A small gray pod careened through the depths of space, spinning end over end as it went. From all outward appearances there was nothing special about it, just a plain gray pod about five feet long and three feet in diameter. Inscribed on the side were large red letters in a language no one in this part of the universe would recognize. A pity really, since they warned of the dangers of opening the pod.

Fortunately the race of beings that had sent this pod into space had done an excellent job of making sure that no planets or even stars were in its path. However, given an infinite amount of area filled with an infinite amount of celestial bodies, the pod was bound to run into something sooner or later. And so it happened that it was now speeding directly towards a small blue-green planet.

The pod was ancient by this time, and had it actually made it to the planet it would have burned up in the atmosphere and probably killed anything inside. However, there was a rather large object between the pod and the planet, a derelict ship hanging dead in orbit around the blue-green sphere. Written in large letters that were barely legible was the ship’s name: Mesopotamia.

The pod connected with the hull of the ship with enough force to severely jolt the giant cruiser, but it remained solidly on the course it had maintained for over six hundred years. The collision imbedded the pod halfway into the ship, and a small crack appeared upon its flat, gray surface. Slowly the crack began to widen, and after some time it was about a foot long and three inches wide. Plenty of room for what had been locked inside to escape through.

Inky black smoke issued from the crack, rising up into the air in two separate columns. Four points of flickering red light appeared within the smoke, two in each column. Tendrils of blackness crept forward as the two sets of eyes studied the surroundings.

"What is this?" hissed a soft voice.

"A ship, a ship," answered a second, similar voice. "Old, dead, but a ship."

"Home it can take us."

"But dead it is, and weak are we."

"No life here is there for us to take. Weak will we remain."

"No, feel. Far below there is life, energy. Ours it will be."

"But how?"

"Come."

So the two wisps of smoke, beings of ancient evil, floated down lightless corridors and through empty rooms, searching. At one point they came to what was obviously the scene of a battle, but there were no bodies and they milled about the area in confusion for some time before moving on. At last they found what they were looking for, the central control room.

"Powerful computer this is, but dead."

"No, just sleeping. Let us wake it."

Tendrils of black smoke slithered around the room like snakes, seeking an access port to the powerful computer. Eventually they found it and one tentacle of smoke slipped inside. Black energy coursed along its length and the computer suddenly sprang to life.

A dark red eye suddenly came to life and began to glow as it regarded the intruders who had awakened it. Those on the surface of the planet thought it dead, but it had simply been waiting until it would once again be useful. Now it thrummed noisily as it demanded the intentions of the intruders.

"It want’s to know what we want."

"To feast, to rule to destroy."

No, stated the computer. The planet below was protected by it. No harm would befall the planet’s inhabitants as long as it functioned. The ships self-defense system responded to the computers call and came to life with a loud hum.

"Foolish machine."

Black energy coursed along the length of the tentacle once again and the defense system died. The red eye thrummed in outrage, but the evil power of the creature before it was too strong even in it’s weakened condition. Ever so slowly the red eye darkened until it was black.

"Now we have power."

"Now the energy below will be ours."

* * * * * *

The man entered the general store and looked around curiously. It was strangely quiet inside and there was a sense of something amiss. Other than the fact that it seemed empty though, he couldn’t find anything wrong.

"Hello," he called out.

There was the sound of shuffling feet and then a marionette wearing a white apron appeared from behind a shelf of various goods and bowed to the man. "How may I be of service to you sir?" she inquired in a deadpan voice.

"Where is the owner of this shop?"

"He had to step out. If you wish to talk with him, he will return shortly."

The man shook his head. "That’s okay, I just needed some rice and a bag of soy beans."

"Of course, right this way please." The marionette led him to the back of the store where she opened up a small door and stepped aside. "This is where we keep our best stock. Please enter and have a look around."

The man did so, but stopped with an audible gasp before he had taken more than two steps into the small room. The source of his shock was the fact that the unconscious bodies of several people were strewn about the floor. From the apron he was wearing, one of them even appeared to be the store’s owner.

