Chapter Ten
"She broke through the trap." Uther noted quietly, spinning a small blade on his fingers. He was eyeing Spike and Ivy with something like accusation. Spike snorted. "Don't blame us, mate. Not our fault the girl broke free. We initiated our part." "And you let Garnet break our connection." Uther asserted, eyes snapping sparks. Spike snorted again. "I would have liked to see you trying to fight her. She was-incredible, her and Emerald both. They both did the whole kooky strange-language awesome-power thing." Uther raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Sure. Right." Spike swore and moved towards him, raising a fist. Before he got within five feet Uther put up a barrier that glinted black. The two glared at each other. "Enough, both of you." Ithengil said coldly, coming out of the shadows and looking menacingly at them. "I'm sick of your whining." Uther and Spike continued their stare-down until a sharp hit from Ithengil's staff rapped both of them out of it. Uther rubbed his head and turned his glower to Ithengil. "That's unnecessary." "If it will shut you two up, it's perfectly legal." Ithengil growled, walking to the altar and bowing to it before turning back to them. "I have a new plan." "To get rid of her, or to gather energy?" Damon asked softly from his dark corner. Xavier grinned and cracked his knuckles, blood-stained teeth glimmering. "Both, if possible, but after that-drainage-of our supplies-" Ithengil shot Xavier a sharp look which he ignored. "-it more focuses on gaining energy again." "And the plan is?" Jedin asked, a smirk on his face. Ithengil waved his hand, and a large holographic map came up on the altar. "I'll show you."
* * * The whole gang was sitting around Angie's kitchen table, listening as she finally poured the story of what had happened in the future out in shocked silence. Tears were flowing freely down their friend's face, and she spoke with so much pain when it came to the part about fighting their evil forms that even Elisha came around to give her a hug. "Well." Rachelle said when she was done and silence had been held for a few moments. "That would have been fun to see. Myself as an old lady." Angie laughed a little. "It was kind of creepy, actually. You had the exact same eyes." "And kids." A dreamy look came into Rachelle's eyes as she pressed her hands to blushing cheeks. "With Kyle..mmm." "Okay, going into the boundaries of the slightly gross, here!" Elisha said loudly, breaking Rachelle from her reverie. She added, however, with a great deal of pride. "Course, I'm really the one who saved us all, aren't I? Gave you the hint to get back and all." "Damon was the one who broke the charm." Marisa pointed out. No one saw Angie flush a deep hue. "Cause he liked fighting us." Lacie muttered, cracking her knuckles. "Notice he wasn't too friendly on the street." Angie blushed deeper. With reflection, she had left out the part about Damon's gentleness and her hugging him, both to avoid suspicion and teasing. This was a good thing, because she felt that a) Rachelle and Malorie would have instantly gone starry-eyed and picked out every detail, and b) Elisha and Lacie would thrash her to within an inch of her life. Lacie's hatred of all generals had grown remarkably since the fight where Damon had ground Diamond's face against the pavement, and Elisha still touched the places on her body where Jedin's blast had hit her with a scowl. Both had expressed at length what they wanted to do to certain generals if they ever caught up with them. "Still." Malorie sighed, fingering her hair lightly. "It would have been so romantic if he had noticed you and poured his heart out, saying he missed you, and ending his speech with a long-" "Yuck!" Marisa said loudly. Angie winced. Add her to the Elisha/Lacie category. "Damon is evil, remember, Malorie?" She looked more at Angie than Mal, and her eyes narrowed. "Evil." Angie gulped and nodded. "Right. Evil." "Which means," Elisha said, looking at her also. "That we do not rely on him for help, saving, or anything else. He is nothing but an enemy." There was a clear warning in her voice. Angie laughed pathetically. "Uh-huh. Right. Evil. I guess I'll just have to be content going after Alan." "No way." Elisha said seriously. "He's mine." Angie laughed before narrowing her eyes in pretend outrage. "Why, how dare you!" Elisha giggled and slapped her friend a high five. "Just kidding, Ange. But better do it quick. He's too cute to be left alone too long." Angie nodded importantly. "Yes, sah!" "Oh, shut up."
* * * Later, the girls were all sitting around eating lunch at a table in the park, Angie's many servants having supplied and packed the food. Angie was still grumbling about this. "It's not fair." She complained. "I'm not allowed to do anything without them! They're so annoying." "You're an idiot, you know that?" Lacie asked, munching down on cheese and crackers. "I would do anything to live in your house and get all those servants!! No housework or anything at all!" "Oh, believe me, plenty of housework." Angie said grimly. "Mom makes me clean my own room, to make sure I don't get spoiled." The girls shuddered. Angie's room was approximately the size of the White House, complete with ensuite bathroom and computer room. "Still, though." Rachelle said, sipping orange juice from a carton and waving a straw at her. "It could be worse. You could have no maids and live in that place." This was enough to cause many whimpers around the table. "Stop it, Rachelle, you're scaring us!" Malorie whispered, shuddering. Rachelle grinned evilly and popped a French fry into her mouth. "Oh, no." Mary groaned suddenly. There was a flash of black and she was gone. "Mary?" Marisa asked, looking around. "Down here!" A voice hissed beneath the table. Angie looked down. "Nani-what are you doing?" Mary's hand shot out to point at something before it vanished again. Lacie looked to where she had pointed. "Hey, isn't that the guy you thought was cute on Friday?" "That was Friday!" Mary hissed, black eyes glaring at Lacie. "This is Sunday! Emotions have changed!" "Okay, what happened?" Elisha said with a sigh, grabbing Mary by the hair and pulling her out. Mary rubbed her scalp and continued to glare at the auburn haired man crossing the street, her mind darting back to the events of yesterday. Mary was skipping down the sidewalk, singing a little to herself. Angie had been somewhat in shock and refused to tell the story, so Lune and Demetri had called it an early day. Mary smiled as she skipped. Now she could go home and find ways to sneak dead squirrels into envelopes to send to people! She was so pleased at this, she began to sing loudly. "Oh, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day-oof!" The singing and skipping had abruptly ended as she hit the sidewalk after having run into a large object. She was up in a flash, bowing and gasping, "Gomen! Sorry! Didn't see you!" "Too busy singing Mr. Rogers?" Mary's head snapped up, a scowl on her face. "And what's wrong with Mr. Rogers?!" She demanded, then gulped as she realized who she had bumped into. It was the cute college man she had pointed out to the girls yesterday. This did not stop her wrath. NO one dissed Mr. Rogers while she was around! She glared up at the man, pouting. "What's wrong with Mr. Rogers?!" She asked again The man smirked. "Nothing, if you like guys who wear awful sport coats and worse blazers." Mary gasped. "I love his clothes!" The man eyed her up and down. "You would." "Urusai!" Mary gasped angrily. "Shut up! Baka!" "Don't call me an idiot." The man retorted. Mary had blinked in some surprise when she realized he knew what that meant, but she ignored this, stuck her tongue out at him, and walked away, steaming. "Baseball-capped jerk." She muttered under her breath. "Ooh." Angie said sympathetically when Mary had burst out the whole story. "So he's not exactly the nicest guy." "A complete jerk." Mary agreed, growling a little in the general direction of the guy. As if somehow hearing her thoughts, the man looked over to see her sitting with her group of friends. Mary groaned. "Oh, no, he's seen me!" And quick as a wink, she was back under the table. The man walked over to the table. The girls looked up at him, some with cool friendliness, some with downright adoration. "Hi!" Angie said brightly. "Who're you?" The man looked at her, bright green eyes scaling her up and down. "Call me Neo." Was the soft reply. Malorie blinked. "Neo? Nice name." The man smiled a little. "Yeah, I guess so." There was a muffled squeak from under the table. Lacie had an innocent expression on her face. "Did you kick her?" Marisa asked, looking at Lacie. There was another yell, and Mary emerged, flushed and prepared for battle. "MARISA-CHAN!!!!" She yelled, a large mallet appearing in the air beside her. Marisa screamed and ran from the table, Mary following, waving the hammer and shouting. "Um-that who you were looking for?" Lacie asked, sweat-dropping. "That'd be her." The man said, nodding. Mary had chased Marisa back to the table by this time. She raised the mallet high over her, laughing insanely. Marisa whimpered. "Mary, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Lacie was the one who kicked you!" "So she DID!!" Mary roared, turning to glare at Lacie. "Oh, boy." Lacie said with a sigh, getting up from the table. She curtsied to Neo. "Excuse me." And she took off, Mary following her and yelling incomprehensible threats. Angie sighed a little. "Excuse me, also." She said, standing and going to a spot a few feet away from the table. Mary and Lacie had disappeared to somewhere inside the park. Angie looked calmly around, murmuring, "5.4.3.2.1." A purple flash zoomed by the table, followed quickly by a black one. Angie reached out her hand and snagged something. The black flash promptly stopped, revealing Mary caught by her hair. Lacie reached her seat, panting a little and still looking nervous, eyeing Angie's hold on Mary. "Mary." Angie said pleasantly. "SIT DOWN." Mary sat, the mallet vanishing. Unfortunately, Angie had made her sit close to where Neo was standing. She glared at him, folding her arms. "Yeah, what do you want?" Neo chuckled a little, then retrieved something from his pocket and held it out. "You dropped this yesterday when you so rudely bumped into me." Every girl gasped as they realized that Neo held a small, silver bracelet with a black jewel in the middle. Blushing furiously, Mary snatched it up, hoping no one would see it. They did. "You LOST your CHARM!?!?!" Elisha screeched, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her hard. "YOU IDIOT!!!!!! YOU COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE IDIOT!!!!" "I didn't mean to!" Mary wailed, trying to free herself. She glared at Neo, who was watching this all with amusement. "YOU LOST YOUR-FRIENDSHIP CHARM!!!!!!" Elisha yelled, shaking her even harder than ever. "BAKA, BAKA, BAKA!!!!" "Down, girl!" Malorie commanded, freeing Mary from Elisha's grip. She eyed Mary sternly. "Though it WAS extremely irresponsible, Mary." "I didn't MEAN to!!!" Mary wailed. "How could you?" Angie asked quietly. Everyone froze as Angie looked sorrowfully across the table at Mary. "How could you?" Mary screeched and fell backwards. "No! NO!! Not the Look! Anything but the Look! I hate the Look! Take it away!!" She covered her eyes and curled into a small ball, rocking back and forth. Angie continued to gaze tragically at Mary before the Look went away and she grinned. "It's gone, Mary." She said firmly. "You have served your punishment." Mary peeked up through her fingers. Seeing the Look gone, she bounced up and smiled broadly. "Yay! Freedom!" She secured the bracelet firmly on her wrist and skipped around the table, humming happily. Neo watched her in a mix of amusement and superiority before waving to the girls and walking into the park. As soon as he was gone, Mary sat down with a sigh. "Evil." She muttered. Rachelle eyed her severely. "It's a good thing he found you, Mary! What if we had transformed and you couldn't have! You would have been in big trouble!" Mary sighed and flopped her hand listlessly at Rachelle. "Spare me, please, Shellie. A run-in with that creep has stemmed my ability to be goofy." She indeed looked strained, and she glared in the direction he had gone. "Ooh, this is bad." Elisha eyed Mary seriously. "Mary's goofiness quenched? This guy might be an energy-stealer." Mary sighed. "Nah, I don't sense he's evil. Just a jerk and a creep." Malorie and Angie looked at each other across the table, frowning a little. Angie raised a questioning eyebrow. Malorie nodded seriously, then looked sideways at Mary. "You know, Mary." She said slowly. "It's kind of funny, but-remember how Usagi and Mamoru's relationship started?" Mary choked, then stood up, eyes blazing. "Don't you DARE suggest what I know you're going to, Mal." She said through gritted teeth. "That guy is NOT Tuxedo Onyx. For one thing, his hair is auburn. For another, he has green eyes. For a third, Tuxedo Onyx is cute, wonderful, gentlemanly, and kind. Nothing like that." Malorie held up her hands. "Sorry! Sorry! Shutting up!" "You seemed to think he was cute on Friday." Lacie muttered. Mary glared at her. 