"You failed, Rhian, and you begged me for that mission." Aria showed no emotion as the beaten and burned Black Mars appeared before her. "I am truly sorry, Princess. But the new one is strong. Very strong." Aria took another sip of the deep red liquid she was drinking before throwing the glass at Rhian. "Fool! If you would've just taken his Crystal Orb before he could use it this wouldn't have happened! Lord Darkstar is not going to be happy with us now. We've lost too many!" Rhian flinched. "I could try again, Princess. Maybe I could trick them somehow." Aria's lips twisted into an evil grin. "That will not be necessary." She pointed at the terrified soldier and black energy shot at her. Rhian screamed in agony before a beam of black light swallowed her and she disappeared. Suddenly, Black Mercury appeared, her eyes filled with cold fury. "What did you do to my sister, Princess?" Aria's grin faded and she stood, gliding down the few stairs from her mock-throne to where Black Mercury was standing. "Aura, she is resting peacefully in a chamber of silence. I will release her when her wounds are fully healed." Aura, her mask of cold anger gone, nodded. "I should thank you for helping her then." "No need for thanks, warrior. You need only do all that I ask." Aura bowed low. "Of course, my princess. I will do anything you ask of me." Aria smiled and her eyes glimmered strangely. She produced a viewing orb that held the image of a pale, blue haired girl. "This is the next target. A descendent of Mercury, your rival planet. All you have to do is steal her Crystal Orb before those silly Neo-Scouts have the chance to save her." Aura looked deeply into the orb, emotionlessly. Then she smiled maliciously. "Simple. I shall not fail you, Princess." She disappeared in a flicker of dark blue light and Aria smiled again. An oily voice whispered out of the darkness. "Aria, is everything going according to plan?" Aria, her eyes going red, spoke in monotone. "Of course, Lord Darkstar. All is in place for your total domination." Simultaneously, they both began laughing, but it was the same voice that was laughing, not two.
She could tell she was going to hate her roommates. One was royalty, one was a preppy ditz, one was a silent gothic girl, one was a total punk and the last one was a tomboy to no end. Marina stared at her dorm mates coldly, with an analytical nature that was shocking. Her light blue hair fell just to her shoulders and she never bothered to do much with it. Her eyes were like ice, a light shade of blue that struck fear into every guy's heart. A pair of light, silver framed glasses sat in front of those eyes. Marina sat on her bed staring at her roommates, watching as they settled into their life here at CTU. The royal one, Princess Lady Serenity AKA Rini, and the cheerleader Lea Aino, sat chattering away on the princess' bed. They seemed to have already known each other prior to coming to the university. The Goth girl, with her pale skin, dark purple hair, and silent nature scared Marina and she was rarely scared of anything. Tara Tomoe, or the Goth girl, stood beside her bed setting a bunch of pictures of her and her family on the bedside table. Marina felt a pang of sorrow when she saw Tara setting those pictures there, a happy looking family. Well, only her parents looked happy, Tara looked like she always did, silent and slightly angry at the world. Marina had never felt happiness with her family situation. Her mother was a genius scientist who worked in the Palace and her father was always away on business somewhere.
As for the other two roommates, the punk and the tomboy, they were staring each other down from opposite sides of the room. Marina identified them as Nicole Kaioh AKA Nikki (the punk) and Kylie Kino (the tomboy). She could almost taste the tension between them. Sighing, she reached into her bag and pulled out a laptop. Typing something into it quickly, Marina pulled up a program that looked similar to a diary. She typed so fast that it caught the attention of her roommates, who flocked over to the quiet girl. All of them except Tara who simply sat on her bed and stared. Creepy. "Whatcha doing?" Lea Aino asked in her happy-go-lucky voice. Rini leaned closer to Marina's screen and tried to catch the words as they flew past. Nikki and Kylie merely watched with a disinterested air. Noticing her audience, Marina gasped and snapped the computer shut. All the spectators jumped at the sudden sound, except Tara. Marina jumped up and ran out of the room, carrying her laptop. Lea put her hands on her hips. "What'd we do?" Rini shrugged. "Who knows? She's like her mom, really withdrawn until there's a commonality between her and a group." Nikki glared at Kylie and Kylie threw her hands up in defeat. "I'm going to bed. See you in class tomorrow, dorm pals." She laughed quietly and slipped into her bed, the one next to Marina's. The others dispersed to their own beds, goodnights were said, and the lights went out.
