Sailor Moon G: The Youma Army Has Assembled! Are Three Guardian's Enough?
By Dyne

     Paito Kariudo had never been placed in a more frightening and unnerving situation in his life! He'd fought numerous opponents in various circumstances, emerged victorious in those and had overcome all of the obstacles he'd faced in his life. But nothing about those tests had ever been as terrible as what stood before him now: The bright lights, the ringing bells, the heavy laughter, and rumbling noise that surrounded him seemed to mock him, taunt him as he was literally dragged into the midst of all of it. He had no control of where he was going or what he was doing. The atmosphere of the trial and thought of having to endure it for the entire day became too great of a burden and, overwhelmed, he broke.
     "Augh! I can't take this anymore!" he shouted out loud as he clutched his head and fell to his knees, only to be pulled back up by the collar of his shirt. Needless to say, the scene has attracted a small amount of attention.
     "Honestly, Kariudo," Minako's voice was filled with angst and disappointment. "You can't even handle Christmas shopping?"
     "C'mon, Minako-kun," he sweatdropped, "this is the worst kind of torture any guy could be put through." He didn't notice the sympathetic nods of the men from the other couples that stood nearby.
     "Stop whining and let's go. Usagi-chan and Ami-chan are waiting for us." The blonde girl took him by the hand and continued to drag him down the sidewalk amongst the crowds of people, then suddenly stopped.
     "Hey, let's go in here!" She changed course and stepped into the adjacent store.
     "Yeah, we'd better hurry," Kariudo muttered sarcastically to himself. "The fate of the world hangs in the balance if we don't meet up with the others for this group shopping trip..." The day had only begun and he had no idea if, at the end, he would still be alive.
     One month had passed since the Sailor Senshi and Planetary Guardians' last encounter with their enemy. At the beginning of that day, there had been two known Guardians. But, by the end, the third had been awakened. It was by pure luck that Kariudo had been close enough to witness Minako being abducted by the enemy and was able to follow then into their hideout where he was able to learn new information on their motive but was unable to prevent them from turning her into a capsule monster.
     Luck was still on the senshi's side as Kariudo was also able to stop an attack that would have destroyed the monster Minako and, at the same time, he regained his memories as Guardian Venus. After the blonde girl was healed by Sailor Moon, one of the enemy commanders, Topaz, appeared with a small unit of monsters. But with everyone working together and the timely arrival of the remainder of its members, the team achieved victory and Guardian Mercury succeeded in wounding Topaz. Since that battle, there had been no sign of activity from either youma or capsule monsters, making everyone, especially Debe, very suspicious.
     Life in the Juuban District of Tokyo was progressing quite normally, despite the chaos of the season as Christmas was only a week away. Usagi and the girls had been plotting to try and get the guys to spill their plans for the holiday, thus the idea of the shopping trip. Usagi and Minako had almost a hard of a time convincing Ami to go with them than they did Mamoru and Kariudo; In fact, Usagi still hadn't told him exactly what the plan for the day was. Makoto had also planned to come with Shinozaki, but she woke up that morning with a nasty cold, keeping her at home. At the same time, Rei had to work at the shrine and so she dropped out too.
     "Well at least you look like you're surviving," a voice suddenly spoke into Kariudo's ear as he felt something land into the open hood of his coat.
     "Barely," he whispered, reaching back to scratch behind Artemis's ear. The two of them had become fast friends since their first, yet rather painful, meeting at school.
     "It makes me glad I wasn't born a human," the white cat purred.
     "Although you've been with her for a lot longer. How'd you survive?"
     "Barely," Artemis snickered. "But Mina is human too."
     "Kariudo," the girl called in a sing-songy voice, carrying a good-sized teddy bear probably already in her enormous collection of stuffed animals, "buy this for me?" She fluttered her eyelashes and gave him a sweet look that would melt even the hardest heart.
     The young man sweatdropped and, swallowing hard, again thought about what his condition would be at the end of the day. Either his body would be devoid of its spirit or his wallet would be completely devoid of all of its contents. True, he liked Minako and thought of her as the most beautiful girl he'd ever met, but she certainly knew how and liked to use her looks to manipulate people. Behind him, he could hear Artemis trying not to burst into laughter.