'That was Friday. This is now. I know him better." She morosely began to eat a peanut butter sandwich, scowling. "We are definitely going to pull a Usagi-Mamoru thing, here." Angie muttered to Malorie, who nodded fervently. "What?!" Mary snapped, the mallet appearing beside her again. "Nothing!" Angie said innocently, biting into a carrot. Mary growled and raise the hammer high. Angie's eyes began to fill with tears. The mallet vanished as Mary covered her eyes. "Okay! Okay! No Look! Not the Look!" Angie grinned a little as she stood and backed away from the table, stretching and beginning to put stuff back into the large wicker picnic basket she had brought. A football suddenly came down from the sky and bonked Angie on the head. She yelped and hit the ground, football bouncing off her head. She rubbed the back of her scalp and glared up at the sky. "Okay, which cloud threw that?!" "Cloud nothing." Elisha whispered, going a beet red and pointing. "Look!" A blond head was running towards them from the other end of the park. "Hey, isn't that Chase?" Marisa asked, peering closer. Elisha was blushing madly, twisting a napkin in her hands and looking like she'd like to do as Mary did and go under the table. "What's wrong, Elisha?" Rachelle asked, seeing her friend's flush. Elisha said nothing, just gave Rachelle an obvious "DUH!" look. Rachelle grinned as she remembered the last time Elisha had come into contact with Chase. "Ohhh..remember the kiss, huh?" "KISS?!" Everyone looked up, eyes narrowed. "What kiss?!" "Sapphire was kissed by Chase!!" Rachelle said in a stage-whisper. There were immediate gasps and giggles. Lacie, Malorie, and Marisa pounced on Elisha and began hissing questions at her, which Elisha completely ignored. Angie and Mary eyed her with interest, but did not move. Angie remained resting comfortably on the ground. Chase jogged up, panting. "Sorry 'bout that, kid-" He bent down to retrieve the football, then saw who he had hit. He sighed. "You again, huh?" "Us again!" Angie agreed cheerfully. "Your football seems to have a knack for hitting us." "Or our food." Mary added, remembering her spaghetti flying everywhere with a grin. "Chase, man, what's up?!" Two boys ran up. Angie immediately sprang up, glaring at a very familiar one, while Lacie moved away from Elisha to crack her knuckles slightly. The beefy boy-leader of the bullies-gulped and moved back a little from the two furious girls in front of him. "Angie, Lacie, chill." Elisha of all people said calmly. Lacie flexed her fingers but sat back down. Angie leaned again the table in a pretend nonchalance, though mentally she was wondering how to best steal Mary's mallet. Elisha looked serenely at Chase and the two boys. "Can we help you further? Or were you leaving?" The beefy boy eagerly took off back to the field where the boys had been playing. Lacie moved restlessly, but Elisha shot her a warning look and she subsided. But the eagerness of a fight had spread to all the girls, who were now just attempting to look casual, though truly wondering whether they should attack first or merely defend. Elisha frowned. Down, girls!! She yelled in her mind. Muttered sorries came from most of the girls, but Lacie still cracked her knuckles. "Well?" Elisha asked when the two others made no move of leaving. "What d'you want?" "A knuckle sandwich?" Lacie muttered, frowning in intense dislike. Angie shushed her, deeply interested in what was going to happen. Elisha seemed calm, but she had hidden quivering hands under the table. The other boy, who had dark brown hair, reached out to grab a chip from the table. Mary calmly slapped his hand. "Hey!" He protested, drawing back. "You didn't ask." Mary told him with a sniff, an evil gleam in her eye. "It's rude to take food without having been offered it first." The boy blinked once or twice, then smiled a little. "May we have some food?" Mary opened her mouth with an evil smirk, but Rachelle clapped a hand over it and smiled. "Help yourself." Eyeing Mary, the boy snatched up a chip and munched on it a little. Mary scowled at Rachelle, who gave her a look. Come on, Mary! Try to be a little friendly! I get ostracized on a daily basis by guys like these! She's right! Lacie said, butting in. These guys wouldn't look at us if we sprouted wings, but now, just because we have food, they're all buddy- buddy! Come ON, you two! Rachelle yelled For Elisha's sake! Remember what she said?! Elisha calmly looked at Chase. "Do you want anything?" Chase shook his head. "No thank you." There was silence for a second. "THIS IS TAKING TOO LONG!!!!!!" Mary roared suddenly. She yanked Chase down into a seat beside Elisha and gave him a plate stuffed with food. "EAT!!! NOW!!! THEN ASK ELISHA OUT ALREADY!!!!" There was a stunned silence following this blowup. Mary was breathing hard, glaring at Chase. The girls were holding in their laughter. The two men looked puzzled and confused, and Elisha looked like she was considering stuffing Mary into the nearest toilet. Finally, Malorie cracked. She fell backwards and began roaring with laughter, rolling on the ground and choking. The tense silence was broken as Angie and Marisa promptly joined her, while Lacie and Rachelle were satisfied with giggles. The boys still looked bemused, though Chase's mouth had been carefully closed. Mary calmly sat back down and continued eating as if nothing had happened. Elisha kicked her under the table. Angie wiped tears from her eyes and stood back up, still chuckling a little. "Mary, yousa crazy." She said firmly before grinning widely and going into hysterics again. Chase stood up. "Sorry you interrupt, girls. We'll be going-" Something flew out of a clump of bushes and landed hard on Chase, knocking him to the ground. Animal snarls were resounding loudly through the air. Angie and Lacie were on their feet in an instant. Lacie ran around the side of the table, gasping at what she saw. Chase was on the ground, wrestling frantically against the open jaws of a-thing. It had moldy, green, knobby skin and large spikes sticking out of its arms and legs. Red eyes were focused on its intended victim, and a slobbering tongue licked at Chase's face. He yelled and tried to wriggle away, but the creature grasped him firmly and tried to bite into his neck. There was a blue flash, and the creature was flung several feet away. It screeched and hit the ground, skidding against the pavement. Elisha glared at it, wiping her hands on her skirt. "Get out of here." She told Chase, not looking at him or his colleague. "The both of you. Move it." The brown-haired boy was quick to obey. He took off, eyes the size of saucers. Chase merely wiped off his face and glanced over at his rising attacker. "What the-" "Idiot!" Lacie snarled, picking Chase up by the collar and shoving him towards where his friend had disappeared. "Leave! Beat it! Now!" "What about you lot?!" Chase said indignantly, wrestling with Lacie. "We'll be fine-just go!" Angie urged, smiling a little. "But-" Chase complained. Lacie wanted no more talking. She picked Chase up and flung him into a clump of bushes, wiping her hands. "Okay, he's gone! Now let's transform!" "Shouldn't he be a little further?" Angie asked, grabbing her bracelet. "No time!" Marisa gasped, pointing as the monster began to make its way back towards them, howling. From the bushes, Chase was watching all this with a great deal of interest. What were those idiots doing? He wondered if required him having to pull a knight-in-shining-armor and go rescue them. A smirk played slightly on his face, imagining Lacie's reaction if she needed saving. "Diamond Star Power-" "Emerald Star Power-" "Obsidian Star Power-" "Amethyst Star Power-" "Topaz Star Power-" "Garnet Star Power-" "Sapphire Star Power-" "MAKE-UP!!!!" Chase let out a muffled yell as a million multicolored light filled the clearing, temporarily blinding him. He rubbed his eyes, trying to squint through the fiasco of colors. Dimly he heard a voice say, "You know, if us being the Sailor Scouts doesn't scare everyone away, that light show certainly will." He blinked. It sounded an awful lot like Mary. "You know it, sister." He blinked again. Now that one-Lacie, perhaps? Finding he was able to see again, he peered out of his lovely bushes. Sailor Diamond glared across at the oncoming demon. "Now, what the heck is this?!" She demanded crossly. "General creation?" "Don't think so." Sapphire said practically. "They use Screamers, remember? Besides, this thing is-AAAAH!" The demon had launched itself at her, tearing at her fuku, snarling. Sapphire angrily grabbed its jaws as Chase had done and pulled in opposite directions. The thing's jaw broke, lower half dangling uselessly. Sapphire shoved it off and glared at it before continuing. "As I was saying, they use Screamers, which seem to entirely fulfill their needs. And besides, the demons the generals use are made of anti-light, so they're like our opposites. They're sort of like baby generals." "And you know all this-how?" Topaz asked, raising an eyebrow. Sapphire shrugged, eyes twinkling. "Demetri told me." "And he never told me?" Obsidian asked indignantly. "SO not fair." Sapphire shrugged again. "You never asked-Hey!" She looked down angrily as the demon began to claw at her boots. "Knock it off and just die already!" She snapped, kicking it away. The creature continued to slobber after her, crawling on the ground. Angrily, Sapphire snatched the first thing that came into her hand-a broken piece of a board from where Chase had broken the table as he fell. She raised it high into the air, and plunged it down into the demon's back. The demon's red eyes bugged out, and its mouth opened in a silent scream. Its body shuddered, and burst into thousands of particles of dust that vanished in the sunlight. The Senshi stared at where it had lain, open-mouthed. "What did you do?!" Emerald asked finally, eyes bugging out of her head. Sapphire moved her mouth, but no words came out. She merely gaped at the ground. Garnet was the only one who seemed slightly less fazed. "You plunged a wooden stake into a demon's heart and it died. Standard procedure." She grinned eagerly. "Man! Just like Buffy!" "But this isn't Buffy!!" Amethyst yelled. "This is real life!" "In which we are a band of superheroes fighting evil beings and a person with approximately the power of a god." Garnet said calmly. "Welcome to our world." Amethyst's mouth opened, and then abruptly shut. "She's right." Diamond agreed. "Course I am." Garnet said snootily. "Thought you guys had figured this out by now: I'm always right." "Nah, that'd be Sapphire, here." Emerald said, knocking Sapphire gently on her head. "Brainiac." Garnet stuck out her tongue and sniffed in pretend injury. "But what does this mean?" Diamond asked softly, kneeling down to the ground and gently touching a few leftover atoms. "Demons? In our town? Like there isn't enough trouble already?" "Maybe they're drawn here." Sapphire suggested, thinking hard. "Like in Buffy. Right?" She asked Garnet doubtfully, who nodded. "They're drawn to the Hellmouth." "The Hellmouth?!" Amethyst screeched. "Hello?! Jeez! Are we all of a sudden going to become a paranormal activity center?!" "Probably." Obsidian said, with some excitement. Amethyst rubbed her eyes. "Great. Just perfect." "So, now what?" Diamond sighed and stood. "Will they come all at once, or gradually? Do we need to patrol?" She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Oh, man. That's an unpleasant thought. As if I don't have enough problems in my life." "If we don't, it's more likely people will die." Garnet warned. "I guess we might lose a few lives here and there." "Not on my shift!" Diamond snapped, flaring up. "Hah! Patrol, ho! No one dies in my town, thank you very much!!" Garnet grinned. "That's my girl." Diamond began pacing back and forth, planning. "So, if we all take two- hour shifts in groups of three and four, starting at eight and going to six, that would leave, let's see-six hours of sleep for one group, four for another." She winced. "Not exactly the ideal night." "Maybe we can handle late nights better than most!" Emerald volunteered. "I mean, heck, we're superheroes and all, right? Maybe we don't get sleepy!" "Sapphire doesn't get sleepy, Elisha does." Sapphire grumbled. "She's right." Obsidian said. "It's too much to hope for, that we don't need sleep." "I can dream, can't I?" Emerald asked, injured. "But, then, there is the fact I never really feel tired in Sailor form." Amethyst pointed out. "I mean, I feel I could fight all day!" "Which you probably could." Topaz muttered. "Um." Garnet whispered, pointing at the ground. "Is it just me, or is the ground shaking?" Pebbles and dirt were bouncing around on the ground like popcorn kernels in a microwave. Topaz stared at them before her head snapped up and she pointed to something across the way. "Look!" The air seemed to be shimmering and twisting in on itself, like a strange mirage. It was glowing a deep purple color. The Senshi stared at it, tense and expectant. There was a scream, and the shifting air turned into a rent through space. Demons began pouring out of it, red eyes glowing, fangs looking sharp and ready. They were all hideous, faces mottled and dark, skin scabby and crusty. Their eyes centered on the scouts, and all raised a horrible cry into the air as they charged. The Senshi promptly and very bravely screamed. "HELP!!!" Garnet screamed. "WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED DO?!?!" "HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!?!" Obsidian yelled back. Topaz and Emerald began fervently praying under their breaths. Amethyst frantically looked around, and spotted the picnic table. Thinking quickly, she gave it a tremendous kick. The table smashed into several pieces, food flying everywhere. Amethyst grabbed a large piece and ran in front of her screaming friends as the first onslaught came. She violently jabbed the broken wood into the demon's heart. It hiccupped, and then exploded. Diamond and Obsidian quickly grabbed their own stakes and joined Amethyst as the demons swarmed around, tearing at their clothes and hair. Obsidian hissed as one grabbed her arm and knocked the wood away. Angrily, she raised her hand. "BLACK FEAR SWARM!!!" The attack flew into several demons. They screeched as their atoms flared into nothing and were blown away by the wind. "Ah-HA!!" Diamond crowed ecstatically. "We have found another weakness!" The others had stopped blubbering now to stare in amazement at what was happening. "DEATH CRESCENTS DESTROY!!!!" Amethyst yelled, flinging the razor boomerangs at the oncoming demons. Heads and torsos went flying as more demons shrieked and vanished. Amethyst directed the crescents grimly with her hands, hitting with deadly accuracy. "Hah!" Sapphire screamed, leaping up in excitement. "Now we got 'em!" "Not yet, Sapph, they're still a few dozen left!" Diamond said grimly, jabbing her stake at one. "Hah!" Sapphire said joyfully. "ICY GLACIER FREEZE!!!!" Demons screamed as arms and legs were snapped off in the blast of ice. Dust flew everywhere as more and more exploded. The