Terror on the Tennis Court

The sun rises yet again upon the Giscard estate. A month has passed since Jadeite was beaten, and Thedon was finally due to have his arm and leg casts removed. His rate of healing was simply astounding. The doctors were completely stumped as to how someone could heal so quickly. The fact that he was alive, let alone conscious, when he was brought in was considered a miracle in itself. He stayed in the hospital for one week before being allowed to return home. During that time, Serena, Amy, and Raye visited him every day after school, which brought a smile to his face.

When he got home he rarely left his room, spending most of his time either asleep or conversing with the penguin commandos. Kowalski, when he wasn't checking Thedon's vitals, busied himself by studying the various blueprints for the Furon tech, all the while thinking up new ideas and variations, which he would build and allow Rico to test. Luna was often in attendance for these various tests, often times getting a chuckle out of watching the penguins antics when they weren't blowing things to oblivion and back.

However, while Thedon recovered, the Negaverse plotted. Queen Beryl was meeting with the second of her four generals, a man with long, reddish-brown hair, pretty-boy looks, and the same uniform as Jadeite. His name is Nephrite, and he had what he thought a fool-proof plan.

"Jadeite failed because he tried to collect energy from too many people at once. I can gather more energy from one person then Jadeite could from a hundred." While she outwardly showed no interest, Beryl was curious as to how this could be done.

"And how do you intend to accomplish this?"

"Despite what they might think, the human race is ruled by the movement of the stars throughout the heavens, and each human lives accordingly to a set rhythm unique to them. There is a moment in every human's lives when their energy rises to its highest level." Nephrite was interrupted by a shrill laugh coming from a blonde woman. She wore the same uniform as Jadeite and Nephrite, marking her as another of the four generals.

"You seem pretty sure of yourself."

"Go away, Zoicite, this isn't your affair."

"You think you can succeed where Jadeite failed? Don't forget about that one human that gave him so much trouble."

"Back off, I'll deal with him when the stars are properly placed. Not even he is immune to the fate set upon him by the stars. I will find these humans at the moment where their energy is at its highest, and then I shall claim it for the Negaforce."

"Bravo, you sound oh so grand and noble, just like Jadeite. Try not to end up like him, lest you find yourself being toyed with like he was." Zoicite then disappeared in a swirl of flower petals, after which Beryl gave the okay to Nephrite to proceed. He proceeded to use his magic to manifest an illusion of a mist filled forest surrounding a slightly run-down cathedral-like mansion. Nephrite stood within, gazing at a projection of the galaxy complete with every star and constellation.

"Everything is ruled by the stars. There is the power of the universe; I will use that power to find those humans as they reach their maximum energy potential." He looked up at the very center of the projection, which flashed several times before shooting a beam of light into Nephrite's forehead.

"I call upon the great archer, Sagittarius, shoot your arrow from the center of the Milky Way, and find that person. This is the person chosen by the archer." His eyes were glowing red as he opened them, and a girl was projected in his mind. She had brown hair in a pony-tail, was dressed in a tennis player's uniform complete with a visor, and held a racket in her hands.

"Katy Sandler, soon your energy will be mine." While Nephrite gloated to himself, he remained unaware that he was being watched by three pairs of eyes, which belonged to three lemurs of different species. The smallest lemur was a light brown color with beige fur on his stomach and had a small, almost flat snout. The second tallest lemur had a more subdued color scheme consisting of various shades of gray and black and was considerably wider than the other two. The tallest lemur was entirely gray in color, save for the black rings on his tail, and had a long, narrow snout. Another noticeable feature was the crudely fashioned headdress he wore like a crown. These three lemurs were among the many that Thedon now owned thanks to that auction, and their names were Mort, Maurice, and Julian, or King Julian as he preferred to be called.

"See Maurice, it is just as the sky spirits told me, the second dark general has made his first move."

"Not that I doubted your judgment, your majesty, but are you sure we should even be here?"

