Episode #1

Ok, just one bit of information before you start reading. This fanfic might take a little time getting used to because i have switched two of the senshi's names. Hotaru is now Sailor Pluto instead of Saturn because it did not seem right that Setsuna was the senshi of Pluto not Saturn. So Hotaru=Pluto and Setsuna=Saturn.

Everything had been perfectly normal and peaceful in Tokyo, too normal, perhaps. All of the Sailor Scouts were living normal, ordinary lives for the first time in years. Although it was a great time to relax and have fun with non-senshi friends, the scouts were starting to get bored and restless. They also felt that their skills were getting just a bit rusty. Usagi and Mamoru were spending as much time together as they ever would have wanted, Ami was studying harder than ever, Rei was improving her martial arts skills and working daily at the temple, Minako was having much fun macking on any guy she wanted, and Makoto was busy working part-time at a local restaraunt. The outer senshi had all gone on a vacation to the beach and were not coming back for a few more weeks. "Mmm..It's such a nice day..wonderful for a picnic huh, Mamo-chan?" Usagi said as she daintily rested her head on Mamoru's shoulder. The atmosphere around these two was amazing. Anyone who saw them from far away would sense the love that surrounded them. "Yes Usako, today is quite nice isn't it? Maybe we can get the others and have a picnic!" Mamoru suggested. "OH YES!! I love picnics...eating..having fun..with the big blue sky...and the beautiful trees......" Usagi said while staring dreamily into the massive blue sky. The moon was still shining vaguely even though it was morning. It was indeed a beautiful scene. Usagi and Momoru walked to Mamoru's apartment where they ate breakfast and talked about the afternoon's plans. Mamoru was making food and packing drinks as Usagi called each one of the girls. She walked into the kitchen grinning from ear to ear. "YAY!! Ami, Rei, and Minako said they can all come! Makoto says she has work today so she'll be a little late. Ooooohh..I can't wait until this afternoon! We're going to have so much fun!" As the day went on, all the girls made their way to the local park where they met most often. They all sat around in a big circle and thanked Usagi and Mamoru for planning such a wonderful event. "Mmmm..These are good!" Minako exclaimed as she wolfed down some more food as she gulped soda at the same time. Ami noticed a figure running towards them in the distance. "Hey! I think Makoto is here!" Everyone's head turned in that direction. "Hi guys!" Makoto greeted them breathlessly with a huge smile on her face. Everyone was having so much fun they didn't even notice that it was starting to get dark. "Anyone know what time it is?" Rei asked. "It's only about 7:00." Usagi replied. "Oh..but why is it so dark? Arn't the days supposed to be longer in summer? Oh well...Maybe winter is approaching" Rei assumed. Somewhere high above them, beyond Earth's atmosphere, and in the vast blackness of space, a mass of pure darkness was slowly making it's way to Earth. "Queen Shadow?" a quiet voice asked. "Yesss??" replied a ghostly voice so tiny it was almost at a whisper. Nymphis, the young lady who had addressed the queen promptly answered, "Earth is now in sight. We should be approaching it shortly. Shall we prepare for the attack?" "No, not quite yet," the ghostly voice said. "We must find out about the people and defense of this strange planet first. "Yes your majesty" Nymphis replied and backed off into the dark shadows of the palace. The palace was constructed of black crystals that contained no light whatsoever. The walls were made of pure darkness, and the atmosphere was silent. Almost nothing could be heard inside the palace. "You're right Rei..It is dark for this hour." Mamoru said, nodding his head. Minako cheerfully replied,"Ok. Let's pack up here and we can meet at my house for tea!" Everyone nodded and agreed that Minako's plan was good. While they were all busy packing and cleaning up, almost nobody could hear the voice that came from behind the shadows of the trees. "Hey, did you hear something?" Ami asked. "No I don't think so." Makoto said. "Wait..I can feel it..there's someone..or..something evil here" Rei said. The Inner sailor senshi immedietly broke into fighting stance, ready for whatever was going to be thrown at them. Suddenly, everyone felt sick. One by one, the sailor senshi started to fall to their knees clutching their heads. "Hello." a small voice said. "Who are you may I ask?" Nymphis asked in a calm tone, yet filled with evil. She stepped out into the clearing. She was a very beautiful girl who looked quite young. She had an extremely slender body and had grey translucent wings on her back accompanied by a black uniform that consisted of a long skirt that was about ankle length and a sleeveless top that exposed her midriff. She was also surrounded by a light grey cape about the same color as her wings. She had extremely pale skin, as if she had not been in the sun for years. Sensing the evil in her, the sailor senshi quickly transformed. "Silver Crystal Moon Power!" Usagi was illuminated by a blinding light and a sailor fuku with a short pink skirt and a lacy pastel white collar appeared. White dust endircled her head and created a silver tiara (not like the original Sailor Moon, but like the American tiaras..almost like half a crown that is very lacy and delicate.) and a silver moon with a powdery design around it appeared on her chest. White and silver boots appeared around her feet. "Ice Planet Empower!" Ami yelled. Out of nowhere, Ami was drowned in blue light. When the illumination faded, she was equipped with a skirt quite like Sailor Moon's but a light metallic blue color. Ice shards made a ring around her head, neck and shoulders, and as the ring closed in on her, a blue metal tiara(Yes, like original SM) appeared with a shining blue stone which contained a few broken peices of ice from her home planet, Mercury. Her boots were knee length with two blue stripes down the sides. "Fire Planet Empower" Rei exclaimed. Fire from the heavens crashed down on her and her body was engulfed in fire. The fire traveled out and above her head, revealing a red skirt and a white shirt with a red collar. The fire started to spin faster and faster around her head. A reddish hued tiara containing a red stone with flames inside it appeared on her forehead. The fire spun around her legs, and boots with two red stripes assembled themselves on her feet. "Love Planet Empower!" Yellow light flooded the area Minako was standing in. The light faded and she was wearing a yellow-orange skirt and a yellow-orange collared shirt to match her skirt. Then, hearts fell from her head to her toes creating a yellowish tiara with a stone of pure love in it, and boots with yellow stripes as it traveled down her body. "Thunder Planet Empower" White thunder boomed down from the nearest tree and enveloped Makoto in lightning. As it faded, it showed a dark green skirt and a matching top. Leaves showerd down upon her as a greenish tinted tiara with green lightning inside a green stone appeared. She also had green-striped boots just like the other sailor senshi. They posed in the familiar position they had done years ago, with Sailor Moon in front, Mars and Mercury kneeling beside her, and Jupiter and Venus standing behind Mars and Mercury. "I am Sailor Moon! And to the best of my ability I will punish evil and restore goodness to this world!" Sailor Moon exclaimed. "We are the Inner Sailor Senshi and we will protect our princess with our lives to restore peace and calm to the universe!" The four girls cried out in unison, properly introducing the whole crew except Mamoru, who had seemed to have disappeared somewhere. "Heeheehee.....you guys are funny...." Nymphis said, with an evil giggle. "WHAT???!!!!" Sailor Moon bursted out in anger at the comment. Nymphis just continued to giggle. Then, her grey wings enveloped her and she flew into the sky. As she came down, she spread out her wings and a blackness filled the air. "Ahh!! I can't see anything!" "What the heck?!" "Ouch!" The sailor senshi was in chaos. Nymphis lifted herself into the air and used her wings to fly off into nothingness. When the disoriented Sailor Scouts finally reorganized themselves, they found Nymphis gone. "WHAT WAS THAT??!!!" Usagi yelled. "I'm not exactly sure..." Ami replied, franticly typing in her mini-computer. "She was so..beautiful..but yet so evil..almost like she wasn't even real..but only..a..shadow" Minako thought aloud. Makoto said,"I've never seen anything like that before! She was so quiet and childish! How are we ever to battle someone like that?! And WHAT do they want from us?!" "I don't know Makoto..I don't know..." Rei said wonderingly. "Lets just go home and think about todays happenings ok?" "LUUNNAAAAA!!!!!!! Where are yoooouuuuu???" Usagi yelled at the top of her lungs as soon as she stepped into her house. "Oh dear, Usagi! I'm right here!" Luna said as she picked herself up from the hard fall off the couch and onto the floor. "Omigosh!! I don't know what happened!! I've never seen her before and I never saw ANYTHING LIKE HER before! Who was she and where is she from and what do they want?! AahHhhH~ Im going berserk!!"Usagi exclaimed quite loudly. Luna calmly said,"Calm yourself Usagi! Now, tell me what you are ranting and raving about." Usagi took a few deep breaths before continuing her story. "Well, it all started when Mamoru wanted to have a picnic, you know? just me and him and the Inners. And Rei noticed it was starting to get dark, so we were all cleaning up to go to Minako's house when this..this..GIRL...uh...THING..I DONT KNOW!! Whatever she was..something showed up..she was all black and grey and came out of the shadows. And then she did SOMETHING and we all couldn't see and everything was just black. When the blackness wore off, she was already gone!" "Hmm..."Luna thought. I don't know if I know exactly what you're speaking of, but I do remember hearing about some sort of Shadow Kingdom. They are extremely powerful and their hearts are made of the darkness of the shadows. That is all I know..I'm sorry I can't help you that much on this one Usagi..Ill find out as much as I can." "Oh it's fine Luna..but...What could some shadows possibly want from the Earth? That's all I want to know..."

