Upon reaching his apartment, Damien promptly invited everyone
over for a quick get-together and a better introduction of every-
one to everyone else. When they all eventually came in, Damien
started off with a bang. "To paraphrase from a movie which I
shall not mention, we all are one. Confused? Not for long; all
of the Star Guardians have been found, and now it is time for them
to be united...reunited...whatever the case may be, with their sig-
nificant others. The people who don't need this, of course, are
Darien and Serena, and Amy and myself. The others sort of know
about their ultimate pairings, but, for one reason or another
haven't really done much of anything to jump-start their relation-
ship! So," he said in an elaborate drawl, complete with a spin
just for kicks, "I am playing the role of 'The Matchmaker!'"
"What gives you the right of playing matchmaker," Raye
questioned. "Why are you so special? Maybe we haven't done any-
thing because either we don't know them, or, at least in my case,
don't like them." This was said directly at Nakorru, concluded
with a look to drive daggers into his heart. This didn't faze
Nakorru though; as a matter of fact, he found it rather erotic.
"Well, Miss Shinto priestess, miss high-and-mighty, miss I-can't-
forget-the-past-because-I'm-a-wicked-little-troll Raye Hino," he
began, "Maybe if you would take off those tight clothes, some
oxygen might seep into your brain and realize that was an ado-
lescent mistake! A mistake that, if I had to do it all over
again, would probably never happen! And, as far as Mr. Matchmaker
is concerned," he said, directing his attention to Damien, "Butt out!"
"But...but..." Damien began to blather out, "I was just try-
ing to help..." Nakorru looked at him and said, "Well, you're
not! The only thing you're doing is making matters worse! It's
bad enough that I can't stand Raye, but the last thing I need is
for you to put your nose in affairs that it doesn't belong in!"
When Damien caught wind of this, he retreated to a nearby corner
in the wall and began to grin slightly. Then, almost unexplain-
ably, he began to bawl…very loudly. King Mercury went over to him
and said, "What seems to be the problem, Damien?"
"No one trusts me!" he whined. "How am I supposed to be this
great leader if I can't even get my friends to trust me? I'm a
failure!" King Mercury looked around nervously and said, "Well, I
would not exactly say that..."
"I would!" Nakorru chimed in. "As a matter of fact, I'd go
as far to say that he sucks!" Now, it was Donovan's turn to be
defensive. "Who the hell are you to say that someone sucks! You
just dogged out this girl for no apparent reason! If you ask me-"
"No one asked you," Raye countered. Damien continued to cry
over in the corner, now being comforted by Amy as well. "Come on,
Damien," she sympathetically said, "It's not that bad." Then he
looked up at Amy and , surprisingly, there wasn't a tear to be
found. It was all an act. No one else picked up on it, though.
"Yes, it is," he said, continuing his charade, "I've even got them
arguing amongst themselves..." He once again turned his attention
to Amy and winked at her. She got the hint and stood up to face
the others. Needless to say, it was a comical scene. Donovan now
had Nakorru in a headlock, with Raye and Lita both trying to pry
him off. Serena and Mina were pulling on Nakorru in an attempt to
help out Raye and Lita, while Darien was standing off to the side
with Andrew, both being forgotten for the moment.
"Stop it! All of you!" Amy screamed. The group all stopped
in position, looking eerily like a disfigured period painting.
"Look at you! Damien's trying to do a good thing, and all you're
doing is arguing amongst yourselves! Now, seeing that there are
some new ones among the bunch, I think we all need to settle down
and have a round-robin introduction of sorts. Do I have any ob-
jections?" Everyone shook their heads, and Amy continued, "Fur-
thermore, I think Raye and Nakorru owe Damien an apology." Don-
ovan dropped Nakorru's head to the carpet, then both Raye and Na-
korru muttered, "Sorry." Damien stopped crying, jumped up, and
said, "That's better! Now, beginning from this side of the room-"
"What?" Raye screamed, followed by Nakorru's "You were fak-
ing?" Damien nodded and said, "Yep! Rather convincing, don't you
think?" Then, in a mock awards speech, he said, "I would like to
thank the little people who helped me with this. Thanks, Amy."
Amy shot a cold glance at him and said, "'Little people,' huh?"