"How many times must I explain this to you? The penguins told us that Thedon needed some eyes and ears on the outside, and the sky spirits told me about this place. It's a clear sign that this is what we are meant to do in order to repay Thedon for keeping us from becoming some tacky seat cover. Am I right Mort?" After failing to hear an answer, Julian looked behind him to see Mort staring intently at the projection and Nephrite. "Pretty lights."

It was the end of Thedon's first day back from his month long absence, and he took the time to catch up with everything that's happened since then. Naturally he got many questions from the students asking why he was gone so long, but he simply rebuffed them and changed the subject. He finally escaped the over-curious crowd and started looking for Serena. He found her with Molly, and both were simply mesmerized by what was happening in the enclosed tennis court. A girl with long brown hair in a pony-tail was playing a superb game, which whipped the crowd into frenzy with every swing of her racket. Thedon let out a chuckle watching how both girls screamed the loudest with every score. He stood back for several more minutes and listened in on how Molly thought of the girl, Katy Sandler, as her older sister since their mothers were best friends.

Thedon finally decided to join the crowd, which drew Serena's attention. Her gaze alerted Molly to his presence as well. The two girls waved him over, and he obligingly joined them.

"Hey there, girls. I see you're both enjoying the show. By the looks of things, this Katy seems pretty popular with the boys."

"Well of course she is. She's pretty, she's smart, and she's the star of the tennis club. It's no wonder she draws so much attention."

"Hmm, well don't get me wrong, she is a cute girl, but she isn't really my type. It's sadly a very well-known fact that sports like this can over time develop into an obsession if taken too seriously."

Thedon's attention was drawn else-where as the sound of an expensive sports car reached his ears. He looked over and saw a man with long, reddish-brown hair dressed in an expensive suit standing at the gate. He managed to catch bits and pieces of gossip from the crowd, learning that he was supposedly the boss of his own company. Thedon, however, was highly suspicious of these claims. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about him, he just didn't know what yet.

He and the rest of the crowd then watched in surprise as, with little to no effort, he jumped clear over the fence. He then proceeded to interrupt the game and gave Katy some advice. With every move this person made, Thedon grew more and more suspicious. His name was later revealed as Maxfield Stanton, a supposed tennis coach. He handed Katy's racket back to her, after which he issued a challenge. Unseen by everyone else, Thedon noticed a slight glazed look in her eyes that wasn't there before.

The crowd witnessed as the male club members were systematically beaten by a mix of wounding hits and intimidation. Serena and the others were in awe of this, but Thedon decided that enough was enough. While he was in recovery, he learned that while he couldn't perform any special attacks, he could still perform some pretty amazing physical feats as a result of his earlier intensive training. He mimicked Maxfield Stanton by jumping cleanly over the fence, then proceeded to land in such a way that a dropped racket flew upward, which Thedon then caught as it fell.

"Well then Ms. Sandler, what say you we kick this up a notch? I've been looking for a good activity to help relieve my stiffness after a month of bed rest, and I think I may have found it. Do you accept?" Katy didn't answer with words, instead allowing a served volley to do the talking. Almost everyone watching expected this match to end like the others, only to be completely surprised to watch Thedon match Katy serve for serve. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Thedon intercepted every one of Katy's serves, while Katy seemed to relish the new challenge. Serena cheered loudly for Thedon with every point he scored. Unseen by anyone, even Thedon, his eyes started to change the longer the match went on. They slowly but surely became more beastly, and his perception seemed to increase as they changed.

Nephrite, meanwhile, was watching the whole thing from the school rooftop. 'Could this be the human that gave Jadeite so much trouble? He's impressive I admit, but nothing special to warrant any immediate concern. The more she uses that racket, the more her energy will increase, and this human's skill will only serve to drive her to use it more.'

The sun was just starting to set when the most intense game of tennis seen by the crossroads junior high school student body came to a close. The court looked reminiscent of a war zone, with tennis ball sized holes in the court, fence, and the net. Thedon was nearing the point of absolute exhaustion, and Katy was no better. This, in Thedon's opinion, was the second most draining experience of his young life, the first being the felling of an entire army of monsters. Despite this, Thedon had never felt more alive, more driven. His instincts were screaming to continue until only he was left standing, while his body struggled just to hold him upright.