remaining demons backed away, eyeing the Senshi nervously. Long red tongue lashed over scaly lips. "Um-excuse me?" Garnet said hesitantly. "But from my vast knowledge of Buffy, logically these things could not be out now, as it is broad daylight?!?!" The Senshi blinked at her. "Hey, that's right!" Topaz said, getting up off the ground. "So-shouldn't they be disintegrating?" "Well, they're not, are they?!" Amethyst snapped, patience completely frayed. "Or does it look like that to you?!" Topaz blinked at Amethyst, eyes filling with tears. "I-I was just-I was just thinking-they should-" Her voice trailed away as she began to wail. "Oh, brilliant!" Diamond snapped at Amethyst. "Let's hurt people's feelings and just get everyone fighting! Idiot!" "Well, she was being stupid!" Amethyst complained in defense. "How are we supposed to defeat enemies if we fight amongst ourselves?!" Diamond demanded. "Well, why don't we try not making idiotic suggestions first!" Amethyst growled. "Jerk!" "Baka!" "URUSAI!!!!" Emerald yelled. "Everyone, please, SHUT UP!!!" Amethyst and Diamond stared at the bristling green-haired girl who had Topaz by the shoulders and was comforting her. She glared daggers at the two. "You two bickering isn't going to help anything!! Amethyst, you be nicer! Diamond, chill!" "Excuse me?!" Diamond demanded. "I have the right to get on Amethyst's case when she's slacking, not you! I'm your elected leader, remember?!" "That can be changed." Emerald retorted. "NO, IT CAN'T!!!" Diamond yelled. "I'M THE LEADER, YOU GUYS CHOSE ME, YOU CAN'T BACK OUT ON ME NOW!!!" Emerald blinked at her. "Don't have a coronary! Just don't yell at people, all right?!" "I WASN'T YELLING!!!" Diamond wailed. "I HAVE THE RIGHT TO GET UPSET WHEN MY FRIENDS START DOUBTING ME!!" Tears began gushing out of her eyes. "Shut up!" Obsidian begged, putting her hands over her ears. "Please! You're giving me a headache!" "Oh, you shut up, Mr. Rogers." Amethyst snapped. Obsidian's eyes flashed black. Power surged around her in the air as she bared her teeth. A gigantic lightning bolt flew down from the sky to envelope her suddenly as the air crackled with darkness. The remaining demons shrieked as one before they spontaneously combusted "Ani cooroo domma nidene. Megussa elil Damo Rogers!!!!" Obsidian yelled, anger shooting sparks from her eyes- "The dark is rising-DON'T CALL ME MR. ROGERS!!!!!!" Amethyst was flung back slightly by the force of this scream. "Okay! Fine! Sorry! Sailor Obsidian! Right!" The blackness faded. Obsidian's fierce look changed to a happy but exhausted one. "I talked in the funny language!" She exclaimed happily. "I'm special!!!" "And you blasted away all the demons." Garnet said with a huge sweat drop appearing on her head. "Oh, yeah, that too." Obsidian agreed, bouncing up and down happily, a huge smile on her face. Then, without the slightest change in expression, she fainted. "Oh boy." Sapphire said with a sigh. Topaz helped her friend sit up. Obsidian seemed a bit cross-eyed, but she had come around very quickly. She grinned at them all. "I'm cool! I'm good! I'm becoming an incredibly strong warrior! I'm-" Her stopped abruptly, eyes going wide but seeing nothing. Into all of the girls heads there fell a picture, a little different for each one. Many people, a light, huge, expensive ballroom, the swish of skirts, the taste of wine, and a hint, the slightest feeling of magic. "What-what was that?!" Garnet asked faintly, thinking of it again. She realized with a start that picture-it was a part of her. Like it had been in her memory all this time, and she had forgotten it. Diamond was rubbing her head in amazement. "I-I don't believe it-it's like, I was there, like I was seeing all this through someone else's eyes." "Maybe our own?" Topaz suggested, eyes closed, reliving it again and again. "Are we getting our past memories back already?" Emerald whispered. "But-Demetri said it would take months! Or years!" Amethyst yelped. "Why are we getting them back now?! A month hasn't even past yet!" "Apparently, we're moving incredibly fast." Obsidian murmured, eyes closed and something close to rapture in her movements. "But-already?" Sapphire whispered. "I don't want to remember! Demetri said they might swamp us, remember?! All the things that we had to do? Leave our planet, sacrifice ourselves, lose our friends-that's too much!" "It's just one memory." Diamond said comfortingly, patting the blue-headed girl on the head. "We probably won't get more for a while." "I hope so." Sapphire sniffed, rubbing her head a little. "It was nice." Garnet whispered. "The ball.and also." "Familiar." Emerald finished grimly. "I think that was the ball just before the invasion. That one Lune showed us." There was a long silence after this remark. "I hope we don't remember anything longer for a while." Obsidian said finally. "I definitely don't want that night first." "Agreed." Topaz said, nodding. "That'd be too horrible." Sapphire sighed, then she snapped her fingers. "Oh! Before I forget, did everyone else notice the demons?" "No, Sapphire, we had no idea we were attacked by a horde of them." Amethyst said sarcastically. The girls giggled. "I mean, where they came from!" Sapphire snapped. "The vortex thing?" Emerald shrugged. "Yeah, what about it?" "That vortex, I believe, was a direct link to our local bad guy headquarters!!" Sapphire yelled. "They were sent by the generals!! I can feel it!! I know these things!!" "So the bad boys did have something to do with that one, huh?" Diamond mused. "The demons must have had some other kind of protection too, so they didn't melt in the sunlight." "Or maybe they can resist light." Garnet pointed out. Everyone face-vaulted. "Garnet, in the future, please do not suggest these things." Diamond muttered, face muffled by pavement. "We're not doing any good standing around here all transformed." Emerald said sensibly, getting up. "Why don't we de-transform?" "I don't know." Sapphire said, glancing around uneasily. "Maybe I'm paranoid, but-I've got this feeling we should stay as we are for the time being." Emerald shrugged. "Fine. Whatever." She walked over to the picnic table and surveyed its remains gloomily. "Man, that was a perfectly good lunch." "We've got a lot of fights ahead of us, don't we?" Obsidian asked quietly, picking up a broken paper plate and looking at it sadly. "Most assuredly so." Amethyst muttered, giving her spilled soda a rueful look before beginning to pick trash up to dump in a receptacle. "Amethyst!" Garnet screamed suddenly. "Stop! Don't move--!" Amethyst let out a scream as something from the shrubbery near the trash can shot out at her. She fell backwards, grabbing at her stomach in horror. A small blue spear had been driven through her. She yanked it out and threw it away in disgust. "Diamond!" She called, teeth clenched. "I could use a little help, here!" Diamond ran forward, hands already glowing gold. "Everlasting Love Purify!!!" The gash in Amethyst's stomach quickly healed. She lurched to her feet and glared at the clump of undergrowth. "Okay, come on out and fight, you coward!!!" There was a whir of sound as something a dark blue shot out of the side of the bushes and went whizzing away across the clearing. Topaz let out a cry as another deep blue spear caught her shoulder. She wrenched it out, gasping in pain, covering the wound with one hand, the other coming up to aim at the quick-moving thing. "BRIGHT WHIRLWIND GUST!!!" The attack hit whatever it was, momentarily wrapping around it and freezing it, just enough so the scouts could make out a huge dark blue man with a silver mask over his face and silver machinery all over his body. Its hand, with long, sharp-looking claws, lashed out to knock the attack away. Topaz's shot vanished in a puff of yellow and blue. "What the heck.?" Diamond muttered. "Topaz! Need healing?" "Nope!" Topaz said, gritting her teeth. "No, I'm okay. It's not too bad." The machine-man was zooming around them again in a tight circle. Obsidian's hand shot up as he neared her, and a spear went flying into the sky, blocked by her arm. "We've got to get out of here!" Sapphire yelled. "We're sitting ducks!!" "Start jumping!" Diamond commanded, yelping as a spear nearly knocked her head off. "Go, and keep moving!" The Senshi leapt off into the park. Obsidian leapt high into the air and landed on top of a nearby street post, glancing back at the clearing. The blue Mecha had paused, glancing around. Its head turned towards her. "Shoot." Obsidian hissed, leaping away. The thing turned into a blur again as it sped after her, miming her movements perfectly. "Damn!" She cursed, leaping in zigzags back and forth across the street and watching the Mecha imitate her. "I can't shake him!" More importantly, the robot seemed to be speeding up. It was gaining on her. Obsidian left the road to cut through the park, barely dodging trees and other obstacles. The robot was right behind her, only mere trees and bushes didn't stop it. Obsidian gasped as she saw it go right through a middle-aged tree without even stopping. The tree wavered, leaves shaking, and it began to fall in the direction of a family of picnickers. "God, I'm too tender-hearted." Obsidian muttered, turning around and running towards the group. The mother of the family looked up as the tree's shadow fell over them. Her mouth opened wide, though nothing came out. She began grabbing at her kids, preparing to throw them away- A black blur sped in front of them. The tree's descent promptly stopped. The woman looked up, eyes going wider. Obsidian gasped as her arms shook. She looked down at the woman. "Hello." The woman mouthed hello. A man-probably the father-grabbed the kids and flung them off the blanket before realizing the imminent danger was over. He, too, gaped at Obsidian. Obsidian gasped as her arms began shaking uncontrollably. "Move! I can't hold it forever, you morons!!! Go!!" The woman and man fled, going to hug their children close. The woman stared back as Obsidian carefully lowered the tree just to the side of the blanket, being extra careful not to mess up anything of the food. She sighed in relief and grinned at the gaping woman. Very slowly, the woman began to smile back. A blue blur shot out at Obsidian. Before she could move, the robot-thing had grabbed her with two arms and was propelling her backwards, not stopping. It flung her up against a street post, which snapped in half at the force of that blow. Obsidian cried out in pain, arching her back. She grabbed at the metallic hands clasped onto her shoulders, trying to scratch them off. The android didn't let go. A single red eye on one side of its face blinked slowly at her, not showing any emotion. The other half of its face was covered in silver metal. It glared mercilessly down at her, tightening its grip. Obsidian shrieked as she felt its fingers grow sharp and dig deep into her shoulders. The machine suddenly let go, making several beeping noises. It fell back, waving arms and legs like some huge metal bug. A silvery rose was embedded in its back. Obsidian massaged her shoulders before falling backwards, pain lancing through her. Strong arms caught her just before she hit the ground. She gazed blearily up at a masked face. "Tuxedo Onyx. Thanks." She sighed and leaned back. "Ow." Tuxedo Onyx carefully lowered her to the ground. He ripped off a long piece of his cloak and tore it in two, rapping one piece around one shoulder and the other on the next. "You okay?" He asked. Obsidian shook her head. "The android. I gotta fight it." She tried to struggle up, then lay back, muttering. "In a second." Tuxedo Onyx smiled down at her, smoothing her hair a little. Obsidian gave him a tiny smile back, eyes brimming with happiness. There was a sudden metallic roar. Tuxedo Onyx's eyes went wide as he fell on top of Obsidian. Alarmed, she sat up, grabbing him by his shoulders. "Onyx-kun!!" Tuxedo Onyx slowly sat up, clutching at his abdomen. Obsidian gasped as she saw the tip of a blue spear poking out of his stomach. Onyx grabbed it and savagely yanked it out, blood spilling over his silver tuxedo. He turned and stood up, carefully hiding Obsidian. She peeked out behind up to see the android lining up another spear to fire again. Onyx drew out his cane and held it in front of him, face grim and angry. "Onyx-chan." Obsidian whispered, struggling to kneel. "Be careful." The android flung another spear at Tuxedo Onyx. He swiftly moved his cane to knock it aside and reached inside his cloak, bringing out a silvery jewel the size of a pencil, though wider and very sharp at both ends. He flung it at the monster. The android shrieked as the shot hit its neck. Its shriek turned into a gurgling moan as it stumbled back, clutching at its throat. "Go Onyx!" Obsidian cheered, standing up and jumping up to stand a few feet away, then nearly stumbling as her injuries caught up again. Tuxedo Onyx gave her a weak smile as he rubbed his stomach. The robot stumbled back up and towards them, another blue spear forming and aiming at Obsidian. In a multitude of beeps, the spear shot at Obsidian's heart. Obsidian stared at it in horror, legs failing her again and locking in place. Her mind registered the oncoming shot with a detached horror as it hurled at her. "Obsidian!" Onyx yelled, moving quickly. "Move!" Obsidian gasped- Oh, no. No, please, god, no. Onyx let out a grunt and fell to the ground, more blood gushing out of him. He fell face forward, spear point coming out of his back. His already blood-stained tuxedo became almost completely unrecognizable as blood poured over it. The android thing let out another shriek as a last defiance before it fell back, red eye going dull. Obsidian knelt by him, wailing, trying to yank the spear out of his back. It finally came, and she flung it away. She gently turned Onyx over, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Onyx-chan!! Onyx-chan!!" Tuxedo Onyx's closed eyes opened again to look up at her, silver eyes gleaming brightly. "Obsidian." Obsidian clutched him close, rubbing his hand on her cheek. "Hang in there! Oh, please, hang in there!" She began to scream mentally with all the power she could