Title: Sailor Moon: Light and Darkness; Volume I: The Chosen, Part 1: Questions
Author: David Kogan
Author's Address: 74367.2552@compuserve.com 
Editor: Samah Sohrab


First, disclaimers:

Sailor Moon and all associated symbols, characters, etc.. are owned, trademarked,
and heavily merchandised by large companies which I do not want to sue me for copyright
infringements.  :-) This is a piece of fan fiction, and all Sailor Moon stuff is not mine.  Anything else I might have accidentally (or purposefully) stolen from anyone is also not mine.

Where was I? Oh, yes, this story, however, was written by me, David Kogan, and
is mine, mine, mine, and mine alone. You are welcome to distribute it in printed form to friends (or, if you don't like it, enemies) as much as you want. Also, if you want to post this on the net anywhere let me know 74367.2552@compuserve.com before you do it.

Once more, this is a piece of fiction.  All characters are fictional , which means
that any resemblance to real people is accidental, (or is purposeful but then not necessarily
true).

For those of you who have never read the series, be advised.  This is part one of a three part story, the other parts every bit as large as this one.  They are pretty well written (in my opinion), very well written (in some people's opinion), and no comment (other other people :-) ).  Anyway, I think it's not too bad, especially now that it's revised.  Also, you might have noticed that it is also volume one of a larger series, but you don't have to worry about that because the other volumes, and there will almost certainly be at least one, are still in the earliest stages of development.  I assure you that The Chosen is a self contained story.  For that matter, parts one and two together make a self contained story as well, just one that isn't quite as.. final.

For those of you who have read, or tried to read this before, there is good news.  The good news is that I have revised this fic substancially, and had Samah Sohrab edit it for errors (so blame him for any :-) ), so it should be better.  I had been horrified when I reread this part, because of the number of mistakes, now it should be much better.  I've also reformatted it, by the way, and no, it is not fifty pages longer, it just seems that way because of the lines between every paragraph.
I hope you enjoy.

I have taken somewhat of a poetic license on the Sailor Moon story line, and I do not guarantee (in fact, I doubt) that I will ever return to it.  This story takes over after the Alan/Ann episodes and changes well..... everything, basically, from there.  Basically, though I suppose you could just read this without any knowledge of Sailor Moon, I would not recommend it.

If you have a problem with any of the above, you are welcome to stop reading now
:-).  Otherwise, good luck.


Sailor Moon: Light and Darkness
Volume I: The Chosen
by David N Kogan



*Prologue*

    In a darkened room, a single person sat, observing the battle.  The 
four scouts were practically helpless before the Gloom and Doom girls, 
there was no way they would survive.  He knew that, and yet he hoped, 
even as they were taken.  Lita went first, destroyed, gone forever. Or 
perhaps not.  He was not sure, but there still seemed a chance.  
Guardian certainly thought so, but even he made mistakes, every once 
in a while.  His experience was vast, but even he did not know 
everything.  Still, even if the scouts were doomed to failure, there 
was nothing he could do help them.  At least, nothing that he was 
allowed to do.  This was their fight. And so he sat, silently watching 
the battle, hoping the scouts would win, and yet knowing that even if 
they did, four of them would not survive.  That was written, and no 
one could ever change that. Yet one destiny can not interfere with 
another, and so at least one of the four must survive.  And the moon 
princess must survive, at least until the final confrontation.  Four of 
the five must die, yet two must survive.  It did not make much sense.  

He sighed.  Destiny rarely did.

As the second scout, Mercury, was taken, the figure remained still.  Only a
flicker in his eyes might have betrayed any feeling toward the people he
watched being destroyed.  A globe of shimmering light appeared over his
shoulder.

<There is nothing you can do.>

"I could help them"

<You know that is impossible.  If you move before the time, you would be
destroying the very things you are trying to preserve.>

"I know.  And I also know what will happen if I do not help them."

<Destiny can not be changed.  She will survive.>

"Destiny also says that she will die.  It has to be one or the other."

<We have discussed this before.  The Imperium Silver Crystal holds powers
that even I do not know. That no one knows.  It can alter destinies, and with
it in play there is no telling what will happen.>

"In other words, you do not know."

The voice seemed to sigh. <I am not omniscient.It paused, then continued
hopefully. <Do you really want to keep witnessing this?  You can just tune
out, let it happen, and you will never know if...>

"I will know.  In fact, I do know what will happen next.  I keep telling
myself that there is nothing I can do, yet..."

The third scout, Mina died.  This time, the figure flinched visibly.  
A feeling of grief passed over his face, but was washed away by the 
previous mask of passivity.

<There was nothing you could have done.>

"I can only hope that you were right."  His voice came out differently, 
tight in a way that contrasted with the previous, more relaxed speech.  
"I only hope you were right."  It sounded like a prayer.

Far away, the battle raged on.  Mars, the last scout, was killed and only
Sailor Moon remained.  The way the Princess pulled herself together 
would have amazed anyone who knew her.  Almost anyone, the figure 
thought to himself.  For a split second the corners of his mouth went 
up a bit, as if he was expecting this.

"She has a chance."

<You know she does.  That is her destiny, and she will fulfill it in
the end.>

"What about Prince Darian?"

<He is not completely taken with the dark side.  There is good in him yet,
you observed it several times before.>

"Yes, but will he turn?  Everyone has good and evil inside of them, not
everyone can control it."

<The->

The man seemed to expect a protest, not letting the light finish. "All
right, almost everyone.  This is not the time to discuss Him.  Will 
Tuxedo Mask break free of the bonds laid on his mind?"

Before the light could respond, Sailor Moon tried to heal Darian with her
wand.

The man sighed a little at this, watching the wand fail. "She is not a 
princess yet.  I thought she was supposed to recover all of her memory 
before the final conflict.  She should know the Moon Wand will not heal 
him, it is not that kind of healing.  Only..."

He was interrupted, as, with her last wisp of courage, Serena smashed 
her Tiara into her true love at point blank range.  He collapsed to the 
ground, then started to pick himself up.

"The locket, damn it, use the locket."  The man clenched his fists, hoping
against all possibility that she would hear him. 

And she used it, as if heeding his distant command.  For the first time since
his capture, Prince Darian was free.  Seeing Beryl's attack, he saved his
Princess with a rose, red as it should be and collapsed.  He had found peace,
and that was enough.

<So the final battle begins.   The final battle between those two.> The
globe of light amended, as if the final battle had greater meaning to
it.

"You <had to be right about the crystal.  Are we shielded against
temporal waves?"

<We have been planning for these events for centuries.  Do you think I 
would forget?>

"You never seemed prone toward forgetfulness, but anything is 
possible. I hope we need that protection.  They begin.  Is there 
nothing we can do?"  Suddenly, the man picked himself up, as if 
listening to a sound from far away. "Wait!  Do you feel it?"

<Yes. He>, the light emphasized the pronoun,< is trying to block off the
other scouts.  They cannot help the princess.>

"Why would He use his energy in that manner?"  The answer was obvious. "Of
course!  If he stops them, the Princess will lose and I will never...  The
world will be ruled by Queen Beryl."

<You must stop Him.  Or, rather, you must help the scouts find their 
leader. She needs them, go! Now!>


"Where... Where are we?"

"What is this place?"

"Are we dead?"

"I'd be surprised if we aren't.  That ditz Serena, can she ever do 
something right for a change?"  The speaker was annoyed, a feeling that 
seemed to come naturally.

"Well, nice to see all of us are here."  

A more rational voice spoke up. "There <hasto be a logical explanation
for this.  We must be in some other dimension or time str.." Another voice
interrupted her.

"Can you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"She is calling us.  It's her, Serena!  Don't you understand, she 
needs our help!"

"We have to go to her."

"We cannot, there is something blocking our way."

"It's.... it's some sort of wall, but..."

"It's not real, there is nothing physical here."

"We aren't particularly physical at the moment either... Wait, there's
something else.."

<You must go to her.  She needs you.>

"Did you guys hear that or am I getting totally zoned out like Serena?"

"I heard it, but how can we go... oh!... The wall.... It's gone..."

"It seems to me that it's only been moved away from our present 
locale.  If we try to go at different vectors to..."

"Shut up and let's move.  Serena needs us!"



In the darkened chamber, the man opened his eyes.

"I did it, they are coming."

<Hopefully they will be there in time.  I told you that destiny can not be
rewritten.  They are alive.>

"Not in any reversible way."

<Not in any way that *you* can reverse.  The crystal might not be as
powerful as you are, but it has different types of power.>

"She is winning."

<Even Beryl cannot stand against all the scouts at once.  Not after wasting
all of that energy on Darian.>

"You are right, she will be beaten."  Both human and guardian fell 
silent for a few moments, the amount of time it took for the Princess 
to create a blast with the help of the crystal and her friends.

"Now it comes."

They observed as Beryl was destroyed by the enormous shockwave from the
crystal.  

As were the scouts.

