Sailor Moon: Dark Times
Chapter 1: The Arrival and the Awakening
Sailor Moon and all the characters from the original continuity are copyright the of the individuals owners. The characters are being used without permission but no money will be made from this piece of fiction.
"Hey Shawn, wake up. We are going to be landing in a little while."
Shawn, a dark haired gentleman who appeared to be in his early twenties at was roughly six feet tall, woke up with a start at the sound of his friend's voice. He looked over at his friend and started to talk to him angrily in Japanese. "What do you mean we'll be landing in a little while? I told you to wake me up about mid flight John! I had some stuff to do on the flight. Damn it!"
John, who had hair just a little darker than his friend's appeared to be about the same age and maybe an inch or two taller. "Hey. You are the one who decided to fall asleep for the majority of the flight. Besides I thought you needed the rest because you were practically up for 24 hours, because you were so nervous about the flight over."
"I appreciate the consideration but now I won't be able to call Lightning-Rod before we land. I was really hoping to convince her to meet us at the airport."
"Well doesn't look like that is going to happen today my friend because the warning light for no electronics just came on."
Shawn looks out the window to see Tokyo International Airport come into view, "Damn it."
"It can't be that bad, you can call her once we land. That shouldn't be a problem with the executives from the company."
"Nah. I think I'll just go to her café instead. I know she will really enjoy the surprise."
"It's up to you man. I know you have been talking to her for over a year now, but just dropping in unexpectedly is a bit on the rude side, wouldn't you think?"
"Not really. She told me if I am ever in Tokyo, I should drop by her café so we can talk in person."
John turns to the stewardess as she walks by, "Excuse me miss. Do you have any information on our travelling papers? The company said that they would be taken care of before we arrived in Tokyo."
The stewardess nods, "Yes, sir. That is correct, everything has been arranged so that you don't have to deal with customs for very long at all."
John nods to the stewardess, "Thank you, miss."
They land and get through customs without incident. As they are walking out of the main terminal they see a gentleman holding a sign with their names on it. Once the gentleman sees them approach he bows and introduces himself as a representative of the company.
John and Shawn both bow and thank him for meeting with them. The man is a little taken back that they both speak Japanese.
"When did you learn Japanese?"
John is the first one to answer, "I learned Japanese over the last 6 months because of this job opportunity."
"I learned Japanese about 4 years ago, out of a personal interest."
"How interesting. If you would please get into my car, I will take you to the house the company is giving you."
John and Shawn both nod and get into the car. After a short car ride later, they arrive at a house just on the outskirts of Tokyo. It is a two-story house with a built in garage. They get out of the car and the gentleman hauls out a set of keys and opens the garage. Inside the garage are two Kawasaki Ninja motorcycles. One was as black as the night and the other one was a cool ice blue.
The man opens his arms as if to show off the bikes. "These are yours to keep. I will leave you to get settled in. Work starts Monday at 8:00 am." With that he left them to their own devices.
John immediately points to the black bike. "Dude, that one is mine."
"Ok. I guess I will take the blue one. Umm John. What day is it again?"
"Because we crossed the International Date Line it is Friday. Why?"
"That means we get three days off. I have some things to do. I'll see you later." Before John can even respond, Shawn grabbed the keys and helmet on the blue bike and had taken off.
Shawn drove around the city for about an hour before he found what he was looking for. "Finally the Lightning Rod Café. She said if I ever stopped by that I should park in the rear." Shawn pulled his bike up beside the single car in the back parking lot. As he walks around the front and walks through the door he has a look around the inside of the café. It simply looked spectacular. He had already known the layout from what she had told him about the restaurant. She once told him that if he ever came by the restaurant to head for the bar and sit on the red stool nearest the kitchen. As he sat on the stool he noticed that is was mostly empty except for a few waiters and a bartender. The bartender walked over to him.
"Is there anything I can get you sir?"
"Actually I was wondering if you knew how to mix a Deep Freeze Blitz."
"Funny you should ask. Our boss is the only one in the city that knows that one. She won't tell anyone else how. If you really want it I will go get her."
"Yes please. Oh, and if you don't mind, tell her that Frost placed the order."
The bartender heads over to the entrance of the kitchen and yells in, "Miss Kino, there is someone out here ordering a Deep Freeze Blitz." He heard a voice that he barely recognized from their video conversations, came from the kitchen saying that she would be right out. The bartender was about to walk back to the bar when he saw Shawn and remembered the rest of the message. He yelled back into the kitchen, "Oh and the order was placed by some guy named Frost."
The instant that the bartender finished saying the name Frost there was a loud crash in the kitchen and the sound of rapid footsteps heading towards the kitchen entrance. The bartender barely managed to move as a girl wearing a cooking apron came racing through the doors. As she stepped out time seemed to slow for Shawn in that instant as he saw her full body for the first time. If he hadn't already started to fall for her over the past year, he would have now. She had long brown hair that went halfway down her back. She was wearing a tight black t-shirt and a pair of jeans under her cooking apron. For just a second an image flashed in his mind. It was of her, but she was dressed like the super hero named Sailor Jupiter. She was in the middle of a battlefield and her arm was bleeding. Before he could do anything he snapped back to reality. Shawn stood up to greet her but soon realized that his decision was a mistake as she jumped at him to hug him.
