Chapter Two – The Good Old Days

-There were times I longed for death...now it is everywhere I turn.

"Geez Serena, you think maybe you would grow up a little in ten years!"

Raye sighed and turned away from Serena. They had met in a small café to have a light lunch while they waited for the others, and Serena wasn't having anything that resembled the word "light".

"AWWWWWWW, come ON Raye. I'm eating for two now", Serena said in-between bites. There was a stack of dishes on the table next to her, and Serena tossed plate she just emptied onto the pile. Raye lowered her head, in an attempt to remain unnoticed. "Yeah, you're eating for a baby and an elephant. No normal person eats that much." Raye regretted saying it the moment the words came out of her mouth. She covered her ears with her hands and turned to face Serena in dreary anticipation.

Serena had dropped the plate she had just picked up, and tears were forming in her eyes. "You mean." she said in a small voice, "I'm... FAAAAAAAAAT!!!???"

The unearthly squeal had made Raye cringe. She looked around the restaurant and noticed several of the restaurant's customers had cringed as well. Raye turned her head towards Serena. The word "Fat" had now degenerated into a nonsensical wail. "WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

For a moment, Raye's hair felt like it was caught in a hurricane, blowing back wildly. "Serena, STOP That WHINING!"

Serena ran out of breath, and she sat there, tears streaming down her face, gasping for air. 'Thank heavens she stopped crying,' Raye thought to herself. She noticed someone standing nearby, and looked up to see a waitress standing over her. "Miss, is everything ok?"

Raye's face started glowing a deep fuchsia as she realized everybody in the restaurant was staring at her and Serena. Even some people on the street outside were peering in. Raye gave a small laugh and waved her hand dismissively, saying, "Oh she'll be fine, thank you!" The waitress looked from Raye to Serena, who still had tears streaming down her face. "Alright then," she said.

'Oh my GOD,' Raye thought, 'I couldn't be more embarrassed!!'

The waitress turned to walk away, but hesitated for a moment. She reached towards the table next to her and pulled a plate off of the tray lying there. She turned towards Raye again. "Did she still want the dessert she ordered?"

Serena's head snapped up, and she turned towards the waitress; the tears were still in her eyes, but they were shimmering with excitement. "Did you say dessert?"

Serena leapt up in the air, waving her arms and giggling uncontrollably. She landed in her seat and grabbed the plate from the waitress, completely oblivious to the unmistakable sound of Raye's head hitting the table. The waitress just smiled and walked back towards the kitchen, laughing to herself.

Raye stirred a little, and she lifted her head up from the table, but only enough to sigh loudly. 'If the others don't get here soon, I'm not going to make it,' she thought.

Raye was about to attempt a conversation with Serena, when a blood-curdling scream ripped through the air. Raye leapt from her chair into a fighting stance. She whipped her head from side to side, trying to discover where the scream had come from. Instinctively, she reached for her purse lying on the table, knowing that her Power Stick was there, and that the situation may call for Sailor power.

However, as she reached for her purse, a sinister thought had struck her suddenly. She turned her head to look down at Serena, who was holding a spoon towards her with a look of absolute joy on her face and her eyes twinkling brightly.

"Look Raye!" she said cheerfully, "There's melted chocolate in the center of this cake."

Raye's eyes slanted down as she once again turned several different shades of red. She suddenly realized why her Sailor outfit was red, so it would more often than not match her face.

"Serena," she said, her voice tinged with an odd combination of embarrassment and rage, "did you, by any chance, scream just now?"

Serena, whose mouth was now full of cake, swallowed loudly and looked up at Raye. She smiled widely and put her hand behind her head. "Uh, gee, I guess I did, didn't I!"

Once again, Raye was painfully aware of the eyes of every person in the room staring at her. "But Raye, there's melted chocolate in the middle." Serena said, gesturing her hands to exclaim the importance of the "melted chocolate".

Raye was about to sit down again, with the small comfort of her head rushing to meet the table, when she heard several voices behind her.

"...So I said, 'No, because the acceleration due to gravity acts uniformly, Wile E. Coyote wouldn't be able to jump just before the rock hit the ground. Technically, his feet aren't even touching the rock."

Raye didn't need to recognize the voice to know that only Amy would argue the physics behind Looney Toons. She turned around to see Amy arguing with Lita, as Mina looked on with a smile on her face. They stopped arguing and looked towards Raye. "Hey guys! What's up?"

Raye didn't care who said it, because she was too busy bowing down in front of them. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou..."

Lita looked towards Mina, and then turned her head towards Amy, all the while smiling. Then she looked towards Serena, and saw her shoving what looked like cake into her mouth at superhuman speed. Lita looked down at Raye, and couldn't help but laugh. 'Raye never has been able to put up with Serena for very long,' she thought to herself.

