It's one with some earth-shaking events. The plot heats up.
JB

"The Day the World Fell Apart"

"Serena," Luna said, "it's time to wake up."

Serena's eyes fluttered open. "Huh?" she asked. "Where am I?" This 
wasn't her room. Luna told her, "It's Lita's apartment, remember?" 
Serena blinked, twice, but she remembered. She was hanging out here, at 
least until summer vacation, which was coming soon... along with a big 
bundle of tests at Junior High School. Serena asked, "What's that 
smell?" An appetizing odor was coming from the kitchen.

With her pijamas on, Serena tip-toed into the kitchen. Lita was cooking 
something for breakfast. Her lunch was already prepared. Lita was 
smiling, a lot, and looked over to Serena through the doorway. She said, 
"Good morning, Serena," and added, "This is going to be a great chance 
for me to cook up a storm. Breakfast is almost ready. You know," she 
said, "you're going to have to help later. Living on your own is a lot 
of work." Serena smiled, and said that if the food's good and she can 
sleep a lot, then that's no problem with her. Luna, knowing Serena, 
said, "Now, you're going to have to _really_ do it, not just say you 
will, or the place will become a mess with twice as many people." Serena 
said, "And who's going to clean out the kitty litter?" Luna looked 
shocked that she'd mention such a thing. It was... a low blow.

Serena yawned. She had to get ready for school soon. She looked at the 
time. She gasped, "7:30!!! How'd I get up THIS early?!"

---

The Dark Fortress

Apollo, Prometheus, and Serenity were all waiting for the news - for 
better or for worse. There was no way to tell without being in there, 
but they'd be getting into the way. Then the door to the medical chamber 
opened, and Zeus came out, taking off his white mask. He really looked 
like a doctor right now. They all began to rise from their seats... Zeus 
told them, "It worked. He'll be fine." Everyone breathed a great sigh of 
relief.

Serenity asked a few more specific questions, begining with, "Did my 
Wand, and that Crystal, help?" Zeus said, "Yes, it helped forge the 
vital link beween the technology and his own nervous system. The lynch 
pin, though, was his own ring. I was really surprised how well it bonded 
the new hand to his body." Serenity asked, "How... what will it do, 
now?" Zeus explained the design, but wasn't comfortable with it. 
Prometheus stepped in and explained for everyone's benefit.

"The hand," he began, "is powered by his own ring. It's connected 
directly to his power, and isn't subject to the mechanical limits of a 
normal hand. Grip should be much stronger, and he'll be able to use it 
as well or better than his own hand, because it's really a part of him. 
He can actually feel with it, too. He won't be able to lift much with 
it, because that's a function of his arm, his back, and everything else. 
Under the circumstances," he concluded, "this is as good as it gets."

Serenity asked Zeus, "How long before he's awake?" Zeus said, "A few 
hours at most. I don't want him in action for a while yet, especially 
since he's liable to be emotionally unstable." Apollo asked skeptically, 
"HIM?" Zeus replied, "Revenge. He may want it. He has to be reminded 
what happened to Jadeite." Apollo said, "Doesn't matter - I'd like to 
pay them back myself."

Bishoujo Mask appeared from the shadows of an adjacent room, and alerted 
the others to her presence by saying, "We have more important things to 
worry about than petty vengeance."

As the Princess turned, she had a frown on her face. She had enough with 
this woman, and wanted her to come clean. "You owe us an explanation, 
since it was your mistake letting Frost go after the Crystal himself." 
The masked ninja did not miss her reasoning, as the rings of the three 
remaining warriors began to glow, slightly, though the message behind 
the reaction was far from subtle. Serenity continued, "What are our 
goals? More importantly, what are _your_ goals?"

Bishoujo Mask was in no mood to answer these questions, but had to give 
them something. She said, "Once Frost recovers, I'll brief you all on 
our plans with Jadeite." Then, she vanished in smoke.

