The Magic Force
Moon Crystal Reunion
Part 5: Adjusting Attitudes

Important Disclaimer for this part of the story:
Jas Lee is an original character conceived by my friend Casey Toh. I have received permission to use her in this part of the story, even though it is only a reference. Rules are rules, though.

The energy vampire continued sapping Spud's energy away from him, while Ulene and Stick were unable to move due to its powerful wings.
Spud continued pleading for his life. "Please, stop. I can't hold out much longer."
"What can we do now?" yelled Stick. "Spud won't survive at this rate."
"I don't know!" Ulene yelled back. "We can't move, and no one's gonna be able to hear us calling for help!"
Ace drove his Magic Racer turbocar with Angie and Raye sitting in the back seat. Only minutes earlier the two ladies sensed something wrong, even though their senses were slightly different.
He asked, "Raye, are we getting any closer?"
"Yes, we are. The evil's much stronger. We're almost there."
Angie also concentrated on the voice she had heard in her mind. "I think I know where our dangerous threat is. Head for Keaton Park, fast!"
Driving to the scene faster than a car at the Indianapolis 500, Ace noticed a strange glowing light. "Wait, there it is! And – oh, no. Spud's at the mercy of whoever that is, and Stick and Ulene can't help him."
"Maybe one of my scrolls can get that thing away from them." Raye quickly jumped from the Racer and took out another ofuda. "Evil spirits…begone!" She threw the scroll very hard in the direction of the vampire's head.
"Your energy is mine, human!" the vampire yelled. Unfortunately for him, the scroll landed right on the side of his head, making him fall and forcing him to release his hold on Spud and the others.
Spud fell to the ground while Stick and Ulene were able to move again.
Ace and Angie ran to them while Raye and Zina held the vampire back.
"Spud," said Angie, "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, I think so," he answered weakly. "That… thing drained a lot out of me."
Ace checked on Ulene and Stick. "You two okay?"
"Yeah," Ulene replied. "What is that thing?"
"It looks like a vampire of some kind. In any case, it isn't safe for you to stay here."
"Spud," Angie said, "Can you at least get to your feet?"
"I think so."
"I'll give you a hand."
Angie helped the teenager get to his feet. "Think you've got enough energy to get home?"
"Yeah. The car's just outside the park."
"Stick, Ulene!"
The two hurried over with Ace directly behind them.
"Listen, I want you two to drive him home, get him into bed, and give him a lot of food. He'll need that food to regain the energy he's lost."
The two took each side of their friend and carried him out of the park and to the car.
Meanwhile, Raye and Zina made sure the vampire was still on the ground.
"Don't even think about it, pal," demanded Raye.
Zina let out an angry growl to let the vampire know she would not allow anyone to get hurt.
The vampire slowly got to his feet. "How can a human stop me with something so small?" He tore the ofuda into a thousand tiny pieces. "How dare you interfere with my mission!"
Zina roared to attract Ace and Angie's attention.
The two magicians went and joined Raye and Zina.
"Back up, Zina," Ace commanded. "Whatever this thing is, it's dangerous."
"I am not a thing!" the vampire shouted angrily. "I am Malkyrion!"
It only took a few minutes for Cosmo and the rest of the group to find their friends. "There they are!" Cosmo yelled. "But what's that thing with them?"
"I don't know," said Amy. "Let me check my computer." She took out her tiny computer to analyze the demon. "It appears to be a vampire – an alien vampire that needs to feed on energy!"
Lita said, "They're gonna need help right now! Let's go!"
Everyone jumped out of the van and started running towards Ace and the others.
Ace questioned the vampire. "What do you want here, Malkyrion?"
"I need this planet's vibrant energy in order to survive. I have drained hundreds of worlds, yet it is still not enough for me! I must have more energy, but you humans and this strange animal have impeded on my feeding! Now you will suffer for your interference!" Malkyrion's wings extended outward again in the hopes he would freeze all of them in place. "Your energy shall be mine!"
"That's what you think, pal!" Angie confidently replied. "Ace, I think it's time we showed Malkyrion here what we magicians can really do!"
"Angie, you read my mind."
Cosmo, Serena, and the others were approaching the battle zone when they saw Ace and Angie spinning and glowing in bright lights. This aroused Rini's curiosity. "What are they doing?"
