The Masked Phoenix

The Masked Phoenix

Part II

The Brother vs. The Boyfriend

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the RW or SM chars, except perhaps the ones I made up. Vincent and Rowena.

Rini was telling her mother and father what had happened. Darien was blown away when he met Vincent.

"This is my brother, Vinnie" she announced to everybody, "oh, can I call you Vinnie?"

"Sure," Vincent shrugged. "Can I call you Rini?"

"I am Rini!" she laughed, "he's so funny!" she nudged him and patted his shoulder.

The ronin warriors looked at Mia and Darien and then to Vincent.

"You're the ronin warriors, aren't you?" Vincent gasped

"Yes were are!" Kento bragged. "And I'm Kento of…"

"Hardrock!" he walked over and shook his hand, followed by the others. They all looked surprised and slightly confused. "I'm so pleased to meet you all finally! I love the legend of the warriors! My mom tells me the poem every night before I go to sleep!"

"So, you're our boy from the future, right?" Mia asked.

Vincent nodded, "yes, I am."

"This is strange," Ryo said, "Rini comes from the future, then Rowena and now Vincent," he folded his arms, "who's next? Sai and Ami's kid?"

Both Ami and Sai totally blushed. Ami turned around and hid her face. "Shh!" Sai hushed, "don't speak like that, mate!"

"Oh, check it out, Sai's blushing!" Kento teased.

"Sorry, Sai," Ryo apologized.

Yuli walked in, "Hi everyone, um, hi, Rini."

"Getawayfromme!" Rini hissed.

Serena raised her eyebrow, "did you two get in a fight?"

"It's Yuli's fault," she muttered, "he thought I was dating Vincent! He really needs to think before he acts!" she walked up to her room and slammed the door.

"Listen, Vincent," Yuli said, "I think we should talk."

"Why would I be interested in anything you have to say?" Vincent demanded.

"That's not a very nice thing to say, Vincent," Mia scowled. Her face turned red, "Oh, I'm getting ahead of myself." She walked out of the entryway.

"I'm only asking for ten minutes of your free time, okay?" He asked. "Besides, I've met the ronin warriors, don't you want to hear my story?"

"Well, I am a little curious," Vincent said, "Alright, ten minutes. My mom said you were a good kid and she's hardly ever wrong. But if she is…. you're in BIG trouble!"

Yuli slid his arm around his shoulders, "let me show you around the twentieth century, dude."

~~TEN MINUTES LATER~~

"Yuli, my man, you're a hell of a guy!" Vincent cried, slapping Yuli on the back. They were spending time at the arcade. "How many times have you said you played this game?"

"About forty times," Yuli said, "I'm getting really close to beating it too…. oh man! I lost!"

"Tough break, dude," Vincent said. "So tell me again when you met Ryo."

"Well, I was with my parents," Yuli turned around and leaned against the game. He held his hands out in a 'story telling' manner. "We were buying a new skateboard. I was trying out and I hurt myself. When I stood up, I felt this big wet tongue on my face!!"

"Whiteblaze."

"Yeah," Yuli said, "I'm glad he didn't eat me. I couldn't move or anything, I was just looking back at that giant white tigers' face. Then Ryo asked if I was alright…man, it was sooo cool!"

"Except when Whiteblaze licked ya." Vincent pointed out as he pulled his pop to his mouth.

"Oh, I get used to it," Yuli said.

Vincent choked on his pop and sprayed it everywhere, "WHHHAAAAT?"

Yuli smiled and the duo walked out of the arcade. "There's a gym right out here. Feel like pumping some iron?" Yuli asked.

"I need some sweats or something," Vincent said.

"I'll lend you some," Yuli said. They stopped by the house and Yuli grabbed a gym bag containing workout clothing for the both of them.

"Everything alright?" Mia asked.

"Everything's fine, Mia!" Yuli cried. "Come on, Vinnie."

Yuli lent Vincent a gray pair of sweats and a navy blue tank top. Yuli wore red sweatpants and a red tank top and Yuli showed him around.

"You come here often?" Vincent asked him, watching all the bodybuilders lifting weights.

"Yeah," Yuli said, pulling on some fingerless working out gloves. "Let's see how much you can bench."

"Oh, I don't know," Vincent said, "I never…"

"Never too late to learn," Yuli led him to the bench. "I'll spot ya. Let's start with 50."

