Bands
Chapter 01
Midnight. A cool summer evening. Complete stillness. Even the animals seemed content with keeping the peace that night. The bright moon cast shadows throughout the city of Tokyo, Japan, where most everyone slept and rested for the night. Those who weren't asleep were too busy going about their business to notice the shapes that moved through the city.
There seemed to be three of them, bounding quickly from rooftop to rooftop and seemingly in search of something. The backdrop of stars and the moon made their figures look as silhouettes, even as they came to a halt on the balcony of one building in particular.
"This is Serenity's house, Star?" one of the figures asked, her silhouette the tallest among the group. Her attention turned to the one she called Star.
"Yes," Star responded, and her silhouette nodded. She was certain of this for she could sense the girl within. She wondered why the others couldn't as well, but didn't question it aloud.
"Let's go then," the first said sternly, motioning for the third of the group to open the balcony's door.
A glint of gold flashed in the moonlight as the third of the group moved towards the door. The golden object, seemingly a blade of some sort was first placed at the seam at the top of the door and the doorframe and then the dragged down. The golden glow followed the blade's motion and once it had reached the bottom, the door slid open silently.
"Space," the first addressed again, this time speaking to the third. "Wake Serenity. Star, deal with the cat when she comes in." Her cold eyes didn't see the cat anywhere at this point, but knew it would show up eventually.
"Wake up, dear Serenity," Space whispered, sitting on the side of the bed and patting the sleeping girl's face. "Serenity," Space whispered a little louder when Serena only continued to snore.
"What is it, Luna?" Serena mumbled in her sleep, turning over and trying to swat who she thought to be her guardian cat away. When she felt her wrist caught in someone's grasp though, her eyes flew open and she sat up in horror, her blonde hair tumbling around her form. She was horrified to find these strangers in her room. Strangers dressed as Senshi.
"Sorry, dearest," Space grinned, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "I'm not Luna."
"Luna!" Serena shouted, but regretted it soon after, feeling a dagger suddenly pressed to her throat. She leaned back against her headboard, trying to get away, but she could obviously go no further. Her eyes went to her nightstand, where her communicator and locket lay, but she didn't dare do anything other than look at them.
"What is it, Serena?" Luna came charging into the room, but didn't get very far as she suddenly felt herself being lifted into the air by the scruff of her neck. The cat hissed violently and wriggled in the grasp of her captor, but made no progress.
"Enough," Star shook Luna forcefully and looked the cat right in the eye, though keeping her far enough away that she couldn't scratch her face.
Luna's eyes widened, seeing strangeness in this girl's piercing grey eyes. She couldn't read a definitive expression, which confused and frightened her. She looked the girl over, seeing long, white hair contrasting a black Senshi fuku, and Luna had a feeling that the fuku wasn't black just because the room was dark.
"What do you want with me?" Serena asked with a shaky voice. She desperately wished she could reach her friends, but her eyes locked with Space's dark ones. She was surprised when it wasn't Space that answered, since she thought there were only two of them in there.
"Serenity," the first answered, "we want nothing more than your death."
Serena's face paled at the words and her blue eyes grew large. "My death?" she breathed.
"That's right," the first nodded. "Your death. You see, you're a real nuisance. We can't let your future to happen."
Silence fell between them, Luna's mind reeling and trying to figure out what she could do as she looked these Senshi over. All of them wore black as the main colour of their fuku. She saw that the one holding her had short black gloves, reaching only to her wrists. Her boots reached just below her knees and she saw that there were no bows on the front or back of her fuku. A black scarf draped over her shoulders and a black band was around her neck. Through her bangs, it could be seen that her tiara was a tarnished silver with a black gem in the center. Her fuku seemed pretty basic.
The one with the dagger to Serena's throat (something Luna really worried about, even though it looked like the Senshi wasn't pressing the blade into the skin) also had shorter gloves that reached to her wrists, though the edges of the gloves were wavy, rather than straight. Her boots were the same, reaching about the middle of her calves. It was hard to see because of the girl's bangs, but it looked like she had that same tarnished silver on her tiara. She too, had a black band around her neck.