"Magic Force," Ace and Angie yelled together, "reveal the power within!"
In mere seconds, the clothes they wore were replaced with their own special crimefighting costumes. Both of them wore similar dark grey costumes, but Angie's had a miniskirt, as opposed to Ace's body-fitting pants. When they completed the transformation, Ace pounded the right side of his chest with his left fist while Angie used her magic to create the exact same insignia of red and yellow.
"Whoa!" gasped Rini. "Where are Mr. Cooper and Angie?"
Cosmo said, "Rini, you're looking at 'em."
"You mean they're superheroes?"
"That's right, Rini," said Luna.
Rini looked at Luna with horror. "Luna, shhh! You'll give us away!"
Artemis spoke up. "It's all right, Rini. Mr. Cooper and his friends already know the truth about us."
"They do? They know we're Sailor Scouts?"
Lita smiled. "Yeah. That's kinda my fault. Cosmo here saw me change into Sailor Jupiter when he and his friends visited Japan three years ago. After you returned to the 30th Century, we had to fight a being called the Dark Princess. If it hadn't been for Mr. Cooper and his friends, we wouldn't have been able to defeat her."
"Well, why didn't you tell me?"
Serena said, "We didn't know how you or Diana would react, which reminds me. Diana, you're free to speak up now."
The little kitten spoke, "That's great, but what about them? They need help."
"You're right, Diana. Whatever that demon is, we can't let them fight it alone."
Back in the battle area, Raye took out a strange device, one shaped like a special candlestick holder with a pair of wings.
Ace looked at it with curiosity. "What is that?"
"My new transformation stick. You might say in the past three years, we got a huge upgrade in the Scout department." She put her hand to the sky and screamed, "Mars Crystal Power!"
It only took a few seconds for Raye to change into her Sailor Scout form: Sailor Mars. The difference from three years earlier: Her back bow was longer, the heart of the front bow was shaped like a valentine heart, and her sleeves had an added pink translucent piece.
"Looks like you really did upgrade," Angie remarked seriously. "Anything else new?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." Sailor Mars put out her right hand, which quickly created flames. A translucent bow formed, running down from her right arm on which an arrow of flame appeared. "Mars…Flame Sniper!" The flame arrow shot away from her and toward Malkyrion.
The energy vampire was able to jump out of the way of her fire. "Interesting human, but not good enough to stop me!"
Angie started creating lightning from her hands to shoot at the vampire, but she suddenly heard the voice again. Please, help me…I am trapped…
"What—? Who's there?"
Rini also heard that voice in her mind. Who was that? Where's it coming from?
Ace noticed Angie had gotten distracted. "Angie, what's the matter?"
"I'm hearing that call for help again. It's so close, but I can't place my finger on where."
Malkyrion took advantage of her distraction. "Now, human, I will take your energy and make certain your friends do not interfere!" Spreading his wings and flapping them very hard, he blew Ace and Sailor Mars more than 50 feet backwards.
Serena and the others had had enough of watching them suffer. "Let's transform!"
Mina, Amy, and Lita took out their special transformation sticks while Serena and Rini both pulled out their special brooches.
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
The three girls quickly transformed into Sailors Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter, with their bows extending outward like Mars's outfit. There was also a change in the center of their front bows; it was shaped like the heart.
Cosmo was surprised. "Whoa, that's some change."
"That's nothing," said Lita. "Just look at Serena and Rini."
Serena and Rini both shouted, "Moon Crisis Power!"
The two girls underwent the same change, but Serena's emerging outfit was more of a blue-shade while Rini's emerging outfit showed all pink. Soon they became their super Scout forms.
"Cool!" Cosmo exclaimed.
"Come on," said Luna, "They're going to need help right now!"
"Angie, watch out!" yelled Mars. "He's coming for you!"
The female magician saw him flying directly towards her, but instead of running she prepared herself. "You think you're gonna get my energy that easily? I won't make the same mistake I made three years ago!" Focusing on her powers, she created a light barrier to protect herself from his attack.
Malkyrion flew into her barrier but did not bounce off. He simply grabbed the barrier and took her into the sky. "You are not as strong as you think."
"That's what you think, loser," Angie said with intense concentration. It's time to call upon my deeper power. "Let my heart guide my power!"
