Chapter 3: Moonlit Shadows

The crowded concert hall was filled with laughter and the chatter of the dozens of special guests that had been invited to the Benefit. As beautifully dressed men and women drifted around the room, a young man in a dark blue tuxedo with golden hair leaned against a wall next to the balcony, swirling a glass of red wine in his hand as he watched the occupants of the room with mild amusement. Lifting the glass to his lips, he took a small sip of the liquid. Holding the drink in his mouth for a moment before swallowing, he turned his eyes to the stage as the lights dimmed and an elderly man approached the microphone.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," he began, spreading his arms wide as he acknowledged the guests, "I would like to welcome you all to the fifth annual Moonlight Banquet." He paused to allow a mild applause before continuing. "In honor of this being our fifth benefit, I would like to ask you all to give your attention to tonight's honored performer. Please give a warm welcome for Miss Michelle Kaioh and Mr. Koaru Tsukino."

"Oh?" the young man said with mild interest as the two performers walked onto the stage; the one a beautiful young woman with aqua blue hair, carrying a violin; the other a young man with pitch black hair and a silver flute in hand.

Outside the concert hall, Serena stood in her pink dress at the front doors, realizing that she had no invitation as the doorman asked for hers.

"Umm, I er..." she stammered, trying to think of a good excuse as Rini stood behind her, her face in her hand.

"Umm, Serena?" came a male voice, causing both girls to look behind them. Darien stood on the sidewalk, an invitation in his hand and a look of total confusion on his face. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"You don't wanna know." Rini said slowly, clearly reading Serena's new expression.

Inside the hall, the guests were in an awed silence as Michelle drew the bow across the strings of her instrument while Koaru's fingers fluidly glided across the holes of the flute; the notes of the two musicians filling the room. The young man by the wall smiled as he listened to the music, impressed. The sound of the front doors closing caused him to look over, slightly irritated at the distraction. Three people had entered the room, one a young man in a black tuxedo, one a small girl with pink hair wearing a white dress, and the last one a teenage girl with long blonde hair, tied into two cat tails and wearing a pink dress.

"Interesting hair style," he said quietly as he turned his eyes back to the stage as the two finished the song and applause filled the room. Watching the two leave the stage, he pushed himself off the wall and walked forward, meeting them as they walked onto the hall floor. "Hi," he said, causing both to pause and look at him. "Nice performance."

"Thanks," Koaru replied, taken aback by the man's sudden appearance. "Um, no offence, but who might you be?"

The man smiled and extended his hand. "Sorry, my name's Tenshi." he said as Koaru shook his hand. "Tenshi Unkaino."

"Nice to meet you, Tenshi," Michelle said, giving the man a small smile, "it's a nice name you have."

"Thanks." he replied, taking a sip from his wine glass, keeping his eyes on the two.

Koaru eyed the man with disinterest, feeling somewhat put off by his manner of introduction. "So," he asked, trying to be polite, "can we help you with something?"

Tenshi smiled at Koaru's words. Lowering his glass, walked past them, speaking loudly enough that only the two of them could hear what he was saying.

"That will depend on how well you can use your other talents."

"What?" Koaru and Michelle asked in unison, turning as the man vanished into the crowd.

"Do you think he meant..." Michelle asked nervously. Koaru clenched his fists, feeling uneasy.

"I'm not sure...yet what else could he have meant?" he said, his voice tense as his uneasiness turned into worry.

Across the hall, Serena let herself be lead around by Darien, trying to be on her best behavior for his sake, though she was having a hard time not attacking the buffet tables that were placed around the room.

"Excuse me," came a voice, and both Serena and Darien turned to see a young man with golden hair smiling at them, a near empty glass of red wine in his hand. "You two wouldn't have happened to notice anything out of the ordinary around here, would you?"

Serena felt confused by the man's question. Reading her expression, the man turned his attention to Darien.

"Could you define 'out of the ordinary'?" he asked, and the other smiled.

"Never mind," he said, walking past them. "I thought you might have been able to sense something."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Serena shouted after him, causing several people to turn their attention to her. Darien sweat dropped as he tried to control his girlfriend, turning her away from the direction the man had left in and leading her towards one of the buffet tables. "The nerve of that guy!" Serena ranted, puffing her cheeks out in anger. "What was he trying to do, pick a fight?"

"Just drop it, Serena." Darien pleaded, hoping that no one was offended by the girl's outbursts.

Underneath one of the buffet tables, Rini was happily stuffing her little face as she inhaled cakes and pastries from the table top above her. She paused as she heard uneven footsteps approach her from behind. Turning around, she screamed as a man suddenly collapsed to the floor.

