Steph: Hey, has anyone seen Chrissy? She should be here by now to do the disclaimer.
Dee: I haven't seen her since she left during the battle.
Artemis: Something feels really weird here... Well, I guess I'll do the disclaimer, since Christina isn't here to do it. Sparrowflyaway does not own Sailor Moon, PGSM or Arnotts.
Bonnie: Who's been in my biscuits? There's hardly any left!
Artemis: Uh-oh...
"Where's Christina? It's getting late, she should be back by now," Phoenix said, glancing at the front door. Artie frowned at the eerily red sunset out the window.
"Is it just me, or does something seem... not quite right?" Dee asked.
"I'm thinking the same thing, Dee. This sunset is too strange... it's clouded with negative energy," Artie frowned.
"What do you mean? How can a sunset be clouded with negative energy?" Steph asked.
"It's just got a huge sense of foreboding and darkness coming off of it. See how red the sky is?" Artie asked, turning to them and pointing out at the sunset.
"Yeah, so? I've seen sunsets like that before," Steph said.
"And when was that, exactly?" Artie asked, turning back to the window.
"A few weeks before Christmas last year."
"Exactly. That's when Beryl broke out again, and I knew I'd have to search for Christina. I would have preferred that you five led normal lives, but the situation demanded the Scouts. There was another sunset like this in the Silver Millennium. That was the night before Queen Beryl attacked and destroyed the Moon Kingdom," Artie said gravely.
"So what do you think this one means?" Bonnie asked.
"I don't know, but I know it means bad news for us and for Earth," Artie said. The girls jumped a little as they heard a buzzing, and then Dee pulled her phone from her pocket and flipped it open.
"Hello? Oh, hi, Mum. ...Really? ...Are you sure you should? Things are still really dangerous down here... Well, that's true... OK. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Bye," she said, before flipping her phone shut.
"What was that about?" Lucy asked.
"Mum and my brothers Jake and Alex are coming down tomorrow to have an early Christmas lunch with me," Dee said, slipping her phone back into her pocket.
"I'm not sure that's very safe, considering how hectic things are," Artie said, frowning.
"Yeah, I know, but I'll be there, and I'll call you if the Negaverse shows up," Dee said. Lucy nodded, then sat up alertly, her eyes widening as a surge of negative energy flowed down her spine.
"I sense something, but it's much stronger than just a simple youma," Lucy said.
"One of the Generals?" Steph asked.
"It's either that, or Beryl herself," Artie said, frowning.
"We'd better transform, then. Moon Prism Power!"
"Mercury Power!"
"Mars Power!"
"Jupiter Power!" an instant later, the Scouts ran out the front door and skidded to a stop as they recognised the figure sitting on the gate.
"Kunzite. What are you doing here?" Mercury asked. Kunzite grinned and clicked his fingers, causing a large clear bubble to materialize next to him. The Scouts gasped as they recognised the unconscious figure sprawled inside it.
"Chrissy! Give her back, you freak!" Sailor Moon yelled. Kunzite clicked his fingers again, and a much smaller bubble appeared beside the first, The Scouts' eyes widening as they realised that the smaller bubble contained Christina's Transformation Pen.
"I'm surprised, girls. Your Princess, despite all the trouble she's caused for the Negaverse, put up very little resistance when I confronted her alone. How pathetic," Kunzite said, shaking his head.
"Don't speak about our Princess that way, you have no right to!" Lucy yelled. Kunzite chuckled.
"Your Princess, Scouts, is no more," he said.
"What did you do to her?" Mercury yelled, her eyes blazing in anger. Kunzite didn't reply, instead looking sideways at Christina's Transformation Pen. As they all watched, a dark purple patch appeared on the orange handle and spread until the orange had vanished. Kunzite's grin widened, and he clicked his fingers, causing the bubbles to float down to the foot of the gates and pop, depositing their contents onto the ground. The Scouts stepped nervously forward, wondering what to expect. As they approached, Christina stirred and opened her eyes, revealing the enormity of the darkness inside her.
"Chrissy..." Sailor Moon whispered, her eyes widening in horror. The others could only stare in horror too as Christina picked up her Transformation Pen and got to her feet, then grinned at them.
"Shall I show you the new me?" Christina asked, fingering her Transformation Pen.
"Go ahead, Princess," Kunzite said.
"Don't give me orders, Kunzite. I don't take orders from anyone, you got that?" Christina said, glancing over her shoulder at Kunzite, who scowled. Christina turned back to the scouts and thrust her Transformation Pen into the air.
"Venus Dark Power!" Black and purple love hearts began pouring out of the Pen, transforming her clothes into her usual Scout outfit. Then, a split second later, they changed her collar, her skirt, her choker and the stripes on her gloves to dark purple. The black-and-purple love hearts then changed her orange boots and all three of her bows to black, and the golden crescent moon on her forehead to a shiny black one. The new Venus posed and grinned at the other Scouts, who looked close to tears.
"Dark Venus. The darkness in your heart made turning you so much easier. Now destroy the other Sailor Scouts!" Kunzite ordered. Dark Venus turned around and placed her hands on her hips.
"Weren't you listening? I said I don't take orders from anyone. Especially not some failure like you," Dark Venus said. Kunzite glared at her angrily, but remained silent.
"Artemis," Dark Venus said, turning to her guardian.
"Christina..." Artie said weakly.
"You once told me that I was fighting for the wrong reasons," Dark Venus said.
"I know, but what's-"
"You were right."
"What?"
"You were right, Artemis. For how can one fight for the right reasons... When one is fighting for the wrong side?"