With help from Serena and Amy, he managed to make it to the halfway point between the school and his home. The penguin commandos met them and proceeded to take him the rest of the way, bidding the girls a good night before sliding off, dragging Thedon on a sled-like stretcher behind them like a pack of sled dogs. After they got him home, they left to meet up with Luna. After managing to prove their loyalty, Luna decided to include them when she went to check in with her correspondent at the closed arcade. Kowalski was highly impressed, which sadly caused him to revert to a subconscious habit of talking in incomprehensible scientist babble which required a smack from Skipper to shut him up. They might have appointed Thedon as their honorary general, but Skipper still retained his leader status in his absence.

After an exchange of passcode phrases, the meeting got underway. Luna did the honors of introducing the penguins and things proceeded from there.

"We have new information about our enemy. They come from an alternate dimension called the Negaverse, and they are very powerful. We believe they are collecting energy from humans for some nefarious purpose." Sadly, Skipper was becoming impatient with stating the obvious.

"Well of course they have a purpose for doing this, anyone with half a brain cell could figure that out. The real question is what this purpose could be. One doesn't go through all this trouble without some serious forethought." While Skipper thought about a possible motive, Private voiced his own thoughts.

"Well, maybe they're trying to keep something alive." This drew everyone's attention. "It makes sense to me. I've seen firsthand what their energy draining process does to the victims. It's like sucking the very life out of them. The only possible uses I could see for this is either reviving something that was dead, or keeping something that was dying alive." While his comrades still seemed skeptical, Luna was considering the possibility of such an action.

"You could very well be right, Private, but we can't jump to any conclusions just yet. There's still a lot about them we don't know." The meeting came to a close half an hour later, at which point Luna left for the Tsukino household while Skipper and the others made for Giscard mansion. However, unknown to any of them, a figure cloaked in black was watching them from the shadows. The figure watched them disappear, waited a few minutes, and then seemed to vanish in a cloud of smoke.

The sun dawned upon another day in Juuban, which passed without incident. It was now afternoon and Luna had gathered the Sailor Scouts at Cherry Hill Shrine to discuss her findings. This eventually led to an argument between Amy and Raye about whether to attack head on or stay low and form a plan. Serena wasn't taking part in this argument, partly because she was day-dreaming about Maxfield Stanton, and partly because she was worried about whether or not Thedon would get here. Almost as if on cue, Thedon came into the distance. Serena's silence caught the attention of Raye and Amy, who stopped arguing and noticed Thedon as well.

"Sorry I'm late girls, I had a hard time avoiding Katy. She's become obsessed with challenging me ever since yesterday, and her attitude is getting worse. I heard her talking down to the other girls who got up enough courage to play against her. Also, we'd best be wary of Maxfield Stanton. Three of my animal friends snuck off two days ago and spied on a person matching Mr. Stanton's description. He may very well be connected to the Negaverse, as well as the cause of Katie's sudden mood dive."

Katie's attitude continued to decline over the next few days. She only seemed to be satisfied if Thedon was playing against her, while at any other time against anyone else, she grew cold and abusive. It was during a match with Thedon that Molly had tried to talk to her, only to angrily turn her away. Thedon had held his tongue many times, hoping she just needed to blow off some steam, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Sandler, I may not be privy to the kind of relationship you have with Molly, but this kind of behavior is simply intolerable. As such, unless you change your attitude, I refuse to play against you."

"What?! How can you say that, when you put just as much effort into this as me? Pick up your racket and serve, Giscard."

"This is precisely why I detest any sort of sporting competition. You've obviously let your obsession consume you beyond the point of conventional means. You just gave a friend who's known you since childhood the cold shoulder for no reason at all. Such an unsightly display disgusts me in ways too vulgar to speak of in public." With that final declaration, Thedon departed from the tennis court.

He arrived home in a sour mood and did something he hasn't done since he was in kindergarten; shut himself in his room and refusing to leave for any reason at all. Night fell and his mood still didn't improve, although his rage had cooled to a point that he could think rationally.

