Sailor Moon: Dark Stars:

Chapter 5

"Sailor Sirius, look out!" Rushing forward, Polaris tackled Sirius to the side and out of the way just as the gigantic knives plunged into the spot that she was just standing in.

Both girls landed on the hard ground with painful grunts, their hearts pounding wildly in their chests. "Thanks cousin!" Sailor Sirius said painfully a moment later.

"Anytime!" Sailor Polaris winked playfully at her, knowing that as long as she was alive, she would always be there for her cousin. Quickly, both girls got up, ready to finish this once and for all. The shorter senshi turned and glared hard at the monster before her.

"Alright, it's payback time! SIRIUS SCEPTER ILLUMINATE!" shouted Super Sailor Sirius. A massive beam of pure white light energy erupted from the scepter and struck Slicer directly in the eyes. He screamed horribly, and fell twisting to the ground in pain. Suddenly, the man's mouth opened and a red wispy mist flew out. It then morphed and slowly turned solid. A few seconds later, Slicer materialized in his true form. Beneath him, the man's body began to shrink and return back to normal. With painful sigh, the man's head fell to the side, and he was unconscious. The senshi was about to rush forward to help...when they were suddenly stopped dead in their tracks by the enormous creature as he jumped in front of them.

"You will never defeat me like you did my host!" he screamed out, slashing long knife claws.

The North Star Senshi stepped forward, courage rushing through her body for some unknown reason, "That's what you think, Bug Eyes! POLARIS MAGNETIC FREEZE! The new phrase somehow appeared like magic in her mind, and she knew what she had to do.

Raising her left hand, a massive pink light of cosmic energy gathered, then after a second, it shot out of her palm, striking the monster dead center in his chest. Instantly, the creature froze in place right down to his molecular structure. Slicer tried to scream when he realized he couldn't move, no matter how hard he tried, but no sound came out of his razor sharp mouth. It was as if he was a statue.

"Sailor Sirius, ima-yo!" shouted Sailor Polaris, turning to look at her cousin.

The shorter senshi smiled and nodded. "Hai!" She allowed the scepter to disappear as she concentrated, then thrust up her left hand. "SIRIUS KISS OF DEATH! CAPTIVATION!" Sailor Sirius yelled. Red laser energy gathered in her hand as her body glowed a bright red aura. Sirius lowered her hand, opened her palm, kissed it, and blew the imprint at Slicer. The imprint rushed forward and turned into a large electric black ball of energy. It slammed into the monster and encased him inside. The ball shrank, crackling with energy and crushing the monster within. A moment later, the ball exploded, sending pieces of Slicer everywhere.

After a moment of silence, both girls cheered and hugged each other. "Alright! We did it!" they shouted as they gave each other a hi-five.

"Yes, you did it for now, but there's still much to discuss if we're to find out who our enemy or enemies are. Let's go home!" said Marco, running up to Sailor Polaris and Sailor Sirius with Dief. Both girls nodded and ran over to the man to check on him and the other unconscious people. When they were satisfied he and everyone else was alright, they sprinted off as the police sirens and cars came rushing onto the scene.

Pitkin was growling in rage as the energy that was gathered by Slicer inside his ball suddenly disappeared and floated back to the people. "The Master is NOT going to like this!" he said, swallowing hard and dreading the news he had to carry. With a puff of orange fire, he disappeared, fear shining in his eyes.

----------------------------------------

The Vortex Ship:

Pitkin slowly and cautiously approached King Meerages in his Throne Room, sweat from fear and dread pouring down his small bald head and body. King Meerages looked up after a moment, his mind coming back after wandering elsewhere. But the small man didn't have to ask to know what he was thinking about. It was in his eyes. He was thinking of that...senshi again, Sailor Sirius.

"Well Pitkin, have you brought back the sufficient energy?" King Meerage's deep baritone voice echoed loudly throughout the large dark and dreary room. His ice-blue eyes narrowed as the small man swallowed loudly and hung his head low.

"N..N..No, Your Majesty." stuttered Pitkin weakly. "We did have enough energy, but we were interrupted by these young girls who had great power! Slicer almost defeated them, but..."

"ENOUGH!" yelled out the tall man. King Meerages stood up to his full height of six feet seven inches, and walked down to Pitkin from his throne, easily over-shadowing the little man. Crossing his arms over his chest, he glared down menacingly at Pitkin. "These are some of my BEST warriors that I have sent to Earth to collect energy, and you are telling me that mere GIRLS have defeated them? How can this be? I want answers, NOW!" Anger seeped dangerously into his voice. He was supposed to be the most powerful being in this galaxy, soon to be in the Universe. There was no way he could believe that mere human girls defeated his personally trained warriors.

