Chapter 7 - SMG
* * * * *
She sat in a throne that looked something like a cross between Queen Beryl's and Lord Agate's respective thrones. She thought to herself how she loved the power. She carelessly gestured to those in front of her to begin. A man in uniform stood at attention and gave her some unimportant report. She didn't care. When he finished she feigned annoyance and ordered him killed, and her followers obediently followed the order. As the man who looked vaguely like Argon was cut down, she again thought to herself how she loved the power she had.
She said aloud, "That was long overdue for that twig, wasn't it?" Her audience agreed fully with her, like always. She turned to look at the source of her power. Shade stood next to the throne, glowing with dark power.
The scene shifted. Shade stood on a poorly lit nighttime street. He looked at her with a blank face, his daggers in his hands in front of him. She started to approach him but he made no move.
As if on cue five senshi appeared to the side and began to sound off. The first one shouted, "Stop now!" As she turned to look towards them another said, "Leave him alone!" and a third added, "If you pick on him you have to pick on us too!" The last two echoed, "..us too.."
She turned back to Shade and smiled. Shade stood the same as before but without the daggers. She knew what would come next. She would give him an enchanted kiss which would trigger the magic spells she had secretly placed on him throughout his life after she had learn that he was the Grey One of prophesy. He would fall under her control. First he would destroy the senshi for her then onto Lord Agate.
She stepped up to Shade and leaned forward when and unexpected and unknown yet strangely familiar voice made her pause. The female voice spoke from no particular direction and said, "Hold, before you tear life and death asunder, Dreamer."
She stepped away from Shade and searched for the speaker but could not find them. She asked aloud, "Why should I listen to you?"
"Wise is the one who seeks solace and understanding in the dreams they have been gifted. Wise is the one who knows the power that dreams and shadows hold is understood only by the Masters of the realms. Wise is the one who trys not to control what they do not understand. When the magic itself does not understand it's purpose and what it is, the mage that uses it finds consequences are quite often not what they wish for themselves." was the voices response.
She laughed and said, "Look missy, I am more then just an ordinary magic user. What I want, I get, one way or another. He'll be completely under my control." She then stepped close to Shade once more.
The voice warned one more time, "If you really want to cause pain and chaos to all then proceed, Dreamer, for your way of choice is the way of the blade of fate. It's sharp honed edge awaits you, like a dragon for it's meal."
She smirked and ignored the voice. Instead she leaned towards Shade once more.
The scene shifted once again to the throne room with little warning. She noticed that this time the room seemed to be empty. However as she turned to look at one heavily shadowed corner she found she was mistaken. Two large eyes glowed from the shadows.
She asked with some trepidation, "Who are you?"
The entity gave no answer.
She quickly got annoyed and demanded, "Show yourself!"
The creature responded and started moving closer. She suddenly realized just how large the creature was and suddenly felt very afraid.
She turned and started to run from the quickly approaching creature. She looked around as she ran in despair, as shadows started to surround her because she knew the creature would not be far behind.
Sharp spikes appearing to be giant teeth descended towards her. She tried to get out of the way but it was too late.
The dreamer woke up with a scream. She looked around and sighed, as she slowly calmed down.
Gallia slowly shook her head and murmured, "Just a meaningless dream."
* * * * *
The group sat on the front steps of the Hikawa Shrine in the early morning hours. Usagi sat in the middle and Mamoru sat on one side of her, Chibi-Usa sitting on the other side. Makoto, Minako and Ami sat nearby, talking to the others.
"This is getting way complicated," complained Minako.
"Yay, why couldn't they all just show up here and fight instead of making us go all over the world," asked Makoto.
Ami replied, "Because the Shards are not all here though one more is, perhaps we should look for that one first."
"Hey, I missed out on Brazilian food. I don't want to miss out on more good stuff," said Usagi as Mamoru just shook his head in amusement.
Chibi-Usa piped in, "Like you even keep the food in your mouth long enough to taste it. You just inhale it."
Usagi made a face at Chibi-Usa as responded, "I do not."
Chibi-Usa replied, "Do too," and soon got into a do too and do not match with Usagi.
Rei stepped out of the temple onto the front porch area and admonished, "If you too keep arguing like that, you'll wake up Shen. He was really badly hurt and needs his rest."
Usagi nodded seriously and waved a finger at Chibi-Usa as she said, "Yes, you should have more consideration for him and be quieter."
"You should take your own advice, you know," said Chibi-Usa back to Usagi, duplicating the finger motion.
The doors to the temple opened again and they fell quiet. Out from the temple stepped Shen, quietly like always.
The group stared at Shen in surprise. Minako blurted out, "Uh, what? How are you able to walk around on your own?"
Makoto nodded and added, "Ya, you weren't even able to walk on your own after the fight. What is up with that?"
"I looked you over and I thought I had found several broken ribs and a broken arm, along with several other bruised bones and a twisted ankle," said Ami as she quickly checked over some notes.
Shen simply shrugged as if it was no big deal and responded with, "I heal quick I guess. I suppose it helped there is a magical source of light in the area that charges shadows in the area nicely."
