Okay, the chapters from here on in are very long. Actually, this was
supposed to be Chapter 3. Oh well.
Chapter 3
Jedin and Uther knelt on a cold black marble floor, heads bowed. Columns of the same black marble were everywhere in no particular order, and strange, hideous black statues reared out of the sea of black, faces grotesque. The light was dim, made only by candelabras lining on certain columns here and there. A ghostly mist trailed about the floor. A small, wrinkly yellow man with a long staff walked out in front of the altar before Jedin and Uther. His staff was as black as the floors and columns with a long gray-green pendant at the end The man himself was ugly and wrinkly with dark eyes like tunnels that could look into your soul. His high-pitched voice rang out in the great hall and vanished into the endless depths of the ceiling. "Well, boys." He cackled. "How much energy did we bring in today, hmm?" Wordlessly Uther passed to the man a small crystal ball filled with a crystalline ball of light. It swam about in the ball, swirling like something alive. The little man eyed it. "Good, good. Not as much as we usually get our first day, but still acceptable." He chuckled and put the ball on a small pedestal to the side of the altar. "Master Ithengil." Uther said head still bowed. "On this planet there is trouble." "Trouble?" Ithengil asked, turning back to him. "What trouble?" "Seven scouts." Jedin answered, barely concealing subordination in his voice. "Seven Senshi. And they hide their powers well, we could barely feel them." "It just means they are unusually weak." Ithengil said comfortably, stretching wrinkled yellow arms. "Or unusually strong, to be able to hide like that." Uther said seriously. "Four of them issued attacks, and the strongest, their leader-she cut both of us. They have sacred powers, High Priest." The High Priest pursed his lips and said nothing. Jedin broke in with disgust. "Of course, they were just pretty young girls, sir. Obviously they pose no threat, what with their long legs and smooth hair! A warrior must be ugly and fierce, of course!" Ithengil waved his hand at Jedin. Jedin's mouth snapped shut. "What were their appearances like?" Ithengil asked sharply to Uther. "Quickly! Tell me!" "Uh-" Uther said, surprised. "Well, the leader one, she had on a golden skirt and top thing, and had gloves with gold lining. Yellow hair, boots- we think they might have been the Jewel Sen-" Ithengil hit Uther over the head with his staff. Uther cried out as bugs began streaming out of his mouth. He spat them out again and again; huge, ugly black beetles covered the floor. "Idiots!" Ithengil hissed. "To not be able to recognize Jewel Senshi when you see their leader!" "But-" Uther coughed out another bug. "I was-blah!-just about to say that!" Ithengil took no notice of him. "I must consult the Lady on this." He announced, moving towards the altar. "You two-oh, here." He impatiently waved his hand. Uther frantically wiped his tongue as a last beetle popped out, and Jedin, who had been turning purple, gasped for air. "You two check the files. Get Katrina to help you." A low, smooth voice came out of the darkness near a pillar. "Perhaps you should have an on-the-location scout?" Ithengil chuckled. "Fine, Damon. You go take care of those girls. Show them a little more action then these two dolts did." In the darkness, two ice blue eyes glittered like hard stones. "As you wish, sir." * * * Angie woke when a sun beam slanted across her face. She lay in the warm morning sun, half-dozing and thinking about the things she would do today. It was Saturday, and it had been two days since the horrible attack and the change to her life. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought it was a dream. Except. Angela's eyes strayed down to the golden spot on a dark corner of her bed and smiled. Lune was curled up on her own personal pillow, and very deeply asleep. Her other two cats, who were up by her pillow, had not liked this intruder, her two dogs were intrigued by the newcomer. As far as she knew, her mother and father were pleased with this elegant addition, and her brother already in love. She had been able to explain the golden diamond on Lune's forehead with a vague shrug of her shoulders, but had nearly lost this pretense when her brother, with a laugh about the scar, said, "It's like Luna, except a diamond instead of a crescent moon!" She had froze, then laughed nervously and towed Lune away from his prying eyes. As if sensing her thoughts, Lune, without opening her eyes, said, "Your brother's a bit of a cat fanatic, isn't he?" "No doubt about it." Angie agreed, reaching down and scratching her ears. Lune allowed this for a moment, then scrambled up to her pillow where the other two watched her with wide eyes. "Scram, pillow-hoggers." She told them crossly. With a yelp and a hiss, the two scattered. Angie grinned at Lune. "You're not making any friends that way." Lune curled up next to her head and began to wash herself, then abruptly stopped. "I'm not here to make friends, so that works." She told Angie, spitting out a few cat hairs. "And at any rate, it's time to get up. You've got to train, now." Angie moaned. "Do I have to?" "Of course." Lune said severely, starting to tug the blankets back off her prone form. She groaned and pushed both the covers and Lune back, and headed to her closet to get changed. * * * Several hours later all seven girls who had been at the first battle stood in a rather large gym. Lune, on an exploration of the town, had set up a temporary training gym in an old warehouse where she insisted no one ever went. The whole place was now outlined with padded floors, jungle gyms, trapezes, monkey bars, and laser motion-activated shooters meant to help speed up reflexes. "I used to still be asleep now, you know?" Mary grumbled as Lune started setting up training programs on a computer in the far wall. "I mean,, it's only 10 o'clock!! I guess there's no rest for a superhero." She sighed dramatically. "We do need training." Malorie reminded her gently. "We're still very weak compared to the-men-we fought. We need to be much stronger." "Especially me." Rachelle groaned. "I'm really not cut out for physical activity!" "Well, you're about to." Lune said, padding back across the floors. "Now basically I want you to be in groups of three. Diamond and Emerald-" Marisa coughed loudly. "-Angie and Marisa." Lune said with a slight glare at Marisa, who smiled. All the girls had insisted their human names be used out of Senshi-form. "Angie and Marisa will start with the monkey bars." Lune continued. "Malorie and Lacie, take the trapezes. Mary, Rachelle, and Elisha, you'll try handling the lasers first." She paused, and with a wicked smirk, added, "And try not to get hit. Those lasers will give you a nasty sting." Rachelle gulped. "All right." Lune said loudly. "Go!" Almost immediately there was complete pandemonium. Angela and Marisa on the monkey bars were first. Angela reached for the bar in front of her about halfway through, lost her grip on the first, slipped, and tried to grab onto Marisa's legs. Marisa shrieked and kicked violently, lost her grip, and both fell, Marisa on top of Angela. Lacie was just behind Malorie on the trapezes. She swung forward too enthusiastically, hit Malorie, and both went flying off, shrieking and screaming. Mary, Elisha, and Rachelle had been in trouble from the beginning. The lasers came out of holes in the walls and they were almost impossible to avoid. The three girls jumped around, screaming whenever they got shot. Rachelle finally flung herself down on the ground, waiting for the barrage to be over. Lune said nothing, just sat and waited for what the girls would do. Marisa eyed the monkey bars with disgust, but sighed and flexed a few times. Angela had determinedly gotten back on immediately. Malorie and Lacie, after dusting each other off, had started again, but this time Malorie had chosen to be behind Lacie. Mary and Elisha had thrown themselves on the ground beside Rachelle. The first two groups quickly finished their two trials. The third group remained very firmly on the ground. Finally, Mary, in disgust, jumped up. She roared, "Cut it OUT, you crazy machine!" and pointed a finger at it. The machine shot several bolts at her. She made a valiant attempt to dodge. "Hah!" Mary crowed in triumph as one of those bolts passed her. "Missed- ow!-missed me, you stupid-ow!- machine!" "Lune, can we stop??" Rachelle begged from her cowering position on the floor. "Better to learn here than in a real battle." Lune told her. "I can shut the machine off anytime, your enemies are relentless. More importantly, they're better shots." Rachelle grumbled. "Well, maybe in a real battle we would have, I don't know, instincts or something that would help us!" "Those will come when you're better fighters." Lune said coldly. "The most dangerous time for you is now, when your powers are still weak and the enemy knows of you. They will do anything to try to wipe you out, before you become a real threat." Rachelle grumbled but did not argue. "Now." Lune said, turning to a computer keyboard behind her (it continually fascinated the girls as to how she used her paws as hands). "I'm going to program it for a level you might be able to dodge easier. Try this one on for-Angie?" Angie had gone quite rigid suddenly. She stood straight, perfectly still, hardly breathing. One by one each girl stiffened, waiting. "What is it?" Lune asked, knowing full well what it was. "Something." Angela muttered. "Something's-wrong. The air's funny. And my brain keeps-twitching." "Like there's a signal input in your head." Marisa said, goose bumps raising on her flesh. "I think-" Malorie said hesitantly. "I think there's something bad afoot. Like the men we saw a few days ago." "They're back already?" Mary asked quietly. "I had hoped they might just give up and go away." Lacie flexed her muscles and stretched. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's transform and get it!" "We don't know where it is." Angie cautioned, trying her best to be a responsible leader. "We can't run out into the middle of nowhere not knowing where our enemy is." "That's why I have this." Lune said, pressing a green button on the computer screen. The walls of the gymnasium suddenly flew straight up. Huge computer and television screens dotted the walls, each showing a picture of a downtown area. Some had statistical analysis of enemy powers, some their own strengths and weaknesses. Some had large block maps of possible targets, like malls and commons. "Wow." Elisha said, awestruck. "How long did it take you to put this up?!" "Your technology is advanced, but rather easy to learn and hack into, once the basic are mastered." Lune said smoothly, running searcher through all the screens. "Hoity-toity, Miss Alien Kitty." Rachelle muttered. "It's should be-let's see-" Lune peered intently at the searcher. "It should be right-" "-there." Angela finished, pointing up at a screen near the top. A dark haired head had just appeared among the mass of brown of blond ones. "That's at the mall." Elisha said, adjusting her glasses. "Well, then," Lacie said with a smile and a crack of her knuckles. "Let's go shop." She raised a hand over her head with a look of righteous triumph on her face. "Amethyst Transforming Power!" Nothing happened. Lacie frowned, shook her hand, then raised it again, with a more determined look. "Amethyst Thingy Power!" Still nothing. Elisha and Mary snickered in the background. Lacie growled. Angrily, she yelled, "AMETHYST JEWEL POWER!!!" Dust fell off the ceiling and thickly coated all the girls. Marisa sneezed. "I don't think it's working, Lacie." "Gee, thanks, you think?" Lacie muttered, angrily shaking her hand like it was broken. "Where did our transformers go anyway?" Angela asked Lune. "They just vanished after we de-transformed." Lune smiled the annoying, superior, mysterious smile. "Cut the crap, give us the charms." Mary said dismissively. "Watch your tongue." Lune said snippily. "I will take as long as I want." "Lune," Elisha said pleasantly. "May I remind that a very evil-person-is out roaming the streets looking for energy, and we're the only ones who can stop him. However, we cannot stop him in our current forms, and we cannot turn to Senshi because WE DO NOT HAVE THOSE IDIOTIC LITTLE TRANSFORMERS!! NOW GIVE THEM TO US!!" Lune was blown back by the force of the last part. "Fine." She said, looking slightly stunned but still offended. "You want your charms, you've got them." There was a queer shimmering in the air above the girls. Each girl held their breath as the shimmer turned different colors, like the Northern Lights. Then it faded down into seven separate lights. Slowly a bracelet formed in each ball of light. Each bracelet-the same ones that had grabbed when they had first transformed- floated down to rest in each girl's hand. "Wow." Angela said, fingering her shimmering white charm. "That was dramatic." "So." Lacie said, eagerly glancing at Lune. "Can we transform now?" "Go right ahead." Lune said without moving. Each girl stared blankly at their transformer. Elisha shook hers up and down once or twice. Rachelle flicked her charm with a fingernail. "ALL RIGHT!!" Mary exploded. "We give up!! What the heck d'you do to transform?!" Lune gave her an extremely annoying look of superiority. "Wouldn't you like to know." "LUNE!!!!" "All right!" Lune shouted in alarm as all the girls rushed at her, teeth bared and hands clenched. "Just wave it over your heads, shout your respective jewel and say, "Star Power, Make-up!" "That's it?" Angela asked incredulously. "That's it." Angie scowled at Lune. "You couldn't even make it the least bit interesting, could you?" She muttered in disgust. "Diamond Star Power- Make Up!!" "Sapphire Star Power-Make-Up!" "Emerald Star Power-Make Up!" "Obsidian Star Power-Make Up!" "Garnet Star Power-Make Up!" "Topaz