"Frost! God, why didn't you tell me you were coming?" She shouted as she tackled him to the floor with a tight hug. "I would have gone to the airport to meet you."
"Umm … You know I would like to be able to breath." Shawn managed to gasp. She immediately released her grip and helped him to his feet. "By the way, my real name is Shawn."
"My name is Lita. It is good to finally meet you face to face." She turns to the employees of the restaurant. "Everybody take the rest of the day off. And no complaining, you will still get paid for the rest of the day. By the way, tell everyone that we are closed for the weekend."
All of the employees slowly shuffled out as Lita moved behind the bar and began mixing the drink. Lita looked at Shawn, "So how long are you going to be staying here? A week? Two weeks?"
She handed him the blue drink and he downed the drink in one shot to her amazement, "How can you do that? That has to be one of the strongest concoctions I have ever seen. As far as I know I am the only one in Tokyo who can drink it and it still takes me about 10 minutes to finish a glass of it."
Shawn smiles as he answers, "To answer your first question, I am actually here to stay, I got a job offer and decided to accept it."
"You mean you are here to stay? Are you serious?" Lita's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"I think I am going to like it here. By the way, the answer to your second question is my friend and I, are the ones who created the mix. I have been drinking it since I was barely 19."
They sat around drinking for the next couple of hours. Eventually, Shawn moved around the counter and sat beside Lita. As they drank she looked over at him, "Shawn, I'm sorry."
Shawn looked at her with a questioning look on his face, "What are you talking about Lita? Sorry for what?"
"For what I did to your relationship with your girlfriend. I never wanted to get in between you and her. I am sorry for any pain I have caused you." She began to cry and turned away from him.
Shawn reached over and turned her face back towards him. "You have no need to be sorry. Our relationship was slowly dying anyways. You remember when she came in and saw me talking to you over the web cam?" Lita nodded. "Well, it seems that a few days before she had found the image that you sent me of yourself. The only thing she did was call up the image on my computer screen and ask me to tell her that you meant nothing to me. You want to know something? I told her that you did mean something to me. She hit me so hard I thought that my jaw had shattered."
Shawn leans in so their faces are mere inches away from each other, "After that I was convinced that I was falling for you."
Lita blushes as she looks at Shawn, "Ever since I meet you online I felt the same way."
They both lean against each other and embrace in a passionate kiss that seemed to stop all time. It was just the two of them embraced in the moment. Unfortunately, shortly after they started kissing, Shawn's alarm on his watch begins beeping.
"Ah crap. It's getting late, I better head home." Shawn went to get up to go to the door, but that was the instant the alcohol decided to catch up to him. As he went to take that first step, leg gave way and he ended up on his face.
Lita raced over to his side, "You are not going anywhere tonight. You are staying here with me." Lita then gave him another rather passionate kiss they headed upstairs. Something in Shawn's head told him that he wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight.
Shawn could only watch as the scene unfolded in front of him. As he watched, people were being massacred by a strange army wearing a black and grey uniform.
He knew is was just a dream, he had seen it many times before but it still made him sick to watch the scene unfold. But something was different this time around. Normally the fight would play out from above but now the vision was moving towards a very specific fight.
As the fight came into focus, he could see a girl in a green skirt with her back to him. She was fighting one of the people in the strange uniform. Both of them were wielding swords. They actually seemed to be fairly matched.
As Shawn watched the girl suddenly forced the man to stumble back. As she was about to make the killing blow, the man managed to shove his sword through her stomach. For the first time in this dream, Shawn actually heard noise. Strange enough, it sounded just like him. As he turned towards the source of the voice he found, to his surprise, that is was him!
His other self ran over to the woman who had just been slain. Shawn looked over at the woman and was horrified that it was Lita.
His other self looked into her now dead eyes, "No Lita, please. You can't die! You can't be dead!" Shawn's attention quickly turned to the man in the strange uniform, pure rage and hatred in his eyes.
The man took a step back as Shawn stood and drew his weapon. "You Negaverse scum! You killed the one thing that I held dear! Now you're fate is sealed! I AM GOING TO SHOW NO MERCY TO YOU OR ANY OF YOUR KIND! THIS IS WERE YOU ARE GOING TO DIE!"
Shawn launched myself at the stunned man, his glaive extended to try and impale the man. Luckily for the man he actually had some skill with a sword and managed to parry the blow, by pushing the blade of the glaive to the side.
Shawn stumbled forward but quickly righted himself as he swung the glaive around to try and take the man's head off. Luck seemed to be on the man's side as he ducked the blow and managed to stab Shawn through the chest.
Shawn stumbled back and looked at the wound for a moment. His eyes showed no less hatred for the man. "You leave me no choice. I will gladly sacrifice my own life to get vengeance for my love. MERCURY OMEGA MAELSTROM!"
A drop of water falls off the blade of the glaive, and then as that droplet of water hits the ground it turns into a huge storm that begins to attack the man is if it had a mind of it's own. The man unsure of what is going on is quickly dispatched by the storm as it freezes his entire body solid.
Shawn looks back as his dream self falls down beside Lita, a red pool forming beneath him with every passing second. His life essence already spent by the attack. He whispers one thing to his lover.
"Remember… me…always."
As the words escape his lips, he dies. There was a sudden flash of light and then nothing.
Shawn shot upright in bed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Lita suddenly sat up beside him, with a look of concern on her face, "Shawn? Are you alright?"