"What was that?" Koaru asked, turning as he heard Rini's shriek. He felt his body tense up as suddenly the guests started to drop to the floor, unconscious.

"What's this all about?" Michelle asked, raising one hand up to her chest.

Across the room, Tenshi swirled the remaining contents of his drink, smiling.

"I see," he said, tipping the glass up and downing the remains of the wine, "so that's how you're going to play."

Koaru turned around as one of the guests approached him and Michelle, an evil aura surrounding her body.

"Who are you?" Michelle asked aggressively, taking a step back. Koaru stepped beside her as the woman was suddenly surrounded by a bright light. Fading, they saw that the woman had transformed into a Demon; small thorns covered the creatures arms, its green body wrapped in thick red sheets. To Koaru, it looked like a rose that had turned humanoid and stolen some drapes for clothing.

"Michelle, hide and transform," he said, balling his fists and widening his stance. "I'll keep this thing distracted."

Michelle nodded and ran off as Koaru charged the Demon, leaping into the air and sweeping his leg through the air at the creature's head. The demon quickly reacted, ducking and allowing Koaru's kick to harmlessly pass over. Using his kick's momentum, Koaru spun in the air as he passed over the Demon, sliding back on his feet as he landed on the ground.

"Quick little bugger," he said with a grin before rushing forward again, the Demon this time charging forward as well. Ducking as the creature swiped at him with its claw, Koaru twisted and aimed a kick straight up at its jaw. Looking in the direction of his attack, Koaru felt annoyed as he realized that the Demon was too tall, his kick only reaching up to its collarbone. The monster grabbed his foot and yanked him up into the air before hurling him across the room and into a wall, where he fell, winded from the crash. The Demon charged at his motionless form till a red streak flashed by its face. Stopping, it saw that it was a red rose that had been thrown. Turning to the direction the rose had come from, it saw three figures standing on the ledge above the doorway.

"Hold it right there!" Sailor Moon shouted, pointing at the Demon as she stood beside Sailor Chibi Moon and Tuxedo Mask, staring down at the scene below.

"Skip the speech today!" called Sailor Neptune as she walked back into the room, her hands glowing. "Deep Submerge!"

"Hey, no fair!" Sailor Moon shouted as Neptune's attack slammed into the monster. "The speech is mandatory for me!"

"Now's not the time to whine, idiot." Chibi Moon said, once again holding her head in her hand.

"She's right, Sailor moon." Tuxedo Mask said, his eyes locked on the monster. "You need to finish this battle."

"Right," Sailor Moon said, extending her hand and summoning the Moon Love Rod. "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" she shouted, launching a giant pick crystal heart at the monster. Everyone watched as the attack slammed into the monster, causing it to fall on its back, motionless. "Got it!" Sailor Moon shouted happily, though everyone else tensed up instead of relaxed. Confused, she turned her eyes back to the monster. "You're not serious!" she shouted as the monster slowly got back to its feet. Shaking itself off, it shrieked in rage, creating a shockwave that blasted everyone off of their feet before it charged at Sailor Moon, its claw aimed at her heart.

"Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask shouted as he leapt back to his feet and started running forward, though he knew he was too far away to reach her in time. "Serena!" he yelled in desperation.

Sailor Moon looked up as the Demon closed in on her, and she froze, gripped in fear. Suddenly the monster flashed bright white for a moment, being flash frozen. It fell forward and hit the marble floor, shattering to pieces.

"Good Lord, that was sad to watch." came a voice from the stage. Everyone turned and saw a man in a storm blue jacket with gold trim and white gloves standing beside the curtains, his left hand extended. A gold chain with a light blue water drop-shaped gem hung around his neck, and attached to his belt was a rapier; its golden hand guard gleaming in the light. Lowering his hand, the man hopped off of the stage, causing his golden hair to whip around his head as he landed. "I had hoped you would do better than that." he finished, eyeing each of them slowly. he looked over at the wall as Koaru slowly got to his feet, still fighting to regain his breath.

"Who are you?" Sailor Neptune asked, feeling rather offended by the man's words. He looked over at her, smiling.

"I'm hurt that you already forgot my name, Michelle." he said, causing Neptune to fall silent in shock.

"Tenshi?" she asked as the man walked up to Sailor Moon.

"Yes," he said, stopping a few feet away from Serena. "I am a Knight, here to protect the Moon Princess from the approaching Darkness. My name is Tenshi Unkaino."

"Hold on," Koaru said as he walked over, limping slightly. "No offence Tenshi, but that's kinda my job."

"And you did a wonderful job," Tenshi replied, causing Koaru to grit his teeth in anger. Smiling, Tenshi turned and walked away, his jacket whipping in the air as he moved. "I will see you all tomorrow. Until then, farewell."