DARK VENUS
By: Malaur

Chapter 3- Sailor Moon Goes All Out!

   The Sailor Scouts found Artemis. He was thrown through the window. 
Everyone went to Lita's apartment to get themselves together. Serena went 
to get Luna.
   Still in their scout uniforms, the Outer Scouts sat on the floor. Sailor 
Neptune was resting in Lita's room. Darien kept the injured Artemis in his 
lap. Lita was in her kitchen. Ami and Raye were thinking quietly.
   "Um, is anyone going to talk?" asked Leigh, speaking up.
   "What about?" asked Kymbir. "About the fact we got stupid and Liz paid 
the price for it?"
   "Now wait a minute!" said Alex angrily. "Now, if anyone should be 
blamed, it should be me. I'm her protector, like she is to Serena." 
   "No..." began Kymbir. "Pluto should be blamed. She's her true 
protector, if you want to get like that, Uranus."
   "You're willing to blame your own sister?" said Leigh, shocked.
   "Uranus was on to something anyway. I mean, my sister was too 
bull-headed to even talk to Liz. That wasn't fair. Even if staying with 
the Inner Scouts altered the time line, She shouldn't give Liz the silent 
treatment."
   "What do you mean, Charon?" asked Ami, who was interested with the 
conversation.
   "Pluto is the Mistress of Time. She has to make sure that everything 
goes just the way it should. And Elisia is *supposed* to be important to 
the future. That's all she told me. Now, if Pluto wanted to save her, Liz 
would be here right now which means it's a test."
   "Test?" asked Darien.
   "To see if we can save her without her interference."
   "Boy, Charon, you *do* know a lot about your sister," said Raye coolly.
   "I have to. Sometimes, things get real confusing to the rest of us and I 
have to piece some of it together."
   "Okay, here's the snacks," interrupted Lita as she brought in sandwiches 
and treats on a tray to the others. "It's my best cooking so dive in."
   The scouts slowly took something and ate even slower. Darien wasn't 
hungry so he looked down at Artemis. "Poor Luna. I hate to see how she'll 
react to seeing Artemis hurt."
   "Speaking of hurt, I better check on Neptune." Alex got up and walked 
into the short hallway. A door closed seconds later.
   "Hey, what's between Neptune and Uranus?" asked Raye. "They act too much 
like-"
   "They were half-sisters," said Leigh quickly. "They were real close."
   "Oh. Okay."
   Kymbir and Leigh looked at each other. 'Good lie, Leigh.'
   'Thanks. I had ta think of somethin'. Besides, it's none of Mars' 
business!'
   'You don't think Alex will try to go after Venus, do you?'
   'Hope not,' was Leigh's reply. 

   Alex sat on the bed, looking at Michelle. She loved Michelle. She 
couldn't deny that. But, in front of the Inner Scouts, she couldn't 
express it. With Setsuna, Kymbir, Leigh and Elisia, it was different. They 
respected them and gave them space. But the Inner Scouts wouldn't 
understand.
   Michelle opened her eyes. She saw Alex and smiled. "Hi, love."
   "Michelle," Alex whispered, relieved. "You okay? Leigh and Kym were 
worried sick about you."
   "Yeah." Michelle took Alex's hand into her own. "What about you, Alex? 
Were you worried?"
   "To death." Alex kissed Michelle's forehead. "We failed Elisia."
   "I know. But we're not helpless. Elisia gave me something before she 
left to stay with Darien." Michelle went into her shoes, which were 
ballet-like, and pulled out a small, garnet coin. "This could get us to 
her."
   "You want us to go into the Negaverse-alone!?" Alex was hoping that was 
what Michelle was saying.
   "If we have to. With Leigh and Kym. Not now, though. Let's follow the 
Inner Scouts, since Sailor Moon is their leader. And technically, she's 
ours too." Michelle swung her legs to the side of the bed.
   "Do you want to join the others so soon?" asked Alex quietly.
   "Better. The Inner Scouts don't know about us." Michelle got up slowly. 
Dizziness took her vision away and she fell into Alex's arms as she caught 
Michelle. "Sorry."
   "Sorry? About what, Michelle?" asked Alex. They locked eyes with each 
other. But they quickly tore themselves away. "Not now. Not in Lita's 
house."
   Michelle just smiled. "I hope Liz is okay."
   "In the Negaverse? Never."

