The yellow sunlight poured into the hotel room as Michiru flung open the sky blue curtains. "Is it morning already, Michiru-chan?" asked a sleepy Haruka with a great yawn. Chibi-Usa squinted to see amidst the bright sunlight that had awakened her from her sleep. She gently shook her best friend, Hotaru who was still sleeping peacefully. "Wake up Hota-chan!!" Hotaru slowly sat upright and opened her sleepy eyes. "Huh? What time is it? Oh my, is it morning already?!" she asked. Setsuna, who was already awake announced,"Ok everyone, lets get gather up our belongings and head back down to Tokyo" Chibi-Usa, who had come to keep Hotaru company, and the four outer senshi were all in a runing about in a flurry. Michiru plopped down on her overfilled luggage bag. "It wont close!" she said with an exasperated frown. "Hey, this isn't mine!" someone else shouted. When everything was finally in order, the five girls walked to the parking lot and hopped into Haruka's car. After a long drive, they finally approached their apartment. They unpacked and made their way to Usagi's to meet the other girls. They were cheerfully gretted once they stepped into the familiar house. "Chibi-usa!! Oh, I missed you so much!" Usagi exclaimed as Chibi-Usa walked through the door. "Michiru!, Haruka!, Hotaru!, Setsuna! you're back!!" she added. "Hi everyone!" Setsuna said with a smile. "How was your vacation?" Rei asked. "Oh it was wonderful!" Michiru replied. "Are you hungry?" Makoto asked. "You must have had a long drive back here." "Oh yes, we're starving" Haruka said. "Oh good, I just made some food" Makoto replied. "Thanks Mako-chan!" Chibi-Usa said, running into the kitchen. After eating their fill, Haruka asked sarcastically,"So, has anything dramatic happened when we were gone?" nothing ever happened these days. "Well, that's kind of funny you asked" Ami said thoughtfully, munching on a cookie. "Huh?" Michiru questioned Ami with a puzzled look. "Yea! we had a strange encounter with a different kind of enemy. We were..attacked by some..er..young fairy girl." Minako said in between bites. "Oh yes, I completely forgot to inform you," Luna said. "This new enemy you talk about may perhaps be the Shadow Kingdom." Shadow..Kingdom?" Hotaru asked Luna quizzically. "Yes, well, you see, these people were not always called the Shadow Kingdom. Their name was abruptly changed after they had all been drained of thier life force by some unknown, but extremely powerful force. But instead of dying completely, their Hearts of Darkness shielded them and they became shadow beings who are somewhat like humans. They can attack, and be attacked, but one thing you should be careful of is that they are invisible among shadows and darkness. The Shadow Kingdom is not well known because they have not been active for centuries. I have no idea why they choose to show up now." Luna told the Sailors in a lecturing manner. Ami was in deep thought. "Oh..I get it now," she said. "But..one thing I don't understand is why they are here, after being practically nonexistant for such a long time, I mean, why Earth? Why did they choose to come here and not some other galaxy? Could there be something, here, on Earth they wish to accquire?" "I also do not think their intentions are on killing the senshi, because they could have done it already. They just blinded us and left." Usagi said in a serious tone. "Well, we can't do anything but wait and see what they do next" Makoto said. The outer senshi were all puzzled and did not understand a word they were saying except that there was some shadow enemy.

The dark mass containing the Palace of Shadows neared Earth. It came to a stop above the atmosphere where Earth could be clearly seen, but they could barely be noticed on Earth. This was also a conviniet place to travel to and fro from Earth and the Palace of Shadows. One of the guards walked into the throne room and bowed deeply. "Your Majesty," he addressed. "What now" the queen asked, looking very annoyed. "Oh, uhh..We are in perfect positioni Ma'am!" she said catiously. "Ok now go away. I have thinking to do!" said Queen Shadow, shooing the guard away. "Nymphis!!!" The Queen said, looking for her favorite military leader, Nymphis. Shadow had always favored Nymphis because she was extremely intelligent and also had raised Nymphis as a small child. She also loved her carefree, evil personality. Her giggle always made Queen Shadow laugh often. "Yes, my Queen? You called?" Nymphis said stepping out of a dark corner which was the door to the throne room. "Oh! There you are! I was just looking for you. Well, I was just thinking, how are we to find these pure hearts?" "Oh thats easy! Heehee...we can just use the Dark Gem! It flashes whenever there is a presence of pure hearts right?" Nymphis suggested. "Oh. Right. I forgot about that." The Queen said. Although Queen Shadow was extremely powerful, she was not very smart, and she was also a major ditz. The power of her Dark Heart was also fading which made her tire easily. "Bring some soldiers and the Dark Gem and find the pure hearts. Remember, in order to reverse this shadow effect we need at least three pure hearts! Do not forget that." The Queen ordered Nymphis.