Pitkin gave a small yelp and quickly took out the small orb that he carried with him. It flashed brightly for a moment, and then a holographic image shot from the small opening at the top. The images showed Slicer stealing energy from the people at Central Park in the baseball field, then it changed to show Super Sailor Sirius and Sailor Polaris running to the scene. King Meerages appeared bored for a few minutes, but when he saw the image of Sirius, his eyes widened and he sucked in a breath. "Her again!" he whispered. He stroked his chin softly between his thumb and finger. "I must find a way to have her in my hands, but how?" he said quietly to himself. He then turned his attention to the other dark-skinned sailor senshi at Sailor Sirius's side.

"Who is this one?" King Meerages asked curiously, turning to Pitkin. The little man concentrated, and the image stopped at the point where Slicer was destroyed. It zoomed in on Sailor Polaris, and enlarged her face. King Meerage's eyes widened once again in surprise, then recognition. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the Lady Anja Poelaryes, the daughter of the very man who disrupted my plans during the Silver Millenium!" King Meerages chuckled evilly. "It seems the girls have finally been reborn and gained the powers that were destined to them. How nice. Too bad they won't have it long enough to enjoy it!" the tall man sneered. The hologram image flared brightly for a second, then disappeared quickly back into the small orb in Pitkin's hand. King Meerages turned back to Pitkin, his black cape fluttering wildly behind him.

"Let's keep things quiet for a while. There is alot of planning to do. In a few days, send Basset down to Earth! And this time, you better make sure she doesn't fail, or else..." With lightning quick movements, King Meerages gathered a mass amount of black negative energy into his hands, and quickly shot it forth at Pitkin.

The tiny man let out a high pitched squeal as the energy hit him, fell to the hard black floor, and slid heavily across to the other side of the Throne Room. His small body banged against the wall, and blood leaked out and trailed down his mouth to his chin. "That will be nothing compared to what will happen if you fail!" the King said, looking down on Pitkin and sneering. His eyes glowed a blazing red.

Pitkin got up painfully and wiped the blood off his chin. "Y...yes, Your Majesty. I will not fail, or I will DIE trying!" The small man's breathing was lagged and he was in obviously in pain, but he tried not to show it. He wanted to be his King's best warrior and servant, and he would endure anything to get that honor. Even if it meant his death. They've been planning for this invasion for too long to let something like his weakness to get in the way.

"Good!" said King Meerages quietly. He walked over to the side of his throne, and looked longingly into the glass casing that held the Black Star Crystal. The dark crystal, about the size of a red delicious apple, continued to glow and pulsate a dull, white light as it floated inside. "Soon, very soon, we will have enough energy to revive you, and finally take over what is rightfully mine!" His mind trailed back to Sirius, and he imagined her in the Princess dress when he first set eyes on her. He remembered when he first looked on her beautiful innocent face, long ago when he was a respected visitor to the Moon Kingdom...before he got smart and turned to the side of the Dark Kingdom.

The King sighed as his memories took him back over 1,000 years. He had first seen her on his last trip to the Moon Palace, right before she was to begin her training to become her system's Guardian Senshi. At that time, no one suspected he was a traitor and secretly conspired with the Dark Kingdom, so he was often welcomed on the small moon. He had spied her in the Rose Garden with Queen Serenity's daughter, Princess Serenity, laughing and talking with her. As he stood a few feet away hidden in the bushes, he was instantly transfixed by her beauty, and he felt the power she possessed, and knew she had to be his and no one else's. The image faded then, and he was back in the present. "And you, my dear little Princess, will be mine also, at last!" he said evilly, a small smile at his lips as he felt his familiar longing for her in his loins. King Meerages placed his hands on the sides of the glass casing, and his eyes once again glowed a bright red as he peered in closer. All his work, all his planning WILL be brought forth, and King Meerages vowed to destroy anything that got in his way.

-----------------------------------------

New York City,

Park Avenue:

In a large dark bedroom, an alarm clock suddenly went off, breaking the serene silence. A dark head popped up out from under the sheets in surprise and groaned when she realized it was only the alarm clock, which was ringing 7:00 a.m.

Anna groaned loudly again, then reached a dark-skinned arm over and slapped her hand on a button that turned the annoying sound off. She ran a hand through her long dark hair and sighed. She was still so tired, but she had an important thing to do today. She reached over the side of her bed, stretching her tall, shapely body in her pink lace night-gown to shake the small sleeping figure on the bed right next to hers. "Come on Tanya, it's time to get up! You said you were coming with me to gymnastics practice today!" Anna shook Tanya harder when she didn't stir.

Seconds later, a loud yawning was heard, and another dark head slowly peeked out from rose-decorated sheets. "OH MAN! Do we HAVE to get up this early?" said Tanya sleepily. She slowly sat up and rubbed her eyes as the bed sheets fell off to reveal a small, blue-laced night gown that covered her curvaceous body. "Just exactly who would be up this early in the morning?" She looked at her cousin in bewilderment.

