Deadly Silence

Priire sang quietly to herself as she fixed herself a salad. It wasn’t her usual food of choice, but lately she’d been eating more like Kairiku, the vegetarian. The girl shrugged and added more salad dressing. She grinned at the masterpiece and started to stab the lettuce.

Before her fork reached its intended victim, someone reached over and grabbed one of her carrots. “Hey!”

She turned to confront the carrot-snatcher and saw Kousotsu. The blonde couldn’t help but smile. “You could ask,” she chided.

The dark haired man smiled. “Why on earth would I do that?”

“Imp.”

He laughed and ate the carrot. Priire gave him a mock glare and speared a cucumber. They sat together in comfortable silence eating the salad that — if she remembered correctly — Priire had made for herself. The girl looked down to get the last of her lettuce and glared at the unwilling vegetable for a moment. When she looked back up, Kousotsu was staring at her. “What?” she asked.

Offering up a half shrug, he smiled. “Just looking.”

“Mmmm hmmm.” Priire stood up and put her bowl away. Automatic neatness made her reach for a rag to clean up the small spill of salad dressing.

Kousotsu placed his hand on her arm. “I’ll get it,” he told her. They paused for a moment, basking in the nearness of each other, moments typical of the way they loved. Then she moved away to other parts of the ship and he wiped up the spot on the counter.

“You know,” Xarae mused. “If he ever hurt her, it’d be the end.”

Standing on her head was the least comfortable way to talk to the others, so Kirin flipped over onto her feet. Mika tried to copy the other Sailor’s move, but landed on her face. She sighed and put another Band-Aid on her arm.

“Who?” Mori asked. “And who?”

Sutaa Moriko echoed her. “And who? And who?” until the others glared her into silence.

Xarae looked up, like the question surprised her. “Did I say something?”

Everyone’s eyebrow raised. “Yeah, you said, ‘If her ever hurt her, that would be the end,’ ” Su Shuorong told her. “Who did you mean?”

“Priire and Kousotsu.”

Aisu looked at her with big blue eyes. “What do you mean, Xarae-chan? They aren’t going to break up or anything, are they?” She made it sound like the worst thing ever. Her cousin, Kirin, put a hand on her little shoulder to reassure her.

Looking up from one of the Black Fire Dreamer’s control manuals, Shikuku added her comments. “I don’t think they ever would. I mean just look at them. They’re so perfect for each other. I wish I knew someone who would treat me like that. Nice, kind, considerate…” she trailed off as she realized she was talking too much. “Sorry.”

“That’s not one of your Force predictions, is it, Xarae?” Misha whispered shyly.

Ann McLanlen, one of the newer Senshi shrugged it off. “That’s crazy.”

“No,” Xarae said, cutting off the words someone else was going to say. “It’s just an observation. One that I can make because I know Priire. And I know what’s she told me about herself.”

Some of the Senshi looked at the brown haired woman for a moment. She’d been more places and seen more things than any of the Sailor Jedi, and they trusted her. If she said something could happen, it could.

Michisu shook her head. She was one of the most dependable Senshi, and wouldn’t let Priire down by thinking badly of her. “No, Priire would never hurt him.”

Xarae shook her head. “No, she wouldn’t. But I think… I know… that if he even accidentally broke her trust in him, he couldn’t ever get it back. Priire told me one time that she wanted to love just once. I responded that you don’t love once, you love forever.”

Yoshiko twirled some of her long hair around one of her fingers. “I think he’s cute.” No one paid much attention to the boy-crazy fourteen-year-old.

Seiun glared at the other, younger, girls in the room. “Everyone, can we please be quiet for a moment and hear what Xarae has to say?” She turned her gray eyes back to the other woman expectantly.

Xarae picked up her line of thought again. “I told her love was forever, and I think she took that to heart. She loves Kousotsu so deeply that if he ever hurt her, it would scar her more deeply than anything the Red Haze could have done. It would be the end of them, and very possibly, the end of her.”

“Vortex.”

The red haired Sith bowed before her master, Sidious. “Yes, my master?”

“You must destroy the Sailor Jedi.”

His short sentences displayed his anger. The other Sailor Sith must have messed up… again. “Yes, my lord.” Looking at a picture, she smiled. “And I have just the plan.”

She let the picture fall of the floor then stepped on it as the transmission faded out. Her heel tore the paper down the middle, splitting Tuxedo Jedi and Sailor Asteroid.

Obediently repeating everything she’d heard, Chakra gave Ippin a report. Ippin hadn’t asked for anything, she’d only said hi. The little Dathomirian was just aching to tell someone about what she’d heard. It didn’t help that the girl was over-dramatic.