The man sighed, his eyes flickering with hidden emotions as his head 
lowered a little. "Now what?  I thought you said-"

<Patience.  I thought that was something you learned over time.>

The scouts were destroyed, but the crystal was not.  And perhaps, 
neither was the princess.  From the left over energy of the explosion, 
a different shockwave emerged.  As it went, it rearranged space and 
time as its wielder chose.  Except that there was no wielder, at least 
none that could be felt. All of the scouts have been destroyed, as was 
Beryl and a good portion of the Negaverse.

"What is it?"

<It is a temporal distortion wave of unknown power.  It is rearranging->
The voice paused, unsure, then regained strength. <It is changing
everything.  Every person, every thing is being set back to... where 
they were exactly one year ago.  They have no memories, or at least, 
only vague memories of who they were.  Feelings seem to have been left 
alone though. I detect several people who have feelings for a person 
they do not know.>

"What about the scouts?"

<Can you not feel it yourself?>

"Yes... They are alive, though unaware of their destiny."

<That destiny also says that they will remember, and soon. Something else
about... Aliens?  Ali Ans?.. I'm not sure, but they will remember.>

"And?"  The man spoke up again, waiting for the end.

<She's alive with the rest of them.  I do not believe they remember 
you, the memory suppression technique was enforced after the prediction 
of this had been made, and it was built to cope with this sort of 
thing.  Everything is back to where it was a year ago.>

"Including Queen Beryl?"  A touch of sarcasm entered the man's voice, 
as if he were trying to hide a deeper and more profound relief.

The globe of light seemed to sigh a little in annoyance.  <No, she is
gone, there is no way to bring her back.  But the scouts, everyone who 
died in the universe is back.  The Negaverse is unchanged... except...  
I was right.>

"The wave has closed the gap." It was not a question.

<Yes.  The bubble between the universes is much larger now, it is developing
into a rift.  Large enough for Him to come through.>

"So it begins."

*	*	*

Historian's note:  Most of the things described are taking place after
the Alan/Ann episodes of Sailor Moon R, but before the attack of the Negamoon.
All events following the Alan/Ann episodes did not happen, being pre-empted by
this new storyline.  If you have some opposition to that, you are welcome to
stop reading now.
At some point I may turn the story back to the original time line, but I would
not bet on it.

*	*	*



The Chosen, Part I: Questions




"Damn, what the hell *is* this thing?" Exclaimed a very frustrated Rei.
"Sailor Moon, why doesn't your scepter work against it?  Can't you do
*anything* right?"
Sailor Moon, still shocked at the failure of her weapon did not take the
question lightly. "Why are you always so *mean to me*?  You *saw* me
do it, I did everything right, it just didn't work!"  The disbelief 
was evident in her tone.

The monster was a complete surprise. The scouts had just recovered 
from the Alan and Ann business and Darian's return and were returning 
to their normal lives, slowly adjusting to not fighting all the time.  
Thinking that they had stopped evil again, none expected an attack so 
soon.  So the two cats had absolutely no idea what was going on, when 
the scouts, walking down the street, felt an evil presence not far from 
them.  A nearby explosion confirmed that something was up, and they 
rushed toward the sound.

The monster was pretty imposing, mostly because of what was not there. 
It stood about twice as tall as a human, which was slightly higher than 
average for evil creatures. What was unusual was that very little of 
those twelve feet seemed to have any substance to it.  It did not seem 
solid, more like a darkening of the air in a certain area, a shadow 
blocking things behind it.

Other than its darkness, which added an evil mystery to the thing, the 
creature looked almost harmless, at least compared to the average 
enemy  It seemed to have no claws or imposing teeth, and the explosion 
they heard was only indirectly caused by it, a car that was spooked by 
the form and smashed into a telephone post.  The driver's side door was 
open and there was no one inside the burning vehicle. That was lucky 
for the person who managed to escape and for the scouts who did not 
need someone burning alive to distract them.

The reaction of the team to the creature differed. Sailor Mercury looked
puzzled for some reason, her visor down and one hand typing quickly on her
computer.  Strangely, the expression on Mars's face was very similar, 
as if she was getting strange vibes from the monster.  Sailor Jupiter, 
bored for the last week, was looking forward to a good challenge, 
confident she could trash this thing.  To an extent, the emotions of 
the green scout were reflected in the Princess, who was still cocky 
because of her success with the Doom Tree.  Mina had a strange look on 
her face, but she wasn't looking at the creature, rather, she was 
observing Artemis seeing it.

The cat seemed to recognize it for a moment, a troubled expression 
passing over his feline face as soon as he saw it.  She had never found 
out just how much Artemis remembered, but whatever it was he was 
thinking about, his white fur was standing straight up.

Luna, on the other hand, seemed completely oblivious to her partner's 
problems. Consumed with the coming battle, she kept her quiet cool. 
"You had better transform, scouts, there's nobody around to see you. 
And be careful." She added, concerned for their safety in a way they 
had all gotten used to.

Serena, especially, did not worry, and tried to assure her guardian 
that they would be all right. "Yeah, yeah, Luna, we can handle it.  You 
saw how we toasted  that last monste..."

"Get to it already... Mars Star Power!" 

Rings of fire gathered around the red scout, changing her from her ordinary
identity into Sailor Mars.  Her transformation was followed with varying
degrees of speed by the rest of the scouts.

"Jupiter Star Power!"  Bolts of lightning surrounded Lita.

"Mercury Star Power!" Bands of blue gathered around the blue scouts.

"Venus Star Power!" Energy whirled to Mina.

"Well, what are you waiting for?"

Serena glared at Rei, but went on with her transformation. "Yeah, yeah, 
Moon Crystal Power."

The scouts, finally having transformed, confronted the creature which 
did not seem to have any fear of the five sailor clad figures.  Then 
again, the scouts thought to themselves, that was normal for Negatrash, 
at first.  It always took a while for a monster to begin to respect the 
warriors, usually as long as it took the scouts to defeat them.

"I am Sailor Mars, and on behalf of..."

"Hey, it's my right to go first, since I'm leader..."

Ami let out a sigh of frustration. "Can you two ever stop fighting?  I'm
scanning this thing now."  She paused for a few moments, then looked up.
"That's strange."

"What is it?"  Lita had the answer to any monster. "A little lightning
will..."

"I'm not so sure it will do anything," Mercury interrupted.  The 
others looked at her with surprise since interrupting someone was 
definitely not her style. The information would have to be pretty bad 
for her to change so drastically. "There doesn't seem to be anything 
there... Just a large concentration of evil power."

"What do you mean, there's nothing there, it has to be <something>, I
mean-"

What Sailor Venus meant was not to be found out, for the monster chose 
that moment to attack.  With a tentacle that seemed to grow out of the 
monster as it grabbed, the dark shape snatched Sailor Mars up in an 
unbreakable grip.

"Seems pretty solid to me, now can someone get me out of here?!"  The 
red scout twisted ineffectively in the grasp of the creature, trying to 
do something.

"Are you all right?  I'm still not reading any physical substance there?"

"I'm fine, but this thing is freezing...   Can someone help already?"

Lita was never one to refuse an invitation. "You got it!  Jupiter
Thunderbolt... Zap!"

A ball of lightning left Jupiter on a direct course for the tentacle, tiny
tendrils of electricity protruding from it.  Everyone froze, waiting 
for the monster to move out of the, but it did not.  It actually seemed 
to stop moving, purposefully leaving its limb in the path of the deadly 
bolt.  The ball of energy struck the skin, penetrating inside.

And continued on through, as if nothing was there!  It passed all the way
through the darkened area of the air and demolished a parked car on 
the other side of the monster.

Lita's jaw hung open at her unintended destruction. "What... I don't
undereeeee... get off me you ugly thing!"  For the monster had 
extended another tentacle to grab the green scout.  The other scouts, 
momentarily stunned by the ineffectiveness of the lightning bolt, 
regained control over themselves.

Mercury continued to tap out a complicated pattern on the keyboard of her
computer.  She dodged a tentacle, jumping aside without missing a key, 
then frowned. "I don't believe anything can hurt this- for lack of a 
better name, this *thing*.  There is simply nothing to hurt!"

"Then what's holding me?!" screamed a rather outraged Jupiter.

"I think we should give it a try, don't you, Mercury?", inquired Venus,
slightly annoyed by her friends pessimistic attitude.

"All right, but I don't think it will do any good...  Mercury Ice 
Bubbles... Freeze!"

"Venus Meteor Shower!"

A cloud formed around the monster, freezing the air close to it, but the
temperature drop that would have killed a polar bear went unheeded.  A 
second later, a large number of energy blasts passed through the icy 
cloud, only to smash away half a building on the other side of the 
monster.  Without missing a beat, the creature snared Mercury, 
apparently deciding the blue scout was becoming a nuisance.

Serena stepped back a little. "Whaaaaa!... all your powers didn't do 
anything.. what am I going to dooooo?"

"You might try using the scepter," suggested a rather snide Mars, hanging
upside down.

"Can it, Mars, don't tell me what to do..."

"Just DO it already!," Luna was beginning to get worried.

"All right, all right, here goes.. Moon Scepter Elimination!"

The most powerful weapon of the scouts went into action, a beam of energy
powered by the Imperium Silver Crystal, enhanced and channeled by the 
gift of Queen Serenity. The blast shot straight toward the creature's 
middle- and passed through without leaving a mark.  After the dust 
settled, Serena realized she had finished the destruction of the 
building that had been damaged by Mina.