As she started to advance on Damien, he quickly sputtered out, "It
was a joke, baby! You know, a joke; a funny; a ha-ha! Wait a
minute! PUT ME DOWN!" By this time, Amy had surprisingly picked
him up and began carrying him around like a rag doll. "Hey! Quit
it!" Damien continued to scream before whispering in her ear,
"Save this for later." Amy blushed, then dropped him to the
ground with a thud. "Owww..." he bemoaned. Everyone began to
laugh, and finally things began to relax.
"Now, for my next magic trick-" he got no further, for he was
interrupted by the phone. "'Scuse me," he timidly said, "That
must be Sports Illustrated." He walked over to the phone and
answered with a robust, "Hello?"
"You're a hard man to catch up with, man," the man said on
the other end. Damien looked at the receiver strangely before
asking, "How'd you get this number?"
"You'd be surprised to find out what people will go through
just to get in touch with you."
"All you had to do was call the 411. I'm quite sure they
would've told you how to get in touch with me. See, the problem
is, you wasn't even tryin'! It ain't my fault!"
"Yes, that's true, but the Internet was quicker." Damien lo-
wered the phone from his ear, gave the group a mundane look, put
the phone back up to his ear, and said, "Hi, dad."
"Hello, son. It's nice to see you still have your sense of
humor." Damien grinned before saying, "Where was it gonna go?
Don't nobody else want it."
"'Don't nobody else want it'? Boy, I didn't spend all of
that money for you to go to Alabama and start acting all country."
Damien laughed, adopted a southern drawl, and said, "Well, us
southerners don't do much all day but spit tobacco and drink
moonshine. That's the way y'all Hollywood types portray us on
TV." During all of this, he motioned Amy over to the phone.
After his father stopped laughing, he regained his own voice and
said, "Dad, there's someone I'd like for you to meet. Franklin
Gordon, this is Amy Anderson. Amy Anderson, this is Franklin
Gordon. Father, meet girlfriend, and vice versa."
"Amy Anderson?" his father asked. "Is she-" Damien stopped
him short and said, "Mixed. Here. Ask her yourself." Amy
cradled the phone and stuttered, "Hello?" She was worried that
she would make a bad first impression. But, Damien's father put
that to rest immediately. "Hello, Amy," he answered.
"Hi, Mr. Gordon. How are you?"
"I'm fine. Amy, you don't have to be so proper around me. I
won't bite." After Amy began to laugh and loosen up a bit, made
even easier with Damien snuggling up behind her, he asked, "So,
what are you mixed with?" Amy thought about it before answering,
"American and Japanese." Mr. Gordon was silent before saying,
"You never answered my earlier question, Amy." Amy looked confused
and asked, "What earlier question?"
"Watashi densu ga?" Amy froze for a moment before mouthing,
"You know Japanese?" Mr. Gordon seemed to read her mind and said,
"Yes, I know Japanese. When my company started dealing with To-
kyo, I had to learn it in order to continue my business deals.
Didn't Damien tell you that he went to Japan with me during one of
my business transactions?" Amy looked up at Damien, then an-
swered, "Yes. Something bad happened after that, so I pushed it
out of my mind."
"What happened? Did you two get into an argument?" Amy
blushed and said, "Something like that. Anyway," she smiled,
looking up at Damien, "Let me let you talk to your son some more.
It was a pleasure talking to you, Mr. Gordon."
"Likewise, Amy." Amy said goodbye, then handed the phone to
Damien. He took the phone and mockingly demanded, "What did you
say to her? You can't have her!" Mr. Gordon laughed momentarily
before turning very serious. "What's this nonsense I hear about
you missing practice, Damien?" Damien rolled his eyes to the
heavens. "I knew it was coming," he thought. "Well," he answered
aloud, "Something came up, and I ended up missing practice. Trust
me, dad; it won't happen again."
"It better not," he deadpanned. "If your dream is to play
football, then you play football. The only thing that should get
in the way of that is your grades. Now, who do you guys play next?"
"We're at Missouri." Mr. Gordon said, "I'm going to try to
make it to that game, okay?" Damien groaned and said, "Don't try
anything ridiculous, dad. You have to take care of Andrea, not to
mention help me with my rent." Damien pictured his father's blood
pressure going through the roof when he said this. "You used up
your inheritance already?"
