Hiya readers, hope you guys are in for an awesome chapter!
Right, thank you Unknown Reader for your review, and your questions...unfortunately I cannot reveal the answers to them, but over time it'll be obvious (hopefully). I'm sorry for barely ever answering your question, um maybe if there was a way to contact, I might be able to reveal more.
And xSapphirexRosesxFanx, your wish is my command: all is revealed in this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own characters, they belong to Naiko Takeuchi
Crash and Burn
Chapter 2: Power Show
"A girl has been kidnapped from an orphanage, Mika Touji had lost her parents after one of the attacks by the monsters in the past month, the Senshi and Shitennou managed to save her, but could not save her parents. The police have no leads, foul play has been suggested, but the police refused to disclose what it was that aroused the suspicion of kidnapping"
I frowned as I looked at the picture of the girl; I remembered her now, it had been during one of the horrible energy taking monsters and Kevin had accidentally pushed the monster into a tree and the tree had slammed into the house (See Break the Ice Chapter 11- but it's not a very big thing, just that she's been seen in the story).
She looked exceptionally like Makoto as well. Her green eyes filled with sadness and her long brown hair arranged in a hurried ponytail.
"That's so sad, that poor girl, to go through so much and now she's been kidnapped" my mom said sadly
I nodded, still looking at the girl closely. The similarities between her and Makoto were uncanny. I shrugged and got up, "I'm going to bed" I told my parents who were still engrossed in the news.
I walked dejectedly up the stairs. Suddenly I felt anger flare through me, whoever had taken this child was not human, how could someone do that? How could someone hurt a little child so much? Why did she have to suffer so much? We had already caused her to lose her parents; I didn't want her to lose her life as well.
I rushed upstairs and stuffed some pillows under my comforter and pocketed my broach.
I climbed silently out the window, I would find that girl no matter what; she didn't deserve to be hurt so much, no one did.
I transformed and made my way to the cemetery, if anything, I might be able to pick up some clues there.
I snuck in, walking along the gravestones.
I heard a sobbing sound and I hurriedly ran to the area where I could hear her voice.
Yes! I had found her! I would beat the crap out of whoever had taken her and drop Mika off at the police station, having done the job for them.
As I rounded an exceptionally large gravestone, the sight that lay before me caused my heart to stop and I stopped, frozen in horror.
There, sitting on a bench beside a headstone, sat Diamond with a brown-haired, green eyed young girl of about 6 years old.
My mouth opened unknowingly as I whimpered.
Diamond heard me and looked up, a sinister smile graced his face, "Ah, Sailor Moon, I was wondering when you would show up, little Mika was just telling me how her parents died"
The girl who was sobbing against Diamond's chest looked up, and I saw recognition rush through her face, "That's her" she murmured, "She was there that night…she saved me"
"But, Mika, this girl actually helped the monster destroy your house and she has hurt me badly too. She just doesn't keep her promises"
The blood had long ago left my face, and I could feel my heart pounding against my chest.
"She's a mean girl, don't you think she should get what she deserves?" Diamond asked Mika softly
I blinked and I felt my mouth open, "Diamond, what are you doing?"
"Don't you want to teach her a lesson, Mika?" Diamond asked, but he was looking at me, his eyes simmering in anger
Mika didn't answer, gazing from me to Diamond.
Diamond grinned down at her, patting her on the head lightly, "Are you going to help me, just like you promised me? You'll be able to go your parents, just like I promised, if you do"
I could see the hope glittering in her eyes as she looked up at Diamond adoringly, "I will, Onee-chan"
My heart began to pound louder as I recognized what she had called Diamond. Onee-chan was another word for big brother. She trusted him.
Diamond got up, Mika as well.
Diamond smirked deeper at my obvious horror, "So, Usagi, I though you'd never show up"
Terror rushed through me, "Mika, get away from him"
She narrowed her eyes, and grasped his hand, "No, he's taking me to my parents"
"We want to hurt the girl who hurt us, don't we, Mika?" Diamond asked as he looked down at her
Mika looked up at him, I could see her apprehension about him.