Another tentacle grabbed on to the princess.

"Damn, what the hell *is* this thing?," exclaimed a very frustrated Rei.
"Sailor Moon, why doesn't your scepter work against it?  Can't you do
*anything* right?"

Sailor Moon, still shocked at the failure of her weapon did not take the
questioning of her abilities lightly. "Why are you always so *mean to me*?
You *saw* me do it, I did everything right, it just didn't work!"  The
disbelief was evident in her tone.

The sailors started to freeze, the monster draining their energy 
through the icy grips.  Mina watched helplessly, preparing to use her 
power, but knowing it to be futile.

And a red rose went plummeting toward tentacle holding Sailor Moon.

"*I* am Tuxedo Mask, and if you want the scouts, you are going to have to
go through *me* first!"

"My hero!" Serena's eyes tracked the black suited figure that appeared on top
of a lamp post.

Then the group's spirits fell again as the rose went through the 
tentacle and embedded itself in the pavement.  Something vaguely 
resembling a laugh came form the creature, the first sound the creature 
made during the fight.  A tentacle shot out, encircling Tuxedo Mask.  
He tried to resist, attacking it with his cane, but the black staff, 
too, passed through the tentacle without resistance.  The creature 
continued to make the strange laugh as it extended another tentacle for 
the last of the scouts and their two cats.

Luna and Artemis jumped out of the way, trying to avoid the creature, then
leaped for its center, hoping their claws would have some luck.  The 
two cats passed through the creature's skin without resistance, then 
stopped for some reason, remaining motionless, floating in the center 
of the monster's chest.

"Venus, DO something!," Serena yelled as the last scout dodged a tentacle.

The orange scout avoided the black pseudopods desperately as they fought for
her capture. "I don't know what to do, I...  who's that?"

"Where?"

A solitary man was standing slightly to the side of the action, watching
quietly.  No one had seen him arrive, but he had definitely not been 
there when the fight began.  He watched calmly, patiently.  There was 
nothing particularly out of the ordinary about him, other than his 
black outfit and his calmness.

Dark brown, almost black hair stirred a bit in the wind as he observed 
the fight.  His face seemed calm, but it was difficult to distinguish 
features because of a shadow that seemed to fall on it from nowhere, 
hiding it.  The creature, seeing a new and undefined threat, moved away 
as the man suddenly started to approach.  Reaching the embedded rose, 
he bent smoothly and picked it up, easily jerking the red flower out of 
the concrete.

"Impossible," breathed Darian from his position in midair.  He moved 
his cape out of the way of his eyes in order to see better, wishing for 
once that he had a more useful outfit. "No one should be able to 
extract my rose that easily. It's imp-"  Before finishing, his brow 
furred as if he was remembering something, then he shook his head. 
"No, it's impossible, he repeated."

Meanwhile, ignoring the impossibility of pulling the rose out, the man 
brought it to his nose.  He breathed in deeply, savoring the smell then 
smiled, looking at Tuxedo Mask. The monster seemed to decide the man 
was simply crazy and posed no danger, so it returned to the business 
at hand.  It moved back a little, and extended a pseudopod toward 
Sailor Venus.  Distracted by the man, she did not anticipate the attack 
and the black pseudopod touched her leg.  She screamed as she jerked 
herself away from the dark extension, but it was too late.  It grasped on.

The man in black seemed to concentrate.  Mars's eyes stared at the 
hand holding the rose as she felt a power growing there.  After a 
moment, the other scouts, too, felt the strange energy.  Then the power 
suddenly leapt from the hand directly into the rose itself.  In an 
instant, the rose went from a deep, rich, red to a shining, glaring 
white.  Not the passive white of The Moonlight Knight's rose but 
rather the flaring white of the midday sun.

The creature tried to reexamine the situation, looking at the strange 
light, but did not seem to believe the man posed any danger.  It 
concentrated its attention on brining in the orange scout, shortening 
the pseudopod.  Sailor Venus tried to use her powers but they did not 
work.  She suddenly felt completely drained of all energy, the tentacle 
seemed to suck the very life from her bones.  She looked for help from 
the black figure, but he did not move, though his arm flinched a bit.

Then Mina was hoisted into the air, upside down. She screamed as she 
tried to wrench free and suddenly, then stranger moved.  As if in 
automatic reaction to the orange scouts' scream, the man in black threw.

In one fluid motion, he accelerated the rose toward the monster, 
throwing it in a gentle ark.  To the scouts' surprise, it was not 
thrown as Tuxedo Mask would throw it, tip first to cut or spinning to 
make an impact. Rather, it flew as if the man was giving the monster a 
gift.  Startled at the bright light approaching it, the creature 
released Sailor Venus, dropping her on the pavement, and moved slightly 
to orient closer on the new man.

The rose continued on its trajectory smoothly, ignoring the monster as the
flower went through it.  But instead of going all the way through as 
everything else, the rose stopped.

The flower stopped in the middle of its ark in the center of the 
creature's midsection.  Ami frowned at this violation of physics as she 
understood them, but was in no position to object, hanging several feet 
up in the air.

For a second, nothing happened. Two cats, fours scouts, a princess, a 
prince and a monster concentrated their attention on the white flower.

The rose seemed to pulse, just once, and flared, blinding everyone 
watching with its light.

And the monster shrieked!  Releasing the scouts, it gathered all of the
tentacles inside of its main body.  On the outside, pieces of it began to
dissolve, drifting away like fog. At the same time the rose seemed to be
sucking up the dark matter, drawing it into the glaring white light.
Continuing to shriek in an inhuman, painful voice, the monster started to
shrink. Both cats dropped suddenly as the support around them 
dissolved. Within a minute, the monster was gone leaving a glaring 
white rose hovering in midair.

The Scouts, their guardians, and a confused man in a cape and top hat 
watched the rose silently. When it was first thrown, it was pure white, 
now the substance, the evil of the creature seemed embedded within it 
and a battle raged within the fragile flower.  The white and black 
forces mixed,  sparred, conquered each other, took over petals and lost 
ground. The fight might have gone on for seconds or minutes or even 
hours. The audience of the strange spectacle lost track of time, 
entranced by the kaleidoscopic activity.  The black figure, watching 
silently, smiled and faded into the shadows from which he came.  

In the rose, the fight continued.  The white light seemed powerful, 
but the black force was springy, tough and did not want to give up.  It 
spread out, concentrated and leaped around, avoiding its nemesis and 
striking back.

But the white prevailed and dominated, wiping the black stains off the 
flower, cleaning every petal of to evil it contained.

For a few seconds, the rose continued to emit white like a banner of 
victory. Then, between one heartbeat and the next, it returned to a 
deep red and dropped, embedding itself once more in the ground.

After several seconds of silence, the scouts gathered around the rose in a
circle, staring at it.  Slowly, Tuxedo Mask bent down to pick it up.  He
brought it up to his face, smelling it cautiously.

"Seems.."  He paused, surprised. "Seems normal.  Like nothing happened."
Darian suddenly got the idea that all he had seen was a hallucination. 
"You *did* see that, didn't you?  The rose and.."  He was stopped by a 
chorus of affirmatives.

"Then I'm *not* going crazy," he stated, with some doubt. He turned to his
true love. "Meatball head, you know what's going on?"  Serena shook 
her head.  Though she was theoretically the leader of the scouts, she 
was as much in the dark as everyone else. As usual in times when she 
needed information, she turned to the blue scout. "Ami?"

Mercury seemed embarrassed as she tapped something out on her 
computer.  She retained it in the fight somehow, but it did not seem 
particularly helpful. "I never got a chance to scan the rose, or the 
strange guy.  Seems kind of strange of me, but I was totally taken up 
by that show with the rose."

"Say, where is he?"  Lita was the first one to notice the dark man's 
absence. "While everyone's attention was on the rose, he seemed to have 
disappeared." The scouts suddenly became aware of the deserted street 
around them.  In the distance, police sirens approached slowly and the 
scouts exchanged a glance. Picking up the cats, the group leapt on top 
of a building, concealing themselves on the roof.

Once they were more or less safe, Luna became aware of a strange 
expression on the orange scout's face. "Mina, what is it?"  The orange 
scout seemed hesitant to answer the question.

"Artemis, is he the same one that..."  Artemis did not reply, so she 
continued, "I think that.."

*	*	*

"Artemis, I'm telling you, nothing is going to happen here.  Why would the
Negaverse be interested in a TV broadcast station?  I suppose there is 
energy going through it, but it is not the kind of energy these things 
seem to want, not *human* energy.  And if they wanted electricity, 
would they not go after a power station or something like that?"

In the distance, a large clock rang twelve times before quieting.

"Great, it's midnight, according to old Ben.  What am I going to tell 
my folks anyway?"

"You'll figure something out.  And I'll use the hypnosis if I need 
to."  Mina knew how much the white cat hated to use his mind powers.  
If Artemis was willing to use them, then he must be really worried. 
"I'm telling you, there is going to be an attack tonight," the white 
cat continued. "And a very dangerous one, if my feeling is correct."

