Author's Note

The normal disclaimers here of course and that I'm certainly not doing this for money.

There are a few elements that are exclusive to the manga, as you will read, but those only involve character differences than from the anime, such as the Shitennous' relationship. Also, Mamoru has the Golden Crystal.

If you need to contact me, my email is Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction or something in the subject line so I know what you're emailing me about. And if you're a really nice person (if this pertains to a certain fanfiction that I've done) you might want to put the name of the fanfiction you're referring to somewhere in the email.

All names are like the Japanese say them, last name first. So Kunzite's name would be Kail Rainer in America, but in Japanese it would be said Rainer Kail.

Army of Immortals

Chapter 21: In the Hour of Sunrise

Usagi linked her arm with Mamoru's outside her house. "I'm worried, Mamo-chan. I don't want my Senshi to be hurt, but I don't want to lose the Ginzuishou to Beryl."

"Neither do I. But I may have a plan. Let's find Luna and Artemis."

It didn't take long. The two felines were on the edge of the wall and enjoying the sinking sun. When Mamoru explained his plan, they were still quite skeptical. "But what if—"

"Usagi-baka, what are you doing out here?"

She turned to see her brother entering the house. Her eyes softened and she walked up to him. His surprised look was almost enough to make her laugh, shock that she didn't rise to take the bait.

"Shingo, I have a favor to ask you."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What?"

Slowly, she unclipped the necklace around her neck and handed it to him. "Could you look after this for me? Don't tell Mom or Dad about this, please." Then in her other clenched hand, she handed him another necklace, the low brightness of the sun barely touching it.

"What are these? Where did you get them?"

"One is Mamoru's. Could you look after these for us?"

"Why?"

"Please Shingo."

Shingo looked long and hard at his sister's solemn face and slowly nodded. "Sure. I'll look after it until you get back. But where are you going?"

"Don't worry about that. Just keep them safe and hidden until I get back."

He shrugged, put the jewels in his pocket, and entered the house.

"Are you absolutely sure about this?" Luna asked quietly.

"Yes," Mamoru answered for her.

"I just have one question for you, Ami," Jadeite said as he sauntered up to the teenagers meeting in the shadow of an arcade center as the sun was rising.

"What?" The girl looked up from her computer a moment later with question in her eyes.

"How in the hell did you prove they were youma?"

She smiled slightly. "A stroke of genius, thinking of it, I'd say. Look at this. This is a human and this is a youma." With a few clicks, she had the two images were side by side on her computer screen. "Now watch when I combine them. What's different?"

He studied the new picture and blinked in surprise. "The tongue is on the upper part of the mouth."

"Yes. You see, youma can't really talk the way we do. Their talking is more or less a system of strange sounds that form words we can understand by magic. Beryl was counting on the fact that they wouldn't look in the mouth, and she was right. My calculations say that the sheer amount of energy to put on this illusion fell short at the last steps and she couldn't make an illusionary tongue in the right place. If she had, there would have no way to prove youma." She shrugged. "Or she didn't really think about the youma/humans needing a tongue in the right place.

"The entire mouth wasn't a human mouth. Not only was the tongue attached to the top of the mouth, and it was obvious that it had developed there over the years like our tongue growing larger as we grow older, but the gum system wasn't made for holding teeth of the youma. She barely managed to get the teeth of a human in there and even then, if the coroner had noticed the teeth, even he would have said that they had serious dental problems. There was also no vocal box where one should be," she added as an afterthought.

Jadeite shook his head. "Right," he muttered, his voice somewhat dazed.

"All right, girls, boys, let's henshin up!" Artemis yelled as he dropped in the middle of the group.

"Moon Crisis Power!"

"Mercury Crystal Power!"

"Mars Crystal Power!"

"Jupiter Crystal Power!"

"Venus Crystal Power!"

"MAKE-UP!"

Golden light intertwined with pink ribbons in the close confines of the alley. Lightning slammed against fire rings; water edged flying stars. Black hair touched a long, blonde streamer; a white gloved hand attached to a blue Senshi brushed against a green skirt. Light blue eyes opened and locked with violet; white bow lengths coiled around a blue booted foot.

Neil whistled quietly as they posed. "That's flashy but exciting. I guess it doesn't bother them that they henshined in the nearly same space and were naked for a time."

"Were you watching us?" demanded Mars angrily.

"Absolutely not," Zayn assured her hastily.

"Well what are you waiting for? We haven't got all day," snapped Luna, obviously not at all thrilled with the idea of going through, at Beryl's invitation, a portal into the Dark Kingdom.

"Knight Kunzite!" Kail said, with a clenched fist over his heart.

"Knight Jadeite!" Jayden shouted, a palm facing outward.

"Knight Zoisite!" Zayn yelled his to the sky, two fingers over his shoulder.

"Knight Nephrite!" Neil barely whispered his, a loose fist held up to the stars.

"You are called!" they finished loudly.

Mamoru simply smiled and winked at Sailor Moon before dark golden light swirled around him. Out of its wake, a black cape formed, red lining the inside. With the light traveling up his body from his feet, his jeans dissolved into black pants and his t-shirt turning into a white top with a black jacket. The mask appeared, edged in white. He held a rose in his hand as he posed, almost as if he was leaning against a wall.

Kail's arms lifted from his sides, the twin swords appearing. Silver light churned around the blades, identical golden dragons developing on each. Crossing the swords over his chest, a breastplate appeared, designed with diamonds. Loose, dark silver pants changed from his jeans and his shoes disappeared in a flash as leg armor flowed its way up his knees. A mask edged in silver covered his eyes as a cloak flared from his shoulders, black with white lining inside. He posed with one sword at his side and the other pointing in front of him.