Mina leaned over to try and pick Raye up by the arm while Amy was bent down trying to console her. Lita reached over to the table next to Serena to grab some more chairs, which she now noticed was filled with a pile of dirty dishes. Once again, she looked back to Raye, who was settling into her seat with a dazed look in her eyes. Amy walked behind Lita to get to her seat, and whispered in her ear as she passed. "Hey," she said, "at least she didn't hit her!" Lita let out a small laugh and whispered back, "No. But even Raye has enough sense not to hit a pregnant woman in public."

Now that they were all sitting down, and Raye looked like she was settling down, Lita asked Serena how she was feeling. "Well," she said in-between bites, "I felt kind of sick on the way here, but as soon as I saw all of this yummy food I felt way better, and I felt a little hungry, so I ordered something to snack on before dinner."

Serena went back to eating, and Raye slammed her hands down on the table and stood up; her face turned a deep red and she leaned in towards Serena. "You mean to tell me THAT," she pointed towards the pile of dishes, "was only a SNACK!!??"

Serena looked at the dishes, and then back to Raye. "Well," she said meekly, "They're not all mine. One of them was yours."

Mina and Amy leapt up to grab Raye as she lunged across the table, her arms outstretched towards Serena; her fingers curled into talons. "Lemme go," she yelled out as they struggled to keep her down, "she needs to die now."

Lita rolled her eyes. "Oh Raye, grow up." They pushed Raye down in her seat, and sat back down themselves. "Yeah," Mina said, "you can't just attack Serena every time she eats a lot. Even the Sailor Scouts couldn't last that long."

Raye's face began to glow again, and she turned her head sharply towards Mina. "Well you weren't here when she swallowed a potato whole!"

Amy gave a small laugh. "Raye, even Serena doesn't have a mouth that big."

Serena was licking the plate clean when she heard what Amy had said. She lowered the plate slowly, and her eyes slanted down, giving her a very sinister look on her face. "And what is that supposed to mean?" Serena said, the venom in her voice nearly melting the plate.

It was Amy's turn to blush now, and as she desperately tried to think of an answer, Raye, with a smug look on her face, crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back. "Now this," she said, "is going to be good."

Amy had her arm behind her head and was spurting out gasps of gibberish. "So Serena," Mina asked, trying to prevent another fight, "where are Artemis and Luna?"

Serena turned her head away from Amy, who was desperately trying to apologize.

"They said that they had important business to take care of, and that we should enjoy ourselves today." Amy's head was hanging in defeat, and Serena turned her head away from the table. "But, I guess we can't do that if I keep shoving food into this black hole I have for a mouth."

Lita was about to step in and try to resolve the fight, when Serena burst into a fit of laughter. "Ah, come on, you guys. I was just kidding. I know I don't eat that much."

Serena continued to laugh as the rest of the girls just looked back and forth between each other, deciding that it was best not to say anything else. Serena went back to eating her cake, or at least, the crumbs that had fallen on the tablecloth, and the others began to chat among themselves.

"Can I get anything for you girls?"

The waitress that had been serving Serena and Raye before stood over Serena and held a small pad in her hands. Lita looked up and politely said no, and Amy and Mina both said no as well. "Actually," Raye said, "since they're not ordering anything, we'll just have the check now. We're going to try and get some shopping in."

The waitress smiled and held her hand up, lifting two fingers up. "Okay," she said, "but was that going to be one check or two?"

Raye looked to the pile of empty dishes, and quickly shook her head. "No, I couldn't afford to pay for her. Separate checks, please."

The waitress nodded her head and walked towards the cash register. "It's a good thing Darien got that accounting job at that new firm down the road," Raye said, "cause if not, he would never be able to afford Serena's food bills." They all gave a quick laugh, and the chatter started up once again.

Lita was about to stand up, when she noticed Serena was breathing heavily and sweating. "Serena," she said, a look of concern growing on her face, "are you feeling okay?" Serena lifted her hands to her forehead and leaned her elbows on the table. She looked up at Lita and smiled weakly. "Yeah," she said quietly, "I'm just a little tired, that's all..."

Her voice trailed off and her face seemed to go completely blank. Her elbows suddenly went out from underneath her, and her head rushed towards the table. The dishes on the table clattered and fell over, the tea from Raye's cup spilling over the edge and splashing across the floor.

The girls stopped talking and they looked down at Serena; the smiles on their faces drained away from their faces, only to be replaced with fear and concern. Time seemed to drag on, as the girls could only look on in horror as Serena slipped off of the table and onto the floor.

"SERENA!" Lita leapt out of her seat and hovered over Serena. She lifted Serena and turned her onto her back. She lowered her ear to her nose to listen for breathing, as the other girls rushed over and knelt down beside her. "Oh my god," Lita whispered, "She's not breathing you guys. Somebody call a doctor."

