DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon and its characters are not owned by me, blah blah blah, and other legal junk.
Author's Note: This fanfic is a direct sequel to Looking Up To You, a Sammy/Ami romance fanfic that I wrote about a year ago. It's still on my profile, so I recommend that if you haven't read Looking Up To You, it would be best to stop, don't pass GO, don't collect $200, and go immediately to my profile to check it out. Otherwise, you'll be kinda confused.
Second Author's Note: This fanfic takes place after Sailor Moon Sailor Stars. (Serena, Ami, Rei, and Mina are 17. Lita is 18. Sammy is 14. Darien is older than all of them.) Also, if you're confused about some of the Senshi's attacks, that's because they got a whole set of new ones in Looking Up To You. So like I said, go check it out.
Reviews: Coming next chapter! ^_^
---
As Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Jupiter lamented the abduction of Sailor Venus, something even more sinister was taking place. On the rooftop of a ten-story apartment building just a few blocks away, Jekelai was taking care of another matter of business.
"Well, Tuxedo Mask, how does it feel to taste the cold, hard ground yet again?" Jekelai said, taunting Tuxedo Mask. Jekelai had intercepted him as he was rushing to the aid of the Senshi in their earlier battle against Yeika, and now, Tuxedo Mask was getting the beating of his life. His face was heavily bruised, and cut in several places. There were rips and tears in Tuxedo Mask's clothing, where Jekelai had directed attacks at Tuxedo Mask's arms and legs. Now, the battered warrior was barely able to stand as he got up to face Jekelai again.
"You... why are you doing this?" Tuxedo Mask groaned, struggling to form words. "What is your... plan?"
"You really think I'd tell you something like that?" Jekelai said, a bit of a chuckle starting to form in his voice. "My dear, dear Tuxedo Mask... or is that Darien? Or perhaps Moonlight Knight? Or even... King Endymion?"
Tuxedo Mask gasped as Jekelai named off every single identity that he had gone by, with striking casuality.
"How does he know all this?" Tuxedo Mask thought.
"Yes, Tuxedo Mask, I know all there is to know about you... especially one particularly juicy tidbit of information. Sailor Moon... Serena... Queen Serenity... she loves you deeply, does she not?"
"Where did you get all this information?" Tuxedo Mask shouted, a stream of blood coming from one side of his lips. "TELL ME!"
"There's no need to be rude," Jekelai said, rushing toward Tuxedo Mask with incredible speed and dealing him a blow to the stomach with a small blade attached to his wrist, sending Tuxedo Mask crashing to the hard concrete surface of the roof yet again. "Just because I'm not going to kill you just yet doesn't mean that you shouldn't be polite to me... I might torture you less when Sailor Moon shows up."
Jekelai pointed his hand at Tuxedo Mask and blasted him with a small burst of magical energy, causing him to roll over to the edge of the roof. With one last, pained groan, Tuxedo Mask finally fell unconscious. Jekelai smiled and walked over to the fallen warrior, picking up a single red rose from his unconscious form. He held it in his hand and gently caressed the petals, a sadistic smile on his face.
"Three down, two to go," Jekelai said. "And then the Moon Princess will finally be ready for the procedure."
With a flash of dark light, both Jekelai and Tuxedo Mask disappeared into thin air.
---
"First Sailor Mars, and now Sailor Venus..." Sailor Moon said, looking down into the crater and shaking her head regretfully. "I can't believe this..."
"This is terrible!" Sailor Mercury said, a tear running down her cheek.
"We've got to save them, you guys," Sailor Jupiter said, clenching her fists. "When I get my hands on that winged freak, I'll-"
"There's two of them," Sailor Mercury said. "And the one I killed, and then one more..."
"So, wait... there's three bad guys left now?" Sailor Moon asked. "I guess we know who's responsible for this...."
"And I won't let anyone take you, Ami!" Sammy said in a determined tone. "I think that it's time I got back into the hero business, and-"
"NO!" Mercury said sternly, looking Sammy straight in the eyes. "I won't let you get hurt again, and I won't let you get killed again! Absolutely, positively, no!"
"Ami, don't be so harsh on the kid..." Sailor Moon said sympathetically. "I know how you feel about him, but-"
"No.... no, Ami's right," Sammy said, although from the sad tone in his voice it was clear that he was trying extremely hard not to cry, as Ami's yelling at him had deeply affected his demeanor, no matter how much he tried to hide it. He began to get choked up. "I'll just... go back home, and-"
"Oh, Sammy..." Mercury said, leaning in and wrapping her arms around Sammy as the tears began to flow down her face in streams. "It's alright... I was so wrong to yell at you like that, you were just trying to help, and I know how much you care about me... I just... I just don't want anything happening to you..."
