Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Sailor Moon G: The Planetary Guardians ❯ The Dark Kingdom Has Returned! Guardian Jupiter Joins the Battle ( Chapter 3 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

{} = Thoughts
{""} = Telepathic communication
[] = Language other than Japanese

Sailor Moon G: The Dark Kingdom Has Returned! Guardian Jupiter
Joins the Battle
By Dyne


Heavy breathing accompanied Ohara Debe as he sprinted
through the streets of Tokyo. He was getting a lot of stares from the
people whom he passed, since a young man in his school uniform
running full speed through a crowded sidewalk in the cooling autumn
temperatures was what very few people would consider normal.
{I just can't believe it!} He thought bitterly, {I have to
remember not to lose track of time like that! If I don't speed up, then I
}will{ be late.}
Debe was the kind of person who would either show up early,
on time, or not at all, as he had a very unusual fear of being late. Even
though his legs were carrying him to his destination as fast as they
could, he wasn't sweating very hard when he arrived. For during the
past month he'd intensified his training and it was showing promising
signs of paying off. Good thing, too, since he arrived at the fruit parlor
right on the exact second he was supposed to be there. Inside was the
usual crowd of people who often stopped by for an after school snack.
After looking around for a few seconds, Debe smirked to himself,
headed for a table, and sat across from the person who he'd asked to
meet.
"Sorry I'm late," he said.
"You're not late," Ami answered and set her book down, "I
just got here a couple of minutes ago myself."
Debe sighed and took a look at the menu.
"I've already ordered," she interrupted, "Were you out training
again?"
"Yeah, the school gym is nice, but I still liked that temple."
Ami giggled, "You only say that because of what happened
when you were there last month. Or is it because you didn't have to
worry about your definition of being late for one of our-" she blushed
reflexively, "dates?"
He smiled, "I just like the atmosphere there better." Another
quick thought entered his mind, "Oh yeah, that reminds me, how does it
feel to be out of your cast?"
"I feel great," she replied, "My upper body isn't so stiff all the
time anymore and it doesn't hurt to twist or bend. But don't try and
change the subject, what were you doing in your training?"
"Well, I've been working on this exercise at home, but..."
Debe looked around to make sure no one was watching, "I've finally
perfected this." Before Ami could ask what, he closed his eyes,
concentrated, and a perfect rose in bloom made out of crystal clear ice
formed in his hand.
"Here," he offered, "for you."
"It's beautiful, thank you." She took the gift and noticed
something strange about it, "Debe, this {is} ice, isn't it?"
"They always turn out to be."
"But it's not cold at all. I doubt that it will even melt."
"You're right. I've perfected them so that only extreme heat
will melt them. But it's still fragile like normal ice."
"I'll be careful," Ami turned her head to see someone coming,
"Here comes our order." Which consisted of one large milkshake, with
two straws.

At the other end of the parlor, within a booth in the corner,
four pairs of eyes half-concentrated on the menu, even though they
already had their orders, and half-concentrated on the couple who
hadn't noticed them yet, or so they hoped. One with a very familiar,
but odd-looking hairstyle spoke first.
"Oh wow!" Usagi whispered, "They're already sharing
milkshakes!" No one said anything else as they continued to simply
watch the two and attempt to listen until the last of the shake was gone.
"Oooohhh, that makes me so mad!" Makoto fumed, "They've
been going out openly for over a month and there hasn't even been
{one} sign of our Guardians!"
"Let's just hope they show up soon," Minako said, "I kind of
tired of spying on only those two."
"Or do you want to know what it feels like so you can think
you're important?" Rei asked.
Before Minako could retaliate...
"Down!" Usagi shouted in her whispering. The girls all
covered their faces with their menus once they saw Ami starting to
stand up.
"Thank you for the milkshake, Debe," they could hear her say,
"I'm sorry that we couldn't talk for very long this time."
"I didn't plan for us to," he said, "I don't want to hold you back
from school." The two waved to each other as Ami left the parlor, but
Debe just continued to simply sit at the table, apparently deep in
thought as he usually was.
"I don't think he's taken care of the check," Rei whispered.
"No," Minako said, "I saw him pay when Unazuki-chan took
their shake to 'em."
"What is he waiting for, then?" Mako asked. They soon found
out.
"That certainly went nicely," Debe said, apparently to himself
as he finally stood up, "Wouldn't you girls agree?" he finished without
turning his head.

The four girls all sweat dropped.

Debe chuckled a little before joining the four girls at their
table. "I've know that you've been here waiting for us every single time
I meet Ami-chan here," he said, "has this habit of spying on each other
gone on long?"
"We're sorry, Debe-kun," Usagi muttered as she and the other
three flushed red with embarrassment. "It's just that we've never seen
Ami-chan this active and excited before," she continued, "not since you
gave her that medical textbook she was looking for and then she gave
you a k-" Her sentence was finished with muffled gibberish as Mako
and Rei clamed their hands over her mouth. But he already know what
Usagi meant.
"W-what we were trying to say," Mako stammered, "is that
you've opened up a completely new side of her." But Debe was not
convinced. The piercing look he gave them carried his message to
them very well. They could see that he wasn't too happy about them
spying on him and Ami all the time, especially when they had better
things to do.
Debe only sighed, "I know this isn't your first time and
definitely won't be your last." It didn't surprise him to see the four girls
again flush red with embarrassment. "I guess it doesn't matter," he
continued, "I know you girls well enough to not even try to stop you."
Before they could reply to that one he spoke again.
"But that's not the full reason you've been watching us for the
past few days. You're just waiting for me to ask her to the school
dance, right?" Nobody got the chance to answer before Minako
suddenly jumped up and slammed her hands against the table.
"All right!" she spoke, loud enough to draw attention, "How
do you do it?! It's like you've been reading our minds ever since you
walked in here today! I thought you could only sense what Ami-chan
was thinking!"
Debe just smirked and remained calm, "It's really simple," he
answered, "she warned me about you." Minako, seemingly satisfied
with the response, sweatdropped and slumped back into her seat. The
young man took this opportunity to escape and stood up.
"I don't want to detain you girls any longer," he said as he
backed away, "but we all have homework to finish." He turned around
in time to not see the 8 eyes glaring at him from the table. He only
smiled to himself and started to walk towards the door... then promptly
stopped and turned his head back around.
"Oh by the way," he said, giving his half-grin, "you don't have
to watch and wait for us anymore because I asked Ami-chan to that
dance over the phone last week. Bye for now." With that he left the
fruit parlor and left the four girls sweatdropping in their booth.

Makoto was the first to recover.
"You know he's right?" She said, "It really isn't fair that we're
spying on them all the time."
Minako, as usual, took it out of context and replied with, "Oh
really? And just who are you going to the dance with, Mako-chan?"
Mako sweatdropped, but Rei came to her aid.
"Shouldn't you be asking that to yourself?" she asked, slightly
taunting, "After all, Mako-chan knows a lot more of the boys at school.
Most of them avoid her because of her reputation and size."
Makoto sighed and whispered to herself, "I'm afraid you're
right, but that doesn't mean I won't give up." while Minako muttered to
herself, "That's because nobody's bothered to introduce me to any of
the boys."
Usagi, who had been quiet until now, decided to add her
comments and said, "You two don't have to worry. It won't be long
before somebody notices you and asks you to the dance."
Rei gave her a snide remark, "You're pretty relaxed,
considering you already have a date."
Usagi grinned, "That's because I know that Mamo-chan will
take me anywhere. He'll do-"
"Has he asked you yet?" Rei interrupted.
Usagi's face went blank.
"No... not yet, but I know he's going to any time now."
Rei sat back in her seat, "Or maybe Mamoru-san doesn't want
to go to a junior high dance. Or he could even be starting to lose
interest in you."
Usagi's face flared up with red anger until it looked like smoke
was about to come out of her ears.
"Rei-chan!" she shouted, "You always say mean things just to
annoy me like this!"
"It's simply because you deserve them," Rei returned and
stuck her tongue out. Usagi only returned to expression more loudly.
The war only lasted for a few seconds as Mako and Minako literally
pried the two apart.
"Calm down!" Mako said sternly, "You're creating a scene! I
haven't seen anything like this since Minako-chan got a lower score
than Usagi-chan on the last English test!"
Minako gave her friend a glare for reminding her about that
incident the week before. Once Usagi and Rei had both calmed down
and the four sat back down, Minako sighed heavily.
"Minako-chan," Usagi asked, "what's wrong?"
"It's about my grades," Minako said, "They've been dropping
ever since I was transferred to the Juuban Junior High. If they keep
getting worse I'll be sent back to my old school. But I want to stay with
you guys, it's more fun being able to talk to my best friends at lunch
and not have to walk several blocks to meet up with you after school."
Mako put a reassuring hand on Minako's shoulder.
"You don't have to worry," she said comfortingly, "just ask
Ami-chan to help you study and your grades will be back up in no
time."
Minako slouched as the dreaded "s" word, but looked at Mako
and smiled.
"Thanks Mako-chan, I'll do my best."
Usagi stood up from her seat and declared, "Minako-chan, if
you can beat me on the exam tomorrow, I'll introduce you to the boy
who'll be perfect for a date to the dance!"
Mako and Rei sighed and hung their heads.


{I hope I wasn't too hard on them,} Debe thought as he
walked towards his apartment building. {But I've got to set some sort
of example for not only them, but for my friends if and when they
appear.} His thoughts then turned towards the events of the previous
month and how he had helped defeat Rad, the man who betrayed the
Mercurian army and sought the life of the princess. Debe could never
forgive him for what he did to Ami on that day, nor could he forgive
himself for not being there because he had listened to the words of his
call of duty and not their true meaning.
"'You will always obey the words of the princess,'" he recited
to himself, "'You will heed her call and you will stand by her no matter
the cost and no matter the circumstance. That is the duty of the
Guardian.'" He only shook his head and continued walking, but
couldn't help to wonder if the person Rad was talking about, Lord
Amethyst, was a real threat or something made up by Rad to scare him.
He had worked hard to obtain all of the data on the Dark Kingdom that
Luna and Artemis had compiled, but everything led to a dead end. It
had seemed that once Princess Serenity destroyed Queen Metallia, all
of the Dark Kingdom and the Youma vanished from the universe.
Debe's train of thought was broken suddenly as his shoulder ran into a
person walking in the opposite direction.
"Oh, excuse me," the person said and stopped, "I didn't see
you come around that corner."
"No harm done," Debe said and looked at the young man. He
was close to the same age as Debe, but was slightly shorter with both
brown hair and brown eyes. Debe recognized him immediately.
"I haven't seen you for a while, Shinozaki," Debe greeted, "it's
been what, a month?"
Shinozaki blinked and then remembered that he knew this
guy.
"You're right," he said, "it has. I almost didn't remember you.
I haven't seen you since we witnessed that accident. I heard from
Mako-chan that Mizuno-san didn't take the news very well but
everything worked out." Debe nodded.
"Mako's told me a lot about you, actually," he said, "her love
of cooking often has her inviting me down for dinner and she likes to
do most of the talking as well." Which suit him just fine as he was
normally quiet unless the right subject was brought up. "But there's
something I've been wanting to ask you," he continued, "what
was it about Makoto that prompted you to be her guardian angel?"
"I really don't know," Shinozaki said somewhat thoughtfully,
"at first it must have been pity simply because her parents were killed
and the boy she cared about left her. But as we became better friends, I
simply felt that it's been my duty to look after her." When the word
"duty" entered Debe's ears, his eyes widened a little and something hit
his mind.
"Will you excuse me?" he said, "There's something I have to
do."
"All right," Shinozaki said, looking a little surprised, "Please
tell Mako-chan 'hi' when you see her next."
"Don't worry!" Debe called as he had already broken into a
sprint back towards where he came from. {It will be sooner than you
think, my friend.}