"Mika, no! He's a bad man! Get away from him!"
"And what are you!? You killed her parents!" he snapped
"But-but the monster-it slammed into the tree and…" I said, my voice waning. He was right. I had killed the girl's parents. If I had gotten there earlier, Kevin would not have had to protect Makoto from the monster, and he wouldn't have sent the monster flying into the tree.
"Mika, I'm so sorry," I said softly, tears sliding down my face, "I never meant for that to happen, if I could change it, I would"
She looked up at me and I saw sadness rush through her, "I would too, you saved me afterwards" she whispered
I nodded, "I did the best I could, I'm so sorry that it happened"
Diamond frowned, grasping Mika's hand tighter, "But she still hurt me, Mika!"
"I'm sure she didn't mean to" Mika answered sadly, "She's a good person, isn't she? She saved the world"
Diamond glanced up at me, anger on his face, "This doesn't matter, it'll just hurt you more"
With that he pulled violently away from Mika, where she fell to the floor noiselessly.
"Mika!" I cried as I ran to her, to help her get up. Diamond stepped in front of me, "And you thought I was joking, Usagi" he laughed, "I'll show you who's joking"
He moved out of my way and what I saw caused me to scream in terror. Mika was lying on the floor, seizing and shaking.
"MIKA!" I cried as I tried to run at her, but forceful arms pulled around my own, effectively stopping me. 'Let me GO!' I thrashed against Diamond, watching in horror as the child in front of me began screaming and clawing at herself– I saw blood shimmering from wherever her nails marred her.
"STOP IT!" I cried, hysteria masking my voice, "LET HER GO!"
Tears rolled uncaringly down my face, "Diamond! Let her go! She's just a child!"
His arms didn't lessen their pressure, instead tightening around me. When I saw her arms fighting something unseen, her legs thrashing beneath her, I knew it was over. I couldn't help her. I turned my head away, not wanting to witness something so horrible, so painful.
Diamond's fingers dug into the skin of my eyes as he forced me to look back at the pained child, his fingers opened my eyes as wide as they could go.
"No" he snarled in my ear, "You need to watch this, Usagi. This is what I'm capable of. This is what you need to be taught-"
"STOP IT!" I cried as Mika began to seize uncontrollably against the ground, her voice long lowered because of the constant screaming.
"-and if you ever doubt me again, this will look like nothing compared to what I release on your little friends"
Mika's voice rose again as she shrieked in pain and horror, her eyes seeing something that we couldn't see.
I was broken in Diamond's arms. My shrieking and sobbing rising as I saw more pain in Mika's eyes than was even possible.
Mika shriveled, still screaming, but she stopped shaking, stopped moving. Her eyes opened as wide as they could go looked directly into mine, immense pain reflecting in them. She suddenly disappeared, blood remaining all along the floor where she had lain.
Unable to move in horror, I collapsed against Diamond.
He moved around me, till I was facing him. He wiped away some of the tears, "Oh, Usagi," he began to stroke my face, "I didn't want it to be like this, but after today- did you leave me a choice? You know I hate seeing you in pain, but it was the only way" he assured me in a voice that harbored sorrow.
No…there was no sorrow. Just amusement.
Victory.
The thrill of the kill.
"Now, you know what I'll do," he continued, now coldly, menace echoing through his words, "I think you'll hesitate before walking out on me again"
He leaned down and kissed me, his warm lips meeting my cold, frozen ones.
"I think you've learnt your lesson," he whispered as he let me go.
I fell to the floor. Horror still washing it's way through me, freezing me even more.
I didn't look up. He bent down and picked my head up, forcing me to meet his eyes, "See you soon"
I looked away, tears falling thickly from my eyes.
He let go of me, his mouth smirking slightly.
I looked up as he walked into the increasing fog.
I sat there for a short while. But it felt like years, ages. All I could do was stare at the blood-ridden spot. I had killed a girl. It was like I had ripped her apart with my own hands. I had killed her parents and then I had killed her. A six year old. I had tortured her. My ears rang with her horrified screams, my eyes were filled with images of her.
Most terrible was that whatever Diamond had been trying to prove, he had enjoyed that. Thoroughly.
