How she loathed the life she had been given. Everything in her memory seemed to torment her in some unearthly way and she could never escape those memories. Most girls her age would be thrilled to have the life she did, but being the daughter of the Princess of Earth's best friend wasn't exactly her idea of perfect.
Perfect would be not living in Crystal Tokyo and never having to hear about the Sailor Soldiers again. For some bizarre reason, she saw them differently from everyone else; she hated them with every bone in her body.
At the moment she was far from her reality, her mother, her grandfather, and her mom's friends. She was safely tucked away in CTU. As an insurance against freak accidents (like the fire that raged in the original CTU the week before) the engineers had been instructed to build two schools. One of the schools was built in the heart of Crystal Tokyo and the other on the outskirts of the city, in the Juuban District. So after the weird fire all the students were sent home for a week and then received letters instructing them to go the campus at Juuban. Most parents refused to let their children return, but some didn't mind. Those who didn't mind had been in Tokyo long enough to know that LOTS of weird things happen there.
It was a rainy day, her favorite kind of day, when everyone else seems to be moody and upset at the sight of the dark clouds and endless rain. She liked the gloomy atmosphere the rain provided, she liked the dark, brooding feeling it gave off. Her new favorite place was in front of the window she now stood in front of. It was the perfect window for watching the rain since it was above many of the other buildings. Yes, Tara liked the rain. It always seemed to soothe her, somehow. "Tara? You alright?" A concerned voice shattered her brooding peace into a thousand teeny little pieces. Turning her head away from the window, Tara saw Erin Meioh, the oldest girl in their dorm. She was only two years older than Tara, but her eyes seemed years and years older. Tara, unhappily, had to admit that she sort of liked Erin Meioh, just a little. Erin's dark red eyes narrowed sharply. "Tara? You in there?" Tara's deep, dark eyes locked with Erin's and made the taller girl shudder. "I'm fine." The whispery reply came quickly from the pale girl. Erin nodded hastily. "Good! Good! I was starting to worry for a sec! Well, time for Chemistry for me. See you at lunch?" During her ramblings, Erin had started to walk towards the door. Tara didn't reply vocally, she merely moved her hand in a dismissing nature.
Tara stood just outside the doors of the new CTU watching the rain pore down. The smell of wet pavement and soggy leaves from the nearby trees calmed her outraged emotions. She was so angry because of what that silly ditz Lea had said to Lee. She had told him about how much Tara secretly liked him. Tara was so mad she couldn't even say anything when he asked her about it three seconds later. All she did was turn and run away, to the spot she was standing in now. Closing her dark eyes, she sighed, trying to push all her anger and embarrassment away. Without a moment's hesitation she ran out into the rain letting the cold drops cleanse her. Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, Tara did something she rarely did; smile. It was a small, self-satisfied smile brought on by the ice cold of the raindrops soaking her uniform and plastering her hair to her head. As she stood there ignoring everything the world had to offer her, a shadow formed near her body. It quickly took the shape of man, and then the features came into focus. Lord Damien of Darkstar stood next to Tara, watching her with a strange look on his face. It was like a mix between jealousy, disgust, and hunger. Instead of his usual black outfit he was wearing normal, Earthling man clothes. He looked very normal, like he would blend in with all the other young men in Crystal Tokyo. "You know, you'll get a cold if you stay out here too long." He said softly to the girl beside him. Tara jumped and turned quickly. She narrowed her eyes at this stranger. "Who are you?" She asked in her quiet, cold voice. Damien smiled. "My name is Damien Tomoe and I'm your older brother, Tara." Tara blinked furiously, trying to knock the raindrops out of her eyes. He did bear strong resemblance to Drake, Tara's father, but that didn't prove anything. When he got no answer, Damien reached into his pocket and pulled out an old picture. Tara snatched it, glaring down at the yellowing photograph. Hotaru, Drake, a little boy with black hair, and an infant Tara were standing together in front of the house Tara grew