Crystal Tokyo, a city of peace and prosperity. It is the height of civilization and humanity, where its citizens live for a thousand years. Daily, humanity gives thanks for Neo Queen Serenity for her incredible gift to the world.

The sun sets in the sky, though Crystal Tokyo has nothing to fear. For the sky shines more beautifully at light by the light of the pure moon.

Inside the Crystal Palace, in the magnificent throne room, Neo Queen Serenity is going over plans for the Festival of the Summer Solstice, an event thrown once a year to celebrate the kingdom's triumph over the longest day of the year and the cycle of the sun. The power of the Silver Crystal has guaranteed harvests year round, so humanity no longer has to fear the death of winter.

Perhaps Neo Queen Serenity is joined by her husband, King Endymion, brave and true. Her sailor senshi are likely standing guard nearby and it wouldn't be hard to assume that other senshi have tasks at hand or are walking the palace at the time.

Indeed, Shadow too was on guard. Originally a knight for the Dark Kingdom, he was shown mercy and through his heroic deeds he was asked to serve Neo Queen Serenity and Crystal Tokyo. In spite of his dark history, he is now a trusted ally and friend.

In the silence of the grand throne room, Shadow's black jacket flew up and he let out a loud, sharp fart. A smug smile was stuck on his face.

Sailor Jupiter stood nearby Neo Queen Serenity's throne, taking her usual position as part of her protective force. The castle was fairly safe from outside threats, but it never hurt to be sure. Despite her neutral expression, sh was very excited about the upcoming festival being planned. The last Summer Solstice had been a grand event, filled with games and good food and all kinds of entertainment from far off places. She couldn't wait to start working on the menu...

Her wandering thoughts were interrupted by a loud sound that pierced the throne room's atmosphere, and it took a few moments to realize what had just happened. Did Shadow really just do that? Her fists clenched slightly in annoyance, but she controlled her temper. No reason to make an even bigger scene. Instead, Jupiter caught Shadow's eye and sent him a glare. He could at least apologize for his actions!

Neo Queen Serenity sighed quietly, gazing out at the increasingly long line of planners and royal organizers that were waiting to hear her demands for the upcoming festival. After choosing the colors for the festival flowers, the queen of Crystal Tokyo went on to choose the sketch for the gown she would wear to the celebration. The line seemed never-ending, and Serenity was getting more and more tired with each new planner that approached her. She glanced over at her husband, smiling slightly at him before continuing to choose the amount of layers for the signature festival cake.

As the baker turned and left, the regal queen heard a strange, foreign sound break the polite silence of her throne room. Everyone seemed to pause, searching for the culprit. Serenity turned her head, spotting Sailor Jupiter glaring at Shadow, a knight that the queen had recently accepted into her guardian court. Serenity knew she should have felt annoyed at the act she was sure was one of disturbing flatulence, but instead of shooting her famous cold stare at her new knight, Serenity smiled and giggled. It was strange, but Shadow's action seemed like the comic relief in a day filled with endless planning and stress. 

"Sir Shadow, would you like to excuse yourself for just a moment?" Serenity said knowingly, a smug smile appearing on her face. Shadow had been a wonderful addition to her team, and she couldn't help but appreciate him, in both good moments and bad. What could she say? There was still some "Usagi" inside of her that enjoyed those moments of comedic immaturity.

Shadow turned and adjusted his jacket. His deep eyes seemed odd. In fact, it looked like they belonged to someone else, someone more reptilian.

"Excuse myself?" the knight asked with a devious smile. "Why? Because I broke wind? Because I farted in the throne room? If I have to excuse myself, you might as well not come in here ever again, my Queen, because your appearance is much worse than my stench."

He laughed with a deep, booming tone. He was cackling so hard that he fell back against the wall. He paused and realized that he said something very, very profane.

"Uh... I mean, I'll excuse myself now..."

The knight began to shuffle his feet furiously, as though he were a penguin, in attempt to "sneakily" make his way out of the front entrance of the throne room.

Jupiter's eyes widened at Shadow's words, shocked and appalled that he would ever say that to the Queen. As he laughed about it, she was more and more infuriated. Just who did he think he was, insulting Serenity? And now he was trying to get away? Jupiter practically stomped over to intercept Shadow, grabbing him on the arm and turning him around.

"You aren't getting off that easily!" she said, staring him down. It was a miracle she hadn't shocked him yet, but she was considering it...

