Chapter 5 - SMG
* * * * *
Shade stood in front of a large tower looking up at it. The tower was made of dark grey stone and had an architecture not unlike the castles of the dark ages in Europe. It was about five stories tall and 50 feet in diameter. There was no apparent door and the only windows were on the fourth floor. Occasionally grey light flickered from inside of the tower's fourth floor. Shade looked at it in silence, on hand supporting his chin, his other arm hanging limp.
Two arms wrapped around Shade. He winced and pushed away pulling one dagger, then making it vanish after seeing whom it was.
Gallia laughed lightly and said, "Oops, sorry. I forgot about that. Please forgive me. Lord Agate wasn't kind was he?"
Shade shrugged carefully and replied, "I am not surprised really. I live at any rate."
Gallia nodded and said, "And that is pretty good considering you screwed up a tiny bit but you are strong. You'll get better. Just remember that."
Tungsten rose up from the ground next to them and said while wearing a frown, "I hope I'm interrupting something."
Gallia nodded and frowned while Shade shook his head.
Tungsten shook his head and said, "Shade you really are a screwball. Heh. Gallia would be better off with me then you."
Gallia smirked at Tungsten and stated, "Tungsten, you are nothing. He's the Grey One and is going to get oodles of pow..*" She blinked and looked at Shade." Er, actually I think he's cute. That's why I'm with him," she added hastily wrapping her arm around his, not realizing it was the injured one.
Shade winced, pulled his arm away and became annoyed with the absentmindedness, manipulation attempts and unrestrained arrogance so started walking towards the tower, and idly wondered if he was any better.
Tungsten asked, "Hey, half-humie, where you going? I came here for a reason you know. Look at me, Grey boy."
Shade turned around slowly.
Tungsten said smugly, "Now, as I was about to say, next time don't question my orders. Because of your screw up, I've lost my chance for glory for destroying all the senshi at once. Now I have to go to Brazil, and still deal with you. You only got smacked around a bit, but I got a poor performance review from Lord Agate. If you screw up once more, want to know what I'm going to do?"
Shade shrugged and turned back towards the tower once more.
Behind Shade, Tungsten took a contemptuous swing at Shade and yelled, "I said look at me, are you deaf?"
Gallia just watched this without comment or warning to Shade.
Shade easily ducked without looking behind him and stepped away. He calmly said, "I am in pain at the moment so perhaps my attention span isn't as long as it should be," and turned back to face Tungsten, "Now if I screw up once more what will you do?"
"I'll make you have the same experience as Sailor Moon, or maybe something like dear old mom, a broken statue. Heh," said Tungsten.
Shade frowned slightly for a moment then paused. He finally replied, "Perhaps." He half-bowed. "For now, I go. I need to heal myself. Till next time," he said and opened a grey nexus, stepping inside. In the windowed room in the tower above, a grey light also flashed brightly for a moment.
Gallia turned to Tungsten and asked, "You really think you have a chance against him?"
"Sure," replied Tungsten.
Gallia gave him a smile and stepped a little closer. She talked for a short time with Tungsten before leaving for her own mission.
* * * * *
It was a nice summer day in Tokyo. The sun was shining brightly and the air seemed fresh and clear. It seemed to most to be one of those, ever rare, perfect days. The lovely day went unnoticed, however, to those in Chiba Mamoru's apartment.
Mamoru sat on his bed, holding his head in his hands, remembering what Usagi said to him the last time they sat in the park together. He was not even sure anymore what he was feeling, with all emotions blurring together. Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako all sat on the floor in his apartment, though Rei and Minako were also leaning against pieces of furniture, sleeping from exhaustion while sitting up. They all had come to help cheer Mamoru a little and cheer up each other, if it was possible. Luna and Artemis were also there to lend moral support to all, while their kitten Diana, slept on the floor next to Luna, unable to stay awake for so long. The ones still awake looked like they perhaps had not slept at all in the last day or two.
Ami typed away steadily on her computer as she had been for hours. Finally Makoto asked tiredly, "What are you trying to get out of that thing, Ami-chan?"
Ami sighed quietly and answered, "Well, I'm just trying to do something. I don't know what I can do, but I have to do something."
Makoto nodded slowly and said, "I know the feeling, but I don't know what we CAN do. Last we saw Usagi-chan.." She faded off, falling silent. Makoto sighed to match Ami's sigh before and asked, "Well, what have you found out?"
Ami replied quietly, "not much I suppose, though I did discover strangely enough, the 24 hours after the Wraith fight, had many reports of kind people giving large sums of money to poor people. The common explanation on how those nice people got the money was they found it, with no apparent owner."
Makoto nodded and frowned, "Didn't one of those shards you talked about before, that had positive energy disappear about then?"
Mamoru spoke, startling the other two, "Shade took a shard or crystal of some sort from me apparently. He took one thing from me then two others, but I don't understand any of it." He shook his head and fell silent again.
Ami nodded and hurriedly typed on her computer and said, "Apparently the crystals, when removed, release a percentage of their energy. That shard seemed to have released positive energy. The positive energy shards seem to be the only ones not yet released with only four of them left. The others seem to have already discharged their initial energy. I don't know how any of this will help us though."
Luna spoke up softly, "You are doing something at least."
