START OF PART TWO: FIVE DAYS AFTER
In the previous days, the soldiers had to find a place to work on the Gundams without any on-lookers about. It took some time, but they managed to secure an area, with the help of some of the technology the Gundam boys possessed. The area was located deep in the mountains, in a valley like area.
Heero and Amy had come up with an ingenious plan to be able to place the Sailor Scouts tiara's in the crown's of the gundams. They designed a trap down that could be opened on voice command. The door itself had a small opening in it so that the jewel on the tiara could be seen threw it, enabling the power to be focused. Heero and Amy presented the design to Duo and Trowa.
"Hm. Well I think we can manage this." Trowa said, putting his hand on Duo's shoulder.
"Yeah, I think so," Duo yawned.
Meanwhile, Quatre was still updating Sandrocks systems to accommodate to the power it would receive with the combination of powers.
Wufei had finished wiring Nataku, Wing Zero, Deathscythe, and Heavyarms to the headsets of the Scouts. He still had to wire Sandrock, but he had to wait for Quatre to get done with updating the systems. While he waited he had time to think. Time to think and talk to Nataku.
"Oh Nataku. I have a feeling that this is going to be the biggest battle yet. And I still feel unworthy to use you. But I have faith that these girls are very powerful indeed. And combining their powers with the attacks of ours will increase the probability for our success in the battlefield. I didn't want to admit it to anyone else, but, I was happy to be transported back in time to this place. I had almost thought that it would mean a little piece and quiet. Perhaps some time to reflect on my life. But we met these girls, and we become entangled in another battle. I believe that this must have been destiny, not just a coincidence. We are always destined to be in battle, and we were destined for this challenge. Nataku, I pray that we are successful."
Wufei looked down from Nataku's cockpit and watched and Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus worked on their aim with their powers. Wufei had never seen any power such as these girls. He wondered what it would be like to possess such power. He turned his gaze to the left and saw Ray guiding Serena in a meditation. Or at least, attempting to guide Serena. Serena was a handful, and could barely keep her attention on one thing at a time. He decided to see if he could assist Ray in her challenge.
"May I assist you?" Wufei said, walking towards the girls. Ray looked up at him with an annoyed look.
"Do you have a lot of patience?" Ray snorted.
"Heh." Wufei answered, kneeling down. "Serena. This is of the utmost importance. You must center you energy and keep in in tune. You and Darien will be a grand contribution in helping Yuy in his attacks."
Serena looked at Wufei then nodded. "I understand Wufei. I will try as hard as I can." she said, looking over at Darien who was in the midst of meditating himself. //I'll be as calm and collected as Darien.//
Wufei nodded and then turned to Ray. "She should be easier to handle now." With that he got up and walked away.
As Darien meditated he kept a thought racing threw his head. //I have to be strong enough to help Serena keep the crystal in balance. Everything depends on this. Everything…//
* * *
"All right, I think we are ready to try this out." Duo said. "I'll install each tiara now. Guys, please man you cockpits and wait for my signal."
Duo watched as the girls transformed into scouts.
"Here you go." Amy said, sliding her tiara off of her forehead and handed it to him.
"Okay, the rest of you wait for me to install this into Sandrock, and then you can give me the next tiara." Duo said, climbing on to sand rock. Within a few moments he was harnessed to the head of Sandrock and installed the tiara into the compartment. He did this with each of the tiara's, except Serena's.
"Serena, we have faith in you." Ray said, looking at her friend as Duo handed her the headset assigned to her.
"Yes Serena, all of us do." Quatre said from inside his Gundam.
Serena nodded. She closed her eyes and positioned her hands above her locket on her bow. Darien, as Tuxedo Mask, stood behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders, releasing his strength into her. Serena's heart pounded as she finally released the words that would allow her to become the Moon Princess, and Darien the Prince of Earth. "Eternal Moon Princess Crystal POWER!!!"
Everyone's eyes widened as the signature moon appeared upon Serena's forehead as the tiara disappeared. Serena's eyes opened as a blast of wind blew past her, making it look as if her Sailor Moon outfit was blown away and in the breeze, her flowing dress appeared. Darien's tuxedo too blew away, revealing a solider like uniform.
"Amazing." Quatre whispered.
"Who would have known…" Trowa muttered.
"Unbelievable." Heero said.
Duo's eyes almost popped out of his head as he saw the clumsy Serena become a beautiful and POWERFUL princess right before his eyes. Wufei couldn't help but smile, although he was glad that no one saw that, since after all, Serena WAS a woman.
The rest of the Sailor Scouts watched in awe, a few tears fell, seeing how strong Serena really was and her true potential revealed.
"All right then. Serena. Darien. Since I am aware that you cannot part with crystal, I did some different modifications to Wing Zero. Heero suggested another cockpit installed in the head of Wing Zero. So, I made it so Serena may sit and be strapped in, and Darien, you will stand and also be strapped in. There is a nearly impenetrable plate of clear covering over it."
"Yes, Serena, and there is a small tower with a globe at the top where you will place the crystal that will allow you to place you hands around it, still enabling you and Darien you control it but allowing the crystals power to flow to Heero's beam cannon." Amy said, adjusting her headset.
"I understand," Serena said. She allowed Duo to lead her and Darien to Wing Zero. Heero made Wing Zero kneel before them, for easier access to the nearly designed cockpit in the head of Zero. Duo properly strapped the two in and showed the princess how to work the tower and globe.
"Are you comfortable enough?" Duo asked.
"Yes, thank you."
"All right," Duo said, getting out the last two headsets he had prepared. "Here you go. You will now be directly linked to Heero's cockpit. He will instruct you on what to do incase of an emergency and whatever else he needs to say. Keep in mind that this is not an easy ride, it will be rough."
"Thank you Duo," Darien said, winking at the braided boy.
"Good luck," he said, climbing out of the small entry and sealing them in. He proceeded to his Gundam.
"Can you hear me?" Heero asked threw his comm.
"Yes." Serena and Darien answered.
"If something goes wrong, I will eject you. Hopefully you will survive it, but there is not insurance on that at all. Do you understand?"
"We do."
"I will inform you of when you have the crystal's power attack so that I will have the beam cannon ready. Keep in mind that I don't always use the beam cannon when in combat. I also have a sword saber, which uses less energy. Be ready for me command." Heero said, then cut off the link temporarily.
"Is everyone ready?"
"Yes."
"All right. Let's go." Duo said. "Now Lita."
Lita stood back on large boulder that the girls had picked out that. They would be able to see and make sure that their mental aim would be correct. "Jupiter…Oak…Evolution!" Lita screamed into her headset. It sent the signal to Duo's cockpit and to her tiara embedded in Deathscythe's crown. Duo raised his scythe beam and thrashed it as some tree's as Sailor Jupiter's power coursed threw the electric current at the end.
The tree's immediately vaporized. Everyone looked at the effect of the combined attacks in amazement.
"That was incredible. Without that jolt from Lita, the tree's would merely had been cut down." Duo said.
"All right. Our turn Amy." Quatre said. "We must envision that the enemy is coming my way, and I will need some cover in order to threw the swords."
"All right. I'm ready." Amy said.
"All right. Now Amy."
"Mercury…Bubbles… Blast!!!" Amy screamed. A thick foggy haze formed in front of Sandrock. Quatre nodded and threw the swords at his predetermined target selected before the attack. They waited a few moments for the fog to clear to see if his aiming was correct.
Before them, the hillside where Quatre had made distinct spray paint marks an hour earlier or so, held both of Sandrocks curved words exactly on the marks Quatre had made.
"Wonderful. But since the target was inanimate, we had to wait to see if we hit it. But if I fight against something with life, I will be able to be sure that I hit it by my sensors. You did wonderful Amy. I'm sure we can use your other attacks as well."
"Thank you." Amy smiled.
"All right Mina." Trowa said. "Our target is that large rock lodged into the side of the east hill."
"Understood." Mina said.
"Okay, Now Mina." Trowa said, raising Heavyarms' left arm.
"Venus… Love and Beauty Shock!" Mina yelled, watching her power combine with the bullets from Heavyarms instantly demolish the large rock.
"Excellent Mina."
"Mmm-hmm, yes." Mina answered.
"All right Wufei. I am ready." Ray said into her mike.
"Yes. Aim for the remains of that rock that Trowa and Mina destroyed."
"All right."
"Now Ray."
"Mars…Flame…Sniper!" Ray commanded with a strong voice. Nataku's dragon pointed at the rocks and fired, allowing it's fire to combine with the powerful energy of Sailor Mars' flame sniper. Within seconds, the rocks were molten. "Wow." Ray remarked, watching the molten rock slide down the hill.
"Impressive." Wufei remarked, also watching the molten rock.
"We're ready Heero." Serena said calmly.
"Hn. Wait for my mark." Heero said, looking for the appropriate target. He had noticed earlier a old cabin only a few thousand meters away. From their research, the cabin had been abandoned for ten years. //Perfect.// Heero informed everyone to step back, because the intensity of the hit was still uncertain. "Okay. Now…"
Serena nodded, and Darien held on tight to her, focusing his energy into her. "Eternal…Silver…Crystal…POWER!" Heero's quick reflexes simultaneously aimed the cannon at the cabin and watched in awe as a wave of silver energy coursed threw the beam. The cabin instantly blew away, along with most the tree's and rocks surrounding it, causing a rush of air to hit the Scouts as they ducked and covered.
"Dear God." Trowa said.
"All mighty Allah, what a spectacle." Quatre gasped.
"Holy Sh--" Duo coughed.
"Hmm." was all that came from Wufei.
Heero watched as the blazes danced in his blue eyes. "This is going to work. Mission, accepted." Heero said.
"Um," Amy said, watching the blaze turn more violent. "Quatre, I need to use my power to put out this fire."
"Indeed." Quatre said, turning his Gundam towards the flame. "Ready Amy, Go."
"Mercury…Aqua…Rhapsody!" Amy commanded and watched the flames extinguish.
"I'd say we're good to go!" Duo said, opening his cockpit and looking out.
Serena and Darien sighed, as Heero let them out of their station. Serena held the crystal as she looked at her friends and smiled, then dropped to her knee's.
"Serena!" they all called out. Darien held her in his arms.