Star Power-Make Up!" "Amethyst Star Power-Make Up!" "TRANSFORM!" Multicolored lights filled the air like a thousand butterflies. Each of the girls began to dance their transformation. Lights cleared as the seven Jewel Senshi stood in their own stance. "Wow!" Sapphire said, yanking at her skirt a bit. "It really wasn't a dream!" "It's still so cool." Topaz sighed dreamily. "The transformation, I mean." "Hello?" Diamond asked, snapping her fingers. "Excuse me? People? Evil villain running rampant in streets stealing energy, ere go stop him?" "What?" Obsidian inquired. Diamond sighed. "Can we please go kick some evil alien's butt?" "I'm all for it!" Emerald said, nodding her head. "But-how do we get to the mall? It's all the way across town. And I don't think our costumes would go over real big on public transport." "True." Garnet agreed. "Do we have any other powers?" Amethyst asked Lune. "You know-flying, teleportation, mind melding-something?" "You figure it out." Lune said haughtily. "I can't help you from here. You've got to go at this yourselves." Amethyst glared at her, then turned to face Diamond. "We've got to try something. I don't know-maybe we can leap really long or high or something." Diamond skeptically looked at her feet. She bounced up and down a few times. Nothing happened. Topaz jumped up and down and jogged in place to try super speed. Still nothing. Finally Garnet took a few steps backwards and took a deep breath. The others hastily cleared a path, sensing something of importance was about to happen Up until the time she had met Angela and the others-two days ago-Rachelle had had a terrible fear of overexerting herself. She hated physical activity with a passion and preferred sticking by her computer. But now. Instincts were flowing in her, deep instincts. She started to sprint forward, then launched herself into the air. All the other Senshi gasped as Garnet sailed through the air and landed at the far end of the gym. Some hidden wings beneath her feet had risen up and propelled her across the room. Gingerly, Diamond stepped back, then launched herself forward as Garnet had with a vigor. Garnet winced as Diamond collided hard with the wall beside her. There was gasps from the other end. "Diamond!" Topaz called. "You cool?" "Uh.there was a truck." Diamond said dizzily, shaking her head. "Whoa." She waved to the other end. "I'm fine! C'mon! Try it!" "And crash into the wall like you did, Miss Graceful?" Sapphire yelled. "No thanks!" "Come on, you big babies." Diamond taunted. "You chicken?" Obsidian sprung forward with a yelp of regret and resignation. She sailed through the air to land beside Garnet's other side. "Wheee!" She said instantly. "Fun!" Emerald and Topaz, holding hands, sprung forward in a graceful arc that ended abruptly like Diamond's had. "Ow." Emerald muttered from under Topaz. "That hurt." Sapphire eyed the others at the far end with suspicion. Sensing her friend's fear, Amethyst stepped up behind her and gave her a good push. Everyone gasped as Sapphire hit the wall with a "CLUNK!" and slid to the floor. "Darn you, Amethyst." She murmured, rubbing her head. "Throwing that wall at me." Amethyst easily landed beside her, and smiled down triumphantly. "See? Nothing to it. You just pushed too hard." Sapphire gave a half-hearted growl. "Let's move out!" Diamond cried, running towards the door. "Good luck, you lot!" Lune called after them. The seven scouts raced out into the morning sun. Quickly Diamond sprang up towards a building. She landed safely on top and glanced around. "Come on!" There was a scream as Amethyst flew right over the building. She sailed over Diamond's head and landed in another alley. The others jumped up. Sapphire had an evil grin on her face. "That's for messing me up the first time!" She called to Amethyst. Amethyst launched herself back up and knocked into Sapphire. The two glared at each other. "Not now, you two!" Topaz called, leaping away across the buildings, following Diamond, who was already several blocks away. "Yikes!" Sapphire squealed, taking off. "Wait for us!" Amethyst yelled, jumping after her. A few minutes later, they were on top of the mall. Sapphire and Amethyst landed last, with a reproachful glance from Sailor Diamond. Straying to the big portion of the roof that was made of glass, Emerald peered inside. "Diamond!" She hissed, frantically waving her over. "I think we might have our guy!" Diamond leapt to her side and looked down into the mall. An inky black head was moving among the blonds, redheaded, and brunettes. Diamond nodded grimly. "That's our guy." "So." Obsidian said. "Do we do a dramatic entrance by the ceiling or a less interesting but probably safer one by the doors?" "Wait." Topaz cautioned. "We'll make ourselves look really stupid if we just waltz in and attack this guy. We need to see him drain energy or whatever first." "So what do we do?" Sapphire asked, sarcastically. "Walk down there wearing dark glasses hoping no one asks us about our attire?" All the girls glanced at Sapphire, then at each other, then back at Sapphire again. * * * "I cannot believe we're dressed up in dark glasses spying on this guy hoping no one comments on our attire." Sapphire groaned. The seven girls were now down in the mall, trying to inconspicuously follow the dark-haired man from behind several newspapers. "We've got newspapers and shopping bags, too." Garnet said cheerfully. "Oh, yeah." Sapphire muttered. "That really helps our disguise. We've been in here five minutes and we're already getting weird looks." "Just-keep-moving." Obsidian growled. She was getting tired of Sapphire's complaints. "Has he done anything yet?" Diamond asked Amethyst, who had the best view of the man sauntering past Old Navy. "Well, he's examined three different stores, one of which was Victoria's Secret." Amethyst said helpfully, peering from behind her newspaper. "He seemed most interested in that one." Emerald giggled. The two girls chuckled together. Diamond was not amused. "Come on, guys, this is serious! This guy could make a move, and if we're not watching-" "Diamond!" Topaz hissed. "Where'd he go?!" "What!" Abandoning her newspaper, Diamond frantically scanned the crowds. The dark man had vanished. "Darn it!" She swore under her breath, then grabbed her newspaper, opened it purposefully in front of her face, and calmly began to push her way through the crowds. Amethyst stared after her. "Is she nuts?! We'd be in plain site to all those eyes! I've already got two comments that I look like a Sailor Moon dork!" Topaz frowned. "Just ignore them, I guess, we've got to follow her!!" Diamond pushed through the crowds, getting faster and faster until she was almost running. A sense of evil surged in her heart. Where was that man?!!? Very suddenly, she stopped dead. Behind her, first Obsidian, then Amethyst, Topaz, Garnet, Sapphire, and Emerald ran into her. "Ouch!" Garnet said, voice muffled from the back of Topaz's fuku. "Diamond, what the heck." Her voice trailed off as she saw what had made Diamond stop. An eighteen year old cashier was suspended twelve feet above the floor on a glass wall. Her head was bowed, and her hands and feet shackled to the wall by chains that looked horribly like claws and hands. People were starting to flee, screaming at the sight. "There!" Emerald hissed, pointing. "Hold it, you!" Diamond shouted. The dark-haired man stood in front of the chained girl, looking up at her. Slowly, he turned and faced the seven girls. Diamond suddenly felt herself grow hot all over. She felt she would faint. This man-who was obviously evil-was the most gorgeous guy she had ever laid eyes on. He was taller than she, over six feet. Tanned skin, hard muscles, a nose and mouth not too big or too small. And his eyes. Diamond let out a small cry as his dark eyes pierced her blue ones. They were intense, and looked right into her soul. She knew beyond doubt if she let it continue, he would overcome her, brainwash her. She forced herself to look back into those endless depths, and saw- Pain. His eyes, she thought to herself. So deep and sad.. They make my heart ache.. Emerald's voice brought her back to reality. "Wow!" She hissed. "For someone evil, he sure is hot!" "Too bad." Obsidian agreed, licking her lips. "Really too bad." Diamond felt shame flooding her. Stupid, she thought to herself. Him evil. You good. You killee evil man. Simple as that. But she could not tear her eyes away. * * * Damon had, at first, been disgusted with humans. His arrival in a random mall dressing room had been carefully planned and executed, and his clothes changed to equal that of a young human male, but he had still been wary. Surely this planet's people could sense his power. On some planets, they were discovered right away, and had to take drastic measures. But the rumors had been true: Opal's people were surprisingly immune to the presence of magic. He strolled out into the 'mall', spying around, pretending to look at stores with a surprising amount of odd clothing in them. (He had spent several minutes in front of one with strange clothes that were small and would have seemed to be extremely uncomfortable. Humans were so strange.) All the time his power ran free, searching through the crowds for someone bright and full of life. He found several possible energy sources, and had been about to go after one, when- at the back of his mind- -he felt seven incredibly powerful energies spring into life. They were far away, but quickly they began to draw nearer. He cursed then. He had felt that power on almost every other planet he had been to, but not as many or as strong. Sailor Senshi, he thought with disgust. The do-gooders of the galaxy. How-pathetic. When he felt their presence enter the mall, he jumped. How had they already found him? Try as he might, he could not discern them from the crowds. Ah, well, no matter. He had a job to do. Quietly, Damon moved through the crowds like smoke, slipping towards the nearest energy source. He had found the girl on a break, sipping coffee near a fountain. He had come up behind. She quickly turned, and then smiled at him. He felt a smile curve on his lips. Of course. She thought he was human. Coils of energy had wrapped around her and flung her up against the transparent wall behind them before she could blink. The girl had screamed, of course, and struggled, as he summoned two Screamers to hold in her place. The humans had finally noticed him, by now, and they began screeching and running. He watched them leave with scorn, then turned to the girl. This was too easy. "Hold it, you." A voice said from behind him. Damon turned slowly to face who he knew would be there. His hand was clenched, ready to fire a bolt. Better to end this stupid team now instead of later. Seven Sailors had stood in front of him. That was a surprise. Seven was a lot of scouts for one planet. But was even more surprising was their leader. Damon had been to many planets, and seen many examples of beauty. He had even killed some. The head Sailor was not as pretty as half of the females he had seen on other planets, but-still-there was something there that he had never seen before. The girl was staring at him in the same way, clear blue eyes flashing with shock and surprise. For some reason, he hated those eyes. Hated them with a bitter passion. * * * Sailor Diamond shook herself. She was being stupid. "Hey, you!" She called. "Aw, Diamond, do we have to fight?" Sapphire whined. "He's so cute!" Diamond ignored her and the whispers of excitement around her. "Who are you, jerk, and what do you think you're doing?! I am Sailor Diamond, leader of the Jewel Sailor Senshi! As Senshi of Love and Light for Opal, I will punish you!!" The man laughed, flicking a strand of hair out of his eyes. (Diamond swallowed hard.) "So, the famous Sailor Senshi of Opal. How pleasant to see you all again." "Again?" Diamond asked, questioning. "Not surprised you don't remember me." He said, smiling at her. The smile made her both want to scream in terror and swoon. "I am called Damon, one of Rubian's minions." "Yeah, I figured the whole, 'Rubian's minion' part." Diamond said snippily. "As I should hope." The two gazed at each other in silence for a moment. "Get him!" Obsidian yelled, coming out of her trance. "YES!" The others shouted, leaping at him. Damon appeared momentarily surprised, but as Obsidian lunged at him, he leapt up into the air and hovered there. "Get DOWN here, cheapskate!!" Emerald bellowed, leaping for him. "I want to repay what you gave to Sapphire the other day!" Her eyes began to glow with a green fire. "As if you could." Damon retorted from his air position. "Oh, yeah?" Emerald asked, green fire sparkling between her fingers. "You're messing with the Sailor Scout of Nature, pal. And nature's pretty violent!" Green sparks wrapped around Emerald in a blazing whirl. Vines and leaves formed, and from these sprouted pink blossoms. "BEAUTY ROSES BLAST!!!!!" The sparks abruptly stopped spinning, and like a green typhoon, flung themselves in green and pink darts at Damon. He ducked, and the attack went flying away, evaporating when it hit the wall. "Darn!" Emerald swore. "Nearly had him!" "Actually, you didn't." Damon said helpfully. "Shut up." Emerald ordered. "I'll shut him up for you!" Amethyst growled, purple flames wreathing around her head. "Be careful." Diamond whispered in her ear. "This guy looks like he doesn't get angry easily." Amethyst gave her a quick smile. "No fears, great leader." She turned and concentrated on the floating individual. "DEATH CRESCENTS-" Two glowing purple boomerangs formed in each of Amethyst's hands. She held them firmly, even though it seemed the edges were razor sharp. "-DESTROY!!!!" She drew her arms back and flung both of the boomerangs. They whizzed through the air, making a high whine as they went. "Dark shield!" Damon cried, placing on open hands in front of the on- coming crescents. The crescents hit a shield