Chapter 1 - First Encounter

Her feet pounded on the pavement making the echoes bounce off the walls of the buildings and vibrate up the deserted street of Tokyo, Japan. Her breathing came out in short quick gasps as she tried to keep her pace, so not to lose any time; she was, after all, extremely late.

The pink device on her wrist beeped the third time that night. She pushed a button and a familiar face appeared on the screen, a very angry face. She inwardly groaned; she really wasn't in the mood to hear another rude remark. A frown marred her face it's not like I've never heard it before she thought.

"Where the hell are you! Get your ass down her now!" The fiery scout screamed into her own communicator. "I'm almost there." She turned the screen off and made a sharp turn into Juuban Park.

She could hear battle sounds in the distance, which got louder and more destructive to the ear as she got closer. The sky flashed with bright colors of red, blue, green and yellow as each scout used their powers to fend off the evil that tried to invade their space.

Just as quick as the lights began, they stopped just as sudden leaving her in complete silence. The only sounds that could be heard were the songs of the crickets and the slight howl of the wind. She stopped in the middle of the park, her eyes wandered over her surroundings trying to locate the scene of battle. Without the flashes she was lost.

A stick broke behind the bushes sending her into an alert position. When she heard it again, she charged through the bushes intending to catch the intruder by surprise, but instead ended up tangled in a large net that resembled a cobweb. It clung to her skin leaving a slimy residue behind.

With every attempt of movement she made, it resulted in an even more serious and uncomfortable position. "This is not good." She said to herself as she tried to move once more. "Great job of saving us, Sailor Moon!"

Sailor Moon turned towards the voice that held such sarcasm only to have the same angry face from the communicator glare back at her. The Moon warrior rolled her eyes, "you could have warned me, Mars!"

Sailor Mars was tied up with the same white substance along with Sailor Mercury, who was unconscious, her visor was still upon her face. Sailor Moon searched the rest of the area and found two lumps on the ground also covered with the web, which she figured were the two scouts missing from the scene, Sailor Jupiter and Venus.

"I shouldn't have to warn you! You should know by now, we've been doing this for a year and a half!" Moon sighed harshly at her fiery companion as her arm tried to tug free, but the jerk of the web, distracted her.

A shadow fell over her body under the light of the moon forcing her to look up in its direction. Her eyes widened as they fell upon a creature that was a large duplication of a spider. It's jaws snapped back and forth above her head; she could do nothing but scream.

A vague sound of laughter could be heard in the background as Zoicite stood floating above the scene; her long blonde hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail and her sharp green eyes glowed with malevolence, this was her night to shine. "Kill them! Kill them now!" she screamed down to it.

Before the spider could do as commanded, a red rose pierced the web sending Sailor Moon descending to the ground roughly. "Oof! That's going to leave a mark." As she tried to stand on her shaky legs, which were still numb from the tight hold of the web, she didn't see the spider's advancement nor hear the shout of warning from Tuxedo Mask.

Sailor Moon stood shocked as the spider ran towards her. Tuxedo Mask jumped down from the tree and managed to grab her and bring her to safety. He placed her on the ground, but didn't let go and neither did she as she clung to his shirt tightly.

"You stupid, idiotic, worthless insect! Get them before I kill you instead!" The spider made another leap, but Tux was way ahead as he threw another rose piercing right through the head of the insect leaving it immobile on the ground. The rose, however, kept going as it made its way toward the woman in the general's uniform, slicing the side of her face leaving a trickle a blood on her cheek.

She put a shaky hand on her cheek and brought it down to her eye level. She couldn't believe it until she saw it for herself. When it finally registered that the deep crimson liquid staining her skin was her own, the shock turned into rage.

"My face! No one touches my face! Ever!"

Mask smirked at his enemy, "Not like it makes any difference, the scars of your past transgressions can be seen all over your body."

Zoicite glared her masked foe. "you will pay for that Tuxedo Mask. Until next time." With her hand still pressed against her now swollen face, she made her exit.

Tuxedo Mask looked down at Sailor Moon who hid underneath his cape that was draped over his shoulder; her fingers remained clenching his shirt. "Are you ok?" She looked at him and nodded. "Yea, thanks again."

