Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor Moon G: The Planetary Guardians ❯ The Melody of Awakening, Enter the Mysterious Young Man ( Chapter 1 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Disclaimer: I don't own BSSM, it belongs to Takeuchi-sama.

Author's note: Before this fic begins I'd just like to point out a minor
detail. For the simple reason that something regarding this will happen
later I decided to have Minako transferred to the same school as Usagi,
Ami, and Mako. This is the first in a series that takes place after Sailor
Moon R. All other notes are at the end. Enjoy!

{} = Thoughts
[] = English

Sailor Moon G: The Melody of Awakening, Enter the Mysterious
Young Man
By Dyne

A new day was beginning in Tokyo. A perfect sunny day that
was signaling the end of summer, but unfortunately for Tsukino Usagi
it wasn't Sunday. Her alarm clock sounded loudly as it startled her into
awakening.

"KYAAAAA!!!" she shouted and noticed the time, "Oh no!
I'll be late again!"

Usagi jumped out of the bed so quickly that she threw Luna,
who had made the mistake of sleeping on her, across the room. Luna
landed with a small {splat} and a cry of "Rowr!" After regaining her
composure Luna spoke "Usagi-chan! This is the third time this week
you've done this! Personally I'm getting very sore by waking up every
day like that."
"It's not my fault you make the mistake of sleeping on my
bed!" Usagi complained as she finished putting on her school uniform,
"I have to run fast or I'll get a detention!" Usagi made a mad dash out
of the house. {I wonder if she can ever run that fast in gym class},
Luna thought, {but then again she may be too run down to do
anything.} She chuckled, stretched, and prepared herself for another
day of her guardian cat duties.


At the school Usagi had just barely managed to get into her
desk right as the bell was still ringing, only Haruna-sensei wasn't there
yet herself.
"First time in a long time Haruna is late," Usagi observed, "Do
you think she's sick?"
"Can't be," said Naru, "I saw her speaking to the principal
right before class started. Maybe she's giving you a small break, Usagi.
After all you are getting a little faster when it comes to getting to
school." Naru snickered at her comment.
"Not funny," muttered Usagi, "But why bother getting here
that early?"
"You should try it sometime, Usagi-san," said Umino, "It's the
perfect time to discuss important matters. Unfortunately I only got here
ten minutes early today."
"TEN?"
"Yeah, it's usually thirty but I was so intent on studying for
entrance exams that I stayed up too late."
Usagi made a face full of disgust, "You shouldn't have to
worry too much about those yet! You and Ami-chan."
"I don't appreciate you talking about me that way, Usagi-
chan." Said Ami, who was quietly working on a report that had only
been assigned the day before, not due for two weeks, and she was
nearly finished. Since Usagi was not in the best of moods she decided
to keep going, "You've really been doing {nothing} but studying, Ami-
chan. You should really get out more. I think we should get Urawa-
kun back here, he could get you moving."
Ami simply ignored Usagi's comment but no one noticed the
slight tinge of red appear on her cheeks at the mention of her old
boyfriend. Two days ago she celebrated her 15th birthday, but the next
day she received a letter from Urawa saying he had found a girlfriend.
Ami was heartbroken. Since she hasn't told anyone about this, the
effect of her emotions was isolating her from her friends.

Usagi was about to deliver another line but, luckily for Ami,
Haruna entered the room at that moment so Usagi had no choice but to
stop.
"I'm sorry I was late, students," she said, "But I ran into a new
student who the principal was showing around and we got into a
conversation that made me lose track of time."
"New student?" Naru asked, "Where?"
"He's in Class 5. By the time he's finished with orientation he
should be in gym. But I'll let you speak with him on your own time.
Meanwhile turn your books to page..."
As the teacher began her lesson, Usagi wondered exactly who
this new guy was. After all, if he hadn't shown up she'd have another
detention. Usagi knew exactly who to ask.

"Umino!" she whispered, "Have you come up with anything
on this guy?"
"Not yet," he replied, "I should have something for you at
lunch. But for now I'm trying to hear the lesson."
Usagi sulked. {This guy might not be all bad}, she thought
and then thought about how he had managed to impress Haruna with
his intellect, {but then again he could just be another Umino.} Usagi
decided to just wait until lunch. Her eyes never left the clock as several
different lessons were conducted and many students moved on to other
classes. Finally, five minutes before the lunch bell, Usagi's eyes began
to get heavy as she half-listened to one of Haruna's lessons on the
history of the Japanese language. No one really noticed her falling
asleep since they were so used to it. Since Usagi's guard was down, the
ringing of the lunch bell startled her so much that she jumped three feet
out of her desk, and no one still paid any mind since they were used to
that as well.

"All right! Lunch!" Usagi exclaimed after getting over the
initial shock from the ringing in her ears, "Come on, Ami-chan, let's go
meet this guy. It'll be good for you."
Ami, who was reading her textbook in order to stay ahead of
the class, simply said, "I'm not interested in that sort of thing, Usagi-
chan. I'd like to read and eat in silence if you don't mind."
Usagi decided that it would be best to leave Ami alone since it
seemed that's what she wanted.


Usagi walked out to her usual table behind the school where
Makoto and Minako were waiting for her.
"You okay, Usagi-chan?" Minako asked, "Or are you just in a
regular bad mood from being late?"
"No, I made it in before Haruna." she replied, "But now I'm
kinda worried about Ami-chan. She's been acting strange since
yesterday."
"Maybe it's because she's feeling kind of lonely since her
mother went to that medical conference the other day." Mako wondered
out loud, "I mean, her apartment looks kind of bleak when I visit her
and she's alone."
"But never like it was since yesterday," Usagi added, "We
need to cheer her up, maybe get her to meet the new guy. From what
I've heard he's a lot like her."
"You must mean Debe-kun," Minako said, "he's in Class 5
with me and he's really cool."
"His name is DEBE?!" Usagi asked, confused, "I know he was
smart enough to distract Haruna from getting to class on time and he's a
good athlete too?!"
Minako nodded, "We were playing soccer and he can run like
the wind. I spoke with him afterwards, he seemed kind of isolated, but
he's very nice."
"Yeah," Mako began, "I saw him and spoke with him a few
minutes ago before coming to the table. He sounds really nice but he
sounds like he wants to be alone."
"Oh, did he remind you of your ex-boyfriend?" Minako
taunted, Mako's expression developed a scowl and a sweat drop since
she knew Minako was right.
"He's probably just shy." Usagi said, "But if we can get him to
speak with Ami-chan, maybe they can share their interests."
Large sweat drops appeared on both Mako and Minako.
"Is this a good idea?" Asked Minako.
"What's wrong with that? Ami-chan needs someone at her
level to speak with, it's kind of obvious she's feeling out of place with
her intellect."
Mako and Minako were shocked as Usagi was speaking this
way, she was acting completely unusual, even for her. Never had they
seen her want to hand some guy out to someone else.
"If you want to try to talk to him he's over there," Mako
pointed at a bench in front of the soccer field where a young man with
short brown hair and very dark grey eyes sat. He seemed to be half-
thinking and half-staring into space.
"Well I'm going to go talk to him then," Usagi said with a
serious tone, "I wouldn't be here right now if not for his distraction and
I have to thank him." With that she bolted away and headed towards
the bench. Mako and Minako having strange expressions the whole
time.

Usagi quickly made her way over to the bench where the
young man had his eyes closed. She couldn't tell if he was
concentrating or asleep. She took another step towards him when his
eyes promptly shot open as if he had been trained for things like that.
He looked at her with a blank stare and Usagi began to sweat a little.

He spoke first.

"You're Tsukino Usagi, right?" He said.
Usagi regained her composure and quickly sat down, "Yes,"
she replied, with a little reluctance.
"Your friend, Makoto mentioned you and said I'd know you
by your odango atama."
Usagi quickly shot an icy stare back at her table where Mako
only grinned. The young man continued, "I'm Ohara Debe," he offered
his hand and Usagi quickly shook it.
"Since you're friends with two of my friends," she said, "That
makes us friends, too, call me Usagi."
"All right."
"What do you think of the school so far?" She asked.
"Pretty good. The cirriculum is nice, not enough challenges
though. The gym class I'm in is good. Minako can really kick."
Usagi's mind suddenly remembered one time when the girls
were playing soccer and one of Minako's kicks had sent the ball flying
straight into her face. That was the last time she played goalie.
"There's a girl I know who's family name is Ohara, are you
related?"
"No idea. My family was- er, I mean is a little off balance."
"I... think I understand."
"If it's not too much trouble Usagi, I'd kind of like to be alone
right now." Debe said quietly and stood up.
"I know what you mean, new people need to get used to the
place." Usagi said and stood up, "Was nice meeting you."
"Same." He began to walk towards the building and Usagi
thought, {Those two were right. He's really isolated... That can easily
change though!} Usagi's mind began to formulate a plan when she
noticed that Debe had turned around.
"A quick question, Usagi," he said.
"Yes?" She replied, her hopes rising.
"Why {do} you have an odango atama?" Debe didn't wait for
the reply, he quickly turned again and walked into the building. Usagi
was half-disappointed, half-angry. From her table she could hear
Minako and Mako making feeble attempts to contain their laughter.

When Usagi returned to her table, and shouted for the other
two girls to knock it off, she began another conversation.
"That guy is the exact opposite of what you said!" she spoke
loudly.
"Oh come off it, Usagi-chan," Mako said, "You just said that
because of the comment regarding your odango atama." The brunette
started laughing again.
"Considering you were the one who told him to s..." Minako
quickly found a hand clamped over her mouth by Mako who was
delivering her message of "shut up". Usagi didn't notice as she was
eating. After a few minutes she cleared her throat and began to speak
again.
"I've got an idea of what we can do regarding Ami-chan's
problem." Mako and Minako quickly developed sweat drops.
"W-what are you up to now?" Minako asked.
"I think I know what Usagi-chan's thinking," Mako started,
"Ami-chan and Debe-kun think a lot alike from what I know about
him..."
Usagi continued, "If we can get those two to meet then maybe
both will get out of their depressions!"
Minako was hesitant, "You're not trying to get Ami-chan
another boyfriend are you?"
"If that's what happens then that's what'll happen." Usagi
summarized, "Now, how are we going to get them in the same place?"
"What else?" Makoto said, "Take him to the arcade."
Usagi's eyes bulged, "Mako-chan! You're a genius! But who's
going to invite him?"
"I can do that," Minako said, "During our soccer game in Gym
he accidentally tripped me he helped me up, so he must be used to me
the most."
"I'll get Rei-chan and do my best to get Ami-chan to come
with us," Mako said, "We'll take her to the arcade even if we have to
stuff her in a bag and carry her over!"
Usagi nodded, "Right, so after that here's what we'll do..."


In a mansion on the east side of town a man sat in a specially
designed office, a man sat writing a formula and watching a
holographic image in front of him. He looked to be in his late 30s, had
shoulder length black hair and green eyes. A man who apparently
looked like a servant stepped into the room.
"Blade-sama," he said, "Are you trying to figure out
something?"
"As a matter of fact, yes." The man named Blade replied, "I'm
working on our new product and seem to have found something
interesting. Come here, Rad, you may want to see this."
"Yes sir." Rad looked to be about 20, with short red hair and
light blue eyes he looked actually like he could be someone else other
than a servant. Blade turned the projector so Rad could see the picture.
"Our formula for the product is moving all too slowly. That's
why I've decided to enlist some help." Rad could see in the projection a
picture of a girl with short blue hair, wearing a tiara and a sailor fuku
with a mini-skirt.
"I'm sure you've heard of the Sailor Senshi?"
"Yes sir."
"This one is Sailor Mercury. According to my analysis she is
the member of the group that is often involved in strategic planning and
problem solving. It is my theory that she is really this girl." The image
quickly changed to show a young schoolgirl with the same hair color.
"Her name is Mizuno Ami, she recently turned 15 and goes to
Juuban Junior High School. She is very often in 1st place for test
scores there. It is rumored that she reads advanced physics and calculus
textbooks in her spare time. Someone as smart as she would definitely
aid our project."
"You want me to pick her up?"
"Not yet, I need you to find out as much as possible
beforehand." Blade tossed a small metal chip to his minion, "Put that
chip in a bug and release it near her apartment building." The address
and a picture of the building flashed on the screen, "If this girl {is} as
smart as she sounds then we'll get ahead of schedule very easily."
"It will be done." Rad saluted his master and disappeared.
Blade grinned,

"The powers to be have spoken... they say it will be."


After school Usagi and Minako were waiting behind a small
clump of trees. Makoto had already gone to find Rei and then intercept
Ami at the library, as that was the most obvious place she would be
heading.
"Are you sure I can't do this?" Usagi asked.
"No," Minako started before Usagi could continue, "He seems
to be more comfortable around me and it'd be best if I asked him."
"Fine..." Usagi muttered and then located their target, "There
he is. Go! Quickly"
"You don't have to push!" Minako straightened her skirt and
quickly walked over to Debe who was facing away from her and
looking forward, he wasn't moving. Minako continued towards him
and when she was still a good three feet away he said, "Hello Minako."
Minako was somewhat surprised, "Hey!" She returned the
greeting and he turned to face her, "How'd you know it was me?"
"I could smell your perfume and remembered it from gym."
{Wow! This guy is really cool to be able to do that so fast},
Minako thought, then spoke, "How was the rest of your day?"
"Not bad. I had a class with Makoto and that was it, nothing
with anyone else in your group."
"Actually there are five people in it."
"Five?"
"Yeah, one more in our school, the fifth goes to a different
one. Mako-chan went to go get 'em now. Usagi-chan wants to be the
first one to help you get to know your way around the neighborhood so
she was wondering if you'd come to the arcade with us."

Debe thought for a minute, "Why not? Be a good chance to
practice and get to know you girls better."
"Practice?"
"Game practice."
"Oh. You'll have to show me what you can do. Come on,
Usagi-chan's waiting for us."
"All right, let's go." The two made their way back to where
Usagi was waiting.
"You got him!" she exclaimed and started jumping around.
"Is this normal for her?" Debe asked Minako.
"You should see her when she's on a sugar rush."
"I know people like her. This is what I do when they're
overstimulated." As Usagi made her may by the two again Debe
promptly reached out, grabbed Usagi's nose, and twisted.