"Do they always do that?" Sailor Jupiter whispered, leaning in close to Sailor Moon.
"Nah... I haven't seen them all weepy like that since the battle against Lazuli," Sailor Moon whispered. "This is a pretty rough time."
"It's alright, Ami," Sammy said, tightly embracing his lover. "I... I promise that no matter what, we'll both be okay... I don't know how, but I'll protect us both, alright?"
"What do you... mean, Sammy?" Mercury asked.
"You'll see," Sammy said, gently pulling away from Sailor Mercury. "I'll be back, okay? You guys try to take care of yourselves in the meantime!"
Sammy ran off toward the street and headed down the sidewalk. The other Senshi followed him to the sidewalk, and then watched him as he ran.
"What's he doing?" Sailor Mercury asked. "Sammy... be careful... now I know how you felt about me all those times when you tried to protect me..."
"We should probably go back to Rei's temple," Sailor Jupiter suggested. "Now that we know what kidnapped Rei, we should tell Chad and Rei's grandpa exactly what happened."
"Is that really a good idea?" Sailor Moon asked. "I mean, if we confirm that Rei was kidnapped, it'll just worry them a whole lot more..."
"That's true," Sailor Jupiter said. "Mercury, do you know where we should go next?"
Sailor Mercury sighed. In her heart, she felt worried about Sammy... she wanted to follow him, see what he was getting into... she was concerned for his safety, but she also knew that the Sailor Senshi were the bad guys' targets now, and not Sammy. In that sense, she felt relieved, because even though she might now be a target, she knew that Sammy was out of danger... for now, at least.
"If they're going after us, they'll come back for you and Sailor Moon and me, right?" Mercury asked, and Sailor Jupiter nodded. "So we should always stick together. That way, they won't be able to attack again without facing all three of us at once. That gives us our best chance to beat them if they do decide to attack again."
"But... where should we go?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"Well, Sailor Moon is the leader... Sailor Moon, it's your call," Mercury said, turning to Sailor Moon.
"Let's head to Darien's apartment and tell him about all of this," Sailor Moon said, her lips curling into a smile. "I haven't seen Darien since yesterday, and I'm sure he'll be able to think of something to do!"
"Serena!" thought Mercury and Jupiter exasperatingly, but neither of them vocalized their opinions. Instead, they followed Sailor Moon to Darien's apartment, completely unaware of the horror that had befallen him just minutes earlier.
---
"Well, this is it...."
Sammy had walked all the way to the Juuban Costume Shop, where he'd gotten his first two Masked Warrior costumes six months ago. The last one he'd had had disappeared, and now he was finally back to purchase another. He never thought he'd been coming back here, nor had he ever wanted to. But as he started to step inside the shop, a thought stopped him.
"Do I... really even need a costume?" Sammy said to himself, stepping back. "All of the bad guys seem to know practically everything about me anyway... plus, Ami and the other Senshi would know it was me... I don't have any reason to buy a costume. This time, if I'm going to protect Ami, I'm going to protect her as myself. Sammy."
"Hey, Sammy, what'cha up to?" said a voice from behind Sammy, causing him to jump up into the air. "Whoa, it's just me, Rick!"
Sammy turned around and saw his friend, as well as another one of his friends... Mika.
"Rick said that you guys got attacked in the arcade," Mika said worriedly. "Are you alright?"
Sammy nodded.
"Sailor Moon and the other Senshi saved the day, but... well..."
"What happened, Sammy?" Rick asked, a look of concern on his face. "Nothing happened to Ami, did it?"
Sammy shook his head.
"No, but Sailor Venus got kidnapped," Sammy said. "Now there are two missing Senshi! Sailor Mars AND Sailor Venus... that's why I came to the costume shop, to get a new costume so I could protect Ami. But... I don't really need a costume, now that everyone knows I'm the Masked Warrior..."
"Well, couldn't you get a new identity?" Rick asked.
"And I don't think this superhero thing is really a very good idea, Sammy," Mika said. "The Sailor Senshi are really tough... I mean, they can fight for themselves, right?"
"But... after Sailor Mars and Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury might be next!" Sammy said. "I just don't want Ami to get kidnapped again..."
"Uh, Sammy... Mika kinda didn't know about Ami being Sailor Mercury," Rick said, pointing to her.
Mika giggled.
"I won't tell... besides, I hardly ever see Ami, anyway!" Mika said, smiling. "Well, except on those double-dates that you and Ami go on with us... those are pretty fun!"
"I should really be careful talking about Sailor Mercury's identity," Sammy said. "But it looks like the bad guys already know it..."
