~*~*~*~
Staring at the creature before her, Rei let out a whine of fear. She was in no position to battle something right then. But nevertheless, she tried to scramble to her feet, but was swatted down to the ground by the Heart Snatcher. This time she was more alert and rolled forward with the hit so she could land back on her feet. With her knees clenched against her chest, she made a quick dive to her right and rolled sideways so she was behind the creature. She pressed her hands firmly on the concrete and lifted her legs in the air so she could kick the back of her attacker. "Take that!"
The creature stumbled forward, but was quick to recover. He landed on his hands and performed a back flip while turning in the air so he could face his target face-to-face. With a snarling growl, he darted straight for the girl, who in turn reacted with a quick kneeing to his face.
With her attacker stunned, she grabbed him by the neck and flipped him over on his back, causing the concrete below to crack. She didn't pay any attention to the damage as she jumped away from him hoping to gain the upper hand quicker than later. She was in the middle of a mental dilemma all the while this was happening. She had no idea where this thing had come from, let alone who it was working for.
The time of peace wasn't lived long as the monster-like creature scurried back to his feet. He was determined to perform his job, but the girl was putting up too much of a fight for him to try anything at the moment. But he would persist as he had been programmed. He made a quick dive for Rei, but she was too fast. He stumbled forward and made a quick jump turn to face her once again.
Just as Rei was about to summon her inner strength, her friends arrived on the scene. The four of them made a mad dash from the house portion of the shrine with their power levels already raised. None of them looked too happy over the attack of their friend.
Makoto, who was already upset over her father, made an unplanned attack upon the creature. Her glory was short-lived when she was backhanded to the ground. She hit the ground hard on her back, but she wasn't about to let that stop her. She jumped back to her feet but didn't go full force on another attack. She wouldn't let her emotions get the best of her again. Next time she would plan out her attack.
Rei tried running for her friends, but the creature took this opportunity to reach out and grab a hold of her by the arm. "Ah!"
Usagi clenched her fists. "Rei!" She gritted her teeth and let out a loud growl of anger. "Let her go!" She didn't even stop to think of why they were being attacked, or by whom they were being attacked by. She wasn't about to try and contemplate things when her friend was in trouble.
She allowed her power level to skyrocket; but their attacker didn't seemed to be phased, as he couldn't detect power levels. A golden aura appeared around the whole of her body as she charged for him. She could hear the footsteps of her friends following closely behind. "You."
Just as she was going to make her move, she noticed that Rei seemed to be struggling, though not of trying to free herself. She seemed to be hurt. She stopped her charge, as did her friends. "Rei!" She cried out as she watched the creature lift its free hand up and reach into Rei's chest.
Makoto narrowed her eyes into a frown of hatred. "What's that bastard doing to her?!" She made another charge but was yanked back by Ami. "What are you doing?!" She only received a stern look from her blue-haired friend. Grunting, she looked back up to where the action was taking place to see probably one of the most disgusting displays of an attack she had ever seen. The creature had ripped out Rei's brightly shining Heart Crystal. Her eyes widened as she watched the display. "What is that?!" She gasped as she pointed at the shimmering item in its hand.
Minako shivered at the site of what had just taken place. She had seen some pretty horrible enemies, but never anything that would rip something out of your body. "We have to help her!" She shouted as Rei was dropped to fall to the ground.
Usagi jumped to set out and catch her falling friend, who was now unconscious; but she was stopped when an unexpected person caught her instead. "Mamoru?!"
Yes, it had been Mamoru. He had come just in time to contribute his powers to the fight, but he wasn't concerned with showing off this time like he always had in the past. There was a job to be done, and he planned on making sure that he was done. "Ami, find out what this thing is!" He ignored Usagi and cradled Rei in his arms as he ran to safety. "Don't just stand there, Usagi! Fight!"
Usagi wasn't exactly sure what to do; she had never seen Mamoru act in such a concerned manner. But there was no time to analyze the situation; she knew what she had to do. Nodding, she sprang into action along with Minako and Makoto. Ami pulled out her Computer that she had received when she had become Sailor Mercury and immediately began analyzing what the monster's weaknesses were. She gasped at what she saw displayed on the screen and looked up to Usagi and the others, who were doing their best to battle it out with their attacker. "It won't do good to attack it with regular power unless it's really strong."