The outers were walking to their apartment after a long discussion about theire newfound enemies. "Michiru, did you see something?" Haruka asked. "No, why?" she anwered. "Oh, nothing, Im probably just seeing things, its late" The group continuedto walk, never noticing that faint black flashes that continued to follow them. "Haruka..Setsuna..Hotaru..I sense danger. There is definately evil here" Michiru said, looking into her Deep Aqua Mirror. Everyone immediately became alert and looked around for any sign of danger. As they walked into a particularly dark area where there were many trees towering over the sidewalk, they heard a small voice. "Teehee! Looks like you found me!" Nymphis said jokingly. "What?! Who are you?!" Haruka said stepping in front of Michiru. "Lets play a game. I'll tell you who I am..but only if you defeat them!" Nymphis laughed, her dark eyes sparkling. "Uhh..I dont see anyone else, so who's 'Them'?" Setsuna asked. "THEM" Nymphis said as she looked into Setsuna's eyes and waved her hand. Suddenly figures started forming out of a dark mass. They were all men clothed in pure black. All of them had jet black hair and ebony eyes. "This must be what the guys were talking about earlier!" Michiru said. "Sky Planet Empower!" The earth and sky collided and the earth below her trembled, disloging dust nad rocks everywhere. As the debris settled, she had on a sailor fuku of a golden skirt and collar. She had a dark blue front bow, and a longer one in the back. Glittering golden dust of past and future skies filled the air. The sind blew it up to her head, where it created the sign of Uranus on her forehead in gold. Her short hair was also dusted with gold glitter. It settled around her feet and created boots with striped lining the top rather then the sides. Sailor Uranus swung her Space Sword, slicing off a branch from a nearbly tree. "Ocean Planet Empower!" Michiru shouted. Greenblue waters surrounded her, and she came out in a suit of marine blue skirt and a green collar with marine blue bows. Her Deep Aqua Mirror created a reflection of Sailor Neptune with an aqua colored sign of Neptune on her forehead and boots that were striped aqua at the top. When she put the Mirror down, she had the boots and tiara. Her hair was put into a beautiful bun. Next, Setsuna stepped forward. "Time Planet Empower!" *SeE nOte At bOtTom oF pAGe* Everything around her became blurry and vague as she was warped into her costume of a dark green skirt, collar and bows. Her Time Staff appeared in her hands and she raised it high above her head. Green and black light shot down from it creating the sign of Saturn on her head, and forming her green striped boots. The wind blew her hair into an intricate design and it swept her hair into a high ponytail. "Death Planet Empower!" Hotaru was engulfed in blackness. She stepped out from it wearing a fuku with a rich dark purple skirt and bows. Her collar was black with a strangely shaped crystal in the center of her chest. As Hotaru twirled her Glaive expertly in a flurry, everything became blurred, and the sign of Pluto shone bright purple on her head, and her boots, which were a bit lower than the rest of the senshi, appeared with purple stripes lining the top. Her dark purple, almost black hair was left down and shone in the reflection of the deadly metal of the Silence Glaive. "I am Sailor Uranus! The ground on which you stand and the sky above you will punish the likes of your kind!" "I am Sailor Neptune! As long as the seas and oceans exist, evil shall never prosper!" "I am Sailor Saturn, keeper of Time! I will send you back to a time where you'll never exist!" "I am Sailor Pluto, Sailor of creation and destruction, life and death." "Attack them!!" Nymphis commanded the dark soldiers. "Time warp" Pluto said, barely aloud. She closed her eyes and held the Time Staff out in front of her. Energy shot our in all directions and the soldiers fell, holding their heads in pain. When Pluto opened her eyes, they were released from her grasp. As they tried to get up, Neptune attacked. "Massive Flood!" Sailor Neptune held out her hands and two aquamarine masses of water energy formed in her hands. She crashed them down at the soldiers, eliminating one of them, and missing the other. One of the men ran and charged at Uranus, but only to be stabbed by her Space Sword. "Earth tremble!" She said. Her put out her hand, and energy balls flew out of her hand and struck the ground where each of the evil creatures were standing. They fell, not