Soul paused as she walked down the hallway in her search for Knight Ganymede. She could see Shadow and Jupiter arguing about something, but hesitated to get involved. The Queen had asked her to find Ganymede immediately, needing his answer on something or another. She hoped that they weren't arguing over something serious. It seemed odd that they would be arguing though. She remembered Shadow when she was younger, he seemed level headed and not one to start or get into a verbal disagreement. 

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you!" she called out, walking into the hall.

Ganymede Knight


"I think either orange or yellow would be the best scheme to go with. We can get those colors, right?" Ganymede said, talking to the rest of the decoration committee members gathered in the hall. He was wearing his full battle armor, with only his helmet off, leaving his blonde braid of hair to dangle behind him. He turned when he heard Sailor Soul behind him. 

"Oh, hey!" Ganymede smiled at the sight of his partner. He walked to meet her, leaving the rest of the committee to continue the discussion. "Looking for me for what?" he asked.

"The Queen wants to see you, probably for the final decision for decorating?" She asked. This was not a side of him she got to see very often and she took every opportunity to do it. There was something about decorating, probably the more artistic sides of it, that just made him so happy. 

"So what are the colour choices? Orange or yellow?" Each colour was good, but on their own, it may be overwhelming. "Why don't you use both? Yellow is a good accent colour to orange, is it not?"

Queen Serenity's smile slowly faded as she listened to Shadow's words. She had no response, for she was too shocked to say anything. She felt like her chest was constricting, but she forced back tears.

She was never one to handle criticism.

Feigning confidence, Serenity turned her head forward, focusing on maintaining a calm, stoic appearance. "Perhaps you shall," she said coldly. Her voice wavered just a smidgen, but she did have to give herself a mental pat on the back for not crying.

She watched out of the corner of her eye as Shadow left the room, pursued by Sailor Jupiter. The queen couldn't help but smile to herself at this. Her senshi were always there for her, and knowing that she had them made Serenity instantly feel better.

"Don't touch me, moon freak!" Shadow shouted, swiping his arm out toward Jupiter. Suddenly she'd witness a barrage of insects flying at her. They were beetles and scorpions that dwelt in the water. Water skimmers and various other tiny creatures threatened to crawl all over her skin. Once she got over her fear, she would realize that the bugs weren't any real and could be swiped away. They would fade into smoke if touched.

He screamed like a little girl and sprinted toward the door. He actually fell onto the ground and landed straight on his face. He squeaked and began to crawl desperately away.

The narrator might not be an expert on things related to Shadow, but it seems like something was amiss.

"Who are you calling a moon freak?" Jupiter gasped and let go of him to back away from the cloud of insects. She may not have been deathly afraid, but bugs still creeped her out even after a thousand years. Too angry to be stopped by them for very long, she took a frustrated swing at the swarm.... and her arm went right through it. They were fake. With that revelation, she charged after Shadow.  

"Get back here, you coward!" Jupiter yelled, catching up with him. In the back of her mind, she was starting to suspect that it wasn't Shadow at all. Since when did he use illusions like that? But she was too pissed to give the theory too much thought. "Now apologize or else..." Jupiter said, cracking her knuckles as she loomed over him.

---

 Ganymede Knight

"Yellow and orange together? Hm... That's a pretty good idea, actually. Why weren't you on the committee?" Ganymede asked with a grin. "This whole thing would have gone a lot faster! Now that that's settled, I'll go to the thro"- He was cut off when he heard someone yelling down the halls. "Was that a scream?" Ganymede turned serious. "We should look into that."

"Because I have like zero patience for that kind of thing, how have you not figured that out by now?" she teased, gently tugging his braid. She pulled back slightly when she heard the yelling coming from the hall she had just come from. 

"You're right, that doesn't sound good, we should go check that out. Eternal Soul Power, Make Up!" she called out, clutching her transformation pendant. They jogged quickly to where they heard the commotion coming from. What in the world? She watched as Sailor Jupiter swung through bugs only to watch as she hit nothing. It looked like an...illusion? But Shadow wasn't capable of illusion...was he?

Suddenly things took a very dramatic turn. Startled by Shadow's outburst and the swarm of bugs that appeared in the throne room, Neo Queen Serenity stood and covered her mouth with her hand. What was wrong with Shadow? Why was he treating everyone with such disrespect?

