Û¥-Dark Facets Part 2
by Ursula Owen/Tsukino Ureshii no Uma/Sailor Ursa (flames (which I await with pen in 
hand, thesaurus on standby, and eyes glowing with anticipation) et al. go to Urs @
 apops@ix.netcom.com)
Rei no himitsu- Maakyurii wa ososugiru mitsukeimasu... (This is a guess, and if you can 
speak Japanese, feel free to write and correct me.)


***

“Princess?”
A single worried voice rouses me from the eternity of Endymion’s embrace.  I sigh and 
look up at him once more.
“I guess- it’s time for one of us to go.”  The regret is thick in my voice as I hear footsteps 
coming closer.
“Beloved,” he whispers, “any parting now seems like an eternity to me, but it will be 
only a moment when compared to our lives with each other.  The time will come when we 
can be together.”  I consider this for a moment, then smile up at him- I love him so 
much!- and say,
“Then go, quickly- I wouldn’t have your parents- or mine- discover you here.”  We steal 
a quick kiss, and then he’s gone.
We’re so like a dream, he and I; life is too many long stretches of cold, hard, skeptical 
reality, with only the brief respite of his eyes and arms to lighten the days.  He always 
smells of roses, which for some reason never grow on the Moon, and wears only black 
and white clothes, as opposed to the garish colors favored by so many here.  In all, he is 
a dream within a dream, and I wonder sometimes if he even remembers his times here, 
with me.  May the Crystal grant me that he never forgets.
“Princess?”
“Yes?”
Minako grabs my arm.  “Come on,” she says, her eyes sparkling, “you’re going to have 
some fun tonight or else.”  I laugh, more out of surprise than anything else, and follow 
her, but my eyes remain on the spot where we stood, for a moment, and the rose he left 
me there.  
To my dismay, the red flower wilts before my very eyes.