"Fifty--sure, I can handle that," he lay down and took a few breaths.

"Ready?" Yuli warned when he put the weights on the bar.

"Yeah, hit me up, dude!" Vincent growled like a tough guy.

Yuli took the bar off the rest and as he was about to give it to Vincent, he heard some commotion not too far down and he nearly dropped it on Vincent. "Whooaaaa."

"Aaah!"

"Ooh, sorry!" Yuli grabbed the bar in time and put it back on the rest.

"You nearly killed me!" Vincent shouted. "What's the matter with you?" he stood up and Yuli looked like he was in another world.

He pointed, "It's Rowena, I didn't know she came to work out here!" he said.

"Who?" Vincent looked at the girl he was pointing at and was blown away, "wow, she's hot!"

"She's Rowen's daughter," Yuli explained, "Rini's half sister. You remember her from the parlor, don't you?"

"No, I don't," Vincent mumbled. "She was there?"

"You didn't notice her?" Yuli demanded, "the girl's fine! That's one thing Rini and Rowena have in common."

"I wonder if she's single.'

"I did kiss her once," Yuli admitted.

"YOU did what?" Vincent demanded with a snarl. "You were cheating on my sister with her sister?" (Doesn't that sound a little weird?)

"Hey, it was just a little kiss," Yuli defended, "It just happened! She didn't even like it. Which I find hard to understand."

"So, is she a good kisser?" Vincent asked.

"I told you it was a small kiss," Yuli said, "and I wasn't supposed to be paying attention…" he rolled his eyes, "yes, she's a good kisser!"

"Hmm," Vincent folded his arms, as he looked her over. "She's pretty cute. Rowen's daughter, huh?"

"She was trying to talk to you," Yuli said, "and when you didn't talk back, she got mad. Didn't you hear her telling me to keep beating you up when Rini was telling me to stop? She was also squeezing my face; how can you not notice that?"

"My sister was crying," Vincent said, "she was the only girl I was able to see! What's a half brother to do?"

Yuli grinned, "I see."

"So, what is she like?" Vincent asked.

"Well, she's pretty tough," Yuli watched her punch the bag and scoot around. "She can change to Sailor Strata Moon and she also has her own armor. The armor of Strata Moon. When we were fighting the soul stealers and they took my soul, Rowena gave Rini new powers. Rowen taught her a lot of fighting techniques in the future. You know, Rini told me she beat the living snot out of the main soul stealer!" Yuli explained with a laugh, "Rowen would have grounded her if she wasn't doing it to save everyone!

"Wow," Vincent said, "I cant' believe I didn't notice her before."

"You made her mad," Yuli said, "you didn't pay her any attention."

"Oh, man, she was looking at me? I didn't mean to ignore her." He groaned, "She really is Rowen's little girl?"

"Well, yeah, where else did she get that head band?" Yuli told him.

"It could be just a look alike."

"You don't' believe me, do you?" Yuli asked.

"She can't be Rowen's girl," Vincent said. "No way!"

"Way!" Yuli snapped.

"No way, she doesn't look like him at all!" Vincent disagreed.

"She has his color of hair and look, she has his bangs!"

"I'm going to talk to her." He started to walk away from Yuli.

"I wouldn't do that!" Yuli shouted, getting in his way. He pushed him back. "She'll beat you bad! You made her very angry, she's not safe to be around right now! She's the daughter of Rowen of the Strata for crying out loud! Don't do it! She'll rip you apart! She's one tough chick!"

"Tough?" Vincent teased and walked around Yuli, "with those pigtails? I don't think so."

Yuli pulled his knuckles to his mouth, "oh mannn."

"Hi there!" Vincent greeted with a smile.

Oh, yeah, now he notices me! Rowena thought, looking at him with a sneer. She continued to hit the punching bag. She was wearing a red sports bra with black seams and black spandex shorts with dark blue stripes. She wore white fingerless work out gloves and only the best tennis shoes any girl had ever wanted. With her hair up in her usual pigtails, she looked like a harmless girl to people that didn't know her as the daughter of Rowen of the Strata.

"So, now, you're Rowen's girl, right?" Vincent asked.

She didn't answer him. She took a deep breath and did a full turn and whacked her forearm into the punching bag.