Her powers grew stronger, making the light barrier brighter, which caused Malkyrion to squint in horror. "Light! I cannot stand the light!"
So, that's his weakness, she thought. My barrier's making natural light, and he hates it. Problem is I'm not sure how long I can keep this up.
Malkyrion kept his eyes closed to keep from being blinded. "You are strong, human, but I will get your energy yet!"
Sailor Venus had an idea. "That creep's gonna have to get close enough to the ground. I've got to time this right, or Angie could get hurt."
The vampire held on to the barrier as he started a crash dive toward the ground.
Feeling the gravity getting heavier, Angie yelled, "Are you insane?"
"To get that energy I shall do anything!"
"Quick, Venus!" shouted Sailor Mercury.
Sailor Venus blew a kiss with her left hand, which created a golden heart. Grabbing the heart, she swung it around and screamed, "Venus Love-and-Beauty Shock!" After a complete revolution around her, the heart grew in size and made a direct hit on Malkyrion, forcing him to let go of Angie and the barrier.
Angie was only a couple of feet off the ground when the barrier hit the ground, so the impact was not as great. After making it disappear, her first words were, "What the heck was that?"
Ace and Sailor Mars quickly ran to check on her.
"You okay, Ange?" asked Ace with concern in his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine. He couldn't drain anything out of me with my barrier, but where did that weird attack come from?"
"From me!" yelled Sailor Venus as she and the others rushed to join them.
Ace noticed their slightly different uniforms. "Guess Sailor Mars wasn't the only one, but who is the smallest one in pink?"
Angie smiled. "You must be Super Sailor Chibi-Moon, correct?"
"Yeah, that's me. Who told you?"
"Luna did, yesterday morning."
Malkyrion stood landed on the ground again and grumbled, "More interference!?"
"That's right, pal!" responded Super Sailor Moon. "How dare you try to steal the energy of innocent people for your own selfish needs! We are Sailor Scouts!"
Super Sailor Chibi-Moon joined her and said, "And we stand for love and justice!"
"In the name of the moon," they both said together, "We shall punish you!"
Malkyrion did not like his odds. "You pathetic humans! You won't stop me. I must have more energy or I will die!"
"You would steal the energy of others," said Ace angrily, "Just so you can stay alive? What's the matter with you? All you have to do is ask in a friendly manner."
"I have power, human! I do not need to ask for anything! I can take what I wish!"
"Not on this planet you won't! If you're going to take anything from this point, you'll have to get past all of us to do it."
"I can take you all on my own!" Malkyrion shouted.
As he tried to fly in for another attack, he was suddenly stopped by a single red rose.
"Not another one!"
Super Sailor Moon looked at the rose. "There's only one person I know who can do something like that." She looked around and noticed someone in the trees. "There he is!"
"Tuxedo Mask!" Angie shouted.
The heroic gentleman in his black tuxedo, cape, and hat, jumped from the tree to join the rest of the group. "Don't you know power corrupts the mind and the heart? You are just a monster poised to drain the energy of all Earthlings!"
Ace looked at the young man and saw through the mask. "Darien?"
Tuxedo Mask smiled. "Yes, it's me. We didn't get to formally meet last time because you were under the Dark Princess's influence."
"At least this time we're on the same team and not against each other."
Malkyrion appeared to be outnumbered. "There is one thing I can do you humans cannot – I can fly!" He laughed as he took to the sky.
"We've got to get him down!" Angie shouted.
Jupiter said, "I'll get it!" She started spinning in a tight circle like an ice skater and hollered, "Jupiter…Oak…Evolution!"
Out of her forehead shot leaves of pure energy, all of them directed at Malkyrion.
None of the leaves got to him, however. "Feeble humans! Why do you have to fight me when surrender is your only option?"
Angie looked at her watch. "Sunrise should be in about five minutes," she said.
"What the heck does sunrise have to do with anything?" Cosmo demanded.
"Because he hates natural light. The sun will start coming up in five minutes. If we can keep him busy, we may be able to stop him!"
"If that's what it takes," said Sailor Mercury, "Then let's go for it! Everyone keep going for the next five minutes!" Using her new attack, her right hand created water, which shaped into a harp. "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" The water-shaped harp shot out a hard force of water directly at Malkyrion.
