Okay, I owe a lot of you major apologies for my delays in finishing

my fanfics. Here are my pathetic excuses: I just moved across the

country for college, I have a ridiculous amount of homework (did

I mention that I'm double majoring?), and the college ethernet people

took forever to install my ethernet access. Hopefully I will be

writing more often (and posting more often as well).  Please know

that I am really trying not to disappoint you, but situations make

such commitments difficult. Also, my sincere apologies to all who

emailed me within the few weeks. I was unable to check my email for

the past three weeks, and there were so many unread messages in there

that Hotmail decided to delete them all. ^_^; So, in short, you won't

be getting a response! I'm sooo sorry!



Quick note: I have no clue what the order of ages of the four sisters

is, so I guessed. Sorry if the info is incorrect. (Man, I'm doing a lot

of apologizing...)



Resist or Submit--Chapter Four 



by Aimee

sailor_moon89@hotmail.com 



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



Serena's eyes fluttered as she fought against fatigue to open them. She

attempted to sit up from her laying position on some sort of bed but

failed miserably. "Why am I so tired?" she mumbled, hardly audible.



"Because you've just received your first dose of energy from the dark

crystal," said a feminine voice from the far side of the room. Serena's

eyes were slow to focus on the figure of a woman, not too tall, vaguely

familiar. "It's a bit ironic, isn't it?" the woman mused. "That receiving

energy could drain you so much, but it does. The side effects will fade

in time and will be easier to handle with each additional dose."



Serena couldn't really understand what she was saying--too many

words, and she was so, so very tired. Still, she fought against the

gravitational pull that was doing merciless things to her eyelids, and

attempted to question the woman who stood before her. Why did

she look so familiar?



"Who are you?" Serena managed to say. She found she could do

little more than whisper.



"I am Avery--youngest of the four sisters," the woman stated

proudly, straightening her posture so that she stood a bit taller.

"I am also Rubeus's second ranking officer."



'Avery...' Serena thought groggily. 'Why didn't I remember that?

And who is Rubeus?'



Serena's thoughts were short-lived, however, as two more indivi-

duals stepped into the small room that had become her prison.



"She has regained conscousness, I see," the man with the red

hair said. What was his name again? Ruby? Rubber? Rubeus...

yes, that was it. Rubeus. Serena fought to remember that name

but found concentrating on anything was quite difficult. Rubeus

spoke to the woman who he had arrived with, "You administered

the treatment well, Prisma."



"Thank you, Rubeus," said the woman, her tone of voice revealing

a less than thrilled attitude. "I am surprised she woke up so soon.

The dosage was heavy."



"She's strong," Rubeus remarked with a smirk. "Increase the

dosage, and administer it within the hour."



"So soon?" Avery remarked, obviously surprised by the command.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"



"Are you questioning my orders?" Rubeus seethed, taking a step

toward Avery. She shrank back behind Prisma.



"N-no, sir," she stuttered nervously.



"Let me remind you ladies that we do not have much time," Rubeus

explained hastily. "Diamond is growing impatient, and we are

running out of options. This girl will be able to help us fulfill his

wishes, and I want her ready within the week. Do I make myself

perfectly clear?"



"Yes, sir," Prisma and Avery answered in unison.



"Good. Now, let us begin," he said, sitting down next to where Serena

lay helpless and completely confused. His voice immediately became

gentle. "What is your name, child?"



'Don't tell him...don't tell him...don't tell him,' Serena's mind urged.

But she was so confused. Where was she? Who were these people?

Could they be trusted?



Rubeus noted her hesitation, and leaned in closer. "Come on, little

one. You can trust me. Now what is your name?"



Prisma and Avery watched in silence while Serena struggled to

decide whether he was trustworthy or not. Prisma secretly began

to hope she would not give in to Rubeus, as she had unwittingly

done in her youth. Look at her now--angry and bitter, and she

had lost two of her sisters. This was no way to live. 'Don't give

in to him,' she urged the confused girl with her mind. 'Don't trust

him.'



"S-Serena," whispered the girl. "My name is Serena."



"My my, Serena," Rubeus said slyly. "What a beautiful name."



Prisma shook her head, sighing. The girl stood no chance against

Rubeus's charms--not with the persuasion of the dark crystal

working against her. She was as good as corrupted now--and

Prisma wasn't about to watch the rest of the process. She spun

on her heels quickly, leaving the room as fast as her legs could

carry her, not caring one bit of what Rubeus would think or how

he would react.



"Prisma," called Avery, following her older sister. "Where are

you going? Hey, Prisma! Wait up!"



Soon Rubeus was alone with Serena. "Don't mind them, little one.

They're weak...not like us. We're strong, aren't we?"



Serena's head nodded slightly, her eyes unable to leave his.

Rubeus smiled slyly, leaning closer to her. "You looked so sad

when I found you. All alone and abandoned. Do you remember

what happened?" he asked innocently.



