Chapter 6

A well dressed business man hung up the phone in his office. His neatly pressed pin stripped suit stretched tight across his large back and shoulders as he placed his muscular hands in front of his face. Kagawa Koji valued power above all else. He ran his hand through his short jet black hair, flecks of grey starting to show at his temples. His square masculine face was all angles, making him strikingly handsome. The call he had just received didn't contain the information he was expecting. A successful businessman, he didn't react well to failure. Koji stood and turned to look out the window of his high rise office overlooking downtown Tokyo. It was clearly evident the man was extremely fit; his barrel chest stretched the buttons of his white undershirt to their limit.

Koji worked out vigorously every day. His value for power not only encompassed his style of ruthless business ethic, but his physical appearance as well. Not many people could best him in any kind of strength related activity, and those who did seldom challenged him a second time as his failures pushed him harder, driving him to be the most powerful. He no longer needed to work out though, as things had changed for him.

Shortly after he had succumbed to the effects of the freezing, he was approached by an entity. Approached was the best word he could use to describe it as it had entered his consciousness. Whatever it was knew he was hungry for power, and he had willingly given himself over to it. This entity had fused itself with Koji and began directing him down a new path, one much more fulfilling than crushing his opponents in business. This newfound power made him feel like he was more alive than he had ever been. The only thing that stood in his way now was Sailor Moon and her Sailor Senshi.

The images he had seen after being awakened with this new power made him sick. They were weak, relaying on each other for support. Believing in each other's friends was pathetic. The only thing you could truly believe in was your own strength. He used people as tools to attain what he wanted and anyone foolish enough to think otherwise deserved to be crushed. Only the strongest survived after all.

But Sailor Moon had succeeded in defeating the two Dark Ones he had recruited. They deserved this suffering. His informant notified him of their failures to even kill one of the Senshi. She had told him the dog like one was about to devour one of the girls when an unsuspecting teenage boy intervened. A teenage boy! Obviously he needed to recruit better members for his cause. He could feel their dark energy when he was close to them, and they knew he was the one chosen to lead this quest of world domination. They could feel his superiority radiating from his muscular body. Luckily the business connections he had made before the freezing provided him with the resources he needed to recruit his soldiers.

Koji undressed from the suit he was wearing, and donned his work out clothing. No one in his office would think it out of the ordinary for the fitness obsessed Vice President of a successful business firm to go out for an afternoon jog. He did so regularly and everyone would just notch it up to him wanting to stay healthy. As he exited his office the secretary that answered most of his calls asked if he would be returning. "I'll be out for an indefinite amount of time" he replied coldly, not even making eye contact with the young woman who was his subordinate. He waited impatiently for the elevator to arrive, and paced back and forth as it went down. Luckily for him now one else got on. He strode quickly out of the lobby of his office building and out onto the congested downtown streets. Once Koji's feet hit the pavement he took off at almost a full sprint. Years of training his body and mind kept him able to maintain this pace for several blocks. As he rounded a corner into one of the more shady areas of downtown Tokyo he slowed his pace. Searching the faces of the low life's around him, he reached out with his new senses. Unlike the other Dark Ones he had encountered so far, he could retain his own mind after transforming. He didn't turn into the mindless, killing creatures that lacked any form of direction. The last two he recruited, he had found that he could implant his own direct orders into them, like the alpha dog commanding its pack.

It wasn't long before he felt someone worthy to be his subordinate. He approached the man and saw in the lower beings face that he was already unstable, barely keeping his grasp on reality. Perfect. The man's wild eyes felt Koji's superior presence, and Koji nodded down a dark alley way not far. The man got up and followed him into the shadows. Once inside and out of earshot of the other degenerates, Koji cleared his throat to speak. But before he could say anything the other man spoke first. "That power you have, it's tempting. I want to devour your strength and add it to my own" his face contorted grotesquely, limbs cracking and reshaping themselves. Koji watched unimpressed with what the man had turned into. Perhaps he isn't the one to do the job. The ruthless business man started to walk past the monster when it grabbed him by both arms and threw him into the wall.

Rage overcame Koji then, how dare some worm put its hands on him? Koji flexed his massive arms, and broke free of the Dark Ones grip, lashing out. With his right hand, he swung hard striking the side of the creature's black face, its skull caving in. The Dark One fell to its knees, putting its hands up defensively. Koji grabbed one arm and placed his foot against the creature's neck and pulled, ripping the appendage out of its socket, flesh and sinew tearing away from bone. Black ooze like blood poured forth from the gaping wound as Koji threw the limp arm down. He walked around to the back of the monster as it whimpered in fear and placed his hands on either side of its head. Just before he snapped the Dark Ones neck, he recalled that this worm had mentioned devouring his power.

