Title: The Promise Of Princess Mercury
By: The Mysterious Traveller
Rated: T
Fandom: Sailor Moon
Story summary:
When a mysterious new enemy threatens Amy, she must rise to face the challenge. But this is an enemy like none the Sailor Scouts have ever encountered. Sailor Mercury must confront her past and a dark, terrible destiny. And who is Fargo and why is he so important?


Comments allowed: Yes.


Prologue - The watcher in the wings

Click.

The computer-keyboard lit up as a finger pressed the button on the hard-drive beneath the desk - the monitor that had sat dark and square up until now on the flat of the desk instantly illuminated the gloomy room with a dull green light.

A small box appeared on the screen as the heavily upgraded piece of software took mere seconds to boot up.

Two headings: Login name and Password.

The fingers danced around the keyboard and a word appeared in the name heading.

S. Universe

Five more buttons clicked and five asterisks appeared in the password heading - The Enter key came next and for the next few seconds the hard-drive whirred and clocked as it processed the information that had been entered into its fresh memory...and was then ready for use.

The DVD drive slid open and the hand slipped in a home-burnt CD-ROM, so new that its data-side was devoid of scratches or fingerprints - after an instant of processing a personal-data file appeared on the screen.

At the top there was the image of a teenage girl with blue hair - She was perhaps sixteen and wore a school uniform. She had the most beautiful face the person who had logged onto the terminal had ever seen. A female sigh of joy broke the silence in the dimly lit room as the user of the computer terminal gazed upon that lovely face for the first time in what felt like countless lifetimes.

Below in red letters was her personal information.

Name: Amy Anderson (Hmm, funny name...yet just as beautiful as her TRUE name.)

Sex: Female (Yeah, like she REALLY needed onscreen confirmation to work THAT out...)

Age: 14 years (Wow. It felt like YEARS and yet she was still as old as she'd been way back THEN...)

Scout Identity: Sailor Mercury (...)

The female eyes narrowed as they skipped past the details of Amy's life...she'd know this girl anywhere. Below she found the information that she actually NEEDED – Amy's address in Tokyo.

Perfect – she was now ready and armed to go. She could come out of her complacency and into her agenda.

Chapter One - The lurking danger 

"Are you guys ready?" 

"We're ready!" four other female voices responded confidently. 

"Go!" 

"Venus Love Chain Encircle!" the blonde Sailor Scout raised her hand as an intense golden light flared at her fingertip, just waiting for release. 

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" the brunette Scout's palm roared with gathering thunder. 

"Mars Celestial Fire!" the dark haired Scout flipped out a piece of paper with the kanji printed on it. 

"Shine Aqua Illusion!" the blue haired Scout spread out her hands as blue energy crackled between her spread fingers. 

The night-sky was lit up as the combined might of pure energy, lightning, fire and ice were unleashed as one. 

The foul demon that had arrived from the Negaverse to inflict devastation upon the planet Earth only to have met with the might of the planet’s guardians, who were the group of female warriors the Sailor Scouts, shielded its tortured eyes as the energies of the elements screamed toward it. 

It howled in torment as it was held in place by Sailor Venus's long chain of small golden hearts while the combined power of the Scouts of Jupiter, Mars and Mercury shocked, charred and froze its armored body all at the same time. 

"It's weakened!" a small voice cried from the other side of the street in which the battle was raging. "Now, Sailor Moon!" 

"You've got it Luna!" another blonde Scout, whose hair was in long pigtails that were held in place by a pair of overly plump pom- poms that stuck out on the top of her head quite noticeably, told the talking cat who was watching the fight from an alley. 

The leader of the team of Sailor Scouts, Sailor Moon, drew out a small scepter about a few meters tall and aimed it at the beast. 

"Moon Scepter Activation!" she cried out as she was surrounded by an aura of white.

Wings seemed to materialize about her and then were gone again. 

The scepter issued a beam of holy power that burrowed into the monster, reducing it to crystal dust. 

Sailor Moon, breathing heavily lowered the scepter and leaned on it. 

Sailors Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Mercury eyed her teasingly. 

"This really takes it out of ya," Sailor Moon moaned. "I thought you guys would never wear it down enough for me to hit it with the scepter." 