exactly aware of what hit them. Nymphis stumbled, and the Dark Gem flew out of her hands. "Noooo~!" She cried, and scrambled to get the precious Gem. As it neared the senshi, it glowed a bright black. "Death Chain" said Sailor Pluto, and out of her Glaive, black energy ran down the handle and onto the ground, and up the the men who were terrified at thier enemy. The streams of energy wrapped around each of the men, killing them instantly. As Nymphis looked up, she found the sharp edge of the Glaive at the tip of her nose. "Uhh..umm..well..You win?" She said in shock. As she backed away from the Gem, and the Senshi, she regained her confidence. "I have to keep my part of the deal don't I? I am Nymphis of the Shadow Kingdom. I am on a mission for my master, Queen Shadow! Now give me the Gem and I'll be gone!" She said with sort of a pleading look on her face. Pluto, not seeming to care about whether the enemy was desperate or not, grasped her Glaive tightly and ran towards Nymphis. "Ahhh~!!!!!" Nymphis screamed as she realized she was about to die. She ran frantically into the darkness and disappeared. Then, above Sailor Pluto, she reappeared and smirked. "You were about to have your way weren't you, little girl?" In a flash of wings and a grey blur, she was gone. The outers detransformed and stood on the sidewalk bewildered, except for Hotaru, who was filled with anger at the fact that she did not kill Nymphis. "Don't worry about it, Hotaru, we'll get her next time" Haruka said comfortingly to Hotaru who said nothing in return. They walked home quietly. They all plopped down on the couch as soon as they arrived. "Hmm..I wonder what she meant about the Gem" Setsuna said. "Oh you mean this?" said Michiru, holding our her hand that held the Dark Gem, which shone bright black. "How'd you get that?!" Setsuna said in amazement. "Oh I just picked it up while Pluto was busy with Nymphis" Replied Michiru. "I think we should take it to Luna as soon as possible." Haruka said. "Ok we'll go to Usagi's first thing in the morning." Satsuna said. The Dark Gem was kept in Michiru's room for the night. All of the girls fell into a peaceful sleep except Michiru, who constantly had nightmares. "AAHHH~!!!!!" she screamed as she fell. She looked up just in time to see a dark figure upon her. She knew she was dead, and she started to disappear. She saw Haruka come to her rescue, but was too late. "Haruka, help..me.." she whispered as she slowly became nonexistant. "NOO!!! Michiru! You can't die like this!" Haruka exclaimed, and ran faster than ever to Michiru. Michiru sat upright in bed, terrified. She shook her head and tried to go back to sleep, with little success. She finally fell asleep, only to be tormented by more nightmares. When morning came, everyone was awake and ready to go to Usagi's house. They all sat in the living room, waiting for Michiru. "I'll go get her" Hotaru said. She stood up and went to Michiru's room and found her still sleeping. "Michuru-mama! Wake up it's morning!" Hotaru said. "Oh ok, wait a few minutes." Michiru said in a tired voice. Hotaru went back to the others and told them, "Michiru says shes coming." Michiru finally showed up looking like a wreck. "Did you sleep well Michiru? You don't look so good," Haruka said. "Oh, I'm fine, don't worry about it." she reassured everyone. "Do you have the Gem?" Setsuna asked. "Oh! I almost forgot!" Michiru said as she rean back to her room to find the Gem a dull grey. As soon as she neared it, it shined a brilliant black. "Hmm..that's funny." she thought to herself. She quickly picked up the Gem and ran out into the parking lot where everyone else was waiting for her. "Got it!" she told the group, and gor into the car. Haruka sped off to Usagi's house and knocked loudly on the door. They waited a few minutes to no prevail. Nobody was answering the door. "Where is Usagi?!?!" Setsuna asked, concerned. "Probably sleeping in..AGAIN" Michiru said in exasperation. All four girls took their part in trying to wake up Usagi. Haruka climed a tree to her window and tapped on it. "USAGI-CHAN!!! WAKE UP!!" she yelled. Setsuna and Michiru were busy knocking on the door and Hotaru was ringing the doorbell. "What is this racket?!" Luna shouted, irritated by being woken up. She looked out the window straight into Haruka's mouth. "AAHHH!!!!" she cried in shock. Luna fell backwards and stayed there a moment before she stood up on all fours. Haruka was laughing outside. Luna shot Haruka a cold stare and she stopped laughing. She