Prologue

Prologue

What Really Happened

BOOM! Explosions everywhere. Fighting and death were all around, people battling to the end. The smell of blood and shrill screams filled the air. The Negaverse had finally launched an attack on the Moon Kingdom, and the enemy was winning. The battle had been going on for days. There seemed like there was no end to the feud. Through it all, the citizens of the Moon Kingdom were trying there best to protect their city, but the Negaverse's forces had doubled since the last attack a year ago.

In the midst of all the commotion, two cats and some kittens were running for shelter. The leaders, a white male and a black female, stopped and looked at eachother.

"What are we going to do!?" the black one asked the white, yelling over all the commotion, "We need to get these kittens to safety!" The white cat looked around, and spotted a sewer pipe ahead. He turned to his companion.

"There's a pipe up ahead! It should be big enough to hold us all…for a while," he replied. The black cat shook her head in agreement. They both ran towards the hole, the kittens following closely behind. Suddenly, a monster appeared in front of them, laughing menacingly. The cats gasped in fear, the two leaders got ready to pounce on the enemy, but before they could do anything, the monster charged forward, scattering cats everywhere. The black one shook it's head to clear it's mind, and gazed up to see the monster in front of her. She screamed in horror as the monster raised it's razor-sharp claw up above its head, ready to strike.

"Mercury Bubbles Blast!" Quicker than lightning, the monster was smashed up against a wall by a powerful beam of water, and was killed instantly by the impact. The black cat looked at the figure in front of her as it bent down and helped the cat up. "Luna, are you all right!?" asked the concerned human. Blinking once, the cat looked up at the kind blue eyes of the human's face.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you so much for saving me!"

"Hey, no problem. It's my job, isn't it?" she replied, putting the cat down on its feet. "Now, go take care of the kittens, and get them to safety." Luna shook her head and turned to face her white companion.

"Luna, you still in one piece?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm all right," she quickly said, turning to gather the kittens around them. "Quick, get the kittens!"

"Right!" he said, looking around for any wounded kittens. He found one with a broken leg, with the bone sticking out of the skin, next to one with a big deep gash that went down from his right ear to his shoulder. He jumped down to them as fast as possible. Upon seeing him, the kitten with the broken leg started to cry.

"Oh, Mr. Artemis, please help him! He won't get up…" begged the kitten, licking her friend's wound. Artemis walked up to the crying kitten and put her on his back.

"Do not worry about your friend," he said, sighing deeply, "his troubles are over." They both headed for the pipe, where Luna and all the other kittens were waiting. Artemis was only 50 yards from the pipe, when he was joined by another kitten with a cut on it forehead.

"Mr. Artemis! Please wait for me!" the kitten cried. Artemis slowed down his pace, letting the kitten catch up to him.

"Come on, head for the pipe!"

"All right!" said the kitten. Behind them, something exploded, sending them flying forward in all directions. After he landed, Artemis got up right away and put the kitten with the broken leg right on his back. He headed for the pipe as fast as he could.

"Artemis, the other kitten!" Luna called from the pipe. Artemis looked ahead to see the kitten lying in his path, coving its head with it's tiny little paws. Artemis picked up his speed and lowered his head, ready to snatch the kitten up in his mouth. He did, and made his way straight for the pipe as another explosion took place right outside the pipe entrance. Lowering the kitten in his mouth down to the floor, and Luna took the kitten off his back. All the kittens were whining and crying, some because they were hurt, others because they were scared. It was dark in the pipe, but the glow of their crescent moons lit up their shelter just enough so they could see eachother. After a while, Luna turned to the kittens.

"All right, everyone, roll call! Everyone, settle down!" But the kittens just kept right on crying and whining. Artemis stepped forward.

"Hey, you guys! All of you, stop this right now!!!" he screamed at them. They all stopped, and everything was silent, apart from all the noise coming from outside. Artemis stood tall, with Luna next to him.

"I'm disappointed in you all, screaming and crying like baby kittens! You're all old enough now to know how to act in a situation like this! Is this how Cat Guardians act when there's danger?!" Everyone stared at him in wonder and fear. His anger was at its peak, and he was unleashing it on them. "Now, listen up for roll call." He turned to Luna and she stepped forward.

"All right, now. Karal…"

"Here!"

"Good. Moonlight…"

"Here!"

"Galaxy…"

"Here…" said the kitten with the broken leg, her head bowed in sadness.

Luna looked over at her.

"How's your leg?"

"I'm all right."

"Can you run, just in case?" Galaxy looked up with her tear-stained face.