"Topaz reporting!" Said the blonde man as he stepped into a
large chamber buried deep under the earth. The occupied chair had its
back turned to him. "What would you like me to do, my lord?" He
asked and bowed.
A deep, strong, yet gentle voice responded from the center of
the chamber, "Come take a look at these monitors and tell me if you see
the same unusual pattern." Topaz walked forward to stand next to his
lord's chair and looked up to see the same monitor. Amethyst
continued to speak, "This is a record of when Metallia was defeated by
the Sailor Senshi, but do you notice anything unusual about what
happened to the surviving Dark Kingdom youma?" Topaz took a close
look at what he saw.
"It looks like that once Metallia was killed," he said, "the
youma sealed off all of the entrances to the Dark Kingdom."
"Correct," Amethyst acknowledged, "I have a new task for
you."
"Yes, my lord."
"I want you to postpone your original assignment of working
with Garnet to redevelop the formula that Blade was working on before
his demise, and find out if there are any gates left to the Dark Kingdom
at all." A small vial materialized into his hand and he continued,
"When you told me about Rad's transformation after drinking the fluid
used to make a capsule monster and how his power increased ten fold, I
began to toy with the notion on what would happen if an already
powerful youma fused with a powerful capsule monster. Once the
entrance is found, we will enter the Kingdom and find out."
"As you command, Lord Amethyst," Topaz bowed again and
began to leave the chamber. {I hope Garnet will be all right without
me, he thought, she's a weapons expert, not a drug chemist.} He was
nearly at the door when...
"Oh, and Topaz," Amethyst called.
"Yes sir?" He responded.
"The second reason I have for sending you out on this
assignment is because you and Garnet don't wait until after your duties
to have your fun. I acknowledge the feelings you two have for each
other, but we still work in a professional environment and you have
plenty of time for that after your duties are fulfilled. Maybe a little
separation will be good for the two of you."
Topaz sweatdropped and sighed, "Yes, sir, I'll be careful in the
future."
"See that you do," Amethyst grinned and Topaz left to begin
his search.


The four girls were leaving the fruit parlor when the sound of
hurried footsteps caught Mako's ears and she turned around.
"Debe-kun?" she asked, "Did you leave something here?"
Debe finished his approach to the group of four, he'd sprinted
the whole way back but hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Mako," he said, "I really need to talk to you."
"All right," she said, look a little concerned, "Come back to
my place and we'll talk."
Usagi, Rei, and Minako jumped in between the two.
"Mako-chan!" Usagi said, "You know you shouldn't be
inviting Debe-kun into your apartment alone! What if Ami-chan
should find out? If he needs to talk to you, he can talk to us as well."
Both Debe and Mako sighed.
"Ami-chan knows he's been in my apartment and she trusts
both of us," Mako explained, but it didn't convince them. Debe saw the
perfect opportunity out of the corner of his eye, walked around to
Mako, and whispered, {"That isn't going to work, but watch and
learn."} He pointed across the street and said loudly, "Hey look! A
handsome man!" Usagi, Rei, and Minako took one look, saw that he
wasn't lying, and left only a vapor trail where they stood a second ago.
"I blinked and missed it," Mako said and looked over at Debe,
who was grinning his half-grin. "Another trick that Ami-chan taught
you?"
"Yes," he replied, "It hasn't failed yet."
Mako only laughed.

Topaz had only emerged from the gateway leading to
Amethyst's Realm when he had the distinct impression that he was
being followed. As he walked down the sidewalk, he occasionally
turned his head to make sure, but nobody was there... or whomever it
was managed to hide every time. Topaz continued his walk and vigil
until he passed by an information directory encased in glass. {This will
do,} he thought, and pretended to read the info, but was in reality
looking at the reflections of his pursuers, three girls. One had jet black
hair all the way down to her waist and wore a grey school uniform.
The other two were both blonde, one with an odango-atama hairstyle
while the other wore hers down and had a red bow. Both of the
blondes wore similar school uniforms that were blue and white. {Just
what I needed,} Topaz thought bitterly, {love-starved teenagers
stalking me. I'll just humor them and get rid of them calmly, no need to
attract attention.}
"The proper method of introduction does not include spying
on the person you wish to meet," he said loud enough for his pursuers
to hear. He could see all three of them sweatdrop, but before he knew
it, the black-haired one and the blonde with the bow each had one of his
arms."
"We're sorry," the blonde said, "we're just shy."
Topaz blinked, {this is the earth's definition of shy?} "Can I
at least know who you are?"
"Gladly," the blonde replied, "Aino Minako-chan, born
October 22, blood type B. There's a dance going to be held at my
school soon and I have tickets if you're interested."
Before Topaz could respond, the brunette pulled him over
closer to herself and spoke, "Hino Rei-chan, born April 17, blood type
AB, and I'm sure you'd rather take a walk in the park with me than go
to any junior high dance."
"Uh... I..." was all Topaz could get out before Minako pulled
him back over to her side. "Rei-chan!" she challenged, "I introduced
myself first so he's my date!"
"But he's more interested in me!" Rei retaliated and pulled him
back. The tug-of-war continued to several moments and his arms were
beginning to ache horribly before he managed to break their grips.
"That's enough!" he said, "I have more important things to do
right now so I need to be on my way!" and stormed off not looking
back.

"Minako-chan," Rei said and gave her a cold stare, "Why did
you scare him off like that?"
"ME?" Minako asked harshly, "I was only trying to be nice!"
Before any argument could erupt, Usagi pushed the two apart.
"Minako-chan," she said, "it's bad enough that Rei-chan
always fights with me, so she doesn't need to be a constant enemy to
you too." The two girls suddenly burst out laughing. Usagi looked
confused until her two friends calmed down.
"Thanks, Usagi-chan," Minako said, smiling, "we needed
that." She then looked at Rei and continued, "but I'm not going to give
up on him."
"Right," Rei replied with a challenging smile, "may the best
woman win." They shook hands.
Usagi dropped her head, "I'm glad I have Mamo-chan," she
said to herself.
"Then why were you following him too, Usagi?" Rei said
smugly. Another war was immediately declared.
{This is so much easier to do with Mako-chan around,}
Minako thought as she tried to push them apart.


"You don't mind if I ask you a few questions?" Debe asked
Makoto as they both entered her apartment.
"It depends on what they're about," Mako replied, and took a
seat in her living room chair.
"You don't have to worry, it has nothing to do with your
measurements." Mako laughed, but Debe looked slightly puzzled.
"I wasn't trying to be funny," he said, "I've overheard some of
the guys at school wanting to find out that information."
"Oh," Mako said, still giggling a little, "I just never expected
to hear anything like that from you."
"Ask Ami-chan, she'll agree with me that Mercurians are
unpredictable. But that's not what I asked to talk to you about. How
long have you known Shinozaki?"
"Shinozaki-kun? For almost 3 years now." She proceeded to
tell Debe the story of how she had been dumped by her boyfriend on
that dismal, rainy day, and how Shinozaki had shared his umbrella as a
gesture of compassion. When she was finished, Debe asked, "Do you
have any idea why he would have been there when he was?"
"I think it was coincidence," Mako answered.
"I have to disagree."
"Why?"
"I ran into him after leaving the fruit parlor and had a similar
conversation on how he had felt when he first met you."
"Is that why you were in such a hurry to talk to me?"
"Yes. Mako, I think he's your Guardian. He told me
personally that he felt a strong sense of duty to watch over you."
Makoto only blinked and looked a little stunned. "Are you positive?"
She asked, "I've never had the feeling that we'd ever met before when I
met him that day and Luna hasn't said anything about him."
"But from what you told me about the time he was attacked by
the Cardian you said that only you, Usagi, and Ami-chan were there,"
he retorted, "Luna has never met him."
"And come to think of it," Mako said thoughtfully, "I haven't
seen him since you showed up. We've only talked on the phone."
"I have a suggestion that might confirm this idea, and it will
save you some trouble this weekend."
"What do you mean?"
"Why not ask him to be your date to the dance?"
Mako's eyes brightened and she smiled, "That's a great idea
Debe-kun. It's been forever since we've done anything together. And
it's the perfect place to see if you're right or not."
"And now you don't have to worry about getting a date. I
don't know if Minako will be so lucky. She only has three days left."
Mako laughed again, "I don't think we have to worry about
Minako-chan. If she has to get a good score on tomorrow's test to get a
date, she won't let anything stop her."
"I hope you're right," Debe said quietly.
"But Debe-kun," she said again, "if Shinozaki-kun is my
Guardian, where are Jupiter's royal treasures?"
"That I can't answer," he replied, "I only hope that they
weren't left on the planet. As you know, Jupiter is now devastated."
"Do you know what they are?"
"Yes. The Guardian's weapon is one of them, as I explained in
the fruit parlor last month it is a bow with an unlimited supply of
arrows."
"Is the other an instrument like Ami-chan's ocarina?"
"It is an instrument, but it's a violin. Made from the wood of
the Holy Sanctuary of Jupiter's former forests."
"Oh..." Mako dropped her head a little.
"I guess you don't have any violins around here?"
"No. And I don't even know anybody who plays a violin."
"Well don't worry, once one of the treasures appears the other
won't be far behind. They have the ability to resonate with each other
very much like the Sailor Senshi and her Guardian. We'll find them."
The pony-tailed girl lifted her head back up and smiled.
"Thanks Debe-kun," she said, "You're right. We'll find them
all before long."
Debe smiled back for a moment before his face returned to it's
usual serious look. {I hope you're right, he thought, because we just
might need them sooner than we think.}


Later that evening, trouble was brewing on the second floor of
the Tsukino household.
"Mamo-chan!" Usagi shouted into the phone, "You're always
forgetting me and not thinking about me when something exciting is
happening!"
"Usa-ko?" Mamoru asked from the other end. He was clearly
confused.
"I've been waiting and waiting to be asked as your date to my
school's dance on Saturday night and you haven't done anything about
it! And now I won't go with you even if you did ask me!" With that,
she slammed down the phone. Luna, who had her ears covered, lifted
her paws from her head and looked at the odangoed girl.
"Usagi-chan," she said, "weren't you a little hard on Mamoru-
san?"
Usagi was sniffling, "This dance was announced a month ago.
Why didn't he ask me on that day?"
Luna thought for a moment and quickly deduced a solution.
"Did you tell him about the dance," the cat asked?
Usagi's eyes widened and she blinked a few times before
producing the biggest sweatdrop of her life.
"The poor man," Luna said, shaking her head, "I don't know
how he puts up with it."
Usagi only stuck her tongue out at the cat as she redialed
Mamoru's number.
"Chiba residence," came the voice on the opposite end.
"Um, Mamo-chan" Usagi said laughing, "I'm sorry about
yelling at you just now. But there's something I need to tell you about."
Luna only shook her head again.


Across the district, Artemis was having trouble sleeping.
"Mina," he said while yawning, "can't you turn off the light?"
Minako was sitting on her bed with her English book wide
open and she was pouring over the pages. She didn't bother to look up.
"Artemis!" She said sternly, "when the love of a young woman
is at stake, sleep means nothing. This is what I need to do in order to
be united with the man of my dreams! The goddess of love and beauty
has returned!" She laughed loud enough for the neighbors to hear.
Artemis buried his head into one of Minako's stuffed animals and
sighed. {At least she's studying,} he thought. It took him a long time
to get to sleep.


