Cosmic Warriors

Disclaimer: All non-original characters in this story are copyrighted to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei, respectively. I also do not own the mythological beings you'll read about throughout the story.

Note: Thank you to Student of History for following, and to ericaphoenix16, avesiji, StaticLove21, DonovanX, BelieveInUs, LoveInTheBattleField, and WeirdRaptor for reviewing.

Chapter Twenty One - Opulence

The soft popping of a fire and its soothing warmth eased Naru out of her deep sleep. Her lids fluttered open and she slowly stretched out. She listened to her sore joints pop and at the height of her stretch, her legs trembled from the pure pleasure of being worked again.

Slipping a thick quilt she had been wrapped up in off her body, she raised up into a sitting position. "Wow..." she breathed. Glancing around the room she was in, she took notice of her plush surroundings.

She had been sleeping on a lush rug that had been rolled out over top a thick carpet, across from her the fire had been contained within a hearth the size of OSA-P's display cases. There were no other sources of light in the room, the fire cast a warm light over the entire den-like room, making the shadows dance.

She stood slowly and took the opportunity to stretch again, vertically now. Dropping the quilt to the side she took notice of her clothes. Her school uniform was gone and she was dressed in a long white t-shirt and ill-fitting sweatpants.

"Whose clothes...?" Naru muttered before yanking on the drawstrings, synching the pants at her waist, making them fit a bit better. They were still too long for her, long enough that they blocked half of her feet from touching the ground as she walked to the exit, a pair of large wooden doors.

In the hallway she glanced to the sides, off to the right was more of the hallway that led to more rooms. On her left was just a small landing strip followed by a small set of stairs that curled around into another set of stairs. Down below she could see doors and windows, she guessed by the amount of sunlight coming through, the doors were her exit.

As she made her way down to the first floor, Naru took the time to notice how beautiful this place was.

Ornately carved wood railings, soft carpet that the carpet at home couldn't hold a candle to. High walls equipped with equally high windows let in gleaming sunlight that reflected off clean white walls and illuminated the entire house, or mansion. Reaching the ground floor Naru's toes tapped against the waxed wood floor.

Her hands ghosted over the golden door handles before pulling it open. The full brunt of the sunlight hit her hard, resulting a dull pain in the back of her mind. "Oww..." She shielded her eyes best she could while still getting a chance to see what was outside.

The house seemed to be situated in the middle of some clearing, a blanket of green grass surrounded the property. In the far distance she could see trees. Memories of the previous night came rushing back. Running, the woods, the trees, the flower. The men in the tent.

She reached a hand out to the glass storm door ahead of her and gripped the handle cautiously.

"Are you leaving so soon?" a voice asked from behind her.

Naru felt her skin tingle and something in the pit of her stomach drop.

She remained still and listened to the sound of footsteps approaching. Her hand trembled on the handle once the steps ceased.

"You can't leave looking like you do, don't you want-"

"AHHH!" Naru whipped around and shoved aside the man behind her. Her effort was in vain through, he was like a brick wall. She instead ended up pushing herself away from him which served her almost just as well. She stumbled into the wall before barreling down the hallway.

Naru glanced from right to left, a hall on each side. She picked left and darted down it as the man called out something from the entrance. Stopping again she spotted a door to the side. Instantly Naru flung it open and then threw herself inside. Slamming it and fiddling to lock the door behind her.

She pressed herself against the door and listened to the soft echo of his footsteps coming closer. Naru pushed off the door and spun around, catching a glimpse of something moving behind her she let out a howl of a scream.

Naru then tried to calm her rapidly beating heart, staring at herself in the mirror of a bathroom. Managing to calm down she took a step closer and noticed she'd been cleaned off.

Although she wasn't sure what she looked like last night, she assumed she had been a mess and that, sometime before or after her clothes had been taken, she was cleaned up.

A rapping on the door startled her. She whipped around and gripped the sink counter's edge to brace herself, half expecting the man to force his way inside.

"What do you want from me?!"

"How about a chance to talk," the voice replied. "I thought we could have breakfast as well."

Naru furrowed her brow, now that fear wasn't overwhelming her she was able to realize the voice was familiar.

