Sorry this one took so long, but I had to fit a lot in there...Okay,
on
with the rules, as they were.

1. All Sailor Moon characters belong to some Jap Anime company.

2. The rest belong to me.

3. All mail can be sent to wrengrif@udel.edu

4. And finally, This is PG13. Some graphic violence going on.

And now, we continue our story....

Chapter 8: Scenes in a Shopping Mall
************************************
Let The Games Begin
*******************
Jedaite frowned as the girls split up into two groups, one heading to
the lower levels of the mall, the other group heading off to the third
floor "Well Zoeisite...looks like we're going to have to do a little
divide and conquer..." he said dryly, turning to the woman beside him,
adding, "I'll take Moon and Mask...you take the four scouts."

Zoeisite nodded her head, and turned to go. She suddenly stopped, and
spun around to glare at Jedaite, and said, "Why do I get the four
scouts, while all you get is Mask and Moon?"

Jedaite sighed, "One, you're more comfortable with the four scouts
moves
than I am, you'd be better handling them. Two, _I_may hate the Scouts,
Moon and Tux...but I'm not as personally involved with it. I won't
haul
off and try to blast them the second I see them. Unlike some people I
could mention..." he went on, pointedly ignoring Zoeisite's angry
snarl,
"And finally...because Erkyte put me in charge of this part of the
operation, and I say so."

Zoeisite glared at Jedaite, but it didn't faze him. He looked back at
her cooly, his eyes like hard amethsyts. Realising she wasn't going to
win this staring contest, Zoeisite sighed, broke off her stare, and
went
running off after the four girls. 'It won't do me any good to fight
him...' she thought angrily, 'But I HATE being told what to do by
someone younger that me!'

Jedaite watched as Zoeisite stalked off, and kept a small private grin
to himself. He turned on his heel, and walked off after the other
group.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Serena was looking through a rack of formal dresses, and keeping up a
continual stream of conversation with Cissa and Molly. She babbled
along
happily, "Wow, these dressses are sooo gorgeous! I wish I could wear
them all! I can't believe I'm going to a fancy dress ball...it is
going
to be sooo great!!! All those beautiful women, all dressed up...and
all
those gorgeous guys in tuxs...not like I'll be looking at them. I'll
have no eyes for anyone but Darien..." a slight pause for a deep sigh
and a happy look.

Cissa looked over at Molly, and they both rolled their eyes, grinning.
Serena took a deep breath, and continued, "Well, it will be totally
fab...having a date as gorgeous as Darien...Oh wow, who are you guys
going to bring?"

Molly and Cissa said in almost in unison, "Going stag..." Serena
looked
at both of them, surprised.

"But you two HAVE to have dates!! Molly, you could bring Mel...oh
wait,
you two broke up.." she finished, blushing. Molly gave Serena a wry
smile.

"It's okay, Serena...remember, I was happy? I don't mind going
stag...It
means I can flirt with all the cute millionaires!" Molly said, winking
as she pulled out a deep blue green gown from a rack. She asked, "What
do you guys think?"

Serena nodded approvingly, "It's great Mol! Why don't you go and try
it
on?" Cissa grinned her assent, and Molly ran off to the dressing room
to try it on. Serena turned to Cissa and asked, "What about you?"

Cissa shrugged, saying, "I don't know many guys around here...besides
Darien and Andrew." She grinned, as she went through dresses, saying,
"I
doubt you or Rita would approve if I asked them..."

Serena grinned, saying sarcastically, "Ahhhhh, NO. Let me think about
this again...NO...Let me think about this another ti--Oh Wow!!" She
yelped happily as she pulled out a light grey gown, almost silverish.
Cissa looked at it skeptically.

"It's not really your color...", Cissa said with artistic authority.

Serena gave her an incredulous look, and said, "OF course it isn't! I
picked it out for you, it will go great with your eyes!" She held the
dress up to an now even more dubious Cissa. Serena sighed, and added,
"Just try it on, and trust me?" Cissa sighed, grabbed the gown, and
headed for the dressing room.