Meanwhile, Marina was leaning against a wall a long way away from her room. She hated people staring at her and she hated nosey people. If all her roommates were nosey, she was going to hate them twice as much as she thought she was. Closing her eyes, she tried to envision her computer at home, her only friend. She had designed the CPU's personality (in the future I hope we can do this!) to be a mother figure since hers wasn't exactly reliable. She was so heartbroken when she was told she couldn't bring it or a backup disk. Even though she had her laptop, Bonnie, the CPU, had to be left at home. Marina missed her already. Opening her eyes, she slumped to the floor and opened the laptop. Her diary was still there and she looked over what she had so far.
Dear Diary, Today was the first day that I spent in Crystal Tokyo University, the newest and best high school in all Japan. I was accepted here for my intelligence, seeing as I am two grades ahead in all my studies. I met my history teacher Ms. Hawkins and it seems that History of the Sailor Soldiers is our topic this year. I for one do not believe in that sort of nonsense. Magical girls, indeed! I would like to meet one of these so-called "Sailor Soldiers" so I can prove them wrong. On another note, today went rather smoothly. Few people bothered to speak with me which is all the same since do not yearn for the company of people with a lower intelligence than mine. And that brings me to the source of my greatest discomfort here. My roommates. They all seem to be either stuck up, too happy with life, too unhappy with life, or all together too violent. I fear for my safety and my sanity in the company of such hooligans as the ones I have been stuck with this year. Classes start tomorrow and I That was where it stopped since her roommates had interrupted her. Marina finished the sentence and ended the entry quickly. Classes start tomorrow and I look forward to learning all I can at this new university. Until I next write, I bid you farewell. ~Marina Mizuno~ Closing the portable computer silently, Marina stood and looked around herself for the first time. She didn't know where she was and a spear of panic rushed up her spine. It was strictly against the rules to be out of your dorm room after lights out. If she was caught breaking the rules on the first night her mother and father would not be very happy. Not to mention how bad that would look on her college resume. Taking a deep breath and forcing herself not to freak, she opened her laptop once more. Accessing a map of the school from the CTU website, Marina quickly pinpointed her position. Then she mapped out a route to her room. Sighing and silently patting herself on the back for bringing the computer with her, Marina began following her plotted course. Roughly ten minutes later, much longer than it should take to get back to the room, Marina found herself at a dead end. Frustrated, she looked over the map carefully. This place wasn't on the map anywhere and she had no clue how to find out where she was. Chiding herself for whatever mistake she had made, she tried again to find this one corner in all the massive school. While she was checking again and again, the air grew steadily colder, until she could see her breath. Gasping Marina looked up in shock. 'When did it get so cold?' She thought shivering in her thin nightgown. The temperature kept dropping lower and lower until ice crystals were forming from the mist of her breath and on the walls. A quiet chuckle signaled the presence of another person in that freezing corner of nowhere. Marina looked at her screen and saw that it too was frozen. Under normal circumstances she would have been able to find out exactly what or who was chuckling out there (that computer program sound familiar?). Marina backed away into the corner as a figure appeared out of the icy mist that had suddenly formed. The mist swirled away from the shadowy figure to reveal a woman dressed as a Sailor Soldier with black bows and a dark blue skirt, collar, and boots. Her deep, dark blue hair was short and it seemed brighter in contrast to her red eyes. Her tiara was gold with an oddly shaped dark blue crystal on it. She smiled coldly. "Marina Mizuno, daughter of the almighty Dr. Amy Mizuno, correct?" The woman's voice was cold and bordered on totally emotionless. Marina wasn't as scared as any normal person would've been. She didn't scare all that easily. "Correct. I am she." The woman's smile broadened. "Then allow me to introduce myself. I am Sailor Black Mercury, the warrior of ice and total destruction. And you have something