Chapter Three: Who Are These Monsters?                       


The group arrived at the old theater and, getting some last minute information on the Priests, still were a bit suspicious of this whole deal, "When you get in there, I must warn you, these Priests are like nothing you have faced before. Aside from their strength, they can fool your mind, make you see things that aren't real and do things that you never thought you could do." Yamito's bland tone about it only furthered the suspicions of Sailor Uranus and she glanced over to Sailor Neptune with a smirk. The senshi were all in their plain, Sailor forms and all these variables were enough to cause Sailor Uranus to give Yamito a scoff and turn away to the theater. The others were all bit confused by what he told them and Sailor Moon placed a finger to her chin in thought.

"What kind of things?"

"For example, you look at your arm and...."

Yamito started to explain to her, but Kurai interrupted him in a loud voice and looked to the stone walls of the theater, "Wait...." His unique ability once again gave him an odd expression and the group looked at him, "They're getting suspicious and are trying to sense us. If we are going, we must go now."

"But we need to know more about the Priests." Sailor Moon said and looked at him with worry in her eyes. Kurai gave Yamito a quick look and then back to her, shaking his head with a sigh.

"We can't wait. We have to go now."

"We?" Sailor Jupiter pointed out and shook her head, "You can't go, it would be too dangerous."

Yamito wasn't too thrilled by that warning and looked at her with a smirk, "You will need us. You're not prepared for what lies in there." That didn't go over well with Sailor Moon and she walked over to Yamito, placing a hand on his arm.

"If you can't transform, you'd be no match for them. Please stay out here?"

Yamito looked to her slowly and stepped back, causing her hand to fall away from his arm. Looking out over his friends, the other three looked to him for the decision and he had to do what was best for the last of the Shadow senshi. Yamito let out a slow breath and closed his eyes, "All right, we will stay out here. You all must be careful." The others started to voice objections, but Yamito cuts them all off before they can, "There are only four of them, and seven of you. You should have a distinct advantage, but show them no mercy. They need to be killed, it's as simple as that." The cold words made Sailor Moon shudder and look at Yamito with a renewed sense of fear for the calmness in his face. The group of Sailor senshi started to go into the theater, but stop and look back when Suteki yelled something after them.

"And hope you never look at their faces." The girls looked at him strangely but go inside anyway to face these Priests. Suteki sighed and looked at Yamito, crossing his arms lightly and shaking his head, "Letting them go alone isn't a good idea, boss."

Yamito looked at him for moment, then back to the building and leaned against a light pole, sighing a bit himself, "We have choice, Suteki. We'll have to trust them."


The senshi were slowly making their way into the theater and waiting for the sudden appearance of a youma or other creature. Ragged curtain hung from the stage and there were seats torn from the floor and strewn about, but all of that wasn't strange for an abandoned building. Every step made the old wooden floor creak under their feet and all of them looked around slowly, trying to see any danger that would lie ahead.

Sailor Neptune finally broke the silence and speaks quietly, "I wonder where they are."

"Well, well, what do we have here? Trespassers."

"But not ordinary trespassers, very powerful trespassers." The voice startled the senshi and they all looked to see two figures step out from behind the ragged curtains. Their dark hoods casting shadows on the stage, they just stood casually and faced the senshi, "And who might you be?"

"The Priests, I take it. We're the Sailor senshi, and we're here to stop you. You will never destroy our universe like you did the Shadow senshi's." Sailor Moon yelled out at them, but stayed back behind Sailor Jupiter a bit.

"The Shadow senshi, huh? So you've met them? Did they happen to come with you? We surely would like to see them again."

Sailor Mars gave Sailor Moon a dirty look and growled a bit, "Good job, odango. Why don't you just tell them where they are too?" Sailor Moon quickly slapped her hands over her mouth and went red, a bit embarrassed at her lack of discretion. Sailor Mars just sighed a bit and looked back to the figures, "Too bad, because they're not here."

"Really, is that because the can't use their powers?"

Sailor Mars blinked in surprise and held her fist out towards the two figures, "How did you know about that?"

"We had the same problem at first," The figure began to explain, then raised a hand up and fired a blast of energy into the middle of the senshi that hurled them to the ground, "But as you can see, we've solved that little problem." All of the senshi struggled to their feet and glared at the figures, having their suspicions about the four Shadow senshi dashed in light of the truth to their words.

Sailor Jupiter was the first to attack and held her hands together in front of her, "Oh yeah? How about this!" Gathering her energy, she used her Sparkling Wide Pressure attack and hurled the blast of lightning at the two. The blast arrived at the figures, but the energy just impacted on an invisible barrier right in front of the two, making Sailor Jupiter step back in shock.

The rest of the senshi were just as taken back at the ease they stopped the attack. Sailor Moon blinked nervously and took a step back, looking at the two and remembering there were two more somewhere, "No way!" Sailor Venus then jumped forward and tried her Love-me Chain attack, but again the attack just impacted on the barrier around the figures with no effort. A dark energy started to grow around one of the figures and an oddly familiar laugh filled the air, followed by a flash of light that threw both Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus back to the others.

"Venus! Jupiter!" Sailor Mars yelled and turned to the figure, her eyes burning with anger, "You'll pay for that!" She used her Burning Mandala attack on them and sent massive blasts of fire at them. When the blast got to the figures this time, they demolished the stage around them and completely filled the are with dust. After the dust cleared a bit, the senshi looked to find both figures gone.

"That got them!" Sailor Mars yelled and held up a triumphant fist. As soon as she finished her sentence, one if the figures appeared right in front of her and grabbed her by the throat, picking her up and flying across the theater with her. As her body slammed into the wall, the mortar cracked a bit and she screamed out, but the figure just held her against the wall.

"Sailor Mars!" Sailor Moon yelled in terror and went to go help her when a blast of energy hits her from above, knocking her and Sailor Mercury down to the ground. Two other figures floated down from the darkness above the stage and landed on the beaten rubble, looking out over the scattered senshi.

"These Sailor senshi are no challenge."

Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune both charged the figure holding Sailor Mars, but right when they get to him, he sent out a surge of energy that threw them both to the opposite wall, putting both of them to the floor weakly. Sailor Mercury slowly rose to her feet and looked at the figures, her face tight in anger and her body a bit weak from the attack. The figures looked at her with an arrogant tone and were slightly amused at her refusal to give up, "So, what are you going to do now, little girl?"

"I'm going to stop you. Mercury Crystal Power, make up!" Ribbons of water ran all around her body and she henshined into Super Sailor Mercury right before their eyes. The figures looked at the new form with interest and looked between them all.

The figure holding Sailor Mars dropped her to the ground and gave his attention to Super Sailor Mercury, "An advanced form? Maybe it will be more interesting after all." He made his way back to the rest of the figures and Super Sailor Mercury was standing alone in front of all four figures. Gathering her strength, she used her Mercury Aqua Rhapsody attack, but the figures jumped out of the way at last second to let the attack punch a hole in the wall behind them.

"What a pretty tune, but I like heavy stuff better." One of the figure quipped and created a ball of energy in the palm of his hand. Pulling his hand from under it, the ball floated a moment, then surged forward to send Mercury flying backwards to the groan, right in front of all the other senshi, now transformed into Super Sailor senshi. The figures looked at all of the senshi and were awed by the increase in power, but the arrogant tone on their voices never gave away, "Well, now shall we get started?"

Next Chapter: ; Mind Tricks and Friendly Fire