1 Unfair Challenge

Serena stretched and yawned. It was a beautiful Saturday, and today she was going to the amusement park with her friends, Amy, Raye, Lita and Mina.

For once I'm gonna be ON TIME, thought Serena to herself, as she got dressed and walked down the stairs. "I'M GOING NOW, MOM!!!" she shouted, as she ran out of the door

"Bye Serena!!! Have a good time!!!" was the reply.

A few minutes later, everyone was at Raye's temple, Raye looking most surprised at Serena's punctuality.

"Is everyone ready?" asked Lita, a tall brunette. Everyone responded with a big cheer, as they made their way to the amusement park.

As the girls passed through the entrance gate, they met a person who they'd rather not have seen.

"Hi-de-ho!" It was the unmistakable greeting from…

"Melvin", sighed Serena.

"I heard about this amusement park on the Internet, Serena, and thought I'd check it out!!! Perhaps they'll show me how the rides work!" Melvin was genuinely fascinated.

"Yeah… Uh… Great" Serena forced a smile in Melvin's direction.

"Hey Melvin, why not hang out with us for the day?" Raye sounded polite, but she had an ulterior motive.

"Yeah, OK, that sounds fun!!! But let me go to the bathroom first!" Melvin disappeared into the men's bathroom.

"RAYE?! What's the big idea?!" Serena whined at her friend.

"I was thinking…" Raye responded. "How about… a COMPETITION!!!"

Mina eyed Raye suspiciously. "What KIND of competition…?"

Raye structured her plan out. "It's simple – we go on rides, and award each other points, and deduct points for going on rides, and screaming and such. Whoever has the least amount of points at the end of the day has to ask Melvin to go through the Tunnel of Love with them!" Raye's dark eyes glistened mischievously.

"Oooooooh…" Serena began.

"I'm in!" Lita said.

"Me too!!!" chipped in Mina. "What about you Serena?"

"Well… Oh, alright!!!"

The girls then turned to face Ami, who was buried deep in a small book about Physics.

"Ami?"

"Hmm… Oh, what is it, Raye?"

"Are you in on the Melvin game?"

Ami looked up from her book to face Raye. She seemed somewhat discontent at Raye's plan. "I don't believe you guys! Stringing poor Melvin along like this, it isn't very fair on him! I refuse to participate in this silly game of yours!" Ami went back to reading her Physics book, which Serena abruptly snatched out of her hand.

"Awww… C'mon Ames – we came here today to have FUN, not to be serious!!! At least keep the scores for us, if you won't join in!!!" Serena's eyes pleadingly met Ami's.

"OK, but only because you won't let me read my Physics book otherwise…" Ami got out a small, shiny blue notebook, and flipped through the pages of notes on equations and theories that she had made in her neat handwriting. She found a blank page, and divided it into 4 sections, writing the name of one of her friends in each section.

Melvin comes out of the bathroom, and approached the girls. "Come on then!!! I wanna go on a ride!!!" The group of six people approached the roller coaster. While Melvin goes to wait in the queue, Ami issued the challenge.

"OK. Here's your challenge – you have to go on the roller coaster, and do the following. You have to let go of the safety bars on the steep slope. If you do that, then you get 2 points. Failure to do so deducts 2 points. Also, if you scream, then you lose 5 points. The person who can go around without their hands on the bar for the longest amount of time will also be rewarded 5 points. I'll stand here, and watch you." Ami stood aside from the cue, as the others went to join Melvin. They gave their tickets in at the booth, and sat in the seats, bringing the safety bar down over them.

Whilst Ami was watching the girls and Melvin on the roller coaster, and modifying the scores accordingly, a boy walked up behind her.

"Ami?"

Ami turned around at the sound of her name. The boy who was standing behind her was Greg.

"GREG!!! Oh WOW!!! What are you doing here?" Ami ran towards Greg, with her arms outstretched. Just at that moment, her friends had exited the roller coaster. Serena started moaning.

