Sailor Moon: Fellowship of the Moon

Chapter 3: First Day Impressions: Dodge Ball Frenzy

The sky was dark while the stars and planets winked down on the world. In the dim light of the planet Earth, two figures stood on a balcony looking at one another. A young woman wearing a dark blue dress held the hands of the other figure. Her features were quite clear, but because the other figure was facing her and his back was too the planet Earth, the light of the sun reflecting off of it was shadowing his features except for a pair of dark brown eyes. The young woman had short, dark blue hair that seemed to sway in the planet's wind, as did her dress. Her eyes seemed to shimmer, but they were shimmering with tears.

The young man in front of her seemed to have a cape that had an orange color to it. He was clad in golden armor that shimmered even in the darkest of the night. His hands still held hers, but he let one of her hands touch his face while he took the one she let go and rubbed a few tears from her eyes. Even though his hands were in gloves with sharp pointed fingertips he was gentle as he brought it to her face, careful not to cut her. He held his hand there while the one it was previously holding went up and touched it.

"Must you really go?" She asked the man in front of her, her voice almost quivering.

"Yes." He simply answered to her while he closed his eyes, trying to hide the sadness of being separated from her.

"But why?" She asked her voice cracked.

"I don't want your kingdom or the other kingdoms in danger. I took an oath with the others to protect the Silver Millennium with our lives. Not only that, I'm doing this to protect you." He replied but with the last part he wrapped his arm around her while his hand remained cupping her cheek.

"Will I ever see you again?" She whimpered as more tears streamed down her face.

"I will come back to you." He said again bringing her closer to him. So close, that their lips could almost touch. "I promise." "As a Constellation Knight?", she asked. He smiled, "No, I promise you as your love." With that, they closed the gap between them as their lips touched in a loving kiss. With that the scenery changed into a white are with nothing else except five others behind the knight and girl. They broke the kiss as the man walked away from her to join the others, each one clad in different armor, and sizes. She watched for what felt like an eternity as her one true love walked with his comrades.

Then suddenly, the ground beneath them cracked open with strange Shadow creatures pulling them into the ground. The girl screamed as she ran forward to reach her mysterious lover; the two of them held out each other's hands to reach for one another but the young man disappeared behind a wall of shadows from the ground. An eerie laugh was heard all around the area as it was shrouded in darkness; The girls eyes widened in fear and anguish while the tears that had formed in her eyes streamed down faster than ever.

"NO!" She screamed as everything went dark.

Ami bolted upright from her bed and held her chest while sweat was padding her skin. She breathed heavily in deep pants before breathing a heavy sigh and began to relax. She then looked out her window; the moon was full and dimly lit her room with its warm glow. "What a strange dream." She said to herself before she got up and walked to her window and placed her hand on it. She was dressed in a light blue nightgown with white lace trim on it.

The cold air that had been outside made the window cold and she felt it on her fingertips, but it didn't bother her; what bothered her was that dream she had just now. She could definitely tell it was from a time when she was the princess of Mercury, but what she couldn't figure out was who that mysterious man was. The person reminded her of Phoenix Blade; she blushed at the very thought of him. For reasons not yet understood, she felt flustered around him, just like she was with Aaron. "But was it really a dream, or a vision from my past life?" She said to herself again as her eyes twinkled as the stars winked back at her, as did the city lights.

She then took her hand off the cold window and took her middle and index fingers and gently touched her lips. Her cold fingertips brushed against them while she remembered the kiss in her dream. The kiss felt so real, so real that she could almost feel the young man's hand on her cheek when they did kiss. When she looked up at the moon, she could almost see that young man's figure reaching out to her as if he was telling her to find him. Even though she was very smart, Ami knew that science or her own knowledge couldn't explain that dream.

"I wonder who that young man was." She murmured still looking out her window before going back to her bed.

Elsewhere at the same time, Aaron bolted up from his sleep sweating and panting from a nightmare he had. But then again, he's been having these dreams for a long time even when his mother died. Next to his bed was his desk, and in one of the drowrs, Ceros was sleeping in one of them when Aaron made a makeshift bed out of it for him to sleep in. He looked at the little furball to confirm that maybe what he saw wasn't a dream after all. After he relaxed he brought his hand up to his forehead and rubbed it, wiping away the sweat from his brow.

