Jaedite watched the fire senshi run from him. Seeing her run like this was
something new to him, it left him pondering. He was thinking about why in
the world was it ever so hard to defeat her before, he tried so hard last
time and she seemed unbreakable, but this time, he barely done anything and
she was completely crushed.
Jaedite shrugged and disappeared going back to his own realm. There was a lot on his mind, a lot he wanted to think about and maybe rethink some of the things he has been taught to think.
Sitting down on his thrown Jaedite looked over his domain, the negaverce, it was barely the same place that he knew it to be before. It resembled hell in many ways, and in this hell, he was the devil.
Jaedite remembered the old days and he thought that he knew now why it was not so hard to defeat Mars this time. He unknowingly used the war strategy that humans themselves used for generations, divide and concur. The scout's strength was their teamwork, a concept that Beryl never understood. When Sailor Mars was left alone and separated from the others, she was easy prey.
There was something else that made Beryl loose other then lack of teamwork. It was Beryl's resentment of change. She was not willing to change her life, her methods, her strategies, even though she knew that they have failed her before.
Queen Beryl would just send in more and more soldiers and just watch them be destroyed one after the other. She was not willing to change the strategies that have already failed her in the Silver Millennium. She was not willing to adapt herself and she was not willing to adapt the negaverce in order to defeat this new enemy.
Queen Beryl always lived in the past never willing to adapt to the future, that was why she had failed, and that was why they couldn't defeat the scouts before.
Change was good, it allowed for development to happened, it allowed for improvement and innovation. Jaedite brought in many changes and the changes have served him well. He was able to adopt and was stronger then ever, the negaverce has evolved.
So why were then these very changes destroying Rai? Jaedite knew the answer to that question all to well, perhaps from experience more then anything else. The reason she was failing was because she was repeating Beryl's and his early mistake, she was not willing to adapt to the changes that has happened to her, she was not willing to accept them and grow with them. Instead, she was fighting them. She was fighting herself instead of fighting him, and she was the one who was ultimately destroying herself.
You can not fight the changes forever, the world is constantly changing, nothing that is static ever survives in this world and those who refuse to adpt to the changes are inevitably destroyed.
Jaedite realized now that it wasn't so much his power that was defeating her, it was the fact that he brought in something different, a weapon that she didn't know how to fight, something she has never faced before. Something she didn't know how to deal with and instead of facing it head on she was denying it.
Rai was running away from her problem, not him. She would never run from him, she was only running from herself.
The changes that he brought upon her were new therefore unknown. People have a fear of the unknown, a fear so great that it was capable of destroying them.
Jaedite watched Rai in his fore screen as she wondered the streets alone, aimlessly with no purpose whatsoever. She was indeed beautiful and the only reason he didn't notice that before was because thinking like that meant having to change something, and before, he was not willing to change.
Sailor Mars was beautiful, her pain was beautiful, her loneliness was beautiful. The former negaverce general no longer even found her a pest, she was more like a challenge for him, a puzzle that he was going to solve.
Rai was still very much a mystery to him. The girl was struggling with a part of herself that was always there inside of her, but until she began to fight it, never was a problem. She was going to be destroyed if this went on, and it wasn't him that was going to destroy her, if this went on, she was going to destroy herself, one way, or the other.
Surprisingly, Jaedite didn't want her to be completely destroyed by the change, for some reason, for some very strange reason, he actually wanted her to adopt to the change. Could it be that Jaedite actually liked Rai? Probably not. Did he need her? Definitely.
He needed her and the scouts. He needed someone to oppose him, for when there is no struggle, then there is no life.
Jaedite would make sure that he change will hurt her, but he would also make sure that it didn't destroy her, this was the perfect revenge. He was going to make her his, he was going to make her the property of the one she hates most.'
The former general smirked, it was not really a cruel smirk, more like a smirk that suggested that he was confident in his intentions and knew exactly what he was going to do.
Rai had been walking around the city for a very long while. She was lost and hurt, but she didn't look like she was, not anymore anyways. She has fixed herself up so she wasn't looking so suspicious, walking around in rags was bound to make people stare at you. People staring and lots of attention was the last thing NegaSailor Mars wanted at the moment.
Dark Mars was staying as far away as possible from the place where the scouts normally hung out. But she was not too worried about running into any one of them, as hurt as they were the last time she saw them, she didn't think they would be hanging out anywhere other then the nearest hospital.
Rai was pondering what were Jaedite's motifs, there seemed no sane reason or pattern to his actions, has that guy actually finally lost his mind? He somehow became much more powerful then he used to be, she knew that all too well, so why couldn't he just destroy her and be over with it? That is, if that was what he wanted. Rai was sure that it was when he first came back, but right now, she was starting to wonder if she was wrong. Everything was so confusing, there was no sense whatsoever in trying to figure out what Jaedite was up to, other then what he actually told her. Right now, she was starting to believe that maybe it really was what he said, that all Jaedite was trying to do was have fun, only fun for him meant a lot of pain for her.
Five days have passed since her encounter with the other scouts, five days of pointless wondering from place to place. Everything seemed so meaningless to her. At the moment she almost wished for Jaedite to come back, maybe at least, then she would get some answers out of him.
One thing Rai knew for sure, if he did come back, she could not freak out again, she had to stay and force herself not to run away however much she wanted to run. If she ran again, she would be back where she started, she would never get anywhere like that.
Rai sighed as she sat down on a park bench and looked over a small pond and cherry blossoms, it was nice here, very nice.
"Enjoying yourself?"
Right behind her Rai heard a voice that became far too familiar to her. She wished just a minute ago that he would come back, but now that he did, she was overcome by panic again, she wanted to run, wanted to get away, but she had to force herself to stay, she had to.
"Jaedite?" she whispered quietly and hopelessly.
"You are not freaking out, I'd thought that you would want to run away again." Jaedite's voice was somewhat taunting, but not much.
