The wind started to pick up as Amy, Serena, and Lita sat outside beneath a tall tree. Their lunches were spread in front of them on the grass, and while Amy and Lita ate slowly, Serena was of course shoving food into her mouth as fast as she could. "I'm so hungry, you guys," she said, coming up for air. "I had to skip breakfast this morning."

"Why don't you try waking up earlier, Serena?" asked Amy. "That way, you'd have time to eat and you'd be on time for school."

Serena scowled at her. "I tried that already, Amy. My alarm clock doesn't work."

"So get a new one," said Lita, and winked. "It couldn't hurt."

Rather than answer, Serena just kept eating. Lita rolled her eyes and leaned against the tree, breathing the fresh air deeply. It was a gorgeous day, even if it was a little windy. "Hey guys," she said suddenly, "have any of you talked to that new girl?"

"No," said Serena. Then she frowned. "Wait a sec. What new girl?"

"The one that Miss Haruna introduced this morning… what was her name, Amy? I can't remember."

"Neither can I," admitted Amy sheepishly. "I should know, though. She's in my Advanced Statistical Analysis class; in fact, she sits right behind me. She's very smart."

"Not another one," groaned Serena.

"Excuse me," said a voice. It seemed like it was coming from the tree. Then, a head poked out from behind it, smiling shyly at the girls. "Can I sit here?"

"Yeah, go right ahead," said Lita with an amiable smile. "I can't remember your name… is it Anna?"

"Ahna, actually," said the girl, sitting down. The breeze ruffled her thick, chin-length hair and her skirt. "And you're Lita, Amy, and Serena."

"That's right," said Amy. "How did you know our names?"

"Melvin told me about you," said Ahna. Her light, musical voice changed into one that was uncannily like Melvin's. "'Amy's the smart one, she's in the head of the class. Lita's the big strong one, and Serena's the clumsy meatball head.'"

"Hey!" said Serena indignantly.

"Oh, oops," said Ahna, reddening. "Sorry. That's just what he said."

Amy studied Ahna's earnest face with a puzzled frown. "I hope this isn't too rude of me," she said, "but aren't you awfully old to be going to this school? You certainly look older than any of us." She gestured to the other two girls.

Ahna laughed gently. "I guess none of you were paying attention this morning," she replied, her tone lightly teasing. "I'm not actually a student here. I'm… well, I'm taking a year off from classes, so I can observe and mentor. I want to be a teacher, you see, so I like to see different techniques. Miss Haruna and Mr. Jones are being nice enough to let me sit in on their classes."

"Oh," said Serena. "Then, why aren't you eating lunch with them? No offense, of course."

"None taken," said Ahna evenly. "Actually, most of my friends are your age. I just seem to get along with you guys better." She shrugged and took a bite of lunch.

They passed the time in an affable silence until the bell rang again.

After school let out, Rei and Mina met Serena, Lita, and Amy in front of their school. Luna and Artemis stood with them, purring. Ahna stood shyly behind Lita, smiling pleasantly, until Mina asked, "Hey, guys, are you going to introduce me or not?"

"Oh!" exclaimed Amy. "I'm sorry. Ahna, this is Mina, and this is Rei."

"Pleased to meet you," said Ahna.

"Where do you live?" asked Rei.

Ahna turned and pointed behind her. "Back that way," she said. "Are you going the other direction?"

"I'll walk with you," said Serena cheerfully.

"Serena," Rei said under her breath, "we have temple business. Remember?"

"Oh, lighten up, Rei," said Serena, still cheerful. She scooped Luna up and put the cat over her shoulder. "Luna and I'll meet you at the temple in a few minutes. Come on, Ahna."

As girls and cat disappeared over the hill, Rei stood for a moment, her fists planted firmly on her hips. "That girl is too friendly for her own good."

"Give her a break, Rei," said Lita with a good-natured smile. Then, lowering her voice, "We haven't had any real Scout business in over a month. I think the meeting can wait a half-hour or so."

