Prologue
By: Tsuki Doriimaa
8-6-04
Notes: Welcome Ladies and Gents! To the wonderfully (finally frickin') returned writings of Tsuki Doriimaa on her much liked Hammer to the Heart story! This here is the sequel to it... or, as my Misstress is thinking - One of Two sequels - to it. She's not quite sure as of how this will work out yet, sequel wise, for she has different ideas on how the actual story will end...
. . . . . . This is the first sequel.. Hammer to the Heart... And a Fist to the Gut!. And while my dear, overly idealized Misstress has plans for it, and plans for the next one, nothing, as they say, is set into stone. So if you've ideas of your own on what you'd like to see in this (or the next), please utilitz the e-mail link of her name and let her know! Now on with the story!!
Disclaimer: Samne ol' song and dance that never ends... kinda like some people's talking ::glances over a certain braided boy rolling 'er eyes:: Garth Brooks' 'Tearin' It Up', the main lovely song to this fic - don't own. From the wonderfully gifted anime of Naruto is Akeboshi's 'Wind' - which is also not owned by my Misstress... So BACK OFF!
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There comes a time in ones life where reason slams a fist upside your head and makes you realize that, while there might be times you wish for something to happen, when nothing at all seems to be going on... You realize in late coming that, those times are quite possibly the best in your lives... the most peaceful... And while, at the times when those quite moments seem to be utmost annoying, yarning for something, anything, to happen and liven the place up...
You find yourself loving those times, praying with all your being to have them back when everything, anything, and all between the two happen all at once. You know the moments I'm meaning... The ones where it seems whatever can and will go wrong - has.
These are the moments in which you learn a lifelong lesson...
Cherish nature's calm influence. Enjoy the relaxing silence of your home... Never wish for it to be broken in light of having little to do - for it surely will be granted times five back to you.
And, when one comes to understand, accept and practice this life's teaching... when their sensitive ears pick up co-workers, friends or family members griping about how their lives could use a little electrical shock to get them jumping... to have something happen. You know the best advice one could give in such situations...
STUFF IT!!!
Grunting with the force of being back-kicked into a very old, massive, brick building, one lady in particular took a moment to reflect back on her life to see if it was any time recently that she had wished her life would get a little more active. Finding it was only a few days ago that she had sat in her comfy living room sighing, watching her friends chase dust bunnies about the room, hoping anything would happen to give them a more challenge...
She took back that wish, the wish from the week before it and any others that were currently waiting to sneak up and bite her in the ass. Honestly, she didn't want anymore action in her life! Let sitting around reading be all she ever did.
Watching Jupiter's back slamming into a mighty oak, wincing, the young lady in red confirmed that, yes indeed, she (or her friends) really didn't need anymore surprises in their lives, not at the moment anyhow - and certainly not of this kind!
.
o o
We all came here for a party tonight,
And your gonna get left if you don't get right, child
o o o
Where the hell had these little buggers come from??
The day had been nice enough... Relaxing up at the temple, reading, joking, watching Makoto chase Usagi around the grounds for adding so much food coloring in the cake that it turned black... Laughing as the blonde tried to apologize around her laughter, Makoto trying to scold but simply not having the heart to tell their Hime that she was never again going to be let into the kitchen while cooking was in progress.
It wasn't anything serious, nothing like it had been a year ago. Usagi had actually become quite good at cooking, there was still much she couldn't do, but she had learned how to make a full four course meal without blowing the kitchen up. And while everything was thankful of this fact, they tended to miss the days when the blonde odango wearing girl would wail tears at messing up yet another cooking attempt. It happened every now and then; not nearly as much as she was sure the others wished.
Their little Tsuki no Hime was growing up.
This afternoon had the effect of someone flipping a switch, seemed how easy it was to go from a boring, burning bright, light-winded warm summer afternoon to this... hellish version of some wicked workout session. They were so completely lax in their training lately that... they simply hadn't expected an attack of this magnitude.
.
o o
So forget your troubles and forget the news
We're gonna pull the plug and black out them blues
o o o
Tranquil traded for chaotic...
Somehow Sailor Mars didn't think they were getting the better part of this arrangement.
Pulling herself from the now dented wall, near shivering as brick and plaster shaved off fluttering over her like deformed snow, she let her eyes scan the fight in progress; she hadn't been missed, they had other problems to contend with.
Sailor Jupiter already having peeled away from the kind tree that broke her unexpected flight was back into the fray of things, fists and legs pumping away at any available... flesh? they could reach on the three midget slim-green men. A gross cross between frog and pig, except for the light pink coloring the pork providers usually carried didn't seem to get passed down to this... science reject.
