The Pulse

Part 9

Author: Nyneve

Okay everyone! I am now going to give you my excuse for not updating this ficcie for so long! *drumroll* You see, there was a fluctuation in the time/space continuum and I was sucked into a parallel dimension where no one has ever heard of Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon and I was imprisoned because they all thought I was insane and because I started a rebellion but Sailor Pluto saved me and I'm back! *silence* I'm glad you believe me. Anyways, I will not let it happen again! I don't own the anime, blah-de-blah-de-blah, yeah. Byers!

-Nyneve

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"It seems Mars' shard is starting to neutralize."

"Already?"

"I do pity her."

"You? The one who'd sacrifice his own daughter?"

"I didn't say I'd do it happily."

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"How's Raye doing?" Lita asked as Amy entered the room. After Megaera had attacked, everyone had come back to Quatre's to see if everything was all right.

"She's getting worse. At first she was exhausted, but now I can tell she's in a lot of pain. Quatre told me that she said it felt like she was having a heart attack," Amy said morosely.

"Was she? I mean, did that demon-chick really hurt her that bad?" Duo asked.

"That's the thing. Raye's received far more serious injuries in the past, and she's healed just fine. Right now, all of her physical injuries are getting better, and everything's working fine, except that she's in so much pain," Amy replied. There was silence for a while. Finally Trowa spoke up.

"So the rest of you are those other girls we saw that first night," he replied. The females were quiet.

"Yes, we were. When I was attacked, that was when I hurt my ankle," Trista replied. "I am Sailor Pluto. Amy is Sailor Mercury, Mina is Sailor Venus, Lita is Sailor Jupiter, and as you know, Raye is Sailor Mars."

"How long were you going to keep this secret from us?" Wufei asked indignantly. Lita shot him a look.

"When did you start caring? I thought we were "weak onnas" in your eyes," she remarked.

"I will admit, what your friend did took courage. But she is still an onna," Wufei answered. At this, Lita narrowed her eyes, leapt up, and in a few seconds had Wufei in a headlock.

"What did you say Raye was?" she asked, as the others watched in amusement. Well, except for Duo, who was laughing hysterically. Wufei gasped for breath.

"Raye is (cough) not (cough)," he finally choked out the word. "Weak."

Lita smiled triumphantly, released him, and sat down on the couch next to Amy.

"That's what I thought," she remarked. Wufei glared murderously at her, then walked out of the room.

"Well, um, that was interesting," Mina finally said, going back to the conversation.

"He did have a point though. Were you going to tell us that you had these powers?" Heero asked.

"No," Trista said simply. "And now that you know, you must swear to keep it a secret."

"We might, if you tell us why it has to be a secret," Duo smirked. Trista stared at him, her eyes dark and serious.

"Duo, as much of a surprise as this will come to you, Megaera wasn't after Raye. She was after Quatre. He has something Night wants, and she will do anything to get it," Trista remarked. "She's not someone to fool around with. She's a goddess, and so are her daughters. Megaera wasn't nearly as strong as her sisters can be."

"Quatre? Why would they be after Quatre?" Trowa asked suspiciously. Trista didn't answer.

"I can't tell you that now. All I can do is ask that you keep your eyes open for anything supernatural. I'll call in the morning," she said, then headed outside where her rental car was parked.

"If it's all right with everyone else, I'm going to bed," Lita replied. "Oh, if I hurt Wufei, can you apologize for me?"

This, of course, set Duo off in another case of hysterical laughter, and a small grin from Trowa. Heero remained indifferent.

"I'm going to bed too. My head hurts from all of this," Mina said, then followed the brunette.

"You going to Ames?" Duo asked. Amy shook her head.

"I'm going to run some tests on Raye, and try and talk Quatre into getting some rest. He hasn't left her side," Amy remarked. Duo grinned.

"Sounds like Q-man's in love," he replied. Amy sighed.

"Be that as it may, he's the one most at risk right now. I just hope we'll be ready if Night comes back," she said, then left them.

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"Megaera…"

"Oh no…"

"I never wanted this to happen!"

"I know, I know children. The death of Sister Megaera will be hard on all of us. But her death will not be in vain. We must get those shards!"

"But now that boy's shard will be guarded even more closely."

"So? It is not the one called Quatre we will attack then. Alecto, choose a victim and go. Time is running out."

"Yes ma'am."

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"No! NO!" Raye screamed suddenly, sitting up straight. Quatre reflexively grabbed her shoulders.

"Raye, what is it?" he asked, trying to calm her. She stared at him, her eyes wide with fear and pain. She groaned and went slightly limp. Luckily, Amy had burst in when she heard Raye scream.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking at the helpless Quatre.

"I don't know. She was asleep then suddenly, she sat up and went ballistic," he answered. Amy knelt down next to the bed.

"Raye? Can you hear me?" she asked quietly. Raye's eyes locked with hers, but it was as if she couldn't see.

"Amy…it can't be. Not Quatre. He doesn't have it, I know it. Ah!" she gasped, slipping into a convulsion. She fell back onto the bed and twitched slightly. Amy squeezed her hand.

"Quatre, in my room there's a backpack on the desk. Can you go get it?" she asked, trying to calm the girl on the bed. The blond didn't answer, but dashed down the out the door and down the hall.

Meanwhile, Raye was struggling to speak.

"A-my. I had a-a vision," she stammered.

"What is it Raye?" Amy asked, trying hard not to sound urgent.

"Quatre had the Thana-t-t-os. The Silver Crystal isn't…" she stopped, and lay still.

Quatre had by then returned to the room, backpack in hand. Amy dug through it, then pulled out a white plastic case. Inside of it was a syringe and a few vials of colored liquid that was changing colors. She grabbed the syringe and loaded it with a vial of red-violet fluid, and injected it into Raye's arm. For a split-second, Raye glowed faintly, then her breathing became regular and she stopped twitching.

"There. She should be all right for a little while now," Amy said. Quatre stared at her pleadingly.

"Miss Mizuno, what's wrong with her? What did the demon do to her?" he asked, his voice tight with fear. Amy took a deep breath, and put the case back in the backpack.

"I don't know Quatre. I just don't know," she answered.

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"So who's the next target?"

"I think it's the one with the braid. Duo?"

"Yes, I think that was his name. I just hope Mercury can do better than Mars did."

"She won't. None of them will. That's when they'll need us."

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Okee-dokee. No fights in this chappie, other than Lita nearly suffocating Wufei *giggle*. Please R+R, and I will try not to go through another dimension flux.