"OSCURIO!!!" Lady Muerta shrieked.
     "Yes, my lady?" Oscurio asked.  He looked scared and ashamed.
     "You have failed us!" Lady Diabla cried.  "Three times!"
     Oscurio hung his head.  "Yes, Lady Diabla.  I am sorry."
     "Sorry?!" Lady Espirita repeated.  "Sorry doesn’t reverse what you did!  It doesn’t change the fact that you failed us three times.  You know the human saying ‘Once, twice, three times you’re out’?"
     "Y-yes?" Oscurio asked, stuttering, more scared than before.
     "Well, that saying goes here," Diabla said.  "So you’re out, Oscurio."
     "But what about the mission?" Oscurio asked.  "Who will continue the mission?"
     Lady Muerta smirked.  "Oh, yes…Cuchillo will replace you."
     "But…what…?" Oscurio asked.
     "What about you?" Diabla finished.  "You…will be locked into the torture chamber, where all the bad warriors go."
     "No…" Oscurio whispered.  He had heard of the torture chamber, of how warriors who failed the Ladies went in and never came out.
     "Oh, yes…" Espirita murmured, enjoying Oscurio’s fear.  "Guards!  Lock Oscurio here up in the torture chamber!"
     The Death Ladies’ guards entered the room.  They grabbed Oscurio and dragged him off.  A few moments later, the Ladies could hear Oscurio’s screams from the torture chamber.
     "One down…" Muerta whispered.  "Three more warriors to go."
     "Yes…" Diabla affirmed.  "Cuchillo!"
     Out of nowhere, a knife flew through the air and stabbed into the ground.  The one who threw the knife, Cuchillo, stepped out of the shadows.  "You called?" he asked.
     "Yes!" Espirita cried, jumping up.  "Cuchillo…we have an important mission for you."
     "The one that Oscurio was working on?" Cuchillo asked.  "So he failed, eh.  I knew he would."
     "Cuchillo, we need you to go to Earth," Muerta explained.  "Collect energy from the humans through their heart crystals.  One of those humans is bound to have the Sapphire Star."
     "Yes, of course, Muerta," Cuchillo replied.  In a puff of smoke he was gone, on his way to Earth.
     "Think he’ll fail?" Lady Diabla asked her sisters.
     "He’d better not…" Muerta replied.

     "Sara?" Chrysta asked her sister.
     "What?" Sara replied, grouchily.  She was still in bed.
     "Sara!" Chrysta repeated.  "We’ll be late for school!"
     "Chrysta, go away," Sara pulled the covers up over her head.
     "SARA!" her younger sister yelled, jumping on her bed.
     "Chrysta, get off!" Sara yelled back, sitting up.  She kicked the covers—and Chrysta—off of her bed.
     "Owwww!" Chrysta whined, as she fell to the floor.  "Mom!  Sara kicked me!"
     Mrs. Riker came rushing into Sara’s room and saw Chrysta on the floor and Sara lying in bed.  "Chrysta!  Are you okay?"
     "Mom, Sara kicked me off of her bed!" Chrysta said accusingly.
     "You started it!" Sara countered.  "You jumped on my bed!"
     "I was trying to wake you up!"
     "Were not!"
     "Was too!"
     "Not!"
     "Too!"
     "Not!"
     "Too!"
     "GIRLS!" Mrs. Riker cut in.  "Chrysta, don’t jump on Sara.  Sara…you’re grounded."
     "What?!" Sara asked.  "But I wasn’t even—"
     "Don’t argue," her mother interrupted.  "Chrysta’s only eight, she doesn’t know any better.  You should, though.  You should know better than to kick her off of your bed, even if she was jumping on you.  So you’re grounded for today."
     "That’s not fair!" Sara whined.
     "Of course it is," Mrs. Riker replied.  "Now hurry along or you’ll be late.
     "Yes, Mother," Sara replied, irritated.

