Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Shadow of a Doubt ❯ Darkness Falls ( Chapter 2 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Konran no Tenshi 
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.04.2002 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 178 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 01.04.2002 | Pages: 4 | Words: 3.2K | Visits: 178 | Status: Completed
Shadow of a Doubt
by Konran no Tenshi
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Naoko-sama, except for the made-up ones, which belong either to me or Shinimegami-sama (or in the case of Death Blade-sama and Musume, both of us). Please don't hurt me.
Part 2: Darkness Falls
The rain had abated, so Usagi, who contrary to Chibiusa's suggestion had brought the rest of the Senshi along, had everybody wait in the park near the hospital.
"We'll come back and tell you everything. I promise."
Usagi and Luna went on alone into the hospital. Chibiusa was waiting for her in the lobby.
"Come on, it's this way!"
"So what exactly did you call me here for?" Usagi wanted to know.
Chibiusa looked around before answering in a low voice, "Like I said, a symbol of some sort appeared on her forehead. I'm worried. She's definitely not just an ordinary girl."
Usagi looked worried. "You think she might be an enemy?"
"I don't know. I don't think so, at least. She didn't seem evil."
"Appearances can be very decieving," Luna admonished, poking her head out from where she'd been hidden under Usagi's coat. "I'd like to check her out myself."
"Silly, why do you think I told Usagi-chan to bring you?" Chibiusa laughed. "Now quiet, we're almost there."
They entered the room and Chibiusa made the introductions.
"Chantrea-san, Leo-san, Lyra-san, this is my... my sister, Usagi. Usagi-chan, this is Chantrea, Leo, and Lyra."
"Hajimemashite," Usagi said politely.
A moment of awkward silence passed.
"So, Chantrea-san... where do you live?" Chibiusa asked. "I want to make sure you get home okay."
"Actually..." Chantrea looked down. "I'm new here. I don't know my way around, and I haven't found a place yet."
"That's easy to fix!" Usagi chimed in. "We don't have any room at our house, but I'm sure one of my friends would be happy to have you stay with them!"
Chantrea gave her a sidelong glance. "How do you know if you haven't asked them?"
"Oh, we're all really good friends, we don't mind doing each other favors now and then," Usagi said hastily. "Now, do you need to get anything, or shall we go? My friends are waiting in the park."
"All right. Give me a few minutes."
Chibiusa and Usagi left the room, as did Leo and Lyra.
"So, Luna, what do you think?" Chibiusa asked.
"There's definitely some sort of power around that girl... I can't identify it, though. I don't *think* it's evil, but we should still be careful."
"Hai." Usagi glanced towards the direction of the park. "I'll tell whoever she's going to stay with to be careful."
Chibiusa went back and peeked in the door. "Are you ready, Chantrea-san?"
Chantrea was in the process of stuffing a grey cat into the small backpack that had been sitting on a chair. She looked up as if caught in the act of doing something she wasn't supposed to. "Ne? Oh... hai, I am."
They checked her out of the hospital, then went to the park where everybody was waiting. Once again Chibiusa introduced everybody.
"Minna, this is Chantrea. Chantrea-san, this is Ami-chan, Rei-chan, Minako-chan, Makoto-chan, Hotaru-chan, Haruka-san, Michiru-san, to Setsuna-san."
"What a kawaii chibi neko!" Hotaru exclaimed. The grey cat had poked its head out of the backpack and was staring curiously at the group. "What's its name?"
"Gemini." Chantrea glanced behind her and stuffed the cat's head back down. She muttered something inaudible. Ami was just about to ask her to repeat it, when suddenly the rain started again, almost pure black clouds rolling in extremely quickly, bruising the horizon. Thunder and lightning could be heard in the distance.
"Uh oh! We'd better get under cover!" Makoto cried.
Everyone ran towards the covered picnic tables spread out around the park. Halfway there, big black raindrops began to fall from the sky. They landed with a sick-sounding "splat", crystallizing whatever they touched.
A sheet of crystal soon covered the ground, and they all slipped and slid on the ice-like surface. Those of the group who had umbrellas had to toss them away, as they quickly became covered in crystal, and useless.
"It's actual black crystal!" called Ami, who was already under cover and had brought out her computer.
