Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or her characters, and have no right to it except as a long time fan.
Unexpected Arrivals
Chapter Two: A New Enemy
Artemis' eyes widened in return, just as shocked and surprised as the feline in front of him.
"Representative Aurora!" He said, his tone conveying his shock; finally recognizing her from her eyes and voice, which was a mature yet soft feminine tone that made his ears twitch nicely.
"What, what are you…what?!" He said, stuttering to get his words out in some semblance of sense in his shock at seeing her. The last time he had seen her was in the past when she had visited the Moon to check in with him and Luna for the King and Queen of their home planet.
"Artemis?!" The newly identified Aurora said, still shocked. "I…I mean Ambassador Artemis! What, how?!" She said as she scrambled to sit up from her reclined position.
"I…" She began as she looked around, but stopped short as she spotted that they weren't alone.
Serena and Darien hadn't moved an inch from their positions. Serena still sat on Darien's lap with her head resting on his shoulder, and Darien had his left arm resting across her lap and the fingers of his right hand running through her hair. They had watched the entire scene in silence to learn as much as possible.
"You are a very long way from home." Serena told Aurora quietly.
Darien hummed in agreement since it didn't take much to understand what was happening. This Aurora shouldn't know Artemis and vic versa if she was from the present time, and she wouldn't be shocked if she was from the future, so that left only one option.
Artemis blinked rapidly as he looked from his princess to Aurora and back again as he understood what she meant as his mind moved pass his shock.
"Oh no." He said sadly as he wondered if she realized yet what had happened to her. He thought not likely.
Aurora's eyes looked around rapidly, taking in everyone and everything within her sight.
"Who are you? Where am I?" She asked as she looked at the couple.
Artemis hummed quietly and looked over to the couple, and Serena shifted her eyes to him and nodded. He took that to mean he should handle this situation; at least to start with.
"We will get to that," He said calmly. "but first can you tell me the last thing you remember before waking up? I would like to know what exactly happened to bring you here."
Aurora nodded slowly as she looked at him and to the silent couple then back to him.
"I was making the rounds of the planets in the solar system to check in with the permanent ambassador pairs." She began. "My last stop was the Moon where I spoke to you and Luna to make sure all was well and you were not having any issues. I saw that everything was indeed fine, so I left after the visit was over to head back home to Mau."
"Halfway there I was knocked off course by a strange shockwave that somehow felt like death, and after tumbling and rolling out of control I got sucked into a hole. At the time I was not sure if it was a wormhole or a black hole, but after I came out the other side I had enough sense left to realize it had been a wormhole." She explained.
"Before I could even try to get a grip on what had happened to me I got caught in the pull of some kind of green organism and could not get free. It was a long time before I came to the realization that I was being pulled unwillingly toward the Earth." She continued.
"Not long after that I was pulled into the planet's atmosphere, and that was the last thing I remember before waking up here." She finished.
The three listeners felt surprised and saddened at what Aurora had gone through on her unexpected journey, but only two of them had an inkling of what had caused her to go off course in the first place.
The shockwave that felt like death was a major clue. Only one person was capable of that, and if they were right then she had been on her way home when the Earth soldiers, Beryl, and Metaria had attacked the Moon and set the course for all of their deaths.
"Thank you for explaining." Artemis said before sighing. "As for your earlier questions; you are indeed on the Earth, but I believe the wormhole you traveled through brought you to the future. As for the couple over there they are the reincarnations of the heirs to the Earth and Moon. Princess Serenity and Prince Endymion; currently known as Serena and Darien."
Aurora's eyes widened in shock as she stared at Artemis then she turned her head and looked at the relaxed couple.
She had never met the prince of the Earth since there had been no ambassadors on that planet. They had been in the process of working on trying to establish the needed connection to recommend placing them there, but this young man looked as she had heard him described.
And she of course had seen the princess of the Moon many times. Had in fact seen her just before she had visited with Artemis and Luna. This young woman did look like her. The same facial features, the same color of her eyes, the extremely long hair. The only difference was the hair color and her age since she looked younger.
"I am in the future." She said slowly.
"Yes." Artemis said as he nodded. "It appears that you are."
Serena sighed and sat up as she lifted her head.
"As far as we know there is no life on any planet in the solar system aside from the Earth. All of us were reincarnated here on the Earth as far as I can tell." She informed her.
"All." Aurora said quietly.
"All." Serena confirmed. "All of my Guardian Scouts have been reincarnated and have once again taken up their guardian role. All of my prince's Guardian Generals have also been reincarnated and have once again taken up their former roles. As you can see Artemis is here, and Luna too has been reincarnated."
There was no need at the moment to inform her of Luna's changed status.
Darien looked over at his wall clock and nearly grimaced at the time.
"Alright!" He said. "It is beyond late and we have places to be in a few short hours and things to do. Plus, I'm sure Aurora needs some time to adjust to what she has just learned."
"I would be happy if you would stay with me since Artemis too is staying here." He told Aurora.
Serena nodded and was grateful for his offer, because she didn't want her meeting the altered Luna if she didn't have to.
"Thank you for the offer." Aurora said gratefully as she nodded.
"Then it's settled." Darien said before he looked to his girlfriend. "Alright love, up you go. It's time for you to head home, so you can get back to sleep. I would love for you to stay, but the last thing we need is to have trouble sleeping in the coming weeks with what we're likely to be dealing with."
Serena sighed reluctantly as she got up. She knew he was right, but she still wanted to sleep in his bed with his arms around her.
"Okay, but I'm going to find a way to get some sleep in your arms soon. I don't care about having to deal with restless and sleepless nights afterward." She said.
"Good luck." He said as he wrapped his arms around her in a hug before he kissed her. Serena hummed into his mouth as she wrapped her arms around his neck in return.
"I'll see you tomorrow…or rather later today." She said as they broke the kiss.
"Yes." Darien said as they released each other, and she nodded as she stepped back then looked over to Artemis and Aurora.
"I'm sorry for what happened to you Aurora." Serena said to the purple feline. "We'll speak more later after we're all rested."
Aurora nodded as did Artemis.
"Goodnight you two." She said.
"Goodnight." Artemis and Aurora replied.
"Goodnight my love." Serena said as she looked to her prince.
"Sleep well love." He said in return.
She smiled and tapped into her power and focused on her bedroom before she disappeared in a brief flash of white light.
~~uUuUu~~
Serena yawned as she made her way to school holding her school bag in one hand and her duffel bag slung over her shoulder as she held the strap with her other hand.
She was so tired from the little amount of sleep she had, and thought she should have stayed with Darien. Her sleep would have been so much better. Sure she might have had trouble if she couldn't get back to him to sleep in his arms again, but she thought it would have been worth it to be more rested today.
Could I sneak to his apartment nightly? She wondered. She imagined going to bed and around midnight teleporting over to his place and slipping into his bed. They got up at the same time, so she could go back to her own bedroom after the alarm went off.
Both of us would sleep well and avoid the issue of restless sleepless nights. She considered and then sighed. Until something happens like one of my parents finding out somehow. Maybe some emergency at home, and they go to my room to get me and find me gone.
It's still a good idea and it might work; maybe not on a nightly bases but every other night or so. She considered thoughtfully.
Either way Serena thought she definitely needed some sleep tonight or her whole sleep schedule for the week would be off. Then again if they were dealing with a new enemy she was likely to have sleepless nights anyway.
