Jewel Sailor Senshi

by elgaladangel

Everyone knows of Sailor Moon and her companions' great deeds. But that's only one dimension of seven: what about the others? Here's the 3rd dimension's story, when seven girls meet and are changed forever by a special cat..WARNING!! VERY LONG!

9. The Double Duo and the Illusion Maze! D...

Chapter Five

"B-but, sir, I t-truly didn't mean t-to fail-OW!!!" Katrina fell back, cradling her stump of an arm. It instantly grew back, but she continued screaming. "THAT HURT!!!!! YOU'RE SOO M-MEAN!!!!" "You deserved it." Ithengil spat. "Messing up like you did. You practically killed their leader, and yet you gave up!! With actions like this, it's a wonder we're getting any energy at all!" "Well, I see you've not lost any of your cheerfulness, Ithengil." A drawling, smooth, British-accented voice said. Ithengil froze, and turned slowly around. "Is that.can it be.?" A man with pale skin and blond hair that looked like it had been extremely bleached walked forward out of the shadows, hands in his pockets. Dark brown eyes with a familiar black flash gazed intensely at Ithengil as a cocky smile played on his lips. "So, Spike." Ithengil said, lips pursed. "Have you finally decided to come back into our little gang?" Spike leaned nonchalantly against a black pillar. "Piracy was too boring, mate. Thought I'd come back and see how all my old buddies were doin'." He said coolly. Jedin and Uther came in from the other side of Ithengil, muttering to themselves. Jedin looked up, saw Spike, hit Uther and pointed. "Spike's back." He muttered quietly. "Yeah." Spike said, looking sharply at them. "Spike's back. Piracy was a bit too easy for me, mate." Jedin grinned savagely. "It's good to have you back. We need someone to ridicule us but not be able to do any better." He added, as an afterthought. "Aside from Ithengil." Spike snorted, and gave him a dangerous look. "Don't make me show you some of what I learned when I was away." He warned. "You won't find it pleasant." Jedin glared at Spike, flexing his hands. Spike smiled coolly and looked like he was about to attack. "Spike?" The expression on Spike's face changed in a heartbeat. With a look of almost tenderness he turned to face the extremely pale woman coming out of the shadows. "Ivy," He breathed, going to her. "You should be resting, you're still weak." The woman hesitantly walked forward. She was strangely beautiful, with dark red lips, waves of dark green hair, and two half-crazy black eyes with two red spots in them, like burning coals. "Look at all these people." She murmured lightly, looking around. "Are these all bad people?" "They're our good old friends, remember, love?" Spike asked gently. ("Looks like he's still carting around his psycho girlfriend." Uther muttered to Jedin. "Remember how scary she was?") Ivy, with a look in her eyes like a caged tiger, slowly slid up towards Ithengil and looked in his eyes. "This one has power." She hissed dreamily. "I could feel it when we first arrived." "This is Ithengil." Spike said, slipping an arm about her waist. "You remember-the High Priest?" "Do you like small animals?" Ivy continued, ignoring Spike except to slip her hand down to touch his. "I love them, but when I try to make them my friends, they always die." She continued, sadly and crazily. "Everything I touch always dies." Spike sighed as Ivy crumpled slightly. "You're so cold, love. Here, I got you." "I'm a daisy." She murmured, reaching up with on long fingernail to cut his ear. "That's what you are." He purred as she reached up to finger the blood dripping from the cut. He stopped his cooing to look sideways at Ithengil, Katrina, Jedin, and Uther. "Me and Ivy, we're moving back in." Ithengil attempted to smile. "It will be good to have you back. After you ran away after the last battle." Spike snorted. "Too easy. All these planets are too easy. But piracy was no better. So-" He shrugged. "-we're back." Then he grinned savagely. "But enough about us. Let's talk about you lot, Ithengil. How much energy have you gathered?" Ithengil ground his teeth. "Not much, thanks to these louts." He gave Katrina an angry glance. Spike snorted in disgust. "There was a time when the entire planet would be dead by now, and you haven't even drained the major species?" He shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You've all gotten so slacked off since we've been away." "We can handle ourselves fine without you." Uther snapped. "But this planet's got seven very powerful Senshi. Not at all what we're used to." Spike snorted. "Yeah, right. Nice excuse, Uther. What, did one of them have psychic powers to fend you off?" "As a matter of fact, yes." Uther snapped. Spike chucked grimly. "Very pathetic. You all really have gone to seed." "We're telling the truth!" Katrina wailed. "Their leader-s-she's so strong!! And they're all good fighters!! Fast and brave a-and-" "Shut it." Spike ordered her crossly. "I don't have time for all your immature babbling." "Spike? Hah, you blonde, it is you!" Spike turned with a grin. "Damon! I'll be damned!" The two fiercely hit each other's shoulders and hugged. "Good to see a friendly face, mate." Spike told Damon, holding him at arm's length and inspecting him. "At least, among all these idiots. Gah, you haven't changed a bit, have you?" "Not an inkling." Damon agreed. "Neither have you, for that matter. How's Ivy?" Spike grinned as Ivy came around from behind him and stared at Damon, who bowed. Ivy did not curtsy or bow in return, or make any move. "You've got a secret." She whispered dreamily. "But you hide it very well. It's a very special secret." Spike grinned at Damon. "A secret, eh? Do tell." Damon forced a laugh. "Later, Spike. Have you come back to help us?" Spike nodded, draping an arm across Ivy's shoulders. "Yeah, we have-but tell me the truth, Dames. Are these girls really tough, or were all our wimpy friends just having a bad day?" He gave the closely-watching group a glance with of disgust. Damon shook his head. "No joke. These Senshi are strong, Spike. It's going to be a bit tougher on this one." Spike gave a small, unconvinced laugh. "They've even got you in trouble, eh, Damon??" He snapped his fingers. "Ivy, see if you can See them, all right? Tell me what you spy." Ivy nodded, closed her eyes, and began rocking back and forth, murmuring in a sing-song voice. "The thing is, Damon." Spike continued warmly, as if trying to talk to a stubborn child. "You lot always gave up a bit easier than me and Ives. Remember on that one planet with the four Senshi and you guys were all for just bombing it and-" Ivy let out a scream and began to twitching uncontrollably, massaging her temples. "I can't see her! I can't see any of them!! It's all so dark where they are..they've got deep protection." Frightened, Spike clutched his girl's shoulders. "Ivy! You all right, love?" "I can't see them." Ivy continued to murmur. Then her eyes focused on Spike. "Kill them, Spike. Kill them for me?" "It' s done, angel." Spike said, bringing her hand close to his lips and kissing it. "Kill them for Daisy?" "I'll knock their heads off." Spike said reassuringingly. He turned back to Damon with a calm look in his face. "Maybe you were right about this planet being tougher than others." * * * "Keeeeeyah!" Mary yelled, slamming into the punching bag with all her might. The punching bag flung itself into the air and came back in a huge arc. "AAAAH!" Mary screeched, jumping out of its path. "You evil, slimy-" On its return path, she gave it a mighty punch-and then immediately she began jumping up and down, holding her aching hand. "That's enough, Mary." Lune said, peering sternly over her clipboard. "Are you all right?" Mary groaned and rubbed her wrist. "I think so. MAN, that hurt!" "I suggest going down and doing twenty push-ups on yours knuckles." Lune announced. "TWENTY?!" Mary yelled. "On my KNUCKLES?!" "It will strengthen your wrists!" Angie called from the trapezes. She swung by her hands, let go, and landed in a heap by Mary. "Ow. Seriously, it will help you build up your hand muscles so your wrist bones don't break. I'll do them with you, if you want." Mary sighed, Angie smiled, and they both got down on the ground and began doing push-ups. "Rachelle!" Lune called. "You take a turn at the punching bag." "After what it did to Mary?!" Rachelle yelled from her safety corner across the gym. "No, thanks!" Lune sighed. "You must build up SOME strength!" "She's right, Shellie!" Lacie called from the laser-shooting center, where she and Marisa were very carefully dodging lasers that came out once every five seconds. "There'll be a time when you'll need it!" Rachelle sighed in resignation, then slowly walked up to the punching bag. It seemed to loom in front of her like a pillar of unmovable proportions. "I don't think I can do this." She muttered. She drew her hand back and very carefully, punched at the bag's center. The bag did not move one inch, but it looked like it was considering it. "Okay!" Rachelle said brightly, rapidly retreating. "I hit it! I can't do it! Someone else's turn!" "RACHELLE!!" Lune roared, patience gone. "Get back there and at least TRY to fight!!" Rachelle sighed, and made her way back, slightly quicker. An idea was forming in her mind. If she could only concentrate her psycho-kinesis. Everyone gasped as Rachelle stepped confidently up to the punching bag, leaned back, and punched. The bag went whizzing up in a huge arc and came gently back down as Rachelle gave it a triumphant smile. All the others stared at her in shock. "That was amazing!" Malorie whispered to Elisha. Rachelle dusted off her knuckles and walked over to Lune. She gave her a lofty smile. "Well, Lune?" Lune looked at her severely over her clipboard. "Very well done, Rachelle. I almost couldn't sense the psychic power you used to make the bag fly up before you hit it." Rachelle gaped at her, then blushed a deep red. "Rachelle!" Angie said indignantly. "You were cheating!!" "I-that-well-" Rachelle said in explanation, cowering slightly. "For shame!" Elisha called from her spot on the monkey-bars. "But I can't hit it!" Rachelle wailed, turning appealingly to Lune. "It's not my thing!! I'm not at all strong physically!" "That's no excuse for trying to cheat." Lune said severely, trying to make the small smile tugging at her lips to go away. Rachelle didn't notice it. "Pleeeeeease!" She cried, getting down on her knees. "Let me practice my psycho-kinesis! Please, please, please!!" Lune pretended to consider, while looking Rachelle over affectionately. "Well." "PLEASE?!?!?!" Rachelle wailed. Lune smiled. "Very well. Try to sense other people's presences nearby. That's a good exercise." Rachelle smiled in relief and sat down on the ground, Indian-style. She took a deep breath, and let cool blankness trickle through her brain. She put the sounds of the others exercising out of her mind. She put the hard floor away. Her heart banged loudly in her ears-she pushed the sound back, slowing her pulse. Her breathing slowed to deep sighs. A pulse of mind energy moved close by her. She felt Angie's mind presence gingerly reaching out, inspecting what she was doing. She smiled and memorized the basic feel of the presence before letting her spirit move up and out, reaching over the town. A strange presence touched on the outer reaches of her mind limit. She frowned, both in spirit and