strong to use in... "

Too late.

"MOON TIARA, MAGIC ! "
****

        Darien had gone to bed early that night to recuperate for last
night’s party.  He never should’ve stayed so long, but Rei had insisted
they stayed another hour, and another, and another...  Darien groaned.

"I hope she had more fun than I did..."

Darien closed his eyes for the hundredth time, trying to fall asleep
again...  With no luck.  He didn’t know why he couldn’t sleep.  There was
something in the air which bothered him, and he couldn’t identify it.  And
it bothered him to no end.  He was used to having his life simple and 
clean.  Whatever was happening to him these days was... unwanted.  Those
dreams...  That voice...  The headaches...  Rei...  The girl he kept
bumping into...  That meatball head...  Why did he feel something was
wrong with the meatball head...  Why should he care? Slowly he began to 
drift off to sleep, at long last...  That’s when the headache hit him.  So
hard he screamed and fell off the bed, grasping his head with his two
hands.

"Not again," he managed to say, "please, not again !"

Silence fell upon the room as Darien lost consciousness.  And a few
seconds later, a man dressed in a tuxedo, wearing a hat and a strange
mask, exited the apartment through the bedroom’s window.
****

Jedite sat across the table from her, eating some of the food Electra had
prepared for him.  He looked around the apartment, taking every detail of
it into notice.

"You’ve done quite well, Electra," he told her.

The apartment wasn’t exactly what he would’ve bought for himself.  He
would have got something bigger.  But considering Electra was only a
youma, no matter what her past before that was, it was still quite good.

"I did only as you ordered, Master Jedite," she said, bowing her head,
"once you... "

She hesitated on the word to use.

"...disappeared," Jedite supplied.

Electra nodded, and continued : "disappeared, I escaped from the Queen’s
court and came here to Tokyo, where I got a job and started living a life
on my own, waiting patiently for your return..."

"Of course you did !  There was no way I was going to let the Queen of
Youma work for these other incompetents," Jedite said.

He suddenly looked up and stopped talking and put down his food.

Speaking of which...

He stared at Electra and began a countdown.  Electra stared, startled.

"3...2...1... "

Jedite turned and looked straight at a corner.  The air shimmered for a
few seconds, then Neflyte appeared, floating slightly above the ground.
Jedite spoke first.

"I was wondering when my "so-called" successor was going to show up," he
said to the newcomer.

Neflyte’s eyes locked instantly with Jedite’s, and for a few seconds a
staring contest took place.  Finally Neflyte broke the silence.

"The Queen should have made certain you were dead."

"The Queen should have listened to what I had to say, " Jedite replied.

Neflyte floated to the floor.

"What tells you I’m not going to report you to the Queen," Neflyte
threatened.

"I know you, Neflyte!  You’re probably to offer me some kind of deal!
Which I will refuse!  I don’t need any kind of help now.  You’re only a
nuisance to me, and you should be destroyed!"

Jedite raised his hand.  Neflyte immediately felt the power wave hit him.
He barely threw a shield in time, and the impact alone sent him crashing
in the wall behind him.

"Don’t make the same error Beryl did!  Listen to what I have to say,"
Neflyte said, knowing this was the best way to get to Jedite.

The power he felt slowly diminished, and Neflyte lowered his shield.

"Speak!  Then we’ll see if what you say is worth my time!"

Neflyte nodded.

"What if I told you I can give you a way to enter undetected in the
Queen’s lair," Neflyte said. 

"I’d ask what’s in it for you," Jedite asked, suspicious.

"Freedom of my acts.  With Beryl out of the way, I can do anything!
Including getting rid of Zoysite!"

A dark smile appeared in Neflyte’s face.  Jedite seemed thoughtful for a
few seconds.  Electra just looked at the scene from behind them,
considering her own options.

"I’ll need to think about this," Jedite said.

He might be powerful now, he still wasn’t certain he could take on an army
of youma, two generals and Beryl had the same time.  A silent appearance
might be good. But then an idea appeared in his head.  And slowly he
smiled.

"Do you think you could arrange a little something with this portal ?"

The Sailor Scouts will regret what they’ve done to me...
****

        When the helicopter finally landed at Tokyo airport that night,
Katrin was the first one out, taking a fresh breath of air.  She was
followed by Hitachi, who was already using his scanning device to follow
the trail of energy they’d followed all the way here.  Behind him 
Roberto, holding Rachel in his arms, stepped down from the helicopter and
stood still.  Rachel was asleep, but the fresh air was slowly waking her
up.  Matthew came next.  He was chatting with Kathy.  Behind them Anya
came, engaged in some kind of fight with Falcon, as always.

"Well guys, here we are, Japan," Matthew said to the group, when both he
and Kathy reached her side.

The lot of them began walking for the arrivals center, and the seriousness
of the situation rapidly returned.  Hitachi was frowning, trying to
pinpoint where the energy reading led to.  Katrin approached him.

"Well ?  What have you found ? "

"I’m not sure.  He landed somewhere in the city that’s for sure.  But
there are other energy readings in the city...  Some power signatures are
similar to that of Jedite, others are the complete opposite."

Matthew rejoined the two of them.

"Well, we’re here, what next ?"

"We’re probably going to have to separate and search the city in small
groups, until he manifests himself again.  Then we’ll regroup on him and
finish what we started back at the base."

"Or he finishes what he started, " Roberto stated.

The three of them stared at him, and Rachel took him by the arm and took
him away, probably to have a little...chat...

"All right, people, listen to me!  Cold Burn and Racket, you’re together,
Falcon and Ruskie, another team, Scion, you’re with Newbie, X, you’re with
me!  We’ll go buy maps of the city, and we’ll start searching.  At the
first sign of trouble, call the other teams.  Are we all clear on this ?"

The others all nodded.  They were ready.

"All right people, let’s go kick that creep’s ass!"
****

Next :  Neflyte faces Zoysite and the Queen.  Jedite faces the scouts!
And the Red Squadron around Tokyo!

DISCLAIMER :  NO, I did not create Sailor Moon and company.  They are
a property of Naoko Takeuchi and others I don't know of...  Still,
the crew of the Deep Sea Station, and the Red Squadron, are my
creations, and so are all other characters in there which are not a
part of the normal Sailor Moon Universe.  I am using the characters
which are not mine without permission, but suing me would be pretty
useless, since I don't have much.

Note :  This story takes place between episodes Worth a princess'
Ransom and Molly's Folly of the first season of the American version
of Sailor Moon.  So Zoysite is a girl, and the NEGAVERSE wants to
wake up the NEGAFORCE.  BUT, as some people have said to me, Jedite
does mention Metallia in this story, so I must also say that this
takes place in the same universe as Path To Darkness.  For more
details, well, go read the story.  It should be available on my page
at www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/9165. 

Note :  Ofuda is the correct term for Rei’s banishing papers, so it
is the name I will use from now on.  Thanks to Mike Chenoweth for
this information. 

Note :  A youma, by the way, is the name given to the "monsters" in
the first season...  I also know that because of Mike Chenoweth’s
fanfics.

Dreamer's End
Chapter 6
Confrontations
                                                 

"SAILOR MOON!" 

Mars was gasping for air, breathless, as she stared at the gaping
hole in the ground which had once been the place where she had stood,
waiting for Mercury's attack.  Sailor Moon landed before her,
standing proudly, as if she was glad she had almost completely fried
Mars.  Mercury landed beside Mars, frowning at Sailor Moon. 

"Sailor Moon, what are you doing here?  I thought you would be home
by now...", Mercury began saying. 

"Oh, I came to apologize to Rei about this afternoon, and when I saw
the two of you in training, well, I thought that I could join in with
you guys, since I'm your leader and all." 

At that Mars flinched, and she was about to retort something back
when Luna landed in between the two, ending all hostilities for the
time being. 

"This will have to wait.  The sight of you two training proves one
thing, you both are true Sailor Scouts, ready for everything, but
unsupervised training can be VERY dangerous, as this incident has
proven." 

Mars stepped forward. 

"Luna, you can't possibly blame this on us, it was all that meatball
head's fault, and..." 

Mercury interrupted her. 

"Actually, she's right.  Our little "training session" to let go of
some steam could have turned out as a major disaster.  What if one of
us had actually hit the other?" 

Mars gave Mercury a stare cold enough to make Mercury shiver, but
Mercury ignored her and looked at Luna. 

"Sorry, Luna.", she said, bowing her head. 

