UPDATE 19/1/2003: Okay, I have no idea why the background has gone yellow. I'll be contacting the fanfiction.net admins soon to see if they know how to solve this problem. If you know how to correct this problem, please don't hesitate to email me. Thanks for reading.

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: You know the drill. I don't own anything on page 1.

Chapter XIV: Taken.

"Malachite. I should've known." Without hesitation the Mars Knight began to run over to the limp body of Raye on the floor, but was stopped as he ran head-first into a force field. Clutching his face as he fell to the floor, he dragged himself back up and started to scan the barrier as the general laughed victoriously.
"Fool. This is a solid force field of dark energy. Your fire powers alone can't break it down. Who's going to save your precious lady now?" A pure feeling of frustration came over the Mars Knight as he examined the tables flashing past in his sunglasses.
"I'm not going to let you take Raye! Not ever! I'd rather die than let her be taken by the likes of you!" He began to shake with rage as Malachite bent down and ran his hand down Raye's face.
"I'm afraid you don't have the luxury of a choice. It's a shame you have to lose such a beautiful young lady, but we require her services and her energy." The Mars Knight slowly clasped his hands together into a gun shape.
"You ain't going nowhere. MARS FIRE-"
"Now now, don't do anything stupid. This building is at least eighty percent wood, so it'll go up in smoke in seconds." Realising the situation, he reluctantly lowered his hands. "That's a good boy. Feel free to call your other Sailor Scout friends, but we'll be gone long before they arrive."

The general took out two crystal pyramids from his pocket as well as a small palmtop computer and a knife from his belt before laying Raye out flat on her back. He placed one of the pyramids atop her forehead and used his knife to cut down the centre of her dress from the neck to the bottom of the rib cage before folding the left half over. The Mars Knight just stood, horrified at Malachite's actions.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Show some respect for her, you pervert!"
"This is neccessary for the transportation process." The Mars Knight could not take no more. He grabbed his DataPad and opened the communicator program.
"Calling all Scouts! Get the hell over to the Hiwaka shrine as soon as possible! We've got a real big situation here!" The Mars Knight looked back up to see Malachite placing the second pyramid on her chest, directly above her heart, while tapping his palmtop pc.
"Let's see what we got here. Energy reading... Wow, look's like I've got more than I bargained for here. A first quartile of positive two-two-five, I do believe she is someone from the Moon Kingdom. Queen Beryl shall be most pleased." The Mars Knight slowly walked towards the white-haired general, determined to break through the dark force field.

"This is the last warning I'm giving you! Release her now or I shall show no mercy the next time we meet!" The Mars Knight held his hand out in front of him as he made contact with the force field. He squinted in agony as the dark energy surged through his nerves, but still he persevered. However, it was too late. Malachite and Raye disappeared out of site as the Mars Knight fell to his knees, the force field of dark energy draining his own energy.
"Raye... no..."

The Mars Knight spent the next ten minutes sprawled on the floor, unable to get up from the capture of his girlfriend. All he could think about was how this could have happened, how he was unable to find that beacon in time and how he would show nothing but hatred to Malachite the next time their paths crossed. He was also too weak to get up, the dark force field having drained most of his energy. All he could do was wait for the others.
"Mars Knight! What's happened?" The Mars Knight slowly lifted his head to see Sailor Moon kneeling at his side.
"He... took her... Raye..."
"Who? Who took Raye?" Sailor Moon sounded extremely worried.
"Malachite..." With a great look of anxiety and pain, Sailor Moon looked back at the other inner scouts and Tuxedo Mask.
"Someone get a chair and help me get him up!" Sailor Venus rushed to the kitchen to grab a chair as Tuxedo Mask stepped forward to help lift the Mars Knight to his feet.
"Got... to find it..."
"Find what? What are you looking for?" The Mars Knight broke free of his support and limped his way towards the great fire in the centre of the room, the force field no longer in his way. Sailor Moon was about to step forward and try and stop him, but felt Tuxedo Mask's hand come down on her shoulder.
"Leave him. I think he knows something." Sailor Moon looked back at Tuxedo Mask with great worry as the limping Mars Knight began to scan the fire.

