-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: ch1draft3.txt
Shades of Gray
A Sailor Moon Fanfic
by: Aaron Nowack
Chapter 1: Shadows of the Past
"It is a good thing war is so terrible, lest we become too fond
of it."
-Ulysses S. Grant
Text in "<>" is thought or telepathic communication.
************************************************************************
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi, whose creative
talents far exceed my most humble own. Distribution and other rights to
Sailor Moon belong to lots of different companies that I do not own. I
make or imply no claim to ownership of Sailor Moon or its characters.
However, the text of this fanfic and all original characters presented
within are mine, and should not be used without permission. Thank you.
************************************************************************
Tsukino Usagi was window shopping. A perfectly ordinary
activity for a teenaged girl who had just gotten out of detention, a
hypothetical observer might say. However, most window shopping teenaged
girls had not fought against an alien menace bent on either destroying
or conquering the world only three days before. Usagi had never quite
figured out which of these was the goal of the Death Busters, as this
particular menace was known. Thankfully, the question would be as
hypothetical as our observer, as Sailor Saturn had defeated Master
Pharaoh 90, and his servants had been slain or redeemed.
Another thing set Tsukino Usagi apart from the other girls
engaged in the pursuit of clothing, candy, jewelry, or whatever other
purchases they wished to make. These other shoppers were not about to
be late to a meeting to discuss the aftermath of the aforementioned
alien invasion. When Usagi became aware of this particular fact, she
immediately set off at a breakneck speed towards the site of that
meeting, the Hikawa Shrine.
As usual, Usagi did not pay attention to little things like
obstacles in her path. One of these obstacles happened to be a twenty
year old human male named Fuarku Ikawa. The hypothetical observer of
these events might notice some vague resemblance between Ikawa and
another who had often been placed in a similar situation, one Chiba
Mamoru. The observer might be surprised to note that Ikawa and Mamoru
had other things in common, among them being the fact that both went to
the same university. Unlike Mamoru, however, Ikawa managed to notice
the blond bullet headed towards him, and dodged out of the way in time.
At this point, even a hypothetical observer is bound to wander
off, wondering if anything interesting is going to happen.
Thus the observer would fail to see Ikawa turn towards the fast
disappearing girl and yell out, "Watch where you're going, you crazy
girl!" Our observer would also fail to hear the mutter uttered by Ikawa
afterward, which went something like this: "That girl sure did look
familiar, though. Wonder where I saw her before."
The hypothetical observer, if he was still around, might realize
that Ikawa had never before seen Usagi.
************************************************************************
An eternity passed. Or could it be only a week?
*CRACK*
A second eternity passed. Or it might have been a month.
*CRACK*
Countless aeons, or perhaps mere days came and left.
*CRACK*
A barest instant, or maybe a time so long as to dwarf human
conception of time and...
*SHATTER*
A figure dressed in a tattered gray uniform pulled himself from
the shattered remnants of his tomb, and looked around the infinite abyss
where he found himself. He knew that his mistress must be dead, or he
would still be within the crystal. An evil grin appeared on his face as
he considered the possibilities. Whatever had slain his queen would
have had to go through his brothers first, which meant that there would
be no serious opponents to contest his claim to the throne...
"Free. Free at last. And woe to those who caused me to be
locked away."
And in a whirl of flames, the figure vanished.
************************************************************************
At the Hikawa Shrine, nearly perfect silence reigned. "Nearly"
perfect, as the slow but steady sound of fingers tapping on a table.
The owner of these appendages was a tall, blond woman who dearly wished
to be anywhere but here. She wouldn't be here at all, except for a
green-haired woman who was also present at this gathering. Haruka, as
the blond was called, would have refused Usagi's invitation to this
meeting, but Setsuna, the green-haired woman, had told her and her other
companion, Michiru, in no uncertain terms that it was necessary for them
to come, and so come they did.
Her finger-tapping provoked a response from one of her fellow
attendees, one Hino Rei, who happened to be the host of this gathering.
"Haruka, please stop that."
The tapping continued for a few more moments, then ceased.
However, perfect silence was not to be, as Michiru began to speak.