"Typical. We ask her to keep sc-" Serena glanced at Melvin, "I mean, wait for us, and she goes off!!!" Lita points over to Ami and Greg.

"Waitasec Serena, isn't that Greg?!" Everyone looks, Melvin included.

"You're right, Lita! Wow, Ami hasn't seen Greg in a long time! Hey, Ami! Greg!"

Ami and Greg approach the group, holding hands. "Long time, no see" Greg comments to everyone. They all nod their heads and murmur in understanding.

"So Greg, what brings you here?" Mina asks curiously.

"Well, since it's the school holidays, I asked my parents if I could come down here for a while, to see Ami…" On saying this, he hugs Ami, and holds her tightly to him.

"That's great! Hey Greg, wanna hang 'round with us? We decided to come here for the day!"

"Sure!"

The now bigger group started to walk around the park. Greg started to talk to Ami, and the rest of the group laughed and joked at Melvin's expense.

"It's sure been a long time, Ami…"

"Yup… I've missed you so much, Greg…"

"I've missed you too, Mercury…" He put his arm around her, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, which makes Ami blush. She hugs him in return, and they continue walking.

Several rides later, the gang decide to call it a day, and finish the Melvin competition. Whilst Melvin makes yet ANOTHER trip to the bathroom, Ami summarised the day for the girls and Greg, who is holding onto her.

"Let's see… First, we had the roller coaster… Raye and Lita both get two points for not holding onto the bar, and Mina gets seven points for not holding on for the longest amount of time… However, she lost 5 of those for screaming… As for Serena", Ami looks at Serena, who has an expression of dismay on her face "you get seven points taken away for not letting go, and screaming EXTREMELY loudly… -7 points for you…"

Serena groaned. "It's not FA-A-AIR!!! How can you NOT scream on the roller coaster?!"

Ami continued. "Next, you went on the High Flyer. The same rules for the challenge applied for that as on the roller coaster… This time, Raye gets five points for letting go for the most amount of time, plus another two just for letting go. Lita and Mina both get two points, and so does Serena… BUT, she loses five for screaming!!!

"Then there were the Waltzers… The challenge was to move your arms as much as you could without holding onto the bar. Lita gets 5 points for doing her very ~cough~ 'original' dance. Everyone else gets two points…"

Ami then summarised several more rides, and the scores. She then stood on a bench, and announced the rankings of her friends.

"In the Melvin challenge, the person to come first place was… Raye, with 15 points…" Raye stands in front of everyone, applauding herself and bowing. Serena looks annoyed, to say the least. Ami continues by saying "joint second were Lita and Mina, with 13 points each! Which means…" Serena stood by Ami, holding her head in dismay "… That Serena is in last place, with –3 points. Therefore, Serena has to ask Melvin on the ride with her!" Everyone except Serena, Ami and Greg start laughing.

Melvin comes out of the bathroom. "Did I miss anything?" Raye, who is still giggling, nudges Serena.

"Oh geez… Melvin… Will you go on the Tunnel of Love with me?" Serena looks as though she is about to be sick.

"YEAH, SURE!!! THAT'LL BE GREAT SERENA!!!" Melvin loops his arm through Serena's to go to the Tunnel of Love. Serena takes her arm away.

"Don't get carried away…" Serena walks gloomily to the Tunnel of Love, the others closely behind. Greg stops Ami for a second.

"Ummm… Ami… I err… Well…"

"What is it, Greg?" Ami's crystal blue eyes gaze lovingly into Greg's, as she smiles her shy smile.

"Well… Would you… Wo-would you go on the… Tunnel of Love… With me?"

Ami flings her arms around Greg, and quickly kisses him. "I'd be honoured to". She smiles at him, and walks to the Tunnel of Love with him, hands interlocked. "Serena! Wait up! Greg and I are coming on too!" Ami watches as Serena and a soppy Melvin enter a boat and go into the Tunnel, and she and Greg do likewise.

