Disclaimer: I do NOT own Sailor Moon or any of the canon characters. Drake, Derek, Sasha, J. J., and the others are merely figments that have escaped from my imagination.
Chapter Four: Exhaustion
"Okay, I've about had enough," groaned Jason, dropping down onto the bench, just outside the Fire Room at Cherry Hill Temple.
Raye looked over at him. "What do you mean?"
"These youma attacks. We've been dealing with at least one every night, if not two. Last night, we had to take out three! Just us Knights on one! Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and Pluto were off fighting another, and Crystal Crescent had to go take care of the third, on her own. Mal called her in sick to school, because she needs the rest!"
"It seems like the enemy is trying to exhaust us," murmured Raye. "It's a sound plan, actually. Get us so worn out that we don't have the energy to fight when they attack next. We Inners had to take out a fourth, last night, too. Tuxedo Mask and Wyvern handled a fifth, near their apartment."
Jason dropped his head into his hands. "And we can't just leave the youma alone. They'll only get stronger and cause damage, but we can't keep fighting them. We'll have nothing left, soon."
Neither of them noticed the small, black-haired figure peering around the corner, listening intently to every word.
Drake walked across the open campus commons, skirting around the students sitting at the outdoor tables, eating their lunches. His crimson eyes were focused on the lonesome freshman sitting on a low wall beside the campus fountain.
"It's Hayden Grim, right?" Drake asked, dropping down beside him.
The younger man looked up, thick lenses hiding his eyes. "Yes. That's me."
"I'm Drake Miller. You sit in my sophomore history class. A difficult job for a freshman."
Hayden shrugged. "My father was an avid historian, and I grew up loving it as much as he did. Most of this stuff is nothing new. I'm waiting for something interesting to come up."
He seemed almost sorrowful, speaking of his father in the past tense, as if it were difficult to do.
"You must miss him a lot."
"With six younger siblings to look after, I keep too busy to miss my father," replied Hayden. "I'm all they have, for now. If you'll excuse me, I have to get to class."
The younger man rose, shoving a hand through his short black hair. Lifting his book bag, he strode off towards the mathematics department. As he walked away, something fluttered out of the open pocket on the side of his bag.
Drake hurried forward to catch it, before it got trampled by the incoming students. By the time he got a hold of it, Hayden had disappeared in the crowd.
Figuring he'd return it to the freshman later, he walked over to where Darien, Mal, Nate, and Trista were setting up lunch for the five of them.
"What's in your hand, Drake?" Nate demanded, opening the large bag he used to carry the food in.
The dark-grey haired man shrugged. "Something that new freshman, Hayden Grim, dropped. I figure I'll return it to him later."
"Looks like a photo, of some kind," observed Mal. "Not interested in seeing who it is?"
Drake started to flip it over, but he was interrupted by the sudden ringing of his cell phone.
"It's Sere," he stated, looking down at the caller ID.
The other four instantly tensed.
He flipped open the phone. "Hey, Sere. What's up?"
A garbled voice came through the speaker.
"Slow down, Sere, and try that again."
"There's a youma at Galaxis! We're holding it off for now, but we can't stop it! We need you to get here, right away!"
Crimson eyes closed briefly. "We'll be there as soon as we can."
He closed the phone, pulling the others into a deserted classroom.
"We have to get to Galaxis, and fast," he explained, pulling his skull over his head.
Nate and Mal nodded, pulling out their crystals, as Trista lifted out her lavender transformation wand. Darien grimaced, pulling out his rose.
"She's not going to be happy about me tagging along," he stated.
With a shrug, Nate stated, "Well, you were with us, and, as exhausted as we all are, we'll need all of us to take it down."
A grey-cloaked figure watched in the shadows as Sailor Crystal Crescent, Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune and Tuxedos Phoenix and Sphinx were joined by Tuxedos Dragon, Gryphon, Cerberus and Mask, as well as Sailor Pluto.
Knowing none of them could see him, he grinned. "The plan is working perfectly."
Two eighteen year old girls walked up to him, mirror opposites of each other, one with long black hair and the other with equally long white hair.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing, Cosmic Defender?" The darker girl demanded, fixing him with a glare. Sparks flared in her black eyes.
The paler girl placed a hand on her twin's shoulder, her pale grey eyes sorrowful. "I'm sure he's well aware of what he's doing. It's working, after all, isn't is, Prisma?"
Prisma nodded. "I guess you're right, Spectra. You'd better not let the Empress down."
"I don't intend to fail like you did, Sailor Soul," declared Cosmic Defender, looking down his nose at her. "When the Empress locates the next palace, I will be ready for them. They won't succeed this time."
Across the school yard, two dark figures watched as the Scouts and Tuxedos positioned the youma to allow Crystal Crescent to destroy it, at long last.
"We can't keep sitting on the sidelines for long," one whispered to the other, her voice soft.
The other nodded. "I know. But it isn't time, yet. She hasn't revealed herself. Until she does, I don't want her to know we're here."
"I suppose you're right. I just don't like watching them get weakened when we could end it so easily."
"But if everyone took the easy road, they'd never get any stronger. They'd never be able to bring Crystal Tokyo into being. That's another reason why we will wait."
Alright, so a couple of identities have been revealed. What's in the photo Hayden accidentally left behind? Next chapter will be coming soon. Yes, I know this one's a little shorter than the last, but I wanted to get another one up, and this is really the best place to make a break. The next chapter should hopefully be up before next weekend, depending on when I get time off work.