Rei blinked for a moment then nodded and asked, "You mean the Sacred Fire?"
Shen nodded and looked to those gathered before asking, "Are you ready for another trip?" Luna and Artemis showed themselves along with Diana. Luna just looked at Usagi though and stayed silent. Shen looked down at the cats and said, "You can talk in my presence you know. I did find out you are capable of talking though I admit I was somewhat surprised when I did."
Luna looked up at Shen and sighed. She spoke after a moment though, "Indeed we can. What would be the destination?"
Artemis spoke up too and asked, "And why should we go somewhere else before we try to track one down here?"
Shen shrugged and said, "I suppose you could try to find the other Shard here first but I could not tell you how, and I know they will be going after the one in the United States first. I doubt they will change plans. Perhaps they will even speed them up. I do not know for sure but Lord Agate's Champion of Water was detected in the United States. I know what city they are going too, just have to look out for the Dark Kingdom when we get there. But we can wait if you wish, but they might get that one first.."
Makoto stood up and responded strongly, "No way! We can't let them get any more of the Shards."
Minako nodded and stood up too, "The more Shards they get the more power they'll have."
Usagi jumped up and smiled, "And I can try American food. Yay!"
The rest of them sweat-dropped at that but stood up one by one.
Shen asked quietly, "Are you ready then?" and received enthusiastic nods. He nodded to himself then clenched his right fist and held it out. He then spoke the word "Cloak" and opened his fist, palm up, to reveal a glowing grey sphere. He clenched his fist again and reached behind his left shoulder. He finished quietly with, "Of Shadows.." and seemed to grab and pull something from behind him. He pulled hard then let go, and let a grey cloak fly and wrap around him as he suddenly crouched. He then bent his head forward and a hood fell to cover it. He slowly rose and his totally grey cloak fell to hang behind him though it still hid his arms as they rested at his side. Shade stood there and looked at the faces of girls, guy and cats, then opened a nexus to a place of grey, and said, "Let's go then."
* * * * *
Lord Agate sat on his throne once more and surveyed his less numerous subjects. A few were missing, some in battle and a few as punishment for the failures that had happened recently. Not only was Argon dead, but Tungsten had been killed too, by the senshi, and Shade had rebelled and committed treason. It was time to order his subjects on how to respond, so had called many of his minor underlings along with Gallia and Actin to appear at this audience.
By his side he also had a figure at his side. Her face and most of her body were hidden in a deep purple robe. The only exception was one of her golden legs that peeked out because of the position she stood in. All that could be seen of her under her hood were two glowing golden eyes. All present knew it was the Sage that stood by his side and most were surprised to see her in attendance and knew it was probably not a good sign.
Lord Agate looked at almost every face present then began, "As you all know, Argon was defeated a time ago by what we now believe were a faction of the senshi. We gained a Shard of Light, but the senshi gained his Shard of Darkness. What many of you may not know though, is that Tungsten has now been defeated. His elemental was able to retrieve the Shard of Light he was after, but his Shard of Darkness was lost as Argon's had been. He was defeated by the senshi, with help from," he paused at looked at all those in attendance, "Shade. We now know Shade is a traitor. The elemental witnessed Shade help the senshi and attack Tungsten and we have found evidence that supports the elemental's report. Retrieving the last three Shards of Light is now vital, along with either Shade's capture or death. We will be able to seek out the missing Shards that the senshi have after we have aquired the other Shards. Gallia, you have claimed you have a plan. Please tell us what you plan."
Gallia nodded with respect to Lord Agate and began, "Lord Agate, I do have a plan to recapture Shade and in fact put him back under our control, not just to become a worthless prisoner. From the start when it was revealed Shade was the Grey One, I knew it was a possibility someone may try to make him stray from the Dark Kingdom, so made some effort to be ready if such an event happened."
Lord Agate raised an eyebrow at that but motioned for Gallia to continue.
Gallia continued on Lord Agate's signal, "Shade is most likely helping the senshi now as they are probably the cause of his defecting. He also knows I was the closest after Tungsten to finding the Shard of Darkness in my area. He will bring the senshi and himself to me in effect. Then I will finish my spell and capture his mind and in turn use him to capture the senshi and assist me in retrieving the Shard of light. With the senshi and Shade out of the way there will be nothing to block your glorious plans."
Lord Agate nodded slowly then looked to Actin and asked, "What are your thoughts on this?"
Actin stood at stiff attention and responded, "Lord Agate, I believe Shade is too dangerous and should just be destroyed. Then we shall not have to worry about his interferance ever again."
Lord Agate nodded once more and turned to the Sage, "I would ask what might your advice be?"
The Sage spoke in a hollow voice, and said, "Prophecy fulfilled with death or life. Even as a hollow shell, great power would be held within. Differences are only with the ease of procuring that power. Life is a tool that should not be wasted unless that is what is needed."
Lord Agate thought over what the Sage had said for a few moments then looked back towards the others. He ordered, "Gallia. Proceed with your plans, and keep me informed. Actin, we will discuss later a secondary plan if needed. If either of you have any problem report to me immediately. Understood?" He received nods in reply so he said, "Good. Dismissed."
