Hidden Within! Sailor Moon returns!

Usaka yawned. If felt as if he was reaching his apartment very slowly. He still had about a twenty minute longer of a walk to get there.

"Brilliant work, Usaka, missing the bus like that he said to himself, glancing up at the moon. "Wow… the moon seems abnormally large and bright this evening," He said to no one in particular. In fact… now that he noticed… there wasn't anybody out on the street. "Now, it's not that late…" He murmured.

Silence swept the streets. Nothing but the wind sounded, and no lights shone except the eerie cast of the moon. He looked around a few times, then shuddered. "Creepy… Where… did all the people go?"

A whisper echoed through the air. "I know… who you are…"

"N… nani?" He looked around nervously. "Um… whispery voice from nowhere, who are you?"

"You are… the one…"

"I'm not anyone… Haru… are you trying to play a trick on me, 'c-cause I don't think it's very funny… so c-cut it out!" He said, stepping back a few feet.

"I'll get you…"

"Yeep…" He choked, turning and taking off down the street. "HELP! HELP!" He cried, turning to look behind him. Shadows were engulfing the buildings and streets behind him, and they were catching up very quickly.

"Don't… fight it…"

"I'm not fighting! I'm running!" He cried, tears rolling down his cheeks in small waterfalls. "Who the hell are you!"

He turned the corner and spotted his apartment building up ahead. "Oh, now you show up," He said to the building, bolting in through the glass doors. He slipped out of his shoes, not even bothering to put them in his shoe locker and continued up the stairs. "Kami-sama, if I did anything to offend you or the spirits, I apologize right now and hope that you get rid of the shadows that are TRYING TO EAT ME!"

He swung himself around the corner of the landing and headed up the second flight, panting out of exhaustion. Finally, he reached his floor and bounded down the hallway. He passed his room completely and ran straight to Haru's door.

"HARU!" He squeaked, out of breath, pounding on the door. "Open… the door!…"

The door slipped open, and Haru's head peeked out. "U…Usaka-kun?" Her eyes flattened. "You need to copy my homework again?"

"No! L-listen…" He gasped. "There… There's this voice… and these shadows… and they're f-following me… and I need your help…!" He wiped his forehead with his sleeve. "You… you gotta help me…!"

"Usaka-kun? Are you feeling okay?" She looked concernedly at him.

"Look! I'll show you!" He said, shoving past her into her one room apartment. "Look! Look…" He said, staring out the window. "What?… Where'd it go?…"

The street had been lit up once again, and people were walking and driving as if they'd never left.

"I… I don't understand…" He muttered, his shoulders slumping. "This is so confusing. I know what I saw…"

"Um… Usaka-kun… maybe you should go lie down," Haru said, placing her hands against his shoulders.

"You believe me, don't you, Haru-chan?" He turned towards her, staring down into her eyes, but before she could answer, he felt woozy and collapsed on top of her.

"Usaka-kun! Usaka-kun!" was the last thing he heard before the world around him went black.

He felt as if he was swimming, wherever he was. His eyes opened to reveal an empty abyss of swirling colors all around him. There was no ground nor a ceiling, but there was a bright, white light in front of him, only a short distance away.

Something was telling Usaka to go closer to it, and so he began swimming in that direction, glancing around to make sure he was the only one there. "Hello?" He called, and his voice echoed around him.

The bright light was much closer now, and he sped up to reach it. As he did, the light shined even more brightly, then dimmed and disappeared, revealing only one thing.

"It's a girl?" He questioned, staring at the bubble in front of him. It was just like any other bubble from a child's toy, but there were two differences. One was the fact that it was larger than he himself was; another was that inside, a woman sat with her knees to her chest and her eyes closed. He placed his hand against the bubble. "Hello?"

"Oh…" She said, lifting up her head. Her large, blue eyes slowly opened.

Usaka gasped. It was the girl from his dream! "AH! You're that girl!" He said.

"N… nani?" She questioned, letting go of her knees. Suddenly, the bubble popped, and she stretched out at full length.

