Another chapter. Danke danke to everyone whose reviewed! I'll hopefully get this posted before the end of this week…(it's a Sunday) Standard disclaimers apply. I didn't get it posted when I wanted to, actually, I got it uploaded and posted a week later than it was supposed to be done! (I am soooo lazy….)  (Although I do own those Ronin and Sailor Moon characters in Barbie doll and action figure style…)

Quote of the Moment: Nuriko - *Talking to Miaka about Chichiri* Personally, I think he's a bit                 weird.

                     Chichiri- *Overhears* All right then. I'll be weird and you'll be gay.

                                           (Fushigi Yugi)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

      Minako, Seiji, Ryo, Touma, Shu, Ami, Makoto and Sai had all finished eating. They were getting up and ready to leave the restaurant when Mama Faun came out of the kitchen to give them her good-byes.

      'Oh no…' Minako inwardly grimaced. She really did like Mama Faun, but she didn't enjoy having her face pressed into the older woman's cleavage.

      "I couldn't let you leave without saying proper goodbyes!" Mama Faun smiled, and the three girls noticed three small squares of light pink paper in her hand. The senshi all looked at each other at the same time and gulped a little. Mama Faun hugged all the boys good-bye, and they were pretty sure that not even the Masho could give them such great results with popping their backs. All the girls reluctantly let themselves be swung around like rag dolls, but Mama Faun didn't notice their faces or attitudes. After she hugged each girl, she pressed the fold of paper into her hands.

      "Good bye Mama!" Shu called back to his mother as they left the shop. The night breeze was cool, and they could still smell delicious food on the air.

      "That was interesting…" Ami was trying to search for the correct words mentally.

      "Her cooking was pretty good…" Makoto recalled the cuisine they just feasted on.

      "Didn't I tell you?" Shu grinned.

      "So, what to do now?" Minako walked beside of Sai, one arm wrapped around his. She had stuck the small note into a pleat of her school uniform.

      "I heard there's a really nice garden and park here in Toyama…" Makoto stated nodding.

      "Where did you hear about it from? I'm surprised any news from Toyama made it into a city as large as Tokyo." Seiji seemed to be a little surprised.

      "No, I'm a member of the gardening club, baka." Makoto winked as Ami giggled.

      "I think the park sounds like a good idea." Ryo agreed. "There's an arc in the garden and its said that if you stand under that, within a few minutes your destined mate will come to you."

      "That's impossible to leave your future up to chance like that." Ami's eyebrows furrowed. "And what if you walk under that arc in a group? Wouldn't that theory be proven wrong?"

      "Gee, Ami-chan." Minako sweat dropped. Makoto could also be seen in the background doing the same thing. "Can you let go of logic and just pretend to be a normal teenage girl looking for love?"

      "Oh, gomen, gomen." Ami bowed a little as the two other senshi shook their heads.

      "The park is famous for its roses. I heard they've got the largest amount of black roses growing in an area in the world." Makoto talked as they started to walk to the park. It wasn't too far away from Mama Faun's restaurant so they could walk there.

      "I'm getting some bad vibes…" Minako muttered and Sai glanced at her. Ami nodded a little and Makoto was too busy gushing about the garden to Seiji to pay any attention. Apparently Seiji had an eye for beauty.

      "There's also ruins there of a village. It's the Ancient Village, but not a lot of people know its name." Ryo stated and Makoto looked at him oddly.

      "How did you know that?" She blinked a couple of times.

      "Long story. Trust me, you'll find out soon enough and when you do, you'll wish that you never have found out." Shu patted Makoto on the back some.

      "They haven't met Kaosu yet…" Touma nodded.

      "Whose that?" Ami asked, cocking her head to the side. They were outside of the entrance to the park, seeing that the whole place was flooded with couples.

      "Are you sure you want to go here? It looks like it's for a bunch of love birds…" Shu blinked a little.

