Sorry this chapter took so long!

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Enjoy!
Sailor Scouts R - Chapter 13: Secret Garden

	Mina was walking along the sidewalk, in a depressed mood.  
Mina has been depressed about several things, like Serena's 
disappearance, and Allen.  "I thought it was the guy's job to make the 
first move.  If it is, why hasn't Allen asked me out?"  Little did 
Mina know, that Allen has been following her for a while now, for just 
that purpose.

	Ann, meanwhile, spotted Darien early in the day and followed 
him to a bookstore, using a book as a means of hiding from him, "Oh 
Darien, your such a hunk!"  Darien put a book down and was about to 
leave when Ann made her presence known, "Fancy running into you here 
Darien."

	'Oh great, not Ann again,' was Darien's first thought before 
speaking, "How are you doing Ann?"

	"Oh, doing good.  Found this really great book.  Got to share 
it with a friend," Ann said, grabbing Darien by the arm.

	Darien only had time to ask, "Who, me," before being dragged 
off.

	Back at a café, Mina and Allen were having lunch and Allen 
said, "You know, it was quite a coincidence, running into you I mean."

	"Oh ya, definitely.  Can you pass the Ketchup," Mina asked.

	Allen was just about to comply when he heard a familiar voice 
say, "It's just lunch Ann."

	"It's not just lunch, Darien, it's karma," Allen turned to 
find the second voice to be Ann, with her arms around that Darien guy.

	Allen asked, "Ann?"

	Mina looked and thought, 'Whoops!  Looks like Darien needs 
rescuing again,' and asked, "Darien, what are you doing here?"

	"Excellent question.  Allen, we have stuff to do," Allen knew 
what Ann meant by 'stuff', and excused himself and left with his 
'sister'.

	Mina turned to Darien, "Looks like you owe me another one, 
Darien."  Darien just nodded gratefully and excused himself, saying 
something about needing to go home for homework.

	Allen and Ann got home to a horrifying site.  The Doom Tree 
was dieing.Its leaves were gray and shriveling up.  The leaves that 
didn't turn gray were falling off the tree.  Ann asked, "Allen what 
are we going to do?  The tree is dieing."

	Allen was equally worried, "I don't know Ann.  I've never seen 
it this bad before."

	"Those rotten Sailor Scouts, it's all their fault.  Though if 
you stopped chasing after miss bubblehead," Ann said, referring to 
Mina.

	"Oh, and your not fixated on mister hormone," Allen asked, 
referring to Darien.

	Ann sighed, "We have to forget about all that stuff, don't we. 
The tree is more important to us.  If it dies, we die."  Allen agreed 
and took out his stack of cardiens.

	In another part of town, a play was going on featuring puppets 
of the Sailor Scouts.  A large crowd had gathered there, even Molly 
and Melvin.  Shortly after it started though, a cardien with 4 faces 
showed up, "Beware four face, beware four face..." Every face was 
saying this line until all four said it, and threw what looked like 
flower pedals at the crowd.  These pedals attached themselves to each 
person in the crowd and started draining the energy out of them while 
all four faces said, "Give me your energy, give me your energy, give 
me your energy, give me your energy," and as quickly as it came, it 
left.

	Mina and the cats got to the show just as the cardien left, 
and saw all the unconscious people, "What happened? Oh, it's got to be 
the Negaverse."

	Luna examined one of the people and concluded, "Their energy 
has been totally drained away.  Yes, I think you got it right, Mina.  
Who else would do this to an entire crowd?"  Mina and the cats 
immediately called the scouts for an emergency meeting at the temple to 
discuss the attack.  However, during the meeting, no decisions were 
made because there was no clue as to how to track this new cardien yet.

	During the Scouts's meeting, Four Face was transferring the 
collected energy to the Doom Tree, but it seemed to be doing the 
opposite of healing it, which had the two aliens worried as Allen 
said, "What's going on?  I don't get it.  All this energy should be 
revitalizing the tree, not killing it.  What if it dies?"

	"Then we die," Ann said.  The two decided to conserve their 
energy for the time being and call in sick from school.