Everyone tried different attacks on the energy vampire, but he eluded them successfully.
When the five minutes passed, Malkyrion yelled, "You cannot stop me, foolish humans! I will—" He suddenly quit speaking because he noticed the huge sun rising in the eastern sky. "No! The light! I must escape that light!" He changed into a vapor trail and disappeared completely.
The entire group was surprised at what had happened.
"We need to leave, now," said Ace. "I wouldn't be surprised if someone already called the police. Raye, Angie, and Zina will come with me in the Racer. The rest of you get back to the van and head back to the Express fast!"
Running to the vehicles, the teams left the scene as fast as they could to avoid being seen by the police.
Twenty minutes later, they returned to the Magic Express, with Ace parking the Racer in the garage while Cosmo parked the larger van in front of the train.
After everyone went back inside the home, the two magicians, six Sailor Scouts, and Tuxedo Mask all reverted back to their normal forms.
Darien said, "What was that all about? How come we didn't know about this?"
Angie, Raye, and Ace all looked at each other.
"Should we tell them the truth?" asked Angie.
Raye nodded. "I think it's time they were told what the three of us—"
Zina interrupted with a disapproving growl.
"Sorry, Zina, what the four of us know."
Everyone gathered in the living room where Raye started the important discussion.
"About a month ago, Mr. Cooper and I both received a visit…from Sailor Saturn."
Serena said, "But that's impossible! Sailor Saturn was destroyed after she and I teamed up to defeat Pharaoh 90. She was reborn as baby Hotaru Tomoe."
"That's right, Serena, she was. I saw Sailor Saturn in my dreams while Mr. Cooper saw her as a spirit."
Ace continued, "She gave both of us this warning: A threat would come to Earth from space, and the center of the threat would be right here in Electro City."
Serena looked at her cat. "You were right, Luna. An attack has come here of all places, but why?"
Lita spoke, "I think I know. If a threat ever comes to Japan, we're there to protect it. So this creep Malkyrion decided to pick a more vulnerable place like Electro City, California."
"Wait a minute," Mina said. "Angie, if Sailor Saturn appeared only to Raye and Mr. Cooper, how come you and Zina know about it?"
"Zina was in Ace's room the night Sailor Saturn appeared. As for me, I knew it from what I could sense from Ace."
Rini was confused. "Hold on. You can sense him?"
"Right. Since we both have the Magic Force, we can sense and feel each other. Back to the situation, though. Things got a little weirder when we did a performance where we needed a violinist and a pianist. The pair we hired became sick, but I found a couple of replacements in Keaton Park. I think you know them: Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Keioh?"
"Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune?" Amy gasped. "Why would they be here?"
"They were really here to see whether Electro City was the main target of the new threat. They were right. The note I received from them after they completed their part of the performance confirmed it for sure. They had been sent by Sailor Saturn. The other part of the note said our only hope to defeat this threat would be for the Sailor Scouts to join up with us here in Electro City. Hence, Amy's big win on the game show."
"So, if I hadn't won on Who Wants to Travel the World and chosen Electro City, this could have been a disastrous situation."
"Right, Amy," said Raye. "Sailor Saturn told us your brain would be the key to getting us all back together, so this trip really wasn't just to see our friends here again. We have a reason to be here." She looked at Serena. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before, but I wasn't sure how you'd react."
Serena shrugged and said, "Well, I admit I am a little miffed about that. Then again, you do know my track record when it comes to discovering new threats. Maybe you were right not to tell me right away, but there's still one thing bothering me. I want to know who Angie was kissing last night when she returned to the Express."
Luna snapped at her. "Serena!? How can you still be thinking about Angie's private matters when we have Malkyrion to deal with?"
"What's your problem?" questioned Rini. "We all know Angie did not kiss anybody last night!"
Angie shook her head. "Hey, you guys want to try to get a little sleep for now, or want me to start cooking breakfast?"
"It's only after 5:30," noted Amy. "Let's rest for a couple of hours, since we know the vampire hates the daytime."
"That's a good idea," said Darien with a long yawn. "Perhaps this rest will get our strength back."
As everyone went to their rooms to get some sleep, Ace took the opportunity to attempt something. "Now's my chance. I need to speak with Queen Serenity. Good thing I still remember that name from our Japanese visit."