Ippin looked at the convoy that had followed Chakra. Aisu, Audra, and Neburaa all gathered around. “Why don’t you and Kairi-chan go play, okay?”

Solemnly, the group nodded, then ran off to find Priire. Kairi-chan had told them that Priire was hiding a stash of candy, and they wanted some!

“You’re sure you didn’t have any lightsaber training?” Kousotsu asked skeptically. “Positive?”

Priire nodded. “Never. I did some work with a sword, but that’s it.”

He grinned. “You are incredibly good. Why won’t you carry a lightsaber?”

“I’m not a Jedi,” the girl replied. “I never will be. I’d prefer to have a good blaster by my side. Lightsabers maybe impressive, but blasters are so much easier. Just point and click.”

The two laughed easily. When they were together, they felt free. “Let me show you a different stance.” Setting down his lightsaber, the dark haired man stood behind Priire and put his arms around her and his hands over hers on the lightsaber. His powerful hands covered her gloved ones. Helping her angle the saber into a lower guard, her head leaned back on his shoulder a little.

“Woah.”

Both of them turned to the door to see all the younger Senshi looking at them wide eyed. “Yes?” Priire asked easily.

“We thought there was some candy in here,” Aisu piped up.

Kousotsu shook his head. “No candy, just sweets.”

“Imp.” Priire shuffled the kids out of the room and directed them to another Sailor’s room to continue the candy search. Her dark-haired friend had gone to put the training lightsabers up. “What happened?” she asked when she heard a large crash. Someone was shuffling something around.

“Umm, did Magena booby trap the locker?” came Kousotsu’s reassuring voice.

Priire thought about it for a moment. “No, I’m sure it was Numa-chan.”

“And you call me an imp??”

Koumi and Nami were studiously scanning the stars. They were trying not to look like they were listening to the three guys in the other corner of the lounge.

And trying to dodge the hearts floating around Oola’s head at the sight of the three males together.

Suddenly, everything was silent. The Dreamer’s engines didn’t make any noise, there wasn’t any movement, and none of the Senshi seemed to breathe. There was no sound at all. Even the stars froze in their dance.

Something’s not right, Koumi said, her eyes narrowed and searching.

Oola nervously fingered her lekku as she looked around. “I don’t see anything.”

One of the men, Miharu, shook his head. “Evil isn’t always apparent. It could be hiding in the shadows.” The three of them, with Miharu in the middle, stood up.

Suddenly, Kyoko burst in. She skidded to a stop in from of the window. For a moment she paused, looking at the three men with black hair and blue eyes. She started to say something to them, but changed her mind and spoke to everyone. “We have problems. Priire’s gone!”

Kairiku held out her hand. Just as seriously as a real nurse, Aisu slapped a screwdriver in her hand. Kairiku applied the screwdriver to the nuts and bolts, then to the trapdoor itself. Peeking back from where she had been keeping watch, Chakara made sure everything was going smoothly. Neburaa was watching the other corridor, while Audra was waiting to dive into the hole and secure the candy prize that Numako had promised was there. “Audra,” Neburaa hissed. “Audra!”

“What?” the brunette said, turning. “Is someone coming?”

Neburaa nodded. “Warn Kairi-chan.”

The other girl went over to where Kairiku was sitting in front of the open wall. “Kairi-chan! Everyone! Someone’s coming!” she said, diving into the hole.

Immediately, the four other little Senshi followed her. “Into the garbage shoot, fly boy,” Kairiku muttered as she dove in and pulled the wall casing over her. Conveniently placed holes let all of the girls peek out. First, they watched Kirin sprint down the corridor. Then they saw Ippin walking unsteadily. Shikuku followed her with a cookie and a pad of paper in her hand.

A few minutes passed, leading Audra to comment that no one else was coming. Everyone said, “Shhh!” so Audra stuck her tongue out at them.

The last person they saw before crawling out was Miharu. He looked around like he was missing something. “Excuse me, ladies,” he addressed the wall. “Have you seen my sketchbook?”

Giggling at being found out, the girls chorused, “Nooo.”

Miharu sighed. “Thank you, then.”

Mistique smiled. Her devilish little plan was going along quite nicely. A few minutes later, she stopped smiling.

“Yes, Queen.” The red-haired Sailor Sith wondered for a second which word for “misbegotten” she should use for Kouga Ada this time. As usual, the Evil Queen had found out about Mistique’s plan and wanted to figure out how she could hog the glory and credit, putting her back in the good graces of Darth Sidious. Mistique chose a particularly graphic Rodian name. Unfortunately, the Queen still had some power, and she couldn’t speak the word aloud.

“No, Queen. I do not need the help of one of your minions. Yes, Queen. I’m sure I can handle it myself. Thank you, Queen.”