---
was somewhat nervous, this being something he considered important. He 
was waiting for Andrew at the Arcade. Andrew came in, ready to work, and 
saw Darien. Darien said, "I need to talk with you for a few minutes." 
Andrew wondered to himself, "I wonder why?" He noticed that Darien 
wasn't his normal, calm self. Not that he was hysterical or something 
like that. He just had something on his mind.

So Andrew sat down, across Darien, and asked, "What's up?"

Darien said, "I need your help." Andrew nodded. Darien continued, "I'm 
doing some research on genetic engineering, and I need some advice. 
Maybe you can help." Andrew replied, "Well, I don't know about that. I'm 
not the biologist; I'm just going to med school." Darien nodded, but 
answered, "You can still help. I'm doing research about theoretical 
cloning processes. What do you know about it? Is it possible, now, for 
people to create clones of people?"

Andrew answered emphatically, "No. No one's even managed to get far 
beyond a single cell - no one's quite done it right." Darien asked, "No, 
that's not exactly what I meant - with the right blood sample, could 
someone create a clone of a living creature?" Andrew answered, "Okay, as 
far as I know, no, the technology's not that advanced yet. No one's ever 
gotten close." Darien asked, "Well, what would it take?"

Andrew thought about that for a few moments, and started to answer, 
"Well, the equipment would be terribly expensive. Take the fact that it 
would be a real cloning process, starting with blood, not from an egg. 
It would take isolation, and a lot of knowledge, and a lot of time just 
to get a small kid." Darien asked, "What if it was done faster? It might 
be more dangerous, but what would it take?" Andrew answered, "It would 
take a lot of resources. A cell can't multiply without the right amino 
acids and raw resources. Other than that? Juice, maybe? Really, that's 
all science fiction. I have no idea. I'm just making a few wild 
guesses." Well, Darien thought, that was better than nothing.

Darien asked Andrew, "I'm looking for some people who might know a lot 
about genetic engineering and cloning theory. Know anyone?" Andrew 
thought about it, and said, "Well, if you're that serious about it, 
there are two people I know. One guy just moved in. His name's Chris 
Kazuko. He was a foreign exchange student in Hong Kong for a while." 
Darien said, "I've heard about him. But he's still in high school, 
right?" Andrew answered, "Last year. But he's been studying here part of 
the time instead of cram school." That surprised Darien. "What about 
entrance exams?" Andrew said, "He's not worried. I'm telling you, he's 
really smart, at least as much as Serena's friend, Amy." Darien's eyes 
were wide open... "Amy? He's really like that?" Andrew said, "Yes. He's 
a real genius, so they say." Darien asked, "Wait, that means he's going 
to be taking his entrance exams very soon." Andrew nodded, and said, 
"He's been sick lately, I hear. So you probably won't be able to find 
him either way. If it's not that, it'll be entrance exams."

Darien asked, "Who's the other guy?" Andrew said, "It's not a he - it's 
a she." Darien was quite surprised. Andrew said, "I don't really know 
her. She should be in the physics lab right now, though. She's 
Meiou-something. Just ask for Meiou-san." Darien thanked Andrew, but 
said, "I really have to go. Later." Darien got up and left.

Andrew wondered aloud, "I wonder why he chose a genetic engineering 
project?"

---

Amy was in school, studying hard. She had a lot to do, and had to try to 
maintain her high average before the summer vacation. These last few 
tests would be hard, but the more she studied, the less she worried. 
This wouldn't be so hard after all, she thought. Some hard work and a 
couple of cram sessions and she wouldn't have any trouble. She was more 
worried about everyone else's grades.

No, she thought, now that she was actually working, it wasn't so bad. 
Later, she could worry about the rest of her problems...

---

Serena was also in school, but she was snoring.

Miss Haruna was standing tall above her, not pleased in the least. She 
yelled, "SERENA!" Serena woke up startled, looking all around, shaking 
her head, saying, "WHAT, WHAT?" Then she saw Miss Haruna... Haruna told 
her, "You're going straight to detention, young lady."

