A/N: I'm sorry to say, you guys, that there is pretty much no humor in this chapter. (I think.) And it's pretty short, too – but that's okay, because I'm going to have a new chapter out, pronto!

Giri-chan and Nan-chan – you guys aren't allowed to read this. Log off the Internet and go work on your Romeo/Juliet projects – YEAH, RIGHT! How can I ask you guys to do that when I haven't even started? Hope you're having a rocking spring break!

Disclaimer: Don't own it, so I'll clone it!

Subject to Change

Beep. Beep.

"Not again!" Serena groaned, kneeling in the middle of the sidewalk to root vicious around in her schoolbag for her communicator. She found the cursed pink object and brought it to her mouth. That youma-detector of Ami's is ingenious, but I can't help but wish that she'd never invented it. "Where is it, Ami?"

"Somewhere on Fifth Avenue, near the Arcade," came Ami's voice, barely audible over the crackle of static. Or at least, Serena thought it was static – but Ami apparently thought otherwise. 'Rei! How many times has Luna told you not to set fires while we're on the communicator? It makes it hard to hear!"

"Blah, blah, blah, blah," came Rei's voice. "Fine." The crackle stopped abruptly, followed by a hiss.

"What were you burning, Pyro?' asked Serena in mild amusement. "Chad?"

As if on cue, a shocked howl erupted from the communicator's speaker. Serena blinked. I was joking… "Rei, you didn't!"

"I did," answered Rei's voice smugly.

"Um, hello? Youma. On Fifth Avenue. NOW!" Ami bellowed.

"Oh, yeah. Got it. " Serena switched off the communicator and stood up. "Moon Prism POWER!"

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," whispered Sailor Moon in a sing-song voice, tiptoeing around the corner – ironically, the self-same one she'd tried to ambush Darien at a couple of days ago. She winced at the memory. Hopefully this encounter would turn out more successfully than that one had. "Where are you, little youma?"

Her question was answered when the streetlamps suddenly flickered to life and glinted on hundreds of shards of glass lying in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the shattered window of a…

"Jewelry shop?" murmured Sailor Moon. Her eyes narrowed behind her goggles (A/N: Yes, in my version, when Sailor Moon transforms, she has a mask like in Tuxedo Mask's, but girlier. That's how they did it in the manga, for any of you neophytes out there. No offense to anyone – neophytes rock; I'm a Chrono Crusade neophyte. But, um, back to the story.) as she put two and two together. The youma Mercury had detected was apparently not sucking anyone's energy, and it was in a jewelry store, which could only mean –

"They've found the Silver Crystal! No way! I've got to get it first!"

Adrenaline exploded in Sailor Moon's veins; she launched herself through the shattered store window with a yell – which was, perhaps, not the most tactical move she could have made.

She landed on her stomach on the floor, wincing as various shards of glass bit into her skin, and scrambled to her feet to face the hulking youma. Shelled and tentacled, it was currently rooting around in the various glass cases.

"Hey! You!" she shouted, falling into her usual stance. "Jewelry stores are for handsome guys looking for presents for their girlfriends, not ugly sushi bar rejects like you! Step away from the merchandise so that I, Sailor Moon, Champion of Love and Justice, can punish you!"

The youma turned around slowly, with the whiskers around its mouth quivering.

"No one will stop me from finding the Silver Crystal – especially not you, Moon Brat!" The youma wiggled its body closer to her, inch by inch, and opened a pair of its many arms. Sailor Moon backed away, grimacing. She needed the Senshi to weaken the youma before she used her tiara – where are you, guys?

"Are we too late for the stir-fry?" Sailor Moon spun at the familiar sardonic voice, face breaking into a wide grin. Mercury and Mars sailed through the window and landed on either side of their leader. "MARS FIREBALL!"

"OW! OW!" Steam expelled from between the youma's shell plates with a hissing sound. "Ooh, you'll pay for that!"

"Mercury?" Sailor Moon spun towards her friend. Her hand was at her forehead, already pulling off her tiara. "Where do I aim? Where do I aim?"

"Huh?" Sailor Mercury looked up from her mini-comp with a blank expression. "What'd you say?"

"I SAID, where do I am my tiara? Where the youma's weak spot!" Sailor Moons stomped a foot frantically, watching the youma totter back to its feet. "What does your computer say!"