He rounded on the marionette to demand an explanation for this, but the words stuck in his throat. The robot’s lifeless eyes were now lit from within by a black fire. Still, no sign of emotion crossed her face as she reached out and grabbed the man’s throat in a vise like grip.

"Sorry for the inconvenience sir," she apologized as tendrils of darkness sprouted from her hand and engulfed the man. He tried to scream out, but he suddenly felt much too tired. In moments he was hanging limp in her grasp and she tossed him into the storeroom and shut the door again.

Returning to the front of the store, she waited patiently for her next customer.

* * * * * *

Lime’s eyes began to feel dry and her vision blurred, but she absolutely refused to blink. Tears began to well up in her eyes in an attempt to keep them functioning and her vision clouded even more. All she could see now was a gray blur a few inches in front of her nose. A few seconds later she couldn’t stand it anymore and she gave a groan of frustration and blinked.

"Looks like the fish wins again, eh Lime?"

The marionette looked from the dead fish she had been having the staring contest with to the man in charge of the stand selling said fish. "I’ll win this time for sure!"

Lime put her face right next to the fish again in preparation of beginning another staring match. Something seen out of the corner of her eye caused her to lose all interest in the futile game though. The new object of her curiosity was another marionette at one of the many food stands lining the street. She was holding a basket full of various items while she waited patiently for her master to finish his shopping.

There was nothing really special about this marionette. Her clothing was a simple Japoness kimono and her blue eyes were as lifeless as any other marionette’s (except for those with maiden circuits of course). She was quite ordinary actually. Except for her hair that is, and that was what had attracted Lime’s attention.

The energetic saber bounced over to the marionette and patted the two balls of blonde hair perched atop her head. Once she was assured those were real, she toyed with the ponytails protruding from them.

"Funny hair," she announced loudly. "Funny hair, funny hair, funny hair, fun--" Lime paused for a moment and considered the strange hair do. It looked like meatballs. "Meatball head, meatball head, meatball head!" she began again.

The owner of the marionette, curious as to what the commotion was about, turned away from the various fruits he was contemplating buying. Seeing Lime toying with his marionette made him very jumpy. Otaru Mamiya’s marionettes had a reputation for breaking things.

"Hey there," he shouted. "What are you doing with Mitsuko? She cost me a lot of money!"

Lime, smiling broadly, pointed at the hair. "Meatball head!"

The man sighed. He should have known that was what this was about. "I know she has funny looking hair, but there’s nothing I can do about it."

"Why?"

"Every time I try to fix it, it’s back to this way by the next day. I think she might have a glitch or something."

It truly was a vexing problem as far as the man was concerned. His friends all made fun of his marionette's odd hairstyle, but there was nothing he could do about it. As he had told Lime, he would change it to something suitable, but by the next morning it was back to this. He supposed he could cut it off, but he really wasn’t too fond of short hair. That left him with the options of either leaving it as is or returning her for another model. If the hairstyle attracted the likes of Lime than a new model was looking better and better by the minute.

Lime was about to ask more questions, but she suddenly remembered what she was supposed to be doing. Pulling a shiny coin out of her pocket she presented it to the man proudly.

"I’m going to buy rice for Otaru!"

"That’s nice. You’d better hurry before it’s all gone."

Lime frowned. "Have to get rice for Otaru!" Then she was gone, speeding down the street to the nearest general store.

The man watched her go and sighed in relief, thinking himself very clever for getting rid of the childish marionette. Patting Mitsuko on the shoulder, he turned back to what he had been doing before being interrupted. Mitsuko simply continued to stand there staring off into space like the mindless contraption she was.

Lime burst through the door to the general store and began shouting loudly. "I need rice for Otaru!"

A marionette wearing a white apron appeared and bowed to Lime. "Of course, right this way sir."

"I’m not sir, I’m Lime!"

"Yes sir."