He went into his room with Zina following. As the door shut, he sat on his bed and immediately got into his meditative position. Closing his eyes to concentrate, he calmly said, "I hope this works." Queen Serenity. Queen Serenity of the Moon Kingdom…if you can hear me, please respond to my thoughts. I must speak with you right away.
Within the mindscape, Ace found himself standing among the ruins of a great civilization. "Could this be the ancient Moon Kingdom Sailor Moon spoke of when she unleashed the power of her Silver Imperium Crystal?"
"Yes," answered a woman's voice. "You stand upon the remains of the Moon Kingdom."
Ace turned around and saw a spirit materialize in front of him. The spirit formed into a woman with beautiful white hair, done in a way exactly like Serena's hair, and she wore a gorgeous white dress with a light pink bow in the front. The crescent moon on her forehead was the last piece of proof he needed to know who she was. "You are Queen Serenity?"
"Yes, I am. Who are you?"
He bowed in respect. "Your Majesty, I am Ace Cooper, the Magician."
"You have summoned me? How do you know of my existence?"
"Through your daughter, Princess Serena. I saw her when I visited Japan three years ago. I know she is also Sailor Moon. However, her recent behavior has come into question."
"Please speak, Ace Cooper."
Standing to face her, he said, "It's her behavior on Earth as Serena. She has become highly possessive of her boyfriend Darien. It seems she cannot do anything without him being around her."
"I understand. In the Silver Millennium, my daughter was deeply in love with the prince of Earth, Prince Endymion. Although she never spoke much about him, she did stare at the Earth much of the time. What has happened to her as an Earthling?"
"She believes she can pry into everyone's lives without asking. She insists on knowing why my friend and heart sister Angela Jacobs has been acting moody with her. That reason is Angie's recent string of events that have altered her life." Ace explained all the details of what Angie had been through in the past three years.
Queen Serenity nodded. "I understand. She went through her own horrific time in her life and hid all her anger and rage. How is your heart sister doing now?"
"Much better. It is now only a question of her controlling her emotions while using her magic. I have been teaching her to the best of my own ability."
"I can see why Angela is strongly connected to you. Hopefully Serena will understand Angela is being human."
"Yes, but there is another, more dangerous situation I must talk to you about. Have you ever heard of a being called Malkyrion, or any type of energy vampire?"
Serenity gasped. "Malkyrion? That name has not been heard in more than a thousand years."
"You do know of him?"
"Yes, I do. Malkyrion was one of Queen Nephrenia's top generals when she tried to invade the Moon Kingdom with her Dead Moon Circus. However, the power of the crystal and the princesses of the other planets were able to banish him to the farthest end of the universe. Has he finally returned to the Earth?"
"I fear he has. Because of his hatred of daylight, he rests within a host body. Now, though, he will have to take a different body, as Captain Friedrichs, the chief of police, has been severely weakened by Malkyrion draining his energy."
"You are correct, Ace Cooper. During the day he must have a host body to survive. When night falls, he will emerge, ready to steal the energy of as many humans as he can – possibly all humans. It was wise for you to have Sailor Moon and her friends come at this time."
"Thank Sailor Saturn for that. She was the one who warned both Raye and me. Now that more information has been given about him, we may be able to stop him for good."
"I hope you can. We were only able to banish him, not destroy him. It will be up to you and the others to finish what we started a millennium ago."
"We will do the best we can, Queen Serenity, I promise you."
"Very well. The fate of Earth lies with you and Sailor Moon. Take care, Ace Cooper, for your greatest battle lies ahead…" Queen Serenity disappeared as the mindscape started to vanish around him.
Awakening from his meditation, Ace understood the importance of what was to come. "We have to stop Malkyrion before he does any further harm." He was too concerned about the situation to return to sleep.
Two hours later, Angie got out of bed and went to the kitchen to make another good breakfast for the group. "After that fight overnight, I'd better make a lot of food this morning."
Lita walked into the kitchen. "Hey, girl, how about some help? Everybody's running low on fuel, especially with Malkyrion running loose here."
"Thanks, Lita. I'm still a little tired, but maybe some food can make our 'get-up-and-go' work again."