summon. DIAMOND!!! DIAMOND, PLEASE!!!! Across the park, Diamond froze, eyes crossing at the force of Obsidian's mind blast. She did not reply, just turned about and began to fly back across the park to where she could sense Obsidian's presence. Obsidian sobbed, laying her head down on Tuxedo Onyx's bloody chest. "You saved me! God, why'd you do that, you idiot?! God, oh my God." She sat back up and shook him slightly by the shoulders. Tuxedo Onyx laughed a little, and then coughed. A splatter of red blood appeared on Obsidian's black bow. She bit back a strangled sob. Onyx smiled hazily at her. "I have to. I'm-your protector. I'm-always there- for you." "You're such an idiot." Obsidian whispered, bending over him. Before he could blink, she leaned over and gently kissed him. Tuxedo Onyx's eyes opened wide, and he gasped into Obsidian's mouth. She drew back and laid her head on his chest again. Very slowly, his hands moved up to touch her shoulders. A thousand images suddenly flew into both of their minds. Images of dates, dances, moonlit walks, dinners, caresses, hugs, kisses. These images. Obsidian murmured in her mind. They belong to. Us? Tuxedo Onyx wondered, letting the images swarm through his mind. Me and-Sailor Obsidian? We were.. Lovers. An identical memory flashed through their minds. * It was early spring on Opal. Obsidian, only seven years old, was playing in a garden with her sisters. They were tossing a ball back and forth. Amethyst had hit the ball too hard. It bounced off Garnet's head and went over the hedge into another garden. "I'll get it!" Obsidian cried, running through an archway of roses and ivy vines into the other garden. The ball they had been playing with was a few feet away. Unfortunately, it was in the hands of someone else-a boy, who looked to be around twelve or thirteen years old. Obsidian ran up and smiled at him, holding out her hands. "Hey! Can I have our ball back?" The boy holding the ball smiled down at her, brushing a lock of silver hair out of his eyes. "Um-sure." He gently deposited it in the small girl's arms and laughed a little. "It kinda hit my head." Obsidian gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She appeared to be thinking hard, then she gestured to him. "Bend down!!" Surprised, the boy did as she asked. Obsidian raised her hand and patted him on the head. "There! Feel any better?" "Sort of." The boy answered, raising his head to smile at her. Obsidian giggled, and then stood up on her tiptoes to kiss the boy on the cheek. "Bye!" She called, running back into the other garden where her sisters were. The boy looked after her in amazement, then grinned as his hand touched his cheek. * "Our first meeting." Obsidian whispered, sitting up and looking into Tuxedo Onyx's eyes. Another memory came shooting up into their minds. * "Mommy!" An eleven-year old Obsidian cried, running from her room into the hallway. "Mom! Where are you-ow!" She fell down onto the ground and glared up. "Neo-chan!! Watch it!" "Hey, you ran into me!!" The sixteen-year old replied, blinking down at the tall black-haired girl. "So?!" Obsidian leapt up and glared at him. "Baka!" She gave his long silver ponytail a tug. "Hey!" Neo protested, yanking his hair out of her reach. "Don't pull my hair!" Obsidian giggled. "You sound like a girl!" "And you sound like a chimp." Neo retorted. Obsidian sniffed and pouted, tears coming to her eyes. Neo grinned at the adorable expression and bent down to look Obsidian in the eyes. "Just kidding, monkey-girl." He whispered before giving her a kiss on the cheek. Obsidian blushed a bright red before squealing and hugging Neo around the middle and skipping off. Neo watched her go, an affectionate expression on his face. * "You were a cute kid." Tuxedo Onyx murmured, eyes closed and seeing the sweet expression again. Another image flew up. * A fourteen year old Obsidian was walking in a dark garden, the cute kid having been changed into a tall, beautiful young woman. A large full moon was in the sky, hanging over her heads. She settled down onto a bench and sighed, rubbing her forehead a little. "More threats." She muttered. "More worries, more prophecies.." A tear slipped down her face as she rubbed her arms, shivering slightly. "Obsidian?" A male voice said. There was a flash of silver from an adjoining path. "What's wrong?" "Hi, Neo." Obsidian sighed, not bothering to wipe away her tears. "Garnet had another prophecy today about the future. Beryl's growing so strong.Garnet says she'll come within a year.we won't even be sixteen." She bent her head and let out a small sob. Neo sat down on the bench beside her and patted her shoulders. Obsidian immediately curled up towards him. "I'm so tense all the time-I have to worry about my planet and my people- and I know that when the war comes I'll fight to protect Pluto and Serenity and Mars and everyone-but I don't want to die!! And I just know that I won't be strong enough!!" She began sobbing into his chest. Neo wrapped his arms around her and murmured into her air, gently stroking her arms. "Hey, hey, now, is this the crazy girl I know?" He teased gently. "Come on, now, Obsidian. I've never seen you cry before, it's scaring me." "Everyone expects me to always be chipper and bright." Obsidian whimpered. "But I'm sick of it! Topaz breaks down all the time, but no one thinks that's weird! Even Diamond and Amethyst cry occasionally! But no, I can't!" She began sobbing again. Neo gently raised her head with one hand. His thumb wiped away the tears stains on her cheeks. "Hey, come on, now. You're allowed to cry, but it truly doesn't become you." He grinned. Obsidian laughed a little and wiped her eyes. "Oh, thank you ever so much." Her eyes caught the moonlight as she looked back up, the light reflecting off the still unshed tears in her eyes. Neo's breath caught in his throat. "You've changed a lot." He said, gently touching her hair. Obsidian blushed "Hey, stop it!" She scolded. "Stop staring at me like that!" Her blush grew even deeper and made her cheeks look something like rose petals. Neo grinned at her. Then, before Obsidian could move, he bent down and very gently pressed his lips to hers. Obsidian yanked away and stared at him with wide eyes. Neo blushed a little and began to stammer. Obsidian ignored this, and moved forward again, black eyes intent on his. Carefully, she returned the favor. When she moved to back away, Neo's hands came to grab her arms and hold her still. She gasped a little, but did not try to back away. The two remained together, locked in a kiss. * "Our first kiss." Obsidian whispered. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared at Tuxedo Onyx. "Neo." "Obsidian-chan." Onyx whispered. A jolt of pain hit him hard and he gasped, falling backwards. "Tuxedo Onyx!!!" Obsidian cried, clutching his hand. "Neo!! Hang in there! Don't leave me! Oh, god, don't leave me!" She frantically rubbed his hand across her face. "Neo! My prince." Diamond suddenly landed on Tuxedo Onyx's other side. "Is he alright?!" "Aside from the fact that he's now Tuxedo Shish-kebab, he's fine!!!!" Obsidian snapped, never looking at her. "Right." Diamond said, sweat-dropping. "Sorry." She aimed her hands at the two holes in the man. "Everlasting Love Purify!!!" Onyx gasped as the light entered his body. He glowed a bright gold for an instant before the light exited his body, sewing up the gashes in his flesh last of all. Onyx sighed and laid back, eyes closing. His breath came in slow, deep inhales. Diamond sighed tiredly. "He'll be okay." Obsidian flung her arms around Diamond and clutched her tightly before turning eye back to Tuxedo Onyx. "He can't stay here." She turned pleading eyes on Diamond. "Do you think.?" Diamond sighed. "All right, fine. But tonight only, and my parents CANNOT find out." Obsidian smiled in relief. She carefully pulled Tuxedo Onyx up and leaned him on her shoulder, wrapping her arm around his back and draping his arm on her slender frame. Diamond did the same on his other side. Together, the two girls leapt away across the city to Diamond's large place.
* * * Much later, Tuxedo Onyx awoke in a strange bed. At first, he remembered nothing. Then the events before his healing came back full blast. He gingerly touched his chest were the spears had hit, and looked around the strange room. He was in a very large circle bed with a pretty, puffy, lavender and cerulean cover and many blue-covered pillows. The walls of this room-both of which were approximately fifty feet away from each other- were covered with realistic murals of islands and cool tropical oceans. The ceiling had been painted blue and had puffy white clouds on it. Onyx took in all this in one sweeping glance. "Where am I?" He asked softly. "So you're awake." A soft, terribly familiar voice said from his other side. "About time. You've been asleep for five hours." "Obsidian." Tuxedo Onyx stated, sitting up in the bed. "Where am I?" "At the house of a friend's." Obsidian replied, scooting her chair closer to the bed. "Are you all right?" "I believe so." Onyx said, letting the covers slip off his chest. He blinked as he realized his top was gone. Quickly, he touched his face, making sure the mask was still there. "We had to remove your coat and shirt." Obsidian said in explanation. "Our friend didn't want her bed getting all bloody. You have a nice chest, by the way." She grinned evilly. Tuxedo Onyx blushed and carefully covered himself up again. "May I have them back?" "Nope!" Obsidian sang, grin going wider. "They're far too nasty. You'll have to borrow a shirt. Course, you have to ask your hostess nicely." "Where is she?" He asked. "Hello!" Diamond sang on cue, coming in the room from a large door. She smiled at him. "Good to see you back in the real world, Onyx. We were all worried." "All?" Onyx looked back at the door. The rest of the scouts were there. They all grinned and waved merrily. "We were worried-Obsidian said that at one point you were much like a pincushion." Garnet commented. "Except bigger." Amethyst pointed out. "Well, duh!" Emerald snorted. Tuxedo Onyx grinned a little. "Yeah, I guess I was." He looked at Diamond. "I suppose I owe you a debt of gratitude for healing me." Diamond shrugged. "Hey, it's nothing. You've saved Obsidian enough to make up for all healings, past and present." She turned away to begin typing something on a computer nearby. "You okay?" Onyx asked Obsidian in a low voice. She blinked. "Me?! Hey, who was the human voodoo doll?" She smiled at him. "I'm fine. Complete thanks to you." Tuxedo Onyx nodded, then hesitated, and glanced around. The Senshi all pretend to be very interested in the wallpaper. He bent close to Obsidian and whispered, "Should we tell.?" "About-" Obsidian gulped and laughed nervously. "Um, our past?" She began blushing a bright red. The scouts seemed even more interested in the walls. "Not yet, I guess." She stammered, rubbing the back of her head. "We could just keep it a secret." Onyx nodded, and grinned a little. "You're a good kisser, by the way." He whispered before leaning back and closing his eyes again. Obsidian went so red her head looked somewhat like a tomato. She quickly moved away, a bright smile lurking underneath her color. "Are you well enough to leave?" Diamond asked quietly. "No offense, but if my folks find you, they will freak." "Yeah, I guess so." Onyx said with a shrug. "Good." Diamond said, not turning around. Someone sprung up behind him to tie something tightly and quickly over his eyes. He started to yell, only to have his mouth covered by a gentle hand. "Hush." Obsidian said soothingly. "It's all right. Diamond just wants to keep her living quarters a secret, for her sake as well as yours." Onyx stopped struggling as Obsidian removed her hand. "You've got some strange friends." He muttered. "I'm the strangest!" Obsidian said brightly. He felt the softest touch on his cheek, like someone had gently pressed a silken rose petal there for a brief instant. "Obsidian, you take his right side, Sapphire, his left." Diamond ordered. "And for pete's sake, don't drop him or knock him into a wall." Sapphire grinned as she grabbed his arm. "Can we throw him into things?" "Sapphire!" Obsidian scolded. "I would prefer you not do that." Onyx said politely. Sapphire grinned at the blindfolded man. "Not like you could stop me." "Can I have someone else holding me?" Tuxedo Onyx asked. "Sapphire, you drop him, I will take personal revenge!" Obsidian growled. "Like what?!" Sapphire challenged. "I'll make Diamond use the Look on you!!!" Obsidian said, deadly serious. "You wouldn't!" Sapphire gasped. "Enough!" Diamond snapped. "Move him to the window!" "The window?" Onyx asked. "Hold your breath." Amethyst advised from behind them. "Ready?" Diamond asked. "Jump!" The ground beneath Onyx's feet promptly vanished as Obsidian and Sapphire leapt forward. He yelled but did not struggle. A few seconds later, they had landed on the ground and were leaping off again. "This is very disconcerting." He remarked after a few minutes. "We're almost far enough." Obsidian said. For the past five minutes, the two had been going in a number of strange directions to confuse him. It had completely worked. "Think this is good?" Sapphire asked a second later. "Most definitely." Obsidian said with a giggle. She gently undid the blindfold and took it off. "Surprise!" Tuxedo Onyx blinked in the bright sunlight and looked around. They were back in the park, almost exactly where he'd saved Obsidian. He turned around, "Thank-" Obsidian and Sapphire were gone. "-you?" He sighed and smiled a little as he walked off into the park alone. From a nearby tree, Obsidian watched Onyx go, touching the bandages still bound around her shoulders. "I'll see you soon, Neo. I'll see you soon."
* * * Halfway across the park, Chase finally stuck out his blond head from the bushes, scraping leaves and twigs from his hair. A look of abject wonder and disbelief was on his face. "Those girls-they're the Sailor Senshi." "And Elisha..is the scout I'm in love with.."
Ummmmmm.yeah. I forgot how sappy I used to write things. *ducks head and grins* Nice reviews, please? Or I'll cry. And you won't like me when I'm crying.
