Starcatcher: (Reads the reviews, then sighs) You know...maybe I should discontinue...
Everyone: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?! WHY!?!
Starcatcher: Whenever I try to write this type of fic, the readers keep getting confused and I don't know how to make it easier to understand! (Sighs again) Maybe I should just quit while I'm ahead...
Pilots: (Pull out guns) Or maybe you should continue while you still have a head...
Starcatcher: (Blinks) Point taken...in the last chapter, everyone was at the school dance, when the Dark Rose attacked. They're using that dark crystal Sharon found to create the mist that would knock out everyone and cause them to see illusions of their fears. For Trowa, it would be that Lita was working for the enemy all along. For Duo, it was that he turns into the monster and kills Hotaru. For both Wufei and Zechs, it was that they let the ones they care about die again. For Quatre, it was that Amy really didn't like him and was just using him. Please remember that what they saw were simply illusions. They were NOT real. Refer to the author's note at the end of the last chapter to see the clues that should have given each illusion away. Now as for the girls, they weren't affected because their powers as Sailor Senshi protected them...the same with Sharon, who is actually Sailor Charon. And Heero's not affected either because he was being protected by the angel. And as for Rena...come on people! It's not that hard to figure out! Oh and by the way, when I mention the story is from someone's point of view, it'll still be told in third person, it just mainly focuses on their thoughts.
Disclaimer: (Singing) She owns nothing! She owns nothing! She owns nothing! So please don't sue!
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(Amy's POV)
"Quatre...Quatre please wake up..." It had been a while since the scouts had decided to split up to protect the civilains, and Sailor Mercury had just found Quatre. He was slumped against the wall, looking as though someone had just stabbed his heart. She didn't know what she could do for him. "Quatre...please...you have to wake up!" She cried as she rested her head against his.
At that moment, a bright blue flash surrounded the area and she found herself in civilian mode in the hallway she was in before, but she took no notice of that because something else took her attention. She saw, to her surprise, herself, making out with some guy she couldn't even recognize. She also saw Quatre watching the whole thing from behind a corner, tears in his eyes.
Amy narrowed her eyes. How dare they do this to him!?! He was being forced to watch some fake go with another guy right in front of him! She couldn't take it anymore!
(Quatre's POV)
"She...never cared about me..." Quatre whispered as he closed his eyes tightly, willing everything to go away.
"HEY YOU!" A familiar voice shouted in a way that Quatre had never heard before. He looked up to find the formerly kissing couple staring at someone in shock. He couldn't blame them though, considering that person was...another Amy!
"Who are you?" The evil Amy demanded in an annoying prissy voice that sounded strangely similar to a certain stalker...
"I am the REAL Amy! How dare you hurt someone I care about with your illusions!" The good Amy cried.
The evil Amy smirked. "I'm only doing what you would eventually do! He's a wimp! The only good thing about him is the fact that he's rich?"
Good Amy glared, that's right, GLARED! "I would NEVER hurt Quatre like that! He means a lot to me! I care too much about him to hurt him! I love him. THAT'S RIGHT YOU FAKE! I LOVE HIM!"
Now by this time, Quatre was confused, and can you blame him? Here there were, two Amys, one that cared about him and one that hated him. The nice Amy rushed to his side, crying.
"Quatre, please believe me! I would never do anything like this to you! NEVER! I really love you...and it would kill me to see anything happen to you!"
He smiled, realizing this is the true Amy. How? For one thing, he never told Amy he was rich. He didn't want her to hang around him just because of his money. For another thing...if you paid attention in the last chapter...Amy looks much nicer with pink lipstick instead of red. "I know. And the truth is that I really care about you too. I'm sorry I never told you much about me, but I was worried you wouldn't like me for who I am...now I don't have to worry about that." At this, the fake Amy and the guy disappeared, leaving no trace that they were even there.
Amy smiled as she looked up at him, then remembered something and looked away sadly. "Listen Quatre, this is all an illusion by the Dark Rose. Everyone's in danger. You need to wake up!" She began fading away in a swirl of blue lights.
"Wait! Don't go!"
"You have to wake up now! I'll be waiting for you..." She whispered as the rest of her body faded away completely. Quatre nodded and closed his eyes, concentrating, before he too, disappeared.
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(Raye's POV)
Wufei just sat there, not moving. Mars glared at him. How could he be taken in so easily! She thwapped him, only her hit never connected. She found herself in a dark, twisted version of the area she was just in, only she was in her civilian form now. Looking around, she found Wufei on the ground, as if he were dead. But she knew he couldn't be. His body was still okay, and there's no way to be killed in one's own mind. In one's dreams, maybe, but this is just an illusion, not a dream.
(Wufei's POV)
"Get up you weakling!" Came a sharp voice.
"But...I'm dead..."
"How can you be dead if you're talking to me!?! Open your eyes you moron and look around you!"
And he did as the voice commanded, to find himself very much alive. The person who yelled at him was...RAYE!?!
"Raye...? How...? You...died..."
He then felt an extremely sharp pain as Raye slapped the back of his head. "You idiot! I'm not dead!"
"But...the blood...no head..."
"This is all an illusion made up by the Dark Rose. They're messing with your head! Now GET UP!"
"But Raye..."
"I'm very much alive and well. Now wake up and get moving you weakling! The Dark Rose is attacking the school and you have to get out of here!"
Wufei nodded. 'I'm not weak! I won't allow them to get away with messing with my mind! HOW DARE THEY! Wait a minute...HOW DARE THIS ONNA TALK TO ME THIS WAY!!!' "ONNA! YOU CAN'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!!!" He tried to punch her, but his fist went right through her. She then disappeared, laughing.
"THAT WEAK ONNA!!! I'LL SHOW HER!!!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the halls.
Well...needless to say, the Shenlong pilot was now awake...
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(Duo's POV)
"I...killed her..." Duo kept whispering to himself over and over. He never noticed the figure walking up to him until...
SLAP!!! Duo looked up, holding his burning cheek to find...
"Hotaru?"
"What do you think you're doing?" She demanded.
"I...I killed you..."
She raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh really? That's funny...last time I checked, I was fine and breathing. Wake up Duo, unless you want the Dark Rose to take over the school."
"Wake...up?" That's when he noticed that Hotaru's mangled body had disappeared. No blood, no body...nothing. "You mean that was all fake?" Hotaru nodded and he began to curse. "DAMMIT! JUST WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON THOSE CREEPS!!!"
Hotaru giggled. "Nice to see you're back to normal. Now you'd better wake up, Duo...I don't want to find out you chose to stay in an illusion rather than dance with me." With that...she was gone...
Duo grinned. "An army of mobile suits couldn't keep me away!"
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(Lita's POV)
Lita watched the scene, uncertain how she should approach Trowa. When she found him collapsed upon the ground, she immediately rushed to his side and tried to shake him, only to find herself here, in some strange foggy area. It was here that she found Trowa, just looking at someone who looked exactly like herself...only she was dead...
(Trowa's POV)
"What are you doing?" Came a hauntingly familiar voice. He jumped up and spun around to see Lita, alive and well, smiling at him and wearing the dark green dress she was wearing earlier.
"How are you here? I killed you."
She looked at the figure on the ground in disgust. "No, you didn't kill me. This is just an illusion playing off your fear. And that...THING lying on the ground is not me. I would never hurt you Trowa..."
