-Episode 06-



"Err," the man's face distorted into a grimace. "Exactly how do I do this?"

Atra gave a distinguished sigh. "Overload the cryssstal with the energy. It isss sssimple, and with my calculationsss what we have isss jussst enough."

"And if your calculations are wrong…?" he asked, and started to tip the basket over.

"They never are," Atra growled, and then grabbed the basket from him. "That'sss not the way."

Startled, the man backed off as the demon set the basket on the ground next to the crystal and then stuck her arm into it. A glowing sort of liquid began to fill her arm as she placed her other hand on to the crystal. The man watched as the energy flowed up her arm, through her translucent shoulders, and down the other arm into the crystal.

As more and more energy entered the crystal, it started to glow. Steadily it gave off light until it seemed as if it weren't for the stone roof above them, their rock could be a lighthouse. It came to a point where the man had to shield his eyes, watching Atra out of the corner of one. Then he spotted the end to the energy, a trickle that followed the path through the Shadow and into the crystal.

"Now what?" The man queried, his eyes almost completely covered behind his hands.

"It will ssshatter like glasss," Atra stated as if it were obvious.

Shrugging, he edged sideways until he was standing next to the crystal. Then, with a sharp kick to it, he stumbled backwards again and fell into his chair, watching as cracks spread like fine spider webs across the surface of the crystal. With a loud cracking noise, it shattered, sending shards flying across the room. The light from the energy dissipated.

The man got out of his chair and edged forward towards the limp form on the floor, surrounded by dissolving pieces of crystal. Her brilliant orange hair, released from its confinement, seemed to have taken on a life of its own, and slowly billowed out around her. Her skin was paler than ivory, almost white, and she wore a simple orange dress which showed off a bit of her cleavage, but mostly hid her clawed feet.

He could not tell if she was breathing as he took one of her black-gloved hands to feel for her pulse. However, before he could find one, her eyelids abruptly lifted, revealing her dark orange eyes beneath. She took a shuddering breath and stared at the man without blinking.

Then, suddenly, she yanked her hand away and jumped to her feet, her eyes filled with a mix of anger and fear. The man, bewildered, staggered backwards and to his feet, feeling the black chair behind him and gripping it for support. The lady seemed to take this as a threat, and the anger from her eyes filtered into her face.

Dark brown, leathery, bat-like wings appeared from her back, making her look menacing and even bigger. She edged forward, the talons on her hawk-like feet clicking on the floor, ready to rip something apart.

"Kaisha!" The man finally managed to cry, "it's me! It's me, Enshoku! Wake up!"

Kaisha didn't seem to hear him though, and lunged forward, bringing up her talons and using her wings as balance. She missed, however, for Enshoku had leapt out of the way last second, and he watched as she collided with the chair. Snarling, she turned towards him and spread her wings out, apparently trying to be even more menacing.

Enshoku growled back, feeling his own, mouse brown wings appear, wrapping around his shoulders. The lady made a strange gurgling sound as she saw his wings, and her face suddenly lost all traces of anger. Instead, it held a calm, intolerant look as she folded up her wings behind her and sat down in the black chair.

"You seem touchy today, Enshoku," she observed in a silky, low voice as she looked him over from the chair. "Did you get enough sleep?"

He blinked and stared at her, still lost by her abrupt change of mood.

"Relax, relax," she beckoned him to a large boulder near the chair which Enshoku had left for a footstool. "Sit down."

Compelled, Enshoku relaxed, his wings disappearing as he shuffled over to the rock and sat down with the air of an obedient puppy. He looked up at her with a dazed look upon his face, but she paid him little attention and rather turned to the Shadows standing against the wall.

"Shadows," Kaisha said, "report. What has happened during my…stasis?"

"We've discovered that-" Enshoku began.

The lady stopped him with a wave of her hand and narrowed her eyes. "I didn't ask you."

Snickers were audible from the translucent forms against the wall, and Enshoku grumbled darkly. Atra stepped forward, a smirk barely visible, and recited all that had happened since Enshoku had awakened.