     "Your move," Ami announced as she moved her rook.
     "Right," Debe had heard her voice, but wasn't really paying attention to their game. The two of them sat in Crown Fruit Parlor playing a game of Chess while awaiting the rest of the group. The board and pieces were a simple magnetic travel version of the game. The two of them had become very accustomed to these long waits and they both had now known to carry one of these sets in their pockets or bags. While they still had their long-time rivalry in the game since the young man's arrival, they still didn't keep score.
     "Debe?" she looked up at him, expecting him to be studying the board, but as their eyes met, she realized that he'd fallen onto Cloud 9 studying her instead, causing her to giggle.
     "You look so beautiful," he fell into consciousness long enough to compliment her in her new outfit. The yellow blouse and skirt with the fur-lined boa had definitely enchanted him from the moment he saw it. She blushed her reflexive blush and decided to snap him out of his trance by taking one of the ice cubes from her drink, reaching across the table, and dropping it down the back of his shirt.
     "Wha?" the young man's reflexes kicked in, but while anyone would have expected him to leap out of his chair and dance around until the cube fell from his body, Debe simply recalled it from down his back and caught it in his hand. With his increasing skill in manipulating water he had learned to shape several objects into ice, back from ice, and also to appear as if he was telekinetic when it came to water by being able to move it from anywhere to anywhere using that power. He wasn't alone in this development as Shinozaki's accidental discovery of him being naturally camouflaged against a forested background had prompted him to practice with it, allowing him to control it at will. Kariudo had found that his eyes weren't affected by bright flashes of light when, during a time when everyone was having a group photo taken, and retaken, and retaken due to various incidents, his were the only eyes that still felt fine after the assault of flashes.
     "Sorry," Debe apologized and his face turned redder than hers had been.
     "It's all right," she smiled and honestly felt complimented that he'd done that, but informed him, "it's your turn."
     "Ah, right," he studied the current layout and made his move within a minute.
     "I'm very sorry about forcing you to come here," Ami admitted as she pondered.
     "You don't have to apologize," he assured her, "in fact, I'm glad you invited me. Even though we won't be alone, this is the first time we've been able to get together for a while."
     "You have a point. You've been so busy training with Shinozaki-kun and Kariudo-kun to try and realize your abilities."
     "It's beginning to pay off immensely. I've learned another new attack and the other two are realizing abilities they can use all of the time. All three of us can control our respective elements."
     "I understand what you're saying. Shinozaki-kun creates wooden objects. But I noticed that he's not able to do it as often or as easily as you can." She continued, "and that's a simple explanation: because of humidity you can pull water in from practically anywhere and it's a much less complex structure than wood." She ended by moving one of her pawns.
     "You're right," Debe studied the board again, "that's what we figured out too."
     "But what about Kariudo-kun?"
     "It's understandable that nothing solid can be created from light. His objects are metallic."
     "That's right, I remember now. The luster of metal was once attributed to Venus."
     "It requires a lot of mental energy to control, but it's the perfect way to give all of us the necessary strength to use our abilities. And I'm sure that with more experience and training, you girls will find new abilities and attacks." He made his move.
     "I don't doubt it," Ami continued to muse over the game, "that's how we came as far we have." She found her next move and transferred the appropriate piece. "Checkmate."
     As Debe sweatdropped upon seeing his loss, he only laughed nervously and in defeat.

     "AAAAAAAAACCCCCHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
     The loudness of the sneeze on the other end prompted Rei to hold the phone away from her ear. The force of it almost seemed to send the germs through the line.
     "Sorry about that," came the voice from the other end.
     "Mako-chan you sound terrible," Rei commented as she heard her friend's stuffed up voice.
     "I know," Makoto sniffled," this thing hit me overnight."
     "That's weird, I haven't heard anything about a bug going around."
     "That's why I'm calling, to see it anyone else has it. Usagi-chan and Ami-chan aren't home so they've got to be all right."
     "I'm feeling fine too," the priestess informed her. "It probably just got you."
     "That's good," Mako coughed, "because you remember what happened last time."
     "Don't remind me," Rei rested her head on her hand. "I don't know what Minako-chan put in that 'food' but I never did get all of the stains out of that blanket."
     "I'd better let you get back to work."
     "Are you going to need anything?"
     "No, but thanks. I already called Shinozaki-kun and told him that I wouldn't be going shopping with everyone this morning and he volunteered to come by to stay with me for a while."
     "Does everyone else know you won't be going with them today?"
     "I was hoping to tell someone but they'd all left when I called."
     "They'll figure it out sooner or later. You take it easy and get better. Bye."
     As Rei hung up the phone, she released a suppressed sigh. For the last month she had felt a little left out. Ever since Kariudo had been revealed to be Guardian Venus, their circle of friends became one short of having an equal number of guys and girls. Usagi had Mamoru, Ami had Debe, Makoto had Shinozaki, and now Minako had Kariudo. The five girls were still inseparable in and of themselves, but the others had found their counterparts. Usagi would still do anything with Mamoru given half a chance and not let him out of her sight for as long as possible. Ami and Debe didn't express their feelings for each other openly very often, but she acted a little differently around him. Makoto and Shinozaki were spending much more time together, but they didn't specifically "date," only did things as the friends they were. Kariudo and Minako were the most different; he often gave sarcastic comments about her behavior and, whenever he did, she would just laugh it off and still act like herself.
     As Rei made her way back to the shrine's charm shop to take over for her grandpa while he and Yuichirou went shopping, for what she didn't care to ask, she began to wonder why her Guardian hadn't been awakened yet. She was also looking for love and wondered where her potential soul mate could be. Maybe he wasn't needed yet because there had been no activity from the enemy, or maybe he just wasn't ready to be awakened. Little did she know that one of her theories wasn't too far off.