Lita leapt to her feet and looked around. The people inside the restaurant were looking at her; they hadn't moved and the looks on their faces were completely blank.

"Isn't somebody going to call an ambulance?" she screamed at them. But they remained completely unchanged. Somebody was laughing now. Lita spun around to see their waitress standing in the middle of the room; her arms crossed over her chest, a smile spread across her face.

"Well," she said slowly. She let her hands drop to her sides and she started walking towards Lita. "It seems that your friend there ate a little too much." She stopped about a foot away from Lita's face, and held up a small piece of paper. "I'm afraid the bill is too much for her too afford."

The smile was still on her face as she leapt up into the air and hovered there only for a moment before the air around her began to shimmer. "She's going to have to pay with her life."

She started to scream as her body began to twist and stretch. Her clothes shredded to nothing, revealing a black body suit with a strange symbol woven into the chest. Her hair disappeared and her skin drained of color leaving it a pasty gray. Lita's body tensed and she instinctively stretched out her arms in the hope that she could protect Serena.

She looked back quickly to check on Serena. Amy was giving her mouth-to- mouth, and Mina was holding her hand. Raye wasn't to be seen, so Lita assumed she had gone off to get help. 'So,' she thought to herself, 'it's up to me to protect Serena now.' She looked back towards the waitress, who was now floating in the air; the smile was still on her face, and her eyes were burning like two flames.

"Mina," Lita yelled out, suddenly unsure of her ability to fight his thing on her own, "I could use a little help here."

Never taking her eyes off of her face, Mina laid Serena's hand on the floor and leapt through the air to land at Lita's side. The moment she landed, both her and Lita took a defensive stance; their bodies tensed, their arms taking a fighting position.

"Alright, you piece of trash," Mina said bitterly, "You have exactly two seconds to tell us who you are and what you did to our friend!"

The waitress laughed again, but she didn't move from where she was. "I have no designation." the waitress replied. "I was created for one purpose only."

She floated slowly towards the ground, letting her arms drop to her sides. Her hands began to glow with energy, which formed into two long whips. Lita leaned forward, shifting her weigh on her right leg, preparing to launch herself forward. "And just what purpose is that?" Lita said through her teeth.

The waitress lifted her hand to point towards the unconscious Serena. "To destroy the Moon Princess."

Mina's body tensed when she heard the waitress speak. There was something about the voice that reminded her of something, but she couldn't quite place it. It was nagging at the back of her mind, but she would have to think about it later.

She turned her head to look up at Lita. 'I forgot how tall she really is,' she thought to herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the waitress was getting ready to attack.

Lita slowly reached her hand towards her pocket, and she twisted her head just enough that she could see Mina out of the corner of her eyes. "I think it's a good time for the Sailor Scouts to help out," she whispered, a grin forming on her face, "don't you think?"

Mina couldn't help but smile too. "You bet," she replied as she reached for her own power stick.

Lita thrust her arm up into the air. In her hand she held her power stick, a relic from the Silver Millennium, which allowed her to transform herself into Sailor Jupiter. "You picked the wrong group of people to mess with, lady." she said to the waitress, who was lifting her whips to attack.

Lit raised the power stick high above her head. Electricity leapt from the star at the top of the stick, surrounding Lita completely. The electricity danced through the air as it raged around her body. The flurry of electricity died out as suddenly as it had appeared, and Lita stood poised to attack. She was dressed in a green sailor suit, wearing a tiara encrusted with a smooth emerald on her forehead.

Lita shifted into a karate stance and tensed her body. "How dare you attack our friend!" she exclaimed.

Lita shifted into a different position as the waitress slowly moved closer. The waitress lashed out at Sailor Jupiter with one of her whips. It flew towards her in an arch, but Jupiter wasn't anywhere near it. She leapt into the air, dodging the whip and bracing her arms in front of her face.

Jupiter smashed into the waitress, and pushed herself in the opposite direction, somersaulting backwards. The waitress flew backwards and smashed into the wall behind her. The wall fell down around her, piling up and covering her completely.

Jupiter sailed through the air and landed in a crouch. She knew from the throbbing pain in her arms that this wasn't going to be an easy fight. She looked back at Mina, who was watching in growing concern. Lita knew that the waitress had seen her transform; she would try to prevent any of the others from transforming and joining the fight.

"Mina!" she yelled, "Now, while she's disoriented. Transform!"

Mina nodded her head and held up her power stick. Ribbons of made of stars burst out of the power stick, wrapping around Mina. They tightened around her until she looked almost like a mummy. They began to disappear, and Mina appeared dressed in a uniform similar to Sailor Jupiter, only the suit was orange and there was a topaz in her tiara.