Lightning struck, the following crash of thunder drowning out any reply that someone might have made, and the rain stopped as two large crystals, also black, fell to earth. They hit and shattered, causing two bodies to be exposed.
All the crystal around them shattered also, and disappeared, as if it had never been there.
A girl who looked to be about 16 years old and a dainty-looking female calico cat lay in the middle of the park. Both were dead.
"Luna, isn't this so sad? They were inside those crystals. The poor kitty and girl, dead." Usagi looked like she was going to cry.
Minako and Makoto both went over and picked up the girl, while Hotaru picked up the cat. They were in the process of moving them over to the covered area, when Usagi stopped them.
"Guys... my brooch is glowing!"
The three set down their burdens and backed off. Usagi's brooch opened and began to float above her palm, glowing with a soft light.
The cat started to float into the air, its body enveloped in beautiful white light. A broken leg mended, bruises disappeared, and a black upside-down crescent moon appeared on its forehead. Its black eyes opened as it was gently placed on the ground.
It seemed to stare in fascination at the body of the young girl next to it. It watched as the body floated into the air, next to be healed. She had no scars or injuries on her body, other than one bruise on her arm. She was healed very quickly, but did not awaken once she was set down.
The black brooch affixed itself onto her bow. She transformed into a Sailor Senshi and her outfit turned pure white. It had no distinguishing characteristics other than a sword hanging at her side. She just stood in one place, her eyes not even open.
Chantrea sucked in a breath at the sight of a Sailor Senshi.
"It's as if she's not even alive!" Ami said.
Suddenly, a gold crescent moon appeared on her forehead where her tiara should be. It flashed from the golden crescent to the black upside down crescent.
"Look at that cat!" Makoto said.
The cat's eyes flashed from green to black, and the crescent moon on its forehead flashed in time with the girl's. When the one on the girl's forehead went black, the one on the cat went gold, and when the one on the girl went gold, the one on the cat went black.
Then the flashing stopped. The cat was now lying on the ground, and the girl's black eyes were open. The Senshi and Chantrea watched as a black wave coursed over her and the black upside-down moon on her forehead turned to a tiara with the same symbol on it. Her hair, which before was messy and unkempt, became braided. Her skirt and bows slowly changed from white to black, and her gloves disappeared. Black nail polish appeared on her nails, along with black half-boots on her feet.
She walked over and picked up her cat. She touched the gold crescent on its head. "Chandra-chan, time to wake up, return to yourself. You've done your job."
The cat woke up and her beautiful green eyes stared about.
"Chandra-chan, we're here."
The girl turned to Usagi, sword in scabbard at her side becoming all too obvious as she moved. A handle also stuck out of her boot, plainly a concealed dagger.
She bowed from her waist. "Serenity-hime... Sailor Moon. I trust this new life on earth has treated you well. How goes life?"
Usagi's brooch closed just then, and the Senshi in front of her gained some skin color, but still remained very pale.
Usagi replied, "Daijobu, demo... dare wa nan desu ka?"
"Gomen nasai." A blush passed over her features. "I didn't make my introductions. Watashi wa Sailor Black Moon desu. And this-" she pointed at the calico- "is Chandra."
A small mew issued from Chandra as a greeting.
The girl continued, "And that would be Mars-hime, Mercury-hime, Venus-hime, Jupiter-hime..."
"Wow, she knows a lot," Minako whispered to Michiru. "She seems to recognize us, even though we're not in Senshi form."
"... and as a human, my name is Kurai Tsuki," the girl finished.
Everyone just stood there for a few seconds, not sure what to do. Then Luna jumped down to the ground and went over to the pair.
"Chandra-chan? It is you! I haven't seen you for so long!"
"Luna-chan?! Sugoi, Luna-chan! I haven't seen you since I was a kitten!"
Usagi and the others relaxed, as they seemed to know each other. Usagi stepped forward. "Welcome, Sailor Black Moon. You can stay here with us for as long as you like. You'd better dehenshin, though. Someone might see you."
"Hai." Black Moon detransformed and became dressed in a black shirt and short black skirt.
"Now... we need somewhere for Tsuki-chan to stay, and for Chantrea-chan to stay."
