All Minako, Makoto and Rei could see on their communicator screens were bubbles and deep blue. Suddenly a flash of peach rushed by, as an unconscious Ami's arm swept past her face. Then the communicator fizzled out for good.
"What was up with that? It fizzled out on us…"Makoto looked worried, as did her friends.
"Ami's in some sort of trouble. We have to find her." Rei spoke quickly and harshly, her voice cold and metallic.
"We can't track her though! No computer, no nothing." Shouted Makoto as she flung her hands up in the air. "This is what I would call a big fat piece of shit."
All three communicators went off again. Minako was first to punch the talk button, but instead of Ami's face on the screen, there was a man. All she could see were his eyes, but they were a cold, grim blue like a stormy sea. "You will be coming to me any minuet now. And then you will see your precious Ami. Until then my darlings."
"That was weird." Muttered Minako.
"Totally…"said Rei. I'm feeling uneasy about this. We are coming to him any minuet now?"
As if on cue, a cry from Makoto, who was busy hurling a man at a tree, signaled an assault. Minako quickly attacked three of the strange hooded men with karate and Rei, who had been thrown to the ground, was clawing at a man's face with her sharp fingernails.
"Minako! Lasers!" shouted Rei. Minako quickly remembered her newfound powers and blasted the man who was looming over the dark haired girl. Minako zapped the other three men, and Makoto spit some blood from her lip onto the ground. It sizzled as it landed on one of the men's bodies.
"Does liquid sizzle on human flesh?" asked the tall girl.
"Not that I know of…"said Minako.
"Well I just spit on this body here and the spit sizzled. And if it's not supposed to sizzle, than I must have either mutant spit or this isn't a normal guy."
Rei stooped down to looked at the corpse and examined the hole where Minako had shot through him. There was no blood. Instead wires and circuits were twisted about in his gut and lubricating oil and grease oozed about as blood and bile would in a human. Rei gasped and turned away.
"He's a cyborg?" mumbled Minako.
"Well, he was until you blasted through his guts Mina-chan. I guess these are, or were rather, our chaperones to the creepy dude on Ami's communicator." Replied Makoto.
Suddenly, one of the robots several yards away twitched and got up. Rei walked over to it and demanded to be taken to Ami. The mechanical man did not answer but instead took several pairs of handcuffs from its trench coat and slapped them onto the girls.
"Your friends are coming Ami. And I will help them on their quest too. I can't understand how your orders got mixed up like that; all I can think of happening is a circuit got jammed up in the flight from Tokyo…but no matter. They are coming and I will correct the instructions and the search for the gems will go much smoother than it has." Said a man, a man with cold eyes and a shaved head.
"May I go and collect some of the energy plugs?" said Ami softly.
"Of course. We can never have enough what with the plans I'm coming up with." Said the man. "Just put on a dive suit and you may go my dear."
"I'll be back soon Adimus." Said Ami excitedly. She took a dark blue dive suit from a locker and quickly pulled the skirt and harem pants off along with her peasant top and hair rag. Adimus politely turned his head away and looked out the glass window to admire the ocean landscape, but could not help glancing once at the voluptuous form reflected in the glass. Ami pulled the dive suit on with an experienced air and soon the suit, which covered everything, toes to fingers, all the way up to the neck. She stepped through the airlock door and in a moment was swimming like a fish past the window Adimus was looking out.
"Adimus! The three girls have arrived and are here for you to deal with." Said a slim, yet muscled man with a shock of black curly hair.
"Bring them in please Jesea." Said Adimus, who was watching Ami carefully from the window, his gaze never straying.
"As you say." Replied Jesea as he opened the door wider to allow Rei, Minako and Makoto enter the room.
"Okay bub, where is Ami. We want her back." Shouted Minako.
"She is quite safe, and I do believe that very shortly you will not see me as a threat, but instead a teacher."
Makoto growled "Just tell us what you want us to do to get Ami back."
"I don't want you to do anything. I want to reunite you four. I also want to help you on your quest." Said Adimus.
"So what about the thugs?" demanded Minako, as she tossed a strand of her blond hair out of the way and over her shoulder.
"Thugs? Oh yes my escorts. I didn't program them to be violent with you...hmm. A bug perhaps? Oh well. Will you let me help you?"
"I don't trust you but we want Ami back. Tell us what you have to say." Said Rei.
"I could tell you the world, but we haven't time. I shall start you off easily. I am your creator and you are my creations." Said Adimus calmly, as he walked over to a locker and removed some scientific equipment. He called for an assistant, his Matrika. A woman with an Indian skin tone and deep purple eyes came in. She wore a dive suit of turquoise.
"What the hell are you talking about?" shouted Minako as the words "creator and creation" set in.