Whatever was on the knight's mind, it clearly needed to be sorted out. And where had all of these insects come from?

Serenity had always hated bugs...and the sight of so many swarming Jupiter made her shudder. It took the queen a few moments to realize that as Jupiter swatted, the bugs would fade and disappear again. An illusion...? But...how? As far as Serenity was concerned, Shadow had no illusionary capabilities. She exchanged glances with Endymion, her face one of concern. What was going on with their new knight?

Sailor Jupiter would find that if she tried to pin "Shadow" down, her hand would go right through him. Alas, he was an illusion, just like the bugs that had been produced from his hand, and he disappeared in the smoke.

Footsteps could be heard from the ceiling of the throne room. Somehow, Shadow had managed to get onto the top of the room. He stood upside down and peered down at the people below with reptilian eyes. Was this another illusion or was he the real thing?

He tilted his head and frowned at the sight of the new senshi on the scene and the knight with her.

"Sailor Soul is here," he said to himself coldly. "She looks different than I was told. And is that... Ganymede Knight? I'm not sure. Nevertheless, the mission can be put off for now. I must obtain the Princess's happiness. Kill Sailor Soul, then Ganymede Knight. Then I will humiliate the New Queen Selena further for the glory of our planet."

He held out his hand toward Sailor Soul.

"Sea Dragon's Fury!"

A torrent of water spun out toward Sailor Soul. It was intense with greater speed and force than that of a fire hose. It wouldn't outright kill her, but if it struck it could leave her vulnerable.

As Jupiter went to grab Shadow again, her fingers slipped though him entirely. "Another illusion?" She looked up to see Shadow on the ceiling. "What the"-? That didn't look like Shadow at all now, with those inhuman eyes...

Just as Shadow attacked Amina, Ganymede Knight finally caught up with the group. Without wasting any time, he slid in front of the Sea Dragon's Fury, spreading his wings to protect her from as much of it as possible with his back. Ganymede stumbled and fell to one knee. 

"You okay?" he asked her. Relieved that Soul was protected, Jupiter tuned to their new enemy, extending her tiara antenna in preparation for an attack. 

"I'm getting really tired of your games..." she said. "You're not killing anyone here, you understand?"

Sensing an attack coming too late, Soul turned to face it, trying t get a glimpse of who sent it before she was hit. As she braced for the attack, Ganymede stepped in the way, taking the attack for her. "Ganymede!" She cried out as he went down on one knee. She rushed over to make sure he was alright. 

"Once of these days you're going to have to let me take an attack on my own," she said, smiling. "Are you alright?" His armour should have been able to take most of the blow, leaving some probably nasty bruises behind.

The queen was relieved that Sailor Soul and Ganymede had joined them - perhaps they could help with this...strange occurrence. It was clear Shadow was not himself, if he was Shadow to begin with. The queen's hopes crashed to the ground when "Shadow" attacked Sailor Soul, causing Ganymede to take the blow. 

Serenity was suddenly filled with agitation. First he insults her, then he attacks her senshi? This had gone far enough. 

"Enough!" Queen Serenity shouted, her loud voice bouncing off of the throne room's crystal walls. She was standing now, eyes burning in Shadow's direction. Pointing an accusatory finger at her "knight", Serenity spoke again:

"I don't know who you think you are, Shadow, but this behavior is unacceptable! I demand to know your reasoning behind this behavior. You have one chance to explain yourself."

Neo Queen Serenity's expression and tone of voice proved that she certainly meant business, and she would not be gentle in her punishment if Shadow were to lie or try to escape. No one attacked her senshi - no one.

"So it is Ganymede Knight," Shadow muttered to himself when Sailor Soul cried out to her companion.

The shadow of a knight smiled a very dark smile. Neo Queen Serenity might have seen a similar smile in her former enemies like Dr. Tomoe. How could such an evil have infiltrated her kingdom without her sensing it? Something wasn't right.

"I suppose there's no point in hiding it anymore," he said. "I've messed up enough already. I don't have to listen to you, New Queen Selena. I was never your soldier and neither was the one I serve. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to finish. Pray you don't get caught in the mess."

At this moment, the senshi and their queen would feel water rising by their feet. Indeed, the water was rising all about the room. It was almost like a cube of water, ending where doorways began. But if the victims tried to leave the room after the doorways had been covered with water, they would find a barrier had blocked the doorway.

