"Um, Michael-san, bad pick, that's a pepper lollypop." Hotaru said, leaning back in her seat, smiling, as she waited for the effects of the hot lollypop to take effect.

Michael froze in his seat. His eyes trailed down the lollypop sticking out of his mouth and sighed. He took it out and fanned his tongue with the concert program.

"Why on earth do they even MAKE pepper lollypops?"

Mamoru looked over and started laughing. Michael growled, took the lollypop in HIS mouth. Mamoru froze for a few moments and spit it out, fanning his tongue with his own program.

"Hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!" they said together.

Hotaru laughed as she watched Mamoru and Michael fan their tongues with their programs, as she sucked on a strawberry lollypop. She pulled out another bag from her pocket, which had an assortment of orange, red and green lollypops, which weren't pepper.

"Oops, I offered you one from the wrong bag." Hotaru said, holding up the non-pepper bag. "Wanna lollypop?" She asked, once again, with an innocent look on her face, as she put the pepper lollypop bag in her pocket, were the non-pepper bag was.

*

Artemis looked up to the man, but it was a pole he bumped into!

"Silly Me" Artemis went around the pole just to make sure. "Man, I gotta meet Rei in the back of the auditorium! Somehow I knew that wasn't the entrance!" Artemis ran outside gonig past the ticket person. However the guy didn't notice he went in, so he helped himself in. He found Rei, Mako, and

Hotaru in the back, were he was supposedly supposed to meet them.

" Hi!" The white kitty walked to them. "Am I late or anything?" The cat asked, looking curiously at them.

Makoto noticed Artemis "Hey Artemis, surprised you're still alive with all these people here. (Just kidding)"

"Artemis! What are you doing back here?" Rei picked up Artemis and cuddled him. "Where's Minako-chan?"

"Rei! I'm glad to see you! I don't know where Minako-chan is somewhere!" The white kitty started to purr. "Rei, I have my ways of getting tickets" shows Rei the tickets. "Did the concert start? Oh, I have a friend coming do you mind?" Artemis grinned as he looks at Hotaru with the suckers. "Rei is it just me or is Hotaru-chan so kawaii?"

Rei giggled. "The concert hasn't started yet. There seems to be a delay. I suppose the starlights are going through some troubles back there but, who knows! The DJ that I won the tickets from is over there, and he looks mighty nervous." Rei peeked at Hotaru and looked back. "She is so darn cute!" Rei stuck her hand out and waved to Hotaru for no darn reason. "I don't talk to her though. She would rather stay with Michiru and Haruka."

The kitty responded. "Meow! Do you think something is happening? Usually the starlights are never late!" He looked nervous.

Mako sighed and sunk lower into her seat. "When on earth is the concert gonna start?"

*

" Popcorn-chans and candy-chans!! Cheap!! Kawaiil!!! " belted out Hysteria as a bunch of rabbits bounced around on the balcony. The guards were busy trying to capture them, but were being quite unsuccessful.

The rabbit population in the building was causing quite a stir and things were getting quite strange. Everyone who was eating her candy, popcorn, or soda, was turning into rabbits! This didn't really bother Hysteria as she was quite happy seeing seats clear out. Finally, she caught sight of Havoc.

"Havo- ...oh have you ever eaten candy Mr. Shi-chan?!" sang Hysteria as she almost belatedly remember that she was supposed to call him Shi.

Havoc smiled in relief as Hysteria didn't call him totally by his name. The girl next to Havoc glanced up and asked for some popcorn and a soda. Giggling, Hysteria said that she had won some free complementary candy, and that the rest cost very little. She handed the refreshments to the girl and abruptly the girl turned into a rabbit with the same puff of smoke.

"Hi Shi-chan!!! I'm happy to see you," and thus plopped down beside Havoc only to spit out, "how are you?! Is the show going to start soon?! Waahh!! The place is so full and no idol singers!!"

* * *

Usagi was walking way to her house. She first planned to go to Ami's place, but now she changed her mind. She needed to talk to someone before apologizing to her friend. Ami had a problem, so she doesn't have the right to tell her why she insulted her back at Jyuban High, because that way, she would make Ami worry even more. That would be selfish. She needed to talk to someone who had confronted worse situations than her own, someone who could help her being stronger. But who?

She passed in front of a store's window. A big poster of the Three Lights announced the concert that was taking place right now.

"Seiya, Taiki and Yaten had lost their planet when Sailor Galaxia destroyed it. They had to come to Earh and search Kakyuu-hime. My problem is nothing compared to what they suffered then." Usagi muttered to herself. "Maybe they can teach me how to become stronger...Seiya helped me a lot when we fight against Sailor Galaxia...and I can't remain my whole life crying or being sad. There are many important things I have to take care of. "

It was definitive.

She would go to the Three Lights concert and talk with them.

Usagi ran as fast as she could to reach the Amphitheater sooner than later. When she got there, she realized she forgot one important thing. She didn't have a ticket, how could she go in?

"Miss, are you going in?" the man who was guarding the door asked.

"I don't have a ticket" Usagi sighed.

"Then you must go" the man said.

"Can you do me a favor?" She asked.

"Well I..."

"Please..." she supplicated as if that was her only hope.

The man nodded.

Then, Usagi took out a blank piece of paper and a pen from her briefcase, and wrote:

'Seiya,

You helped me in the past. You helped me to become stronger. But I can't be strong anymore. I need you to help me, please. I think you're the only one who can do that.

When she finished writing, she gave the paper to the man "Would you give this to Kou Seiya, please? It's pretty important"

"Hai" The man answered.

"Arigatou" Usagi said, leaving the amphitheater door, walking a few steps.

The man at the door chuckled. "This is probably another love letter from a fan, I wonder what this girl wrote" he read the paper and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "This seems as if they were old friends...I hope Mr. Kou didn't get upset because I didn't let her in…I better give this to him right now." he said to himself.

*

Mamoru and Michael finished fanning their tongues and got up to find a stand that sells drinks, ignoring Hotaru's "good will". Mamoru told Michiru that he'd be right back and they started making their way to the upper levels of the amphitheater.

"Hey, Mamoru," Michael said, "I know we're here to protect this Yaten Kou person, but who exactly is playing at this concert?"

"The Three Lights." Mamoru replied without turning around. Michael had slowed down with a rather funny look on his face.

"I should have known! J-Pop!" Michael looked a bit queasy.

As Mamoru and Michael continued to look around, a bunch of rabbits started hopping past them. Mamoru seemed to think nothing of it and continued walking.

Michael glanced over and saw some hyper girl handing out candy, people biting into it, and turning into candy. The guy she was hanging out with seemed familiar, too. Michael was so fascinated by this hysterical process, he never noticed Mamoru moving on ahead without him.

Mamoru, after awhile, made his way to the outer ring of the amphitheater and desperately searched for something to take the fireball off of his tongue. By chance, he glanced outside and saw a familiar sight down near the entrance. The last person he wanted to see right now.

Usagi handed something to the doorman and seemed to wait patiently for something. Mamoru watched her from the second story, his face pressed against the glass.

"Usako..."

*

Seiya was in his dressing room, preparing for the concert that was finally going to be in full swing. He hummed the tune of one of their new songs, afraid he might forget it. Halfway through the second verse, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Seiya asked.

The stage manager swung the door open and handed him a piece of paper. "The man at the door gave this to me to give to you. He said it was some girl with meatball-shaped hair."

At the meatball-shaped hair, he stood up quickly, almost knocking over his chair. He grabbed the letter from the stage manager, and shooed him out the door.

He walked over to his desk and sat down, sighing. "What would Usagi want with me?" He glanced down at the letter in his hands, which read:

"To: Kou Seiya

From: Tsukino Usagi"

He unfolded it, and smoothed it out on the desk, and continued to read.

"Seiya,

You helped me in the past. You helped me to become stronger. But I can't be strong anymore. I need you to help me, please. I think you're the only one who can do that.

He let out a big sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. "I have to help her." He decided. "She sounds so desperate...not at all like the Usagi I left here." He stood up, and walked toward his door. He swung the door outwards, almost smacking a stagehand in the face.

The stagehand frowned, "Hey, watch it, ma-" He stopped as he glanced up and saw who he was yelling at. "Oh, p..pardon me, Mr. Kou. I didn't realize-"

Seiya cut him off. "What's your name?"

"N..nuriko" The boy stuttered.

"Well, Nuriko, I want you to do something for me." Seiya reached into his pocket, and pulled out a worn photo of Usagi out of his wallet. He handed it to Nuriko. "Find this girl, and bring her backstage to my dressing room. We have a LOT to talk about."

Nuriko grabbed the photo out of Seiya's hand, brightening a little. "No problem, sir! I'll be back so fast, you won't even realize I was gone!" With that, he ran out of sight, and hopefully to find Usagi. She sounded as if she needed help. Desperately.

* * *

Rei looked at her watch with a frown appearing across her face. "When is this concert supposed to start.? Makoto, I'll be back in a few." Rei put the cute kitty on Makoto's lap and stood up. "Man, This place is huge." Rei wandered farther into the back entering a small dark area. "Hello? Hello? Hello?" Rei looked around. "Anyone there?" All of a sudden the lights flashed on and a man came striding down the hallway.

"What are you doing in here, girl?" Rei gasped at the man and looked from the right to left and on one side were stairs and so she didn't bother going the other way. She ran quickly up the small set of stairs as the twirled around and led her back down in another direction. She burst out the door gasping for breath.

"Heeelllpppp" Rei wheezed as she looked around and spotted a candy machine and a cute girl manning it. Rei walked up to her and said, "Miss, why are there all these bunnies around here? Don't you think they would affect business?" Rei choked on a bit of air and looked beside her. Moving her head up she saw that the man who was beside Mamoru was staring at her right there. Rei inched back a bit. "Are you a friend of Mamoru's?"

Michael recoiled a bit as the question broke his concentration. It was one of the girls who were staring at him and Mamoru. Well, her recognition of Mamoru made a lot of sense. He seemed to have a lot of friends.

This one was rather pretty (well, they all were), but Michael seemed to recognize her on a subconscious level. Then it hit him. He had seen her briefly at the masquerade ball. She was unconscious in a room when he was searching for an under-the-influence Hotaru.

"Uh, you could say that. I'm Michael. And you are?"

*

Minako quickly dodged the huge clutter of people, turned down the nearest hallway, and began walking down it.

"Hold up a sec." She heard a voice say from behind her.

Minako turned around to see two young men no older then 16 looking her in the face. The young man on the left was very cute with blonde hair and brown eyes and they other she really couldn't tell because he had a baseball cap covering most of his face.

"Hey! What's up?" The guy with the blonde hair asked with a smirk on his face. "The name's Ginta and this is my bud Justin."

Minako smiled and giggled to herself.

"My name's Minako." she replied.

"Very pretty name." Ginta said with a smile.

Minako blushed, smiled again, and turned around and began walking. She looked back and noticed them following her and Minako kept walking to see how long they would follow her. Minako still walking backwards, turned around again to see them still following her. She jumped as she felt herself bump into someone and turned around and saw a familiar face.

"Rei!" Minako said happily while smiling at her friend and turned her head to see her standing next to a young man which she figured Rei had been talking with.

"Oops! Am I interrupting something?"

Michael was too busy trying to divide his attention between the candy selling weirdo and the girl who knew Mamoru to notice the other presence until she was right next to him. Then he couldn't help but notice her.

"Let me guess…" he said, trying not to stare at Minako. "Another friend of Mamoru's?"

Minako looked back around and smiled to herself seeing the two young men getting closer and closer.

"Hai, I'm Minako."

* * *

The stagehand found Usagi not very far from the entrance of the amphitheater. "This is the girl. I'm sure" he thought. "Miss! Miss!" He called out.

Usagi turned her head, looking at the one who was calling her. The man ran until he reached her.

"Mr. Kou told me to find you, miss. He needs to talk with you. Could you please follow me backstage?" Nuriko asked her.

"Hai" Usagi nodded. She followed Nuriko and when she passed in front of the man at the door she smiled: "Arigatou, that favor meant a lot to me"

"It was a pleasure" he answered...but inwardly, he sighed in relief 'She's not angry, if she were, I would have a very big problem...'

Meanwhile, Usagi and the stagehand got backstage.

"Here's Mr. Kou's dressing room." Nuriko said as they reach the place.

"OK" Usagi sighed. Finally, she could speak to Seiya...she would find help...she took a deep breath and knocked the door.

Seiya had been nervously pacing back and fourth in his dressing room, murmuring half-hearted compliments to stagehands and workers drifting in and out of his room. He nearly leaped out of his skin when he heard the soft knock he knew all too well.

He walked briskly toward the door, pausing for a moment as his hand rested on the lock. He took a deep breath, and swung it open, revealing a very worn Usagi.

He stood there, mouth agape. 'She looks like hell.' He thought with a shock. Her normally bright, blue eyes had taken on a grayish tint, and were rimmed with a livid red circle, as if she had been crying. Her soft, pale skin appeared ashy and rough, and she looked like she expected to be struck at any moment.

He grabbed her and pulled her inside, sitting her down on a chair. She stared at him, on the brink of tears, eyes full of worry.