in body, and stretched for it, feeling around. A half-crazy, evil presence opened to her. She felt it-she, actually- inspecting her, trying to see who and where she was. Who her friends were. Rachelle instantly put up a shield, trying to block the invader. But the intruder pushed on, stronger than she was, desperately trying to see. Angie!!! Rachelle screamed in her mind. I need some help!!! We've got an intruder!!" Every girl in the gym froze. Lights flew around their eyes and hands. Without the slightest hesitation, each closed their eyes, and allowing their minds to slip away to Rachelle's call. Rachelle?? Marisa called faintly. Was that you?? Are you talking to us?? Rachelle screamed in delight and surprise. Marisa!! Is that you?? But-I called for Angie!! I didn't know you could do it, too!! Apparently, we all can, now. A faint voice that sounded like Mary's said. Are ALL of you here?? Rachelle called, reaching back to them while the intruder tried to barge through. Yes. Angie said, voice sounding stronger and clearer than before. Do you need some help?? Someone's trying to find out who we are. Rachelle felt all the mind voices, some faint, some strong, grow tense. What can we do to help?? Malorie asked, her voice sounding clearer than the others, except for Angie. Rachelle reached out and grabbed her mind, showing it the invading evil, crazy presence. See that?? We need to block it, to form a shield. I don't know what it is, but it's evil. I know that. Malorie reached hesitantly out with her mind to feel the shield Rachelle had already put up. Hesitantly, she drew some of her power up to pass into the shield. It flared brighter in everyone's mind. Carefully, cautiously, with Rachelle's guidance, everyone else added a bit of their energy to the shield. The would-be intruder obviously felt the shield get stronger, for it banged hard on it once or twice before quickly whisking away. Rachelle wondered if she heard a wail of anger before the presence faded, completely guarded. With a jolt, Rachelle returned to her own body. Blood was on her hands from where she had clenched them too hard, digging her nails into her skin. Everyone else was returning with gasps for air or cries of pain to find themselves stiff and white. Lune looked at them all angrily. "May I asked what on EARTH was the reason that you all very suddenly decided to go galloping off into the land of psychic-powers that none of you have mastered yet?!" She shouted. "Someone was trying to find out who we were, Lune." Angie said calmly, stretching and standing. "Well next time, try to WARN me!!" Lune shouted. "You have no comprehension of some of the things that are out there!! There are people with stronger telekinetic powers, strong enough to capture and bind you all- yes, even you, Rachelle!! You must learn control!! I could feel your minds leaping all about like drunk antelopes!! Learn subtleness!!" "Teach us." Lacie said, twisting her neck back and forth till it popped. "Teach us how. We might need it at some point." Lune sighed. "I had hoped to not go into this for a while. Besides, I'm the master of building up physical strength, not mental. For that, we would need-" She broke off with another deep sigh. "We would need.?" Mary asked. "Demetri?" Malorie inquired gently. Lune nodded, sadly. Angie came forward to scratch Lune's ears. "Lune," She began softly. "What exactly did happen to you and Demetri, and to Opal??" Lune shook her head. "It's not for me to say alone, girls. I need Demetri for the story to be complete. Otherwise, you'll just hear my half. And my half is the less complete one." "Well, what happened to Demetri?" Marisa asked. Lune's ears drooped. "I only wish I knew. When they hit the main palace, we were separated. And-then there was the crash-the ceiling-marble blocks- falling-" She sighed. "And the next thing I knew, I was in the space zone, and a voice was telling me to wait for the Jewel Senshi to return. Which I did. For several thousand years, I waited in cat form. All the time I searched all the new planets, looking for Demetri. To no avail. I haven't seen him since nearly ten thousand years ago." Lune turned abruptly away then, but all the girls saw the glimmer of a tear that had formed in one large cat eye. Marisa started to move to pet her, but Angie grabbed her arm. She had learned enough about Lune now to know that she preferred to be known as tough, and never let her weaknesses show. It would have been an insult to try and comfort her. Lune quickly turned back around, all hint of tears gone. "Now, girls, why don't you just continue physical training for today, hmm?" She asked. Silently, the girls pulled away. Mary moved to go to the laser-dodging activity, when she happened to glance to the door. Her eyes opened wide and a strangled yell burst from her throat. "Angie!" Angie turned-and started with a gasp. "Lune!" At the note in her voice, Lune turned, looked-and let out a small scream that resounded through every corner of the room. "DEMETRI!!!" A terribly thin, silver cat with matted fur was leaning against the doorframe. As Lune bounded over to it, it made an effort to straighten and purr at her. "Hey, Lune." It murmured in a deep, cool tone. Lune smacked him over the head with one paw. "Demetri, you idiot!! Where have you been, and what on Opal have you been doing?!" The cat winced, and placed a paw over its head. "Ow! That hurt!" "And well it should!" Lune snapped, tears bright in her eyes. "Do you realize how long I waited for you?!" Without waiting for an answer, she forced the cat to the ground and proceeded to vigorously wash him. "Ow! Lune-hey, stop!-ow!" The cat protested. "Believe me, I tried to reach you!! But their high priest got to me and flung me into another dimension." Lune stopped washing him for a moment to look upset. "Ithengil?! He's still alive?! I thought-I had hoped-maybe he had." "As did I." The cat said grimly. "But he's still with her." "Um-excuse me." Angie said softly, coming up to the silver cat with her hand out. "Are you Demetri?" The silver cat looked at her with large, dark red eyes. His whiskers twitched. "I am. And you are?" "I'm-well, my name's Angie." Angie said. "But I'm really-I'm Sailor Diamond." Demetri's red eyes opened so wide you could see whites all around. "You- you're a scout?!" He gasped. Angie nodded, worried. Demetri stared at Lune. "You've found them already?!" Lune nodded. "It was rather easy. Their auras are already very bright." "Fantastic." Demetri murmured. "Simply unbelievable." He sized Angie up. "So you're the leader or our Jewel Senshi, hmm? Angie nodded as the others came forward. Mary bent down to give Demetri a friendly pat. "I'm Mary-actually, I'm-." Demetri smiled at her. "I'd recognize your dark hair anywhere, Obsidian." Mary smiled and blushed a little. Lacie gingerly tapped his head. "Nice kitty." She muttered. "I'm Lacie- Amethyst." Demetri frowned at Lacie's carefulness. "What's wrong? Allergic to cats?" "Lune scratched her several times when we first met her." Marisa said helpfully, scratching along Demetri's back. "I'm Marisa, or Sailor Emerald." Demetri gave Lune an affectionate glance. "Do you still not have any patience with them?" He inquired. Lune actually blushed. "I was annoyed." She muttered by way of explanation. "I do remember your short temper." Demetri said dryly. Angie blinked. Was it her imagination, or did it seem like Lune and Demetri were flirting?? "I'm Malorie." Malorie said, coming forward. "Sailor Topaz." Demetri said with a nod. "Please." Malorie said with a grin. "Call us by our human names. We don't really feel like those warriors yet." "Understandably so." Demetri said with a straight face. "I will indeed try." Elisha and Rachelle timidly stroked either side of Demetri. "You're so beautiful." Rachelle said, awestruck. "Thank you." Demetri said. "But I prefer handsome." Rachelle giggled. "My mistake. I'm Garnet, by the way. Or Rachelle. Or Shellie." Demetri nodded. "Rachelle. I'll remember." "And I'm Elisha." Elisha said, fingering one of his ears before flicking it with a fingernail. Demetri jumped and gave her a look. "Hey!" "Sorry." Elisha apologized. "But I've never seen a cat with silver fur before. I wanted to check to make sure you were real." Demetri eyed her suspiciously. "Fine, then." His coat was starting to gleam again by now, due to Lune's persistent cleaning and Mary's gentle picking out of matted, rotting hair. Demetri sighed blissfully as he rubbed his head against Mary's hand. "Thank you. That feels so much better." "You're very welcome." Lune said snootily, spitting out a few silver hairs. Demetri gave her a feline grin before turning to look at all the girls. He sat very still and sphinx-like. The girls sat admiring him, every once in a while reaching out to stroke an ear or his back. "If you're expecting me to do anything but eat and sleep, you've got another thing coming." Demetri said at last. Angie blinked. "Well, Lune had said something about a story that she couldn't tell unless you were here, and now you're here.." "Not now." Demetri said firmly. "I'm exhausted. Breaking through the dimensions was hard, even with the trigger word being said." Angie sighed, and sat back on her toes. "Well, it was worth a shot." She said to no one in particular. "You will hear the story." Demetri promised. "But as of now, I am weak. I must be at my full strength to be able to recount the past." Rachelle stiffened, and murmured a warning. "They're coming." Elisha glanced over at her. "Who?" "Them. That-presence, that tried to find who we are. It's coming, and another person with it." Tense, wary, the girls stood. "Where will they hit?" Angie asked. Rachelle looked around, eyes closed, searching with her mind. "Close. Very close. I think." Her eyes snapped open. "At that new building site. You know, that new Sears? It's right by the park. They might try to reach people from there." "So what do we do?" Marisa asked. "Wait for them in the park, or go and get them where they first are." Angie frowned. "Definitely where they first are. The park's too big." "So." Lacie hesitated. "We transform?" Angie grinned. "Oh, yeah. We transform." "Diamond Star Power!" "Obsidian Star Power!" "Garnet Star Power!" "Amethyst Star Power!" "Topaz Star Power!" "Sapphire Star Power!" "Emerald Star Power!" "MAKE-UP!!!" Demetri watched the blaze of colors with some pride and satisfaction. "They'll be great, someday." He told Lune, who was sitting beside him. Lune sighed. "They've become great already." Diamond finished her transformation and grinned at Demetri. "We'll be back in a sec, you two. Just got to finish some evil plots to destroy the world. Average stuff, you know." The seven Senshi left and went bounding away over the roof tops to where the tops of the park trees could be seen. Demetri watched them go. "Do they know what they're in for yet?" Lune sighed. "No. They have no true idea what they're up against. I hate to spoil their innocence though." Demetri nodded knowingly. "But we have to sooner or later. Our scouts can handle it." Lune looked out at the seven disappearing girls. "I hope you're right, Demetri. I sincerely hope you're right." * * * Spike blinked around in the mid-morning sunlight of this strange planet. "God." He muttered. "Think it's bright enough here? Their star must be less than a few million miles away!! Sheesh!" The two evil generals were