      "Of course." Makoto walked past him and on into the park. The bad vibes were getting stronger, and she finally sensed it. All the couples seemed to be walking to one direction.

      "I wonder what they're headed to." Ami watched them follow, as if in a trance.

      "I've got a bad feeling about this…" Minako whispered.

      "They're heading over to the arc, I suppose. Let's head over there first." Shu started to lead them off that way, not noticing that the couples that pressed in around them looked like a bunch of Zombies. They went down a narrow walkway, which was surrounded by roses of every color pressing against the walkway.

      "Wow…how pretty…" Minako admired the orange roses before being pushed on by the mindless couples. "Hey! Something's going on!"

      "I've got a bad feeling about this too." Sai nodded, taking his transformation marble into his hand. They continued on towards the arc, and they all gasped when they got there. On top of the arc stood a beautiful woman all in light blue hues. Surrounding the arch in a 20-foot radius were the bodies of fallen couples. She was holding up what looked to be a small silver bell, allowing energy to be sucked up into it.

      "She's taking their energy!" Makoto exclaimed, pulling her henshin stick out.

      "She must be from the Black Moon Kingdom!" Ami agreed as she nodded, pulling out her mini computer and henshin stick at the same time.

      "Venus Eternal Makeup!!"

      "Mercury Eternal Makeup!!!"

      "Jupiter Eternal Makeup!!"

      "Change Rekka!"

      "Change Korin!"

      "Change Kongou!"

      "Change Tenku!"

      "Change Sukio!!!"

      They all went through their elaborate transformations, and ended up in a shared battle transformations. All of the Troopers had their weapons at, standing in a line. Ami was crouched down on one knee in the center, and Minako and Makoto stood with their backs to Ami, pointing straight out and up to the lady standing on top of the arc.

      "We are the pretty sailor suited heroines sent to defend this planet!" The three girls shouted at the same time.

      "On behalf of Mercury! I will punish you!"

      "As an agent of the planet Jupiter, I'll make sure you find yourself face down!"

      "And in the name of Venus and as a Love Goddess, I can not allow you to hurt these couples like this that are trying to have a meaningful relationship and meet their love under the arc that you are standing on top of."

      "We will punish you!!" The three girls shouted at the same time. The guys followed up with shouting "En Guard!" behind them.

      "Well, well, well." The lady's mouth didn't open, but her voice echoed all around them in a strange melodic way. "A half-formed Inner Senshi group and a bunch of weak armor wearers. How very very terribly frightening."

      "I'm sure we can take care of you without any problems! Jupiter Oak Evolution!!" The Senshi to Jupiter called out her attack as the razor-sharp leaves flew out to the mysterious blue lady. She jumped up into the air and twirled in mid-air until she landed on the ground, standing and fluttering herself a little with her fan.

      "You'll have to do much better than a weak attack like that." The woman scolded. "I, Ice Lady, can not be beaten as easily as you think."

      "No one attack! Just keep her busy until I can get a proper reading on her!" Ami called out.

      "I see you're going to be a problem, Sailor Mercury." Ice Lady smirked. "Shattering…" She pointed her fan right at Ami, who was typing furiously. "…waterfall!!" Suddenly, thousands of streams of frozen water shot out of the fan, and up into the sky. They suddenly came back down to the Earth, and Ami could only open her mouth in astonishment, waiting until she would be hit by the attack. She wasn't expecting to be shoved out of the way, skidding across the smooth pavement and skidding up her knees and her side. When she saw what kept her from getting hit, Touma stood frozen by the attack, as if incased in a still frozen waterfall.

      "Tsk, tsk, tsk. I've never missed my target before. Tenku shouldn't have gotten in the way, oh well." Ice Lady shrugged.

      "Venus Rolling Heart…Vibration!" She used one of her newest attacks on the woman in light blue. The woman was too busy gloating over trapping Touma to notice the attack, so she was hit. She faltered but quickly recovered.