"You're ignoring me," Vincent mumbled, "I'm sorry if I seemed rude but Rini is my half sister too. She was crying and my….half-sibling instincts took control, you understand, right?"

"Back out you while you still can!" Yuli shouted in a whisper.

"Anyway, while I'm here," Vincent said, "let's talk. How about an interview?"

"Interview?" Rowena asked, licking the sweat off her lip in a tough-girl manner.

"Yeah, an interview," he conferred, "tell me about yourself, when you came to see Rini, if you're single…"

"You want an interview?" she grinned and turned to him, "Okay, pretty boy, I'll give you one!! Keeeyaaaaa!" she jabbed him twice with her left and then gave him an uppercut with her right. While his head was still spinning, she brought a hard punch to the face. Taking a breath, Rowena jumped up and spun around, kicking him square in the chest. He flew back and landed hard on the ground.

"Oh man, what a woman!" Vincent mumbled, love struck.

"Loser," Rowena said through her teeth as she stepped over him.

Exercisers of all ages and gender stopped to watch Rowena walk off. They whispered around.

"What are you looking at?!" she snarled.

They quickly returned to their workouts.

"She called me pretty," Vincent moaned.

Yuli ran to Vincent and leaned over him, "See, I told you she was Rowen's girl! Now do you believe me?"

"If that was Rowen's girl," Vincent groaned, "I wonder what KENTO'S would be like!"

"Now that's scary man," Yuli said as he picked him up and threw his arm around his neck, "thank you very much for telling me that."

"A little birdie told me that Vincent likes you!" Rini teased Rowena, who was chugging down some milk before going to bed. Rini thought she and her half sister were alone, but Rowen was in the other room and he almost jumped into the ceiling.

"Yuli told you!?" Rowena snarled. "That weasel!"

"No, he didn't," Rini, said, "we're not talking anymore."

"Darn," Rowena wiped her mouth. "I think you should give him another chance."

"Hey, we're not talking a bout me and Yuli, we're talking about you and my—,"

"The guy didn't pay any attention to me," Rowena interrupted, "and he's your half brother for crying out loud and I'm your half sister, doesn't that sound kind of weird to you?"

Rowen bit his lip as he eavesdropped on the conversation. Sounds weird to me!

"There's no relation, Rowena," Rini sat in front of her and dipped a cookie in her half sister's milk and smiled as she watched her frown, "just because both of you are related to me doesn't mean you're related to each other. You have a different father but we have the same mom. Vincent and I have the same father but different mother. So…"

"It still sounds kind of funny to me," Rowena drank the rest of her milk and poured another glass.

"Come on, Rowena give him a chance!" Rini begged, "do it for me!"

"No way!" she shouted. She pulled her milk glass down, revealing a milk mustache.

"You leave me no choice," Rini stood up, started to walk around and leave, then ran back and knelt in front of her half sister, "P-please Rowena! I beg you!" she tugged on her pajamas.

"Stop it, Rini!" Rowena hissed, "Someone might hear you!"

Rini cried fake tears, "Please, with chocolate chips on top!"

"Rini, do you have any idea how stupid you look right now?" Rowena demanded.

"Rowena, puh-leeeze?" she wrapped her arms around Rowen's waist, "it w-would mean s-s-sooo much to meee!"

"No!"

"Please?"

"Never!"

"I'll give Yuli another chance and I'll buy you ice cream for a whole week!"

"Nnnn—uh---let me think about it!"

Rowen almost passed out.

"Thank you Rowena," Rini stood up and hugged her, "you're the best half sister in the world!"

"Thanks," she mumbled. What have I done!?

Rini skipped out of the kitchen and Rowena dropped her head on the table. She heard footsteps inot the kitchen.

"Now what do you want, Rini?" Rowena demanded.

"It's not Rini," Rowen said.

Rowena's eyes bulged and she sat up straight, "DADDY! Hi, how's it going?" she giggled, "Would you like some milk?"

"No thanks," he sat down.

"You heard me talking to Rini, didn't you?" she asked.

"Mmm-hmmm."

Rowena bit her lip, here it comes…

"You don't have to give that guy a chance if you don't really want to, you know," Rowen said.

"Yeah, I know," she said.