"You're on the wrong side now!" Artie pleaded. Dark Venus ignored his comment, instead turning to the other Scouts.
"Who's first?" she asked. Her question was met by confused and uneasy looks between the others. "Come on, who's gonna fight me first?"
"We can't fight you, Christina, you're our friend!" Mercury said. Dark Venus' smile faded, and she conjured up four purple-and-black arrows, which aimed at the other four Scouts.
"You're not going to give up just like that, are you? I expected more from you, girls," Dark Venus said.
"Girls, you have to fight," Artie said.
"What? We can't do that, Artemis!" Mars said, turning to him incredulously.
"If the only way to get her back to normal is to fight her, then fight her!" Artie said impatiently.
"I'm waiting!" Dark Venus called.
"Chrissy, snap out of it! This isn't the real you!" Sailor Moon yelled. Dark Venus frowned.
"You guys have no idea who the real me is. Now are we going to fight or not?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, Chrissy," Sailor Moon whispered, reaching for her tiara. "Moon Tiara Magic!" the glowing tiara flew through the air towards Dark Venus, who backflipped out of the way and grabbed the tiara out of the air. She tossed the tiara back to Sailor Moon, shaking her head.
"I know you've got better than that," Dark Venus said, conjuring a black-and-purple sword.
Mercury frowned and drew a stream of water from the pond in the front garden, which she froze into an Ice Sword.
"You're gonna fight me, Mercury? Good, I'm glad one of you decided to step up," Dark Venus smiled.
"You've got to wake up, Christina! Please, you have to remember us!" Mercury pleaded.
"I do remember, Bonnie. Now come on, give me your best shot," Dark Venus said. Mercury took a deep breath and steeled herself to her task, then swung her sword at Dark Venus, who ducked under it and swatted Mercury with the flat part of her sword blade, knocking her to the ground, the Ice Sword clattering out of her grasp. Dark Venus stepped back, shaking her head. "You're heart's not in it, Mercury. You're leaving yourself open to attack," she said, staring down at her friend. Mercury grabbed her sword and scrambled to her feet, then swung at Dark Venus again, who stepped back to avoid the blow. Mercury swung her sword around and attacked again, but Dark Venus ducked and swung her sword, tracing a thin cut on Mercury's cheek. Dark Venus then used the momentum from her swing and twirled around, jabbed Mercury in the back with the hilt of her sword and sending her sprawling to the ground again.
"Come on, Mercs, I know you've got better than that in you," Dark Venus said, raising her sword. Mars and Jupiter responded by conjuring swords of their own, which they used to knock Dark Venus' sword away before she could consider bringing it down on Mercury. Dark Venus grinned.
"About time you guys joined in," she said, raising her sword again. Mercury scrambled to her feet again, the cut on her cheek expelling blue sparks. "You gonna play too, Stephy?"
"Sailor Moon, try turning your Tiara into a sword!" Lucy called. Sailor Moon nodded and focused on her tiara, which glowed a soft pink and then grew into a sword.
"That's more like it," Dark Venus said, nodding. A split second later, the five swords were clashing together, sparks flying as Dark Venus' sword connected fiercely with the other four. For a second, the action stopped, with Dark Venus' sword pressed firmly against Sailor Moon's.
"Chrissy, please, stop it," Sailor Moon pleaded, looking into her friend's cold eyes. Dark Venus' eyes flashed in pain, and she pushed Sailor Moon's sword away and staggered back, clutching her head, her sword falling from her hand and sinking into the dirt by her side.
"Enough!" Kunzite shouted, leaping forward and grabbing Dark Venus' arm, before the both of them vanished, leaving the others staring at the spot where they had been.
"What just happened?" Lucy asked, confused.
"I have no idea," Jupiter said, looking equally as confused. Artie sighed.
"I knew something was wrong, but I never, ever thought that it would be something like this," he said.
"I don't think any of us could have seen this coming, Artemis," Lucy said, placing a hand gently on his shoulder.
"Hey, guys? Come have a look at this," Mercury said, pulling Dark Venus' sword from the ground and brushing the dirt off of it, then laying it on the ground so that they could see it.
"What is it, Bonnie?" Lucy asked. Mercury simply pointed at the blade of the sword, where they could make out a black patch with purple lines on it. They looked closer, then exchanged worried looks when they read the words, "Get some rest, girls, I expect more of a challenge next time we meet."
"Christina's right about one thing, guys. We really do need to get to bed," Lucy said. The Scouts nodded slowly and went back inside. Lucy transformed into her cat form and followed, leaving Artie standing outside staring at the message on the sword. Oh, Christina... When did things get this bad? Artie asked silently, lifting his head to stare out at the red sunset.
Christina gasped in pain and sank to her knees on the cold stone floor of the cavern that Kunzite had transported them to. She felt a pair of arms lift her rather roughly and place her inside a large metal pod, which closed and began filling with purple smoke. A flash of fear shot through her, but the smoke flowed into her lungs and cooled the fiery pain that was coursing through her body. Exhausted and relieved at having her pain disappear, Christina closed her eyes, dimly aware of the figure watching her from outside the pod.
Kunzite stared down through a window in the pod, watching his prisoner thoughtfully.
"Those girls have more of an influence on you than I thought... But no matter. Your resistance is futile, little Princess. You belong to the Negaverse now, and there's nothing you or your friends can do about it."
"You're wrong," a thin voice hissed. Kunzite peered through the pod's window to see the gold crescent moon flickering in and out of view on Christina's forehead, her eyes barely open.
"You can't... can't keep me locked up forever, freako," Christina hissed weakly, before falling unconscious. Kunzite frowned and jabbed the button on the side of the pod, making the chamber fill with smoke again.
