Only Human

Chapter 2: M.I.A. (Missing In Action)

Updated on 4/2/01

Serena walked aimlessly around downtown Tokyo trying to make sense of what just happened. She was so distraught that she couldn't even eat. For the first time in her life, food was the furthest thing on her mind.

Darkness settled in quietly as she stared up into the diamond studded sky. She didn't feel like going home yet, where she was sure to face the firing squad...again. It was just one of those days.

'Where on earth have you been young lady?' her father demanded angrily the moment she stepped into the house.

'Now now dear. Let's not lose our tempers. I'm sure Serena has a perfectly good explanation. What happened honey?' her mother asked in a gentle voice.

'There is no explanation for her carelessness. How could you walk off and leave your friends to bring Reeny home? We trusted you Serena.'

Serena tuned out her father's voice and headed toward her room in silence. She could still hear her mother trying to reason with him after she closed her bedroom door behind her.

From the moonlight, she could see Reeny's silhouette lying on top of her bed, with Luna curled up at the edge. She crept over and tucked the covers under the child's chin and whispered, 'I'm sorry I let you down Reeny.'

With trembling hands, she unfastened her brooch and placed it on top of her dresser table. She wouldn't be needing it anymore.

'I'm sorry Luna. I can't do this anymore.'

She crept past her parents in the living room and went out of the house.

Luna woke up shortly after Serena left and scanned the dark room. The familiar lump under the covers rose up and down steadily in an even rhythm. She couldn't believe she had slept through the entire evening. Looking after both Serena AND Reeny must have really taken a lot out of her. She pulled back the covers, expecting to find Serena snoring, and was startled to find Reeny there alone. Where on earth was Serena?

Serena sat on the docks holding her star locket in her hands. What had gone wrong? Everyone was against her. Normally, she wouldn't have let these things get to her for too long...until today. What had hurt the most was the way the girls didn't believe in her. Especially Tuxedo Mask. They had always been her source of strength and courage. Now it was gone.

She opened the locket and listened to the melody that had played for over a millennium. It used to be HER song. Hers and Darien's. As the tune finished, she felt salty tears trickling down her cheeks and falling into the water. Now what was she going to do?

Suddenly a brilliant beam of red light shone on top of her and proceeded to elevate her off the ground.

'What's going on?!' she shrieked in terror, as she was lifted toward the dark sky.

'Oh no, my locket!'

The star locket slipped from her fingers and fell to the pier below. Rubeus was eagerly awaiting the arrival of his hostage.

The next thing she knew, she was in a pitch black room and laying crumpled on a hard floor. Serena had no idea how long she was unconscious, but she felt as if every ounce of energy had been drained from her body.

'H-h-hello? Is anyone there?' she asked nervously.

'Welcome to my humble abode,' Rubeus' voice reverberated, in the empty room. Light filtered into the dark chamber, making her shield her eyes temporarily.

'Who are you? And what do you want from me?'

'Patience child. You'll find out in due time. My name is Rubeus. I must apologize for having to abduct you in that fashion, but it could not be helped.'

Serena focused on the direction of her captor's voice. As the blurriness faded, she noticed a red-haired man standing several feet away from her. The most outstanding feature was the upside down black crescent moon on his forehead. No way. All the citizens of the moon kingdom were already on the earth, sent by Queen Serenity. Could he be related to those weird sisters?

'I don't understand.'

'You served your purpose well. I knew those wretched Sailor Scouts would show up if we went after the rabbit again. She's caused me more aggravation than she's worth. But that's going to change very soon.'

'I don't know what you're up to, but you'll never get away with this.'

'Oh, I beg to differ. You see, the Sailor Scouts have abandoned Sailor Moon. What a pity. And without her, they can't possibly stop us from taking over Crystal Tokyo. Make no mistake, this pitiful little planet WILL belong to the Black Moon Kingdom.'

'They DIDN'T abandon her. And how do YOU even know about the Sailor Scouts?' Serena demanded.

'I might ask you that same question.'

'Oh...um...uh, Reeny told me all about their fight. Yeah, that's it. Aheh-heh-heh-heh,' she replied nervously. Apparently, he still had no idea that she was Sailor Moon.

'So how did you find out?'

'Who do you THINK sent the sisters to attack the rabbit and the Scouts?'

'So YOU'RE the one behind all those attacks.'

'Guilty as charged. It was so easy. While Catsy kept Sailor Moon occupied, Prisma took care of the Sailor Scouts. And all that time they thought that Sailor Moon abandoned them. You humans can be so gullible.'

'It was part of your plan all along wasn't it?'

'Smart girl. I hope you're smart enough to know that resistance is futile.'

'It still doesn't explain why you kidnapped me. I'm just an innocent bystander.'

'Who happens to be living with a certain pink haired moon child. You, my dear, are going to help me find the Silver Imperium Crystal and destroy the Sailor Scouts once and for all.'