up in. "I-" Tara started to deny the whole thing, claiming it was some scam. But Damien held up his hand with a defiant shake of his head. "I know this is all very astounding to you right now, but you have to believe me. Call our parents if you want to check it out." He produced a small phone (waterproof, of course) handing to his "little sister". Tara hastily dialed her home number and prayed that her parents would pick up. Suddenly, a black symbol flared into life on the phone, blasting her with a wave of dark energy. She didn't even get the chance to scream before she collapsed with a light thud and a splash. Damien grinned and his eyes went red again. A ring of black fire circled them before closing in, transporting them to the Darkstar dimension. Diana and Art had seen the whole thing from their spot in the common room of Rini's dorm. They both meowed loudly and dashed over to where all the Neo-Team had assembled. Rini sat, teary eyed, next to a remorseful looking Erin and everyone else was just watching them. "Guys! We have a major crisis!" Art called out, leaping onto Rylie's shoulder. Diana jumped into Rini's lap so she could scream in her face, "RINI! Snap out of it! Darkstar has kidnapped Tara Tomoe! We have to help her!" There was a shocked silence, and then all Hell broke loose. "What?" "Poor Tara!" "Damien! I'll get you!" and other outraged comments rang through the small room causing Marina, the only calm one, to cry, "Everyone, settle down! We need to shut up and think up a plan on how to get Tara back!" No one had ever heard Marina shout before so they did shut up, staring at the brainy girl. She cleared her throat loudly. "Now that I have your attention, I suggest we brainstorm on a clever attack plan." Erin looked the most concerned so she jumped into the conversation first. "Tara really isn't as strong as she tries to make everyone think she is. She's just a scared little girl, deep down." Her voice faded slightly. Rylie caught himself staring at her and looked quickly away. Nikki and CJ both looked like they would jump up, transform, and jump out the door quicker than you could say, "Ah snap, dawg!" Lea was wringing her hands nervously while Lee furrowed his brow in thought. Zach was clenching and unclenching his fists near the out of it looking Rini. She seemed to suddenly get what was going on because she jumped up. "Guys! I know a way to get to Darkstar's hideout!" Everyone looked at her, shocked that she was actually talking again. Rini rushed over to Marina and took her by the shoulders. "Marina! Do an energy-trace scan on the courtyard down there. We need a fix on what kind of dark energy Darkstar leaves behind." Marina nodded, pulling out her laptop and going to the window. She typed on it for a few minutes as the others watched in silence. Rini started pacing back and forth, back and forth. A loud beep signified that Marina's scan was done. She turned around slowly, her glasses reflecting the small screen of her computer. Rini hurried over and read the data over the genius's shoulder. She blinked, obviously confused. "Uh, what do those little symbols mean?" Marina sighed and shook her blue head. "Those are the energy readings, Rini. Here," She pointed to a specific area on the screen. "Is where it tells you what type of energy the scan read, this is where it tells you the amount of energy the trace-scan picked up, and this is-" Rini learned quickly and interrupted Marina's explanation. "Where it tells you where the person or thing that left the energy there is! Got it!" Rini turned to the others, a serious but confident look on her face. "Alright, guys! We have an innocent to save here, so lets get goin'!" They all nodded. "Right!" Rini pulled out her transformation pen and the others followed suit. Moon Crystal Orb Power! White Moon Crystal Orb Power! Mercury Crystal Orb Power! Mars Crystal Orb Power!Jupiter Crystal Orb Power!
Venus Crystal Orb Power!
Pluto Crystal Orb Power!
Uranus Crystal Orb Power!
Neptune Crystal Orb Power!
The entire Neo-Team stood transformed in the common room of one of the dorm rooms in CTU. "Now how are we supposed to get where ever it is that Darkstar is?" The Knight of Mars asked impatiently. Diana and Art were way ahead of him. "Everyone! Join hands and form a circle!" Diana called. Art joined in. "Focus all your energies on getting to where Darkstar is!" Each mythical hero lit up with their respective aura colors from where they stood in the circle. "SAILOR TELEPORT!" The two guardian cats cried just before the whoosh of gathering power sucked the air out of their lungs. When they recovered, the Neo-Team was gone.