Trowa looked at the dead Lita. The way she attacked him was unreal...but still...
He turned away from her. "Maybe that isn't you Lita, but how can I trust you? You keep to yourself and you haven't told me anything about who you are or your past. If that thing that looks like you attacked me, who's to say the real you won't either?" With that, he walked away, disappearing out of the illusion, leaving a sobbing Lita on the floor.
(All right everyone, please don't be mad. After looking over the chapters and considering this for a while, I decided the way that Lita and Trowa had gotten together had been too easy. Therefore, I decided to add this bit of conflict just to spice things up. Besides, this will allow them to speed the storyline up a bit. So I ask you not to flame me about this. )
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(And blah, blah, blah, Setsuna wakes Zechs up as well. Lets just skip it, shall we?)
Pluto smiled...she had gotten through to Zechs and helped him escape the illusion, and it seemed as though all the other scouts had done the same for their loves. But she frowned. Something was wrong...Lita hadn't contacted anyone yet and she knew for a fact that Trowa was awake. Maybe something happened...?
But she didn't have time to worry about that now, she sensed another power nearby...a familiar power...she gasped.
"Lillith! What's SHE doing here?" Pluto cried out before rushing in the direction of her younger sister. "I just hope that she doesn't do anything stupid..."
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Sailor Charon heaved a sigh of relief. "That's the last of them!" She then suddenly broke out into a sneezing fit. After it ended, she blinked a couple of times. "Huh...wonder if someone's talking about me?" She shrugged. "Oh well! Now to do what I came here to do..." With that, she turned to the black crystal and raised her scythe high above the crystal before bringing it down with a loud SMASH, shattering the crystal. The mist disappeared and she smiled.
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BAM!
BAM!
Another two DR (Dark Rose) Soldiers went down. Heero continued running through the hallways, searching for the other pilots and the students, including...yes, Relena. Not that he actually wanted to find her...but considering she was the one the Dark Rose was after...he really didn't have much of a choice in the matter.
The school was full of the DR Soldiers, as well as monsters like the ones that attacked them before. Heero managed to avoid the youmas, while taking out the soldiers in search of the other pilots. He turned a corner and ran into something...or should I say...SOMEONE...
"Hello Heero..." It was Zechs. Heero grunted and lowered his gun. "Any idea what's going on?" Zechs asked.
Heero shrugged. "It must have something to do with that black mist..." At that moment, there was a bright flash of light, and the mist faded. The two looked around in confusion.
"What happened to the mist?" Zechs.
"Whatever caused that flash must have done something to get rid of it. However, we don't have time to worry about that now. The students are still in danger." And with that, they took off.
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(Please note that in this part, Venus is by herself and is the only one talking.)
Venus stumbled through the hallway. There were no youmas or soldiers in this area though it's doubtful she would have taken notice if there were. She was deep in thought over what all has happened since they arrived.
"I'm...alone..."
"Amy has Quatre..."
"Lita has Trowa..."
"Rei has Wufei..."
"Hotaru has Duo..."
"Michiru and Haruka have each other..."
"And even Setsuna has someone..."
"So why...?"
"Why am I the only one without someone to love?"
"I'm the Senshi of Love and Beauty...and yet...I don't have anyone..."
"Why?"
"Why am I alone?"
"I can tell...they're all soulmates..."
"Don't I have a soulmate?"
"I've been a scout longer than the others...I've worked just as hard..."
Her eyes began to water...
"Don't I deserve to be happy too?"
A tear made its way down her cheek...
"I want..."
It fell...
"I want someone to love..."
And Sailor Venus was gone before the tear even reached the ground...the only sign she was ever even there.
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Sailor Charon froze. "What...the...?" Mina had just disappeared from this dimension. She blinked a few times. "Now how did that happen?"
That's when she noticed that someone was headed towards her current position. "I'll have to figure it out later!" And with that, she disappeared back to the Time Gates. Only a few seconds later, Duo and Trowa arrived. Duo scratched his head.
"Huh...I was sure I heard something here..." Duo.
"Lets just get out of here and help the others before the Dark Rose finds them." Trowa snapped.
Duo looked at the normally silent pilot in confusion. Trowa rarely snapped at anyone. Figuring it had something to do with the illusion he was in earlier, he shrugged and followed Trowa out of the area.
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"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
"NEPTUNE!!!" Uranus shouted. The two of them had reached the students at the dance while the others were helping the pilots break through the illusions. However, there was now a swarm of youmas trying to get to the unconscious people. Uranus and Neptune were doing their best to protect the civilians, and they were doing just fine at first. However, the monsters kept coming, and they were being worn down due to the constant use of their attacks. And just now, Neptune had been caught from behind by a particularly nasty looking youma. Uranus rushed to her side.
"Are you all right?" Uranus.
"It doesn't matter! We have to protect the civilians!" Neptune replied, trying to ignore the pain.
"We can't keep this up for much longer! Unless we get some help fast, those kids are finished!" Uranus.
Neptune gasped and pointed to a few of the youma that had gotten past them. "Some have gotten to the students!"
Uranus clentched her eyes shut. "We can't do anything about that! If we go after them, more will get through!"
As they tried to keep the rest at bay, the two could only watch as the few youma began to descend upon the helpless students. One reached out to grab a young girl when a bright light flared up all around the unconscious people, incenerating the youma's arm completely. The light formed a type of barrier around the students, and the youma hissed at it as they tried to back as far away from it as possible. However, the light expanded and the few youmas that made it inside were dusted, as the rest that Uranus and Neptune were dealing with all ran off when it came towards them. The light passed by the two scouts, causing no harm to them whatsoever. When it was gone, there were no youmas left in that part of the school. Uranus could have sworn she had seen a figure standing among the countless bodies when the light started to form, but there was no one there now.
Sailor Neptune fell to her knees. "What...was that?"
Uranus shook her head. "I don't know...but I think Koneko had something to do with it..." She gasped when she remembered the wound that Neptune received, which had now gotten worse due to the continued fighting. "Are you all right?" Uranus asked as she rushed to her side and wrapped her arms around her, propping her up. The two de-transformed considering that the youmas were now gone and there was no more need for fighting...for the moment at least.
Michiru smiled. "I'll be okay...as long as you're here with me..."
Haruka smiled as well, and held Michiru close. It was by this time that a certain shadowy figure decided now would be a good time to leave, and leave the figure did...
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"MARS BURNING MANDALA!!!"
"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!!!"
"SATURN SILENCE WALL!!!"
"PLUTO DEADLY SCREAM!!!"
"What's the deal? You'd think that with all the mist gone, these things would disappear already!" Mars shouted as she fried another youma.
"The mist has only caused everyone to pass out. The youmas must have been sent here by a different source!" Mercury stated.
"We have to find whatever's bringing them here and destroy it before they reach the civilians." Pluto. "Uranus and Neptune said there's a barrier around their area, but we can't be sure how long it'll last."
The other two nodded. But Saturn frowned. "Has anyone heard from Venus or Jupiter yet?"
Mercury shook her head. "No. They haven't come in yet. I'm getting worried...I hope they're okay..."
All four nodded and wondered what had happened to their friends.
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ZZZZZAAAAAPPPPP!!!!!
"AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII..."