      "Well, Venus, that was a wrong move. As soon as I take care of Sailor Mercury, you're next up on the list." Ice Lady smirked as she singled out her next victim.

      "Everyone! She is weak against energy and fire attacks! Hit her with all you have!" Sailor Mercury informed them as she cleared the data, starting to analyze how they could free Touma from his icy prison.

      "No problem then!" Ryo unsheathed his twin katana, and joined them together as he started to go through his attack sequence. He used an attack against Ice Lady, which hit and left her halfway melted and her looks more distorted then how they were before the attack.

      "You'll pay for messing up my beautiful face!" Ice Lady vowed as she pulled all the bells off of her outfit that were left in one swift moment, gathering them all in her right hand.

      "What does she think she's doing…?" Jupiter questioned, watching the odd act. It didn't take too long till an answer arose. Ice Lady held the bells over her head, and then threw them into the ground all at once.

      "Daughters! Come to your mother's rescue!" Ice Lady ordered as ice blue puffs of smoke arose from the bells. When the smoke cleared, there was Ice Lady in her disheveled state along with what looked to be chibis of Ice Lady. There were about 9 of them, one for each bell she threw to the ground, and they all were identical. They certainly looked childish, and wore the same outfits as Ice Lady and carried fans, the only difference being that they all had their hair in pigtails.

      "I have a feeling like this isn't gonna be very good…" Shu muttered as they 9 smaller girls fanned out the objects they carried.

      "Do just as Mommy says now, Daughters." Ice Lady cooed to the 9 smaller girls, who stood in defensive battle stances.

      "Not good at all. I'm afraid it will be dealing with 9 more Ice Ladies. Stand on guard." Mercury advised them. 'If Rei-chan was here, she could knock them all out at once with her fire ball attack….' Shu reached inside of his armor, pulling out a small globe of blue bubble gum, about to pop it into his mouth.

      "It isn't a time to snack, Shu!" Seiji snapped.

      "But…it helps me fight better!" Shu defended the practice as he raised the bubblegum to his lips. As he did so, he saw that the 9 little girls were watching this with larger eyes. "So…you like candy?" All the girls nodded at once. "Ok…catch!" He tossed the orb of candy high into the air above them.

      The 9 smaller girls glanced in between each other before deciding to jump up and try to grab the candy for themselves. They all jumped off the ground at the same time, and sailed through the air at the same speed. They all wanted that candy, and they wanted it badly.  When the candy paused in mid-air, right before it began its descent, 9 little girls clambered to get it. They all went at it, flying through the air at such force, when they ever so slightly brushed against each other, they shattered. Chunks fell off of each of the girls, turning into water on its way down. The candy came back down into Shu's palm, and it looked about as normal as it could if it didn't have a small hand clutched around it that looked like ice.

      "Don't tell me you're going to actually…" Seiji looked at his friend quizzically. Shu didn't answer; he simply popped the bubblegum into his mouth after taking the small iced hand off, chewing happily.

      "I'm going to be sick…" Makoto groaned, thinking about the small girls that had tried to desperately to get the object Shu was snacking on.

      "I've found the weak spot on the chamber Touma's hidden in!" Ami announced, and Ice Lady snapped her head back to the Sailor Senshi for Mercury. "It's right at his chest! That's the weak point! Elemental attacks won't work; weapons will need to be used!"

      "You're a little too smart for your own good…" Ice Lady told Ami. "Shattering…." She pointed her fan once again at her previous target. "…WATERFALL!"

      Ami didn't have much time to react because the attack came out after her so fast. Her computer came clattering onto the ground, and she was caught up in the waterfall attack. She was frozen in place, like a statue beside of Touma.

