BLINDED BY REVENGE 
CHAPTER 1
Get Rubeus

Written by Darkpower
Rating: 14 (Dialogue, Violence, Language)

As many of you are aware, I have started Deadworld, but there are ten missing years 
in my “half AU” Sailor Moon Universe between Sailor Moon R and that story. Starting 
with this story, I will try to fill that void. This will be the start of how things 
happen and how we will eventually get into Deadworld. This will be a long fleshing 
out, though, as there are several elements that I want people to know about. 

By the way, “half-AU” means that while this is considered alternate universe, it's 
more of an alternate path that the series could've taken when they hit the fork in 
the road known as the end of Sailor Moon R. Instead of going right (which would be 
the Sailor Moon S road), this is the LEFT path (where this story begins). 
Everything that happened during the first two SM seasons has also transpired in 
this half-AU (which means, as well, that the events on the Moon Kingdom have 
changed). It's just what happened before and after those that's different. Hope 
that clears it up a bit.

Finally, thanks to “youroctober” for the betaing of this chapter as well as the 
rest of this fanfiction. The help is very much appreciated, and I hope that the 
fanfiction is much more enjoyable as a result of such hard work.
___________________________________________________________________

The man couldn't believe it. Lady Emerald had told him that the Dark Phantom 
couldn't stand failures, and left him for dead as she disappeared. Rubeus had no 
way out of the UFO he had thought he captured the Sailors in. The same UFO that had 
now caught fire because Rubeus had started the self-destruct sequence. He was lost, 
and needed to find his way fast because he was about to die in space, and he knew 
the famed saying about screaming in space (no one can hear you scream). Now he 
would be at negative decibels if he tried because no one would want to hear him if 
he were to be able to, though at this point he didn't care about anyone but himself 
anymore.

Rubeus, however, was about to find some guidance. He should've known that UFO would 
not have a self-destruct sequence without a normal means of escape. Even with all 
the magical powers he and the others that used that huge, bulky spacecraft, if 
anyone else, possessed, the UFO (why was he still calling it that, Rubeus thought) 
was still given an escape pod just in case the worst-case scenario came true. This 
type of thing called for exactly what Rubeus' eyes found. That small, one-man pod 
that sat to the left of where Rubeus was and where he had last seen Emerald. She 
would get hers soon, that he knew, one way or another. However, he wanted to live, 
and to get his revenge. 

'Damn it, why am I still thinking about this?', he thought. With no other thoughts 
entering his mind than to “get his ass out of there now”, Rubeus made leaps and 
bounds to get past the burning embers, and before he knew it, he was there. He 
fought the latch and was able to get that thing open within moments, and not a 
second too soon, as he saw the ship ('Yeah,' he thought, 'it's a ship, not a UFO!') 
begin to rip apart. He would be the next thing coming apart if he didn't act, and 
so act he did. He got into the pod, closed the latch, and launched the pod into the 
space, seeing his precious ship bite the dust. Now that he was free (albeit with 
the fact that he was cutting it too close), Rubeus could finally exhale and start 
thinking about what to do from here. Though he now had some more time, he couldn't 
just sit there forever, as that wouldn't be too good for his health, either.

“Emerald, you annoying bitch!” Rubeus said to himself as he pounded his fist onto 
the armrest of the pod. “I know you'll soon see how loyal the Dark Phantom is, and 
who he really represents. Yeah, they all think I'm dead right now. I made sure no 
one would see me get out of there alive. Good thing about sci-fi, eh? We learn how 
to cloak these beasts sooner or later. You'll never have me back, Phantom.”

Rubeus then thought about a few other things, as well. “Wonder how I'll get back to 
my time. Ah, who cares about the future? This is where it's at now. I'm a product 
of the past, someone who can shape what will happen in my original time. Which 
means,” Rubeus snickered, “taking care of the Sailors before Reenie is even born. 
I'll be the hero of my time by taking care of the Sailors in this time. Got a score 
to settle with them, anyway. Better than nothing, though I may want to hide out for 
a little while. Don't want anyone to know just yet that I'm still alive and 
kicking.”

With that, Rubeus pressed a few buttons and off to Earth he went.
************************************************
It had been a few months since the Sailors had defeated the Black Moon in the 
future (the same amount of time since Rubeus had escaped his destroyed ship). 
Reenie was reunited with her mother and father, as planned, even though it wasn't 
easy for the Soldiers to do so, having to get through the Black Moon family and 
all. Now without any real need to use their Sailor powers, the girls seemed 
relieved to be able to get back to being normal kids. Only thing was, now that they 
were friends and had a few talking animals at their sides, normal life seemed to 
become abnormal before long.