And another youma bites the dust, but Sailor Jupiter took no notice of this, or the strange electrical field that seemed to be surrounding her wherever she went, zapping any youmas that came near her. No...her mind was too focused on Trowa and how he reacted to her in his mind. It was true...she really hadn't told Trowa much about herself...or anything for that matter.
Of course she didn't tell him about being a Sailor Scout, but that was for his own safety. However, she also never told him anything about her family, and what he knew about her friends, he learned from the other pilots and the girls themselves. So it was only natural for him to not be able to trust her...
But that didn't exactly make her feel better...nor did it quell the rage she was feeling. It's been at least a week since they started going out...she was worried that wasn't really long enough to get to know the other's family and friends.
Oh who was she kidding? That wasn't it. What she was really worried about...was her lack of a family...
All the other girls still had their families, while she was alone. And what if Trowa only stayed with her out of pity? Or worry that she would do some harm to herself or others? Granted, she wouldn't, but still...
She sighed, calming down a bit. Amy, Raye, and Mina's families were probably worried about them...but Lillith had thought ahead and set everything up so their families would just think they were going off to a boarding school to enrich their education...she did the same for Lita, even though she shouldn't have bothered. Lita had no one to give the notice to...
She was having to struggle greatly to keep from shedding her tears. 'I'm supposed to be the strong one! I can't show my tears to anyone!' she thought. By now, there were no more youmas to dust, and she had calmed down enough to lose the strange field around her as she came back to reality.
"DAMMIT!!!" she shouted. "I'M SUPPOSED TO BE STRONG! I CAN'T CRY!!! I can't..." She slumped to the ground, angry with herself for showing weakness and hurt that it was because she didn't that caused her to run Trowa off.
However, someone was watching her. Feeling sorry for the Senshi of Jupiter, a figure stepped out into view, but Lita didn't notice anything until she felt two arms wrap around her, trying to give her some form of comfort. Lita looked up quickly, but gasped when she saw who it was. "It's...you..."
The person smiled at her, and continued to hold her, then whispered. "No one can be strong all the time...sometimes...it's okay to cry..."
And she did.
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He was angry...
No, he was BEYOND angry! The plan failed and all because of those stupid Sailor Scouts! And now, all his troops have retreated without his consent! Oh yes...someone was gonna PAY!!!
"WHO ORDERED THE RETREAT!?!" he demanded of the four girls in the room. They all cowered in fear of his wrath, but one of them managed to gather enough courage to step forward.
"I did sir. There was nothing we could do. All the students were protected by a barrier that destroyed all the youmas that got near it, and what human troops we did have were killed or taken hostage."
"But there we had set up over a hundred youmas in the academy! What happened to them!?!"
She shook with fear, and couldn't stop her voice from getting high and squeaky. "We...we don't know master! The Sailor Scouts managed to take out quite a few, but over a third of the youma forces were completely wiped out by something else entirely!"
"Well...WHAT WAS IT!?!"
"We're not sure...but whoever it was used a scythe..."
"Damn that Charon!"
(Author's Note: Yes, I made Sailor Charon take out over a third of the youma forces. This does not in any way make her more powerful than any of the other scouts. They were just busy trying to rescue their loved ones, except for Uranus and Neptune, who were trying to protect the students, and they didn't have enough time to fight off that many youmas. So to make it easier for them, Lillith took on the task of keeping the youmas off of them until they've reached the pilots and can take out the youmas themselves. That's it.)
The female general relaxed just a bit. Hopefully, she wouldn't be punished...
ZAP!!!
A scream echoed throughout the entire area as the girl fell to the ground in pain, but still alive. She coughed up blood, but the others made no move to help her.
"Let that be a warning..." The Master stated. The girl stood and bowed.
"Yes Lord..." She limped back to stand with the others, who made no move towards her, nor did they look at her. Well...one did...but said nothing.
The Master laughed. "It seems that I won't be able to get anywhere as long as that demon brat is still around. I'll just have to make sure that I get rid of her this time." With that, he disappeared, laughing.
The girls all left, except one, who looked at the place where the Master stood only seconds before. She smiled before leaving, knowing that the time would be soon...
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Michiru gasped. Haruka looked at her, worried that she was hurt. Her companion only smiled and pointed behind Haruka, who turned to see that the students were waking up.
She heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness that's over..."
"Yes, but for how long...?" Michiru wondered aloud.
"GUYS!" Came a shout.
The two smiled more, seeing that Hotaru, Setsuna, Raye, and Amy, of course in their civilian forms, ran up to them. "Is everyone all right?" Amy asked.
They all nodded, but Hotaru frowned. "Where's Lita and Mina?"
Everyone quickly became worried. "I hope they're okay..." Raye whispered.
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Meanwhile, on the other side of the building, the six pilots stood. "It's over? Aww man...and I didn't even get to see any of the Senshi..." Duo pouted.
"It was the Dark Rose though, that much is certain..." Wufei stated, ignoring Duo.
"But it seems everything's just fine now...we'd better go find the girls and make sure they're not hurt." Quatre suggested, and the others agreed...except for Trowa, who stayed behind as the others rushed off. Duo noticed he wasn't with them however, and went back to check on him.
"Trowa, you okay man?"
"It's none of your concern..."
"You're one of my friends, so of course it's my concern! What's bothering you? Girl troubles?"
"...How can you trust someone when you know almost nothing about them...?"
Duo scratched his head. "I guess you just have to take a chance. I took one with Hotaru and found that she liked me as well. You just need to take a risk to see if it will work out. And in the end, you'll be glad you did. You're not going to know everything about that person from the beginning. I mean, it's not like she knows everything about you either, right?"
Seeing the look on Trowa's face, he decided to leave it there and find Hotaru. Trowa stood, eyes wide in shock, not moving. After a minute of silence, he slapped his forehead. He never told Lita anything about himself either, so how was she supposed to trust him if he never trusted her with the truth?
"I'm an idiot..."
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"LITA! You're okay!" Hotaru cried, hugging the taller girl, who half-smiled and hugged her back.
"Where's Mina?" she asked the others.
"We don't know. No one's seen her. Something must be wrong..." Setsuna replied.
"Don't worry. She's okay." Hotaru stated.
"How do you know?" Amy.
"Just a feeling I have..." Hotaru smiled.
Lita looked towards the crowd of students all around them, heading to their homes as quickly as possible after their frightful experience. "It looks like everyone's fine though..."
"Yes. We'd better head home as well..." Setsuna suggested, but was stopped by a pair of arms that wrapped around her.
"What? You weren't thinking of leaving without letting us know that you were safe, were you?" Zechs asked, kissing her on the cheek. Setsuna blushed.
The other guys and gals smiled at the cute scene, then went to checking on each other, except for Haruka and Michiru, who were wrapped up in each other, and Lita, who just looked around in case of any trouble, trying to avoid looking at the happy couples. Trowa wasn't with them.
Well, with enough excitement for one night, they all decided to head back to their seperate homes, promising to meet the next day at the park. With that, both groups were gone. Only a few seconds later, Trowa arrived, searching frantically for Lita. Not able to find her and apologize, he headed to Quatre's mansion, cursing himself.
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"Well...that...went okay..." Ceres asked the others from their location of the planet Charon, where they were watching over the Gates of the Dead for Lillith.
"ARE YOU NUTS!?! IT WAS ANYTHING BUT OKAY! For the others, maybe, but now we've got a serious problem with Lita and Trowa! Not to mention that Mina's missing!" VesVes shouted.