Mistique cursed as the transmission ended. Ignorant woman. She knew nothing of the true Sith’s power. She insisted on holding to old standards. That would change once Mistique became the Evil Queen.

Priire shook her head. She felt like someone had clobbered her, but that couldn’t have happened. The last thing she remembered was walking down a hallway with Kousotsu… then… she put a hand to her aching head. Then nothing. She suppressed the panic that burst in her chest.

Freezing for a moment, Priire listened. The room had gone silent. Even more quite than it had been before. Silence, she knew, was dangerous, even deadly. In perfect quiet, the slightest noise was amplified a hundred fold. Every mistake echoed like a gong.

The quite was forever. Silence seemed to envelop Priire as she attempted to stand. No good. The girl fell and hit her head.

Shikuku eyed the other Sailors. Something didn’t feel right. She had the Dreamer’s manual that she had been reading all day and a hydrospanner. The technology-loving girl hadn’t put the book down all day, which was why Shikuku was very surprised when she walked in with a cookie and what seemed to be Miharu’s sketchbook. “Um, excuse me?” the two girls said at the same time.

Shikuku glared at the newcomer. “What are you?”

“Obviously, I’m Shikuku. The question is… who are you?”

Xarae looked them over and smiled. “One of you is Mistique.”

“Am not!” both said.

A raised eyebrow silenced the two, letting Xarae continue. “And I believe it’s you.” She pointed to the girl with the cookie.

“And I want my sketchbook back,” Miharu added.

One Shikuku waved her manual at the other. “Enough of this! Ralltiir Electricity Power, Make UP!”

In a literal flash, the other Shikuku transformed. Only, instead of being Sailor Ralltiir, she was Sailor Asteroid. There was an odd look in her eye, almost like she wasn’t sure what she was doing, but was going to do it anyway. “Starbred Senshi of stone, defense, and redemption, I am the Dark Sailor — Sailor Asteroid! For the dark side I’ve turned to, prepare to die.”

There was silence from the assembled Sailors. “Umm, that sounded a whole lot like Aster,” Ippin gulped.

“That’s because it is.” Mistique herself stepped out of a bolthole and smiled at the crowd of Senshi. “She’s had a little change of heart, though.”

“Dark Asteroid Shower!”

The other girls dove from the black asteroids. “Aster, don’t do this!” Sailor Yavin yelled.

The other girl looked at her with abnormally large and blank eyes. “I’m sorry, I have to kill you now.” The blonde threw an attack right at her stunned twin.

Ralltiir was just as surprised, but she waved at the Dark Sailor. “This way, Asteroid! Bet you can’t get meeee!”

Yavin glared at her. “In these circumstances, we usually tend not to torment the deranged Sailor.”

The purple-haired Sailor kept yelling. As Asteroid moved like a puppet to throw her asteroids, the hidden Sailor Mykyr caught her in a Force Shield. Turning her head to focus the unnatural eyes on Mykyr, Asteroid said, “Stop it.”

And then, she was gone.

Determined, the little Senshi kept searching. They knew they’d find the candy… someday.

Chakra called everyone to a stop after a few more rooms. “This is silly. We’re looking in all these places that everyone else told us had candy, but we haven’t found any.”

Everyone nodded agreement.

“So… where was the first place we got told to look in?”

Kairiku answered that one. “In the hangar bay.”

“Where we found…?” Chakra prompted.

“Priire and Kousotsu!” Aisu added helpfully. Usually, the younger girl was a brat, but the fun game had distracted her.

They listed every place they’d been to and who they’d found. Neburaa tugged on her bigger sister’s arm and whispered in her ear. “Exactly!” Chakra yelled, flinging her arms wide. “Priire has it!”

Shaking her head was a bad idea, Priire realized after the world stopped spinning. Something was different about the place she was at this time. Oh, yes. There was someone else in the room with her. Mistique. “Do you know how much you’re getting on my nerves?” she growled at the other woman.

Mistique nodded sagely. “As much as you are on mine. You and your pesky little friends.”

“Hey, where are we anyway?”

The question was one that the Sith had been waiting for. “I found the most interesting thing the other day. It seems that high concentrations of various minerals and powers — namely mine — can create an unusual phenomenon. It seems that I can access another dimension. One of pure evil. You’re quite an interesting person over there.”

Stunned green eyes stared at the evil Sailor. “What?”

Slowly saying each word, Mistique joyfully spelt it out for her. “I. Just. Sent. You. To. Kill. Your. Friends!”

“No,” Priire said, hurting. “You couldn’t have!” She had worked so hard after the first few months to rebuild the trust that her deceit had broken. After hiding the fact that she had been a mercenary and a killer and having been found out, she decided not to keep such important secrets from the others. The trust that Priire wanted so badly was probably lying in tatters.