Amy smiled. "You'll like Ahna, Rei," she said. "She reminds me a little of Greg." She blushed and scratched the back of her neck, and looked at the ground as if she found it suddenly fascinating. "Did I tell you guys that I talked to him yesterday?"

"No!" said Mina, pouncing on the gossip. They headed toward the temple, Serena and Ahna temporarily forgotten.

"So, your cat's name is Luna?"

Serena blinked and looked up at Ahna. "Yeah," she said, and scratched Luna between the ears. "She's my cutie widdle kitty-kitty." She started cooing to Luna in a way she knew the cat hated.

"I have a cat," said Ahna. "Her name is Terra. Sometimes I think she's smarter than I am, you know?"

Serena laughed. "Luna thinks she's smarter than I am," she said, "my silly widdle sweetie kitty." Luna had to contain herself from rolling her eyes. Oh, brother, she thought.

There was a pause. "Your friends seem nice," Ahna said after a moment. "I hope I get to meet them more."

"Oh, you will," said Serena. "If you hang out with me and Lita and Amy, you'll get to know Mina and Rei, too. We're buds. We always hang together."

Ahna stopped abruptly before a familiar high-rise building. "This is where I live," she said. "Thanks for walking me home."

"No prob - whoa, you live here? This is where Darrien lives!"

Ahna brightened. "Oh, so you're that Serena!"

Serena blinked in surprise, feeling automatically territorial. "You know Darrien?"

"He was the first person I met when I moved in here," said Ahna. "I live two floors above him. He's a great guy, very helpful."

"He sure is," said Serena, still wary. Ahna laughed again.

"I feel like I know you," she said. "Darrien talks about you all the time. He seems to be quite under your spell, if you catch my drift." She winked.

"That's… funny, he's never mentioned you," said Serena, slightly appeased.

"I'm not surprised," said Ahna. "I just moved in a week ago, but since then I've talked to Darrien almost every day. He's told me all about you, about the city, about everything. Probably he's just forgotten about me." She looked up to the building again. "I'd invite you in, but my place is still a mess. Maybe someday after school, you and Darrien and I should meet for a milkshake or something."

"That could be fun," said Serena. She waved and started away. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ahna!"

A minute later, Luna asked, "Did something about her seem… well, odd to you?"

"Odd?" asked Serena. She thought for a minute. "No, not really. I thought it was weird that someone her age would like to hang with someone my age, but I guess that's not too weird. I mean, look at Darrien and me."

"Yes…" said Luna, but she sounded troubled. "Maybe you should talk to Darrien about her. Maybe he's noticed something. He knows her better than any of us do." She looked at Serena witheringly. "And Serena, please don't call me your 'sweetie widdle cutie kitty.' It's so embarrassing."

"Sorry, Luna," said Serena, not apologetic at all.

"Hey!" called a voice from behind them. "Serena!"

She turned to see Darrien waving at her. With a huge smile, Serena waved back, and waited for him to catch up. "Hey, Darrien," she said. "I'm going to the temple, where are you off to?"

Darrien shrugged. "I saw you walking this way," he said. "I just figured I'd walk with you till you got where you were going. Hey, Luna." He scratched the cat between the ears, and she purred.

"Darrien," said Luna, "there's a new girl in your building. Ahna. She says she's met you."

He puzzled for a moment. Then, recognition dawned. "Yeah, Ahna. Why do you ask?"

"Have you noticed anything unusual about her?"

Darrien looked at the ground, biting his lower lip. There was something in the gesture that made Serena curious, but she said nothing. After a moment, he responded, "No, not really. Unusual how?"

"Well, I can't quite put my paw on it," said Luna. "There's just something strange about

her that I can't seem to pinpoint."

"I'll tell you if I notice anything," Darrien assured them.

He huddled over the controls, his long, thin hands lightly dancing over them. He was almost finished…

"Taliment!"

With an exasperated sigh, Taliment straightened up and ran a hand through his thick, red hair. "I'm nearly finished, Empress."