This was especially true for Serena Sommers, who lay in her bed as the sun was 
beginning to come up. This was more than unusual for her. She really needed the 
sleep after all she had been though during the past year; that she knew. However, 
with the covers over her body, her eyes were wide open. Not only did she go to 
sleep early, but she woke up early. She wasn't tired at all, and she was wondering 
how she was doing this. This type of thing, although new to her, was beginning to 
be commonplace. She wrestled with the reasons as to why she was such an early riser 
lately, though the more she stared at the alarm clock watching the time tick by, 
she was beginning to see a reason why she was only laying there instead of 
sleeping. It was complete boredom. She was living her teenage life (which was 
starting to near its end as graduation was looming in the distance), which was what 
she wanted to begin with. However, in a matter of speaking, the more she didn't 
have to be a Sailor, the more she was missing it. Maybe it was the excitement that 
came with taking out the Black Moon or the Dark Kingdom or the Cardigans that she 
missed, or maybe it was being around the Sailor friends that she had made along the 
way. Either way, she never thought that she would even be looking forward to 
school. She just anticipated the time in which she could find an excuse to do 
something, anything, other than the same old same old.

'Six fifty-eight,' Serena thought. Two more minutes during which she could just 
think about what was going on in her life right now, if anything. No, make that 
fifty-nine; one more minute. The clock had only advanced by one minute. Maybe this 
clock was slow. That alarm needed to sound so no one besides her would suspect that 
she was abducted by aliens and that a doppelganger was put in her place. She took 
that minute to look to Luna, which slept at her feet. In a way, Luna was counting 
on Serena's sudden screams to wake her up. Luna was expecting it today, but even 
she wasn't aware of Serena's sudden change in attitude about school. Serena could 
only think of how bored out of her mind Luna was in right now.

Seven. The clock changed again. The alarm went off. No, scratch that, it was the 
radio now; she had decided to buy a new alarm clock that had a radio in it. Instead 
of annoying bells, she could be woken up to some goof-ball DJ's on the radio trying 
to get her to laugh. Depended on the station. Some J-Pop station was playing at the 
moment, even though she was kind of getting into some harder stuff lately. Even 
some American music, which was probably because a station dedicated to American 
music had just launched in the Tokyo market. Played some really good things, though 
more processed than the J-Pop she was used to hearing. It did play some good stuff 
that was unique, though, even when they really mixed the genres from one song to 
the next on there. She got to know some of the songs they were playing. As she 
jumped out of bed (she didn't wake Luna in doing so), she first tuned to that very 
American music station and then went to the mirror to get her hair prepped up. Some 
rock song was playing, and as she was getting her ordangos in place, she was more 
concerned with trying to remember what song was playing. No, never mind, she just 
recognized it: Metallica's Enter Sandman. That singer's voice, James Hetfield, 
which she had remembered from the DJ saying it before playing it a few other times, 
was recognizable anywhere. They played this one a lot lately, and she would've went 
straight for the import section of the record store to snag the album this was on, 
if only she could make it past without her parents wondering why there was a 
picture of a snake on the completely black cover of the CD she had. 

'Oh well,' she thought, though she had no one else to blame but Lita for getting 
her into some of this type of music. Lita was getting to become a headbanger 
through and through, and the musical influence she was having on Serena was 
staggering.

Serena's ordangos were in place, she was now dressed, and all she needed to do was 
to get her shoes on, her bag gathered, and head out the door. The starting bell had 
yet to ring; it was still about an hour before she had to enter class. She had time 
to eat breakfast, but even that proved to be a bit of a chore. She usually skipped 
it anyway--had to because she was constantly late. She had the choice this time, 
and had for the past few weeks now. But, as she turned off the radio (giving a real 
big sorry to Stevie Nicks in the process), she only paced downstairs, slipped on 
her shoes, gathered her bag, and out the door she went.

However, right after she went out the door, Sammy, her younger brother, walked to 
the edge of the top step, rubbing his eyes. “Serena, going to school early? I need 
more sleep. I never saw that happen before.” Sammy could only rub his eyes some 
more, knowing that he couldn't get anymore sleep, as he needed to go to school 
himself. He only shook his head and went about getting himself ready.
************************************************
Yes, it was an eventful day at school. Miss Haruna didn't even question who this 
new girl was and what she had done to Serena this time. Serena's grades were 
steadily improving, which was a good thing and no one concerned about her was 
complaining. That being said, however, what they were worried about was why she was 
behaving strangely from a personality standpoint. She was very distant in her 
classes. She wasn't herself, for sure.

Evidence of this suddenly ran right at Serena while she was walking home from 
school: Luna, who was panting upon seeing Serena.

“Serena,” Luna said, exhausted, “how in the world did you get out of bed without 
waking me? You're a hard person to find anymore!”

“Sorry, Luna,” Serena answered, her tone showing contempt.

“Serena, what's going on? I sense a tone.”

Serena let out a deep sigh. “Nothing, Luna! Really, nothing!”

