"So Sailor Venus has awoken?" Hezaa asked Morii.
"Yes, she has," Morii answered. "Ahurodite knows Venus' identity as well as yours, Hezaa. Zeusu knows your identity, Arissa. Both of you need to be careful."
"Sukotto needs to be careful not to drop any of our ice cream cones," Arissa said. The two girls and two guardians were waiting for Sukotto to return with their ice cream. Now that Hezaa and her being Sailor Mercury was known, she quickly became friends with Arissa and Sukotto. She also became friends with Kaikouno Kendora, Morii's owner.
"Well, here he comes," said Jakku. All four turned to Sukotto as he approached with five ice cream cones, three of them being double scoops. He was delicately balancing two double scoops and one single scoop in his left hand while his right hand balanced one single and one double. "Wouldn't a logical person put two double scoops in one hand and then the third double scoop in between the two single scoops in the other hand?"
Arissa snickered. "Logic isn't one of his strong points," she whispered.
Sukotto managed to not drop any of the cones, delivering two of the double-scoops to the two girls and the two single scoops to Jakku and Morii, setting one cone on its side in front of each. "Are you sure it's a good idea to give your cat ice cream, Arissa?" Sukotto asked. Arissa shrugged. "Well then, are you sure it's a good idea to give ice cream to a dog that doesn't belong to you?"
"Kendora won't care," Hezaa said. "Kendora said that Morii eats anything."
Sukotto smiled, starting on his chocolate layer. He was rather proud of himself. He was doing some good acting, pretending that he didn't know what was going on and pretending that he didn't know that Jakku and Morii could talk. He still didn't have the courage to tell Hezaa and Arissa that he was Sailor Keeper Mars.
"Excuse me, Miss Akikusano?" said a voice behind the group. Everyone turned to look behind them. There stood a young man with short dirt-brown hair and emerald-green eyes. He was starring at Arissa very kindly. "You are Akikusano Arissa, head soloist of the Tokyo Elite Jazz Club, right?" the man asked.
Arissa blushed as she said, "I don't know about that fancy title, but yes, I am Akikusano Arissa."
The man smiled. "I thought so," he said. "You are lovelier in person than your pictures show." Again, Arissa blushed. "My name is Jack Emery. I am a junior Jazz director from California. I was wondering if you'd be interested in joining our traveling Jazz ensemble."
Everyone's eyes opened widely. "A traveling Jazz ensemble?" Sukotto repeated. "She's still in school!"
"Oh really?" Jack Emery said, still looking at Arissa. "Well, that is really no problem. I mean, there can't be much more to learn in school for one who will be pursuing a career in preforming, am I right?"
"I... suppose," Arissa said slowly, "But I wasn't planning on preforming for a career, at least not for the rest of my life."
"Well, that's a shame," Emery said. "Well, if you should change your name, here's my card for the international office here in Tokyo." Emery handed Arissa a card that had his name and a phone number amidst musical notes and music staves. "Remember, if you change your mind, give me ring." With a toothy smile, Jack Emery bowed and turned, walking away into the crowd of park children.
"What was that all about?" Hezaa asked, taking the card and looking at it.
"I... don't honestly know," Arissa replied. "I doubt I'll be considering a traveling ensemble," she said, turning back to her melting ice cream. "I have plans, plus my father would never let me."
Sukotto continued staring at the crowd where Emery Zeusu had disappeared. "I don't like him,"Sukotto said. Hezaa and Arissa stared at him. "There's something suspicious about him."
Hezaa nodded. "I agree," she said. "Arissa, don't give this a second thought." She waved the card a bit before dropping it as ice cream started to run down her hand. Jakku leapt down and took the card into his mouth. No one but Morii noticed.
A little bit later, the three friends had finished their cones. With Morii and Jakku following behind, the three went into the park. A singing quartet of girls were at the gazebo. "Who are they?" Hezaa asked. "They sound lovely."
"They're called the Amazon Quartet," Sukotto said. "Yet, their names are the names of four Roman goddesses."