"What is it that you exactly want from me Jaedite, does it cause you such great pleasure to see me hurt like this to continue this sick game of yours? Why don't you just destroy me like you can and get it over with, is there some particular pleasure that you get from keeping someone alive just so you can see them suffer?" her head was hung low and her voice was so pitiful, so not like the usual brave and rebellious Sailor Mars.
"You would be surprised Rai, I'm not completely the sick bastard that you think I am." He put his hands on her shoulders and felt her first tense and then relax in submission, she was tired, she was tired of fighting. She has spent too long trying to fight of herself and she had no strength left to fight him of. Rai started to cry, the pain she was feeling, she could not hold it back any more, not with him so close and seemingly so gentle with her.
"No?" she asked through her tears referring to his denial.
Rai closed her eyes to try and suppress her tears, the next time she opened them Jaedite was right in front of her, looking at her. His expression was weird, he actually didn't seem happy to see her like this.
Rai was so tired, too tired to fight, she didn't even have the strength left to yell at him, tell him how she hated him, she just wanted all of this to be over, however that happened.
"Rai, I could make it all go away. Come with me and you won't have to hurt any more." His hand moved from her shoulder to her face as he cupped the side of it in his palm.
Rai tensed as he neared her once again, this time even closer, she was starting to panic again, it was happening again, he was going to do it again, she could feel it.
The fire senshi was scared, not scared that he would hurt her, at that moment she almost wished that he did and got it over with, she was scared that he would not hurt her. She was scared that this time she would not be able to stop herself, that she would actually like it.
"No. . . please. . . don't. . ." she tried to push him away, but her hands weren't listening to her much. Only tears spilled out of her eyes as he kissed her, deeply yet so gently. It felt so foreign, this couldn't be Jaedite, this couldn't be the same person that she knew before.
His lips were so hot, wet kisses trailed her neck and her jaw-line as he brought her even closer to himself fully wrapping his arms around her. Rai was not used to this heat coming from him, she used to know Jeadite as very cold, cruel and uncaring man. He has changed a lot, he was probably still cruel, even more so then before, but he was no longer cold, and now he actually cared about what he did, she knew that he did, he didn't just do anything any more because he was told to.
Now, even if he hurt her, he did it with passion. He didn't just hurt her, he acknowledged that he did and he cared that he did, not necessarily cared about her, just about what it is he was doing.
Rai didn't notice as her eyes fell shut and her body relaxed in his strong arms. She didn't seem to care any more, she was so hurt, broken and alone that she was ready to seek comfort in anyone's arms, even the arms of her worst enemy if they were open for her. A wave of sorrow overflowed her as she finally gave up the inner struggle with herself and threw herself deeper in his arms.
She cried and sobbed as she clung on to him burying her face in his silk black shirt. As she wrapped her arms around him holding on to him as if he was her last life support she couldn't help but desperately dig her claws deep into his back drawing hot blood, his blood.
She hated him, she hated him so much bet she held on to him because being with the one she hated was better then being completely alone. It was easier to blame him rater then blame herself, it was better to feel pain rather then not feel anything at all.
Jaedite was startled by her reaction. Before, he was sure that she would scream at him, fight him, push him away, he expected that, but he did not expect her to give up. He never thought that if he pushed her too far she just might break, he didn't realize that if she did, then it would be all over. If he won, then the game would be over, and so will be any fun that he was having.
He thought that she was unbreakable, why, he knew that he was stronger then her, why did he think that she would not give up no matter what, why did he think that he would play this game forever? Jeadite was now realizing that he never really wanted to defeat her, it was like playing a game or solving a puzzle, once you beat it, once you solve it, it's not fun any more.
Jaedite never thought of it like that, he liked the game, not the prize. Once the game was over, there was a sense of disappointment there. So what if he won this particular game, there was no feeling of accomplishment there, he didn't achieve anything except ruining one young girl's life.
That was not much of an achievement, he destroyed her pride, her will to live, extinguished her fire and destroyed her beauty, there was no glory in that. Jaedite was feeling sick, he wasn't sure why, was it guilt, was this really what he wanted to do?
Jeadite winced when Rai's claws dug deep into his back but he forced himself to ignore the pain where the sharp long claws ripped at his flesh, after all, he was the one who gave her those claws. He buried his face in her hair as he drew his arms closer around her.
What in hell was wrong with him, was he actually guilty, was this what it felt like to be guilty? Was he actually sorry for what he did? Or was he just sorry for her, for what he has done to her?
Jaedite stroked Rai's head and back soothingly and gently, this was not what he has wanted, not what he was aiming for. He wanted to make her greater then she was before, a bigger challenge, not this. This was not beautiful, not beautiful at all, this was not the Sailor Mars that fascinated him so much. He used to love her strength and her fire when it still burned bright, she was his rival, someone who could compete with him and it felt right to be opposed, it gave him a sense of purpose, defeating her was his purpose, now, he had no purpose.
He has destroyed what he loved, he hated what he has done to her, he was sick with himself for allowing this, for making this happen. Now that he has destroyed her, now that the old Sailor Mars was gone, he realized that he loved her without ever knowing it, he loved the game and the competition.
Jaedite sighed as he pondered his true motifs with the crying girl in his arms, it was true, he never really wanted to defeat her, he just enjoyed fighting her. Now, the feeling with which he was left was loss, not the triumph of a victor, he was not feeling good at all.
He was angry, angry at himself for crossing that line, that thin line between blowing on the fire to make it burn brighter and blowing it out. He hated himself for attacking her so hard that her hope and will to fight on were destroyed.
And Jaedite was angry at her, angry at her for giving up, she made it too easy, it was just to easy, defeating her was not the challenge that he could be proud of. It was sickening how easily he has broken her, it felt like crushing someone that never had a chance, not a challenge, just simple slaughter of a defenseless girl, or her heart for she might as well not have had any power at all, it was just so small comparing to him. What was the glory in defeating someone who was that much weaker then himself?