"If this guy gives you a problem, just tell me and I'll---,"

Rowena giggled, "I don't think you have to worry about it, Daddy," she sat back and wrapped her hand around her fist. "I already took care of it!"

Rowen gasped, thinking the worst and he heard Yuli walking with Vincent.

"I told you not to talk to her," Yuli said, "but you wouldn't listen to me! 'Stay away from her, she's Rowen's girl' I said but you said 'no way, she doesn't look at all like him!' I told you she's a tough girl but noooo, you that she was harmless in those pigtails."

Rowen turned around and saw Vincent with a bloody lip and black eye. He tried to keep himself from laughing.

"Hi Yuli," Rowena said.

"Hey, Rowena," he said back.

Rowena smiled, "Hi, Vincent." She winked at him and Vincent gasped.

Yuli quickly dragged him away, "oh no, don't look back, don't look back!"

Rowen looked back at his future daughter. "Your mother is going to be mad at me for teaching you all those fighting techniques, you know that don't you?"

"She'll get used to it," Rowena smiled and jumped up, "'night, Daddykins!" she kissed him on the side of his head and skipped up to her and Rini's room.

**************************************

The fire went out. The lights flashed on and off and then finally off for good. There was no water from anywhere and nothing was growing. The sky looked like it was going to fall on all who lived on the earth.

Something bad was happing to the world. There was someone, something coming. It was worse than the deadly silence. Much worse than the souls or memories taken away from living human beings. Their world was taken away by its life force, it's energy and everything that made it a planet. It was drained away and nothing was left but an empty ball and then it was destroyed into nothing. The next happened to the planets surrounding, followed by the moons and the stars and finally, the sun and the whole solar system was just pitch-black nothingness.

"Gaah," Raye sat up, her scream stuck in her throat, unable to escape. "How horrible," she moaned and closed her eyes. The image was still in her head.

"It's okay, Raye," she heard a male's voice say. She felt someone touch her shoulder.

"Ryo," she murmured.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Oh, did my screaming wake you up?" she asked.

"No," he replied, "you didn't' scream so you didn't wake me up or anyone else. I was already here."

"What are you doing in my room?" she demanded, the fear leaving her voice and replacing it with anger.

"I came in here to see if you were alright. I've noticed you weren't sleeping well lately and…"

"Well, I'm fine," she grumbled.

"Wow, Raye," Ryo said, "there's sweat all over your face."

"Thanks for noticing."

"Look, Raye, you don't have to be rude about it," Ryo snapped, "I care about you and a person needs their rest. Now tell me about this dream you're having."

"It's not of your business," Raye snarled. She sat up and walked out of the room.

"Of course it's my business!" Ryo said and grabbed her hand, whipping her around, "what if there's a new enemy? And you're dreaming about it? It can tell us something." He pulled her close to him and looked into her brown eyes. "If there's something bothering you, Raye, I want to know about it! I need to know! I care about you, don't you realize that?"

"I know, Ryo," she muttered. "I just, don't want to scare anyone. Maybe this is just some silly stupid dream I'm having that means nothing. It's probably from bad food."

"You can't blame all your bad dreams from bad food," Ryo told her. "Now tell me, what is your dream about?"

"I'm not sure yet," she said. "I--I can't tell you."

"Why not, don't you trust me?" he asked.

"Totally," she said, "but this dream is confusing. I'm going to the fire and maybe I'll learn something."

"Okay," he said, "I'm coming with you."

"You don't have to," she protested.

"But I am," he told her.

"Fine," she sighed, "come on." She went to the fireplace, lit it and knelt in front of it. Ryo knelt down beside her and they bowed their heads as Raye began to chant and move her fingers in certain signs. "Moon, Air, Fire, Rock…"

"Come on, Raye," Ryo encouraged, "you can do it."

Suddenly, the fire went out. Raye gasped and jumped to her feet, her eyes wide in horror. "Oh no."

"Raye, what's the matter?" Ryo asked, grabbing her arms and pulling her to him.

"The fire," she said, "It went out."

"We can rebuild it," Ryo suggested. "It's okay."

"No, this is what happened in my dream!" she shouted. "The first thing in my dream I saw a fire go out."

"What else happened?" he asked.

The lights began to flicker and then they went out completely. Raye ran to the light switch. She tried to turn the light on but an electric current stopped her. "No, this can't be happening! Hey, everyone, wake up!" she screamed. "Get up, get up right now!"