He had not cared that the girl had just lost her parents. That she had a beating heart. That she was a young child who had not even been able to enjoy life.
He'd seen her as an item. As something to try out his powers on. How many others had he done that to?
He'd tortured her to get to me. He killed a girl because of me. It was me who deserved to be hurt. Not her. Not her. Not her.
"Usagi, there you are, I thought I heard you calling-"
"Usagi?"
I could hear the voice distantly, like it was forever away. I didn't blink, didn't turn away, just stared at the area.
Concern and worry soaked Mamoru's voice now, "Usako?"
His face appeared before mine, "Usako, what happened?"
I stared blankly at him before moving and staring back at the bloodied floor.
He followed my gaze, "Oh my god, Usako!? Are you hurt!?"
I didn't answer. My eyes were still dripping with tears and I felt like they would stay like that forever. Forever staring at the spot where I had killed a child.
"Usako, you're standing right here, but I can't sense you anymore, I could sense you when you were calling me, but then nothing" he whispered as crawled to me, enveloping me in a hug.
I felt love pour in from him and I blinked. Sobs started up. He held me to him as I cried, "Shh, it's okay" he kept murmuring in my ear as he lifted me up.
I stopped eventually. The tears drying up, "What…sense…?" I asked slowly
"I can usually sense you, but suddenly I lost the connection, I heard screaming, it sounded horrifying, I was hoping it wasn't you"
I looked away from him, "It wasn't," I whispered
"What happened?" he asked softly
I shook my head as the tears began threatening to fall again.
"Something bad happened, I need only to look at your face to see that" he said as he drew my face to his.
"Are you hurt?" he asked
I shook my head.
"Usako, tell me, please, so I can help you"
I was shivering and he drew me towards him, "Oh my god, Usa, you're freezing"
"Take me home, please?" I whispered
He nodded, and hurried me to the exit of the graveyard. He walked to his car and sat me inside carefully.
He turned on the ignition and blasted the heat. I could feel the warm air, but it didn't do anything to soothe me. I kept shivering.
He shook his head and hurried back around to my side of the car. He gathered me in his arms and held me to him. I fell into him. The horror slowly left me and after a few minutes I felt normal enough to push Mamoru away, "Thank you" I murmured to him
He nodded and hurried back into the car, "Usako, what happened?"
"You were right" I murmured
"Right…? About what?"
"About him"
"Diamond" he snarled, looking at me for confirmation
I nodded ever so slightly and his glare hardened.
"What did he do?" he asked angrily, "I swear if he touched you-"
A tear fell from my eye, and he stopped, "He didn't," I whimpered
"Then what?"
"He killed th-the g-girl" I stuttered
"Which girl?" he asked, his hand reached for mine and he clasped it.
"The one from the news" I whispered
Mamoru gasped, "The one who was thought to be kidnapped- the one in the orphanage because of the monster?"
I nodded, staring straight ahead.
Then I told him. I told him of the deal, of what he had taught me. What he had done the last week. I told him of what he had said today, his threat against all of them.
Lastly, I told him exactly of Mika. What he had done to Mika, how he'd…forced me to watch.
I couldn't keep it from him any longer. Now more than ever, keeping the secret would kill me. And kill everyone else too.
"I'm going to kill him!" Mamoru snarled as he let go of my hand, readying to drive the car
"NO!" I shrieked horrifically, Mamoru paused, "Don't! Didn't you hear what I just said- what he'll do- he'll kill you"
He started the car, looking away from me.
He flipped out his cell phone and dialed something.
Then he raced out of the street, driving like a maniac. I eventually recognized the rich area.
"NO! Don't!" I cried hysterically
He glanced at me sadly, "We're only going to the guys' house"
I sighed thankfully, "Oh. That's good"
I leaned against the seat, feeling exhausted. Soon I felt my eyes close, I didn't bother to open them again. I was just so tired. Tired of everything.
"Holy crap! What happened to her?" asked Kevin as he came bounding to the car. Everyone had arrived within moments before Mamoru had driven the car up.