Usagi's jumping immediately ceased as she began to wince in
pain because of the action just done.
"Why did you do that?!" She asked, Debe was facing Minako.
"That's how you handle people like Usagi," he said.
"I see, it's not a bad idea." Minako said while trying to hold
her laughter.
"How can you say that?!" Usagi accused, "He tweaked me!"
"Had to, odango-atama. It just had to be done." Debe was
grinning with a sneaky-looking half-grin while Minako was nearly
about to cross the line between normal laughter and rolling around on
the ground laughter. Usagi began to reconsider taking this guy to the
arcade but she knew that he was just teasing, and knew that Minako
had put him up to it, and said, "Once the hyena here stops we can get
going."
It took Minako a good five minutes to finally stop laughing.
When she was able to stand upright again the three began to make their
way through the area and towards the arcade. What they didn't know
was that up in a tree two pairs of eyes were fixed on Debe. The owners
of those eyes looked towards each other and nodded.


"Not a bad selection here." Debe said after investigating the
games at the arcade, "Where I came from there was one arcade where
the games only cost about 5 yen in American money."
"5!?" Usagi exclaimed, her head seemed to double in size due
to the excitement.
Debe felt very small under Usagi's look, "Of course there was
the 750 yen admission fee." Usagi immediately calmed down. Debe
began to look at more of the games when he finally sat down in front of
the Sailor V game.
"Never played this one," he muttered to himself. Usagi and
Minako were shocked.
"You've never heard of Sailor V?!" They asked in perfect
unison.
Debe shook his head, "In America the companies think she's
just something made up by the media on slow news days. I think that
about half the population thinks they're lying. But I've never seen any
Sailor V or Sailor Moon merchandise until I came here." Usagi and
Minako had blank expressions on their faces as well as sweat drops.
Minako regained herself first.

"Show us your skills," she said.

"All right," Debe cracked his knuckles, deposited a 100-yen
coin, and started playing.
"How far do you think he'll get?" Usagi whispered.
"Probably not far if he's never played this." Minako answered.
How wrong they were. Debe's fingers quickly adapted to the machine
as the scoreboard quickly increased with each kill. He seemed to be a
pro already. Minako and Usagi were sweating again.

"The same thing happened when Ami-chan first played,"
Usagi whispered.
"You told me already." Minako's voice raised when she
noticed what part of the game he was at, "Look out! This part's not
easy!" Debe didn't even twitch when she had said that, meaning to
startle him, but after a few more seconds he took a hit and died.
"You were right." He looked and saw that he had a score of
95500 points. {That should be good enough for 1st place}, he thought,
but then the top 10 for high scores showed and he saw that someone
who didn't put their name in had beaten his score by 10000.
"Who got first?" He asked with a slight tone of shock in his
voice.
"That was our friend, Mizuno Ami-chan." Usagi answered.
{Mizuno Ami?} Debe thought, {I think I heard her name
mentioned once during the day, but I didn't see her at school}. "Is this
your favorite game, Usagi?"
"Yes, it is!" Usagi exclaimed, "But I still haven't been able to
get into the top 10. What's yours?"
"It depends, I've played too many to have a definite favorite."
Minako chose this moment to interrupt, "What else do you do
besides video games?"
"I often go to the library to read, I jog about 4-5 kilometers
every day, and sometimes I relax with a game of chess."
"You definitely would like to meet Ami-chan." Usagi said,
"She spends hours on end at the library, loves to swim, and won a chess
tournament here a few months ago."
Debe thought for a moment, {I'll have to find the article.} He
was about to speak again when he felt something furry brush against
his legs. With a yelp of surprise he jumped off the chair and looked
down to see a black cat with some sort of crescent moon on its
forehead.
"Oh, it's you Luna," Usagi said, "Why'd you scare a year's
growth out of him?" Luna gave Usagi a look before jumping onto her
shoulder.
"Your cat?" Debe asked.
"Yeah, Luna has a knack for scaring people like that. The first
person she did that to was-"
"Ami, right?" Debe said with another sneaky grin.
"Right!" Usagi exclaimed surprisingly.
"How'd you figure that out?" Minako asked, with a sweat drop
appearing.
"Let's just say I've been following in her footsteps for the past
few events here." The three continued their conversation about how
mischievous Luna's been in her life, much to her objections, when
Mako and Rei finally entered.


"All right, Usagi, why did you have to bring us here?" Rei said
with an annoyed tone. Usagi gave her a cold stare then immediately
changed her expression to a somewhat-happy one.
"We met this guy at school and decided to show him around
and get to know people." Usagi explained. Rei nodded and gave Usagi
an accusing look, she then turned to Debe. "It's nice to meet someone
who can put up with Usagi for that long, I'm Hino Rei."
Debe took her hand and shook it, "My name's Ohara Debe, it
does sound strange I know. Anyway Usagi told me you work at the
Hikawa Shrine near here. Rei nodded, "It's open for touring on
weekday afternoons."
"Really? I'd love to see it." Debe smiled at Rei who smiled
back. {First I meet this cool guy who wants to see the shrine and now I
think he likes me!} Rei thought with a small tinge of excitement. She
and Debe continued their conversation while Usagi stepped next to
Mako and whispered, "I thought you were bringing Ami-chan too."
Mako turned to her friend, "Relax, Usagi-chan. It was hard
enough trying to convince her to come but she said she had to return
some books. Hopefully she won't stay there for two hours while she's
acting the way she is right now." Usagi sulked, she really wanted this
plan to pull through and then she noticed Debe, Rei, and Minako
staring at her.
"Well while we're waiting we might as well get play some
more games," Debe said while flipping a coin, "After all we {are} in an
arcade." The four girls nodded and the five split up. Usagi stayed at
the Sailor V game and Luna finally had her chance.
"Usagi-chan," she whispered, "I'm getting some very unusual
vibrations around him." This sudden speech caused Usagi to die.
"See what you made me do, Luna?" she whined, "I was so
close to getting on the Top 10 this time and you had to spoil it for me!"
Luna dug her claws into Usagi's arm in order to shut her up,
"I'm serious! I think I've met that boy somewhere before!"
Usagi thought for a second, "You're wrong, Luna. I don't have
that feeling at all." Luna sighed and dropped her head while Usagi
resumed her game. She was doing a little better than the last game and
was just about to get a high enough score for tenth place when...

"Usagi-chan!"

She lost her concentration and promptly died again. She was
only 500 points away from a high score. Usagi's mood immediately
darkened but when she saw Ami standing next to her it lifted. Usagi
immediately laughed her anger off, "Oh, hi Ami-chan. You really gave
me a scare."
"I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that but you looked
absolutely possessed!" Usagi could hear Luna snicker from her
shoulder.
"Anyway," Ami continued, "What's the big rush? Mako-chan
nearly had to drag me over here but I had to return a few books to the
library first. What's so important, anyway?"
Usagi's eyes lit up as opportunity literally slammed through
her doorway, "There's someone you might want to meet," she said
hurriedly, "He's smart, good at sports, likes reading, and is good at
video games like you are. I thought you might want to meet someone
with your tastes and level."
"Is that all?" Ami asked. Usagi nodded. Ami sighed.
"I don't want to be rude, Usagi-chan, but I have no intention of
finding a boyfriend right now."
"Who said I was trying to get you a boyfriend, Ami-chan?!
He doesn't seem to be interested in dating either. I thought you two
could be friendly rivals or just friends."
Ami sighed again, "It would be nice to have someone to
discuss some advanced theories with. Let's go see him."
Usagi bolted off of her chair and moved so quickly that Ami
sometimes couldn't feel the ground as Usagi literally dragged her across
the arcade where a boy that looked a year older than her was playing a
pinball machine.


"Rats!" Debe mused and looked at his score, "That close to a
free replay." He heard Usagi step next to him and turned to face the
pig-tailed girl, he didn't see the second one standing behind her.
"Hey, Usagi. Let me guess, you're out of money and want to
borrow some?" he asked.
"Well, not yet. But maybe later," she replied. "But the one we
kept telling you about is finally here." Usagi stepped aside to reveal a
young, blue-haired girl who obviously had to be Mizuno Ami. Debe's
eyes widened as he thought, {Oh my god! She's beautiful!}
"It's really nice to meet you," Ami said as she offered her
hand. Debe quietly shook it and nervously glanced at his watch,
"Wow! Later than I thought, I'll see you tomorrow, Usagi." He said
hurriedly and nearly dashed outside the arcade.

After sprinting the entire route back to his apartment, Debe
slowly entered his room and sulked. "What's wrong with me?" he said
to himself. "I couldn't speak to her at all, something inside me was
tightening up. Now she must think I'm an idiot. Stupid, stupid cow!"
After saying this he looked on top of his dresser to find his ocarina,
where it always had been. He took it and started playing a long, slow,
melody, but failed to notice a small symbol begin to glow on the
mouthpiece.


"What was his problem?"
Usagi was still wondering exactly why he had left so
suddenly. Luna chose to voice her theory to Ami. "There's something
very unusual about him," she said, "I can't place it exactly but I can feel
some sort of familiarity about-"
"You're just plain wacky, Luna," Usagi interrupted, "You
claim to feel these unusual vibrations and I can't feel a thing! He's a
new person transferred here and- Ami-chan, what's wrong?" She had
just noticed the worried look on her friend's face.
"I-I felt something from him. Like Luna, I think I've met him
somewhere before." Usagi saw an opening,
"Hey Luna, do you think someone's having certain feelings for
another someone?" Luna only produced another sweatdrop.
"I-it's not that," Ami started, but didn't get to continue.
"Admit it, Ami-chan! I think he likes you, but you don't want
to feel that way back!"
Ami felt cornered and started blushing furiously. Luckily for
her, she soon had a reprieve.

"Leave her alone, Usagi!" Shouted Rei, who had been
standing nearby, heard the whole thing, and walked over. "You think
that just because he felt something you have to automatically assume
it's anything to do with love? Talk about pathetic!"

This caused the eruption...

"Listen you fireballs-for-brains! I have-" With this, Usagi and
Rei began one their usual, non-stop arguments which quickly drew a
crowd while Ami quietly backed away. Luna saw her opportunity,
which prompted her to leap onto Ami's shoulder and whisper, "You
may want to duck out and think about that feeling some more. If it was
of familiarity, I had the same one." The blue-haired girl nodded and
quietly walked outside while the cat watched the continuing argument
in disgust, but soon decided what to do.


On the other side of the arcade, and out of earshot of the
ensuing brawl, Mako and Minako were finishing a few rounds of
Minako's favorite F-1 Racing game. Mako obviously wasn't in good
favor with it.
"This way!" She shouted at her wheel, but the machine didn't
respond fast enough, for her taste, and her car promptly crashed,
allowing Minako to pull ahead and win. "This one's rigged too," Mako
muttered.
"Don't trouble yourself so much," Minako assured, "We're tied
for 1:1, winner take all on this one."
"You're on!" Mako accepted.
{This shouldn't be too hard,} Minako thought, {I've been
practicing this course for several days now.}
The race began, but was not quite what Minako expected. Her
overconfidence caused her to not see the computer-controlled car run
her off the road to total her car and eliminate her from the race,
allowing Mako the win. Minako fell into a shock of unbelief.
"B-b-b-b-b-but how?" she stuttered, but soon regained herself,
"You're right, Mako-chan."
"About what?"
"This thing is rigged."
The two friends exchanged laughter as Luna approached.
"You two may want to hold your thoughts for now," she said.
"Another fight?" Mako asked. The cat only nodded.
"Let's go get 'em," Minako muttered.

The two girls and Luna quickly made their way to the source
of the noise that now covered the entire arcade. And by now an even
bigger crowd had gathered, one kid was even taking bets!
"All right, you two! Enough already!" Mako shouted while
pushing through the crowd and was soon pulling Usagi and Rei away
from each other.
"Rats!" One of the kids said, "I bet on Tsukino-san."
"No way," another shouted, "Rei-san would've won big time!"
"Nobody won!" Minako yelled and turned to the two, "One of
these days you're going to get kicked out of here!"
"Sorry, but everyone needs to leave anyway. It's closing
time." A lot of people jumped in surprise as they hadn't seen the
attendant on duty walk over to the group to let them know. The four
girls flushed with embarrassment as they and everyone else made their
way outside.


Out in the street, the skyline was beginning to darken. The
four who were still at the arcade had split up and were making their
ways home. By this time, Ami had already arrived at her apartment
building. As she stepped through the doorway, she felt herself twitch
slightly, as if she had passed through something. She assumed it was
due to the temperature change and didn't give it a second thought.
Closing the door behind her, Ami began her usual study session for the
day. Little did she know that a man had just walked by out in the hall
and removed a device from her apartment's door frame.


Out along a street, Minako was walking rather joyfully home
as she was thinking about how much she'd been enjoying her school
life much more right after being transferred to Juuban. Her mind
returned to reality when-

"Mina!"

She turned to see Artemis sitting on a trashcan next to her.
"Hey," she said, "where've you been?"
"Luna and I are watching that friend of yours," Artemis
answered, "we sense something about him but don't if he could be a
new enemy or what."
Minako couldn't believe what she was hearing!
"You're sure about this?" she asked, "Usagi-chan and I didn't
get any bad vibes from him at all. At least I don't think Usagi-chan
did... You've been working too hard, Artemis."
"I don't think so. I-"
"We'll talk about it later. Right now we'd better get home.
Come on, I'll whip up a feast for you."
Minako noticed Artemis's reluctance.


Within another part of the city, Luna was still vainly trying to
explain to Usagi that she was sure about what she had felt.
"Blah! Blah! Blah!" Usagi mocked, "Give it a rest, Luna.
You're just paranoid."
"PARANOID?! Listen, Usagi-chan, I'm not the only one
who's noticed something about Debe."
"Yeah, yeah. I know Ami-chan seems to like the guy, but that
doesn't prove anything."
Luna sulked.
"I'm going to tell you now," she said, "Artemis also thinks
there's something fishy about him as well."
Usagi only laughed. "That's because Artemis wants you to
notice him. So he'll agree to everything and anything you say."
Usagi didn't know if the red that appeared in Luna's face was
from anger or embarrassment. The cat was about to shout more
pleasantries when the odango headed girl was greeted with another-

"Usagi-san!"

Umino didn't know what jumped higher, Usagi's hair or her
cat. But he didn't get enough time to think it out as he soon found
himself pinned to the wall.
"UMINO!" she shouted, "When will you learn not to sneak up
on people?!"
"I didn't sneak up on you," he defended, "I approached you
from the front but you didn't even see me. I found out what you wanted
to know about that new guy."
Usagi loosened her grip so Umino could pull out his notepad.
"According to the record I found," Umino recited, "Ohara
Debe was found in the US State of California three years ago in an
alley with only the clothes on his back, two items, and only the
knowledge of his first name. No one else knew where he came from or
how he got there but he was taken in by a family named Ohara a few
months later. He spoke only Japanese but soon learned English. Just a
few months ago he became the recipient of two million dollars in
Amercian currency, over two billion yen." It was the "two billion" that
shocked Usagi into tripling the size of her eyes.
Umino continued, "He only moved here this week and arrived
two days ago. As you know, he was in school today."