standing precariously close to the top of the unfinished building on a long, overhanging piece of metal. Ivy looked around too, eyes opened wide. "All the little animals are running about." She murmured to Spike, half-entwining her fingers in his short hair. Spike grinned savagely, looking down at the various people scampering around through the park. "Oh, yeah. All the cute little animals are everywhere, aren't they? Do you want to kill some cute little animals?" "That one," Ivy said, pointing down to a youth-looking male, "is a very bad animal. He's trying to steal all the nuts and flowers." Spike peered down. It did seem like the male was trying to steal from a stand of nutritious items with a rather interesting smell, but the owner of the items was arguing furiously and wrapping his arms around the boy, who did not attempt to struggle but instead fought back with his own strangling hold. (Actually, the first young man was an army volunteer who had just come back from overseas, and the vendor-owner was his brother, but how was Spike to know that?) "A very bad animal." Spike agreed. "Perhaps you'd like to make him suffer?" Ivy looked at him in perplexity. "Now, why would I wish to do that?" She asked, voice taking on the tone and accent of a young cultured British girl. Spike sighed. Great Ivy had gone off in her own little world again. Occasionally, these brief fits would pop up and she'd think she was something else, but why here and now?! They had a mission to do!! But there was only one thing to do: ride with it. "Oh, terribly sorry, my dear." Spike said with a straight a face as he could manage. "Perhaps you would prefer, some-er-energy?" "A cup of tea would be lovely." Ivy said primly, sitting down in midair like she was seated on an invisible chair. "No tea, sorry dear." Spike continued. Ivy blinked. "No tea? But what on." Her eyes wavered, then focused. "Oh, Spikey, there you are. Now are we going to get some energy from the puppies and kittens or not?" Spike smiled in relief. He had been afraid the phase would last more than a few seconds. He still shuddered when he remembered when Ivy had mimicked someone she called, "The Crocodile Hunter" from Gods-Knows-Where for a whole week. "Hey, you!" Spike sighed. "Really, love, please. Can we stop with the silly charades?" Ivy gazed up at him dreamily. "Your hair looks like onions." She murmured. Spike frowned. She seemed to be acting normal. "Hey! Hello!" The voice called again. "I don't think they can hear you." Another voice said. "But they're standing right there!" The first voice replied. There were murmurs of agreement. "Try again, then." A third voice urged. The first voice seemed to take a deep breath. "HEY!!! HELLO DOWN THERE!!! YO!! BLONDIE AND GREEN-HEAD!!!" There were shouts of protests. "Not that loud!!" A fourth voice complained. "Man, you sounded like Katrina!!" Spike slowly turned and looked to the large metallic beam just above them. Seven silhouettes-of young, humanoid-looking girls-were perched there just above them. They were arguing amongst themselves amicably. "She has a nicer voice than Katrina, though-" "How would you know?! You were on the ground in pain the whole time!-" "Well, we heard enough, we weren't deaf-" "Yeah, it was hard NOT to hear her." "Hey, Diamond, I meant to ask you, did something bad happen to you while you were fighting?" "Yeah, there were a lot of screams-" "I was attacked by this weird alien thingy-" One voice began. The lead silhouette looked down at Spike's upturned face. "Oh, great. Hello! Enough chattering! We have company!" All seven silhouettes peered down at him. "Oh, my God!" One of them whispered. "He looks EXACTLY like James Marsters!!" "Only you, Topaz." Another voice said, sighing. A further back silhouette shook its head at the one next to it. Spike bared his teeth slightly. What angle, what angle, what angle. "Hello, there!" He called, trying to keep his voice light and friendly. "Who're you, and why are you up this high?" "Why are you?" Someone quickly retorted. There were several cries of "Hush!" "Look." The lead silhouette said, looking down at him. "We know who you and your girlfriend are, okay? You're evil generals for Rubian." Spike frowned. There went his innocent attempt. "And you are.?" The seven silhouettes jumped down onto the wide beam just in front of him. Sunlight flashed across each pretty face. "WE'RE THE JEWEL SENSHI!" They announced as one. Spike sighed and sagged as his mind raced. "The Jewel Senshi? Oh, dear, oh dear! Whatever shall we do?" He turned to Ivy. "Uh, love? What did we do with the Senshi of those other planets?" Ivy came up to rest her head on Spike shoulder, smiling eerily at the girls. "Why, we killed them, Spiky." She murmured quietly. "We killed them all." "Oh, yeah , that's right!" Spike exclaimed in tones of false surprise. "Oh, and you know what?" He turned back to the girls. "We're going to do the same to you." The leader Senshi smiled. "Of course. I had expected as much." She said, teeth chattering. Spike smiled, then rubbed his hands. "So. Let's start at the beginning. Introductions first, people." Ivy looked interestedly at the girls. "These are the Sailor Scouts." She murmured. "Very good, angel." Spike purred, rubbing her cheek with his hand. "Diamond," Ivy murmured, pointing to the lead Senshi. "Topaz. Emerald. Garnet. Sapphire. Amethyst. Obsidian. All the pretty jewels." Diamond evaluated the woman carefully as Amethyst poked her back. "I'm getting major creepy vibes from these two!" She hissed. "They give me the willies!" "Your girlfriend's a freak." Topaz told the blond general calmly. Diamond saw her hands shaking behind her back. The blond man smiled, but his dark eyes sharpened like knives. "I wouldn't be so quick to judge who was the freak here, Sailor Topaz." "Come on." Obsidian said roughly. "You said it was intro-time. Well, you know us. Are we going to find out who you are or not?" The man bowed elaborately, but his eyes never left them. "I am Spike, General of Rubian and Master of Piracy, pleased to make your acquaintance. This-" He gestured to Ivy, who curtsied deeply. "-is the Lady Ivy, Mistress of Illusion." All the girls gasped. "Spike!!" Emerald hissed at Diamond. "I don't believe this! This guy's like right out of Buffy!!" "So's Ivy!!" Garnet whispered-screamed. "She's exactly like Dru!! Is this creepy or WHAT?!" "Would someone please explain?!" Sapphire said tartly. "What's Buffy?! Who's Dru?" "Never mind! Explain later!" Diamond told her, trying not to sound as freaked as she felt. Spike watched this exchange with a bemused expression. "What are they doing??" He asked Ivy. Ivy closed her eyes. "They're young," She purred. "Weak-minded. Silly. Not fully trained warriors yet. Easy for pumpkin to kill." "Then why'd Jedin and Damon and the others have so much trouble?" Spike asked quietly. "Especially Damon. Is he just weaker or are these girls really stronger than they act?" "I sometimes think my nails will all fall out." Ivy murmured, resting her head on Spike's chest. "Never happen." Spike told her. "Now what do we do about the girls?" Ivy response was brief. "Kill them." Garnet felt a surge of evil fly up in her mind. "Everybody down!!!" She screamed, throwing herself to the cold, hard metal. The girls gaped at her in amazement, dropping to their knees. A torrent of red fire blossomed over their heads where they had been not one second earlier. The heat from it scorched and burned all the scouts' hair, and Obsidian yelped as a small thread lashed out to burn her cheek. The fire dissipated and Obsidian gingerly touched her cheek. "Now that stung!" She growled, glaring at Spike, who looked decidedly unruffled. "You-peroxide freak!" Spike cocked an eyebrow at her. "What is this 'peroxide'?" "Does it matter?" Sailor Obsidian yelled, eyes on fire. "BLACK FEAR SWARM!!!" Spike watched her oncoming attack with interest before waving his hand. The attack stopped an inch from his face, swirled, and vanished in a few red sparks. Sailor Obsidian stared, shivering. "No way!" She muttered. "He barely had to move!" "You started the conversation." Spike said, a ball of red electricity forming in his right hand. "I was merely attempting to keep it going with a simple question. Too bad. Now I'll never know the answer." The electricity swarmed out faster than the eye could track. Within an instant, it had hit Obsidian. She screamed in pain and fell backwards towards the edge of the beam. Diamond cried out a warning as she tilted back- A gloved hand reached out and snagged Obsidian's arm as she flew backwards. She clung to it, not caring who it was, or that they could hear her sobbing like a baby. The ground was so far below, and just under her feet, there was nothing. She was hauled up back onto the beam. She clung to whoever had saved her, cries muffled in their tunic. Diamond watched this interestedly. She had no idea whether Obsidian had any idea that she had been saved by Tuxedo Onyx, but she would give two of her fingers to trade spots with her right then. Tuxedo Onyx looked alarmed but not uncomfortable. His hand quickly strayed over her hair, and he gently patted her shoulder. Obsidian gulped as she realized her head was resting on someone's chest. Someone who was much taller than she was, and she was the tallest of her friends. Slowly, she looked up. Smoky eyes partly hidden beneath a silver mask met hers. Obsidian felt a blush rise on her cheeks. "Um, hi." She muttered. Brilliant, you idiot!!! She yelled in her head. This guy just saved you and dealt with your stupid sobbing for an hour, and the best you can say is HI?! Tuxedo Onyx gave her a quirky grin. "Hello. It seemed you needed some help." You can back away from his arms now. Her inner voice scolded. "Yes, well," She said shyly, completely ignoring the voice. "Thank you for helping me." Tuxedo Onyx backed away with a bow. "No problem." Spike frowned as he looked at the strange man who had prevented his first kill. "Who are you?" The silver clad man turned and stared at Spike, who felt the hairs on his neck raise. "A Guardian!" He hissed in recognition. "That's right." The man replied coldly, seeming to grow in stature and height. "I am Tuxedo Onyx of the line of the Therinan." "The Ther-whatsit?" Diamond asked Sapphire, who shrugged. Spike smiled tossily. "No matter. Even a Guardian can't protect seven newbies." "Nevertheless." Tuxedo Onyx insisted. "They're under my protection, and I'll die before one of them gets killed by the likes of you." Obsidian moved slightly to the side of him to glare nervously at the two villains. "Oh, really?" Spike sneered. "Then protect them!" Balls of electricity formed in both his hands, and flew out, splitting and dividing to form a circle of twelve attacks around the scouts and Tuxedo Onyx. Garnet whimpered slightly, clutching Tuxedo Onyx's cloak. "What do we do?!" She whined. "What can we do?!" Diamond watched this, slightly miffed. "We could always jump off." She suggested. The others stared at her. "Simple." Amethyst commented. "Elegant. And completely suicidal. Are you nuts?!" "Not all the way!" Diamond growled, injured. "Down to the next beam! The attack will miss!" "Do you think it's safe?" Sapphire asked Tuxedo Onyx. Tuxedo Onyx smiled grimly. "What other choice do we have?" The group edged towards the beam's end. Just as they were about to jump, Emerald noticed a shimmering