"What's going on?" Sage came out of his room rubbing his eyes.

"Hey, where's my pillow?" Kento cried, "how come every time I dream of eating a giant marshmallow, I wake up and find my pillow gone?!"

"We have an emergency!" Raye shouted.

"Hey, what's wrong with the lights?" Ami asked herself, trying to turn them back on. She grabbed a flashlight and turned it on. Two seconds later it shut off. "How can the batteries go dead when they're just brand new?"

The sailor scouts came out, "Raye, what's the matter?" Lita asked.

"The fire went out," Raye replied, "I had a dream and…"

"You woke us up all because of a dream?" Mina demanded, "well, thanksabunch! When you're done talking about it, can I go back to mine please?"

"Oh, was I in it, babe?" Kento asked.

"You should listen to this," Ryo said. "Okay, tell us what happened next in your dream."

"There was no water," Raye said.

Ami walked to the cupboard, took a glass and pulled the faucet. No water was coming out. "Someone hasn't been paying their water bill." Ami said.

"The fire went out, then it got dark," Raye said, "then there was no water, the ground was all barren and the sky was coming apart. But I don't know what it means!"

"I do," Vincent said.

"You do?" Rowena asked, "how?"

"It's part of the yoiori poem," Vincent said. "It's the missing part," he looked at Mia, "you told me about it in the future?"

Mia nodded, "the missing part."

"Missing part?" the ronin boys echoed.

"What poem?" Serena mumbled.

Rowena sighed, "Torch of spirit sought through five. Drinking strength from immortal fire. Darkest prison sheds the light. Churning beneath a swirl of salt. Burning within a throne of rock. Floating amongst the eyes of the ages. Unmoored in the stream of the sky'"

Vincent was impressed she knew the poem. He smiled at her and then he felt everyone's eyes on him as they waited for the rest of the poem. "' The five are strong but if there be a time when the fire burns out, someone will come back to light it. And when light glows dim, darkness will not last," Vincent continued, "When the river runs dry, the water will only be relocated. When the ground becomes barren, it will become fertile again. When the sky begins to fall, someone will hold it up. The five will have no need to disappear, because that will be the day the Phoenix will rise from the ashes and the sun will always continue to shine it's generous glow.'"

"The Phoenix had better get here soon," Raye said, "Because something bad is going to happen. And not just to our world, but the whole solar system!"

"It will come," Mia said, "trust me."

"How do you know?" Darien asked.

"I just do," Mia said, "I can't tell you anything about it now." She wanted to tell them, but she made a promise with the phoenix. It was supposed to remain a secret between only them. It reveal itself only to Mia and nobody else because they shared a special bond. The Phoenix gave her the gift of the armor of the sun. She will use it when the time was right.

"Hey, look!" Rini pointed out at the window, "the sky!"

They all ran out. The ground was just as Raye saw in her dream and the stars began to vanish one by one.

"It's getting dark," Serena mumbled.

"Is there a way to stop it?" Lita asked.

"I have an idea," Rowena said. "I just hope it works. Armor of Strata Moon Tao Innochi!" Dark blue and white sub armor came upon her. Unlike her father's that was white on the sides, it was white on the front and back, kind of like a two piece bathing suit that had the belly and lower back section cut out to look more like a female's armor. . She held her hands up and her mid back blue hair came up into a braid as the rest of the strata moon armor appeared on her.

"Man," Vincent moaned.

"Rowena," Rowen came up to her, "what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to prevent the sky from falling down on us," she said. She closed her eyes and a dark blue sphere went around her and she floated up in the sky.

"You think she can do it?" Vincent asked Rini.

"Rowena did a lot of things," Rini said, "and I'm sure she can do this."

Rowena reached her hand into her quiver and pulled out a moon arrow of life force. I hope this works, she thought to herself. "Arrow Shock Sky Scratching!" she sent her arrow into the atmosphere and it went out of the world and into space, leaving a long, giant tail behind it. It scratched the sky and the atmosphere, leaving a long dark blue streak across it."I did it!" she cried. "Yes!" then something came though the scratch, a giant spaceship of some kind. She didn't know that she hit the space ship and it shot at her.

"Rowena, look out!" Rowen shouted.