---

Meanwhile, Bishoujo Mask, lying down on a comfortable velvet couch, was 
taking the time to worry about _her_ problems.

Her head was lying sideways upon a nice, plump pillow. Her mask was 
tossed aside, her face being shown to no one in this most private of 
places. She was still in her black ninja suit, one that stuck tightly to 
her well-developed body. She was trying to relax, without much success.

Across the room was her pet owl; not really a pet, but a compagnion. 
This was no ordinary owl, as one might have guessed from the dark powers 
this lady served. This was a black owl, black such as herself, and at 
times like this, a useful compagnion to speak to. Unlike, say, Princess 
Serenity, she was alone, and needed the company. If she didn't have 
Damiano, she would have a mere pet, or many. She didn't bring back any 
more canaries, like she used to have, since Damiano ate the last of them 
long ago.

Damiano asked her, "You seem thoughtful."

She wasn't in the mood to talk. Or so she thought. Damiano continued, 
"Ask yourself why you seem lost, and you might find your way." She 
replied, "I can't tell those idiots anything. If it weren't for the fact 
that we needed them, I'd kill all of them myself." The owl answered, "Do 
you?" That thought stopped her short.

Indeed, did she?

The original plan...

---

Voices in the darkness explained the reasoning behind the pact. They 
were distant echoes, in her memories, yet of such power that they could 
not have been clearer. They were male voices.. but they were far from 
human.

"He has awakened."

"Yet," another spoke, "he has little power. Of what value is he to us?"

"He is a link... to the past..."

"Of course. The Forbidden Powers. We may use him as a link." The other 
spoke, "His desire for vengeance may be useful. Our Master will be 
pleased. We will use this to release him." The first replied, "The Great 
Seal can only be broken by the Silver Crystal..."

"Yes, the Silver Crystal..."

---

"The Silver Crystal..." she echoed...

"Of course," Damiano replied. "Do you trust yourself to handle it 
alone?" She sat up. This was a serious question. Could she? If she could 
not... she knew what happened to Frost. She also knew why, unlike the 
Dark Senshi. The clone was originally created for a simple purpose: to 
lead the Dark Senshi and to counter Sailor Moon with her own powers, 
albeit weaker ones at the time. It was a good plan... until that fool 
Jadeite had ruined it with his own impatience.

And now?

Why did she help Frost? To get rid of Jadeite? That was part of it. The 
clone needed her initial efforts to survive. She had only tasted battle 
once, and that was something of a faliure. Were it not for her, they 
would have lost the wand, as well. The entire mission was basically an 
improvised process, but the Dark Senshi were stronger than she had 
thought. Together, with her to take care of Tuxedo Mask, they could 
easily annihilate the Sailor Senshi. For the moment.

Now, it all seemed so pointless.

They'd won a few battles, yes, but the power of the Silver Moon Crystal 
was too strong to counter. Indeed, its power was tremendous... so much 
that it could release her master's dark forces. Her master himself? 
Perhaps... but then, she wouldn't really need a master, would she? 
Hmmm...

There were many possibilities. They all began with one central idea.

She would have the Crystal for herself.

---

Darien was navigating through a network of corridors until he was just 
outside the physics lab. The class currently in was just leaving. He 
looked around, asked around, and found the young woman he was looking 
for.

She was a rather beautiful, tall woman, maybe a couple of years younger 
than he was. She had nice, long, hair, colored a dark green. He wondered 
how she ever got her hair to look like that. She had dark red lipstick, 
and her eyes looked like they were a shade of purple. He'd seen many 
girls in his time... but this one stood out. He asked, "Are you 
Meiou-san?" She replied, "Oh," and stopped. She said, "You must be 
looking for me. Please, call me Setsuna."

---

An older woman opened the door to the detention room where Serena was 
half-studying, half-sleeping. Serena sat up, and looked at the woman. 
She appeared to have very straight and very dark black hair, arranged in 
a pony tail. She wore a brown, buttoned dress, and had nice red shoes. 
The woman wore glasses, and appeared to be a teacher, though Serena had 
never seen her before.