There was a pause. "Can you hurry it up at all?"

Taliment didn't answer. He twisted a knob here, punched a few numbers there… and there she was. On the screen in front of him, sitting calmly. She looked different, but… no, it was definitely her. "I've found her, Empress!"

"Good!" the disembodied voice proclaimed. "My, she'll be perfect, won't she?"

"I hope so," said Taliment. "Now, to pinpoint her exact location." He went to work again. He knew her approximate vicinity, but if he was able to find precisely where she was, keeping track of her would be much easier. Slightly irritated, he said, "Your Majesty, I can't work when you're looking over my shoulder."

"I apologize, Taliment," said the voice, slightly miffed. He sensed her withdrawing, and guessed that, had she a body, she would have stalked across the room and sat pouting by the doorway. For an Empress, she was remarkably immature. But no matter. Years of searching and traveling were about to pay off.

Lita walked unhurriedly along the path through the park, humming quietly to herself. The wind urged her along playfully, teasing at her ears and hair. It was wonderful to be by herself; Lita loved to be with her friends, but she also liked to have some time alone. Just as she was about to turn around and head home, she saw Ahna kneeling by the edge of a copse of trees, picking flowers. Lita raised a hand and started to shout a greeting, but all of a sudden a cold, fierce wind blew by her. A man walked out of the trees and stood by Ahna, and, curious, Lita ducked behind a tree and walked the interaction.

He was tall, redheaded, fair-skinned. When he spoke, his voice was low but powerful. "Ahna Cosgrove?"

Ahna stood, and to Lita it looked like she shivered. "That's me," she said. "Who are you?"

"Come with me, Ahna," said the man, smiling gently. "There's someone I want you to meet." He put a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged it off and glared at him.

"I'm afraid I'm not going anywhere until you tell me who you are," she replied politely.

A small, orange cat came bounding from the trees, coming to rest some ten feet away from the two. "Ahna!" it said, surprising Lita significantly, but much less than it might have surprised anyone else. "He's dangerous!"

"I believe you, Terra," replied Ahna, backing up slowly.

"I'm not dangerous," said the man. "At least, I won't be if you cooperate."

Ahna backed up even more, and as the man advanced on her, Lita got the feeling that he was dangerous, very dangerous. She looked up to the sky and said, quietly, "Jupiter star power!"

After transforming, Jupiter ran around the tree and headed straight for Ahna and the strange redheaded man. "Hey, you!" she called. He turned to her, and when he saw her he recoiled in surprise. Ahna, Jupiter noticed, was totally unemotive. "Leave her alone!"

"Who are you?" asked the man, not moving.

Here we go, thought Jupiter, fighting an urge to roll her eyes. Normally the flowery speeches were left up to Sailor Moon, but she wasn't there. Planting her fist on her hips, she said, "I fight for justice and against evil. You aren't wanted here, Mister, so leave her alone!" Pointing at him, she pronounced, "I am Sailor Jupiter!"

The man looked confused. "Who?" he asked.

This wasn't the reaction Jupiter was hoping for. Nevertheless, she took a tentative step forward. This seemed to provoke no reaction, so she took another step. Suddenly, another cold blast of air hit her, so powerfully that it drove her back against a tree. Jupiter fell to her knees, the breath knocked out of her, and she struggled to her feet again. "Who did that?" she demanded.

A sinister laugh sounded from in front of Jupiter, but there was no one to go with it. "Kill

the green one, Taliment," the voice said. Then, almost as an afterthought, "The cat, too."

The man shrugged and said, "As you wish, Your Majesty." He held out a fist, and Jupiter was hurled violently backward again, hitting her head against the tree.

She sagged to the grass, and as she struggled to her feet she heard the cat exclaim, "Ahna! Transform!"

What? Jupiter thought wildly. Transform? Is she a -

Ahna raised her hand in the air and called out, "Polaris star power!"

