Sailor Moon: Darkstone by Andrew M. Hujsak Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, the Sailor Moon characters, and their respective names and likenesses are trademarks of TOEI Animation and are copyright of Naoko Takeuchi, TOEI Animation Co. Ltd, Kodansha Publishing, and DiC. Other characters which appear in this story are fictional. Any resembelance to actual persons, living, dead, or drawn is unintentional and purely coincidental. This story is based upon the Sailor Moon world owned by the above named entites, but is seperate from it, following an alternate storyline. This story may be copied and freely distributed, but may not be sold, rented, or leased. In other words, nobody can make any money from it. Provided as free entertainment from a fan to fans. Any comments, suggestions, or criticisms on this story can be directed to: andyhme@mix-net.net All are welcome to visit my page at: http://www.mix-net.net/~andyhme/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter Nine "That was a wonderful meal, 'Aunt' Marie," Alicia said, "though you shouldn't have gone to all that trouble." "Nonsense," Marie Tsukino said, "it was just so nice to have you here, hearing all about what you've been doing all these years. I am saddened to hear that your mother passed away, I liked her very much. " "Yes," Alicia replied somberly, "Father took it really hard, we each gave support to one another and managed to pull through. It was shortly after that he accepted a position at the Massachusets Institute of Technology in the U.S.A., left his research in the hands of his assistant, Dr. Hiro, and we left for the next five years, returning just a year ago." "What made your father decide to return?" asked Serena's dad. "Well, even though he was in the U.S.A., he still kept in touch with Dr. Hiro and was able to use the powerful computers at M.I.T. to analyze the data sent to him. Apparently some anomalous readings from some special experimental instruments caught his interest and he decided to come back to take personal charge. But..." and she paused here a moment, " I think he was actually getting a bit homesick. As was I." The conversaton took a slight pause here in reflection. Serena's mom picked it up again. "You've grown up into such a fine young woman, your father must be proud of you. I hope that you can help Serena do just as well as you have." "I don't think there will be any problem with getting Serena up to speed. It will take some time before we'll turn the corner, so to speak, but I think she will do fine. It seems to me that somewhere along the line, her basic groundwork for learning wasn't well laid out, so over time learning became a chore rather than an enjoyable experience. Then with class sizes getting larger in the higher grades, the individual attention needed to overcome that just was not available. Make the chore enjoyable, it becomes easier. A simple thing if done early in the process. It will be a little more difficult now, but not impossible." Alicia gave a smile and a wink to Serena. Glancing at her watch, she said, "Well, it's time for me to go, I've got my own schoolwork to take care of." "I'll walk you to your car." Serena volunteered. "Alright, thanks." Going to the front door, Serena asked, "Do you really think all this will help?" "Of course. One other thing you can do is just believe in yourself, believe in your ability. I know you're smart," Serena gave her a doubtful look, " you're just lacking in the proper guidance. Have faith and believe in yourself!" Alicia gazed piercingly at Serena for a moment. "It will all work out." "O...okay, I will." Serena said a little hesitantly, slightly unnerved at the intensity of the look. Alicia opened the door to go out, but stopped suddenly. "Oh, hello." she said. Serena peeked around the edge of the door to see Amy, a slightly surprised look on her face, her finger an inch from the doorbell. "Hi Amy."Serena said, brightly. Amy, recovering quickly from her surprise, smiled and said, "Hi Serena, you ready?" Serena stared blankly at Amy for a moment, then realized what she meant. "Yeah, sure, just a sec." She then yelled into the other room, "Mom! I'm going with Amy to Raye's!" A moment late, Serena's mom called back, "Don't be too late!" At the sound of a throat being deliberately cleared, Serena turned back to see Alicia looking at her questioningly. Slapping herself on the forehead, she said, "Where are my manners? Alicia, this is my friend, Amy. Amy this is Alicia, my tutor and friend from long ago I told you about." "Nice to meet you." they both said in unison, each flashing a friendy smile. Then all three started down