Thinking about this made him hunger. But not a hunger for food, a deeper darker hunger. Dark energy started to flow from Koji as his hunger increased. The life force was being sucked out of this maggot, filling a void Koji hadn't realized was there. It felt wonderful to consume this dark energy and Koji took it all. The monster went completely limp in his hands, and he let it fall down to the ground. He thought he couldn't feel any better or more powerful since awakening, but here he was, muscles rippling with new power, dark energy coursing through his veins. The business man threw his head back and laughed. Seldom had he ever laughed, but now was a time for rejoicing. He was the chosen one, the one to lead the world into darkness, and he had just found a way to make himself more powerful. But I will need soldiers. Can't consume them all, just the unworthy he thought darkly as he exited the alley way casually, searching for his next recruit. Or perhaps his next victim.

-/-*-\-

Usagi had decided to wake up early the next morning so she could go down to the Crystal Palace before any trouble arrived for the day. As she walked down the stairs of her house, the succulent smell of pancakes found its way to her. This enticing aroma put a little spring in her step as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. He father and brother already seated at the breakfast table, waiting patiently for her mother to finish cooking. As Usagi sat down, her little brother gave her an incredulous stare "I didn't think you would be up early today of all days."

"Well why not? It's a beautiful day after all" Usagi replied dreamily as she pictured strolling through the Crystal Palace with Mamoru, planning out how she wanted her new castle to look. Usagi's mother turned from the stove and smiled widely as Usagi started to take a sip of the full glass of orange juice placed in front of her "I'm glad to see you've taken some initiative on your first day back to school since that long hibernation." Usagi spit the juice back into the cup, the force of it spraying into her face.

"School?!" She whined loudly as drops of orange juice fell from her face. "I didn't know we had school today? When was that decided?"

"Last night. It was all over the news. Some businesses had already gotten back to the regular day to day routines. Last night the government decided it was time for everyone to go about their usual lives" her mother informed her as she placed a small stack of lightly browned pancakes on her plate. Usagi groaned as she leaned forward, almost putting her face in her freshly cooked breakfast. I'm never going to get back into the Crystal Palace she moped as her hand reached out and grabbed the syrup. At least these pancakes will cheer me up a little.

The newspaper in her father's hand ruffled as he made a grunting sound. "It says here that authorities have been trying to contact Neo Queen Serenity since yesterday. Apparently there is some kind of invisible shield around the palace, and no one knows if she's inside or not. So far all efforts to contact her verbally through a mega-phone have gone unanswered." Usagi blinked upon hearing that, swallowing a mouthful of her sweet breakfast. I wonder what that means. Can I even get in there?

"Alight, hurry and finish your breakfast. You two don't want to be late for your first day back" Usagi's mother said to them cheerfully. The last few bites on Usagi's plate stood little chance as she devoured them quickly. Shingo looked on in disgust "You eat like a pig Stupid Usagi. You need to learn to be more lady like."

"Hey! I'm a growing girl you know! And breakfast is important for growing girls!" Usagi yelled back as her brother got up from the table and hurried out the door. She made her way to the door slowly, dreading having to go to school today. She walked down the streets toward her junior high school at a leisurely pace, enjoying the morning rays of sunlight shining down on her. As she drew closer to an intersection, her blue eyes spotted the friendly figure of Ami waiting for the solid hand to signal it was safe for her to proceed. Usagi ran up quickly to her close friend "Ami-chan!" She called out as she waved. Ami turned and waved back as the blonde girl hurried forward.

"Ami-chan, we have to go to school today" Usagi groaned loudly "Why did we have to unthaw the schools. We should have just skipped over them so we wouldn't need to go anymore."

"Usagi-chan studying is important. We should do our best in our studies to become successful at whatever we choose." Ami replied calmly. Usagi was used to this kind of response from her friend whenever she complained about school work, so it was no surprise as to how Ami reacted. Usagi stood straight, eyes going wide as another thought occurred to her "Did you hear about the police trying to contact Neo Queen Serenity? They say there is some kind of force field around the Palace." Ami nodded, looking back at her friend as the signal changed, allowing them to carry on. "I heard that last night on the news. It must be some kind of built in security like system. Perhaps we need to be in the Palace to deactivate it."