He could not say that he defeated an opponent in battle when his 'opponent' gave up due to the fact that she didn't have even a ghost of a chance. It was just so sickening, he hadn't defeated her, more like slaughtered a helpless person, he could not be proud of that.
"Damn in Sailor Mars! Damn it, stop that crying! This isn't how you really are, tell me it isn't." his voice was angry and almost pleading of her to tell him that he was wrong, that he had not completely shattered her heart when she could not even defend herself from him.
Mars tensed and only tightened her hold on him, she didn't have to though, he was not pushing her away. He would if he knew that it would make her angry, that it would spark another fire inside of her, but he knew, as far as he pushed her, if he did that, it would only serve as a final blow to the already dying flame that she was, he would only kill her then and he would not forgive himself if he did that.
"Isn't this what you wanted Jaedite? You got it, you won, I'm defeated, what else do you want from me? Why aren't you celebrating, why aren't you laughing, you did it, there is no more Sailor Mars, aren't you happy?" she cried looking up at him staring in his blue/grey eyes, fresh tears sparkling in her dark violet ones.
He just shook his head sadly, this was not what he wanted, he was not happy, not at all. Right now, if he could reverse his doings somehow, he would not hesitate to do so.
"Then what did you want Jadite?" her voice was so broken.
"I wanted a challenge, someone who would fight me, a struggle rather then the victory." His eyes became even sadder as he leaned her head against his shoulder stroking her hair gently "How sick am I Sailor Mars, going around and picking on those weaker then me and expecting a challenge of them." He leaned over and kissed the top of her head lingering in that position for a minute or two as his eyes closed , he didn't do much, just hold her, that all.
"I ruined your game, didn't I?"
"You sure did."
"I'm a toy you don't need Jaedite, there is no more challenge for you here, why don't you just leave me then?"
Jaedite growled at her words his eyes narrowing angrily.
"I'm not THAT sick Sailor Mars! I'm not a sick bastard that would ruin someone's life for his own amusement and leave them there!" he was angry that she suggested that he would.
This was too much, this was just too much for Sailor Mars to take. He was telling her that he actually cared about what happened to her, and that was after her own friends didn't give a shit about what came of her, accepting this was just too much for her. And here she was, in the arms of her enemy and he cared about her! This was just too much, next thing you know, and Sailor Moon would be running to her saying that it was ok that she was a monster and that they all forgive her. Sailor Mars didn't know what she wanted to do, cry or laugh, or maybe both.
Rai burst into tears all over again, it was just too much for her to handle.
It was at that moment that Jaedite felt two energy signatures approaching them. Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury, they must've traced his energy and were coming to see what was going on. An idea struck him. Forcefully Jaedite took control of Rai's body with his power that was surging inside of her, he overrode her mind with his power and was now controlling her.
She looked at him confused, why was he bothering to do this, she was not going to fight him, why? He made her get up and step away.
"Leave me the hell alone!!!" her voice screamed at him loudly against her will and her face took on an expression of anger.
Rai was so confused, was he so desperate that he would make her fight him this way, it was ridiculous!
She was confused, that is until she felt the scouts approaching. NO!!! He wouldn't, why? No, please!!! Her mind begged as she thought that he was going to use her to fight them or as bait to get them here.
The two scouts were running in the direction of the signal and as they approached it was becoming stronger.
Mercury ran in front of Moon.
"I'm tracing two energy signals, very powerful, definitely from the negaverce!" she yelled as she ran. Then all of a sudden she stopped in her tracks.
"Why did you stop?!" asked Sailor Moon somewhat confused by Mercury's expression, the senshi of ice was so pale, she looked like she has just seen a ghost or something.
"Sailor Moon, I don't think we should go anywhere near whatever it is that my readings are showing."
"Why?!" Sailor Moon was almost angry, her friend was not telling her something.
"These reading are way of charts. Serena, whatever is out there, it is about a hundred times stronger then Queen Beryl was in her final form." Amy looked very pale, and by the looks of it, she did NOT want to find out what it was out there.
They have died fighting the servants of Beryl and it took all the power Serena had to defeat the Queen, whatever was out there was way more powerful then Beryl was, and it was just it's normal energy, so what would happened if it raised that energy to it's fighting level?
"Serna, what I'm trying to tell you is that if we go anywhere near that, we will die." Amy looked ghostly pale, as if she was ill.
Mercury's hands were shaking just a bit at the thought as to what it might be to be giving out such an energy, and that if they had to face that next, then they had no chance whatsoever.
Serena looked unsure for a moment as her hand strayed to four deep scratch marks on her face, the marks that were to stay there forever, a reminder of her lost friend. Suddenly her eyes filled with hurt and anger.
"NO! We are going!!! Whatever is out there took Sailor Mars from us, I don't care about what happens to me, you can stay, but I'm going!!!" her voice was unusually angry, it was not like Serena to be this brave or this angry, Mercury was shocked. Their friend, they lost their friend, there was no taking Serena out of this.
Serena never faced danger head on before, especially when she was told that she would not survive the fight, the loss of Mars must've done this to her.
The girls didn't get a chance to discuss this as they heard a shout from that direction, a shout that sounded familiar.
That has done it for both of them as they took of running in the direction the scream came from. As they neared the scene, the sight that presented itself was not what they had expected.
There stood Sailor Mars angry and defiant and obviously very hurt, fresh tears glistened in her eyes and fear showed in the bottomless depths. When the scouts saw who it was that she was facing they got the greatest shock of the day, it was no other then Jaedite, and the tremendous energy that Mercury scanned before was coming from him!!! The second shock of the day, for the first one was seeing Sailor Mars cry, the girl was too proud to ever show such emotion, she never cried, this was major.
"Rai?" whispered Serena unsure and truly confused, she had thought that Rai was one with the negaverse now, so why was she?