“Ahh, no you don't, Serena. Not to me, not this time. Come, walk with me, talk with 
me.”

Serena sighed once more, this time in reluctant acceptance.
************************************************
“I don't know Luna,” Serena answered as she was walking with her animal friend. 
“I've just been bored lately.”

“You're free to do whatever you want to do, Serena. You always wanted a normal 
life, did you? It's upon you and now you don't want it?”

“Well, I didn't say that. It's just that--well, it just seems really strange 
without being around the Sailor business. Just the feeling of helping someone who 
needs you, y'know. Yeah, I wanted to be a normal teen and all, but the more I'm 
living it after I've been a Sailor for so long, the harder it is. I'm just so used 
to the fighting.”

Luna let out a quick sigh. “I know what you mean, I think. It's too quiet anymore. 
You think you want one thing, when you're actually taking the other thing for 
granted.”

“Exactly. I was so tired of being Sailor Moon, but now I can't wait to become her 
again! Though I know to be careful what I wish for.”

“Maybe you just miss them.”

“You mean the other Sailors.”

“Yes. I told them to come to the temple, a little reunion. Like I said, maybe it's 
not necessarily the fighting you miss, but the people you were with when you were 
fighting. I've even asked Darien to come, too.”

“Miss him, most of all. You're right, Luna. I do miss my girls.”

“Come, then, Serena. To Hikawa Shrine. Sort of like old times.”

Without another word, Serena and Luna headed for the Shrine on the outskirts of 
Downtown Juuban.

However, unbeknown to either of them, someone was listening to every word of it: 
Rubeus, who was on the rooftop of a small apartment building, keeping himself 
hidden from view.

“That girl. She was talking to that cat,” Rubeus whispered to himself. “She was 
talking about becoming Sailor Moon. A shrine? Meeting with others? Like old times? 
Could it be that she's...? Nah. I know what they say about things that sounds too 
good to be true. Better be sure I wasn't just hearing things.” He then disappeared.
************************************************
The entire gang was at the Shrine, and Serena was overjoyed to see them again. Luna 
was correct: Serena did miss them immensely. She smiled at each of them, but still 
felt a bit disconnected. 

“Hey, girl,” Raye said a few moments afterwards. “Heard you haven't been yourself 
lately.”

“I heard you were getting B pluses instead of C minuses,” Amy added. “There's 
something not right with that picture.”

“No, nothing wrong, Amy,” Serena responded. “It's just me not being the same person 
anymore. I just don't feel like the person I was, who can just let loose and be 
myself.”

“I've been feeling the same thing,” Mina answered, walking over to Serena. “It's 
like, something's been missing since we defeated the Black Moon. Nothing new has 
happened. Some boring destiny, isn't it?”

“Ah, c'mon, Mina,” Lita barked. “You and Serena are both going to sit here, after 
everything that you've said about wanting to be a normal teenager, and say that you 
miss it now? Yeah, right!”

“It can be possible to face withdrawal from things that you didn't think you were 
addicted to,” Artemis added. “It is possible that Serena only thought she hated the 
job, but now that it's quieted down, that part of her life isn't there anymore, and 
the excitement went with it. My guess is that Miss Serena Sommers here misses being 
Sailor Moon because of everything that went along with the responsibility.”

“Not sure if I would ever miss it,” Raye added. “I guess it's different for 
everyone.”

“We do have to be on our toes, though, in case there ends up being someone new 
trying to come after us,” Amy responded. “Remember who we're trying to protect.”

Serena was still paying attention, but she was also looking to see where her on-
again, off-again boyfriend was. “Hey, where is he?”

“You mean me?” asked a familiar male voice from behind Serena. She turned around to 
see Darien's smiling face, though it startled her a bit as she had not been 
expecting him to be that close.

“Hey, don't do that!” Serena yelled. “Scaring the living crap outta me! You know 
that's my job and my job only!”

“Well, it seems I perked you up!” her boyfriend chuckled. “Seems it was your 
friends that you missed.”

“Yeah, it was. Really needed to be around people that knew me, and that I could 
talk to about it.”

“As long as you are the future Queen of Earth, it will never be boring, and we'll 
never be done protecting this place.”

“I guess you're right.”

“Hey,” Lita interrupted, “you guys coming inside or not? I made a celebration feast 
for all of us. It's my biggest meal I've ever made, did it once I heard about 
Serena being a little down, thought we could treat ourselves.”

“Yeah, nothing says excitement like digging into something good like Lita's 
cooking,” Serena answered. “Something else I missed.”

“Yeah, what the hell? An extra fifty pounds, here we come,” Mina proclaimed. A 
“Right!”, in unison, was heard amongst the rest of the group, and off into the 
Shrine they all went. 

However, once more, no one saw that Rubeus was eavesdropping on everything, and 
this time, his suspicions proved to be correct. 

