AN: Hello everyone! Sorry about the bit of a delay in updating. I really like to update a bit sooner than this, but I've been struggling with some writer's block. Thankfully, I think *crosses fingers* I've gotten past that now. Anyways, thanks, as always, to my reviewers: wannabe kairi, loveinthebattlefield, sakanascaled876, RKF22, Ms. Fairweather, and Comet Moon. Seriously, you guys all rock. I'm happy if I can get 3 reviewers per chapter, but 6! That is so awesome. I love you all.
It was the middle of the night, and Usagi was sleeping peacefully—until her communicator went off. Groaning, she rolled over, and opened it up.
"What is it?" she mumbled.
"There's a youma at the park," Ami said. "We'd better hurry over."
"Mmkay," Usagi said sleepily. She shut off the communication, and dragged herself out of bed. Opening her window, Usagi carefully leapt out, and onto the ground. Once she'd landed, she took off running, adrenaline taking over. She got to the park, and saw Mercury and Jupiter already there. Hiding behind a tree, she called out her transformation.
"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"
By now, the intoxicating rush of power was familiar to her. She let it wash over her body, transforming Usagi Tsukino, an ordinary school girl, into Sailor Moon, super heroine and savior of Tokyo.
Sailor Moon rushed onto the scene, right as Mars was arriving.
"All right, what do we have?" Sailor Moon asked.
"A nasty one," Mercury said, furiously typing away at her computer. "It seems to attack mainly through brute force. I'm working on figuring out a weakness."
"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter called, hitting the youma with a bolt of lightning. The youma hardly flinched.
"Damn it!" Jupiter cursed. "Our attacks aren't doing anything."
"Let me try," Mars said. "Fire Soul!"
Once again, the youma didn't seem to be affected much. It was a large, animal-like youma. It moved swiftly on two feet, but it was covered in purple fur, and had long arms with razor-sharp claws. It swiped its arm out, knocking Jupiter and Mars backwards into a tree.
"Are you all right?" Sailor Moon asked, rushing over to her injured friends.
"Fine," Jupiter said, wincing as she got up. "That thing is strong."
The youma reached out to attack again, just barely missing Sailor Moon, as she jumped out of the way.
"Mercury?" Sailor Moon asked, dodging another attack. "A little hint on the weakness might be nice."
"I'm working on it," she said. "I'm getting very confusing readings, however… it's taking me a minute to decipher them."
"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter called out again, hitting the youma. It turned to look at her, and ran over, preparing to attack with its claws.
"Moon Tiara Magic!" Sailor Moon cried out, trying to divert the enemy's attention away from Jupiter.
It worked, although it barely damaged the youma. It changed direction, and headed towards Sailor Moon, ready to attack.
"Crap," she muttered. She hadn't really thought past getting it away from Jupiter. Now she was stuck. The youma struck out towards her, and Sailor Moon tried to duck out of the way. It still hit her, however, and sent her flying backwards into the air. She was knocked backwards into a tree, hitting her head hard. She slowly sank to the ground, dizzy and seeing spots from the force of it.
"Sailor Moon!" Mars cried, running over to help her friend. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said, shaking her head to clear it. She stood up, knees wobbling. "Just a bit sore, that's all."
Mars frowned. "You're bleeding."
"Am I?" Sailor Moon asked. She had lots of small cuts and scrapes, but she felt something wet on the back of her head. She reached her hand back, and found it to be covered in blood. "It's noting serious."
"Nothing serious?" Mars exploded. "Are you crazy? Your head is covered in blood, and you can barely stand without falling over! It is most definitely serious!"
Sailor Moon just rolled her eyes. "Really, I'm fine. Now, I don't know about you, but I'd rather not be killed by a youma today, so how about you stop yelling at me and we focus our attacks on defeating this thing?"
Mars narrowed her eyes at Sailor Moon, but reluctantly agreed. "Fine. Mercury, any news on the weakness?"
"I'm afraid it doesn't have an obvious one," Mercury said. "We'll just have to hit it with all we've got."
"Got it," Jupiter said. "Supreme Thunder!"
At the same time, Mercury called out, "Shine Aqua Illusion!"
The electricity-charged water hit the youma, and it staggered backwards,
"Burning Mandala!" Mars called out, hitting the youma. It writhed in pain, and while it was distracted, Sailor Moon pulled out her scepter.
"Moon Scepter Elimination!" She put all of her energy into it, and in a swirl of light and power, the youma screamed in agony as it was turned to dust. Sailor Moon wondered for a moment why the world was suddenly tilted, before everything went black.
"Sailor Moon!" Jupiter cried out. "Are you okay?"
Sailor Moon groaned as she came to, finding herself in Tuxedo Kamen's arms, and the Senshi crowded around her, panicking.
"Fine," she said, sitting up.