Mars looked away, and so did Moon.  This was none of their fault.
For one it was the meatball head's fault, for the other it was that
idiot's fault.  Luna and Mercury sighed, suddenly realizing that
there were some things... or persons, that were beyond comprehension. 

"Anyway, we'd better go back home now, it's getting late anyway.",
Mercury said. 

She closed her eyes and her Mercury costume vanished, leaving only
her school uniform.  She started on the small trail leading back to
the Temple. 

"Good night, guys!", she called back, waving. 

The two others waved back, and Mars also changed into her priestess
robes. 

"I'll be going too, meatball head.  Don't lose yourself in the
woods." 

Rei entered the woods leading to her home.  Sailor Moon sighed and
sat on the floor.  Luna looked at her. 

"What is it?", she asked. 

"Well, I came all this way to apologize, and never got the chance
to," she said, looking at the stars. 

"You'll get your chance, Sailor Moon.  Now come on, let's go to bed,
you need your sleep." 

Sailor Moon looked down at Luna, then nodded. 

"You're right, Luna.  We might have a big day tomorrow." 

Sailor Moon looked up at the stars again, then leapt in the air and
landed on a tree. 

"You're not changing back," Luna asked. 

"No, I'll get home faster this way!  See you there, Luna," Sailor
Moon said, leaping to another tree, then another, getting farther and
farther away. 

Luna sighed then started on her way home. 
****

Scion stared at the map before him as he ran through the city
streets.  There was a time when he could tell these streets with his
eyes closed.  It had been WAY too long since the last time he had
come home, he realized. 

"Hey, Scion, any idea where we're going," Newbie asked him as she ran
beside him. 

Scion checked his map one last time, then looked at his partner of
the night. 

"We should be about to hit a residential area.  There were actually
three readings coming from around here before the scanner shorted
out." 

"You think we'll run into trouble," she asked, obviously a little
worried about meeting another guy like the one that destroyed the
base, let alone three of them. 

"Hey, don't worry!  I know this city by heart.  And besides, even if
we get close, we won't know, because the scanner is out.  We'll have
to wait until they use their powers to do something." 

"Yeah, well I hope we don't find out seconds before we're blasted
into oblivion.  I still have some...some things to do before I die,"
she said, looking away from him. 

Scion stared at her, suddenly wondering what was going on in that
young girl's head.  She had dreams, that was certain.  But who they
concerned... 

No, this is none of my concerns... 

He shook his head and started slowing down as he realized they were
getting near.  After a few minutes, both of them came to a full stop. 

"Well," Scion said, checking out the area for any clues, "now all
that's left is the waiting." 
****
 
Racket and Coldburn were walking slowly in the city streets, holding
each other's hand, as two lovers on a vacation would.  This looked
nothing like a life or death mission, and the two of them were
completely relaxed.  And if not for the fact that Coldburn was
nervously checking every one of the street, no one could ever have
guessed their true purpose. 

"You should relax, Coldburn, we aren't in the middle of a fight, you
know?  You said that you would try for me...", Racket said,
respecting the order that said they had to call each other by their
code names on missions. 

Coldburn stopped and looked down at her magnificent blue eyes.  She
smiled at him and brushed her blond hair backwards.  For him, she was
the most beautiful woman in this world. 

"I know, Racket, but you know as well as I do that this mission could
be our most dangerous one yet.  We have to be on alert.  And besides,
if anything should ever happen to you...", Coldburn said, looking
away, restarting their walk. 

"You have to stop that, Coldburn, the me-protect-you gig.  I can take
care of myself, you know..." 

"I know, Racket, but it's stronger than me, I can't control it.  I
just HAVE to protect you," he explained, looking at her again. 

She smiled at him.  She knew how he felt, he had explained it a
thousand times to her already.  She sighed. 

Just don't get killed on my account... 

She suddenly stopped advancing as a sudden impression hit her.  A
strong power source was near here.  Very near.  She looked around
her.  They were in the middle of a residential area with a lot of
buildings around them.  And a countless amount of people in a city
like Tokyo.  They would never be able to pinpoint him, even with her
"powers". 

"Coldburn, he's near here." 

Coldburn stopped and looked at her. 

"Where?" 

"I can't tell.  Near here.  And it almost looks like there's three
power source.  One very strong, another a little less so, and another
still weaker.  But all stronger than us." 

Coldburn's eyes grew large. 

"Th...Three of them?" 

Racket nodded. 

"And all evil," she added. 

Coldburn looked around him, as if expecting the enemy to jump out of
the shadows. 

"Well, then, if they are near, should we report back or wait and
see," Racket asked, looking as Coldburn inspected their surroundings. 

Coldburn looked around for a few more seconds, then turned back to
face Racket. 

"We wait." 

Racket nodded.  They waited. 
****

Ruskie and Falcon's jeep was heading down a small trail in a small
forest on the outskirts of Tokyo.  Scion had localized it, and Katrin
had send them to investigate.  And they didn't like it. 

"I don't get it!  There's NOTHING in this damned place!  Why do we
get to lose ourselves in a place like this?!!", Ruskie complained
while she was driving, avoiding bumps and tree branches lying on the
trail, madly turning the wheel to avoid things at an alarming speed. 

Falcon, perfectly calm beside her, was silently cleaning one of the
many weapons the jeep held.  He seemed completely unaffected by the
speed of the vehicle, the obstacles on the road or Ruskie's rising
temper. 

"If Scion's gizmo tells us something is out here, then something
is.", he said while verifying the trigger. 

"That sorry excuse for a martial artist never gets anything right!
This probably is another dead-end!  Damn!", Ruskie shouted out loud,
her right hand going to her knife in a dangerous way while she held
the wheel with the other. 

The strange hatred Ruskie held for Scion was no secret between the
members of the Squadron.  Scion had never done anything to Ruskie,
but she once said it was natural antipathy... 

Go figure!, Falcon thought. 

Silence fell for a few seconds, until some kind of detonation shook
the ground. 

"Oh, damn!  WHAT THE HELL?!", Falcon shouted, as Ruskie swore in
Russian, while she tried desperately to get the car back on the right
track. 

Another detonation occurred right in front of them, and the jeep was
thrown to two wheels, its left side risen to the air by the
explosion's force.  It stayed like that for a few minutes, then
crashed on its right side.  Falcon was thrown into the side door, and
Ruskie fell on him.  The shock put him unconscious, while Ruskie
started swearing once more.  She grabbed Falcon and climbed out of
the car.  Her vision was somehow dimmed.  White spots appeared all
over, and the blood on her forehead confirmed she had probably hit
her head somewhere.  She managed to get out of the truck while
holding Falcon on her back, but she knew whoever had attacked them
was out there, somewhere.  She took her knife out, and checked to see
if Falcon was armed.  His own machine gun was strapped on his back.
It wasn't standard issue, having been modified many times in the
past, to suit its owner's needs, and it was now probably the
deadliest machine gun on Earth.  A sharp whistling noise could
suddenly be heard, and she took Falcon on her back, running away from
the vehicle.  A few seconds later, an energy ball hit it and it blew
up, sending fragments of metal and glass everywhere.  The force of
the explosion threw both of them over an hill.  They both landed
rather with a crash on the other side.  Ruskie looked around.  She
was still up, but Falcon was out cold.  This wasn't looking good.
Their radio equipment had been destroyed in the jeep, and no one
could probably get here in time.  This wasn't good. 

"Falcon, if you don't wake up now, I'm taking your baby away from
you.", she said, staring at the weapon on the black man's back. 

"Don't... You... Dare...", came the broken reply. 

"Knew that would wake you up.", Ruskie said, helping him to sit down. 

She was feeling dizzy herself.  She could lose consciousness at any
time.  And whatever had attacked them was still out there. 

"So...  Was it... Our boy... Wonder?", Falcon said with obvious pain
which meant his lung had probably been hit. 

"Don't know.  Probably.", Ruskie said.  She was balancing her knife
between her hands, watching her surroundings. 

A sudden movement in the bushes caught their attention.  Falcon was
on his feet, gun aiming right for the spot where the movement had
come from.  Ruskie was standing beside him, eyes scanning the area as
best as they could, considering the situation. 

"You are trespassing on a private property," came a shrill voice, but
not from the bushes.  "I have been ordered to take down ANYONE posing
a threat to the master of this place." 

Falcon and Ruskie looked at each other.  Obviously they were
considered a threat. 

"Show yourself," Ruskie shouted, looking around her. 