"That's rich, Serena! This would all have been over an hour ago if you hadn't let it knock the scepter into the river." Mars retorted. 

"She's right, y' know." Jupiter grouched as she wrung out her wet skirt - she had resented being elected to go after the scepter. 

Mercury just smiled softly as her fellow Scouts became embroiled in a debate about the finer points of tactical thinking in the field.

¤¤¤¤

After transforming back from her Sailor Scout alter ego, Amy walked up the stairs to reach her apartment. 

Reaching into her old-fashioned book bag, Amy took out the key which she went on to unlock the door with. After putting the key back she turned the handle. 

The door held firm. 

Amy furrowed her brow in puzzlement. 

She'd locked the door just now? 

It had been unlocked before she had arrived?

Slightly annoyed, Amy took out the key, unlocked the door and put the key back all over again. 

She must have forgotten to lock it this morning. 

Amy couldn't believe she'd been so careless. 

That was the last time she let Serena come and meet her so they could walk to school together instead of the other way around. It really had to be. 

In the hallway at last, Amy slipped out of her shoes and went up the stairs. 

The door was slightly ajar as she got there and she pushed it open and walked in. 

As she was about to get changed Amy noticed that the red light on her phone indicated that she had a message. 

Pressing the button she shut the door with her other hand. 

And, now that escape was cut off, the trap was sprung. 

The intruder moved quickly, darting from where they had stood hidden behind the open door since Amy entered the bedroom.

Amy's mind lurched as someone landed on her back and bore her to the floor. 

Hands grabbed her by the wrists and held her down before she was able to do anything. 

Amy thought frantically. 

A demon? A being from the Negaverse? 

Her wrists were held so tightly that she could not go for her Transformation Pen that was in her pocket.

One of the hands released hers. That hand clamped over her face and in it her unknown assailant held a damp cloth.

The powerful aroma of chloroform stunned her and her eyes watered. 

The intruder released Amy as her awareness of her situation, the room around her and herself began to fade - the last thing Amy heard before darkness took her was a voice from the answering machine.

"Hey Amy, this is Serena. The girls and I were just wondering if you have time to drop by the...."

Woah! Interesting start to the story, I'm liking it so far. I especially like the detail in the attack plan, this enemy knows how to capture a Sailor Scout.

Now that's an interesting remark! Why should become clear soon enough but, for now, my lips shall remain sealed!

To ensnare a Sailor Scout, preventing her from going for her transformation pen seems like the best way to go. Luckily for the Scout in question, that tactic isn't much use to villains who have no idea of her secret identity until she transforms but the sinister intruder in Amy's apartment clearly knew just who lived there and when she'd be vulnerable. When she's not in superhero mode and thinks she's completely safe from danger.

Funnily enough, none of the bad guys ever seem to think of attacking the girls during their transformation sequences. I always wondered what the deal was with that...

Indeed, I can tell you've put a good deal of thought into this. Can't wait for more.

Then you're in luck because more is on its way and will be here soon!

Chapter Two - Fargo

Sometime later, Amy woke with a start.

She opened her eyes and then regretted it instantly. 

The piercing white light flooding into the room was something her stinging eyes weren't ready for right now.

"Ohhhh..." she moaned, shutting her eyes again. 

"You're awake. Welcome back to the landing of the living, sweetie." a female voice said pleasantly.

Amy's eyes shot open again before she could catch herself and they started to water again. 

"Easy now, easy. Give your eyes some time to adjust before you open them. You can relax. Nobody's going to hurt you." her host laughed quietly. "Unless you want them to." 

"Who...who are you?" Amy muttered, holding her eyes shut. "Where am I?" 

"Sorry and all that but I'm not at liberty to divulge. I'm just the help and can't make that kind of decision. But never mind. You'll know soon enough. Until then, just concentrate on now." 

"What is this? What do you want from me?" 

"For now all I want is your company, Amy. Or should I call you Sailor Mercury?" 

Amy felt dread seeping into her heart like a trickle of ice-water. 

"What...how do you..." she couldn't find the words in her confusion. "Are you from the Negaverse?" she settled for in the end. 