Usagi kicked the monster in the face, causing it to fall into a punch from Makoto. Minako acted fast and performed a roundhouse kick beneath its feet, causing it to fall on its back. The girls took their chance and flew into the air and immediately began pounding it with their Ki attacks.
Mamoru set Rei down next to a small pool of water and stared up at Ami, who had a dumbfounded expression on her face. "What? How strong?" He quickly shifted his eyes downward at Rei once again to make sure she was all right. Her skin had a very pale green tint to it.
Ami punched a few buttons on her computer. "Usagi would have to upgrade to Super Saiyan." She pressed another button to pull up another screen, which showed what the monster was made of. "It seems to have some sort of a barrier around it, which is almost as strong as a level one Super Saiyan. I have no idea how they did this, but the person who made this thing must have been a genius. Just a minute." She began to examine the monster for further weaknesses. There had to be a way to destroy it without having Usagi use all her power to go Super Saiyan. "Oh my." She paused her keyboarding and looked hard in at the screen.
Usagi was the only one that was able to overhear what Ami had just said over all the attacks. She paused her attacking for a short moment and looked down at Ami, who was currently sharing a glance with Mamoru. "What's wrong, Ami?" She quickly glared down at the creature on the ground to make sure that it wasn't going to get up now that she had cut her attack off, but it seemed to be stopped by just the power of Minako and Makoto.
Ami looked away from Mamoru to peer up at Usagi. She covered her eyes slightly to block out the sun but was still able to look into the Saiyan's eyes. "Try transforming into the Sailor Senshi! It has a barrier against lower level spirit energy but the planetary power may work against it!"
Minako and Makoto didn't appear to have any problem with that request; however, Usagi seemed to be troubled. While the other two started to attack, Usagi slowly let herself lower to the ground with her head hanging low. She reached up and clenched the broach, which was placed perfectly on the bow of her school uniform. "I.uh."
Ami hadn't noticed that her friend had gone rather quiet and solemn. She had focused more of her attention on transforming. Mamoru, on the other hand, had noticed Usagi's strange behavior. "What's wrong? Why aren't you transforming?"
Usagi tucked her head into her chest. She was acting rather peculiar, which was beginning to worry Mamoru. He had never seen her so reluctant to take on a new fight; especially if it meant helping one of her friends. Usagi lowered her eyes on the ground wanting to cry. "I can't transform." All heads turned upon the young Saiyan with a gasp. She didn't look up at them. Instead, she turned her back to her friends and faced Mamoru. "The Crystal, it's lost its power. two days ago. I felt it go away." It was true that Usagi had felt the power of the Crystal die out. It had happened in her sleep two days before this. She had been having a dream of fighting off an enemy, and then, all of a sudden, her Crystal had died and she detransformed right there in the middle of a heated fight. It had been so sudden that it had pulled her right out of her slumber. She hadn't known what to do. She had told Luna about it, but the cat didn't seem to think it was a problem. She had been told not to worry about it; that she was probably worrying about nothing. She hadn't talked to her parents about it, and how could she? They didn't understand the workings of Sailor Moon and the Moon Kingdom. Her mother was annoyed every time the subject was brought up. She didn't tell her friends because she hadn't wanted to make them worry. And so she had kept it to herself.
~*~*~
~~Mugen School~~
Haruka and Michiru had been patrolling the school grounds when they felt it. Makoto, Ami, and Minako had turned into their respectable Senshi, which wasn't something that happened every day. They only transformed when it was absolutely necessary.
Michiru looked up at Haruka, who looked back down at her. Both of them shared a nod of agreement and pulled out their transformation pens. It looked as though the enemy had finally moved away from their school, but that didn't mean they, as the Senshi, wouldn't be able to stop the attacks. But they would have to stay far enough away from the scene of the fight to where none of the other Senshi would see them. They couldn't blow their cover.
~*~*~
Makoto, now Sailor Jupiter fired a quick Ki blast and their enemy to keep it at bay for a moment. She couldn't believe what Usagi had just told them about not being able to transform. This could put a serious damper on things; of course, there was always the fact that the girl could transform into a Super Saiyan to defeat the enemy. The Senshi could also pool all their energy together without Usagi's Moon power to defeat it as well. "You could have told us this earlier."