It only took 15 minutes for everyone to respond to the smell of the cooked bacon, biscuits, and soufflés. Most of the eating was done in silence, since they did not want to think about the previous night's battle. Even Serena did not eat more than she normally would because her mind was on Malkyrion, but more so on Angie's alleged kiss.
Later that morning, Ace was in deep thought when Angel appeared to him in the living room. "Ace, Victor Raven is here."
"Good, Angel. Let him in." This is supposed to be the last part of Angie's prank. I sure hope this works.
Victor entered the Magic and went to the living room. "Hi, Ace. I guess we've reached the finale, right?"
"Right. I'll bet Serena will be the first one out here any minute. I'll leave the room and observe everything from my study." Ace went into his study to observe the actions in the living room.
Within two minutes, Serena walked into the living room and noticed Victor. "You!" she screamed. "You're the one who kissed Angie last night! Now who are you!?"
Mina walked in next and did a double take. "Darien? But how?"
"That's not Darien, Mina - or is it? Whoever he is, he's the one who kissed Angie!"
"Really? Cool. Who are you?"
Raye and Lita entered next and started asking every conceivable question asked of any gentleman.
Victor rolled his eyes in annoyance. Darien and Rini were right. They are giving me the third degree.
Cosmo and Amy walked in and noticed Serena, Raye, Mina, and Lita. "What is going on here?" Amy asked in shock.
Ace decided it was enough. "I'd better get Angie, Darien, and Rini and let the others off the hook."
Victor was surrounded by the girls, except Amy, who blushed in embarrassment. He said, "Will you stop asking all these questions?"
"Not till we get answers!" Serena snapped.
Ace entered the living room and levitated the four girls into the air. "Okay, girls, that's enough. Darien, Rini, Angie? Could you all come in here, please?"
Cosmo looked around and realized to himself, Oh, man…there's been a prank, and I wasn't in on it!
Serena noticed Darien and Rini. "What the—? Is there something we don't know here?"
"As a matter of fact, Meatball-Head," said Rini sarcastically, "Yes, there is. Angie, why don't you tell them?"
"Thanks, Rini. Ladies, I'd like you all to meet Victor Raven – my boyfriend."
"Your boyfriend!?" the five girls exclaimed.
Luna, Artemis, and Diana also noticed all the action from the door.
"That's fantastic!" Luna said to the other two excitedly. "Angie found her own true love."
"Yes, Victor is my boyfriend." After making the proper introductions, she added, "Serena, you and Mina did see me kiss someone, but you automatically thought it was Darien. He, Rini, Ace, Victor, and I all pulled a prank on you to teach you a lesson about being so possessive. I guess we should've told the rest of you. Sorry, Cosmo."
Cosmo chuckled. "No probs, Ange. You know I'm not that good in keeping a secret. I got so caught up in everything else I forgot about you and Vic."
Raye, Mina, and Lita smiled about it all. "Now this is a pleasant surprise," said Mina. "I'm so happy for you, Angie."
Serena, however, was not thrilled about being the victim of this prank. "You've got some nerve, doing this to me, Angie! I thought we were friends! I can't believe you'd pull something so cold!"
"Serena!" shouted Raye. "I don't know if your brain's even registered this, but Angie said nothing about having her own boyfriend the entire time we've been here!"
"That doesn't matter!"
"Oh, yes, it does! It proves Angie's life is more than talking about Victor every second like you do about Darien, especially considering she was kidnapped last year, I— oops."
"Nice try, Raye," said Serena angrily, "but if you think you're gonna side with Angie on a lie like that, I—"
"Serena," Angie interrupted, "she's not making that up."
Everyone except Ace, Angie, Cosmo, Raye, and Victor gasped.
"What?" said Darien. "What are you talking about?"
"Raye overheard a conversation between Captain Friedrichs and Bob Raven, the owner of the DNA. She discovered something I've been keeping from you. I really was kidnapped last year from that mall. The past three years for me have been a roller coaster ride."
Ace floated the girls back to the floor. "It's no joke. Even Victor knows the story."
"Yeah?" said Serena. "What did you do to get yourself kidnapped – do a trick all wrong?"
Angie sighed. "No. Let me explain all the events that have happened to me in the past three years. Maybe then you'll understand."
