CHAPTER THREE: Rescue

They crept along at a snail's pace, not able to go any faster because of the way the tunnel was built. Jagged spikes dotted several patches in the pitch-black tunnel, making travel dangerous at best. They almost had to turn back several times, but each time Amy's computer helped them find a way around the spikes.

They were mostly silent as they walked. The two girls didn't completely trust this silver-haired stranger, and Malachite himself refused to ask any questions. He figured that the less he knew of Mina, the better. He didn't want to know just how badly she'd lied to him.

After a few hours, the tunnel forked. Raye stopped. "Which way?" she asked.

Malachite pointed to the tunnel going left. "That'll lead to the dungeons. From what I know of this place, that's where Mina is being held. I have to warn you, though, she's probably being tortured as we speak."

He was unprepared for Raye's attack. She struck him fiercely across the cheek. The force of her blow nearly snapped his neck, but he didn't so much as wince. "I fail to understand why you just did that. I led you where I said I would, didn't I?" His voice was as cold as ice. He might not have been able to see her face, but he could feel Raye's fury pouring off of her in waves.

"I thought that you said that she was your friend. How can you be so casual about her being tortured? Some friend you are."

He considered. "Yes, I believe that I did say she was my friend. Unfortunately, I was serious. She was my friend, at least until she betrayed me. I'm going to help free her for the sake of that friendship. After that, I don't care what happens to her. I never want to see her again."

"Believe me, that can be arranged." Raye's voice was as cold as his own. "In fact, we don't need you anymore at all. You can go now," she said imperiously.

He ignored her, entering the tunnel first. He would go, as soon as he knew that Mina was safe.

They knew that they'd found the dungeon when they saw torchlight and heard crude jokes and laughter. They found two men seated at a low, flimsy table, playing cards. Every few moments, one of them would belch and lay a card down on the table. On the table in between them was a set of keys, which were most likely to the cell doors themselves. One of the men, wearing a long brown robe and cowl, threw down his cards and leapt to his feet. "I won! Give me the goods, pal!"

The other, a fat men with a smell strong enough to kill a vulture, also jumped to his feet. With a cry of malevolent rage, he flung the table over. "Nobody beats me!" he roared. "I'll kill you!" He charged at the robed man, who dodged with surprising agility.

"Not today, pal," laughed the slender man. He flipped his chair over and smashed it into the inebriated man's back. The fat man collapsed with a grunt, and the second man dropped his chair.

Malachite waited until he was sure the fight was over, and then addressed the second man. "Nice job, Jed. Next time, try to make a little less noise, all right?" he asked sarcastically.

The second man scooped up the fallen keys, then pulled his cowl back to reveal a handsome younger man with thick blond hair and blue eyes. "How'd you know it was me? I thought I could fool my own mother with this disguise." He tossed the keys to his friend, who caught them easily. "I have a better question. Why are you even here, and how did you get here before us?"

Jedeite laughed again. "Simple. I heard you were taking a little trip and got Nephlite to tell me where you were going. He just said that you were going to rescue your true love from the maws of death." He held up his hands in a defensive posture. "Hey, they're his words, not mine. I just tagged along to help. Besides," he said in a mock whisper, "I heard that you were looking for a beautiful girl. I figured that where there's one beautiful girl, there's got to be another, right? I'm so glad that I was correct," he said, looking at Raye.

Malachite rolled his eyes. "If I were you, Jed, I'd ignore that one. She's got quite the temper. She'll burn you alive."

Raye, too, was glaring at Jedeite. "You have no idea just how accurate that statement is," she seethed. She pushed past him into the dungeon. "Come on, Amy. We still need to find Mina."

Malachite couldn't help himself. "She could be dead, you know."

Raye looked like she wanted to kill him. "She's not dead. We'd know," she murmured sadly. "Would you get out of my face already?" she yelled at Jed before taking off into the dungeons. Jedeite followed the raven-haired girl, a predatory smile plastered on his face.

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Malachite was becoming increasingly frustrated. Where had they put that dratted girl? The sooner he found the little liar, the sooner he could get on with his life. He'd tried to help her the first time because he didn't like the look of that oily little man. She hadn't escaped, so now he had to help her again. His only fear was that she was already dead or that she'd been taken somewhere else, making his entire time with Raye an unnecessary punishment. Too bad Jed doesn't see it that way, he thought, watching Jedeite's attempts at conversing with the fiery girl. Raye, too, was annoyed with Jedeite. "Have you found her yet, Amy?" she asked impatiently for the tenth time.