"It's a joke, dad!" When his father didn't laugh, Damien
added, "You know; I happen to do this sometimes. It helps ease
tensions." Mr. Gordon sighed and said, "I know, son. I just want
you to be taken care of." Damien looked up at the heavens, wiped
a tear from his eye that suddenly jumped out there, and said,
"Don't worry, dad; I've got you and Amy. I'll be all right from
there." Sensing that everyone wanted to get this over with, he
wrapped up quickly. "I've gotta run, dad; but, I'll talk to you
later. Smack Andrea on the head for me, and don't forget to root
for me. You know you're my number one fan!"
"I love you, Damien."
"I love you too, dad." They exchanged good-byes, and Damien
hung up the phone. He walked over to the others and said, "Sorry
about that. It's not everyday I get to talk to my dad. Of
course," he added, sensing something was wrong with the picture
painted by the expressions on Raye, Lita, and Mina's face, "I just
could be lucky." Damien swallowed hard, feeling as if someone had
just stepped on his mother's grave. He cleared his throat, gave a
nervous laugh and stammered, "Ladies first. This is particularly
for the new guys, but it wouldn't hurt matters nonetheless."
"Okay; I'll go first!" Serena yelped. "I'm Serena Tsukino,
um...I'm 19 years old, I'm originally from the Azabu Juuban area of
Tokyo, Japan, and I'm Sailor Moon." Amy picked up afterwards.
"I'm Amy Anderson," she said. "I'm 19 as well, I'm from the Azabu
Juuban area in Tokyo, just like Serena, and I'm Sailor Mercury."
Raye continued on the trend, saying, "I'm Raye Hino, I'm 19, I'm a
Shinto priestess from the Azabu Juuban area in Tokyo, and I'm
Sailor Mars." Lita shrugged and said, "I'm Lita Jamison, I'm from
the Azabu Juuban area of Tokyo, I'm 19, and I'm Sailor Jupiter."
Mina smiled and rounded up the group saying, "I'm Mina St. Croix,
I'm originally from London, but I came from Tokyo, and I'm Sailor
Venus." Amy turned to Damien and said, "Now, it's the guy's turn."
Damien cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and belted
out, "I'm Damien Gordon, I'm 19 years old, I'm from San Diego, CA,
and I am Prince Damien; Defender of the Planet Mercury!" He
released that breath in one strong rush and said, "Thank God; I
really needed that." He turned to Darien and said, "Your turn,
pretty boy. The rest of the guys don't know you yet, and, even
though I don't think they're too hurt about that, it's still
helpful for them." Darien stood up and said, "I'm Darien Shields.
I'm 23 years old-"
"Damn! You rockin' the cradle, huh, Darien?" Damien blurted
out. Unfazed, Darien continued, "I'm from the Azabu Juuban area
along with the girls, and I'm Prince Darien/Tuxedo Mask." Damien
looked at him and joked, "Tuxedo Mask? What's that supposed to
be; a Frank Sinatra rip-off?" Darien frowned at him and said,
"No. As a matter of fact, I was quite the popular figure back
home." Damien smirked and said, "Whatever, man. Okay! Who's
next?" Nakorru stood up and said, "I'll go." Damien gave him a
worried look and said, "Good luck, man." He then proceeded to hum
the Funeral March.
"I'm Kodanna Nakorru. I'm 21 years old, I'm from the Furin-
ken area of Tokyo, um...I knew the girls back home..." he felt the
room begin to collapse over him, and he really felt it when he
said, "And, I'm the Defender of the Planet Mars." Raye shot up
and said, "NO, YOU'RE NOT! You're just a figurehead for the
kingdom! No one really cared about you, and no one cares about
you now!" Nakorru smirked and said, "Go on then, with your sexy
self." Damien cringed and cried, "Shut up! You ain't gettin'
killed in my apartment! I don't feel like cleaning up the mess!"
Andrew cleared his throat and said, "I think I'll go next." Lita
looked at him and said, "Don't say anything stupid."