wall between the lightning balls. "Don't! It's a tra-!" ZAP!! Garnet had been the first to touch the space between the attacks. A shield of white-hot energy sprang up visibly where she touched. She screamed and fell back, clutching burned, raw arms and smoldering gloves. "The energy balls must have made a high-frequency wall between them." Tuxedo Onyx told Diamond tersely. "I'm sorry." She replied, shaken. "I-I hadn't seen-" "Obviously." Tuxedo Onyx said sharply, turning away. Diamond grabbed his shoulder and whirled him around to face her. "Watch it, pal." She warned in a low voice so none of the other girls could hear. "Just because I trust you and you claim to be a Guardian doesn't mean I give up my leadership of this little ensemble." "And it was your plan that made Sailor Garnet get injured." Tuxedo Onyx snapped, pointing to where Garnet was being tended to as best as possible by Sapphire and Topaz. "I didn't hear you come up with a better plan!" Diamond retorted. "And now we're stuck here with two generals just outside waiting to attack-" "The naughty animals are fighting." A dreamy voice said. Tuxedo Onyx and Diamond whirled around. Through the sparkling shields there came a green-haired figure, clothed in green silk and wrapped in mists. Green fire bloomed in both her pale hands. "Ivy." Diamond whispered. "What's she going to do?" Ivy's dark eyes glowed green. "Naughty kitties." She whispered, putting a finger to her lips. "Shhhh." The Senshi stared at her, very still. Rachelle had stopped crying to look up. An eerie silence fell inside the bubble. An expecting silence. A waiting silence. "Bad little kitties." Ivy continued, eyes glowing brightly. "Shame on kitties. Guess you'll need to be taught a lesson." The green fire slowly rose into the air and stretched towards them, wrapping lightly around the Senshi's eyes and faces. The green mist seemed to expand and flow over them, turning the world into a living dream. Diamond coughed, waving her hand in front of her face. "These mists." She muttered, trying to clear her throat as they trickled down. "This can't be ordinary fog." "There's a definite bad feeling in this stuff." Tuxedo Onyx said, covering his face partially with his cloak. "Hey!" Garnet called, waving her hands in front of her face. "Hello? I can't-see-ow!" "Ow! That was my shin, Garnet!" Topaz complained. "And that was my head!" Garnet replied, sitting up and letting the mist curl around her head. "Where's everyone else?" "We're here, Garnet!" Diamond called, hearing her friend. "But I can't see any of you. Just stay where you are. Wait till this stuff clears." As if on cue, the fog rolled back and disappeared. Diamond rubbed her eyes, and stared at the scene in front of them. The beam high above the earth was gone. So was the shopping mall. So was the city. "Nani!?" Obsidian screeched, staring around. "Where the hell are we?!" Bright golden meadows stretched out for infinity in all directions. Wildflowers were strewn in various clumps and patches. A few gold-green butterflies flittered past on small, evanescent wings. Mountains loomed faintly up in the distance. A warm breeze carried the thick perfume of thousands of flowers. "Ahhh!" Emerald cried in delight, running over to pick a flower. "It's so pretty!" Garnet exclaimed, looking around at the bed of flowers she was sitting in. Topaz danced about happily. "Whee! This place is great!" She exclaimed. Obsidian and Amethyst were lying down and staring up at the sky, pointing at various clouds. "There's an elephant!" "Where?" "Right there, see." "Oh, yeah." Amethyst yawned. "Man, this place's so cool." Diamond looked around, troubled. "But how'd we get here?" She murmured. "Teleportation? Or is this just a mind figment-" "Or maybe it's real!" Sapphire said, overhearing her. She lifted her arms and twirled around, face to the sun. "Come on, Diamond! This is beautiful!" Tuxedo Onyx bent down to snap a flower off its stem. "It seems real enough." He muttered. The flower in his hand stayed alive and fresh for a single moment, before with a pop, it crumbled into dust. Tuxedo Onyx stared at it, then flung the dust away from him. "I don't like this." He muttered. Diamond glanced around, uneasily. Something was strange.She, too, bent to pick a flower. Before she could tear it from its stem, the flower writhed in her hand, letting out a high-pitched squeal. Diamond jumped back. "Everyone up!" She screamed. "This isn't right!" Garnet stirred form her stupor to look at Diamond. "What's wrong, Diamond?" Everyone else ignored her and went on frolicking. "The flowers!" Diamond cried, running to Garnet and forcing her to stand. "They're not right! There's something really wrong here! Use your power! Feel!" Garnet stared at her in confusion before closing her eyes and reaching out with her mind. Almost instantly she snapped back, screaming. "Run! Everyone! GET OUT OF HERE!" "What did you see?!" Diamond asked frantically. "Demons!" Garnet replied shakily. "They're everywhere! This entire field is full of them!" Diamond gasped, then turned. "Did you hear that?! We have to get out of here!" The others ignored her. Topaz continued making a daisy chain. Sapphire was staring at the sky. Obsidian and Amethyst were staring at clouds, but had stopped murmuring now. Emerald was taking long, slow sniffs of a flower. Diamond ran to Topaz and shook her. "Topaz! Come on! We have to get out of-" Topaz turned her face to look at Diamond. She recoiled in horror, falling backwards. Topaz's eyes were blank and white, and her skin had gone incredibly pale and looked as if it were stretched over her bones. She stared at Diamond a minute before returned to her daisy chain, slowly weaving one flower in with the others. "What's going on?!" Diamond wailed, looking at Emerald. Her eyes were blank as well, and the bones in her face stood out like a skeleton's. "I think the flowers are draining their energy." Tuxedo Onyx reported, lifting Obsidian's face to examine it. Garnet shuddered as she peeked into Sapphire's upturned face. "Majorly creepy!" She moaned. "And that could have been me!" Topaz shuddered slowly and began to rise, turning her head to look at Diamond. "Destroy." She whispered softly. "Destroy the light." The other Senshi climbed to their feet as well. "Destroy." They murmured, reaching for Diamond with fingers that twitched. "Oh, shit." Diamond muttered, backing away from the reaching hands. "Now what?!" "Attack them?" Tuxedo Onyx asked, stumbling back from Obsidian. "No!" Diamond cried, glaring at him. "These are still my friends! They're just under evil influence! We can't hurt them!" Garnet stared hard at Topaz's face. For an instant, her eyes changed, and flashed a familiar black. Garnet flinched as she recognized those eyes. "They're being controlled by Ivy." She told Diamond in a low tone. "Oh, dear." Diamond sighed, rubbing her face with one hand. "I wish Lune were here. Do we attack? Or should we try to get them out otherwise?" "Diamond!" Tuxedo Onyx snapped his fingers. "Your healing power! It might be able to cure them." Diamond stared at him as she nodded. "Yeah, it might!" With a deep breath, she turned to face the close-pressing group. "Everlasting Love Purify!!" The golden light wrapped around each Senshi, hitting their eyes and going into their throats. Topaz choked and spat out green mist, eyes clearing. The others each began coughing or spitting out wisps of mist, color returning to their cheeks. Diamond heard a scream of anger as Sapphire finally rubbed her eyes and glanced brightly at Diamond. "What happened?" She inquired curiously. Diamond laughed a little, then fell over. "Diamond!" Garnet exclaimed, trying to get her friend to sit up. It was no use. Their leader was out cold. "She's probably drained." Tuxedo Onyx told Garnet, checking Diamond's pulse. "Healing takes a lot of strength." "Healing?" Amethyst asked, blinking. "Who was healed? Can someone explain what the heck happened?" "You don't remember?" Garnet asked, sweat-drops forming on her head. "Just looking at the clouds." Amethyst said cheerfully. "And then Diamond falling over." Topaz frowned. "I remember muttering something.like, 'toy' or something. Were we playing?" "I think there was a drug in the flowers to lower their guard and make them giddy." Tuxedo Onyx confided to Garnet. "I remember." Sailor Obsidian said, voice muted and strange. Garnet turned to look at her. "You remember what happened? About you guys trying to attack us? Diamond saving you by healing you? Green mists?" "No." Obsidian said, giving her a look as if she were crazy. "I remembered where I put my koosh-ball!! It's been missing since last week, but now I remember that I put it in my pocket!" Garnet stared at her before falling over. "What?!" She spluttered. "Oh, I remember all that other stuff too." Obsidian said earnestly. "But my koosh-ball's been lost for so long-" Garnet abruptly smacked her upside her head. "Be quiet!" She ordered. "We have to get out of here!" "How?" Sapphire asked, staring around the meadows. "This place seems unend- " The flowers suddenly twisted on their stems and grew gray. The grass wilted, turning brown. A harsh wind blew over the land, and the sky turned black. Heat pressed up from the ground. Within seconds, the meadows had become a desert. Lightning flashed from swollen clouds, and thunder roared, but no rain fell. The flowers crumbled into dust that was blown up by the wind, turning into a dust storm. Emerald shielded her eyes from the painful dust. "What's happening?" She cried. "I don't know, but brace yourself." Topaz warned, an arm flung over her eyes. "I wish Diamond was awake." Amethyst admitted, kneeling by their still leader. There was no reply to this. Chunks of earth began to be lifted away by the wind. The mountains in the distance seemed to fall apart and crash, shaking the ground. Cracks appeared in the ground, snaking in thin lines between the scouts. With a huge roar, the ground split apart into deep chasms with only small pillars of land in between. The scouts immediately found themselves scrambling for land and getting separated by the huge abyss "Guys!" Topaz screamed, reaching for the small pillar that had Obsidian and Amethyst. "We're all right!" Obsidian called in reassurance. Emerald waved from the one she shared with Sapphire. "You okay, Garnet?" She called. Garnet peeked out from behind Topaz. "Is it over?" She quavered. Tuxedo Onyx grinned down at her. "We're all alright." He told her. "The earthquake seems to have subsided for now." "Where's Diamond?!" Sapphire screamed across, frantically searching the land. "She's unconscious, remember?!" "She might not have gotten to a pillar!" Garnet gasped, the bottom dropping out of her stomach. "Look!" Amethyst cried, pointing. On a very small, rickety-looking pillar farther out than the others lay a prostrate form. The rock beneath Diamond was crumbling rapidly, and already her hands and feet were in midair. "Diamond!" Topaz screamed. "Wake up!" Everyone gasped as a large chunk of Diamond's pillar fell away. Her torso and head were on nothing, now. She began to fall backwards. "Diamond!" All the Senshi gasped as one as she slipped over the edge. And did not fall. Garnet stopped sobbing into Topaz's arm to stare. Diamond was lying flat on her back in the middle of the air while the pillar she had been on crumbled into dust. Very slowly and