Serena grinned, then she went back to looking. Not paying attention,
she
accidently tripped off the edge of one of racks. She fell down, face
first. Groaning, she pushed herself up onto her elbows, and looked
up...to the most perfect gown in the world. It was beautiful, white
and
fluffy. In fact...it reminded her alot of her Moon Princess dress. She
jumped up, and checked the price tag. Seeing it was actually ON sale,
and a reasonable price, she hurriedly went to try it on.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Erkyte and Malachite slowly slide throught the door of the arcade,
moving slowly towards the stairs to the cafe. Malachite discreetly
stopped, hooked his purplish crystal to the back of a Sailor V game,
and
moved again with Erkyte.

Erkyte looked over at him, and Malachite's lips turned into a small
smile. Erkyte grinned, and the two men made their way up to the cafe.
On
their way through the coffee house, Erkyte hooked his crystal to the
bottom of a table. The two generals sat, ordered some coffee, and sat
back to enjoy the show. 'This is so easy...it's like taking candy from
a
baby..' thought Malachite with a smirk.

Across the street, a green haired woman smiled as she watched the news
report on TV. 'Wheels in motion...' she thought to herself
satisfactorly, as she sipped her green tea. She watched the large
arcade
across the street with a casual interest. It was all a matter of time,
as the old saying went, and she had all the time in the world..

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Mina spun around, admiring the way the cream colored gown hung on her
slim figure. Sleeveless, it hugged her body all the way down, with a
long slit  in the back. It was like she was wearing a creamsicle, but
she liked the fit, and the way it brought out her blue eyes, and her
blond hair. She grinned, she 'loved' this dress! She had to have it.
Slipping it off, she threw on her other clothes and stepped outside.

Lita was there, watching her reflection of a dark shimmery green gown.
The color brought out the vivid color of her eyes, and highlighted her
colorings. It was a chinese dress, with a little collar, and two slits
up the side. She spun around, grinning at Mina.

Mina smiled back, then headed over to pay for her dress. She stopped
to
stare at Ami. Ami had been quick to decide, a simple powder blue gown
with spagetti straps, high on the waist, with a long flowing skirt.
She sat reading her math textbook, her dressbox at her side. Mina, her
dress draped over her arm, put one hand on her hip and  groaned,
"AMI!!
Aren't you ever going to put that thing away?"

Ami looked up, and smiled ruefully, and said, "Well..I'm only..." Raye
popped out of the dressing room right then, grinning. She was dressed
in
a upper body fitting red sequined number. It flowed down into a short
skirt from the lower part of her body. Lita whistled, Mina clapped,
and
Ami grinned. Raye spun around again, then looked over at the others.
She
took one glance at Ami and sighed deeply.

"Ami, couldn't you leave that book at home JUST for once? What, are
you
only 20 chapters ahead?" she said teasingly, tossing her dark hair
behind her.

Ami's face got a wry look on it. "No Raye, only fifteen..." she said
sarcastically. Raye stuck her tongue out, and Mina giggled.

Lita laughed heartily, then said, "Oh stop picking on Ami...just
because
she feels the need to be Super Genius...doesn't mean we should try to
stop her from turning her brain into a mass of major intelligence
vibes..." she paused thoughtfully, " Even though one of these days she
is going to get so far ahead...she'll be teaching the class..." She
wiggled her eyebrows expressivly, as Ami glowered at her.

Mina and Raye giggled, then Mina went to the register to pay for her
dress. She smiled at the counter woman as she charged for the dress,
and
turned around. Leaning casually againist the cash register counter,
she
looked boredly out the window. She started perpectibly as she saw a
small white cat looking right at her from the shop window. She picked
up
her dress box nervously, then walked out of the store quickly. She
walked over to where she saw the small white cat, looking around. She
saw him crouching under a nearby bench. Pretending to tie her shoes,
she
quickly kneeled by Artemis, whispering, "What's up?"

Artemis whispered to her, "Bad news downtown. Lots of people drained
of
energy...looks like.."