"It's all right Serena. You must rest so you will be ready when the true challenge occurs." Darien whispered to her, letting her fall asleep in his arms as they both returned to being Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, then back to regular Serena and Darien.
All the Gundam boys walked towards them with the tiara's for the girls and gave them back. The girls then transformed back into their normal selves.
"We must hide our Gundams, but if you wish to go on ahead of us, we will meet you back at the temple shortly." Quatre said, with sad eyes as he looked at the sleeping exhausted Serena.
"Thank you." Darien said, and carried Serena to his car. Amy and Mina went with to watch Serena as Darien drove. And Lita and Ray stayed with the boys and would come home with them as soon as they were done hiding the Gundams.
* * *
An hour or so later, the whole group sat in the middle of a room in the temple. It was late now. Nearly 11 P.M. Everyone was exhausted.
"Well, I think we had all better get some rest." Ray said, yawning.
"I agree." Quatre said.
"Yes, well, I'll drop the rest of you girls off at your houses. And, after I'm done, if you guys want to stay at my apartment, you are more than welcome to, since I have a feeling Ray's grandfather is tired of giving you all his food." Darien sighed.
They boys nodded and gathered their things as Darien went to bring Serena, Mina, Amy and Lita home.
* * *
SERENA'S DREAM
A field stood before Serena. The wind blew so hard that she could barely breathe. Her hair whipped around behind her as she heard a scream and tearing metal. Her attention turned to where the scream came from.
Her friends lay on the ground bloody and trembling.
"Princess." They said, before losing conscious.
"My friends!" she screamed, running towards them, but the closer she got, the farther they seemed. "Please! Come back!" she cried, falling to her knees.
"You cannot save them. You have become too weak." She heard from her right. It was Heero.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You did not try your hardest. You did not fight your true enemy."
"What? Who is my true enemy?" She asked, wiping her tears.
"You." Heero said. Suddenly her became Zoicite.
"You will pay Moon Princess. I will take away all that you love, because you once took away all that I loved." he laughed…
Serena suddenly woke up, gasping hard.
"I cannot fail… But, maybe, maybe I am my own true enemy…" she sighed.
AMY ON THE PHONE WITH LITA:
"Lita, do you have faith that we will pull threw this one?" Amy asked.
Lita sighed into the phone. "Amy, this is something we've never done."
"I know, but from the data I've collected I believe that we will have the benefit of the doubt."
Lita fidgeted with her phone cord. "Yeah… You know what Amy?"
"What?" Amy asked.
"I think I'm really going to miss the boys when they have to go back home."
"I know, they really do seem like part of the team now, don't they?" Amy sighed.
"Yeah… And you know, once we send them back to where they came from, we'll never see them again." Lita sniffled.
"Lita, we have made friends with people from different planets, dimensions, countries, schools, and now times. I have a feeling that this won't be the last that we see of them." Amy giggled.
"Yeah maybe you're right." Lita remarked, then yawned. "Well Amy-chan, I think I'm gonna hit the hay. But I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Yes. Goodnight Lita. Sweet dreams."
"You too Amy." Lita said, then hung up.
MINA EXPLAINING THE SITUATION TO ARTEMIS
(near the end of the conversation)
"So then I combined my power with Trowa's and that rock was totally annihilated. And Then Ray combined her sniper with Wufei's dragon attack and the rest of whatever was left of the rock turned to molten rock!" Mina said, bouncing on her bed, looking at Artemis.
"That's super Mina." Artemis said. "But from what Luna and I have found out from the Gundam boys, this Epyon Gundam is just as powerful as Wing Zero. It has the same system and all, and the pilot has to be just as strong as Heero to operate it. They even told me that Heero once used it as his own. I think we are really going to try your hardest to get this accomplished. Luna and I have great faith in all you girls, and the boys, but this is the biggest challenge yet."
"I understand." Mina sighed, looking out the window.
RAY PRAYING IN THE TEMPLE
Ray sat on the floor praying that the fight will go successfully. Her mind was centered and all things seemed clear until her grandpa barged into the room.
"Hey Ray, where'd those boys go?" he grunted. "They ate all my food!"
Ray rolled her eyes and turned around to look at him. "They went home for now Grandpa."
"What?! Are they going to pay me back?!" Grandpa snorted.
Ray stood up and walked calmly over to her Grandpa. "Grandpa, they will pay you back in more ways than you will ever realize."
"Oh, hum." Grandpa said as Ray pushed him out of the room. Ray prepared to shut the door, but not before Grandpa made one more comment, "Oh, and don't think I didn't notice that the van has been moved and the gas been diminished!"
"All right Grandpa, I'll make sure they pay you back… Now you better go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow." Ray said, waving to her Grandpa and she shut the door.
INSIDE DARIEN'S APARTMENT
"I'm so hungry!" Duo said, looking around as he dropped his knap-sack full of his belongings her took from Deathscythe.
"Well. We can order take out if you want. Does pizza sounds all right?" Darien asked, looking at the boys.
"Yes, thank you." Trowa said.
"All right, what do you guys want on them?" Darien asked.
"Um, one with everything, and one vegetarian, and one with just cheese." Quatre said.
"Why one vegetarian?" Darien asked, finding the phone number to the pizza place.
"Because Heero is a vegetarian and won't eat any meat! Though, I dunno how he survives that! Sometimes I think I could live on meat! Just give me a big hunk of steak, some potatoes, and call me good!" Duo remarked as he winked at Heero, who in turn, delivered a severe death glare Duo's way.
Meantime, Darien ordered the pizza and the boys settled in. Within 30 minutes the food arrived and they ate in silence, save the loud chewing coming from Duo as he stuffed his face.
After clean up was done, Darien bid the boys goodnight and headed to bed.
"Well, sweet dreams everyone." Quatre said, before turning over on his spot on the floor and falling asleep. The rest of the boys bid their goodnights as well and they too fell asleep.
QUATRE'S DREAM
Quatre sat in the cockpit of Sandrock and stared at the spectacle that lay before him. The ground was ablaze and short radio transmissions were being sent to him.
"Quatre… Qua-- Do…you… --ead me?"
"Yes, this is Quatre."
"Quatre… the scouts have been severely---"
"What?! What?! I didn't catch that, please repeat the message."
"AHHHHHHH!!!!"
"Hello?! Please come in… Please, this is Quatre, please come in…" Quatre cried into his comm.
Silence…
Silence…
Silence…
"Quatre, your duty now…" a familiar voice was heard, then a picture appeared on the screen, it was Heero… "…is to save yourself and return home… Save-- ALL of them--"
Silence…
"Heero?! Heero?! Please come in!!"
"Hahahaha…" he heard. That laugh… That laugh…
HEERO'S DREAM
"Your mission is to go become more attuned to your senses and fight this battle the best way you can." Doctor J told him threw his laptop.
"What battle?" Heero asked, puzzled.
"Oh Heero, Heero, Heero… Don't you see? The battle INSIDE YOU…"
"Nani…? Huh?"
"Heero, it is not like you to not know what is going on. You were always so aware…" J sighed. "Nevertheless, I will help you out this one time… You see Heero, you strive to find yourself where ever you are. And now that you are stuck hundred's of years in the past, you feel as if you are no one. But you know, deep inside you, that you can only truly find yourself when you are engaged in battle. Heero, this battle you are about to embark in is the one that you will either truly find your true your meaning in life, or you will perish in the fire of vengeance. You know what you must do… You must, in one way, or another, protect that girl with your life… Heero, if you succeed in this, she will reveal all to you threw her. Heero, she is the future beyond yours…" J said, then was cut out…
"Mission Accepted."
TROWA'S DREAM
"Catherine… What are you doing here?" Trowa said as he down at her from the cockpit of his Gundam.
"Trowa… I was worried about you. You disappeared and we have no idea where you went off to." she cried, looking up at him with tearful eyes.
Trowa sighed and jumped down from his cockpit and embraced Catherine with a loving hug. "I'm back now Catherine. You needn't cry anymore. I'm sorry I left without telling you, but you know that sometimes I just cannot tell you where I am going."
"Oh Trowa." Catherine sighed, putting her head on his shoulder.
"Shh, it's quite all right. No more need to worry. I'm home."
"Hahahahaha…"
Trowa quickly pulled away and looked at what he thought was Catherine. But it was not Catherine. No, it wasn't her at all…
"My God."
"Hahahahaha…"
That laughter…
"Oh Trowa… You are not home… You will never be home… You are a No Name… You have nothing… You are nothing… And now that you have become involved with the Sailor Scouts, I will make sure you stay NOTHING!" Zoicite screamed as he hit Trowa with a blast of energy…
Trowa woke up with a jolt, breathless and crying…
DUO'S DREAM
Duo sat in a small café in town. Before him sat a huge table with mounds of food. He looked confused as he saw Serena lay asleep in her chair.
"Hmm… She must have eaten too much and fallen asleep." he said, grabbing a piece of cheese. "MORE FOOD FOR ME!"
Duo began shoving his face with food until his attention was caught on Serena's locket gleaming in the sunlight. He dropped all that was in his hand and walked over to her and stared at it.
"Wow," he said as his finger ran over the crest on the top. Suddenly, the locket fell off and landed in his hand. "Uh.. Oops!" he said, looking back down at Serena. "Hey! I'm gonna hide it and when I get her back to the temple I'll ask her where it went and when she starts looking frantically for it, I'll tell her I had it all along. Perfect for payback for making me pee my pants!" Duo snorted. He took it and swung her over his shoulder and began walking back to where the temple was.
Suddenly Zoicite appears in front of his path. "Hahaha…Where are you heading off to little soldier?" he laughed.
"Oh crap!" Duo said, taking Serena down from his shoulder. "Serena, Serena, wake up! Zoicite is here! Serena, wake up!" he cried shaking her. But as he shook her, her appearance changed, and suddenly, he held the Moon Princess.
"Baka. You killed her." Zoicite laughed.
"WHAT?!" Duo said, his violet eyes raging with fury as he glared back at Zoicite.
"Stupid boy. You took away her locket… Any person baka would know that that locket holds her life force…"
"Oh my God…" Duo said, beginning to cry.
"Oh well…" Zoicite said, holding out his hand. Duo looked at it as the locket suddenly appeared in his grasp. "I suppose you won't be needing THIS anymore."