      "Come on!" Minako announced. "Let's deal with Ice Lady and then Touma-san and Ami-chan!" Minako concentrated as she started to do one of her favorite attacks. "Venus Love-me chain…ENCIRCLE!" The attack of hearts linked together to make a chain flew out to Ice Lady. She was busy gloating over the statue of Mercury, not noticing that the attack wrapped around her waist. Minako wrapped her hand around the chain, tightening the lasso around Ice Lady's waist.

      "Everyone!" Makoto had picked up Ami's computer and was trying to figure out how to work it. Ami hadn't gotten to read out the rest of the information that she needed to, so the Sailor to Jupiter took up that duty. "With the attack that this bitch does, it'll keep them encased and cutting off their oxygen supply. They don't have very long until their oxygen supply cuts off! Don't use water attacks at all; that just helps Ice Lady re-form herself and get stronger."

      "I can tell whose going to be my next master piece…." Ice Lady's waist had a nasty melted mark in it as she shut her fan, and threw it hard into the love-me chain attack. The attack broke, dissolved, and the fan flew back into Ice Lady's hand.

      "Minako, Makoto and Myself will work on Ice Lady. The rest of you work on Sailor Mercury and Touma!" Ryo ordered as he took out his twin katanas again.

      "Jupiter Thunder….Dragon!!!!" She did one of her attacks; a bolt of lightening that came out looking like a Dragon. The dragon swooped in at Ice Lady, who was able to dodge that attack. She wasn't expecting for Venus' Love-me chain attack to come back and wrap back into her already marred waist. Ice Lady was struggling as the chain, full of powerful energy, seared her waist. She was just about to try to break the chain, when a powerful cry of  "SO EN ZAN!" came out of nowhere and a line of fire hit her right where the chain did. The fire arc cut Ice Lady in half, causing both parts of her to go flying onto the ground.  Minako's chain disappeared and Ryo re-sheathed his katanas.

      Meanwhile, Seiji, Shu and Sai weren't having an easy time of freeing their friends in blue from their icy prison. They were pretty sure that the time on Touma was close to being up, so they tried to concentrate on him the most. Seiji swung her powerful no-datchi at the prison, but it didn't cause as much as a crack in the ice.

      "That was pretty powerful person….we've never fought anyone who could do that before…" Makoto stated as she wiped her brow with the back of her hand. Suddenly, the two melted figures of Ice Lady burst in ribbons of water, going up to the heavens and out of sight.

      "That was definitely strange. Really strange." Minako added as she looked up to the starry night. Ryo looked over to her, her long hair flowing out by the night wind, short skirt ripping just so and creamy white legs. She did have a wonderful figure. A few seconds after that, all went quiet. The prisons that encased Touma and Ami shone an eerie white glow, casting the shin on the three Troopers that were trying to free them. The prisons suddenly burst open, and shards of ice went flying everywhere. The force of the blast sent Sai, Seiji and Shu backwards. When all the shards finished tearing through whatever they hit, it caused all of them on the ground. Minako was the first one to get up, followed by Makoto. Both had scratch marks from the glass-like slivers of ice slicing through their skin. Minako's bow was ripped in a few places, and both of their Sailor fukus were ripped in multiple pieces. Makoto's side to the uniform was missing, and all the small scratch marks on her side caused for the whole left side to be bloody. All of the other troopers slowly got up as well, dents and small rips in their armor along with just a few bare scratch marks across their faces.

      "Ami-chan! Ami-chan!" Minako called out as she ran to her friend who was laying face down in the grass. Makoto still clutched Ami's mini-computer tightly in her hand. They both ran up to her, falling to their knees beside of her. They rolled her over, and put her head into Makoto's lap.

      "Ami-chan! Ami-chan!" Makoto called her name as well. Ami's face contorted once, and then her thick lashes fluttered open, revealing her deep sapphire eyes that matched her hair color.

      "Nani…? Where's Ice Lady?" Ami asked them. Makoto and Minako smiled a little.

      "She's gone, so don't worry, okay? Let's just get back to the Koiji residence…" Makoto stood up, lifting Ami onto her back.