The group looked around at each other. Finally Rei spoke up. "I guess one of them could stay with us at the temple, as long as they were willing to do chores and stuff. Only one, though, because we've only got one extra room."
"I could take one," Makoto said.
"Okay, then, Tsuki-chan, you go with Rei-chan, and Chantrea-chan, you can go with Mako-chan. Let's go get them settled in, okay?"
The group walked out of the park. Chantrea sped up until she was beside Usagi. "Then... are you a Sailor Senshi?"
Usagi glanced sidelong at her. "Hai, I am, but please don't tell anyone. It's a secret."
"And are the others too?"
"Well, yeah, but..."
"Shimpai janai," Chantrea cut her off, "I won't tell anyone. You can trust me. I just wanted to know."
She fell back slightly and began muttering to herself.
From behind them, Tsuki stared long and hard at the odd girl with the red hair. She was getting a strange feeling about her.
***
Mamoru forced his eyes open. It felt like they weighed about two hundred pounds each. He sat up abruptly as the events of before came rushing back to him.
He was trapped inside some sort of hollow crystal. This didn't look good. He formed his hand into a fist and tried to punch through it, but the crystalline wall shocked him with a mild electricity before his hand even got close.
"Ittai!"
That obviously wasn't a solution.
A door across the room opened, and a woman with long red hair and brown eyes entered. She smiled at him.
"Oh, so you're awake, are you? How do you like the accommodations?"
He snarled at her. "Let me go!"
She looked hurt for a second, but seemed to recover quickly. "I'm afraid I can't do that. My master wants you here. But you're going to have to come with me for a second. Minna!" she called.
Three others entered, a guy and two girls. The four of them picked up the crystal that held Mamoru and took it to another room, one with an ominous-looking machine. The first woman pressed a button and Mamoru was teleported out of the crystal, but held helpless and paralyzed. She attached another crystal to him. Then he passed out.
She took the crystal off after a few minutes, then put him back in the larger crystal. "You guys put him back," she directed. "I'm going to take this to Death Blade-sama. He said he wanted it right away."
"Don't push it, Musume," the oldest one, the male, growled. "We may have been assigned as your partners, but that doesn't mean you can order us around."
She smiled mock-sweetly at him. "Elendae wa baka! What do you think will happen if we go against Death Blade-sama's orders? You may not be subordinate to me, but you certainly are to him. Ta ta!" She faded out, her laughter remaining for a few seconds longer.
***
"I thought we were supposed to replace Musume, not cooperate with her!"
Two sisters conversed among themselves.
"We shouldn't have to bow down to *her*!"
"Stupid Death Blade, always gets orders wrong. I bet it's just because she's his daughter. If she wasn't, we'd have her job by now, as we were sent to!"
"You know..." A male voice entered the conversation. "You know, we *could* just get rid of her."
Elendae stepped out from the shadows. Dark brown eyes gazed cunningly out from a face framed by mid-length black hair. Dangling from a chain on his forehead was a gold charm with three wavy lines etched in black on it. His tall, muscular frame was clothed all in white. "We could either kill her, or make her turn traitor. I prefer the latter, because then we get something for her death. You two are probably too young to remember the last time something like that happened."
The middle sibling spoke up. "Yeah, it serves her right, thinking she's better than us. And I've got the perfect plan to get her." She combed through her short silvery-white hair with her fingers. Beautiful but cold crystalline white eyes that blended perfectly with her pale skin echoed the malicious smile that made her lips curve upward. On her forehead dangled a silver charm with a waterdrop etched on it. She was slightly smaller than her older brother, and was clothed in dark blue.
Elendae and Ithildae both gazed at their younger sister.
Anordae crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine, I'll go along with it, though I would rather have a straight-out confrontation." Hard blue eyes glared back at her siblings. The symbol on her copper charm was a flame, etched in black. The charm was nearly hidden by her mass of flaming golden hair. She was much shorter than her siblings and was clothed in a revealing black strapless long dress. Her skin was noticeably tanned. "So what's your *great plan*?" she asked sarcastically.
"Simple. We use her pet *Mamo-chan* and force her into it. Didn't you see the way she looked at him? This ought to be fun. It's always interesting when romance is involved."
"How about we put him in the splitter, and see what comes out?" Elendae suggested. "It still needs a test subject. Why not him?"