He shrugged, "anytime." He helped her off the ground, giving her his hand, which she accepted willingly, and made their way over to the others. "Hey, can you two stop dawdling and get me out of this thing!" Sailor Moon flinched inwardly, she really hated when Mars yelled.

"And they tell me to lower the decibels." She mumbled, but Tuxedo Mask heard it and chuckled giving her a wink before going off to help the fiery scout. She sighed and began to unravel the lump who she assumed was Venus.

******************

"Ms. Tsukino!"

Serena jerked out of her reverie at the sound of the teacher's voice. "Huh?" Her gaze went from the window to the front of the class to land on the very angry and annoyed teacher, who at the moment had his arms crossed over his chest and a frown upon his face.

"The answer, Ms. Tsukino? Since you were so attentive to whatever was outside the window, I assume that you are thinking about the question and since you were nodding your head, I assume that you know the answer."

He pushed back the thin framed glasses, which were sliding down the bridge of his long skinny nose; his brown eyes never leaving her face. Serena could feel the stares of the other classmates who also wanted to witness, yet, another "Tsukino" downfall; she was so famous for them.

Oh what the hell! She thought before she opened her mouth to speak. "Five," she answered without hesitation, after all, it was basically the same answer she gave to every question she received.

Snickers traveled around the room quickly. Serena glanced at her short blue-haired fiend and saw her shake her head in disappointment or was it disgrace? She wasn't positive and at the moment could have cared less. She turned her attention back to the teacher who was trying his hardest not to yell.

"That answer might be acceptable if this was Mathematics, but if you weren't so busy day dreaming, Ms. Tsukino, then maybe you would had realized that this is History class."

She inwardly rolled her eyes, she hated when he addressed each student in his classroom by their last name as if this was some training camp and they were all his soldiers. It'll be a cold day in hell before I call him 'Sir' She thought with a smirk.

She already knew what he was going to say; she could tell that by the way his hand stroked through his hair. It settled on the back of his head and scratched. She could see all the girls' eyes going tender with obsession as he did this action; it wasn't a secret that most of the female population in the school had a crush on him and that's including the teachers. I just don't see it

She sighed and spoke clearly, almost amused, "Detention?"

He licked his lips and cleared his throat, "Detention," he confirmed with a nod of his head. She shrugged and with mock apology, smiled before returning back to her thoughts as her eyes glazed over with remembrance of the night before. The teacher could only shake his head in submission and continued to teach the rest of the lesson; the students never seeing the smile that crossed his face.

In actuality, Serena didn't mind detentions; in fact, she appreciated the hour and a half of complete silence everyday after school. She was beginning to purposely come late to school each morning or space out in class, just so she could have those precious moments to herself. While, at the same time, still follow the teacher; she wasn't as dumb as everyone assumed, in fact, she wasn't dumb at all.

It's just that she couldn't think clearly with the scouts around, they were a distraction to her concentration; besides, they would fall flat on their faces if they knew she was even capable to think, that's if they didn't laugh in her face first. She could definitely see Raye's reaction to that.

Serena frowned openly. Last nights events still lingered in her mind, Raye's words echoed in their depths, those words filled with so much menace and jealousy.

(Flashback)

"Who do you think you're fooling, Serena?" Raye stood with her hands on her hips, her violet eyes glared daggers at the blonde. Serena stared in confusion; she hadn't a clue what she was talking about. "Huh?"

"Your 'helpless' act. You just can't wait to have Darien come to your rescue, can you?"

"What are you talking about?" Serena's brows crinkled in trying to decipher her friend's accusation.

"I'm talking about the fact that you can't get through one battle without having Tuxedo Mask rescue you. You're not over him are you!?"

Serena's mouth fell open, she couldn't believe that her supposed friend was accusing her of trying to get with Darien behind her back. "Excuse me?"

"You just can't get over the fact that he's with me and not you! Just because you're the princess, doesn't mean that you get everything! He might have been with Serenity in the past, but he's not with you now, so just accept it!" Raye gave one last glare and walked away, grabbing Darien, who gave Serena an apologetic look.