"It's freezing out here.  If I knew I would have to wait this long, I 
would have never changed.  This uniform is not exactly warm, you know."

"Shows off your best attributes though," this time, the cat's voice 
was smug.  Then he yiped as he dodged Sailor V's swift answering kick. 
After she stopped chasing him around the base of the tower, he 
continued. "I think I might know why the Negaverse is after this tower."

"*Might be* after this tower.  So tell me, before I freeze to death. Or
decide to kill you and use your fur as a scarf."

The white cat pretended shock before replying. "Sight is one of the 
seven major senses a person has."

"Five," Mina corrected immediately.

"Seven," the cat answered with a sigh.

"Five: Sight, Hearing, Touch, Smell, Taste.  Maybe intuition is 
another, but that's at most six."

"Who are you going to believe, me, or your biology teacher?"

"My biology teacher, of course." She smiled.

"I have about..." the cat paused as a troubled expression crossed over his
face. "I have a lot more experience," he finished, somewhat lamely.

That reminded Mina of something. "Just how much more experience have 
you had?  How old *are* you, Artemis?  You've always avoided this 
question before, but now there are no distractions."

Fortunately for Artemis, she was proven wrong as a nearby explosion 
deafened them.  Though she could not hear too well with her head 
ringing, Mina could have sworn the cat muttered "Saved by the boom."

As their ears cleared, Artemis threw Mina an "I told you so" look as they
turned toward the source of the explosion.  It was a tiny tear in the 
scenery, like a portal between two places, only too small for anything 
major to come through.  The two had seen this sort of thing before, the 
tear grew slowly, but soon it would grow large enough for a creature to 
come through.  Wind rushed through the hole to the other side.  That, 
too, was normal. Apparently, the air pressure in the Negaverse was 
generally less than that of Earth.

"Before we have to fight, what were you saying about sight?"

Trying to overcome the noise of the wind made the cat's voice sound 
desperate in some way. "Just that the Negaverse might have contrived a 
television show that would drain the energy of anyone who watched it."

"But this is the largest station in the vicinity, thousands of people 
might be affected!"

"That's why we have to stop it." He was yelling now.  The hole had 
become large enough.  Something was coming through, something large, 
and definitely unfriendly. "Here we go!"


The something was decidedly ugly.  It was somewhat catlike, standing 
two meters high, covered with a dark fur that concealed mostly 
everything. It did part to reveal razor sharp claws on each of the four 
fingers of each of the six arms. That and two flexible tentacles coming 
from the back that were tipped with yellowish spheres.

The monster looked around with eyes like red portals to hell, then 
proceeded to the antenna.  Sailor V and Artemis, hidden in the shade, 
escaped detection.

"Now what?"  The voice was barely a whisper yet the monster looked 
searchingly in her direction.

"Careful," replied Artemis in an even quieter tone. "That thing has 
very good senses except for eyesight." Mina was always amazed at the 
information the cat seemed to come up with from nowhere. The monster 
proceeded to climb the antenna, easily swinging from one metal support 
to the next. "Seems quite agile, too.  Well, better do something, that 
box under its arm seems like some sort of controlling device."  He was 
right, there was some sort of electronic gadget under one of the 
creature's numerous arms.

Mina came out of her hiding place. "I am Sailor V, the champion of 
aaaaa" she screamed as she dodged an energy bolt one of the tentacles 
fired as soon as she started speaking.

"Well, if you want to play it like that... Venus Crescent Beam... 
Smash!"  The beam shot out- and smashed into a steel pillar the monster 
hid behind.  The steel support strut got a bit scorched, but the 
creature continued up.

"You have to follow it up there, or it will dodge every bolt.  I think we
should have attacked it here, on the ground, with six arms it'll have the
advantage of you," Artemis continued, ignoring Mina's shock at 
climbing the structure. "Hindsight is wonderful.  Now go, I can't climb 
that thing myself."

Mina gulped, nodded, and grabbed onto the lowest beam.

"Good luck." Artemis sounded worried, she noticed.  Then again, she told
herself, he *always* seemed worried for her.

Being a scout does help on certain occasions, she thought to herself 
as she started up.  Leaping from beam to beam like she was doing was an 
impossible task for a human. Not, however, very hard for a champion 
of-  She almost lost her balance as she had to dodge another blast form 
the monster.  She *did* lose her chain of thought, and started worrying 
instead.  Being a scout did not protect her from smashing to death as 
she would do if she fell.  And it would not save her from being fried 
by an energy beam.  Her breathing sped up as did her pulse, but she 
told herself to remain calm. She looked up, not moving, and saw the 
monster.  It seemed relaxed as it hung there, the two blast tentacles 
pointing down, legs wrapped around a steel beam, one arm on another 
beam and five concentrating on hooking the gadget to the center of the 
antenna.  For a second, the feline looked down, but eyesight did not 
seem to be its strong point.  Mina hoped that if she made no sounds the 
monster could not locate her.

OK... now to get up there... quietly. She thought to herself, trying 
to calm down again.  She began slowly climbing.  She glanced down 
accidentally, something she had tried to avoid, but it happened.  The 
height made her dead spin for a moment and her palms under the white 
material became covered with a sheen of sweat.  Thanking what powers 
there may be for gloves, she tried to continue up.

Unfortunately, the glance down was considerably more nasty than she had
thought, disorienting her.  When she tried to go up, her orientation 
failed her and she pulled the wrong way-

And slipped!

An involuntary scream ripped out of her throat as she fell.  Grasping out
wildly with both hands, she managed to catch onto next beam down.

The monster did not seem like one to pass up an good opportunity. A split
moment after her scream, two beams of energy slammed into the metal 
strut where she had been.  And the blast illuminated her enough for the 
monster's eyes to see her!

Mina dodged frantically as blast after blast went past her.  She was 
too close to dodge, and the creature too maneuverable for her to hide 
from.  And she was hanging with her hands from a steel strut.  
Frantically, she scrambled up, managing to get up onto the steel beam 
to which she was holding on, and attacked.  

"Venus Crescent Beam... "  For a moment, she thought she had it, there was
nowhere for the monster to hide this time. "Smash!"

But at the last moment, a blast hit her shoulder.  It slammed her 
backwards, knocking her attack far off the target, never even getting 
close to the monster. But that was not the worst part.

The blast knocked her backwards- into the night.  Completely off 
balance, she grasped for something, anything to stop her fall, grabbing 
handfuls of air as she tumbled into the darkness.

She felt the scream tear out of her, a primal fear of death as she fell!

She was falling too far from the antenna to grab hold of it, and too 
far above the cement roof of the building to survive.  Closing her eyes 
she hoped Artemis would forgive her for failing, which seemed a 
ludicrous thing to think about under the circumstances.  Below, a white 
cat watched with horror as the most important person in his life 
plummeted to her death.  There was nothing he could do.  The monster 
above cackled as he watched the fall, then went back to its business as 
she disappeared from his limited eyesight into the night. Mina could 
almost fell the ground approaching her back.  With strange clarity she 
noted that her life was not passing in front of her eyes as it should 
have been according to folklore. The ground grew nearer.

The next thing she felt was a horrible jerking feeling.  So that's 
what death feels like, she thought to herself.  

Then she realized that the jerk came from her foot.  Slowly, she 
unscrewed her eyes.  Over her head, something large and gray hung, 
swinging back and forth. It seemed out of focus, and she wondered what 
it was.

Then she realized that she was upside down and the gray was the cement 
roof of the radio station.  For a moment, her brain pondered what to do 
with this information, then decided that it might be a good idea to 
check what was holding her.

She tried to look up, a sharp pain in her neck warning her to use slow
movements. Squinting, she tried to make something out in the foggy 
night, but only saw a dark figure leaning out of the antenna.  She felt 
herself being drawn up, and in to the safety of steel. Gratefully she 
grasped on to a strut, turning herself over.

A disembodied voice came out of the darkness. "Do not despair.  It is 
not the time yet." It had a strange undertone, but was pleasant.  At 
least what she could hear through the ringing in her ears.

Shaking her head to clear her vision, she tried to make out more of 
the figure but the more she concentrated, the less she saw.  The figure 
seemed to fade into the black foggy night, disappearing without a trace.

Mina stared into the empty night where he disappeared for a few 
moments. <Do not despair.> She looked up and resumed her climb.
 


"I sneaked up to the creature, and blasted it.  It never expected it, 
assuming that I was dead, which I suppose was a pretty good 
assumption.  I managed to destroy the gadget as well, and I made it 
back in one piece."  Mina paused in her story, looking earnestly at the 
scouts. "That guy... He saved me two more times during my time in 
England, and-"  She did not finish her sentiment, changing the subject. 
" I never saw him, not really.  But he did seem a lot like the guy who 
was just here.  Artemis, you know any more about him?"

The cat looked strangely at her as he answered. "I was relieved that 
he was there, and could save you.  I do not know what I would have done 
if you had died."  No one seemed to notice that Artemis never answered 
the question.

Ami, ever practical, had noted a discontinuity in the story. "Mina, 
what was that explosion thing when the portal appeared?  Normally, when 
a monster appears here, there is no warning."