Usaka blushed. "Um… you might want to cover up…" He muttered, looking away.

"You are… a man?" She questioned, leaning close to his face.

"Um… yeah," He said slowly, glancing back at her. He was especially interested in the crescent moon on her forehead.

"Oh… NO!" She cried suddenly, making him jump back. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! This isn't right!" She then burst into tears, rolling down her face in miniature waterfalls.

"What's… not right?" He looked around, wondering if maybe he had done something wrong.

"You! You're supposed to be a girl!" She moaned, pointing at him.

"I am?" He asked, taken aback.

"Hai, hai!" She sobbed, her lower lip quivering.

"Uh… sorry?" He said, as if it was his fault that he was male and not female. "Listen… where are we… and who are you?"

"Oh?" She recovered from her tantrum and turned to him again. "We're in your mind."

"My… wait, what?"

"Your mind. I am Usagi!" She said happily.

"Er… Usagi… why are you… in my mind…?"

"I sealed my crystal in your body a long time ago so that one day I could set myself free and protect my friends… once I got strong enough again."

"Why do your friends need protection?… hold up, there's a crystal in my body?" He was seriously starting to question his sanity. "WHAT'S A DAMN CRYSTAL GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING!"

"Hm? Oh, right! It transforms me!" Usagi said, swimming up close to him.

"What?"

"I can explain better later… but the important thing is that I get reconnected to my power. There is a new darkness appearing on the horizon, and I must stop it," She said seriously. "Now… take my hand…" She held it out to him.

Usaka stared at her for a moment. "O…kay…" He said hesitantly, reaching out. His palm slowly slid into hers, and a bright light engulfed them both.

"WAH!" He cried, rising in his own bed. He looked around quickly, his hand placed firmly on his heart.

"Usaka-kun!" Haru said, getting up from her spot on the floor and running to him.

"H---Haru-chan?" Usaka questioned, rubbing his eye. "Was I sleeping?"

"You fainted at my house! What happened? Are you all right?"

"Yeah… yeah…" He said, waving his hand to silence her. "I just er… ran too much, you know… overheated… dehydrated… so on…" He lied.

"A…are you sure?" Haru asked.

"Hai, hai!" He exclaimed, beaming at her. "I'm fine, see?" He waved at her to assure her. "Just fine!"

"Well… if you feel bad… don't hesitate to come knock on my door. If you ever need anything… I'm right down the hall…" She said, standing.

"Okay! See you!"

The door shut.

"Oi…" He said, wiping his forehead with his wrist. "I'm crazy… Soooo crazy…"

He stood and left his room, remembering that he needed to put his shoes away before the owner complained. Heading down the step, he sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. That… woman… Usagi… I can't stop thinking about her…

He arrived at the bottom and headed into the lobby. Surely enough, his shoes were still laying in the floor. He sighed at his stupidity and picked them up. He pulled open his locker and was about to place his sneakers back inside when he froze.

"Hold on… it's so much darker in there than usual…" He murmured, cocking his head to the side to get a better look inside. "Nah… I'm just being paranoid…" As he said this, he felt chill run through his body, as if the blood in his veins had iced. The shadow within the boxed area seemed to spread out, hiding everything in it's path.

Usaka's shoes hit the floor and he stared at the black object, slowly consuming the wall in front of him.

"What… the heck… is that?…" He said slowly, but he didn't wait to figure out, tugging on his tennis shoes and heading out the glass doors.

He looked back as he ran, and the shadow slipped from the wall, forming itself in the shape of a body of a woman. He slid to a stop, suddenly engulfed into seeing what the creature was.

The glass doors busted into millions of shards, and he threw his arms in front of his face to keep them from getting in his eyes.

"Shadia!" The monster yelled, finishing her transformation. She was a rather strange looking creature with pointed, elf-like ears, dressed in a long black dress with splits up both sides. It had long sleeves with fluttering ends, and her hair was black as well, tied up in three large braids (on the left, on the right, and in the back). Her skin was purple, and her eyes were red. Her lips were pink, and there was the katakana mark for 'kuro' on her left cheek.

