"Senshi Kurai"
Jackie Chiang

Author's Notes

*Note 1*- I don't know more than 15 words in Japanese so for the names
 of made up characters, I've used Japanese names from different anime or
 names that look Japanese.
*Note 2*- I am taking Setsuna's age and origin from the manga; in there,
 she is 18 and from the Moon Kingdom.  Second, the girls are princesses 
in the manga as well, so I took that idea and placed it here.
*Note 3*- This takes place after Sailor Moon SuperS, but the events are 
inconsistent to Sailor Moon Sailor Stars.  Chibi Usa isn't in this one (Yay,
 yay or boo hoo). (Explanation to why not: This is because, well, I had her
 in until the seventh part; then I realized that she had said less than 5 lines
 throughout the whole thing, so I just dumped her.)
*Note 4*- Some characters are the property of Naoko Takeuchi.  They are
 being used without her permission.  However, everything else is MINE.  
If you use them or copy this story, beware.  I will track you down and personally
 rip out your lungs.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story.  If you flame me 
or think that I'm full of crap, you can die.
*Note 5*- This may be extremely boring.  However, I have to set up the 
story; you don't have to read this if you don't want to, but in the future 
parts, this may come in handy.
*Note 6*- If it seems like I'm copying people, it's just coincidental.  Besides,
 I probably plan to go off in a completely different direction, hopefully.
*Note 7*- This has no relation whatsoever to the Sailor Moon A series.  
Sailor Moon A is for unusual fanfics by me that would seriously alter the
 world of SM if they actually happened.  This is a basic fanfic that
 could happen.
*Note 8*- If you're interested in more about these characters, I 
have written a prequel to this, and it will be available as soon as these
 have all been sent out.
*Note 9*- "Senshi" means soldiers or warriors.  "Kurai" means dark.
  So basically, the title means "Dark Warriors."

Senshi Kurai
Part 1:  The Dull First Part


Usagi was late for school again. What a way to impress my teacher, 
Usagi thought as she ran down the street toward the Juuban High School.

She could still remember the day when she found out that she had passed
 the entrance exam into high school.  Everyone had been amazed.  Usagi
 had done average on the exam.  That might not have been a big deal to 
anyone else, but to Usagi it was like winning the Nobel Prize.  Everyone 
had gone slack jawed when she had told them the good news, even Ami,
 who had said that she believed in Usagi.

After ten minutes of stupidity, Rei recovered from her astonishment and 
had flatly declared that she disbelieved it, until Naru had vouched for her
 friend.

"I can't believe it," Rei had said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.  "Usagi
 actually passed in something in her life!"

"Rei-chan, you don't understand!  You didn't have to take it!  I'm so glad 
you really believed in me!" Usagi said and started crying.

It took Mamoru, Minako, and Makoto 15 minutes to get Usagi to stop crying,
 during which, Rei rolled her eyes and the others covered their ears.

"Don't you have something to say, Rei-chan?" Mako asked once the water
 works were over.

"What?" Rei said, refusing to apologize.  Minako jabbed her in the ribs.
  "Oww...  Oh fine.  I'm sorry, Usagi."

"Thanks, Rei-chan," Usagi said happily, changing moods quickly like 
she always did.  "I'm going home to tell my parents.  Ha!  Shingo-chan
 bet me ten weeks allowance that I wouldn't pass.  I showed him!"

Her family had fainted...

Now Usagi was acting up to her reputation that she had earned during
 the first week of high school.  Everyone knew that like clockwork, 
Usagi was always late.  (Rei had made that remark.  Ami had mildly 
told her that was ironic, but Rei didn't pick up on that.)
	
Hurricane Usagi was on a rampage, trampling everything in site that was
 in her way.  Glancing down at her communicator watch, Usagi screamed
 when she saw the time.  "I'm going to be soo late!"
	
She tore down the street like a mad woman.  She sharply turned a corner
 and ran into a dog, tripping over it, but continued on her way.  By the
 time she got to school, she had managed to kick over three garbage cans,
 knock down a man, be missed by a rare bicycling woman, and nearly
 run into a pole.