There was a bright flash of light, and Jupiter threw her arm up to shield her face. After what seemed like an eternity, though really it was little more than a second, the brilliance subsided and standing in Ahna's place was… well, Ahna. She was wearing a black and white Scout uniform, and her black boots reached to her knees. There was a black staff in her right hand, thin and made out of metal. "Who are you?" breathed Jupiter, though she had a pretty good idea.

"Introductions will have to wait," said the Scout, swinging the staff at the man. It caught him in the stomach, doubling him over, and then over the shoulders. There was that sinister laugh again, and the staff was unexpectedly wrenched from her grip and flung several yards away.

"Aww, poor little girl," said the voice in an obscene parody of sympathy. "Whatcha gonna do now that your little toy's gone?"

"This!" exclaimed Jupiter. She crossed her arms above her head and brought them down, concentrating within her. Electricity crackled in the air around her. The hair on the back of Jupiter's neck stood on end. "Jupiter… thunder… crash!" A tremendous rush of adrenaline coursed through her veins as the energy was released, catching the man just as he lunged for the new, bewildering Scout. He cried out in pain and surprise.

Jupiter didn't have much time to be pleased with herself. She was driven backward again by an unseen force, stronger than anything she had ever imagined. "Sailor… whoever you are," she yelled, "help!"

"Here!" cried the Scout, tossing her the newly-recovered staff. "Use this!"

Jupiter swung it around blindly without much effect. "How am I supposed to fight something that I can't see?"

"Grab hold of something!" said the Scout. "Hang on tight!"

Jupiter took hold of a tree and wrapped her arms around it, hard to do because of the relentless pummelling of her arms, legs and face by whatever it was. The Scout held her arms out as if she were expecting a hug from Jupiter, her fingers splayed. "Polaris… windstorm…" she intoned, then brought her hands together abruptly, clasping her fingers together, "blow!"

Wind rushed past Jupiter's ears, shrieking and howling, hot and dusty, burning her face. She wrapped her arms around the tree more firmly, then one of her legs as well; it was taking all of her strength to hang onto both the tree and the staff. There was a brief scream that was all but lost in the wailing wind... and when it let up, the force surrounding Jupiter was gone. She released both tree and staff and started to walk to the Scout, and that was when the redheaded man stood quickly up and kicked her (the mysterious Scout, not Jupiter) in the stomach.

Oh, man, thought Jupiter, and started to run.

Out of the blue, a rose flew through the air, its stem slicing across the man's forehead. He staggered back, and he and Jupiter looked in the direction he had come. Standing there in a tree branch, was, of course, Tuxedo Mask. "A gentleman should always know when he's not wanted," he announced. "You have overstayed your welcome. Next time, try picking on someone your own size." (Jupiter thought about pointing out that the new Scout was at least as tall as their attacker, but decided that it was an inopportune time.)

The man wiped the blood off his forehead and looked from Tuxedo Mask to Jupiter to the unknown Scout, and mumbled, "Three against one. I don't like those odds." He looked directly at Jupiter and said, "I'll be back, miss Jupiter, you can count on that." With that, the air shimmered and wavered in front of him and he disappeared.

"Whew," said Jupiter, sitting in the grass. "What was that all about?"

Tuxedo Mask jumped from the tree and landed in front of her. "I don't know," he said softly, looking at the Scout.

The one who had been Ahna went silently to the tree and picked up the staff, then turned. "My name is Sailor Polaris," she said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sailor Jupiter." She smiled at Tuxedo Mask, who smiled back. Jupiter was confounded.

"A new Sailor Scout?" she asked. "Why didn't Luna tell us about you? Or Artemis?"

"They didn't know," said the cat, who was now sitting comfortably on her haunches. "Or, they did, but they didn't know who she was or when she would show up. I was entrusted with her."

Jupiter looked at Polaris with shining eyes. "This is amazing," she said. "You have to meet the other Scouts right away."

"I look forward to it," said Polaris. "I have a story to tell."

"We want to hear it," said Jupiter, reaching into a hidden pocket of her skirt for her communicator. "Tuxedo Mask," she said authoritatively, "this concerns you, too."

