Sailor Moon: Beautiful Dreams

The air was still. The land, a dark, eternal twilight. Some might think areas of The Dark Kingdom to be somewhat beautiful, in a gothic, monochrome way. On the crest of a hill, beneath a blood sky, stood the army of Vergana. Nearly five thousand youma. Wielding an assortment of weapons scavenged from Beryl's castle, they stand, eagerly awaiting the order to battle. Upon the other hill, roughly three hundred meters away, stands the army of Vandred. For nearly six months, both, Vergana and Vandred have climbed the ranks to become the two most dominant youma in the known world. Both now stand with their armies ready. Both leaders stand with their troops. Both know that if their warriors should fall, they will die as well. Neither would have it any other way.

Vergana makes an unsuccessful attempt to scratch an itch. It was nearly impossible with the dull, bronze armor she wore. As light and unobtrusive as it was, she still saw it as a hindrance. The youma had no metalworkers, or mining facilities of their own, but one of the more talented in her ranks, made her the armor from bronze shields, left over from when Beryl first attacked the Moon Kingdom. Vergana could only think how there were now a dozen of her ranks without shields to protect them. Her servant, however, convinced her that actually looking like a general would greatly improve the morale of the warriors. At first her servants wanted to polish the armor to a high gloss, but Vergana stopped them, reminding them if the armor was too eye-catching, it would make her more of a target in battle than protect her. Focusing her attention to events at hand, Vergana turned to see Valkrie approaching to her side. A powerfully built youma, she was the only one with whom Vergana placed her complete trust.

"The pikemen are ready." Valkrie stated. As an afterthought, she adjusted the metal tiara, more functional than decorative, to better keep her flowing white hair out of her face in combat.

"Good." The youma leader replies. "Are the fire-throwers ready as well?"

"They are getting into position now." Valkrie said. "Korin is having some trouble keeping the more aggressive ones in line."

"As long as they head in the right direction when it starts." Roughly nine tenths of the youma in the Dark Kingdom were what one might call... less than civilized. Some might say demonic and savage. As a front line attack wave, they were difficult to beat, though. A fact that Beryl, the former leader of this world, was not afraid to exploit. Many youma, however, are fairly intelligent, and can easily approach human standards. Vergana and the other ruling youma, were no exceptions.

"M'lady!" Valkrie called, drawing her sword. "It's... a human?!"

Vergana turned to the sight of a single, slender, young man, holding a long, intricately carved, double-edged pole-axe, approaching from the rear.. He black cape and dark hair began to blow in the wind, which was now picking up. The youma tensed as he approached. Their previous experience with humans was not a pleasant one under the command of Beryl's generals. Vergana raised and then slowly lowered her hand, as a signal for the youma to relax. "I called him here. This is the one whom we have been waiting for."

Valkrie lowered her spear, but only with reluctance.

As the man came upon group, Vergana spoke. "Hematite. I'm glad you could make it. I appreciate this favor from your group, I was not expecting you to aid us in an internal matter."

"We have a vested interest in seeing your side win today, so I was sent to aid you in claiming victory." His dark-gray uniform was immaculate. He looked more like a nobleman than a warrior.

"They sent only one?" Valkrie asked with a slight hint of surprise, and disdain. "What can a single... human do to aid us in a battle of this size?" She used the word "human" like an epithet.

"Valkrie!" Vergana said admonishingly.

"No, I can understand your subordinate's concern." Hematite stated with no hint of offense in his voice. "My guild could only send one through the dimensional fabric, so they have chasen to send me."

"I'm glad." Vergana said. "Take a position near the front line, where your talents can be of their greatest use, and good fortune to you, Hematite. Come back alive."

Hematite merely smiled, bowed, and moved off through the ranks to take his position.

"My apologies for my outburst, Lady Vergana, but can we really trust a human?" Valkrie asked.

"Even if we win this day, Valkrie, our race is still dying." Vergana said. "He and his guild may be the only thing that can save us."

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Sailor Moon: Beautiful Dreams - Chapter 2

By Captain Zefram Man

Sailor moon, the Sailor Senshi, and all related characters are TM and copyright their respective owners, who aren't me. This story and all parts there of are mine alone are and protected by copyright law. This story may not be reposted without the express permission of the author (except for Mystery Science Theater purposes), namely me, so please ask first.

This fic is rated PG-13

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." - Unknown

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Within the den of Rei's home at the Hikawa Shrine, the senshi were studying hard to prepare for their final exams. Most of all, they tried to prepare Usagi for hers.