"Give it back! It doesn't belong to you!" Duo screamed.
"Eh-Eh, not so fast pretty boy. You should be talking, YOU took it first." Zoicite said. "I can only imagine what you are feeling now…" he laughed.
Duo broke down in whimpers as he looked down at Serena's pale features. "Oh Serena…"
Zoicite turned to walk about, but stopped and looked back for a second, "Oh, and um, with that little act of taking her locket and killing her little Duo, you also killed all her friends along with all of your friends as well… Well, have a good day!" Zoicite said, then vanishing.
Duo woke up with a shudder as streams of tears rolled down his cheeks.
WUFEI'S THOUGHTS AS HE LAY, TRYING TO SLEEP
//What if I cannot accomplish this?…//
//What if our powers may not even be strong enough to beat Epyon and Zoicite?//
//What if Zechs is no longer alive?//
//Why is all this happening?//
//Why couldn't I have been a normal teenage boy?//
//What if Nataku has no faith in me?…//
//What if I fail?//
//What happens if we die here?//
//Will all our efforts in the future never be?//
//What if something goes terribly wrong?//
//What if the scouts die?//
//What if…//
DARIEN IN HIS ROOM, TALKING TO LUNA ON THE PHONE
"Luna, is Serena doing all right?"
"She's having nightmare's tonight. I think she is terrified."
"I am terrified as well Luna. I just want her and the rest of us to live normal lives, and not have to worry about saving the world every time we turn around."
"Darien, you know that that is not possible."
"I know Luna." Darien sniffled.
"Darien. We are going to pull threw this. Artemis and I have complete faith in you all. We know that everything will be fine. We will win this, and we will send the boys and their Gundams home safely. And then we will be normal for the time being, or at least until the next challenge occurs."
"You know Luna, at first, I didn't trust these boys."
"Haha, I know Darien. I didn't either, but they're kind hearted and their intentions are well. And that Gundam pilot that Zoicite kidnapped also had good intentions in his own way."
"Really?"
"Yes, that is what Quatre told me. That's why we have to save him as well. Even though he is an enemy of the boys, he is still not a bad guy per se."
"Luna, I think that Serena is becoming so worried that she is getting ill."
"I agree."
"I think we better have a meeting tomorrow and decide what we are going to do, because she is the essential key in all of this. We need to well. We need to help her."
"All right. I will inform the girls in the morning."
"Thank you Luna."
"Yes, now you go rest. We need you well rested and healthy in this battle as well."
"All right. Goodnight Luna."
"Goodnight Darien…"
* * *
The next day Darien, Heero, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei and Duo made their way over to Serena's house for a meeting. The drive was only about fifteen minutes and the boys watched out the window as they passed buildings and people. They listened to the radio too. They were amazed that the songs that were being played were new at that moment, but in their time, they were nearing ancient history.
Finally, they arrived at Serena's house. Her parents were on a short trip, so they didn't need to worry about being in trouble for being there. They walked up to the door and rang it's bell. A few moments later, the door creaked open, and Serena's small face peered threw the opening.
"Hey guys." Serena said, motioning for them to come into the house, "Please, come in."
The boys gladly accepted and as customary in Japan, took off their shoes, and followed Serena to the dining room. "Lita made lunch for us." Serena said, taking her place at the table. Darien sat next to her and noticed that something just wasn't right with her.
"Serena, are you all right?"
"Huh? Oh… OH! I'm fine! Never better--" she trailed off, obviously in thought, but trying to cover it up as she gazed at the feast that lay before her.
"Lita, this looks wonderful." Quatre said, as Lita entered the room with one big tray with a baked chicken on it.
"Thanks. It was nothing, I just whipped some things together, and TA-DA! I had made lunch! Dig in guys!" Lita laughed, plopping down at the table.
Lunch went well. Everyone ate to their fill. "Wait wait, I think I saw a batch of brownies in the kitchen…" Lita said, looking hopeful.
"Yeah, my mom made them before she left so I would have something for snack. We can have some now if you want." Serena said, getting up to get the brownies from the kitchen. Ray looked worriedly at her and commenced to follow her in.
"Serena?" she asked, once they were in the kitchen by themselves.
"Yes Ray?" Serena asked, concentrating on cutting the brownies evenly.
"I was just wondering--"
"Ray, I know that you are all worried about me. I know that that is why we are having this *meeting*. But really Ray, I'm fine. I am just fine. All I need is some more rest, and I will be good to go. You know I am strong when I put my mind to it."
"Yes you are Serena. You are very strong." Ray sighed, "But Serena, we love you and we worry about you so much when you are down because you are always our sunshine. But now you are a sad, sick, gloomy rain cloud." Ray smiled. Serena looked at her, with a frown.
"Um…" she said, making Ray laugh.
"We really do love you."
"I know, and I love you guys too… But you know Ray… I was thinking, that if we do make it threw this battle, like how exactly we are going to get the boys back to their time. And for once, I came up with a good idea…" Serena said.
"What is your good idea Serena?" Ray said, looking puzzled at her.
"We ask Trista to use her key for time to send the boys back to the future like she did for Rene."
"Oh Serena… That is a wonderful idea… But with that idea, I have come up with another wonderful idea myself! Hurry, take the brownies and follow me!" Ray said, grabbing Serena's arm and having her follow her into the dining room. Everyone looked at them puzzled as they came barging threw the door way. "You guys, I have a wonderful idea! But it was inspired by Serena's ingenious idea as well."
"What's your idea?" Trowa asked.
"Well, it involves some more Sailor Scouts." Ray smiled.
"Oh dear, I almost forgot about them! We can totally ask them for help!" Mina said.
"Yeah!" Amy piped in.
"Uh, pardon me, but I'm confused." Duo said, looking at the now cheerful girls.
"Oh! Haha, sorry. There are four more Sailor Scouts here at the moment that we can ask for help to ensure our victory!" Lita smiled.
"For the outer four planets?" Heero asked.
"Yes, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Pluto. There's also Sailor Chibi Moon, but she's not in this time era right now, seeing that her parents live in the future as well…"
"Huh?" Duo asked.
"Chibi Moon is our future daughter. She comes across time to help us fight…" Darien said.
"Comes across time? So you really do have a sure fire way of getting us back home?" Quatre asked.
"Yes, that's where Serena's ingenious idea comes into effect. Go ahead Serena, tell them."
"Well, Sailor Pluto holds the key of time. She can open and close pathways to the future and the past. She has helped Sailor Chibi Moon back and forth threw the centuries before, and I am sure she will be willing to help us get you back to your time since you don't really belong here."
"Oh Serena! That is brilliant!" Amy cheered. Serena smiled and sat back down. The rest of the afternoon was spent discussing the other Sailor Scouts and how they would be back to help them fight Zoicite. The boys were intrigued by the information that even more powerful soldiers existed in this time and obviously carried as much power, if not more, than the scouts they sat with now.
Serena sat back and watched them discuss as she thought to herself… //Yes, a victory for sure for us… That is, if we can convince Sailor Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto to assist us in such a hellacious battle without them wanting to eliminate the Gundams and the boys… *sigh*//
* * *
Later that day, the girls went over to see Sailor Pluto, or as they knew her as Trista. Darien had taken the boys to the grocery store to pick up some food so they could make dinner over at his apartment that night, and some food to pay Grandpa back for all the food they have devoured unconsciously during their stay at the temple.
The girls knocked on Trista's front door and waited for an answer. After a few minutes no one answered so they decided to try their luck later that evening. While they were leaving, by luck, Trista's car came pulling into the drive way. The horn beeped and Trista stepped out of the car.
"Hello girls, what's up?" she smiled, coming towards them with a bag of groceries.
"Well, some Sailor stuff and--"
"Oh, say no more, come in and lets talk." Trista said, moving past the girls, unlocking the door and motioning for them to follow.
They all sat in the kitchen at Trista's small table as she put away her things and they explained their whole situation to her as she commenced to put away things and nod as she went.
"Well, that's quite a predicament you have there." she sighed. "But I will do it since it is my job to keep time in order and these boys obviously aren't supposed to be here. Nonetheless, I will have to contact Michelle and Amara along as Hotaru to tell them all this. I'm sure that they will not be so happy about exposing your secrets and putting yourselves in such danger, but now that we are committed, you really don't have a choice. It is our job to protect the princess, so that is what we will do. How about you all come over here tonight after dinner so we can meet these boys and then we can discuss how we will get them home once Zoicite is destroyed once again." Trista smiled at the girls.
"Thank you Trista. We will be here around 7:30, is that a good time?" Amy asked.
"Perfect." said Trista.
"All right," Ray said, getting up as the other girls followed her, "We'll see you later tonight then."
* * *
It was now around 4:30 P.M. Everyone was at Darien's. Lita, Darien, and Amy stood in the kitchen preparing the meal. Meanwhile Mina, Ray and Serena sat on the floor in front of the television watching the news, but not before Serena protested to watch cartoons. The boys on the other hand were taking turns in the Darien's shower so they would look nice and neat to meet the new scouts later that night.
Trowa and Quatre also sat and watched the news, seeing what they would have probably seen in history books flash across the screen as new and exciting happenings. Wufei meditated off in the corner. All three had already showered and just waited to eat. Meanwhile, Duo was taking a long and apparently hot shower because steam was rolling out the crevices of the doorway. Heero stood next to the door with an annoyed look on his face as he could distinctly hear Duo humming the theme song to Star Wars. But not once did Duo hum it. Oh no. He had gone threw it three times since he had begun washing his hair. Heero had finally had enough of it…
"Duo!" Heero yelled, pounding on the door.
"Hum HUM hum hum hum HUUUMMMM hum--Huh? What?!" Duo yelled.
"You have exactly one minute, seven seconds to get out of the bathroom before I come in there." Heero snorted.
Duo smirked at the thought, "Well Heero, you're more than welcome to come in, but I'm all naked and wet and SOAPY…" Duo seemed to purred.
"Ugh." Heero scoffed, rolling his eyes and blushing, thankful that no one else had seen the blush, nor heard what Duo had said.
"All right, All right Heero. Give me a second to gather my things and I'll be out." Duo said, shutting off the shower. Heero could him Duo yelp when he realized the air outside the shower was cold.