"I like the way you think, Elen-chan."
***
When the Senshi, plus Tsuki and Chantrea, arrived at the temple, there was a whole crowd of people buying charms and things. Rei fought her way through the crowd to where her grandpa and Yuuchirou were selling things like crazy.
"Oh, Rei-chan, you're back! Come on, we need your help!"
"Where did all these people come from?" Rei wanted to know.
"I don't know, they just showed up all of a sudden and started buying charms. We're getting some great business!"
"Grandpa, there's a friend of mine who'd like to stay here for a while. I'll get her set up in the extra room, okay?"
"All right."
Rei took Tsuki inside, while the others gazed around at the huge crowd. Suddenly, there were screams, and everyone started milling around like crazy.
"What's going on?" Chibiusa asked.
"Look!" Haruka pointed.
Two large and very ugly youma were in the crowd, attacking and draining people's energy.
"We'd better henshin!" Usagi cried. "Chantrea-chan, find somewhere to hide. I'm afraid you can't help us now."
"Hai." Chantrea ducked behind a bush.
The Senshi transformed and dashed out to fight the youma. Inside, Rei and Tsuki heard the commotion. They peeked out the door and saw what was going on.
"Uh oh!" Rei henshined and leaped into the fray.
Tsuki stood watching for another minute, then reached for her brooch. "Moon Darkness Power, Make Up!" She transformed into Sailor Black Moon. "Hang on, guys, I'm coming!"
The Senshi managed to dispatch one of the youma, but it was extremely hard. The thing was unusually strong. They were all tired out by the time it faded into oblivion. They began beating on the other one, but it was even stronger than the first. It managed to grab onto Black Moon, Saturn, Neptune, and Mars with its tentacles. The others didn't dare attack when they might hit their friends. It seemed to be a stalemate.
"Galaxy Disk Annihilation!"
A spinning golden blur cut through the tentacles that held the four Senshi. They dropped to the ground. Everyone followed the disk back as it returned to its owner.
It landed in the hand of a Sailor Senshi wearing a fuku that looked identical to Black Moon's, only it had little white dots on it that seemed to move with her. She had knee-high boots with the same pattern on it. It hurt the eyes to stare at the pattern too long. The new Senshi replaced the spiky disk on her necklace, and adopted a fighting stance.
"Dare wa nan desu ka?!" the youma shrieked.
"I'm Sailor Andromeda, guardian of the Andromeda Kingdom, and exterminator for nasty little pests. Come on, let's see what you've got!"
The youma snarled and shot fire at her. Black Moon crept up behind it. "Black Tiara, Destroy!" The youma turned around. "Ittai," it whined. "That's not fair. That hurt!"
"Starlight Arrow, fly true!" Some of the little "stars" off of Sailor Andromeda's uniform floated up off it and formed a giant bow. A glowing silver arrow appeared strung on it, and she fired it at the youma. It shrieked and faded out.
Andromeda stood breathing hard as the other Senshi gathered around her.
"Wow, that was amazing!"
"Arigatou gozaimasu!"
"Dare wa nan desu ka?"
She glanced down. "Watashi wa Sailor Andromeda desu. I saw you were in trouble so I thought I'd help out. I have to go now."
Two cats, a pure white cat with gold eyes and a pure black cat with silver eyes, came running up. "It's okay, I don't need you," she told them. "Go back. Now!" She sounded almost desperate.
They glanced at each other and obeyed. She turned to follow them, but Black Moon' s hand on her arm stopped her. "Chotto matte. Hold it right there."
She stopped, frozen in place.
Black Moon nodded. It was all beginning to make sense. She'd been watching this "Sailor Andromeda" ever since she appeared. It looked like her guess was about to be proven correct.
Andromeda clenched her gloved hands, absently rubbing the ring on her right ring finger.
Black Moon stepped around to in front of her as the others watched.
"What are you doing, Black Moon?"
"What's going on?"
Black Moon didn't say anything. She stared into Andromeda's violet eyes with her own pure black ones, not with a look of hatred or wariness, but one of understanding.
Chibiusa took a step forward, but Usagi held her back.
Andromeda drew back as Black Moon approached, but Black Moon put a hand on each of Andromeda's shoulders, continuing to stare straight into her eyes.