carefully, she began to float towards the closest pillar, the one with Sapphire and Emerald on it. "Are we dreaming?" Obsidian whispered. "Is she using some sort of power?" Amethyst murmured. Garnet was too stunned to say anything, but she reached out with her power, trying to sense what was happening. A tangible dark aura was glittering faintly under Diamond. She could hardly detect it, and had it been any fainter, she probably wouldn't have felt it at all. As it was, it was weak, just strong enough to keep Diamond floating in the air towards the pillar. As Emerald and Sapphire caught her, the presence faded almost completely away, though Garnet could still feel it watching. She shuddered, and withdrew quickly. The aura of whatever thing it was, was powerful and strange. She hoped it was on their side. Emerald hugged Diamond fiercely. "Hey, you okay?!" "She's still knocked out, Emerald." Sapphire told her. "Eh-heh-heh-I knew that." Emerald laughed lamely. With a sudden rumble, the earthquake returned in full force. All the pillars were instantly smashed and crumbled to the abyss, with the scouts still on top of them. "YEEEEEAH!!!!!" Obsidian screamed, clutching onto Amethyst. "HELP MEEEEE!!!! Topaz wailed, Garnet throttling her. "Well, aside from the fact I'm falling myself, I would!!!" Tuxedo Onyx said matter-of-factly, smiling as best he could at Topaz. "WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!!" Sapphire announced, grabbing Diamond's hand. They fell for what seemed like eons. Down and down and down. SPLASH!!!!! Sapphire hit the water hard. She gasped as the wind was torn out of her, and breathed salt water. Coughing and spluttering, she fought her way to the faint surface, lungs burning. Just she felt they would explode, someone caught her ankle. "MMHPFG!!" She screamed in the water, clawing at the hand. Sapphire!! It's me!! Don't freak, please!! Sapphire stopped clawing at Garnet's hand, but she was too scared and freaked out to respond. I can't swim very well! Help me! Sapphire nodded, even though she knew Garnet couldn't see, and began frantically flailing towards the surface, lungs dying for a breath. With a roar, she exploded into the air, gasping and clutching at her throat. "Air!" She gasped. "Oh, wonderful, blessed, glorious thing. Love air. Oh, yes." Garnet choked and vomited water onto the surface. Wiping her mouth, she glanced around. "So.where are we now?" Sapphire stared around at the dark sea and cloudless night sky filled with stars. "I-I have no idea." She murmured. "I can't recognize any constellations in those stars at all." "Where're the others?!" Garnet gasped, filled with sudden dread. "What if they drowned?!" "What if Diamond's still unconscious?!" Sapphire cried. "I've got to go down to see!" Someone came up nearby, spluttering and coughing. "Is anyone else alive?" Amethyst called. "We're here!" Garnet called with relief. "As are we." Emerald said, paddling up with Topaz. "Five here, three missing." Topaz said grimly. "Where is Obsidian? Tuxedo Onyx? Where's Diamond? She was knocked out! What if she's still sinking?!" Sapphire glanced down into the unfathomable depths. "We can't do anything for them now. We just have to wait and see who rises and who doesn't." Topaz bit her lip, but stayed on the surface, dog-paddling slightly to keep afloat. Sapphire sighed and leaned back on the water's cushion. She was tired, and floating was the next best thing to sleeping. Dreamily, she wove her fingers through her air, trying not to think of how deep the water was, or what could have been swimming just below her. Silence prevailed for a few moments. A sudden "WUMPH!" broke the quiet as a few feet away, Tuxedo Onyx gasped for air, Obsidian in his arms. She was very pale and still, but slowly she took a ragged breath before coughing up about a gallon of water. "You guys!" Garnet said happily, floundering over to them. "Are you all right, Obsidian? Onyx?" "We're all right." Obsidian managed to gasp, smiling weakly at Garnet. "Is everyone here?" "All but Diamond." Garnet admitted. "She-she was unconscious, Obsidian, remember?" Obsidian sighed and hung her head. "I hope she's okay." She muttered. Gently they swam back to the group. For five long minutes, no one spoke or moved, save for the occasionally desperate paddling to keep afloat. "Look." Amethyst said finally. "I don't know what we're waiting for, but if Diamond's not coming up now, she probably won't be coming up again." The bluntness of this statement made the quiet that followed very uncomfortable. Everyone was very still. "Let's just try to swim for the nearest shore, all right?" Amethyst asked, starting to swim off. "If we swim long enough in one direction, we're bound to find some land." Slowly, the Senshi moved water-logged arms and legs to follow Amethyst. No one talked or cried. Their feelings were numbed, for now. Amethyst sighed as she paddled on. She couldn't think of Diamond, couldn't think of her sacrifice- WHOOOSH!!!! Amethyst yelled and frantically paddled backwards as something flew up from the water just in front of her. It hovered in the air above their heads, frantically gasping and spitting and coughing. Topaz squinted up at it, joy beating fast in her heart. "Diamond?" She called hopefully. From above their came a stream of curses. "Who the hell flung me into the middle of the friggin' ocean when I was unconscious?!?!" Diamond yelled, kicking out angrily. "Oooh, man! I think I lowered the water level at least three inches!! Bleaugh!!" "Diamond!!" Garnet screamed. "You're alive?!" "Of course I am." Diamond retorted crossly. "I hurt too much to be dead. We're talking a major belly-flop, here. Ouchies." "Um-Diamond?" Emerald inquired. "Yes?" "You're floating." Diamond looked down at her in amazement, then at her body. "ITAI!!!" She shrieked. "Get me down!!" "You're not doing it yourself?" Tuxedo Onyx asked. "Does it LOOK like I am, you idiot?!" Diamond yelled angrily. "Garnet! What the heck's doing this to me?" "Ummm." Garnet said helpfully, scanning Diamond with her power. Something shoved her mind roughly away before she could tell what it was. Power surged behind her eyelids as she cried out in pain. "What is it?!" Diamond called down. "Whatever it is, it doesn't want me knowing it's there!" Garnet called back grimly. "Want me to try again?" "No, you'll get injured." Diamond took a deep breath, then said calmly to the air. "Excuse me, whoever it is that has me picked up, I would be very grateful if you would drop me back down." A low chuckle answered her. "So you don't appreciate me saving your life." "Oh, not at all-" Diamond stopped with a gasp of recognition. "Damon?" She cried softly, anger and hatred coursing through her. Damon chuckled. "Not bad, goldie." He confirmed as the air around her darkened slightly. "What do you want?!" Diamond demanded. "Why'd you save me?!" She angrily twisted in the air, trying to find how she was being held. "You deserve a better death." Damon said coldly and simply. "Preferably one done by me." "I feel so loved." Diamond snapped, struggling. There was a flash of black, and Diamond abruptly dropped into the water, managing to turn her fall into a swan dive just before she hit. "Jerk." She muttered when she reached the surface again. "What was that?" Obsidian asked curiously. "What?" Diamond asked, spitting out some water. "That one-way conversation up there." Emerald said, frowning. "Who were you talking to?" They didn't hear him, Diamond realized. She also realized-rather uncomfortably-that she didn't want them to know about Damon saving her. It would have seemed-weird. And it could possibly take away their trust in her. Saved by a general! She wouldn't trust herself either! "It was-someone." Diamond said, trying to toss her wet hair. "Don't know who. Didn't identify himself. Just told me I deserved a better death." At least I'm not lying too much to them, she thought, wincing. "Uh-huh." Garnet said, giving Diamond a look. "Well, okay, evil presence that is VERY powerful decides to save you. Would it be weird if I wondered why?" "Yes." Diamond said quickly. "Very weird. Very, very weird." She looked around desperately, then pointed to the ocean. "Oh, look! There's.water." "Yeah, that's a very uncommon thing in the ocean." Tuxedo Onyx said, giving her a suspicious look. "You sure your head wasn't damaged by that fall?" Amethyst asked soothingly. "Shut up." Diamond snapped. "I've seen an evil Spike look-alike, I drained all my energy saving you guys from being evil energy-sucking demons, I was dropped WHILE UNCONSCIOUS several hundred feet down onto a rock-hard ocean, I was saved by an evil-deity who wants god-knows-what reward, I'm wet, cold, tired, and MY HAIR IS GOING TO TAKE FOREVER TO DRY!!!! I HAVE REASONS TO BE UPSET AND NOT WANT TO TALK!!!!!!!" There was silence for a moment as everyone stared at her. "Um." Obsidian said after a moment. "There, there?" Diamond sighed. "Forget it. Just forget it." Garnet gasped and glanced uneasily around. "Something's coming." She told the others tersely. "What?" Emerald asked. "I don't know!" Garnet replied, craning her neck to look around. "I've just got this-feeling. And my head aches." There was a sudden, loud sucking sound, like water being drawn up into a very large straw. The sound went on and on as the seas began to grow rough. The water blackened, the sky grew gray. Foam appeared on waves the size of two story buildings that tossed the girls apart. "Try to stay close!" Diamond called as a wave picked her up and flung her down into the water. "Fat chance!" Amethyst yelled, ducking under as a huge wave rolled over her. Topaz looked around and went pale. She screamed something loudly to Diamond. "What?!" Diamond yelled, shaking water out of her ears. "I said," Topaz screamed, "it's a WHIRLPOOL!!" A huge maelstrom had appeared not fifty feet away. It was sucking up water like a giant draining, pulling the girls irresistibly towards it. The Senshi froze in horror, ignoring both lashing waves and current. "Swim!" Diamond ordered in a scream, beginning to free-style with long, practiced strokes. "Swim or you die!" Everyone began paddling furiously, but it was of little use. The whirlpool was immense, and far stronger and swifter than any of them. Even with frantic swimming, they were slowly pulled back. "Never mind!" Diamond called after five minutes of this when they were thirty feet away from the whirlpool. "Save your strength!! We'll need it to get out of that!!" Sapphire squinted hard at the maelstrom. "There's something funny about this." She muttered, peering as close as she could. Unnoticed to anyone but her, for one instant, there was a blip in the center of the whirlpool. Instead of raging water, there was a small patch of sunlight. It lasted for one second before being righted, but Sapphire had seen it. "Diamond!" She called over the maelstrom's roar. "This thing, this sea-it isn't real! This is all an illusion!" "Are you sure?" Diamond yelled back, keeping a tight grasp on Garnet, who was liable to be sucked under. "Positive!" Sapphire responded. "There was a blip in the water! We're still really on top of the beam!" "This feels awfully real!" Garnet cried, listening to their conversation. "No doubt!" Sapphire shouted. "But if Ivy's mind was strong enough to try to penetrate our identities, don't you think she could set up a very realistic illusion