Things scattered, a few curses were mumbled, and finally, Duo opened the door. He stood there with a pair of his pants on, no shirt, and his towel around his neck. "There you're highness." Duo said, slithering out of the room. He walked into the living room to see what everyone was doing before he went to go put the rest of his clothes on. Once he walked into the doorway he was immediately greeted by an obnoxious laughter.
Serena rolled on the floor as she looked up at Duo. "What? Do I have a booger hanging out of my nose or something?" Duo asked, rubbing his nose furiously.
"Ah-hahahahahahahaha…. NO! Your hair! It's almost as long as mine!!! That's so strange!" Serena bellowed.
"What? You knew it was long Serena." Duo snorted, looking at her with bewilderment.
"Yeah, but now it's not braided!" she laughed.
"Huh? What?! Oh Sh--!" Duo said, realizing his hair WASN'T braided, NOR was it combed. "Heero! Wait! Don't lock me out just yet!" Duo said, running back to the bathroom.
"What? You want in? I still have to get threw THREE rotations of the Star Wars theme BEFORE I even ponder the idea of letting you in, baka…" Heero retorted.
"Damn it." Duo sighed, running to the kitchen and grabbing a fork, trying to run it threw his hair in attempt to comb in out.
By the time Heero emerged from the bathroom, Duo was just finishing braiding his hair. Duo glared at Heero as he past. "Okay guys! Dinner's ready!" Lita yelled.
Duo got up, along with Serena and dashed into the kitchen, hurrying to see what they had made. Everyone else followed. "No, wait, it's like a buffet but if you eat it all now, you won't have room for dessert, so don't eat too much. Once you are done, go sit.." Lita said, motioning for them to take a seat at the table and the few T.V. trays scattered threw the dining room.
Everyone grabbed a plate and set in to eating their delicious dinner that was prepared for them. Everyone's stomach was a little upset over the anxiety of the boys meeting the new scouts, so not all the food was devoured like expected. In fact Serena didn't really eat that much at all. The others looked at him with a worried look.
"Well." Serena said, looking at the clock." It's 6:45, I think we'd better start getting ready to go see the girls."
* * *
LATER THAT NIGHT
It was 7:25 P.M. Everybody was in the vehicles traveling towards Trista, Amara, Michele, Hotaru's home. They arrived within a few minutes and quietly exited the cars. The boys checked themselves to make sure they still looked presentable.
"You guys look just fine, don't worry." Amy said, leading everyone to the door. She rang the door bell and waited for a response. Trista answered soon after.
"Hello everyone. Please, come in, and have a seat in the living room." Everyone complied and filed into the dainty house. In the living room sat Hotaru on the carpet next to the coffee table. Michele sat on the edge of a sofa, and Amara stood behind her, with her hand on Michele's shoulder. But once everyone was in the same room, Michele and Hotaru stood.
"Hi guys!" Serena squealed, looking at all of her friends.
"Hello Serena." Michele smiled.
"Guys, we'd like you to meet our new friends." Mina said, motioning towards the boys.
"This is Quatre," she said. "These are the other scouts we told you about. Trista, Michele, Amara, and Hotaru." Mina said pointing to each girl as Quatre went around and said hello shaking hands. "This is Trowa and Wufei," Trowa made a quick smile and also shook their hands, Wufei following. "Over there is Duo, with the long braid."
"HI!!!!" he shouted, jumping towards the girls and offering his hand to them all.
Mina giggled slightly, a little embarrassed. "And this is Heero."
"It's a pleasure." he mumbled, also respectfully shaking hands. Everyone took a seat and looked at each other.
"Well, we know your situation." Amara said, looking at each of the boys. "And we understand. We have decided to help you, but under one condition… That is, if the princess dies during this battle, then we will not let you return to the future."
"What?!" Duo yelped.
"Duo please," Quatre said, looking intrigued at the notion, "Please go on."
"Well, as I'm sure the other scouts have told you, Serena is the key to everyone's future. Therefore, if she dies by helping you all, then you're punishment for allowing her to die in any case will be to stay here. And since I hear you all have pretty important jobs in the future, I really do suggest that you protect her with all of your might." Michele said calmly.
"We understand." Trowa said, looking out from under his bangs.
"We have also come up with a plan…" Hotaru finally spoke up. Everyone looked at her with interest. "Well, since what we did understand, the other scout's power will be occupied with the Gundam, so if something were to happen to the girls as they helped you out, they would have no way to really defend themselves, except with arms and legs. So, we will keep watch over them and protect them as you do battle with Zoicite in case something does happen. And from what we know of Zoicite and what we've learned from him, it is most likely that he will try and attack from every angle possible. But the good thing is is that he doesn't know that we four other scouts even exist." she explained.
"That's a wonderful idea!" Ray said. "That will really knock him off his feet."
"All right, so everything is understood?" Trista asked.
"Yes."
"Okay, well then, if everything goes according to plan, then I will get to back home." Trista assured the boys.
"Well, I made some cookies…" Michele said, smiling as she got up to walk into the kitchen.
"Should I *join* you as you get them?" Amara said, looking at her timidly.
"If you *want * to." Michele giggled and held Amara's hand as they went into the kitchen.
"Did they say cookies?" Serena asked.
"Forget the cookies, were they holding hands?!" Duo said.
"Yeah…" Lita and Hotaru answered.
"Um… why?" Duo asked in a dumb voice…
"Duo, think about it." Heero said, giving him the *you're a baka* look.
"Oh." Duo said, all of a sudden *getting* it. "I see… That's kind of odd."
"Not that odd." Quatre smiled, glancing at Trowa, who blushed.
"I guess not," Duo said, looking at Heero you made a quick glance away from Duo, who he had been staring at.
"Okay!" Michele said, bringing the cookies into the room.
"Yay!" Serena said, pouncing on the tray.
Suddenly, a loud buzzing started going off. Serena stopped stuffing her face and pulled out a little device that looked like a calculator. She pushed a few button and a little image of Luna appeared.
"Whoa! It's Luna!" Duo said, trying to get closer to the device.
"Hi Luna. What's up?" Serena asked.
"Girls and you boys too, we've got terrible news… Zoicite is apparently test piloting the Gundam he stole. We have had some reports over the police scanner of some loud shooting, crashing about, and an unidentified flying object…" Luna said, "You'd better get on it girls!"
"Right Luna! We're on our way! Send coordinates to Amy's computer." Serena said, getting up and running out the door, as the others followed suit.
* * *
BEEP…
BEEP…
BEEP…
BEEP…
"The reading is telling me the other Gundam is located 1.3 kilometers North…" Amy said, staring at the small screen on her computer.
"That's almost directly next to our Gundams!" Quatre yelled.
"Put the pedal to the metal Darien. We don't have much time!" Duo called into the communicator that Lita had from van following Darien's car. The caravan consisting of Darien's car, Ray's Grandpa's Van, and Amara's car traveled as fast as possible to the location Amy had determined.
Moments later, they arrived and saw Epyon standing dead center of the practice area that the scouts and the boys had done their experimenting at. "All right everyone," Serena said, getting out of the car and looking up at the machine with a severe determination. "Time to fight the good fight. Everyone transform and give the boys your tiara's. Amara and the others, cover for them… Darien and I will be following Heero to his Gundam. We'll transform on the way there."
Everyone nodded.
"Mars… Star… Power!"
"Mercury… Star… Power!"
"Jupiter… Star… Power!"
"Venus… Star… Power!"
"Uranus… Star… Power!"
"Neptune… Star… Power!"
"Saturn… Star… Power!"
"Pluto… Star… Power!"
Moments later, everyone was transformed. Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus handed their tiara's to the boys, who ran off as quick as their legs could carry them to their Gundams. Meanwhile Serena, Darien, and Heero ran to Wing Zero.
"Moon Eternal Crystal Power!" Serena screamed, still running.
Darien pulled out a rose from under his coat and was soon Tuxedo Mask. Once they arrived to Wing Zero, Serena took hold of her locket and looked at the two young men standing in front of her.
"All right… ETERNAL… MOON PRINCESS… CRYSTAL… POWER!!!!!!!" Serena commanded, and seconds later Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were the Moon Princess and the Prince of Earth.
"Okay, get in." Heero instructed once he had Wing Zero lowered low enough for them to get in. "Fasten your harnesses." With that Heero had Wing Zero stand and they took off into the air towards where the other Gundams were. The arrived moments later, and saw that everything was still calm.
"Why hasn't anything happened?" Heero asked when they arrived.
"Scans show that there is no life inside Epyon. I presume it was a trap." Amy said threw her comm.
"Great, just great." Duo sighed.
"Wait a second…" Amy said again… "I am picking up a faint transmission emanating from the circuitry of Epyon. Give me a minute to clear it up and then I'll transmit it to everyone." Amy said, pushing some buttons on the computer. "All right, transmitting now…"
The scouts huddled around Amy's computer as she transmitted to the Gundams.
"Hello." Zoicite said threw the transmission. "I presume you have found this *Gundam* as a distraction from my initial plan. As you are listening to this transmission, we are at the Tokyo Tower draining energy from the entire city. Of course, I mean we, as in myself and Malachite. Malachite, come here and talk to these fine people." Zoicite said, moving away form the screen. Moments later, a familiar face appeared. It was Zechs in Malachite's uniform, matching Zoicite's.
"Hello all. I presume you all know me. I have gone threw grueling examination from Zoicite and he has determined that I am Malachite. After you the scouts killed me, my powers were apparently stripped from me and I was given this Gundam from the future. As Zoicite has stated, we are at the Tokyo Tower. Come if you dare, but if you touch Epyon, it will self-destruct, and you, along with a 5 kilometer radius will be annihilated. Malachite, over and out." the transmission ended.
"We have to go to the Tokyo tower then." Ray said, making a fist.
"We need a plan first." Lita protested..
"Right…"
"I have one." Uranus said. "Have the Gundams patrol the outside of the tower. Get your tiara's back, and we will battle Zoicite inside the tower."
"What if people see the Gundams?" Mina asked.
"There's no way. The city has already been drained. No one is awake." Pluto stated.