Usagi hunched her back in embarrassment. "I didn't want to worry you with it. I can't do it."
Mamoru frowned as he jumped in front of Usagi and grabbed her by her shoulders. He shook her hard until she looked him in the eyes. "That's no way for the daughter of Goku to talk! Hell, that's no way for the Moon Princess to talk! If you believe you can transform, then you can! Now do it, Son Usagi!"
Usagi looked deep into her eyes; and, perhaps for the first time since their first encounter, was afraid of him. "I."
"He's right!" Sailor Venus yelled back at her friend. "You can do it!"
Usagi didn't know what to think. She didn't really have the time to think either. She needed to make a decision and act upon it now. It was either never try and never find out, or try and find out if her feelings of anxiety were properly felt. "All right," She said with a look of persistence appearing on her face. She held tightly onto her broach as she called out her transformation words. "Moon Crystal Power!"
Mamoru backed away from the girl to give her room for the transformation. Things seemed to be running smoothly until a bright, white light shot out from her body. Her school uniform was replaced with the pink ribbons that should have tightened against her body to create her Senshi uniform. Nothing happened past that, except the creature had gained back its composure without anyone realizing it. They were all too busy staring at their Princess to realize what had just happened. He took this moment to realize for himself what was going on. He heard a voice whispering to him from the nearby trees: "Get that broach!"
He complied with his master's wishes and sideswiped the four Sailor Senshi down to the ground. Reaching out, he wrapped his free hand around Usagi's broach, which was emitting a massive amount of energy that she was unable to control. Usagi let out a scream of agony as her broach was ripped from her chest. With the loss of energy, the ribbons that had begun to form upon her transformation began to tighten against her body, though not because she was turning into Sailor Moon. Her school uniform was formed over her body once again.
~*~*~
Two new soldiers had just arrived on the scene to watch the event. They stayed in the shadows of the trees to keep from view of the other Senshi, though they knew that they would need to help. Without the power of Sailor Moon, a power that was stronger than the other Senshi, the monster could not be defeated.
~*~*~
Usagi's friends weren't about to sit by and watch the monster leave with Rei's life and Usagi's broach. They immediately started their attacks, but nothing really happened. The creature was caught off guard and thrown to the ground by the attacks, but he wasn't really hurt by them. As long as they attacked, he would be grounded, but as soon as they stopped he would just be able to get up and walk away. It would take a stronger Senshi to defeat him.
Mamoru ran to Usagi's side to make sure that the sudden drop in power hadn't affected her too badly. He knew how it could feel to suddenly have power ripped from your grasp. It was a sensation like no other with a feeling of being dropped off a building to hit the concrete below just suddenly. "Usagi!" He glanced up just slightly to see Sailor Venus performing one of her own attacks on the attacker: "Venus Love Me Chain!" She had used the chain to tie the monster's legs together, but he wasn't sure how long the chain would hold out. The creature struggled with its legs and immediately began to try and pry them open, but Venus's power seemed to be holding out all right.
Usagi let herself drop to the ground, as she lay silent for a moment. "What's wrong with me.?" She whispered. She had hoped that the Crystal's failure had all been in her head, but it was apparent that it had been all too real. She turned her head so her ear was against the concrete and her chin was on her shoulder. She could see Rei not too far from her own position lying there so lifelessly. She wrinkled her nose with a frown. "I won't lose."
Mamoru couldn't help but smile at the girl's determination. It was true that she had grown a lot over the past few years. Had this been just five, or even four years earlier she probably would have crumbled right there and given up.
~*~*~
Kaori, who was watching the fight from afar, was already counting her winnings. She would have never guessed that she could defeat the Sailor Senshi so easily; especially after all they trouble they had given her in the past few months. These ones seemed to be weaker than the other two she had been meeting up with, as three of them were unable to defeat her Heart Snatcher, while one of the other two would have easily defeated it with one attack. "Time to collect my winnings." She gave a quiet squeal of excitement as she realized what she was getting: a possible Pure Heart Crystal and Sailor Moon's broach. And who knew, maybe the broach could be useful to Professor Tomoe.