'This just confirms that something unnatural is at work here. Nothing short of powerful drugs could cause someone's attitude to change so suddenly. I don't think Furon tech alone is going to cut it this time. But what else is there?' He pondered for nearly an hour before he realized the answer. He got up and retrieved the leather pouch which held the elemental gems and the philosopher's stone. He reached in and felt around until he felt something sharp puncture the center of his palm. Then a bright flash filled his vision as an unseen force threw him back. When the light faded, Thedon noticed a multi-pointed star shaped white crystal with one of its points stuck in his hand. He noticed that a small amount of his blood was being absorbed into the crystal.

'This must be how it determines whether someone is worthy or not.' The crystal eventually stopped absorbing his blood, let out a flash, and then sank into his hand, leaving behind a scar in the image of said crystal. His mind was then filled with images and memories of the stones creator, telling him what he could now do and how to use the magic in the stone. The sudden influx of information, however, was too much for him, and he passed out due to information overload. He was once again in his mind scape, standing before Crypto, Rumble & Tumble, Master Rokushi, and Solaris. Crypto was decidedly not happy about what happened.

"You stupid monkey, what the hell were you thinking? Do you realize how much danger you put us in if the stone rejected you?" Master Rokushi was in no better mood, though he wasn't visibly angry.

"Tis a reckless bull that charges into a slaughter house, young star. It was lucky the power in the stone found you worthy." A new voice tried to diffuse the situation.

"Your anger is understandable, but unfounded. The stone actively seeks out those who are worthy in its own way, and would not have shown itself to young Thedon if he was not chosen." And old man in wizards robes and a wide rimmed, pointed hat, both in a deep blue color with a deep violet cloak. He looked every bit the stereotypical wise scholar.

"This is just an assumption, but I'm guessing that you are a manifestation of the philosopher's stone which chose to take the form of the late Nicholas Flamell?"

"You are indeed correct, young Giscard. I knew I had chosen right with you. I understand you sought to use the stones power to protect those most dear to you."

While all this was happening with Thedon, Serena was busy trying to cheer Molly up. Having known each other since early childhood, Katie's sudden change in behavior was most distressing. Serena promised her that they would found out what was wrong, and soon found herself and Molly outside the Tennis club. Serena was hesitant to go in, having gotten a bad feeling on the way there. Thedon's input at their meeting earlier in the day kept cropping up, as did the lack of respect from Raye.

'Maybe Thedon was right after all. I know he means well, but sometimes I hate it when he's right. Still, if I manage to win this fight by myself, that would show Raye that I'm more that capable of being the leader.' They want in and found Katy playing against two professional tennis players, while constantly grumbling about how little challenge they were compared to Thedon. She was about to serve again, when she heard her name. Molly and Serena stood between her and her opponents, and she was not happy about that. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, yet radiated a feeling of hostility. A shouting match soon started up between the three, all of which was being watched by a figure in the shadows.

"Get out of the way."

"No Katy, we're not leaving."

"GET OUT!"

"Katy. Molly's only trying to help you."

"LAST WARNING!"

Katy gave her racket a mighty swing, and unleashed a raging torrent of red wind that propelled them both into some nearby bushes. It was at that moment that Nephrite chose to strike, and in a flash of red light a Negaverse monster appeared out of Katie's racket. Molly was knocked out, but Serena ducked behind a building and proceeded to transform. Unknown to her, transforming into Sailor moon releases a wave of light energy which certain artifacts can sense, one such artifact being the philosophers' stone.

"As much as I would like to continue conversing with you young Thedon, I think you are needed elsewhere. Seems like your friend Serena has transformed into Sailor Moon, which means a Negaverse monster has made itself known." With those final words, Thedon was ejected from his subconscious back to the waking world. His eyes snapped open and he saw the penguins around him.

"See Skipper, I told you he was fine."

"Never mind that Kowalski, get my weapons and jet pack ready at once. Sailor Moon is engaging a Negaverse monster on her own. Skipper, warm up the automated defenses in case things go south. Rico, prepare the armory for immediate mobilization. Private, get a hold of Luna and tell her to send Amy and Raye to the Tennis club ASAP. Well, what are you waiting for? Get to it." The penguins gave a salute and immediately got to work. A hatch opened up and Thedon jumped in, coming out the other side with his Furon tech weapons and jet pack. Kowalski's voice soon came over an unseen loudspeaker.