      "I'm sorry, I'm just so tired…" Ami yawned as Makoto placed her computer back into the Senshi for Mercury's hand. She then promptly fell asleep on Makoto's back, clutching her mini-computer.

      Seiji, Sai, Ryo and Shu had gone over to where Touma was laying face-up in the grass, not a single scratch or dent on him at all. He looked to be in a peaceful slumber. Minako walked over to them, arms crossed her chest and long blonde hair swishing behind her. "How is he?" Minako asked softly as she stood in between Ryo and Sai.

      "There's no heartbeat…" Seiji told her.

      "Why can't you heal him with your sword?!" Sai demanded, feeling tears sting his eyes.

      "I have to have sunlight be reflected off the blade of my no-datchi. It's sunlight; there is no sunshine." Seiji informed Sai as if talking to a child.

      "How can you tell that there isn't a heart beat? Especially through that thick armor?! Are you four just gonna stand around and let him die?!" Minako demanded, walking in between them al and kneeling right beside of Touma. "Well?! Are you?!" She received no answer, and she quickly pinched Touma's nose closed and put her lips over his.

      Everyone was silent, not knowing exactly what she was doing. She was performing CPR, so Sai noticed that quickly. Makoto's mouth hung open, not knowing if Minako was kissing him. 'Well, if she is, I thought she had a lot more class than to plug his nose closed and then kiss him.'

      Minako fell backwards on the grass a few seconds later, gasping for breath. Touma suddenly popped up into a sitting position, also gasping for breath. Suddenly, Shu and Seiji popped up beside him.

      "How come you woke up when Minako-chan pressed her lips to yours?" Shu whispered to Touma, who immediately started to sweat drop. In his state of unconscious, Touma was having a dream relating to what was going on outside of him. It was him, in olden style Ronin armor with Ami kneeling beside of him in a geisha girl outfit, only her hair not done up in the style or her face painted white. She was pressing her lips to his.

      "Is she a good kisser? Well?" Seiji implored. A very furious and blushing Minako popped up behind the three, and used either fist to bop Seiji and Shu on the head at the same time, making their eyes bulge out.

      "Bakas! I wasn't kissing him! It's called CPR!" Minako yelled at them. The couples around them were starting to wake up, and everyone looked at them.

      "We'd better get out of here before they completely come-to." Sai suggested as he walked up to Minako, wrapping an arm around her waist.

      "And we'd better get out of our uniforms. No one walks around in Toyama in fukus and armor. At least, I'm pretty sure they don't." Makoto stated, shifting Ami's weight a little Ami didn't hardly weight anything. Not compared to Usagi, at least.

      "I agree." Seiji had to, as he put one of Touma's arms over his neck and shoulders. Shu took Touma's left side and got into the same position as they disappeared into the bushes.

      Meanwhile, in the Dark Moon Kingdom, Beryl was at her throne. The staff was in the middle of her hands, managing to float in a straight-up position by Beryl using her powers of manipulation. She peered into the crystal ball at the top, having watched the battle that had just happened. Of course, after Ice Lady was destroyed, all the energy of the couples went back, except for a small portion. But she had received something better and even more powerful than the energy of all those lovesick couples: energy from a Trooper and a Senshi. Some of the purest and strongest energy she had ever seen. It was powerful, and enhanced with their years of battle and stamina. The prisons that Ice Lady stuck the two in weren't just to freeze them during battle. The chambers could also be used to suck energy out of a single person or of large groups of people. She smiled a little, seeing the energy swirl around in the crystal ball. That would be a wonderful power source, after all. So, in the big picture Ice Lady might have failed her but temporarily she seemed to be rated higher than some of the Generals. Beryl smiled a little more, fingers stroking the aura around the crystal ball. Suddenly, she burst out laughing, a blood-curdling laugh that could be heard through out the Black Moon Kingdom.