Aside from that she had spent a lot of time thinking about Aurora while she was trying to fall asleep. It was still surprising that the feline was there, and had arrived in their time at this specific point in time; when they highly likely had a new enemy to deal with.
Of course now that she was on her way to school where she would be seeing Amy and Lita she decided not to mention Aurora to them unless they mentioned the incident surrounding her arrival. She and Darien needed to try and send her back home, and she had an idea of how exactly to do that.
In the meantime she thought nothing really needed to be said until they knew one way or the other if she was stuck in the present time or not.
She reached her school campus a few minutes after finishing her last troubling thought, and made her way to the main building and up the closest set of stairs to her classroom.
When she reached her classroom she looked around and could immediately tell that Lita was not there since her height was hard to miss. With the new school year Lita had been moved to her class, so all her friends were thankfully in the same class this year.
Amy was sitting in her seat which wasn't a surprise. She was always early and on time. Molly was standing near a window speaking to a girl that she knew by sight but didn't personally know.
She smiled lightly as she gazed at her best friend. She was pleased that her friendship with Molly was still strong. The girls still didn't know that she had revealed their secret to Molly, and she intended to keep it that way.
She was also very happy that Molly and Neflite were still together.
She hadn't seen them much as a couple, but she had heard from both of them, more so from Molly, about the other and some of what they did together. Their relationship appeared to be going strong.
She and Molly had spent a lot of time together when she wasn't training or spending time with Darien. During the summer they had even been to the ice skating rink to hangout just as she had planned, but she had yet to get the guys to come with their schedules.
Unfortunately she also hadn't managed to arrange a date or any double dates, but that was coming; especially now that she was sure Mina and Malachite were officially together.
Serena sighed tiredly and moved toward her desk.
"Serena." Amy greeted her softly as she looked up since their desks were side by side this year.
"Good morning." Serena said tiredly as she reached her desk. "Did you manage to get back to sleep?" She asked quietly as she put her school bag on the hanger attached to the desk.
Amy smiled tiredly. "I did but it feels like I didn't since it didn't last long and I'm still tired." She said.
"I feel the same way." Serena said as she put her duffel bag under her seat. "If it wasn't so important I'd skip my workout, training, and after school classes and take a nap."
"Me too." Amy agreed surprisingly. "I hope we don't get too much homework that way we can get to sleep early."
Serena nodded in agreement as she sat down with a tired sigh.
Lita arrived a few minutes later and it wasn't long before their teacher arrived and began to take attendance after everyone was seated. Just as the teacher was finishing there was a knock on the door.
Their teacher went and opened the door and spoke quietly with whoever was there before she stepped back and gestured for the person to come in. The entire class watched as a girl wearing the school uniform stepped inside. She had slightly pale skin, red hair pass her shoulders, and brown eyes.
Serena gazed at the new girl and estimated that she was about as tall as her or a few inches taller, and the way she was standing as she reached the teachers desk gave off a subtle confidence. That told her the girl had no problem standing in front of the whole class and wasn't shy.
Aside from that she wondered why the girl was here now. It was a bit late to be transferring into a new school, but then again Lita did the same so maybe this girl had a similar situation that forced the issue.
"Class!" The teacher addressed the room. "We have a new transfer student that will be joining our class." She said before she looked to the girl. "Please introduce yourself." She told her.
"I am Anne Granger. I'm fifteen years old, and I have an older twin brother that has also transferred here today." She said softly yet everyone heard with how quiet the room was.
Serena quietly hummed thoughtfully.
One new student transferring in at this time of the school year is unexpected, but can be explained. Two students from the same family is another matter entirely. She thought as she looked at the new girl.
Sure they could have just moved, but most parents would have their child or children finish out the school year before starting at the new school. That way they wouldn't have to deal with trying to catch up with what was being learned in their new class as well as adjusting to a new school and new people.
There was just something about this transfer student and the situation that didn't sit right with her. It was new, new and odd, and it was happening hours after something had crash landed and taken off into the city to parts unknown.
"Thank you." The teacher said before directing the new girl to an open seat. "If any of you want to know more about Ms. Granger you can speak to her during the lunch break or after school." She instructed the class.
Serena watched the girl until she would have had to turn in her seat to continue seeing her. The new girl had remained calm throughout her entire walk as far as she could tell. No hesitation and no discomfort to see.
She looked to Amy and saw that she was reading through her notes, then looked to Lita and saw that she was gazing out the window, and last she looked to Molly and saw her looking at her curiously.
Molly raised an eyebrow but she could only shrug slightly since they couldn't speak at that moment. Molly nodded and returned her attention to the front of the room.
Her best friend had either been paying attention to her or thought it strange that they had a transfer student as well. Either way she was going to have to get on Lita and Amy about noticing things out of the ordinary, because they and not her best friend should have noticed that something wasn't right. Or at the very least that she thought something wasn't right.
~~uUuUu~~
Serena stepped onto the grass of the park that housed the recreation center as she arrived after school, and saw the familiar sight of her prince already there sitting in the grass stretching. It was very rare that she arrived for their workout and training before him, and she had long since suspected he did that on purpose so she wouldn't have to wait for him.
"Hey love." She said as she waved to him, and watched him smile.
"Hey Princess." Darien said as she stepped closer. "How was school?" He asked.
"Interesting." She answered. "Let me put my bags down, and I'll tell you what happened." She added before she went and gently dropped her bags onto a bench then jogged back to him and joined him on the grass.
"So my class had a transfer student today." She began. "A girl my age and a little taller than me I think. Her name is Anne Granger, and she has a twin brother, Alan Granger, who's also a transfer student but he's in another class."
"You find that unusual." Darian commented.
"Yes. It's unusual for a new student to transfer in during the school year without it being forced like it was with Lita. These siblings supposedly moved to the city and decided to transfer to the school instead of remaining in their previous one." Serena replied.
"It makes me suspicious. The girl never said what the name of her previous school was, where she lived before, and never mentioned her parents or guardian. It was just her and her brother." She explained.
"Did Amy and Lita notice anything?" He asked.
"No they didn't. Only Molly noticed. At first I wasn't sure if Molly had seen that I noticed and was curious or if she herself had noticed anything, but during lunch she said that she thought something was off about the girl." She answered, and he shook his head.
"They need to learn to pay more attention or at least be more discerning. Although, I congratulate Molly for her discernment. That will help keep her safe if we really do have a new enemy around." Darien said.
"True." She agreed. "I think Neflite will be proud." She added and he laughed quietly.
"I was about to say the same thing." He said.
After they finished stretching they got up and silently began to jog, making their way around the area, and when they each finished that beginning lap they began to run at their own pace.
Multiple laps later they jogged the last lap to cool down and when they each finished they began to do sit-ups. After they each did as many as they usually did, which was enough to cause their stomach muscles to burn and then some, they moved on to doing push-ups until after their arms began to burn and they started to struggle to push themselves up.
They then began to stretch so they wouldn't cramp up. Once they finished Serena grabbed her bags and they moved to a different area of the park where they usually did their training. She put her bags down at the base of a tree when they reached the area and sighed as she moved toward Darien.
"I have an idea about what to do with Aurora." Serena said.
"What's that?" Darien asked curiously.
"I want to call on Sailor Pluto to try and send her back since Pluto is the guardian of the Door of Space and Time." She explained, and he blinked in surprise.
"Was she around in the past?" He asked.