"Zap-O-Matic is fully charged, Destructo-ray functioning at peak performance, Jet pack thrusters are green, runway is set for launch."

"Copy that, engage countdown to launch."

"Copy that, take off in T minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition engaged."

With that, the jet pack roared to life and rocketed Thedon down the runway, emerging from a nearby hillside in a streak of light and rocketing across the sky to the tennis club. He arrived to see Sailor Moon just beginning to confront the monster, which formed a racket of energy and launched a ball of dark light at her. Determined to protect her, he dove down like a peregrine falcon and scooped her up in his arms just in time to dodge the attack. The monster, Tensie, grimaced upon its attack missing its target. Serena was just bewildered at Thedon's sudden appearance.

"Thedon, how did you know where I was?"

"Let's just say one of the many trinkets in my room proved its worth. More importantly, what possessed you to try and attempt this on your own? We don't know what this new batch of monsters is capable of; you could have been seriously hurt." Despite the fact that she wanted to argue, she wilted under Thedon's argument.

"I just wanted to show Raye and Luna that I had what it takes to be a Sailor Scout." She started tearing up like a child being scolded by her parents. Thedon landed off to the side and set her down. He waited for her to calm down before continuing.

"Now, now, no need for those tears, I'm not mad, I was just worried about you. As a friend I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you." Serena felt very moved by Thedon's concern, but the tender moment was interrupted by Tensie.

"Where are you, cowards? Come out and face me." Thedon let out an annoyed grunt at this interruption.

"We'll continue this discussion another time. For now, I think we have a monster to stop. So, how about it, Sailor Moon? You up for some double action?" He held out his hand for Sailor Moon, which coincidentally had the star-like scar from the Philosopher's stone. She took it and he helped her up. They walked onto the tennis court, Thedon with his usual confidence, and Sailor Moon with a renewed sense of determination.

"So, finally decided to show yourselves, did you? No matter, it's already clear who the victor in this battle is." Thedon simply smirked and responded with, "I couldn't agree more, and I'm so glad you were able to admit that you lost. Now, let's get this show on the road, it's late and we have school tomorrow." He concluded by holding out his scarred palm, flexed his fingers and watched as particles of light manifested themselves in his hand. Tensie saw this as a chance to attack, and started launching fireballs at them. Sailor Moon looked scared, but Thedon simply stood there, smiled and said, "HEAVENS RAMPARTS!"

A huge barrier of light rose from the ground in time to block the fireballs. Sailor Moon stared in awe at what Thedon had just done. She thought he was impressive before, but never thought he could do magic. The barrier faded as the fireballs stopped, and Thedon went on the attack. He charged forward, dodging from side to side as Tensie continued to shoot fireballs. He got in close, ready to strike a blow, when a fireball was shot at him from point blank range. It didn't hurt him too badly, but it left him wide open to attack. A ball of energy, similar to what Tensie tried to use on Sailor Moon, struck him while he was attempting to regain his momentum. The projectile enveloped him, and soon became a giant tennis ball. Thedon grimaced as he watched the monster fire another shot at Sailor Moon.

"Don't just stand there, Sailor Moon, run!" She heeded Thedon's warning, but wasn't fast enough to outrun the shot. Soon she too looked like a giant tennis ball, and she was unable to do anything except flail around. The next several minutes consisted of both Thedon and Sailor Moon being bounced around the court. It continued like that until something flew past Tensie, grazing its eye and breaking its focus, which in turn caused the two captives to fall back to earth. Said projectile turned out to be a rose, which meant Tuxedo Mask was close by.

"So, tuxedo boy finally decides to intervene. Could he have at least gotten us a softer landing?" Thedon continued to grumble as he got to his feet, with Sailor Moon also getting up. They both watched as Tensie attacked tuxedo mask with the same move as before, only to watch as he jumped over it. His cane then extended to impossible lengths, striking Tensie between the eyes. This strike disrupted Tensie's concentration further, releasing Thedon and Sailor Moon from the giant tennis balls.