"Now, odango atama," he said softly, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Seiya, I..." Usagi suddenly didn't know what to say. Her eyes were teary but she repeated within her mind ~I'm not going to cry~

She looked at Seiya, she could read in his eyes that he was worried about her. "Please, forgive me, Seiya, I'm disturbing you just before your concert...but it's just that..." She sighed. How to start? How to say everything?

"I need to be stronger, Seiya. I can't stand what's happening anymore... and I feel that no one can understand me." Usagi paused. "When I saw that poster announcing your concert, somehow I thought you could help me...you've lived worse situations, but even more than that, it was thanks to your friendship and trust that I could do my best when fighting Sailor Galaxia."

She took a long breath. "I need you, again...I'm losing the people I care about because of my weaknesses, because of my betrayal, because of this emptiness I feel now inside..."

Usagi grabbed one of Seiya's hands with hers and smiled sadly. "I know I'm selfish and I don't have the right of disturbing you with my problems...but I beg you, please, help me to support all this, if you appreciate me just a little bit..."

Seiya smiled at Usagi. "You know I'm always here to help. But...we can't be closer than friends anymore. You know that. I realize that Mamoru and you were meant to be before you and I. But, that doesn't mean I can't be a good friend." He patted her hand.

Usagi smiled back, and told him all about her running from Mamoru, and her fight with Ami. Seiya frowned. "What you need to do first is make up with Mamoru. Go to him and told him everything that you just told me."

"But I can't!" Usagi interrupted. She broke down, and started to cry. Seiya hugged her gently, allowing her to pour out all her pent up worry on his shoulder. Usagi sniffed, then said, "Oh, Seiya, I-"

*

Mamoru waited patiently outside the door, his face contorted into a mask of rage. Who the hell was Seiya? Usagi talked to him so familiarly and Mamoru had never heard of him before. When did they meet? And WHAT he said to her made Mamoru so angry.

Seiya's words betrayed that he had tried to win Usagi's affections after Mamoru and Usagi found each other by destiny. What's worse, he knew it the whole time. How DARE he?!

Mamoru watched through the window that neither of them could see him through. Mamoru walked to the side silently, crying tears of sadness and a new sensation. Rage. Mamoru had only felt this twice before, when Prince Diamond had attempted to manipulate Usagi and the elven trick. But this was wearing on Mamoru's sanity and he felt that this Seiya deserved a lesson in humility.

But he would not let Usagi see this. Mamoru would wait for Usagi to leave....

Suddenly, Mamoru froze as a blast of sanity penetrated his brain. What . . . what was he doing? Mamoru sunk to his feet. What had he been planning to do? What had he become?

Mamoru couldn't believe it had come to this and was full of shame. This was not the person he was. Mamoru would not go through with this plan and could not bring himself to harm Seiya Kou.

It is said that the basis of all relationships is trust and Mamoru needed to trust Usagi now. So, he resolved that he would have to do the painful thing of leaving her alone, praying that she could discover the strength within herself to pull herself from her depression.

But how could he sink to such depths? Maybe it was that Mamoru was finally suffering a nervous breakdown as a result of the stress his life was undergoing. Perhaps it was a residue taint of the Dark Kingdom from his days as a General by Beryl's side. Regardless, Mamoru had regained control of himself and his hold on his sanity.

Another shock of reality while thinking of Beryl and Mamoru suddenly realized his purpose for being there in the first place. He had to protect an innocent person from the power of the Dark Kingdom! Mamoru got to his feet and rushed back to his seat and tried to act like nothing was wrong in front of Michiru and Hotaru.

With his purpose and resolve restored, Mamoru started scanning the area once again, searching for some sign of the Dark Kingdom.

*

Usagi never realized that Mamoru had been there a couple of minutes ago. She was so confused. She loved Mamoru but she can't stand what she'd done. She repeated in her mind that it was HER fault. That she should have known that the other man wasn't him.

"I love him so much, Seiya...but nothing can be done...He's hating me right now for sure...." She sobbed desperately. "I just want you to teach me how to become stronger so I can continue living...this pain is stealing my forces and I am not able to stop it..."

Seiya listened to Usagi silently, nodding occasionally and patting her back in an attemt to comfort her. When she paused to blow her nose, he said, "Usagi-sama, you have always been one of the strongest people I've ever known. It would be my honor to help you in this."

She smiled weakly back at him, and was about to say something, but there was a knock on the door.

"Mr. Kou? It's me, Nuriko." A nervous and shaking voice said from the other side of the door.

Seiya sighed. "What is it, Nuriko?"

"Well, s...sir, the concert is starting...umm...now. The fans are getting restless." He stuttered.

Seiya cursed. Now he'd have to perform with all this on his mind. Then there was that uneasy feeling he's had about the concert since the beginning. And that DJ gave him an odd feeling...Seiya shook his head, as if to clear his mind.

"Sir, the stage manager is yelling obscenities at you that I'd rather not repeat." Nuriko pressed.

"All right, I'll be right there." He yelled to Nuriko. He turned to Usagi. "I want you to stay right here. You can see the whole stage from here. I promise, I'll talk to you some more right after this concert." He smiled down at her, then ran out the door, wincing at the stage manager's comments.

"Calm down, Hiro! I'm right here!" He yelled at the stage manager. "Good God, one can't have a moment to oneself around here..." He muttered.

* * *

After unnecessarily half-yelling, half-whining in Shi's ear, he found that even he was getting annoyed. Of the crowd of about 500 or so that had showed up, Hysteria had gone from one "kawaii" section to another, turning the occasional person into a rabbit. Now she sat down next to him, exclaiming about how the warm-up band would look much more kawaii' in some of her fashionable aprons-chans.

'No doubt she picked that food thing up at the feet of the master', thought Shi with a grin. Hai, hai, the ball was much funnier when Carnage had spiked the punch. He leaned back in his seat even further, but later on in the minutes, the two became visibly restless. Shi started tapping his foot out of of rythim with the warm up band; Hysteria was beginning to eat her candy. Of course, it wouldn't phase her; just make her more kawaii!

"Hey, Hyst...uh, what are you now?"

"A kawaii 'lil pop-corn vendor-chan!!"

A sweatdrop went down Shi's head. "No, I mean your name!"

Hysteria thought, then became frustrated. "Kawaii little Hysteria doesn't HAVE a kawaii name anymore?! WAH!!!"

Shi winced. 'NO! Don't WAIL!' "HEY!"

She immediately smiled. "Hai?"

"Why don't you go sell some over by the candy machine; from the sounds of the humans there, it could be broken."

"Hai!"

She stood, and bellowed, "CANDY-CHAN!!"

Shi jumped out of his seat as Hysteria giggled and went up the steps. As he sat back down again slower...he saw a girl...THE girl...

"Saturn? Hotaru?" he whispered.

The girl was sitting with a older teen on one side, with aqua green hair. (Havoc wondered if this was the mercury Mayhem had mentioned?) Shi watched as Hotaru handed him what seemed to be some candy. Could she have bought that from Hysteria? He watched as the boy suddenly fanned his mouth, and his partner laughed at him. Then, he too, was doing the same thing. Shi laughed, as they both jumped out of their seats, and up the stairs. He stood, hoping to have Hotaru...

He immediately shot back down in his seat, and slouched. He was too ... OLD-looking for her! Had to make himself more...presentable, yeah.

Making sure no one was paying attention. He casually raised an arm and scratched his neck. As he did, he shrank a little, and his eyes became purple. His hair a punk black. He stood, thinking he was done, but managed to grab his pants in time! Dammit, he forgot the clothes! As he made his way over to Hotaru, however, they re-fitted themselves to Havoc's new size and form. He grinned as a soda formed into his hand. As he passed by her, it 'flew' out, and spilled on her legs.

Hey!" yelped Hatoru.

"Sorry!" yelped back Havoc, in the same voice he had had the previous night. Since then, he had remembered it, in case he needed it for a disguise. Thank God you didn't need to achieve it the same way!

"Here, let me make it up to you! I'm Chikanarino Shi," he said, holding out a hand.

Hotaru took his hand and shook it. "I'm Tomoe Hotaru."

* * *

Hysteria got impatient waiting for people to come upstairs. Tapping her foot wildly, she eyed the machine. It didn't look broken! She kicked it and it made a few angry noises. Hysteria jumped and whirled around, only to see someone coming up the stairs.

"Popcorn-chans and kawaii candy-chans! Wanna buy some, nice, kind sir?" yelled Hysteria as the man finished topping the stairs.

"Sure, Miss. I'll take some chocolate," he said.

"Here you go!" giggled Hysteria, almost insanely.

The man took a bite of the chocolate and instantly turned into a rabbit with a big puff of heart-shaped smoke. It gave Hysteria a confused expression and wiggled it's ears. She only smiled giddily.

"Oh! Isn't this bunny-chan just so kawaii?!" squeaked Hysteria as the rabbit hopped off. She sighed. 'Too bad it's only for a kawaii three hours or so...'

Another group of people came up the stairs, only to have the same fate as the late man-convert-rabbit. Before long, there was a nice amount of rabbits hopping around the upstairs hallway. Hysteria had enough money to get her kawaii dress and a purse to match! 'Kawaii little Hysteria should do this more often,' thought Hysteria.

Suddenly, a young man came up the stairs. She recognized him from the masquerade, but decided it best not to give herself away. The man was the one who had made Havoc sound like her at the ball. Needless to say, it wasn't really a kawaii 'lil sight when he blew up half of the ruins he lived in that night (ruining poor Hysteria's beauty sleep), then had to have Chaos help him put them back in place.

"Hey, what are all these rabbits doing up here?" he asked.

Instead of replying with the correct answer, Hysteria jumped and presented herself to him, almost shouting. "Hi! Would you like to buy something from me!? It's to benefit the..."

"Maybe later," stated Michael. He had a funny feeling about the rabbits, but he didn't really wanna voice his findings until he saw Mamoru.

"But Sir!!" whined Hysteria, "at least buy some for your girlfriend-chans over there!" She pointed to the raven beauty and the blonde with the kawaii red bow.

Michael didn't answer. The whole reason he came over there was that he saw people turn into rabbits after eating her candy. Still, it didn't make sense to ignore a potential tool like that.

"Okay," Michael said with a smile. "I'll take some of that candy." Not to eat, of course. He was going to save that for later. Heh heh heh!

Then Michael got to thinking. Was the rabbit-girl here the big Dark Kingdom plot that Mamoru was babbling about? No, even though Michael had only seen Jedite briefly, he gave him more credit than that.

"So, what's your name?" Michael asked, occasionally glancing over at Rei and Minako to make sure they didn't try to eat any candy.

Hysteria looked at Michael blankly for a moment, eyes welling up. "Uhm..." she whined uncomfortably. She began getting happy feet; bobing back and forth. "I'm not allowed to tell you!" she finally blurted out. Minako and Rei looked at Hysteria like she was crazy, but Michael spoke for them.

"You're not allowed to tell me?" Michael repeated dumbly.

"Um, no!" Hysteria stammered, "I just want to sell some delicious candy-chans and popcorn-chans! Want to buy more?" She was fighting desperately not to cry.

Michael raised an eyebrow. What was with this girl? She seemed much too nervous for normal candy sales...as if he knew what that was. She may not be from Jedite's gang, but she was up to something.

So what was the connection? She was selling alteration candy and... wait, she seemed familiar somehow. Had they met? In a voice low enough so the girls couldn't hear her, he said:

"Look, I don't know what your game is, but I think you should lay off the rabbit-candy. It's going to get you in trouble and I have no intention of letting you get away with more."

Michael's gaze wasn't angry or hateful, but stern enough to let the girl know that he wasn't kidding.

*

"See ya Rei! I have to find my seat!" Minako said and left her friend. She took out her ticket and followed the doors one by one and entered the main section.

"Shoot!" Minako said to herself noticing the same to guys that had been following her sitting right next to her seat. She walked over to sit down.

* * *

Yaten laid slumped over the railing of the fire escape for awhile. The way down looked so dark, so long....

Funny how these scenes start appearing when someone's depressed, Yaten thought as he turned his attention to Seiya.

He only watched some guy deliver a letter to Seiya several minutes ago.

He knew what his brothers had, and he became jealous of it. Taiki had the brains. He was poetic, and artistic, and all that good stuff. Probably the better date for Ami, if Taiki liked her in the first place...Seiya, on the other hand, had his hands in the physical department of the StarLights. He was so laid back that he'd be falling over himself to please a girl friend....

Damnit! If it was one thing that Yaten was known for, it was honesty...and he knew that people normally don't like being told the truth...

Yaten sighed deeply, walked back, hid in the stage wings, and watched the people talk to each other.

* * *

Mayhem appeared in the Elven's meeting room and looked around. No one was here. Good.

He sat at the silver table and propped his feet up on it, sighing heavily. He wasn't physically tired, but having to walk amongst humans all day and act like one of them did give him a headache. Letting his human guise melt away he pulled his hair out of its customary braid and relaxed into the chair.

He hadn't really learned anything very helpful today and decided to think of some other way to go about his information gathering.

He frowned...where was everyone? He knew school must be out by now and expected the others to have returned. But the Realm felt deserted. He wondered where everyone had gone...