"Yeah. Sorry about that, it was just a nightmare."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm sure. Why, are you that worried about me?"
"Yes I am. Tell me about your dream. Please."
"I'm not in the mood to argue and I assume you won't give up until I tell you right?"
Lita looked at him with a smile on her face, "Yup!"
"Fine, then I'll tell you." Shawn tells Lita about his dream while he gets dressed, making sure to omit the parts about them being involved and dying. When he turned back to Lita she just shook her head.
"That was one hell of a nightmare. Is this the first time you had it?"
"Actually, no it isn't. I actually had it for a long time now. I need to get some air, I think a short bike ride will help clear my head. Do you want me to come back here?"
"Yeah. I'll be making breakfast when you get back."
"So you in a little bit." Shawn grabs his jacket and bike keys as he walks out the door.
Lita reaches over to the phone beside her bed and quickly dials a phone number. After a few rings a person on the other line picks up.
"Hi Raye. It's Lita. I think we have either a really good possibility or a really bad one."
"Ok Lita. What is going on?"
"Well, I just meet that guy I was talking to online and he said he had some nightmares."
"Ok, what does that have to do with anything?"
"Just let me finish. His dreams are of the Silver Millennium. They focus around the final battle were we died."
"Did he say anything that would tell you what side he was on?"
"He did describe the uniform of a Negaverse general."
"This isn't good. Where is he now?"
"He went out for a little bit, but he'll be coming back here to the café. He just went out for a bike ride."
"We'll meet you there."
"Ok. I just hope he is on our side."
"I'll bring the others along with me. I'll see you in a little bit."
"Ok, bye."
"Bye"
Lita hangs up the phone and begins to softly sob to herself.
Else where in the city at the same time.
"Hey Shawn! Are you here?" John waited for a few moments, for an answer from his friend. "Where the hell is he? He said he had a few things to do but I doubt it would have taken him all night and day."
John walks down into the garage and gets on his bike. "Well I better go and check out the city while I have some free time." He heads into the city on his new bike. He biked around for about an hour until he decided to go and get something to eat. "Didn't Shawn mention that Lightning-Rod owned a café? He might be there, I think I better go and check."
As he is driving he sees a group of six rather attractive women walking down the street. He shrugs and pulls over beside them.
"Excuse me ladies, but could you tell me how to get to the Lighting Rod Café from here? I'm new in town and I'm not use to everything yet."
A blue haired girl steps out of the group, and John's heart nearly skips a beat as he looks at her. Though she was not the most attractive one in the group, something about her seemed to catch John's eye. It took him a second to realize he was staring at her. She seemed to be a bit uncomfortable under his gaze, "It's down that way and turn right. You can't miss it."
"Cool. Thanks. I appreciate it a lot." He winks at her before putting the visor back down and he drives off.
A tall raven-haired girl leans out of the group and walks up next to her. "Hey Amy. I got some bad vibes off that guy, could you scan him for me?"
Amy was not one to argue with Raye's bad feelings, as they had been right more than once in the past. "Sure thing Raye." Amy begins typing on her mini computer and does a quick scan of the area. "Oh my…he is giving off a large amount of negative energy. You think he might be the one Lita called to warm us about Raye?"
Raye looks over at Amy, "Could be. Either way, he gives off Negaverse energy so he is probably hostile. Let's go." They look up and down the street, once they are sure there is no one around, she pulls out her transformation stick. "MARS STAR POWER!"
Amy pulls out a similar stick, "MERCURY STAR POWER!"
A blonde with long straight hair running down her back pulls out a stick as well, "VENUS STAR POWER!"
A shorthaired blonde raises her right hand into the air, "URANUS PLANET POWER!"
A woman with bluish green hair raises her right hand into the air, "NEPTUNE PLANET POWER!"
The only one yet to do anything, a girl with blond hair in the and two pig-tails that were attached to her head by two balls of hair that looked two meatballs, steps forward and raises her right hand into the air. "MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"
After all of the girls transform, they begin heading after the stranger on the bike.
Trista arrived at Lita's restaurant at about 9:50. When she walked in through the back door into the main part of the restaurant, she saw Lita in the kitchen. It looked like she had been crying recently.
"Lita, what's wrong?"
Lita looked up at Trista, tears still visible in her eyes, "I think the man I am falling for may be one of our enemies. He had a dream about the final battle of the Silver Millennium. I can't believe this."
"Maybe I can help. Tell me what he looked like."
As Lita described Shawn to Trista, she smiles. Once Lita finished her description, Trista put a hand on her shoulder.
"Lita, he is not an enemy but…" Before Trista could finish what she was saying, there was a thunderous explosion from right outside the front door. The two of them rush towards the door, already transforming as they went.
"What the hell is up with this? Whoever heard of a restaurant being closed on a Saturday for no apparent reason? This is certainly a great restaurant that you picked Shawn." John had arrived at the Lightning Rod Café about a minute before ten in the morning only to find it closed.
"Well then I guess my only choice is to go back to the house and get something to eat." John got back on his bike and started it and …
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
John's bike exploded, throwing him into the wall outside of the cafe. In the smoke left by the explosion, though no one could see it, a black vortex had formed and a figure had stepped out.
As John came around, the first thing he saw was the smoking remains of this new bike. But standing over his bike was a man in a black and grey uniform. He somehow instantly knew the man was from the Negaverse and was the rank of Major.