"Not ye-wait! There she is! She's just a few yards from here!" She led the way through the dungeons, which had been empty so far.

They rounded a corner, and there she was. She was chained painfully to a wall, held by strips of metal across her neck, wrists, and ankles. Gold blood poured freely from a cut to her temple, and all exposed skin was covered in ugly bruises. Golden rivulets also streamed from cuts on her sides, stomach, and even feet. Her eyes were swollen shut under a mass of even more bruises. She looked dead.

Raye rushed over to her. "Mina!" She examined the chains holding the beaten girl. "Give me the keys!" she yelled at Malachite. Malachite tossed her the keys, and she tried for several seconds to open the locks. "These aren't the right ones!" she hissed in frustration. "Fine. We'll do this the hard way, then." She stepped back a few paces, then pointed at the locks with one finger.

"Careful, Raye. Don't accidentally set Mina on fire," Amy cautioned.

Raye glared at her. "I haven't done that in ages! I'm certainly not going to do so now." She closed her eyes, focusing on the girl in front of her.

Malachite jumped away. He could feel the heat pouring off this strange girl. She pointed her finger at the chains, crying, "Mars Fire Release!" Malachite's jaw dropped in shock as a tiny stream of fire squirted from the tip of her outstretched finger. The stream split in several places just before it touched Mina's prone body. The new, smaller rivulets each surrounded one of the locks holding Mina to the wall. The locks instantly melted into puddles of hot, liquid metal. Mina fell to the ground, narrowly missing the puddles.

Raye and Amy ran forward and pulled her up. "Come on," shouted Amy. "Someone's coming!"

Seeing that the two small girls would never lift her in time, Malachite ran forward and scooped Mina into his arms. In spite of his hatred for her, he was still worried about the lack of response they were getting from her.

He started to run back toward the tunnel, but Jedeite pulled him in a different direction. "There's a quicker route this way!" Gritting his teeth, Malachite followed his friend and the two girls into a second tunnel. I hope he knows where he's going, he thought.

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Jedeite's tunnel ended far from the castle, in a valley surrounded by rocks and caves. They could still hear their pursuers, so they ducked into the closest cave. Malachite laid Mina down on the cave floor, and Amy immediately started to scan her with the little blue computer. "She's bad, guys. She's got at least three cracked ribs, one broken arm, and she's bleeding internally. I think one of the ribs ruptured her lungs, and her insides are badly infected. She's got a bad concussion." She paled. "She might even have brain damage. I can't tell how bad without a medical scanner." She closed her eyes. "There's nothing I can do. Only Selenity could save her now."

Malachite sighed in disgust. "Great. All that for nothing."

Everyone stared at him in shock. Even Jedeite, who lived with the guy, was astounded by his heartlessness. Geez, this gal must have done a number on him, he thought.

"That does it. Leave. Now," Raye hissed. "Regardless of what she's done to you, we love Mina. We're going to do everything that we can to save her, and you'd better not get in our way." She pulled a small device out of her belt, then flipped it open. "Mars calling Jupiter. Come in Jupiter."

The device hissed and cackled for a moment, then a face appeared in the little screen in the center. "Jupiter here. How is she?" the brunette on the other end asked anxiously.

"She's bad. Amy can't help her, and she says that the only one who can is Selenity herself. We're in a cave on the northern end of the planet, and Beryl's forces are surrounding us. We're also stuck with two numbskulls who don't know up from down, and I. Am. Getting. Very. Angry."

The brunette looked at her in alarm, then nodded. "I'll send a task force immediately. Try to keep your temper, Mars. Jupiter out." Her face faded from the screen.

Raye sat down to wait, still holding onto Mina's hand. Meanwhile, Malachite felt a tingling in the back of his skull. He glared sharply at Jedeite, noticing as he did so that Raye and Amy were looking at him, too, with the strangest expression on their faces. Malachite ignored them, choosing instead to glare at Jedeite. "I don't know what's going on with you, Mal, but I don't really want this girl to die. Yes, I contacted them. Yes, I went behind your back, but I only did it because I think that you care more for this girl than you're letting on. If we don't save her, you'll hate yourself for the rest of your life." He looked down at his feet uncomfortably. "Besides," he said more quietly, "they were already on their way. They'll be here any second."

Raye stood haughtily. "We don't need your help. Our friends will be here soon, too. We can handle this on our own."