Jayden snapped his fingers and blue light shined around his head. What looked like a swirling blade flew downward to his feet, making him shine sapphire. His shirt changed to dark brown leather armor. A bandolier flew from his shoulder to his waist, supporting a bow and arrow on his back. His brown jeans morphed into blackish blue pants elegantly embroidered with a small firebird on the outside of each pant leg. A mask edged in blue formed in front of his eyes and with a sound of silk cutting the air, a black cloak with dark cobalt inside appeared. He drew his bow, an graceful affair with rubies embedded in the wood, and an arrow appeared. He held it aloft, pointing forward.

Zayn drew his two fingers down from his shoulder to his waist in a diagonal line. In its wake, green light flowed over his body. A belt snapped around his shapely waist, with a buckle carved from an emerald. A lighter breastplate than Kail's formed over his shirt, the latter changing to a forest jade tunic. Brown pants only accentuated his hunter green boots. The mask covering his eyes edged in emerald emerged, matching his black and olive cape. In his open hands, a spear appeared, the body steel but tinted light blue. The tip itself looked sharp enough to rend flesh, a smaller blade just below it so it looked double bladed. Carved into the steel tip was the symbol for the medical profession. He held it at his side, posing, his back straight as the weapon in his hand.

Neil's eyes glowed burgundy brown and with a graceful wave of his hand, brown gloves covered both of them. That burgundy brown light flowing up his arms like a separate entity and met at his neck, forming long red sleeves. It divided, going up his face and down his body. A mask shaped in the passing of the light going up his face, a mask edged in dark red. As the light going down passed his shoulders, it divided again and the offspring formed a cape from thin air, black and wine-red. The tunic finished materializing just before a heavy breastplate locked around his chest. Gray-brown pants flashed into being, and leg armor appeared, much the same as Kail's. A bandolier flew around his chest like Jayden, and he pulled with careless ease a great double-bladed axe, a star shaped from emeralds in the center, from his back. Posing, he leaned on the axe, which was almost tall enough to reach his waist.

The five men grinned in a satisfactory way at the wide eyes of the women in front of them.

"Well…" Venus managed to say, sounding a tad out of breath and staring, "that was…um…"

"Very nice," Mercury supplied, though her eyes spoke of the inadequacy of the two words.

"Thanks," Jadeite with a smile.

"Does anyone know where or when Beryl is going to issue her invitation again?" Nephrite asked in the silence.

"Any moment I would hope," Jupiter muttered. "I hate waiting."

It was not five minutes later when Beryl's face appeared in the sky above them. "Have you decided?"

"We'll come," Tuxedo Kamen answered darkly.

"Oh good," she said, an insincere smile on her lips. "I was so hoping you would."

The air swirled and a black rip in the dimensional barrier opened. With trepidation, they disappeared into it followed by the eyes of two cats.

"All right, let's get to that throne room," Venus directed. "No splitting up for now, but if we get waylaid, as many as can get out go on ahead. At least one of us needs to get to that throne room."

Nods all around and they broke into a run. Not ten feet in front of them a score of youma waited for them. If they hadn't been expecting it, they would have died in the first skirmish.

"Venus Wink Chain Sword!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

Jupiter's lighting surrounded the golden sword of Venus' as it flew at the youma. "Go! Jupiter and I will hold them off! Get to the throne room!"

Over Sailor Moon's loud protests, the eight of them proceeded on, running for all they were worth. The wall exploded behind them and as more youma poured out and headed for them, they knew they were cut off from the two Senshi.

"Ice Barrage!"

"Meteor Storm!"

A multitude of ice spears and Nephrite's fire-surrounded meteors slammed into the oncoming flood, knocking around half of the numbers down.

"Go! Mercury will be able to show you the way with her computer. And Kunzite? Look after her for me," Zoisite said quietly.

This time dragging a protesting Tuxedo Kamen away, they sped down the corridor that had no branches nor twists and turns. "What is it with this hallway?" demanded Mars.

"It's obvious that Beryl doesn't want us getting lost," Kunzite said dryly.

It was silent except for the running of their booted feet. Soon it began to wear on their nerves more than an attack would. Perhaps…

Kunzite never got to finish that thought as he threw himself in front of his friend. The thrown knife bounced off his armor, hardly even scratching it. A lone but quick youma assassin melted from the shadows. The second-in-command drew his swords as Mercury shouted out where it was.

Mars and Jadeite grabbed respective arms and thrust their leaders to run with them.

"Is that it?" questioned Jadeite, out of breath as they saw a door looming in front of them.

"That's it," Tuxedo Kamen confirmed.

But there were at least five youma in front of them. Without even pausing in their running, shouted attacks bounded toward the guards.

"Mars Snake Fire!"

"Molten Fire!"

"Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber!"

"Moon Frisbee!"

Four youma shattered into dust and the last one dodged out of the way as they passed. Just before the warriors could take in the significance of that move, they were in the throne room and surrounded by more than twenty dozen youma.

"All right Beryl," Jadeite gasped. "We made it, so give Tomi back."

The dark queen laughed. "You are all so gullible. Did it occur to wonder why I left you a straight corridor to my throne room? You're right where I want to be. Dear child, say hello to your would-be rescuers."

Tomi sat gloomily in a cage and rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you fell for it."

"Please, enjoy my hospitality." Beryl snapped her fingers and the four of them were dragged apart.

"Now, Serenity, Endymion, please give me the Golden Crystal and Ginzuishou," she said pleasantly as Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen were strung up high.

End Chapter 21.