Mistique laughed cruelly. “Oh, I’d also like to introduce you to some of your friends. Bakura, dear. Come here, and bring Yavin with you.” She mentioned a few other Sailors, including one or two that Priire didn’t recognize.

“Bakura’s evil?” The blonde tried not to smile. It wasn’t hard for her to believe that her sister had an evil twin — although, if Coru were here, she would surely make some quip about Aster being her evil twin — but Bakura? She was so nice and mature, kind to everyone. Even the ones who got on her nerves.

With a bored look on her face, the Sailor who must have been Bakura walked up. Priire wasn’t quite sure it was the sweet royal because of the dramatic change from the white haired girl she knew. This Bakura had ondago; they were just pointed and lower on her head, giving her an evil cat-like appearance. The tattoo creeping up her neck helped re-enforce the Sailor’s evil aura.

Cathar was another of the Sailors that had appeared. She was also very different from the girl Priire knew. The sides of her head were shaved, leaving only a long mohawk of red hair trailing down her back. She had a half dozen earrings in each ear, and the fur around her eyes was blackened. That made her eyes stand out in sharp contrast.

The evil Sailor Asteroid shoved her way through the crowd, provoking a growl from Bakura. “Can it. So. What do you think of my little entourage?”

“Where’s Naboo?”

Laughter erupted from the back of the group. “She’s dead. You killed her, freak.”

That brought two thoughts to the only good Senshi in the room’s mind. The first was, Did I just hear Nom use a contraction? The second followed quickly and was spoken aloud. “I did what?”

There was more laughter. “Power. Position. Fame. Attention. You, or I, wanted it all. And the one holding that was Sailor Naboo. She was a weakling anyway. Her death was easy but not particularly painless.” The evil woman’s laughter grew. “It was really her own fault. She wanted to get rid of me, but I beat her to the punch. Naboo was talking to the others, and I believe her exact words were, ‘We can't possibly allow a person with her sort of mind to walk around with time on her hands.’ ”

Yavin moved to the front. There was something with tattoos and this evil band of Sailors, because the red-haired girl was sporting one. It was a starburst over her left eye. “You had fun. Then you had us to a search of Naboo’s room to find out any secrets she’d been hiding. Family, friends, lovers. You had lots of lovers.”

She would have, Priire sighed. “Family?”

“None. I think you killed them all. Personally, I’m glad you didn’t have a sister. Just think what two of you could have done!” she laughed.

Priire filed that information away. Yavin and Asteroid didn’t know they were twins. “What the…?” she yelped as Cathar and Mimban grabbed her arms. The blonde prepared to fight her way free just as her evil counterpart spoke. “None of that. I do know what you’re thinking.”

Dathomir chanted one of her Force-spells, and Priire faded away into a silently troubled sleep.

“Good work,” Mistique smiled. “Now, Yavin, if you don’t mind…”

With a killing smile to rival even the Evil Queen’s, if she had existed in the Dark Universe, Sailor Yavin invoked her Time Staff.

Ippin froze. From the quiet that surrounded her and seemed to infuse itself deep into her soul, something very bad had just happened. She wasn’t quite sure what it was, but there could be far-reaching consequences. Transforming into Sailor Yavin, she began to run down to corridor to find Xarae, Sailor Iridonia.

“This is bigger than just Tuxedo Jedi and Sailor Asteroid disappearing,” the older woman was saying as Yavin dashed in, Time Staff in hand. “I think there’s been a shift in the universe.”

Yavin shook her Time Staff. “I don’t know if we’ve got time for this,” she said grimly. “Something’s wrong with my big stick.” Pointing to the end where the jewel sat, she made sure everyone could see that the stone was turning darker. “I’m guessing there’s another Time Staff in operation. Maybe a dark one?”

“Where on Earth would the Sailor Sith have gotten an evil time staff?” Hoth asked.

“On Earth, probably not. In another galaxy, maybe,” Sailor Dagobah offered. “Find it we must, then destroy it.”

Tuxedo Jedi looked around. Some of the faces he saw were familiar, but in a bizarre way they were different. A girl seeming to be Sailor Yavin was deliberately plucking the petals off a white rose, while Bakura glared at her.

“Out!” another familiar voice shouted. The grumbling girls left Tuxedo Jedi alone facing… Priire?

“Priire?”

The girl nodded. “That’s me, in a way. And I have some bad news for you.” She sighed. “Come this way.”

Something was different. It wasn’t only that the girl was wearing very close to nothing in the way of clothes, or that she had on a long red cape, it was that she didn’t have gloves. Tuxedo Jedi looked at her hands closely and saw none of the scars he knew so well that should have marked Priire’s hands.