     Now I know why I was asked to come along, Luna thought as she sweatdropped. She was draped across Usagi's shoulder as the odango-headed blonde hugged Mamoru's arm as both of them walked down the street. Usagi's shoulder was obviously staying warm with how close she was hugging her boyfriend, but it was uneven. So what better way to even out her comfort than placing a warm cat on her cold side?
     "Where are we going today, Usako?" Mamoru asked as they walked with the throngs of busy people in the heavily crowded sidewalk.
     "It's a surprise," she beamed, "but you'll find out when we meet up with everyone at the fruit parlor."
     "Usagi-chan," the black cat whispered into her friend's ear, "do you really think everyone is going to go for this idea?"
     Usagi simply beamed and responded, "Oh Luna, you're so funny! Why would they not want to spend a fun afternoon shopping with a group of pretty girls like us?"
     "Oh, so it's a group date," Mamoru figured as he heard her.
     As Usagi erupted into her nervous laughter, she simply answered, "Well, something like that."
     She's behaving normally, Luna thought again but didn't know if she wanted to sigh or smile at that statement. The enemy hadn't acted at all in the past month but she had a strong feeling that the war definitely wasn't over.

     "Aaaaahhhh," Makoto sighed as she laid back into her bed and closed her eyes again. It felt nice to be able to snuggle up under her blankets and stay nice and warm. From the moment she had gotten off of the phone with Rei it had begun to snow outside, thus lowering the temperature. While she didn't enjoy being sick again, it gave her some much needed time to relax. But luck wasn't with her as, just as she was about to begin dreaming, the phone rang.
     "Hello?" she picked up, feeling too drained to get angry.
     "Makoto you sound terrible," came Debe's voice from the other end.
     "You're not the first to tell me that," she smiled weakly.
     "We were wondering where you were, but it sounds like you won't be able to join us."
     "Yeah. I'm sorry I didn't tell anyone but everyone had left before I called. I did get ahold of Shinozaki-kun and he said he'd come and look after me today. He should be here soon. But can you do me a small favor and pick up some groceries for me on the way home? I just need some of the basic necessities."
     "Sure," he agreed, then realized, "and I can hear Usagi now saying that it won't be the same without you."
     "Just don't try to call this afternoon off," she smiled again.
     Her neighbor laughed, "Don't worry about me. It's Kariudo who's trying to get out of this. And with the way Minako is I can honestly say that I don't blame him. When they joined us he was already carrying a few bags."
     "You've never been shopping with Ami-chan, have you?"
     "No, why?"
     The brunette's mood heightened a little, "You'll soon find out my secret for staying in shape. Have fun. Bye."
     As she placed the phone back on the hook Makoto heard the young man calling, "Mako! Wait!" Smiling again, she leaned back against her pillow and closed her eyes. She had been kidding of course, but it would be a good lesson for him to not be so serious when it was time to have fun.


     "Feh, talk about filth," Andesite scoffed as he overlooked the army of youma below him. They were disgusting creatures, looking nothing like a normal human. He still failed to understand why the fool Amethyst cared so much about them. Personally, he would have abandoned him a long time ago, but he was stuck because of a promise that his older, twin sister, Rhyolite had made to always be loyal to him and serve him. This had been done because Amethyst had saved them from a slaughtering of his clan back on his home planet. He clenched his fists upon recalling how his people had been accused of treason simply because they had been the practitioners of a very unique but very powerful fighting style, which he had mastered.
     "Onii-chan," Rhyolite spoke calmly to him, "Lord Amethyst is only helping the youma like he helped us."
     "A waste of time," he retorted, "we got banished and then practically sealed for 1,000 years. He's only going to fail again."
     "Onii-chan," she said again as they returned their attention to the multitude below their precipice. within the past month they had marched and covered every square meter of the Dark Kingdom to rally the youma for their campaign to return to their home world. while many had initially refused to believe that Amethyst had been their original leader, they were soon convinced otherwise. Amethyst had avoided all possible fighting as he himself gave the youma a choice: Those who wished to remain behind were allowed to while several thousand who joined him would be able to live comfortably in the Realm until it was time to move. He promised those who would remain that once he departed, all entrances to the Dark Kingdom would be closed and sealed forever so nobody would be able to enter, leave, or disturb their lives ever again.
     Andesite only scowled again when he heard the outcry of cheering from the assembly. He had sworn that, as soon as he got home, he would take his leave of Amethyst and pitiful youma, then avenge his parents by assassinating that fool queen along with anyone else who got in his way.