"Can we please get started? I don't know about the rest of you,
but I have better things to do with my time then sit around waiting for
Usagi."
The Inner Senshi considered this for a moment. Then one Mizuno
Ami spoke. "All right. Maybe if we don't wait for her, she'll learn to
be on time."
Rei sadly shook her head. "Not likely. But then, she wouldn't
pay attention if she was here, anyway, so let's start. I take it their
haven't been any disturbances since that last daimon that showed up
after Chibiusa left?" That daimon had been unexpected, and might have
avenged its masters, if not for the timely arrival of Sailors Uranus and
Neptune at the scene.
No one responded to the question, except for the Outer Senshi,
who briefly shook their heads no. Rei continued, "OK then. The
Inner Senshi have been seeking out and neutralizing the remaining daimon
pods, but what have you Outers been up to?"
It was Michiru who replied. "Mostly, we've been keeping an eye
on baby Hotaru. So far, she seems to be an ordinary healthy baby girl."
A brief smile appeared on Setsuna's face, unnoticed by the others.
"Where are you staying, in case we need to get in touch with
you?" Ami asked.
This time it was Setsuna who replied. "At Professor Tomoe's
house, of course. Where better to watch Saturn and help Tomoe recover
from his possession? Oh yes. I would suggest you move your...
collection from the basement of your mother's hospital to the
Professor's house. It will be much safer there."
Ami's eyes widened, and she was about to ask how Setsuna knew of
the treasure trove of Death Buster technology she had scrounged up from
the scenes of battles and the wreckage of Mugen High, of which the most
valuable was the single daimon egg the Senshi had discovered before it
could either bond with something or lose its power. However, the
entrance of a supersonic moon princess into the room interrupted her
before she could begin to speak.
"I'msorryI'mlatedidImissanything," Usagi spat out as she
hurriedly seated herself.
Rei sighed. "No, not really."
"Good. Oh, are those cupcakes?" Usagi asked as she reached out
for the food.
"Now that we are all here, I must tell you the reason for this
meeting." The voice was Setsuna's, and silence quickly settled over the
room after a brief outburst. Most of them had been expecting something
like this, for they knew that Setsuna would not show up for a routine
meeting.
"We have a new enemy." Everyone paled at that thought.
"But it's only been a few days since they last one, and their
haven't been any monster attacks or anything. There must be some
mistake," Usagi pleaded.
"There is no mistake," Setsuna answered.
Ami pulled out her computer. "Who is the enemy?" she asked,
preparing to search for any information that might be available.
Setsuna frowned, the most emotion any of the Senshi had seen on her
except when she was talking with Chibiusa. "I don't know."
Ami looked up from her computer in shock. "You don't... how did
you know we had a new enemy then?"
"I sensed great turbulence in the time stream," Setsuna lied
smoothly.
Haruka stood up. "If that's the case we have work to do. Come
on," she said to her companions. Setsuna and Michiru nodded and
followed Haruka out of the Shrine.
************************************************************************
Once the throne room had been dark and imposing. Now, it merely
looked dusty and unkept. The black throne stood unoccupied, as none
dared claim it. Where once a mighty army had gathered, now only a few
diehards continued to meet, bickering over who would claim the throne
that only one had ever sat on.
Or only one, until today. A column of fire washed over the
throne, forming the image of a man. Mutters echoed through the nearly
empty hall, only increasing when flames died down to reveal a familiar
man wearing a familiar uniform. A uniform not seen in almost two years.
The man looked around the hall.
"Silence!" The mutterings ceased. The man glanced around once
more.
"Pathetic. You have wasted years bickering over who would take
a throne none of you are worthy of. Have you done anything to achieve
vengeance? Have you?"
The question was met with silence.
"I see not. In any case, that particular bone of contention is no
more, for _I_ claim this throne. I claim it, by my right as sole
remaining General of the Dark Kingdom. I Jadeite, Guardian of Fire,
claim this throne! Do any of you fools dare contest my claim?"
The gathered youma looked at each other in silence, until one,
an Overlord, stepped forward. The Overlord was vaguely and disturbingly
insectile, and unlike the common youma, was masculine in form.