"Gotcha..." The Mars Knight put his DataPad back in his pocket before taking a deep breath. "Infra-Red vision activate..." he said slowly as his sunglasses turned from black to red. He took another deep breath as he slowly reached into the raging fire.
"What's he doing?!" Sailor Venus, a wooden chair in her hands, looked at the Mars Knight in total shock.
"He's either increadibly brave or increadibly stupid! That thing's no ordinary fire!" Sailor Jupiter couldn't believe what he was doing. Even though the Mars Knight was used to fire, everyone could see his agony clearly etched on his face. It was nearly a whole thirty seconds before he managed to pull his hand from the fire, a fairly large crystal pyramid in his severly burned hand.
"Mars!" Sailor Moon quickly rushed over and carefully took the pyramid from his hand. There seemed to be a slight red aurora coming from the pyramid as she looked down at his scorched and blistered red hand. "Let me help you. I think I can heal that burn, but I haven't tried this on a non-youma before though." As she closed her eyes a small golden crescent wand appeared in her hand, which she used to make a circle of golden dust around her. "MOON HEALING ACTIVATION!!!"

A stream of golden dust covered the Mars Knight's hand before falling to the ground after a few moments. Miraculously it had worked, his hand back to its regular self.
"Thank you..." He immediately leant forward and hugged her before collapsing to the ground once more, still weakened by the dark force field. Tuxedo Mask once more rushed to his side, helping him back up and sitting him down on the chair. Briefly looking back at the pyramid in his girlfriend's hands, Tuxedo Mask started to ask questions, hoping to shine a bit of light on the situation.
"What happened before she was taken? Did you have any warning that this was going to happen?" The Mars Knight was struggling to keep his eyes open, the loss of energy making him extremely tired.
"About ten minutes..." He took long pauses between his sentances. "I hacked into the Negaverse mainframe... about half an hour ago... I uncovered all their plans..." He loaded up the information about the beacons before handing the DataPad to Tuxedo Mask.
"This is very bad news. The war's already begun..." The Mars Knight briefly opened his eyes to see Sailor Moon still holding the crystal pyramid.
"Sailor Moon... Put it down... That's a dark kingdom portal beacon..." Sailor Moon instantly followed his advice, carefully placing the pyramid on the floor. Sailor Venus quickly cut in.
"So do we send this thing down to central to get it analysed?"
"No... It's still active... They'll discover central... if you bring that there.... They'll teleport directly there..." The three Scouts gathered round the pyramid in great confusion.

"So what do we do with it?" Sailor Jupiter leant forward took a closer of the mysterious object.
"We can't do anything until Luna gets here. She said she had to inform central with the latest news about fifteen minutes before we were called." With a great air of sadness, Sailor Moon looked back into the pyramid, its eerie red glow beginning to fade. "Hold in there, Mars... For our sake and his sake..."

Int. Interrigation Room I, Negaverse command centre - October 23rd 2002, 11:00 pm.

"Unh..." It had been nearly an hour since her capture, and Raye was beginning to come back around. As she slowly opened her eyes, she found that her vision was a little blurry, but she knew instantly that she was no longer in the temple. "Where am I?..." Her head was pounding as she tried to figure out where she was. Her arms were stretched out to either side and the surface she was lying on felt increadibly hard. As she tried to put her hand over her head, she soon discovered that she was chained to the surface.

"What the hell?..." Realising her situation, she tugged at her restraints to try and break free, but in her civilian form she was increadibly weak.
"Hello Raye..." Raye tried her best to look around and find where the echoing voice was coming from. However, she instantly knew who it was and where she was being held.
"Malachite! Where are you, you bastard!" Slowly she saw Malachite's upside-down head lean over hers.
"Now that's no way to address someone more superior than you, Raye Hino. Or should I say Sailor Mars?" Fear filled the raven-haired senshi's heart as an evil grin appeared on the general's face.
"The hell?... How did you know?!" Malachite smoothly moved towards her side as he held the two small pyramids and palmtop computer in front of her face.
"Isn't modern technology wonderful?" The fear was obvious in Raye's eyes, but she knew she had to be tough.
"What're you going to do with me?" Malachite started to walk around the table, hands behind his back, as he began to explain.

