Scouts Of Justice

Episode 1 - Greetings to all

Her name was Jasmine Diamond, a typical thirteen year old girl. She was a fun-loving, good natured, ditzy young girl, who had average marks at school and enjoyed the arcade center a little more than the other girls her age. Jasmine also could make friends quite easily; in fact it was scary. She was a walking plague carrier of friendship. On the subject of the members of the opposite gender, she had a bit of bad luck with them, but she was still on the lookout. She wore a blue skirt, a pair of black school shoes with long white socks that ended below her knees, and a plain long sleeved white shirt that had a white-streaked blue sailor collar. She had a blue messenger bag slung across her shoulder and she carried a dusky pink file. Her hair was black and it just ended below her neck, her eyes were hazel. Definitely the typical thirteen year old school girl.

Not for a certain being however.

As Jasmine was walking home from a very tiring school day she noticed a small cat on the window sill of the pet store. The cat was white, but it definitely had a pinkish hue. It actually had pink eyes and a black nose. Jasmine suddenly noticed that it also had a small, faint heart shape on its forehead, she obviously found it cute. The cat looked up and straight into Jasmine�s eyes, its eyes had that sparkle of intelligence. It opened its mouth and meowed, "Saiwor Cwystawl."

Jasmine jumped back and blinked her eyes. "I must be dreaming," she said softly to herself, slowly shaking her head. She gave the cat a small farewell wave, looked at her watch, and ran home.

The cat stopped cleaning itself, it had the information it needed. It started to glow pink until only its outline was apparent, and then it suddenly disappeared in a soft, tiny explosion, leaving behind fading pink particles.

* * *

"Hi Mom!" Jasmine yelled in greeting as she barreled through the door of their sub-urban home.

Jasmine�s mother, Lana Diamond, walked out of the kitchen. She wore a simple dress with a pair of black high heels and had this mysterious smile of benevolence on her face. She shared her daughter�s hazel eyes and black hair, though her hair was shorter. Lana always has had this dreamy content smile each time she cooked. Jasmine didn�t mind though, she enjoyed her mother�s meals.

"Hello Jasmine," she replied softly, "don�t forget about lunch in thirty minutes� time."

"Don�t worry mom," Jasmine winked as she ran up the stairs to her room, "I won�t forget."

Lana smiled, Jasmine never forgot about lunch.

* * *

Jasmine burst into her room and closed the door; she threw her bag on to her bed, the duvet and pillow set had pictures of kittens at play. Her room had a central theme to it, chaotic pink. She had a wallpaper and carpeting of hazy pink. Her closet had posters of her favorite celebrities, and on study table, there was a silver hi-fi system. She had a collection of plush toys on the shelf right next to her bed. As she was looking at the collection she noticed there was minor problem, there was an extra plush toy. It was a white cat that had a pink hue, pink eyes, and black nose; it also had a faint heart shaped mark on its forehead. She scratched her head in confusion, she had seen the cat before, and she never had known that this plush toy ever existed.

"This has been a long difficult day," Jasmine muttered to herself as she resolutely turned her back on the shelf and walked out of her room, "so let�s forget about this whole thing and go to eat lunch."

As she closed the door, Jasmine thought she heard a small sigh of exasperation.

* * *

It was ten o�clock in the night and Jasmine had just gotten herself into bed for what was supposed to be a restful slumber. Someone had other ideas though; including trying to remain calm as it was not used to the form of an inanimate toy. Someone else had an idea to raise the ultimate evil. Poor Jasmine was in for an interesting time when she woke up.

Midnight, Jasmine slept soundly with beautiful dreams about this guy or that, on her shelves of plush toys a faint heart of a certain cat started to glow. The eyes blinked and the nose started to twitch, it got off its hind legs and stretched. The now animate cat looked at Jasmine with a certain amount irritation. It jumped off the shelf and on to the bed. It walked right up to her head and sat there on its hind legs, waiting.