     "Thank you," Shinozaki gave a quick wave as he stepped off of the bus. This stop was still a few blocks away from Makoto's apartment, but it would be faster to walk than to wait for the connecting bus that covered the remainder of the distance. But either way, he would be walking through the now falling snow. The weather had been crazy for the past few months; early autumn was unseasonably warm while the late autumn/early winter became unseasonable cold with predicted snowfall being much higher than the national average for the next week.
     As the young man continued along the sidewalk, he passed by a local school of music and art. He'd never been inside of it, but was always curious as to what it was like. That curiosity heightened as, for the first time he'd heard while walking by, he picked up the sound of music coming from inside. This was unusual as that day was Sunday and nobody should have been there. The enticement continued to draw him in as he recognized the sound of a violin being played by someone who could have been a professional. He thought that it had to have been one of the teachers there as such a beautiful sound couldn't have come from a student.
     Before Shinozaki realized it, he had turned onto the grounds and was finding himself moving towards the source. He was nearly shocked to see a sliding door pulled open and inside, completely oblivious to the cold, was a slightly older girl with shoulder-length, aquamarine hair. Her eyes were closed as she played but he could tell that they were just as stunning as the rest of her. This young woman seemed to have an aura of pure elegance about her. She must have heard his approach somehow as she finished her piece, lowered her instrument, and greeted him with a smile.
     "Good afternoon," she spoke with a calm, soothing tone.
     "Uh... good afternoon," he responded and immediately explained himself, "I heard you playing and was very impressed."
     "Thank you," her smile remained, "I was simply taking a short break from my painting." Shinozaki took a quick glance around the room and noticed that she did sit in an art studio and a completely covered canvas stood before her. She must have been working on the finishing touches of the picture as it looked very complete.
     "I'm sorry if I interrupted," he quickly apologized.
     "You weren't," the woman assured him, then gestured, "sit down."
     "A-all right," he took a seat on a nearby stool and thought it best to introduce himself. "My name is Matsumoto Shinozaki."
     "My name is Kaioh Michiru," she returned still holding her kind smile. "Shinozaki-kun, are you interested in art and music?"
     "A-a little," he was still a tad nervous. "I was passing by the school and heard you playing. A good friend of mine owns a violin but she doesn't know how to play it. You could probably say it's a family heirloom." As he spoke, he watched as she deftly set the instrument aside and pick up her palette and brush. He took a long look at the small painting and began to understand her expressions contained within the piece itself. The hues of blue and purple that stood out in the form of a wave caught his attention the most.
     "I'm still listening," she assured him.
     "That's beautiful," he couldn't help but compliment.
     "Thank you," she re-began her work. "Painting and playing the violin are my ways of expressing what I feel to the world. When my soul wants to express itself I must seize the opportunity before it's lost."
     "Seize the opportunity?" he blinked.
     "Yes. You must do what you love and share it with others regardless of how talented you are. Experience brings improvement." With a few more strokes she laid the palette aside. "The piece I played helped to clear my mind for those final strokes. Now that it's finished what title do you feel suits it?"
     "Me?" he blinked again.
     "Yes, let your soul tell you what this painting should be called."
     Shinozaki pondered the swirling blue and purple for several moments. He meditated on it, not thinking consciously and waited for the words to enter his mind on their own as she advised.
     "Kaioh-san, I think this piece should be titled-" and he spoke the words that had come to his heart.
     "That's perfect, thank you." She sat the canvas aside to allow the paint to fully dry before turning back to him. "May I ask where you going before you passed by here?"
     "The friend I mentioned lives near here. She's not feeling well."
     "My, and you're going to visit her," Michiru guessed correctly without asking. "Then you don't have to stay here when she needs you there. But before you leave, please take these." She suddenly produced two tickets. "An acquaintance of mine is giving a concert on Christmas Day. If your friend is well by that time, take her."
     "Kaioh-san, thank you," this had actually saved his bacon as he hadn't been able to find a present for Makoto yet.
     "No, thank you. And please call me Michiru." She smiled again, always maintaining her spirit of elegance. "I'll be leaving now and there's nobody else here."
     "Oh, I'm going to leave too," the young man stood up and bowed. "Michiru-san, maybe we'll meet again."
     "I don't doubt it, and you must introduce me to your friend when she gets well."
     The two of them actually continued to converse for another few minutes as Michiru cleaned and locked up and they walked outside together before finally parting at the street. Shinozaki was certain from that moment that not only his skills in he topics they discussed would be enhanced through the advice she gave him, but also his duties as Guardian Jupiter would be far more meaningful than he would have otherwise realized.

     "Are you guys as bored as I am?" Debe asked, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward as he sat. The other two men only nodded.
     This question and the ensuing responses had been the majority of the afternoon. The three were sitting and waiting in front of the changing room for the girls to try on the vast number of outfits they'd chosen and also to model them. As usual, Usagi and Minako had overdone it and had had to drag Ami along as much as the guys. She didn't mind shopping for clothes with her friends, but most of what she was trying on had been handed her by the "twin" blondes.
     Every few minutes, one of them would appear in the doorway to ask for an opinion. No doubt their intent was to get some kind of reaction from the three men, but the sparkle had worn off quite some time ago. After the first dozen or so, they'd all started to look the same so the guys all began to nod and say, "Sure sure," when they asked if it looked good.
     "It's been two hours this time," Mamoru announced, looking at his watch. "They shouldn't be too much longer." This had been the third store they'd been dragged into.
     "You're an optimist," Kariudo remarked, "but with any luck you're right." He pointed back to the numerous racks of women's winter clothing in the store with his thumb. "They've already grabbed every style in the place."
     Luck was with them as, if on cue, the three girls appeared at that moment but hadn't heard their last comments.
     "Tah-dah!" Minako presented herself in a full ski outfit.
     I think she's enjoying this too much, Kariudo thought.
     "Here we are," Ami, who had by now, thrown aside all hesitation, also present herself in a similar outfit and pose.
     Even Ami-chan has gotten into it, which may not be a bad thing if done in moderation, Debe's mind said to himself.
     "What do you think, Mamo-chan?" Usagi asked, completing the trio of ski bunnies in their finale pose.
     Usako, you already know that I like it, Mamoru thought as if he was speaking to her teasingly. But his voice, along with the two younger men' echoed, "Sure sure."