* * *

Ami landed in a crouch on what seemed to be solid ground. A few cherry blossoms blew by her, and she knew Ruckus had landed, too.

"Where are we?"

* * *

"Mr. Kou? Mr. Kou?! Sir, the warm-up band has been playing for almost an hour, now! The audience is getting restless! What should I tell them this time?"

"Tell them what we're really doing; Seiya's primping & practicing, Yaten's moping or something and wishes to be left alone, and I'm reading the end of a murder mystery."

There was silence on the other end of Taiki's dressing room door, then a whimper. Taiki's eyes peered up over the book, as he heard the manager say, "I've treated the audience right; I even set you three up with this concert gig. They'll murder me if I tell them that!"

Taiki listened to the man sniffle a few moments longer, then said in a huff, "Yare, yare, I'll get 'em. Stop your crying; it's not your fault."

Taiki but a bookmark in his book, and took a last look in his mirror. Perfect as always! He grinned for the mirror, and then opened his door, off in search of Yaten to start the show.

*

Shi sat down on the steps, and said, "So Hotaru, do you go to school around here?"

"Yes, I go to a primary school down the road from my house, where I live with my adopted parents, Michiru-mama, Haruka-papa and Setsuna-mama." Hotaru said. Once again asking innocently, and making sure she had the right bag this time, she asked, "Wanna lolly?"

*

Sigh...

It must be nice to belong to a group. To feel welcomed instead of being an intruder.

Yaten watched the audience mingle, recognizing only a few of them. Ever since the breakup with Ami, Yaten's cravings for that feeling had become a drug…something that he constantly wanted, and needed.

It also seemed that they were upset about the Lights not appearing yet...

"Shimatta...", He mouthed, oblivious of the two figures behind him.

"What're you swearing about, Yaten?", The smaller figure asked.

"None of your business, Seiya." He snapped back. Taiki shook his head.

"Here. You'll need these..." Taiki said, handing Yaten his keyboard. Yaten gave him a dirty look as he slung it over his shoulder.

The Three Lights walked onto the stage, took their positions, and started playing one of the new songs Taiki had written. Each one of them had a feeling that something was going to happen.

Something big.

With Seiya in the center, Taiki to left, and Yaten to the right, they were quite an impressive group. Despite their talents, Seiya could sense something was wrong.

As Seiya played on with Yaten, he noticed that Yaten was even more bitter than usual. "He's been acting even worse than usual," Seiya thought. "After this concert, we really need to have a talk. Ever since that whole Ami situation, he's been acting so...alone. Solidified. He needs to know that we're the Three Lights, and we're here for each other, no matter what."

With that in mind, he continued his song, more confident and self-assured. As Taiki's song ended, he felt a growing reassurance. "Maybe that bad feeling is just my imagination after all." He thought.

"Next up, we have 'Dawn,' written by Kou Seiya!" The announcer's voice echoed off of the walls of the stadium, sending the crowd into an uproar.

[The stage darkens. A piano starts to play softly in the background, and the spotlight focuses on the center stage]

Seiya: Have you heard her voice, like the angels singing? Ringing out so sweetly, ringing out so clear?

[Drums start, harmonizing with the piano]

[Spotlight switches to Yaten]

Yaten: Have you seen her eyes, shining like the dew at morning, as a sign from God, that we were meant to be?

[Spotlight switches to Taiki]

Taiki: Have you seen her smile? It lights up my heart. With a simple gesture, she could hang the moon.

[Tempo increases, guitar added]

[Three spotlights appear, engulfing all three in the yellow light]

All: My love, will you stay with me forever? Or will you leave at break of dawn? Are you a simple dream, or are you here to stay?

Yaten: She has come in peace, in the winter's stillness. Like a gentle snowfall in the gentle night.

Taiki: She has come in joy, like the sun at morning. Filling all the world with radiance and with light.

Seiya: She has come in love, as a child of angels. With a simple gesture, she could set the sun.

All: My love, will you stay with me forever? Or will you leave at break of dawn? Are you a simple dream, or are you here to stay?

[Guitar Solo]

Taiki: She will bring new light to my darkened world.

Yaten: Like a bright star shining in the skys above.

Seiya: She will bring new hope to my waiting soul. Who is e'er so lonely, standing in the cold.

[Tempo slows]

Taiki: She stands alone, as a humble statue. But I swear by God, I'll break through your heart of stone.

Seiya: Let my heart cry out, for I need you with me. Put aside your grieving, put aside your pain.

Yaten: As I stand in need, begging at your doorstep, don't turn away, you could crush my heart.

[Tempo speeds up]

All: My love, will you stay with me forever? Or will you leave at break of dawn? Are you a simple dream, or are you here to stay?

[Guitar and Drums stop]

[Tempo slows]

All: You come and go with the moon at morning, staying long enough to shed some light. Now I beg you, yes I beg you, please don't leave me at the break of...dawn.

[Piano stops]

They stopped, eyes closed, heads facing the floor. "This isn't such a bad feeling after all," Seiya thought to himself. He was sure things couldn't possibly go wrong. But of course, they did.

*

Music started to flood the auditorium. Hysteria got anxious to get to the main stage in order to see such idol singers, but there was this guy semi-following her.

She didn't know whether this was a coincidence or not, so she didn't worry too much. But, it was enough to make her uncomfortable. This guy was Michael.

She skipped down the stairs and spun around the corner so that she could ditch the refreshments. Certainly there would be seats by now! Right when she had changed her form from the kawaii little vendor, Michael rounded the corner.

"What are you up to?" he asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Uhm, I'm just, uhm; do you want more chocolate?" she asked nervously, tugging on the edge of her gold tutu. For some strange reason this guy made her slightly edgy. Maybe it was the fact that he had noticed her games?

"No, that's alright, but thanks," Michael stated. He turned to go and fumbled in his pocket to find some of his own candy. Hysteria bounced around the corner again to finish what she was doing.

Obviously, Michael couldn't see her ditch the candy. As Hysteria turned around, she noticed a little pink smoke ring from around the corner. Curiosity took over and she walked over to where the smoke was emitted from. A smile instantly came across her face and her eyes twinkled in delight.

"Oh yeah, this could happen." the rabbit thought, sarcastically. Before he could make a break for it, Hysteria scooped him up.

Picking up a beautiful white rabbit with tiny glasses, she started singing to herself. This kawaii rabbit was going home with her! But how? She stuffed the rabbit into a conveniently large purse and darted to see the rest of the show, stroking the rabbit behind the ears the entire time.

"This is not how I envisioned spending my afternoon. Mamoru, HEEEELLLPPP!!!!" Unfortunately, rabbit thoughts fail to achieve sound.

Shi was bored, as was Hotaru. Havoc had nothing to say, except a few words about school. He was totally tongue-tied! With a thought of recklessness, he about to ask Hotaru if she wanted to go upstairs and kick each other asses when the Three Lights came blaring onto the stage.

Shi sighed, and waved bye to Hotaru. Maybe another time...

As shi sat back down in his seat, he made himself the teenager he used to be, and sat back, bored, while the crowd went while. A rabbit hopped by. Well, what was left of the crowd. He wondered where Hysteria could be.

She plunked herself down next to him. "Shi-chan, this is soooo KAWAII!!!" she yelled over the noise.

I know!!" he yelled back, with a grin. "The band sucks, but I'm enjoying the view!" 'The view of Sailor Saturn'.

The band was playing their last song, and Hysteria was drooling over them, as were all the females there. Shi glanced at Hysteria's purse, and was about to rummage through it four some candy. He could suffer the consequences later, but he had only had only a lollypop from Hotaru.

That's when he touched fur, and with a firm grasp, pull out a rabbit by it's neck. It squirmed. Hysteria looked at the two, as Shi stuffed back in her purse. What the hell is that?" he asked, a bit upset that there wasn't any food in her purse.

"It's a kawaii' 'lil human-chan whose a bunny-chan!" Hysteia grabbed his arm, and squeezed it. "Can Hysteria keep the kawaii rabbit-chan?! PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE?!"

Shi tried to pry the death grip of Hysteria off of him. "I don't care! Just don't let anyone find it, especially Carnage. She'll probably use it for target practice. And you must feed it...hey what are you going to do with her? She has to change back sometime. What will you feed it," asked Shi.

CHOMP! Havoc suddenly pulled his hand back as Michael bit him. How dare he call him a "her"? Twice no less! Peeking his head up from the purse, Michael scanned the crowd, desperate to get a glimpse of Mamoru.

*

"Dangerous Dan!" Jedite screamed for the fourth time. A crowd of people had gathered near the radio booth. They shrugged. Jedite groaned and smacked his forhead with an open palm. He lowered his head on the desk.

"Never heard of me? I'm a famous member of the radio community. Dangerous Dan?" Everyone mumbled for a few minutes and shook their heads "no".

"I was on the Egg Foo Young and the Restless for three episodes last season. Guy with the zipper problem?" Everyone suddenly connected with that.

"Oh yeah! You were great!" they said. Jedite just cried.

Jedite watched the Three Lights perform almost absentmindedly. Something was seriously wrong with this picture. He hadn't been paying too much attention to Yaten backstage, so he never noticed something wrong with her. Yaten was called on stage, and now that Jedite thinks about it, she seems odd.

"It's almost like it's Yaten's body has changed proportions. But that would mean that Yaten is really a . . . . ." Jedite's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. He covered his face with his hand. "They never covered this in the manual."

Jedite sighed and signaled the Youma backstage and in the audience. With the flip of a switch, the musical instrumentation and amplifiers started to slowly draw energy from the crowd. Even if this Yaten thing was a bust, at least Jedite will get back to his old routine.

After the plan started to move, he motioned for the Youma to get ready to reveal their presence. Nobody will know what hit them.

As the concert progressed, Seiya noticed the audience start to nod off. "We're not that bad, are we?" He thought to himself. He looked around the crowd, and found that everyone was asleep. Except one. That 'Dangerous Dan' character that had given him the chills earlier.

"I wonder why HE isn't asleep, too..." Seiya's mind started to turn, and noticed similar expressions on Taiki and Yaten's faces. Then, he pieced it all together. Dangerous Dan showing up everywhere he and Yaten went. The odd feeling he received whenever Dangerous Dan was in the room. Him being the only one not asleep in the crowd.

He stopped playing. "It's YOU!" He yelled, pointing at Dangerous Dan. "You're responsible for all this!" Taiki and Yaten stopped playing as well, and stood behind Seiya, ready to transform.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Rei looked from side to side. "I guess I should go back down." She trailed down the stairs and walked through some hallways. "The music suddenly stopped and that's something weird…" She walked around a small corner and looked out at the crowd. "What the!? What's this!?" She saw everyone asleep in the crowd. She ran out on to the stage. "Three Lights! What are you doing?"

*

Usagi saw that something strange was happening, but she couldn't truly say what was it all about. The Three Lights had stopped and it seemed as if they...were almost to transform? She was about to go out when her eyes started to close. Just like if her energy was leaving her body.

"What's wrong out there" She asked as she felt more and more tired "It's just like when the Negaverse...no, that's impossible..."

Usagi was almost asleep when a silver light came from her school briefcase. "This only could be...the Millenium Winged Wand..." She took it out to discover she was right. But why was it glittering? The silver light went inside her diamond henshin and two wings sprouted from it sides. Then the light left it and formed a silhouette of a Moon Queen she had seen once.

"Transform, Serenity-hime. You must help your friends." The specter said.

"Who are you?" Usagi asked.

"I'm Placidity, of the Gold Millenium...you must help your friends" She said, and then disappeared completely.

"I have to help them." She surrounded. "I...felt new energies...." She raised her hand up with the diamond crystal. "Moonlight Eternal, Serenity make up!"

*

"I must admit you've piqued my curiosity," Riot said, still up in his perch amidst the Tokyo Tower's metal framework. "That was certainly a sight I wouldn't have conceived even in my wildest games."

Chaos' eyes narrowed. "What do you want, Riot?"

It if was a bribe the Elven wanted then he was in no position to debate the issue. If the rest of Court learned of this there would be hell to pay. Carnage would definitely make use of this in more ways than he cared to imagine.

Instead of a demand, Chaos was given another question. "What was she?" Riot asked in response, crossing his arms over his chest. "An old opponent? Another girl you flirted with shamelessly during your games?"

Chaos was solemn, silent. He shook his head. "Lie. There is no other way to explain it, and I won't insult you by making up lies and excuses. She was my lover."

He waited for a reaction, one of anger or indignation, one of hurt or betrayal. It surprised him to hear Riot actually chuckling to himself the way those twins always did in one of their games.

"Actually," Riot remarked, hopping down from the steel girder. "That explains a lot. I knew that look in your eyes this morning when you first saw her. At first I wasn't sure what to think; I had seen those eyes in many humans I've played my romantic games with, but never before in your eyes. It's a new look for you."

"Looked almost too foreign to believe, I know," Chaos agreed. "Hell, this is still a strange feeling for me."

Riot closed in the gap between them, both Elven mages now at the edge of the observation deck with the ground far below them. "What you have to say to me now will only find its way to my brother," he stated. "No one else unless you choose to speak it yourself."

Chaos nodded. "Reasonable enough."

