Machines hummed and beeped in the med. bay, which was filled to the breaking point with the critically ill. Seifer was now one of those critically ill patients, and this worried Alex and Irvine to no extent. Alex was seated next to the bed, clutching Seifer’s hand as he dozed off. Irvine, on the other hand, paced back and forth in the room, tearing at his hair at times, muttering under his breath at others, and in a genuine mess of emotional stress.
     After a little while a white magical glow formed around Alex’s hands, which quickly washed over Seifer’s body. The red cross knight blinked his eyes and a moment later mumbled, “Irvine? Where am I?”
     “The med. bay,” Alex mumbled as he raised his head to look at Seifer with red rimmed and bloodshot eyes. He smiled before saying, “Good morning, sleepy head.”
     “How do you feel?” Irvine asked when he realized the two were awake.
     “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired,” the two answered in unison, both moaning in pain and agony.
     “Are they awake?” Rinoa asked as she popped her head into the room. Alex and Seifer waved to her weakly, and she sighed. “Yep, they’re awake.”
     “And I only used a low level Detoxify spell,” Alex said, resting his head on the edge of Seifer’s bed in such a way that he could still see Rinoa.
     “And you wore yourself out, didn’t you?”
     Alex nodded weakly, wincing as the throbbing in his head increased in strength and frequency. Seifer patted him on the head.
     “Thanks,” he said, smiling weakly at the mage, “another two or three of those and I’ll be back to normal.”
     Alex and Rinoa sighed since neither of them would have the strength to cast the required spell for a little while.
     “What you really need is rest,” Xu said as she poked her head into the room, “Rinoa, take a break for a while. I’m sure Irvine can take over for you for a while.”
     “Umm... yeah, sure,” Irvine said as he stood, “I’ll take over. It’ll give me something to do.”
     “Good. Here’s a list of patients who need visits, in order of priority.”
     Xu handed Irvine a clipboard, and the cowboy’s eyes widened in awe at the length of the list.
     “Oh boy, it’s going to be a long day.”

     “Amy, it’s time for me to take your temperature. Amy, come out, come out wherever you are.”
     Amy Mizuno sat huddled in her hall closet, which she was thankful could be locked from the inside. Occupying the cramped space with her were several pairs of shoes, a great many coats, several bulky boxes, and a few other odds and ends.
     ‘Mom really needs to catch up on her housework and spring cleaning,’ she thought as she opened her palmtop, the screen of which suddenly gained several chat windows. She read who they were from and sighed. ‘Guys, I’d like to help you, but right now I’m trying to save myself.’
     “Miss Rei, I can’t find Miss Amy anywhere.”
     “Keep looking Nicole. I’m sure she couldn’t have gotten far.”
     “Rei, shouldn’t we be going to help those sicker than Amy is? She only has a tiny cold, where as the others have the full blown flu and whatnot.”
     Amy heard footsteps outside of the closet door, followed by a rapidly tapping sound of impatient feet. She held her breath for what seemed like an eternity until the tapping feet moved away from the closet door.
     ‘Thank goodness,’ she said mentally as she breathed a sigh of relief. Her communicator chose that moment to start pinging, and she fought to turn the noise off. Once she was able to activate it she said, “This is Mercury. What’s the situation?”
     “This is Cassiopia. Night, Orion, Nebula, and myself are currently engaged in combat with what look remarkably like large germs.”
     “I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Amy said as she stood up, whacking her head on the shelf above her. She rubbed the bump growing on her head before holding her transformation wand aloft. “Mercury Crystal Power!”
     A flash of blue light came from the closet, and from it stepped Super Sailor Mercury. Susana, Nicole, and Rei came to see what was going on, and were surprised to see Amy in her Sailor uniform.
     “What do you think you’re doing?” Rei asked, putting her hands on her hips.
     “I’m going to help Cassiopia and the others,” Mercury replied, “and I suggest you three transform as well, since I think they’ll need all of the help they can get.”
     “Right,” Nicole said, taking her transformation wand from her pocket, “Saturn Crystal Power...”
     “Pluto Crystal Power...”
     “Mars Crystal Power...”
     “TRANSFORM!”
     Three flashes of light brought forth Sailors Pluto, Saturn, and Mars. The four sailor soldiers then got a fix on where the others were fighting before leaving to lend assistance.