***

We were all camped out at Ami’s house for the day, having a kind of informal Senshi 
meeting because Rei wasn’t there.  Makoto was sprawled on a couch reading the latest 
‘Ribbon’, Ami was doing her homework on the coffee table, and Minako and I were 
looking through a few catalogues, trying to figure out what would make Haruna-san look 
like a human being.
“I just don’t get it,” Minako mused at last.
“How such a basically pretty person can wear such an awful suit every day of the year?” I 
asked through a mouthful of daifuku.
“No,” Minako replied, “Rei.”
“Oh,” I said, and crammed another daifuku. “Her.”
“Every time we come near her, she just walks away.”  She set the catalogue aside and 
rested her chin pensively on one hand. “It’s like she doesn’t even want to know that we’re 
alive.”
“Yeah,” Makoto agreed. “She’s sure been acting wierd ever since her leg got wounded.”
“I don’t know, guys,” Ami said, looking up from her math. “Maybe she’s just trying to 
figure things out.  She did have a really close call, after all.  Maybe we should give her 
some time to herself.”
“Well I say forget her!” I piped up. “After the way she stomped off, without even saying 
thank you, she can just stay in her little rut for all I care!”
“Usagi!” Luna said, shocked. “How could you? Rei may be in a lot of personal trouble 
right now, and you’re saying we should just let her be?”  I lapsed into worried silence.
“I say one of us goes to talk to her, to see what’s going on,” Minako suggested. 
“Somebody’s got to do it, because Rei sure isn’t going to tell us herself.  So who’s 
volunteering?”
“I can’t,” Ami said regretfully. “I mean, I really want to help Rei and all, but I’ve got 
juku all this week, and I can’t miss out on the Meiji chapter.”
“I would,” Mako insisted, “but what would I do? Rei and I have never been that close, 
and the only thing I can really do for her is cook.”
“Same for me,” Minako added, “except I can’t cook.” The senshi looked at eachother for 
a moment, then looked at me.
“On the other hand,” Ami said, “better me than-”
“I’ll do it, Ami-chan!” I jumped up, suddenly galvanized into action. “Just wait! I’ll have 
Rei back on her feet in no time!” The senshi groaned collectively. 
“Usagi,” Luna asked, “do you really think that’s a good idea?”
“Sure!” I replied. “Who better to cheer Rei up?”
Minako sighed. “I could probably think of a few dozen,” she muttered under her breath.
“What?”
“But- I suppose you could do it.  I mean, even though you and Rei fight a lot, you two are 
awfully close- you guys can get under each other’s skin like that.” She snapped her 
fingers as a demonstration.
“Yeah,” Makoto said. “I mean, you're like, the polar opposites of each other, but you 
really work well together when it comes down to it.”
“Especially if Rei’s slaps have anything to do with it,” Artemis muttered from his 
windowsill. 
“So Don Juan de Gato has decided to make his obligatory appearance!” Luna crowed. 
“And how long have you actually been awake?  If for the entire length of this 
conversation, you may have set a new record!”
“Give me a break, Luna,” Artemis replied and settled back into his sunbeam.
“So what do you think, Artemis?  Am I the right girl for the job?” I grinned at him and 
started scratching him under the chin.
“Well, Usagi,” he said between purrs, “you really only have to look at your 
transformation brooch to know the answer.” I paused, puzzled, and Artemis’ head fell 
back onto the sill with a contented sigh.
“My brooch?” I asked, pulling it off and examining it very closely in the fading light of 
dusk. “What about it?”
“Well, you’ve no doubt noticed the four smaller stones around the edge, right?”
“Hai.”
“And you’ve hopefully realized their significance?”
“Hai. Blue for Ami-chan, green for Mako-chan, orange for Minako-chan, and red for Rei-
