Chronicles of the Challenge

by Azharia Kyrissaen

Strange crossover between DBZ, GW, SM, Xmen, and a few others. They all get brought to a deserted planet to fight enhanced versions of their old enemies for the fate of the universe. Sort of a mix. Comedy, Romance, Adventure, and just plain strange. Long

4. Disaster

Chronicles of the Challenge ~ Ch 3


Hey people!! I'm BACK!! Sorry this took so long to get out, but I'm doing my leaving-cert this year, and bad leaving-cert = no college, so my writing time is limited. Plus MY COMPUTER DIED!!! It was horrible...Really Traumatic....:(....... Anyway thanks for your patience (whether you had any or not!) and THANKS SO MUCH for all your nice reviews! **pointedly ignores all the meanies who didn't review**

Anyway this chapter is written in chronological order instead of by group. If I wrote it like the last one, people would probably end up in five places at once, cause there's a lot happening. If you have any questions about anything, don't hesitate to email me, or ask in the review. By the way you'll probably notice that I've slightly changed the FF8 GFs in this. They're much more powerful, and cannot be killed, only bound willingly or unwillingly to a holder (who must be strong enough to hold them) Just stay with me, OK, there is a reason. Anyway, Enjoy!!


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The first person to stir the next morning was Serena, prompted by some mysterious instinct to notice that her warm pillow, Darien, was no longer where he should be. She sat up groggily looking around for her boyfriend, and wiped her eyes and stood up quickly when she realized that he was not in the room. Around her, her friends slept on.

Gohan was comatose, draped over a couch in the corner. Warren and Setsuna had fallen asleep where they sat the night before, and, having shifted positions in their sleep, she was now resting on his shoulder, kept warm in the shelter of one of his big wings. Trowa lay against another wall, and Serena blinked in astonishment at the young girl who slept curled up a few feet away from him. Hotaru was now about 18, and even in sleep she was stunningly beautiful.

Serena crept so as not to wake them, knowing that they had a long day ahead of them. When she reached the hall, she looked around indecisively, wondering where to search, until she heard some muted voices floating down the stairs. Smiling in recognition, she started up quietly, intent on surprising her boyfriend. As she neared the top of the stairs, the conversation became audible. The other voice belonged to Sharol, their heroic rescuer from the previous day's adventures. Curious, Serena stopped to listen for a moment.

".....really how you feel?" came Sharol's voice.

"Yes. I can't explain it, but those people out there are not my friends. I've never been so certain of anything in my life. I only realized it last night."

"Any why come to me with this problem. Do you think I can help?"

"I don't know, but when I saw you yesterday, it was as if I recognized you, as if deep down, I knew you from somewhere. Now that I know those aren't my friends, that made you the only person I felt I could talk to."

"Oh Darien, you feel it too? I knew at once, but when I saw Sailor Moon I was afraid to tell you. I was afraid of her."

"Felt what? Afraid of her? What do you mean?"

"Felt my soul-mate. You and I are meant to be one. I was afraid she would try and stop me if I told you. She's been controlling your mind, her and the other scouts. They want you for their own evil purposes. But now you know."

"Controlling me? That's it! Your presence must have helped me break their spell! Now they can never keep us apart. I will...."

"Shhhhhh....."

There was sudden silence, and Serena peeked her tear-streaked face silently around the corner. Her boyfriend was engaged in a passionate kiss with Sharol. There was a moment in which Serena almost thought she could feel her heart breaking, before she turned and stumbled down the stairs and out of the building, dashing tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. She tripped as she ran, but she pulled herself up and continued her mad sprint away from the others. She didn't care where she headed, or the dangers that faced her out alone, she just ran mindlessly from the memory of Darien's betrayal.

Sharol watched over Darien's shoulder, and saw her flee. She wore a cruel smile of satisfaction as she marveled at how easy it was to create chaos and dissorder.

It was a while before anyone woke up and noticed Serena was gone.

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Piccolo woke his traveling companions early, and at his authoritative urgings, the group was quickly ready to head out again towards their target Gundam. It took almost an hour for Rini and Gotu to persuade their frustrated mentor to persist in their education, and finally it was Kurt's intervention that had convinced Piccolo to continue the flying lessons. However continue he did, and although he didn't succeed in getting the two young ones airborne separately, they soon perfected their joint flight. Before long they were mere hours away from the Gundam.

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Wu-Fei hadn't slept. The tension in the room, combined with the fact that they hadn't eaten in ages, meant that only Aria and Rogue had slept at all. Everyone sat lost in their own thoughts, and so no-one really paid any attention when he stood up and went up-stairs.

Michiru hadn't been seen or heard from all night. Since it was almost morning, Wu-Fei figured that someone should find her, and because the rest of the group seemed too damn lazy, that left the up to him. He wished it didn't. How was he supposed to convince a weak grief-stricken woman to pull herself together and rejoin the group? He sighed and continued up the stairs. She wasn't on the second floor. A cursory glance told him she wasn't on the third, fourth or fifth either.

Shrugging and muttering something uncomplimentary under his breath about women in general, he reached the sixth floor. It contained a single small room. A large window was thrown open to the elements, making this room even colder than below stairs. Michiru's blue hair waved frantically in the wind, as she sat on he sill with her legs dangling out the window. It was obvious she was seriously considering a jump.

From what Wu-Fei had heard, these scouts' power could withstand huge injuries, but what if they didn't want to survive? The fall would certainly send her to join her friend. Wu-Fei cursed under his breath. He shouldn't have bothered coming up. He had no idea how to deal with this situation, but since he was the only one there, he cursed again and proceeded to handled it in a uniquely Wu-Fei style.

"Don't be so weak!" Michiru was jerked out of her sorrows by the harsh voice behind her. She swung her head around to see the Gundam pilot glaring at her angrily. Semi-frozen tears glinted in the pale pre-morning light as she whispered back; "She died. I was last; it should have been me! Now she's all alone in death. It should have been me....."

He snorted at her angrily. "Yes. You were last. You weren't fast enough. If you were quicker, she'd still be alive, but she's not. Because she gave her life for you. You dishonor her sacrifice by throwing away your life." As he spoke, pain turned to agony in her eyes as she heard a stranger echo her culpability aloud. Without waiting for a response, he continued.

"I suppose what can I expect. You're a woman! A weak willed woman! You don't have the courage to live on. Dying is the easy option!" At these words, a new light slowly formed in her previously dead eyes. A light of grim determination and silent mourning. She seemed about to climb in through the open window again, when a particularly strong gust of wind banged the shutters against her. There was a long moment in which she desperately grasped at the sill for support, before loosing her hold and sliding out into thin air. Her shrill scream pierced the air, before a hand gripped her wrist firmly, and began to slowly pull her up.

Wu-Fei had reacted on instinct when he saw her fall, and now strained his muscles to pull her back into the room. It seemed like forever before the weight on his arm suddenly disappeared, and Michiru collapsed in the window, knocking him over and falling into his arms.

He sat there for a moment, before realizing that she was crying. Not the hysterical sobs of last-night, nor the heart-broken tears of moments before, but the silent shaking that signaled acceptance of her loss. He held her, with an expression of horror and terror, frozen in shock that a girl would choose his shoulder to cry on. He wanted to bolt, but was almost afraid to move. He looked down at the girl n his arms, and though he was bursting to say something, anything, for some reason he couldn't force the words 'Weak; or 'Woman' through his lips.

Downstairs, everyone was beginning to rise. Aria was still deep in sleep, troubled by dreams of gray mists. Trunks shook her shoulder gently, as she showed no signs of waking. She merle curled up tightly, pulling her 'blanket' tighter around her. He was about to shake her again, when her hand moved on the edge of his jacket, obviously realizing that the unfamiliar material was certainly no blanket. She woke quickly then, and sat up, looking at the jacket she had slept warmly under. Then she looked at him with wide eyes, and he couldn't contain a dramatic shiver. The temperature was, after all, sub-zero. She wordlessly handed it back to him, and her warm smile of thanks made his face grow hot. He quickly turned to hide his embarasment, and wandered away, wondering why, in Kami's name had he spent the night shivering when he had a perfectly good jacket with him. It was baffling, but for some reason, he didn't regret it in the slightest.

Aria watched him walk away with a small smile. Privately she had to admit to herself that he was totally cute, and the fact that he was seemingly oblivious to how sweet he was to give her his jacket was simply adorable. She sat back, content to watch him silently with eyes that changed colour every few moments.

Trunks could feel eyes watching him, but he shrugged off the feeling and approached his father. "What is it?" Vegeta asked impatiently. Trunks shrugged. "I just thought it might be a good idea for someone to go out and check if that mist thing is gone. I'm going out now." Vegeta nodded, and he headed towards the exit.