"As I told you, I made you. I built you of metal and Matrika carried your metallic fetuses and bore them. The priestess Meda who prophesized this mess… I'm going too fast for you aren't I?" Adimus did not wait for an answer but continued from his first topic. "You were created for a purpose, to find the gem stones from the tiaras of the 20th century Sailor Soldiers."
"We know the story all ready." Said Makoto tartly. "Serenity can not awaken without the power locked away into these jewels. She alone can stop the Great War from coming, and can stop the human race from destroying itself and this planet. Serenity was sealed away to protect her from any outside forces who might be attracted by her power. This would allow the Earth to live in relative peace until Serenity was to awaken. We know the drill already, what can you do to help us?"
"I can correct my mistake and show you the truth. You have the story; now what you lack is only a key. I am that key. I have a map for you, and I have the object that will combine the gems and allow them to awaken the princess and future queen. I won't help you though unless you allow me to correct my programming mistake, a mistake I made in all of you when I created you for Meda."
"What should we do guys?" asked Minako, turning to her companions.
"You make the choice. You know the most with your memories…"whispered Rei, afraid to let on that Minako had found her gem.
"Fine. Then I choose-" Minako was cut off when Ami walked back into the room.
"Minako…Rei…Makoto. You are finally here! Has Adimus told you about his kind offer?"
The three girls looked at Ami and nodded. Ami walked over to Adimus and kissed his cheek. "I hope you will accept his offer. It's the only way. You are headed to corruption if you don't." The last sentence Ami uttered sounded alien and metallic coming from her lips. Ami then turned to Adimus and looked into those stony eyes, and he looked into her deep blue ones. "I found it. I found the Mercury Sapphire, Adimus. We finally have it!"
Adimus said, "We shall celebrate this evening with Matrika and Jesea. But we must insert the gem at once. Where is it?"
"I left it in the grave. I didn't know if I was supposed to disturb such a holy place with my grave robbing." Ami was flushed from excitement.
Adimus's gaze became cold and he admonished Ami, "The world is at stake and you are worried about taking a stone from a grave? You are a foolish little dolphin."
"Forgive me."
"We must go to the grave at once and find the stone again. Minako, Makoto, Rei, come with us. You will get to see first hand what I can do with those gems." Adimus turned, his loose black pants and shirt breezing after him. Ami followed, her fresh broom skirt and shirt also flowing lightly. Together they looked went towards the airlock entrance, Rei, Minako and Makoto in tow…
"What was up with that? It fizzled out on us…"Makoto looked worried, as did her friends.
"Ami's in some sort of trouble. We have to find her." Rei spoke quickly and harshly, her voice cold and metallic.
"We can't track her though! No computer, no nothing." Shouted Makoto as she flung her hands up in the air. "This is what I would call a big fat piece of shit."
All three communicators went off again. Minako was first to punch the talk button, but instead of Ami's face on the screen, there was a man. All she could see were his eyes, but they were a cold, grim blue like a stormy sea. "You will be coming to me any minuet now. And then you will see your precious Ami. Until then my darlings."
"That was weird." Muttered Minako.
"Totally…"said Rei. I'm feeling uneasy about this. We are coming to him any minuet now?"
As if on cue, a cry from Makoto, who was busy hurling a man at a tree, signaled an assault. Minako quickly attacked three of the strange hooded men with karate and Rei, who had been thrown to the ground, was clawing at a man's face with her sharp fingernails.
"Minako! Lasers!" shouted Rei. Minako quickly remembered her newfound powers and blasted the man who was looming over the dark haired girl. Minako zapped the other three men, and Makoto spit some blood from her lip onto the ground. It sizzled as it landed on one of the men's bodies.
"Does liquid sizzle on human flesh?" asked the tall girl.
"Not that I know of…"said Minako.
"Well I just spit on this body here and the spit sizzled. And if it's not supposed to sizzle, than I must have either mutant spit or this isn't a normal guy."
Rei stooped down to looked at the corpse and examined the hole where Minako had shot through him. There was no blood. Instead wires and circuits were twisted about in his gut and lubricating oil and grease oozed about as blood and bile would in a human. Rei gasped and turned away.
"He's a cyborg?" mumbled Minako.
"Well, he was until you blasted through his guts Mina-chan. I guess these are, or were rather, our chaperones to the creepy dude on Ami's communicator." Replied Makoto.
Suddenly, one of the robots several yards away twitched and got up. Rei walked over to it and demanded to be taken to Ami. The mechanical man did not answer but instead took several pairs of handcuffs from its trench coat and slapped them onto the girls.