"Yeah," Arissa said. "Ceres, Juno, Pallas, and Vesta."
"Pallas?" Hezaa questioned.
"Pallas Athena," Sukotto said. Hezaa nodded. The three stopped and listened to the group. In their current song, which was about dreams, a circus, and a winged unicorn, each did a solo. They came in during the solo by the blue-haired girl called Pallas. Her hair was all collected into a bun at the top center of her head. Around her head was a wire that let four thick strings hang down, each ending with a blue bulb. Two were on each side of her face. Her solo spoke of trapezes and soaring through the air, crowds of children cheering below.
The next girl had pink hair in two looped pigtails that began and ended at a bun at the back of her head. From that bun fell two long, thin tails that ended with puffy tails. Her name was Ceres. She spoke of a unicorn with the wings of a Pegasus that guarded the world of lovely dreams.
The third girl, Juno, had green hair that was held up into a sort of tower with a ponytail of hair at the very top. There were three 'sticks' of hair that ended at the ponytail. Each 'stick' was wrapped tightly in what appeared to be brown leather. From the back of her head came two more 'sticks' that were wrapped in the brown material and ended in puffy tails. She sang about lovely dreams that mirror the real world, lovely dreams where anyone and anything can be anything they want to be.
Finally, the red-haired Amazon named Vesta stepped forward. Her solo shocked everyone. She sang of a dark circus that captured the body of the dream-guarding, winged unicorn, and how the soul of the guardian hid in the beautiful dream of a young girl, who's destiny was to save all beautiful dreams.
All four girls sang the ending together, singing about how the young girl prevailed and all along, it was they, the Amazons, that were the evil ones.
The three friends left the gazebo area and headed for the lake. There, they walked along its edge, talking and laughing. Suddenly, their fun was cut short at the sounds of screaming. The three teens ran toward the gazebo area. Morii and Jakku purposefully fell behind. When Hezaa, Arissa, and Sukotto arrived at the gazebo, they found the listeners of the Amazon Quartet unconscious on the grass; the quartet was suspended in the air. As if holding them there with his hand was General Zeusu.
"Oh no," Arissa said. The three would have hidden behind the gazebo, but vines shot up from the ground and entangled the three teens.
"I'll deal with you three in a moment," Zeusu said as he focused on the Amazon Quartet. "So, the Amazon Quartet of the Dead Moon Circus," Zeusu said, sounding rather amused. "Living like regular humans, eh?"
"How do you know who we use to be?" the green-haired Juno yelled.
Zeusu smiled. "I have my sources," Zeusu smiled. "The Black Sun Dynasty has watched all evil that has attacked Earth in the past years, including the Dead Moon Circus."
"What do you want with us!" Pallas whined.
Zeusu chuckled. "When you left the circus," Zeusu began, "You didn't lose your powers." The girls looked at him in shock. "Your powers fell dormant, just like the Dead Moon Sisters. We're leaving them for another day, however. You see, we need your powers to counter the powers of the keepers. After all, the powers of Jun Jun and Palla Palla were equivalent to that of Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mercury, who happen to be in my trap right now." With a wave of his hand, Pallas and Juno separated from Athene and Ceres and floated behind Zeusu as he levitated down to the ground. "Isn't that right, Arissa and Hezaa? Or, would you prefer Jupiter and Mercury?"
Arissa and Hezaa looked at Zeusu like he was crazy. "What are you talking about?" Hezaa asked.
"Playing dumb won't work," Zeusu said, pulling Hezaa and Arissa away from Sukotto, who struggled with the vine bindings. "You transformed in front of me, remember Arissa? You, Hezaa, transformed in front of General Ahurodite." Zeusu moved the four captive girls until Juno was in front of Arissa and Pallas was in front of Hezaa. "Now..." The vines holding Hezaa and Arissa began to squeeze tightly. The vines extended and wrapped around Juno and Pallas. Suddenly, all four girls were being shocked with dark energy. They all screamed.