Mina frowned, "The Negaverse?" Artemis nodded, and she sighed, "I'll
go
and get the rest of the girls...you wait here...and stay out of
sight!!"
Artemis nodded, and went to go hide out underneath a bench.

Zoeisite, hidden behind a pillar nearby the bench, frowned deeply. She
froze, clearing her thoughts when the white cat seemed to glance in
her
direction. She couldn't give off any vibes, or the whole plan was
going
to be shot to hell. If the Scouts were going to check downtown, where
Malachite and Erkyte were...she'd have to slow them down. It looked
like
she was going to run a little distraction. And the scouts didn't even
know what was coming. She grinned, she always liked having the element
of surprise...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Darien leaned over the railing of the mall on the third floor, right
outside 'A La Mode'. He declined to go into the dress shop, saying he
wasn't much of the frill man himself. Serena kissed him, sending a
thrill up his spine, and told him playfully not to get into any
trouble.
He had actually just wanted a little time to himself, to sort out his
apprehensions. He stood there, remembering his now recurring dream of
the gardens...and the man. He frowned deeply, and almost didn't here
the
soft coughing sound from the potted palm to his left. Almost. He
walked
casually over to the plant, pretending to inspect the leaves.

"Luna?" he whispered into the potted plant. He vaguely thought of how
stupid he must look, but banished the thought from his head. This was
business.

"Darien, something is happening downtown. We need Sailor Moon and
Tuxedo
Mask.." the cat whispered between the dark green leaves.

"Right...I'll get Serena... Stay here" he whispered back, and went
into
the shop. The cat snorted.

"Where does he think I'm going to go?" she said to herself. She
settled
herself deeper in the foilage.

He found Molly paying for her dress. "Molly...where's Serena?", he
asked, a note of urgency in his tone.

"She's changing in the dressing room...what's the matter, Darien?"
Molly
asked, seeing the tense look on his voice.

"Well, there's an emergency with her family...and I have to get her
home..." he started back to the dressing rooms. Molly grabbed his arm
and gave him a incredulous look.

"Darien!! She's changing!! You can't go back there! Listen, I'll go
and
get her...wait here..." she said, and Molly ran back. 'Something must
be
really wrong...he looks too worried...' she thought to herself.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Jedaite frowned deeply, he was sure that Darien was talking to that
cat,
Luna. Unfortunatly, they had whispered, and Jedaite couldn't hear a
word
of it. He watched as Darien walked into the dress shop. He sighed, he
was going to do something risky...sneak into the dress shop, and try
to
eavesdrop. He slipped over to the entrance, watching the palm tree
carefully. He peeked into through the window. There was the girl Molly
talking to Darien. They were both distracted. He slipped into the
shop.

Luna frowned, why did that young man seem so familiar?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Serena came out of the dressing room, dressed in her regular clothing.
Molly held back, as Serena rushed over to Darien. "What is it? What's
wrong?" she whispered.

Darien leaned over and whispered back, "Luna's outside. There's
trouble
downtown..." Serena's lips trembled, and she nodded her head.

"Just...just let me pay for my dress..", she said in a fairly calm
tone,
"Ask Molly if she'd keep the dress for me until I could come back and
get it..."

Darien nodded, then added, "I'll tell Cissa too..."

Serena was about to turn away, when Darien held her arm. Tilting her
face up, he smiled and murmered, "Never a day's peace...huh?"

Serena smiled wearily, and added, "World's most stressful job..."

Darien leaned down and kissed her softly. Then he added, "But the
benifits are worth it..." He moved away to Molly, while Serena looked
at
the back of him wistfully. Shaking herself out her daydream, she
walked
over to the cash register.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Jedaite stood in the back, slightly hidden by a rack of dresses. He
felt
ridiculous. A Negaverse general should NOT be standing in a women's
dress shop spying on his enemies. It was humilating. What if Nephlyte
saw him now? Or Malachite? However, he was getting the information he
needed. They were leaving soon...and he was going to have to slow them
down.