"You're being detained at her majesty Queen Beryl's pleasure, so she and Wiseman will decide your fate. Any number of things can happen. If you're lucky they'll just execute you right here, right now. You could be converted to our side and wage your own war on your fellow Sailor Scouts and that ultra-pathetic boyfriend of yours. You could be tortured for information before being executed, or maybe they've got a plan of their own. Either way, these are the final few weeks, maybe months if you're lucky, of your life." Malachite slowly lowered his face closer to hers as she began to squirm. "It's such a shame that something so beautiful has to go to waste." Powerless to do anything, Raye shook her head in horror and extreme fear as Malachite kissed her on the lips. After a few moments, Malachite moved his head away from the petrified Raye, tears rolling down her face as she screamed out for help, her dignity torn away from her.
"You... you animal!!!" Malachite began to laugh, mocking Raye's overwhelming sense of fear.
"Aren't I just?" Unable to take being humiliated and violated any further, Raye spat in the general's face. Still smiling, the general slowly wiped away her saliva from his right cheek. "Oh believe me, the worst is yet to come..." Malachite turned around and left the room, leaving Raye alone in her own fears.

Int. Hiwaka Shrine - October 23rd 2002, 11:40 pm.

"Well this is a mystery..." Luna closely examined the large pyramid, but seemed very puzzled. "No circuitry, no components, it's just a solid pyramid of a substance not even Mars' computer can recognise. We can't even send it down to Central for obvious security reasons. We know absolutely nothing."
"Are you certain that there's absolutely nothing you can do? I mean, is there any way of reaching Raye?" Sailor Moon was fixated on the crystal pyramid as Sailor Jupiter paced back and forward.
"Nothing at all. The best we can hope for is that she's either been brainwashed and is still in good shape, or that somehow she can miraculously escape. It looks bleak either way." The Mars Knight, still holding his head in his hands, sat up to ask a question.

"So, they're gonna make her work on their side, and she's gonna fight us?" The wise old black cat looked back at him in sorrow, understanding his pain.
"Maybe. It's already happened to us twice before when Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon's daughter were brainwashed by the dark forces. The Dark Kingdom had turned them against us and had ordered them to attack us on several occasions. It'll probably be inevitable that Sailor Mars will attack us, which is why we need you." The Mars Knight slowly rolled his eyes towards the cat in saddened interest.
"Where do I fit in with this?"
"On the Day of Destiny six years when we managed to bring Tuxedo Mask back onto our side, the key to ridding him of the evil that Beryl had filled him with was his eternal love Sailor Moon. The same can be said for her daughter Rini when she was taken by Wiseman. If we're to get her back, we have to try and find her true love, which I'm seriously hoping is you, since she has no family that we know of in the future." The Mars Knight leant forward in shock at Luna's speech.
"Did you just say 'True Love'? I mean, could our relationship be more that just an average crush?"
"I don't know. Recently the timeline has been changing at such an increadable rate because of this new assault by the Negaverse. I won't be able to tell you anything until this crisis dies down."

A few anxious moments of silence filled the room as the capture of their freind hit home. Unable to cope, Sailor Venus quickly found a question to ask.
"So what's the plan? What do we do with this thing?"
"As I said, I don't know what it is nor can we send it down to Central, but Artemis is back at Central browsing through the files the Mars Knight managed to steal. He's already told me that some of the files contain very delicate information about the Dark Kingdom, so it shouldn't be too long until he finds a lead. Until then, we're going to have to have two scouts guarding this at a time." The cat looked back towards the group. "Any voulenteers to stay here until six am?" The Mars Knight and Sailor Venus slowly raised their hands.