Serena sat down with Raye, Lita, and Mina on the sofa while Cosmo and Amy took the two chairs. Ace, Darien, and Rini stood by the door as the three cats walked across the room to join them.
Angie sat next to Victor on the smaller sofa, and started her story. "I'm going to try to condense three years into a few minutes. When we all returned from Japan, I started developing more powers, like telemetry, which gives me the ability to touch an object and learn its history. That helped on Halloween when I made contact with a ghost who was missing her left arm. With that new power, her arm was found, allowing her to finally be able to rest in peace. Then, a few months later, we had a rare astronomical event – the alignment of all nine planets. However, it caused two things: a dimensional rift and a major increase of my powers. The increase was so radical I nearly lost control, especially when I had to deal with my own feelings of guilt."
Ace added, "You wouldn't believe what we had to deal with. Here, we have two dangerous crime bosses: 'Black Jack' Malone and Sonny Boy Surge. We also have a master thief named Faceless. When the rift occurred, we had not one but two sets of each, except for Faceless. We also had a complete double team of ourselves, with one exception – Jas Lee, a talented martial artist who was a big help to all of us. She and Angie became sisters within a three-day span, and even now, worlds apart, they can still sense and feel each other."
"But that was nothing compared to my biggest challenge," Angie said seriously. "I had to go back to my hometown of Mason City, Iowa, to attend a parole hearing for the two drivers responsible for my parents' deaths. One of them was ashamed for what he had done while the other showed no remorse whatsoever. At one point, I actually dreamed I was strangling the remorseless driver to death. It was a nightmare because both of them were sentenced at the same time. In Iowa, when that happens, it can't be one or the other. They either both get paroled or stay in prison. They ended up having their parole denied, but it began a treacherous path toward self-destruction – all because I wouldn't acknowledge my own darker feelings."
Serena stood up fast and said, "No! You do not have darker feelings. I don't believe you."
"Every living being has darker feelings, Serena – even you. In my case, it all stemmed from my buried anger and pain, what I kept buried inside my soul for nearly eight years.
"Now, this is where the kidnapping comes into the equation. Two men abducted me from the DNA Mall in broad daylight, and they kept me drugged for almost three consecutive days. They took me to this scientist in Washington, Dr. Gregory Collins. He wanted to use my magical powers – as a destructive weapon."
"Wait a minute," said Amy. "If he wanted to use someone's magic as a weapon, why didn't he go after Mr. Cooper?"
"Ace is more powerful than I am, but I'm more emotionally vulnerable than he is. I'm what's called an empathic mage, meaning I feel the magic from within my heart and soul. However, my emotions drive the power within me, and when I lost control of my emotions… I almost killed Dr. Collins with my out-of-control magic.
"To make matters worse, Ace and Lieutenant Vega both saw me unleash my darkness. Fearing I would lose the people I became friends with, I just ran away. I couldn't bear to face my friends after what they had seen. Ace stopped me with a freeze spell, and with help from another friend, I realized something very important. In order to reach the light, I had to recognize and acknowledge the darkness within myself. If I don't allow myself to show how I'm really feeling, I'm just burying it all over again, and going through that once in my lifetime is enough.
"That's why I've been moody with you, Serena. You kept talking about Darien and smothering him to death. When you get to the adult world and get a job, you won't be able to think about him every five seconds. I didn't mention Victor until he came here this morning, but Darien and Rini found out first when Victor snuck up behind me at lunch yesterday."
"We didn't mean to pull this on you, Serena," Darien added, "but we had to teach you an important life lesson."
Serena looked as if she was about to cry, but this time it was for real shame. "What have I done? How could I have been so foolish? Here I was thinking you didn't want to be my friend anymore, and you suffered through your own rough times. You had every right to be angry with me. I've been acting like a jerk this whole trip!"
"Serena," said Mina as she tried to comfort her, "We all know you care a lot about Darien, and all of us. It's just you bring him up so often it gets annoying after a little while."
"You're right," she admitted. "I'm just a jerk. Maybe I shouldn't have been on this trip." She stood up and added, "I'm going into my room now. I'll let you all decide if you should go on ahead and send me back to Tokyo. Whatever you decide, I'll go along with it; no argument." Serena walked away in tears.
Luna followed her inside just as the door closed. "Serena?"