The cat�s heart stopped glowing and pink particles started to swirl around Jasmine�s bed. It took a deep breath then called softly, "Sailor Crystal." No effect, Jasmine still laid there. So it tried again, "Sailor Crystal, wake up." Still nothing, so in a final bid to wake up Jasmine, the cat�s heart flared up, very brightly, "Sailor Crystal, please wake up, it�s of the utmost importance." Jasmine stirred for a while, then, went back to sleep. The cat�s jaw dropped open; it could not believe it. It recovered; closed its mouth and sighed.

"Who�s that?" Jasmine asked dreamily as she woke up, "What�s going on?"

The cat fell back in momentary disbelief; a sigh had just woken this silly girl up! It then looked at her then said, "Finally, you�re awake, I need to talk with you."

Jasmine, at that very moment, suddenly became fully awake. Having a talking cat in your room was definitely an experience. "I�m still in a dream, right?" Jasmine smiled dreamily.

"Really, I couldn�t care less," the cat stated in a business-like manner, "just as long as I can speak with you."

"About what?" Jasmine was still smiling, that was the only way to stop herself from screaming.

The cat looked startled then shook its head slowly. It carefully asked, "What about the other Scouts?"

"Other Scouts?" Jasmine�s reply definitely told the cat that she had absolutely no clue what was going, in fact, if she didn�t know, then the others would also be clueless.

"Guess I�ve got to start from the beginning," it sighed. "My name is Minerva, I am the Counselor of the Sailor Scouts. We have been betrayed by one of our number. A dangerous enemy to Earth has returned after five thousand years of banishment, the seal that has kept her away from Earth has been broken."

"And what may I ask, does this have to do with me and these �others�?" Jasmine inquired, a bit irritated at the �dream� she was having, not a single cute guy in sight!

The heart on Minerva�s forehead glowed brightly; "It has everything to do with you."

A pink-hued bubble flew out of Minerva�s heart and orbited around Jasmine leaving behind a trail of pink particles in its wake. It stopped as it reached Jasmine�s outstretched left hand, then popped, leaving a pen to land on her palm. It was fourteen centimeters long and had a small diamond jewel in the form of a heart on the lid.

"You will know what to do with it when it�s the right time." Minerva�s heart flared up and Jasmine promptly went back to sleep. Minerva sighed and looked at Jasmine, "She�s Earth�s only defender right now, I�ll have to stay and teach her."

* * *

It was midnight when a shadowed figure entered an abandoned building in a derelict neighborhood. The figure looked around the empty ground floor and ran down a flight of stairs to the basement. It looked around again and went into the first room on its left. The figure walked to section of the wall, pressed a certain brick, and stepped back.

The brick slid into the wall and disappeared, and a strange, transparent fluid was sprayed out from the space in the wall. The liquid stopped when it was two inches from the wall and formed a ball. The ball flattened out into a circular object, perpendicular to the floor and facing the mysterious figure.

The figure walked into the portal and found itself in a forest full of darkness. As it walked through the forest it pulled back the hood to its cobalt cloak to reveal the head of an adolescent male. He had short, black hair with dark blue highlights. His eyes were azure with grey tones. He had a tiny black sword on his forehead, it looked as if it had been tattoed on. With every single step his black boots made; he was one step closer to his goal. He looked at the dark castle and walked on, determined to get there no matter what. He had been strolling on the twisting, leaf-strewn path for a while when a wolf-like creature leapt in front of him.

He stopped and a slow smile crept across his face. "How cute," he said in smooth, chilly voice.

The wolf-like creature bayed and ran to him in an attack. He ran to it as well, leaving dust cloud and a wildly flapping cloak in his wake. As they met he jabbed his right elbow into the wolf�s abdominal area. The creature�s eyes widened as he picked it up with his elbow and smashed his left palm into the creature�s painful stomach, he then released a cobalt beam of pure energy that blasted it into the sky. He brought down his smoking hand and kept on walking to the castle. As he walked on, the creature he had blasted into the sky smashed into the ground in a crumpled, bloodied, smoking heap.

"You�re welcome," he said with a sadistic grin as dark energies flew from the creature surrounded him and flew of to the castle, he kept on walking.