Usagi could only help but to start laughing out loud with great
hysteria at the boy.
"Nice story, Umino!" She said with a somewhat {minor}
sarcastic tone, "Where did you come up with this one?"
"You have to believe me, Usagi-san," he replied, "My sources
on the Internet have always proved reliable."
"Maybe I'll believe you when and if you stop believing
everything you read." Usagi walked past Umino and continued on her
way home. Luna, however, chose to believe him.
"He could be right, you know," the cat started, "How could
Debe get two million dollars?"

Usagi was getting annoyed.

"Maybe he inherited it!" she shouted.
"Since when have you ever heard of someone in his position
inheriting vast amounts of money from a family that only had him for a
short while? I don't know why, but now I suddenly don't trust him."
"You're crazy, Luna! Debe-kun is just a normal guy like us!"
"Oh?" Luna teased, "So are you saying you're a guy?"
"N-n-no!" Usagi flustered, "I'm only saying he's a normal
person like we are!"
"I wouldn't call you normal, Usagi-chan."
The girl's face quickly changed to anger, then to one of
sadness. "H-how could you say that?!" she yelled. Tears began to
form in her eyes.
"I-I didn't mean anything like that," Luna said hastily, "You're
not normal in the sense that you're Sailor Moon."

But Usagi, already breaking into a run, didn't bother to listen.


Having already forgotten about yesterday's event regarding
Debe, Ami was already on her way to school 40 minutes early, as
usual. She would always be there at that time just to read or study. But
today, things would not be what she expected at all. As she approached
the school, Ami imagined that she could see the remaining flocks of
birds take to the air while being led by a soft, flute-like melody. It was
a mixture of high and low notes with an even tempo that seemed to
calm Ami's spirit. Her mind quickly returned to reality when she
realized that the music she was hearing wasn't her imagination. The
source of the music was coming from behind he school. She decided
not to find the player simply for curiosity's sake, but to compliment the
person on his or her playing ability. So Ami made her way to the
source, as she drew closer she could definitely see that the musician
was definitely a boy. She could only see the back of his head. It was
his light brown hair that made him stand out against the background.
He didn't hear her approach the spot directly behind him and he
continued to play while Ami continued to listen. After a few minutes,
the melody ended with a rise into high notes and dropped an octave for
the finale. The musician lowered his head and sighed with content.
Only that contentment was short lived when the sudden sound of Ami's
applause caused him to jump off the bench and spin around to face her.

Blue eyes met with grey. Ami recognized them.

"You really startled me, Ami." Debe said, "I thought I was the
only one here."
Ami only smiled.
"Same with me," she said.
She sat down onto the bench and motioned for him to do the
same. He slowly did but kept his head down.
"Where did you learn to play like that?" Ami asked.
"To tell you the truth," he replied, "It's always been natural
since I was found."
"Found?"
Debe sighed and proceeded to tell who he was, "I was found
unconscious in an alley in California three years ago with only my
clothes, this ocarina, and an object I use for a good luck charm."
"So that's what you were playing. I've never seen an ocarina."
"Really? They can be found all over the world in various
styles. This one's called a potato ocarina."
"It must be hard or you to live without knowing exactly where
you came from."
"It's just something I really don't think about too often."
"Oh... I'm sorry for bringing it up."
"No, it's all right," Debe finally turned his head to look at her
and the two smiled at each other. Ami was finally getting a good look
at him. {Now that I think about it,} she thought, {he's actually kind of
cute.} A red tinge slowly formed on her cheeks. Debe noticed this and
decided to bring up another topic of conversation.
"So... uh... what do you want to do after you finish school?"
He asked, thus allowing Ami to regain her composure.
"I want to follow my mother's footsteps and become a doctor.
It's always been my lifelong dream and I've been working hard to
achieve it since I can remember. That's why I attend a cram school
every day."
"Are you in the same class as any of your friends?"
Ami nodded, "My first year I was in Class 6, now this year I'm
with Usagi-chan. What are you studying and what's your dream?"
Debe thought for a moment, "I want to use my abilities for
what I can do best. Truthfully, I want to be a track star. I've been
considered a natural athlete and so I train hard every day to improve.
But at the same time a computer programmer and International writer.
That's why I study English, advanced math, and am also learning
French."
Ami's eyebrows raised, "French?"
"Oui," Debe smiled a half grin that gave him an almost sneaky
expression. To Ami it made him look very handsome. She could feel
herself blushing again.

Debe had no idea that his half-grin would have that effect on
anyone. But he thought Ami looked even more pretty when she
blushed. He noticed the time.
"Only 20 minutes before school," he said, "Did you come
early to do something?" Ami realized that he was right.
"Yes," she said, "I wanted to get some work done on next
week's homework." Those words caused Debe to produce a sweatdrop.
"Would you like to come with me to the library so we can talk
some more?" She asked, although she had no idea why, and stood up.
"No thanks," he answered and shook his head, "I prefer being
outside."
"It's your choice," Ami smiled at him one more time before
heading towards the school, but she had no idea why she was feeling
disappointed. Debe sighed and quietly brought out his book on the
independent study of German. He didn't want to tell Ami that he was
studying this and Spanish as well since he didn't want to look like a
show-off, especially in front of someone who was much smarter and
hard-working than he. He had just opened the book when a shadow fell
over the text. He looked up to see Ami standing in font of him once
more.
"I hope you don't mind," she said, "but would you play for me
again?"
"Sure," he said and pulled out his ocarina. This piece was a
short one; five notes, repeated once over, with a closing of nine.
"Thank you, Debe-kun," Ami said and again walked towards
the school's entrance. He watched her go and sighed. For the second
time he didn't see the strange symbol appear on the mouthpiece and
emit its soft, gentle glow.


"Two days in a row now!" Usagi yelled as she ran as fast as
her legs could carry her. "One more after this and I'll have detention
for a year!" She felt that if she moved just a {little} faster then she
could make it. Usagi rounded he corner along the wall next to the
school with just enough time to get to class right at the bell. She got
overjoyed a little too much though as Minako rounded the opposite
corner and caused the two to collide head-on right in front of the gate!

The two girls picked themselves up just as the bell rang...

"Oh, Usagi-chan, I'm so sorry," Minako said, "This was my
fault." But Minako didn't know that Usagi was still in a bad mood from
yesterday's conversation with Luna.
"I'm really getting sick of this!" Usagi yelled, "Why can't
things go right just once and I get here on time?!"
"Usagi-chan, it's all right. We just have to try to get up a little
earlier."
"I wish I could be more like Ami-chan. She's so perfect that it
makes me sick!" Tears began to stream out of her eyes.
"You shouldn't worry about trying to copy someone else,"
Minako comforted, "Everyone has their good and bad points. We just
have to work together to overcome them."
It took a few seconds for Usagi to absorb the words.
"I'm sorry, Minako-chan," she said, "We'll just have to help
each other wake up on time."
"And make sure we watch where we're going."
The two friends laughed away their trouble.
"Let's get everyone back to the arcade again today," Minako
said.
"Good idea!" Usagi said, "We'll even bring Debe-kun again
and try to get him and Ami-chan together."
Minako nodded.
"Here's what we'll do today..." Usagi whispered as they made
their way to the school. In the shadows of an alley across the street, a
figure turned off his device. He smiled and quickly ran towards the
mansion.


"Blade-sama, I've got some information on that blue-haired
girl and something we can use!" Rad said when he returned to the
mansion.
"Give me your report," was all Blade said.
"It seems that all of her friends sometimes only see her as the
brains of their team and nothing else, but that's only when they're angry
at how she can be better at a whole bunch of things."
"Brains of their team, eh? Those girls are the Sailor Senshi,
I'm sure of it. And if we managed to turn their 'brain' against them then
they'll have more trouble than usual."
"What is your plan?"
"Turn her to our side as planned. And while she's with us she
and I will develop a drug that force people to obey our every command.
I want you to follow her and use a monster to drain her energy, then
bring her here." He tossed Rad a sealed test tube, "Pour this liquid onto
the ground and the necessary capsule monster will appear, it will know
what to do."
"Yes, sir." Rad saluted his mentor again and walked out again,
waiting for the right time.


"Usagi, do you come here every day?" Debe asked as the
entire group walked into the arcade after a long day at school.
"Almost, except when I don't have any money, of course."
Usagi replied.
"Of course!" The rest of the girls said. Usagi laughed it off
and the group of six split up and played various games again. Mako
and Minako continued yesterday's game, Rei and Usagi played a game
against each other, with Luna sulking every time one accused the other
of cheating, which left Debe and Ami at the Sailor V Game, and
believe me, they weren't as comfortable as they were before school.
"So uh..." Ami began, "I heard you almost beat my score
yesterday."
"Almost," Debe said, "I'll bet you a... let me think... a five
hundred yen book of the winner's choice that I can beat your score and
you can't take it back."
"I'm not much of a gambler but it sounds like interesting."
"You're on." Debe sat down, "Remember, if I can't beat your
score, you win. And if I beat it and you take it back, you win."
"Sounds good enough." Ami smiled since the last time she
played the only reason she lost was because she was late for cram
school. But then again, she underestimated his playing ability, her blue
eyes opened as wide as possible when she saw how quickly his score
was adding up! In only a few minutes, Debe had already reached his
old score and was still going! But as the game became harder, but as
points increased with each kill, Debe finally lost with a final score of
150679 points, over 50000 than her first-place score!
"Whew," Debe sighed, "Much better than yesterday. Your
turn, Ami." He stood up and gestured to the stool. {Maybe this wasn't
such a bad idea after all,} he thought. But Debe had underestimated
Ami's playing ability as well. {Uh, I guess I was wrong...} and a sweat
drop appeared. In only five minutes, Ami had risen above his score and
promptly died on purpose, she only looked at him and smiled.
"I guess I owe you a novel," he laughed, "remind me not to
make any more bets with you in the near future."
"Well it's just that some people usually have to learn things the
hard way." Debe nodded. Ami spoke again, "I didn't get the chance to
ask you before school, what are your interests besides reading and
video games? Usagi-chan told me that you like those."
"Well," Debe sat down on the stool next to her, "I like to run,
usually early in the morning, but on weekends I go in the middle of the
afternoon because I go swimming right afterwards."
"Swimming's my favorite sport!" Ami exclaimed, "Maybe I'll
see you at the pool one day."
"That would be great." Debe continued, "and when I don't play
my ocarina to relax I often play a game of chess."
"Do you? I'll have to play you soon."
"I'd be honored, I heard how you won that tournament a few
months ago." He reached into his pocket, "I even have the article with
me. I was at the library reading old newspapers before we came here,
found it, and made a copy." and handed a clipping to Ami.
Ami read the article on how she had won the chess tournament
and was relieved that there was no picture of her since that was exactly
how Urawa had started to like her. "What're your favorites?" She
asked.
"Favorites?" He asked in return.
"You know, silly. Favorite color, food, book."
"Oh, those." He would've known what she meant had he not
been lost on Cloud 9 admiring her hair, "Blue, hamburgers, and any
fantasy."
"Well that's pretty close to me. My favorite color's blue,
favorite food is sandwiches, and I read almost any book that interests
me when I'm not studying.
"Well," Debe said and stood up, "Should we go collect your
win right now or wait until later?"
"I think I'd better collect right now or you'll forget." Ami
laughed and stood up.
"Oh come on, you'll learn that I'm not like that," he also stood
up and the two walked out the door, what they didn't notice was a large,
white cat observing them.


Meanwhile the other end of the arcade Usagi and Rei were
still arguing from their last game.
"There's no way on Earth you could've done something like
that!" Rei shouted.
"Well if you weren't such a sore loser you wouldn't be
accusing me of cheating!" Usagi retorted.
"I'm not a sore loser, you have to be cheating!"
Luna simply sighed and decided to walk around looking for
some peace when she saw a most highly unexpected couple walk by the
window. Luna immediately returned to the still-arguing girls. {At
least this will shut them up for a while,} she thought. Luna jumped in
front of the screen just as the two had started another game, promptly
ruining Usagi's advantage.
"Luna! When will you not do this to me! I was winning!"
She complained.
"Usagi-chan! This is no time for any of your nonsense, look
to your right." Usagi and Rei turned to see Ami and Debe disappear
from the view of the window. Rei gasped in shock while Usagi only
smiled.
"The cupid of love adds another victory to her list!" Usagi said
happily.
"You set her up!" Rei accused, "How did you know that they
would like each other?!"
"They both have the same Zodiac signs," Artemis, who had
appeared from nowhere, said, "They act the same way so it's only
natural that he's a Virgo as well." He jumped up next to Luna, "And his
vibrations can only mean one of two things."
"What?" Usagi and Rei asked.
"He's either working for a new enemy or he is from the Moon
Kingdom."
"I'll place my bet on the Moon Kingdom," Usagi said, "Debe-
kun is too nice to be evil."
"Yeah, but appearance isn't everything," Rei said, "He
could've been trained to be like this."
"Rei-chan is right," Luna said, "We can't trust him yet. We'd
better follow those two in case he should do something to Ami-chan."
"Luna you're so paranoid!" Usagi said, "Maybe they want to
be alone. I don't feel anything around him. Rei-chan, Mako-chan, and
Minako-chan don't either."
"Usagi's right," Rei said, "I haven't gotten any bad feeling but
that doesn't mean anything."
"Still we have to keep an eye on him." Artemis suggested.
"We'll leave him alone for tonight, and tomorrow either
Artemis or I will keep an eye on him all day. But just to make sure, at
least two of you should call Ami-chan later on just to make sure." Luna
said.
"Right." The two girls agreed, for once.
"We'll meet at the Hikawa Shrine tomorrow and give you our
inside observations." Artemis said, "We'd better let Makoto and Mina
know about this."


Ten minutes after she had left the arcade with Debe, Ami
selected her prize from the bet and separated with him after leaving the
bookstore. He said he had to go home for a reason that he didn't
explain, but she respected that and decided to go home herself. Ami
walked by the park and decided to take the scenic route since she was
in no hurry. Ami walked along the path that cut through the park while
reading the new book she had picked out. One that delved on
mythology and legends about the Norms. For some reason ever since
she had discovered that she was Sailor Mercury, mythology became
increasingly interesting to her. She walked through the park, enjoying
the smell of the flowers and the feel of the breeze through her hair
when she had the strangest feeling she was being followed. Ami turned
around but saw no one and cautiously continued her walk. She walked
a few more feet when a twig snapped behind her. Ami spun around to
see a twenty-year-old man with short red hair. His blue eyes pierced
hers and he spoke.
"Mizuno Ami," he said,

That wasn't a question.