He looked surprised, even beneath the mask, but merely nodded.

***

"Taliment!"

He sighed inwardly, knowing what he was in for. Empress Haiya would not be pleased with this afternoon's confrontation. Truth to tell, he wasn't pleased with himself either; letting himself be defeated by two extremely vicious young girls and a strange man in a tuxedo. His forehead still stung from the blow it had received (from a rose, no less), and the rest of him didn't feel so great either. He'd been fried, smashed several times, and sliced. There was no sweet triumph that he had thought would come so easily; instead, only the bitter taste of defeat.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" he asked reluctantly.

There was no response for a moment, and Taliment thought for a moment that she was no longer there. Then the voice, sharp and sarcastic. "Well, that went marvellously, don't you agree?"

Taliment didn't answer. "I've never been so humiliated in my entire life," the Empress continued, "being blown for hundreds and hundreds of yards, and coming to rest in the middle of an intersection! It was more frightening than when I lost my body! All these shrieking vehicles running towards me, honking their horns…" She paused for a moment to calm herself. "And you," she finally said. "You were wonderful. Couldn't just grab Miss Ahna and take her with us. You had to take the nice 'oh-won't-you-please-cooperate' approach."

"Your Majesty," Taliment said, "permission to speak in my defense?"

"Fine," grumped Empress Haiya.

"Had I any idea that that Sailor Jupiter character would show up, I would have taken a much different approach. I knew there was something special about Ahna, but I'd no idea she was one of those 'Sailors' as well. Today was the first day I've heard of them."

The Empress sighed. "I know, Taliment," she said finally. "We'll have to be more careful from now on. Who knows how many Sailors there might be?"

Taliment hadn't thought of that. "I hope there's just the two, Your Majesty," he said. "We might have to call in reinforcements if there are any more."

"I leave it to you," said Haiya. There was a long pause, and when she spoke again her voice came from across the room. "I was so pretty when I had a body," she said wistfully.

Taliment crossed to the sound of her voice, in front of a large portrait. It was of a short but stately woman with pale skin and lavender hair that flowed to the ground. Her eyes were golden and piercing, and her smile showed a lot of teeth. "Yes," he answered, "the most beautiful woman in the kingdom."

"You really think so?" asked Haiya, and had she a face it would have blushed.

"Of course," said Taliment, trying to appease her.

"Do you think Ahna is prettier than me?"

Taliment chose his words carefully. "Not yet," he said simply. "When you're finished with her, we'll see."

That seemed to be sufficient.

"What's this all about, Li- hey, whoa, what's she doing here?" asked Serena, a bit less tactfully than she would have liked. "And Darrien, too? I mean, Ahna, it's not like we don't want you around, but-"

Lita cut her off, waving a hand impatiently. "She's one of us," she said. She looked around to make sure there was no one nearby, then lowered her voice and added, "She's a Sailor Scout."

"What?" asked everyone simultaneously. Luna and Artemis merely sat around and looked semi-surprised.

"That's right," said the small orange cat, stepping in front of Ahna. "My name is Terra. Luna, Artemis, I've heard about you. I must say you've done a fabulous job training these girls… or, this one at least." She rubbed against Lita's leg. "She's the only one I've seen in action so far."

"What are you talking about?" asked Mina.

Darrien sat on the temple stairs, resting his elbows on his knees. "Some strange man came after Ahna today. In the park."

Amy looked at her in concern. "Are you all right? Did you know who he was?"

Ahna shook her head. "No. Someone called him Taliment, so I would assume that was his name."

"Who called him that?" asked Rei.

"A voice," said Lita, taking a seat on the stairs. "Just… a voice. There was no one to go with it, though. And then it attacked me."

"The voice," said Serena skeptically. "How can a voice attack?"

"Well," said Rei sardonically, "when it's a voice like yours, it starts by blowing out the eardrums."

Ahna looked alarmed. "Wasn't that a little harsh, Rei?"

