"So Dimmer, … can you help us?"

"I'm not sure if I can… I don't even know how I got here…" He lifted his face up to the sky to feel the sea breeze coming off the harbor.

"Dimmer… do you want to help us…?"

"I… I.." He wasn't sure, he sat in the sand and watched the white tips of the waves as they rolled unto his beach only to slowly roll back out… They've done that for years, and he was always at this same spot watching them. Watching the tide roll in and out again, alone. This is what he knew, this is what he felt comfortable with. Here, at the end of his island, a harbor that led to the sea and beyond to the rest of the world. The end of his home… or was it his home anymore?

"I know, it's hard to answer…" Mike plopped down in the sand beside him carelessly. "Why come back to a place that treated you like shit, from the place we both always dreamed of going?"

"Because you're not here maybe?" Dimmer smiled at his friend, it didn't seem fair to him that only he should was the only one that made it here, especially for a reason he had no idea why. Not when it was always the two of them that dreamt of this place.

"Don't worry 'bout me b'y. It's cool enough that 'you' managed it somehow. That's like 100 better than anything we ever hoped for eh?"

"Yeah," Dimmer smiled, there was no disagreeing with that. "But you deserve this place more than I ever did."

"No I don't."

Sighing, Dimmer shook his head, he wondered if he'd ever be able to convince Mike just how much Mike meant to him, how much Mike meant to that world and so many of the people in it. How Mike alone had made it worth living in… he thought of Mitchell and Katie, and he looked back to the sea. All Mike seemed to see was the pain in life, and the hurt of his friends, and instead of putting the blame where it belongs he always found a reason for it to be his fault. "Why can't we see the good in ourselves? Why do we only ever see the flaws?"

"Guess they stick out more."

"Yeah."

"I'll be back tomorrow night, and every night until you make your decision."

"I'd like that."

"Yeah," Mike stopped looking at the sea, to watch the golden colored hair clasps in Dimmer's hair wrapped tightly around his bangs slowly swaying with the sea breeze. The clasps that Rei had given him, even in his dreams of home, there they were. Mike doubted Dimmer could even think of what life without her was like anymore. He looked away quickly so his hair would hide his face from his friend's view. "So will I, man. So will I."

"Something feels weird …"

"s'that?""

"It's winter out, but it feels warm despite the breeze."

"Your memory is as good as ever, I see. Don't forget Dimmer…," Mike smiled out at the sea through the blur of his tears, somehow he knew his friend would not be coming home anytime soon…if ever. "You're dreaming."

A slow creep of warmth traveled its way across his skin, as the sunlight filled his window. It was a nice change to the storm that had finally broken that morning. He yawned and stretched and found himself gasping a little as some extra limbs stretched out with his arms, two large feather dusters stretched instinctively along with them. He felt each pin and needle that seemed to go through all of his bruises, cuts, and burns. It seemed like they covered the length of his body.

He stretched anyway, pointedly ignoring the pain. It was nothing.

"Bloody…! Agh!" He let out a frustrated breath as he realized in order to stretch fully he'd need a bigger room…

"Forgot to account for wing span…" He sighed.

Every stride caused pain in some part of different part of his body, but he ignored that too. He faced a lot worse. He wondered what had happened the last few weeks, he wondered about Chad, and what would happen to him, what the Negaverse would want with him of all people?

He remembered them trying to kidnap all the crystal bearers in one episode, but Chad wasn't even in that one. He only played one part in the Sailor Moon world and it was as Rei's wannabe boyfriend. Dimmer sighed, he wondered how much it hurt for him to watch as Rei and himself grew closer… Watching the love of his life, the one fated to be his, watch another.

He slowly got up, letting some of the bandages around his arms unravel themselves. There was still so much he had to do here So much about the future he had to warn them about, Serena hadn't even guessed she was the moon princess yet… how could he just leave?

"You are not needed to guide them, that is the duty of Fate. " It was a black, sarcastic whisper that came from the back of his mind, there was some sarcastic humor in it's tone, he recognized the growl to the voice … It was a voice, he swore, would never escape again. The voice of Sundown…

"You're the one who ain't needed, in fact I thought I already was done with you." Dimmer narrowed his eyes and a wisp of wind flooded the room with it's eerie sound. "Go away…"

"Well then, if that's the case I'll just take this back to grandpa," Dimmer's eyes went wide as Rei's angry voice rose behind him. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind it!"

A large sweat drop quickly formed on the back of his head as he started waving his hands frantically, as Rei turned and left out his door in a fit, with his breakfast.

"Aww Rei!! I wasn't talking to you! Honest!"

He swore he could hear Sundown chuckling at him.

He watched his prize student plea with his granddaughter, for his food, as she laid the plate before him.

"Here grandpa, at least I know you'll appreciate it."

"Oh your care for your dear grandpa fills this old man with pride!" He smiled as he took a large portion of the eggs and bacon for up in a single mouthful. "Even if it is only to get back at a certain someone." He spoke again with his mouthful.

Rei blushed. She wasn't used to cooking western style anything, but she went through the trouble this morning for Dimmer. She was expecting Dimmer not be able to even get out of bed, and had planned to take care of him for the whole day, she carefully stole a glance behind her to see him tearfully watch the breakfast she made for him go to her grandfather.

"Serves him right." She nodded to herself and headed out to the dojo. "Besides that, he wouldn't even admit it! Someone else indeed! No one else was even in the room! So who else could he have been… talking …to…?" She had made it the door of the dojo before wincing in mid-sentence.

It was Dimmer she was talking about, The guy who had angel wings sticking out of his back at the moment. He was capable of just about anything. Still she was kinda disappointed that he was already up and walking about, as bad as it sounded. She was really looking forward to looking after him.

"The idiot is probably hurting himself more with every step he takes." She sighed, then stopped, and re-thought that through, "Wait a minute! That's probably exactly what he's doing!"

Dimmer, smiled as he just finished putting his Gi on. It'd been a while since he practiced, and though it wouldn't feel the same without Chad around, it would still feel good to ware himself down a little bit. He turned to leave his room just as the sounds of fast paced stomping feet came down the hall… he looked at his bandaged wings, and chest… a sudden realization came over him, and he looked up frantically in time to see his door slam open. Dimmer was caught in Rei's sights like a deer looks up to see car headlights. "I'm in trouble…"

"DIMMER!" Rei's eyes seemed to burn with the fire, as she stepped forward…

"Hey Serena?"

"Yeah mom?" Serena questioningly glanced up at her mother sleepily, in her pink Pj's she went to bed in, toothbrush half hanging out of her mouth.

"Serena, you look terrible!"

Serena gave her mom a dead panned look "Gee, thanks."

"I mean it Serena, is something wrong? You look so tired lately, and you're always come home covered in bruises. Is there something going on you want to talk about honey?"

"Oh no mom! Everything's just fine! Believe me, you'd be the first to know if anything wasn't right?" Serena looked up at the ceiling, laughing nervously as she tried to cover up the limp from her sprained ankle. "I'm just being extra klutzy lately, that's all! And I just woke up for school right? Of course I'm gonna look tired!"

"You? Up on time for school? Now I know that something's wrong… You know what? I know just what you need, to perk you right back up."

"You do?" Serena asked puzzled.

Her mother smiled.

"Hot springs?!"

The scouts had gathered for another meeting at the temple, and Serena was smiling.

"That's right! My mom thought of it. They're supposed to be great for healing the body and soul right? They we're going to go last week, but held it off cause I seemed so busy. It's perfect!"

"You might actually be on to something meatball head." Rei stretched as she imagined soaking herself in the soothing naturally heated water.

Dimmer blushed, in spite of himself, as he pictured the same thing, but remained quiet for personal health reasons.

"She's right." Artemis agreed, "Great idea Serena. We all went through a lot of stuff over the last two weeks, and there's still a lot more to come. I think it would do us all good to take this time to relax a bit."

"I'm not sure… I have a lot to … catch… up… on…" Darien's decision slowly broke down as Serena gave him one of her sad puppy dog looks. "I'm going to fail for sure…" he sighed. Before the words were out of his mouth Serena already had him in a hug.

"Sounds good to me." Lita put in laughingly while rubbing at some bruises, "I don't know about you all, but I definitely could use a bit of time to heal…"

"I don't know…"

"Oh come on Amy, you can't say 'no' to a hot spring!" Serena butted in.

"No, it's a good idea Serena," Amy smiled, reassuring her friend, but gestured towards Dimmer. "I just don't know if it's such a great idea right now…"

"She may have a point girls." Dimmer frowned as he tried to move one of his wings, only to have it plop down on his face, muffling his voice, "It's not exactly gonna be easy to hide these things from public view, and before you suggest it Serena, no I can't fly. Right now I can't even lift these things normally, with these bandages on, they feel like they weigh a freakin ton."

Serena sighed.

"But you girls could go without me if ya want."

"No way Dimmer! Not after this morning!" Rei gave him a glare that froze every thought of that. "I'm not letting this doof out of my sight, can you believe he was going to try to train like that?! Look at him! He's more broken then he is in health, and he was going to try to train!!"

"Way to go Dimmer." Lita gave him a playful swat to the back of the head, "trying to hurt yourself even more eh?"

He scratched the back of his head and smiled up at her, "What can I say, I'm a glutton for punishment."