Ami was scared, she never believed that she would be
confronted like this, the man continued,
"I am here to take you to meet someone who can change your
life for the better."
"I-I'm afraid that I won't accept anything from any stranger
who sneaks up on me like that." Ami said.
"Very well then," the man said, opened a test tube, and poured
its contents onto the walk. The sludge immediately started to rise and
take the form of a monster that looked almost exactly like the one that
had captured Ami right before she became Sailor Mercury for the first
time. Only this one was shorter, had blue skin, and instead of an axe for
a hand it had some sort of tube. Ami had no choice, she grabbed her
transformation pen from her dimensional pocket and shouted,

"MERCURY STAR POWER! MAKE-UP!"

A few seconds later, Ami was replaced by Sailor Mercury.
"The master was right about you," the man said, "you are one
of the Sailor Senshi. Too bad your powers won't do anything good."
He turned to the monster, "Get her!" he commanded.
The monster quickly raised its tube-arm and it extended,
reaching out to Mercury. She immediately jumped to the side and
countered.
"SHABON SPRAY FREEZING!!!" After the attack, Sailor
Mercury expected to see two frozen strangers but to her surprise they
had absorbed the power!
"I knew you would do that," the stranger said, "so the master
injected me with a solution to absorb any ice power sent my way. Now
I'm afraid you'll have to pay for that." The stranger produced a staff, a
simple wooden staff. And before she could do anything, Sailor Mercury
found herself on the ground. The monster took advantage of this
situation and shot its arm out again, this time it connected. Sailor
Mercury could feel extreme pain as the arm literally sucked her power
out of her.
"Remember," the man said, "our orders were to capture, not
kill." The monster nodded in agreement.
Sailor Mercury wanted to scream but her energy was being
drained so quickly that it was impossible. She knew that it would be
the end, before she lapsed into unconsciousness she muttered "I'm
sorry..." and expected the worst, but at the last second she saw a flash
of blue and heard a yell of pain.


Rad couldn't believe his rotten luck! He was so close to
fulfilling his duty when a person appeared out of nowhere, cut his
monster's arm and head off with a blue sword, and left Rad with a huge
bruise on his chest where his assailant had kicked him. The attacker's
eyes were glowing a strange blue and had said, "By the power of
Mercury, I will protect her!" And disappeared, carrying her with him.
Rad decided not to pursure his target or else that crazy swordsman
would attack him again. Rad sighed and walked into the mansion, the
master was not going to be happy.


Outside the Hikawa Shrine, Rei and Mako, who were the two
who volunteered for the earlier assignment, were getting worried. Both
of them had tried to get Ami on their communicators but no one
answered and neither one knew where she had gone.
"Maybe Luna was right about Debe-san," Rei said, "He was in
a position where he could've done something to Ami-chan."
"Well if he did do anything to her he's going to regret it!"
Mako said as she punched her left palm.
"Before we start any searching I think it would be a good idea
to try a fire reading."
Mako somehow suppressed her anger, "Yeah, it'd be better to
get some clues instead of searching blindly."
The two girls walked into the shrine.


Sailor Mercury finally began to show signs of waking up after
four hours of unconsciousness. She remembered what happened and
thought, {Why am I still in the park? What happened? No one saw the
fight? No one saw me laying here in a heap?} But she noticed that she
had been set behind a clump of bushes so no one would have seen her
unless they looked closely. It was completely dark in the city and the
park was no place to be in alone at night. Sailor Mercury quickly
reverted back to Ami and began to walk home ever so slowly and
cautiously. She had never told anyone that she was afraid of being
alone in a place like this at night. Ami was also afraid that that maniac
who had tried to kidnap her would return. Ami's will power was strong
but her fears caught up to her, after only walking about fifty feet, she
knelt down and started weeping in fear. She cried for a good five
minutes when a thought came to her head. {I shouldn't be here. I need
to face my fears and overcome them, otherwise I'll look weak.} She
stood up and began to walk again. She hadn't gone far when a noise in
the wind entered her ears. No, it wasn't noise. It was music. It was...
an ocarina! Ami didn't care anymore, she ran towards the source of the
music and reached a bench in front of the park's lake.

He was there.

"Debe-kun!" She shouted. He jumped up, startled.
"Ami?!" He said, "That's the second time today. What are you
doing here alone this late?"
Ami was so happy to see him that she ran up and gave him a
hug.
"Hold on there, Ami! Did anything happen to you? Are you
all right?"
Ami realized how surprised he was and immediately let go,
"I'm sorry. I'm just happy that there's someone I know here."
"Why? Are you running from something?"
"Well, yes. I tripped and was knocked out. And I never
wanted to be alone here at night. Why are you here, anyway?"
"I took a walk after we separated. I got this incredibly unusual
feeling in my chest and the next thing I knew I was sitting on this
bench. I started playing and..." he looked at his watch, "apparently lost
track of time."
"Do you do that a lot while playing?"
"Actually yes. But since you seem so uncomfortable..." He
summoned all of his Courage,

"May I escort you home?"

Ami was thrilled! She couldn't explain the joy she felt when
she heard him say those words but she had no idea why she felt that
way, either. "Of course." She said, "It's in this direction." And the two
walked down the path towards Ami's apartment.


"What do you mean you lost her!?" Blade shouted at his
servant.
"I'm sorry, sir. But some crazy kid with a sword killed your
monster and injured me. I ran and decided it would be best to come
back here."
"Did her powers have anything to do with it?"
"I don't know sir. All I know is he claimed to be sworn to
protect her."
"Then I'd better go after her myself. Take care of things while
I'm gone."
"Yes, sir." Rad said as Blade warped out of the room.


Back at the park Ami and Debe still had a way to go before
reaching Ami's apartment building.
"Ami?" Debe asked.
"Yes?" She replied.
"I just wanted to let you know something really quick."
"What?" Ami silently prayed that he wasn't going to ask her
out.
"I'm not normally blunt like this... but... I think that you are the
most wonderful girl that I've ever met."
Ami immediately developed a strong red color on her face.
She had never expected something like that. And yet, she liked the
feeling she had when she heard it. She asked, "You really think so?"
"O-of course" he said, Ami noticed that he was blushing as
well, "And I just wanted to let you know that your uniqueness is great."
"I-it's nice to know that someone feels that way about me."
"That's what I feel whenever I'm around you, and I had to get
it off of my chest. I hope you're not embarrassed."
"Not too much. It's just that... that... I feel the same way.
When I'm around you I feel... warm inside."
"And do you like this feeling?"
"...Yes."
"That's what I feel." He said quietly and turned to look into
her eyes. Those sapphire blue eyes, Debe felt that they were more
beautiful than any real jewel could be. Time had seemed to stop for
him and Ami when they looked at each other and she saw his grey eyes
in the moonlight. {A perfect moment in time,} Debe thought, {I've
heard about this. A moment in which all time seems to stop so one can
enjoy it as long as possible.} The two moved closer until they had
embraced. Ami thought, {This is completely unlike me. But it feels
like I've done this before.} He lifted her chin and she smiled. Just as
their lips were about to brush each other a loud noise broke them apart.
"What the..." They both said but didn't see anything behind
them.
"An interesting pair you two make, Debe. Strangely though
it's not you I want, but your girlfriend."

Ami blushed at the thought.

"You!" Debe shouted, "I killed you! Your operation was
stopped! How the hell did you get here?! Show yourself, Blade! Or is
your cowardice preventing you?!"
"I see your mouth is still as big as it was before. But did you
really think that a single explosion would kill me?"
Debe's expression changed to worry, but he still looked
determined, "Well, it was a good idea."
Blade appeared in front of the young couple, "But like I said,
it's not you I want. Give Mizuno Ami to me and you won't be hurt."
"Leave her out of this!"
"I warn you boy, I'm not like I was when we last met!"
"Neither am I!" Debe reached under his belt with his left hand
and drew a sword hilt and a blue blade materialized from it. On the tip
of the hilt was embedded in it a sapphire and a small symbol began to
glow, Ami recognized it.

{MERCURY?!} She thought, {Why does he have a sword
with the symbol of Mercury?!}

"That wimpy sword won't save your neck this time!" Blade
sneered.
"It worked before!" Debe jumped toward Blade and slashed,
but Blade quickly warped aside.
"You bore me, kid." Blade raised his arm and shot out a ball of
lightning, Debe yelled in pain as his entire body was electrocuted and
he fell onto the ground onto his back.
"Debe-kun!" Ami screamed and knelt beside him, "Speak to
me! Are you all right."
"Run," he wheezed, "I'm not that important, just run."
"No! I'm not going to let you die here." She grabbed her
transformation stick and shouted, "MERCURY STAR POWER!
MAKE-UP!" and Sailor Mercury once again appeared.

From what he saw of Ami's sudden surge of power in her
transformaion, Debe was utterly shocked! He would have never
guessed that this girl held such a secret. He didn't have much time to
think about it as his body was racked with a type of pain that he felt
very often. As if his mind was telling him to do something, but his
energy reserve was much too low. Debe had no choice but to watch.

"I knew it!" Blade shouted, "Now you're going to {have} to
come with me!"
"I don't want to have to do with anything about you, monster!"
She shouted, "SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!!!" The wave of ice was
dissipated with a wave of Blade's hand.
"Your powers have no use here, but I can increase them a
hundred fold."
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Because none of your friends truly care about you. They
only see you as a smart relief."
Mercury wouldn't believe him, "That's not true! I have
friends, true friends!"
Blade snickered, he could easily see into her mind and soon
pinpointed that that was her greatest weakness, to be loved, "Then why
would they say things like this behind your back?" He produced a
small crystal from which an image was projected. In it, it showed
Usagi and Minako's conversation before school.
"So!" Mercury shouted, "They made up and they know that
they don't hate me!"
"But that's not all," Blade retorted and changed the scene. It
showed the girls discussing what happened after she left the arcade
earlier.

"Now what can we do since the bookworm is gone?" Usagi
asked.

"I agree with Usagi," Rei said, "Ami's gotten incredibly dull
lately."

"Tell me about it," Mako sighed, "She's only encouraging us
to do boring stuff like study."

"How could we have put up with her for so long?" Minako
said.

Mercury was fighting the tears in her eyes; "It's not true!
None of it is!"

"I can't win with lies," Blade said, "You must accept your fate.
I can be your friend. With our brains combined we will be unbeatable."
Sailor Mercury thought for a minute and finally spoke, "Yes, I
never want to be used again."
"Very well then," Blade waved his hand and a portal appeared,
"Step through here and meet your destiny, Ami."
Mercury was about to step through when a weak voice
shouted, "Stop!" Debe was using the sword to help himself up, "None
of it's true, Mercury. This bastard can't be trusted. I know. Don't listen
to him! He's just using mind tricks!"
"I've had enough of you!" Blade powered up another shot and
was about to fire when...

"SUPREME THUNDER!!!"

Jupiter's bolt knocked Blade over and his attack lost most of
its power but he still managed to shoot it. More screams of extreme
pain were heard as Debe flew back ten feet and finally stopped on his
stomach after hitting a tree.
"Luna was wrong," Sailor Mars said, "Debe-san is trying to
protect her." But she noticed Mercury with Blade, "Mercury, what the
hell are you doing?!"
Mercury only glared back at her with a completely icy stare,
"I've had enough of all of you! And tell Usagi that the bookworm will
overpower you all!" She quickly powered up another attack,
"SHABON SPORAY!!!" The fog allowed the two to escape through
the portal.
"Dammit!" Jupiter shouted, "We lost 'em!"
"But Debe-san?" Mars said. The two Senshi looked to see a
still moving boy who was fighting to get up, or to even move for that
matter. Before he lost consciousness, Mars heard him speak,

"I-I'm sorry Mercury... I failed you..."

And she could see two symbols of Mercury appear, one in
each of his eyes before their closing.


"The powers to be have spoken!" Blade exclaimed as he
stepped into his chambers with Sailor Mercury following close behind,
"And they say that the time is at hand!" Mercury looked at him as if
he'd gone crazy but decided that if she were to be truly appreciated she
would have to get used to it.
"Rad! Come here, I need you!" Blade commanded and the
same man whom Mercury fought in the park appeared.
"Yes, sir?" He asked.
Sailor Mercury was shocked, "What's he doing here?!" She
asked.
"Relax, my dear." Blade said, "He works for me. His methods
of persuasion are slightly different than mine. I assure you that he will
not attack you." He then whispered to himself, "Unless ordered."
"Excuse me?" Sailor Mercury asked.
"Huh? Oh, I was just mumbling to myself." He turned to his
servant, "Rad, take our guest to the room we've prepared for her and
see to it that she's comfortable." He turned back to face Mercury, "I
really must go now, I have duties to attend to." He then walked into an
adjacent office and closed the door.
"Please come with me." Rad said, and walked out. Mercury
felt that she might be able to trust him when she heard a very small
voice in her head, {"No! Don't!"} It said. She ignored the voice and
followed the servant.
He led her to the end of a hallway when she realized that this
was a simple mansion, one that could be found almost anywhere in any
rich section of a city. Rad stopped in front of a door, "In here, please."
He said and opened it for her. Sailor Mercury walked into the room
and gasped,

{Some accommodations!} She thought bitterly as she saw a
strange device with electrodes protruding out of it as well as several
other gadgets which use she didn't want to think about.

{This is a torture chamber!}

"What do you think you're going to get out of me!?" She
yelled and started to turn around to attack but Rad was way ahead of
her. Right before she was able to face the man the last thing she saw
was his arm swinging some sort of bludgeon and hitting the back of her
head. The blow wasn't quite enough to knock her out but she lost her
balance and stumbled, this gave Rad enough time to push her over to
the machine and the next thing Sailor Mercury knew she was strapped
onto it.
"I'm sorry for this," Rad said, "But my orders were to learn as
much as possible about your friends from you."
{Why did I act so stupid!} Mercury thought, {I should've
listened to Debe. It's all my fault, my selfishness covered the truth.}
Tears began to fill her eyes as she watched Rad power up the
electrodes.

Inside his office Blade worked on the new formula for his
ultra-addictive drug and completely ignored the cries of the imprisoned
Sailor Senshi that echoed through the entire mansion.