They materialized in a dark chamber, the only light coming from behind what looked like a huge throne. It wasn't a bright or even steady light. There was a purple hue to it and it was constantly shifting. Silently they crouched defensively as Sailor Neo-Moon and the Knight of the Moon stepped in front of all of them. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Neo-Moon shook slightly as it echoed off into the dark infinity of the chamber. There was no response. The Knight of the Moon motioned the others forward and they all advanced. As they got within spitting distance the light flared up abruptly. A voice, vaguely familiar to most of them, spoke from within the light. "Why do you come to this place of most hollowed silence?" Neo-Pluto recognized the voice. "Tara!" Everyone else looked at the usually quiet warrior. Mars nodded fiercely to the Knight of Venus and they both prepared to say something. Neo-Mercury cut them off by making a shocked noise in her throat. She was looking through her VR visor. "What is it, Neo-Mercury?" Neo-Neptune asked. The blue haired girl shook her head and whispered. "Its not Tara up there, its Darkstar and he's is too strong for us." Neo-Moon smiled suddenly. "I don't think so! We have one thing he couldn't have in a million years! Friendship!" After a short pause, Neo-Moon's older brother smiled as well and put his hand out, palm down. "All for one?" One by one the others put their hands over his, Neo-Moon being the last and they all cried, "And one for ALL! NEO-TEAM!" "Hit him with everything we've got, team!" Neo-Moon screamed as she prepared her attack.
Pink Crystal Storm!
The pink crystals raced towards the glaring light and bounced off an invisible shield. "Huh?" The pink haired warrior squeaked, clearly confused. "Let us try!" The Venus twins stepped up (figuratively speaking).
Venus Crescent Beam Gattling!
Venus Mega Love Chain Mummify!
Orange and yellow energy beams rushed at Darkstar and, once again, hit the barrier. Mars, Neo-Mercury, and Neo-Jupiter all tried a combination attack next and even that didn't work. The Outer Team, obviously stronger, went at it longer, but to no avail. Laughter suddenly emanated out from the violently shifting purple light. "FOOLS! There is no way you can pierce this barrier! My baby sister is supplying it with her innocence and purity! WHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Neo-Moon fell to her knees. They were losing again. Why had she pushed them all to come with her here? She could've come by herself, been defeated by Darkstar, and left Rylie to carry on. No, that's not what she wanted. She wanted to help her friends, her parents, all the people on Earth, and poor, innocent Tara Tomoe. A tear raced down her cheek splashing onto the black floor silently. The Moon Knight saw this and knelt next to her, trying to console his heartbroken sister. The others were puzzled by what Darkstar had said. "Baby sister?" Neo-Mercury tilted her head thoughtfully as she said this. Mars was very frustrated with all of this. "This sucks! Why can't he just tell us what he's doing so we can at least TRY to stop him?" Darkstar reacted to the fiery warrior's outburst. "Knight of Mars, I shall answer your request. I am planning on using her," The light died down and they could see that Darkstar was sitting on the throne, Tara floating in a shimmering capsule of purple energy near his right arm. "To destroy all of you. You're all wondering why I called her my baby sister, correct? She is my little sister, well half-sister, really. You see her father and my father are the same, Lord Drake Darkstar, the first Lord Darkstar. Your parents fought him years ago. Well, he had a wife before he came to Earth and I am the result of that sour marriage. Tara on the other hand is the result of that awful Silver Crystal purifying my father and making him full madly in love with one Hotaru Tomoe." He paused to stare at Tara blankly. Neo-Pluto covered her mouth with her hand. "Tara has the power of Saturn and Darkstar running through her veins." She whispered this loud enough only for the Knight of the Moon to hear. His face darkened as he whispered this to the other Outer Team. The Inner Team seemed too slow to grasp that concept and were still trying to figure out why Hotaru would love an ex-villain. Meanwhile, Darkstar had conjured up a dark energy re-creation of a clock. Its hands were at 11:51 pm. "As I was saying, I plan on using my lovely little sister here to finally kill off all of you. Her birthday is tomorrow, you know and she'll be 16, the official age that she comes into her powers. And she has to decide what her powers with embody at exactly that point. If her heart and mind are pure, she's Sailor Neo-Saturn. If not, she is the new Sailor Darkstar, the Warrior of Darkness, the Lady of Darkstar!" He burst into hysterical laughter making all the Team flinch.