"I think so…" Luna nodded.

"Ok then. Meteo…" Galaxy burst into tears. Artemis ran up to her. She buried her face into his blood stained chest, and he put a comforting paw around her shoulders. Artemis sighed. Looking at Luna, he said,

"Meteo's dead, head wound." All the kittens lowered their heads, tears beginning to form in the corners of their eyes. Luna wiped a tear from her eye.

"All right. So far we've lost one. Don't worry everyone. I'm sure that Meteo's in a much better place than this right now…" There was silence for a few minutes, and then Luna continued.

"Pluto…"

"Here," said the kitten with the cut on his forehead, his friend licking his wound, cleaning his face of the blood crusted on it.

"Your head ok?" asked Luna.

"Yeah. Hardly feel nothin' now," he said, smiling. Luna smiled back.

"All right. Sunshine…"

"Here!"

"Comet…"

"Here."

"Universe…" No one answered. Luna looked around at all the kittens. "Universe, are you here?" All the kittens looked around for the lost kitten.

"Ms. Luna," said Moonlight, "I didn't see Uni in the group."

"Where can she be? You don't suppose she's…" Luna bowed her head down.

"No, Uni's out there, I know! She won't go that easily! She's stronger than you think," said Artemis. "The only problem is…why did she part from the group?"

"Uh, Mr. Artemis, sir…" said Karal, stepping forward. "I know where Uni went…" The kitten was almost in tears, trying hard to hold them back.

"Where did she go, Karal?" Artemis said calmly, trying to keep the kitten from crying.

"She went to go get Hermes, her friend. I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I'm the one who brought up Hermes, and then she just ran off in a panic, straight for the palace where he lives…"

"Oh God…that's where Queen Beryl is!" said Luna. Artemis made his way for the pipe entrance.

"Luna, stay here with the kittens, I'll go find Uni!"

"No," Luna said, stepping forward, "I'll go! The enemy can't see me if I stay in the shadows." Artemis turned to look in her eyes.

"You sure?" Luna nodded, then turned for the opening.

"Luna…" Artemis said. She turned to face him again. He was almost in tears. "Be careful…" She nodded again.

"You too…" Then she was gone.

~~~

All the commotion outside was deafening. The sound of explosions, the clanking of steel against steel, and the screams of pain all mixed into one. It was so loud, no one even heard the sound of Luna's paws as she ran as fast as she could to the palace.

Almost there, she though as she ran through the darkness. A little while later, she was in front of the palace.

"Finally made it," she panted. "Now then, which direction is Hermes' room?" She looked down the hallway of the almost ruined Moon Palace. Rocks were crumbling, metal was bent and twisted from the weight of giant monsters standing on them, some were melted from the heat of explosions.

"That way!" she said running down the left hall and zigzagging though corridors. After running for about five minutes, she finally found Hermes' room. She hadn't been in it so many times. Uni showed it to her a couple times, but the memories were vague. She had so many other things to do, she had no room for that memory. That's why she couldn't remember which way it was. Now, in the condition it was in, she could hardly recognize it. She stepped into the ruined doorway, the door was torn from its hinges and lying on its side, half of it splintered to bits. The ceiling had caved in, and you couldn't even see the floor anymore. There was a slight dust cloud surrounding the room from when the ceiling fell.

"Uni? Are you in here?" Luna said, looking around the destroyed bedroom. "There's no one in here…" Then her ears stood on end. She had heard something outside. She pranced toward the far wall, or at least what was left of it. She looked around outside, but saw nothing. Then she heard a small squeaky voice. Stepping outside and looking behind a slab of rock, she saw it. There was the purple and pink little kitten, Uni. Luna watched the kitten to see what she was doing. She was talking to something, something white on the ground. Uni was pacing back and forth, sometimes stepping towards the white object to nuzzle it. After a while, Uni sat down and began to shake. Then Luna made her move, and walked toward the kitten.

"Uni, dear, are you all right?" No answer, the kitten just kept on shaking from her crying. "Uni?"

"He won't get up…" she whispered sadly. "It's all my fault, Luna…" She sniffed, "It's all my fault!" Then she broke down in tears, and Luna ran up to her, placing a comforting arm around her shoulder. When Uni pulled away from her, Luna noticed that Uni's nose was cut.

"Oh, Uni…you're bleeding. Come on, let's get back to the others."

"What others? There are no others…" Luna suddenly stepped away from Uni, frightened by the tone of voice that Uni was using.

"You know that this is the end, Luna. It's the end for all of us. We're not going to win this time…" Uni began to shake. "We're all gonna die, just like mom and dad and Nemo." Luna was surprised. Uni never brought up her family's death before. "Just like them, we're all gonna die, we're all gonna die, we're all gonna die…" she just kept on repeating the phrase. Luna stared wide-eyed at the crazy kitten. She stepped forward her and put a paw on her shoulder. She shook it off and then suddenly turned toward Luna. Luna never saw it coming. Uni leapt right for her, going for the neck. The two struggled in a catfight. Uni was on top of Luna, and Luna was trying to get her off.

"Uni," she said, "what's wrong with you?"

"We're all gonna die!" Uni screamed, raising a paw, and bringing it down on Luna's face, putting three deep gashes on Luna's right cheek. Uni raised her paw again, and Luna closed her eyes.

"You're all gonna die!" Just when Uni was about to bring her paw down again, there was a flash of white. When Luna felt the weight of Uni come off of her, she opened her eyes and found herself looking at Artemis. She sat up, Artemis helping her.

"Artemis? What are you doing here, leaving the others all alone?"

"We're not alone, Ms. Luna, we're right here!" came a young voice. She turned her head towards the voice to find all the kittens there. Uni was on her back, knocked out from Artemis' attack.

"What was Uni doing to you?"

"I-I don't know, she just freaked out. Probably because Hermes is…"

"Yeah, I know."

"Come on, we gotta go. The battle's getting much worse, and the forces protecting the palace are getting pushed back."

"What palace?" she said. "What's there to protect, the whole thing's ruined already."

"Yeah, I know, but the Queen is taking refuge in there, and so is the Princess."

"Are they all right?"

"Yeah, they're fine, Prince Darien is with them."

"He's here?"

"Yeah! Great, huh?"

"Yeah…" Artemis smiled.

"Mr. Artemis," said a kitten, "can we go fight the enemy now? Pleeeaaase?"

"NO, you cannot!" said Luna, looking at the kitten. "Look, everyone! We're going to go back and stay in the shelter. The future sailor scouts need us to train them! So, we got to stay alive!"

"Uh, Luna, we can't go back…" Luna turned to Artemis.

"Why not?"

"Because, I told you, the enemy is headed right for the palace, and we'll be killed instantly if we go back." Luna sighed.

"Well, Artemis, what do we do now? Fight?" He nodded.

"And hope that at least some of us will live to train future scouts…"