     In the apartment belonging to the Slayers Lina, Zelgadis, and Celia were passed out on the couch, several empty coffee cups stacked up around them. Several loud beeps woke them out of their sound slumber, and after a few seconds of chaos they located Celia’s communicator.
     “What do ya want?!” Lina demanded, a fireball forming in one hand.
     “Lina, put Zel or Celia on,” Darren replied.
     “Yeah Lina,” Celia said, taking back her communicator, “I’m here Darren. What’s up?”
     “We have trouble in the form of giant germs.”
     “Wonderful,” Lina sighed, “I’m about ready to fireball whoever is responsible for this.”
     “You may get your chance, since I’m sensing another force here.”
     “We’ll be there in a poof,” Celia said as she ran of grab a few things. She returned a moment later with the sword of light, Zel’s sword, Lina’s dagger and rapier, and a pair of bejeweled sais.
     “Thanks Celia,” Lina said as she clipped her equipment on, “Did you grab...”
     Celia handed her the Demons Blood Talismans, which stunned Lina since she was about to ask for them. “Thanks.”
     “I guess we’re ready to go,” Zelgadis said as he clipped his sword to his belt.
     “Let’s go and kick some butt!” Celia said as a cloud of red smoke surrounded them before they vanished with an audible ‘poof’.
     From the back bedroom came Amelia, who blinked groggily while looking around for the others. “Wow,” she sighed as she padded over to the couch, narrowly avoiding the mess. She sat down, and finding Zel’s cape sprawled out next to her, curled up with it and fell asleep.

     Across the bounds of time and space Alex was turning a pale shade of green from the number of ethers he was drinking in order to keep his magical strength up. Irvine was also taking on a similar shade, and Rinoa was sitting on the floor, holding her stomach and complaining of bloating. Behind them a large pile of empty bottles and vials threatened to fall over upon them.
     “How are you guys feeling?” Squall asked as he approached. The three belched in unison, creating harmony in the chorus of noise.
     “I feel bloated,” Rinoa said as she stood, “and tired, and cranky, and none of my clothes fit right.”
     “Ditto,” Irvine said, “and add to that nauseous and feverish.”
     “Add to that the fact that you still haven’t gotten the flavor right,” Alex sighed before belching a small melody. Once he finished he added, “what the hell is *in* that stuff?!”
     Squall shrugged. “It’s a lot of secret ingredients and stuff like that. But how are your magical abilities doing?”
     “Give us a chance to digest this stuff,” Rinoa said, belching a couple more times. She said a polite, “Excuse me,” before blushing.
     Alex’s communicator took that moment to begin pinging. He took it from his pocket and activated it before pulling out his palmtop and activating that. “Alex here. What’s the 411?”
     “Saturn, it’s Mercury. How are you feeling?” Amy’s voice said.
     “I’m feeling better than I did. Why?”
     “We have trouble on campus. Large germs are attacking and we’re locked in combat with them. On top of that we’re limited on numbers.”
     “Tell her we’ll be there as soon as we can,” Irvine said as he stood and brushed himself off.
     “What about all of the sick people?” Squall asked.
     “Rinoa can teach you the Detoxify spell and you can chug some of these ethers,” Alex said, keeping his anger in check, “Irvine and I will get Quistis, Zell, and Seifer back on their feet, then we’ll go and lend a hand to my friends.
     “But are you healthy enough for that?” Rinoa asked.
     “I’m not nearly as weak as people take me to be. I have enough strength to transform, I have enough magic to kick some ass, and if need be I could drink a fire potion and gain some extra energy.”
     “Then hurry and do that,” Squall said, saluting him. Alex returned the salute before grabbing Irvine’s hand, dragging him off to help their friends. Once they were out of sight he turned to Rinoa and said, “So, how does that spell go?”
     Rinoa handed him a copy of the spell and the calculations before saying, “Study this, then go and cast it on Tenal, Anassa, and Karna, since all three have come down with it, with similar conditions.”
     She then turned and left, a smug smile on her face since she would get a small break before having to go back to work.

     “Mother who nurtures all life, grant me your strength in my time of need. By the light of purity which I possess let all be cleansed by your pure breath. Detoxify!”
     Two voices changed the spell as one, their hands joined above the body of their sleeping friend. A pure white glow flowed from their hands, wrapping around their friend’s body to lift him gently from the bed.
     ‘This needs to work quickly,’ Alex thought as he added more energy to his casting of the spell. He looked up at Irvine, who had his eyes closed as he cast his part of the spell, and smiled. “You can add more power to the spell. It won’t hurt him.”
     ‘I’m using all the energy I can,’ sounded in his mind from Irvine, ‘does it look like it’s working?’
     ‘I just wish that Aeris were here right now.... her limit skill would have everyone up and running in no time.’
     Seifer sighed, snapping Alex from his trance. Irvine was also a little startled, since his eyes opened as well. Seifer looked up at them and gave a weak peace sign.
     “You guys are a sight for sore and tired eyes,” Seifer said weakly.
     “You feel like you could go and kick some evil ass?” Irvine asked, smiling warmly.
     Seifer tried to sit up, but gave up when the room began to spin. He sighed before saying, “I guess I don’t have the strength yet.”
     “Then it’s time for phase two,” Alex said, giving a fanged smile. Seifer shuddered, since that usually meant trouble. “Say Irvine, you think he’d be O.K. for a Recovery spell?”
     Irvine also gave a fanged smile before saying, “I think we eradicated all of the nasty stuff, so it should be O.K..”
     The glow around their hands began to shift from white to all the colors of the rainbow. Seifer closed his eyes as a warm breeze wrapped around him, giving him renewed energy. He opened his eyes a few minutes later as he was gently set back upon the bed, feeling his strength renewed.
     “You guys are wonderful,” Seifer said, looking up at the two who were still locked hand to hand, their eyes still closed. He sat up and said, “Guys.... are you still with me? Hello?”
     He touched their hands and was instantly transported into their minds, which seemed somewhat empty.
     “Alex?” he said as he looked around, “Irvine? C’mon you two, don’t leave me all alone here. I know neither of you like this feeling.”
     He continued to look around, rocky and craggy ground appearing below him, a cloudy sky forming above. “I remember this place,” he said to nobody in particular as he took a few steps, “this looks like that dream that Alexander transported me into of Alex’s.... but is this my limbo?”
     His legs suddenly felt leaden, and breathing became difficult. He sat down, wondering what would happen next.
     ‘C’mon Alex, Irvine, you need to find me. Please hurry.’

