Raye stomped down the hall of the old-style Japanese house. She flung open the sliding door to the last room on the hall and stomped in, fuming. "Zachery Hino! You had better have a very good excuse for waking up late!" A muffled groan sounded from within the gloom of the room. It smelled of old socks and rotten food in there and it was a jungle of dirty clothes, a variety of hover boards (just like a skateboard only without wheels; it hovers), and a cherry red drum set. Raye wrinkled her nose at the filth and the stench. "Zach! Get up now or you'll be late for your first day of CTU." A head popped up from the nest of red and black blankets on the bed, or it looked like a bed. It had dark brown hair, mussed from sleep, accompanied by a pair of drowsy dark violet eyes. "Wha-" His words were interrupted by a yawn. "What time is it?" Raye pointed to the digital clock that was hanging by its cord from the edge of the nearby desk. In blazing red numbers, it read "7:53" Tanaka made a little startled noise and tossed his blankets off of his body. He was wearing a pair of cute red and black striped boxers (;}). Raye laughed behind her hand. "You are hilarious, really you are." She turned away and walked back down the hall. Zach half fell, half jumped into the hall immediately afterwards. "Whoa! Not cool!" He raced around the corner. Less than five minutes later, he was back in his room. His hair was spiked now so you could see the dyed red tips. He rushed getting dressed in an already wrinkled CTU uniform. Navy slacks, a white blouse, and a red blazer-jacket with a gold CTU scrolled on the front pocket. Again, he rushed out of the room and around the same corner as before. This time he slid into the kitchen where Raye was trying to feed a reluctant toddler. Raye muffled another laugh and looked at the clock on the wall. "Woo! New record, 9 minutes. Chad put that one in the books." Chad, his hair neatly trimmed now, grinned like the Cheshire cat and leaned down, scribbling something on the counter with an invisible pen. Zach snatched a piece of toast from the other child's, 12 or so, plate. "Oh ha ha! You guys are hilarious. Ma, you gonna drive me?" Raye shook her head and grinned goofily at the toddler in the highchair. "No, it's your father's turn to drive." She said this all in baby talk. Chad grabbed some keys off the counter, chugged a mug of coffee, and signaled his son. "Let's go, boy." Zach kissed his mom and smacked the young pre-teen boy on the head. "See ya, dip stick!" He chanted, ignoring his mother's stern glance. "And I'll see you on Saturday." This was directed at Raye who smiled knowingly. "Have a good week at school, dear." Zach saluted and marched out of the room.

        "Well, you want me to come in with you?" Chad asked as they pulled up to the university. Zach quivered with fear inwardly and pulled his duffle bag out of the trunk. "Nah. I'm good." Chad slapped him on the back. "Remember, when it comes to the ladies, don't do anything I wouldn't do." Zach forced a smile and a nod before turning. 'Gross! I don't even wanna know.' He thought to himself, shuddering at the thought of his dad flirting with anyone but his mom. "Yo! Z! Wait up, man!" A gruff voice called from behind him as he jogged up the immense school's main flight of stairs. Zach stopped. "Hey, hey, CJ! How's it rollin'?" He said to the tall guy who ran up next to him. He had messy white-blond hair and blue-green eyes. "Pretty good, pretty good." His blouse was untucked and he had his blazer slung over his shoulder. The two guys nonchalantly walked up the rest of the stairs and pushed the massive doors open. "Sure it's big enough, but just think about all the classes." CJ said in a high-pitched voice, throwing his hand out and flipping it around. Zach chuckled at his friend. Simultaneously, they looked at a group of passing girls with a studied casual nature. "Nice uniforms they've got here, eh CJ?" Zach whispered, pointing at the girls. The uniforms for the girls were a whole lot more fashionable than the old ones. Tight red skirts that barely reached the knee and tight white blouses with the CTU emblem on the pocket. CJ grinned greedily. "Sure are nice this year."