Vegeta watched him open the door. He felt that whatever was out there was probably unlike anything they had ever, or maybe even could ever fight. Just as his son left the room, he called after him, "Trunks!" Trunks turned around. "Watch your back!" He muttered something about someone called Bulma being mad. Trunks nodded wordlessly and exited into the crisp morning air.

There was no mist in sight. Nothing in any direction. Just as he was about to return to their shelter, a noise drew his attention to something hurtling towards him from above. Taken by surprise he gathered his ki. Then he saw the source of the noise. A small creature was speeding down from above him, squeaking in apparent terror. A large fanged bat-like creature the size of a man was in close pursuit. When the giant bat saw him, surrounded by the aura of ki, it turned tail and fled. Disgusted that he had let himself be surprised by such a pathetic little creature, he powered down, grateful that with this world's blanketing fields, his father probably wouldn't have felt his momentary surge of power. He turned back onto the building.

Aria stood up when she saw Trunks re-enter the room. Just as he crossed the thresh-hold however, something small and shiny whizzed up behind him and crashed into the back of his head. He let out a yell and stumbled forwards. Everyone leapt up. Vegeta suddenly surrounded himself with a glowing energy, Aria drew her sword, and Gambit pulled out a glowing card, ready to throw it at something.

Trunks grasped frantically at a small creature that had attached itself to the back of his head. A small scaly tail wrapped itself around his neck. "Ack!! It's trying to choke me!!" Seeing how small his assailant was, everyone let out a sigh of relief, and relaxed. Gambit and Rogue were hard pressed not to laugh at the scene before them, as Aria joined him and tried to dislodge his scaly attacker. It took a while, as it didn't seem to want to budge. Finally she managed to dislodge it from him, and took it into her arms. "It's adorable!!!!" she exclaimed. He turned around, rubbing the back of his head to straighten his hair, and glared evilly at the creature.

"Hey! That's that thing I just saved!! Why'd it attack me??" Aria looked at the small creature in her arms. It was like a miniature dragon, about as long as her arm from tip to tail, with shining golden scales and big deep trusting eyes. "Maybe it likes you!" she grinned. He granted it another scowl almost worthy of his father, and it gazed back at him adoringly. Aria looked at him pleadingly. "Can I keep him? Please?" He shook his head. "Do what you want. He's not mine! And I'm certainly not keeping him!" She thanked him with another wide smile which sent him fleeing in embarrassment.

Everyone was ready to leave when they were joined by Wu-Fei and Michiru. Michiru looked as sorrowful as one would expect, but also quite curious and surprised. Her eyes were fixed on Wu-Fei, and she clutched his hand with her own. She seemed to have recovered her will, if not her confidence. Wu-Fei, for his part, looked as if he was about bolt. His eyes held a wild look, and kept darting towards the exit. It was obvious that nothing in his life had prepared him for the terror of a girl with a crush. He did not, however, pull back his hand.

There were a few more moments, in which everyone agreed to go on towards their target Gundam, and Aria gave Michiru an encouraging smile. Then they set out once again. The little dragon creature seemed to have decided to join them, and was curled up contentedly on Aria's shoulder, with it's tail around her neck. She had come to the conclusion that it was male, and given it the name Coll.

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Elsewhere Sam, Bobby and Goten had also risen early and were heading towards where the guessed Rei should be. Their failure to find Amy and Mina the night before had caused a unanimous decision to seek the help of Sailor Mars' mystic powers. They were speeding through the air above the streets of city as fast as they dared when Goten's Saiyjin hearing heard someone crying beneath them.

Without any explanation to his friends he speed towards the sound, closely followed by a confused Bobby and Sam. The sight that greeted him was a young girl curled up at the side of the road, sobbing uncontrollably. He thought he recognized her as the leader of the Sailor Scouts, and she seemed oblivious to the looming monstrosity behind her, raising a claw to impale her.

Instinctively, Goten threw a Kamekameha at the creature, obliterating it on the spot. When Serena heard the noise, she looked up, and seeing what had happened, she started crying again. Goten helped her up, and remembering her name, he asked her as nicely as he could what she was doing alone away from her group. She gave an unintelligible response.

He tried again, asking where was the guy she had been with before, and wouldn't her boyfriend be worried. He took a step back with the vehemence of her response when she stated that she did NOT have a boyfriend. 'No boyfriend?' he thought, 'A beautiful girl like this with no boyfriend? Excellent!'

With the help of Bobby and Sam, he quickly explained where they were going, deciding that she would have to come with them rather than stay out in the city alone. When she heard of the danger facing her two friends, her unexplained misery was instantly replaced with panic. "What? Where? We have to save them!"

Sam explained in his characteristic drawling accent that they were already trying to find them but couldn't. She brushed this aside, saying, "They are my friends. I can find them! How do we defeat these monsters when we get there?" The three guys looked at each other silently, unwilling to admit that their grand plan had been to rush in and attack anything that moved. She looked at them in exasperation, and, taking charge, ordered them to come up with a good way to destroy the monsters (nobody dared correct her with the word symbiant), while she located her fellow scouts. Then she walked to the other side of the street, and put her hands on her hips. The next step was to figure out exactly how she intended to find her friends.

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Beast and Quatre were lying face down on a roof top looking down at Gundam Deathscythe. Quatre was dealing with his disappointment that he had not found his Sandrock, but they had a bigger problem. The Gundam was in a large warehouse, which also served as home to a nest of what could only be referred to as demons, and from what the two on the roof had observed, they were very violent demons. They had been observing the scene for almost an hour trying to come up with a plan, when Beasts Mini-com beeped. He grabbed it and silenced it frantically, buy luckily none of the creatures below seemed to hear.

He picked it up and looked at the scene. The display showed Bobby and Sam, along with one of the muscular warriors from another earth. Beast but a blue finger to his lips to silence them, and, whispering, asked how he could help.

Sensing the need for silence, Bobby whispered back in low tones that they needed to know Venom and Carnage's weaknesses. Beast shrugged, quietly answering "Well I heard that they could be contained by a type of sonic shield, so I summarize that some sounds are painful to them. Unfortunately, we don't have the equipment to create such sounds. Banshee could probably do it but he's not here. You'll have to find another way of defeating them." He said goodbye to his disappointed young friends, sorry he could not help them more. Then, he powered off his mini-com to avoid another telltale bleep giving away their position, and turned to Quatre, to tell him that he had finally come up with a plan.

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Serena returned to the boys grateful that she had been able to find the direction her friends were in. She would have looked pretty silly if she had failed, but luckily the bond between the Sailor Scouts was strong enough that she had managed it.

The disappointed look on their faces was discouraging. You guys, what's wrong. You don't have an idea? "Well we found out that they can be contained by sonic shields, but..." started Bobby, but he stopped when he saw her blank face. He sighed, and explained in simpler terms. "They don't like high noises." Her face lit up with understanding, and she looked relieved. "Then we need Sailor Pluto!"

"Sailor Pluto?" they asked. "What can she do against these things?" Serena smiled at them, the determination to save her friends making her forget the morning's discovery entirely. "Think about it. Her main attack is the Pluto Deadly Scream." She explained.

"Deadly Scream?" echoed Sam. "That's gonna hurt.... But it mahht just work!" It was quickly agreed that they needed to contact Setsuna, but when Goten pulled out his mini-com so she could contact her friend, Serena balked. A fearful look overtook her face, and she exclaimed that she couldn't possibly talk to that group, because 'he' might be there. Goten shrugged, promising himself that when this was all over, he would find the guy who was causing her such obvious grief and ram him through a few walls. Feeling a lot better with this decision, he contacted Sailor Pluto himself.

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Setsuna and Hotaru were frantic, although with their calm appearances no-one who didn't know them well would have guessed it. They had woken to find their numbers had almost halved. Serena had vanished, and closer searching revealed that Darien and the mysterious Sharol were also missing. The two scouts were worried about Darien, of course, but the main source of their concern was the whereabouts of their Moon-Princess.

They had just given up hope of her re-appearing and were about to contact the other scouts when Setsuna's mini-com started bleeping. "Maybe it's her!" said Gohan hopefully. Setsuna pulled it out hurriedly and answered, masking her disappointment well when the figure on the screen was not Sailor Moon. Gohan, who was looking over her shoulder, cheered up though.

"Goten! What's the matter?" he asked. "Well umm... we had a bit of trouble last night, and Sailor Venus and Mercury were, umm... sort of captured." He hurried on when he heard the worried gasps of their friends. "But we've found them! Serena located them, and..." Setsuna interrupted quickly in a relieved voice, "Sailor Moon is with you? How? Is she OK?"

After Goten reassured her that Serena was fine, he explained the weakness of the creatures, and why they thought that she could help them. Setsuna agreed immediately to join them, not only because Mina and Amy needed her, but because she was worried about Serena. Darien didn't seem to be there, and Setsuna could think of no real reason why her friend had not contacted her herself.

