Dee: I'm glad you're back, Christina.
Artemis: I think we all are, Christina.
Christina: Thanks, so am I. It's good to be back.
Steph: Hey, guys, it's almost Christmas!
Christina: Oh, yeah! Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings to all of you readers! Here's hoping you get what you wish for this holiday season! I am aware that not all readers celebrate Christmas, and my apologies to those who don't, as this chapter will be focusing on Christmas. But I hope you all enjoy it just the same!
Dee: Can I do the disclaimer?
Artemis: Sure!
Dee: Great! Sparrowflyaway doesn't own Sailor Moon, PGSM, or... well, Santa!
Christina: Yeah, I definitely don't own Santa.
Steph: That would make you Mrs Claus!
"Sheesh, I'm tired. I feel like I've been fighting non-stop for days!" Christina said, sinking into an armchair.
"Technically, you have been, Christina," Artemis said, jumping up onto his charge's lap and smiling at her. Christina giggled and smiled back.
"You're right Artemis. Thanks for getting through to me when I was... you know. Thanks, all of you. I couldn't have come back without your help."
"We're just glad we were able to get through to you, Chrissy. We really missed you," Steph said smiling.
"I missed you guys too," Christina said.
"You know what?" Artemis said, smiling around at the others.
"What?" Luna asked.
"I think this calls for a celebration!" Artemis smiled.
"Good idea! Break out the junk food, I'm starving!" Steph said. All seven of them burst out laughing at that.
"A party's not a bad idea, but I think we should break out something else first. This house looks kinda drab considering today's Christmas Eve!" Christina said.
"Oh, yeah! I completely forgot!" Dee said, wide-eyed.
"I think we all did," Artemis said.
"I vote we do some decorating around here," Bonnie said.
"Second!" Christina said, thrusting her hand into the air. The girls giggled again, then began clearing some of the books and things that were scattered around the loungeroom. Christina went upstairs for a few minutes, reappearing with three boxes. She dumped the boxes onto the lounge room floor and opened the long one, pulling out large plastic tree branches. While she set the tree up, the others investigated the other two boxes, which contained lots of decorations. They each grabbed some of the decorations and began placing them around the room, talking and laughing as they went. Artemis smiled, then transformed and walked over to the stereo system near the door. The girls looked up and smiled as the stereo began belting out the tune to "Jingle Bells". Christina started singing quietly along with the CD as she finished assembling the tree. Phoenix pulled a large string of fairy lights from one of the boxes and began untangling them.
"Hey, Nixx, you might wanna check that all of those lights work before you put them on the tree," Christina said. Phoenix nodded and placed her fingers on the plug, the lights glowing immediately.
"I guess they do," she smiled, before hanging the lights on the tree and winding them around. The others smiled and grabbed tinsel and baubles, then started in on the tree.
"Hey, Christina?" Bonnie asked, pulling a large piece of tinsel out of the box of decorations.
"Yeah?"
"Do you know who the real Princess is?" Christina hesitated, then said,
"Yeah, I do, but I'm not allowed to tell. The Princess has to awaken for herself."
"Awww! Come on, Chrissy, we can keep a secret," Steph said, doing her best puppy dog eyes. Christina laughed and handed Steph the silver star for the top of the Christmas tree.
"Sorry, Stephy, but that's one secret that I have to keep. I don't think I'll need to keep it for very long, though. The Princess won't be far away now that all the Crystals have been found," she said, grabbing a few baubles and hanging them on the tree.
"That's not very fair, Christina. You remember everything about your past life and you still won't share anything with us," Phoenix said.
"Trust me, Nixx, it'll all make sense soon enough. Now, I think we should have a party tomorrow, don't you?" Christina asked.
"Yeah!" the others chorused.
"I think we have a cake in the fridge. We should check what other stuff we have too," Christina said, hanging the last of her handful of baubles on the tree and going into the kitchen to see what party foods they had in the cupboard.
"Would you like me to go get the presents and put them under the tree, Christina?" Artie asked.
"Sure, that'd be good, thanks, Artemis," Christina said. Artie nodded and went upstairs, returning with ten brightly-coloured packages piled precariously in his arms.
"Oh, wow! Who are those for?" Dee asked, taking a few from the pile and placing them under the tree. "Hey, that one's got my name on it! And there's one for you, Luna!"
"Sure, you don't think I'd forget to give you guys Christmas presents, do you?" Christina smiled, closing the refrigerator. She glanced at the picture of her parents that was stuck to the door of the refrigerator, then paused as she noticed a small white card next to the picture. "Hey, what's this?" she asked, taking it down. "Who's Wilson Baxter?"
"Oh, he's a guy who makes TV and stage shows. Not long after you left on Sunday, he approached us and asked if he could make a stage show about us," Steph said.
"We haven't called him back yet, 'cause we wanted to get your opinion on it," Artie said. Christina frowned.