Current reject was kicking their ass.
Their heads were built like a bull's, hitting of any type to the large nut shaped sphere, caused little to zero damage. Going so low as to break the unspoken Sailor Scout Code of Fighting - kneeing them in the groin - didn't work either.
Sailor Mercury fought carefully, keeping one eye trained on the little monsters (literally) while the other eye kept scanning the information flittering across her visor. There had to be a weakness somewhere! While true they've yet to get tired, it was drawing out into a rather extensive battle neither her, or her comrades wished to be in. She had to find it!
"MERCURY WATCH IT!!"
Jerking to the side from Sailor Venus' cautious shout, Mercury avoided the energy blast, just barely. This was becoming common place. As the seemingly weakest of the group, she was the only one yet to be knocked into something, only occasionally being blasted back form the fighting, trying to be kept at bay. By Herms as her guidance, this would be their downfall for paying her little attention, except when she happened to get too close.
This, would be their undoing, Mercury swore it.
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And if your tie's to tight then adjust the noose
'cause if your gonna hang tight, cut loose
o o o
How was it, a whispering part of Sailor Mars' mind wondered between punches thrown and received, that the most fight skittish one of us all is enjoying this?!
It was a purely logical question, her mind defended against her hard mental glare for a question like that during a battle like this. Where each of them, at seeming three-minute intervals, was ruthlessly sent by Energy blast, Kick or Punch Express into the nearest building or tree... It was a damn good thing that they're suits took some of the attacks bunt; otherwise, there would be no standing afterwards.
Truthfully though, it wasn't known if Sailor Moon was at all enjoying the fight... she did so abhor fighting to begin with; like their other blondie - Quatre - they wanted the world to do without having to hurt another to get their way protecting that, which is precious to them. They were grown, as they all were doing, however and understood that something worth having, had to be fought for.
To protect, any thing, someone had to fight in some form.
Every time one of the Scouts crossing Sailor Moon's path of flight or fight, could hear a low tuned humming coming from the tight-lipped lips. Usagi was trying her damnedest to keep from screaming each time she was flown into the many trees (it served no purpose no matter how much she wanted to), each time the little asparagus looking beings hit her already massively bruised ribs.
So to counteract the pain; she picked a song once heard somewhere... and started to hum it. While not completely overriding the pain being dealt to her and the pain she could feel radiating from her Senshi, it helped a little bit. That's all she could hope for until they figured where the weak spot was on these freaks!
"Sailor Moon! What're you-" back handing a green bean away from her, "-doing!?"
Smiling just the slightest, getting in a lucky roundhouse kick to one monsters head (she wasn't stupid enough to think that kick would've let happened, had they seen it coming), Usagi spared enough breath to reply. "Cultivate your hunger, before you idealize... Motivate your anger, to make them all realize..." Grabbing onto the stately branch overhead to help climb out of her newest trench hole, eyes glaring blue slits at the three beings heading towards her, watching as her Senshi ran to attack; Sailor Moon's smile turned into a dark, amused grin. "Climbing the mountain, never coming down... Breaking into the contents, never falling down!"
Giving her friend the strangest of looks while gifting one green bean with a doubled fist to the back, sending him crashing into the ground, Sailor Jupiter smirked shaking her head; she knew that song! Why the hell her leader was currently choosing to sing it during battle (Usagi had developed strange ways to counter pain after hooking up with her boyfriend), Jupiter decided that, just maybe since she had started to actually sing it instead of humming it - it was supposed to be some sort of mood lifter; a motivational sort of thing.
After all - they were getting their asses kicked!
Laughing softly, the sound choked short by the green shits lucky shot! Sailor Jupiter gave a shake of her to clear it, and decided since she knew the song, she'd sing along. By Zeus it certainly couldn't make things worse! "My knee is still shaking, like I was twelve... Sneaking out the classroom, by the back door!"
We are a classy bunch... the thought flittered pass Mercury's mind while rose lips tinted darker by battle, parted in a less spirited continuation of the song; she wasn't sure it was the one she was thinking of. "A man railed at me twice though, but I didn't care..." Sailor Mercury grinned widely, her visor blipping the wonderfully, heaven sent noise of a weakness being found.
"Waiting is wasting for people like me!"
Managing to dodge a flying kick from the... what the hell are these?!... rejects from hell, Sailor Mars' head couldn't spare the time to shake at her friends' antics. "You've all gone insane!"