"You are most certainly not fine," Mars said. "You have a head wound! You clearly need medical attention immediately, if not sooner."
"I agree," Tuxedo Kamen said. "You need medical attention."
"It's really not serious," Sailor Moon said.
Mars turned to look at Mercury, who was tapping away on her computer.
"It seems that she's right," Mercury said. "After the wound is cleaned and bandaged, Sailor Moon should be fine. Although, you may have a mild concussion."
"See?" Sailor Moon said. "I'm fine. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to leave, so I can cram in about 20 minutes of sleep before I have to get up again."
She got to her feet, and walked off, heading back home. Once she was out of sight, she dropped her transformation. It was nearly seven, which meant in an hour she had to be up for school. And that didn't include the time it took to get back to her house, and clean herself up so her parents didn't wonder what had happened to her.
Usagi knew that her parents would be up by now, so she couldn't go in the front door. Instead, she snuck around the back, until she was standing underneath her window. She climbed up the tree near her window, and then took a flying leap towards her window. Grabbing on to the window sill, she hauled herself in through the window. Quietly closing her window, Usagi walked into the bathroom, hoping nobody was upstairs.
Luck seemed to be in her favor today, as she made it to the bathroom without encountering anyone. She took a washcloth and carefully washed away all the blood. Grabbing some gauze, she put some over the wound. Frowning, she rearranged her hair, trying to cover the gauze better. She hoped nobody would look to closely at the back of her head that day. Finally done, she headed back to her room, and collapsed onto her bed. She fell asleep nearly instantly, noting with annoyance that it was now 7:32.
By the time lunch rolled around, Usagi felt half dead. Her head hurt, she'd gotten nowhere near enough sleep, and she was sore all over from being slammed into the tree. To make matters worse, Ms. Haruna had called on her to answer a difficult math question, and when she couldn't, she gave Usagi detention.
"Hey," Makoto said, sliding down next to Usagi. "How are you doing?"
"Ugh," Usagi said. "I just want to go home, curl up in bed, sleep for a million years, and forget that the Dark Kingdom exists."
"I know the feeling," Makoto said sympathetically. "But you just have to be strong. We'll kick some Dark Kingdom butt, and then we can go back to our normal lives."
"Yeah, I know," Usagi said. "Still. I wouldn't complain if life decided to be a little easier now and then. We're up all night fighting youmas, and then we still have to be on the lookout for any signs of the enemy pursuing these rainbow crystals. Plus, we have school."
"Well, at least I can help with the school part," Ami said, arriving and sitting down next to Usagi. "You said Ms. Haruna gave you extra work to do."
"Yeah, math," Usagi said. "I guess I could take it to Mamoru… ugh, I have another tutoring session with him today."
"How's that going?" Makoto asked.
"Terrible!" Usagi moaned. "He's rude, impatient, a total jerk all the time, and a terrible teacher. I hate him."
Makoto fought back a smile. Usagi was always complaining about Mamoru, but she seemed to enjoy it a bit too much… Makoto had a feeling she secretly liked him.
"Let me see the work Ms. Haruna gave you," Ami said. "I can help you with some of it."
"Thanks, Ami, you're a lifesaver," Usagi said gratefully.
Just as Ami took the homework, a scream pierced the air.
"It's a monster!" someone cried. "Somebody help!"
"You have got to be kidding me," Usagi said, burying her head in her hands.
"Come on, Usagi, we have to go investigate," Makoto said, pulling Usagi to her feet. They followed the sounds of screams, and saw a youma draining the energy of some of the students.
Ami snapped open her communicator. "There's a youma at the school, draining the energy of students."
"On my way," Rei said over the communicator.
"Come on, we need to transform," Makoto said.
"You're right," Usagi said, sighing resignedly. She was tired enough already, but duty called.
The girls called out their transformations, and soon the Sailor Senshi were standing where three school girls had been a minute before.
"Hey, you there!" Sailor Moon said, stepping out to face the youma. "Draining the energy of students who work hard at school will not be tolerated! In the name of the Moon, I, Sailor Moon, defender of love and justice, will punish you!"
The youma, a blue humanoid which used its hair to attack, turned towards Sailor Moon. It didn't say anything, but shot its hair towards her, which she easily dodged.
"Shabon Spray!" Mercury called out, covering the area in a dense fog. "I'm going to check on the injured. Can you and Jupiter handle the youma until Mars gets here?"
"We'll be fine," Sailor Moon said.
Mercury ran off through the fog to tend to the wounded.
"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter called out, hitting the youma. It dropped to the ground, screaming in pain.
Sailor Moon pulled off her tiara. "Moon Tiara Magic!"
The tiara hit the youma, and it dissolved into a pile of dust.
"Huh, that was easy," Sailor Moon said.
Mars came running onto the scene, out of breath. "Where's the youma?"
"Gone," Jupiter said. "We defeated it easily."