Whilst in the tunnel, Serena grimaces as Melvin tries to put his arm around her, and because she can imagine what her friends will be like when she comes out of the other end. Greg and Ami don't bother to look at the tacky interior of the Tunnel; instead they look at each other and talk about their lives. Suddenly, Ami looks up as she hears two people screaming – Serena and Melvin. They are screaming in fear of a Negaverse monster that has attacked their boat.

"I am Enotara! Loyal to the Negaverse, and all of its beings!!! I have come to steal the energy of the travellers of the Tunnel of Love!!!" With this comment, she starts to drain Melvin and Serena's energy.

Greg turns to Ami. "You must be careful, Ami!!! But you have to save your friends! Transform to Sailor Mercury!"

"I know. Let's see…" Ami gets her transformation pen out of her pocket and holds it up.

"MERCURY POWER!!!" Ami gracefully twirls a stream of blue around her, and transforms into Sailor Mercury. She leaps off of the boat, and runs up to where Enotara is zapping the energy of her friends.

"HEY, YOU!!! Stop stealing people's energy; leave them in peace!!! I am Sailor Mercury, and on behalf of Mercury, I ask you to leave those people alone!!!"

"NEVER!!!" Enotara looks up from her victims, and glares at Sailor Mercury.

"Sailor… Mercury…" Serena weakly addresses her friend. Melvin is already unconscious. "You must… defeat her… please…" Serena joins Melvin in an unconscious state. Ami looks extremely angry with Enotara.

"HOW DARE YOU!!! On behalf of Mercury, and for Sailor Moon, I will PUNISH YOU!!! SAILOR MERCURY!!!" She lunges at Enotara, and springs into attack. "MERCURY BUBBLES… BLAST!!!" Millions of bubbles create a cooling fog. Enotara looks confused and lost in the fog.

Meanwhile, what happened to Greg? He had immediately jumped off of the boat, and ran outside to the others, panting.

"What's wrong, Greg?"

"Nega-monster… In the Tunnel… Mercury is battling her… Alone…" Greg coughs and splutters, trying to get his breath back. The three girls get their transformation pens out, and transform into Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus. They then follow Greg into the tunnel.

Whilst this was happening, Mercury wasn't doing too well in the fight. Her Bubbles Blast had worn off, and she was getting severely thrashed by Enotara. She lay on the ground, quivering, with her VR Visor activated. Greg looked shocked.

"AMI!!!" He ran towards her, and helped her up. She looked at him, being supported by his arms, as she was too weak to stand up by herself.

"Greg…" Ami's voice was quiet. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry for what?"

"Sorry… For dragging you into this…"

"Nonsense, Ami, you did nothing of the sort!" He smiled tenderly at Ami, who had tears forming in her eyes. She smiled back, and then fainted in his arms. Venus, Jupiter and Mars rushed over to her.

"MERCURY!"

"Is she OK?"

"I think she just fainted. Probably over-battled this Nega-toad…" Mars glared at the approaching Negaverse monster, then checked Mercury's wrist for a pulse. "She's fine, Greg. Just get her out of here. Venus, you get Serena and Melvin out of here. Me and Jupiter are gonna teach this creep a thing or two…"

Greg carried Ami out of the Tunnel, and Venus went to get Serena and Melvin. Mars and Jupiter faced the monster.

"You don't scare me, ya freak! MARS FIREBALL CHARGE!!!" A strip of paper attached itself to Enotara's forehead; she was paralysed.

"JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!!!" A lightning rod came out of Jupiter's tiara, and collected lots of electric energy, which she fired at Enotara as a huge bolt of lightning.

"VENUS CRESCENT BEAM SMASH!!!" Venus had taken Serena and Melvin out to where Greg was with Mercury, and returned to help in the battle. A brilliant beam shot at the monster with great accuracy. Enotara was now weakened, and the three Scouts got ready to perform their final attacks.