"Hmmmm... Well, if we were to give him permission, we'd have to keep him updated on what's happening, and that could be kinda risky, 'cause who knows who'd get hold of that information. We don't want to be shouting the Princess' identity to the world once she awakens. Or our own identities, for that matter. Still... A stage show might help convince people that we're not the bad guys around here," Christina said thoughtfully.
"So what are we gonna do?" Phoenix asked.
"Well, I think that so long as we're careful not to reveal our civilian identities to Wilson Baxter or anyone else involved, giving this thing the go-ahead should be fine," Artie said.
"Really?" Dee asked. Artie nodded.
"So who's gonna make the call?" Bonnie asked.
"I'll do it, I guess," Christina said, picking up the phone.
"Do you think it's safe to be calling in Civilian form?" Luna asked.
"It should be fine, but I think you'd better use your Scout Phone. It's untraceable," Artie said.
"That's probably a good idea, we don't want reporters swarming all over here," Bonnie said.
"Yeah, reporters can be really annoying sometimes. It seems like most of them have no understanding of urgency or discretion," Christina said thoughtfully, remembering just how annoying reporters had gotten when she was V. She sighed at the memory, then pulled out her phone. "Back in a minute!" she said, before going upstairs.
"Hey, Artemis, I've been wondering. Any idea why we haven't gotten our memories of the Silver Millennium back yet?" Bonnie asked. Artie frowned.
"I'm not sure, actually. Maybe you'll have to wait until Princess Serenity awakens before you remember," he said slowly. The others frowned too, wondering if Artie was right. They were still standing around pondering that thought when Christina walked back into the room.
"Hey, what's with all the long faces? It's Christmas Eve, guys!" Christina grinned.
"How'd it go? What's happening with Wilson Baxter?" Artie asked.
"He suggested that we meet him at the Warrnambool Entertainment Centre tomorrow to discuss details and stuff. I couldn't see a problem with that, so I told him we'd be there around 11o'clock tomorrow morning unless we get held up by a Youma," Christina said.
"We don't even get a break for Christmas?" Dee asked.
"Somehow I doubt that the Negaverse is gonna take a break for Christmas," Christina said wryly.
"If anything, they'll be more active. All the excitement and energy is gonna be awfully attractive to them," Artemis frowned.
"I also called Skye and asked her to get a box out for when I'll be visiting tomorrow. It's the one I gave her when I was... well, I may as well be honest about it. I was evil," Christina said, before giving a small shudder. Artie put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a supportive smile. Christina took a deep breath before continuing. "That box has the Red Crystal in it. I figured we'd need to have as many of the crystals as possible in the one place for when the Princess awakens."
"Good idea. We'll be able to add the Red Crystal to the other two that we have," Artie smiled.
"Yeah. I'm just glad that something good came out of the past few days," Christina said.
"Well, we should really get to bed. I'm willing to bet that we'll be extremely busy tomorrow," Luna said.
"Yeah. We'll have to get up early if we're opening presents and stopping Youma," Bonnie said. The others nodded and finished adding decorations to the tree, then went upstairs to bed.
Early the next morning, Luna, Artemis and Christina were woken abruptly by a joyful shriek.
"It's Christmas, guys! Time to wake up!" Steph shouted. Christina groaned and sleepily lifted her head to look at the clock.
"Come on, Stephy, it's 4 o'clock in the morning," she moaned, rolling over and snuggling back under the blankets.
"But it's Christmas, Chrissy! Come on, let's go open our presents!" Steph grinned, shaking her cousin. Just then, the door burst open, and Bonnie rushed into the room, grinning.
"Yay! Presents!" she shouted. Christina groaned and threw her pillow over her head.
"Presents! Presents! Presents!" Steph and Bonnie began chanting, bouncing around the room with excitement.
"Girls, really, I think you're getting just a little over excited here," Luna said sternly. Steph simply grabbed Luna up off the bed and began whirling her around the room, with Bonnie doing the same to Artemis. Suddenly the room was filled with the opening notes of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", and the five of them looked around to find Dee standing in the doorway with a big grin on her face, a CD player in her hand. Luna and Artemis wriggled out of Steph and Bonnie's arms and jumped up on top of a cupboard, shaking their heads defeatedly.
"Wakey wakey, Chrissy! It's Christmas!" Bonnie shouted.
"I am aware of that. Are you aware that everyone else in town is still asleep?" Christina asked, her voice muffled by her pillow.
"Fine then, I guess you don't want your presents," Steph said. Christina sat up abruptly, alarmed.
"You wouldn't really take my presents, would you, Stephy?" she asked. Steph grinned and pulled the blankets off of Christina, who picked up her pillow and threw it at her cousin. Within seconds, the four of them were giggling madly in the midst of a pillow fight. The fight ended when one of the pillows burst open and showered them in feathers, and they fell onto the bed in a giggly, grinning pile.