"Never mind," said Serena, shooting daggers at Rei with her eyes. Rei, for her part, acted oblivious. "Who did the voice belong to?"

Lita and Ahna shrugged. "When Tuxedo Mask showed up… is that right? Is that your name?" asked Ahna, looking at Darrien for confirmation. He nodded. "Well, when Tuxedo Mask showed up, the man - Taliment - decided he didn't want to fight three against one, so he disappeared."

"Wait a sec," said Rei, standing up and waving her hands. "Hang on, we're just supposed to take it on faith that you're a Scout?"

Lita looked stung. "Rei, I saw her. She transformed right in front of me!"

"Then she won't hesitate to do it again," said Rei, looking pointedly at Ahna.

Lita was about to protest, but Ahna held up a hand. "Don't worry, Lita," she said with a smile. "I don't mind. She has a valid point." They walked into the empty temple, and Mina and Amy closed the doors behind them. Ahna went through the ritual again, and there was a flash of light, less blinding than Lita remembered it. A gasp issued from the other four girls, as well as Luna and Artemis. Lita peered into the light, and she saw Sailor Polaris standing in place of Ahna. As the light subsided, Polaris held her arm out to the side and the staff appeared in her hand. "Sailor Polaris, at your service," she said with a smile, looking directly at Rei.

"Oh, this is so cool!" exclaimed Serena. "Sailor Polaris! Wow! Say, what's that?" She pointed at the staff.

"A staff," said Polaris. "I hit people with it."

"Oh, wow!"

Amy looked troubled. "I believe that you're a Scout," she said quietly. "But in all of our experiences, I don't remember you from the Moon Kingdom."

"That's because I'm not from the moon," Polaris replied. "I have never been to the Moon, even in the past. I'm from the Earth."

"The Earth?" asked Darrien, startled.

"When I was very young," Polaris said, sitting down on the floor and gesturing for the others to follow, "I was taken away from Earth and raised as the Princess of Polaris. I was trained in the royal way, but mostly I was trained for battle. I knew that one day I would return to Earth and fight in a war; there was a small but powerful group of malcontents, and there were rumors of a military coup or a revolution. When the battle with the Negamoon family arose, I went back to Earth to fight. I was wounded terribly, and was not expected to survive.

"I took awhile to heal, and when I did, Queen Serenity sent Terra and myself into the future along with everyone else. Terra knew about all of you, and would tell me stories of your bravery as we searched for you. I knew when I got here that I was in the right place, and seeing Sailor Jupiter confirmed it."

"So you've known all this time that you were a Scout?" asked Mina.

"Since I was seven years old," said Polaris. "Terra has been retraining me." She hesitated for just a moment, then continued. "There was one other person I was supposed to find when I got here. The man who had been the Prince of Earth back in the day of Queen Serenity." She paused just a moment more, and looked at Darrien. "My twin brother."

Darrien, who had been watching Polaris in fascination, now sat bolt upright. "Brother?" he asked incredulously.

She nodded solemnly. Everyone by now was staring at her, mouth agape, excepting only Terra. "Mother and Father were afraid for our lives," she said, speaking to everyone but looking still at Darrien. "Earth was getting more and more restless, and more unhappy with the royal family. I was taken elsewhere, and we were never told about each other, for safety reasons. But when Terra told me about you, she said that you wouldn't be far from the rest of the Sailor Scouts, but she didn't know who you were. I knew as soon as I saw you."

Darrien sat back, speechless. The only sound he made was a stunted sigh that came out sounding like, "Foof."

"How did you know?" asked Mina.

Polaris shrugged. "Intuition," she said. "I don't think there's any way I can prove it to you, but if you believe the rest of my story, why should you have any difficulty believing in this?" When she received no answer, Polaris removed a long chain from around her neck. On the end of it was a small pendant, about the size of half of a quarter. Upon closer examination, Serena could see that emblazoned upon the pendant was a rose with a long stem, sticking out of the ground at an angle. Polaris proffered it to Darrien, who didn't seem to want to look at it. "Does this look familiar?" she asked softly. "Tell me, Darrien, does it?"