"I think you have some explaining to do... Chantrea-san."
End Part 2
by Konran no Tenshi
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Naoko-sama, except for the made-up ones, which belong either to me or Shinimegami-sama (or in the case of Death Blade-sama and Musume, both of us). Please don't hurt me.
Part 2: Darkness Falls
The rain had abated, so Usagi, who contrary to Chibiusa's suggestion had brought the rest of the Senshi along, had everybody wait in the park near the hospital.
"We'll come back and tell you everything. I promise."
Usagi and Luna went on alone into the hospital. Chibiusa was waiting for her in the lobby.
"Come on, it's this way!"
"So what exactly did you call me here for?" Usagi wanted to know.
Chibiusa looked around before answering in a low voice, "Like I said, a symbol of some sort appeared on her forehead. I'm worried. She's definitely not just an ordinary girl."
Usagi looked worried. "You think she might be an enemy?"
"I don't know. I don't think so, at least. She didn't seem evil."
"Appearances can be very decieving," Luna admonished, poking her head out from where she'd been hidden under Usagi's coat. "I'd like to check her out myself."
"Silly, why do you think I told Usagi-chan to bring you?" Chibiusa laughed. "Now quiet, we're almost there."
They entered the room and Chibiusa made the introductions.
"Chantrea-san, Leo-san, Lyra-san, this is my... my sister, Usagi. Usagi-chan, this is Chantrea, Leo, and Lyra."
"Hajimemashite," Usagi said politely.
A moment of awkward silence passed.
"So, Chantrea-san... where do you live?" Chibiusa asked. "I want to make sure you get home okay."
"Actually..." Chantrea looked down. "I'm new here. I don't know my way around, and I haven't found a place yet."
"That's easy to fix!" Usagi chimed in. "We don't have any room at our house, but I'm sure one of my friends would be happy to have you stay with them!"
Chantrea gave her a sidelong glance. "How do you know if you haven't asked them?"
"Oh, we're all really good friends, we don't mind doing each other favors now and then," Usagi said hastily. "Now, do you need to get anything, or shall we go? My friends are waiting in the park."
"All right. Give me a few minutes."
Chibiusa and Usagi left the room, as did Leo and Lyra.
"So, Luna, what do you think?" Chibiusa asked.
"There's definitely some sort of power around that girl... I can't identify it, though. I don't *think* it's evil, but we should still be careful."
"Hai." Usagi glanced towards the direction of the park. "I'll tell whoever she's going to stay with to be careful."
Chibiusa went back and peeked in the door. "Are you ready, Chantrea-san?"
Chantrea was in the process of stuffing a grey cat into the small backpack that had been sitting on a chair. She looked up as if caught in the act of doing something she wasn't supposed to. "Ne? Oh... hai, I am."
They checked her out of the hospital, then went to the park where everybody was waiting. Once again Chibiusa introduced everybody.
"Minna, this is Chantrea. Chantrea-san, this is Ami-chan, Rei-chan, Minako-chan, Makoto-chan, Hotaru-chan, Haruka-san, Michiru-san, to Setsuna-san."
"What a kawaii chibi neko!" Hotaru exclaimed. The grey cat had poked its head out of the backpack and was staring curiously at the group. "What's its name?"
"Gemini." Chantrea glanced behind her and stuffed the cat's head back down. She muttered something inaudible. Ami was just about to ask her to repeat it, when suddenly the rain started again, almost pure black clouds rolling in extremely quickly, bruising the horizon. Thunder and lightning could be heard in the distance.
"Uh oh! We'd better get under cover!" Makoto cried.
Everyone ran towards the covered picnic tables spread out around the park. Halfway there, big black raindrops began to fall from the sky. They landed with a sick-sounding "splat", crystallizing whatever they touched.
A sheet of crystal soon covered the ground, and they all slipped and slid on the ice-like surface. Those of the group who had umbrellas had to toss them away, as they quickly became covered in crystal, and useless.
"It's actual black crystal!" called Ami, who was already under cover and had brought out her computer.
Lightning struck, the following crash of thunder drowning out any reply that someone might have made, and the rain stopped as two large crystals, also black, fell to earth. They hit and shattered, causing two bodies to be exposed.