"I'll stay. I've got a serious score to settle with Malachite if he dares to turn up here again." As he slowly stood up and limped towards the pyramid, Sailor Jupiter took the opportunity to take another dig at him.
"Do you really think you can stand up to him in that state? I've seen crushed bugs in better shape!" The Mars Knight quickly turned around to confront the spiteful Scout.
"I'm more than capable. I believe it'll take more than sly insults alone to win this war." Fuming with rage, Sailor Jupiter was about to walk right up to the Mars Knight before Sailor Venus stood between them.
"Hey, calm down you two. Jupiter, just let him work this shift if he wants to. Just let him be. He is Raye's boyfriend after all." Sailor Jupiter looked extremely close to exploding.
"I don't care if he's the Emperor of Japan! He's weak! He wouldn't last five minutes if he was alone!"

"Neither would you." The voice of Tuxedo Mask echoed behind Sailor Jupiter with a serious undertone. "Even though I was posessed by the evil forces at the time, I still clearly remember that time six years ago when I had managed to corner you on your own. You showed an extreme look of fear in your eyes. You were scared of me." Sailor Jupiter began to tremble slightly. "If Mercury hadn't have turned up, my posessed self probably would have done some serious harm to you. Next time you pick on someone because of their weakness, just remember your own moments of weakness." Having proven his point to Sailor Jupiter, he turned to face the others. "Anyway, Luna has the final say in this. Do you think he's fit enough to stand guard?"
"If he claims he is, I have no objections. If there are any problems, he's got Sailor Venus with him to help defend the temple." The hot-headded Sailor Jupiter shook her head in disgust as Luna's decision.
"What?! I've heard enough! I'm outta here! See you at six!" Seriously offended, Sailor Jupiter stormed out of the temple as Sailor Moon and Luna shook their heads in disappointment.

"Just ignore her, Mars. She just has no idea about what you're really like. We'll come back for you two at six with the latest information. If anything major comes up before then, we'll contact one of you on your communicator. Artemis has almost configured the medium range scanners, so we'll be monitoring the crystal's activity from Central. If anyone teleports here using that crystal, you must contact us immediately for backup. This is a top priority situation. Do you both understand?" The Mars Knight stood by Sailor Venus' side as the cat explained.
"Yes. We understand." replied the two senshi in unison.

"Good. I shall explain the situation to the outers in the morning. Sailor Moon and Sailor Jupiter will take over from you at six am sharp, providing we still can't safely analyse or deactivate it. Good night and good luck." Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask transformed back into their civilian selves as Luna lept up into Serena's arms.
"Yeah, goodnight guys. See ya in the morning. I'll see if I can talk some sense into Lita before then."

Int. "The War Room", Negaverse command centre - October 24th 2002, Midnight.

An emergency meeting had been called by Malachite that night to decide the fate of the captured Mars senshi. In the War Room the three main parties and their generals had gathered around the large discussion table in the darkened room. At one end sat Queen Beryl clad in her usual violet dress, her general Malachite at her side, at the other the cloaked demonic figure of Wiseman and the crystal-white Prince Diamond. Professor Tomoe, dressed in his usual lab attire, sat directly in the middle of the the two. Malachite slowly stood up to address everyone else as the doors to the War Room slammed shut.

"I'd like to thank everyone here for attending this emergency meeting which I shall chair on this occasion. Within the past hour-and-a-half an important development in our war against the Moon Kingdom has occured. Thanks to the prototype of Professor Tomoe's transporter and some extreme luck we managed to capture Sailor Mars at twenty-two thirty hours on October 23rd 2002. I have called this meeting to discuss what we should do with our prisoner to assist in our war against the Moon Kingdom.

"As you know, several options are available at this present moment of time. I would like to open this discussion by expressing my personal preference. Sailor Mars, as you know, can be a very stubborn personality, probably the most stubborn out of the six inner Sailor Scouts. It is for this reason that I personally believe that torture is not a very efficient method of using her to our advantage, since extracting information from her would be, as you would say, like drawing blood from a stone.