"Your friends are coming Ami. And I will help them on their quest too. I can't understand how your orders got mixed up like that; all I can think of happening is a circuit got jammed up in the flight from Tokyo…but no matter. They are coming and I will correct the instructions and the search for the gems will go much smoother than it has." Said a man, a man with cold eyes and a shaved head.
"May I go and collect some of the energy plugs?" said Ami softly.
"Of course. We can never have enough what with the plans I'm coming up with." Said the man. "Just put on a dive suit and you may go my dear."
"I'll be back soon Adimus." Said Ami excitedly. She took a dark blue dive suit from a locker and quickly pulled the skirt and harem pants off along with her peasant top and hair rag. Adimus politely turned his head away and looked out the glass window to admire the ocean landscape, but could not help glancing once at the voluptuous form reflected in the glass. Ami pulled the dive suit on with an experienced air and soon the suit, which covered everything, toes to fingers, all the way up to the neck. She stepped through the airlock door and in a moment was swimming like a fish past the window Adimus was looking out.
"Adimus! The three girls have arrived and are here for you to deal with." Said a slim, yet muscled man with a shock of black curly hair.
"Bring them in please Jesea." Said Adimus, who was watching Ami carefully from the window, his gaze never straying.
"As you say." Replied Jesea as he opened the door wider to allow Rei, Minako and Makoto enter the room.
"Okay bub, where is Ami. We want her back." Shouted Minako.
"She is quite safe, and I do believe that very shortly you will not see me as a threat, but instead a teacher."
Makoto growled "Just tell us what you want us to do to get Ami back."
"I don't want you to do anything. I want to reunite you four. I also want to help you on your quest." Said Adimus.
"So what about the thugs?" demanded Minako, as she tossed a strand of her blond hair out of the way and over her shoulder.
"Thugs? Oh yes my escorts. I didn't program them to be violent with you...hmm. A bug perhaps? Oh well. Will you let me help you?"
"I don't trust you but we want Ami back. Tell us what you have to say." Said Rei.
"I could tell you the world, but we haven't time. I shall start you off easily. I am your creator and you are my creations." Said Adimus calmly, as he walked over to a locker and removed some scientific equipment. He called for an assistant, his Matrika. A woman with an Indian skin tone and deep purple eyes came in. She wore a dive suit of turquoise.
"What the hell are you talking about?" shouted Minako as the words "creator and creation" set in.
"As I told you, I made you. I built you of metal and Matrika carried your metallic fetuses and bore them. The priestess Meda who prophesized this mess… I'm going too fast for you aren't I?" Adimus did not wait for an answer but continued from his first topic. "You were created for a purpose, to find the gem stones from the tiaras of the 20th century Sailor Soldiers."
"We know the story all ready." Said Makoto tartly. "Serenity can not awaken without the power locked away into these jewels. She alone can stop the Great War from coming, and can stop the human race from destroying itself and this planet. Serenity was sealed away to protect her from any outside forces who might be attracted by her power. This would allow the Earth to live in relative peace until Serenity was to awaken. We know the drill already, what can you do to help us?"
"I can correct my mistake and show you the truth. You have the story; now what you lack is only a key. I am that key. I have a map for you, and I have the object that will combine the gems and allow them to awaken the princess and future queen. I won't help you though unless you allow me to correct my programming mistake, a mistake I made in all of you when I created you for Meda."
"What should we do guys?" asked Minako, turning to her companions.
"You make the choice. You know the most with your memories…"whispered Rei, afraid to let on that Minako had found her gem.
"Fine. Then I choose-" Minako was cut off when Ami walked back into the room.
"Minako…Rei…Makoto. You are finally here! Has Adimus told you about his kind offer?"
The three girls looked at Ami and nodded. Ami walked over to Adimus and kissed his cheek. "I hope you will accept his offer. It's the only way. You are headed to corruption if you don't." The last sentence Ami uttered sounded alien and metallic coming from her lips. Ami then turned to Adimus and looked into those stony eyes, and he looked into her deep blue ones. "I found it. I found the Mercury Sapphire, Adimus. We finally have it!"
Adimus said, "We shall celebrate this evening with Matrika and Jesea. But we must insert the gem at once. Where is it?"
"I left it in the grave. I didn't know if I was supposed to disturb such a holy place with my grave robbing." Ami was flushed from excitement.
Adimus's gaze became cold and he admonished Ami, "The world is at stake and you are worried about taking a stone from a grave? You are a foolish little dolphin."
"Forgive me."
"We must go to the grave at once and find the stone again. Minako, Makoto, Rei, come with us. You will get to see first hand what I can do with those gems." Adimus turned, his loose black pants and shirt breezing after him. Ami followed, her fresh broom skirt and shirt also flowing lightly. Together they looked went towards the airlock entrance, Rei, Minako and Makoto in tow…