"She broke through the trap." Uther noted quietly, spinning a small blade on his fingers. He was eyeing Spike and Ivy with something like accusation. Spike snorted. "Don't blame us, mate. Not our fault the girl broke free. We initiated our part." "And you let Garnet break our connection." Uther asserted, eyes snapping sparks. Spike snorted again. "I would have liked to see you trying to fight her. She was-incredible, her and Emerald both. They both did the whole kooky strange-language awesome-power thing." Uther raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Sure. Right." Spike swore and moved towards him, raising a fist. Before he got within five feet Uther put up a barrier that glinted black. The two glared at each other. "Enough, both of you." Ithengil said coldly, coming out of the shadows and looking menacingly at them. "I'm sick of your whining." Uther and Spike continued their stare-down until a sharp hit from Ithengil's staff rapped both of them out of it. Uther rubbed his head and turned his glower to Ithengil. "That's unnecessary." "If it will shut you two up, it's perfectly legal." Ithengil growled, walking to the altar and bowing to it before turning back to them. "I have a new plan." "To get rid of her, or to gather energy?" Damon asked softly from his dark corner. Xavier grinned and cracked his knuckles, blood-stained teeth glimmering. "Both, if possible, but after that-drainage-of our supplies-" Ithengil shot Xavier a sharp look which he ignored. "-it more focuses on gaining energy again." "And the plan is?" Jedin asked, a smirk on his face. Ithengil waved his hand, and a large holographic map came up on the altar. "I'll show you."
* * * The whole gang was sitting around Angie's kitchen table, listening as she finally poured the story of what had happened in the future out in shocked silence. Tears were flowing freely down their friend's face, and she spoke with so much pain when it came to the part about fighting their evil forms that even Elisha came around to give her a hug. "Well." Rachelle said when she was done and silence had been held for a few moments. "That would have been fun to see. Myself as an old lady." Angie laughed a little. "It was kind of creepy, actually. You had the exact same eyes." "And kids." A dreamy look came into Rachelle's eyes as she pressed her hands to blushing cheeks. "With Kyle..mmm." "Okay, going into the boundaries of the slightly gross, here!" Elisha said loudly, breaking Rachelle from her reverie. She added, however, with a great deal of pride. "Course, I'm really the one who saved us all, aren't I? Gave you the hint to get back and all." "Damon was the one who broke the charm." Marisa pointed out. No one saw Angie flush a deep hue. "Cause he liked fighting us." Lacie muttered, cracking her knuckles. "Notice he wasn't too friendly on the street." Angie blushed deeper. With reflection, she had left out the part about Damon's gentleness and her hugging him, both to avoid suspicion and teasing. This was a good thing, because she felt that a) Rachelle and Malorie would have instantly gone starry-eyed and picked out every detail, and b) Elisha and Lacie would thrash her to within an inch of her life. Lacie's hatred of all generals had grown remarkably since the fight where Damon had ground Diamond's face against the pavement, and Elisha still touched the places on her body where Jedin's blast had hit her with a scowl. Both had expressed at length what they wanted to do to certain generals if they ever caught up with them. "Still." Malorie sighed, fingering her hair lightly. "It would have been so romantic if he had noticed you and poured his heart out, saying he missed you, and ending his speech with a long-" "Yuck!" Marisa said loudly. Angie winced. Add her to the Elisha/Lacie category. "Damon is evil, remember, Malorie?" She looked more at Angie than Mal, and her eyes narrowed. "Evil." Angie gulped and nodded. "Right. Evil." "Which means," Elisha said, looking at her also. "That we do not rely on him for help, saving, or anything else. He is nothing but an enemy." There was a clear warning in her voice. Angie laughed pathetically. "Uh-huh. Right. Evil. I guess I'll just have to be content going after Alan." "No way." Elisha said seriously. "He's mine." Angie laughed before narrowing her eyes in pretend outrage. "Why, how dare you!" Elisha giggled and slapped her friend a high five. "Just kidding, Ange. But better do it quick. He's too cute to be left alone too long." Angie nodded importantly. "Yes, sah!" "Oh, shut up."
* * * Later, the girls were all sitting around eating lunch at a table in the park, Angie's many servants having supplied and packed the food. Angie was still grumbling about this. "It's not fair." She complained. "I'm not allowed to do anything without them! They're so annoying." "You're an idiot, you know that?" Lacie asked, munching down on cheese and crackers. "I would do anything to live in your house and get all those servants!! No housework or anything at all!" "Oh, believe me, plenty of housework." Angie said grimly. "Mom makes me clean my own room, to make sure I don't get spoiled." The girls shuddered. Angie's room was approximately the size of the White House, complete with ensuite bathroom and computer room. "Still, though." Rachelle said, sipping orange juice from a carton and waving a straw at her. "It could be worse. You could have no maids and live in that place." This was enough to cause many whimpers around the table. "Stop it, Rachelle, you're scaring us!" Malorie whispered, shuddering. Rachelle grinned evilly and popped a French fry into her mouth. "Oh, no." Mary groaned suddenly. There was a flash of black and she was gone. "Mary?" Marisa asked, looking around. "Down here!" A voice hissed beneath the table. Angie looked down. "Nani-what are you doing?" Mary's hand shot out to point at something before it vanished again. Lacie looked to where she had pointed. "Hey, isn't that the guy you thought was cute on Friday?" "That was Friday!" Mary hissed, black eyes glaring at Lacie. "This is Sunday! Emotions have changed!" "Okay, what happened?" Elisha said with a sigh, grabbing Mary by the hair and pulling her out. Mary rubbed her scalp and continued to glare at the auburn haired man crossing the street, her mind darting back to the events of yesterday. Mary was skipping down the sidewalk, singing a little to herself. Angie had been somewhat in shock and refused to tell the story, so Lune and Demetri had called it an early day. Mary smiled as she skipped. Now she could go home and find ways to sneak dead squirrels into envelopes to send to people! She was so pleased at this, she began to sing loudly. "Oh, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day-oof!" The singing and skipping had abruptly ended as she hit the sidewalk after having run into a large object. She was up in a flash, bowing and gasping, "Gomen! Sorry! Didn't see you!" "Too busy singing Mr. Rogers?" Mary's head snapped up, a scowl on her face. "And what's wrong with Mr. Rogers?!" She demanded, then gulped as she realized who she had bumped into. It was the cute college man she had pointed out to the girls yesterday. This did not stop her wrath. NO one dissed Mr. Rogers while she was around! She glared up at the man, pouting. "What's wrong with Mr. Rogers?!" She asked again The man smirked. "Nothing, if you like guys who wear awful sport coats and worse blazers." Mary gasped. "I love his clothes!" The man eyed her up and down. "You would." "Urusai!" Mary gasped angrily. "Shut up! Baka!" "Don't call me an idiot." The man retorted. Mary had blinked in some surprise when she realized he knew what that meant, but she ignored this, stuck her tongue out at him, and walked away, steaming. "Baseball-capped jerk." She muttered under her breath. "Ooh." Angie said sympathetically when Mary had burst out the whole story. "So he's not exactly the nicest guy." "A complete jerk." Mary agreed, growling a little in the general direction of the guy. As if somehow hearing her thoughts, the man looked over to see her sitting with her group of friends. Mary groaned. "Oh, no, he's seen me!" And quick as a wink, she was back under the table. The man walked over to the table. The girls looked up at him, some with cool friendliness, some with downright adoration. "Hi!" Angie said brightly. "Who're you?" The man looked at her, bright green eyes scaling her up and down. "Call me Neo." Was the soft reply. Malorie blinked. "Neo? Nice name." The man smiled a little. "Yeah, I guess so." There was a muffled squeak from under the table. Lacie had an innocent expression on her face. "Did you kick her?" Marisa asked, looking at Lacie. There was another yell, and Mary emerged, flushed and prepared for battle. "MARISA-CHAN!!!!" She yelled, a large mallet appearing in the air beside her. Marisa screamed and ran from the table, Mary following, waving the hammer and shouting. "Um-that who you were looking for?" Lacie asked, sweat-dropping. "That'd be her." The man said, nodding. Mary had chased Marisa back to the table by this time. She raised the mallet high over her, laughing insanely. Marisa whimpered. "Mary, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Lacie was the one who kicked you!" "So she DID!!" Mary roared, turning to glare at Lacie. "Oh, boy." Lacie said with a sigh, getting up from the table. She curtsied to Neo. "Excuse me." And she took off, Mary following her and yelling incomprehensible threats. Angie sighed a little. "Excuse me, also." She said, standing and going to a spot a few feet away from the table. Mary and Lacie had disappeared to somewhere inside the park. Angie looked calmly around, murmuring, "5.4.3.2.1." A purple flash zoomed by the table, followed quickly by a black one. Angie reached out her hand and snagged something. The black flash promptly stopped, revealing Mary caught by her hair. Lacie reached her seat, panting a little and still looking nervous, eyeing Angie's hold on Mary. "Mary." Angie said pleasantly. "SIT DOWN." Mary sat, the mallet vanishing. Unfortunately, Angie had made her sit close to where Neo was standing. She glared at him, folding her arms. "Yeah, what do you want?" Neo chuckled a little, then retrieved something from his pocket and held it out. "You dropped this yesterday when you so rudely bumped into me." Every girl gasped as they realized that Neo held a small, silver bracelet with a black jewel in the middle. Blushing furiously, Mary snatched it up, hoping no one would see it. They did. "You LOST your CHARM!?!?!" Elisha screeched, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her hard. "YOU IDIOT!!!!!! YOU COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE IDIOT!!!!" "I didn't mean to!" Mary wailed, trying to free herself. She glared at Neo, who was watching this all with amusement. "YOU LOST YOUR-FRIENDSHIP CHARM!!!!!!" Elisha yelled, shaking her even harder than ever. "BAKA, BAKA, BAKA!!!!" "Down, girl!" Malorie commanded, freeing Mary from Elisha's grip. She eyed Mary sternly. "Though it WAS extremely irresponsible, Mary." "I didn't MEAN to!!!" Mary wailed. "How could you?" Angie asked quietly. Everyone froze as Angie looked sorrowfully across the table at Mary. "How could you?" Mary screeched and fell backwards. "No! NO!! Not the Look! Anything but the Look! I hate the Look! Take it away!!" She covered her eyes and curled into a small ball, rocking back and forth. Angie continued to gaze tragically at Mary before the Look went away and she grinned. "It's gone, Mary." She said firmly. "You have served your punishment." Mary peeked up through her fingers. Seeing the Look gone, she bounced up and smiled broadly. "Yay! Freedom!" She secured the bracelet firmly on her wrist and skipped around the table, humming happily. Neo watched her in a mix of amusement and superiority before waving to the girls and walking into the park. As soon as he was gone, Mary sat down with a sigh. "Evil." She muttered. Rachelle eyed her severely. "It's a good thing he found you, Mary! What if we had transformed and you couldn't have! You would have been in big trouble!" Mary sighed and flopped her hand listlessly at Rachelle. "Spare me, please, Shellie. A run-in with that creep has stemmed my ability to be goofy." She indeed looked strained, and she glared in the direction he had gone. "Ooh, this is bad." Elisha eyed Mary seriously. "Mary's goofiness quenched? This guy might be an energy-stealer." Mary sighed. "Nah, I don't sense he's evil. Just a jerk and a creep." Malorie and Angie looked at each other across the table, frowning a little. Angie raised a questioning eyebrow. Malorie nodded seriously, then looked sideways at Mary. "You know, Mary." She said slowly. "It's kind of funny, but-remember how Usagi and Mamoru's relationship started?" Mary choked, then stood up, eyes blazing. "Don't you DARE suggest what I know you're going to, Mal." She said through gritted teeth. "That guy is NOT Tuxedo Onyx. For one thing, his hair is auburn. For another, he has green eyes. For a third, Tuxedo Onyx is cute, wonderful, gentlemanly, and kind. Nothing like that." Malorie held up her hands. "Sorry! Sorry! Shutting up!" "You seemed to think he was cute on Friday." Lacie muttered. Mary glared at her. 