"Trust you?" Chartreuse asked. "Now why would I ever do that? I busted into your palace, do you expect me to think I'll live through this without severe punishment? You are very funny, Serenity."

Leviathan's face went bright red when she was passed to Sailor Jupiter. She nervously looked away and her eyes widened when she remembered the seriousness of the situation.

"Enoch, you idiot! Why'd you have to get caught up in this mess?" she shouted almost spitefully.

Sailor Soul at this point would notice something odd about Enoch. Up until now, nothing seemed odd about his spirit, but now it seemed to grow stronger in desperation and despair. It was fighting to break free of the chaos, but to no avail. Enoch was no sailor senshi and nothing he could do now would stop the fragment of Chaos.

But his efforts to break free revealed a little of what their enemy was all about. Soul would be able to sense that whatever this Chartreuse thing was, it was only part of a larger whole. Neo Queen Serenity's attack would purify it, but it would also wipe it from existence.

"Well, if you are going to purify me, I might as well leave my mark," Chartreuse said with a low laugh.

A transformation came over Enoch. The likeness of Shadow was gone, replaced with a rather odd looking person. He appeared to jump straight out of this sea, with long green hair reminiscent of seaweed. A tube of water circled around his neck, providing a constant source of oxygen for the gills on his neck.

Chartreuse slithered further out of Enoch's mouth and began to solidify. It then pounded the tube until it began to crack. If the entity was left to continue its work, Enoch would choke there, trapped in the metal.

"Stop!" Leviathan pleaded. "He can't breath in air!"

Soul blushed as Neo Queen Serenity shushed her. She decided to listen, and watch. She had enough magic for one Soul Reaper if that's what it came down to. It was risky using Soul Reaper when she was feeling drained already, but what other choice did she have?  Closing her eyes, she opened her mental shields, trying to notice anything out of the ordinary. 

What in the world? She hadn't noticed anything about Enoch's spirit before, but it seemed as if it was growing larger. How was that even possible? Was it possible that his spirit was trying to fight chaos? Could someone who didn't have a senshi crystal do that? His struggles revealed a bit of Chartreuse for her. He seemed like a small part of something bigger.

When the creature tried to leave leave Enoch and Leviathan became upset, screaming that he couldn't breathe in air. That's right, I've seen Leviathan's gills before. I guess her people cannot survive on air and the only thing keeping him alive right now is Chartreuse. But how do we stop him?

If there was a single word to define Jasper's afternoon, it was running. He was running late, and now running into the Crystal Palace. While he could explain that customs officials took objection to his appearance, it was ultimately an excuse. He would have to find some way to make up for his tardiness, preferably with something other than words and promises.

With little fanfare, Shadow arrived at the throne room just in time to witness a spectacle involving several familiar faces and one (or two?) that he failed to recognize.

Okay, brain, time to get to work. What is Leviathan doing here? She's crying for help.

Shadow's eyes tracked towards the source of her concern. A water tube served as a sort of breathing apparatus for her friend, assuming his deductive reasoning was holding any water. It was being attacked by some hostile spirit, and if it broke, Leviathan's gill-bearing associate would be in mortal danger.

An idea came to Shadow's mind, one unorthodox and seemingly foolish. But if the spirit didn't realize his intent, then he had a very real chance at success. Taking a moment to gather his breath and recompose himself, the retainer put forward a smooth smile and addressed the throne room with a calm voice. 

"Sorry that I'm late, everyone. However, I won't let the sanctity of the queen's throne be tarnished by murder." Without skipping a beat, Shadow then approached Enoch and Chartreuse with a purposeful stride.

"Excellent timing, Shadow..." Ganymede Knight grunted, still concentrating on holding the infected Enoch. He could only hold his Liquid Metal attack for so long before he grew tired. He was starting to sweat under his armor, the mental exertion becoming a physical strain.

"Showing up an hour ago would have been preferred though." Under his sarcasm, he really hoped that Shadow knew what he was doing... He could only watch as Chartreuse tried to kill a man before his eyes.

Serenity began to panic as Enoch's life was put in even greater jeopardy. "Stop, please! What exactly is it you want from us?" she cried, desperation in her voice. She was losing her sense of control - not that she had much of one to begin with. She had always been one to act based on her emotions instead of logic.

To her relief, Shadow entered the throne room - late - and attempted to neutralize the threat. She actually heaved a heavy sigh, grateful to have more assistance in dealing with this hostage situation.

While the queen and her guests were reacting to his arrival and Enoch's imperilment, Shadow had closed the gap between himself and Leviathan's friend in a few short seconds. He appeared to give the revealed impostor a critical examination while the malignant spirit taunted the gathered audience.

Shadow chewed his lip briefly as he felt the subtle shifts in Serenity's voice. It was never a pleasant thing to witness her upset; though Shadow carried himself apart from the Sailor Senshi, he considered the queen of Crystal Tokyo a close friend. She earned his respect through her own deeds, rather than merely being King Endymion's spouse. A cool composure accented Shadow's tone as he turned to speak towards Neo Queen Serenity, offering her vocal solidarity and a subtle grin.

