DISCLAIMER

As usual, "Sailor Moon" and all related characters
are copyrighted by Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha, TOEI
Animation and other agencies.

The Saga of Mercury story is copyrighted by me, however
content in some chapters is based on the Mercury
Knight Stories as described in the Chapter 1 Introduction.

******
You can view released chapters in PDF format by visiting
the official web site of this fanfic, at:
http://members.aol.com/jrhorse98/sagaofmercury/index.html

You can also view these chapters at:
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http://www.mediaminer.org/fanfic
http://www.fandomination.net (Note: web site currently 404'd)

Chapters are also posted weekly at the Sailor Moon newsgroup:
news:alt.fan.sailor-moon
******


The Saga of Mercury
Chapter 11
Pandemonium in the Pool

The morning after the "experience" at 10-Ban
Land, Greg was in his bathroom, sinking into
the hot tub.

The water, whose source was from the natural
hot springs, was very relaxing.

Wow, he thought to himself. Yesterday was one
of the biggest nights of my life. We fought a
youma twice.. and I nearly died, again. But Amy
was there for me.. I.. I can't describe what I'm
feeling right now. Amy is a princess.. no, what
am I saying.. Amy is THE princess! I have never
felt this close to Amy in my entire life.

He stared at a shelf on the wall, where he had
placed his Mercury dagger prior to taking his
bath and reflected on his thoughts.

As he exited the tub and got dressed, the
telephone rang.

Greg answered the phone... it was his dad.

"Glad to see you're up, son. We haven't had
some quality time together in a while, do you
mind stopping by the fitness center this
afternoon so we can jump in the large pool?"

"Uh... okay," said a hesitant Greg, "but you know
me when it comes to swimming."

Greg had tried to swim before, and he was
absolutely awful at it. He hadn't tried to swim
in two years. Even with a swimming pool in the
back of his new house, he was reluctant.

"Oh it will be just fine, son. I'll be there as
always to help you out. See you there?"

"See you there," said Greg.

Greg hung up the phone and moaned. "This is
great," he yelled in disbelief.


Meanwhile, back in the Negaverse...

"So Greg has beef about swimming, eh?" Sorinya
said with curled lips. Then an idea struck her.
"I know... I'll find a youma that's strong enough
to take care of Greg. Before I turn my
attention to Amy, I'll make sure that Greg's
swim is his first… and last!"


At the Fitness Center...

Greg walked to the pool wearing his trunks and
sandals and carrying a towel.

The pool area was pretty empty, save for one
person that Greg noticed was swimming
underwater. He found an empty beach chair along
the side and laid the towel on that chair. Once
that was done, he removed his sandals and
walked along the edge to the corner, where
steps descended into the pool's shallow end.

Greg began to step into the pool. Two steps in,
he froze. His feet were already shaking from
the lower temperature of the water. It took him
about two more minutes before he had the
courage to plunge everything under his head
into the water. He immediately started to move
about in order to warm himself.

"Scared even to get in, huh?"

Greg looked halfway down the pool to see that
the person swimming in the pool... was his own
father.

"Let's have a go at it, son," Mr. Urawa said to
him.

Greg hesitated, and then thought to himself, I
have to face my challenges and overcome them
someday...

"All right," said Greg.

"Greg, see if you can swim your way from there
to where I'm at, which is a few feet deeper
than where you are right now. Remember what I
taught you before, use both your arms and
legs."

A deep breath and an "OK" was Greg's response.

Greg let go of his nervousness, and tried to
start swimming over towards his dad.

Greg swam..
and swam..
and swam..

to his father..

past his father...

"Greg!" said a smiling Mr. Urawa.

Greg was swimming -- not like a beginner, but
like Mark Spitz.

He swam to one end of the pool, and then swam
back to the other end.

When Greg finished, he lifted his head out of
the water and look at his dad, whose face was
in awe and amazement.

Greg took some breaths, and then said, "What..
what did I do.. I.. don't get it."

Mr. Urawa responded, "You don't get it? Son,
that was the most impressive swim I've ever
seen! You could be in the Olympics for all I
care! That was.. that was surprising! You've
made me proud, son! You must.. I know.. you've
been practicing in the pool at our house,
behind my back, when I'm at work.. is that it?"