also?" Diamond nodded grimly. "All right, it's definitely a mirage. But how do we get out of it?" "Whatever it is, do it quick!" Tuxedo Onyx yelled, also eaves-dropping. The vortex loomed up in front of them, not ten feet away now. The pull was tremendous. "If only we knew how to do a Sailor Teleport!" Topaz mused wishfully, taking a deep breath. "But our bodies are still where they were!" Sapphire pointed out. "This is all just in our minds!" "Well, we control what's in our minds, don't we?!" Obsidian yelled. "So let's try it here! I'm imagining this whirlpool gone!" She furrowed her brow, and concentrated. There was a huge hiss of steam. The vortex still churned, but it was now moving slower and slower. The Senshi frantically back-pedaled, swimming away from the center as best they could, and managing to gain some ground. "I'm trying too!" Garnet gasped. She shut her eyes tightly. The maelstrom gave a huge belch. The currents stopped tugging all together as the mighty whirlpool seemed to collapse in on itself and vanish. There was one last huge pull, as its final defiance, then the deadly water disappeared. The sky cleared and the water grew warm and blue again. Diamond gasped for air. "Quick thinking by Obsidian and Garnet! Good work, you two!" "Do you think we could imagine ourselves out of here?" Amethyst asked. "I should think-what the-" Diamond stared as a purple bunny hopped by on the water. It waved at her before going on. Topaz giggled. Diamond shot her a look. "What? It's cute! As long as we can, I'm going to have fun doing this!" "Just not bunnies." Sapphire said with a shudder. "Bunnies scare me. They're too fluffy." "You are afraid of bunnies." Tuxedo Onyx stated, sniggering slightly. "They're too fluffy." Sapphire muttered. The purple bunny seemed to suddenly realize it was over water, and dropped into the ocean. "Hey!" Topaz protested. Another bunny hopped by, and sank in its turn. Sapphire and Topaz glared at each other. A huge group of bunnies came thundering by on the water. One by one, they either fell, got burned out, or got into huge fights that inevitably ending in them killing themselves. "You're kinda sick, you know that, right?" Emerald told Sapphire, sweat- dropping. Sapphire grinned and giggled a little. A large, gleaming-white cruise boat suddenly appeared on the water. A long rope ladder extended from the top deck all the way down to the water. Cheers and music could be heard from on board. Diamond grinned. "How about we get out of this water?" Tuxedo Onyx whistled. "A cruise ship, huh? Nice choice." "Thank you." Diamond said, giving Garnet a bit of a lift as she struggled to start up. Topaz clambered on after Garnet. "You think up a big cruise ship and you can't bother to think of a helicopter or an elevator?" She grumbled teasingly at Diamond. "I'm tired." Garnet complained from above. "Do we have to use a ladder?" Obsidian whined. Diamond growled. The ladder disappeared (Garnet and Topaz fell back into the water with a splash) and a gleaming, metallic pad five feet across took it's place. "Since everyone has to be a critic," Diamond announced, "we are traveling by hover pad." "SWEET!" Amethyst exclaimed, climbing onto it and jumping up and down. The others followed a little more fastidiously. Emerald frowned at the hover pad. "Get up, you." She ordered crossly. Obediently, the hover pad began to slowly ascend. It inched up foot by foot, verrrrry slowly. "Can't it go faster?" Sapphire complained. The hovercraft seemed to pause for a moment, considering this. Then suddenly it shot up like a sky rocket, zooming up in great leaps without pausing to let them off on the ship. The Senshi were blasted into the sky, and forced down onto the cold metal by the force of the air. "I only wanted a little faster!" Sapphire wailed, trying to grab the slippery surface. "I don't think it's you doing this!" Tuxedo Onyx gritted, slipping and sliding as air currents buffeted him around. "He's right." Diamond said, covering Topaz with one arm and Garnet with the other. "It's gotta be Ivy." "Do you think we can stop it?" Obsidian asked, clutching Amethyst tightly with one hand and nervously glancing over the edge. "Like, with will power, or something?" "If we stopped a whirlpool, we can stop this." Amethyst said confidently. "Let's hope so." Garnet cautioned. "Ivy's probably mad, now. We stopped her fun. She's like a little child, almost." "And Spike's her loving father." Topaz said with a laugh. Very suddenly, the cold metal beneath them evaporated into thin air. Every girl let out a shriek as they began to fall. Hands clawed at the air, feet lashed out, searching for something to land on. "Imagine a surface!" Diamond yelled, trying hard not to panic. "A strong surface! Imagine the hover pad again!" No one listening. They were too busy screaming. Diamond was having a hard time herself. Every time she tried to concentrate, she would look down and see the ocean so far below.. A large metallic surface blinked and blipped a few times just below her feet. Come on, Diamond prayed, trying to calm herself. Come on. Everyone's falls ended with a hard "SMACK!" onto the hover pad that had reappeared. Amethyst began kissing the icy metal. "Blessed, blessed surface." She said reverently. "Nice and solid." "I'm never taking an airplane again!" Topaz declared, sitting up. "I'm never leaving the ground again!" Obsidian added, nervously peering over the rim of the craft. "I think you'll have to at some point, Obsidian." Diamond said with a laugh. "Or it'll be hard to get to a battle site." "I'll hitchhike." Obsidian said, closing her eyes and leaning back from the edge. "And now can we PLEASE get out of here? Before the psycho-woman pulls another trick on us." "She's right." Emerald agreed. "Jeez! Energy-sucking flowers, a maelstrom, and the disappearing hovercraft. What's next?" "A bunny invasion." Sapphire predicted darkly. "Garnet?" Diamond asked. "Can you see if you can find a weak spot in this illusion?" Garnet gulped. "I'll try." She smiled weakly. "Though that fall scared the pee out of me." Her eyes closed and her breathing slackened as she began to searching with her mind, going up and around. Diamond watched her for a second before glancing at the others, who were staring at her also. "Well, blast it, what are you waiting for?!" She demanded. "You all can help, too! Go for it! We've got to get out of here!" Surprised, the Senshi immediately obeyed, but Amethyst quietly told Obsidian, "Diamond's acting really snippy." Diamond was indeed tense. She had been thinking about the fall. She wasn't certain, but it had seemed she had been to freaked out to completely summon the hover pad. It almost felt like someone else had had a hand in it. And she had a pretty good idea who that person was. "Ah HA!" Garnet yelled, breaking Diamond out of her reverie. "Got you!" "A chink?" Diamond inquired. "A definite chink." Garnet said proudly. "This entire illusion has this big dome top, and at the highest part there's this hole. I think it's just big enough for us to get through, as long as it stays still long enough." "Stays still long enough?" Topaz asked. "Don't like the sound of that." "You shouldn't." Garnet told her brightly. "The thing is twitching, slightly. There's the possibility it might start moving at any minute, making it very hard to get to." "And what if it moves while we're moving back to the real world?" Tuxedo Onyx asked. "Um-" Garnet laughed nervously. "It might chop our mental selves into irreparable halves." Amethyst sighed. "And there's no other way out, is there." "Nope." "Perfect. Just peachy." Amethyst stood up and stretched. "Well, kiddies, let's go get ourselves sliced into mental pieces by the evil revolving exit!" "I hate my life." Sapphire muttered, standing also and holding Amethyst's hand as Garnet grabbed her. The Senshi got into a circle, all holding hands tightly. Each face wore an expression either grim or determined. Tuxedo Onyx watched this with interest. "Aren't you going to join?" Obsidian asked, noticing him standing back. He smiled. "I'll use my own transportation route, thank you." He bent his knees then took an enormous leap towards the sky, heading straight up far longer than the jump could have propelled him. When it seemed he was about to fall back, there was a sudden fizzing noise, and Tuxedo Onyx vanished. Obsidian yelled in worry. "Tuxedo Onyx!" A silver top hat and head popped down from the sky and grinned at her. "Don't worry! The space is here!" "Get in there!" Obsidian ordered. "Before it starts moving and chops your virtual head off!" Tuxedo Onyx gave a last wave, then vanished. Diamond took a deep breath. "Okay, let's do this. Everyone imagine themselves flying!" "I don't know if I can do this!" Topaz wailed. "What if we lose concentration?" The hover pad below them blipped slightly, blue seas starting to show in places through cool metal. "She's messing with the pad again!" Emerald cried. "FLYING TIME NOW!!!!!!!" Diamond roared, shooting off of the disappearing hover pad, dragging Garnet and Topaz with her. "Hai!" Amethyst agreed, levitating as best she could and beginning to fly up, Obsidian and Sapphire hanging on for dear life. "THIS IS SO NOT COOL!" Topaz wailed, gripping Diamond's hand tightly. Diamond yelped at the pain. "Topaz-baka!! Stop wringing my hand! You'll make me lose my concentration!" Garnet was flying now, too. She gave Topaz an encouraging look. "Come on, Topaz! This might be your only chance ever to fly! Why don't you enjoy it?" Topaz gulped, but slowly rose in the air beside Diamond and Emerald. "Nearing the chink between realms." Sapphire reported, eyes focused on the tiniest rent in the sky. "Everyone be careful." Diamond advised. "We don't know what else we have to go through-" "Diamond!" Garnet said sharply. "The space is starting to move!" "Charge it! NOW!" Diamond yelled. As one, the Jewel Senshi soared upwards, flying insanely fast towards the small chink that was beginning to turn- WHAM!!!!! "ITAI!!!!" Obsidian wavered and teetered on the edge of the beam, flailing her arms and trying to stay on. "Whoa." Tuxedo Onyx yelled, grabbing her arm and yanking her back. "Are you going to be doing this a lot?" "Depends." Obsidian said, a lot cockier than she felt. "Will you be there to catch me every time?" Tuxedo Onyx's eyes flashed something like surprise then that only Obsidian saw. She felt herself grow hot. What was I thinking? She wondered. But, in a very low voice, so no one else heard, he whispered, "As long as I can, before you grow your own wings." Diamond only saw Tuxedo Onyx turn away from Obsidian, and that Obsidian, face a strange mix of very pale and very red, was staring after him, breath coming in little gaps. Her eyes narrowed. Now here was a mystery she wanted to investigate now. But it'd have to wait until she had time to cleverly ferret out what had happened from Mary after they fought this battle. Spike was tutting at them, amazement hidden in his voice. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Bad Sailor Scouts. You interrupted our fun." "They got free." Ivy whispered, tears forming in her eyes. "They don't want to play my game with me anymore." "There, there, love.' Spike said, patting Ivy's head soothingly. "We'll get them, yet." "Oh, no, you won't!" Diamond cried, pointing a foreboding finger at them. "This little rendezvous' ending right here!"