Then something began building up in him, a sort of undying hatred for this man and others like him. Then a sudden urge came over him as he stood. John's entire body was glowing with a black energy as he shouted out the words, "SATURN DARKNESS POWER!"
He was suddenly engulfed by a black light. When the light faded, he looked himself over and was surprised to see that his clothes had changed. Instead of his normal everyday clothes, he was now wearing black pants with a sleeveless black shirt with red trim, that looked a lot like the uniforms for the generals of the Negaverse. On his hands and forearms he had some sort of black bracers that covered his forearms and the backs of his hands. Over all of this was a pure black trench coat. His eyes were a blood red where the white and the pupil should be, the rest was black. In his right hand was a two-toned Black and White staff with what looked like the symbol of Saturn on either end of the handgrip.
"That was not fun." John growled.
The Major of the Negaverse just looks at him with an equal amount of hate.
"Die you traitor." The Major shouts as he tries to hit John. John just barely gets out of the way by side stepping the blow.
Footsteps can be heard for inside the café. Then all John hears are the words "Pluto Dead Scream." A ball of energy comes out of the café and heads towards the Major. The Major smiles and waves his hand and the energy ball is suddenly redirected towards John.
"Why am I having a Dragon Ball Z moment?" John said just before the attack hit him and he is sent into the wall once more. John is instantly knocked unconscious from the blow.
Jupiter followed Pluto out of the café and onto the street. A motorcycle engine was heard and Lita recognized it, if poor John were awake he would have to. Shawn drove around the corner to see this man. He instantly recognized him as the man that killed Lita during the Silver Millennium. As the bike pulled to a stop, he was already off of it. Shawn just walked towards the Major, "You son of a bitch! I thought I killed you on the moon!" The Major, who was about to strike the killing blow on John, turned towards the new voice. He instantly took a few steps back when he recognized the aura of the man who had encased him in ice for over a thousand years.
To everyone's surprise Pluto stepped in Shawn's way. "Shawn, you don't have to do this."
"Get out of my way Trista. This guy is going to die this time even if I have to strangle him myself! He killed her back then!" As Shawn said this he turned and pointed at Lita. He then turned back to Pluto, his right hand out with the palm up. "Give it to me!"
"Are you sure? If you take it, there is no going back this time."
"Yes I am sure! Now hand it over!"
"Very well." Pluto reached behind her back and produced a small blue crystal that was hanging off a golden chain. As she did his, Shawn finally remover his helmet and everyone gasped as they saw the glowing blue symbol of Mercury on his forehead. Pluto dropped the crystal in his palm and he then hung it around his neck. As the necklace settled in place it began to glow.
"MERCURY ICE POWER!" Shawn was suddenly engulfed in a blue glow and when it subsided, he was no longer wearing his normal cloths. He was now wearing a blue trench coat that covered a pair of black shoes, army combat pants and a black shirt. On his hands were a pair of black leather gloves and a pair of blue tinted sunglasses covered his eyes. In his hands was a seven-foot long glaive. That was all anyone was able to see because a split second after the transformation ended, Shawn was gone, as was the man. Pluto seemed to be watching something though. Raye was the first to speak up
"Where are they? They are still here, I can sense them but I can't see them."
Pluto looked over at her. "That is because they are moving to fast for us to see. They are fighting a battle that should have ended a thousand years ago. "She turned to Lita. "You were right to call us. Both Shawn and the one over there," saying this she motioned towards the unconscious heap that was John "were members of Serenity's court. What concerns me is that Shawn is overextending himself. He has not done this in a long time and…"
Before Pluto could finish her sentence there was a loud bang and both the Major and Shawn became visible again. A second later the man collapsed to the ground in two pieces.
Pluto could hardly believe her eyes. Jupiter just plain couldn't. Here was the man that she was falling for, holding a glaive over a man that he had just killed, apparently out of some thousand-year-old grudge. Shawn walked towards her and as he reached her he collapsed. Lita was barely able to stop him from hitting the ground. Pluto looked over the scene.
"We should move this inside before we attract any undo attention." To demonstrate her point, she waved her hand toward a small crowd that had been gathering down the street. The senshi all took note of this and began to move inside, take the unconscious bodies of their new allies with them.
Once they were inside, the scouts went up to Lita's apartment. While John was laid out on the couch, Shawn was taken into the bedroom and placed on the bed. Trista and Hotaru stayed in the living room to watch over John while Lita was looking over Shawn. The other scouts, except for Amy who insisted on staying to help since she had medical training, left to go about their day. Lita opened up the trench coat to check for wounds.
"Ummmm… Trista, can you come in here please?"
Trista come running into the room and skidded to a stop. The first thing that caught her attention was the stuff lining the inside of his coat.
"Holy crap! What did he do! Put the entire Mercurian armoury into his coat!" Lining the inside of Shawn's coat was a wide assortment of weapons and field supplies. What caught her attention the most was the eight glowing blue spheres. She noticed Lita reaching for one of the orbs. "Don't touch that!"
Lita jumped when Trista hollered at her. "Why not?"
"Those eight blue orbs are called Mercury Absolute Zero Grenades. They can create a small area where the atmosphere is almost absolute zero, thus killing anyone inside. Needless to say we don't want to set one off accidentally. Besides, as far as I know, he is the only one who can touch them safely. Oh shit."