* * * * *
After arriving in New York, New York in the United States they had decided to split up. Usagi, Mamoru, Chibi-Usa with Diana went to the area around the Statue of Liberty and other tourist sites incase the carrier was only visiting New York. Ami, Rei and Luna went to check around schools and universities since they believed the carrier was somewhere in the teens or early adult and possibly still a student. Minako, Makoto and Artemis left to check out the parks and malls of the area. Shen went off on his own like usual.
Usagi and her companions had been looking around for a time, and while Mamoru now carried a few things the girls had purchased, they still had not found anything out of the ordinary. Usagi and Chibi-Usa both wore smiles though as they ate some ice cream Mamoru had bought for them.
Ami, Rei and Luna visited several schools and had little luck. The didn't find any unusual activities going on and neither detected a carrier but they did meet some nice people including a few Japanese foreign exchange student who gave them some information and advice for the city.
Minako and Makoto had fun at the malls while Artemis watched more carefully then them. They found clothes, and jewelry and other gifts, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Shen waked the streets alone, blending in with the people around him, where the others could not, watching and waiting. He was the first of the group to find out something unusual was going on, which he found out from a hurrying reporter. Soon Shade arrived on the scene.
* * * * *
Gallia walked down the street confidently in the open, since her minions had already scared the residents away. She received a report that Shade had been spotted after he had virtually teleported on top of an alley cat and startled it. Her minions lost track of him shortly after but he had been seen in the area. As she turned a corner she found her query looking right back at her.
Shade stood on a poorly lit nighttime street. He looked at her with a blank face, his daggers in his hands in front of him. She started to approach him but he made no move.
Suddenly the five senshi appeared to the side and began to shout to Gallia. Sailor Moon shouted, "Stop right there!"
As Gallia turned to look towards them Sailor Venus said, "Leave him alone!"
Sailor Jupiter added, "If you attack him you have to fight us too!"
"Yes, all of us," Sailor Mercury said.
"All five in case you can't count at the moment," offered Sailor Mars to be helpful.
Gallia smirked and replied, "Oh you Sailor Squirts are so amusing. Shade may be a traitor and I one of Lord Agate's Champions but I have no desire to hurt someone so cute. You on the other hand.." Gallia turned to a different direction and said to seemingly nothing, "Sprites, drown them."
Four puddles of liquid formed on the ground in front of the senshi. Then, before the senshi's very eyes, each puddle rose up off the ground and became humanoid in form, then turned towards the senshi.
Gallia smiled, as she believed the senshi were safely preoccupied. She turned back to Shade and smiled once more. Shade stood the same as before but without the daggers. She thought, maybe he had believed her words before or he realized the futility of resisting her. Whatever it was, she decided she didn't care.
She stepped up to Shade and leaned forward but paused as she remembered the dream she had dreamed. She stepped away from Shade for a moment to think. She laughed to herself and said, "I'm letting a silly old dream worry me." She then stepped close to Shade once more and leaned in to cast her spell on him.
She discovered too late that it was just an illusion of him, and fell through it to land unceremoniously on the ground.
The senshi didn't have time to find that amusing though, as the Sprites started to shoot high powered streams of water at them, that wore away the stone and other material it hit with it's power. The senshi did not intend to find out what it would do to them. However the Sprites did not give the senshi the time to attack back, forcing them to dodge continuously.
Gallia muttered as he climbed to her feet and checked her hands incase she skinned them. Seeming satisfied they were ok she grinned darkly and asked the senshi, "Having fun? I hope my Sprites don't hurt you too much." She smiled a little too sweetly then before adding, "Maybe you need someone nicer to play with Sailor Sissy. You look for me but look at all the playmates you have found. Snowflake, come forth and.. play with them."
The Sprites turned for a moment, giving the senshi a moment to rest, but the Sprites were not taking a break. Instead they turned towards each other and shot out spouts of water, all four meeting in the middle. It was only for a moment, but at the center the water froze, and another one like them appeared, except this one was frozen ice. Before the senshi could finish regrouping the attacks began anew, this time they had to dodge deadly ice along with the high powered water.
Gallia smiled and shook her head then said to herself, "This could only be better if Shade would just show himself."
As if by answer three grey orbs materialized out of nowhere. Each shot forward towards one of the Sprites. One turned into the she-wolf, Guardian, while a second became Guide, who rode on Guardian's back. Both of them along with Host, cruising with them shot towards the Sprite and attacked. The Sprite was able to knock them away, however with only getting minorly hurt. Gallia smirked at the poor attack.
However the attack was only a distraction. A nexus appeared in midair above Snowflake, the ice Sprite, and out of it flew Shade, plunging down with the two daggers of grey energy. Both bit into the ice Sprite, and shattered it into three, then many pieces. Shade landed in a crouch, then slowly rose, looking around.
Gallia scowled and growled out, "My dear Shade, you should really play nicer with my minions you know. It's better for you in the long run."
Shade ignored her and moved to strike at one of the water Sprites. The senshi followed suit and went onto the offensive.