"We'll see about that," Kunzite muttered, before sliding a window cover up, hiding Christina from view. The true Scout inside her is trying to fight back. Kunzite grinned and jabbed the button again. We'll just have to shut that annoying little voice in a cage, where it can't do any harm. Kunzite frowned, wondering when and how to tell his Queen of his marvellous idea in a way that wouldn't make her furious with him. He shuddered as he thought of his two fellow Generals, locked in dungeons far beneath him for failing to defeat the Princess when she was Sailor V.
Steph and Luna stepped inside Christina's bedroom and closed the door, both looking sadly at Christina's bed. Steph changed into her pyjamas slowly, thinking about how different Christina had become since she revealed herself as the Princess. I didn't notice, but she definitely got less and less fun-loving over the past few days. She was so focused on those crystals, she almost stopped focusing on life. "...that Crystal is part of the Imperium Silver Crystal! That's the most powerful crystal in the universe! If the Negaverse gets hold of it, we're all doomed!" If we had that Crystal, then maybe...
"Luna?"
"Yes, Steph?"
"I think we need to get the Silver Crystal."
"What made you think about the Crystal, Steph?"
"Well Chrissy said that it's the most powerful Crystal in the universe, so I just thought... surely it's got enough power to bring her back to normal," Steph said.
"Good idea, Steph, but don't you remember that Artemis said that the key to the seven Rainbow Crystals becoming the Silver Crystal was for the Princess to fully awaken?"
"Oh yeah... well that's not as helpful as I'd hoped."
"We'll get her back, Steph, try not to worry."
"I hope you're right, Luna. I hope you're right."
Phoenix climbed into bed and curled up on her side, thinking about Christina. She must've been seriously worried about something, otherwise Kunzite wouldn't have been able to turn her at all... Phoenix rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, Christina's rage-filled words echoing through her mind. "You don't understand just how important our mission is! This is the fate of the world we're talking about!" She obviously knew something really important about the past... but if it was that important, then why didn't she share it with us? We came from the same life as she did... How are we supposed to understand how important our mission is if we can't remember and the only one who does isn't willing to tell us? Phoenix sighed and switched off the bedside lamp, plunging the room into darkness.
"Things just get crazier every day, don't they, Bonnie," Dee said, pulling the blankets back and climbing into bed. Bonnie, who was already under the covers of her bed, glanced over at Dee, who rubbed away a few tears.
"You can say that again," Bonnie murmured, before switching the light off. Dee sighed and pulled the blankets up to her chin. "...they're not exactly "powers". They're more like the strength and agility of our past lives." Maybe if I awaken my Scout Powers, then we'll be able to get Christina back.
"Hey, Bonnie?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you think we'd be able to get Christina back if I awakened my Scout Powers?"
"That might help, but I don't know how much help it'd actually be. It'd probably be more helpful if Christina could awaken her own Scout Powers."
"But she remembers the past life fully. Doesn't that mean that she's awakened her Scout Powers?"
"Not necessarily. She said that awakening our Powers would give us our memories, but she's never actually said whether or not that rule applied to her too, or whether or not she's awakened her own Scout Powers. Plus, things may not work exactly the way she says. After all, both me and Nixx have awakened our Scout Powers, and neither of us have any memories yet."
"You have a point there, Bonnie... Well, I guess thinking about it won't help us. We should get to sleep. Goodnight, Bonnie."
"Goodnight, Dee," Bonnie said, before rolling over and staring up at the glowing numbers on the alarm clock beside the bed. She must've had a lot on her mind, to snap at me like that. "I guess I'm just kinda stressed at the moment." Yeah, apparently that's a major understatement. Those Crystals weren't your only concern, were they, Christina, Bonnie asked silently. I wish you'd talked to one of us about your problems... We might've been able to help you. Bonnie sighed and closed her eyes, fighting to hold back her tears. We'll get you back, Christina, no matter what it takes.
Artie quietly closed the door to Christina's bedroom and looked down at Steph and Luna, who were both sleeping peacefully. They went down quickly, even though they must've had a lot on their minds, Artie mused, lifting up the mattress of Christina's bed and pulling out a small white lockable diary, smiling a little at the carefully drawn Venus symbol on the front. Artie placed the diary on the bed and then carefully opened the top drawer of the bedside table, where he found a tiny silver key taped to the inside. Unlocking the diary, Artie sat down on Christina's bed to read.