Darrien didn't answer. Instead, he stood and walked out of the temple, wordlessly running a hand through his hair. "Hey!" said Serena. She stood, but Polaris lightly took hold of her wrist.

"Let him be," she said. "It's a lot to absorb." She watched him go, a sad fondness filling her eyes. "I'll talk to him later."

"I don't think you'll get the chance, Sailor Polaris," said a voice from the door. The girls turned with a gasp to see the tall redhead that Lita and Ahna had been speaking about.

"You? What are you doing here?" demanded Lita, getting to her feet. The other girls did the same. "Get out of here, now!"

To her surprise, the man only shrugged. "Okay," he said.

Serena blinked. "Okay?"

He fixed Polaris with a look. "If she comes with me, I'll go peacefully."

Polaris gripped the staff in both hands and held it in front of her in a defensive stance. "I'm not going anywhere unless you tell me why," she snarled. "A brief explanation will suffice."

He shrugged again. "Have it your way." He vanished, and a split second later the back wall of the room was ripped outwards, sending splinters and shards flying everywhere. With a shriek, Polaris was hurled backwards out of the room by some invisible attacker, and she sprawled on her back.

"Let's get moving, Scouts!" Serena yelled.

"Right!" they answered, in unison.

"Moon… Crystal… Power!"

"Mars Star Power!"

"Jupiter Star Power!"

"Venus Star Power!"

One by one, each girl transformed into her respective Scout. Venus and Mercury ran out the front door, and the other three through the demolished back wall. What Mercury saw made her recoil back in shock and fear. Darrien lay unconscious by the side of the dirt path, and roaming around in front of him were three… well, as far as Mercury or Venus could tell, they were dragons. Green, scaly, at least eight feet tall and breathing fire from their snouts, they reared back on their hind legs and roared. It was a sound like an erupting volcano, and the two Scouts covered their ears. "We're going to need help!" said Venus, backing up.

Mercury looked from the dragons to Darrien, and then to Venus. "Cover me!" she said, and ran forward.

"What?" exclaimed Venus, but stood her guard. One of the dragons saw Mercury and started to rise up on its haunches. Mind racing, Venus pointed at the dragon and cried, "Venus fire shower!"

Her aim was perfect. It hit the dragon square on the nose, and it screamed in agony. Mercury darted around it and ran to Darrien, but before she could do anything Taliment appeared before her. "Brave of you, Sailor… Bluehair, but I'm afraid -"

Mercury didn't waste time. She backed up a few feet into the woods by the side of the path, and cried, "Mercury bubbles blast!"

It took her a minute to find Darrien in the fog, but when she did she draped his arm around her shoulder and, with a grunt of effort, ran toward the annihilated room with him. By the time she got there she was sweating bullets, and she rested Darrien against the wall. Now what? Mercury thought.

A glass of water was sitting in the sink, and she grabbed it and threw it full force into Darrien's face. He blinked and sputtered, and cleared the water from his eyes. "Sailor Mercury? What happened?"

"Can't explain," said Mercury, looking over her shoulder. "Stay here."

"If there's trouble," said Darrien, struggling to his feet with a hand to his head (upon which, Mercury noticed, there was a fairly sizeable knot), "I should help."

Mercury sighed. "You're in no condition," she said. "Look, I don't have time to argue with you. Just stay put." With that, she leapt through the door and closed it futilely behind her. By now, Jupiter and Mars were also in front of the building, staring down the dragons. Both groups seemed unsure of how to proceed.

"Where's Sailor Polaris? What happened to her?" asked Mercury.

"She and Sailor Moon are trying to get rid of whatever's attacking her," said Jupiter. She moved quickly to stand next to Mercury. "How's Darrien?"

"He seems okay for now," said Mercury. "But he's got a nasty bump on his head. I hope

he doesn't do anything rash."