Ami continued typing for a few minutes as the others were lost in thought or sleep. Then a knocking at the door was heard. No one moved to answer it and before long the knocking came again.
Mamoru slowly stood up and walked to the door. He asked quietly, "Who is it?" The only reply was knocking on the door once more. He asked louder, "Who is it?" somewhat irritated. The knocking was the only answer. Mamoru turned and walked away from the door. The knocking came once more.
Makoto stood up, "That is rude. I'll go over there and give them a piece of my mind."
Mamoru shook his head slowly and walked back to the door and said, "I'll handle it."
Makoto nodded and moved closer to the door but around a corner to be unseen by whomever was at the door.
Mamoru opened the door and opened his mouth to speak. However he didn't see anyone. He closed the door and said, "No one is there."
Guide's feminine voice telepathically entered all their minds, 'I would not speak so quickly, Tuxedo Kamen."
Those asleep suddenly started awake, except for Diana.
Rei said with sleepy surprise, "What the?!"
In the middle of the living area stood a dark grey, semi-translucent feline, that held a white envelope in it's mouth. She said telepathically, 'Greetings once more Sailor Senshi. I come on the behalf of the Grey One.'
"Hey!" protested Makoto, "How do you know if we are or are not the Sailor Senshi?"
Guide responded, 'Simply put, we suspected you were then watched a few of you transform while in hiding. Now if we could get down to business.'
Rei frowned and said, "Why should we listen to you? You already ruined our lives as it is."
Guide turned to Rei and said in everyone present's mind, 'One, your lives being ruined are up to interpretation. Two, we know who you are already so you have little to lose. Three, we have your friends and know the one chance you may have to save them.'
Minako looked hopeful for a moment then shook her head. "Why should we believe you?" she asked, "The Dark Kingdom wants us dead."
Guide responded, 'True. However when I said we I was referring to Shade, Guardian, Host and myself. Shade has not informed the Dark Kingdom. If you want to know how to tell if I'm telling the truth, I have to say, that is up to you. However you have much less to lose them to gain so the choice is yours.'
Ami carefully put away her computer and rested her hands in her lap. She then simply asked, "What is the chance we have to save Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi-Moon?"
Guide turned to look at Ami and said with her mind, 'An intelligent question. As you may or may not know, the Dark Kingdom is looking for certain magical shards. The Shards of Light and Darkness. Until recently they had all 5 Shards of Darkness. However they only have 4 Shards of Darkness and one of Light. I believe you have the missing Shard of Darkness. The remaining shards of Light, like the other Shards had been, are carried, unknowingly, by people. It shows up as a white or black birthmark, which looks like a short line. Tuxedo Kamen had one of those.'
Mamoru nodded slowly, listening intently.
Guide continued, 'The Shards of Darkness, when released caused disasters, which are known as the Black Plague, the Spanish Inquisition, the assassination that started World War I, the Crusaders and a huge but not well known explosion that covered a large area. I would note that for some these were not disasters, but to many they were.'
The girls all blinked at that, and were quiet for a few moments before Ami spoke up with, "And the Shard of Light powered us up and caused all those nice people to find money to give to the needy?"
Guide nodded and said telepathically, 'We assume so at any rate. Possibly the next Shard of Light could cause other good things to happen, perhaps less subtle though.'
Luna and Artemis looked at each other then the others, but stayed silent.
Minako asked, "We'll where is the shard that you talk about and why do you need us?"
Guide replied, 'We need you because the Shard must be given, not taken, like the other Shards of Light, and unlike the Shards of Darkness. Frankly Shade doesn't believe he is the right person to get someone to give it to him. He is wrong but he is sometimes like that. However there are also other reasons why you should be there.' Guide then opened her mouth and let the envelope drop to the ground and telepathically said in closing, 'What you do is up to you. The choice is yours. Fare well.'
Rei straightened up and objected, "Hey, wait, we want to know more, like what Shade did with Sailor Moon!"
Guide ignored Rei, leaped up onto a table and out the open window from the apartment building. Those who looked out it after saw nothing unusual on the street far below. Guide had vanished.
Minako walked over and picked up the envelope off the floor and looked in it.
Artemis asked, "What is in there?" finally once more seeing no reason to hide that he can talk.
"Tickets," Minako replied, "Airplane tickets to Brazil."
* * * * *
Ami looked around the unfamiliar airport. Next to her were Rei, Makoto, Minako and Mamoru. They had left the cats behind because there had been no easy way to take them along. They had been allowed little luggage as it was. Luna and Artemis were also monitoring Japan and other places for Dark Kingdom activity and were staying in communications with the others.
Makoto looked around, "Ok, we are here, now what?"
Ami responded, "Well the note with the tickets said to pack light because we were going to have to move about. We would also be contacted."
Minako shuffled through a Portuguese to Japanese pocket dictionary and said, "I hope this dictionary is enough. I don't know any of the language."
Rei nodded and commented, "Well Rio de Janeiro is a big place. Hopefully someone will know Japanese here."
Ami said, "Yes, I imagine someone here could help us." She then blinked and looked carefully in a certain direction and queried, "He was in Japan, wasn't he?"