They had a few options at hand. They could use their powers to come up with a solution to blast away the barriers or get rid of the water. They could also attack Shadow directly, who did a little tap dance as he walked around on the ceiling.                                                                                   

By this time, the water will have risen up to1/4 of the room's area.

Ganymede strained and stood up to his full height again, and grinned. H ewas only a little worse for later, but his back would be killing him later. 

"Well, I have to put this armor to good use somehow..." he said to Soul. After the imposter revealed himself, the room started to fill with water. "He trapped us in here!" Ganymede said, punching the barrier to test it out. it wasn't budging. The water was already past his knees, so Ganymede spread his wings and lifted off the ground, trying to stay above the water line. Sailor Jupiter stopped her attack mid charge, realizing that using an electrical strike in a room of water would hurt everyone. Instead, she switched her strategy. The Queen was in danger here, and their first priority should be to get her out.

"We need to break out of here before we drown. Let's attack the exits and see if we can break through!" Jupiter turned to the barrier. "Flower Hurricane!" A storm of razor sharp rose petals slammed into it at her command.

Soul watched as Ganymede and Jupiter attempted to break out the force field that they were trapped in failed. The water kept rising rapidly, already up to to her thighs. This wasn't going to work she realized. There was no way they'd break the barrier in time. Throwing open her mental awareness, she reach out for any spirit that would help her. 

Please help me save my friends she pleaded. She felt a power, one that she recognized, fill her. This was perfect! She concentrated on the Queen and Jupiter first, knowing that she had to get the Queen out from this situation first and have someone there to protect her. Holding her hand out in the direction of the two she wanted, she closed her eyes an envisioned them safely outside the barrier. When she opened them again, she found the two safely outside the force field. Good, that worked as well as she wanted, but there was only one problem. She didn't have enough to get herself and Ganymede out. She had enough power left for one more transportation. 

"Forgive me Yuuta," she said softly, holding her hand out towards her lover as she concentrated once more, teleporting Ganymede outside of the barrier. Once he was safe, she collapsed onto her knees, bringing the water up to her chest. 

If she was going to die here, at least she could die knowing they were safe.

The Flower Hurricane crashed against the blocked door, but they couldn't break through. And the water was still rising... Just as Jupiter was about to try another attack on the barrier, she was suddenly outside the room. A second later, the Queen appeared next to her. But who moved them?

"Wait, how did we get here?" Ganymede and Soul were still inside! Ganymede appeared beside them after a few more seconds, looking just as confused as them. He seemed to realize what had happened quicker than they did though.

"She teleported us!" he said, glaring at the door. But why hadn't she come with them? "We have to get in there and save her!" he yelled. He pulled his ax out, gearing up to take a swing at the barrier.

Neo Queen Serenity was still trying to process what "Shadow" had said when water began to rise, seemingly coming from no where. Her blue eyes widened in shock as her soldiers began to try and find a way out. There would definitely be no time to break the barrier, and even if it did break, all of the water would spill out into the halls of the palace.

Before the queen could really do anything, Soul had used her powers to transport everyone out of the barrier. Seeing that the brave senshi was the only one left in the barrier, Queen Serenity took immediate action. She would not allow anyone to die - not today, not ever.

Angry now, Queen Serenity looked up at the ceiling where Shadow was currently prancing around like a lunatic. His obvious glee was aggravating to the queen, whose senshi's life was in jeopardy. Her hands began to glow, reflecting the determined light in her eyes. Channeling the power of her Silver Crystal, Serenity began to blast beams of light at the trouble-making knight, not caring if she bore holes in the ceiling in the process. As she had learned in the past, if you stop the cause, you stop the effect.

She was careful to limit her power just enough so that it would cause damage that was not lethal. Time was running out for Soul, and the queen was not about to give up.

Queen Serenity's marks hit her target perfectly. One even went right through his head. But sure enough, Shadow merely turned around to face her and gave an incredibly ugly smile. Despite her clear and best efforts, Shadow wasn't phased at all. He disappeared in a straight blip.

Meanwhile, as the water began to rise around Soul, she would feel a force pull her in. It was none other than Shadow. As it turned out, the clone was on the floor the entire time, cloaking itself in an invisible illusion. It seemed he had been hiding on the floor the entire time! The pull was gentle though, almost loving.