"No Usagi... try again."

Try being the operative word.

Luna continued. "How do you ask the salesperson, in english, that you want to try out the chair they're selling?"

"Uhhh... may... may I... p... please... uh... may I please sit in your stool sample?" Usagi replied with a smile.

Luna, Artemis, Minako, and Ami, being the ones who could best understand english, all fell over. Minako, in particular, tried to keep from laughing herself into a coma while Makoto and Rei just scratched their heads and stared. Still, it hadn't been as bad as when she was helping Mamoru with his laundry and tried to impress him by asking if she could "take a sheet in his room". Everyone recovered their composure and Luna climbed back onto the table.

"Usagi, I didn't think it was possible, but you seem to be having even more trouble concentrating." She chastised. "You have finals coming up soon for all your classes. What will happen if you fail?"

"Our poor country is going to have a flunkout as its queen in the future." Rei said. She really didn't like being so harsh with Usagi, but the fact that Usagi needed it, and that Rei was so good at it, made it easier.

"You're heartless!" Usagi whined.

"And you're BRAINLESS!" Rei retorted.

A little too easy at times. The rest of the study group cringed at the last remark.

"What will Mamoru say if you fail the exam?" Rei continued. "He'll never want to marry a failure like you and poor Chibi-Usa will never be born!"

*******

"AH-CHOO!!!"

"Are you all right Small Lady?" Diana, her tiny guardian kitten, asked.

"I don't know." Chibi-Usa answered, wiping her nose. "It feels like... someone just walked over my grave."

Insert ominous sound of thunder here.

Diana shuddered. "That's disturbing, Small Lady. Aren't you too young to think such morbid things?"

*******

"How could you possibly be so cruel, Rei?!?!" Usagi yelled.

"How can you possibly take your education so frivolously?" Rei responded.

In the meanwhile, Minako was reading a comic book, Ami was helping Makoto with a phrase, and Luna and Artemis were taking a nap. All knew that there was no point in coming between the two when they started.

"Rei has a point, Usagi-chan." Ami finally said. "You don't try hard enough."

"But... but I do try!" Usagi sniffled. "It's just that all those numbers, letters, phrases, historical facts, they all get jumbled together and I get confused!"

"I have something that may help!" Minako chimed.

"A magic spell to make Usagi pay attention?" Rei asked.

"REI!" Usagi yelled.

"Better than that!" Minako replied, pulling out a cassette player and some tapes. "These are learning tapes that Usagi can listen to when she's asleep."

"Ack!" Usagi gagged. " My time asleep is for me and Mamo-chan in my dreams! I can't have this coming between me that!"

Everyone fell over.

"Hold on." Rei said as she got up. "I'll be right back."

Everyone sweatdropped.

"Really, Usagi." Minako started. "This will help you learn better."

"It's not fair!" Usagi continued to whine. "A girl is only young for so little time, her beautiful and romantic dreams should be treasured and cherished while she still has them."

"Usagi-chan, if you were that creative with your assignments, you would be on the honor roll by now." Luna deadpanly stated.

At that moment, Rei came back in. "All right, everything's taken care of, and "Plan B" is now in effect."

The girls sweatdropped. "Plan B?" Makoto asked.

"Yep." Rei continued. "I called Mamoru-san at work and told him we had an emergency with Usagi."

"You talked to Mamo-chan about this???" Usagi bigsweated.

"What did he say?" Minako asked.

"I made a suggestion on what to do about helping Usagi focus more, and he agreed that it was the only way." Rei said with a dire seriousness. "From now, until she passes her high school exams, Usagi can no longer see, talk to, or come near Mamoru-san!"

*******

For every direction within a half-kilometer of the Hikawa Shrine, people turned to the sound of a horrifying scream that many would describe as beyond any human reckoning.

"AHH!!! What the heck was that?!?!" Yuuichirou asked, nearly dropping the knife he was cutting vegetables with on his foot.

"Plan B." Grandfather Hino plainly stated. "Poor Usagi-chan, she seems to be taking it better than Rei-chan first thought, though." He said with a smile.

*******

A universe away, a cry of a different kind was sounded.

"ATTAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!"