I want." Her arms had been crossed across her chest the whole time but she pointed them both, wrists together, at Marina. An eternal scientist, Marina was curious as a foggy sort of light started glowing around Black Mercury's palms. "Too bad you're cornered, huh?" Black Mercury said in mock-sadness before screaming, Black Mercury Ice Bubble FREEZE!Bubbles of black ice flew at Marina quicker than she could react. She screamed at the sub-zero freezing her body was undergoing courtesy of the black bubbles. Black Mercury chuckled. "Oh I'm going to enjoy this." She stepped towards the steadily freezing teen girl. The black ice was creeping up from where the bubbles had hit on her legs. "What is this? Some sort of nitrogen?" Marina asked, still curious. Black Mercury's face fell and she stopped in her tracks. Marina's arms were still free and she broke a piece of the ice off and inserted it into her laptop's disc drive. Black Mercury frustratedly grabbed the computer and smashed it against the iced wall. Calmly, Marina stared at the villain. "Now, why did you do that? I am certain whatever you could want from me would be on that computer. I put all of my research there." Black Mercury laughed as the ice reached the girl's torso and froze her arms at her sides. "Well, lets just say I want something within your very soul." Confusion is something Marina rarely experienced, but she was thoroughly confused, not to mention terrified. She fought the urge to scream as Black Mercury's ice grew ever closer to her face. It crawled up her throat, slowly stopping her ability to speak and then with painful slowness came to her face. Marina gasped and drew in as much air as she could before the black ice slid over her mouth and nose. Being frozen in an unknown form of ice is not very pleasant and Marina didn't like it one bit. Especially when it froze her eyes and she couldn't see. Silently, she bid farewell to the world and gave herself to the feeling of blissful ice. Mars Fire Ignite! A bolt of fire melted the ice around her and a pair of strong arms caught her. Still stunned, Marina merely laid there and listened. "Looks like the jig is up, Black Mercury!" A slightly familiar female voice called. "Yeah! You're way out of your league here!" Another familiar female voice chimed in. The voice that had called out that attack phrase before called, "Your ice is no match for my fire, you witch!" And the one who had caught her also shouted at Black Mercury. "We are sworn to protect the innocent life on Earth." Those last two voices were guys, if you didn't know. "So, in the name of the Moon, Sailor Neo-Moon will punish you!" "And in the name of Mars!" "And Venus!" The whole group said this and the hands released her. Marina blinked up at her saviors and almost fainted. They looked like a group of Sailor Soldiers from legend. She gasped as they prepared to attack. Black Mercury scoffed at them. "Ha! I'm so sure that you weaklings can even scratch me! Let's rumble!"
Black Mercury Shine Aqua Illusion!
The mysterious soldiers nodded to the one in red and dark violet and he launched another flame attack to counter and stop the oncoming ice.
Mars Celestial Fire Surround!
The rings of flame sizzled into the ice and it evaporated. Black Mercury laughed. "I grow tired of this, fools! Time to get what my companions failed to retrieve!" Her eyes went red and a black aura surrounded her. Again, Marina was less afraid than she should've been. She stood up and tried to get a closer look. The two male warriors stopped her. "Listen, we need to get out of here before she launches that attack!" Said the blond guy. Neo-Moon nodded before turning to Marina. "Listen Marina, run out of here as fast as you can. Your life is in danger." Marina shook her blue hair. "Not a chance. I have to see how she and you perform those marvelous magic tricks. Very interesting." She pushed her glasses farther up her nose. The blond girl in yellow and orange sighed. "Look, you've gotta go!" Mars interjected. "Wait! Remember what happened the last time one of these goons attacked us? I got my powers! Maybe it'll work again." Neo-Moon frowned and turned to the only non-warrior. "Marina, the coming process will be very painful but it may benefit the future of the planet. Are you willing to accept this?" Marina pondered for a moment and nodded. "Anything for science!" They all nodded. "Brace yourself." Said the blond guy. Neo-Moon motioned her forward, in front of all of them. She heard a whoosh as they summoned a shield of energy around themselves only. Black Mercury smile and screamed,
Darkstar Crystal Knife!