     Topaz ignored the heavy beads of sweat on his brow as his eyes glanced left and right to check his surroundings. The fighting simulator had projected him into a rocky wasteland that held juts of cover every few meters, but was otherwise completely open. Brown puddles of sludge from the simulated capsule monsters he'd defeated littered the ground around his feet as he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly enough to bring whiteness to his knuckles. His blade could have easily been mistaken for a katana due to its length and slight curve. But closer inspection would allow one to the pronged end of the blade along with the other "nicks" along it to act as swordcatchers and disarm his opponents.
     As he kept alert for the final capsule monster he thought of the reason why he was training so intensely. Since his full recovery from the stab wound he'd received from Guardian Mercury, he'd been training like this almost obsessively. Somehow, the young fighter had been able to read his move to disarm him in his attack and counter by finding his brief opening. Not only that, the style he utilized while fighting looked so familiar, one that he knew he'd seen but couldn't place it. The fact that his opponent was left-handed didn't help to clear the confusion.
     Garnet had been warning him about over-exerting himself as he was to be in charge of training youma once they returned from the Dark Kingdom. She had fully prepared the fortress for Operation Dark Realm, the inundating of the fortress with the same energy as found in the Dark Kingdom that allowed youma to survive without draining the energy from other living beings. Not only that, her expertise had perfected the two formulas she'd been requested to create. The first was a task originally assigned to Blade, a drug to turn humans into capsule monsters that were far more powerful than the ones created from scratch. The task had fallen to the young weapons expert and she had completed it with such great prowess that exceeded anybody's expectations. The original formula was to require three doses to allow the body to adapt to the changes before the full transformation was to take place. The new version only required a single dose, with transformation occurring within fifteen minutes. The second formula was designed for both capsule monsters and youma. One would be given half of a specific dose and the other given the second half. The two halves would have an attraction stronger than any opposing magnetic force and pull the two together with such strength as to literally fuse them and their powers together. A human born capsule monster fused with a youma would create the most powerful soldier of Amethyst's army. Only the elitist of youma were to be fused when the time came.
     Topaz's attention was caught as the rock he was using for cover suddenly began to move, revealing that it was his final opponent. He quickly rolled aside before the chameleon's tail could strike him as it removed its camouflage. Topaz only smirked as he raised his sword.

     "MAJINKEN!!!"

     Within the blink of an eye Topaz cut through the air, creating a shockwave of energy that traveled along the ground and slammed into the capsule monster, immediately reducing it to its sickly residue.
     "In crease the difficulty to Level 12!" he ordered the program before it could give the "TRAINING COMPLETE" message and shut down. As another, larger batch of capsule monsters appeared with the new landscape, a tropical jungle, Topaz smirked again as he prepared to again reach victory.


     "Ah, that was fun," Usagi stretched as the group of six left the store they'd spent the past two hours in. The guys had been stuck in front of the changing room the whole time instead of being able to do their own shopping.
     "But you didn't buy anything," Mamoru reminded her.
     "Silly Mamo-chan," the blonde hugged his arm again, "trying on clothes is half the fun."
     "At least it's over," he silently sulked and tried to get some circulation back in his legs after sitting for that long time.
     She reminds me of that rabbit on that cereal commercial back in the States, Debe idly thought and smirked, I can see everyone saying, "Silly Usagi-" wait, that's just wrong.
     The light of the early evening was starting to dwindle at 5:00 PM due to the late autumn shortening the days. The snow that had started falling when they began that afternoon was beginning to accumulate more quickly and fall more readily.
     "Hey!" Minako pointed. Every time she said it in that excited manner, Kariudo shuddered from a conditioned reflex. "There's the new department store that specializes in women's clothing that just opened!" Upon hearing that, the other two males shuddered just as heavily.
     "I didn't know it was open," Ami remarked, but the book section was what was obviously on her mind.
     "Let's go inside!" Usagi immediately chimed.
     Debe took one look at it and, seeing that it was twice as big as the previous one, he immediately stopped walking and declared, "I refuse."
     "Huh?" the three girls and two guys turned to face him.
     "Hear me out," the grey-eyed youth held up his hand as part of his statement. "It's just that I had agreed to come along this afternoon to get part of my own shopping done. Kariudo and Mamoru-san probably have things to do also. But so far we've only gone to places the two of you," he gestured to the two blondes, "have wanted to go. If you want to go in, look around, and try some clothes on, feel free to. I'd just like to take care of my business and save coming down here again while you girls do this."
     "Not a bad idea," Kariudo folded his arms and nodded in agreement.
     "You do have a point," Ami supported and turned to Usagi and Minako. "It isn't fair for them to have to follow us all afternoon."
     The other two girls both looked at the ground for a moment before entering a huddle. A full minute passed before they broke it apart.
     "All right," Minako agreed, grinning in a manner that admitted she was plotting something. "You guys can go if you promise to wait for us right here when you're done."
     "Mamo-chan" Usagi nuzzled up to the black-haired man for a final moment. "Be sure to get me something nice."
     "So we'll see you later," Mamoru smiled and the three guys split off, heading in their respective directions. The girls had to quickly react as one of their trio was trying to take her leave too.
     "Ami-chan," Usagi quickly caught her friends arm, "where are you going?"
     The blue-haired girl sweatdropped, "There are a few stores I'd like to look in too."
     "No no no," Minako quickly caught her other arm. "It's like this, birds of a flock have the same color feather."
     "I think you mean, birds of a feather flock together, Minako-chan," Ami corrected.
     "Don't sweat the details," Minako laughed nervously, then recovered. "Anyway, the guys promised they'd wait here. And wait they will!"
     "Yep yep," Usagi nodded.
     As Ami half-walked and was half-dragged into the store, the drop on her head doubled in size as she thought, I have a bad feeling about what those two are up to, as the heavily falling snow continued to pile up on the sidewalk and streets.

