The Strength of Friendship: Chapter 3 

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Marco was quietly resting in front of the water fountain in the 
backyard of the Cambridge residence, when suddenly, a sense of an 
evil presence was so strong, it caused him to shiver uncontrollably 
flashed through his mind. His head snapped up and he looked around 
him, trying to sense what was wrong. He looked at the setting sun, 
"Something is very wrong! She should have been home by now. Where 
IS that wayward girl?" he thought to himself. 

Suddenly, Marco felt the evil presence increase, this time mixed 
with growing fear, and nearly fainted with the strength of it. Then 
a picture of Tanya flashed in his mind, and Marco felt fear flowing 
out of her and the young girl she was with. "Oh no! The Princess! 
She's in danger!" Marco bolted from the back yard, sending dirt, 
leaves, and grass into the air. "MAN! Can't that girl stay out of 
trouble for at least five minutes!" grumbled Marco as he hurried to 
the park. 

****Ichinohashi Park 

Tanya stared at the woman floating in the air, not really believing 
what she was seeing. The woman was wearing mostly black and red, and 
had black wings and red hair. 

The woman laughed as she began to descend to the ground, and started 
to slowly walk up to them. "I am Sailor Lead-Crow!!" She then pointed 
her long finger nailed hand at Veronica, standing next to Tanya with 
a very confused look on her beautiful face. 

"And you there missy, are coming with me!" she said commandingly, 
moving to grab Veronica by the top part of the dress she was wearing. 
If it was one thing Lead-Crow was known for, it was getting what she 
wanted, no matter what. 

The tall girl dodged out of the way just as Lead-Crow was about to 
take hold of her, then tripped on a small rock and fell to the ground, 
"Don't touch me!" she yelled in a frightened strangled voice, then began 
moaning, holding her head in pain. The amount of power and evil she was 
sensing from this figure was so strong, it made her feel like her head 
was about to explode. "Just stay away!" She groaned in more pain. 

Tanya quickly snapped out of her trance and ran next to her, kneeling down 
to see if she was alright. When she saw the pain the girl was in, she 
looked to the weird looking woman still standing in front of them, her eyes 
burning red as her hair. "What...What are you doing to her?" yelled Tanya, 
more afraid for her friend than herself. She then started to get angry. 
"Look, I don't know who the hell you are, miss thing, but she's not going 
anywhere with you!" 

"SHUT UP girlie!" shouted Lead-Crow, balling her hands into a fist, 
"This has nothing to do with you, so I suggest you get your scrawny little 
butt out of here, before you get HURT!" Lead-Crow flicked her hands, a roll 
of black chains suddenly appeared in them. She laughed wildly and threw the 
chain at the two girls. The chain unraveled in the air and quickly wrapped 
around Veronica. In a quick flash, it lifted her up high in the air. As 
she rose, Veronica let out a scream of terror. 

"NOO, Ronnie!" shouted Tanya, looking up helplessly as the girl rose higher 
and higher, then disappeared. She turned to Sailor Lead-Crow with pure 
hatred. "You bring her back right now, or I swear I'll make you wish you 
were never born..or however you got to be!" she said, narrowing her eyes. 
Unconsciously, her small hands balled into hard fists. 

"Oh really?" smirked Sailor Lead-Crow, "And just how are you going to do 
that? Go into another tantrum? Forget it! You are small and weak and you 
will never defeat me!" She laughed again. 

"Don't bet on it!" Tanya said with a sad smile. She had no choice. She 
looked to make sure one was around, then threw up her right hand. 
"SIRIUS STAR POWER, MAKE-UP!" She transformed in a blinding flash of blue 
light that distracted Sailor Lead-Crow to become Sailor Sirius. 

Sailor Lead-Crow looked Sailor Sirius up and down, amused. "HA! You think 
that fancy outfit is going to help you? Not a chance!" She sighed, "Well, 
you could have been a worthy opponent, but I'm afraid I'll have to kill 
you now. So sorry." She raised her arms, and pointed them at Sirius, 

"GALACTIC BLACK WATERS!!" 

A stream of water mixed with dark energy shot out of her hands, ready to 
rip through Sailor Sirius's body. 

The Star Senshi dashed out of the way just in time, falling face down on 
the dirt ground and rolling away. The power missed her by a few inches and 
hit a tree she was standing in front of. The tree then exploded in a burst 
of splinters and falling leaves. 

Sailor Sirius got up and raised her right hand and concentrated. Her scepter 
appeared, and she clutched it and aimed it at the dark Anima-Mate. "Now it's 
my turn!" she shouted in challange. "SIRIUS SCEPTER, ILLUMINATE!" A massive 
beam of white light energy shot out with the strength of the sun and headed 
for Sailor Lead-Crow. 