With Vergana's battle cry, the five thousand warriors stampeded forth roaring their battle rage in a single, terrifying voice. Vandred's army on the other side of the valley responded in kind, and both hoards ran toward each other with blood lust in their eyes. Some of the more ferocious youma ran on all fours, fangs bared, and completely without fear or hesitation. Both armies ran and the sound became as onto a storm. As both sides neared each other, Vergana's fire-throwers launched the pots of lit oil at the enemy. The flaming projectiles exploded in a fiery blaze, breaking the momentum of the onrushing horde. Some youma, so savage, plowed straight through the blazing wall of fire, while most paused, only to be trampled by those behind them. Vergana's army continued the charge and slammed into Vandred's larger, but unprepared forces in a terrifying clash of destruction. Youma teared and stabbed and chopped and flailed at each other and bodies fell dead by the hundreds every minute. Vergana's use of strategy and stone aged technology evened the odds against Vandred's superior numbers. Almost unseen amidst the chaos, Hematite carved a swath of death through the opposing army like a reaper sowing wheat. With every swing of his pole-axe, another youma, sometimes two, fell before him. Vergana herself was behind him with Valkrie at her side defending her. Valkrie saw in Hematite's eyes something that frightened even her. Amidst all the death and carnage and chaos everywhere, he seemed to be enjoying himself. It had taken nearly five minutes, but Hematite had cleaved a path with both axe and magic through the entire army, where Vandread himself stood ready at its rear with his four strongest warriors.

"So this is how it shall be, Vergana." The male youma, a rare sight in the Dark Kingdom, said. "Just you and me, as it should be." He was a powerfully built specimen. Even more rare since males were generally more slight of build than the females.

"As always, you talk too much, old man." Vergana said as she raised her sword and charged.

The four guardian youma took defensive stances, ready to defend their master to the death. It was a short battle, as Valkrie cut one down, she looked to see that Hematite had already done away with the other three. Damn, she thought. I can't believe it, he's as powerful as Kunzite! Maybe even more so. She turned to see the battle, the war, was over. Vergana stood atop the hill and lifted the head of her former enemy. All the youma, as if having sensed what had happened, turned and looked at the site. All of them fell silent. In a single moment, the entire battle came to an end. One voice among the horde then broke the silence.

"King Vandread is dead! LONG LIVE QUEEN VERGANA!!!"

With that, all the youma raised their weapons to the sky and cheered, now unified under a single name. One would hardly know that two thirds of their number were lying dead at their feat, turning to dust and being forgotten even as their comrades roared in celebration.

*******

"Oh my God!" Makoto cried.

"Usagi-chan, Usagi-chan!!!" Ami cried as she tried to revive Usagi, who had passed out after hearing of Rei's actions.

"I think you might have killed her, Rei!" Minako exclaimed.

"Wait till she finds out that her mom is clearing away all the manga and video games from her room as we speak." Rei replied.

"WHAAAAT?!?!" Usagi cried, almost knocking Ami over the table as she bolted upright.

"This is the only way, Usagi-chan." Rei calmly stated.

"But... but..." Usagi whimpered, almost teary eyed.

"I'm afraid she's right, Usagi-chan." Makoto said. "Now, you'll have nothing to do but study."

Usagi's face turned blue with Makoto's last comment.

"Don't feel so bad, Usagi-chan." Minako said. "We'll study with you and prepare ourselves as well."

"Yeah." Rei said. "You're not in this alone."

"We'll help you any way we can, Usagi-chan." Ami said reassuringly.

"You... you really mean it?" Usagi sniffled.

"Of course, and if you still fail after that, we'll all wear "masks of shame" over our heads along with your family."

Usagi fell over and the others shot Rei menacing looks.

*******

"Have all the names been counted?" Vergana asked.

"Yes, Queen Vergana." Her aid said, bowing her head.

"Giva, make a note of something for me, will you?"

"Of course, my Queen, anything you ask!" The aid replied.

"My first order as ruler of this land is that the title of "queen" shall be forever banned." Vergana said, her voice ringing with a touch of anger. "I will have no reminders, not even the title, of Queen Beryl's rule. If you wish to agknowledge my authority, think of another way."

"Y... yes Que... err... I mean, Lady Vergana." Giva replied.

"Better."

"What is it, exactly, that they are doing, Your Majesty?" Hematite asked.

"My second act as ruler will be to erect a monument to those that died this day. Before the battle, all those that had names registered them with our scribe, Giva, to be recorded. We cross off the ones still alive, and the names of the dead shall be etched into the monument. Those without names will be remembered as "those never forgotten"". Vergana said.

"Poetic." Hematite plainly stated, not showing, save the damage to his uniform, the slightest hint of wear or fatigue from the battle.