"All right then." The Moon Princess said, jumping down from Zero. "Let's go…"
In the previous days, the soldiers had to find a place to work on the Gundams without any on-lookers about. It took some time, but they managed to secure an area, with the help of some of the technology the Gundam boys possessed. The area was located deep in the mountains, in a valley like area.
Heero and Amy had come up with an ingenious plan to be able to place the Sailor Scouts tiara's in the crown's of the gundams. They designed a trap down that could be opened on voice command. The door itself had a small opening in it so that the jewel on the tiara could be seen threw it, enabling the power to be focused. Heero and Amy presented the design to Duo and Trowa.
"Hm. Well I think we can manage this." Trowa said, putting his hand on Duo's shoulder.
"Yeah, I think so," Duo yawned.
Meanwhile, Quatre was still updating Sandrocks systems to accommodate to the power it would receive with the combination of powers.
Wufei had finished wiring Nataku, Wing Zero, Deathscythe, and Heavyarms to the headsets of the Scouts. He still had to wire Sandrock, but he had to wait for Quatre to get done with updating the systems. While he waited he had time to think. Time to think and talk to Nataku.
"Oh Nataku. I have a feeling that this is going to be the biggest battle yet. And I still feel unworthy to use you. But I have faith that these girls are very powerful indeed. And combining their powers with the attacks of ours will increase the probability for our success in the battlefield. I didn't want to admit it to anyone else, but, I was happy to be transported back in time to this place. I had almost thought that it would mean a little piece and quiet. Perhaps some time to reflect on my life. But we met these girls, and we become entangled in another battle. I believe that this must have been destiny, not just a coincidence. We are always destined to be in battle, and we were destined for this challenge. Nataku, I pray that we are successful."
Wufei looked down from Nataku's cockpit and watched and Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus worked on their aim with their powers. Wufei had never seen any power such as these girls. He wondered what it would be like to possess such power. He turned his gaze to the left and saw Ray guiding Serena in a meditation. Or at least, attempting to guide Serena. Serena was a handful, and could barely keep her attention on one thing at a time. He decided to see if he could assist Ray in her challenge.
"May I assist you?" Wufei said, walking towards the girls. Ray looked up at him with an annoyed look.
"Do you have a lot of patience?" Ray snorted.
"Heh." Wufei answered, kneeling down. "Serena. This is of the utmost importance. You must center you energy and keep in in tune. You and Darien will be a grand contribution in helping Yuy in his attacks."
Serena looked at Wufei then nodded. "I understand Wufei. I will try as hard as I can." she said, looking over at Darien who was in the midst of meditating himself. //I'll be as calm and collected as Darien.//
Wufei nodded and then turned to Ray. "She should be easier to handle now." With that he got up and walked away.
As Darien meditated he kept a thought racing threw his head. //I have to be strong enough to help Serena keep the crystal in balance. Everything depends on this. Everything…//
* * *
"All right, I think we are ready to try this out." Duo said. "I'll install each tiara now. Guys, please man you cockpits and wait for my signal."
Duo watched as the girls transformed into scouts.
"Here you go." Amy said, sliding her tiara off of her forehead and handed it to him.
"Okay, the rest of you wait for me to install this into Sandrock, and then you can give me the next tiara." Duo said, climbing on to sand rock. Within a few moments he was harnessed to the head of Sandrock and installed the tiara into the compartment. He did this with each of the tiara's, except Serena's.
"Serena, we have faith in you." Ray said, looking at her friend as Duo handed her the headset assigned to her.
"Yes Serena, all of us do." Quatre said from inside his Gundam.
Serena nodded. She closed her eyes and positioned her hands above her locket on her bow. Darien, as Tuxedo Mask, stood behind her, putting his hands on her shoulders, releasing his strength into her. Serena's heart pounded as she finally released the words that would allow her to become the Moon Princess, and Darien the Prince of Earth. "Eternal Moon Princess Crystal POWER!!!"
Everyone's eyes widened as the signature moon appeared upon Serena's forehead as the tiara disappeared. Serena's eyes opened as a blast of wind blew past her, making it look as if her Sailor Moon outfit was blown away and in the breeze, her flowing dress appeared. Darien's tuxedo too blew away, revealing a solider like uniform.
"Amazing." Quatre whispered.
"Who would have known…" Trowa muttered.
"Unbelievable." Heero said.
Duo's eyes almost popped out of his head as he saw the clumsy Serena become a beautiful and POWERFUL princess right before his eyes. Wufei couldn't help but smile, although he was glad that no one saw that, since after all, Serena WAS a woman.
The rest of the Sailor Scouts watched in awe, a few tears fell, seeing how strong Serena really was and her true potential revealed.
"All right then. Serena. Darien. Since I am aware that you cannot part with crystal, I did some different modifications to Wing Zero. Heero suggested another cockpit installed in the head of Wing Zero. So, I made it so Serena may sit and be strapped in, and Darien, you will stand and also be strapped in. There is a nearly impenetrable plate of clear covering over it."
"Yes, Serena, and there is a small tower with a globe at the top where you will place the crystal that will allow you to place you hands around it, still enabling you and Darien you control it but allowing the crystals power to flow to Heero's beam cannon." Amy said, adjusting her headset.
"I understand," Serena said. She allowed Duo to lead her and Darien to Wing Zero. Heero made Wing Zero kneel before them, for easier access to the nearly designed cockpit in the head of Zero. Duo properly strapped the two in and showed the princess how to work the tower and globe.
"Are you comfortable enough?" Duo asked.
"Yes, thank you."
"All right," Duo said, getting out the last two headsets he had prepared. "Here you go. You will now be directly linked to Heero's cockpit. He will instruct you on what to do incase of an emergency and whatever else he needs to say. Keep in mind that this is not an easy ride, it will be rough."
"Thank you Duo," Darien said, winking at the braided boy.
"Good luck," he said, climbing out of the small entry and sealing them in. He proceeded to his Gundam.
"Can you hear me?" Heero asked threw his comm.
"Yes." Serena and Darien answered.
"If something goes wrong, I will eject you. Hopefully you will survive it, but there is not insurance on that at all. Do you understand?"
"We do."
"I will inform you of when you have the crystal's power attack so that I will have the beam cannon ready. Keep in mind that I don't always use the beam cannon when in combat. I also have a sword saber, which uses less energy. Be ready for me command." Heero said, then cut off the link temporarily.
"Is everyone ready?"
"Yes."
"All right. Let's go." Duo said. "Now Lita."
Lita stood back on large boulder that the girls had picked out that. They would be able to see and make sure that their mental aim would be correct. "Jupiter…Oak…Evolution!" Lita screamed into her headset. It sent the signal to Duo's cockpit and to her tiara embedded in Deathscythe's crown. Duo raised his scythe beam and thrashed it as some tree's as Sailor Jupiter's power coursed threw the electric current at the end.
The tree's immediately vaporized. Everyone looked at the effect of the combined attacks in amazement.
"That was incredible. Without that jolt from Lita, the tree's would merely had been cut down." Duo said.
"All right. Our turn Amy." Quatre said. "We must envision that the enemy is coming my way, and I will need some cover in order to threw the swords."
"All right. I'm ready." Amy said.
"All right. Now Amy."
"Mercury…Bubbles… Blast!!!" Amy screamed. A thick foggy haze formed in front of Sandrock. Quatre nodded and threw the swords at his predetermined target selected before the attack. They waited a few moments for the fog to clear to see if his aiming was correct.
Before them, the hillside where Quatre had made distinct spray paint marks an hour earlier or so, held both of Sandrocks curved words exactly on the marks Quatre had made.
"Wonderful. But since the target was inanimate, we had to wait to see if we hit it. But if I fight against something with life, I will be able to be sure that I hit it by my sensors. You did wonderful Amy. I'm sure we can use your other attacks as well."
"Thank you." Amy smiled.
"All right Mina." Trowa said. "Our target is that large rock lodged into the side of the east hill."
"Understood." Mina said.
"Okay, Now Mina." Trowa said, raising Heavyarms' left arm.
"Venus… Love and Beauty Shock!" Mina yelled, watching her power combine with the bullets from Heavyarms instantly demolish the large rock.
"Excellent Mina."
"Mmm-hmm, yes." Mina answered.
"All right Wufei. I am ready." Ray said into her mike.
"Yes. Aim for the remains of that rock that Trowa and Mina destroyed."
"All right."
"Now Ray."
"Mars…Flame…Sniper!" Ray commanded with a strong voice. Nataku's dragon pointed at the rocks and fired, allowing it's fire to combine with the powerful energy of Sailor Mars' flame sniper. Within seconds, the rocks were molten. "Wow." Ray remarked, watching the molten rock slide down the hill.
"Impressive." Wufei remarked, also watching the molten rock.
"We're ready Heero." Serena said calmly.
"Hn. Wait for my mark." Heero said, looking for the appropriate target. He had noticed earlier a old cabin only a few thousand meters away. From their research, the cabin had been abandoned for ten years. //Perfect.// Heero informed everyone to step back, because the intensity of the hit was still uncertain. "Okay. Now…"
Serena nodded, and Darien held on tight to her, focusing his energy into her. "Eternal…Silver…Crystal…POWER!" Heero's quick reflexes simultaneously aimed the cannon at the cabin and watched in awe as a wave of silver energy coursed threw the beam. The cabin instantly blew away, along with most the tree's and rocks surrounding it, causing a rush of air to hit the Scouts as they ducked and covered.
"Dear God." Trowa said.
"All mighty Allah, what a spectacle." Quatre gasped.
"Holy Sh--" Duo coughed.
"Hmm." was all that came from Wufei.
Heero watched as the blazes danced in his blue eyes. "This is going to work. Mission, accepted." Heero said.
"Um," Amy said, watching the blaze turn more violent. "Quatre, I need to use my power to put out this fire."
"Indeed." Quatre said, turning his Gundam towards the flame. "Ready Amy, Go."
"Mercury…Aqua…Rhapsody!" Amy commanded and watched the flames extinguish.
"I'd say we're good to go!" Duo said, opening his cockpit and looking out.
Serena and Darien sighed, as Heero let them out of their station. Serena held the crystal as she looked at her friends and smiled, then dropped to her knee's.
"Serena!" they all called out. Darien held her in his arms.