"Yes. As a scout she was charged with guarding the door and watching over time." She answered. "I firmly believe that if we had used any other method from our crystals to time travel she would have discovered us and sent us back."
Darien nodded; understanding that when they met her they shouldn't mention their time travel at all.
"I like the idea." He said. "I think Aurora could very well be the cat from my vision, but we still need to make the attempt to send her back home."
"Yes." Serena agreed. "If it really was her in the vision then sending her back won't work, but you're right that we still need to attempt it."
Darien nodded and shifted in preparation to begin their spar, but she held her hands up for him to wait.
"Before we get started there's something else I want to tell you; something I found out yesterday but didn't get the chance to inform you about."
"I'm all ears." He said as he relaxed his body.
"I went to the library after training with the girls, and after some thinking I decided that maybe the guys were mistaken about how long they were with the Negaverse, and that was why we couldn't find anything about Malachite or his sister." She explained before pausing.
"So I ended up going back further and found something from six years ago." She said, and he frowned slightly.
"What did you find love?" He asked, and she sighed.
"You should just see it." She replied before she walked back to her school bag. She searched through it to find the information she had printed out, and when she found it she pulled it out and handed it to him silently.
Darien took the papers and looked at her face, sensing her anxiousness, and looked to the paper. A glance told him it was a small news article so he began to read.
Tragedy in Laboratory by: Angela Fugiko
A fierce storm raged last night with frightening thunder roaring through the sky causing downed power lines, power outages, and the odd fire throughout the city. Unfortunately lightning struck the private laboratory of Professor Souichi Tomoe, head of the bio-engineering department at Mugen Academy, while his wife, Keiko, and young daughter, Hotaru(age 6), were in the building. A terrible fire broke out while he was in the middle of research unknown with grim and horrific results.
His dear wife was killed and his daughter was gravely injured; suffering serious burns all over her little body. Professor Tomoe was the only one of his small family uninjured in the terrible accident.
The article was accompanied by three colored pictures. One was a head shot of Keiko Tomoe. She had long black hair with a purple sheen, violet eyes, and wore round fuchsia colored earrings. The second one was a wedding picture of Keiko and her husband Souichi.
They were both wearing traditional Japanese wedding attire; she wore all white and he wore black and gray. Souichi Tomoe had short white hair, gray eyes, and wore round glasses. The last picture was of their daughter Hotaru. She had short black hair with a light purple sheen, purple eyes, and wore a white ribbon in her hair.
Darien shook his head slowly; sadly.
"So his sister has passed away, but he has a niece." He said quietly.
"Yeah." Serena replied softly, and he hummed thoughtfully.
"This was six years ago and the article says she was six at the time, so she would be twelve now." He said, and then closed his eyes. "Malachite doesn't know about his niece, so he and the other guys weren't gone for three years as they thought but actually twelve years."
"Unfortunately yes." She said as she nodded sadly.
She knew it would be a shock to the guys, and especially to Malachite. To learn that it had been nine more years then they thought, that his sister had died in such a way, and that he had a niece. A niece who may not know he ever existed unless his sister mentioned him before her death.
Serena sighed. "I don't understand why they didn't realize they were with the Negaverse for longer than they thought they were." She said, and he opened his eyes.
"Maybe living there caused them to age differently or the dark power that tainted them is the cause." Darien said, and she shrugged.
"That's a bit scary that they had the ability to make a person lose track of time like that. I'm glad they're gone for good." She replied.
"Me too." He agreed, and looked back to the pictures in the article. "We don't have time to go see Hotaru with our own eyes today, but I can try and find her by looking through the Earth."
"Go for it." Serena said seriously. "It's something that can be done now, and at least one of us will know what she looks like since this picture was taken." She added as she gestured to the article.
Darien nodded and handed her back the papers, and took a breath and closed his eyes. He focused on the name Hotaru Tomoe and what she had looked like at the age of six and concentrated on wanting to find her.
Many people flashed through his mind as if he was rapidly cycling through all the possible Hotaru's in the world. However, it didn't take long for the figure of a little girl to appear and settle in his mind.
She looked the same as she did in the picture for the most part only older. She was petite and had pale skin. She was currently walking and wearing a school uniform that consisted of a brick red top with a green and navy blue striped border at the bottom, a navy blue collar and wrist cuffs, a light blue bow on her chest with navy blue stripes with a black five point star on the red fabric just above it between the v-point of the collar, and a plaid green skirt with navy blue stripes.
In addition to that she had navy blue pantyhose or leggings covering her legs and wore black flat shoes on her feet.
"She looks pretty much the same as she did as a child, but she's starting to look more like her mother." Darien said as he opened his eyes. "She was wearing a school uniform that I didn't recognize."
"That's okay. As long as you can find her, so we can see her in person." Serena said, and then bit her lip lightly. "When and how do you want to tell Malachite?"
"I want to wait until we see her in person, and can at least tell him where she lives or at least where she goes to school." He answered.
"We can make time to go tomorrow; maybe skip our workout and training and go look for her." She suggested.
"Yes." He agreed before sighing. "Well, with that decided we should get back to our training."
Serena nodded and ran over to her bag, and put the papers away before she went back to him and shifted her body into a relaxed yet ready position. Darien shifted his body as well and they looked at each other before they dashed toward each other at the same time to begin their spar.
~~uUuUu~~
The day passed as it usually did for Serena and Darien when they trained together. After their designated time for physical sparring they transformed and practiced with their abilities.
They sparred again but this time they didn't limit themselves to the ground, and they added in their energy attacks. However, they also didn't go all out since the area wasn't secluded enough for that.
On top of that Darien took out his sword and gave it to Serena and had her go through the stances and katas he had taught her before going through the ones they had learned in class.
Aside from their training Serena made sure to pay attention when he transformed and found that she could indeed sense his transformation. They took a few minutes for Darien to repeatedly transform so that she could become familiar with the sensation.
Once their time for training had ended they released their transformation, Serena grabbed her bags, and they went to his car and headed to the dojo where their martial arts classes were held.
The classes went as usual, learning a few new things and using them to build on what they had already learned, and when the last class finished they changed back into their workout clothes, and instead of Darien dropping Serena off at home they went to his apartment.
"Hello Artemis, Aurora." The royal couple greeted the feline pair as they settled in the living room.
"Good evening." Artemis replied.
"Hello." Aurora said.
"How are you doing now that some time has passed since you arrived?" Serena asked Aurora.
"I am doing well all things considered." Aurora answered. "I have spoken to Ambassador Artemis about what happened to me and about the time I am now in. Understandably, he was vague and even silent about a lot to do with this time. I'm admittedly curious, however, I understand why he will not say more, but regardless of that what he did say has helped me greatly."
"I am glad for that." Serena said as she nodded before she looked to Artemis. "Thank you for being discreet. I'm of the same mind, and would have done the same thing."
"Now, I have an idea of how to get you back home." She said as she returned her attention to Aurora. "I don't know if it will work, but I believe we need to try. If it works then you'll be going home, and if it doesn't then you'll be staying with us for good. If the latter turns out to be the case then you'll have your curiosity satisfied."
"May I know what your idea is?" Aurora asked while Artemis looked on silently yet curiously.
"Of course." Serena said instantly. "I want to attempt to call on Sailor Pluto. With her being the guardian of the Door of Space and Time she would be the only one that could send you back if it is at all possible."