"Well, you are that alright." Amy sighed, "You most certainly can't train in that kind of condition, and I don't plan to let you have the chance to try while everyone else is gone to the hot springs."

"Awww, Amy… I wasn't gonna…much… just enough to get these wings into better shape."

"What would be good for your wings, Dimmer, " Amy gave him a cross look, "is for you to give them a chance to heal."

"…" Dimmer looked away with a small pout, there was no point in arguing with her after she put her foot down…

The pout didn't last too long as he pulled out a bag of cheesy poofs from under one of the floorboards behind him, and started munching down.

"Dimmer, sometimes your as bad as…" Rei laughed.

Serena, started popping up all around him grabbing at the cheesy poofs at incredible speeds while he tried to fend her off.

"Serena!" Rei finished her sentence with a large sweatdrop on the back of her head.

"Mmph! Hey, Mwaht isth, thasth suthosed to mphean...?" Serena asked with her mouthful, as Dimmer took the opportunity to go hide behind Darien to finish his snack.

"I swear, they're like two little kids!" Rei huffed angrily as she picked up her broom and stomped over toward them both.

"Uh oh..." Dimmer and Serena yelped in unison.

"As if she's any different during one of her and Serena's tiffs." Lita whispered into Amy's ear jokingly.

Luna sweatdropped and Amy laughed quietly as the scene unfolded in front of them. Serena trying to catch Dimmer, while spouting comebacks at Rei, who was yelling and chasing after both of them with her broom.

Artemis watched the scene in good cheer until he looked at his charge. Mina had been quiet throughout the talk and was now staring out a window. He walked over to her.

"You okay?"

Mina looked down at her long time friend and smiled, as he effortlessly jumped up to the windowsill, to talk face to face.

"I… I guess…" She scratched behind his ear. "Everyone's talking about fun again, everyone's having a good time… how come it feels like something's still missing… are they forgetting?"

"No Mina. They don't forget Chad. Look at them, they're having fun, but they know someone's missing. Serena seems to be trying to fill in for Chad right now, but I guarantee they're all thinking about him right now too."

"Are you sure Artemis?" She watched them go, smiles on their faces, no hint of the loss of friends, no sign of what happened last week, Dimmer hardly even knew what they'd been through… No one had the heart to tell him… It was silently agreed that no one would even dare to mention Talenite's name.

She thought she could see a tear fall from the corner of Rei's eye as she batted Serena a good one with her broom.

"Take my advice, you could use some down time to relax just like the rest of them. If we all keep working like this, non-stop, we'll lose for sure. Besides, I'm certain, they miss him as much as you do." Artemis smiled watching the puzzled look in Dimmer's eyes. There seemed like a large overwhelming concern coming from those eyes, trying to remember what was lost, longing to know where his friend had disappeared…The concern seemed to grow incredibly in an instance!

The world started spinning and was suddenly full of pain with every step Dimmer took, it left Artemis in a strange dizzy spell, Mina swiftly caught her feline friend not more than a moment after he slipped of the window ledge.

"Artemis! Are you alright?!" Mina quickly kneeled down to the ground still holding the white feline.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy spell, that's all." Artemis shook his head clear of cobwebs, the feeling receded as suddenly as it came to call.

"Are you sure? Is that all it is?" Luna rushed over worried, Artemis had never suffered from anything like that to her knowledge…

Artemis instinctively looked to Dimmer, who, with everyone else, was staring at him.

"Worried… He feels worried…?" Artemis thought to himself, "But how …?" He closed his eyes.

DREAM SEQUENCE COMMENCE

"Artemis?"

It was a familiar voice from long ago… old and wise… and tearful…

"Yes. That's the one I choose…"

"My son, why that…?"

"She deserves to be remembered… If I have to leave, then I want this name. It's something that will always remind me of you. A name that means so much to you, so that you'll never forget me…"

"My Son…" The old man left the gnarled staff lying where it was when he fell, and instead picked up the white feline kitten, barely more than a year old, and tickled him under the chin, immediately causing the kitten to purr. He could feel the tears that had started to well up in his own eyes.

"You, I could forget you as easily as I could forget joy, and friendship, which is not at all. For you give me both. My Son…"

"Father, They're all just being stupid they'll come to their senses one day, you'll see! I'll make them, I'll travel throughout the universe and convince them all if I have to."

"No my Son, they will discover for themselves, and perhaps it is a blessing in disguise… yes, perhaps, just perhaps there will be much to come of this…"

"Like what Father?"

"Maybe an end to the story you're so fond of? Or maybe a new beginning for it, yes?

"Father what do you mean? You mean the tale of Artemis? The one of you and her? In the forest right?!"

"Yes, yes my boy. That one and so many more… Perhaps a new beginning for myself?" The old man let that cat down, before lifting himself up with strain. "But tell me my Son, why do you care so much for such an old tale?"

"Because, I wish there were more of her kind, I wish she were here now to help you. Won't it be lonely on our comet without us?"

"I guarantee it." The old man laughed, "it definitely won't feel the same without my two favorite kittens getting under foot, but if that is what you worry about, fear not, there is yet another living on our little rock even you do not know about…"

"Really Father? Where?"

"She rests in a clock without hands."

Artemis frowned at his answer. "Father? Why the riddle?"

"It is not, but I'm afraid you've never heard of such a device before. So it's hard to explain. Ah, but I'm sorry, it is not her time to awaken yet, or else the council might think I've gone and did some more of their lawbreaking. Artemis and I created her so very long ago now. She rests now, just as she wishes, she is still but a child, but she is a child born of light."

"Really! Of light! Just like…"

"Yes my son like the one whose name you chose, she is my daughter, and also the daughter of…"

DREAM SEQUENCE COMPLETED

"Artemis…"

Artemis opened his eyes and looked around quickly, startled at the blanket now tucked in around him.

"Woah, that was one weird dream…"

"Artemis! You're awake!" Mina called out cheerfully.

"Yeah, and I think I just had the weirdest dream I've ever had since the first time you showed me catnip."

"Ya feelin' okay then little buddy?" Dimmer looked down, relieved.

"Yeah, I'm fine. See?" He got up and walked around, then jumped up on Mina's shoulder, "good as new. "

"Well I gotta agree with Serena girls, yer all in need of a break, even the mooncats are fallin' over themselves."

"And you too, right Dimmer?" Rei glared at him.

He looked over at Amy who was also giving him a stern look, before he sighed…

"Yeah me too, I'll just give John a call, he should be able to help get me out there without bein' too noticeable. But ain't gonna be much of a trip for me, can't even order room service."

"Would you do it for a cheesy poof?" Serena waved a mostly empty bag in front of him.

"You've gotta be kidding…" His eyes slowly followed the bag as she swayed it back and forth even as he said it.

"How about the 'last' cheesy poof?" Serena smiled taking it out of the bag.

Dimmer whimpered, sounding a little too similar to a wolf pup, which made everyone wince, and also gave him a chance to snatch the cheesy poof with out Serena looking.

"Hey! No!"

It was gone before she managed to say no.

"Awwww…."

Mina laughed with everyone else this time. They would get Chad back, but they needed some time off for a little while, that's all.

IN DIMMER'S ROOM

Dimmer was just finishing packing his gear, getting it ready to take with him, when something stirred inside him. He knew about the ghost that haunted those hot springs, he remembered the episode clearly. We're Darien and Serena in love yet? Could they take that thing on if Darien still had doubts? Would the spirit even wake up without an evil prince Darien to wake it?

"You ask a lot of questions, and offer no answers."

Dimmer looked around quickly.

"If an answer you really seek, than you must look within yourself."

A sudden sense of foreboding, told him to look behind him, and there it was. Himself… it was his dagger lying up against a mirror. He knew he hadn't left it there.

"I don't want you, or your answers, I thought we had an understanding."

"As did I, but you don't remember 'that' do you. Is the past week such a blur to you?

"You… you know the memories I'm missing?"

"Yes, 'you' do." The voice chuckled.

"The answers you keep giving are only questions in themselves. You're no use to me." Dimmer hated riddles, he figured Sundown found out about that, and now spoke in them out of spite

"A blade, a blade that absorbs negative feelings, that becomes more powerful every time they are absorbed, has no answer for you?"

"What are you blabberin' on about?"

"The blade in front of you fucktard!" The voice grew insistent, as if every thing it spouted off, as if he should have known long ago. "The blade called Tanoc. Bring it, it will cause you no harm. Your wings will be a terrible handicap against such a foe, do you wish to have them ripped out of your back, after just finally realizing your gift?"

"Why?" Dimmer arced an eyebrow now, the voice seemed a little desperate. "Why not let the girls handle it? They're all well trained, and Darien will be there too, he's my best student. Transformed, there's none better.

"Do you not see?! There is nothing any of them can do against it! The priestess will try to exorcise it, but it has hundreds of years of strength behind it, she will fail! Even their mightiest will fall… Rei, Rei will fall…"

Left in shock, Dimmer stood dumbfounded, the voice sounded remorseful. It was Sundown that had always let him know Rei was in trouble before, it was Sundown that always gave him the power to help! The sadness, the quiet pleading tone to the voice, it was something that was never there before. Furthermore it was right.

"If Darien falls against, there ain't nothin' anyone can do…None of the scouts are strong enough compared ta him, no matter how much extra training Lita's had while I was outta it…" Dimmer spoke out loud his thoughts.