"I wonder if Nixx is awake yet," Dee said thoughtfully.
"Let's go see!" Bonnie said, jumping up. The others got up too and went into the room where Phoenix was still fast asleep, unaware of the excitement in the other room. That didn't last long, however, as the other four jumped onto the bed, chanting "Presents! Presents! Presents!"
"What are you doing, guys?" Phoenix asked sleepily.
"It's Christmas, Nixx! Come on, let's go open our presents!" Christina said.
"First you'd better have breakfast and get dressed, girls. There may be a youma attack early today, considering how much energy and excitement is in the air," Luna said as she and Artemis appeared behind the others.
"We'd better hurry, then, so we can open our presents!" Bonnie said. The other four nodded and went to get ready.
"What are we going to have for breakfast, you guys?" Bonnie asked.
"How about if I make pancakes?" Steph suggested.
"Ooh, yeah, your pancakes are really good!" Christina agreed.
"Why don't you four get out things to put on the pancakes while Steph makes them?" Luna suggested.
"I can do that," Christina said, going to the cupboard and opening it. "Let's see... we've got sugar, jam, honey... oh, but we're almost out of maple syrup! I guess I'd better go get some more, then," she said, closing the cupboard and picking up her bag. "Back in a minute!" she said, before heading out the front door.
"You know, there's probably enough maple syrup in that bottle for our pancakes... Do you think she's trying to make up for the way she's been acting lately?" Bonnie asked.
"Perhaps... just let her be, though. She probably still feels a little guilty, even though she has apologised," Artemis said slowly.
"Now, where's that maple syrup? It's usually around here somewhere..." Christina murmured to herself, looking at the supermarket shelves. "Oh, there it is. Lucky me, I get the last bottle!" she pulled the bottle of maple syrup off the shelf, spotting a familiar figure in the next aisle. Well, this came a little sooner than I expected, Christina thought, as she made her way towards the end of the aisle she was in to get to the adjacent one. Guess it's now or never, though...
"Hi Riley," she said, turning the corner and almost running into him.
"Hi," he said warily.
"Look, Riley, I... I want to apologise for the way I've been acting lately. I had a lot of worries, and I guess I just handled them in completely the wrong way. I'm sorry," Christina said quietly.
"That's OK, I thought you must have had something serious on your mind, you seemed so different from when you were at those parties."
"Yeah..."
"Well, I've got to keep moving, but I'll probably see you sometime later today, knowing Zoisite."
"Yeah, you're probably right there. Hey, are you doing anything for lunch today?"
"Nothing in particular, why?"
"Would you like to come have Christmas lunch with the rest of us?"
"Sure, why not."
"Great! So we'll see you at around 10 o'clock?"
"Sounds good. See you then!"
"Bye!" Christina called, waving. Well, that went better than I expected, she thought as she took the bottle of maple syrup to the checkout.
"Are we all ready? Can we open our presents now?" Dee asked, walking into the lounge room where Steph, Bonnie, Phoenix, Luna and Artemis were sitting, the three girls getting rather impatient.
"Not quite yet, Chrissy's still eating her breakfast," Steph said.
"She's really taking her time, isn't she," Bonnie agreed. Just then, Christina bounced excitedly into the room, a big grin on her face.
"Geez, can you eat any slower, Chrissy?" Steph asked.
"Yeah, I probably could, actually. Want me to try?" Christina asked, turning around and pretending as though she was about to leave.
"No!" the other four chorused. Christina grinned and sat down on the couch, then looked around at the others.
"OK, which presents are we going to open first?" Dee asked. Her question was answered by a loud beep from the cupboard, and all five girls groaned.
"Great. There's a youma out already? It's only 7:00!" Dee moaned, watching as Luna went to the cupboard and disappeared inside.
"I guess that means the presents will have to wait until later," Phoenix said. Another groan echoed around the room.
"The youma's in the Botanic Gardens," Luna said, poking her head out of the cupboard.
"Let's get going, then!" Artemis said, jumping off the couch and changing into his human form. Luna closed the cupboard and changed forms too.
"I'll be with you in a second, guys, I'll just grab Lucky and bring him along. We may end up needing his help," Christina said, getting up and running to the laundry room to get Lucky's harness and leash.
"We'd better head off. She'll be right behind us. We'll call the others on the way there," Artie said, throwing open the front door. The six of them ran down the road, Christina leaping the fence with Lucky in her arms seconds later.
"That's it? That's the youma all fourteen of us came here to fight? It's tiny!" Christina said, staring at a small cat-shaped youma whose fur looked remarkably similar to silver tinsel.
"Looks can be deceiving, Christina. This thing could have some hidden ability we don't know about," Artie said. The group watched as the tinsel cat climbed up a tree, ripped off a branch and ate it.