Back at the shrine, Rei had laid a still-unconscious Debe on a
cot in a room next to the fire-room. She didn't dare call an ambulance
since she didn't know exactly whom he was, where he lived, and there
would've been no way to get in touch with his family. According to an
earlier conversation right before entering the arcade today he had said
that his family was on vacation and he decided to stay and not miss
school since he hated doing make-up work. He hadn't told any of them
where they went.
"Any changes?" Asked Makoto, who had just entered the
room after notifying Usagi and Minako.
"I thought he was going to come around a few minutes ago.
Right after I set him down he went into a set of spasms and shouted
something but I couldn't understand exactly what."
"I wonder what possessed Sailor Mercury to turn against us. I
had really bad vibes from that guy Debe-kun was fighting. What
could've happened?"
Rei pressed a damp cloth on the young man's forehead, I really
have no idea. But his eyes were glowing with the symbol of Mercury,
that's proof he lived with us 1000 years ago."
"Then Usagi-chan was right." Mako knelt down next to her
friend, "Is there anything else I can do while you work?"
"Prepare some tea or coffee please." Rei sighed, "Someone
may have to be with him in case he wakes up."
"That may take a while. That blast was pretty strong."
"Lucky for him you managed to whack that guy before the
second shot could be powered up more or he'd be dead."
"Hey, it was your fire reading that told us where they were."
"But why did Mercury say that 'the bookworm would
overpower us'? We've never said anything like that about her, ever.
Not even behind her back."
"That freak man must've tricked her somehow, like showing
her a projection of us but changed the dialogue."
"But now I've got this terrible... emptiness... is the best way to
describe it. This terrible 'empty' feeling that Ami-chan's in trouble."
Rei sighed again.
"She'll be okay. With her brain power she'll get out of there
easily, but unfortunately her brawn can't make do for any dangers
where it's needed as well." Mako put a reassuring hand on her friend's
shoulder.
"Haven't you girls ever heard the term, 'The greatest defense
makes for a better weapon'?" asked Minako who had just appeared and
noticed that she now had three pairs of eyes giving her questioning
looks, one courtesy of Artemis, "What?" She then said.
"Minako-chan, remind me to buy you a dictionary of all of
these little quotes." Rei sighed, "It goes 'The best defense is the greatest
offense'."
"Well," Minako laughed, "It could easily be said that way too,
I suppose."
"Enough with your ditzy moments." Artemis said and turned
to the other two, "Why the urgent call, girls?"
"Take a look for yourself," Mako said and she and Rei moved
to reveal the unconscious Debe.
"That's pretty urgent!" Minako exclaimed as she ran up to him,
"What happened?! Is he all right?!"
"Calm down, Mina." Artemis said, "We don't need {you} to
hyperventilate from shock, you know."
"That's not all," Rei said, "He was fighting some guy who
tried to blast him and Ami-chan, but he took two shots and Ami-chan
transformed, told us that she was through with our team and went with
the attacker."
"This is something that definitely can't be taken lightly." Said
Luna, who had just walked in with Usagi, "Mercury-chan must've been
utterly convinced that we were against her or she would've stayed with
Debe-kun. I wonder what those two were doing there alone anyway?"
Rei and Mako exchanged glances as they realized that those two
{were} alone in the park at 8:30 PM.
"I was just about to complain about how you made us all come
here so late," Usagi said, "But I have to say that sleep can wait."
Everyone gave Usagi a very surprised look.


Debe opened his eyes, he had no idea where he was, definitely
nowhere physical. All he knew is that he must be dead or dreaming.
He looked at himself and noticed that he was still wearing his casual T-
shirt and jeans and was standing on some sort of cloudy platform. He
looked around and realized, based on his fighting instincts, that he
wasn't alone. He quickly spun around and saw a young woman
standing about ten feet away from him. She had long green hair and
wore an outfit that looked exactly like what Sailor Mercury wore, but
hers was a different color and she held a staff that sort of looked like a
key.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"You have nothing to fear from me," she said, "Although I'm
not surprised you don't remember me."
"Where am I? Why am I here?"
"We are in your subconscious memories. I was told to guide
you to your forgotten moments. What do you remember before three
years ago?"
"N-nothing. But you still haven't told me who you are."
"An old friend. But we have no time for idle chatting, your
destiny is awaiting you."
"Destiny? What're you talking about?"
"Enter the Door of Time and regain all of your knowledge,
Ohara Debe."
"You know my name, but I don't know you."
"There is no time! Go now!" The girl stepped aside and a
large gate with ornately carved doors appeared. "Remember, once you
go in you cannot leave until you remember. Go!"
"I will. I want to remember." Debe held his head up high as
he walked into the now-open doors. As he disappeared, Sailor Pluto
smiled.


Debe had no idea exactly what was going on, he couldn't
move his body when he realized that he wasn't in his body! {I get it,}
he thought, {I'm watching my memories but can't control 'em.} He saw
himself standing amongst a crowd of people, wearing a very formal
outfit, dancing with a beautiful young woman with a flowing blue dress
whose head was turned away from his set of "eyes". The young
woman and he made a very beautiful couple. {When was this?} He
thought, {I never remember attending a dance as formal as this.
Considering I look as old as I do now. But that girl I'm with... blue
hair?}

{It can't be!}

The dancing couple began to twirl to the soft music of the
orchestra, it was then that Debe's "eyes" finally realized exactly whom
he was dancing with...

{Ami?!}

Flicker...

The scene suddenly shifted to the outside of a palace, only this
was a different one. Debe saw himself as a much younger person, most
likely seven or eight. Fountains of clear, blue water surrounded the
place he was in. It was his favorite place to come to in all of Mercury.
{Mercury?} Debe thought, {is this the planet Mercury? This must be
what it looked like a long time ago.} The young Debe was excited as he
heard the procession come by the streets of the city. Today was the
anniversary of the signing of the peace treaty between all of the planets,
the start of the Silver Millennium. Every holiday a parade would come
through the streets in front of the palace and Debe would always be
there to watch them. But today the streets were unbelievably crowded
and so the young boy decided to climb into a nearby tree in order to get
a better view. The small one didn't realize his mistake until stepped on
a branch that looked strong, but appearances can be deceiving. With a
loud "Crack" the branch snapped off. And since everyone was so busy
watching the parade, they didn't notice a small kid fall inside the palace
walls.

Flicker...

{Again?!} Debe thought, {I'm back at the dance?!} He could
see himself still dancing with the girl who {did} look exactly like Ami.
{Could this have been a previous life?} The two finally walked off of
the dance floor to the applause of the spectators. The couple walked
over to where another beautiful young girl and her partner stood. She
was wearing a long, white dress while the man wore a tuxedo that
matched his own, but this man wore a mask. Debe looked at the
second girl and immediately recognized the hairstyle! {Oh no! On n-n-
n-n-no! It can't be Usagi! Then that means the other three girls have to
be around here somewhere. But I can only focus on me... and Ami.}
"That was beautiful," Usagi said, "You two will make an
excellent bride and groom next week."
"Thank you, Princess Serenity." Debe said with a bow of
respect, "I'm honored to have the privilege to escort a member of your
court to this banquet."
"We are glad to have you here," Princess Serenity spoke, "I
am sure Ami does not mind at all."
If Debe's spiritual form could reach his hair he'd start pulling it
out! WHAT WAS GOING ON?!
"I don't." Ami laughed, "Imagine, I'm the only one who is
going to marry a normal citizen. But you know what will happen if you
and Prince Endymion are seen together."
"I'm not worried about that," the man named Endymion said,
"My disguise has never been broken."
"I heard the news." Serenity said, "When is your wedding?"
"Five days from now," Ami sighed, "It will seem like an
eternity."
Debe smiled at her and gently took hold of her hand.

Flicker...

{Glad to be out of that one,} Debe thought, {This is just
confusing. I guess I wouldn't have given this a second thought back
then. Whenever this was.} Debe saw the eight-year-old him lying
semi-conscious on the grass directly inside that second palace's walls,
only he wasn't alone. He saw a small girl kneeling by him.
"Hello?" She said, "Can you hear me?" The young Debe
started to stir and slowly sat up.
"Ugh," he moaned, "Where am I?"
"You're in the palace. I heard a 'thump' directly behind me.
You really gave me a scare."
"Who are you?"
"I'm the princess. I hid back here in the garden so I wouldn't
have to attend the parade. My parents don't make me go but some of
my attendants think that I belong to them and not my parents, so I have
to come here to hide out."
The young Debe noticed the redness in the girl's cheeks and
eyes.
"Are you all right? You look like you've been crying?"
"Oh it's nothing. I was just trying to play this," she picked up
a small instrument that was placed on the grass beside her.
"A potato?"
The princess giggled, "No, silly. This is Mercury's Ocarina.
My father told me that only the one who I was destined to marry can
play it. I once read something about how the ocarina chooses its
holder. I've tried to play a lot, but for something you just have to blow
into it sure isn't nice."
The young Debe eyed the blue instrument with intense
curiosity, until he finally spoke. "Can I see it?"
The princess looked hesitant, "All right, but please be careful."
She slowly handed the royal treasure over to him. Debe suddenly had
the strangest feeling. {Must be what the little me is feeling,} he
thought, {it's telling me to play.} He did, the melody was one of five
notes, repeated, with a closing of nine...

Flicker...

Many more images and scenes appeared to Debe. He saw
himself often sneaking into the palace to play the ocarina for the
princess. He did this routine for two years before her father finally
found out. The king wasn't mad since he had met his wife the exact
same way. The king immediately took to the young boy and soon
discovered that he was an orphan. Debe never knew that until now, out
of all of those scenes he never knew his parents had died right after he
was born and he was raised in an orphanage. The monarchy of
Mercury accepted him as the chosen one to marry the princess and gave
him their second royal treasure, Mercury's Royal Blade when he was 12
and he swore to defend her. Even more memories were revealed, his
first dance with the princess and the first meeting with the other
Guardians who later became his friends despite his status. A most
cherished one of a picnic with just him and Ami, their first kiss at age
14. But the most important memories were next...

Flicker...

"We're under attack! We're under attack!" Shouted Luna. The
two cats ran through the ballroom calling a warning that the Moon
Kingdom was under siege. Debe realized that he was no longer in his
spiritual "eyes", but was now seeing things from first person.
"We're going to need everyone we can get! Hurry! To the
armaments!" Artemis ordered. Debe and Ami turned around to see the
two cats run into the next room.
"I need to go," Ami said, "The Senshi need me."
"I understand," he said, "I'll fight alongside the others."
"Good luck," she quickly said, gave him a final kiss, and ran
out into the battlefront transforming mid-way. Debe stood there for a
few seconds, that kiss was short but to him it felt that it would be the
last one he'd ever receive from her. He quickly suppressed those
thoughts and put his Courage before Love and ran out, drawing
Mercury's Royal Blade, Debe held the sword hilt high above his head
and shouted in words that would have been understandable to anyone
not from Mercury,

A column of water immediately enveloped his body and
seemed to solidify into a cape with the outer lining being dark blue and
the inner lining white. Debe threw the cape back to reveal a full set of
lightweight yet durable armor that was light blue and the blade
appeared. After his transformation, Guardian Mercury joined his
friends in the battle.

Flicker...

"Incoming!" Guardian Mars shouted as the youma proceeded
to turn the entire palace into rubble. Prince Endymion had managed to
retreat far enough to help the moon princess while the rest fought on to
the end. But the dark warriors all joined as one and shot out a blast that
rocked the entire moon! Debe managed to take cover behind the only
column that was still standing. The explosion that took place was
completely ear shattering, shrapnel everywhere, screams of his friends
and allies as they died all over him. He couldn't take it! He kept
hearing voices crying for help but in his fear he couldn't move for what
seemed to be years, even though it was only a few seconds. He knew
he didn't have much longer when he heard the echo of Queen Serenity's
call of "MOON HEALING ESCALATION!!!" and the monsters all
disappeared, every single one screaming in pain. When he managed to
open his eyes, Debe noticed that the only thing left of his cover was a
small chunk of marble that barely managed to cover him. He then
noticed that his right arm had been embedded with a chunk of shrapnel,
it cut partway into the muscle, he removed it and, using a piece of his
cape, bandaged it the best he could. He stood up, looked around, and
saw the entire palace reduced to rubble. But that wasn't what made his
jaw drop to his knees. The site of the battlefield was completely
horrid! Dead bodies everywhere, his friends, his allies, all gone! The
tears couldn't be prevented, he sorely mourned their losses. The silence
was deafening, the only sound he could hear was his heart beating with
fear.

Hoping to find someone who was still alive he started running
all over the battlefield. The queen had managed to remove all of the
monsters but he felt there was not much time. He passed hundreds of
people, none moving. He ran and ran, and before long he reached the
four Sailor Senshi, but one was still trying to move.

It was Mercury.

"M-Mercury!" Debe shouted, knelt down beside her, and held
her in his arms, "Come on, you can't leave me. Not you, you can hold
on!"
"I-I'm... sorry..." She said, weakly, "But... we're all destined to
go... sometime."
"No! You have to stay with me! I can't lose you!" More tears
started forming in both of their faces.
"I can't make it... Debe..." she started coughing up blood, "I
was... at the rear lines... didn't get the full force of the blast... so I
managed to hold on for a few extra minutes."
"The Queen banished all of them! I can't be the only survivor!
My right arm was impaled deeply and that's all I got, surely there's got
to be someone else."
"No... they're all gone..." Mercury was resting her head on his
chest, "Here..." she reached into her dimensional pocket where she kept
her transformation stick, "Take this," she opened her hand to reveal the
ocarina.
"Mercury's Ocarina? I can't, the princess and her betrothed get
only one of two of the planet's treasures I can't take this. The power of
the two will keep me at my age forever."
"You must. Please... play for me once more."
Debe looked at his dying love, "I will, my princess." He took
the instrument and played a slow tune, one that represented his life with
her after the first time they had met. {This is what I was playing when
we ran into each other both times}, the spiritual Debe thought, {so I put
my emotions into my music then.}

The song continued for only a few minutes but both Debe and
Sailor Mercury felt that it lasted a lifetime. {Another perfect moment
in time.} Mercury coughed up more blood and began to close her eyes,
"Thank you..." she said. Debe couldn't handle this anymore, he held
her tighter. He said quietly, "Ami... Goodbye... I've always loved you
and always will..." the tears wouldn't stop as she simply smiled at him,
closed her eyes, and went limp. The silence heard a cry of total and
complete despair of "AMI-SAMAAAAAAAAA!!!" that echoed across
the lifeless battlefield. He had lost everything! He wanted it to end...

After another minute he lifted his head and spoke,

"Sailor Mercury... Ami... If we ever meet each other again I
promise I'll return your treasure to you." He said just as a yellow light
surrounded the entire area and everything became dark.

Flicker...