And so he began his tale: "Almost twenty-seven hundred years ago she was Sailor Decrescent Light. She was one of the Senshi charged with stopping our Court from wreaking all hell across the solar system as we established ourselves as the greatest guild of Elven game masters in the history of our race."

Riot grinned. "Ah, yes, the good old days of the Court of Chaos. I remember it well."

A dark smile crept onto Chaos' face. "You don't remember it well enough. Because of the power of that...Imperium Crystal or whatever the talisman was that the Moon Queens passed down their lines, the Senshi had near immortal lives."

That got a shrug from Riot. "Why else did they make great players for us? They lived as long if not longer than we did, so the challenge of one-upping them became more invigorating each time we played."

"Shinrai was around almost as long as I was," Chaos continued. "And her very first battle was against me in one of my very first games as the Elven lord of Chaos."

He sighed, leaning back and stretching out his arms to the clouds as if wanting to spread wings and fly. It was in his power to do so, yet Riot recognized this action. To catch that one beautiful thought, that captivating dream before descending into the hellish nightmares that would follow it.

"Oh, how exquisite she was!" Chaos said, still offering himself up to the skies. "Such a vibrant breath that moved through her body. After our game ended in a stalemate and I was forced to lick my wounds, I found myself closing my eyes and retracing every last inch of her body and praying that the next Senshi to try and crash my game would be her so I could pay her back in full. Not much time passed before I found her interfering with another game of mine. We fought as before, Senshi against Elven, and she managed to pin my back and my hands to ground. I can recall gazing into her eyes, my breath coming in heated pants from the duel. She had beaten me in my own game. I was furious that this Sailor Decrescent Light had done this to me. And I could see that in her eyes she was furious with me for making her fight like this. The next instant we were passionately kissing each other."

Riot's smile broadened once more. "Interesting way for opponents to react in a fight. The heat of battle always precipitates the heat of passion, Chaos. You should have known that after all you're flirting."

"Hai hai," Chaos agreed. "But this time it was different. That kiss was more than my own flirting...something I can't describe even now. I ended that game myself, sudden and abrupt. And as she slowly walked away, casting second glances at me from over her shoulder, I found myself whispering her name upon my lips. I was fascinated by her prowess as a Sailor Senshi for playing my games, but I was more so captivated by her as a beautiful young woman. It was a forbidden romance we harbored, an affair that neither side would have allowed, one that we seemed to enjoy more because of the

danger in getting caught. Not that we were reckless; both of us were torn between our love and our loyalties. I to my games, and her to her Queen.

"Yet humans and Elven aren't exactly the most compatible of species," Riot countered. "I as a romantic GameMaster know this, hence the reason I change facades so easily."

Chaos nodded. "I know. Which is why I became a human male through illusion whenever I met with her--in a game or in shadows and darkness when we were certain no one was watching. In time I created games in which only Shinrai could properly hope to defeat me."

"As I recall most of those games were stalemates," Riot remarked evenly. "And yet when we asked to test our skills against her you were quite adamant about making her only your opponent."

Chaos lowered his arms, returning to meet Riot's gaze. "I wasn't about to let you go after her; Carnage would have certainly killed Shinrai. But in my games there was a safety of knowing we were alone. But as the decades passed we grew bolder. On occassion I gave her the illusion of being an Elven and led her through our illusionary palace. And once she even took me to a royal ball at the Moon Palace. I slipped by without anyone knowing my true form, and danced with her beneath a pale crescent moon."

Riot stiffened. "Chaos," he said solemnly. "That was a hell of a dangerous thing to do. You know full well that to become a human outside of playing a game with them is viewed as an act of treason by our race."

"One man's treason is another's reason for living," Chaos replied evenly.

"She was killed though," Riot countered. "I know it; you told the Court so yourself."

Chaos stared up at the blue heavens, at the clouds rolling through a sea of sunlight. "Hai. She was indeed killed...by me."

He glanced back over his shoulder at Riot. "Do you remember the game I hosted that crowned me as the last great Elven Playking?"

Ruckus nodded in reply.

"That night when I was dancing with her I saw the Queen holding it, it's magic radiating across the entire ballroom. It captivated me, and I was inspired to play the greatest game I had ever conceived. I stole

what was said to be impossible to steal. For a short time I and I alone was the only Elven to ever hold Queen Placidity's Golden Imperium Crystal in my hands. I took it as well as myself inside an illusion

where I could work with it in privacy on the ghostly planet of Aurora."

"Aurora...." Riot whispered to himself, mulling over a forgotten memory. He quickly recovered and looked back up at Chaos. "Mars' sister planet," he said. "I must admit that while I admired your accomplishment, I mourned the loss of such a garden paradise. Do you have any idea how hard it was for Ruckus and I to find a suitable replacement to play our games in?"

"It couldn't be helped at the time," Chaos answered. "The Golden Crystal's magic and our Elven magik don't exactly coincide. In fact they're rather unfriendly with each other. I learned the hard way when I tried to harness its power with an illusion. That triggered a burst of light which to this day still haunts me. Had I remained so close to the crystal, you would have found me grave Elven the next day. And then there she was. Shinrai pulled me out from the surge of magic before it destroyed me. She was desperate to protect me, and I was grateful for what she did. But all too quickly I realized the implications of her presence."

"What about the other Senshi?"

"What about them?" Chaos asked in return. "No one knew that I was the thief. My illusions were far too clean and clever for them to detect. Yet she instinctively knew it was me, and she came just as my illusion

began to crack from the unbridled energy of the Golden Crystal. Oh, and with an explosion like that I tell you the entire galaxy must have been shaken awake. A mistake became the ultimate testimony to my game. And so I was prepared to let it's magic continue out of control. But I never thought she would enter an illusion. I had given her a crystal that acted as a key to all my illusions if I had created a world for a game and then sealed if off to outsiders. It was her chance to slip inside so no one could tell what was going on inside, everyone assuming it to be another battle. She was the only one to ever have such access; not even you of my Court have such a power.

"Shinrai begged me to use my powers to help her seal the Golden Crystal's magic, to then return it to her Queen. She told me she would never let the others know who had taken the crystal. And then she kissed me, buried her head in my robes and whispered that she wanted to be with me forever. If I could just help her stop the countdown, or at least snuff our as much of the blast as I possibly could, she would leave behind her henshin."

His stopped, a small shimmer falling down the side of his face. For a long time there was silence, the distant winds the only audible sound that could be heard. It was one of the few times in his life that Chaos was without tricks or illusions. Here his soul was laid bare.

"I walked away and left Aurora. She remained and tried to stop the damage that would inevitably be wreaked," he began once more. "The final detonation of its magic killed her instantly. My illusion shattered, the blast magnified by my own magik being unbound from the inside out. The planet itself and all life on it was destroyed, shattering like one of my orbs into a million fragments of cold rock. Forests, oceans, fields: all were incinerated. Animals, birds, fish: all were torn apart. People, kingdoms, nobility: all breathed their last in a sudden scream."

Riot kept his level gaze with Chaos. "The Asteroid Belt. No one else was ever able to top a game like that. And afterwards the Queen set up a group of Asteroid Senshi to protect the remains of that planet, to honor the dead."

Chaos' eyes returned to the sweeping panorama of the city, the Elven lord kneeling down at the egde of the observation deck. "She looked at me in that final moment, pleading for me to turn back, to help stop what I had already set into motion. And then I turned my back on her. I walked out from that chamber and left her alone."

Riot had to be careful; Chaos was at a vulnerable time. Vulnerable people often acted out of impulse and anger. And one like Chaos was not the sort to be around when angry given his powers.

"And that upsets you now?" he asked, more for Chaos' sake than to be cruel. The Elven Playking was not accustomed to such feelings, and Riot had to maneuver his way through with care.

Chaos's anger suddenly exploded as he whirled, smashing a crystal orb against the Tokyo Tower. Shards sparkled in the sunlight as they tumbled across the floor, the glass fragments bursting and suddenly growing wings before flying off as ravens. His emerald eyes were on fire, burning with memories of a past he no longer wanted to see when he dreamed.

"You're damned right I'm upset!" he hissed. "She loved me! She was willing right there to deny her world as a soldier and stay with me if I stopped the game, and I walked away from her. I betrayed not only her, but myself. Her tears have haunted me ever since then, and it was those tears I saw in my mind over and over while I slept within my Pandora Box."

There was a long silence as Chaos looked out onto the shimmering outline of the city. Riot smiled sadly to himself; he knew what would happen in the end. His brother and him learned long ago the intricacies of dealing with romances, and could predict the outcome with uncanny accuracy. The question of Chaos' soul will surface again, and will be answered. Riot wished as little pain on Chaos as was needed, for his choice would not be an easy one. "Ask me again why I was possessed when I saw her face," Chaos said quietly, "Ask me again, Riot."

"Why?"

Chaos looked back at Riot, grin appeared on his face, bitter and dark.

"Because Shinrai has been reborn. Fate has been sadistically courteous enough to give me another chance to betray her, for once again we meet on opposite sides of the playing field."

*

Seiya whirled around as Rei entered the stage. "Che!" Seiya cursed,realizing that Rei would become yet another target. "Get the hell off the stage, Rei-chan! This is OUR fight!"

Seiya turned back to 'Dangerous Dan.' "Just who the hell do you think you are? This was supposed to be our homecoming concert, but thanks to you, it's ruined! You'll pay for that!" Seiya reached inside his red blazer and pulled out his henshin. "Fighter Star Power, Make UP!"

"Dangerous Dan" lifted his head to the stage with a smug grin on his face. From his seat, Mamoru watched in shock as Dangerous Dan disappeared in a teleportation effect and re-appeared on the amphitheater ceiling as Jedite.

"I'm terribly sorry to bust up your little party, but I have some rather pressing business that cannot wait." Jedite raised his hand and threw a ball of dark energy down to the stage that sent the Three

Lights scattering.

Jedite grinned and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a dozen youma sprang out of nowhere, at the same time the musical amplifiers vanished.

"Forgive me for leaving so abruptly, but I think they'll be more than happy to play with you. See ya!" Jedite vanished again and the Youma started making their way, centering on Yaten.

The Youma all rushed Yaten and were about to grab him/her when a rose came out of nowhere, startling a few of them so they all ended up colliding instead of grabbing Yaten. They looked up and saw Tuxedo Kamen standing in the rafters, looking down at them.

Just as he was about to say something inspirational, he spotted Sailor Moon out of the corner of his eye and found himself speechless.

"Usako....."

Yaten just stared at the pile of unconscious youma. He wondered why that guy had gone through the trouble to either capture him, or do him in. He looked up to see Mask Boy distracted. He muttered a curse and reached into his light blue jacket, only to find a ball of lint.

"Great..Just great, Kou..." He sighed, remembering that he couldn't get into his dressing room, where his henshin and sword were.

Yaten looked around, and sighed. Maybe he could pull off being a hero without his fuku.

Yaten went into a defensive stance, as he watched the citizens running in fear.

All he could do was sigh and shake his head.

"Alright, geniuses. What'd we do now?!" Yaten shouted to Sailor StarFighter and Taiki.

StarFighter looked at Yaten, and sighed. "Of all the times to forget your henshin, Yaten.." She muttered. Then she spun around, noticing Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon staring at each other, and realized that she was pretty much on her own for the time being.

She dove into the pile of youma who were surrounding her friend, fighting them off with all she had, but realizing immediately that she was fighting a losing battle. The youma increased, and StarFighter began to weaken. She couldn't keep this up much longer. She noticed Yaten attempting to fend them off without his henshin, and silently admired his courage.

Yaten and StarFighter were backed into a corner, surrounded by about two dozen youma. As soon as one was destroyed, two more took its place. "We may not live through this one," StarFighter thought grimly.

"If we don't get some help soon, we will most definitely be destroyed." She said to Yaten, not even attempting to hide the inevitable. "Hey, Mask Boy and Sailor Moon! Snap out of it! We could -ah!- use your help about now!" She shouted to the two, barely dodging a swipe of the larger youma's claws. "And Taiki, get your butt over here!"

If only help would arrive...

Taiki sighed. "Well, can't hurt for me to transform, either. Yaten... where did you put your henshin?"

"I don't KNOW!" yelled Yaten, frustrated.

After the impressive ^^ assortment of colors, Maker looked at all the knocked out youmas. "Tell you what. Since it seems like Mask Boy and Fighter have things under control, I'll go look for it in the wings, where you were before."

With that, Maker bounded off the stage.

Rei frowned at Seiya and then backed up. "What am I going to do. Let them be heroes? Or kick some Youma." Rei grinned happily. "I'll take number two! FIRE, MAKE UP!" Rei transformed and slowly went back onto the stage. She looked at the some fleeing people and some asleep. "What happened, anyway? If the Starlights transformed, it must mean they didn't do it and are fighting. Rei looked to the back of the stage. "All right, Rei. You can do this. FLAME SNIPER!" Rei brought her huge arrow to go first. She flung it at the feet of the Youma around Yaten and Seiya. The flame burst up catching them all on fire and turning them to dust. "So Seiya, do you still need my help?"

Hysteria's eyes grew dark. Someone was trying to kill her kawaii little idol singers! She scratched behind the Michael-rabbit's ears and stood in the back of the theater. No one noticed that she was there, not even Havoc. She had felt the pull of someone trying to access her energy, and she was a little weak from it, but she didn't care.

