author: Samantha
Rating: G
Timeline: Sailormoon SuperS
Notes/Summary: Told from SailorMercury's point of view, a mysterious evil force challenges Mercury, Mars, Neptune and Uranus by forcing them to withstand extreme limits of their own elements.
-----------------------------------------

Elemental Struggle

What is this place? One moment we were fighting Palla Palla, and the next...

"Aaahhh!!! What is this place? Where are we? I want out!!!"

Beside me, behind what seems to be a transparent wall of some sort, is Sailor Mars. She looks at me, searching for an answer. But this is one time I do not have it.

"Mercury! Mars! Uranus!" Sailor Neptune is in a cage of the same kind caddy-corner from mine, and Sailor Uranus is on the coresponding side of Mars'.

"Is everyone alright?" Uranus asks. We all reply we're fine, but clueless as to what's going on.

Suddenly, a wind of cold air sweeps through my cell. I look at my companions, and see the same surprised expressions as I have.

"Did you three feel that?" I ask.

"I did, Mercury," Mars answers. "It suddenly got really hot in here."

"What? I got a chill for a moment." Out of nowhere, a thermometer appears in the top corner of my cell. I also see some sort of meters appear in both Mars and Uranus' prisons.

"Oh my god! The temperature in here's going up by the second!"

I look at my own and see the temperature reading going down. "Sonna. What's happening?"

"Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!" Neptune screams, and we see the top of her head soaking wet. There is a constant stream of water falling through a hole in the ceiling. But there is nowhere for the water to go once it falls into her cell. It's filling up; slowly but surely. As for Sailor Mars, she is begining to sweat, as she reads the meter at 86 degrees F and rising. Mine is the same, except in the opposite direction: 34 degrees F and dropping. I look at Uranus, who is apparently not having any problems. But the expression on her face makes us guess otherwise. She stares wide-eyed at the meter in her compartment, and I ask what it

reads.

"... Air supply... Dropping..."

"Wait! Whoever did this to us is using our elements against us."

"Well duh, Ami-chan, but how do we stop it?"

I am usually the savior in these types of situations, but not this time. The glass between us is unbreakable, and there is no explaination as to where the components of these cells are being controlled. We have nothing to do except deal with the heat, cold, pressure, and flood which is threatening us.

But we can't just sit here and not try to save ourselves. It's getting harder by the minute. I am begining to lose the feeling in my fingers and feet. Rei-chan tells us she just wants to strip right there. She holds her hair up off her neck and keeps as still as she can. As for Haruka-san and Michiru-san, they keep close watch over each other, but still can't do anything. Like Mars and I, Uranus is suffering slowly, but Neptune has to simply wait until the moment where she has no room left to breath. The water has crept up almost to her shoulders, and it is difficult for her to stay on the floor. Uranus is kneeling on the floor, gasping the precious air left in her compartment, for her life depends on it. I begin to jump around and rub my arms, attempting to keep them warm. Mars is sweating furiously, and her fuku clings to her body horribly. Pretty soon it gets to the point where each of us colapses, and figures this is the end.

A sharp sound awakes me, and Neptune flows into me. The water is terrible in this cold, but not once I feel a rush of warmth from my left. Mars is also 'ahhing' while she welcomes the coolness once in my cell, and Uranus fills her lungs with the air which is released. We look at the point at which the four cells were joined, and see a single red rose.

"Thank the dear friend of the Senshi..."