Smiling at the perverted nature with which all-teenaged boys dealt with, a tall woman dressed in a business suit approached them. "Hello, gentlemen. I am Ms. Hawkins and I will be your history teacher this year." Zach and CJ stared at her without blinking. She was amazingly attractive, for a teacher. Her hair was a fascinating mix of red and orange that seemed to switch between the two when she moved her head. Her eyes were a hypnotic deep, deep green. She smiled at their hesitation and their quick overview of her entire body. "May I ask your names?" Zach pulled himself together. "Uh yeah! I'm Zach Hino and he's CJ Tenoh." The deep green eyes glimmered faintly. "Welcome to Crystal Tokyo University, both of you. Today is a day for you to get acquainted with the school and your new roommates. First, I'll show you to your room. This way." With a curt nod at both of them, Ms. Hawkins turned down the hall, walking semi-quickly.

        She brought them to a large dorm room with seven beds in it. A large desk with a nice computer and a plain table with chairs were the only other furnishings. Despite its lack of furniture, the room was quite nice. Tanaka tossed his duffle bag down on the bed furthest from the door. CJ plopped down on the bed opposite Zach's. "I guess it's a nice room." Zach said this only loud enough for CJ to hear. The rebellious teen nodded and tossed his head in Ms.Hawkins' direction. "She's pretty okay herself."  Zach snickered quietly and Ms.Hawkins cleared her throat. "At precisely nine a.m. all students are to meet in the main hall. I'm sure you two know where that is?" They nodded in unison. "Good. I'll see you later then." She closed the door quietly behind her. Zach clicked the computer on and stared at the screen. "Boring! It's all just educational stuff. Snoresville." CJ smacked Zach's back hard. "Well, duh, dingle berry. Its a school." Zach smirked. "Yeah, so!" They just sat there a minute staring around the room. "So I guess there's gonna be five more guys in here, eh?" Zach motioned to the beds. CJ shrugged. "Maybe. Or those beds could just be spares and we could be the only ones in here." Zach wrinkled his nose, just like Raye had earlier. "That'd be too boring. No one to pick on." CJ mocked a thoughtful look and headed for the door. "Come on, Z! Let's go explore this fine establishment of education." Zach pulled his blazer off and untucked his shirt. "Let's roll!"

"Geez! Did they make enough hallways, or what?" Zach growled as the two stood at yet another crossroads of halls. They were totally lost. CJ punched the wall, leaving a tiny dent. "This is crazy! Its already ten and we haven't seen another human for, what, an hour?" Zach shrugged, at a total loss. He studied the paved courtyard directly below them. Across that courtyard, a large group of students stood staring at nothing at all. "Hey, CJ! Check it out!" He pointed to the group of zombie-like teens. CJ leaned closer. "Kooky!" They locked eyes for an instant. "Let's go!" Zach unlocked the window and hopped out, landing a few feet down in a bush. The crashing thud moments later let him know CJ had followed suit. He stood, brushing the leaves and twigs off his shirt. "Dude, this place would be awesome for a hover board session!" Zach had quickly noted the confusing twists of the walkways and the bush maze that stood between them and the zombie-people. CJ grunted. "Great, now how 'bout we think about that maze, huh?" Zach didn't really like thinking overmuch. It made his head hurt (heh heh!). "All we can do is plunge in right ole boy?" He said with a prim British accent. CJ smirked. "Cheerio, pip!" He answered similarly. They cracked up and jogged into the maze.

        "I think we should stick together, CJ." Tanaka called out to his friend, or rather the empty passageway of bushes behind him. "CJ?" He called out again. Whipping around he glared at the emptiness. "Not funny! Come on, man!" It had gone deathly still all of the sudden, not even the birds' chirping could be heard. Gulping loudly, Zach turned back around. 'Creepy. One minute he's there, the next, gone.' His thoughts flew around his head crazily, spurred on by the bar of cold fear that pulsed in his chest. "You know, Zachery Hino, you really shouldn't be out here alone." A cool voice called from above him. Leaping sideways, Zach looked up. Sailor Black Mars sat, well, on the air, smiling cruelly. "W-Who are you?" Trying desperately not to let the tone of panic take control. "I am your worst nightmare." She held out her hand.

Black Mars Fire Ignite!