The woman stepped into the room. She said, to Serena, "I'm new here. You 
have detention?" Serena nodded. The woman continued, "I'm here to check 
up on you for a minute or two." She looked at Serena's sailor uniform. 
"I've never seen a brooch like that one before," she said. She asked 
Serena if she could see the brooch up close. Serena said, "Um, no, it 
was a gift, and..." but she insisted, "Oh, I'll give it back." She 
smiled. "I just want to take a close look at it." Serena protested, and 
the woman simply lifted the palm of her left hand to about her shoulder 
level, held casually. Then she blew over it, and a cloud of fine dust 
went forth, surrounding Serena. Serena could not help breathing the 
dust. Looking very confused, she suddenly became very tired, and slumped 
back into her chair, her head back, and fell fast asleep...

"Too easy."

---

Darien was conversing with Setsuna at the time. Setsuna was quite 
friendly and willing to help. She proposed discussing genetic 
engineering over dinner. Darien didn't think that was a good idea, at 
all. He was going to say why when he sensed something, something 
terribly wrong... his head began to hurt.

He said, "I'm sorry, but I have to go, it's important." Then he ran off.

Setsuna was just standing there, and mouthed, "Go ahead, I don't 
mind..." She thought to herself that he was quite a handsome man, but 
maybe he didn't want to go out with her because he was married, or 
dating. Well, she thought, she had things to do.

---

Bishoujo Mask, now in her ninja garb, her natural brown hair in a 
different kind of pony tail, held the brooch in the palms of her hands. 
He marvelled at how simple this seemed. Knowing Sailor Moon's identity, 
she simply disguised herself, caught her when she was most vulnerable, 
and put her to sleep. She was defenseless, and now... she opened the 
brooch. Inside, the Empyrean Silver Crystal awaited her. The Crystal 
sparkled with energy as she touched it, gently, at first, and then 
extracted the crystal. She tossed the brooch onto Sailor Moon's lap, and 
closed the brooch. No need being too obvious about it.

She pondered the risks of staying longer. She could kill Sailor Moon 
right now, she knew, but saw no point in it. Besides, why did she need 
to? Sailor Moon had lost most of her power in a single surgical blow.

She laughed, and faded away into smoke.

A few minutes later, Serena began to wake up to the sound of a friendly 
voice...

"Serena." he said...

"Darien?" she sighed, barely coherently. "No," he said, "I'm Tuxedo 
Mask." Then, she awoke...

"Tuxedo Mask?" She opened her eyes as she began to sit up. There she saw 
him, in front of her face, trying to arouse her. She was very confused. 
She asked, "Tuxedo Mask, um, " she looked around and realized that if 
anyone came in, she couldn't call him Darien. So she continued, "What's 
going on? What happened?" Tuxedo Mask said, "Someone's been here." She 
said, "Yes, a woman... wait!" she said, "She blew some weird powder in 
my face and I fell asleep!"

Tuxedo Mask said, "That's bad... but what would that person want?" Then 
he saw the brooch. He picked it up, and opened it... and gasped! "The 
Crystal is gone!"

Serena yelled, "WHAT?!"

Then she looked at the empty brooch. She was in total shock and total 
denial. Tuxedo Mask said, "Come on, let's get out of here." She asked, 
"What? We can't just leave here!" Tuxedo Mask said, "Yes, we have to. 
This is an emergency. We have to get everyone together." Serena said, "I 
can't just leave school! And what will Miss Haruna say?!" Tuxedo Mask 
said, in a tone that left no doubt, "This is more important."

Serena stopped arguing.

Tuxedo Mask took her brooch, and gave it to her, and told her to wear it 
so she wouldn't lose it. Serena, slowly, gathered her senses and put it 
on. She was just overwhelmed at the situation. Then Tuxedo Mask took her 
in his arms, and jumped out of the open window... and flew off with 
her...

