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From the author of The Saga of Mercury, it's

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Silver Millennium Radio features only the best
Sailor Moon music, from an extensive music playlist that
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It also features special programs such as the nightly Moonlight
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*****
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:


You can also view these chapters at:









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

The Saga of Mercury
Chapter 29
All Aboard

Queen Sorinya of the Negaverse was left
reeling... still upset after the loss of
Quartzia.

She sat on her throne... a stone cold look
frozen on her face.

And her eyes full of evil and hate.

Another one of Sorinya's servants,
Sentoosa, was about to enter the
chambers.

"Your majesty," she began.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Sorinya shouted at her,
her eyes fiery red.

Sentoosa had a huge sweatdrop on her
head... and quickly bowed and exited.

Sorinya sighed... and thought to herself
for a moment.

"Now I must deal the crushing blow to the
fools that have kept me this long from
carrying out what I have always wanted to
do," she said.

Sorinya then stood up, and walked to a
remote corner of her chamber.

She pressed her hand on one of the dark
walls.

All of a sudden, as if by magic, a purple
halo of light appeared in front of
Sorinya.

Sorinya reached over and placed her hand
into the purple light... and pulled out a
fluorescent crystal.

"Fluorescent crystal of evil, source of
destruction," she said to the crystal,
"provide me with the answer to destroying
Amy Mizuno!"

A gust of wind began to blow toward
Sorinya. It was as if the wind came from
the crystal... as if the crystal was
responding to Sorinya's words...
"And that's why the fluorescent crystal
of evil is the key to bringing down Queen
Sorinya," said Artemis to the assembled
Sailor team at the Hikawa Shrine.

"I am most impressed with your research,"
responded Amy.

"So let me get this straight," said Chad.
"If we can get our hands on the crystal,
then Sorinya is a dead duck?"

"Not just get our hands on it," said
Greg, "but shatter it. The thing's been
with her since her birth in the
Negaverse."

"So we have a job to do, until Queen
Sorinya is dealt with successfully," said
Luna to everyone. "We must protect Amy at
all costs."

"That's not necessary," said Amy. "I can
protect myself."

"Amy, that may not help you in this
case," said Artemis. "You're going to
need all the assistance and backup that
you can... Especially from Greg."

"That's right," said Darien. "Greg,
you've got primary responsibility over
her."

"No he doesn't!" said a youthful voice.

Everyone looked over at Sasha.

"I do," she said with a stern look.

Greg smiled. "Ha ha! Well, Sasha, I'll
need all of the help I'll need. Not just
from you, but from everyone else."

"I'm a bit interested in this phospho...
uh... what's it... fluorescent crystal. Yeah,
fluorescent," said Ken. "It must be one
powerful crystal, and if it is, we all
have to be ready for it."

Greg looked away for a moment. "I don't
know how I'll be able to do it... I know
there's a way... but I don't know it..."

Amy walked closer to Greg and held his
arm. "What do you mean?"

"Well," said Greg, "there's protecting
you... then there's school... and then, of
course, there's my job training..."

"Job training?" said Chad. "Oh yeah, you
won't tell us what that's about..."

"Nah, that's a small secret I've been
keeping from you guys," said Greg.
"Besides, that's almost done with,
although I'll have one big test to take."

"After you pass the test... and I'm sure
that a guy like you would..." said Raye,
"will you please tell us what you will be
doing?"

Greg thought for a moment.

"I might be able to show you..." he
responded.

"Show us?" said Serena. "Oh, it's not
fair, I wanna see!"

"You hate surprises, Serena?" said Lita.

"Of course!" shouted Rini in response.

Serena looked at Rini foolishly. "Not
really, unless of course, Darien
surprises me," she responded, her eyes
soon turning into pink heart shapes.

Everyone had sweatdrops.

"That's what I thought," said Lita. "But
let's face it, he surprised you when he
asked you to marry him."

"Speaking of which," said Mina, "how are
the wedding plans going?"

Serena was quick to answer. "Oh, it's
going to be so fun! It'll be the best
wedding anyone has ever seen. We're going
to go and..."

As Serena was giving her long answer,
Darien was looking away, a huge sweatdrop
on his face.

"...isn't that right, Darien?" Serena
concluded, looking at her future husband.

"Uh... I really haven't thought about it
much," said Darien. "Don't you remember,
we agreed that you would finish school?"