"Well, that thing certainly likes its vegies," Alex said, watching as the cat ate another branch.
"Calm down, Lucky!" Christina said, stuggling to hold onto the writhing, growling dog. She took hold of his lead and put him down, then was almost pulled off her feet as Lucky shot across the grass, barking madly. "Lucky!" Christina scolded, her eyes widening a second later as Lucky's leash and harness vanished and he sprouted a pair of orange dragon wings. Artie leapt forward and grabbed Christina's arm.
"He's transforming! He probably can't control his youma form yet," he said, dragging Christina back away from Lucky, who was surrounded by a ray of orange energy a second later. When it faded, Anaranjado roared at the tinsel cat, which finished eating the branch it had in its mouth and then leapt down from the tree, it's dark-red eyes flashing. As everyone watched, the tinsel cat slowly grew to the size of a bus. Several people sitting in the gardens ran, screaming.
"It's go time, guys!" Steph said, touching her locket. Bonnie, Dee, Phoenix and Christina all pulled out their Transformation Pens, and the other six Crystal Carriers closed their eyes, preparing to transform. The park was lit up in a rainbow of colour, then the five scouts posed and the dragons growled.
"Lucky! Stop it!" Venus ordered. Anaranjado ignored her, breathing a jet of orange flame at the cat, which didn't move as the flames swept over it. When the flames died down, the group could see that the ends of the tinsel were singed, but the tinsel cat was otherwise unharmed.
"Great. Scouts, I suggest we step back and let the others try attacking at the same time," Artie said. The scouts nodded and stepped back, while the other six Crystal Carriers stepped forward and breathed flames on the tinsel cat. Anaranjado looked confused for a second, before adding his own orange flames to the fray. The tinsel cat yowled as the flames engulfed it, catching it alight. It then began running around, trying to extinguish the flames, slowly shrinking as it ran. Eventually it skidded to a stop, the tinsel smoking. The angry cat ran over to a nearby tree and climbed up it.
"It's back to the size it was when we got here!" Sailor Moon said.
"But it won't be for long! It's about to eat more branches!" Mercury said, concerned.
"We'd better put a stop to that, then! It's our turn, girls!" Sailor Moon yelled. "Moon Twilight Flash!"
"Shine Aqua Illusion!"
"Mars Fire Ignite!"
"Supreme Thunder!"
"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" The five attacks flew through the air and into the youma's mouth, which was wide open and about to eat more branches. The tinsel cat's eyes widened for a second, then it exploded into dust.
Everyone except Anaranjado sighed with relief; Anarajado roared at the spot where the tinsel cat had been.
"Lucky? What's the matter, boy? It's gone, you can calm down now," Venus said, looking up at Anaranjado. The orange dragon flapped his wings and took to the sky, roaring and breathing orange flames above him. "He's still mad, guys, we need to find a way to calm him down!" Venus said worriedly.
"Luna, I think we can help with that," Artie said, before changing back into his cat form. Lucy did the same, and then the two of them stood side by side and backflipped, the trail of silver sparks creating a huge orange band with a large silver clip on each end and large silver spikes around it.
"How is this going to help?" Venus asked.
"This collar won't be this big after the first time we put it on him. It has special magic in it that will help Lucky to control his power. Also, this spike here is special. We can call it with our phones, and it will tell Lucky that we need his help and where to find us," Artemis said, pointing to the spike closest to the buckle.
"Duck!" Jupiter yelled, noticing Anaranjado swooping towards them. The humans and the cats threw themselves down on the ground to avoid a large jet of flame, while the dragons took to the sky as well.
"Guys, can you get him down here and hold him still while we get this collar on him?" Sailor Moon yelled up at the dragons, who roared and then tackled Anaranjado, the seven of them plummeting to the ground. Once the smoke cleared, the others could see the seven dragon wrestling, six of them fighting hard to get Anaranjado pinned to the ground. In a split second moment, Anaranjado broke free and took off again.
"You all need to grab hold of one of his legs! Make sure you grab his wings too, so he can't try and fly away!" Artemis called. The other six circled around the hovering orange dragon, then flew at Anaranjado again, each grabbing onto a different limb. With a loud thud and more smoke, the seven came crashing to the ground once again, but this time Anaranjado was pinned down.
"Calm down, Lucky, it'll be OK," Venus said, focusing. A second later, a large silver-and-orange muzzle had appeared over Anaranjado's head, rendering his fiery breath useless.
"Now, let's get the collar on him, guys!" Artemis said as he and Luna changed forms again. The seven of them lifted the heavy collar and carried it over to where Anarajado was fighting to escape the grip of the other six. Venus let go of her part of the collar and focused her powers, forcing Anaranjado's head and neck to stay still.