Her ears elongated to their rightful shape and her eyes narrowed, glinting with a bit of anger. Her face returned to the narrow and sharp features that were Hysteria's and Hysteria's alone. The Michael-rabbit stirred curiously in her purse, and she straightened it on her shoulder; buttoning it tightly closed so that Michael couldn't escape. She slowly walked down the isle, stepping over sleeping people, filled with a deep contempt for these wretched beings. Attacking idol singers was the most unkawaii thing that could possibly happen!

"Hey!" She yelled at the people fighting on stage, "What do you unkawaii people-chans think you're doing!?" Her battle aura was shimmering dangerously. Rei looked towards the source of such high pitched anger and almost collapsed. No one seemed to notice her presence except Rei, who really couldn't stop what she was doing.

"Kawaii little Hysteria asked you, 'what-do-you-think-you're-doing???'" she screamed at the top of her lungs. This got hardly any attention.

The energy around her was blowing her hair all over the place behind her. Her eyes flared at the fact that no one seemed to care. 'If they don't stop this unkawaii fighting, kawaii little Hysteria will just have to stop it for them,' she thought to herself. 'Besides, no one has the right to do such unkawaii things to such kawaii idol-singer-chans!'

Another Youma, standing near the popcorn machine, shrieked as he watched his friends go up in smoke. What was with those Sailor Senshi anyway? Don't they know the meaning of the word "moderation"?

Silently, he used his power to alter the shape and purpose of the popcorn machine. Aiming it at Sailor Mars, he let loose with a barrage of light, buttery popcorn. Sailor Mars had enough time to let out a short "eek!" before being buried.

The remaining Youma watched the Senshi and the weird, elf girl with confusion. What the HELL was going on?! Who were all these people and who were they supposed to grab again?

The three Youma girls that Jedite originally sent out to find Yaten Kou were hiding backsage. This was not a good time to be running around like a headless chicken. The lead singer suddenly becoming a girl in hot pants, a Senshi appearing with a rather powerful attack, and the elf …what a circus.

"What are we going to do now? Master Jedite's not going to like this." The one with the long orange hair said. She and the one with the green bangs watch the fight carefully.

"Maybe this would help." They turned to the third, who was fiddling with a fuse box. All of a sudden, all the lights in the amphitheater went out. As confusion reigned, they raced onstage, bopped Yaten on the head, and dragged him/her away.

"I feel like a spider," complained Maker to no one in particular, as she jumped from rails to balconies to floors and stairs, looking for Yaten's henshin.

"I swear, I'm going to give Yaten a piece of my mind when this is done on losing transformation objects- Ah ha!"

Maker pulled out the winged henshin, which looked like it had lodged itself into the metal net covering over the stage. Maker leaned on a light stand. "Wonder what it's doing up here?"

Just then, she saw a monster out of the corner of her eye, messing with the control switches. "Hey!" she yelled, charging towards her as the lights went out.

In a swift movement of a yelp, a grunt, a swish and what have you, Maker turned the lights as Fighter screamed to. The monster was hanging over the side, trying to climb up.

"Don't think so," said Maker simply, prying her hands off of it.

In a last attempt to save grace, the youma grabbed onto Maker's arms, and pulled her over. With a yell, Maker went over the edge, shouting "STAR GENTLE UTERUS!"

In such a close shot, it blew apart, as Maker ungracefully tangled a leg in light wires. There she was, the idol singer, the Starlight of Grace, swinging upside down like a pendulum.

"This really stinks..."

She saw a small girl on stage from afar, and wondered where the fight had gone to. "Uh, hey, girl!" She shouted downstage. The girl was wearing a hideously cute outfit, and looked up. "Ano, would you get me down?! Please?"

Sailor StarFighter was now officially confused. First, Mars shows up, and nearly fries her and Yaten along with all the Youma. Then, Hysteria shows up, shrieking something about 'Kawaii idolsinger-chans,' and nearly destroys his eardrums. NOW, this other Youma shows up, covers Mars in popcorn, and somehow manages to get all the lights out.

StarFighter fumbled around in the darkness, and felt around for Yaten. He wasn't there. Then, she heard a loud thump, and a shriek. It was Yaten. Quickly, StarFighter ran toward the sound, and found an unconscious Yaten being dragged by yet ANOTHER youma.

"Hold on a second!" StarFighter yelled. Everyone froze. "First off, I don't know WHO you people are, or why you want Yaten, but you're NOT getting my friend!" She closed her eyes, and prayed to God for patience. "And TURN THOSE LIGHTS BACK ON!" The lights flickered on, revealing the now battered stage. Popcorn and various other scraps were strewn everywhere, curtains were torn to shreds, and expensive equipment was ruined beyond repair.

"Hiro's going to have my hide for this mess..." StarFighter mumbled. She whirled around, and caught the youma trying to sneak off with Yaten. "I don't think so! If you want my friend, you're going to go through ME first!"

Seiya grabbed Yaten, and stepped between him and the youma in a defensive stance.

This had been a very confusing day, but StarFighter refused to allow the enemy the upper hand. Ten to one, they were just as confused as she was. At least, she hoped they were.

"Okay! That's the last straw!!" yelled Hysteria at everyone on the stage. She couldn't take this anymore, not at all. This was all just so unkawaii and she couldn't handle it anymore.

"Kawaii Killer Butterfly Attack!!!!!!" screamed Hysteria, letting a great deal of the power she had left surge for her attack.

Thousands of butterflies came from no-where, forming into a gigantic butterfly. Hysteria didn't care where the attack went, just as long as all the unkawaiiness stopped! The enormous butterfly started attacking everyone and everything, causing great damage and scaring half the people who were conscious in the room.

Just then, she felt lightheaded. Her butterfly attack was going into a craze, and the world started spinning. Apparently, her anger had gone to her head. Mixed with the amount of power she put into the attack, she fell onto her knees- quite nausious.

"Now will you stop for kawaii little Hysteria?" she weakly pleaded.

"Iiiitai....", Yaten moaned as he slowly woke up, feeling the back of her head. The last thing he remembered was the lights going out and a sharp pain at the base of his head. He felt pain everywhere, from his face to his feet, and noticed that he had been slashed in many places. Nothing fatal, but it was serious enough for him to get worried.

He got up painfully, and staggered out the door. Hoping that Sailor StarFighter couldn't see him like this.

Actually, he hoped that no one would see him like this.

Sailor Moon looked at Tuxedo Kamen. She never expected to find him there. She felt that all the new energies she'd received were leaving her body and again, sadness started to posses her soul but...

'What am I doing? I can't let this happen again. I need to help the Starlights!' She thought and recovered.

Then, she holded the Millenium Winged Wand next to her chest and yelled:

"Eternal Moon Shade!"

With her new attack, she could destroy a couple of youmas in front of her.

"Where did they come from?" she asked to herself "It can't be Beryl again!"

Everything was so confusing. What was happening and why?

StarFighter was still staring down the youma, waiting for their response, when she noticed that Yaten was starting to move. Before she could do anything, Yaten was at the door, apparently trying to escape.

"Yaten, wait! You can't risk it! Stay where you are!" StarFigher commanded.

Yaten gave StarFighter a dirty look. "What and trust YOU with my life? Thanks, but no thanks Fighter." He turned back to the door, making a disgusted noise in StarFighter's direction.

StarFighter was completely taken aback. Why was Yaten doing this? And why, of all times, now? "What is WITH you, Yaten? I'm trying to help you!"

Yaten widened his eyes. "HELP me? Look at me! This is where your 'help' has gotten me so far!" He took in all his injuries with a singe gesture.

StarFighter shook her head. "This is no time to argue, Yaten! We can talk about this AFTER we're done with the youma!"

Yaten, pretending not to hear his partner, turned his back to the room, and his friend. StarFighter sighed. "What's next?" She asked, afraid of the answer.

StarFighter shook her head. "This is no time to argue, Yaten! We can talk about this AFTER we're done with the youma!"

Yaten barely heard Sailor StarFighter as he stumbled out the exit.

"Some friends I have..." He sighed, trying to cover his wounds with ripped pieces of his blazer. He wiped off some of the blood that dripped from the scar on his cheek, and looked back to see StarMaker swinging from the ceiling, and sniffed. Yaten thought he heard a noise coming from behind him, and whirled around only to find a brick wall in front of him.

He was standing in the middle of an alley.

"Hello, Are you Yaten Kou?", A voice, that belonged to a blonde girl, asked.

"Yeah..What's it to you?" He snapped back.

"A friend of ours, a talent agent, wants to know if you've available." Yaten's eyes narrowed. He had to be really carefull since he was the one that those youma were after.

"Well, I'm not. Got it?", The girl smiled broadly and teleported behind him, putting Yaten into a lock. Yaten was so surprized at the girl's streangth and speed that he didn't have time to react.

"I'm so sorry about this, Mr. Kou...but you're needed..." and with that, the girl youma and Yaten vanished in thin air.

Tuxedo Kamen watched Sailor Moon with moist eyes. He had been unable to tear his gaze from her. It was only until some curious Youma started playing with his cape did he snap back to reality.

Taking his cane, he backhanded the youma a few times until it crumpled into a heap. Tuxedo Kamen looked left and right, noticing that Jedite had taken his leave. Tuxedo Kamen cursed himself for not catching him in time. Then, he noticed that Yaten was missing to.

"Yaten?" Looking around, Tuxedo Kamen got worried. "Has anyone seen Yaten Kou? .....aw, nuts!" Tuxedo Kamen ran backstage, searching for some sign of the person he was supposed to be watching, instead of staring at Usagi.

Some Youma attempted to tackle him, but Mamoru jumped over her. Tuxedo Kamen was starting to get frantic. Everything was going wrong today. Michiru seemed out of it, Yaten might have been kidnapped,

Usagi is upset, and where the hell did Michael go?

Meanwhile, an exhausted Hysteria stumbled after her purse, which seemed to be hopping away on it's own violation.

*

With all the calamities of the gender-benders on stage and the effects of the last slow song... 'Shi' had fallen asleep. It was a blissful sleep, where he was smiting rabbits left and right, the fair Hotaru by his side. Ah, now what a way to-

'Shi' was abruptly woken up to find him and the remains of his chair flying through the air. Needless to say, the fighting had begun, and nobody felt like telling him!

He landed in a heep, his chair laced with residual magik. He looked up to see Hysteria kicking ass all by herself on stage against two girls in leather, a sailor senshi he knew that was...Mars? Or was that Venus?? (He forgot!), one of the singers, and a bunch of....

"What the hell are those?!" said Havoc to no one in particular as he rised from his spot. As Hysteria dropped to the stage, however, his mood change to elven protector (rowr!)

As he ran down the stairs to the stage, the ample breeze blew away his human disguise, and his sword leapt off his neck, and enlarged in his hands. Oyt of the corner of his eye, he saw an ugly monster heading towards him.

^-^ "Finally!"

with one motion, he cleaved it in half, and began viciously pummeling one that was heading towards Hysteria.

After a good workout of smiting monsters, Havoc turned to see that he and Hysteria were the only ones on stage, save the sailor woman. The leather babes and the singer had split.

"Hysteria? Hay, Hysteria-chan?" asked Havoc, a hint of worry in voice. "Are you okay?

Her reply was to go after a bag that was supiciously hopping away.

Havoc smacked his head. "Yeah, you're fine..."

He turned his attention to the raven-haired sailor on stage. "Mars...right?" he pointed at her across stage with his blade.

"Hay! I wanna get down!!"

Havoc looked up to see one of the leather babes trapped in a wire. He laughed, and launhed his blade at her. She cringed as it sliced neatly threw the wire, then screamed as she headed towards the floor.

Hysteria heard it, and cried, "KAWAII!!" She threw out a trampoline covered with hearts underneath the leather girl, who bounced into a nearby wall. Her body parts twitched.

"Oopsies! Gomen nasai!"

Havoc laughed! He had smited a good number of things, it was a good day. Turning back to the sailor senshi though, she had left the stage, and was running up the steps.

"Man....Hysteria, let's beat it. We've had our fun for one day..."

"Okay Havoc-chan!" squealed Hysteria, running down from the stairs to givie Havoc a highfive. He grinned and took off running towards the door, but Hysteria felt she was, again, forgetting something.

"Oops, gomen Havoc-chan," she said as she darted off towards a crumpled chair, "Hysteria's rabbit-chan is under a chair!" With that she picked up her purse, which was squirming with the excited Michael-rabbit within its tight grasp. Her attention was so easily distracted in times of intensity that it sometimes drove *her* nuts as well as others!

She slung the purse over her shoulder and darted up to Havoc, who was pretty much at the door. The auditorium looked like an indoor tornado had taken vengeance, with a few butterflies straggling out the windows from her own attack, floor slightly smoking, and people all over the place on the floor.

Chairs were flung in every direction, and the curtains seem to have been torn and strewn across the balcony, stage, and orchestral pit. Hysteria wrinkled her nose, but knew that nothing could be done, this place was so unkawaii to start with.