Minako turned and asked, "Who, Ami-chan?" Minako blinked herself as a familiar figure walked casually towards them and she called out, "Shen-san?"
The individual paused then nodded, and said quietly, "Greetings."
Makoto spoke up and said, "Uh, hello. We thought you were in Japan. What brings you here?"
Shen shrugged and replied, "I could ask the same of you."
Mamoru responded with, "We were invited here by someone we know."
Shen raised an eyebrow.
As the others talked to Shen, Minako looked at him and thought to herself. Suddenly she thought of a few things and murmured to herself, "House is all grey, and it wasn't even there once. Now he's here out of the blue and he never mentioned this place, and he finds us after we arrive.. because.." she blinked and blurted out, getting a moment of insight, "You're Shade!"
The small talk stopped among the group. The others turned to look at Minako then at Shen.
Shen simply shrugged, not admitting or denying.
Minako squinted at him and said, "You dress in shades of grey, you're house vanished and Shade can do illusions and you just happened to be here when we got here."
Shen shrugged again and said, "I have things to do other then discuss what you believe to be true." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a sealed envelope and handed it to Minako, and smiling mysteriously he continued, "However I was asked to give this to you." He then turned and started walking away.
Minako handed Ami the envelope and ran after Shen. After he turned a corner in the building however, she lost him.
Meanwhile Ami looked at the envelope and read aloud, "To those who sail."
Makoto prompted, "Well, just open it and read it."
As Minako came back to the group, Ami started reading the letter, which said:
'To Whom It May Concern,
If you leave the airport by the north exit, go east for two blocks, north for one and east one more you will find a travel agency. They have been paid for a guide to lead a group of five to a certain village. They will know this group by the four females wearing varied and colorful version of sailor uniforms. The male in the group wears normal clothing except for a small mask he's wearing because of a bet. This group is from a sailing club on a summer trip. The guide will not bother the group on the outfits or other things because the group may take offense. The guide cannot speak the group's native language but the group should know some English, which the guide knows some of. Upon reaching the village the guide's work will be done as the group will meet up with another acquaintance. Travel ETA is as soon as possible and the guide will take care of provisioning.
On a side note it seems the guide does not know much of the group's home country or celebrity figures from there.
Be ever quick and wary. Do not mention me.
Signed,
S.'
Rei shook her head and said, "We are supposed to go in uniform?"
Mamoru nodded solemnly and replied, "Except for me apparently. I am only to have the mask. Of course this is assuming this is from Shade."
Makoto asked, "So is Shen Shade then?"
Ami responded, "It would appear so or at least Shen knows him."
Minako sighed and added, "I suppose it makes a bit more sense now."
"Yay," said Makoto as she heaved her duffel bag over her shoulder. She then advised, "It seems that we have a long trip ahead of us, we better head out now."
The others nodded and moved to follow Makoto's lead.
* * * * *
Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mars and Mamoru all sat shoved together in a large tan Jeep along with their guide as the Jeep rolled down the dirt road. Their guide was a short man with a name they could not seem to get right. He also spoke enough English so that the others who knew some English could communicate with him somewhat, but over all they just let him drive to their destination in peace while they talked among themselves in their more familiar language.
Sailor Venus asked, "This seems a nice place, but why are there so many trees down?"
Sailor Mercury replied without looking, "Deforestation I imagine," typing away at her computer.
Sailor Jupiter shook her head and pointed outside. She said, "I think she meant why are all those trees and branches lying on the ground?"
Sailor Mercury looked up and outside, blushing a little because she had been caught not paying attention. "Oh. Oh my. I'm not quite sure why," she replied.
Sailor Mars responded with, "Well maybe we should ask..*" Sailor Mars suddenly got interrupted as the Jeep started to shake more heavily then usual.
Sailor Venus asked the driver in English, "What is wrong?"
The driver shrugged his shoulders helplessly. He pulled the car to a stop and his eyes went wide as the shaking continued. He shouted in English, "Ground shake? One here?"
Mamoru shouted to the senshi. "Keep on your toes and watch for falling objects."
Sailor Mars pointed outside down the road in front of them and asked, "What about things rising up?"
The occupants of the Jeep looked down the road in fear and dismay as a very large earthen form rose from the ground.
Mamoru and the senshi jumped out of the car, while the driver ducked under the front seat. They stepped in front of the giant stone creature that was becoming, only vaguely, humanoid.
Sailor Mercury turned on her visor as she looked at the creature and announced, "It has readings similar to the tornado we faced from become, including power source. I think this youma might have caused the earthquake."
Sailor Jupiter responded with, "Well we'll just have to start some stone breaking then," as she pounded her hands together.
Mamoru looked at the Jeep and hopped in the front seat and shouted, "I'm going to keep an eye on the Jeep and our guide! If you need a quick exit just shout!"
"We won't need that though," replied Sailor Venus, "We beat the tornado and we can beat this."
"Well the situation was different then," noted Sailor Mars, "Watch this thing carefully!"
The senshi nodded and waited for the thing to attack. It just stood there.
Sailor Mercury scanned the area with her visor and paused. Shen then warned, "Look out guys, some of these trees are illusionary!"
One of the nearby trees suddenly faded away to reveal Shade with his arms hanging at his side and Tungsten smirking. Tungsten commented, "Good job, brother. I'm glad we can always count on you. Twit."