"Uh, I don't know what.."

"Oh son, you've made me proud to be your father
with what you just did." Mr. Urawa said as he
waded his way over to the pool steps. "Looks
like my job is done then. Why don't you stay in
here a while and continue what you were doing?"

Something in Greg wanted him to push on. "All
right," he said.

Mr. Urawa exited the pool, dried himself with
his towel, and walked out of the pool area.

Greg continued to swim the same way he was
doing it before... several minutes later he
thought to himself. How did I get so good? I
couldn't have learned this all in one shot. It
must have been...

Just then a loud, piercing whistle blew. Greg
turned to see a woman in an orange one-piece
swimsuit that read "LIFEGUARD".

"You, get out of the pool! We have class now!"
she yelled in a hacking, mean voice.

"Uh, pardon me, I'm the only one here in this
pool, I'll just move out of the way to let
you..."

"NO EXCUSES! GET OUT!" she barked.

Greg hurried his way over to the corner of the
pool and over to his chair to dry off. The
lifeguard then marched out of the pool area.

Greg lied back on his chair and relaxed himself
while drying up.

Fifteen minutes pass.. Greg looks around.. and
notices that there's no one in the pool or in
the pool area. There was supposed to be a
class, he thought. He stood up and walked
toward the entrance. With his back facing the
pool, he read closely the sign on the front
door, which said, POOL OPEN TO ALL MEMBERS FROM
7 AM TO 11 PM EVERY DAY. CLASSES WEDNESDAYS
FROM 3 PM TO 7 PM. NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY. SWIM
AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Greg thought, No lifeguard on duty? Then why
did that person tell me to get out of the pool
for a class? Besides, it's 1 PM on a Sunday.

"Because, Greg" said a chilling voice behind
him, "you're the only thing that stands in the
way of Amy Mizuno's destruction!"

Greg turned and saw the same woman in the one-
piece orange swimsuit rising out of the water
in the pool; only this time she had green skin
and long green hair sticking up like the wife
of Frankenstein. On the front said the word
"GUARANINE". Below the word was a black
inverted moon symbol.

Greg stood up straight and said, "Oh, all
right, so I can call you Guaranine?"

"That's right," she responded, "Guaranine,
defender of the Negamoon!"

"Well Guaranine, let's see if you can swim your
way past me." Greg said. With that he reached
into his pocket. "MERCURY.." Greg stopped at
once when he realized that he couldn't find his
dagger. Then he remembered.. he left it inside
his locker. A sweatdrop appeared on his head.
He didn't know what to do.

"Well what are you waiting for," said
Guaranine, "Let's tango!"

With that Guaranine sent out a high-pitched
noise from her whistle. Greg saw a large music
note coming out of the whistle; Greg was caught
in it before he could run away. The music note
wrapped around him so tightly that he couldn't
move. The music note dragged him toward the
water.

"This is too easy!" Guaranine said while Greg
was still trying to break free. "Now Greg, it's
time for your swan song, if you know what I
mean!" With that she proceeded to pull the
music note.. and Greg.. into the water. Greg
attempted to resist her force and pressure and
tried to stay above the water. He was managing
to do so, for now.

As Guaranine was working on him, she heard a
loud voice.

"STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!"

She turned around to see three men in shining
armor. "Who are you, the three geeks?"

"Who are you calling geeks? You're the geek
here! You're trying to drown this man.. he is
one of our brothers, and we won't allow it! For
love and justice! We are the knights of the
inner planets, fighting for and defending our
princesses. I am the knight of Thunder and
Lightning, I AM JUPITER KNIGHT!"

"I'm the knight representing Beauty and Love, I
AM VENUS KNIGHT!"

"AND I'M MARS KNIGHT, the guy who handles fire
for a living, so I'd be careful if I were you!"

"Guys!" Greg struggled to say, still feeling
Guaranine's pressure. "W... where are the girls?"

"They're not here," said Jupiter Knight, "we'll
explain later."

"I need one of you guys to try to open the lock
to my locker so I can get my dagger and try to
transform before this note sucks me in! I've
got locker C24!"

"Leave it to me," said Jupiter Knight. "The
rest of you guys try to save Greg and destroy
that orange-green geek!"