"Dear Diary, Today was a fun day. I finally managed to save up enough money for Pokemon Sapphire, and boy, was it ever worth it! My favourite Pokemon in the game would have to be my Torchic, Pepper. She's so strong! She totally wiped the floor with my rival's Mudkip, even though she's weak against it." She used to be so light-hearted and carefree, Artie thought sadly, reading several more diary entries detailing her Pokemon battles. He flipped ahead a few pages and smiled a little when he looked at another entry, dated roughly two weeks before the previous Christmas. "Dear Diary, Today this weird white cat followed me home. He hopped on my bus and just sat on the seat opposite me for the rest of the way home, then got off the bus at the same time as me and followed me. I kept looking over my shoulder and seeing him standing a few steps behind me. Whenever I stopped, he stopped. It was so creepy, he just kept staring at me. The funny thing is, I feel like I've met this cat somewhere before. Of course, that's absolutely crazy, since I've never seen a cat with a gold crescent moon on its forehead before." Artie chuckled quietly to himself, remembering the very first day he had met Christina. He turned the page and continued to read the entry. "What's even crazier, though, is that the cat actually talked! It was so weird, hearing a cat talk to me. Artemis(that's his name) told me I'm a 'Sailor Scout', whatever that means. We heard a siren, and Artemis gave me a fancy pen and told me to use it to transform. I did, and became Sailor V, Crime Fighter Extraordinaire! That was pretty cool, but stopping the burglar wasn't quite as much fun as I thought, and it was a lot harder too, but boy, does it ever give you an awesome feeling! The guy almost got me with this massive knife he had, but I managed to get away from it. Oh, and I found one of my powers during that fight, which was a big surprise. I pointed at the guy and told him to put down his knife, and all of a sudden this yellow beam of energy shot out of my finger and blasted the knife right out of his hand! I think the guy realised he didn't stand a chance, 'cause he surrendered pretty quickly after that. I'm pretty sure that people'll be talking about the new hero Sailor V, seeing as the store's surveillance cameras were going then. Oh well, it might be fun to be a celebrity! Although the paparazzi may get a little annoying when I've caught the burglars... Over and Out, Christina." She figured out how right she was pretty quickly, Artie mused, thinking about how annoying camera crews had gotten in the way when V was trying to follow one of a trio of burglars, having already caught the first two. Artie shook his head at the Terrans' stupidity, then flipped through another few pages, stopping again when he found an entry dated about halfway through the year. "Dear Diary, I didn't go to school today, 'cause I spent most of the day in bed with a massive migraine. There's no way I'm gonna tell Mum, but that migraine came from a flood of memories about my past life, which I think was caused by a nightmare I had last night. I dreamt that I was on the Moon wearing a really cool orange-blue-and-white outfit, and blasting lots of these creepy monsters with my "V Beam", as I called it(it's actually called a Venus Crescent Beam, according to my memories). Then I turned around, and there was this creepy white-haired guy there, but I felt like I knew him, and that we were once good friends. Anyway, this guy pulled out a knife and lunged forward, and then I woke up. Turns out that that dream wasn't actually a dream, but one of my memories from the Silver Millennium. There are some things that I prefer to think about more than others, like the memories of the Moon Palace rather than the memories of the Last Battle, which was what my nightmare was about. But I also remember my mission from the Silver Millennium. It's a pretty daunting mission, considering that I'm supposed to protect Earth and all the people on it all by my lonesome. I remember talking to some other Sailor Scouts, and I suspect that they've probably been reborn in this lifetime too, as I doubt I'd be the only one. Hopefully we can find them soon, I don't really wanna have the fate of the world resting purely on my shoulders. I don't think I'm strong enough for that, I'm having enough trouble as it is keeping my double life a secret. Oh well, I just hope this stupid migraine goes away so that I can think straight, I don't want to have to fight burglars when I feel this awful. Over and Out, Christina." She was right, she wasn't strong enough to have the fate of the world resting on her shoulders alone, Artie thought sadly. I should've seen it coming, she was getting more and more stressed under her burden, it's no wonder she snapped. Maybe we shouldn't have made up that story... things have only been getting worse since then... Artie sighed and wiped away a tear, then flipped through a few more pages to a short entry dated only a few days ago, on the 15th: two days before her birthday. "Dear Diary, Well, all of the Scouts are back together(except for me, of course), and boy, is it ever a relief. I hope that now that there's five of us, we'll be able to defeat the Negaverse once and for all. Artemis told me today about a plan that he's been working on for a few days, one that should throw the Negaverse off. I'd much rather be myself, and I sure don't like lying to my friends, but if it'll help us to defeat the Negaverse, then I'm willing to give it a try. Over and Out, Christina." I wish I'd never come up with that stupid plan, Artie thought sadly. It cost us one of our own. Artie read the last few entries, noticing that Christina mentioned her worry, doubt and frustration more and more often with each entry. Shaking his head sadly, Artie shut and locked the diary again, then returned both the diary and the key to their hiding places. He changed back into his cat form and curled up on the bed, tears shining in his cerulean-blue eyes. I'm so sorry, Christina...
"Morning, girls, how'd you sleep?" Artemis asked, walking downstairs to find Bonnie, Dee, Phoenix and Lucy sitting on the couch in silence.
"Not that great, Artemis. None of us could stop thinking about Christina," Bonnie said. The others nodded in agreement.
"I know what you mean. I'm worried about her... By the way, where's Steph?" Artemis asked.
"Still upstairs in bed, I think," Lucy said.
"Well, I think we should get ready and head down to the Base to do some Scout Training today. The Negaverse isn't about to stop attacking just because we're not ready to fight them again," Artemis said.
"You have a point, Artemis, but I wouldn't mind taking things at a slower pace today. I don't think anyone's in the mood for it," Phoenix said.
"So what are we going to do in Scout Training, then?" Dee asked.
"We'll decide when we get down there. For now, I'll go wake Steph and get her going, and then we'll head down to the Base," Artemis said, before heading back upstairs. He head a faint piano tune echoing from the other side of Christina's bedroom door, and opened it to find Steph seated on the floor with her eyes closed.
"Um... Steph?" Artemis asked quietly. Steph slowly opened her eyes and blinked at Artemis, then picked up her phone and switched the music off.
"Sorry, Artemis, I was just meditating. It helps me when I'm stressed or worried. Is something wrong?" Steph asked. Artemis shook his head.
"No, there's nothing wrong. In fact, I think you may have solved our problem."
"What problem?"
"The others want to take it easy today, but I think we should still do some training. We were trying to come up with something to do in Training today that didn't involve using too much effort."
"OK... But I don't see how I helped..."
"Steph, do you think you'd be able to teach the others how to do meditation?"
"Wha- Sure, that's no problem, we just need a dark room, somewhere soft to sit, and some nice gentle music," Steph said.