'Yes, it is working' thought Jaedite as he smirked a little. He could feel Rai's confusion, the scouts have not shown themselves yet, they were being careful, but that didn't matter, he had gotten their attention and more importantly, they still didn't know that they knew of their presence.
Rai was afraid for her friends, but it didn't matter now, soon she would understand why he was doing what he was, he has not gone mad, she'll know soon enough.
"What in hell do you want from me?!!!" Rai screamed angrily her voice being controlled by Jaedite.
"Not much, just you. You see my dear, you are going to be the one who destroys your friends for me, and I'm going to just sit back and watch." Jeadite laughed as he looked at her, her expression turning to uncontrollable rage as he willed it to.
"Sailor Moon, it's a trap, I'm sure of it!!!" whispered Mercury urgently as she saw Serena's indecision.
"How can you be sure?"
"I don't know, I just think so."
Rai was more confused then ever before, it looked like Jeadite was putting on an act, but what for?
"Never!!! You're sick!!! I'll never hurt them!!!" she yelled her voice not hers any more.
"No? I don't think you can help it, you already nearly killed them, you couldn't stop no matter how hard you tried, what makes you think that next time will be any different?"
"I'll tell, you what, they don't consider me one of them any more, they'll fight me like any monster of yours that you send against them. They'll destroy me before I get the chance to hurt them!!!"
"They would destroy their own friend." Jeadite's voice turned doubtful and unsure, although that too was an act, a very good act.
"They don't think of me as a friend any more, so it works out for the best of all of us."
"Really, and you wouldn't want to destroy them?"
"NO!!!"
"Why not, they don't care about you, they didn't even let you explain yourself, don't you want to get back at them for that?"
"NO!!!" Rai clutched her head covering her ears with her hands.
"Why not?"
"Because they are my friends, they might not know that, but they are my friends, I would never hurt them I would die before I hurt them again!!! But then again, you would never understand, friendship is a foreign concept to you Jaedite!!!" she seemed enraged but inside she was frightened, confused and hurt by the arguments that Jaedite was bringing up, it was all too true, they never did let her explain. It was frightening how well jadeite has judged her character, they would never be able to tell that it was not her yelling at him, that the words said were not hers, but his.
Jaedite frowned as if angry.
"Well, if that is the case, then what use do I have for you?"
Rai's eyes, controlled by Jaedite widened as if in fear.
A fireball appeared in Jaedite's hand and he hurled it at Rai.
~I'm sorry Rai~ he sent her one last telepathic message as she blacked out from the impact.
"Well, would you look at that, she's not dead yet." Mused Jaedite as if to himself, but in reality, he was doing it so that the other scouts could hear him. "Well, I can fix that." Another fire ball appeared in his hand and he was about to hurl it at Rai who has de-transformed on the ground from the loss of energy.
That was all the convincing Mercury and Moon needed as they jumped out of the bushes where they were hurling attacks at the supposedly unsuspecting Jaedite.
"Moon Tiara Magic!!!" yelled Sailor Moon
"Shine Aqua in Motion!!!" yelled Sailor Mercury
Jaedite could have easily stopped the attacks, but instead, he let them hit providing that supposedly he was taken by surprise and giving him a valid reason to leave his job unfinished and retreat without making it seem too easy.
"Well, well, would you look at that, they decide to save her now, after they abandoned her!" he growled as he doubled over and fell to one knee, he was not hurt, but he was pretending that he was.
"What have you done to her Jaedite?!!!" yelled Sailor Moon angrily.
"Nothing that concerns you, but if you must know, her transformation tool has been infused with my nega-power, she will never be able to transform the same again!!!" Jeadites voice was full of face malice. He laughed at their shocked faces and disappeared in an explosion of celestial fire.
"Rai!!!" Serena yelled as she ran to her unconscious friend. Rai's claws were gone, her black fiery uniform was gone, she looked normal, but beside her lay a black with red strips transformation stick and the star of Mars was held by an evil claw of the negaverce.
Rai was out cold but not very hurt, the scouts didn't think of why the fire didn't seemingly harm her, it was like before, they never thought much of why her won fire never burnt her, they thought that it was natural for her.
"Rai!!! I'm so sorry, oh Rai, I wasn't there for you, gods Rai, I am so sorry!!!" sobbed Serena as she fell to her knees beside her unconscious friend and clutched Rai's hand in her own. She cradled Rai's limp body in her arms spilling crystal tears over the pale face of the fire senshi, her tears mixing with Rai's.
"Let'sget her out of here, she needs medical attention!" came Amy's concerned voice, she was looking around the place keeping watch for anything else that might come their way.
Later on, Serena and Amy explained the story and what to happened to the other senshi showing them Rai's transformation stick as proof. Amy scanned it, it was true, the power tool was fully infused with the dark energy of the negaverce. The scouts came to a mutual conclusion that it truly was not Rai's fault and an aura of common guilt was in the air as they watched Rai sleep her dreamless sleep, they never let her explain, and she was so hurt, they knew she was, for Rai never cried, her heart was broken and it was not only Jaedite's fault, it was theirs too, they rejected her just like that. And she was ready to die for them, they didn't know no other truth as they watched her struggle in her sleep.
"Oh Rai, what are we going to do with you?" whispered Serena as she kneeled by her friend's bed. "Whatever happens Rai, I won't abandon you again, I promice." She whispered as her hand once again strayed to the scars on her face and a tear fell down her cheek.
Outside, a pair of blue/grey stormy eyes watched. He didn't know why he had done what he has done, he wanted her for himself, yet, he let her go, he helped her. He didn't know why he cared, maybe it was something more then the game that he loved?
It didn't matter now, he has lost her forever, she was back with her friends now, she didn't need him any more, she will never throw herself in his arms again. Jaedite still felt a sense of loss, but this time, strangely enough, it didn't feel so bad, there was just the loss, not the guilt, that was better, wasn't it? He didn't know, he thought he didn't know himself any more, didn't know what he thought or what he felt or why he did what he did.
