Ami tossed and turned in her sleep, her face the pained expression of someone having a very bad dream. Iyse peered at Ami from his T-stand perch a few feet away. He tried to see what was going on, but his eyes were designed for diurnal use, not for seeing in the dark. He chirped, unsure of what was going on in his owner’s mind.

Ami’s dream was indeed a nightmare. Everywhere she turned in her dreamworld, there was a gigantic snake. In her dream, she tried to run away, but her limbs felt like lead. The snake coiled around her, and began to constrict…

Ami woke up screaming! She looked around her room, seeing nothing but the pale feathery form that was her Archaeopteryx. She wiped her brow, only then realizing that her shirt was soaked with sweat. She got up and changed her shirt, and then looked out the window. Some clouds hid the full moon. Ami stared out at Tokyo’s skyline, and wondered.

What does that dream mean? And why does there have to be a snake in it? I hate snakes!

Ami turned and got back into bed, certain she wouldn’t sleep very much tonight. The same thing had happened the night before. Ami needed to sleep. She settled in, and fell into a fitful sleep. She needed to sleep; there was a test the day after tomorrow…

THE NEXT DAY:

Ami yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Something wrong, Ami-chan?" Usagi chirped.

"I couldn’t sleep last night, that’s all." Ami said cheerily. "No need to worry."

"You can’t lie to us, Ami-chan." Flora said. "You’re very tired. Something must be wrong."

"No, Flora-chan. Nothing is wrong." Ami assured.

"It’s Ami-chan’s business. Leave her alone." Rei said.

"If a friend of mine is having trouble, it’s my job to help them out!" Usagi shouted.

"Usagi, act like a normal person for once." Rei said offhandedly.

"I am!"

"No you’re not!"

"It’s not your problem!"

"I’m MAKING it my problem!"

"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU!" everyone shouted at the top of their lungs.

"Try to go ONE day without arguing, you two." Minako said.

"I’ll try, if Rei-chan doesn’t do something stupid." Usagi said, crossing her arms and frowning.

"Shut up, Usagi!" Rei snapped. "It’s always your stupidity and clumsiness that causes the arguments anyway!"

Usagi tried to grab Rei, but Flora grabbed her.

"Weren’t you listening to us? Try NOT arguing." The orange-haired girl chirped. "If you do, I’ll give you both ten dollars."

"Flora-chan, you’ve made stupid bets before, and-"

Makoto cut off Sauro’s protest. She clapped her hand over Sauro’s mouth.

"Sauro-chan, this could be entertaining. Let’s see what happens." Makoto said, unable to suppress a smile. Sauro nodded.

IN THE NEO-DARK KINGDOM:

Amberite paced back and forth in front of her throne. She cursed, and flung the staff away in anger.

"Where have those idiots Opal and Jadeite gone! I’ve been trying to find them for half an hour!" she snarled to herself. "How will I implement my plan without energy?"

Opal slunk into the room and picked up Amberite’s staff. She stood for a moment, admiring it, until Amberite noticed.

"Opal! Bring my staff back to me at once!" Amberite shouted. Opal, looking down at the floor, walked up to Amberite and handed her the staff.

"Now that I know where you are, I’m going to search for a target. Choose a Negamon, and be ready to go at my command. You may bring Jadeite on your mission, if you wish, I no longer care." Amberite said imperiously.

Opal nodded, and backed out of the room, head still demurely bowed. Rubeus appeared out of nowhere.

"I can’t believe you still tolerate her."

"Quiet, Rubeus! I could very easily kill you. Opal is still of some use to me. I won’t kill her… yet. You had better watch out for yourself." Amberite said. Rubeus froze, then disappeared.

"Now, to find a person from whom to drain energy." Amberite said. She sat on the throne and the staff floated in front of her. The crystal ball at the top started to glow.

ELSEWHERE:

Opal swiped her hand over her mirror. She looked at images of various Negamon. Suddenly, a hand struck over her shoulder, touching the screen. On the screen was the image of a snake Negamon, Constrictor.

"That one will do nicely." Jadeite said. "Snakes are formidable creatures."

"I hate snakes!" Opal shrieked. "And it’s MY job to choose Negamon."

"Says who?"

"Amberite."

"I don’t care what that pompous witch says. I’m choosing the Negamon."

"Just this once, Jadeite." Opal said, glowering.

Jadeite kissed Opal on the forehead. "I want my chance to toy with those Sailor Senshi. They’ll be sorry they ever messed with us!"