Spike smiled nastily. "To be sure, I'm impressed, Miss Diamond. And here I thought you lot were just a bunch of stupid, klutzy, weak little girls." "Nope." Topaz said proudly. "We're stupid, klutzy, weak, little superheroes." "Thank you for such a lovely description, Topaz." Emerald said, sighing. Spike gave a small laugh. "Exactly what I was going to say myself, actually." "Obviously, your opinion of us has grown." Amethyst muttered. "So much, in fact, that I decided to call a mutual friend of ours!" Spike said in tones of false cheer and true evil pleasure. "Oh, Damon!" Diamond's heart sank. "Oh, no." She whispered. A low, drawling voice came from behind them. "Why, hello, Spike!" It said in tones of deepest surprise. "How are you? And what a surprise to see all our friends here?" Diamond slowly turned around to face that knowing-smirk and dark blue eyes. Her heart twisted seeing his face. She didn't like it. Had to cover it. "Why, Damon!" She cried in mock delight. "What a lovely surprise! Who ever thought we'd meet our worst enemy here, several stories above the ground, with two other generals?" She sighed and shook her head. "So many strange coincidences." Damon felt a grin twisting on his lips. "Very strange indeed." "Not good, Diamond." Garnet murmured in her ear. "Three strong evil ones against seven-eight-oh, whatever, the odds aren't good for us. Do we retreat?" "Retreat?" Diamond asked loudly, giving Garnet an incredulous look and drawing everyone's attention. Quieter, she said, "No, Garnet. We never, ever retreat. Never. Not even if it means death to stay." The breath caught in Damon's throat as she proudly raised her head after making this little speech. He had promised her death, and she accepted it? This was strange. A fight between the two sides now would probably result in the instant destruction of the Senshi team. It would be an easy fight for them. But the look in Diamond's eyes was dangerous, he saw that clearly. When she said she would fight to death, it meant she would fight to the death. And probably go kicking and screaming, and taking bits of them with her. "We're going to die." Sapphire muttered, taking a fighting stance and looking at Spike and Ivy. "Amethyst, Obsidian, Garnet, Emerald, Topaz, and Tuxedo Onyx-take on Spike and Ivy, all right?" Diamond ordered, not tearing her eyes from Damon. "Sapphire, you're with me. We tackle Damon." She felt her team get into place behind and beside her. "Good luck, all." She whispered. "Ready, aim." "CHARGE!!!!" Topaz and Obsidian led the attack on Spike and Ivy. Each leapt into the air and came down, aiming for their heads. At the last second, Spike and Ivy vanished, only to reappear a few paces away. Topaz and Obsidian landed and shot after them again, straight on this time. Topaz yelled in triumph as she knocked Ivy's knees out from under her. Spike roared in anger, grabbed Topaz by her hair, and flung her away from his girlfriend, who was sobbing quietly. Topaz rolled along the beam and turned back in anger, getting ready to charge again. Tuxedo Onyx whirled in with his cane, thrusting it at Spike, who, with a cocky smile on his face, easily dodged. The cane flitted back and forth, coming close to hitting Spike, but always missing but the barest of inches each time. Emerald tried to come down with a kick from above, but Spike had spotted her, and he grabbed her ankle and flipped her back into Onyx. Both went tumbling back. Meanwhile, Garnet and Ivy faced off in a terrible, heated battle. Sweat poured down Garnet's face, her eyelids twitched. Ivy smiled coyly and triumphantly. "Eyes feeling itchy?" She inquired. "Feeling the need to blink?" "Not.particularly." Garnet lied, wondering how on Earth she had managed to get herself into a staring contest with Ivy. "Your eyelids are getting heavy." Ivy sang, swaying back and forth slightly. "Um, Garnet?" Amethyst asked, looking at her from behind Ivy's head. "What are you doing?" "Staring contest." Garnet replied tensely, not looking up. "Oh, for." Amethyst growled, hitting Ivy on the back of her head. Ivy snapped forward, blinking, her head hitting the hard metal with a crack. Spike turned, saw what had happened, and yelled in anger, charging Amethyst. "She made me lose the staring contest!" Ivy wailed. "Spoilsport." Garnet muttered. "Can't accept that you just lost." Spike lunged for Amethyst, who dodged easily, using well-coordinated muscles both to dodge and then to push off with her leg, slamming her shoulder into Spike's stomach. He grabbed her shoulder and threw Amethyst a few paces. She flipped in the air, landed neatly on the ground, and kicked off again, aiming for his legs. Spike jumped, and managed to smash one of his heels down on Amethyst's thigh. She winced, but ignored the pain, standing and preparing to fight again. Lacie had trained for several years, building up her strength against people who picked on her for her hair color or strange, quiet tendencies. She felt far more comfortable fighting physically than with her mind. Strength was her realm, and she was master. So she waited confidently for Spike's next move, relaxed and ready. Spike frowned. The purple-headed Senshi was stronger than he had expected. He sprung up and flipped pushing off with his hands to aim his feet at her. Amethyst dodged, and delivered a strong punch to the back of his neck. Spike hissed and turned, giving Amethyst a side kick in her back. Amethyst felt the thump resound on her back and propel her forward, hitting her head against the beam and making her nose bleed. She groaned and turned, giving Spike a kick to his knees that sent him flat on the ground beside her. While the Spike-Amethyst confrontation continued, Sapphire and Diamond faced Damon off. For a few seconds, they had stared at each other, sizing the enemy up. Or actually, Damon eyed Diamond as she glared at him, and Sapphire wondered at the look of hatred in Diamond's eyes. With a shout, Diamond threw herself at Damon, charging shoulder first. He dodged to the side, aiming a blow at her head. She ducked and swung a punch at his face. He blocked it and grabbed her arm, throwing her to the cold beam. Sapphire ran forward, ready to attack-but she suddenly hit a cold, black electric field that made her cry out and leap back. Damon had put a shield up around their fight. He obviously wanted to fight Diamond alone. Sapphire watched helplessly, unable to hear anything past the crackling of black lightning. She was the most rational of the Senshi. In school, she was always quickest at assessing a situation. It was clear she could be of no help to Diamond by banging on a shield. She gave her a last desperate look before going to try to get the others' attention. In the shield, Diamond got to her feet immediately, ignoring the headache the metal had given her. She eyes focused on the black shield rimming in a dome around them, and extending in a floor several feet to each side off the beam. She was trapped. Damon saw her blue eyes flick about. He half-smiled. She was like a caged animal. Probably she'd start pacing any moment. But Diamond didn't start pacing. She fixed Damon with a cold, steely glare. "Well?" She asked crossly. "We are fighting, are we not?" "Indeed." Damon replied, judging the distance for a leap and fingering his sweet little blade. One leap, one slice. Diamond saw him measuring the ground with his eyes. She tensed, hands clenched, body straight but ready. She saw Damon's hand twitch involuntarily towards his right side. His blade, she remembered sharply. He'll jump and use his blade on me. I must get ready to dodge. Damon saw her watching him carefully. She had seen him flexing his hand. He smiled, Clever girl. She had seen his plan. He had been foolish. But the jump would still work. And if he just got a hold on her, he could drain her life energy easily. Diamond knew he had something. His eyes look shifty. Well, more shifty than usual. But they hadn't changed to black yet. That was good. No animalistic qualities. Just blue eyes. Deep, dark, terrible blue eyes. The world shifted underneath her feet slightly. She held her hand out to steady herself. A hot power was flying underneath her skin. That warm feeling she had tried to block out, the one from before, was back in full force. She shuddered slightly, and gasped for air. Damon's eyes narrowed. Diamond had gone pale very suddenly. She was taking deep breaths, and was rubbing her arms slightly. But her eyes-they seemed less cold, less harsh. A warm light played in them, now, a twinkle of a star. A light breeze had managed to penetrate the shield. It wove around Damon, tickling his hair and ruffling it slightly before wisping across to Sailor Diamond. It lifted her hair and wound gently around her neck, murmuring to itself in the way that wind has. Damon's traitorous eyes fastened on the strands of Diamond's hair blowing about her face. Once again, he was struck by the fact that she was pretty. Beautiful, even, in a strange, young-girl way. She seemed almost like a statue, save for her moving hair and ruffling skirt, and those eyes that were peering at him now from under golden bangs. Stop it! He yelled at himself. Stop it, stop it, stop it!! You're just torturing yourself, Diamond rebuked. He's going to try to KILL you, remember, genius?! You're supposed to kill her! Forget her stupid hair!! Forget his eyes!! Get ready to fight!! He's sizing you up! He's going to charge! She's going to throw that stupid halo. WOULD YOU WAKE UP!? "GOLDEN HALO ATTACK!" Diamond yelled, breaking out of her trance to send an attack spinning at her enemy. Damon dodged, and blasted the halo as it came spinning around for another blow. "Icy Volcano!" He roared, sending a huge fountain of ice at her. Diamond leapt away just in time, and the blast formed a crater on the beam. Diamond smiled in triumph, and then screamed in pain. She had overshot on her leap, and had hit the black shield. Lightning bolts centered in on her heart, somehow trapping her against the field. Tears welled in her eyes. The pain was incredible. Shots directly to her heart. The pain went on and on, and it definitely didn't lessen. If anything, it intensified. Diamond desperately tried to shove off the wall, but her hands stuck fast and lightning bolts took a liking to them as well. She bit back the cry was threatening to escape her lips. "Never cry." She whispered. "Never. Never. Never." Then her world came apart, rent at the edges, as one, huge, black as night lightning bolt shot at her chest. It seemed to hit more on the inside then on the outside, for it felt like someone had taken her heart and torn it in two. The promise of seconds before forgotten, she let loose a cry from the depths of her soul. Damon cold, small heart had twisted painfully in his chest as Diamond had struggled against the shield. He winced when she had tried to shove away and been caught. But the scream that rent through the air in the shield only to be stopped by cold black lightning-it was beyond all he could bear. Before he knew what he was doing, he was hovering in the air and flying quickly towards the trapped golden figure. The pain had almost driven Diamond to the brink of insanity by this point. Her sight was dimmed in black splotches. Lightning zigzagged on the