The Strength of Friendship 
Chapter 4 

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Shadow Galactica 
Galaxia Palace***** 
Veronica slowly opened her eyes, wincing slightly from the pain that 
still throbbed in her head. She felt cold hard marble on the side of 
her face, and realized she was laying down sideways on the ground. 
With a painful groan, she righted herself up and tried to look around. 
It was so dark, Veronica still thought she had her eyes closed, and 
tried to lift her hands to her face to wipe off the slime and dirt 
that stuck to her face. But chains were still tied tightly around her 
middle, pinning her arms to the side. 

"Oh!! Where am I?" she whispered to herself, her voice filled with fear. 
Just then, she felt something run over her foot and she let out a small 
scream of surprise and fear. 

Tears spilled down her face, knowing it might have been the one thing 
she dreaded the most: Rats. "I've got to get out of here!" she thought 
to herself, shaking her head to get herself together. "Ti!" she whispered, 
hoping no one else would hear her, where ever she was. "Ti! Are you here! 
We have to get out now! Tanya!" Silence was all she got back. Her eyes 
widened as a thought came to her. "She must have gotten away! Oh Tanya, 
wherever you are, please help me!" 

A door that she didn't know was there was flung open, and bright light 
flooded the dirty large room as two figures slowly walked in. One Veronica 
recognized from the strange happenings the park, making her gasp as the 
events returned to her mind. The other one was obviously the leader from 
the way she was dressed all in gold with a ruby in the middle of her crown 
and the air of command that surrounded her. 

"Well, well! Look's like our guest has finally decided to wake up and 
grace us with her pleasant company." sneered Sailor Lead-Crow, and laughed 
loudly at her own sarcasm. She stopped laughing, rubbing her hands together 
and looking at the girl on the dirty floor with greedy eyes. 

"Who are you?!" Veronica tried to yell, but was so scared that it came 
out in only a high pitch squeal, like a little girl. She took a deep 
breath, and started again "What am I doing here? I don't know what the 
heck this is about, but you'd better let me go, or else...." 

"SILENCE girl!!" screeched the golden-clothed one, her eyes glowing red. 
She walked up closer to her and took her chin in her hand right hand, 
squeezing painfully. "You do not DARE speak unless I tell you to! You 
want introductions, fine. I am Sailor Galaxia, soon to be the conqueror 
and ruler of this galaxy, and the universe!" She lifted Veronica's head 
higher, and peered into her dark brown eyes. "And you my dear, are going 
to use your special abilities with the mind and spirit to help me!" 
Galaxia then laughed evilly into the girls face. 

"NOOO!! I won't do it! You..you can't make me!!" Veronica screamed, 
jerking her head out of Galaxia's hand. She crawled back against the walls, 
trying to put as much distance between herself and this crazy woman. 
The pain in her head grew in intensity, causing her to moan and double over. 

"Can't MAKE you?!" said Sailor Galaxia, her red eyes narrowing in anger. 
She walked up to Veronica again, and grabbed her short hair, and dragged 
her up on her feet. The girl screamed in pain. Galaxia smiled. "I can tear 
you heart out right now, shove it down your throat, and make you feast 
upon your fear if I want!" 

The Gold Senshi raised her right hand and flicked it. The next thing 
Veronica knew, they were in a plane that was nothing but black space with 
stars shining down. There was fog and darkness everywhere, and in the center 
of the plane was a large table. On top of it was a young man with short 
black hair, fairly tall and muscular, and very handsome. Around him was a 
dark golden pulsating glow that seemed to be draining the life from him. 
He only had a pair of black pants on. 

Curiosity got the best of Veronica, and she looked the young man up and down. 
"Who IS that?" she asked in wonder to herself, and winced in pain as Galaxia 
shook her. 

"That was an opponent who let his arrogance and overconfidence get the better 
of him! He put up a good fight on that plane, trying to throw those pitiful 
roses, but in the end, he couldn't defeat me." said Sailor Galaxia. She 
turned her face and looked hard at Veronica. "But it isn't him you should 
be thinking about. You should be honored that I chose YOU as my key in 
bringing this galaxy to it's knees! You, who can find me the one who hold 
true Star Seeds!" she laughed hysterically again. 

"What the hell are you talking about!?" shouted the girl, struggling to 
get out of Galaxia's grasp. "I told you, I am not helping you in your 
crazy plans!" 

"Ha! We'll just see about that! Lead-Crow, the bracelets, if you please" 
said Galaxia holding Veronica more tightly and smiling smugly. 

"At once, Galaxia-sama!" smiled Sailor Lead-Crow. She outstretched her 
arms in front of her, and two broad golden bracelets appeared in her hands, 
glowing faintly. Lead-Crow began to walk slowly up to her, and Veronica 
could only widen her eyes in fear as Lead Crow's image overshadowed her. 
A few seconds later, a scream and stifled muffles was heard by the other 
prisoners of Galaxia. 

Aino Residence***** 

"Your mothers were raised together in an orphanage?" asked Minako, sitting 
at the end of her bed and listening as Tanya was telling her story. Minako 
held one of her red heart shaped pillows closer to her chest. 