Jupiter stood up and ran to join Sailor Venus, who was standing in between Serena and where the waitress was buried. Venus looked to Jupiter and then back at the rubble. "So what's the deal with this creep?" she asked. Jupiter rubbed her arms where she had collided with the waitress. "She's a toughie."

The rubble shifted suddenly, and both scouts prepared to fight, but it was just a piece of the wall slipping down. Jupiter and Mina relaxed a little, but they quickly turned to check on Serena. Amy looked up at them, tears in her eyes. "I've got her breathing stabilized," she said, her voice cracking slightly, "but she's very weak. We need to get her to a hospital, now."

The word "now" wasn't out of Amy's lips when the waitress burst out of the rubble, screaming in rage. She leapt towards Serena and reared her arm back, readying herself to attack. Venus flew at the waitress, lifting her leg and delivering a fierce kick to the waitress' head. The waitress went into a spin and flew towards a large glass window. She smashed through the glass, but as soon as she was outside, she shifted her weight, coming out of the spin and landing steadily on her feet.

The people in the streets were gathering around the waitress, some asking if she was all right. Her arm snapped out at one of them, grabbing him by the neck. Everyone around her started screaming and running away. The man had grabbed the waitress by the arm and was trying to break her grip. Her fingers twitched and tightened; the sound of choking came from the man as his face turned blue, his eyes bulging.

She twisted around to face the store, the man still in her grip, only to see a bolt of lightning flying towards her. Her body tensed as it struck her in the chest. She bent over from the impact, but she didn't loose her footing, not moving an inch. Laughing, she stood up straight, dropped the unconscious man to the ground and began to walk towards the store.

Jupiter put her hands together. "You leave them out of this!" she yelled.

The rod coming out of her tiara began to glow, and electricity leapt from her hands. She pulled her hands apart, and the electricity formed a ball. She pulled one arm back and threw the ball at the waitress in a perfect pitch. Once again, it struck the waitress right in the chest. She tensed just as she did before; the force from the ball blew her from the sidewalk into the street, but she remained upright, her feet digging two trenches as she flew backwards.

She came to a quick stop, and, standing up rigidly, she made her way off the street towards the store. "Sailor Venus," Jupiter said, her voice tinged with anger. Venus stepped forward and raised her right arm, pointing it accusingly at the waitress. "I'm on it, Jupiter."

Venus closed her eyes in concentration. The tip of her finger began to glow as she gathered energy for the blast. She braced her right arm with her left, like she was bracing a loaded gun. The energy on her fingertip grew brighter and formed two crescent moons. "Venus Crescent Beam," she shouted, the energy intensifying, "Smash!"

The energy shot from her fingertip in a solid beam of light. It struck the waitress in the exact spot Jupiter's attack did. Once again, the waitress tensed her body and tried to absorb the blast, and for a moment, she managed to stay in the same spot.

Venus leaned forward, her brow furrowing in anger. She screamed in blind fury, and the beam of energy intensified. The waitress moved back a little, trying to keep her footing. Venus screamed once again; the beam pulsed and blew a hole straight through the waitress's chest.

"You got her!" Jupiter shouted as the waitress reached her hand towards the hole in her chest; her hand twitched wildly, her expression was that of shock.

Venus' arm dropped to her side and she began to sway back and forth. Jupiter rushed over to her and grabbed her from behind to steady her.

"Way to go," Jupiter said as she looked down at Venus, "You totally wrecked her!" Venus smiled and closed her eyes, but they snapped back open as she heard the waitress laughing.

The two scouts looked up to see the waitress standing with her arms by her sides. The hole in her chest was bleeding fiercely. It ran down her stomach and her legs, pooling on the cement of the sidewalk. Her eyes started to glow, and the blood began to move. It swirled around her feet, and began to climb back up her legs. It collected in the space where her chest used to be.

Slowly, the blood filled the hole and it became solid again, as if the hole was never there. The waitress ran her hand over her chest and breathed deeply. She lifted her arm, the energy whip appearing in her hand, and she screamed as she dashed towards Jupiter and Venus.

Jupiter pushed Venus out of the way. Jupiter tried to jump out of the way, but the waitress was too fast and her whip wrapped itself around her waist. The waitress pulled back on the whip and sent Jupiter sailing through the air, only to crash into the ground, cement flying in all directions. The waitress laughed wickedly as she reared back her arm.

Suddenly, small rings of fire surrounded the waitress, slicing her body and cutting the whip that held Jupiter into ribbons. The waitress wrapped her arms around herself and screamed in pain. She turned her head to see Sailor Mars standing there; her hands formed a temple, flames leapt from her fingers.

"I don't know who you are or what you want," Mars said, her mouth curling into a smile, "and I really don't care!" The flames spun around her fingers as she cried out, "Mars Fire Ignite!"

The flames shot out towards the waitress and struck her entire body. The flame surrounded her and formed a pillar around her body. She screamed louder than she had before and wrapped her arms tighter as if to protect herself.