Debe walked out of the Door of Time and reencountered the
same woman.
"Do you remember?" She asked.
"Yes, Sailor Pluto." He said, "I am the Guardian of the
Princess of Mercury, sworn to protect and defend her! Guardian
Mercury! We were to marry and the Dark Kingdom destroyed it all!"
"That's correct. Each princess had a Guardian and you are the
first to come through."
"What do you mean?"
"After you and Ami had separated at the bookstore, you had
that feeling of dread in your chest your instincts for protecting her
emerged and you helped her, you watched over her unconscious body
for four hours before she reverted and you could become yourself
again. You didn't remember doing it since you hadn't fully
remembered everything yet."
"But why wasn't I reborn? How come I just appeared out of
nowhere?"
"People cannot be reborn until they have died. You didn't die
and so you were put into suspended animation until you were needed.
You appeared right before the Sailor Senshi did. You destroyed that
operation in the United States using your powers of Mercury."
"That's right, I can use the powers of the planet like Sailor
Mercury can. I have limited usage at all times but if I transform I'm at
full power. But since there're still some gaps in my brain I don't know
exactly what my powers are." A quick thought entered Debe's head,
"But why am I destined to fight Blade?"
"That cannot be answered now. You will realize when the
time is right. The time has come for you to awaken and fulfill your
calling. Go! Sailor Mercury needs you!" Sailor Pluto waved her staff.
"Thank you." Debe said before he was enveloped in a white
light that covered everything. Sailor Pluto smiled again and spoke
quietly, "No, thank you. Thank you for helping us all."


Sailor Mercury couldn't move. She didn't move by choice, not
because she was restrained. After suffering from hours of being
shocked she was covered with several burns and her fuku had several
small and large holes where they had been burned away, and she
became very thankful for the bow on her torso. Since she was too weak
to move for a very long time she couldn't do a thing as Rad chained her
to a wall in such a way that if she leaned too far forward or backward
her arms felt like they would literally rip out of their sockets. Not only
that but her wrists were bleeding from how tight the shackles were..
She had no choice but to stand up, but she couldn't stay up too much
longer. She scolded herself again for the ten thousandth time about
how she should've listened to her heart and her friend instead of her
desire. It had cost her her friends' trust in her as well as the life of the
second man who cared about her for who she was. Tears were welling
up in her eyes yet again as she thought about it. Her energy reserve was
so low that it hurt to breathe, but she had to stay standing or she'd be
short two arms. Sailor Mercury didn't know how long she'd been in
this room, the only things in here besides four blank walls were her
chains and the door. She was starving, her throat was horribly dry, and
she's had a very uncomfortable feeling between her legs for who knows
how long. She wanted this nightmare to end. The room was so quiet
that the only sound that was audible was the sound of her tears forming
puddles on the floor.

"When will it all end?" She asked herself, then said to no one
in particular, "My friends, please forgive me. I'm sorry I did this to all
of you."

After what seemed to be several more hours she had fallen
asleep upright and was just barely was able to stand, but that was
slowly giving away as her legs began to fail her. She managed to open
her eyes far enough to see the door to the room open and a figure walk
in. Her mind was cluttered so much that she couldn't tell who it was.
He only walked into the room and suddenly she felt that she was
stabbed in the arm. She didn't have enough strength to scream but she
flinched and that was a mistake. The movement made her legs fail and
she fell forward. The intense pain in her shoulders only lasted a few
seconds before she blacked out.


"The drug worked, sir." Rad said after he injected the girl with
it, "She'll be out for several hours, her transformation has reversed and
she will have no memories other than the ones you give her."
"Good," Blade said, "Take her to her quarters and prepare her.
Her memories may be gone but her intelligence will remain. Treat her
carefully, I don't want my 'wife' to suffer any brain damage."
"Yes sir." Rad unchained the rag doll-like Ami and carried her
into a specially designed room with wallpaper showing Sailor Mercury
attacking the rest of the Senshi. Rad managed to find her
transformation stick in Ami's school uniform and took it to the
mansion's lab.


"Where am I?" Asked Debe, as he slowly and painfully got up
off of the cot.
"You're awake?!" Rei, who just walked in, shouted.
"Yeah, and I remember it all. Where is this, Rei?"
"You're at the shrine that we talked about."
"Funny, never thought I'd come here like this. How long've I
been out?"
"Two days." Debe's eyes nearly popped out of his head. Rei
continued, "We thought you were gone for good, but we decided to
wait."
"Where's Ami? Did she...?"
Rei closed her eyes and nodded. "I'm afraid so, we haven't had
any contact with her since. She may be dead for all we know."
"Dammit!" He pounded a nearby table and Rei could almost
hear it crack, "I swore to protect her 1000 years ago and when I finally
remember it she's dead already?!"
Rei gasped, "So you did live during the Silver Millennium!"
Debe realized what he just said, "Yeah, I know you're Sailor
Mars. But before I say anything else you'd better get everyone else
here, including the cats. I know they can talk so I won't be surprised.
But first..." He sniffed the air around him, "While you're doing that can
I use your shower and maybe borrow something to wear? Being
knocked around and covered in dirt and grass for two days really
doesn't provide a nice smell."
"Of course. The bathroom's this way." She showed him the
second door to the left in the hall, "Yuuichirou will find you a kimono
to wear until your clothes are washed. Do you want me to leave a note
for your family in case they get back from vacation while you recover
here?"
"Remind me to explain about that later as well. Thanks for
everything Rei, I'll have to treat all of you to a few pizzas after we get
Ami back."
"Don't tell that to Usagi or she won't be able to wait until
then." She laughed. "But why were you two in the park so late last
night?"
"It's a long story. I bet her a book that I could beat her score
on a game and she couldn't take it back. I lost and so we went for her
to collect her win. Afterwards we split up and I started playing my
ocarina and after a few hours she appeared out of nowhere and it
seemed she was afraid of something so I offered to take her home."
"I see, but you were attacked while on the way. But why was
she in the park for so long?"
"She didn't say exactly. She simply said she tripped and hit
her head. But I think she was attacked once and she defeated the
attacker as she was hit or something." {I helped her but I can't
remember what happened to her,}he thought.
"You can tell me more later. Go ahead and clean up, I'll get
the others here and some food ready."
"Thanks again." Debe said and walked into the bathroom.
After a quick shower he saw that his regular clothes had been replaced
with a blue and white kimono while the ocarina and sword hilt were
placed next to it. So he quickly put it on, gathered the royal treasures
of Mercury, and walked out to see a group of four girls and two cats
waiting for his story.
"Glad to see you're up and running again," Minako said,
"Must've been one heck a time laying there for two days."
"Rei-chan told us about you knowing who we are," Usagi
explained, "So you can tell us whenever you're up to it."
"In the meantime I made you some lunch." Mako offered,
"Must be incredibly hungry after that fight."
"Thanks you guys." Debe said, sat down, and started eating.
After a couple of bites, hed said, "I really don't deserve this."
"That's completely not true," said Luna, "You risked your life
to help one of our best friends and you really stood up for what you
believed in."
"I once heard this saying," began Artemis, "'Through Hope
one can obtain Courage in order to protect the ones you Love. This
leads to the ultimate bonding power of Trust'. I can't remember exactly
where though."
"You heard it from Queen Serenity," Debe said, "She said it to
me two days before the Dark Kingdom attacked the moon. But since I
haven't explained how I know so much I'd better do so." He took a
deep breath and began, "I was born on Mercury. My parents are the
only things I still don't remember but I knew that I would love to spend
time outside the palace and look at the fountains and watch any parades
when a celebration occurred..."


Ami was finally beginning to wake up, she couldn't remember
a thing. She saw that she was dressed in a long blue dress and was
wearing a diamond necklace when she saw a man sitting next to her on
the bed.
"You're finally awake, my wife." He said.
"Where am I? What happened? My mind's so foggy." Ami
slowly sat up, "And who are you?"
"I'm your husband, Blade. You must've hit your head pretty
hard when you were attacked."
"Attacked? Was I attacked by these people on the wall?"
"Yes, they are your mortal enemies. They've always tried to
take you from me. In your last battle we were outnumbered and you
were knocked out. I barely managed to get you here. But you're alive
and that's all that matters." Ami made a decision.

"Yes, I'm here for you." Ami leaned her head on his shoulder,
"I'll make them pay for what they're doing to ruin our love."


"And since I didn't die I was put into suspended animation
until Sailor Pluto sent me here three years ago. That's why I don't have
a natural last name here." Debe finished.
"It must've been incredibly hard to see everyone dead like
that," Rei said.
"It's all so horrible. I had no idea anyone other than the queen
and the two of us experienced that carnage." Luna said and noticed
something, "Usagi-chan? Are you all right?"
Usagi was crying yet again, "It's just so horrible," she sobbed,
"my mother and I wanted all of us to be happy. Now we learn that we
were all going to be married and we all were torn apart." She sobbed
again, "Now I know that all of you feel the same way that I did when I
lost Mamo-chan."
"It's all right Usagi," Debe said, "We just have to find the rest
of the Guardians. We all can use the powers you do but in a different
fashion. Since Sailor Mercury's are used mainly for defense my powers
are mostly offensive. It's most likely the other way around for the
others."
"You're right. Tuxedo Kamen usually helps to protect us."
Usagi realized.
Debe continued, "But what I noticed only a few minutes
before you came in is that I can manipulate water."
"That's something that can't be taken lightly," Artemis said,
"Water is one of the strongest physical forces in the universe."
"Tell me about it. That shower became a little painful when I
accidentally increased the pressure beyond its normal capacity." He
received a worried look, "I'll pay your water bill, Rei."
"Well now that we know there are more people to find from
our past," Said Mako, "But first we have to rescue Sailor Mercury."
"If she were here we'd be able to track her with that computer
she's got." Usagi groaned, "But since she's the one we're looking for
we're on our own."
"You're forgetting something," Rei said, "I can easily do a fire
reading."
"Oh yeah," Usagi said in a small voice.
"Can I watch?" Debe asked, "I've never seen Shinto rituals and
I've always been fascinated by seeing new things."
"Of course," Rei said, "Everyone usually does watch so come
on in." The group quickly stood up and walked into the adjoining room
where the fire had been burning for several hours. Everyone watched
as Rei began the ritual.


After several minutes of watching in fascination Debe really
began to feel an aura of pure spirituality emitting from Rei. He'd never
told anyone since he appeared on Earth but after finishing school he
wished to study about as many cultures as possible, aside from all of
his other dreams. That's why he was doing his best to learn so many
languages.
He lost all of his concentration as Rei started chanting, "Rin!
Pyou! Tou! Sha! Kai! Jin! Retsu! Sai! Zen!" The fire suddenly jumped
up and Debe couldn't believe what he was seeing! Images that were as
clear as day suddenly appeared in the fire. Everyone in the room
gasped in total shock as the scenes unfolded themselves. They saw
Mercury being shocked by several electrodes, she was being tortured
and forced to reveal everything she knew about her friends. She
eventually lost all energy of resistance and was taken to a room and
was forced to stand for several hours while chained to a wall! The
scene shifted to her in her normal form and she had her head on Blade's
shoulder.
"I know that guy!" Mako shouted, "He's the one who took
her!"
"She must've been brainwashed after being tortured like that!"
Luna said.
"Well I'm not going to stand for it!" Usagi jumped up,
"Nobody does that to one of our friends and gets away with it! Who's
with me?!" Four hands and two paws shot up.
"What I don't understand is why he'd want to brainwash her
anyway." Minako wondered out loud.
"I'll explain that one," Debe said, "Blade is a drug dealer and
he's always finding new sources and materials to 'improve' the already
highly addictive drugs today. He recently discovered some solution
that can block out certain elements. As well as others that induce
memory loss and other effects. He must want Ami's intelligence to
help him develop a drug that is so addictive he can control people with
it."
"How do you know all of this?" Luna asked.
"I've fought him before." Everyone looked at him with their
eyes popping out. Debe continued, "His organization was originally
centered back in the US. There was a $2 million reward, not offered by
the government, for the operation's shutdown. Where I was living you
always had to be alert or you'd most likely be mugged, so I had plenty
of contacts. Everyone who knew about it thought I was crazy but I felt
that it {had} to end. I did have Mercury's Royal Blade and even though
I didn't want to kill anyone I had no choice, I hated the idea of him
using little kids for {his} profits. My destiny was to destroy his main
factory and so I snuck in through the sewers and set up a chemical
explosive to destroy the factory. I don't why I did it, but I felt that I
needed that money since I had the feeling that I was needed here in
Japan. Now I know why."
"You said you fought that man," Minako said, "When did you
see him?"
"I managed to trip a silent alarm and right before the chemical
reaction was going to explode he and four armed guards cornered me
on my way out. But I had an ace up my sleeve."
"What'd you do?" Usagi asked.
"I had a small device in my pocket, I told them it was an
explosive capable of destroying the entire facility, but I'd already
rigged that, and they took the bluff. It was a smoke bomb. I threw it to
the ground and killed the guards on with the sword on my way out.
That was the first time in 1000 years I took lives. But the thing that
relieved me was that they weren't human. I only managed to kick
Blade where it really hurt so he was still rolling on the ground when I
got out of there. I'm still living off that reward money and plan on
doing so until after college. But now Blade's in Japan and most likely
starting another ring. But since he's got Ami, he knows we're going in
after her."
"There's just one small problem," Artemis began, "We don't
know where they are." The girls looked at the cat in surprise then
dropped their heads.
"Not a problem," Debe said, "Guardians can sense exactly
where their protectees are when they're in trouble."
"Just like Tuxedo Kamen," Usagi said quietly.
"Can you tell where Ami-chan is now?" Luna asked.
"Give me a second," said Debe. He closed his eyes and let his
thoughts drift in towards where Ami was located. His bond with her
immediately sensed where she was and she opened his eyes again, "The
large mansion at the far east side of the city."
"All right!" Mako shouted, standing up, "We are going there
and going to kick some drug dealer bootie!" Everyone looked at Mako
with surprised expressions.
"Before we go in there we really should plan our attack,"
Artemis said, "We're going up against two geniuses. Since that guy's
brainwashed Ami and he's expecting us they really are going to plan an
attack."
"From the way I see it," began Luna, "Is that we should split
up into two groups and approach from each side."
"No!" Debe said, "That's what they'll expect first. There's a
thing that's called 'Never a perfect plan'. No matter how smart anyone
is he/she always misses at least one option. And since we have two
people with high IQs we do the simplest form of attack."
"Which is?" Rei asked.

"We all go in head on!"

Everyone but Debe immediately developed a sweat drop.