In another corner of the area, Makoto was just finishing a
phone call of her own.
"That's great," she said, smiling, "I'll be waiting for you
Saturday night at 7. Bye." She didn't bother to hang up the receiver as
she had another person to call.

Two floors up in that same building, Debe was on the phone
as well.
"So sunspot activity had increased dramatically before the war
with the Dark Kingdom was over?" he asked while looking at copies of
newspaper articles covering the events.
"That's right," Ami replied from her end, "strange magnetic
fields were also appearing in several places around the planet,
especially the north pole area. They created some terrible natural
disasters, but those same magnetic fields led us straight to D Point,
which is where Metallia was going to enter the Earth from."
"I see. Where was the entrance into the Dark Kingdom that
the Sailor Senshi used?"
"In the Crown arcade, but ever since we won the war, it's been
sealed shut. I don't know of any entrance that could still be open. The
only possibility would be back in the north pole area."
"All right. Thanks for your help Ami-chan. Good night."
"Good night Debe, see you at school tomorrow." The two
phones clicked as they were hung up, but Debe barely had time to even
start thinking before his rang again.
"Ohara Debe speaking," he said, trying to hide his irritation.
"Debe-kun," Makoto's voice said, "your plan is working so far.
Shinozaki-kun agreed to go to the dance with me."
"That's great," he replied, "now we just have to make sure he's
who we think he is."
"Right. And on the night of the dance, I'd like you and Ami-
chan to be here when he picks me up."
"That's no problem. Do you want us there because we know
what to look for?"
"No, silly, I'm going to make appetizers for beforehand."
Debe sweatdropped, "I should have known better. You just
can't stop cooking, can you?"
"Never, I'd die first." He could tell that Mako was smiling.
"Well anyway, I have to get to bed. Good night Mako."
"Good night, Debe-kun, see you at school tomorrow." The
two clicks were again heard. Debe was now finally alone to piece
together some information. {If the Dark Kingdom is still alive,} he
thought, {then they must have access to the earth somewhere. Since
Ami-chan has noted that all of the entrances in Tokyo are gone, the
only one left has to be at the north pole. That might be why the youma
haven't attacked since Metallia's defeat, they have no way of coming to
Tokyo. I just hope Amethyst doesn't figure this out, or if he does, the
youma don't believe him in his claim to be their original leader. Where
did he come from anyway?} These thoughts remained in Debe's head
until he fell asleep at his desk.


"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!" Usagi shouted the next afternoon as she read
the results of her class's English exam, "Minako-chan falls asleep
during the middle of the test and she still beat me?!"
"She must have decided to study," Ami said, looking at the
results also, even though her class didn't take the exam.
"Maybe a little too much," Makoto observed as the seemingly
zombified Minako walked by, one slow step at a time. "She was up all
night."
"That isn't healthy," Ami said, "her sleep routine will be
irregular for a week."
Usagi and Mako were only half listening to their blue-headed
friend because they were pointing Minako's eyes towards her score.
Once she saw it, her eyes immediately regained all life and she jumped
around as if she'd eaten a bowl of her own rice.
"I DID IT!" she exclaimed as she danced around, "I beat
Usagi's test score this time!"
"By one point," Debe noted as he walked over to join the
group. Minako glared at him, "Don't spoil my victory, Debe-kun, you
always have the same situation when Ami-chan beats you by one
point." He gave her a cold look but she had already turned to Usagi.
"Tell me Usagi-chan," she said as she cornered the girl, "where is the
handsome man who is lucky enough to be my escort tomorrow night?"
"All right," Usagi said nervously as she slowly backed away,
"I'm doing this as a favor to a friend so you can't be disappointed with
who you're getting."
"I'll take anybody who appreciates beauty!"
You're going to regret that, Minako-chan, Mako thought.
"I'll go get him," Usagi said and quickly left.
"It looks like everybody has a date now," Ami said, blushing a
little, "Do you know who Usagi-chan's doing this favor for?"
"All I have to say to you Minako-chan," Mako said to answer
Ami's question, "is don't hate Usagi-chan for this."
"What could be wrong with this guy?" Minako asked.
"Listen," Debe said, and they waited. Within a few seconds
Usagi's voice, along with another familiar voice could be heard down
the hallway.
"Usagi-san," the voice said, "even though Naru-chan is out of
town for this weekend, I still feel like I'm betraying her."
"Naru-chan told you to have fun at this dance and she asked
me to find you a date," Usagi said sternly, her voice sounded as if she
was struggling to push something. She eventually brought Minako's
date into view.
"U-Umino-kun..." Minako couldn't believe it, her eyes shrank
and her face went pale. She would have fallen over if Mako hadn't
caught her.
"Minako-chan?" Ami asked, snapping her fingers in front of
Minako's face, "Minako-chan?" There was no response.
"A perfect case of complete shock," Debe said, "I've never
seen one before."


"And you say that this magnetic disturbance is similar to the
ones created by our Gates?" Amethyst asked the holographic image of
Topaz.
"Yes, Amethyst-sama," Topaz responded, "The magnetic field
at the section of the North Pole called D Point is exactly the same as the
entrances to the Dark Kingdom."
"Very well, you may return to base and take a break. I will
investigate D Point personally."
"As you wish," Topaz bowed and his image vanished.
Amethyst stood up from his chair and waved his hand to produce a
three dimensional, holographic globe of the earth.
"You called for me, Amethyst-sama?" came a woman's voice
from the doorway.
"Yes Garnet," he said and turned around to see his top
scientist. She was a beautiful woman who didn't look any older than
25. Her shoulder-length light brown hair matched her eyes perfectly.
She wore a white lab coat over a white jumpsuit and also wore white
shoes. "I need you to create a Gate leading to this point on the earth,"
he continued and the globe zoomed in on the coordinates that Topaz
had given him.
"I can have it ready in an hour. Will you be going alone?"
"No, not this time. Topaz won't be back in time so I'll take
Andesite and Rhyolite with me."
"Very well. I'll start on connecting the Gate right away."
"Thank you," Amethyst watched her leave. {I couldn't ask for
better friends than you four, he thought, you've stuck with me to the
end. We only have to wait a little longer and we'll have what we came
for.}


The following night, the time to leave for the dance finally
arrived and Makoto fit every word within the definition of the word
"ready." She had chosen a dress that she reserved for only the most
special of occasion. The sleeveless and velvet material fit her perfectly
and the skirt fell halfway down her shins, allowing for movement. The
summer-leaf green of the material helped to highlight her eyes and
helped even more to distinguish her earrings.
As she held them in her palm before putting them on, Makoto
thought, {We've been through a lot together, and tonight will bring us
another memory to share.} She fondly remembered her parents as she
attached them to her earlobes. The small roses had been with her since
the day that they were taken from her life. They had been their good-
bye present to her, but never expected what type of good-bye. Mako
stood and double-checked her hair, make-up, and dress, and finished
just as she heard a loud knock on the door. {Maybe it's Artemis} she
thought jokingly, {Debe-kun told me how unusually loud he is}.
"It's open!" she called happily and turned to see Debe open the
door for Ami and let the blue-haired girl in first. Ami, being Ami, was
wearing the normal blue semi-formal dress and short yellow jacket that
she reserved for these type of events, while the young man wore a
simple pair of slacks with a white shirt and tie. His sword hilt occupied
its usual place and looked more like an accessory for his belt than a
weapon.
"Glad you two could make it," Makoto chimed, "Come in!
Come in!"
"I'm glad you invited us over, Mako-chan," Ami smiled, "I
learned it's best to go out with a group on first dates like this."
Mako suppressed a blush because she didn't want to really
consider tonight with Shinozaki as a date. But she knew exactly what
to say.

"Ami-chan, Debe-kun looks sharp, ne?"

While failing at her attempt to stifle the red, Ami looked down
at the ground and nodded slightly while grinning.
"It's really nothing much," Debe said modestly, "just
something my foster family gave me," and grinned evilly, "Ami-chan's
the one who looks wonderful."
"Oh, Debe, stop it," she had to use her hands to hide her
appreciate blush. Anyone could tell that she really liked it when he
complimented her.
"You look good too, Mako," he continued, "you're really
going to sweep him off his feet."
"Thanks, but that's not my only plan."
He smirked, "Of course." It was hard for Mako to tell if there
had been any sarcasm in those two words, but she dropped it.
"Anyway, Shinozaki-kun shouldn't be here for another 15
minutes so let's go ahead, sit down, and chat. I also made some special
fruit punch from the recipe you gave me, Debe-kun, but I was running
late when making it so it's not very cold."
"Don't worry about it, Mako-chan," Ami said as the Mercurian
couple sat, "that's a problem that can be solved easily." Makoto
shrugged, entered the kitchen, and soon returned with a tray containing
three large glasses filled with a ruby-red liquid. When she handed them
to the two, Ami spoke up again and asked, "Debe, could you please?"
"Oui, mon ange bleue," he smiled as he replied. Mako noticed
her friend's face redden yet again, and barely had time to think {What
does that mean?} before she saw Debe give a quick flick of his wrist
and several ice cubes appeared between his fingers. He simply placed
them inside of Ami's glass and neither one of them had acted as if it
wasn't strange.
"Debe-kun," she asked, "how did you do that?"
He and Ami looked over at her.
"You didn't know?" Debe responded.

Makoto shook her head.

"It's one of his abilities as a Guardian," Ami answered for him,
"I still don't know exactly how it works but he's able to condense water
molecules from the air and freeze them into a desired shape.
"So that crystal flower he gave you the other day was really-"
"Ice." Debe finished," But it was a special kind that doesn't
feel cold and only melts in extreme heat. It's a lot harder to make
though and can drain me if I'm not careful."
"Have you gained any new abilities other than that?"
He shook his head.
"What about that blizzard attack?"
He spoke his answer this time, "I've tried to execute the Ice
Barrage many times since then, but for some reason it just doesn't
work. The heavens alone know how many times I've tried."
"You were extremely angry when you used it," Ami
mentioned, "could that have had something to do with it?" Even
though she had been near-unconscious when he did use it, she
remembered the power that exuded from him.
"Maybe, but there is another power I discovered that I can use
after transforming. I just hope I don't have to use it anytime soon."
"I have one more question, Debe-kun," Makoto spoke up.
"Go ahead."
"Can I have some ice for my drink, too?"
The three all laughed just as they heard another knock on the
door.