Shade shrugged quietly, "That visor is becoming annoying." He stretched out a hand towards Sailor Mercury as a few more trees vanished to reveal four man-sized stone statues. Shade then recited, "Shadows of Darkness, Shadows of Light, Shadows of the deep black Night. Unto this one who chooses to Fight, Remove her sense and ability of Sight." As he finished he gestured and a globe of darkness engulfed Sailor Mercury's head.
"I can't see anything!" said Sailor Mercury in an alarmed fashion.
"Hey, pick on someone your own size!" yelled Sailor Jupiter.
Tungsten shook his head and said, "Heh. How about we have someone your size pick on you." He glanced at the large creature and commanded, "Elemental, continue to the village." He then looked at the statues, "Gargoyles, kill the senshi and the humans in the vehicle. There is no glory left in me doing it myself." He then started to sink into the group then stopped and said, "Oh ya, dear brother, you are with me. The Gargoyles can handle them and I don't want you screwing this up now. Meet me at the village."
Shade shrugged and whispered, "Call of Shadows," which opened up a gray nexus to somewhere else. He stepped through it and it closed behind him, vanishing. Tungsten then disappeared into the ground.
Sailor Mars muttered, "Hey, they can't even do their own dirty work." She turned to Sailor Mercury with an Anti-Evil sign in hand and said, "Watch my back guys, I'll get rid of the globe."
Before Sailor Mars could apply the sign however, the globe simply faded away to reveal a much relieved Sailor Mercury. Sailor Mercury said, "Thank you," followed shortly by, "Look out!"
All the senshi ducked as two of the previously inanimate statues flew low overhead with stone bat-wings, while the other two approached the senshi on the ground, as the elemental finally sunk into the ground a distance away, causing a low rumbling noise.
Sailor Jupiter stood up and wiped some dirt off her face. She then asked, "What are we waiting for? Let's get these guys." She then launched an electric charge at one of the Gargoyles, which bounced right off it.
Sailor Mars launched circular rings of flame at one of the Gargoyles that stood on the ground. She watched the rings as they deflected harmlessly off the stone creatures and said, "This isn't working! We need a plan!"
Sailor Venus ducked as the flyers came back once more and hastily added to what Sailor Mars said with, "And fast!"
Sailor Mercury suggested, "We could erode them in a way."
Sailor Mars asked, "What? Doesn't that take a long time?"
Sailor Mercury replied, "Sometimes. Sailor Mars, please try to heat up the two on the ground."
"Right," said Sailor Mars. Then she shouted, "Fire Soul!" and shot flame at the two grounded statues. Most of the flame was turned aside but they were much warmer, the senshi feeling the heat coming off the Gargoyles from a distance as the creatures tried to get close enough to attack.
The Gargoyles walked right into Sailor Mercury's ice attack. They halted for a moment then moved forward again. Suddenly there was a loud cracking sound and one of the Gargoyles legs broke off. It then lost it's balance and fell over, shattering.
"Wow!" exclaimed Sailor Venus, "I guess the extreme temperatures don't work with them." She then gave the other one a high kick. It fell over onto the ground much like the previous one and broke apart.
Sailor Mars yelled, "Two down and two to go. Fire..*" She suddenly got interrupted as one of the fliers rammed into her, knocking her to the ground, breathless.
"Sailor Mars!" shouted Sailor Venus. She then pointed at one of the flying Gargoyles but had to duck again before she could do anything.
"I will give us some cover," Sailor Mercury volunteered before shouting, "Shabon Spray!" In moments the air and ground was covered in a think fog, centered on the flying creatures.
Sailor Jupiter shouted, "No where to run, youma! Supreme Thunder!" She let go an electrical charge at one of the now confused Gargoyles. With the wet mist in the air to help conduct the electricity, the Gargoyle got struck with no obvious effect other then stunning it. However it then fell to the ground, because it no longer was maintaining flight, and it hit what was left of the two grounded Gargoyles and was broken apart by the impact.
The last Gargoyle flew closer to the ground and tried to get in close enough to attack again. However Sailor Venus pointed into the air and at the creature and shouted, "Love Me Chain!" A chain of glowing hearts shot at the Gargoyle and wrapped around it, pinning it's wings. The Gargoyle crashed to the ground at Sailor Jupiter's feet.
The Gargoyle had many cracks in it but still held itself together. It stood up and tried to ready itself to attack once more. It lost the chance though, when Sailor Jupiter gave it a roundhouse kick to the head and knocked the head from the rest of the statue, which proceeded to fall to the ground.
Sailor Mercury knelt by Sailor Mars and asked, "Do you feel ok?"
Sailor Mars nodded mutely, grimacing somewhat as she stood up.
Sailor Venus walked over, panting slightly and said, "It's a good thing you noticed the trees were illusionary, Sailor Mercury."
Sailor Mercury replied, "Actually I checked only after I saw a grey wolf walking into one. They illusions were well disguised and I'm not sure I would of noticed if not for the wolf walking through it."
Sailor Venus scratched her head and commented, "I didn't know wolves were found here."
Sailor Jupiter came over and interrupted with, "Come on, we better check on the guys."
The others nodded and made their way to the car.