"These dreams again; they're seriously starting to creep me out now." He groaned as he pushed the covers off and got out of his bed. Like the others, this dream was perhaps the most depressing of them, seeing it had a sad ending. He then walked to his window and looked out at the moon. For as long as he could remember, he's had these strange dreams almost every night as well as the others. When he was younger, he barely understood their meaning; but now, after the events that had happened tonight, he seemed to realize that the young man in his dream was undoubtedly himself. The armor he wore in his dream was the same type of armor he wore during those days back home.

"The images of that dream are becoming clearer now. But, I can only see that girl's hair and eyes. I can't help but wonder who she is; if she even exists, that is." He said to himself as he continued to look up at the sky before looking down at his right hand. His hand, which held his transformation ring, then clenched into a fist as he looked back out to the city in front of him.

'Whoever that girl is, I have to find her before the Heartless find her.' He thought to himself. 'But as long as I have this power, those who get close to me will only get put into danger. I don't know what to do. All Ceros and I can do is find the other knights and put an end to that battle that started two thousand years ago.'

He then clenched his eyes closed before turning to go back to bed. But as he covered himself with the bedspread, he couldn't help but wonder if that girl in his dream existed. If she did, then maybe…maybe she could answer a few of the questions he had about who they were and what relationship they had back then. But as he told himself many times before in the past, it was just a dream. Oh how little he knew of how much he was wrong about that.

The Next Morning

Aaron was riding on his motorbike to school in his black suited school uniform; after the Heartless attack and the flight back home, he'd forgotten all about it. It was even after his ring and armor had power down, that he realized he would have to walk all the way he left it, and with the tank on empty, he'd have to walk with it home. 'I knew I should've checked the tank after the Mini-Mart last night.', he was interrupted by his thoughts, by Ceros, who was riding on his shoulder with the wind blowing in his face.

"Do ya feel the wind in your face, Aaron!", he asked out of pure excitement. Aaron just sighed at his reaction; he guessed the little guy had been sealed away in that statue for so long that he skipped out the technological advances that went on. He then asked, "Why do you have to tag along anyway?" Ceros gave him a sour look, "It was either I tag along with you or go with your sister." He then cringed at the thought. Aaron remembered what happened this morning when Sarah saw Ceros; of course, Ceros had to act like a stuffed animal, but his sister nearly squeezed the life out of him the way she adored him. Ceros just shivered at the thought of her taking him to her school and crushing the life out of him. Aaron just smirked, "So even the great Ceroberos can get scared once in a while." Ceros shot back, "You're sister just freaks me out, is all!" He then calmed down a bit as they got near the school and he jumped and hid in Aaron's backpack, "Besides, I got a feeling that the knights we're looking for might go to your school. If we're lucky, that is."

Aaron nodded in agreement to that as they got to the school before the gate closed. As he got in a teacher shouted, "Hey, you! Get that vehicle out of here!" Aaron ignored the guy and just parked in the student parking lot; he then rushed inside to make sure he got to his homeroom before anything else.

Class 3-A
Everyone in Class 3-A was conversing on things they were going to do during the week or on the weekend. Serena and Ami had this class so they were basically just conversing with themselves in secret; they were talking about the night before with the shadow creatures and that guy in the armor, Phoenix Blade. Serena had explained the whole thing last night to her guardian, Luna, after they got back to their homes. "She said she needed a little more detail about this guy. So after school you want to meet everyone at the temple, Ami?", Serena asked. She looked at her friend and noticed she had this sort of dazed look, as if she was in deep thought about something.

She then decided to snap her out of it by saying, "So, I heard from Mina that you slept with that guy Aaron, huh?" Ami heard that and blushed until her face resembled a cherry, "WHAAA!" Ami nearly caused a scene in the classroom as almost everyone stared at her with confusion. Serena had to surpress a giggle from the way she reacted, "Sorry about that, you were just zoning out there." Ami just sighed, "I'm sorry, it's just from last night. After the battle, and when we all went home to get some rest, I had the strangest dream." Serena then took it the wrong way by asking with a cat grin on her face, "Was it about a certain boy?" Ami flustered a bit, "No! I think it was more of a memory during our days in the Moon Kingdom."