"I don't care what the two of you think,"
said Lita, staring into the eyes of Ken.
"Ken and I have been together for many
years before we realized our destinies..."

"That's right," Ken responded. "Lita and
I wish to get married immediately... in two
months, at the earliest."

"That fast, huh?" responded Jamie.

As some of the members of the team
discussed their wedding plans, Chad and
Greg stayed silent. They looked at each
other.

The two men did not know who would
propose next... would Chad propose to Raye
first? Or would Greg step forward and
propose to Amy?

Raye and Amy knew separately in their
minds as well, that a proposal would have
to come soon from Chad and Greg,
respectively.

Everyone that had gathered... including the
two cats... had the same question in their
heads...

Who would propose first?

It was a question that would linger
silently for the next couple of days. In
that period of time, Greg passed the
examination for his job, and began to
work... all despite having this thought in
his head.

Aside from this, Greg was with Amy most
of the time, going to the library, a few
museums, a movie, and even a romantic
candlelight dinner... while always watching
Amy's back for any sign from the
Negaverse... which had not occurred yet,
surprisingly.

During the evening hours, despite
repeated but futile resistance from Amy,
Sasha would always sleep in the same bed,
next to her mother of the future.
After a week had passed, Greg had asked
Amy and Sasha to meet him in the morning
at the front of the northbound
underground rail platform at Tokyo for a
day trip to Chiba, where they would visit
several parks together.

True to the watch, Amy and Sasha arrived
at platform 4 at 9:30 AM, seven minutes
before the train was scheduled to depart.

Amy was dressed in a yellow shirt with
blue suspender jeans, nice blue sneakers
and a blue headband over her hair. Sasha
was in a yellow and blue sweater with
white sneakers.

Two minutes after their arrival, the
train pulled into the station.

"NOW ARRIVING," said the announcer, "IS
THE 9:37 SOBU LINE TRAIN TO CHIBA, MAKING
EXPRESS STOPS."

"This is the train," said Amy.

"But where is Greg?" asked Sasha.

Greg was nowhere in sight as the train
pulled into the station, stopping right
on the mark.

Amy and Sasha saw the doors of the train
open up... but were hesitant to enter the
train.

A few more minutes passed... it was now
9:35. Two minutes before departure. And
as they very well knew, the punctuality
of the Japanese trains was what made
train travel in Japan very prestigious.
So, if the train was listed to depart at
9:37, then this train was going to leave
AT 9:37.

"THIS IS THE 9:37 SOBU LINE TRAIN TO
CHIBA," said a fuzzy voice over the
speakers inside the train. "STOPPING AT
SHINNIHOMBASHI, BAKUROCHO, KINSHICHO,
SHINKOIWA, ICHIKAWA, FUNABASHI,
TSUDANUMA, INAGE AND CHIBA."

Amy and Sasha were growing more hesitant.

"WE WOULD REQUEST THAT AMY MIZUNO AND
SASHA URAWA KINDLY ENTER THE TRAIN AT
THIS TIME," the voice continued.

Amy and Sasha gasped, their eyes wide
open.

"DID THEY JUST SAY OUR NAMES?" they
shrieked in unison.

Someone in the front of the train, in the
driver's section, then slid open the side
window and looked at the two young
ladies.

The man was wearing a black uniform with
a white shirt, black tie, and a train
operator's cap.

The two ladies turned around and saw him.
They gasped again, with Amy's hand
covering her mouth.

He looked a lot like Greg.

"Well, are you two coming in or not?"
said the voice, which was a lot like
Greg's.

It only took them a split second to
realize... that it was Greg.

"GREG!" they both yelled.

Greg pointed to the first open door on
the train. "Come on in!"

Amy and Sasha wasted no time entering.

As they did, the door to the driver's cab
opened.

"SURPR..." started Greg, who was unable to
finish the word 'surprise' when Amy
leaped into his arms.

"You're driving the trains?" said Sasha
with excitement.

"Can you believe it?" said Greg. "The
instructors were so pleased with my
performance that they have assigned me to
this express line. The ride will only
take about 40 minutes, so in the meantime
you can see what I'm doing."

"I don't know what to say..." said Amy.

"Well, you can thank Warren Sakai, the
conductor, for saying your names
correctly," Greg said with a smile. "He's
in the back of the train, and he's in
charge of opening and closing the doors."