"Very easily," Sailor Moon muttered. "Almost… too easy."
"What do you mean?" Mars asked,
"Well, think about it," Sailor Moon said. "The youmas have been getting stronger lately, and harder to defeat. The one earlier today took a lot out of everyone. So why was this one so easy? All it took was a little zap of Jupiter's thunder, and my tiara, and poof! It was gone."
"Hmmm," Mars said. "That's very odd… but what's even weirder is that I still feel an evil aura nearby. If the youma was defeated, what's the evil presence I feel?"
They all looked at each other, and then ran off to find Mercury.
"Mercury," Mars said. "Can you check on your computer for any signs of the enemy nearby?"
Mercury pulled out her computer, and started tapping away. "Why, though? What about the youma?"
"We defeated it," Sailor Moon. "But too easily. And Mars still feels an evil aura."
"Wait a minute," Mercury said. "There is something. It will take me a minute to pinpoint the exact location. However, I am picking up some strong energy signals that are linked to the Dark Kingdom. It seems to be coming from… three blocks away, to the west."
"Come on then!" Jupiter said, running off. "Let's do this!"
Sailor Moon, Mercury and Mars followed in close pursuit. They heard the screams before they got there. When they arrived, they saw Nephrite cornering a young man, who was cowering in fear.
"I don't know what you want, but please just leave me alone," he was saying. "I can give you money, or…"
Nephrite smirked. "I don't want money. There's something else you have I'll be taking." He held up a black crystal in front of the man, and waves of energy started coming off of it. The man screamed in agony, clutching at his chest.
"Stop right there!" Sailor Moon said. "I will not allow you to harm an innocent man. In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!"
"Oh, really?" Nephrite said. "Come forth, youma!"
A red crystal appeared in the man's chest, and pillars of light shot up all around him, as he fell to the ground. In his place a robotic-like youma appeared. It was made out of red metal, and buttons on its arms which looked like they would reveal hidden features. Nephrite reached for the crystal, but a rose shot through the air, striking right in front of the crystal.
"I can't allow you to have that," Tuxedo Kamen said, picking up the crystal. "I'll be taking this."
The youma pushed a button on its arm, and a large spiked hammer appeared. The hammer came crashing down towards Sailor Moon, but Tuxedo Kamen pulled her out of the way in time.
"Shine Aqua Illusion!" Mercury called, hitting the youma, but having little effect.
"Burning Mandala!" Mars said, creating a little more damage.
The youma lashed out again, this time using a long metal pole to attack. At the end of the pole there were two large metal pinchers, which it used to pick up Sailor Moon.
"Let me down!" Sailor Moon struggled against the binds, but she couldn't move.
"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter said, hitting the youma, and forcing it to release Sailor Moon.
"Now, Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Kamen said.
"Wait," she said. "How am I supposed to defeat it? It was originally a human. I can't hurt a human!"
"Use this," Luna said, producing a small stick with a crescent moon on top. "This will heal the youma, and revert it back to a human."
"Got it," she said. "Moon Healing Escalation!"
The light hit the youma, and it cried out in pain, before collapsing back to the ground as a human.
"Will he be okay?" Sailor Moon asked.
"He'll be fine," Mercury said, running some scans on her computer. "He's unconscious, that's all."
"Wait," Sailor Moon said suddenly, noticing Tuxedo Kamen's retreating form. "Why are you taking the rainbow crystal?"
"I need it," he said.
"But… we need it, too," she said. "And we did all the fighting. What makes you think you can just take it?"
"I'm sorry," he said. "But I need it for… personal reasons."
"And your personal reasons are more important than finding the Moon Princess and defeating the Dark Kingdom, thereby saving the world from destruction?"
"I'm sorry," he said again, but offered no other explanation before disappearing.
"I don't trust him," Luna said. "How can we be sure he's not working for the Dark Kingdom?"
"He's not," Sailor Moon said.
"And how do you know this?" Luna asked. "You mustn't let your personal feelings get in the way of your job. It is dangerous to trust anyone other than your fellow Senshi. Be wary of who you trust; trust placed in the wrong person can mean your death."
"I know that," she said. "But… I just know he's not our enemy."
"He's certainly preventing us from getting our hands on the rainbow crystals, so I don't think he's an ally," Luna said.
"But he's saved my life so many times," Sailor Moon said. "Why would he do that if he were our enemy?"
"To make you trust him, so he can betray that trust when the time comes," Luna said.
"No," Sailor Moon said. "He's not the enemy. Maybe his reasons for wanting the crystals are perfectly valid."
Luna sighed. "I can see I won't get anywhere by arguing with you. But be careful. We must get the rainbow crystals, no matter what the cost."
"I know," Sailor Moon mumbled, but her attention wasn't on Luna. She noticed something lying on the ground. It was a small, golden, star-shaped locket.
AN: Please keep these lovely reviews coming. :)