As she finished, Kaisha scowled, "the Moon Kingdom is gone, yet the senshi are still here? Down on Earth? That's odd…what happened to the Moon Kingdom?"

Atra shrugged, "We have yet to find out that particular piessse of information, Massster."

"Hmm," Kaisha mumbled, staring off into space.

Silence fell over the room as minutes elapsed, soon turning into a full quarter of an hour before Kaisha began mumbling to herself under her breath. Becoming annoyed, Enshoku scrunched up his eyebrows, now resembling a pouting puppy.

"Massster," Atra suddenly hissed, breaking the silence. "We, uh, have bad newsss."

Enshoku stopped pouting and looked confused as Kaisha waved her hand for Atra to continue, although she didn't stop muttering to herself.

"If our calculationsss are correct, then," Atra stopped, mustering up a look of concern on her shadowy features. "Then because of the long ssstasssisss, you only have a ssshort time to live."

The man gaped at Atra, and Kaisha looked uneasy, but not surprised as she replied, "why so?"

"Becaussse of mortal deterioration and the abrupt change with environmentsss, you probably have a month, at leassst," Atra hissed, having mastered the look of concern. "It'sss much like the effect with objectsss left in water for a long time. They are pressserved until they are taken out and exposssed to air again. Your natural deterioration wasss ssslowed down, but now that you have been let free…"

"And why, might I ask, did you not tell me before I let Kaisha out?" Enshoku growled, interrupting the demon. "Maybe I could've found a way to stop it-!"

"That would be immortality," Kaisha said, cutting him off. "Too long has that been searched for, to find it within a month. It is better you awoke me, for maybe with my help, we can find it."

"You believe her, then?" Enshoku rounded. "She could be wrong!"

"But I was just thinking about the same thing," Kaisha stated. "I would not doubt myself, and I hope you would not doubt me either."

The orange-haired man blanched under her cold gaze and firmly shut his mouth. Atra hid her smirk behind a yawn. Kaisha turned her gaze away and began muttering again, staring into the stonewalls ahead of her as she did. This went on for a few minutes before she abruptly turned to Atra again.

"Atra, you said the senshi were back?" She said slowly and the Shadow nodded. "And you said that there were new ones…a white one, a black one, and now a red one, correct?"

"Yesss," Atra nodded. "They called themssselvesss sssenssshi of the dimensssionsss."

Kaisha grinned, "and were not these same senshi at the battle where we were sealed away for so long?"

Atra, feigning confusion, nodded again.

"And wasn't that one little girl with the staff…she had an object of power, correct?"

"Yesss, you mean the Pyramid?" Atra looked curious.

"Yes, I do," Kaisha smirked. "That pyramid-thing. It was powerful enough to dispel Demenos. Could it be powerful enough to dispel mortality?"

"My thoughtsss," Atra nodded, letting herself grin. "But how are we to get it? I have not ssseen that particular sssenssshi."

"Well, we must get her to show herself, no?" Kaisha slowed down a bit. "And to do that, we must draw the others out…we must corner them, and ask them. They must know. That is your next mission, Atra; to find out how to get that pyramid-thingy. Surely it is guarded, if it is as powerful as we think."

Atra bowed, "We will find out, Massster."

"Good, you are dismissed," Kaisha waved her hand and the Shadow bowed again before returning to her fellow Shadows against the wall.

"I don't know how you can trust that scheming creature," Enshoku grumbled.

"I can," Kaisha stated. "She and her clan swore their allegiance to me. And they did not leave while we were in stasis, now did they? They even helped you."

"They don't do anything without personal gain," Enshoku returned, almost whining.

Kaisha did not answer, but there was a strange gleam in her eye. However, the man could not tell what it was, for she shut her eyes and leaned back in her chair.

"I'm going to take a nice nap. Wake me up when they're back," she sighed.

Enshoku nodded, and stared at her, the puppy dog look coming back to his face. Kaisha looked incredibly angelic, her bright orange hair framing her face as it smoothed out with sleep.