"Queen Shadow, I have wonderful news!!" Nymphis quietly exclaimed. "How did it go down there Nymphisss?" the Queen asked. "Oh it was quite wonderful! It seems to be that the only strong defense they have are five young girls who transform into something they call the Sailor Senshi." I was able to blind them temporarily and they seem to be extremely weak to our kind of attacks. This mission should be a breeze.." Nymphis said happily. "Yesss, yesss..ssso it shall...Now we can finally become flesh and blood! these shadow bodies cannot last very long, and we need a pure heart to become real, these hearts of darkness only give us the illusion of being real, and we are but shadows. Now our only mission is to find these our hearts that the Dark Gem has sensed." Queen Shadow said, looking very happy for the first time in a VERY long time. "Ah, but I have heard about this so called 'Sailor Senshi' your majesty" said a male voice. "Oh. yes, Silencis(pronounced: see-len-cis)? Go ahead, speak about this pathetic group of girls" the Queen said sarcastically with an exasperated look on her face. Although Silencis was one of the most powerful of her military leaders, she did not like him very much because he had always been one to prove her wrong. He was sort of a smart-alec, but to be taken seriously, for he knew a great deal about the universe. "Yes, my Queen," he replied with a smirk, "These Sailor Senshi are a large group of girls who have never been defeated. Although they appear to be defeated there is always luck on their side. They either gain a stronger power, or Sailor Pluto will save them. From what I hear, Sailor Pluto is the most powerful of the Senshi." Silencis went on in a lecturing tone. "Really.." Queen Shadow rolled her eyes at Silencis. She waved him and this information away.