“Well now, Serena,” Rubeus whispered. “You indeed are Sailor Moon, and this time, I 
know how to find you, at any time. Serena Sommers is your name? Perfect! That's all 
I need to know.”

Rubeus then went to a nearby pay phone booth and searched through the attached 
phone book. His eyes studied the pages, looking for the name of “Sommers”. A 
hundred pages into the book, he found what he was looking for, ripped out a page, 
and disappeared before anyone could find him.
************************************************
“Damn, Lita, you made all of this yourself, that fast, and it was that good?” 
Serena asked as she was chewing the last bits of her meal. “Talk about 
overexertion.”

“It was nothing,” Lita answered. “I couldn't stand seeing one of my best friends be 
so down in the dumps, and I knew the best way to cheer you up.”

“She probably won't be able to stand after all she ate,” Amy added.

“Neither will you, oh wise one,” Serena scoffed back.

“Hey, I only gained twenty. You probably gained that fifty pounds Mina predicted.”

“Thirty here,” Raye proclaimed. “Yeah, Lita! You got a hell of a lot to live up to 
after this. If you can whip this stuff up that fast, I can't imagine what you could 
do when you have more time on your hands.”

“Thanks,” Lita said, smiling. “That really means a lot to me. I'm actually thinking 
about trying to become a chef when I graduate.”

“Yeah, I haven't figured out where I'm going from high school yet,” Serena 
answered.

“Maybe that's another reason why you've gotten a bit more serious lately,” Mina 
said. “You're thinking about life beyond being a teenager.”

“Yeah, that's probably...” Serena stopped as she looked at the time. “Ah, shie! I 
gotta get home, it's getting late and my parents have yet to even see me. They 
don't know I've been getting up earlier. They just think my new alarm clock is 
working for me better. I'm sorry, guys.”

“Nah, no problem, Serena. I'm glad we were able to help you out,” Raye answered. 
“Remember, whenever you need to talk to someone, you know who to call.”

“Yeah, thanks Raye; And all of you, thank you, too.” Serena then slipped on her 
shoes and headed out the door, seemingly in a hurry.

“Still don't think she really misses being a Sailor,” Lita said a few moments 
later. “Got a feeling that there's something else going on.”

“Yeah, I sensed it,” Raye added. “Like she's unknowingly getting some sort of 
premonition about something and she doesn't know what it is, but it's bothering her 
enough to make her depressed.”

“Something bad?”

“I don't know. The way you said it, and the way I sensed it, is worrying me now.”

“She's been like this for a few weeks,” Luna added. “Serena doing better in school 
I'll take, but this stick in the mud stuff I'd rather do without. Talk about 
missing someone...it's the Serena that was always a chore to try to keep in check 
that I miss.”

“I just hope I'm wrong,” Raye responded.
************************************************
Serena was heading home, school bag in hand, with the day growing old and the sun 
setting, the night sky nearly taking over completely. She was not in any rush, but 
she was trying to walk quickly to get back home before it got any later. She was 
only a few blocks away now, and she ran across the street and began to walk the 
final leg. However, as Serena looked upwards to see the second floor of her house, 
she stopped on a dime. One of the windows was a little cracked. It wasn't like that 
when she left earlier today, she knew that, and the light was on, so someone 
would've seen it by now.

It was when Serena got to the archway that she saw a few more cracked windows, this 
time more than the other. “What the hell?”

She went through the archway to find that her house had a broken lock on it, and 
the door was nearly blown off of its hinges. Lights were on, and as she entered the 
house, she became horrified. Chairs were tipped over, and dishes and glasses were 
broken. It wouldn't have even been that bad had she not seen the evidence that made 
her horrified: blood. On the walls, on the chairs, and on the banister. It was 
smeared all over the place, and the more Serena saw it, the more her widened eyes 
watered and the more her breaths shortened. 

“M-Mom?! D-Dad?! Sammy?!” She got no answer. “Oh, my God!” She dropped her bag on 
the floor and began to navigate the now torn-apart house, broken glass crumbling 
beneath her feet.

“MOM! DAD! Please, someone answer! SAMMY! ANYONE!” Still with no answer, she rushed 
upstairs, and it was then that she heard some crying. It was from her mother, 
coming from the master bedroom. As she entered, her mother, Ikuko Sommers, was on 
the bed crying. Her father, Kenji, was on his back, trying to stop some bleeding 
from a rather large wound.

“DAD!” Serena screamed, rushing to her father's aid. 

“Why, Serena? Why did he do this?” Ikuko asked.

“Who?!” Serena screamed louder. “Mother, tell me! Please!”

“Um,” her mother stammered with the details, trying to keep her composure long 
enough to tell her.

“Mother? You must know!”

“Uh, tall guy...short and spiky red hair, has this purple vest on him. That's all I 
really could see”

'Oh, my God! Rubeus? But he was...' 