Greg then pressed a button in his cab
that allowed him to speak to Warren.
"Thanks very much, Warren!" said Greg.

"Are they on the train with you now?"
said Warren, his voice sounding fuzzy
through the small speaker.

"Yep, all in one piece, thank goodness,"
Greg said. "Are we ready to go?"

"Another 30 seconds," replied Warren.

Greg understood the message, then clicked
the reverser into the forward position
and eased off on the brakes.

"Hang on," said Greg. "This is going to
be one quick ride to Chiba."

Sasha was looking around the inside of
the train with excitement as the doors
closed, Greg released the brakes and
started the train out of the station.

The train slowly exited, and then picked
up speed as it entered the dark tunnel.
Sasha could hear the different motors
kicking in as the train increased in
speed.

But, before Sasha knew it, it was time
for Greg to apply the brakes, as the
train had already reached its first
station, Shin-Nihombashi.

Over the next several station stops, as
the train exited above ground and into
the open air, Greg was explaining to Amy
and Sasha how he got interested in
trains, how he applied for the job, and
how his schooling and testing went.

His conversation with them stopped
abruptly as he reached a red signal
outside of the Funabashi station.

"Hmm," said Greg. "We're halfway to
Chiba, we're on the timetable, and we get
a red light? This isn't supposed to
happen... unless of course a train is stuck
up ahead..."

As Greg was surveying the situation, a
call came over Greg's radio

"ATTENTION ALL TRAIN OPERATORS AND
CONDUCTORS!" blared the voice. "THERE
APPEARS TO BE SOME KIND OF MONSTER ON THE
LOOSE ON THE SOBU LINE! IT IS SLOWLY
BEGINNING TO MAKE ITS WAY TOWARD TOKYO!
ALL OPERATORS AND CONDUCTORS ARE ORDERED
TO TAKE ALL NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS FOR THE
SAFETY OF THE PASSENGERS!"

Greg looked at Amy and Sasha immediately,
with wide-open eyes. "Do you think..."
started Greg.

Amy's face turned stone cold. "You don't
think that..."

Greg turned to speak to Warren over the
speaker. "Warren, did you copy that?" he
said.

"Affirmative," replied Warren. "What
should we do about it?"

"I'm going to see if we can get into the
station," said Greg over the speaker.
"Then we're going to dump the train."

Sasha looked at Amy. "Dump the train?
What does that mean?"

"I think it means they're going to make
everyone get out of the train and onto
the platforms," Amy replied.

"And we're going to have everyone leave
the platforms, too," said Greg to Amy. "I
really, really, am starting to get the
strange feeling that this monster is
after someone important, like you."

Amy looked at Greg, her cheeks showing a
small redness.

In the meantime, Greg was talking over
the radio to dispatch.

"COPY," dispatch replied. "YOU ARE
CLEARED TO BYPASS THE RED SIGNAL, ENTER
FUNABASHI, AND CLEAR THE TRAIN."

While Warren was giving the bad news to
the passengers, Greg was slowly driving
the train into the station.

"Amy..." Greg said as he was driving, "I
know that Sorinya has sent this monster
after you. So what you and Sasha have to
do is to file out of the train and mix
into the crowd of passengers that will be
heading onto the street."

"You mean you want us to mix in with the
crowd?" said Sasha.

"Exactly," said Greg.

"But what about you?" asked Amy.

"I'll look out for, and possibly deal
with, this monster," he replied. "When
it's safe, I'll call everyone back on
board."

With that, the train stopped on the
platform at Funabashi. "EVERYONE OUT OF
THE TRAIN AND ONTO THE STREET, PLEASE!"
Warren yelled.

Amy and Sasha quickly filed out with
everyone else.

After about two minutes, Warren closed
the doors.

Save for Greg at the front and Warren in
the rear, the train and the platform were
completely empty, while a throng of
worried passengers, Amy and Sasha among
them, spilled out onto the street,
waiting to see what would happen.

"So now what do we do?" said Warren over
the speaker.

Greg took a deep breath, and then
responded.

"Wait."

After several minutes had passed, Greg
closed his eyes. He began to concentrate.

Then, abruptly, Greg told Warren quickly
over the speaker, "Lock your cab now!"

"What? Are you sure?" asked Warren.

"JUST DO IT!" Greg yelled over the
speaker.

"ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT!" Warren responded.

Greg then opened his eyes... and saw a
gooey, green glob stare at him in the
face from the outside.