     Makoto was just beginning to slowly wake up from her long nap after not knowing how long she'd slept. However, as she opened her eyes, she noticed only a blackness instead of light filling her vision.
     I'm blind! she exclaimed mentally, jolting up. Her conclusion was flawed as she had to cover her eyes from the sudden glare as the cloth placed over them fell into her lap. It only took her the few seconds of her eyes to adjust for her to also figure that she wasn't alone. Shinozaki-kun must be here. I wonder what he's up to. After taking a few more seconds to fully wake up, the brunette climbed out of bed and only had to walk into her apartment's living room to find her friend sitting on her couch quietly reading a good book. Despite his being engrossed in the material, he quickly picked up her presence and turned his head.
     "Hi, Mako-chan," he greeted her, "did you sleep well?"
     "Fine," she replied, but immediately asked, "how did you know I was up?"
     "It's because of our bond," he half-guessed/half-explained. "I still can't control it very well but I can generally know how you're feeling or where you are."
     "Oh yeah," she sat down on the other end of the couch. "Ami-chan and Debe-kun are always talking about that and trying to explain it to us, even though they don't entirely understand it themselves."
     Shinozaki looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well... Kariudo, Debe, and I have been working on developing our own abilities. But now that I think about it, you and I have done much work on our skills together."
     "Want to work on it now?" she asked without hesitation as the idea intrigued her.
     The light-brown haired young man looked at her questioningly. "Are you sure you want to right now? You're still sick."
     "Oh I feel a lot better than I did this morning," Mako smiled, then realized something. "What time is it?"
     "Nearly 8:00."
     "And I was asleep all day?" she leaned over to look out the window and saw only white against the black sky and city lights.
     "At least since I got here."
     No wonder I feel so rested. "Oh, has Debe-kun been by? I asked him to pick up some groceries while everyone was out shopping."
     Her Guardian just shook his head.
     "Wow, they've been gone for a long time," she caught herself. "Oops, I didn't mean to change the subject. So how do you want to try this?"
     "Debe told us that we should be able to communicate telepathically as well as being able to sense where the other is and how they're feeling."
     "That sounds tricky," Mako folded her arms and dropped her head in thought. "But the only way to do it is to figure out how."
     "He described it to me as, 'Thinking with having the recipient in mind at the same time.' Almost like having two thoughts at once. But the way I understand it is I have to want you to hear what I'm thinking.
     "Like this?"
     Shinozaki jumped as the words from the girl across from him entered his head as if she had spoken directly into his mind.
     "How did you do that?" he asked.
     "Just the way you explained it. My feelings were turned to you and I wanted you to hear what I was thinking."
     "We'll have to practice that some more. But in the meantime, are you hungry? I've had some soup for you staying warm on the stove for a while now. It's not as good as yours, but I think it came out all right."
     "Sure, but aren't you worried about being home too late?"
     "No," he smiled, 'the last train isn't until 11:30 tonight."
     "Oh, okay," her stomach suddenly grumbled now that she had thought about food. "Wow, I am hungry."
     "All right," Shinozaki stood up, "I'll be right back."
     As he walked back into the kitchen, Makoto decided to have a little fun and test him by sending him the message, "Can you hear me now?"
     A few seconds passed before she received a response, "Yes."
     "Good. Can you hear me now?"
     "Mako-chan that's going to get very old very fast. Anybody who does that must be very bored."
     The tall brunette only giggled to herself and was very glad that she didn't end up coughing.

     "Ah, that was fun!" Minako exclaimed as she held a couple of bags triumphantly high into the air as the three girls exited the department store after spending four hours inside. The blonde with the red bow held the most sacks of all.
     "Oh, it's still snowing," Ami observed as the white flakes continued to fall against the glow of the streetlights. "It could be unsafe for people to drive in this weather. We should probably head home as soon as possible." Sure enough, the snow had now completely covered the streets outside and very few vehicles were cruising along them, very slowly.
     "Mamo-chan?" Usagi looked around, seeming to teleport short distances as she did when she got excited. "Where's Mamo-chan?" Her arms did hold a few bags but were still a foothill compared to her "twin's" mountain.
     "They should be around here somewhere," Minako joined in the scouting.
     "I don't know," the blue-haired one commented, "with how heavy the snow is they should have gone somewhere for shelter."
     "They promised to wait out here and Mamo-chan never breaks a promise," Usagi innocently reminded her.
     "Hey!" Minako spotted three dark figures a few meters down the sidewalk. "I found them!"
     "Mamo-chan, I missed you so much!" the hyperactive odango head practically leapt over in one bound. But as she and the other two got a closer look, they saw three figures standing there, all covered in snow. This left only three large white mounds.
     "Well they did say they'd wait," Minako remarked.
     "This is either dedication or stubbornness," Ami deduced. "I hope they're not frostbitten."
     "Mamo-chan, are you okay?" Usagi quickly brushed the snow from the tallest figure. When she saw what was underneath...