of dark lightning that formed suddenly where Damon's hand was. The two boomerangs sizzled, then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Amethyst stared up in horror. "My attack!" "My attack." Damon said with smile. "Ice volcano!!!" A whirling hole appeared in the floor. Long ice spears began to shoot out of it, aimed at the girls. "Jump!" Diamond cried, leaping into the air. Most followed her, but Sapphire tripped as she tried to leap away. She lay in the oncoming path of the ice crystals, staring at them in horror. "Sapphire! Dodge!" Garnet yelled. Sapphire covered her eyes and start to cry out, "Aaaaaaaah-" Electric blue light swirled around her, enveloping her in a light blue shield. "LIGHTNING SHIELD SHOCK!" The ice spears hit the shield and cracked, sending small lightning bolts skidding everywhere along the shield. As more and more hit, the shield began to splinter. "Diamond!" Sapphire cried. "I-can't-hold them-" Without pausing to think, Diamond leapt down beside Sapphire and grabbed her around her waist. As the shield cracked down the middle, she leapt back up into the air, towing Sapphire with her. They both landed safely on the second floor where the others were waiting for them. "Creep!" Topaz shouted at Damon. "Baka!" "I don't have time for this." Damon declared, turning to fly back up to the still-frozen girl. "I call you, Screamers! Demons of the dark will, slaves of Rubian, do as I will!" All the scouts gasped as the handcuffs in the walls suddenly evaporated. Diamond started to jump for the girl, but Damon already had her in his grasp. On the floor, two black puddles formed. From the puddles, two humanoid figures surged up. The horrible black liquid formed arms, a woman's torso, a body, and a demon head. The bottom half remained blob-like. On the head, a face-with two blank burning red eyes and a mouth with long dripping fangs-materialized. Diamond gasped for air. Her heart was screaming. Things like this had no right to exist outside of nightmares. The two Screamer Demons charged at the second floor where they stood. All of the girls leapt away just as they crashed into it, showering glass and concrete everywhere. All landed on the floor with a "THUMP!" "Ow." Topaz muttered, swaying to her feet and glaring at the Screamers, eyes blazing. "Evil ugly little-" The Screamers turned and whirled back for another assault. "Run!" Garnet cried, preparing to flee. Diamond caught her arm. "No need to, Shellie." She whispered. "Look at Topaz." Garnet looked. Topaz's eyes were not just blazing now. They were glowing an incredibly bright yellow. A breeze flew through the air, sifting and weaving towards her. "BRIGHT WHIRLWIND." The wind became tangible, swiftly sifting through the air, cool and light. Sparks began to rapidly fling themselves around Topaz as her eyes shone radiantly and her hair was tossed about. ".GUST!!!!!" The sparks in the breeze sharpened and grew brighter. The wind picked up, tossing around. Suddenly the wind and the sparks flew at the oncoming Screamers. It hit one head-on. The demon let out a shrieking cry as half of its body was blown away by the attack. The sparks whirled, faded, and then vanished. Topaz beamed at the others. "I did it! We've all got our attacks now!!" Diamond smiled at her. "Indeed we do. Now duck." "Duck?" Topaz asked, puzzled. "Why-?" "DO IT!" Diamond roared, falling to her knees and knocking Topaz's legs out from under her. Topaz gasped as a Screamer flew overhead, moving so quickly that she would have been propelled into a wall by the force of its motion. "Wow. Thanks, Diamond." Diamond quickly stood up. "No thanks needed. Just immediately obey next time, okay?" "All right." Topaz said with a brisk nod. The Screamer was on them again. The girls scattered in different directions. "BLACK FEAR SWARM!!" Obsidian cried, aiming at the injured Screamer who had joined its partner in the charge. The Screamer let out a wail even worse than the one before. Slowly it melted into the ground, wailing all the time, dissolving into a loose blob that evaporated into a thin wisp of foul-smelling black smog. "Bye-bye baddie." Amethyst remarked, grinning at Obsidian. "Two shots is it, huh?" Obsidian asked, giving the rapidly vanishing trail of smoke a triumphant look. "Seriously not much." "Be grateful." Emerald suggested. "These things don't seem that hard, though plenty freaky." "Yeah," Topaz agreed. "Totally-OW!" The other Screamer had been forgotten, and had snuck up on them, hitting Topaz on her shoulder. With a cry, she dropped, cradling her limb. A strange black gooey-ness had bee left on her shoulder. As the scouts watched in horror, it began to expand, flowing up and down Topaz's arm towards her hand and neck. "DIAMOND!" Topaz screamed. "Everlasting Love-Purify!" Diamond shouted, pointing at the glop. The blob of blackness let out a screech as it evaporated, leaving Topaz's skin with a red-raw look before it too quickly faded under the gentle healing light. Diamond sighed and sat down. Healing is tiring, she thought to herself. I hope I won't have to attack- Her eyes fell on Damon, and she gasped. The salesclerk's head was tilted back, and Damon was locked with her in a kiss. Ignoring a slight pang of jealousy, Diamond slowly got up, sneaking her way close. She gasped again when she saw tiny veins of light blue shuddering along the girl's skin to her mouth. The light seemed to be coming from her very body. As she watched, the light blue light collected at her mouth, and then disappeared into Damon's. The realization hit her in a jolt: the light blue light was the girl's energy. And Damon was sucking the life from her. Tiredness forgotten, anger blazing through her, Diamond began to sprint towards the two hovering figures. Timing herself perfectly, she launched into a long leap at Damon. The girl was knocked out of Damon's arms at the force of her blow, and fell down to the floor, landing in a small, but fortunately deep, fountain. Diamond crashed into Damon. He lost whatever it was that held him in the air, and both plummeted to the ground. Diamond winced as she hit, but she had instead landed on something soft. She looked up-and straight into Damon's burning eyes. She had landed on him, and both sat extremely still. She quivered slightly, fear welling in her throat. What was it about this man's look that terrified so? She had felt afraid with Jedin and Uther, but Damon sent a icy claw of fear straight to her heart. * * * When he had began to suck the energy from the human girl's body, Damon had nearly shuddered with delight. It was as he had hoped: the humans were full of energy. The power that leaked from the girl into him almost made him giddy with strength. Then he had been knocked out of the air, his victim falling down to the ground to land in some sort of indoor pool. His concentration on hovering had been lost, and he too had fallen, the person who had attacked him plummeting also, just slightly above him. Quickly, he had partially recovered his hovering, just enough to cushion his landing. Even so, he winced when he hit, and then winced again as a heavy weight landed on his lap. He glared up at the interrupter's eyes. The interrupter's very blue, very bright eyes. The Sailor Senshi leader-Diamond, that was her name-stared back at him, defiant but tense. He thought he saw fear behind her eyes, but he couldn't make sure.He slowly took a long, slow sniff of the air. Diamond's scent came to him in a whirl of perfume. The girl herself smelled like wildflowers, and fresh mountain air, cool and pure. Deeply mixed in this was the spicy, sweet smell of magic, of power. And, underneath all this, there was the tangible essence of fear that made it even more delicious. Damon drank her scent in, intoxicated. The blood pounded through his veins, bringing adrenaline and pure instinct. Without his bidding, his teeth began to sharpen and grow longer, and he felt his eyes flickering black. He forced his instincts yet. Not yet, he reminded himself. She's quick and strong. Wait for an opportunity.
* * * Diamond stared at Damon's face, trying to steady her fear. She had nearly lost all control when he had sniffed the air, like some predatory animal. Something close to rapture had crossed his face, and for an instant, his teeth glinted like a wolf's, and his eyes flickered to darkness. She was still fighting the instinct to run far away and never look back. She broke Damon's intense gaze to stir, and attempt to stand. Within a split second, Damon's arms had grabbed her and flipped her around, holding her in a tight headlock. She yelled, but swiftly his hand clapped over her mouth. His voice came as a husky whisper. "Don't move, and don't scream, or your story comes to an abrupt end." Diamond stopped shouting and remained perfectly still, body pressed against Damon's. Fear made her tremble slightly, and let out a small whimper. I don't want to die, she thought tearfully to herself. But in this guy's hands, I don't think I really have a choice. A hot breath of air tickled the back of Diamond's neck. She heard Damon exhale slowly, cautiously, carefully. Unwillingly, she felt herself relax. At that very moment, in deathly peril, caught in her captor's arms, she felt more alive than she ever had before. Each slight current of air rippled across her skin. The tip of Damon's nose was touching the back of her head, ever so lightly. Goose bumps rose on her arms. * * * When Diamond had moved, trying to get away, it had been pure adrenaline that had made Damon move, catching her and holding her tightly around her neck. She had started to scream before he had put his hand over her mouth. He didn't want her alerting her friends-one scout dead at a time was enough. More fun that way. More to keep her quiet and still than anything, he hissed, "Don't move, and don't scream, or your story comes to an abrupt end." Except instead of sounding evil and despicable, his voice sounded merely frightening. He wanted to terrify the girl, not just frighten her. A person in pure terror was easier dealt with than just one in fright. In fright they could still think. In terror, they would be frozen. But his warning seemed to have done the trick. Sailor Diamond had tensed up, as stiff as a board against him. She shuddered only once, but a faint soft moan of fright issued from her lips. Damon carefully breathed out against the back of Diamond's neck. Whew. That had done it. Now all he needed to do was reach for his blade on the inside of his cloak- His hand, already halfway to his cloak, paused. Was I this imagination, or was-no, it couldn't be! Sailor Diamond's tenseness had vanished. She almost seemed-relaxed. Goose bumps pricked up on her skin, but she was otherwise very calm. A hot, blazing flame coursed through Damon. He felt overwhelmed, and leaned his head forward slightly to steady himself. What was happening? He felt-warm. At peace. That was impossible, it was his life as a minion to be forever cold. But heat was in him, melting his eyes, warming his hair, his skin. For the first time, he felt a sensation he could not quite place. And he loathed Diamond for it. * * * Diamond had felt the coldness of Damon's skin suddenly grow warm. The heat seemed to travel to her body, filling her with warmth and light. She relaxed even more, enjoying the strange yet pleasant sensation. There was a sudden brilliant flash of light that temporarily blinded Diamond and Damon. Diamond forgot her warning. She cried out. "Diamond!" Several voices chorused. Squinting, Sailor Diamond saw the other Senshi looking at her in horror. The other Screamer had vanished, and a glop of black slime lay on the floor by Sapphire's feet. Something sharp stung the side of Diamond's neck. "Move and she dies." Damon ordered. The Senshi froze. Garnet shook slightly. "What are we going to do?" She whispered to Topaz. Topaz did not reply. She was studying Damon and Diamond intently. Both seemed a little red, and a clear crystalline light was glowing faintly around them. Diamond's hands were on Damon's arm, the one that was around her neck. She was not struggling. A very thin, but very lethal looking silver blade was grazing her neck. Damon's eyes were rapidly flickering between blue and black, and his teeth looked sharp like an animal's. But he did not move. "What's going on between those two?" She muttered to Obsidian. "I don't know." Obsidian said, frowning. "Why isn't Diamond struggling?" "Duh!" Emerald broke in. "She's got a blade to her neck!! Would you move if you were in her place?" Obsidian said nothing, just continued to scrutinize her leader. Diamond trembled, feeling the blade press into her neck a little more. "You're going to kill me, then." She whispered, half to herself. But Damon heard. "Yes, of course. Not this way, of course. Too much wasted energy." "Ah. Of course. My mistake." Sailor Diamond said sarcastically. "So you'll suck out my energy and then I'll die?" "That's the major plan." Damon agreed, pressing the blade in a little more as Sailor Sapphire edged forward slightly. Sailor Diamond yelped as the blade pressed in a little too deep. It went just into her skin. She felt a bead of blood well up on her neck. Damon glanced down-and saw her blood trickling down her neck from the cut her had made. His teeth grew even sharper, and his eyes changed all the way to black. He didn't try to stop them this time. He could almost see the bright energy in that one drop. He slowly licked his lips. Sailor Diamond knew very clearly when he had changed to the animalistic form. She felt darkness radiating at the back of her neck. She could almost see Damon's teeth elongating and sharpening. Very carefully, and very quietly, she began to whisper. "Golden..Halo." Damon's head moved towards her neck. He smelt her scent again, filling him. His teeth glinted and he opened his mouth- "ATTACK!!!!" Diamond screeched, thrusting her hands at Damon's head as fast as she could. He barely dodged the spinning