"Sisters, listen to me," Lady Diabla said to her sisters, Lady Espirita and Lady Muerta.  They were sitting in their underground lair on Darkdeath, gathered around their crystal ball, which was made of a dark black crystal.  "The Sailor Astros have awakened."
     "WHAT?!" Lady Muerta shrieked.  "They’ve awakened?  All of them?  Ooh, how I HATE those little urchins!"
     "No, not all of them!" Lady Diabla interjected, silencing her sister.  "Just three: Sailor Io, Sailor Vega and Sailor Zephyr.  We also need energy, to keep the Dark Spirit alive and keep ourselves alive."  Diabla smiled evilly.  "And I think I know where we can get energy."
     That sparked interest with Muerta and Espirita.  "Ooh!  Where?" Espirita squealed.
     Diabla rolled her eyes at Espirita, then continued: "From the humans themselves, of course.  You see, they all have those heart crystals.  The heart crystals contain precious energy that humans waste on foolish things like love and…" Diabla shuddered at saying the word: "Kindness."  The Death Ladies all squirmed with disgust.  "We take the heart crystals from the humans, steal their energy…then infest them with demons!"
     "Ohhh, yes!  Excellent idea, sister!" Lady Muerta cried.  "You are a genius!" Diabla beamed proudly.
     "But how shall we get this energy?" Espirita questioned.  "Surely we won’t go down ourselves?"
     "We shall send one of our warriors, of course," Diabla explained.  She stared into the crystal ball.  "But which one will we send?"
     "How about…Oscurio?" Muerta suggested.
     "Oscurio…yes…" Diabla continued to meditate on the crystal ball.  Eventually, a man’s face appeared in it.  The face had long, jet black hair and dark eyes.
     "Yes, Lady?" the face in the crystal ball asked.
     "Oscurio…we need you to come to the crystal room, right now!" Diabla ordered Oscurio.  The face in the crystal ball disappeared.  Seconds later, Oscurio strode into the room where Diabla and her sisters were sitting.
     "Hello, m’ladies," Oscurio said, kneeling before them.  "What is it you wish of me?"
     "Oscurio, the Sailor Astros have awakened!" Lady Espirita cried.  "And we need you—"
     "—to go to Earth and get energy from the humans’ heart crystals," Lady Muerta said, finishing Espirita’s sentence.
     "I would be glad to," Oscurio replied dutifully.
     "Good.  Now, Oscurio," Lady Diabla said.
     "Don’t fail us," the Death Ladies said in unison.

     "Miss Wood, Miss Riker, Miss de Larke," Dani’s, Sara’s, and Lilia’s teacher asked.  "Why are you so late?  The bell rang half an hour ago."
     "Well, you see, Mrs. Parker," Dani addressed the teacher.  "We were walking to school, and Lilia…fainted from the heat.  We took her back to my house and helped her, and when she was better again, my parents had to drive us back and there was…a lot of traffic."  Daniella recited the excuse that the girls had created.
     "Ah…" Mrs. Parker murmured, buying into the excuse.  "I see.  Are you all right, Lilia?  Do you want to see the nurse?"
     "I’m fine, Mrs. Parker," Lilia replied.   The girls took their seats in the back row, next to their friend Michelle Weston.
     "Hi, Michelle!" Sara greeted the redheaded girl.
     "Hi, Sara," Michelle replied.  "So…why were you guys _really_ late?  I know it wasn’t because Lilia fainted."
     "How’d you figure that out?" Sara’s face fell.
     "Obvious, wasn’t it?" Michelle laughed.
     "Um…we’ll tell you later, okay?" Dani said nervously.  "So…do you guys want to come over to my house after school today?"
     "Sure," Michelle said, and the others agreed.
     "Girls in the back row!" Mrs. Parker said sternly.  "Quiet now."