"I'm Andrew Smith, I'm from Washington, D.C., I'm 18 years
old, which makes me the youngest. I'm Prince Andrew. Nice to
meet you." He then took his seat by Lita and said, "I didn't
screw up, now did I?" Lita blushed and said, "No. I wasn't
worried for a minute." Meanwhile, Donovan was left alone for the
moment. He sat there in the corner, not wanting to believe what
he had seen and what he was hearing. "Maybe this isn't that bad
after all," he thought. Damien saw his best friend sitting there
confused and said, "Don't worry, Donny. It'll be over before you
know it." Armed with that knowledge, Donovan stood up and faced
an anxious group.
"Hi," he muttered. "I'm Donovan Crawford-"
"Louder," Damien interrupted. "Can't nobody hear you."
Donovan scowled at Damien and flatly said, "Hi. I'm Donovan Crawford-"
"I don't know why you tryin' to be cute. It ain't happenin'.
Don't make me come over there and open your mouth for you!" Don-
ovan's eyes bulged out of his head and he yelled, "Do you mind!
I'm new to this!" Damien smiled and Donovan blushed furiously; he
had just got his "punk" card pulled again. "I'm Donovan Crawford,
I'm 20 years old, I'm from Salt Lake City, Utah, and…I guess I'm
Prince Donovan, Defender of the Planet Venus." He then turned to
Damien and yelled, "There! You happy now?"
"Very," he smiled. "Now, since everyone knows everyone else,
how's about we order a pizza? Darien's treat, of course."
"I don't have any money! Why would it be my treat?" Damien
looked at him and said, "You got a job, don't you?" When Darien
was silent, Damien exploded, "You ain't got no damn job? You got
these girls over here on a wing and a prayer, and here they are,
looking like they about to get evicted outta their apartments?
What the hell kind of man is you?" Before Darien could answer,
Damien said, "Never mind. I'll order the pizzas. I'll be back;
come here, Amy." He walked to the back with Amy well in tow.
They walked into his bedroom and closed the door behind them,
making sure that no one would follow them.
"I think that went rather well; what about you?" he asked.
Amy smirked and said, "You're not done yet, Damien. You've still
got to get them to like each other; and with the way Raye and Na-
korru are acting around each other, that's not going to be an easy
task." Damien shrugged and said, "I know. I'm not too worried
about those two, though. I don't care too much for Nakorru any-
way. I'm more concerned about Mr. Crawford and Ms. St. Croix.
Everyone else knows their significant others; they're just meeting
today." Amy looked at him and said, "Well, that's true, but at
least no one got hurt in the process of your finding him." Damien
was silent for a moment before smiling and saying, "You're right!
Everyone came back practically unscathed...egos not included."
"Your ego doesn't count, Damien." Damien frowned up and said,
"Why not?"
"Because, I'm here to make sure it gets revitalized." Da-
mien's eyes got big with amazement and said, "Whoo-hooo, girl!
You know you a wild one!" He pulled her over to him and got a
quick, but passionate, kiss from her before he had to make himself
order the pizzas. "Get outta here and tell everyone I'm ordering
the dinner." As Amy left, Damien sighed and commented, "I'm gonna
get into so much trouble with that girl."
* * * * *
Malachite was still furious about his conversation with Kun-
zite. He was especially upset with Kunzite's last words:
"I have made empires crumble before me. You are no exception
to the rule."
"That preposterous buffoon," Malachite muttered. "He has no
idea who he is dealing with. If it were not for me, he would not
have had the capabilities he has now." His mind began to wander
to the time during the unrest of the Earth Kingdom, and how he had
come face to face with the young solider known as Kunzite.
King Endymion was in shambles. The Earth Kingdom was going
through a drastic decline. An unexpected famine ran throughout
the countryside and much of the planet, leaving waste and death in
its wake. The Royal Court was clueless in its cause or in a cure,
making many people wish for better rule. All of this occurred
indirectly with the beginnings of the NegaVerse tainting, or the
process in which the strongest of Earth's warriors were selected
to join the NegaVerse. Kunzite and Malachite had served in battle
many times, each one saving the other's life at some point in the
battle. When Malachite passed the training, he immediately sug-
gested Kunzite to join the ranks with him. However, Kunzite
didn't have the special ability that crowned most of the NegaVerse
elite. Malachite changed all of that.