"A method which has proved very popular in the past is brainwashing. This has brought us a considerable amount of success in the past for all of us. For myself and Queen Beryl, we managed to successfully brainwash Prince Endymon, who proved a valuble ally until the very final battle. I do believe Wiseman had a shorter, but just as successful spell when he managed to turn Sailor Chibi-Moon against her mother. Finally, we have proof of brainwashing in action in this very room. Professor Tomoe five years ago had been brainwashed into believing that he was on the side of the Moon Kingdom until a few weeks ago, when Negaverse America's scientists successfully managed to bring him back to our side. In my personal opinion this is one of the best and most reliable ways to fight against the Moon Kigdom." Wiseman raised his hand as he asked a question to the general.

"Yes, but hasn't brainwashing always lead to our defeat in the end? We've come very close with those sub-tactics, but it just isn't enough." Malachite took a deep breath as he continued to explain his views.
"That leads me onto my view on why I believe brainwashing Sailor Mars would be an ideal candidate for brainwashing. In the past, a brainwashed person has been brought back to their own side either by their true love or someone from their direct family. According to my analysis of the future, Sailor Mars has no true love, although the timeline is something subject to constant change. She definately has no immediate surviving family from the future or Silver Millenium, and she has only known the Mars Knight for just over a month, so I wouldn't exactly class him as her true love. That's just my belief though. If anyone wishes to express their own views or ideas, feel free to do so."

Malachite sat down to a few claps as Professor Tomoe stood up to voice his views.
"I personally agree with Malachite with that statement. From what I've seen, brainwashing seems like the most effective method at this present moment of time. However, on a slightly off-topic note, if we are to take any action we must do it within twelve hours. As you well know, earlier tonight our mainframe was hacked from Earth and our most up-to-date versions of our plans were stolen. However, luckily the last backup session had taken place just five hours earlier, so very little was lost." The Professor paused as he picked up a crystal pyramid identical to the one the Mars Knight pulled out of the fire and placed it on the table.

"However, amongst those plans were the locations of the five portal beacons. The one at the Hiwaka shrine has alredy been uncovered and is under surveilance by Moon Kingdom Central. Since it is so late at night I believe that the Scouts won't start searching for the other four until sunrise in Japan. I suggest we use this opportunity to use our new comrade by ordering her to move the undisclosed portal beacons to new locations. That is, however, should you choose to take that option. If you do, I can probably make her a fully-pledged Death Scout fighter and bring her up to full health within ninety minutes." The Professor sat back down smiling as Malachite spoke once more.

"Thank you Professor Tomoe. Anything else anyone want to say?" All the other simply shook their heads. "No? Okay. This house believes that Sailor Mars should be brainwashed and used to move the four portal beacons as well as fight the Moon Kingdom. All in favour say 'I.'"
"I." the four other leaders replied in unison.
"All against?" The room fell silent. "Okay, it's settled then. Professor, you've got ninety minutes to completely remove any trace of the Moon Kingdom from her head. Your Majesty and Wiseman, myself and Prince Diamond shall deliver reports to you both on the hour for the next twelve hours." The evil Queen stood up to address her general.
"Thank you. Your hard work is greatly appreciated."

Int. Hiwaka shrine - October 24th 2002, 4:10 am.

It had been over four hours since the Mars Knight and Sailor Venus had taken the role of guarding the portal beacon, and both were sitting down either side of it with warm drinks in their hands, Sailor Venus with a coffee and the Mars Knight with a traditional British cup of tea. Both seemed extremely anxious, knowing that a Dark Kingdom fighter could emerge at any second, but they knew they had to keep calm.

"Sailor Venus?" The blonde looked up from her coffee and turned in the Mars Knight's direction.
"Yes?"
"There's some things I've always wanted to ask you, things about your days in London as Sailor V." A small smile emerged on her face at the mention of her former, more famous identity.
"Fire away."
"You were famous in England in 1996, about the same time when I first discovered that I was the Mars Knight. How did it feel when you found out that there was more Moon Kingdom fighters in England?" Sailor Venus gave a small laugh as the Mars Knight smiled back at her.
"I knew from the start that the Knights existed in England. I was only there to train my abilities since Japan had such a low crime rate. When I heard the Knights and the Sailor Scouts were awakening, I immediately flew back to Tokyo to join my fellow Scouts. I knew there was going to be war on four fronts, and I knew that the Knights would be more than capable to defend themselves and England." The mention of the other Knights brought an infamous memory to the Mars Knight's head.