"Diamond" Mamoru muttered as he got out of the car, "I told you guys that he was up to something, but no, you all thought he was scared of us! Does this look like he's afraid of us!" he screamed, indicating the collapsed girl in the car.
"Whoa, Mamoru, calm down" Nick said as he walked to the car and lifted out Usagi carefully.
"We should go inside and talk" Ami said as she turned to Zach, he bounded up to the door and opened it for Nick, who was carrying Usagi.
He settled her down onto the couch, where she settled into a little ball.
"She looks so small" Rei muttered as she sat down, she smoothed down Usagi's hair calmingly, and Usagi shifted in her sleep.
"She still is" Makoto answered, looking down sadly at Usagi.
"We have to get over there and kick his ass" Jay muttered angrily, glaring out the window
"Wait" Minako said, her voice wavering as everyone turned to her, their eyes on her angrily, "We should wait till she can wake up and tell us what happened"
"Why do we have to do that, why bother her with such a useless question?" snapped Nick, "Don't you even care about what's happened to her?"
Minako's eyes flashed, "Don't you DARE think I don't care for her! This is for her own good! Do you remember what happened last time we jumped to conclusions?"
"We lost her" Ami muttered sadly, "Minako's right, Usa wouldn't want us to…"
"But he hurt her, we have to hurt him back!" snapped Jay
"And we will! Just not when we're not even sure what's happened" Minako said
Mamoru snapped, "You didn't see how she cried! You didn't hear her scream hysterically! He did that! Don't act like you're doing this for Usagi! You're just selfish!"
Minako walked up to Mamoru, slapping his face, "Don't even Mamoru! You fell for the last trick, same as us! Don't fall into something as easily as last time!"
Mamoru raised his hand, ready to strike Minako back.
"She told you not to go after him, didn't she?"
His hand stopped in mid-air, inches away from Minako's face. It dropped, "She did"
"Then don't betray her trust, the only reason she fell asleep was because she believed you weren't going to do anything stupid" Minako said, her voice stayed strong, "We'll go after him, I promise, just- this is Usagi's lead, just like last time, and this time we're going to listen to her"
Rei stepped up, "But we have to do something, something to help her"
"We will, I think staying with her is the only thing we can do for her right now" Minako said sadly
They sat down on the floor, and Mamoru spoke quietly, telling them what Usagi had told him a little while ago.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, my child?"
My mother, Queen Selenity, appeared before me
"I'm scared"
"I know, honey"
I ran to her, hugging her as tears fell from my eyes, "That child, she was hurt so much because of me- she died because of me"
"No, Serenity, she did not"
"She didn't die?" I looked up at her in hope
She smiled sadly, "She did, but not because of you, from what I hear, you saved her from that monster, any longer and she surely would have died"
I wiped away my tears, "Still, it's my fault that Diamond…"
"No, it most certainly is not, he is responsible for his actions, he has no right to lay blame on you" she said, her eyes covered with anger
"But he's right, it's my fault- I doubted his powers and-"
She stopped me, "Is it your fault that there is death, that there are killers?"
"It most certainly is not!" she snapped when I opened my mouth to retort
"It just hurts so much, to know that he'll turn that power on Mamoru, on the others" I said softly
"He will not," she said, my eyes snapped to hers, "Not if you handle this correctly"
"How?" I asked, hope pervading my senses
"There is a book, written during our time that speaks of how to separate a crystal holder from his crystal, to take away it's powers"
My breath hitched, excitement running through me
"This book is in my possession, and I will give it to you, to save you and your friends"
I looked at her, smiling, hope was running through me for once.
She smiled, "It is happy to see you smile daughter, and I hope you will keep smiling"
I paused, "The taking of his powers- he won't be able to get them back? He won't be able to hurt us?"
"Once his powers are taken, he is as normal as everyone else, the book will tell the details of the power taking, be careful with it"
"How did you get it?"
She sighed deeply, "The creator of the ritual was, I daresay, an enemy of mine. The book was confiscated before he had a chance to act on it"
I nodded, "That's good"
"Don't worry about Mika, dear, she's in a better place," she said as she stepped away from me
"Tell her that I'm sorry for everything," I said softly
My mother nodded, "Yes, of course, I might even think she knows"
"Thank you, mother"
"Of course, my child" she whispered as she faded away.