All the crystal around them shattered also, and disappeared, as if it had never been there.
A girl who looked to be about 16 years old and a dainty-looking female calico cat lay in the middle of the park. Both were dead.
"Luna, isn't this so sad? They were inside those crystals. The poor kitty and girl, dead." Usagi looked like she was going to cry.
Minako and Makoto both went over and picked up the girl, while Hotaru picked up the cat. They were in the process of moving them over to the covered area, when Usagi stopped them.
"Guys... my brooch is glowing!"
The three set down their burdens and backed off. Usagi's brooch opened and began to float above her palm, glowing with a soft light.
The cat started to float into the air, its body enveloped in beautiful white light. A broken leg mended, bruises disappeared, and a black upside-down crescent moon appeared on its forehead. Its black eyes opened as it was gently placed on the ground.
It seemed to stare in fascination at the body of the young girl next to it. It watched as the body floated into the air, next to be healed. She had no scars or injuries on her body, other than one bruise on her arm. She was healed very quickly, but did not awaken once she was set down.
The black brooch affixed itself onto her bow. She transformed into a Sailor Senshi and her outfit turned pure white. It had no distinguishing characteristics other than a sword hanging at her side. She just stood in one place, her eyes not even open.
Chantrea sucked in a breath at the sight of a Sailor Senshi.
"It's as if she's not even alive!" Ami said.
Suddenly, a gold crescent moon appeared on her forehead where her tiara should be. It flashed from the golden crescent to the black upside down crescent.
"Look at that cat!" Makoto said.
The cat's eyes flashed from green to black, and the crescent moon on its forehead flashed in time with the girl's. When the one on the girl's forehead went black, the one on the cat went gold, and when the one on the girl went gold, the one on the cat went black.
Then the flashing stopped. The cat was now lying on the ground, and the girl's black eyes were open. The Senshi and Chantrea watched as a black wave coursed over her and the black upside-down moon on her forehead turned to a tiara with the same symbol on it. Her hair, which before was messy and unkempt, became braided. Her skirt and bows slowly changed from white to black, and her gloves disappeared. Black nail polish appeared on her nails, along with black half-boots on her feet.
She walked over and picked up her cat. She touched the gold crescent on its head. "Chandra-chan, time to wake up, return to yourself. You've done your job."
The cat woke up and her beautiful green eyes stared about.
"Chandra-chan, we're here."
The girl turned to Usagi, sword in scabbard at her side becoming all too obvious as she moved. A handle also stuck out of her boot, plainly a concealed dagger.
She bowed from her waist. "Serenity-hime... Sailor Moon. I trust this new life on earth has treated you well. How goes life?"
Usagi's brooch closed just then, and the Senshi in front of her gained some skin color, but still remained very pale.
Usagi replied, "Daijobu, demo... dare wa nan desu ka?"
"Gomen nasai." A blush passed over her features. "I didn't make my introductions. Watashi wa Sailor Black Moon desu. And this-" she pointed at the calico- "is Chandra."
A small mew issued from Chandra as a greeting.
The girl continued, "And that would be Mars-hime, Mercury-hime, Venus-hime, Jupiter-hime..."
"Wow, she knows a lot," Minako whispered to Michiru. "She seems to recognize us, even though we're not in Senshi form."
"... and as a human, my name is Kurai Tsuki," the girl finished.
Everyone just stood there for a few seconds, not sure what to do. Then Luna jumped down to the ground and went over to the pair.
"Chandra-chan? It is you! I haven't seen you for so long!"
"Luna-chan?! Sugoi, Luna-chan! I haven't seen you since I was a kitten!"
Usagi and the others relaxed, as they seemed to know each other. Usagi stepped forward. "Welcome, Sailor Black Moon. You can stay here with us for as long as you like. You'd better dehenshin, though. Someone might see you."
"Hai." Black Moon detransformed and became dressed in a black shirt and short black skirt.
"Now... we need somewhere for Tsuki-chan to stay, and for Chantrea-chan to stay."
The group looked around at each other. Finally Rei spoke up. "I guess one of them could stay with us at the temple, as long as they were willing to do chores and stuff. Only one, though, because we've only got one extra room."