"With this," he said to Kunzite, "You will be a member of the
NegaVerse. It might hurt a little bit, but that will mean nothing
in comparison to what we will do to the people of Earth for be-
traying us." Malachite administered a serum to grant him the
ability to change his own molecular form into that of anyone, and
anything, he wanted. The powers were of a great advantage, but
side effects were horrible. A gross miscalculation transformed
the once handsome Kunzite into a grotesque caricature of his
former self. That's what made them have to go into exile, and
that's what made Zoicite leave him. Malachite had apologized to
him numerous times, but his apologies fell on deaf ears. Kunzite
wanted revenge, and now, it looked as if he would finally get it.
"You are no exception to the rule..."
* * * * *
"Pizza's here!" Damien brought the bounty out to the others
so they could partake in a wonderfully cheap after-meeting meal.
"You owe me," Damien said to Darien as the festivities began.
When he noticed how timid everyone was acting, he stood up and
said, "Look here. Y'all ain't got no need to be scared. I don't
know why y'all actin' all shy and stuff; knowin' good and well
that if y'all was at home, half of this pizza would be gone al-
ready! EAT! It ain't like we ain't never seen no females eat before!"
"I'm on a diet," Serena commented. Damien looked at her and
said, "The hell you are! Don't lie to me! I done heard about
you! You's a vacuum cleaner when it comes to food." Everyone got
a good laugh out of that, and they began to eat heartily. While
they were eating, King Mercury pulled Damien aside for a little talk.
"How is your father doing?" he asked. Damien answered, "All
right, I guess. He seemed to like Amy an awful lot." The next
question out of King Mercury's mouth caught him completely off guard.
"Why did you not tell him you were a Star Guardian?" Damien
was aghast that King Mercury even let that question come out of
his mouth. "What I'm gonna tell him that for? That ain't none of
his business, not to mention the fact that he'd have a heart
attack if I told him. Besides, he taught me not to let anything
come between me and my dreams. My dream is to play professional
football, and my being a Star Guardian is not going to get in
the way!" He was getting angry now, raising his voice appropriately.
King Mercury shook his head and said, "Your playing football will
only get in the way. I was going to allow you to continue your
athletic dreams and be a Star Guardian, but after the Veena fi-
asco, I realized there was no other way. You must forgo football
and embrace the Star Guardians full-time." Damien began to go
into convulsions; he had finally heard enough.
While the others were eating pizza to their heart's content,
Raye grew quiet very quickly. Fortunately, someone caught on to
this. Unfortunately, that someone was Nakorru. "Hey," he called
out. When he didn't get a response, he said, "Hey, fire princess,
what's the deal?" Raye shot a cold glance at him and then turned
to Amy and said, "I think you might want to check on Damien." Amy
sat there with a mouth full of pizza and sputtered, "Why? What's
wrong?"
"I think he's about to get very angry." Donovan looked at
her and said, "What do you mean…Raye? Is that it?" Raye nodded
her head in approval and Donovan continued, "What do you mean
'very angry'? The only thing I can think of that would make Da-
mien very angry would be…" He exchanged worried glances with Amy
and Raye and they all said in unison, "Football!"
"How dare you tell me that I can't play football anymore?!
My dream of playing professional football will be revealed, with
or without your support! Ya got that?!"
"Damien, I am sorry, but football will only end in your down-
fall. You must give up this foolish pipe dream and get down to
business. You are a Star Guardian; as a matter of fact, you are
the leader of the Star Guardians, and it is your job-no, your
right-to ensure that the others are properly trained in the arts
of the Guardian Rites."
"So, what? Am I supposed to quit school, too? Evidently
that's gonna get in the way of things, too. I've played football
all my life, and all of a sudden, I meet you and you tell me that
I can't do it anymore? Sorry; not happening." Damien began to
glow with a blue aura, and King Mercury feared the worst. Still,
he persisted in his goal. "Damien, I would never tell you any-
thing wrong, so I am asking you to trust me."
"Trust you?? TRUST YOU?? Ever since I first met you,you've
been nothing but trouble! And you have the audacity to ask me to
TRUST YOU?!?"
"Damien, this is for your own good. You must believe me!"
Damien tried to blink back the tears that developed during this
spiel, but they came out full force after that. "The only person
I'll ever believe outside of Amy is my father, and THAT AIN'T YOU!!!"