Just then, Trowa interrupted, speaking for the first time that morning. "What about the Gundam? Where's Quatre?" Goten explained that they had split up, and described the robots they had encountered, seemingly working with the two creatures. "Quatre's gone to find a Gundam. He can meet up with us there, we'll give him directions. We may need him."

They spoke for a few moments, before Goten gave them the co-ordinates to meet at, and said goodbye. Setsuna was the first to speak. "So how do we get there, it's a long way, and we don't have much time."

Trowa shook his head without expression. "I won't be coming with you. If Quatre's gone to get his Mobile Suit, I will too, and I'll meet you there." After such a long speech (compared to his usual silence), he seemed slightly surprised that no-one objected.

Setsuna nodded. "Ok. Hotaru, you go with him, make sure he makes it safely to the Gundam. No-one should travel alone here. There rest of us will go straight to Serena and the others and you can meet us there."

Hotaru seemed about to protest, but Setsuna quickly reassured her that they would meet up again before their princess was in any danger. Hotaru looked at the quiet teenager beside her for a moment, and nodded. The two wordlessly left. Setsuna was guilty for a moment for breaking her promise to the girl's guardians, but she was 18 now, circumstances had changed in the past 24 hours. She felt even guiltier when she realized that she had just sent a child unfamiliar with the experience of being 18 away alone with a good-looking boy of the same age. Oh well, it was necessary.

She walked out into the crisp morning air with her companions, and turned to them. "Now all we must do is reach them in time, we have a long way to go." She frowned in worry, but Gohan smiled at her happily. "Don't worry, we'll fly!"

She looked at him quizzically. "I thought you couldn't fly or something might detect your energy?"

He shook his head. "No, Goten sent me a message that power levels aren't a problem here. No one will detect them. So I can fly, and I presume he can too." He gestured at Archangel's wings.

Archangel tossed him a wry grin and decided to show just how useful his wings really were. His grin turned evil, as he walked up behind the young woman who (to his secret happiness) had slept on his shoulder the night before. Without warning, he grabbed her around the waist and launched into the air, closely followed by Gohan. Taken completely by surprise, it was all the usually composed Guardian of Time could do to give them coherent directions. Once she got used to it however, she settled into the arms of the winged X-man to enjoy the ride.

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Darien watched his companion silently, as she watched the group below them. She had told him that they must help defeat his previous allies before they would be able to escape this world. He had been eager for an all out attack on the people who had used him, and invaded his mind, but Sharol preferred to observe and plan first. He agreed to her plan because he felt he owed her his life, she had saved him from the mind control. Besides, an unfamiliar but insistent voice in the back of his head kept telling him that he loved her.

Sharol sat silently on the rooftop and watched the group battling below her, searching their minds for her next target. The tall green man was out of the question. He would be too difficult to control. Similarly, the little blue creature with the tail had too much inner balance to be easily converted. The two children were not even worthy of consideration. That left the three teenagers. One of them seemed to have no discernable power, and was just shooting at their attacker with a gun.

She turned her attention to the Black-haired girl throwing fire and the boy with the messy brown hair and the sword. Running out of hope, she examined the boy first. He seemed pretty normal to begin with, but as she probed deeper, she found something shocking. He shared his mind with a number of other spirits, seemingly held as slaves by him. And one of them, the most powerful, was raging for freedom.

An evil smile marred her beautiful features. She abandoned the idea of mind-controlling any of them, and decided to see what would happen if the creature was released. With the skill and patience of a master, she carefully unbound the ties that bound the spirit. When that was done, all she needed to do was give him some strong subconscious encouragement to summon the creature, and watch the ensuing confusion.

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Suddenly something in Callum's mind snapped. "That's IT!! This is utterly FUTILE!! Everyone back off! If this thing likes absorbing energy so much, lets see how it likes being drained of it!!"

The source of Callum's frustration was a large ugly demon creature that simply absorbed their attacks and grew, throwing the energy back at them after feeding on it. Physical attacks were useless against it, and they had been dodging its attacks for twenty minutes so far while they tried to find an attack that would actually inflict some damage rather than feeding the creature. Everyone was getting edgy, and when Callum blew a fuse and yelled at them to back off, even Piccolo pulled back to see what he had in mind.

Callum determinedly faced the demon and began reciting the ritual words of summoning. He completed it by pulling one hand towards his chest and pushing the other towards his target. Then, to everyone's amazement, he faded out of sight.

Callum felt an agonizing wrench and a malicious laughter echoed in the nothingness that surrounded him. Something was horribly wrong. He just had time to realize what was happening before the pain overwhelmed him and everything went black.

Everyone watched as a swarm of bats rose out of nowhere and cast a shadow over the whole area. It began to form into a large ball of pulsing dark energy out of which emerged a large dripping black devil-like being that almost radiated fear on those around it.

Rini and Gotu` staggered back in fright, holding hands tightly. Nightcrawler stood in front of them protectively. Heero watched the creature emerge, realizing by now that his bullets weren't having much effect, and that he needed a Gundam, preferably his own. Mars was holding her hands ready to blast fire at the thing at an instants notice, and Piccolo was waiting for some indication of what the thing was and what it wanted.

Every eye was glued to it as it turned and, to their shock, annihilated their attacker with a gesture. Then it turned back to them. A chilling otherworldly laughter echoed around them. It looked over them once, and, as if deeming them beneath his notice, turned its attention to a space in front of them.

A mass of black energy gathered to form a human shape, and suddenly Callum was before them again, writhing in agony. As his new companions watched in horror, another hollow laugh echoed the street, displaying the entity's amusement at Callum's mindless cries of pain.

Before the shocked group could react, The black demon spoke for the first time. In an unnatural, low, grating voice, it addressed its oblivious captive. "You who thought to hold and control the Demon Lord of the Forces of Darkness, now suffer a fitting punishment. You will join me, my slave, to lead my Army of Darkness." Another chilling laugh echoed through the street.

The black energy surrounding Callum grew so thick they could no longer see him. They could hear his piercing scream of torment however, before all went silent. The energy cleared, and he floated there, perfectly calm. He was surrounded by an energy similar to the ki familiar to the Z-Warriors, but it was a pulsing black shade identical to the demon looming behind him.

His allies remained still, unsure as to what was happening. The expression on his face was wrong, out of place for the carefree optimistic youth they had come to know recently. Rei hesitantly stepped towards him, but was shoved back roughly by a silent suspicious Piccolo. She looked at him questioningly, then jerked her eyes back at Callum, as he began to laugh a cruel, heartless laugh.

She pushed away Piccolo's arm, and he allowed her to step forward, facing their friend. She spoke to him, slowly, "Callum, are you OK? What happened..." She was cut off as he smiled at her, with a smile that never reached his eyes.

"The one you know as Callum is no more. Only I, General of the Armies of the Dark Lord Diablos remain. I go now, to gather the demons of this realm, but take this, a parting gift from my master to those who aided the one who held him captive."

As he spoke, his new master stretched forth a clawed fist, over which formed a seething sphere of dark energy. Piccolo took an involuntary step backwards, as did Rei, Gotu and Rini, for although he felt the enormous dark power radiating from it most clearly, it was blatantly obvious to anyone who could recognise it.

As Callum finished, the demon launched it towards them, laughing. The shockwave of its launch hit them before the blast itself, knocking Rini and Gotu off their feet. Everyone braced themselves and jumped out of the way, but the two children were frozen in shock. Piccolo noticed the son of his pupil out of the corner of his eye, and without thinking, changed the direction of his jump to knock him out of harms way.

He was too late. Impact. The explosion devastated the area, and as the smoke and dust cleared Rei stumbled to her feet in horror and despair, thinking blindly 'how will I explain this to Serena and Darien....' There was another demonic laugh and Callum and the monstrosity he called Master vanished.

Rei ran towards where Rini had been crouching moments before and let out a cry of relief as the dust cleared and the two youngsters became visible, intact (if a little singed) and clinging to one another in horror. The expression on Rini's face gave Rei a pause; she had never seen such horror on the usually spirited girl's face. Then she saw the charred body in front of them. Nightcrawler had obviously teleported in at the last moment to save them, but, without time to get them away, he had simply taken the blast for them. As the group watched in sudden silence, the body of the X-man began to fade, and vanished. Within a few moments, they had effectively lost two of their companions.

A few minutes later Rei was surrounded by two upset young warriors demanding to go to their 'daddies' immediately. Wordlessly Piccolo pulled out the mini-com he had been given. He answered Heero's questioning stare shortly. "We need to know what that thing that took Callum was. It's loose in the city now. His cousin might know."