Translucent wings with an oil-like sheen unfolded from behind its back
as its compound eyes stared at the general.
"I contest your claim, General Jadeite. I contest your claim by
my right as Overlord of the Plague Reach. I, Bezel, contest your claim
to the throne." The youma's buzzing voice showed no fear as it spoke
the ritual words.
Jadeite rose, and descended to the floor. "Very well, then. I
choose here and now for our contest."
With a hiss, Bezel extended one claw. "Pestilence Touch," it
called out, and a sickly green beam of energy leapt from its raised arm.
Jadeite calmly raised one hand. "Soul Flame." A firebolt left
his hand, obliterating Bezel's attack, and continuing onward to slightly
singe its carapace.
A frustrated sound escaped the Overlord's mandibles as it
stumbled back. Then in its sibilant voice, it called out "Mosquito
Swarm." A cloud of stinging insects engulfed Jadeite, and the gathered
youma held their breath.
Jadeite's still calm voice was heard. "Fire... Surround."
Flames engulfed the insects, and the general strode out unharmed.
"Enough of this farce," Jadeite said, and pointed at Bezel.
"Incinerate." His voice was still emotionless.
First nothing seemed to happen, and Bezel began to laugh. But
then, the insectile youma began to smoke. Slowly, white-hot fires began
to consume the Overlord, and the laugh turned into a high pitched
scream, which quickly died out. The flaming corpse toppled over, and
soon was nothing more than a pile of cooling ash.
Jadeite strode back towards the throne. "Are there any further
challengers?" When he saw that there were none, he sat once more upon
Beryl's throne. No, not Beryl's throne. _His_ throne.
************************************************************************
"Well, that was rude." Minako's comment broke the uneasy quiet
that had fallen over the shrine at the abrupt departure of the Outers.
Rei stared at the still open door. "You didn't really expect
them to stay for long, did you?"
Ami coughed politely. "Can we please continue with the meeting?
If we do have a new enemy, we'll need to be ready." The other Senshi
nodded their agreement, and Ami continued. "Now, I've finished my
investigations into Usagi's 'Super' transformation."
"Cool. Have you figured out how I can do it again?" Usagi had
been unable to do so since the battle with Pharaoh 90.
"Unfortunately, no. There is no reference to anything like it
in my computer, which means there were no 'Super' transformations in the
Silver Millenium. My best hypothesis is that what we were calling your
'Super' transformation was only the Holy Grail's way of adapting you to
use its power, and that without the Grail, you will be unable transform
into 'Super Sailor Moon' again."
"But... what about at the end of the... I mean, I did transform
without the Grail to fight Pharaoh 90," Usagi stammered.
Ami shook her head. "I believe what happened there was that we
were able to activate the residual energy left behind by the Grail. I
doubt it would work again, and frankly, I feel no great desire to
replicate the conditions under which we were able to do it the first
time."
Everyone shuddered at that. It wasn't quite as disturbing as
the time they had, well, died, but it was the next-worse thing. Being
trapped in a vortex of dark energy that also happened to be the leading
edge of the Silence was not fun.
************************************************************************
Jadeite surveyed his new subjects. They were few in number,
disorganized, and poorly trained. They bore little resemblance to the
hordes that had served Beryl, and even smaller resemblance to the
disciplined, highly trained army he had led ten thousand years ago to
assault the Moon Palace. But, it was a start.
And so he could start on his plans for vengeance. It would be
years, probably, before they came to fruition, but Beryl's fall had
taught him the value of patience. He had waited millennia for his
victory, and what was a few more years? Nothing really.
He looked around once more. "Have any of you examined the
dimensional barrier recently?" There was no response. "I didn't think
so. If you had, you would have noticed how much it has decayed. We
should able to send over more powerful youma then ever before. Indeed, I
believe the barrier is weak enough to send over an Overlord and a few
servants."
An excited mutter began to spread through the crowd. One youma
stepped forward. "I will go, Lord Jadeite." The youma was Sithar, the
Overlord of Tempest Island, and a former ally of Nephrite. Jadeite
smiled at the reptilian fiend, and nodded his acquiescence.