* * * * *
Shade stood in front of a large tower looking up at it. The tower was made of dark grey stone and had an architecture not unlike the castles of the dark ages in Europe. It was about five stories tall and 50 feet in diameter. There was no apparent door and the only windows were on the fourth floor. Occasionally grey light flickered from inside of the tower's fourth floor. Shade looked at it in silence, on hand supporting his chin, his other arm hanging limp.
Two arms wrapped around Shade. He winced and pushed away pulling one dagger, then making it vanish after seeing whom it was.
Gallia laughed lightly and said, "Oops, sorry. I forgot about that. Please forgive me. Lord Agate wasn't kind was he?"
Shade shrugged carefully and replied, "I am not surprised really. I live at any rate."
Gallia nodded and said, "And that is pretty good considering you screwed up a tiny bit but you are strong. You'll get better. Just remember that."
Tungsten rose up from the ground next to them and said while wearing a frown, "I hope I'm interrupting something."
Gallia nodded and frowned while Shade shook his head.
Tungsten shook his head and said, "Shade you really are a screwball. Heh. Gallia would be better off with me then you."
Gallia smirked at Tungsten and stated, "Tungsten, you are nothing. He's the Grey One and is going to get oodles of pow..*" She blinked and looked at Shade." Er, actually I think he's cute. That's why I'm with him," she added hastily wrapping her arm around his, not realizing it was the injured one.
Shade winced, pulled his arm away and became annoyed with the absentmindedness, manipulation attempts and unrestrained arrogance so started walking towards the tower, and idly wondered if he was any better.
Tungsten asked, "Hey, half-humie, where you going? I came here for a reason you know. Look at me, Grey boy."
Shade turned around slowly.
Tungsten said smugly, "Now, as I was about to say, next time don't question my orders. Because of your screw up, I've lost my chance for glory for destroying all the senshi at once. Now I have to go to Brazil, and still deal with you. You only got smacked around a bit, but I got a poor performance review from Lord Agate. If you screw up once more, want to know what I'm going to do?"
Shade shrugged and turned back towards the tower once more.
Behind Shade, Tungsten took a contemptuous swing at Shade and yelled, "I said look at me, are you deaf?"
Gallia just watched this without comment or warning to Shade.
Shade easily ducked without looking behind him and stepped away. He calmly said, "I am in pain at the moment so perhaps my attention span isn't as long as it should be," and turned back to face Tungsten, "Now if I screw up once more what will you do?"
"I'll make you have the same experience as Sailor Moon, or maybe something like dear old mom, a broken statue. Heh," said Tungsten.
Shade frowned slightly for a moment then paused. He finally replied, "Perhaps." He half-bowed. "For now, I go. I need to heal myself. Till next time," he said and opened a grey nexus, stepping inside. In the windowed room in the tower above, a grey light also flashed brightly for a moment.
Gallia turned to Tungsten and asked, "You really think you have a chance against him?"
"Sure," replied Tungsten.
Gallia gave him a smile and stepped a little closer. She talked for a short time with Tungsten before leaving for her own mission.
* * * * *
It was a nice summer day in Tokyo. The sun was shining brightly and the air seemed fresh and clear. It seemed to most to be one of those, ever rare, perfect days. The lovely day went unnoticed, however, to those in Chiba Mamoru's apartment.
Mamoru sat on his bed, holding his head in his hands, remembering what Usagi said to him the last time they sat in the park together. He was not even sure anymore what he was feeling, with all emotions blurring together. Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako all sat on the floor in his apartment, though Rei and Minako were also leaning against pieces of furniture, sleeping from exhaustion while sitting up. They all had come to help cheer Mamoru a little and cheer up each other, if it was possible. Luna and Artemis were also there to lend moral support to all, while their kitten Diana, slept on the floor next to Luna, unable to stay awake for so long. The ones still awake looked like they perhaps had not slept at all in the last day or two.
Ami typed away steadily on her computer as she had been for hours. Finally Makoto asked tiredly, "What are you trying to get out of that thing, Ami-chan?"
Ami sighed quietly and answered, "Well, I'm just trying to do something. I don't know what I can do, but I have to do something."
Makoto nodded slowly and said, "I know the feeling, but I don't know what we CAN do. Last we saw Usagi-chan.." She faded off, falling silent. Makoto sighed to match Ami's sigh before and asked, "Well, what have you found out?"
Ami replied quietly, "not much I suppose, though I did discover strangely enough, the 24 hours after the Wraith fight, had many reports of kind people giving large sums of money to poor people. The common explanation on how those nice people got the money was they found it, with no apparent owner."
Makoto nodded and frowned, "Didn't one of those shards you talked about before, that had positive energy disappear about then?"
Mamoru spoke, startling the other two, "Shade took a shard or crystal of some sort from me apparently. He took one thing from me then two others, but I don't understand any of it." He shook his head and fell silent again.
Ami nodded and hurriedly typed on her computer and said, "Apparently the crystals, when removed, release a percentage of their energy. That shard seemed to have released positive energy. The positive energy shards seem to be the only ones not yet released with only four of them left. The others seem to have already discharged their initial energy. I don't know how any of this will help us though."
Luna spoke up softly, "You are doing something at least."