"I didn't mean to startle you, Naru."

Puzzled, she scooted to the door, clicking off the lock before she pulled it open. Waiting for her on the other side was none other than Masato Sanjouin.

"Ma – Masato?" Naru asked meekly, swinging the door open fully. Her fear washing away and being replaced with elation, mixed with confusion.

He regarded her with a charming smile that made Naru melt. "Hello there." He stepped off to the left, gesturing in that direction and Naru followed.

The small hall opened into a kitchen with a joined dining room. Entering the kitchen they were behind a row of granite covered counters. Several items were covering them in mild clutter, but the good kind, the kind of clutter Naru had seen on cooking shows. Where the chef makes it look like their kitchen is a mess with so many things lying around, but nothing is ever in the way and they find everything easily.

Masato led her out around the counters and into a wide open room surrounded by floor to ceiling windows that gave her a view of the clearing again. Situated in the middle of the room was a long wooden dining table with numerous chairs on its sides.

Her eyes drifted to a seat at the far end, a newspaper and a plate had already been placed there.

"Have a seat." Masato offered as he pulled out a chair, the one directly to the left of the seat with breakfast already served.

"Thank you, Masato..." Naru eased down into the chair and smiled as he took his seat beside her.

He smiled back before snapping his fingers. From the adjoining room came two women, both dressed alike in tailored black slacks, white shirts, and black vests. The first had blonde hair while the other had dark locks, both women kept their hair up in tight buns.

"Bring our guest breakfast." Masato commanded and the two women nodded before heading behind the counters.

Naru watched them maneuver around one another as they began preparing a meal for her. After several minutes they returned to the table and set down one plate and a cup. Naru was ready to dig in but the women continued to make trips back and forth, bringing with them more plates, drinks, pitchers, and silverware.

When they were done Naru was sitting in front of a buffet for a family of ten with at least four kinds of forks and spoons. A variety of drinks from ice water to a green sweet smelling juice had been placed in front of her as well. Masato smirked at her while he watched the girl survey the food before finally digging in.

Naru enjoyed food she would never have thought to ask her mom to make for her. She scarfed down two omelets, along with a small grilled fish she rolled together with rice and a bit of dry seaweed, all of which she dipped in soy sauce. She downed a few bowls of piping hot soup and alternated between gulping down water and the mystery juice that sent her tastebuds in frenzy.

"Oh... I'm so full." Naru slid her fork onto her plate and looked over the rest of the food that she hadn't touched. She was beginning to regret making the waist of her temporary sweats so tight.

Masato folded the newspaper he was reading over itself before handing it to one of the women who disappeared with it a moment later. "Did you enjoy your meal?"

Naru smiled weakly, trying to avoid eye contact and sat up her in her seat. "Yes, thank you, it was really tasty." Naru rubbed her feet together and nibbled on her lip, she had a question that was begging to be asked. "Masato."

"I found you, several yards deep into the woods." Masato answered before Naru could even get another word in. He turned his gaze to his drink, stirring the dark liquid with a small spoon. "I was out for a walk and heard some strange sounds. I assumed it was some kids, but I found you instead."

His charming smile and welcoming eyes were turned back to Naru. The girl felt heat rush to her face and a smile of her own spreading. "Thank you, for finding me and bringing me to your beautiful home..."

"Not a problem, I certainly couldn't leave you out there." he responded, furrowing his brow. "The girls cleaned you up last night, you were covered in mud. Your clothes were also cleaned, they're waiting for you upstairs."

"Oh, thank you."

"I have question of my own to ask you Naru."

"Yeah?" she responded, leaning against the table, closer to him.

"What the hell were you doing in the woods?" He demanded. "When I found you, you were frantically running and you screamed... You made me believe you were being chased."

"I was!" she shouted, wanting to defend her actions. "By two men! One was wearing a grey suit and had long strawberry blonde hair! And the other, he had long white hair and wore all black! Masato, this probably sounds crazy, but the white haired guy, I watched him eat someone's heart!"

Masato narrowed his eyes at Naru before easing back in his seat. Her words resonated within him. "Well, if you don't want to tell me what you were really doing then that's fine. I suppose I'll respect your wishes."