   Elisia cried uncontrollably as the pain increased to the point of 
breaking her will. Her powers hadn't left her and fighting the terrible 
dark powers of the Negaverse was hurting far more than when Beryl tore her 
apart a thousand years ago. She couldn't see anything but white, hot, 
searing, unbearable pain. But she refused to give up. She would not join 
Sulite like Venus did. And she won't be brainwashed either.
   Crisite watched her from the corner. He admired her spirit. He never 
encountered such resistance before. But he was going to break her. In a 
different way. He snapped his fingers and the wall stopped glowing. Elisia 
slumped forward, her hair and face covered in a thin line of sweat. He 
walked over to the princess. "You have a will far stronger than Tuxedo 
Mask. But in the end, you will be one of us."
   "Never," came her whispered voice. She was hoarse from screaming for so 
long. But she wasn't going to let him know it. Her dark glare caught his 
attention.
   Crisite laughed. "You are beautiful as you are strong. Sulite wouldn't 
care if I killed you, Elisia. All she wants is your powers. And I have a 
way that might just do it."
   Elisia felt exhaustion rush to her. She didn't want to sleep but it was 
so near. "You won't get Sailor Moon," she whispered.
   "Oh, no. Not Sailor Moon. You've been chummy with Jupiter. Our next 
target is Sailor Jupiter."
   "No...please...just take my power. I'll give it up." Elisia was 
desperate. Tears ran again and she wanted to be the only one to suffer.
   "Oh, no. You had your chance...Elisia." He then sent an enormous energy 
ball at her.
   She screamed and everything went black.

   Lita jerked up for a moment. Her stomach felt like it was on fire. But 
it vanished fast. 'What was that?' she thought.

   Serena and Luna were running to Lita's apartment. Serena wasn't really 
out of breath but she worried constantly about her cousin and that wore her 
out. "Luna...Artemis will be okay, you know."
   "If I was there to help..." Luna began but she stopped herself. Elisia 
and Mina were prisoners of the Negsverse. It was a miracle that Artemis 
wasn't taken! "Let's just get to Lita's house."
   Serena was surprised at Luna. She was much more serious than normal.
   "Heeeeeeelllooooo, Sailor Moon."
   That stopped Serena and Luna in their tracks. Standing before them was 
Venus.
   
   Darien sensed that something was wrong. Ever since the Doom Tree 
scenario, he and Serena were very close. They knew when the other was in 
trouble. And right now, Serena was in trouble. He stood up, Artemis in his 
arms. "We gotta move," he said seriously.
  Ami and Raye got up. "Why?" asked Ami.
  "Serena's in trouble."
  "Then let's move it scouts, before we lose another princess." Uranus and 
Neptune came into the living room.
  "Okay!" said Charon and Earth. Everyone was out the door.
 
  In the chamber of time, Setsuna watched the scouts carefully. "I see that 
Elisia thought ahead about giving Michelle the garnet coin. But are they 
really going to go alone? I hope not. Kymbir better see that soon or both 
Serena and Elisia will fall into the Wiseman's hands far more quickly than 
normal." She really wanted to help but this was something that Elisia had 
started and only the princess of Saturn could finish it. 
 
  "Mina! Snap out of it!" urged Serena.
  "My name is Venus! I'm a warrior of the Negaverse!" Venus cocked her fist 
and tried to slam it into Serena's face. Serena quickly stepped to the side 
and Venus fell face first to the ground. 
  Serena threw her locket into the air. "MOON...CRYSTAL...POWER!"
  Venus watched her transform. The instant that she was done, Venus cried, 
"VENUS! WEB...OVERTAKE!" Her web barely missed Sailor Moon.
  "Sailor Moon! Fight her!" yelled Luna.
  "I can't! She's my friend!"
  "NOT ANYMORE!" screamed Venus and she rushed Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon 
threw up her hands to protect herself but Venus never got to Sailor Moon.
  Sailor Moon felt the ground vanished for a split second and then 
reappeared. She looked up and saw Tuxedo Mask hold her in his arms. "Are 
you okay, Sailor Moon?" he asked.
  "Definitely," she replied dreamily. She was set down. Behind her were 
Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Charon, Sailor Earth, Sailor Jupiter, 
Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars. They were all ready to fight Venus.
  "She's been brainwashed real good," said Tuxedo Mask. "Not even your 
crystal can heal her, Sailor Moon."
  "Are you going to fight me or do I get to kill you all!?" asked Venus 
angrily.
  "We don't want to fight you," began Mercury.
  "Too bad!" Venus closed her eyes and her dark energy web came into 
existence. "Die, scouts! VENUS...WEB-OVERTAKE!" This time her web caught 
Mars, Charon, Earth, and Tuxedo Mask.
  "MERCURY BUBBLES! FREEZE!" cried Mercury but Venus repelled them.
  "URANUS! TORNADO..."
  "NEPTUNE! WATERFALL..."
  But neither scout was able to finish her attack. Venus smiled and cried, 
"VENUS! DARK WAVE CONTRACT!" The wave was grayish-brown as it wrapped 
itself around Neptune, Uranus and Mercury. It contracted slowly, crushing 
them.
  "That's it, Venus!" called Jupiter furiously. "I didn't want to hurt you 
but I'm not letting you win! JUPITER!...THUNDER-DRAGON!" cried Sailor 
Jupiter as her lightning dragon raced to Dark Venus.
   Laughing, Venus called, "VENUS EVIL GAIN!" Jupiter's dragon was 
surrounded by a red-orange glow and then turned around and headed back to 
Jupiter.
   "What!?" Her own dragon then hit Jupiter, electrocuting her. She fell to 
the ground, her breathing becoming shallow.
   "Jupiter! That's it! You're moondusted!" yelled Sailor Moon.
   Tuxedo Mask managed to get a rose into his hand and taking his que, he 
threw his rose at Venus from the web, catching her shoulder. She screamed.
   Sailor Moon had tears running down her eyes as she held her Moon 
Scepter, ready to blast Venus away. "Good bye, Mina," she whispered faintly 
as she gathered herself. "MOOOOON...SCEPTEEEEERRR...ELIMINATION!" 
   Her scepter hit paydirt. Venus was struck so hard by the power that she 
was lifted off the ground a few feet and then slammed back down, unmoving. 
Her dark powers were gone, freeing the others.
   Tuxedo Mask touched Sailor Moon's shoulder and she cried into his chest. 
"You had to do it, Serena," he whispered.
   But something odd happened. Dark Venus struggled back to her feet. 
Everyone gasped. "You scouts just lost Saturn. The instant I went down, 
Sulite fried her."
   Sailor Moon turned around. "You're lying!" she cried.
   "Really?" she said, mimicking Sailor Moon's annoying pitched voice. "Are 
you so sure?"
   