"Wait! What about the book!?" I called into the darkness
"Usagi?"
I opened my eyes to find Makoto and Rei leaning over me, "You okay?" Makoto asked
I nodded, looking down at my hands, eyes lighted upon a book, "I'm fine"
I got up, slamming open the book and began trying to read.
"Um, Usagi? You want to say anything?" I heard Nick ask
I tore my eyes away from the book, "What?"
"How are you feeling?" Mamoru asked
"And where'd you get the book?" Zach asked
"I said already, I'm feeling fine, the book is from my mother"
"Why are you scurrying through a book that your mother gave you?" Jay asked
"Not my mother here, Queen Selenity"
"Ooh, Usagi, could I see the book?" Ami asked
I rolled my eyes, "Read it as fast as you can, you'll probably understand it more than I can anyway" I handed it to her.
She got up, Zach following her and they left the room.
The others looked at me expectantly, "Queen Selenity said that it would take his powers away"
"Seriously?" Jay asked, I could nearly see the happiness emanating off of him already
I nodded, "Yea, power taking ritual, we can use it on him and…"
"Yes!" Makoto said, "Though I'm already regretting missing the fight that would take place"
I turned and glared at her, "What? Oh, right, I'm sorry" she said sheepishly
Mamoru shrugged, "I sort of agree with her, I still want to go and kick his face in"
Kevin patted his shoulder consolingly, "Right there with you, we'll do it anyway"
I glared at the two of them, "There will be no face kicking, once he loses his powers, he's just human, that means there's nothing we should hold against him"
Nick frowned, "What about what he did-well tried- to do to you? What about what he did to Mika?"
I winced at the name. I don't think I would be getting over that any time soon.
"It'll be gone with his powers, his powers did those things" I said softly
Rei snorted, "So his powers tried to rape you?"
"Okay, that's enough! No more talk about this tonight!" Kevin cried as I jumped up, ready to hit something
"Really, guys, it's late, we should get some sleep" Minako said softly
"I should get home, if my parents wake up to find me gone they'll have a heart attack"
"I'll drop you off," Mamoru muttered
I shook my head, "I'd like some time alone, if that's alright?"
He shrugged, "If you want" he looked hurt
"I just- I just need to get all that out of my head, Mika and all" I murmured
He blanched, "No, you're right, of course, you go ahead"
I smiled at them, "I'll see you guys tomorrow"
I transformed the second I got outside. I hurried to the warehouse; it was one of the places where I felt at peace when I was alone. I just felt like punching something.
I began my punching of the punching bag, eager to get out my horror and anger out. At the rate I was going, I felt like going to Diamond myself and ripping off his head, but apparently I wouldn't need to go to him myself.
"So, how much did you tell them?"
My heart sped up, how much did he know? If he found out about the ritual, he would destroy everything and everyone to destroy the book.
"Aren't you going to answer me?" he said as he approached me
"I am," I said as I remembered what he had done to Mika, he still had those powers and he could turn them on us at any time. I couldn't let him figure out something was wrong.
"Well?" he asked as he stood next to me
I stopped punching, my face melting into horror as I looked upon his victorious face, "Everything" I muttered
He smirked, "Everything, huh? That's interesting"
I didn't respond as the memories rushed through me. Mika.
"Oh, please, don't tell me you're still hung up about that girl?"
"How couldn't I be? That girl, Mika, she was so small, so innocent"
"So what? Does she matter more than you?"
I nodded vigorously, "If I could have changed what happened to her, I would"
He rolled his eyes and got back to the topic that interested him more, "So, what does everything entail?"
"The deal, the threats, Mika"
His eyes lit up and I saw his glee for a second, "So they know how strong I am now"
I sighed, "What do you want?"
"I expect to see you after work tomorrow- well later today, of course"
"But it's already been three times this week" I protested
His eyes flashed, "Do you really want to argue with me, Usagi?"