	The next day, at Amy's class with Ms. H, The teacher in 
question was taking attendance when she noticed who was missing, 
"Molly, Melvin, and Ann are all sick today?"

	Amy had heard about the attack yesterday, and also heard a 
rumor about Allen and Ann, and decided to bring it to the teacher's 
attention, "I think I know about Ann, it seems Allen is out sick too 
Ms. H."

	"Thank you, Amy.  Could you take notes for them and deliver 
their homework to them after school?"  After Amy's affirmative, class 
resumed with nothing out of the ordinary happening for the rest of 
school.

	After school, Lita walked with Amy to Allen and Ann's house to 
deliver their homework.  But for some reason, Lita didn't like the 
idea of paying them a visit, "Why do we have to go to their house 
anyway?"

	"Because Lita, I promised Ms. Haruna I'd deliver their 
assignments.  Ann may be a shrew, but she is still a classmate.  As 
for Allen, he is a decent guy."

	Lita smirked, "Ya, but don't say that when Mina is around, 
she'll go into Gagaland again."

	Both girls giggled at this and then Amy said, "I hope Melvin 
and Molly are alright.  Serena would probably find some way to come 
back from the dead to kill us if we let anything happen to them."

	Both girls got sad at the mention of Serena again, so Lita 
tried to brighten the mood a bit by saying, "Ya, your right.  We 
should go visit them next."

	Just then the girls got to Allen and Ann's apartment complex 
just as Mina was arriving too, "You two here to see Allen and Ann too?"

	Both Amy and Lita said yes before Lita smirked evilly at Mina, 
"Well I know who you're here to see, Mina."  Mina blushed beat red at 
this as the 3 went inside.

	When they got to their destination, and rang the doorbell, Ann 
opened the door and asked, rather rudely I might add, "What do you 
want?"

	Amy just opened her school bag and took out a stack of papers, 
"Ms. Haruna told me to give you the school work you and Allen missed 
for today, and plus we wanted to make sure you were ok."  Lita was 
about to protest that last part until Amy stamped on her foot to shut 
her up.

	Just then Allen came to the door and noticed Mina, "Hay girls, 
why don't you come right in.  We were just about to make some hot 
chocolate."

	"We were not," Ann explained, feeling outraged.

	Allen just kept talking as if Ann said nothing, "Come on I'll 
make that chocolate."

	While Allen was making the hot chocolate, Allen was thinking, 
"It's great, having Mina here."

	Meanwhile, Amy, Lita, and Mina were in the living room with 
Ann, when Mina asked, "So are you two feeling alright?"

	"Is that why you came nosing around here," Ann asked.

	"No," Mina protested, "We were just worried about you, that's 
all.  So, where are your parents?"

	"Who asked you to butt in anyway?  We are fully capable of 
taking care of ourselves," Ann said.

	Lita had enough by this point, "Lets book it guys.  We don't 
need this."

	"Hay, is this Allen's room?  Oh, cool! Electric doors," Mina 
explained as she pressed a button to open the doors.

	Ann was getting real angry by this point, "Stop it!"

	Allen, at that point, walked in just in time to shut the door 
before it could open too wide, "You can't go in there.  It's a real 
mess in there, maid's day off."

	"Hay no sweat, we can help you clean it up," Mina suggested.

	"Look, I didn't invite you here, so now it is time for you to 
go," Ann explained, "So here is your bag, and there is the door."

	"Come on, Mina.  They'll get along just fine without us," Lita 
said as they all left the apartment.

	"But the drinks are all ready and."

	"Another time, Allen, bye," Mina said as she closed the door 
behind her.

	Shortly after the scouts left Allen and Ann's place, the 2 
aliens walked onto their balcony as Ann asked, "Allen, what's 
happening to us?"

	"I don't know.  It's like I'm thinking with my heart instead 
of my head, you know?"

	"I don't know.  Maybe it's this place," Ann said, referring to 
the planet they are on.

	"What ever it is," Allen said, "I have a feeling it could be 
very dangerous."  By this point, the sun was setting so Allen and Ann 
went to bed.