Serena asked her to tell the whole dream to her, but the teacher came in already as the class got to their seats. The teacher's name was Ms. Takashima; she was a blonde teacher in her late twenties, but still looked very attractive to the young men of the class. She wore a khaki business suit with a skirt that covered her knees, high heels, and wore glasses over her crystal blue eyes. She smiled as she addressed the class, "Class, I want you to all know that we have a new student to add to Class 3-A." She signaled for the new student to come in.

And to Ami's surprise, it was Aaron; Serena got a good look at him and realized that it was the guy from yesterday, and the guy who was being chased by those shadow creatures. She had to admit he was pretty good looking but not in comparison to Darien. All the other girls were staring at him with starry eyes and blushing faces; Ami was more composed compared to the other girls. Ms. Takashima announced, "Class, this is Aaron Masters. Newly arrived from America, so please show him the same respect as you would anyone else." Everyone nodded, including the girls, who were just giggling and waving to Aaron, who was a little nervous at the attention he was getting from the girls.

Ms. Takashima then said, "Now let's see, where to put you…" she pondered on where to seat him and saw one extra empty seat. She said, "You can take a seat next to Miss Mizuno." He nodded and walked over to the seat next to Ami; he put his book bag next to his seat and sat down, looking forward as Ms. Takashima began the lesson. Ami turned to him and wondered if she remembered her from yesterday. She sighed in a depressed tone and thought, 'I guess he wouldn't remember a bookworm like me. That's me, the World's Smartest Loner.' She then felt her eyes water a little, daring to cry from this depressing thought.

She then felt someone tapping her shoulder as she turned to see whom it was. It was Aaron with a concerned look on his face. He noticed Ami looking a little depressed and decided to ask what was wrong. He saw her eyes water, so he asked quietly, not wanting to disrupt the class, "Are you alright, Ami. You seem to look a little, uh, well how do I put it, Blue." She had to giggle at that little pun there, and yet she beamed when he said her name. "You remember me? I didn't think you would remember.", she asked quietly. He was surprised at that and replied with a smile, "How could I forget the first girl to ever ride my bike with me. Also you're the first friend I've had since I got here."

She blushed at his comments but hid them from him before he had a look at them. She silently said, "thank you." During the class she followed his every movement with her eyes. She just couldn't stop looking at him, even though it was never in her to look at boys like this. She realized this and shook her head, 'I can't think like this, I have school and computer class to think about; I don't have time for that.' Aaron looked over to Ami and saw her shaking her head; he didn't have a clue as to what that was about.

This didn't escape a few girls, who were glaring at Ami with jealous eyes, and Serena and Lita's eyes one bit; they both had to try and surpress a few giggles as they saw their friend was looking at the new student during the class.

Lunchtime
Everyone from class was outside sitting on the grass, benches, or under a tree, eating and talking to each other. Serena, Lita, Mina, and Ami were sitting under a tree eating their lunches; Lita was sharing her box lunch with Serena, while Mina ate her own, and Ami had a sandwich, her favorite food when she was reading. There were also two cats seated next to them; one was black and the other was white, but they both had crescent moon birthmarks on their foreheads; they were Luna and Artemis. They were both the Sailor Scouts guardians and both posed as the pets of Serena and Mina.

Serena moaned, "I think I completely flunked the Math test." Luna just nagged her, "well, Serena, if you would just study, I'm sure you would have passed." Serena and Luna then got into a huge verbal fight about studying and complaining about complications in Math. Ami was just staring into space, thinking about a certain boy that she tried to get out of her head. Lita noticed this and asked, "What's up girl, you've been zoning out since class." Ami snapped out of her thoughts, "Huh? Oh, I've just got a lot on my mind that's all." Serena then got a sly smile on her face and said, "You've got Aaron on the brain, eh?"

Ami blushed madly and denied, "N-n-no I don't; I jus have a lot of study I was thinking about planning!" Mina then smirked, "Then why are you acting so embarrassed?" Ami shot back, "I'm not acting embarrassed!" Luna and Artemis were a little confused as to what the girls were talking about; if there was one thing these two never understood, it was when the girls were gossiping. Luna looked to Lita and asked, "Who's Aaron, Lita?" Lita smirked, "He's the new guy in school; a foreigner from America" and Mina finished, "And Ami's newest love interest to boot."