They heard Sailor Polaris shouting from a distance, and then a gust of wind came from

behind the building. The Scouts didn't feel it, but they heard it whistle through the trees, which were doubling over from the strain. Mixed in with the wind was a muted scream, and Venus could swear she heard someone yelling, "Not again!"

Sailors Moon and Polaris charged out from behind the building, and this was the provocation that the dragons needed. Their roars were deafening as two of them charged right for the Scouts, and the other headed directly for Sailor Polaris. Before she had time to react, he had grabbed her in his claws and was taking off on enormous, leathery wings. "Sailor Polaris!" cried Venus, and ran for the prisoner, but was tossed backward by a flick of another dragon's tail.

"Time to fight fire with fire!" Mars said. She put her hands together and intoned, "Mars… fire… ignite!" Swirling flames jumped from her pointed fingers and struck the flying dragon in the side of the head. The dragon turned toward them, but that was all. It did not seem in the least deterred.

Mercury bit her lip and turned toward the dragon as Jupiter and Venus madly distracted the other two. "Shine aqua illusion!" she shouted. A rush of frigid water surrounded the dragon's wings, freezing them, and the dragon started to fall. It dropped Polaris, who vaulted out of the way with her staff just before the huge lizard hit the ground. It lay motionless.

"Way to go, Mercury!" Sailor Moon squealed.

"Behind you!" shouted Venus.

Sailor Moon swiveled just in time to see claws rushing straight for her midsection. She jumped backward and landed on her backside, hard, and gasped as the dragon stood over her. As she covered her head with her arms, she heard Jupiter shout, "Jupiter thunder dragon!"

The two dragons, one of electricity and one of flesh, fought each other in a bizarre, indescribable battle, the latter on the losing end. Those two being taken care of, Polaris readied herself and faced down the third one, who was in the process of flinging Mercury and Mars in a graceful arc through the air. They landed in tree branches. "Polaris cyclone spin!" she yelled, bringing her hands up and locking them together.

A swirling funnel shot out of the air and picked up the dragon, whirling it like a dervish. It spun around and around in a mad dance until the dragon was no more than a green blur inside of it. "Do it, Sailor Moon!" yelled Venus desperately. "I don't know how much more we can take!"

Polaris watched in astonishment. She'd heard Terra speak of the powers of the group, and so far she had not been let down. She was curious, however, as to what exactly Sailor Moon did. As she pulled out her sceptor and "activated" it at the dragons, she understood what it was about the Scouts that made them such a unique group. The leader was not the strongest member. Without the rest of the team, Sailor Moon would no doubt be in over her head. It took the group to weaken the enemy and the leader to finish them off... that was truly the only thing that set the members apart.

Mercury and Mars extricated themselves from the tree in as dignified a manner as they could and stood where the dragons had been. (They had all three disappeared, as had the cyclone.) "Taliment sent them, I'm sure of it," said Sailor Moon absently.

"You think?" asked Mars, sarcasm steeped in her voice.

"Why do you think he wants you, Sailor Polaris?" asked Venus.

"I don't know," Polaris responded truthfully. "But he seems to want me either unharmed or with as little damage done to me as possible. I can't imagine why."

Mercury suddenly remembered. "Sailor Moon, maybe you'd better go check on Darrien. He's inside."

She needed no further bidding. She ran inside to see Darrien watching the door anxiously, but when he saw her his face relaxed. "You're all right," he said, as if reassuring himself to the fact.

Sailor Moon went to hug him, having to kneel down to do so. "What happened?"

"That Taliment guy ambushed me outside," Darrien explained. "Caught me totally off guard. What happened out there? It was so loud… when it got quiet I was afraid…"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Just a buncha dragons. We took care of em easy."

"Well, I'm glad you're okay," said Darrien, frowning a bit. He hesitated, then got to his feet. "I should get home," he said.

"I'll walk with you," said Sailor Moon with a smile. "You never know when you might get ambushed again."

Darrien looked about to protest, but shrugged. "Have it your way, meatball-head," he said, and winked at her.