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From her vantage point above the events, Sharol gaped in astonishment. She hadn't expected anything on this scale. Things just got better and better. She grinned. Her master would be pleased. She sensed Darien approach her from behind, and turned to face him. He was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Did you do that?" She shrugged. "Yes, I mean no, well, I'm not sure. But whatever it was, it was perfect! Come on, we've caused enough chaos here for now. I think it's time we found this Sailor Moon of yours, and paid her back for what she did to you!" Giving one last look to the destruction behind them, the two left the scene.

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In a warehouse at the other side of town, time unpaused, and Freiza looked around in momentary disorientation. Then his face twisted in hate as he realized what his new 'ally' had done to him. "You will pay Kaerack, but first, I want revenge on Goku, and that purple haired kid!" The kid Kaerack had identified as Trunks, Vegeta's son. Vegeta's son had killed him, how rich. Now they would all pay the price. With a frightening grin pasted across his face, he flew out of the warehouse in search of Goku or Trunks, cursing the force on the planet that made energy levels undetectable. Oh well, it was only a matter of time! He could already feel his full strength returning to him and multiplying, as Kaerack had promised. Before long, he sensed a faint power to his left, and veered towards it.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Vegeta lead the way through the deserted streets, grumbling at the presence of the weak fools who would be left behind if he flew ahead. He wanted to, as the pace was driving him crazy, but he wasn't even sure what a Gundam was, so there was no point in going on ahead. Rogue and Gambit followed a few meters behind, talking quietly. Next was Wu-Fei, who was still trying to shake the silent Michiru off his arm. Last came Aria and Trunks. Trunks was trying to persuade Aria to explain why her eyes continually changed colour, and she was grinning and refusing to answer.

Everyone stopped when they heard a mini-com beep. Hastily Aria pulled it out and answered ignoring the others who gathered around to see. Vegeta leaned against a nearby building, even more irritated at the delay. The screen flickered to life and a green face appeared.

"Piccolo," greeted Trunks over Aria's shoulder. Piccolo nodded wordlessly to him and looked back at the girl he had called. "We lost your cousin." He said bluntly. Aria stared at him in confusion. He explained what had happened in short clipped sentences, his face showing its usual lack of emotion. Rogue's face went white when she heard of the fate of her foster-brother. Aria shook her head in denial as Piccolo finished the story and fell silent, waiting for a response. Trunks' hand moved discretly up to rest on her shoulder in support as she stammered, "Diablos, it has to be... But how? Callum wouldn't have released him. He must have escaped, and Callum..." She shook her head again as if to rid herself of such thoughts, and a look of determination crossed her delicate features.

"Send me your co-ordinates, I'm coming to meet you!" she announced. "Do you know how to stop this thing?" Heero demanded from the background of her screen. She hesitated before nodding, as she thought silently "Yes, I know how to stop him, but it will not come to that. I won't let it. There has to be another way!"

Within moments, she had the co-ordinates on her screen, and turned to go. Trunks followed her. "I'm coming too. I can get you there much faster." She gave him a small worried smile as the others wished them luck and continued determinedly towards their own goal. Then, Aria shrieked in surprise as Trunks swept her into his arms, and launched into flight, grinning at the look of shock on her face.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Setsuna, Warren and Gohan found their friends on the roof of a building near the one where Serena had located the two missing scouts. The groups arrived at about the same time, and briefly filled each other in on the events of the past 24 hours. Setsuna pulled Serena aside and asked her where Darien was, and why she had left without saying a word. Serena apologized, but refused to explain her actions or Darien's whereabouts.

Those who could fly discretely scouted the area, and narrowly avoided being detected by the 'Mobile Doll Sentinel thingys' as Bobby called them. They were everywhere. Remembering the strength of the enhanced metal they were built from, Goten secretly hoped that one of their friends with a Gundam showed up pretty quickly. He'd fight one if he had to, but he figured the pilots were better suited to that kind of combat. The guy who was controlling them had obviously protected them against his attacks to an extent.

Any thoughts however of waiting for their friend's arrivals however vanished as a high pitched scream pierced the air around the building. They looked at each other wordlessly for a moment, and flew or were carried through the nearest window of the building. The rescue had begun.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Duo grinned at the memory and Lita laughed aloud as he recounted the slightly exaggerated tale. "No seriously! We were in the office, and the nurse takes out a needle, and Heero put a gun to her head. Must have thought the school health board was trying to drug him or something. So there we were, trying to keep a low profile, and the next thing we know, this lady is screaming at the top of her voice that someone's trying to kill her. Then we vanished and came here. I'd love to see the face of whoever found her in an empty room screaming about disappearing students with guns."

Lita and Jubilee doubled over laughing at the idea, and Krillin and Goku, who were walking behind them, grinned. Spirits were high, and they were only a half mile away from the Gundam. If all went well, they'd be back with the others in no time.

Finally they arrived at the warehouse that was transmitting the signal. Breathless, Cuo pushed open the doors, and sighed in disappointment as he saw Nataku, and not Deathscythe. Oh well, he would continue searching. His expression brightened as he thought of what Wu-man's reaction to this would be. Probably something like "You are not worthy to pilot Nataku!" This could be fun after all. He pushed the doors open fully and the others followed him in. Lita and Jubilee looked at the looming Mobile Suit in awe.

"Is that your Gundam?" asked Jubilee enthusiastically. "Nah," he replied with a grin. "That's Nataku, Deathscythe's much cooler! But until I can show it to you, you guys wanna see Nataku up close?"

- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Vegeta's patience was put to the ultimate test when, about half an hour after his son's departure, another mini-com beeped and his four companions stopped to answer. Muttering a string of Saiyjin swear words under his breath, he leaned against a wall and wish he was home with plenty of food. Prince of the Saiyjins should not have to go 24 hours without food. In truth, no Saiyjin should.

It was Wu-Fei's mini-com. Shrugging the persistent Michiru who had been glued to his side all morning; he pulled it out and answered it. He had been shrugging off Michiru all morning. Duo would probably laugh at him. A beautiful woman hanging off his shoulder and he was pushing her away. He couldn't help it. Anyway. It didn't seem like she was acting in character. The death of her friend had obviously hit her hard. The last thing he needed was an emotionally traumatized woman clinging to him. Quickly Duo's grinning image sprung to life on the screen.

"What do you want, Maxwell?" he demanded. Du simply grinned. He was going to enjoy this. "I have a surprise for ya Wu-Man!" he exclaimed happily.

"Don't call me....." Wu-Fei broke off his angry retort as Duo tilted the screen to reveal his 'surprise'. Behind him stood Wu-Fei's pride and joy. "Nataku!" he exclaimed. Duo began to speak but before he had gotten two words out his fellow pilot interrupted him impatiently. "Where are you?"

"Don't worry Wu-Man, you don't have to come get it, I'll bring it to you, and then you can help me find Deathscythe! We'll meet you right where you are in about an hour. I'll shrink Nataku, and Goku, Krillin and Storm say they can fly us to you in no time!"

It took Wu-Fei a moment to realize what Duo was saying. "SHRINK??? What the hell are you trying to do to my Gundam? If you even touch Nataku I'm going to..."

Thinking of the Gundam Grand Tour he had just given his new friends, Duo immediately assumed his 'Who-me?-I'd-never-do-that' expression. Wu-Fei saw right through it and felt his face go red. Seeing this, Duo's eyes widened, in a speedy voice he announced "Gotta go now stay where you are bye!!!" With that his image disappeared.

Wu-Fei was silent for a moment, then even Vegeta gave a start as he exploded. "Maxwell I'm going to KILL YOU!!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A few blocks away Freiza's excellent hearing picked up a voice that sounded like it was being broadcast over a communicator. "...and Goku, Krillin and Storm say they can fly us to you in no time..."

He grinned evilly. So Goku was coming here to meet his friends? Perhaps it was time to leave that surprise Freiza had been planning before that Trunks guy had killed him. With a malicious laugh, Freiza flew towards where the voice was coming from. "Lets just see how Goku likes finding the bloody corpses of his friends, shall we..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Duo's hand unconsciously rested behind his head as he examined the shiny new button he had discovered in Nataku's cockpit with uncertainty. He glanced over at Goku and Krillin. "Are you absolutely sure it's not a self destruct switch or something, cause that's Heero's specialty, not mine!"

Said warriors shrugged and reassured him again that
Yes they recognised the symbol on the button,
Yes it was the Capsule Corp logo,
Yes the Capsule Corp shrank things, and
No, they didn't (usually) blow up.

Storm added calmly that the adjustment to the Gundam had probably been made by Alron, and he would have no reason to include something counter-productive in the Gundam.