Ami denied it while blushing, "He's not a love interest, Mina. He's just a good friend!" Artemis then asked, "What's he look like?" Lita gave them the details, "Well let's see, he's five centimeters taller than Ami, despite he's the same age of sweet sixteen. He's got sort tussled brown hair, Chocolate brown eyes that you could get lost in. And finally, he's got a good tan on him." Luna thought about it and spoke her mind out, "Sounds like someone that Mina or Rei would go for." Ami then spoke softly, "I know, but there's something to him that makes him different from those types of guys. He may have the body of a sixteen year old, but from his actions he seems more adult than anyone else."

The girls looked at her and couldn't help but blush at the idea forming in their heads as they listened to her. Ami stopped herself before she went on, "I just think there's more to him on the inside than on the outside." Then Mina asked, "So why aren't you with him talking? Or better yet, why not invite him over?" Ami shook her head, "I don't think he'd want to be sitting in a group of girls." The three felt a little insulted as Mina replied, "Oh, c'mon, what boy wouldn't want to sit with girls like us?" Artemis quirked, "A smart one?" Mina gave him a glare telling him not to go that far.

Luna, who was the only one to be intellectually similar to Ami, decided to help her out on this. She got up from Serena's lap and walked off. Serena asked, "Luna, where you going?" She turned and said, "I'm going to see if I can find this Aaron, and see if I can 'ask' him to join us." After that, she was off. Ami got up and said, "Wait a minute!" She followed her, not wanting to bother Aaron. The girls just smirked at this and just had to giggle at the scene.

Back of the School
Aaron was sitting under a tree, with his jacket tied around his waist, as he read a book while eating a wrap. He didn't want to sit in the crowded area due to the fact he didn't want to bother anyone; that and to get away from the girls that were chasing him. He was only in school for one day and already girls were after him. Ceros popped up from his backpack and commented, "In school for one day and already the girls want you. Woo-hoo, you are quite the prize for them." Aaron looked at him and asked annoyed, "Shouldn't you be looking for the other knights you mentioned?" Ceros looked back and took a bite from a candy bar that Aaron packed for him. Okay it was more like a log to him than a bar, and just said, "I've been trying, but I've got zip on my Knight senses." Aaron then rubbed his temple in frustration as he held the wrap in his mouth. "I thought you said finding the other Knights was going to be easy?", he said with the wrap was still in his mouth.

Just then, a black cat popped up out of nowhere and Ceros hid before he was seen. Luna looked at the boy and thought, 'He must be Aaron; I guess Ami was right about there being more to him than there is.' She observed that he was reading and eating a simple lunch, like Ami would all the time. She then made her move as she jumped on his lap, getting his attention. He put the book down and looked at the new face, "Hey there, where'd you come from?" He scratched her behind the ears and she was already purring. Luna liked him already as he continued to scratch. He asked, "So what's your name?" Luna looked up to him but didn't say anything that would blow her cover. He looked at her, "Well no name tag, but you do have a crescent moon on your forehead." He thought about it for a moment, and came up with the answer, "Luna?" She meowed in joy at him as she thought, 'You got it.'

Aaron commented, "Luna's a pretty good name; you owner must be pretty smart to have come up with that." Luna then got an exasperated look on her face as she sweatdropped, 'Serena? Smart? Well on occasion, perhaps.' Just then, Ami rounded the corner and saw Aaron getting up with Luna in his arms; she then walked towards him a little out of breath. Aaron spotted her and said, "Hey, Ami." Ami just stood there a little shy for a moment and replied, "Hello Aaron. Oh, you found Luna, thank you." "She's your cat?" She shook her head, "Oh no, she belongs to my friend, Serena." He seemed to remember her from class, the one with the meatball hairstyle that was caught falling asleep.

Ami was about to try and runaway, due to her shy nature to talking to him, but she noticed Luna trying to signal her to invite him to lunch. She was a little nervous asking him, but she spoke out, "Um, Aaron?" "Yeah, Ami?" She twiddled with her hands as she looked down at them, "I-if you want…well that is to say…uh..." Aaron looked at her and asked himself, 'I wonder why she's so nervous?' 'What's wrong with me? Just say it! "Aaron, would you like to have lunch with me and my friends." Just say it like that, Ami!', Ami shouted in her head. She then took a deep breath and nearly shouted, "Would you like to have lunch with me and my friends?"