Earlier in that same day, at the North Pole.
"Lord Amethyst," a sharp female voice called from below the
icy ridge where he stood, "I think I might have found something!"
"Good work!" he replied. "Do the energy readings match the
ones Topaz gave us?"
"Yes! I'll never figure out how he found them in the first place
because this point is very faint!"
"It's better than nothing! Stay where you are, I'll be right
down!" Amethyst simply leapt off of the ridge and landed at the
bottom of the ravine more than 20 meters below without a problem.
When he touched down, a young, teenage-looking girl shrouded in a
brown robe so that only the bangs of her red hair and red eyes could
be seen awaited him.
"It's coming from this shallow niche," she pointed. Amethyst
approached the crack and withdrew a small device that displayed the
energy pattern's wavelength. After comparing it to the sample that
Topaz had sent him, he nodded.
"No doubt about it," he confirmed, "this has got to be the last
portal leading to the Dark Kingdom and it's about to close. Thank you,
Rhyolite."
"I appreciate your gratitude," she acknowledged and bowed.
"Where's your brother?"
"He went to search another area. I'll call him," placing her
fingers to her lips, Rhyolite emitted a high-pitched whistle that could
have easily been mistaken as the highest playable note on a piccolo. As
the lord and his bodyguard waited for her brother, he recalled what had
happened since Garnet prepared the Gate leading to the North Pole. As
always, her Gate had deposited them at the exit coordinates that Topaz
had provided: D Point. However, there were no detectable readings
from the point of emergence, so they split up and searched on foot.
The harsh weather of the icy plains didn't deter them at all. It had taken
a full day of scouting, but they had finally found what they were
looking for. Amethyst's train of thought broke when he heard a
<b>THUMP</b> in the snow behind him and turned to find a robed
figure very similar to Rhyolite standing up from his landing.
"Glad you could make it, onii-chan," Rhyolite grinned.
"Whatever," he said coldly, "have we finally found that damn
portal?"
"Andesite!" Amethyst scolded, "Remember what the cost of
impatience can be. It can lead to terrible consequences if you're not
careful, especially in battle."
"Yes, sir," he muttered.
Amethyst continued, "But yes, this is the portal we've been
looking for. I'm going to open it and I want the two of you ready for
anything that could pop out of there."
"Understood!" they affirmed in unison.
Amethyst nodded and closed his eyes. Within seconds, a
flaming black aura began to glow about his figure. He raised his hand,
palm outward, and began to fill the portal's niche with dark energy. As
the vortex's strength began to return, it first became visible, then bigger
and bigger until it was finally wide enough to admit all three.
"It is done,' Amethyst lowered his hand, "let's go." As he and
his guards took their first steps toward the portal, they were
immediately cut off by the blood-curdling sound of three howling
voices. Andesite and Rhyolite jumped in front of their leader in order
to defend him, but no fighting had to be done as three youma burst
from the portal and took to the air.
"They've gone mad," Amethyst noted sadly as he watched
them fly away towards the south. Even though in the North Pole,
almost any direction can be south.
"How can you tell?" Andesite inquired.
"I created them. I know them."
"Shouldn't we destroy them then?" Rhyolite asked.
Amethyst turned back towards the portal, "Leave them. They
will either die before long unless they absorb some energy, but that is
unlikely because in their state of insanity I doubt they could focus
enough to absorb any. Because of that they may return here out of
instinct. A youma cannot survive outside of the Dark Kingdom without
energy." He said nothing else as he stepped between his guards and
into the void. {If they've all become this way, then I will have to put
them out of their misery.}


"Thanks for the great food, Mako-chan," Shinozaki
complimented as he, Makoto, Ami, and Debe walked through the
streets on their way to the school, "you never cease to amaze me." He,
like Debe, wore black slacks with white shirt and tie, but he also had a
jacket. They had enjoyed a good half hour of friendly conversation
before leaving. In the time it took them to walk to the dance, they
figured they'd be fashionably late by 45 minutes, much to Ami and
Debe's disagreement on that since they always liked to be early for
things.
"Flatterer," Makoto said and playfully slapped his back,
nearly sending him over, before looking up at the sky and noticing, "it's
such a lovely night."
{Yes it is,} Debe thought and smiled at Ami, {Reminds me of
that one night.}
{"Me too."}
His eyes widened as he heard Ami's mental agreement.
{"Hey, I don't read your thoughts without permission,"} he
teased.
{"I didn't have to,"} she grinned, {"your eyes gave it away."}
Before he could retort to that, Ami spoke aloud, "The weather
couldn't be more perfect. Good thing, too, since it's an outdoor
festival." She couldn't have been more right. There wasn't a cloud in
the sky.
"Hey, look," Shinozaki pointed up at some trails of light in the
air, "three shooting stars."
"Wow," Mako gasped in awe, "they're bright."
"I didn't know there was a meteor shower tonight," Ami
observed then noticed that Debe was looking at then with his eyes
narrowed.
{In America, shooting stars are a sign of good luck and that
your desire will be granted if you with on one,} he thought, {but here
they're often seen as bad omens. I'll stick with the Eastern idea on this
one.}
"Those aren't shooting stars," he stated sternly.
"Huh?" the others looked at him.
"They're too bright given the light pollution in Tokyo, moving
too slowly, and lasting too long."
"Then what could they be?" Ami asked.

Her question was answered as one of the trails broke away
from the other two and aimed itself straight for them!

The glare of its increased speed caused the four to shield their
eyes. When it had subsided they looked out to see a scaly blue beast
with large wings, the face and body of a woman barely covered in
tattered rags, and scraggly black hair screeching at them.
{Youma!} Ami, Makoto, and Debe all shouted in their minds.
The other people on the sidewalks and street began to cry "Monster!"
"Call the Police!" and other panicky phrases as the entire area began to
evacuate. The youma ripped a mailbox out of the ground and threw it
at the four teens. Shinozaki dove in front of Makoto and covered his
head.

But never felt an impact.

Shinozaki opened his eyes to see Debe standing between the
three of them and the monster holding a sword with a glowing blue
blade. The mailbox had been neatly sliced in two and each half lied to
one of his two sides.
"Debe, what the-?" he began to ask.
Debe didn't look back as he crouched to prepare for another
assault. "Shino," he interrupted and ordered, "I'm counting on you to
get the girls to safety. I can handle this long enough for the Sailor
Senshi to get here."
Shinozaki ignored the shortened version of his name, nodded,
and without hesitating, grabbed the two girls' hands and nearly had to
drag Makoto around the block behind the previous corner to safety.
{Where did he get that sword?} he thought over the taller girl's protests
that she should go back and help.

The youma snarled at the young human in front of it. As it
looked around for something else to throw, the human took the pre-
empitive and used a flurry of several slashes and thrusts to lead it into
the nearby alley. It had no choice outside of death as it dodged and
became cornered, but found what it needed.
"Foolish!" it wailed as it lifted a garbage dumpster and
released it flying towards the attacker only to see it cut in half as well.
The large metal bin had blocked the youma's sight of the human, but
once it was split, it could see that the human had somehow donned
some armor.

"It's only just beginning," Guardian Mercury grinned, his
voice full of anger and hatred, "I have a lot to repay your race! DIE!!!"

He then leapt forward for a head-on attack, raising his sword
over his head.
"Open!" the youma quickly swung its arm, allowing it to take
the shape of a heavy club...

And connected...

The blow sent the human flying back across the street and into
the wall on the second story of the building that stood there.
"[Dammit!]" Guardian Mercury cursed in English, "[Faster
than it looked!]" as his body peeled from the wall to fell back down
onto the ground. His muscles didn't respond at his order to straighten
out as he hit the sidewalk head first.

Blackness immediately overcame him.

A block away, Shinozaki was catching his breath and looking
back around the corner to see if the battle was still visible. It wasn't for
long as Debe drove the monster into an alley.
{Why did he call me "Shino?"} he realized and thought, {He
said it as if he'd known me for years. Maybe he it was because he
didn't want to waste any split second. I do have a long name.}

Meanwhile, a few meters away, Ami and Makoto had just
contacted the other Senshi and then talked amongst themselves.
"Where did that youma come from?" Mako whispered.
"I know no idea," Ami replied, "my question is did it
recognize us? It's possible. But did you see how randomly violent it
was acting? I think it attacked us because it sensed our unusual energy
sources."
"You may be right, Ami-chan."
"It's been two years since Metallia's defeat and the youma
must be starting to go insane."
"It just sickens me that we can't transform with Shinozaki-kun
here. Hopefully the others will get here soon."
Ami began to nod but stopped at the same time as a gigantic
<b>CRASH</b> was heard from down the street around the corner.
Her face went whiter than a glass of milk.
"Ami-chan?" Mako asked with concern.
"Debe... he's taken a hit."
Makoto growled and looked around, but too many people
were in the area watching what was going on down the road to
transform undetected.
"Looks like I have no choice!" she shouted, kicked off her
shoes, and dashed back towards the battlefield.
"Mako-chan!" Ami called after her. Shinozaki heard this and
turned around just in time to see Makoto whiz by him in a full sprint.
"Mako-chan?!" he didn't hesitate in dashing after her.
"Shinozaki-kun!" Ami called, but he was gone. Deciding she
would be better off helping as Sailor Mercury, she immediately
searched for a good hiding place to transform.

Makoto turned the corner in time to see Guardian Mercury fall
from the indentation in the wall of the building and land head-first on
the pavement.
"Mercury-sama!" she shouted as she increased her pace to the
field of battle. {It's really true,} she thought, {Ami-chan and Debe-kun
can sense each other's feelings and know when the other is in trouble.}
When the youma, holding a large pipe, emerged from the alley, Mako
stood there waiting and ready for action.
"You're not getting past me!" she challenged.
The youma only grinned as it responded with a single word,
"Fail!"
"Not if I can help it," Makoto prepared to launch her offensive
in martial arts but was cut off.
"Mako-chan!" Shinozaki cried as he arrived, "you'll get hurt!"
Mako only smiled a little but still fixed her angry gaze on the
youma.
"I'll be fine, help Debe-kun!" then said nothing more short of
several battle cries as she launched a volley of several punches and
kicks. {Ami-chan, I hope this buys you enough time to transform and
get here. Where is everyone else?} Her thoughts never distracted her
at all.
The youma had no time to attempt to counter with its weapon
as it found itself either blocking or dodging as it stayed on the
defensive. But in the narrow space of the alley, it took an occasional
hit.
In only a few seconds, Makoto had driven it back against the
dead-end and a successful round-house to its stomach sent it fall back
onto its rear.
"Not lose!" it shrieked as it threw the pipe like a javelin at
Makoto's head. She only barely managed to move her head aside as
she felt it zing her hair. She didn't bother to look back to see where it
went, but a sudden <b>RUMBLE</b> caused her to turn her head.

The pipe was embedded in the same spot where Guardian
Mercury had hit and had been thrown with such force that the wall
began to crack in several places. It looked ready to break apart and
collapse at any second.

And Shinozaki and Guardian Mercury were right under it.

"Shinozaki-kun!" she yelled, "Get out of there!"

But she was too late.

Before Makoto's cry of concern was over, several large chunks
of the building fell onto the two boys leaving a pile a meter tall.
Makoto only stood there with he mouth open.
"Dead!" the youma practically spat at her.
"My best friend..." she barely stopped herself from falling to
her knees, but turned her anger back into the alley, "You! I'll never
forgive you!" With that she produced her transformation pen, raised it
high into the air, and shouted,

"Jupiter Star Power! Make-up!!!"

Back across the street, Shinozaki coughed the dust out of his
lungs and throat. He was just barely able to grab Debe and dive into
the inner doorframe as the rubble came crashing down from above.
{How did he get that armor?} he thought, {is he a superhero with a
secret identity?} The wound in on Debe's head didn't look like it was
bleeding, but it had already formed a sizeable bump and bruise.
Shinozaki stood up and looked back out at the spot he'd just come from.
the rubble only covered the bottom half of the door, so escape wasn't
impossible. In fact, he could still see the fight going on across the
street.

Only he didn't expect to see what he saw.

As Shinozaki saw Makoto raise an object up high and shout
something he couldn't quite hear, his eyes widened as her body took on
the color of a yellowish-green and her clothes disappeared. The
lightning that quickly surrounded her son converged to emit a blinding
light. When it subsided, where Makoto had stood was someone who he
had only heard about on TV or read in the newspapers.

"Mako-chan," he whispered, "Mako-chan is Sailor Jupiter?"

Shinozaki immediately felt a sharp twinge of pain in his head,
causing him to grab his temples in pain. Images of a lush forest,
beautiful palace with indescribably beautiful flower gardens, a
gorgeous young woman in a flowing green dress, and a young man in a
forest-green tunic wielding a longbow filled his mind. {What are these
things I'm seeing?} he thought, {I've never seen any of this before, and
yet I feel that they're all in my memory. How is that possible?} The
images vanished as quickly as they appeared and Shinozaki regained
his composure in time to witness a sight that sent bone-chilling shivers
down his spine.

