Far away in the Dark Kingdom....

Queen Beryl was sitting on her throne, thinking of ways to defeat her long time enemies: Sailor Moon and her Sailor Scouts. Then a man walked into the throne room and bowed before the Queen. "It has been finished your highness..May I present..Dark Mercury!" Beryl looked on waiting on her newest ally.

Then a young woman walked in..she had a Senshi's fuku on but it was Dark Blue and white not to be confused with Sailor Mercury of the good guys. The girl walked past the man who came in and was now leaving and knelt in front of Queen Beryl. "My queen..I am Dark Mercury and I am here to be by your side in the fight again those girls called Sailor Scouts and the main one Sailor Moon." A evil grin came across Beryls face and she told her, "Stand up Dark Mercury..from this day forth we shall cause pain and suffering in their lives and the lives of all they care about!" Dark Mercury bowed and turned to leave and go to the city to see what havoc she could cause. 

Dark Mercury ended up in a warehouse and started to walk out and into the city...

From near the doors of the darkened warehouse, an additional pair of footsteps echoed from behind Dark Mercury. A man was there, his face and clothing partially concealed by the tenebrous gloom. Given the circumstances of her own arrival, it was safe enough to assume he had only arrived a few scant moments ago. From behind the veil of darkness, his appearance was easy on the eyes - perhaps even attractive. However, his reputation was quite the opposite.

This was Jasper, an agent of the Dark Kingdom who was most often seen working under the auspices of the Shitennou. From the shelter of the poorly lit warehouse, he spoke up to get the woman's attention. Though there was a slight air of diplomacy, Jasper's tone of voice was markedly plain and direct.

"The queen has set a difficult task at your feet, Dark Mercury. Would you care to tell me anything about your plans?"

Dark Mercury was about to head out to the city when a voice called out to her stopping her in her tracks. She turned around and looked at the man speaking to her, "My plans? Simple...my plans are to take out the senshi one by one until I can get my hands on Sailor moon and destroy her once and for all so that Queen Beryl may rule over this area. First though..Are you the one who has been lurking in the Dark Kingdom''s shadows of late? Are you the one who I've been sensing?? Answer me unless you wish to meet the same fate as the enemies of Queen Beryl!"

Jasper held back a smirk as the dark senshi delivered an open threat to his being. Rather than be intimidated, he would simply watch and learn from her posturing. He stepped forward into the light with little hesitation, presenting himself to Dark Mercury as if to answer her verbal challenge.

The young man's uniform was patterned after the Shitennou's style, only much darker in color; it served as both a marker of his apprenticeship and a reflection of personality. "I'll overlook that last statement for now. My name is Jasper, and until recently, I was also the head of our queen's pest control division."

Dark Mercury looked at him, seeing him better now and seeing the uniform he wore as he spoke. "Jasper...I see so are you here to help me? I usually don't need help but if you have been sent by our Queen then I will work with you. I don't plan on doing too much to start off with on our pest problem..its not fun to end everything early you know.. making the suffering last longer is more fun wouldn't you say?"

Jasper took a slow and deep breath, letting his vision wander away from Dark Mercury long enough to take in their surroundings. His success in Queen Beryl's regime (and, coincidentally, his survival) was attributed to the awareness he displayed in his immediate environment. It also helped that he knew how to sell nickels for dollars.

Jasper's eyes soon settled back on the dark beauty, offering her an impassive gaze. "I am here to support you indirectly. If you need specific items or property, I can find them. Think of me as a stagehand on your show."

When her cram school was done for the day, Ami Mizuno headed away from it.  But instead of walking home or to the library to study, Ami was walking to the Crown Arcade.  She did this exception to her routine because when Usagi had met her at lunchtime (at her regular school), Usagi had told her about this new game at the Crown Arcade, and urged Ami to meet her there after school was over for the day so they could each try it out.  And Ami had agreed, since she saw it as another way to show how friendly she was.

When Ami reached the arcade, she opened the automatic front doors, then went inside and looked for any of her friends who might already be there.

Makoto was waiting at the arcade. She got there a little early, she wanted to try to beat her high score. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the blue haired girl walk through the door. "Ami-chan!" She waved. "I just beat my previous high score... by one point!" Makoto laughed a bit, at least she'd beaten it. "Do you wanna try to beat my score?" Makoto figured she'd at least have some competitve fun, since she knew Ami was pretty good at video games.