Slightly annoyed, Lime followed the simpler marionette to the back of the store. There was a door at the back, and the clerk opened this up and indicated that Lime should enter. She did so, took one look at the comatose bodies inside and instantly became curious.

"Why are all these people sleeping back here?"

"Because I drained them of all their energy." The marionette’s voice was lifeless, but there was a black fire burning in her eyes and Lime knew that something was wrong. She became even more sure that something was wrong when a hand shot out and grabbed her throat.

"What’s going on?" she demanded.

"I’m draining your energy." There wasn’t a hint of menace in the marionette’s voice as she made this statement.

Black tendrils of energy began to wrap around Lime as she struggled against the amazingly strong grip. She felt herself began to grow weak and knew that if she didn’t do something fast she was going to be in trouble. Jumping as high as she could with a hand attached to her throat, Lime kicked out with both feet simultaneously. The force of the impact wasn’t enough to loosen the hold on her neck, but it was enough to rip the arm off of the possessed marionette.

The one armed marionette flew across the room and smashed through a wall to land in the middle of the street. Picking herself up off of the ground, she stared at where her arm used to be in confusion. Darkness began to congeal around the area and she suddenly sprouted a new arm made completely from shadows.

For her part, Lime ripped the disembodied limb from her throat and followed her opponent out, curious more than angry. As she stepped into the street, she noted that the marionette seemed to have grown her arm back. Lime thought this was a great trick and was about to ask for a demonstration when the black arm extended the full seven feet separating the two marionettes and struck Lime in the gut.

Marionettes do not have lungs like humans do. What they do have is an air circulation system to cool their internal circuits and this involves a pair of lung like apparatus. The blow struck to Lime’s midsection emptied these "lungs" and caused her to double over in shock and the pain that her synthetic nerves were telling her she was feeling. Her legs buckled as well and she fell to her knees. Glancing up she saw the strange marionette advancing towards her with a dark expression on her face.

"Much energy," hissed a voice that came from the marionette’s lips, but wasn’t her own. "Much strength will we gain from this one."

A man, thinking the marionette was defective and attempting to shut it off, leapt onto it’s back, but it shrugged him off and then reached down to pick him up off of the ground with the arm of shadows. Lifting him high into the air, the marionette smiled an evil smile and drained the man of all his energy. Tossing his limp form aside, she once again began her advance on Lime.

Seeing the dark marionette hurt the man made Lime angry. She was mentally immature, but hurting the innocent was one thing she wouldn’t stand for. The man’s interference had given her time to recover and now she lunched a full out attack.

Watching all this transpire from not too far away, Mitsuko’s owner grabbed her by the arm and commanded her to follow him out of there. She didn’t hear him though, and wouldn’t have obeyed if she had. All of her processing capacity was turned inward to the strange changes that were taking place inside of her body. The mere presence of the dark creature fighting Lime had somehow managed to awaken a strange yet powerful force inside of the marionette.

Within Mitsuko’s chest, a single crystal that had lain dormant for over eight hundred years began to pulse with a soft white light. Words raced across her eyes and she spoke them out loud.

"Initiating program…Usagi."

"What are you babbling about?" demanded her owner. "We have to get out of here!"

At last Mitsuko turned to regard him with her lifeless eyes. But then she blinked, and those blue eyes suddenly gained a focus that no normal marionette possessed. She shook her head as if to clear it, a strange action for a marionette, and the man stopped tugging on her arm.

"What’s wrong with you Mitsuko? We have to leave now!"

"Who are you?"

This question caught the man completely off guard. Normal marionettes never questioned their owners. Only Otaru’s marionettes did such things. He realized suddenly that Lime must have done something to his Mitsuko. He was going to have a serious talk with that kid when this was over.

Usagi felt very strange, like she had been asleep for a long time and was just now waking up. Staring at the man who had been tugging on her arm she noted that his clothing seemed to have come out of one of her history books. Actually, she thought, everyone seemed to be dressed in feudal era cloths. Looking down at herself, she realized she was dressed in a kimono that fit in perfectly with theme.