'As if! I won't do it. You can't make me. They stand for justice and peace and are sworn to defend the universe from trash like you.'

'Hah! You ignorant fool. I don't need you to do my dirtywork. I've got someone else for this assignment. Come out and show yourself.'

The shadowy figure standing behind Rubeus walked foward into the light. Serena put one hand against the wall to steady herself, after taking a good look at the person. Her heart beat an uneven tempo as she stared completely flabbergasted. No...it was impossible! It just couldn't be.

'Allow me to introduce Zerena.'

The girl standing next to him had the same meatballs and long blond ponytails as Serena, not to mention the fact that she was the EXACT mirror image of herself!

'At your service Rubeus,' she replied. The imposter even sounded like her.

'She bares an uncanny resemblance don't you think? No one will ever know the difference.'

'You can't possibly mean...'

'Zerena will take your place,' Rubeus supplied.

'But how can there be another me? There's only one Sai...Serena,' she said, biting her lower lip. She almost gave away her secret identity.

'Zerena IS a part of you. She is your clone. While you were unconscious, we took a sample of your genetic DNA and created her from scratch. You might say that she is your twin sister.'

Serena chewed her fingernails nervously. It was only a matter of time before her clone discovered the truth about the Sailor Scouts and Sailor Moon. If the crystal fell in Rubeus' hands, the future of Earth was going to be in grave danger, not to mention the present.

'Come on Serena, snap out of it! Now's not the time to back down'

'I won't let you hurt my friends and the innocent people of Earth.'

'You're in no position to stop me, child.' Rubeus then blasted her with his energy, knocking her against the wall. Serena slumped helplessly to the floor.

Zerena looked on in concern. 'Did you have to be so rough with her Rubeus?'

'Getting soft already Zerena?' he countered back.

'Of course not. But hurting the girl isn't going to further your plans.'

'Don't worry. I'm not planning to get rid of her...yet. Besides, I need her for the time being and so do you.'

'Why?'

'Right now, you don't have any of her memories so you'll have to be on guard for a while until they come back to you. She will become weaker as you grow stronger until all of her energy is drained away. You know your assignment Zerena. DON'T fail me,' he warned menacingly.

'I won't.'

Raye skimmed another rock across the temple pond for the umpteenth time. What was the matter with her tonight? She hadn't been able to sleep a

wink.

Oh, who was she kidding? The answer was as plain as the nose on her face. She felt guilty for the way she behaved towards Serena earlier, although she'd never admit it openly. She just couldn't forget the look of pain on her face. It made her think twice about her accusations.

She turned her head toward the sound of footsteps coming up the steps. Who could it be at this hour of the night?

'Lita? Is that you?'

Lita looked up and saw Raye eyeing her curiously. 'Hey Raye, I didn't think you'd still be up. I'm sorry for bugging you.'

'It's no bother really. I was up anyway.'

'You couldn't sleep either, hmm?'

'I couldn't help thinking about what happened today.'

'Ditto. I've never seen Serena that angry before.'

'You're not the only one,' Mina's voice interjected.

Both Raye and Lita turned around to find Amy and Mina standing behind them.

'If I had known we'd be meeting together, I would have brought Artemis along.'

'I guess we're all here for the same reason,' Amy sighed.

'Do you guys think we were wrong to judge Serena so harshly? I mean, we didn't exactly give her the benefit of the doubt.'

'Hard to say Mina. Serena's always been flakey.'

'But Raye, she's never let us down before,' Amy came to Serena's defense.

'Before today,' Raye corrected.

'We don't know that. I'll be the first to admit that I was a bit hasty in my judgement,' Lita said, 'But I think Amy's right. We should've at least listened to her side of the story.'

'What are you talking about Lita? You were the first one to dump on Serena.'

'You were doing some dumping yourself Raye.'

'Come on guys, don't argue. In the heat of the moment, we all said some things we didn't mean,' Mina said, trying to calm them down.

'We won't get any answers tonight. Reeny's the only one who knows what

really happened.'

'Girls, thank goodness you're all here,' Luna panted breathlessly after

running all the way from Serena's house.

'Luna! What are you doing here?' Amy asked picking up the cat.

'Have any of you seen or heard from Serena at all?'

'What do you mean? I thought she would be home with you.'

'The last time I saw her was this afternoon when she promised to take Reeny to the museum. She hasn't been home since then. I found her transformation broach on her dresser. I'm very worried about her. Do you girls know anything about this?'

'Uh...Luna, there's something you should know,' Lita replied

uncomfortably.

'And that's what happened,' Lita said after explaining the day's disastrous events.

'What do you make of it Luna?' Mina asked.

'I don't like this. Not one little bit. Girls, I think we may have to face the fact that Serena may be missing.'

'Come on Luna, I know Serena was upset, but she wouldn't just run away like that.'

'In her present state of mind, I think ANYTHING is possible at this point.'

Raye, Mina, Amy, and Lita looked at each other worriedly.

What had they done?

To be continued