Aaron looked a little confused as to how she asked him, but smiled as he said, "Sure, why not." After hearing that she just had to smile as he said yes. He went over to get his bag and lunch while still holding on to Luna, and he and Ami walked over to her friends. Ceros was still in the bag and smirked, 'Yep, quite the ladies man, even though he's not that bright about it.'

The Gym
During Lunch the PE instructor was out eating, so while no one was looking around in the empty building, Shadows popped out from the, well, shadows. They looked around the room, trying to find anything with a heart. They were given the order to replenish the ranks they had lost from last night. They figured they could find new young recruits in the school that the kids went to. One of them went to what looked like a dodgeball launcher; it blended into it while the others waited in the shadows for their unsuspecting prey to come in and await their new fate.

After Lunch
Ami smiled after what happened at lunch; she, Aaron and the others had lunch and talked to each other. Aaron got a chance to meet with the others; Serena seemed nice to him, except her constant teasing of them being boyfriend and girlfriend was kind of embarrassing. Lita seemed okay and alright with a boy their own age sitting with them in lunch. Mina, on the other hand, couldn't stop flirting with him, and it got him a little nervous around her; which for some strange reason irked Ami. She had to surpress a giggle from it as to how funny he acted from Mina's advances.

She was walking down the hall on her way to Gym class to meet up with Serena and the others, until she bumped into three girls. One was blonde and had it in a ponytail, the second one had black hair flowing down her mid-back, and the third had short brown hair up to her shoulders. They blocked her way as another girl came from behind Ami. She had short red hair and green eyes and dressed in the same uniform that Ami wore. This girl was Mayura Asano, the popular girl in Juuban High; she was also in the same class that Serena, Ami, Lita, and Aaron attended. After class was over she had walked with Aaron before lunch, and already she liked him, even though they only had one talk.

She saw him with Ami 'Bookworm' Mizuno and her friends, and she just couldn't stomach it. So she was going to make her point to her. She grabbed Ami and slammed her to the wall with her back on it. She said, "You really think you can actually have a chance with a guy like Aaron?" Ami didn't know what she was talking about, so she set the record straight, "What are you talking about? All I did was ask him if he'd like to join me and my friends together at lunch." Mayura was getting angry as she shouted to her, "THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" She then slapped Ami as she folded her arms, "You're an eyesore to him."

She didn't know why she was being bullied on; she was only Aaron's friend. Things got even worse for her as Mayura walked right up to her as she held the cheek that she slapped. Mayura then said in a threatening tone, "A girl like you doesn't stand a chance with a guy like Aaron; I'm more of his type of girl. If I ever see you go near him again, you'll regret it." After that, she and her friends walked away, laughing at her with their backs turned and went to Gym. Ami slumped to the ground, shaking in fear of what that girl had said. Just then, Aaron was walking down the hall, on his way to the library, when he spotted Ami nearby.

He went to her, kneeled down and saw the bruise on her face. "Are you all right, Ami? Who did this to you?", he asked her. She looked up to him, but remembered what the girl had said, so she pushed him away and got back up. She was about to walk away until Aaron grabbed her arm, "Ami, whatever it is…Look I know I haven't been here this long and I've only known you for only yesterday, but…you should know that I'll help you in anyway." She wanted to run away, but those words just seemed to make her feel better. She turned around, dried her eyes, and said, "Thank you Aaron, but I have to handle this problem by myself." In truth, she wanted his help because it was about their friendship, but she wanted to handle this one on her own. Aaron could tell that she was serious on wanting to do this by herself, so he simply replied, "Okay, but if you ever need any help, I'm there for you."

Suddenly they heard screaming coming from the gym; to Ami it could have been someone playing a prank (at least that's what she was hoping), but to Aaron and Ceros, it meant only one thing: the Heartless were stirring up trouble. Ami ran to it with Aaron shouting, "Ami wait!" She stopped and turned around to face Aaron, "don't worry, I'm just gonna check what's going on. I won't go in unless I have to." She smiled and then ran to the gym to investigate, leaving a worried Aaron to stand there.

Ceros popped out of the bag and said, "Aaron! Time to suit up, the Heartless are here!" Aaron looked shocked and asked, "Do you know where they are?" Ceros took a moment and sniffed around; Aaron saw this and thought, 'that's pretty cliché, sniffing them out like a bloodhound.' Ceros stopped sniffing and confirmed it, "I know where they are; the scent leads in some kind of place that smells like sweat and unclean socks."