“Who are you?” he asked, now suspicious. “Where’s Priire?”

Turning to him, the girl frowned. “That’s the bad news I have. You killed her.”

Audra was standing watch this time. Kairiku was again working with the delicate wires, only this time they were leading into the one place that had been warned never to go - the Black Fire Talon’s hangar bay. Neburaa bravely stood by, also watching for others. Aisu handed tools to the busy Kairiku, and Chakra was checking the monitors that the red striped blonde had tapped into. “Okeydey, wesa in!” the Gungan-loving blonde exclaimed.

The door was only open a little crack, but it was more than enough for the girls to see what was going on. “Oh no! This is awful!” Chakra gasped. “The Sith are here!”

“Reward?” Mistique asked. “As in…?”

“As in payment for our services. Sithspit, we’re helping you take over a galaxy. The least you could do would be give me something in return.” Priire propped her booted feet up on the chair in front of her.

Mistique smiled. “I take it you have something in mind?”

The blonde shrugged with aloof grace. “Someone, really.”

“Now I’m interested. Who?” She almost hoped it was one of the troublesome Senshi… maybe that annoying Naboo. Or even better, Ryloth!

Darkly, Priire’s eye glittered. “Tuxedo Jedi.”

Mistique smiled cruelly. She could get to like this woman.

“Explain this to me again.” Tuxedo Jedi didn’t remember killing the love of his life, but it had been a very confusing past few days. He shook his head at the thoughts and reminded himself not to hang around with Numako so much. Apparently, her humor was contagious.

“Let me show you,” the green-eyed girl said sadly.

He followed her to what seemed to be a bed encased in crystal. Lying on the bed, which seemed to be encased in some kind of crystal, draped in a blue sheet, was Priire. She had her eyes closed and seemed to be in a very deep sleep. But not dead.

“Now let me explain.” As the pseudo-Priire spoke, the girl on the bed changed. “Your Priire is a Sailor Jedi, but ages like normal women.” Priire’s hair was longer and she didn’t have her customary braids or bow in. She changed a little more and Tuxedo Jedi frowned.

“Hey, she’s getting fat.” No matter how much candy, ice cream, pie, pudding, or other sweets Priire ate, she never seemed to gain an inch.

“No, she’s not,” the other Priire corrected. “She’s getting pregnant.”

Silence. Tuxedo Jedi stared in a goodly amount of shock at the set of Priires. “She’s… I’m…”

Priire smiled. Tuxedo Jedi wasn’t looking at her, so he couldn’t tell the depth of evil in the usually happy expression. “I’m sorry.”

He turned on her. “Sorry?? This is great!” He paused. “Isn’t it?”

She shook her head. “Watch.”

The sleeping, or unconscious, Priire’s belly grew larger. She seemed pleased, with a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Then, with a suddenness that amazed the dark-haired man, she was different. Not only was she not plump around the middle anymore, but she was thin and gaunt. Priire seemed like she’d been thrown off a building, at least.

“What happened??”

Shaking her head, the other Priire put a hand on his arm. “Something went wrong. She got very, very sick. And…”

He put a hand to his head. “No… no.”

The other Priire didn’t say anything, only kept a hand on his arm. “I know you didn’t mean to… but you killed her.” Tuxedo Jedi looked at her with shock filled eyes. “I know you loved her, but you couldn’t help it.”

“Who are you?” he asked, suddenly suspicious.

“I’m from another galaxy. There… everything’s all bad.” The evil Priire looked down, almost sadly. “Nothing is good.” She wiped a perfect hand across her eyes, almost as if she was crying.

“I’m sorry.”

The girl turned away so he couldn’t see her smile. Then, sadly, she told him, “Don’t be. It’s something I have to live with. Just like you have to live with killing the only person who ever truly loved you.”

Tuxedo Jedi started to say something then closed his mouth. His mind raced with possibilities. How he could save her, how he could prevent what was taking lace before his eyes… all his ideas seemed fake, unreal. “How can I live with it?”

“By not allowing it to happen.” The girl turned her large eyes toward him. “It could work. You could come with me. We could save my galaxy and your lover.”

He didn’t bother to correct her as he shot her a skeptical look. “What do you mean?”

The other galaxy’s Priire kept talking. “I mean, you could come with me, and we could save my galaxy. And since you wouldn’t be here, she wouldn’t die.”

“I’d never see her again.”

She nodded sadly. “Right. But if you really loved her, you’d want what was best for her. And that would be not dying.”