"Oh, Artemis figured this out a while ago.  Probably, the Negaverse 
wanted to make several points of entry into this universe, but it 
turned out to be considerably more difficult than they thought it would 
be.  After finishing the one here, in Tokyo, they only managed a 
partial one it England.  As a result, they had to make sure the area 
they were transporting in was clear, destroying anything there already, 
so the monster would not materialize inside a building. Here, they can 
just check ahead of time.  That is also probably the reason they 
stopped using that portal."

Serena, deciding that she was getting left out, added her question. 
"What about the one in Greenland?"

Artemis answered her. "I'm not sure, but it probably took a lot of 
energy to make one that large and complete."

Darian brushed his hand through his hair, taking off the hat to do it. 
"Well, it's getting late, and I don't suppose anyone will have any 
answers for us tonight."  Suddenly everyone noticed that while they 
were fighting the creature, the sun had set.  It was dark now, city lit 
up with light. "See you around, scouts. See you tomorrow, meatball 
head."  He jumped off the roof on the opposite side of the police which 
had arrived during Mina's story.  Once down, he reverted to his normal 
identity, becoming just one more person on the streets.

"Wait! Er... see you later guys.." Grabbing Luna and waving good-bye, 
Serena followed him without mishap, astonishing the other scouts with 
her ability to walk in a straight line.

Lita sighed tiredly. "I don't suppose you have any more data, Ami?"

"I might, the computer automatically records anything strange, but 
it'll take me a while to get at it."

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow then.  You too, Rei, Mina. Bye."  
Sailor Jupiter leapt away into the night, leaving three scouts and a 
cat behind.

Ami turned to Rei.  At first, when she had met Sailor Mars, she 
mistrusted her mythical powers, but they had been proven enough times 
for the scientific genius to tentatively believe in them.  To an 
extent. "Well, Rei, what do you think?"

The raven headed girl shook her head, upset for some reason. "I don't know
about that guy.  I'll ask the sacred flame tomorrow. Bye." She, too, left.

Ami suddenly realized that she had yet to catch up on her Biology 
reading.  She was a mere nine chapters ahead ever since they had read 
that chapter in school. "I have to go," she murmured hastily.  "See you 
later, Mina," she tossed over her shoulder.

Mina smiled. "It's a vacation week, Ami, you don't *need* to study." Ami
looked at her with an expression approaching horror and the orange 
scout shook her head with a smile. "See you tomorrow."

Artemis stepped on her foot, a move designed to get attention. "Your 
parents will wonder why you are late.  Let's go."

Mina lingered for a while, trying to remember. "I... That guy.... he 
seems to remind me of someone... like a memory of another time.."

"It's just deja vu, let's go."  Mina almost though she heard a note of
discomfort at that rejection, but it was probably just her own 
imagination.

The two leapt across to another building, leaving the roof alone in the
night.

*	*	*

The man groaned slightly as he collapsed on the couch.  It immediately 
molded itself to the shape of his body, making him more comfortable.  
Not nearly as comfortable as it could be, the man thought to himself.  
Those portals needed a lot of work before they were *really* safe to 
use.  And they were one way, which meant he had to walk back.

<Was I right? The question was rhetorical, but the man answered
anyway.>

"Yes, He attacked them.  Damn it."

<You could not have done anything else. And you knew it was coming.>

"Of course not, but I still wish He had not found out that I am willing
to waste energy on saving them."

<You forget, He already knew. He was just making sure you haven't changed
over the past millennium.>

"And now He will use them to make the balance unequal again, as he tried
to last time."

<You know what you have to do.>

"All I *can* do now is wait."

<True. But not the whole truth, the voice seemed to suggest.>



Looking at the rose, he sat on the bed, drawing his breath slightly at
the pain.  The monster's grip had been rather tight and something was
definitely out of whack in the general vicinity of his ribcage. Not so 
much it wouldn't heal, but not pleasant either.  Pushing thoughts of 
physical discomfort out of his mind, he returned to the enigma at hand, 
staring at the small object in his hand. There was nothing out of the 
ordinary about his most potent weapon, it was the same color, the same 
size as usual.  It even smelled the same, he affirmed by breathing in 
its delicate aroma.  Yet somehow it was used to do something he did not 
understand.

Sighing at the dilemma, Darian lay back on the bed.  His usual clothes 
were rubbing on the sore ribs and the iciness of the creature's grip 
seemed to have penetrated him, chilling his very soul.  Usually the 
view out of the balcony calmed him, the fresh air let him think 
clearly, but he was sure it would not help him tonight.  Besides, I'm 
too tired to get up now, he thought as he closed his eyes.  Within 
moments, he was asleep, dreaming of Serena and their destiny, asleep in 
all his clothes with a single red rose lying on his chest.



Serena, too, was thinking of the strange events of the day, but her
lightheadedness did not let her concentrate on any one thing for 
long.  After she got chased away from her TV set by her parents with 
their unreasonable attitudes, she got into bed and was asleep faster 
than seemed possible for any human.  Luna sighed with frustration at 
the short attention span of the supposed leader of the sailor scouts as 
she tried to make herself comfortable at the foot of the bed.  The 
problem was Serena, who usually tossed all night and Luna ended up on 
the bottom all too often. The cat might have slept somewhere else, but 
duty required her to be close to Serena in case something should 
happen. Serena murmured something as she turned over, burying the black
cat under a mound of bed sheets.  It was going to be a long night, Luna 
thought to herself as she tried to avoid shredding the white fabric 
with her claws.



Ami was still awake, and very frustrated.  She was poring over the 
computer, getting nowhere fast.  There was absolutely no sensor data on 
the strange man, or the rose, which was strange since the computer had 
definitely been on at the time.  She had not been using her visor, but 
the computer should have gotten *something*.  It was almost as if the 
strange person was controlling the stupid thing, not letting her get 
any answers.  On the other hand, there was some data on the monster. 
She shivered remembering its grip, like slimy, freezing seaweed, then 
forced her mind back to what she had learned.  Enough information to 
point out a possible theory on what it was, but that theory was 
frightening.  She shivered again, then remembered something. With well 
practiced commands she sent the computer to look up a bit of 
information.  For a moment, her face brightened, then grew sober again 
as she examined the output.

She rubbed her eyes suddenly, making a mental decision, and threw the 
small computer on her night table.  In a minute, she was under the 
covers of her bed, within two minutes very little could have woken her up.



Rei was meditating in front of the sacred fire burning in her temple.  She
rarely slept, long training made meditation replace the normal 
functions of slumber..  There were some advantages to this alternate 
mode since she did not need any time to wake up and there were no 
problems with insomnia.  Usually. Now, however, the thoughts of the 
strange shape that came out of the night to help them kept the red 
scout from achieving the peace necessary to relax.  She had tried 
asking the flame for information about him, but it merely flared as
if about to give an answer, then quieted down, seemingly controlled by a
greater force.  For a moment, just before it was forced quiet, a shape
flickered in the center, but it was gone to soon to recognize.  Even 
with her training, she was not able to trace down the strange feeling 
that came over her when she saw the figure.  And when she asked for 
information about the monster... She shivered slightly as she tried to 
relax.  The image in the fire was even briefer, but on some 
subconscious level, it scared her worse that Queen Beryl ever had.  
Whoever sent that monster was a lot more evil, and more dangerous. 
Sighing, she tried to force herself to enter a deeper level of meditation.



Lita was asleep, dreaming of what she would have done to that creature 
if the guy had not shown up.  She would have beaten it up with her 
lightning, then would have mangled it with her fighting skills.  The 
dream took little interest in the impossibility of beating up something 
that had no physical substance, but it was pleasant anyway.  The girl 
smiled in her sleep as she turned over to her other side.



Artemis was brooding.  Next to him, Mina rested with the peace of the 
truly innocent, falling asleep soon after going to bed.  He, on the 
other hand, had troubles that did not let him enter a peaceful dream 
state.  He looked at her sadly, wondering what *he* was doing back.  He 
hoped that it was not what he thought it was, a vain hope.  He knew he 
was right.  Sighing, he forced himself down on the pillow and made his 
eyes close.  Somehow, the white cat knew he would not get to sleep that 
night, but he had to try.  "I hope you know what you are doing," he 
whispered quietly, a benediction to the night.

*	*	*

"So, the fool still cares for that scout."  Dark, cruel laughter 
poured out of the black shape. He knew the puny Chosen did, it was 
predestined by his nature, but it was still amusing to remind himself 
that his opponent was so weak.  Now all he had to do was use this 
information to destroy the enemy.  And so simple.

He turned to another shadow minion, the first having been destroyed.  
For a moment, the black creature reminded himself that with only 
several, he had to be more careful. "Get me the four sailor scouts and 
their leader... their Princess!  There might be a guardian or two with 
them..  And make sure they are alive!" He practically burned with glee.

"How do I find them, master?"  The words were hollow, deep, and completely
subservient.

"You fool, *they* will find *you*!  All you have to do is wait!  
They will be together, no doubt." Again the figure hidden in black 
shadows dissolved into laughter. "And once I have them, *he* will be mine!"