Just as the woman was about to step out and call her Heart Snatcher back, she noticed a small movement in the trees above. Looking up to make sure it was only her imagination, she saw something that sent chills right down her spine. In the trees stood the two people she feared most at the moment, and they didn't even realize she was down there. They were so intent on watching the fight that they hadn't even had the time to take notice of her. "Oh no!" She scolded half to herself and half to no one in general. "How do they always manage to show up!? Even when we aren't attacking at the school they show up!"
Now Kaori was worried. If she were pointed out to the other Senshi by these guys then the whole plan would be ruined. They would know that she was involved in things, which would mean that Professor Tomoe would be accused too. She would lose her job, or worse, the entire operation would be down the drain. Her face turned blue with the thought of angering the Mistress. Thinking it better to flee while she could, she turned around and hightailed it out of the area. She would just tell the Professor that the Senshi showed up and killed their Heart Snatcher before it got a chance to do its job.
~*~*~
Things were getting a little out of hand for the two Senshi in the trees. They were getting impatient with how long things were taking with destroying the Heart Snatcher below. The longer it took, the more time Kaori would have to show up and take the Heart Crystal.
Making a quick decision to intervene, Sailor Uranus readied herself for an attack. Sailor Neptune took her eyes off the fight to look up at her partner. "What are you doing?" She thought that they had agreed not to meddle around with things when the other Senshi were around. They weren't supposed to be seen.
Uranus frowned as she concentrated her energy for her attack. "What weaker Senshi can't." And with that, she commenced her attack.
~*~*~
Usagi had just gotten back to her feet and was ready to power up to finish the fight when she heard a strange sound from where the trees were standing. "What's that?" Her friends stopped their attacks upon seeing Usagi in her alerted state. None of them heard anything strange, but then again, none of them had Usagi's hearing abilities.
Mamoru looked all around and then he saw it. A huge, yellow ball of energy flying out from behind the trees toward the Heart Snatcher on the ground. "Watch out!" He didn't know if it was going for their enemy, or any of the four Senshi standing next to it. "Get out of the way!" He called out as he grabbed Rei and pulled her as far away from the point of impact as he could before it happened.
The Senshi complied and all jumped away; Usagi jumped back with Mamoru. "Who?!" She landed on the ground, but she didn't watch the blast. She was more interested in finding out who had thrown that attack. "Someone's in the trees."
Mamoru set Rei down on the ground once again. "The guy who sent this thing?" He glanced up at the trees, but figured it more important to look over at where the ball of energy had landed. There no longer lay their enemy. There were three items now: Usagi's broach; Rei's Heart Crystal; and a peculiar-looking seed, which was in the process of crumbling in on itself. "That's odd."
Sailor Mercury pulled out her computer and began examining the seed for any signs of life. "It's emitting a strange energy, but my computer doesn't seem to know what it is."
Jupiter: "You think it's from another world?"
Mercury shrugged. She wasn't too worried about that at the moment. She was more worried about finding out what it was exactly that was stolen from Rei. She set her computer up to analyze the shimmering item that now lie on the ground.
While Mercury was working out her own mystery, Usagi was preoccupied with another. She wanted to know whom it was that shot that energy blast. She wanted to know if it was a friend, or foe. "You won't get away from me." She whispered. Leaping into the air, she charged into the trees only to find nothing. Whoever it was had left already. "They're fast." She frowned as she searched the area for any clues of who it might have been that helped her. "I can't feel you." Seeming disappointed, she accepted her loss and slowly lowered herself to the ground.
Venus had retrieved Usagi's broach from the ground. "You might be needing this." She handed it to Usagi, who was rather reluctant to take it. Venus tried to smile at the girl, but it was obvious this wasn't just something that could be remedied with a few laughs. "We'll find out what's wrong, Usagi. Have you talked to Luna?"
Usagi nodded solemnly as she placed the broach into her pocket rather than in the center of her bow. "She said it was just my imagination."
"I guess it's not really part of your morbid imagination now, is it?" Mamoru chuckled as he approached the two girls, trying to relieve some of the stress from the situation. Usagi didn't look too happy at his words and neither did Venus. "Why don't you just try to transform again? Maybe if you don't get it ripped off your chest again in the middle of a transformation."
Usagi held her head tightly with her hands as if she didn't to hear his words. "It's not that. When I tried to transform it felt like there was too much power building up inside of me." She let out a sigh of frustration as she let go of her head to reach down into her pocket and pull out the broach once again.