Glancing around in an attempt to figure out where she was and exactly how she had gotten there, she noted that the scenery matched that of feudal Japan as well. For a moment she seriously entertained the thought that she had somehow been transported back in time, but then she noted a car like vehicle a short ways away. It was at that moment that she also registered the fight happening right in front of her.

Even if she didn’t recognize her surroundings, she was able to spot a youma with ease.

The dark blue haired girl fighting the youma was good, very good, but it was obvious that the demon was winning. Putting the numerous questions assaulting her brain on hold for the moment, Usagi quickly scanned the area for a place to transform and noted that the small fruit stand on her right had been completely deserted. The only person watching her was the man who had been holding onto her arm, but she ignored his startled cry as she dropped the basket she was holding and ducked behind the stall.

Or at least she attempted to duck behind the stall. It came out as more of a lurching, flopping motion. She had always been clumsy, but this bordered on ridiculous. There was feeling in all of her limbs, but at the same time they reacted as if they were numb. Finally she managed to drag herself behind the stall and prop herself up against the firm wooden planks that made up the small structure.

Hoping that this strange feeling of displacement would pass, Usagi clutched at her chest looking for the Silver Imperium Crystal and quickly came to the realization that she didn’t have her brooch. She searched through the pockets of her kimono desperately, but the crystal was nowhere to be found. Suddenly the alien sights, sounds and smells descended on her foggy mind and she became very scared. She felt as if she had just awakened from a dream into a dream without ever realizing she had slept.

When the words suddenly flashed across her eyes, she almost fainted dead away.

Activating Silver Imperium Crystal.

"Huh?" mumbled Usagi wondering what the hell was going on. She got her answer when the skin just below her neck parted and the Imperium Crystal appeared there. That too almost caused her to faint, but somehow, despite the fact that he mind was reeling, she managed to retain consciousness.

Moon Marionette Power, Make Up.

"Moon Marionette Power, Make Up," said Usagi, muttering the words out loud in confusion. Then a familiar flash of white light obliterated the world.

"Good idea Mitsuko," stated the man who had been holding on to her arm as he ducked behind the stall with her. "We’ll hide here until…" He trailed off staring at Sailor Moon in confusion. "Who are you?"

Sailor Moon, composed once again now that she had something familiar to latch onto, shot him a hasty smile as she stood up. "Excuse me, but I’ve gotta go."

Lime came at the dark marionette with fists flying. This marionette wasn’t a saber, so Lime assumed that this would be a quick fight due to her superior fighting ability. She couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Instead of being crushed by Lime’s furious assault, the demon marionette blocked every blow and then went on the offensive. The incredible speed of her attack routine was dizzying and Lime barely managed to keep the devastating blows from finding their mark. The only time she had ever been this hard pressed in a fight was when Faust had unleashed his super saber marionette. Now though, Lime was fighting alone.

Ducking under a sweeping punch, Lime sprang forward in an attempt to close distance and use her speed to strike fast and move away. It almost worked, but the demon marionette was incredibly quick and agile. She jumped backwards out of Lime’s range while simultaneously extending her shadow arm to strike at the saber. The blow came down on Lime’s back with enough force to send her crashing to the ground and then it wrapped around her like a tentacle.

Lime suddenly found herself in her opponent’s grasp once again. The shadow hand was even stronger than the one Lime had ripped off and she could do nothing against it. Her struggles began to slow as black tendrils sprouted from the arm and began gathering around her, stealing her energy.

"Hey you!" Everyone still present at the scene of the battle, which included the two marionettes, the man behind the stall and two other bystanders, turned to regard the newest marionette to join the scene.

"I am Sailor Moon, champion of love and justice! In the name of the moon I shall right wrongs and triumph over evil, and that means you! Now drop that girl!"