Sailor Venus raised her hand to the sky and called, "Venus Love Me Chain!" and pointed at one of the Sprites. The chain surrounded the Sprite and entangled it for a moment, but then it became a blob temporarily and escaped out of the magical chain.
Sailor Mars cried out, "Mars Burning Mandelas!" and shot out rings of flame at another Sprite. The rings seemed to do some damage but the Sprite maneuvered around most of them and attacked Sailor Mars in response, and the attacks forced Sailor Mars to jump out of the way.
Sailor Mercury tried one of her ice attacks on another Sprite but only temporarily stopped it. It almost instantly started melting once more, liquefying rapidly.
Guardian and Host moved after the Sprite that had attacked Sailor Mars back and bit, clawed and smashed into it, still having little effect however other then to distract it from Sailor Mars. Guide jumped out of the way to the side of the street.
Sailor Moon attacked with her tiara, trying to hit the one Sailor Mercury had frozen. However the Sprite finished melting first and was barely even bothered by the attack.
Shade feigned and lunged at the last Sprite, trying to do some damage to it. However it moved just as quickly as him and made it's own counter-strikes.
Sailor Jupiter tried to attack the same Sprite Shade was trying to hurt. The Sprite noticed Sailor Jupiter and instead of trying to get both opponents on the same side of it, it moved right in between them. Sailor Jupiter didn't take time to think what it had planned and tried to ark a great jolt of electricity at it.
The charge went right through the Sprite as it conducted the energy towards Shade. The electricity jolted Shade, who had been unprepared for an indirect and unintentional attack from Sailor Jupiter. He stumbled backward, trying to recover. The Sprite gave him no chance and hit him with a relatively weak but still forceful stream of water and knocked him backwards.
Gallia caught him effortlessly as the Sprites shoved sent him right towards her. She leaned over, and finding his head turned to the side, kissed him on the check, then pulled back and smiled.
The Sprites stopped attacking and the senshi watched in surprise and fear as a visible wave of dark energy swept over Shade, and as it reached the edge of his body it flowed back like a ripple in a puddle. It soon faded away, vanishing as Shade went limp.
Sailor Moon stepped forward and demanded, "Let him go now!"
Gallia smiled a little too warmly and responded, "But he won't want to go now."
Sailor Mars asked, "What do you mean by that? He doesn't trust you or the Dark Kingdom."
The senshi's attention was suddenly drawn to the side. The saw Guardian, Guide and Host all shaking rapidly, losing consistency. Guide was the first to vanish suddenly, breaking off into black, white and grey light, as Guardian howled piteously. Guardian vanished next, shattering into the same energy patterns at Guide had. Host vanished last, finally becoming unstable a few moments after the others. The energy of the three floated over towards Shade with greater speed until being pulled into him.
"Cry all you want little girls, the Grey One is mine, now and forever. But you don't have to worry about it. Have fun with the water," Gallia said condescendingly. She then, still holding Shade, vanishing in what was almost a splash of some liquid.
The water Sprites didn't give the senshi a chance to figure out what happened, and attacked once more, forcing the senshi to dodge and retreat rapidly. The senshi got backed into the face of a building by the combined attack of the Sprites.
Then suddenly a mini glowing heart struck one of the Sprites as a rose struck the three others. Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Chibi-Moon stood at the side of the building. Tuxedo Kamen said, "Water can be refreshing but it is time we cleaned up here."
The Sprites, seeming unimpressed at the attacks, tried to hit Tuxedo Kamen and Chibi-Moon, but Tuxedo Kamen pulled both of them away.
Sailor Mars said as the Sprites attacked elsewhere, "Come on guys, lets divide and conquer. Venus and I can take the right two, you three take the 2 on the left, ok?"
The others nodded and said, "Right," though Sailor Jupiter's response was a little slower then the others.
Sailor Venus attacked once more with the chain at one of the Sprites. Again she caught it, but this time before it could escape, Sailor Mars covered it in raw flames and evaporated it.
Sailor Mercury hit both of the left two with her ice attack and froze them both. Sailor Moon shouted, "Moon Tiara Action!" and shattered one of them with her tiara. Sailor Jupiter was slower to hit, wondering if her attack earlier had been Shade's downfall. Sailor Mercury shouted for Sailor Jupiter to strike, but it was too late and the Sprite had melted again. It blasted a jet of water at Sailor Jupiter and knocked her painfully into the side of the building.
As that happened Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars combined their attacks to create a flame enshrouded ray of energy. When it struck one of the remaining Sprites, the Sprite was turned instantly into gas.
Sailor Mercury went wide eyed but forced herself to freeze the last Sprite again. Sailor Moon got distracted though, in concern for Sailor Jupiter, and the Sprite began to melt again. Sailor Mercury feared another attack but one of Tuxedo Kamen's roses embedded itself into the frozen creature, creating many cracks. That was followed by a thrown piece of broken pavement from Chibi-Moon and the final Sprite shattered completely, falling to pieces.
The senshi along with Tuxedo Kamen converged on Sailor Jupiter, who was lying on the ground. Sailor Moon asked, "Sailor Jupiter, are you ok?"
Sailor Jupiter closed her eyes and shook her head. She replied, "No. I beat Shade and I hadn't even meant to."