He sighed, and wondered to himself sarcastically, "With what? My
sweater? Yup, that's right. I, Jedaite, the great First of the Four,
am
going to throw my sweater at Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, and distract
them long enough for me to knock them over the head with my shoes. Oh,
what I wouldn't give for one good youma right now..."

He cursed Beryl for the fiftieth time again today for draining all his
energy, leaving him weak and vunerable. He watched as Mask stopped
Moon
for a brief moment, then lean over and kiss her. Jedaite rolled his
eyes
behind his dark glasses. Mortals and love. How ridiculous can you get?
An emotion that-- His line of thought was cut off by something hitting
him hard on the back, and the flying sensation as he zoomed towards
the
ground hitting it with a thump.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Cissa stepped out of the dressing room, her dress hanging on a hanger.
She had heard Molly and Serena talking in the room next to her
frantically, and she quickly changed to find out what was going on.
She
must of swung the door open too hard, because she hit something. She
stepped around the door cautiously, then mentally winced. It was a
blond
haired guy. Why did she have this tendency to hurt cute looking  guys?
She mentally childed herself for being so clutzy, and kneeled by the
guy.

"Are you okay?" she asked, as the man groaned, and slowly turned over,
his dark glasses falling off his face.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Jedaite was, to say the least, slightly dazed. He shook his head and
prepared to snarl at the feminine sounding voice. He turned over
slowly,
his anger building. Until he saw the girl. Around 18, her red hair
fell
in waves around her face and down her back. Her grey eyes were
luminous,
and her small pink mouth was puckered in a concerned frown. She was
kneeling beside him, her slim body bent slightly forward.

Now Jedaite was completely dazed. This was the most beautiful mortal
he
had ever seen his entire life.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Cissa blushed under the man's intent gaze. He had a thick mop of blond
curls, that shaded his violet eyes ever so slightly. His well featured
face was in the expression of surprise, and his generous mouth was
open
ever so slightly. 'He is Gorgeous...' she thought to herself. She
shook her head and asked quietly, " Are you hurt? Should I get you an
ice pack or something?"

The young man shook his head, somewhat shocked. Cissa wondered briefly
he had a concussion. She murmered, "Hold still Sir, I'm going to check
for bumps..."

She gently reached forward, when the young man caught her hand, and
stopped her. " I'm fine...just a little out of it.." he said calmly,
looking her straight in the eye.

He seemed to want to say something else, but couldn't find the words.
Instead, they sat there, staring at each other for one long moment.
That is, until they heard a male voice.

"Cissa? Where are you?", called Darien. Cissa shook herself, and stood
up. Seeing Darien over by some racks, she sauntered over, and tapped
him
on the shoulder. Darien spun around, a relieved look on his face.

"What's up?" she asked, her eyebrows knitting together. Darien looked
tense.

"Something came up with Serena's family. I'm going to take Serena and
the rest of the girls home..." he said quickly.

"Oh no! Do you want Molly and I to come with you?", she asked.

"Actually, I need you to get Molly home..." Darien said, then added
"She's more out of my way than the other girls...and the furthest away
from Serena's house..."

"No problem Darien, I'll be glad to take her home...You get Serena
home!" she said brightly. Darien smiled, and hugged Cissa briefly.

"You are the best Cissa! I'll give you a call later today to tell you
if
everything's okay!", he yelled over his shoulder, as Serena came away
from the cash register.

Cissa watched as Serena and Molly exchanged a few words, and Serena
passed Molly her dress box. Serena waved briefly at Cissa, and headed
quickly out the door with Darien. Molly walked over to Cissa.

"I wonder what the emergency was...", she said outloud.

Cissa shruged, and said, "It must be bad...Serena looked so tense..."
She suddenly slapped her forehead, saying,  " Omigosh, how could I of
forgotten?" And with that, she headed back towards the dressing rooms.

Molly followed her quickly. "What is it?" she asked.

Cissa said hurriedly, "I smacked this guy in the back of the head...I
left him right over here-- Hey, where did he go?" She looked around,
not
finding him anywhere. She looked over at Molly with confusion.