"There is one who is stronger than Tuxedo Mask…"

Dimmer looked at the dagger, and the mirror behind it. There was something in the eyes of his reflection, something dark, and resolute. Something that held pain and misery, and spoke of torment and abuse. Something that spoke of an eternity of running. He picked up the dagger and put it in his backpack, tucked away between the folds of the towels. Something in those eyes… wanted to protect 'her' above all else… he couldn't agree more.

SOMEWHERE ELSE

"A mysterious power?" Beryl asked.

"Yes my Queen, dark and similar to ours but something very different… very distinct…"

"Well done Malachite. Send someone to check this out, see if we can use this power to our own benefit."

"Yes my queen." Malachite bowed, and faded away.

"Yuuichiro."

"Yes my queen?"

"It is time to do what you are best at. Prove your loyalty to me, and steal the crystals the scouts have, use this to help you."

"What's this?" Chad looked at the dark crystal that appeared in his palm, and looked up at Beryl questioningly.

"Your inability to sense powers, or supernatural, makes you at a disadvantage. The dark crystal can sense the crystals for you, and more then that, the crystal bearers."

"What use are the crystal bearers to us now?"

"You are a bit behind in some of the facts of the Negaverse Yuuichiro. Let me catch you up on the story of the seven shadows..." She ended with an evil laugh that echoed off the stone cold walls of her cave.

NOT SO FAR AWAY FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE

Malachite teleported into Zoicite's room without warning, she hadn't been out of her room in days. Her temper was horrible in the best of times, and to be showed up by some rookie was more of a shame than she could imagine. Malachite hoped to give her the chance she was waiting for to redeem herself.

"Zoicite?"

"Yes Malachite?" She looked up in surprise.

"I have an assignment for you. Come with me…"

"Where are we going?" She demanded as she stood up.

"To seek out a new power, perhaps a use against the scouts. If it is what I expect, we will be able to come up with a much better plan then those we have had lately…" Malachite laughed, if it was what he thought it was… The scouts were going to have a hard time indeed…

RANDOM NEGAVERSE PLOT POINTS COMPLETED

It was a bit painful, but at least there was some control over them now. Where John had gotten the idea, Dimmer had no clue. Didn't much care either, with his wings wrapped around the front of his body in such a way, John had slipped his hand-me-down detective's trenchcoat over his shoulders, and a buttoned up the front of it, letting the empty sleeves hang loose. The trenchcoat was far too big for Dimmer normally, but with the wings taking up a large amount of the room, he simply looked a little eccentric, instead of like an angel. Which was good, the last thing Dimmer wanted, was people to start thinking of 'Ultimate Good' whenever they saw him. After all the dagger he carried, far from represented anything like the Ultimate Good.

John had quickly agreed, as it turned out that Pidge had already scheduled a time to go up to the same springs that day as for treatment for his legs.

John and Pidge now sat up front in the squad car, John borrowed to use the police HQ's gas for the trip instead of his own. And now Pidge was trying his best to give John pointers on staying calm when there was a steering wheel in front of him. The screeching tires, and angry yelling of other drivers showed proof on how well the lesson was going. Meanwhile, between instances of holding on for dear life, there was an awkward silence in the backseat as Dimmer sat looking down, and taking small glances at the one looking out the window beside him… why had she volunteered of all the scouts?

Serena's car was full so someone had to go with him. Anyone of them would have prevented this awkward silence. Lita, he got along great with, he could teach her tips in the car on the way, her love for martial arts matched his own.

Serena would've had a corny joke fight, and they would have played the whole way up. Rei would have made up with him for their little misunderstanding this morning, and even when they were silent it didn't feel awkward at all. Amy would continue to scold him for that morning, and more than likely give some useful tips to him for some weird thing he had never thought about before…

…so why Mina?! And without Artemis?

(the mooncats opted for a quiet night at home, doubting they'd enjoy the bath as much as everyone else)

The window to the front of the car he could have used to talk John and Pidge had slammed shut after their first right turn after leaving Mina's house as the car went up on two wheels. So now he was trapped with the one scout he had no ties with what so ever as she stared out the window thinking about who knows what…

"It doesn't help that she's a freakin model" he thought frustrated at the situation, "She'll think I'm a complete pervert if I do nothing but glance at her like this…"

He sighed. It was a two hour trip to the hot springs, and he was sure it was going to seem a LOT longer if things didn't change from current status.

Man this is so boring. Mina thought it to herself as she looked out the window, then tightened her grip on the door handle as a sharp left came up. "Jeez I don't know what's going to kill me first, this guys driving, or boredom!" she stole a glance at Dimmer. Was he just looking at her? Probably. She sighed. This was useless. This was supposed to be Chad's best friend? They were nothing alike! What did Rei see in this guy? or Amy, or even Artemis for that matter! Everyone seems so impressed with him for some reason or another.

She turned her head and openly stared at him as he tried to steal another glance at her, quickly looking back toward his feet blushing more than a little.

Mina smiled and held in a small laugh. Okay, one point for being cute, and another for the shyness. And he's definitely interesting, with all these mysterious transformations, he knows nothing about, but that's really more trouble than its worth… She sighed out loud, "I just don't get it."

"Huh? Get what?" Dimmer looked up, eager for some kind of conversation.

"OH! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud!"

"It's okay."

They both fell into an embarrassed silence this time for another half hour before Dimmer simply got too frustrated with it.

"This is stupid isn't it?"

"Huh? What is?" Mina looked at him questioningly. The shy quality he showed earlier was replaced with a resolute, and determined look.

"There is no real reason to be giving each other the silent treatment, like this. There's gotta be SOMEthing we can talk about. It's not like we don't know anythin' 'bout each other, so why not just take turns askin' and answering questions?"

"Okay… ummm… me first though, alright?" She thought for a second.

Dimmer nodded.

"Well I heard the story on how you arrived and but, I really don't know much about you or your transformations, or anything much like that at all… Everyone seems to get along great with you, and I well… Compared to the rest of you I'm a late arrival to everything, I can't help but feel left out in a lot of things when it comes to you."

"Right now, you actually know more about me than I do than." Dimmer gave out a sarcastic laugh, "Okay, You know about my amnesia period when I first arrived right?"

Mina nodded.

"And you know, well… about the false charges of rape…" He said quietly.

"Yeah, but it's the transformations, and... And your link with Chad I don't get…" She looked toward her own feet now, she didn't mean to say 'his' name.

Dimmer gave her a questioning look that slowly turned into an all out grin, as she started blushing under his scrutiny.

"No way, he couldn't know! Not just from that!" She was trying hard to keep the blush forming on her face, but the more she tried to calm down, the more hot her cheeks seemed to grow…

"You gotta t'ing fer Chad don't ya!"

"No! I mean yes… I mean… how did you know?" she bit her lip cutely and looked up at him.

"Heh, the fact that NO one except Amy ever even thinks about that link. I'm surprised anyone would remember it existed."

"I don't see how…"

"And your blushing really gave it away, understandable though, after all, we're both like this." he crossed his fingers and stuck them out the collar of the coat so she could see, "If there's dirt on Chad ya wanna know, I know it, if there's gift ideas, or advice, I'm good for it. Just go ahead and ask."

"Nothing like that, not right now at least, I just want to know if he's okay."

Dimmer smiled appreciatively, than looked down at his hand. "He's… Chad's fine. He's changed… he's more powerful now, my hand pulses with the feeling of his power… As he is now, all of you would find it hard to take him down, though I think Serena could match him for speed, but that isn't the most dangerous part about Chad, it never was. It's his accuracy that's freakin' scary part."

"What do you mean? You can tell all that just from the link?"

"We made a promise, we swore over my dagger, that I'd tell him every time something was going down. Since we weren't specific about it though, the dagger shows us ANY new thing happens to us. We even get a hint of each others emotions from time to time, and take on a few of each others traits."

"So that's how he got your accent!"

"Nah, the accent's just catchy."

They both laughed.

"So what is he feeling right now?"

"Curious, I think he's receiving orders of some kind. Also he's wondering why his power is surging right now, He suspects it has something to do with me."

"Does it?"

Dimmer gave her a sarcastic look, and handed her a faintly glowing feather.

"Oh, yeah, forgot about them." She sweatdropped.

"I feel like, if I knew how, I could bathe half the planet in a bright white light Mina. The power held in these wings are beyond anything I can put into words. I want to train, I want to learn how to use them, how to control them…"

"A little power hungry aren't we?"

"Mina…" He picked up a dried out cherry blossom that had found its death in winter and somehow managed to make its way unto the squad car's floor mat. He turned it back and forth in his hand and slowly it began to retake shape, it seemed to grow and flourish, and regain it's color pink color, he out it in her hand after he was done, and did the jacket back up.

"Oh wow! Do you know how…?"

"Not a clue. Just knew I could. There's so much about these things I don't know, so much I have to learn, I can't just let them sit there… You seen Knight's Valor, he had wings too, but when they extended from his back, they didn't take half his back with them. It's like space itself bent around them… and he could also hide them just as easily"

"They're so beautiful…" She held the feather and the cherry blossom in her hand.

"Yeah, there's a price. Why I really want to learn to control them…."

It was her turn to give him a questioning look.