* * * * *
She sat in a throne that looked something like a cross between Queen Beryl's and Lord Agate's respective thrones. She thought to herself how she loved the power. She carelessly gestured to those in front of her to begin. A man in uniform stood at attention and gave her some unimportant report. She didn't care. When he finished she feigned annoyance and ordered him killed, and her followers obediently followed the order. As the man who looked vaguely like Argon was cut down, she again thought to herself how she loved the power she had.
She said aloud, "That was long overdue for that twig, wasn't it?" Her audience agreed fully with her, like always. She turned to look at the source of her power. Shade stood next to the throne, glowing with dark power.
The scene shifted. Shade stood on a poorly lit nighttime street. He looked at her with a blank face, his daggers in his hands in front of him. She started to approach him but he made no move.
As if on cue five senshi appeared to the side and began to sound off. The first one shouted, "Stop now!" As she turned to look towards them another said, "Leave him alone!" and a third added, "If you pick on him you have to pick on us too!" The last two echoed, "..us too.."
She turned back to Shade and smiled. Shade stood the same as before but without the daggers. She knew what would come next. She would give him an enchanted kiss which would trigger the magic spells she had secretly placed on him throughout his life after she had learn that he was the Grey One of prophesy. He would fall under her control. First he would destroy the senshi for her then onto Lord Agate.
She stepped up to Shade and leaned forward when and unexpected and unknown yet strangely familiar voice made her pause. The female voice spoke from no particular direction and said, "Hold, before you tear life and death asunder, Dreamer."
She stepped away from Shade and searched for the speaker but could not find them. She asked aloud, "Why should I listen to you?"
"Wise is the one who seeks solace and understanding in the dreams they have been gifted. Wise is the one who knows the power that dreams and shadows hold is understood only by the Masters of the realms. Wise is the one who trys not to control what they do not understand. When the magic itself does not understand it's purpose and what it is, the mage that uses it finds consequences are quite often not what they wish for themselves." was the voices response.
She laughed and said, "Look missy, I am more then just an ordinary magic user. What I want, I get, one way or another. He'll be completely under my control." She then stepped close to Shade once more.
The voice warned one more time, "If you really want to cause pain and chaos to all then proceed, Dreamer, for your way of choice is the way of the blade of fate. It's sharp honed edge awaits you, like a dragon for it's meal."
She smirked and ignored the voice. Instead she leaned towards Shade once more.
The scene shifted once again to the throne room with little warning. She noticed that this time the room seemed to be empty. However as she turned to look at one heavily shadowed corner she found she was mistaken. Two large eyes glowed from the shadows.
She asked with some trepidation, "Who are you?"
The entity gave no answer.
She quickly got annoyed and demanded, "Show yourself!"
The creature responded and started moving closer. She suddenly realized just how large the creature was and suddenly felt very afraid.
She turned and started to run from the quickly approaching creature. She looked around as she ran in despair, as shadows started to surround her because she knew the creature would not be far behind.
Sharp spikes appearing to be giant teeth descended towards her. She tried to get out of the way but it was too late.
The dreamer woke up with a scream. She looked around and sighed, as she slowly calmed down.
Gallia slowly shook her head and murmured, "Just a meaningless dream."
* * * * *
The group sat on the front steps of the Hikawa Shrine in the early morning hours. Usagi sat in the middle and Mamoru sat on one side of her, Chibi-Usa sitting on the other side. Makoto, Minako and Ami sat nearby, talking to the others.
"This is getting way complicated," complained Minako.
"Yay, why couldn't they all just show up here and fight instead of making us go all over the world," asked Makoto.
Ami replied, "Because the Shards are not all here though one more is, perhaps we should look for that one first."
"Hey, I missed out on Brazilian food. I don't want to miss out on more good stuff," said Usagi as Mamoru just shook his head in amusement.
Chibi-Usa piped in, "Like you even keep the food in your mouth long enough to taste it. You just inhale it."
Usagi made a face at Chibi-Usa as responded, "I do not."
Chibi-Usa replied, "Do too," and soon got into a do too and do not match with Usagi.
Rei stepped out of the temple onto the front porch area and admonished, "If you too keep arguing like that, you'll wake up Shen. He was really badly hurt and needs his rest."
Usagi nodded seriously and waved a finger at Chibi-Usa as she said, "Yes, you should have more consideration for him and be quieter."
"You should take your own advice, you know," said Chibi-Usa back to Usagi, duplicating the finger motion.
The doors to the temple opened again and they fell quiet. Out from the temple stepped Shen, quietly like always.
The group stared at Shen in surprise. Minako blurted out, "Uh, what? How are you able to walk around on your own?"
Makoto nodded and added, "Ya, you weren't even able to walk on your own after the fight. What is up with that?"
"I looked you over and I thought I had found several broken ribs and a broken arm, along with several other bruised bones and a twisted ankle," said Ami as she quickly checked over some notes.
Shen simply shrugged as if it was no big deal and responded with, "I heal quick I guess. I suppose it helped there is a magical source of light in the area that charges shadows in the area nicely."
Rei blinked for a moment then nodded and asked, "You mean the Sacred Fire?"