the walkway, and Alicia asked, "Where is it you're going? Could I give you a ride?" Before Amy had a chance to answer, Serena jumped in with, "Sure! Do you know where the Sacred Temple at Cherry Hill is?" "That's near the end of Tenth Street, isn't it?" "That's right. It wouldn't be out of your way, would it?" "A little, but that's all right. Get on in." A little way down the road, Alicia asked, "Amy, have we ever met before?" "I... don't think so, I'm sure I would remember if we did." "If you don't mind me asking, what's your family name?" "Anderson." Amy replied after a momentary hesitation. "Anderson, Amy Anderson." Alicia repeated quietly to herself, searching her memory. "Oh, I remember now. You've got a bit of a reputation at the college. You're known as that 'famous genius girl' from Crossroads Junior High. I even think that there's a bit of envy there, too. Well, Amy, keep a watch over your shoulder, after Serena is put back on track with her studies, she just may give you some competition!" Both girls gawked at her in surprise. "Do...do you think I can ever really become that good?" said Serena, doubtfully. "I'd be happy to just get into passing range, and leave it at that!" "I'd be very happy," said Amy after a few moments, "if Serena could give me competition. I've tried showing her how to study, but it just wouldn't take, if you know what I mean. I mean, studying just comes to me so naturally, it's hard to understand why others can't do it too!" "I'll just bet you're very organised and actually enjoy school." Surprised at Alicia's revelation, Amy just said, "Yes, that's right!" "I thought so." At that time, they pulled up at the foot of the steps of the Temple. "Here you go. See you Thursday, Serena. It was nice to meet you, Amy. Be careful going home, you two." "We will, 'bye Alicia." "Nice to meet you, too!" The two watched as she drove off, then turned to go up the stairs. They had barely taken two steps when they heard the soft patter of running feet and a cry, "SEREENAA!" It was Luna coming up, breathing hard from the long run. Amy and Serena looked at each other. "I thought she would already be here. You did tell her, didn't you?" Amy asked. Serena looked down at her feet. "Ah... no, there was a lot going on and I just kinda forgot." "You bet (puff, puff) your meatballs (puff, puff) you forgot! What's this all about, anyway? (puff)" "I got some results on those crystals we got from Dr. Nikkei. I was going to explain them." said Amy. "Well then, we'd better get to it." said Luna. Serena and Amy nodded in agreement, and the three of them headed up the stairs. ~*~*~ "Phorecyte, come here and take a look at this." She came over and sat down beside him. "What have you found?" "I think there is a way to gather energy more quickly than what the cyber can do by itself." "How is that?" "To take an example from Jedite and stretching it a bit further, notice that he used various devices to collect the energy from his victims, but his servants didn't actually do any collecting. Since the collection ability is included in the cyber, I was thinking of sending a secondary device to channel the energy to us, rather than having the cyber try to store the amount within itself and bring it back. If you noticed, when those Sailor Scouts attacked and weakend it, most of what it had gathered escaped and returned to those it came from. If it was sent directly to us..." "The loss would be minimal in comparison. Yes, I see." finished up Phorecyte. "More would be retreived and kept, hopefully making Queen Beryl happy, futhering her wishes, even if the cyber was weakened again or even destroyed, which is a very real possibility. Which would you consider?" Hyndecyte gestured with his hand, materializing an image before them which slowly displayed the various devices Jedite had used. "Most of these are either too bulky or too fragile. There is only one real choice." The images stopped, settling on the scene at the Osa-P jewelry store. "These crystals used in the fake jewellry would be ideal. Compact, and can take rough handling, and if my analysis is right, an excellent transference capability. The cyber could use one crystal to transfer the energy, while another would receive and store it here. Jedite never used the storage capability of the crystals, which in itself is considerable, and only had the energy transferred to himself, so it didn't get locked in, losing what he had gathered when his servant controlling it was destroyed. An error in efficiency and judgement." After a few moments of studying the images, Phorecyte asked, "Where are we going to get these crystals? It looks like they were