Atra watched this with disgust before calling softly into the shadows. "Plumba, come forth."

"Forth I come, Massster," hissed a Shadow with one small, dark gray eye.

"I am sssure you heard everything."

"Of courssse."

"Then go and do not return until you find that information," Atra ordered.

"Of courssse," Plumba grinned, two lead pipes materializing into her hands at her sides as she walked towards the space underneath the hole in the roof.

"Ussse any method, jussst don't let them find out anything," Atra stated.

The Shadow nodded once before leaping up through the hole and away towards Earth. Atra smirked and disappeared back into the corners to rest.



Ami and Trish darted from the building, slipping past the guard at the gate to join up with the other girls and cats standing next to the tree. They looked anxious, and Trish realized that Ami and she must've been getting near the hour limit. When the girls saw the duo appear from the darkness, their expressions turned to relief, and they rushed forward to greet them.

However, when they started asking questions about what had happened, Ami held up a hand to shush them. "We should discuss this back at the temple."

They agreed, and quietly the group set off, walking back to the temple. As they left, Trish felt the familiar weight of Ora alight on her shoulder. The pale blonde held up her hand to the bird, which he jumped to, and then brought her hand up to her face so she could effectively glare at him.

"And where were you?" She grumbled.

Ora simply chirruped and gave her a soft peck on the nose before hopping back to her shoulder. Trish wished fervently that the bird could talk, but as he hadn't previously, she held no hope for him to acquire that talent in the future. So she walked silently with the rest until they reached the temple.

As the girls entered their normal meeting room, Ami was assaulted with questions.

"So, did you get it?" Usagi asked first.

"Anybody see you?" Makoto wondered.

"Why did you take so long?" Rei growled. "You had us all worried!"

"Girls," Luna interrupted, "stop questioning them. Ami-chan, would you please explain what happened?"

The blue-haired genius took a deep breath before launching into what happened after they entered the building. When she finished she took out her mini computer and excused herself as she examined the data that had been collected.

"Another?" Rei blanched, looking distressed.

"Was it another Dimension Senshi, Trish-chan?" Minako wondered.

Trish nodded. "Na, considering that her fuku was entirely red…yes."

"Did she say who she was?" Artemis asked, climbing to the table next to Luna.

"No," Trish shook her head.

"Do you know who she is?" Rei inquired.

"No."

"What I want to know," Makoto stated, "is how she knew you guys were in trouble. Was she just walking by? Did you guys scream at all?"

"No, we didn't scream," Trish gave her a strange look. "And I don't know how she knew. How do you guys know when the others are in trouble?"

Makoto just shrugged.

Ami leaned forward, putting her mini computer on to the tabletop, effectively interrupting the conversation. "I think I've figured it out."

The girls turned their attention to her.

"From my readings, there's a small meteoroid in orbit around the Earth, about a third of the way to the moon," Ami said. "There also seems to be some sort of life on it, and somehow, it's keeping a thin atmosphere. Though how, I can't find, since it barely has a diameter as wide as this shrine, which shouldn't merit much gravity. However, it seems to be where our enemy is located."

"Let's blow it up now!" Makoto exclaimed.

"That would be the simplest answer…" Luna chuckled.

"But we're not sure what they're up to yet, are we?" Usagi piped up. "We shouldn't hurt them that way yet…"

"Kill the snake in the shell," Rei put in.

"No!" Usagi cried, "all they've done is steal energy! They haven't actually killed anyone and maybe they just don't know…"

"Besides," Trish cut in, "how are we to get into space and blow up a large rock?"

"We could," Minako stated. "But Usagi-chan's right."

"Yes, we should find out more about them before we consider such drastic measures," Artemis chipped in. "Was there anything else you learned, Ami-chan?"

"Well, I could tell you at what speed it's traveling…" Ami started, but then by the looks on the faces of the other girls she stopped and smiled. "However, that's irrelevant. But at least we now know where the enemy is coming from; not just appearing out of thin air here on Earth."

The girls nodded and Trish checked her watch.

"It's late," she stated, getting up. "I need to go."