     "KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...!!!"

     The scream traveled through the reaches of the solar system and finally died down not long after passing Saturn.

     "Usagi-chan!" Ami and Minako exclaimed as they drew closer to find her hugging Mamoru, who was completely turned into ice! The rabbit-girl's cry was also enough to cause the snow to fall from the other two figures, revealing-
     "Ack! Kariudo and Debe-kun too!" Minako began to panic. "We left them out here too long!"
     "Mamo-chan is a popsicle! Mamo-chan is a popsicle!" Usagi continued to wail as the streams of tears gushed from her eyes. She continued to hug the ice statue even though her cheek was getting quite cold against the frozen water.
     "Usagi-chan, hurry! We need to get them inside to thaw out!" Minako had hefted the statue of her Guardian into the air, not realizing how much lighter it was compared to the real thing.
     "But if we do that, they'll melt!"
     "Kyaa! Then what do we do?"
     "Ami-chan will know!" she kept the grip but turned her head. "Ne, Ami-chan- huh?" Where the blue-haired girl had stood was now only a pair of footprints with tracks leading to a nearby building.

     Across the street in a cafe, Kariudo and Mamoru were sipping hot drinks while watching the carnage unfold on the other side as best they could. The younger of the pair had a hard time stopping his laughter upon seeing the girls freak out.
     "We said we'd wait, but never said where," he managed to speak. "Did they think we're dumb enough to wait outside in that blizzard?"
     "Those two seem to think so," Mamoru continued to watch the blondes. "But they're going to be very mad when they find us." He had initially been against the idea, but even his patience had its limits.
     "It'll be worth it," Kariudo leaned back just in time to hear a groan of weariness coming from between the two guys. "Hey, are you alive?"
     "Barely," came Debe's weak voice as he lifted the damp cloth from his forehead and sat up slowly. His face was extremely pale and it looked as if it was taking all of his strength to stay upright. "Even though this was an interesting idea, Kariudo, don't expect me to do it again anytime soon."
     "I don't think we can blame you," Mamoru took another sip of his tea. "To make life-sized replicas of all three of us out of ice, especially with how detailed they were, nearly killed you."
     "I'll be fine," the grey-eyed Mercurian assured them. "Those are made from normal ice and will melt with regular heat; those aren't too hard to make. I've been using my energy on other things today." He gestured to the bag next to him on the table.
     "Is that the gift you bought for Ami-chan?" the oldest man asked.
     "Sort of," he half-grinned as his color and strength began to steadily return. "It's part of it. The rest is being paid with a different price but-"
     "You guys," Kariudo interrupted, "they're headed this way!" He pointed out the window to where the two girls were beginning to cross the street.
     "[Oh crap, do you think they saw us?]" Debe unknowingly said in English as he turned to see, not seeing Kariudo's puzzled look from only picking up a couple of words. The suddenness of the announcement immediately brought back the rest of his energy.
     "I don't think so," Mamoru understood and answered as he motioned outside. "If they had, they wouldn't be dragging the replicas."
     "We'd still better get out of here," Kariudo clammered. He had already heard enough horror stories from Artemis about Minako's anger.
     "We'll make it out if we take the back entrance," Mamoru suggested. "Let's hurry!"
     The three men quickly left enough money to pay for their drinks, crept under the window, and made their way through the kitchen to the rear of the cafe. Debe, in the lead, opened the door and came screeching to a halt upon seeing the head containing blue hair at his eye level.
     "Uh... h-hi Ami-chan," he stuttered and sweatdropped.
     The girl's eyebrows were lowered and she had a look of disappointment along with a sly grin on her face as she took him by the wrist and requested, "Debe, please come with me. We need to have a long talk."
     The young man gave his friends a look of, "Guys, help!" but the two of them, also sweatdropping, simply gave short waves good-bye as if he was being led to his execution.
     Right after he was escorted out, the two remaining men heard Minako's voice from the main entrance asking, "Excuse us, but can we borrow your walk-in freezer?"