Minako was heading to the Crown Arcade, she figured she'd run into Usagi there, and hopefully the others. When she got there she saw Ami and Makoto. She walked up to them cautiously. She wasn't sure how to feel about these girls yet. She was close to Rei, but she was still unsure about the others. Usagi seemed like a nice girl too, it's just she didn't really know these girls yet for the most part. Finally she got up the nerve to say, "Hello." She hoped that she wouldn't feel this strange forever, these girls seemed nice and friendly, she was just not the most comfortable around new people. She was used to being alone for the most part and now that she was making friends, it just felt strange.

Dark Mercury looked at Jasper and actually smiled. 'Stagehand huh' She thought. "Ok Jasper....maybe you could get me some kind of sword..preferably a blue one. I have my Dark sword that I carry but maybe You can find something better? Ohh and also get me the owner of someplace..like a business or an arcade you know where young girls go sometimes."

Getting an opportunity to leverage his skills in mercantilism was one of the few things that could make Jasper happy. Producing a small notebook and pen from his pocket, the Dark Kingdom janitor dutifully recorded the descriptions of the items that the sinister senshi had asked him to gather.

"The sword won't be a problem; this nation seems to ignore personal weapons that aren't firearms. As for your second request, I'll need some time to locate an appropriate subject."

Jasper closed his tiny notebook in one hand, meeting Mercury's gaze with confidence. "When will you be expecting your delivery?"

Dark Mercury liked this Jasper person and how he went about things. She thought for a moment before answering his questions. "Hmm well..one would hope soon but I think that you need to get this right on the first try..so take your time Jasper. This will give me a chance to figure out what I wanna do but I would first need that second object..." She then turned to look out one of the warehouse windows into the outside world, "This should be easy for us to take over this pathetic little area...we will have so much fun Jasper..you won't believe it." she said then let out an evil laugh.

Banner by Sailor Mercury

When she entered the Crown Arcade, Ami saw Makoto right away.  After hearing what Makoto said, Ami chuckled "By one point, huh?  That sounds like a big achievement."  When Makoto asked if Ami wanted to try to beat her score, the blue-haired girl replied with her typical modesty "Well, you know me - I'm not very competitive.  But I can certainly see what I can do on this game."

Ami waited for Makoto to get up from the seat for that video game.  While she waited for that, she heard a rather meek "Hello," from behind her.  Quickly turning to see who it was, Ami saw Minako standing there.  Being the friendly girl she liked to be, Ami cheerfully replied "Hello, Minako-san.  I hope you're doing well."

She had watched as Ami and Makoto were speaking. She saw Makoto playing a video game and then Minako listened as Ami spoke to her. "I am doing well, thank you." Minako said, "What video game are you two playing?" She asked politely. She was actually curious, but she also was trying to make conversation. These girls were people she'd continually be working with and it seemed that friendship was the best way to work with them. Usagi's friendship with the others made it seem so easy for them to fight alongside each other and that's something that Minako knew was important. It was all just a matter of how to become friends with these girls, she didn't have many friends and she was a little scared.

"I would agree," Jasper stated plainly as he allowed Dark Mercury to revel in her moment of sadistic glee. Though he didn't share the same enthusiasm for inflicting indiscriminate pain and suffering, Jasper felt no pity or remorse in making financial gains from the oversights of foolish humans. "It's very easy to take advantage of those who are lazy, incompetent, or complacent. There is a very simple reason I can get the things I want; I am willing to apply myself to every new challenge."

Privately, Jasper wondered if fate had placed him on a collision course with the sailor senshi. While Jasper was not afraid of those prospects, he was also several steps short of volunteering himself to engage them in a direct manner.

Why would he need to volunteer, anyway? Queen Beryl had called upon him to obliterate an entire species of slimy, belly-crawling, thought-eating vermin. If she or the Shitennou felt it was necessary for Jasper to get directly involved, then they would have already put him to work.

"One more thing before I go. How shall I contact you once I've fulfulled your orders?"

Dark Mercury grinned at his words about taking advantage of people. Then he asked her about how he should contact her later. "I believe that we can meet here...I can use this sad dump as a small base of sorts I guess. I will be around for a good while...but I might go observe the locals and see what energy that have to offer."

"I'll check in later this evening," Jasper stated as he looked out of the warehouse. It would be entertaining to see what kind of plan Dark Mercury was hatching for the sailor senshi. The business owner would serve as bait, but in what capacity? She had not chosen to inform him of any specific details, but asking for them would have spoiled the fun of guessing the dark senshi's intentions.

Raising his hand upward, Jasper briefly waved to Dark Mercury as he walked out of the warehouse and towards the sunlight. Before the retainer's uniform could be fully illuminated, he vanished into the ether.

Dark Mercury then decided to go out as well, but first she stopped to think for a moment, 'I might need a disguise or something to keep from getting noticed...WAIT..wasn't their some thing in this area as cosplaying or something...If anyone asks I'll say I'm a Senshi that I made up myself...hehe thats perfect..'

