Serena's Day Prologue Serena walked down the street at a slow, unhappy pace. She was so dejected, her feet dragged as she walked and her long blond pigtails seemed to limp in sympathy. She sniffled as tears welled up in her large blue eyes. Luna saw this and sighed. "Now Serena," she said in her best authoritative tone of voice. "You know very well the whole situation is your fault. So don't start crying." Serena hung her head low, tears falling to the ground. "I can't help it, Luna," she whispered in deep emotion. "They hate me, BOTH of them do." Luna shook her head. She knew for a fact that Rei and Amy didn't hate her, but she didn't blame them for their anger. For the first part, she had forgotten to show up for a Sailor Scout meeting for the fifth time this week. She had barged into the room in the middle of a heated discussion about Jadeite and how they could possibly defeat them. Rei and Amy both looked towards the door as Serena happily barged into Rei's bedroom and plopped herself down on Rei's bed. "It's about time you got here, Meatball Head," Rei snapped. Serena picked up a Sailor V comic book and began to read intensely. She didn't even hear Amy as she said, "Now Serena, this is important, pay attention." Luna was seated on the table with Amy and Rei seated before her. They were so engrossed in their plan to trap Jadeite, they didn't notice that Serena didn't answer Amy. "We would need a large source of energy to trap him," stated Amy as she made intricate calculations on her mini data computer. "Yeah, but that would mean endangering a large group of people," reminded Luna. "No, there is a way. I've been following the development of the experimental power station that is being built here. Maybe we could use that to our advantage." "But wouldn't there be a lot of people there?" asked Rei. "No, there is only a skeleton crew. The plant is an experiment in robotics. Except for the computer engineers on the top floor that control everything, the plant is totally automated." "Then the task at hand would be HOW to lure Jadeite there," Luna said. The trio were so engrossed in their conversation, they didn't hear Serena's snickers as she read of yet another adventure of Sailor V. "And what to do with him when we get him there," added Rei. Amy started to type away on her computer. After about twenty seconds, she jumped up and said, "I've got it!" She held up her computer in success. "The plant uses an experimental energy force. We could use our Scout powers to channel that energy to create a forcefield that would contain Jadeite." Rei smiled, trapping Jadeite sounded like fun. An evil smile came upon her face. "Then we could finish him off, once and for all." "Serena, you've been quiet. What do you think?" asked Luna. They all turned to Serena to await her answer. They all gasped at the sight before her. Serena was lying on her stomach, propped up on her forearms, laughing excitedly about Sailor V. She looked up, pointed to the comic book, and smiled. "Check this out, guys. Sailor V really kicks butt. This is soo cool!" Three jaws dropped in amazement. "Serena," began Luna. "You haven't even been paying attention?!" she asked in shock. Serena sat up, wondering what all the fuss was about. "Really Serena," said Amy, "I can't believe you missed the entire conversation; it was important." Serena's eyed welled up with tears. "Hey Amy, what's the big deal? That was way harsh." "I'm going to be way harsh with you, Meatball Head!" began Rei. Serena could imagine fire bursting from her eyes, her look was so evil. "We come up with a plan to capture and defeat Jadeite and you're too busy reading Sailor V comic books." "That's right, Serena," added Luna, knowing that she deserved everything she was about to get. "You missed the whole thing." "You know, Meatball Head," said Rei in her most sarcastic voice. "I'm tired of this. This is the fifth Scout meeting you were late for this week." "But I had detention," Serena whined in answer. "Than you need to learn to take responsibility and start getting up on time," said Amy. Serena looked at her in shock. "You too, Amy?" asked Serena. "You're on her side? How could you?" "I worked really hard on this plan, Serena, so did Rei and Luna. You didn't even help." "You could have at least paid attention," commented Luna. "I'm so tired of you. You're late for every meeting, you complain during training, then, in battle, you spend your time backed into a corner or on your butt wailing. You're not the Champion of Love and Justice. You're the Champion of Whimpiness and Klutziness. AND I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF IT!" Rei shouted, pointing towards the door. "Get out!" she said seriously. "Come back when you've decided to be part of the team." Luna sighed as she remembered Serena's look of despair as she grabbed her books and left. She had followed her, knowing the reaction that was to come. The two arrived home faced with Serena's angry parents who had received a call from Ms. Haruna about Serena having been late everyday this week. Serena climbed into her bed. She was quiet and depressed. "What am I going to do, Luna? Amy and Rei hate me and now I'm grounded for two weeks." "Amy and Rei don't hate you; they're just angry with you. You just have to show them that you are trying to be responsible. That's all." "But that's so hard," said Serena, sobbing into her pillow. She quieted after a few minutes. "Tomorrow, I'll show them that I can be the most responsible person, that I can take care of everything... I'll show everyone, if I have to do the day over and over again... Chapter One: The First Time Serena heard the calls for her to wake up, and rolled over saying, "Just five more minutes..." "Young lady!" shouted her mother, "I woke you up forty-five minutes ago! You're going to be late again!!" Serena's eyes popped open. "OH NO! I'M LATE!!" She threw her clothes on, grabbed her bookbag and some toast, put on her shoes, and sped down the street so fast she left a trail of dirt and dust behind her. she thought. Halfway to school, she went careening around the corner, trying hard not to lose any precious time. There was a crack in the sidewalk that she didn't see. She caught the toe of her shoe in it. Screaming in alarm, her arms flailing helplessly, knowing that her painful impact with the ground was coming, she scrunched her eyes tightly closed expecting the face to hit pavement any second. Instead, strong hands caught Serena before she could fall. She looked up into the sarcastic face of her worst enemy. "What's the matter, Meatball Head? Forget how to walk this morning?" Serena pulled away from Darien and shot him her most evil look. "I'd love to stay and insult you, Darien, but I'm on my way to school," she sneered in her snottiest tone of voice. "Hey," Darien replied in a very fake pleasant tone, "if you didn't spend so much time on those meatballs in the morning, you might actually be on time for school!" thought Serena suddenly. "AAHHH! I'm going to be LATE!" She blew a wet raspberry right into Darien's face and took off towards Crossroads Junior High. Darien took a neat white hanky out of his pocket and wiped his face. "Yuck!" he said to himself in disgust, "You could have at least said thank you!" ************************************************************************* * She skidded into class and settled herself in her desk just as Ms. Haruna began asking for last night's homework. As she dug around for her homework, Molly ran into the class, disorganized, and disheveled. "I'm so sorry, Miss H," Molly said as she gasped for breath. "My alarm clock didn't go off this morning." Miss Haruna wasn't impressed. "Young lady, Serena used that excuse Friday morning. You can think of a better one after school, in detention." Serena sent Molly an apologetic look. She looked up to see Miss Haruna standing in front of her, waiting impatiently for her homework. "What silly excuse for not doing your homework are you going to give me today, Serena?" "N... none Miss H, really," the blond teenager said as she handed the tall teacher her homework. Miss Haruna sighed. "First Molly is late for class and then Serena actually did your homework? What kind of a day is this?" she asked herself. She handed Serena the papers, looked at her sternly, and said, "Serena, I want you to do it over again. This time, get a few of the answers right and make sure it's legible." Serena turned red and nodded. ************************************************************************* * Molly and Serena sat under at tree, chatting during lunch. Molly yawned. "My mom had a two for one sale at the jewelry store last night and I had to help," she complained. "I'm bushed. My alarm clock went off for an hour before I woke up." "I'm sorry you got detention, Mol, if Miss H wasn't so steamed at me, she might have let you off with a warning." "That's okay, Serena," said Molly with a smile. "If I come up with any good excuses, I'll let you know." Just as Serena was about to tell her a priceless one, Melvin came up from behind the tree. "Hey Molly, Serena, want to know the answer to this morning's bonus question on the math quiz?" Both girls looked at each other and groaned. "Go away, Melvin!!" they shouted in unison. "Fine. I won't tell you. Statistics show that she puts the same question on fourteen percent of her quizzes. You might have scored an extra percent with that answer." "Gee," said Serena sarcastically. "I think I might have got a 49% then. That'll really help me." Both girls giggled. "Where's Amy?" asked Melvin. "Maybe she would appreciate my information." They watched the nerd stalk away in search of Amy. "Hey, where is Amy anyway?" asked Molly. "She usually eats lunch with us." "I don't know," said Serena. She was glad Amy wasn't here. She couldn't gang up on her anymore for not paying attention at the Scout meeting. "Maybe she's building a new computer program or something brainy like that." "Who knows..." said Molly, stuffing a large piece of chocolate chip muffin into her mouth. ************************************************************************* * Serena tried not to fall asleep, but she was quickly losing the battle. she whined to herself. She stifled a yawn with her hand and tried again to figure out what the teacher was talking about. "Now class, on Friday we discussed the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Who can tell the names of his three ships?" Melvin raised his hand waving wildly in his excitement. "I know. In alphabetical order they are, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria," he said with pride. Pushing his wide glasses back onto his nose, he continued, "I studied their structure on the Internet last night. Did you know that those three ships were made out of..." The entire class groaned. "That's enough, Melvin," commanded Miss Haruna. "Thank you for answering correctly yet again." Miss Haruna sighed and sat down on her desk. Serena was able to comment to herself before she succumbed to the overwhelming need to sleep. She leaned her forehead down on her arms, and began to doze at her desk. Soon, the sound of her snoring was echoing through the room. Miss Haruna's eyes narrowed and she stalked over to her sleeping student. she asked herself before shouting, "SERENA!" Serena sat up as straight as an arrow in her seat, her eyes glazed from her brief nap. The blond teenager looked up at her teacher in horror. "Since you're so relaxed, you won't mind telling all of us what year Christopher Columbus sailed the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria." All eyes were on Serena. Miss Haruna towered menacingly over her with her hands on her hips. "Umm, ah..." she muttered, wondering what to do. "1969?" asked Serena, smiling towards her infuriated teacher. "Serena! That was part of your reading assignment this weekend!" The tall teacher walked back to the front of the class and suddenly spun around. "Since you neglected your reading, I'm going to help you out. I want a complete essay on the voyages of Christopher Columbus, in full essay form, with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion, with footnotes and a biography." Serena groaned and a few students snickered. The bell rang signaling the end of class for the day. Serena gathered up her stuff, threw it into her bookbag, and headed quickly for the door. But she wasn't quick enough. "And Serena," said Miss H, stopping the ponytailed girl in her tracks, "I want that essay on my desk tomorrow morning!" ************************************************************************* * After a long afternoon with a spelling quiz and a boring history lesson about Christopher Columbus, Serena said good-bye to Molly as she left for detention. she mused, twirling a lock of long blond hair around her finger. Suddenly, she saw students running in the schoolyard. "Hey," she asked a passing classmate, "what's going on?" The girl stopped for a moment. She clutched Serena's shoulders with emotion. "You have to get out of here, Serena!" Fear was clear in her large brown eyes. She looked as if she was about to cry. "There's a monster in the schoolyard." "A monster?" she uttered out loud. "Yeah, and Sailor Mars and Mercury are here fighting it." She let go of Serena's shoulders and began to run quickly. "Hurry Serena, you have to get away!" Serena ran outside into the schoolyard to find Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury battling the ugliest monster she had ever seen. "Yuck!" Serena spat. "They could at least make them prettier!" The monster was female. She had long green colored hair that was curly and looked like steel wool. Her skin was leathery and red with totally black, large, round eyes. The bikini top and bottoms she was wearing were made out of lime colored vinyl. The monster opened her mouth wide, revealing long, spiky, greening teeth and shot fire at the two Sailor Scouts. Luna found Serena peeking from around a clump of bushes. "Serena!" she called up to the blond teenager. "Oh hi Luna..." she said in a sad voice. "Are they really that mad at me that they'd want to fight without me?" The water works began as Serena began to wail. Luna stepped back so that she would not get wet. "Serena, look at me!" the black cat commanded. Serena stopped in mid-wail and looked down. There, at her feet, was her communicator. She bent down, picked it up, and then put it into the pocket of her blue skirt. "Oh, I guess I forgot it this morning," she said with an embarrassed chuckle. she asked herself in frustration. A ball of fire whizzed by above them. Serena ducked out of harm's way and Luna moved away from the protection of the bushes to check out how Mercury and Mars were faring. Luna gasped as she saw that Mercury was down, probably winded, and she noticed Mars beginning her attack. "Serena!" Luna growled in her familiar English accent, "Transform now!" she commanded. "Ya all right, Luna!" said Serena with a groan of effort. She stood back, straightened up, and shouted, "Moon Prism Power! The monster laughed in glee. She was about to finish off the haughtily little Sailor girl in front of her. Despite the dizziness in her head, she stood up shakily and shouted, "Mercury Bubbles Blast!!" A thick fog appeared, concealing the Sailor Scouts. "Do it NOW Sailor Moon!" shouted Mars. "Right!" Sailor Moon agreed quickly. She jumped to her feet, plucked the tiara from her forehead, aimed it at Pyro-Head, and said, "Moon Tiara Magic!" The tiara magically turned into a lethal discus that flew straight towards the Negaverse monster's head. The monster saw it coming and raised her knotted, leathery hands to protect herself. She did so too late. The discus made contact with its target and reduced Pyro-Head to a pile of moon dust. "All right!" Sailor Moon shouted in victory. "You could've come a little earlier, don't you think!" began Mars. Sailor Moon wasn't able to counter that accusation. Behind her, she heard the sounds of an explosion and turned to see her school on fire. The windows shattered from the force of the blast, and the Sailor Scouts ducked from the intensity of the heat and the spray of broken glass and debris. Sailor Moon jumped to her feet and began to run towards the flaming building. She was stopped by Mars and Mercury as they tackled her to the ground. "Let me go!" yelled Sailor Moon as she struggled to break their firm hold on her. "Let me go NOW!" "Sailor Moon, you're brain dead!" hissed Mars. "You can't go in there. You'll be killed." "But I have to!" cried Sailor Moon, shoving off Mars. "I have to go in there. MOLLY'S IN THERE! I have to save her!" Tears ran down her face as she watched parts of the building collapse before her eyes. "OH Molly, I hope you got away..." Mercury put an arm around her friend, and felt the tears run down her face too. "There's nothing you can do for her now," she whispered as the blond teenager cried. "We can only wait and hope that she made it out safely." "You'd better reverse your transformation," reminded Luna. "Here come the police and the fire department!" They quickly transformed back into their regular forms and watched as police, the fire department, and the media converged on the sight. The police pushed all bystanders back to a safe distance. Amy and Rei had to drag Serena away as she screamed for her friend. "Molly!!! Molly!!" she screamed, wide eyed. She turned to Amy, grasped her by the shoulders, and whispered, "It's all my fault... If I'd have just remembered my communicator this morning..." She lunged towards the burning building once again. "Molly!!" she screamed. A reporter from the local television station began to describe the scene to a waiting camera. "I am here at Crossroads Junior High, the scene of a devastating fire..." Serena heard this and turned towards the voice. "...the cause of which is still unknown at this time." Serena looked to Rei than Amy and began to sob in sorrow. "It's all my fault..." she muttered again and again, her entire body shaking in shock. "I could have saved her." "It is unknown how many people were in the building at the time of the explosion, though school officials have confirmed that a class of students in detention may have been caught in the unexpected blaze." Serena's body slumped suddenly to the ground. Amy and Rei caught their friend and lowered her unconscious form so that she would not hurt herself. Suddenly, Serena's parents appeared. "Oh my poor baby!" cried her mother. "Let's get her home," said her father. ************************************************************************* * Serena woke slowly. She could hear whispering, but couldn't make out the words. Opening her eyes, she looked around with blurry vision. She was lying in her bed. There was no light in the room, except for the small desklamp. She could barely make out her mother standing in the doorway with Amy's mother. The light from the hallway was bright, hurting her eyes. "Thank you for coming. I was so worried about Serena." Amy's mother nodded in understanding. "It wasn't a problem at all. Amy told me that Serena reacted badly to the accident at the school." "And how is Amy reacting to the tragedy?" Serena heard her mother ask. "I haven't told her yet. She was so worried about Serena. But I know my daughter. She has probably hacked her way into the police and fire departments' databases by now. I'm sure she knows." asked Serena, not fully remembering the day's events. Amy's mother looked over and noticed Serena. "Oh she's awake now. Make sure she gets plenty of rest. And if anything else happens, feel free to call me again. I'll leave you two alone now." Serena's mother walked over to her daughter and sat down on the bed next to her. She brushed Serena's blond hair out of her face and smiled kindly down at her. "Mom, what happened? Why am I here?" "Don't you remember, dear? There was a fire at your school." Serena jumped at the mention of the fire. Tears suddenly pooled in her large blue eyes. "The reporter said that the kids in detention were caught." Serena pulled herself onto her knees, ignoring the throbbing in her head. "Mom, what happened to Molly? Is she okay? Did you hear that they rescued her." She clutched at the shoulder straps of her mom's apron with shaking hands. "Come on Mom, TELL ME!" she sobbed. Her mother's eyes filled with tears and Serena understood the answer. She began to shake her head, tears rolled off her face and dripped into her lap. "No," she whispered, stunned. "NO!!!!" she screamed suddenly. And then her mind was claimed by the darkness of exhaustion. Chapter Two: Again? Sleep was not a restful respite from the day's events. Instead her mind was tortured by haunting images. It was as if she was alone in a darkened theatre, the huge screen that surrounded her glowed dimly. Suddenly an image appeared. She thought and covered her face with trembling hands to avoid it. The scene that played out before her was horrific. She closed her eyes against its vile message, but could not block out the sounds of it. The explosion that blasted through the windows of her school screamed through her thoughts, taunting her, as if daring her to remember. The sounds changed, from the sound of glass bursting from heat, to soft a soft, insistent voice that called to her: "Serena wake up!" Her mother's voice registered in her head and she forgot her dream. "Just five more minutes..." "Young lady!" shouted her mother, "I woke you up forty-five minutes ago! You're going to be late again!!" Serena's eyes popped open. "OH NO! I'M LATE!!" She threw her clothes on, grabbed her bookbag and some toast, put on her shoes, and sped down the street so fast she left a trail of dirt and dust behind her. she thought. She sped towards school, still unable to shake the feeling that she should be remembering something. Halfway to school it hit her. She gasped as she remembered, tears flowing down her face. She continued her franctic pace, her sorrow and anger powering her stride. So enrapt was the teenager in her thought, she did not think to slow down as she went careening around the corner. She didn't remember that there was that crack in the sidewalk, the one that she hadn't seen the morning before. She caught the toe of her shoe in it. "AAHH not again!" she gasped. Screaming in alarm, her arms flailing helplessly, knowing that her painful impact with the ground was coming, she scrunched her eyes tightly closed expecting the face to hit pavement any second. Instead, strong hands caught Serena before she could fall. Serena jumped and groaned. thought Serena > "AH Darien..." she said with a strange look on her face. "You are a total nutbar, its Tuesday!" Then a thought occured to her. "I'm going to be LATE!" She blew a wet raspberry right into Darien's face and took off towards Crossroads Junior High. Darien took a neat white hanky out of his pocket and wiped his face. "Yuck!" he said to himself in disgust, "That girl's had to much junk food, she's totally spun!" He grumbled to himself for a moment, and then a thought occured to him. "You could have at least said thank you!" He