As Jaedite returned to his fiery hell he had a sense that there was more to this story then was told, the game was not over yet, only now, he didn't know who's side he was playing on any more.
Jaedite shrugged and disappeared going back to his own realm. There was a lot on his mind, a lot he wanted to think about and maybe rethink some of the things he has been taught to think.
Sitting down on his thrown Jaedite looked over his domain, the negaverce, it was barely the same place that he knew it to be before. It resembled hell in many ways, and in this hell, he was the devil.
Jaedite remembered the old days and he thought that he knew now why it was not so hard to defeat Mars this time. He unknowingly used the war strategy that humans themselves used for generations, divide and concur. The scout's strength was their teamwork, a concept that Beryl never understood. When Sailor Mars was left alone and separated from the others, she was easy prey.
There was something else that made Beryl loose other then lack of teamwork. It was Beryl's resentment of change. She was not willing to change her life, her methods, her strategies, even though she knew that they have failed her before.
Queen Beryl would just send in more and more soldiers and just watch them be destroyed one after the other. She was not willing to change the strategies that have already failed her in the Silver Millennium. She was not willing to adapt herself and she was not willing to adapt the negaverce in order to defeat this new enemy.
Queen Beryl always lived in the past never willing to adapt to the future, that was why she had failed, and that was why they couldn't defeat the scouts before.
Change was good, it allowed for development to happened, it allowed for improvement and innovation. Jaedite brought in many changes and the changes have served him well. He was able to adopt and was stronger then ever, the negaverce has evolved.
So why were then these very changes destroying Rai? Jaedite knew the answer to that question all to well, perhaps from experience more then anything else. The reason she was failing was because she was repeating Beryl's and his early mistake, she was not willing to adapt to the changes that has happened to her, she was not willing to accept them and grow with them. Instead, she was fighting them. She was fighting herself instead of fighting him, and she was the one who was ultimately destroying herself.
You can not fight the changes forever, the world is constantly changing, nothing that is static ever survives in this world and those who refuse to adpt to the changes are inevitably destroyed.
Jaedite realized now that it wasn't so much his power that was defeating her, it was the fact that he brought in something different, a weapon that she didn't know how to fight, something she has never faced before. Something she didn't know how to deal with and instead of facing it head on she was denying it.
Rai was running away from her problem, not him. She would never run from him, she was only running from herself.
The changes that he brought upon her were new therefore unknown. People have a fear of the unknown, a fear so great that it was capable of destroying them.
Jaedite watched Rai in his fore screen as she wondered the streets alone, aimlessly with no purpose whatsoever. She was indeed beautiful and the only reason he didn't notice that before was because thinking like that meant having to change something, and before, he was not willing to change.
Sailor Mars was beautiful, her pain was beautiful, her loneliness was beautiful. The former negaverce general no longer even found her a pest, she was more like a challenge for him, a puzzle that he was going to solve.
Rai was still very much a mystery to him. The girl was struggling with a part of herself that was always there inside of her, but until she began to fight it, never was a problem. She was going to be destroyed if this went on, and it wasn't him that was going to destroy her, if this went on, she was going to destroy herself, one way, or the other.
Surprisingly, Jaedite didn't want her to be completely destroyed by the change, for some reason, for some very strange reason, he actually wanted her to adopt to the change. Could it be that Jaedite actually liked Rai? Probably not. Did he need her? Definitely.
He needed her and the scouts. He needed someone to oppose him, for when there is no struggle, then there is no life.
Jaedite would make sure that he change will hurt her, but he would also make sure that it didn't destroy her, this was the perfect revenge. He was going to make her his, he was going to make her the property of the one she hates most.'
The former general smirked, it was not really a cruel smirk, more like a smirk that suggested that he was confident in his intentions and knew exactly what he was going to do.
Rai had been walking around the city for a very long while. She was lost and hurt, but she didn't look like she was, not anymore anyways. She has fixed herself up so she wasn't looking so suspicious, walking around in rags was bound to make people stare at you. People staring and lots of attention was the last thing NegaSailor Mars wanted at the moment.
Dark Mars was staying as far away as possible from the place where the scouts normally hung out. But she was not too worried about running into any one of them, as hurt as they were the last time she saw them, she didn't think they would be hanging out anywhere other then the nearest hospital.
Rai was pondering what were Jaedite's motifs, there seemed no sane reason or pattern to his actions, has that guy actually finally lost his mind? He somehow became much more powerful then he used to be, she knew that all too well, so why couldn't he just destroy her and be over with it? That is, if that was what he wanted. Rai was sure that it was when he first came back, but right now, she was starting to wonder if she was wrong. Everything was so confusing, there was no sense whatsoever in trying to figure out what Jaedite was up to, other then what he actually told her. Right now, she was starting to believe that maybe it really was what he said, that all Jaedite was trying to do was have fun, only fun for him meant a lot of pain for her.
Five days have passed since her encounter with the other scouts, five days of pointless wondering from place to place. Everything seemed so meaningless to her. At the moment she almost wished for Jaedite to come back, maybe at least, then she would get some answers out of him.
One thing Rai knew for sure, if he did come back, she could not freak out again, she had to stay and force herself not to run away however much she wanted to run. If she ran again, she would be back where she started, she would never get anywhere like that.
Rai sighed as she sat down on a park bench and looked over a small pond and cherry blossoms, it was nice here, very nice.
"Enjoying yourself?"
Right behind her Rai heard a voice that became far too familiar to her. She wished just a minute ago that he would come back, but now that he did, she was overcome by panic again, she wanted to run, wanted to get away, but she had to force herself to stay, she had to.
"Jaedite?" she whispered quietly and hopelessly.
"You are not freaking out, I'd thought that you would want to run away again." Jaedite's voice was somewhat taunting, but not much.