Artemis and Aurora blinked in surprise; both of them having only vaguely heard of that mysterious scout. So mysterious was she that they did not even have a second hand description of what she looked like.
"I think it is a good idea." Artemis said as he looked from his princess to Aurora. "The sooner we try the sooner you can get back home or know absolutely if you will be staying for good."
"True." Aurora agreed as she nodded then looked to Serena. "I would like to give it a try."
"Then it's decided." Darien said. "We'll give this idea a try and if it doesn't work we'll return here and fill Aurora in on everything she'll need to know."
Everyone agreed and Darien picked up Artemis and Serena picked up Aurora, and after a brief discussion the small group teleported to a small open clearing in the forest surrounding Neflite's former base of operations when he was part of the Negaverse.
They gently put the felines down and the three of them looked to Serena to see how she would proceed.
Serena took a deep breath and then released it in a sigh. She had thought of how she would do this during class after she had come up with the idea. In the past should it have been necessary to speak to the scout of Pluto and her mother wasn't around she would have gone to the location in the palace where a physical version of the door that she guarded was located and spoke to her that way.
Now that was not possible so she would have to call Pluto's attention to her, so she could either come to them or have them come to her.
She closed her eyes and focused on her silver crystal, wordlessly calling on its power, as she prepared herself for her task. A warm pulse echoed in her chest in acknowledgment before spreading throughout her body.
Darien, Artemis, and Aurora watched as a golden crescent moon appeared and glowed brightly on Serena's forehead.
Aurora gasped lightly at the sight. She was used to seeing the Moon Princess with her royal insignia permanently displayed, but this reincarnated version of her was clearly just a normal girl in her everyday life and seeing the golden insignia helped establish in her mind that she really was the Moon Princess.
Of course being held by her as she teleported was some proof, but the crescent moon is the ultimate. She thought, and then she gasped again as the young woman's eyes snapped open and displayed a bright white glow over the blue of her eyes.
Serena hadn't known what exactly she would say to call on the scout of Pluto, but the words had come to her as she called on her power. She just hoped the words in addition to her power boosting them was enough.
"Child of Chronos, Soldier of Space and Time, hear my voice, hear my plea. I ask for aid, aid only you could possibly grant. Please help me to send one lost back to where and when she belongs." She said firmly, gazing off into the distance but not really seeing.
All was quiet after she finished speaking, and they all waited to see what if anything would happen. A few long tense moments passed before a ping sound rang out sharply in the silence surrounding them.
They all looked over, their eyes scanning the ground, and spotted a silver key.
Serena stepped toward the little object and picked it up. It was a delicate looking key almost in the shape of a lower case 'k' with a small round garnet gem at the top. She held it out at arm length and gazed at it before speaking firmly.
"Father of the guardian soldier, Soldier of Space and Time, hear my plea! I ask you both to show myself and my companions the path, to allow us through to gain the aid and guidance we seek. Please grant us this boon and help us restore the lost one." She pleaded.
Almost immediately after her words a light began to glow on the key. A twinkling white star began to glow at the top, and float forward away from her and the key before pulsing and enlarging.
Larger and larger it grew until it was clear a circle was forming in the air in front of them. Wider and wider it stretched until it was a wide glowing circle taller than Darien. It flashed brightly causing all of them to close their eyes before it stopped.
They opened their eyes to see an opening in the air where the circle was, its circular edge glowing, and inside was darkness with thick misty fog floating and obscuring anything else that might be able to be seen.
Serena nodded in satisfaction at the sight. "Let's go." She said before she picked up Aurora and stepped toward the opening. Darien picked up Artemis and followed his princess without hesitation into the dark foggy opening.
He caught up to Serena and they walked side by side so as to not get separated in the thick fog. His eyes darted around as he held Artemis gently yet securely trying to see where they were going and keep a look out for anything unexpected.
The only thing he knew for sure was that his princess seemed to know exactly where she was going despite not being able to see anything or hear anything.
Serena released the power of her crystal as she walked confidently through the fog while gently holding Aurora as well as keeping a firm hold on the time key. She couldn't see anything but she instinctively knew exactly which direction she needed to go.
This was proven as the fog around them began to thin. The scenery didn't change but the thinner fog made them all feel more secure in their footing.
In a matter of a few short minutes they began to see a structure through the thinning fog, and before long they had reached the area where it stood. The fog was thinner, to the point where it seemed to only gather along the ground, and reveal the structure to be a door.
In front of the door stood a tall woman with long dark green hair trailing down almost to the back of her knees with half of it twisted up into a bun holding an elaborate tall key staff wearing a familiar uniform.
Her uniform consisted of a white sleeveless bodysuit with a solid black sailor collar, and a maroon bow on her chest with a garnet-colored circular brooch at its center. A short black skirt sat around her waist with a maroon bow at her lower back, long white gloves stretched up to her elbows with black fittings, and she wore knee length black high heel boots with white triangular arches.
In addition to that she wore a black choker with a garnet-colored gem attached to it, a golden tiara sat on her forehead with a garnet gem, thick garnet-colored arrow shaped earrings graced her ears, and a silver chain with three keys hung around her waist over her skirt.
"Greetings Soldier of Space and Time." Serena said softy yet firmly; the little group stopping a few feet from the scout.
"Greetings Princess." Sailor Pluto returned before her eyes slid to the other guests.
"This is my Prince Endymion." Serena said as she gestured with a hand toward Darien. "With him is our guardian and advisor Artemis, and with me is our lost one; Aurora."
Sailor Pluto hummed and her vibrant red eyes settled on Aurora.
"Greetings." She said as she shifted her eyes around to all of them, which they returned politely.
"Thank you for answering my call." Serena said as she stepped forward and held out the little key.
"Of course." Pluto said as she grasped the key and attached it the chain on her waist. "Thank you for being responsible and calling for me to do the right thing." She said in return before sighing lightly. "Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to right the situation."
"I examined the timeline that you came from and saw Aurora's entry. She came to the present time through a wormhole, so it is impossible to send her back. There are too many timelines to choose from." She informed them.
"It is also not as simple as picking a timeline where she is not present, because in those lines she could be dead or had never been born; then her unexplained presence would cause problems there." She explained.
Serena sighed and looked down at Aurora, who had her head bowed and her ears laying nearly flat, before returning her gaze to Pluto.
"I understand. We thought that might be the case, but thought we should try anyway." She said then turned and looked back to Darien and Artemis, and watched as they nodded in understanding.
"Thank you for seeing us and explaining." She said as she looked back to Pluto. "At least now we know for sure that she will be staying with us for good."
Sailor Pluto simply nodded.
"Are you okay? Are you having any problems here?" Serena asked in concern as her focus turned from Aurora to the time scout.
Sailor Pluto blinked in muted surprise and smiled. "I am doing well. There have been no problems in all the time I have been at my post." She replied, and Serena nodded slowly as she gazed at her.
"Do you still wish to remain at your post?" She asked. "It can't be easy having to stay here alone with no companionship of any kind."
Pluto's eyes widened in surprise and for the first time since taking her post she hesitated. She couldn't deny that it did get lonely being there alone with no one to speak to, but...
"Thank you for asking." She said with a kind smile. "This is my duty and I like it; take pride in it. It is a duty well worth the sacrifices."
Serena nodded slowly as she gazed into the scout's wise red eyes for a few long moments.
"I'll look into it, and see what I can do." She finally said quietly.