"But, I'm telling you the truth! I know it sounds stupid, but there are weird things happen in Tokyo!"

Masato nodded before rising and walking along the wall of windows. "As much as I've enjoyed your company Naru, I do think it's time you headed home. Your parents must be worried sick about you."

Naru frowned, if only that was the case. "My mom is out of town on a business trip, so I'm staying at home by myself..."

Masato turned to glance at her before nodding to himself. "Then would you like a ride to school?"

"SCHOOL?!" Naru screeched and scanned the walls, searching for a clock. "I totally forgot!"

"It's just after seven, plenty of time for you to get ready and make it to school in time."

Naru gave up her search and smiled softly to Masato who was turned from her again. "Thank you, again, Masato..."

After school that day the Warriors headed to headquarters where they were put through their typical workout regimen. They each were dressed in cotton copy of their Warrior suits with bands of weights strapped around their wrists and ankles. Usagi collapsed in the hallway to the training room from the weight, begging Makoto to carry her as she often did.

The padded training room was mostly empty, mostly agents sparring in the far corners which left the girls plenty of room to work. After upping the number of weights since their last training session Desi and Gesi gave the girls time to get accustomed to the change, spending about twenty minutes limbering up. The girls chatted about their day while helping each other down into side splits.

They used sparring poles for balance across their shoulders as they twisted and turned, kneeled, squatted, and lunged. With some help from the twins the girls moved onto handstands, walking in wide circles by themselves before walking around one another. They finished that with forward and backward bends, moving onto flips with the twins guiding their bodies.

After working their muscles the girls split to work individually. Makoto worked on strength training, hefting large medicine balls across the room to one of the twins. After that she'd move onto the punching bag before having one of the agents grab a guard so she could practice with a moving target.

Minako's work focused mostly on speed, accuracy, and strength. Suicides across the room, wall-climbing, more running, flips, timed weapon draw time, followed by more running. She used a large disc, roughly the weight of her own and practiced hurling it across the room and how fast she could drop into a defensive position.

Usagi's routine focused on strength training, swinging her lance in specific patterns a certain amount of time, slicing through objects of increasing density and deflecting attacks of increasing strength. She often moved her training into the tiled room to practice her aim on Spores.

While the girls trained several Protectors gathered in the hallway, discussing news Ilargi had come across recently.

"A princess?" Kalla asked.

Ilarg nodded, she could practically see the skepticism on his face. "From Wales, and she's coming here."

"Do they just give anyone the title of princess now?" Kalla asked, looking around the others in the hall for backup. "I mean, our Princess – she was something else."

Luna scowled and slapped him in the chest. "I won't let you talk about her while I'm standing right beside you!"

"I'm just saying! What makes her so special?"

"She's bringing with her an ancient diamond." Ilargi answered. "Iah picked up a transmission between two Welsh flight companies, the diamond is pretty valuable. It holds the record for the most theft attempts of any possession in the world."

"Artemis already found the Crystal, or pieces of it, why do we care what the Welsh brat has?" Kalla said dryly.

"What if I told you that Welsh brat could be our Princess?" Ilargi responded smugly.

"I'd tell you to show me proof."

The redhead sighed, blowing up a stand up her hair. "I wish I had some. All we have is speculation so far, the diamond is valuable and highly sought after. Several of the attempts reported supernatural activity which leads me to believe more than a just your average thieves have been after it." Ilargi paused, noting the doubtful looks surrounding her. "I mean if you have better suggestions I'd love to hear them. We've gotten nowhere in the search for her, and this is the first promising lead. At the very least we should be there."

"When is she coming?" Losna asked.

"The 27th."

"That's not even two weeks away." Luna said. "Is it really worth dropping our duties to formulate a plan for her arrival? How would we even get close to her?"

"She's coming here to display the diamond in an art gallery that evening." Ilargi smirked in Kalla's direction. "She'll need heavy security of course, and someone who controls the SAT and has an in with the Superintendent of police shouldn't have a problem getting a team of guards into the event."

Kalla slowly shook his head. "Sakurada is getting fed up with me, I don't know how many more favors I can get out of her."