The monster's trail of green slime could
be seen on the roadbed behind him.

"MERCURY!" the monster yelled, as it
molded its way into the train. Greg could
not believe what he was seeing... it was
able to enter the train, without breaking
any glass.

Greg ran back halfway into the first car,
before reaching for his cell phone.

"This is something I'll have to do on my
own," he said. "MERCURY KNIGHT POWER!"

After his transformation was complete,
Mercury Knight aimed his sword right at
the gooey glob.

"This is going to be too easy," said
Mercury Knight. "MERCURY ICE BLADE
CHARGE!"

The ray of blue light that extended out
of his sword shot straight at...

... and through... the monster.

Mercury Knight could not believe it...
again.

He furiously then came forward and
slashed his sword several times through
the monster's midsection.

The monster didn't flinch, and
immediately gripped at Mercury Knight's
throat.

Mercury Knight dropped his sword... and
started to place his hands around those
that were gripping at his neck.

"MERCURY DIE! MERCURY DIE!" yelled the
Monster, as Mercury Knight choked and
gasped for air.
On the street below, the people could
hear one of the train cars overhead start
to shake.

Amy and Sasha were looking up at the
train as well.

Amy then turned to Sasha...

"I love him..." she said softly to Sasha...
"and I appreciate him for being concerned
about me... but... he needs help... and we
can't just leave him there..."

"Do we transform?" Sasha said quietly.

Amy grabbed Sasha's hand and looked
around. "Come with me," she said. "Let's
see if we can squeeze out of this crowd."
Meanwhile, in the train, the monster was
still yelling "DIE MERCURY!" as Mercury
Knight began to turn blue. He wasn't
going to last much longer. His eyesight
and hearing were starting to slip.

Suddenly, he could hear the faint sounds
of glass breaking in the front of the
train...

Followed immediately by the monster's
hands lowering in temperature and
loosening its grip.

Mercury Knight fell through onto the
ground, grabbing his throat and gasping
heavily for air.

After a moment, he crawled past the
frozen monster and toward the front of
the train... where to his surprise, saw two
young blue-haired ladies in fukus.

Mercury Knight saw Sailor Mercury and
Sailor Mini Mercury, then bowed his head
and began to point down.

"I told you to stay down there..." he
grudgingly said.

Sailor Mercury immediately opened her
computer and began to search for a
weakness. She had to do so quickly before
the monster thawed out.

"I found it," replied Sailor Mercury.
"His composition is liquid except for his
nose, which is solid. If... if we can
destroy the nose, then it should destroy
the rest of him."

Meanwhile, Mercury Knight had activated
his visor and had detected the same
thing.

At the same time, he recalled something
about his future... and about his daughter.

"Come here, Sasha," said Mercury Knight,
who was regaining his strength, but still
somewhat weak.

"What is it?" said Sailor Mini Mercury.

Mercury Knight held his sword up to Mini
Mercury.

"Do me a favor and slash off his nose,"
he said, handing the sword to her.

"GREG!" yelled Amy. "Why are you giving
the sword to her? It's very dangerous!
She could get hurt!"

But Sailor Mini Mercury seemed to have no
problems with it. She waved the heavy
sword high above her head... took a huge
leap into the air... and as the monster was
coming to... she cut the monster's nose
off.

The monster groaned, and began to shake
violently.

Mercury Knight had gained enough strength
to run out of the way. He quickly scooped
up Mini Mercury, who was still holding
the sword, and yelled at Sailor Mercury.
"GET INTO THE DRIVER'S CAB! QUICKLY! THE
MONSTER'S GONNA BURST!"

Sailor Mercury immediately turned around
and ran forward toward the cab, with
Mercury Knight and Mini Mercury trailing.

With the three inside the cab, Mercury
Knight lowered Sailor Mini Mercury to the
floor, and immediately closed the door
and engaged the lock.

And the timing couldn't have been better.

As he engaged the lock, the monster burst
in a huge liquefied explosion, with green
slime spraying all over the first car of
the train, but none of which entered the
driver's cab.

"The liquid should dissipate in a few
minutes, then it'll be safe," said Sailor
Mercury.

Then, she felt two arms wrapping around
her waist.

"Thank you very much for coming in there
and saving me," said Mercury Knight from
behind.

"Isn't it about time we saved you?" said
Sailor Mini Mercury.