Sailor Pluto's eyes widened and she stood speechless as the reincarnated Moon Princess turned and walked back to her companions. She didn't know what that exactly meant. This was her duty and more importantly she could never leave her post; it was one of the few nonnegotiable rules she had. Breaking it would cost her dearly.
Serena for her part knew that Sailor Pluto was not allowed to leave her post at the Space-Time Door, but it was obvious by her initial hesitation that the time scout was lonely and likely unhappy.
Obviously she was not reincarnated, so she's been at her post for a very long time. It will be difficult to find a solution for her, but I am determined to do it. She deserves to have another chance at life just like the rest of us. She thought firmly.
Serena, Darien, Artemis, and Aurora appeared in Darien's apartment in a flash of white and gold. Sailor Pluto had opened a portal for them which allowed them to return to the exact place in the forest and time they had first stepped through the portal to speak to her. From there they teleported away and back to the living room they had left from.
They returned to their seats, Serena and Darien to the couch and Artemis and Aurora to one of the side chairs, and sighed as they settled.
"Since you're stuck in this time it obviously makes sense that you stay with us and associate with us." Serena said as she looked to Aurora. "In order to find your place in the group you need to know what's going on, and what has been happening since we all were awakened and remembered our past."
"That makes sense." Aurora said in a subdued tone as she nodded.
She was clearly unhappy. For whatever reason she got knocked off her course home, and she ended up being sucked into a wormhole that spat her out into the far future of her timeline. She didn't understand why this had happened; it didn't make sense to her.
And now she had just learned that she was stuck. It was impossible for her to return home. She would never see her home planet or anyone she knew ever again.
"I'll start, and we'll go from there." Serena said. "A year and a half to almost two years ago I was approached by Luna and informed that I was Sailor Moon." She began.
"She literally just appeared in my bedroom and told me that she had been looking for me, that it was my job to fight and stop the monsters that were attacking people in the city, and that I had to find the princess of the Moon because I was one of her protective guardians. Beyond that I was also supposed to find and awaken the other guardian scouts to help me find the princess." She explained.
"I hadn't believed her." She continued, using the same story she had told everyone aside from Darien and Molly. "I told her to prove it, and she did by producing my brooch." She said before she gestured with her hand and watched her brooch appear.
"This brooch." Serena said as she placed the heavy piece of jewelry on the coffee table for Aurora to see.
"Luna told me what to say and when I repeated the words I found myself transforming into the warrior Sailor Moon; proving that her claim was true. I ended up facing my first monster that very same night; didn't even have the chance to adjust to the knowledge that I had become a warrior it happened so fast." She explained.
"That's when I came into the picture." Darien said. He understood just from how she began her tale that Serena wanted them to go with their story from this timeline instead of the one they had originally come from.
"I showed up at that same fight in the form of the masked warrior Tuxedo Mask; although at the time I hadn't realized it. It was as if as Tuxedo Mask I was a blank slate beyond the instinct to get to where Sailor Moon was as fast as possible and help her in any way I could." He explained.
"After the fight was over I left the scene since I was no longer needed and she followed me. When she caught up to me she helped me first remember my present identity as Darien, and then my past identity as Prince Endymion." He said.
Aurora frowned. She understood the story so far, but this last bit confused her. If Serena had just become the scout of the Moon, which she knew hadn't existed because she knew for a fact that the Moon Princess only had four guardians, then how was she able to help him remember any of his identities let alone his royal past.
"I understand your confusion." Serena said as she watched Aurora. "What you don't know is that before Luna came along with her revelation of me being a guardian scout to the Moon Princess I needed to find I had already remembered my past as said Moon Princess."
Aurora's eyes widened in surprise. She knew from their introductions the night before and what happened earlier that she was the Moon Princess, but it was surprising to know that she had known of her own past identity before she had become a scout. She would have also known that there had been no Sailor Moon in the past.
"So with all of my memories of the past fully intact I helped my prince remember and we resumed our relationship and decided on a plan of action. We would find and awaken my Guardian Scouts, and during that time we would train together and help me become the best warrior I could be." Serena explained.
Before anyone else could say anymore Serena's communicator ring began to vibrate. She blinked and lifted her hand to see the blue gem glowing.
"Serena here." She answered after pressing the glowing gem.
"I just got an alert on my minicomputer of activity happening right now with the same strange plant based energy signature that I picked up from the crater last night." Amy's voice came through on a serious note.
"I guess that answers the question of if we have a new enemy." Serena replied as she looked to Darien and Artemis.
They nodded and all of them heard agreeing mumbles; alerting them to the fact that all the girls had been contacted.
"Okay. Everyone head to the location. Amy, when you get to the scene I want you to keep back, even after the fighting starts, and get all the information you can get as well as to keep watch for anything the rest of us can't see." Serena instructed.
"Alright." Amy said before she gave them the address to the location.
Serena frowned as she heard the address, since it sounded familiar, but pushed it aside.
"I'll see you all there. Serena out." She said and pressed the blue gem to close the connection, and then sighed. "Time to get our first look at our new enemy."
Darien nodded. "Then we should get to it." He said as he stood up.
He walked around the couch and paused before he began to glow a bright red. He was enveloped entirely in the red light, and when it cleared he stood as Tuxedo Mask.
Serena grabbed her brooch from the coffee table and stood up and walked around to the back of the couch.
"Moon Prism Power." She said calmly, and was instantly enveloped in a warm pink light. When it cleared she stood as Sailor Moon much to the surprise and awe of Aurora.
She had just been told that the Moon Princess was a sailor scout, had learned how she had come to be that way, but seeing it with her own eyes was still surprising. She looked impressive and just as intimidating as the scouts she had seen in the past, and yet she still looked like herself. She could easily tell that she was the princess, but she imagined that was only because she had witnessed her transform.
"Do you want to teleport there?" Darien asked, and Serena nodded as she stepped toward him. She wrapped her arms around him, and looked to the felines as he returned her embrace.
"Can you continue to fill Aurora in, and when we return we can continue where you stop or add details that you don't know?" She asked Artemis.
"Of course." Artemis agreed. "Be careful you two."
"We will." Serena said with a firm nod then within moments the warrior couple disappeared in a brief flash of golden light.
Aurora stared at the space the couple had stood in in shock. She had seen sailor scouts before, and as previously thought had just been told that the Moon Princess was a scout, but this was the first time she had seen one in action; or at least prepared to go into action. She had not expected that after just learning how the princess became a sailor scout.
"Are you alright?" Artemis asked her, and she looked to him and opened and closed her mouth a few times; speechless.
"It's okay." He said as he nodded in understanding. "Take your time processing it. We can start talking whenever you're ready."
Aurora sighed. "I am only surprised that after learning the princess is a sailor scout she is going out to fight so soon. It is simply an adjustment to know that the princess is now a warrior." She finally said.
"That's understandable." Artemis said. "Do you have any questions about what you have learned so far?"
"I was surprised when the princess said she and the prince had resumed their relationship. Were they in a relationship...before?" She asked curiously.
Artemis nodded and proceeded to explain the secret forbidden relationship Serena and Darien had conducted in the past.
~~uUu~~
Molly Baker sat on her bed in the evening working on her homework. She had already taken a quick bath and changed into her pajamas, which consisted of a light blue long sleeve button up top and matching bottoms along with a thin matching ribbon tied in a bow in her hair.