Well, he couldn’t really argue with that. The dark-haired man turned his blue-eyed gaze back to the still, almost lifeless figure before him. Suddenly, it was so quiet he could almost hear her breathing. After a frozen moment, the silence passed, and he heard a voice. Oddly, it was in his head as opposed to in his ears. You know she’s lying. She only wants to…

A mental picture finished the thought. He winced. That’s perverted.

Another voice agreed. Besides, what she is showing you is only a possible future. It’s actually one from another dimension. Not really. And hardly possible in this galaxy.

Who are you? he asked, getting annoyed at all the females trying to tell him what to do.

Call me… The voice paused, then laughed quietly, almost desperately. Mermaid.

Think of me as…Toman, the other voice giggled.

“Tuxedo Jedi?”

He looked at the braided beauty before him. Mentally, he compared the two. His Priire might not be the purest and most innocent of the Sailors, but she was nothing like the Priire from the dark universe. There was nothing honest or good about the dark Priire. She was everything his Priire had been before she’d joined the Senshi. Tuxedo Jedi decided. “Never.” Instructed by the voice of “Mermaid,” the man touched the crystal casing.

As the sleeping Priire — at first older, then seeming to become younger as they watched — woke up, she looked around. Centering on Tuxedo Jedi, she spoke a set of halting words. “Chronos… Starbred… Revolution.” She caught her breath. “We have to stop this madness.”

The man had no idea what she meant, but taking advantage of all the confusion, he did what Jedi did best and disappeared, taking his Priire with him.

“Sith!” the dark Priire screamed.

The silence that everyone had nervously gotten used to was shattered by two noises. First, someone disturbed the peace by raking her claws along the metal decking. Second, a hoarde of girls attacking the said disturber of the peace.

“Sorry,” Chrone offered sheepishly. “I forgot.”

The cat woman started to offer more apologies, but she was interrupted. All of the little Sailors burst into the room and started talking at the same time.

“Slow down! Take turns!” Kyoko yelped, covering her ears. “I can’t understand you!”

The five girls looked at each other, then at the other Sailors.

“We were looking…” Kairiku started.

“…for candy!” Neburaa told them.

“And Priire said it was in…” Aisu said.

“…all these places, like…” Chakra proclaimed.

Audra paused. “Well, all different places.”

“So we decided to look…”

“…where Priire kept…”

“…her most val-al-al-aluable…”

“…stuff. It was my idea.”

“…with the Talon!” Audra said, getting them back on track.

“And we found the Sailor Sith!” everyone finished.

“Not candy,” Aisu pouted.

They kept talking, and soon the older Sailors realized the problem. It appeared that they were Sailor Sith, but somehow they weren’t. Kairiku said that the Sailor Sith lookalikes felt different in the Force. Almost like they were…

“…good. Or from somewhere else.” Kairiku looked around. “What’ll we do?”

Again, Priire learned the hard way that sitting up with a headache was not the wisest course of action. This time, instead of Mistique’s scowl, she looked up at a smile from Kousotsu. “That’s a whole lot more pleasant,” she commented.

He grinned at her, then slipped his arm around her waist and helped her stand. Priire reflected grimly that if she’d been like her dark counterpart, she would have refused his help or abused it. As it was, she leaned heavily on his shoulder as they walked into where the other Sailors were.

“Miss me?” Priire asked, a roguish grin turning up the corner of her mouth.

Silence. Well, not complete silence. Having heard too much of the total quiet, Priire was thankful. However, because the quiet was full of suspicious glances, Priire sighed. “It’s me, trust me.”

“Last time it wasn’t you.”

Priire nodded. “Yup. It was my evil counterpart from the Dark Universe.”

They were still suspicious of her, so Priire kept talking. “You should have seen the dark Bakura. And the Dark Sailor Yavin.” Priire’s eyes twinkled. “It reminded me of that time on Malastare, when you and I rigged the podraces. After, of course, we lit the town like a Coruscant skyline. Well, only one bar actually went up in fl… mmph!”

Ippin had leapt across the room, a table, and several dozen Senshi. “We were exonerated!” she growled at Priire. “And it was all your fault.”

“One of these days, I want to hear that story,’ someone commented. Ippin glared at the girl and the rest of the Senshi.

“Look,” Priire interrupted. “We have some big problems here. Coru, you and I have to use this attack…"

Six Sailor Jedi stood against the backdrop of Mistique’s headquarters. Asteroid and Yavin stood flanked by Cathar and Ralltiir on one side and Dathomir and Mykyr on the other. A hush was over the assembled girls as they watched Mistique and her dark minions.

“Helloooo, good guys over here. Aren’t you going to at least invite us in for caf?”

The evil Senshi looked up at the speaker. “I’m Sailor Asteroid, and you’ve corrupted the stars I guard with your darkness. It’s butt-kicking time.”