Ami continued typing for a few minutes as the others were lost in thought or sleep. Then a knocking at the door was heard. No one moved to answer it and before long the knocking came again.
Mamoru slowly stood up and walked to the door. He asked quietly, "Who is it?" The only reply was knocking on the door once more. He asked louder, "Who is it?" somewhat irritated. The knocking was the only answer. Mamoru turned and walked away from the door. The knocking came once more.
Makoto stood up, "That is rude. I'll go over there and give them a piece of my mind."
Mamoru shook his head slowly and walked back to the door and said, "I'll handle it."
Makoto nodded and moved closer to the door but around a corner to be unseen by whomever was at the door.
Mamoru opened the door and opened his mouth to speak. However he didn't see anyone. He closed the door and said, "No one is there."
Guide's feminine voice telepathically entered all their minds, 'I would not speak so quickly, Tuxedo Kamen."
Those asleep suddenly started awake, except for Diana.
Rei said with sleepy surprise, "What the?!"
In the middle of the living area stood a dark grey, semi-translucent feline, that held a white envelope in it's mouth. She said telepathically, 'Greetings once more Sailor Senshi. I come on the behalf of the Grey One.'
"Hey!" protested Makoto, "How do you know if we are or are not the Sailor Senshi?"
Guide responded, 'Simply put, we suspected you were then watched a few of you transform while in hiding. Now if we could get down to business.'
Rei frowned and said, "Why should we listen to you? You already ruined our lives as it is."
Guide turned to Rei and said in everyone present's mind, 'One, your lives being ruined are up to interpretation. Two, we know who you are already so you have little to lose. Three, we have your friends and know the one chance you may have to save them.'
Minako looked hopeful for a moment then shook her head. "Why should we believe you?" she asked, "The Dark Kingdom wants us dead."
Guide responded, 'True. However when I said we I was referring to Shade, Guardian, Host and myself. Shade has not informed the Dark Kingdom. If you want to know how to tell if I'm telling the truth, I have to say, that is up to you. However you have much less to lose them to gain so the choice is yours.'
Ami carefully put away her computer and rested her hands in her lap. She then simply asked, "What is the chance we have to save Sailor Moon and Sailor Chibi-Moon?"
Guide turned to look at Ami and said with her mind, 'An intelligent question. As you may or may not know, the Dark Kingdom is looking for certain magical shards. The Shards of Light and Darkness. Until recently they had all 5 Shards of Darkness. However they only have 4 Shards of Darkness and one of Light. I believe you have the missing Shard of Darkness. The remaining shards of Light, like the other Shards had been, are carried, unknowingly, by people. It shows up as a white or black birthmark, which looks like a short line. Tuxedo Kamen had one of those.'
Mamoru nodded slowly, listening intently.
Guide continued, 'The Shards of Darkness, when released caused disasters, which are known as the Black Plague, the Spanish Inquisition, the assassination that started World War I, the Crusaders and a huge but not well known explosion that covered a large area. I would note that for some these were not disasters, but to many they were.'
The girls all blinked at that, and were quiet for a few moments before Ami spoke up with, "And the Shard of Light powered us up and caused all those nice people to find money to give to the needy?"
Guide nodded and said telepathically, 'We assume so at any rate. Possibly the next Shard of Light could cause other good things to happen, perhaps less subtle though.'
Luna and Artemis looked at each other then the others, but stayed silent.
Minako asked, "We'll where is the shard that you talk about and why do you need us?"
Guide replied, 'We need you because the Shard must be given, not taken, like the other Shards of Light, and unlike the Shards of Darkness. Frankly Shade doesn't believe he is the right person to get someone to give it to him. He is wrong but he is sometimes like that. However there are also other reasons why you should be there.' Guide then opened her mouth and let the envelope drop to the ground and telepathically said in closing, 'What you do is up to you. The choice is yours. Fare well.'
Rei straightened up and objected, "Hey, wait, we want to know more, like what Shade did with Sailor Moon!"
Guide ignored Rei, leaped up onto a table and out the open window from the apartment building. Those who looked out it after saw nothing unusual on the street far below. Guide had vanished.
Minako walked over and picked up the envelope off the floor and looked in it.
Artemis asked, "What is in there?" finally once more seeing no reason to hide that he can talk.
"Tickets," Minako replied, "Airplane tickets to Brazil."
* * * * *
Ami looked around the unfamiliar airport. Next to her were Rei, Makoto, Minako and Mamoru. They had left the cats behind because there had been no easy way to take them along. They had been allowed little luggage as it was. Luna and Artemis were also monitoring Japan and other places for Dark Kingdom activity and were staying in communications with the others.
Makoto looked around, "Ok, we are here, now what?"
Ami responded, "Well the note with the tickets said to pack light because we were going to have to move about. We would also be contacted."
Minako shuffled through a Portuguese to Japanese pocket dictionary and said, "I hope this dictionary is enough. I don't know any of the language."
Rei nodded and commented, "Well Rio de Janeiro is a big place. Hopefully someone will know Japanese here."
Ami said, "Yes, I imagine someone here could help us." She then blinked and looked carefully in a certain direction and queried, "He was in Japan, wasn't he?"