"Well we won't find out until after school at best now." Usagi muttered under her breath as she kicked a pebble off the sidewalk. The two girls chatted the rest of the way to class, enjoying each others company.

As they approached the school, Usagi saw the last person she expected to see after hearing the news of classes resuming. The tall Irish boy looked at her from the other side of the street, not showing any emotion. Usagi was about to go ask him why he had come to school today when Ami grabbed her shoulder "Usagi-chan, you can't say anything about Sol's parents" the blonde girl turned her head quickly eyes wide with confusion. "Remember, Sailor Moon knows his parents died, not Tsukino Usagi." Ami continued. She was right. If Usagi went over and inquired why he was at school today, he would get suspicious. She just had to pretend nothing was wrong until he told her the news.

The bell rang and students crowded around the entrance. Usagi tried to get close enough to Sol to say good morning, but he was swallowed up in the crowd. She would just have to wait until homeroom, and see if he would open up to her. He had to open up to her; she was the friendliest, prettiest girl at Juban Junior High after all.

Class after class went by with excruciatingly slowness. All Usagi could concentrate on was the Crystal Palace or talking with Sol. Finally after her third class ended, signalling homeroom. She walked quickly through the hallways, dodging and darting in between other students. She hurried to her desk and sat down, waiting impatiently for Sol to walk through the door. As the students slowly filled the classroom, her heart began to sink. Maybe he couldn't handle it and decided to go home. Ms. Haruna entered last and began closing the door. Usagi feeling truly down that she wasn't going to get a chance to try and cheer Sol up, when a hand blocked the doors path into the frame. Ms. Hauna jumped a little in surprise and pulled the door back open. As Sol walked through the doorway apologizing for his lateness Usagi felt relieved that she would get a chance to talk to him.

Ms Haruna notified the class that homeroom would last for 20 minutes and then English class would begin after. Since she was the English teacher, they didn't need to roam the halls to their next classroom. Usagi pushed her chair out and was about to head over to where Sol sat a few rows away when her best friend Naru blocked her path, all smiles and friendly hugs. "Usagi-chan it's so good to see you. It kinda feels like we haven't seen each other for a really long time, and really, we haven't. But it also feels like we haven't seen each other for a weekend. You know?"

"Yes yes" Usagi laughed trying to politely brush her friend off while waving her hand. "Actually Naru-chan can you-"

"Did you hear about that palace?" Naru interrupted. "I saw on the news that it's made out of crystal. Can you believe it? Crystal! And police say they haven't been able to contact Neo Queen Serenity. I wonder if she's really Sailor Moon? And that force field, what's up with that? I mean if she's going to be queen of the world, you would think she might be a little more accepting of her subjects than that." Before Usagi could reply, a brown haired teenage boy approached the two girls. He had thick large glasses that covered most of his face. "Actually Naru-chan, I have a theory about the force field. As you recall you might have heard about some of those attacks of monsters on the news as well. I believe that the force field is to keep the queen safe from would-be attackers. As you know, not anyone can just go and visit the Queen of England, so it would stand to reason that the same applies here as well."

Naru turned on the shorter boy, eyes furrowed in frustration, ready to engage in a heated argument "Umino, didn't you see the same images I saw? Maybe not, you're glasses were probably still fogged up. Neo Queen Serenity is nothing like the Queen of England" as the two argued back and forth Usagi took this chance to quietly slip by unnoticed. As she approached Sol sitting in his desk, she watched as he wrote something down, look at it for a second or two, and shake his head, erasing whatever had been there previously.

"Good morning Sol" Usagi greeted as warmly and cheerfully a she could. Sol looked up and smiled back "Good morning Usagi-chan." The thin blonde girl leaned in closer to inspect what he had been trying to write. She could tell that whatever it was had been attempted many times, the paper getting worn out from the friction of the rubber eraser. She also noticed he was writing in English and not Japanese.

"Are you preparing for English class?" She inquired. Not having taken his eyes off her since she approached, he looked down at his paper.

"Not exactly. I'm just trying to... Express something." Usagi wondered what it was he could be trying to express at a time like this. Perhaps how he felt about the loss of his parents? Instead she said "Too bad we had to come to school today. I was enjoying the nice weather and had some important plans lain out." Sol turned his attention back on Usagi. She could see he was thinking carefully about what to say next. A big smile that touched the corners of his eyes made his face light up "Actually, I'm kind of glad to be at school today. Gives a nice sense of normalcy that seemed to be lacking since Sailor Moon saved everyone."

