Ryan ran toward the other end of the basketball court, jumped up, and tossed the basketball toward the net…and missed.
     "Better luck next time," a voice said from behind him.  Ryan turned around; it was Daphne.  He had transferred to her school since the fight at the mall.
     "And I suppose you could do better?" he asked her.
     "Sure," Daphne replied, picking up the ball where it had rolled off the court.  She bounced it a few times, and jumped and threw it into the hoop.  It went straight through, not even touching the rim.  "See, I’ve been practicing since I transferred to Avalon."
     "I’ve been practicing since I transferred to Avalon too," Ryan retorted.  "In fact, I could even—" he was interrupted by the gymnasium door opening.  Someone rushed in hurriedly; it was Daniella.
     "You guys, come quick!" she cried.  "Something really really bad happened just now!"
     "What?!" Daphne and Ryan asked simultaneously.
     Dani grabbed both of them by the arm.  "No time to explain, but I think it’s Sailor Astro business.  Do you have your transformation wands?"
     "Why?" Ryan was quick to ask.
     "Because!" Dani replied, irritated.  "Now come on!"  She dragged them both outside, out to the field.  They saw Sara, lying on the ground unconscious.  Daphne shrieked.
     "Sara!" she cried, rushing over to her friend.  Ryan and Dani followed behind her.
     "She’s completely unconscious," said one of the other girls gathered around Sara.
     "How did that happen?" Ryan asked.
     "This…I don’t know, this guy came down from the sky!" another girl said.  "He had a monster with him, and he told the monster to zap her.  The monster struck her with a lightning bolt, and she fell over.  Then the guy and the monster just vanished!"
     "Cuchillo?" Daphne whispered to Dani.  Dani nodded.
     "A monster?" Ryan asked skeptically.  "And a guy, and they came down from the sky?  Sure.  Whatever you say."
     "It’s true!" the girl cried.  "The monster was orange and red, and it looked like a giant frog!"
     "You guys must be hallucinating," Ryan said, even though he knew that it was Cuchillo, he didn’t want to risk giving away his identity.
     "Come on, we gotta get her to the nurse!"  one of the girls cried.  Dani and Ryan picked Sara up off the ground, then they half-carried, half-dragged her to the school nurse.
     "Oh dear," the nurse said when she saw the unconscious Sara.  "How did this happen?"
     "Well, there was a—" Daphne began, but Dani cut her off.
     "She got…um, exhausted from the heat, and she…um, she fainted!" Dani put in, impulsively.  "Yeah, that’s it, she fainted."
     The nurse looked at them quizzically.  "All right.  I’ll help her.  You three can go now."  Obediently, Dani, Daphne, and Ryan went out into the hall.
     "What was that about?" Daphne demanded.
     "What?" Dani asked, knowing perfectly well what she was talking about.
     "Lying to the nurse.  Why?"
     "Daph, if I told her the truth, that a guy and his daimon had sucked her energy, she’d think we were crazy," Dani replied.  "She would probably have called an insane asylum or a psychiatrist somewhere.  Besides, then our identities would be more obvious."
     "Oh yeah," Daphne said, looking somewhat embarrassed.
     "We’ve got to tell the others!" Ryan said.

     "Cuchillo again?" Lilia asked.  She, Ryan, Daphne, Dani, and Michelle were at the library where they had decided to meet.
     "Yes, we think so," Dani replied.  "That girl said it was a man and a monster that came down from the sky.  Who else do we know that does that?"
     "Oscurio!" Daphne said.  "Oh…but he’s dead, so it couldn’t have been him."
     "No, duh, he’s dead," Lilia replied.  "If he’s dead then he can’t very well come down to Earth to suck energy anymore, could he?"
     "Right," Dani replied.  "I only wonder why he and the Death Ladies need that energy…?"
     "Maybe to survive…" Michelle mused, thinking aloud.  "Maybe they need it like humans need food.  Or maybe…I’m not sure…"
     "No, I think you’re right!" Ryan said.  "They probably do need it to survive, that’s why they’re sucking it from humans.  Because they’ll die without it."
     "Yeah!" Daphne said, triumphantly.  A librarian nearby glared at her.  "I mean, yes, that’s probably why," she added in a quieter voice.
     "But didn’t Cypress say something about them wanting to find the Sapphire Star?" Lilia asked.
     "Yes, he did…" Dani answered.  "They’re probably trying to find a good source of energy first, then they’ll go after the Star."
     "Sapphire Star?" Ryan asked, puzzled.  "You didn’t tell me about any Sapphire Star…"
     "Oh, we didn’t?" Daphne said.  "Well, it’s the Sapphire that Sailor Zephyr has, that gives her all her powers.  We think they’re after it."
     "We know they’re after it," Michelle corrected.  "When Lady Diabla first came down to earth, she asked us if we had the Sapphire Star."
     "What did you tell her?" Ryan asked cautiously.  "Did you tell her who has it?"
     "Of course not!" Dani said.  "We’re not stupid, Ryan.  We didn’t tell her anything."
     "You’re sure?" he asked.
     "Yes I’m sure!" Dani replied.  Just then, they heard screaming coming from the library’s front desk.
     "Uh-oh," Lilia whispered.  "You know what that means, don’t you?"
     "Transformation time!" Daphne said happily.  They went into one of the library’s empty meeting rooms so that no one would see them, and transformed.
     "Zephyr Astral Star Power, transform!"
     "Vega Astral Star Power, transform!"
     "Andromeda Astral Star Power, transform!"
     "Inferno Astral Star Power, transform!"
