Raye was running for all she was worth. She was late for school. "I have been hanging around Serena way too much," she thought to herself. But that was not the main trouble. She was worried about Amy. She had every right to be, of course. They had been friends for a long time, and now it could be all over. Worse yet, Amy could have been brainwashed, and become an enemy of the Sailor Scouts.

As Raye got to school, the tardy bell rang. "Damn!" Raye thought aloud. This would be the first time ever that she was tardy. She walked through the door, and was greeted by the principal.

"Miss Hino," he said, "tardy for school?" Raye just nodded. "Is this your first time?" Raye nodded at this, also. "Well, then. I'll let it slide this once. But next time, you'll have detention. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"OK. Get to class." Raye walked down the hall to her class. She was still thinking about Amy, and what had become of her.

* * * *

Alucard was still staring at the unconscious girl he had on life support. He had been doing so for over an hour. All he wanted was for her to awaken, so he could have a new body.

For eons, Alucard had been a demon, whose real name was not Alucard, but was Natas, the son of Satan. Natas had been so evil in his first three years that Satan did not want him. Satan thought his son would overpower him, and sent him to Earth. There, Natas adopted the name of Alucard, and made friends with a young boy in an orphanage. This young boy had been none other than Darien.

Soon after, Darien found out about his new friend's true identity. Darien then wore a cross pendant around his neck, and Natas could not go within a 20 feet radius of Darien. He was soon exposed to the rest of the orphanage, and a ceremony was held to banish Natas. He was sent to the Negaverse, and accepted by Queen Beryl. She trained him in using his powers, and soon he became a loyal follower.

She neglected to use him to get rid of the Sailor Scouts, and put him into another dimension. This dimension was the Dark Universe, and Queen Beryl told him to wait for a while, then to attack the Sailor Scouts once he had gotten even stronger.

"The time is now," Natas said to himself. His eyes began glowing red.

"For Queen Beryl, revenge shall come through me." He made a fist, and a ball of flame surrounded it. "The Sailor Scouts will die for what they have done with my Queen!"

* * * *

Serena was glad to be a senior. Finally, maybe she would have a little free time. This was a big mistake, especially since she was a Sailor Scout. By the time the school year was over, Serena would be lucky to be able to remember what free time was. Mostly because of Natas, but she thought one more fight would take care of him. She was dead wrong.

Serena was in Math class, and was about ready to doze off, when she received a vision. It was Natas, sending a challenge to the Sailor Scouts. Serena nearly jumped out of her chair, but remembered she was in school. There weren't many things Serena was dedicated to, or even good at, but there was being a Sailor Scout. And, of course, there was her relationship with Darien.

The thought of Darien's lips pressed against hers made Serena feel all gooey inside. But then, something would always happen to disrupt that thought, so she tried not to think about that anymore. She would always wind up mad that something dared to disturb her pleasant thought. As she sat in class, she found herself wishing she was with her eternal love. In less than a year, they would be legally married, and they would spend eternity together. But first she would have to defeat Natas. It was not going to be easy.

* * * *

Darien was running. He had no idea where he was going, but he was running. He was trying to escape the memories, which he had done for so long. But, as the past often does, it caught up with him. He saw the visions of Natas, with his true identity exposed, slowly disappearing. He could still hear the blood curdling screams. Now, the memories suddenly

became vividly clear. Natas's human face disappeared, and there was a bloody skull engulfed in flame.

Darien remembered how he felt, and screamed. He sighed a sigh of relief when he saw no one around. He continued trying to outrun the painful memories...