Thorny Roses
Chapter 12
Berthier stumbled into the Ayakashi sisters' room. They stood waiting for her, a smirk on each of their faces.
"So, it appears you've failed, Bertie," Calaveras leered.
"Shut up! I was closer than any of you could have gotten!" Berthier growled. "Sailor Moon just had to throw my calculations out of balance by discovering new powers. I could have gotten the Rabbit, too."
"It's no use arguing about it now," Rubeus said, blurring into view.
The sisters ceased their arguing, though Calaveras and Berthier both sneers on their faces.
"I've already come up with a new plan," Rubeus said, turning towards a clear, computer screen. A map of Crystal Tokyo flashed onto the screen. The city map formed a star with several points highlighted on it.
"These are—" Petz began.
"The Crystal Points of Tokyo," Berthier interrupted. Petz sent a glare her way.
"Correct," Rubeus replied. "These points release Crystal Energy, which makes them ideal for protecting the foundation of Crystal Tokyo. If we were to attack these points in the past…"
"Then it would keep Crystal Tokyo from being built!" Koan exclaimed.
"Exactly," Rubeus smirked.
"But how are we going to do that?" Calaveras asked.
"I thought we could learn a little from the Sailor Scouts," Rubeus grinned. "The art of attacking all at once."
…
Usagi glanced one by one at the faces gathered in her living room. Kunzite and Minako stood by the window, glaring at the night sky in thought. Ami, Makoto, Zoicite, and Nephrite sat near the coffee table, staring into space. Rei paced slowly, back and forth while Jadeite sat on the ground beside her, watching her.
Mamoru sat on the couch next to Usagi, his chin resting on his folded hands. Usagi studied his profile, noting the fear and confusion in his expression.
"Last night revealed that our enemy is strong and unpredictable," Usagi said, everyone's heads turning to her.
"But we have more power, too," Nephrite said. "You and Mamoru-san also have a secret power. That'll help a lot!"
"But we can't just rely on our powers all the time. What if it was a onetime thing?" Mamoru said.
"Mamoru is right," Rei said. "We might get split up next time. Or one of us could…" She trailed off, not wanting to continue her thought.
"I think we should have training sessions together," Usagi said.
"Yeah! That way we could strengthen ourselves and learn to work well together," Makoto exclaimed.
"It would increase our statistics of winning battles," Ami said. Zoicite nodded thoughtfully.
"But we still don't know our enemy's motive. Why do they want Chibiusa?" Minako said.
"Maybe…Maybe the reason lies in the future," Kunzite answered.
"He's right." Everyone turned to look at Artemis and Luna, who had walked in from the room where Chibiusa was sleeping.
"What do you mean, Artemis?" Minako said.
"Chibiusa is from the future," Luna said. "So we thought that perhaps another companion from the future could let us know what our enemy wants."
"Who is this other companion?" Nephrite suspiciously questioned.
From behind the two cats, a black ball with cat ears and a cat face floated into the living room.
"Puu?" Jadeite blurted in confusion.
"Correct, Puu is from the future," Artemis confirmed. "And she may have some of the answers you're looking for."
"How so?" Usagi stood up from her seat on the couch. Puu floated silently over to the coffee table. The Inner Senshi and Generals gasped when a hologram shone on to the table, the light projecting from Puu's right eye.
The full figure of a standing woman was projected onto the table. She was tall, despite being a small image and had long, dark hair. She had a mature face as well as a mature body. She wore a sailor uniform and held a long staff shaped like a key.
"Who are you?" Usagi asked.
The figure in the projection bowed before standing straight and speaking. "I am Sailor Pluto, Guardian of Time and Space, your highness."
"So you have answers about the future?" Mamoru asked.
"Yes, but I can't answer all of them. Time must continue in its regular flow," she answered.
"First tell us about the Black Moon Clan," Rei interjected.
Sailor Pluto nodded. "In the future, the world is known as Crystal Tokyo. The Black Moon Clan came to Crystal Tokyo and attacked it in hopes of conquering it. Their first attack failed so they came to your time in order to attack Earth in the past so that they could control the future."
"My head hurts," Jadeite complained.
"Shush!" Rei scolded.
"Go on," Usagi said. "Tell us about the people who attacked us today."