Sailor Mercury smiled. "You've saved us
too many times already," she said,
turning to face her knight. "I couldn't...
I mean, we couldn't... leave you alone like
that."

Mercury Knight lightly kissed Sailor
Mercury on the head. "I have a feeling
you may just be helping me out several
more times," he said.

He then kissed Sailor Mini Mercury's hair
and ruffled it. "And thanks to you! You
did a wonderful job!"

Sailor Mini Mercury laughed. "That
tickles!" she protested.

Then looking at her future parents, she
said, "My dad taught me how to use his
sword, just in case there were any
problems, and he wasn't able to do
anything."

As Sailor Mercury and Mercury Knight
smiled in response, a voice came from
over the speaker.

"Greg!"

It was Warren.

"Are you all right in there?"

Mercury Knight reached over to respond to
Warren in a regular tone of voice. "Yeah,
the monster just exploded in the first
cab here. It just burst before my eyes... I
didn't do a thing!"

"Well, that's good news," replied Warren.
"Is it going to be safe to continue?"

"We'll have to close the first car,
otherwise we're in good shape," replied
Mercury Knight. "I'll keep you advised."

As Mercury Knight finished talking,
Sailor Mercury's watch began to light up.

On her wristwatch communicator was Raye.

Raye's cheeks were red as she talked to
Amy.

"Hey Amy! Do you need any help?"

"No," responded Sailor Mercury, "the
monster's destroyed, we'll be fine. Thank
you for checking in!"

Raye was smiling. "Ok!" she said, her
cheeks still red.

"Are you all right?" asked Sailor
Mercury.

"Oh yes..." responded Raye. "I couldn't be
more happy right now!"

"What are you so happy about?" asked
Sailor Mercury.

"Well..." started Raye.

Mercury Knight then turned around slowly
to face the front of the train.

"Chad proposed," he said.

Sailor Mercury looked at Mercury Knight,
then back at her watch. "Did Chad propose
to you?" she asked Raye.

Raye's eyes lit up. "Yeah! How... how did
you know?"

Sailor Mercury paused for a moment.
"Lucky guess..."

"Well, of course I had to accept, and
everyone is meeting up at the shrine
tonight to celebrate! You guys have to
come over."

"We'll be there," Sailor Mercury
responded.

As Sailor Mercury closed the connection,
Mercury Knight appeared worried.

Chad had beaten him out.

He could not believe it.

And now, all pressure was coming down on
him.

To fulfill destiny, he was now it.

He had to propose to Amy.

But how could he do it?

And more importantly, when could he do
it?

Mercury Knight turned back around to
speak, but when he did, found himself in
a deep and romantic kiss with his
princess... and his future daughter eagerly
looking on.

"I know..." started Sailor Mercury. "I know
that this has to happen, and I know that
you're nervous about it... so am I..."

"When are you going to ask Amy to marry
you?" said Sailor Mini Mercury.

"Whenever he's ready, Sasha," Sailor
Mercury responded, turning back to her
knight. "Whenever you are ready, Greg,"
she said with a big smile. "You decide
for yourself when the right moment is."

Mercury Knight thought silently to
himself...

And shed a tear out of his left eye.

Sailor Mercury gasped when she saw this.
"Greg?" she said.

"I... I..." said a choked Mercury Knight.

Sailor Mercury smiled once again as she
reached over with her right hand, and
cleared the tear from his face with her
thumb.

Mercury Knight looked at Sailor Mercury.
He remembered the times that he cleared
the tears from Sailor Mercury's eyes with
his thumb... this was the first time she
had ever done it back to him.

After a moment, Mercury Knight regained
his composure, and hugged Sailor Mercury.

Sailor Mini Mercury then wrapped her arms
around the legs of her future parents,
bringing smiles to their faces.

Mercury Knight reached down to sheathe
his sword, then lifted Sailor Mini
Mercury up to eye level.

Looking at the both of them, he replied:

"There's going to be one moment soon...
that will really test our loving
relationship with each other... a life and
death situation...

"I'm confident," he said to Mini Mercury,
"that we will pass this test.

"That, my love," he said, turning to
Sailor Mercury, "will be the right
moment."
****************************************
And so, the Sailor Team... and especially Sasha,
Greg and Amy... prepare for the showdown
with Queen Sorinya.

The showdown begins with Chapter 30 of The
Saga of Mercury, to be released on or around May 25, 2003.