Why couldn't she move? Why did she feel cold all over? Who was laughing so damn much and what was so funny? Tara stumbled, blindly, through her own thoughts. Desperately trying to make sense of all the jumbled emotions and half formed ideas. Something was making her head feel funny, it was making her feel like she was losing herself to the darkness creeping along the edges of her half-crazed mind. Just then, she opened her eyes to see Damien standing beyond what looked like a shimmering wall of purple light. He was facing away from her, but she knew it was he; she could feel it. Beyond him, she spotted the Neo-Team. Whatever he was telling them about it was making them all act very surprised. One of them seemed to understand better than the others. She looked oddly like Erin Meioh, Tara's almost-half-semi-kinda-friend. Tara glanced quickly at the other members of the Neo-Team. All of them looked vaguely familiar, but the buy in yellow and orange with the kind, concerned gray-blue eyes made her heart skip a beat. It was Lee. Tara gasped. She knew who they all were at that instant. She blinked and tried to make sense of her situation. 'Trapped in some bubble of purple light with my big brother explaining something to the Neo-Team who are really students from CTU.' Tara felt a flutter of pride at herself because she actually made a train of thought that made sense! She turned her head and saw a black clock-thing floating on the other side of some sort of throne. Its hands read 11:55 pm. It was almost her 16th birthday. She congratulated herself on being able to remember her own birth date and then tried, once again, to figure out how and why she was where she was.
They were running out of time. It was already 11:55 and Tara was still in that bubble. The Moon Knight was explaining his plan to the other Outer Team members while the Inners ranted at Damien or cried uselessly all over the place, like Neo-Venus was doing. The Knight of Venus was staring past the dark lord and directly at Tara. He noticed she was awake and was looking around. Her eyes flicked from the clock to his eyes and for an instant he saw the little girl that Erin had spoken of before. Her eyes filled with tears as he smiled and winked at her. Secretly he she knew who they were and she was crying because she knew they'd try to save her and probably die doing so. If he could've, he would've told her it'd be okay and that they had fought tons of battles where it looked they weren't gonna make it. He would've wiped her tears away and smiled comfortingly. But all he could do was smile half-heartedly and wink at the girl floating up there in that bubble of purple light. She wasn't being affected by Darkstar's dark energy as long as he could keep her looking at him. But he'd have to be careful that Damien didn't see him doing this.
Meanwhile, the Moon Prince had just finished explaining his plan and the Outer Team moved to their positions in front of the other Neo-Team members. Neo-Moon looked a little surprised. "Uh, what's going on, Knight of the Moon?" She cried, grabbing her brother's arm as he moved to the front of the pack. He smiled warmly at his baby sister and took her face in his gloved hands. "Rini," He whispered gently. "Take care of them and of mom and dad, alright? You're going to make a beautiful Queen of the Moon someday." Neo-Moon didn't really want to let go of his arm as he moved away, releasing her face. She knew exactly what he had meant in saying all that; he was not going to be coming back from this last attack. She clenched her fists as he walked away, wishing she had the strength in her to go with him. But she just closed her eyes, letting her tears flow down her face.
