A/N: These are still side-stories based on RySenkari's "Love In A Ruined World" and "Collision of Souls" stories, set after the second of the two fics. If you haven't read those, you probably are gonna be confused - Ry's in my favorite authors section, so go check out him and his stories, kk? It'll make it easier on everyone.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Sailor Moon, DBZ, or Ry Senkari. So, still don't own the characters.

Gaiden 1: Glacial Soul, Merciful Soul

Chapter 4: Running Interference

Dawn broke before either of them was ready - and, of course, in the worst possible way.

"Mmm... Trunks... Lemme sleep..."

"Not... Trunks, I told ya..."

"Yeah, but I am. Rise 'n' shine." The purple-haired Super Saiyan was eyeing them both as they they sat up, eyes opening blearily. The look on his face suggested that he was only barely supressing a grin. Patrick gave him a glare that clearly discouraged such a laugh.

"Only one bed," he reminded Trunks.

"You've got a couch, don't you?"

This time it was Cammy who gave him a glare. "Butt out, Trunks!"

"Whoa," Trunks yelped, surprised. "Looks like I woke up the sleeping lion over here. Alright, alright... I'll leave ya alone about it. If you're gonna make a habit of this kind of thing, you might want Patrick to meet your parents, though." He chuckled a bit - and this time both of them gave him a glare that would strike a normal person dead. "Okay, okay, I get it."

"Look, Trunks, we've had a long night - "

"Patrick, you're not helping - that sounds just as bad as what HE'S saying. Anyway, last night sucked, we were really tired, neither one of us felt like moving." Cammy gave a little huff of satisfaction and gave one last glare all around, just in case. "So, where's Ami? Wasn't she dropping by today?"

Trunks nodded. "She's supposed to be here pretty soon - I figured I'd come pick you guys up, we could head back to my place and join up with Ami, and then we could head to town and see how everyone's doing."

"...couldn't have waited until Ami was here and given us time to wake up, could ya," Patrick muttered. "Whatever. Sounds like a blast. It'll be nice to see how the town's doing, after everything that's happened. Let's go."

The three shuffled outside, and took off into the air for Trunks' house - and before they even managed to land, were greeted by a certain blue-haired senshi floating up to meet them.

"Heya, Ami!" Cammy gave one of her usual high-spirited greetings as Ami approached. "When'd you get here?"

"Just a couple minutes after Trunks left, actually... Don't worry, I didn't wait long. Played a couple games with Bulma while I was waiting to help pass the time."

"So, how'd you do?" Patrick gave her a little smirk.

"Beat me both rounds," Ami admitted.

"I'm telling you, it's unnatural," Patrick muttered. Cammy and Trunks both chuckled at the comment, and the four set off for Nihimo Town.

The tour went by quickly - there honestly wasn't much to see, except for a lot of people putting the finishing touches on the repairs from the last attack on the town. Shops were reopening for business, and the relatively small population of the town was almost all on the streets, mingling and checking up on all their friends and neighbors. It was slowed down a bit, though, mostly because just about everyone wanted to say hello to Trunks and quite a few to Patrick, thanking Trunks for having saved the town (many times over, at that) and Patrick for the repairs. Both of them were practically beaming by the end of the tour, Patrick's mind being somewhat set at ease by how easily the villagers seemed to accept him. The girls seemed to be enjoying themselves, too, checking out the various shops and buildings. Both had been around the town before, but never when it was quite this busy, and both seemed rather amused at the attention Trunks was getting no matter where they went. Then, suddenly, Cammy piped up with a sudden seriousness. "You know what this town needs?"

"Hmm?" Both Ami and Patrick responded almost immediately, and Trunks turned to look at the green-haired girl. She nodded solemnly. "I do. A festival! Think about it - you guys have been in danger for like... forever, and then Trunks kicked the butt of like... the biggest baddie yet! And the town is looking really nice, and Trunks is stronger than ever... You guys should totally celebrate! It would really lighten the mood around here, ya know?"

"Hmm... Yeah, I guess it would be pretty cool to have some sort of fair or something here in town... I don't know how we'd go about setting it up, but it really would be a nice way for the townspeople to have a little fun." Trunks smiled. "I'll talk to my mom and some of the townspeople, and see if we can get some help putting it all together."

"Sounds like a good idea to me. I'll be glad to help with preperations, too. This place could use a bit of entertainment."

"A festival it is, then!" Cammy cheered. "This is gonna be great! Just... uh... make sure it opens on the weekend... It'll be easier for me to come that day. Oh! And try and get a Ferris wheel or something! Or a roller coaster!"

Trunks sighed. "Most of that stuff is pretty run down these days... Or completely destroyed. But you never know... my mom can put together just about anything, so it might be worth a shot."

"Should be a lot of fun," Ami said. "And I'm sure you guys'll put on a great celebration no matter what."