"I'm sure you can convince her to let you handle this one." Ilargi responded off-handedly. "You're a good looking man with a sharp tongue, getting another favor out of her shouldn't be a problem."

Kalla smiled wickedly. "Heh, well I do have a way with women."

"Good to know." Ilargi responded, uninterested. "Once we're inside the gallery the fragments of the Crystal will react if she's the real deal."

"Are you sure?" asked Losna.

"Well, no. But they should," Ilargi offered in a hopeful tone. "but there's more, Iah had a brilliant idea."

Luna folded her arms, mulling everything over. "Listening."

"We can lure in the Dark Kingdom with this princess."

"You're going to use our Princess as bait?" Kalla snapped.

"She might not even be real, relax."

"But if she is?"

"It's even better. In order to get them to the event we have to send out transmissions for them to pickup. At the mention of a princess and an ancient crystal being in the same place Beryl and her dogs will be drooling over the chance to be there. Since the diamond is a fake it's less for us to worry about and if the girl isn't our Princess then we still have the Dark Kingdom. This could be our chance to strike first."

"She's right." Losna nodded in agreement. "It sounds like a good plan."

"It sounds risky to me." Luna added. "No doubt there will be some important people there, I'd bet the Prime Minister or the Emperor shows up, what if things get out of hand if the Dark Kingdom realizes the diamond or the girl are a fake?"

"That's why we have to be on our A-game, and why Kalla needs total control over the security detail for that event. With the police and the SAT, along with us and the Warriors. There's no way we can lose."

"It actually does sound like a good plan." Makoto said, stepping out from the doorway.

"Were you eavesdropping? You're as bad as – Usagi." Luna said, watching the blond walk out behind Makoto, followed by Minako.

"So this princess, could she really be who we've been looking for?" Minako asked, folding her arms behind her head.

"It's about as good a bet as any at this point." Ilargi answered. "The way I see it, we can't afford not to check this out. If she is real and they get their hands on her she's dead on the spot."

Kalla nodded, determination coming over his features. "She's right, our struggle with them has really been one sided so far. We need the Princess, she can change the tide of this in our favor."

"Is she really that great?" Usagi asked as she popped the cap off a water bottle and chugged half of it.

"The Princess was still in training to become Queen someday when it all happened, so her powers weren't fully evolved yet, but still her awakening is enough to shatter the Dark Kingdom's foundation." Luna said sternly.

"And with the power of the Crystal she'll be even stronger." Losna added.

"If the Princess really does have the Silver Crystal, it'll be a lucky break for us, huh?" Usagi asked.

The Protectors nodded in agreement.

"You girls should get back to training." Luna offered.

"Aww... But our break just started." Usagi groaned.

Makoto smiled before ushering her back into the room.

"You know what they say, it's better to have had love and lose it, than to never be loved."

"That's not how they phrase goes honey." Ilargi reminded as the girls headed back inside. "Luna, when are you going to tell them about the Crystal?"

The woman shrugged in return. "Mani said it would be best for us to wait until we had the Princess."

"Well, if all goes our way on the 27th, that problem should be solved." Kalla said.

Ilargi bit down onto her lip. "I don't like lying to those girls, or keeping secrets."

"I'm beat!" Rui shouted to herself in the changing room at the tennis club. She tossed her racket aside and began to work the muscles in her shoulder. "Only bad part of it getting colder is now we're all stuffed in that buildings stuffy room. I'd much rather be outside..."

"Yeah it's terrible..." Tensuni said impatiently from the doorway. She watched the girl carefully, she was sure she'd seen her energy reach its peak several times today, only to drop down into a normal range a moment later.

"I'm glad I have you around Ten, you keep me motivated." Rui said back to her with a smile. "I'm going to be so ready for that tournament at the end of the month!"

Tensuni's eyes opened seeing Rui take a step and nearly collapse into the lockers. "You alright?" she asked and she moved over to help her.

"I'm fine!" Rui snapped, batting away her hand. "I don't need your help!" she paused, pressing herself against the locker, giving into the feeling of weakness for just a moment, long enough to gather her strength again.