     "Pi radius what?"  The four girls were back at Dani’s house studying, and Sara was puzzling over her math homework.
     "Pi radius squared equals the perimeter," Michelle tried to explain the math problem to Sara, but she still looked confused.
     "I don’t get it," Sara said, still staring confusedly at her homework.
     "Um…anyone want something to drink, like a soda or something?" Dani asked, as Cypress flew over and perched on her hand.
     "Sure, I’d like a soda," Lilia requested.
     "And I’ll have…a glass of water, please, Daniella," Michelle said politely.  She was the only one of them who called Dani by her real name, thinking that her nickname sounded improper.
     "Okay," Daniella left the room and headed downstairs to the kitchen, with Cypress still on her hand.
     "Daniella, I have a strange feeling about that girl Michelle," Cypress said as Daniella was getting the drinks.
     "A strange feeling?" Dani asked.  "What do you mean?"
     "I feel as if…I knew her in your past life as a princess of Astro," Cypress explained.  "Like she was a Sailor or something.  Because Sailor Andromeda looked exactly like her."
     "Really?" Dani said, excited.  "She’s a Sailor Astro?  Cool!"
     "She might be," Cypress said.  He flew around in a loop and another transformation wand appeared; this one was blue and pink.  "This is the transformation wand for Sailor Andromeda.  Let’s go give it to her."  They walked back upstairs, Daniella carrying the drinks and Cypress with the transformation wand in his claws.  Dani opened the door to her room and Cypress flew in, dropping the transformation wand in Michelle’s lap.
     "Cypress!  What’s this?" Michelle examined the wand closely.
     "It’s your transformation wand, Sailor Andromeda," the bird said.
     Michelle screamed.  "What…did that bird just…talk to me?"
     "Yes he did," Dani said.  "Okay, Cypress, tell her."
     Cypress told Michelle of her past life as Sailor Andromeda.  He told her the true identities of her three friends, and explained about the Sapphire Star and the Death Ladies.
    "Oh, so that’s why you guys were late today…" Michelle mused.  "Those Death Ladies…they suck human energy?"
    "Yes," Cypress explained.  "They are trying to get the Sapphire Star so that they can have the power that Dani and her sister have.  And you and the other Sailors must protect it."
    "Hey, try your transformation out, Michelle!" Sara said.  "I wanna see you in your sailor outfit!"
    "My…sailor outfit?" Michelle repeated.
    "That’s what we wear," Dani said, making a face.  "It’s hideous."
    "No it’s not!" Sara argued.  "It’s nice-looking.  Go ahead, Michelle, try it out."
    "What do I do?" Michelle asked.
    "You don’t remember?" Cypress asked.  "I thought you’d surely remember your…oh well.  Just say ‘Andromeda Astral Star Power, Transform!’ and hold up the wand."
    "Andromeda Astral Star Power, Transform!" Michelle repeated.  From out of nowhere, glowing musical notes flew at her.  One of them went right through her, and when it flew away, it revealed Sailor Andromeda in her  sailor uniform.  Her uniform was blue with a pink bow, white gloves with blue trim, blue high-heeled boots, a gold tiara with a pink stone, and a pink choker.
    "Cool suit, Andromeda," Lilia said.
    "What do yours look like?" asked a stunned Sailor Andromeda.
    "We’ll show you!" Dani said.  She raised her transformation wand, as did the others.
    "Zephyr Astral Star Power, TRANSFORM!"
    "Vega Astral Star Power, TRANSFORM!"
    "Io Astral Star Power, TRANSFORM!"
    The other three transformed and posed, displaying their sailor suits.
    "Hey, that’s cool!" Sailor Andromeda said, laughing a little.
    "Welcome to the team, Sailor Andromeda!" Sailor Zephyr said.

     "Those idiot Sailors are transformed again!" Lady Diabla hissed, looking through the crystal ball at the Sailors.  "Oscurio!" she called for her warrior.
     "Yes, m’lady?" Oscurio asked, bowing before her.
     "Oscurio, the Sailors are transformed again,"  Diabla said to him.  "I want you to go and try to get the Star…and their heart crystals.
     "Of course, m’lady," Oscurio replied.  He vanished into thin air, transporting to Earth.
     Diabla smiled.  "Oscurio will not fail us…he’ll succeed in getting the Sapphire Star…"