Malachite glared at her. "Kind of like you handled the rescue on your own? I seem to recall that you couldn't even get in the castle."

Before Raye could reply, they heard horses outside. "We know you're in there, Scouts! We'll let the others go if you surrender!" Malachite recognized the oily man's voice.

Raye laughed scornfully. "What makes you think that we care about what happens to these losers? You're welcome to them!" Even as she said this, though, she moved in front of the generals.

Amy stayed where she was, crouched by Mina. She pulled a small vial from her belt and dropped a little greenish liquid into the insensate girl's mouth. "That's all I can do until Selenity can use the crystal on her."

Suddenly, Mina's eyes began to twitch. She slowly opened her eyes, but he could see that they were foggy from pain. "Amy?" she whispered weakly.

Amy took Mina's hand. "We're here, Meens. Just hang on, all right? The others are coming soon."

Mina's hand jerked convulsively. "No. I don't want them here. I won't let them get hurt. Please, don't let them…" Her voice trailed off frighteningly.

Amy started scanning her again. "Don't let go, Mina. You're our leader. We need you."

Mina licked her lips. "Lita…," she said.

Amy shook her head. "We know that Lita's capable, but she's not you. We need you." Mina's eyes closed again. "Don't you dare leave us! You don't have the right! Think about what your death would do to the others. You're a senshi for heaven's sake! We need you!" Her cries were falling on mute ears. Mina had fainted again.

Malachite could hear sounds of a battle. He ran outside, followed immediately by the other three. The bright colors of a red dawn were slowly illuminating the battlefield. He could see the other generals, and even the prince, fighting ferociously against Beryl's soldiers. They were winning, too, or at least they were until the soldiers began to change. Their bodies expanded, and their skins turned varying shades of purple, green, and yellow. Tusks and scales sprouted from various parts of their bodies, and all were freakishly tall. The monsters pressed against the generals and the prince, who couldn't stand against their superhuman strength.

Suddenly, Raye and Amy ran through the cave entrance. "It's our turn!" shouted Raye. She held out a hand and shouted, "Mars flame sniper!" A bow and arrows made from pure flames suddenly appeared in her hands. She directed the flaming arrow towards one of the monsters. The arrow struck him in the center of his chest, and he burst into flames. The flames from his body spread to most of the others around him, who began to scream in agony as they burned.

Amy, too, ran forward and held out her hands. "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" she shouted. A liquid harp formed in her hands, and a jet of icy water sprouted from it, hitting another clump of monsters, which were immediately covered in ice. The ice shattered, taking chunks of monster with it until nothing was left of them.

"Don't leave us out!" shouted another voice. Two figures emerged from one of the caves. One was the brunette from the screen, and the other was a young man in golden armor. The girl was wearing a similar outfit to Raye and Amy's, except hers was in green and white. "Jupiter Thunder Crash!" She crossed her arms over her chest, and bolts of silvery lightening sprouted around her hands. She flung her hands wide, and the lightening lashed out across the battlefield. Wherever the lightening struck, the monsters screamed and fell, electrocuted.

The young man pulled a sword from the sheath at his side. He pointed the sword in the direction of the monsters, and shouted, "Sun Sword Slash!" The sword began to glow brightly. The glowing portion of the sword lengthened until it was several times the height of a man. He swung the sword around in an arch, forcing the beam to touch several of the monsters at a time. The beam acted just like a real sword, cutting into the monsters with frightening alacrity.

Malachite and Jedeite ran to their fallen comrades and prince. They pulled them back into the safety of the cave, realizing that they were not any use against monsters like these. They didn't have any choice but to allow the girls and the man with the funny sword to do their fighting for them.

When they entered the cave, Malachite automatically looked around for Mina. She was gone. He fought down the rising panic, then started frantically searching around the cave. She wasn't anywhere to be found. In the back of the cave, however, he did find a young woman in a long white dress. She wasn't Mina, but she could almost have been her twin. Her hair was long and silver, and she wore it in two buns on either side of her head from which the rest of her hair hung in ponytails. A tiny golden crescent moon graced the center of her forehead. He couldn't tell if it was a tattoo or just makeup. She was fast asleep.

Malachite left her there and went back to check on the prince. He was sitting up, relating the details of their fight to Jedeite. Malachite cleared his throat to get his attention. "The girl we came to rescue is gone again, my prince, but there's another girl asleep in the spot where we left the first. I thought that perhaps you'd like to be there when I wake her for questioning." The prince nodded, and Malachite helped him to his feet.