He took her hand and touched the petal in her palm. She watched as it suddenly withered and died, and turn to smoking ash in her hand, she yelped and quickly dropped what was left onto the floor mat and looked back up at him frightened.

"Yeah, scares me too. I can't use these things, I don't know what'll happen. It's like time speeds up, turns back, or whatever, I don't even know which. Death, life, it's like I suck the light right out of things, or pour light into it. If I could just meet Valor again… he could teach me. They're dangerous. Powerful beyond anyone can imagine… I have no idea where they came from, I wish I could remember, but all I remember from the last few weeks is darkness, darkness and the taste of blood…"

She shuddered, she knew all too well what memory that came from, She remembered watching him tear out chunks of Talenite, and swallow them whole, blood staining white fur…preferring to talk about anything else, she changed the subject quickly, "What about Sundown, how did he come about? Where did you get that dagger come from? You know, I've only ever heard of your transformation into Sundown, I've never been around to see it."

"Really?" Dimmer looked up as if able to see through the car ceiling. "The Dagger is the key. It's like a physical link to that alter ego… Sundown is an endless amount of guilt, disappointment, and pain that has come throughout my life, as far as I can tell... Valor and Sundown told Rei that I'm not a whole person, that I was meant to be much stronger than I am. I don't understand it myself, but apparently Knight's Valor is a part of me, like a persona of the times when I was known as Arkand, to friends and family. Sundown is just like him, in that respect. A lost part of me, that seems to have taken a mind of its own. What lost part of me, I don't even know."

"It makes sense from what Valor told us all yesterday.

Dimmer nodded as he tried to think back on the dream that got him the dagger. "Had this dream one night, 'bout a dagger, 'bout darkness. There was no noise, no sound, and I've never felt more alone than I did there. And a dagger, blacker than night, with a swiveled blade. I touched it, and the pain started. A loss of air, choking, enveloped in the same blackness of that dagger. Than I got this feelin', they were in trouble, She was in trouble. I rushed there. It was my first taste of power, and there was nothing that compared to it."

Dimmer looked down again lost in thought.

"Sundown, a combination of every negative feeling I've ever experienced, There's a lot of pain to transform into him. So Rei thought it was a good idea to no longer depend on him. I agreed, and have, since then, blocked him away."

"Wow! Your dream came true?!"

Dimmer blinked, "huh?"

"Your dream came true! You dreamed about a dagger, and it came to you! I know it wasn't that great of a dream, but still! It was a dream Dimmer. Doesn't that just give you a little bit of hope? Knowing for a fact that dreams really can come true?"

"I never thought it like that…" He thought for a second than frowned. "Even if dreams come true though… what are the chances of two coming true for the same person?"

"Not very good, I'd figure." Mina smiled, "So now I guess you'll have to look forward to your friends dreams coming true."

"Heh, saying it like that, that don't sound too bad. How about you Mina? Any dreams you lookin' forward to comin' true?"

"Me? I have so many dreams I wouldn't know which one to ask to come true."

"Really?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"That… that sounds like a great problem to have." He smiled a sad, soft smile. One that spoke of hurt and regret, but the light in his eyes, the small upturned corner of his mouth, that turned a melancholy look into a smile, it spoke of hope, in spite of everything else that might go wrong. It told of the hope that true happiness existed, and it was right around the next corner. It spoke of never giving up, and in that way, that smile reminded her of Chad. Mina smiled. She could see why everyone worried about him now.

He turned back to her. "So how does Sailor V get her own video game anyway?"

"Save a couple game designers from a hostage situation, once, and no one ever lets you forget it." She laughed.

"Heh, awesome."

"But at least I have my parents here, you just landed all by yourself."

"Well Amy was there for me the moment I crawled out of my crater, and John and Pidge too. When I think about it, I was lonelier at home than I ever was here. So what kind of things did you hunt up in England?"

"Same thing mostly. The Negaverse doesn't hold much ground in other places, there might be 3 in all of Europe. So to track them Artemis and me had to use a different approach. They tried to gain control of the underground, gain the help and energy of the gangs in and around my area. I imagine it's the same way in America and Canada too. Eventually, following the gangs, everything pointed to the Yakuza. Almost all the clans in Japan have some link or way to contact the Negaverse. All except the one family that seems to rule this island, and that's just because they don't like to share power."

"Never knew you were such a detective."

"I'm not, but Artemis can spot a clue a mile away."

"Really? That white ball of fluff holds a few surprises don't he? So who is this 'all powerful' family that rules Japan from the shadows?"

"Thought you said you knew all I wanted to know about Chad." She stuck out her tongue playfully.

"Chad? What does he have to do with this?"

"The Family that rules Japan, is called, Yuuichirou!"

"You're kidding?" Dimmer deadpanned.

"Nope. He's got all kinds of underground contacts where he gets his stuff, and Daybreak has even been making a name for himself on the street, go ahead and ask anyone! They'll all tell ya the place has really been cleaned up lately, that some lone trenchcoated man, "shines like the dawn that sends the cockroaches scurrying to back their holes." She took the best heroic stance she could in the back seat of a car, and dramatic lights flared behind her.

"Tell me that isn't his call line…" Dimmer smacked himself in the forehead and laughed.

"Oh? I think it's kind of cool!"

Dimmer smiled, "Yeah well when compared to "I will punish you!" You're right it's pure call line gold."

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?!"

"It means it sounds like you girls are just asking for some pervert to put you guys in a S&M bondage scene in any movie they may make on ya."

Mina paled.

"And oh man, think about the cos-players that would have fun with that one! Don't be surprised if you see your sailor fuku at the half off sale of a local lingerie store in the near future."

"I will punish you, sounds nothing like that!!" Mina clenched her eyes shut, and shouted in his ear, small tears of embarrassment at the corners of her eyes.

Dimmer just laughed.

"…didn't even think you 'could' think of things like that." She got a small evil glint in her eye and smirked.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Dimmer stopped laughing abruptly.

"Well… lets see, a guy who's friends with and trains with 5 gorgeous school girls…" She flipped her hair up a little at him. "and never even tries to take a peak at them, or even stares a little too long. I was simply beginning to wonder about your ahem orientation."

"Wha..?" Dimmer gave her a blank stare, "hey! I'm going out with Rei! And unless you know something about her that I don't…"

"Oh that's right, you are, aren't you? And it only took you how many months of 'living' with her for you to make any kind of move?"

"I… b.. but.."

"I guess it could be you're just very VERY slow," Mina said almost whistling innocently while she said it, "but for a while I thought Rei wasn't my only competition with Chad."

Dimmer choked, and it was Mina's turn to laugh. Dimmer tried, incoherently, to state every factor concerning his relationship with Rei, mostly spouting off random stuff about age, different dimensions, and time, but with her laughing like that, it all seemed like inconsequential excuses to hold back. Soon enough he was laughing too, how come it all seemed so stupid now, when it seemed logical and problematic then?

"You know, they never showed this side of you on the show."

"Really Dimmer," Mina winked, "Don't you know better than to believe everything you see on t.v.?"

ARRIVAL

"The hot springs!" Serena cheered as she stepped out of her parents car, it took three cars to get them all out there, and only her family was gonna stick around.

"Wow there sure are a lot of you staying here." Serena's father said trying to keep up a smile. He was a little disappointed, he wanted this to be more of a family trip, and when Serena invited all of her friends along… and this 'BOY!' The worst thing was his wife didn't even seem slightly concerned he was in college! He knew all too well the way college boys were. No matter how respectable he looked.

He looked over at his wife who was asking Serena to invite him over for Dinner sometime, and paled.

"Why couldn't it be someone like Melvin…" he grumbled, than spotted Dimmer getting out of a squad car with Mina, and looked from the officers to Serena and Darien, and then back to the officers. "or at least something that isn't illegal!"

The plains clothes officers, one in a wheelchair, laughed and joked with Dimmer a bit before leaving to get in their room.

"Luckily they didn't notice the way Serena's arm was latched on to the college kid" he thought. All the girls had grouped together to talk babble on about the usual things they blabbered on about. When the young man with long dark colored hair had come up to introduce himself.

"Hey, uh, Mr. Tsukino? I know this was supposed to be a family outing, and we're all sorry to impose."

He wasn't sure who this young man was, and he seemed rather strangely dressed, wearing the trenchcoat that was obviously too big for him like it was some kind of cloak, but at least he was polite.

"Oh, it's no trouble. If having all of her friends here helps Serena relax and stop stressing out so much, I don't mind. I'm afraid I don't know your name."

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I ain't from Japan so I'm still getting used to introducin' meself first. The name's Dimmer, Dimmer Kitana."

"Alex, Alex Tsukino. You speak Japanese very well" -If a little heavy on the accent- he thought, "Mind if I ask where you're from?"

"Nova Scotia, Canada."

"Ah, what brings you to Japan?"

"Uuh… I just kinda dropped over for a visit," Dimmer smiled nervously, than looked over at the girls, "though it's seems to be turning into more of a permanent thing now that I got a job with the Hino temple."

"Oh? Well I'm glad you're enjoying yourself so much here."

"Thank you. My associates and friends, Officers John Saotome, and Pidge Himura asked me to give you this for agreeing to chaperone everyone here." Dimmer handed him a small package.