"You were attacked by Berthier of the Ayakashi Sisters. They belong to the Black Moon Clan and serve under Prince Diamond."
"Why are they after Chibiusa?" Ami asked.
"That I cannot tell you, but I will say it is because of Small Lady's parents," Pluto said.
"And who are they?" Kunzite asked.
"Well…erm…" Pluto stuttered. "They are the King and Queen of Crystal Tokyo."
"WHAT?!" The Senshi gasped.
"Chibiusa is a princess?" Nephrite asked.
"Yes," Pluto answered. Suddenly she turned around, looking behind her at something the people in the living could not see.
"I must go now," Sailor Pluto said urgently. "I won't be able to answer any more of your questions. Sailor Senshi, Shitennou, I wish you luck."
Sailor Pluto blurred out of focus before disappearing. Puu's eye stopped projecting light and floated back towards Chibiusa's room.
"Okay, so we know that Berthier and the Ayakashi Sisters are only the beginning," Usagi said.
"Yeah, this Prince Diamond guy probably has a whole bunch of underlings lined up," Jadeite frowned.
"We also know that they're after Chibiusa and the Earth in general," Zoicite said.
"I think training sessions are a really good idea," Mamoru said.
The rest of the room silently agreed.
The next morning, after Usagi had dropped off Chibiusa at her parents' house, she met up with Mamoru on the way to the park.
They walked hand in hand, the early winter fog hanging around them.
"Winter break will be starting in a week," Mamoru said.
"Yeah, I'm really excited. I can't wait for Christmas this year," Usagi smiled.
"Hmm…Christmas…" Mamoru murmured. An image of Usagi in a short, Santa's little elf costume with a Santa hat popped into his head. A dark blush immediately spread across his face.
"Are you okay?" Usagi asked.
Mamoru furiously nodded. "Yup. Peachy keen!"
Usagi shrugged, a confused smile on her face.
They arrived at a park and continued walking on into a nearby forest. The forest was thin but it would do well to hide the field that the Senshi and Shitennou were using to practice. It also helped that it was very early in the morning—no one would come to the park at such an early time.
Usagi and Mamoru walked into the clearing, realizing that they were not the first to arrive. In fact, they were the last ones to arrive. The Senshi and Shitennou stood waiting, dressed in their school uniforms, for everyone would have to go to school right after practicing sessions.
"What took you so long?" Rei asked, scowling. Usagi laughed, remember how Rei wasn't much of a morning person.
Jadeite narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Were you guys—"
"Don't be such a pervert!" Rei barked at him.
Jadeite rolled his eyes. "Today is going to be a long day."
Usagi smiled at the Senshi and Shitennou, who had paired up and stood in a line facing Usagi and Mamoru.
"We decided that it would be more effective to pair up and fight rather than all ten of us fighting alone," Mamoru said. "We might as well take advantage of our large numbers."
"Okay, everyone pair up…not that you already haven't," Usagi smirked as the Senshi blushed. "Get in a circle—a big one."
Usagi and Mamoru supervised as the Senshi and Shitennou pairs arranged themselves in a large circle. Usagi and Mamoru joined the circle.
"In this exercise, we'll all be attacking each other. This way, we'll learn to fight while protecting ourselves. You can attack any of the pairs in our circle, in no certain order. In fact, it's better if its random," Mamoru said.
"You'll also get used to fighting in your pairs," Usagi said.
"Ok, we get it!" Nephrite said. "I really want to hit Jadeite for eating my chips last night," he justified his impatience. Makoto giggled beside him.
"Well, you didn't exactly label the bag with your name," Jadeite sneered.
"Dick!" Nephrite yelled across the clearing.
"Pussy!" Jadeite retorted.
"Asshole!"
"Mother—"
Rei flared into her Sailor Mars uniform. "If you two don't shut up right now, I will roast both of your asses on a spit!"
They both silenced immediately.
"Ready," Mamoru said. Everyone tensed, setting their sights on their targets as they transformed.
"Go!" Usagi directed.
Immediately, the attacks began to fly.
Usagi, while defending and attacking, took note of the different pairs and how well they worked together.
Minako and Kunzite seemed almost fluid. They swerved around each other, attacking and defending each other and switching opponents often. However, because of their complicated moves, their attacks were slower than the others.