I looked down, "No"
"Did you really think I would want the same old things as before? I have ultimate control now, and I'm not relinquishing it"
"I'll be there," I muttered dejectedly
"Wear something," he said, smiling, "Like what you're wearing now"
His hands stroked my bare arms lightly.
My eyes flashed to his and I saw only victory in his eyes, I nodded wordlessly.
If I was lucky, Ami and Zach would know how to do the ritual before then.
"That's a good girl" he muttered as he grabbed me and pulled me towards him. His eyes stayed on my lips, "You're hot even when you're breaking apart inside" he said as he slammed his lips down on mine
I didn't react as his tongue explored my mouth. I could feel the victory on his lips.
"That's the stuff," he muttered as he came up for air, I just looked at him disgustedly.
He smoothed my hair down, "I'm sure you'll come to enjoy it eventually" he muttered
I felt like punching his face in then. But I had to pretend that he had broken me, if only to keep him clueless. It was for the good of everyone.
"I'll see you later, then" he said as he gave me a last peck on the lips, "Don't stay up too late tonight, wouldn't want you to lose all your energy tomorrow, you'll need lots of it"
I stepped away from him, dread marring my features, he chuckled and left silently.
I waited a long while, exhaustedly on the warehouse floor, and then left.
--
"We got it!" I heard Ami scream into the phone an hour before closing. I had almost started doubting that Ami and Zach would be ready before tonight, before I had to go to him.
"Hell yes!" I screamed back at her, "Meet me at the warehouse in an hour, bring whatever the ritual calls for"
"Well, technically, the ritual only calls for one thing…" she said quietly
"What's that?" I asked distractedly, still happy that it would all be over soon.
"Blood of a crystal holder" she muttured
I frowned, then perked right up, "That's me, I can do it"
"A lot of your blood, Usagi, not just like a drop,"
"It's fine, I'll be there, get down to the warehouse" I said as I flipped close the phone
That was fine. So what if it took a lot of my blood. I was young, I could spare a little blood.
"You'll have to cut your wrist and let bleed a lot of blood" Zach said to me when I arrived
"That's fine," I said as I pushed up my sleeve
"Whoa, what the hell do you think you're doing? You're not going through with this!" Mamoru yelled
I narrowed my eyes, "Diamond is going to kill you all, then he's going to torture me, or vice versa! Do you want that to happen?"
"We can try to kill him ourselves," Minako muttered
Mamoru nodded, "For once, I agree with Minako"
Minako shot him a glare.
"Try to kill him yourselves and you die! You don't know what I saw! You don't know the pain that Mika experienced! You are no way in hell going to go through that!"
"We-"
"No, we won't, Minako," I snapped, "We won't defeat him. He's evil, pure evil"
Minako sighed and looked at Mamoru, and then at Kevin, "Would you help me?"
Kevin shrugged, "Truthfully, this is mainly Usagi's choice, she knows what she's doing"
"But this calls for so much blood, who's to say you won't die?" Mamoru snapped
"She won't" Ami interjected, "It calls for a lot of blood, but it'll only weaken her, she'll regain that strength after rest"
I smiled wanly at Ami and Kevin, "Thanks"
"Alright" Zach stepped forwards, "The little cauldron there is for the blood. It's not a complicated ritual, dark- but not complicated. All you need to do is let the blood drip into the cauldron, and then say the words 'Suma ultimo vox a is quisnam probrum is. Servo totus illud ut es putus quod insons insontis.' It means 'Take ultimate power away from he who abuses it. Keep safe those that are pure and innocent'. It's an alteration of what we found in the book, but it should work. From there, all you have to do is call his name and his powers will be taken from him, as I said, simple"
I nodded as I approached the cauldron that was lying in the center of the warehouse. Ami handed me a knife, "Be careful not to make too much of a big cut, we brought band aids and stuff to stop the bleeding after the ritual"
I nodded, "Thanks Ami,"
I turned around and saluted the others, "See you on the other side"
Rei scowled, "Could you at least not joke about it?"