chan.”
“ And have you noticed where the red one is placed?”
“Hai- directly in front of the moon- ara.”
“Oh, wow.” The other senshi gathered around me and stared at the brooch. There was a 
long silence.
"I never noticed that before," Minako remarked, and lapsed back into silence.
"But what does it mean?" I asked at last, still confused. Luna knocked her head against 
the wall several times, then turned to face me.
"Usagi! How can you possibly not know what it means?"
"Luuuuunnnnaaaaa, cut me a little break, okay? I'm slow, you already knew that, so why 
be so difficult?  Just tell me what it means, pullleeeeaazze?" 
"Okay, okay, Usagi, but lower the frequency, pullleeeeaazze? You sound like a tape in 
fast forward!" Artemis whined with his paws over his ears. Luna sighed, took a moment 
to piece together the shreds of her trod-upon dignity, and turned to me again.
"What it means, Usagi-chan, is that Rei, being the spiritual senshi, is supposed to be a 
guiding light of sorts for the rest of the sailor senshi, especially you."
"Honto, Usagi, because you need all the guidance you can get," Artemis commented from 
his spot in the sun.
"Youma kitty!" Minako reproved him, tapping him hard on the nose with an accusing 
finger.
"So?"
"SO you two are closer, even if you don't want to be, than the other senshi.  It's destiny." 
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, destiny, right.  Okay, so Rei is God. Can I go now?" Luna and 
Artemis groaned again.
"Yes, Usagi, you can go now," Luna said at last. "But remember- Rei is obviously not in 
a good mood right now, and if you're not considerate of that, you could make it worse."
"I'm on it, Luna!" I replied.  I jumped up and assumed a heroic pose not entirely unlike 
my 'oshi okiyo'. "Don't worry, I'll get Rei back without a hitch, just you wait. Just have a 
little confidence in me, okay?"
"If only you merited such confidence," Luna muttered as I left the room.

In Queen Beryl's throne room, Endymion sulked in a corner while Kunzite strutted.

"Queen Beryl-sama," he muttered between gritted teeth, "why do you endure this fool and 
his ego? Surely there are those who would serve you better than this clown." He had 
meant the complaint to be for his ears alone, but the Queen stood, her eyes glowing.
"Endymion!" she cried, her voice like the crack of doom. "Come forward.  Lurking in the 
shadows is a good thing for you in the human's world, but not in my court. Come, kneel 
before me."  Endymion stepped forward and made a reserved bow, but remained 
standing.
"Endymion," Kunzite smirked from behind him, "you would do best to obey the Queen, 
as your loyalties are under enough doubt as it is." Endymion turned to give him a deadly 
look before facing the queen again.
"His loyalties are none of your concern, Kunzite!" Queen Beryl shouted. "Suffice it to say 
that he has proved himself, and if you continue this campaign against him, it will be your 
loyalties that I will question.  After all, perhaps you believe that Zoisite's death was- 
somehow- unfair to you, and you certainly do believe in revenge."  She paused and 
smiled cruelly. "Though why you should pursue the sailor senshi over it when I'm the one 
who killed her is beyond me." Kunzite gritted his teeth and looked away.
"What is your bidding, my Queen?" Endymion interrupted.
"I have no work for you to do- just yet.  But I want you to extend an invitation to one of 
the Sailor senshi."
"What?" For once, Endymion was left completely wordless.
"You will ask Sailor Mars- Hino Rei- to join us in our fight against the other senshi."
"But- why should she possibly accept this invitation?  And how is her real identity 
known?"
"Let's just say," and Queen Beryl sneered, "that I've got an inside informant."

