For a few moments, the girls simply stared at Shizuka. Suddenly, someone started banging on the door, scaring both of them out of their wits. Shizuka closed her eyes for a moment, and the door swung open as she opened them, revealing sailors Mars, Mercury, and Venus. “That’s her!” Sailor Mars shouted, launching into attack mode. “Mars Fire…” abruptly, she was picked up off her feet and hurled into a wall. Shizuka’s hair started floating slightly. Her hand whipped into and out of her pocket so swiftly that the scouts could barely see it. Holding a black locket exactly like Usagi’s, she shouted, “Darknight Power!” In a flash of black light, Ankoku Shizuka disappeared and was replaced by Sailor Darknight. Her bows, skirt, and collar were navy blue. Her knee high boots, glove bands, and tiara jewel were black. She had no choker or earrings. Her hair was down, and brushed the floor. Held to her chest by her crossed arms was a black, leather bound book with gold writing on it. Held loosely in her left hand was a plain black crystal wand. A small girl of about six peeked around a desk. Seeing Sailor Darknight, she called, “Mommy!” and ran across the classroom. Darknight dropped the book and wand, which disappeared before they hit the ground, and knelt to hug the little girl. “Marie, honey, I thought I told you to stay at the hotel. It’s not safe anywhere else.” She said, holding her daughter at arm’s length. “You said that the bad ladies won’t hurt me if I’m with you.” Marie said. Darknight laughed. “Alright, alright, I give!” She said. “You can stay here.” Looking over her mother’s shoulder, Marie caught sight of the Sailor scouts. (During the mother-daughter talk, Makoto and Usagi transformed.) “Are they bad ladies, Mommy?” she asked. “Are they gonna hurt us?” “No, Honey.” Darknight said, picked Marie up, stood up, and turned to face the inners. “These are the friends mommy was looking for. Meet Sailors Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus. Ladies, this is my daughter Marie.” Marie had short, tousled black hair with blonde streaks in it and bright crimson eyes. Her eyes twinkled as she wiggled, trying to reach the floor. Chuckling slightly, Darknight set her down. Marie ran the few feet to the sailor scouts, stopping just in front of Mercury. “Are you gonna help my mommy?” She asked hopefully, craning her neck to look up at Mercury’s face. Mercury smiled and answered, “Of course I’ll help your mom.” The other scouts nodded in agreement and made similar comments. A swirl of black mist formed in the middle of the room. When the mist thinned and died, a woman with shoulder length, white blonde hair and sky blue eyes stood where the cloud had been. “Sailor Darknight.” She said, with a feral grin. “April.” Darknight responded, nodding curtly. Turning to the inners, Darknight said, “Go tell the principal to evacuate the school.” Kneeling down and hugging her daughter, she said, “Take the scouts back to the hotel. You’ll be safe there until I come back. And remember; if the other bad lady comes, call the fire to protect you until the scouts can teleport you away. Can you remember that for me?” At Marie’s nod, she stood up, she handed Marie to Venus. “Take good care of her for me.” She waited until the scouts were gone and the school had been evacuated. Then she turned to April. “Let’s get this over with.” She whispered simply. “With pleasure.” April responded. Holding her hand above her head, April shouted “Dark Sphere!” A huge ball of black energy appeared above her hand. She hurled it at Darknight. “Silence Wall!” Darknight shouted. The ball impacted against a wall of black energy. The wall absorbed the attack and swelled with the new energy. “Why don’t you attack me?” April shouted, after a half an hour of futile beating against Darknight’s shield. “Because you don’t deserve it!” Darknight shouted back. “I know the real you, and this isn’t her! You’re being controlled, and we both know it! Your so-called ‘leader’ is just using you to do his dirty work!” Darknight switched to mindspeech. :We both know that you don’t deserve to die. And we both know that if I attack you, you will die. You know that I can’t lie mind-to-mind. You might as well accept the fact that I’m not your enemy, because it’s true.: “Get out of my head!” April shouted, clamping her hands over her ears and doubling over at the waist.
On the side of a back road, the inner scouts and Marie ran in the direction of Shizuka’s hotel. Suddenly, a girl that looked exactly like Mercury appeared, hovering a few inches above the ground in front of them. “Hello, girls.” She said, with a grin that rivaled April’s. “Bad Lady!” Marie screamed at the top of her lungs, nearly causing Venus, who was carrying her, to lose her hearing in her left ear. At the same time, a wall of fire appeared between them and the stranger. “Let’s teleport scouts!” Jupiter said. The others nodded. Venus put Marie down, and the scouts formed a circle around her, holding hands. “Sailor Scouts, Teleport!” They all shouted. When they landed, they were standing in front of a small hotel. “C’mon!” Marie said, stumbling to her feet and making a run for her room. As each scout passed through the door, they felt a slight pressure and a tingling sensation, like a feather brushing their skin. After a few hours, Darknight appeared in the middle of the hotel room, scaring the inners half to death. She looked slightly beat up, and the scout spotted several scar that the could have sworn weren’t there before they had left the school. “Are you all right, Mommy?” Marie asked, jumping off the bed and rushing up to her mother. “I’m fine, honey. Just give me a minute to Heal myself up, and then we can take our new friends home.”
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