Grateful that he could test the new upgrade on Nataku before risking Deathscythe, Duo shrugged fatalistically and pushed the button in question, before jumping down and standing at a safe distance. When all that was left was a small capsule, he stared in wide-eyed amazement. "Well whaddya know. It actually worked!!" Picking up the now travel-sized Gundam, he crossed his fingers that he would be able to get it back to normal for Wu-Fei before his fellow pilot blew a fuse. He signaled to the others that he was ready to leave, and, grinning at the image of Wu-Fei literally blowing a fuse, with steam and sparks flying out of his head, he followed the others out into the open.

Within minutes they were underway. Storm's wind easily carried her and her fellow X-man Wolverine above the deserted streets, Goku flew with two hands held tightly in his (Lita and Duo's, who were both enjoying the ride enormously), and Krillin had little trouble with the added weight of Jubilee. They made good time, hoping to be reunited with their companions quickly.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Trunks landed and set Aria gently to the ground, promising himself to take her flying again when this was all over and she could enjoy it. Quick greetings were made all round, and the events surrounding Callum's departure were again described. Aria's face was pale as she listened, and her eyes changed to a haunting gray color.

When they had finished, she explained to the best of her ability what a 'Guardian Force' was, how to acquire one, and how to use it. She then briefly told the story of the near impossible capture of Diablos, and his legendary power over Demon hordes.

There was silence for a moment while everyone digested the new information. Heero was the first to come to the obvious conclusion. "Why can't you just bind him again?" She shook her head. "I did a lot of personal study into Guardian Forces while in the Garden. I don't think you can bind one that is already bound to another. Since he was able to control Callum," a note of pain crept into her voice. "I think they must still be connected in some way. Right now the only one with the ability to contain him is Callum."

Nobody felt it necessary to reply that if the now-evil Callum was all that stood in the way of containing the monster, there were ways of dealing with him.

Rei made the next helpful suggestion. "Why don't you call him, on his mini-com. I bet he doesn't even remembered it's there." Aria shrugged. They were obviously still underestimating the power of Diablos, even his cousin and best friend probably would not be enough to bring back Callum. However, anything was worth a try, and right now the little section of her brain labelled 'plan-making' was out of order.

She walked a little away from the others, seeking privacy for her task. Bracing herself for anything, she sent through the call to Callum. A few moments later, he appeared on the screen. All the carefree laughter she remembered was gone from his eyes, now cold, and gleaming with cruelty. His ready smile was twisted into a malicious grin. Aria was suddenly not only afraid for him, but of him as well. Taking a beep breath to steady her racing heart, she spoke first.

"Callum, is that you?" His eyebrow raised. "I am he who was once known as Callum. You, I believe, were once a companion of mine. Why do you contact me now?" He seemed so calm and collected that she didn't know what to say. She wasn't given time to think of something. He answered his own question. "Oh, you wished to rescue me, no?" His tone grew mocking. "I am in no need of your help. You however will shortly need help yourself. The Dark Lord wishes to annihilate you and your companions. Humanity has no place in his demonic empire. Your pathetic hopes of recovering the weak idiot you once called 'friend' have just given me the means of finding you all. I had completely forgotten it" He tapped the screen meaningfully, and at the look of horrified realisation of her mistake made him burst into a vicious laughter that was positively chilling when heard coming from the mouth of her own cousin."

She began to grow desperate. "Callum this isn't you! Fight him I know you can! Please. We need you!" He looked amused at her pleas, but she redoubled her efforts. If only she could get through to the real Callum...

His patience only lasted so long. After a few minutes of her futile appeals to his non-existent 'good side', he decided to show her just how 'good' he really was. Interrupting her mid-sentence, he began to describe to her in detail exactly what he had in store for each of her new companions, and herself. He spared no details, and graphically described every image. Some of the tortures he had planned were so exotic and horrible she didn't even understand them, such as the one he had in mind for her after she watched all the others die. The other ones, which he described with relish, made her stomach churn, and would have done more if she had eaten in the last 24 hours.

Finally Aria could listen to no more. Her cousin was truly evil. Choking at a particularly lurid description, she threw down the Mini-com, his laughter echoing mockingly at her before he terminated the link.

Her companions watched as she threw down the mini-com and sank to her knees, tears streaming openly down her face. They headed towards her quickly, Rini and Gotu reaching her first and trying to cheer her up with the innocence of children. They were followed closley by Rei and Trunks. The former tried to reassure her that they'd get her cousin back somehow, and the latter glared at the now lifeless communicator as if he'd rather kill him than 'get him back'. Piccolo and Heero followed more slowly, and simply waited for her to tell them the results.

Aria was simply staring at the ground, the horrible deaths he had described ringing through her head. Within a few moments, Rei, who had little tolerance for tears, lost her patience. "Come on! Get over it and tell us what happened! Stop feeling sorry for yourself!"

Loss easily converted to fury, and Aria lunged at her. She would have landed a punch to knock her surprised target across the room if not for the speedy intervention of Piccolo, who grabbed her fist mid swing and looked at her silently, waiting. Trunks discreetly stepped in between the two girls, who were glaring at each other. 'So she does fight after all!' he thought, hiding a grin.

Finally Aria relaxed her arm and Piccolo let go. She looked around at the others, still angry, but not at Rei. She was furious at Diablos for taking her cousin, and at Callum for letting it happen. She was still at a loss to explain how the creature had escaped in the first place.

"I couldn't get to him." She told them. "Diablos is too strong. I'm not sure how to get him back." She paused before giving them the bad news. "And he knows how to find us now that he remembers the mini-com. He can tune it in to listen to any conversation we have. He'll know where we go, who we meet, what we plan... From now on we'll have to make plans in person."

There was silence while everyone considered this new development. Piccolo took command then, and announced quietly that since they would have to make all plans with the others in person from now on, they should find them and work together against the Demon creature. His decision was only minorly influenced by the fact that he was tired of playing babysitter to two children and a bunch of headstrong teens. Only Heero seemed serious enough for Piccolo, and he couldn't fight, at least not without that machine of his.

Everyone agreed to his plan except Heero. Heero stated in no uncertain terms that he was going after his Gundam and no-one could stop him. He added casually the co-ordinates that they should begin their search at. He had casually hacked into someone else's conversation earlier out of boardroom, and he had heard where they had agreed to meet. Since his information was so helpful, no-one mentioned that he had been spying on his friends.

Rei was ordered to go with him to help. A glare from Piccolo stopped Heero's protests. Rei looked at Rini, thinking. Then, coming to a decision, she announced to the three remaining adults in the group, "If anything happens to her, you'll answer to me!" She followed Heero, who was already heading quickly in the direction of the Gundam.

Aria and Trunks watched them go silently, then Trunks turned to Piccolo. "They'll tear each other apart you know." Piccolo thought back to their earlier shouting matches and nodded. "At least I won't have to listen." They shrugged at him and headed off towards where Heero had directed them.

Just as the rounded the corner at the end of the street, something sipped in and attached itself to Aria's shoulder, wrapping a long tail around her neck, chattering furiously at her. She sighed in relief at his arrival, as he had been left behind in Trunks' speedy flight here, and she had worried that he wouldn't be able to find her. She introduced Coll to and enthusiastic Rini and Gotu, and they continued on, Trunks shaking his head in resignation at its arrival. Aria would have smiled at his disgust if she was not so plagued by another thought.

She didn't think she would be able to change Callum back, but the only other way to stop Diablos was to kill him.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Amy regained consciousness slowly, opening her eyes a fraction to assess her situation. Her logical mind quickly picked up several facts. She was chained to a wall. She was no longer Sailor Mercury, she must have changed back while unconscious. Her transformation pen and computer, along with Venus' pen, were on a table far from her reach. Mina was still unconscious beside her. The two alien beings were at the other side of the room, arguing. Making all these discoveries in an instant, she slid her eyes closed again to listen.

"I will eat their spleens!" This was followed by crazed dual-pitched laughter.
"No Carnage! The one who brought us here wants them alive."
"But they are guilty aren't they?" The voice took on a persuasive tone.
"There are no innocent on this world."
"Then do they deserve to live?" It was obvious that this voice didn't really care what they deserved.
"No, only the innocent deserve to live. If the one that brought us here wanted them, he would have come for them by now. We have changed our mind. Venom hungers for blood!"

At that bloodthirsty statement, Amy opened her eyes another crack, and saw the two hulking monstrosities looming over her hungrily. Mina slept on oblivious. Unable to move, and without the ability to transform without her pen, she did the only thing left she could think of. She opened her mouth and screamed as loudly and fearfully as she could.

Amazingly her scream had the desired effect. Moments later seven of her friends smashed through the window, ready to fight. She immediately recognised Serena and Setsuna, and Bobby, Sam and Goten, and to the best of her knowledge the other two were named Warren and Gohan. She broke off mid-scream with a sigh of relief.

The two Symbionts turned in fury, and seeing the girls would-be rescuers, they lept at them, and the battle began. Not taken by surprise this time, and now aware of the creatures' speed, Goten powered up and intercepted one of them mid-air. They began trading blows so fast it was difficult to follow. Bobby and Sam engaged the other, while Gohan rushed across the room to the two captive girls.

He easily crushed the chains, and Amy jumped down. Mina was still unconscious so he caught her when she fell, and carried her quickly back to the others. Serena saw Amy and Mina's stuff. She quickly hid Mina's until her friend woke up, and threw Amy's pen and computer at her. Amy caught them mid air and began her transformation.

Meanwhile Goten was doing pretty well against the first creature, being faster and stronger. Iceman and Cannonball were having difficulty though. Pulling back a bit Cannonball called urgently, "Ms Pluto? I think now's a good time for some o' that noise o' yours!"

With a slight nod Pluto held out her staff and cried, "Pluto Deadly SCREAM!!!" Her face immediately began showing the strain of dragging out the length of her usually instantaneous attack, and her companions winced at the discordant resonance. The effect it had on the two battling Symbionts however, was much more drastic.

With shrill screeches, the two creatures raised their hands to their ears, as their skin seemed to pull off partially from their bodies revealing two human forms beneath. The writhing Symbionts remained partially attached to their hosts, even in agony unwilling to let go.

Sailor Moon gasped when she saw the human skin under the oozing things. They were people? But she was supposed to protect people, not hurt them! She remembered all the people Queen Beryl's generals had used against her, and how she had healed them. Without ant conscious decision, she held out her sceptre, crying "Moon, Healing, ACTIVATION!"

Light shone forth from the sceptre held before her, and with an agonised wailing sound, the black and red blobs were forced out of the two bodies and landed o the floor, a few feet away from where their hosts bodies lay. They immediately moved to reattach themselves, as Pluto's grating noise faded away, but without bodies they were too slow.

Gohan, after gently putting down the girl he was carrying, joined his brother. They nodded once at each other, and together, pulled their hands back to their waists.

"Kaaaa..."
"Kaaaa..."

"Meee..."
"Meee..."

"Haaa..."
"Kaaa..."

"Meee..."
"Meee..."

"Haaaaa!!!!" they shouted in unison.

In their weakened state the two symbionts were vaporized by the two blinding rays of light. However so was all the infrastructure in the general vicinity. The building rumbled threateningly. With wide eyes everyone fled back out the window, the flight-capable ones carrying their grounded companions.

As they neared the ground, the building collapsed, and, probably due to some long-unused gas pipe or oil-tank, it exploded loudly and impressively. Their landings became crashes as the force of the explosion pushed them ungracefully towards the ground. Landing in an undignified heap, they all looked at the burning buildings in shocked awe.

Suddenly Sailor Moon struggled to her knees, oblivious to Archangel's surprised grunt of pain as she knelt on one of his wings. "You guys we left those two men in the building!!" She looked about to cry at her failure to save them.

Goten jerked quickly out from under the dizzy Iceman, who had landed on top of him, freezing him. He shivered and shook his head. "Nope. They were dead after the creatures separated. Not even a normal human's ki. Shock must've killed 'em. Damnit Bobby that's FREEZING!!" Gohan nodded, affirming that the two men were dead, while Bobby grinned up at his friend, unfreezing to his normal state. "Yup, but at least you broke my fall!"

Sailor Moon thought for a moment about the two men she had killed accidentally by trying to heal them. "Oops..." she said slowly, before landing unceremoniously on her face as Warrens patience ran out and he pulled his aching wing out from under her knees.

Gohan and Goten looked up at the burning building that they had accidentally destroyed. "Oops..." they echoed.

Cannonball stumbled to his feet, still holding the unconscious Mina, whom he had grabbed in their hasty flight from the building. Sailor Pluto leaned on her time-staff and pulled herself to her feet, still tired from her efforts. Soon they were all standing, looking at each other. Grins broke out all round, as they realized that they had succeeded.

However their elation was short-lived as a sudden metallic voice echoed down the street. "Mutants detected. Mission: Destroy."

The nine companions fell into battle stances with a speed gained only by experience. A quick glance around told them that they were completely surrounded. There was no need to wonder how they had been found. Goten looked at the destroyed building and repeated his earlier comment, "Oops...". His expression showed clearly however that he was looking forward to the opportunity to prove to his friends that he could have won if they had stayed and fought the night before.

His companions however were more cautious. The scouts had never faced a giant robot before, and one of the four of them was still unconscious. The X-men for their part were justifiably wary of the sentinels, especially now that they had been crossed with killing-machines called 'Mobile Dolls' from the Gundam world.

With no other option, they were about to attack when someone jumped from the roof above and landed lightly beside them. In their tense state of mind they almost assaulted him before recognizing him as Quatre. He looked at them with a smile. "Hey guys, I've found the Gundam!"

They looked at him skeptically, seeing no evidence of anything that could combat the Mobile Doll Sentinels. He showed them the small capsule in his hand, but it just confused most of them, although Gohan's voice was heard muttering "Capsule Corp Technology?"

Smiling, Quatre flicked something on the capsule and threw it to the ground in the space before them. Within seconds, it had expanded into a massive Mobile Suit. His friends jaws hung open in awe. After all, it was huge.

The 'Mobile Doll Sentinels were getting dangerously close. Quatre gave one last look at the hulking monstrosity before him, wishing he had found his own Sandrock instead of Duo's Gundam. Deathscythe looked too much like a personification of death for Quatre's taste. Shrugging, he climbed quickly up into it. He was a Gundam pilot and it was a Gundam. That was all that was important, and his friends needed help.

The Gundam started moving slowly towards the approaching Mobile Doll Sentinels, swinging it's scythe a few times while Quatre got used to it's weight and balance. Gohan and Goten started to follow enthusiastically, but they were stopped as another shape jumped down from the roof above them.

"Beast!" exclaimed Bobby in greeting. "What took ye so long?" "Well, my impetuous young friend, we ran into some difficulty with a stubborn group of demons." Was the reply. The Son brothers started to go around the blue furry body between them and the action, but he put up a hand to stop them. "Quatre asked me to implore you to remain on the sidelines for this particular battle. His Gundam is best equipped to deal with this adversary, however he would find it difficult to fight and avoid injuring his companions himself if you were to fly in there yourselves."

Looking at Quatre as he engaged the first few Mobile Doll Sentinels (MDS's), it was easy to understand why. The Gundam was a killing machine, moving quickly and efficiently, and leaving behind a smoking trail of destroyed MDS's as it moved. Gohan and Goten nodded, but still watched the battle, eagerly waiting for a chance to help.

For every MDS Deathscythe's Thermal Scythe sliced down, it seemed another took its place, but from the confidant movements of the Gundam, it seemed to the onlookers that Quatre had everything under control. Inside however, Quatre's thoughts were the opposite. "There are just too many of them. I can't stop them all alone. They're so much more powerful that the Mobile Dolls I've fought before! If only the others were here. We could do it together. But it's just me and I have to protect my friends. If I can just lead most of them away...then maybe I could Self Detonate, and take them with me. It would give the others a chance to escape...I have no choice." With grim determination he judged he was far enough away from his companions, and took the self-destruct switch in his hand. "Duo is going to kill me for this...Goodbye guys..."

Just as he was about to end it, a flash of colour drew his attention to the screen, to see Wing Gundam swooping down from above and transforming as it hit the ground. "Heero...?"

A small window opened in the corner of the screen before him, accompanied by a familiar voice, "Duo?" Quatre dropped the switch and jumped to answer. "No Trowa it's me! I found Deathscythe when I followed my signal." He swung the scythe to split open a MDS that got too close. Trowa's voice came back across the speaker. "Yes. I found Wing Gundam the same way. Need help?"

As he spoke, the hatch of Trowa's Gundam opened slightly and a girl Quatre had never seen before jumped out. It was hard to tell from this distance, but he thought she looked about 18, with similar hair to Sailor Saturn. She jumped down lightly and ran speedily away from the Gundam towards to group watching from the cover of the nearby building. When she was safely away from him, Trowa turned to face the MDSs, which had stopped to assess this new threat.

Thoughts of self-destructing fled Quatre's mind, and he immediately rallied to join his friend and back to back they managed to begin driving back their attackers. Their allies on the ground watched breathlessly as slowly the numbers of the MDS's began to dwindle. Deathscythe sliced town two in one swipe. Wing Gundam destroyed another. Then, before they realized what was happening, there were no more, and the two Gundams stood majestically in the empty street, looking around for any remaining enemies. There were none.

They quickly exited the Gundams, and rejoined their friends. Quatre showed Trowa the use for the Capsule Corp switch that had been added to the Gundams, presumably by Alron. Within moments, the group were fleeing the scene to avoid being discovered after the big scene they had caused. They traveled fast, with the now travel-sized Gundams carried by the pilots.