Jupiter Knight ran out of the pool area while
Mars and Venus were drawing their swords.

"Come take your best shot, you whistle-piercing
zombie!" yelled Venus Knight.

Mars Knight tried to extend his hand over the
water to save Greg, but his hand wouldn't reach
that far. So he took his sword and extended its
handle toward Greg. "Come on Greg, try grabbing
the handle!" he said.

Greg was still above the water and slowly
trying to make his way toward Mars Knight's
sword handle, still under pressure from the
music note that was holding him back.

"All right," Venus Knight yelled to Guaranine,
"if you won't make your move first, then I
will! VENUS LOVE BLADE CHARGE!"

Venus Knight's attack missed, coming to within
inches of Guaranine's chest.

"Ha ha! You missed!" she yelled.

Venus Knight tried again. "VENUS LOVE..." was all
he could say before he was knocked off of his
feet and out cold, thanks to a Sonic Wave
attack from Guaranine.

Mars Knight looked at his fallen brother, then
focused back on trying to save Greg. "C'mon
Greg!" he yelled! "Just a bit further..."

Greg was reaching the handle of Mars Knight's
extended sword. He was able to free one arm
from the note's intense squeeze and reached for
the handle. He got closer.. and closer.. to
within a few inches.. until the note's pressure
took over, and Greg was sucked down into the
water.

"Greg!" Mars Knight yelled as he drew back his
sword and was ready to jump in.

"I don't think so!" yelled Guaranine. "SONIC
WAVE!"

Mars Knight tried not to fall back, but the
pressure from the Sonic Wave was too much. He
flew back, smacked his head clear against the
wall with tremendous force, and slumped to the
ground.

Greg was underwater, struggling to reach the
surface, holding his breath for as long as he
could.

Greg had enough strength left to lift his head
back into the air for a brief moment. He saw
Jupiter Knight running in with the Mercury
dagger.

Greg had enough time to yell to him, "TOSS IT
HERE!" before he was sucked back into the
water.

Jupiter Knight tossed the dagger into the
water, and then turned around to see that Venus
and Mars were knocked out. "You're mine now!"
yelled Jupiter Knight.

"Ha, ha, you don't scare me!" Guaranine
responded. "SONIC WAVE!"

"JUPITER THUNDER SHIELD CHARGE!"

The Thunder Shield appeared and covered Jupiter
Knight enough to protect him from the Sonic
Wave.. but now Guaranine was constantly hitting
him with attacks. Jupiter Knight couldn't move
out of the way to see if he could help Greg.
All he could do was shield himself.. and wait.

Meanwhile, Greg was struggling in the water for
a while, trying to move back up.. but the music
note was dragging him down deeper, like a huge
weight. Soon he was several feet deep in water,
and the only strength he had left was for
holding his breath.

Greg was now too weak to fight the music note.

When he was almost out of it, he thought to
himself, it's inevitable now. He breathed out,
and said to himself..

I love you, Amy.

Greg then relaxed his body, closed his eyes,
and opened his mouth.


Jupiter Knight was still shielding himself
against Guaranine's Sonic Wave. The shield had
taken a lot of hits by now, and was getting
weak.

Guaranine stopped her attacks briefly and said,
"This is pointless!"

While Guaranine rambled on about the stalemate
situation, Jupiter Knight looked at the pool
and noticed that a body was slowly rising up
from the bottom of the pool.

"Greg.. no, he's not.." he said. "What have you
done, Guaranine!"

"He's disposed of now, which means I can turn
my attention to the likes of you.. and soon.. to
that Amy Mizuno! Goodbye, Jupiter!"

Jupiter Knight shielded himself once again,
bracing for an attack. Then his eyes went wide
open at a sight in the water.

"That's right, Jupiter Knight," said Guaranine,
"Look around one last time at your life before
your disposal!"

Guaranine then felt a tap on her back.

"Huh?" she said, as she turned around.

"Hi there," said Greg, who immediately thrusted
his dagger into Guaranine's chest, right into
the Negamoon symbol.

"AAAAAGHH!" Guaranine yelled, screaming in
pain. "What is this.... This can't be!.. Greg
should be DEAAAAAD...."

Guaranine's body quickly turned into moon dust,
which fell into the water and dissolved.