Rick and Mika gasped.
"No way!" Rick shouted. "How the heck did they find out?"
"I don't know... they've got crazy evil powers, or something," Sammy replied. "Anyway, that's why I really, really want to help out Ami... but I don't even have my sword anymore. That disappeared too..."
"So... back to square one, then," Mika said. "Sammy, as long as I've known you, you've been a really, really determined person... I know you'll think of some way to help Ami! Just like you helped me when I got transformed into that monster a few years ago..."
"You still remember that?" Sammy asked. "Whoa.... thank you, Mika."
"You're welcome, Sammy," Mika said.
"Sammy, I'm sure you'll find some way to get back into the buttkicking business... and you'll be saving Ami again in no time!" Rick said.
"Hey, you guys... wanna head to the Winter Festival and help decorate again?" Sammy asked, trying to find an activity that would take his mind off of Ami, at least for a little while. "Mika, how's your ice sculpture going?"
"It's great!" Mika said, smiling. "I just started it, and... a.... a.... achoo!"
Mika let out a loud sneeze, causing Sammy and Rick to jump back.
"Sorry," Mika said, sniffling. "I've still got a bit of a cold..."
---
Outside Darien's apartment, the three remaining Sailor Senshi had detransformed and were getting ready to consult Darien on what to do next. Serena knocked on the door.
"Hello, Darien?" Serena said in a warm tone. "Are you here?"
No answer.
"Knock again, Serena," Lita said. "Maybe he didn't hear you..."
Serena knocked again, and again, she called out for Darien.
"Are you there, Darien? Please answer, it's really important," Serena said, beginning to get annoyed. "Where could he be? His classes are out for today, so he should be here. Maybe he's at my house or something... or maybe he's in the shower."
Serena tried the knob. It was unlocked, allowing Serena access to Darien's apartment. As Serena stepped inside, Ami and Lita followed her, a bit more cautious than Serena was.
"It's really rude to barge into someone's house, even your boyfriend's," Ami said politely.
"Yeah, what if he really is in the shower?" Lita asked, her cheeks beginning to turn red. "You really don't want Darien to catch you seeing him naked, do you?"
"Oh, he's not in the shower," Serena said. "It's completely quiet in here... there's no one home...."
"Oh, I wouldn't say that!"
As the three girls gasped and turned toward the source of the voice, long, black, thread-like beams comprised of sparking black energy wrapped around the arms and chests of Ami and Lita, ensnaring the two girls and binding them together. Then, the two girls began to be lifted into the air as Serena screamed in shock. She looked up and saw Ceyra and Yeika, floating near the ceiling. Yeika was holding the energy threads that were binding Ami and Lita, while shouting orders to Ceyra.
"Okay, I've got the two Senshi! Distract the Moon Princess while I bring these two Jekelai!" Yeika shouted. As Ceyra nodded, Serena lifted her henshin stick into the air.
"Moon Crystal Power!" Serena shouted, immediately transforming into Sailor Moon. As Yeika tried to form an energy portal, Sailor Moon ran past Ceyra and leapt up, kicking Yeika hard in the back and causing her to drop the threads holding Ami and Lita. As the threads hit the ground, they disappeared, giving the two girls time to transform.
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Crap hell damn!" Yeika shouted, punching a hole into the wall. "We were THIS close!"
"Don't worry, we can still get them!" Ceyra shouted, holding her hands in front of her, a few inches apart. In the space between her hands, she formed a large, purple ball of magical energy, which began to spin. "There we go..."
"Jupiter Thunder Axe!" Sailor Jupiter shouted, an axe of lightning appearing in her hand. "Take this!"
Sailor Jupiter slammed the blade of the axe across Ceyra's neck. But instead of decapitating the angel-winged girl, it created a huge field of lightning, shocking Ceyra and knocking her to the ground, where her now-burned body crackled and sparked with electricity. The purple energy ball that had been in her hands disappeared.
"Uhhh.... that hurt..." Ceyra groaned, rubbing her head. "Not fair..."
Ceyra's hand moved to her neck, where a tiny cut had appeared. Nothing severe, since the axe had mostly been comprised of energy.
"Mercury Ice Javelin!" Sailor Mercury shouted, trying to attack the fallen Ceyra as she stumbled to her feet. Several icy projectiles flew at Ceyra, who quickly had to form an energy shield to block them as they rushed at her. All except one hit the shield and shattered, while the one that hadn't shattered pierced the right side of the shield and flew by one of Ceyra's wings, narrowly shearing off a few feathers. As Ceyra looked to inspect the damage, she gasped in horror as she realized that her whole right wing had been frozen.