"Your Highness, he wants to get a rise out of you. But I don't think that he should be showing his face so carelessly." Removing his jacket, Shadow then swiftly threw the dark garment over Enoch's head, attempting to cover both him and Chartreuse.

What happened next was methodical and deliberate. Rather than wait for any other reactions, Shadow turned his psychic awareness to the dark space that had just been created beneath his jacket. Raising a hand, he began to project a tugging force that attempted to seize Enoch's tormentor, forcibly dragging it down and out into the light where it could do no further harm to the youth's breathing apparatus.

Shadow's quick thinking did the trick. From underneath the darkness of the jacket, the dark cloud of Chartreuse was pulled from Enoch's mouth to be sent straight to the floor. It slithered around in a failing attempt to get itself upright once more. It seemed that it needed Enoch to survive.

"Oh dear... I failed," Chartreuse said with a sarcastic tone. "Oh well, there are other senshi I can try to twist against you, Neo Queen Serenity. Sailor Leviathan is only the start. I'll see you all, soon... very soon..."

The creature billowed into the air and disapaited. The piece of Chartreuse was completely gone from Crystal Tokyo, disappearing like a spider crawling through a crack in the wall. It would be back, but when?

A coughing sound was followed by a quick yelp as Enoch began to move underneath Shadow's cape. He struggled to break free of Sailor Ganymede's metal enclosure but found he could hardly budge.

"Where am I? I can't see. I can't move."

"Enoch," Leviathan said with a sigh of relief. "You're in Crystal Tokyo..."

"P-princess Leviathan! Oh no... I can't believe you were right! Neo Queen Serenity and her allies really are evil! But how did they kidnap us? I can't remember... N-neo Queen Serenity, do what you want to me. Please let the princess go."

The ocean bound knight certainly wasn't the smartest or the most intelligent, but he seemed innocent and just, unlike the senshi he served under. If he truly did possess a sailor crystal, it was likely he was a much better fit as a protector of good.

"No!" Leviathan pleaded to the others. "It wasn't his fault. It's mine. If I didn't put all those ideas about you guys into his head... maybe this wouldn't have happened in the first place. Punish me, not him. He's not like us. He belongs back on Leviathan. Send him home and keep me here."

"W-what's going on here?" Enoch asked, finally catching on that the situation was a lot more complicated than he imagined.

Serenity found herself paralyzed in shock. Shadow had gotten rid of Chartreuse so easily...was it truly that simple? At that moment, Serenity realized how badly her body had been trembling. The possibility of losing a life had terrified her - how long had it been since someone had died with the queen standing in the same room? She couldn't even remember.

Her gratitude towards Shadow was expressed in a heavy sigh and a whispered, "Thank goodness."

But now Leviathan and Enoch were...asking for punishment? Serenity blinked, confused, gazing back towards Jupiter and Soul. She shook her head, walking towards Enoch and meeting his eyes. "I'm glad you're okay, Enoch. I won't be punishing anyone. What's important is that everyone is safe. But I do think that an explanation is in order."

Ganymede breathed a long sigh of relief hen Shadow extracted Chartreuse, defeating the shadow. Hopefully, it was only bluffing when it said it would return. He remembered that the now innocent Enoch was still binded with metal, and slowly lowered the poor knight to the ground before releasing him.

"Sorry about that, we didn't have much of a choice," Ganymede said to him as his Liquid Metal faded. He was too winded to bother explaining further, and opted to sit on the ground as he recovered.

Soul shook her head in an attempt to clear it. With her powers, she had been able to sense that whatever had been affecting Leviathans friend was only a small part of a larger thing. Was it simply a small aspect of Chaos, like with what happened to Galaxia? The idea that Chaos was able to affect people with Sailor Crystals like this disturbed Soul. There was so much they didn't know about Chaos. How were they suppose to fight something that they didn't understand effectively. 

"You alright?" she called out weakly when Ganymede sat on the floor to recover.

"Explanation?" Enoch asked as the metal let him free. Now that he was fully exposed, the others could see that he was dressed in some kind of coral colored armor.

"Where do I even begin?" Leviathan asked, looking at Enoch. "I suppose I should just explain it all..."

She breathed in and breathed out as she seat next to Enoch on the floor, preparing to say something she was sure to regret.

"I'm very scared of outsiders... you see, especially ones with impressive, Silver Crystals of ultimate power. Guardian Leviathan said I don't have much to fear from you, but I second guessed myself. I asked Enoch here to study various hair samples I had taken from various members of your court. He has the power to assume the form of any he chooses, so long as he has a piece of them... you see. He can't copy their powers, but their physical strengths and attributes... yeah. A piece of Shadow's hair turned out to be the easiest for us to manage. I trained against Enoch in case... well, in case I ever had to fight Shadow for whatever reason. I think that Chartreuse guy took advantage of that in retrospect."

Leviathan looked even more defeated. In response, Enoch only looked at her bewildered. Not knowing what the others knew about the situation, he could only guess where she was getting at.

"I shared my fears with Enoch. I told him about you, Soul, and about Ganymede too. He told me that you guys were nothing to fear so it shocked me when Enoch attacked you guys and said he wanted to kill you."