golden disc that flew up at his face suddenly. In his confusion, Diamond slipped from his grasp. He growled in anger, and put up an electric blue shield as the halo came around again. It shattered, leaving golden light flowing everywhere. Sailor Diamond ran straight into Topaz in her fright. Topaz grabbed her, and Diamond screamed, clawing at her. "Diamond! Di-ow! Diamond! It's Topaz! It's me!" Sailor Diamond stopped fighting and looked at Topaz. "Topaz?" She murmured. "Oh, God." Sailor Topaz gave her friend a hug as Diamond let out a strangled sob. "Shhh." Topaz comforted. "Don't cry now, Diamond. We still have to defeat this guy." Sailor Diamond gulped and nodded, wiping her eyes. "You're right, Topaz. Let's get him." Obsidian came up and gave her a sideways hug. "We were worried 'bout you, Diamond." She chided, grinning. Diamond grinned, then grunted as Garnet rammed into her stomach. "Oof- Garnet!" "Sorry." Garnet said, hugging her fiercely. "But YOU SCARED ME!!!!" Diamond patted her head with a laugh. "Watch it guys!" Amethyst called, pointing at Damon. Damon let loose a large blast of energy at the group. As one, they leapt back up to the second floor. "This guy's good." Diamond muttered to her Senshi. "I think he's stronger than Uther and Jedin-watch it!" Another blast shook the floor and left a huge crater close to where they were standing. Obsidian was closest to the edge. She wavered, teetering, flailing her arms. "Obsidian!" Sapphire cried reaching for her- Too late. Obsidian's balance was gone. With a shriek, she plummeted down towards the mall's marble floor. Diamond was sick, she couldn't do anything. Obsidian clawed at the air as she fell down and down. This is it! She thought in desperation. I'm a dead cookie. The ground loomed up in front of her- Obsidian closed her eyes- And very abruptly, her descent ended. Obsidian opened her eyes to find she was still about four feet above the floor. She looked up. Smoky silver eyes peered down at her from a mask-covered face. Silvery strands of hair flowed around the owner's face. Obsidian felt herself tremble. "Um-thank you." She said, blushing. "Could you put me down?" The person who had caught her chuckled, and gently put her on her feet. Obsidian swayed slightly, the effects of near-death still on her, then she looked her rescuer up and down. He was tall, and well built from what she could see, though a silver tuxedo covered most of his muscles. A silver top hat rested on his hair that came down into a long ponytail. His eyes held her in place. She smiled up at him, shaking still a little. The man put out a hand to steady her. "Are you all right?" He asked. He has a nice voice, Obsidian thought dreamily. Warm and mellow, nice to listen to. From above on the second floor, Sailor Diamond watched this exchange. Obsidian's face had a dreamy, surreal look to it. The man's face was hidden behind a mask. I wonder.She thought. Could this guy be our Tuxedo Mask? "Hey!" She called. The man looked up. "Yes?" He asked. "Um-" Diamond laughed nervously. "Uh, I don't mean to pry or anything- well, actually I do. Who are you? What's your name?" The man grinned. "Call me Tuxedo Onyx." Diamond smiled in relief. "Oh, goody! We get a Tuxedo-guy." The man grinned. "Now that the touching introductions are over." Damon said snippily. "May we please commence-" "Excuse me." Emerald said indignantly. "But you are intruding on a very pleasant conversation, so now, do shut up." She turned and beamed at Tuxedo Onyx. "I'm Sailor Emerald!" "Pleased to meet you." Tuxedo Onyx said with a slight wave. "I'm Obsidian." Sailor Obsidian said, with a slight blush. "Sailor Obsidian." "A true pleasure." Tuxedo Onyx said, giving her a bow. Her flush deepened. "Topaz." "Sapphire." "Garnet." "Amethyst." "And I'm Sailor Diamond." Diamond said with a salute. "Leader of the Jewel Senshi." The man blinked. "You're the leader?" His eyes strayed to Obsidian. "But I thought she was-" "Oh, no." Obsidian stammered, embarrassed. Of course this hot guy wouldn't like her. "I'm just a fighter." Tuxedo Onyx shrugged and grinned. "You looked pretty enough to be an angel, anyway. I figured you must be the leader." Obsidian practically swooned, then held herself in check. Suspicion was creeping slightly through her veins. The guy was slick with words and possibly dangerous. "Nah." She said with a slightly more brittle smile. "Just a fighter." "No more introductions." Damon said with a scolding tongue. "And you-" He pointed at Tuxedo Onyx. "Since you were the one who interrupted this little battle, I think you'll be the one to pay for it." "Oh, by the way, this is Damon!" Diamond called down to Tuxedo Onyx. "He's a bad guy." "I figured." Tuxedo Onyx replied tensely, watching Damon. He slowly drew out a long silver cane from somewhere in his cloak. The air rippled, and a long, glittering black sword appeared in the air by Damon. It was thin, but the edges glinted razor sharp. He pointed it at Tuxedo Onyx. Sailor Diamond watched tensely, mirth gone. She was judging the distance for a jump. She knew very clearly-as did every other scout-that sword could cut right through the cane. The two men faced off. Neither spoke nor moved for several seconds. Then, when Damon was about to lunge- "AH!" Topaz yelled, pointing upwards. "It's a two headed, mangy, ugly, horrific, blood-puking, demonic dragon!!!" Both men looked up to an empty ceiling. "GO!" Topaz whispered, giving Diamond a slight nudge. Diamond stared at her friend. "How did you know-" "Never mind that! Go!" Diamond nodded, and flung herself over the railing at Damon. This time, the shock of the impact was not softened. She crashed straight into him, knocking the wind out of both. Diamond moaned in pain on the hard floor, back screaming with pain. Something was definitely not right. She was twisted at a funny angle. Gasping, she straightened on the floor, and carefully examined her back with her hands, wincing. One joint was out of alignment. When she touched it, fiery pain lanced across her body. "Everlasting Love Purify." She whispered, touching the stray bone. Her pain extended, swelled till she cried out, then vanished. She looked at Damon. His arm was at the wrong angle, twisted 180 degrees. She stared as he calmly snapped his arm back into place and socket. "Didn't that hurt?" She asked in astonishment. Damon's dark blue eyes looked up. "What concern is it of yours?" "Well, ex-cuse me!" Diamond said, miffed. "It did hurt." Damon said, matter-of-factly. "An awful lot, in fact. If I were a mortal wimp, I might be crying in pain by now." Diamond ground her teeth, sensing the insult behind the words. "Shut it, creep." Damon smiled. A harsh wind picked up. It was not cool and soothing like Topaz's attack, but hot and dry, lashing Diamond's body. Sand seemed to prick the back of her legs. Damon was glowing a dark shade of blue, very faintly, but it was growing steadier. He was gaining power. Diamond nervously edged away. Guys, she whispered in her mind, not expecting any answer. We're in trouble. I need help. Up on the second floor, Garnet gasped, swayed, and nearly fell off the balcony, barely being caught by Amethyst and Emerald. In her mind, very faintly and softly, she had heard Diamond's call. Diamond! She screamed in her head in excitement. You can use psycho- kinesis?! You can talk through minds?! And I thought I was the only one- Diamond let out a cry-half in pain, half in shock- as Garnet's voice boomed in her head, loud and clear. Garnet!! My God, is that really you?! Could you be a little quieter? I'm almost mind-deaf. Sorry. Garnet replied, straining to hear her. But I'm excited!! I thought I was the only one who could do this- What do you mean, you thought you were the only one? Diamond asked suspiciously. God, this is weird- You-you didn't know you could do this? Garnet asked hesitantly. "Hey? Hello!" Sapphire said, waving her hand energetically up and down in front of Garnet's blank eyes. "Hello in there!! Yo! Garnet!" "I don't think the owner's in right now, Sapphire." Emerald told her. "Then where is she?!" Sapphire said, upset. "Wait a minute-" Obsidian said, staring hard at Garnet's eyes and hands (she had leapt up to join them on the balcony). "She's-glowing." All looked and gasped. Garnet's face and hands were indeed glowing a deep red, but it was very faint, so little you could only see it if you knew what to look for. Diamond's eyes were glowing too, but her glow was even harder to see at first. Then it began to grow brighter. What do you mean, I didn't know how to do this?! Diamond shouted, voice much clearer. I only figured it out now!!! What, have you been doing it all your life?!? For a long while, yes. Garnet snapped, injured. I have been since I turned 10. I thought I was going nuts. If you are, I am. Diamond replied crossly. But I don't think we are. I think this is a special ability, a power. Then how come I've had it so long? You're the Scout of Fire and Psycho-kinesis, I believe Lune said. Diamond said calmly. She saw Garnet blinking. Slowly a vision of her was beginning to form in her mind. So-it's natural? Garnet asked hopefully. I should think so. YAHOO!!!!!!!! Garnet yelled, deafening Diamond's mind again. The other scouts shivered as a peculiar energy was felt by them, radiating from Garnet. I'm not crazy!! I'm not insane!!!! It's really happening!!! "CHILL!!" Diamond yelled out loud. "Sorry!" Garnet yelled back. "I'm just so excited!! You don't know how long I thought I was insane!" "And you're right!" Obsidian bellowed. "The both of you are nuts!! What on Earth were you doing?!?!" "Speaking telepathically." Damon said, sounding very amused. Diamond glared at him in surprise. "How do you know?" "I must say, your talk was extremely loud." Damon said smoothly. "I could hear it from meters away. Always signs of beginners." "You obviously should know." Diamond muttered. "You question my power, Child of Opal?" Damon asked pleasantly, but there was a dangerous look in his eyes. "Perhaps you'd like to see my power for yourself?" Obsidian saw this. "Be careful, Angie." She quavered under her breath. "He's leading you into a trap." Diamond stood very straight and glared at him. "I should be honored." She pronounced, sarcastic honor dripping from every word. The wind was still rushing through the mall. Damon's eyes grew blacker and blacker. Dark lightning bolts zigzagged across the mall's ceiling, splintering when they hit obstacles. Then they began to crawl down the walls, centered at Diamond. She stood very still, eyes narrowed, assessing the situation as the dark energy began to creep along the floor. She could not escape, she knew that clear enough. Unless she wanted to try a very long jump.It was either that or wait for one of the bolts to strike her. Neither option seemed very appealing. I'll see how much the energy hurts me. She decided. If I can stand it, maybe I can hit Damon before it hurts my friends. If it hurts too bad, I'll get up to the second floor and out of here. If it kills me-well, then I'm dead. That's simple enough, at least. She waited in apprehension as the energy zoomed towards her. Seconds before it would have touched her, the bolts froze. She looked up at Damon. "What's the deal?!" Damon stared at her, eyes black and narrowed. "Aren't you going to cry? Scream? Beg for your life?" Diamond snorted. "Do I look like a wimp? No way, pal. Find some other form of entertainment. Go maim some puppies or something." Then: "On second thought, don't." "Perhaps I have underestimated humans." Damon said to himself. "More than likely." Diamond said cheerfully. "We're an interestingly diverse species." The dark bolts seemed to hesitate, then they shrunk and folded back on themselves, disappearing. The blackness vanished from Damon's eyes. "Consider that a warning." He directed. "What?!" Diamond objected. "Do you think I'm not tough enough or something? Come on! I'll take you!" "I do not think you aren't tough." Damon said, turning away. "In fact," he glanced back, "just the opposite." Sailor Diamond stared at him. Admiration had been one thing she hadn't expected from a general. "Um-okay." She faltered. "Thank you-I think." "No need to thank me, it wasn't a compliment." Damon said brusquely. "Just a fact." "Thank you anyway." She answered. He snorted and turned away. But Diamond thought she heard a faint, "You're welcome" as dark blue bands of energy swirled around him in a circle. The energy shot up to form a black column, and then it blew away into nothingness. Damon was gone. Diamond sighed, then fell over with a thud. When she gained consciousness, she found Amethyst glaring down at her. "Would you mind warning us when you're going to faint?!" She chided, making a mock frown. "So sorry." Diamond said, grinning and sitting up. "Where are we?" "Still in the mall." Emerald butted in. "You've only been out a few seconds." Tuxedo Onyx peered around Obsidian's shoulder. "You had us worried there for a moment, leader." He said with a slight chuckle. She smiled at him. "Will you join us? Become part of our team?" Tuxedo Onyx sighed. "I wish I could, but I think it's safer for all of us if we remain apart and fight in different groups." His cape swirled as he turned away. "I'll always be close, though." He called over his shoulder. "There will never be a battle where I'm not at least watching to see you all fight. I'll guard you all always." Obsidian watched as the man trotted away to the outside world, leapt up, supposedly to the top of the roof, and vanished from their sight. She sighed. "We'll see him again." Diamond told her quietly. Obsidian smiled a little sadly. "I hope so." "Wow!" Sapphire cried. "A second enemy and battle gone! Go us!" Diamond smiled. "A very scary enemy this time." "Agreed." Topaz said. "Creepy dark person. Very hot though. You were lucky to be in his arms, Diamond." Sailor Diamond thought back to Damon's dark sad eyes and black hair. "Yes." She said wistfully. "I was."