“He shot your father near his heart, but he was trying to get me out of the way,” 
her mother continued while shaking like a leaf. “That madman was beginning to fire 
something at me when he just vanished! I didn't know what to do, I don't have the 
training you have! I just told him to stay down to try to stop the bleeding! It was 
only a half-hour ago! I was going to call the police, but I was scared that he was 
still here, and you know how useless they've been lately!”

Serena ripped off a piece of her school uniform's skirt and handed it to Ikuko, 
seemingly ignoring her critique of the police, even though she disagreed with her, 
as she usually did. “Here, get this onto the wound. Keep pressure on it; Looks like 
you got lucky there, dad!” She then looked around the room and into the hallway. 
“Where's Sammy?”

“S-Sammy?” her mother asked.

Serena became angrier as she held her head in disbelief. “Mom, please tell me you 
didn't just leave him!”

“You know how he's been lately! He's been going outside with his friends, I 
sometimes don't even hear him leave or come back! I didn't know if he was here or 
not! He could've been in his room when it happened! He came to us and shot us with 
some beam thing, and I was tending to...Serena, wait!” Ikuko made sure Kenji was 
alright before running after Serena.

Serena rushed to Sammy's room, also finding with the door's handle broken. It was 
when she went inside that she found Sammy with a wound of his own, only unconscious 
on the floor.

“Sammy!” Serena screamed before running to the comatose body, skidding on both 
knees to get to where she could tend to her younger brother. She checked for a 
pulse, but also found that she couldn't hear any breathing, and if there was a 
pulse, she didn't feel anything.

“Oh, my God!” Ikuko cried once she found Serena with Sammy. “Sammy, I'm so sorry! I 
didn't mean to...”

“He's not breathing! God, Sammy, wake up for me!” Serena felt tears streaming down 
her face as she kept searching for something, anything, to tell her that he was 
still alive. Finally, she was able to find the faintest pulse. It was just enough 
to tell her that he was still alive, but he wouldn't be for long. Heightening that 
danger was the loss of blood from a huge wound that she found on his chest, and 
then another on his left leg. 

“MOM, CALL FOR AN AMBULANCE! NOW!”

“Serena!”

“DO IT!”

Unlike any other time when Serena would yell like that at her mother or “backtalk” 
her, Ikuko knew this was a life or death situation, and that her daughter had first 
aid training and would know if someone needed immediate medical attention. She 
therefore knew that Serena had every right to scold her for not acting right now. 

As Serena's mother rushed to the phone to call for the hospital, Serena once more 
tore off some pieces of her blouse to keep the wounds from doing any more damage to 
Sammy. It was all she had, and she didn't want to leave her brother. She also 
frantically undid the red ribbon on the front of her shirt and wrapped it around 
Sammy's leg to secure the makeshift bandage even further. She then prayed for two 
things: to let Sammy live though this, and for her first aid training to not fail 
her. “C'mon, Sammy, stay with me, please. You're not going to die, not if I have 
anything to say about it, you hear me?! Don't die on me!” She then thought to 
herself, 'Mother, why didn't you even check on him? Did you even know that I wasn't 
here?'

A few seconds after finishing her prayer, Ikuko came back into the room, in a 
panic. “Is he going to...?”

“I hope not! God, I hope not!”

“They'll be here soon, Serena. They said they will contact the police, too, though 
I doubt they'll even rope off this place! I'm sorry, Serena, I should've...God, I 
feel so damn stupid! I knew you weren't here, thank God, your bag wasn't here and I 
know you take it every day! I noticed that earlier. I heard Sammy leave earlier, 
too, but I didn't hear him come back in, I was trying to cook dinner and he must've 
sneaked back in! God, I'm such a horrible mother!”

Serena could only grit her teeth, not caring at all about the details at this point 
and only caring about avenging her family. She had never felt such sadness and 
anger infused within her before. Though the description her mother had given on who 
had done such a thing proved to be a bit unbelievable.

“Mom, you're sure you're describing this guy right, aren't you?”

“Positive. He said something about knowing who Sailor Moon is, and that he wanted 
her to face him or something! He thought we knew where she would be, he 
thought...God, Serena, I think he was after you, he thinks YOU'RE Sailor Moon!”

“Then he should've came after me, not you guys!”

“I told him we know nothing about that, and he didn't believe us! Said he knew how 
to get her out of hiding, and that's when he began all of this. I'm not even sure 
why he let me off the hook.”