"It's all right Serena. You must rest so you will be ready when the true challenge occurs." Darien whispered to her, letting her fall asleep in his arms as they both returned to being Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask, then back to regular Serena and Darien.
All the Gundam boys walked towards them with the tiara's for the girls and gave them back. The girls then transformed back into their normal selves.
"We must hide our Gundams, but if you wish to go on ahead of us, we will meet you back at the temple shortly." Quatre said, with sad eyes as he looked at the sleeping exhausted Serena.
"Thank you." Darien said, and carried Serena to his car. Amy and Mina went with to watch Serena as Darien drove. And Lita and Ray stayed with the boys and would come home with them as soon as they were done hiding the Gundams.
* * *
An hour or so later, the whole group sat in the middle of a room in the temple. It was late now. Nearly 11 P.M. Everyone was exhausted.
"Well, I think we had all better get some rest." Ray said, yawning.
"I agree." Quatre said.
"Yes, well, I'll drop the rest of you girls off at your houses. And, after I'm done, if you guys want to stay at my apartment, you are more than welcome to, since I have a feeling Ray's grandfather is tired of giving you all his food." Darien sighed.
They boys nodded and gathered their things as Darien went to bring Serena, Mina, Amy and Lita home.
* * *
SERENA'S DREAM
A field stood before Serena. The wind blew so hard that she could barely breathe. Her hair whipped around behind her as she heard a scream and tearing metal. Her attention turned to where the scream came from.
Her friends lay on the ground bloody and trembling.
"Princess." They said, before losing conscious.
"My friends!" she screamed, running towards them, but the closer she got, the farther they seemed. "Please! Come back!" she cried, falling to her knees.
"You cannot save them. You have become too weak." She heard from her right. It was Heero.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"You did not try your hardest. You did not fight your true enemy."
"What? Who is my true enemy?" She asked, wiping her tears.
"You." Heero said. Suddenly her became Zoicite.
"You will pay Moon Princess. I will take away all that you love, because you once took away all that I loved." he laughed…
Serena suddenly woke up, gasping hard.
"I cannot fail… But, maybe, maybe I am my own true enemy…" she sighed.
AMY ON THE PHONE WITH LITA:
"Lita, do you have faith that we will pull threw this one?" Amy asked.
Lita sighed into the phone. "Amy, this is something we've never done."
"I know, but from the data I've collected I believe that we will have the benefit of the doubt."
Lita fidgeted with her phone cord. "Yeah… You know what Amy?"
"What?" Amy asked.
"I think I'm really going to miss the boys when they have to go back home."
"I know, they really do seem like part of the team now, don't they?" Amy sighed.
"Yeah… And you know, once we send them back to where they came from, we'll never see them again." Lita sniffled.
"Lita, we have made friends with people from different planets, dimensions, countries, schools, and now times. I have a feeling that this won't be the last that we see of them." Amy giggled.
"Yeah maybe you're right." Lita remarked, then yawned. "Well Amy-chan, I think I'm gonna hit the hay. But I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
"Yes. Goodnight Lita. Sweet dreams."
"You too Amy." Lita said, then hung up.
MINA EXPLAINING THE SITUATION TO ARTEMIS
(near the end of the conversation)
"So then I combined my power with Trowa's and that rock was totally annihilated. And Then Ray combined her sniper with Wufei's dragon attack and the rest of whatever was left of the rock turned to molten rock!" Mina said, bouncing on her bed, looking at Artemis.
"That's super Mina." Artemis said. "But from what Luna and I have found out from the Gundam boys, this Epyon Gundam is just as powerful as Wing Zero. It has the same system and all, and the pilot has to be just as strong as Heero to operate it. They even told me that Heero once used it as his own. I think we are really going to try your hardest to get this accomplished. Luna and I have great faith in all you girls, and the boys, but this is the biggest challenge yet."
"I understand." Mina sighed, looking out the window.
RAY PRAYING IN THE TEMPLE
Ray sat on the floor praying that the fight will go successfully. Her mind was centered and all things seemed clear until her grandpa barged into the room.
"Hey Ray, where'd those boys go?" he grunted. "They ate all my food!"
Ray rolled her eyes and turned around to look at him. "They went home for now Grandpa."
"What?! Are they going to pay me back?!" Grandpa snorted.
Ray stood up and walked calmly over to her Grandpa. "Grandpa, they will pay you back in more ways than you will ever realize."
"Oh, hum." Grandpa said as Ray pushed him out of the room. Ray prepared to shut the door, but not before Grandpa made one more comment, "Oh, and don't think I didn't notice that the van has been moved and the gas been diminished!"
"All right Grandpa, I'll make sure they pay you back… Now you better go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow." Ray said, waving to her Grandpa and she shut the door.
INSIDE DARIEN'S APARTMENT
"I'm so hungry!" Duo said, looking around as he dropped his knap-sack full of his belongings her took from Deathscythe.
"Well. We can order take out if you want. Does pizza sounds all right?" Darien asked, looking at the boys.
"Yes, thank you." Trowa said.
"All right, what do you guys want on them?" Darien asked.
"Um, one with everything, and one vegetarian, and one with just cheese." Quatre said.
"Why one vegetarian?" Darien asked, finding the phone number to the pizza place.
"Because Heero is a vegetarian and won't eat any meat! Though, I dunno how he survives that! Sometimes I think I could live on meat! Just give me a big hunk of steak, some potatoes, and call me good!" Duo remarked as he winked at Heero, who in turn, delivered a severe death glare Duo's way.
Meantime, Darien ordered the pizza and the boys settled in. Within 30 minutes the food arrived and they ate in silence, save the loud chewing coming from Duo as he stuffed his face.
After clean up was done, Darien bid the boys goodnight and headed to bed.
"Well, sweet dreams everyone." Quatre said, before turning over on his spot on the floor and falling asleep. The rest of the boys bid their goodnights as well and they too fell asleep.
QUATRE'S DREAM
Quatre sat in the cockpit of Sandrock and stared at the spectacle that lay before him. The ground was ablaze and short radio transmissions were being sent to him.
"Quatre… Qua-- Do…you… --ead me?"
"Yes, this is Quatre."
"Quatre… the scouts have been severely---"
"What?! What?! I didn't catch that, please repeat the message."
"AHHHHHHH!!!!"
"Hello?! Please come in… Please, this is Quatre, please come in…" Quatre cried into his comm.
Silence…
Silence…
Silence…
"Quatre, your duty now…" a familiar voice was heard, then a picture appeared on the screen, it was Heero… "…is to save yourself and return home… Save-- ALL of them--"
Silence…
"Heero?! Heero?! Please come in!!"
"Hahahaha…" he heard. That laugh… That laugh…
HEERO'S DREAM
"Your mission is to go become more attuned to your senses and fight this battle the best way you can." Doctor J told him threw his laptop.
"What battle?" Heero asked, puzzled.
"Oh Heero, Heero, Heero… Don't you see? The battle INSIDE YOU…"
"Nani…? Huh?"
"Heero, it is not like you to not know what is going on. You were always so aware…" J sighed. "Nevertheless, I will help you out this one time… You see Heero, you strive to find yourself where ever you are. And now that you are stuck hundred's of years in the past, you feel as if you are no one. But you know, deep inside you, that you can only truly find yourself when you are engaged in battle. Heero, this battle you are about to embark in is the one that you will either truly find your true your meaning in life, or you will perish in the fire of vengeance. You know what you must do… You must, in one way, or another, protect that girl with your life… Heero, if you succeed in this, she will reveal all to you threw her. Heero, she is the future beyond yours…" J said, then was cut out…
"Mission Accepted."
TROWA'S DREAM
"Catherine… What are you doing here?" Trowa said as he down at her from the cockpit of his Gundam.
"Trowa… I was worried about you. You disappeared and we have no idea where you went off to." she cried, looking up at him with tearful eyes.
Trowa sighed and jumped down from his cockpit and embraced Catherine with a loving hug. "I'm back now Catherine. You needn't cry anymore. I'm sorry I left without telling you, but you know that sometimes I just cannot tell you where I am going."
"Oh Trowa." Catherine sighed, putting her head on his shoulder.
"Shh, it's quite all right. No more need to worry. I'm home."
"Hahahahaha…"
Trowa quickly pulled away and looked at what he thought was Catherine. But it was not Catherine. No, it wasn't her at all…
"My God."
"Hahahahaha…"
That laughter…
"Oh Trowa… You are not home… You will never be home… You are a No Name… You have nothing… You are nothing… And now that you have become involved with the Sailor Scouts, I will make sure you stay NOTHING!" Zoicite screamed as he hit Trowa with a blast of energy…
Trowa woke up with a jolt, breathless and crying…
DUO'S DREAM
Duo sat in a small café in town. Before him sat a huge table with mounds of food. He looked confused as he saw Serena lay asleep in her chair.
"Hmm… She must have eaten too much and fallen asleep." he said, grabbing a piece of cheese. "MORE FOOD FOR ME!"
Duo began shoving his face with food until his attention was caught on Serena's locket gleaming in the sunlight. He dropped all that was in his hand and walked over to her and stared at it.
"Wow," he said as his finger ran over the crest on the top. Suddenly, the locket fell off and landed in his hand. "Uh.. Oops!" he said, looking back down at Serena. "Hey! I'm gonna hide it and when I get her back to the temple I'll ask her where it went and when she starts looking frantically for it, I'll tell her I had it all along. Perfect for payback for making me pee my pants!" Duo snorted. He took it and swung her over his shoulder and began walking back to where the temple was.
Suddenly Zoicite appears in front of his path. "Hahaha…Where are you heading off to little soldier?" he laughed.
"Oh crap!" Duo said, taking Serena down from his shoulder. "Serena, Serena, wake up! Zoicite is here! Serena, wake up!" he cried shaking her. But as he shook her, her appearance changed, and suddenly, he held the Moon Princess.
"Baka. You killed her." Zoicite laughed.
"WHAT?!" Duo said, his violet eyes raging with fury as he glared back at Zoicite.
"Stupid boy. You took away her locket… Any person baka would know that that locket holds her life force…"
"Oh my God…" Duo said, beginning to cry.
"Oh well…" Zoicite said, holding out his hand. Duo looked at it as the locket suddenly appeared in his grasp. "I suppose you won't be needing THIS anymore."