She then walked out into the town and found herself in a shopping area of some sort...she was looking at all the humans and trying to decide where she would start her fun...

As usual, Usagi was late to meet her friends at the arcade. Miss Haruna had made her stay after class to pick up all of the trash on the floor as punishment for being late...again. But it was alright - now she was free to spend the rest of her afternoon with her friends.

Smiling broadly, Usagi bounced into the arcade and met Ami, Minako, and Makoto. "Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to get here- Minako, I didn't know you would be joining us! But I'm glad you're here, it wouldn't be the same if you weren't! What are we doing today? I heard there was this great new ice cream place that opened down the street."

Ami, Usagi, Minako, and Makoto had gone to a nearby park to continue to find out about each other and talk in the park’s more relaxing, less distracting environment than the Crown arcade.  Suddenly, they heard a scream from across the large park.  Quickly realizing that looking into whatever that came from almost certainly was more important than what they were discussing, Ami interrupted their conversation by exclaiming “Sounds like that needs investigating!  So excuse me!”  She then ran off towards where that scream had come from while also looking for a good hidden place to transform.

Meanwhile in the park, Dark Mercury was pacing back and forth waiting for something to happen. She didn't have Jasper kidnap that girl for no reason. Speaking of said girl who was tied to a tree, "I hope you scream louder young one..those Sailor Girls should come soon and I shall get rid of them for Queen Beryl and the glorious Dark Kingdom!" She was ready for them...

A male figure slowly emerged from the cool shade of the tree, revealing his presence to the girl that he had abducted an hour ago. "You should listen to her," spoke the dark soldier's assistant. He had chosen to lurk within the tree's shadow, only recently ungagging their hostage so that she could make a racket and serve her purpose as bait.

The impending confrontation between Dark Mercury and the sailor senshi promised to be quite entertaining, and Jasper had a front row ticket to the spectacle. He couldn't help but smile, displaying an eager anticipation in spite of the young lady's terror.

"If she has to give you another reason to scream, it won't be pretty."

mercuryfan wrote:

Ami, Usagi, Minako, and Makoto had gone to a nearby park to continue to find out about each other and talk in the park’s more relaxing, less distracting environment than the Crown arcade.  Suddenly, they heard a scream from across the large park.  Quickly realizing that looking into whatever that came from almost certainly was more important than what they were discussing, Ami interrupted their conversation by exclaiming “Sounds like that needs investigating!  So excuse me!”  She then ran off towards where that scream had come from while also looking for a good hidden place to transform.

After finding a place in the park hidden by trees & bushes that was a good place to transform, Sailor Mercury continued to the source of the scream.  Upon bursting onto the scene of one man and one young woman near a teenage girl tied to a tree, Mercury quickly looked it over and quickly realized she recognized the girl tied to the tree!  So she then exclaimed to her "Unazuki-chan!  What are they doing to you?!?", followed by exclaiming to the man and young woman there "A park like this is a nice calm place to relax or enjoy the beauty of nature!  It's not for disturbing people like this!  So douse yourself in water and repent!  I am Sailor Mercury, and in the name of planet Mercury, I will punish you!"  Finally, Mercury noticed that the young 'woman' looked kind of like a sailor senshi.  So Mercury stared daggers at her while keeping the man in her sight and exclaimed "Who are you?!?"

Dark Mercury looked back at the girl who dared come and tell them off. "Who am I..I SHOULD be saying who are you...how dare you try to copy me and call yourself a different name. I will only tell you this once..I am Dark Mercury...the ONE and only Mercury around here...so..I will give you to the count of 4 to leave us be...or you will not survive this encounter" She turned to Jasper, "Go find that sword i wanted..I can take care of miss copycat..." She then looked back at Mercury, "1.."

Jasper leaned his right shoulder against the tree, catching a hint of Unazuki's fearful facade while he kept his attention towards Sailor Mercury. He briefly considered responding to the impudent senshi, opening his mouth to speak. Before he could utter a syllable, Dark Mercury answered her lighter half's challenge with a threat.

The Dark Kingdom man kept smiling, heedless of his hostage's harriment. Upon receiving the darker Mercury's request, Jasper calmly reached behind the tree, retrieving a concealed box covered in twine and brown wrapping paper. It was long and narrow, appropriately sized for holding a sword.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to fight unless she has the ill sense to attack me."

Dark Mercury watched The other girl who dare call herself Mercury as well and then decided to leave. "Come Jasper...we shall return again another time..." She took the sword out of the box and sliced the ties keeping the girl there.she was free to go. Dark Mercury then turned to Jasper and motioned for them to walk off..