"Moon Arrow Shock Wave!" she sent another arrow at the space ship to defend herself. However it, hit her shield and it disappeared. Rowena began to fall.

"Oh no!" Rini, Rowen and Serena screamed in unison.

"Hold on, Rowena!" Vincent wanted to do something but wasn't sure what to do. He looked at his mask and almost pulled it out when…

"Armor of Strata, Tao Inochi!" Rowen armored up fast and went to save her when something weird happened.

"Quake With Fear!"

"Silence Wall!"

"Anubis?" Rowen mumbled.

"Sailor Saturn!" Rini shouted.

Vincent groaned and placed his mask back into his pocket.

Chains came up through the ground and Rowena became entangled in them. It kept her from falling to her death, but the chains weren't very comfortable when she landed in between them. The silence wall from Sailor Saturn kept the space ship from getting closer to the others and it sent it back out of the world.

When Rowen got to his only future daughter, she was in his once archenemy's arms. He wasn't sure to attack him or thank him.

"She'll be fine," Anubis instructed, handing the knocked out Rowena of Strata Moon in his arms. Her full armor of strata moon faded off and she was in her sub armor.

Rowen didn't know what to say. He still couldn't believe it.

"No need to thank me," Anubis said.

"Thank you, Anubis!" Serena shouted her thanks for Rowen.

Rowena groaned and turned her head to Anubis. "I know who you are," she said. "You're Anubis, warlord of Cruelty."

"Clever girl," Anubis said, "but I'm not that man anymore."

She smiled, "I'm glad."

"It's the other scouts," Lita announced.

"The warlords!" Sage cried.

"Hey, they're in armor," Raye said. "Like ours."

"I'm sorry we haven't been keeping in touch," Pluto said. She nearly giggled, looking at the scouts and warriors in their pajamas.

"Sailor P!" Rini ran into her arms, giggling.

"We thought you were all dead," Mina said. "What happened?"

"When the temple was destroyed," Kale explained, "and we were close to our deaths, we heard the ancient speaking to us. He said that our work was not done and then we survived."

"How did you get the new armor?" Serena asked. "We have armors now too."

"We got them before you did," Sailor Neptune responded.

"Is that why we saw you while we were looking for the girls?" Sai asked.

Sekhmet nodded, "that's right."

"Where's Lady Kayura?" Mia asked.

"We're not sure," Sailor Saturn said.

"Here I am," Lady Kayura came to the clearing, dressed as the ancient.

"We've been wondering about you," Anubis said.

"What was that thing?" Rowena groaned. "That thing that attacked me?"

"Does it have anything to do with my dream," Raye asked.

Pluto nodded, "yes."

"Why don't you show us what Raye saw in her dream," Ami suggested, "like you did during the threat of the heart snatchers."

"Are you sure you want to see this, guys?" Raye warned, "it's really scary!"

"Of course we do, Raye!" Lita cried.

"Yeah," Ryo said, "I want to see it too."

"We all do," Sage said, "we're all in this together."

"Then focus on my garnet rod and you will see just what Raye saw in her dream," she held it out in front of her and they began to see what Raye saw, image for image. The same thing happened to the girls just like it did before; they were in the middle of destruction. (Oh, you know what I mean. When everyone was saying something while they saw the dream…)

"This is awful," Ami said.

"The water is all gone," sighed Sai.

"People are dying," Lita moaned.

"It's getting so dark," noticed Sage.

"I'm so scared," mumbled Mina.

"The earth is all barren," Kento said.

"There's got to be something we could do," Serena said.

"The sky is falling apart," Rowen said.

"We can't let this happen," Ryo promised.

The images stopped. Ryo wrapped his arm around Raye.

"I told you it was scary," Raye said.

"We've got to do something," Serena said, clenching her fists. "Who's doing this, Pluto?"

"They are from another planet very far away," Pluto answered, "it is called Soahc."

"Chaos spelt backwards," Rowena pointed out.

"That's right," Pluto said, "their planet is falling apart at this moment, so they are going to every planet they can find to take away their energy."

"They have no right!" Lita growled. "Why don't they just live on one of their moons or something?"

"I agree with Lita!" Mars said.

"What keeps their planet and solar system in balance is a ring," Pluto went on. "They come from a solar system of only three planets. Each of those rings is getting smaller. It protects their planet like the ozone layer protects this one."