Trista finally noticed what was more than likely the real reason Lita had called her into the room. Shawn's torso was covered with slash marks and he was bleeding profusely. She went over to him and began to search through his coat until she pulled out a small device that fit into her palm.
It had five little bars with rings on the end of them. She put each one of her fingers and her thumb through each one of the rings and flattened out her palm. When she did a small blue orb in the center of the device began to glow.
She began to move the device over Shawn's wounds and as she did they began to close up. When she was done he looked like nothing had happened. He suddenly began to stir as Trista replaced the device in his trench coat. He eyes shot open and he sat up. He looked around the room and suddenly a worried looked crossed his face.
"Where's Lita?"
Trista stood up and pointed over at Sailor Jupiter. Shawn looked over at her.
"So you mean to tell me that I haven't been having random flashes from the past every time I saw her, or even a picture of her. I've been seeing her in the past? My mind was trying to tell me who she was?"
"That is correct."
Lita pipes up, "Excuse me? How did she tell you all of that without even opening her mouth? And besides that I never had any flashes into the past when I've looked at him."
Trista looked over at her. "To answer your first question, I was talking to him telepathically. As for your other question, that is because of Serenity's spell blocked out all of your memoirs. The inherent magic in Shawn is too powerful. It can negate the spell and give him hints of the past. Any way, Shawn do you care to tell me why are you carrying so many weapons at the party?"
Shawn looked at his trench coat and then at Trista, "I was back on the moon for less than twenty four hours. I never got a chance to get unequipped, which turned out to he a good thing. Thanks for the save Trista."
"Your welcome."
Lita just looked between the two, "What the heck are you guys talking about?"
Shawn looked at her. "I'll tell you later. God, I guess you were right. It took less than a day in Japan before I had to take back that crystal."
Trista looked at him. "Well it was only a matter of time before it happened. You were, and are one of the Eight Guardians. You just can't avoid trouble when you're that powerful."
Shawn was about to say something when the heard a shout of panic from the other room followed by a loud thud. They ran into the main room.
John was slowly remembering things he had long forgotten. The Silver Millennium, the Negaverse, his escape from the Negaverse to the universe, The Genesis organization. He looks around only to see a barren wasteland he turns to find himself standing there. He looks to see a man dressed very similarly to the man he had seen earlier. In Thanatos' eyes is nothing but hate, "Now you are going to die. I make sure it is a slow and painful death. You are going to pay for killing her."
The other man looks at Thanatos and smiles. "What are you going to do about it traitor, you won't live long enough to save your precious Moon Kingdom."
Thanatos smiles back. "Maybe not. But at least I'll have fun sending you to hell." He starts to spin his staff above his head. Energy starts collecting above his head one the end of the staff. The Negaverse general takes a step back. "You wouldn't!"
Thanatos just smiles in a very evil way. "Why wouldn't I? You stole her away from me. Why wouldn't I steal your life away for you?"
"You can't kill me, you're the good guy."
"Apparently old habits die hard. Don't forget I was one of the best generals for the Negaverse." John points his staff toward the general. "SATURN DARK NOVA!" A Bolt of pure black energy fires from the end of the staff and hits the ground at the feet of the general. The general smiles." You missed."
Thanatos however is still smiling. "Did I?" He brings his hand up and snaps his fingers just as he shouts "PULSE!" The ground explodes from beneath the general's feet and a black void appears. The general falls in and is instantly vaporized as soon as he touches it. "See you in hell." Thanatos smiles. "That one was for you Mercury." Thanatos falls to the ground dead.
The entire scene changes to a large empty room. The Queen of Saturn is walking through the vast hall, Sailor Saturn is walking beside her. They seem to be having an argument.
"Mother, why did you adopt one of our most hated enemies? He can not be trusted."
The Queen looks down at Sailor Saturn a slight smile on her face, "Dear Hotaru, you will understand when you are older. He seems different that other inhabitants of the Negaverse. He actually seems to be more human than any of the others could ever be."
Saturn frowns at her mother, "But it doesn't change the fact that he is the enemy. He could be very well plotting the down of the Moon Kingdom as we speak."
The Queen just shakes her head knowingly, "I don't think he is doing something like that. He is just a poor child, who actually needs to feel loved and has to be shown compassion. Now I can understand that you are distrusting of him, but you should treat him like you would treat any other member of the court. Maybe in time you will actually love him like a brother."
Saturn's eyes narrow, "I doubt that, but I will try to accept him for you mother."
The Queen nods, "That is all that I ask."
A figure can be seen in the shadows, he had seen the entire event. A smile crosses his face as he thinks to himself, 'At least I have someone of my side.'
The scene changes once again to a training ground, Thanatos is in the middle of a wide open section of the grounds, practicing. Saturn is near the doorway watching him, a look of disappointment on her face.
Her last attempt to get rid of him had failed once again. It is unfortunate that he had been with Uranus, Neptune and for some reason Mercury. They had assisted him in disposing of the assassins. She undoubtedly knew that he knew who had sent them, but probably told the others that they were Negaverse soldiers sent to kill him. If she was going to get rid of him once and for all, she would have to do it herself. Her mother would not approve of such an act against her own adopted, she shivered as the thought passed through her mind, brother.