"Gather your servants then, Sithar." Four snake youma appeared
around the Overlord.
"I am ready, Lord Jadeite." In a burst of flames, Sithar and
his servants vanished.
Jadeite smiled. Sithar could have been a threat, but now he
would be eliminated. And none could cast any blame on him, for the
Overlord had volunteered himself, and probably as an attempt to make
himself the true power in the Dark Kingdom. Perfect. Jadeite stood up
and strode out of the throne room without a further word. It was time to
begin.
One Overlord turned to another and whispered. "He should not
have the throne."
"True, but Bezel and Sithar were fools. That is not the way to
take down Jadeite."
"Aye. He's to strong to take in combat, and not likely to put
any of us in a position where we can steal credit for his victories, as
Sithar tried." Both of the Overlords had already given up Sithar for
dead.
"We must bide our time, and wait for him to make a mistake."
"I agree."
************************************************************************
"So, you're sure that there's no way for me to go Super again?
Ami sighed. "As sure as I can be, Usagi. I've done readings on
you again and again, and I have found no signs of either Grail energy or
the power signature of your Super form."
Back at the Hikawa Shrine, the Senshi had been trying without
success to convince Usagi of that. No doubt, another round of questions
would have begun, but something began to emit a beeping noise. Out of
instinct, everyone checked their communicators before they realized the
sound was coming from the Mercury Computer.
Ami quickly began to type away. "Um... my computer is picking
up five, no six... no _five_ youma energy signals at the Osa-P shopping
center."
Makoto grinned. "All right, a fight! And I thought things
might get boring around here..."
Rei held up a hand. "Wait a second. Ami, did you say youma
energy signatures?"
Ami nodded. "Yes."
Rei frowned. "As in, not daimons, not droids, not cardians, but
honest-to-God, Dark Kingdom vintage _youma_?"
Ami nodded her head again. "That's right."'
Rei's frown deepened. "Why would _they_ be showing up again?
Could they be the new enemy?"
Minako stood. "We can't worry about that now. We've got a job
to do."
Everyone rose at that. "Right."
************************************************************************
Sailor Neptune froze.
"Neptune, what is it?" That was Uranus, as she and Pluto
stopped. The Outers had been out on patrol, looking for any sign of
their new enemy.
"I... the seas are turbulent. Something evil has come."
Neptune closed her eyes, trying to get a better reading. "It... it
doesn't feel familiar."
Pluto brightened at that. Perhaps this threat could be dealt
with quickly. "Where?"
Neptune slowly turned around. "To... to the south."
Uranus began to run in that direction. "Let's go."
The other two followed her to the south, coincidentally, or
perhaps not, the direction to the ruins of Mugen High.
The Osa-P shopping center was to the north.
************************************************************************
"Hold it right there!"
The five youma turned to face the voice. Four were the typical
humanoid, vaguely feminine monstrosities. The other was larger,
masculine, and sported a tail. All had red eyes, were covered in green
scales, and had clawed hands and feet.
The Sailor Senshi leapt down from the low wall on which they had
been standing and Sailor Moon began her speech. "Attacking innocents
and destroying shopping centers is unforgivable. In the name of the
Moon, we will punish you!"
The larger youma opened its fanged mouth. "We'll see about
that, Sailor Brats. Youma, attack!!" The smaller youma leapt towards
the Senshi.
Sailor Jupiter stepped forward. "Not so fast. SPARKLING WIDE
PRESSURE!!" The ball lightning hit one of the charging youma, and it
dissolved to dust. "Not so tough after all, huh?"
The other Senshi were quick to follow suit. The Venus Love-Me
Chain threw two youma into a wall, destroying them. A Shine Aqua
Illusion finished off the last of the lesser youma.
Sailor Moon pulled out the Spiral Moon Rod. "Now, time to
finish you off, youma!"
"I'm now mere youma, girl. I am Sithar, the Overlord of Tempest
Island. You will find me to be much tougher prey then my servants."