The day had been the same as usual aside from the new students at school; particularly the new girl in her class.
She could fully admit she was curious about her, but she had not approached the girl like most in her class. She was learning to be more observant with the help of Neflite and Serena, and she had seen the look on Serena's face.
Her best friend had looked thoughtful and slightly cautious. She had wanted to ask about it, but she knew she couldn't do it around Amy and Lita since they still didn't know she knew their secret. So she knew she would have to wait, and in the meantime she would avoid the new girl but make sure to observe her to see if she did anything unusual or suspicious.
Aside from that she had talked to Neflite earlier before her bath and was happy about that. She loved talking to him and hearing his voice over the phone.
The only thing that would have made talking to him better is if I had seen him face to face. She thought, but she knew that wasn't possible that day because of his job.
Molly sighed and paused in her writing. She knew she needed to invite him over and finally introduce him to her mother. Her mom knew she was dating someone, but she hadn't been detailed about that information.
And that was mostly because he was not someone her age that she went to school with. Plus, she wanted their relationship well established, so her mom couldn't try and say they wouldn't last. It had been a little over a year and they were still together, so that had to say something about them right?
Before she could descend more into that line of questioning she heard a sound. She thought it was a distant scream and she looked up curiously, but it stopped before she could fully register it so she shook her head and went back to her homework.
Only a minute or two later she heard yelling and she looked up again, toward her window, and frowned, but before she could get up it too stopped.
Molly hummed thoughtfully and got up as she put her homework down, and stepped toward her window, intending to look out the window and see if she could see anything.
She undid the latch and pushed her window panes open, but before she could lean out to look she cried out as something suddenly appeared in front of her. She flinched and stumbled back quickly and blinked as she got a look at it.
Immediately her heart dropped at the sight. It was some kind of humanoid creature. She could tell that it was a female from the shape of its body alone, and that it had pink-lavender tinted skin.
She instantly knew from its appearance alone that it was the type of creature her best friend and boyfriend fought, but she obviously had no way to contact either of them quickly enough be of use.
And she knew from the fact that it was facing her that this thing intended to attack her, and likely her mom when it was done with her.
And she had no defense of any kind to try and stop it.
These thoughts sped through her mind at rapid speed as she stared at the creature. She took a step back but that seemed to be all the creature needed to get moving.
Molly cried out as she threw her hands up in a useless defense as the creature rushed her. She felt a sharp heavy pressure against her chest and the next thing she knew she was flying backward.
She landed with a huff on her back on the soft surface of her bed, but before she could do more than register that fact and look up the creature was standing in front of her; nearly looming over her.
It held out its arm and it was impossible not to see the large flower blossom open and point at her. She screamed as two orange vines shot out of the center and began to wrap around her.
Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon appeared in a golden flash on a rooftop and released their hold on each other. They looked around before looking across the street from them at the location that they had been given.
Sailor Moon's eyes widened as she took a good look and registered what she was seeing.
"Shit!" She cursed quietly, but loud enough for her masked prince to hear as she realized why the address had sounded familiar to her. "This is Molly's house!"
Tuxedo Mask sucked in a sharp breath and his thoughts immediately went to Neflite. His general would never forgive him if he didn't let him know about this. Obviously that meant he would be contacting him and getting him here. He would be good to have in a fight in any case.
Before he could say anything they looked over and saw Sailor Mercury jogging over to them along the rooftops.
"I was just about to contact you when I saw you arrive." She said as she stopped next to them.
Sailor Moon looked to her prince in slight concern before returning her eyes to Mercury.
"Why?" She asked.
"I picked up another of those plant energy signatures." Mercury said seriously. "There's another attack happening; right now."
"What's the location? I'll take a look." Tuxedo Mask said, and Mercury quickly opened her minicomputer and typed for a few seconds before she gave him the address.
He nodded before he closed his eyes to better focus and concentrated on the address as he called on his power. Instantly images rapidly flickered through his mind as his power searched for the location of the address he had in mind.
The images stopped on a park with most of the light coming from the buildings across the street from it. The trees were somewhat tall and the walkways were wide enough to allow a small parade to walk along comfortably.
People were walking, some running, and he focused on the direction those people were running from. The images moved on fast forward in his mind until they suddenly stopped and he got a look at what they would be dealing with.
It looked like some kind of female humanoid bull to his discerning mental eyes, and he watched as it extended the antlers on its head some way and managed to catch a woman mid-run and lifted her up high into the air. The woman began to glow, and it didn't take him long to guess that her energy was being taken from her.
While Tuxedo Mask took on his task Sailor Moon and Mercury turned their attention back to the house and looked for any sign of movement. There was none, but both could clearly see the wide open window.
They were not at an angle to see inside, but Sailor Moon worried that it was Molly's bedroom. She could not remember if that was the exact window, and if it was if the enemy had gone in that way since there was no other entry that looked disturbed.
"The others are coming." Sailor Mercury pointed out, pulling Sailor Moon out of her worried thoughts. She looked around and saw Mars, Venus, and Jupiter headed toward them along the rooftops at slightly different speeds and distances.
They all arrived silently with serious expressions on their faces, and Mercury informed them of the second attack at a different location and that Tuxedo was trying to get a look.
"Has there been any activity here since you all arrived?" Sailor Venus asked.
"No." Sailor Moon and Mercury replied as one.
"All has been quiet so far, but that doesn't mean our opponent isn't still inside." Sailor Moon added.
The Scouts all nodded and looked to the house, and waited for Tuxedo to report what he had seen.
After a while Tuxedo Mask opened his eyes and took a deep breath before sighing.
"So there's a creature there that looks like a female humanoid bull, and it's attacking and looks like it's taking energy from its victims." He said.
"Then we need to split up." Sailor Moon said, and he nodded.
"I can go to the other site, and get half my Generals to meet me there and bring the other half here." Tuxedo Mask said.
"And half the girls can go with you, so we would have an equal amount of fighters at each location with varied abilities." She added, and he hummed.
"Based on what I saw I'm going to have Malachite and Jedite join me there." He said.
"Then Venus and Mars can go with you; their abilities are different but will go well with each other." Sailor Moon said.
"Alright." Tuxedo Mask said before he pulled off his glove. He then pressed the red, green, blue, and gray gems on his communicator ring and waited.
"Malachite here."
"Zoycite here."
"Jedite here."
"Neflite here."
"We have two attacks in progress and we're going to split up." Tuxedo Mask informed them. "I want Neflite and Zoycite to come to my location right now, and Jedite and Malachite to get ready. I'll contact you two when I'm at the other location."
"Alright. No problem." Jedite said before he ended the connection.
"We'll be ready your highness." Malachite said before he too ended the connection.
"We're on our way your highness." Zoycite answered for both himself and Neflite.
"Good. See you both soon. Tuxedo Mask out." The masked prince said before he pressed the gems and ended the connections, and then stuffed his glove in his pants pocket since he would just have to take it off again to contact the others.
Within moments there was flashes of deep jade green and purplish blue light behind Tuxedo Mask, and they cleared quickly to show Neflite and Zoycite transformed and ready to fight.
"Alright. Venus, Mars, grab on." Tuxedo Mask said as he held his hands out to them. They did just that and the trio disappeared in a brief flash of gold light.
"Okay Zoycite, Neflite, Mercury has determined our enemy is currently in there." Sailor Moon said as she pointed toward the open window across the street.