Sailor Jupiter immediately launched her attack while the
youma was still shocked at seeing her transform.

"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!!!"

The ball of lightning honed in towards its target and the
youma considered itself lucky to only take a scratch on its arm as it
leapt aside.
"Destroyer!" it howled, "KILL YOU!!!"
Jupiter wasn't surprised that it recognized her as one of the
five who defeated Queen Metallia, but she barely had time to even react
as the youma bore a previously unseen set of fangs and, using its anger
and adrenaline boost, sprung forward to wrap its hands around her neck
and lift her off of the ground.
"Damn... you..." Sailor Jupiter swore as she could feel her air
supply cut as she was being choked. She tried to use her long legs to
counter attack with a kick to its face but soon felt a familiar sense of
loss that ruined her chances of countering as the youma sapped her
energy.
"Yes," it smiled, "fine meal. Torture. Then kill. Revenge!"
Jupiter could do nothing as her helplessness increased.

"Shinozaki-kun..." she wheezed, "I'm... sorry..."

The youma watched its prey fall limp as it drained nearly all
of her life energy away. When the Destroyer was a hair short of death,
it tossed her aside into the alley wall. The low moan from the girl told
it that she could still feel pain.
"Exactly," it snarled. It had plans for this girl, a slow painful
death as it broke all of her bones and skinned her alive. "Eyes," it
snarled again, then raised its claws and reached back to thrust in and
remove the girl's sight when-

"STOP RIGHT THERE!!!"

The youma turned its head to see a third human standing atop
the rubble of the partially collapsed building wearing a strange tunic
and holding a bow with an arrow already nocked. The string was
pulled back and the arrow was ready to let loose, aimed between its
eyes.
"You will not hurt her!" he shouted and let loose the weapon,
"You will not!" His eyes were glowing green with a strange symbol.
The arrow came with such speed that if the youma hadn't
drained so much energy, it would have gone right into its brain.
Another scratch was torn across its arm.
"Humans," it shrieked, "why not all die?!"
Its question was answered only by a volley of several more
arrows. All of them leaving bloody scratches as the youma could only
dodge. None of them hit their mark until-

"SHABON SPRAY!!!"

The alley filled with a cold, dense fog that immediately caused
the youma to become both distracted and disoriented.

"THUNDER ARROW!!!"

A final arrow made of lightning tore through the fog and
embedded into the youma's head, sending painful jolts of electricity
through it's body. The youma's last words were only a gurgle as it's
body disintegrated.

Sailor Mercury heaved a sigh of relief as the youma was
defeated. She felt that it had taken her much too long to find a good
place to transform unnoticed then get back in time to help fight. When
she arrived she attacked so quickly that she didn't bother to look at who
delivered the final blow. When the fog from her Shabon Spray cleared
she saw Sailor Jupiter slumped against the alley wall and Shinozaki
collapsed on top of a pile of rubble on the other side of the street.

Both were unconscious.

"Jupiter-chan! Shinozaki-kun!" she gasped, not knowing
which to check on first, "What happened to you?!"
"I saw it..." came a tired voice from her left, "I saw
everything... He is Guardian Jupiter."
Mercury turned to see her own Guardian stumble over the pile
of rubble. The enormous bruise she saw on his head caused the shock
of his announcement to vanish.
"Guardian Mercury-sama," she asked, "are you okay?"
"I got careless," he hung his head, "but I'm not the one you
should be worried about. Shino only fainted from overexertion, but
Sailor Jupiter nearly got all of her life energy completely taken from
her."
"Then we don't have any time to waste," Sailor Mercury
looked around, saw that all the spectators had left, and ducked into the
alley where she would be out of sight. Within seconds, Ami emerged.
"I'm calling an ambulance," she stated, "watch over Mako-
chan."
Debe nodded. He too had reverted but didn't have to worry
about people seeing him as much because his armor simply turned into
water and fell off, leaving his clothes, which had always been there
even after transforming. So violation of modesty wasn't an issue. As
Ami ran to the corner phone, still intact, he approached Sailor Jupiter.
While he took her pulse he noticed that the energy drain was so severe
that her transformation reversed on its own. He took great care in
looking away during the brief moment that she didn't have any clothes
on.
"We're lucky to be alive," he said quietly.

Both Ami and Debe watched as the two ambulances drove
away with both Makoto and Shinozaki in tow. Fortunately, someone
who was witnessing the battle called the emergency number right as the
youma appeared, but they got out of there quickly to avoid being
questioned by the police. They had just barely gotten a block away
when another voice called out from behind.
"Ami-chan! Debe-kun!" Sailor Moon greeted as she, Mars,
Venus, and Tuxedo Kamen landed from wherever they had come from,
"I'm really sorry that we took so long."
"It's not your fault," Debe said, "the whole thing only took a
few minutes."
"What happened?"
The two Mercurians answered with only one word.

"Youma."

The others' eyes all widened.


Amethyst and his bodyguards didn't encounter any more
youma as they made their way to Metallia's chambers. Because of this,
all three were surprised, but relieved.
"Are you sure you know what you're looking for?" Andesite
asked gruffly.
"Yes," Amethyst replied calmly. He was used to his guard's
impatience. "Metallia had Beryl seal several of our comrades into
special crystals that left them suspended in time. I'm certain that most,
if not all, of them were those who refused to obey her after she
banished us."
"It looks like we're going to find out," Rhyolite studied a small
device in her hand, "there are hundreds of readings of very faint energy
signals right below us.
"Damn our luck that we don't know how to phase through
walls," Andesite growled, "let's just take the short way and break
through the floor."
"Onii-chan-" his older sister started, but Amethyst interrupted.
"It would be a faster way to get down there," he agreed, "but
it's not worth the risk of damaging our allies."
Andesite "Hmphed" in reluctant agreement as the three sought
after any means of making their way downstairs.
The walls of Metallia's domain had remained untouched since
her defeat at the hands of Princess Serenity and the Sailor Senshi,
though several aspects of it had changed: The dark, negative energy of
Metallia's hatred and desire no longer flowed through the "veins" that
wove in and out of the walls. The halls and chambers were no longer
filled with the hustle and bustle of the thousands of youma about their
daily business; most of which consisted of training their minds, bodies,
and abilities in hopes of being deemed worthy and strong enough to
serve as one of the underlings of Jadeite or Nephrite. But all that was
gone and only the echoes of the footsteps of the three who traversed the
lonely corridor were present.
A mere 10 minutes passed before Amethyst and his guards
found the stairs leading to Beryl's so-called storage room. Even
Amethyst, known for his ability to remain calm and under control in
any situation, gasped in awe at the rows of hundreds, nay, thousands of
floating crystals containing the inanimate forms of much of his army of
youma.
{I'm humbled that so many of you never betrayed me,} he
thought, {and it will assist me much greater than I imagined. I never
would have guessed that Beryl believed that any or all of them, trapped
in these crystals of eternal nightmares, would turn over to her and
Metallia's side.} He looked out over the first row of crystals, noticing
that the most recent stood on the very end of the uncompleted row. He
approached the figure inside and once he saw who was in it, his mouth
curved downward, then back up.
"Even you, Jadeite," he smirked, "even one of her generals
displeased her once too often," raised his hand, emitted a strange
energy, and both the crystal and person inside slowly dissolved into a
fine powder, "but not even you deserve that fate. May you rest in
peace."
"Amethyst-sama?" Rhyolite questioned, "Why didn't you free
him and ask him to join us?"
He explained, "Because he was not involved, only controlled.
Freeing his spirit is much more satisfying than enslaving his mind. Let
him be with his friends and comrades in the afterlife."

{That softness is going to cost you, one day,} Andesite
thought bitterly, {if it wasn't for those damn customs of my people I'd
have run out on you a long time ago.}
"We have work to do," Amethyst produced a set of three
magical staffs that were covered in runes and handed one to each of
them, "Simply touch the crystal and chant the uncursing phrase to
destroy the crystal and free the one inside. But before you start, I want
you to wait here while I look for the one who I wish to speak with first.
After I free him, I’ll leave it up to the two of you to start freeing
everyone else."
The twins nodded in agreement as their leader vanished into
the complex of crystals.

Amethyst had a good idea where to start looking, in the very
back where the oldest crystals floated in midair. He grimaced as he
saw the distorted faces of the youma inside who had been locked in a
realm of plaguing nightmares for so long and cursed Beryl and Metallia
for treating his people so. {Only she deserved to be struck with this
kind of curse,} he thought as he approached the final row, {to appear
from nowhere, overtake my army through mind control, and attempt to
banish me and my trustees is unforgivable. And-} his concentration
broke as, by pure luck, he stepped in front of the figure he'd been
looking for.
"Excellent," he thought aloud, "this will save me a lot of
time," and, raising his runic staff, touched that crystal. The runes began
to glow and Amethyst spoke a phrase in a language that no one (at least
on Earth) would have recognize.
"[I command that this curse be removed!]" he finished and,
with a brilliant flash of light, the crystal was vacuumed into the staff,
leaving a very stunned youma staring at him.
"My Lord Amethyst," she blinked, "is this just another
dream?" As with most other youma, she had a humanoid body, but her
pale green skin, and matching sun yellow eyes and hair said otherwise.
"No, General Ryoko," Amethyst smiled, "I've finally
returned."


Ami stared at her feet and blushed heavily as the other girls
continued to tease her. After the initial shock of hearing that a youma
had appeared and the battle explained, everyone detransformed and
Mamoru retrieved his car in order to drive everyone to the hospital.
Usagi, of course, sat up front with her Mamo-chan, but there was only
room for three people in the back seat. While Debe offered to take a
cab, Minako proposed a brilliant plan that Ami sit in his lap and share
the seat. Both of them felt a bit awkward at the idea, but in order to
save time, didn't hesitate or have any objection to the idea, until they
had pulled out into the street and the teasing started.
"You two are just so cute together!" Usagi chimed.
"That would be perfect for your engagement photos!" Minako
smiled.
"They say they play chess, but maybe they cuddle like that
too," Rei was the worst.
Debe probably would have also been red with embarrassment
and asking the guilty teasing party to cease their actions had he not
been so deep in thought.
{"Debe?"} Ami telepathed to him, {"Why didn't you tell
everyone that you saw Shinozaki-kun become Guardian Jupiter?"}
{"Because if I did, they wouldn't let him or Makoto recover
fully before they started doing to them what they've been doing to us
since I showed up. The last thing either of them need is added stress,
especially since they've both been hospitalized."}
The blue-haired girl mentally nodded. She loved her friends
dearly and trusted them with her life, but with some things they did
tend to not take seriously enough. They would be told when things had
calmed down a bit and they would seriously listen. Her train of thought
hit the brakes as the teasing turned into an argument between Usagi and
Rei when the raven-headed priestess said, "Usagi could never look
half-as-cute as Ami-chan in a wedding dress."
Usagi reached over to throw her arms around Mamoru and
wailed, "Mamo-chan! Rei-chan's being mean again!"
Ami silently prayed that when they did arrive at the hospital, it
wouldn't be to check-in as the next patients.

Aside from his brief mental conversation with Ami, Debe's
concentration never faltered. He felt bad for not telling the rest of the
team about Guardian Jupiter's appearance, but he couldn't afford them
telling him before his memories awakened fully, otherwise the shock
probably would have been too much. He replayed the incident over
and over again in his memory.