Venus and Mars were starting to struggle to
their feet, and Jupiter Knight was withdrawing
his Thunder Shield.

"Hey Greg!" yelled Jupiter Knight. "What
happened to you? I thought you were gone!"

Greg was breathing heavily and waded toward the
edge where the three other knights were.

"Well, apparently I have something about
swimming and water," he replied. "Today I find
out that I have a knack for swimming, and.. now
I just found out.. that... I can't drown!"

"You can't... what do you mean, you can't drown?"
said a puzzled Venus Knight.

"Beats me, but I find that I can breathe
underwater!" replied Greg.

"Are you pulling our leg or something?" asked
Jupiter Knight.

"Hmm," thought Mars Knight, "maybe you've got
some hyper power or something."

"Good guess," said Jupiter Knight. "If the
planet Mercury is symbolized by water, then
that explains everything! Greg.. and I'm sure
Amy too.. are connected, or shall I say,
harmonized with the water, just like they were
long ago."

"So, like, that means I've got something
special, too?" asked Mars Knight.

"Well, whatever it is," said Jupiter Knight,
"you'll find out soon enough."

"All right guys," said Greg, "now you have a
little explaining to do. Why are there just the
three of you, plus me? Where are the girls? The
sailor scouts?"

"Oh yeah," said Venus Knight, "well the girls
wanted to see how we would do on our own. You
know, without their help. We won this battle,
but clearly there's some more work to do."

"You've got that right," said Greg.

"Well, dude," said Mars Knight, "looks like
you're still wet. We'll go back to the girls
and tell them how it went, and you can wrap
yourself up in a towel."

Greg nodded his head in agreement, and the
three knights departed.

Greg made his way to the corner, exited the
pool, dried himself, relaxed on the beach chair
for ten minutes, and then left for the locker
area.

Greg returned to the pool area and headed for
the exit. He was dressed in his black pants,
with a dark blue dress shirt and black
sneakers.

Waiting for him at the exit was his father,
dressed in his business suit.

Greg yelled across, "Hi, Dad!"

"Hey, son, I've been waiting for you for a
while out here! What happened?"

"Eh.. well, I.. couldn't resist swimming a little
bit more... sorry about that."

"Oh, no need to worry, son," he replied with a
smile. "With what I just saw earlier, you
deserved the extra swim time!"

"All right, let's go home."

"Uh.. not yet.." his father said. "Someone
actually stopped by to see you."

Mr. Urawa stepped off to the side, revealing a
young woman wearing a long blue dress with a
big bow in the back, a white blouse, and an
aquamarine choker.

She had short blue hair.

Greg slapped his right hand on his forehead.
"You!" he said.

Amy smiled and ran up to embrace him.

"What are you doing here?!" Greg asked.

"Oh..." Amy said, "I just found out that you
found a new passion for swimming. A passion
that I like, too."

"It's amazing, we have more and more things in
common every day, don't we? Oh, by the way, we
have some talking to do about earlier today."

"That's right, we've got to work on some things
with you and the other guys," Amy replied.

"Hey kids," said Mr. Urawa, "sorry to interrupt
here, but I was wondering if you'd all like to
go for dinner at the sushi restaurant tonight.
My treat!"

Amy nodded her head. "Yes that will be
wonderful! Thank you!"

Greg then followed suit. "What's good for Amy
is great for me!" Amy blushed.

"Right, then! I'll drive the two of you back,"
said Mr. Urawa.

As Greg and Amy, arms wrapped around each
other's waist, followed Mr. Urawa to the car,
Greg whispered something in Amy's ear.

"Say Ames, have you ever tried to breathe
underwater?"

Amy stopped. "How... how do you know about
that?!"

"I found out today in that battle with the
youma. Apparently we have those powers carried
over from the past."

Greg opened the car door and held Amy's hand as
she proceeded to enter.

Then Greg said to Amy with a smile, "We're like
fish! No wonder we're such excellent swimmers.."

Then again, Greg thought to himself as his
father started the car, if we were going to a
sushi restaurant, I wouldn't want to be a fish...


**************************************************
End of Chapter 11

Does Sorinya have anything else up her sleeve?

What will the scouts and knights work on next?

Find out in Chapter 12 of, The Saga of Mercury.