After a walk punctuated by random creatures trying to attack him, he reached the castle. He frowned, suddenly turned around, and blasted a dark creature in a tree behind him. It fell down and burst into a bright blue inferno. Bearing an expression of slight annoyance he kept on walking along the paved path.

His name had been Eric, an ordinary, everyday fifteen year old orphan, until the dreams came. At first they were beautiful; they surpassed anything he had ever seen. One he that remembered especially involved this beautiful girl.

They were both standing on a balcony of a vast palace overlooking a vast shimmering ocean; she wore a cerulean gown and he wore cobalt European armor. At the time she was looking up at the clear night sky at the shimmering stars and a full moon. The moon�s light bathed everything in a soft silver color.

"Sometimes I wonder," she started as he came up to her. "Will we stay together forever?"

"Yes we will," he heard his voice reply confidently, "you know that, I know that, hell, even the skies know that."

"How I wish you�re right," she turned and smiled sadly at him, she looked ethereal in the silver light. "I love you Lancelot, nothing will ever change that." She went up to him and hugged him.

"I love you too�"

The dream had ended before he could hear her name.

Eventually the dreams became more violent. They usually focused on a certain relationship. He remembered him and others trying to help keep it secret.

"Your highness," he remembered one of his brother paladins speaking to the Prince, they were inside a bedroom. This one had a balcony over-looking an emerald forest. "She�s starting to suspect your involvement with the Princess." This Paladin wore obsidian Samurai armor.

"To be honest with you Musashi I really couldn�t care less," the Prince replied. He was the only one who did not wear full armor. He wore silver boots, silver gauntlets, and a silver breastplate. There was a golden emblem on his white cloak. It was a single sword surrounded by a wreath. They all had the emblem on their armor.

"I think you should care," another Paladin spoke up suddenly, this one wore saffron Greek armor. He hardly spoke at all and had distanced himself from the others ever since they had met, so they were more than a little amazed. "Little miss bossy has a way of turning nasty at the slightest provocation."

"Achilles has a point," he heard himself say. "Augustus had a run in with her some time back."

"She was horrid," Augustus confirmed shuddering. He wore vermilion Roman armor. "Her first words were, �Where�s your stupid master?� I�m telling you, if she finds out, there�s going to be hell to pay."

"We have to keep her as far away from the truth as possible," the one who spoke wore jade Chinese armor.

"Any suggestions on how we do that Zhouqiao?" the prince asked with a smile.

Lancelot shook his head; he had more important things to do. Plus, for some reason the dreams were getting more indistinct with each passing moment.

He opened the huge double doors to the castle and walked down the dark hallways. He suddenly stopped as he reached for the door handle to the throne room. He saw an image of the mysterious cerulean girl; her expression was that of immense sadness. He grabbed the door handle and stepped inside the throne room, only to see three others kneeling at a woman seated upon a strange crystal-like throne.

"Welcome Lancelot Cobalt," she greeted as she looked at him. "We�ve been waiting for you." The woman wore a long, dark gown that had a sequence of dark jewels sown on. Her hair was plain, but most was covered by a dark jeweled tiara that had strings of jewels going from it only to end were her hair stopped, mid-back. She had purple-hued scarlet eyes, they were filled with an ancient arrogance and hatred; she was quite beautiful, yet for some reason, she seemed repulsive at the same time.

He walked up to the throne and kneeled to her. "Sorry for my late arrival," he apologized, "I was looking for the last of our number."

"Indeed," Musashi Kuroi said as he stood up. "I too took some time to look for him."

"He�s always been a little strange," Augustus Scarlet smiled.

"Should we look for him Morgan?" Zhouqiao Lu inquired.

"No, we�ve already wasted enough time trying to look for him, Achilles Saffron will just have to wait," the finality in her voice was unmistakable.

Lancelot frowned, he knew Achilles far better than the others. They had no idea how dangerous he truly was.