"Are the beings from the other two coming here?" Rini asked.

"No," Pluto shook her head, "They have no way to leave their planets. Soach was the only one with the resources to build a ship. They will drain away the life and energy from each planet. I'm not sure which one they will start with, but it would either be the planet Pluto or Mercury and if they drain away them completely, it won't just keep us from becoming sailor soldiers, it may destroy us."

The sailors gasped, "I don't believe it!"

"We have to do something," Lita urged, "we can't let them do this to the solar system!"

"Hey," Yuli muttered, "my watch just stopped." He pulled his wrist to his ear. "That's weird."

"No," Pluto sighed. She dropped her garnet rod. The end of it hit the ground first, then the top, bouncing back in forth in slow motion.

"Pluto, are you alright?" Kale asked.

She didn't reply. Her armor disappeared and showed her original sailor scout uniform. The tiara fell from her forehead and it clanged as it hit the ground. She fell to her knees, looking spacey and the rest of the uniform disappeared. Her eyelids flickered up and down and her eyes turned to the back of her head as she fell face down.

Kale came to her side and flipped her around. Her eyes were open and they looked hazy. "Can you hear me? Trista, tell me you can hear me." He pulled her up closer to him. "Come on, you can do it. Speak to me."

Ami ran to her and pushed Kale back, "let me through," she said and knelt down by Trista. She put her ear to her mouth, "she's not breathing." She roused for a pulse, "no pulse…oh no."

Kale stepped back, "do something."

"Come on, Trista," Ami lifted her chin and gave her two breaths. Everyone crowded around to watch Ami work on Trista, but gave her enough room. They coached her silently. "Breathe," Ami said, "come on, breathe. Breathe, Trista!"

"It's what just what Pluto said," Neptune mumbled, "and I'm next…"

"Don't speak like that, Sailor Neptune," Sekhmet scowled softly. "Nothing's going to happen to you, understand?"

She nodded as she placed her palms together and rubbed them on her forehead.

Ami continued to work on Trista for thirty more seconds. Finally, she was able to get a pulse but no breath yet. She continued rescue breathing. Two more breaths and Trista coughed and Ami helped her sit up.

"Just breathe normally now," Ami said.

"What happened to me?" Trista asked, though she was physically all right, her eyes still looked hazy.

"They must have started draining the power from your planet," she replied.

"Who? What?"

"It's okay, Trista," Kale took her hand, "everything is going to be fine."

"Who are you?" she demanded.

Kale gasped, "Trista, it's me, Kale, don't you remember?"

She shook her head. "What's going on?"

"I wonder if these guys have anything to do with the memory maimers," Rini said.

"I doubt it," Rowena said, "they took away all the energy from the planet Pluto and it almost killed Trista. She doesn't remember anything about being a sailor scout."

"But we need her," Serena said, "she's probably the only one that can get us to the planet so we can stop these guys."

"Without her, we can't go anywhere. Time and space doesn't even exist right now."

"What are you talking about?" Trista asked, "Pluto? Time and space?"

"Listen to me, Trista," Kale said, "this may sound crazy to you but you are Sailor Pluto, the soldier of time and space. You guard the gate of space-time. There are beings from another solar system that are trying to destroy this one. They got to your planet and that's why you don't remember being a sailor scout. You almost died." He looked around to find something that might help. Her garnet rod was still on the ground. He picked it up, "this belongs to you."

Trista sighed and took the garnet rod, "it does?"

"Yes, Trista," he told her.

She blinked a couple of times and her eyes changed to the way they were before she collapsed. "K-Kale?"

He smiled and wrapped his hands around her head as he stroked her hair. "Yes, Trista, it's me. Everything is going to be just fine. Do you remember what happened?"

"Aliens zapped my planet," she replied.

"That's pretty much what happened," Neptune smiled.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Can she transform now?" Rini asked.

"No, her planet was drained of its power," Rowena said, "but she's alive."

"Now my watch is doing something weird," Yuli said.

The ocean seemed to be getting shallower down by the beach. Neptune gasped and fell to the ground as she clutched her heart and her armor was changing to her original uniform and back again.

"Neptune!" Sekhmet cried. He placed his arms around her shoulders.

"The ocean," she mumbled, "it's getting smaller and…"

"Nothing's going to happen to you," Sekhmet promised.