"Yeah, I guess so." said Tanya sadly, her eyes downcast. "My mother never 
really told me about her life. Everything I know about her now, I learned 
after she...passed away. You see, Veronica's mom and mine meet at the city's 
orphanage, and they became best friends. They spent years together before 
they were adopted, and when they meet again, Veronica was almost two years 
old. She made my mom her godmother, and then when I was born, she became my 
godmother." She sucked in a breath, "OH, Ouch!!!" Tanya screamed as she 
accidentally touched one of the still burning blisters on her arms. Painful 
tears spilled down her cheeks for the burns and the memories she had of her 
friend. In all her times of moving and loniless, Veronica was the one constant 
thing in Tanya's life that helped her through the rough times she went through. 
Times she wouldn't have made it through on her own. Especially that day when 
Tanya watched her mother die in the hospital. She sobbed once again at the 
painful memory of watching the doctors pull the sheet over her mother's dead 
body, her heart sinking more and more. 

"Here, let me see to that." said Hotaru. She got up off the rug, walked over 
to the bed, and stretched her small hands above Tanya, barely touching her. 
Hotaru's hands glowed slightly purple as she held them slightly above Tanya's
wounds. 

"What's she doing?" said Tanya, looking at the other girls in confusion. 

"Shhh, it's O.K. Tanya-chan, let her finish." said Ami, then nodded for 
Hotaru to continue. The blisters all became smaller and smaller, until 
they were almost gone. The pain slowly ebbed away. 

"There! It's just a little gift I have," smiled Hotaru, her violet eyes 
shining. She ran a nervous hand through her short black hair. "I couldn't 
heal it all the way though, so I'd be careful." 

"Thank you Hotaru-chan." said Tanya, smiling gratefully. She then turned 
serious eyes on the other girls in Minako's room. "Please, you guys have 
to help me find her! She's everything to me. We've been through so much.." 
Tanya paused to swallow the lump that suddenly grew in her throat. She 
looked at Rei, sitting next to Minako on the bed. "Ever since we were 
little, she's always had this...strange power to sense things, and with 
the spirits, sort of like you, Rei-chan. Could this be why Galaxia has 
taken her?" 

Rei reached over and held Tanya's hand in her own. "It could be, but I 
can't say for sure. Someone with the abilities your friend has surely would 
have gotten that witch's attention!! I promise you Tanya, we'll help you 
find Veronica, and we will bring her home safely." 

"Minako? Honey! Is your friend alright now? Should I call the doctor?" 
called up Minako's mother from the bottom of the stairs. After a minute, 
Mrs. Aino's blond head peeked inside the room. Her beautiful features were 
creased with worry lines. 

"Ummm, no Mom! It's alright! She's O.K. now, see?" said Minako nervously, 
showing her mother Tanya on her bed. "We were just about to see her home. 
There's nothing to worry about, really!" She tried to smile reassuringly, 
not wanting to make her mother worry. 

"Yeah Mrs. Aino, Tanya's a tough girl! It'll take more than a couple of 
burns to stop her!" laughed Usagi. She tried to make the thumbs up sign 
that Tanya showed her, but instead, did it sideways. Rei sighed, and hung 
her head shamefully. *Leave it Usagi to make light of a serious situation!* 
the raven head girled thought with annoyance. 

Mrs. Aino smiled back. "Well, I guess not." She turned to look at Tanya. 
"You, young lady, have to be very careful about lighting firecrackers! 
Next time, you might not be so lucky!" She winked slightly. 

"Domo-arrigato! Of course I'll be careful next time Mrs. Aino!" said Tanya, 
feeling mothered for the first time in years. Mrs. Aino nodded her head in 
satisfaction, then went back downstairs. Just then, the communicator in 
Haruka's back pocket began blinking. She quickly pulled it out and opened 
it, and after a second of static, Atermis's white face appeared on the small 
screen. 

"Oh thank goodness! Girls, you have to hurry!! The Juuban Elementary School 
is being attack by some of Galaxia's Anima-Mates! They're being lead by 
some new....sailor or general, or whatever!! Hurry!" Atermis's hair was 
standing on end. 

"Atermis! Where's Luna and Marco!" said Usagi, going over to Haruka and 
sitting next down next to her so she can see him. 

"Those two!!" shouted Artermis, getting angry, "Ever since we got here 
to the Command Center, all they did was argue!! They're worse than you 
and Rei-chan! I'm about ready to do them in!" In the background, there 
was shouting: 


-...Why you tuna-breathed furball!! 
- You saliva dripping....DOG! 
"Well, you tell them there is NO time for that!!" said Haruka, getting up 
quickly. "Come on guys, time to get down to business!" She made sure she 
had her henshin stick, as the rest of the girls were doing, and made for 
the door. 

"Good! I've been waiting for a re-match against those ugly slugs!" shouted 
Makoto. She punched her fist into her left palm, then followed right 
behind Haruka. 

"Wait, I'm coming too!" said Tanya as she was getting out of the bed. She 
was still a little dizzy though, and staggering towars them, nearly fell 
to the floor. Haruka rushed over, catching her before she fell and put 
her right back in the bed. "Oh no you don't!! I want you to stay here 
and regain your strength! This is going to be hard!!" 

"But...Haruka-san..." began Tanya, looking at her in confusion. 
"NO BUTS! Or else I'll have yours, you get me?" said Haruka, smiling and 
giving her a wink. 

"You better do as she says Tanya! She's not kidding!" said Michiru, putting 
her hand on Tanya's shoulder. "Trust us, it's for the best!" 

"Come on everyone!" shouted Makoto. All the girls quickly ran out the room. 

Tanya crossed her arms over her chest, a determined look in her eyes. 
"Yeah right!" she whispered. 

To be continued 

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