"Oh, it's not saying anything right now. I'm running a quick virus check on it."

"Mercuryyyyyyy! What about the youma?"

Mercury speared Moon with an indignant blue stare. "Which is more important, the youma or my computer's well-being?" she demanded.

"How about this? I burn your computer, and then we won't have to worry about it getting viruses!" suggested Mars eagerly. She clasped her hands. "MARS…FIRE – "

"STAY AWAY FROM MY PC, PYRO!" Mercury shrieked, hugging the piece of technology to her chest and jumping out of Mars' range of fire. (A/N: No pun intended.)

"But what about the youma?" Sailor Moon whined as the two began to scream at each other. "I guess I just have to hope I get a lucky shot – between the shells would be his unprotected spot, wouldn't it?" she muttered to herself as she removed her tiara and took careful aim. "Moon…Tiara… argck!"

"Well, hello there, Moon Brat," greeted the voice of the owner of the arms that were currently locked around Sailor Moon's neck. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Zoi…cite!" choked out Sailor Moon, twisting frantically in her captor's arms. "Let…GO!"

"No can do, I'm afraid," replied Zoicite with one of her high-pitched laughs. "You see, I've got orders to find out a bit about you, Sailor Moon…so how 'bout you cooperate with me?" Sailor Moon felt something cold press against her throat, then a sharp twinge as it sliced into her skin, causing her to jump in Zoicite's grip. "Unless you'd like to become better acquainted with my dagger, that is."

"Shoot," gasped out Sailor Moon, eyes following the path of her Senshi as they chased each other through the jewelry store, oblivious to her predicament or the presence of Zoicite. Hello! I'm about to DIE over here!

"What? Not even putting up a fight?" Surprised tinged Zoicite's voice. "Well – damn. I was hoping to shed a little more blood. Oh well. Hmm. So many questions, so little time. What to ask first? Oh, I know." She loosened her grip slightly on Sailor Moon's neck so that she could answer. "Where's the Silver Crystal?"

"We…don't know…" panted Sailor Moon, gulping down the sweet, fresh air. Never thought I'd hear myself calling Tokyo air "sweet" or "fresh." "Maybe…with the…princess." Who might be the art teacher, must remember to tell girls – if I get out of this alive!

"Where's the princess, then?"

"If we knew that, we would have kicked your butts from here to Pluto with the Silver Crystal by now," bit out Sailor Moon. "Duh."

Zoicite let the girl fall from her arms and backhanded her across the face, sending her sprawling on the pristine carpet. "Save that tongue of yours for the Cape Boy, Moon Brat. I won't tolerate it." She placed a booted foot on Sailor Moon's trembling back to pin her in place. "Now – speaking of Tuxedo Mask, what's your relationship with him?"

"What is this, some tabloid interview?" Sailor Moon spat out a mouthful of blood from Zoicite's slap.

"Just some friendly questions…but since you don't seem willing to talk about your little boyfriend – what's your connection to Queen Serenity?"

"Who's she?" was Sailor Moon's reply as she struggled to wriggle out from under Zoicite's foot. She hissed as the general dug the boot deeper into her back.

"Stop lying, brat," the general snarled. "You know who Queen Serenity is!"

"I don't!" gasped Sailor Moon. "Let me…go!"

"Not yet." Zoicite smirked slightly, the raised her voice. "Come on out, Lover Boy! Come on, I've got your pretty girlfriend here, and I'm ready to snap her weak little spine like chopsticks if you don't show yourself in the next five seconds. Five…four…three…"

Sailor Moon's eyes widened, she bucked violently under Zoicite's foot, ignoring the stabs of pain that shot through her body and blinking back tears.

"Two…"

She couldn't let Tuxedo Mask get hurt! Gotta get…free…

"ONE!"

A/N: Ooh, what's this? Could it be? A Daniel Radcliffe-hanger? (Teeheeheehee.) Will Tuxedo Mask show up? Will Sailor Moon get free? Does Sailor Mercury's computer have a virus? Find out all this, and more, in the next chapter of STC!

Since this is such a short chapter, I don't really expect any reviews from you guys. Spend your time on more worthwhile things, like reading my one-shot To Risk the Thorns or my new mini-series Are You Sure They're Not Drunk? (If you like this series, I promise you'll like that one.)

Domo arigatou for reading, mina-chan!