The Quest for the Knights Begins! Appearance of the Dark Team!
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� � � � � � � � � � �Akihiro
***Disclaimer: I hold no legal rights to any of the characters created
by Takeuchi Naoko. They are property of those persons/companies with
legal rights and no infringement is intended. No profit is being made
from their use.***
{...} Indicates character thoughts
________________________________________
Inside the Hikawa shrine, Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako, and Naru
discussed the new turn of events with Luna, Artemis, and Ceres.
Rei looked indignant. "I have trouble accepting that we're stuck with
these weak powers while Mamono can make oni that were able to shake off
the stronger ones in less than a second!"
"Isn't there a way you can re-create the Star Power henshin wands?"
asked Minako. "You made them once after all."
"That's just it," replied Luna. "We've already made them. Mamono
didn't include us in the spell's effects or we could make them again."
"She's right," Artemis agreed. "You'll just have to sharpen the powers
you do have access to and use them to their fullest."
"At least we can get the knights back to protect you while your in this
state," said Ceres. "You won't have to do it all on your own."
"I've still got my Mamo-chan to protect me!" Usagi bragged. "He said he
isn't going back to school until he knows I'll be safe and I can protect
myself."
"I feel sorry for him," Rei responded. "He's throwing away the
possibility of ever having a college degree and a good future."
"What did you say?!" shouted Usagi.
Rei glared at her. "You heard me... He'll never finish his education
because you'll never be able to really protect yourself. _We've_ always
had to do that when things got rough."
"That's not true at all! I can take care of myself!!!" she said
indignantly. "After all, I fought the Dark Kingdom all by myself for a
while before any of you joined me!!!" Usagi stuck her tongue out at
Rei.
"Yeah!" Rei retorted. "And as I understand it Tuxedo Kamen had to come
save you every time a youma showed up!!!" Rei then stuck her tongue out
at Usagi.
Ceres looked at the rest of the girls. "They're always like this,
aren't they?"
All nodded in unison.
Ceres shook his head in defeat and walked toward the two girls. He
watched for another moment as they pointed their tongues at each other
and sparks flew between them then started to step forward. "Okay you
two, break it up!" he yelled. "We have other things to worry about
right now!"
"You might not want to get in the middle of this right now," Mako
warned.
Ceres ignored the warning and stepped into the space between the two
girls. He was instantly sent flying and came to rest ten feet away.
Everyone went running to check on to the siamese cat, who now had
tendrils of smoke drifting up from his fur.
Ceres pulled himself to his feet in a daze. "Has anyone ever tried to
capture some of the energy that flows between them when they do this?"
he asked. "It would probably be enough to power the entire country for
at least a week."
Artemis grinned widely and had to fight back his urge to laugh at Ceres'
lapse in judgment. {Serves him right!}
Mamoru and Masato walked into the room and saw Ceres on the floor.
"Okay! What did we miss?" asked Masato as he looked around the room for
possible sources of danger after seeing the toasted feline.
Mamoru eyed the cat for a moment before he spoke. "Waiter, mine's a
little too well done, send it back and tell the chef I wanted medium
rare."
Artemis could no longer contain himself after that and fell to the floor
in a fit of laughter.
Ceres gathered his wits and glared at the other cat.
"Anyway," said Masato. "Mamoru and I have been talking about the
situation here and I want to help you resurrect the others. If it
helps, I've remembered what happened to Jadeite."
The siamese cat immediately broke his glare and looked to Masato. "Is
he alive?!"
"Well... Sort of," he replied. He was locked in a crystal coffin and
banished deep into the Dark Kingdom for his repeated failures."
"Eternal sleep?" asked Ceres.
Masato nodded.
"Then we'll have to teleport to the Dark Kingdom and awaken him. The
good news is that I don't think Mamono's powers can reach there."
"Then what are we waiting for?!" asked Rei, who had finally broke from
her argument with Usagi.
"Yeah! Let's go!!!" shouted Minako enthusiastically.
They all stepped out of the shrine and prepared to teleport to the Dark
Kingdom.
"I'll notify the Outer Senshi so they can keep an eye out for any of
Mamono's oni," Ami said as she pulled out her communicator.
"Good idea," Ceres returned.
"Okay, we should probably start at Beryl's palace," Masato informed
everyone as they transformed. "If we can find her crystal sphere we can
use it to locate Jadeite's crystal coffin."
Everyone nodded in agreement and got in formation.
"So we get Jadeite and bring him back here to awaken him?" inquired
Jupiter for clarification.
Ceres nodded. "I just hope we can pull this of without the Outer
Senshi," he mumbled.
"SAILOR TELEPORT!!!" shouted Artemis, then everyone vanished.
***
"This place still gives me the creeps," Sailor Moon muttered in a low
voice.
Tuxedo Kamen walked up behind her and put an arm around her
protectively. "This time I'm here on your side and there's no Queen
Beryl to tear us apart."
She looked up at him with a smile then they joined the others in the
search for Beryl's sphere.
In a near-by corner, a dark figure watched quietly from the concealing
shadows. The figure was tempted to confront these intruders but thought
it best to wait for now. A few moments later the figure tensed for
battle as it heard a voice from only a few feet away shout "Over here!"