She had heard a rumour, why Mercury had been with them. According to her sources her mother was arranging a wedding between Mercury and this Negaverse scum. She almost laughed at the idea, there was no way that her mother could make such a huge mistake.
Saturn was about to turn and head back into the palace when she heard talking coming from the training ground. She moved a little bit to see who it was, her eyes widen when she saw Mercury and her so-called brother kissing. Disgust and anger filled her as she ran to find her mother.
The Queen was standing on a balcony as Hotaru came running through the door. She looked at her child with concern as she spoke, "What is the matter Hotaru?"
Hotaru was visibly shaking with anger, "You won't believe what I had just seen. I saw Princess Amy of Mercury kissing..." Her mind couldn't even wrap itself what she had seen, she was simply unable to comprehend that a fellow Sailor Senshi would be kissing their own sworn enemy. Finally the word had escaped her lips, "Him!"
The Queen looks at Hotaru straight in the eyes, a confident yet happy smile on her face, "So I understand that you saw your brother and Princess Amy kissing. You know they are madly in love and I am happy for them. That is why I am arranging with the King and Queen of Mercury to have the two married."
Hotaru's stomach sinks as she hears the news. She simply can't believe it, the rumours had been true. Her own mother was planning on having a former Negaverse general marry one of the Sailor Senshi. She looks her mother squarely in the eye, "I can't approve of this mother. I feel that it just isn't right."
"I know of your feelings towards your brother, but I'm sure even you would want to see him happy."
Hotaru thinks to herself as she looks at her mother, 'Yeah. I would like to see him happy, in the afterlife.' She turns and begins heading out of the room, "I have to let this sink in, I am going to retire for the night. Goodnight, mother."
Saturn stops as soon as the door closes, 'Something has to be done at this, and it has to be done now.' Saturn walks down the hallway with a look of determination on her face. Although in the very back of her mind she is actually happy for him.
The scene changes to a clearing with Thanatos standing over the dead body of a Negaverse monster. He knew that the Negaverse would attack a heavily populated area, luckily he had chosen the right one.
Thanatos looks at a member of the Genesis Organization, "Contact the Moon Kingdom and tell them that the attack was stopped and no civilians were injured or taken."
The soldier nods and begins heading off, "Yes, sir."
Thanatos stands alone in the clearing, the cool wind blows as he shuts his eyes. Suddenly he feels a familiar presence as he opens his eyes.
"Well hello, sister. Why are you here?"
Saturn is standing there transformed and holding her glaive at the ready, "Don't call me that! You are not my brother! You are my enemy and I am going to deal with you once and for all!" Saturn swings her glaive at Thanatos' head.
Thanatos arches backwards to avoid the deadly blade, "What have I done to anger you so much?"
Saturn glares at him as she brings her glaive around for a vertical slash, "You exist!"
Thanatos lets his body go limp and goes into a roll to the side as the glaive connects with the ground, "I have no interest in fighting you Hotaru, but I will defend myself if necessary."
Saturn sneers at Thanatos, "Well then you better get ready to defend yourself, because I will not allow you to corrupt anyone anymore."
Thanatos raises an eyebrow as he stands back up, "And if I may ask whom exactly have I been corrupting?"
Saturn glares at him, "Don't act like you don't know! You are trying to corrupt Amy and Mother!" Saturn lunges forward and tries to impale Thanatos.
Thanatos quickly sidesteps the thrust and backs off a bit. He really didn't want to have to fight his sister. He dodges another slash from the glaive, "Look Hotaru I am not trying to corrupt anyone. Amy and myself are in love and our mother accepted me with open arms. I am not your enemy, and I don't wish to be." Thanatos puts his hands in his pockets, "Now can we just stop fighting so we can go home."
Saturn rushes forward and does another horizontal slash, but Thanatos dodges once again. She follows it thrust and she impales Thanatos. Thanatos' eyes widen as the pain registers, Saturn looks at what she had done in disbelief. She actually felt sad that she had done it. Thanatos slumps to his knees as Saturn runs over to him, "I'm so sorry!"
"Hotaru... I need... you to do me a favor..."
Saturn nods, "What is it?"
"In my... jacket... there are several...black ball like... objects... take one and... pull... the pin..."
Saturn nods and grabs one of them out of Thanatos' jacket, "Is this it?"
Thanatos nods, "Pull... that pin... and drop it next to me..." A trickle of blood escapes his lips as he speaks, "Please... do it quickly... as soon as you... do it walk back... 15 feet..."
Saturn nods and pulls the pin. She drops it beside Thanatos and runs back 15 feet. A sphere of shadow erupts from the small object. Saturn is shocked as everything falls silent, then suddenly her glaive coming flying out of the sphere, it landed about 50 feet away from the sphere. A few minutes pass by and nothing else happens. Suddenly the darkness fades and Thanatos is standing there with a smirk on his face. Saturn has this dumbfounded look on her face, "What happened?" She runs over to see that his wounds have healed.
Thanatos looks at her, "I can regenerate while I'm in the shadows. That ball is called a shadow sphere. It is used by negaverse spies to help them escape. I use them in the way, you just saw. They allow me to regenerate even though it is the middle of the day."
The member of the Genesis Organization returns, "Is everything all right sir?"
"Yes everything is fine. Once you deliver the message, make sure to say hello to your sister Amanda for me."