   Saturn was all alone in the torture room. She could sense what was 
happening. Slowly, using her hidden mental powers of her planet, she 
managed-weakly- to get her Star Locket off from around her neck. She then 
let it glow. "Serena...if you get this locket message, then you know that 
I'm still alive...not by much but I am. I know you're scared. I promised 
that I would be at your side forever. But that's not possible..."

   Venus smiled and then vanished into thin air. Serena wanted to go after 
her but the possibility of her cousin being dead haunted her. "Luna? Is she 
really telling the truth?"
   "I wish I knew, Sailor Moon. But who knows."
   "Definitely. But Saturn wouldn't have gone down without making a HUGE 
fuss," said a familiar voice.
   Everyone turned around and saw Artemis up and walking toward them 
slowly. "ARTEMIS!" Luna ran to him first and licked the cut on his cheek. 
   "Look, destroy Mina if you have to but Saturn has to be freed."
   "He's right," said Mercury. "Sailor Moon's scepter brought her down but 
she came right back."
   "We need another place to think and to rest," said Earth.
   "My place," said Darien. "Perhaps us Inners need to know your real 
names." He glanced at the Outer Scouts.
   "Okay," replied Charon reluctantly.

   Venus walked into the torture chamber. She was furious. She hated Sailor 
Moon. She glanced at Saturn and smiled. With a mere flick of her wrist, she 
freed Saturn from her bonds.
   Saturn was on her hands and knees when Venus went over and lifted her 
chin up. She saw the tiredness in the princess' eyes. Her costume was torn 
and her locket was gone. 'Crisite must've took it,' she thought. Sailor 
Saturn wasn't in her look-alike Sailor V costume anymore. She was in her 
other scout costume (like the other scouts). Hers was white and golden 
yellow with orange bows. 
   "I think it's time to make Princess Elisia suffer more. Don't you?" Her 
voice was becoming demonic.
   "I see...you...didn't...get Jupiter...," said Saturn.
   "Oh, don't worry. I felt her power. I had her power for a minute. I'll 
find her again. But first..." Venus picked Saturn up by her chin, dragging 
her to her feet. "We're going to have a nice little fight to the finish." 
With that, Venus kicked her in the stomach and then elbowed her in her 
neck, followed by a wave of wind that threw Saturn into the wall on the 
other side of the room.
   Saturn got to her knees, wheezing softly. 'I can't beat her. All I can 
do is keep her from finding out about my locket.' She got to her feet, 
fists clenched tightly near her. She wasn't going down without getting a 
few hits in herself, despite her weakened state.

   All of the scouts arrived at Darien's apartment an hour later. Tired, 
everyone crashed everywhere: Neptune, Charon and Mars on the couch, Uranus 
in the recliner, Mercury in the lover seat, Tuxedo Mask and Moon on the 
floor close to each other and Jupiter sitting against the wall. Luna and 
Artemis sat near the door.
   "Okay, this is good," said Uranus. "But what do we do now?"
   "Other than sleep?" asked Charon. "Don't know."
   But they heard a low buzzing sound. Sailor Moon looked up and hovering 
above her was the Star Locket. She took it and realized by its touch whom 
it belonged to. "It's Elisia's!" She put it on the floor and everyone 
crowded around it. The locket glowed for a split second and an image of a 
tired and weakened Saturn shot out of it, finding space on the ceiling.
   "What's going on?" asked Jupiter.
   "Saturn sent her locket to us. She isn't dead," said Neptune, relieved.
   "For how long?" asked Uranus.

   
    *End of chapter 3*

    *** Sorry about it being so short but that's all that came out of my 
head. I had originally put down eleven chapters but the next one will be 
combined so it should reach six pages. You can place bets on who will win 
the fight. Odds are against Saturn 10 to 1. ***