"Look, Luna, just leave me alone, all right? You don't have to rub it in."
"I wouldn't do that. I wanted to tell you that I'm proud of you for having the courage to admit what you did. I'm sorry it took a practical joke by Angie to do it, but I think you're finally learning."
"She and her friends have been good to us. I don't understand why I wanted to think she was being sore at me for bringing up Darien all the time. She had every right to be angry. I was stupid to forget Amy won this trip, and that we are guests here in Electro City. I've made a fool of myself and embarrassed everyone here. I hope they decide to send me home. I don't deserve to be here, not after the way I've been."
"Oh, Serena," said Luna as she leaped onto her owner's shoulder. "I know you're not acting this time. Don't worry, I'll be here for you."
Suddenly, the door opened, revealing Raye. "Hey, Meatball-Head, mind if I come in?"
"No; you can come in."
Raye sat next to Serena and said, "We've reached a decision."
"So when should I start packing?"
"You're not going," Raye said with a smile. "We decided that you can stay."
"But, Raye, I've been an embarrassment to all of you. I shouldn't be here."
"That may be true, Serena, but we all still care about you as a friend, regardless of your frailties and drawbacks. Like Angie said, every living being has a darker side. Angie had to recognize that within herself. Now that she has, she has the freedom to openly express her anger if needed. However, Mr. Cooper is helping her control the magic when she does get very emotional. Now how about it – will you stay?"
Serena dried her eyes. "I will, but on one condition."
"What is it?"
"If I start to act like an idiot again, please do whatever it takes to stop me."
Luna reacted in surprise. "Are you serious?"
"Very, Luna. I need to start growing up sometime, don't I?"
"Yes, but growing up doesn't necessarily mean you have to let go of your childhood completely. You can still have fun as an adult."
"She's right," agreed Raye. "Think about all the fun things I want to do as an adult."
"Oh, yeah, your dreams of being a multi-talented superstar. Those are fun, and you can be an adult doing it, so I guess there's no reason not to have fun in my adulthood, as long as I know what I'm doing."
"Feel well enough to go back to the living room now?"
"Yeah, I do. Let's go."
Serena and Raye walked out of the room together with Luna right behind them.
Queen Serenity, thought Luna, there is hope for your daughter after all.
When they returned, everyone smiled. "Did Raye tell you?" asked Amy.
"Yes, she did. However, I'm going to need a lot of help. I've got one very bad habit to break."
"Serena," said Darien smilingly, "We'll all help you out, but you already took the important first step. You admitted what you did. As long as you can do that, you'll be fine."
Serena looked at Rini. "Rini, whenever you want to hang with Darien by yourself, I won't stop you anymore. I realize you look to him as a father-figure, and I shouldn't restrict you from that."
"Thanks, Serena!" Rini said excitedly. "You really mean it?"
"Yeah. I've been shallow and selfish, and it's time I put a stop to that." She looked at Angie next. "Angie, I'm so sorry for the way I've been to you. It's your life, and I should never pry into something that's not my business. I'm glad you pulled this prank on me. Now that this has been resolved, I just have one question left. How did you meet Victor?"
"Now that's something I can tell you about without getting upset." Angie explained the story as to how she met Victor on the reservation and fell in love with him.

Meanwhile, Professor Jonathan Surge was already hard at work at the Surge Consortium. In fact, he was so busy he did not notice what time it was. "Good heavens! I think Ace was supposed to bring a friend named Amy here this morning. I guess he got as tied up as I did. I need to contact him and see if we can reschedule our meeting time for this evening, so I can show her and her friends around the Consortium."
Ace was happy to see all his friends enjoying themselves when he heard the telephone ring. "Magic Express, Ace Cooper speaking."
"Ace, this is Professor Surge. I think we both got so caught up in matters we forgot our meeting at 9:00. How about we meet after you have dinner at the Express, say around 7:00?"
"I didn't even remember we were supposed to meet. Something happened overnight, and we couldn't get around to it. Anyway, 7:00 sounds perfect. We'll be there this evening, and I'm sorry for the inconvenience."
"We're both to blame, Ace. I was so busy working on my latest project I lost track of time. I'll see you and your friends at 7:00 this evening."
Ace announced this to the others, but little did they know they would be in for quite a nasty surprise this evening…