He disappeared into thin air.

LATER:

Ami sat on the edge of her bed. It was late, but she was still awake, barely. Her head nodded slightly and her eyes closed, then she shook her head to wake herself up. Iyse squawked, and a tongue of blue fire licked from his mouth.

"Iyse, I told you not to use your ice fire in the house." Ami scolded drowsily. She lay back on her bed, and was asleep the instant her head hit the sheets. As she slept, she grimaced and rolled over, undoubtedly experiencing the same terrible dream again. Iyse cocked his head and chirped, unsure of what was going on. Without knowing why, he hissed and puffed up to almost twice his size by fluffing his feathers.

Ami’s dreamworld was even more terrifying now. She was trapped in the coils of a giant snake. The snake began shrink and constrict at the same time. It soon was smaller, though still huge. Ami couldn’t breathe! The snake was preparing to eat her/. Then a sharp crack slashed the air, and the snake loosened its grip. It opened its jaws… and blue fire in the symbol of Mercury hit the giant serpent, and it let Ami go. She fell and fell, until she hit a pool of water the same color as the snake’s eyes. As she opened her eyes, she could see a giant pair of pale green eyes looking at her, and then the snake lunged out from between the eyes, jaws open wide. Ami tried to scream, but her voice caught in her throat. As the jaws of the monstrous snake engulfed her, she woke up. She was lying on the floor, entangled in her sheets. She stood up.

"How am I ever supposed to get any sleep around here with those stupid dreams?" Ami said. Iyse looked at her from his perch. From what he could see, there were bags under her eyes, which he knew meant a lack of sleep.

Ami rearranged her sheets and pillow, and laid back on the bed. She was soon asleep again.

ELSEWHERE:

"I think I might be getting something." Amberite said, looking at her staff. The crystal ball was turning blue inside…

LATER THE NEXT DAY:

Ami felt terrible. She had fallen asleep, right in the middle of her test. She hadn’t had the time to complete it. Unfortunately, none of the others seemed to understand.

"Relax, Ami-chan. It’s just one test." Makoto said, smiling nervously. She didn’t always get good grades herself.

"Yeah, I’ve failed millions of them." Usagi said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Ami turned to look at Usagi, her eyes cold as ice. "Just because you’re happy with terrible grades doesn’t mean that I am!"

Usagi scrambled backwards, away from Ami.

"But surely it’s not as bad as you say." Minako said. "What’s one bad grade?"

"You don’t understand. I always get good grades, and that’s what is expected from me. If I get the grades you and Usagi-chan always get, I’d be a disgrace."

Usagi and Minako both hung their heads and sighed.

"Just because you two are failures doesn’t mean that Ami-chan wants to be one." Sauro said, leaning against the nearest wall.

"Sauro-kun!" Minako hissed.

Ami stood up.

"I’m going home to study. I have to work even harder than before to make up for this."

She walked off. Many pairs of eyes, not all of them human, watched her go.

"A strange aura is coming from her." Sauro said.

<It’s stress.> Io said.

"Stress…" Sauro mused.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Slither said to himself.

"What’s wrong with her?" Flora said, arriving on the scene.

"She had a little bit of a crisis, Flora." Makoto said. "School stuff, nothing to concern you."

"Whatever."

"Incidentally, Flora-chan, Usagi and Rei-chan haven’t argued yet. I think you’re about to lose twenty dollars." Sauro said.

"I doubt it. They’ll argue sooner or later. They always do."

IN THE NEO-DARK KINGDOM:

Amberite banged the butt of her staff on the floor, and it projected an image into the air. In the image was a teenage girl with blue hair. Ami.

"This girl, Ami Mizuno, is your new target. Drain her energy or else!" Amberite commanded. Her gaze turned to Opal. "Opal, I trust you’ve picked out a Negamon to drain the target’s energy?"

Opal nodded. "Yes. Jadeite and I are awaiting your orders."

"Do not go immediately. That would be foolish. Leave when it is night in Tokyo."

"Yes, Queen Amberite."

"You see, I think you need the element of surprise, since you seem to run into those pesky Senshi every time I send you on an energy-collecting mission." Amberite said, with a slight hint of arrogance.

"I will strike during the night. Ami Mizuno will never know what hit her!" Opal cackled. She snapped her fingers and disappeared.

"I hope they do better this time." Amberite said, as a faint smile creased her lips. "I’ll wring both their necks myself if they delay Operation Crystal."