Chapter 3
Jedin and Uther knelt on a cold black marble floor, heads bowed. Columns of the same black marble were everywhere in no particular order, and strange, hideous black statues reared out of the sea of black, faces grotesque. The light was dim, made only by candelabras lining on certain columns here and there. A ghostly mist trailed about the floor. A small, wrinkly yellow man with a long staff walked out in front of the altar before Jedin and Uther. His staff was as black as the floors and columns with a long gray-green pendant at the end The man himself was ugly and wrinkly with dark eyes like tunnels that could look into your soul. His high-pitched voice rang out in the great hall and vanished into the endless depths of the ceiling. "Well, boys." He cackled. "How much energy did we bring in today, hmm?" Wordlessly Uther passed to the man a small crystal ball filled with a crystalline ball of light. It swam about in the ball, swirling like something alive. The little man eyed it. "Good, good. Not as much as we usually get our first day, but still acceptable." He chuckled and put the ball on a small pedestal to the side of the altar. "Master Ithengil." Uther said head still bowed. "On this planet there is trouble." "Trouble?" Ithengil asked, turning back to him. "What trouble?" "Seven scouts." Jedin answered, barely concealing subordination in his voice. "Seven Senshi. And they hide their powers well, we could barely feel them." "It just means they are unusually weak." Ithengil said comfortably, stretching wrinkled yellow arms. "Or unusually strong, to be able to hide like that." Uther said seriously. "Four of them issued attacks, and the strongest, their leader-she cut both of us. They have sacred powers, High Priest." The High Priest pursed his lips and said nothing. Jedin broke in with disgust. "Of course, they were just pretty young girls, sir. Obviously they pose no threat, what with their long legs and smooth hair! A warrior must be ugly and fierce, of course!" Ithengil waved his hand at Jedin. Jedin's mouth snapped shut. "What were their appearances like?" Ithengil asked sharply to Uther. "Quickly! Tell me!" "Uh-" Uther said, surprised. "Well, the leader one, she had on a golden skirt and top thing, and had gloves with gold lining. Yellow hair, boots- we think they might have been the Jewel Sen-" Ithengil hit Uther over the head with his staff. Uther cried out as bugs began streaming out of his mouth. He spat them out again and again; huge, ugly black beetles covered the floor. "Idiots!" Ithengil hissed. "To not be able to recognize Jewel Senshi when you see their leader!" "But-" Uther coughed out another bug. "I was-blah!-just about to say that!" Ithengil took no notice of him. "I must consult the Lady on this." He announced, moving towards the altar. "You two-oh, here." He impatiently waved his hand. Uther frantically wiped his tongue as a last beetle popped out, and Jedin, who had been turning purple, gasped for air. "You two check the files. Get Katrina to help you." A low, smooth voice came out of the darkness near a pillar. "Perhaps you should have an on-the-location scout?" Ithengil chuckled. "Fine, Damon. You go take care of those girls. Show them a little more action then these two dolts did." In the darkness, two ice blue eyes glittered like hard stones. "As you wish, sir." * * * Angie woke when a sun beam slanted across her face. She lay in the warm morning sun, half-dozing and thinking about the things she would do today. It was Saturday, and it had been two days since the horrible attack and the change to her life. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought it was a dream. Except. Angela's eyes strayed down to the golden spot on a dark corner of her bed and smiled. Lune was curled up on her own personal pillow, and very deeply asleep. Her other two cats, who were up by her pillow, had not liked this intruder, her two dogs were intrigued by the newcomer. As far as she knew, her mother and father were pleased with this elegant addition, and her brother already in love. She had been able to explain the golden diamond on Lune's forehead with a vague shrug of her shoulders, but had nearly lost this pretense when her brother, with a laugh about the scar, said, "It's like Luna, except a diamond instead of a crescent moon!" She had froze, then laughed nervously and towed Lune away from his prying eyes. As if sensing her thoughts, Lune, without opening her eyes, said, "Your brother's a bit of a cat fanatic, isn't he?" "No doubt about it." Angie agreed, reaching down and scratching her ears. Lune allowed this for a moment, then scrambled up to her pillow where the other two watched her with wide eyes. "Scram, pillow-hoggers." She told them crossly. With a yelp and a hiss, the two scattered. Angie grinned at Lune. "You're not making any friends that way." Lune curled up next to her head and began to wash herself, then abruptly stopped. "I'm not here to make friends, so that works." She told Angie, spitting out a few cat hairs. "And at any rate, it's time to get up. You've got to train, now." Angie moaned. "Do I have to?" "Of course." Lune said severely, starting to tug the blankets back off her prone form. She groaned and pushed both the covers and Lune back, and headed to her closet to get changed. * * * Several hours later all seven girls who had been at the first battle stood in a rather large gym. Lune, on an exploration of the town, had set up a temporary training gym in an old warehouse where she insisted no one ever went. The whole place was now outlined with padded floors, jungle gyms, trapezes, monkey bars, and laser motion-activated shooters meant to help speed up reflexes. "I used to still be asleep now, you know?" Mary grumbled as Lune started setting up training programs on a computer in the far wall. "I mean,, it's only 10 o'clock!! I guess there's no rest for a superhero." She sighed dramatically. "We do need training." Malorie reminded her gently. "We're still very weak compared to the-men-we fought. We need to be much stronger." "Especially me." Rachelle groaned. "I'm really not cut out for physical activity!" "Well, you're about to." Lune said, padding back across the floors. "Now basically I want you to be in groups of three. Diamond and Emerald-" Marisa coughed loudly. "-Angie and Marisa." Lune said with a slight glare at Marisa, who smiled. All the girls had insisted their human names be used out of Senshi-form. "Angie and Marisa will start with the monkey bars." Lune continued. "Malorie and Lacie, take the trapezes. Mary, Rachelle, and Elisha, you'll try handling the lasers first." She paused, and with a wicked smirk, added, "And try not to get hit. Those lasers will give you a nasty sting." Rachelle gulped. "All right." Lune said loudly. "Go!" Almost immediately there was complete pandemonium. Angela and Marisa on the monkey bars were first. Angela reached for the bar in front of her about halfway through, lost her grip on the first, slipped, and tried to grab onto Marisa's legs. Marisa shrieked and kicked violently, lost her grip, and both fell, Marisa on top of Angela. Lacie was just behind Malorie on the trapezes. She swung forward too enthusiastically, hit Malorie, and both went flying off, shrieking and screaming. Mary, Elisha, and Rachelle had been in trouble from the beginning. The lasers came out of holes in the walls and they were almost impossible to avoid. The three girls jumped around, screaming whenever they got shot. Rachelle finally flung herself down on the ground, waiting for the barrage to be over. Lune said nothing, just sat and waited for what the girls would do. Marisa eyed the monkey bars with disgust, but sighed and flexed a few times. Angela had determinedly gotten back on immediately. Malorie and Lacie, after dusting each other off, had started again, but this time Malorie had chosen to be behind Lacie. Mary and Elisha had thrown themselves on the ground beside Rachelle. The first two groups quickly finished their two trials. The third group remained very firmly on the ground. Finally, Mary, in disgust, jumped up. She roared, "Cut it OUT, you crazy machine!" and pointed a finger at it. The machine shot several bolts at her. She made a valiant attempt to dodge. "Hah!" Mary crowed in triumph as one of those bolts passed her. "Missed- ow!-missed me, you stupid-ow!- machine!" "Lune, can we stop??" Rachelle begged from her cowering position on the floor. "Better to learn here than in a real battle." Lune told her. "I can shut the machine off anytime, your enemies are relentless. More importantly, they're better shots." Rachelle grumbled. "Well, maybe in a real battle we would have, I don't know, instincts or something that would help us!" "Those will come when you're better fighters." Lune said coldly. "The most dangerous time for you is now, when your powers are still weak and the enemy knows of you. They will do anything to try to wipe you out, before you become a real threat." Rachelle grumbled but did not argue. "Now." Lune said, turning to a computer keyboard behind her (it continually fascinated the girls as to how she used her paws as hands). "I'm going to program it for a level you might be able to dodge easier. Try this one on for-Angie?" Angie had gone quite rigid suddenly. She stood straight, perfectly still, hardly breathing. One by one each girl stiffened, waiting. "What is it?" Lune asked, knowing full well what it was. "Something." Angela muttered. "Something's-wrong. The air's funny. And my brain keeps-twitching." "Like there's a signal input in your head." Marisa said, goose bumps raising on her flesh. "I think-" Malorie said hesitantly. "I think there's something bad afoot. Like the men we saw a few days ago." "They're back already?" Mary asked quietly. "I had hoped they might just give up and go away." Lacie flexed her muscles and stretched. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's transform and get it!" "We don't know where it is." Angie cautioned, trying her best to be a responsible leader. "We can't run out into the middle of nowhere not knowing where our enemy is." "That's why I have this." Lune said, pressing a green button on the computer screen. The walls of the gymnasium suddenly flew straight up. Huge computer and television screens dotted the walls, each showing a picture of a downtown area. Some had statistical analysis of enemy powers, some their own strengths and weaknesses. Some had large block maps of possible targets, like malls and commons. "Wow." Elisha said, awestruck. "How long did it take you to put this up?!" "Your technology is advanced, but rather easy to learn and hack into, once the basic are mastered." Lune said smoothly, running searcher through all the screens. "Hoity-toity, Miss Alien Kitty." Rachelle muttered. "It's should be-let's see-" Lune peered intently at the searcher. "It should be right-" "-there." Angela finished, pointing up at a screen near the top. A dark haired head had just appeared among the mass of brown of blond ones. "That's at the mall." Elisha said, adjusting her glasses. "Well, then," Lacie said with a smile and a crack of her knuckles. "Let's go shop." She raised a hand over her head with a look of righteous triumph on her face. "Amethyst Transforming Power!" Nothing happened. Lacie frowned, shook her hand, then raised it again, with a more determined look. "Amethyst Thingy Power!" Still nothing. Elisha and Mary snickered in the background. Lacie growled. Angrily, she yelled, "AMETHYST JEWEL POWER!!!" Dust fell off the ceiling and thickly coated all the girls. Marisa sneezed. "I don't think it's working, Lacie." "Gee, thanks, you think?" Lacie muttered, angrily shaking her hand like it was broken. "Where did our transformers go anyway?" Angela asked Lune. "They just vanished after we de-transformed." Lune smiled the annoying, superior, mysterious smile. "Cut the crap, give us the charms." Mary said dismissively. "Watch your tongue." Lune said snippily. "I will take as long as I want." "Lune," Elisha said pleasantly. "May I remind that a very evil-person-is out roaming the streets looking for energy, and we're the only ones who can stop him. However, we cannot stop him in our current forms, and we cannot turn to Senshi because WE DO NOT HAVE THOSE IDIOTIC LITTLE TRANSFORMERS!! NOW GIVE THEM TO US!!" Lune was blown back by the force of the last part. "Fine." She said, looking slightly stunned but still offended. "You want your charms, you've got them." There was a queer shimmering in the air above the girls. Each girl held their breath as the shimmer turned different colors, like the Northern Lights. Then it faded down into seven separate lights. Slowly a bracelet formed in each ball of light. Each bracelet-the same ones that had grabbed when they had first transformed- floated down to rest in each girl's hand. "Wow." Angela said, fingering her shimmering white charm. "That was dramatic." "So." Lacie said, eagerly glancing at Lune. "Can we transform now?" "Go right ahead." Lune said without moving. Each girl stared blankly at their transformer. Elisha shook hers up and down once or twice. Rachelle flicked her charm with a fingernail. "ALL RIGHT!!" Mary exploded. "We give up!! What the heck d'you do to transform?!" Lune gave her an extremely annoying look of superiority. "Wouldn't you like to know." "LUNE!!!!" "All right!" Lune shouted in alarm as all the girls rushed at her, teeth bared and hands clenched. "Just wave it over your heads, shout your respective jewel and say, "Star Power, Make-up!" "That's it?" Angela asked incredulously. "That's it." Angie scowled at Lune. "You couldn't even make it the least bit interesting, could you?" She muttered in disgust. "Diamond Star Power- Make Up!!" "Sapphire Star Power-Make-Up!" "Emerald Star Power-Make Up!" "Obsidian Star Power-Make Up!" "Garnet Star Power-Make Up!" "Topaz Star Power-Make Up!" "Amethyst Star Power-Make Up!" "TRANSFORM!" Multicolored