The two guys looked over at the building and the window, and after a long moment Neflite sucked in a sharp breath and looked back to the disguised princess.
"Yes. Molly's home." Sailor Moon confirmed as she nodded. "We've seen no movement since we got here."
"Do you know if whatever we're dealing with is actually still there?" Zoycite asked as he continued to look at the house.
"Yes it is still in there along with two other normal energy signatures, which I believe to be Molly and her mother." Mercury said.
Neflite closed his eyes briefly at the words. He had been ready to fight after his prince contacted him, but he had not realized he would arrive to a scene that was one of his nightmares come true.
"Forget what I said before about staying back," Sailor Moon said as she looked to Mercury. "but if you can get information don't hesitate." She added, and Mercury nodded firmly.
"Then let's head inside. We might as well go through the open window." She told them.
Everyone nodded before they approached the edge of the roof and leapt off. They all landed lightly on the sidewalk and jogged across the street.
Neflite immediately jumped up and landed on the window seal before stepping inside. He looked around and wasn't even finished before he spotted his girlfriend laid out across what was obviously her bed.
He hurried toward her and knelt with one knee on the bed next to her as he leaned over her to check her pulse from her neck.
"How is she?" Sailor Moon asked in concern, appearing next to the bed as she looked at her unconscious best friend.
"She's alive, but her heartbeat is very slow." He answered quietly, and she nodded.
"Then we should hope defeating our opponent will give her back her energy, assuming that's all that's wrong with her." She commented.
Neflite nodded without looking away from his girlfriend, and Sailor Moon rested her hand on his arm and rubbed it lightly before heading for the bedroom door that had obviously been busted off its hinges.
Behind her Mercury and Zoycite followed but Jupiter hesitated before stopping to look at Neflite as he looked to Molly. She watched him gently caress her face, and couldn't help being unhappy at the sight.
If I was his girlfriend he wouldn't have to worry about me getting hurt. She thought, and frowned as he leaned over Molly and then grimaced, closing her eyes, as he kissed her on the lips.
Neflite glanced toward the lightning scout as he pulled back from his girlfriend and saw the grimace on her face, but ignored it as he looked back to Molly since it wasn't his problem.
He couldn't help Jupiter's feelings, and the only thing that would make her happy was him being with her. Something that wasn't going to happen, because he had no intention of leaving Molly. He cared about her and wanted to be with her too much.
She's just going to have to get over it and move on with someone else. He thought seriously as he got off the bed and stood up.
With that thought echoing in his mind he walked toward the open doorway without another glance toward Jupiter, and headed out with all his senses focused and alert for anything that didn't belong; pushing aside the unhappy thought that he couldn't even enjoy seeing his girlfriend's bedroom for the first time because of the situation.
Meanwhile, Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury had made it down the stairs of the townhouse and were looking around carefully and cautiously, not wanting to find themselves face to face with their enemy unexpectedly. They looked into the living room and saw a woman unconscious on the floor in her night wear.
"Keep watch." Sailor Moon told Mercury as she went to check on who she recognized as Molly's mom.
She swerved around the couch and knelt down at her side before checking her pulse. She found it after a few tense moments and determined that, like Molly, she was simply unconscious and had a slow heartbeat, so her energy had highly likely been taken as well.
"Sailor Moon!" Mercury's voice suddenly called urgently and she looked up only for her eyes to widen. She stood up and slowly moved away from Molly's mom and shifted over next to the couch as she looked at the being they were dealing with.
The creature was a tall humanoid female with solid green eyes, pink lavender skin, and an hourglass figure. It had muscled thighs and upper arms, a large red closed flower blossom on its right arm where a hand should be, and sharp vampire-like fangs visible in its mouth.
It had a blue two-tinted square afro-like hair style, wore a green sleeveless bodysuit that looked like it was made of moss with matching leg warmers, and was barefoot.
"Vampir." The creature said as it looked at both her and Mercury with a smirk on its face.
Mercury looked to Moon just as she was glancing over to her. Moon nodded and raised her hands and quickly sent her Cosmic Starlight Illusion Beam at the creature.
Mercury sent her Shine Snow Illusion attack toward it, and they watched as her stream of snow wrapped around the beam of white blue tinted marble sized energy stars and sped toward the creature.
"Vampir!" The creature cried out as the combined attack slammed into it causing it to fly back.
It slammed into the wall behind it, and the next thing they knew a disk of white lightning crashed into it and caused it to fly back away from where both attacks came from sending it skidding down the hallway.
"Everyone outside!" Sailor Moon called loudly as she moved quickly toward the front door; knowing that the creature would follow them outside and they would have more room to move and fight without the risk of friendly fire or destroying Molly's home.
She practically threw the door open and they all quickly filed outside and into the street as they turned to look at the open doorway. The creature appeared in the open space and stepped out onto the sidewalk with a frown.
"Vampir." It said quietly, its tone suggesting it was irritated.
Zoycite decided not to wait for it to do anything else; he lifted a hand and willed a streaming beam of ice at the creature. Mercury did the same sending her Shine Snow Illusion attack at the creature sending a stream of snow at it.
Jupiter gathered her power as they did this, and sent her Supreme Thunder attack at the female creature and watched as her lightning zipped toward it.
The creature saw the ice coming and jumped high and came down on the roof of a car before jumping away to avoid the stream of snow. She had barely taken a breath before she was diving away from a streak of lightning.
Sailor Moon watched this carefully and decided to use an attack she hoped the creature couldn't dodge. She lifted her hands and launched her Cosmic Starlight Illusion attack sending white blue tinted marble sized stars scattering away from her in all directions before converging on the creature.
As the creature was standing from its previous dive it was suddenly hit by an attack from all sides.
"Vampir!" She cried out in pain, and then stumbled when the attack stopped.
"Vampir!" She said angrily before she raised her right arm. The closed flower blossom opened and two orange vines came shooting out the middle at the nearest person.
That person just happened to be Sailor Jupiter and she immediately willed her barrier in place since she didn't have the right footing to dodge the quick vines. A transparent green barrier sprang up around her and the vines hit it and stopped before turning toward the next person.
Neflite drew his sword from its sheath and sliced the vines as they approached him.
"Vampir!" The creature screamed as what remained of the vines returned to it.
Neflite frowned at the thing and raised his free hand and launched a blast of energy leaves that sped through the air and slammed into the creature.
"Vampir!" The creature screamed in pain as the energy leaves cut into her skin.
Zoycite raised his hand and launched a scattering of ice bullets at the creature before it could recover, which caused it to scream again as they hit it and added to the pain it was already feeling.
Sailor Moon silently summoned her scepter as she watched the creature collapse under the assault of both Zoycite and Neflite. She did not want to waste any more time with this creature and risk it hurting them or getting away with the energy it had collected.
Moon Scepter Elimination. She thought firmly as she aimed her scepter at the downed creature, and watched the brightly colored energy stream at it.
"Vampir!" The creature screamed as the attack hit it. Before too long it began to glow, and the screaming abruptly stopped before its glowing figure began to shrink before their eyes.
It grew smaller and smaller until all that was left of its figure was a large card that resembled a tarot card with the creature's image on it. Within moments the image disappeared leaving the card a blank white canvas.
~~uUu~~
Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Venus appeared in a flash of golden light before it cleared. They released each other's hands as they looked around to see that they were standing in grass among the trees of the park just off the wide walkway.