Soul would hear Shadow's voice speaking to her clearly as he held her down in the water rising around them. It seemed that for whatever reason, the water didn't affect Shadow at all. In fact, he seemed to be stronger in it, able to hold onto a sailor senshi of all people.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't want to kill anybody, but it's what my master wants. She gets so scared, you know? You're very, very scary to her. So just go to sleep."

It was almost like he was a kid wishing someone a good night's rest. This definitely wasn't Shadow, but who was it?

The water rose to fill half of the room's capacity. Guards and other servants flailed about in the rising flood.

When Ganymede swung at the barrier, he would find that it actually cracked! A few more swings and it might break apart! It was weakening!

Ganymede Knight

Ganymede continued to strike at the barrier, even as Queen Serenity shot at the Shadow impostor with her Silver Crystal. After seeing that he was finally getting somewhere with the barrier, he held his ax above his head and swung once more with the blade, putting everything he had into it.

Soul struggled to stay conscious as the water rose around her. It quickly made it's way to her head, forcing her to stand, in an attempt to delay the inevitable a little longer. She knew she didn't have the energy to stand for long. Soon, the water was high enough that she was treading water. She looked around and saw Ganymede on the other side of the barrier, about to bring his axe down in an attempt to break it. Just go, get out of here, she pleaded in her mind. 

Unable to keep treading water for long, Soul kept slipping under the water, only to force herself to the surface once more sputtering water. The water is almost at the top of the barrier, it won't matter much longer if I go under, there won't be anywhere for me to get oxygen soon anyway. 

"Ganymede, back away." The knight turned around to see that Jupiter had started to build up electricity. He quickly took a few steps away ans she crossed her arms in a familiar pose. 

"Supreme Thunder Dragon!" A blast of lightning arced off her tiara, growing and shifting into a large dragon's shape. It reared in the air with a roar and crashed headfirst into the barrier.

Frustrated, the queen decided that she didn't care if her palace was flooded or even burned to the ground. She wanted to solve this mystery and get Sailor Soul out of danger. 

With a flourish of her hand, Serenity timed her attack to strike the barrier at the exact same moment as Sailor Jupiter's dragon. A beam of white light shot out from her hand, striking the barrier precisely where she wanted it. She was done. Mercy would not be given easily this time around. Whoever was behind all of this would be answering to her.

And her husband.

"I have to show her that Crystal Tokyo isn't anything to fear," the Shadow imposter continued as he spoke to Sailor Soul. "You understand, right? Wait... what's happening..."

The barrier cracked under the force of Ganymede Knight's and Sailor Jupiter's combined attack and exploded out toward them in what looked like a dangerous but actually harmless fashion. Fortunately for the group, Neo Queen Serenity decided to also use her magic to dispel the barrier. Oddly enough, the water inside of the barrier did not burst forth, but right as the beam of light struck the water, most of it evaporated, leaving Sailor Soul out in the open. Did Neo Queen Serenity's magic have a direct effect on Shadow's techniques?

"New Queen Selena," the Shadow imposter growled with hate in his eyes.

There was still a good amount of water on the floor, but it was nothing hard to wade through. The Shadow imposter immediately disappeared. At that moment, a set of invisible people took off from where he was. One set off in the direction of the exit and continue to dash, splashing in the water. The other went the other way from Soul, but stopped only a yard or two away.

Two steps went two different directions. Would they target one or go for both?

Ganymede Knight

As soon as the barrier had collapsed, Ganymede was rushing in. He splashed through the much lower water to get to Soul, dropping onto his knees to hold up her head.

"Soul, are you okay?" Was she even breathing? He couldn't tell.



Jupiter came in after him, just in time to see the Shadow creature turn invisible and appear to split in half. For now, she didn't know which one to chase. If she followed the one that left the room, that left the Queen and Soul unguarded here...

"He split up somehow!" she said. "One of him's still in here though, be careful..."

Sooner than she would have liked the water reached the top of the barrier. Soul took her last deep breath of air, trying to hold it as long as she could as her conscious slowly began to slip away. She watched in dismay as Ganymede brought his axe down on the barrier, only to have it not break. Accepting her fate, Soul allowed herself to sink to the bottom, with a little help from Shadow, embracing the unconsciousness. When the barrier finally broke, her body, which was not breathing on its own, as water had filled her lungs, hit the floor gently as the water dispersed.