	The next morning, at Mina's house, Artemis woke up to Mina's 
alarm clock going off, and jumped onto the bed, intending to wake Mina 
up, when he noticed the girl in question already left, "Huh? What 
happened to her."

	Mina, meanwhile, just got to Allen and Ann's apartment and 
rang the doorbell, which was answered, once again, by Ann, "What are 
you doing back here?"

	"Just came to walk the 2 of you to school.  That's what 
friends are for, right?"

	Just then, Allen came into the entryway, "Mina, what a brave 
girl you are!  You actually risked coming back here again?"

	"Just thought Ann would like some company walking to school," 
Mina explained.

	"No, I do not want any company," Ann explained, getting 
irritated by Mina's presence.

	"Oh, Ann, don't be such a curmudgeon.  Mina, how about some 
Hot Coco?"

	Mina squealed in delight as she walked inside, "Sure, I never 
turn down chocolate?"

	"Or anything else," Ann irritatingly pointed out.  Allen and 
Ann left Mina in the living room while they walked into the kitchen.

	Once there, Ann asked, "So what made you invite mighty mouth?"

	Allen choose to ignore the rood comment, "I don't know.  I 
just get these strange feelings when I'm around her."

	"You better be careful, cause she's a real snoop," Ann pointed 
out, not knowing how right she was at that moment.

	Mina was standing right outside 'Allen's bedroom', getting 
very tempted to open the door, 'Cool it Mina.  Curiosity killed the 
cat.'  "But then again, your not a cat so go for it," With that said, 
Mina pressed the button to open the door, and saw nothing but black 
before what can be described as a plant stretched out of the darkness 
and grabbed Mina.  She struggled to get loose shouting, "Help me! Let 
me go!"

	Just then Allen and Ann came running in and Allen closed the 
door as the vines let go of Mina and went back into the room before the 
doors shut.  Allen then turned to Mina and asked, "Are you alright?"

	Mina just asked, "What is in that room?"

	Allen came up with a quick cover up, "Oh, it's just a science 
project I'm working on for school."

	"Must be some weird science."

	"Uh, ya, it's a new science called, uh, space botany," Allen 
explained.

	"Oh, out of this world," Mina said.

	"Never mind that," Ann interrupted, "Barging in on someone's 
private room is very rude."

	"Uh, ya, I'm sorry," Mina stated.

	"Fine, apology excepted.  I wont be going to school today, so 
you might as well leave."  Mina agreed and left.

	As Mina was walking away from the apartment complex, she 
looked up to their room to see Allen, standing on the balcony, waving 
at her.  Mina returned the wave, "Hope you feel better tomorrow."

	Allen waved bye as a wave of, something, went through him as 
he thought, 'There's that weird feeling again.  I feel more alive, but 
scared.'

	Shortly after Mina left, Allen and Ann went into 'Allen's 
bedroom' to check on the tree.  The Doom Tree appeared to have 
regained some of it's bright color, and what looked like a baby tree 
was beginning to grow, which was noticed first by Ann, "What do you 
think, Allen.  The tree seems to be recovering."

	Allen nodded, "Ya, there has defiantly been some growth over 
the last day or 2."

	Ann, being the vindictive person she is, concluded, "About the 
time Mina showed up.  The tree seemed to thrive on her energy."

	"What are you getting at," Allen asked.

	"Maybe Mina is just what the doctor ordered," Ann said.

	"Now wait a minute!"

	"Allen, look the tree is everything to us, right?  If Mina's 
energy came save it, then I say lets zap her," Allen said.

	Allen had something else to say, "I have another card up my 
sleeve.  One I haven't played to the max yet.  Come here four face."

	The Cardien emerged from the darkness, "Four face here."

	Allen pointed to the seedling and said, "This seedling needs 
energy to grow."

	"It is done," the cardien said as it moved over the seedling 
and started feeding energy to it."

	Ann asked, "You think this will work?"

	"It might," Allen said, "If we can get it to grow then our 
problems are over."

	However, shortly after the energy transfer started, the 
seedling withered away and died as the cardien said, "I have failed 
you."