Minako turned and asked, "Who, Ami-chan?" Minako blinked herself as a familiar figure walked casually towards them and she called out, "Shen-san?"
The individual paused then nodded, and said quietly, "Greetings."
Makoto spoke up and said, "Uh, hello. We thought you were in Japan. What brings you here?"
Shen shrugged and replied, "I could ask the same of you."
Mamoru responded with, "We were invited here by someone we know."
Shen raised an eyebrow.
As the others talked to Shen, Minako looked at him and thought to herself. Suddenly she thought of a few things and murmured to herself, "House is all grey, and it wasn't even there once. Now he's here out of the blue and he never mentioned this place, and he finds us after we arrive.. because.." she blinked and blurted out, getting a moment of insight, "You're Shade!"
The small talk stopped among the group. The others turned to look at Minako then at Shen.
Shen simply shrugged, not admitting or denying.
Minako squinted at him and said, "You dress in shades of grey, you're house vanished and Shade can do illusions and you just happened to be here when we got here."
Shen shrugged again and said, "I have things to do other then discuss what you believe to be true." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a sealed envelope and handed it to Minako, and smiling mysteriously he continued, "However I was asked to give this to you." He then turned and started walking away.
Minako handed Ami the envelope and ran after Shen. After he turned a corner in the building however, she lost him.
Meanwhile Ami looked at the envelope and read aloud, "To those who sail."
Makoto prompted, "Well, just open it and read it."
As Minako came back to the group, Ami started reading the letter, which said:
'To Whom It May Concern,
If you leave the airport by the north exit, go east for two blocks, north for one and east one more you will find a travel agency. They have been paid for a guide to lead a group of five to a certain village. They will know this group by the four females wearing varied and colorful version of sailor uniforms. The male in the group wears normal clothing except for a small mask he's wearing because of a bet. This group is from a sailing club on a summer trip. The guide will not bother the group on the outfits or other things because the group may take offense. The guide cannot speak the group's native language but the group should know some English, which the guide knows some of. Upon reaching the village the guide's work will be done as the group will meet up with another acquaintance. Travel ETA is as soon as possible and the guide will take care of provisioning.
On a side note it seems the guide does not know much of the group's home country or celebrity figures from there.
Be ever quick and wary. Do not mention me.
Signed,
S.'
Rei shook her head and said, "We are supposed to go in uniform?"
Mamoru nodded solemnly and replied, "Except for me apparently. I am only to have the mask. Of course this is assuming this is from Shade."
Makoto asked, "So is Shen Shade then?"
Ami responded, "It would appear so or at least Shen knows him."
Minako sighed and added, "I suppose it makes a bit more sense now."
"Yay," said Makoto as she heaved her duffel bag over her shoulder. She then advised, "It seems that we have a long trip ahead of us, we better head out now."
The others nodded and moved to follow Makoto's lead.
* * * * *
Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mars and Mamoru all sat shoved together in a large tan Jeep along with their guide as the Jeep rolled down the dirt road. Their guide was a short man with a name they could not seem to get right. He also spoke enough English so that the others who knew some English could communicate with him somewhat, but over all they just let him drive to their destination in peace while they talked among themselves in their more familiar language.
Sailor Venus asked, "This seems a nice place, but why are there so many trees down?"
Sailor Mercury replied without looking, "Deforestation I imagine," typing away at her computer.
Sailor Jupiter shook her head and pointed outside. She said, "I think she meant why are all those trees and branches lying on the ground?"
Sailor Mercury looked up and outside, blushing a little because she had been caught not paying attention. "Oh. Oh my. I'm not quite sure why," she replied.
Sailor Mars responded with, "Well maybe we should ask..*" Sailor Mars suddenly got interrupted as the Jeep started to shake more heavily then usual.
Sailor Venus asked the driver in English, "What is wrong?"
The driver shrugged his shoulders helplessly. He pulled the car to a stop and his eyes went wide as the shaking continued. He shouted in English, "Ground shake? One here?"
Mamoru shouted to the senshi. "Keep on your toes and watch for falling objects."
Sailor Mars pointed outside down the road in front of them and asked, "What about things rising up?"
The occupants of the Jeep looked down the road in fear and dismay as a very large earthen form rose from the ground.
Mamoru and the senshi jumped out of the car, while the driver ducked under the front seat. They stepped in front of the giant stone creature that was becoming, only vaguely, humanoid.
Sailor Mercury turned on her visor as she looked at the creature and announced, "It has readings similar to the tornado we faced from become, including power source. I think this youma might have caused the earthquake."
Sailor Jupiter responded with, "Well we'll just have to start some stone breaking then," as she pounded her hands together.
Mamoru looked at the Jeep and hopped in the front seat and shouted, "I'm going to keep an eye on the Jeep and our guide! If you need a quick exit just shout!"
"We won't need that though," replied Sailor Venus, "We beat the tornado and we can beat this."
"Well the situation was different then," noted Sailor Mars, "Watch this thing carefully!"
The senshi nodded and waited for the thing to attack. It just stood there.
Sailor Mercury scanned the area with her visor and paused. Shen then warned, "Look out guys, some of these trees are illusionary!"
One of the nearby trees suddenly faded away to reveal Shade with his arms hanging at his side and Tungsten smirking. Tungsten commented, "Good job, brother. I'm glad we can always count on you. Twit."