Tuxedo mask landed beside Thedon, who was charging up his Zap-O-Matic. Tensie had recovered from the last attack, and shot off another volley of fireballs. Tuxedo mask once again jumped clear, but Sailor Moon could only run around frantically trying to evade the burning spheres. She lost her balance at one point, and Tensie took advantage of this by launching a much larger fire ball. She was frozen in fear by the advancing attack, her short life flashing before her eyes. She closed her eyes, waiting for the attack to hit, only to feel someone wrapping their arms around her. She looked up and saw Thedon using his body to shield her from the attack.

The pain Thedon felt in his back was excruciating. While the Furon force field absorbed the impact, it couldn't absorb the intense heat of the attack. 'This will be difficult to explain to Mom and Dad for sure,' was the only other thought in his mind other than to protect his friend. He felt the attack finally give out, and took heavy breaths as he tried to block out the pain. The Furon shield finally recharged and started healing Thedon's back. Sailor Moon had a scared look in her eyes, afraid that Thedon had just sacrificed himself to save her.

"Thedon, are you alright? Please say something."

"I'm fine… (Hah)…just a scratch, nothing more. I'll be back up in a few seconds, and then we can finish this." Tuxedo mask wasn't as convinced. "I wouldn't be too sure of that. You should stay down, let me take over here."

"Like hell … I may be new to magic … but I can still fight. Here's what we'll do, Tuxedo boy will distract the monster, I'll stun it with the zap-o-matic, and then Sailor Moon will finish it off, understood?" Sailor Moon nodded, while Tuxedo mask simply took out another rose from his cape. He threw it so that the flower petals hit Tensie's face, and then Thedon took aim and fired his Zap-O-Matic. Tensie got the flower petals out of its face only to receive 100,000 volts of electricity. This caused enough damage to cripple it, which allowed Sailor Moon to deal the finishing blow.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

Tensie could only look on in horror as the attack hit home, vaporizing the monster and returning the energy stolen from Katy. Tuxedo mask turned to congratulate everyone, only to be hit by a red beam of light and knocked out. Another beam shot towards Sailor Moon, who managed to duck in time to avoid it. Thedon moved to the side to dodge another beam, and returned fire with the Zap-O-Matic.

The figure in the shadows watched the battle with keen interest. The fact that mundane people could stand toe-to-toe with an unknown monster was completely unheard of in his world. The figure looked at all three and determined the boy with the unknown device was the biggest threat, which was re-enforced after seeing what it could do. The figure finally decided to strike after watching the monster get shocked and vaporized. The figure fired off a spell at the one in the Tuxedo, which connected. It fired off another spell at the girl, but missed. Undeterred, another spell was fired at the other boy, only to watch as he dodged it and returned fire. The figure, which turned out to be a male, grunted in pain as electricity briefly coursed through his body. Having been discovered, he figured that hiding was no longer a valid strategy, and stepped out of the shadows.

Thedon heard a grunt, so he knew he hit something. "Alright, who or whatever you are, come out of there right now before I blow your ass to hell and back." Thedon called out with a silent rage in his voice. The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a middle-aged man with a pig-like face and beady eyes, pallid skin tone, squat and lumpy build, and hunched over. He wore black robes with a pointed hood and held what appeared to be a stick in his hand, which was pointed at him.

"You better have a damn good reason for attacking us like this. Now start talking before I turn you into a live-wire. Who the hell are you, what are you doing here, and why are you attacking us?" The man just gave Thedon a lopsided sneer before responding.

"Quite a mouth on you, isn't there? Since you asked so nicely, and since you aren't long for this world, I'll tell you. My name is Amycus Carrow, a pure-blood wizard of Great Britain. I came here to investigate the rumors of unexplained magic and neutralize the cause by order of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. I'm actually quite surprised that a couple of no account muggles can perform such powerful magic." Sailor Moon, having heard all this, decided to jump to her and Thedon's defense.