"Alright, Outer Team! Its time to take it up to the next level!" The Knight of the Moon called as he tensed for battle in front of his team. Neo-Pluto leveled her staff at Damien, her eyes emotionless. Neo-Neptune got into position for her mother's attack and the Uranus Knight unsheathed the Space Sword. The Moon Knight looked back over his shoulder and nodded confidently at them. He didn't have to tell them they might not come back from this battle. He knew they knew full and well that fact. He closed his eyes and focused all the energy the Moon lent him into his sword. He pulled it out when he felt it reach its peak. "Ready?" He cried. "Ready!" The answer came. Rylie nodded again and prepared to rush at Darkstar.
Silver Saber Slash!
He cried, leading his team towards their foe. Attack phrases joined his own silver wave of light.
Neptune Deep Submerge!
Uranus World Shaking!
Pluto Deadly Scream!
The energy attacks formed into one large ball and joined with the silver wave from the Blade of Selenity. The whole thing rushed at Darkstar and a flicker of fear rushed over his pale face. Seconds before it hit him there was a flash of purple energy. When it faded, Tara was standing in front of her brother, arms outstretched, a look of absolute confusion on her face. The Outer Team froze. "Tara! What are you doing? Get out of the way! We don't have any time left!" Neo-Pluto screamed at her friend. Tara shook her head. "No! I won't let you hurt him! He may be your enemy, but he's my brother and I won't let anything happen to him!" Darkstar smiled from behind his defiant little sister. He summoned an orb of black energy, preparing to push it into her back. Only the Inner Team saw this from their position off to the right of the throne. Neo-Moon's eyes widened and the whole team looked at the clock. Seconds separated them from when Tara had to decide which side she needed to be on. If Damien shot her full of dark energy at that instant she'd be on his side. The Venus Knight knew what he had to do. "Tara! Don't forget me, k?" He cried as he summoned all his strength for an attack.
Tara looked at Lee, her face stained with tears already. She knew what he was doing, trying to keep her from dying or whatever by sacrificing himself. She couldn't take it anymore. "No!" She screamed as she threw herself off the throne dais and ran towards her crush that was glowing with orange light. The ball of black energy Damien had gotten ready for Tara flew through where she'd have been and blew up when it hit the invisible barrier. His outraged scream echoed through the chamber. Tara wasn't paying attention. She stopped in front of Lee, er, the Knight of Venus. Her teary eyes locked with his and he smiled weakly. The aura of orange had died down and he was just standing there. Tara blushed furiously. "Thought I lost ya for a second there, huh?" She shook her head, trying to make her tears go away. "I wasn't going anywhere…"
While all this was happening, Damien was growling under his breath in some ancient demon language. A dagger appeared in a shimmer of black light. He grabbed it and smiled. "I will have my revenge, Venus boy!" He cried. He tossed the dagger with all his energy at the Knight of Venus. Tons of things happened all at once then. Neo-Venus screamed in absolute terror, Neo-Moon gasped, the other Inners prepared to attack Damien, while the Outers were already on the dais doing just that, the Knight of Venus saw the dagger and shoved Tara out of its path, and then the dagger hit him. Tara couldn't scream or even move. She just watched the dagger hit him and throw him to the ground. The blade turned black and seemed to burn Lee. He cried out in pain. Tara closed her eyes, trying to escape everything that was happening. Lee screamed again as his transformation reversed itself and he lay there, in his CTU uniform, eyes closed tight, breathing slowing. Tara stood there as most of the Inner Team and all of the Outer Team attacked Damien with all they had and Neo-Venus ran over to them. She stood there like a pillar of silence in the chaos. In her mind, she was all alone in the rain like before Damien had come. The cold drops fell like tears on her, calming her again.
Neo-Venus fell to her knees by her twin, sobbing uncontrollably. Lee's eyes stayed squeezed shut as if the pain was the only thing keeping him alive. Neo-Moon couldn't drag her eyes away from Lee and Neo-Venus. Why hadn't he summoned the energy shield? He'd still be okay if he had. A cry for her pulled her attention to the battle. "Neo-Moon! Help!" It was Neo-Jupiter. She and all the others were floating in the air, being strangled by some dark hands of some sort. Darkstar was the source and was laughing as his eyes went red and her friends continued to be strangled. Neo-Moon knew she couldn't take him out by herself. She felt useless just standing there, staring as all this happened. Then a face flickered into her mind and she ran over to where Lee was laying. "Tara! Tara! We need you!" She grabbed the pale girl by her shoulders and shook her hard. Getting no response, she slapped the smaller girl across the face.