Serena couldn't answer as she was too concerned with Sammy right now. Thankfully, a 
few moments later, the two heard sirens outside, and a team of paramedics flooded 
the room just a few seconds later.
************************************************
“Give us some room, ma'am!” an emergency room doctor commanded as the team of 
paramedics and fellow doctors rushed Sammy, who was on a stretcher and in a pitiful 
state, into one of the cubicles in which they could begin administering the medical 
care. Serena could only feel a sea of tears rolling down her cheeks. She knew who 
had done this, and why he had! She couldn't say a word to her parents, though, 
about her being Sailor Moon. Not yet, anyway. This incident was beginning to spark 
some thought as to whether or not to tell them the truth. That could wait, though, 
as Serena's main concern was that Sammy survived this. As she looked on the as best 
as she could, only seeing her small brother hooked up to many machines, knowing 
that her brother didn't belong there, she could only pray once more.

“Doctor Mesta told me that your dad's going to be alright,” Ikuko said as she came 
to embrace her daughter. “They think they can stitch him up easily, they said.”

“What about Sammy, though? I'm glad dad will be alright, but Sammy...oh God, mom, 
why did he think I was...?”

“Are you?”

“I...I really...”

“Never mind. It's not appropriate of me to ask that. Don't know why I did when our 
son could die.” She then broke off the embrace and leaned against a wall, only to 
punch it in frustration a few moments later. “Damn it! Serena, I feel horrible! I 
should've at least made sure Sammy didn't return! I'm such a failure, Serena! Sammy 
must hate me now! He's on those damn things because of me, I couldn't protect him! 
I'm sorry, Serena, it's all my fault!

While she heard her mother's words and wanted to respond to them, Serena had so 
many other thoughts in her mind all at once, and it was beginning to eat at her 
psyche. “Excuse me, mom. I need some air.” Serena then quickly headed outside the 
hospital walls. Ikuko didn't pursue her, even thought she believed she should have. 
She knew Serena needed some time to herself, especially with knowing the person who 
tried to kill her family was looking for her.
************************************************
“He's alive! That son of a bitch Rubeus is alive!” Serena yelled as she used her 
Sailor communicator to call her friends. There was another reason why she needed to 
get outside: To inform the others about the new danger, and what had happened.

“Hold on,” Lita responded. “He's alive? Didn't that strange thing he was on...?”

“I don't know how, and I don't care! All I know is that he knows I'm Sailor Moon, 
and he went after my family! My dad needs stitches now because of him! What he did 
to Sammy...oh God!”

“Get a hold of yourself, Serena,” Raye answered. “We'll just get over there as soon 
as we can.”

“No, don't worry. He wants me, and that's what he'll be getting. Tell Darien to get 
to the hospital. I don't want to risk anything else happening there, him being 
there will hopefully keep Rubeus from trying again.”

“But Serena, you don't know...!”

“Moon, crystal, power! Make up!”

She now had a reason to transform. This is what she desired, though it was far from 
how she wanted it to go. This was the type of incident that would give her 
nightmares some nights. She was with one thought, however, and that was to find 
Rubeus, and to end this. The feeling of the many ribbons surrounding her making up 
her Sailor suit, gloves, and knee high red boots were something in which she missed 
dearly. As the golden sparkles that made her tiara on her forehead completed the 
transformation, Sailor Moon could only think of one thing: to completely eradicate 
Rubeus and make him feel what he put her family through. She hoped that her friends 
told Darien to protect her family at the hospital (and that he obliged), and that 
Rubeus would be deterred from harming them anymore than he already did.

She rushed to Juuban Park, a few blocks south of the hospital building. No one was 
there as the park was closed, and Serena got to an open field of grass in the 
middle of the park and just stood there.

“RUBEUS!” Sailor Moon began screaming. “You're the one that wanted me to come out, 
and now you got my attention, you coward!”

“You shouldn't be so willing to face me just yet, Sailor Moon!”

Serena looked right in front of her after whipping her head back and forth, trying 
to find him, when she saw him appear, floating with his arms crossed just a few 
inches off the ground. 

“Yeah, look at you!” Rubeus yelled out at her. “You wanted to come after me, yet 
you don't do it? What a pity!”

“You piece of crap! If you ever even touch my family again, if Sammy dies because 
of you, so help me, I'll..!”

“WHAT? KILL ME? You couldn't before; Emerald thought she had when she left me to 
die in that ship! Luckily for me, I still had that escape pod to see my way here! 
You're not easy to find, though!”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“To say that this won't be the last time you see me! Hell, you didn't even know 
that I saw you talk to that damn feline about your boredom, did you, Serena 
Sommers?”

Serena didn't show any shock. She really didn't care at this point how he found 
out. “Don't worry, pal! That just means I'll be ready now more than ever for you!”

“HA! You weren't when I hurt your family, and to be honest, I wouldn't mind seeing 
them all die! Hell,” he continued, snickering though his rhetoric, “I don't care 
how much you try to stop me! It won't be the last, Serena! Hope your brother has a 
safe ride to Hell!”