The one who stood by the door on the balcony still, the one who was very clearly the leader of the trio, had gloves that reached her wrists, but then the fabric split into several strands of what looked like ribbon and crisscrossed up her arms to her elbow. Her boots were the same as the gloves. Luna could also see that this one didn't have a band around her neck, but she didn't think much of it.
"What's so terrible about Crystal Tokyo?" Luna asked, breaking the short moments of silence that passed between them. Her voice was low, almost a growl, but she tried to stop that growl since she didn't want to provoke them.
The three strange Senshi didn't have a chance to respond though as the one by the door turned suddenly, becoming aware of someone else.
"I don't know who you are," the voice of Sailor Mars rang out. "But you'd better drop that dagger if you know what's good for you!"
"Oh great," Space sighed with exasperation. "The 'dream team' is here."
"Don't worry about it," the leader snapped. "We can handle them."
"Do you even know who we are?" Jupiter snapped, glaring at them.
"We know ex-" the leader began, but was cut short.
"I'm Sailor Jupiter!"
"Sailor Mars!"
"Sailor Mercury!"
"Sailor Venus!"
"Together we're the Sailor Senshi!" the chorused at the end.
Star, Space and the leader just stared at the group, clearly not amused, but it was Star that spoke for them.
"Was that necessary?" the girl asked, her grey eyes showing that she wasn't impressed.
"Really," the leader added. "We already knew that. Why would we be here if we didn't know that?"
"Well," Mars stuttered suddenly, thrown by the fact that they weren't intimidated. "Who are you?"
"You can call us Dark Senshi," the first told them. She didn't look like she was about to introduce each of them individually and neither did the other two.
"That doesn't-!" Jupiter began, making a fist at them.
"He's here!" Star announced suddenly, throwing the cat towards where Serena still lay and leaping out of the way. The white haired Senshi landed out in the hallway, looking not to the rose that had been imbedded into the carpet where she'd been standing a moment before, but to the new figure that now stood on the balcony.
"Endymion!" the leader looked pleased. "So glad you could join us!"
"Endymion?" Luna questioned, shaking herself as she stood up on the bed. She stopped quickly, realizing that the dagger wielder was still there.
"Tuxedo Mask!" Serena breathed happily, thinking that things would definitely be all right now. Her friends were all here to help her (and damn was her room crowded because of it).
"What's going on here?" he demanded, his voice cold and showing that he didn't want to be tested. He'd aimed for the Senshi that was still standing in the hallway because she was the only one that he could get a clear shot of. He was surprised by her speed and how she'd sensed him.
"Don't start with some noble, sappy speech," the leader said, stepping towards him. "I don't want to hear it and I really don't care what you have to say. We get it. You're here to stop us, blah, blah, blah."
"If it's the Imperial Silver Crystal-!" Mars started, but like seemed to be common for the night, was interrupted.
"Yeah, no. Don't want the Crystal," Space shook her head. "If that was all we wanted, I would have taken it from her by now. Even if I had to cut it out of her chest myself." Space said, moving the blade to Serena's chest to demonstrate and she grinned when she heard Tuxedo Mask restrain himself from attacking her. "But like I said, we don't want the Crystal." She returned the blade to Serena's throat.
"Then what do you want?" Mercury asked coolly, though she was worried because she wasn't getting any clear readings off of them. Just when she thought she had it, the computer would go on the fritz.
"To stop the future," the leader said, her own grin turning evil on her face.
"How do you expect to do that?" Mars asked hotly. "Shouldn't you be seeing Pluto about that?"
"Idiot," Star snapped, receiving a glare from Mars. "Why would we go to all that trouble when we can just stop the future at its source?"
"You said you didn't want-" Venus began.
"We don't want the Crystal!" the leader snapped, becoming impatient. "We're here to kill your princess."
"The hell you are!" Tuxedo Mask roared and charged forward now. However, he didn't get anywhere near Space as Star stepped in his path and punched him in the stomach. As he doubled over, she lowered him to the floor.