"Oh? Well there wasn't any need for anything like that, but that was very kind of them, I'll have to thank them later. Thank you." He opened that box and inside were all the keys to the room and receipts of the already paid for trip to the hot springs.

"They said if you have any other expenses, including gas for the trip here, or room service, just put the receipts in the box and they'll make sure you're compensated for it."

Dimmer waved good bye to Serena's father who still stood in shock while looking at the box's contents.

NOT FAR AWAY… POSSIBILY BY A MOOSE…(DO THEY EVEN HAVE MOOSE IN JAPAN?) A JAPANESE MOOSE?

Two Negaverse Generals stood close to one another in front of a statue down by the lake shore. Many people would come down here for romantic walks and the cool breeze by the water. It was ironic, how none of the couples that came down this way ever knew just how much danger they were in.

"The power of the evil here is staggering…"

"Yes Zoicite, what is ironic, is it isn't even one of ours. It has nothing to do with the Moon Kingdom, or the Negaverse. A monster, a purely human monster…"

"How many of these exist? These humans that expressed too much negative feelings, so much hate, so much love, and anger."

"We don't know, but it matters not. If human spirits can become immortal, and this powerful, just from negative emotions, than with pulling the right strings, the Negaverse will rule here before the invasion even starts." He laughed, "These humans will be the death of themselves."

"But uncontrollable, there is no way to control these spirits, can they really be that much use against the scouts if we cannot command them to attack them?"

"We've had much time to study the scouts Zoicite, You know them better than almost anyone else. How do you think they'll react if they hear about a monster attacking innocents? Whether ours or not?"

"They'd come to attack it! We don't need to get them to attack them, just set them loose! It's genius, they're the perfect decoy!"

"Their list of allies has grown long, and the quite powerful, any plan we make we have to take a small army with us just to have a chance of succeeding, and whatever we bring is not enough."

"But if they fall for the decoy, we'll be free to execute our plans…"

"And if they don't their forces will still be split. And we can crush them." Malachite clenched his fist tight, as if he were imagining them in his palm. "But Zoicite, I have no time to complete this task. I am to monitor Yuuichirou's behavior, to make sure he doesn't return to the scouts. Do not begrudge him, if Beryl succeeds, he will be a powerful ally. But you, if you can bring this plan to fruition…"

"I can regain my glory in her eyes…" Her eyes shone with pride, she would once again be the respected warrior she always was. "Malachite… Thank you"

"You maybe the key to winning this war Zoicite, cause as much havoc as you can. Collect their energy after the scouts find away to beat them, there's bound to be much to gather from these spirits. I will not see you lost to eternal slumber."

"Even that kind of death doesn't frighten me Malachite, not compared to the embarrassment these scouts have already caused me. I will not fail again." Zoicite nodded with a confidence she had been lacking for a very long time.

"Than I will leave the rest to you." Malachite nodded in return, with a smile, and teleported away.

Zoicite looked out over the calm surface of the water… yes, this she could not fail at. Causing open havoc… this was much more her style.

The baths were separated into three sections, mixed baths, the male side, and the female side, and in that order, paper walls had been set up between them to section them off. Serena had opted to go into the mixed baths with her family. She knew how much her father wanted them to have some family time, so in her own way she was thanking him for the trip.

The rest of the scouts had gathered into the girl's section, while Dimmer and Darien, relaxed alone in the guy's side.

Family time at Serena's house tended to be quite loud, as the scouts listened to Serena and her little brother pick on each other. The scouts had no worries of her family hearing their conversation over the ruckus.

"Maaaaaaan! I want to stay in here until I turn into a prune!" Lita yawned and stretched.

Amy laughed, "Yes, It is very nice to take some off time from our studying, training, and fighting."

The others sweat dropped, studying was the last thing on any of their agendas, but no matter what it alwaays seemed to come first on Amy's.

"Hey Rei, what's up?" Mina rested her arms on the side of the bath, and talked up at Rei who hadn't gotten into the water yet.

"Huh?"

"You've been staring out to the lake for the last ten minutes, the view is nice, but it isn't 'that' nice."

"Oh, It's nothing to worry about. Just a legend about this place came to mind"

"Really?! What kind of legend?"

"A sad story of unrequited love, and a spirit that was sealed in that lake a very long time ago. I can feel the ghost's presence."

"What?!" the girls yelped in unison.

"Rei," Lita's eyebrow twitched as she grabbed Rei by the shoulders putting a little pressure on her.

"Uuuh yes? Lita?" Rei asked nervously.

"That's not what I want to hear on my vacation!" Lita yelled as she flipped Rei into the middle of the bath.

Rei came up waving her hands to hold Lita off as she continued to walk towards her, instinctively making the action of rolling up sleeves she wasn't wearing.

"No Lita, don't worry! That spirit has been asleep for a century, and it's still asleep! I was just wondering if the legend was true or not!"

Lita tapped Rei on the head anyway, "You shouldn't say things like that then! Don't you know you're just asking for trouble when you do?!"

Darien looked at Dimmer, as he tried to stretch out his wings a little and gasped at large particular pain in his left one. Darien sighed.

"Dimmer, you don't fiddle with a broken arm, and you're not supposed to do it with a broken wing either, just let them be."

"Sorry, just hard to lean back against things if I don't move them a little."

"I can see how that would be a problem." Darien chuckled. "So what do you make of this spirit, Rei was talking about?"

"Lita's right to be worried, seen this episode, the Negaverse wakes it, Serena's family is in trouble. She saves them. Apparently the scouts show up in time to help, but it isn't enough, than with your love and Serena's, you set the spirit into the afterlife. But before the scouts never came until later, and you're the one who wakes the spirit 'cause you were workin' for the Negaverse at the time. Chad ain't never been that intuned with the spiritual side of things, so I doubt he could even sense it exists, let alone wake it."

"I'm with the Negaverse at the time…?"

"Right."

"And it's mine and Serena's love that save it?"

"Yup."

"But she's my enemy, and I want to destroy her at the time."

"Yep."

"So why…?"

"You're supposed to want to defeat her all in your own time."

"But why wouldn't I just…?"

"I don't know, you don't know, I half suspect the writers of the show didn't know. But I doubt you'd get very high ratings if 'Prince Darien' just went over and nonchalantly put a rose through her skull."

"Oh." Darien deadpanned.

"It's not about making sense, it's about making ratings. And it worked, not that it matters anymore. Either way we should keep our guard up so the scouts can let theirs down for a bit."

"What about your wings?"

"…"

"Dimmer..." Darien leaned in, "You're planning something…"

Dimmer bit his lip, and gestured to Darien to not make a sound. It wasn't often Dimmer let people in on what his plans were unless he needed them. Darien gave him a serious look and nodded his understanding. If Dimmer needed this kept secret from the girls, then it was going to be something they wouldn't like. He understood. Sometimes that was necessary.

Dimmer reached over under a small bundle of towels he had put there earlier, and pulled out a familiar dagger.

"You shouldn't have brought that," Darien narrowed his eyes, and whispered harshly.

"Sundown…" Dimmer took a breath nervously, worried that saying that name alone could invoke that other 'him' back into possession of his body. The hesitation was only slight, but it was enough for Darien to know Dimmer was not taking the situation lightly. "HE, doesn't have wings. It's best this way, this knife will effect anything with negative emotions. That's the way it works."

"I see then, it's perfect against spirits…"

"It's only just in case. Let's hope nothing happens."

"The chance of that?"

"…"

"Dimmer…"

"What are the chances of Serena not hanging off you, starting from now and lasting for the rest of the weekend?"

"Right, should I transform now, and just go down to the beach and wait five minutes, or should we just transform dramatically at last second." Darien gave Dimmer a flat look.

"I'd prefer the later option, there's a chance, a small chance, but a chance."

"That isn't a chance Dimmer, we're talking a hypothetical ninth wonder of the world here."

"Ninth?"

"The eighth was you."

"Oh."

"What are they talking about?"

"Shh! Lita! I can't hear, they're whispering about something…"

"You two really shouldn't be spying on the boys like that, you'll only encourage them to do the same!" Amy shook her head watching Lita and Mina try to figure out what Dimmer and Darien were talkin about, and find some way of looking around the paper wall put there to section the baths off, without being obvious about it.

"Oh Amy you're such a worry wart." Mina waved the reproach off.

"Yeah, Aimes. Lighten up, scared of a little fun?" Lita winked, "We got two hunks in the next bath over, and you're going to try to tell me you aren't even a little bit curious?"

"I..! I never …uuh.. Rei?!" Amy blushed profusely and pleaded for the raven-haired girl to step in.

"…"

Amy's eyes widened as Rei's only reaction to the comment was to blush deeper than Amy was and sink further into the spring, before giving her a sympathetic smile and make her way towards the other two.

"Have you tried looking under the wall? See if they partitioned the spring water too!"

"Hey good idea Rei, hold on I'll check..." Lita took a big breath and ducked under the water. After a few seconds Lita came back up for air, and gave everyone a thumbs up.

The three of them chattered amidst themselves, of what they could or would do now. They had discussed it for the last ten minutes before Amy grew a little anxious.

"Are you actually going to… you know…peak?" She blushed a crimson shade of red just asking about it.

"Don't worry Amy." Rei laughed, "The fun is in knowing we could if we really wanted too."

"Dare ya?" Mina smiled to Lita, completely ignoring both Amy and Rei.