	"Oh no!"

	"The seedling is dead isn't it," Ann asked Allen.

	"Help me," a voice weakly replied, startling Allen and Ann.

	"Could that be the tree talking, Allen?"

	"I thought I heard a voice to.  Ah who are we kidding, it's 
just a tree."

	"But, what do we know about it, anyway," Ann asked.

	"Don't you remember what we were told?  The Doom tree is a 
highly evolved organism, that draws energy from other beings and 
transfers it to us."

	"Is that all?"

	"That's what I was told, Ann."

	While Allen and Ann were debating all this, Lita and Amy were 
in a secluded spot, speaking to Mina through their communicator.  Mina 
just finished explaining her morning trip to Allen and Ann's place 
when Lita asked, "You went back for more abuse?"

	Amy, however, had a different view, "I think it's very sweet 
of you to check up on your friends, Mina."

	Mina giggled a little, and Lita noticed something in Mina's 
hair when Mina turned her head a bit while giggling, "Hay, Mina, 
what's that in your hair?"

	Mina put her hand in her hair, found what Lita was referring 
to and threw to the ground to take a look at it.  After a few seconds, 
Amy and Lita noticed a panicked look on her face as she said, "Guys, 
call Ray.  Meeting after school."  Mina cut the connection before 
anything else could be said.

	Amy and Lita soon found out why Mina called the meeting when 
they got to the temple after school.  What had been in Mina's hair was 
a twig.  But not just any twig.  A twig that was moving!  Said twig 
was in a glass jar with Luna and Artemis on either side, as the girls 
gathered around.

	Once everyone was there, Mina asked the cats, "So what did you 
find out about it?"

	"Well," Luna said, "It drains energy from other people.  Go 
ahead and show them Artemis."

	"Really?  Do I have to?"

	"Are you chicken," Luna asked.

	"No, get off my case," with that, Artemis lowered his front 
right paw into the glass jar.  A second later, the twig jumped up and 
wrapped around Artemis's paw, "Ahhh!"  The girls were shocked and 
Artemis managed to shake the twig off his paw as it fell to bottom of 
the jar and started wiggling again."

	"See what I mean," Luna asked the Scouts.

	Lita then asked Mina, "And you had 'THAT' stuck in your hair 
all morning?"  Mina cringed as if her hair was now extremely dirty.

	"And it gets worse, I'm afraid.  I'm serious," Artemis said.

	"Cut the melodrama, Artemis, and tell us," Mina demanded.

	"Ok, this twig is from a tree, from the Negaverse," Artemis 
stated.

	If the girls' eyes didn't bug out before, they did then, "THE 
NEGAVERSE?!?!"

	"Ya, I see what you mean," Mina said.

	"The next question is, how did this tree get into Allen and 
Ann's apartment," Luna asked.

	Ray said, "I've always wondered about those 2.  Do you think 
they could be from the Negaverse?"

	"Allen had told me he was growing it for his space botany 
class, what ever that was," Mina said.

	"And you bought that story," the other scouts asked.

	"Yes, unfortunately.  But something about this is not adding 
up."  Mina then made a decision.  She got up and walked out of the 
temple.

	Artemis asked, "Mina where are you going?"

	"To have a little chat with Allen and Ann."

	"Mina, are you nuts," Artemis asked, taking chase after his 
charge.

	"Artemis, call us if anything comes up," Luna demanded.

	By the time Artemis could catch up to Mina, she was already 
right outside the apartment building, "Mina, I think it's dangerous 
for you to go in there alone."

	"Then come in with me," Mina suggested.

	Artemis just hung his head, "I give up."

	Just then, Darien rounded a corner and spotted Mina, "How's it 
going, Mina?"

	Mina turned to see Darien with some flowers, "Hi, Darien.  Who
are the flowers for?"

	"Well, I heard Allen and Ann were sick, so I wanted to come 
over to cheer them up since they helped out with the play and all."

	"But Darien you shouldn't go in there, they have space plants 
in there and they are very dangerous," Mina explained.