Trunks took a quick look around. "Well, guys, I think we've hit just about everywhere major in town... I'll go see if I can get the townspeople on board for this festival idea of yours, Cammy. Shouldn't take me too long... you guys can walk around town again, or head back home, or whatever. I'll do a quick fly-by once I'm done here and if you're not here, I'll meet you guys back home, okay?"

The three nodded, watching Trunks take off into the air.

"So..." Ami giggled a little bit. "I heard Trunks caught you two sleeping in the same bed this morning. Moving kind of fast, aren't you?"

"First off," Cammy started, "how did you hear that? He never said a word, 'cause he knew I'd kick his butt if he did."

"We have a telepathic link... we can actually hear each other's thoughts if we try, and sometimes even if we don't... We do have to be kind of close, though, and of course it doesn't work across dimensions. So, that's how he told me."

"Okay..." Cammy seemed a little off-put by this, "And secondly, we had a very good reason and it has nothing to do with what you're thinking! And thirdly, Patrick is my friend now and I stopped by to visit him and I was worried about him, so I stayed, and there's nothing more to it."

"Bit of a run-on sentence there at the end, Cammy..." Patrick just grinned a little bit.

"Worried about him? This have something to do with your 'very good reason', Cammy?" It didn't take Ami long to figure out - both of them had suddenly dropped into much darker expressions at the mere mention of it. "...What happened?"

"I... had some sort of attack," Patrick started. "I was thinking about Cammy, and all of a sudden I heard her voice... except it wasn't her, exactly. It was like... her voice, but basically saying the things that Pandemonium and the others said... that I was a traitor, that I would turn on you guys eventually, too, that I would hurt her... And the whole time, I was... seeing things... Really, really horrrible things..."

Ami was silent for a second. "...What kind of things?"

"Well, first I saw Flarinsa... the one the Senshi killed... and the voice started blaming me for abandoning her... and then Cammy... Except... Except she was dead... And..." His voice cut out at this point, and Ami didn't have the heart to finish the sentence. "And then, when Cammy showed up... my vision kept blurring... and I'd see her face, and then she'd be dead again, and I kept hearing all these horrible things... And I blacked out."

"...That sounds really serious... I can understand why you were worried, Cammy... Was there anything else?"

"Mmhmm..." Cammy nodded, her voice subdued. "I kinda... started seeing double too. Except what it kept seeming like is like Patrick was... the other Patrick. Like he was back then. It was really scary..."

Ami nodded. "I can tell. It doesn't help that, well... let's be honest, your relationship didn't start off exactly great. I trust you completely now, of course, Patrick, but there's still a lot of things you did in the past that aren't exactly forgotten. But it sounds to me like some sort of psychic attack... I don't have a lot of ways to deal with that kind of thing, I'm afraid. The only thing I can tell you is to keep me posted if anything like this happens again... and keep your eyes out for anything unusual the next time something like this happens. Maybe you can spot some kind of hint as to who's doing this. Do you have any ideas, Patrick? It might be somebody from the Armada..."

"I don't doubt they have someone like that, but... I never met them, if so. I didn't spend a whole lot of time outside of Pandemonium's unit, and each unit is usually kept fairly seperate from the others - each one is supposed to be able to operate independantly... plus, that way, well... if someone betrays the group, they don't have enough information to reveal anything important."

"Looks like it paid off for them," Ami noted. "This is going to be pretty tough, then... Still, I'm sure we'll figure this out. Thanks for letting me know. We have to be on guard for this kind of thing. After all, there's no way of knowing whether this ends with Exeter... And somehow, I doubt it will."

Both of the others nodded in agreement. Then Cammy cracked a smile. "So... hey, guys! Festival! Ought to be fun! We can set up games and stuff... and maybe even get some rides! I bet Bulma could totally help fix some stuff up."

The sudden change in mood had both Patrick and Ami chuckling, and before soon all three of them (and Trunks, when he returned) were happily discussing the possibility of a fair in Nihimo.

"Taking your time, aren't you?" Sunzeki's voice lacked the merest hint of exasperation, sounding only slightly amused, but his agent got the point.

"I'm having my fun with them. You knew my methods when you chose me to take care of this one, Sunzeki... You've certainly made use of them often enough." The blond smiled at his superior, nearly matching the other's endless grin.

"You've got the Senshi running interference," Sunzeki noted. "And that means you'll be getting Trunks involved, I guarantee it. We were hoping you could keep him out of the running - we hardly need any more of his interference before we're ready for it."

The blond actually scoffed at this. "Sunzeki, sir, 'before we're ready'? You think I didn't account for the Saiyan getting involved? Trust me, it'll go off without a hitch."

"You'd better be right, Takashi. You wouldn't be the first to underestimate him... There's an entire station to attest to that. Remember... your target is the traitor. If your constant need to play these games gets Trunks involved and ruins everything, we will have to take action."

Takashi nodded again, nonchalantly. "I'm well aware of the regulations in this sort of situation. Don't worry - the traitor will be taken care of, and your precious Saiyan will be left... relatively undamaged."