"How goes your guild's experiments?" Vergana asked. "As you can see, now more than ever we need reinforcements to our numbers."

"Malech reported... mixed results regarding the initial try." Hematite stated with a look of slight discomfort. The sight of his comrade covered in sauce and burned chicken bits came to mind.

"Is it true the Sailor Senshi destroyed the creature?"

How the hell did she know that? Hematite wondered. "Regetably, yes." He said, making no attempt at an excuse.

"You and your guild have nothing to apologize for, Hematite." Vergana said, rising to her full height, which nearly equaled that of the tall mage. "Your aid today gave us victory with far fewer losses than we expected."

"It was my pleasure, M'lady."

"There is some business for me to take care of now, but do come to my chambers later, and... you can fill me in on the rest of the details."

"M'lady, I would love to." Hematite said, with a slight bow and a smile.

Valkrie, who had been listening to the exchange while having her wounds treated, clenched her fist, crushing the stone armrest of her seat.

*******

"I still smell like chicken sauce." Malech complained. "Damned Sailor Soldier."

"Why are Hematite and that youma woman even bothering with these... what did they call them again?" Cryo, a human with shoulder length, blue hair, asked with a slight russian accent.

"Demon Seeds." Thorian, a massive, powerfully muscled human with a shock of spikey, pink hair on the top of his head, replied in a flat monotone.

"Oh yeah." Cryo murmured.

"Well, apparently the youma are a little shorthanded, and they need some disposable cannon fodder for something or another." Malech stated. "The same thing their former ruler used them for, ironically enough."

"Great." Cryo said. "But why bother sending them after the Sailor Soldiers when we could simply take care of them ourselves?"

"Hematite wants to test these creatures against the Sailor Soldiers in battle to gauge their effectiveness." Malech stated. "But we were supposed to examine our first attempt before sending it into battle, the damn Sailors blew it to pieces before I could get it back."

"So what happens now?" Cryo asked.

"Hematite had an idea on how to make the dimensional insertion more accurate." Malech said. "We should be able to control the results now."

"All that stuff the sages go into, it makes me sleepy." Cryo replied, laying back in his chair and yawning. "What do you think, Thorian?"

"Hmmmmm."

"That's what I like about you, big guy." Cryo said. "Your stupendous way with words."

"That's enough." Malech admonished. "We have to be at the site for the next try, so let's go."

"So what are they going to try to use as a guinea pig this time?"

"Fluffy."

"Ooooh boy. This ought to be good."

All three of the mages disappeared from the room in the Mages' Guild, and reappeared in a room in a comparatively large apartment in Japan, rented for just this experiment. All around, there were crystals, potions, and strange machines used for gauging energy and monitoring experiments. Malach strode to the center of the room, where a large circle with immensely concentrated runes were etched into the floor.

"Hmmmm... not bad." He said. "When old man Hector said he was going to let his students create the circle, I was worried. Looks like they did a good job, though." He walked over to a large glass tank with a several inch carpet of wood chips lining the bottom. Every few seconds, the chips would shift. Malech grabbed a pair of tongs and, lifting the cover, reached into the tank. Stabbing the tongs into the wood chips, he began to withdraw with what looked like a common house centipede... only twenty times it's normal size. The foot-long, venomous creature wriggled and writhed in the tongs, but Malech kept a secure hold and walked it over to the circle.

"Fluffy, eh?" Cryo said. "She's gotten bigger since I saw her last."

"The arch-mages' experiments in growth magic at work." Thorian replied in his usual monotone.

"Is that what happened to you?" Cryo jokingly responded.

Thorian didn't flinch at Cryo's comment, and watched Malech secure Fluffy to the center of the circle.

"All right then, let's get started." Malech commanded.

All three mages gathered around the circle and began to recite the ancient chant. Not so much to breach the dimensional wall themselves, but to create a signal that would allow the mages on the other side to deliver the package with greater accuracy. As all three chanted, the runes of the circle began to glow with a blue light. The light continued to brighten and became almost blinding, until a column of energy erupted from the circle to the ceiling. From the top, a small, egg-shaped object, similar to the one that appeared at the mall, dropped forth and disappeared into the back of the centipede. With that, the energy dispersed, and all three mages relaxed their power.

"Well, what happens now?" Cryo asked.

Almost in response to Cryo's question, the centipede began to convulse and shake. Within seconds cracks formed in its skin that began to glow with a dark, red energy.

"That." Thoriun replied.