"I said, what?" Enoch retorted in fear. "No, I didn't do anything like that!"

"No, you didn't, did you?"

It didn't take much time for Leviathan to quickly explain the situation to Enoch. He appeared very sullen, looking completely ashamed for what had happened.

"I'm terribly sorry for my intrusion, Neo Queen Serenity and friends. Is there anything that I might do to repay you for my weakness?"

He knelt before Serenity, much to Leviathan's surprise. The others might have detected a hint of jealously in her eyes. Seeing him kneel to another ruler sparked a hint of darkness in her heart.

The queen listened intently to Leviathan's explanation, and it all made sense in a way, but one thing had her head spinning.

"You took hair from my soldiers? How on Earth did you manage that?"

She smiled slightly, hoping that her statement reduced the tension in the room just a bit. While it made her uncomfortable that someone was capable of cloning themselves to look like any of her senshi, or even herself, she wouldn't hold Leviathan's fear against her. In that moment, Neo Queen Serenity made it her goal to gain Leviathan's trust, confidence, and friendship.

Enoch knelt before her, surprising the queen. "Rise, Sir Enoch," she said kindly. "I don't hold your actions against you. Chaos works in deep, dangerous ways, and I admire you for your victory over Chartreuse. I would like to offer you both," she looked from Enoch to Leviathan, "an invitation to dine with us this evening." Turning to Soul and Ganymede, Serenity gave them both serious looks. "And before that, I want both of you to go to the infirmary. Get lots of rest, and you are more than welcome to join us," she said, a hint of teasing in her voice. "You are hereby banned from anymore injuries for the rest of the week."

"I'll try," Soul replied to the Queen, her voice holding the same teasing one as the younger woman. Managing to get to her feet and stagger over to Ganymede, she held out a hand to him. 

"Common, lets go see the doctor before she throws a fit and how badly we got injured in the Castle."

Shadow watched the exchange between Neo Queen Serenity and the two representatives of Leviathan. While the monarch of Crystal Tokyo offered her reassurances to Enoch and his misguided friend, the authentic dark knight mulled over his exact response.

Anger? No. Leniency? It wasn't like Jasper to let someone off the hook for a transgression, at least not completely so. Neo Queen Serenity wasn't going to punish the foolish senshi, and that choice also extended to Shadow. What he could do, however, was ask a hard question.

Shadow cleared his throat, then settled his gaze on the two visitors. Though Enoch had acted on his own, it was a certain cowardly girl's actions that created his opportunity.

"Sailor Leviathan, if you wanted to train against someone of my stature, why didn't you ask me directly?"

"I didn't take hair," Leviathan clarified to Neo Queen Serenity, twirling her own hair. "It was... rather simple, really. Just had to pick it up from the floor and personal effects. I didn't... you know, pluck them."

The princess and guard's mouths nearly hit the floor when they were invited to dinner of all things, especially after what happened. They agreed right away, in spite of the awkward dinner that was to follow. Leviathan tilted her head in wonder, thinking of what that sort of dinner would entail.

"Should I order some pizza then?" she asked in glee.

"Pizza," Enoch responded with raised eyebrows. "You mean that food you introduced to us after your time on Earth. I'm not sure if it is appropriate for royalty to eat pizza when discussing important topics with other royalty."

She sighed in frustration, but she was quickly distracted by a new problem. Her eyes went wide with fear at Shadow's question. She nervously tried to come up with an answer, but it was answered for her.

"Our princess didn't want to train against someone like you," Enoch said weakly as he leaned on Leviathan. "She wanted to train against you."

"Enough, Enoch," Leviathan pleaded, placing her hand awkwardly against Enoch's face to get him to be quiet.

"No, Princess. I have to be frank or this will never end. Sailor Leviathan is Leviathan's only true defense. If any power greater than hers attacks us, we're done for. She didn't trust anyone else to help her. Of course, now we see that we had no reason to be afraid."

Of course, Sailor Soul would know that Enoch had a Sailor Crystal himself, though it seemed very apparent that he didn't know it. All he knew now was that the strange soldier Leviathan was afraid of was threatening her.

Shadow tilted his head back, closing his eyes as if to consider the young man's declaration. Though he already had an answer, the gesture was made in an effort to give Leviathan some respite from his withering stare.

After a brief moment of thought, Shadow's eyes opened once more. As he turned to address Enoch in a more pleasant tone of voice, his body posture relaxed. As for the stare, that would be harder to temper; it was probably an unintended consequence of his hyperactive physical senses.

"Though I am a busy man, I would give her Majesty's requests the highest consideration. I would also state that I recognize the desire to defend your homeworld with your own hands."

Queen Serenity laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Ordering pizza would be splendid. It's been a while since I actually did that. Let's all just put today's events behind us for tonight, and we can discuss anything more tomorrow after our stomachs have been filled and we have received proper rest. That's an order," she winked, showing that she wasn't really trying to be stern, but more playful and lighthearted about this whole situation.

No matter how old she got, Serenity never tired of making new friends.