Shen nodded and looked to those gathered before asking, "Are you ready for another trip?" Luna and Artemis showed themselves along with Diana. Luna just looked at Usagi though and stayed silent. Shen looked down at the cats and said, "You can talk in my presence you know. I did find out you are capable of talking though I admit I was somewhat surprised when I did."
Luna looked up at Shen and sighed. She spoke after a moment though, "Indeed we can. What would be the destination?"
Artemis spoke up too and asked, "And why should we go somewhere else before we try to track one down here?"
Shen shrugged and said, "I suppose you could try to find the other Shard here first but I could not tell you how, and I know they will be going after the one in the United States first. I doubt they will change plans. Perhaps they will even speed them up. I do not know for sure but Lord Agate's Champion of Water was detected in the United States. I know what city they are going too, just have to look out for the Dark Kingdom when we get there. But we can wait if you wish, but they might get that one first.."
Makoto stood up and responded strongly, "No way! We can't let them get any more of the Shards."
Minako nodded and stood up too, "The more Shards they get the more power they'll have."
Usagi jumped up and smiled, "And I can try American food. Yay!"
The rest of them sweat-dropped at that but stood up one by one.
Shen asked quietly, "Are you ready then?" and received enthusiastic nods. He nodded to himself then clenched his right fist and held it out. He then spoke the word "Cloak" and opened his fist, palm up, to reveal a glowing grey sphere. He clenched his fist again and reached behind his left shoulder. He finished quietly with, "Of Shadows.." and seemed to grab and pull something from behind him. He pulled hard then let go, and let a grey cloak fly and wrap around him as he suddenly crouched. He then bent his head forward and a hood fell to cover it. He slowly rose and his totally grey cloak fell to hang behind him though it still hid his arms as they rested at his side. Shade stood there and looked at the faces of girls, guy and cats, then opened a nexus to a place of grey, and said, "Let's go then."
* * * * *
Lord Agate sat on his throne once more and surveyed his less numerous subjects. A few were missing, some in battle and a few as punishment for the failures that had happened recently. Not only was Argon dead, but Tungsten had been killed too, by the senshi, and Shade had rebelled and committed treason. It was time to order his subjects on how to respond, so had called many of his minor underlings along with Gallia and Actin to appear at this audience.
By his side he also had a figure at his side. Her face and most of her body were hidden in a deep purple robe. The only exception was one of her golden legs that peeked out because of the position she stood in. All that could be seen of her under her hood were two glowing golden eyes. All present knew it was the Sage that stood by his side and most were surprised to see her in attendance and knew it was probably not a good sign.
Lord Agate looked at almost every face present then began, "As you all know, Argon was defeated a time ago by what we now believe were a faction of the senshi. We gained a Shard of Light, but the senshi gained his Shard of Darkness. What many of you may not know though, is that Tungsten has now been defeated. His elemental was able to retrieve the Shard of Light he was after, but his Shard of Darkness was lost as Argon's had been. He was defeated by the senshi, with help from," he paused at looked at all those in attendance, "Shade. We now know Shade is a traitor. The elemental witnessed Shade help the senshi and attack Tungsten and we have found evidence that supports the elemental's report. Retrieving the last three Shards of Light is now vital, along with either Shade's capture or death. We will be able to seek out the missing Shards that the senshi have after we have aquired the other Shards. Gallia, you have claimed you have a plan. Please tell us what you plan."
Gallia nodded with respect to Lord Agate and began, "Lord Agate, I do have a plan to recapture Shade and in fact put him back under our control, not just to become a worthless prisoner. From the start when it was revealed Shade was the Grey One, I knew it was a possibility someone may try to make him stray from the Dark Kingdom, so made some effort to be ready if such an event happened."
Lord Agate raised an eyebrow at that but motioned for Gallia to continue.
Gallia continued on Lord Agate's signal, "Shade is most likely helping the senshi now as they are probably the cause of his defecting. He also knows I was the closest after Tungsten to finding the Shard of Darkness in my area. He will bring the senshi and himself to me in effect. Then I will finish my spell and capture his mind and in turn use him to capture the senshi and assist me in retrieving the Shard of light. With the senshi and Shade out of the way there will be nothing to block your glorious plans."
Lord Agate nodded slowly then looked to Actin and asked, "What are your thoughts on this?"
Actin stood at stiff attention and responded, "Lord Agate, I believe Shade is too dangerous and should just be destroyed. Then we shall not have to worry about his interferance ever again."
Lord Agate nodded once more and turned to the Sage, "I would ask what might your advice be?"
The Sage spoke in a hollow voice, and said, "Prophecy fulfilled with death or life. Even as a hollow shell, great power would be held within. Differences are only with the ease of procuring that power. Life is a tool that should not be wasted unless that is what is needed."
Lord Agate thought over what the Sage had said for a few moments then looked back towards the others. He ordered, "Gallia. Proceed with your plans, and keep me informed. Actin, we will discuss later a secondary plan if needed. If either of you have any problem report to me immediately. Understood?" He received nods in reply so he said, "Good. Dismissed."