Aaron sweatdropped at the description as he pondered, "Sweat and unclean socks?" It then registered in his head, "The gym. Ami!" He realized that she was walking into a danger zone; he looked around to see if no one was around, and confirmed it. He balled up his right fist where his ring was, and shouted, "PHOENIX BLADE ARMOR ACTIVATE!"

The Gym
Ami had run towards the gym to find out what was going on and what she saw when she opened the doors surprised her. The creatures she and her friends had fought off the other night were here, terrorizing the students who were in there. She closed the door and looked around her and saw that no one was present. She took out a pink colored pen with a handle on it and on the top of it were wings and a blue spherical crystal that had the female sign on it as well as behind it a golden harp. She then shouted, "MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER!" Her body was covered in a bright blue light as her clothes disappeared and she began to transform from her normal self, to Sailor Mercury. She twirled the pen around her, with waves of light wrapped around her body and formed into her uniform. As the light faded, she was now covered in her Sailor Scout outfit.

The Heartless were grabbing anyone they could get their claws on and were about to extract their hearts out. Until they heard someone shout out, "MERCURY BUBBLE BLAST!" Then the whole room was blanketed in a thick fog; the students were able to knock off the Heartless and run out the building. The Heartless were looking around to find the source of the fog until a voice was heard from, "How dare you attack defenseless kids in a public school; I will not forgive you for this." They turned to see someone familiar, at least from what they were shown through imprinted memories from the first squadron, Sailor Mercury.

"I am Sailor Mercury, champion of justice, and in the name of Mercury, I will punish you." The Heartless then charged at her with their claws at the ready. A puddle of water appeared as Mercury chanted, "SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!" She twirled around and launched the water at them, and upon impact, the Heartless were frozen in place. She didn't notice it yet but on top of her, three Soldier Heartless leaped down and cried out in battle; she looked up and didn't have enough time to run. Suddenly, someone pulled her close to her, and in a fast motion, the three Soldiers were sliced in half and dissipated into mist.

She looked and saw she was pulled in close to someone; so close that she was pressed up to the person. She looked up and saw the one person she didn't think she would see again. She said surprised, "Phoenix Blade." He had come in the nick of time with his Zwiehander blade and pulled Sailor Mercury close to him in order to make sure she didn't get in the blade's way. He looked down to her, their faces almost touching each other. His eyes, still glowing yellow and unable to tell the true color of them conveyed a sign of relief as he said, "I was looking for someone else but I'm glad they didn't show up. Hey, it's good to see you again, Sailor Mercury."

She nearly blushed as she saw she was being pressed up against him; she found it quite embarrassing. She nervously said, "Um, could you…let me go?" He looked and saw he was still holding on to her; he let go and they just stood there blushing a little due to the awkwardness of the scene. Phoenix Blade said, "Sorry about that." "Oh, don't worry about that." They then returned their attention back to the Heartless, who were just staring at them with veins popping out of their foreheads, showing how agitated they were because they were ignored. They each got into a battle stance, and Phoenix asked, "What say we double-team against them?" Sailor Mercury nodded with a smile on her face, "That sounds like a good plan."

The Heartless charged forward and before the duo could make a move, the Heartless spilt up in three different directions and then merged into the shadows. Phoenix Blade tried to get a good idea as to where they were but couldn't find them. Phoenix Blade cursed himself, "Rats! They could pop up anywhere in here!" Mercury activated her visor and brought out her handheld computer, "Hold on, I might be able to pinpoint their location." Ceros popped onto Phoenix's shoulder and said, "Alright, now let's see those Heartless get the drop on us this time."

Mercury scanned the area, and found them, along with a strange energy source emanating somewhere in the gym. "They're directly behind us!", she said. And just on cue, the Heartless popped up from all the sides behind them. Phoenix Blade and Sailor Mercury turned around and unleashed their attacks against the Heartless, "PHOENIX WING!" "SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!" The two attacks shot forward at the Heartless, and as they did they merged together with the fire encircling the water. The combined attacks hit the Heartless, and wiped them out without giving them the chance to fight back.