I grinned, "But if I don't, it takes all the fun out of the dark magic"
Jay smirked, "That's my girl! Show them that dark humor can rock"
Kevin groaned, "Can I slap him, please?"
"Gay, I tell you, gay," muttered Nick
Kevin leaned over and slapped Nick on the head hard, "Shut up, loser, it's a serious moment"
"Alright, I'm out" I said as I turned back to the cauldron, "We'll have all the time to joke later, he's sort of expecting me right this minute" I muttered to myself, I could feel the anger emanating from Mamoru, but I ignored it.
I knelt to the floor, taking the knife to my wrist, I located my main vein and made a slightly large cut along the side of it. My blood started dripping into it.
"Suma ultimo vox a is quisnam probrum is. Servo totus illud ut es putus quod insons insontis"
The blood suddenly began to burn as it left my body and I screamed in the pain. I kept my hand stable though, no use in stopping now.
"DIAMOND TORII" A dark voice said, it took me a while to realize that it had been mine. The latest blood drop that fell into the cauldron suddenly flared into a fire. But it was unlike any fire I had ever seen before. Pitch black flames jumped up and suddenly consumed my body. I felt it burning and I couldn't even scream, my breath was caught.
I could tell it was testing me, seeing if I was doing what I was saying I was doing. I thrust my arms upwards, once again screaming "DIAMOND TORII" this time it was my own voice that burst through.
My entire body was shaking as I took the heat and the pain of the fire. I felt my skin blistering.
I could hear screams around me, Mamoru's voice the loudest.
I struggled to think of what Diamond had done to Mika, what he had threatened to do to those I loved.
The pain reached its zenith, and suddenly the room was illuminated in a dark, otherworldly light. It flared up from the basin and then, right above it, a dark spot began to grow, and grow and grow. I realized then that this was Diamond's power.
The energy came toward me but I flared outwards, blinding light flying from me, willing to quell this power. The dark energy waned and suddenly dropped into my upheld hands. The painful fire vanished and I collapsed to the ground, my hand closing around a black jewel, which glittered ominously, like a diamond.
I heard voices around me and I felt my wound being cared for. My body was unscathed, though it had felt like all my skin had burned off. The only thing I felt that was wrong was that the jewel in my hand felt warm and cold to the touch, burning my skin. That and my own power felt on the edge of waning.
Zach appeared above me, "Are you alright?"
I nodded, it hurt to try to talk, "Fine" I managed to gasp out
"You said that she'd be fine! Look at her! She's not fine!" I heard Mamoru yell
"Mamoru, please, she's fine, she just lost a lot of blood and energy, yelling isn't going to do anything" I heard Ami snap up at him
I struggled to get up but Kevin placed his hand on me, "Don't, you're weak, you shouldn't do anything"
I nodded wordlessly. Hey, everything was going to be alright, so what if I had lost a little energy?
"Alright, the bleeding's stopped" Ami said as she helped me sit up a little.
"The power's been taken?" I managed to croak
Zach answered, "The jewel in your hands is the physical form of his power,"
Mamoru hurried me home, staying silent throughout the ride. The jewel bounced around in my pocket.
"Sorry, Mamoru" I croaked as I left the car
He nodded, "Not your fault, you only wanted to save us"
I nodded and closed the door.
Thankfully no one was home yet so I hurried up - though the speed I was traveling wouldn't be called hurrying, more like waddling.
I settled into bed, not even bothering to change. Sleep came immediately, my body was just so completely exhausted.
Imagine my surprise when I was suddenly wrenched from my bed –and my sleep- at 3 in the morning.
Diamond slammed me against the wall, "What did you do!?"
Hope you guys liked that chapter, very freaky- all those things that Diamond did. He's a lot more evil in this story than I've seen him before, so I hope you guys are okay with that.
Uhh, I'm not too sure when Chapter 3 will be up, but it won't be too long- I'm going on an extremely short vacation that I can't wait for!
Next chapter is all about the repercussions for Usagi's bold (but extremely necessary) move of taking Diamond's powers away.
So, please, send your thoughts my way, be they death threats, or just plain old ideas for the story. Just press that little blue button on the bottom of the page!
REVIEW! :D