"Speaking of the Knights," The Mars Knight loaded up a picture of the Mercury Knight on his DataPad before handing it to Sailor Venus. "Do you think this guy's cute?"
"Wow. What a hunk..." exclaimed the blonde senshi as the Mars Knight smirked.
"That's the Mercury Knight. I can't tell you his civvy name because of this portal thing, but he was my best mate at school. You won't believe the crush he had on you! I think he still likes you now as well. If you're thinking of going back to England someday, I'll arrange you two a date if you want." Giggling in embarassment, Sailor Venus handed the DataPad back to the Mars knight.
"Okay then, I'm game. I've got nothing going for me here apart from university and my friends. The only guy I ever loved left to make things up with his ex in South Africa two years ago." With sudden interest, the Mars Knight looked back at the Venus senshi.

"Really? That must've been a bit of a blow for you." Sighing and looking down towards the floor, Sailor Venus searched for a reply.
"Yeah. His name was Andrew. His father used to own the crown arcade in the Juuban district just north of here, but he was bought out two years ago. His father went to America while he went to South Africa. His ex-girlfriend's name was Rita, she left about five years ago for South Africa. I've gotten over him a long time ago, but there's one regret I've always had since."
"What's that?" A small, slightly pained smile appeared on her face.
"I never told him my feelings for him. I always thought that he'd turn me down, even when Rita had left for South Africa. I tried many times to get him on his own to tell him, but even then I didn't have the courage. For that I paid the price." She was trying her best to keep herself smiling, but it was obvious she was struggling with her emotions. The Mars Knight knew he had to try and shift her focus off Andrew, but the first thing that popped to his head was one of his most painful memories.

"I know the feeling exactly. Back in my first year in sixth form, when I was seventeeen, I had a major crush on someone who was in most of my classes. This had gone on for several months, and when I finally found out that she had no boyfriend, I tried to get her on her own to ask her out. It wasn't easy though, she had two best friends who were the two school gossip-mongers. That lunchtime I did get her on her own, and was about to ask her out until her two friends appeared. When they did, I bottled out, not wanting to be the victim of a rumour mill. I left, and asked myself for the rest of the day why I didn't have the strength to ask her out." His deep breaths began to tremble as Sailor Venus leaned in his direction. "That was the final chance I ever got to ask her out. That night she was killed when her dad's car collided with a stolen car going at sixty miles an hour."

"My god! How awful!" The Mars Knight paused to take another very deep breath as he closed his eyes, visibly shaking.
"I know. The entire lower sixth form of Southampton Secondary School went to her funeral a week later. February 24th, what would've been her seventeenth birthday. That was honestly the most heart-wreneching, emotional two-and-a-half hours I've ever had in my life. Just seeing her there, white as a sheet and stone-cold. It was just something I would have never ever anticipated. It was-" The Mars Knight was stopped when he felt something touch his lips, something that felt like silk. As he opened his eyes, he saw that it was a finger inside a white glove. The other hand, also wearing a white glove, covered his eyes as finger was replaced by a pair of lips.

Unable to see, he ran his hand down her back to check her hair length, which went down to below the base of her back, the place where the Mars Knight stopped and moved hand away, not going any further for obvious reasons. Long hair? Surely it couldn't be Sailor Venus, could it? With the mystery woman still kissing him, he moved his hand up to the back of her head to check if there was a large bow tied into her hair. He moved his hand along the top of her head, but there was nothing. No bow. Upon realising this, he grabbed the woman's hand and pulled it away from his sunglasses, realising who the only other straight senshi with long, straight hair could be. As he saw the woman's face a large smile of relief emerged on his face.

"Oh my goodness! Is it really you?"

End of Chapter 14