     Back outside, the two guardian cats had been watching this situation unfold from the shelter and warm of a small heating vent on the side of the department store. They had tagged along with the group of shoppers for a while, but had been able to successfully escape and do their own thing after a while.
     "I knew this would happen," Luna sighed as she saw the girls' reactions. "Usagi-chan does tend to overreact at times like this."
     Artemis nodded in agreement. "Those two do tend to act too much alike sometimes," he snickered. "But it is still pretty funny."
     "But to become an excellent successor to her mother and become Neo-Queen Serenity, she does need to grow up a little. But she has demonstrated the potential and is improving greatly over how she acted when we first met. It must be hard for you sometimes, Artemis, to have to clean up the messes caused by a clumsy blonde as Minako-chan can be. She certainly gave us a strong impression when we first met her, but things went downhill from there." Luna wasn't really insulting Minako, she was just saying these things to tease Artemis.
     The white cat didn't realize this as he stopped laughing and practically glared back at his partner, "I got stuck with the clumsy blonde? Well look who's talking!"
     "What do you mean?" Luna only acted surprised. "What about the time when everyone was sick and Minako-chan ruined their rooms when trying to take care of them."
     "Usagi did the exact same thing when Minako got sick," he retorted. "Not to mention the damage was twice as bad with Chibi-Usa helping and them arguing."
     "How about the time when Minako-chan thought she cut off her finger? She had everyone screaming for an ambulance."
     "Not everyone, just Usagi," he was now beginning to laugh instead of argue.
     Luna continued to bring up the incidents of the two girls and, rather than continue to fight over which one had it worse off. They ended up with a good laugh as they reminisced and decided that they really hadn't done that bad of a job in watching over and training all of the girls as the topic of conversation eventually found its way to their successes as a result of their friendship.

     "Okay, how do I feel now?" Makoto telepathed. She and Shinozaki were still deep in practicing their abilities to communicate mentally, locate each other, and read their feelings. Despite the late time, they were enjoying themselves as if they were simply playing a game. They made sure to keep their eyes closed so facial expressions wouldn't give it away.
     "You probably remembered a joke because it feels like you're on the verge of laughing, Mako-chan," was Shinozaki's answer.
     "You're too good at this. I was just remembering the time Usagi-chan was trying to become graceful by enrolling into a princess seminar, Sure, it was another of Kunzite's traps to find out Sailor Moon's identity, but she nearly drove them out of their minds."
     "I remember you telling me about that. Until recently I never would have figured out why I got a feeling that something terrible had happened. But that was because you'd been turned to wax."
     "It was strange," Mako reminisced, "I only remember getting hit by that green stuff then waking up after the youma was healed." Her mind began to wander. "That empty sleep... Is that what it's really like... to die?"
     The brunette visibly shuddered as thoughts of the loss of her beloved parents. The time at the north pole when she'd sacrificed herself to destroy two of the DD girls also arose, but she was convinced that her spirit had lingered behind in order to support Princess Serenity was because she was fighting as Sailor Jupiter, not Kino Makoto, at the time. The feeling of dread that she felt upon recalling those memories, they were exactly the same as how she felt upon hearing the news about her mother and father being killed. The repression of those feelings and memories began to fail and she could only retreat into her shell as she began to hug herself and tremble more.
     Makoto hadn't wanted to show her moments of weakness like this to anybody, especially Shinozaki. But she didn't have to say anything as she now found herself being hugged by another pair of arms.
     "It's okay, Mako-chan," he assured her vocally.
     The brunette nodded and was trying not to cry as it would have made her feel the impact of her illness again. But she did manage to say a quiet, "Thank you."
     No more words were exchanged for several minutes as Makoto began to calm down, regain control of her feelings, and think, Shinozaki-kun sure is warm... while a powerful feeling of sleep began to overtake her. When she did fall into a full slumber, there was a smile on her face.

     "I'm here for you, Mako-chan," Shinozaki assured again as the calm green light of his hands faded. Makoto hadn't seen it, but the soothing color had awashed over her body. He wasn't sure how he'd done that as it was more of an instinctive action that was fueled by his desire to want to help her feel better.
     Haven't I done this before? he mentally asked himself as another sense of recognition, or rather deja vu, hit him, thus arousing the memory of a previous, and very similar incident.

     Flicker...

     "She's taken a turn for the worse..."

     "It hit her so suddenly..."

     "The doctors don't know what to do..."

     "They can't do anything..."

     "She won't last much longer..."

     No matter where Shinozaki, the Guardian Jupiter for two years, walked to within the palace grounds or even the capital city, everyone was talking about the same thing; the younger of the twin princesses of Jupiter, Miki, had contracted a fatal illness and had been bedridden for the past several days. The entire population was shocked about the suddenness of the change in her health, but the one who had been taking it the hardest was her older sister, Makoto. Her depression was more than evident as Shinozaki knew that his best friend, who he spent as much as possible with, only spent more time with her sister. The idea of her dying slowly the way she was nothing short of devastating to the heiress of the throne.
     "Guardian Jupiter-sama," one of the court matrons called as she suddenly caught up to him without his noticing. "The princess has been asking for you."
     "Thank you," he acknowledged. "I'll go find her right away." His assumption was that it had been Makoto who had summoned him and he turned towards her chambers. However, the matron had read his action.
     "I'm sorry it was Princess Miki who asked for you."
     "I understand," he changed his direction towards the younger girl's chambers. When he was granted entrance, he passed her parents as they exited. Apparently she had asked to speak with him alone. The girl was only a year younger than him, two minutes younger than her sister, and anybody would have been able to tell on site that she and Makoto were identical twins. With the similar hair and eye colors and heights, the only way to tell them apart was that the older normally kept her hair up in a ponytail while the younger kept hers in a single braid that fell down her back. He recalled seeing a recent portrait of them where their similarities were truly highlighted.