The plan of attack from there was slowly developed and it was
decided that they would attack tomorrow morning since everyone but
Debe felt that he needed one more night's rest before fighting again.
He decided to stay at the shrine for the night since he really had no
reason to go home and he eventually agreed that he was too weak to do
anything too strenuous. Late that night, Rei sat meditating in front of
the fire when she heard a knock.
"Come in." she said without moving. Debe walked in and sat
behind her.
"Can't sleep?" She asked and turned around.
"No, it's just that I've a feeling of... emptiness inside of me.
It's not helping me sleep at all."
"I know how you feel. I've had that feeling ever since Mako-
chan and I found you in the park. It started only a few minutes after
Ami-chan followed that guy into the portal he created."
"He must have developed more powers, there was something I
didn't tell you guys earlier but I didn't know it then."
"What?"
"Blade lived at the same time we did. He was captured by the
Dark Kingdom and corrupted by their evil. He eventually became a
rogue fighter and made his way to Earth right before Queen Beryl made
her first attacks."
"So we are up against the Dark Kingdom again." Rei then said
to herself, "I knew I recognized the aura around him."
"But that's not what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid of what Ami's
going to do to us. With her being brainwashed this fight's not going to
be easy."
"We can easily restore her memories, the hard part will be
convincing her that we never speak harshly about her."
"I think the shock from when she found out she was going to
be tortured did that. But that's not what I was talking about. I swore to
protect her, I swore to in front of her parents when I was only 12, that
was three years before Queen Beryl's attack. I was 15 when I came
back to earth and I'm still 15 now, I'm not going to age until I return the
ocarina to her. But right now my biggest fear is if I have to fight her."
"I understand."
"You know, I was wondering why you girls were always so
nice to me since I've been here."
"Well to tell you the truth every single one of us had a crush
on you, even Ami, but she wouldn't admit it to anyone, not even
herself."
"Why am I not surprised?" The two laughed at the idea, "Well
I'm going to try to get some sleep. Good night Rei, and thanks for
listening." Debe stood up and started to walk out.
"Anytime, you'd do the same for us."
"You have true Courage. Many people believe that Courage is
throwing your life away but it's really the power to protect the ones you
love."
"Who told you that?"
"You did, 1000 years ago." Debe grinned with a half-grin,
walked back to the guestroom, and left Rei to think for herself.
{Courage...} she thought, {to protect the ones we love.} She
whispered to Debe after he left, "Believe in yourself, Debe-san. And
be strong. You'll know what to do."


The next morning everyone had gathered outside of the
Hikawa Shrine and was holding a last minute discussion.
"This is not going to be an easy fight, girls." Artemis said
when he heard a cough behind him. He turned around to see stone grey
eyes pierce into his, "Uh... and you too, Debe."
"But when we get inside we're going to split up," Luna said,
"You girls will come with me to stop any monsters that might be sent
our way while Debe and Artemis search for Sailor Mercury."
"Aren't those odds a little bad," Minako said, "One of us
should go with Debe in case he gets in trouble."
"No," Debe began, "You girls work better when you're all
together, I can take care of myself."
"If you insist, but we still don't like it." Usagi said, "You ready
guys?!"
"For anything!" Mako said while cracking her knuckles.
"Let's do it!" Said Rei.

"Okay then! MOON CRYSTAL POWER! MAKE-UP!!!"

"MARS STAR POWER! MAKE-UP!!!"

"JUPITER STAR POWER! MAKE-UP!!!"

"VENUS STAR POWER! MAKE-UP!!!"

After a minute, each girl was replaced by that of her
designated Senshi. Debe just stood there with the sword hilt in his
hand.
"You're not transforming?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Like I said yesterday," he said, "I don't need to unless I have
to use my powers to their fullest. And if I run into Mercury, that is the
last thing I want to do." Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Well we'd best get this show on the road." Said Venus, "Do
you have any way to teleport with us?"
"Unless I've got my own, no."
"Perfect," Sailor Moon whined, "Now we have to run."
"Then let's get moving," said Jupiter and started down the
stairs with everyone following behind and Luna resting on Sailor
Moon's shoulder and Artemis on Sailor Venus' shoulder.
"Kind of makes you glad you're a cat, huh Luna?" Asked
Artemis.
"No doubt about it." She replied and got an icy stare from
Moon.
After sprinting the whole way the group reached the mansion
within 15 minutes, Debe and Sailor Venus were the only ones not out
of breath. "You girls really should try running a few kilometers each
day." Debe said.
"Sailor Moon's got the most... experience from that," Mars
wheezed, "Since she's late for school... so often. Even though it hasn't
done a thing for her."
"You're... really... funny... Mars!" Shouted Sailor Moon with a
large amount of sarcasm.
"We don't have time for this," Jupiter started, "We are going in
there!" She powered up her attack, "SPARKLING WIDE
PRESSURE!!!" And the door to the mansion was reduced to particles.
"Um... Sailor Jupiter, it was already open." Said Venus.


Blade sat at a control console in his main office when he heard
the alarm.
"Damn!" He shouted, "They came earlier than we expected!"
"Is something wrong. sir?" Asked Rad who had just entered.
"There are intruders in the mansion, they seem to be splitting
into two groups. I want you to take three capsule monsters and attack
the group of four."
"What about the single one?"
"I know exactly how to deal with that one. If it's who I think it
is he's due for a surprise. Heh heh heh."
"Yes sir." Rad proceeded to walk out of the room just as Ami
walked in.
"What's the matter? Why are the alarms sounding?"
"It's our enemies. They've discovered where we are and are
attacking. Rad's already gathering a small force against the large
group."
After analyzing the readouts for a few seconds Ami said,
"Leave the single one to me."
"Excellent," Blade responded, "take this," he tossed her her
transformation pen, "and use it to power yourself up by shouting,
'Mercury Star Power, Make-up'."
"MERCURY STAR POWER! MAKE-UP!!!" Ami shouted
and promptly underwent her usual transformation except after the
sequence had ended everything about her fuku that was blue before was
now pitch black.
"Take care." Blade said as Sailor Mercury ran out of the
office.


At the eastern wing of the mansion the other four Senshi and
Luna were searching for any resistance when Sailor Mars suddenly felt
an evil spirit approach.
"Stop!" she shouted, "Something's headed our way!"
"Are you sure?" asked Venus.
"Positive. I sense that one is human and there are three
monsters with him."
"They just made a huge mistake then!" shouted Jupiter,
"Because they made the mistake of getting us angry!"
"Really?" Asked Rad who had just turned the corner, "I think
you girls are a bit too overconfident. But the master assigned me, Rad,
to take care of you!" He pulled out his staff, made a quick move, and
all four Senshi suddenly found themselves flat on their butts.
"He's quick! Be careful!" Shouted Luna, "No kidding?" was
Sailor Moon's reply.
"That's not all! Capsule monsters! Come and destroy these
Sailor Senshi!" Three monsters suddenly appeared from behind where
Rad stood. One seemed to be a giant squid but two of its legs looked
like a human's, the second looked exactly like a gorilla except it was
green and its face was extremely demonic, and the third was a red wolf-
like creature wearing armor.
"I'll just let these guys take care if you." Rad said and
suddenly vanished, the monsters closed in.


The west wing. Debe and Artemis were moving slowly so as
not to trip any more alarms.
"You really think she's this way?" Artemis asked.
"Positive," was the reply, "Her mind may have been altered a
little but there's still that subconscious part that still remembers us.
That's what I feel from her now?"
"A quick question. Do you always know what she's feeling?"
"Unless I choose to. Back in the States I often got the feelings
unexpectedly since I didn't know how to control it really. But the worst
feeling I ever got from her was betrayal."
"That must've been the time when the Black Moon used
hallucinations to make her think everyone called her a cheater."
"That was when she needed me the most then." Debe sighed
and dropped his head, "But I guess the time for me to be with her hadn't
come."
"You do care for her? Don't you?"
"I realized it when I was escorting her home from the park.
I'm sure Rei already told you guys." Debe and Artemis got so involved
in their conversation that Artemis didn't see the beam of an electric eye
and didn't step through it until it was too late.

Nothing happened.

"Huh?" he said, "Shouldn't there be alarms going off?"
"Unless it's a silent alarm I don't think it can pick you up on its
scanners. Anyway we'd better move." The teenager and the cat walked
through another hall when Debe noticed a double-door that led into a
giant room. The room was completely vacant but it was so vast that it
could've held his apartment in it!
"I'm going in there," Debe said.
"Wait! It could be a trap!" But it was too late, once Debe
stepped into the room the doors closed behind leaving Debe inside and
Artemis out.
"Damn!" the cat said, "He's probably a goner!"
"No!" Debe's voice said from the other side, "Nothing's
happening! Go find the others and tell them I'll be all right! I know I'm
supposed to be here! Go now!"
"Okay, but be careful." Artemis took off while Debe
investigated the room. There was absolutely nothing in it other than the
door. The walls and floor were completely bare and the room gave off
an eerie echo every time Debe took a step. As he walked to the center
he thought, {Nothing at all, but why do I have that feeling I should be
in here?} His answer came to him as a sound of footsteps directly
behind him. Debe turned around to come face to face with his greatest
fear.

"Sailor... Mercury?"


The squid-man attacked first. Sailor Mars quickly threw
herself to the side in order to dodge its flailing tentacles, but wasn't
quite fast enough. The squid grabbed Sailor Mars by the ankle and
managed throw her into Moon and Venus.
"Ow!" Mars yelled as she tried to stand but was in a tangle of
arms and legs.
"You're crushing my foot!" Shouted Sailor Moon.
"Get off of my arm!" Venus replied.
Sailor Jupiter, being the only one left standing, decided to act
while the squid was distracted.
"SUPREME THUNDER DRAGON!!!" The dragon received
its call and quickly formed. It lunged at the squid from behind and
immediately bit into it. The squid was electrocuted from the tip of its
"head" down to its tentacles and quickly turned into a glob of a brown
liquid and dissolved.
"Well that was a weird site." Sailor Jupiter said, "You guys
okay?"
"Except for the fact that one of Mars' earrings nearly went up
my nose." Said Sailor Moon.
Jupiter would've laughed except for the fact that she made the
mistake of letting her guard down when the gorilla quickly grabbed her
from behind, lifted her into the air, and began to bend her the wrong
way in order to snap her back. That didn't go unnoticed.
"CRESCENT..."
"FIRE..."
"BEAM!!!"
"SOUL!!!"
The attacks combined into one in order to inflict serious
damage on the gorilla. The gorilla immediately began melting and
Sailor Jupiter landed in the goo before it dissolved.
"Jupiter!" Sailor Moon cried, "Are you all right?!"
Jupiter sniffed what was on her, "I will be after I get this stuff
out of my fuku. I'll be in the bathtub for an hour!" She complained.
"Two down, one to go." Mars said as she eyed the armor dog.
The dog wasn't moving at all. A face off began as the Senshi and the
dog simply glared into each other's eyes, time passed as nothing
happened. But Sailor Moon shifted her position, a big mistake.

The Senshi had blinked.


Silence.

Sailor Mercury simply stood where she was, arms folded,
perfectly still, and her eyes literally pierced Debe's body. The gentle
sapphire blue of them had turned into a cold, steel blue. It was enough
to turn his blood to ice and a chill to run down his spine. He didn't dare
reach for his sword, he wanted her to make the first move.

But not everyone gets what they want.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked her slowly.

No reply.

"Why is most of your fuku black?"

No reply.

"Don't you realize how much your friends... no... we're all
worried about you?"

No reply.

"If you want to fight me I won't accept it."

A reply, "You came here to destroy the one I love. I won't
stand for it."

Her voice was definitely colder, it sounded nothing like the
sweet, normal Ami. So much so that Debe shivered at it's sound. He
spoke, "You've been tricked, brainwashed."

"You lie."

"What do you remember since yesterday?"

"Why should I tell an enemy that?"

"I'm not your enemy. The one who you say you love is. I
know the truth, you were tricked into thinking that he would give you
power. You followed and that was your fatal mistake. You were
tortured and brainwashed. You only say you love him because he told
you that."

"Lies! All lies!"

"Think about it. Do you know what your favorite pastimes
are? Do you even know my name? If I were your enemy you'd know
who I was."

No response.

"The only reason I'm here is because I'm worried about what
you've become. You may not remember it but I've known you for a
long time. And ever since we first met, both times, I've cared about
you for who you are."

No response.

"I wanted to tell this to you after we were out of this mess
but... I love you."

Debe got his response,

"SHABON SPRAY FREEZING!!!"

"[Oh s**t!]" Debe yelled in English and threw himself onto
the floor to the side to avoid the bubbles that would turn him into a
lawn ornament. By the time he was back on his feet Sailor Mercury
had already used her regular shabon spray and Debe immediately lost
himself in the fog. Perfect! he thought sarcastically. "I'm not going to
fight you, Ami!" he intentionally used her real name in order to try and
awaken her memories, but to no avail. He heard a noise behind him
and quickly turned around, but realized his mistake. The next thing he
knew he was flat on the ground after having been hit by a flying kick
directly on his back. It was enough to knock the ocarina out of his
pocket but with a surge of power he managed to catch it before it hit the
floor and would've shattered.
"Falling for the oldest trick in the book," Mercury laughed, "I
wonder how you managed to hold out against my husband for so long."
{Please give me strength,} Debe silently prayed as he stood
up, {there's only one way to bring your mind back to reality.} He stood
up and faced her, the fog was beginning to dissipate.
"You only want more?" She asked, "Fine, I'll give it to you!"

Debe put the ocarina to his lips and began to play.

First note...

"DOUBLE..."

Second note...

"SHABON..."

Third note...

"SPRAY..."

Fourth note... Debe's hands were shaking but he moved his
fingers to continue.

"FR-"

Fifth note...

"..."

It was enough.


Sailor Mercury's head began to spin as she heard those five
notes. She had no idea that her attack had stopped as the man in front
of her continued to play that melody. The five notes were repeated and
he finished the piece with only nine more notes. The melody made her
mind snap, she could see what happened to her.

Her stroll in the park alone.

Her first encounter with Rad and his monster.

Running into Debe at the lake.

The moments right before Blade appeared.

Her foolish decision on following Blade when Debe was
nearly unconscious.

Being strapped to the electrode machine.

Standing for hours in a completely bare room.

Nothing else until this moment.

Sailor Mercury's memories of her life and friends all came
back, and more. She saw everything that Debe had seen in his vision.
Their first meeting, their first dance, him making the oath to become
Guardian Mercury, their picnic and first kiss, which Sailor Mercury
blushed at reflexively, and their last moments. The impact hit her like a
ton of bricks and she promptly fainted.