* * *

A yellow hued white cat was walking on a building over-looking the city. It had an indistinct sword shape on its forehead. It was a good thing, Achilles thought, that he had been embodied in the form of a cat. This enabled him to resist the memory summons. It would have normally wiped out his past memories, but instead they brought out his memories, identity, and a part of his power. He knew that he had no time to lose, the Prince must be found and awakened. He had already found one of the Scouts.

"He should be easy to find!" He said out loud in sheer irritation.

"Truly," the Scout behind him said. She wore a white, non-sleeved, figure hugging suit that covered her torso and abdomen, it had a grey sailor collar. This was coupled with a grey skirt, a pair of grey high heels, and white gloves. Her long, white hair was mid-back length, and also wore a grey mask and had a heart-shaped amethyst on her forehead.

"Why do you keep on restricting yourself, Sailor Crescent?" Achilles asked in an annoyed tone.

"I like this form," she replied calmly. "By the way, I�m still Sailor Spry."

"As you wish," Achilles sighed. His eyes widened as he sensed a huge surge of power, another had been found. He felt like smiling, Minerva had done as she said she would. "A scout has been found," he was overjoyed. Another one had been found!

"Awesome!" Sailor Spry giggled, "Should I help this one immediately?"

"No," Achilles replied, "not until I say so. Besides we still have someone to look for."

Sailor Spry shrugged, "Whatever you think is best."

* * *

Jasmine woke in her room thinking that last night�s event was nothing but a dream � until she saw the pen in her left hand.

"This is so surreal," she said quietly. She stared at it for a few minutes before she snapped out of it and put it on her bedside table. "Come on Jasmine," she berated herself, "you have school today, don�t want to be late, again."

"You are so strange Sailor Crystal," a giggling voice came from her bed.

Jasmine turned around slowly, only to find a cat on her bed. "Minerva?" she squeaked.

"That�s right," the cat nodded her head.

"I have a feeling that things are going to be a bit different from now on," she said with a small voice.

Minerva looked at her with humor in her pink eyes and winked, "You have no idea."

* * *

"Through out our History, ever since Plato first wrote it, there has been mention of the Legendary Kingdom of Atlantis," Mr. Ocrates droned on.

Jasmine was in her fourth lesson of the day and she was trying to pay attention. It was a little hard to do so since she was absolutely captivated by her new pen, not to mention the fact that a talking cat was at home.

"Miss Diamond," Mr. Ocrates� voice startled her out of her reverie. "Please tell me a few facts about Atlantis, since you think that it is hardly worth your time."

Jasmine thought for a while and somehow her mind started throw disjointed memories at her, "The capital city of Atlantis was an island within an island. The kingdom itself spanned half of the entire globe. It was the center of learning, power, and culture. It had advanced technology, not to mention the fact that its guardians were very powerful. A queen ruled it at the time of its demise. The princess fell in love with the prince of the rival kingdom. Both kingdoms were destroyed when the prince�s jealous lover erupted into a rage and gathered opposition to the blossoming love between the prince and princess."

Mr. Ocrates was astounded. Not only did the silly girl know about Atlantis, but she also knew about the recent findings! "Well done Jasmine," he said, attempting to recover his dignity amongst the muffled laughter of the class. The bell rang, signaling the end of the period. "Don�t forget about the essays on the culture of the Native Americans due tomorrow. And Jasmine, stay behind, I would like to have a word with you."

The class quickly poured out and Jasmine walked to Mr. Ocrates� table, "You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes," he adjusted his glasses and looked at Jasmine. "Just how did you know about the recent findings of Atlantis?"

Jasmine looked around for a second and abruptly said, "Internet."

"Really," Mr. Ocrates had a raised eyebrow. "Go on to your next lesson Miss Diamond."

Jasmine breathed a sigh of relief after she got out of the class. "That was close."

"You said it," a voice came out of her bag.

Jasmine stopped walking suddenly and looked inside her bag. She saw Minerva comfortably lying on her file; flipping through a book she borrowed form the library. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at home!" she hissed.