"Sha-what?" He asked.

"Shadia's got you now!" she cried, flying at him.

"GAHHH!" He cried, running. "What're you after me for!"

"Give Shadia the crystal!" The monster yelled, easily catching up and swing out her clawed, purple hand at him.

"I DON'T HAVE IT, REALLY!" He screamed. She slashed four marks into his back, making him wince. "I have to lose her!"

He ran faster than he ever had, slipping his way around the corner. "Too… much… running…" He panted.

Let me take care of it!

"Oh, no! I'm crazy! I'm being chased by a monster, and now I'm hearing voices in my head!" He moaned. "Hey, wait--- I recognize that voice… Usagi-chan?" He looked around as he headed down an empty ally. "Where are you?"

"I already told you!" She cried. "I'm in you!"

"I wish!" He cried.

"HEY!" She exclaimed. "… Okay, just listen, hm?"

"I'm having a bit of difficulty right now!" He said. "How about lat-aaah!" He threw his hands against the brick to keep from busting his head open at the dead end. "Uh-oh… now I'm in trouble…" He turned around, placing his back against the wall.

"Shadia!" The monster said, her eyes gleaming with malice. She licked her lips excitedly.

"Um… excuse me… ma'am… I'm really not out to get you or anything, so uh--- could you--AAH!" He threw his hands up as she slashed her claw down on him. His sleeves were now in shreds. "STOP!"

I told you to listen! Usagi cried inside his ears. Repeat after me!

"Listen, Usagi-chan, I don't have time to be talking to the voice in my head!" He yelped.

"Shadia… wants the crystal… Give Shadia the crystal!" The monster yelled.

"Um… Usaka doesn't know why we're talking in the third person, but he would give Shadia the crystal if he had it…" He whimpered, wishing desperately that the wall behind him would burst.

Say what I tell you to!

"What good will it do?" He said.

Just trust me!

"I don't really have a choice! Yow!" He barely dodged Shadia's attack, hitting the ground hard and scraping up his already injured arms. He slipped his way around the beast and headed back for the street. "That hurt… I don't want to do this!" He sobbed, small waterfalls rolling down his cheeks. "Haru! God! Anyone! SAVE ME!"

I'll save you! Just calm down! Usagi exclaimed.

"Tell me what to do, voice in my head!"

Usagi! My name is Usagi!

"Whatever!"

Repeat after me!

"Okay…!"

Moon Eternal, Make-up!

"What's this situation got to do with make-up!"

JUST DO IT!

"Okay! I got it… Moon… Eternal… Make-up!" He cried. "Ah----" He felt himself being pulled away from himself. It was like falling unconscious… but not quite… He was surrounded in white light, and someone was passing him.

What's going on! He thought.

"Don't worry… I've got this taken care of," Usagi's voice said to him. Darkness engulfed his eyes.

He felt like he was floating once again. His eyes opened, and he found himself in the same place he had been, but this time he was alone. He rose up to where he figured was up and glanced around. "AH!" He cried, spotting the small white light and swimming to it. "Usagi?"

When he reached it however, he came to realize that this was no woman in a bubble, but a portal to what looked to be the street. He looked through it and spotted Shadia flying towards him. "GAAAAAAH!" He cried, horrified. "Shadia's come to get Usaka! I mean… Shadia's come to get me!"

"I don't think so!" A voice from the outside of the portal said.

Usagi? He thought to himself. How'd she get out there? How am I in here? Where is here again?

"Take this!" Usagi cried. "Starlight… Honey Moon… Therapy Kiss!"

Suddenly, his window was blinded by massive amounts of fuchsia colored light. He squinted his eyes, trying to see through. "What's going on?" He wondered.

"NOOOO! Shadia will not be defeated by Sailor Moon! Shadia will not be defeated! AHHHHHHHGGGGHHH!" Shadia cried, the pink light breaking her into a million particles or more.

Usaka's mouth hung open with shock as he watched, unblinkingly. Sailor… Moon?… He pondered. Before he could continue, the world around him became white again, then black once more.