His eyes widened at the spiraling flames headed straight for him. Three figures appeared out of nowhere and stopped the flames with a wall of orange, yellow, and pink energy. "Rgh! You again, pinky?" Black Mars jumped down, hands akimbo. "That's right, Sailor Black Mars! I am Sailor Neo-Moon, warrior of Truth and Justice!" The one with pink hair struck a commanding pose, pointing at the fiery vixen. Stepping up beside her, the others struck poses as well, calling in unison. "And we're the Neo-Team!" "In the name of the Moon," Neo-Moon cried. "And Venus," Called the duo and then all three finished off. "We'll punish you!"  Black Mars showed no response but a casual head tip. "Really? Would you still punish me if I did this?" Raising her hand she closed her eyes. Rings of dark red energy flew out from her in every direction before flying towards the group of zombie-like students Zach and CJ had seen earlier. The students turned in the direction of the group within the bush maze, their eyes blank and lifeless. "Come to me my minions! Come help me dispose of these losers!" Black Mars cackled unattractively at her own comments.

 Neo-Moon turned to her companions. "Get him out of here! I'll try to stop Black Mars!" Nodding, they turned to Zach. A sweet smile plastered on her face, the blond girl held out her hand to the terrified teen. "Come on, its not safe here." The guy standing with the blond noticed Neo-Moon struggling in Black Mars' physic grasp. "Neo-Venus, you get him to safety and hurry back. I'll help Neo-Moon." He turned and ran to his 'fearless leader', who was cowering below Black Mars' feet. Zach was too busy being in shock to hear Neo-Venus' words. He was focusing on the intense anger that had risen in him. Accompanying that anger there was an immense burst of mental energy. Suddenly understanding, Zach jumped up from his position on the ground. Neo-Venus sighed. "Finally! Come on!" "No, I can help!" Zach exclaimed to the warrior. She merely smiled. "Uh, I don't think you'd do much damage to her as you currently are." Confused by her last comment, Zach shook his head. "I don't get what you just said, but I know I can help." The blond girl groaned as the hotheaded teen rushed to his doom.

Sailor Black Mars laughed maniacally at the writhing figures at her feet. Neo-Moon and the Knight of Venus were trapped in a web of terror, in their own minds. Black Mars chuckled when she saw the zombie-students round the corner and pin Neo-Venus down. Zach, on the other hand, fought his instincts to run and shouted at the evil Mars wannabe. "Hey! Bimbo! I'm the one you want, so let them go!" Black Mars turned her attention to her original target. "Nothing is that simple, son of Raye. I was after you in the first place, buy they also have something I desire." "And that would be?" Zach was amazed at how well he was handling this situation. About twenty zombie-students were charging at him and his only chances for survival were out of commission. Sailor Black Mars held her hand up and shouted, "Why tell you when I can just show you!" A black aura surrounded her and all the physic alarms went off in Zach's head. "GO! Run now!" Neo-Venus had freed herself from the grasp of the students and was running towards Zach. Focusing on his anger again, Zach pulled on the energy and pushed it at Black Mars with all his might. The force pushed on the woman, but didn't seem to affect her. Neo-Venus was pulling on his arm yelling, "COME ON! We have to run!" "It didn't work?!" Judging from his dazed expression Neo-Venus gave up and started working on getting her two team mates out of there. "You are too late, fool! I have won!" Black Mars' eyes were red and the aura intensified.

Darkstar Crystal Knife!

        Four beams of black energy formed above her and began rushing towards the helpless people below. Neo-Venus had managed to pull her comrades out of their terror-inflicted stupors. They busied themselves setting up a series of energy attacks to deflect the beams. Seconds before the beams found purchase in the three warriors, they all cried,

Pink Crystal Storm!

Venus Crescent Beam Gattling!

Ultimate Venus Crescent Beam Smash!

            The pink, orange, and yellow energy attacks hit the black beams, dissipating them. However, Zach had no such energy attack to throw at the beam headed his way. Frozen with absolute terror, he could only watch as the beam sliced into him. Pain like he had never experienced shot through every nerve in his body and his mind plunged into darkness.

        Screwing up her face, Sailor Neo-Moon quickly readied her next attack. The Knight of Venus groaned and slumped forward, still dazed from Black Mars' physic blasts. Sailor Neo-Venus squealed in terror when she saw Zach's body crumple under the black knife. A dark violet orb with a red symbol of Mars and white wings appeared before Zach's chest in a swirl of flames. Matching looks of defeat crossed the Neo-Team's faces as Black Mars lowered herself to grab the Crystal Orb of Mars. Neo-Venus couldn't stand losing and so screamed through the pain-induced tears, "Zach! You have to reach out for the fire within! Please!" 