When they judged they were far enough away from the scene of the battle to be safe, the big group found a safe house and retreated into it to rest. It was a modest house in a small estate, that looked as if it would have been quiet even if there were people still living there. The still unconscious Mina was laid out across the couch to recover, and the others split up into groups to discuss the happenings of the last twenty four hours.

A few minutes after they arrived all the energy that had helped Serena rescue her friends drained out of her. They were safe now, and there was nothing left to distract her. The dull pain at the back of her mind began to throb. "He's gone. He left you. He doesn't love you. He loves her. He's gone. He left you..." The monologue in her mind became too overwhelming and she discretely slipped out of the room with the others and went upstairs to one of the bedrooms to be alone.

Finally safe and in private, she was able to express her grief fully, and curled up at the foot of the bed, crying her heart out. When there were no more tears left to shed, and the pain had become a dull throb, her thoughts began to wonder. "But why? We rule Neo-Tokyo together. We've been there and seen ourselves! Well at least we saw a ghost or hologram or something of Darien, but he was there! Wasn't he? Did the fact that I saw an apparition mean that he was really there? Or was it just a creation to let Rini know what her father was like... Where did that thought come from? Rini! That was it! Darien and I have done NOTHING yet that could possibly lead to the birth of Rini, so we MUST be together in the future, since Rini was still around. Rei would have send word if something was wrong......So I get Darien back? He will love me again?"

For some reason that thought didn't fill her with the hope she had expected. She wondered why for a moment before arriving at the question at the heart of the matter. Did she love him? Sure he was good looking. Sure he was a nice guy. Sure having a boyfriend made all her friends jealous. Sure she was destined to be with him. Sure she had loved him more than anything when she was the gentle regal graceful Princess of the Moon Kingdom in her past life. But as her friends would testify, she had so little in common with that "graceful" princess now that it was hard to believe she and Serenity were the same person. And was he really the person she wanted to spend the rest of her long, long life with?

Suddenly all the faults she had subconsciously ignored came to the surface. He was condescending. He had once cancelled a date and told her to go and study! He was very restrained, and never showed affection in public. It was almost as if he was ashamed of her. Even in private the most she got was a quick brotherly kiss. They were destined to be together, but was that the only reason she was with him? Forced to consider it like that, she wasn't sure. And had Darien really loved her or did he just want to be King? Again where did that thought come from?

Sitting at the end of the bed she hugged her knees and stared aimlessly at the wall for a while. She couldn't tell how long she sat there before she heard the door behind her open quietly to let someone in. She swung around in surprise.

Goten stood outside the door indecisively for a moment. She seemed so upset earlier, he guessed she had come up here to be alone, but he didn't like the thought of her all alone and unhappy. At least that's what he told himself. Who was he kidding? The truth was that he couldn't stop thinking about her and he needed to get to know her before they returned home. This might be his only chance. She was breathtakingly beautiful, and unlike any girl she had ever met. She was so courageous and loyal to her friends. And her eyes were so deep...

He shrugged. Waiting would change nothing. His mind was made up... He quietly turned the handle and went in. The slender figure sitting on the bed swing around to regard him with wide eyes. She looked like she had been crying only a short while ago. When she recognized him she graced him with a small sad smile. He was still unsure as to what had happened between her and the tall guy she had been with, but seeing her expression he promised himself that if it was bad, when he saw him again there would be violence....

He walked over and sat beside her. "Are you OK?" I saw you go off on your own and thought you might like some company." He gave her an encouraging grin, forgetting all earlier uncertainties.

Serena gazed at him for a moment, touched by his concern. So soon after realizing that she didn't really love Darien in any way other than as a brother, she couldn't help comparing him to the black-haired boy before him. Goten was muscular where Darien was slender. He was lively where Darien was restrained, adventurous where Darien was quiet, respectful where Darien was condescending. In stark contrast to Darien's close-mouthed privacy she could read the emotions flitting across Goten's face every few moments like a book. His eyes held a playful gleam and he was undeniably good looking.

She noticed he was grinning and realized she had been staring. Blushing, she answered his question. "I'm OK. I'm just worried about...... a friend...... who has turned against us. I don't understand why, but I know something's wrong. I'm going to find him and help him somehow." As if saying it had clarified everything for her, she suddenly smiled. "But company would be great!"

He looked at her for a moment. Her sudden spontaneous smile rendered her so beautiful that he was made painfully aware how soon she would be going back to her world. Giving into instinct, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. After a moments shock she pushed back passionately. She only had a few moments to think, "Darien never kissed like THIS" before all coherent thought was washed away. He wrapped his arms around her and silence reigned...

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If Vegeta had to wait for that idiot Kakarott any longer someone would die. He honestly didn't care who as long as he got to vent his frustration and impatience. It was fifteen minutes since that pilot kid had told them to wait. Kakarott must be taking his time. Damn him...

He looked around at his pathetic "group". The two X-men, Rogue and Gambit, were flirting outrageously but thankfully quietly across the street. A bit away the kid Wu-Fei was still trying to shrug the green haired Sailor off his arm. None of them was even worthy of being called weak. They were pathetic. So why was he staying with them? Suddenly his patience snapped. That was it. There was no reason for the Prince of the Saiyjins to be sitting here with these people waiting for that third-class Warrior to show. He was leaving. He gathered his Ki to take off, when he suddenly sensed a familiar and despised presence nearby. He swung his head around just in time to see Freiza float calmly out from behind a building.

Vegita's face screwed up in hate, and he clenched his fists in anticipation. Freiza had no idea what he had gotten himself in for this time... One by one his companions noticed something was wrong and turned around to face the new-comer.

Slowly Vegita began to speak. "I'm a Super Saiyjin now. Your time is up!" Freiza laughed. "Super Saiyjin? You? I seem to have heard that before, right before I killed you!" Vegeta let out an inarticulate yell of fury and launched himself at his old tormentor. Freiza leapt to intercept him, and their action became a blur to his companions.

Every few seconds a quick flash would alert his concerned companions as to his whereabouts, or the crash of stone as the combatants smashed into a building. Taken completely by surprise at the attack, they watched in helpless shock a battle their yes couldn't follow, as the streets around them were reduced to rubble.

Without any warning the two broke apart, becoming again visible to the onlookers. "Ha!" mocked vegita, breathing heavily. "I had heard you were back but I thought that spawn of Kakarott must be seeing things. Last time I saw you, you were being sliced apart by a young boy!"

"And the last time I saw YOU," retorted Freiza, struggling to remain calm, "You were pouring memories of your 'painful childhood' out to that same Kakarott, right before you died fighting me.. Then too, you were deluding yourself into thinking you were a Super Saiyjin!" He laughed cruelly.

Throughout the speech Vegita's face had become twisted with rage, but far from driving him over the edge, the last comment calmed him down, as a smirk crossed his features. "There's something you don't realize now Freiza...I AM a Super Saiyjin now!" He let out an inarticulate yell, and bright Ki rushed up around his body. His hair turned blonde and stood on end, and he glared smugly at Freiza with chilling green pupils as his power levels went through the roof.

Freiza stopped breathing for a moment in mindless terror, seeing in the golden warrior before him a reflection of the the Super Saiyjins who had defeated and killed him before. He regained self-control again as he recalled the immeasurable increase in his own powers, and he attacked Vegita with a vengeance. The time for holding back was over. It was time to win.

The two warriors became again too fast for the eye to follow, both fighting to the utmost of their ability. After another ten tense minutes the onlookers caught sight of them in the air above them again just on time to see Freiza's hands stretch out before him. Vegita's voice could be heard gasping "No! It can't be....I'm a..." From between Freiza's raised hands came a narrow beam of Ki that blasted through Vegita's chest, ramming him to the ground across the street from his horrified team-mates. "...a Super-Saiyjin......" he finished as light faded from his eyes. Somewhat uncharacteristically his last coherent thought was , "I lost? How will I explain this to Bulma? Kami no... He'll go after Trunks next......"

The others were stopped from going to help by Freiza, who landed between them and the dying Saiyjin Prince. He glared at them in contempt.

Rogue pulled off her gloves discreetly. "That's it, you're goin' down!" she drawled in a heavy southern accent laden with rage. She jumped suddenly and came hurtling towards him, arms outstretched and seeking skin. Freiza was momentarily shocked, not expecting the weak fools with Vegita to think of themselves as warriors. His hesitation was just long enough for her hands to hit skin, as Gambit shouted "NO Chére! DON'T!"

He was right. Moments into the energy absorption Rogue let out an unearthly scream of agony and let go, clutching her head. Gambit leapt forwards to help him, followed by Wu-Fei and Sailor Neptune, who had just finished her transformation. Before they reached her however she drew her hands back down again revealing a terrifying new expression. Her face was twisted in hate, with crazed eyes dilated in madness. As had happened her on occasion before, she had been completely overwhelmed as the personality of her victim took over completely.