"Well, we can get all of that down at the Base. Come on, let's go tell the others the plan," Artemis said, before leading Steph back downstairs.
"I wish Christina could be here to do this with us," Dee said, sitting down on the couch in the Base.
"Me too, but for now we need to focus on our Scout Training," Artie said, opening a hatch in the blue wall and taking out a CD case.
"This place has an in-built stereo system?" Steph asked.
"Yeah, that was something that Christina requested," Artie said, pressing a button and opening a small slot in the wall, which he inserted the CD into. He pushed the slot closed and pressed another button, and gentle piano music began drifting through the room. Satisfied, Artie settled onto the couch next to the others. "Take it away, Steph."
"OK. Well, first we'll try to find your happy place. That could be anywhere in the world, or anything in your imagination. So everyone, close your eyes. I want you to focus on the music, and then let it take to you that happy place. Don't force it, just let it come. When you find your happy place, let me know." Right away, Lucy and Artie nodded. Then Steph looked at Dee in concern as she gasped. "What is it, Dee?"
"I can see... Christina... She's... sitting next to me..."
"What's she doing?"
"She's... talking... it's so cold... there's lots of people there too... they're all asleep..."
"OK, I think it's time to come out now. Everyone, slowly open your eyes," Steph said. The others did as they were told and blinked a few times as they came out of their meditative trances.
"What happened there, Artemis? Dee started seeing Chrissy," Steph said.
"Yeah, that was really weird," Dee said. Artemis frowned.
"The meditation may be amplifying your precognitive abilities and enabling you to see visions without using Fire Reading," he said thoughtfully.
"So... what I saw... It's really going to happen?" Dee asked.
"I think so... maybe you should do a bit of Fire Reading and check," Artie said. Dee nodded and went over to her Fire Reading platform. Within minutes, Dee was settled in front of the crackling fire, staring deep into it and trying to get a vision from it.
"You're forcing it, Dee. It's just like finding your happy place. Just let it come," Artie said. Dee closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then resumed her Fire Reading, this time getting a vision almost instantly. After about a minute, she nodded and extinguished the fire, then stood up.
"You were right, Artemis. It was a vision I saw while I was meditating," Dee said. Artie nodded, then glanced at his watch and gasped.
"Oh, wow, it's nearly lunchtime! Weren't you going to have lunch with your mum and your brothers, Dee?" he asked.
"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that with everything else that's been happening. I'd better go get ready. See you later, guys!" Dee said, before running up the stairs and slamming the door behind her.
"Well, I think that was rather productive, considering how short the session was. How about you girls go for a walk and see if any more Crystal Carriers show up," Lucy said.
"Good idea, Luna. A walk would give you girls a chance to clear your heads too," Artie said.
"OK. We'll see you later, guys. Call if you need us," Steph said, before leading the others up the stairs and out of the Base, leaving Lucy and Artie sitting on the couch.
"That was odd how quickly Dee tapped into that vision," Lucy remarked.
"Yes, and did you notice how effectively she tuned into her senses yesterday?" Artie asked.
"You think she could be next," Lucy said, making it more of a statement than a question. Artie nodded.
"Yes, I just hope that Christina doesn't do anything to any of the others. Especially Dee, if that vision's anything to go by," Artie said.
Christina slowly opened her eyes and stared up at the metal pod she was in. Where am I? she wondered, before the previous night came flooding back. What was that pain? It felt like something inside me was trying to blast its way out... oh well. That purple smoke fixed it pretty quick. Stupid thing, it's just as weak as I was. Christina shook her head and pushed the pod open, finding Kunzite standing there watching her.
"Oh, it's you. What do you want?" she asked, sitting up and staring at him.
"I've come to take you to meet Queen Beryl," Kunzite replied. Christina stood up and stared pointedly at him, and he led her through winding corridors to a pair of huge purple doors. "Mind you behave yourself, Queen Beryl won't like it if you're disrespectful," Kunzite said, before pushing the doors open and leading her inside. On one side of the dark, cavern-like room, there were about a dozen youma, all bowed respectfully. On the other side was a large black throne, on which was seated a tall woman with bright red hair, which contrasted vividly against her purple dress. The woman's eyes widened in anger when she saw Christina.
"Kunzite! What is the meaning of this?" she barked. Kunzite recoiled from the anger in her voice.
"Please, Queen Beryl, let me explain," Kunzite began.
"You had better have a very good reason for bringing her here, Kunzite," Beryl hissed.
"I brought the Princess here because quite simply, the Sailor Scouts look to her for guidance and support. They'll surely crumble without her," Kunzite said, bowing. Queen Beryl frowned.
"And your doubts that I can control the Imperium Silver Crystal had no influence on your decision?" she hissed. Kunzite gasped, startled that his Queen knew of his doubts.
"Ha, as if you could control the Crystal," Christina said scornfully. Beryl glared at her and waved her hand over the black crystal ball beside her throne, which gave off a wave of dark energy that threw Christina backwards. There was a resounding thud as she landed hard on her back on the stone floor, the impact knocking the breath out of her.
"Don't you dare speak to me that way, you little brat," Beryl hissed. Christina clambered to her feet, seething. "Get out of here, both of you, before I destroy you both." Christina glared at Beryl for a moment, before turning on her heel and marching out of the throne room. Kunzite bowed to Queen Beryl and followed, frowning. That didn't go quite as well as I had hoped, he thought. It's all Dark Venus' fault, she made me look bad. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he found Christina standing in the middle of the corridor with her hand on her hips.
"Kunzite, I have no intention of hanging on your arm like some pet parrot. I intend to come and go whenever and wherever I like, so I would much rather that I had some way of getting to and from this place easily," Christina said pointedly. Kunzite frowned.