"Hey, no way!" Lita quickly rejected the notion, "well… not alone at least…"

The two giggled to themselves, as Rei edged nervously away, while Amy sank herself further into the spring, until the water covered most of the flush in her face. When all of a sudden came a shrill scream from the side of the springs Serena and her family were bathing in.

"SAMMY!" Serena yelped, as he took off with her towel. "Sammy! You little brat! Get back here!"

The worst part was all their parents did was laugh! All she did was dunk her little brother, once! Now he had to take it to an extreme!

Sammy stuck out his tongue at his older sister as he waved her towel in front of her. He skidded to a stop beside a do not run sign, and smiled as his older sister barged out of the spring naked as a jay bird, not thinking before she leapt as usual.

Serena was always teasing Sammy, when she actually noticed him. Well that was only part of the reason he did this kind of thing to her. The truth was he liked the teasing, a little, it was the fact that the only time Serena ever even noticed he existed was when she was pulling some kind of prank on him, or trying to take his turn while playing his favorite Sailor V game. And it's a simple fact all kids like attention whether good or bad, and if he couldn't receive any good attention from her, then…

But none of this was on Sammy's mind, all he was looking for was a bit of fun, and to embarrass his older sister a little.

Of course, he didn't want to get hurt in the equation, so when he seen the "no running" sign, and noticed the slippery walkway, he waved his arms frantically calling for his sister to stop. He would have been just as successful waving down an oncoming freight train.

Serena for her part tried to stop, but only skidded a little before tripping over her little brother, throwing them both, in a mess of arms and legs, towards Lita, Mina, and Rei who were standing in front of the partition.

Towels flew up while the partition came down with a splash.

Lita, Mina, and Rei stood frozen in time, as their towels floated down around them, with Sammy planted face first in the water between the three, while Serena looked like she was going to fall dangerously into the shallow water. Darien was there and had caught her before he had been able to think about her state of dress.

"Uh… heh… hi?" Dimmer gave a nervous smile to the naked girls, and waved slightly in greeting, blushing quite heavily as he took in the sight. He seen enough anime to know too well where this was going. He began scrambling his way over to the far side of the spring, but with the aid of bad luck and wet surfaces. By slipping on the hot spring floor and over his wildly, uncontrollable, flapping wings, he splashed a lot but made very little progress toward the edge of the spring. (kinda looked like a struggling duck really…)

Rei's temper was brimming as she picked up her towel, and tried to cover herself with one hand with it as she clenched her other hand up in a tight and angry fist "Dimmer… you… PERVERT!!"

Dimmer was launched into the hotel, ala Rei's airlines, and Darien was stuck holding Serena, as her father came over to check, what was going on. Lucky for Darien, her father fainted after first seeing the rest of the junior high girls going around picking up their towels. What scared Darien most, was his wife picking up her husband and winking at him before going back to their side of the bath.

"Darien?" Serena asked dizzily, looking up at his face. "Darien, you saved me!" She hugged him tightly.

"I gotta go!" His face went as red as a tomato, before plopping her down and taking off after Dimmer into the hotel, trying his best to keep his towel on, which had become a much more difficult task than it was five minutes ago.

"How come no one even notices I'm here?" Amy and Sammy sighed together, as they sat beside each other.

"Oh hello." Amy smiled at the 11 year old boy beside her.

(okay, I have no idea how old Sammy really is, but he looks that age)

"Oh, uh, hi!" He smiled back he stuck out his hand, "Sammy Tsukino."

"Amy Mizuno. You're Serena's little brother? She hardly mentions you."

"That's no surprise," He mumbled, his tone got noticeably lighter as he spoke to her though, "Serena talks about you all the time though. You've got the highest scores in your school on all your tests right?"

"Almost all of them," She corrected him remembering Greg.

"Wow… how in the world did you end up knowing Serena then?"

Amy just laughed, embarrassed.

"And that one's Mina right? Man does she looks like Sailor V! And Lita, she scares away the bullies for miles, I know her even from my schools reputation!"

"You know us all pretty well."

"Serena blabs about you guys all the time. I was beginning to think she was imagining you guys. Hey, why are there so many feathers in the pool? Wow! Are they glowing?!"

Amy paled as she realized how close Serena's parents came to knowing something they shouldn't have… "Uuuuh NO! No of course not! It's probably just some algae from the hot springs, They can make things luminescent! So they only appear to be glowing…"

"Really? Okay. I've never heard of algae that can do that before…"

Amy began to wonder if the two were really brother and sister, She was certain Serena would have been baffled by the mention of algae, let alone actually understand the word luminescent… "Well, if you would like, we can do some research into it together."

"What? You'd tutor me!" Sammy's face lit up.

The truth was Amy was only thinking of doing a small project with him, for his next science project, something small, after all she didn't have much time left between training, and her own studies, but the face he was making right then, She just couldn't say no. He really was Serena's brother after all.

"Get Serena to bring you over during the time I tutor her next Monday, and I'll see what I can do." She messed up his hair a little. "Now you should get out of here before the girls notice there's another young man left in here they forgot."

He nodded quickly, took a deep breath and swam under the partition back to his family's side.

"How do I keep getting myself into these things?" Amy asked herself smiling, she got up to go check on Dimmer.

DOWN THE PATH TO THE LAKESIDE WITH THE STATUE AND THE WATER AND THE BEACH AND THE MAIN PLOT OF THE CHAPTER… ECT... ECT… ECT…

He was in full sprint down the dirt path through the small-forested area that led to the lake. Fluke? Fate? He didn't know what to call Serena tumbling into the partition like she did, but it was enough. It had distracted everyone from feeling the presence arrive, the way the balance in the area had completely shifted. Something evil had been let loose, and Dimmer was certain he already knew what it was.

He felt more than heard the footsteps behind him, they were heavy set, someone tall, and moving close to the same rate of speed he was.

"I knew we should've just transformed and waited down there." Darien whispered as loud as he dared, knowing well that Dimmer was hoping to catch whatever it was by surprise.

"Forgive me for not wantin' ta look at your stupid get up again." Dimmer smiled, it was nice to know he did have some back up. His wings were being bent awkwardly behind him as he rushed down through the trail, and it hurt more than a little, but once again, he felt worse plenty of times before.

"Do you feel it? The Negaverse?" Darien ignored Dimmer's taunt as he sought for more information on the situation.

"No, I don't know anything about that kinda thing. Something else, something evil. Probably that ghost I was telling you about."

"Well, it's there. No youma, just a general I think."

"General? Bet I know which one."

Darien only nodded as he caught up beside him.

"Dammit, these wings, they're glowin' too much, I'll give us both away like this. You go ahead, distract 'em if you can, I'll be there as quick as I can…"

"You know the girls are going to be on their way right?"

"Yeah. Which means we'll have to be quick. If we're lucky I won't have ta use me dagger at all."

"Right." Darien pulled a rose from the pocket of the shirt that he had just slipped on before leaving, "You shouldn't run so hard, your wounds will open up again."

"Just go do yer job, I'll worry 'bout me." Dimmer watched him bound off and transform quickly, his cape of black offering some camouflage in dark shadows of the trees. Dimmer slowed down and picked up the top hat that was left behind, and smiled. "He's learning… Hey! Tuxedo Mask!"

Dimmer threw a black object quickly through the air, which the black clad figure caught easily. Tuxedo Mask turned his hand over cautiously, feeling the overwhelming sense of darkness, silence, and solitude that surrounded the black, swivel bladed dagger he now held in his hands. He looked at Dimmer questioningly from behind his mask.

"It still has power, even if it ain't in the hands of Sundown. It's a last resort for me, but it don't have to be for you. Use it if ya can!"

Tuxedo Mask nodded, and the dagger disappeared into his cloak, and he under the cloak of the shadows he had learned to fight in against the werewolf.

BACK AT THE POOL, AND AWAY FROM THE MAIN PLOT OF THIS CHAPTER, BUT HEADING THAT WAY SOMEWHAT NONETHELESS

Rei looked up suddenly, did something just happen? She wasn't sure, did she miss it? Sammy had fell into her and made her lose all concentration, and after Dimmer sat there and gawked, wings spread for all the world to see, she had to do something about it. Truthfully she didn't think she had to go as far as she did with it, but it was the first thing that came to her mind. Dimmer had suffered through much worse after all.

"Stupid…" She whispered to herself, "Stupid, stupid, stupid." She had to stop reading so much manga. She was walking through the hall towards Dimmer's room to apologize when Amy came out of his room wearing a frown.

"Hey Rei? Have you seen Dimmer?"

"What? No, I thought he'd be in his room…"

"I am afraid he isn't there, I just went in to check on him. You must be more careful with him Rei! Though his healing rate is beyond anything I've ever seen or heard of before, his wounds are far from healed, some are far from even being closed." Amy gave Rei a scolding look.

"I'm… I'm sorry… I… I don't know what I was thinking…" The look Amy was giving her was making her feel very uncomfortable. She had never been on the wrong side of one of Amy's scowls before. It made her feel like she was just a child. And after trying to prove to Dimmer she was so much more than a simple fourteen-year-old. She did NOT want to talked down to like one, let alone by someone in her same age group. The worse thing about it though, she knew Amy was right.

"Hey guys!" Serena was running down the hall Lita and Mina trailing behind her at a slower pace, "Did either of you see Darien come this way?"