Lime would have laughed at the strange marionette’s costume, but this was one of the few times in her life that her attention was actually occupied with something important. The demon marionette looked at the new arrival and a hungry light appeared in her eyes. Hurling Lime through the window of a nearby building, she turned on Sailor Moon.

"Even more energy here," hissed the marionette. "Feast we will!"

Sailor Moon felt weird. It wasn’t just her feeling of displacement, or the strange surroundings, it seemed as if her entire body was different. As she had been running through her usual poses, they had felt clumsy and unrehearsed. It was like she was trapped in someone else’s body.

She had no time to wonder about this though, because the youma was attacking. The demon marionette raised its shadow arm and the darkness shot forward at an incredible speed. Sailor Moon ducked to the side and was surprised when she moved faster than she ever had before. Despite her sudden increase in speed though, her legs didn’t respond the way she wanted them to and she hit the ground hard.

"What’s wrong with me?" she mumbled as she started to pick herself up off of the ground.

An inky black tentacle of darkness wrapped itself around her midsection before she could stand and she was suddenly lifted several feet into the air. Suddenly Sailor Moon found herself face to face with a horribly twisted visage. It looked like the face of a doll gone evil.

"Much energy," hissed the youma as it began to drain Sailor Moon of her energy.

The entire side of the building Lime had been thrown through suddenly exploded outward in a shower of splinters causing the youma to turn its attention away from Sailor Moon for a moment. Lime felt weak and very tired, and she still wasn’t sure what was going on. All she knew was that this marionette was somehow responsible for her weakened condition as well as the unconscious bodies of the men she had found earlier. If left to its own devices, this evil marionette could eventually hurt more people, including Otaru.

That would not happen as long as Lime still stood.

With a wordless roar Lime used what little energy she had left to launch an attack on the evil marionette. First she brought both fists down on top of the arm holding the funny looking marionette, and it released Sailor Moon with a cry of pain. Then Lime swung her arms upward and caught the evil marionette under the chin with both fists, sending her flying down the street. She was about to follow up the attack, but her legs buckled and she collapsed to the ground almost completely drained.

When she was released, Sailor Moon landed on her butt and stared up at the fight before her with a slightly dazed expression. She was surprised by the blue haired girl’s power as she flattened the youma, but then she saw the demon picking itself up off of the ground and knew the fight was far from over. Seeing her fighting companion sitting on the ground with an exhausted look on her face, Sailor Moon realized she would have to finish this herself.

Calling for her wand, and hoping that no more words flashed across her eyes, Sailor Moon stood up. Luckily, her weapon simply appeared in her hand as it was supposed to. There were no flashing words or things popping out of her skin this time.

"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" she shouted before the youma could attack again. The heart shaped blast shot forward and the youma’s eyes widened in surprise seconds before it was disintegrated. As she watched though, Sailor Moon noted that a dark cloud shot heavenward before the youma had been completely destroyed.

There would be more of such encounters.

Glancing down at the blue haired girl next to her, Sailor Moon was about to thank her and ask about her incredible strength. The words stuck in her throat as the girl’s arms separated from her shoulders. Two bursts of steam were expelled from the newly formed openings and then her arms reattached themselves.

"She’s a robot," muttered Sailor Moon still trying to come to grips with exactly what was going on.

"I-Is that you Mitsuko?"

Sailor Moon looked over to see the man from before looking at her strangely. "My name’s not Mitsuko."

"B-but I saw…" His eyes fell on Lime and his eyes narrowed. "YOU!" he roared.

Lime glanced up at him, her eyelids sagging. "Huh?"

"You and me are going to Otaru and you’re going to explain this whole mess."

Shrugging slightly, Lime turned to Sailor Moon and a smile spread across her face. Pointing up at Sailor Moon’s hair, she giggled. "Meatball head."

The all too familiar words rocked Sailor Moon out of the slight daze she had fallen into. Looking around at all the people staring at her in confusion, she suddenly felt the need to get far away. Without saying a word, she sprang to the top of a nearby building and took off across the rooftops.