"Alright, I'll make you a deal. You help Zoisite get the next Rainbow Crystal, and I'll make you something that will allow you to teleport to and from the Negaverse at will," Kunzite said. Christina tilted her head thoughtfully, a cheeky grin spreading over her face.
"As long as Zoisite lets me have fun with the Scouts, you've got yourself a deal," she said, before turning on her heel and walking away. Kunzite sighed. This girl's turning out to be a lot more trouble than I originally thought.
Christina wandered through the maze-like corridors of the Negaverse, her senses tingling with familiar negative energy. She finally found a large cavern containing a huge black crystal, which Zoisite was staring up at.
"Hello, Zoisite," Christina said coolly, noticing a purple case near the large crystal and sensing the energy of two Rainbow Crystals coming from it. Zoisite spun at the sound of her voice, her eyes widening in anger when she saw who it was.
"What are you doing here?" Zoisite hissed.
"Haven't you heard? You and I are going to be working together."
"What... You... Me... Work together? I'll never," Zoisite spluttered. Christina shook her head.
"Eloquent as ever, I see. Don't worry, as long as you let me have a little fun with the Scouts, you can get on with removing Crystals from innocent Terrans. That is what you do best, after all, isn't it," Christina said, staring at Zoisite, who seemed shocked and confused at Christina's words. "Oh, and by the way, I know who one of the Crystal Carriers is."
"Who?"
"Somehow, I find it unlikely that it'll be the next one."
"Who is the Crystal Carrier that you know about?" Zoisite asked impatiently. Christina tilted her head and stared sceptically at her.
"You don't think I'm going to tell you, do you? That wouldn't be any fun at all," she said. Zoisite glared at her angrily.
"You don't even know who one of the Crystal Carriers is, do you."
"I do, actually, but my way's more fun. Who's the next Crystal Carrier?"
"I was just about to check," Zoisite replied, taking out her black crystal and holding it up to the larger black one before them. The small black crystal released waves of dark energy, which washed over the large crystal and created an image of a young brown-haired boy.
"There he is..." Zoisite smiled.
"Nope, that's not the one that I know about," Christina said. Zoisite ignored her comment, instead staring up at the picture to remember it when she found the boy. I remember seeing this kid's photo... Christina mused. That's Dee's brother. "What are we waiting for? Let's get going!"
"Not so fast, Princess, my Crystal needs charging," Zoisite said, placing her black Crystal into a small hole at the bottom of the larger one.
"You need to charge that thing before you can use it?" Christina said scornfully, shaking her head. She rolled her eyes, then turned and left. "Call me when it's finished. I'm going to explore," she called over her shoulder. Zoisite glared after her, then turned back to the large Crystal in front of her, fighting down her anger. Easy, she thought, taking a deep breath. She won't be laughing soon. The way she's going she'll infuriate Queen Beryl and get herself obliterated.
"Where could they be? I thought they'd be here by now," Dee wondered, looking around the car park of The Flying Horse Bar and Brewery. Hey eyes lit up as she saw a familiar car pull into a car park and her family climb out. "Hi, Mum! Hi, Jake! Hi, Alex!" Dee called, waving to them. Next minute, Dee was swept up in a huge hug that was full of joy.
"Oh, Dee, we've been so worried about you. How have you been? Have you been eating your three meals a day, and getting plenty of rest?" Mrs Hino asked, holding her daughter at arm's length and looking at her.
"Yes, Mum, stop worrying. My friends and I have been taking care of each other. ...Mostly," she added, a wave of worry sweeping over her.
"What do you mean? What's happened?" her mum asked.
"Long story short, Mum, one of my friends – one of the Scouts, to be precise – got turned evil," Dee said sadly. Her brothers' eyes widened in shock at hearing one of the Sailor Scouts had been turned.
"Oh, dear. I can see why you're so worried. But I know you'll be able to get her back. You're the Sailor Scout of Mars, we believe in you," Mrs Hino said, pulling her daughter into another hug.
"Thanks, Mum," Dee said, a small smile forming on her face. She pulled away from her mum and then hugged both her brothers at once.
"Hey, Dee. We missed you," Alex said.
"Yeah, it was incredible hearing about all the stuff going on down here and knowing you're in the middle of it!" Jake said.
"I missed you too," Dee smiled.
"Now, let's get you in here and get a good solid meal into you. You look so thin and tired! It must be all those battles," Mrs Hino said, putting her arm around Dee's shoulders and leading her and her brothers inside.
"Is it finished yet? I'm bored! I wanna have some fun," Christina whined. Zoisite sighed exasperatedly as she watched the small black crystal pulsating with dark energy.
"Almost, calm down."
"Hey, don't tell me what to do! I've been waiting around in this pit for an hour while your stupid crystal charges up," Christina said.
"Why don't you go on ahead, then?"
"I would, but I made a deal for this, and I intend to keep up my end of the bargain," Christina said, holding up her hand. On her middle finger she now wore a thin band of shiny black stone, which Kunzite had told her would allow her to teleport anywhere she wanted.
"And what exactly was your end of the bargain?" Zoisite asked.
"To help you get the next Rainbow Crystal," Christina said.
"So? You can do that when I get there. Go on ahead," Zoisite said.
"Nah, I think I'll stick around a bit longer," Christina smiled. Zoisite sighed and turned back to the crystal. Someone please get her out of here, she's driving me insane! Just then, Zoisite's black crystal gave off a burst of dark energy, and then Zoisite pulled it out of the large crystal and tucked it into her pocket.
"Now we're ready," she said.