The shadow warrior obeyed, going off toward the portal that led 
through several dimensions into the Universe.  It did not walk as much 
as it flowed through the dark and barren worlds.

And it thought.  Master did not think the shadow warriors, the *true*
shadow warriors unlike Beryl's imitations, thought much.  He was 
incorrect. There were thoughts passing through their minds, merely 
alien ones. And at the moment, the shadow was not very pleased.  He had 
been assigned a task which did not seem very honorable, and though 
honor was Kaneth's department, true shadows had a marginal amount.  It 
would obey its orders, it could do nothing else, but it took no 
pleasure in the task.  Emitting the shadow equivalent of a sigh, it 
continued on his way.

*	*	*

The scouts were at a meeting.  Most of them anyway.  "Serena is late
*again*?"  Lita's question was mostly rhetorical, as Serena's lateness had
long since turned into a legend.

"As usual," muttered Rei.  "Doesn't she understand that this is 
important?"

Luna looked annoyed as she walked up to the girls. "She got detention 
again and will be a bit late.  We will just have to start without 
her."  The black cat sighed.

Mina smiled slightly. "Cheer up Luna, she *is* getting better.  This is
only the fifth time she got detention this month."  The cat was not 
amused, so Mina switched to a more serious topic. "So what do we do 
about this monster thing?"



Serena was running down the street as usual.  Why am I always late?, she
wondered as she narrowly avoided collisions with several people.  It's 
not like I mean to be late, more like the whole world is an hour ahead 
of me all the time.  Distracted by her thoughts, she did not notice 
Darian until she was passing him.

"Hey meatball head, what's the rush?"

Without losing speed, Serena made a complete turn, slamming into 
Darian's arms. Only his quick grip on a parking meter saved them both 
from falling ignominiously on the pavement.

"Hi Darian, missed you mmmm."  She said breathlessly as she reached up 
to kiss him.  "Oh, I'm going to a scout meeting about that monster and 
the guy, you coming?"  Without waiting for his reply, she launched 
herself in he general direction of the temple.  

Wondering how he came to deserve this, Darian followed at a similar 
pace but with more caution for passerbies.



Ami took a deep breath before beginning, then frowned. "Maybe we 
should wait for Serena before beginning?  She *is* our leader, after all."

Just then, the ridiculous haircut appeared at the entrance to the temple
ground.  None of the scouts ever used the expression 'Speak of the 
Devil,' the idea of evil creatures being too close to them.  Yet if  
they had thought about it, it would have certainly applied.



"Hey, there she is!  And that looks like Darian behind her."

Puffing, Darian arrived a few seconds after Serena.  While Rei started 
chewing out the perpetually late scout on the subject of being on time, 
Darian sad down, breathing heavily.  "Where does she get the energy to 
run so fast?" he wondered aloud.  

Hearing, Rei offered her opinion, "Comes from running away from Negaverse
monsters." 

Immediately, Serena's eyes grew moist as she stared at the red scout. 
After a moment, she started crying at a frequency somewhere in the 
ultrasound range, causing the two cats considerable discomfort.  
Artemis and Luna exchanged a suffering look while the rest of the 
scouts attempted to calm Serena and relax Rei.

It took them a while, but they settled down and got to the business at 
hand.

Ami, as the only one with good news, and as the intelligence leader of the
scouts started the meeting. "First the good- well, not the good news, 
but not really bad news either.  My computer was definitely on when we 
saw the strange guy, but it did not register anything.  It was as if 
the person was never there.  Either he had something that protected him 
against my scans, which is scary."  The blue scout paused, looking up. 
"Or he has the ability to control my computer, which is worse." Annoyed 
at her failure, Ami tried to not let it show. "Basically that means he 
could have been anything, good or bad, on our side, or not.  Though he 
did save us, so that leads me to believe that he isn't evil."  Ami 
sighed, she hated guessing but there was just not enough real information.

"Last night I tried asking the sacred flame," Rei put in. "But all it 
gave me was a flicker, like it was controlled by something more 
powerful than it was. All I got was a weird feeling, like I know 
something, but can't quite place it."  No one spoke, but all the scouts 
had witnessed the fire readings Rei did. Although some might have 
suspected its accuracy at first, it had been well demonstrated to be 
true.  Darian, though never witnessing one in this life, did remember 
something about the predictive powers of Mars and said nothing.

"It does sound similar, Rei," Ami continued.  "Perhaps he has some sort of
force field that stops any sort of information from coming out, 
although my computer and the flame have very different ways of 
gathering knowledge."

"We have to find out is whose side he's on," Rei muttered darkly. "That's
something we really need to know."

Mina looked up, slightly surprised at her friends. "He did save me several
times, and he saved us from the monster yesterday, so it seems that he 
was on our side."  

"It also seems he has an advocate in our camp," Lita answered with a 
smile. "I wonder what his *real* reason for yesterday was, though.  If 
he was from the Silver Millennium, shouldn't we remember him?  I say 
that he is a new force, an unknown.  As such, he is unpredictable."
  
Artemis frowned, but no one was looking.  Suddenly, the green scout 
turned to the white cat. "Artemis, we have recovered all of our 
memories from the Silver Millennium, right?"

Before Artemis could reply, Luna cut in, "We are not omniscient, you 
know.  At the moment, we know as much as you do."

Lita continued. "Still, he is probably a new force, and we can not 
tell whose side he is on until we know more about him."

To the others' surprise, Serena suddenly pitched in. "He did seem *kind*
of familiar. Rei, didn't you say that you got a strange feeling when 
you saw that something in the flame."

"Yeah, macaroni head, but it was probably nothing!"

"Why are you always so *mean* to me?"

"Oh, please, don't start again!"

"Uh-hem."  Suddenly the two fighting scouts realized that they had a 
guest. Rei suddenly looked a little sad for some reason, and Serena 
snapped out from her crying.  Luna smiled gratefully at the prince as 
the princess stopped her supersonic sounds with a start. In a single 
fluid motion that amazed the others she ended up sitting next to him, 
with a more or less polite expression on her face. While the other 
scouts stared at this sudden change, Rei realized she had no more 
opposition.

Darian, having joined the meeting, decided to press on. "Is there 
anything else you know about him?"  The reference to 'him' started to 
assume an almost mystical power to the present, who exchanged blank looks.

Then Lita remembered something she noticed the previous night. "Um... 
I have gone to several karate schools, and the way he moved- It 
reminded me of one of my instructors. Smooth and fluid, as if hiding a 
lot of power.  Darian, Rei, you've been to a karate school haven't 
you?" Almost immediately, Lita was sorry she mentioned that since at 
the time Rei loved Darian.  The former was never one to get in the way 
of destiny, so let Serena have him, but she might still have some 
feelings for him.  Lita's voice trailed off.

Her suspicions seemed ill founded since Rei did not show any discomfort in
replying. On the other hand, the green scout thought sadly, she always 
could hide her emotions pretty well.

The red scout thought for a while. "Yes, I did notice something like 
that about him.  And he was wearing something very similar to a gi."

"And he wasn't wearing any shoes."  Seeing the strange looks she got from
everyone, Ami shook her head in innocence, "Hey, you notice the 
weirdest things when hanging upside down..."  That drew smiles from 
everyone.

"And everyone knows what one of your favorite movies is." Lita 
finished with a smile.

"So we know he is powerful, can resist scans and fire readings, and 
might have some skills in martial arts. Is that it?"  Luna looked 
around, wishing for more information.

"And he can use my roses." Darian almost sounded resentful as he took the
flower out.  "It's the same as it was before he ever picked it up, and 
that's very strange.  Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do about 
that, but I'll keep this one for now."

Nodding, Luna added that to the list. "And he has some powers we do not
comprehend." Luna got what she assumed to be agreement from everyone. 
"But we don't know who he is, or whose side he is on?"

Rei hesitated, then ventured an opinion, glaring at Serena. "Um... 
when I did the fire reading on him, the feeling I got was strange, but 
not one of evil. But it wasn't one of good, either, more like 
neutrality.  No, that's not quite it.  It was more like he had a 
definite alliance with a side, but it was totally separated from us, so 
he was neutral when it came to *me*. Does that make sense?"

"Not really," Serena mumbled, but quieted under the combined stares of the
group.

"He *did* save our lives." Mina was continuing to defend the guy.

"Yes, but for all we know he might have staged the whole thing.  Or it 
might have been incidental."  Darian got up, abruptly separating 
himself from Serena, and walked to a window, staring at the crows 
outside. "We cannot be sure what he is up to."  He looked back inside. 
"And what about that creature we fought.. or tried to fight?  We have 
been avoiding it so far."

He was right, the conversation had sheered away from the strange 
assailant. And the scouts suddenly felt the air grow cold as Darian 
mentioned it.  They knew the thing had been destroyed, or were at least 
reasonably sure, but it was difficult to believe that something that 
evil could ever die.

"Well, I do have some good news about that thing...." The scouts 
looked at Ami with hope.  Then the blue scout hung her head. "And more 
bad news. As far as I can tell, the creature is sort of a kernel of 
evil controlling space around it. The only reason it could grab us was 
because we had energy in us."  Getting strange looks from everyone, Ami 
tried to present her thoughts in a more comprehensible manner. "He was 
not grabbing the physical substances but the energy contained.  Since 
the two are inseparable, we could not get out."