"Rei? Rei-chan? Oh, Rei-baka-na-no, where are you?” I peeked around the gatepost of 
Rei’s temple and looked around.  There she was, sitting on the steps trying to lure Phobos 
and Deimos with a handful of rice. “Rei-sama,” I said at last, trying to catch her attention, 
“I’ve got some nikuman, really good ones, with me, and I was wondering if you’d like to 
share them with me.  It’d be just like old times.” Rei ignored me. I winced, but soldiered 
on anyway. “Remember, Rei, when you first met Yuuichiiro, and Zoisite turned your 
grampa into a youma?  And afterward, because we’d had a fight, I brought over a plate of 
daifuku? Actually, it wasn’t afterward, but right when your Grampa was chasing you 
around, and I asked whether you’d like any daifuku right in the middle of the fight 
because I wanted to make up with you?” She slowly looked up from where she sat, her 
eyes dull.
“I remember, Usagi-baka. Now go away.  I’m trying to feed my crows.”  At that moment, 
both of her pets took flight, cawing angrily as they winged away.
“That’s funny,” I said, following them with my eyes. “They never used to dislike me that 
much.”
“It’s not you that they dislike,” Rei said, and quickly turned away.  I walked around to 
face her again.
“But- I don’t get it.” I said, and set my bag down next to the steps. “They’re your pets.”
“Not anymore,” Rei replied, and flinging her handful of rice off into the bushes, she went 
inside.  I followed her.
“Rei-chan,” I exclaimed as she drifted ahead of me, “I’m sure they’re just in a bad mood.  
I mean, crows must get PMS or SAS or something.”
“No,” Rei mumbled. “They just don’t like me anymore.”
“Awwwwwwww, come on, Rei!” I grabbed her arm and spun her to face me. “I feel that 
way about you guys all the time, but it doesn’t stop me.”  She stared at me blankly for a 
moment, then smiled slowly.
“No, Usagi-chan,” she said, “it doesn’t.  What’s your secret?”
I paused. “What did you call me?”
“Usagi-chan!” Rei gave me a dazzling smile, and led me back out onto the steps.
“So, how are the senshi? Luna? Artemis?”
“They’re all fine, I guess, except they’re really worried about you.” I tried to keep from 
staring at her, but I just couldn’t stop! Rei, being nice to me when we _weren’t_ about to 
die?  _It must be a joke_, I kept thinking.
“Well, you can tell them that there’s absolutely no reason to, none at all.” Rei gave me 
another brilliant smile and pulled me up from the steps where I had collapsed.  _Too much brain strain_, I thought. “So go tell them! All five of them! Now!” I started to walk 
away, then stopped.
“Rei, are you sure you’re alright?” I asked, given considerable pause. “I mean, you’re 
being nice to me and everything- even though you’re still trying to get rid of me like you 
always do.”
“I’m not trying to get rid of you, Usagi-chan!” Rei exclaimed with another, increasingly 
unconvincing smile. “I wouldn’t do something like that!”
“Then why don’t-“ I spent a moment trying to figure out the new Rei, “ why don’t we sit 
and talk for a little bit?  Just- kind of- chat, you know?” Rei smiled again, now totally 
unconvincingly, and said, “Suuuurre!”
So we sat back down on the steps.  I grabbed the discarded bag of nikuman by my feet 
and opened it, offering one to Rei.
“They’re really yummy,” I said between bites, “’cuz Makoto made them this morning.”
“Oh,” Rei said, “I’m sure they are, but I’m not really hungry.”
“Oh.” I sat in silence for a moment, then asked, “So watcha wanna talk about?”
“Hmmm-" Rei mused.  "What makes you tick, Usagi-chan?”
“Huh?” I think I had almost used up my daily quota of confused looks in only a half 
hour!
“What makes you soldier on?” she continued, looking at me with wide eyes. “I mean, you 
suck at school, you can’t really do anything useful, and your boyfriend would as soon kill 
you as look at you!”
“Now that’s not true!” I protested. “Mamo-chan would never kill me! He would never do 
anything to hurt me, or any of the scouts for that matter! Or- or anyone else!” The last 
phrase came out rather half-heartedly as Rei gave me a knowing look.
“Oh, come on.  You can’t possibly be that delusional.” I glanced at her sadly for a 
moment, thinking, I wish I were. “Okay, then, if Mamoru wouldn’t, then what about 
Endymion / Tuxedo Mask?  Surely you’ve noticed that he has no reservations about 
hurting you.”
“I- I don’t know, really,” I whispered weakly. “I mean, he hasn’t yet, so- maybe he really 
does still love me.” I let my head drop; I had been holding it up rigidly, staring at the 
rising moon to keep from crying. “I- I don’t know.”
“Poor Usagi,” Rei said, her voice dripping sympathy as she gave me a tight hug. “How do 
you manage?  Your life is a wasteland, and yet you carry on like an everyday ditz.”
I rested my head on her shoulder for a moment, trying to gather the denial I had spent so 
many weeks building back to me, to block out the cursed truth. “I- just think about little 
things.  Like- clothes, or food, or how late I am, or that sort of thing. You see, Rei,” and I 
turned to face her, drawing back a little bit, “if you focus on the little things, the big 
things just sort of fade into the background.  They’re still there, and they’re still big, but 
you can’t see them as clearly, and-” I started to cry, waves of memory racking my body, 
“they don’t- hurt as much.” She hugged me again, tighter this time, until I could hardly 
breathe.
“Don’t worry, Usagi-chan,” she said, her voice cloying in my ears, “the big things can be 
forgotten, or destroyed.  You don’t have to live this way.”
“But I’ve always lived this way!” I pulled back again, startling her. “Ever since I can 
remember, I’ve felt this huge void inside, and tried to fill it up with food and crushes and 
manga.  There’s only been one time when I’ve been whole, full and myself, and that was 
with Mamoru dying in my arms!” Rei got up and stood back from me, silent.
“So there is a real Tsukino Usagi,” she said at last, and disappeared into the temple. I sat 
on the temple steps for a moment, staring after her, then dropped my face into my hands 
and began to cry again.  _There is a real Tsukino Usagi, and she’s an empty shell,_ I 
thought, and began the long trudge home.