Sithar performed a quick tail swipe, which knocked the Spiral Moon Rod
from Sailor Moon's hand.
"Hey, that's not fair!" cried Moon as she dodged a clawed hand.
Venus leapt forward. "Crescent Beam!" She only had time to fire
a weak beam, not enough to really hurt the Overlord, but enough to
distract him from Sailor Moon.
Sithar turned towards the Senshi of Love, and swiped her with
one claw. Venus stumbled back, bloody scratches showing on her arm.
However, to do this Sithar had turned his back on Moon and Jupiter.
"Moon Tiara- Action!"
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
Sithar's tail bounced Jupiter's attack back towards its
originator, who was thrown backward by the blast. However, Sailor
Moon's attack cut into the youma's back, leaving a long wound that bled
green ichor.
Mercury had pulled out her visor, and was observing the youma.
"Our attacks aren't doing enough damage, we have to try and hit him all
at once!"
"Right!" called Venus and Moon, who had retreated a bit and were
now standing together. Mars was tending to the fallen Jupiter.
Sithar laughed. "You think I'm going to let you do that! Fangs
of the Serpent... STRIKE!" Ghostly fangs appeared out of nowhere and
struck the two Senshi, throwing them back against a wall.
Desperately, Mercury fired a Shine Aqua Illusion at Sithar, but
he strode through unharmed.
"Foolish girl, water is my element, and cannot harm me! Now, I
will finish you off." The Overlord strode towards the Senshi of Ice.
"If that's true, then maybe fire will take you down." Mars rose
from her position next to Jupiter. The youma whirled around, but not
quickly enough. "Burning Mandala!"
************************************************************************
The Outers continued to race towards the evil they had felt.
Suddenly, Neptune stopped once more. "Wait, the evil force is moving...
it's headed east."
Uranus and Pluto nodded, and headed off in the new direction.
************************************************************************
Jadeite smiled as he approached the museum. His plan was
working perfectly. His cloaking magic hid him from Mercury's computer,
and Sithar was distracting the Senshi, keeping them from running into
him by chance.
Already, he had accomplished his first goal. Six whole daimon
pods rested in a subspace pocket. They were drained of energy, which
was probably why the Senshi hadn't found them already, but it would be a
simple matter to reenergize them once he was back in the Dark Kingdom.
Now, on to the second part of his mission...
He courteously nodded to museum caretaker as he entered into the
museum, and the caretaker smiled at him. Good. His glamour was keeping
the caretaker from noticing anything unusual about him. He turned
towards the human. "Where is the gem exhibit, sir?"
"Up the stairs and to the left."
Jadeite thanked the man and headed on his way. It took him only
a minute to find what he was looking for: a beautiful red diamond that
seemed to glow with a light of its own. A small magic deactivated the
cameras and alarms, and he shattered the glass case. He ignored the
pain and reached out to take the gem.
"This is it...," he whispered, "the Flame Diamond." Now that he
had it, he could feel the existence of the other four. If he could find
the Codex, he would be able to translate that feeling into locations.
With a smile on his face, he teleported back to his private
chambers.
************************************************************************
Neptune stopped for a third time. "The evil is gone."
"Damn." Uranus stopped her run, and Pluto followed suit.
Pluto frowned. "We weren't fast enough. We're going to have to
do better next time."
"Right... I should be able to home in better on that energy
source next time."
"Good..." Pluto was about to continue when Uranus spotted a
familiar figure.
"Hey, Tuxedo Mask! Where are you going?"
The object of her attention sped past them. "I don't know, but
Sailor Moon's in danger."
Without a word, the Outer Senshi raced after him.
************************************************************************
Like most people at the shopping center, Fuarku Ikawa had done
two things when the youma had shown up. The first, and most important,
was to get out of the immediate area. The second was to find a spot
where he could get a good view of the coming fight. Both purposes were
served admirably by a stone wall that sported a small hole that allowed
a view of the battlefield.
Ikawa silently cheered as he watched the Sailor Senshi dispatch
the minor youma with consummate ease, though he did wish they had picked
a different wall to throw youma at than the one he was hiding behind.