"What is it that you exactly want from me Jaedite, does it cause you such great pleasure to see me hurt like this to continue this sick game of yours? Why don't you just destroy me like you can and get it over with, is there some particular pleasure that you get from keeping someone alive just so you can see them suffer?" her head was hung low and her voice was so pitiful, so not like the usual brave and rebellious Sailor Mars.
"You would be surprised Rai, I'm not completely the sick bastard that you think I am." He put his hands on her shoulders and felt her first tense and then relax in submission, she was tired, she was tired of fighting. She has spent too long trying to fight of herself and she had no strength left to fight him of. Rai started to cry, the pain she was feeling, she could not hold it back any more, not with him so close and seemingly so gentle with her.
"No?" she asked through her tears referring to his denial.
Rai closed her eyes to try and suppress her tears, the next time she opened them Jaedite was right in front of her, looking at her. His expression was weird, he actually didn't seem happy to see her like this.
Rai was so tired, too tired to fight, she didn't even have the strength left to yell at him, tell him how she hated him, she just wanted all of this to be over, however that happened.
"Rai, I could make it all go away. Come with me and you won't have to hurt any more." His hand moved from her shoulder to her face as he cupped the side of it in his palm.
Rai tensed as he neared her once again, this time even closer, she was starting to panic again, it was happening again, he was going to do it again, she could feel it.
The fire senshi was scared, not scared that he would hurt her, at that moment she almost wished that he did and got it over with, she was scared that he would not hurt her. She was scared that this time she would not be able to stop herself, that she would actually like it.
"No. . . please. . . don't. . ." she tried to push him away, but her hands weren't listening to her much. Only tears spilled out of her eyes as he kissed her, deeply yet so gently. It felt so foreign, this couldn't be Jaedite, this couldn't be the same person that she knew before.
His lips were so hot, wet kisses trailed her neck and her jaw-line as he brought her even closer to himself fully wrapping his arms around her. Rai was not used to this heat coming from him, she used to know Jeadite as very cold, cruel and uncaring man. He has changed a lot, he was probably still cruel, even more so then before, but he was no longer cold, and now he actually cared about what he did, she knew that he did, he didn't just do anything any more because he was told to.
Now, even if he hurt her, he did it with passion. He didn't just hurt her, he acknowledged that he did and he cared that he did, not necessarily cared about her, just about what it is he was doing.
Rai didn't notice as her eyes fell shut and her body relaxed in his strong arms. She didn't seem to care any more, she was so hurt, broken and alone that she was ready to seek comfort in anyone's arms, even the arms of her worst enemy if they were open for her. A wave of sorrow overflowed her as she finally gave up the inner struggle with herself and threw herself deeper in his arms.
She cried and sobbed as she clung on to him burying her face in his silk black shirt. As she wrapped her arms around him holding on to him as if he was her last life support she couldn't help but desperately dig her claws deep into his back drawing hot blood, his blood.
She hated him, she hated him so much bet she held on to him because being with the one she hated was better then being completely alone. It was easier to blame him rater then blame herself, it was better to feel pain rather then not feel anything at all.
Jaedite was startled by her reaction. Before, he was sure that she would scream at him, fight him, push him away, he expected that, but he did not expect her to give up. He never thought that if he pushed her too far she just might break, he didn't realize that if she did, then it would be all over. If he won, then the game would be over, and so will be any fun that he was having.
He thought that she was unbreakable, why, he knew that he was stronger then her, why did he think that she would not give up no matter what, why did he think that he would play this game forever? Jeadite was now realizing that he never really wanted to defeat her, it was like playing a game or solving a puzzle, once you beat it, once you solve it, it's not fun any more.
Jaedite never thought of it like that, he liked the game, not the prize. Once the game was over, there was a sense of disappointment there. So what if he won this particular game, there was no feeling of accomplishment there, he didn't achieve anything except ruining one young girl's life.
That was not much of an achievement, he destroyed her pride, her will to live, extinguished her fire and destroyed her beauty, there was no glory in that. Jaedite was feeling sick, he wasn't sure why, was it guilt, was this really what he wanted to do?
Jeadite winced when Rai's claws dug deep into his back but he forced himself to ignore the pain where the sharp long claws ripped at his flesh, after all, he was the one who gave her those claws. He buried his face in her hair as he drew his arms closer around her.
What in hell was wrong with him, was he actually guilty, was this what it felt like to be guilty? Was he actually sorry for what he did? Or was he just sorry for her, for what he has done to her?
Jaedite stroked Rai's head and back soothingly and gently, this was not what he has wanted, not what he was aiming for. He wanted to make her greater then she was before, a bigger challenge, not this. This was not beautiful, not beautiful at all, this was not the Sailor Mars that fascinated him so much. He used to love her strength and her fire when it still burned bright, she was his rival, someone who could compete with him and it felt right to be opposed, it gave him a sense of purpose, defeating her was his purpose, now, he had no purpose.
He has destroyed what he loved, he hated what he has done to her, he was sick with himself for allowing this, for making this happen. Now that he has destroyed her, now that the old Sailor Mars was gone, he realized that he loved her without ever knowing it, he loved the game and the competition.
Jaedite sighed as he pondered his true motifs with the crying girl in his arms, it was true, he never really wanted to defeat her, he just enjoyed fighting her. Now, the feeling with which he was left was loss, not the triumph of a victor, he was not feeling good at all.
He was angry, angry at himself for crossing that line, that thin line between blowing on the fire to make it burn brighter and blowing it out. He hated himself for attacking her so hard that her hope and will to fight on were destroyed.
And Jaedite was angry at her, angry at her for giving up, she made it too easy, it was just to easy, defeating her was not the challenge that he could be proud of. It was sickening how easily he has broken her, it felt like crushing someone that never had a chance, not a challenge, just simple slaughter of a defenseless girl, or her heart for she might as well not have had any power at all, it was just so small comparing to him. What was the glory in defeating someone who was that much weaker then himself?
He could not say that he defeated an opponent in battle when his 'opponent' gave up due to the fact that she didn't have even a ghost of a chance. It was just so sickening, he hadn't defeated her, more like slaughtered a helpless person, he could not be proud of that.
