PG To Be In The Spotlight Part Two Everyone Made It In? by: Shell Presto Another alternate reality fanfiction, proving that one instant in time, one little, insignificant change, can alter the course of history, or at least a relationship. Disclaimer: I wish I owned Sailor Moon, but that honor goes to Takeuchi Naoko and a whole slew of companies. On the other hand, I worked hard to write this story, and it is mine, so don't take it. Thank you. Note: You won't recognize the song because I was working with the translation of it. Go to my web page ( http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bridge/3542/index.htm ) for the original lyrics, my translations, and a link to get an mp3. She was trying to get him to sing "My Way," and it certainly wasn't going Serena's way. He could slightly keep the tune, but he wouldn't add any volume whatsoever to his voice. It was as if he only wanted himself to hear him, which Serena concluded to be exactly his problem. "You're not going to accomplish anything singing like that," she complained. "I know mimes that are louder than you." Darien scowled at her. "I'm not Frank Sinatra. I don't want to be, and I don't want to butcher a good song. Besides, if you want me to learn to sing something, shouldn't it be the song you want me to learn by tonight?" Nodding, her mind was a blur of confusion. Meekly, she asked, "Do you have any tapes?" She blushed as she said it, only ephasizing how impromptu their attempt at this contest was. They were picking a song mere hours before the contest. He had to smile at her, a genuine smile, before showing her his vast collection of tapes and cds. She looked through them with interest; Darien had quite the vast collection, everything from classical music to the latest pop bands. Well, not everything, more diverse than numerous, but still quite a collection she noted. In her mind, she was narrowing her choices. She finally narrowed it down to one after about ten minutes. She grinned and pulled the tape off the shelf. He read the title of the single out loud to himself, "You are just my love." He stared at her in a blank curiousity, not able to form his questions into words he could feel right asking. He liked the song, but singing it with Meatball Head seemed strange. It was a good choice, though, because he could sing it, to himself, and loud enough to be heard in the shower. Of course, he refused to admit it. The cheery blonde popped the tape in the stereo and turned it on, adding, "The B side is even instrumental, so we won't have to sing over the words." She paused. "You... do know the lyrics, right?" He nodded. "Great!" she exclaimed, then sat back in a chair as the music came on. "So go ahead and sing, Dare!" The first line of the male's part came on, but instead of opening his mouth, Darien went red and stared at the wall. Serena's initial reaction was to yell at him, but she held herself back. She studied the back of his head, even the back of his neck was that deep crimson hue. she surmised. She laughed inwardly to herself. His eyes finally met hers as she turned the tape off. "You're afraid of singing!" she giggled. "I am not!" he yelled, though he wondered how she knew. "Yes, you are!" "No, I'm..." "You're blushing, Dare," she shot back at him. His mouth shut and his eyes widened in horror. When he stopped to think about it, he did feel hot. For once he was speechless, Meatball Head finally got the best of him. He couldn't believe it. He also couldn't believe how warm her tiny hands felt when they took his in. He stared at her peachy fingers wrapped around his wrist. "It's alright, Darien," she reassured him in a sugar sweet voice. "I won't laugh, I promise." She let go and started the tape up again, turning to face the wall so he wouldn't be intimidated by her presense. Her words did fill him with a sort of courage, though he didn't know why. She seemed to have a sort of understanding about her, or something. He just couldn't place his finger on it. Of course, he also didn't know why he was so uneasy singing around her. he reasoned. However, he let it go. The song was almost over, with only the final refrain left. He figured he should take a stab at it. After all, how bad could he be? "However great the distance between us may become, my love, for now our hearts will shine together as one. Whatever the pain or the number of tears I may cry, my love, when I'm near you, I give in to my smile." He sang it very softly, but there was a sort of power in his voice, something that projected from him even though you had to strain to understand him. As Serena turned around, he stopped, missing the last line. She saw his bright red face and couldn't believe he was the person who was just singing. What she did know was that if he could sing like that on a stage they had a winning team. Still, Darien stood in front of her, waiting for his judgement. She smiled. "That was great, Dare, though you ought to turn the volume up a bit." He wanted to express his disbelief. Instead he kept his mouth shut and let her tell him exactly what to do. For once he lost to Serena, she was right, and he knew it. He only hoped the contest would be over