lights filled the air like a thousand butterflies. Each of the girls began to dance their transformation. Lights cleared as the seven Jewel Senshi stood in their own stance. "Wow!" Sapphire said, yanking at her skirt a bit. "It really wasn't a dream!" "It's still so cool." Topaz sighed dreamily. "The transformation, I mean." "Hello?" Diamond asked, snapping her fingers. "Excuse me? People? Evil villain running rampant in streets stealing energy, ere go stop him?" "What?" Obsidian inquired. Diamond sighed. "Can we please go kick some evil alien's butt?" "I'm all for it!" Emerald said, nodding her head. "But-how do we get to the mall? It's all the way across town. And I don't think our costumes would go over real big on public transport." "True." Garnet agreed. "Do we have any other powers?" Amethyst asked Lune. "You know-flying, teleportation, mind melding-something?" "You figure it out." Lune said haughtily. "I can't help you from here. You've got to go at this yourselves." Amethyst glared at her, then turned to face Diamond. "We've got to try something. I don't know-maybe we can leap really long or high or something." Diamond skeptically looked at her feet. She bounced up and down a few times. Nothing happened. Topaz jumped up and down and jogged in place to try super speed. Still nothing. Finally Garnet took a few steps backwards and took a deep breath. The others hastily cleared a path, sensing something of importance was about to happen Up until the time she had met Angela and the others-two days ago-Rachelle had had a terrible fear of overexerting herself. She hated physical activity with a passion and preferred sticking by her computer. But now. Instincts were flowing in her, deep instincts. She started to sprint forward, then launched herself into the air. All the other Senshi gasped as Garnet sailed through the air and landed at the far end of the gym. Some hidden wings beneath her feet had risen up and propelled her across the room. Gingerly, Diamond stepped back, then launched herself forward as Garnet had with a vigor. Garnet winced as Diamond collided hard with the wall beside her. There was gasps from the other end. "Diamond!" Topaz called. "You cool?" "Uh.there was a truck." Diamond said dizzily, shaking her head. "Whoa." She waved to the other end. "I'm fine! C'mon! Try it!" "And crash into the wall like you did, Miss Graceful?" Sapphire yelled. "No thanks!" "Come on, you big babies." Diamond taunted. "You chicken?" Obsidian sprung forward with a yelp of regret and resignation. She sailed through the air to land beside Garnet's other side. "Wheee!" She said instantly. "Fun!" Emerald and Topaz, holding hands, sprung forward in a graceful arc that ended abruptly like Diamond's had. "Ow." Emerald muttered from under Topaz. "That hurt." Sapphire eyed the others at the far end with suspicion. Sensing her friend's fear, Amethyst stepped up behind her and gave her a good push. Everyone gasped as Sapphire hit the wall with a "CLUNK!" and slid to the floor. "Darn you, Amethyst." She murmured, rubbing her head. "Throwing that wall at me." Amethyst easily landed beside her, and smiled down triumphantly. "See? Nothing to it. You just pushed too hard." Sapphire gave a half-hearted growl. "Let's move out!" Diamond cried, running towards the door. "Good luck, you lot!" Lune called after them. The seven scouts raced out into the morning sun. Quickly Diamond sprang up towards a building. She landed safely on top and glanced around. "Come on!" There was a scream as Amethyst flew right over the building. She sailed over Diamond's head and landed in another alley. The others jumped up. Sapphire had an evil grin on her face. "That's for messing me up the first time!" She called to Amethyst. Amethyst launched herself back up and knocked into Sapphire. The two glared at each other. "Not now, you two!" Topaz called, leaping away across the buildings, following Diamond, who was already several blocks away. "Yikes!" Sapphire squealed, taking off. "Wait for us!" Amethyst yelled, jumping after her. A few minutes later, they were on top of the mall. Sapphire and Amethyst landed last, with a reproachful glance from Sailor Diamond. Straying to the big portion of the roof that was made of glass, Emerald peered inside. "Diamond!" She hissed, frantically waving her over. "I think we might have our guy!" Diamond leapt to her side and looked down into the mall. An inky black head was moving among the blonds, redheaded, and brunettes. Diamond nodded grimly. "That's our guy." "So." Obsidian said. "Do we do a dramatic entrance by the ceiling or a less interesting but probably safer one by the doors?" "Wait." Topaz cautioned. "We'll make ourselves look really stupid if we just waltz in and attack this guy. We need to see him drain energy or whatever first." "So what do we do?" Sapphire asked, sarcastically. "Walk down there wearing dark glasses hoping no one asks us about our attire?" All the girls glanced at Sapphire, then at each other, then back at Sapphire again. * * * "I cannot believe we're dressed up in dark glasses spying on this guy hoping no one comments on our attire." Sapphire groaned. The seven girls were now down in the mall, trying to inconspicuously follow the dark-haired man from behind several newspapers. "We've got newspapers and shopping bags, too." Garnet said cheerfully. "Oh, yeah." Sapphire muttered. "That really helps our disguise. We've been in here five minutes and we're already getting weird looks." "Just-keep-moving." Obsidian growled. She was getting tired of Sapphire's complaints. "Has he done anything yet?" Diamond asked Amethyst, who had the best view of the man sauntering past Old Navy. "Well, he's examined three different stores, one of which was Victoria's Secret." Amethyst said helpfully, peering from behind her newspaper. "He seemed most interested in that one." Emerald giggled. The two girls chuckled together. Diamond was not amused. "Come on, guys, this is serious! This guy could make a move, and if we're not watching-" "Diamond!" Topaz hissed. "Where'd he go?!" "What!" Abandoning her newspaper, Diamond frantically scanned the crowds. The dark man had vanished. "Darn it!" She swore under her breath, then grabbed her newspaper, opened it purposefully in front of her face, and calmly began to push her way through the crowds. Amethyst stared after her. "Is she nuts?! We'd be in plain site to all those eyes! I've already got two comments that I look like a Sailor Moon dork!" Topaz frowned. "Just ignore them, I guess, we've got to follow her!!" Diamond pushed through the crowds, getting faster and faster until she was almost running. A sense of evil surged in her heart. Where was that man?!!? Very suddenly, she stopped dead. Behind her, first Obsidian, then Amethyst, Topaz, Garnet, Sapphire, and Emerald ran into her. "Ouch!" Garnet said, voice muffled from the back of Topaz's fuku. "Diamond, what the heck." Her voice trailed off as she saw what had made Diamond stop. An eighteen year old cashier was suspended twelve feet above the floor on a glass wall. Her head was bowed, and her hands and feet shackled to the wall by chains that looked horribly like claws and hands. People were starting to flee, screaming at the sight. "There!" Emerald hissed, pointing. "Hold it, you!" Diamond shouted. The dark-haired man stood in front of the chained girl, looking up at her. Slowly, he turned and faced the seven girls. Diamond suddenly felt herself grow hot all over. She felt she would faint. This man-who was obviously evil-was the most gorgeous guy she had ever laid eyes on. He was taller than she, over six feet. Tanned skin, hard muscles, a nose and mouth not too big or too small. And his eyes. Diamond let out a small cry as his dark eyes pierced her blue ones. They were intense, and looked right into her soul. She knew beyond doubt if she let it continue, he would overcome her, brainwash her. She forced herself to look back into those endless depths, and saw- Pain. His eyes, she thought to herself. So deep and sad.. They make my heart ache.. Emerald's voice brought her back to reality. "Wow!" She hissed. "For someone evil, he sure is hot!" "Too bad." Obsidian agreed, licking her lips. "Really too bad." Diamond felt shame flooding her. Stupid, she thought to herself. Him evil. You good. You killee evil man. Simple as that. But she could not tear her eyes away. * * * Damon had, at first, been disgusted with humans. His arrival in a random mall dressing room had been carefully planned and executed, and his clothes changed to equal that of a young human male, but he had still been wary. Surely this planet's people could sense his power. On some planets, they were discovered right away, and had to take drastic measures. But the rumors had been true: Opal's people were surprisingly immune to the presence of magic. He strolled out into the 'mall', spying around, pretending to look at stores with a surprising amount of odd clothing in them. (He had spent several minutes in front of one with strange clothes that were small and would have seemed to be extremely uncomfortable. Humans were so strange.) All the time his power ran free, searching through the crowds for someone bright and full of life. He found several possible energy sources, and had been about to go after one, when- at the back of his mind- -he felt seven incredibly powerful energies spring into life. They were far away, but quickly they began to draw nearer. He cursed then. He had felt that power on almost every other planet he had been to, but not as many or as strong. Sailor Senshi, he thought with disgust. The do-gooders of the galaxy. How-pathetic. When he felt their presence enter the mall, he jumped. How had they already found him? Try as he might, he could not discern them from the crowds. Ah, well, no matter. He had a job to do. Quietly, Damon moved through the crowds like smoke, slipping towards the nearest energy source. He had found the girl on a break, sipping coffee near a fountain. He had come up behind. She quickly turned, and then smiled at him. He felt a smile curve on his lips. Of course. She thought he was human. Coils of energy had wrapped around her and flung her up against the transparent wall behind them before she could blink. The girl had screamed, of course, and struggled, as he summoned two Screamers to hold in her place. The humans had finally noticed him, by now, and they began screeching and running. He watched them leave with scorn, then turned to the girl. This was too easy. "Hold it, you." A voice said from behind him. Damon turned slowly to face who he knew would be there. His hand was clenched, ready to fire a bolt. Better to end this stupid team now instead of later. Seven Sailors had stood in front of him. That was a surprise. Seven was a lot of scouts for one planet. But was even more surprising was their leader. Damon had been to many planets, and seen many examples of beauty. He had even killed some. The head Sailor was not as pretty as half of the females he had seen on other planets, but-still-there was something there that he had never seen before. The girl was staring at him in the same way, clear blue eyes flashing with shock and surprise. For some reason, he hated those eyes. Hated them with a bitter passion. * * * Sailor Diamond shook herself. She was being stupid. "Hey, you!" She called. "Aw, Diamond, do we have to fight?" Sapphire whined. "He's so cute!" Diamond ignored her and the whispers of excitement around her. "Who are you, jerk, and what do you think you're doing?! I am Sailor Diamond, leader of the Jewel Sailor Senshi! As Senshi of Love and Light for Opal, I will punish you!!" The man laughed, flicking a strand of hair out of his eyes. (Diamond swallowed hard.) "So, the famous Sailor Senshi of Opal. How pleasant to see you all again." "Again?" Diamond asked, questioning. "Not surprised you don't remember me." He said, smiling at her. The smile made her both want to scream in terror and swoon. "I am called Damon, one of Rubian's minions." "Yeah, I figured the whole, 'Rubian's minion' part." Diamond said snippily. "As I should hope." The two gazed at each other in silence for a moment. "Get him!" Obsidian yelled, coming out of her trance. "YES!" The others shouted, leaping at him. Damon appeared momentarily surprised, but as Obsidian lunged at him, he leapt up into the air and hovered there. "Get DOWN here, cheapskate!!" Emerald bellowed, leaping for him. "I want to repay what you gave to Sapphire the other day!" Her eyes began to glow with a green fire. "As if you could." Damon retorted from his air position. "Oh, yeah?" Emerald asked, green fire sparkling between her fingers. "You're messing with the Sailor Scout of Nature, pal. And nature's pretty violent!" Green sparks wrapped around Emerald in a blazing whirl. Vines and leaves formed, and from these sprouted pink blossoms. "BEAUTY ROSES BLAST!!!!!" The sparks abruptly stopped spinning, and like a green typhoon, flung themselves in green and pink darts at Damon. He ducked, and the attack went flying away, evaporating when it hit the wall. "Darn!" Emerald swore. "Nearly had him!" "Actually, you didn't." Damon said helpfully. "Shut up." Emerald ordered. "I'll shut him up for you!" Amethyst growled, purple flames wreathing around her head. "Be careful." Diamond whispered in her ear. "This guy looks like he doesn't get angry easily." Amethyst gave her a quick smile. "No fears, great leader." She turned and concentrated on the floating individual. "DEATH CRESCENTS-" Two glowing purple boomerangs formed in each of Amethyst's hands. She held them firmly, even though it seemed the edges were razor sharp. "-DESTROY!!!!" She drew her arms back and flung both of the boomerangs. They whizzed through the air, making a high whine as they went. "Dark shield!" Damon cried, placing on open hands in front of the on- coming crescents. The crescents hit a shield of dark lightning that formed suddenly where Damon's