As if some magical critical-mass had been achieved, the creature exploded and all three mages were knocked back and the windows of the apartment blew out. Equipment was knocked over left and right.

"Dimensional explosion, should've known to prepare for that." Malech calmly said as he picked himself up.

All three looked at the center of the room as the smoke cleared. Malech alone smiled.

*******

Mamoru Chiba sat on the bench of the hotel with a academic text book in his hand and several more at his side. Usagi wasn't the only one studying hard. As much as he cared about Usagi, a part of him was glad that Rei had called with the idea she had. He needed time to cram for his collage entrance exam and this would give him some much needed study time. Once he was in college, he thought, it would be a different matter.

"Excuse me, do you know where the hotel pool is?" A slightly husky, female voice asked.

"Around the corner to your left." Mamoru pointed out, without looking up from his book.

"Thank you. Oh! By the way, you know a place where they sell Jello mix by the crate?"

Mamoru resisted the urge to look up from his book. "Uh... there's a supermarket about a block that way that might have some." He said, pointing again.

"Thank's again, oh, by the way, you're cute. Want to come to the pool with me?"

"No, thank you. Got to get back to work soon."

"Awwwww... too bad. Ja-ne!"

Mamoru waved goodbye, once again, without looking up from his book. Not that he wasn't curious, but he was determined to finish the chapter before his brake was over.

"Excuse me?" A deep, male voice inquired.

"Hmmmm?"

"Have you seen a woman walk by that bares an uncharacteristic resemblance to a giant centipede?"

This time, Mamoru did look up from his book. "Whaaaaat?"

"She ran away, said something about making a giant human Jello cocktail." Malech stated, as plainly as if he were commenting on the weather.

Mamoru sweatdropped. "Uhhhh... you might want to try the supermarket down the block."

"Thank you, oh, and by the way..."

"Err... yes?"

"You wouldn't happen to know how to call the Sailor Soldiers, would you?"

"Uhhhh... no, they usually just show up." Mamoru hoped a half truth wouldn't sound as flimsy.

"No worries, then." Malech said with a smile. "I'll manage."

Mamoru watched the man leap off an fly away, then calmly got up to make a phone call.

Malech teleported from rooftop to rooftop. One would think that such a creature as the one they had just created wouldn't be difficult to spot, but Malech, on top of not being familiar with the territory, and the city's population, was proving to be a hindrance. "I wonder if I should ask for directions?" He asked himself.

*******

The manager of the Happy Sunrise supermarket looked with pride at the display. For six hours, he and his assistant had been working to create what would be known as the most extravagant cookware display in the entire district. The site of pots, pans, spatulas, and serving tongs, arranged in a way as to provide the greatest possible asthetic quality almost brought a tear to his eye. "Tell me, Tomono." He said, turning to his assistant. "What do you think."

"It... ah... it looks great boss!" He lied. Damn, what an eyesore, he thought to himself.

"Nothing can go wrong this glorious day." The manager expressed.

"Give me all of your Jello, NOW!!!"

The manager and assistant both turned to see a woman, dressed in what they thought to be a strange costume, standing on a table and holding a stock boy up by his shirt. The woman proceeded to hurl the stock boy into the produce section and turned to the manager.

"Are you in charge here?"

"Who are you? Some kind of freak from a cosplay convention?" The manager asked defiantly.

The centipede woman stepped down and the manager took in the site. She was a good two meters tall. Her body was tan colored, and she appeared to have what looked like a gigantic centipede grafted to her back, with its head crowning her own and the tail dragging behind her. Hundreds of little legs twitched along the length of it.

"I am Fluffy! And you will give me all your Jello or die!" The monster said.

"Tomono."

"Yes sir?" The assistant replied.

"Get security, and tell them they may need rope and the extra heavy batons."

"Yes sir." The assistant said, and proceeded to go get help.

"Now for you!" The manager said.

The mandibles on Fluffy's forehead opened and from the "mouth" sprayed a green liquid that melted a hole in the cookware display.

"Jello... that would be in aisle six." The manager said, proceeding to run for his life.

"Thank you!" Fluffy yelled, with sincerity.

Malech and his companions appeared behind the monster as she went to do her shopping. "I told you I'd found her."

"She's creeeeeepy." Cryo observed.

"She's a regular beauty-queen compared to Chikan."

"I think she's pretty." Thoriun replied flatly. Malech and Cryo stared at him and he turned slightly red.

"Hold it right there!" A young girl's voice shouted.

"Here we go." Malech stated, rolling his eyes.