The member nods and smirks, "Yes, sir."
He slowly felt his strength returning and finally managed to open his eyes. When he did the first thing he saw was a little girl with short black hair standing over him. It took him about ten seconds to recognize her as his sister from Saturn. "Fuck!" was all John could shout as he tried to crawl backwards away from her, which resulted in him falling off the couch with a loud thud. He looked as he heard people running into the room. It was Shawn, a tall woman with long hair, and a girl he instantly recognized from the image on Shawn's laptop. The young girl looked at them.
"He's awake and seems to remember me."
The woman with the long hair looked at the young girl.
"Hotaru, you really shouldn't scare him like that."
She walked over to John, "Here, let me help you up."
She helped him stand and walked him over to the couch where he sat down again. The girl with the blue hair that he had seen earlier stepped forward and began to perform a quick medical examination before he could argue. She handed him a couple of packets and a piece of paper.
"These will help with the pain and that is instructions when to take the pills."
She sat down beside him as he puts the pills and piece of paper into his pocket.
"You are alright. Though I do recommend you stay off of your feet for a couple of days and have some medical supervision. Your right ankle is badly sprained, but I am honestly surprised it's not broken. As for the medical supervision, I will provide that because I am an intern at the local hospital. It is the least I can do since I am partially responsible for what happened."
She waited for Trista to respond but no response came.
"Trista, did you hear what I just said?"
Trista had a blank look on her face. Amy looked over at Lita who was waving a hand in front of Shawn's face. Lita looked towards Amy.
"I think we have a problem." Everyone jumped at the sound of a cough from John
"If it isn't too much to ask, can someone tell me exactly what is going on here?"
Amy looked at him for a second the started to explain things to him starting with the Silver Millennium and bringing him up to date.
Shawn looked around the area where he and Trista know stood. The area was completely black except for a single point of white light off in the distance that was approaching them. He looked at himself and it suddenly dawned on him where he was. He was wearing the azure blue robe that marked him as the Guardian of Ice in the astral plain. The only people who could possibly drag him and Trista here were the Elders, an ancient race that were responsible for forging their weapons in the first place. When the light got about ten feet away it split into three balls of light that changed into three robbed figures. The one in the middle spoke. "Hello Guardians. It has been a long time."
Trista stepped forward. "Yes it has. Why have you brought us here Elders?"
This time it was the one on the left that spoke, the voice had a feminine touch to it. "The Great Darkness is approaching. We have a task you must complete before it arrives."
Shawn and Trista looked at each other in disbelief. Shawn looked back at the Elder's. "What is the task you wish us to complete?"
Now it was the one on the right. "You must find and awaken the other six Guardians. They will reveal themselves to you in this order; Fire, Wind, Earth, Light, Space and Darkness."
"How long do we have?"
All three spoke as one as they began to fade. "It will arrive within the next four years. There will be signs but we don't know what they are. We can tell you that the last sign will be The End." As they finished speaking the Elder's faded into nothing and that was followed by a flash of white light. When Shawn opened his eyes he was looking at Lita.
"Well that is a sight to wake up too." Shawn gave her a quick kiss before she could say anything. "Hey John, did they explain everything to you yet?"
"Yeah, they did."
"Good, let's get you home." He turned to Amy, "Are you coming over to our place to supervise him?"
"Yeah, but I don't know how to get there."
Shawn pulled a laptop out of his trench coat and turned it on. Above it appeared a holographic screen.
"Computer, display route from here to my house."
The computer displayed a map of Tokyo with a line going from the restaurant to the outskirts of town.
"Download map to Sailor Mercury's computer."
A small beam of light shot from the computer to Amy's personal organizer. The map then appeared on her screen.
"There, now you do."
With that Shawn helped John to the door and downstairs to his bike, which they were forced to double ride back to the apartment. Amy arrived about an hour later, something about her told Shawn that she was there for several reasons besides watching over John. He left and went back to Lita's for the night. John was enjoying the attention Amy was giving him so much he never even noticed when Shawn's new pet cat, a red furred walking attitude problem named Xavier, sneaked out of the window.
In a dark obelisk room sits a man with long grey hair. His clothes are that of a Negaverse General. On either of his sides stands an Elite Guard.
One of his advisors enters the room and stands before his master. "My Lord. Maznite has failed."
The general looks towards the man. "It is of no consequence. That was my intent of sending him. He has given us more time to awaken the others." The general thinks for a moment. "Begin the procedure to awaken Jadeite. He wasn't killed during Beryl's reign. He may prove to be useful."
"As you wish my lord." The advisor quickly leaves the room, leaving the room dead quiet once again.
The general stands and walks towards the massive doors of stone at the other end of the room. He slowly walks down to where the revival shall take place.
The room is filled with people, some scientists and other seem to be mystics. In the center of the cavernous room is a crystalline form. The mystics seem to be doing some sort of incantation, while the scientists are checking over the crystal form.
A crack starts to slowly form in the crystal. With a mighty growl a man breaks free of his prison that Beryl put him into so long ago. The man is dressed similarly to the lord of this domain. His hair is short and blonde in colour.
Jadeite looks around to see the people checking him finally his eye catches that of the lord. "Good to see you again."
"Trust me the pleasure is all mine. I have a proposition for you Jadeite. You serve me and you can get your revenge on the Sailor Senshi." The lord offered.