"Tsk. I'm stuck babysitting this temperamental girl..." Tensuni looked at her racket and imaging bashing Rui over the head with it and using it to strangle her. "That would certainly speed this job up..."

"Why are you talking to yourself...?" Rui mumbled as she managed to stand.

Tensuni dropped the racket, knowing how furious Nephrite would be at her. "No reason."

Several hours later a woman parked a delivery truck on the street. "We're here." she said in a rough English accent as she switched off the engine.

A man in the passenger seat clutched a black two-way radio in his meaty paw and clicked the button off, waiting for a response.

"Okay, we're all set back here." a man replied over the radio,

"Get the back open Bruce." she said to the man sitting beside her. She tossed Bruce the keys, which he clumsily dropped on the floor.

"Yes ma'am, Thetis." Bruce was a man in his late forties. Smart as a sack of rocks, but strong like a bull and suitable for this line of work.

Thetis hopped down from the truck they had taken and made her way to the back, mentally cursing herself for volunteering for this job. "Tsk. Beryl said this was an important job, a crucial step in the right direction... All its been so far is a babysitting job for these Americans..."

Once Bruce had the back unlocked he threw the sliding door up, revealing three more men all waiting inside. At the sign of Thetis' nod they hopped out from the back and shuffled across the street, heading into jewelery store on the other side.

"How is everything looking up there Martin?" Thetis asked into a small earpiece, her eyes darted across the street and up a few floors to a rooftop. If Martin wanted to live through the night he had better have been keeping a close eye on the street for anything suspicious. "Take out any cop cars you see, the last thing I need tonight are the pigs around." she said as the radio clipped to Bruce's waist cracked to life.

"We got the stuff Thetis, we're comin' out." one of the men replied.

As she watched Bruce make room in the truck back the men had emerged from the store, clutching several duffels between them.

"We got 'em Thetis!" One of them shouted. "We got the diamonds!"

"Great, now keep your voice down and load them into the truck." she replied and stepped aside so they could load their stolen gems. "Excellent." Thetis said. mainly to herself as she watched the men dash back across the street and into the building.

This started a series of several trips back and forth to the truck and the building, each time returning with more bags.

"The Crystal has to be in one of these bags..." Thetis said, groping one of the bags to make sure they really had been filling them full. "These gems were supposed to have been shipped from locations all over the world."

"We're ready ready to go." Bruce said and nodded towards the truck before he walked back to the passenger side.

Thetis nodded before tapping her earpiece. "Martin, everything still look okay? We're getting ready to move out."

Silence.

"Martin! Don't make me call for you again!" Thetis roared, on the other end of the receiver she heard a low groan before someone answered.

"Martin's a little, tied up." a man replied. He snatched a pair of binoculars off Martin's unconscious body and found the woman on the street below glaring up at him.

Standing on the edge of the rooftop Tuxedo Mask waved down to Thetis before he was joined by Sailor V.

"I'm guessing those are the jewel thieves." she said smugly, taking the binoculars from Mask.

The man sighed before pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm the only one allowed to steal jewels in this town. They're going to ruin my streak."

"Well then, let's go stop them." V replied before uncoiling Martin from one of her whips and taking hold of Mask's arm.

The masked man smiled before leaping off the building, switching into his glider mode to slow their decent before they landed on the nearly empty street below.

Thetis narrowed her eyes at the duo before her. "Two freaks playing dress up, run home before you get yourself hurt."

"The only one getting messed up tonight is you!" V announced, aiming a gloved finger at her.

"Boys!" Thetis shouted and from the front of the truck came Bruce and the other three men, each wielding a weapon capable of bludgeoning someone to death. "Kill them both."

As the three men charged in for an attack the two old friends mimicked them. Mask swooped to the right while V took left, flanking the trio. From within his jacket Mask brandished his staff, extending it instantly and cracking it down on the back of the man closest to him.

V did a quick sweeping kick, knocking one of their legs out from under them. The man she assaulted fell hard, his chin slamming on to the street in the process.

Bruce growled before charging V, the nimble heroine had no problems avoiding him though. Pressing down onto his shoulders she did a quick flip over and rushed to Mask. The thief waited with his staff held out flat for her. V jumped onto the shaft before Mask hurled her into the air.

