ADVENTURE MOUNTAIN
Deep within the destroyed caves of the Negaverse, Prince Rutile sat on his cracked throne. Beside him stood his newest warrior, the Dark Scout and before them lay the unmoving body of their enemy. Azurite appeared between Sailor Venus and the throne and bowed deeply. Prince Rutile raised his finger as a gesture that she was allowed to speak.
"My Master, with one scout down, the other four should come easily. They are saddened by losing two of their friends in one day. My monster Vinos is ready to lure them out and destroy them!" Azurite suggested.
Rutile looked past his general at the form that lay behind her. Sailor Venus' eyes were closed and her face and clothing torn. Her arms lay at her side.
"What do you suggest we do with the body?" Rutile asked calmly.
Azurite was taken aback at the comment. She blinked in shock, but said nothing.
"She was a worthy opponent and a fierce warrior. She should be lain to rest with the bodies of our previous enemies. I will attend to it, if you wish," Azurite said finally.
Prince Rutile shook his head. "You take care of the scouts while they're alive. My new warrior will deal with them when they're dead."
Azurite bowed and vanished. The Dark Scout walked to where Venus lay, placed a hand on her ex-friend's chest, and they disappeared as well.
The Dark Scout and Sailor Venus reappeared in a cave far from the throne room. In this room lay thousands of bodies. Each had been, in life, a great warrior that the Negaverse had destroyed. It was like a trophy room to the rulers of the Negaverse.
The Dark Scout walked past the enemies Queen Beryl had destroyed and saw the faces of Jedite, Nephlyte and Zoisite. She knew them as great generals who had displeased the Queen, not as enemies of the planet Earth. Nephlyte was a traitor and the Dark Scout spat at his corpse as she walked by. The last bed held the body of Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom. She had sacrificed herself and her kingdom to trap the Negaforce through the power of her crystal. When Queen Beryl had escaped to conquer Earth, she had returned to the Moon to claim the Queen's body as her prize. The first trophy in Rutile's section was the body of Sailor Venus. Four other beds lay by her side, each hoping to contain a sailor scout.
The Dark Scout lay Sailor Venus on the cold, stone bed and looked at the empty beds beside her. She smiled as she thought of single handedly filling them for her Master. With that thought in her mind, she vanished, leaving Sailor Venus alone with the ghosts of the past.
The first day of school was more difficult than usual to take. Serena felt utterly depressed, as did the rest of the scouts. Mina's death had hit them all hard and Serena couldn't concentrated. She walked into class ten minutes late. She sat down at her desk without even trying to hid the fact she was late. Her teacher, Ms. Haruna, pounced on her tardiness in a second.
"Serena! You're late! On the first day of school!" she yelled.
Serena sighed and lay her head on her arms.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Ms. Haruna was shocked. She hesitated a moment, then tried again.
"What's your excuse?" she asked.
"I don't have an excuse. I was late and I'm sorry."
"Serena, what's wrong?" Ms. Haruna asked gently.
The entire class was silent as they waited for Serena's response. Ms. Haruna took Serena's arm and led her out of the room.
"The rest of you, read chapters three to ten and you'd better be done when I get back in," she ordered.
Outside the room, Ms. Haruna spoke quietly to Serena. The girl sank to the ground and put her head in her hands. Her teacher knelt next to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I know you're always late, but I think this time its more than that. What's wrong?" she asked.
Serena began to cry. Ms. Haruna patted her back soothingly, still completely clueless about why her student was so sad.
"One of my . . close . . friends . . died . . yesterday!" Serena wailed.
Ms. Haruna was at a loss for words. All she could do was comfort the girl as best she could until someone behind her spoke.
"Please Ms. Haruna, let me handle this," the voice behind her said.
Ms. Haruna looked up and saw Amy standing there. The blue haired girl seemed also sad, and her cheeks were streaked with tears.
"She was my friend as well," Amy explained.
Ms. Haruna nodded and returned to her class.
"Take all the time you need," she said.
Amy sat next to Serena. They were motionless for a few seconds, then Serena threw herself into her friend's arms.
"Oh, Amy!" Serena cried.
Together, they sat in the hall and cried for their lost companion.
That afternoon, Amy, Raye, Lita, and Serena sat together at Raye's Temple. Luna and Artemis watched them worriedly.
"They're really taking this hard," Luna commented.
Artemis nodded. Suddenly he jumped onto Amy's lap.
"I've got a great idea girls, why don't you take a vacation?" he suggested.
Serena looked up. She wiped her red eyes and sniffed. "Where to?"