As if in answer, a black creature with yellow shining eyes and white
tendrils coming out of a bit everywhere on its body jumped down from
a tree and stood before the two wounded soldiers.  Ruskie and Falcon
didn't move a finger, although the urge to take a few good steps
backwards occurred to both of them, they chose not to. 

"Such pitiful human weapons can't hurt me, I'm afraid, " said the
creature while apparently studying them. 

"We'll just have to see about that," Ruskie replied, a smile
appearing on her face. 
****

    Katrin and X were sprinting down a road which went up an hill.  A
small wood was bordering the road, and soon enough they arrived at a
three-way intersection in front of stairs looking like they headed
towards a temple.  They stopped and looked at each other.

"Where to, Boss," X asked her, smiling.

Katrin looked around her, searching for someplace they could go.  And
strangely, something upstairs attracted her.  She couldn't say what,
but she felt compelled to go up those stairs.  But something else
caught her attention.  Something... above the trees.  She looked up
to see a figure moving from tree to tree, with an incredible speed.

"X!  Up there," she yelled, suddenly starting to run after the
shadow, taking out her weapon.

X saw it too and ran after her.

"What do you think it is," he asked her while running.

"I don't know!  It doesn't look like that creep that attacked us,"
she shouted back at him.

Katrin took aim and fired just in front of the thing, as a warning
shot.
****

    Sailor Moon was jumping from tree to tree, heading back home.
All and all, this night had been a failure for her.  She didn’t get
to participate in the other’s training session, and had not even had
the chance to apologize to Rei.  Things were even worse now.  That
thought was in her mind when some kind of light flew right before
her, almost hitting her in the process.

"What in the w..." she had the chance to say before she realized that
she had lost her footing.  

"I don’t wanna die!", she wailed as she began falling helplessly,
arms and legs flailing uselessly in the air.

She fell behind a building, away from the view of Katrin and X, who
both looked at each other.

"My god, that sounded like a girl... ", Katrin said, suddenly
realizing she could have made a mistake.

"Let’s go check it out. ", X said, running for where the girl had
fallen.
****

"Tuxedo Mask, you saved me!", Sailor Moon said at the man who was now
holding her in his arms.

"What were you doing there anyway?", the masked man asked her, slowly
putting her down on the floor.

"I was going home when some kind of ray flew in front of me...  It
surprised me... ", Sailor Moon explained, her eyes totally fixed on
the man looking at her.  Her Tuxedo Mask.

"Well, I’ll be going then! ", he said, about to leap back.

"Wait... ", Sailor Moon began.  She never had the chance to finish.

"ALL RIGHT NOBODY MOVES! ", someone shouted.

Both Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask looked up to see two people, a man
and a woman, standing before them, guns pointed straight at their
heads.  Tuxedo Mask was about to step forward, but the woman stopped
him.

"Don’t make a move, Tuxedo boy!  I don’t know why the hell you’re
here wearing a Tuxedo in this heat, and that god damned silly mask,
but until we figure things out, you’re all staying there."

Sailor Moon stared at Katrin.

"Who... Who are you," she asked the soldier.

"That’s MY question," Katrin answered.

The blond heroine gulped.  This didn’t sound good.
****

        Neflyte materialized in his darkened home, hoping that his little
visit to Jedite had not been noticed by Zoysite.  He headed for his
Star Chamber again, to prepare for his little campaign with Jedite,
but was stopped by the very voice he had hoped not to hear.

"Where have you been, Neflyte," the female general asked.

Neflyte turned around as the woman materialized behind him, a smile
in her face, obviously proud of having surprised him.

"Dealing with some small business...", Neflyte answered simply,
turning back, ignoring any response she might have.

He wasn’t prepared for what came next.

"The Queen wants to see you right now.  She seems angry.  You’ve done
something wrong, Neflyte," Zoysite said before exploding into her
usual laughter.

"How sad to see a general of the Negaverse reduced to the state of
mere messenger," Neflyte mused before disappearing from Zoysite’s
sight.

"You just wait, Neflyte.  We’ll see how this all turns out soon
enough."
****

        Queen Beryl was growing impatient with her second general.  Up to
now, he had been something of a disappointment, and his reluctance to
appear before her didn’t help matters.  This time he had better
answer.

"You requested my presence, my Queen ?", came Neflyte’s voice as he
appeared in the master chamber.

The Queen’s dark eyes set down on him the second he had finished
materializing.

"I want a report of happenings on Earth.  This growing disturbance of
power worries me, and you have yet to report any findings about it."

"I have found the source of the disturbance, and am currently
investigating it.", he said calmly.

This was true, in a way.

"And what is that source?", the Queen asked.

Time to gamble, Neflyte thought.

"I have yet to identify it, my Queen."

A lie, pure and simple.  If it was discovered, he would most surely
be executed on the spot.  The Queen seemed thoughtful for a few
seconds, then looked directly at Neflyte again.

"Very well, return to your... investigation.  Report again with any
new findings. "

Neflyte nodded.

"I shall, my Queen."

And with that, he was gone.  And the Queen smiled darkly.  With her
mind she summoned Malakite and Zoysite.  She had her own plans about
all this.
****

        Electra was tired of waiting.  She had been the Queen of youma.
Now reduced to this mere sidekick state was tiring her to death.

"How long will we have to wait, master Jedite?", she asked her lord.

"As long as we have to.", Jedite said.

Jedite’s concentration was focusing on finding the Sailor Scouts
right now.  If his plans were to work, he would have to act fast.
And to gather them all at one place using his own powers.  Because
Sailor Moon was already using her powers, he found her easily enough.
The others were another story.  He frowned and got to work.
****

Ruskie jumped as high as she could as below her the spot where she
had stood was vaporized.  Falcon was running sideways, his weapon
firing wildly at the creature emitting the energy blasts that were
chasing him.  The bullets all were stopped by some kind of energy
field.  Ruskie rolled as she landed and threw one of her knives in
one single motion.  The potentially lethal blade flew through the air
only to suddenly stop and fall to the floor.

"I told you your weapons wouldn’t work against me!", the youma yelled
triumphantly before releasing another energy blast at the two
warriors, who got on the move again.

"<Ruskie, we have to find a way to blast through his field,>" Falcon
yelled in Russian over the noise the various energy blasts generated.

"<Agreed.> ", she responded.

"Are your minds so scared you’re speaking gibberish now?", the youma
said, not understanding a word.

Both Falcon and Ruskie looked at each other from across the small
clearing they were now fighting in.  This one was going to be a bit
tougher than usual.

"<Try making this fight a close one!>", Falcon shouted.

Ruskie nodded.  Falcon fired at the youma again, grabbing its
attention.

"Try to absorb this!", Falcon said as he set his weapon to its
highest possible setting.

The youma turned to face Falcon as he fired away.  Ruskie smiled, as
she was now positioned right behind the youma’s back.  She took out a
knife and started running for it, all while the youma stood gloating.
A clear target.  Without a sound, without a noise, Ruskie jumped on
the creature’s back and plunged her knife in.  And surprisingly
enough, it got in.  The youma screamed in rage and shook Ruskie of
it’s back, then tried to get the knife out.  Falcon fired again.  As
expected, the youma had dropped its shield in panic.  The blast hit
it hard and sent it crashing against a tree, planting the knife even
deeper.  Blood escaped the creature’s mouth, and with a final scream
of defiance it fell to the ground, where it changed into dust.

"Well, guess we showed him.", Falcon said as he walked toward the
pile of dust.

Ruskie nodded as she picked up her knife.

"Don’t mess with the Red Squadron.", she said, before smiling.

Falcon watched as she then collapsed into unconsciousness.
****

        Neflyte watched the stars shift and he then knew the time was
right.  The Queen had probably retired to her personal room, making
the time to strike now.  Time was up, and the game could begin.  He
concentrated his energies, and sent a warning to Jedite.
****

        Jedite’s eyes snapped open.

"Now. ", he simply said.

Electra jumped on her feet.  She was ready.
****

        "Take that mask off, boy!  And take a few steps forward.  I want
to see you more clearly."

Tuxedo Mask nodded and stepped forward.  Sailor Moon looked at him in
wonder, realizing that this could be the moment she finally learns
who he is.  But then, before anyone could move any further, light
surrounded both Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon.  And with a brief flash,
they were gone.

"What was that?", she asked X, looking backwards at him.

He shrugged.

"Teleportation’s my best guess.", he gave in answer.

"But to where?", Katrin said, looking around her.

As if in answer, her radio crackled to life.