mostly lost or destroyed in that incident." "I believe that there may still be some available. Though Jedite used a great many, I don't think he would have used all of them." He paused here a moment. Phorecyte looked at him questioningly, and he absently rubbed the scars on his cheek "I see." she said somberly. "There is no time like the present." Sending a telepathic request, he created a portal to Queen Beryl's chamber. Hyndecyte left the presence of Queen Beryl feeling more than just a little confused. He had gotten the information he needed to locate the crystals, even so much as to where they could be found. She had given the information quickly, not asking for a reason, or demanding for a plan or progress report. Instead, it was all done dismissively, no mention of what had occured earlier, as if the previous incident had never happened. Her mood swings seemed to be to extremes, and that fact bothered Hyndecyte. That was like something he had heard about before, it seemed, but couldn't quite place. Closing his eyes to shake off the feeling, he created a portal to the caverns where they had first been sent to her by Lord W'heiss. Opening his senses, he located two of the crystals covered by a light layer of dirt. Somewhat puzzeled as he walked over to them, for according to what she had told him, there should have been more. He picked them up and held them for closer inspection. Yes, they would do nicely. Suddenly, the strangest feeling came over him, almost as if someone was watching him. Glancing around, he knew there was no one else there, but he still couldn't shake the sensation. Deciding there was nothing that could be done about it at the moment, he made another portal and went back to the Negaverse. ~*~*~ "...and there are two more things I've found," Amy concluded, "these crystals are able to store any kind of energy directed into them, not just Negaverse energy, and hold it like a battery for future use, but the ability they have for transfer of that energy also makes for an ideal homing beacon." "How so, Amy?" asked Artemus. "It'll be easier if I just demonstrated." She reached into a pocket of her school uniform and pulled out a short length of cable, a computer connnector on one end which she connected to her minidata computer, a pair of suction electrodes on the other which she attached to the crystal she had with her. Turning on the computer, she typed in a command and a world map image appeared on the screen. In a few moments, three sets of dots appeared. "Here," pointing to a set in the middle of the screen, "are the other samples we got from Dr. Nikkei, at my house." The place indicated was in the precise location for Tokyo. Pointing to another location, the northern tip of Greenland, she said, "These are some crystals still in the caverns." "How do you know that?" asked Lita, "and what is that third set of dots?" Amy smiled triumphantly and said, "Watch!" and placing the cursor over the third set, she executed another command. The map expanded, the outer portions moving off the screen. In a moment she touched a key and the expansion stopped. Everyone looked and uttered a collective gasp, for on the screen was the image of an airplane, the dots within it, indicating the location of the other crystals. "That is the plane carrying Dr. Nikkei and his associates, along with the other crystals, back here. They're on their way home. Now look at this!" Amy was really excited over the progress of the demonstration. She moved the built in trackball and the view of the plane changed passing over and around it, the dots of the crystals remaining centered on the screen. "I used a combination of the Silver Millenium technology in my mini computer plus I tapped into the GPS system in existance now to do this." Amongst the ooohs and aaahs from the others, Serena asked, "What's a GPS system?" "GPS," explained Luna, with a hint of impatience, "means 'Global Positioning Satellite'. It's a network of satellites in orbit around the Earth that's used in keeping track of, for one thing, the location of vehicles that have a transmitter for that system on board." "That's about right," said Amy, "but it doesn't allow for these type of pictures, generally speaking, just a dot on a special map to show the location. The enhancements of the mini computer does the visual part." "That's really great that you can do that, but does it really help us out to take care of Beryl once and for all?" asked Raye. "Maybe not directly or in a way that's obvious right now, but you know as well as I, that any information we may have about her or the Negaverse and it's devices is bound to help give us an