~~~

Luna stepped over the rubble. It was over. They had won. The Negaverse had been defeated. Luna winced at the pain she felt. During the battle, she had received a numerous amount of cuts a bruises, the biggest being the deep gash she had received from an enemy claw behind her ear, but there was an even bigger wound in her heart. Artemis walked up to her, a grim look on her face.

"Well?" Luna said. Artemis looked at her.

"None." Luna sighed heavily with grief. Artemis continued. "They're all gone. We're the only one's left…"

"All of them were so young."

"Yes, well, at least they died with honor, protecting the queen."

"Oh, poor Princess Serena."

"And Darien, too."

"Why did this have to happen?"

"It's all fate, Luna. We all gotta go sometime." Artemis' ears perked up, and he suddenly turned around, and Luna looked at him strangely.

"What is it, Artemis?"

"Shhh! Something's headed this way!" he whispered harshly. Luna ducked down and the two cats stared in the direction that the running footsteps were coming from. Suddenly from over a pile of rubble, came an orange figure, a pale yellow moon glowing on its head. Artemis sighed with relief. The orange creature spotted them and ran toward them. Luna and Artemis relaxed as the cat came up to them, a young cat by the name of Apollo, a fellow Cat Guardian.

"Thank goodness you're safe, Bro," said Artemis.

"Sorry I'm late!" he panted. He stared out over the horizon with sadness in his eyes. "Looks like I was too late, for that matter…"

"Apollo, don't act like it was your fault!" Luna cried, stepping up to fully face him. "Well, do you know if anyone is still alive from where you came from?" Apollo shook his head from side to side.

"No…I didn't see any…"

"No kittens?"

"No kittens…" he repeated. Luna sniffed, holding back the tears.

"I wonder if any of them are still alive…" she said. Artemis sighed.

"Well, if there are any still alive, I guess we'll find out in the future." On the moon, bodies were lying everywhere, buildings were burning, everything was destroyed, and through it all, three small cats stood amidst it all, mourning over the loss of their family and friends, over the loss of their home…

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ok, I know the ending to the prologue is kinda weird, but I couldn't come up with anything else. Sorry if the ending disappointed you…