"Boss, this is Coldburn.  We have movement here."

Katrin quickly reminded herself of where she had sent Coldburn and
Racket.

"On my way.", Katrin said. 

Both her and X started running again.
****

        Rei was closing up the temple lights when she vanished.  Amy was
getting ready to go to bed.  They both disappeared without a trace.
****

        Mina felt it.  A strange tug.  Something trying to get to her,
but not directly her.  Whatever it was, it failed.  She looked down
at Artemis.

"Felt that?", she asked him.

The cat nodded.  Artemis looked around him, worried.

"Something happened.", the feline said.

Mina nodded.

"Something major, having to do with what happened earlier.", she
added.

"We’d better check it out. ", Artemis said.

That’s all Mina needed to hear.
****

        Jedite stood in the middle of the street, unaware that the Red
Squadron was closing in on him.  His plan was coming together
perfectly.  Electra stood a bit behind him, waiting.  She also had a
part to play in all of this.  In front of him, his targets appeared.

"Welcome scouts!  I believe it is time for us to meet again.", he
said, his voice booming in the strangely empty streets.

He had assured himself they would not be disturbed.  Sailor Moon,
Mercury, Mars and Tuxedo Mask looked at him in surprise.

"JEDITE!", Mars shouted defiantly.

All of them were in their Sailor Scouts costume, although how they
had changed was a mystery.

Jedite smiled darkly.  The trap was set.  Now for the game to begin.

NEXT : Jedite’s revenge, the Scouts in trouble, Neflyte’s part and a
deal is set.  

DISCLAIMER :  NO, I did not create Sailor Moon and company.  They are
a property of Naoko Takeuchi and others I don't know of...  Still,
the crew of the Deep Sea Station, and the Red Squadron, are my
creations, and so are all other characters in there which are not a
part of the normal Sailor Moon Universe.  I am using the characters
which are not mine without permission, but suing me would be pretty
useless, since I don't have much.

Note :  This story takes place between episodes Worth a princess'
Ransom and Molly's Folly of the first season of the American version
of Sailor Moon.  So Zoysite is a girl, and the NEGAVERSE wants to
wake up the NEGAFORCE.  BUT, as some people have said to me, Jedite
does mention Metallia in this story, so I must also say that this
takes place in the same universe as Path To Darkness.  For more
details, well, go read the story.  It should be available on my page
at   http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/9165.

Note :  Ofuda is the correct term for Rei’s banishing papers, so it
is the name I will use from now on.  Thanks to Mike Chenoweth for
this information.

Note :  A youma, by the way, is the name given to the "monsters" in
the first season...  I also know that because of Mike Chenoweth's
fanfics.

Special thanks to Mike Chenoweth, who has agreed to be my editor on 
this story.  Also special thanks to Rush for putting up with my many 
delays, and for being my beta reader.

Dreamer's End
Chapter 7
The game begins!


        "Mars Fire Ignite!"

The fireball erupted from Mars' fingers and flew toward Jedite, who
simply raised his hand to stop it.  Simultaneously, Mercury
positioned herself beside her friend and released her mist bubbles.

"Mercury Bubbles, blast!"

The whole area was immediately shrouded in mist.  Electra, watching 
from behind Jedite, decided it was time to act, despite her master's 
orders.  Her body changed into a purely electrical form, and she flew 
toward where she knew Sailor Moon still stood.  Her vision, when in 
that state, detected every electric current nearby, including the
ones in the human body--and even if they were hidden from normal
sight.  She was about to hit the blond heroine when a rose suddenly
appeared before her, releasing some kind of magic barrier.  She
stepped back, taken by surprise.  The mist suddenly vanished as
Jedite whisked it away with but a thought.  Electra was about to
strike when Jedite finally reacted.

"ENOUGH!" he called, and the tone of his voice called for attention.
"Electra, return here."

Reluctantly, she zapped back beside her master and waited.  She
stayed in energy form, though.  It was more natural to her then being
in a human body.  The scouts watched warily as Jedite observed them
all. Tuxedo Mask was standing with them.

"I didn't call you all here so I could kill you.  I'm here to offer
you a chance to destroy the one behind all the attacks on Tokyo,"
Jedite said, careful not to mention the name of the Queen.

"Why should we believe you?" Mercury asked, cautious of so generous
an offer.

"Do you remember our last fight, Scouts?" Jedite asked, his eyes 
falling on Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon nodded.

"I wasn't destroyed back then.  I teleported back home.  But our
leader decided I had failed and encased me in a block of crystal,
where I would've remained forever had some humans not found and freed
me.  And now I aim to get even," Jedite explained. There was no need
to detail how the humans had not intended to free him at all.

Electra looked at Jedite.  Getting vengeance on the Scouts was one
thing, but on Beryl?

"And where do we play a part in all of this?" Mars asked.

"Simple," Jedite said.

He telepathically sent out a message to Neflyte, who was waiting 
patiently in his mansion.

"Neflyte, open it now.  Right behind me."

Neflyte concentrated, and he briefly wondered where Zoysite was, and 
why she wasn't checking up on him tonight.  He shrugged the thought 
aside and concentrated his energies on the task at hand.  As he did
so he again reconsidered his position in all this.  If he was lucky
no one would know of his involvement.  At best, he would be free from
the Sailor Scouts, Beryl, Zoysite, and no doubt Malachite along with
them. At worst, he would talk his way out of this situation, and be
rid of Jedite again.  There was really nothing for him to lose.  He
smiled and closed his eyes, concentrating his energies on what he had
to do.  Back in the middle of Tokyo, a strange dark portal slowly
opened.  Energy was swirling around and within it, but it was large
enough to allow the 3 scouts and Tuxedo Mask to pass through.  Jedite
smiled.  It was perfect.  He looked at the Scouts again.

"This leads to the base of the Negaverse.  By stepping through,
you'll be in the middle of their stronghold, in the middle of their
resting time.  You'll take them totally by surprise," he announced.

It had to be Neflyte who opened it.  His own access to the base had 
been blocked when he had been encased in that accursed crystal.

"Be careful, Scouts, it's obviously a trap," Tuxedo Mask warned the
three girls.

"But if it's true...  We could finish all this right here right now,"
Mars pointed out.

"True.  But my computer can't read that thing, so there's no real way 
to know," Mercury said, using her computer and her visor to try and 
scan the strange opening in mid-air.

"So what do we do?" Sailor Moon asked.

She was starting to get scared.  She didn't feel all that ready to go
fight in the middle of the Negaverse.  Maybe she would never really
be. Where was Luna when you needed her?

Jedite watched as the Sailor Scouts discussed among themselves.  
Neflyte couldn't leave this portal open for long before it would be 
spotted.  A decision had to be reached as soon as possible.

"Sailor Scouts.  Time is something we do not possess in unlimited
amount," he shouted at them.

"I say we do it!  We just have to get back in the portal and return
if things get too wild!" the ever fiery-headed Mars said.

"Assuming there's a portal to come back in," Mercury warned.

The three girls looked at each other.  This decision could change
their lives.  Could change everything.

"I don't know if I'm ready for this..." Sailor Moon said, and tears
threatened her eyes.

"Don't be a baby, Sailor Moon!" Mars reprimanded.

"Sailor Moon, Sailor Scouts, look within your hearts for the answer
you seek," Tuxedo Mask said.

"Well?" Jedite called.  His patience had limits.

The two Scouts looked at Sailor Moon.  She was their leader after
all, even if to some she wasn't making that good a job of it.  But
what could she do ?  What she really wanted was only to live a normal
life with her friends and family.  She knew, deep down, that they
weren't ready for this. Something was missing.  She couldn't really
explain it...

`Oh Luna, where are you when I need you?' she thought with a bit of
desperation.

But this was also the chance of a life time.  Granted, they couldn't
very well trust Jedite.  But if what he was saying was true, and that 
he was betrayed by their leader, revenge would then be a very
probably motive for Jedite's actions.  It could be true...  And she
doubted they'd ever have another chance like this.  To end all this
fighting, all this misery, and to finally allow her to go back to a
normal life...  But she was so scared.

"You can do it," suddenly said an familiar and yet unknown voice in
her head.

Taking a deep breath, her knees weak and her legs shaking, Sailor
Moon took the decision for them.

"We'll...  We'll do it," she said.