"Damien, I-"
"GO TO HELL!" This echoed throughout the apartment, and got
the usual response. Amy peeked her head around the corner to see
Damien in full battle aura, prepared to attack King Mercury. Raye
also ducked her head in and cried out, "Damien, stop it! I'm
sensing a lot of evil from your chi!" But it was too late; Da-
mien's eyes had taken on a berserker glow, and he was purely an-
gry. Even Amy's constant cries went unnoticed. Surprisingly, it
took Donovan to knock some sense back into his friend. "Hey, stu-
pid!" he yelled, "Snap out of it!" When that didn't work, he
turned to the most underhanded thing he could have ever thought
of: "You stupid, dumb, ignorant, arrogant, sweaty, worthless,
JOCK!" In a matter of seconds, the aura dissipated, and he
turned his attention to Donovan, who was staring at him intently.
"Who you callin' a jock?!" This was more a comedic reply
than an angry one, for he had suddenly lost his berserker rage,
and he was scrambling to find some sort of a mock-up of it. "Boy,
don't you know I am UAB's finest? Don't you know I have led this
school to glory many a Saturday afternoon? Don't you know I have
resuscitated many a collegiate athletic career, yours included?
Don't you know I have charmed the socks off of many a student body
not only with my athletic ability, but with my voice, too? You
better recognize! Besides," he added, "You, of all people,
shouldn't call anybody a jock...ya punk!"
"Punk?! Who you callin' a punk?!" Damien marched right up
to him and answered, "You, ya punk! What's wrong? You so much of
a punk that you don't realize when you're being called one?" He
then shook his head and smiled, "Damn, that's bad. You suck!"
Donovan growled at him; he had finally heard enough. "I may be a
lot of things, but I ain't no punk!!" Damien shrugged and said,
"If you insist." He then picked him up and playfully, but force-
fully, threw him into the living room; right in front of a dazed
Mina. Mina had been at wit's end trying to make some sense out of
the situation at hand. On the one hand, here was Donovan Craw-
ford, someone who claimed to be the prince of the planet Venus.
On the other hand, there was Kodanna Nakorru, another claim that
was established through sheer fate. One was a new conquest; the
other was old news. She had suddenly found herself having feel-
ings for both.
That was not a good position for her to be in right now.
"Serena," she called out, "I need to talk to you for a min-
ute." Serena looked up and asked, "Why? What's up?" Mina stole
a quick glance at Donovan, who by this time had gotten up and be-
gan his approach on Damien, and said, "I think you know why."
Serena turned to Darien and said, "Excuse me for a moment, Dar-
ien." She got up and stepped into a corner with Mina. "What's
the problem, Mina?"
"Well," she fidgeted, "You remember when I was having my pro-
blems with Nakorru, and I was worried about what might happen to
me?" Serena nodded, urging her to continue. "Well, those feel-
ings came back. Not to mention the fact that I feel something for
Donovan." Serena looked at Mina for a moment and asked, "Do you
know which one you want to be with?" Mina shook her head and
said, "No! I like Donovan; he seems like a sweet guy and all, but
I still have that connection with Nakorru from long ago. I just
don't know what to do, Serena!"
"Would it be all right with you if I asked Damien about it?"
Mina nodded her head and said, "Sure; whatever you think is best."
Serena nodded and walked over to Damien, who was still chastising
a bemused Donovan. "Um, Damien?"
Damien turned to Serena, still holding his fist high above
Donovan's head, and responded, "What's up, meatball head?" Serena
frowned, trying to contain the sudden urge to kick him in the
throat, and said, "I need to talk to you for a moment...in private."
"Sure thing, Princess Serena. Just give me a second." He
paused long enough to drop an elbow on Donovan's back, and asked,
"All right; the patio good for you?" Serena nodded in approval
and they walked out to the patio.
"Okay, Serena," he said as he closed the patio door behind
them, "What's with all the secrecy? Who died?" Serena hung her
head low and said, "Something's wrong with Mina."