'That was Friday. This is now. I know him better." She morosely began to eat a peanut butter sandwich, scowling. "We are definitely going to pull a Usagi-Mamoru thing, here." Angie muttered to Malorie, who nodded fervently. "What?!" Mary snapped, the mallet appearing beside her again. "Nothing!" Angie said innocently, biting into a carrot. Mary growled and raise the hammer high. Angie's eyes began to fill with tears. The mallet vanished as Mary covered her eyes. "Okay! Okay! No Look! Not the Look!" Angie grinned a little as she stood and backed away from the table, stretching and beginning to put stuff back into the large wicker picnic basket she had brought. A football suddenly came down from the sky and bonked Angie on the head. She yelped and hit the ground, football bouncing off her head. She rubbed the back of her scalp and glared up at the sky. "Okay, which cloud threw that?!" "Cloud nothing." Elisha whispered, going a beet red and pointing. "Look!" A blond head was running towards them from the other end of the park. "Hey, isn't that Chase?" Marisa asked, peering closer. Elisha was blushing madly, twisting a napkin in her hands and looking like she'd like to do as Mary did and go under the table. "What's wrong, Elisha?" Rachelle asked, seeing her friend's flush. Elisha said nothing, just gave Rachelle an obvious "DUH!" look. Rachelle grinned as she remembered the last time Elisha had come into contact with Chase. "Ohhh..remember the kiss, huh?" "KISS?!" Everyone looked up, eyes narrowed. "What kiss?!" "Sapphire was kissed by Chase!!" Rachelle said in a stage-whisper. There were immediate gasps and giggles. Lacie, Malorie, and Marisa pounced on Elisha and began hissing questions at her, which Elisha completely ignored. Angie and Mary eyed her with interest, but did not move. Angie remained resting comfortably on the ground. Chase jogged up, panting. "Sorry 'bout that, kid-" He bent down to retrieve the football, then saw who he had hit. He sighed. "You again, huh?" "Us again!" Angie agreed cheerfully. "Your football seems to have a knack for hitting us." "Or our food." Mary added, remembering her spaghetti flying everywhere with a grin. "Chase, man, what's up?!" Two boys ran up. Angie immediately sprang up, glaring at a very familiar one, while Lacie moved away from Elisha to crack her knuckles slightly. The beefy boy-leader of the bullies-gulped and moved back a little from the two furious girls in front of him. "Angie, Lacie, chill." Elisha of all people said calmly. Lacie flexed her fingers but sat back down. Angie leaned again the table in a pretend nonchalance, though mentally she was wondering how to best steal Mary's mallet. Elisha looked serenely at Chase and the two boys. "Can we help you further? Or were you leaving?" The beefy boy eagerly took off back to the field where the boys had been playing. Lacie moved restlessly, but Elisha shot her a warning look and she subsided. But the eagerness of a fight had spread to all the girls, who were now just attempting to look casual, though truly wondering whether they should attack first or merely defend. Elisha frowned. Down, girls!! She yelled in her mind. Muttered sorries came from most of the girls, but Lacie still cracked her knuckles. "Well?" Elisha asked when the two others made no move of leaving. "What d'you want?" "A knuckle sandwich?" Lacie muttered, frowning in intense dislike. Angie shushed her, deeply interested in what was going to happen. Elisha seemed calm, but she had hidden quivering hands under the table. The other boy, who had dark brown hair, reached out to grab a chip from the table. Mary calmly slapped his hand. "Hey!" He protested, drawing back. "You didn't ask." Mary told him with a sniff, an evil gleam in her eye. "It's rude to take food without having been offered it first." The boy blinked once or twice, then smiled a little. "May we have some food?" Mary opened her mouth with an evil smirk, but Rachelle clapped a hand over it and smiled. "Help yourself." Eyeing Mary, the boy snatched up a chip and munched on it a little. Mary scowled at Rachelle, who gave her a look. Come on, Mary! Try to be a little friendly! I get ostracized on a daily basis by guys like these! She's right! Lacie said, butting in. These guys wouldn't look at us if we sprouted wings, but now, just because we have food, they're all buddy- buddy! Come ON, you two! Rachelle yelled For Elisha's sake! Remember what she said?! Elisha calmly looked at Chase. "Do you want anything?" Chase shook his head. "No thank you." There was silence for a second. "THIS IS TAKING TOO LONG!!!!!!" Mary roared suddenly. She yanked Chase down into a seat beside Elisha and gave him a plate stuffed with food. "EAT!!! NOW!!! THEN ASK ELISHA OUT ALREADY!!!!" There was a stunned silence following this blowup. Mary was breathing hard, glaring at Chase. The girls were holding in their laughter. The two men looked puzzled and confused, and Elisha looked like she was considering stuffing Mary into the nearest toilet. Finally, Malorie cracked. She fell backwards and began roaring with laughter, rolling on the ground and choking. The tense silence was broken as Angie and Marisa promptly joined her, while Lacie and Rachelle were satisfied with giggles. The boys still looked bemused, though Chase's mouth had been carefully closed. Mary calmly sat back down and continued eating as if nothing had happened. Elisha kicked her under the table. Angie wiped tears from her eyes and stood back up, still chuckling a little. "Mary, yousa crazy." She said firmly before grinning widely and going into hysterics again. Chase stood up. "Sorry you interrupt, girls. We'll be going-" Something flew out of a clump of bushes and landed hard on Chase, knocking him to the ground. Animal snarls were resounding loudly through the air. Angie and Lacie were on their feet in an instant. Lacie ran around the side of the table, gasping at what she saw. Chase was on the ground, wrestling frantically against the open jaws of a-thing. It had moldy, green, knobby skin and large spikes sticking out of its arms and legs. Red eyes were focused on its intended victim, and a slobbering tongue licked at Chase's face. He yelled and tried to wriggle away, but the creature grasped him firmly and tried to bite into his neck. There was a blue flash, and the creature was flung several feet away. It screeched and hit the ground, skidding against the pavement. Elisha glared at it, wiping her hands on her skirt. "Get out of here." She told Chase, not looking at him or his colleague. "The both of you. Move it." The brown-haired boy was quick to obey. He took off, eyes the size of saucers. Chase merely wiped off his face and glanced over at his rising attacker. "What the-" "Idiot!" Lacie snarled, picking Chase up by the collar and shoving him towards where his friend had disappeared. "Leave! Beat it! Now!" "What about you lot?!" Chase said indignantly, wrestling with Lacie. "We'll be fine-just go!" Angie urged, smiling a little. "But-" Chase complained. Lacie wanted no more talking. She picked Chase up and flung him into a clump of bushes, wiping her hands. "Okay, he's gone! Now let's transform!" "Shouldn't he be a little further?" Angie asked, grabbing her bracelet. "No time!" Marisa gasped, pointing as the monster began to make its way back towards them, howling. From the bushes, Chase was watching all this with a great deal of interest. What were those idiots doing? He wondered if required him having to pull a knight-in-shining-armor and go rescue them. A smirk played slightly on his face, imagining Lacie's reaction if she needed saving. "Diamond Star Power-" "Emerald Star Power-" "Obsidian Star Power-" "Amethyst Star Power-" "Topaz Star Power-" "Garnet Star Power-" "Sapphire Star Power-" "MAKE-UP!!!!" Chase let out a muffled yell as a million multicolored light filled the clearing, temporarily blinding him. He rubbed his eyes, trying to squint through the fiasco of colors. Dimly he heard a voice say, "You know, if us being the Sailor Scouts doesn't scare everyone away, that light show certainly will." He blinked. It sounded an awful lot like Mary. "You know it, sister." He blinked again. Now that one-Lacie, perhaps? Finding he was able to see again, he peered out of his lovely bushes. Sailor Diamond glared across at the oncoming demon. "Now, what the heck is this?!" She demanded crossly. "General creation?" "Don't think so." Sapphire said practically. "They use Screamers, remember? Besides, this thing is-AAAAH!" The demon had launched itself at her, tearing at her fuku, snarling. Sapphire angrily grabbed its jaws as Chase had done and pulled in opposite directions. The thing's jaw broke, lower half dangling uselessly. Sapphire shoved it off and glared at it before continuing. "As I was saying, they use Screamers, which seem to entirely fulfill their needs. And besides, the demons the generals use are made of anti-light, so they're like our opposites. They're sort of like baby generals." "And you know all this-how?" Topaz asked, raising an eyebrow. Sapphire shrugged, eyes twinkling. "Demetri told me." "And he never told me?" Obsidian asked indignantly. "SO not fair." Sapphire shrugged again. "You never asked-Hey!" She looked down angrily as the demon began to claw at her boots. "Knock it off and just die already!" She snapped, kicking it away. The creature continued to slobber after her, crawling on the ground. Angrily, Sapphire snatched the first thing that came into her hand-a broken piece of a board from where Chase had broken the table as he fell. She raised it high into the air, and plunged it down into the demon's back. The demon's red eyes bugged out, and its mouth opened in a silent scream. Its body shuddered, and burst into thousands of particles of dust that vanished in the sunlight. The Senshi stared at where it had lain, open-mouthed. "What did you do?!" Emerald asked finally, eyes bugging out of her head. Sapphire moved her mouth, but no words came out. She merely gaped at the ground. Garnet was the only one who seemed slightly less fazed. "You plunged a wooden stake into a demon's heart and it died. Standard procedure." She grinned eagerly. "Man! Just like Buffy!" "But this isn't Buffy!!" Amethyst yelled. "This is real life!" "In which we are a band of superheroes fighting evil beings and a person with approximately the power of a god." Garnet said calmly. "Welcome to our world." Amethyst's mouth opened, and then abruptly shut. "She's right." Diamond agreed. "Course I am." Garnet said snootily. "Thought you guys had figured this out by now: I'm always right." "Nah, that'd be Sapphire, here." Emerald said, knocking Sapphire gently on her head. "Brainiac." Garnet stuck out her tongue and sniffed in pretend injury. "But what does this mean?" Diamond asked softly, kneeling down to the ground and gently touching a few leftover atoms. "Demons? In our town? Like there isn't enough trouble already?" "Maybe they're drawn here." Sapphire suggested, thinking hard. "Like in Buffy. Right?" She asked Garnet doubtfully, who nodded. "They're drawn to the Hellmouth." "The Hellmouth?!" Amethyst screeched. "Hello?! Jeez! Are we all of a sudden going to become a paranormal activity center?!" "Probably." Obsidian said, with some excitement. Amethyst rubbed her eyes. "Great. Just perfect." "So, now what?" Diamond sighed and stood. "Will they come all at once, or gradually? Do we need to patrol?" She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Oh, man. That's an unpleasant thought. As if I don't have enough problems in my life." "If we don't, it's more likely people will die." Garnet warned. "I guess we might lose a few lives here and there." "Not on my shift!" Diamond snapped, flaring up. "Hah! Patrol, ho! No one dies in my town, thank you very much!!" Garnet grinned. "That's my girl." Diamond began pacing back and forth, planning. "So, if we all take two- hour shifts in groups of three and four, starting at eight and going to six, that would leave, let's see-six hours of sleep for one group, four for another." She winced. "Not exactly the ideal night." "Maybe we can handle late nights better than most!" Emerald volunteered. "I mean, heck, we're superheroes and all, right? Maybe we don't get sleepy!" "Sapphire doesn't get sleepy, Elisha does." Sapphire grumbled. "She's right." Obsidian said. "It's too much to hope for, that we don't need sleep." "I can dream, can't I?" Emerald asked, injured. "But, then, there is the fact I never really feel tired in Sailor form." Amethyst pointed out. "I mean, I feel I could fight all day!" "Which you probably could." Topaz muttered. "Um." Garnet whispered, pointing at the ground. "Is it just me, or is the ground shaking?" Pebbles and dirt were bouncing around on the ground like popcorn kernels in a microwave. Topaz stared at them before her head snapped up and she pointed to something across the way. "Look!" The air seemed to be shimmering and twisting in on itself, like a strange mirage. It was glowing a deep purple color. The Senshi stared at it, tense and expectant. There was a scream, and the shifting air turned into a rent through space. Demons began pouring out of it, red eyes glowing, fangs looking sharp and ready. They were all hideous, faces mottled and dark, skin scabby and crusty. Their eyes centered on the scouts, and all raised a horrible cry into the air as they charged. The Senshi promptly and very bravely screamed. "HELP!!!" Garnet screamed. "WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED DO?!?!" "HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW?!?!" Obsidian yelled back. Topaz and Emerald began fervently praying under their breaths. Amethyst frantically looked around, and spotted the picnic table. Thinking quickly, she gave it a tremendous kick. The table smashed into several pieces, food flying everywhere. Amethyst grabbed a large piece and ran in front of her screaming friends as the first onslaught came. She violently jabbed the broken wood into the demon's heart. It hiccupped, and then exploded. Diamond and Obsidian quickly grabbed their own stakes and joined Amethyst as the demons swarmed around, tearing at their clothes and hair. Obsidian hissed as one grabbed her arm and knocked the wood away. Angrily, she raised her hand. "BLACK FEAR SWARM!!!" The attack flew into several demons. They screeched as their atoms flared into nothing and were blown away by the wind. "Ah-HA!!" Diamond crowed ecstatically. "We have found another weakness!" The others had stopped blubbering now to stare in amazement at what was happening. "DEATH CRESCENTS DESTROY!!!!" Amethyst yelled, flinging the razor boomerangs at the oncoming demons. Heads and torsos went flying as more demons shrieked and vanished. Amethyst directed the crescents grimly with her hands, hitting with deadly accuracy. "Hah!" Sapphire screamed, leaping up in excitement. "Now we got 'em!" "Not yet, Sapph, they're still a few dozen left!" Diamond said grimly, jabbing her stake at one. "Hah!" Sapphire said joyfully. "ICY GLACIER FREEZE!!!!" Demons screamed as arms and legs were snapped off in the blast of ice. Dust flew everywhere as more and more exploded. The