She shook her head and whispered, "I can't remember much. I

don't know why..."



The dark crystal was doing a number on her memories, unknown

to Serena. Soon Rubeus would be able to twist them, and mold

them into what he wanted. "I'm sure you'll remember very soon.

I'll even help you out. What do you say? You *do* trust me,

don't you, Serena?"



"I want to trust you," she whispered, growing more and more

tired by the minute.



"Then we'll be able to get many things accomplished, I hope." He

rose and closed the door Prisma and Avery had left open after

their departure. He turned to the girl, soon to be his obedient

apprentice, smiled, and said, "Shall we begin?"



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



Four days later 



"That's enough for today, Serena. You may go rest now," Rubeus

announced to his exhausted prot駩.



"Thank you," she said simply, before trudging toward her quarters.

Rubeus watched her disappear, a slight smile on his lips.



She was more powerful than he could have ever thought possible.

More powerful than him, perhaps even more than Emerald, or the

great Prince Diamond, himself. And the best part of it was--she

was completely and utterly devoted to him and his purpose. The

Sailor Scouts wouldn't stand a chance. The Rabbit was as good

as his.



It was simply too easy.



Regular doses of the dark crystal had effectively poisoned the girl's

mind. It erased all of the negative qualities she had once held. Her

klutziness was a thing of the past, and her fighting skills had increased

ten-fold with the absence of her previous hesitations and fear. Her

brain was quick and she was able to analyze situations and determine

the best solution efficiently.



Too easy. Much too easy--and that made Rubeus very uncomfortable.



If, for some reason, Serena was turned against him once again, he

didn't stand a chance...not with her new training. Better not to take

chances.



"Prisma!" he bellowed to his first officer.



She emerged a few moments later. "You called?" she said, her voice

tired and displeased.



"Administer another dose of dark energy to the girl," he ordered her.

"She was asking about her mother today. Her *mother*, of all things.

She shouldn't give a damn about her family at this point. Can you think

of a reason the treatment might be losing it's effect."



"I can't think of a thing," Prisma lied--a nice, little trick she had picked

up from Rubeus, himself.



"Raise the dosage," he told her, not even having the curtsey to look

at her as he spoke. "I want her ready by tomorrow."



Prisma smiled sweetly. "Of course, Rubeus," she said, successfully

hiding the sarcasm in her voice. "Anything for you."



She rolled her eyes, completely disgusted by the man. Prisma returned

to her quarters, realizing only after she had arrived that she had forgotten

to give Serena her dosage of dark energy. But then again, she had con-

veniently forgotten to administer the treatment several times in the past

few days. No wonder the child had begun to question Rubeus about

her family.



"A pity," she said, smiling. "Without that energy, Serena won't be feeling

very loyal to her precious Rubeus."



Maybe then, Prisma would be free.



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



Serena stared at her hands, wondering if they looked like her mother's

hands. She wished she could remember her. She remembered only

blurs--shadows. Did she even have a mother? Not that she needed

one, of course. Rubeus was all she needed. He would always be there

for her.



But she still wondered...



She sighed and stretched out on her bed, resting her tired muscles.

Today's training had been hard, but she wouldn't complain. Rubeus

needed her, he had told her. She could help him in a way no one else

could, and she was more than ready to do just that for the man who

had helped her in so many ways. Yes, she was more than ready.



Her mission was simple. Eliminate the Sailor Scouts. She knew nothing

of the Scouts except what Rubeus told her--they were his enemies, and

they were not to be trusted. They held a child captive--a child which

belonged to Rubeus. To think--stealing a child from someone so kind

as Rubeus. They must be awful people.



And she, Sailor Moon, would not stand for such injustice.



Serena was certain that she would be able to defeat them, and rescue

the poor "rabbit" from the clutches of the enemy. It was the least she

could do.



Funny though--it seems like she had heard something about "Sailor

Scouts" a while back--maybe it was some more of her memories

that were so fuzzy and mixed up. They hadn't seemed like bad people.

Why did Rubeus hate them so? Serena was certain he had his reasons,

though. After all, he could do no wrong in her eyes. He had saved her...

taken care of her when no one else was there.



Serena shifted in her bed, wondering if Prisma would be around to give

her some of the energy she had been taking since her arrival. Funny, she

hadn't seemed to be given much of it in the past few days. Perhaps she

didn't need it.



She shrugged off the idea and decided to get some rest. Tomorrow's

training would no doubt be more intense than today's, and she needed

all the strength she could muster. She knew she was almost ready to

complete her first mission: eliminate the Sailor Scouts.



Serena closed her tired eyes, and fell asleep shortly thereafter, dreaming

of her mother, whom she couldn't seem to see clearly, and of a dark,

masked man, whose name she couldn't seem to remember.



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*



That's a wrap for chapter four. Hope you liked it.



Email me! I love hearing from you!



sailor_moon89@hotmail.com