V tucked her limbs in, spinning around in the air before she extended her leg, bringing it down onto the top of Bruce's head. The man veered forward with a howl before he too collapsed.

"Too easy!" V cheered as she watched Mask drag one of the men over to his partner. "I got this one." she said and snatched up the collar of Bruce's jacket. "C'mon big boy!"

"Hah!" Bruce cackled as he broke away from V and shuffled behind her, his thick arm snaking around her neck and a small knife appearing from his pocket. "Make a move Mask boy and the girl dies!"

Mask snorted before throwing his hands up. "Easy fella, no need for anyone to get hurt... More than they already have."

As Mask took a small step forward Bruce forced the knife against V's neck and took a step back towards the truck. Thetis was inside now and had started up the engine. With a quick glance behind him Bruce maneuvered his way into the truck back, tugging V with him.

"You're making a mistake." V warned as she tried to force herself of his grasp, testing his strength more than anything else.

Bruce snorted into her ear before banging his fist on the truck wall, a signal for Thetis to go. The engine roared to life before it tore off from the spot. "Been nice knowin' ya!" Bruce shouted before he released V and shoved her off the back.

Mask dashed forward and caught V. Setting her down he glanced around the street. "We need to follow them." At the end of the street his eyes spotted a parked squad car and police officer motorcycle. "Got our ride!"

"This will do nicely..." Mask said as he ran to the abandoned police motorcycle. "You ready V?"

"Hold on!" she shouted as she dashed up to the parked squad car. "Oh, hello." V said sweetly as she glanced into the backseat. "Score!"

"Stealing an officer's bike..." Mask said as he watched the girl bust into the window and emerge with a rifle and two pistols. "And now their guns. If we get caught we're in for a world of trouble."

"I'm too cute for prison." V said as she stuffed one of the pistols into his jacket pocket, the other went into the hidden fold of her bow. She then positioned herself on the back of the bike, the rifle between them as he wrapped her arms around his waist. "Let's go."

Mask nodded before revving the bike and taking off down the street. The duo swerved between cars to avoid getting stuck as they tailed the black truck that was driving carelessly through the streets.

"I bet they're heading towards the docks!" V shouted over the sound of the rushing wind. "I'm pretty sure I heard one of them mention a boat!"

"Do you know how to get there?" Mask asked as he made a sharp left turn. The truck had done the same only a minute before and managed to smash into a small green bug.

"Yeah, but we'll never catch up to them like this, this bike is shit." V huffed and turned her head to the right. "Shortcut, I know a shortcut! Turn left here."

"On it." Mask said and made another sharp turn, sending the bike flying across an intersection before speeding down a small residential two-lane street.

"Then right."

"On it."

"Cut them off." A pointed finger gestured to a red sports car that was pulling out of a garage.

"You sure?" he asked skeptically, though he began to speed up.

"Yup..." V hummed before finally tightening her hold on him.

Mask sped up and their bike flew down the street, causing the red car to slam on the brakes immediately.

"Alright, now cut through their yard!" V pointed to a house with a wide front yard.

"Alright." Mask turned the handles to the left as the bike jumped the curb and tore through the grass. The car fishtailed as he maneuvered to avoid hitting the house itself and ended up in the backyard. "V! Get my staff, we'll need to bust through the fence!"

V nodded and snaked her hands around to get the weapon, her hands grasping something of similar shape.

"Gah!" Mask went bug eyed. "That's not the staff!"

V jerked her hand back, embarrassed, before she poked around in her bow, pulling forth her compact. "Crescent Shot!" she shouted and a blinding beam broke through the fence, blasting an opening for them in it. After passing through two more yards they hopped another curb and ended back up on the street.

"There they are!" V pointed to the black truck far ahead of them that was driving just as recklessly. "I'll try and stop them." V said and picked up the rifle, clicking the safety off and aiming over Mask's shoulder.

"Shit." Mask looked to the side, the rifle by his ear. "It's going to be too loud!"

"That's the least of our problems." V said hearing a familiar sound coming from behind. Police sirens.