"That doesn't help much."  Lita sounded angry at something.

"Lita, let her finish," Luna reprimanded the belligerent scout, though 
she knew the anger was directed at her futility with the monster, not 
at Ami.

Ami continued, understanding. "I was thinking that if we could isolate 
that kernel of power in the middle, it would not be able to do anything.  
All we would have to do is join our powers and concentrate them on the 
center on the creature and..."

Serena finished for her. "And it's moondust!" She paused, looking at 
Ami when she heard no reply. "Uh.. right?"

"Not quite.  That's the bad news.. We *might* be able to imprison the
assailant, but we would probably not be able to destroy it.  But I 
suppose, at first, imprisoning will do."

Serena regained some of her enthusiasm. "Why do we need to know that 
anyway, I thought it was toasted?"

Rei naturally stomped on the hope. "Because other monsters sent by the 
same force might be similar, chowderhead!"

Serena's eyes went moist, and the two cats jammed their ears flat 
against their heads in anticipation of more crying. "How do you know 
there is a force, maybe it was just the one."

"Because, spaghetti brain..." Rei paused, a look of surprise replacing
annoyance. "I hate to admit it, but Serena might have something 
there.  Perhaps that *was* just an isolated incident.  Unlikely, but 
possible."

Artemis nodded. "We will just have to hope."

Unfortunately, hope was not something the scouts had time for.  A 
sudden crash interrupted their meeting, an explosion coming from a 
nearby section of the city.  A wave of negavibes washed over the 
assembled as they jumped to their feet.

"So much for that hope," Luna murmured.  "Scouts!  Time to transform!"



He looked around, pleased.  The amount of energy he had sent into the 
negapulse should alert the scouts immediately.  If the Lord was 
correct, they would soon come.  It was unfortunate that he had to 
destroy a civilian store to release the charge, but he had managed to 
scare away everyone inside before blasting the place.  Not that scaring 
these pitiful humans was difficult, the shadow smiled to himself as he 
waited.  In the distance, he heard approaching sirens.



<Did you..>

"Yeah, yeah, I felt it!  I'm going, I'm going!... Do you think that He
will try to...?"

<Ask a stupid question..... Of course He will.  Do you think destiny is so
easily rewritten?>

Ignoring Guardian, the man got up and concentrated, a slight disturbance
forming in the air in front of him.  For a moment, he looked back. "Try to
follow me."

<If the minion takes them away before you get there, which is almost 
certain, I might not be able to go to the other side.  Certainly, He 
will find a way to cut me off after if we ever reach His dimension.>

"I know, but still try.  Yes, I know, I'm going."  The man concentrated
once more on empty space in front of him.  A portal appeared out of 
nowhere, hovering in midair.  Wincing in anticipation of another 
spatial transferal, the man stepped through.  As the portal closed, 
Guardian was left alone to contemplate the empty room. And the future.  
Then it, too, vanished and the black room was left to itself.



"It seems to be the same sort of monster,"  Ami panted as she 
approached to source, doing the impossible task of running at high 
velocity and typing something on her computer. "Or for all I can tell, 
even the same one."  The  scouts, following her lead, said nothing. "So 
remember, concentrate your power on the center of the monster, try to 
isolate it."  The scouts and Tuxedo Mask ran with a speed that would 
have been impossible for mere humans, but even they could not outrun 
cars.  Police sirens were slowly approaching the site of the crash and 
the runners would only beat them by several minutes.

Then, suddenly, they were there.  The shape, seemingly identical to 
the one they faced before stood near a supermarket.  The building 
looked like it had been at ground zero of a tactical warhead, half of 
it completely torn apart, the other half still holding together by some 
miracle. The scouts, remembering the other previous monster, shuddered, 
but it was their duty to fight evil, a duty they did not shirk.

"All right, Sailor Scouts, attack!"  Luna yelled, then turned to 
Tuxedo Mask, "Darian, you can not fight this thing, so stay back for 
now."  Throwing her a rebellious stare, the prince nevertheless 
obeyed.  Meanwhile, the scouts had arranged themselves in a loose 
circle around the monster.  Before it could grab any of them, they 
attacked.

"Mars Power!"

"Venus Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Moon Crystal Power!"  Serena was the last to go, and haloes of power
surrounded each scout. The five paused, building up energy.  "Now!" 
Someone yelled and the energy each built up was released. A beam of 
force from each lanced at the center of the monster, wrapping around 
its essence.  The black shadow writhed and shrunk a little, then 
resisted.  The scouts were using all of their power to try and contain 
it but it was not enough.  The shield was being attacked from within- 
But also from the outside, by the rest of the shadow.  Ami suddenly 
opened her eyes, realizing she had miscalculated.  If she had been 
correct, the creature should only have been able to attack from inside, 
the outside should have dissipated almost immediately. With a sudden 
wrench, the monster ripped free of the forces and the scouts staggered 
back with the sudden shattering of their attach.

The creature reacted with inhuman speed, reaching out with black tentacles,
ensnaring all of them at once. With icy pseudopods, it immediately started
draining energy from each, freezing tentacles of fatigue rippling 
through each scout.

"Wha... what's happening?"  Serena asked as her eyes closed and her body
relaxed. None of the other scouts had the energy to answer.

With a yell, Tuxedo Mask, ignoring Luna's protests, launched himself 
straight at the shadow but it grasped him as well and scarcely a second 
later two cats followed his fate.



He looked at his victims, hanging in midair, and wondered what he was 
supposed to do.  He had been told there would be four scouts, a 
princess and perhaps two guardians.  That was all, everyone else was a 
bystander to be ignored.  Here he had five scouts, a foolish man in 
black who seemed to have considerable power within him, and two cats.  
The shadow paused a second longer, then decided. The man must be a 
bystander, it decided and dropped him, draining most of his energy so 
he would not make any trouble.  The two cats must be the guardians, 
their energy outputs differed from what he had been told to expect of 
indigenous life. And the five scouts?  One of them must be fake, he 
decided, but there was no way to tell, and the princess never came.  So 
he should go back with all five scouts and the two cats.  Arriving at 
that reasonable conclusion, he opened the portal.



The arriving policemen observed a very strange scene.  A man in black 
was lying in front of the building, unconscious. Something that looked 
like a hole in the air was hovering overhead, parallel to the ground.  A 
tear in the scenery, it seemed to hold still for a few seconds. Long 
enough for a very foolish policeman to come close to it and get a 
glimpse of a rocky landscape beyond. Then it began to close slowly, 
startling even the foolish man away.  Before anyone could react 
*another* person in black arrived suddenly, as if appearing out of thin 
air.  He leapt over a police car, landed near the unconscious man, 
looked up and without a moment's hesitation leapt straight up five 
meters into the gate right before it vanished.

After discussing the possibility of mass hallucinations, the police 
decided they had seen *something*.  The only person present was the 
strangely dressed unconscious man in black, so they sent for a van to 
take him back to police HQ.

*	*	*

He did not show it, but Kaneth was very upset.  In actuality, it would 
have been very difficult for him to show any expression at all since 
his face was mostly a rigid mask that denied any possibility of motion. 
As a result, for most people it would have been impossible to tell the 
difference between him being happy, and him looking for blood.  At 
least not from his face.  There were other ways of distinguishing his 
emotions, and anyone well versed in them would know to stay away now.  
Despite the creature's efforts to conceal his anger, there was a 
certain rigidness in his large frame, the muscles tenser than usual, 
the eyes slightly narrower.  Anyone who knew him well would know that 
he was very upset.  Not that there was anyone who knew him that well.

Kaneth was the best warrior in Beryl's army. At least he had been, now 
he was second best.  But his skill was not the only reason he rose 
through the dark army as fast as he did, finally becoming the leader of 
the greatest force in the Negaverse.  That other reason was honor.  As 
contradictory as that may seem, one of His best generals was one of the 
few creatures in the Negaverse who believed in fairness.  No one knew 
precisely how he got that way.  He had been raised correctly according 
to Negaverse tradition.  He had had normal parents who did not care for 
him, leaving him to fend on his own as soon as he could survive on his 
own. Later he was part of a large band of creatures who pillaged the 
dark world, before he was recruited into Beryl's ranks where he was 
taught more hatred and evil.

And yet somewhere, somehow, he learned something that very few 
creatures in the Negaverse understood, something that made him almost 
unique.  He learned something that allowed others to trust him.  He 
learned *honor*.  In the Negaverse, trust is almost completely a 
foreign concept.  It is almost impossible to believe in someone who is 
looking out only for himself.  At first, Kaneth's behavior went mostly 
unnoticed, but as he started to gain rank because of his fighting 
proficiency, it was seen by forces higher up.  And appreciated.

Yes, appreciated. Despite the fact that most minions of the Dark Lord 
have no honor, that characteristic is not something that is frowned 
upon.  Having some sense of fairness was considered actually useful in 
high positions.  Certainly not in the field, with combat going on, but 
in a command post, it had its advantages.  And so Kaneth continued to 
rise in rank until he reached a position all the army aspired to.  He 
became one of the few generals in Beryl's army.  These leaders were 
almost as high as the Four Generals and becoming one of them was the 
most prestigious position one could have.  The Four did not allow 
anyone else to rise to their level, and so the level below them was as
high as one could go during Beryl's rule.  