yelled out loud to the now long gone teenager. ************************************************************************* * She skidded into class and settled herself in her desk just as Ms. Haruna began asking for last night's homework. As she dug around for her homework, she glanced over to Molly's empty desk and tried hard not to cry again. She sniffled a little and stopped when she looked over to Molly's empty desk. Wiping the tears falling down her face, she found her homework. she thougth in disbelief. Miss Haruna looked down at the sniffling blond teenager and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. the tall woman thought, Molly ran into the class, disorganized, and disheveled. "I'm so sorry, Miss H," Molly said as she gasped for breath. "My alarm clock didn't go off this morning." Serena dropped her homework in shock. "Molly! You're here! You're really here!" She ran over to her red haired friend and wrapped her arms happily around her. "I can't believe this!" she said through happy tears. She pulled away from her small, red haired friend, looking into Molly's confused face. "Ah Mol, I thought I'd never see you again!" Molly shot Serena a weird look and pushed out of her arms. "Come on Serena, why are freaking out like that, we just went to the movies yesterday?" Miss Haruna wasn't impressed. She began to silently wonder why teaching teenagers had sounded so good to her when she was in teacher's college. "Now that the reunion is over girls, do you mind taking your seats?" Both girls turned beat red and sat down ackwardly in their seats. Molly looked up into the unamused figure of her teacher standing next to her. "As for your alarm clock, Young lady, Serena used that excuse yesterday morning. You can think of a better one after school,in detention." Serena looked from Miss Haruna to Molly and back to Miss Haruna. Nevertheless she sent Molly an apologetic look. Her eyes bulged for a moment, remembering that she had thought the same exact thing yesterday. But she was quickly intterupted by a tall figure standing expectantly next to her. She looked up to see Miss Haruna standing in front of her, waiting impatiently for her homework. "What silly excuse for not doing your homework are you going to give me today, Serena?" "N... none Miss H, really," the blond teenager said. Then she remembered the homework she had found and handed the tall teacher her homework. Miss Haruna sighed. "First Molly is late for class and then Serena actually did your homework? What kind of a day is this?" she asked herself. She handed Serena the papers, looked at her sternly, and said, "Serena, I want you to do it over again. This time, get a few of the answers right and make sure it's legible." Serena turned red and nodded. Then she shook her head. ************************************************************************* * Molly and Serena sat under at tree, chatting during lunch. Serena didn't hear most of what Molly had to say. She couldn't shake this feeling that she had done this before. Oh sure, they at under the same tree everyday, and talked about what boys they liked every time. But Serena just couldn't help but feel this was too familiar. And after this morning, she was beginning to wonder. "Earth to Serena!" called Molly in her trademark voice. "Hey Serena, what's up with you today anyway? You acted like I died or something." Molly question brought Serena back to reality. "Oh Molly, I'm sorry for embarassing you! I'm just tired. Did my homework last night, must've fried my brain!" Molly giggle for a moment and Serena retreated back into her thoughts. "My mom had a two for one sale at the jewelry store last night and I had to help," she complained. "I'm bushed. My alarm clock went off for an hour before I woke up." Serena was paying attention now: to exactly everything Molly said. She decided to play along. "I'm sorry you got detention, Mol, if Miss H wasn't so steamed at me, she might have let you off with a warning." "That's okay, Serena," said Molly with a smile. "If I come up with any good excuses, I'll let you know." She smiled at Molly, so that she would think Serena was paying attention. Melvin came up from behind the tree. "Hey Molly, Serena, want to know the answer to this morning's bonus question on the math quiz?" Both girls looked at each other and groaned. Serena couldn't help it, especially since she had a feeling she knew the answer. "Go away, Melvin!!" they shouted in unison. "Fine. I won't tell you. Statistics show that she puts the same question on fourteen percent of her quizzes. You might have scored an extra percent with that answer." Serena rolled her eyes. He was even more annoying the second time. "Gee," said she responded sarcastically. "I think I might have got a 49% then. That'll really help me." Both girls giggled. "Where's Amy?" asked Melvin. "Maybe she would appreciate my information." They watched the nerd stalk away in search of Amy. "Hey, where is Amy anyway?" asked Molly. "She usually eats lunch with us." Serena thought about it for a second. "I don't know," said Serena. She was glad Amy wasn't here. She couldn't gang up on her anymore for not paying attention at the Scout meeting. "Maybe she's building a new computer program or something brainy like that." "Who knows..." said Molly, stuffing a large piece of chocolate chip muffin into her mouth. ************************************************************************* * Serena tried not to fall asleep, but she was quickly losing the battle. she whined to herself. She stifled a yawn with her hand and tried again to figure out what the teacher was talking about. "Now class, on Friday we discussed the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Who can tell the names of his three ships?" This woke Serena up. She lifted her hand. "Ah, Miss H? Didn't we do this yesterday?" The whole class burst into amused laughter. Miss Haruna silenced them with a single evil glance. "Last time I checked Serena, yesterday was SUNDAY." she said sarcastically. "Don't bother trying to change the subject Serena, you'll only get yourself a detention." Serena sank down into her seat, wishing suddenly that the earth would open up and swallow her whole. Melvin raised his hand waving wildly in his excitement. "I know. In alphabetical order they are, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria," he said with pride. Pushing his wide glasses back onto his nose, he continued, "I studied their structure on the Internet last night. Did you know that those three ships were made out of..." The entire class groaned. "That's enough, Melvin," commanded Miss Haruna. "Thank you for answering correctly yet again." Miss Haruna sighed and sat down on her desk. Serena was able to comment. She yawned suddenly, the day's repetitive events combined with the same boring history lesson took its toll on her limited attention span and she soon succumbed to the overwhelming need to sleep. She leaned her forehead down on her arms, and began to doze at her desk. Soon, the sound of her snoring was echoing through the room. Miss Haruna's eyes narrowed and she stalked over to her sleeping student. she asked herself before shouting, "SERENA!" Serena sat up as straight as an arrow in her seat, her eyes glazed from her brief nap. The blond teenager looked up at her teacher in horror. "Since you're so relaxed, you won't mind telling all of us what year Christopher Columbus sailed the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria." All eyes were on Serena. Miss Haruna towered menacingly over her with her hands on her hips. "Umm, ah..." she muttered, wondering what to do. "1969?" asked Serena, smiling towards her infuriated teacher. "Serena! That was part of your reading assignment this weekend!" The tall teacher walked back to the front of the class and suddenly spun around. "Since you neglected your reading, I'm going to help you out. I want a complete essay on the voyages of Christopher Columbus, in full essay form, with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion, with footnotes and a biography." Serena groaned and a few students snickered. She began to panick. She almost jumped out of her seat and earned herself a menacing glare from her still annoyed teacher. The bell rang signaling the end of class for the day. Serena gathered up her stuff, threw it into her bookbag, and headed quickly for the door. But she wasn't quick enough. "And Serena," said Miss H, stopping the ponytailed girl in her tracks, "I want that essay on my desk tomorrow morning!" The pigtailed teenager sighed. She halfway hoped that the day would repeat itself tomorrow, then she wouldn't have to do that stupid essay. Why hadn't she remembered that dumb year anyway? ************************************************************************* * After a long afternoon with a spelling quiz and a boring history lesson about Christopher Columbus, Serena was about to say good-bye to Molly as she left for detention. she mused, twirling a lock of long blond hair around her finger. She grabbed her friend's elbow and stopped her. "I know you have to go to dentention Mol, but hear me out first!" she said breathlessly, trying to explain everything as quickly as possible. Suddenly, she saw students running in the schoolyard. "I can't explain to much now but you can't go to detention today Molly!" Molly was about to protest but Serena put a hand over her mouth. "I don't have time to explain now Mol!" She said in frustration. "Something horrible is going to happen, just don't go to class!" She watched Molly nod silently, a strange look on her face. She bumbed into a younger, brown haired girl. The girl clutched Serena's shoulders with emotion. "You have to get out of here, Serena!" Fear was clear in her large brown eyes. She looked as if she was about to cry. "There's a monster in the schoolyard." "Yeah, and Sailor Mars and Mercury are here fighting it." She let go of Serena's shoulders and began to run quickly. "Hurry Serena, you have to get away!" Serena ran outside into the schoolyard to find Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury battling the ugliest monster she had ever seen. "Yuck!" Serena spat. "They could at least make them prettier!" The monster was the one that attacked yesterday. She had long green colored hair that was curly and looked like steel wool. Her skin was leathery and red with totally black, large, round eyes. The bikini top and bottoms she was wearing were made out of lime colored vinyl. The monster opened her mouth wide, revealing long, spiky, greening teeth and shot fire at the two Sailor Scouts. Luna found Serena as she was about to transform and almost died of shock. She couldn't believe that Serena was going to enter a fight without being proded. "Serena!" she called up to the blond teenager who held up her transformation broach with purpose. A ball of fire whizzed by above them. Serena ducked out of harm's way and Luna moved away from the protection of the bushes to check out how Mercury and Mars were faring. Luna gasped as she saw that Mercury was down, and probably winded, and she noticed Mars beginning her attack. "Serena!" Luna growled in her familiar English accent, "Transform now!" she commanded. "I know, I'm on it!" shouted the blond teenager, shooting her cat an annoyed look. She stood back, straightened up, and shouted, "Moon Prism Power! The monster laughed in glee. She was about to finish off the haughtily little Sailor girl in front of her. "This is going to be fun. Jadeite will be so pleased!" Before she could act, she heard a voice behind her and turned with a scream of rage to see who would dare interrupt her. "The schoolyard is a place for kids to relax and play, how dare you interrupt their fun!" The Sailor Scout of the Moon stood before the monster in her typical pose and pointed a gloved finger at the monster. "I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Love and Justice!" She continued despite the monster's groan. "In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!" "Go ahead and try," sneered her red skinned enemy. "Hopefully, your moves are better than your pathetic speech!" "You're such a meatball head!" shouted Mars in irritation. "Don't you answer your communicator?" Just at that moment, the monster laughed. "I am Pyro-Head," she said in a husky voice. "Feel my fire!" She opened her foul mouth wide and began to spew fire in all directions. Sailor Moon didn't have time to waste. She grabbed the tiara off her head and quickly shouted: "Moon Tiara Magic!". She launched her attack towards the Negaverse monster. She screamed and covered her face with her arms as three deadly fireballs headed towards her. She barely heard Mars scream as the fireballs hit her. Her body exploded instantly into pain and then she felt nothing.... Chapter Three: Yes! Again! Serena was frozen in time; frozen in the moment the flames seared her body and dragged the life from her. She could feel her soul letting go of her body. With a feeling of loss, she knew the only moments were left of her existence. Then suddenly she heard her mother's angry voice, "Serena, wake up!" Her mother's voice registered in her head and Serena's mind floated back to reality. Her eyes popped open in surprise and relief. She looked down at herself for a quick moment, and around her room to figure out where she was. A wide, happy smile spread across the blond teenager's face. Sitting up in bed, she flung her arms around her mother's waist and pulled her into a hug. "I'm alive! I can't believe it! I'm alive! Isn't it great, Mom?" "Young lady!" shouted her mother, "I woke you up forty-five minutes ago! If you don't get yourself out of bed this instant, you won't be alive for long! Now get moving or you're going to be late again!!" "OH NO! I'M LATE!!" She threw her clothes on, grabbed her bookbag and some toast, put on her shoes, and sped down the street so fast she left a trail of dirt and dust behind her. she thought, Her mind reeled from all of the possibilities... She continued her frantic pace, her sorrow and anger powering her stride. She cried out in frustration, So enraptured was the teenager in her thoughts, she did not think to slow down as she went careening around the corner. Nor did she remember that she had done the exact same thing the last two times it had happened. She didn't remember that there was that crack in the sidewalk -- the one that she hadn't seen the morning before or the morning before that. She caught the toe of her shoe in it. "AAHH, I forgot! Not this again!" she gasped. Screaming in alarm, her arms flailing helplessly, knowing that her painful impact with the ground was coming, she scrunched her eyes tightly closed expecting the face to hit pavement any second. Instead, strong, familiar hands caught Serena before she could fall. Serena jumped and groaned. She opened her eyes reluctantly and once again looked up into the sarcastic face of her worst enemy. "What's the matter, Meatball Head? Forget how to walk this morning?" Serena pulled away from Darien, and looked up at the normally annoying guy before her with pleasure. "You know, Darien, I am so totally glad to see you! What day is it?" "Hey," Darien replied, wondering if the teenager had finally cracked. "I think all that junk food you eat is clogging your brain, Meatball Head... Today is Monday. And yesterday was Sunday; I slept in." thought Serena. "All right!" she said jumping happily up and down. "Everything happening again!" Then a thought occurred to her. "I'm going to be LATE!" She blew a wet raspberry right into Darien's face and took off towards Crossroads Junior High. "And don't call me `Meatball Head'! My name is SERENA!" she yelled over her shoulder. Darien took a neat white hanky out of his pocket and wiped his face. "Yuck!" he said to himself in disgust, "I think that girl's finally wound those meatballs way too tight..." He grumbled to himself for a moment, and then a thought occurred to him. "You could have at least said thank you!" he yelled out loud to the now long gone teenager. ************************************************************************* * She skidded into class and settled herself in her desk just as Miss Haruna began asking for last night's homework. As she dug around for her homework, she glanced over to Molly's empty desk and tried hard not to cry again. She sniffled a little and stopped when she looked over to Molly's empty desk. Wiping the tears falling down her face, she found her homework. she thought, Miss Haruna looked down at the sniffling blond teenager and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. the tall woman thought, Molly ran into the class, disorganized, and disheveled. "I'm so sorry, Miss H," Molly said as she gasped for breath. "My alarm clock didn't go off this morning." Serena dropped her homework in shock. "Molly! You're here! You're really here!" She ran over to her red haired friend and wrapped her arms happily around her. "I can't believe this!" she said through happy tears. She pulled away from her small, red haired friend, looking into Molly's confused face. "Ah Mol, I thought I'd never see you again!" She grabbed Molly by the waist and began to dance the two of them up and down the aisle. "We're both alive, Mol! Isn't this totally great? We're both alive!!!" Serena exclaimed and laughed in glee, ignoring the shocked looks of Ms. Haruna and her classmates. Molly shot Serena a weird look and pushed out of her arms. "Come on Serena, why are freaking out like that? We just went to the movies yesterday." She pushed her way out of Serena's arms and shook her head. "And why wouldn't we be alive anyway? It's not like the world's gonna end tomorrow, is it?" Miss Haruna wasn't impressed. She began to silently wonder why teaching teenagers had sounded so good to her when she was in teacher's college. "Now that the reunion is over, girls, do you mind taking your seats?" Both girls turned beet red and sat down awkwardly in their seats. Molly looked up into the unamused figure of her teacher standing next to her. "As for your alarm clock, young lady, Serena used that excuse Friday morning. You can think of a better one after school... in detention." Serena looked from Miss Haruna to Molly and back to Miss Haruna. Seeing Molly groan at the thought of an hour in detention, she sent Molly an apologetic look. Her eyes bulged for a moment remembering that she had thought the same exact thing yesterday. Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by a tall figure standing expectantly next to her. She looked up to see Miss Haruna standing in front of her, waiting impatiently for her homework. "What silly excuse for not doing your homework are you going to give me today, Serena?" "N... none Miss H, really," the blond teenager said. Then she remembered the homework she had found and handed the tall teacher her homework. Miss Haruna sighed. "First, Molly is late for class and then Serena actually did her homework? What kind of a day is this?" she asked herself. Serena rolled her eyes. She handed Serena the papers, looked at her sternly, and said, "Serena, I want you to do it over again. This time, get a few of the answers right and make sure it's legible." Serena turned red and nodded. Then she shook her head. ************************************************************************* * Molly and Serena sat under at tree, chatting during lunch. Serena didn't hear most of what Molly had to say. She couldn't figure out why the day was repeating itself, never mind how to stop it. Mind you, they at under the same tree everyday, and talked about what boys they liked every time. But Serena just couldn't help the feeling of desperation building inside of her... And after this morning, she was beginning to wonder. "Earth to Serena!" called Molly in her trademark voice. "Hey Serena, what's up with you today anyway? You acted like I died or something." Molly question brought Serena back to reality. But she gave the same excuse once again. "Oh Molly, I'm sorry for embarrassing you! I'm just tired. Did my homework last night, must've fried my brain!" Molly giggled for a moment and Serena retreated back into her thoughts. "My mom had a two for one sale at the jewelry store last night and I had to help," she complained. "I'm bushed. My alarm clock went off for an hour before I woke up." Serena was paying attention now: to exactly everything Molly said. "I'm sorry you got detention, Mol. If Miss H wasn't so steamed at me, she might have let you off with a warning." "That's okay, Serena," said Molly with a smile. "If I come up with any good excuses, I'll let you know." She smiled at Molly, so that she would think Serena was paying attention. Melvin came up from behind the tree. "Hey Molly, Serena, want to know the answer to this morning's bonus question on the math quiz?" Both girls looked at each other and groaned. Serena couldn't help it, especially since she had a feeling she knew the answer. "Go away, Melvin!!" they shouted in unison. "Fine. I won't tell you. Statistics show that she puts the same question on fourteen percent of her quizzes. You might have scored an extra percent with that answer." Serena rolled her eyes. She was about to reply the same way she had the last two times and then a thought occurred to her. She narrowed her eyes and smiled sweetly at the nerd before her. "Wait... don't go," said she said, trying to sound as if she could actually stand him. "You know lots about science, right?" "Serena? What are ya doing?" asked Molly, shocked that Serena would even try to talk to him. Melvin shot Serena an equally flabbergasted look but didn't say anything. "Do you think you can help me with a problem I've been having?" Serena squeaked out hopefully. Melvin looked insulted. "You don't want to hear the answer to the bonus question, then you want me to help you with your science homework?" He sighed, all dejected. "Where's Amy?" Melvin asked coldly, "Maybe she would appreciate my information." They watched the nerd stalk away in search of Amy. "Serena, are you going nuts? What was that about?" The blond teenager sat down sadly and crossed her arms. "I wasn't trying to get him to do my homework...Really!" Molly watched Serena sulk for a minute and decided to change the subject. "Hey, where is Amy anyway?" asked Molly. "She usually eats lunch with us." Serena thought about it for a second. "I don't know," said Serena. She was glad Amy wasn't here. She couldn't gang up on her anymore for not paying attention at the Scout meeting. "Maybe she's building a new computer program or something brainy like that." Serena scowled in reaction to her thoughts. "Who knows..." said Molly, stuffing a large piece of chocolate chip muffin into her mouth. ************************************************************************* * Serena tried not to fall asleep, but she was quickly losing the battle. she whined to herself. Her thoughts were on the morning's events. She was suddenly feeling very sorry for herself. She stifled a yawn with her hand and tried again to figure out what the teacher was talking about. "Now