"Rogue! Are you OK Chére?" Gambit demanded in concern. Her answer was chilling. "I am LORD FREIZA!! I am here to DESTROY Goku and Trunks and everything they care about! I will have my vengeance!!" With that she launched into the air and began gathering Ki in an identical manner to Freiza moments before.

Freiza, who had not moved since being touched by Rogue, widened his eyes slightly. The cogs were almost visibly turning in his brain as he realized that the puny creature actually believed that she was him, and now even her ki signature felt like his... An evil grin twisted his features. This was just PERFECT! He shouted up to her, "Goku is coming to this place, and these are his friends!" The girl's eyes jumped to her three companions with an expression bordering on manic glee. "Then they will DIE!"

Her first blast was aimed at the man below her, who was shouting frantically at her to "Stop Chére!" Only his lightning quick reflexes saved him, and it was followed by a volley of ki that had him on the retreat immediately. A tsunami of water poured at her, Sailor Neptune's Deep Submerge Attack. For her efforts Neptune was subsequently smashed back into a wall where she lay motionless. Wu-Fei ran to stand before her defensively, shooting rapidly at Rogue in futile fury.

In Freiza's opinion, while the girl's powers were nothing compared to the real Freiza, she had stolen enough to make her easily capable of annihilating the other three. He watched for a while, enjoying the carnage and the delicious irony, but as soon as he was certain of the outcome, he faded unnoticed into the shadows and flew off.

He could confront Goku later. First let him find this surpise. And maybe even a few more. What was it that idiot Vegita had said? "I thought that spawn of Kakarott must be seeing things."? So that little brat was Goku's son? Well if he didn't find Trunk soon, Goku's son would do to keep him occupied. He let out a peal of chilling laughter and sped off. Behind him, blood and chaos reigned.

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Oblivious to their companions' distress, at the other side of the city a very relieved group was celebrating their successful rescue-attempt in a comfortable safe-house. A veritable feast of food had been found and laid out on a table. Mina had finally come around, and Bobby and Sam were again busy vying companionably for her attention, much to her delight.

Beast was seated comfortably by the cheerful fire with a large hard-back volume on Philosophy, which he had found on the well-stocked bookshelf. Seated opposite him on the sofa were Trowa and Hotaru, conversing contentedly in quiet voices. To Quatre, who noticed him from across the room, it appeared he was saying more to her than he had said to his fellow pilots ever. Quatre smiled, happy for his friend, and turned back to the game of chess he had challenged Amy to. To both of their delight, they were an even match for one another and they were thoroughly enjoying both the game and one another's company.

At the food table Warren and Setsuna were smiling to one another at the memory of everyone's incredulous reactions to Hotaru's new age. Gohan was happily helping himself to the food with a level of enthusiasm that can only be reached by one of Saiyjin blood. He idly wondered where his brother was, and what was so much more important that food, but finally he realized the girl with the odangos was also absent, and grinned widely. Oh well. All the more food for him.

The scouts in the room had also noticed their princess's absence, and, still unsure of what had occurred earlier, they glanced worriedly at each other from across the room. Knowing however that Goten had already followed her upstairs, presumably to cheer her up, they decided to leave well alone and see if he succeeded.

Everyone was so relaxed that when a mist appeared suddenly in the center of the room and gathered into the imposing form of Alron, they were taken totally off guard, and only stared in shock. He looked just as impressive and insubstantial as before, and wrapped in the folds of his robe was a very young shy boy. Unlike Alron however, the child looked very real, and to many of the surprised inhabitants of the room he looked strangely familiar.

They were given no chance to speak before Alron's voice rang out in it's peculiar otherworldly quality. "I have come to give you some aid and advice in your quest. It has come to my attention that the one you know as Darien has been taken control of by a powerful psychic. He now believes you are his enemies. He and his new master are formidable opponents, and have already used his companion's mind manipulation to unleash a monstrosity upon this world to throw against you. Unlike your other enemies they will avoid confrontation, and pick you off one at a time.
"You cannot afford the loss of even one of your allies. You will need them all in the times to come. Your best hope is to win the Prince Darien back to your side and destroy his psychic friend.

"In the hope of aiding you in this task, I have brought to you one who may aid him in recalling his true self. His mind has already been turned against Sailor Moon and her daughter Rini, who are present, but the psychic who controls him has no blocks up against Sailor Moon's Son, Garion, who she could not know of."

Pandemonium broke loose as everyone started speaking at once.
"Sailor Moon has a son?"
"Impossible, we would know!"
"A kid he dosen't know about? How will that help?"
"What?"
"You say 'she could not know of'. Can you give us any information on this 'she'?"
"You mean he's from the future like Rini?"
"Darien is evil AGAIN?"
"He's so cute!"
"Why doesn't Rini know she has a brother?"
"Would someone care to explain what's happening?"
"Serena and Darien have a son?"
"Ahh, could y'all explain this?"
"What?"

When Alron refused to speak, the noise slowly died down as everyone waited for him. When he finally obliged them, his response was less than satisfactory. "Yes. This is the son of Sailor Moon from the future of your timeline, whom I have brought back to help you reclaim Darien. Now my time with you is limited so I will leave him in your care. Good luck to you all." With that, he was gone, and the small boy enfolded in his robes was left clutching thin air.

There was a moment of stunned silence, during which the child looked around fearfully and then squared his shoulders in brave determination. The three Sailor Scouts were just about to go to him to reassure their friend's son, when the door to the stairs opened and Goten and Serena entered the room holding hands. Serena was blushing slightly, and they both wore wide smiles. They stopped when they noticed the silence in the room.

Suddenly, the little boy in the center of the room looked around, and when he saw Serena his face lit up. "Mommy!!" he cried, and abandoning shyness in the presence of this familiar face he launched himself at her exuberantly. Taken by surprise she caught him as he hugged her tightly. He began to speak excitedly to her about the strange man who had brought him here, the amazing journey he had brought him on, and how different she looked without her pretty white dress. Serena blinked, trying to absorb being called Mommy. Gohan looked on in confusion.

As Garion spoke, what appeared at first glance to be a brown belt began idly unwinding from around his waist into a tail. Everyone stared at it like a snake. Amy was the first to speak. "Serena, Darien never had a...tail." Serena swung the surprised boy around and blinked again. "Who is he? Where did he come from? And if he's my child, like Rini, why does he have a tail?"

Amy pulled out her computer and scanned it at him. "According to my computer he IS your son! And Rini's brother." She smiled happily for a moment, before her face fell as she read more from the information. "But Darien is NOT his father! The tail is coming from someone else..."

There was another stunned silence as everyone fought to absorb this new development. Before they could react, the front door opened and in walked Rini and Gotu, followed by a serious looking Piccolo and Trunks and a miserable looking Aria. They too stopped when they noticed the strange silence. Everyone looked between the newcomer, Rini and Gotu in amazement. The resemblance was staggering. Garion had Rini's wide eyes and bouncy exuberance, and Gotu's sunny smile and spiky black hair. He also had Gotu's little brown tail.

Gohan was the first to speak, as his own son ran over to him happily. "Wow. He's a mirror image of Gotu about a year ago. And he's a Saiyjin! But we're the only... Goten? Is this your...? Goten!!! What are we going to tell Mom?"

Rini looked in jealous confusion at the boy in her mother's arms, as Serena and Goten blushed furiously. Garion tilted his head at them. "Mommy? Why are you and Daddy gone red?"

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TBC

**Evil laughter*

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Ok that's it for now. :) Hope you liked. PLEASE REVIEW!!! I crave comments!!! If you have any suggestions as to what should happen yet, I haven't decided yet so suggestions would be welcome. As are any ideas for new enemies to add. I can't think of any!! Also I love emails, so If ya want, mail me!!!

Yes I know I'm killing off a lot of people, but fear not! I'm a sucker for a happy ending. ;)
Anyway sorry again this took so long. My computer is still away at the workshop!! :( Anyway can't wait to hear from ye :) (hint hint)!

Bye for now!!

Azharia Kyrissaen


PS

GoldenGoddess ~ Sorry about Wu-Fei, but I couldn't help it. Lita and Heero are still around though!!

Saiya-jin no Hime ~ Hotaru is the only one who ages 'caues she does that in the Anime. She ages when Sailor Moon is in danger. She's done it twice that I know of. At least that's what I've been told. If I'm wrong, tell me and I'll come up with another plausible reason that she's the only one. :) Thanks for review!

Star~ Sorry. :( Suggestion came too late. Maybe in another fic..... :)

Anyway thanks again to all who reviewed, and especially Beena, Shelly and Alexz, who reviewed more than one chapter! :)
Ok I'll stop now....... For the time being......