soon, because he didn't know how long he could live with the humiliation of having lost to the ditz in his apartment. As they walked in silence to the contest, Darien couldn't help but criticize their so-called luck. "Doesn't it make you a little uneasy that they let us sign up for the finals late? I mean, if only the best made it this far, don't you think they'd find it a waste of time to let new contestants enter?" "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth," Serena told him. "We're very lucky that they let us enter so late." She crossed her arms and put her small nose in the air. Darien was amused by her stuck up appearance, to say the least. Not to mention how naive she was. "Yeah," he agreed with sarcasm. "Luck." Serena came to a halt as she turned to stare at him. He was intimidating, to say the least, with his cockiness and his height, more than a foot taller than her. Still, she plastered on the meanest expression shecould and shouted, "You had better not blow this contest just because you don't care about it! This means a lot to me, so don't screw it up." He took a step back, that's how vicious she looked. "Hey, I know. I won't. I didn't spend all afternoon practicing with you so I could go make a fool of myself on stage." Her expression immediately turned to one of relief. "Good," she said, turning to continue on her way. Darien stood a moment before walking again. He liked the word he found to describe her, he played with it. "Dynamic," he repeated to himself. "Dynamic Meatball Head." Then he laughed, it sounded silly. He raced a bit to catch up with her, storing the thought in the back of his mind. The sun was setting as they reached their destination, a tall building on the edge of town. Darien eyed it over for a moment before questioning his own judgement, "Didn't they close this place down two monthes ago." Serena thought the same, but denied it for the sake of her dreams. "Well, obviously they didn't," Serena snapped back. Darien shrugged as they both entered. Sure enough, the place looked bright and new, but as Darien ran his hand over a counter, it got covered in dust. he thought. "Pick it up, Slowpoke!" Serena yelled from another doorway. "The contest is about to start!" They opened the door in the back of the theater. It was dark, and the seats were packed to the gills. The only light was provided by the stage lights and the sparkling of a disco ball overhead. It all seemed quite natural, but it made Darien's skin crawl for some reason. Then the curtain began to lift. "C'mon Darien!" Serena whispered, bolting down the aisle. "We gotta get down..." Darien grabbed her wrist at a blinding speed. "No!" he protested. "Wait. Something's wrong here." Everyone was on stage all at once, which made no sense in itself, but after about thirty seconds, all the performances slowed to a near halt. A fog seemed to spread over the performers, clouding the stage. Serena couldn't believe her eyes, so she turned to ask a fellow spectator. There wasn't anyone in the chairs, she realized with horror, only phantoms, shadows. She let off the beginning of a scream when Darien cupped his hand over her mouth. Too late, they were noticed. Like something out of a bad horror movie, the fake Saphron, sitting in the front row, twisted her head around one hundred eighty degrees. Her face was hideous, blue with evil red eyes. "May I help you?" she hissed. Darien's arm went limp, dropping to his side. Serena let out an ear piercing schreech, but everyone on stage was already down for the count. The monster jumped up into the air, revealing its true, hideous form and abandoning its false guise of a young girl. "Now you'll pay for ruining my fun!" Serena closed her eyes in fear as the monster shot a blue stream of liquid at her. Instead of being hit, she was pushed to the ground. "GET OUT OF HERE, MEATBALL HEAD!" Darien yelled. She looked up to see him tear the back off of one of the seats and hurl it at the monster, who fell into the rows of seats. The young blonde bolted out the door to the lobby, Darien just at her heels. He pushed a table in front of the double doors leading into the theater as Serena ran to the main exit. "It's locked!" she shrieked. She began pounding on the steel doors. "We can't get out of the building! Darien, what are we going to do!?!" Darien examined the doors, finding her statement to be true. Then he took a run at them and tried to force them open. Serena cringed as she heard a loud cracking sound, then Darien cry out. He slumped against the doors, holding his shoulder. "I guess we're not getting out," he laughed weakly. Serena was stunned, "Darien, you... you're shoulder..." "Dislocated. It was dumb of me to try that." "Your chest..." she added. He looked down to see it covered by a think coating of ice. "I think that monster did that." Completely off the subject he said, "Go try the phone." Serena found one just as she heard a pounding coming from the theater. She yelped, then picked up the receiver. Nothing. Dead silence filled her ear. "No go," she responded as Darien picked himself up. "Hide, Serena," he instructed. "I'll distract it while you find a way out." Just