class, on Friday we discussed the voyages of Christopher Columbus. Who can tell the names of his three ships?" Serena groaned miserably. This caught her teacher's attention. "Is there something wrong Serena or are we just boring you?" Having totally convinced herself she was doomed to repeat this day until the end of time, she didn't think before she opened her mouth. "We did this yesterday," she complained crossly. The whole class burst into amused laughter. Miss Haruna silenced them with a single evil glance. "Last time I checked, Serena, yesterday was SUNDAY," she said sarcastically. "Don't bother trying to change the subject, Serena, you'll only get yourself a detention." Serena sank down into her seat, wishing suddenly that the Earth would open up and swallow her whole. Melvin raised his hand waving wildly in his excitement. "I know. In alphabetical order they are, the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria," he said with pride. Pushing his wide glasses back onto his nose, he continued, "I studied their structure on the Internet last night. Did you know that those three ships were made out of..." The entire class groaned, including Serena who marveled at how much more annoying he could be the third time around. "That's enough, Melvin," commanded Miss Haruna. "Thank you for answering correctly yet again." Miss Haruna sighed and sat down on her desk. Serena was able to comment. She yawned suddenly, the day's repetitive events combined with the same boring history lesson took its toll on her limited attention span and she soon succumbed to the overwhelming need to sleep. She leaned her forehead down on her arms, and began to doze at her desk. Soon, the sound of her snoring was echoing through the room. Miss Haruna's eyes narrowed and she stalked over to her sleeping student. she asked herself before shouting, "SERENA!" Serena sat up as straight as an arrow in her seat, her eyes glazed from her brief nap. The blond teenager looked up at her teacher in horror. "Since you're so relaxed, you won't mind telling all of us what year Christopher Columbus sailed the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria." All eyes were on Serena. Miss Haruna towered menacingly over her with her hands on her hips. "Umm, ah..." she muttered, wondering what to do. "1969?" asked Serena, smiling hopefully towards her infuriated teacher. "Serena! That was part of your reading assignment this weekend!" The tall teacher walked back to the front of the class and suddenly spun around. "Since you neglected your reading, I'm going to help you out. I want a complete essay on the voyages of Christopher Columbus, in full essay form, with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion, with footnotes and a biography." Serena groaned and a few students snickered. she ranted to herself. She began to panic. She almost jumped out of her seat and earned herself a menacing glare from her still annoyed teacher. The bell rang signaling the end of class for the day. Serena gathered up her stuff, threw it into her bookbag, and headed quickly for the door. But she wasn't quick enough. "And Serena," said Miss Haruna, stopping the pigtailed girl in her tracks, "I want that essay on my desk tomorrow morning!" The pigtailed teenager sighed. She halfway hoped that the day would repeat itself tomorrow, then she wouldn't have to do that stupid essay. ************************************************************************* * After a long afternoon with a spelling quiz, that she was sure she bombed again, Serena was about to rip her hair out by the roots, pigtails and all! she mused, twirling a lock of long blond hair around her finger. Wishing she could tie her friend up and leave her somewhere safe, she watched her red headed friend make her way into the dreaded detention room Serena knew so well. Suddenly, she saw students running in the schoolyard. She tried to hurry through the thick group of frantic teens, but couldn't get very far. She bumped into a younger, brown haired girl. The girl clutched Serena's shoulders with emotion. "You have to get out of here, Serena!" Fear was clear in her large brown eyes. She looked as if she was about to cry. "There's a monster in the schoolyard." "Yeah, and Sailor Mars and Mercury are here fighting it." She let go of Serena's shoulders and began to run quickly. "Hurry Serena, you have to get away!" Serena ran outside into the schoolyard to find Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury battling the ugliest monster she had ever seen. "Yuck!" Serena spat. "They could at least make them prettier!" It was the same gruesome monster. Serena rolled her eyes, how boring! She lifted a hand, vowing silently to stop the monster once and for all. "Moon Prism Power!" Luna found Serena already transformed into Sailor Moon and gasped in shock. She couldn't believe that Serena was going to enter a fight without being prodded. "Serena!" she called up to the blond teenager who began to advance quickly into battle. . A ball of fire whizzed towards Sailor Moon. Knowing it was coming, she threw herself to the ground and rolled out of harm's way. Jumping easily onto her feet. This was a feat that surprised herself as well as a dumfounded black cat behind her. Luna said, her eyes bulging. Sailor Moon knew that Mercury was down, and probably winded, and she noticed Mars beginning her attack. "Sailor Moon!" Luna growled in her familiar English accent, "Stop that negamonster!" Sailor Moon watched as the monster laughed in glee. She was about to finish off the haughty little Sailor girl in front of her. "This is going to be fun. Jadeite will be so pleased!" Before she could act, she heard a voice behind her and turned with a scream of rage to see who would dare interrupt her. "You know I've really had it with you!" spat the Sailor Scout of the Moon. "You've put my friend in danger and that's going to stop now!" Mars snapped her head in Sailor Moon's direction. Her eyes widened when she said that Sailor Moon was actually serious. Sailor Moon stared at the monster in her typical pose and pointed a gloved finger at the monster. "I am Sailor Moon, Champion of Love and Justice!" She continued despite the groan of the monster, "In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!" "Go ahead and try," sneered her red skinned enemy. "Hopefully, your moves are better than your pathetic speech!" Mars recovered from her shock quickly. "You're such a Meatball Head!" shouted Mars in irritation, "Don't you answer your communicator?" Just at that moment, the monster laughed. "I am Pyro-Head," she said in a husky voice. "Feel my fire!" She opened her foul mouth wide and began to spew fire in all directions. Sailor Moon remembered being toasted last time she fought this monster and dove towards the ground. She rolled quickly and jumped to her feet, only to have to dodge another round of fire. Mars leaned to the right calmly, waited as a fireball blazed by then shouted, "Mars Fire Ignite!" Her attack was countered by a new set of fireballs launched by the monster. Sailor Moon began to run and launched herself into the air, in an attempt to kick her opponent down. But the Negaverse monster only laughed and batted her away as if she were an annoying bug on a hot summer day. The blond Sailor Scout landed on her rear, shouted in pain, and rolled clumsily out of the way of another attack. From the protection of the bushes, Luna had observed Sailor Moon's attempted attack and sighed... Luna shouted, "Sailor Moon, DO something!" Mercury came to as this was taking place; she cringed as a fireball came a little too close to her. Despite the dizziness in her head, she stood up shakily and shouted, "Mercury Bubbles Blast!!" A thick fog appeared, concealing the Sailor Scouts. "Do it NOW, Sailor Moon!" shouted Mars. "Right!" Sailor Moon agreed quickly. She jumped to her feet, plucked the tiara from her forehead, aimed it at Pyro-Head, and said, "Moon Tiara Magic!" The tiara magically turned into a lethal discus that flew straight towards the Negaverse monster's head. The monster saw it coming and raised her knotted, leathery hands to protect herself. She did so too late. The discus made contact with its target and reduced Pyro-Head to a pile of moondust. "You could've come a little earlier, don't you think!" began Mars. Sailor Moon ignored the Scout's rude remark. She turned and began running towards the school. "NO!" she shouted as she watched as it exploded before her and burst into flames. The windows shattered from the force of the blast, and the Sailor Scouts ducked from the intensity of the heat and the spray of broken glass and debris. Sailor Moon jumped to her feet and continued her frantic run towards the flaming building. She was stopped by Mars and Mercury as they tackled her to the ground. "No, No!" shouted Sailor Moon. With a strength even she didn't know she possessed, she threw off her two friends and continued to make her way to the building. Sailor Mars and Mercury tackled her again, and this time held her firmly to the ground. "NO, NO, I'm too late! I failed... I'm so sorry Molly..." the blond Sailor Scout began to sob. "Have you lost your marbles, Meatballs for Brains? You can't go in there! You'll get fried!" shouted Mars. "That's three times I couldn't stop it... It's happening again!" sobbed Sailor Moon, leaning into Mercury's open arms. She leaned her head against the blue haired Sailor Scout's shoulders and began to sob harder. She let go of all her frustration and sadness. "Now I have to watch it happen again... I can't, I just can't. I don't know how to make it stop." Her blond head snapped up and she grabbed Mercury's arms desperately. "I tried, really I did. I worked really hard." Her eyes rolled back and she slumped to the ground unconscious. "What is she talking about?" asked Mars, helping Mercury lower the unconscious teenager to the ground, "She's finally lost it, hasn't she?" Mercury shook her head, unsure of what had just transpired. ************************************************************************* ** Serena's eye opened and she expected to see her angry mother ordering her out of bed. Instead, she found herself staring at the grayed ceiling of a hospital room. Faces appeared in her line of sight, her mother, her father, Amy... "It's okay, honey," she heard her mother's voice, as if she was far away. "Everything is going to be okay." "The doctor gave you some medication to relax you," she heard Amy say, "All you need to do is rest." Serena's eye's widened and filled with tears. "No!" she said out loud. She heard footsteps and a door open. Holding her breath, she waited for the sound that would confirm her surroundings... and then she heard it... her mother's angry voice, "Serena, wake up!" Her mother's voice was music to her ears and she sprang out of bed and onto her feet in one excited, hyperactive moment! "Good morning, Mom!" she shouted in an exaggerated movement, throwing her arms around the angry woman and kissing her enthusiastically. A wide, happy smile spread across the blond teenager's face. "I'm alive! I can't believe it! I'm alive!" She twirled around the room, her arms wide, as if embracing life. "Molly's alive... Rei and Amy are alive, you and Dad are alive, and even that spore Sammy is alive! Isn't it great, Mom?" Her mother's eyes became wide with anger. She opened her mouth to speak and Serena swore with amusement that she could almost see her breathing fire. "Young lady!" the tall woman shouted, "I woke you up forty-five minutes ago..." Her angered words were interrupted by the giggling of her teenage daughter. "I know... I know... What did you say? Oh yeah! I won't be alive for long if I don't get a move on." She snorted in her mirth. She crossed her arms and pretended to be her mother. In a parental voice, she mimicked, "Now get moving or you're going to be late again!!" She watched outrage explode on her mother's face and decided a quick exit was in order. She feigned shock and exclaimed, "OH NO! I'M LATE!!" With a delighted laugh, Serena threw on her clothes and tore from the room. She grabbed her bookbag and sped out of the house, still cackling happily at her pleasure. Her mother stood at the window and watched the girl run happily down the street. "That's it..." she muttered in disbelief, "The girl has finally lost it. Serena is going mad!" ********************************************************************* she thought, shocked that she had the same contemplation the morning before. She stopped in mid-stride and smiled. An evil grin spread over her face. She giggled and began to make her way quickly towards school, anticipating all the fun she would have. Before she turned a now familiar corner, she stopped dead in her tracks. she thought glancing down at the crack in the sidewalk. Instead, she stuck out her foot daintily. To her delight, Darien sped around the corner, not paying attention to what was in front of him. Missing her foot, he tripped and landed on the hard cement with a cry of alarm. Hearing amused laughter, Darien pushed himself up onto his forearms to see a meatball headed teenager cackling above him. He groaned and dragged his sore body to its feet. "What's the matter, Darien," taunted Serena, "forget how to walk this morning?" She saw his annoyed reaction and her delighted smile broadened. "Very funny, Meatball Head," he stated dryly. " "Gee," interrupted Serena, "you should be more careful. I wouldn't want this to become a habit!" "That's highly unlikely. You're undoubtedly the Queen of Klutz." Instead of reacting badly like usual, he was surprised that she only smiled. He watched in fascination as she took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the one side of his face. She inspected it carefully for a moment, as if studying it and then turned it around for his view. She pointed a finger at the smudge on its otherwise immaculate white surface and said in a serious tone, "It seems to be you eating dirt today!" With a laugh, she patted in on the head as if he were a puppy and skipped off in triumph! Darien stood still, speechless. "How dare that clumsy, whiny brat!" he exclaimed. But it was too late. She was long gone! ********************************************************************* Just before the gates to Crossroads Junior High, she skidded to a halt in a haze of dirt and dust. It dawned on her, suddenly, that she could do whatever she wanted with this day. She could go the arcade as many times as she wanted! Hey, she could even get so good at the Sailor V game that she could show Miss High and Mighty Rei how it is done! She could even get good at all the video games in there. Serena started towards the arcade. In her delight, she practically skipped down the sidewalk. With the thoughts of the day's delights in mind, she continued towards the arcade. ********************************************************************* Miss Haruna glanced at Serena's empty desk and sighed. "Good morning, class. Let's start out by going over this weekend's assignment. Everyone take out their homework." She noticed that Molly was also missing. Sighing, she resigned herself to the fact that there would always be a couple of low achievers in her class. Just as she finished her thought, Molly came running into the room. She practically flew across the class and into her seat. "Sorry I'm late, Miss H," the girl said breathlessly, while ripping through her bag to find her homework, "My alarm clock didn't go off this morning." She saw her teacher glance towards the door and noticed in shock that Serena was running really late this morning. "Have you seen Serena this morning, Molly?" she asked. "No, I haven't," Molly responded demurely. "Are you sure the two of you weren't up to something before school?" her teacher continued. "Ah... no, Miss H. Serena never gets up that early, plus I ran as fast as I could to get here... I didn't even stop to catch my breath!" Her eyes suddenly bulged in shock. "Hmm, I wonder if she's sick. She probably ate too much junk food on the weekend again." Serena was notorious for Monday morning stomachaches. "As for your alarm clock, young lady, Serena used that excuse Friday morning. You can think of a better one after school... in detention." Molly groaned and noticed a few sympathetic gazes from her classmates. ********************************************************************* Andrew watched in fascination as Serena lost her ninth Sailor V game in a row. He walked up to the blond teenager and leaned against a nearby arcade game. Serena didn't notice, as she was transfixed by the miniature blond warrior blazing her way across the screen. "Hi Serena," he said cheerfully. "What's up?" Having been oblivious to his presence, Serena jumped and missed a crucial shot. She gasped in dismay as the miniature Sailor V did for the tenth time. "Look what you made me do!" she scolded pointing at the blinking game over sign. "Now I have to start all over again!" "You keep this up, Serena, and you're going to blow all your allowance. It's only Monday," he reminded her gently. "Doesn't matter," she replied hotly, "There's plenty more where that came from!" "Did your parents up your allowance?" he asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "If I remember correctly, you were in here crying on Friday because your parents were going to find out you'd been late for school all week." "No, not for that," she said with a nervous smile. "Oh... well... er... It was an early birthday gift!" "An early birthday gift?" He gave her a suspicious look. "You're birthday is in June. I remember because you announced it to the entire arcade when you turned fourteen. That's not for months!" He knew something was up when she squirmed and giggled nervously. "Ah well, it was an early birthday gift from my aunt and uncle who live in... who live... in the United States." "Uh-huh Serena, like I'm going to believe that. So what's really going on? And why aren't you at school? Did something happen?" Serena grabbed her bag and backed away. "Ah... no, nothing happened. Why would you ask me something silly like that?" Before Andrew could answer, she turned and ran from the arcade. Andrew shook his head. "I'll just never figure out that girl!" ********************************************************************* Serena meandered into the park and sighed in contentment. She silently thanked Andrew for interrupting her game. She had had enough of her allowance left for a half a dozen wonderful Boston cream donuts, still steaming from baking. She licked a little dab of chocolate from the corner of her mouth and smiled. Those donuts had not been long for this world! Settling herself comfortably under a large shady tree, she crossed her arms across her chest and stared at the calmness of the pond. What a great morning it had been! Pretty soon all the kids at school would be having lunch period. she commented to herself. Her eyelids became heavy as she started to doze. "I'll just take a little nap..." she muttered to herself. ********************************************************************* Luna thought as she lazed contentedly on one of the fluffy couch pillows in the living room. It wasn't as if she had had a lot of sleep. Serena's usually death-like sleep had been restless. The child had tossed and turned the entire night, muttering about fire and Mars and Mercury dying. Her sympathy for the spacey teenager faded quickly as she reminded herself of Serena's behavior. She stretched her paws out before her, extending her claws. Retracting them, she turned in typical cat-like fashion on the pillow and settled down conformably again. She was going to continue her nap! Jadeite's defeat could wait until the girls were done with school. The phone rang loudly, startling Luna from her peaceful sleep. She was about to growl at the phone when Serena's mother walked in. "Good afternoon!" she answered cheerfully. Luna thought in dismay. The blue haired woman's words suddenly caught her attention. "Serena? No, she isn't here. She didn't show up for school? How terrible!" "Why that rotten..." the black cat began to mutter darkly. Thankfully, she stopped herself. It wouldn't do to have Serena's mother catch her talking. she vowed. "Thank you," she said in her most polite, mild tone. "Her father and I will deal with her as soon as she comes home." She looked, and then she violently slammed the phone down and spun around. Advancing towards Luna, she waved an angry fist in the air. "First, that snotty attitude in the morning, and now she pulls a stunt like this!" Luna saw the danger in her walk and decided it would be a good time to exit. She didn't want to stay and suffer the wrath of Serena's mother in the teenager's place. She quickly jumped out the living room window just in time to hear the woman vow, "Serena, your days are numbered!" ********************************************************************* Amy walked out of the front gates of the school with a pile of books in her hands. She could envision the complexity of the presentation. She would make her science teacher proud! She was surprised to see that Rei was waiting for her just a few feet from the front gates. She pulled the blue haired teenager into the nearby alley. Looking around to make sure they were alone, she said, "Quick Amy, we have to transform. There are serious nega-vibes emanating from the school! I think Pyro-Head is coming back to finish off the job!" Amy pulled her communicator from her pocket and tried to contact Serena. There was no answer, just as there had been when the monster attacked at lunchtime. She shot her friend a worried look and shook her head. "Serena is not responding to her communicator." "You mean that scatter-brained Meatball Head forgot it!" growled Rei. "Oh well, at least we won't have to worry about keeping her butt out of trouble." She lifted her transformation wand out of her pocket, held in high in the air and shouted: "Mars power!" Amy nodded reluctantly. Lately, Serena was proving herself even more irresponsible than she had ever imagined possible. She produced her transformation wand and shouted, "Mercury Power!" They would have to proceed without her. As her transformation took place, she worried. They had been unable to stop the Negaverse monster this afternoon. Would it be any different now? ********************************************************************* Luna made her way out of the crowded arcade and shook her head. She walked down the street a ways until she arrived at the restaurant where the girls like to eat after school. She noticed Darien at the counter looking unusually disappointed. "You have no Boston creams left?" he asked in vain. "Sorry Darien," the ponytailed girl said. "The last half dozen were bought early this afternoon." She shook her head, remembering the blonde's delight at the sight of six steaming donuts being placed in the donut box. "By a girl with blond hair, she looked like she was young enough that she should have been in school." Still perplexed by the morning's events, Darien raised an