"What? Is she sick?" Serena shook her head and responded,
"If only it were that easy. She seems to be confused over the
whole thing between her and Donovan." Damien looked out at the
Birmingham skyline, which by this time had developed the aura of
the setting sun, and asked, "Does she like him?" Serena walked
over to him and said, "She likes him a lot, but that's not the
problem." Damien looked down at her, turned to sit on the ledge,
and said, "Let me guess: She likes Donovan, but she still has
feelings for Nakorru. She doesn't want to go completely to Don-
ovan because she still has an emotional pact with Nakorru. On the
other hand, she doesn't want to go to Nakorru not only because of
Destiny, but also because of the fact that this is the same Na-
korru that hurt her back in Tokyo. Am I right?" Serena nodded
her head, then looked up at him and giggled. "No wonder Amy likes
you."
Damien looked crossly at her and asked, "What?" Serena
smiled and responded, "I believe even if you weren't her prince
from long ago, you two still would have made a cute couple. Both
of you are amazingly smart, and both of you can figure out things
at the drop of a hat. I wish I could do that." Damien hopped
down from his perch, put his hands on her shoulder, and said,
"Don't you worry, Serena. You're a brilliant person, and you'll
get your turn when you reclaim the throne. Trust me; I believe in
you, and so does everyone else. Now, send Mina out here, please."
Serena nodded and stepped back inside. Moments later, Mina step-
ped outside, a furrowed look on her face. "What seems to be the
problem, Damien?"
"Well, it appears to me that you have a conflict of interests
between Donovan and Nakorru; is that right?" Mina nodded her head
and Damien continued. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember
specifically asking you if you could function around this guy, and
you said you could. Now, you're telling me that you can't?" Mina
shook her head and cried, "It's not my fault! Damien, you have no
idea how many nights I cried about this problem back in Tokyo! I
cared about Nakorru very much, and he cared about me, but we moved
too fast, and we fell apart! Now," she paused to wipe a tear from
her eye, "If that's my fault, then I accept the blame. However,
I'm not the one at fault! Nakorru is!"
"Mina, not to get on your bad side, but it's not his fault.
Now, to get back on your good side, it's not your fault, either.
Now, to put a monkey wrench in the whole plan, both of you are to
blame. No one put a gun to your head and told you to do what you
did. By the same token, no one held a knife to his back and made
him do what he did. You can't just sit here and put the blame
squarely on one person. You're both adults; it's time to put this
problem behind you, where it belongs, and move on with your life.
Maybe you two need to talk about this; maybe if you both get your
problems out in the open, then you'll come up with a solution.
Otherwise, this is going to bother the both of you to no end, and
when it comes time for us to go against the NegaVerse, you're both
gonna end up getting yourselves killed, not to mention putting the
rest of us in grave danger!"
"Damien," Mina cried, "I wish it were that easy! If I could
stand to be close enough to him so I could talk to him, then we
wouldn't be having this conversation! But, the fact of the matter
is that I can't bear to be in the same room with him in a crowd,
much less one on one. I don't know what to do anymore!" The
tears began to flow as her sobs made Damien think about the harsh-
ness of his words. "Look, Mina," he said, almost so softly that
she couldn't hear him, "If it's that bad for you, then I'll be present
when these talks actually happen. Would that make you feel better?"
Mina nodded her head, and Damien smiled.
"There," he said. "That's better. Now, stop crying and go
in there and have some fun! That's an order!" As she turned to
leave, she suddenly read his mind and said, "Don't worry, I'll
tell Serena, and I'll tell Amy to come out here." She turned to
face Damien, only to find him looking stunned. She read his mind
once again and answered, "Consider it a natural gift. A sort of
Sixth Sense, if you will."
"Consider it considered!" A few moments later, Amy stepped
out on the patio, and before she could get a word out edgewise,
Damien swept her in his arms and kissed her passionately, the
setting sun in the background making it picture perfect.
* * * * *
At the Gordon residence in San Diego, 13 year old Andrea Gor-
don was busily flipping the channels on the TV in some strange
hope of finding something interesting to watch. When she went
through the rotation about six times, each time ending more in-
effective than the last, she ended up reaching for her favorite
VCR tape. She popped it in, plopped on the sofa, and called out,
"Dad! Game's on!" Franklin Gordon entered the living room, fresh
from an important business call and asked, "Which game?" She
turned to him and answered, "My favorite! UAB vs. Texas A&M!"