"Havoc-chan? Did Hysteria-chan stop any of the unkawaii-ness?" she asked. Havoc seemed to be in an extremely good mood as they walked down the sidewalk to some new destination. "Yea, but how come you got all the fun!? Wake me up next time!" Havoc responded. He playfully whacked Hysteria's arm in mock anger.

"Gomen-nasai Havoc-chan, but there was such an unbearable amount of unkawaii-ness that I-" she started, but Havoc cut her off.

"I want to know who that guy was, and where Hotaru went," he muttered.

Suddenly, the Michael-rabbit started making some violent movements. Hysteria bobbled left and right, trying to compensate for the swing of her purse. She squeaked as it made a sharp and heavy swing that she wasn't prepared for.

"Are you okay!?" asked a puzzled Havoc.

Hysteria looked at him and grinned more like an idiot than anything and said something to the affect of "Yes, Havoc-chan!? Why wouldn't kawaii little Hyst...e..ria be alright?!"

Havoc gave her purse a rather inquisitive look. It swang violently, and Hysteria seemed to be trying to calm down the purse, which seemed very much alive. Abruptly, Hysteria plopped down on the grass and opened the purse to scold the rabbit.

"Little rabbit-chan! Calm down for kawaii little Hysteria! Hysteria-chan's not in the mood for this!" reprimanded Hysteria. Her expression told her emotional state plain as day: don't mess with me, for I can kick ass.

Havoc's eyes grew wide with faint surprise. He *thought* she had said something about a rabbit, but wasn't too sure. Of course it would be a human- turned-rabbit! And when did this spell wear off? Oh, three hours if he remembered correctly. That gave them almost one more hour left before the human had the problem of becoming herself again in Hysteria's grasp. He almost pittied that poor human. Hysteria sighed and proceeded to walk with a calmed down purse, for the moment.

"Don't tell me you're going to keep that thing?" questioned Havoc, knowing the answer.

Hysteria jumped up and down with glee. "Oh yes, yes, yes, Havoc-chan! Can kawaii little Hysteria please keep such a kawaii little rabbit-chan as her pet-chan!?" she pleaded.

"Yeah, I guess. Don't blame me if Chaos kicks it out. What's going to happen in an hour?" Havoc answered.

Hysteria took on a perplexed expression. She had completely forgotten about the time limit. What *was* she going to do when the spell wore off? She pondered for a few moments, twisting her face to her thoughts.

"Hysteria supposes she will just have to feed her kawaii rabbit-chan more chocolate?" she finally stated.

Havoc sighed. NOW he really pittied the poor girl-rabbit thing.

Havoc quickly donned his 'Shi' disguise with every step. She let her form drift back into human form as they started hearing sirens heading to the amphitheater. The sun was starting to get low in the sky as Havoc slid so easily into his role. Together, Keiko and Shi walked as the sun sunk lower, sprawling pinks and purples and electric blues across the horizon.

"Havoc-chan?" Keiko asked daydreaming.

"Yes?" Shi asked.

"Do you think that Chaos will be mad at kawaii little Hysteria because of all the kawaii damage she caused with such kawaii butterflies?" she weakly asked.

"Angry? Nah. Pissed? Probably," Shi stated, gazing at the sky.

The sky began to take on gold hues and the blues darkened while the first bright star appeared way over their heads. They switched back to their normal forms after awhile; it was dark enough to not notice the ears and such. Hysteria soon broke the peaceful silence.

"Hysteria-chan's going to be in big trouble," she murmured.

"So? You kicked serious ass! Well, until I woke up, you were," Havoc cheerfully exclaimed.

Hysteria smiled and the sun went down, dotting the sky with bright stars and hardly any clouds. The wind was blowing nicely and the air was crisp with excitement. After another short, sweet silence, Hysteria spoke.

"Oh, where are we going, Havoc-chan?" she asked, gazing at the sky. "Are there any other kawaii concert-chans?"

Havoc sighed, contented for the moment. "Let's go home, Hysteria. Oh, and don't let let Carnage see you pet rabbit; she'll probably barbeque it with her Razor's Edge or something."

Hysteria squeezed the bag tightly. "Not my kawaii 'lil rabbit-chan!" she cried.

"Ano, Hysteria, don't crush it. It needs to breathe, too."

"Oh!" Hysteria yanked out the bunny by its ears. "Gomen nasai, rabbit-chan!"

The rabbit was trembling all over, when Havoc made a discovery.

"Hay," he said, grabbing at the rabbit's face. It tried to bite him, but he was too quick this time. Havoc looked at the thing in his hand.

"Hysteria...these glasses...they're familiar...why is your rabbit wearing glasses?"

Hysteria gave Havoc a grin; which could mean anything.

Slowly, Havoc pocketed the glasses, and the two teleported themselves to their realm...home.

*

After a rather frustrating argument/fight with Yaten, StarFighter turned around and released her anger on the oncoming youma. Punching, kicking, and generally hurting the youma, she was distracted and didn't notice a youma approaching Yaten. The next time she turned around, Yaten was gone.

"Yaten!" StarFighter yelled, not really expecting an answer. Upon receiving no response, she began to search for her friend. Before she could get very far, she was tackled by yet another youma. She backhanded the youma a couple times, and eventually caused it to crumple up on the floor, only to be replaced by two more youma.

StarFigher sighed. Nothing was going to be accomplished at this rate. "At least the senshi attendance rate is growing." She remarked, noticing the new additions to the fight. Maybe now, they stood a chance. Maybe...

*

For the longest time, Yaten felt nothing. It seemed to last forever and be only a moment. The dimensional shift was brutal, since Yaten was not accustomed to that kind of travel.

One instant, Yaten was standing near the amphitheater. The next, he was in a very cold place. Yaten found himself in a huge throne room, with a rather familiar figure sitting cross-legged on the jeweled throne. It was the same man who had attacked Rei and Ami at the temple and had appeared to attack the Three Lights. The one disguised as "Dangerous Dan".

The throne room was filled with murmuring people; youma to be exact. They all stared, interested, at Yaten for some reason. He felt uncomfortable with so many alien eyes gazing upon him with such intensity, yet almost reverently for some reason.

Jedite looked up from his crossword puzzle and smiled. Motioning to the Youma, Jedite stood and took a few steps forward.

"Welcome, Yaten Kou, to the Dark Kingdom." he said with a sweeping gesture and rather smug grin. The Youma kept Yaten from going anywhere as Jedite casually walked around the room. Jedite has a soothing voice, but it wasn't really useful when someone was as angry as Yaten.

"We are especially honored to be in the presence of royalty. You are a member of a very distinguished line; the granddaughter of our exhaulted Queen Metallia. She was the leader of the Dark Kingdom for many centuries and was an . . . inspiration to us all."

Yaten listened angrily. He sounded awful smug for some reason.

"Alas, Metallia is no longer with us and the reigns of power have been passed to me."

Ah, there it was. This guy was a real humanitarian. Yaten glared angrily at Jedite, his wounds aching. The Youma's grip was tight and he was too weak from Hysteria's maniacal butterfly to attempt an

escape at this time.

"What do you want?!" Yaten snarled. Jedite moved back in mock shock at Yaten's tone of voice.

"Why, I've asked you here to make you a very attractive offer! You see, as the new ruler of the Dark Kingdom, I feel it is necessary to follow established protocols and recruit some generals. I want you to

be my first."

What followed was a string of insults that succeeded in making most of the Youma blush and Jedite turn his head. Yaten panted when he was finished. Jedite just stared for awhile before shaking his head.

"You . . . don't need to decide right now. You can tell me your answer when you wake up." Jedite waved his hand and Yaten suddenly found himself unable to stay awake. The Youma carried Yaten off and Jedite thought to himself for a moment.

"Better find him a uniform to wear. I think Yaten is Zoicite's size....ah, that's almost a pun. Still, after a little attitude adjustment, he'll be ready to go." Before the Youma was out of earshot, Jedite called out again.

"See if you can find out why Yaten Kou is a 'he'! And remove it if you can!" The Youma left with Yaten and Jedite shook his head.

"This job is going to give me gray hair."

*

Mayhem sat slouched in his chair at the Dragon table, his feet propped up on the tabletop, it rather looked like he had fallen asleep.

This was not the case. He had found that Carnage was the only other Elven present at the moment and since he had no desire to speak to her, he had lapsed into a state of intense concentration, all his senses, regular and magical, hypersensitive.

His eyes snapped open, as he stood up suddenly. He had detected someone teleporting to the Realm. It most definitely felt like Ruckus' magic...but someone else was with him, someone he couldn't quite place, although their aura was tantalizingly familiar....

He decided it would be best to hide himself and see what was about to happen. Moving quickly to a dark corner of the meeting room, his body seemed to melt into the shadows, obscuring him from sight.

Ami landed in a crouch on what seemed to be a marble floor. A few petals of pink blew by her face, and she knew Ruckus had landed, too.

"Where are we?" she asked, standing up.

Ruckus, only smiled, & took Ami's hand. They walked down a long, lavishly decorated hallway, where paintings and lush tapestries adorned the walls. The two made their way to a large center room, in which all the halls came to an end, and in the middle was a large table in the shape of an ancient dragon.

Ruckus let go of Ami's hands and held his arms out in an attempt to encompass the entire room.

Mayhem's eyes widened in shock as he saw Ami in the company of one of the Twins. ~What the hell is going on?~ he thought.

"Welcome to our home, and what is left of the elven kingdom."

Instead of the usual awe and inspired look he had fancied, Ami tapped her foot in annoyance.

"I'm not so impressed," Ami said flatly, turning to Ruckus and pushing her glasses up. "I thought maybe this place would be more...elegant, more spectacular."

Ruckus grinned. "My dear, this is but our conference room, where we discuss our next games and whatnot. You haven't seen the true beauty of our realm yet, but you will. Just stay here for a moment, I need to get something."

Before Ami could protest Ruckus was gone in a swirl of cherry blossoms.

She froze for a moment, watching the petals, then huffed. "ALL males have to have an exit and an entrance, ne, Ami-chan?" she said to herself. A minute passed, two, so Ami walked over to the dragon shaped table and scrutinized it carefully.

~This...this is incredible!~

She ran a hand against the top slowly.

~The craftsmanship is unrivaled... this table looks so real that it almost seems alive...~

She swore the dragon was watching her, but she knew better than that. Then again…she didn't know much about this realm. Instead, she looked up and about, to see the occasional lamp being hung from the ceiling.

"Hey, wait a minute," she said to no one in particular. "That lamp has the the runes for... Hysteria!" She looked at another.

"Mayhem, Ruckus, Riot, Havoc...I remember these from the book! Chaos and..."

She swallowed, as she gazed up at a blood red lamp.

"Carnage...."

Mayhem smiled to himself as Ruckus left Ami alone. Just like him, to keep the girl wondering what was going to happen next. He was seriously considering revealing himself when a loud snarl made his head whip around to the archway.

"Carnage...." he whispered.

Carnage grumbled about intelligence or lack of such as she mulled through the hallways looking for something to vent her anger on.

She was still pissed off at Chaos for many things, and was rather irate that she didn't get to take it out on him. Of course, she would have a chance to smite him when he came home for the damn bells this morning!

She walked out of one hallway and into the next, her long robes dragging on the floor.

A moment passed.

Carnage whirled on her heels and looked back into the conference room. There, staring around with a dumbfounded look, was one of the sailor senshi she saw at the masquerade. In...her...home.

A glint of rage lit up in her eyes as they focused with keen instinct onto Ami. Her robes disappeared to reveal a battle fuku underneath, and with a viscous snarl Carnage made a mad dash for Ami.

Ami turned and gasped, as Carnage grabbed her by the throat and shook her viciously. Coughing sporadically, she aimed a kick at Carnage's side. Carnage shouted with the pain, dropping Ami, who quickly rolled away, gasping for air.

Mayhem started to drop his stealth spell, his battle aura starting to flicker to life about him. This was the last straw. He couldn't allow anyone, especially not Carnage, to hurt Ami!

Carnage snarled and leapt at Ami, unsheathing her claws and shrieking with bestial rage. "RAZOR'S EDGE!"

Ami looked up in time to see what could be Hell's Fury in a physical form.

His heart seemed to leap into his throat, he couldn't get his stealth spell down fast enough to cast a Leviathan to counter Carnage's attack, but....

Just then Ruckus appeared in front of Ami with a dark glint in his eyes, and he unleashed his own magik back at Carnage. "WIND'S COURAGE!" he shouted in defiance of the enraged elven lady. The two magik's collided and exploded in an array of fireworks and laser lights. Carnage was knocked back by the force of it, while a small fragment of her attack cut Ruckus across the torso.

Carnage was really ticked, she hadn't put up her defenses for the human hadn't even transformed. Ruckus' counter-attack had caught her off guard, and this only intensified her anger.

Mayhem let out the breath he'd been holding all at once and immediately pulled the spell back around him, hoping that no one had seen him. He was, for once, actually glad to see Ruckus arrive so quickly.

"What the hell is THAT doing here?!"

Ruckus narrowed his eyes. "None of your concern at the moment, Carnage, but I'd appreciate you treat my guest with respect," he said, helping Ami to her feet.

"Your 'guest' is the enemy!"

Ruckus stood tall despite the pain in his side, "This one is under my protection, and you will not harm her." Carnage recoiled back and readied herself to spring on Ruckus, "Then I guess that only leaves you," she hissed angrily.