"I could take one," Makoto said.
"Okay, then, Tsuki-chan, you go with Rei-chan, and Chantrea-chan, you can go with Mako-chan. Let's go get them settled in, okay?"
The group walked out of the park. Chantrea sped up until she was beside Usagi. "Then... are you a Sailor Senshi?"
Usagi glanced sidelong at her. "Hai, I am, but please don't tell anyone. It's a secret."
"And are the others too?"
"Well, yeah, but..."
"Shimpai janai," Chantrea cut her off, "I won't tell anyone. You can trust me. I just wanted to know."
She fell back slightly and began muttering to herself.
From behind them, Tsuki stared long and hard at the odd girl with the red hair. She was getting a strange feeling about her.
***
Mamoru forced his eyes open. It felt like they weighed about two hundred pounds each. He sat up abruptly as the events of before came rushing back to him.
He was trapped inside some sort of hollow crystal. This didn't look good. He formed his hand into a fist and tried to punch through it, but the crystalline wall shocked him with a mild electricity before his hand even got close.
"Ittai!"
That obviously wasn't a solution.
A door across the room opened, and a woman with long red hair and brown eyes entered. She smiled at him.
"Oh, so you're awake, are you? How do you like the accommodations?"
He snarled at her. "Let me go!"
She looked hurt for a second, but seemed to recover quickly. "I'm afraid I can't do that. My master wants you here. But you're going to have to come with me for a second. Minna!" she called.
Three others entered, a guy and two girls. The four of them picked up the crystal that held Mamoru and took it to another room, one with an ominous-looking machine. The first woman pressed a button and Mamoru was teleported out of the crystal, but held helpless and paralyzed. She attached another crystal to him. Then he passed out.
She took the crystal off after a few minutes, then put him back in the larger crystal. "You guys put him back," she directed. "I'm going to take this to Death Blade-sama. He said he wanted it right away."
"Don't push it, Musume," the oldest one, the male, growled. "We may have been assigned as your partners, but that doesn't mean you can order us around."
She smiled mock-sweetly at him. "Elendae wa baka! What do you think will happen if we go against Death Blade-sama's orders? You may not be subordinate to me, but you certainly are to him. Ta ta!" She faded out, her laughter remaining for a few seconds longer.
***
"I thought we were supposed to replace Musume, not cooperate with her!"
Two sisters conversed among themselves.
"We shouldn't have to bow down to *her*!"
"Stupid Death Blade, always gets orders wrong. I bet it's just because she's his daughter. If she wasn't, we'd have her job by now, as we were sent to!"
"You know..." A male voice entered the conversation. "You know, we *could* just get rid of her."
Elendae stepped out from the shadows. Dark brown eyes gazed cunningly out from a face framed by mid-length black hair. Dangling from a chain on his forehead was a gold charm with three wavy lines etched in black on it. His tall, muscular frame was clothed all in white. "We could either kill her, or make her turn traitor. I prefer the latter, because then we get something for her death. You two are probably too young to remember the last time something like that happened."
The middle sibling spoke up. "Yeah, it serves her right, thinking she's better than us. And I've got the perfect plan to get her." She combed through her short silvery-white hair with her fingers. Beautiful but cold crystalline white eyes that blended perfectly with her pale skin echoed the malicious smile that made her lips curve upward. On her forehead dangled a silver charm with a waterdrop etched on it. She was slightly smaller than her older brother, and was clothed in dark blue.
Elendae and Ithildae both gazed at their younger sister.
Anordae crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine, I'll go along with it, though I would rather have a straight-out confrontation." Hard blue eyes glared back at her siblings. The symbol on her copper charm was a flame, etched in black. The charm was nearly hidden by her mass of flaming golden hair. She was much shorter than her siblings and was clothed in a revealing black strapless long dress. Her skin was noticeably tanned. "So what's your *great plan*?" she asked sarcastically.
"Simple. We use her pet *Mamo-chan* and force her into it. Didn't you see the way she looked at him? This ought to be fun. It's always interesting when romance is involved."
"How about we put him in the splitter, and see what comes out?" Elendae suggested. "It still needs a test subject. Why not him?"
"I like the way you think, Elen-chan."