"Damn in Sailor Mars! Damn it, stop that crying! This isn't how you really are, tell me it isn't." his voice was angry and almost pleading of her to tell him that he was wrong, that he had not completely shattered her heart when she could not even defend herself from him.
Mars tensed and only tightened her hold on him, she didn't have to though, he was not pushing her away. He would if he knew that it would make her angry, that it would spark another fire inside of her, but he knew, as far as he pushed her, if he did that, it would only serve as a final blow to the already dying flame that she was, he would only kill her then and he would not forgive himself if he did that.
"Isn't this what you wanted Jaedite? You got it, you won, I'm defeated, what else do you want from me? Why aren't you celebrating, why aren't you laughing, you did it, there is no more Sailor Mars, aren't you happy?" she cried looking up at him staring in his blue/grey eyes, fresh tears sparkling in her dark violet ones.
He just shook his head sadly, this was not what he wanted, he was not happy, not at all. Right now, if he could reverse his doings somehow, he would not hesitate to do so.
"Then what did you want Jadite?" her voice was so broken.
"I wanted a challenge, someone who would fight me, a struggle rather then the victory." His eyes became even sadder as he leaned her head against his shoulder stroking her hair gently "How sick am I Sailor Mars, going around and picking on those weaker then me and expecting a challenge of them." He leaned over and kissed the top of her head lingering in that position for a minute or two as his eyes closed , he didn't do much, just hold her, that all.
"I ruined your game, didn't I?"
"You sure did."
"I'm a toy you don't need Jaedite, there is no more challenge for you here, why don't you just leave me then?"
Jaedite growled at her words his eyes narrowing angrily.
"I'm not THAT sick Sailor Mars! I'm not a sick bastard that would ruin someone's life for his own amusement and leave them there!" he was angry that she suggested that he would.
This was too much, this was just too much for Sailor Mars to take. He was telling her that he actually cared about what happened to her, and that was after her own friends didn't give a shit about what came of her, accepting this was just too much for her. And here she was, in the arms of her enemy and he cared about her! This was just too much, next thing you know, and Sailor Moon would be running to her saying that it was ok that she was a monster and that they all forgive her. Sailor Mars didn't know what she wanted to do, cry or laugh, or maybe both.
Rai burst into tears all over again, it was just too much for her to handle.
It was at that moment that Jaedite felt two energy signatures approaching them. Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury, they must've traced his energy and were coming to see what was going on. An idea struck him. Forcefully Jaedite took control of Rai's body with his power that was surging inside of her, he overrode her mind with his power and was now controlling her.
She looked at him confused, why was he bothering to do this, she was not going to fight him, why? He made her get up and step away.
"Leave me the hell alone!!!" her voice screamed at him loudly against her will and her face took on an expression of anger.
Rai was so confused, was he so desperate that he would make her fight him this way, it was ridiculous!
She was confused, that is until she felt the scouts approaching. NO!!! He wouldn't, why? No, please!!! Her mind begged as she thought that he was going to use her to fight them or as bait to get them here.
The two scouts were running in the direction of the signal and as they approached it was becoming stronger.
Mercury ran in front of Moon.
"I'm tracing two energy signals, very powerful, definitely from the negaverce!" she yelled as she ran. Then all of a sudden she stopped in her tracks.
"Why did you stop?!" asked Sailor Moon somewhat confused by Mercury's expression, the senshi of ice was so pale, she looked like she has just seen a ghost or something.
"Sailor Moon, I don't think we should go anywhere near whatever it is that my readings are showing."
"Why?!" Sailor Moon was almost angry, her friend was not telling her something.
"These reading are way of charts. Serena, whatever is out there, it is about a hundred times stronger then Queen Beryl was in her final form." Amy looked very pale, and by the looks of it, she did NOT want to find out what it was out there.
They have died fighting the servants of Beryl and it took all the power Serena had to defeat the Queen, whatever was out there was way more powerful then Beryl was, and it was just it's normal energy, so what would happened if it raised that energy to it's fighting level?
"Serna, what I'm trying to tell you is that if we go anywhere near that, we will die." Amy looked ghostly pale, as if she was ill.
Mercury's hands were shaking just a bit at the thought as to what it might be to be giving out such an energy, and that if they had to face that next, then they had no chance whatsoever.
Serena looked unsure for a moment as her hand strayed to four deep scratch marks on her face, the marks that were to stay there forever, a reminder of her lost friend. Suddenly her eyes filled with hurt and anger.
"NO! We are going!!! Whatever is out there took Sailor Mars from us, I don't care about what happens to me, you can stay, but I'm going!!!" her voice was unusually angry, it was not like Serena to be this brave or this angry, Mercury was shocked. Their friend, they lost their friend, there was no taking Serena out of this.
Serena never faced danger head on before, especially when she was told that she would not survive the fight, the loss of Mars must've done this to her.
The girls didn't get a chance to discuss this as they heard a shout from that direction, a shout that sounded familiar.
That has done it for both of them as they took of running in the direction the scream came from. As they neared the scene, the sight that presented itself was not what they had expected.
There stood Sailor Mars angry and defiant and obviously very hurt, fresh tears glistened in her eyes and fear showed in the bottomless depths. When the scouts saw who it was that she was facing they got the greatest shock of the day, it was no other then Jaedite, and the tremendous energy that Mercury scanned before was coming from him!!! The second shock of the day, for the first one was seeing Sailor Mars cry, the girl was too proud to ever show such emotion, she never cried, this was major.
"Rai?" whispered Serena unsure and truly confused, she had thought that Rai was one with the negaverse now, so why was she?
'Yes, it is working' thought Jaedite as he smirked a little. He could feel Rai's confusion, the scouts have not shown themselves yet, they were being careful, but that didn't matter, he had gotten their attention and more importantly, they still didn't know that they knew of their presence.