then, Serena remembered who she was, Sailor Moon. She could dust that monster in an instant. Well, she could if Darien wasn't there. Before she could finish, the monster burst through the doors, sending the table flying. It sped right to Darien, slamming him back into the doors he had just tried to open. Serena screamed and ran back into the huge theater. Her eyes locked on to the disco ball hanging from the ceiling, now the only thing visible in the thick atmosphere. For a moment she tried to pull the back off a chair as her companion had done, only to give up when it didn't budge. She screamed again when Darien was thrown into the room with her, landing only fifteen feet away. In desperation, she took off her shoe and hurled it at the ball, which shattered into hundreds of pieces and showered down upon them. The monster burst into the room, screaming bloody murder. Upon seeing Serena, it shot another thick stream of ice at her. Darien jumped in front of Serena, taking the full brunt of the blast. Ice covered his chest, then rapidly spread over his body, until he was completely sealed in a huge block of ice. Determination filled Serena's eyes, and she knew this was her chance. "MOON PRISM POWER!!!!" In a burst of bright light, Sailor Moon stood in front of the ice creature. In her fury, she didn't even introduce herself. Instead, she removed her tiara and threw it full force at the shocked monster. "MOON TIARA MAGIC!!" she yelled, and the burning bright disk tore the monster apart, leaving only ashes. Something about Darien being threatened had filled her with strength... She turned to see Darien still encased in ice. She ran over and began to claw at it, to no avail. Sailor Moon wasn't dumb, she knew he'd suffocate if she didn't act fast. She picked up her tiara and started digging at the ice, but only little chips came flying back at her. She began to bite her glove. She began to think of Tuxedo Mask. she thought. Then she felt a strong presense within her. It was Tuxedo Mask, she could tell, warm and strong. And telling her where to strike the ice! Sailor Moon brought her tiara down quickly on a point near Darien's forearm, and all the ice was reduced to chunks. If Tuxedo Mask had been there, she found no trace of him. The appearance of the building had returned to its normal, condemned state. Sailor Moon heard all of her friends on stage reviving slowly. Detransforming, Serena ran outside to call for help. Darien slowly raised his eyelids. Two men he'd never seen before were lifting him onto a strecher. he questioned himself. "Meatball Head!?" he yelled, trying to lift his neck. Serena stepped into his line of vision from above, looking down on him from the head of the strecher. Smiling with relief, she said, "It's good to see you awake. I was worried about ya, Dare." Her lips pursed and she brushed some hair out of his eyes. Quietly she mumbled, "Thanks for saving me. Sorry I got you into this mess." Darien managed a small smile through his own pain. "It's alright. Oh yeah, I told you this building was condemned," he laughed weakly. Then they carried him out to the ambulance, leaving Serena alone. She walked home in silence, wondering why she didn't accompany him to the hospital. She knew he'd be alright, but she was still worried. Something about him made her heart pound, but why? She continued home, guilt drowning her thoughts. The next day. Only now did Todd Collins realize he should have listened to his mother when she told him not to go into the dead end profession of being an agent. He hadn't represented anyone with potential in his whole career, and now, at the young age of thirty four, he was on the verge of bankruptcy. He could call on his brother, he reckoned, but it would be humiliating. James was a successful businessman, with more money than he knew what to do with, and sponsers out the wazoo. Then Todd picked up the morning paper, and saw latest story on the front page. He quickly got on the phone with his brother, asking for investments on a sure fire way to get rich. To be continued.... The songs "You are just my love" and "My Way" are owned by people whom I don't know. The original translations for "you are just my love" were by Alex Glover, but I played with them so they'd fit the music of the song. You'll be hearing more of it in later parts, or you can check it out on my web site in the Mamoru related Fanfiction section. ( http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Bridge/3542/index.htm ) As always, I live for email! ( mangetsu@email.com ) I appreciate any and all commentary, so write, okay? Before I forget, someone (i'm sorry, i forget your name) wrote me a while back saying they really liked my stories and they wanted me to read something they did, a series, which was very long. They posted it a month or two back, but I didn't think to download it. They sent me a .zip file of it, but I don't have unzip on my pc. I really wanted to read it, and I was wondering if you'd send it to me in parts. I'm very sorry about all of this and hope you are reading this message. Okay, that wraps up another week, -Shell Presto ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com