"What?" Ceyra gasped. "So cold..."
"I guess you could say I winged her," Mercury said, trying to crack a joke. It was a skill that she'd learned from Sammy, but had never actually used in a serious occasion like a battle before. Still, the little chuckle she received from her friends made her feel better, at least for a moment. She pressed a button on her earring, causing her VR Visor to appear over her eyes. "Now I'd better scan her..."
"Nobody makes a joke out of my sister!" Yeika shouted, flying toward Sailor Mercury in a rage. Sailor Mercury, who was busy scanning Ceyra, barely had time to react before Yeika struck Sailor Mercury in the face with her forearm, sending her sprawling to the ground. Her visor flashed a 'CRITICAL ERROR' message before sparking, and then, ultimately, failing. A fairly large-sized crack in its left side had caused the damage.
"Sailor Mercury, are you okay?" shouted Moon and Jupiter. Mercury nodded.
"Mm-hmm, I'm fine," Mercury said, slowly standing up.
Ceyra growled, and then lit up with an aura of magical energy. The ice that had encased her wing shattered, and her entire body shined with a light blue glow.
"Now they're both mad," Sailor Jupiter said, gritting her teeth.
"I'll make it a bit easier for us," Sailor Mercury said. "Mercury Bubbles... Blast!"
Sailor Mercury lifted into the air and emitted a large cloud of bubbles and mist outward from her body, filling the room with a cold, dense fog. Ceyra and Yeika struggled to see as Sailor Jupiter prepared another attack.
"Jupiter... Thundercloud... Zap!" shouted Sailor Jupiter, firing a large, twirling disk of lightning energy at the two girls. They shrieked as they were hit, and immediately, the mist in the room disappeared. Ceyra was the first to recover from the attack, still glowing blue as she had been doing before.
"I've had... enough of this... thunder and lightning..." Ceyra said, breathing heavily. "I HATE LIGHTNING, AND I HATE YOU!"
Ceyra lifted her arms, and instead of one ball of purple energy, five appeared. They spun in a circle over Ceyra's head, and the Senshi began to panic.
"Watch out!" Sailor Moon shrieked.
But it was too late. Ceyra threw the energy balls at Sailor Jupiter, and they began to spin around her as well. Then, they converged together and formed one large, purple energy ball. It engulfed Sailor Jupiter's body and began zapping her with large, purple bolts of lightning, causing her to scream in pain inside her purple energy prison.
"Stop it!" Sailor Mercury screamed. "Stop hurting her!"
"She's ours now!" Ceyra said. She nodded to Yeika, and then, the two of them disappeared, along with the purple energy ball that was containing Sailor Jupiter. She had disappeared as well, leaving Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars alone in Darien's now-ruined apartment.
"They've got Sailor Jupiter now..." Sailor Moon said, falling to her knees and hanging her head in despair. "And... what about... Darien? Do they have him too?"
---
"It's beautiful!" Sammy said, staring at the ice sculpture that Mika had already began to work on at the Winter Festival site in the park. So far, it consisted of only a head, with a large block of ice beneath it. Mika smiled.
"I only have the head and some of the hair done," Mika said, holding up her hammer and chisel that she used to craft the sculpture. "I've got today and tomorrow to finish up the body before the Festival starts."
"I'm sure it'll be a wonderful sculpture, Mika!" Rick said. "You'll always be my angel..."
"Oh, how sweet!" Mika said kindly, giving Rick a kiss on the cheek. She turned to Sammy and whispered in his ear. "He's always giving me compliments like that... I think he picks it up off of you and Ami."
"I don't give Ami that many compliments," Sammy whispered back. "She already knows most of what I tell her, anyway."
"That's true," Mika said.
"What's true?" Rick asked.
"Oh, nothing!" Mika said, giggling slightly. "Nothing at all..."
"Hey, the sun's getting ready to set," Rick said, noticing the sun as it had nearly dipped below the horizon. The sky was getting darker and darker, though the snow had stopped falling. "Maybe we should head on home..."
"I'm going to stay and work on this statue a bit more," Mika said. "But you're both welcome to stay with me!"
"I'll stay," Rick said. "What about you, Sammy? We've decorated this place a little bit today, wanna decorate some more?"
"No.... I should probably start looking for Ami," Sammy said. He had left Ami probably an hour ago, and he was really starting to worry. "I hope that Ami hasn't been attacked while I was away... I still don't have anyway to protect her... I just hope she's alright!"
"Well, good luck, Sammy," Rick said.
"And stay safe," Mika replied. Rick nodded in agreement.