"ParaPara believes that everything will turn out okay and that they will be stronger because of it."
JunJun scoffed. "I'd be more likely to believe you if you didn't speak in third person..."
"Look, it's been tough for everyone. Lets just try to relax and prepare for what's up next." Ceres.
"Where's Lillith anyway?" JunJun.
"She's back guarding the Time Gates. I'm sure we can just leave it to her..." Ceres replied. The others frowned, hoping that she was right.
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"So...bored...can't...stand it! Must...not fall...asleep...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."
Yep, you guessed it. Lillith had fallen asleep...but can you blame her? Having to stand there in front of some stupid gates nobody even knows about for eons and eons and eons and eons and...
Zzzzz...OH! Sorry about that! Now where was I? That's right, Lillith had fallen asleep while guarding the Time Gates. Her rest was short lived, however, as she snapped awake when she noticed something a bit...off...
"Oh...crap..."
Lillith froze when she felt it. Someone evil had entered the Fourth Dimension. The mist was swirling around, indicating movement from not too far away. "This isn't going to end well..." Soon after, just as she had figured, a figure appeared, smirking that stupid annoying way only he can.
"Well, well…if it isn't one of the Demon Twins."
"Endymion…" she hissed.
Darien's smirk faded and he glared at her. "I should have known you had something to do with Serena's disappearance! So tell me where she is right now!"
"Do I look stupid to you? I'm never telling you where she is! Especially not after what you almost did to her! Thank goodness I realized what was going on before you could complete your plan! That's right! I knew what you were planning from the beginning! Even when you were able to fool that silly queen into arranging the marriage between you and Serena in the past, we kept it from happening!"
"Yes…" he sneered. "You were going to set her up with that pathetic excuse for a royal guard! You all plotted against me from the beginning!"
"Well DUH! You and your generals were jerks! Well…you were the only jerk. Your generals only followed your orders because they had to."
"SILENCE!" he shouted, throwing black lightning at her. It seemed as though he had gotten a direct hit, but when the smoke cleared, it was Sailor Charon there to greet him and countered with an attack of her own.
"CHARON SHADOW SLASH!" She called out, powering her scythe and slashing Darien across the chest with it. "You couldn't take the fact that Serena loved him and not you despite your title and status. When you started threatening and beating her, the scouts would have made sure that you would never see her again! That night when you overheard them talking of eloping, you snapped and betrayed everyone by making a deal with the Negaverse! You allowed them to attack in hopes that he would die and you could show up just in the nick of time to save the day and win Serena's heart!"
Darien began laughing insanely. "Of course! I said I would do anything to make her and the kingdom mine!" His smile faded. "And I would have succeeded too…but that bitch Beryl turned on me and my generals joined her side!"
Charon chuckled a bit. "You fool…haven't you realized it by now?"
He slapped her. "SILENCE! I KNOW ALL!!!"
Her smile only grew. "Oh really?"
He sent a dark wave at her, knocking her to the ground and her scythe from her hands. She looked up at him, glaring as she held her hands up, both palms facing him. To his shock, a strange power began to form as she only smiled darkly, her eyes flashing. "I SAVED THIS FOR YOU INFIDEL!!! CHARON DEATH TOUCH!!!"
She flung the power at him, yet instead of blasting him, he seemed to absorb it. He began to smirk as Charon could only look on in horror at what was to come. "THIS WILL DESTROY YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!" he shouted, then shot a black beam at her, firing straight through her heart.
The force of the laser caused her to fall to her knees. Clutching her hand over her heart, she fell forward onto the ground, coughing up blood. Darien left, laughing insanely as he swore to take back all that was his. Charon saw him leave and tried to push herself up. But all her strength seemed to have left her and she fell back to the ground, coughing even more.
"It's...so cold..." She shuddered as she began to lose all feeling in her legs, and the numbness continued to the rest of her body. "So...is...is this what it's like...to die?" She coughed again, and blackness started to invade her vision. "Sorry bro...looks like...I wasn't able to keep my promise..." Then she closed her eyes and knew no more…
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At this exact moment, at Quatre's mansion, Duo sat up, breathing hard and drenched with sweat. He realized that it was only a dream, but he still couldn't help but wonder...
"Does it mean something? Why do I keep dreaming I have a sister?" He groaned in frustration and flopped back onto his bed, trying to get back to sleep.
But he couldn't.
The sadness in his heart was overwhelming. When he finally did get back to sleep, the sorrow in his heart was only shown through a single, solitary tear as it traveled down his cheek and disappeared.
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That night, Quatre was having another strange dream...
"Ow! Leave me alone!" a little blue-haired girl cried. The four boys blocked her path as a fifth one pushed her, causing her to fall into the mud and drop the book she was holding. The fifth bully picked up the book and looked at it in disgust.
"What have we here?"
"Please give it back! It was a gift! It's my favorite book!" But to her horror, the bully began tearing pages out of the book and threw them into the mud, ruining the book entirely. She tried to reach out, but two of the lesser bullies held her back.
"Aww...is the wittle pwincess gonna cwy?" The leader taunted.
The girl tried to stop the tears, but couldn't. Her cries only increased as the five boys laughed at her. They eventually grew bored of tormenting her and ran off, but she didn't notice and only continued to cry until...
"Are you okay?" Came a gentle voice. She looked up to see a young boy not too much older than her, bending down so he was eye level with her. He looked worried, and his eyes held a kindness that couldn't be found in the eyes of those bullies.
She blushed and looked down, the tears still falling. "T...they..."
The boy looked around and noticed the ruined book and the many footprints in the mud. He frowned, then looked back at the sobbing girl in front of him. "Please don't cry..." He pulled out a hankerchief and held it out to her. She slowly took it and wiped away her tears. He then took her hand and helped her up. She smiled.
"Thank you..."
The next day, that same girl was sitting off by herself. Though she had many friends, she wanted to be alone for a while. The boy who was so kind to her slowly made his way to where she was sitting. She looked up, confused as to why he was there. The boy smiled and held out a wrapped gift to her.
Opening it, she found a book. It was the same book that those bullies had torn apart the other day, but it looked as good as new. She looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you..." To the boy's surprise, she kissed him softly on the cheek. After all, they are only kids, so they wouldn't be making out till the cows came home yet. Anyways, realizing what she did, the girl blushed. "Um...sorry...bye!" she stuttered before she ran off.
The boy was blushing furiously as well. His face was almost as red as a tomato. Quatre was seeing this as though he were some sort of entity no one could see, hear, or feel. It was strange. Why would he be dreaming about something like this? That's when he got his answer. The boy, who's face had, until now, been half-hidden due to lack of light, turned to face the setting sun. And that's when Quatre realized...
"Is that...me?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cute...
ATTENTION ALL MINA FANS!!! Due to the fact that there just aren't enough guys in Gundam Wing, Mina has been left without anyone. THEREFORE, the polls are open and you will get to vote on a guy from another anime that you want to see Mina paired with. Whether it's Mirai Trunks from DBZ, Harry from Harry Potter, or Seto Kaiba from Yugioh, the choice is yours. Granted, it's not just closed to those three. So vote now, otherwise, I'll be making the pairing.
And remember, reviews are what inspire authors to continue and update faster, as well as add some requested portions to the story. So please be sure to send them in. Bye!