The floor disappeared and was replaced by bamboo steps. Ami stepped back a few times in shock as Ruckus cart-wheeled and back flipped carelessly on the bamboo poles. Carnage leapt at him with her razor sharp claws. She was much stronger than Ruckus, but no one had the agility and balance that the twins possessed. After about twenty minutes of this, Carnage finally leapt to the ground panting and out of breath. Either too tired or bored with the fight, she growled at Ruckus and made her way back down one of the halls. The bamboo sticks disappeared and Ruckus leapt back down beside Ami.

"Don't mind her, she's been having a bad week. She just needed to vent on someone, though she'll be back to even the score later."

Ruckus said with a smile.

Ami just stood there, one hand on her throat. "Why...did I come in the first place?" she asked aloud.

Ruckus quickly waved the question aside, & pulled a dress out of thin air. He held it in front of Ami. "This, my dear, is for you to wear."

Ami came back to reality and looked at the dress, shaking her head. "I don't think it's, that is me."

"Oh, but you'll look beautiful in this."

Ruckus smiled as he handed her the dress. Ami looked over it with her brow furrowed, she looked back up at Ruckus whom only smiled more.

"It's not what I'm used to be seen in..."

"Or is it not what your...friends are used to?" countered Ruckus softly.

Ami turned to Ruckus; he had such an alluring gaze!

"Hai...that's true," she replied slowly, "they would probably fall on their faces to see me wear this...Do you really think it's beautiful?"

"Trust me."

Ami looked at Ruckus, then shrugged. She turned to look for a place to change when somehow, one appeared to her side, adorned in the runes for Ruckus. She gave him an arched eyebrow, but he simply turned his back, as a gentleman should.

Mayhem's eyes once again widened as he realized that Ruckus expected Ami to change right here and he also turned, facing the wall until Ami said that she was done.

Her mouth remained flat, as she changed her clothes to what Ruckus had given her.

A few moments later, Ami stepped out in a beautiful satin blue dress that went down just past her knees, and was cut in a v-shape with two straps at the top. She had on blue sandals that wrapped up past her ankle, with a silver flower adorned on the ankles.

A mirror appeared and she looked at herself in it...a frown appeared on her face.

"You look wonderful; now stop analyzing yourself," said Ruckus, taking off her glasses.

Ami looked at herself again in the mirror. "Really?"

Ruckus nodded a yes and Ami's cheeks burned slightly.

His breath caught in his throat, Mayhem could only stare as Ami emerged in her new clothes. He might seem like the most cold and calculating member of the Court, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate beauty when he saw it. He just wondered why he hadn't realized this part of her existed before....

"Now it's time to introduce you to our world."

"Our world?" Ami repeated.

"It can be...."

They disappeared in a swirl of cherry blossoms before Mayhem could hear Ruckus finish that sentence. His eyes narrowed in speculation. ~Why did he bring her here?~ ~It must have had something to do with that letter...~

Since no one was left in the room he dropped his spell and became visible once more. He crossed his arms over his chest and paced the length of the room once or twice. ~He's almost certainly taken her into his and Riot's part of the Realm. And I can't just go in there... Well, he must remember what I told him at the Ball, so he'll come to me eventually. Until then...~

He reversed his direction and walked out of the room down one of the many hallways, deep in thought....

* * *

The youmas start disappearing, just as if they have accomplished their mission.

Sailor Moon looked around her. Sailor Mars, Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor StarMaker and StarFighter were there. She really didn't realize Yaten was missing at that moment. What she was feeling was the urge of escaping. Of avoiding any encounter with Mamoru. Without any explanations, without looking back. She disappeared.

Why was she acting this way? She couldn't explain. As she arrived to Seiya's dressing room she became Usagi again. Her heart was beating fiercely inside her chest...she took her briefcase and wrote a note with a nervous font. "I can't stay. Thank you, Seiya. We might talk another time."

And then, she left the amphitheater.

* * *

"Wake up you toaster pastry! We missed the party!"

Ashe shook the sleep out of his mind and rubbed his eyes. He had a spot on his face where he fell asleep on his gun listening to something, ANYTHING other than the Three Lights on his Walkman™. He poked his head up and looked down at the amphitheater from his perch up top the rafters.

The place was a mess. Half the people were gone, the other half was leaving, and the whole place was covered with the obvious results of random acts of violence. Ashe hoped that was ketchup on the stage.

"So what in the name of The WB's savior Moesha were YOU doing the whole time?" he asked Amanda over the comlink built into his earring. She SHOULD have been down there tearing up the place like always.

"Uh..." she hesitated. "I didn't get a bloody chance to hurt anything. There were too many people in my way." She sounded pouty about it. Typical, seeing as how she was a bit sadistic.

"Awww, poor baby," Ashe taunted. "Wanna kick my ass?"

"Later," Amanda sighed. "I'm concerned. One of the Three Lights is gone!"

"Gone?" A little "sugoi!" effect appeared in hiragana above his head momentarily. "And this concerns me... how?"

Amanda's voice turned a little more evil. "Hey! That means no more concerts until he comes back!"

"May I remind you, sweetheart," Ashe said calmly as he packed up his rifle to leave, "that we're getting paid for a reason OTHER than saving a keyboardist?" And a bad one at that, he added in his mind.

"I have a feeling both of our problems are intertwined," Amanda pointed out.

Ashe started down the ladder to the floor of the concert hall. "How do y'all figger, honeybunny?"

"Aside from the fact that Yaten disappeared into thin air, a dozen Negaverse demons pop in, and a guy that... looks not unlike yourself turned into a rabbit?"

"Yeah, besides that."

"Just a hunch," Amanda said as she walked up to him. "And I so wanted to murder something."

"You never change," Ashe said. "C'mon, let's get out of here. The deodorant on these people is started to wear off. Besides, I think the pot smoke is making me high again."

Amanda sniffed the air, and wrinkled her nose. "Oh yeah, there it is..." She looked around and watched the audience file out as quickly as they could. She had the distinct feeling that these people abhorred violence. Odd, considering the ridiculous amount of gruesome action in the comics in Japan. Reality was a little much for them. "So how're we gonna get Yaten-chan back?"

"Okay, first," Ashe started, counting the ways on his fingers, "we don't NEED Yaten-chan back. However, since he's mixed up in this, he might be useful. Second, YOUR cute lil' ass should be able to home in on any messy Nega energy."

Which was true, even though the lil' part was off. She had a tank ass. Regardless, she had a sixth sense on finding Negaverse energy emenating from anywhere in a 20 mile radius.

"Third," Ashe continued, "Jedite was here."

"Jedite?!" Amanda exclaimed. "How did you know that?"

"Oh please," Ashe murmured, "I can spot that fruit from a thousand yards. Apparently he woke up."

Amanda frowned. "I think we need to call Dr. N. He never mentioned an old Negaverse general."

"Never mentioned 3 Lights concerts either. Let's go."

And they did. Slowly. Amidst a sea of disappointed fans.

"Wherefore art thou, Yaten-chan?" Amanda whispered.

* * *

Yaten watched tentatively as she watched her father slowly die from Metallia's blast. He grapped Yaten's arm and pulled her forward

"Yaten...You're grandmother is..."

In the mist of party goers, only one face mattered to Yaten at the time. Anything is taken for granted until it's gone.

"Ami..."

"Forget it, Yaten! You're an alien and a female. There is no way I would date you!!" Yaten watched with a tear in his eye as she stormed off.

It was impossible. He just didn't belong.

"Yaten, haven't you always wanted be with people you could identify with? A home perhaps?" A figure asked softly.

"How do you know that?!", Yaten demanded.

"Why, I'm you.", The figure stepped out to reveal the same pair of emerald eyes, the same silver hair. Everything was the same, except for the uniform. Yaten was wearing his torn Three Lights uniform, the figure was wearing a dark gray uniform with green trim, knee high black leather boots, and white gloves.

That and that the figure was female.

"Masaka..." Yaten gasped, taking a step back. The figure gave Yaten a warm smile and continued.

"You left Earth wanting Healer to be back the way it was."

"Or at least find an equivalent..." Yaten agreed.

"My point being..." the figure said, if she had been reading Yaten's mind. "That this place...The Dark Kingdom. It's what you've been looking for, ne?" She watched Yaten's confused expression before explaining.

"Do you remember the looks on those youmas' faces?" Yaten only nodded.

"They look up to you, Yaten. They *need* your leadership. They need our leadership. Face it. You're not wanted on Earth. You don't belong with those humans." Either it was the dopleganger's words, or the air that surrounded him, but Yaten felt dizzy, so dizzy that he could hardly stay awake. Yaten colasped onto the floor, only to wake back up in an ornate chamber.

She slowly sat up, studying her hands to find she was wearing the same uniform that her "twin" was. She sat there for a few seconds before getting up to head towards the main hall. She knew what her answer was.

* * *

"Elves?! There were elves at the concert? Why wasn't I told sooner?" Jedite waited as the three Youma sisters gave their aftermath report. They were bowing reverently and that served to partially mollify Jedite's anger at the near ruin of his plans.

"Yes master, but there's more." The leader, with the long orange hair stood. "There were two elves at the concert and neither matched the description you gave us about your attacker at the Hikawa Shrine." Jedite started twitching and the Youma swallowed hard.

"What is going on here?! I was imprisoned only a few years ago and look what happens. The number of Senshi seems to have increased exponentially and then elves start re-appearing in the world. This is not a good sign."

The three youma perked up visibly. Did he just say "re-appearing"?

"Master," the one with two blond pigtails said, "do you know something?" Jedite seemed surprised for a minute, then remembered that he was babbling on about his past. He nodded.

"I might as well tell you, seeing as how you three are among my strongest warriors." Jedite motioned to the Crystal Ball to start showing images from the Silver and Gold Millenniums.

"Before my joining with the Dark Kingdom, I was a protector of Prince Endymion of Earth. The other Generals: Nephrite, Zoicite, Kunzite and I; passed the time occasionally by delving into archeology. One of the things we could agree on studying together was the previous reign of the Moon Kingdom and it's collapse."

The Youma peered closer as the Crystal Ball started showing images of the four Generals on some sort of dig site and recovering artifacts.

"We learned of the existence of the Elven Court of Chaos and vowed that we would find their Pandora Boxes and destroy them. Creatures of destructive power with no morals or concerns for the world they were ruining."

The three youma rolled their eyes considering who was talking. Still, they kept silent because the story was interesting.

"Alas, their prisons were designed so that no unwitting fool could find them and unleash them. We did not fare better. However, we did find four weapons of great magnitude that were keyed to certain lines. We (the generals) enshrined them, intending to make the weapons gifts to the court of Queen Serenity."

The Crystal Ball started showing scenes of four hidden shrines, each with a statue of it's respective General in the front. Jedite seemed perturbed. He couldn't believe that this only occurred to him now. Long life means you can forget a lot.

"Anyway! I want you three to keep your eyes out for those elves and report back to me. I want them brought to me. I want to keep this little problem under wraps. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir!" they said together. The three youma girls vanished into thin air with a nod.

Jedite stood silently, contemplating his choice in "inviting" Yaten Kou to join the Dark Kingdom. She might need a little push in the right direction.

It was amazing the way things worked out around here. If someone had told Jedite a hundred years ago that he would be the leader of the Dark Kingdom and he'd have Queen Metallia's Granddaughter in custody, he'd have laugh in their face. And if Jedite was lucky, she could serve as his own General . . . say! There's an idea!

"Why COULDN'T I have my own Generals? I'm the leader now. Yaten Kou can be the first."

Jedite was supremely pleased with himself. He decided that he would follow established protocols and have four. If this Yaten thing worked out, he'd have one. And . . . there was one more person Jedite had in mind.

*

A lone figure stood in a dark cavern, lost in his thoughts. He had gone over the incident in his mind so many times, it seems like almost a dream. He felt along the ground where the dried blood had become frozen due to the freezing cold outside. This place was the artic circle, the site of the old gate to the Dark Kingdom and of a battle.

The battle resounded through his mind once more. The great General Kunzite faced off with the Sailor Senshi, a last defense against the coming wind.

But, Kunzite's attacks were no match for the power of the Ginzuishou, or Silver Imperium Crystal, and he found his energy boomerangs reflected back at him. His chest was pierced. Feeling his life slip away, Kunzite said the name of his companion, Zoicite, and vanished in a burst of energy.

What followed was known to only a few. Kunzite reappeared in his chambers, blood dripping from large wounds. Crawling, he pulled himself up to the alter where Zoicite's body rested and collapsed into a heap.

When Kunzite woke, he found that his wounds were healed by his servant youmas and Zoicite's body had been buried. The Dark Kingdom was in turmoil with the deaths of Metallia and Beryl at Sailor Moon's hands. Things were in utter chaos.

At first, Kunzite was mad with grief at the deaths of so many that he had lived and fought with for so long. He ranted, raved, and killed many Youma that got in his way. The palace was deserted as news of the insane general reached the furthest corners of the Dark Kingdom.

Kunzite eventually regained his sanity. He knew that nothing he could do would change things and that he was only making matters worse. That, and he would be betraying Zoicite's memory if he did not go on with his life.