     Back on Earth at Dani’s house, the girls were admiring each others’ suits when there was a knock on Dani’s bedroom door.  "Girls!" a muffled voice said from the other side of the door.
     "Shoot, that’s my mom!" Dani whispered.  "Detransform, everyone!"  They did, and just in time.  As Dani’s mom walked in, the girls were in their normal clothes again.
     "Are you girls all right in here?" Dani’s mom asked.  "I heard screaming coming from up here."
     "We’re fine, Mom," Dani answered.  "We were just…uh, playing a game!"
     "All right, as long as no one gets hurt," Mrs. Wood agreed, closing the door again.
     "That was a close one," Michelle sighed.  "Let’s transform again.  That was fun."  She raised her wand again and was about to say her transformation phrase again when Dani stopped her.
     "We’d better go outside first," she said.  "Just to be safe…I mean, what if my mom walks in again with us in our suits?  We can’t take that chance, and there are some woods out behind the house.  We’ll hide in there and transform so no one can see us."
     "Good idea, Daniella," Cypress said.  "Let’s go." The Astros (in their human forms) trooped down the stairs and out the door.  They walked out to a heavily wooded area, then took out their wands again.
     "Andromeda Astral Star Power…" Michelle began.
     "Vega Astral Star Power…" Lilia joined in.
     "Io Astral Star Power!" Sara cried excitedly.
     "Zephyr Astral Star Power!" Dani yelled.
     "TRANSFORM!" the four yelled in unison.  They went through their transformations at the same time, and once they were done, they posed in their sailor suits.
     "Well, if it isn’t a Sailor Astro convention," a dark-haired, dark-eyed man appeared above them, floating in the air.
     "Who…who the heck are you?" Sailor Zephyr demanded angrily.
     "I am darkness itself," the man introduced himself, floating down to the ground.  "I am Oscurio, first warrior to the Death Ladies!" (Author’s note: the name Oscurio is a twist on oscuro, meaning "dark" in Spanish, which explains why he calls himself "darkness.")
     "The Death Ladies!" Sailor Vega cried, realizing who he was.  "He’s a minion to one of those creepy demon girls!"  She acted immediately.  "Vega Rose Blossom!"  Glowing purple rosebuds flew toward Oscurio, but he also acted quickly.
     "Darkness shield…" he whispered, perfectly calm.  A dark, yet translucent, wall appeared in front of him.  The roses bounced off of the wall and flew back toward Vega, hitting her with her own attack.  The roses exploded with great force when they hit her, knocking her over.
     "Aaah!" Vega screamed as she fell.  "You son of a—"
     "Vega, control yourself!" Andromeda interrupted Vega before she said anything that she’d regret later.  "Galactical Melody!" Andromeda yelled, raising her arm.  Her arm glowed with blue energy, which she threw into the air.  The ball of energy seemed to bounce off of the sky before speeding toward Oscurio.
     "Dark Wall!" Oscurio yelled quickly.  A wall of dark energy rose before him, which dissolved Andromeda’s attack before it could reach Oscurio.  Then the wall crashed forward, on top of the Sailors.  The Sailors screamed as the wall fell on them.
     "Cyclone…Trap," Sailor Io said weakly.  A whirling wind surrounded the Sailors, lifting them up from under the wall.
     "Oh, so you want to be that way?" Oscurio muttered angrily.  "Fine.  Be that way, and so will I.  Daimon!"  Oscurio called forth his energy-sucking demon.
     "Daimon?" Sailor Io asked, sounding scared.  "I’m not sure I’d like…daimons…"
     "Don’t be a chicken, Io!" Sailor Zephyr said determined.  "We’ll be able to kick this daimon’s butt."
     "Maybe not…" Sailor Andromeda said, seeing the daimon that Oscurio had called up.  The daimon had many tentacles and eyes all the way around its head.  Its skin was a disgusting mottled green color, and it looked slimy and poisonous to the touch.
     "Sure we will," Sailor Vega said reassuringly, although she didn’t sound too sure.
     "Daimon!" Oscurio ordered.  "Attack!  Drain their energy!"  The daimon obeyed its master.  It hopped forward on its one webbed foot and shot a tentacle at Sailor Io.
     "It’s got me!" Io cried.  She struggled to get free of the daimon’s grasp.
     "Sailor Io!" Zephyr cried.  "Star Wind!" she exclaimed, shooting a star-shaped ball of energy at the daimon, stunning it temporarily.  It dropped Sailor Io, and she fell hard on the ground.
     "Ouch!" she cried.  "Did saving me have to be that painful?"
     "Well geez, Io, it’s called gratitude…" Vega said.
     "Foolish Sailors!" Oscurio yelled.  "If you weren’t fighting you would have realized that your spell has already worn off!"
     "It has?  Darn!" Sailor Zephyr said, noticing the daimon, who had awakened from being stunned by her spell.  "Let’s combine attacks!" she whispered to the other Sailors.  "On the count of three, everyone release your offensive attack.  One, two, three!"
     "Zephyr Comet Fireworks!" Zephyr shouted.
     "Io Thunderbolt Shock!" Io cried, releasing a bolt of lightning at the daimon.
     "Andromeda Star Symphony!" Andromeda yelled, shooting musical notes at the daimon.
     "Vega Rose Blossom!" Vega cried.
     The combined attacks hit the daimon with tremendous force.  The daimon fell over, then hit the ground and exploded into dust.  Oscurio glared at the Sailors.
     "You may have won this round, but I will beat you," he vowed.  "You stupid, naïve Sailors are weak.  You are very, very weak, compared to my daimons and I."  And with that, he disappeared, leaving a group of puzzled looking Sailor Soldiers.

     "Oscurio!" Lady Muerta shrieked in disgust.  "Why did you fail us!"
     The dark-haired warrior shrugged.  "We…I mean, I underestimated them.  Their attacks are more powerful than we expected.  And the daimon I created was too weak.  I have some much more powerful daimons than the one I used on them.  Much more powerful.  Daimons that can suck three times the energy that the last one could, that have several times the power that my last daimon had.  I won’t fail you next time, ladies."
     "You’d better not, Oscurio," Lady Espirita said coldly, threateningly.  "Or else…"