Sailor Lead-Crow quickly crossed her arms in front of her, and the golden 
bracelets that she was wearing glowed. The power from the scepter went straight 
to them and were absorbed with hardly a scratch to her. Sirius gasped in 
surprise, not expecting this, and watched as Sailor Lead-Crow smile evilly. 
The bracelets began to glow again, and the white laser energy shot back out, 
tinted red because it was now converted to pure heat. 

The energy hit Sailor Sirius with such force she was slammed hard on the 
ground, still holding her scepter. She screamed in pain from the heat and 
the burning sensations on her skin, then watched in horror as small blisters 
appeared on her arms and legs. *Oh my God! It hurts so much!* she thought, 
her body turning numb with pain. 

Sailor Lead-Crow started to laugh again and walked up to the fallen girl. 
When she reached her, she stepped over her so that she was standing directly 
on top of her, standing with her legs on both sides of Sirius's body. She 
squatted down and leaned forward until her face was at least an inch from 
Sailor Sirius's own. 

"Haven't you ever learned, little girl," taunted Sailor Lead-Crow, "that 
when you play with fire, you get burned? Now you can watch as your precious 
Veronica is turned into Galaxia-sama's ultimate Anima-Mate, and becomes her 
key to destroying this worthless galaxy!" She placed a hand on one of Sirius's 
thighs. 

"NOOOO! Get off me!" screamed the dark-skinned Senshi, and landed a punch 
into Lead Crow's stomach. The Anima-mate flew off her in a surprised grunt 
and doubled over on her knees in pain. She didn't notice as Sailor Sirius 
got up and ran to hide behind a large statue. 

Sirius fumbled with the small communicator that Ami gave her, and began typing. 
The small screen just showed static and she shook it in frustration. 
"Hello? Hello? You guys out there? Please! I need help! Can any of you guys 
hear me?! Please!!! I need you!" Tears then began flowing down her cheeks. 

Like a prayer, the static finally cleared, and Ami Mizuno's face appeared 
with her glasses on. "Tanya-chan, is that you? What's going on? Where are 
you?!" Ami's eyes widened as she saw Sailor Sirius's disheveled state. 

"Oh thank God! Ami-chan! I'm at the Ichinohashi Park! Veronica and I were 
attacked by this freak! Please, I need you and the rest of the Senshi here! 
Veronica's gone!" she blurted out hysterically, wiping away her tears. 

"Hang on Tanya! We'll be there in a flash! Don't worr..." The statue that 
Sailor Sirius was hiding behind suddenly exploded and knocked her to the 
ground screaming. The communicator fell, smashing to pieces on the ground 
as the debris falling on her back nearly rendered her unconscious. 

"Your friends will never make it here on time!" shouted Lead-Crow, then 
laughed evilly. A shiny object was in her hand now, and Sailor Sirius 
realized with horror that it was an elongated black dagger. The evil 
Senshi raised it above her head, ready to plunge it into the girl's heart. 

Suddenly a loud barking was heard, followed by growling. Marco jumped 
up on Lead Crow's back and bit down hard on her right shoulder. She 
went down in a high-pitched scream of pain, dropping the dagger. When 
she was on the ground, Marco then laid another chomp on her rear end. 
"YEOWWWWWW! Get back! Back! You mangy mutt!" she screamed. She tried 
to run, but Marco held on hard onto the hem of her cape, ripping it 
to shreds. "THIS isn't over yet girl! I will get you, one way or 
another! Galaxia Transport!" she shouted, and disappeared in a blinding 
white light. 

Marco quickly ran up to where Sailor Sirius lay, hoping that she was 
alright. "Marco! She's...gone." Sirius whispered in pain. Then, she 
fell into a dead faint. In a flash, her Sailor fuku disappeared reverting 
back to normal. Marco then heard shouting and turned to see the rest 
of the sailor team running up in full speed, Ami in the lead and 
pointing. "There she is!! Over there!" 

When she reached over, Ami knelt down and felt for Tanya's pulse on 
her neck. "Is she O.K.!?" said Usagi, kneeling with her as concern 
showed on her face. 

"Yes, for now, but we've got to get her out of here before the police 
come! Marco, you better come with us and tell what you know happened. 
If I'm not mistaken, Galaxia is on the move AGAIN!!!" said Ami, her 
voice serious. 

*****Aino Residence 

Tanya suddenly felt cool water on her lips, and with a moan, began 
to drink with relish. An instant later, the events in the park came 
back in her mind. Her eyes snapped open, and she bolted up from the 
bed with a small scream, looking around at the unfamiliar room. "Whoa 
there girl! Take it easy!" said Minako, laying her hands on her shoulders 
and gently pushing her back to lay down on the red heart shaped pillows. 
Tanya soon began to relax when she recognized the familiar faces of her 
friends. 

"I think you should begin from the top." said Haruka, sitting on the floor 
near Michiru. 

To be continued 

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