For the longest time, Kunzite went into hiding, observing things on earth from afar. He watched the Black Moon family try to kidnap a rather strange looking child from Sailor Moon's care, the Deathbusters world destruction plans, the Amazoness Quartet (brr....), and Galaxia's Animates running amok. Then the Dark Kingdom revived again.

What a mess.

So now he was here, back at the site of the battle, pathetically holding on to that past failure. Kunzite stood up, crossed his arms over his chest, and felt a cold chill blowing through the cavern. He smirked.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up. What do you want?" Kunzite asked with a smirk.

Jedite stood behind the powerful general, more than a little confused. Kunzite was taking his presence awful calmly, considering everything.

"I'm here to make you an offer, Kunzite. Are you interested in getting your old job back?"

"You're going to have to do better than that, Jedite." Kunzite smiled. "I'm not going to be cheap. If you want my help, I'd better get a better offer than the old days when Beryl said join me or die."

Jedite recoiled. Now THIS was unexpected. Since when did Kunzite become greedy?

"What do you want from me? A dental plan?"

"That would be nice. And some paid vacation time."

Jedite swallowed hard and nodded his agreement. Kunzite turned to face his new employer and smirked. They both vanished in a teleportation flash, on their way back to the Dark Kingdom.

* * *

Tuxedo Kamen stood atop the concert ampitheater, trying to collect his thoughts. Things have just gone downhill since that Masquerade Ball. Usagi is avoiding him, Yaten has been kidnapped by Jedite, and

Michael seems to have vanished off the face of the Earth.

"Why am I destined to suffer like this? Is it too much to ask for a normal existence? Or even a dog's?! All I've ever wanted was to live in peace with Usagi." Tuxedo Kamen sighed and lept down to the stands.

Tuxedo Kamen walked through the stands, aimlessly. He finally came across a pile of clothes near an exit. He picked up the blue sweater and raised an eyebrow.

"Oooookay. Maybe I don't want to know where Michael is. I'll just go home." Tuxedo Kamen ran to the parking lot just in time to watch his car being towed away.

"I just can't win." he sobbed.

* * *

"Itaaiiiiii...." mumbled Sailor Star Maker, as she slid down the wall. She vaguely remembered Fighter running over to pull her body out of the mess of leather, wires, and whathaveyou(yuck!).

An hour later, two guys were sitting in a booth in Downtown Tokyo. The moon and stars were missing in this picture, as clouds block out their luminescence. The battle before had certaintly darkened two moods.

Taiki had a small bruise on his right cheek, and a black eye. He had dressed in a black jacket, jeans, and a baseball hat, shoving all his hair underneath it. Seiya was dress like wise, only he had on a blue turtleneck under the jacket, and had his hair tucked into that instead. He toyed with the straw in his shake, as Taiki occasionally glanced out the window. It had started to mist over; rain was coming.

Neither wanted to say it, but it was true. The enemy (whoever the hell is was) had gotten Yaten, and neither Light had stopped it.

Taiki didn't know what Seiya thought, but he felt miserable. Looking for a henshin when he should have been down there helping. If anything, he should have told Sailor Moon to go look for it; she was staring at Tuxedo Kamen half the battle! But then, *she* was caught in the wires, so maybe he shouldn't touch that subject...

Seiya looked over at his friend, noticing that Taiki looked as bad as Seiya felt. On top of his bruises and cuts, he let Yaten down. At a time where he should've been protecting him, he had let his anger get the better of him, and allowed Yaten to be captured.

Seiya finally slammed the table with his fists. Taiki brought his head up sharply. "Milkshake didn't agree?"

Seiya glowered at him. "Go ahead, Taiki-chan, make jokes, while Yaten's out there being totured by God-knows-what OR who!"

Taiki's voice rose, too. "Seiya, don't bunch up your ponytail! If I couldn't find any humor in this situation, I'd go read. Instead," he said, leaning back, "I'm stuck sulking with you. Don't you think this pisses *me* off?"

"Well, what the hell are we gonna do about it? I wanna get Yaten back, and fast!"

Taiki thought a moment, then said, "What about asking the senshi for help?"

Seiya stopped in his ramblings, and his eyes grew wide. "Why involve them? This was a direct attack on the Three Lights!"

Taiki smiled. "Well, they do have Ami, right?"

"The one you beat time and time again in the form exams?"

Taiki put his arms behind his head, grinning. "Oh yes, I am her constant rash."

Seiya's eyebrow twitched. "I won't even ask where *that* came from...So, have Ami read for something in the theater?"

"Then, the Inners will want to fight alongside us, in search of Yaten. We REALLY wouldn't have to work that hard; conserve our own energies to destroy whoever or whatever does have Yaten."

"Outers protesting all the way, of course; you know they don't like Usagi working with us."

Taiki snapped his fingers. "I forgot about that. Mamoru-san will hate your guts as well, won't he?"

Seiya looked down at the table. "Hai. This is a fine mess we've gotten into. Not only will I have the Outers to deal with, but now I'm going to have Mamoru breathing down my neck 24/7."

He gave a deep sigh. "This whole thing is hopeless." Seiya picked up his shake, and took a long drink. He sat it back down on the table, glass clinking.

"Look who's being dramatic?" Taiki asked pointedly, as they rose to pay at the register.

The door jingled as Taiki held it open for Seiya. Both pulled up their jacket collars as it began to drizzle.

"You think YOU'RE gonna be the only one with senshi problems?"

Taiki said, as the two rounded a corner. "As I recall, the Outers don't particulary care for ME, either! You think I wanna go to them, and say, 'Hey, while I was messing around being my girly self and looking for a henshin, one of the members of our team was kidnapped under my nose, and I'm completely lost without you guys.' I mean, how would that look, Seiya-chan? Seiya?"

Taiki stopped when he noticed he was alone. He looked behind him on the sidewalk, at Seiya's wide-eyed thoughtful expression. "What?" said Taiki, going over to him.

"Kakyuu...she could help! She's a sailor as well! We'd be a threesome again!"

Taiki's own eyes grew wide, but he smiled. "At last, you've got a hunk of brain."

Seiya stuck out a tongue playfully. "Yeah? Where'd I get it?"

Taiki slapped his head. "Never mind! Come on!" he exclaimed, as he and Seiya raced down the sidewalk, the rain pushing against them.

"We're off to Kakyuu's!!" shouted Seiya, happy that they finally had a plan!

* * *

'Twist, twist, flip, yes!' Sarah smiled inwardly as her small and slender form entered the pool without so much as a ripple. Cutting upwards toward the surface, Sarah rose gracefully, shaking the water out of her eyes. She glanced over at another diver standing by the edge of the pool, her dark-brown eyes twinkling hopefully. "So...what do you think? That was a horrible dive, wasn't it?"

Kirei laughed and shook her head. "You're too much, Sarah! It was perfect, as usual. I wish I could dive as well as you can!"

Sarah smiled and climbed out of the pool. "Well, with a little more practice, you can be, cousin."

Sarah's days have been much brighter ever since her cousin, Kirei, moved to Tokyo. She and her other cousin, Miyuki, have now moved out of the condo she shared with June and Tanrei, but they lived in one in a complex near theirs, so Sarah could visit them more often. It was strange, how much the two girls resembled one another. Not only did they look similar; both had the same large eyes, raven hair, and features that shouted 'cuteness', but had similar interests as well. Kirei and Sarah were both good divers, loved playing basketball, and early-morning jogs by the beach.

The coach blew the whistle, and the divers made their way to the end of the pool, and formed a circle around her. Diving class was over for the day. Coach Andrews reminded them all about the diving competition next Saturday at the Tokyo Leisure Complex, and to continue practicing.

"Class dismissed," Coach Andrews said authoritatively. The divers began to file out. "Sarah and Kirei, I want you two to stay for a moment."

Sarah and Kirei looked at each other, mystified. What would the coach want to do with them?

Turning around, they saw the answer. There was another girl standing beside her, looking uncomfortable. She was looking at her feet. Her jet-black locks, cut layered and short, were pulled behind her ears, glistening with moisture. The coach seemed pretty protective of her, and they could easily see the reason.

"This is Estella Chiu," Coach Andrews introduced. Estella looked up slowly, her hazel eyes regarding them with a cool light. She then looked back down again. "She recently moved here from Canada, and has joined our team. I would really appreciate it if you two girls could work with her over the next week, to test out her skills."

"Would she be taking part in the competition next week?" asked Sarah.

"Well, it'll depend. If she's really confident around the pool, then I wouldn't restrict her from participating. I've been told that she's an excellent diver back over in Canada."

"In that case, we'll be happy to take her in," Kirei said, giving Estella a gentle smile. Estella looked up again, and, seeing the warmth in Kirei's eyes, seemed to relax a little. Estella nodded and returned Kirei's smile.

"Good. I knew I could count on you two. All right, you're dismissed."

Kirei immediately took Estella by the hand and pulled her towards the dressing room. "Gosh, you're from Canada? That's where I recently moved from, with my cousin, Miyuki. Where in Canada did you live?" She constantly bombarded the bewildered Estella with questions; she was so engrossed in the new girl that she had forgotten Sarah had existed. This didn't bother Sarah very much, but it came as a shock to her. Shaking her head, Sarah followed them out.

Airashii shielded her eyes against the mid-afternoon sun as she tried to make out the Starlight Cafe. She didn't spot anyone familiar. Airashii checked her watch; it was 12:30 p.m. Kurayami said that she wanted to meet Airashii at 1:00 p.m. 'Well, I'm a half an hour early. Might as well go on in and find myself a seat.' Checking for oncoming traffic, Airashii saw none, and dashed across the street, her long dark-blue skirt billowing around her slender legs.

The cool, refreshing interior of the Starlight Cafe calmed Airashii's nerves. She was excited, worried, and nervous at the same time. It had been a very long time (ever since the Golden Millenium ended) since she had seen her teammates. A pang of sadness hit Airashii's heart. 'And I might not see them ever again,' she thought, her body growing numb, 'if I don't find what I'm looking for.'

Airashii chose to look for a seat in the open-air deck, where the air was much cooler. Her eyes scanned among the multitude of heads. There was one place that caught her eye; a table for two with a girl reading a magazine. Airashii shyly made her way to the girl.

"Is this seat taken?"

The girl raised her head and smiled. "No. I'm alone. You can sit here." Airashii gratefully took the seat and set her purse down beside her. The girl looked at Airashii curiously. "Were you looking for someone?"

"Well, yeah, actually, a group of people, but I'm here early, so, you know..." Airashii blushed slightly, hating to sound like a blabbermouth.

"Friends?"

"You could say that."

"I hope to find some of my own, when I get to know this city better," the girl said with a laugh. "My sister and I just moved from Canada. My dad got a job transfer. I had a few close friends back there, and it was pretty hard leaving them."

"Maybe I could show you around sometime," Airashii suggested.

The girl grinned shyly and looked down at her magazine. "No, I couldn't impose on you like that."

"Really, it'll be my pleasure." Airashii looked up to see an older, familiar girl with long, wavy-black hair waving at her from a table nearby. Her heart began to pound. It was Kurayami. Airashii smiled brightly and waved back, then turned to the girl with the magazine. "Oh, I just saw my friend over there. Listen, do you know of Fairview Park?"

The girl nodded. "That place I *do* know. It's really beautiful over there."

"Jade is holding an outdoor concert this afternoon. After seeing my friends, I can meet you over there. We can go shopping afterwards."

The girl's eyes lit up. "Shopping...my favorite thing! Sure, I'll meet you there. What time?"

"Um...the concert starts at 3:00 p.m. How about then?"

"Sounds good. We'll listen to them for a few minutes, then head off." The girl rose to shake Airashii's hand. "It's been nice meeting you..."

Airashii's head raced. 'What name shall I tell her? I guess it wouldn't matter if I told her my real name; she doesn't know Hikari-chan anyway.' "It's Airashii."

"Airashii...that's a beautiful name. My name isn't anything special. Common old Elizabeth, but you can call me Lisa for short."

"Well, I'll see you at three, then, Lisa," Airashii said, grabbing her purse and beginning to head over to Kurayami and the rest of the gang.

"Sure. And Airashii?"

"Yeah?"

"I was just wondering...are you feeling okay? You look really pale."

'That girl is incredibly observant,' Airashii thought dryly, looking at her pale pigmentation. She was also pretty much on the money about her condition. Already, Airashii was feeling weaker, more tired, and it wasn't just because she stayed up almost all night at the masquerade. It was something different. Her body was beginning to fail her.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm just a little tired, that's all."

"Get some more rest, okay?"

"Sure will. See ya later!" Airashii tried not to think about the changes going through her body as she approached Kurayami and the others. They all looked very serious, so something must be amiss.

"Hey, guys. Long time, no see," Airashii greeted. Tenshi immediately jumped out of her seat to give her a hug.

"Oh, Airashii, it's so good to see you! My goodness, what's happened? You look really pale and thin."

Airashii forced a grin, but couldn't quite muster enough strength to keep it on her face. "I'll live." She untangled herself from Tenshi's embrace and looked at Kurayami. "So, what's the scoop."

Kurayami shook her head. "Something strange has happened. I'm getting energy impulses from...the 1st Elemental demon."