"Now, now, Endymion," Star said in a quiet voice. "Don't be doing that, or we'll have to kill you, too."
"You might as well," Tuxedo Mask snarled, mildly confused by why they all kept calling him Endymion, but not worrying about it right now.
"But there's no need for that. We only kill who we need to," Star told him. "So be a good boy," she rose to her feet now. "And stay out of our way!" She kicked him in the jaw, but only hard enough to send him sprawling across the floor.
"Stop it!" Venus shouted. She very much wanted to charge forward, but like her friends, she was worried for Serena's safety and seeing what just happened to Tuxedo Mask didn't make any attempt at an attack look smart.
The leader laughed as she headed to the balcony door, watching as the Senshi parted for her. She smiled smugly at each of them, then motioned for Star to come to her. Once those two were out the door, she looked to Space, who rose from the bed, giving Serena one last pat on the face before quickly joining her companions.
"Don't worry," the leader said, turning to the Senshi and Serena, who was now on the floor next to Tuxedo Mask and seeing if he was okay. "We'll be back." And they vanished into the night.
The other girls turned towards Serena, Darien and Luna, who was on the bed and looking down at them.
"Serena, I'll stay here for the rest of the night," Jupiter offered.
As much as Serena didn't want to be babysat, she nodded and thanked her friend. She was worried and shaken from having a weapon pointed at her and she didn't think she'd ever been that close to death, which frightened her. She was glad that her mom and brother weren't home; that would have been a nightmare.
She was helping Darien to his feet now and making sure he was okay as Mars said, "We should meet up tomorrow and figure out what we're going to do."
"Agreed," Luna said with a crisp nod. "After school, everyone meet at the Hikawa Shrine, got it?"
"Right," they chorused.
xxxxxxx
The four girls, Darien and the two guardians sat behind Rei as she knelt before the fire. In her traditional garb, she made symbols with her hands and had her eyes closed. When she opened them again, she spoke to the fire.
"Tell us about these Dark Senshi," she asked of it, though it was worded as an order. She would never order it though, for she had much respect for the power that the fire possessed.
The fire flicked darkly and Rei's brow furrowed before the image became clearer. The three Senshi, standing strong in a group, came into silhouetted shape within the flames. Rei studied them with her dark eyes, looking for any sign that the fire might give. In this image, she saw that each were possessing a weapon. The leader had a tall staff, the other the dagger and it was very difficult to tell what the third was holding since the shapes were dark. Rei mentally willed it clearer, but it didn't work.
"Which of them is our greatest threat?" the raven head asked, expecting the image of the leader to come into focus, but instead she was surprised to see the third of the group come into focus. Even with this clearer image, it was hard to tell what kind of weapon she possessed.
"That one?" Mina questioned in a whisper, but Lita elbowed her in silent command to shut up.
"Why?" Rei asked.
The fire briefly flickered to show the Senshi moving with great speeds and agility, and they saw her arm drawn back, however, before they could see the weapon, the fire roared loudly and extinguished like water had been poured on it. It hissed and smoked and Rei backed away in alarm, shielding her eyes with her arm, but the smoke only continued to billow.
"Let's get outside," Darien said, coughing as the smoke reached him.
"Good idea," Artemis agreed, heading out ahead of them with Luna.
When they were outside and away from the billowing smoke, they all looked to Rei.
"What happened?" Lita asked.
"I have no idea," Rei shook her head. "It's never done that before."
"Why do you think that that one is the most dangerous?" Mina asked, still shocked by the fire's telling.
"I have no idea. But it seemed like she sensed me before I even got there last night," Darien said. "You saw how she jumped out of the way."
"Yeah, and she called out 'he's here' before that even," Ami nodded. "There's something strange about these Senshi, though. My computer won't work properly to scan them, the fire extinguishing like that," she shook her head, a worried expression on her face. "I don't like this."
The group went back inside once the smoke had cleared to discuss the matter further. Once everyone was comfortable and there were snacks on the table, they began to discuss what they would do about these Senshi and how exactly they would protect Serena from them.