Mars rushed to the spot where Jupiter had hit the ground. From what Mars had seen, Jupiter was probably unconscious and definitely in need of medical attention. As she got closer to the pit she was lying in, Mars noticed her hair was standing on end. She stopped in her tracks and looked up to see the darkest, most ominous storm clouds that she had ever seen gathering above the city. She twisted to look at the waitress; the fire pillar had burnt out and she was on her knees, gasping for air.

Mars looked up again at the clouds, which were now sparkling with lightning. She looked back at Jupiter, who was now climbing out of the pit, her eyes glowing brightly. She slowly raised her arms as lightning danced across the sky; Mars covered her ears as the thunder split through the air. Jupiter raised her arms, pointing them to the sky.

Realizing what Jupiter meant to do, Mars turned and ran towards where Venus had landed. Once again, Mars stopped dead as she saw Venus with her arm pointing at the waitress. The air around her brimmed with energy, all centered around her outstretched arm. Mars turned herself towards the waitress, putting her fingertips together. 'Fine,' she thought to herself; 'if that's the way it's gonna be.'

She closed her eyes and began to channel her energy, yet all the while thinking of how she was going to attack the monster. She knew that Jupiter and Venus were acting on fury and raw energy; that they would be attacking blindly was obvious, so Mars had to be the one who did the real damage.

The monster had now recovered, and was standing in the center of the triangle the three scouts had formed. She laughed again and stretched out her arm towards Sailor Mars, the whip in her hand crackling with energy. She took a step towards her, but she found herself surrounded by some kind of force field. She looked towards the other, the one who had not transformed yet. Amy, still kneeling at Serena's side, was not transformed, but she was holding her Power Stick in her hands. A small beam of light was coming from the tip of the stick, which arched up into the air, only to come down around the waitress, surrounding her and keeping her from escaping the attack.

Mars reached out with her mind to probe the beast. She reached into its mind, attempting to find out what it was.

A dark and empty place was all Mars could see. The only thing that burned in the creature's mind was to kill the Moon Princess. 'Damn,' Mars thought to herself, 'I can't get anything from this thing.'

Mars had at least hoped to discover what this thing was made of. She was going to attempt to destroy her by exciting the molecules her body was made of; essentially she was going to blow her up, but without knowing what she was made of, she didn't know how effective it would be. It would be fine if it didn't do much damage, but if the waitress were made of some kind of flammable material, which wasn't completely unheard of, it would be rather devastating to everyone around them.

Nevertheless, Mars continued building her attack. 'Oh well,' she though, 'I'll just have to make it work.'

The waitress pounded at the force field, desperately trying to escape. Amy flinched with every blow.

Jupiter lowered her head to look at the waitress; the energy around Venus glowed brightly and shrank into her fingertip; the flames around Mars quickened and lashed out; and Mercury dropped her force field.

Lightening ripped through the air and struck the waitress. Like the Wrath of God, the lightening bore down on her, striking her several hundred times. Venus released the energy she built up, which slammed into the waitress with the force of a small asteroid. The creature arched her back and twitched wildly.

Mars reached out with her power; flames spun though the air as the molecules in the waitress' body moved faster and faster.

As the assault wore on, Mercury raised her Power Stick once more around herself and Serena, praying all the while that the others would be all right.

Jupiter began to sway, and the lightening died out. Venus fell to the ground, dropping her hands to catch herself. Mars' arms fell to her sides and she fell to her knees. They looked towards the waitress. It was lying on the ground, now charred completely black and smoking. It was still twitching, an after effect from the multiple electrical shocks. It slowly stopped twitching and remained still. All four of the scouts breathed a sigh of relief.

Mars stood up, hobbling towards Amy and Serena. As she approached what was left of the waitress, she began to concentrate on its mind. 'I better make sure this thing is done for,' she thought to herself. Once again, she reached into the waitress' mind, searching for any signs of life.

The image of a man flashed in her mind, or at least, it looked like a man. All she really saw was his dark outline, and his burning eyes. His image became more solid, but remained dark. He was in the city, hovering in the air and surrounded on all sides by buildings. Mars watched as he lowered himself towards the ground, placing his hand on the pavement. The ground grew darker, glowing with a dark energy. She saw him lift his hand as he stood up and backed away from the still glowing spot.

A giant crystal ripped out of the ground growing higher and higher until the tip of the crystal reached the man's chin. He reached out and placed his hand on the tip of the crystal; he snapped it off, a piece small enough to be completely concealed in his hand, and placed it inside his robe. He turned his back on the crystal and rose into the air. The crystal started shaking, and it suddenly burst into flames. The man twisted his head back, and glared at Mars. She knew somehow that he could see her. He turned towards her and began to laugh. He reached out his hand and grabbed her by the neck.