"Finally! I get to have some fun!" Christina said, smiling. Zoisite ignored her and vanished in a flurry of black rose petals. Christina closed her eyes and focused on her ring, telling it to take her to the same place that Zoisite had gone to. There was a flash of purple light, and Christina vanished.
"What's the matter, Dee? Don't you want your schnitzel?" Mrs Hino asked, noticing her daughter had become distracted from her food.
"It's not that, Mum, but something about this place looks familiar..." Dee trailed off as she realised that this was the same place from her vision earlier.
"Wow, is it just me, or is it suddenly a lot colder in here?" Jake asked, rubbing his hands together.
"Yeah, you're right. Can I go over there where the fireplace is?" Dee asked. Her Mum nodded, and Dee walked over to where two small logs were burning in the fireplace. With every step, the room got colder. She heard a crash and glanced over her shoulder to find that most of the people in the building had fallen asleep or were nodding off. Dee sank onto the couch close to one of the fires and curled up, the odd drowsiness sweeping over her. She fought hard to stay awake, but the cold seemed to drain all of her energy away, and she drifted off into a fitful sleep...
What seemed like minutes later, Dee felt someone poking her, and she swatted the hand away.
"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead," a familiar voice whispered. Dee rolled over to go back to sleep, but her eyes popped open when the voice registered. She looked up to see Christina lying on the couch beside her, poking her. She wasn't sure what startled her more: the fact that Christina was there or that everything was covered with snow and icicles. Dee sat up, startled.
"Oh, good, you're awake. Zoisite set an ice youma on this place so that everyone in here would fall asleep and leave her little difficulty in her search," Christina said, sitting up.
"Christina..."
"You might wanna call the others and get out there, Dee. She's after Alex," Christina said, folding her arms and nodding towards the main eating area, where Dee could hear tables being overturned.
"Oh, yeah, good idea! But wait... why are you..."
"Helping? Don't get any ideas, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for myself. See, I want a challenge, and quite frankly, I can't get that from Zoisite. I mean, I could beat her blindfolded and with my hands tied behind my back. So it stands to reason that the only other source of a challenge would be from you guys. And I can't get any challenge from you if you're asleep, now can I," Christina said, taking Dee's bag and taking her phone out, before opening it and thrusting it into Dee's hand. "Go on, call them. And don't worry, even if we do play, I have no intention of taking one of you down without the other three here to take down as well, so you're safe until they get here." With that, Christina gave Dee a thumbs-up and went out to the main eating area.
"What were you doing over there?" Zoisite asked.
"Relax, Miss Touchy, I was just seeing who else we'd caught in here besides the kid," Christina said. Dee stepped over a sleeping person and hid around a corner, before pressing a button and calling the others.
"Guys, Zoisite's here, and so's Christina," Dee whispered into her phone.
"We'll be right there," Steph said from the other end of the line. Dee flipped her phone shut and slipped it back into her bag, then pulled out her transformation pen.
"Hey! Leave these innocent people alone, you creep!" Dee yelled, stepping out into the main area and pointing at Zoisite.
"How did you escape the spell?" Zoisite asked, furious.
"Duh, she's a Sailor Scout. The Scout in her obviously fought the spell off," Christina said, as though that were the most obvious thing in the world.
"I know that!" Dee glared at Zoisite and held up her Transformation Pen.
"Mars Power!" seconds later, Sailor Mars stood in the middle of a puddle of melted snow, glaring at Zoisite.
"I'm the Sailor Scout of Fire and Passion. I'm Sailor Mars! And in the name of Mars, I shall punish you!"
"I wondered when you'd come and play with me. Venus Dark Power!" black and purple lights flashed, and then Dark Venus stood facing Mars, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she conjured a black and purple sword similar to the one she used the night before. Mars conjured a sword of her own, and then the two engaged in a vicious swordfight. The two swords crashed together again and again, sparks flying with every hit. Zoisite even halted her search to watch the ferocious fighting. Finally Mars thought she sensed a way past Dark Venus' defences and swung her sword, only to find it spinning up into the air thanks to a twirl of Dark Venus' sword. Mars sensed her sword's movements and ran after it, jumping through to the next room and catching the sword in mid-air, then landing with a thud on the small table. Dark Venus followed and smiled.
"Not thinking of running away, I hope?" she asked. Mars gritted her teeth and swung her sword upwards again, her thoughts drifting to how sad she felt about Christina's situation. A Split second later, Mars' sword was flying up into the air again, and this time it was Dark Venus who caught it.
"You lost focus," she said coolly, before snapping the Fire Sword like a twig and dropping it on the floor. Mars looked up from the remnants of her sword into Dark Venus' eyes, which were sparkling with glee. You've helped us so many times, Christina, Mars thought desperately. How can I help you just this once? Dark Venus stepped back cautiously as Mars began to glow with a bright red light. The two small fires behind her reacted to the light and more than quadrupled in size, the temperature immediately rising and melting all the ice and snow around the room.
"Well now, this is taking it up a notch. Awakening your Scout Powers now? That's make the challenge all the more fun!" Dark Venus grinned, conjuring another sword so that she now had two. Mars conjured two swords of her own, and then the two of them went at it again, the air getting thick with sparks and smoke from the four swords.
"Chrissy, stop it, please!" Sailor Moon yelled, as she and the others arrived at that moment. Dark Venus stepped back, watching the others.
"Finally, you're all here. Now we can have some real fun!" she said. It was then that Mars swung, her swords slicing through both of the black and purple swords as though they were made of butter. Dark Venus yelped in surprise and jumped back, dropping the hilts of her two swords. She stared down at the remains of her swords, then scowled at Mars.