inside of her eyelids. She felt her eyes roll back in her head as she fainted. But the pain was still there, haunting her unconscious, forcing her awake, forcing her to live with the terror. And, as suddenly as it had started, the pain was gone. Diamond had barely time to register this before she fainted dead away. For a second, Damon was sure he'd been too late. Diamond's eyes rolled back in her head as he quickly pulled her away from the shield. But her breathing was coming in ragged gasps. She lived still. He frowned, staring down at the golden figure in his arms, then made a quick decision. He blackened the shield, making it completely opaque, then floated down to the metallic beam, where he gently placed the unconscious girl. Girl? Damon mentally slapped himself. Senshi. Soldier. Warrior. Enemy. Not girl. If he thought about her that way... Diamond was aware of a cool hand on her forehead. She blinked her eyes. She couldn't remember much, but she felt sore, and hot. Her muscles screamed with pain as she tried to rise. "Oh, God." She muttered. "Don't move." A cold voice informed her. Diamond froze absolutely still. Her eyelids hurt too much to open, but she'd recognize that voice anywhere. "What did you do to me?" She whispered. Forget toughness. Forget being a warrior. For now, she was Angie Pirko again, and she just wanted to cry. Damon hesitated at the sound of her voice. His plan to kill her now was going loop-de-loop, out the window. "You hit the shield." He said finally, as cold as he could. "It's got a high-intensity dark energy reading." "You should know." She muttered, Diamond coming back slightly. "It's your shield." Damon ignored the welling of guilt that sprung up in him. He went on gruffly, "A lot of it poured into you. You're lucky you're not dead." "I feel like I am." Diamond murmured, blinking as her eyes began coming back into focus. "I can't move. I can hardly see." "It's to be expected." Damon replied coldly. "Thank you for your sympathy." Diamond muttered, warrior face again lost to her regular self. She took a shuddery breath. She wanted desperately to cry. Damon's pretense slipped for an instant when he heard Diamond breath in sharply, like she was going to cry. And in that instant, with his guard down, his hand reached out and gently smoothed Diamond's hair. Diamond froze stock still for a moment. Was Damon being nice? She sighed deeply, like a small child. She was too tired to care. She lay on the floor, half asleep, while someone's hand gently ran itself over her hair. Before she knew what she was doing, her hand and arm moved up to touch Damon's fingers. The pain was gone. Damon nearly gasped in shock. An incredible feeling coursed through his veins, setting him on fire. For some reason, all he could do was stare at Diamond's face. She seemed almost asleep, excepting the fact that her hand had just moved up to touch his. A dreamy smile played lightly on her lips. His eyes zeroed in on those lips. His heart gave a funny jerk, twice as painful as the one before. There was a banging sound, and Damon's hand coiled away like a snake. He stood up, as smooth as silk, and looked disdainfully down at Diamond. "Lousy Senshi." He muttered. "This is too easy." Diamond heard this, and her heart fell to her stomach. Why should she care? They were enemies, for God's sake! And plus, she could move now! Unsteadily, she swayed to her feet, moving her arms and legs carefully. Sore, but no permanent damage. Good. She looked at Damon, eyes sharpening. Now, to get ready for a fight. But Damon was already gone. She was just in time to see him begin to slip through the shield. "Hey, wait!" She cried angrily. "Where are you going?! We've got a fight!" Damon looked back at her, eyes cool. "It's been called off-for account of stupidity and weakness on the part of the victim." He explained testily, beginning to slip through his shield. "So what are you going to do?! Leave me in this stupid shield till I'm stronger?!" Diamond yelled, anger and indignity overcoming her relief at not having to fight. Damon sighed. "You are a noisy brat, you know that, right?" The shield flickered and disappeared, and Damon walked away. Or at least he tried to. He hadn't gotten two steps before he was pounced upon by Obsidian and Topaz. "Jerk! Creep! You slimy filth!" Obsidian shrieked, punching Damon in the stomach. "What'd you do to our leader?!" Damon quickly flew up into the air, leaving the girls angrily leaping for him below. "She's too weak." He called down. "Might want to actually train a little. Otherwise this is like shooting asteroids in the asteroid belt." Spike had managed to detain the powerful Amethyst for a moment. "So?" He panted, flying up in the air by Damon. "How'd it go? Is she dead?" Damon jerked his head down at the golden Senshi who was being hugged and scolded by her teammates. Spike ground his teeth. "Jeez.what happened?" Damon laughed. "She's too weak! Man, you have no idea. Like fighting a kitten when you were expecting a tiger. All of them are like that." Spike shook his head. "Not Sailor Amethyst. That one's dynamite. Nearly had me once or twice there." Damon punched his friend playfully. "Seriously." "I was being serious." Spike said, his tone as flat as paper. "I don't know about Diamond, but these others are getting stronger. And they all care for each other very much. You saw how those two were trying to get into your shield." Damon shrugged. "Well, whatever. Diamond's no problem." "So what?" Spike demanded. "Time was you'd have killed her in a heartbeat! Competition or not!" "I have preferences, now." Damon told Spike. "And don't you think you'd better call Ivy?" Spike looked back and whistled. "Come on, pet! Time to go home! Ithengil's waiting for our energy collection!" "You got energy?" Damon asked, pleased. Spike grinned. "Oh, yeah. From all those little shrimps. The dream- flowers got them bad." "All of them?" "Ye-well," Spike shrugged. "Didn't seem to get your Blondie or the Guardian very well. Still, it's enough to keep the wrinkly one off our backs for now." "The kittens were fun to play with!" Ivy purred, floating up to Spike. "But I'm tired, Spiky. Let's go home." "Excellent idea, angel." Spike said with a grin. The two faded out of sight. Damon hesitated, then glanced down. Diamond was looking up at him, a small smile on her lips. He swallowed hard, and teleported back to the hideout as fast as he could before the overwhelming desire to go back down overcame him. "Hello? Earth to Diamond? Hello?" Diamond gazed up at the sky as Damon disappeared. She had caught the flickering of his eyes, and the impulsive swallow. She touched her hair lightly, thinking both dreamily and crazily. "Diamond? Hello? Yoo-hoo?" I wonder what that was all about, Diamond wondered. He can't like me, I know-he doesn't have a heart or anything- but maybe we could be friends? Maybe he can be healed or something. "DIAMOND!!!" "What?!" Diamond yelled back, snapped roughly out of her trance. "You were staring up at the sky and gazing like a lovesick cow." Obsidian said kindly. Diamond blushed. "It's just good to see the sky again. I thought for a sec I'd never see it again." Garnet nodded kindly. "We were really worried for you, Diamond. You have GOT to stop getting into these private fights with Damon! This is the second time!" "Don't I know it." Diamond sighed in melancholy. So sadly that the girls shot each other suspicious glances before smoothing them into kind smiles. "Let's go home." Topaz said, leaping down to the beam below them. "Great idea." Diamond said cheerfully, leaping down three stories before bothering to land. There was a yell from above. "Would you be CAREFUL?!" Garnet scolded, gingerly leaping down story by story. "Yes, Mom." Diamond said with a cocky grin, leaping down four stories to the ground. "Idiot." Garnet muttered, leaping fastidiously down. "Baka." Amethyst agreed, taking the stories two at a time. "You're not much better!" Topaz teased, landing beside Diamond on the ground. "Enough!" Sapphire groaned. "Let me go home and rest my aching butt. It's been kicked pretty bad today. All of our butts have." "No way!" Amethyst said enthusiastically. "I WHOMPED Spike! Did you see his face?! He was in shock! Haha! Senshi: 10, Bad guys-" "A million." Emerald said flatly. "We were beaten pretty badly." "Hey, they were the ones who ran, not us!" Obsidian replied indignantly. "After we were sucked into a crazy illusion in which we were bewitched, nearly drowned, dropped, and nearly sliced into itty-bitty pieces. And, oh yeah, then we fought some bad generals that nearly killed Diamond and still manage to be unscathed!" Emerald said, somewhat bitterly. "Top that up for one giant win for the Jewel Senshi!" "It was more of a win than you think, Emerald." Diamond said calmly, beginning to walk towards the gym. "What do you mean?" Emerald asked suspiciously. "Oh, nothing." Diamond replied absently. Garnet was in front of her and had her nails digging into Diamond's skin before she could blink. "All right, what happened?! Spill! You've been sighing all this time and looking completely out of it!! What the heck happened?!" Diamond only gave her a sugary smile. "I have no idea what you are talking about." She said sweetly, continuing to walk, looking around before calmly shedding her sailor clothes for her normal ones. "WHAT HAPPENED?!" Garnet wailed, pouncing on her friend. "TELL ME!!" Angie smiled as Garnet demorphed to Rachelle. "It's nothing, Shellie. Just whistling in the dark." "Nuh-uh!" Malorie insisted, grabbing Angie's other arm. "No way! You are acting completely crazy! One would almost think you had a crush or something." Her voice trailed away as her mouth snapped shut. "Oh my God. That's it, isn't it?!" "What?" Mary asked, looking at Angie, who was blushing a rosy pink. "She's got a crush on Dark, Handsome, and Evil." Malorie announced. "Thank you for yelling it so loudly." Angie said sourly. "In fact, I'm sure people in China are appreciating this bit of news." "So it's TRUE!" Elisha yelled, jumping on the word 'news'. "No!" Angie protested. "It's not! I just got in a few good hits, is all." "Uh-huh." Rachelle said, looking very unconvinced. "Right. And pink pigs fly out of my hair everyday at noon to sing a happy song." Angie shrugged. "I don't know. You're weird enough." She said, eyes twinkling. "Hey!" Rachelle protested. "You've been floating on Cloud Nine since you got out of that shield." Malorie persisted. "Come on, spill. What happened?" Angie sighed and looked mischievous. "Well, Damon and I." The girls leaned in close. "We." Even closer. ".fought and nearly killed each other!" She finished brightly. There was a crash as every girl fell to the pavement. "You are evil, you know that?" Lacie groaned. "It's good, though, if you don't have a crush on him, Angie." Marisa said seriously, getting up. "I don't." Angie said firmly, completely botching this by smiling broadly. "What?!" Malorie yelled, grabbing Marisa. "Are you nuts?! Why is it bad?!" Marisa merely looked at her. "Crushes turn to love. You know our curse." Malorie was silenced at that blow. She looked up to see Angie happily skipping away across the sidewalk. "Oh, boy." Marisa nodded grimly. "It appears we have a bit of a problem on our hands."