Everyone: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?! WHY!?!
Starcatcher: Whenever I try to write this type of fic, the readers keep getting confused and I don't know how to make it easier to understand! (Sighs again) Maybe I should just quit while I'm ahead...
Pilots: (Pull out guns) Or maybe you should continue while you still have a head...
Starcatcher: (Blinks) Point taken...in the last chapter, everyone was at the school dance, when the Dark Rose attacked. They're using that dark crystal Sharon found to create the mist that would knock out everyone and cause them to see illusions of their fears. For Trowa, it would be that Lita was working for the enemy all along. For Duo, it was that he turns into the monster and kills Hotaru. For both Wufei and Zechs, it was that they let the ones they care about die again. For Quatre, it was that Amy really didn't like him and was just using him. Please remember that what they saw were simply illusions. They were NOT real. Refer to the author's note at the end of the last chapter to see the clues that should have given each illusion away. Now as for the girls, they weren't affected because their powers as Sailor Senshi protected them...the same with Sharon, who is actually Sailor Charon. And Heero's not affected either because he was being protected by the angel. And as for Rena...come on people! It's not that hard to figure out! Oh and by the way, when I mention the story is from someone's point of view, it'll still be told in third person, it just mainly focuses on their thoughts.
Disclaimer: (Singing) She owns nothing! She owns nothing! She owns nothing! So please don't sue!
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(Amy's POV)
"Quatre...Quatre please wake up..." It had been a while since the scouts had decided to split up to protect the civilains, and Sailor Mercury had just found Quatre. He was slumped against the wall, looking as though someone had just stabbed his heart. She didn't know what she could do for him. "Quatre...please...you have to wake up!" She cried as she rested her head against his.
At that moment, a bright blue flash surrounded the area and she found herself in civilian mode in the hallway she was in before, but she took no notice of that because something else took her attention. She saw, to her surprise, herself, making out with some guy she couldn't even recognize. She also saw Quatre watching the whole thing from behind a corner, tears in his eyes.
Amy narrowed her eyes. How dare they do this to him!?! He was being forced to watch some fake go with another guy right in front of him! She couldn't take it anymore!
(Quatre's POV)
"She...never cared about me..." Quatre whispered as he closed his eyes tightly, willing everything to go away.
"HEY YOU!" A familiar voice shouted in a way that Quatre had never heard before. He looked up to find the formerly kissing couple staring at someone in shock. He couldn't blame them though, considering that person was...another Amy!
"Who are you?" The evil Amy demanded in an annoying prissy voice that sounded strangely similar to a certain stalker...
"I am the REAL Amy! How dare you hurt someone I care about with your illusions!" The good Amy cried.
The evil Amy smirked. "I'm only doing what you would eventually do! He's a wimp! The only good thing about him is the fact that he's rich?"
Good Amy glared, that's right, GLARED! "I would NEVER hurt Quatre like that! He means a lot to me! I care too much about him to hurt him! I love him. THAT'S RIGHT YOU FAKE! I LOVE HIM!"
Now by this time, Quatre was confused, and can you blame him? Here there were, two Amys, one that cared about him and one that hated him. The nice Amy rushed to his side, crying.
"Quatre, please believe me! I would never do anything like this to you! NEVER! I really love you...and it would kill me to see anything happen to you!"
He smiled, realizing this is the true Amy. How? For one thing, he never told Amy he was rich. He didn't want her to hang around him just because of his money. For another thing...if you paid attention in the last chapter...Amy looks much nicer with pink lipstick instead of red. "I know. And the truth is that I really care about you too. I'm sorry I never told you much about me, but I was worried you wouldn't like me for who I am...now I don't have to worry about that." At this, the fake Amy and the guy disappeared, leaving no trace that they were even there.
Amy smiled as she looked up at him, then remembered something and looked away sadly. "Listen Quatre, this is all an illusion by the Dark Rose. Everyone's in danger. You need to wake up!" She began fading away in a swirl of blue lights.
"Wait! Don't go!"
"You have to wake up now! I'll be waiting for you..." She whispered as the rest of her body faded away completely. Quatre nodded and closed his eyes, concentrating, before he too, disappeared.
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(Raye's POV)
Wufei just sat there, not moving. Mars glared at him. How could he be taken in so easily! She thwapped him, only her hit never connected. She found herself in a dark, twisted version of the area she was just in, only she was in her civilian form now. Looking around, she found Wufei on the ground, as if he were dead. But she knew he couldn't be. His body was still okay, and there's no way to be killed in one's own mind. In one's dreams, maybe, but this is just an illusion, not a dream.
(Wufei's POV)
"Get up you weakling!" Came a sharp voice.
"But...I'm dead..."
"How can you be dead if you're talking to me!?! Open your eyes you moron and look around you!"
And he did as the voice commanded, to find himself very much alive. The person who yelled at him was...RAYE!?!
"Raye...? How...? You...died..."
He then felt an extremely sharp pain as Raye slapped the back of his head. "You idiot! I'm not dead!"
"But...the blood...no head..."
"This is all an illusion made up by the Dark Rose. They're messing with your head! Now GET UP!"
"But Raye..."
"I'm very much alive and well. Now wake up and get moving you weakling! The Dark Rose is attacking the school and you have to get out of here!"
Wufei nodded. 'I'm not weak! I won't allow them to get away with messing with my mind! HOW DARE THEY! Wait a minute...HOW DARE THIS ONNA TALK TO ME THIS WAY!!!' "ONNA! YOU CAN'T TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!!!" He tried to punch her, but his fist went right through her. She then disappeared, laughing.
"THAT WEAK ONNA!!! I'LL SHOW HER!!!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the halls.
Well...needless to say, the Shenlong pilot was now awake...
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(Duo's POV)
"I...killed her..." Duo kept whispering to himself over and over. He never noticed the figure walking up to him until...
SLAP!!! Duo looked up, holding his burning cheek to find...
"Hotaru?"
"What do you think you're doing?" She demanded.
"I...I killed you..."
She raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh really? That's funny...last time I checked, I was fine and breathing. Wake up Duo, unless you want the Dark Rose to take over the school."
"Wake...up?" That's when he noticed that Hotaru's mangled body had disappeared. No blood, no body...nothing. "You mean that was all fake?" Hotaru nodded and he began to curse. "DAMMIT! JUST WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON THOSE CREEPS!!!"
Hotaru giggled. "Nice to see you're back to normal. Now you'd better wake up, Duo...I don't want to find out you chose to stay in an illusion rather than dance with me." With that...she was gone...
Duo grinned. "An army of mobile suits couldn't keep me away!"
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(Lita's POV)
Lita watched the scene, uncertain how she should approach Trowa. When she found him collapsed upon the ground, she immediately rushed to his side and tried to shake him, only to find herself here, in some strange foggy area. It was here that she found Trowa, just looking at someone who looked exactly like herself...only she was dead...
(Trowa's POV)
"What are you doing?" Came a hauntingly familiar voice. He jumped up and spun around to see Lita, alive and well, smiling at him and wearing the dark green dress she was wearing earlier.
"How are you here? I killed you."
She looked at the figure on the ground in disgust. "No, you didn't kill me. This is just an illusion playing off your fear. And that...THING lying on the ground is not me. I would never hurt you Trowa..."