***
When the Senshi, plus Tsuki and Chantrea, arrived at the temple, there was a whole crowd of people buying charms and things. Rei fought her way through the crowd to where her grandpa and Yuuchirou were selling things like crazy.
"Oh, Rei-chan, you're back! Come on, we need your help!"
"Where did all these people come from?" Rei wanted to know.
"I don't know, they just showed up all of a sudden and started buying charms. We're getting some great business!"
"Grandpa, there's a friend of mine who'd like to stay here for a while. I'll get her set up in the extra room, okay?"
"All right."
Rei took Tsuki inside, while the others gazed around at the huge crowd. Suddenly, there were screams, and everyone started milling around like crazy.
"What's going on?" Chibiusa asked.
"Look!" Haruka pointed.
Two large and very ugly youma were in the crowd, attacking and draining people's energy.
"We'd better henshin!" Usagi cried. "Chantrea-chan, find somewhere to hide. I'm afraid you can't help us now."
"Hai." Chantrea ducked behind a bush.
The Senshi transformed and dashed out to fight the youma. Inside, Rei and Tsuki heard the commotion. They peeked out the door and saw what was going on.
"Uh oh!" Rei henshined and leaped into the fray.
Tsuki stood watching for another minute, then reached for her brooch. "Moon Darkness Power, Make Up!" She transformed into Sailor Black Moon. "Hang on, guys, I'm coming!"
The Senshi managed to dispatch one of the youma, but it was extremely hard. The thing was unusually strong. They were all tired out by the time it faded into oblivion. They began beating on the other one, but it was even stronger than the first. It managed to grab onto Black Moon, Saturn, Neptune, and Mars with its tentacles. The others didn't dare attack when they might hit their friends. It seemed to be a stalemate.
"Galaxy Disk Annihilation!"
A spinning golden blur cut through the tentacles that held the four Senshi. They dropped to the ground. Everyone followed the disk back as it returned to its owner.
It landed in the hand of a Sailor Senshi wearing a fuku that looked identical to Black Moon's, only it had little white dots on it that seemed to move with her. She had knee-high boots with the same pattern on it. It hurt the eyes to stare at the pattern too long. The new Senshi replaced the spiky disk on her necklace, and adopted a fighting stance.
"Dare wa nan desu ka?!" the youma shrieked.
"I'm Sailor Andromeda, guardian of the Andromeda Kingdom, and exterminator for nasty little pests. Come on, let's see what you've got!"
The youma snarled and shot fire at her. Black Moon crept up behind it. "Black Tiara, Destroy!" The youma turned around. "Ittai," it whined. "That's not fair. That hurt!"
"Starlight Arrow, fly true!" Some of the little "stars" off of Sailor Andromeda's uniform floated up off it and formed a giant bow. A glowing silver arrow appeared strung on it, and she fired it at the youma. It shrieked and faded out.
Andromeda stood breathing hard as the other Senshi gathered around her.
"Wow, that was amazing!"
"Arigatou gozaimasu!"
"Dare wa nan desu ka?"
She glanced down. "Watashi wa Sailor Andromeda desu. I saw you were in trouble so I thought I'd help out. I have to go now."
Two cats, a pure white cat with gold eyes and a pure black cat with silver eyes, came running up. "It's okay, I don't need you," she told them. "Go back. Now!" She sounded almost desperate.
They glanced at each other and obeyed. She turned to follow them, but Black Moon' s hand on her arm stopped her. "Chotto matte. Hold it right there."
She stopped, frozen in place.
Black Moon nodded. It was all beginning to make sense. She'd been watching this "Sailor Andromeda" ever since she appeared. It looked like her guess was about to be proven correct.
Andromeda clenched her gloved hands, absently rubbing the ring on her right ring finger.
Black Moon stepped around to in front of her as the others watched.
"What are you doing, Black Moon?"
"What's going on?"
Black Moon didn't say anything. She stared into Andromeda's violet eyes with her own pure black ones, not with a look of hatred or wariness, but one of understanding.
Chibiusa took a step forward, but Usagi held her back.
Andromeda drew back as Black Moon approached, but Black Moon put a hand on each of Andromeda's shoulders, continuing to stare straight into her eyes.
"I think you have some explaining to do... Chantrea-san."
End Part 2