Nephrite and Makoto were both incredibly strong but they weren't working together—they were just randomly throwing blows at back at their opponents.
Usagi had expected Rei and Jadeite to be incompatible with each other, but they worked well together—not as well as Minako and Kunzite but well. She did notice that Rei and Jadeite were the fastest. They were quick to dodge blows and serve them back simultaneously.
Zoicite and Ami were also very remarkable. Though their attacks were not as strong as the others, they're attacks were plentiful and precise. Each attack had a complex strategy behind it, leaving their foes at the mercy. However, they just needed to stronger in order to cause detrimental damage.
Usagi and Mamoru worked very well together and Usagi was surprised by Mamoru's new powers. He was able to produce a golden light like the Generals, but he was also able to tap into his energy source and lend this energy, particularly to Usagi.
Usagi made a mental note to try and get Mamoru to teach the Generals how to do this.
They group of friends finished this exercise, all thoroughly worn out.
"Good job, everyone," Usagi smiled. "We'll be doing this every morning from now on."
"Ah, too tired to complain," Jadeite groaned.
"Mm, too tired to berate," Rei grunted.
The group headed to school, and this routine continued for the next 3 or 4 days.
The Senshi and the Generals became paranoid.
"Maybe they gave up," Nephrite said.
"But what if they show up again?" Zoicite countered.
"The best thing to do is to continue training," Usagi said. They all nodded pensively.
One Saturday morning, after a long three hours of training, Usagi and Mamoru walked to her apartment. Chibiusa had often started to come watch their training sessions along with Luna, Artemis, and LunaP but she hadn't been able to wake up early enough that morning.
The door closed behind the pair and they both collapsed on the couch. Usagi took a glance at Mamoru's tired face and rose from the couch with a sigh.
"I'll go make some coffee," Usagi said.
Mamoru grabbed her wrist. "It's okay. I know you're tired so just rest with me."
Perhaps it was the lack of energy or the constant training, but Usagi's mood had turned sour. "What do you mean 'you're tired'?"
"Well, you've gotta be tired after all this training we've done," Mamoru answered, taken aback at her grimace.
"Well, I'm not."
Mamoru frowned. "Oh come, don't tell me you're full of energy right now."
"What if I am?"
"Then it's unnatural!"
"Oh, so it's unnatural for a girl to have a lot of energy, huh?"
"Did I say that?!"
And just like that, a fight had erupted between the two of them. They continued yelling at each other until they were both scowling at each other. Suddenly, their communicators began to beep.
"Guys, there's a Yuma at the Chess Tower!" Sailor Mercury informed them.
"I'll be right there!" Zoicite voice was heard from another line on the communicators.
"There's a Yuma at the Otafukuya cosmetic store! You guys better get over here fast!" Jadeite appeared on their screen.
"Jadeite! Get your ass over here and help me!" Rei's voice sounded in the background.
Mamoru and Usagi looked at each other in shock.
"Yuma at the Chess Tower and at Otafukuya?" Usagi gasped.
"Usagi, Nephrite and I are at the Bob-Floy ice cream store!" Makoto's voice buzzed on their communicators next. "We've found a Yuma!"
Mamoru groaned. "Another one?"
"Ah, Nephrite! Watch out!" Makoto's line was disconnected.
Usagi and mamoru flared into their uniforms.
"Where should we go first?" Usagi asked.
Mamoru shook his head. "No, this is what the partnered training was for. They're gonna have to fight this one on their own. Besides, if three Yuma have appeared now, then I'm sure more are gonna appear in other places."
"You're right," Usagi agreed. "First, let's get Chibiusa. There's no place safer for her than with us."
Their communicators buzzed again. Kunzite's face flashed onto the screen. "Mamoru, Usagi, Minako and I have found a Yuma at the Lucky Charms jewelry store and we're also aware that there is a Yuma at the Juuban supermarket!"
"You and Minako are going to have to take of that one on your own," Usagi said. She connected all of the communicators to one line, making sure that everyone would hear what she said next: "This is what your training was for. You guys need to defeat this Yuma on your own. Good luck."
Sorry it took so long! I'll be trying to finish this story soon since I already finished Golden Heart! This is my only work in progress at the moment so I'll be updating sooner. Hope you liked this chapter!
Pegasus'Horn