Trowa looked at the dead Lita. The way she attacked him was unreal...but still...
He turned away from her. "Maybe that isn't you Lita, but how can I trust you? You keep to yourself and you haven't told me anything about who you are or your past. If that thing that looks like you attacked me, who's to say the real you won't either?" With that, he walked away, disappearing out of the illusion, leaving a sobbing Lita on the floor.
(All right everyone, please don't be mad. After looking over the chapters and considering this for a while, I decided the way that Lita and Trowa had gotten together had been too easy. Therefore, I decided to add this bit of conflict just to spice things up. Besides, this will allow them to speed the storyline up a bit. So I ask you not to flame me about this. )
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(And blah, blah, blah, Setsuna wakes Zechs up as well. Lets just skip it, shall we?)
Pluto smiled...she had gotten through to Zechs and helped him escape the illusion, and it seemed as though all the other scouts had done the same for their loves. But she frowned. Something was wrong...Lita hadn't contacted anyone yet and she knew for a fact that Trowa was awake. Maybe something happened...?
But she didn't have time to worry about that now, she sensed another power nearby...a familiar power...she gasped.
"Lillith! What's SHE doing here?" Pluto cried out before rushing in the direction of her younger sister. "I just hope that she doesn't do anything stupid..."
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Sailor Charon heaved a sigh of relief. "That's the last of them!" She then suddenly broke out into a sneezing fit. After it ended, she blinked a couple of times. "Huh...wonder if someone's talking about me?" She shrugged. "Oh well! Now to do what I came here to do..." With that, she turned to the black crystal and raised her scythe high above the crystal before bringing it down with a loud SMASH, shattering the crystal. The mist disappeared and she smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BAM!
BAM!
Another two DR (Dark Rose) Soldiers went down. Heero continued running through the hallways, searching for the other pilots and the students, including...yes, Relena. Not that he actually wanted to find her...but considering she was the one the Dark Rose was after...he really didn't have much of a choice in the matter.
The school was full of the DR Soldiers, as well as monsters like the ones that attacked them before. Heero managed to avoid the youmas, while taking out the soldiers in search of the other pilots. He turned a corner and ran into something...or should I say...SOMEONE...
"Hello Heero..." It was Zechs. Heero grunted and lowered his gun. "Any idea what's going on?" Zechs asked.
Heero shrugged. "It must have something to do with that black mist..." At that moment, there was a bright flash of light, and the mist faded. The two looked around in confusion.
"What happened to the mist?" Zechs.
"Whatever caused that flash must have done something to get rid of it. However, we don't have time to worry about that now. The students are still in danger." And with that, they took off.
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(Please note that in this part, Venus is by herself and is the only one talking.)
Venus stumbled through the hallway. There were no youmas or soldiers in this area though it's doubtful she would have taken notice if there were. She was deep in thought over what all has happened since they arrived.
"I'm...alone..."
"Amy has Quatre..."
"Lita has Trowa..."
"Rei has Wufei..."
"Hotaru has Duo..."
"Michiru and Haruka have each other..."
"And even Setsuna has someone..."
"So why...?"
"Why am I the only one without someone to love?"
"I'm the Senshi of Love and Beauty...and yet...I don't have anyone..."
"Why?"
"Why am I alone?"
"I can tell...they're all soulmates..."
"Don't I have a soulmate?"
"I've been a scout longer than the others...I've worked just as hard..."
Her eyes began to water...
"Don't I deserve to be happy too?"
A tear made its way down her cheek...
"I want..."
It fell...
"I want someone to love..."
And Sailor Venus was gone before the tear even reached the ground...the only sign she was ever even there.
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Sailor Charon froze. "What...the...?" Mina had just disappeared from this dimension. She blinked a few times. "Now how did that happen?"
That's when she noticed that someone was headed towards her current position. "I'll have to figure it out later!" And with that, she disappeared back to the Time Gates. Only a few seconds later, Duo and Trowa arrived. Duo scratched his head.
"Huh...I was sure I heard something here..." Duo.
"Lets just get out of here and help the others before the Dark Rose finds them." Trowa snapped.
Duo looked at the normally silent pilot in confusion. Trowa rarely snapped at anyone. Figuring it had something to do with the illusion he was in earlier, he shrugged and followed Trowa out of the area.
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"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"
"NEPTUNE!!!" Uranus shouted. The two of them had reached the students at the dance while the others were helping the pilots break through the illusions. However, there was now a swarm of youmas trying to get to the unconscious people. Uranus and Neptune were doing their best to protect the civilians, and they were doing just fine at first. However, the monsters kept coming, and they were being worn down due to the constant use of their attacks. And just now, Neptune had been caught from behind by a particularly nasty looking youma. Uranus rushed to her side.
"Are you all right?" Uranus.
"It doesn't matter! We have to protect the civilians!" Neptune replied, trying to ignore the pain.
"We can't keep this up for much longer! Unless we get some help fast, those kids are finished!" Uranus.
Neptune gasped and pointed to a few of the youma that had gotten past them. "Some have gotten to the students!"
Uranus clentched her eyes shut. "We can't do anything about that! If we go after them, more will get through!"
As they tried to keep the rest at bay, the two could only watch as the few youma began to descend upon the helpless students. One reached out to grab a young girl when a bright light flared up all around the unconscious people, incenerating the youma's arm completely. The light formed a type of barrier around the students, and the youma hissed at it as they tried to back as far away from it as possible. However, the light expanded and the few youmas that made it inside were dusted, as the rest that Uranus and Neptune were dealing with all ran off when it came towards them. The light passed by the two scouts, causing no harm to them whatsoever. When it was gone, there were no youmas left in that part of the school. Uranus could have sworn she had seen a figure standing among the countless bodies when the light started to form, but there was no one there now.
Sailor Neptune fell to her knees. "What...was that?"
Uranus shook her head. "I don't know...but I think Koneko had something to do with it..." She gasped when she remembered the wound that Neptune received, which had now gotten worse due to the continued fighting. "Are you all right?" Uranus asked as she rushed to her side and wrapped her arms around her, propping her up. The two de-transformed considering that the youmas were now gone and there was no more need for fighting...for the moment at least.
Michiru smiled. "I'll be okay...as long as you're here with me..."
Haruka smiled as well, and held Michiru close. It was by this time that a certain shadowy figure decided now would be a good time to leave, and leave the figure did...
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"MARS BURNING MANDALA!!!"
"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!!!"
"SATURN SILENCE WALL!!!"
"PLUTO DEADLY SCREAM!!!"
"What's the deal? You'd think that with all the mist gone, these things would disappear already!" Mars shouted as she fried another youma.
"The mist has only caused everyone to pass out. The youmas must have been sent here by a different source!" Mercury stated.
"We have to find whatever's bringing them here and destroy it before they reach the civilians." Pluto. "Uranus and Neptune said there's a barrier around their area, but we can't be sure how long it'll last."
The other two nodded. But Saturn frowned. "Has anyone heard from Venus or Jupiter yet?"
Mercury shook her head. "No. They haven't come in yet. I'm getting worried...I hope they're okay..."
All four nodded and wondered what had happened to their friends.
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ZZZZZAAAAAPPPPP!!!!!
"AAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII..."