Sailor Moon's shift in her position lowered her guard long
enough for the armor dog to act. Before she knew it the armor dog had
pounced Sailor Moon and she was pinned to the ground.
"Hey!" she shouted, "Get off of me!" The beast's only reply
was snarling in her face.
"Whew." she said with a sour expression, "When was the last
time you brushed?"
The other three Senshi quickly moved to help their leader but
the dog was prepared for that. It used its tail and hind legs to knock
them away with a huge amount of force. Each one hit the wall of the
corridor with a loud {thud}. By this time Luna decided to act, with a
cry she leapt at the dog but it was also ready for her. With another
swing of its tail Luna found herself land right on top of Sailor Venus.
The dog turned its attention back to Sailor Moon and a large amount of
slobber fell from its mouth.
"Ew!" Sailor Moon said as one of the globs of drool landed
right in her mouth, "The guy must've skipped a meal." The dog was
now bearing its teeth and looked about to bite Sailor Moon's throat out
when...

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!"

Artemis appeared from behind the dog and with a cry of attack
he jumped onto its back and dug his claws into a bare spot... {hard!}

The armor dog quickly tried to throw the white cat off of its
back but this gave Sailor Moon a long enough moment to use her foot
to throw the dog over her head and onto the ground. Unfortunately for
Artemis he was still on the dog's back.
"Good one, odango atama." He moaned. The dog didn't care
about Artemis since it was Sailor Moon who had damaged its pride. It
leaped at her again, this time showing no mercy. Sailor Moon
screamed since she wouldn't have time to do anything. She was cut off
as she saw a red flash pass by her eyes and a rose stick itself between
the dog's eyes. It yelped in pain and abruptly stopped as Tuxedo
Kamen appeared behind Sailor Moon.
"Dogs like you should go back to obedience school!" He said,
"No treat for you!"
"Really nice timing there, guy." Sailor Moon said as she
turned around to face her savior.
"Well I had to get here in the first place." He replied with a
grin.
"Yeah I guess that's a good excuse," she turned to the dog,
"You hurt my friends and your master turned one of them against us!
I'll pay him back for what he's done! I am the pretty sailor-suited
soldier, Sailor Moon! In the name of the moon and my friends, I'll
punish you!" The Cutie Moon Rod quickly materialized in her hands.

"MOON PRINCESS HALATION!!!"

The armor dog was reduced to muck and dust.
Sailor Mars was the first one to stand, she noticed that Sailor
Moon and Tuxedo Kamen had taken care of their little problem.
"Sometimes you get to have all of the fun." she said while
Jupiter and Venus rose. Venus noticed Artemis lying where he'd been
squashed.
"Artemis!" she cried, "Can you hear me?!"
"A little more than I wished to." he replied, "I wasn't knocked
out you know."
"But why are you here?" Asked Luna, "Where's Debe-kun?"
"We were separated by an automatic closing wooden door."
"Let's move then!" Shouted Sailor Jupiter, "He could be in
trouble!"
"Let's go!" said Tuxedo Kamen.


Debe didn't think that the melody would have that effect on
Sailor Mercury. He quickly ran over to catch her as she fainted and
managed to right before she hit the ground. After a few moments he
began to notice that her Sailor fuku was slowly beginning to return to
its true color. The blackness in it slowly left the fuku, became a cloud
of a type of gas, and dissipated. Debe then noticed that she had holes in
her original fuku. {Must be what it looked like after she was tortured,}
he thought. He quickly scanned her for any serious injuries while
holding her and noticed something else. {She must be thankful right
now for the bow on her front,} he thought as he blushed. After her
fuku returned to its complete originality she began to stir.
"Sailor Mercury? Are you okay?"
She began to move some more, "Is that you, Debe?" She
asked.
"Yes," he replied, "Do you remember?"
Sailor Mercury quickly recalled all that she had regained,
"Yes. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you."
"That's all right. But I'm even more sorry that I wasn't able to
help you like the old times."
"What do you mean?"
Debe realized that she must not've remembered him 1000
years ago, "Never mind. I'm just glad you're here."
"By the old times you meant when we lived on Mercury?"
{Okay so maybe she did remember}, Debe thought. "Yes, I
did." he said.
"Good. Because I missed you." she answered.
"Really?"
"Yes, I felt that I'd known you for a long time when we first
met. And just now I realized that you were there for me during that
time so long ago."
"Well I did give my word." He laughed. Sailor Mercury only
smiled at him. Debe continued, "Oh, I guess I should return this to
you." He said quietly as he handed her the ocarina.
"Thank you," she said as she put it away. "I must look pretty
bad to you."
"You look good," he told her, "Except for the fact that
whatever those jerks did to you made Swiss cheese out of your fuku."
Sailor Mercury noticed that he was right. The holes were still
there. She gasped in shock and turned a deep shade of red, but quickly
calmed down, "It's nothing really," she said, "I'm still covered."
"What we should do now is get you out of here. Everyone's
worried and they really would want to see you back to normal."
"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I should have known better."
She said as she started to rise, "I know now that the conversation I
heard was completely false."
"Yeah, Rei said that they were discussing what you and I were
going to do when we left the arcade."
Sailor Mercury blushed.


Rad was infuriated! His three strongest capsule monsters
dead! He wanted to run in and kill all of those Senshi right now but he
was seriously outnumbered. His choices were to face the master or
take some of his experiments and run. He chose the latter. He would
develop a new capsule monster that would be powerful enough to
destroy them.


{At least it's over for now}, Sailor Mercury thought as she
allowed Debe to help her up. Since she'd turned back to normal her
entire body felt almost as weak as it had while she'd been chained up in
that room. Something she never wanted to think about again.
"Good thing we're close to the exit," Debe said as she leaned
on him and started walking, "You really could use a long rest."
"I forgot to ask," said Mercury, "How long ago did this whole
thing start?"
"Three days. You've got a little makeup work to do for
school."
"It shouldn't take too long. I already read those parts anyway."
The two laughed and headed for the door.
"We'll be out of here in no time." Debe said as they slowly
advanced the now open doors. But just as they were about to step
through the doors slammed themselves shut again.

"No one's going anywhere!"

It was Blade.

"I've had all I can take from you!" he shouted as the couple
turned to face him. "You've ruined my plans for the last time!"
"You're not the only who's sick of the other!" Debe yelled as
he drew the hilt of Mercury's Royal Sword, "I'll show you what I can
really do!" then yelled his transformation.

Sailor Mercury stepped back as a column of water enveloped
Debe. While leaning against the wall she saw him transform. She
watched in awe as she saw him clad in his armor. {Oh my...} she
thought, {I forgot how handsome he looked in that.} She felt the blood
rush to her cheeks as she blushed a shade of red even more deep than
ever.
"Time to fulfill my duty." Debe said to her and turned to
Blade, "In the name of Mercury! I will avenge the princess for what
you've done!"
{Must've heard Sailor Moon confront a monster,} Mercury
thought.
"Empty threats!" Blade retaliated, "You should now know
why I'm called 'Blade'!" He made a motion with his right hand and a
sword made of Dark Kingdom material. Debe shouted and the two
entered a duel that would decide Sailor Mercury's fate.

Only it didn't last long.


Blade wasn't used to fighting a left-handed swordsman and so
he had to change his complete style. But his sword was crossing its
blade with a royal treasure of Mercury. The power in Debe's sword
immediately knocked the one from Blade and it quickly dissolved into
dust.
"Very impressing," Blade chuckled and quickly warped a few
feet back, "But can you stop another one of these?" He said as he
powered up another shot.


Debe almost expected Blade's attack after the sword of
Mercury had destroyed Blade's Dark sword. But Debe had no idea
what to do against another lightning ball. Blade launched the ball and
Debe threw his arms up in defense. He expected the blast to knock him
out again but his armor gave him extra defensive power. The blast only
pushed him back about three feet, but it was enough for him to lose his
breath.
"You want more?" Blade sneered, "Fine then!" He powered up
another shot and this one was enough to throw Debe against the wall.
He could barely stand, his legs were giving in. Sailor Mercury quickly
moved to his side despite the pain she had and whispered to him,

"I believe in you, my Guardian." She followed through and
gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

Debe was immediately revitalized. Blade shot another ball of
dark lightning but this time, he was ready.

"Ungh!" he grunted as he swung the blade to deflect the blast,
it worked.

The ball of dark energy quickly returned to Blade.
"NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOO!!!" he shouted as his most powerful blast
of dark energy hit him head on. The blast threw him completely across
the room and he slammed headfirst into the opposite wall. He managed
to look up and see Debe's sword pointed directly at his throat.

"You don't have to do that you know," Blade said weakly, "I'm
dying as it is."

"And deservedly so." Replied the young knight.

"But there's something you should know before... before my
time."

"And what's that?"

Blade made a quick motion and Debe's mind was filled with
images. He saw a small Dark Kingdom attack on Mercury that
happened several years before the main attack on the moon. Debe saw
a couple with a baby in their hands as they ran from the approaching
youma.
"They can't have him," the man said gesturing to the baby,
"I'm going to fight to the end if I have to."
"Please come back to me," the woman said. She had brown
hair that reached to the small of her back and grey eyes. {NO!} Debe
thought, {Those are my parents!?}
"I will," his father said, "If you have to give him to someone
then do so. The powers to be have spoken, and they say that he will
play an important role in his future."
"I understand," said Debe's mother, "Good luck."
"I love you." Were his last words as he drew a sword and
proceeded to meet the oncoming warriors.

Flicker...

Debe could see his mother struggling to stay ahead of the Dark
Kingdom's scouts and she slowly made her way to the walls of
Mercury's capital city. She managed to get inside just as the gates were
closing. They would keep the Dark Kingdom out and so the woman
felt she was safe. But she was critically wounded and she collapsed
after entering the main plaza of the city. A woman rushed to her aid.
"Please..." Debe's mother said, "Take care of Debe." and died.

The memory faded as Debe pieced the puzzle together. Blade
spoke again,
"You passed your test. And I'm happy that I was able to see
how strong you've become."
Debe's eyes filled with tears and he said as Blade emitted his
last breath, "Good bye...

...Father."


Artemis led the Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen to the room
where Debe and he had been separated and was surprised to see Sailor
Mercury crouching next to Debe who was kneeling next to the man
who Debe had described as Blade.
"H-he was my father," Debe said quietly to Sailor Mercury,
"He was captured and forced to fight for the Dark Kingdom. He knew
who I was all the time. He was testing me but if he had to he would've
killed me. The fatherly part of him was the reason why he deserted
Beryl and started his operation. He was looking for me to end his
misery."
Artemis watched as Sailor Mercury put her hand on his
shoulder in order to comfort him, and of course this all didn't go
unnoticed.

"No way!" shouted Sailor Moon, "Blade was your father and
you never knew!" the two Mercurians jumped up, startled, and faced
their reception. Sailor Mercury ran up to Sailor Moon and immediately
gave her a hug as the two exchanged "I'm glad you're all right!"
statements as well as the other Senshi while Debe stood aside from the
crowd. Sailor Jupiter walked over to speak to him,
"You did it," she said, "You certainly knew how to help her
come back to her senses."
"Wasn't too hard," Debe responded, "Just had to play a tune
and she was back to normal." He laughed. After a few more minutes
of congratulations the group walked out of the mansion. Debe and
Tuxedo Kamen were talking about exactly how he had helped the
Senshi many times in the past while the Senshi and the cats were
holding their own conversation.
"I just noticed how cool your Guardian looks when he's
wearing that armor, Mercury-chan." Said Sailor Jupiter.
"Yeah, can I borrow him for a while?" Asked Venus.
"I wouldn't mind taking him somewhere myself," said Mars.
Mercury blushed and laughed, "Oh no you don't. You're
going to have to wait until yours' come. Who knows, maybe you'll like
them more." The Senshi all laughed while Luna and Artemis
exchanged worried looks.


A week later, Usagi began to notice that Debe and Ami were
spending a lot of time together. He was now calling her "Ami-chan"
while she simply called him "Debe". Usagi noticed that the two would
often leave the group at the arcade at regular intervals and she would
loan him Mercury's Ocarina for a few minutes for him to play for her.
The two often studied together but one time so far they snuck out to get
some ice cream. Usagi was glad that Ami had finally found someone
she could be with since Ami had told her about Urawa's letter.

It was time for a new beginning for the Sailor Senshi.
Mercury was the first to be affected by this change and the rest were
soon to follow. The sun set that night in a cloudless Tokyo sky with
the stars slowly appearing. Debe and Ami were standing under a tree at
the park watching them appear one by one.

"They're so beautiful," Debe remarked.

"It makes me realize that all of the trouble we went through
was worth it. Just reaching this moment."

"I wasn't talking about the stars. I was referring to your eyes."

Ami blushed yet again, "You shouldn't say those things since I
don't handle them very well."

"It's hard to handle the truth." Debe said. Ami looked at him
again and smiled. The two drew closer together. As their lips touched
one another, Ami wished that this moment would never end. Far above
in the heavens, a shooting star soared across the sky.

The End... for now.





Author's Notes: This is the first fanfic in a complete series that I plan
on writing. Every Guardian is going to be revealed and they all will
eventually take on against a new evil in a final battle. The next one in
the Sailor Moon G series will be another episode based solely on the
Mercurians called "To Test Their Affection: The Trials of Ami and
Debe" in which Guardian and Sailor Mercury are tested for their
loyalty to each other. The third will most likely have the appearance of
another Guardian.

As for the story.
Urawa's last letter said that he had found a girlfriend. Ami
didn't realize that he only wanted to be one of her best friends since he
still felt he wasn't good enough for her and Ami took it the wrong way.
Playing the ocarina is something I like to do when I get to
school 40 minutes early (I did this before I knew that Ami did) and
decided to incorporate this into the story thus leading to the royal
treasures.
Mamoru never appeared in his normal form since I would've
had to create another sub-plot to allow him in, he will appear in the
next part.
The blade on Mercury's Sword doesn't appear like a lightsaber
from Star Wars. Debe will sometimes run his hand over where the
blade belongs and it appears when his hand passes that area. When it
appears it looks like a blade of ice simply forms and turns into the
metal alloy of the blade and gives it a bluish tint.
When Guardian Mercury reverts, it looks like his armor and
cape liquefy into water and falls off, putting him back in the clothes he
was wearing before transformation.
The last scene is exactly what happened 1000 years ago as
their old selves were emerging.
The name "Capsule Monster" comes from Lufia II: Rise of the
Sinistrals.
The short song that Debe played so often is actually the
Serenade of Water from Zelda 64 with an added note at the end.
The longer one that he can play for hours on end is this music
(the 600 AD theme from Chrono Trigger).

And future parts:
The next fic is going to have their chess matches and a pool
scene.
This fanfic takes place right before autumn to allow enough
warm weather for the pool scene since I have a really great idea for a
winter practical joke that Debe and Mamoru will pull much later in the
series.