The Masked Phoenix
Part II
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….