The figure carefully scanned the area and noticed a black cat which
apparently hadn't noticed it yet, instead the cat was showing the other
intruders a crystalline orb which lay on the ground about ten feet away.
"Great!" shouted Sailor Moon. "Now we can track down Jadeite and get
out of here!"
{Jadeite!} the figure thought. {I have to tell the others!} It
immediately disappeared from its hiding place.
Mars immediately froze. "There's something here, or actually there was.
I felt it leaving. We've got to be careful."
All nodded in agreement.
The Starlight Knight examined the crystal for a few moments then faced
the others. "Follow me," he said, then headed out of the palace
carrying the sphere.
***
"Why do they want Jadeite?" asked a young woman in a long black dress.
She sat on a jewel-encrusted throne and wore her long, violet hair in
twin pony tails, each one topped by a dumpling-like bun of hair.
"I don't know why, majesty," replied the girl. "One of them sensed my
presence so I had to leave or confront them all on my own."
"Very well then," replied the girl in the dress. "We'll all go to the
Temple of the Four Kings and stop them together. Prepare yourselves!"
The girl nodded as she was joined by four other girls then each pulled
out a special wand.
"HERMES CHAOS POWER, MAKE UP!!!" shouted the girl. Her shoulder length
orange hair fluttered in the air as her clothes changed to a sailor suit
with a black body, orange skirt and neck-piece, and bows of a lighter
orange.
"ARES CHAOS POWER, MAKE UP!!!" shouted the second girl. This girl,
though only a teenager, had long white hair with highlights of a very
faint yellow. On her body formed a black sailor suit with a skirt and
neck-piece of green, a matching bow on the back, and a bow of yellow on
the front.
"ZEUS CHAOS POWER, MAKE UP!!!" the third shouted. Her hair was a light
tan color and pulled back in a pony-tail. As her transformation
completed, she wore a black sailor suit with a red skirt and neck and
light green bows.
"APHRODITE CHAOS POWER, MAKE UP!!!" called the fourth girl. She had
long, violet-colored hair pulled back in a green ribbon. Her suit had a
skirt and neck-piece of blue with a yellow bow in front and a purple one
in back while the body was still black.
"HELIOS CHAOS POWER, MAKE UP!!!" yelled the final girl. Her blue hair
was also pulled back in a ribbon, hers of yellow. After her
transformation, she too was in a black sailor suit, her skirt and
neck-piece colored light yellow and bows of light green.
"Very good," Said the girl in the black dress as she stepped down from
her throne and willed herself to revert to a normal form from which she
could transform. "LUNA CHAOS POWER, MAKE UP!!!" On her body appeared a
black sailor outfit with skirt and neck-piece of orange and bows of
green. She joined the others then they all took each others hands
forming a circle. "DARK TELEPORT!!!" she shouted, and they vanished.
***
"I think we're getting close now," informed the Starlight Knight. "It
looks like he's in the Temple of the Four Kings."
Everyone looked in awe at the large building they were nearing. It
appeared to be almost in ruin, though it was apparent it had once been a
great temple.
"It seems it's fallen into a state of disrepair since the fall of Queen
Beryl and her four kings," Starlight Knight said in reply to the
unspoken questions.
"'Disrepair'?" Asked Tuxedo Kamen in shock. "It looks like..."
"A real fixer upper," interrupted Sailor Jupiter.
"Uh... Yeah, that too," Tuxedo Kamen finished.
"Anyway," Sailor Moon said. "Let's get in there and get that crystal
casket of Jadeite's so we get out of this place!"
"I don't think so!" called a voice sounding much like Sailor Moon's.
The senshi looked around to find the source of the voice but could see
nothing. A moment later a girl stepped out of the temple. She was
identical to Sailor Moon in every way but the coloring. For each color
on Sailor Moon, this girl had the exact opposite end of the color wheel.
"For hatred and injustice, I am the deadly dark suited destroyer, Sailor
Luna!" called the girl.
"Sailor Hermes!" called Mercury's reverse as she stepped from the
shadows to the right of the temple.
"Sailor Ares!" shouted a reverse Mars as she stepped out to the left of
the building.
"Sailor Zeus!" yelled reverse Jupiter as she emerged from the forest to
the right of the senshi.
"Sailor Aphrodite!" the reversed Venus called as she came from the woods
to the left of the group.
"Sailor Helios!" reverse Apollo yelled as she took a position behind the
Sailor Team.
"In the name of the Dark Kingdom," continued Sailor Luna.
"We will destroy you!" the Dark Senshi called in unison.
"Would someone remind me again why we had to leave Uranus, Neptune, and
Saturn behind," Sailor Venus inquired of her companions.
"Someone has to be there in case Mamono tries something while we're
away," explained Ceres.
"Oh, yeah," she replied. "I knew it was something like that."
"Enough idle conversation!" shouted Sailor Aphrodite. "Let's get down
to business! APHRODITE LASER BEAM FLASH!!!"
Venus quickly dodged the attack and retaliated. "CRESCENT BEAM!!!"