remaining demons backed away, eyeing the Senshi nervously. Long red tongue lashed over scaly lips. "Um-excuse me?" Garnet said hesitantly. "But from my vast knowledge of Buffy, logically these things could not be out now, as it is broad daylight?!?!" The Senshi blinked at her. "Hey, that's right!" Topaz said, getting up off the ground. "So-shouldn't they be disintegrating?" "Well, they're not, are they?!" Amethyst snapped, patience completely frayed. "Or does it look like that to you?!" Topaz blinked at Amethyst, eyes filling with tears. "I-I was just-I was just thinking-they should-" Her voice trailed away as she began to wail. "Oh, brilliant!" Diamond snapped at Amethyst. "Let's hurt people's feelings and just get everyone fighting! Idiot!" "Well, she was being stupid!" Amethyst complained in defense. "How are we supposed to defeat enemies if we fight amongst ourselves?!" Diamond demanded. "Well, why don't we try not making idiotic suggestions first!" Amethyst growled. "Jerk!" "Baka!" "URUSAI!!!!" Emerald yelled. "Everyone, please, SHUT UP!!!" Amethyst and Diamond stared at the bristling green-haired girl who had Topaz by the shoulders and was comforting her. She glared daggers at the two. "You two bickering isn't going to help anything!! Amethyst, you be nicer! Diamond, chill!" "Excuse me?!" Diamond demanded. "I have the right to get on Amethyst's case when she's slacking, not you! I'm your elected leader, remember?!" "That can be changed." Emerald retorted. "NO, IT CAN'T!!!" Diamond yelled. "I'M THE LEADER, YOU GUYS CHOSE ME, YOU CAN'T BACK OUT ON ME NOW!!!" Emerald blinked at her. "Don't have a coronary! Just don't yell at people, all right?!" "I WASN'T YELLING!!!" Diamond wailed. "I HAVE THE RIGHT TO GET UPSET WHEN MY FRIENDS START DOUBTING ME!!" Tears began gushing out of her eyes. "Shut up!" Obsidian begged, putting her hands over her ears. "Please! You're giving me a headache!" "Oh, you shut up, Mr. Rogers." Amethyst snapped. Obsidian's eyes flashed black. Power surged around her in the air as she bared her teeth. A gigantic lightning bolt flew down from the sky to envelope her suddenly as the air crackled with darkness. The remaining demons shrieked as one before they spontaneously combusted "Ani cooroo domma nidene. Megussa elil Damo Rogers!!!!" Obsidian yelled, anger shooting sparks from her eyes- "The dark is rising-DON'T CALL ME MR. ROGERS!!!!!!" Amethyst was flung back slightly by the force of this scream. "Okay! Fine! Sorry! Sailor Obsidian! Right!" The blackness faded. Obsidian's fierce look changed to a happy but exhausted one. "I talked in the funny language!" She exclaimed happily. "I'm special!!!" "And you blasted away all the demons." Garnet said with a huge sweat drop appearing on her head. "Oh, yeah, that too." Obsidian agreed, bouncing up and down happily, a huge smile on her face. Then, without the slightest change in expression, she fainted. "Oh boy." Sapphire said with a sigh. Topaz helped her friend sit up. Obsidian seemed a bit cross-eyed, but she had come around very quickly. She grinned at them all. "I'm cool! I'm good! I'm becoming an incredibly strong warrior! I'm-" Her stopped abruptly, eyes going wide but seeing nothing. Into all of the girls heads there fell a picture, a little different for each one. Many people, a light, huge, expensive ballroom, the swish of skirts, the taste of wine, and a hint, the slightest feeling of magic. "What-what was that?!" Garnet asked faintly, thinking of it again. She realized with a start that picture-it was a part of her. Like it had been in her memory all this time, and she had forgotten it. Diamond was rubbing her head in amazement. "I-I don't believe it-it's like, I was there, like I was seeing all this through someone else's eyes." "Maybe our own?" Topaz suggested, eyes closed, reliving it again and again. "Are we getting our past memories back already?" Emerald whispered. "But-Demetri said it would take months! Or years!" Amethyst yelped. "Why are we getting them back now?! A month hasn't even past yet!" "Apparently, we're moving incredibly fast." Obsidian murmured, eyes closed and something close to rapture in her movements. "But-already?" Sapphire whispered. "I don't want to remember! Demetri said they might swamp us, remember?! All the things that we had to do? Leave our planet, sacrifice ourselves, lose our friends-that's too much!" "It's just one memory." Diamond said comfortingly, patting the blue-headed girl on the head. "We probably won't get more for a while." "I hope so." Sapphire sniffed, rubbing her head a little. "It was nice." Garnet whispered. "The ball.and also." "Familiar." Emerald finished grimly. "I think that was the ball just before the invasion. That one Lune showed us." There was a long silence after this remark. "I hope we don't remember anything longer for a while." Obsidian said finally. "I definitely don't want that night first." "Agreed." Topaz said, nodding. "That'd be too horrible." Sapphire sighed, then she snapped her fingers. "Oh! Before I forget, did everyone else notice the demons?" "No, Sapphire, we had no idea we were attacked by a horde of them." Amethyst said sarcastically. The girls giggled. "I mean, where they came from!" Sapphire snapped. "The vortex thing?" Emerald shrugged. "Yeah, what about it?" "That vortex, I believe, was a direct link to our local bad guy headquarters!!" Sapphire yelled. "They were sent by the generals!! I can feel it!! I know these things!!" "So the bad boys did have something to do with that one, huh?" Diamond mused. "The demons must have had some other kind of protection too, so they didn't melt in the sunlight." "Or maybe they can resist light." Garnet pointed out. Everyone face-vaulted. "Garnet, in the future, please do not suggest these things." Diamond muttered, face muffled by pavement. "We're not doing any good standing around here all transformed." Emerald said sensibly, getting up. "Why don't we de-transform?" "I don't know." Sapphire said, glancing around uneasily. "Maybe I'm paranoid, but-I've got this feeling we should stay as we are for the time being." Emerald shrugged. "Fine. Whatever." She walked over to the picnic table and surveyed its remains gloomily. "Man, that was a perfectly good lunch." "We've got a lot of fights ahead of us, don't we?" Obsidian asked quietly, picking up a broken paper plate and looking at it sadly. "Most assuredly so." Amethyst muttered, giving her spilled soda a rueful look before beginning to pick trash up to dump in a receptacle. "Amethyst!" Garnet screamed suddenly. "Stop! Don't move--!" Amethyst let out a scream as something from the shrubbery near the trash can shot out at her. She fell backwards, grabbing at her stomach in horror. A small blue spear had been driven through her. She yanked it out and threw it away in disgust. "Diamond!" She called, teeth clenched. "I could use a little help, here!" Diamond ran forward, hands already glowing gold. "Everlasting Love Purify!!!" The gash in Amethyst's stomach quickly healed. She lurched to her feet and glared at the clump of undergrowth. "Okay, come on out and fight, you coward!!!" There was a whir of sound as something a dark blue shot out of the side of the bushes and went whizzing away across the clearing. Topaz let out a cry as another deep blue spear caught her shoulder. She wrenched it out, gasping in pain, covering the wound with one hand, the other coming up to aim at the quick-moving thing. "BRIGHT WHIRLWIND GUST!!!" The attack hit whatever it was, momentarily wrapping around it and freezing it, just enough so the scouts could make out a huge dark blue man with a silver mask over his face and silver machinery all over his body. Its hand, with long, sharp-looking claws, lashed out to knock the attack away. Topaz's shot vanished in a puff of yellow and blue. "What the heck.?" Diamond muttered. "Topaz! Need healing?" "Nope!" Topaz said, gritting her teeth. "No, I'm okay. It's not too bad." The machine-man was zooming around them again in a tight circle. Obsidian's hand shot up as he neared her, and a spear went flying into the sky, blocked by her arm. "We've got to get out of here!" Sapphire yelled. "We're sitting ducks!!" "Start jumping!" Diamond commanded, yelping as a spear nearly knocked her head off. "Go, and keep moving!" The Senshi leapt off into the park. Obsidian leapt high into the air and landed on top of a nearby street post, glancing back at the clearing. The blue Mecha had paused, glancing around. Its head turned towards her. "Shoot." Obsidian hissed, leaping away. The thing turned into a blur again as it sped after her, miming her movements perfectly. "Damn!" She cursed, leaping in zigzags back and forth across the street and watching the Mecha imitate her. "I can't shake him!" More importantly, the robot seemed to be speeding up. It was gaining on her. Obsidian left the road to cut through the park, barely dodging trees and other obstacles. The robot was right behind her, only mere trees and bushes didn't stop it. Obsidian gasped as she saw it go right through a middle-aged tree without even stopping. The tree wavered, leaves shaking, and it began to fall in the direction of a family of picnickers. "God, I'm too tender-hearted." Obsidian muttered, turning around and running towards the group. The mother of the family looked up as the tree's shadow fell over them. Her mouth opened wide, though nothing came out. She began grabbing at her kids, preparing to throw them away- A black blur sped in front of them. The tree's descent promptly stopped. The woman looked up, eyes going wider. Obsidian gasped as her arms shook. She looked down at the woman. "Hello." The woman mouthed hello. A man-probably the father-grabbed the kids and flung them off the blanket before realizing the imminent danger was over. He, too, gaped at Obsidian. Obsidian gasped as her arms began shaking uncontrollably. "Move! I can't hold it forever, you morons!!! Go!!" The woman and man fled, going to hug their children close. The woman stared back as Obsidian carefully lowered the tree just to the side of the blanket, being extra careful not to mess up anything of the food. She sighed in relief and grinned at the gaping woman. Very slowly, the woman began to smile back. A blue blur shot out at Obsidian. Before she could move, the robot-thing had grabbed her with two arms and was propelling her backwards, not stopping. It flung her up against a street post, which snapped in half at the force of that blow. Obsidian cried out in pain, arching her back. She grabbed at the metallic hands clasped onto her shoulders, trying to scratch them off. The android didn't let go. A single red eye on one side of its face blinked slowly at her, not showing any emotion. The other half of its face was covered in silver metal. It glared mercilessly down at her, tightening its grip. Obsidian shrieked as she felt its fingers grow sharp and dig deep into her shoulders. The machine suddenly let go, making several beeping noises. It fell back, waving arms and legs like some huge metal bug. A silvery rose was embedded in its back. Obsidian massaged her shoulders before falling backwards, pain lancing through her. Strong arms caught her just before she hit the ground. She gazed blearily up at a masked face. "Tuxedo Onyx. Thanks." She sighed and leaned back. "Ow." Tuxedo Onyx carefully lowered her to the ground. He ripped off a long piece of his cloak and tore it in two, rapping one piece around one shoulder and the other on the next. "You okay?" He asked. Obsidian shook her head. "The android. I gotta fight it." She tried to struggle up, then lay back, muttering. "In a second." Tuxedo Onyx smiled down at her, smoothing her hair a little. Obsidian gave him a tiny smile back, eyes brimming with happiness. There was a sudden metallic roar. Tuxedo Onyx's eyes went wide as he fell on top of Obsidian. Alarmed, she sat up, grabbing him by his shoulders. "Onyx-kun!!" Tuxedo Onyx slowly sat up, clutching at his abdomen. Obsidian gasped as she saw the tip of a blue spear poking out of his stomach. Onyx grabbed it and savagely yanked it out, blood spilling over his silver tuxedo. He turned and stood up, carefully hiding Obsidian. She peeked out behind up to see the android lining up another spear to fire again. Onyx drew out his cane and held it in front of him, face grim and angry. "Onyx-chan." Obsidian whispered, struggling to kneel. "Be careful." The android flung another spear at Tuxedo Onyx. He swiftly moved his cane to knock it aside and reached inside his cloak, bringing out a silvery jewel the size of a pencil, though wider and very sharp at both ends. He flung it at the monster. The android shrieked as the shot hit its neck. Its shriek turned into a gurgling moan as it stumbled back, clutching at its throat. "Go Onyx!" Obsidian cheered, standing up and jumping up to stand a few feet away, then nearly stumbling as her injuries caught up again. Tuxedo Onyx gave her a weak smile as he rubbed his stomach. The robot stumbled back up and towards them, another blue spear forming and aiming at Obsidian. In a multitude of beeps, the spear shot at Obsidian's heart. Obsidian stared at it in horror, legs failing her again and locking in place. Her mind registered the oncoming shot with a detached horror as it hurled at her. "Obsidian!" Onyx yelled, moving quickly. "Move!" Obsidian gasped- Oh, no. No, please, god, no. Onyx let out a grunt and fell to the ground, more blood gushing out of him. He fell face forward, spear point coming out of his back. His already blood-stained tuxedo became almost completely unrecognizable as blood poured over it. The android thing let out another shriek as a last defiance before it fell back, red eye going dull. Obsidian knelt by him, wailing, trying to yank the spear out of his back. It finally came, and she flung it away. She gently turned Onyx over, tears flowing down her cheeks. "Onyx-chan!! Onyx-chan!!" Tuxedo Onyx's closed eyes opened again to look up at her, silver eyes gleaming brightly. "Obsidian." Obsidian clutched him close, rubbing his hand on her cheek. "Hang in there! Oh, please, hang in there!" She began to scream mentally with all the power she could summon. DIAMOND!!! DIAMOND, PLEASE!!!! Across the park, Diamond froze, eyes crossing at the force of Obsidian's mind blast. She did not reply, just turned about and began to fly back across the park to where she could sense Obsidian's presence. Obsidian sobbed, laying her head down on Tuxedo Onyx's bloody chest. "You saved me! God, why'd you do that, you idiot?! God, oh my God." She sat back up and shook him slightly by the shoulders. Tuxedo Onyx laughed a little, and then coughed. A splatter of red blood appeared on Obsidian's black bow. She bit back a strangled sob. Onyx smiled hazily at her. "I have to. I'm-your protector. I'm-always there- for you." "You're such an idiot." Obsidian whispered, bending over him. Before he could blink, she leaned over and gently kissed him. Tuxedo Onyx's eyes opened wide, and he gasped into Obsidian's mouth. She drew back and laid her head on his chest again. Very slowly, his hands moved up to touch her shoulders. A thousand images suddenly flew into both of their minds. Images of dates, dances, moonlit walks, dinners, caresses, hugs, kisses. These images. Obsidian murmured in her mind. They belong to. Us? Tuxedo Onyx wondered, letting the images swarm through his mind. Me and-Sailor Obsidian? We were.. Lovers. An identical memory flashed through their minds. * It was early spring on Opal. Obsidian, only seven years old, was playing in a garden with her sisters. They were tossing a ball back and forth. Amethyst had hit the ball too hard. It bounced off Garnet's head and went over the hedge into another garden. "I'll get it!" Obsidian cried, running through an archway of roses and ivy vines into the other garden. The ball they had been playing with was a few feet away. Unfortunately, it was in the hands of someone else-a boy, who looked to be around twelve or thirteen years old. Obsidian ran up and smiled at him, holding out her hands. "Hey! Can I have our ball back?" The boy holding the ball smiled down at her, brushing a lock of silver hair out of his eyes. "Um-sure." He gently deposited it in the small girl's arms and laughed a little. "It kinda hit my head." Obsidian gasped. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She appeared to be thinking hard, then she gestured to him. "Bend down!!" Surprised, the boy did as she asked. Obsidian raised her hand and patted him on the head. "There! Feel any better?" "Sort of." The boy answered, raising his head to smile at her. Obsidian giggled, and then stood up on her tiptoes to kiss the boy on the cheek. "Bye!" She called, running back into the other garden where her sisters were. The boy looked after her in amazement, then grinned as his hand touched his cheek. * "Our first meeting." Obsidian whispered, sitting up and looking into Tuxedo Onyx's eyes. Another memory came shooting up into their minds. * "Mommy!" An eleven-year old Obsidian cried, running from her room into the hallway. "Mom! Where are you-ow!" She fell down onto the ground and glared up. "Neo-chan!! Watch it!" "Hey, you ran into me!!" The sixteen-year old replied, blinking down at the tall black-haired girl. "So?!" Obsidian leapt up and glared at him. "Baka!" She gave his long silver ponytail a tug. "Hey!" Neo protested, yanking his hair out of her reach. "Don't pull my hair!" Obsidian giggled. "You sound like a girl!" "And you sound like a chimp." Neo retorted. Obsidian sniffed and pouted, tears coming to her eyes. Neo grinned at the adorable expression and bent down to look Obsidian in the eyes. "Just kidding, monkey-girl." He whispered before giving her a kiss on the cheek. Obsidian blushed a bright red before squealing and hugging Neo around the middle and skipping off. Neo watched her go, an affectionate expression on his face. * "You were a cute kid." Tuxedo Onyx murmured, eyes closed and seeing the sweet expression again. Another image flew up. * A fourteen year old Obsidian was walking in a dark garden, the cute kid having been changed into a tall, beautiful young woman. A large full moon was in the sky, hanging over her heads. She settled down onto a bench and sighed, rubbing her forehead a little. "More threats." She muttered. "More worries, more prophecies.." A tear slipped down her face as she rubbed her arms, shivering slightly. "Obsidian?" A male voice said. There was a flash of silver from an adjoining path. "What's wrong?" "Hi, Neo." Obsidian sighed, not bothering to wipe away her tears. "Garnet had another prophecy today about the future. Beryl's growing so strong.Garnet says she'll come within a year.we won't even be sixteen." She bent her head and let out a small sob. Neo sat down on the bench beside her and patted her shoulders. Obsidian immediately curled up towards him. "I'm so tense all the time-I have to worry about my planet and my people- and I know that when the war comes I'll fight to protect Pluto and Serenity and Mars and everyone-but I don't want to die!! And I just know that I won't be strong enough!!" She began sobbing into his chest. Neo wrapped his arms around her and murmured into her air, gently stroking her arms. "Hey, hey, now, is this the crazy girl I know?" He teased gently. "Come on, now, Obsidian. I've never seen you cry before, it's scaring me." "Everyone expects me to always be chipper and bright." Obsidian whimpered. "But I'm sick of it! Topaz breaks down all the time, but no one thinks that's weird! Even Diamond and Amethyst cry occasionally! But no, I can't!" She began sobbing again. Neo gently raised her head with one hand. His thumb wiped away the tears stains on her cheeks. "Hey, come on, now. You're allowed to cry, but it truly doesn't become you." He grinned. Obsidian laughed a little and wiped her eyes. "Oh, thank you ever so much." Her eyes caught the moonlight as she looked back up, the light reflecting off the still unshed tears in her eyes. Neo's breath caught in his throat. "You've changed a lot." He said, gently touching her hair. Obsidian blushed "Hey, stop it!" She scolded. "Stop staring at me like that!" Her blush grew even deeper and made her cheeks look something like rose petals. Neo grinned at her. Then, before Obsidian could move, he bent down and very gently pressed his lips to hers. Obsidian yanked away and stared at him with wide eyes. Neo blushed a little and began to stammer. Obsidian ignored this, and moved forward again, black eyes intent on his. Carefully, she returned the favor. When she moved to back away, Neo's hands came to grab her arms and hold her still. She gasped a little, but did not try to back away. The two remained together, locked in a kiss. * "Our first kiss." Obsidian whispered. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared at Tuxedo Onyx. "Neo." "Obsidian-chan." Onyx whispered. A jolt of pain hit him hard and he gasped, falling backwards. "Tuxedo Onyx!!!" Obsidian cried, clutching his hand. "Neo!! Hang in there! Don't leave me! Oh, god, don't leave me!" She frantically rubbed his hand across her face. "Neo! My prince." Diamond suddenly landed on Tuxedo Onyx's other side. "Is he alright?!" "Aside from the fact that he's now Tuxedo Shish-kebab, he's fine!!!!" Obsidian snapped, never looking at her. "Right." Diamond said, sweat-dropping. "Sorry." She aimed her hands at the two holes in the man. "Everlasting Love Purify!!!" Onyx gasped as the light entered his body. He glowed a bright gold for an instant before the light exited his body, sewing up the gashes in his flesh last of all. Onyx sighed and laid back, eyes closing. His breath came in slow, deep inhales. Diamond sighed tiredly. "He'll be okay." Obsidian flung her arms around Diamond and clutched her tightly before turning eye back to Tuxedo Onyx. "He can't stay here." She turned pleading eyes on Diamond. "Do you think.?" Diamond sighed. "All right, fine. But tonight only, and my parents CANNOT find out." Obsidian smiled in relief. She carefully pulled Tuxedo Onyx up and leaned him on her shoulder, wrapping her arm around his back and draping his arm on her slender frame. Diamond did the same on his other side. Together, the two girls leapt away across the city to Diamond's large place.
* * * Much later, Tuxedo Onyx awoke in a strange bed. At first, he remembered nothing. Then the events before his healing came back full blast. He gingerly touched his chest were the spears had hit, and looked around the strange room. He was in a very large circle bed with a pretty, puffy, lavender and cerulean cover and many blue-covered pillows. The walls of this room-both of which were approximately fifty feet away from each other- were covered with realistic murals of islands and cool tropical oceans. The ceiling had been painted blue and had puffy white clouds on it. Onyx took in all this in one sweeping glance. "Where am I?" He asked softly. "So you're awake." A soft, terribly familiar voice said from his other side. "About time. You've been asleep for five hours." "Obsidian." Tuxedo Onyx stated, sitting up in the bed. "Where am I?" "At the house of a friend's." Obsidian replied, scooting her chair closer to the bed. "Are you all right?" "I believe so." Onyx said, letting the covers slip off his chest. He blinked as he realized his top was gone. Quickly, he touched his face, making sure the mask was still there. "We had to remove your coat and shirt." Obsidian said in explanation. "Our friend didn't want her bed getting all bloody. You have a nice chest, by the way." She grinned evilly. Tuxedo Onyx blushed and carefully covered himself up again. "May I have them back?" "Nope!" Obsidian sang, grin going wider. "They're far too nasty. You'll have to borrow a shirt. Course, you have to ask your hostess nicely." "Where is she?" He asked. "Hello!" Diamond sang on cue, coming in the room from a large door. She smiled at him. "Good to see you back in the real world, Onyx. We were all worried." "All?" Onyx looked back at the door. The rest of the scouts were there. They all grinned and waved merrily. "We were worried-Obsidian said that at one point you were much like a pincushion." Garnet commented. "Except bigger." Amethyst pointed out. "Well, duh!" Emerald snorted. Tuxedo Onyx grinned a little. "Yeah, I guess I was." He looked at Diamond. "I suppose I owe you a debt of gratitude for healing me." Diamond shrugged. "Hey, it's nothing. You've saved Obsidian enough to make up for all healings, past and present." She turned away to begin typing something on a computer nearby. "You okay?" Onyx asked Obsidian in a low voice. She blinked. "Me?! Hey, who was the human voodoo doll?" She smiled at him. "I'm fine. Complete thanks to you." Tuxedo Onyx nodded, then hesitated, and glanced around. The Senshi all pretend to be very interested in the wallpaper. He bent close to Obsidian and whispered, "Should we tell.?" "About-" Obsidian gulped and laughed nervously. "Um, our past?" She began blushing a bright red. The scouts seemed even more interested in the walls. "Not yet, I guess." She stammered, rubbing the back of her head. "We could just keep it a secret." Onyx nodded, and grinned a little. "You're a good kisser, by the way." He whispered before leaning back and closing his eyes again. Obsidian went so red her head looked somewhat like a tomato. She quickly moved away, a bright smile lurking underneath her color. "Are you well enough to leave?" Diamond asked quietly. "No offense, but if my folks find you, they will freak." "Yeah, I guess so." Onyx said with a shrug. "Good." Diamond said, not turning around. Someone sprung up behind him to tie something tightly and quickly over his eyes. He started to yell, only to have his mouth covered by a gentle hand. "Hush." Obsidian said soothingly. "It's all right. Diamond just wants to keep her living quarters a secret, for her sake as well as yours." Onyx stopped struggling as Obsidian removed her hand. "You've got some strange friends." He muttered. "I'm the strangest!" Obsidian said brightly. He felt the softest touch on his cheek, like someone had gently pressed a silken rose petal there for a brief instant. "Obsidian, you take his right side, Sapphire, his left." Diamond ordered. "And for pete's sake, don't drop him or knock him into a wall." Sapphire grinned as she grabbed his arm. "Can we throw him into things?" "Sapphire!" Obsidian scolded. "I would prefer you not do that." Onyx said politely. Sapphire grinned at the blindfolded man. "Not like you could stop me." "Can I have someone else holding me?" Tuxedo Onyx asked. "Sapphire, you drop him, I will take personal revenge!" Obsidian growled. "Like what?!" Sapphire challenged. "I'll make Diamond use the Look on you!!!" Obsidian said, deadly serious. "You wouldn't!" Sapphire gasped. "Enough!" Diamond snapped. "Move him to the window!" "The window?" Onyx asked. "Hold your breath." Amethyst advised from behind them. "Ready?" Diamond asked. "Jump!" The ground beneath Onyx's feet promptly vanished as Obsidian and Sapphire leapt forward. He yelled but did not struggle. A few seconds later, they had landed on the ground and were leaping off again. "This is very disconcerting." He remarked after a few minutes. "We're almost far enough." Obsidian said. For the past five minutes, the two had been going in a number of strange directions to confuse him. It had completely worked. "Think this is good?" Sapphire asked a second later. "Most definitely." Obsidian said with a giggle. She gently undid the blindfold and took it off. "Surprise!" Tuxedo Onyx blinked in the bright sunlight and looked around. They were back in the park, almost exactly where he'd saved Obsidian. He turned around, "Thank-" Obsidian and Sapphire were gone. "-you?" He sighed and smiled a little as he walked off into the park alone. From a nearby tree, Obsidian watched Onyx go, touching the bandages still bound around her shoulders. "I'll see you soon, Neo. I'll see you soon."
* * * Halfway across the park, Chase finally stuck out his blond head from the bushes, scraping leaves and twigs from his hair. A look of abject wonder and disbelief was on his face. "Those girls-they're the Sailor Senshi." "And Elisha..is the scout I'm in love with.."
Ummmmmm.yeah. I forgot how sappy I used to write things. *ducks head and grins* Nice reviews, please? Or I'll cry. And you won't like me when I'm crying.