Usagi ran through the doors and up several flights of stairs.  She stopped
 by her classroom door, breathing harshly.  Since she couldn't think of
 a good excuse, she decided to try to sneak into class.  Usagi slowly 
opened the door and crawled through.  Unfortunately, she didn't see 
the pail in front of her and tripped, landing on her face and causing 
everyone to look at her.  They all laughed, even Ami, Makoto, and 
Minako, who were trying to suppress their laughter.

"Usagi-chan," Makoto said laughingly, "you didn't have to be in such
 a rush.  Sensei isn't here yet."

She and Ami helped Usagi to her feet while Minako placed the pail
 in its upright position.  Usagi brushed all the dirt off her school uniform,
 grimacing, and making a remark that she could have slept late.  
She looked around the room, noting what her classmates were doing.  
Most of them were talking, and some were drawing Sailor Senshi figures
 on the board.  She glanced around until she came upon an unfamiliar
 girl.  The girl was sitting next to the front of the class .  She was 
reading a book and had her back turned to Usagi.  All Usagi could see
 was the girl's long black hair that fell past down the back of the chair.

Just then Sensei came into the classroom, and the students ran to their
 seats.  Usagi sat down next to the window, near Ami.  Sensei did the
 usual roll-call, making a comment about Usagi arriving to class before
 himself for once.  Then the young man assigned Ami to lead the class
 in the English assignment until he got back from an urgent telephone call.

Ami finished breezily in five minutes, so everyone worked on the 
math assignment that the Sensei had given them when they had
 finished with English.

Usagi looked at her classwork.  Ugh.  Usagi hated math.  She 
looked at Ami to discover that she already finished the assignment 
and was on the last problem of her homework.  Makoto was working
 diligently on her work, while Minako was goofing off, balancing a 
pencil on her nose.  Usagi sighed, staring at her book.  This was 
going to be a long day.

She looked out of the window.  Usagi was watching some kids in gym
 running around the school when she noticed someone looking at her 
in the reflection of the glass.  She turned her head and saw the girl that
 she didn't recognize.

The girl was pretty- prettier than even Rei in fact.  She had black hair
 and wore a yellow head band.  Her ears were decorated with gold, 
dangling earrings and a necklace with an undistinctive red charm
 was on her neck.  She had delicate features and intense, dark blue eyes.
  She looked oddly familiar...  Usagi noticed that the girl was studying
 her very carefully.  She smiled uneasily at the girl.  The girl watched
 her for a moment, her face expressionless.  Usagi felt uncomfortable
 under her gaze and looked down.

"Hey, Ami-chan," Usagi whispered to the blue haired genius.

"Yes, Usagi-chan?" the girl answered, looking up.  She took off her 
reading glasses and put a bookmark in the book that she was currently 
reading.  Usagi noted that the book was called Great Expectations and
 was written in English.

"Who's that girl over there?"  Usagi asked, pointing to the black haired
 girl.

"Oh, her," Ami said.  "Yesterday when you were sick, Sensei introduced
 us to her.  Her name is Yukiru Terra."

"Terra?"

"Unusual, isn't it?"

"Yeah, Ami-chan," Usagi said, her tone noncommittal.  Ami made a 
face and went back to reading her book.

Usagi turned to look at the girl again.  Terra was obviously done with her
 work and was reading.  Usagi felt the feeling of deja vu again.  She knew
 she had met that girl someplace before, but where?  Just then Terra looked
 up and noticed Usagi staring at her.  The new student watched Usagi back, 
her gaze unwavering and direct.  Usagi blushed, realized what she was 
doing was rude, and looked back at her work.

The class dragged on until the bell finally rang, signaling lunch time.  Usagi 
picked up her books and hurried out of the classroom, not bothering to put
 them in her holder.  She met up with Ami, Makoto, and Minako 
who were waiting for her outside in the hall.