---

Bishoujo Mask was back in her lair. Damiano asked her, "Back already? 
Did it go that badly?"

Then she showed him the crystal.

To say that his feathers were ruffled is a huge understatement.

He gasped, "YOU HAVE IT!!" She nodded, and though she still wore her 
mask, her pleasure was written all over her body, hardly needing a 
visible smile. She was... smug.

"With this," she said, "I can rule the world!" Then she laughed, quite 
satisfied with herself.

Dimando could not take it anymore. He said, "What of your master? You 
must set him free!" She said, "Why?" and looked at him in a puzzled way. 
"I'll only take what I desire. His minions will serve me when I call 
them. I will rule with his armies. They will become my troops. I don't 
need the Dark Senshi or that pitiful excuse for a princess, Serenity. 
She doesn't have the backbone for the job."

Then she laughed, and this time, Dimando did not, could not, refute her 
logic.

Then, she raised the crystal high. She wanted to see just what this 
could do. She proclaimed, "Crystal, show me your POWER!!"

For a moment, nothing happened. For a moment, all expression was stolen 
from her face. She could not believe that this had no effect... that the 
Crystal had no power.

Then the Crystal's power began to pulsate. She could feel its power like 
she could hear her own heartbeat... which was now so strong that she 
could feel each and every of its contractions...

Then the Crystal grew bright, the normally candlelit room being doused 
by an enormous light.

And then the full power of the Crystal erupted.

---

And then the earth shook.

---

The underground headquarters was being torn apart. Princess Serenity, 
holding the Moon Wand, was screaming. Prometheus yelled, "GET HER OUT OF 
HERE!!" Apollo ran to her and used his power to teleport them out of the 
area.

The medical chamber was ready to collapse. Zeus opened the door wide 
with a great shove, and emerged carrying a limp and only slightly 
groaning Frost on his shoulder. Both agreed that it was time to leave, 
and they teleported to the secondary base.

---

Amy was under a table, in her classroom, as everyone was screaming, and 
debris was falling everywhere...

---

Lita and another, much smaller girl were huddled in a corner as the 
floor shook...

---

Mina was struggling to keep her footing on the ground. She was outside 
her school, during recess, and couldn't stand...

---

Rei was trying to keep the class under control and was yelling at them 
not to panic. She did the best she could...

---

Luna and Artemis were frightened by the earth shaking, and realized that 
something was very, very wrong...

---

"Darien, what's happening?" Serena begged him to tell her. He was slowly 
moving towards earth. He yelled over the sound of buildings rumbling, 
"It's an earthquake!"

"Darien, what will we do?" He said, "Hang on!"

---

Prometheus looked at the scanners of the second base. It had not 
sustained any damage. He turned them on... and began watching media 
reports. A major earthquake had hit the city. Or so it seemed. Yet he 
had sensed something. So had Zeus, and he had sensed more of it, being 
more sensitive to supernatural energies. This was no normal earthquake. 
He wished Frost was concious so he could tell them all what had 
happened. But that would have to wait.

The city wasn't in ruins, but there would be a lot of devastation... 
needless, random destruction.

---

Bishoujo Mask nearly collapsed from the power of the Crystal, but she 
simply refused to allow it to happen. The Crystal's power had not flowed 
through her directly, but had simply sent energy waves through the 
earth. Yet its own power had saved her from the collapse of the chamber. 
Everything around her was ruined. She'd have to create a new lair. Well, 
it was too small for her anyway. Damiano, no fool, had flown within the 
protective shining sphere of the Crystal, and had survived as well.

"Well," she said, "That was exciting." Then, she teleported away to a 
place she knew was safe, where she would have a very long sleep.

---

Tuxedo Mask pulled his cape back. Serena was beneath his protective 
embrace. Both lifted themselves up, the earthquake, brief though strong, 
was over. They rose to their feet, and looked at the city, and the 
devastation.