"Not now meatball head! We're looking for Dimmer."

Serena stuck out her tongue in reply.

"Dimmer? Well we haven't seen him." Lita thought for a second.

"What is it Lita? You don't suppose they've run off together." Mina joked.

Lita paid no attention to the joke, while Serena, Rei, and Amy all paled at thought.

"No, not that, there are only two ways off this floor, Me, you and Serena were at one, and Amy, and Rei were over this way… how could Dimmer or Darien come through here without us seeing them?"

A strong gust of wind suddenly took everyone's attention toward the wide-open window staring out into the soon to be setting daylight.

"Darien's window was left open too…" Serena stared wide eyed at it.

"You don't think…" Rei's mouth went dry… "They really did..."

"No way!" Mina looked out the window in awe… "I thought it would be Chad if anyone… though Darien is a hunk, I guess he's just got good taste."

"NONONONONOOOO!!" Serena screeched at the top of her lungs, "IT'S NOT TRUE! IT'S NOT TRUE! IT'S NOT TRUE! IT'S NOT TRUE!!!"

"Serena! I'm sure it's something else, we have to go after them!" Rei growled and stomped toward the window, "It better be, for their sakes!"

Right!" Serena shouted as she followed Rei out the window.

The others stared out the window, sweatdrops present on all three.

"Do you think either of them realized were on the fourth floor, and they weren't transformed…?" Mina blinked.

"Well come on "Amy turned towards the stairs, "We'll have to go help them."

"Help who? Those two, or the boys?" Lita gave her a flat look before following after her.

"Who knows…"

DOWN BY THE BEACH… AGAIN!!

"Arise spirit! Reveal yourself to me! I release you of the bonds that hold you!" Zoicite stood in mid air above the water, laughing menacingly as she felt the evil below the water's surface awaken and come forth.

A beautiful maiden, with long flowing hair, arose from its slumber in a ghostly state. It stared at Zoicite for a moment, such hatred, and jealousy… How could earthlings become this powerful, and still be a race of weaklings! Its cold, angry stare sent a chill down her spine, and she smiled. She would be perfect.

"…Give him back." The ghost took a step toward Zoicite.

"Huh?" Zoicite was at a loss. "What are you talking about?! I don't have anyone of yours."

"GIVE HIM BACK!!"

"Really now, these dead humans can be so testy." Zoicite looked around quickly, she could feel the ghosts energy starting to rise. She was upsetting her somehow, just by being there. What was that?! She noticed it just in the nick of time, and just barely moved her head out of the way, and it still caught her cheek. She quickly brought a hand up, to stop the bleeding. She looked up at the ghost and noticed the maiden was looking down toward the water, something there had caught her attention. Zoicite looked to see what it was and squeezed her hand tight into a fist.

"You!" There lay a rose floating in the water. She looked toward the shadowed coastline and seen nothing, but there was no doubt who it was, "Where are you?! Where are you hiding?!"

There was no answer.

"Playing hide and seek are you?!" She shouted into the woods, "Well, if that's your game, I'll definitely play, and it looks like I'm it!"

A pink energy ball formed in her hands, it would be hard to hide in shadows if there was nothing there to cast them. She smiled to herself, they'd blame it on the ghost, the stupid humans still wouldn't recognize the invasion. The energy ball grew larger.

The ghost quieted now, unsure of what was going on, where was he? who was this woman? Where was he?! Where was SHE?! She looked this way and that, no longer concerned with the goings on of the one beside her.

She looked to the inn at the top of the hill, it seemed to be the only remnant left of the fishing village that was once here. THERE! That must be where they were hiding! She would chase them out, kill the woman who dare love him! She flew toward it, gracefully, and quickly, creating a wake in the water behind her without touching it.

"What?! And where the hell are you going?!" Zoicite yelled at it, and unleashed the energy she had gathered in a torrent of power toward the ghost. It passed right through her head, exploding into the statue at the head of the lake, shattering it to pieces.

The ghost looked at the broken pieces of the statue, mortified, and took a completely different form as she turned back to face Zoicite. Its hair floated around it in disarray, and its mouth grew fangs. Its hands grew huge with sharp claws extending from the tips of each finger, as its dress became tattered. It's face wrinkled up and turned into a horrifying expression, as her pupils were lost into black, black depths that had become its eyes.

It extended both hands towards Zoicite in a powerful gesture that sent some invisible force crashing into the water furiously straight toward, smashing into her and sending her flying into the horizon.

(Zoicite Team Rocket? …nah.)

Tuxedo Mask looked on from his hiding spot behind a large oak. The display of power from the spectre had surprised him, what were the Negaverse going to do by summoning powers that were beyond them?!

"Shit." It was all he could think to say as he watched it make a beeline for the inn. "looks like I have to distract this thing. HEY YOU!!" he shouted at it, and flung a rose, that passed through where its heart would have been.

The ghost looked toward him, in that frightful form. It screamed in a powerful fury. It's emotion was so powerful that it had kept her alive after death. It flew towards him, ready to shred him to pieces with its claws.

It passed right over him.

He didn't understand, it looked like it was searching for him! He looked down, to see himself blended in with the tree. It was that chameleon power of Sundown! It must be the blade that gave him that power, but Valor had said it's only use was transferring souls… maybe it was able to transfer more than just that…Perfect, he smiled. He could throw the dagger from here and probably accurately take out one of its eyes, but he wondered if it would work, what if it passed right through? He'd lose the dagger, and he sure couldn't stand up to the power that had just sent Zoicite flying! No he had to see if it worked first, which meant he'd have to get in close, and stab at it. If it worked, 'then' he could huck it at the ghost with abandon.

But it would have to be distracted first. As if fate wanted to mock him, the ghost came down and stared at him directly into his face, not two inches away. "Shit."

"Great, Murphy's law, whatever can happen, will happen, At the worse possible time." Dimmer watched the fight from up further in the woods, and saw Tuxedo Masks predicament. "I have to help him, but I can't do it like this… " Dimmer patted one of his wings. "Still I have to do something…"

TENSION BUILDING EVIL CLIFFHANGER TIME!

Somewhere in a desert on an archeological dig, one of the crystal carriers were digging among the rocks, too busy thinking about what she might have just discovered to notice the shadows of the two men suddenly appearing behind her.

"Yoink!" One grinned, while pulling out a dark crystal and pointing it at her. She only had time to scream before she was captured effortlessly inside of the dark prism.

"Yoink?" Malachite arched his eyebrow up in a questioning glance at Yuuichiro.

"Totally." His companion repeated in his surfer dude accent, and waved the crystal in front of his face, grinning almost stupidly.

Malachite, laughed, at the very least, this was going to be interesting.

MORE TENSION BUILDING EVIL CLIFFHANGER TIME!

By the time Amy, Mina, and Lita had made their way down the stairs, the other two were nowhere to be found, so they had split up to find either them or the boys.

Lita decided to hang back, just in case they came back to the inn, while Amy decided to check out the nearest store in case they had decided to go out and get some snacks, still not really believing that the two would run off together. Mina decided to see if they were on the lakeshore, taking a romantic stroll in the sunset.

As Mina wound her way through the woods, there was no sign of Serena or Rei, but someone had came down this way. The broken branches and footprints in the mud told her that much. She wished Artemis was here, he was so much better at this tracking thing than she was. Suddenly an explosion happened down by the lakeshore, and she could here some shouts and screams. She started to move at a faster pace, with each sound she heard, until she was in straight out sprint. She stopped suddenly, she recognized that presence!

Negaverse! But… it was going away… very far away… It didn't matter, if the Negaverse had something to do with it, she'd better get down there quick. But the sun was setting and the shadows were growing, trying to dodge the roots wasn't an easy job while trying to go at top speed. She tripped and stumbled her way as fast as she could through the darkening wood, only to trip and fall down hard, rolling off the path and into some bushes.

"Ow! Damn it!" She got up and shook her head to try to clear it. "It was than she spotted Dimmer spying on something from behind his hiding spot. She couldn't see what caught his attention, but he looked… determined? He looked down at the ground in front of him, than stood, with his eyes closed sweat dripped from his forehead. He looked ominous standing under the shadow of the tree.

"Sundown? Are you there? Can you hear me?" Dimmer asked himself quietly, than paused as if waiting for an unheard voice, and perhaps more frighteningly than that, seemed to answer it, "I don't trust you, you know that…"

Another pause.

"Yeah, yeah. Yes I trust myself, yes you are me, whatever. Look, you said you'd help me protect them, will you still?"

Another quiet pause to which Dimmer only gave a nod.

Mina looked on, and seen the specter flying around an oak tree. A ghost… What did the Sailor team know about taking out ghosts? Rei would know… She'd have to get word to her… Mina was taking out her communicator when Dimmer interrupted her thoughts as his voice spoke out once more, this time sounding as ominous as he looked.

"I am your event before death," quietly he growled out the words in a whispered tone that somehow everybody could hear, suddenly looking straight up toward the sky, his wings spread out involuntarily, his eyes no longer seemed like they were his own.

"I am the darkness that clouds your sight."