"I decided to come along,"; Minerva�s voice bubbled up in her mind. "By the way, I suggest you stop thinking about what you are going to do to me." Jasmine zipped up her bag and kept on walking. "Do you even know the meaning of those words?"

* * *

Lancelot was in his room looking around when he saw his piano. His eyes widened as he saw the cerulean form appear on the stool in front of the keys. She smiled at him and pointed at the keys. He sat down and pressed a few of the keys experimentally. He took a deep breath and played a song that had been weaving around in his head for years. As he played on, his confidence with the piano grew, until it seemed that more than one piano was playing the same song. Suddenly he saw a teenage boy, about two years younger than him walking across a quiet street.

Lancelot�s eyes widened and the cerulean image softly giggled as she faded away.

* * *

Zhouqiao was on the room of high building. He looked over the square and the instructions that Morgan gave them played through his mind.

"We must find the Silver Imperium, it can give us the energy we need to resurrect the dark one. While you are looking for it, gather as much life force as possible to further our cause."

Zhouqiao looked at the people below and wondered where the Imperium could be. It suddenly clicked. What if it was inside a human? He shook his head to dismiss the silly idea; that human would possess almost unlimited power. Zhouqiao suddenly felt a strange surge of power.

"A Scout," he snarled as he leapt to another building in a jade blur to find the source of the power.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Jasmine said softly to her plush toy on her shoulder. "The warriors known as Paladins have gone rogue and joined forces with the enemy and not only that, but this same enemy was the one who threatened to enslaved this world."

"That�s correct Sailor Crystal," Minerva�s voice replied. "The thing is, they have been brainwashed, so the only memories they have are memories of their fighting skills, and not to mention that - one of them is coming!" Minerva�s voice was now filled with panic.

"One of them?" Jasmine said out loud in her confusion.

Almost as an answer to her question. A cloaked figure walked up to the edge of the building and jumped off, to the gasps of panic from the crowd below. He landed perfectly in a kneeling position and stood up as if he was not the one who had just leapt off a five storey building. The Paladin was wearing a light green cloak with a jade fastener. Underneath it he had a strange viridian suit and a pair of black boots on. The suit looked like one that most generals would wear in a parade. He had green hair and strange green eyes, from what Jasmine could see, the Paladin was definitely oriental. Not knowing how to react, the crowd slowly backed away from him. He smirked and thrust out his hands at the people. Jasmine saw a faint green force fly out of his hands and fling away his poor victims.

As if a television set was turned on in her mind, Minerva started to see flashes of the Paladin�s past.

* * *

Zhouqiao Lu was born Jian Leong, a shy boy who was constantly picked on by others his age at school and around his home. Home offered no solace as his mother was a drunkard and very abusive, the only people who had ever understood him had been taken away one by one. First his father died when he was three, that led his mother on her self-destructive spree. Secondly, his childhood sweetheart, a girl named Xiao Lin had moved to Beijing. So the list went on and on, eventually he grew more twisted and thirsted for vengence, that was when the Memory Summons came.

All that can be said was that he sadistically enjoyed the killing rampage that followed, include the death of an innocent girl in Beijing.

* * *

"Sailor Crystal you must do something!" Minerva suddenly threw her voice into Jasmine�s mind, snapping herself out the memory nightmare.

Jasmine looked around and ran into an alley. Minerva jumped off her shoulder and waited expectantly. She took out her pen and closed her eyes in concentration. The small heart started to glow a soft gold; the nimbus surrounded her as well. She opened her eyes and pointed the pen up to the sky.

"Crystal, make up!" Her voice echoed slightly. She started to feel as if there was a sudden migration of new memories surfacing in her mind. Jasmine inexplicably knew that she would never be the same again.

The diamond flared up, covering her in a golden light. She started to levitate and her form was now indistinct. Two tawny eyes suddenly opened and the form dropped her left arm, shattering the light she was encased in. Jasmine looked very different from before, she wore a white body suit with a golden skirt and golden sailor collar. Her arms had white elbow length gloves with golden bands and wore a pair of golden high heeled boots with white bands, her blond hair went down to the area between her mid back and the bottom of her neck. It was held by a golden bow and had a glittering heart-shaped diamond on her forehead.