She screamed, and tried to get out of the waitresses mind, but the man held her tightly. "So," she heard him say through the fabric covering his face, "you're one of the Sailor Scouts." His fingers tightened around her neck. She clawed at his hand on her neck, unable to breathe. Dark spots began to form around her eyes.

Raye looked up into the man's face, and his eyes were still glowing, like two flames. He pulled her towards his face, lifting her off her feet. "I just want you to know," he whispered in her ear. He stroked Mars' hair lightly and ran his hand down the side of her face. He stared deep into her eyes and said, "You're all going to die."

The man threw her down to the ground and laughed wickedly as he rose into the air, turning his back to Mars. She gasped for air as he disappeared, and she found herself back in her own body.

Mars opened her eyes to see a charred black hand flying towards her. She leapt up into the air to escape, but the thing grabbed her leg and flung her down into the ground. The waitress turned and began to walk, slowly, towards Serena. Jupiter struggled to get to her feet, but her legs gave out and she fell onto her face.

Venus was almost unconscious. She was struggling just to open her eyes, and she barely understood what was happening. Amy had risen to her feet and she raised her arm, her power stick glimmering. She was about to transform herself, when a burst of light came from behind the waitress. She didn't have a chance to turn around. The light surrounded her; Amy covered her eyes as the waitress wailed in agony.

Her entire form shuddered and she flew towards Amy, her body crumbling to dust as she spun through the air. Amy raised her arms to shield her eyes as the dust hit her body, billowing out into a thick cloud. Her hair flew back and she closed her eyes tightly. She felt the dust cover her body; it made its way into her nose and she breathed sharply, taking more of it into her lungs.

She coughed furiously and breathed slowly through the sleeve of her sweater. Squinting her eyes, she waved her hand through the air, trying to get fresh air; but more importantly, trying to discover who destroyed the waitress.

Seeing nothing but dust, she bent down and picked Serena up by the arms, lifting her as best she could and dragging her towards where she hoped the door was. She grunted as she pulled Serena into the light and fresh air. 'How many babies does she have in there,' Amy thought to herself as she laid Serena down on the sidewalk.

She looked around for the other scouts. She could still barely see anything because of the dust that had flooded out into the street. She saw a person standing in front of her, pointing something at her.

Amy couldn't make out the person's face. She nervously ran her fingers across the power stick in her hand. 'Who could it be?' Amy asked herself. 'None of the other scouts have that kind of power.' The figure lowered whatever it was holding and slowly walked towards Amy and the still unconscious Serena.

Amy's mind raced as she tried to guess whom this person could be. It had been years since she had seen the outer scouts, the "evolution warriors" of Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. Why they would be here know she didn't know.

The person's feet clicked loudly on the pavement as he/she began to move towards Amy. The dust settled silently around them. Slowly, the unmistakable silhouette of two long pigtails became visible, and Amy gasped.

'Rini?' The figure moved closer, and Amy realized that it wasn't Rini standing in front of her. It was Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon knelt down next to the unaware Serena. She reached out her hand, lightly touching Serena's forehead. Sailor Moon smiled as she smoothed away a stray hair from Serena's forehead. She lowered her head down and kissed her in that same spot.

Sailor Moon quickly stood to her feet and turned towards Amy, who was staring on in disbelief. She looked from the face of Sailor Moon, the woman standing right in front of her, down to the very same face, only it was the face of the woman lying at her feet.

She looked back to Sailor Moon, who was still smiling. In her hand she held the Scepter of the Moon Kingdom, which Amy had seen time and time again in the hands of the real Sailor Moon.

The false Sailor Moon winked at her and leapt into the air, over Amy's head and onto the rooftop. "WAIT!" Amy said as she ran into the street. She turned around and looked up to see where 'Sailor Moon' had gone, but she had disappeared completely.

Amy lowered her head and she stared straight ahead, completely baffled by what had just happened. She jumped suddenly as someone laid their hand on her shoulder. Amy turned her head to look at Mars; or rather Raye, now that she had transformed back into her normal self.

"What was that?" Raye whispered in her ear. "I haven't got a clue." Amy replied. Amy looked down at Serena, who was still lying there, unconscious. She knelt down next to Serena and put her head up next to her mouth. "Her breathing is stabilized," she said, looking back up at Raye, "but she's very weak. We need to get her to a hospital."

Smoke still poured from the building, and Raye looked around to the several holes in the cement. 'I've never seen a battle cause so much damage,' she thought to herself. She noticed that several people were peering out of a window across the street. She looked around at the other buildings on the street and saw people staring out each and every window. There were people peering around the corners of buildings. Out of the cars, which had piled up in both directions people were hanging, squinting their eyes, trying to see through the smoke. 'Well at least they didn't see me revert back to normal,' Raye thought.