And another youma bites the dust, but Sailor Jupiter took no notice of this, or the strange electrical field that seemed to be surrounding her wherever she went, zapping any youmas that came near her. No...her mind was too focused on Trowa and how he reacted to her in his mind. It was true...she really hadn't told Trowa much about herself...or anything for that matter.
Of course she didn't tell him about being a Sailor Scout, but that was for his own safety. However, she also never told him anything about her family, and what he knew about her friends, he learned from the other pilots and the girls themselves. So it was only natural for him to not be able to trust her...
But that didn't exactly make her feel better...nor did it quell the rage she was feeling. It's been at least a week since they started going out...she was worried that wasn't really long enough to get to know the other's family and friends.
Oh who was she kidding? That wasn't it. What she was really worried about...was her lack of a family...
All the other girls still had their families, while she was alone. And what if Trowa only stayed with her out of pity? Or worry that she would do some harm to herself or others? Granted, she wouldn't, but still...
She sighed, calming down a bit. Amy, Raye, and Mina's families were probably worried about them...but Lillith had thought ahead and set everything up so their families would just think they were going off to a boarding school to enrich their education...she did the same for Lita, even though she shouldn't have bothered. Lita had no one to give the notice to...
She was having to struggle greatly to keep from shedding her tears. 'I'm supposed to be the strong one! I can't show my tears to anyone!' she thought. By now, there were no more youmas to dust, and she had calmed down enough to lose the strange field around her as she came back to reality.
"DAMMIT!!!" she shouted. "I'M SUPPOSED TO BE STRONG! I CAN'T CRY!!! I can't..." She slumped to the ground, angry with herself for showing weakness and hurt that it was because she didn't that caused her to run Trowa off.
However, someone was watching her. Feeling sorry for the Senshi of Jupiter, a figure stepped out into view, but Lita didn't notice anything until she felt two arms wrap around her, trying to give her some form of comfort. Lita looked up quickly, but gasped when she saw who it was. "It's...you..."
The person smiled at her, and continued to hold her, then whispered. "No one can be strong all the time...sometimes...it's okay to cry..."
And she did.
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He was angry...
No, he was BEYOND angry! The plan failed and all because of those stupid Sailor Scouts! And now, all his troops have retreated without his consent! Oh yes...someone was gonna PAY!!!
"WHO ORDERED THE RETREAT!?!" he demanded of the four girls in the room. They all cowered in fear of his wrath, but one of them managed to gather enough courage to step forward.
"I did sir. There was nothing we could do. All the students were protected by a barrier that destroyed all the youmas that got near it, and what human troops we did have were killed or taken hostage."
"But there we had set up over a hundred youmas in the academy! What happened to them!?!"
She shook with fear, and couldn't stop her voice from getting high and squeaky. "We...we don't know master! The Sailor Scouts managed to take out quite a few, but over a third of the youma forces were completely wiped out by something else entirely!"
"Well...WHAT WAS IT!?!"
"We're not sure...but whoever it was used a scythe..."
"Damn that Charon!"
(Author's Note: Yes, I made Sailor Charon take out over a third of the youma forces. This does not in any way make her more powerful than any of the other scouts. They were just busy trying to rescue their loved ones, except for Uranus and Neptune, who were trying to protect the students, and they didn't have enough time to fight off that many youmas. So to make it easier for them, Lillith took on the task of keeping the youmas off of them until they've reached the pilots and can take out the youmas themselves. That's it.)
The female general relaxed just a bit. Hopefully, she wouldn't be punished...
ZAP!!!
A scream echoed throughout the entire area as the girl fell to the ground in pain, but still alive. She coughed up blood, but the others made no move to help her.
"Let that be a warning..." The Master stated. The girl stood and bowed.
"Yes Lord..." She limped back to stand with the others, who made no move towards her, nor did they look at her. Well...one did...but said nothing.
The Master laughed. "It seems that I won't be able to get anywhere as long as that demon brat is still around. I'll just have to make sure that I get rid of her this time." With that, he disappeared, laughing.
The girls all left, except one, who looked at the place where the Master stood only seconds before. She smiled before leaving, knowing that the time would be soon...
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Michiru gasped. Haruka looked at her, worried that she was hurt. Her companion only smiled and pointed behind Haruka, who turned to see that the students were waking up.
She heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness that's over..."
"Yes, but for how long...?" Michiru wondered aloud.
"GUYS!" Came a shout.
The two smiled more, seeing that Hotaru, Setsuna, Raye, and Amy, of course in their civilian forms, ran up to them. "Is everyone all right?" Amy asked.
They all nodded, but Hotaru frowned. "Where's Lita and Mina?"
Everyone quickly became worried. "I hope they're okay..." Raye whispered.
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Meanwhile, on the other side of the building, the six pilots stood. "It's over? Aww man...and I didn't even get to see any of the Senshi..." Duo pouted.
"It was the Dark Rose though, that much is certain..." Wufei stated, ignoring Duo.
"But it seems everything's just fine now...we'd better go find the girls and make sure they're not hurt." Quatre suggested, and the others agreed...except for Trowa, who stayed behind as the others rushed off. Duo noticed he wasn't with them however, and went back to check on him.
"Trowa, you okay man?"
"It's none of your concern..."
"You're one of my friends, so of course it's my concern! What's bothering you? Girl troubles?"
"...How can you trust someone when you know almost nothing about them...?"
Duo scratched his head. "I guess you just have to take a chance. I took one with Hotaru and found that she liked me as well. You just need to take a risk to see if it will work out. And in the end, you'll be glad you did. You're not going to know everything about that person from the beginning. I mean, it's not like she knows everything about you either, right?"
Seeing the look on Trowa's face, he decided to leave it there and find Hotaru. Trowa stood, eyes wide in shock, not moving. After a minute of silence, he slapped his forehead. He never told Lita anything about himself either, so how was she supposed to trust him if he never trusted her with the truth?
"I'm an idiot..."
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"LITA! You're okay!" Hotaru cried, hugging the taller girl, who half-smiled and hugged her back.
"Where's Mina?" she asked the others.
"We don't know. No one's seen her. Something must be wrong..." Setsuna replied.
"Don't worry. She's okay." Hotaru stated.
"How do you know?" Amy.
"Just a feeling I have..." Hotaru smiled.
Lita looked towards the crowd of students all around them, heading to their homes as quickly as possible after their frightful experience. "It looks like everyone's fine though..."
"Yes. We'd better head home as well..." Setsuna suggested, but was stopped by a pair of arms that wrapped around her.
"What? You weren't thinking of leaving without letting us know that you were safe, were you?" Zechs asked, kissing her on the cheek. Setsuna blushed.
The other guys and gals smiled at the cute scene, then went to checking on each other, except for Haruka and Michiru, who were wrapped up in each other, and Lita, who just looked around in case of any trouble, trying to avoid looking at the happy couples. Trowa wasn't with them.
Well, with enough excitement for one night, they all decided to head back to their seperate homes, promising to meet the next day at the park. With that, both groups were gone. Only a few seconds later, Trowa arrived, searching frantically for Lita. Not able to find her and apologize, he headed to Quatre's mansion, cursing himself.
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"Well...that...went okay..." Ceres asked the others from their location of the planet Charon, where they were watching over the Gates of the Dead for Lillith.
"ARE YOU NUTS!?! IT WAS ANYTHING BUT OKAY! For the others, maybe, but now we've got a serious problem with Lita and Trowa! Not to mention that Mina's missing!" VesVes shouted.