"Give it back! It doesn't belong to you!" Duo screamed.
"Eh-Eh, not so fast pretty boy. You should be talking, YOU took it first." Zoicite said. "I can only imagine what you are feeling now…" he laughed.
Duo broke down in whimpers as he looked down at Serena's pale features. "Oh Serena…"
Zoicite turned to walk about, but stopped and looked back for a second, "Oh, and um, with that little act of taking her locket and killing her little Duo, you also killed all her friends along with all of your friends as well… Well, have a good day!" Zoicite said, then vanishing.
Duo woke up with a shudder as streams of tears rolled down his cheeks.
WUFEI'S THOUGHTS AS HE LAY, TRYING TO SLEEP
//What if I cannot accomplish this?…//
//What if our powers may not even be strong enough to beat Epyon and Zoicite?//
//What if Zechs is no longer alive?//
//Why is all this happening?//
//Why couldn't I have been a normal teenage boy?//
//What if Nataku has no faith in me?…//
//What if I fail?//
//What happens if we die here?//
//Will all our efforts in the future never be?//
//What if something goes terribly wrong?//
//What if the scouts die?//
//What if…//
DARIEN IN HIS ROOM, TALKING TO LUNA ON THE PHONE
"Luna, is Serena doing all right?"
"She's having nightmare's tonight. I think she is terrified."
"I am terrified as well Luna. I just want her and the rest of us to live normal lives, and not have to worry about saving the world every time we turn around."
"Darien, you know that that is not possible."
"I know Luna." Darien sniffled.
"Darien. We are going to pull threw this. Artemis and I have complete faith in you all. We know that everything will be fine. We will win this, and we will send the boys and their Gundams home safely. And then we will be normal for the time being, or at least until the next challenge occurs."
"You know Luna, at first, I didn't trust these boys."
"Haha, I know Darien. I didn't either, but they're kind hearted and their intentions are well. And that Gundam pilot that Zoicite kidnapped also had good intentions in his own way."
"Really?"
"Yes, that is what Quatre told me. That's why we have to save him as well. Even though he is an enemy of the boys, he is still not a bad guy per se."
"Luna, I think that Serena is becoming so worried that she is getting ill."
"I agree."
"I think we better have a meeting tomorrow and decide what we are going to do, because she is the essential key in all of this. We need to well. We need to help her."
"All right. I will inform the girls in the morning."
"Thank you Luna."
"Yes, now you go rest. We need you well rested and healthy in this battle as well."
"All right. Goodnight Luna."
"Goodnight Darien…"
* * *
The next day Darien, Heero, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei and Duo made their way over to Serena's house for a meeting. The drive was only about fifteen minutes and the boys watched out the window as they passed buildings and people. They listened to the radio too. They were amazed that the songs that were being played were new at that moment, but in their time, they were nearing ancient history.
Finally, they arrived at Serena's house. Her parents were on a short trip, so they didn't need to worry about being in trouble for being there. They walked up to the door and rang it's bell. A few moments later, the door creaked open, and Serena's small face peered threw the opening.
"Hey guys." Serena said, motioning for them to come into the house, "Please, come in."
The boys gladly accepted and as customary in Japan, took off their shoes, and followed Serena to the dining room. "Lita made lunch for us." Serena said, taking her place at the table. Darien sat next to her and noticed that something just wasn't right with her.
"Serena, are you all right?"
"Huh? Oh… OH! I'm fine! Never better--" she trailed off, obviously in thought, but trying to cover it up as she gazed at the feast that lay before her.
"Lita, this looks wonderful." Quatre said, as Lita entered the room with one big tray with a baked chicken on it.
"Thanks. It was nothing, I just whipped some things together, and TA-DA! I had made lunch! Dig in guys!" Lita laughed, plopping down at the table.
Lunch went well. Everyone ate to their fill. "Wait wait, I think I saw a batch of brownies in the kitchen…" Lita said, looking hopeful.
"Yeah, my mom made them before she left so I would have something for snack. We can have some now if you want." Serena said, getting up to get the brownies from the kitchen. Ray looked worriedly at her and commenced to follow her in.
"Serena?" she asked, once they were in the kitchen by themselves.
"Yes Ray?" Serena asked, concentrating on cutting the brownies evenly.
"I was just wondering--"
"Ray, I know that you are all worried about me. I know that that is why we are having this *meeting*. But really Ray, I'm fine. I am just fine. All I need is some more rest, and I will be good to go. You know I am strong when I put my mind to it."
"Yes you are Serena. You are very strong." Ray sighed, "But Serena, we love you and we worry about you so much when you are down because you are always our sunshine. But now you are a sad, sick, gloomy rain cloud." Ray smiled. Serena looked at her, with a frown.
"Um…" she said, making Ray laugh.
"We really do love you."
"I know, and I love you guys too… But you know Ray… I was thinking, that if we do make it threw this battle, like how exactly we are going to get the boys back to their time. And for once, I came up with a good idea…" Serena said.
"What is your good idea Serena?" Ray said, looking puzzled at her.
"We ask Trista to use her key for time to send the boys back to the future like she did for Rene."
"Oh Serena… That is a wonderful idea… But with that idea, I have come up with another wonderful idea myself! Hurry, take the brownies and follow me!" Ray said, grabbing Serena's arm and having her follow her into the dining room. Everyone looked at them puzzled as they came barging threw the door way. "You guys, I have a wonderful idea! But it was inspired by Serena's ingenious idea as well."
"What's your idea?" Trowa asked.
"Well, it involves some more Sailor Scouts." Ray smiled.
"Oh dear, I almost forgot about them! We can totally ask them for help!" Mina said.
"Yeah!" Amy piped in.
"Uh, pardon me, but I'm confused." Duo said, looking at the now cheerful girls.
"Oh! Haha, sorry. There are four more Sailor Scouts here at the moment that we can ask for help to ensure our victory!" Lita smiled.
"For the outer four planets?" Heero asked.
"Yes, Sailor Saturn, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Pluto. There's also Sailor Chibi Moon, but she's not in this time era right now, seeing that her parents live in the future as well…"
"Huh?" Duo asked.
"Chibi Moon is our future daughter. She comes across time to help us fight…" Darien said.
"Comes across time? So you really do have a sure fire way of getting us back home?" Quatre asked.
"Yes, that's where Serena's ingenious idea comes into effect. Go ahead Serena, tell them."
"Well, Sailor Pluto holds the key of time. She can open and close pathways to the future and the past. She has helped Sailor Chibi Moon back and forth threw the centuries before, and I am sure she will be willing to help us get you back to your time since you don't really belong here."
"Oh Serena! That is brilliant!" Amy cheered. Serena smiled and sat back down. The rest of the afternoon was spent discussing the other Sailor Scouts and how they would be back to help them fight Zoicite. The boys were intrigued by the information that even more powerful soldiers existed in this time and obviously carried as much power, if not more, than the scouts they sat with now.
Serena sat back and watched them discuss as she thought to herself… //Yes, a victory for sure for us… That is, if we can convince Sailor Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto to assist us in such a hellacious battle without them wanting to eliminate the Gundams and the boys… *sigh*//
* * *
Later that day, the girls went over to see Sailor Pluto, or as they knew her as Trista. Darien had taken the boys to the grocery store to pick up some food so they could make dinner over at his apartment that night, and some food to pay Grandpa back for all the food they have devoured unconsciously during their stay at the temple.
The girls knocked on Trista's front door and waited for an answer. After a few minutes no one answered so they decided to try their luck later that evening. While they were leaving, by luck, Trista's car came pulling into the drive way. The horn beeped and Trista stepped out of the car.
"Hello girls, what's up?" she smiled, coming towards them with a bag of groceries.
"Well, some Sailor stuff and--"
"Oh, say no more, come in and lets talk." Trista said, moving past the girls, unlocking the door and motioning for them to follow.
They all sat in the kitchen at Trista's small table as she put away her things and they explained their whole situation to her as she commenced to put away things and nod as she went.
"Well, that's quite a predicament you have there." she sighed. "But I will do it since it is my job to keep time in order and these boys obviously aren't supposed to be here. Nonetheless, I will have to contact Michelle and Amara along as Hotaru to tell them all this. I'm sure that they will not be so happy about exposing your secrets and putting yourselves in such danger, but now that we are committed, you really don't have a choice. It is our job to protect the princess, so that is what we will do. How about you all come over here tonight after dinner so we can meet these boys and then we can discuss how we will get them home once Zoicite is destroyed once again." Trista smiled at the girls.
"Thank you Trista. We will be here around 7:30, is that a good time?" Amy asked.
"Perfect." said Trista.
"All right," Ray said, getting up as the other girls followed her, "We'll see you later tonight then."
* * *
It was now around 4:30 P.M. Everyone was at Darien's. Lita, Darien, and Amy stood in the kitchen preparing the meal. Meanwhile Mina, Ray and Serena sat on the floor in front of the television watching the news, but not before Serena protested to watch cartoons. The boys on the other hand were taking turns in the Darien's shower so they would look nice and neat to meet the new scouts later that night.
Trowa and Quatre also sat and watched the news, seeing what they would have probably seen in history books flash across the screen as new and exciting happenings. Wufei meditated off in the corner. All three had already showered and just waited to eat. Meanwhile, Duo was taking a long and apparently hot shower because steam was rolling out the crevices of the doorway. Heero stood next to the door with an annoyed look on his face as he could distinctly hear Duo humming the theme song to Star Wars. But not once did Duo hum it. Oh no. He had gone threw it three times since he had begun washing his hair. Heero had finally had enough of it…
"Duo!" Heero yelled, pounding on the door.
"Hum HUM hum hum hum HUUUMMMM hum--Huh? What?!" Duo yelled.
"You have exactly one minute, seven seconds to get out of the bathroom before I come in there." Heero snorted.
Duo smirked at the thought, "Well Heero, you're more than welcome to come in, but I'm all naked and wet and SOAPY…" Duo seemed to purred.
"Ugh." Heero scoffed, rolling his eyes and blushing, thankful that no one else had seen the blush, nor heard what Duo had said.
"All right, All right Heero. Give me a second to gather my things and I'll be out." Duo said, shutting off the shower. Heero could him Duo yelp when he realized the air outside the shower was cold.