ELSEWHERE:

Ami tossed and turned in her sleep again. Iyse preened himself drowsily.

A streetlight shed its light into Ami’s room, striping the walls, the floor, and Iyse with strange shadowy patterns. A tree grew near Ami’s window. The window was open, letting in a breeze. Iyse fluffed his feathers against the breeze. Suddenly, another shadow started to slide across the floor. A dark shape appeared at Ami’s window, then started to slither inside. A giant snake serpentined through the open window, and across the floor towards Ami. Iyse was paralyzed with fear, unable to make any move to help his mistress. The snake reared up at the foot of Ami’s bed and prepared to strike. Fortunately for Ami, she woke up. Her eyes slowly opened, and she saw the snake at the foot of her bed. She screamed. The snake struck, missing Ami by inches and biting into the headboard of her bed. Ami scrambled out of bed, and ran. The snake turned to follow… but icy fire washed over it.

"Screaming Blaster!" Iyse crowed, scorching the snake again. The snake lashed at Iyse with its tail, sending the Archaeopteryx flying, smashing into a wall. The snake slithered off in pursuit of Ami.

Ami dashed through the house, trying to find somewhere that she could transform. She opened the front door, ran out, and slammed it behind her. She could hear the snake coming towards the door.

"My mother would have to be working late tonight." Ami said. "And why did that monster have to be a snake, of all things?!"

Suddenly, the doorknob turned. Ami stood there perplexed, unsure of how a snake could open a door. It wasn’t a snake at all. A woman stood in the doorway with a gigantic snake at her side. As she walked into the light, Ami was somehow not surprised. It was Opal.

"Now, now, Ms. Mizuno. Just relax and this will all be over soon. Constrictor!"

At Opal’s command, the snake struck at a speed that belied its size. It quickly wrapped its coils around Ami’s body, and began to constrict. Ami knew what was coming. It was going to suffocate her by slowly constricting, but she wouldn’t let that happen. She looked up at the snake’s emotionless eyes, just as Opal barked another command.

"Constrictor, drain her energy!"

The snake’s eyes started to glow, and Ami could feel the energy being drained from her body like a sponge being wrung out. She tried to scream or fight back, but she was so tired…

"Excellent, Constrictor!" Opal cackled. Jadeite appeared next to her.

"Not bad, Opal. You set this attack up nicely."

"Thanks for the compliment." Opal said, blushing.

Ami could scarcely move. She felt weak, too weak to fight back…

"Almost all of her energy is gone. Constrictor, kill her!" Jadeite commanded.

Constrictor opened his jaws. Ami knew that she was going to die.

"SCREAMING BLASTER!"

A blast of ice fire washed over Constrictor. The snake hissed in pain and released Amy from its coils. It coiled up, ready to strike. Iyse hovered in midair, readying another Screaming Blaster. Opal cracked her whip and lashed it at Iyse. He dodged it and continued to blast Constrictor. The snake, meanwhile, was trying to get to Ami in order to eat her. Iyse landed in front of Ami. He extended his wings, puffing out his feathers in order to look bigger. He opened his mouth, hissing defiantly. Constrictor struck, but Iyse met his strike with another Screaming Blaster attack. Constrictor circled around, trying to get past Iyse, but the Archaeopteryx followed.

"That damned lizard-bird! Stop interfering, you stupid thing!" Opal snarled. She grabbed her whip and advanced on Iyse, brandishing the whip angrily.

Iyse turned to look at Opal, and regarded her with a bit of amusement. Before she could use her whip, Iyse opened his mouth.

"Screaming Blaster!" Iyse crowed, as a fountain of icy fire erupted from his mouth and washed over Opal. She screamed in pain. Then, furious, she took a step towards Iyse, unaware that her hair was on fire.

"Uh, Opal…"

"Yes, Jadeite?"

"Shouldn’t you extinguish your hair first?"

Opal shrieked and frantically beat at her head until the flames were extinguished. Her hair singed, she lashed her whip at Iyse. It wrapped around one of his wings.

"Constrictor, kill the girl!" Opal shouted. The snake, only too happy to oblige, lunged towards Ami. Then a pink rose sliced through the air and embedded into the ground. Ami, half-conscious, looked up.

"Good. They’ve come to save me."

"Snakes are noble creatures that should not be twisted to your purposes, Opal!" Tuxedo Raptor shouted.