That's why he came to school. To try and feel normal again and forget about losing his parents, even for a short time. "Usagi-chan what's wrong? You look terribly sad all the sudden. Did I say something bad?" She knew she always wore her heart on her shoulder, so to speak, and the sad thought of Sol trying to escape his reality must have shown through. "No no" she laughed "I'm feeling sad because we're in school is all. You didn't say anything wrong."

"Ok well if you don't mind, I would like to get back to this before English class starts" Sol said politely. Usagi waved her hand at the seated boy, all smiles and giggles "Yes yes, express yourself. Good luck Sol."

"Thank you" he replied as he bent his head back down, pencil in hand. Usagi made her way back to where Umino and Naru were still arguing. Umino turned to her just as she came back to where she had been standing previously and he asked "What do you think Usagi-chan? Who's right, me or Naru-chan?" A fierce look on his face. She couldn't tell if he was really angry or putting on a show for dramatic effect. His glasses were too thick to get a good look in his eyes. "Sorry I wasn't listening" Usagi answered. She wasn't exactly lying.

Ms Haruna told the students to find their seats as English class was about to start. Usagi couldn't pay attention during the lesson and found herself turning to see what Sol was doing instead. She saw he wasn't paying attention either, instead writing something down and shaking his head just like before then vigorously erasing whatever he had just put to paper. As the time ticked by she watched him do this routine for the entire class. Finally the bell rang, signaling lunch. Some students piled up at the doorway, eager to eat outside while others just opened their backpacks and ate at their desks.

Sol stood up and slowly and made his way through the class towards the door, shoulders slumped in apparent defeat. Usagi decided she would go try and talk to him again after she had a short visit with Ami and Makoto. She was a growing girl after all and needed all the energy her lunch could provide her if she was going to cheer Sol up.

As she walked out into the schools courtyard and scanned the students she saw Ami and Makoto sitting under a tree. The closer she got, the more she realized they were having a serious discussion. Ami looked up and waved her over. Usagi rushed to her friends' side thinking that perhaps another monster had attacked. "What's wrong?"

"Sol didn't come back to my apartment yesterday. I'm worried he might have gone out to try to find one of those monsters on his own" Makoto answered, fear evident all over her soft features. Usagi sat back and exhaled in relief "Don't worry Mako-chan, he's at school today." Ami and Makoto let out a breath they seemed to be holding in, relieved to hear the news Usagi had just given them. "Now, time for important matters. Lunch!" Usagi blurted, a big grin spreading her face as she plunged her hands into her backpack and fished out the lunch her mother had prepared. Her hungry mouth devoured the contents as Ami and Makoto took a little more care eating theirs.

Usagi was almost finished when a shadow appeared before the girls. She took a break out of enjoying her lunch to see who it was. Sol looked down at the three girls, a deadly serious look on his face. "Soo!" Was all Usagi could get out with her mouth full of food. He nodded politely at the acknowledgment, and turned his intense stare to where Makoto sat. "Mako-chan, I like you." It seemed he was forcing the words out, clearly uncomfortable, but dead set on saying whatever he needed to say. Makoto looked up and said kindly "I like you too Sol. You're a nice guy so why wouldn't I like you?"

"I mean I really like you. When the last big storm hit, I thought I might never see you again. That night I remembered something my dad told me..." He closed his eyes and bent his head, the first real sign he was showing that anything was wrong. Usagi noticed he balled his hands into fists and he inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly, calming himself. When he opened his eyes, the intensity was much less "My dad told me once 'The things in life that haunt us the most, are the words left unsaid.' So I'm telling you that when I thought I would never see you again, I had to find you and tell you how I really feel. I would like to take you out on a date." The last sentence was forced out as he stared straight ahead, determination written all over his face. Usagi balked, almost choking on the food still in her mouth. Coughing and hacking as she cleared her throat she turned to see Makoto's response. Her blushing face and soft gazing eyes told Usagi she was going to accept. "Yes Sol, I think that would be wonderful" she replied breathlessly. Sol smiled and relaxed his stiff posture, relief clearly evident on his face.

"Oh Mako-chan, you don't know how good that makes me feel" he said warmly. Makoto could only smile in return, blushing fiercely. The sandy blonde haired boy turned and began to walk away when Usagi got up and almost screamed "But you haven't even set up a time or what you're going to do!"

A/N: My dad actually gave me that piece of advice once. Thanks dad Once again I hope you enjoyed this chapter and like the story so far.