* * * * *
After arriving in New York, New York in the United States they had decided to split up. Usagi, Mamoru, Chibi-Usa with Diana went to the area around the Statue of Liberty and other tourist sites incase the carrier was only visiting New York. Ami, Rei and Luna went to check around schools and universities since they believed the carrier was somewhere in the teens or early adult and possibly still a student. Minako, Makoto and Artemis left to check out the parks and malls of the area. Shen went off on his own like usual.
Usagi and her companions had been looking around for a time, and while Mamoru now carried a few things the girls had purchased, they still had not found anything out of the ordinary. Usagi and Chibi-Usa both wore smiles though as they ate some ice cream Mamoru had bought for them.
Ami, Rei and Luna visited several schools and had little luck. The didn't find any unusual activities going on and neither detected a carrier but they did meet some nice people including a few Japanese foreign exchange student who gave them some information and advice for the city.
Minako and Makoto had fun at the malls while Artemis watched more carefully then them. They found clothes, and jewelry and other gifts, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Shen waked the streets alone, blending in with the people around him, where the others could not, watching and waiting. He was the first of the group to find out something unusual was going on, which he found out from a hurrying reporter. Soon Shade arrived on the scene.
* * * * *
Gallia walked down the street confidently in the open, since her minions had already scared the residents away. She received a report that Shade had been spotted after he had virtually teleported on top of an alley cat and startled it. Her minions lost track of him shortly after but he had been seen in the area. As she turned a corner she found her query looking right back at her.
Shade stood on a poorly lit nighttime street. He looked at her with a blank face, his daggers in his hands in front of him. She started to approach him but he made no move.
Suddenly the five senshi appeared to the side and began to shout to Gallia. Sailor Moon shouted, "Stop right there!"
As Gallia turned to look towards them Sailor Venus said, "Leave him alone!"
Sailor Jupiter added, "If you attack him you have to fight us too!"
"Yes, all of us," Sailor Mercury said.
"All five in case you can't count at the moment," offered Sailor Mars to be helpful.
Gallia smirked and replied, "Oh you Sailor Squirts are so amusing. Shade may be a traitor and I one of Lord Agate's Champions but I have no desire to hurt someone so cute. You on the other hand.." Gallia turned to a different direction and said to seemingly nothing, "Sprites, drown them."
Four puddles of liquid formed on the ground in front of the senshi. Then, before the senshi's very eyes, each puddle rose up off the ground and became humanoid in form, then turned towards the senshi.
Gallia smiled, as she believed the senshi were safely preoccupied. She turned back to Shade and smiled once more. Shade stood the same as before but without the daggers. She thought, maybe he had believed her words before or he realized the futility of resisting her. Whatever it was, she decided she didn't care.
She stepped up to Shade and leaned forward but paused as she remembered the dream she had dreamed. She stepped away from Shade for a moment to think. She laughed to herself and said, "I'm letting a silly old dream worry me." She then stepped close to Shade once more and leaned in to cast her spell on him.
She discovered too late that it was just an illusion of him, and fell through it to land unceremoniously on the ground.
The senshi didn't have time to find that amusing though, as the Sprites started to shoot high powered streams of water at them, that wore away the stone and other material it hit with it's power. The senshi did not intend to find out what it would do to them. However the Sprites did not give the senshi the time to attack back, forcing them to dodge continuously.
Gallia muttered as he climbed to her feet and checked her hands incase she skinned them. Seeming satisfied they were ok she grinned darkly and asked the senshi, "Having fun? I hope my Sprites don't hurt you too much." She smiled a little too sweetly then before adding, "Maybe you need someone nicer to play with Sailor Sissy. You look for me but look at all the playmates you have found. Snowflake, come forth and.. play with them."
The Sprites turned for a moment, giving the senshi a moment to rest, but the Sprites were not taking a break. Instead they turned towards each other and shot out spouts of water, all four meeting in the middle. It was only for a moment, but at the center the water froze, and another one like them appeared, except this one was frozen ice. Before the senshi could finish regrouping the attacks began anew, this time they had to dodge deadly ice along with the high powered water.
Gallia smiled and shook her head then said to herself, "This could only be better if Shade would just show himself."
As if by answer three grey orbs materialized out of nowhere. Each shot forward towards one of the Sprites. One turned into the she-wolf, Guardian, while a second became Guide, who rode on Guardian's back. Both of them along with Host, cruising with them shot towards the Sprite and attacked. The Sprite was able to knock them away, however with only getting minorly hurt. Gallia smirked at the poor attack.
However the attack was only a distraction. A nexus appeared in midair above Snowflake, the ice Sprite, and out of it flew Shade, plunging down with the two daggers of grey energy. Both bit into the ice Sprite, and shattered it into three, then many pieces. Shade landed in a crouch, then slowly rose, looking around.
Gallia scowled and growled out, "My dear Shade, you should really play nicer with my minions you know. It's better for you in the long run."
Shade ignored her and moved to strike at one of the water Sprites. The senshi followed suit and went onto the offensive.
Sailor Venus raised her hand to the sky and called, "Venus Love Me Chain!" and pointed at one of the Sprites. The chain surrounded the Sprite and entangled it for a moment, but then it became a blob temporarily and escaped out of the magical chain.