Sailor Zeus watched the battle unfold with a grin. "Looks like fun,"
she said to Jupiter. "Let's join in. ZEUS LIGHTNING CLASH!!!"
"SUPREME THUNDER!!!" Jupiter called as she evaded the dark lightning.
"To hell with the foreplay!" shouted Sailor Ares. "ARES FLAME BURN!!!"
Mars narrowly escaped the black flames and countered with her own
attack. "FIRE SOUL!!!"
"You look lie a smart one," Sailor Hermes said to Sailor Mercury. "Why
don't you just go back where you came from? No?! Fine then. HERMES
RAINDROPS SPLASH!!!"
"SHABON SPRAY!!!" Mercury yelled in retaliation.
Sailor Helios inspected the girl before her. "Ten seconds! HELIOS
MUSICAL BLAST!!!"
"What do you mean ten seconds?!" Apollo replied indignantly. "POETIC
MELODY!!!"
Sailor Moon watched as each of her friends engaged in their own battle,
trading senshi attacks as well as regular kicks and punches with their
foes. "Minna," she uttered quietly.
"LUNA CROWN MAGIC!!!"
The senshi of the moon barely had time to turn and see the incoming
attack...
And to see the red rose that flew through the center of it and held the
crown in place until it stopped spinning. "You may resemble our
beautiful sailor suited soldiers of love and justice, but it is obvious
that you know nothing of being a true warrior or of honor." Tuxedo
Kamen turned to Sailor Moon. "I think it's time to lighten up this old
Dark Kingdom. Wouldn't you say so, Sailor Moon?"
Sailor Moon nodded in response and pulled out the Moon Stick. "MOON
HEALING ESCALATION!!!"
"LUNA DAMAGING ACTIVATION!!!" Sailor Luna retaliated.
The two attacks met and cancelled each other out with no effect on
either girl.
Sailor Moon took a moment to again scan the battlefield. Everything
looked to be even, but it seemed like the Sailor Team was slowly gaining
the upper hand thanks to the help of the two protectors, even if the
harsh battle was starting to take its toll on them as well. "Take a
look around," she shouted to Sailor Luna. "You can't win. Please just
surrender! We don't have to fight each other!"
Sailor Luna's eyes took on a look of rage at that suggestion. "Give
up?!?! Do you really expect me to admit defeat to someone like you?!
NEVER!!!" She dove for her headpiece where it lay on the ground with
Tuxedo Kamen's rose still through its center. "LUNA CROWN MAGIC!!!"
"MOON TIARA ACTION!!!" Sailor Moon returned.
"POETIC MELODY!!!" Apollo joined in after overpowering Sailor Helios
with the aid of the Starlight Knight.
"SUPREME THUNDER!!!" Sailor Jupiter added as she broke away from Zeus.
"SHABON SPRAY!!!" Mercury added between dodges.
"CRESCENT BEAM!!!" called Venus as she momentarily stunned Aphrodite.
Sailor Mars noticed everyone powering up the tiara and immediately broke
away from Sailor Ares. "FIRE SOUL!!!"
The empowered tiara left Sailor Moon's hand and passed through Sailor
Luna's crown splitting it into two pieces and rendering it useless. The
dark senshi of Luna evaded the attack as it passed and, seeing it return
for a second attempt which it most likely would not miss, called to her
followers. "We go for now! This battle is already lost." She faced
Sailor Moon. "I surrender nothing, Moon Child! We shall merely regroup
and regain our strength. Rest assured that should you ever return to
the Dark Kingdom, we will be waiting for you."
Sailor Moon and her senshi watched as the Dark Team vanished much as
they had appeared, into the deep shadows.
"Do you think she meant that?" Sailor Moon asked no one in particular.
Ceres stepped out from a hollow tree trunk followed soon by Luna and
Artemis. "I guarantee you have not seen the last of the Dark Senshi.
That much I can see," the siamese replied.
"Come on!" shouted Mars. "Lets get Jadeite and get him home before they
change their minds and come back for more!"
Everyone headed into the temple except Sailor Moon who stood staring at
the last spot Sailor Luna had been in for quite a while. "'Dark
Senshi'?" she uttered in a whisper.
***
"Thank the kami we've got you back," Rei said to Jadeite (or more
appropriately 'Jay Daitou' as he chose for a human name) later that
evening at the Hikawa Shrine. "The battle we had to go through on the
way to get you was almost unbearable!"
"I have heard a little of the Dark Team," Jay spoke quietly in thought.
"But I don't know enough about them to offer any ground-breaking
strategy."
"I understand that," replied Rei. "I'm just glad we have an extra
protector now." {I just hope that everything works out with reviving
the others,} she added silently.
________________________________________
Well, the next story arc begins, and the Sailor Team has a new enemy.
Will the one extra protector be enough if they have to meet up with the
Dark Team again? This does it for my revisions (at this time at least),
I should have the all new chapter 7 posted tomorrow (well, actually that
would be today now). Anyways, as always, all C&Cs/MSTs/etc. are welcome
& appreciated. Thank you all for reading!
Akihiro
TendouNabiki@webtv.net
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