"I wish you were right about that," she wheezed. Her wheezing began to lessen and she felt some kind of energy coming from Sekhmet's hold. "What are you doing?"

"Just relax," he said. "You'll be fine." He helped her to her feet and kept his arm around her waist.

"These guys are moving fast," Uranus said, "we have to do something before they reach my planet."

Saturn paced the ground and she growled under her breath, tightening her fingers around her glaive. She spun around and cut the air, making a portal open up. (She probably didn't have the ability to travel like this before, but I'm saying she can with the armor. I mean, how else was she able to get to planets to destroy them? Ask Pluto to open the gate?)

"Where are you going?" Anubis demanded, rushing behind her.

"To destroy their planets before they destroy ours!" she replied with a hiss.

"Then I'm coming with you!" he barked, grabbing her arm. "I'm not going to let you go alone!" The painful memories came back to his mind when he found Hotaru close to death in the nether world. If he was any later getting to her…

"Don't stop me Anubis," she told him, "this is the only way."

"We're coming with you too," Serena said. "We can't let you do this by yourself."

Saturn nodded, "let's hurry then," she said, "or everything will go down for us."

"Okay, scouts, we've got work to do!" Serena ordered. She took out her swords (their weapons are their new transformation sticks. I didn't know if I should use their old ones but to make them look different or use their helmets or what! Does this make any sense?) "Moon Armor Power!" She pivoted around as she threw her swords around and twirled them like batons. Her boots appeared on her legs and the rest of the armor appeared going up. She ended her pose with one sword up and one across her chest and her legs

"Mercury Armor Power!" Ami shouted as she held her arms up over her head and her ice hammer appeared in them. She held it out in front of her and dropped it on the ground, making around her ice and even herself. It went up around her and her armor appeared on her body. She picked up her hammer with her right hand, stood with her legs shoulder width apart. Holding the hammer next to her body, she slid her left arm behind her back and took a hold of her elbow. (I like that much better her old stance. With her knees together like that, it looks like she has to go to the bathroom or something!)

"Mars Armor Power!" Raye held one arm out and her Mars Fire Bow appeared in her hand. She spun around and tossed the bow up over her head. It came down her body, making her armor appear. When it located down her ankles, she kicked it up and pulled out an arrow, catching the bow in her hand and holding the bow, ready to fire.

"Jupiter Armor Power!" Lita held her hand out in front of her with her palm up. The Lightning Spear of Jupiter appeared in it and she closed her hand over the spear and turned her hand. She held the staff over her head with both hands. Lightning struck the spearhead as twirled it over her head and around her body from the head down. Then she held it behind her back horizontally as a leaf fell down on her foot.

"Venus Armor Power!" She cracked her heart chain whip of Venus and spun it around her head. Hearts and stars twirled around her body and when she cracked her chain whip again, she stood in the armor of Venus with a hand on her right hip.

"Moon Soul Life Power!" (I think I'll change that phrase someday soon. Does it sound kind of corny? I think Moon Rose Power sounds better…but Rowena told her to say 'moon life soul power') Rini held up her brioche and moonbeams and roses swarmed around her. A rose bud in the background began to grow as she twirled around. The white and pink body suit appeared on her. She held out her arms and her gloves appeared on them followed by the boots on her legs. Her tiara came across her forehead and the rose behind her was in full bloom.

"Moon Strata Power!" Because she didn't have enough strength to stay be in her armor, Rowena changed from her sub armor to her sailor scout uniform.

The Ronin Warriors changed and Darien became Tuxedo Mask. Vincent watched in surprise when Yuli's pajamas changed into a mystical kendo outfit shining with silver.

Saturn tapped her foot, "that wasn't fast enough."

"Uh oh," Uranus mumbled.

Dais nearly jumped and turned around, thinking that her planet was being destroyed next. "What's wrong?"

She pointed to the sky, "Look, what is that?"

A huge space ship was floating above them. They raised their eyes up at it and then an energy beam fell down upon them.

"Great, we're being abducted!" Mars cried.

Nothing could prepare them for what they would find in the ship and all that they could think was, 'I hope they don't look like giant bugs'.

To Be Continued….

Oh, no, there's the end of Part 2! What will happen next? Find out in the next part of Masked Phoenix: "From the Ashes."