"We’ll stop you!" Eternal Sailor Moon said. Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Gaia, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Venus were standing on the street. Tuxedo Raptor was perched atop a streetlight.

"Oh, no, we’re attracting Sailor Senshi!" Opal whined.

"Don’t whine, Opal," Jadeite said, rolling his eyes. "Just attack them!"

Opal smiled. "Constrictor, kill!"

The snake slithered full speed towards the Sailor Senshi. Meanwhile, Opal leapt at Tuxedo Raptor. She slashed with her whip, and it wrapped around his arm. She blasted dark energy at him with her other hand. Tuxedo Raptor, though injured, extended his sword and fired a Sauros Beam at Opal, missing her.

"I’ll blast all the life out of you!" Opal shouted

Suddenly, without warning, Sailor Jupiter tackled Opal. She blasted Sailor Jupiter at point-blank range. She crashed into the side of a house, then fell to the ground unconscious. Tuxedo Raptor leapt at Opal, sword first, but Jadeite blocked the attack with his own sword.

Constrictor lunged at Sailor Gaia. She screamed and ducked aside.

"Venus Love Chain Encircle!"

A chain wrapped around Constrictor’s mouth, holding it shut.

"Vine Lashing!"

A vine wrapped around Constrictor’s mouth from the opposite side, holding the mouth shut. The giant snake whipped his head from side to side, than plunged after Eternal Sailor Moon, dragging Sailor Venus and Sailor Gaia helplessly along with it.

With a single swift move, Tuxedo Raptor disarmed Jadeite and had the Razor Fang at his throat.

"Go back to the Neo-Dark Kingdom!" Tuxedo Raptor commanded. Jadeite, his face a mask of repressed fury, disappeared. Opal started to tremble. Then her confidence returned. Her whip slashed a line in Sailor Gaia’s face, causing her to let go. She hit Sailor Venus on the arm with the whip, and she let go as well. Unencumbered now, Constrictor struck openmouthed at Eternal Sailor Moon.

"Thunder Eagle Blast!"

"Wings of Love, Razor Feathers!"

Constrictor was unprepared for the attacks, and went flying away, thrown off course. It crashed on the ground next to Eternal Sailor Moon. Unhurt, it reared up and struck at Eternal Sailor Moon. It missed her, but grabbed a wing in its mouth. She was jerked off her feet and pulled along.

"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"

A spray of electric leaves hit Constrictor, and the snake let go of Eternal Sailor Moon’s Sailor outfit.

"Mars Flame Sniper!"

Constrictor threw itself to the side, avoiding Sailor Mars’ attack.

It slithered away from the Sailor Senshi, and started to weave hypnotically. Its body seemed to flow like water, and its eyes gleamed like lanterns. Eternal Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Gaia, Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, and Ami were held fast, unable to look away. Even Opal was captivated. She slapped herself, and then smiled.

"Now I know why Jadeite wanted a snake. Those Sailor Senshi are hypnotized."

"But I’m not."

Opal whirled in alarm at the sound of Tuxedo Raptor’s voice. "Why aren’t you-"

"I know snakes. Real snakes can’t do that, you know."

Tuxedo Raptor turned away from Opal and aimed his sword at Constrictor.

"Thunderbird Air Strike!"

An eagle-like bird of lightning and thunder flew at Constrictor. The blast sent the snake flying, and snapped the Sailor Senshi out of their trance.

"What was that? I couldn’t look away from that snake’s eyes." Sailor Gaia said, rubbing her eyes.

"You were hypnotized by the snake." Tuxedo Raptor said. "Now, shouldn’t we end this little fiasco?"

"But how?" Sailor Venus asked.

"Serena, if you would."

"Right. Silver Moon Crystal Power…"

Constrictor turned and tried to escape, but it was far too slow.

"KISS!"

Constrictor was destroyed, and dissolved into black energy.

Opal froze. Her eyes widened, and she leapt away. Her eyes turned cold and hard, and she shouted angrily at the Sailor Senshi.

"I’ll get you!"

Eternal Sailor Moon brandished her weapon.

"Opal, you’re punished!" she shouted. "Silver Moon Crystal Power KISS!"

Opal screamed, losing her common sense for a moment. When she regained her senses, it was too late to move. Then, many things happened at once. A dark portal opened next to Opal. Jadeite reached out of it. He grabbed Opal by the arm, and pulled her into the portal, which subsequently closed. Eternal Sailor Moon’s attack hit the area where Opal had just been, causing a small explosion because of Opal’s presence moments before.

