Chapter 2
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Where they landed was a place unlike any other Heero had ever seen. The same colors as made up both the portals and dogs covered the entirety of the area here as far as the eye could see. there were no walls, no boundaries, and yet somehow it seemed to stop after a certain distance, as if the no-existent floor curved up and around in a gigantic bubble. Ami, however, knew exactly where she was.
"Setsuna-chan?" she called, and Heero figured it out. Setsuna, Sailor Pluto, guarded the Gates of Time. That was where they were.
A figure approached in the distance and Ami seemed more than relieved. The woman came towards them, carrying something in her hand but it wasn't until she was much closer that Heero could tell what she looked like. She was tall, very tall, about Trowa's height, with hair the color of dark jade falling down past her knees. In one hand she carried a tall staff topped with a large jewel and she wore a sailor fuku of deep purple and green. And although Ami seemed to care for this woman greatly, there was nothing friendly in the hate blazing from her ruby eyes.
Ami seemed to sense this too. "Setsuna-chan? Is something the matter?"
The taunting tone in the woman's voice did not bode well. "'Is something the matter?'" she echoed, sneering, "I'd say so."
"Setsuna-chan?"
Sailor Pluto whirled on the senshi of ice. "Don't you dare think you can call me that," she hissed.
Ami jumped back, her eyes going wide with surprise. "What happened?"
Again, the older woman scorned her. "'What happened?' What do you think happened. Use the brain inside that overly-large head of yours. I found the way to power. The way to everything I ever wanted. Death. Revenge. A life of my own. And I found it in the one place I had never thought to look until it brought itself to me." She paused for dramatic effect. "The Negaverse."
Heero laughed. "'The Negaverse?' What the hell kind of name is that?"
At the same time, Ami was forming a retort of her own. "SHABON SPRAY!" Missiles of ice, their power increased ten fold, shot toward the ancient senshi who barely managed to throw up a wall in time to block them. But it blocked every single one and the attack she hurled back nearly knocked Ami off her feet.
"Ice bitch!" Setsuna roared, fast approaching them
The senshi of Mercury had barely restrained tears in her eyes as she flew at her old friend, fists flying. "You killed them!" she screamed, "You killed them, you killed them you killed them! They died and you could have stopped it! You murdering shit, you killed them!" She landed blow upon blow on her, never halting in her rain of slurs and accusations until Setsuna blew her back a good twenty feet. It was then that the time hounds reappeared, the portal closing behind them.
Ami struggled back to her feet, eyes burning with hatred and hurt as they watched the time senshi gently dust herself off. The three hounds surrounded the couple only to be joined by more until they formed a complete circle. Biting her lip to hold back tears she once more lifted the time key. A portal opened directly beneath the two of them, dropping them out of the hell-hole before death jumped them. Instead the hounds landed atop each other as the exit closed.
Setsuna walked to where her ex-teammate had once stood, frowning deeply until lines appeared across her forehead. She glared at the spot in disappointment at their escape. It wouldn't be for long. "You weren't thinking, Ami-chan," she muttered insanely to herself, "That was my key you used. I can track it anywhere, any time. And then you'll be dead."
Heero twisted as he fell, making sure to land on his feet as did Ami beside him. He almost recognized the place he was in, it looked somewhat like Tokyo but also different. A tower in the distance he knew he had never seen before, and the air and streets were relatively clean, not smog filled like the ones he knew. Not twenty feet from them was an arcade, next to it, on their side, a stand selling some kind of reading article. He had heard of them before, seemed they had been called newspapers or something of the like. Ami immediately headed over to it, looking rather shocked as she glanced at it. He walked up along side her. "What is it?"
She shook her head. "Not what, when. We're in Tokyo. In the year 2002."
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Review responses:
suesei: Cool, one of my 'Ice and War' fans is back. Glad you like the story!
Serena Yuy: *That* was a reaction. Don't worry, its coming.
Kaiya: It's the person that's seriously helping me out with this fic (thank you so much for that!) Well, now you know how she knows the hounds. And 2x4s rock my world.
Ummeinoko: Glad you like it, keep reading!
ellie: I think Ami and Heero are rare because a lot of people don't seem them fitting together. So glad you liked the original!
huffpuff: I had to do a sequel, I think people might have tied me to my computer until I did (its been threatened) I love it when you guys return to read the sequel. And yea, I guess Setsuna is here. Just not how you probably expected . . .
fluffy pink bouncy bunny: I said it once, I'll say it again. Love the pen name, creativity rocks my world. It's not just *a* universe, it's going to be several. And the time hounds are pretty much unstoppable unless Pluto calls them off. They're pure energy.
Petra: Wow. Another fan of 'Ice and War.' You guys just keep coming back.
Ayana: That's probably the first time I've been called kawaii. Been called cute, but never kawaii. Keep reading!