"You who interrupt shoppers everywhere, in the name of the Moon..." Sailor Moon proceeded to strike her usual pose. "I will punish you!"

"Three of them, this time." Makoto said, pointing at the battle-mages.

"And look at the size of THAT one!" Minako said, looking at Thoriun.

"Cryo!" Malech yelled, pointing at the senshi.

Pulling his hands back to his side, Cryo focused his power to the point between his palms. "Freeeeeeeeeeezing... BLAAAAAAST!!!!" Cryo cried, as he unleashed a slow, but devastating wave of power.

"WATCH OUT!!!" Mars cried.

The senshi dived out of the way just as the blast struck the spot where they had been standing. And in the blink of an eye, a small mountain of ice had exploded from the spot, smashing everything around it .

"Alright, now both of you go." Malech stated. "We're here to see how Fluffy, does, not fight he Senshi ourselves."

"All right, be careful." Cryo said, as he and Thoriun disappeared.

Malech telaported to the aisle where Fluffy was raiding low-calorie desserts. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Shopping?" Fluffy innocently replied.

"You have a job to do."

"Do I have to?"

"YES!!!"

"All right... all right."

Meanwhile, the senshi had regrouped in one of the aisles and were discussing strategy.

"Damn, that was too close!" Jupiter exclaimed.

"Looks like the other three are gone, though." Venus said.

"No." Mercury replied, tapping at her computer and examining the readings on her visor. "One of them is still here, somewhere at the other end of the store."

"What about the monster?" Venus asked.

"It's closer... I estimate it's location to be..."

Before Mercury could finish, the entire aisle was shaken and the girls barraged by falling jars and cans. Before anyone knew what was happening, the entire wall of shelves came crashing down on top of them. When the wall came down, it hit the one in front of it, which sent that one falling as well, and before long, a full scale domino effect had been unleashed.

Sailormoon, having been able to dive for cover, turned to the devastation. "What happened?" She saw her friends all pinned underneath the metal shelves, now an effective cage.

"We... we're alive." Mars said wearily.

"Sailormoon! We're pinned underneath this thing!" Mercury cried. "We can't move."

"Ow..." Was all Venus could manage.

"Everyone, hang on, I'll have you out of there in a second!" Sailormoon cried.

"Sailormoon, watch out." Jupiter cried. "The monster might still be... OWWWW!!!" Jupiter cried out, as she suddenly felt weight of the aisle on her body dramatically increase.

Sailormoon looked up at the creature, now standing on the aisle pinning her friends.

"Sailormoon," The creature began. "Hand over your wand and surrender or I'll show your friends my little drooling problem." With that, Fluffy spat a stream of venom at a spot mere inches away from Jupiter's face. Jupiter watched in horror as the substance burned through the floor.

"No! Please! Don't hurt them!" Sailormoon cried.

From the top of an aisle at the other end of the store, Malech watched intently. Damn, this is going a little TOO well, he thought. Fluffy was supposed to test her strength against the Sailors by fighting them, but the way this is going, she'll beat them without even throwing a single punch!

"Sailormoon! Don't do it!" Mars cried.

"Shut up!" Fluffy yelled, letting a few drops of venom spill dangerously close to the girl's face. "Decide now, Sailormoon, or my venom will kill them very slowly and painfully."

Sailormoon's mind raced, but she saw no way around what she had to do. She reached behind her and puller her wand out. "Don't hurt them, I give up."

"NO!" Mars cried.

Fluffy smiled in relief as much as triumph. "Excelle... OW!!!" Her hand reached up to her face, where a stinging pain lanced through her chitinous skin. Looking down, she saw what it was that had struck her. "A rose?" Sailormoon, Fluffy, and Malech all looked to see Tuxedo Kamen and Chibi-Moon to the side.

"Cooking good food is an art, and the ingredients the paint to create masterpieces. I will not allow you to disturb the meals of this city."

"Ow... you tell 'em, Mamoru." Jupiter whispered underneath the debris.

"Tuxedo Kamen-sama!!!" Sailormoon cried.

With lightning speed, Tuxedo Kamen braced the end of his cane, the other end extending with blinding speed straight toward Fluffy's midsection. It was, however, interrupted. Malech appeared in the path of the extending cane, catching it with the palm of his hand and halting it's progress with seemingly no more than the strength in his arm.

"Tuxedo Mask... I was expecting you and the little one to appear, sooner or later." Malech said in perfect Japanese.