Mercury and Mars looked at her in surprise, and Tuxedo Mask did
nothing.  This wasn't really a fight he was looking forward to.  All
he wanted, truly, was to find the crystal to save the princess from
his dreams, and nothing more.  But the Negaverse had been in his way
every time.  Maybe they knew something vital about all this, and what
better way to learn then in the middle of the enemy stronghold?  He
nodded to the other Scouts, showing that, for the moment anyway, he
was with them.

"Good," Jedite answered, retreating from Sailor Moon's mind.

His influence had been needed.  Telepathy and limited mind control
had to be one of the greatest gifts he had received as a member of
the Negaverse army.  How else could he have pulled off so many of his
plans unsuspected?  He threw a sideways glance at Electra, who smiled
and nodded, then looked at the Scouts again.  Hook, line and sinker.
****

        "Hurry, Artemis!  We're almost there, I can feel it!" the blond
teenager shouted at her feline friend as she jumped from rooftops to
rooftops.

Mina hadn't been back from London for very long.  Barely a month.  
Since returning here, mostly on Artemis' say so, she hadn't found
much excitement.  The most she had done was fighting thugs and
thieves. Nothing in the major leagues like what the rumor said about
this new Sailor Moon.  When she had asked Artemis about her, he had
eluded her questions or had answered only vaguely, so Mina had
thought that she'd know in due time.  Maybe all this had something to
do with her.  She shook her head to clear her mind.

"So, Artemis, any idea of what this is about?" she asked the cat who 
was following her as she headed toward where the strange disruption 
they had felt.

"None, but I guess we'll know when we get there," Artemis replied.

Sailor V nodded.  Maybe at least this time she would see some action.
****

        Katrin ran alongside X through the streets of Tokyo.  The 
others were probably heading the same way she was.  Coldburn and
Racket had sent in their coordinates, and she ordered them all to
regroup there.  There'd been no answer from Ruskie and Falcon though.
That worried her a bit, but she'd try to find them after the mission.
They were both good enough to handle whatever came at them.

"Katrin?" X's voice said behind her.

She slowed down a bit and he reached her side, looking into her eyes.
What he wanted to ask was probably pretty serious.

"What?" she asked, realizing at the sound of her voice that it
sounded
harsher then she had intended it.

"You realize that this isn't a BLACK mission.  We haven't been
authorized by anyone here," he stated, looking at her with an intense
gaze.

"I'll take full responsibility if anything happens," she replied,
stopping to look at X. "I have to do this, X.  I just have to.  He
killed my dad.  Killed our friends.  Killed them all."

"I know, Katrin.  But you can't let revenge be your only good reason.
If we're doing this, it's to protect us all from that thing, not to
satisfy some... need... for vengeance," he told her, his eyes locking
with hers.

Katrin smiled.

"You sound like you're rationalizing."

X smiled in turn and shrugged.

"We all have our demons to fight."

The two started running again.
****

        The Headquarters of the Negaverse, somewhere in the Frozen 
Lands of the North Pole.

"I don't understand why we have to be here," Zoysite said for the 
fourth time to her lover, Malachite.

"The Queen ordered it, that's all you should think of.  Questioning
her orders is not something I taught you to do," he answered.

The two of them were waiting for something that probably wouldn't
come. The Queen, before retiring to her private chambers, had asked
them to stay awake and to actually put the youma on alert.  All of
them.

"Come on, Malachite, you can't help but wonder why she's expecting an
attack of some kind.  Those Scouts, maybe?" she asked, trying to find
something on which her mind could concentrate on and avoid boredom 
while doing so.

"Maybe.  But I'd be more tempted to say it has something to do with 
what your... rival, Neflyte, is currently investigating."

Zoysite nodded but said nothing.  Her mind flashed to her recent
conversations with Neflyte.  He had seemed somewhat preoccupied.  And
that strange force she had sensed on Earth.  Familiar, but so
powerful...  She shook her head to get rid of the thoughts and went
on with her rounds.
****

        "What do you suppose that is, Scion?" Newbie asked to her
teammate as she watched the giant portal waiting in the air.

"I don't know.  Some kind of hole in space.  It's pretty powerful.
My computer has trouble analyzing it," the Japanese man answered.

Newbie nodded her understanding and returned her eyes to the scene
before her.  The man who had destroyed Deep Sea, Jedite, was standing
with another woman in front of the hole in the air. The three girls
wearing those strange uniforms and the man in the Tuxedo were all
discussing with each other, trying to reach some decision,
apparently.

She couldn't hear what was happening from here.  They had heard Cold
Burn's call and had reached this place right after them.  From where
they were hidden, in an alley a few streets down from where Jedite
was, they couldn't see Cold Burn or Racket, but had signaled their
arrival over the radio.  And since then, she and Scion had waited for
the others to arrive.

"Anything from Ruskie or Falcon?" Scion absently asked from behind
his portable computer screen.

Newbie shook her head.

"I hope Jedite didn't get to them..." Newbie told him, her eyes
fixing on the monster.

"It would be a shame to lose Falcon," Scion only answered.

Not a world on Ruskie, of course.  Their... rivalry... was well
known.
****

        "Wow.  What a mansion," Falcon remarked as he sighted the tall
building they were heading toward.  On foot, that is.

Ruskie, who had awakened barely 10 minutes ago, nodded.

"Whoever lives in there had better be worth it.  It cost us a jeep
and a whole lot of wounds," she answered.

Falcon nodded and they both continued their walk towards the mansion.
They were careful now, hiding behind trees as they approached,
careful not to be seen.  It was a fair bet that whoever was in there
already knew they were coming, but caution was still recommended.

"So how do we get in?" Ruskie asked. "Coming in the front door isn't 
our normal way of doing things."

Falcon scanned the area slowly, looking for every possible entryway
inside the building.  The front door was definitely out, but it could
still be possible through one of the windows.

"Ruskie, we'll go scan around the building.  You go to the right,
I'll go left and we'll meet behind the building.  Look for entryways.
If you find something, don't play the heroine, come get me right
away.  If you're attacked...  Well, you're no newbie, do what you're
good at," Falcon ordered.

She nodded.

"Just like old times, comrade," she said.

"Yeah," Falcon agreed, and they both split up, each of them heading
for a different side of the building.
****

        Cold Burn was not enjoying this game of hide and seek.  He and
Racket had followed the two flying beings from the middle of Tokyo to
this place, and had hidden here, on a rooftop just above the two
creatures.  He could recognize Jedite.  The others he had no idea.
The electrical being had followed Jedite here from where he had been 
hiding, and the others had literally popped out of nowhere.  The
worst thing was, they all seemed to have some kind of power.  Even
the girls in the strange Japanese school uniforms.  The blue one had
clouded the area in mist.  The red one had sent fire out of her
hands.

"What do you make of all this, Racket?" he asked his lover, turning
around to face her.

She was crouching beside him, studying the scene below them just as
intensely as he was.  She was frowning with concentration, trying to
make out what was happening, the good people from the bad, and the
various intentions and power levels of those present.  Her intuition
told her that there was more then meets the eye happening here.  For
some reason, she felt some strange connection to a lot of people
here, as if she had seen them all somewhere before, but she just
couldn't pinpoint where.  So far she seemed to be the only one
noticing this, for Cold Burn hadn't mentioned anything about it.

"N... Nothing much.  I'm trying to find out what's happening.  That 
kind of portal over there... It's not created by someone here, but by 
an entity who isn't even involved directly.  I can feel his mental 
presence holding it open, but from pretty far away," she answered, 
giving him the best analysis she could do of the situation.

"Another one?" Cold Burn more gasped out than asked.

Racket looked at him in surprise.  Was it fear she sensed out of him?
It sure sounded like that in his voice.  But it couldn't be.  Cold
Burn had never been... afraid.

"Roberto?  Are you okay with all of this?" she questioned him with a
calm and caring voice.

He looked at her, shocked, and she knew why.  The use of real names
in missions was strictly forbidden.  But this was too important to
listen to regulations.

"Racket, what..." Cold Burn began.

She cut him short.

"I know you too well, Roberto.  There's something bugging you about
all of this.  I want you to tell me what it is," she told him.

Cold Burn looked away, returning his gaze on Jedite down below.  The
three girls had stopped talking, and one was stepping forward, saying
something.  It looked like a decision had been reached.

"There's nothing.  We'll talk later.  Something's happening," he 
stated, brushing her off.

She looked at him sharply, then looked down at what was happening.
There would be a later, Roberto could count on it.
****

        "Good.  Then all you have to do is step in," Jedite explained 
as the three Scouts and Tuxedo Mask neared the portal.