They went to the back of the cave, and Malachite heard the prince draw his breath in sharply when he saw the girl. Malachite rolled his eyes. Great, he mused. Another one bites the dust. Oh, well. One of these days they'll realize just how treacherous these girls can be.

Jedeite took one look at the girl and said, "What are you talking about, Mal? Sure the clothes are different, but she looks just like Mina to me."

Malachite could see why Jed would think so, but he immediately noticed the differences between the two girls. "That's someone else. Mina's hair is darker and she's slightly taller. Her face is also a little bit more narrow than this girl's." He shrugged at the strange looks they were giving him. "It's my job to notice the details." They shrugged back at him, clearing not believing his excuse.

The prince knelt by the girl's head and shook her gently with one hand. She slowly opened her large blue eyes, then said something in a musical language that none of them could understand. She sat up as she saw their puzzled looks and gazed at the cave and faces around her. She spoke again, this time in a heavily accented version of the generals' own language. "Good morning. You must be the generals that Lita told me about. I'm very pleased to meet you."

Malachite impatiently stepped forward. "Who are you, and where did Mina go?"

The girl looked around for the first time. Noting Mina's absence, alarm crossed her features. "I don't know where Mina is. I managed to stabilize her, but I was so exhausted that I fell asleep immediately afterwards. She must have taken off on her own!" She jumped to her feet gracefully. "I have to go find her! She's still not well enough to be fighting!" She seemed not to have any doubt that Mina would be fighting.

Malachite stepped in front of the girl before she could leave. "You still haven't answered my question. Who are you?" he repeated.

She gazed up at him with startled eyes. "I'm Serenity," she said simply, as if that explained everything. She pushed past Malachite with more strength than he would have given her credit for and rushed out of the cave. Malachite ignored the prince's glare as he followed her.

Once outside, he finally noticed how the girls were faring against the monsters. It seemed like no matter how hard they fought, more monsters always replaced the ones they'd already killed. He could see that they were tiring, and there were still quite a few monsters left. Serenity watched the battle silently for a moment. "They need Mina. She's always the one that comes up with the plans and organizes the attacks. The others simply aren't as much good without her." Mina, however desperately needed, wasn't anywhere to be seen.

The other generals and the prince immediately jumped into the fray. They might not have any special powers, but they could still kill a few monsters on their own. They fought long and hard, but the monsters kept coming. Finally, both the humans and the girls were herded back to back into a circle. The monsters surrounded them, murderous intent in their eyes. Serenity, too, was grabbed by a monster and thrown into the center of their little circle.

Just as they thought that all hope was lost, Mina appeared, standing shakily on the roof of one of the caves. She was wearing an outfit similar to the other girls, except that hers was in gold and white. She looked at the girls, mouthing something unintelligible. They apparently understood, because each of them nodded. One by one, each girl grabbed onto the general next to her. Selenity reached for the prince's hand, while Lita grabbed Nephlite and Malachite. Amy, too, grabbed Zoicite's hand, and Raye grabbed onto Jedeite, scowling the entire time at the unwanted contact.

Each girl looked up at the sky, and then shouted something in that same musical language. The tiaras in the center of their foreheads disappeared, replaced by different symbols in the same colors as their outfits. The symbols, including the crescent moon on Serenity's forehead, began to glow brightly. The air around each of them glittered with the power they were excluding. Suddenly, Malachite felt as though he were going to faint. He closed his eyes against the nausea, and when he opened his eyes he found himself on top of the same cave where Mina stood.

He looked back at the monsters. They were milling around stupidly, obviously befuddled by their sudden disappearance. One of the smarter monsters finally pointed up at their cave roof. He grunted, and the other monsters looked in the same direction. They started to charge, and Malachite didn't have any doubts that the monsters would reach them quickly in spite of the height of the cave on which they stood.

Mina must have realized this, as well, because she held one of her hands to her lips. "Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" she shouted as she peeled her fingers away. As she did, he noticed that her hand now held a small glowing heart. She flung the heart at the monsters, throwing it right into the most densely populated section. It touched the ground and exploded with enough force that every monster in a fifty-foot radius was killed. The rest of the monsters turned and ran with fear, apparently realizing that they could not win against these powerful women.

Malachite turned to Mina just as she collapsed back into unconsciousness. Lita barely caught her before she fell.