The four girls were headed toward the wall which had all the test scores
 posted on it.  Ami wanted to see what she had gotten on her English
exam; the others had just laughed nervously when she had mentioned
 it, but decided to go anyway.  When they got there, the four girls
 studied the wall.

"Hey, Ami-chan,"  Makoto said.  "Guess what?  You placed first on 
almost all the exams again."

"Almost?" Ami asked, worried that she might have not studied hard
 enough.

"Well, Minako-chan placed first for that physical education exam,"
 the brunette said dryly.

The girls laughed.

"Hey," Usagi interrupted.  "For the second year, in the physical 
education exam, a Ten'oh Haruka placed first..."

"What?" Minako gasped.

"Yeah, and in most of the other exams, Kaioh Michiru placed first..."
 Ami added.

"Does that mean...?"

"Hey, odango atama!" a cheerful voice said from behind them.  
Usagi felt one of her ponytails being yanked.  The four girls spun 
around to see Haruka, Michiru, and Hotaru standing there, wearing 
the distinctive uniforms of the Juuban High School.  All three were 
wearing dresses, Haruka looking uncomfortable in hers.  Other than 
that, she and her friends were obviously enjoying the Inner Senshi's
 shock.

Usagi recovered first and impulsively ran to hug Haruka.  "Haruka-san!
  Michiru-san!  Hotaru-chan!  What are you doing here?"

"What?"  Haruka asked, pretending to act hurt and offended.  "No
 'Hi' or 'I missed you'?"

Usagi turned an interesting shade of red while the others laughed.

"Usagi-chan meant that it's good to see you guys," Ami said, covering
 up for the mortified Usagi.  Makoto snickered, but Minako elbowed
 her in the stomach.

Then they noticed that Hotaru was no longer a baby.

"Umm," Usagi said to Haruka, "I thought that you, Michiru-san, and 
Setsuna-san were raising Hotaru-chan."  She was confused, but that
 wasn't anything new.

Haruka grinned at them.  "We already did."

"NANI?!?!?!?" the four Inner Senshi shrieked, large sweat drops 
forming on their faces.  Students passed by them with weird looks 
on their faces.

"Well," Makoto sputtered, "um, Hotaru-chan is certainly, uh, well 
developed for being less than a year old."

Michiru and Haruka looked at each other and suddenly bent over.  
It took the other girls a minute to figure out that they were laughing
 hysterically.  Hotaru just smiled.  The younger girls felt like they
 were missing something important and just stood there watching
 until the two recovered from their fits.

Ami asked, "So why _does_ Hotaru-chan look 17?"  She looked 
expectantly at Michiru.

"Well," Michiru started, "let me see if I can explain this simply.
  It's like this.  After the final battle with Mistress 9 and the 
Master Pharaoh 90, Hotaru-chan was turned into a baby.  However,
 this side minor incident did not mean that she would have to grow
 up at a normal rate.  Her body wanted to revert to what it was 
previously, before that event.  Therefore, it sped up her molecular rate,
 making her age, grow, and develop faster than normal.  Now that 
she is at the stage that she used to be, her bodily functions and 
chemicals will now return to a normal pace.  So even though she is 
technically less than a year old, she is as both physically and 
mentally mature as any other 17 year old."

"Fascinating," Ami said, admiring the phenomenon.  Usagi, Makoto, 
and Minako quickly nodded in agreement, even though they were 
totally lost.

"So now you are going to our school?" Usagi asked, covering up 
her ignorance.

"Yes," Hotaru said, smiling sweetly.  " Isn't that nice?"

"It is," Usagi said happily, hooking her arms through Hotaru's 
and Haruka's.  They all laughed and proceeded to catch up on things.


Meanwhile, an invisible figure watched the girls unnoticed.  The fools.
  The thought was contemptuous.  This was going to be too easy.  
The Princess was wrong.  The Sailor Senshi weren't any major threat.
  They could be exterminated easily.  Soon, the girl thought arrogantly,
 smiling.  After the little decoys were planted, everything would go 
according to plan.  Soon there would be no more Sailor Senshi, and
 they would all be happy.

To be continued.