"Venus Lovely Beam!" shouted a voice. A bright beam of light shot forth from the top of the gazebo and drove through the vines that held the four girls and Sukotto. All five dropped. Sukotto looked up. The glare from the attack subsided. Standing on the gazebo roof was a sailor senshi. "You have no right digging up the past to use to corrupt the future!" the orange-skirted, blond-haired senshi cried. "As keeper of the orange planet of love, I, Sailor Keeper Venus, shall punish you!"
"Sailor Keeper Venus," Zeusu said, "It is a pleasure to meet you. General Ahurodite has told me much about you."
"I can't say the same," Venus said. "One General is enough. Two is just plan rotten."
"I'm sorry you don't approve, leader of the keepers," Zeusu said, mockingly.
"Venus, look out!" Hezaa cried, but it was too late. A barrage of vines shot up from under the gazebo and through the roof, entangling Sailor Venus. "Hang on, Venus!" Hezaa cried, putting her hand behind her transformation earring. "Mercury Keeper Power!"
"Jupiter Keeper Power!" Arissa cried, grabbing her potpourri bulb.
"Make-Up!" the two girls cried together. Arissa was surrounded in a flash of lightning as Hezaa was encased in ice. Simultaneously, the light around Arissa disappeared and the ice around Hezaa exploded, revealing Jupiter and Mercury. The Amazon Quartet gasped. Sukotto bowed his head, wondering if he should transform, too.
"No time for introductions!" Jupiter yelled. "Jupiter Lightning Foliage!" A barrage of electrified petals sprang forth from the potpourri bulb on Jupiter's scythe and flew at Zeusu. He blocked them, but he couldn't block the attack that followed right behind it.
"Mercury Hail Storm!" Mercury cried. Directly behind Jupiter's attack flew Mercury's attack. From her vine trap, Venus cheered as Zeusu was half encased in ice. He still stood, but was practically immobile.
"Finish him off, Jupiter!" Venus yelled as Morii and Jakku appeared on the gazebo roof, trying to scratch and bite the vines into releasing her.
Jupiter nodded and began twirling her staff, yelling, "Jupiter Lightning Cyclone!" The tornado of lightning drove at Zeusu. It would have destroyed him, but the attack was diverted.
A man in a grey uniform like Zeusu appeared next to the iced general. This man, however, had blue trim instead of green. He had shoulder-length honey-brown hair and steel grey eyes. "Greetings," the man said. "I am General Herumesu, and I will be your executioner." General Herumesu raised his hand as a conductor would when summoning an orchestra to play louder. Instead of music becoming louder, however, great shards of ice rose from the ground, trapping Jupiter and Mercury. They screamed at the sharp ice tore into their skin. "Now, would you like your deadly blow to the head or heart?"
"How about neither!" Sukotto screamed. Herumesu looked at Sukotto, unamused.
"What are you talking about, boy?" Herumesu asked. "You have no say."
"Like Hell I don't," Sukotto said. He rose his fist in front of his face, screaming, "Mars Knight Transform!" As he lowered his fist, fire began to surround him. To the horror of the generals and the surprise of the senshi and Amazons, fire engulfed Sukotto. When the fire disappeared, Sailor Keeper Mars stood in his place. "I do have a say in things around here."
"I... I don't believe it!" Herumesu gasped. "The keeper of Mars is a guy who... changes into a girl?"
Mars sighed. "Yeah, I know," she said. Glaring at Herumesu, Sailor Keeper Mars screamed, "Regardless of who or what I am, I do know that you will be releasing the Amazon Quartet and the Sailor Senshi unless you want me to burn your ass!"
Sailor Jupiter stared at Mars, dumbfounded. "Since when did you swear?" she asked, sarcastically. Mars shrugged.
"You really are a bunch of bumbling idiots," Herumesu said. "One senshi cannot stand against the might of two generals." With a snap of his fingers, Herumesu's ice shards shattered the ice that encased Zeusu. Zeusu sprang free, smiling at Mars wickedly.