        However futile her screams seemed to Black Mars, Zach heard them in the inky blackness of his mind. 'Fire within? What's she talking about?' His thoughts drifted aimlessly through the sea of disconnected pain and silence in his head. "Zach! Please! You-AHHHHHH!!!" Neo-Venus' screams echoed away into darkness. Black Mars must have blasted her. 'Dammit! I have to help them! They saved me!' And so, following the warrior's instructions, Zach focused on the same mental flames he had used earlier to attack Black Mars. This time, they took the shape of the Crystal Orb that appeared before him. 'This time, please work!' He thought and both mentally and physically he reached out for the Orb. Just before his hand made contact with the Orb, a red transformation stick appeared, connecting to the Crystal Orb of Mars. Opening his eyes, Zach grinned at the shocked Black Mars and grabbed the stick, calling,

Mars Crystal Orb Power!

          Flames shot out of the Crystal Orb and surrounded Zach's body. The shadow of a huge dragon circled around behind him as the flames formed his suit. The suit itself was dark violet with red sleeve cuffs and a red collar. There was a red symbol of Mars on the front of the suit and the cape was dark violet with a red symbol of Mars on the back and the front of the cape was red. The dragon came closer and roared, blowing fire all around Zach once again, forming a pair of daggers that had mini Crystal Orbs of Mars on their hilts.

        All those present stared in awe at the flashy transformation. When the flames died down, a focused looking young warrior proudly glared at the evil soldier. Black Mars was totally outraged and kicked at the nearest bush, knocking it over. Sailors Neo-Venus and Neo-Moon were grinning ear to ear and the Knight of Venus sighed in relief. Now he wasn't the only guy on the team. "Sailor Black Mars! You have used your physic abilities for evil and for that you must be punished! I am the Knight of Mars! I fight for Truth and Justice and in the name of Mars, my fire will scourge your evil soul!" "Yeah! I knew he could do it!" Neo-Venus giggled and twirled around. Neo-Moon smiled at the new knight. "Go for it!" The Knight of Venus cried. Mars nodded. "Black Mars, prepare to fight fire with fire!"

Mars Magma Blaster!

          He held the twin blades above him until they glowed white-hot. Then he threw them into the ground and magma bubbled up from somewhere. Mars pointed at Black Mars and the magma shot up at her, encasing her in this burning ring of lava. Neo-Moon and the others ran over to Mars. "That was impressive." Neo-Moon said this admirably. Neo-Venus just smiled sweetly, almost the smile she used on guys she liked. Almost. The Knight of Venus slapped his new friend on the back and chuckled. "Well, with that flashy transformation and that attack, who needs us?" Mars blushed and smiled slightly but the tingling feeling that signified Black Mars' presence was still in his head. The magma had dried now and Black Mars was trapped inside, or so they thought. She had long since teleported away.

        The zombie students collapsed the same moment the tingling left Mars' head. Neo-Moon checked the nearest student. "They'll be fine. Just a little lost feeling I'm sure."  She said. Mars wiped his forehead. "This was an eventful first day here, I'll tell ya that much!" The Venus twins and Neo-Moon locked eyes and they de-transformed immediately. Mars stared first at Princess Lady Serenity, who was wearing her uniform for CTU, and then he stared at the twins who were also wearing uniforms. "I guess we all go here then?" The three nodded. Lee shook the newest member of the Team's hand. "Welcome, Zach Hino, to the Neo Team!" Lea giggled again and put up the 'V for Victory!' sign. "And then there were four!" Rini exclaimed laughing as well.

        So much later on that night, when the moon was rising and all the students were getting finished with dinner, Zach stopped Lea right outside the mess hall. "Um I wanted to thank you." Zach said shyly. Lea smiled and waved on her huge group of friends. "What are you talking about, Zach?" He fidgeted and kicked the ground slightly. "Before, back there in the maze, when you called out to me. Thanks. It saved my life." Lea's prefect smile faltered, but he didn't notice since he was staring at the ground. "Your welcome, I guess. Just doing what I should. Gotta go! See ya!" She smiled again, waved, and jogged away. Zach sighed and messed up his own hair. "Geez! I always screw that sorta thing up!" Secretly, he was starting to like that girl. And so, when the moon was glowing brightly in the sky, twin stars and a new red star joined it, shining down on Crystal Tokyo.