The other Senshi posed around her. “I’m Sailor Yavin, and I guard the time/space gates you’ve bypassed. It’s time to pay my toll, and you’re gonna come up short.”

“I’m the Senshi of electricity, Sailor Ralltiir. And you’re in for a shock if you think you’ll get away with this!”

“The forests are what I protect and what protect me, Sailor Cathar. In their name, you’re in trouble now.”

“Creation and destruction are my destiny. I am Sailor Dathomir, and you can forget coming out on top of this one!”

“I’m the servant of Myrkr’s true king, Sailor Myrkr! For the joy and faithfulness you want to steal, I’ll punish you!”

Sailor Asteroid gave her dark counterpart a feral grin. “You want a piece of this?”

“No, I really just want your little boyfriend.” Dark Sailor Asteroid walked out of the shadows. “You didn’t bring him, did you?”

The other blonde glared at her. She started to reply, but shook her head. “Sorry. We’ve got other things to do.”

Dathomir stepped in front of the others. Her attacks distracted the Dark Universe Senshi while Asteroid, Yavin, Myrkr, Ralltiir, and Cathar slipped through the portal.

“Looks normal to me,” Yavin commented.

“Sithspit.”

Cathar looked at Asteroid. “Profanity? Because…?”

Pointing, Ralltiir showed the cat why. “It’s the evil you and the evil me! Our evil twins!”

Sailor Asteroid refrained from mentioning that her “evil twin” was standing right next to her, but the look on Sailor Yavin’s face suggested that the joke would be less than well-received.

“Set it up, Yavin and Asteroid. We haven’t got all day!” Myrkr threw them a wink. “Let’s go for it!”

Sailor Yavin looked at her twin sister, Asteroid. Neither was quite sure what would happen next, but they knew it was for the best. Asteroid’s eyes were calm and collected with the air of a competent killer. Yavin wondered if all of the Hawkbat’s victims had seen such eyes before they died.

There was no time left to wonder. Standing with their backs together, the twins grasped each other’s hands. A common thought reverberated in their heads… let it work, let it work!

The sky was black, and a veil of silence fell over everything. Ralltiir and Cathar held their evil counterparts at bay, but the sounds were muted. Haltingly, Yavin whispered a word into the hush. “Ch… chronos…” A red glow surrounded her body, tightening the lines around her closed eyes.

Asteroid’s voice was quiet, but stronger than her sister’s had been. The blonde was used to the killing that was necessary. “Starbred…” Blue surrounded Asteroid, swelling up from within her. The two auras pulsed with energy, almost as if they were aching for the destruction to come.

Silence fell. It was more complete than any of the quiet times before. And into the deadly silence, the twin voices of Asteroid and Yavin breathed the last word. “Revolution.”

Twirling like a hurricane, the glows that surrounded the twins pulsed into the universe, filling it to capacity. After the Force-driven powers had begun their destructive works, Myrkr created her Force shield. From behind it, Cathar and Ralltiir could attack, but could not be attacked. Asteroid and Yavin slumped in the center. “Are you okay?” the blonde asked her sister.

“Gee. I wonder.”

Asteroid laughed and put a hand on her twin’s shoulder. “Hey, we did what we had to. Don’t beat yourself up for it.”

“I just helped you destroy a galaxy!” the other girl protested.

“That would have destroyed us if we’d let it! Besides, we’ve wrecked almost everything else.”

Cathar and Ralltiir moved toward Myrkr. “We have a problem!” the cat woman wailed. “Myrkr can’t hold her shield!”

The four looked at each other, then at their struggling fifth member. Asteroid’s plan had been for herself and her twin to activate their attack, then hide behind Myrkr’s Force shield. It wasn’t working.

“I… can’t!” Myrkr said, the stress telling on her as the shield began to collapse.

Asteroid sighed dramatically. “So how am I going to collect on those sabacc winnings Nom owes me??”

The forced laughter as the shield collapsed around them almost drowned out the sound of another’s voice…

“Hando Daaku Batsu!”

Priire looked around. “Didn’t we just leave this party?”

Dancing around, Chrone agreed. “We’re home, we’re home!” She did cartwheels across the room that the Senshi had just landed in. The other girls and guys gathered around them.

“What happened, anyway?” Shikuku asked.

“She protected us. The Evil Queen protected us and sent us back here… I guess.”

Priire agreed with her sister. “I guess even a Sith can have too much evilness.” She paused for a moment, frowning. Then with a shrug, she let a smile form on her face.

“Or maybe that in that galaxy, the Sith were the good ones?” Ippin looked at her sister. “It’d make sense, Aster. I mean, if we were all bad, why couldn’t they be all good?”