Things scattered, a few curses were mumbled, and finally, Duo opened the door. He stood there with a pair of his pants on, no shirt, and his towel around his neck. "There you're highness." Duo said, slithering out of the room. He walked into the living room to see what everyone was doing before he went to go put the rest of his clothes on. Once he walked into the doorway he was immediately greeted by an obnoxious laughter.
Serena rolled on the floor as she looked up at Duo. "What? Do I have a booger hanging out of my nose or something?" Duo asked, rubbing his nose furiously.
"Ah-hahahahahahahaha…. NO! Your hair! It's almost as long as mine!!! That's so strange!" Serena bellowed.
"What? You knew it was long Serena." Duo snorted, looking at her with bewilderment.
"Yeah, but now it's not braided!" she laughed.
"Huh? What?! Oh Sh--!" Duo said, realizing his hair WASN'T braided, NOR was it combed. "Heero! Wait! Don't lock me out just yet!" Duo said, running back to the bathroom.
"What? You want in? I still have to get threw THREE rotations of the Star Wars theme BEFORE I even ponder the idea of letting you in, baka…" Heero retorted.
"Damn it." Duo sighed, running to the kitchen and grabbing a fork, trying to run it threw his hair in attempt to comb in out.
By the time Heero emerged from the bathroom, Duo was just finishing braiding his hair. Duo glared at Heero as he past. "Okay guys! Dinner's ready!" Lita yelled.
Duo got up, along with Serena and dashed into the kitchen, hurrying to see what they had made. Everyone else followed. "No, wait, it's like a buffet but if you eat it all now, you won't have room for dessert, so don't eat too much. Once you are done, go sit.." Lita said, motioning for them to take a seat at the table and the few T.V. trays scattered threw the dining room.
Everyone grabbed a plate and set in to eating their delicious dinner that was prepared for them. Everyone's stomach was a little upset over the anxiety of the boys meeting the new scouts, so not all the food was devoured like expected. In fact Serena didn't really eat that much at all. The others looked at him with a worried look.
"Well." Serena said, looking at the clock." It's 6:45, I think we'd better start getting ready to go see the girls."
* * *
LATER THAT NIGHT
It was 7:25 P.M. Everybody was in the vehicles traveling towards Trista, Amara, Michele, Hotaru's home. They arrived within a few minutes and quietly exited the cars. The boys checked themselves to make sure they still looked presentable.
"You guys look just fine, don't worry." Amy said, leading everyone to the door. She rang the door bell and waited for a response. Trista answered soon after.
"Hello everyone. Please, come in, and have a seat in the living room." Everyone complied and filed into the dainty house. In the living room sat Hotaru on the carpet next to the coffee table. Michele sat on the edge of a sofa, and Amara stood behind her, with her hand on Michele's shoulder. But once everyone was in the same room, Michele and Hotaru stood.
"Hi guys!" Serena squealed, looking at all of her friends.
"Hello Serena." Michele smiled.
"Guys, we'd like you to meet our new friends." Mina said, motioning towards the boys.
"This is Quatre," she said. "These are the other scouts we told you about. Trista, Michele, Amara, and Hotaru." Mina said pointing to each girl as Quatre went around and said hello shaking hands. "This is Trowa and Wufei," Trowa made a quick smile and also shook their hands, Wufei following. "Over there is Duo, with the long braid."
"HI!!!!" he shouted, jumping towards the girls and offering his hand to them all.
Mina giggled slightly, a little embarrassed. "And this is Heero."
"It's a pleasure." he mumbled, also respectfully shaking hands. Everyone took a seat and looked at each other.
"Well, we know your situation." Amara said, looking at each of the boys. "And we understand. We have decided to help you, but under one condition… That is, if the princess dies during this battle, then we will not let you return to the future."
"What?!" Duo yelped.
"Duo please," Quatre said, looking intrigued at the notion, "Please go on."
"Well, as I'm sure the other scouts have told you, Serena is the key to everyone's future. Therefore, if she dies by helping you all, then you're punishment for allowing her to die in any case will be to stay here. And since I hear you all have pretty important jobs in the future, I really do suggest that you protect her with all of your might." Michele said calmly.
"We understand." Trowa said, looking out from under his bangs.
"We have also come up with a plan…" Hotaru finally spoke up. Everyone looked at her with interest. "Well, since what we did understand, the other scout's power will be occupied with the Gundam, so if something were to happen to the girls as they helped you out, they would have no way to really defend themselves, except with arms and legs. So, we will keep watch over them and protect them as you do battle with Zoicite in case something does happen. And from what we know of Zoicite and what we've learned from him, it is most likely that he will try and attack from every angle possible. But the good thing is is that he doesn't know that we four other scouts even exist." she explained.
"That's a wonderful idea!" Ray said. "That will really knock him off his feet."
"All right, so everything is understood?" Trista asked.
"Yes."
"Okay, well then, if everything goes according to plan, then I will get to back home." Trista assured the boys.
"Well, I made some cookies…" Michele said, smiling as she got up to walk into the kitchen.
"Should I *join* you as you get them?" Amara said, looking at her timidly.
"If you *want * to." Michele giggled and held Amara's hand as they went into the kitchen.
"Did they say cookies?" Serena asked.
"Forget the cookies, were they holding hands?!" Duo said.
"Yeah…" Lita and Hotaru answered.
"Um… why?" Duo asked in a dumb voice…
"Duo, think about it." Heero said, giving him the *you're a baka* look.
"Oh." Duo said, all of a sudden *getting* it. "I see… That's kind of odd."
"Not that odd." Quatre smiled, glancing at Trowa, who blushed.
"I guess not," Duo said, looking at Heero you made a quick glance away from Duo, who he had been staring at.
"Okay!" Michele said, bringing the cookies into the room.
"Yay!" Serena said, pouncing on the tray.
Suddenly, a loud buzzing started going off. Serena stopped stuffing her face and pulled out a little device that looked like a calculator. She pushed a few button and a little image of Luna appeared.
"Whoa! It's Luna!" Duo said, trying to get closer to the device.
"Hi Luna. What's up?" Serena asked.
"Girls and you boys too, we've got terrible news… Zoicite is apparently test piloting the Gundam he stole. We have had some reports over the police scanner of some loud shooting, crashing about, and an unidentified flying object…" Luna said, "You'd better get on it girls!"
"Right Luna! We're on our way! Send coordinates to Amy's computer." Serena said, getting up and running out the door, as the others followed suit.
* * *
BEEP…
BEEP…
BEEP…
BEEP…
"The reading is telling me the other Gundam is located 1.3 kilometers North…" Amy said, staring at the small screen on her computer.
"That's almost directly next to our Gundams!" Quatre yelled.
"Put the pedal to the metal Darien. We don't have much time!" Duo called into the communicator that Lita had from van following Darien's car. The caravan consisting of Darien's car, Ray's Grandpa's Van, and Amara's car traveled as fast as possible to the location Amy had determined.
Moments later, they arrived and saw Epyon standing dead center of the practice area that the scouts and the boys had done their experimenting at. "All right everyone," Serena said, getting out of the car and looking up at the machine with a severe determination. "Time to fight the good fight. Everyone transform and give the boys your tiara's. Amara and the others, cover for them… Darien and I will be following Heero to his Gundam. We'll transform on the way there."
Everyone nodded.
"Mars… Star… Power!"
"Mercury… Star… Power!"
"Jupiter… Star… Power!"
"Venus… Star… Power!"
"Uranus… Star… Power!"
"Neptune… Star… Power!"
"Saturn… Star… Power!"
"Pluto… Star… Power!"
Moments later, everyone was transformed. Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus handed their tiara's to the boys, who ran off as quick as their legs could carry them to their Gundams. Meanwhile Serena, Darien, and Heero ran to Wing Zero.
"Moon Eternal Crystal Power!" Serena screamed, still running.
Darien pulled out a rose from under his coat and was soon Tuxedo Mask. Once they arrived to Wing Zero, Serena took hold of her locket and looked at the two young men standing in front of her.
"All right… ETERNAL… MOON PRINCESS… CRYSTAL… POWER!!!!!!!" Serena commanded, and seconds later Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were the Moon Princess and the Prince of Earth.
"Okay, get in." Heero instructed once he had Wing Zero lowered low enough for them to get in. "Fasten your harnesses." With that Heero had Wing Zero stand and they took off into the air towards where the other Gundams were. The arrived moments later, and saw that everything was still calm.
"Why hasn't anything happened?" Heero asked when they arrived.
"Scans show that there is no life inside Epyon. I presume it was a trap." Amy said threw her comm.
"Great, just great." Duo sighed.
"Wait a second…" Amy said again… "I am picking up a faint transmission emanating from the circuitry of Epyon. Give me a minute to clear it up and then I'll transmit it to everyone." Amy said, pushing some buttons on the computer. "All right, transmitting now…"
The scouts huddled around Amy's computer as she transmitted to the Gundams.
"Hello." Zoicite said threw the transmission. "I presume you have found this *Gundam* as a distraction from my initial plan. As you are listening to this transmission, we are at the Tokyo Tower draining energy from the entire city. Of course, I mean we, as in myself and Malachite. Malachite, come here and talk to these fine people." Zoicite said, moving away form the screen. Moments later, a familiar face appeared. It was Zechs in Malachite's uniform, matching Zoicite's.
"Hello all. I presume you all know me. I have gone threw grueling examination from Zoicite and he has determined that I am Malachite. After you the scouts killed me, my powers were apparently stripped from me and I was given this Gundam from the future. As Zoicite has stated, we are at the Tokyo Tower. Come if you dare, but if you touch Epyon, it will self-destruct, and you, along with a 5 kilometer radius will be annihilated. Malachite, over and out." the transmission ended.
"We have to go to the Tokyo tower then." Ray said, making a fist.
"We need a plan first." Lita protested..
"Right…"
"I have one." Uranus said. "Have the Gundams patrol the outside of the tower. Get your tiara's back, and we will battle Zoicite inside the tower."
"What if people see the Gundams?" Mina asked.
"There's no way. The city has already been drained. No one is awake." Pluto stated.
"All right then." The Moon Princess said, jumping down from Zero. "Let's go…"