"That's not playing fair, Dee," Dark Venus pouted, before conjuring another sword. Sailor Moon took off her tiara and turned it into a sword again, while Mercury and Jupiter conjured swords of their own. They were just about to fight when a loud scream rent the air, and they all turned to find Zoisite standing over Alex, clutching a glowing Red Crystal. Dark Venus grinned.
"You got it," she said, looking at the Crystal curiously.
"Yes, I did. Thank you for your help, Princess," Zoisite said. The Scouts looked shocked and hurt at Zoisite's words.
"You... helped her?" Sailor Moon whispered.
"Why would you do that?" Mercury yelled.
"Simple. I made a deal, and kept up my end of the bargain," Dark Venus said coolly.
"Chrissy... What's happened to you? Please, Chrissy, you've got to stop this! We need you, not because you're the Princess, but because you're our friend!" Sailor Moon cried. Dark Venus gritted her teeth in pain as Sailor Moon's words resonated deep within her heart.
"Come on, Christina!"
"Come back to us!"
"We all miss you!"
"Be quiet!" Dark Venus yelled, the pain increasing with every word her friends said. She sank to her knees, gasping in pain and clutching her head. Sailor Moon stepped forward, worried, then jumped back, narrowly avoiding Dark Venus' sword, which she had swung wildly to keep Sailor Moon away. Dark Venus lost her grip on the sword, and it flew out of her hand and then sank into the wall, sticking there. Dark Venus closed her eyes and moaned as the pain increased again, then vanished, leaving Zoisite alone in the restaurant with the Scouts.
"I'm so sorry, girls, but it seems we've had a minor setback. It won't happen again, though, so look forward to next time! Ciao! Oh, and enjoy "playing" with Rojo!" Zoisite said, before vanishing with a laugh and a whirl of black petals.
"Ooh, I hate that crud Zoisite!" Mars said angrily.
"What about Christina, though? Would she really help Zoisite?" Phoenix asked.
"She always was one to hold up her end of a bargain as best she could," Artie said, walking over to where Dark Venus' sword was embedded in the wall. After a few tugs, he pulled it down to find another message: "You girls put up a good fight today. Especially you, Dee. I knew I'd picked correctly when I chose to challenge you. I'm looking forward to our next fight!" Artie frowned and placed the sword on a nearby table, then span around as a ray of dark energy appeared in the centre of the room. When it faded, the group were staring at a huge ruby-red dragon with the usual black eyes.
"We've got to heal him, guys! That's my brother!" Mars called, receiving a few surprised looks from the others.
"That's Jake?"
"No, that's Alex, actually. Jake's probably asleep over there with my Mum," Mars said, nodding towards a pile of people who were all fast asleep, then yelped and jumped away from the jet of bright red flames that Rojo had breathed at her.
"Hurry up and heal him, Sailor Moon!" Mars said, blocking another jet of flame with her swords.
"Moon Healing Activation!" Sailor Moon called, holding out her Crescent Moon Wand. Rojo howled in pain as the silver glitter changed his eyes from black to blue. The Scouts sighed in relief as the air was filled with red sparkles, which changed Rojo back into Alex.
"Thank goodness that's over," Lucy said, sighing.
"It's not over yet," Artie said gravely, pointing at Dark Venus' sword. The others read the message and looked at one another, all silently hoping that that next battle would wait until tomorrow.
"Come on, guys, let's go home," Mercury said.
"I'll join you later. I'll just check that everyone's OK here," Mars said, taking her jumper off her chair and placing it behind Alex's head. Alex stirred at the slight movement, then opened his eyes, surprised to find the Sailor Scouts there.
"What happened, Dee? Was it the Negaverse again?" he asked.
"Yes and no. I'll explain later, once we've gotten everyone else to wake up. But trust me, you're not going to believe what I'm going to say," Mars said.
"What? What happened?" Alex asked, sitting up.
"For now, let's just say that I think you guys'd be OK coming back down here," Mars smiled.
"See you later, Dee, we're gonna head back to the house now," Sailor Moon said.
"Excuse me, Sailor Scouts?" a voice said. The Scouts turned to find a tall man in a neatly-pressed suit standing there.
"My name is Wilson Baxter. I help create stage and television shows, and I was wondering if it would be possible for me to create a stage show about you," the man said.
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Artie said.
"Here's my card. Please, just think about it for now and give me a call if you like the idea," Mr Baxter said.
"OK, we'll think about it, but I can't guarantee that we'll get back to you anytime soom, seeing as we've got a lot happening at the moment," Sailor Moon said, taking the card and examining it, before handing it to Artie, who slipped it into the pocket of his shorts. Mr Baxter smiled and nodded, then left.
"That was weird..." Mercury said, glancing around at all the sleeping people.
"Yeah. I'm tired, let's go home," Jupiter said.
"Same. We'll meet you back at the house, Dee," Sailor Moon said. Mars nodded and smiled, and the others left.
Christina fell onto the floor of her cavernous room in the Negaverse, gasping and gritting her teeth. She managed to claw her way across the room to the pod, which closed as soon as she was in it and began filling with purple smoke again. Christina sighed with relief as the pain subsided, then fell asleep, wondering why the Sailor Scouts' words caused her so much agony.
"Again? Those girls are annoyingly persistent. Not that it matters. Ah, Princess, no matter how you struggle, you'll never get out of my little cage. And even if you do, you won't be conscious for very long afterwards," Kunzite murmured. "And if, by some slim chance, you do manage to wake up again, the other Scouts won't trust you. The change to your appearance is irreversible." Kunzite grinned and jabbed the button once more for good measure, then turned and left.