And then the impossible happened. One by one, the generals were 
killed, either by the wrath of their queen or their own folly.  And in 
the end, something even more frightening to the average Negaverse 
warrior happened.

Beryl was destroyed! With the Negaverse severely damaged by the battle 
and the subsequent explosion, and anarchy threatening to take over the 
kingdom, the choice of leader became unclear.  The four generals were 
destroyed or imprisoned, and the lower generals, though few, were too 
many for any one to take control easily.  Usually such problems were 
resolved with duels, but at this level that kind of did not always give 
the best results.  As a consequence, tradition was overridden with a 
more cunning war of survival. In the end, Kaneth won for two reasons.  
Not one of the others dared to challenge him to battle. They knew him 
to be a superior fighter and they would not have survived.  And because 
the army knew of his strange beliefs, and in many cases they trusted 
him more than they could trust themselves. And so he became the leader 
of the greatest force in the Negaverse, leading with honor and 
toleration that made a time of bounty for his troops for a small period of
time.

And then He came. Remembering, Kaneth ground his four hands into 
fists.  He had been so close!  He genuinely believed that there was 
gain to be had in honor and he had thought that his followers were 
realizing the same things.  When they stopped going after the Universe, 
when they stopped wasting energy trying to plunder Grenoks, they 
actually started to do well.

Well.  That single word contained a concept that was difficult to 
imagine for a Negaverse warrior. All they knew was suffering, both 
giving it and receiving their share. Under Beryl's rule, and under the 
rule of most of her predecessors so many years ago, the only way to 
experience some pleasure was to risk one's life constantly. Now, with a 
benign leader, his troops realized that they were doing much better.  
And as those under his command became somewhat civilized, the 
conditions improved even more.

There had always been basic emotions among the creatures of the 
Negaverse but they had mostly been negative.  There was always some 
love, such as between Zoicite and Malachite, but it was rare. The lives 
of most warriors, when not ended prematurely in combat, were generally 
long, long enough for the need for procreation to be small.  And those 
directly under Beryl's rule were generally not allowed to intermix in 
that way.  Thus, when Kaneth gave permission for that kind of thing, 
some of the warriors suddenly found themselves doing something they had 
never thought of before.  They realized they actually liked their leader.

Kaneth tried to grimace, wiping the thought from his mind.  The 
rigidity of his face made such movement nearly impossible, but somehow 
merely trying to do it gave him satisfaction.  Though he came to be 
much later than the first strike against Queen Serenity, he resented 
the surprise attack.  Not that he was for the Universe.  He was as 
loyal to the Cause as anyone, he merely though it should have been done 
in a less shameful matter, not the kind of battle Beryl had waged.  
What he envisioned was honorable warfare, or.... He paused in his  
thoughts, making himself say the word that was not known to most creatures
inhabiting his plane.  Peace.

'Peace' was another word that was alien to most of his fellow 
warriors.  Trying to surrender, or avoiding conflict was unthinkable.  
A creature of the Negaverse would either fight to the ultimate victory 
or resist to the complete defeat, to its own destruction.

Remembering the coming of the Dark Lord, Kaneth quickened his pace.  
Though he was ultimately loyal to the lord, he disliked him with an 
intensity that would have shocked most of the creatures he knew.  And 
it was all because of *timing*.  Kaneth had been prosperous, the best 
leader of the clans for a long time, and had even begun to influence 
some of his subjects, teaching them honor.  A few, a very few, became 
more loyal to him than was thought possible. There were still some that 
were loyal to him and *only* him, more so than to the Dark Lord with 
his shadow minions.

The Lord was cunning, that much was obvious. He saw the good within 
Kaneth and hated him, but could not kill the leader because of his 
followers. So he demoted the warrior to a lower command.  

Timing... If the Dark One had come later, he might not have been 
listened to. And if he came earlier, he would have dealt with Beryl, 
and Kaneth would have never found out the sweetness of command.  Now he 
had to obey a leader he did not want. But Kaneth was loyal, and he did 
as he was told.

But it made him angry.

Now, however, he was angry for another reason.  The first foray into the
Universe since Beryl, the one with the shadow was known to him.  But 
he had no idea the Dark Lord would react that fast to the news of his 
Enemy.  Kaneth could not believe that He had already sent another 
minion to capture...

Kaneth wondered about that.  He hated the scouts, the ones who had 
destroyed most of his home, those who killed many of the warriors 
serving under him.  He had though of some of the soldiers under him as 
friends.  But the scouts were *warriors*, not pawns in some game.  It 
was *wrong* to use them just to further a cause, just as bait for a 
greater enemy.

Ahead, he saw the shadow, emerging form the next bubble universe.  
There were several shapes being held by it.  Recognizing them as the 
scouts, he began to think.  There had to be some way that he could keep 
his honor without losing his loyalty.  After a few moments, he smiled, 
or would have if he could.  His legs increased the pace without the 
rest of him noticing.



The shadow was carrying the scouts like so many sacks of trontor, Kaneth
thought to himself with indignation.  He blocked the dark creature's 
path .

"I recognize you, Kaneth, and have nothing against you.  Let me 
pass."  Like that of other shadows, the voice was hollow.

Kaneth stood his ground. "If you know me, you know what I stand for."

The shadow seemed to look at him more closely. "You are the one known 
for... honor."  The shadow shifted somewhat to a respectful position.  
"The Dark Lord does not like honor, though it sometimes has its uses.  
If you mean to tell me this attack goes against your principles then 
spare me that.  I am aware of that, but I *will* deliver."

So the shadows do have some honor, who would have believed it?, Kaneth
asked himself.  At least some of them. If the other had known Kaneth 
better, he would have noticed a slight shifting in his stance.  In his 
life, Kaneth found very little use for evading the truth, and was not 
equipped to hide it. But the shadow, trying to figure out something out 
from the inflexible mask was at a loss. 

Kaneth continued. "What were your orders?"

With emphasis, the shadow grumbled. "I do not have to divulge that
information."  The dark creature paused uncomfortably. "But I will
nevertheless.  I am to bring the four scouts, the princess and the two
guardians to the Dark Lord."  The shadow suddenly wondered if Kaneth knew
anything about the overabundance of scouts.

"Do you realize you have four scouts and a fake?"  Mentally, Kaneth 
prayed to the Negaforce that this ploy would succeed.  If the shadow 
was sure of his prey, than all would have been for nothing, and then 
Kaneth would die. Silently, the warrior steeled himself.  If this was 
the time for him to die, then so be it.

The shadow paused again.  "The thought had occurred to me, but I had 
no way of telling which were real and which was not.  And the Princess 
did not come at all."  The shadow waited before admitting its ignorance 
even more. "I have been... I have been asleep for a very long time," 
the dark creature admitted slowly.  Kaneth realized that the shadows, 
which came back with the Dark Lord, have no memories of what happened 
after the Lord was banished the last time. While he filed that thought 
for future reference, the shadow was continuing. "I am not sure I 
remember these things too well."  Thinking of Kaneth's reputation, the 
shadow realized it might be able to trust him. "You have been here, do 
you know?"

So easy, Kaneth thought. "Yes, of course," he answered, perhaps too 
readily but the shadow did not notice.  "That one," he said pointing to 
the orange clad scout, "is a fake.  She is merely a civilian."  
Flinching inwardly at the lie, Kaneth waited for the reply.

It came slowly, the shadows were not the smartest of creatures. "Are 
you sure?" The shadow paused again, thinking ponderously. "Do you 
*swear* that she is not one of the four scouts?"  The phrasing gave 
Kaneth his escape.  The four scouts were Moon, Mercury, Mars and 
Jupiter.  Sailor Venus joined them later, so could considered the 
*fifth* scout.  Kaneth did not seem to realize that he was using a 
loophole, he just wanted to set his honor at rest.

"I so swear."  The shadow paused, looking forward to the next portal.  
Roughly it dumped the scout on the ground, still unconscious.  It 
saddened it to know that the Grenoks would kill the scout before she 
would awaken, but it could not very well return her to the Universe.  
If all else failed, it would be able to return before the scavengers 
found her.  Probably. Swiftly, it moved off at a speed no human and few 
denizens of the Negaverse could match.  Kaneth was one of them, 
switching his middle set of limbs downward, he switched to a galloping 
stride.

He knew he would die for his betrayal when it was discovered, but he 
had no choice, his honor allowing him no other recourse. His mind 
seemed to go over and over what he had done without real 
comprehension.  When he had set out, he never meant to betray, yet that 
is what he had done.  Betrayed.  Kaneth stopped, horrified at himself, 
stopping long enough for the shadow to notice.  And... He had to force 
the thought out of himself, make it felt on a conscious level. It felt 
right.  He could not define it, but if he had to do it again- His mind 
tried to blank out the end of the idea, but it continued on, 
relentless. If he had to do it again- he would change nothing.

*Nothing*.  The word echoed in his mind as he continued.