As Guardian Mercury was just recovering from his brief bout
with unconsciousness, he was truly awakened when the sound of Sailor
Jupiter's attack made a huge crashing noise when it hit a wall, although
the pain in his head caused him to be too dizzy to stand. He managed
to turn his head and focus his vision enough to see Shinozaki in what
looked like pain, but he knew what it was; Shinozaki's true self was
beginning to awaken. Debe slightly cursed himself as he managed to
stand, leaning against the wall, and saw how much damage Sailor
Jupiter had taken when she was thrown against the wall. If he'd had a
clear head, he would have been able to throw an ice dagger across the
street and cut the youma's wrists, causing it to drop the Sailor Senshi
before throwing her away like a rag doll. But during that brief moment,
he had a feeling that there had been a voice in his head that told him
there was no other way than a traumatic experience that will awaken a
Guardian's memory. Shinozaki proved that feeling when he yelled
Makoto's name at the same time she slammed against the bricks. He
then saw what looked like a tear fly out of the younger man's eyes, but
the light from that "tear" soon illuminated the entire area. When the
light died, a beautifully crafted bow floated in front of him. Made from
both the strongest and lightest wood, it was capable of firing accurately
for over a kilometer. Debe didn't have to tell Shinozaki to take it, he
doubted that he would have heard him anyway. The younger man
looked mesmerized as he reached for the weapon. As Debe watched
when he touched it, his body became enveloped in a holy green light,
and where it died, Guardian Jupiter stood.

Debe knew that it was Shinozaki's ancient incarnation
surfacing rather than the memories becoming merged with his present
body. The same thing happened to him twice before his memories
were actually restored, but only once did he transform. Thus, he wasn't
surprised when Shinozaki's transformation reverted by itself when the
youma was destroyed and Sailor Jupiter was out of danger.

Youma.

Debe hated the youma. Just the thought of one of those
monsters made his blood want to boil. He hated them for destroying
the Silver Millenium and taking the girl he loved away from him for
1,000 years. He hated Metallia for the very same reason, only more so
because she was the leader of the attack through Beryl. He hated Rad
for how he killed Ami's friend Urawa Ryo when trying to kill him and
also for nearly killing Sailor Mercury in front of him. But most of all,
he hated Amethyst. He had never met him but he hated him because he
was responsible for the entire mess. He was the one who sent the
youma to Mercury for an unknown reason when he was an infant. This
attack resulted in the death of his mother and the enslavement of his
father's mind. He must have been responsible for the latest youma
attack that nearly killed Makoto. And Debe knew that he would be
responsible for more chaos, more destruction, and more killing in the
future. What tore him apart was that he didn't know anything about
Amethyst other than his name and his position. Why was he here?
What was he trying to obtain? What was his purpose? The bitter
thoughts and questions filled his mind until Mamoru pulled up into the
hospital parking lot. During the whole time, he'd failed to sense the
strong feelings of worry that emanated towards him from Ami's heart.


"Ne, Minako-chan," Usagi asked as the group of four girls
made their way through the hospital towards Makoto's room, "why
didn't you ever show up at the dance?" Debe and Mamoru had gone
ahead to Shinozaki's room first and were granted permission (thanks to
Ami and her mother) to wait for him to wake up and sign him out since
his parents were on vacation up in Kansai. The girls could only stay
until visiting hours ended, though.
"That Umino is unbelievable," Minako retorted loudly,
seemingly both out of agitation and a hint of respect, "I waited for over
half an hour after the time he was supposed to pick me up. So I called
his house and his mom said he'd locked himself in his room and wasn't
coming out until Naru came home." Usagi and Ami couldn't hold back
their laughter while Rei, who wasn't as familiar with Umino's character,
stared wide-eyed at the blonde. Minako just grimaced. The laughter
continued until they saw Makoto and the condition she was in.

"Are you sure he's the one?" Mamoru asked as he and Debe
stood over Shinozaki. The boy was simply exhausted and, in his
opinion, he thought that a good night's sleep would have been more
necessary than a hospital stay. Debe nodded in affirmation and spoke.
"That's why I asked you to come with me," he gripped his hilt,
"I'm sorry for not telling the girls but they have Mako to worry about
right now. It's up to us to bring his memories back."
"What's your plan on how to do that?"
He just shook his head, "I only wish I knew."

She was hooked up to a life support system with vital signs
only remaining above stable. The oxygen mask on Makoto's face
clouded with every shallow breath, but other than that, there were no
physical signs that she was alive. The tall girl didn't stir at all and none
of them could even see her chest rising and falling. The medical staff
had removed her earrings and undone her hair. The accessories were
simply laid on the table next to her bed. The last time any of them had
seen this was when Nanami's mother was drained protecting her baby,
but Rei and Minako hadn't seen that. Rei felt helpless as Usagi
glomped her and started bawling.
"First Ami-chan and now Mako-chan!" she sobbed, "Why
does another enemy show up right after we beat up the last one?"
"Usagi..."
"Usagi-chan..."
"Usagi-chan..."
The other three girls spoke in unison. Rei could tell that Ami
and Minako felt the same way she did; They had become an incredibly
strong and effective team where one member strengthened another's
weakness, and seeing one of them hurt like this was more painful than
any kind of torture that she could imagine. It was small wonder that
many of their enemies tried to break their will by forcing them to watch
each other get hurt, and it almost worked every time, but would always
backfire because of their strong bond. After the battle against Rad the
previous month, Ami told them she had calculated that the adrenaline
boost she got from watching the other girls being hurt and used to break
ropes that had her tied to a chair was enough so that she could have
easily lifted and thrown a car. Even Mamoru's eyes were as big as
dinner plates after she mentioned that.
Rei had called Usagi a coward for discarding her weapon after
Fiore captured them, but deep down, she thought Usagi was the bravest
and strongest member of the team. It reminded her of an old saying
that Debe mentioned after his memories returned, "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."
{Not me, Debe-san,} she thought as she hugged her friend,
{not me...}
The three girls continued to offer words of support to Usagi
and Makoto as they failed to realize that in a room nearby, another life-
changing event was occurring.


Shinozaki didn't know if he was falling or floating. There was
no sense of gravity in this pitch black void he found himself in.
"Am I dead?" he questioned the emptiness, only to be
answered by his own echo. He didn't notice right away that his clothes
had disappeared but after searching for a moment, he did see a hint of
light off in the distance and began to hear a faint voice calling his
name. He began to "swim" towards the glimmer as he asked, "Who's
there? Mako-chan?"
As he neared his destination, he could see her, see her standing
in the middle of a small forest clearing. He blushed exceedingly when
he noticed that she, as well as he was stark naked. She showed no sign
of embarrassment as she beckoned him closer.
"Mako-chan? Is that you? I've never seen you with your hair
down. Where are we?"
Makoto's figure simply smiled as she took his hand and led
him down a path of glass towards a door of crystal.
"Where are we going? You want us to enter Heaven
together?"
As the door opened and the light from inside consumed them,
he found that his answer would be mostly related to the place he had
named, but the rest would be the opposite of that place.

{What do I see?} Shinozaki thought to himself as his Edenic
body stood next to Makoto's, holding her hand. Both were standing out
on a balcony, staring out at the largest forest he'd ever seen in his life.
In every direction it spread to and beyond the horizon. What caught his
attention most was only a couple of meters away. A little girl with long
brown hair and a green dress flowing down to her ankles was leaning
on the edge of the railing and humming a tune. The song was a perfect
reflection of the bright attitude of the forest and the sound of it made
his spirits lighten considerably. He couldn't see her face until a noise
from the entrance caused her to turn around. Shinozaki again felt
embarrassed by his lack of clothing, but the girl obviously didn't see
him or Makoto. However, it was her forest green eyes that clued him
in as to who that little girl was.

{"Mako-chan?!"} he turned to her older figure, which only
nodded.

The little Makoto gasped happily and ran towards Shinozaki's
image, then straight through, convincing him that she didn't know about
their presence. She ran up to and nearly tackled a slightly older, but
shorter little boy. The two friends shared a laugh at the brief but happy
reunion then ran into the castle to play.

{"Was that me? It looked like me,"} Makoto nodded again,
{But it's impossible. I never met Mako-chan until we were teenagers.}

He could ask nothing else as the scene vanished.

Flicker...

They had come into the forest in front of a large lake. The
trees were covered with their green leaves and the sun was shining, but
the water was frozen. Shinozaki saw the two children from before,
only now they looked much older, by nearly 10 years, skating together
as partners on the lake.
{She's so graceful. Seeing her on the ice would cause anyone
to forget that Mako-chan could ever act like a tomboy sometimes. But
me on the other hand...} Rather than argue with this strange vision, he
readily accepted that the young man was indeed him.
His fears came to pass as he attempted to lift his parter high
into the air, but his arms were tired and sore so they were unable to
hold her up for the duration of the entire routine, causing both to
tumble onto the ice.
"Makoto-hime-sama," he said with his voice full of concern
for her, "I'm so sorry!"
She didn't seem to care that she was on top of him and just
laughed.
"Stop calling me that," she chided as she caught her breath,
"you're still me best friend from when we were kids, ever since our
parents introduced us, and I still like you calling me 'Mako-chan.' But
you, Shino-chan, are you okay?"
He only nodded, "I'm sorry, my arms gave out."
"Well with how hard you've been training, they have to be
sore."
"Yes. They're not used to firing 500 extra arrows in one
session each week, so they're really getting tired."
"What are you up to now? 4,000 in one session?"
"4,500," he corrected, "and if I miss the target once, I have to
start over."
Makoto stood and offered her hand to pull him up. After they
stepped off of the lake she smiled and said, "You'll get better. You'll be
the best Guardian this planet's ever seen.

{Guardian?}

Flicker...

"Yes, I want you to be my Guardian," the child Makoto said to
him, "I don't want anyone but my best friend to protect me."
"Mako-chan..." the younger Shinozaki looked a little stunned,
"do you really think I can do it?"
"There's no way you couldn't do it," she reassured and
squeezed his hands. For all people within earshot of it, they could hear
several cracking noises, but the little boy showed no expression of
discomfort as he was used to it.
"You're really strong, Mako-chan," he joked, "maybe you
should be my Guardian."
She just laughed and shook her head.
The present Shinozaki began to piece the puzzle together.
{"Mako-chan,"} he looked over at her, {"is this from a past
life?"}
She nodded.
{"And these two children are the two of us?"}
She nodded.
{"Where is this?"}

Another shift would answer his question.

Flicker...

"Do you swear to honor the sacred vows and obligations
placed upon you alongside this title?" a large, bearded, and regal man
asked. Shinozaki guessed him to be Makoto's father.
"Yes, your highness," a 12-year old Shinozaki affirmed,
kneeling.
"Then arise and take hold of the sacred bow to ensure that you
are worthy. If the planet accepts you as Guardian of the Princess of
Jupiter, it will respond."
The young man nodded as he reached for the weapon/treasure
floating in front of him.
{Jupiter? This was Jupiter at one time? I thought it was
uninhabitable. But that bow... that's the same one I grabbed before I
lost consciousness...}
As the younger Shinozaki took ahold of the ornately crafted
weapon, a brilliant flash caused the present Shinozaki's figure to cover
his eyes. Makoto's presence did not move at all.
{"You were more than qualified and the spirit of the planet
didn't hesitate in showing its approval,"} she finally spoke. When the
light died, Shinozaki could see that both versions of him were clothed
the same: an archer's green tunic with brown leggings, leather gloves
and boots. They felt both light and comfortable and he didn't feel any
restrictions in his mobility at all. He also saw that Makoto's body was
no longer naked either. She also wore the same flowing green dress
that the younger her wore, only is was larger to fit her current size, and
her hair remained freely hanging down past her shoulders. He ignored
the celebration that immediately struck up when the orchestra, with the
little Makoto at the first chair of the violins, playing a much more
beautiful instrument than all the others combined, began to play an
extended version of the song she had been humming earlier.
{"Mako-chan, no,"} he corrected himself as his mind's eye
finished opening, {"Princess Jupiter..."}
{"Yes,"} she turned to look him in the eyes, {"you called me
that once, and as you have figured, I am reborn as Kino Makoto, who is
now still alive thanks to you. I am the essence of her past life. Her
memory of me is still hazy, which is why I have come to you before
she awakens, so that you may help Prince Endymion and Guardian
Mercury slay the final two youma."}
{"Guardian Mercury..."} the name awakened in him, {Debe!
Debe is Guardian Mercury. And the youma... why did they attack?"}
Princess Jupiter's essence opened her mouth.