"Bai bai, Trish-chan!" Usagi waved.

"Are we going to meet tomorrow?" Trish asked, wavering at the door.

"No, not unless something happens," Rei returned.

"See you Monday, then!" Trish cried, and ran out the door with Ora still on her shoulder.

"She sure is optimistic..." Makoto rolled her eyes.



Trish lazed around her exchange parent's house Sunday, happy to have a day off. She barely remembered an hour before bedtime that she had a large load of homework, and ended up passing that bedtime by a few hours as she scurried to finish it. By the time she made it to bed, she was grateful.

The blonde went through school the next day perkily, despite her lack of sleep. Ami and Usagi informed her at lunch that there wasn't going to be a meeting today, for Rei's grandpa had decided to hold some sort of thing at the temple; they weren't sure what and neither, apparently, was Rei.

Thus, Trish made up her mind, about halfway through the end of the day, that instead of going with Usagi and the others to the arcade, she'd see if she could find Brekke's school, and maybe Brekke. She felt it was her duty to inform her counterpart about what they had discovered at the observatory and who she had seen.

So after school she made her way over to the base, having to ask for directions only twice from random passersby. Finding the school for the base was easier, since it was right next to it, as Brekke had said. As she walked up to the door of the school the bell rang inside and she had to jump out of the way as a flood of students came out.

Trish watched from the side, looking for the familiar black-haired girl, and saw her, one of the last to leave, with her brown-haired friend. The blonde jumped up and down and waved at her.

"Brekke! Brekke!" She shouted through the crowd.

She grinned as Brekke abruptly halted and looked at her, narrowing her eyes. Beside her, the brown-haired girl looked quizzically from Brekke to her. Trish bounced over to her before Brekke could move.

"Trish!" Brekke greeted, grinning. ")I was wondering if I'd see you today.("

")Who is she?(" The brown-haired girl whispered to Brekke.

")This is Trish,(" Brekke introduced. ")Trish, this is Jennifer.("

")Hallo!(" Trish grinned.

")Hello,(" Jennifer returned, eyeing the blonde. ")I thought you said she was your stalker?("

")Stalker?(" Trish raised an eyebrow and looked at Brekke.

")Ah, well,(" Brekke grinned, ")she was! But we worked it out. She just, uh, found something I left behind at the park the other day, and then we became friends. Right?(" She elbowed Trish discreetly.

")Right,(" Trish nodded slowly.

")Right,(" Brekke mimicked, then turned to Jennifer. ")Do you mind if Trish comes with us to the festival?("

")Ah, of course not,(" Jennifer said, still looking mistrustfully at the blonde.

")What festival?(" Trish wondered, tilting her head to one side.

")The one that private school is holding,(" Brekke explained as they began walking along the sidewalk away from the school. ")With all the snobby rich girls. Just around the corner. And look, they have candy!("

With this, the black-haired girl rushed forward onto the private school's grounds and stopped in front of a booth selling all sorts of interesting sweets. Trish and Jennifer exchanged glances before darting after her. The festival seemed to have just started, because there weren't many people there, and most of the girls were still in their school uniforms.

The trio walked among the booths, occasionally dishing out yen to buy a small trinket or more food, and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The pale blonde completely forgot why she had sought out Brekke in the first place. But as they neared the end of the booths in one row, she suddenly saw something that reminded her.

A short, red-haired girl of obviously western origins was manning the booth next to the one they were at, one with art supplies and beautiful paintings on sale. Ringlets of her very curly hair hung down into her face and around it, accenting her tanned skin and brown eyes. She had a faint speckling of freckles as well, and looked completely bored.

The resemblance between her and the senshi from Saturday night was unmistakable, and Trish had to bite her lip from calling out to her at once. But Brekke and her brown-haired friend soon grew bored of the stamps in the stall they were at, and moved on to the red-haired girl's.

"Konnichi-wa," the girl greeted warmly. "Welcome to the art booth. All paintings here were painted by me, and proceeds will go to the art club."