"And if I refuse?" Jadeite sneered.
"I have no problems putting you back into that crystal prison for the rest of eternity." The lord commented.
"Alright. I accept your offer Meinengel. You were always a clever man." Jadeite said not meeting Meinengel's gaze.
"Good." Meinengel turns to face his advisor. "Does there seem to be any side effects to the resurrection process?"
"None at the current moment, my lord." The advisor quickly says.
"Excellent. " Meinengel tells his advisor before he leaves. "Jadeite if you will follow me."
"We have begun attacks against the Senshi once more." Meinengel stated. "I have reason to believe that some of the Guardians have awakened. If we could harness their immense energy we could undoubtedly destroy the Sailor Senshi."
"What makes you think that they have been awakened? Surely they wouldn't have awakened just a few of them. They would have awakened them all at once." Jadeite retorted.
"That does not seem to be the case here. Although we can now detect the energies that lie dormant within a guardian or Senshi, we still have to find the remaining ones. And I know there is at least one active is because Maznite was easily defeated by Frost himself." Meinengel said with a slight hint of anger in his voice.
"If Frost is active, that means the traitor Thanatos won't be far behind. He has been a thorn in our side ever since the Silver Millennium." Jadeite commented.
"This I know, all the known Sailor Senshi have been active for some time now. Including Thanatos' little sister Sailor Saturn. If we could control her we could cause a collapse from within their ranks." Meinengel grins evilly at this idea, while Jadeite just smirks at the idea.
A messenger quickly runs toward the two. "My lord, we are ready to begin the next attack at your command."
Meinengel continues to smile "Excellent." Jadeite and himself both head back to the throne room.
John woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. As he got up he remembered that he had an injured ankle. He actually didn't so much remember as was reminded by a sudden sharp pain in his ankle. "Son of a…." was all John managed to yell as he fell on the bed. He could hear a sudden burst of noise from the living room. A few moments later Amy burst in to his room, wearing only her panties and a t-shirt.
She rushed over to the bed and helped him to sit back up. "John, are you alright. You should've called me if you wanted move about." When she looked back up at his face she noticed he was staring at her. When she looked down she finally realized just how little clothing she was wearing and began to blush profoundly. She decided to try to get his attention back. "John, why were you trying to get up anyway?"
John finally snapped out of his daze and looked at her face. "Someone is knocking on the door. I was going to go answer it."
Amy cocked her head and suddenly she realized that there was someone at the front door. She helped John up to his feet and began to move towards the door. "Here, let me help you."
Serena and Raye were standing at the front door to John and Shawn's place. Serena was pounding on the door. Raye just sighed. "Serena, maybe no one is home."
Serena just looked at her. "Where else would they be? It's not like they know very many people here in the city." Raye muttered something under her breath that Serena couldn't hear. "What did you just say Raye?" Before Raye could answer the front door opened to reveal John leaning on Amy shoulder. Amy was wearing just a pair panties and a t-shirt. Both the girls began to blush. Raye was the first to speak up.
"If we are interrupting something we could come back later." She said slyly.
Amy just glared at her. "I was asleep on the couch. Your knocking woke John up and he tried to answer the door by himself and fell. He hollered and woke me up and I helped him to the door.'
John was about to invite them inside when he noticed a strange look on Raye's face. "Hey, What's wrong Raye."
Before She could answer an explosion sent them all flying out of the house onto the front yard. When the smoke finally settled the first thing any of them saw was the giant lizard standing in front of them. "Time to die Sailor Senshi!" One of its arms lashed out at John before anyone could react.
John manages to roll out of the way of the arm. "That is strike three. You're outta here."
John looks over to Serena who nods.
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"
"MERCURY PLANET POWER!"
"MARS PLANET POWER!"
"SATURN DARKNESS POWER!"
John smiles "Now it is time to play."
The monster smiles looks at the group and begins running toward Sailor Moon, then stretches it's arm and lashes out at Thanatos.
"Son of a …" Thanatos use this staff to knock the arm away is surprised to see the monster change directions and is heading towards him.
Thanatos waits until its close enough and baseball slides between the monsters' legs. As the monster turns around he jumps up to his feet and delivers a kick to the side of the head of the monster. Unfortunately it was his injured foot he hit the monster with. As the monster stumbles back it hears, "Moon Crystal Power Kiss!" The monster is instantly vaporized as soon as the attack hits.
John falls to one knee. Amy runs over and helps him to his feet. John smiles "That was awfully easy." John looks at the house, which is smoking severely. "What is it with this city and huge explosions?"
Amy smiles "Our luck I guess."
John shakes his head, "Shawn's going to be awfully mad when he finds out about this. Oh well, he'll have to live with it. Do you girls want to come inside?"
Both Serena and Raye shake their heads as they begin to walk away.
John and Amy walk inside to find it basically undamaged besides the smoke. "I wonder where the hell Shawn is any way?"
At that moment, about half way across the city, Shawn was asleep, curled up beside Lita in her bed, unaware of the events that had just taken place.
Thanatos' notes:
Well this is the first chapter of the Sailor Moon: Dark Times. However there is one small difference between this one and the other one that is currently posted. This version of Dark Times is only written by myself.
You will find it mostly the same however there are going to be some large differences. I hope you all enjoyed reading this. I'll see you all later with the next chapter of Sailor Moon: Dark Times.