eyebrow. "She didn't happen to have two pompoms and pigtails, did she?" "Come to think of it, she did. Why? Is she a friend of yours?" replied the waitress. "No," said Darien, "she's not a friend." He turned, empty handed and headed towards the door. "She's just someone I bumped into this morning." Luna watched him walk down the street and shook her head. She snickered all of the sudden. ********************************************************************* As Serena made her way home, fully rested and content, she considered the day's delight. What a perfect day it had been. A few more mornings like that and she'd beat the pants off of Rei at the Sailor V game. And if she was lucky, she could catch those great donuts again tomorrow! Yummy! That nap had done her a lot of good. She felt clear-headed for the first time since the days had started repeating. "Serena!" she heard Luna shout as the cat jumped in front of her. "Where have you been all day?" Normally, Luna's angry glare would have caused her to back away, but the knowledge that the day would repeat itself tomorrow made her a brave teenager. "Around," she responded nonchalantly. "Around? You didn't even go to school today! Miss Haruna called your mother today; she's furious." "Probably," said Serena, unconcerned. thought the teenager, Luna gasped in shock. "Probably? What has gotten into you today? You didn't even bring your communicator!" "I took a day off, Luna," answered Serena. She actually considered explaining the entire situation to her feline guardian and then dismissed the idea. "A day off? You can't take a day off. You're Sailor Moon! What about your responsibility to the other Sailor Scouts?" "I just did, Luna," retorted the blond teenager. "Plus, Rei was probably glad not to have me around." Without another word, Serena made her way into her house to face her fate. ********************************************************************* "Oh sure," Serena muttered to herself as she shoved the toothbrush into the bucket of soapy water, "She probably just ground me! That would be more fun!" She was on her hands and knees carefully scrubbing a ceramic tile in the hallway. She was about halfway through though, finally! A few minutes ago, her mother saw that she had missed a spot and made her start all over again! And now after having had a fantastic day, she could look forward to scrubbing the kitchen floor and the entire bathroom in the same fashion. Her mother sat quietly on the couch watching the news. "And don't forget to do the corner really well, Serena," she commanded sternly. Her daughter pushed herself painfully into a sitting position, wincing at the bruises that had formed on her knees. "Yes Mother!" she responded darkly. "You should be glad your father isn't home from work yet or you would have get more than extra housework." She was quickly reminded. Serena wasn't scared by this. But she didn't dare put her thoughts into words for fear her mother would retaliate. Suddenly she heard her mother gasp. "Serena, come here quick!" "Why, Mom, did you think of something ELSE for me to do?" she retaliated? The woman shook her head. "No, it's the news. It's about your school!" She walked over to the TV and almost fainted from the view of the school. She had never ever seen the aftermath of the explosion. Where once had stood Crossroads Junior High, was a pile of charred wood and rubble. Tears began to stream down the teenager's face. The damage was far worse than she had ever imagined! The school was completely destroyed! She heard the reporter give details of the dreadful incident. "There were many casualties in this explosion, and as you can see here, the body count is still rising." The reported stepped aside to show a row of bodies covered by white sheets. The camera focused on a pair of bodies covered further away from the rest. She gasped at what she saw next. Two bodies covered in a white sheet as all the rest. "And these are the bodies, of what many have described as the legendary Sailor Scouts, Mercury and Mars." From under one of the sheets, part of a charred red ribbon peek out, as if confirming the reporters words. "The question asked by many tonight, where was Sailor Moon? Why wasn't she here to stop the destruction?" Reality hit Serena very hard. Sobbing, she ran upstairs slamming the door to her bedroom behind her. ********************************************************************* Luna was sleeping peacefully on Serena's pillow when the girl launched herself onto the bed and began to violently sob. "What is it, Serena?" asked the black cat, "What's wrong?" "A Negaverse monster attacked at school today. The school is gone..." she cried, hiding her face in the pillows. "And Mercury, Mars?" asked Luna. "D-Deeaad!" sobbed Serena. "Oh Serena!" Luna exclaimed, as she too began to cry. There was a knocking at the door. "Serena honey, can I come in?" It was her mother, but Serena wasn't interested in being consoled. "Go away, Mom. You're just here to give me more punishments." "Oh Serena, that doesn't matter anymore. Are you all right?" the voice from behind the door answered. "NO, I'M NOT!" shouted Serena, "I'll never be all right ever again!" Her mother started to open the door anyway, but Serena launched a pillow angrily at the door. "GO AWAY I SAID!" A hand stopped the woman from opening it anyway. It was her husband. He had heard the news on the radio on the way home and had expected a scene like this. "Leave her be, she needs the time to grieve by herself." "But my baby is upset," she responded with tears of her own. "I can't just abandon her!" He pulled his wife into her arms and held her tightly. "She doesn't want comfort now. Let her deal with this in her own way, when she's ready, later, then we'll come up again." ********************************************************************* Serena heard them make their way downstairs and lifted her face from the pillow. "It's all my fault, Luna. Now they're all gone. How do I stop the Negaverse without them? And what about that plan to get Jadeite? I can't do that by myself." "You didn't know, Serena," answered Luna. She had put her own grief aside for the time to help her charge. "You didn't even have you communicator with you." Serena leaned on her side and pulled the communicator from her pocket. "Yes, I did," she said tearfully, "It went off when I was at the park," a sob overtook her and she tried to continue, "but I ignored it!" Luna closed her eyes and tried to hide the look of dismay. "You didn't know this would happen, Serena." "Yes, I did. It happened three times this way!" "What? You fought this monster before and never told me?" gasped Luna. "No, no. Never mind, Luna, you wouldn't understand," she sniffled. "No one will ever understand. It's all my fault! It always will be!" Feeling wholeheartedly sorry for herself, the girl began to sob in earnest once again. Chapter Five: The Depths of Teenage Despair Sailor Moon found herself falling painfully to the ground and cried out as her knees hit the hard pavement of the schoolyard. She heard a sound to her left and turned to see the disgusting Negaverse monster, Pyro-Head, begin her fiery attack. Sailor Mercury and Mars appeared to battle their foe. Their opponent was too strong. "Hold on, I'm coming!" the blond teenager shouted. She tried to push herself upright but found that her limbs were heavy. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she willed her legs to respond to her mental command. "No!" she screamed as Pyro-Head, downed the two Sailor Scouts with her powerful attack. Mercury crawled in her direction, a shaking hand outstretched in a pitiful plea for help. "Help us, Sailor Moon! You're our only hope!" Sailor Mars pushed herself weekly up onto her elbows, groaning. "Sailor Moon! Get off your butt and DO SOMETHING, you Meatball Head!" Tears of frustration sliding down her cheeks, she tried to rise again. "Pyro-Head, you Negaverse trash, I'm going to finish you off!" she shouted defiantly. Pushing herself off of her bruised knees, she was finally able to stand up. Hearing Mercury's scream as Pyro-Head began her final attack, the blond Scout tried to run towards the violence before her. "I'm coming!" she gasped. Her progress towards the Negaverse Monster was abruptly stopped as shackles appeared around her ankles. "No!" she cried, desperately pulling at her bonds, "There's nothing I can do!" Through tear-filled eyes, she witnessed the death of her two friends. She pulled again at the chains, hoping in vain to loosen them and slip her ankles out. She fell to her knees and began to sob in earnest, her tears spilling onto the pavement below. "Not again!" she whispered, "I failed again!" Then she flinched as it happened... the school exploded into a raging ball of fire. ********************************************************************* Serena didn't open her eyes; she didn't have to. She sniffled again and pulled the blankets closer to her. The dream had repeated itself throughout the entire night. She had watched Pyro-Head finish off her friends a dozen times and could still remember the feeling of the ground shaking as the school exploded. "Serena, wake up!" a stern voice ordered. She opened her puffy, reddened eyes to see the blurry vision of her mother standing above her, her hands planted menacingly on her hips. "Young lady, I woke you up forty-five minutes ago!" In response to her mother's rage, she tried to jump out of bed. But the world began to spin and she slumped back into her rumpled blankets. "What's going on?" she muttered, waiting for the world to become still once again. Her mother's anger faded quickly away when she noticed her daughter wasn't faking it. She leaned down and felt the girl's forehead. While she did feel hot, she didn't have a fever. Those eyes were awfully red. "Just go back to sleep, dear. I'll call the school and tell them that you're not feeling well." She tucked the blankets tightly around her daughter and tiptoed quietly out of the room. ********************************************************************* Jadeite appeared on top of Crossroads Junior High. He watched the adolescents scurry to their pathetic classes. A figure appeared behind him and he turned his head to acknowledge her presence. She had to be one of the most repulsive of Beryl's minions, and he swore her hair looked like rotted seaweed. "I want you to attack the school below, to cause panic and fear amongst those stupid children," he said, turning his head to study the scene below. "I do as I am told, My Lord Jadeite, but why?" she asked, a ball of flames appearing suddenly in her hands. "I am capable of so much more destruction!" "You question my orders, Pyro-Head?" He turned to watch the homely Negaverse monster back away respectfully. "No, My Lord, of course not. I live to serve the Negaverse." Jadeite sighed, annoyed that he would have to explain himself. "See the creatures below?" he asked, pointed to the students who made their way obediently to their classes. "They are adolescents, full of energy and spirit. They are made to behave and listen to their elders. They are forced to waste their potential in boring classes where they sit and stare at a teacher all day, wasting that wonderful energy on inertia." Pyro-Head smiled revealing disgusting teeth that made Jadeite cringe. "So we will cause chaos and panic among the stupid children, compelling them to use their wasted energy." "And then, we will collect it," the blond General of the Negaverse said with an evil grin. "We will soon bring forth the Negaforce!" ********************************************************************* Luna watched carefully as her charge slept restlessly. Serena began to moan, "I'm coming!" Luna raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I'll save you!" the girl muttered in her sleep. "Maybe the incident at Rei's last night really had an impact on Serena," Luna commented to herself. But when the blond teenager whimpered in her sleep and tears began to pour down her face, the black Lunar cat began to worry. She contemplated waking the girl out of her obvious nightmare, then quickly changed her mind. Waking Serena was a dangerous proposition, one that usually turned out to be painful. ********************************************************************* Serena's mother watched her daughter sleep quietly. She sighed as the teenage girl began to moan in her sleep. "Something is wrong, Serena, I know there is," she said to the air. She decided to let the girl sleep for a while. "I hope you decide to confide in me," she whispered to herself as she made her way down the stairs. ********************************************************************* The dream released her tortured mind and Serena finally opened her eyes. She winced from the light streaming pleasantly in from her bedroom window. She rolled onto her side, and covered her face with her blanket. A tear slipped down her face and she sniffled. A gentle touch on her shoulder startled Serena from her thoughts. "What do you want, Luna?" Serena said softly. She tried to roll over to ignore the black cat, but Luna only jumped and sat herself primly in front of Serena's face. "I'm worried about you, Serena... What's wrong?" the cat asked, smoothing dampened hair out of the girl's face. "You wouldn't believe me if I told..." she started, and then her mother walked in. Serena sat up slowly, expecting her head to spin again. But, this time, the world remained in its place. Her mother noticed her daughter's red, tear-streaked face. She placed a tray of food near her daughter and sat down on the corner of the bed. "Are you going to tell me what's upsetting you so much?" the longhaired woman said softly. She watched the girl's eyes widen in surprise. "W-What do you mean?" Serena stuttered. "I'm just not feeling good." A look of panic came over her face. Her mother's eyes narrowed, giving her the `I know you inside out, so don't lie to me' look. "Serena, you're not feverish, you haven't coughed once, and you haven't whined about a headache. So when are you going to tell me what's going on?" Pushing the tray away from her, she rolled onto her side and sniffled. "You wouldn't understand..." she said, trying to keep from crying. "Was it about the fight you had with the girls last night?" With a Kleenex that always seemed to magically appear out of thin air, she wiped the tears rolling down her daughter's face. Serena shook her head and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. "Is this about a boy?" she tried, fearing the worst. Serena's eyes popped open. "Ah... no..." Her mother sighed in relief. "You can tell me anything, Serena, I'm your mom." Serena suddenly turned and attached her arms to her mother's neck, hanging on for dear life. Her mother held her distraught daughter tightly to her, rubbing her back gently as she sobbed. "It's all my fault, Mom..." she cried, sniffling. "And now, I can't fix it." The adult holding her waited a while until she calmed. "Now Serena, you're a bright, intelligent girl..." "I know you will decide what to do and do the right thing. You can do anything you set your mind to!" Serena leaned back onto her pillows and looked at her mother hopefully. "You really think so, Mom?" "Yes I do," she responded sincerely. "Now you probably didn't get a lot of sleep last night worrying about everything. So how about you eat your breakfast and get some sleep?" "Okay," Serena agreed, pulling the tray heaped with food towards her. Just as her mom was about to leave, she said, "Thanks Mom." The blue haired woman just smiled satisfied she had helped her child feel better. ********************************************************************* Luna watched the usually ravenous teenager pick at the tray of food sitting in her lap. "Serena," said Luna, jumping on the bed, close to her feet, "You need to eat or you'll just get dizzy again, like you were this morning." The girl made a face and pushed the tray of food away. "I know, Luna, but I'm just not hungry." "So exactly what is bothering you, Serena?" the cat asked. Serena put her fork down and shot the cat an annoyed look. "I told you before, you just wouldn't believe me if I told you." She started to pick at the soft bagel sitting invitingly on her plate. "Anyway," she said between bites, "you'll think I've gone crazy." And then, she sighed. ********************************************************************* Pyro-Head appeared at on the roof of the school and peered down at the innocuous students below. They were doing something she still found totally disgusting, eating! Being of the Negaverse, she didn't require food supplements to maintain her body. Once in a while, she had watched the Generals eat with great pleasure and it had always sickened her. She found a group of young girls sitting under a shady tree. She shuddered at what they were wearing. "I wouldn't be caught dead in a stupid outfit like that! They must be brainwashed!" Those girls would scare easily. They would make perfect targets for her terror inducing attack. Pyro-Head launched herself off the roof and landed adeptly in front of the group of schoolgirls, eating their lunches and chatting about gossip. At the sight of the hideous Negaverse monster, they screamed and began to scurry away in fear. Pyro-Head laughed, this was fun! She was about to launch her first fireball when a voice interrupted her. "Hold it right there!" said a young voice. The Negaverse minion turned to see a blue haired girl, in a matching Sailor outfit and knee-high boots standing before her. "I will not allow you to ruin lunchtime for all these people." "You won't, eh?" said Pyro-Head, laughing at the girl's impudence. As if a teenager in a stupid skirt was going to stop her. "You can't stop me alone, little girl." "She's not alone!" another voice shouted. To the right of the blue haired twit before her appeared another Sailor Scout, this one in a red skirt. "I am Sailor Mars, and in the name of Mars, you will pay for disturbing this place of learning!" "Nice speech," said Pyro-Head, yawning in her boredom, "But what are you going to do to stop me?" With that taunt, she threw the first of her deadly fireballs. Mercury stood her ground, unfazed by the attack. "Mercury Bubbles Blast!" The schoolyard clouded with a thick, white mist. "Oh you like fire, well take this!" said Mars. "Mars Fire Ignite!" Her attack hit the oncoming fireball and it exploded with such a force that it threw the two Sailor Scouts to the ground. The leather skinned Negaverse monster cackled and glee and prepared to finish them off when a voice interrupted her. "Pyro-Head, retreat!" said Jadeite. "You are not yet strong enough to face Sailor Moon, when the Scouts appear, she follows!" "As you wish, My Lord Jadeite," said the fiery monster, disgusted. "Next time we meet, Sailor Brats," she taunted the two girls, now on their knees before her, "you won't survive." Sailor Mars helped her friend to her feet and sighed. "Jadeite was right. We could've beat that Negaverse creep if Sailor Moon had shown up. Where is that meatball head anyway?" "I am not sure," said Mercury, "I tried to contact her on the communicator, but there was no answer. A crowd of teenagers began to gather around them, cheering their delight at being saved. "We'd better get out of here," said Mars and the two Scouts leapt away. ********************************************************************* "I knew you wouldn't believe me!" retorted Serena, an offended look spread across her face. She crossed her arms and sniffled a bit. "But that's impossible, Serena, days just don't repeat themselves. I think you've had quite the nightmare." "It's not a nightmare!" the teenager replied, tears now sliding down her face. She left her half-eaten breakfast on the bed while she paced around her room. "The first day, the school exploded and then Molly died. The second time, I tried to save everyone and got killed. The last time, I ditched school and Molly, Mercury, Mars, and most of the school kids were killed." "But that's impossible!" said Luna. "It's not!" Serena retorted angrily, picking up the cat. "I even ended up strapped down to a hospital bed all drugged up 'cause they thought I was going nuts. Her grip tightened on the cat. "Do you KNOW what it's like for people to pat you on the head and tell you everything is going to be okay while they pump you up with something to knock you out?!" "But Serena..." the cat began to argue. "It really happened and I don't know who to stop it!" She put the cat back on the ground and crawled back in to bed. Luna was about to say something when Serena's mother looked in. The blue haired woman shook her head in confusion. ********************************************************************* The dream came back again, more violently than before. She watched as Molly, Mercury, and Mars died again and again. This time, Pyro-Head turned to Serena and finished her off to. She woke up suddenly when she heard her mother's voice. "Serena, wake up," her mother said insistently. She opened her eyes to look up into her mother's tear-streaked face. "Something happened at the school today, Serena, it was awful!" Serena closed her eyes to brace herself for what she knew was to come. "Your friends were killed, Serena. I'm so sorry!" The teenager was pulled into her mother's arms and the two began to cry. ********************************************************************* Serena sat near her window, looking out at the star filled sky above. She knew now that staying at home and avoiding the problem didn't make it go away. The Scouts were still finished off by Pyro-Head and Molly still died when the school exploded. And telling someone didn't help either. Who the heck would believe that the day was repeating? Luna didn't even believe her... even after she found out what had happened at the school that night. she thought, stretching her legs for a moment. She had slept most of the day away and was pretty stiff. Serena made a face at the thought of going through that stupid Christopher Columbus lesson. "Wait! I can find out!" she said out loud, startling the black Lunar cat sleeping quietly on her bed. Luna awoke to find Serena tearing through her school bag for her lessons on the European explorer. "Serena, what are you doing?" Luna asked, aghast that the girl would actually be cracking open a textbook. "Well if I have to sit through another review about Christopher Columbus, I might as well know the answer that Miss H has asked me three times already!" Luna gave Serena a confused look. Serena began to sift through the pages on Christopher Columbus. "There it is, I've got it!" cheered the blond teenager. To be continued... Send comments to Rush at rbellamy@MNSi.Net Edited by "Tuxedo" Will Chapter Six Marc sat quietly at his desk and watched the events of the classroom as they unfolded before his dark, serious eyes. He watched Miss Haruna as she leaned against her desk, waiting for class to begin. He groaned inwardly at the deep look of hostility in her eyes. She began to drum her