Chapter 2

More screams echoed through the deceptively pleasant daylight as the ferris wheel fell. Darien and Raye were thrown to Serena's side of the car, and it tilted even more. All screamed in fear. But then the drop halted abruptly, with a hard jolt, and an eerie silenced commenced after for several seconds.

Darien was the first to stand, but wobbled on the edge of falling again as the car remained severely tilted, as did the entire wheel. The high school student looked cautiously out one of the viewing sides of the car.

"What happened?" Raye asked nervously as she stood up on shaky legs. Darien took hold of her arm as Serena sat up, happy to have Raye off from on top of her.

"Be careful," he said. "We stopped because the wheel hit a building. We're resting against it."

Serena jumped up to look out too, which caused the car to swing dangerously. "AH!" she cried, gripping the sill on the viewing window of the wooden car.

"Serena, don't you understand the meaning of the words 'be careful'!" Raye cried in annoyance as she and Darien gripped the edge as well to stay steady.

"Sorry…" Serena whined. "But-AH!" The girl cried out again when she saw that the ferris wheel had indeed come to rest against a building, and their car, which was, unfortunately, near the top, was hanging above the roof of the building.

"We're too high!"

"Serena, we're above that roof. Even if we fall, we won't go all the way to the ground. It's not 'that' bad. Besides, we'll be rescued. Don't worry," Raye said.

"Actually, Serena's right," Darien said quietly.

Both girls looked at him, Serena in amazement because she had actually used her name.

"Darien what do you mean?" Raye asked.

"Even though that roof is between us and the ground, we still must be at least three stories above it. Meatball head has it right; we're too high. If we fall from here, we would all probably be seriously injured."

" 'Now' you tell us!" Serena cried. "OH, I don't want to die!"

The car began to swing and shake again, and Darien grimaced. "Would you calm down, meatball head! None of us are going to die!"

But Serena continued to wail, and now it seemed as if that alone was shaking the car, the noise was so loud. Raye and Darien covered their ears.

"Serena, stop it!" Raye yelled. "At this rate, you'll get us killed all by yourself!"

Finally, that seemed to get Serena's attention, and with great difficulty she toned down the crying to a bit of sniffling. "Ooohhh, I came here to have fun, and now this happens. This isn't my day!"

But even with Serena calmed down, and all three being still, the car rocked. Frowning, Darien ventured to look out again, this time up. The girls began to get worried when he looked back at them, now pale.

Serena sniffed. "Would you please not look like that, Darien, you're scaring me!"

Darien sighed. "Sorry. But, unfortunately, now we have more reason to be scared." He took a deep breath as the girls looked at him fearfully. "The connections that keep us hooked to the wheel have broken and come loose." He gulped visibly. "If we're not extremely careful, we really will fall."

"What!" Serena wailed. "Oh no oh no oh no!"

Tension causing a sudden spark of anger, Darien grabbed her arm fiercely, scowling. "Stop it, you hear me!" he nearly yelled. "You've got to calm down!"

Serena shrank back, whimpering.

Raye stepped between them. "Hey, just because she can be a basket case doesn't mean you can treat her like that!" she said, the situation getting to her too.

Raye and Darien glared at each other for a moment until Serena popped up beside them, waving her arms.

"Guys, could you stop that, please! Enough already; we're supposed to stay calm, remember!"

Finally Darien stopped, and his face straightened. He backed of, Raye stopping as well.

Darien clenched a fist. "Right again, meatball head. Looks like you've really hit the jackpot today." He gave her a weak smile. "Sorry about that. We shouldn't be getting into petty arguments right now. We're in enough danger as it is."

Raye nodded. "Right."

As the car teetered on the edge of falling, the three tried not to move much, and all found themselves drawn into their thoughts. But when a faint, evil laugh drifted to them on the breeze, Serena and Raye looked quickly at each other.

"Man, I knew the Negaverse must have something to do with this!" Raye whispered angrily.

"But what are we supposed to do?" Serena whispered back." We can't get out of here, and we can't transform to get out of here because Darien's with us!"

Raye frowned. "We'll have to let Mercury and Jupiter take care of it," she admitted reluctantly. "At least until we get out of here." Serena replied only by nodding nervously.

When Darien heard Zoycite's faint laugh in the wind, his eyes widened. No. The Negaverse-now! But if Zoycite was here, if she was causing this, then where was Sailor Moon? He looked around them as chaos ensued throughout the entire park. Other rides were knocked over or destroyed if no one was on them, and screaming people ran amuck. But he saw no sailor scouts. Sailor Moon always showed up wherever the Negaverse attacked. Where was she? Where was the familiar uneasiness that told him she needed his help? Or rather, Tuxedo Mask's help? But all three were jolted out of their thoughts by the sound of a sharp crack…