hand was. The two boomerangs sizzled, then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Amethyst stared up in horror. "My attack!" "My attack." Damon said with smile. "Ice volcano!!!" A whirling hole appeared in the floor. Long ice spears began to shoot out of it, aimed at the girls. "Jump!" Diamond cried, leaping into the air. Most followed her, but Sapphire tripped as she tried to leap away. She lay in the oncoming path of the ice crystals, staring at them in horror. "Sapphire! Dodge!" Garnet yelled. Sapphire covered her eyes and start to cry out, "Aaaaaaaah-" Electric blue light swirled around her, enveloping her in a light blue shield. "LIGHTNING SHIELD SHOCK!" The ice spears hit the shield and cracked, sending small lightning bolts skidding everywhere along the shield. As more and more hit, the shield began to splinter. "Diamond!" Sapphire cried. "I-can't-hold them-" Without pausing to think, Diamond leapt down beside Sapphire and grabbed her around her waist. As the shield cracked down the middle, she leapt back up into the air, towing Sapphire with her. They both landed safely on the second floor where the others were waiting for them. "Creep!" Topaz shouted at Damon. "Baka!" "I don't have time for this." Damon declared, turning to fly back up to the still-frozen girl. "I call you, Screamers! Demons of the dark will, slaves of Rubian, do as I will!" All the scouts gasped as the handcuffs in the walls suddenly evaporated. Diamond started to jump for the girl, but Damon already had her in his grasp. On the floor, two black puddles formed. From the puddles, two humanoid figures surged up. The horrible black liquid formed arms, a woman's torso, a body, and a demon head. The bottom half remained blob-like. On the head, a face-with two blank burning red eyes and a mouth with long dripping fangs-materialized. Diamond gasped for air. Her heart was screaming. Things like this had no right to exist outside of nightmares. The two Screamer Demons charged at the second floor where they stood. All of the girls leapt away just as they crashed into it, showering glass and concrete everywhere. All landed on the floor with a "THUMP!" "Ow." Topaz muttered, swaying to her feet and glaring at the Screamers, eyes blazing. "Evil ugly little-" The Screamers turned and whirled back for another assault. "Run!" Garnet cried, preparing to flee. Diamond caught her arm. "No need to, Shellie." She whispered. "Look at Topaz." Garnet looked. Topaz's eyes were not just blazing now. They were glowing an incredibly bright yellow. A breeze flew through the air, sifting and weaving towards her. "BRIGHT WHIRLWIND." The wind became tangible, swiftly sifting through the air, cool and light. Sparks began to rapidly fling themselves around Topaz as her eyes shone radiantly and her hair was tossed about. ".GUST!!!!!" The sparks in the breeze sharpened and grew brighter. The wind picked up, tossing around. Suddenly the wind and the sparks flew at the oncoming Screamers. It hit one head-on. The demon let out a shrieking cry as half of its body was blown away by the attack. The sparks whirled, faded, and then vanished. Topaz beamed at the others. "I did it! We've all got our attacks now!!" Diamond smiled at her. "Indeed we do. Now duck." "Duck?" Topaz asked, puzzled. "Why-?" "DO IT!" Diamond roared, falling to her knees and knocking Topaz's legs out from under her. Topaz gasped as a Screamer flew overhead, moving so quickly that she would have been propelled into a wall by the force of its motion. "Wow. Thanks, Diamond." Diamond quickly stood up. "No thanks needed. Just immediately obey next time, okay?" "All right." Topaz said with a brisk nod. The Screamer was on them again. The girls scattered in different directions. "BLACK FEAR SWARM!!" Obsidian cried, aiming at the injured Screamer who had joined its partner in the charge. The Screamer let out a wail even worse than the one before. Slowly it melted into the ground, wailing all the time, dissolving into a loose blob that evaporated into a thin wisp of foul-smelling black smog. "Bye-bye baddie." Amethyst remarked, grinning at Obsidian. "Two shots is it, huh?" Obsidian asked, giving the rapidly vanishing trail of smoke a triumphant look. "Seriously not much." "Be grateful." Emerald suggested. "These things don't seem that hard, though plenty freaky." "Yeah," Topaz agreed. "Totally-OW!" The other Screamer had been forgotten, and had snuck up on them, hitting Topaz on her shoulder. With a cry, she dropped, cradling her limb. A strange black gooey-ness had bee left on her shoulder. As the scouts watched in horror, it began to expand, flowing up and down Topaz's arm towards her hand and neck. "DIAMOND!" Topaz screamed. "Everlasting Love-Purify!" Diamond shouted, pointing at the glop. The blob of blackness let out a screech as it evaporated, leaving Topaz's skin with a red-raw look before it too quickly faded under the gentle healing light. Diamond sighed and sat down. Healing is tiring, she thought to herself. I hope I won't have to attack- Her eyes fell on Damon, and she gasped. The salesclerk's head was tilted back, and Damon was locked with her in a kiss. Ignoring a slight pang of jealousy, Diamond slowly got up, sneaking her way close. She gasped again when she saw tiny veins of light blue shuddering along the girl's skin to her mouth. The light seemed to be coming from her very body. As she watched, the light blue light collected at her mouth, and then disappeared into Damon's. The realization hit her in a jolt: the light blue light was the girl's energy. And Damon was sucking the life from her. Tiredness forgotten, anger blazing through her, Diamond began to sprint towards the two hovering figures. Timing herself perfectly, she launched into a long leap at Damon. The girl was knocked out of Damon's arms at the force of her blow, and fell down to the floor, landing in a small, but fortunately deep, fountain. Diamond crashed into Damon. He lost whatever it was that held him in the air, and both plummeted to the ground. Diamond winced as she hit, but she had instead landed on something soft. She looked up-and straight into Damon's burning eyes. She had landed on him, and both sat extremely still. She quivered slightly, fear welling in her throat. What was it about this man's look that terrified so? She had felt afraid with Jedin and Uther, but Damon sent a icy claw of fear straight to her heart. * * * When he had began to suck the energy from the human girl's body, Damon had nearly shuddered with delight. It was as he had hoped: the humans were full of energy. The power that leaked from the girl into him almost made him giddy with strength. Then he had been knocked out of the air, his victim falling down to the ground to land in some sort of indoor pool. His concentration on hovering had been lost, and he too had fallen, the person who had attacked him plummeting also, just slightly above him. Quickly, he had partially recovered his hovering, just enough to cushion his landing. Even so, he winced when he hit, and then winced again as a heavy weight landed on his lap. He glared up at the interrupter's eyes. The interrupter's very blue, very bright eyes. The Sailor Senshi leader-Diamond, that was her name-stared back at him, defiant but tense. He thought he saw fear behind her eyes, but he couldn't make sure.He slowly took a long, slow sniff of the air. Diamond's scent came to him in a whirl of perfume. The girl herself smelled like wildflowers, and fresh mountain air, cool and pure. Deeply mixed in this was the spicy, sweet smell of magic, of power. And, underneath all this, there was the tangible essence of fear that made it even more delicious. Damon drank her scent in, intoxicated. The blood pounded through his veins, bringing adrenaline and pure instinct. Without his bidding, his teeth began to sharpen and grow longer, and he felt his eyes flickering black. He forced his instincts yet. Not yet, he reminded himself. She's quick and strong. Wait for an opportunity.
* * * Diamond stared at Damon's face, trying to steady her fear. She had nearly lost all control when he had sniffed the air, like some predatory animal. Something close to rapture had crossed his face, and for an instant, his teeth glinted like a wolf's, and his eyes flickered to darkness. She was still fighting the instinct to run far away and never look back. She broke Damon's intense gaze to stir, and attempt to stand. Within a split second, Damon's arms had grabbed her and flipped her around, holding her in a tight headlock. She yelled, but swiftly his hand clapped over her mouth. His voice came as a husky whisper. "Don't move, and don't scream, or your story comes to an abrupt end." Diamond stopped shouting and remained perfectly still, body pressed against Damon's. Fear made her tremble slightly, and let out a small whimper. I don't want to die, she thought tearfully to herself. But in this guy's hands, I don't think I really have a choice. A hot breath of air tickled the back of Diamond's neck. She heard Damon exhale slowly, cautiously, carefully. Unwillingly, she felt herself relax. At that very moment, in deathly peril, caught in her captor's arms, she felt more alive than she ever had before. Each slight current of air rippled across her skin. The tip of Damon's nose was touching the back of her head, ever so lightly. Goose bumps rose on her arms. * * * When Diamond had moved, trying to get away, it had been pure adrenaline that had made Damon move, catching her and holding her tightly around her neck. She had started to scream before he had put his hand over her mouth. He didn't want her alerting her friends-one scout dead at a time was enough. More fun that way. More to keep her quiet and still than anything, he hissed, "Don't move, and don't scream, or your story comes to an abrupt end." Except instead of sounding evil and despicable, his voice sounded merely frightening. He wanted to terrify the girl, not just frighten her. A person in pure terror was easier dealt with than just one in fright. In fright they could still think. In terror, they would be frozen. But his warning seemed to have done the trick. Sailor Diamond had tensed up, as stiff as a board against him. She shuddered only once, but a faint soft moan of fright issued from her lips. Damon carefully breathed out against the back of Diamond's neck. Whew. That had done it. Now all he needed to do was reach for his blade on the inside of his cloak- His hand, already halfway to his cloak, paused. Was I this imagination, or was-no, it couldn't be! Sailor Diamond's tenseness had vanished. She almost seemed-relaxed. Goose bumps pricked up on her skin, but she was otherwise very calm. A hot, blazing flame coursed through Damon. He felt overwhelmed, and leaned his head forward slightly to steady himself. What was happening? He felt-warm. At peace. That was impossible, it was his life as a minion to be forever cold. But heat was in him, melting his eyes, warming his hair, his skin. For the first time, he felt a sensation he could not quite place. And he loathed Diamond for it. * * * Diamond had felt the coldness of Damon's skin suddenly grow warm. The heat seemed to travel to her body, filling her with warmth and light. She relaxed even more, enjoying the strange yet pleasant sensation. There was a sudden brilliant flash of light that temporarily blinded Diamond and Damon. Diamond forgot her warning. She cried out. "Diamond!" Several voices chorused. Squinting, Sailor Diamond saw the other Senshi looking at her in horror. The other Screamer had vanished, and a glop of black slime lay on the floor by Sapphire's feet. Something sharp stung the side of Diamond's neck. "Move and she dies." Damon ordered. The Senshi froze. Garnet shook slightly. "What are we going to do?" She whispered to Topaz. Topaz did not reply. She was studying Damon and Diamond intently. Both seemed a little red, and a clear crystalline light was glowing faintly around them. Diamond's hands were on Damon's arm, the one that was around her neck. She was not struggling. A very thin, but very lethal looking silver blade was grazing her neck. Damon's eyes were rapidly flickering between blue and black, and his teeth looked sharp like an animal's. But he did not move. "What's going on between those two?" She muttered to Obsidian. "I don't know." Obsidian said, frowning. "Why isn't Diamond struggling?" "Duh!" Emerald broke in. "She's got a blade to her neck!! Would you move if you were in her place?" Obsidian said nothing, just continued to scrutinize her leader. Diamond trembled, feeling the blade press into her neck a little more. "You're going to kill me, then." She whispered, half to herself. But Damon heard. "Yes, of course. Not this way, of course. Too much wasted energy." "Ah. Of course. My mistake." Sailor Diamond said sarcastically. "So you'll suck out my energy and then I'll die?" "That's the major plan." Damon agreed, pressing the blade in a little more as Sailor Sapphire edged forward slightly. Sailor Diamond yelped as the blade pressed in a little too deep. It went just into her skin. She felt a bead of blood well up on her neck. Damon glanced down-and saw her blood trickling down her neck from the cut her had made. His teeth grew even sharper, and his eyes changed all the way to black. He didn't try to stop them this time. He could almost see the bright energy in that one drop. He slowly licked his lips. Sailor Diamond knew very clearly when he had changed to the animalistic form. She felt darkness radiating at the back of her neck. She could almost see Damon's teeth elongating and sharpening. Very carefully, and very quietly, she began to whisper. "Golden..Halo." Damon's head moved towards her neck. He smelt her scent again, filling him. His teeth glinted and he opened his mouth- "ATTACK!!!!" Diamond screeched, thrusting her hands at Damon's head as fast as she could. He barely dodged the spinning golden disc that flew up