"I did it!" Eternal Sailor Moon shouted, hopping up and down.

"Big deal. It was Tuxedo Raptor who called us and saved everyone from the snake’s hypnosis." Sailor Mars said tauntingly.

"Who cares?! I destroyed Opal, and that’s what counts!" Eternal Sailor Moon snapped.

"So? What about Jadeite? He’s not dead."

"I’ll destroy him too!"

"If you’re not too busy eating or sleeping!"

"You traitor!"

"I am not!"

Sailor Gaia immediately popped up in between the two. "You owe me ten dollars each."

"WHAT?!" Eternal Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars snarled in unison.

"You were just arguing. Hence, I won the bet."

Sailor Jupiter started to laugh. "That was more entertaining than I thought. Holly even won the bet!"

Tuxedo Raptor, meanwhile, was examining the area hit by Sailor Moon’s attack.

"Strange. Something doesn’t seem right about this." he said

THE NEXT DAY:

In the morning, Ami thanked Sauro as soon as she saw him.

"Thank you very much for saving me from Opal’s creature. How did you know I was being attacked?"

"Iyse told me somehow, I can’t explain it better than that."

"Hey, Ami-chan!"

Usagi, Makoto, and Minako appeared suddenly.

"Am-chan, what are you going to do about your grade?"

Ami smiled slightly. "Well, I’m not that concerned about it any more. When a giant snake nearly kills you, you think about things differently. One bad grade won’t kill me, unlike that Constrictor thing. I’ll just study harder than ever to make up for it."

"Is that possible?" Minako asked.

"Of course. Your problem is that you hardly study at all."

"Thanks for reminding me."

"You’re welcome."

"I was being sarcastic."

"I know."

IN THE NEO-DARK KINGDOM:

"Amberite, I have failed." Opal said. She bowed down so low that her face nearly touched the ground. Her body was scorched from the near miss of Sailor Moon’s attack.

"You may have nearly been destroyed, but you also gave me the perfect energy. We got more from that girl than we got from our last target!" Amberite said. She had something concealed in her pocket. "Enough for me to initiate phase one of Operation Crystal!"

Opal stood straight up. "What?!"

"But how could you do it with the energy from so few people?" Jadeite asked.

"The last two targets gave us more energy than even I had hoped!" Amberite said, smiling coldly. The kind of smile that sends a chill up your spine.

Amberite’s other generals stood behind Opal and Jadeite, and Rubeus stood next to Amberite’s throne.

"Operation Crystal’s initiation is the beginning of a whole new chapter in Earth’s history! Without Sailor Moon to stop us, the other Sailor Senshi should be no problem to eliminate!"

"What about Dino-, Tuxedo Rapt-, hell, whatever he is?"

"I have something special in store for him, Opal. Now, the object that will ensure the Neo-Dark Kingdom’s dominance over this planet!"

Amberite reached into her pocket and pulled out something. As she opened her hand, Pearl sighed in disappointment.

"That’s it? A lump of glass? I expected something more impressive."

"Silence, Pearl. As of this moment, Eternal Sailor Moon is no more!"

The crystal began to glow brilliantly, flooding every nook and cranny of D-Point with blinding light. Everybody squinted or covered their eyes against the sudden light. Amberite smiled from ear to ear like a hungry shark. She placed the crystal on her staff, and it embedded itself into the staff. Amberite held up her staff as the light faded. Tendrils of black lightning snaked down from the ceiling, absorbing into the globe of amber atop the staff. Amberite started to laugh maniacally as the dark lightning flickered around her…

MEANWHILE:

Usagi was walking, with Luna next to her. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, Usagi collapsed. Clutching her brooch and her chest, she fell.

"Usagi-chan!" Luna cried. She watched in bewilderment and fear as faint streaks of black energy began to crackle along Usagi’s body. When the energy disappeared, Usagi sat up, apparently unharmed.

"Usagi-chan, are you okay?" a concerned Luna asked.

"I think so. I don’t know what just happened."

"I don’t either, but I don’t like it one bit."

ELSEWHERE:

Sailor Lacerta lifted he head to stare over the ocean. Her yellow eyes reflected the ocean like mirrors.

"My enemies have just made their move. I just have to be ready for their attack."

She leapt down out of a tree and landed lightly on her feet. Looking quickly around, she dashed away with surprising speed.