Minerva smiled, "Welcome Sailor Crystal."

Sailor Crystal smiled back, "Thank you Minerva." Screams of terror and sounds of destruction filled the alley. "Let�s go," Sailor Crystal frowned, "we�ve got a Paladin to stop."

She grabbed Minerva and jumped up on to a building. She ran up to the building�s side and leapt off, landing right in front of the startled Paladin.

"Paladin!" She commanded as she struck a pose, "Go back from where you came!"

"We haven�t been properly introduced," The Paladin smirked. "The name�s Zhouqiao Midori." He thrust out his hands at Sailor Crystal.

She blocked against the faint green force, but was still thrown back. Amazingly enough, Sailor Crystal instinctively flipped back as she was in the air and landed on her feet. She ran to the surprised Paladin and shouldered him away. Zhouqiao slid back on the road for a while and burst at her in an attack. Sailor Crystal saw this and ran at him in turn. They both jumped a short distance away from each other. Zhouqiao tried to knee her face, but she flipped back just before his knee and kicked the center of his back. The Paladin slightly arched in pain, but he landed on his feet. Sailor Crystal completed her aerial maneuver and had landed kneeling. She jumped up and turned around.

"This sure is fun!" She smiled and tweaked her head.

"Fun?" Zhouqiao was more than just a bit angry. "I�ll show you fun!"

He kneeled and put his right hand before his face with his fore and middle fingers pointing up. "True Queen of Darkness, grant me your power!"

A strange dark light shimmered around him as an aura. He stood up, raised his hand, and pointed at a random person in the street. The dark light gathered around his fingers and jumped to a man in business suit, who was currently running away. The ball hit and surrounded him as it permeated into his body. He held his head as he collapsed on to his knees. He lifted his head and roared as he transformed. His torso, arms, and legs grew larger and became more gorilla-like. His head morphed into a gorilla�s head, it�s muzzle extended outwards. A thick, glistening fur washed over it, it roared again, displaying the rows of razor-sharp teeth it had. The transformation was complete, the creature stood up, and looked at Sailor Crystal with malicious gaze.

"Introducing, the Business Fiend!" Zhouqiao smirked and stepped back, "Let�s see what you can do with this!"

The Fiend was twice as large as the original business man. It had a well defined body with claws on both hands and feet. It had black fur all over. It wore a hat and had a suit on. This definitely watered down its tough and vicious look.

"Okay," Sailor Crystal said confidently, "no problem."

She ran to it and slammed her shoulder it in its abdominal area, and doubled it up with punch-to-spinning heel kick combo. Sailor Crystal flipped back and ran to knee it in its abdominal area. The Fiend, unhurt, simply looked down at her and when she was about knee it, easily picked her up with both hands. It threw her to a wall. At that very moment, Sailor Crystal found that being a Sailor Scout was far better than being a human. Though she collided into the wall at roughly eighty miles per hour, she survived and stood up somewhat shakily.

"Sailor Crystal!" Minerva�s scolding voice echoed through her mind. "What were you doing!"

"I was attacking it!" She shouted as she ran to the Fiend in an attack.

"You should have attacked it!" Minerva shouted back, Sailor Crystal was cartwheeling away from a tie that acted like a snake and was trying to constrict her.

"That�s what I just did!" She threw back the thought as she jumped out of he way of a hat that sliced through the wall.

"Not that way you suicidal idiot!" Minerva snapped back as Sailor Crystal jumped over the fiend and sprang off of its back.

"It worked with the Paladin," Sailor Crystal replied in a surly tone, stopping for a second.

"That�s because Zhouqiao wasn�t expecting it," Minerva said slowly, as if explaining to a child.

"What do you suggest?" She asked as she somersaulted back.

"You remember how you concentrated when you where transforming?" Minerva�s mystic instruction came.