V slid the rifle back down between them and fetched the pistol. "Keep the bike as steady as you can." V said as she wrapped her legs around Mask's waist and laid back on the bike and took aim at the car.

Mask let out a loud click from his mouth that signaled V as he took the bike for a sharp left turn, V allowed herself to slide off the bike to the right. As the bike made its turn she swung herself up and off to the left, firing several shots in the process. Each of the bullets spun from the barrels and whizzed around the street corner were they lodged themselves in the hood of the police car that was ready to turn.

V fired off a few more shots, these all meeting with car tires of citizen's cars that caused them to swerve into the middle of the street and block traffic. V curled her body and sat up, unlatching her legs before she held onto Mask again. "Hopefully that keeps them off our tail for a while."

"Think you can take care of the truck without using the rifle?" Mask asked, digging the other pistol out from his jacket and holding it back to her.

"Got it..." she responded as she took the gun and checked the clip on the other pistol. She then leaned to the side, holding onto Mask for support as she fired a few bullets at the truck ahead, successfully ricocheting several bullets off the road under the car and piercing the bottom of the vehicle.

"Thetis they got us!" Bruce hollered out when the bullets flew up through the floor of the car near his feet.

"I can see that!" Thetis snapped tugged on the wheel, sending the car left instantly and out of V's line of fire. "Bruce take the wheel!"

The beefy man grabbed hold of the wheel and watched the road as Thetis slid out the window and took a shotgun from under her seat with her.

Once the bike following them was in sight she took aim at its tires, but before she could shoot a bullet went flying past her head. Her eyes opened wide to find V leaning out over the bike, a gun aimed at her.

"Don't even think about it!" V shouted above the sound of honking cars and Thetis cursed under her breath.

"The diamonds are ours!" Thetis clenched her gun before a blue light swam over it, changing the mechanics of the weapon, now resembling a machine gun. Pulling on the trigger she sprayed the road with bullets, one managing to pierce the back tire of the bike. The tire broke open and the bike began to fishtail before colliding with a car next to it and turning sideways.

"Mask!" V cried seeing a new squad car fast approaching from behind.

"Shit!"

Mask's bike was struggling to go anywhere when the squad car hit. Mask and V were thrown into the air and through the chaos Mask whipped out his cane, extending it and propelling himself into the air. His arm wrapped around a flailing Sailor V and the two soared over the city as Mask's cape switched into its glider form.

"We could have died!" V shouted, her eyes locked onto the pile up of cars that was happening below. Their stolen bike had been trampled down and wasn't far off from catching fire.

"Can your compact fire again?" Mask asked as he maneuvered through the skies, flying just behind the speeding truck.

V hummed and dug the weapon out. "Maybe, but it won't be that powerful."

"We just need to stop the truck, or at least make it hard for them to reach the dock." Mask responded.

V nodded and aimed the compact out at the truck below, the inside of it glowing dimly before it shot out a slender white beam. "Crescent Shot!"

The truck swerved to the right and avoided the beam that crashed into the street, blowing up chunks of the road.

"Dammit!" V shook the compact but could see the natural glow it had was dying down. "That's was the last one, it needs to recharge."

"Take my staff. There are darts in the bottom, fire at them." Mask offered.

"No good, we're already at the docks!" V shouted and pointed ahead of them, the truck was speeding towards a tall chain link fence that surrounding the shipping yard, just beyond that were rows of docked boats and a body of water.

"You'll have to stop them when they switch into their boat then!" Mask shouted as they dove down, following after the truck through the now broken fence. "I'll stay above and assist."

V kicked her legs in a running motion as they approached the ground, once her feet were on solid ground Mask released her and she took off sprinting across the property. Mask shot into the sky again and watched below as V ran up to the parked truck.

She leapt back as the door flew open and Thetis began firing at her. Backflipping away she rounded to the back of the truck and scrambled onto the roof. "C'mon baby, one more shot." she pleaded to her compact as she aimed. To her surprise the compact fired and blasted a hole big enough for her to slip through. Stashing away the compact she eased down into the back of the truck, landing on the pile of duffels.

Bruce jerked around and cocked his pistol at her but was blinded a moment later as the girl erupted in a flash of light.