Mars flinched, taking a step back. Herumesu is right, thought Mars. I'll never be able to stand up against them both!
"The odds aren't very fair, now are they?" said Pallas as she stood behind Herumesu. Herumesu turned around, only to have Pallas send a high-kick to his head. Herumesu fell hard. Zeusu was about to retaliate when Juno slid in front of him, driving a thundering punch into his face. Pallas and Juno stepped back as the two generals began to stand.
"Insolent little girls," Zeusu growled. "Ha!" Zeusu raised his hand to the girls, sending twin bolts of lightning at them. Th girls crossed their arms in front of their heads; the lightning bolts hit their arms, throwing them backwards until they landed beneath the still-floating Vesta and Ceres. "That'll take care of them," Zeusu said, turning around.
"Mars Fire Strike!" Mars cried, sending a ball of fire at Zeusu. However, only water hit Zeusu. Herumesu had sent a barrier of ice; the fire melted the ice, sending water upon Zeusu.
"Thought you were being smooth?" Herumesu said, disappearing and then reappearing behind Mars. Mars looked back and forth between the generals; she was trapped between both."Now!" Herumesu cried. Both generals sent an attack at Mars.
Panicking, Mars jumped. She screamed as the attacks met right were her legs were lifting into the air. She fell onto the battered roof of the gazebo and leapt again as another barrage came at her. She winced painfully at using her legs. As she neared the ground, two more attacks slammed into her. Mars screamed as yet another two attacks hit her. She landed on the ground limply, rolling a few times before coming to a halt.
"Mars!" Morii cried.
"Suko-chan!" Sailor Jupiter screamed.
Herumesu and Zeusu smirked and turned to the senshi and Amazons. The generals gasped as they heard something moving behind them. They spun back around to see Sailor Keeper Mars getting to her feet. Her back was to them; it was heavily burned.
"I told you," Mars began hoarsely, "I'm going to burn you until you're smoldering in Hell!" Mars spun around. In her right hand was a long gold sword with a red hilt and an orange leather handle. In her left hand was a round shield, gold trimming crisscrossing over red and orange velvet. In the center of the crisscrossed metal was a gold circle with the sign of Mars in red. Her entire frame was shaking; her body was cut in several places and was bleeding. Yet, nonetheless, she held the sword and shield steadily.
She raised the sword up and started to run at the two generals, who stood their ground, smirking. "Mars Striking Flare!" Mars shouted as she brought the sword down. To everyone's surprise, fire spit out from the blade and ran along the ground. The generals blocked it, but not before another attack just about did them in. "Mars Flare Up!" Sailor Mars screamed. She was now at the generals. As she plowed between them, a great wall of fire sprang up right behind them. As she passed between them, she shoved them into the fire. Mars ran through the fire, skidding to a halt in front of Mercury and Jupiter. The flame hadn't harmed her. In fact, all of Mars' injuries had been healed. Everyone watched as Zeusu and Herumesu struggled with the flames before disappearing.
The wall of fire died down. Vesta and Ceres fell to the ground next to Pallas and Juno, who managed to stand up. Venus was freed from the vines and fell through the hole of the gazebo, landing gracefully beneath. The ice that held Jupiter and Mercury disappeared. Jupiter ran over to Mars, who was already in the company of Morii and Jakku. "I can't believe it," Jakku said. "You've already summoned the Kasei Katana ken Tate!"
Mars didn't say a word as the sword and shield disappeared and Mars reverted back to Sukotto. Exhausted, Sukotto collapsed. He was caught by Sailor Jupiter, who lowered to the ground under his weight. She sighed and held onto him.
"Good work senshi," said Venus. Everyone looked up at her. She stood on the gazebo again. "You three did a great job. Juno, Pallas, you two did a great thing when you tried to help Sailor Mars. Thank you. Until we meet again!"Venus leapt into the air and seemed to disappear into the sun. Whether she had or hadn't, nonetheless she was still gone.