Anna dragged herself from her bed and went to the windows to open the shades and blinds. Tanya gave out a small shriek as the sun hit her in the eyes, making her dive right back under the covers. "Well, just about EVERYONE in New York City girlfriend!" Anna teased. "Tsk tsk tsk, to think you would have gotten used to it by now!" She walked over to Tanya's bed and yanked the sheets off her. "Now, up and at 'em, Lazy Bones!" she laughed out.

But the laughter immediately died as Tanya quickly shot up from the bed and smacked Anna squarely on the head with her pillow, knocking her to the floor. The shorter girl snickered, then laughed loudly at seeing her cousin sprawled on the floor. "Who's a Lazy Bone now?"

"Oh, you think that's funny, don't you?" Anna said slyly, challenge in her voice. She then got up and reached for her pillow, and headed straight for Tanya. Soon, the whole room was filled with shrieks and laughs as the pillow fight started. The girls continued to knock each other silly for a while until one of the pillows ripped, and feathers began flying everywhere. A moment later, the bedroom door quietly swung open, and Marco and Dief walked in.

"EXCUSE ME!" shouted Marco above the noise. Both girls immediately stopped laughing and jumping on Anna's bed, then looked straight at Marco and Dief. Both had huge sweat drops above them.

"OH! Umm, Hi Marco! Errr, Anna was just getting me up for breakfast and umm...to go to...ah..." stammered Tanya, hiding the pillow behind her back. She turned to Anna, "Ummm, where were we going again?" An embarrassed flush covered her cheeks.

"Yeah, we heard how you girls were "just getting up." sighed Deif. "Now, unless you want to be late and get grounded like you almost did for sneaking out to Central Park, I suggest you girls stop playing around and get ready to go to the gymnasium." Dief looked at Anna and Tanya seriously. "I'm pretty sure you haven't forgotten what we talked about before. Even though we don't exactly know who the enemy is now and they haven't shown themselves for a few days, doesn't mean we can let our guard down so easily. You can't be distracted! You have to pay attention to everything around you!" Dief walked up to the girls and gave them a no-nonsense look.

"I know, I know," sighed Anna, jumping off her bed with Tanya. "We have to "stay on guard...pay attention to what's around us"... and other stuff like that. We're sorry guys." Anna walked up to Dief and petted the black fur on his head.

"Yeah, it's just that since Summer started and school ended in Japan for vacation, I'm not used to getting up until 10:00, much less 7:00!" Tanya said. She pointed at her cousin, "And besides, she called me LAZY BONES!" Anna stuck her tongue out and began laughing. Tanya stuck her tongue out also, giving a loud and long raspberry.

"ALRIGHT! That's enough!" said Marco. He sighed and hung his head, shaking it. "Just get ready to go, okay? This is a chance to scout the area and see where the enemy will strike next. You girls understand what I'm saying?" He looked up at the girls with hope.

"Yeah, you're right Marco. We'll be ready in a flash! As Sailor Senshi, that's our duty! To defend justice and protect the Earth!" Tanya said, giving a "V" for victory sign. Marco smiled proudly and nodded his head. Tanya then laughed and pushed Anna out the way, running off towards the bathroom. "Last one in the bathroom is a rotten egg!" she laughed as she turned to look behind her.

"Hey! That's not fair!" yelled out Anna, chasing after her cousin. "You pushed me!"

The guardians canines both sighed and laid down on the rug as they raised their paws over their heads, a big sweat drop forming over them. Marco let out a small pitiful howl of hopelessness. "One step forward, ten steps back!" he commented dryly.

----------------------------------------

Walking down the busy street, Pitkin...in disguise, concentrated frantically in trying to find the next target of his new henchman. With the orb disguised as a tennis ball, he pointed it aimlessly at the people walking up and down besides him on the sidewalk. Sighing, he was about to give up hope when the orb finally gave a small sound and began to glow as it was pointed at a woman rushing pass him. Pitkin smiled and licked his dry lips greedily. He hurried over behind a tall building, and snuck inside the backdoor where no one can see him.

"At last! With this, I can show the master how much help I can be!" He laughed out loud, and raising the orb in the air, the disguise dropped and the orb began to glow brightly. "Basset! Come forth and do my bidding, as the King commands!" Pitkin shouted out. There was a flash of green light, and a large woman appeared in the air above him. Her body was that of a regular woman, but instead was covered with fur and her head was that of a lioness. Her feet and hands were actually paws with claws slashing out, and she gave loud roar.

"Yes! What is your bidding?" snarled Basset. She stretched out her arms and feet, and extended her claws to about 9 inches. Pitkin showed the image of the woman that hurried past him when he was outside, and smiled evilly.

"You know what to do. Go and collect energy for our Great Cause!" said Pitkin.

Basset hissed loudly as she flew off quickly to find her new host and take over her body. The small man watched her fly off, and when she was gone, he clasped his hands together in front of him. Yes, soon victory will be his, all his. And his dream of having his Master conquer this world will come true!

-------------------------

To be continued...