"I don't want a babysitter!" Serena protested right away. "I don't want to have to have people hanging around me all the time."
"Then you're going to have to protect yourself," Rei said sternly. "You think you can do that, Meatball-head?"
Serena shrunk back, leaning slightly against Darien as she thought about this. Could she really protect herself from them? Without much realizing it, her hand went to her throat; there was no evidence that a blade had been placed there, but she knew that she hadn't imagined it. She snapped out of her reverie when Darien took her wrist, brought the hand away from her neck and held it in his own. She looked up at him, but didn't need to do so to know that he was worried about her. They all were.
The blonde never got a chance to respond as they heard a commotion outside.
"Well, well, well! What would three lovely young ladies such as yourselves like here?" Rei's grandfather's voice made its way into the building. "And what strange outfits you have!" the elderly man commented.
The team was up and outside in a flash, surprised and yet not to see the Dark Senshi standing there on the steps of the Hikawa Shrine. What did surprise them was that they were just standing there.
"Grandpa! Get away from them!" Rei ordered, waving her arm in front of her to get her point across.
"Come now, Rei. They're just nice girls," he frowned at his granddaughter. "Aren't you?"
"Of course, sir," Space laughed lightly, and it almost sounded like a giggle. "But, please, we're here to see your granddaughter."
"Oh," the man said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "All right then. If you need me, I'll be inside!" he said with a wink and scurried off inside the shrine.
The group stood dumbfounded by the display. If anything, they'd expected the girls to at least be rude to the old man, but yet they were so kind just then. Yet, when they looked to the large group, their expressions turned dark.
"Back already, Nega-slime?" Lita said, taking a fighting stance and readying herself.
The leader placed a hand on her chest and gave an appalled look. "Nega-slime? Don't lump us in with those losers," she sounded offended.
"Yeah," Space put her hands on her hips. "We're way better than those guys, right, Star?"
The white haired Senshi only nodded, her eyes on Serena and her grin grew when she saw Darien place himself between her and her target.
"Now, to make this fight fair," the leader began in an informative voice, "we'll give you a moment to transform."
"Time's up!" Star announced about a second later and they saw a long whip suddenly appear in her hand and unravel and hit the ground. Star leapt into the air, gaining a good amount of height before shouting, "Star Pain!"
The whip flew forward, but the girls and Darien managed to jump out of the way just in time, leaving the whip to connect with the ground. When the dust cleared, they saw that it had cracked the stone.
"That tells us what her weapon is, at least," Rei said before pulling out her henshin pen. "Let's go guys," she said and the others nodded.
"Moon Crystal Power!"
"Mars Star Power!"
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Venus Star Power!"
"Mercury Star Power!"
As the group came out of their transformations, they found that they were surrounded by the three Senshi. Each brandished their weapon now, the leader with her staff, the one with her dagger and Star with her whip. The staff was tall and had a tarnished silver handle and at the top it had claws, which held a dark orb. This orb seemed to contain a mini-universe as the specks that could be seen within it moved against the blackness.
The dagger, now that they could see it in the light, appeared to have etchings in it, but it was hard to see what those were. In any case, it looked as menacing at it had in the darkness.
The whip was indeed very long and it was entirely black. As they had already witnessed, it was also greatly powerful. So when it flew forward again and wrapped around the group of six, they cringed in fear at what she would do. However, she wasn't given the time.
"Sorry guys," Jupiter warned. "Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!"
The lightning coursed through and around the whip, shocking Jupiter and her friends, as the Senshi of Thunder has suspected it would, but this lightning also reached the owner of the whip, forcing her to let go of the weapon or else be shocked. Star did let go, too, watching as her weapon vanished as it fell to the ground. She wasn't worried about it though, knowing she could call upon it again.
Freed, the Senshi made an effort to separate so that they couldn't be bound together again. They stood far apart and watched the Senshi carefully.
The leader only grinned. "Universal Explosion!" she shouted as she pointed her staff in their direction.