Sailor Moon had enough, and ran to attack him, only to find that he was gone with a 
maniacal laugh. She looked all around, but there was no one there to go after. 
“Yeah, just hope I don't send you there first, pal!” she growled. She then quickly 
transformed back into her original alias, and returned to the hospital.
************************************************
Serena ran back like a sprinter, only to find that her friends were also there 
expecting her to come back.

“Serena, what happened?” Luna asked.

“Rubeus knows who we are,” Serena answered. “He said there are going to be more 
attacks. He wants us dead, wants me to suffer.”

“Going to have to be on guard, then,” Raye replied. 

“What happened to Sammy?” Amy questioned.

“He was in the emergency room last I knew. I couldn't stand there watching it. My 
mother was asking me if I was Sailor Moon. Rubeus attacked them demanding that they 
presented me to him, telling them that I was Sailor Moon. They didn't believe it.”

“Did you...?” Artemis began to ask.

“Not yet, but my mother might be suspicious now, and I don't know how long I can or 
should keep this a secret from them. If this is what Rubeus is going to try to 
do...”

“No!” Artemis harked. “Don't ever tell anyone who you are, not even...!”

“She may have a point, though,” Mina interrupted. “If Rubeus wants to be a coward, 
then it might be helpful to at least let them know who to call for if he tries this 
again.”

“Rubeus might reveal it to the world, anyway,” Lita added. “He can do whatever he 
wants with that kind of information.”

“No,” Serena answered, “that would be too risky for him. No one would believe him.”

“Still, you shouldn't tell them, Serena,” Artemis continued, although a bit calmer. 
“Being Sailor Moon is a huge responsibility, and if you are going to...”

“I'd rather people know who I am than to have my family go through this again, 
Artemis! If telling my mother I'm Sailor Moon gives them something against the next 
attack...”

“Hey, Serena!” The girls heard Ikuko yell out from the hospital doors. “It's about 
Sammy. I told him to wait until I get you!”

Serena cut through the others and into the hospital, and they all came in right 
behind her.
************************************************
“Okay, good news,” said the tall Doctor Mesta, “he's still alive.” 

“Oh, thank God,” Serena exhaled. The other girls only listened and prayed that 
everything that the doctor would say was good news.

“Bad news, though,” the baritone Doctor continued, “is that he's going to have to 
be put into our intensive care unit for a few weeks. We want to make sure he's 
alright, since whatever shot him got him good. The wound was pretty deep. I don't 
know if the kid will be the same once he recovers. I think he will be, but I've 
seen kids with smaller gunshot wounds be paralyzed or worse.”

“We'll pray for him,” Ikuzo responded. 

“You should. Actually, I think you might want to thank your daughter here. If we 
got to him any later, he probably would've died. Her quick thinking to use what she 
did to stop the bleeding bought us some much-needed time, as well. She's a hero, 
miss. Whatever she was doing to learn that stuff, make sure she keeps learning it. 
Not enough of people like her are willing to do what they can to save lives. I 
think you guys deserve some much needed sleep. Go home and come back here tomorrow 
morning. We'll be working on him throughout the night, and I can hopefully have 
some more info to give for you then. That is, unless you would like to stay here, 
being that you're his family.”

“Serena, you want to stay with your friends until this all is resolved?” Ikuko 
asked.

Serena was puzzled about her even asking that. “Wait, you're saying that you don't 
want me to stay here with you?”

“Serena, I know you want to protect your brother and all, but seeing how angry you 
are right now, I think it would be better if you didn't have to see it again and 
again! It would be too much for you! That,” Ikuko sighed, “and I feel guilty about 
not knowing Sammy was there. I feel awful for what I let him go through. I got to 
prove it to myself and to him that I didn't intend on just letting him die, Serena. 
Maybe if I can be the mother now that I wasn't when he got injured, it would be a 
step in the right direction!”

“Mom,” Serena said, “you don't have to feel sorry for yourself. You didn't know, 
and I'm sure he doesn't hate you. Yeah, you could've done things better and I'm 
sure you wish you could've, but that's the past, there's nothing you can do to 
change your mistakes now. All you can do is to learn from them and make sure this 
never happens again. There's only one person at fault here, too, and that's the 
person who came after you to begin with. Mom, no matter what you think of your 
abilities or the mistakes you have made, I trust you. I love you.” 

Ikuko and Serena looked at each other, and then hugged tightly for a few moments. 

“Tell my dad I'm going to be alright,” Serena said as the two shared their family 
bond. “He doesn't need to worry about me.”

“Alright, sweetie. I love you, too. Thank you, Serena. I needed to hear that, 
especially coming from you.”

Serena let a tear escape her as she let go of the embrace. With deep regret, Serena 
walked out of the hospital doors, her friends following her, unsure what to think 
about the situation.

“Good kid you raised there, miss,” the black-haired and mustached Doctor Mesta said 
afterwards. 