"I still don't trust this.  It gives me bad feelings all over,"
Sailor Mars said, standing close beside Sailor Moon.

If something happened, she'd be ready to protect her.  Mercury had
her visor on, scanning continuously the portal with it and her hand
computer, trying to make some sense in the readings.

"The portal seems steady.  I don't know how our passing through it
will affect the opening though," she commented.

"Electra will guide you once inside.  Do not worry, she'll lead you
right to where you need to go," Jedite assured them.

Why hadn't he thought of this before?  Using his mind powers to
gently persuade the Scouts to step in, like he had done on so many
victims countless times in the past during his various schemes.

Sailor Moon was too scared to speak.  What in the world had possessed 
her to agree to this?  This was all going too fast.  The night before 
she was out partying at Andrew's party, and now here she was, going
off to...  No, she didn't want to DO THIS!  She...

Without realizing what they were doing, the three Scouts stepped 
through the portal, along with Tuxedo Mask.  Electra zapped inside, 
following them.  Back in his mansion, Neflyte concentrated again, and 
shifted the arrival point for Jedite, who then stepped through in
turn. It was time to confront the Queen.  The portal closed then, and
silence returned to the street.
****

        "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE GONE?" Katrin screamed in anger at 
the rest of her team.

They had all been here, except for Ruskie and Falcon, still missing, 
and none of them had done anything to stop the departure of the one 
they had come to get.

"We felt it best to obey your orders and wait for everyone to be
here," Cold Burn replied.

"Don't get smart with me, Cold Burn.  You..." she began replying.

"If you would excuse my interrupting, but this is leading us nowhere.
Scion, what are you getting?" X cut in, lowering the tensions.

"Just residual readings at best," Scion replied, scanning the area 
where the portal had once been.

"That portal was created by someone who wasn't here," Racket said.
"It was opened from a distance."

"Any idea how far?" Katrin asked.

"Not too far.  Somewhere in the direction you sent Ruskie and
Falcon," she answered.

Katrin frowned, and secretly hoped that didn't mean bad news.  Newbie
was watching the five of them with some disinterest.  She didn't have
much to add anyway.  In fact, she was pretty much useless here...

"What now?" she asked, anyway.

"We wait, I guess.  They're bound to come out somewhere," Katrin
answered.

X nodded his approval of the plan, and the waiting began.
****

        When the Sailor Scouts appeared in the middle of the darkened
base, disorientation and cold hit them.

"Where are we?" Mars asked.

Electra's blue electric body provided some light for them as she 
stepped forward.

"Follow me.  I'll bring you to where you need to go," she said.

Sailor Moon was on the verge of tears.  She was scared when she
should be courageous.  Weak when she should be strong.  This felt
wrong.  She didn't want to be here.  She wanted to go home.

"No, I want to go back," she muttered.

Mars and Mercury turned around to look at her.  Tuxedo Mask slowly
walked around, looking for something apparently.

"You decided for us to come here, Meatball Head, and now you say you
want to go back!" Mars started.

"I...  I..." Sailor Moon struggled to say.

Lights suddenly flashed open and laughter erupted all around the
large room.  Electra slowly rose in the air and looked down at the
rest of them.  She was surrounded by at least a hundred youma, all
ready to strike.

"AT LAST!  I'm back at my place, as Queen of the Youma!  And I'm
ordering them to KILL YOU ALL!" Electra shouted.

Tuxedo Mask spat out the word that was on the minds of Mars, Mercury 
and Moon at the same time.

"Betrayal."

TO BE CONTINUED ! !
DISCLAIMER :  NO, I did not create Sailor Moon and company.  They are a
property of Naoko Takeuchi and others I don't know of...  Still, the
crew of the Deep Sea Station, and the Red Squadron, are my creations,
and so are all other characters in there which are not a part of the 
normal Sailor Moon Universe.  I am using the characters which are not
mine without permission, but suing me would be pretty useless, since I
don't have much.

Note :  This story takes place between episodes Worth a princess'
Ransom and Molly's Folly of the first season of the American version of
Sailor Moon.  So Zoysite is a girl, and the NEGAVERSE wants to wake up
the NEGAFORCE.  BUT, as some people have said to me, Jedite does
mention Metallia in this story, so I must also say that this takes
place in the same universe as Path To Darkness.  For more details,
well, go read the story.  It should be available on my page at 
www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/9165. 

Note :  Ofuda is the correct term for Rei’s banishing papers, so it is
the name I will use from now on.  Thanks to Mike Chenoweth for this
information. 

Note :  A youma, by the way, is the name given to the "monsters" in the
first season...  I also know that because of Mike Chenoweth’s fanfics.

Special thanks to Mike Chenoweth, who has agreed to be my editor on
this story.  Also special thanks to Rush for putting up with my many
delays, and for being my beta reader.  

Comments can be sent at lama1@videotron.ca

Dreamer's End
Chapter 8
Against the darkness


        Queen Beryl was resting silently in her room somewhere under the
Antarctic, where the main headquarters of the Negaverse was located.
She usually did not dream.  Or when she did, they were displeasing
nightmares reminding her of all she had lost.  Her Mistress Metallia’s 
cruel gift.  The Queen’s personal chambers were considered holy ground
by any member of the Negaverse.  No one dared step foot in them, and
the Queen liked it that way.  Her periods of rest were short and not
very restoratives, so being interrupted during one of them was a good
enough cause to be executed on the spot.  And yet on this occasion,
Beryl somehow knew she was going to be awakened from her sleep.  Ever
since she had felt that power on Earth the first time, as fleeting as
the contact was, the Queen knew.  And so she prepared.  If all was
going like she thought it would go on, tonight most of her enemies
would be destroyed.  And a traitor punished.
****

        "Did you feel that?", Zoysite asked her lover as she felt a small
tremor in the ground below her. "Like some kind of explosion."

Malakite stopped walking and closed his eyes, using his affinity with
many of the youma here to learn what was going on.  Youma fights
weren’t all that uncommon.  Some of them apparently had their own
agenda and ways of doing things which went against another’s wishes,
and then the fights started.  A long time ago, when they were all still
young and ... free...  they used to actually bet on the fights, him and
the other generals.

"I don’t feel anything.", he finally answered, resuming his walk.

"Strange, I was certain something was up.  There’s something in the air
tonight.", Zoysite continued, joining his side.

"It’s probably a youma fight.  They’ll get over it.  We both have our
orders for tonight.  We can’t question her.", Malachite explained.

Zoysite nodded.  She still wasn’t convinced, but it would have to do
for now.  It had definitely felt like an explosion.
****

        The explosion rocked the chamber they were all in, making some
rocks crumble and sending the three Sailor Scouts flying into the air.
Tuxedo Mask leapt clear of the blast and threw a few roses to slow the
youma down.  This fight wasn’t what he had come here for.

"I don’t wanna die!", Sailor Moon wailed as she crashed to the ground,
followed by Mars and Mercury.

Electra watched the three girls closely, studying her prey.  She was
hovering in the air above them all, in electrical form, blue energy
roaming all around her.  Youma left and right were attacking the
Scouts, blasting them from all sides.  The Scouts were confused, unable
to strike back.  This was going very well.  

"SAILOR SCOUTS, LISTEN TO ME !!", Tuxedo Mask shouted above the chaos
while sending another batch of roses. "IF WE WANT TO SURVIVE THIS,
YOU’LL HAVE TO PULL TOGETHER!"

Sailor Moon was on the ground, crying.  She wasn’t ready for this kind
of battle.  Tuxedo Mask had a nasty doubt none of them were.  Sailor
Mars was actually the first one to fight back.  She was surrounded,
with various youma preparing their attacks when she gathered up enough
strength to do her move.

"MARS FIRE, IGNITE !"

The fireball ripped through the nearest youma, setting it on fire.  The
others around it were surprised and stepped back, allowing Mars to leap
free.  Mercury went to Moon’s rescue.  She was still on the floor,
trying to get up as tear still flowed from her eyes.  Three youma were 
approaching her, their attacks charged, ready for the kill.  Mercury
leapt to her side, and unleashed her fog.

"MERCURY BUBBLES, BLAST!"

The fog surrounded the two, and when it lifted, they were both gone.
The three Scouts regrouped a bit further away.  They had bought
themselves a few seconds of peace.  Tuxedo Mask landed beside them.

"You’ll have to snap out of it, Sailor Moon!", Mars told the blond
heroine, shaking her gently to gain her attention.