Warrior Venus emerged from that light, disc halves fixed to her wrists and chain at the ready as she lunged for Bruce. She quickly wrapped the chain around his neck, strangling him. Frantically Bruce grasped at the door, managing to open it and send himself and Venus tumbling out.

Venus coughed hard upon impact and slammed her feet into his back, pulling on the chain tighter before Thetis came around the back.

With her gun at the ready another wave of blue swam over it, changing the weapon into a shotgun. Venus rolled onto her knees, bringing Bruce with her. Thetis wasted no time in firing, with a quick pull on the trigger she riddled Bruce's thick body with bullets.

Venus dropped her wasted human shield and the chains changed form, no longer simple metal ones, but now their razor sharp versions. Thetis hurled her gun in Venus' direction, using it as a distraction as she charged the Warrior.

As Venus deflected the weapon she was unprepared for Thetis to attack her directly. The woman backhanded her before hurling her off to the side. Venus rolled away and listened to Thetis stomp around inside the truck.

"Nice knowing ya Warrior brat!" Thetis called out as she rushed towards the dock, several duffels in her hands which she tossed into a motorboat she had waiting there. Hopping into it she started the engine and pulled away from the other boats slowly.

"You're not getting away!" Venus rasped before darted across the pavement and fired out her chain spire to the boat, the metal point piercing the back and hooking her too it. Venus was then yanked off as the platform as the boat sped away. She quickly dropped one of her disc halves and stepped onto it, using it as a ski of sorts.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you?" Thetis shouted. "Well we're on my turf now!" Thetis did a quick series of hand signs before spraying a thin jet of water out towards Venus.

The Warrior leaned to the side to avoid it and all the others that were fired at her. "Damn, I can't attack like this!"

Thetis made another series of signs before twin whirlpools rose from the water. In the sky above Mask swerved around them before diving down towards the boat.

"I don't think so!" Thetis cackled before spitting out several jets of water, most of which managed to pierce Mask's glider. Withal he landed in the boat and pinned Thetis down by slamming an arm onto her throat.

"You won't mind if I take these off your hands will you?" he said as he snatched up the duffels she managed to bring before propelling himself into the air.

"Get back here!" she shouted, the whirlpools around them moving wilder now.

As she watched Mask fly off with the bags Venus detached herself from the boat, sinking under the water soon after. "Looks like I'm ending this." She attached her disc halves together before hurling it into the sky. "Venus' Raining Shot of Love!"

Savage streaks of orange energy ripped out of the sky and into the water, tearing apart Thetis' boat. Thetis's scream could be heard all the way to the shore as she sunk under the water with the chunks of her boat.

After a minute of wading in the water Venus spotted Mask flying overheard. The thief swooped down and gathered her up from the water, flying low back to the dock. Once they relocated to the roof where he stashed the jewels they waited patiently for the police to arrive.

While Mask examined the diamonds they managed to retrieve Venus watched the lake water and the police boats that were zooming across its surface. Several headed in towards where the boat chunks were floating, others searching the surrounding water for Thetis.

"See anything you like?" Venus asked as she nudged Mask, almost causing him to drop the duffel. "You know if you want to take a few for yourself, I wouldn't tell." she teased.

"Funny as always, Venus." Mask said before zipping up the bag and dumping it into her lap. "But there's nothing in there worth keeping."

"Since when are diamonds not worth anything?" Venus replied with thought.

"It's not there..." Mask muttered, his eyes cast on the moon's reflection.

Venus raised her brows in curiosity. "Looking for something in particular?"

Mask shook his head before he rose to his feet. "Make sure the gems get back into the right hands, I'll see you around."

"Yeah." The heroine nodded to him before he leapt off the roof, reappearing a moment later as the wind carried his glider upwards.

End of Chapter Twenty One

Next, Nephrite comes up with a way to find the identities of the Warriors and his plan to drain energy from a young girl begins. When the Warriors are faced with a catch 22, both choices resulting in the loss of a child, Luna makes an unexpected move that proves beneficial to them, what is this power she holds? Find out next time.
Chapter Twenty Two - Of Crystals and Dolls