fingers impatiently against her desk and then asked for the students to produce their homework. Serena came skidding breathlessly into class and threw herself into her desk just as the bell rang for class to begin. thought Marc in surprise and noticed the shocked look on his teacher's miserable face. He smiled as Serena's equally ditzy friend Molly came running into class, excusing her lateness with a lame excuse about her alarm clock. As his redheaded teacher admonished her student for using one of Serena's pathetic excuses, he pulled out his superbly done homework. He regarded his typed out homework with pride. Not only did he do the reading and answer the questions at the end of the textbook, but also he included a three-page essay regarding the Voyages of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Miss Haruna handed Serena back her homework in an exasperated manner and told her to do it over again. ********************************************************************* Serena muttered to herself as she sat under a shady tree at lunch. Molly's loud exaggerated yawn pulled the teenage girl from her thoughts. "My mom had a two for one sale at the jewelry store last night and I had to help," she complained. "I'm bushed. My alarm clock went off for an hour before I woke up." But a dull beeping coming from Serena's pocket distracted her from responding to her best friend. "Earth to Serena," called Molly, "Ya listenin' to me?" Serena snapped to attention, "Ah yeah, Molly. Hey listen, I forgot something, I'll be right back!" She bumped into Melvin as he sneaked up behind her. "Sorry Melvin, no time to hear you gloat about your answer to the bonus question!" she said as she ran away. "Where's she going in such a hurry?" asked the confused computer nerd, "And how did she know I knew the answer to the bonus question?" Molly shrugged her shoulder and took a long sip of her pop. "Who knows? This is SERENA we're talking about!" ************************************************************************ Rei raged as she transformed into Sailor Mars. Sailor Mars opened her eyes to be faced with Sailor Mercury. She could see her blue haired friend's reluctance to fight a Negaverse monster without Sailor Moon. They found their enemy, harassing a bunch of schoolgirls eating their lunch. As the girls ran for their lives, screaming loudly in fear, Mercury opened her mouth to distract the ugly female monster when a teenager bellowed from behind. "Stop it right there, Pyro-Head!" Sailor Moon shouted. Sailor Moon quickly pondered, "How dare you interrupt the relaxation of students eating their lunches?! I'll make you pay!" Pyro-Head was shocked. Was this the cowardly Sailor Moon that Lord Jadeite had carried on about? And how did the lowly brat know her name? "You know who I am?!" "I sure do," the Sailor Scout of the Moon said proudly. "You are the hideous Negaverse monster Pyro-Head, bent on destroying this school!" "Oh and I supposed YOU are going to stop me?" sneered the leather-skinned Negaverse minion. "Absolutely! I am Sailor Moon, the Champion of Justice! On behalf of the Moon, I will right wrongs and triumph over evil! And last time I checked, you're it!" "Great speech, Sailor Moon," sneered Mars, her arms crossed over her chest. "What did you do, rehearse that brain dead speech when you should have been answering your communicator?" Sailor Moon ignored the taunt and pointed a white-gloved finger at her enemy. "Prepare to be Moondusted!" "Nice speech," said Pyro-Head, yawning in her boredom, "But what are you going to do to stop me?" With that taunt, she threw the first of her deadly fireballs. Sailor Moon threw herself to the ground and rolled out of the way. There was no way she would be a toasted Sailor Scout this time! As the flames flew, Mercury held her ground. "Mercury Bubbles Blast!" The schoolyard clouded with a thick, white mist. Sailor Moon watched in fascination as Mars began her attack, sending a powerful blaze of fire towards the Negaverse creep. Pyro-Head's attack was stopped midway to its target and erupted with a loud explosion. "She's weaker now!" Sailor Moon uttered in shock. "She must gain power during the day. No wonder she's so hard to beat after school!" Pyro-Head eyed Mars and Mercury who had been thrown to the ground in the brief explosion. Just as she was about to attack, an evil voice stopped her, "You are not strong enough to face Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts. Retreat at once!" "As you wish, My Lord Jadeite," said the fiery monster, disgusted. "Next time we meet, Sailor Brats," she taunted the Sailor Scouts now on their knees before her, "you won't survive." Sailor Moon's eyebrows raised in interest as the Negaverse monster disappeared in a brief blast of fire. She looked up to find two figures looming above her. "Nice of you to show up, Meatball Head. Next time would you mind being useful?> Mercury helped Sailor Moon to her feet. "I'm curious, how did you know who that Negaverse Monster was? We have not fought it before." Before she could answer, the bell rang to signify the end of the lunch period. "Oh crap, we're late!" said Sailor Moon as she bolted away. "I can't Miss Haruna's history lesson!" "Did I hear her right?" asked Mars, before reverting to her student form. "No, I don't think so, but what is the likelihood that we were both hallucinating?" ************************************************************************ Serena ran into class just as the review lesson on Christopher Columbus began. She bumped right into the surprisingly solid form of her angry teacher. "Oh sorry, Miss H, I must've lost track of time." "Just because you were BARELY on time this morning, young lady, doesn't mean you can be late after lunch. You know what I told your parents if you were late one more time, don't you?" The teenager took on a look of horror. "Oh, no Miss H, not the Principal's office, please..." she pleaded in terror. "You can't send me. I studied and everything." "I've heard that before, Serena. It's too little, too late," her teacher replied, pointing out of the classroom. Serena's shoulders slumped in dismay and she began to make her way dejectedly towards the door. She stopped just before the doorway, her face brightening. "Can I talk to you outside, Miss H?" Miss Haruna sighed, "What is it, Serena? I won't stand for any more of your ridiculous excuses." "I understand. This will just take a minute." Serena's teacher followed her out of the class and shut the door behind her. Crossing her arms in front of her, she said, "Okay Serena, what is it?" "Well, Miss Haruna, I have a really good reason why I was late for class." She began to wring her hands nervously in front of her. "Okay, it's like this. I was eating lunch when my communicator beeped..." Miss Haruna raised her eyebrows in surprise. "A communicator?" "Yeah, yeah, there was a Negaverse monster in the schoolyard and I had to go fight it..." The teenager's explanation was interrupted by her teacher's hysterical laughter. "Oh Serena, let me guess, you're going to tell me that you're Sailor Moon, the legendary Champion of Justice. Oh please, who do you think I am? I think you've been reading too many Sailor V comic books again." Serena face melted into a look of despair and she began to sniffle. "But it's true! Look, let me transform and prove it to you!" Miss Haruna began to laugh so hard, she clutched at her sides. "Serena, you expect me to believe, that you, a girl who can't even pass a simple math quiz, are a Sailor Scout. Come on, Serena, you must think I'm pretty stupid. Now that's enough, off to the Principal's office." "But Miss H..." her student began. "No buts, young lady," answered the redheaded woman, still chuckling, "You may have just provided me with the only enjoyment of my day, but you were still late for class." She gave her student a gentle shove in the right direction, turned, and made her way back into her class, still chuckling. "Sailor Moon... Serena? Oh now that is funny!" ************************************************************************ "Sure Serena," she muttered to herself as she sat outside the Principal's office, "tell the world your secret. And where did it get you? The Principal's office. It doesn't pay to be a Champion of Justice." It had been a long afternoon. First, she had been forced to sit and listen to a long, stern lecture from the Principal. Then she had to sit there and listen as he called her mother and informed her of Serena's tardiness for class. Then she had been forced to get on the phone and apologize to her mother, who had promised her a grave punishment when she returned home. she had thought. Next, the Principal had marched her into class and had forced her to apologize to Miss Haruna and all the students. How humiliating! She had figured. Finally, she had been forced into the cafeteria to scrub the large, crusty pots from lunchtime. Now she sat in outside the Principal's office once again. School was about to end and she knew that she had a Negaverse monster to stop and a school to keep from exploding. Serena sighed miserably as the halls crowded with students leaving for the day. She saw Molly make her way towards the detention room and she knew there was no time to waste. She jumped to her feet and started running down the hall when a powerful hand stopped her. "Young lady, where do you think you are going?" asked Miss Haruna. Serena gulped and turned around. "Really Miss H, I hafta go now!" She tried to go around her teacher but the woman just wouldn't let her pass. "Come on, Miss H, people are depending on me!" "Who the Negaverse monster?" asked Miss H. This delusion of hers was just getting out of hand. Serena sighed and plucked her locket from its customary resting place on the bow of her school uniform. "Well Miss H, you leave me no choice." She lifted the locked into the air and with great authority said, "Moon Prism Power!" In a swirl of multicolored light and ribbons, Serena's school uniform melted away to be replaced by a white bodice and blue sailor skirt and collar. Red boots and a red bow emerged and shiny red jewels appeared on the buns on top of her head. As the tiara appeared on her forehead and her transformation was complete, Sailor Moon opened her eyes to see the shocked face of her teacher. "I can't believe..." Miss Haruna began. "Sorry Miss Haruna, I really have to go!" Sailor Moon said pushing her way through a crowd of stunned students. ************************************************************************ By the time she joined the battle in progress, Mercury was unconscious on the ground and Mars was barely standing. "You'll never defeat us, you Negacreep." Sailor Moon was stunned at how much more powerful the Negaverse monster had become. "No wonder I've been killed trying to stop that thing!" she said to herself in understanding. "Serena!" shouted Luna in angry voice. "What are you doing? Don't just watch, go in there in fight! It's your duty as the Sailor Scout of the Moon." "OH I know, Luna," said the blond Sailor Scout, watching the battle with fascination, "It's my destiny to fight evil and trash the Negaverse. But how am I going to do that if I don't know what I'm fighting?" "But Pyro-Head is hurting them. How can you just stand there and do nothing?" Luna asked, shocked at her charge's behavior. Sailor Moon sighed in irritation. "I told you yesterday and you didn't believe me, why should I get into it now?" "You did, when?" asked the cat. "Never mind," Sailor Moon said dramatically. "But, Serena, if you don't do something NOW, they'll die!" the cat said desperately trying to get the teenager to understand. But that was the problem, she did understand, all too well. She had seen them die, had seen the entire school die, and had died herself. She knew the day would repeat itself again and didn't want to lose the opportunity to figure out what was happening. She was tired of crying over Molly, Amy, or even Rei. She just wanted it to stop. Luna had enough. She jumped into the air and tried to scratch the Scout with her claws. This only served to anger Sailor Moon who plucked the cat from midair and held her at arm's length. "Listen Luna, I get it, but I can't stop what's happening until I figure out what is happening. If you're so upset about it, you go fight!" and she threw the cat none too gently into the direction of the battle. But it was too late; the battle was over. Pyro-Head had defeated the Scouts in one, last, fiery blast. A tear rolled down Sailor Moon's face as she saw her defeated friends. She turned just as the school exploded behind her and chaos erupted all around. Tears streamed down her face, with the understanding of what she had just let happen. Chapter Seven: Sailor Moon Revealed? Serena's mother glared over her cup of coffee at the plain white clock attached to the wall at the back of the kitchen. she wondered in annoyance. But she know from experience that Serena was most certainly not awake and probably snoring away in her bed. Lifting herself reluctantly away from her breakfast, she sighed. With an evil gleam in her blue eyes, she remembered her mother's solution to a similar problem she had had with her older sister. Emily must have been about fifteen at the time and was just as tardy as Serena. At least no one had to wonder where Serena's lateness came from! She remembered her mother filling up a big bucket full of ice cubes and water and dumping on her unsuspecting sister's sleeping form! What fun it had been to hear Emily howl in surprise and scream her indignation. The tall blue haired woman stared down at a bucket, resting quietly at the foot of the stairs. She planned to thoroughly scrub the upstairs floors today. She shook her head. Dismissing the idea reluctantly, she thought, With the expectation of finding her daughter still fast asleep in her bed, she opened the door and gasped. "You're awake!" she uttered in disbelief. Not only was Serena awake, but she was dressed and studying of her math textbook. Serena looked at her mother's priceless expression and smiled. "Oh, hi Mom!" she said acknowledging her silent, stunned parent. Nodding in the direction of her now closed text, she said, "I had a feeling Miss H would spring one of her killer math quizzes today, so I thought I'd might as well be prepared." She kept her expression blank as her mother nodded, utterly dumbfounded. Serena saw the time on her desktop clock and jumped to her feet. "Gotta run, Mom, or I'll be late for class!" Without waiting for her mother to respond, she flew by her mother in a blur of blond pigtails and blue fabric. ************************************************************************ Serena sped down the street all the while envisioning Miss Haruna's shocked features as she figured out how good Serena did on her math test, when the realization of where she was headed shocked her back to reality. She skidded to a halt just before the offending crack in the sidewalk that had already tripped her several times. With her hands perched aggressively on her hips, she glared hostilely down at it. "Oh no, you don't!" she scolded, "You're not going to trip me up today!" "What's the matter, Meatball Head?" asked a familiar, sarcastic voice, "Blaming the sidewalk for your coordination now?" Serena shot him a dark scowl. "I'd rather talk to the sidewalk than a jerk like you!" She stuck her tongue out at him to accentuate her point. "Besides, I was trying to convince it to trip you instead!" In a blur of blond hair and blue fabric, she was gone leaving Darien to stand in her dust. Darien simply shook his head. "If that girl got any more ditzy, she'd forget how to tie her own shoelaces." So caught up was he in his thoughts of Serena and her oddities that he forgot the crack in the sidewalk. His shoe caught in the offending crack and his tall frame went tumbling to the ground. ************************************************************************ Miss Haruna smiled in pleasure as the students groaned. They always groaned at the mention of a pop quiz. She looked to Melvin and chuckled a bit, even he looked panicked. she asked herself. She looked over to Serena, expecting her to look as if death was quickly approaching. Instead, the pigtailed teenager sat calmly at her desk. She was still fumbling nervously with her pencil but wasn't looking as she usually did, like a caged animal desperate to escape. The redheaded teacher was a little disappointed. Serena's excuses to get out of quizzes were the most creative in the school, great to tell at lunch in the teacher's lounge. She sat down at her desk and quietly watched the students work. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of Serena actually working hard at the quiz. To her utter shock and amazement, Serena was the first student who finished the quiz. She proudly walked over to her teacher and handed over the quiz. "Here you go, Miss H," she said with pride, "I think you'll be impressed." She then proceeded to return to her desk and pull out her history book. The only thing Miss Haruna could do was grade the test. Adding up the total, she shook her head wearily. She noticed Serena staring at her hopefully and she gave the girl a warm smile of congratulations. With her customary read pen, she marked a large "55%" on the right hand corner of the page. ************************************************************************ The bell rang loudly for lunch and Serena dashed quickly out of the classroom. she thought to herself. A firm hand clamped onto her shoulder, from behind, stopping her. "Serena, where ya going?" asked Molly, confused that she wasn't heading for their usual lunchtime spot. "Did'ja forget your lunch or something?" "Sorry Mol," answered Serena, "I've got something to take care of." Disentangling herself from Molly's grasp, she made her way out of the school. "Talk to you later, Mol!" The pigtailed teenager ran quickly to the back of the school, near the gym, where it was still deserted. Lifting her hand, she pronounced the words to activate her transformation, "Moon Prism Power!" With the glow of her transformation around her, Serena considered her next move. As Sailor Moon, she jumped onto the roof with an agility that still surprised her. She figured she'd have time to stake out the schoolyard before the Negaverse Monster started her rampage. The sight before her startled her and she froze in panic for a moment. Before her stood Pyro-Head and Jadeite, obviously contemplating their plans for the lunch hour attack. Then her two foes noticed her presence. "Well what do we have here?" sneered the Negaverse monster, "A Sailor brat?" "I have no time to deal with you now, Sailor Moon," declared Jadeite. Before Sailor Moon could react, a pulse of dark energy crashed into her and sent her flying off the roof. With the force of an oncoming train, she landed painfully on the ground. Neither luck nor skill had been with her this time, and she clutched at her knee painfully. A group of students soon formed around the fallen Sailor Scout. She looked up in panic at all the concerned faces until a small, familiar person pushed her way through the crowd. "Hi Mol!" Sailor Moon said, smiling weekly. "I told you I had something to take care of." She shuddered as a wave of pain overtook her. Molly gasped in shock as recognition dawned in her mind. "Sailor Moon? Serena, is that you?" *********************************************************************** Two figures watched the chaotic scene below, hiding in a tall tree to avoid detection. Students gathered around the ambulance as Sailor Moon was put onto a stretcher and rolled carefully onto the emergency vehicle. Two girls stood near the tree, chattering in amazement at the lunch hour's events. "Did you hear?" said one dark haired girl with excitement. "Serena is Sailor Moon!" "I can't believe it either. I mean SERENA being Sailor Moon. She's so klutzy!" "I know, Sailor Moon is the Champion of Love and Justice; Serena hasn't passed a math test all year!" The two girls giggled at their unkind musings and moved on to get a closer look at the scene. "I wonder what caused her to fall off the roof so violently?" asked a blue suited figured perched gracefully on a limb of the old tree. "I don't know," growled her companion, "but when I get my hands on her, she's toast. Of all the harebrained things to do!" ************************************************************************ Sailor Moon opened her eyes and looked around. She found herself in a hospital bed, her injured leg set in a cast and in traction. "Serena?" asked a tearful voice. Sailor Moon was startled by this and checked to make sure her transformation hadn't reversed itself. "Serena, are you okay?" her mother said, running up to the bed and hugging her daughter tightly to her. "Umm...I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about..." began the Sailor Scout but was interrupted by a reproachful look from her mother. "Oh don't you start that routine with me, young lady. Your friend Molly told me what happened. She was just as surprised as I was that you've been Sailor Moon all this time!" Sailor Moon gasped and pushed her way out of her mother's arms. "You know?" she asked in amazement, "MOLLY told you?" Her mother nodded tearfully and dabbed at her eyes with a hanky. "To think, I had to be told something so important from my daughter's friend... That my very own daughter wouldn't confide in me..." But the tears sliding down her mother's cheek made her feel like a heel and Sailor Moon began to cry. "Oh Mom, don't cry. I couldn't tell you... What if..." "But you could've been hurt and I wouldn't have known, Serena!" her mother insisted. "I just didn't want to worry you, Mom!" her daughter answered in an attempt to find an adequate explanation. "Oh and it's better for me to find out this way, when you're hurt and in the hospital?" "Mom, this was just an accident. I'll be fine." "Fine? You have to stay this way for six weeks and you think you'll be fine? And all that physiotherapy afterwards the doctors are talking about?