Five beams of black energy tore at them. Four were deflected off the shield, but the one meant for Marina hit her forcefully. A silent scream rushed out of her as it pierced her chest, sliding through her slowly. In the wake of the beam, a blue orb with white wings and a light blue symbol of Mercury was forming. Marina felt a strange peace float into her mind and she surrendered to the darkness.
The Neo-Team dropped the shield and ran to Marina. "Marina! You have to reach out for the blue light!" Neo-Moon called to her. Neo-Venus grimaced. "Please, Marina! Fight it!" Mars looked at her sadly. "You're too young to die! Focus!" The Knight of Venus nodded and touched her shoulder gently. "Fight it, Marina, fight." Their comments and Venus' light touch pulled Marina from her blissful slumber in the darkness of her mind. The blue light they spoke of was glimmering just within her sight. '…Anything for science? Here it goes!' She thought as she pushed towards the light. Her physical hand reached out for the Crystal Orb and before they touched a light blue transformation stick appeared. Marina opened her eyes and grabbed the stick, thrust it into the air, and called,
Mercury Crystal Orb Power!
Icy looking light blue ribbons shot out of the orb and wrapped around Marina. They formed her bodysuit, blue bows, light blue skirt and collar, her gloves, her normal blue choker with a light blue symbol of Mercury, her light blue boots with regular blue tops, and lastly her gold tiara with another light blue symbol of Mercury. The Crystal Orb came to rest as her brooch. The transformation ended when she posed just like her mother used to. Neo-Venus clapped and Neo-Moon smiled. Mars and Venus locked eyes and smiled, too. Black Mercury was the only one who seemed unhappy about Marina's ascension to Neo-Scout. She was fuming silently, glaring at the new Neo-Soldier. Marina stared down at herself and looked to her fellow warriors knowingly. She whipped back around to face Black Mercury. "I am Sailor Neo-Mercury, champion of Love and Justice! In the name of Mercury, planet of wisdom, I'll punish you for your evil deeds here!" The evil soldier kept staring silently. Neo-Mercury stared back, not afraid of making eye contact for once. She smiled coldly at her evil counterpart. "Weak." She breathed the word into the icy air and Black Mercury's eyes narrowed. "You call this weak?"
Black Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!
Neo-Mercury leapt easily out of its path and the others followed suit. "Yes, I call that weak. I call this stronger than your menial mind can even begin to comprehend!"
Mercury Polar Ice Crystals!
Spears of ice formed above her outstretched hands. She glared at her opponent and they took off at her. Black Mercury screamed as they ripped into her, wounding her terribly. "Whoo hoo! YAY NEO-MERCURY!" Neo-Venus and Neo-Moon called. Venus and Mars laughed at their fallen foe. Black Mercury stood up slowly and smiled lopsidedly. "This isn't over! I'll come back for you!" And she was gone in a glimmer of dark blue. Neo-Mercury was staring at her hands trying to figure out where the ice had come from. She decided to study this later because her new comrades suddenly surrounded her. "Welcome to the team, Marina, er, Sailor Neo-Mercury!" Neo-Venus hugged her, something Marina hated. Then the four of them detransformed and Marina was totally shocked to see two of her roommates and two rather cute guys all in their pajamas! "Wha-What?" Rini grinned from ear to ear. "I guess we have a commonality now and we can be really good friends!" Lea nodded energetically. Zach smiled shyly. "I guess we should be going then." Lee caught him staring at Marina, Lea, and Rini like a hungry wolf. He smiled and smacked his friend on the back of the head. "Yeah! Sleep time for us aspiring students!" They all started back to their dorms and the mysterious dead end disappeared into a sold wall. And so, an icy star joined the other stars and the moon in the sky later that night.