"I read about this place called Adventure Mountain. It's a huge amusement park, the biggest in Japan," Lita said. "It's not far from here either."
"Good idea. Ms. Haruna suggested to take a few days off to get over this," Amy agreed.
From behind some bushes, Vinos listened.
The next day they went to Adventure Mountain. A smile spread over Serena's face as she saw the Ferris wheel, the roller coasters, and especially, the cotton candy. They went on rides, posed for pictures, watched shows and had a wonderful time. Serena began to smile again, and Lita, Raye, and Amy found their grief slipping away. For the whole day, Vinos watched. Finally, as a group of people were gathering for a performance, she attacked.
A terrified scream alerted the vacationing scouts to the monster's presence. They had just gotten off of a roller coaster when Amy noticed the fleeing crowd.
"Transform! There's a monster attacking those people over there!" Amy said.
The scouts hid behind a gaming booth. Serena held up her hand. Since her crystal had been destroyed, Luna had given her a new locket to use until the Imperial Crystal was reformed.
"Moon Crisis Transform!" she called.
"Mercury Star Power!" Amy yelled.
"Jupiter Star Power!" Lita cried.
"Mars Star Power!" Raye shouted.
Vinos had cornered several people and was preparing to leach out their life energy when it heard Sailor Moon cry out. The monster forgot its victims and turned toward the approaching scouts. The cornered people gratefully ran away.
"Think you can ruin our vacation? Think again!" Sailor Moon said. "I stand for . . ."
Vinos roared and charged. The scouts leapt clear and Vinos turned to try again.
"Hey! I didn't finish my speech!" Sailor Moon wailed.
"No time for that now," Mars said.
She faced the rapidly approaching monster.
"Mars Comet Blaze!" she cried, sending the comets towards the monster. Vinos easily dodged the hail of stone.
"My turn. Vinos!" it shrieked, lashing out at Sailor Mars with its vines.
Sailor Mars jumped clear. Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mercury stepped up to take a shot at the enemy.
"Jupiter Tornado Wind!" Sailor Jupiter yelled.
Hundreds of small tornadoes formed and joined into one big one. It went after the escaping monster and caught Vinos in it's whirlwind. The creature was spun around and around until the tornado dropped it to the ground. Vinos sat still, its head still spinning from the ride.
"Mercury Arctic Entwine!" Sailor Mercury said.
Vinos froze solid from the neck down. It's head moaned in dizziness and cold.
"I'll finish the job," Sailor Moon said.
She took of her tiara and it turned into a discus.
"Moon Tiara Magic!" she shouted.
The frozen monster shattered. Azurite appeared, hovering over the remains of her minion.
"Well done, but can you defeat another Shadow Warrior without your precious Sailor Venus?" she asked mockingly.
The scouts stood ready for battle. Azurite drew out the second Rainbow crystal. Around them, a crowd of people had gathered.
"Orange Crystal! Release your captive!" Azurite commanded.
The crystal vanished and another shadow grew tall and powerful. It roared as it stretched and faced the scouts.
"Mama! That shadow monster's gonna eat Sailor Moon!" a small boy in the crowd cried.
Sailor Moon turned to face him and winked.
"Don't worry, for love and justice, the Sailor Scouts will punish that evil creature. Just stay back so you don't get hurt," she said.
The boy hid behind his mother. "Get'em" he said with a fierce smile.
The Shadow Warrior began to form something in its hands. Mercury brought up her VR visor and gasped. Quickly, she placed herself between the other scouts and the monster and called upon her winds to keep the shadow's weapon away from them.
"Mercury Wind Banishment!" she cried.
The object in the monsters hands puffed into nothingness and he tried to form another. That one failed as well.
"What was he doing?" Sailor Mars asked.
"If one of those balls had hit us, we would have been instantly killed," Mercury replied grimly.
"The Negaverse is really sick of us, isn't it? Before they just tried to stop us from stopping them. Now, they're getting serious," Sailor Jupiter commented.
"I can't hold it for long, guys," Mercury reminded them.
"Let's do this the old fashion way," Sailor Moon suggested.
She took off her tiara. Mercury relaxed her winds and the shadow began to form its dark energy again. It slowly advanced.
"Moon Tiara . . ," she began.
"Mercury Bubbles . . ," Sailor Mercury added.
"Mars Fire . . ," Sailor Mars continued.
"Jupiter Thunder . . ," Sailor Jupiter said.
There was a pause before they finished. The shadow kept moving closer.
"Magic!"
"Blast!"
"Ignite!"
"Crash!"