> "Six weeks?" Sailor Moon exclaimed, "I don't think so!" She started to get out of bed, lifting her leg out of the sling that held it immobile. There was a knock on the door that distracted Serena and her mother from further contemplating the issue. "Sailor Moon, we'd like to ask you a few questions!" Sailor Moon flashed her mother a stunned look. "THEY know?" she asked, hoping it wasn't true. Her mother shot her an angry look in response. "Oh and do you think I told them? Serena, of course, they know. How do you think I found out that you were brought here?" The blond teenager groaned. "Oh Mom, I never meant for you to find out this way..." The knocking at the door became more insistent and the injured Sailor Scout decided it was time to try and find a way out. Cringing at the pain coursing up her body, she unhooked her leg from traction and lowered herself to the floor. "Get back in bed this instant, young lady!" her mother commanded. But Sailor Moon had better things to do, like avoiding a hundred reporters at the door. Gasping with the pain of moving her injured leg, she made her way to the window, hoping to find an avenue of escape. Pulling the curtains open, she leaned heavily on the windowsill to support herself. She was almost blinded by the flashing of what seemed to be hundreds of cameras as reporters and fans alike tried to capture a glimpse of the legendary superheroine. "They're all there to see me, aren't they?" Soft hands on her shoulders gently pulled her away from the window. Her mother nodded quietly and helped her patiently back into bed. The door burst open and a handful of reporters pushed their way past the police guarding the door and into the room. Sailor Moon and her mother shielded themselves from the flashes of the camera, covering their faces with their forearms. "Sailor Moon, how did your mother react to you being a Sailor Scout?" "Sailor Moon, how long have you been a Sailor Scout?" "Were you ever planing on revealing your secret identity?" "What are the identities of Sailors Mars and Mercury?" "Do they attend the same school as you?" "How will their deaths and the deaths of your classmates affect your fight against evil?" The last question echoed cruelly in Sailor Moon's mind and the world began to spin. The questions continued in a blur around her. She barely heard her mother admonishing them for revealing her friends' death, scolding them for bothering an injured teenager. Sailor Moon covered her face with her hands and began to sob. Through her tears, she heard her mother order the crowd out of her room. "Get out of here! Quit bothering my daughter! You should be ashamed of yourselves, bothering a teenaged girl like that! Just get out of here!" She pushed the last of the reporters out the door and locked it behind them. Seeing the anguished form of her daughter quietly sobbing in the bed, she ran over to her and wrapped comforting arms around her. "I'm sorry about your friends, Serena. I was going to tell you when the time was right. I didn't think the police would allow all those people in here..." The girl simply cried in her mother's arms, tears of defeat. Sailor Moon wrapped her arms around her mother's waist and held on as if for dear life. "What am I going to do, Mom? What am I going to do?" Her body, exhausted from the day's events, surrendered to blissful oblivion in sleep. ************************************************************************ Her dreams plagued by the school repeatedly blowing up before her eyes, Serena barely heard the calls for her to wake up. "How can you expect me to get up now, Mom?" Serena groaned, trying to go back to sleep. "I woke you up forty-five minutes ago, young lady," shouted her irritated mother, "That's why I EXPECT you to get out of bed!" Serena's eyes snapped open and she looked around the room. "I'm in my bedroom!" she gasped in surprise. She looked down at her leg and threw the blankets off. Her leg looked normal, no gashes or cuts, no cast! "I'm okay!" she cheered smiling happily up at her mom. "The day's repeating again!!" Her mother's darkening glare cut her revelry short. "You'll be a dead teenager soon if you don't get your butt out of bed and ready for school." "I'm up now, Mom. I'll be down in a sec!" Serena readily agreed. She watched as her mother angrily closed the door behind her. "Phew, I almost blew it there." The previous day's events caught up with her and Serena's good mood faded. She yawned and wiped some stray hairs out of her face. "I can't go to school again! And do what, get more people killed?" She grabbed the chair at her desk and wedged it securely under the doorknob. Crawling back into her still warm bed, she grabbed a pillow and covered her ears with it. The sounds of the world around her became muffled and she sighed in contentment. The knocking started at the door a short time later, but was deaf to her teenaged ears. Serena dozed quietly for the first time in days, knowing that the only danger would be her mother...if she could get in before the end of the day. Blinding Tears The room was dark except for the small rays of light glinting in from around the closed blinds. The only sound that could be heard in the room was the sound of heart wrenching sobs. Serena curled herself up in her blankets and held on as if for dear life. She was no longer able to ignore all of the anger, frustration, and sadness she had pushed away to try and save her friends. Strong, violent emotions soon gave way to desperate feelings of helplessness and self-pity as the vision of her school exploding and her friends dying floated repeatedly before her eyes. Her tears poured mournfully down her face and her chest heaved heavily with each sob. She could no longer make sense of her life or of the events of the past week. She rolled onto her other side, away from the tears that had puddled on the one side of her pillow. A gentle touch on her shoulder startled her and she jumped and backed herself into the corner. "Calm down, Serena, it's just me," Luna said in a whisper. The teenager sighed and slumped unhappily into her former position. She curled up into her blankets again and turned her back to her feline guardian. "What's wrong, Serena? Why aren't you at school? You'll be in a lot of trouble when you finally come out of here." "I don't care," her young charge answered through her tears. "Are you upset because of the fight you had with Amy and Rei yesterday?" Luna asked in an attempt to extract some form of information from her. Serena pulled the blanket over her head and sniffled mournfully. "Ah, you know they won't be mad forever. You just have to pay attention more, that's all," Luna added encouragingly. She heard the girl begin to cry harder and tears welled up in her own eyes. "Serena,they won't be mad at you forever. It's not the end of the world. You just have to show them that you are trying." The girl's entire body began to shake from the force of her sobs. "It's not that," she cried, her voice breaking from anxiety and sadness. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong," Luna said softly, hoping Serena would confide in her. Serena sat up and shook her head. "Oh no, we're not going through THAT routine again." She jumped out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. "You'll just tell me that it's impossible." To the cat looking stunned before her, she stated, "Well, it's not impossible and I'm not crazy." She wiped her tears away and sighed. "I'm just a failure." Before the black cat could respond, Serena jumped out of the window. Luna ran to the window and gasped in amazement as Serena landed easily onto her feet and ran quickly away from the house. "She didn't kill herself..." Luna said to herself in wonder. "What has gotten into that girl?" Jumping through the open window, she landed softly on the ground. ********************************************************************* Serena ran blindly down the street, uncaring of who saw her or of whom she bumped into. The noises of the city seemed far away to her. It was as time was running in slow motion; the world was blurred. She didn't care. She wanted to run until her body collapsed from exhaustion, until her muscles ached with pain. She wanted her body to hurt as much as her feelings; she wanted it to collapse in its failure to succeed. How could she go on? How could she ever stand to watch her friends die painfully one more time? How could she ever again look anyone in the eye knowing that she had the chance to save them and failed? She could barely make out an intersection before her. It was a very busy corner. A small voice at the back of her head reminded her, she should slow down. But when she was passed the point of no return, she felt no fear. How could she live without them? How could she go through the motions of life knowing that they would not be there anymore? Her right foot hit the curb, the last stretch of cement before the heavy traffic. Without a thought, she closed her eyes and continued, expecting to be hit, expecting the pain to come. She had died once before in the last week. She could still remember the feeling of her soul fading into darkness. She would welcome that darkness... ******************************************************************* Andrew made his way towards work, caught up in his own thoughts. He had a lot of work to do today; it was a good thing he could take off so early. He sighed, But his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sight before him. There was Serena about to step into oncoming traffic. "SERENA! WATCH OUT!" he yelled desperately. He ran towards her, hoping to stop her in time, but it was too late. He cringed as a small red car hit Serena. His ears were filled with the sounds of pedestrians screaming in alarms and traffic screeching to a sudden halt. A crowd quickly formed around the accident. Andrew pushed through the throngs of curious people, shoving people rudely out of the way. Tears came quickly to his eyes, spilling down his face without shame. "Serena..." he said sadly. "Oh my god! SERENA!" he began to shout. "SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!! SOMEONE GET HELP!!" the young man yelled. He pushed an older woman out of the way so that he could get close to Serena. The blond teenager had been thrown back onto the sidewalk. She lay on her left side, in an awkward looking position. "Serena!" he cried, willing her to wake up. "Serena, don't die now! You can't!" He fell to his knees near her, and stretched his hands out to her. But he hesitated; he was afraid to touch her, to cause her any more pain. "Come on, Serena, don't die... PLEASE!" he begged the unconscious girl. He heard the sound of the ambulance. "Hang in there. Please, help is coming." ********************************************************************* Serena's mother winced at the sight of her daughter lying motionless on the hospital bed. This was her worst nightmare. It was as if she was walking awake in one of her dreams. She took Serena's hand in hers and began to cry. "Oh my poor baby...Oh my god, Serena..." she whispered in her grief. Her body was battered and bruised. She breathed only because of the life support equipment she had been hooked up to. Serena looked as she was...barely alive. Her face was deathly pale, except for angry looking bluish-purple bruises lining the left side of her face and dark circles under her eyes. The tall blue haired woman pulled herself up. She turned to Dr. Anderson. "Will...will she make it?" She grabbed the doctor's steady hand in her own trembling one. "Tell me my baby will live... Please! I can't lose her." The doctor only shook her head. "I'm sorry," she whispered. She squeezed the sorrowful woman's hands in her own. "Even with life support...I wish we could do more." Serena's mother pulled a chair near her daughter's bed and sat down. The tears ran down her face as she wiped the hair from her daughter's pale forehead. "My poor baby...don't worry, you won't be alone." She leaned over and kissed her daughter's forehead softly, as if afraid to wake her. "Have good dreams, Serena." ********************************************************************* Amy walked into the principal's office, concern apparent on her young face. She walked over to the secretary's desk and picked up the cordless phone handed to her. "Hello? This is Amy speaking." "Amy," her mother said in relief, "I'm sorry, I probably worried you to death. But this is important. I want you to come down to the hospital now." "But why? What's wrong? Are you ill?" she asked her mother. "No, Amy, I'm fine. I don't want to explain over the phone. Please come right away." "All right, I'll leave immediately, but what about my classes?" the blue haired teenager answered. "I already spoke with your principal; it has already been arranged." Amy heard someone speaking to her mother in the background. "I'm sorry, Amy, I have to go now. Meet me in my office." "Good-bye," Amy answered, more than a little shocked and puzzled. She handed the phone back to the secretary and exited the office. A strange sense of fear began to cloud her thoughts. ********************************************************************* Miss Haruna gasped as Mr. Winters, the principal, gave her the terrible news. She put a hand over her mouth to muffle the sounds of her disbelief. "Serena?" she whispered, trying not to let their conversation echo down the empty hall. "But that's impossible. Are you sure it was Serena? Maybe it's really another teenager..." "Dr. Anderson, Amy's mother, called to let her out of class. That's how I found out about this terrible news. Amy has been called down to the hospital to be with her." The tall red haired teacher leaned herself against the wall. Everything in her urged her to break down in sorrow. "Dr. Anderson let me know that Serena walked into the path of oncoming traffic. She was hit by a car going through a green light." He put a hand on her shoulder and said, "I'm sorry I had to be the bearer of such dreadful news." "Oh my..." Haruna started. Instead, she wiped her tear filled eyes and quieted. "Thank you, Mr. Winters, I'm grateful." She straightened the stylish black jacket she wore and nodded. "I have to return to my class now." Walking into the classroom, she sat at her desk and surveyed her students quietly working on a math pop quiz. She tried not to stare at Serena's empty desk. Sadness overcame her again and she looked quickly away. The class felt hollow now, as if something important was missing. ********************************************************************* Amy knocked quietly on her mother's office door, fidgeting nervously. Dr. Anderson opened the door and motioned quietly for Amy to enter. Amy's apprehension grew as she noticed her mother's sober gaze. "Amy, you need to sit down," her mother said, backing her teenage daughter into a waiting chair. The teenager's eyes grew wide with fear, grappling at all the terrible possibilities. "Serena woke up in a very depressed state today." Sighing in irritation, she continued, "I hate to have to tell you this, Amy. This breaks my heart." Amy's face blanched, knowing what was to come would be terrible. "She locked herself in her room and refused to go to school. She was in a severely depressed state when she snuck out of her bedroom. She ran into oncoming traffic..." "Oh my god, Serena, where's Serena?" shouted Amy bolting from her chair. She ran down the hall to where Andrew was sitting. The blond young man looked up with tired, reddened eyes. "I'm sorry, Amy, I didn't stop her in time." He ran his hands through his hair. This day would forever change him. Amy burst into the room to find Serena's mother weeping quietly next to Serena's bed. The only other sound in the room was the noise of the respirator as it forced air into Serena's lungs. "Serena!" she gasped and backed out the room in order. She walked directly into her mother, who had followed her grief stricken daughter. "Will she be all right?" she asked with trembling lips, praying desperately that the situation seemed worse than it actually was. Her mother's eyes filled with tears and Amy understood. She sniffled, "How long?" "A few hours, at most," her mother whispered. Amy began to cry softly. The realization that she had a hand in her friend's emotional breakdown was painful. "It's my fault," she exclaimed in anguish. "Rei and I were mad that she came to the temple so late. We waited for her for so long. She didn't even pay attention to what we were saying. She just read the latest Sailor V comic. Rei was so angry... and so was I." Her mother held her close as she cried. "I was so angry with her... I didn't even defend her against Rei..." She clutched at her mother desperately. "I will never forgive myself." "Amy, it's not your fault. Suicide is not contemplated after a simple fight. It is the result of a long lasting depression." "It doesn't matter. I didn't back her up. I was angry and glad when I lashed out at her. I thought she would learn; that she would wake up and try harder. Not this..." she said, pointing towards the entrance to Serena's room. She leaned on her mother and continued to cry. ********************************************************************* In the dark depressed recesses of her mind, Serena relived tortured images Sailor Scouts lying dead on the pavement and of her school exploding in a brilliant ball of orange flames. She was tired and couldn't fight the images anymore. She couldn't even try to deny their existence. Her friends would die again and again because of her failure. And now she hoped it would be the same for her. Blissful nothingness... ****************************************************************** Amy closed the door behind her and leaned on it for a moment. In the short time she had known Serena, she had never imagined that Serena was capable of such a terrible depression. She noticed Rei walking quickly down the hall. "Hi Rei," she said quietly greeting her dark haired friend. "What's going on, Amy? Grampa pulled me out of class and told me that I had to come to the hospital, that something happened to Serena. He's in your mother's office now." She couldn't imagine what could have happened that even Amy would be pulled out of class. "Where's the Meatball Head? If they pulled us out of class..." Amy's face contorted in anger. "How can you be so smug? Look!" Tears streaming down her face, she pulled her friend close to the hospital room door, forcing her to see Serena. "She committed suicide, Rei!" The arrogant look on Rei's face melted into surprise and shock. "She did what?! That's impossible. Serena wouldn't do something like that." Amy sighed. "She walked into oncoming traffic. It happened." Rei peered through the small window in the door of the room Serena occupied and saw the tubes that were forcing her friend to cling to life. Her eyes became wide with the realization of her friend's condition. "She's dying, isn't she?" She closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. "She's really going to die." The world began to spin around her quickly, and she sunk to the ground. Amy didn't help her friend. A hard, angry look came over her face. "And it's our fault... It's all our fault. We drove her to this. We had that fight with her last night. We were too hard on her." "I don't believe that," answered Rei, stunned. "Yeah sure, we were hard on her, but how much are we supposed to put up with? If she doesn't get with it, Jadeite's going to win and people will die." Amy simply stared into the dimly lit room. "Look at her, Rei. We were too hard on her." Suddenly a dreadful noise could be heard from the room when the machine monitoring Serena's heartbeat beeped for last time. The realization of what they had done rushed through Rei's mind and she began to sob violently. The guilt rushed over her and her hot tears seared her cheeks in anger and sorrow. She looked up at Amy, the sorrow and guilt in her eyes expressing words she could never say. Chapter Nine: Jadeite's Dream Come True! Mercury thought as she surveyed the damage at Crossroads Junior High. At the thought of her friend, her eyes filled with tears. Sailor Mars noticed her friend's tears and sighed. She wanted to sit down and cry herself despite her anger at the situation. "Come on, Mercury, we have to stop Pyro-Head. We can't stop because of our personal feelings." "If we don't stop that Negatrash soon, she'll have enough energy to bring forth the Negaforce." But she couldn't lose the picture in her mind, of Luna perched next to her student's lifeless form, weeping softly. She simply repeated again and again that she had failed. She looked over at her weeping friend, wiped a few tears from her own face and said, "Let's do it!" Mercury sobered quickly and nodded. "For Serena." ********************************************************************* Jadeite floated effortlessly above the scene of destruction below and laughed with excitement! What luck, Pyro-Head was devastating the city inch by inch. He watched with excitement as she incinerated everything in her path, and laughed as she mercilessly sucked the energy out of every pathetic mortal she came into contact with. Turning his blond head to the left a bit, he anticipated Pyro-Head's destination. He laughed heartily; this was his dream come true. "Beryl will be pleased! A little more energy and we will bring forth the Negaforce onto this vile peaceful planet!" ********************************************************************* Queen Beryl sat on her throne watching the stores of human energy increase before her very eyes. "That's it!" she cheered triumphantly, "A little more energy and we can break free and destroy the Earth, as we should have done a millennium ago!" She snorted at the thought that those annoying Sailor Scouts would be an easily forgotten memory. "Soon," she promised the hoards of the Negaverse, "soon we will be free again!" The assembled hoards cheered at the coming of their victory. ********************************************************************* The hospital's emergency room filled quickly with comatose patients and burn victims. Medical staff rushed to help each injured victim. Cots were brought out into the halls and waiting rooms to accommodate the influx of injured people. People, young and old, cried out helplessly for aid as doctors and nurses rushed past to help the critically injured. Media crews soon burst into report on the disaster at hand. One reporter, a young woman with short raven colored hair pulled her stylish red jacket back into place and began, "This is Christina Morgan, reporting for the Daily News. As the city's disaster continues, General Hospital has been filled to overflowing with the victims of this calamity. People are now being cared for in waiting rooms, hallways, and even on the lawn and in the parking lot of the hospital. There just isn't any more room!" The camera panned across the waiting room, to show the suffering victims, crowded onto cots, calling pitifully for help, for acknowledgment of their pain and suffering. "This reporter wonders, `Who will help Tokyo's victims? Who will stop the evil destroying our beloved city?'" There were no answers, except for moans of pain and pleas for help. Christina Morgan made a decision at that moment, one she knew she might regret. She looked at the camera crew in front of her and nodded. She walked over to the triage station, and put her microphone down. The camera crew did the same, unloading their equipment onto the already crowded desk. Walking up to the only nurse in the waiting room, she tried to smile as she said, "How can we help?" ********************************************************************* Tuxedo Mask was crouched on the edge of a rooftop, surveying the damage below. He gasped suddenly as a wave of nausea overtook him. He clamped his gloved hands onto the side of the rooftop to keep his precarious balance. The nausea overcame him again along with a feeling of dread. His dizzy mind tried to understand this reaction. It was nothing that he had ever felt