Inside, Rei gazed into the small crystal that beckoned from her desktop. The darkness 
inside of it swirled, at last forming the image of Prince Endymion.
“Ah, Sailor Mars. So good to meet you at last,” the image said, and it gave a formal bow 
before its face hardened and eyes narrowed. “I wish to invite you to a little- soiree in your 
honor, in the Dark Kingdom.  Queen Beryl offers you a contract.  I would advise you to 
accept, as you obviously no longer belong with the Sailor senshi.” It gave an ironic smile 
before continuing. “We await your response.  Please do not disappoint us.” The image 
flickered, then disappeared.
Rei focused for a moment, her face clenching. The invitation is accepted, she sent, and 
smiled as she felt the message wend its way through to the Dark Kingdom.

“So Rei was actually nice to you?” Artemis said. “Weird.”
“Be quiet, Artemis,” Minna admonished. “I’m sure there’s a reason.”
“Yeah,” I muttered, “because I’m a pitiful wimp and she couldn’t help but feel sympathy 
for me.”
“I hate to suggest this,” Ami interrupted, “but maybe she was trying to get under your 
guard.  I mean, she can be very persuasive at times.  And she did come pretty close, 
didn’t she?  From what you’ve been telling us, it sounds like she was almost milking you 
for information.”
“No, not Rei!” We all turned to look at Mako, who had dropped her manga and tempura 
and was staring at us adamantly. “She’s a friend, and a Sailor Senshi!  Why would she do 
something like that?” 
“Look, guys, Rei was just being weird. She’s in a bad mood, just like Luna said, and 
there’s no reason why we should be asking all these strange questions.” I collapsed on the 
couch and grabbed Mako’s manga.
“But I thought you said she was being nice to you.  Why should she be nice to you if 
she’s in a bad mood?”
“Minna-chan, she’s Rei.  She’s mean to me when she’s in a good mood, so why shouldn’t 
she be nice to me when she’s in a bad one?” Everyone paused.
“Well, you’re sure in a good mood!” Makoto snatched her manga back.
“You expect me to be?  I just bared my heart and soul to the person I’m supposed to be 
closest to-” at this point I gave Luna’s sleeping form a glare, “-and got totally blown off!”
“Usagi, chill!” Ami set aside her schoolbook and walked over to kneel before me where I 
was sitting, hunched over, on the couch.  “At least you told someone, right?  At least you 
got it out of your system.”
“Yeah,” said Mako, kneeling next to her. “Sometimes, if you don’t tell people these 
things, they just fester inside, killing you.  It was that way with-”
“-your old boyfriend,” all four of us finished at once, and stared at eachother for a 
moment.  Then, at last, the silence was broken.
“Oh, goodness,” Ami gasped, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. “Mako, how could 
you?”
“Yeah, really!” Minna puffed, her face red from too much time spent _guffawing_ like a 
_hyena_. “Just when things were getting serious!”
“Oh, Mako, when are you ever going to forget about that guy?” I repressed the peals of 
laughter bubbling up inside me and set my mouth into a straight line.
“Who says I haven’t already?” she said, and winked. We cracked up all over again.

“Sailor Mars, welcome to my court.”
The words rang out as crowds of youma stared in shock at Rei.  She was, of course, 
wearing her Sailor Senshi costume, but it no longer seemed to fit- she wished she could 
tear the damn thing off, rip it to shreds and toss it away, and wear something better 
designed for fighting. 
“Hello, Beryl.” The crowds of youma gasped. What gall- what nerve- what legs!
“Have you considered my offer of a contract?”
“Of course.” Queen Beryl gritted her teeth at the girl’s stoicism, but soldiered on.
“And do you accept it?”
“That depends.  The word ‘contract’ implies some sort of payment.”  Queen Beryl 
paused, frustrated.  Had the crystal truly done its work?  The opportunity to do evil 
should have tempted Mars into the contract by itself.
“Well, it’s given that there will be- some form of compensation-”
“Ah.  Do you have any- definite answers for me?”
“Well.  What do you desire as payment?” Sailor Mars thought about it for a moment, then 
a longer moment, then just sort of hemmed and hawed until Queen Beryl looked like her 
face would explode if she got any more steamed.
“I desire that I be left, in peace, at my temple when this is all done.” Beryl winced.
“And the Sailor Senshi-?”
“The same.  As well as Mamoru.” Queen Beryl frowned.
“I’m afraid that that is not possible.  Chiba Mamoru is gone.  Dead.  He no longer exists.”
“If you want me to work for you, you’ll have to be more truthful with me than that.”
“Who is this Mamoru- this Mamo-chan I keep hearing of?” Endymion appeared in the 
corner of the room. “Why did that- blond girl at the hot springs call me by these names?”
Rei turned to face the Queen and smiled. “I have heard that the power of memory can be 
very great.  One way or another, I will get Chiba Mamoru back.” She looked significantly 
at Endymion. “It’s your choice.”
Beryl growled. At last, though, she gave in. “The terms are accepted.” She lowered her 
head in defeat for a moment, then gestured at the prince with one hand. “See that she is 
clothed as befits a champion of the Dark Kingdom.”
“It shall be done,” he said.  Both of them bowed smoothly, and as Prince Endymion 
pulled his cloak about her, they disappeared.
Queen Beryl watched them melt away into the shadows, and then called out again. 
“Kunzite!” The disgruntled general stepped forward. “You are to continue on your 
mission- see if you can hurt the others.  But remember, Sailor Moon must be able to heal 
them.” She laughed as Kunzite’s silver eyes narrowed. “Yes Kunzite, Sailor Moon is still 
important to us.  Now go!”