From her aerial perspective, Sailor Moon noted that this city was like no city she had ever seen before. It was much smaller than Tokyo and seemed to be a mixture of both ancient Japan and something out of a science fiction movie. In the distance there was a large building that looked like a shogun’s palace, and off to her right were a few towering skyscrapers. The contrast was enough to make her blink in confusion and wonder once again exactly where she was.

Seeing a deserted park nearby, she slipped into it and morphed back to her normal form, noticing a little queasily that the Imperium Crystal sank back into her skin without leaving a mark. Usagi glanced around and tried to discern a course of action to take. Answers were what she needed most right now, but she had no idea whom to ask. How do you tell a complete stranger, the only people she figured she’d find, that you seem to have just woken up in a different world and you have no idea how you got there or what you’re doing there?

On the bright side she seemed to be getting used to her body again. It was beginning to feel almost normal, but she was still curious as to why it had felt so strange to begin with. She finally decided that if she figured out what she was doing here, she would also figure out why she felt so weird.

She almost jumped out of he skin when words flashed across her eyes again.

Caution: Internal pressure too high. Preparing to lower pressure levels.

Usagi’s shoulders suddenly began to tingle and she rolled up the sleeves of her kimono to try and figure out what was going on. Seeing the small slits in her arms made her gasp. She was only able to stare in wide-eyed horror when they opened wide and two jets of steam shot out.

Usagi blinked once, twice, and then ran screaming out of the park.

"You’ve got to help me!" pleaded Usagi as she threw herself on the first person she met, a man carrying a bag of rice over his shoulder.

The man stared at her in wide-eyed shock that quickly turned to anger. "Stupid marionette! Get away from me!"

"No! You have to help me! I’ve been turned into some kind of machine!"

Once again the man just stared at her. "Must be defective," he muttered under his breath. "Shoo," he said louder. "Get away from me! Go find your master!"

Usagi wouldn’t leave though and finally the man kicked at her. She barely even registered the blow, but she fell back anyway, too drained physically and emotionally to do more than watch as the man continued on his way without a backward glance.

It was beginning to get dark and, although she didn’t know it, Usagi was on back streets that were used mainly for hauling goods to market. Since night was descending there wasn’t much traffic and she found herself sitting in the middle of the street without another soul in sight. Using the last of her strength, she hauled herself into a nearby alley and leaned against a wall.

Then she buried her face in her hands and began to sob uncontrollably. "A dream, a dream, a dream…" she repeated over and over again. The litany followed her into the darkness of deep sleep.

* * * * * *

The man stood quietly with his hands crossed behind his back and looked out across Japoness. High above, the stars twinkled in the heavens and the planet’s four moons rose to take the place of the sun. He had always liked the night, felt at peace in its quiet embrace.

But how long had it been since he had felt true peace? Too long, he knew. Much too long, and he would not know real peace until she was back with him.

A panel in the wall to his left slid quietly aside and another figure stepped into the room. Tall and quite feminine, her curves were only accentuated by the shadows that played across her body. She stood stiffly though, as was her way, and it diminished her beauty somewhat.

"She is awake." The voice was cold and held no emotion, but it was not the lifeless voice of a marionette. This woman was of flesh and blood.

The man sighed and turned his head so that he could see the woman out of the corner of his eye. Lines of worry and stress marred his otherwise smooth features and the black hair of his beard and head was streaked with gray. These things made him look old, but his eyes shone with the light of someone in their early twenties.

"I suppose that is a good thing."

"You are not happy?"

"How can I be truly happy with what we have done? She is back but…" The man sighed again. "This is going to be hard for her, for all of them."

A shaft of moonlight streamed through the window and flashed off of the woman’s long, green hair. "It had to be done and this was the only way."

The man nodded his head. It was a weary motion. "I know, but I don’t have to like it."

"No," agreed the woman, "you don’t."