"Ah, the Alamo Bowl. Your brother would be proud." He
paused for a moment before walking up to her and smacking her in
the back of the head. This didn't go well with his young dau-
ghter. "What'd you hit me for?"
"Damien told me to." Andrea looked sullenly at the screen
for a moment before grabbing a pillow off the sofa and throwing it
at her father, accentuating it by adding, "And since when did you
ever listen to Damien?" Mr. Gordon laughed and said, "I'm going
to sleep now. Don't stay up too long." Andrea nodded, and then
assumed the task of ignoring the world around her while she
watched her big brother play. Mr. Gordon smiled and walked to his
bedroom to try and catch some sleep before work the next morning.
However, he wasn't expecting to have a visitor waiting in his
bedroom waiting for him. "Good evening, Mr. Gordon," he said.
"Who are you," Mr. Gordon demanded. The stranger looked at
him with a little bit of sorrow in his eyes and said, "That is
irrelevant, Mr. Gordon. Unfortunately, I do not come in peace.
For the sake of the universe, you must die." This came as a com-
plete shock to Mr. Gordon. "What does the sanctity of the uni-
verse have to do with my dying?"
"The Chosen One has to appear, and in order for that to ha-
ppen, you must die. I can not explain it completely, all I can
say is this: the battle for the universe is at hand, and if you
are still alive, everything we know and love will come to an end.
You must believe me, Mr. Gordon." Tears began to stream from
Franklin Gordon's eyes as he took all of this in. If he survived,
then the world would come to an end. If he didn't, his family
would continue on. Finally, he gave his answer: "Very well. But,
you must do me a couple of favors." The stranger nodded and an-
swered, "Agreed." Mr. Gordon sighed and said, "Favor number one:
you must make sure my son is well taken care of. If anything ha-
ppens to him, I will come back to get you." The stranger
nodded and said, "Very well. And the second?"
"Make sure my daughter doesn't hear it."
"You daughter will not hear a thing." The stranger then put
his hand to Mr. Gordon's chest, and blasted him with a silent
thrust of energy. Mr. Gordon's eyes rolled in the back of his
head, and he collapsed to the bed, devoid of life. Then, as
quickly as he appeared, the stranger disappeared into the night.
* * * * *
The next morning, Andrea woke up to the sound of her alarm
clock blaring in her ear. "I'm gonna get him for buying me this
cheesy UAB fight song alarm clock," she muttered. Then, she
noticed that no one was cooking breakfast. Her dad always made
breakfast in the morning. Come to think of it, her dad woke her
up well before Damien's thoughtful, yet annoying, birthday
present went off.
Something just had to be wrong.
"Dad," she called out through the house, making sure that he
didn't accidentally have company over that night, "Where are you?
Come on, dad! This isn't funny!" She walked into the bedroom and
saw her father lying awkwardly on the bed, still wearing the
clothes he had on the night before. Her mind instantly feared the
worst, accentuated by how still his chest was. It was almost as if
he wasn't...
* * * * *
At 10:00 that Saturday morning, Damien was awakened by the
weirdest of things: his telephone. He groggily walked into the
living room, picked up the phone, and belched out an unimpressive,
"Hello?" The voice on the end brought him out of his daze and
back into reality. "Andrea?" he muttered. "Girl, don't you know
what time it is?"
"Damien," she cried, "Something's wrong." Damien wandered
over to the sofa and asked, "What do you mean, 'something's
wrong'? Could you clarify that one a little better, please?" The
next words would change his life forever: "It's about Dad." Amy
came wandering out of the bedroom just in time to hear Damien say,
"I'll get there as soon as I can, Andrea. Let everyone know I'm
coming home." He hung up the phone and walked out onto the patio.
Amy followed him outside and asked, "Damien, what's wrong?" When
Damien didn't answer, she repeated herself, this time more fierce-
ly than before. It was then that Damien turned to look at her.
Tears filled his eyes, tears that were sorrowful and sincere. His
voice choked, his body was racked with sobs and his eyes were full
of unshed tears. Amy held him close and softly asked, "Damien,
what's the matter?"
"That was my sister on the phone," he sadly answered.
"What's wrong at home," Amy asked.
"My father died last night."
Sailor Moon: Legend of the Silver Star copyright 1997 Joseph Keith Seltzer and 2-Hype Productions. All rights reserved.
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