"I'll be alright," Sammy said, turning to wave goodbye to Rick and Mika as he left the clearing. "I'll see you guys tomorrow, okay?"
---
"Well, now what do we do?" Sailor Moon shouted, standing outside Darien's apartment complex with Sailor Mercury. "They've got Mars, Venus, and Jupiter, and they probably have Darien too! We can't possibly catch them, we're-"
"Jekelai... Jekelai..." Sailor Mercury said, typing on her mini-computer. Although her VR Visor had been broken, her computer still worked, and Sailor Mercury thought that her computer may have information on the Senshi's new foes.
"What are you doing?" Sailor Moon asked. "Jekelai... that was the guy that those girls wanted to take you to, right? So he's their boss?"
Sailor Mercury nodded.
"Probably so," Mercury said, "which, if he is, is a big piece of information. If we can find out where Jekelai is, we can find the other Senshi... and maybe Darien as well."
"I hope so," Sailor Moon said, her eyes beginning to water. "Oh, Darien..."
---
Meanwhile, inside a dark and mysterious room somewhere inside the mysterious dimension that the abducted Senshi had been taken to, Ceyra and Yeika were telling Jekelai of their latest capture.
"There are two left now, are there not?" Jekelai asked.
"That's right, only two of them left! Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury!" Ceyra said giddily.
"Soon, only Sailor Moon will remain! And then we'll use her friends to-"
"Then why don't you attack NOW, before they can regroup?" Jekelai bellowed. "Capturing Sailor Mercury will be easy now that it's just her and Sailor Moon. Go back and bring the Senshi of Water to me, NOW!"
The two girls nodded meekly, and a vortex appeared behind them. They quickly jumped into it as Jekelai chuckled.
"Soon, all the Senshi will be mine... and then, I can claim the true prize..." Jekelai said deviously.
---
"Sailor Mercury!" Sammy shouted, running toward Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury as they began to walk down the street, away from Darien's apartment. Sailor Mercury ran over to Sammy and took his hands in her own.
"Sammy, listen..." Sailor Mercury said, her voice extremely serious. Sammy's happiness at seeing his beloved Ami unharmed quickly turned to uneasiness, as Sailor Mercury's solemn tone had worried him.
"Ami, what's wrong?" Sammy said quietly. "Sailor Jupiter's not here... has she been..."
"Yes, she's been taken," Sailor Mercury said, looking directly into Sammy's eyes. "Listen... I won't lie to you. Right now, the Sailor Senshi are facing the biggest threat that they've faced since the battles against the Darkspawn... and I might be their next target. Your sister and I are the last Senshi left, Sammy."
"What about Sailor Uranus and Neptune?" Sammy asked, remembering the stories of past adventures that Ami had told him. "Surely they-"
"The Outer Senshi aren't around anymore," Sailor Moon said solemnly, walking over to Sammy. "I don't know where they are, but they're not here... not now. So, like Ami said... we're the last two Senshi left."
"What about Darien?" Sammy asked. Mercury shook her head.
"We believe he may have been abducted as well," Mercury said. "I-"
But as Mercury continued speaking to Sammy, a long black thread extended toward her body, quickly wrapping her arms around her chest like it had done before. Sammy let out a loud scream of surprise, as Sailor Mercury's hands were ripped away from his own. As she was rapidly lifted up into the air, he leapt up as high as he could and grabbed one of her ankles, gripping it with both of his hands and refusing to let go, even as he and Sailor Mercury were pulled toward a large, swirling black vortex, spinning just above their heads.
"SAMMY, NO!" Sailor Moon screamed.
"Sammy, please let go!" Sailor Mercury screamed desperately. As she and Sammy were pulled up, toward the vortex, thoughts began rapidly racing through her head. "No... Sammy's going to be dragged into my troubles again... and it's all my fault... Sammy's going to get hurt because of me..."
"I'll never let go, Ami!" Sammy shouted, tears streaming down his face. "I LOVE YOU!!!"
And that was the last thing that Sailor Moon heard before the vortex snapped shut. Sailor Mercury and her brother were both gone, heartlessly abducted right before her very eyes. She collapsed to the ground again. Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus... her four best friends... her brother Sammy... and her lover Darien, all gone. Serena Tsukino had never felt such despair...
---
And that's it! That's the end.... OF THIS CHAPTER! ^_^ Mwahahaha, cliffie... ah, I love it. And now I must get a ton of reviews, or I'll never, ever write the next chapter! *has Chapter 4 tied to the traintracks, like Snidley Whiplash* Mwahhahaha... okay, enough of the evil authornesh. Chappie 4 is coming soon, probably on Friday night. ^_^ But pwease review anyway, m'kay?