She watched them walk away. She shook her head, "unbelievable!"

(End of Flashback)

Serena sighed at her desk. She couldn't believe that Raye would accuse her of trying to steal her boyfriend. Like I'd ever stoop that low! she rolled her eyes and shook her head slowly.

Outwardly, she was laughing; inwardly, she was fuming. Raye had a lot of nerve. Ever since they found out that Serena was actually the lost princess, Serenity, that they had been searching for, the raven-haired scout had been insecure since it was revealed to them that Serenity had been betrothed to Endymion, which was Darien, her present boyfriend.

Serena, honestly, couldn't see herself with him. Everyday the two would fuss and fight, even though it was all playful; still, how could Raye even think that she would even try anything with him? Sure, he was cute. He had girls falling at his feet every time he'd brush away those midnight strands that constantly fell in his face, and he could get any girl to do anything he wanted with just a look with those cerulean blue eyes of his.

But, Serena didn't get that feeling when he came around. It was more like contentment; what could she say, she just wasn't into blue. They both thought that it was unfair to not only Raye, but also both of them if they started dating just because her dead mother told them it was meant to be. So they decided to stay friends, even though the queen wasn't happy. I still think she was keeping something from me

But Raye is still at the point of distrust, and it puzzled her that Darien was still with her. Maybe he did love her. Love or no love, I would have left her already. That would teach her a lesson about her bitchy attitude Serena snickered.

She couldn't figure out how they were friends and how she remained friends with the others. Would the five have become friends if the whole negaverse thing ever happened? She shrugged. It really didn't matter, the point is that they still had to fight together, but she didn't know how long she could last. She'll probably end up blowing up soon; her tolerance level was below borderline.

The sound of the bell brought her out of deep thoughts. All the students rushed out of the room leaving the blonde alone. She collected her things and made her way to the door; before she could walk out, the teacher's voice stopped her advance.

"Three o'clock, Ms. Tsukino. Don't forget."

"Do I ever?" She smirked.

She turned again to leave, "Oh, Ms. Tsukino! Nice work on your paper." He said handing her typed term paper, which had an A, marked in red at the top, right hand corner. Her smile grew wider as she looked at the grade; all her hard work paid off.

"Keep it up and I just might have you admitted in the National Honor Society, of course, it'll be just between you and me." He grinned. "It better be." She said

"Have a good weekend. . . Serena." She wished him the same and left for her next class.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Serena walked down the sidewalk slowly, her head hung low and her gaze never left the ground. It was now 4:15, detention had let out fifteen minutes ago and she was supposed to meet the scouts at the arcade and then go back to the Temple for their daily meetings. The very boring meetings, which basically consisted of placing the blame for whatever went wrong during a battle on who else, but Serena Tsukino.

This was why, in her view, it was boring. It was a constant routine within the meetings. She came to the two paths that led to two locations, in one direction was her house and in the other was the arcade. should I, for once, be early or go home and waste time on purpose?

She shrugged and headed in the direction of the arcade. All she knew was that she was craving for a chocolate milkshake make that a large one! She was too busy thinking about what she wanted that she didn't see the figure, who also wasn't paying attention, walking towards her.

The two bodies collided hard, sending her tumbling to the ground, but he grabbed her before she could fall. "Hey meatball head, still falling for me, I see." She looked into his blue eyes and frowned rolling her eyes, "honestly, I stopped wearing that hairstyle months ago."

"Once a meatball head, always a meatball head," he said winking as he followed her through the doors of the Crown Arcade. She sat at a booth wordlessly never realizing Darien's presence from across the table, who was looking at her in confusion. "You do realize that the meeting doesn't start until 4:30, right?" she nodded, "yea"

He continues to stare at her in silence, "so, why are you here?"

"I didn't feel like going home." He nodded. At that moment her gaze fell on him and her eyes narrowed, "While we're on the subject," she said. "Why are you here early? Don't you have something to do? Oh, wait! I forgot, you don't have a life." He glared at her in mock anger.