Molly said, "Maybe he was in a hurry to get somewhere?"

Cissa sighed, and ran her fingers through her red hair. 'Damn, I
really
wanted to talk to him again too...' she thought with a sigh. She
turned
away from the window, and said to Molly, " Come on, I'll get you
home..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
She didn't notice Jedaite standing outside the window of the shop,
looking in wistfully. He shook his head. "What the hell is wrong with
me? She's just a human. Like millions of others. Besides, I have a job
to do..." he muttered to himself. He looked around. Where had Moon and
Mask gone?

He saw, very far in front of him two meatballs bobbing up and down.
With
a silent curse, he started running through the crowd after them.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Zoeisite snuck into a store, heading for the back. She pulled a purple
crystal, one she had kept in reserve for emergencies. 'And I can't
think
of a better one than now...' she thought to herself.

Seeing a hapless human clerk in the storage room, alone, she stalked
towards him, silent as a whisper. Grabbing him, she touched the
crystal
to his forehead, draining his energy. "This is going to hurt you a lot
more that it's going to hurt me..." she whispered into the terrified
man's ear.

A minute later, the man fell to the floor, unconcious, and Zoeisite
stood holding the glowing crystal. She gripped it, allowing the power
to
flow through her bare fingers, and into her bodies. The eerie purple
light illuminated her face; her evil grin. Her human clothes melted
into
her General's uniform. The crystal went dark, and Zoeisite fairly
hummed
with power.

She stepped out of the back room, feeling like her old self. "Time for
a
checkup on the old powers..." she said with a small smile. She headed
out of the store, getting a few strange glances from customers around
her. She didn't care; it was time for one of her favorite pasttimes.
Hurt the Scouts...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Mina rushed out of the store, with Lita, Ami, and Raye right behind
her.
Artemis, coming out of his hiding place, leaped onto Mina's shoulder
lightly, and whispered into Mina's ear, "Serena and Darien should be
in
here in a second...Luna went to get--"

That was as far as he got, as a horribly familiar laugh was heard
above
them. Lita turned a deathly shade of white, as the four Scouts and
their
guardian looked skyward. There they saw a sight they hoped never to
see
again. Zoeisite. The blond ponytailed General sat in mid air, one hand
on her chin. Her familiar cruel expression was curved into a smile.

"Four little scouts, all in a row..." she said with an amused tone.
The
Scouts stood there in frozen horror.

Raye vaguely heard Ami mutter, " It can't be her..."

"Oh yes, little Ice Scout...it's me. And guess what?" she paused to
lean
in the air, grinning manicaly at the four girls, adding with a sharp
growl, " YOU'RE FINISHED!!!" as a huge blast of crystal shards flew
from
her hands and at them.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
An explosion filled the bottom floor of the mall as Zoeisite's blast
hit
the beams holding up the second and third floors of the mall. Serena
and
Darien looked at each other, then down to the worried look on Luna's
face. They all increased their speed, pushing past the panicked people
trying to get away. Still running, they looked past the railing to see
what caused the explosion. Serena stopped suddenly, with a horrified
look in her eyes.

"Zoeisite...", Darien muttered, as he and Luna stepped forward to look
off of over the railing. He felt his entire body go tight, as
flashbacks
of her crystal shard flying through his body smashed into his mind. He
closed his eyes for a moment.

Luna, looking down, gasped, "Oh No! She's cornered the others!!"
Darien
opened his eyes, and saw that Luna spoke the truth. The first crystal
blast had knocked the four Scouts out. Artemis lay in a small still
postion beside Mina, either dead or unconcious.  Zoeisite laughed, and
slowly descended from the sky to deliver the final death blow.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
Serena stood with her back to a pillar, her body frozen in fear as she
heard Zoeisite cackle's echo off the mall walls. She shook her head,
silently thinking to herself, 'This is NOT happening. She's DEAD.
DEAD!!! She can't be alive...' Her face squenched up into a tear mode,
and her eyes were full of fear.

