Flee to Destiny
By: Bethany
Originally Released: 3/2002
Revised: 7/2015

Chapter 14 - Senshi in Wonderland

As I stepped forward I told myself that I was prepared for anything. If my hunch was right, the black nothingness was merely an illusion to keep me locked in the room. No amount of mental preparation was sufficient enough to prepare me for what awaited me when I stepped out of the room. The door behind me and the room beyond it disappeared the second my foot left the landing. But the most astonishing thing was that I was floating! No ground below my feet, yet I didn't fall. I moved my arms like one would swim and began moving forward. Without any light I had nothing to guide me, and since super heroes don't wear watches, I had no idea how long I floated around, perhaps in circles.

Suddenly I found another door and not the easy way, either. No, I smacked into it. "Ugh, that'll leave a mark," I mumbled, more to hear something besides my own breathing rather than to talk to myself.

I finally found the door handle and turned it. Beyond was a scene from many dreams... and just as many nightmares. The door behind me slammed when I entered, the sound echoing like a shot in the dark. In front of me was a staircase, to the left a sitting room that I would never forget if I lived to be a million years old. The fine furniture and pastel colors were suited to my mother's taste. Her room had always been a place that was off limits to me and Shingo due to our sloppy habits. We had always felt more at relaxed in the den anyways, with its dark carpet that that didn't stain easily and worn furniture that we could flop down on. Even though, I couldn't help but smile at the memory of my mother sitting in that room, her needle point in hand.

My attention moved to the staircase. With tears burning in my eyes, I forced myself up the stairs. Memories that I had suppressed for months came back as clearly as yesterday. Emotional wounds barely healed were ripped open again, their stinging pain just as fresh as it was the day I watched my parents lowered in twin graves. Hanging on the second door to the left was a small picture of a bunny with my name written out underneath. From some part of me I didn't know existed, I found the courage to turn the handle.

I fell back through time as the door opened. The twin bed, the moon and stars bedspread, and all my stuffed animals that I had to leave behind in the move - even the pictures still lined my dresser. Why, it was as if I had never left! I sat down on my bed, pulling one of the stuffed animals in my lap. Everything was the same, so much that I half expected my mother to come through the door. Or Shingo... Shingo, could he be here?

Leaving my memories of being safe in my room behind, I headed towards my parent's room. I expected to see their bedroom just as it had been while I grew up. But when I pushed the door open, the memories that haunted me every other time I closed my eyes loomed in front of me again. Two bodies slumped atop each other, lifeless across the bed. On the wall above them, the wet blood still dripping, were the words that had started me on this path. Had I come all this way only to be right back at the beginning? Tears fell down my face and a howl of terror echoed in my ears, just like so long ago... "Shingo?" I screamed.

He was nowhere to be seen. Did I really hear him? Or was it my memory playing tricks on me? My eyes flashed over the blood-smeared words. 'You're Next Little Princess.' The bodies on the bed, my parents. "No...nooooo... This isn't happening! I buried my parents; not here, not again!"

"Why, Usagi? Why did you let them kill us?"

I fell back, my head striking the opposite wall. "Mama?" I whispered, crawling away from the doorway and towards the stairs, blinded by tears and terror. "Papa?"

"Why Usagi?"

"NO!" I covered my ears with my hands and squeezed my eyes shut. Over and over I heard my mother calling, demanding to know why I let them die. Hysterical, tears dripping off my face as I gasped for breath, I crawled the rest of the distance to the staircase. I looked back and saw the door to Shingo's room open and I screamed, my hand sliding at the same time. Before I could regain my balance, I slid down the stairs.

"Usagi! Usagi, answer me!"

"NO!" I screamed, flinging my arms and crying. My heart was beating so fast I thought it might explode. The only thing I could think was to get away; fast. "Usagi, get a hold of yourself!" I was being shaken, my heard snapped back and I opened my eyes, waiting to see a Youma; something out of my worst nightmare. Instead I saw Sailor Mars, her eyes worriedly watching me as I tried to gather my senses.