Priire grinned as she handed all of the younger Sailors some of the candy stash she’d promised. Not even the strongest telepath could have guessed where she’d gotten it. The girl laughed to herself as she reflected that Annika would have to be raiding Yoda’s supply again.

“Sure,” Shikuku said. “That must have been weird seeing yourself so evil.”

Koumi grinned. How many of us had your evil self killed, again?

“I don’t even want to know!” Kyoko said.

You’re just mad ‘cause she killed you! Koumi retorted.

Laughing, Kirin silenced everyone. “Give her a break.” The blue haired girl paused and looked around for Priire. “Hey, where is she?”

“Hello stranger. Buy you a round?”

Kousotsu frowned at Priire. She frowned back, giving her expression a comical twist. The two were framed by a viewpoint of stars. Because they were at a standstill, the stars glimmered, but didn’t move. After a moment, Priire’s expression turned confused. “What’s wrong?”

Still with a faint frown on his face, Kousotsu turned away from her. “I don’t know.”

Priire reached out to touch his arm, but he moved away slightly, causing her to drop her hand by her side. “Are you going to talk to me about it, or am I going to get my blaster out,” she said, almost smiling.

“When I was talking with Dark Asteroid, she showed me you. Only, you were dying. Because of me. Because of something I did. Because… I… I just don’t want that to happen. I don’t want to be the cause of your dying.”

She laced her hands together and propped her elbows on the table to look the man in his eyes. Priire said nothing, only waited.

“Then,” he continued quietly, “then there were these voices in my head. They told me that all I was seeing was a lie, something not even possible in my universe.”

“Who were they?”

Kousotsu shrugged. “They said they were Mermaid and Toman.” He turned to look at Priire, and his mouth dropped open.

Not saying anything Priire turned to see what his eyes were focused on. “Sith!”

“Exactly,” Kendra agreed. She was standing in front of two other Sailor Sith, Ariel on her left and Geri on her right.

“Out of curiosity,” Priire sighed, “are you the good Sailor Sith or the bad Sailor Sith?”

It took a few minutes for the three to explain because Geri kept interrupting. They told the two that they had escaped from the galaxy that Asteroid and Yavin had destroyed, saving the Sailors in the process. Kendra knew that they couldn’t survive in this galaxy for long, but she’d only wanted to thank Yavin and Asteroid.

“You mean you came here to thank us?” Priire was skeptical.

Kendra nodded, seeming exhausted. “Yes. It took all of my power to protect you five and transport you here. But it was worth it.”

Ariel held up a hand. “Also, we wanted to tell you that that Asteroid character is a liar.”

“Hey!”

For the first time, a smile broke on Kousotsu’s face. “I think they mean the other one.”

“I hope so!” Priire said, mock angry. Then she grinned at the Sailor Sith. “So what’s that all about?”

Turning to the only man in the room, Ariel explained. “When Asteroid had you in her grasp, we contacted you and warned you away from her. Sorry about not giving you our real names. We hoped that if she realized she couldn’t get what she wanted, she’d leave this galaxy alone.”

“Fat chance.”

Geri nodded. Emi, they’d told the two, had been killed early on by the Sailor Senshi. “We were afraid that despite our warning, you might still believe her. I guess we wanted to make sure that nothing that bantha poodoo did would ruin this galaxy.”

As they were talking, the Sith were becoming transparent. Priire and Kousotsu watched in fascination as they disappeared.

“Where were we?” Priire said after a moment of silence had passed. “You didn’t want to be the cause of my dying? Right?” She didn’t wait for his nod. “Try this on for size. Every time I walk outside, I’m at risk. Whether it’s going to be a lawman sniper, a Red Haze lackey, a contract killer — although I’ve checked, and there aren’t any out on me right now — or a bantha stampede, I’m going to die someday.” Priire tucked her braids behind her ear and stared at the man across from her. “I could die in the next run-in with the Sailor Sith. I hope I won’t, but every day is a gift for me. I’ve taken more days from more people than I’ll ever have life to live. One of these days, fate is going to catch up with me and I’ll get dealt the Idiot but no Array.” She paused and let the sabacc term rest in the air. “And when I do," she continued quietly, her eyes clenched shut, “I don’t want to die alone.” Priire turned her eyes to the stars and wondered why she didn’t cry. Maybe she was too hard. Maybe she’d seen too many people crying with no effect to be able to cry. Maybe… the thought trailed off as Kousotsu trailed a hand down her cheek.

“You’re right,” he whispered, holding her close to him. Starlight splashed on them as they kissed in the quiet that followed his words.

Maybe not all silence is deadly, Priire smiled to herself.