Rai was afraid for her friends, but it didn't matter now, soon she would understand why he was doing what he was, he has not gone mad, she'll know soon enough.
"What in hell do you want from me?!!!" Rai screamed angrily her voice being controlled by Jaedite.
"Not much, just you. You see my dear, you are going to be the one who destroys your friends for me, and I'm going to just sit back and watch." Jeadite laughed as he looked at her, her expression turning to uncontrollable rage as he willed it to.
"Sailor Moon, it's a trap, I'm sure of it!!!" whispered Mercury urgently as she saw Serena's indecision.
"How can you be sure?"
"I don't know, I just think so."
Rai was more confused then ever before, it looked like Jeadite was putting on an act, but what for?
"Never!!! You're sick!!! I'll never hurt them!!!" she yelled her voice not hers any more.
"No? I don't think you can help it, you already nearly killed them, you couldn't stop no matter how hard you tried, what makes you think that next time will be any different?"
"I'll tell, you what, they don't consider me one of them any more, they'll fight me like any monster of yours that you send against them. They'll destroy me before I get the chance to hurt them!!!"
"They would destroy their own friend." Jeadite's voice turned doubtful and unsure, although that too was an act, a very good act.
"They don't think of me as a friend any more, so it works out for the best of all of us."
"Really, and you wouldn't want to destroy them?"
"NO!!!"
"Why not, they don't care about you, they didn't even let you explain yourself, don't you want to get back at them for that?"
"NO!!!" Rai clutched her head covering her ears with her hands.
"Why not?"
"Because they are my friends, they might not know that, but they are my friends, I would never hurt them I would die before I hurt them again!!! But then again, you would never understand, friendship is a foreign concept to you Jaedite!!!" she seemed enraged but inside she was frightened, confused and hurt by the arguments that Jaedite was bringing up, it was all too true, they never did let her explain. It was frightening how well jadeite has judged her character, they would never be able to tell that it was not her yelling at him, that the words said were not hers, but his.
Jaedite frowned as if angry.
"Well, if that is the case, then what use do I have for you?"
Rai's eyes, controlled by Jaedite widened as if in fear.
A fireball appeared in Jaedite's hand and he hurled it at Rai.
~I'm sorry Rai~ he sent her one last telepathic message as she blacked out from the impact.
"Well, would you look at that, she's not dead yet." Mused Jaedite as if to himself, but in reality, he was doing it so that the other scouts could hear him. "Well, I can fix that." Another fire ball appeared in his hand and he was about to hurl it at Rai who has de-transformed on the ground from the loss of energy.
That was all the convincing Mercury and Moon needed as they jumped out of the bushes where they were hurling attacks at the supposedly unsuspecting Jaedite.
"Moon Tiara Magic!!!" yelled Sailor Moon
"Shine Aqua in Motion!!!" yelled Sailor Mercury
Jaedite could have easily stopped the attacks, but instead, he let them hit providing that supposedly he was taken by surprise and giving him a valid reason to leave his job unfinished and retreat without making it seem too easy.
"Well, well, would you look at that, they decide to save her now, after they abandoned her!" he growled as he doubled over and fell to one knee, he was not hurt, but he was pretending that he was.
"What have you done to her Jaedite?!!!" yelled Sailor Moon angrily.
"Nothing that concerns you, but if you must know, her transformation tool has been infused with my nega-power, she will never be able to transform the same again!!!" Jeadites voice was full of face malice. He laughed at their shocked faces and disappeared in an explosion of celestial fire.
"Rai!!!" Serena yelled as she ran to her unconscious friend. Rai's claws were gone, her black fiery uniform was gone, she looked normal, but beside her lay a black with red strips transformation stick and the star of Mars was held by an evil claw of the negaverce.
Rai was out cold but not very hurt, the scouts didn't think of why the fire didn't seemingly harm her, it was like before, they never thought much of why her won fire never burnt her, they thought that it was natural for her.
"Rai!!! I'm so sorry, oh Rai, I wasn't there for you, gods Rai, I am so sorry!!!" sobbed Serena as she fell to her knees beside her unconscious friend and clutched Rai's hand in her own. She cradled Rai's limp body in her arms spilling crystal tears over the pale face of the fire senshi, her tears mixing with Rai's.
"Let'sget her out of here, she needs medical attention!" came Amy's concerned voice, she was looking around the place keeping watch for anything else that might come their way.
Later on, Serena and Amy explained the story and what to happened to the other senshi showing them Rai's transformation stick as proof. Amy scanned it, it was true, the power tool was fully infused with the dark energy of the negaverce. The scouts came to a mutual conclusion that it truly was not Rai's fault and an aura of common guilt was in the air as they watched Rai sleep her dreamless sleep, they never let her explain, and she was so hurt, they knew she was, for Rai never cried, her heart was broken and it was not only Jaedite's fault, it was theirs too, they rejected her just like that. And she was ready to die for them, they didn't know no other truth as they watched her struggle in her sleep.
"Oh Rai, what are we going to do with you?" whispered Serena as she kneeled by her friend's bed. "Whatever happens Rai, I won't abandon you again, I promice." She whispered as her hand once again strayed to the scars on her face and a tear fell down her cheek.
Outside, a pair of blue/grey stormy eyes watched. He didn't know why he had done what he has done, he wanted her for himself, yet, he let her go, he helped her. He didn't know why he cared, maybe it was something more then the game that he loved?
It didn't matter now, he has lost her forever, she was back with her friends now, she didn't need him any more, she will never throw herself in his arms again. Jaedite still felt a sense of loss, but this time, strangely enough, it didn't feel so bad, there was just the loss, not the guilt, that was better, wasn't it? He didn't know, he thought he didn't know himself any more, didn't know what he thought or what he felt or why he did what he did.
As Jaedite returned to his fiery hell he had a sense that there was more to this story then was told, the game was not over yet, only now, he didn't know who's side he was playing on any more.