"R..Rei-chan?" I looked up the staircase, but there was nothing. Nothing chasing me; nothing but my own memories. "Oh God, Rei-chan," I cried my relief, still shaking badly. "My parents, I saw my Mom and Dad... dead. All of it, all over again..."

"Shhh," Rei soothed me while I sobbed. "I saw that room, Usagi. I wish you hadn't. I'm sorry."

"Who is doing this? Why?" I asked, getting louder as I spoke until my voice took on the shrill edge of a mad person. Somehow I knew that whoever was responsible for this mess could hear my every word. "Haven't you done enough to us?!"

Silence was my only answer, but I didn't expect an explanation. I doubt it would have been a sufficient one anyway. I finally calmed myself down and stood up. Rei rubbed my back as I sucked in my breath and wiped my face free of lingering tears. "Go wash you face and then we'll decide where to go from here," Rei suggested wisely.

I nodded and headed towards the bathroom. My reflection in the mirror only proved that I looked as horrid as I felt. My eyes were wild looking, puffy and blood shot. Dried tearstains trailed down both my cheeks. I reached down and turned the faucet on, but instead of water coming out, blood gushed into the sink. I gasped and turned it off quickly, running out of the room.

I found Rei in the kitchen. "Let's go," I commanded, grasping her hand and pulling her towards the door.

"Matte*, Usagi! There's nothing out there!" Mars argued. But trying to stop me was not an option, I was too determined to escape this place. I wanted to find Mamo-chan; I had never needed to feel his arms around me as bad as I did at this moment.

Mars protested even after I explained that we weren't jumping to our deaths. She looked even more worried when I threw the front door open and she realized I wasn't kidding. "If you're so determined to do this, at least let me go first!" She stared me down for several minutes. I wanted to get out of this place so bad that finally I nodded my head, seeing no alternative. So much for showing her that we wouldn't fall forever downwards. I supposed now she'd learn on her own.

Holding her breath, Mars walked out the door. "Oh, my God," she exclaimed when she didn't fall. I followed quickly and shut the door behind me. But I didn't feel any real relief until it disappeared. "Now what?" Mars asked.

I reached out in the direction of her voice and grabbed her arm. "Now we float around until we find another door, and hope we find everyone else - and no more surprises."

"Not likely to be that easy," Mars retorted, following my lead. I felt positive she was right.

"I feel something," Sailor Mars announced. I was beginning to wonder if we would just float forever. It felt like it had been hours since we fled from the house I had grown up in. I tried not to think about what I had seen. Even though I knew that it wasn't really my house, or my parents, the memories were once again fresh in my mind.

Mars opened the door and we stepped into a house that neither of us recognized. It was a one-story house, not very big, but it was cozy looking. The kitchen table had a beautiful cake sitting in the middle and decorations hung from the rafters.

"I wonder where this is?" Mars whispered, more to herself than to me.

I searched through the rest of the house. The master bedroom contained a large sleigh bed with matching night stands. A vanity table covered the length of one wall, make up and creams scattered among it. At one end was a picture of a young Mako-chan and two people I presumed to be her parents. I walked out of that room and across the hall to another.

There I found Mako-chan sitting on a bed, staring out the window. The room looked remarkably like her room in the apartment she now had. When she didn't take notice of my presence, I gently reached out and touched her arm. "Mako-chan?"

She jumped, proving my theory of her being so deeply in thought she didn't realize I was standing before her. "Usagi-chan?" she asked. She appeared confused for a minute that I would be there, I obviously didn't fit in the memories she was reliving. Suddenly she shook her head and smiled weakly at me. "I'm sorry. How long have you been here?" When I only stared at her, she stood up. "This was the house I grew up in," she explained, holding her arms out. She continued to talk, filling our silence with her memories. "I was having a surprise party for my parent's anniversary..." she trailed off, her voice cracking. "But they never came home." A tear fell from her eye that she wiped at in vain.

"How did they die?" I whispered.

She again looked out the window, her hands bawling into fists. "Their plane crashed on the way back from Rome, where they went to celebrate their anniversary. I remember sitting, waiting for their return. But instead I got a call from the police..."

Because I lost my parents also, I could relate to what was going through her mind better than anyone, I suppose. But the question I wanted the answer to was why? Why was this happening? What kind of sick person would make us live through the worst memories we had all over again? Of course, I told myself. The kind of person who wants us dead so they can take over Earth. I put my hand on Mako-chan's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

She sucked her breath in and smiled at me weakly. "Thanks, Usagi-chan." Wiping the tears off her face, she started towards the door but stopped to take one last longing look towards her parent's room before continuing on. "For so long I didn't have a family." She smiled at me. "But I do now, so it's better." I hugged her tightly. "Have you found anyone else?"

"Just Rei," I told her. We started to the kitchen again when the front door opened and Ami and Minako came in. "Ami-chan! Minako-chan!" I called.

Minako ran up, hugging me around the neck. She beamed a huge smile at me and then hugged Mako-chan. "I'm so glad we found you!" she gushed, hugging Mako-chan again. "Is anyone else here?"

As if on cue, Rei came to the living room to see what the commotion was. I couldn't help but laugh when Minako threw herself into Rei's arms with a force that suggested they hadn't seen each other in years rather than hours. "Minako-chan no baka," Rei said, but it was obvious she was happy to see her, also.

We sat down in the living room, all talking at once. The moment of peace didn't come until Ami cleared her throat and opened her computer. Silence rained down on the group of us like a goddess had appeared. I waited anxiously for Ami to say she had all the answers and we would find everyone else and be on our way home. Unfortunately, the Genius Senshi had limited information on our situation. "We've all fallen into a scene from our memories; the worst ones, I'm afraid. Everything I've tried to get readings on come back as made of nothing more than air. It's like we are all in dreams or illusions. The only useful thing I've managed to do is find a way to get us from one of these doors to another in a matter of minutes by taking the-"

Minako held her hand up, shaking her head. "Don't explain, please. No offense, Ami-chan, but I don't understand any of the words you use. You could be speaking German for all of it I get."

Ami stopped, almost looking upset, but then smiled. "Then let's go, ne?"

Just as Ami said, once we stepped out the front door of Mako-chan's house, she opened a door to another. This time, however, instead of stepping into a house; we stepped out of one. The clouds above us covered the Moon's rays, breaking open and pouring rain down. In front of us was a road, just on the edge of a cliff over looking the ocean. Something sparked in my memory, but I couldn't put my finger on it until we saw headlights coming down the hill. I watched, terror stricken, as the vehicle lost control and drove off the cliff.

I took off running, past the surprised Senshi and down the steps leading to the road. I could hear my friends behind me, calling my name and in front of me the sound of the car hitting the water. I ran faster, fearing I would loose balance and fall, but unable to slow down. "Mamo-chan!" I screamed to the top of my lungs. When I reached the road, I watched as the car bobbed in the water and then began sinking. "MAMO-CHAN!" I heard a noise behind me, and saw a shadow move near a tree. Unthinking of anything else, I ran towards the movement.

Mamo-chan, still in his tuxedo but without the hat and mask, was staring towards the cliff - obviously not even seeing me. The rain had plastered his hair to his forehead and he was soaked. "Mamo-chan!" I called his name, but to no avail. I wrapped my arms around him. My heart broke to see my tall, dashing Price this way. He was never supposed to have such despair in his eyes; never. The blank look in his eyes reminded me so much of when we thought Chibi-Usa was dead that I felt a chill ran over my spine, sending shivers all over my body. I pressed myself as close to him as I could, tightening my arms. "Onegai, Mamo-chan. Answer me! Onegai!"

It seemed to take ages for him to blink. Suddenly I felt his arms come around me, nearly crushing me against him. "Usako..?" he croaked, his voice high pitched with emotion.

"Yes, Mamo-chan, yes," I replied, kissing his ice cold lips over and over again. Tears began falling from his eyes, mixing with the rain. Another car, identical with the first one, came down the road and lost control, going off the cliff just as the previous one had. Mamo-chan watched it and fell to his knees, my body still crushed against him. His tears came harder. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Senshi watching - I shook my head to keep them where they were.

"Shhh," I soothed, running my hands through his hair and kissing away his tears while he held me like a drowning man would cling to a life raft. He finally seemed to come out of his grief, letting his grip on me loosen. The rain continued to fall around us, but I paid it little heed. "Mamo-chan?" I whispered, placing my lips on his forehead.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, his face still buried in my hair. "It keeps happening over and over again... my parents..."

"I know, I know, but this is not real. It's all an illusion. I'm here now. We have to find Shingo and go home to our daughter."

Mamo-chan sat up, bringing my hands to his lips and kissing them. "Usako... you, Chibi-Usa and Shingo-you're all I have. Don't ever leave me." His haunted eyes locked with mine. "Please."

I put my hands on his face and brought him closer to me. "Never. I promise." When our lips meet, I felt the true dept of our love. I wasn't the only one who needed reassurance and comfort. We were in this together, forever. Mamo-chan stood up again, and then helped me up. He glanced once more at the cliff as if doing so would forever suppress the memories of the accident. "Let's go get Shingo back."

We started forward again, but suddenly Mamo-chan stopped. I turned questionably, wondering what caught his attention. I prayed another car wasn't coming down the hill, but I was surprised to see Mamo-chan staring at me with an odd glint in his eyes. "What?"

He caught my hands in his and met my eyes. "Tsukino Usagi, I love you more than anything in the world." It was almost as he started to say something else, but didn't.

I tilted my head and smiled. "I love you too, Mamo-chan."

He smiled back and we continued up the stairs.

In a two story laboratory we found the Outer Senshi. The place was wrecked, the ruins of an explosion that had killed Professor Tome, Hotaru's natural father, still smoking. "As Hotaru's God-Mother, I was given custody since she had no other family. She was barely three when this happened," Michiru explained, her thin arms spread wide. I looked around at the broken glass and busted furniture.

"What about her mother?" I whispered. Hotaru said nothing while we spoke of her life, only sat closer to Haruka's side and stared forward. The Senshi of Sky put one arm around the girl protectively.

"She died giving birth to her," Michiru replied, dropping her eyes and thus ending the conversation.

"If we are all together then it's safe to presume the next stop will lead us to the enemy, right?" Minako asked. No one could agree nor disagree - it was too well known that surprises were plentiful in our line of work.

The next door we went in proved to not be anything any of us recognized. It was a cave, cut out of the side of a mountain. The door we came out of disappeared, leaving with no other option but to follow the tunnel.

At first I thought this would be your typical evil dark tunnel that lead to the person behind it all deal. Was I ever wrong!

After a few hundred yards we came into a room. And not just any room, but an upside down room. There were chairs, tables, even plants - but they were sitting on the ceiling. In the middle of the floor was a ceiling fan, its blades turning slowly.

"This is nuts!" Mars exclaimed, reaching up and pulling a leaf off of one of the plants. Just then the fan stopped and the lights flickered. I moved closer to Mamo-chan. My nerves stayed on edge as we waited to see what would happen next. We didn't have to wait long.

The first thing to fall was the plant Mars had pulled the leaf from. I thought that would be it, but suddenly one of the coffee tables came crashing down. Sailor Mercury dashed out of its path right before it splintered into pieces where she had once stood. One by one, barely a second's pause between, all the furniture fell from the ceiling. Tuxedo Kamen pulled me and Neptune out of the way of the love seat that crashed down while the rest of the Senshi dodged tables, lamps and the like. We ran towards the door, the sound of breaking glass filling our ears.

"Where's Saturn?" Setsuna suddenly cried, her eyes frantically searching the group.

The Solider of Uranus scanned the area, and not finding her adoptive daughter, dashed back in the room before anyone could speak.

Seconds slowed to minutes, the minutes feeling like hours while we each tried to see past the smoke and into the room. The sound of a large object, most likely the sofa, falling greeted our eager ears. "Haruka!" Neptune immediately screamed. "Hotaru!" I watched, hoping, praying; but no one emerged from the room. Mamo-chan wrapped his arms around me, but I couldn't cry, I was too angry at whoever or whatever had done this.

Pluto, like Neptune, refused to move from the doorway. Together they stared into the clearing air for a sign, a cry - anything. The minutes continued to tick by ever so slow. They were dead, I repeated over and over again in my mind. And someone would pay for this. Jupiter placed her hand on Neptune's shoulder, but the older Senshi shook it off. "She'll come out," she whispered in a horse voice, so different than the soft melody her words usually created. "You don't know Haruka like I do, she'll come out."

Just when I had given up all hope, the sound of someone walking through the debris preceded Sailor Uranus coming out of the room, Saturn in her arms. She was covered with dust and piece of broken wood. I knew I had never been so happy to see Haruka's face in my life. She placed Hotaru down and Setsuna swept her up in a hug as Michiru hugged Haruka.

"You Senshi are smarter than I give you credit for," a voice boomed through out the cave, echoing in the distance. "But I doubt you're smart enough to defeat me."

I shook my head. I refused to lower myself and scream the obscenities that were on the tip of my tongue. Time would tell who won this war. Determinedly we walked forward.

After that the youmas came in floods. We fought off group after group of them. The more we found, the stronger they became. Why, we didn't find out until it was almost too late. "They're absorbing the excess energy off our attacks. By using our attacks on them, we are feeding more power into the next group," Mercury explained breathlessly as we fought off more Youma.

A blade from a razor handed Youma flew past my face, the wind off it giving me chills. The longer we fought, the slower all our reflexes became as we tired out. The time between attacks were becoming few and far between. I wiped the sweat from my forehead. "What do we do?"

For the first time since I've known her, the Senshi of Mercury looked unsure about something she said. "I don't know, Sailor Moon. If we don't use our attacks, I don't see us having a fighting chance."

Her words hit me like lead weights. Beyond the fighting Senshi I saw another group of Youma coming towards us. "Mercury, what do you suggest we do? They get any stronger and I'm afraid we don't have a fighting chance anyway."

Mercury looked like she was giving a death sentence when she finally answered me: "Don't use our attacks."

The Outer Senshi didn't look like they would cooperate with our plan at first. Mercury explained to them what she had told me; still they looked unconvinced. "Look, we don't have time to talk out the various permutations on this. Saturn, Pluto - you can use the Glaive and Time Key as weapons. Mars has her mystic wards, Venus has her chain, Uranus her sword - so we're not defenseless. We just can't power up, unless we want them to power up also."

After a few more seconds of silence I didn't think they would agree. Finally, Uranus nodded. "What about Saturn, can she use her silence dome?"

"I don't know," Mercury replied point blank. "Let's not take the chance unless we have to."

While we were talking, the Youma had cornered us against a wall. But they didn't attack. I wondered if they would attack us, or if they were waiting for us to make the first move. When we didn't start attacking them, they looked confused about what to do next. I watched them out of the corner of my eye, an idea coming to me that I prayed would work. "Don't move," I said to the Senshi slowly. I thought Mamo-chan would have a heart attack when I started walking into the crowd of Youma. The different assortment of Youma watched us curiously as we made our way towards the other side of the room. To my delight, they made no movement to stop us.

"They are programmed for self defense only. They don't know what to do when we didn't attack," Mercury was explaining.

I couldn't quite figure out if she was saying this to someone or to herself.

"That was... amazing," Venus exclaimed when we were safely past the Youma. "How did you figure out they wouldn't attack?"

I shrugged. "It was just a hunch."

"They're getting away!" the deep voice from earlier boomed through the room. The Youma looked confused momentarily before running after us again.

"So, oh great leader, what now?" Mars asked, hands on her hips.

I threw her a dirty look and glanced back at the crowd of advancing Youma. "We do what any super hero would do - run!" And with that I took off running, the rest of the Senshi following. Even with the head start I had, Sailor Uranus and Neptune soon passed me. "How can they run so fast?" Tuxedo Kamen mumbled from beside me. I didn't answer him, basically I had no explanation.

Uranus suddenly stopped, Neptune following suit as if she understood what the other was thinking. They pushed the door open, Neptune running inside and Uranus directing us to follow. "Hurry! In here!" We all followed, Uranus shutting the door behind us.

"That was close," Jupiter exclaimed. I turned to her, but what I saw in the room stopped me in my tracks.

The back wall was lit up with torches, casting long dancing lights around the stone walls. The room was bare except for one stone bed. But what finally removed the shock from my body was the person lying on that stone bed against the same wall. "Shingo!"

I started to run to him, but Tuxedo Kamen grabbed my arms. "Wait, Sailor Moon," he commanded firmly. "It could be a trick."

I stopped, though it took all I had in me to do so. "But..." I realized, however, that he was right. Hadn't I fell for this once? I couldn't be so gullible again. "What do we do?"

Mercury stepped up to my other side, her visor over her eyes and computer in hand. "He's the real Shingo," she reported while she continued to scan and type. "But remember, he's had evil fed into him and we don't know how it's changed him," she advised.

Tuxedo Kamen nodded, but they just couldn't understand! That was Shingo! The real Shingo! I pulled my arms free from Mamo-chan and ran, oblivious to the Senshi calling for me to stop, or Mamo-chan chasing after me. I reached my younger brother, pulling him into my arms. "Shingo, baby, answer me!" I called in his ear, rocking him back and forth. His eyes opened, but gone were the beautiful blue eyes so much like mine and our mother's. Instead there was nothing but black, empty depts. As I stared at him, his eyes flashed and I was thrown across the room in the same instant.

For a second I blacked out from the impact. When I came to, Mamo-chan was hovered over me. "Are you alright?" he asked the second I reopened my eyes.

I nodded and stood up with his help. Across the room Shingo was floating in the air. I couldn't believe what I saw, it was worse than anything I could have dreamt up. "That's not Shingo!" I accused Mercury, trying to find somewhere to release my pain and anger built up inside me.

Mercury shook her head, showing me the small screen on her computer that meant nothing to my untrained eyes. "It is him. I warned you, they have fed this evil into him and now it's been... activated, so to speak. Somewhere in that body, is Shingo's soul."

"But... but what do we do?!" I cried. I felt like pulling my hair out. To have found him, at last. And now, this... "But Shingo is still alive, right?" I asked frantically, practically pulling Mercury's arm out of socket.

When her eyes meet mine, what I seen there caused me to let go of her and back up. Sadness, such sadness. Was it for me? I bit my bottom lip. "We'll have to fight him, Sailor Moon."

No, I mouthed. I wanted to speak, to protest, but I couldn't find my voice. I must have shook my head at her, because she reached out her hand and touched mine; her gloved hand felt scalding hot. "Yes, Usagi-chan. We have to fight him. There is no other way."

"I..I can't!" I stuttered, looking up at the little boy floating in the air. Saturn and Pluto were keeping him held back by threatening him with their powers, but he was advancing quickly. I looked to Mercury, and back up to him again. I couldn't. I knew I couldn't use my powers against him.

"Here Princess, Princess, Princess..." he taunted, calling my title over and over again. "It's your turn to die..." he said in a sing song voice.

I backed up, searching for a place to run. But there was no where to run. If I wanted Shingo back, I would have to use my powers against him... or for him. I brightened with the realization. I could heal him! "Mercury!" I gasped, running back over to her. "I can heal him, right? Then we don't have to fight him!"

"Not as he is now," she said, bursting my bubble with her five small words. I felt panic growing larger in my mind. "He's too strong. Just like one of the Youma we have been fighting, we'll have to wear him down and let you try and heal him then."

Sailor Pluto raised her Time Staff, preparing to chant the words that would send a surge of power against Shingo. Unthinking of what I was doing, I ran towards her, grabbing the staff. "NO! Don't!" I cried. Shingo blasted his own energy at me, sending me flying against the wall. Pluto's eyes were sad when she meet my gaze briefly.

"Dead Scream."

"NOO!"

-End Chapter 14.

* - Matte translates to "wait" or "hold on"

I had this chapter done and then my crappy laptop decided to shut down and I had to start all of the edits over again. But here we are at last. The only thing left, which I will post today, is the last chapter and epilogue to this story and then we are on to No Greater Love!

Thank you all so much for reading - I hope you continue to enjoy the story! Thank you for reviewing. What? You haven't reviewed! Go do that! :)

God Bless,
Beth