Ceros yelled out, "Yeah, yeah! That's what I call an attack!" Mercury looked around and her visor detected the same strange energy source, coming from their left, in the supply section. "Hold on, I'm getting a strange reading. It's a stronger signal than the others." She looked for it hard, until it spotted the signal, "Got it! Right there!" They all turned to see a dodgeball-launching machine. Ceros questioned, "You've got to be kidding, right?" Suddenly two mechanical hind legs popped out of it, held on by ball socket joints. Phoenix Blade and Mercury backed away a little as it started to walk around them.

It then stopped about 90 degrees from their left, and then shot out a bombardment of dodge balls. The two dodged as best they could, as they did, they saw the dodge balls were lodged into the wall. This showed them that how fast and strongly the balls were being shot at them. Phoenix, for one, had no idea that the Heartless could merge themselves with objects; he picked up Ceros and shouted, "You didn't tell me they could do that!" Ceros simply replied, "I didn't know they could do that! I think the Heartless must have evolved in some way to do this." It was true, there was more to the Heartless that he knew little of; who knows what went on with them while they were imprisoned in the Negaverse.

But they didn't have time to argue as the dodgeball machine turned its attention towards Sailor Mercury. It then started to change even further; a dark right arm popped out of a makeshift chest with exhaust pipes sticking out of its chest and two from it's shoulders and going behind its back. The left arm was larger and mechanical as it became somewhat of a cannon with the upper arm formed as a ball belt loader. Its head was dome shaped as it was colored red with the same eyes the Heartless had. It aimed for Mercury who backed up a little to the wall. Phoenix Blade cracked his claws and they lit up, "PHOENIX FLAME TALONS!" he shot them forward at the creature, and they made a direct hit. Unfortunately, unlike the others, this creature was much stronger as the talons only left scratched burn marks.

It turned around and saw Phoenix Blade and took to its newest primary target; it ignored Mercury and fired straight at him. He jumped to the wall as the balls destroyed the area from where he stood was obliterated. Phoenix Blade hopped onto the wall and the creature fired at him, only to have him dodge and miss again. Phoenix jumped around the place from floor to wall, dodging every shot the creature had tried to attempt. It wasn't until that the creature had learned the pattern of Phoenix's movements, so when Phoenix Blade dodged another time he shot at his feet to where he would land next.

Much to Mercury's horror, Phoenix Blade fell to the ground, and the DodgeBall Heartless ran up to him with it's weapon pointed at his head. Phoenix looked up and saw him aiming for his head almost too close for comfort. 'At this range, he'll take my head clean off.' Mercury got up and ran towards him; she didn't know why, but even though she didn't know who was behind the armor she didn't want anything to happen to him. The creature was about to fire when someone shouted, "VENUS CRESENT V SMASH!" A beam of golden energy struck the creature's cannon arm causing it to veer off course and shoot the ceiling. Then two others shouted, "JUPITER THUNDER CRASH!" "MOON TIARA MAGIC!" A shower of lightning as well as a silver discus was thrown straight at the creature, pushing him back with tremendous power passed Sailor Mercury and into the wall.

Sailor Mercury and Phoenix Blade turned to see Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus present. The three of them heard screaming and explosion sounds coming from the gym so they decided to investigate. Sailor Mercury couldn't be happier to see them, "am I glad to see you guys." Suddenly Jupiter shouted, "Sailor Mercury, look out!" She had a puzzled look but turned around to see the DodgeBall Heartless charge at her with his right clawed hand at her. She just stood there, terrified with no time to dodge the stab. Just then, Phoenix Blade got in front of her and took the claw in his chest until the tips of the claws were shown from his back. The Sailor Scouts all stared in terror as they saw their newest ally stabbed to death in the chest; Mercury stared in horror at this. She had seen something similar in her dream; the warrior that she had kissed died in the darkness along with his friends, and she couldn't do anything about it. As she thought this her eyes began to water, and she screamed in anger and pain, "PHOENIX!"

Just then, Phoenix grabbed the DodgeBall Heartless' clawed hand by the wrist, and he spoke in a raspy voice, "Do...you really…think I'd be…beaten….LIKE THAT!" With all his might, he pushed the creature into the wall so hard, that while he still held on to the hand, it was ripped off its wrist. He then pulled out, making a sick juicy sound as he finally got it out; he nearly collapsed on the floor until Mercury grabbed him. She looked at him with her eyes nearly in tears, "don't! You've lost some blood; you're in no condition to keep fighting!" Phoenix Blade looked at her and for some reason; she looked exactly like the girl from his dream last night. But this was not the time for this, he tried to get up, "I…have to keep fighting. It's…my duty…as…" she held on to him, determined not to let him fight. "I won't let you do this; if you keep this up, you'll make the wound even worse!"