"OK, get that thing on him guys, quick! I don't know how long I can hold him still!" Venus yelled, gritting her teeth with the effort. The other Scouts quickly put the collar down under Anaranjado's neck and threw one end over, then grabbed the two ends and brought them together. Crackling orange energy burst out of the two clips and brought them together, Anaranjado calming down the instant they clicked together. The other Crystal Carriers cautiously let go, nodding in satisfaction as the air around Anaranjado was filled with orange sparkles.
"Well, that's that. Let's get home and open our presents!" Mars said, watching as the air around the other Crystal Carriers was filled with sparkles in their respective colour.
"Yeah, we'd better be getting home too. I bet our parents will we worried," Amy said, the yellow sparkles around her fading.
" Well, hopefully we don't need to call you guys out again today," Sailor Moon said.
"Oh, Cuz? I almost forgot, I brought this with me, I figured that'd make more sense than waiting until you came to visit later," Skye said, pulling the orange box out of her bag and holding it out to Sailor Venus.
"Thanks, Cuz! I reckon we're gonna need this later on today," Venus said, slipping it into her pocket.
"How does that even fit into your pocket, Christina?" Mars asked.
"We have a special pocket in our skirts, Dee, they can hold loads of things," Venus said.
"Yeah, those are your subspace pockets. You each have one, but you can fit as many things into it as you like. With a bit of practice, you can access your subspace pocket in your civilian form as well," Artie said.
"It's a pity we don't have them, they'd be really useful," Jess said.
"Well, how about something else useful instead?" Artie said, changing forms again and doing six backflips, the silver sparks creating silver phones with a picture of a different Rainbow Crystal on each. The Crystal Carriers smiled and picked up their respective phones.
"Those phones are untraceable just like the Scouts' phones, so we can get in contact much easier if we see any more youma," Artemis said.
"Wow, it's 8:30 already! Where did that time go? We'd better get home before our parents really start to worry," Ethan said.
"You're right. See you later guys! Oh, and Merry Christmas!" Sailor Moon called. The six human Crystal Carriers waved and left, while Lucky leapt at Venus excitedly, wagging his tail.
"Hey, Lucky. You're a good boy. You just need to learn a little self control," Venus smiled, taking Lucky into her arms and hugging him.
"Well, that collar should help him to do that," Artemis said, adjusting the orange collar, which was now much smaller and had a buckle instead of clips.
"Let's get home, you guys. We've been up for four and a half hours already and we still haven't opened any of our presents!" Sailor Moon said.
"Yeah, what's the point of getting up early to open presents on Christmas Day if you can't actually open your presents when you wake up?" Mars added.
"What are we standing around chatting for, then? Let's go!" Jupiter said, smiling. The others nodded and smiled, then they all headed for Christina's house.
"OK! Let's get into these presents before anything else can distract us," Phoenix said, sitting down on the couch with the others. Artie went to the tree and carefully picked out one present for everyone in the lounge room, then froze.
"Do you guys sense that?" he asked.
"I thought I felt something. It's another youma, isn't it," Lucy said.
"Darn it! We're never going to get to open our presents at this rate!" Christina cried.
"We'd better go check it out," Bonnie said, taking out her Transformation Pen. The others nodded and thrust their transformation items into the air.
"Moon Prism Power!"
"Mercury Power!"
"Mars Power!"
"Jupiter Power!"
"Venus Power!" an instant later, the Scouts and their guardians were running down the street, looking left and right for the source of the negative energy that was making their senses tingle.
"Look! Over there! It's another tinsel cat!" Mercury said, pointing at a small silver cat laying in a garden beside the road. The tinsel cat opened its sapphire-blue eyes and hissed at the Scouts, who went into battle poses.
"Let's take it down before it can eat any trees!" Jupiter cried.
"Yeah, then we'd need to call in the Crystal Carriers to help us," Mars said.
"Let's get it, girls! Moon Tiara..."
"Shine Aqua..."
"Akuryo..."
"Flower...
"Venus Crescent Beam..."
"Magic!" "Illusion!" "Taisan!" "Hurricane!" "Smash!" the five attacks merged and flew through the air at the tinsel cat, which leapt easily out of the way and hissed at them. Sailor Moon focused her powers on the tinsel cat, which suddenly found itself immobilised. She then focused on the tiara, sending it spinning back around and into the tinsel cat, which yowled as the tiara went through it. After a few seconds of yowling, the tinsel cat exploded into dust.
"Nice work, Stephy! I could tell that that was you making that last bit happen," Venus smiled.
"Thanks! It wasn't hard. Luckily that youma was small and stupid," Sailor Moon smiled. "Now let's get home and open our presents!"
"Girls, I think we need to go home and prepare Christmas lunch. It's almost 9:30, and you girls have to meet up with Wilson Baxter later," Artemis said.
"Gee, at this rate we won't get our Christmas presents until tomorrow!" Mars said.
"OK, so... how many people am I making Christmas lunch for? There's us five plus Luna and Artemis... so that's seven," Steph said, pulling out plates and passing them to Artie.