"NO!" Sailor Moon shouted back, smirking as Venus executed Sailor Mercury's instructions while yelling out: "WE'VE GOTTEN MAD!!" Which thereafter saying, she completely used the last of her energies to "MOON DUSTED!!" the bloody things to Hell with a prayer that Hades keep them there, because if she ever saw one more of them - regardless of the situation - there would be pain dished out by the pots full!
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Tearin' it up...
And we're burin' it down...
o o o
"Damn..." looking around the clearing, eyes widening, "...I think those things did more damage then what Beryl did." It wasn't meant to bring up tender memories; that particular battle having been put behind them with the years that had passed, it was simply a comparison and the young ladies gathered there knew this.
Nodding accord, Sailor Venus stared with tired eyes where the little monsters had been standing before Crescent Beam sent them to their deaths. Her attack didn't do much to damage the area, it was an advantage in battling they had, having learned to control the amount of power put into their attacks; damage costs have plummeted. They weren't perfectionists at it, poor Sailor Moon still had yet to fully predict a cutoff limit, but they were pretty good at controlling their attacks.
"You know..." she didn't get to continue as voices arose in the night air, catching their attention.
"...didn't they look like long stalks? No seriously!"
Silence.
"Ohhh!!" an excited laugh caused the girls ears to twitch, "I know who they looked like!! They looked like Relena with her hair in buns! Yeah! That's who they looked like!"
"DUO!"
"What?" indignant, "Oh come on! I can tease her! Heero said so!"
Pale twinkling lights of several shades filled the clearing surrounding the Senshi as they shifted back to their civilian selves. Problem having been taken care of, it was useless to still stand in their Senshi states. Besides... they didn't really wish to give the young men coming towards them any other reason to daunt on their looks... especially the wolf whistles from one braided specimen.
The slapping upside his head for said calls, however, was well worth the comments. They giggled grinning.
First to dash into the clearing (of course while cheering!) was the famous Shinigami who shall forever be, they found out not long ago, because Duo loved the names sounding in Japanese. Heero and Usagi were both amused by this, the latter being a bit put off by someone liking to be call The God of Death - until Heero explained the braided boys reasoning, then, she could understand... just slightly.
"DUDE! That was so cool!" crowing with excitement, his sugar levels way above normal healthy rates, Duo ran up to the group with fan boy appeal and whipped out a notepad, grinning cheekily. "Can I have your autographs?? Please??"
"Duo..." Quatre stood behind, watching the swinging pendulum of Duo's braid, letting go on an amused, exasperated sigh. "What, are you doing?" though he was smiling; Quatre could never really be upset by the American's antics, unless he was unusually flaming pissed.
Allah help them all then. He grinned wickedly.
Giggling, Minako nudged her Senshi sister forward with a smirk, whispering, "Go on Mako-chan! He wants your autograph!"
"He didn't say mine!" the brunette hissed back, "...he wants them all!"
"Maybe..." sweet little Ami drawled out, edging into the teasing, "but it's you he likes..." wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
Watching the scene from aside the group, one person made his way closer to another, wrapping warming comfortable arms around slim waist. "The kids are at it again," he murmured into golden hair; hair he had noticed over the year, starting to take on silvery sheen.
"Mmhmm" relaxing into the strong arms behind her, letting all the worries and weariness escape her into those capable arms, nearly going limp, Usagi smiled. "We need a camera."
"Hn." Slap to his arm. Heero smirked.
"Hey!" As if just noticing that people were missing from the double staged, lets-annoy-the-shy-people, Quatre turned and glared at the lovey-dovey couple. "Why..." deciding it wasn't his business as to the quiet one's hugging time alone; Quatre shook his head and threw out a different question, "What... were those things?"
Instead of getting her chance to answer, that, Usagi did not know what the Hades sent monsters were; that if she ever saw another one, she was going to go Eternal and kick some green ass... Didn't even get to attempt at saying the slimy looking green beans made her never want to eat asparagus again...
Instead of saying anything at all from opening her mouth, a low, husky voice spoke up, haltingly, "Things... you should not... have seen..." Promise of threats held tone over all in the paused words; the person speaking them not at all pleased to witness the two groups together. Two groups that should never, by all rights, have been placed in the same area after any battle...
...a person promising death to the one particularly keeping a possessive hold on her Koneko-hime.
Below the voice, hundred paces ahead was a group of ten, sucking in surprised gasps, three voices could clearly be heard mumbling:
"Ohhh damn..."