Sailor Crystal broke out in a huge smile as she found out that she understood the message. She landed on a portion of an outdoor caf�. She closed her eyes and concentrated, the Jewel on her forehead started to glow. The Business Fiend barreled to her in an attack. Sailor Crystal opened her somewhat glowing eyes and grinned. She ran to it, jumped up and over it, landing behind it, she looked at the Fiend and brought out both of her arms towards it.

"Crystal Beam!" She shouted out. It was necessary for her to say it. For one thing, the words gave the energy within her a form to be ejected safely. For another, it would also hopefully strike fear into her opponent�s heart.

A ball of clear energy formed in between her hands and quickly expanded to fill the space. It was then ejected into a beam of energy which exploded on contact with the fiend. She somersaulted to the cloud and kicked the Fiend out of it. The Fiend landed in an untidy heap, while Sailor Crystal landed with her back to it. She turned around and the golden pen appeared in her right hand. She looked at it for a second and it started to stretch out to a length double of its original. The golden coating started to flake off, revealing a crystal shaft. Sailor Crystal held her new wand in front of her face as if about to start a duel, the wand flashed gold as if to warn all of its power.

Sailor Crystal then did a little dance routine with the wand weaving intricate, glowing, white patterns in a sphere surrounding her. She suddenly stopped and pointed the wand to the sky, "Crystal Power!"

She pointed the wand at the Fiend and the patterns on the sphere around her swirled around the point in front of the wand. A shaft of pure, white light burst out of the sphere and headed to the Fiend. When it reached the target, the light engulfed it, and all you could see was a silhouette of a struggling Fiend. After the attack ran its course, Sailor Crystal turned around and struck a pose with her wand pointing downwards, the sphere surrounding her shattered. Behind her a smoking Fiend fell down and a dark aura exploded out of it. The business man laid there too tired to even move. Zhouqiao gasped in shock, the silly girl had just destroyed his masterpiece!

Sailor Crystal smiled, "I am the Precious Scout, Sailor Crystal, and I will punish you!"

Zhouqiao wrapped his cloak around him. "We�ll meet again Sailor Scout," he started to glow green, "and you will not be so lucky next time." The green aura flared up and when it died down, he was gone.

Sailor Crystal ran and leapt on to a nearby building and on to another until she was far away from the commotion. She looked over the city and broke out into a large grin.

"Well done Sailor Crystal," Minerva appeared in a collection of pink particles.

"How did you do that?" She asked, a bit surprised at the entry.

"Teleportation," Minerva shrugged, "you�ll learn how to do it sometime soon."

"That was awesome!" The new Scout suddenly giggled, "Being a Scout rocks!"

"But remember that the entire planet is dependent on you to protect it, until the others come," Minerva�s serious tone almost dampened her elation.

"Others?" She snapped her fingers, "The other scouts!"

"Yes," Minerva nodded her head. "Shall we?"

"Let�s do it!" Sailor Crystal giggled and leapt on to building tops with Minerva following her.

* * *

"What!" Morgan shrieked in disbelief, "A Scout is actually alive?"

"Yes Morgan," Zhouqiao nervously confirmed. It was clear that Zhouqiao did not enjoy breaking the news to her.

"Better him than me," Augustus whispered to Musashi, causing him to chuckle.

In the background Lancelot crossed his arms, his face solemn. It�s only a matter of time. He turned around and walked out of the throne room. As Musashi looked at Lancelot leave the room; he thought that he saw the black sword on his forehead flash grey.

"It seems like I�m going to have some fun with my dear brother Paladin," Musashi thought with an evil smirk. "Pity Achilles isn�t here right now."

* * *

"WHO ARE YOU!"�"Hello, my name is�"�"What�s the matter?"� "I know that, but she doesn�t."� "Get out of here!"� "That thing is trying to drown her�"� A white glove reached out to her� "They�re two halves of a whole�"� "The Shrouded Scout�"

Jasmine woke up with a start, she looked down at the tangled sheets on her bed, and it was obvious that she had had a violent dream. She tried to remember what it was, but the dream had already faded into the mists of her mind. Jasmine yawned and promptly went to sleep.

BACK