at his face suddenly. In his confusion, Diamond slipped from his grasp. He growled in anger, and put up an electric blue shield as the halo came around again. It shattered, leaving golden light flowing everywhere. Sailor Diamond ran straight into Topaz in her fright. Topaz grabbed her, and Diamond screamed, clawing at her. "Diamond! Di-ow! Diamond! It's Topaz! It's me!" Sailor Diamond stopped fighting and looked at Topaz. "Topaz?" She murmured. "Oh, God." Sailor Topaz gave her friend a hug as Diamond let out a strangled sob. "Shhh." Topaz comforted. "Don't cry now, Diamond. We still have to defeat this guy." Sailor Diamond gulped and nodded, wiping her eyes. "You're right, Topaz. Let's get him." Obsidian came up and gave her a sideways hug. "We were worried 'bout you, Diamond." She chided, grinning. Diamond grinned, then grunted as Garnet rammed into her stomach. "Oof- Garnet!" "Sorry." Garnet said, hugging her fiercely. "But YOU SCARED ME!!!!" Diamond patted her head with a laugh. "Watch it guys!" Amethyst called, pointing at Damon. Damon let loose a large blast of energy at the group. As one, they leapt back up to the second floor. "This guy's good." Diamond muttered to her Senshi. "I think he's stronger than Uther and Jedin-watch it!" Another blast shook the floor and left a huge crater close to where they were standing. Obsidian was closest to the edge. She wavered, teetering, flailing her arms. "Obsidian!" Sapphire cried reaching for her- Too late. Obsidian's balance was gone. With a shriek, she plummeted down towards the mall's marble floor. Diamond was sick, she couldn't do anything. Obsidian clawed at the air as she fell down and down. This is it! She thought in desperation. I'm a dead cookie. The ground loomed up in front of her- Obsidian closed her eyes- And very abruptly, her descent ended. Obsidian opened her eyes to find she was still about four feet above the floor. She looked up. Smoky silver eyes peered down at her from a mask-covered face. Silvery strands of hair flowed around the owner's face. Obsidian felt herself tremble. "Um-thank you." She said, blushing. "Could you put me down?" The person who had caught her chuckled, and gently put her on her feet. Obsidian swayed slightly, the effects of near-death still on her, then she looked her rescuer up and down. He was tall, and well built from what she could see, though a silver tuxedo covered most of his muscles. A silver top hat rested on his hair that came down into a long ponytail. His eyes held her in place. She smiled up at him, shaking still a little. The man put out a hand to steady her. "Are you all right?" He asked. He has a nice voice, Obsidian thought dreamily. Warm and mellow, nice to listen to. From above on the second floor, Sailor Diamond watched this exchange. Obsidian's face had a dreamy, surreal look to it. The man's face was hidden behind a mask. I wonder.She thought. Could this guy be our Tuxedo Mask? "Hey!" She called. The man looked up. "Yes?" He asked. "Um-" Diamond laughed nervously. "Uh, I don't mean to pry or anything- well, actually I do. Who are you? What's your name?" The man grinned. "Call me Tuxedo Onyx." Diamond smiled in relief. "Oh, goody! We get a Tuxedo-guy." The man grinned. "Now that the touching introductions are over." Damon said snippily. "May we please commence-" "Excuse me." Emerald said indignantly. "But you are intruding on a very pleasant conversation, so now, do shut up." She turned and beamed at Tuxedo Onyx. "I'm Sailor Emerald!" "Pleased to meet you." Tuxedo Onyx said with a slight wave. "I'm Obsidian." Sailor Obsidian said, with a slight blush. "Sailor Obsidian." "A true pleasure." Tuxedo Onyx said, giving her a bow. Her flush deepened. "Topaz." "Sapphire." "Garnet." "Amethyst." "And I'm Sailor Diamond." Diamond said with a salute. "Leader of the Jewel Senshi." The man blinked. "You're the leader?" His eyes strayed to Obsidian. "But I thought she was-" "Oh, no." Obsidian stammered, embarrassed. Of course this hot guy wouldn't like her. "I'm just a fighter." Tuxedo Onyx shrugged and grinned. "You looked pretty enough to be an angel, anyway. I figured you must be the leader." Obsidian practically swooned, then held herself in check. Suspicion was creeping slightly through her veins. The guy was slick with words and possibly dangerous. "Nah." She said with a slightly more brittle smile. "Just a fighter." "No more introductions." Damon said with a scolding tongue. "And you-" He pointed at Tuxedo Onyx. "Since you were the one who interrupted this little battle, I think you'll be the one to pay for it." "Oh, by the way, this is Damon!" Diamond called down to Tuxedo Onyx. "He's a bad guy." "I figured." Tuxedo Onyx replied tensely, watching Damon. He slowly drew out a long silver cane from somewhere in his cloak. The air rippled, and a long, glittering black sword appeared in the air by Damon. It was thin, but the edges glinted razor sharp. He pointed it at Tuxedo Onyx. Sailor Diamond watched tensely, mirth gone. She was judging the distance for a jump. She knew very clearly-as did every other scout-that sword could cut right through the cane. The two men faced off. Neither spoke nor moved for several seconds. Then, when Damon was about to lunge- "AH!" Topaz yelled, pointing upwards. "It's a two headed, mangy, ugly, horrific, blood-puking, demonic dragon!!!" Both men looked up to an empty ceiling. "GO!" Topaz whispered, giving Diamond a slight nudge. Diamond stared at her friend. "How did you know-" "Never mind that! Go!" Diamond nodded, and flung herself over the railing at Damon. This time, the shock of the impact was not softened. She crashed straight into him, knocking the wind out of both. Diamond moaned in pain on the hard floor, back screaming with pain. Something was definitely not right. She was twisted at a funny angle. Gasping, she straightened on the floor, and carefully examined her back with her hands, wincing. One joint was out of alignment. When she touched it, fiery pain lanced across her body. "Everlasting Love Purify." She whispered, touching the stray bone. Her pain extended, swelled till she cried out, then vanished. She looked at Damon. His arm was at the wrong angle, twisted 180 degrees. She stared as he calmly snapped his arm back into place and socket. "Didn't that hurt?" She asked in astonishment. Damon's dark blue eyes looked up. "What concern is it of yours?" "Well, ex-cuse me!" Diamond said, miffed. "It did hurt." Damon said, matter-of-factly. "An awful lot, in fact. If I were a mortal wimp, I might be crying in pain by now." Diamond ground her teeth, sensing the insult behind the words. "Shut it, creep." Damon smiled. A harsh wind picked up. It was not cool and soothing like Topaz's attack, but hot and dry, lashing Diamond's body. Sand seemed to prick the back of her legs. Damon was glowing a dark shade of blue, very faintly, but it was growing steadier. He was gaining power. Diamond nervously edged away. Guys, she whispered in her mind, not expecting any answer. We're in trouble. I need help. Up on the second floor, Garnet gasped, swayed, and nearly fell off the balcony, barely being caught by Amethyst and Emerald. In her mind, very faintly and softly, she had heard Diamond's call. Diamond! She screamed in her head in excitement. You can use psycho- kinesis?! You can talk through minds?! And I thought I was the only one- Diamond let out a cry-half in pain, half in shock- as Garnet's voice boomed in her head, loud and clear. Garnet!! My God, is that really you?! Could you be a little quieter? I'm almost mind-deaf. Sorry. Garnet replied, straining to hear her. But I'm excited!! I thought I was the only one who could do this- What do you mean, you thought you were the only one? Diamond asked suspiciously. God, this is weird- You-you didn't know you could do this? Garnet asked hesitantly. "Hey? Hello!" Sapphire said, waving her hand energetically up and down in front of Garnet's blank eyes. "Hello in there!! Yo! Garnet!" "I don't think the owner's in right now, Sapphire." Emerald told her. "Then where is she?!" Sapphire said, upset. "Wait a minute-" Obsidian said, staring hard at Garnet's eyes and hands (she had leapt up to join them on the balcony). "She's-glowing." All looked and gasped. Garnet's face and hands were indeed glowing a deep red, but it was very faint, so little you could only see it if you knew what to look for. Diamond's eyes were glowing too, but her glow was even harder to see at first. Then it began to grow brighter. What do you mean, I didn't know how to do this?! Diamond shouted, voice much clearer. I only figured it out now!!! What, have you been doing it all your life?!? For a long while, yes. Garnet snapped, injured. I have been since I turned 10. I thought I was going nuts. If you are, I am. Diamond replied crossly. But I don't think we are. I think this is a special ability, a power. Then how come I've had it so long? You're the Scout of Fire and Psycho-kinesis, I believe Lune said. Diamond said calmly. She saw Garnet blinking. Slowly a vision of her was beginning to form in her mind. So-it's natural? Garnet asked hopefully. I should think so. YAHOO!!!!!!!! Garnet yelled, deafening Diamond's mind again. The other scouts shivered as a peculiar energy was felt by them, radiating from Garnet. I'm not crazy!! I'm not insane!!!! It's really happening!!! "CHILL!!" Diamond yelled out loud. "Sorry!" Garnet yelled back. "I'm just so excited!! You don't know how long I thought I was insane!" "And you're right!" Obsidian bellowed. "The both of you are nuts!! What on Earth were you doing?!?!" "Speaking telepathically." Damon said, sounding very amused. Diamond glared at him in surprise. "How do you know?" "I must say, your talk was extremely loud." Damon said smoothly. "I could hear it from meters away. Always signs of beginners." "You obviously should know." Diamond muttered. "You question my power, Child of Opal?" Damon asked pleasantly, but there was a dangerous look in his eyes. "Perhaps you'd like to see my power for yourself?" Obsidian saw this. "Be careful, Angie." She quavered under her breath. "He's leading you into a trap." Diamond stood very straight and glared at him. "I should be honored." She pronounced, sarcastic honor dripping from every word. The wind was still rushing through the mall. Damon's eyes grew blacker and blacker. Dark lightning bolts zigzagged across the mall's ceiling, splintering when they hit obstacles. Then they began to crawl down the walls, centered at Diamond. She stood very still, eyes narrowed, assessing the situation as the dark energy began to creep along the floor. She could not escape, she knew that clear enough. Unless she wanted to try a very long jump.It was either that or wait for one of the bolts to strike her. Neither option seemed very appealing. I'll see how much the energy hurts me. She decided. If I can stand it, maybe I can hit Damon before it hurts my friends. If it hurts too bad, I'll get up to the second floor and out of here. If it kills me-well, then I'm dead. That's simple enough, at least. She waited in apprehension as the energy zoomed towards her. Seconds before it would have touched her, the bolts froze. She looked up at Damon. "What's the deal?!" Damon stared at her, eyes black and narrowed. "Aren't you going to cry? Scream? Beg for your life?" Diamond snorted. "Do I look like a wimp? No way, pal. Find some other form of entertainment. Go maim some puppies or something." Then: "On second thought, don't." "Perhaps I have underestimated humans." Damon said to himself. "More than likely." Diamond said cheerfully. "We're an interestingly diverse species." The dark bolts seemed to hesitate, then they shrunk and folded back on themselves, disappearing. The blackness vanished from Damon's eyes. "Consider that a warning." He directed. "What?!" Diamond objected. "Do you think I'm not tough enough or something? Come on! I'll take you!" "I do not think you aren't tough." Damon said, turning away. "In fact," he glanced back, "just the opposite." Sailor Diamond stared at him. Admiration had been one thing she hadn't expected from a general. "Um-okay." She faltered. "Thank you-I think." "No need to thank me, it wasn't a compliment." Damon said brusquely. "Just a fact." "Thank you anyway." She answered. He snorted and turned away. But Diamond thought she heard a faint, "You're welcome" as dark blue bands of energy swirled around him in a circle. The energy shot up to form a black column, and then it blew away into nothingness. Damon was gone. Diamond sighed, then fell over with a thud. When she gained consciousness, she found Amethyst glaring down at her. "Would you mind warning us when you're going to faint?!" She chided, making a mock frown. "So sorry." Diamond said, grinning and sitting up. "Where are we?" "Still in the mall." Emerald butted in. "You've only been out a few seconds." Tuxedo Onyx peered around Obsidian's shoulder. "You had us worried there for a moment, leader." He said with a slight chuckle. She smiled at him. "Will you join us? Become part of our team?" Tuxedo Onyx sighed. "I wish I could, but I think it's safer for all of us if we remain apart and fight in different groups." His cape swirled as he turned away. "I'll always be close, though." He called over his shoulder. "There will never be a battle where I'm not at least watching to see you all fight. I'll guard you all always." Obsidian watched as the man trotted away to the outside world, leapt up, supposedly to the top of the roof, and vanished from their sight. She sighed. "We'll see him again." Diamond told her quietly. Obsidian smiled a little sadly. "I hope so." "Wow!" Sapphire cried. "A second enemy and battle gone! Go us!" Diamond smiled. "A very scary enemy this time." "Agreed." Topaz said. "Creepy dark person. Very hot though. You were lucky to be in his arms, Diamond." Sailor Diamond thought back to Damon's dark sad eyes and black hair. "Yes." She said wistfully. "I was."