Tara felt the stinging pain and her eyes snapped open. She found herself staring at a teary Sailor Neo-Moon. "Please…" She whimpered before falling to her knees. Tara looked down, pitilessly, at the sobbing hero. Then her eyes fell on Lee and his twin sister. And then she looked over at where Darkstar was strangling the others. She saw Neo-Pluto's staff fall from her limp hands and the clank of it hitting the ground reached her ears louder then anything else. Something died in her then, her resistance to the power building within. Something about the way Neo-Pluto's staff hit the ground made her scream like her soul was being ripped out of her. In a way it was because the Crystal Orb of Saturn formed in front of her chest when she started to scream. It was dark purple with a black symbol of Saturn and black wings. Without hesitating, Tara reached out for it. A black transformation pen grew out from the Orb and she grabbed it and in her whispery voice, said,
Saturn Crystal Orb Power!
Black ribbons shot out of the orb and wrapping themselves around her like shadows, they formed her suit. Dark purple bows that were long in the back, a black collar with two black stripes that you could barely see, a black skirt, black knee high, lace up boots, and the Orb became the brooch. A dark purple choker with a black Saturn symbol on it shimmered into exsistence followed by a silver tiara with another black symbol on it. A shadow like thing appeared beside her and it snapped its red eyes open, handing her the Silence Glaive. She ended the transformation by slashing the thing away and posing like her mother before her.
"Sailor Neo-Saturn! The Soldier of Silence was re-awakened!" Neo-Saturn said quietly. She had her eyes closed but she snapped them open to stare coldly at Darkstar. "I have been born anew, Darkstar, to your dismay. I fight for Silence and the end to all Chaos." She suddenly leapt into the air, did a flip, and landed next to Darkstar. She smiled at his shocked expression as she gathered her energy for an attack.
Saturn Silent Fury!
Another shadow thing (like the one from her transformation) seemed to flow out of the Glaive. It screeched as Neo-Saturn reached out and grabbed it. She crushed it into a little ball before shoving it outwards. Then she brought the Glaive up in a slow arch. A trail of purple energy followed as she sliced the ball sending the pieces flying at Darkstar. He snickered as they circled around him. Then a flare of black signaled that the pieces were absorbing his power and sending it to Neo-Saturn. A drained Darkstar fell to his knees while all the Neo Team members who were floating fell down to the ground, the black hands gone. Neo-Saturn was glowing with a shifting black aura; her eyes flashed red before dying down back to their original dark violet.
The Moon Knight stared in awe at his new warrior. She had single handedly stopped Damien in his tracks by absorbing his energy. Without a word, the Silent One turned and walked slowly back to where Lee lay. She knelt on his other side and set her Glaive down. Then she took his hands from the sobbing Neo-Venus and a purple aura flashed into life around her. Along with the power of Saturn, she inherited her mother's healing ability. Lee's whole body started to shimmer with the purple light and the black dagger turned into dust, blowing off of his healed chest. He opened his eyes slowly, in time to see Neo-Saturn stand, her suit shimmering with that same purple light. There were a flash and Tara collapsed where Neo-Saturn had stood.
Later on that day, just as the sun was rising above Crystal Tokyo, Tara opened her eyes to see the whole Neo Team around her bed. She sat up quickly, confused. "Happy Birthday, Tara!" They all cried at the same time. Smiles and laughter echoed around her and, for once, she smiled too. She had finally found something in laugh she could count on, her new friends. That night the sky was overcast while the storm that had raged the day before, but through the clouds you could see a single star, glimmering near the moon.