"Negaverse?" her hostess said the word like it was something new. "Ummmm, nope, I can't say the name means anything to me so I'm afraid not. Look, Amy, I'm at a bit of a loose end here. There's nothing to be said until the person I work for joins us. That'll be enough for now. We'll talk again soon, okay?" 

Amy heard a door open and shut and then the turn of a key in a lock. 

Her hostess was gone.

Amy finally opened her tender eyes. 

Her head ached, sending spasms through her body, so she wisely remained seated. 

She was in an upstairs bedroom that was arranged with sumptuous furniture. 

As she lay back weakly in the comfortable armchair, Amy thought about everything and failed to make sense of ANY of it. 

She knew that her captor was female and from her voice roundabout her own age. 

But what reason did she have to do this if she wasn't working for the Negaverse? 

Amy realized she was going to have to bide her time before making any attempt to get out of here. She hadn't yet recovered from the effects of the chloroform so she'd never make the jump to Sailor Mercury without blacking out. 

But when she recovered, nothing would stop her from finding out the answers to her questions.

¤¤¤¤

Meanwhile, somewhere in the underbelly of Tokyo... 

"Can you believe it?" the chisel-jawed, rough featured client of the bar known as the Tokyo Dead-Zone Vortex commented. 

He drew no great response from the rest of the clientele sitting at the smoky bar drowning their sorrows and plotting those of others.

So instead he directed his raucous bellow over the heavy metal blaring on and on to the person in the seat next to him.

The other client didn't react any more than the other boozers had but the drinker who had spoken was not to be deterred.

"The crap they print in these rags. Have you seen this?"

"No." The one sitting next to him spoke for the first time since he'd walked into the club.  "What is it?" he asked in tones, which made it crystal clear he couldn't have cared less.

"This crap." Chisel-jaw waved a battered newspaper in his face.

Now that he had turned around, he saw who he had begun this unprovoked conversation with. A male who looked around fifteen years too young to be in a place like this. He wore a white t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off and faded blue jeans. He had red hair that seemed to pulse like blood in the garish light of the bar-room and the most striking grey eyes as he gazed straight ahead, nursing his drink which was of a great deal more interest to him than this conversation.

The client wondered just how someone this young had been able to get past the bouncer. Not that it was his business. Rather than asking questions he handed the youth the gossip rag for his perusal.

The kid looked at the front page. "Tokyo ESP not to be renewed for second season?" he asked, a touch of feeling finally entering his voice. "Wow, that is so not cool. I've got to write a letter to the network demanding that this terrible wrong be righted." 

"No, below that, buddy." 

The youth looked at the article beneath...

NORTHERN DISTRICT RAVAGED BY MYSTERY BEAST – Urban Legends known as the Sailor Scouts supposedly sighted once more!

The brief report stated that several witnesses claimed to have seen a monster appear in a town square and begin a rampage of destruction - none had been around long enough to see what had become of the beast but the first person who had found the courage to return had babbled about five teenage girls. 

For the first time in a while a grin pricked up on his face. So, the Sailor Scouts were still doing their thing.

That was good to know.

"Interesting," he stated, passing the rag back to the client and rising to leave. "Thank you for the loan of your paper, my good man." 

As he got up from the bar stool, the boy noticed a strikingly good-looking woman sitting at a table on her own. In the blink of an eye he had crossed over to her. "So, what's a good lookin' lady like you doing alone in a place like this?" he asked with a dashing grin. "What about you and me go out for a snack tonight?"

"What about you sliding across the floor?" growled a large, hulking, cue-ball of a man, who had come up behind him and heard what he had said.

The youth turned and looked him up and down carefully - from the build he'd say that the man was five times his size. From the attitude he'd say that he was the woman's boyfriend.

"I...don’t think I'd like that very much." he said after careful thought. 

"Then buzz off, little fly! You're irritating the lady!"

The youth took the hint and turned for the door - however as he went he swept the bar-room with a wide glance and grinned. The Tokyo Dead-Zone Vortex! He thought with pleasure. My kinda place!

At the last second the man who had shown him the newspaper called after him. "Just a sec, sonny. What's your name anyway?"

The youth called over his shoulder as he strode out of Tokyo Dead-Zone. 

"Fargo."