Disclaimer: My sincere gratitude to Takeuchi-sensei who created this wonderful world for us to dream in. respectful bow in the general direction of Japan As we all know, all rights belong to her. I hope you enjoy my portrayal of her creations.

Hurray! Hurray! I have another reviewer! ^-^ My thanks to Sailorserenity2 for taking the time to read and review all three stories I have posted. I hope you continue to enjoy this one.

I do not write for reviews, but I sure enjoy compliments, constructive criticism, and grammatical corrections. So if you feel like it, please press that little review button, and let me know what you think. - Raya

The Sleeper

Chapter 4 – The Battle for the Palace

*~*~*~ Outside the Palace *~*~*~

Super Sailor Mars groaned as she regained consciousness. 'What happened,' she thought. 'It feels like every bone in my body is broken. Or at least bruised.' Slowly, she opened her eyes, then pushed herself upright wincing and gasping in pain. A sound pulled her to her feet, ignoring all the wounds that protested. A tinkling sound, like shattering crystal. "Serenity!"

She spun towards the Palace, and watched the shards fall in slow motion, shimmering with rainbow colors in the sun. Above the palace, she saw the enemy apparently unhurt. "No! USAGI!!!" A second later, only the echo of that tortured scream was left in the empty plaza.

*~*~*~ The Palace Roof *~*~*~

Neo-Queen Serenity slowly uncovered her head as she heard an evil chuckle. Powdered crystal fell around her in clouds as she stared in shock. 'She... she broke the shield... But that's impossible. It was made of Silver Crystal...'

The four invaders watched the white-haired queen, sneering with superiority. "So... You are the legendary Neo-Queen Serenity," their leader oozed. "Hmph. So far, I'm not very impressed. Sailor Neptune put up a better fight."

Neo-Queen Serenity winced, then raised her face to her enemy. Their grins grew at the determined look in her blue eyes. "Who are you?" she asked quietly.

The leader raised an eyebrow. "My. You know, you're the first to ask that." She paused a moment, considering, then continued. "I suppose I can waste a few more minutes here. I am Empress Night, and this is my Court: Queen Yeti, King Arashi, and King Muerte." As their name was said, the redheaded woman, the man in the olive green suit, and the man in the brown suit bowed mockingly. "And in answer to your next obvious question, we are here for my sister, the Princess of Destruction. The one you call The Sleeper."

Neo-Queen Serenity's eyes widened. "Your what?"

Empress Night smiled evilly. "Ah, you didn't know? Yes indeed, you're beloved Princess of Destruction is my own dark little sister."

"Impossible," Neo-Queen Serenity said. "All of the princesses of this realm were born here in this system. You must be mistaken."

Empress Night's face twisted. "I am not mistaken. She may have been born here, but she is my sister, and I will take her back to the darkness!" As she raised her hand to fling another energy ball at the queen, there was a flash of red, orange, green and blue light. The invaders flinched back, covering their eyes. When they had dropped their arms, they saw the Inner Senshi standing around their queen in a protective ring. "Everyone!" she cried in disbelief.

"You will not harm her," Super Sailor Jupiter said stoutly. "This stops right here," Super Sailor Venus added.

The enemy just laughed. "You... You're in such bad shape you can barely stand," Queen Yeti mocked. "Here, let us put you out of your misery," King Muerte offered. As the Kings and Queen began their attack calls, Neo-Queen Serenity's eyes widened, and she raised her Silver Crystal.

"Dark Avalanche!" "Black Hurricane!" "Death Laser!"

"Aaaaarrrhhhh!" they yelled, as Neo-Queen Serenity's shield bounced their attacks back. Inside the shield, the Inner Senshi swayed, but somehow managed to stay on their feet.

"Night Terror!" Empress Night called, tossing a ball of energy at the shield. This time, Neo-Queen Serenity swayed. But her shield held, just barely.

With furious glares, the enemy prepared to attack again. "Dark..." "Black..." "Death...." "Night..."

The four senshi spun towards their queen, and collapsed as they threw all the power they had left into a secondary shield behind the first.

"Avalanche!" "Hurricane!" "Laser!" "Terror!"

Neo-Queen Serenity's shield began to buckle, but as soon as it touched the Inners' shield it stabilized once more. Somehow, it held off the combined attack once again.

"You think that pitiful thing will protect you? Those senshi will not last for long! Night Terror!" "Dark Avalanche!" "Black Hurricane!" "Death Laser!"

"Neptune Star Power!" "Uranus Star Power!" "Pluto Star Power!" "Golden Crystal Power!" Indigo, yellow, black and golden power swirled into the queen's shield, which deflected the combined attack, then expanded to cover the new power sources.

"What?!?" yelled Queen Yeti at the bloodied, prone form of Super Sailor Uranus. "Don't you ever DIE?!?" Slowly, Super Sailor Uranus turned her bloody face to the enemy, smiled mockingly, and replied. "Not for a weakling like you."

Queen Yeti screamed in rage, and threw attack after attack at the rebellious senshi, all of which were deflected by the shield. King Muerte seemed to be having a similar reaction to Super Sailor Neptune's refusal to give up, with equally similar results. Empress Night concentrated all her power on the defiant queen, while King Arashi split his efforts trying to get to either Sailor Pluto or King Endymion.

The seven senshi and their knight just closed their eyes and funneled all of their strength to their queen. It had been centuries since the Outers and the King had last joined energies with the Inners, but it came back to them as naturally as breathing.

And so the battle continued....

*~*~*~*~*~

A/N – I know many depictions show Uranus' power as dark blue and Neptune's as dark green, but I prefer to have them complete the rainbow (Mars = red, Venus = orange, Uranus = yellow, Jupiter = green, Mercury = blue, Neptune = indigo, Saturn = violet.) Pluto and Moon encompass the spectrum (black and white), while Tux and ChibiMoon accent it (gold and pink). This is just my personal preference....