A thought struck her as she heard sirens growing louder. She swung her head back and forth, desperately looking for Venus and Jupiter. She ran towards where she had seen Jupiter fall, but she couldn't see anybody. She couldn't see Venus either. 'I hope they're all right,' Raye thought to herself.

Raye rubbed the back of her arms and turned to look at Amy, who was now talking to the medics, who were leaned over Serena attaching an oxygen mask and preparing to lift her onto a stretcher. She thought of the man in her vision. 'Who was he?' she thought to herself. 'I've never felt such a terrible power.' She could feel his fingers around her throat, even though her encounter had only occurred in her mind. She thought of what he had said to her.

'I just want you to know, you're all going to die.' Raye shuddered as her blood ran cold. He had said it so casually, his voice even tinged with what sounded like excitement. Sure, people had wanted the Sailor Scouts dead before, but they were more enraged than happy about doing it.

Raye was suddenly aware that Amy was standing next to her, talking about Serena and the ambulance. "...say it's some sort of food poisoning, but it is easily curable. It's the baby they're worried about. They're taking her to the hospital now, and I think one of us should go. Raye?" Amy placed her hand on Raye's arm and squeezed it lightly.

"Raye," she said with concern in her voice, "are you all right?" Raye smiled and placed her hand on Amy's. "Yeah, I'm ok," she replied. Raye shook her head as the laugh of the man in her vision still rang though her head. She smiled and looked over at the paramedics, who were now lifting Serena into the ambulance. "Look, I'll be fine" she said to Amy, "you go with Serena. I'm gonna see where the other two went. She took her hand off of Amy's and turned to walk away when she heard somebody yell Serena's name. She turned to see who was yelling, and she saw a police officer setting up a barricade, fighting with one of the people that had gathered to see what was going on.

She walked towards the officer, and saw that the officer was arguing with Darien. "I have to get to her," he was yelling loudly, "you've GOT to let me in there!!" Raye walked up to the officer and placed her hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," she said to him, "he's her husband." The police officer shrugged and let Darien pass. Darien bolted past him and headed straight towards the ambulance, and Raye couldn't help but notice the tears streaming down his face.

Raye walked over to Amy, who was making her way to the ambulance. "Hey," Raye said as she got closer to Amy, "how about you go along with Darien. I still have to find Mina and Lita." Amy nodded and turned towards the ambulance, but hesitated. She turned back to face Raye and asked, "Are you sure you're all right?"

Raye lifted her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes, trying desperately to forget her encounter with the mysterious person she saw in her vision. She opened her eyes and placed her hand on Amy's shoulder. "I'll be fine," she said, her voice quavering slightly, "We can talk about it later." She shoved Amy away lightly and laughed. "Now get over there before I transform and kick your ass." Amy smiled at Raye and ran over to the ambulance, hopping in before they closed the doors.

Raye looked at Darien, who was holding Serena's hand and listening to the paramedic talk. He looked up at Raye. The pain in his face was unbelievable. She couldn't imagine what he was feeling right now. Sure, Serena was one of her best friends, but Darien was her husband. She was carrying his child, and both their lives were in danger. She smiled at him, and raised her hand to wave.

Darien lifted his hand and, very slowly, he pointed his finger towards the restaurant. Raye turned to see a small alleyway that was barely visible due to the rubble and smoke. She looked back at Darien and nodded. He nodded back and immediately shifted his attention to the paramedic.

Raye let her arms drop to her sides and she looked around to see if anybody was watching her. Slowly, she made her way towards the alley and ducked inside, trying to remain unnoticed. Smoke still filled the air around the alleyway. It was hard to see, and harder to breathe, but Raye made her way into the alleyway nonetheless.

Raye peered into the alleyway: nothing but darkness. She had moved her hand to her purse, reaching for her power stick, when she noticed two orbs seemingly floating in the air in front of her.

Her blood ran cold and her body stiffened as she thought of the man in her vision. The two eyes, which were definitely eyes, because she noticed they were blinking now, slowly moved towards her. They bobbed up and down ever so slightly, and with each second, Raye grew more frightened. She thrust her hand into her purse and pulled out her Power Stick.

She was just about to raise her arm, when something jumped on her shoulder. Raye leapt into the air, screaming as she went. She grabbed whatever was on her back and shook it violently for a moment before hurling it at the wall of the alley. Whatever it was, it made a loud noise as it hit the wall and a dull thud when it slid to the ground.

Panting, Raye lifted her Power Stick, which began to glow. The light grew brighter and brighter until she was able to see the dim outline of the thing she had thrown at the wall.

She knelt down to get a closer look, and much to her surprise, she saw Artemis lying there, his tail twitching and his eyes bulging slightly out of his head. She stood up and held her power stick towards the floating eyes, which had belonged to Luna. Once again, she knelt down and she picked Artemis up, holding him in her arms. "Oh, Artemis. Are you okay?" she asked in concern.