     In a pocket of subspace Topaz gazed through a large crystal in awe as he watched his forces at work. His raven spread its wings to keep its balance as Topaz marched back and forth across the room.
     “Master Topaz, you’re going to wear a hole through subspace if you keep this up.”
     “Silence Amethyst, unless you wish to remain in that form for the rest of eternity.”
     “But master, the Sailor Soldiers are beginning to gain some ground against our forces, some of the Slayers are on their way to join the battle, and the SeeDs are beginning to recover.”
     “Well, we still have three locked away,” Topaz said as the image in the crystal shifted to Seifer’s personal limbo, then split screen to show Irvine’s and Alex’s. He chuckled evilly before coughing. “Amethyst, I’m going to send you into their limbo.”
     “There’s just one?” Amethyst said, arching an eyebrow.
     “Yes, there is. However it’s in three parts. First visit the mage, then the cowboy, and finally the red cross knight.”
     “What if they defeat me?”
     Topaz chuckled evilly again, which soon turned to full out maniacal laughter. When he calmed down he said, “You fool, they can’t fight back when they’re separated. They need one another more than anything, and rely upon each other for strength.”
     Amethyst smiled evilly moments before his body turned to energy and he was transported to the limboscape of the three SeeDs.

     In the limboscape belonging to Alex the young mage stood alone, looking around, quite puzzled by why he would be sucked back into his fears.
     “I’ve been through this already,” he sighed, “I know Irvine is around here somewhere, and I can feel that Seifer is here as well.”
     “Only you won’t get a chance to see them,” a mysterious voice snarled as pouring rain struck the mage, gale force winds pressing against him. From a bolt of lightning came Amethyst, who changed his form to that of a man with long silver hair, golden eyes, pointy ears, and silver - white clothing.
     “Who the hell are you?” Alex demanded, his star sword forming in his hand.
     “I am called Amethyst, and Master Topaz has sent me to keep you out of action while he takes over the world and summons some great dark lord into it.”
     “I won’t let you do that!”
     “You are in no position to tell me what I can and cannot do!”
     Amethyst waved his hand, and a moment later a force wave struck Alex, throwing him from his feet and into the mud. Alex struggled to stand, only to feel a great weight press down upon him.
     “You can do nothing to harm me,” Amethyst cackled, increasing the pressure on Alex’s body, crushing him into the ground.
     “I have to at least try,” Alex puffed as he struggled to stand, every part of his body weighing a ton. ‘Serena, you’d be proud of me for what I’m doing right now.’
     Once he was on his feet again he crossed his arms before his face to block the wind, his bracers forming around his wrists. His outfit glowed for a moment, his armor and other equipment forming out of the glow.
     “How are you able to transform, let alone stand?!” Amethyst demanded as he watched in awe, “Your energy should have been drained by the effort!”
     “Never doubt the power.... of innocent dreamers,” Alex whispered as he strained to remain on his feet, “never doubt the dreams... of innocent children... never doubt... the power... of your worst nightmare!”
     Alex’s armor began to glow, a force barrier extending from his body. Amethyst's own transformation reversed so that he was a raven once again. The raven took to the air, heading through limbo to reach Irvine’s section of the limboscape.
     “Damn him,” Alex muttered as he stabbed his sword into the ground and leaned on it to keep his feet, “he’s going after Irvine or Seifer now, and I don’t know if I can reach them in time. Hell, I don’t even know which way to go.”
     He sat down, assumed a calm position, closed his eyes, and concentrated. The image of a swinging pendulum formed in his mind as he tried to find the location of his friends. ‘Lead me to Amethyst and Irvine,’ he thought. the pendulum swung sharply to his left, indicating the direction he should travel in.
     “I’d better hurry,” he said as he stood and dusted himself off. He then took off running in the direction indicated, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake.