A/N: Here's where a few more of those cheesy opening lines come in...
Oh, and by the way! Yes, I know I'm late with this one. But power had been out last week, so...I've had to deal with another postponement.
Enjoy!
-BDR
"CHAPTER TWENTY"
"MERCURY BUBBLES...BLAST!" A wide stream of bubbles shot out of Mercury's cupped hands, surrounded the Heartsnatcher and Allen in a thick fog.
"MARS...CELESTRIAL FIRE...SURROUND!" Small sparks of fire came hurtling in that same direction, about to hit the enemy.
Gam only used her arm to shield her face. Not a single mark was made on her icy-blue body.
She stiffened, her heart lurching. "I say we move in now. They might hurt him." Right when she would have moved to jump down, she felt a hand on her wrist. She looked over at her partner, practically demanding for a valid reason not to go now.
"Uranus, there's nothing we can do. I can sense she's stronger than the last time. Our only choice is to wait until the crystal reveals itself. Then we go."
"But if the target's harmed, we won't ever know." Even as she said the words, she began beating herself up. It hurt referring to him as "the target". She liked it—loved it—when he had just been Allen.
Don't think, she told herself. Don't feel.
"Remember. We said that no matter what happens, even if we hurt our friends or ones we hold dear, even if the pain threatened to kill us, we were going to find the talismans."
Sailor Uranus looked at the other Scouts, saw how much they were putting into saving him. And just by looking at him, held captive in those cables, she let her guard down and admitted to Sailor Neptune what couldn't be kept secret anymore, yet also couldn't be let out. "He's...he's different."
"You love him."
Letting out a startled gasp, her eyes shot back to her partner's.
Neptune nodded her head slowly. "I've noticed. It shows, very evident. The way you've been so secretive, then how your eyes turn green when we mention him." She gave Uranus a sad smile. Tightened her grip on her wrist. "I don't blame you for wanting to fight everyone just to keep him alive. I'd do the same in your situation. But now isn't the time to just—"
The familiar cry of one of the other Scouts jolted her back to the reality of the situation. She looked over to see Sailor Venus crashing to the ground. The other Scout left standing was Sailor Moon.
"Let's just use the others as an excuse to jump down there to save the day," Uranus muttered.
She heard Sailor Neptune sigh. "There's no getting through to you, is there?"
Uranus nearly laughed at how those words kept coming back to her. First from Michelle, then Allen, now Neptune... "No," she answered. "I guess not."
COPHCOPHCOPH
The arm was extended again, fist still closed. "Care to watch the show, Sailor brat?" Gam asked with a sinister crooked smile.
The long-haired blonde stiffened in reply. The fight had been long and treacherous, every Scout going down one right after another. Allen didn't blame her for not wanting to move. He'd have run if the question were thrust upon him.
But it wasn't, and he couldn't budge an inch, even to scratch his head. Which was actually perfect timing, by the way...
Gam was about to open up her hand, and this time a fraction more was revealed. Two black points were showing at the bottom of her palm, something that made him stiffen involuntarily. Slowly...slowly...
A large stick flew by like a boomerang, knocked her in the head. Gam growled at the contact, rubbed the back of her head and looked off into the trees. "Who threw that?" she demanded.
"Long time no see," a familiar alto voice called. "You miss me?"
Sailor Moon and Allen looked at where that one voice had come from, saw a flurry of rose petals that had decided to show up out of nowhere. Two women stood on the branch of a tree, back-to-back with lips curved into sly smiles and arms folded over their chests.
"Who are you?" Gam growled out slowly.
The aqua-haired woman was the first to jump down. "I'm Sailor Neptune. Protector of all things pure."
The sandy-haired woman followed, taking three steps ahead of her partner. "I'm Sailor Uranus. And that pure heart belongs to me," she said, pointing a thumb towards her chest.
Gam laughed hysterically. "Belongs to you? Oh, how could I forget little upstarts like you and Miss Moon over here, hmm?"
Sailor Uranus scowled. "Upstarts?" she bit out, her eyes flashing a deep blue.
"Since you came at such an improper time, how about I let you see the main event of my show?"
Allen thought he saw Uranus's jaw clench, her body becoming rigid. Neptune remained calm and detached, casting her partner a glance out of the corner of her eye.
"Reveal your heart to me!"
He turned back to see her hand open all the way, a black star sitting in the middle of her palm. A flash of pain shot through his chest, right where his heart was, and all he could do was cry out.
"Allen!" he heard Sailor Moon shout.
Allen ignored her, struggled to return his gaze to Sailor Uranus as he struggled for breath. Her eyes were hidden from his view, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. Neptune's hand was on her shoulder, her mouth moving into indecipherable words.
His vision blurred right as he looked forward again. A weird star-like crystal was slowly ripping itself out of his chest, and as the pain intensified, he suddenly understood. This was what they were looking for.
He was going to die. He knew this like he knew his own name. Like he knew...everything.
"A...Amara..." he forced out. "I..."
I love you.
The words were barely out before his vision faded and his mind slowly began shutting down.
One last thing, though, echoed through his memory before all went black.
Her hand rested on his chest, a sad smile forming on her lips. "You've got a pure heart. Even purer than mine..."
COPHCOPHCOPH
The agonizing screams hurt her so much that she just had to look away. Watching him suffer...just as he had seen her suffer earlier today... It became heard to block it from her mind, her heart. All she could do was feel both of their pain, barely noticing Neptune's hand on her shoulder.
"Uranus," she murmured.
"It's not supposed to be like this," she whispered in reply. "I shouldn't have let myself go... I should have known..."
"Don't do this to yourself." Her partner's grip tightened. "We're all supposed to make sacrifices. For the sake of the mission."
The mission.
"I told you," she continued, "that day long ago that once you accepted destiny, the desty of being a Sailor Soldier, you could never return to your former life."
And at that time, she didn't care. She was pretty bored with her normal life. Becoming a Sailor Soldier spiced things up a bit. But now...normalcy was all she craved.
Sacrifices. The word made her flinch. I tried to keep you away...but no such luck.
"A...Amara..."
Uranus snapped out of her trance, looked up at Allen again.
"I..." His voice tapered off as his eyes glazed over and he slumped over with a small groan.
Sadness gripped her chest like a vise, squeezing so hard it hurt. But she knew better than to react. Just so they wouldn't see her anger, her attachment. How her heart tore up inside. She didn't even look at Sailor Neptune as she said in a flat, monotonous voice, "Let's get rid of this ting. And see if it's the one."
"Are you okay?" Neptune asked quietly.
"As fine as I should be." Uranus took a brief moment to compose herself, then took a few steps forward. "Let's go."
Sailor Moon glared as they came closer. "What will you do if it's...whatever you're looking for?"
"We're taking it," Uranus replied coldly.
"We have no other choice," Neptune added.
"Even if he dies?"
The pain in her chest intensified, but she managed to keep a straight face and a calm voice. "Even if he dies. That's just how it goes." Don't let that be the case...
The Heartsnatcher laughed mechanically as she snatched the heart crystal. "What a nice piece of work! A bit shinier than all the others. Even the scratches are hardly visible. The boss will sure love this little ornament!"
Uranus clenched her teeth. An ornament?!
One of the fallen Scouts got up and ran towards Gam. "I'll grind you into dust!" shouted Sailor Jupiter. An antennae sprouted from her tiara and she lifted a hand. "JUPITER THUNDER—"
Sailor Uranus quickly grabbed her by the wrist and twisted her arm around. "Think!" she demanded. "You'll shatter it!"
Jupiter glared up at her in her hunched-over state. "Yeah. But it's no different than what you'll be doing. Your actions are ten times worse!"
"Stay out of this!"
The younger Scout fought out of the iron grip she was in. "You should do the thinking! A friend has fallen for this man! If you decide to follow through with this pathetic mission of yours, you'll hurt someone else in the process!"
"That doesn't matter!" Don't think. Don't feel.
Sailor Mars marched up as well. "If you're willing to do that, we'll have to kill you!"
Uranus smirked with more confidence than she felt. "Doubt you'd be able to do that." She turned towards the Heartsnatcher. "Focus your anger on this creep right here. Do your little tricks and save the day."
Sailors Mercury, Venus, and Mini Moon walked up as well. Mercury crossed her arms over her chest and said, "We'll have to work together as a team. If you doubt we'd be able to defeat you in battle, you must be strong enough to fight this monster."
"Sounds like a plan to me," commented Venus.
Uranus exhaled a deep breath, examining the situation closely. "Fine," she finally said. "As long as Neptune and I grab the crystal first."
The others hesitantly nodded their heads.
She looked at Neptune, gave her a small smile. "All right," she said quietly. "Let's rock and roll."