")Uh, translation, Trish?(" Brekke asked, looking at the blonde.

Trish opened her mouth, glancing at the girl, and stopped. The redhead had been giving her a searching look, as if she recognized her, but quickly looked away as Trish turned her own gaze upon her. Slightly frazzled, Trish translated for the two.

")Wow,(" Jennifer stared. ")She painted those? They're awesome…("

")Thank you,(" the girl smiled warmly.

The three jumped. ")You speak English?(" Brekke growled.

")Of course,(" the redhead rolled her eyes. ")I'm from America.("

")You're an exchange student, too?(" Trish wondered, leaning forward.

The redhead laughed. ")No, no, I live here with my family. For quite a while; six years.("

Brekke grunted but kept her mouth shut. Jennifer kept shooting the black-haired girl worried looks and Trish looked at her quizzically.

")What's your name?(" The redhead asked, raising an eyebrow at the exchange of looks.

")Trish Conti,(" the blonde smiled.

")Brekke,(" the black-haired girl stated.

")Jennifer McCormick,(" the brunette replied, elbowing Brekke. ")And you?("

")Victoria McBain,(" the redhead returned. ")Are you exchange students?("

")I am!(" Trish piped up, ")but I think they're both from the base.("

")The base?(" Victoria looked interested, ")the one around the corner?("

Jennifer nodded.

")You guys have a bad reputation,(" Victoria continued, a sparkle in her eye. ")Thieves, liars, the whole lot, or at least that's what most of the girls here say. But you don't seem that way…("

Brekke laughed, ")and you have much better? You're lot is supposedly snobby and rich, which hasn't quite been dispelled yet.("

")Rich?(" Victoria returned coldly. ")There are plenty of girls here who barely scrape by with the fee. I am one of them. We are not a rich kid school.("

")Erm, Brekke?(" Jennifer interrupted, hastily glancing at her watch. ")We'd better go. They'll be closing soon and I have to get to my clarinet lessons.("

")Yes, yes, we'll go,(" Brekke nodded and started walking off.

Jennifer gave her a strange look, waved, and hurried after. Trish turned to leave but Victoria stopped her by coughing into her hand.

")Trish…(" she trailed, and then hastily asked. ")You weren't at the observatory the other night, were you?("

")I was,(" Trish smiled softly. ")And you were too. Hold on, I think Brekke should stay.("

")Why?(" Victoria asked, narrowing her eyes.

")Because she needs to know about this,(" Trish returned and darted off.

She reached the retreating black-haired girl shortly and roughly grabbed the back of her uniform. Brekke gave a yelp and attempted to kick her, but the pale blonde jumped out of the way. Her counterpart spun around and glared at Trish.

"Brekke!" Trish whispered, ")come back! I need to tell you something.("

")What?(" Brekke growled.

")I went with Ami-chan to the observatory Saturday night and well…(" she trailed off, and then tugged on Brekke's collar again. ")Come on!("

")All right,(" she grumbled and allowed the blonde to drag her back to Victoria's booth, where the redhead was now standing next to.

")So what is it?(" Brekke immediately demanded as they stopped next to her.

")We'd better go somewhere more secluded,(" Victoria stated, glancing around. ")Too many people here. Someone could easily overhear.("

Brekke rolled her eyes, but followed as the redhead began leading them around the booth towards the corner of the building. However, before they got that far, they heard several screams, and people randomly yelling.

"It's a demon!"

"No, it's a living shadow!"

"No! It's SUPERMAN!"

They heard a thump.

"Baka."

"RUN!"

And they watched as people came running past them. They looked at each other and nodded, then silently crept forward, around Victoria's booth. Trish saw an unconscious boy near them, and further away was a shadow, striding after the people who had fled in their way.

She carried two lead pipes and was making a lot of noise by clashing them together over her head. The shadow also had one, small, dark gray eye. Trish groaned and looked at Victoria.

The redhead winked and pulled out a blood red stone, carved into the shape of a droplet, from her pocket. Then, standing up, she held up the stone.

"Ypsos star power, MAKE UP!"



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