"Who are you?" Tuxedo Kamen demanded, letting his cane retract to its original size. "And why are you attacking this store?"

"My full name is Malachite, but you may call me Malech for short." The mage replied with a slight bow. "And as to the reason for my being here, you may ask all the questions you wish to in Hell." With that, Malech drew a single-edged broad-sword from seemingly nowhere behind him.

While Tuxedo Kamen and Malech dueled, Fluffy turned back to Sailormoon. "All right, so now what's it going to... huh?" She looked past the two men and saw the store window explode inward as a golden ball of light blasted through everything in its path.

Malech and Tuxedo Kamen only barely managed to dodge the energy projectile as it sped by to explode with a devastating blast several meters in front of the Fluffy, who cried out as it was showered by broken glass and spilled condiments.

"Ack!" Mars cried, as she and the other senshi were covered in a grotesque combination of mayonnaise, soy sauce, ketchup, relish, and glass from broken jars. "What's happening up there?!"

"It... sounds like the cavelry's here." Venus said.

Losing its balance, Fluffy fell backward and tumbled off the aisle that had been pinning the rest of the senshi. It stood back up to see what looked like a smaller, pinker, version of Sailormoon. "Who the heck are..."

"PINK... SUGAR... HEART... ATTACK!!!"

A stream of little pink hearts shot from Chibi-Moon's wand and struck Fluffy in the face.

"OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!" The centipede woman cried out, as much in annoyance as pain.

"HAHA!!! I've been practicing!" Chibi-Moon cheered.

"You little... I'm going to eat you on a stick and..."

"DEEP... SUBMERGE!!!"

Fluffy had no time to react as Neptune's attack struck it with full, devastating force. The creature had been brought down to one knee, severely weakened, but still alive.

"Sailormoon! Destroy it now!" Uranus cried.

"Heh... This one is definitely an improvement over the other one." Neptune said to her partner, as they stepped through the window to join the battle first hand.

"Either that, or somebody's out of practice." Uranus said with a playful smile.

"Oh really?!"

While her opponent was weakened, Sailor Moon raised the Spiral Heart Moon Rod and let the power flow from her and into it.

"SPIRAL... MOON... HEART... ATTACK!!!"

Fluffy looked up and saw her impending destruction. "I never even got to try the lime flavor." She whimpered.

The explosion from Fluffy's obliteration rocked the store as Tuxedo Kamen leapt high into the air extending his cane straight at Malech's head.

"Hmph... one trick pony are we?" Malech said, casually tilting his head to dodge. He raised his arm and blasted his opponent out of the air and straight into a display. "Now... to finish you."

"WORLD... SHAKING!!!"

Malech leapt high in the air and easily dodged the deadly yellow sphere. He landed just as the explosion detonated behind him, sending a hail of gummy worms onto him.

"Care to try that with me?" Uranus said with defiance.

"Another time, perhaps." Malech replied, picking a candy worm off his uniform. With that, he bowed and disappeared.

The threat of the monster now gone, Sailormoon ran to Tuxedo Kamen's side. "Tuxedo Kamen-sama! Are you all right?"

"Ow..." Was all he managed.

As Sailormoon helped him up, she turned to where Uranus and Neptune had been to thank them, but the two were gone.

"Hey!" Jupiter cried from underneath the aisle racks she and the other senshi were pinned under. "What's happening out there? Can someone give us a hand?"

*******

There was no real sense of day or night in the Dark Kingdom, as there was no sun. The sky remained an eternal violet twilight. As such, youma did not keep a strict day/night schedule. However, after having expended a great deal of energy, a youma can sometimes sleep for days, or even weeks at a time. Vergana had expended a great deal of energy this day, but still got little sleep. Even though there was no love in the Dark Kingdom, there was still desire and fulfillment. When Vergana first saw Hematite, she felt one, and later the other. Men were a rare commodity in the desolate land, and handsome ones even more so.

"Mmmmm..." Vergana purred, rolling over and resting hear head on Hematite's shoulder.

Hematite gently put his hand on her shoulder, pulling her body closer to his own, letting her warmth mix with his.

"Tell me, Hematite." She said sleepily, not opening her eyes. "What was that thing you did earlier?"

"You mean when I teleported outside of my clothing?"

"No, silly." She said with a slight laugh, another new experience to her. "Before and after that, when you pressed your lips against mine."

"A kiss?" He said, raising an eyebrow.

"Is that what it's called?" She said. "It felt so... intimate. Like for a moment, our essence were joined as one."