Shade shrugged quietly, "That visor is becoming annoying." He stretched out a hand towards Sailor Mercury as a few more trees vanished to reveal four man-sized stone statues. Shade then recited, "Shadows of Darkness, Shadows of Light, Shadows of the deep black Night. Unto this one who chooses to Fight, Remove her sense and ability of Sight." As he finished he gestured and a globe of darkness engulfed Sailor Mercury's head.
"I can't see anything!" said Sailor Mercury in an alarmed fashion.
"Hey, pick on someone your own size!" yelled Sailor Jupiter.
Tungsten shook his head and said, "Heh. How about we have someone your size pick on you." He glanced at the large creature and commanded, "Elemental, continue to the village." He then looked at the statues, "Gargoyles, kill the senshi and the humans in the vehicle. There is no glory left in me doing it myself." He then started to sink into the group then stopped and said, "Oh ya, dear brother, you are with me. The Gargoyles can handle them and I don't want you screwing this up now. Meet me at the village."
Shade shrugged and whispered, "Call of Shadows," which opened up a gray nexus to somewhere else. He stepped through it and it closed behind him, vanishing. Tungsten then disappeared into the ground.
Sailor Mars muttered, "Hey, they can't even do their own dirty work." She turned to Sailor Mercury with an Anti-Evil sign in hand and said, "Watch my back guys, I'll get rid of the globe."
Before Sailor Mars could apply the sign however, the globe simply faded away to reveal a much relieved Sailor Mercury. Sailor Mercury said, "Thank you," followed shortly by, "Look out!"
All the senshi ducked as two of the previously inanimate statues flew low overhead with stone bat-wings, while the other two approached the senshi on the ground, as the elemental finally sunk into the ground a distance away, causing a low rumbling noise.
Sailor Jupiter stood up and wiped some dirt off her face. She then asked, "What are we waiting for? Let's get these guys." She then launched an electric charge at one of the Gargoyles, which bounced right off it.
Sailor Mars launched circular rings of flame at one of the Gargoyles that stood on the ground. She watched the rings as they deflected harmlessly off the stone creatures and said, "This isn't working! We need a plan!"
Sailor Venus ducked as the flyers came back once more and hastily added to what Sailor Mars said with, "And fast!"
Sailor Mercury suggested, "We could erode them in a way."
Sailor Mars asked, "What? Doesn't that take a long time?"
Sailor Mercury replied, "Sometimes. Sailor Mars, please try to heat up the two on the ground."
"Right," said Sailor Mars. Then she shouted, "Fire Soul!" and shot flame at the two grounded statues. Most of the flame was turned aside but they were much warmer, the senshi feeling the heat coming off the Gargoyles from a distance as the creatures tried to get close enough to attack.
The Gargoyles walked right into Sailor Mercury's ice attack. They halted for a moment then moved forward again. Suddenly there was a loud cracking sound and one of the Gargoyles legs broke off. It then lost it's balance and fell over, shattering.
"Wow!" exclaimed Sailor Venus, "I guess the extreme temperatures don't work with them." She then gave the other one a high kick. It fell over onto the ground much like the previous one and broke apart.
Sailor Mars yelled, "Two down and two to go. Fire..*" She suddenly got interrupted as one of the fliers rammed into her, knocking her to the ground, breathless.
"Sailor Mars!" shouted Sailor Venus. She then pointed at one of the flying Gargoyles but had to duck again before she could do anything.
"I will give us some cover," Sailor Mercury volunteered before shouting, "Shabon Spray!" In moments the air and ground was covered in a think fog, centered on the flying creatures.
Sailor Jupiter shouted, "No where to run, youma! Supreme Thunder!" She let go an electrical charge at one of the now confused Gargoyles. With the wet mist in the air to help conduct the electricity, the Gargoyle got struck with no obvious effect other then stunning it. However it then fell to the ground, because it no longer was maintaining flight, and it hit what was left of the two grounded Gargoyles and was broken apart by the impact.
The last Gargoyle flew closer to the ground and tried to get in close enough to attack again. However Sailor Venus pointed into the air and at the creature and shouted, "Love Me Chain!" A chain of glowing hearts shot at the Gargoyle and wrapped around it, pinning it's wings. The Gargoyle crashed to the ground at Sailor Jupiter's feet.
The Gargoyle had many cracks in it but still held itself together. It stood up and tried to ready itself to attack once more. It lost the chance though, when Sailor Jupiter gave it a roundhouse kick to the head and knocked the head from the rest of the statue, which proceeded to fall to the ground.
Sailor Mercury knelt by Sailor Mars and asked, "Do you feel ok?"
Sailor Mars nodded mutely, grimacing somewhat as she stood up.
Sailor Venus walked over, panting slightly and said, "It's a good thing you noticed the trees were illusionary, Sailor Mercury."
Sailor Mercury replied, "Actually I checked only after I saw a grey wolf walking into one. They illusions were well disguised and I'm not sure I would of noticed if not for the wolf walking through it."
Sailor Venus scratched her head and commented, "I didn't know wolves were found here."
Sailor Jupiter came over and interrupted with, "Come on, we better check on the guys."
The others nodded and made their way to the car.