     "Sara!  Hey Sara!" a voice called down the hall.  Sara turned around; it was Daphne.
     "Hi…" Sara replied.
     "Sara, Dani told me to tell you about the Sailor meeting today," Daphne said.  "She wants us to meet at her house after school.  She says that it was Cypress’s idea, so I guess it’s something important."
     "Ohh, shoot!" Sara muttered.
     "What?" Daphne asked.
     "I’m grounded today!" Sara answered.  "My little sister, you know, Chrysta?  Arcturus?  She was being a brat today and I ended up grounded!"
     "Really?" Daphne asked.  "That sucks.  So you can’t come?"
     "No way," Sara replied.  "Sorry.  Can you tell Dani?"
     "Sure," Daphne said.  "Too bad for you, huh?"
     "Yeah," Sara said.  "A little too bad…"

     "Okay, Cypress," Dani said to the bird, "What was this meeting all about?"
     Cypress pecked on a seed.  He was sitting on Dani’s bookshelf, and the other Sailors except for Sara were gathered around him.
     "Well," Cypress said.  "A new girl is transferring to your school.  Her name is Shiloe Jefferson, and she’s a certified genius.  She was homeschooled, but she’s transferring to a regular school to see what it’s like.  What’s weirder, though, is that she looks exactly like Sailor Spica!"
     "Really, she does?" Michelle asked.
     "Yes!" Cypress replied.  "This Shiloe has the same hair, same face, and approximately the same height as Spica.  I also heard that Shiloe practices fencing, and Sailor Spica wielded a sword."
     "Oh, yes…" Lilia mused.  "I can see the connection there."
     "So you think Shiloe is Spica?" Daphne asked.
     "Yes, I do think so," Cypress said.  "We’ll look into it.  I also found a new enemy,"
     That attracted the girls’ interest.  "Who?"
     "Another warrior to the Death Ladies, I assume.  I saw him sucking energy from some innocent people on the street.  I was going to call upon the Sailors, but you were all in school.  But don’t worry, the victims got medical help.
     "Anyway, his name is Cuchillo…which means knife.  He throws a knife before arriving on the scene, so you can always tell when he’s coming.  Unlike Oscurio, he doesn’t use daimons.  He sucks the energy himself."
     "But how are we going to stop him?" Lilia asked.
     "I’m not sure," Cypress admitted.  "But I guess we’ll just have to look for him, on the street and places like that.  If you see him on the street, transform and signal the other Sailors and I telepathically."
     "Telepathically?" Daphne repeated.  "Like…psychics or something?  Can we do that?"
     "Yes, that is one of your powers as a sailor," Cypress said.
     "So, we can contact Sara?" Dani asked.
     "Well…" Cypress hesitated.  "I suppose so.  She’s a Sailor, she can."
     "Okay…but how?" Lilia asked.
     "You all know how.  You just have to remember," Cypress said.  "You did this in your past life, so you should be able to remember how.
     "Okay, I’ll try contacting her," Dani said.  <Sara?> she called out telepathically.  <Sara, can you hear me?  It’s Dani…>

     Sara was sitting at home, struggling with her homework.  "If Michelle were here, she could help me…" Sara muttered, working her way through an algebra problem.
     Then, she heard a voice in her head talking to her!  <Sara?> the voice asked.  <Sara, can you hear me?  It’s Dani…>
     "Dani?" Sara asked aloud to no one in particular.  "What…how is she sending psychic messages to me?
     <Sara, if you can hear me…say something.>
     "Dani?" Sara asked again.  "Dani, I can hear you!"
     <Sara, use your telepathic powers!> the voice urged.  <As a Sailor Astro you have telepathic powers…powers to speak through thoughts to other Sailors.  You’ll remember how to, just use your powers!  You don’t even have to transform or anything…you have telepathy anyway.>
     "Telepathy?" Sara said.  "What’s that?  Oh well, I guess I’ll try it."
     Sara concentrated hard on Dani, trying to use her telepathy.  <Dani?> she finally managed to say.  <Dani, did you hear me?>

     Meanwhile, Dani was concentrating hard to hear Sara’s message.  Then… <Dani?  Dani, did you hear me?>
     "I got something!" Dani told the others enthusiastically.
     "It worked?" Cypress said, excited.  "You’re communicating with her?"
     Dani nodded.  <Sara…I heard,> she replied.
     <You did?> Sara asked.  <How did you find out about this telepathy thing?>
     <Cypress told us,> Dani answered.  <He also told us that the Death Ladies have another warrior, Cuchillo.  He’s also trying to suck human energy.  So watch out for him.  And if you see him, signal us telepathically.>
     <Okay,> Sara said.  <Are you guys going to fight him…today?>
     <Maybe,> Dani replied.  <It depends on whether we find him today or not.>
     <All right,> Sara replied.  <I’d better go, okay?>
     <Fine with me,> Dani said.  <Bye.>  She turned back to the other Sailors.
     "Well, did you tell her?" Michelle asked.
     "Yes, I did," Dani said.  "I told her to look out for Cuchillo, and to signal us if she sees him."
     "You did?  Good," Lilia replied.  She glanced at the clock.  "I’d better go now, all right?"
     "Yeah, me too," Daphne said.
     "So do I," Michelle said.  "See you all tomorrow!"
     "Bye!" Dani called to her friends.