"Me? Your life is the arcade." She snorted in offense, "on the contrary, Mr. Chiba. It's filled with detentions, annoying little brothers and huge, slimy creatures." He chuckled knowing exactly what she meant when it came to the huge creatures, considering the jobs of their alter egos.

They've gone through two generals, Jedite, who they assumed was dead, Nephlyte, who was killed by Zoicite, which was the general they fought now. She had dangerous looks and charm, and completely despised Tuxedo Mask; all in all, it's been a very busy year. Actually, they've been fighting this evil for over a year and there was no telling how many generals the Dark Kingdom had and they were only on the third.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" Serena and Darien looked up to see Andrew standing with his apron around his waist and a pad in his hand; his green eyes sparkled with the usual merriment. "Good," they both answered simultaneously. "The usual?" they both nodded and he walked away to get the chocolate shake and black coffee.

Darien cleared his throat, "look Serena, I want to apologize about last night, it…."

Serena shook her head, "don't worry about it. Besides, she should be apologizing, not you." At this time Andrew had come back with their orders and placed them on the table. Darien stared into the dark depths of the mug.

"I don't know what's wrong with her, it's like she doesn't trust me."

"It's not that she doesn't trust you, it's just that she doesn't trust any girl within a mile radius. It has nothing to do with you." Once again, silence settled on them as they both took sips from their drinks. "Do you love her?" Serena asked suddenly.

He looked up at her startled, "love her?"

"Yea, L-O-V-E, love." He slumped down in his chair thinking about the question in his head. It was a while before he spoke, "I don't know."

"Well what do you know?" she asked. "I know I have deep passion for her. I mean, I like being with her, I think about her most of the time, but we're not in that stage of love yet." He answered honestly.

Serena bit her lip nervously, "Um, have you two…? You know." He raised a dark brow, "You're definitely a virgin. You can't even say the word," he grinned. She glared at him form across the table, he was teasing her and she hated when he did that. "I can say it, I just choose not to!"

"Riiiiggght." He said. He sighed as if contemplating whether or not he was going to answer; he licked his lips and spoke. "No, Raye and I have not had sex."

"That's probably why she's insecure, she knows that you've had experiences." He nodded, "and the fact that you and I have a history," he added. "Correction, Serenity and Endymion have a history, you and I don't."

"True." He said nodding his head.

When they were sure that their personal conversation was over, Darien pulled out his physics text book and began reading, his eyes sparkling with interest. Serena frowned openly and rolled her eyes. He calls reading a physics book for fun a life? I don't think so

She laid her head in her arms, which were folded on the table, paying no heed to what was going on around her. The doors to the arcade slid open revealing a group of laughing girls all the age 16. "It's not funny!" The blonde yelled. "I should've gotten a better grade than what that prick gave me!"

"Mina, did you ask him about it?" Ami's solemn voice asked, which received a blank look from the blonde. "Ask?" Raye rolled her violet eyes and sat down next to Darien a peck on his cheek; he turned and gave her a small smile. Serena glanced at the couple and found Raye staring at her sternly, she redirected her gaze to Mina, who was sitting next to her, still complaining.

She slapped her term paper on the table, Serena's eyes widened a bit when they landed on the 'D' at the top right corner. "I worked really hard on this thing!" she huffed, "I was up for hours doing it."

Lita twirled a strand from her ponytail in her fingers and gave Mina an bewildered look, "Mina, he gave us two weeks to do it!"

"And besides," Amy said trying to catch a peek at Darien's book. He saw and handed it to her; flipping to a page of her liking she answered, "we were supposed to explain a historical event that we're learning about in class using research, facts and dates."

"I did!" Raye raised a doubtful brow, "Mina, you used the Roswell Alien Crash site! Just be glad you didn't get an F." Mina pouted, leaning back; she folded her arms across her chest, "well, it's history." Everyone at the table shook their heads at her and they call me ditzy Serena thought as she remembered the grade that she received on her own paper.

Lita realized Serena and her own eyes widened, "Serena? Is that you?" Serena looked at her, "No, it's Barney the purple dinosaur." Darien chuckled silently and shook his head. "You're on time!" Lita said, clapping. "For once," Raye scoffed getting a glare from Serena.