"ParaPara believes that everything will turn out okay and that they will be stronger because of it."
JunJun scoffed. "I'd be more likely to believe you if you didn't speak in third person..."
"Look, it's been tough for everyone. Lets just try to relax and prepare for what's up next." Ceres.
"Where's Lillith anyway?" JunJun.
"She's back guarding the Time Gates. I'm sure we can just leave it to her..." Ceres replied. The others frowned, hoping that she was right.
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"So...bored...can't...stand it! Must...not fall...asleep...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."
Yep, you guessed it. Lillith had fallen asleep...but can you blame her? Having to stand there in front of some stupid gates nobody even knows about for eons and eons and eons and eons and...
Zzzzz...OH! Sorry about that! Now where was I? That's right, Lillith had fallen asleep while guarding the Time Gates. Her rest was short lived, however, as she snapped awake when she noticed something a bit...off...
"Oh...crap..."
Lillith froze when she felt it. Someone evil had entered the Fourth Dimension. The mist was swirling around, indicating movement from not too far away. "This isn't going to end well..." Soon after, just as she had figured, a figure appeared, smirking that stupid annoying way only he can.
"Well, well…if it isn't one of the Demon Twins."
"Endymion…" she hissed.
Darien's smirk faded and he glared at her. "I should have known you had something to do with Serena's disappearance! So tell me where she is right now!"
"Do I look stupid to you? I'm never telling you where she is! Especially not after what you almost did to her! Thank goodness I realized what was going on before you could complete your plan! That's right! I knew what you were planning from the beginning! Even when you were able to fool that silly queen into arranging the marriage between you and Serena in the past, we kept it from happening!"
"Yes…" he sneered. "You were going to set her up with that pathetic excuse for a royal guard! You all plotted against me from the beginning!"
"Well DUH! You and your generals were jerks! Well…you were the only jerk. Your generals only followed your orders because they had to."
"SILENCE!" he shouted, throwing black lightning at her. It seemed as though he had gotten a direct hit, but when the smoke cleared, it was Sailor Charon there to greet him and countered with an attack of her own.
"CHARON SHADOW SLASH!" She called out, powering her scythe and slashing Darien across the chest with it. "You couldn't take the fact that Serena loved him and not you despite your title and status. When you started threatening and beating her, the scouts would have made sure that you would never see her again! That night when you overheard them talking of eloping, you snapped and betrayed everyone by making a deal with the Negaverse! You allowed them to attack in hopes that he would die and you could show up just in the nick of time to save the day and win Serena's heart!"
Darien began laughing insanely. "Of course! I said I would do anything to make her and the kingdom mine!" His smile faded. "And I would have succeeded too…but that bitch Beryl turned on me and my generals joined her side!"
Charon chuckled a bit. "You fool…haven't you realized it by now?"
He slapped her. "SILENCE! I KNOW ALL!!!"
Her smile only grew. "Oh really?"
He sent a dark wave at her, knocking her to the ground and her scythe from her hands. She looked up at him, glaring as she held her hands up, both palms facing him. To his shock, a strange power began to form as she only smiled darkly, her eyes flashing. "I SAVED THIS FOR YOU INFIDEL!!! CHARON DEATH TOUCH!!!"
She flung the power at him, yet instead of blasting him, he seemed to absorb it. He began to smirk as Charon could only look on in horror at what was to come. "THIS WILL DESTROY YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!" he shouted, then shot a black beam at her, firing straight through her heart.
The force of the laser caused her to fall to her knees. Clutching her hand over her heart, she fell forward onto the ground, coughing up blood. Darien left, laughing insanely as he swore to take back all that was his. Charon saw him leave and tried to push herself up. But all her strength seemed to have left her and she fell back to the ground, coughing even more.
"It's...so cold..." She shuddered as she began to lose all feeling in her legs, and the numbness continued to the rest of her body. "So...is...is this what it's like...to die?" She coughed again, and blackness started to invade her vision. "Sorry bro...looks like...I wasn't able to keep my promise..." Then she closed her eyes and knew no more…
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At this exact moment, at Quatre's mansion, Duo sat up, breathing hard and drenched with sweat. He realized that it was only a dream, but he still couldn't help but wonder...
"Does it mean something? Why do I keep dreaming I have a sister?" He groaned in frustration and flopped back onto his bed, trying to get back to sleep.
But he couldn't.
The sadness in his heart was overwhelming. When he finally did get back to sleep, the sorrow in his heart was only shown through a single, solitary tear as it traveled down his cheek and disappeared.
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That night, Quatre was having another strange dream...
"Ow! Leave me alone!" a little blue-haired girl cried. The four boys blocked her path as a fifth one pushed her, causing her to fall into the mud and drop the book she was holding. The fifth bully picked up the book and looked at it in disgust.
"What have we here?"
"Please give it back! It was a gift! It's my favorite book!" But to her horror, the bully began tearing pages out of the book and threw them into the mud, ruining the book entirely. She tried to reach out, but two of the lesser bullies held her back.
"Aww...is the wittle pwincess gonna cwy?" The leader taunted.
The girl tried to stop the tears, but couldn't. Her cries only increased as the five boys laughed at her. They eventually grew bored of tormenting her and ran off, but she didn't notice and only continued to cry until...
"Are you okay?" Came a gentle voice. She looked up to see a young boy not too much older than her, bending down so he was eye level with her. He looked worried, and his eyes held a kindness that couldn't be found in the eyes of those bullies.
She blushed and looked down, the tears still falling. "T...they..."
The boy looked around and noticed the ruined book and the many footprints in the mud. He frowned, then looked back at the sobbing girl in front of him. "Please don't cry..." He pulled out a hankerchief and held it out to her. She slowly took it and wiped away her tears. He then took her hand and helped her up. She smiled.
"Thank you..."
The next day, that same girl was sitting off by herself. Though she had many friends, she wanted to be alone for a while. The boy who was so kind to her slowly made his way to where she was sitting. She looked up, confused as to why he was there. The boy smiled and held out a wrapped gift to her.
Opening it, she found a book. It was the same book that those bullies had torn apart the other day, but it looked as good as new. She looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you..." To the boy's surprise, she kissed him softly on the cheek. After all, they are only kids, so they wouldn't be making out till the cows came home yet. Anyways, realizing what she did, the girl blushed. "Um...sorry...bye!" she stuttered before she ran off.
The boy was blushing furiously as well. His face was almost as red as a tomato. Quatre was seeing this as though he were some sort of entity no one could see, hear, or feel. It was strange. Why would he be dreaming about something like this? That's when he got his answer. The boy, who's face had, until now, been half-hidden due to lack of light, turned to face the setting sun. And that's when Quatre realized...
"Is that...me?"
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Cute...
ATTENTION ALL MINA FANS!!! Due to the fact that there just aren't enough guys in Gundam Wing, Mina has been left without anyone. THEREFORE, the polls are open and you will get to vote on a guy from another anime that you want to see Mina paired with. Whether it's Mirai Trunks from DBZ, Harry from Harry Potter, or Seto Kaiba from Yugioh, the choice is yours. Granted, it's not just closed to those three. So vote now, otherwise, I'll be making the pairing.
And remember, reviews are what inspire authors to continue and update faster, as well as add some requested portions to the story. So please be sure to send them in. Bye!