“Usagi?” my mother called as I tried, unsuccesfully, to sneak into the house unobserved. 
“Have you been over at Ami’s house again?”
“Yes, mom,” I said, groaning internally as she stepped out of the kitchen holding a bowl 
of miso.
“Well, eat your food, and then you can have some dessert.  By the way, did you eat the 
bentoo I packed for you?”
“Yes,” I replied, and thought, and Lita’s too...
“Well, it’s good to know you’re eating healthily.”
“Yeah mom, whatever.” I grabbed the bowl of miso and settled down in front of the TV. 
“Ooh, Sailor V!” I turned up the volume.  Shingo looked up from his homework. 
“Jeez, Usagi, no wonder people call you odango-atama.  All you ever do is eat and watch 
TV!”
_AND fight evil by moonlight,_ I thought, and chuckled to myself. _I wonder why no one 
ever figures out who I am?_ At that moment, Luna sidled up to me, carrying my moon 
stick. “Usagi,” she muttered in a kind of kitty whisper, “you left this on the table at Ami’s 
house. Again.” I favored her with a deadly glance before grabbing it. _It's a wonder no 
one ever figures out who I am,_ I groaned internally.
“Oops!” I yelped, and Shingo gave me a wierd look. “I- left the water running in the 
kitchen!” I raced out of the room. “Luna!” I whispered, “don’t talk to me around people!”
“He couldn’t hear me!” Luna scoffed. “You’re the one who drew his attention.”
“Like even!” I turned away in a huff, chugged the rest of my miso and ran upstairs to my 
room.
"Usagi-chan," Luna said as I shut the door behind me, "You've got to figure out what 
you're going to do about Rei-chan.  After all, we can't work as an incomplete team, and 
we especially need Rei's skills in fire-reading and-"
"Hey Luna," I interrupted, annoyed, "How come we need Rei's skills and we can't work as 
an incomplete team, but I have to figure out what I'm going to do about Rei?"
"Because you are the leader, Usagi, whether you like it or not! It's about time you grew up 
and accepted that!  Just having a moon stick with which to blast youma does not make 
you leader!  Being Sailor Moon, and the Moon Princess, makes you the leader! And you 
are responsible for making decisions, and taking care of the other Senshi, and you will do 
it, because it is _your duty_!"
"I thought that since I was the Moon Princess, the other Senshi were supposed to protect 
_me_!"  I whined perversely.
Luna growled.
"Usagi-chan," she muttered, "if you don't get a move on on this Rei problem, then they 
will have to protect you _from me._"

The phone rang, and Ami yelled, "I'll get it!"
"Thanks, dear," her mother called from downstairs.
"Moshimoshi, Mizuno residence," she said, setting her homework down for a moment.
"Konban wa, Ami-chan," a familiar voice said from the other end.
"Rei-chan?!" Ami almost dropped the phone. "Is that you?"
"Hai. Um, Ami-chan- could we meet somewhere, to talk? I need to get a few things off 
my mind, and I think you might be the only one who'd listen."
"Um- sure, Rei-chan- where did you have in mind?"
"How about Juuban park? I know it's getting a little late, but I really want to talk to 
someone."
"Oh, sure, my mom won't mind.  Just let me go-"
"No! No, Ami-chan, please don't tell anyone- the other senshi might show up, and I could 
only handle talking to one person at a time. Please don't."
"Well- alright, I guess.  When?"
"How about now?"
"Okay...'
"Thanks, Ami-chan."
"Hey, no pr-" There was a loud click, and then a tone.
"No problem," Ami completed, and put down the phone, staring at it bemusedly.

"Go to Juuban Park," she told Kunzite, and turned away so that he couldn't see her face.  
Kunzite narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but complied.