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to? I am Sailor Moon, champion of justice and this is Thedon Giscard." Her outburst prompted Carrow to fire off another attack from the stick in his hand to silence her.

"Be silent in the presence of your betters until spoken to, wench."

"Don't you dare insult my friend, wizard. One more spell out of you and I will roast you alive."

"Go ahead and try. STUPEFY!" A red beam shot from his wand towards Thedon, who dodged just enough for the spell to graze his shield. Thedon retaliated with a blast of lighting, and watched as the wizard seemed to just bat it aside.

"BOMBARDA!" Carrow fired off another spell, and this one scored a direct hit. The force of the spell threw Thedon backwards into the air to crash against the tennis court fence. With his back still tender from the still healing burns, the amount of pain he was in was magnified to the point that he was paralyzed. Carrow just gave off his lopsided sneer and advanced towards the downed heir. He kicked the Zap-O-Matic out of Thedon's reach and pointed his wand at him.

"A real shame, I could have made a killing ransoming you back to your parents, but I guess a little fun with the girl will have to suffice." He was about to fire off another spell, when he heard someone shout,

"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"

He swiveled around and blocked the attack, and saw two more girls dressed similar to the blonde one. One had black flowing hair and the other had short blue hair. Between them was a black cat with a crescent moon insignia on its forehead. Thedon smiled seeing Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars. "Mars, Mercury, happy you could join us; a little help would be greatly appreciated." Carrow's eyes darted between the new girls and Thedon, frantically searching for something to give him the upper hand. His smirk turned more sinister as he pointed his wand at Thedon and shouted,

"CRUCIO!"

A flash of light emitted from the wand, and Thedon's pain suddenly felt magnified by a factor of 200. He was in such pain that he couldn't even scream, only writhe uncontrollably in a vain attempt to escape the pain.

The Sailor Scouts were horrified at what was happening. Their hearts sank and tears filled their eyes. Luna also had tears in her eyes, but tears of anger.

"Stop this at once you monster! You might kill him!" Carrow was further surprised upon seeing a cat talk.

"Silence, wretched beast. One wrong move out of any of you, and I'll put him in so much agony that his mind will shatter." Carrow sneered in triumph at regaining the upper hand. He kept his wand pointed at Thedon as he thought what to do next, when his wand was knocked from his hand by a rose. Tuxedo Mask, having been brought back to consciousness by all the noise, wasted no time in helping his ally. With the wand no longer pointed at him, Thedon finally calmed down and stopped thrashing.

Carrow scowled at losing his advantage. He was growing frustrated with these constant interruptions, and decided to make a tactical retreat.

"Wretched muggles, you may have gotten lucky this time, but it can only last for so long. We shall meet again, and when we do, it will mark your last day among the living. ACCIO WAND!" His discarded wand flew to his hand, and he raised it above his head and disappeared in a funnel of black smoke. The Scouts, Tuxedo Mask, and Luna all ran over to Thedon, hoping that he was still himself and not a vegetable. That would have been difficult to explain to both his parents and the penguins. Sailor Moon got there first, and went about setting him upright.

"Thedon, are you alright? Please say something." Thedon let out a short moan as he slowly came around. His eyes opened and took a few seconds to focus. He grimaced as he sat up on his own.

"Scouts, good to see you all. What happened to Carrow?" Luna decided to answer him.

"He disappeared after his wand was knocked out of his hand. He also said that he would be back."

"Crap, I guess this means the Negaverse isn't the only problem we have to deal with."

"You don't think the Negaverse is seeking outside help, do you?"

"No, if that monster and Carrow were allies, he wouldn't have hidden in the shadows and would have likely attacked before the monster was destroyed. What we're dealing with is a separate unaffiliated organization. For now, I think it would be best if we get everyone home before our parents call the police." Everyone made it home without any further incidents and before long the next day came. After school, Thedon and Serena decided to see how Katy was doing. Luckily she didn't remember what happened over the past few days, and Molly was especially grateful to have her back to her old self. They celebrated with a friendly game of tennis, which culminated in Serena almost being hit square in the face by a rouge serve, the almost being that Thedon managed to block the ball before it hit her.