Flicker...

The stood side-by-side watching as the Battle of the Moon
raged on before them. He saw the four Sailor Senshi fighting as one
team and the four Guardians in another. He remembered that as teams,
they largest and strongest potentials could be realized. They two
groups, along with the remaining soldiers tried to group closer together
as their defense of the palace began to falter. But it all failed as he saw
the youma army continue to overpower the soldiers and advance farther
towards the palace. Only some of the elite officers and the Guardians
still stood. The Sailor Senshi had been stunned by a direct attack by
Metallia on them. The ones who still stood looked like they were to be
overrun in seconds! But everyone stood their ground and gasped in
awe as the youma began to retreat suddenly. Then they could feel it
coming; an enormous last desperate attack of united energy was being
pooled together.
"We've got to stop them from letting that thing go!" Guardian
Mercury ordered.
"I've got it!" Jupiter responded and fired arrow after arrow as
he was the only one who could shoot that far. He dropped target after
target but reinforcements always immediately filled the gaps."
"It's no good! Incoming!" Mars shouted as the final blast was
unleashed. Jupiter stood mesmerized like a frog caught in a snake's
hypnotic gaze as the black light approached. His body refused to leave
it's position he stood in after firing a shot.

"Mako-chan..." were his last words.

{Flicker}

The void, no longer was the void. He and Princess Jupiter
stood in the realm that had previously been blackness where they'd first
met in the depths of his recently uncovered memory. It was now a
replica of the palace's flower garden as the memories became as sharp
and real as that garden had once been.
"Were there any survivors?" he asked.
"Yes," she assured, "Guardian Mercury was the only one who
survived the blast that continued to live afterwards. Queen Serenity,
Luna, and Artemis were the only ones who were protected enough to
remain unhurt. The Queen used the last bit of her power to banish
Metallia and the youma and send everyone to Earth to be reborn in
times of peace. She entrusted Luna and Artemis to seek out the Sailor
Senshi if the Dark Kingdom should rise again. After many battles it
became necessary for the Guardians to awaken as well. Only there was
one slight problem, because Guardian Mercury was not dead, he was
sent to train with the Outer Senshi until it was time for him to be
recalled. He looks like he is 16, but he's really 1,023 years old, most of
that time he was in suspended animation, but he spent 8 years holding
the royal treasures of Mercury combined, thus freezing his aging."
"I understand, and I am Guardian Jupiter, the Archer, and now
it's my time to awaken and aid the Sailor Senshi in this war."
"You have experienced much in your new life, but it was
inevitable that you would meet Makoto."
He nodded, "I remember it well..."
As his mind turned the memory, his presence began to relive
the moment.

Flicker...

Matsumoto Shinozaki sighed as he walked home from school.
It had been a particularly bad day: he forgot his lunch, was late, and did
much worse on a test than he'd expected. He felt that the kami were all
united against him that day as it began to rain heavily the moment he
stepped out of the school building. Luckily, he always carried his
umbrella in his satchel. He opened it up and began the long walk
home.
Shinozaki was accustomed to always walking through the park
as a shortcut and today it was readily accepted. He had only just
arrived at one of the children’s' playgrounds when he could hear the
sound of an arguing couple over the falling rain. As he drew near, he
saw a young man turn his back on the girl he had been arguing with and
ran. The girl, tall and quite attractive, stood in the middle of the shower
in shock at their breakup. He tears were clearly distinguishable from
the rain that had long since soaked her body.
{She'll catch cold if she stays out here,} he thought as he
slowly approached her from behind and held his umbrella over her.
The young woman, no longer feeling the rain, turned and looked into
his eyes. He could see in hers only pain and rejection. For some
reason, seeing her like that made him feel that he was sharing her
sorrow. He broke eye contact to avoid that pain and looked up, but
didn't move.
"It's all right," he said, "there's no need to cry." The situation
was awkward, that was certain.
"T-thank you," she nearly blubbered.
"You'll get sick if you stay out like this. May I walk you
home?"
The girl, feeling no fear, smiled, nodded, and said, "I'd like
that."
As they walked and conversed, she introduced herself as Kino
Makoto. The two of them continued to speak long after they arrived at
the lobby of her apartment building. When he was sure that she had
cheered up, they exchanged numbers and parted ways for the remainder
of that day. As Shinozaki made his way home, he felt that the smile
she had given him when he offered to take her home alone made the
entire day worthwhile.
{"It began with that day,"} Princess Jupiter told his essence,
still in the uniform of the Guardian, {"but it didn't begin with that day
at the same time."}
{"I understand,"} he replied.
{"Your memories have returned and your body is recovered.
It is now time for you to awaken and fulfill your destiny."}
{"I will go,"} he stated boldly, {"I've never been very strong
physically but I'll protect Mako-chan with my life."}
Those were his last words as the dream-like world faded
around him. As the conscious state returned to his body, he swore that
he heard her voice say, {"I know you will."}


"Mamoru-san," Debe said suddenly as his the reason for his
vigil began to stir, "I think he's waking up."
It had been three hours since they first arrived. Mamoru, who
had been watching the news for any report that could have been related
to the other two youma, quietly turned back around to ensure that the
younger boy was right. He was.
"Where am I...?" Shinozaki asked as he opened his eyes and
saw the other two men.
"In the hospital," Debe answered, "you exhausted yourself."
"Yeah," he said, "I remember. Transforming unconsciously
can really drain a person. Right, Guardian Mercury? Prince
Endymion?"

If anything important had come on the TV at that moment,
Debe and Mamoru would have been too shocked to catch it.


Back in the Dark Kingdom, Andesite and Rhyolite had spent
the previous hours freeing all of the imprisoned youma while Amethyst
and Ryoko gathered them all together. Every single one of them was
ecstatic to find out that he had finally returned. As everybody
celebrated, the twin guards were sent out of Metallia's castle to scout
around and gather information. When they returned, what they had to
say was less than expected.
"It turns out that once Metallia was defeated, things really
began to fall apart," Rhyolite reported, "first there was a civil war over
who the new leader was to become, but both of the leaders of the
armies were killed in the same battle. The war ended and everyone left
to live with their families and friends in their own settlements. In the
recent months, another leader has arisen to gather all of them together
in another attempt to break out of the Dark Kingdom and take over the
earth. The resisting side had been content with a life of peace, free
from the tyranny of Beryl and Metallia. These arguments resulted in
the ongoing second civil war that's still happening right now."
Amethyst pondered for a moment, "This isn't going to be as
simple as I planned, but we need as many as possible for our army."
After thinking for several more minutes, he stood up and used his
powers to amplify his voice and speak to the multitude.
"My people!" he announced, "I have returned for the sole
purpose of taking all of us back to our original home from whence we
were exiled!"
Everyone cheered.
"But that cannot happen until our original objective in this, the
Sol System, is complete! Even all of us combined don't have the power
to create a Gate leading back to our home system! So we must all unite
with each other to retrieve what we came here for!"
The cheering heightened.
"So I ask for your help in order that we may return home and
received what rightfully belongs to us! Will you help us?"
The cheering became utterly deafening. Amethyst already
began forming a plan.


"So there are two more out there," Mamoru confirmed after
Debe and Shinozaki told him the details of their battle with the first
youma.
"Right," they affirmed. The three had returned to Debe's
apartment, it being the closest, to plan. Once Shinozaki had woken, he
was immediately released from the custody of the hospital. The girls
had long since left and hopefully gone to bed since Shinozaki woke up
and even now, it was past midnight. Most of the time since leaving
was spent with Shinozaki's story of his past life on Jupiter and how his
memory came to return (making sure to leave out the detail of his and
Makoto's nakedness during the first half of it). Because Makoto was in
a coma, he didn't want the Sailor Senshi involved in this battle, so he
asked only Debe and Mamoru to help him destroy the last two of the
three insane youma. They didn't hesitate in agreeing, Debe because he
wanted to make amends for his carelessness, and Mamoru because it
was his duty as the Prince of the Earth. However, they still had no idea
as where to look.
"Well," Debe proposed, "without any leads or ways to track
them down, we'll have to do it the hard way and look."
The other two nodded, knowing that it definitely wouldn't be
easy.

Several hours of cruising around the town in Mamoru's car
looking for any signs of unusual destruction or battle yielded zero
results.
"They could be anywhere in all of Tokyo by now," Mamoru
sighed, "or anywhere in Japan." They had also tuned the radio to listen
for any news, but that had been as equally as helpful as their patrol.
"We've got to keep looking," Shinozaki yawned but still
looked wide awake, "I can't let them do to anyone what that first did to
Mako-chan." He promised himself he wouldn't sleep until they were
defeated and he could rest easy, avoiding nightmares.
Debe, sitting in the back, could have easily been mistaken as
being asleep, but was in deep concentration and meditation. His
purpose was because he remembered the first youma's energy pattern,
he could try to sense something similar from the others. But his
inexperience in the matter only brought failure to the idea. He also had
to be extremely careful because his open state of mind would have been
easily picked up by Ami with almost no effort on her part if she wasn't
asleep.
"Not just Japan," he broke out of his concentration to say,
"maybe anywhere in the whole world..." then bolted his eyes open as he
realized something, "Augh! I'm a stupid cow for not thinking of this
sooner!"
"What's wrong?" they both turned and asked.
"Mamoru-san," he replied quickly, "you're the Prince of the
Earth. Surely you'd be able to sense a disturbance in this planet's
energy flow much more easily than I could.
"Mamoru's eyes rose a little because he'd never even thought
of that, "I've never done anything like that before, but that doesn't mean
I'm not about to try." He quickly pulled over into a parking lot.
"Okay, Debe instructed, "close your eyes and concentrate on
the planet's life force."
Mamoru nodded and obeyed. Several breathless seconds
passed before anyone moved or spoke. Neither Debe nor Shinozaki
had time to ask what he had sensed when his eyes shot open and the
screeching of the car's tires as they carried them back onto the main
road.
"They're hiding in Juuban Cemetery," he answered angrily
before they could ask.
"All right," Shinozaki exclaimed, "let's destroy them before
they can hurt anyone else!"
{What kind of cowards would hide in and possibly desecrate a
cemetery?} Debe asked in thought, {And I haven't seen the bow since it
disappeared when he reverted earlier. How is he going to transform?}

The trip to the cemetery didn't take too much longer. When
they did arrive, all three were grateful for the city lights in the
surrounding area. Otherwise, it would have been pitch black. Mamoru
lead the way deep into the graveyard, pinpointing a precise location as
to where their prey were hiding. They didn't have to search for much
longer as an attempted surprise attack from above caused the three to
scatter in different directions.
"Misssssed," hissed a voice.
"Pathetic," echoed a second voice. The humans didn't know
who that word was aimed at.
When he stood up, Shinozaki saw that both Tuxedo Kamen
and Guardian Mercury beat him to the punch in transforming. He
couldn't see the youma's faces in the dark because of their black hoods,
but both of their figures looked reptilish.
{The essence of death,} he thought, {maybe that's why they
chose this place to hide. But I won't be able to help out in this form.}
Eyes turned to face him as he instinctively summoned the bow from
seemingly out of nowhere and shouted in a phrase that only he and
Makoto would have been able to understand.
Green leaves swirled around Shinozaki's body until it was
completely covered and hidden by the foliage. They immediately took
the form of a great tree and changed from leaf to wood. The wood
exploded and vanished, leaving Guardian Jupiter.
"I'm ready!" he shouted, already holding an arrow nocked and
pulled back at the ready. Every arrow he would ever pull out of his
quiver bore the symbol of Jupiter on its head.