Ami paced slowly in front of the park bench she had staked out, glancing at her watch 
before sighing and sitting down. "Rei-chan," she whispered, "where are you?
"Right here, Ami-chan," came a voice from behind her, and Ami jumped.
"Rei!" she gasped. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" She turned around, but Rei was 
suddenly sitting next to her on the bench instead. 
"Gomen nasai, Ami-chan," she said in a low voice. "I didn't mean to scare you." Ami 
gasped again; Rei was wearing, instead of her usual shrine outfit, a black skirt and purple 
shirt.
"Rei," Ami asked, beginning to feel a bit disconcerted, "What happened to your clothes?"
Rei looked blankly at her for a moment, then glanced down at her clothing and said, "I 
don't know. I guess my tastes changed. Ami-chan, may I borrow your communicator?"
"I- won't pretend to understand the way you're acting, Rei, because even I can only do so 
much circular logic, but- okay." She drew the calculator-sized communicator out of her 
bag and handed it to Rei.

"There's your cue!" Kunzite snapped. The two youma standing next to him rushed 
forward.

"What's going on?" Ami shouted as the two monsters attacked. "Rei- what're you doing?" 
There was no time for an answer, though- the youma were already upon them.
"Transform, Ami!" Rei yelled back, over the howl one of the monsters was emitting. 
"There's no other way! We've got to stop them!"
"Right!"
"Mercury Power- Make Up!" She summoned the shabon and surrounded herself with 
them- only once loosing them long enough to ripple away her street clothes and replace 
them with her costume.
The youma stood by and waited expectantly.
"How come we never attack them while they're transforming?" one of them, an oversized 
sunlamp, asked the other.
"Because," the other one, which just happened to be shaped like a horrific-looking 
Barbie™ doll, replied, "we've never seen them transform before."
"That's right," agreed the first, which then gawked appreciatively at the well-animated 
nude sequence of Mercury's morph scene.
“Besides,” the second one continued, “then we might stand a fighting chance against 
them, and we couldn’t have that, now could we?”
"Alright, sleazeball!" Sailor Mars called as soon as she was done. "You've illuminated 
your last salon!  I'm sending you where the sun don't shine!"
"Been there, done that," the lamp replied, staring nonchalantly at its nails. "Question 
being, Ms. Blue-Hair, how are you going to send me there?  You know what they say about girls with blue hair, but-"
Mercury turned bright red. "Shabon SPRAY!" The cloud of bubbles flew toward the two 
monsters- and then disintegrated in mid-air.
"Nice try, Sailor brat, but you're up against something far more powerful than yourself." 
Kunzite stepped out onto the path behind the youma. "As a matter of fact," he continued 
as the two drew closer, "I'd say that you're quite outnumbered this time."
Ami stopped for a moment and stared. Rei was standing behind the two monsters, next to 
Kunzite, and none of them was doing anything!
"Rei, do you want to tell me what's going on?" she asked at last, trying very hard to keep 
the panic rising within her under control.
"I think I'll show you instead," Rei said, her voice cold and hard. She gave Kunzite a 
warning glance, and he stood back.  Then Rei pulled out her transformation pen- and 
tossed it away.  "I don't need that anymore," she said offhand.
"Mars Shadow Power- Make Up!" A cloud of smoke began to swirl around Rei, faster 
and faster until she could hardly be seen as more than a whirl of maroon smoke and black 
hair. Suddenly, sparks of dark purple appeared in the cloud, and began whirling around in 
rings.
"Can you guess what's happened?" a disembodied voice seemed to whisper out of 
nowhere- Rei's voice.
Suddenly the cloud of smoke dissipated to reveal Sailor Mars- almost.  Instead of a white 
leotard, she wore a full dark purple bodysuit that covered everything, even her hands.  
Her skirt, bow, and heels were black, with dark red trim, and her torque, instead of gold 
with a red jewel, was red with a black jewel. 
But it wasn't her clothes that shocked Ami- it was the cold, unfeeling look in her eyes as 
she stepped forward.
"I am Shadow Sailor Mars," she said, her voice hollow, "and in the name of Mars, I will 
beat the crap out of you."
The four began to laugh, and Ami shrank back against the bench, praying that someone 
would come help her- soon.

End of Part 2

ˆ
Kunzite, and none of them was doing anything!
"Rei, do you want to tell me what's going on?" she asked at last, trying very hard to keep 
the panic rising within her under control.
"I think I'll show you instead," Rei said, her voice cold and hard. She gave Kunzite a 
warning glance, and he stood ba€
EIQDan Kingsbury
Dan Kingsbury--------------79FE2E751581
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