	Darien just laughed, "Space plants?  That's a good one, Mina.  
Look, if Ann really is sick I doubt she'll try to flirt much."

	With that said, Darien walked inside as Mina said, "I'm 
serious Darien.  Oh, I got to get him out of there."

	Mina then ran inside, with Artemis right behind her, "Mina, 
wait!"  By the time Mina got inside, she already missed Darien's 
elevator, so she had to wait for the next one. 

	By the time she got up there, Ann had already answered the 
door to greet Darien, so Mina decided to but in, "Darien, don't you 
think you stayed here long enough?"

	Ann saw Mina and thought, 'Now's my chance!'  "Mina, what a 
pleasant surprise!  Why don't come in and have some cookies and coco 
with us?"

	Mina was so surprised at Ann's act of kindness, she didn't see 
Allen walk into the entry way, "Hay, Mina, come on in.  We got some 
treats I know you'll love."  Min agreed and she, with Darien, went 
into the living room to chow down, in Mina's case anyway.

	Ann asked, "Why don't you guys leave us alone for a little 
girl chat?  Allen, you can show Darien the view from the balcony."

	Allen agreed, "Ok, come on Darien."

	Darien followed Allen outside to the balcony and Ann said, 
"So, Mina, now that we are alone, I can show you."

	"Show me what?"

	"Allen's tree of course.  Truth be told I'm scared stiff of 
that thing in there, but I'm sure I can handle it with you coming with 
me.  Come on, no time like the present to face your fears."  Ann then 
dragged Mina to the door, and opened in.  Mina looked in and didn't 
see anything. She was about to turn around, when Ann pushed her into 
the room and shouted, "Four face, come here and drain the filling out 
of this cream puff."

	Ann then closed the door as Mina asked, "Huh?"

	Mina's question was answered by a, "Beware, four face," and 
the cardien grabbed Mina before she could pull out her pen to 
transform, intent on draining Mina dry.

	The cardien had begun to drain Mina's energy when a voice rang 
out, "ENOUGH! ENOUGH! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!"

	The cardien looked around, trying to find who spoke, "Huh, no 
more?"

	The voice rang out again, "STOP IT!!!!!"  The next thing that 
happened was the tree began to glow.  It's roots came out of the 
ground and began spreading out.  It captured both mina and the 
cardien, and continued to grow, until not only the room was destroyed,
but the entire top floor as well.

	Allen looked at the tree and asked, "What's going on?"

	"This wasn't suppose to happen," Ann explained.

	Darien, looked up to see Mina, trapped within the roots 
surrounding her, "Mina!"

	Everyone then saw the cardien, also caught in the tree as the
cardien was saying, "out of control, out of control, out of..."  
Apparently by this point the tree got tired of it speaking so it 
slammed the cardien into the ground.  It then reverted to a burnt out 
playing card shortly later.

	Meanwhile, Artemis, who chose to stay outside when Mina ran 
in, saw the top floor explode and called the Scouts and Luna as a tree 
came into view and grew till it had roots and branches all over the 
building, blocking all ways in by the time the scouts arrived.  Lita 
asked, "Is that the tree?"

	"It's got to be," Luna said.

	"Wow!  This thing is huge," Ray stated.

	"We've got to get in there," Luna started, "Sailor Scouts, 
transform yourselves."

	"Gotcha ya," they said as they took out their transformation 
pens.

	"MERCURY POWER"
	"MARS POWER"
	"JUPITER POWER"

	After they all transformed, Sailor Jupiter got ready to make a 
door, "Coming right at ya."

	"JUPITER THUNDER CRASH"

	After the attack hit, an explosion went off, and when the dust 
settled, the tree's roots were still in the way as Jupiter said, 
"Darn, it didn't work."

	Then they heard a familiar voice shout from above, "Help me!"

	"That's Mina's voice," Jupiter Explained.

	"YA, but how are we going to get up there," Mercury asked.  
Nobody had a plan, so all they could do was wait, helplessly, until a 
plan was formed.

Well, that's this chapter.  Hope you like it.  Send comments to 
jgbess@community.net  Visit my web site at 
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