Seeing there was no creature around Tuxedo lifted his hand, and pressed the gray and blue gems on his communicator ring while he had the chance. Thankfully they quickly answered.
"Malachite here."
"Jedite here."
"Come to my location right now." Tuxedo Mask instructed them.
"We're on our way. Jedite and Malachite out." Jedite said for them both.
Tuxedo Mask pressed the blue and gray button again to end the connection before removing his glove from his pocket and pulled it back on.
Within moments there were flashes of red lavender and light violet pink light, and the two guys stood there beside Tuxedo Mask in uniform and ready to fight as the light cleared.
"We only arrived moments before I contacted you two, so we haven't yet laid eyes on the creature we'll be facing." Tuxedo Mask informed his generals, but before he could say more they heard terrified screaming and yelling in the distance.
"That's our cue." He told the group, and they all took off running toward the sounds.
They swerved around trees and leapt over bushes and ran across the walking path to the other side and into more trees and after another minute they slowed to a stop as they came into sight of the creature.
It stood in a walkway that traveled along the shore of a small lake in the middle of the park. It was a tall humanoid female with solid red eyes, large white horns on its head, short dark red hair with skin tinted a light blue, and hove-like feet.
It wore an orange long sleeve halter top bodysuit that exposed its shoulders with a cut out showing off its bellybutton with attached gloves, and had a thin long tail with a tuff of white fur at the end. There was an orange collar around its neck with a gold ring attached, a thick gold arm band on its left upper arm, white skull-like armor on its shoulders, and some kind of white thing attached to the sides of its thighs.
At the moment the horns on its head were extended high into the air, glowing with a purple light, with a man dangling from the ends glowing with the same light.
Tuxedo Mask summoned a handful of his piercing roses and threw them at the creature not waiting for it to get done with the man.
"Minotauron!" The creature cried out in pain as the roses hit her; her horns shrinking in the process.
What the creature had been doing with the man was also disrupted and the man began to fall. Jedite ran forward without hesitation and jumped high and caught the man.
His path unfortunately was taking him directly to the lake but he was not in the least worried. He came down with the man in his arms but before he could even reach the water his descent slowed until he stopped altogether.
He used his control over wind to propel himself and the unconscious man forward, and flew toward the other side of the lake intending to get the man out of the line of fire before rejoining his prince and companions.
Meanwhile, Sailor Mars launched her Mars Fire Ignite attack multiple times in quick succession sending a trio of balls of fire speeding toward the female creature. Sailor Venus lifted her hand, pointed her finger, and launched her Crescent Beam attack at the creature as well.
The light beam sped forward like a laser and the fireballs swirled around it before combining until they transformed into a flaming beam and slammed into the creature.
"Minotauron!" The creature cried out as she was blasted back.
Malachite extended his hand and thin beams of light, like wires, came shooting out of his fingertips and wrapped around the creature while it was in the air. He closed his fingers into a fist and moved his arm down sharply causing the creature to follow the path.
"Minotauron!" She cried out as she slammed into the ground not noticing that the wires of light that held her had disappeared. "Minotauron!" She screamed suddenly as long red lavender needles sprayed in the side of her body from head to toe before disappearing.
Tuxedo Mask, Venus, Malachite, and Mars looked over and saw Jedite flying toward them before he slowed and hovered in the air above the water.
They looked back to the creature and saw it struggling to get up, and they took the opportunity to spread themselves apart as much as they could, so they didn't risk hitting each other when they attacked.
"Minotauron!" The creature said angrily as she made her way to her feet, and looked at the fighters that were stationed to her front and sides. She knew her odds were not good, but she would still fight until she was defeated.
She snorted out air through her nose and pawed her right hove on the ground repeatedly as she bent over slightly and looked from one fighter to the next.
It quickly extended its horns and Venus sidestepped toward the lake to avoid getting caught between them. Then the creature suddenly spun on a hove toward its right hoping to hit one if not all of the fighters on the ground.
Venus was thankfully out of range but Tuxedo, Mars, and Malachite were not, and yet they easily jumped over the extended horns. While they were doing that Jedite carefully aimed his hand down at the creature and sent sharp razor wind blades down at it.
"Minotauron!" The creature screamed and stopped mid turn as its extended horns were chopped off and fell to the ground.
Venus Love-Me Chain. Venus thought as she sent her heart shaped chain to wrap around the creatures legs and hopefully keep it in place.
Mars Flame Sniper. Mars launched her flaming arrow, which hit the creature in the chest.
"Minotauron!" The creature screamed in pain as she stumbled from the fire in her chest and the chain around her legs.
Jedite moved closer then and threw hard softball sized spheres of air raining down on the creature.
Seeing his actions Mars launched her Mars Fire Ignite attack, and as soon as one of the balls of air hit her fireball it caused the fire to expand to the size of a beach ball before it hit the creature.
"Minotauron!" The creature screamed in agony and fell over as she stumbled trying to get away, but found she couldn't because of the chain around her legs.
Crescent Beam. Venus launched with her free hand since she was still holding her chain.
Black Rose Cyclone. Tuxedo Mask thought after he pulled a rose out of thin air. The vibrant red petals turned black and separated from the green stem before multiplying and twisting outward to form a shape like the opening of a cone.
Both attacks slammed into the creature in an almost explosion of laser light and sharp cuts at the same time as it lay struggling on the ground.
"Minotauron!" The creature screamed in pain, wreathing as the two attacks continued, before it began to glow.
The screaming stopped moments after the glowing started, and the light grew brighter before the creature's glowing figure began to shrink down until the light cleared to show a tarot sized card.
Tuxedo, Malachite, and Mars were all at an angle to see the image of the creature on the card before its surface turned blank. They cautiously moved closer, Jedite came down out of the air and landed on the path with them, and got a better look at the card that was sticking up by one of its corners.
"A card?! Is this what that creature really was?" Jedite asked with a frown.
"It looks like it." Tuxedo Mask said as he eyed the card carefully. "I'm going to check and see how the others are doing with their fight." He said after a few moments.
While he did that Malachite and Mars turned and began to look around, making sure nothing came up upon them unnoticed, and Venus split her focus between watching Tuxedo and checking the area behind her.
"I'm going to retrieve that man so he can at least be in the location he was in before he lost consciousness and get help if he needs it." Jedite commented before he went and did just that.
As Sailor Mars' eyes scanned the area she paused along her visual path as she thought she saw something. Backtracking her gaze stopped abruptly as she spotted two figures, one slightly shorter than the other, standing on a thick tree branch with glowing eyes.
Before she could say anything the two figures disappeared as if they had teleported away.
Tuxedo Mask blinked his eyes open just as Jedite returned with the unconscious man. "The other fight is finished. The creature has been defeated." He informed them.
Mars looked around the trees rapidly and then turned toward the others.
"I just saw two beings with glowing eyes." She informed everyone. "That was all I could register before they disappeared."
Everyone turned sharply and looked toward the trees.
"When you say disappeared do you mean they turned invisible or…" Malachite asked.
"Disappeared like they teleported away when they realized they had been spotted." Mars clarified.
"They're likely connected to the creatures in some way." Venus said.
"Either more of them or perhaps the ones sending them out." Malachite added.
"Either way we should meet back up with the others and compare notes." Tuxedo said.
The others nodded and they all linked hands before Tuxedo Mask focused on his power, and willed them to the other fight scene; causing them all to disappear in a flash of golden light.