"We have to go back home...", Sailor Moon whined, shaking her head.

Mercury’s visor appeared over her eyes, and, along with her hand held
computer she scanned the area for portal energies.

"There’s a way I could use my computer to open a portal from this side.
We’d have to reach the right place, where the transportation energies
are strong enough to allow me to do such a thing. There’s a massive
concentration of those energies in a somewhere south of here.", Mercury 
explained while running various calculations through her computer.

Mars nodded.  Tuxedo Mask was staring at where the youma would soon
appear.

"There’s too many of them for us to fight.  I didn’t find what I was
looking for here, and I doubt I will.  I suggest we all do as Mercury
says and retreat.", he stated, not looking at the rest of them.

"What were you looking for?", Sailor Moon asked, looking up, regaining
some composure.

Tuxedo Mask shook his head, and started walking away from the rest of
them southwards.

"Nothing you would know about."

"Come on, Sailor Moon, we should go.", Mars told her, leaving her side
to walk after Tuxedo Mask.

Sailor Moon sighed, but before she could turn after the others, the
youma appeared at the end of the large hall they were in.

"No... ", she moaned.

"THERE THEY ARE!", Electra, at the head of the horde, shouted. "AFTER
THEM !"

Mars stopped and turned back.

"MERCURY, run ahead of us!  Open the portal.  We’ll hold them back!",
she said, running to Sailor Moon’s side.

Mercury hesitated for a few seconds, but then started on her way.  Her
attack was more defensive then offensive.  She’d be more useful using
her brain then her powers in this situation.  Tuxedo Mask decided to
stay beside Moon and Mars.  They could use the help.  And once again,
the battle started.  Desperately outnumbered, the Scouts fought on.
****

        The Tokyo streets were strangely quiet.  As if some sleep spell had
fallen on the entire city.  The Red Squadron were still waiting
together were Jedite and the Sailor Scouts had vanished earlier that
day.

"This reminds me of what happened on Deep Sea.", Newbie commented.

"It is pretty similar.", Scion said.

"We won’t let it happen the same way here.", Katrin replied, pacing
angrily all around them.

"There’s not much we can do, boss.", X told her.

A bit further away from the rest of Squad, Coldburn and Racket waited
together, watching the others talk among themselves.

"Coldburn, I want to know what’s wrong.", Racket asked, looking into
her lover’s eyes.

Coldburn sighed, looking away from her.

"I...  I just feel useless.  We’re out here, waiting for something to
happen, while this entire city seems to have fallen to the same curse
that befell Deep Sea Station.  Not only that, but the... thing... that
did this has much more power then any of us has, and I don’t think
there’s any way we could survive a direct confrontation with him.", he
finally explained.

Racket nodded.

"This might seem out of our league, but it isn’t the first time we’ve
dealt with the paranormal.", she said, trying to reassure him.

Coldburn shook his head.

"This goes beyond the BLACK missions.  We still haven’t heard a thing
from Ruskie and Falcon.  They could both be dead for all we know.  The
one thing I know how to use are my weapons.  And now they might very
well be useless."

Racket smiled at him, but he didn’t see it.

"You’re worth much more to this team then your weapons.  Just wait,
we’ll deal with this."

Coldburn turned back to face her, and when he saw her reassuring smile
he nodded.

"You’re right.  When you say it, it makes sense."

The two held each other in a loving embrace.

"You’ll see, we’ll make it.", Racket gently whispered. "I just know
it."
****

        And on a nearby rooftop, a tall blond sailor suited heroine watched
the various members of the Squadron.  Beside her waited a small white
cat.

"I think we got here too late, Sailor V.", Artemis told his partner.

Sailor V looked at him.  When they had reached this spot all they had
seen was a man suited like a Negaverse General entering some kind of
portal, but it had closed down before they could do anything.

"Let’s wait around and see if something happens.", Sailor V proposed.

Artemis nodded, and they both started waiting.
****

        Falcon and Ruskie both made it to the back of Neflyte’s mansion
without any problems.  Falcon had noticed strange lights coming from a
room on the second floor, as well as many windows they could enter
through.  There was also a back door here.  Ruskie, on her part, hadn’t
seen anything out of the ordinary besides the many windows on the
building.

"So, where do we go in?", Ruskie asked.

"I want to check out those lights on the second floor.  But we don’t
have any ropes or anything. I think we’d be best to simply come in the
back door.", Falcon answered, testing to see if the door was locked.

The door opened easily.

"Hmm, guess we weren’t supposed to beat the security.", Ruskie
commented.

Falcon nodded, taking his weapon in his hands.

"Let’s get this show on the road.", he told her before stepping in.
****

        Neflyte opened his eyes.  He could feel them.  The stars shifted to
pinpoint their location for him.  Two intruders.  There was
something... special about them, but he couldn’t identify what it was.

"Well, two rats in my maze.  Let’s see what I can do about that."

He smiled and teleported to meet with them.  The game just got a level
more interesting.
****

        Luna ran nervously in the Tokyo streets.  Serena had never reached
home that night.  She was a bit worried when she had arrived before
Sailor Moon had, since she should have been back well before the cat.
But that kind of behavior was normal for Serena.  But now, this was
getting ridiculous.

<I hope nothing’s happened to her.>

The cat shook her head to get rid of those thoughts, and increased
speed.  Maybe if she could reach Amy or Rei, but none of them were
answering.

<Girls, where are you?>
****

        "Mars Fireball, Charge!", Mars shouted, throwing her ofuda in order
to hit as many of them as she could.

Sailor Moon was rapidly starting to get with the program.  She was the
most powerful among them, and her tiara was a weapon the youma
obviously feared.  Mercury had been gone on her own for a while now,
and Rei secretly hoped nothing had gone wrong.  Tuxedo Mask was among
them too, using his roses to keep the villains at bay. They somehow
held a strange power which served to not only freeze the creatures for
a second or so but hurt them as well.  But they were still all 
outnumbered.

The ofuda she had thrown hit about five of them, who froze in their
tracks, sometimes falling to the ground when hit while jumping.  She
didn’t have much of those left in the subspace pocket, though, so
either Mercury would have to hurry, or they’d be in trouble.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

Mars turned around in time to see Sailor Moon throwing the tiara for
the first time in the fight.It flew steadily straight into one of the
youma, turning it to dust.  

"YES!", Sailor Moon shouted happily as the tiara returned to her, and
Mars couldn’t help but be glad she was finally snapping out of it.

The surprise death of one of their own slowed the others down.  Tuxedo
Mask extended his cane to hit another in the forehead, and Mars
unleashed a few of her own fireballs on those she had paralyzed with
her ofuda.

"WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING WHILE I WAS GONE?  THERE’S ONLY THREE OF
THEM, AND AN ARMY OF US!!", Electra screamed in rage, stupefied by the
apparent tide change. "I’LL SHOW YOU HOW IT’S DONE!"

With those words she plunged towards the Scouts, electricity shooting
out of her hands.  The bolts hit Mars straight in the chest and she
flew against a wall, crashing into hit hard.  She waved another
electricity beam at Tuxedo Mask who protected himself with his cape.
Sailor Moon was caught unawares and was knocked off her feet by the
beam.

"NOW I’LL FINISH YOU ALL!", the Queen of the Youma affirmed, powering
up for the lethal blow.
****

        Mercury’s mini-computer was running wild calculations at the best
of its memory banks. The visor over her eyes showed her the results at
a frantic speed, and she barely keeping up.  She could hear the sounds
of the battle behind her, but tried to ignore them.  Once the portal 
was open and steady, she’d go back there and help her friends.  For
now, she had a job to do.  The room containing the portal energies
seemed to be used for that particular reason.  The youma they were all
fighting probably came from here, teleporting to Tokyo using this room.
There were even some controls to help calculate the right trajectories,
but they were too alien for her to use.  She had hooked the computer
into the controls, and the results weren’t looking too good. 
The computer had trouble translating the various symbols used here into
something she could use, let alone understand.  She frowned in
frustration as another negative response showed on the screen.

"Come on, come on... ", she encouraged the computer, her fingers
hitting the keys as fast as she could.

She was so concentrated in her work she never noticed the youma that
entered the room.  It was black, with yellow eyes and sharp claws.  It
instantly noticed Mercury and silently made her way towards her.  It
slid across the wall of the room and stopped behind the Scout, raising
its paw to attack.  The movement detector in Mercury’s visor suddenly
beeped, and she managed to roll out of the way just as the paw came
down on her.  The youma still managed to scratch her back viciously,
and intense pain flowed through her.  Resisting the urge to scream in
pain, Mercury got back on her feet and leaped away from the console,
where the youma was still standing.  She landed near the opposite wall
and didn’t hesitate a second.