before. his mind gasped suddenly. Pyro-Head appeared in his line of sight, sucking the energy from small child who had been unable to escape her evil grasp. Tuxedo Mask's worry and questions were eliminated as his mind flooded with rage and he jumped from his perch to confront his enemy. The Negaverse monster squealed in sudden pain as a single rose pierced the skin of her hand. She let go of the child she was draining and the girl slumped carelessly to the ground. The hideous minion of Jadeite looked up to find a tuxedo-suited man in front of her, complete with top hat and cane. "How dare you assault the weak and innocent?!" Tuxedo Mask shouted in anger. "How dare you prey on this innocent city?! I, Tuxedo Mask, vow to stop you and make you pay for what you have done!" She only laughed and stepped over her child, to advance upon her latest opponent. This would provide her with a lot of energy, her master, Jadeite, would be pleased. "I'm Pyro-Head, feel my fire!" she responded with her acidic voice. She launched a powerful ball of fire in the male's direction and laughed, expecting him to be incinerated! With grace and agility, Tuxedo Mask leaped out of the way of the fireball and landed easily on his feet. "You'll have to do better than that!" he responded and launched a dozen roses towards the enemy before him. But Pyro-Head only laughed. "You think those TOYS will stop me?" She called forth a powerful blast of fire that easily burned his weapons until the charred dust that remained floated effortlessly to the ground. She had consumed a lot of human energy and was now more powerful than she has ever believed possible. "Feel my fire!" she shouted. Tuxedo Mask's eyebrows raised in surprise. Taking out his cane again, he raised it as a staff, batted the fireball out of the way, and quickly attacked his foe. "I'll stop you, Pyro-Head, if it's the last thing I do!" He vowed. "Oh, it will be the last thing you do, but you still won't stop me!" she laughed. ********************************************************************* Sailor Mars and Mercury landed adeptly onto a rooftop, and noticed the battle scene below. "It's Tuxedo Mask!" exclaimed Mercury, relieved that he had appeared to help them. "It's about time he showed up!" Mars exclaimed moodily. She wanted this over with quickly; she wanted to make the Negaverse scum suffer just as her heart suffered now. "Let's go!" she exclaimed and the two jumped off the roof into the thick of the battle. Tuxedo Mask rolled out of the way of an oncoming fireball when he heard the words, "Mercury Bubbles Blast!" The area around him crowded with a thick, white mist. "Mars Fire Ignite!" a blast of fire hit Pyro-Head quickly, knocking her onto her backside. "How dare you attack me?!" shouted the infuriated monster. "Oh I dare! I am Sailor Mars," the red-suited Sailor Scout said as she looked down on her enemy. A blue-suited Sailor Scout appeared next to her, solemn in her stance. "And I am Sailor Mercury," she said almost quietly. "We will destroy you," stated Mars. Tuxedo Mask was confused. Where was Sailor Moon? "Scouts be careful. She's very powerful. She'll..." Before he could finish his warning, Pyro-Head let out a pulse of fire. Mercury dived to the ground, and rolled out the way, while Mars did a large backflip and landed safely out of the way of the danger. "You wanna play with fire, fine!" shouted Mars in rage. "Mars Fire Ignite!" Pyro-Head jumped to her feet and laughed. "Great, two more weak humans to slaughter!" She launched a large pulse of fire towards the red skirted teenager before her. "Mars!" shouted Mercury. Before she could get to her feet to join the battle, she lifted off the ground and out of the way of the large explosion as the two attacks collided. He shielded her from harm with his cape. They both peaked as the sequence quickly repeated itself. "You want more, fine! Mars Fire Ignite!" Her skirt was blackened from her heat, and a few burns adorned her face and legs. "Ha ha, feel my fire again!" shouted the Negaverse monster. "No Mars, don't! You'll be killed!" shouted Mercury, struggling to escape her protector's firm grasp. "No wait, Mercury, she is the only hope we have right now of defeating that monster until Sailor Moon gets here." Tears began to slide down the blue haired Scout's delicate features. "She won't be coming," she whimpered, "She's dead." Tuxedo Mask gasped in shock and covered them both with his cape as another explosion ensued. "Sailor Moon, gone?" He looked over to where Mars knelt, struggling to get to her feet. "How are we ever going to stop Pyro-Head?" ********************************************************************* Jadeite laughed in surprised glee, as he surveyed Pyro-Head's battle with the remaining Scouts. "Sailor Moon dead? Really, this is the best day of my life!" he laughed happily, clutching his sides. "No more Champion of Love and Justice crying because she fell on her butt? Ha ha! Someone pinch me. I think I'm dreaming!" Before his could continue, a voice pulled him from his personal celebration. "Jadeite, report to me at once!" a rough female voice ordered. "As you command, My Queen," Jadeite said, with a more sober tone. For once, he did not have to fear her recriminations. ********************************************************************* Mercury pushed herself out of Tuxedo Mask's firm grasp. "We have to help her, or she'll die!" "I agree," Tuxedo Mask said, jumping effortlessly to his feet. "I'll distract her from behind." "I'll backup Mars." She activated her VR visor to survey the situation. "Mars is very weak, however, Pyro-Head's power levels have not diminished." Tuxedo Mask leapt into the air, twisted, launched a handful of powerful roses, and landed safely onto his feet. "Eat this, Pyro-Head!" he shouted. Mercury jumped and landed next to Mars, shouting, "Mercury Bubbles Blast!" The roses hit their mark, causing Pyro-Head to shout in pain, and grapple for the roses embedded in her back. Her eyesight clouded as the mist enveloped the combatants. "You can't stop me, no matter how hard you try!" shrieked the red haired creature. "My fire will destroy you!" Mercury pulled a shaky Sailor Mars to her feet. "We can't stop now, Mars. We have to stop her or she'll destroy all of Tokyo!" Mars leaned on her friend, her body bruised, burned, and shaky. "I know, but how can we stop her? We need Sailor Moon." Mercury sniffled a bit, "I know but it won't happen, you know that. This is our duty. We have to fulfill it." "Right," Sailor Mars agreed. She lifted her blistered hands in front of her. "Mars Fire Ignite! Pyro-Head raised a hand, so that one was pointed at the caped fool behind her and at the teenaged failures in front of her. She pulsed a strong amount of fire at each of them. Mars' fire collided with Pyro-Head's attack as Tuxedo Mask tried to escape the first attack. The shock from the explosion was so intense the ground shook and the building ignited besides them. When the smoke cleared, only Pyro-Head stood. She laughed in glee, readying herself to drain their remaining energy. "Pyro-Head, return at once!" Jadeite suddenly commanded. "But Jadeite, I'm about to drain the energy from the Scouts." "Never mind the Scouts," Mercury heard, as she awoke. "You have done well. Beryl now has enough energy to bring forth the Negaforce. We will be victorious." In a flash of flames, Pyro-Head was gone. Mercury pushed herself onto her knees, groaning at the pain in her body. She crawled a few feet to where Mars lay. She pushed her friend onto her back and gasped at the lifeless gaze. "No, not you too! Please don't leave me! I'm all alone!" She cried over her friend's body for a moment, and then turned to where Tuxedo Mask was slumped against a building. Her body too injured to go that far, she activated her visor. The visor could find no lifesigns. "Oh my God, he's dead too! Oh my God, I'm all alone, and they're coming! The world is doomed!" She slumped over Mars' battered body and began to sob in earnest... They had failed. ********************************************************************* The funerals took place that very night. She had watched solemnly as a small group of friends buried Tuxedo Mask, who she now knew to be Darien. She was amazed at how someone that Serena hated so much had been her ultimate protector. But she would never know now; they were both gone. The funeral for Rei and Serena were done together, as their parents had somehow deduced who they truly were. She cried as the caskets of the best friends were lowered into the ground. ******************************************************************** Later, much later, she opened her blue eyes. She groaned in confusion for a moment, not remembering where she was. Wincing at the light invading the darkness from her bedroom window, she groaned again and turned onto her side. But then, in one instant, she became aware. She sat up in bed and looked around the room. Everything was as it should be. Shaking her fists in the air in frustration, she screamed in rage, "NOOOOOOOOO!" Chapter Ten: Serena raced back into the bedroom and locked the door, just as her mother came up the stairs. She sighed and looked down at the small bottle in her hands. *********************************************************************** Serena's mother knocked on the door to her daughter's bedroom. Hearing no response, she tried the doorknob. But she couldn't enter, the door was locked. "Serena, you're up early today!" She tried to sound cheerful through her irritation. "Oh yeah," the teenager responded, "I just want to get to school on time." She giggled strangely, but didn't open the door. "Okay, Serena, but since you're up, you can join your brother and I for breakfast. I'll expect you in fifteen minutes." She waited, expecting her daughter to answer, but there was only silence. "Teenagers!" she exclaimed as she turned from the doorway and made her way down the stairs. "Must they be so difficult?" she asked the air, somehow forgetting the torment she had put her own family through at a similar age. *********************************************************************** Serena put the bottle down and crawled into bed. She had done it. She had taken all of mother's sleeping pills. She settled back into the rumpled bedsheets. Memories of the past few days came flooding back to her. She remembered the school as it exploded, taking Molly and many of her classmates with it. Then the image in her head changed, she could see Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, and herself trying, in vain, to battle Pyro-Head. She became very tired, and tears dripped slowly down her cheeks. Her sight became cloudy, and it was harder for her to keep her eyes open. "I wish I could fix everything... I wish..." But it became too hard to stay awake, and Serena closed her eyes and fell asleep. *********************************************************************** The tall blue haired woman sighed and slammed her coffee cup onto the breakfast table. Sammy looked up from his cereal and snickered. "The Meatball Head is toast!" He watched his mother stomp up the stairs and snickered some more. He pushed another mouthful of breakfast into his mouth and nodded in amusement as his mother proceeded to bang on his ditzy sister's door. "Serena, I told you to be down here twenty minutes ago! How long does it take to get dressed?" Sammy shook his head. "Young lady, don't you ignore me! Get out here this instant!" Luna awoke from her comfortable pillow on the couch and looked up towards the stairs. She sighed. Serena's brother suddenly wondered what he had done to be allowed to witness this kind of fun so early in the morning. His mom marched down the stairs and grabbed a kitchen knife out of the door. "All right!" he declared, "She's gonna pry the door open! Serena! You're about to get killed!" he thought, putting down his spoon, He joyfully followed his mother up the stairs and watched as she pried the lock and opened the door. His mother's scream snapped him out of his ten year old reverie. "Quick, Sammy, call an ambulance!" "What? What's wrong?" the boy answered in shock. "Just do it!!" commanded his mother. Sammy turned, ran for the phone, and quickly dialed 911. Luna heard the shouting and leapt off the couch and up the stairs. She found Serena unconscious on the bed, her mother sitting next to her, cradling the girl in her arms. She tapped Serena's cheeks, trying to compel her to wake up. "Oh Serena, wake up please!" her mother begged, "You have to wake up, Serena! You just have to!" She began to cry softly. Luna jumped easily onto the small table next to Serena's bed. She meowed in fright as she saw the bottle of pills laying empty on the table's surface. *********************************************************************** Amy was making her way to the library when her communicator went off. She quickly ducked into the bathroom and locked herself into a delicately painted stall. "Amy here," she said. Luna's voice startled her. "Oh thank goodness!" the black cat exclaimed. "Luna, why are you calling? What's wrong?" "It's Serena; something terrible has happened." "What?! Is she all right??" "I don't know. It looks like she swallowed an entire bottle of her mother's sleeping pills. She was rushed to the hospital by ambulance just a few minutes ago." The Lunar Cat sniffled in sadness. "Amy, it looks like Serena just tried to kill herself." Amy's eyes filled with tears at the thought. "That's horrible, Luna. It must be a mistake. Serena would never..." "She was very upset last night, and I just dismissed it as one of her moods," the cat began to cry harder. "Don't cry, Luna, it's not your fault." "I'm on my way to the hospital. I'll call Rei. " Luna paused for a moment, trying to regain her control. "I'll meet you there." *********************************************************************** Sammy watched as him Mom paced back and forth in the waiting room. Doctor Anderson walked into the waiting room and approached his mother. "Serena is going to be fine," she declared calmly. Him mom sank into a nearby seat and sighed in relief; Sammy even found himself doing the same. "We had to pump her stomach, but she'll survive. She is a very fortunate young lady. If you hadn't have found her so quickly, the results would not have been the same." "Thank you, Dr. Anderson," his mother responded with great emotion. "Can I see her now?" "Yes, you can but she's sleeping right now. Try not to wake her." The doctor led them to the room where Serena was resting. "When she is awake, we will determine our next course of action." "I understand," responded Sammy's mother. She turned to her son and said, "Sammy, I want you to wait here. I'm going to need to talk to Serena alone." Sammy nodded. He knew his sister would be okay, so he was satisfied with the opportunity to hog the TV channels on the small TV in the waiting room. "Sure thing, Mom!" He waved good-bye to her as he went to find the TV's remote. *********************************************************************** Tuxedo Mask settled onto the rooftop of a high-rise building. He surveyed the bustle of morning activity in the city, but still he could not detect Sailor Moon's location. But even that was strange, he usually only knew to go to her when she was in acute danger. He stood up and quickly leapt onto the next rooftop, silently pledging to find out what was going on. *********************************************************************** Rei ran out her school and down the street. "I'm on my way now, Amy. I'll be there as fast as I can!" *********************************************************************** Serena's eyes opened and winced at the light in the room. She heard her mother's voice and wondered what was going on. "Serena, you're awake. Hi honey. You're going to be just fine now. Everything's going to be all right." "Mom?" her daughter asked, confused. She didn't recognize the room she was in. Whose bed was she in? Serena's mother took her hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Don't be frightened, sweetie, you're in a hospital room. You had a close call today." The girl began to cry in earnest. She let go of her mother's hand and rolled onto her side, putting her back to her mother. "Just leave me alone, Mom. Leave me alone." Her mother gasped in shock; she couldn't believe what her daughter had just said. A firm hand on her shoulder caused her to look up. Doctor Anderson motioned for her to go into the hall. "She is obviously very upset. Let's leave her alone for a while. We need to down and have a talk about what we will do from here." "But that's my baby. How can I leave her? She needs me." The doctor shook her head. "It's best to leave her alone right now. Come, I'll get you a cup of coffee and we can talk. She's being well supervised. Nothing will happen while we're gone. We can talk in my office." Putting an arm around the tearful woman's shoulders comfortingly, she led her towards her office. *********************************************************************** Amy ran into the Emergency Room went straight for the triage nurse. The young, blonde nurse she knew as Cindy greeted her cheerfully. "Why hello, Amy! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?" Amy shook her head. "No time to discuss my absence now, Cindy. My friend Serena was brought in here, fourteen years old, blond, possible overdose of sleeping pills." "Yes she was, Amy, but don't worry, she's fine. Your mother is taking good care of her." "Can I see her?" She gave the nurse her best pleading look, knowing that full well this was against the rules. Someone burst into the Emergency Room doors, knocking into a nurse who just happened to be walking by. "Sorry, lady, where is she?!" she shouted. "Rei! Over here! Stop that!" she said, pulling Rei over to the desk. "You can't just come in here shouting!" she scolded. "Okay, you two, but just for a minute or two. She's in Emergency Room B." "Thanks Cindy, we won't be long," Amy responded, dragging Rei down the corridor. *********************************************************************** Jadeite appeared on top of Crossroads Junior High. He watched the adolescents scurry to their pathetic classes. A figure appeared behind him and he turned his head to acknowledge her presence. She had to be one of the most repulsive of Beryl's minions, and he swore her hair looked like rotten seaweed. "I want you to attack the school below, to cause panic and fear amongst those stupid children," he said, turning his head to study the scene below. "I do as I am told, My Lord Jadeite, but why?" she asked, a ball of flames appearing suddenly in her hands. "I am capable of so much more destruction!" "You question my orders, Pyro-Head?" He turned to watch the homely Negaverse monster back away respectfully. "No, My Lord, of course not. I live to serve the Negaverse." Jadeite sighed, annoyed that he would have to explain himself. "See the creatures below?" he asked, pointed to the students who made their way obediently to their classes. "They are adolescents, full of energy and spirit. They are made to behave and listen to their elders. They are forced to waste their potential in boring classes where they sit and stare at a teacher all day, wasting that wonderful energy on inertia." Pyro-Head smiled revealing disgusting teeth that made Jadeite cringe. "So we will cause chaos and panic among the stupid children, compelling them to use their wasted energy." "And then, we will collect it," the blond General of the Negaverse said with an evil grin. "We will soon bring forth the Negaforce!" ********************************************************************* Tuxedo Mask landed on rooftop of Crossroads Junior High, in his final attempt to locate Sailor Moon. He still had this nagging feeling that she wasn't well. While he didn't see the Sailor Moon or the Sailor Scouts, he did see an ugly Negaverse monster attacking the students who were attempting to enjoy their lunch hour. "I'm Pyro-Head, feel my fire!" she shouted, sending her fireballs coursing towards the unsuspecting students. Young girls and boys started to run, screaming in fear. She raised her hand, about to send forth another blast of fire, when something landed at her feet. She looked down to see a delicate crystal rose, and then heard a male voice. "How dare you destroy the peace of a student as they relax during their lunch hour?! I am Tuxedo Mask, and I will stop this viscous attack!" Pyro-Head watched as an annoying man in a tuxedo, wearing a top-hat and white mask jumped off the gymnasium roof. "You stop me?!? Don't be ridiculous, I'm Pyro-Head!" She laughed and launched a fireball in his direction. Tuxedo Mask gracefully avoided the fireball, thankful that it only hit the school wall. He launched a few roses towards the Negaverse minion and gasped as they were incinerated by its next attack. "Sailor Moon, where are you?" *********************************************************************** Rei and Amy entered Serena's room, only to find their friend, staring blankly at the blue-green painted wall. "Serena, are you okay?" Amy gently asked her friend. Serena didn't say a thing, only continued to stare blankly at the wall. She didn't even look over her shoulder to see who was talking to her. Rei sighed and stomped over to the bed. "Are you a nutbrain, Serena? OD'ing on sleeping pills? What the hell is going on?" She grabbed Serena by the shoulder and pulled her onto her back. The blond teenager looked up into Rei's angry face and began to cry. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I can't make it stop. I can't save the day... I'm so sorry. I failed. I couldn't do it." "What are you talking about? What do you mean you can't save the day?" "The day, I can't save it. I can't make it stop. I can't save anyone. I'm a failure. I'm sorry." She began to sob, and covered her face with her trembling hands. Amy pulled Rei away from the bed, and leaned over to comfort Serena. "It's okay, Serena, everything is going be okay..." "No, it won't!" Serena suddenly shouted, pushing her blue haired friend away. "I tried to stop it, but I couldn't. It didn't work!" Amy looked over her shoulder and motioned for Rei to find a nurse. "Nothing's wrong, Serena, you're in the hospital. You didn't do anything wrong." "Everything's wrong! Nothing is right. I ruined everything and I can't make it stop! Make it stop. Please make it stop! I CAN'T MAKE IT STOP!" she begged Amy. Amy backed away from the bed in horror at her friend's behavior. She didn't know what to do; she had never seen Serena react this way. She watched helplessly as a redheaded nurse came into the room. She gently pushed Serena down into the soft blankets. Despite Serena's loud protest, she gave the teenager a shot. After a few moments, Serena quieted and fell peacefully to sleep. The nurse motioned for both girls to follow her out of the room and both stunned teenagers did. "You can both wait in waiting room. It's just around the corner. I think Serena's younger brother is there." "That's just great," complained Rei, "Serena's going nuts and we get to wait with the twerp!" *********************************************************************** They waited for what seemed like hours, watching Sammy flick channels as if the TV was going to blow up the next day. Rei tried to get him to watch only one show, but they only ended up fighting about it. Amy tried to stop them but soon gave up. She understood that they were both worried and decided to leave them alone. She only wished she had thought to bring some homework to take care of. Finally, tired of the racket, she handed Sammy some money. "Here's a five, Sammy, why don't you go to the cafeteria and get yourself a snack." "Hey thanks, Amy, you're the best!" the boy answered. He waved good-bye enthusiastically as he left the waiting room. Luna quickly entered the room, careful not to be seen. "I never thought he'd leave, quickly put on the local news. I was listening at the nurse's desk when I heard." Rei clicked on the local news channel and they all gasped at the sight before their eyes. It was the image of Crossroads Junior High, totally devastated. A tearful reported described the scene: "This is the schoolyard of Crossroads Junior High where a terrible attack by a hideous monster has reeked havoc upon this school. Earlier today, the students were attacked by a red skinned, fire-throwing monster that sucked the energy out of her helpless victims. She has been quoted as saying, 'I will bring forth the Negaforce!' This reporter wonders, what is the Negaforce and where did this hideous monster come from? Will it ever be stopped? At this time, policy and local military personnel have mobilized against this new threat." The camera panned to the scene of a stretcher being loaded onto an ambulance. An arm dropped from under the white sheet, wearing a seared black material, its hand encased in a tattered white glove. "Oh no!" gasped Amy. "Tuxedo Mask!" Rei exclaimed in horror. The reporter continued, "Medical emergency personnel have failed to reveal the identity of this brave man who lost his life in a heroic attempt to protect the children of this school." "He's dead!" gasped Luna. "We have to stop that Negaverse monster!" "Or else she'll destroy the entire city!" exclaimed Rei. "And," concluded Amy, "the Negaverse will win!" Chapter Eleven: A Dream Come True... If You're A Negaverse General! Jadeite looked down at the corruption of the once proud city known to the pathetic humans as Tokyo and laughed. He laughed with great abandon, as he had once done a thousand years before as the Moon Kingdom had fallen before Queen Serenity's outraged eyes. He began to entertain a vision, the vision of him standing proudly before Queen Beryl. He was down gracefully on his knee accepting her praise for the success of their mission. Because of his expertise, the Negaforce was now free and the parasites of the Earth destroyed! A desperate scream tore him from his reverie, his favorite kind of scream... that of a hapless human about to be destroyed. He looked down and laughed in delight. This had to be the best day in his life! He could barely contemplate what he had done to deserve this kind of fun! Jadeite let his form evaporate and appear at the site of such magnificent misery. There he found his minion, Pyro-Head, sucking the lifeforce out a couple of humans, after she had stopped their ridiculous attempts to flee. Jadeite's mind calculated large amount of energy that had been collected today. He laughed with abandon, enjoying the sight of Pyro-Head's prey being mercilessly destroyed before his eyes! *********************************************************************** Serena awoke to hear horrible sounds. She thought that her dreams were torturing her once again, goading her about her inability to stop the chain of events that repeated itself each day. For a reason that escaped her, she decided to see what events outside her hospital room door were creating such despicable sounds. Shaky from all the sleeping pills she had ingested just a few hours before, she put her robe over her slumping shoulders and place her two cold, pale feet into the childlike fuzzy pink slippers her mother had brought her. She didn't understand how she was alive, let alone how she could move. She shuddered at the thought, but sighed. Shuffling her feet, she made her way to the heavy door and opened it. "Oh my GOD!" she gasped in surprise, the sight before her was the same as an old war movie she had recently seen on TV. Temporary cots had been set up on both sides of the hall allowing only a narrow passageway for people to pass. The occupants of the cots were all badly injured, with roughly applied bandages covering their wounds, as if their care had been rendered hastily. As she passed, the injured cried out for help, some tugging weakly on her robe to try and get her attention. She looked down at them in horror. She had never considered the destruction Pyro-Head could do in a few short hours. Her composure quickly returned, she had seen her friends die now, repeatedly. These were simply strangers and she knew tomorrow would just repeat itself again. As she neared the Emergency Room area, her limbs felt heavy and she squinted against the light that seared her blue eyes. The Emergency Room was in chaos. People were being dragged in by their injured loved ones, some not much better off than the ones they were attempting to help. Some rested in cots, most just collapsed where they could. Medical personnel ran to and fro, helping as many as possible, as quickly as possible. The cries of pain she heard echoed through her mind. She was reminded of the screams of students as her school exploded... and of those of the Sailor Scouts at they died at the hands of Pyro-Head. Serena watched in detached fascination as a camera crew rushed in to report on the situation. The woman began her sad monologue when she was roughly pushed out of the way by an orderly who was trying to lead a small boy to a cot. "Unless you are here to help, get out!" the tall man said roughly. The reporter put down her microphone and instructed her camera crew to do the same. She walked over to the orderly who had just deposited the tearful child into a cot. She knelt in front of the boy, took his hand, and said, "Let me help." The double doors burst open and two people were rushed in, unconscious. The doctor rushed over, studied both patients, and shook his head solemnly. Serena's half-drugged mind could barely make out the figures, her eyes still struggling in the light. Everything she saw was cloudy, like a dream. The paramedics pulled a white sheet over each of the bodies. The doctor motioned for them to be wheeled into a nearby room. Glimpsing red fabric hanging out from underneath of the sheet covering one of the bodies as it was rolled by her, she waited until the ambulance attendants had backed out of the room and left the hospital once again. she wondered. Could her friends really die so horribly another time? Serena walked into that room and immediately gagged. She placed a trembling hand in front of her mouth and nose to block out the horrible smell that assaulted her senses and lifted the other to pull back the sheet. Two hands suddenly interrupted her and pulled her out of the room. Closing the door, her mother turned Serena around to face her. "What are you doing out of bed?" she admonished her daughter gently. "This is no place for you, after what you've been through." Serena pointed towards the door closed behind her. "They're dead..." she said, as if dazed, She had never been faced with so much death in her young life. Her mother's face melted into a look of sadness that brought tears to Serena's already reddened eyes. "They were Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars." She watched her daughter's shocked expression and pulled the teenager into her arms, as if to shield her from feeling the loss. "They tried to stop the attack on Tokyo but they failed. Tuxedo Mask was brought in about an hour ago. He didn't make it either." Serena began to cry. She couldn't help but feel sad for her friends. They had suffered so much in the last few days and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Serena pulled away, tears dripping down her face uncontrollably. "Who's going to protect Tokyo? Who's going to save us?" "I know that the military have been called in to do what they can. They'll be able to save us." Serena looked into her mother's face and understood that she did not believe her own words. "Maybe Sailor Moon will come," her mother added hopefully. Although she found it hard to believe that their existence depended on one teenage girl, no matter how strong she reputedly was "No, I don't think so," Serena replied. She held onto her mother tighter and cried at all the hopelessness and destruction around her. *********************************************************************** The great portal opened up, just outside the city limits of Tokyo, or at least what was left of Tokyo now that Pyro-Head had been left on her own for hours. The skyline was consumed by smoke and flames; it looked more like a war zone than a city. Beryl appeared outside of the portal and surveyed her conquest. This was the day she had waited for, the day she had dreamed of for over a thousand years. Queen Serenity be damned! The Negaverse had won! Soon there would be nothing left of the humans that infested this world except for the memory of their pathetic cries and screams as they died. She floated effortlessly into the air and watched as her hoards of minions marched out of the portal. Soon they would spread like a swarm of locusts to consume all of the Earth. Soon the entire Earth would be at Beryl's disposal. The Empress would finally be pleased with her... *********************************************************************** A rush of people burst into the hospital, more people than Serena had ever expected. She was amazed at Pyro-Head's destructive capabilities; it was surprising what one slimy Negaverse monster could do. There had been no one to stop Pyro-Head and she stared at the wounded people that were filing in, some walking, some being supported by anything that could support them, a cane, a piece of broken wood, or even by just leaning on the wall. A nurse grabbed her by the arm and started to pull her towards the injured. "Don't just stand there like a ghost, young lady, come and help!" she was ordered. Serena was about to protest, to argue the futility of helping so many people. But a something she had forgotten she had possessed stopped her. Suddenly she felt sadness for the innocent people around her. She began to help people into the already crowded waiting room, laying them down on the floor, helping others who had already been placed there to make room for more people. The noise from all the commotion seared her brain, her head pounding with an almost crippling throbbing. Her head snapped up from a young man she had just helped when she heard a shrill, agonizing scream. She knew that scream and jumped to her feet. "Mom, where are you?" She found her mother six feet away, near the heavy double doors that served as the entrance to the emergency ward. Her tall, beautiful, strong mother was hunched over a body that had just been carried into the building. It was covered by someone's half-burned coat but Serena didn't have to ask who it was. Serena fell to her knees, wrapped her arms around her mother's sobbing form, and began to cry with her. "I'm so sorry, Mom... I'm so sorry." But her mother took no notice of her and continued to cry helplessly. Hands pulled her away and she watched helplessly as a nurse led her mother away and two others carried the body to the room where Mercury and Mars had just been left. "I'm so sorry, Daddy..." she whispered, her tears blurring her eyes, "I'm so sorry, so sorry..." But soon she sobered. Wiping the tears from her face, she turned towards the exit of the hospital. Oblivious of what little she was wearing, she pushed open the doors with shaky arms and walked outside. "My GOD!" she gasped. Cars, trucks, and buses were crammed into every inch of the street surrounding the parking lot, even the parking lot was crammed full of vehicles. People were crawling over and around vehicles, dragging injured loved ones towards what they thought would be their salvation. The sky was gray and dim, even though it was the afternoon, filled with the smoke created by fires that burned freely throughout the city. The ground quickly shook with the force of a building that exploded just a few blocks away. Serena was thrown to her knees, but she didn't notice the pain as her bare knees scrapped against the stones and pavement beneath her. She heard the people crying out in agony and crying out for help. She jumped back onto her feet and looked around, studying the torment and ruin all around her. "I can't believe it! The Negaverse has won!" *********************************************************************** Pyro-Head prowled through the devastated city, enjoying the results of her handy work. "Ha ha ha!" she cackled watching the lifeforms scatter like insects, enjoying their screams as she crushed them! Moving away from the building she had just destroyed, she turned her attention towards the edifice where the humans seemed to be congregating. she wondered. "Where are you, pathetic humans? You can't hide!" she called out, as if it were a child's game she was playing. She found where they were heading. She didn't understand why they were going there, but then why did humans do anything that made sense. You would think they would hide. And look at them, crawling or even being dragged into that building. There was hardly enough lifeforce in the entire building worth draining. "Look at that girl!" she exclaimed with a laugh. There, oblivious to the wounded being dragged in around her, was a pigtailed wretch, just standing there staring at the chaos around her. "How stupid!" she exclaimed in her raspy, barely female voice. She wrung leather-skinned hands together in excitement. "Let's have some fun with her!" Pyro-Head raised one bony, dry skinned hand and pointed a knurled index finger towards the hospital. "FEEL MY FIRE!" she shouted. The girl below her didn't even had time to react as the hospital exploded behind her. *********************************************************************** The force of the explosion threw Serena across the parking lot and into an already smashed up city bus. She gasped as she collided with it. Her battered form slid down the side of the bus and she landed limply on her side, barely aware of what was happening. She weakly pushed herself up to her elbow and saw the burning remains of the hospital. Her entire world was gone, her family was now dead, her friends were now dead, even Tuxedo Mask was dead. her mind gasped, her injured mind decided amidst the pain of her broken body. And then it got worse... much worse. *********************************************************************** Pyro-Head made her way to where the teenage girl landed and smiled at the results of her fun. "Betcha you didn't know what hit you, eh?" she sneered. The girl looked up at her and her eyes became wide. "Pyro-Head?" she gasped, finally understanding. The Negaverse monster stepped back in shock. "How do you know me?" and then she decided it didn't matter. The kid would momentarily be dead. But then the pigtailed one did something that totally shocked her. "No more, Pyro-Head!" the girl exclaimed as forcefully as her injuries would allow her. With a determination, Pyro-Head thought impossible for a human, she pushed herself onto her knees and looked up at her tormentor without fear. "No more," she concluded. She finally understood, without Sailor Moon, the world was doomed. "This ends NOW!" she shouted and produced a small, compact. Her trembling arm lifted it into the air and she said, "Moon Prism..." Her sight dimmed so that everything looked clouded and gray... She could barely see her enemy looming above her, as if it were far away, and then darkness came. ************************************************************************* A fiery voice shocked her eyes open. "Young lady!" shouted her mother, "I woke you up forty-five minutes ago! You're going to be late again!!" Serena looked up at her mother with fear in her eyes. It wasn't her mother that had scared her, but then her mother didn't know that. "You'd better be scared, young lady, because if I have to come up here again and wake you up, you'll regret it!" Her mother turned her back to her lazy child, muttering under her breath that Serena's laziness would be her downfall. She shut the door behind her and her daughter listened for a moment, making sure she heard her mother's footsteps as she made her way downstairs again. She sat up quickly, looking around the room to make sure that the day had reasserted itself. After a moment, almost certain that a Negaverse monster was not going to jump out from under her bed, she got up, moved to her bedroom door, and locked it. She grabbed the chair from her desk, threw the robe off of its back, and wedged it under the doorknob. She pulled on her clothes, surprised somehow that they were in the same heap she had left them in last night. Hearing the heavy, stomping footsteps of her mother as she made her way back up the stairs, Serena opened the window and looked down. The teenager climbed onto the windowsill and pushed herself out into midair. She landed harshly on her backside and scowled. She reminded herself angrily. She jumped to her feet and began to run down the street. ************************************************************************* She ran for a long while, until her legs hurt from exertion and her lungs gasped for air. Exhausted, she dropped to the ground, pulling her knees up close to her chest. She was sitting in a grove of tall trees and recognized them immediately. They were the trees that surrounded Rei's temple, Luna had made them train here many times. Rei had already left for school; she should find some peace in here. Wrapping her tired arms around her knees, she leaned her forehead into her arms and began to cry. She cried like she had never cried before, the tears dropped from her face and ran down her knee. She began to sob in total abandon. Her chest heaved taking in large amounts of air to support the waves of tears that assaulted her. She had never know despair like this in all her life. She didn't hear the footsteps as someone moved through the grass towards her. She didn't see the figure that crouched down next to her, shaking his head in sadness. A short, wrinkled hand caressed the top of her head and then traced its way down her tear-stained cheek. Serena looked up to find Grampa Hino sitting next to her, looking at her with kindness. "What are you doing here?" she said, wiping at her nose with her sleeve. Grampa just smiled again and pulled out a pristine white handkerchief that he easily offered to her. He watched her as she loudly blew her nose, and wiped her cheeks. She was such a cute kid. He hated to see her cry like that. "Has Rei been mean to you again?" he asked in good humor, figuring his spirited granddaughter might have something to do with this. Rei was so stubborn and independent, she figured everyone should listen to her, and that especially included Serena. "No," the blond teenager croaked, her voice cracking with new tears. "Don't cry, Serena, it can't be that bad." But he sensed that it was something very important to her. "I can and it is!" she insisted, wiping her nose again. As if out of nowhere, Grampa produced another neatly folded hanky and handed it to his companion. "Why don't you tell me about it. Maybe it won't seem so bad after that." "You won't believe me," Serena insisted, blowing her nose loudly again. This made Grampa chuckle and she glared at him angrily. "It's not funny!" Grampa sobered a bit. "You'll never know unless you try," he suggested patiently. This was a lot easier than dealing with Rei. At least Serena wasn't trying to throw anything at him, and she wasn't chasing him around with a broom. Serena looked up at him with her puffy, tear-filled blue eyes. "Are you sure you won't laugh or think I'm crazy?" Grampa crossed his heart. "I promise. Now tell me what's so bad that it would make you cry?" Serena sat up, and began to speak, "Well there's this situation at school..." she began carefully. "And it's all up to me to take care of. If I don't, everything is ruined!> She sniffled a few times, and wiped her nose again with her second hanky. "I've tried so hard to stop it, but it won't stop!" "Have you tried asking for help? That's what you have friends for." "No one will believe me! They'll think I'm nuts!" she cried, burying her face once again in her arms. Grampa rolled his eyes. "Maybe but who cares? People think I'm crazy, don't they?" Serena looked up at the old man sitting next to her. She considered her words for a moment. "Yeah..." she agreed quietly. "And yet they still come to the temple and ask for advice, don't they?" Serena nodded. She had never considered that. "But if it's important enough to you, your friends will help you," he continued gently. He liked Serena. She was a lot of fun and didn't take his granddaughter too seriously. He had to cheer her up. Serena sniffed, not agreeing with him at all. "You're not talking about Rei, are you? Have you ever heard Rei? She'd ream me!" Grampa chuckled. "Want me to tell you a secret, but you have to promise me you'll never let Rei know I told you. She'd chase me around with that broom of hers for sure!" Serena felt the gloom of the last few days lifting a bit. Grampa was telling her a secret!!! "Okay!" she said and smiled earnestly for the first time since she could remember. "That a girl!" he said, patting her on the back. "Rei is loud and bossy, but she really has the heart of her mother. And her mother was the sweetest, kindest person you could ever have met. I know Rei will help you, because she's your friend." "She'll still say I'm nuts," Serena countered. Grampa nodded. "Yeah, probably. But if she didn't, she wouldn't be Rei." Serena smiled, feeling the sadness drift away for the first time in a long while. "Stop worrying about what other people will think of you. Ask your friends for help. That's what they're there for!" "Thanks Grampa!" Serena said, suddenly feeling cheerful. ************************************************************************* It was lunchtime before Serena left the temple. He had fed her a few sandwiches and given her some pop to drink. That was the first time she could remember eating in a while. She arrived at school just as Pyro-Head was attacking the schoolyard at lunchtime and she quickly transformed. "I'm back!" she called out cheerfully. "It's about time you showed up!" shouted Sailor Mars, dodging one of Pyro-Head's attacks. "What's the matter? Did you forget to get out bed, Meatball Head?" Sailor Moon smiled and chuckled. Edited by "Tuxedo" Will