advantage." "You're right, of course," Raye conceded, "but I just wish it could give us something more useful to go on." All of a sudden, Amy's minicomputer started beeping, giving everyone a start. Amy quickly brought the view back to a full world map and keyed in a command. "It's that energy reading I got from that last fight." "That means the enemy has appeared again!" declared Luna. "Get ready to go, girls. Amy, where are they?" "Just a moment, locating." she paused for a moment, "It isn't local, it's... it's... in Greenland! At the caves!" "Oh no," groaned Serena, "does that mean we have to go back to that cold?" she shivered at the thought of the Arctic temperatures. "I'm afraid so," said Luna, "there are those research teams still there." "Hold on a minute," interupted Mina, she then looked to Amy. "Did just Dr. Nikkei's group leave, or all of them?" "All of them as far as I can tell. There is just monitoring equipement there now." Amy replied. "Well then," continued Mina, "can we use that crystal thing to look around, like we were looking at the airplane? You know, to sorta spy from a distance?" "Good idea, Mina." commented Artemus. "Amy?" "Working on it." Amy had started as soon as Mina made the suggestion. Shortly, she had an image on the screen, centering on the glow of two of the crystals. The remainder of the screen was dark. Working a few more commands, the image slowly brightened, revealing a dim view of the cavern. Serena, looking over Amy's shoulder, couldn't supress a shudder from the memory of the scene, the place where Prince Darien, under Beryl's influence, had tried to destroy her. A steadying hand was placed on her shoulder. "Take it easy, girl," whispered Lita, "We all have bad memories of that time." Serena smiled wanely at her. Amy slowly shifted the scene around the cave for a few moments, then stopped. "I think I see something." she said, pointing at the screen. In the gray dimness of the image was a darker shadow, moving, growing larger as it approached the crystals. It was human sized and shaped, though no distinguishing characteristics could be made out. It reached out and scooped up the crystals holding them up to face level. Amy quickly zoomed in and the head became clearer. A male, human looking, dark hair cut short, and four marks, scars from some sort of puncture wound, on his right cheek. For a few moments, he looked around, a somewhat concerned expression on his face, then he created a portal, stepped through and instantly the connection was severed. Amy tried for a few moments to get it back, but to no avail. "I lost it and can't find it," she said to no one in particular. For a few moments the silence of the room was deafening, then Lita bluted out: "Just who in the hell was THAT!?" "I believe," said Luna quietly, "that is our newest enemy." Serena stared at the now blank screen, mouth hanging open. ~*~*~ A child, a little girl his own age, seven years old. An unruly mop of silver hair, black on black eyes with little specks of silver. They were playing together while their parents celebrated something called a PHD. Later, heading home, the mountain road was rain slicked. His parents talked about the upcoming holiday and the plans they had. Suddenly the driver, his father, loses control going around a curve. The car crashes through the guard rail and plummets down the cliff. Both his parents scream in terror, the boy cries out, "Mommy, Daddy...!"... Darien awoke with a start and bolted upright in bed, the sheets of his bed sweat-soaked, his heart pounding. Quickly realizing where he was, he rested his head in his hands and tried to calm down. He soon got up, put on his bathrobe and went into the kitchen to make some tea, and to think. It had been years since he had that particular nightmare, why did it suddenly come back now? But there was something different. Who was that girl? He felt he should know, but the knowledge eluded him. Was it a piece of his missing childhood memories, something that had been blocked by the amnesia caused by the crash? He had regained some of his memories, but there were still some rather large chunks missing. He sat at the kitchen table with the cup of tea, trying to grasp the meaning of the dream, but to no avail. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was 5:30 AM. No sense in trying to go back to sleep now, it was almost time to get up anyway. Placing the now empty teacup in the sink, he went into his bedroom and pulled the sheets off his bed and placed them in the hamper for washing later. He selected his clothes for the day and headed to the bathroom where he started his shower. ~*~*~ Serena stood at the classroom window staring outside, one hand placed upon the pane of glass. It was lunch break, but no one was outside, the weather had turned to rain and it was coming down hard. A pattern of fog had formed around her hand on the glass as she felt the coolness from the outside seep through.A ghostly reflection of herself stared back at her, while troubling thoughts swirled through her head. She sighed dejectedly and hung her head, not aware another had come up behind her until she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning away from the window, she faced her friend and classmate. Smiling faintly, she said, "Hi Molly, what's up?" "Nothin' much, Serena." Molly replied. "I saw ya over heah by yerself an' thought ya might like some company." " Oh, thanks, Molly I appreciate that." "No trouble at all, Serena." A brief silence ensued, a slight level of awkwardness hanging in the air, then Molly continued, "I guess this weatha kinda kills our shopping trip, hmmm?" Serena glanced back outside briefly. "I suppose so. I know you wanted to, but it doesn't look like it now." She paused a moment, then said more cheerfully, "Hey, maybe it'll get better later on!" "I sure hope so." Serena gestured to the desks, indicating they should sit. When they had done so, she said, "Molly, there's something I been meaning to ask you..." she hesitated a bit. "What is it, Serena? You know you can ask me anything." "Well, it's about yesterday. You up and left awfully suddenly, and I was kinda wondering why. Did it have something to do with Lita?" Molly's face colored a bit in embarassment, and she nodded. "It's that, well, ya know that she has the reputation for fighting and stuff, which is why she was transferred to this school. I'm really still kinda nervous about her, and, and, I'm afraid that I'd say the wrong thing or something to tick her off. "What?!? Molly, that's just not so! Lita's really a very nice girl! It's true that she won't hesitate to fight someone, but only if they're picking on somebody else who can't defend themselves, or they start it first. She would always, and I mean always, have a real good and justified reason to do so. And she'd go to the ends of the Earth for people she cares about. To think she'd get into a fight just for the sake of it, that's..., that's just dumb. No offense." "Are ya sure, Serena? It's like, you can make friends with anybody, I mean it's amazin' the way ya do it." "Yes, I'm sure. Just give her a chance, you'll see." Molly sat quietly a few moments, chewing on her lower lip. "Well, maybe. Tell ya what, I'll think about it, 'k?" Serena gave her a big grin. "Fair enough, Moll. You'll see I'm right!" ~*~*~ "I believe we're ready." said Phorecyte. "The crystals are tuned and ready for use." "Excellent. Now all that is left is to get the second Cyber ready..." "Masters..." interupted a gravelly voice. The two turned to see Cyberalpha, down on one knee, head bowed toward them. "Masters," he repeated, "forgive me. I wish to be the one." Hyndecyte and Phorecyte stared at him in surprise. "You didn't fare so well against those Sailor Scouts last time." said Hyndecyte. Cyberalpha lowered his head further. "I must try to redeem myself for my failure. I beseech you." "If they overpower you, we may not be able to retrieve you again." "Then I would deserve to die for my failure." Considering the request, Phorecyte turned to her partner. "This could work to our advantage." "How so?" "We still have incomplete information on their powers, there being two who haven't manifested another level as of yet. If we can get that before sending the second Cyber out, then safeguards can be included. There isn't much more to be done for him," gesturing at Cyberalpha, "without starting from scratch, and there would be no guarantee of survival in that proceedure." "If the sacrifice of this servant," rumbled Cyberalpha, "would make my successor strong enough to succeed, then it would not be in vain." After thinking about it, Hyndecyte finally replied, "Such loyalty is to be commended. Very well, we shall petition Queen Beryl. Hers is the final word." "Of course, Master." The Cyber stood and backed away, merging smoothly with the shadows. Gazing at the spot where the Cyber had vanished, Hyndecyte shook his head slowly. "That was certainly unexpected. To volunteer, even knowing the odds are against him..." "The few compensations we were able to make should help, perhaps it will be enough." replied Phorecyte. At that moment, Queen Beryl's mental summons interrupted their conversation. "It seems we are just in time." commented Hyndecyte, opening a portal to the Queen's chamber. To Be Continued...