"Actually, Stephy, it's eight. I invited a guest for lunch, and he should be here any minute now," Christina said.
" 'He'? Ooh, what's this, Chrissy?" Steph smiled teasingly. Just then the doorbell rang, and Christina hurried to answer it, returning with Riley behind her. Steph blinked a few times, then went purple.
"Chrissy? Can I talk to you for a sec?" She asked, grabbing her cousin's arm and dragging her into another room. "Why did you invite him over here?"
"Why? Do you have a problem with him being here?"
"Yes! I'm not going to cook for him!"
"That's not fair, Stephy, He's our guest." Steph scowled.
"Fine, but I'm not giving him any of the nice pieces."
"That's OK, we usually serve ourselves," Christina said. Steph scowled again, then went back into the kitchen. Christina followed a few seconds later and sat down on the couch with the others, who were chatting away. Christina caught a few words of the conversation that Bonnie and Dee were having.
"...don't see why we can't open our presents at separate times."
"That wouldn't be fair, Dee. And besides, this is Chrissy's house."
"Yeah, I know, but I wish we didn't have to fight youma today."
"...Yeah, it does sort of ruin the spirit of the day, doesn't it..." Christina got up to go and get herself a drink, noticing the tree reflected in a glass cabinet. Smiling a little at the figure reflected beside the tree, she turned to see Riley sneaking a small present among the branches. Riley looked up and noticed Christina watching him, then put his finger to his lips for a second then sat back down.
"Would anyone like a drink?" Christina asked, opening the fridge. Seven voices replied "Yes", so Christina pulled eight cans of lemonade out and passed them around. For a few moments, everyone was sipping their drinks silently. After a few moments, Artie looked up to see that the clock now read 10:45.
"Wow, that went fast. Girls, you'd better get going," he said.
"Oh, yeah! We've got that meeting in under 15 minutes! Do you think we'll make it in time?" Dee asked.
"If we hurry, we will. Come on, let's go," Christina said.
"I'll catch up with you, girls, lunch is almost ready. I'll just finish up first," Steph said. The other four girls nodded and left, leaving Lucy and Artie sitting on the couch, watching Steph and Riley curiously.
"I hope these two don't end up arguing again," Lucy whispered.
"Hello? Mr Baxter? We're here to talk about that show you want to create," Venus called, looking around the lobby of the Warrnambool Entertainment Centre.
"Do you think he maybe forgot?" Mars asked.
"I doubt it. Besides, we're celebrities, who wouldn't want to meet us?" Mercury grinned.
"Maybe they're already inside," Jupiter suggested, pointing at a door into the seating area.
"Let's go check it out," Venus said, leading the others to the door and throwing it open to find Wilson Baxter and a tall woman wearing glasses standing on the stage.
"Ah! Girls. You're right on time. This is my assistant, Georgia," Wilson said.
"Nice to meet you. So what do you need to know about us for your show?" Venus asked.
"Oh, absolutely nothing, girls. The show starts now," Wilson said, smiling. He clicked his fingers and the doors swung shut, the lights going out as well.
Steph frowned as she worked in the kitchen, trying to ignore the guest in the house. She jumped a little in surprise as her phone rang, then pulled it out of her pocket.
"Hello?"
"Stephy! We need..." the earpiece filled with static for a few moments, before clearing up again.
"Chrissy? Are you alright?" Steph asked, concerned.
"Wilson Baxter ... all an act! We … right now!" Venus' voice cut in and out as the earpiece filled with static again and again.
"Chrissy? I'll be right over. Chrissy? Chrissy?" Steph took the phone away from her ear and pressed a button. "It cut out," she told Lucy and Artie, who both looked alarmed.
"We'd better be going after them," Lucy said, getting to her feet. Artie nodded and ducked into the nearby cupboard, emerging a few seconds later with a velvet bag, which he pulled the string tight on and threw around his neck.
"You're right, Lucy. As much as I hate to say it, Riley, you're in charge of finishing up our lunch. Just cover it up or something until we get back, OK?" Steph said, before she, Lucy and Artie ran out the door. Riley stared at the door for a few moments, frowning. Something serious must be going on, he thought. I'd better go too. He turned the oven down a little, then ran out the door after the others.
Sailor Moon, Lucy and Artie climbed nervously up the steps out the front of the WEC, half-expecting some trap had been set. They were so busy looking around for traps that they didn't notice Riley peering around a corner watching them. As he watched, the front doors slid open to allow the three inside. After watching the doors close again, he quietly opened the door to the Green Room and snuck inside.
"Chrissy? Bonnie? Guys? Where is everyone?" Sailor Moon called, looking around the lobby of the WEC. As if in answer to her question, the door to the seating area swung open, allowing them into the darkness beyond.