He shook his head and, blinking his eyes several times, stood up. He stretched himself out in her arms and meowed loudly. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, still yawning, "It's nothing I don't experience every time Mina wakes up late."

He looked up at Raye, smiling. Raye placed her free hand on his back and said, "Good."

Suddenly, she wrapped her hand around his neck and lifted him up so that they were looking directly into each other's eyes. "Because if you ever, EVER, do that again," she said, the volume of her voice rising with each word, "I swear to GOD I'll do a lot worse to you than Mina ever did. Understood?"

She glared at Artemis, who swallowed hard and smiled nervously. "Uh, yes" he said meekly. Raye placed him on the ground, right next to Luna and said, still glaring at him, "Good."

Raye moved deeper into the alleyway. She heard the soft padding of her companions behind her, but she could not sense anything in front of her. It was as if the darkness was a void, an absolute emptiness.

She moved forward slowly, turning her head back to look at Luna. "Are you sure they're back here?" she asked, her voice quavering slightly.

"Of course." Luna leapt up onto Raye's shoulder, drew close to her ear and asked, "Why?"

Raye stopped and twisted her head to look at Luna. Luna looked worried, and Raye knew that she was wondering what had happened. Raye looked forward and kept walking, choosing not to respond to Luna's question.

As she moved further into the alley, two figures began to appear in the dim light from Raye's power stick. Raye bent over and held out her arm so the light from her power stick fell on Lita and Mina.

They were propped up against the walls, still in their uniforms, and apparently unconscious. She felt Lita's neck for her pulse, and, after determining that she was at least alive, moved on to check Mina.

They had both suffered minor concussions, and a severe drain on energy, but Raye was sure they would completely recover. "They're fine," she said to the two cats who were standing by in worry.

Raye had gone to medical school and had just graduated as a nurse. She always knew she was meant to heal people, and it never hurt to have someone on the world's only team of superheroes who was trained in first aid. Battling evil from other dimensions tended to result in more injuries than a normal person might usually endure. It also helped not to rouse too much suspicion when the girls constantly ended up in the hospital. There were only so many excuses you could make up for being hurt all the time.

Of course, Amy had become a doctor, but she had moved away several times just to finish her degree, so it was nice to have someone available

Raye was satisfied that the girls were not in dire need of attention, both medical and that of being sailor scouts, so she took it upon herself to get them out of their uniforms. She reached over to Mina and pressed down on the center of the ribbon on her chest. The uniform she wore as Sailor Venus slowly unraveled and revealed the street clothes she had been wearing before she had transformed. She reached over and did the same to Lita.

Raye leaned back against the wall of the alley and slid into a sitting position. She pulled her knees in towards her chest and leaned her head against them. She was extremely tired, and the image of the dark man in her vision was still haunting her.

Luna walked up and sat down next to her. "What happened out there?" she asked, trying to be as sensitive as she could. "Are you alright?"

Raye began to grow tired of that question. She knew that she would have to talk about it eventually, but for the moment, she just wanted to be left alone. She had never encountered a power like it before; it felt like there were worms crawling around in her head when he touched her. Besides, most people don't take death threats to easily either.

Raye pushed it all out of her mind as best she could and stood up. She lifted Mina up and placed her limp arm around her head. "I'm fine Luna," she said as she moved towards the street, "I just need some time to think."

Raye rested Mina down next to the sidewalk and went back to get Lita. Luna and Artemis had tried to pick her up, but had been as successful as any cat trying to lift a full-grown woman would have been. Raye bent down and grunted as she lifted Lita to her feet. "How did you guys managed to get these two in here, anyway?" she asked.

"Well," Artemis said as he walked towards the street, "Darien had shown up near the end of the battle. He had seen the girls in the street and pulled them here where they wouldn't be hurt anymore."

He stopped as he reached Mina and turned around to face Raye. "I guess he didn't see Serena or he would have gone to her first."

'The problem is, Darien did see Serena,' Raye thought to herself, 'or at least Sailor Moon. But it wasn't his wife that defeated the monster.'

Raye had just set Lita down next to Mina when she heard a medic calling for two stretchers. She looked up and saw a medic running towards her and the girls at her feet.

The medic quickly bent over the two girls and started asking questions. Just as several more medics were arriving with stretchers, Raye was explaining to them that her friends had been attacked when they were trying to escape.

Lita and Mina were quickly being whisked off and the medics had now turned their attention to Raye. They wrapped a blanket around her and led her towards the ambulance. Several different police officers had walked up and started asking her questions, but she did not answer.

As the medic guided her into the ambulance with Lita, Raye could only think of one thing. It couldn't have been Serena that had destroyed the monster: she was dying, lying unconscious on the floor. So if it wasn't Serena, who was it?