Guardian Mercury grinned to himself. Having another ally
would make this battle quick and easy. He could see Tuxedo Kamen at
the ready with a flurry of his roses along with Jupiter's aimed shot,
while he stood ready with a number of his ice throwing daggers. He
had changed the look of them to match his sword a little better. Now
they looked like a miniature version of his weapon with, only the
symbol of Mercury was embedded where the sapphire was laid.
Creating an actual blade on the daggers made them much more
effective than a large symbol of his planet with his sword inside the
loop since the point of piercing was the symbol, not the sword.
"Outnumbered," the first youma snarled.
"No worriesssss, fussse and become five timesss ssstrong."
"Yesss, fussse," wasting no time, the two threw back their
hoods, revealing that they were twin males, both definitely representing
some kind of reptile, but no other details were visible. The joined
hands and a surge of power emanated from them.
"Don't let them finish!" All three humans shouted as they
unleashed a barrage of their long-range attacks.

But they were too slow.

The sphere of power produced from the transformation easily
knocked all of the weapons aside. The now-fused youma grew into
three times the size of what the two had previously been combined.
The aura it emitted produced enough light to show that it was heavily
armored with thick, purple skin and large crystal horns protruded from
its back. A large scythe appeared in its hands and its tail grew to over
twice its previous length.
"We are Taurasssk!" it shrieked in a dual-layered voice and
immediately began to its assault by spinning its body low along the
ground with its weapon on one end and its tail at the other. The three
humans could only dodge as one second they could have been cleaved
or clubbed, and the next second would have been the other. No matter
how they tried or how quickly they moved, they could not find any
openings.


Back across the district, Makoto continue to lay unconscious
in her hospital bed, but her subconscious was wide awake and she was
lost inside of it. Inside, she was dressed in her school uniform and
running. Running towards the sound of battle.
"Hold on, everyone," she called out ahead of her, "I'm
coming!" and reached for her transformation pen...

Only to find it missing...

"No! NO!" She cried and fell onto her hands and knees to
search for it.
"Is this what you're looking for?" A gentle, but strong voice
asked.
Mako looked up to see her pen in this person's hand, "Yes,
thank you! I-" her eyes fell on who helped her and she stopped in
shock.
"What's wrong, Makoto-chan?" Princess Jupiter asked.
"Y-you are...?" she couldn't finish, seeing the mirror image of
herself caused all rational thinking to leave her mind.
"I am you. You are me. And we are needed. The sound of
battle is calling for our assistance."
Mako recovered from her shock and put on her serious smile.
"Nothing's going to stop us," she took her other self's hand
holding the pen and with another brilliant flash of light, the two spirits
merged into one body. The spot in which they had stood was now
empty as Sailor Jupiter continued her sprint.

When the doctor on the night shift was making his rounds and
opened the door to Kino Makoto's room, he found the bed empty. Only
the wrinkled sheets and green beaded hair tie on the stand showed any
evidence that anyone had been inside of there.

Out in the street, Sailor Jupiter ran as fast her long legs would
carry her as she put her earrings on at the same time. {These are the
only possessions that I can never leave behind,} she thought, {I am a
Sailor Senshi, but I will never abandon the memory of my parents.}
Her long hair flew freely behind her as she continued her dash.


"THUNDER ARROW!!!" Guardian Jupiter fired his lightning
shot as he side-jumped away from the tail for the who knows how
many-th time. As it had in every attempt beforehand, it merely
bounced off of the youma's thick skin. He was no longer surprised that
it didn't work, but there had to be {something} that could pierce its
hide. His answer came from a source that he'd never expected, nor
even heard of for that matter.

"Dead Scream...!"

The mysterious voice had announced the attack in a quiet,
almost haunting shout. Guardian Jupiter watched as the shot that
almost looked like a black hole zeroed in on its target: one of the
crystal horns on the youma's back. The hit was successful and the horn
shattered. As the creature howled in pain, he turned to see one of the
Sailor Senshi standing behind him, but this one didn't look at all
familiar from the times he saw them on the news. Her uniform was a
dark-green shade nearing black and white, with her long hair only
being a few shades of green lighter.
"Sailor Pluto!" Guardian Mercury and Tuxedo Kamen both
exclaimed as they took the time of the youma's distraction to regroup.
"This is my battle now," she said calmly, "I have learned that
the origin of these monsters covers my duty to protect this Solar
System from outside invasions."
"Glad you're here," Mercury grinned.
"It's horns are its power sources," she didn't beat around the
bush, "but I'm afraid that my attack will not be able to shatter the other,
stronger horn. We need something with a much more powerful force."
"Not a problem," Mercury said as he ran behind the recovering
youma, "I should have enough time to use this now! Just keep it
distracted!"
The others were glad to oblige and Tuxedo Kamen started by
using his extending cane to jab it in one of its eyes. With its tail being
shortened to its previous length after the power loss, it could no longer
sweep along the ground so it could only focus on whoever hit it last.

During this time, Guardian Mercury stood at the edge of the
battle radius and held his sword up in front of him With his eyes
closed he focused his powers into the blade. Both it and the jewel
emitted a much stronger, although much more eerie blue glow as he
chanted, "Before a cliff diver enters the sea, to prevent injury he must
first act by PARTING THE WATER!!!" With the final three words, he
opened his eyes and slashed vertically towards the ground. When the
blade and the earth met, a shock wave that was as blue as the deepest
ocean traveled along the ground, leaving several "ripples" of the water-
like energy as it traveled. At the last instant, it leapt off of the ground
and slammed into the youma's other crystal horn with the force of a
tsunami and shattered it easily.

"Humansss not sstrong!" it wailed as the power source
supporting it's weapon and it's weapon vanished, "but cannot pierce
sssskin!" The four fighting against it all prepared to renew their
assault, ignoring its supposed bluff on not being able to hurt it when a
fifth voice shouted from the darkness.

"Wanna bet!"

Everyone turned to see a fully re-energized Sailor Jupiter
holding a softball-sized ball of lightning in her hand. They didn't have
time to call out her name as she began her own assault.
"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!!!" she increased the
power of the ball and threw it...

Straight up into the air?

"Shinozaki-kun!" she yelled, "Fire an arrow through it!"
Rather than taking precious time to wonder how she recovered
so quickly, he nocked another arrow and channeled his power into it.

"THUNDER ARROW!!!"

The arrow turned lightning bolt traveled right through Sailor
Jupiter's Sparkling Wide Pressure and emerged, forming the former ball
of lightning into a "sonic boom" of electricity. The projectile and it's
conic escort pierced that tough skin of the youma and the force carried
it through its heart and out its back where it returned to a normal arrow
and stuck into the ground. The youma's body conducted the electricity
through its veins, causing it to disintegrate without a cry of death.


"Lord Amethyst," Andesite spoke in his usual angry tone, "all
is ready."
"Excellent, well done," he stood up from Queen Beryl's former
throne and gazed out at the few thousand youma comprising his army
before him. His hope was to increase that number by ten-fold.
"Let this our campaign begin!" he declared, again amplifying
his voice with his powers, "we will begin our march to the west!
Remember, always raise a flag of truce and only fight if you are
attacked first! Our goal is to negotiate the complete reunion of this
people so that we may return home! Try not to take any lives! Now let
us march forward and begin our first step towards our goal that will
give us the power we need: The four royal instruments of the Inner Sol
System!"
The cheering that ensued as Amethyst stepped down and
through the multitude to take lead of his troops easily caused the entire
castle to shake heavily.


"The Arrow Shock Wave," Guardian Jupiter said quietly as he
saw the youma's remains blow away in the wind, "I never knew it
would be that powerful," then nearly jumped as he felt a strong hand
clasp his shoulder. He turned around and had to tilt his head upwards
very slightly to look into Makoto's eyes. She smiled, winked at him,
and gave him a thumbs up before saying "Good job."
Again instinctively, he reverted from his transformed state.
His Guardian's uniform crumpled away like dead leaves and left him in
the same clothes that he had worn for the dance.
"Mako-chan..." Shinozaki started before she caught him up in
a bear hug and started sobbing as she could no longer hold back her
emotions.
"I thought you were dead!" she bawled.
His mind again remembered the first words he'd ever spoken
to her and he heard his mouth speak them as his vocal chords produced,
"It's all right, there's no need to cry."
"I'm not sad this time," she answered, sniffling a little but
calming down, "I just can't think of any other way to tell you how
happy I am." As her last tear fell from her cheek, it began to glow with
the light of the approaching dawn, but with a much greater intensity.
Once the brilliant flash subsided, a violin of master craftsmanship
floated in the air between them.


"You're exhausted," Topaz supported Garnet with his arm,
"you've been working on this since Amethyst-sama left. Get some
rest."
The scientist only shook her head, "But I'm so close to
perfecting this formula. The formula that Blade had started, so
addictive that it's impossible to break free from and will eventually turn
the human into a capsule monster so that they will be able to fuse with
a youma with my other formula."
"You'll only make a mistake if you succumb to your fatigue."
"I know, but this is just the way I am," she gave him a tired
smile, "I'll just need a couple of test subjects."
Topaz grinned as he recalled an unpleasant experience from
the other day.

"That's not a concern," he said with anger behind his words, "I
know of two girls who would be more than perfect for the part."


As Makoto and Shinozaki shared their happy reunion, Debe,
Mamoru, and Setsuna paid their respects to those people whose graves
and rest they may have disturbed during the battle. It felt like the right
thing to do. When they had finished they gathered back into their small
group.
"Thank you for your help, Setsuna-san," Debe said with a
bow.
"No, I must thank you," she smiled, "I've been watching how
you're working and it was your information that gave me the lead I
needed to find out that our enemy is not of this system, or even galaxy."
"So Amethyst is an outside invader. Do you know from
exactly where?"
The older woman shook her head, "What I just told you is all I
know."
"Setsuna-san," Mamoru interjected to ask, "are you the only
Sailor Senshi in this system from a planet beyond Jupiter?"
Her answer consisted of three words, "Yes and no."
"I understand." The three all turned to watch Mako and
Shinozaki continue their hug as the violin and the bow lay on the
ground beside them.
{There are two left,} Debe thought, {But where? And who
are they?} His worries soon faded as in the light of the early morning,
the grounds associated with death became the point of resurrection for
the third reunited 1,000 year-old bond. He just hoped that the other
four girls wouldn't send him back here once he explained what they had
missed.


End of Sailor Moon G 3


Author's notes:
Man I can't tell all of you how good it feels to have this part
finished. I promise that none of the future parts will ever take 2 1/2
years to write. I still plan on finishing this series so expect to hear me
talk about progress on Part 4 before long.

Nothing really much to note in this Part. The best way to
visualize Guardian Jupiter's uniform is to think of Legolas or Link
(without the hat).
As following with the tradition of the series, think of the song
that little Princess Jupiter was humming as an extended version of the
Minuet of Forest from Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
If you have any questions, email them to me.
(paradised@yahoo.com)