     "Orion Astral Star Power, transform!" Ryan added, raising his transformation wand.  A red and white arrow flew around him.  As it circled him, his sailor suit appeared.  Then the arrow flew upwards and disappeared, and Ryan was completely transformed.
     "Let’s go!" Zephyr shouted.  They rushed out to find three librarians lying motionless on the floor.  The library was a mess: bookshelves had been knocked over, people were screaming, and there was total chaos. There was a red and orange daimon sitting in the middle of the mess.  The daimon looked like some kind of giant frog.  It was the one who had knocked over the bookshelves, and it had sucked the librarians’ energy.  People were throwing books at the daimon, but it didn’t seem to notice; it was too busy wreaking havoc.
     "Whoa," Inferno muttered.  "That’s some daimon."
     "I’ll say," Vega said.  "Come on!"  She ran forward to attack the daimon.  "Pollen rain!"  The cloud rained on the daimon, but he did nothing.  The daimon just stood there, smiling, as he got rained on.
     "What…" Vega asked, surprised.  "Why didn’t it affect him?"
     "Apparently, this daimon is really, really powerful," Zephyr stated.  "Combine attacks!"
     "Are you sure that’ll work, Zephyr?" Orion asked.  "I mean, if this daimon can—"
     "Orion, just do it!" Zephyr said in exasperation.
     But as the Sailors were getting ready to attack, the daimon made the first move.  It charged toward them hopping, and as it hopped, the whole building shook.  It jumped on Zephyr, and she was knocked out.  Then it lashed out toward Andromeda and wrapped its extremely long tongue around her.  She began to glow orange, and the daimon sucked her energy.
     "Oh man…" Orion muttered, watching.  "Orion Speed Arrow!" he shouted.  He aimed the arrow towards the daimon’s tongue, but missed.
     "Allow me," a voice behind him said.  It was Sailor Spica.  She stepped forward and swung her sword down.  The sword cut through the daimon’s tongue, and Andromeda collapsed on the floor.  Andromeda was still conscious, but was very weak.
     "Who…?" Orion asked, dazed.
     "Spica?" Vega asked.  "Where’d you come from?"
     "That’s for me to know and you to find out," Spica giggled.  "Anyway, you guys shouldn’t attack the daimon in here.  The library is already a wreck, and attacking in here would just wreck it more.  So let’s lure the daimon outside, and we’ll attack it out there."
     "And leave Sailor Zephyr and Sailor Andromeda?" Inferno asked.  "No thanks."
     "No, we carry them outside," Spica said.
     "Easier said than done," Vega pointed out.  "Besides, who’s gonna carry them?"
     "I’ll carry Andromeda," Spica said.  "That is, if someone can help me?"
     "I will," Inferno offered.
     "And I can carry Zephyr," Orion volunteered.  He picked up Zephyr, without help from anyone else, and draped her across his shoulder.
     "Showoff," Inferno muttered.  She and Spica were carrying Sailor Andromeda.
     "Okay, let’s go!" Vega said, running outside.
     "Wait up, Vega!" Inferno yelled after her.  "We can’t run that fast!"  She and Spica struggled out the door with Andromeda, while Orion carried Zephyr outside.  The daimon stayed in the library, attacking other people.
     "Hey, where’s the daimon?" Spica asked.  They had set Zephyr and Andromeda under a nearby tree, and were waiting in the library parking lot.
     "I’ll go get him!" Inferno volunteered.  "I’ll lure him out here."  She ran back into the library.
     "Hey!" she called to the daimon.  "Over here!"  The daimon turned around, saw Sailor Inferno, and resumed its energy sucking.  Inferno ran up to the daimon and jumped on its back.  "Try to ignore me now, stupid daimon!"  The daimon thrashed around wildly, trying to get her off of him.  He tried to slam her into the wall, but she jumped off just in time.
     "Hey daimon!" she teased it, skipping away.  "Try to catch me!"  She skipped out the door, with the daimon following her.  She led him out to the parking lot where the others were, and they attacked.
     "Daydream Rush!" Spica yelled.
     "Speed of Light!" Orion shouted.
     "Vega Rose Blossom!" Vega joined them.
     "Inferno Lava River!" Inferno cried.
     The four attacks combined into one, but as they were flying toward the daimon, the daimon disappeared.  In his place, Cuchillo materialized.  Cuchillo whispered something and a silver wall appeared before him.  The attacks hit the wall and disappeared, and the wall folded into itself until it was the size of a dime.
     "Cuchillo!" Spica cried out in anger.  "What do you think you’re doing?"
     "Protecting my daimon, what else would I be doing?" Cuchillo smirked.  "I was planning on just having my daimon complete this mission so that I wouldn’t have to come down myself.  But I had to anyway…"  And with that he disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
     "That rat," Spica muttered.  "Oh well, we’ll get him someday won’t we?"  She smiled, then disappeared herself.
     "Okay…who was this Spike person?" Orion asked.
     "Spica," Sailor Vega corrected.  "Sailor Spica.  And we don’t know who she is.  She just appears occasionally to save us from the daimons.  She says she’s from Planet Astro, like we are, but Cypress even doesn’t know who she is."
     "Um…hey, what happened?" Andromeda asked.  She and Zephyr were regaining their consciousness.
     "We were fighting the daimon out here," Inferno explained.  "We combined attacks at him, but then Cuchillo materialized and blocked our attacks, then he just disappeared."
     "That’s weird," Zephyr said, getting up and dusting herself off.  "Where’d Sailor Spica go?"
     "I don’t know," Vega answered.  "Wherever she usually goes."
     "So you guys didn’t kill the daimon?" Andromeda questioned them.
    "No," Orion said.  "So we’ll expect to see him again, won’t we?"