"You've never kissed anyone before?"

"No, such intimacy is unheard of in this world. It has been since before I became aware."

Hematite pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the forehead. She responded by snuggling into his embrace. Hematite was interrupted as Malech's image appeared in front of the bed.

"Malech, you assassin of romance! What the hell do you want?!?!" Hematite yelled at the apparition.

Malech sweatdropped. "Err... I just wanted to inform you that we had our expected run-in with the Sailor Soldiers and... Fluffy's been toasted."

"For your sake, Malech, I sincerely hope that that is not the only reason you're here."

"It seems that two of the other Sailors are back in town now." Malech replied.

Hematite slowly sat up. "Now, that is interesting." He mused. "Tell everyone to expect me back... err.." He looked for a moment at Vergana, who sat up beside him, making no attempt whatsoever to cover herself in front of Malech. "Another few hours, I believe." He finally said.

Malech cocked an eyebrow, then smiled understandingly. "Of course." His image vanished.

"Two more Sailor Senshi?" Vergana asked.

"Don't worry, my dear." Hematite said reassuringly. "We prepared for this eventuality." He laid a hand on her shoulder and pulled her toward himself. "In fact, we were counting on it." He pulled the covers over themselves and the two proceeded to enjoy their remaining time together.

*******

"Bleagh! I still smell like pickles!" Makoto complained as Chibi-Usa bandaged her head.

"What do you think was in the jar that broke on your head?" Minako replied. "Chibi-Usa, are you sure you don't need me to help you with the first aid?"

"NO!" Everyone replied at once.

Off in the corner, Usagi, Mamoru, Rei, and Ami were talking with Haruka and Michiru.

"Why did you two disappear at the store and then wait for us here?" Mamoru asked evenly.

Haruka's gaze went past that of Mamoru's and met Rei's. "Your performance in combat today was atrocious." She said, flatly.

"Wh... what?" Mars responded.

"The enemy was much stronger today, but you still had them outnumbered. You should have been able to easily beat them on your own." Michiru said.

Haruka looked at Ami and Rei." If you and the others are truly the guardians of the princess, then you had best start taking your parts seriously, we helped you today, but don't count on us to do that every time."

"Is that how it's going to be then?" Mamoru asked, his voice remaining even.

"It has to be." Uranus nodded.

With that, the Outer Senshi left.

Ami turned to the other senshi, sighed, and stated a terrifying truth. "It looks like we're on our own."

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Next chapter...

The time has come for Usagi and the others to take their final exams, but will the Dark Kingdom and their mysterious new allies wait till they're finished to launch another attack? Yeah, right. Also, have Haruka and Michiru really abandoned the Sailor Senshi?

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Author's notes:

I should have mentioned this at the head of the first chapter, but that's what I get for posting something when I have a fever. This story basically picks off after SuperS and goes its own way in terms of continuity.

All comments may be sent to...

zefmann9901@aol.com

My website, containing other examples of my work, may be found at...

http://www.geocities.com/captainzman/sailormoon

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Translation Notes:

It is a common belief in Japan that when a person sneezes, it's thought that that means somebody is talking about them. The same as in the US when a person's ears are ringing.

"Sama" is an honorific like "san", "chan", or "kun". It is used to show great respect or admiration of a person. Usually used when mentioning someone in a very high position or that you personally admire. When one of Beryl's generals address her in the original series, they call her "Queen Beryl-sama".

Kamen is the japanese word for mask. I use Tuxedo Mask's original name instead of the translation because of some minor intonations that don't sound right when reffering to him by the translated name. As with "senshi", Malech and his group usually refer to him as Tuxedo Mask when amongst themselves.

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Thanks go to...

Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Studio Chikashitsu, Mountain Dew, VKLL, Pioneer, Golden's Field Guid to Rocks and Minerals, and Macintosh Computers (think different).

Other thanks go to...

Jannelle Himenez, John Biles, and Jeff Hosmer, for writing what would be my very first exposures to fanfiction, and doing a good enough job to inspire me to take up writing. Dean Koontz for writing a novel that could scare the crap out of me. All the guys I "convinced" to help me proofread this story. The guys who made the "Deadlock" strategy game for an alien computer opponent that trash-talks me right before he razes my colony to the ground. The makers of "Master of Orion 2", for a strategy game that lets me live out all my megalomaniacal universe-destroying fantasies in a game, thus saving innocent alien armadas the possibility of me going out into space and doing it for real. The guy(s) that invented the internet, you rule.