"Hello?" Sailor Moon called, squinting into the darkness. With a squeak, the doors swung shut behind them, startling them. A second later, a spotlight turned on, illuminating the tall grinning figures of Wilson Baxter and his assistant in the middle of the stage.
"Hello there, Princess," he said.
"What are you talking about? I'm not the Princess! And how do you know about the Princess anyway?" Sailor Moon asked, looking bewildered.
"You can't hide your identity from me, Princess. We finally figured you out. You set Venus as a decoy to throw us off while you collected Rainbow Crystals," Wilson said, glaring at Sailor Moon.
"You're nuts, buddy. I'm not the Princess, and I had no idea that Venus was pretending to be the Princess. We believed her too," Sailor Moon said.
"How do you know all this, anyway?" Lucy asked. Wilson's grin broadened as the air filled with black rose petals, changing him and his assistant into their true identities, Kunzite and Zoisite.
"You! I should've known you were behind all this. What do you want from us?"Artie demanded.
"It's quite simple, actually. Your Rainbow Crystals and your Princess," Kunzite said.
"We'll never let you have either!" Lucy yelled.
"Oh, but I have bargaining chips, you see," Kunzite said, clicking his fingers. Another spotlight switched on, illuminating the chandelier furthest from the stage. Long black tendrils were wound around the chandelier, holding it to the ceiling, while more snaked down through the centre and suspended the other four Scouts by their wrists. Flying around the tendrils were the four Scouts' elements, and the others at the foot of the stairs could see that they were doing their best to break free of the hold, with little success.
"Guys! Oh, no!" Sailor Moon cried, running up the steps. Halfway up, Sailor Moon collided with an invisible barrier and fell backwards onto the steps.
"Steph! Be careful!" the Scouts called, worried.
"Let my friends go, you creep! We'll never give you the Crystals or the Princess, even if we did know who she is!" Sailor Moon yelled, whirling around.
"Silly Princess, you still don't realise it? It makes no sense for Sailor Venus to be the Moon Princess. It makes far more sense for you, Sailor Moon, to be the Moon Princess," Kunzite leered.
"And it's time to finish you once and for all! ZOI!" Zoisite yelled, holding out her hand. A wave of dark energy flew across the room, knocking Sailor Moon backwards into the barrier.
"Sailor Moon!" the Scouts cried, straining to get out of their bonds. Sailor Moon staggered to her feet and ran back down the stairs angrily.
"Let my friends go right now, Kunzite!" Sailor Moon yelled, taking off her tiara and changing it into a sword.
"You want to fight, Princess? I'd be honoured," Zoisite said, conjuring a Dark Sword.
"Bring it on, jerk," Sailor Moon hissed, jumping up onto the stage. Kunzite stepped back into the wings of the stage to give the fighters room, not noticing Riley hidden in a different section of the wings. Riley pulled out his silver-and-red rose and transformed with a flash, knowing he would probably need to help.
"Bring it on, Princess," Zoisite hissed.
"I'm not the Princess, Zoisite, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to fight you," Sailor Moon said quietly. A second later, the two swords were crashing together furiously again and again, the room filling with smoke. When the smoke cleared, the group could see Sailor Moon and Zoisite millimetres away from each other, their swords pressed firmly together.
"Time to finish this! Moon Twilight Flash!" Sailor Moon yelled, her sword glowing and expelling it's usual silver-and-pink glowing orbs, which threw Zoisite backwards onto the floor. Zoisite sat up, seething.
"You may be strong, Princess, but I'll still defeat you. ZOI!" Zoisite yelled, releasing a huge wave of dark energy at Sailor Moon, who closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact. Instead, she sensed the wave make contact with someone directly in front of her, and opened her eyes to see Tuxedo Mask standing there, staring at her.
"Tudexo Mask!" Sailor Moon cried, watching as Tuxedo Mask collapsed, unconscious. As he fell, his mask was knocked askew, and Sailor Moon gasped in surprise as she gently removed it. Riley? He's Tuxedo Mask?
"Riley! Wake up, are you OK?" Sailor Moon asked, shaking Riley's shoulders gently. At the back of the room, three of the other four Scouts look surprised at finding out Tuxedo Mask's civilian identity. The only one not surprised was Venus, and she was glaring up at their bonds angrily.
"Right, that's it. I'm busting us outta this right now!"
"Your beam won't work, Chrissy! You already tried that, remember?" Mercury said. Venus grinned and pointed straight up at the dark tendrils.
"Trust me, Mercs, I know what I'm doing. Venus Meteor Shower!" she yelled, the usual beam shooting out of her finger, this time splitting into seven beams that sliced through the tendrils holding the four scouts to the chandelier, sending them sprawling to the floor.
"Nice one, how'd you do that?" Mercury asked.