"Sailor Mercury! Phoenix Blade!" The two of them saw the monster run towards them with its cannon at the ready. Sailor Mercury held on to Phoenix Blade for dear life, never wanting to let go of him. Then suddenly, a red rose was shot out of nowhere and was stuck into the ground between Sailor Mercury, Phoenix Blade, and the Heartless. Near the doorway, stood a man, no older than at the age of twenty; slim build, dressed in a tuxedo, wearing a cape, top hat, and a white mask. Sailor Moon was glad to have seen him as he called his name, "Tuxedo Mask." Phoenix Blade looked a little confused as he thought, 'Did we just get saved by a guy in a penguin suit?'

The figure named Tuxedo Mask then stated, "Sports are meant to be played fair and square. You on the other hand, will stab anyone to win." The Heartless just stared in confusion but failed to notice that Phoenix Blade had gotten up and punched it at least five times in the chest. Until at last a cracked opening within was shown, and in the chest laid a heart shaped object that glowed with darkness within it. Ceros popped up in front of Sailor Moon, who nearly was scared half to death, and said to her, "that's its weak point. Sailor Moon, you've got to destroy the Dark Heart Crystal within the Heartless. Phoenix doesn't have the strength to do it, so it's up to you."

She looked pretty determined as she pulled out the KaliedoMoon Scope, "You've got it!" The KaliedoMoon Scope lit up, glowing with silver energy as Sailor Moon said, "MOON GORGEOUS MEDITATION!" She thrusted the scope forward like a sword, and out shot a stream of rainbow light-flashes that hit the Heartless dead on. The Dark Crystal Heart within the Heartless shattered and the Heartless faded into nothing, turning the Dodgeball machine back to normal but pretty beaten up.

The Scouts as well as their well dressed comrade made their way to help their newest comrade. But to their surprise, he was gone as soon as the Heartless was destroyed, as well as his little friend. Sailor Moon was the first to talk, "He couldn't have gone far with that injury; he'd be dead from the blood loss." Tuxedo Mask walked next to Sailor Venus and asked, "Was that the one who helped you the other night?" She nodded, "Yep, that's him." Sailor Jupiter looked at her friend Sailor Mercury, who seemed a little more worried than anyone else. She placed a hand on her shoulder to reassure her, "Don't worry, Ami. I'm sure it'd take a lot more than that creep to do him in."

Sailor Mercury smiled at that, but thought about something. She wasn't sure but the young man in her dream and the Knight Phoenix Blade was all too coincidental. She was sure that he and Phoenix Blade were one in the same. The only question was, who was behind the armor. And was he alright from the injury?

Elsewhere

Aaron had transformed back after no one was looking; he groaned a bit, feeling like his chest was on fire. Ceros popped up and asked, "You okay?" He simply replied, "It feels like my chest's on fire. I should have been dead from that." Ceros smiled as he said, "Look under your shirt and find out." Aaron unbuttoned his shirt a little to see where the scarring the Heartless had left it; there was nothing. He got a puzzled look but Ceros replied, "Did I forget to mention that not only do you possess the power of the Phoenix as Phoenix Blade, but you also have it's ability to heal from any injury: wound or amputation?" Aaron smiled at that; the last thing he needed was to explain a few claw marks on his chest to his father and sister.

But then something went on in his head; when Sailor Mercury was holding him like she did, he felt an odd sense of nostalgia. Like a forgotten memory, much like the dream he had last night about the girl. He shook his head to clear it up and buttoned up his shirt. "Well, I better get to class; I don't want anyone getting suspicious." He walked back to the school and also said, "I also don't want to worry Ami if she was looking for me." He ran back into the building and back to his class, hoping to see his friend, Ami Mizuno.

Next Chapter: Lust: Fight off Temptation
No one knows who the man is behind the Phoenix Blade Armor; nor does the Dark Lord or his two associates, Lust and Gluttony. They, as well as a certain blue-haired genius, will do anything to find out. But for one of the other, is it worth it putting him in danger, just to know? But with a little Temptation for someone, will Aaron's secret be revealed?