“I hope she makes the right decisions, though,” Ikuko answered. “I'm afraid that 
guy might try again.”

“I can call the police again, see if there is anything else they can do to protect 
you guys.”

“No, don't bother. Would be a lost cause knowing them. Don't think they could do 
anything about some freak of nature with supernatural powers, anyway. Probably just 
hide from him like they would anyone else. They probably would think I was some 
kind of weirdo.”

“I'm sure they would still care, but I'll respect your wishes nonetheless. Let me 
know if you change your mind. I'll go and catch up the paper work for Sammy. You 
should get some rest. G'night, miss. If you need anything, let me know.” Mesta then 
left Ikuzo to do his work, making sure his long, white doctor's coat didn't get 
caught on any doors along the way.

'Why did he say you were Sailor Moon, Serena?' Ikuzo thought. 'You don't have to 
hide it from me if you are. If it's true, please do me a favor and let this guy 
have it. Sammy, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to neglect you.' She tried her best to 
keep her tears hidden as she went to the room that her husband was being kept in.
************************************************
“He knows who I am, he knows how to find me, and he knows how to lure me out,” 
Serena was saying as she continued to fight with several decisions in her mind.

“That guy said you were a hero,” Raye responded. 

“I'm no hero. I'm just a teenager. Someone who tried to hide my problems from you 
guys, from my parents, everyone. I was never like that.”

“You were correct, though,” Luna answered. “Be careful what you wish for!”

“Yeah, I got it alright. At least now I know that it's for my own reasons. I need 
to avenge Sammy, avenge myself. I'm no hero. My family is hurting now because of 
me, and so help me, that will never happen again.”

“Just don't tell her, whatever you do,” Artemis said.

“Actually,” Luna chimed in response, “maybe we should let her make that decision 
herself.”

“Why should she?”

“Because,” Luna continued as she now faced Artemis, “for one, Serena has felt 
responsible for this because she never said anything about her other life. And 
two...I don't think her mother is going to be untrustworthy about something like 
that. It wouldn't hurt us from the Sailor standpoint.”

“Oh no, I don't mean that. I sensed she was pure. But if Serena feels as though 
that's the reason why she's somehow responsible for this, then imagine the guilt 
she might inure once she were to reveal that to her mother, and then say that she 
could've done something to prevent this. I don't want to see the result of that. I 
wouldn't reveal it. Not yet, anyway.”

“My mother is going through too much right now,” Serena added. “I want Rubeus' head 
first. He now knows who I am, so if he wants a fight with me, he knows I'm not that 
hard to find.”

“As long as I can get the old Serena back,” Luna responded. “I want the cheery girl 
you once were. I miss that, Serena!”

“Hey, you said the good grades can stay, Luna,” Lita smiled.

“I do want them to stay, but if it means that I lose the side of her I fell in love 
with...”

“She's always been here, Luna,” Serena answered. “No matter how much I grow, I'll 
always remember who I can trust, who has been here, and who can help me. You guys 
are so important to me. I'd never give you guys up for anything.” She then turned 
to Darien, who had to bite his tongue to not say how seldom she was even 
acknowledging his presence there. “Darien, I need you to do me a big favor.”

“Anything for you,” Darien answered.

“Stay here and look after them for me. If this creep comes back, I want to know 
there's someone that'll make him think twice about attacking my family again.”

“But Serena,...”

“I trust you so much, I wouldn't ask you this if I didn't care for you as much as I 
do, you know that.”

“I can't stand to see you hurt, though. If anything were to happen to you and I 
wasn't there to do what I could...”

“Rubeus wants to come after me, Darien. It was me that should've taken those shots; 
it should be me in that damn ICU hooked up to those damn machines. This is unlike 
anything I've faced before. This is not about protecting the future or guarding any 
crystal. He's made this very personal, and I intend on showing him how personal it 
really is. If anything happens, Darien, you know how to get in touch with me, 
alright? And don't worry about who knows it. If he's going to attack them again, 
I'd rather them know about you being Tuxedo Mask than him laying a finger on them.”

Darien let out a deep sigh, signifying that she was correct. “They're part of my 
family, too, Serena. I'll do anything to make sure they're alright, for me as well 
as you.”

“Thank you, my love. Trust me, it pains me to be separated from you again, but at 
least now I know where you are.” Serena turned around, walked a few paces, and then 
looked up at the starry sky.

“What's going on with the seriousness, Serena?” Luna asked. “I've never heard you 
talk like this before.”

“I've never felt like this before, Luna,” Serena answered, now with her hands 
balled up in fists and trembling violently. “Rubeus is going to realize that no 
one! Messes! With! My! Family!”
___________________________________________________________________
I hope you have enjoyed this little thing I have here, and I hope you will join me 
for further chapters. This is meant to be the first of several prequels that will 
precede my Deadworld fanfiction. Reviews and thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Good night, and good luck.