She remembered everything about Zoeisite...her cruel laugh...her
inhumane ways....Serena shuddered, and unconciously touched her
brooch.
Most of all, she rememebered Zoeisite's acts of cruelty.

She saw Nephlyte, torn and bleeding, dying in Molly's arms....The
thorns
from Zoeisite's youma sucking his life away.....Molly's tortured
screams
as he faded into nothing...The months of Molly's depression
afterwards....

She said quietly, "MOON..."

She saw her friends and herself...being squeezed to death by a
Negaverse
bubble...while Zoeisite sat watching...laughing...She saw Zoesite
attack
Lita's friend Game Machine Joe....Raye's grandfather...Ami's boyfriend
Greg...Throwing Mina into a stone wall...She saw Artemis lying on the
floor below now...and her friends lying there...Defenseless...She saw
her beloved guardian Luna tossed by Zoeisite like a piece of
garbage...

Her voice a little more forceful, "CRYSTAL..."

She saw Zoeisite's crystal shard fly towards her, and hit her beloved
Darien instead...Darien lying in her arms...almost dying...She saw
Zoeisite taking her Love away...To be brainwashed and used by Queen
Beryl....and leaving Serena lost...and alone...with no hope....

Serena's hands gripped, and fear was replaced by pure white hot rage.
She hissed, "TRANSFORMATION!!"

This all had occured while Luna and Darien had dashed over to see
Zoeisite close in on the helpless Scouts. Luna turned around, yelling,
"Serena, we NEED....SAILOR MOON???" as Moon ran towards the railing,
swung over herself over, and flew towards Zoesite, hatred flashing in
her blue eyes, leaving a gaping Luna and Darien standing at the
railing.

Moon pulled out her sceptre as the ground came up sickenly fast...as
she
flew straight towards Zoeisite...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*

Zoeisite bobbed slightly over the slowly recovering scouts, smiling.
"I
wonder why Erkyte thought this was going to be so hard? Like shooting
ducks in a barrel. Or...Scouts in a mall..." she chuckled.

Ami shook herself, and pondered, "Erkyte? Who's he?" She wondered if
she
was going to live long enough to find out. The other Scouts groaned,
slowly trying to move. Zoeisite chuckled, "Still trying to escape,
even
now. It's seems almost---"

She was cut off by a voice calling out in a strangly familiar, high
pitched yell, "OHHHHHHHHH ZOOOOOEEEEEY!!!"

Zoeisite spun around, her eyes flashing annoyance, then fear, as she
watched a moving red, white and blue thing fly towards her. She saw a
pink blur swing around, and club her in the side of the head, the
momentum causing her to fly into a nearby wall. Zoeisite slumped down,
moaning in pain.

Moon tucked her knees in tight, and landed in a roll. She came up
quickly to her feet, with the Scouts sitting in front of her, looking
shocked. Lita managed a weak, "Sailor Moon?"

Moon didn't answer, her attention was focased elsewhere. Her eyes
found
Zoeisite, and she started towards her. Zoeisite lay againist the wall,
dazed, holding the side of her head. What had happened? All she could
remember was standing there, and the blur, with that thing that hit
her
like a baseball bat. She heard the sound of shoes clicking on the
ground, and slowly lifted her eyes to the floor in front of her. She
watched as a familiar pair of red boots walk towards her. Then she
heard
the low, terrible voice.

"Hello Zoeisite, remember me? Just in case you've gotten a concussion,
and can't remember right away, let me remind you. I'm Sailor Moon,
champion of Love and Justice. I right wrongs, and triumph over
sadistic
bitches like you. Now, in the name of the Moon, I am going to Kick
Your
Ass." said the overly calm voice of Moon.

Zoesite looked up, and saw her doom spelled out in those terribly
frozen
blue azure eyes. Moon looked down at the shocked Third General of the
Negavers. Her lips curled into a smile, a cold one. She stood
straight,
raised her Spectre, aiming for Zoeisite's chest.