The attack, an orb of black, much like the one on the top of the staff, shot forward, landing on the ground in the center of the group. Though they'd parted, they were still close enough to be affected by the attack and each was thrown in a separate direction. The only three unaffected by this were the Dark Senshi, who held their ground well as the ground shook beneath their feet.
Star suddenly leapt forward, fearlessly launching herself into the dust and debris that was flying in the air and she took hold of her target. Spinning, she used her momentum to throw Sailor Moon from the rest of the group. The Moon Senshi landed dangerously close to the stairs, almost falling down them, but managing to stop herself. She cringed in pain and tried to get her breath, but felt a shadow fall over her. She looked up at Star with fearful eyes.
"Get up, Serenity," the Senshi ordered.
"Please, don't do this!" Sailor Moon pleaded, trying to push herself to her feet all the while. Her legs shook, but she finally managed to stand and looked the other in the eye. What she saw startled her.
She saw the same thing that Luna had and she couldn't place a single emotion, at least not at first. Suddenly, a shadow seemed to pass over the Senshi's eyes and distress and sadness followed before returning to the chaotic mess of emotions that was there before.
"You're sad," Sailor Moon said without thinking, hearing her friends fighting against the other two Dark Senshi in the background.
Star's eyes narrowed to a glare. "What a stupid thing to say," she said, winding up and punching Sailor Moon in the jaw.
The girl reeled sideways, glad to have not been thrown down the many steps of the shrine, but still feeling the pain of the physical attack.
"I know what I just saw," Sailor Moon said gently. "You don't want this, do you? I can help you."
"Silence!" Star snapped.
"I'll help all of you! Turn you good again!" Sailor Moon said, figuring that the others were the same as the Senshi that stood before her.
Star suddenly grabbed Sailor Moon by the scarf of her fuku and held her in place, continuing to glare.
"I said, shut-" Star began, but faltered. She looked briefly confused, like she didn't know where she was or what she was doing, but then the band around her neck seemed to glow slightly and the confusion was gone. The Senshi shook her head, looked at Sailor Moon and then threw the girl back towards the others. She had a surprising amount of strength, considering that she wasn't using any momentum this time.
Universe watched Star as she came back towards them. She'd seen what had happened over by the steps and worry struck her suddenly.
"Star, what's wrong?" Universe demanded, but there definitely wasn't concern for her well being in that voice.
"It's fine," the Senshi insisted, her eyes on Sailor Moon as she picked herself up off the ground again.
Universe looked at her skeptically, but her attention returned to the Senshi as a chain came flying her way. She dodged it, but allowed her staff to get wrapped up in it. While Venus smiled at this, Universe grinned even more, using all her bodyweight to pull the girl forward, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.
"Space Black Hole Engulf!" Space shouted, the area darkening around them to the point where all were blind.
The Senshi stopped, trying to figure out a way to see in the darkness, but not managing to do so. They heard a voice call out through the darkness.
"Star Pain!"
And then they felt the whip. Before they passed out, they heard laughing voices.
"Should we kill her now?" Space asked Universe, watching the girls and Tuxedo Mask fall unconscious as the darkness cleared.
"No," Universe said, thinking aloud. "We should drag this out. Break her spirit. We already know that we can defeat them." While she believed this to be true, it wasn't the only reason she was leaving this be for now.
"But what if they figure out some way to fight back?" Space asked, only to receive a slap from Universe.
"Don't be stupid!" the Senshi snapped. "We don't have to worry about them." She turned away from Space now, looking to Star. "What happened over there?"
Star looked evenly at Universe. "I don't know," she said. "All of a sudden a strange feeling came over me."
"Don't let her cast her stupid spells on you," Universe warned, placing a hand on her shoulder. While this seemed a friendly move, the glow of the orb on the staff could not go unmissed, nor could the glow of the band around Star's neck. "There," Universe said once the glow past. "I boosted your power some more, incase she tried and funny stuff. Remember our mission."
"Of course!" Star looked furious that Universe would even think that she would forget that. "It won't happen again."
Universe saw the determination in the other's eyes and smiled. "Let's go then," Universe said, turning and heading down the steps of the shrine, followed by the two other Senshi.