"I remembered using it once in the Silver Millennium, and was saving it for an emergency. Now let's get out of here," Venus said, pointing at the barrier. "Venus Meteor Shower!" this time, the beams bounced off of the barrier and around the room, forcing the four Scouts to throw themselves to the floor. The beams died down after a few seconds, and Venus looked up cautiously.
"Well, I won't be trying that again," she said.
"How are we going to get out of here? We need to help Steph and Riley!" Mercury said. Just then, Sailor Moon began to glow, filling the room with white light. The Rainbow Crystals reacted to the light, with the two in Zoisite's pocket flying out and over to Sailor Moon, joined quickly by the two from Riley's pocket and the two in the bag around Artie's neck. The orange box containing the Red Crystal flew out of Venus' subspace pocket and began ramming against the barrier over and over. Venus carefully took the box into her arms and unclipped it, the Red Crystal bursting out and smashing through the barrier a split-second later.
"Let's get down there, girls!" Mercury yelled, focusing her powers. As the four Scouts watched, a large icy slide spread from their feet down the rows of seats to the stage, where the seven Rainbow Crystals were circling around Sailor Moon.
"The Crystals... They're reacting to me," Sailor Moon whispered. "Am I really the Princess?" As if in answer to her question, the seven Rainbow Crystals gave off a wave of rainbow-coloured energy, throwing Kunzite and Zoisite back into the wings of the stage, where they staggered to their feet and left, the power of the light causing them pain.
"Artemis, what's happening?" Lucy asked, wide-eyed.
"Our Princess has finally realised her true destiny," Artie replied, smiling. Just as the four Scouts leapt onto the slide and began riding it to the bottom, the Rainbow Crystals, which had been circling around Sailor Moon's head in smaller and smaller circles, finally merged with a bright flash of silver, which transformed Sailor Moon's Scout outfit into a floor-length white dress with gold around the neckline, and changed her hairstyle into a half ponytail with an intricate silver clip in it. The Crescent Moon Wand appeared in the air in front of her, and the Imperium Silver Crystal floated down onto it, releasing a wave of silver energy, which washed over the other four Scouts and changed their Scout uniform into beautiful dresses as well. The Scouts slid to a stop at the end of the slide and smiled at each other, before closing their eyes as more waves of energy washed over them, causing a small round crystal to appear in the air before each of them.
"They all have their Crystals!" Artie gasped.
"Riley... Wake up, I know you can hear me," Princess Serenity whispered. The waves of energy floating around the room suddenly changed direction, bouncing back at Riley and waking him.
"Princess Serenity... I knew I'd find you."
"This was why you were after the Crystals too, isn't it, Riley."
"Yeah... Somehow I just knew I had to find you."
"Why?"
"I'm not really sure, honestly. But... I think I understand better now why Zoisite kept calling me 'Master Endymion'. "
"Yeah? Why's that?"
"Don't you remember, Princess?"
"...They used to work for you, didn't they."
"Yeah..."
"They were your guardians, just like the four Scouts were my guardians," Serenity whispered, smiling up at the four Scouts, who were all smiling back at her with their brightly-coloured crystal between their hands.
"Stephy, now do you see why I couldn't tell you who the Princess was? You had to remember that for yourself for you to awaken your Scout Powers," Aphrodite said.
"Yeah, I understand now, Chrissy..." Serenity said quietly.
"I think... I remember us..." Jupiter's Princess form, Hera, said.
"Me too, although it's not a lot," Mars' Princess form, Hestia, agreed.
"It's a start, at least," Mercury's Princess form, Athena, smiled.
"You guys are on your way to remembering," Aphrodite smiled.
"Let's get outta here, you guys. We still haven't opened our Christmas Presents yet, although I don't know how we could beat the ones we got here," Serenity said, holding up the Crescent Moon wand, which gave off a bright flash of silver light, changing all the girls back into their civilian forms. The four coloured Scout Crystals flashed once in response to the light of the Silver Crystal, then floated down into their owner's hands. The girls smiled at one another and slipped their Crystals into their pockets.
"Let's go home, guys. It's been an exhausting day all over, and it's only lunchtime," Christina said.
"Oh yeah! What happened to our lunch, Riley? Is it done?" Steph asked.
"I'm not sure. I figured out pretty quickly why you were leaving in such a hurry, so I turned the heat down and followed you here," Riley said.
"Oh, no! Our lunch is gonna burn!" Steph cried, before breaking into a run. After sprinting the few blocks back to Christina's house the group burst though the front door to find the kitchen filling with smoke from the oven. Quickly turning the oven off and opening all the windows, Steph put on some oven mitts and pulled the chicken out of the oven to find it burnt to a crisp.
"I knew I shouldn't have left you in charge of lunch, Riley! No offence, but you're a terrible cook," Steph said.
"Well if you knew, then why did you let him?" Christina asked, grinning.
"I guess I was in such a hurry I forgot."
"Ditz!" The other four girls cried, before all eight of them burst out laughing.