A flaming discus surrounded by freezing bubbles and electricity sped towards the shadow. It struck true and the warrior screamed in pain. He tried vainly to form some means of defense, but the scout's combined attack had weakened it.
"That didn't completely do it," Sailor Mars said.
"But it's slowed down," Mercury added.
"Jupiter Lightning Spark!" Sailor Jupiter shouted.
"Mars Lava Explosion!" Sailor Mars cried.
The Shadow Warrior gave a final cry of pain before disappearing. All that remained was the orange Rainbow Crystal.
"Two down, five to go," Sailor Moon said as she picked it up.
Around them, the crowd began to cheer. The Sailor Scouts waved, jumped onto the roof of a nearby building and ran out of sight.
Azurite watched the Shadow Warrior be destroyed and the scouts retrieve the second crystal. She cursed them silently as they ran off. They had two of the crystals and if they got any more, they would have the Imperial Silver Crystal in no time. She vanished into the Negaverse to give her report. Perhaps Prince Rutile will be lenient with her. Perhaps not.
For the rest of the day, all Serena, Raye, Amy and Lita heard about was how the Sailor Scouts had saved the park. People would come up to them and ask if they saw it. They would always reply that they did and a lengthy conversation would begin about the fight and the persons favorite scout. By the end of the day, the four were in good spirits again.
"We all know who the best is. Sailor Mars with fifteen people," Raye said.
"Not so fast, I got seventeen," Lita argued.
"How many people did we talk to?" Serena asked.
"I'd estimate approximately ninety people," Amy answered. "The part was quite crowded today."
"Only twelve people liked Sailor Moon," Serena pouted.
"Then who's the least favorite?" Raye asked.
They all looked at Amy.
"I beat all of you. Twenty two people liked Sailor Mercury and twenty people wondered where Sailor Venus was," Amy said.
Amy's remark dampened their mood somewhat until Serena saw an ice cream booth. Soon, all four were happily eating ice cream, until Serena tripped and hers fell into a pond. Amy parted with the remains of hers to stop Serena from wailing.
Luna and Artemis were waiting at Raye's Temple when they returned.
"Well, how did the vacation go?" Artemis asked.
"Pretty uneventful," Amy said.
"Yeah. We rode the roller coaster, ate cotton candy, fought a monster from the Negaverse, went on the Ferris wheel, defeated another Shadow Warrior, bought ice cream and came home. That's about it," Lita said.
"You call that uneventful?" Artemis demanded.
"Did you get the second crystal?" Luna asked.
Serena took it out of her pocket. "Right here".
"Good. Come on Serena, lets go home. It's late and you've got school tomorrow," Luna said. "We should meet back here again tomorrow afternoon."
They waved goodbye and Serena, Luna, and Lita departed. Amy stayed and talked with Raye for a while. Soon, she got ready to leave as well.
"Uh, Amy?" Artemis asked.
"Yes, what is it?" Amy said.
"Um, since I'm sort of homeless, I was wondering . . ," he stammered.
Amy laughed and picked him up.
"Of course you can stay with me. It will be nice to have some company since my mother's away," she answered.
Artemis closed his eyes and purred gratefully.
Azurite stood before Prince Rutile and the Dark Scout, awaiting her punishment. The Master of the Negaverse tapped his chin in thought.
"Azurite, you have served me well in the past. Your punishment will be less severe this time. Never let this happen again! I want the Sailor Scouts dead!" he screamed.
"Yes, my Master," Azurite mumbled.
Rutile snapped his fingers and the Dark Scout stepped forward. Her hands glowed with energy and Azurite took a fearful step back.
"Go ahead, and make it painful," Rutile commanded with a smile.
Azurite's screams echoed through the caverns. Deep in another cavern, a faint beating could be heard.
Serena didn't go home that night. Instead, she found herself wandering alone. Luna had left with Lita for the night and the sorrow and anger penned up inside her was too much.
"Hey, Meatball Head," a friendly voice said behind her.
She turned and threw her arms around Darien. He held her close as she cried and patted her softly.
"Now, what's this about?" he asked.
Serena looked up at him and he smiled at her. Gently, he wiped her tears from her cheeks.
"Oh, Darien, I'm so glad you found me," Serena sobbed.
Darien hugged her again. "That's kind of my job. To keep you safe and happy. I don't seem to be doing well in the happy department, so why don't you tell me what's wrong?"
Serena told him everything and together, they walked to Serena's house. Her mother was waiting outside and Darien explained her daughters lateness and tears as best he could. She thanked him and brought Serena inside. Darien waited until the door was closed before turning and heading slowly back to his apartment.