Whilst all this was happening, Greg was outside, sitting on the grass, holding Ami close to him. She had now been transformed back to normal, and was shaking. She still hadn't woken up. Tears were coming from Greg's eyes, and dripping onto her.

Serena woke up, looking dazed. "Wh… Where am I? What happened…? Why is MELVIN here?!" She shot up with a start, as she remembered Enotara. Serena then looked at Greg, who was still holding Ami, and crying. She went over to him, and comforted him. "She'll be OK, Greg… After all, she IS Sailor Mercury… Ami will recover soon…"

Greg nodded. "I know," he replied softly. "It's just… Well… I was so scared that I might have lost her. She means everything to me, and my life wouldn't be worth living if I knew that she was gone. I love her so much…" Serena put her arm around Greg.

"She loves you too, ya know that… You may not know this, but you mean more to her than anything. She's always talking about you, thinking about you, worrying about you. She misses you a lot, Greg…"

"Really?"

"For sure! When Ami first met you, she was so in love with you, but she's such a shy girl that she is afraid to open her feelings up to anyone. But she does love you a lot…"

"Wow…" Greg smiled through the tears in his eyes, so happy that he'd met a girl like Ami.

"If you'll excuse me Greg, I gotta book it, better help the others!!! Look after Melvin!!!"

"Yeah, sure!"

Serena arrived at the Tunnel of Love just in time to see Sailor Mars finish off Enotara with her "Mars Fire Ignite" attack. The scouts ran over to Serena.

"Hey, you OK, Serena?" Jupiter was full of concern for her friend.

"Well, she'll obviously be OK once all the work has been done, as USUAL…" Mars started insulting Serena as always.

"Stop it, Raye – it's YOUR FAULT!!! If it hadn't been for that competition –"

"Hey, come on now, don't you two start!" Mina tried to break up Raye and Serena's arguing, but with no such success. "Talking of arguments, is Ami OK?"

The Scouts transformed back into their normal selves, and ran outside, to where Melvin had woken up, and gone to the bathroom (AGAIN!), and Ami was just waking up. The girls knelt down around her.

"Hey Ames, you OK?"

"You had us scared then, Ami!!! In future, DON'T take on monsters by yourself!!!"

Ami had sat herself up in Greg's arms. She was still weak, but getting her strength back. "I'm fine… But I had to battle that monster… Before it hurt Serena and Melvin…"

"Awww… Ami, you're such a good friend!" Serena beamed at her best friend. How nice it is to have such a reliable and loyal friend like Ami, she thought.

Melvin came back to the group. "Hi-de-ho! We'd better go home, it's getting late!" The others agreed, and they all went their separate ways to their homes. Greg walked Ami home, and talked to her on the way.

"Hey Ami, I'm so glad you're OK now." He smiled at her.

Ami returned the smile. "I'm sorry that I worried you so much, Greg." The two talked about their evening a bit more, and discovered that they had arrived at Ami's house. Just as Ami was about to open the gate to go home, Greg grabbed her arm, and turned her around.

"Ami, I just wanna say to you… That… I…"

"Come on Greg, you know you can tell me anything – don't be afraid!" Ami's beautiful blue eyes looked at Greg.

"I love you so much, Ami"

"I know… I love you too"

Ami wrapped her arms around Greg, and held him. He wrapped his arms around Ami, and looked at her. After gazing at each other for a short while, they kissed each other. When they finally finished, Ami held Greg's hands.

"I love you Greg."

"I love you too, Ami."

"I hope I can see you again really soon!"

"Yeah, ditto."

Ami gave Greg a quick kiss, and then ran into her house. She went to her bedroom, and then out onto the balcony, where she waved to Greg as he walked back to where he was staying. He waved back. Then, Ami ran into her room, and flopped onto her bed, sighing and smiling. She got out her blue notebook, and on the back she drew a big heart. Inside the heart, she wrote "Ami + Greg". Then she put away her notebook, got ready for bed, and fell asleep, smiling.