Sailor Mars cried out, "Mars Burning Mandelas!" and shot out rings of flame at another Sprite. The rings seemed to do some damage but the Sprite maneuvered around most of them and attacked Sailor Mars in response, and the attacks forced Sailor Mars to jump out of the way.
Sailor Mercury tried one of her ice attacks on another Sprite but only temporarily stopped it. It almost instantly started melting once more, liquefying rapidly.
Guardian and Host moved after the Sprite that had attacked Sailor Mars back and bit, clawed and smashed into it, still having little effect however other then to distract it from Sailor Mars. Guide jumped out of the way to the side of the street.
Sailor Moon attacked with her tiara, trying to hit the one Sailor Mercury had frozen. However the Sprite finished melting first and was barely even bothered by the attack.
Shade feigned and lunged at the last Sprite, trying to do some damage to it. However it moved just as quickly as him and made it's own counter-strikes.
Sailor Jupiter tried to attack the same Sprite Shade was trying to hurt. The Sprite noticed Sailor Jupiter and instead of trying to get both opponents on the same side of it, it moved right in between them. Sailor Jupiter didn't take time to think what it had planned and tried to ark a great jolt of electricity at it.
The charge went right through the Sprite as it conducted the energy towards Shade. The electricity jolted Shade, who had been unprepared for an indirect and unintentional attack from Sailor Jupiter. He stumbled backward, trying to recover. The Sprite gave him no chance and hit him with a relatively weak but still forceful stream of water and knocked him backwards.
Gallia caught him effortlessly as the Sprites shoved sent him right towards her. She leaned over, and finding his head turned to the side, kissed him on the check, then pulled back and smiled.
The Sprites stopped attacking and the senshi watched in surprise and fear as a visible wave of dark energy swept over Shade, and as it reached the edge of his body it flowed back like a ripple in a puddle. It soon faded away, vanishing as Shade went limp.
Sailor Moon stepped forward and demanded, "Let him go now!"
Gallia smiled a little too warmly and responded, "But he won't want to go now."
Sailor Mars asked, "What do you mean by that? He doesn't trust you or the Dark Kingdom."
The senshi's attention was suddenly drawn to the side. The saw Guardian, Guide and Host all shaking rapidly, losing consistency. Guide was the first to vanish suddenly, breaking off into black, white and grey light, as Guardian howled piteously. Guardian vanished next, shattering into the same energy patterns at Guide had. Host vanished last, finally becoming unstable a few moments after the others. The energy of the three floated over towards Shade with greater speed until being pulled into him.
"Cry all you want little girls, the Grey One is mine, now and forever. But you don't have to worry about it. Have fun with the water," Gallia said condescendingly. She then, still holding Shade, vanishing in what was almost a splash of some liquid.
The water Sprites didn't give the senshi a chance to figure out what happened, and attacked once more, forcing the senshi to dodge and retreat rapidly. The senshi got backed into the face of a building by the combined attack of the Sprites.
Then suddenly a mini glowing heart struck one of the Sprites as a rose struck the three others. Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Chibi-Moon stood at the side of the building. Tuxedo Kamen said, "Water can be refreshing but it is time we cleaned up here."
The Sprites, seeming unimpressed at the attacks, tried to hit Tuxedo Kamen and Chibi-Moon, but Tuxedo Kamen pulled both of them away.
Sailor Mars said as the Sprites attacked elsewhere, "Come on guys, lets divide and conquer. Venus and I can take the right two, you three take the 2 on the left, ok?"
The others nodded and said, "Right," though Sailor Jupiter's response was a little slower then the others.
Sailor Venus attacked once more with the chain at one of the Sprites. Again she caught it, but this time before it could escape, Sailor Mars covered it in raw flames and evaporated it.
Sailor Mercury hit both of the left two with her ice attack and froze them both. Sailor Moon shouted, "Moon Tiara Action!" and shattered one of them with her tiara. Sailor Jupiter was slower to hit, wondering if her attack earlier had been Shade's downfall. Sailor Mercury shouted for Sailor Jupiter to strike, but it was too late and the Sprite had melted again. It blasted a jet of water at Sailor Jupiter and knocked her painfully into the side of the building.
As that happened Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars combined their attacks to create a flame enshrouded ray of energy. When it struck one of the remaining Sprites, the Sprite was turned instantly into gas.
Sailor Mercury went wide eyed but forced herself to freeze the last Sprite again. Sailor Moon got distracted though, in concern for Sailor Jupiter, and the Sprite began to melt again. Sailor Mercury feared another attack but one of Tuxedo Kamen's roses embedded itself into the frozen creature, creating many cracks. That was followed by a thrown piece of broken pavement from Chibi-Moon and the final Sprite shattered completely, falling to pieces.
The senshi along with Tuxedo Kamen converged on Sailor Jupiter, who was lying on the ground. Sailor Moon asked, "Sailor Jupiter, are you ok?"
Sailor Jupiter closed her eyes and shook her head. She replied, "No. I beat Shade and I hadn't even meant to."