"<Hmm... sloppy technique there. They're really wasting a lot of
energy... now, where did that thought come from? I don't know anything
about magic or ki-blasts or whatever those things they're throwing
are!>"
His eye remained glued to the hole as Sithar began to demolish
the Senshi almost as easily his servants were defeated. Ikawa winced as
the Overlord prepared to disembowel the apparently helpless Sailor
Mercury. Then came two words that would change the young man's life
forever.
"Burning Mandala!"
Time seemed to stretch out as images poured into Ikawa's head.
A battle, peace, death, being born again, living, fighting, dying,
rebirth, living again, and dying again, another life, and another death,
an endless cycle of rebirth... Ikawa nearly cried out from the pain as
the foreign images invaded his thoughts.
A brightly glowing crystal, surrounded by five other stones. An
evil queen, falling as her subjects turned against her. The foundation
stones of a new palace being laid on the ruins of the old, as the Earth
floated in the sky above. The same palace, now finished. A smiling
woman with a crescent moon on her forehead. A red desert, cities that
looked like nothing on Earth, ships that sailed between the planets. A
dark castle on a planet from which the sun was seen as merely a speck of
light, hardly visible. Love. Hate. War. Peace. A hundred thousand
other things, too much for any human brain to hold, images slipping away
even as he struggled to grasp at them.
Who was he? He thought he was Ikawa, but a thousand other names
clamored for attention, and one other, both a title and a name, called
to him with a voice that drowned them all out. No, he was not any one
of these names. He was _all_ of them, and they were him.
The second-long eternity came to an end. Arcs of fire bit into
Sithar, who struggled to remain upright against the attack, as Ikawa
stumbled to his feet. The Fire Senshi and the youma exchanged brief
words, as the other Senshi recovered from Sithar's attacks.
Unthinkingly, Ikawa raised one hand into the air. A bar of
flame appeared, which slowly settled into the shape of a Western
broadsword, and then died down, revealing just such a sword. The blade
felt far too light and far too natural in Ikawa's hand, but he continued
calling out words that seemed to come from the bottom of his soul.
"MARS SWORD POWER!"
************************************************************************
Sailor Mars smiled as the youma Overlord fell back before her
attack. "So, it appears you do have a weakness."
Sithar straightened up once more. "Hah! You're barely strong
enough to hurt me, much less kill me." Nonetheless, large patches of
scorched scales now covered the youma.
Mars raised her hands in preparation for another attack. "We'll
see about that, creep."
Meanwhile, Mercury had retreated and was assisting Sailors Moon
and Venus to their feet. When she had stood, Sailor Moon glanced around
quickly locating the Spiral Moon Rod. As well, Jupiter was rising once
more, battered though she was from the blast she had taken.
As she wasn't yet ready for another Burning Mandala, Mars threw
a quick Fire Soul at Sithar, which was augmented with a faltering
Crescent Beam from Venus. The two attacks slammed into the weakened
monster, who stumbled back from the force, which only a few seconds ago
would have been insignificant to him. With a grimace, he prepared to
teleport away before the Senshi could finish him off. Sailor Moon had
recovered her weapon, and was preparing to launch an attack at Sithar.
Both were surprised at what happened next.
An unfamiliar voice called out "Flame Strike!" and a burst of
white flame swept over the youma, burning a hole straight through him.
With a pained shriek, the youma crumbled into the familiar dust, which
swiftly vanished.
When the afterimages had faded from the Senshi's eyes, they saw
the source of the attack. A young man stood atop a stone wall, casually
holding a broadsword in one hand. He was covered from neck to foot in
blood-red plate armor, and the symbol of Mars was displayed in bold
black strokes on his breastplate. His cold blue eyes surveyed the
battlefield as he began to speak. "Well, well... if it isn't the famed
Sailor Senshi."
Sailor Moon was the first to recover her wits. "Who... who are
you?"
The man's gaze lingered on Sailor Mars for a moment before he
turned his stare on the Senshi's leader. "I have many names, Sailor
Moon. But, you can call me Ares, Champion of Mars... Serenity." A smile
that didn't touch his emotionless eyes appeared on Ares's face as he
began to raise his sword.