cleared her troat and yelled at Luna to let them in. Being a cat, Luna obviously could not open the door, so she desperately tried to wake up Usagi. "Usagi!!!!!" Luna screamed, jumping with all her might onto Usagi's bed. She slept like a baby. Luna hopped un and down around Usagi, but she still slept. Finally, Luna sprang at Usagi's body and rammed her head into her stomach. "Ugh. LUNA! What was that for?!" she cried. "Ahem..it looks like you have guests outside" Luna told her. "This early?" Usagi asked as she blindly stumbled out of bed and walked to the door with half closed eyes. Haruka jumped down from the tree and told the others Usagi was coming. The door opened and Usagi stumbled a bit. "Finally!!" Michiru said as she shook her head at Usagi. They sat down and Michiru took out the Dark Gem. "We were attacked yesterday," Hotaru told Luna. "It's definately the Shadow Kingdom. Nymphis said so herself!" Setsuna added. "Uhh..Nymphis?" Luna questioned. "Oh, you didn't know? Well she is obviously one of the leaders, or that's what it seems like. She was dressed in all grey and black and was short and skinny. She looked frail, and joked around a lot." Setsuna said to Luna. "Oh yes, and she said something about a Dark Gem, but she was attacked away by Hotaru here, and I picked it up and brought it home. It's right here." Michiru said. "We thought the best thing to do would be to ask you about it." Haruka stated. "Hmm..." Luna looked at the Gem. She walked around the table on which the Gem sat. "So, this is what they called the Dark Gem?" Luna asked. "Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what she said.." Setsuna said. Usagi leaned forward to see the Gem better, and as she neared the dark stone, it started to glow and became bright black. "That's strange..." Usagi said. "Maybe..it belongs to you?" Haruka suggested. "No, I don't think so, I can sense evil in it" Luna contradicted. "Wait..that happened to me too! The Gem kind of lit up when I picked it up! But I thought it was just the angle of the light" Michiru recalled. "I think we should call the others and tell them to get over here A.S.A.P" Usagi said as she walked over to the phone and dialed the familiar numbers of the inner senshi and her beloved Mamo-chan. "They said they'll be here in five minutes." She said, walking back to the table. Once again, the Gem glowed when Usagi walked by the table. Five minutes went by, and the doorbell rang. "Hi you guys!" Makoto said, being the first to show up with Mamoru right behind her. A few seconds later, Minako and Ami came over. Rei was the last to be at Usagi's house because she had a hard time falling asleep the previous night. "Ok, now that everyone is here, we can continue our discussion." Luna said. "What's happening?" Rei asked. "Michiru picked up this thing called the Dark Gem after battling Nymphis, the girl who attacked us a few days ago. It seemed to be extremely important to her, but after almost being killed by Hotaru, she left." Usagi said. "Oh..Hmm..." Ami said, searching her backpack for her mini-computer. Everyone took a seat around the table. The gem became jet black and Usagi swore that she could see light beams coming out of the stone. "Oh..my gosh..What is that?!" Makoto asked, slightly taken aback at the Gem's power. "I'm not sure, but it seems to be able to sense pure hearts, but I don't know what good that will do to anyone." Ami said, vigorously typing on her computer. "Oh..I see. Well, once again all we can do is wait." Minako sighed as she spoke.

**note: ok heres the reason why Saturn and Pluto are switched. I didn't explain thoroughly before. My bad. : I wanted Hotaru to be Sailor Pluto instead of Sailor Saturn, and Setsuna to be Saturn. They still have the same powers and everything, just the name is changed, because as I was doing some research, I found an error in the original Sailor Moon. Saturn is the god of time, a.k.a. Chronos, therefore, Setsuna, being the Sailor of Time should be Sailor Saturn, and Pluto, a.k.a. Hades, is the god of death and the underworld, and since Hotaru is the senshi of life and death, I think she should be Sailor Pluto rather than Sailor Saturn because that. Also, the original Sailor Moon is somewhat based on mythology, and the planets and gods have matching powers. Ex: Mars/Aries(fire and war) Venus/Aphrodite(love and beauty) and so on. but time and death have nothing to do with each other, so I decided to switch them. Sorry for the inconvenience.**

Back to Main Page
Back to Regular Fan Fics