"Come to think of it, you two looked very comfortable. What exactly were you talking about?" Raye said, her eyes never leaving Serena. "Raye…" Darien warned. "What? I just want know!" Serena shook her head and nudged Mina out of the booth.

"Where are you going, the meeting hasn't even started yet." Mina asked. "I'll take a rain check, fill me in later." With that she was gone from the arcade and out the view from the confused eyes of the scouts. "What was that all about?" Lita asked Raye, who just shrugged and pretended nothing had happened. All Darien could do is sigh and shake his head.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Serena wandered aimlessly around the park, it had been an hour and half sine she had left the arcade. She really didn't mean to get as upset as she did, usually Raye's remarks didn't bother her so much, but this was different, that was a direct blame and assumption.

She sighed and looked up at the park lights lit up the path she walked on, she hadn't realized it had gotten so dark. She should be heading home, but she just wasn't in the mood knowing that the black cat that slept in her room would be there.

She sometimes wished for Luna to go stay with Mina and Artemis, Mina needed more advisory than she ever would. She laid on the grass and stared up at the stars; she wondered what it would had been like to live up there. She had her some memories, but not enough to go with. Als he knew was that there was something missing from what her mother had told her.

There were these gaps in her memories that she couldn't figure out, it was like her mind wouldn't let her. She sighed and closed her eyes, when they opened she could no longer see the bright stars of the night sky, but red glaring eyes.

She jumped back away from the creature that looked at her hungrily as it licked its lips. It resembled a wolf, a very large wolf, as its sharp fangs were exposed, ready to chomp on her flesh. Before she could reach for broach it pounced on her.

It stood on top of her body, crushing her ribs and squeezing the air out her body, making it hard for her to breathe. The broach had been knocked out of her hand and laid exposed on the pavement. Its claws left thin deep cuts on her arms, legs and chest areas; she wanted to scream out from the pain, but she couldn't find her voice.

She closed her eyes as its mouth lowered to her face, she could feel it's hot breath on her face; she knew she was going to die. A figure stood to the side with a smirk on his face. His white, almost silver, hair, flowed down his back, his eyes were apathetic as he watched the scene.

Serena's body temperature went up suddenly, a warmth she recognized, but couldn't quite place. Her fingers tingled then her whole body until it erupted into a blinding light as her crescent moon appeared on her forehead. The creature stood back shocked.

She sat up and stared at it with glowing blue eyes which shown with tranquility, it could only blink before it was completely engulfed by the light. It burned and scorched its skin and fur sending it into a howling frenzy until it was nothing but ash.

The figure stared with wide eyes; those silver eyes of his flashed with an emotion that had been locked away for centuries; all he wanted was to touch her.

Serena staggered as she rose from the ground, which was covered with her blood, the crimson liquid dripped from her wounds and ripped clothes. I can't feel my body she thought as she fell forward into the arms of an unknown person.

She stared up into his silver eyes; they were so familiar, yet not. She wasn't at all surprised to see him wearing the general's uniform that his other partners wore before him. She couldn't fight back; she didn't want to.

"Just kill me and get it over with." She whispered. She could see remorse as he looked at her in silence, then they closed never expecting to see another day. The general pushed back a few blonde strands that fell in her face, caressing her cheek he whispered, "Serenity." And then he was gone still cradling the blonde angel in his arms.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Oh Malachite, I can't wait until we finally defeat those brats." Zoicite said as she placed her head on her lover's knee. His hand came out and caressed her hair as if she was a child and he the father. Her cheek was covered with a white cloth where the cut was.

"He will pay for what he did to my face! My flawless face!" He remained quiet, just listening to her chatter but not quite taking it in, just listening.

"And you and I can live together in peace while they suffer in our dungeons, right Malachite?" He nodded absently.

"Yes Zoicite, together in peace." He smiled vaguely.

His mind strayed to the beautiful blonde who slept peacefully in his chambers. "Yes, together at last."

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I'm done! How was it? Tell me! R&R ^_~ next is chapter 2