"MERCURY BUBBLES, BLAST!"

The mist shrouded the entire area, but because of her visor she could
still see perfectly.  The youma was confused at the other end of the
room, looking for her.  Mercury had linked her computer with the
console, just in case something like this happened.  She could continue
the calculations from here, hidden in the mist.  But she had to hurry,
time was running out.
****

        Malakite was getting tired of all the noise coming from the youma’s
quarters.  It wasn’t giving any signs of stopping, and had been going
on for quite a while now.

"I think you were right, Zoysite.  There’s something going on over
there.", he said, stopping his walk.

"Should we investigate?", she asked him.

Malakite seemed to hesitate for a few seconds.  The Queen had asked
them to keep an eye on her personal chambers tonight.  No reasons given
as to why.  But what if she’d been wrong, and the attack was occurring
right now in the youma quarters?

"I think we should...", he began to say.

He suddenly stopped talking when he saw the portal opening behind
Zoysite.  He couldn’t determine who’s energy was creating it.  There
was some kind of interference which kept him from finding out the
source.  Zoysite backed away from it, and slowly a figure appeared
within it.  Both him and Zoysite gasped in shock as Jedite walked out
of it, a dark smile on his face as he saw the looks on both of his
ex-comrades.

"Well, well, well, two generals themselves to welcome me.  I wasn’t
expecting it, but it’s appreciated.", Jedite said, smiling.

"This can’t be...", Malakite whispered, shocked.

"His power...  I can actually feel it.", Zoysite continued, stepping a
few steps back.

Jedite started walking away from the two of them to head for the
Queen’s bedroom.  

"STOP!", Malakite shouted, and he teleported right in front of him.

Jedite stopped and looked at him.

"You really think you can stop me, Malakite old friend?", Jedite asked.

"We won’t let you get to the Queen.", Malakite answered, speaking for
Zoysite, who was still visibly shaken at the power emanating from
Jedite.

"You’re welcome to try and stop me.  I actually need the recharge.",
Jedite challenged.

Malakite reacted instantly.  He took out two of his energy blades and
sent them flying towards Jedite, who reflected them easily with a force
field.

"Pathetic.", was all Jedite could say.

He charged one of his own energy blast and released it.  Before
Malakite could even move it slammed into him and sent him crashing into
the nearest wall.  Seeing her lover being attacked got Zoysite into
action.

"Zoy!", she screamed, using her powers to send a blast at Jedite.

He didn’t even bother to turn around.  The blast ricocheted on the
shield surrounding him and flew back into Zoysite’s body.  She fell to
her knees, the wind knocked out of her.

"How did you get so strong?", Malakite asked, struggling to get to his
feet.

"I just woke up that way.", Jedite answered, and slowly he extended his
arm and opened his hand.

Energy flowed from Malakite’s body into the form of thin white tendrils
and began to form a small ball into Jedite’s hand.

"You see, Malakite, I’ve become like them.  The youma.", Jedite
explained.

Malakite could feel his strength fading by the second.  He looked
desperately at Zoysite, who had barely gotten to her feet again.  She
was concentrating, gathering her energies to strike.

"Oh, and I can also feel whatever it is you’re thinking when I do the
transfer.", Jedite stated.

Zoysite dashed toward Jedite, and released a blast from as close a
range as she could.

"ZOY!"

The energy ball dispersed through Jedite’s skin as he turned around and
slammed his fist into Zoysite’s chest.  She gasped out and fell to the
ground before him.  The attack hadn’t affected him at all.  Malakite
fell to the floor, unconscious.  Jedite gathered some of Zoysite’s
energies then headed for the Queen’s room.  He didn’t want to kill the
two of them yet.  They might prove useful later.  Smiling darkly, full
of the energies of both Zoysite and Malakite, he prepared himself to
confront the Queen.
****

        The mist around Sailor Mercury was dissipating.  She didn’t have
much time.  She had tried at least a thousand combinations, and all had
been negative.  She could still hear the battle behind her, but she had
a feeling it was getting nearer.  The youma was still searching 
for her, rather fruitlessly, but soon it’d be able to see her.  She
took a deep breath and continued on typing.
****

        Things weren’t going well.  They were more or less losing ground
now.  Tuxedo Mask had picked up Sailor Moon after she had fallen
unconscious because of Electra, who was now their main antagonist.  The
other youma were more or less serving as backup for her as she happily
send electric bolt after electric bolt at them.  They were managing to
keep her back with fireballs and roses, but what they really needed
right now, Sailor Moon’s tiara, was out of order.  

<Amy, I hope you’re ready for us...>, Mars thought as she sent another
fireball at Electra.

She was getting pretty tired.  She had a feeling she was pretty much
running on pure adrenaline by now.  She was tired, her previous
shortened night finally taking its effect.  Tuxedo Mask didn’t look too
good either.  His aim wasn’t as good, and the added weight of Sailor
Moon wasn’t helping.  Electra suddenly stopped, and they didn’t wait
around to learn why.  They ran off to reach Sailor Mercury.
****

        Electra watched the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask run.  Now THIS
was why it had been worth the wait.  This was why she was the Queen.
The best after the generals.  Jedite’s favorite.  She turned around to
the others.  Hers would be the glory of the kill.

"You will wait for me here.  I’ll finish them all myself. ", she told
the assembled youma.

They weren’t certain whether to listen to her or not, and their doubt
was apparent.

"You left us.  Why should we listen to you?", one of them shouted at
her.

Ninjana.  Malakite’s spy.

"I’m not giving you any choice in this.", she shouted back at her, and
she created a lightning wall between her and the rest of them.

She scanned the crowd briefly, and spotted Lumina, her sister, among
them.

"Ha.  This’ll show her."

Lumina was staring straight at her.

"Don’t get overconfident.", Lumina gently whispered before walking
away.

Electra watched her leave, then turned back towards where the Scouts
had ran to.  This was the end for them.  She zapped after them in a
brilliant flash of light.
****

        When Sailor Moon finally woke up, they had just reached the room
where Mercury had run into.  There was mist everywhere, and they
couldn’t see anything.

"MERCURY?", Mars shouted out.

"Not... so loud...", Moon moaned, waking up slowly.

Tuxedo Mask put her down on her feet before she could realize she was
in his arms.  They didn’t need another silly crush scene right now, so
Tuxedo Mask went off in the mist to look for Mercury.

"Over here guys, but watch out there’s a...", they heard Mercury say.

Before she could finish, though, the black youma jumped out of the
mists and attacked Tuxedo Mask, slashing him before he could do
anything.  Tuxedo Mask screamed in pain as he was thrown to the floor,
the youma still on him.  The youma pinned him down.  Mars pointed a
fireball toward it, but Sailor Moon stopped her.

"No, you’ll burn him too!", she told Mars, lowering her pointed
fingers.

She grabbed her tiara.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

The youma jumped over the tiara and landed beside the fallen Tuxedo
Mask.

"HEHEHE!  Your toy can’t hurt me!", it sang, dancing proudly.

"Yes it can!", Sailor Moon sang back, and the tiara completed its turn,
hitting the youma in the back.

"Moon dusted!", the blond girl proudly stated.

The mist slowly dissipated to reveal Sailor Mercury frantically typing
away at her computer, trying to open the portal which obstinately
remained shut.

"How’s it going?", Mars asked.

"Not so good.  I can’t seem to find the right sequence to open it."

"Tuxedo Mask, are you okay?", Sailor Moon asked, approaching him.

Tuxedo Mask painfully got on his feet.  Three red claw marks now
decorated his tuxedo.

"I’ll live.", he answered.

"NO YOU WON’T!!", came the sudden reply behind them.

They all turned around to see the electric Queen of the Youma, Electra,
flying in front of the tired Scouts.  Her body seemed to be pure
energy, and her eyes were filled with hatred and anger.

"TIME FOR YOU TO DIE, SCOUTS!", she threatened.

"No!  We’re going back home, and you can’t stop us!", Sailor Moon
suddenly called out.

Mars and Mercury looked at her in surprise.

"If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’ll get."

NEXT :  THE GRAND FINALE!  At last the final battle between everyone
involved!  Everything comes to a crashing end as Jedite’s plans reach
their conclusions!  Don’t miss it, folks!