His clothing formed into a dark aura around him, clouding him from view momentarily

"I am the silence that echoes in your mind"

His voice strained, as the aura seemed to take the form of dark bandages, that surrounded him, tying themselves painfully tight to his body his skin wrinkled and tore from the strain of them in several places, he hung there in midair held up by the bandages. A black scarf entwined its way around his face, choking him, as it tied itself tightly over his mouth and nose.

"I am the solitude that envelops your soul."

His voice was little more than an understandable growl now, like a hybrid between his human and wolven halves-combined. The bandages formed into clothing, a black trenchcoat, and dress pants, and a dark, blood red shirt, underneath it.

"I am the end of your day, and the beginning of your night."

He drew a black trail of light left behind his finger he traced it in the air, until forming the light into a perfect circle.

"I am…"

The dark circle started spinning on his finger, until it came to a stop as he planted it over his head, turning into a long brimmed cowboy hat.

"Your Sundown!"

He took a final pose, against the trees the sunset practically gone, leaving streaks of red clouds behind him. His trenchcoat hung open and billowed into the wind. He seemed to notice Mina now, and she thought she could make out a smirk under the scarf. His wings were gone.

"I'm back."

"Dim… Dimmer?" Mina asked quietly.

The figure nodded its head.

"I… I see…"

"Good, you catch on quick. Maybe you might be able to be of some use." His tone held some condecending in it, but she did little to respond to it. If Sundown represented the power of Nightfall, then she could only imagine the power this dark figure had at bay. He continued, either not noticing or ignoring Mina's sudden caution and her sense of unbidden fearfulness, "Monkey boy is over hiding in the trees to our right, in front of our friendly neighborhood ghost, that decided to stop being so friendly. We have to distract it. Transform. We'll make quick work of this nuisance."

"Uhh… right! Sailor Venus POWER!" She called out and changed right then and there, uncaring of her sudden nakedness in front of the one before her, she had the feeling that somehow it wouldn't matter to him at all anyway. The yellow ribbons of power came and wrapped themselves around her, forming the famous Sailor V, who starred in so many video games. Her own long blonde hair was being played with by the shore breeze as she stood face to face with the one hero none of he sailor scouts ever wanted to see again. The one that continually caused their friend so much pain. The one that, she knew, would help her stop a disaster that night.

"We'll try to lead it toward the water, it can do less damage there, it has a form of invisible power that it strikes with, it may only be a ranged attack, but be careful not to get hit by it or you'll need airline tickets to get back here tomorrow. Understood?" The voice growled out from beneath the scarf, if she didn't know any better, it almost sounded protective. She nodded. This was the Dimmer she knew when she first arrived. The one willing to smash his students with boulders time and time again. Dimmer the jerk. Now she finally understood why. If he formed into this… this dark being too much, it would definitely have an effect on his personality.

"Hurry! You first, I'll cover you, when it gets too close, be wary!

She nodded again and jumped above the trees, and into the open. "This should get its attention. Venus crescent beam SMASH!!"

It passed through the monster, winking it out of existence, before coming back. The beam smashed into the tree, making Tuxedo Mask duck, but also giving him a chance to get away in the commotion. That chance he used well, quickly hiding through the debris and dust cloud the attack had made.

"GIVE HIM BACK!!!" The ghost screamed. There! There SHE was! "AAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!!!!" she screamed in a banshee like way, causing everyone to suddenly stop in pain. Than she took off towards Venus, in a stunning display of speed. But Venus hadn't trained for nothing, and as Sailor Venus, she had more then enough speed to keep a good distance between the ghost and herself, she managed to lead it back to the beach and further away from the inn. The ghost noticed it, and angrily went to make the same powerful gesture she made towards Zoicite.

"Dark power… RELEASE!!!!" The voice came from nowhere, and so did the dark, chi-blast like ball that came speeding through the air after the ghost, once again making it wink out of existence for a moment, but stopping it from being able to finish its attack. The blast imploded into the water behind them.

The ghost came back with a haunting laugh taunting the heroes of light and darkness that now stood in front of it. It didn't notice the cloaked figure that appeared behind it.

"He 'is' learning." Sundown chuckled.

Somehow it must have sensed him behind her, be cause it moved, just barely in time, and yet still not quite quick enough to avoid the dagger's small blade all together.

Immediately Tuxedo Mask was on it digging the dagger through the spectral flesh of its shoulder, where the back of it neck had been. Spectral blood seemed to pour from its body, and Tuxedo Mask was trying to pull the blade out to make another attack, but it seemed stuck. It lit up in a light show of black power, it was like trying to pull the dagger from a vacuum, he could swear the blade was trying to suck it in to itself, and it wasn't stopping there! He could feel himself getting pulled into the dagger as well. He strained against the dagger, and the ghost screamed its banshee-like shriek, only this time in agony. Finally the dagger gave way, with one final massive pull and more than a small feat of strength from Tuxedo Mask it was flung up from his hands and into the air.

Sundown caught it, and it turned to his favored black bladed sword, which he quickly threw back at the ghost, pinning it to a large oak tree, by it's forehead. The ghost shrieked and wailed, grabbing the sharp blade with its bare hands, trying desperately to get it out, before the ghost seemed to burn into the oak it was pinned too.

The oak withered and died, emanating a large sense of evil.

"It sealed it into the tree…" Sundown frowned. "It was not what I expected."

"No." Tuxedo Mask managed to stand up after the severe mental Trauma. "It transferred its soul to the tree. That's what your dagger does Sundown. Though I believe it can transfer more than souls. I believe it can also transfer abilities, and possibly power, which is why it allowed me to blend into my surroundings like you do.

Sundown nodded. "and why it indeed lets me blend in like Talenite's lizards that I slayed with it. Quite observant, it may do us well to remember that, but apparently it's not only effective on those it puntures."

"You're telling us. I almost thought Tuxedo Mask would be sucked into the dagger as quick as that ghost.

We can't just leave this tree here like this, though, if it transferred the ghosts power too, it might still be able to hurt someone. " Venus thought aloud.

"Agreed. Rei should be able to exorcise it from there though."

"Okay. Her and Serena went looking for you two, I'll go check with Lita to see if they checked back in yet" Sailor Venus jumped into the woods, and became Mina once again, and headed up to the inn.

The two boys also de-transformed back into themselves, and stood silently watching the moon on the lake together.

"You finally lost the hat." Dimmer smiled.

"Yeah. You lost your wings."

"Yeah. Went in with Sundown and ain't come back out yet. Ya know, I know I ain't the greatest at giving out compliments and stuff, but I'm proud to say I taught ya. "

"More than you know Dimmer… more than you know." Darien stared at blankly at the water, remembering all too well the tactics he used against the wolf version of the young man beside him. The half that nearly killed him and everyone he held dear. But that was not the young man that stood beside him he reminded himself, just another of the many parts of mysteries that came along with knowing Dimmer. He smiled down at Dimmer, "And for that, I forgive you."

"S'at supposed to mean?" Dimmer looked Darien in the eye. Was someone finally gonna tell him what happened in the last two weeks?

It was to the sight of Dimmer and Darien staring into each others eyes on the moonlight beach Serena and Rei walked into.

"Dimmer! What do you think you're doing!?!" Rei shouted, and ran up to him and introduced his face to the sand in a most painful first impression.

"Darien! How could you?!" Serena went completely teary eyed and ran own the beach in the opposite way.

"How could I what?! Serena!" Darien sighed in frustration before chasing after her.

"OW! I can explain!" Dimmer spat out some sand, "He was in trouble! I had to use Sundown!"

"SUNDOWN?! WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT SUNDOWN!?!"

"Oh crap!" Dimmer sprinted up the trail towards the inn, an angry Rei hot on his trail.

Reviewer Response:

Logan Lazari: Normally I'd accept doing sketches for people no problem, but I'm afraid I've never even seen any of the knight riders or whatever stuff series before, so the sketches would be kinda frigged. On a better note glad you like the story thus far, hope it works out printing it on paper for ya… but ya know… that's a buttload of paper…

Himitsu-no-hi:

Hi again! First, yeah I'm glad the cpu stuff is sorted out again myself, it's too bad I gotta move again in a couple days, so it's bound to be a bit before I get online again… argh!

I'm really glad ya liked the changes to Sleeping Angels. I wasn't sure if it was a little too revealing or not, I just found the chapter had no real value to the over all story so I overhauled it. Still so many mysteries to unmask, I don't know if I'll have time for them all!

What's wrong with Fate? Thought he was a good guy… er… good many kids… er… good something like that… I think the main reason he goes by, he, they, it, Fate, Council, or Council of Fate, is cause I don't know what to call er… them… Once again thanks for the review I'm always glad to hear from ya, (thanks for the deviant review too!)

Hart:

Hey Hart, glad to read from ya again. Don't worry about getting the jokes from other anime series too much, I don't include it into any of the main story plots, and there's too few to bother with anyway. (btw if you think Inu Yasha has love triangles, try looking up some stuff on Ranma ½. It's by the same creator but freakin' yikes! It's more like a love hexagon… on steroids....)

I hope the tiny bit of action I threw into this chap was enough, it was more or less a joke filled chapter to make up for all those jokes I've been weeding out.

End notes:

'ey peoples. Been hard at work, and got a new chap already for ya, mind ya this is the first time I've updated without having the next chapter finished already… (not even started in this case) so it might be another good little bit before updating, so ya've all been forewarned.

Hope ya all enjoyed, and as per usual, please review!