Disclaimer: Usual crap. I don't own Sailor Moon, blah blah blah. It belongs to Naoki Takeuchi, blah blah blah… you all know this stuff.
FIGHTING DESTINY
Chapter OneOuter Senshi Mansion-
Setsuna held her breath as she admired the splendor of sunset from the balcony of the outer senshi's mansion. Although she had been around since the beginning of time, and had witnessed countless numbers of sunsets, the golden rays never failed to fascinate her.
"Setsuna?" Michiru called from Setsuna's doorway, "Are you ready?"
"I'll be out in a minute, Michiru," the guardian of time replied, turning around to face her teammate.
Michiru smiled warmly before closing the door behind her.
Sailor Pluto drew close her curtains warily, knowing that this would be the last sunset she would see in a while.
As she walked down the stairs, she saw Haruka trying to help Hotaru button her jacket, much oblivious to the teenager's complaints.
"Haruka-papa, I'm not a kid anymore!" Hotaru giggled while reaching up and buttoning the last button.
"I know, I know. Where have all the years disappeared off to?" Haruka exclaimed dramatically as she poked Hotaru's side, eliciting an undignified shriek from the normally reserved senshi. "Pretty soon, I'm going to have to start polishing my shotguns to scare off all those boys who try to put their dirty hands on you!"
"You don't have any shotguns, Haruak-papa," Hotaru pointed out.
"I guess my space sword will have to do," Haruka agreed playfully. "Now where on earth are they?" She grumbled. "Girls and their clothes."
"Missing me already, darling?" Michiru laughed melodiously as she slipped past Setsuna and into Haruka's embrace.
"You look beautiful," Haruka whispered, gently placing a kiss on Michiru's lips.
"You look pretty good yourself too," she replied smoothly.
"Can we go now?" Hotaru asked eagerly, impatient from waiting so long.
"Indeed. It appears as if the two lovebirds are blocking the way," Setsuna stated before edging past the embracing couple. "By the rate these two are going, we will never get to the dinner on time."
Restaurant, Exterior-
Rei felt a pang of jealousy wash over her as she glared at Mamoru. The future prince was holding her princess's hand, whispering all sorts of sappy junk to the delighted blonde.
"A rose for a beautiful lady," Mamoru complimented, handing Usagi a single red rose.
'How cheesy can he get?' Rei thought coolly, but before she could curse the prince some more, a loud screeching noise of rubber tires against asphalt snapped her out of her thoughts.
"I told you not to worry about being late," a husky deep voice exclaimed triumphantly.
"I never doubted that we will be late, Haruka," Setsuna replied curtly, leading out a paler-than-pale Hotaru.
"Hotaru!" Chibi-Usa cried happily, racing towards her pale friend. "Puu!"
"Small Lady," Setsuna greeted.
"Hi Chibi-Usa," the senshi of death greeted her best friend with a genuine smile, grasping her hands warming as she was dragged off towards the restaurant.
"Okay then, my beautiful princess, let's proceed," Mamoru teased his girlfriend with a chivalrous tone, offering the crook of his arm. Usagi slipped a pale and angelic hand onto Mamoru's arm and together, they followed their future daughter.
Makoto and Ami held hands, smiling sweetly at each other.
"They're as bad as Haruka and Michiru!" Minako exlaimed loudly, causing the inner senshi pair to blush wildly.
"Quit teashing them," Rei stated flatly, dragging the bubbly senshi of love into the restaurant before she can cause any more havoc.
Setsuna found herself alone once more, standing on the pavement. 'I will always ben alone…'
Restaurant, interior-
Sailor Mars surveyed the battle scene before her, drawing in the half collapsing building, the broken pieces of tables and chairs, the smashed fancy china, and the shattered glass windows. Her fellow senshi and friends were present, all of them here at the restaurant to celebrate Usagi and Chibi-Usa's birthday. And then he proposed to her.
Usagi had been delighted when Mamoru proposed to her, presenting the beautiful diamond ring as a present for her princess.
Then the youmas came, right after Mamoru slipped the ring over Usagi's slender finger. There were five of them; all possessing surprisingly powerful attacks. Definitely new enemies.
"Dead Scream," Sailor Pluto whispered from behind her, propelling a powerful lavender orb of planetary energy towards what appeared to be the leader of the five youmas.
The creature stumbled on impact, flying through the air and landing on one of the few unbroken tables. It was no longer unbroken. Sailor Saturn immediately brought down her deathly glaive on the disoriented youma. Mars turned away from the outer senshi's face. Saturn's eyes chilled her. For a moment, they reflected that of the youma they were trying to destroy.
Right now, Sailor Mars only had eyes out for one senshi – her princess. "Fire Soul!" She cried as she saw one of the youmas leapt towards Sailor Moon, burning the monster's clawed hand before it could harm her princess.
"Sailor Moon! Are you alright?" Sailor Mars called out as she ran towards the blonde, dodging the flying bits of splinters and glass as Sailor Neptune shouted out her attack.
"I'm alright. Mars, look out!" She warned, as the miko felt a tentacle-arm wrap around her neck and trunk, pinning her arms against her side. The raven-haired priestess fell as the youma pulled her towards its other bladed arm, wanting nothing more than to skewer the sailor senshi.
"Moon Tiara Action!" Sailor Moon cried from a distance, but all the miko saw was a flash of white light before a sharp searing pain ripped through her collarbone and shoulder. Blood poured freely from her shoulder, staining her white fuku and trickling down her arms.
"HAHAHAHA!" The youma laughed, throwing Sailor Mars into the teary-eyed Moon Princess. The priestess felt herself crash hard against her princess, bringing both them onto the ground. She stifled a scream when she landed on her injured shoulder, instead, turning her attention to Sailor Moon.
"Oh my god! Mars! I'm so sorry. Are you alright? He moved and I couldn't stop my attack on time! I'm so sorry, it's all my fault…" her princess babbled, inspecting Mars' bleeding shoulder with worry and apprehension.
Sailor Mars looked up and noticed that the youma did not have blood stains on his blade, and that was when she pieced the events together. Forcing out a weak smile, the raven-haired senshi tried to mask her pain as well as she could and reassured her trembling friend. "Don't worry about it, Odango Atama. He moved me, it wasn't your fault."
"But I hurt you, I…"
Sailor Mars interrupted her. "No, it's not your fault," she exclaimed firmly, "I'm fine, really."
To prove her point, the injured senshi shakily stood up, ignoring the continuous throbbing from her left shoulder. Taking a running start, Sailor Mars leapt into the air and kicked the last remaining youma before pushing off it and landing on her feet. "Flame Sniper!" She cried, shooting the flaming arrow with deadly accuracy. The monster burst into flames and vanished like all the others.
The miko collapsed onto her knees as all the agony from her injury resurfaced. Her left arm felt ten times as heavy as it did originally, growing number and number by the second.
"Rei!" Usagi shouted, dropping beside her best friend, and reaching out to examine the priestess's wound. Immediately, Sailor Moon's white gloves stained red, matching the colour on Sailor Mars's fuku.
"Rei, we have to get you to the hospital," Ami stated in a serious tone. "Minako as well," she continued, gesturing at the unconscious blonde.
"I'll be fine, Usagi, don't worry about me."
"It's hard not to worry about you!" She retorted, applying pressure on the now detransformed senshi.
"Well, this was certainly an interesting dinner," Haruka spoke up, rubbing her sprained wrist. "It looks like we've got a new enemy to worry about. I'm just sorry they had to crash your birthday party."