He never finished the motion, however, as a rose thudded into
the stone between his feet. Ares looked up at the roof of an adjacent
building where Tuxedo Mask and the Outer Senshi were perched. "Ah,
well. It looks as though the cavalry has arrived. Such a pity, we'll
have to continue this conversation later, Serenity." Ares leapt down
behind the stone wall, and a moment later Fuarku Ikawa went about his
business.
No one noticed that Sailor Pluto was now gripping her Time Staff
so hard that her knuckles were white.
************************************************************************
Later that afternoon, the Senshi reconvened their meeting at the
Hikawa Shrine, minus Pluto, who had vanished after the fight. Both
groups had informed the other of what had occurred to them. Though
"normally" the topic of conversation might have been the new enemy or
why the Dark Kingdom was showing its face again, these topics were
eclipsed by the many questions about Ares. Most, importantly, was he
friend or foe?
Haruka snorted. "I think that's obvious. He was about to
attack you!"
"But he destroyed the youma!" Minako protested.
"She's right, Haruka," Michiru said, "Why would an enemy save
the Inners?"
Haruka frowned. "Some sort of power struggle in the Dark
Kingdom? Or maybe he's part of the new enemy and they don't want anyone
to interfere with their plans?"
Ami spoke up. "I wasn't able to get good readings on him, but I
don't think there was any sort of negative energy on him. In fact, his
signature is closer to our own than to any enemy we've faced's."
"Well, he did say he was Rei's champion. I think that's _so_
romantic!" The speaker was, of course, Usagi.
Rei lightly bopped her princes on the head. "I think he meant
the _planet_, not the Senshi, meatball head."
The rest of the group tried to ignore the ensuing fight. "I
don't remember anything about an Ares in the Silver Millenium, and
neither does Artemis," said Luna.
"I'll get my computer running a search program to try and find
information, but it will take a day or so to finish," Ami said as she
set the search parameters.
Michiru was the next with a plan. "I'll try to use my mirror
later tonight, and I'll ask Pluto if she shows up again"
A somewhat calmed down, Rei continued, "And I'll try a fire
reading. So let's meet again tomorrow, OK?" Everyone agreed, and the
meeting broke up.
Rei walked up to the window, and stared at the sky for a moment.
Then, she felt Ami's presence behind her.
"Rei, what do _you_ think about this Ares? Do you feel he's an
enemy?"
Rei was silent for a moment. "I don't know... but I've got a
feeling we're going to find out."
************************************************************************
Author's Random Ramblings
1) No, Ikawa isn't going to turn out to be Mamoru's long lost brother or
anything. I just mentioned the resemblance to give you a notion of how
Ikawa looked without having to do a long description, which is something
I'm not really good with.
2) The daimon attack mentioned at the beginning _is_ the same one as the
last episode of the S season. However, instead of a Pink Sugar Heart
Attack distracting the daimon at a vital moment, it was a World Shaking
and Deep Submerge. You could consider that the divergence point of this
story. Chibiusa isn't included not because I don't like her (she's not
my favorite, but she's not too bad), but because she has no role in this
story.
3) The quote at the beginning is from memory. Please inform me if I got
it wrong or misattribute it.
4) Jadeite is not going to be the main antagonist of the story. His
plans won't come to fruition until sometime after the conclusion
(probably in the second sequel, if I ever get that far). He's here
mainly as a source of monsters of the week.
5) What's that about Jadeite being the Guardian of Fire? For this
story, I decided that the Guardians (aka the Dark Kingdom Generals) had
elemental powers. Note that during the first season, they mainly used
Metallia as a soure of power instead, thus explaining away all the
discrepencies. For the curious here is a list of which Guardian had
which element:
Jadeite- Fire
Nephrite- Water
Zoicite- Air
Kunzite- Earth
6) C&C, positive or negative, is of course welcome.
7) The draft of the prologue to this story is available on my website at
http://www.geocities.com/anowack/ . This draft should be available
there shortly, and the final version of the prologue will be posted to
raac and the website soon.