     Lilia walked briskly down the sidewalk, rushing to get home on time.  She had to go to a practice for swim team, and didn’t want to be late again or else her coach would make her swim ten laps.  If she didn’t get home soon, she’d be late.
     As she turned the corner, she heard a scream coming from the opposite direction.  She turned around, while instinctively reaching for her transformation wand, and ran down the street towards the screams.
     A block away, she saw a man with gray hair standing over a girl.  The girl looked about her age, and she had short blonde hair.  Lilia recognized the girl immediately as her classmate, Kaylie.
     That must be Cuchillo, Lilia thought.  I have to signal the others…
     Lilia ran off down another alley to hide from Cuchillo.  She tried to signal the others.  <Can anyone hear me?> she called to them.  <Sailor Astros…Anyone hear me?  It’s Lilia, Vega.>  After receiving no response, she continued.  <You guys…I saw Cuchillo!  He’s sucking the energy of one of our classmates.  I’m gonna transform, and if you guys can hear me can you come help?>  After a while of no one answering, Lilia decided to handle this on her own.
     "Vega Astral Star Power, transform!" she yelled.  Once fully transformed, she rushed out to confront this new enemy.
     "Hold it right there!" Vega yelled at Cuchillo.  Cuchillo lost his concentration, and stopped sucking energy.
     "Who are you?" he asked skeptically.
     "I am Sailor Vega, Soldier of the Flowers!" she replied.  "In the name of Planet Astro and the star Vega, I will punish you!"
     "Uh huh, I’m scared…" Cuchillo muttered.  He flung a knife at her, which she dodged quickly.  "And what do you want?"
     "For you to stop hurting this innocent girl!" Vega said.
     "And you’re going to stop me?" Cuchillo yawned.  "Whatever.  That’s a laughable intention."  He whispered something, and a stream of silver energy struck at Vega, knocking her off of her feet momentarily.  But she got up quickly, and yelled, "Vega Rose Blossom!"
     But Cuchillo dodged the roses, and only one hit him.  He struck her again with the silver energy, this time knocking her against a tree.  She was conscious, but too weak to get up.
     "Now I can resume with my energy sucking!" Cuchillo said.  "And you’re next, Flower Child."
     "I don’t think so!" a voice said.  Cuchillo turned around to see four more Sailors standing behind him.
     "Oh, more Sailors?" Cuchillo asked boredly.  "And more energy to suck, I assume."
     "Not in this lifetime, Knife Man!" Sailor Zephyr said.  "We are the Sailor Astros!  And you’ll pay for this!"
     "I will not!" Cuchillo replied defiantly.
     "Want to bet?" Sailor Inferno began attacking.  "Inferno Lava River!"
     The stream of lava shot out towards Cuchillo, who jumped out of the way, the lava only burning his sleeve.  "Knife Thrower!" Cuchillo yelled in response.  Several burning knives flew at the Sailors, who all dodged them.
     "Arcturus Cloud Capture!" Sailor Arcturus giggled.  The clouds covered the area, and no one could even see his or her hand in front of his or her face.
     "What…what’s going on!" Cuchillo asked, panicked.  "I can’t see…"  Then the clouds lifted.  Cuchillo was trapped in the chain of ice that Arcturus had created.
     "Okay, you guys can get him now," Sailor Arcturus said, stepping back.
     "Star Wind!" Zephyr said.  The ball of energy rushed toward Cuchillo, but just in time he disappeared.
     "Hey!" Inferno cried, frustrated.  "He wasn’t supposed to do that!"
     "Is Vega okay?" Andromeda asked.
     "Yeah, I’m fine," Vega replied.
     "Good," Zephyr said.  "Well, another victory for the Sailor Astros, huh?"
     "Yeah, and we did it without Spica interfering!" Inferno said.  "See, we don’t need her to save us all the time!"
     "I just wonder if she really is Shiloe…" Vega said.