Mercury approached the trio as she held the Heart Crystal in her hands. She seemed to be smiling regardless of the situation. "I've found out what it is." Her smile widened as she stared at Usagi, who was waiting for the girl to go on and tell everyone what she's found. "It seems to be the pure energy of the heart crystallized into this form. It's very powerful depending on how pure your heart is."
Usagi took the opportunity to forget about her troubles and talk about something else. She hated it when the attention was on her worries and nothing more. "So what are you saying, that people are stealing our hearts?"
Mercury nodded. "Kind of like that." She pushed past Mamoru and headed toward Rei. "It should just go right back in."
Venus found it a little hard to believe that anyone could just come up and take your Heart like that. "That's insane, who would want to take your heart?"
"And you can just put it right back into their bodies with no problem?" Mamoru watched in awe as Mercury bent down and placed the crystallized energy on top of Rei's chest. It hovered for a short moment, but it wasn't long before it was absorbed back into the girl's body. Almost immediately the girl's skin color turned back to its normal color. It wasn't long after that that she opened her eyes, though she wasn't quick to get up. She just lay there for a moment to try and realize what had just happened. "So a person can't function without this Heart Crystal?"
Mercury nodded. "Right. They'll die if they're away from it for too long."
Jupiter frowned. "But who would want it?"
"Who would want what?" Rei sat up very slowly. She felt the affects of being knocked in her head and bent forward. "What happened? All I remember was being attacked by something and then I wake up feeling so horrible."
Mercury smiled at her friend. "The new enemy seems to want crystallized heart energy. You seemed to be a target." She looked up at Usagi and left Rei to get her barring back. "As for you, Usagi." She pushed herself back to her feet as Usagi groaned. "I'm not really sure what's wrong with your broach. When you tried to transform my computer picked up more energy coming from it than usual, however. You might try taking it to Bulma to see if it's working all right."
Usagi frowned. "What? There can't be a lot of energy in it. It's dead; it won't work for me. You saw what it did."
Mercury shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, unless you want me to run some tests on it. Or you could do what Mamoru suggested and try to transform until you get it right."
Usagi lowered her head with a sigh. "I guess I could have you and Bulma test it for power, though I don't know how Bulma could really help. I don't think she has the right kind of machines for that kind of task."
Mercury grinned. "I bet I could come up with something."
Venus giggled at her friend's growing head. "Sounding a bit proud of yourself there, Ami."
Rei was still all too confused at what had just gone on. She wasn't sure she was following anything anyone was saying. "Let me get this straight," she interrupted, "you guys fought off our new enemy who is out to steal crystallized heart energy, Usagi can't transform, and Ami is gloating? This is all too much for me."
Jupiter smirked. "No, no. It gets better. We weren't even the ones to destroy the little Heart Snatcher. Someone else came and did the job for us."
Rei's eyes widened. "What? You mean we aren't strong enough to defeat these things?"
Mamoru frowned. "Don't be stupid, we have Sailor Moon."
Usagi, now, was sporting a frown of her own. "Maybe! But I can always transform to a Super Saiyan if needed."
Rei sighed as she lay back on the concrete. "This is amazing!" She sneered sarcastically. "Goodbye normal life."
~*~*~
When everyone left the shrine that night only Rei and Makoto were left to sort things out amongst themselves. Makoto had gone into further detail with Rei about what had happened after she had had her Heart Crystal Stolen. Even though she had gotten her Heart Crystal back, Rei still wasn't feeling all herself. She felt a little woozy, of course, that was probably understandable considering she had just had her heart's energy ripped away from her that same day. But nevertheless, she wasn't feeling up to doing a lot and had asked her friends to give her a little time, which was when they had decided to leave.
Makoto was the only one with Rei now, as she lived with her at the moment. She hated to see her normally spunky friend in such a state. "Why don't you get something to eat? It'll probably help you to regain your energy back."
Rei nodded as she slowly tried to push herself out of her bed, which she had been resting in for about an hour now. "That might be a good idea."
Makoto went to Rei's side and grabbed her by the arm. "Here," She said as she offered the girl some help. "You're pretty weak still." She helped Rei out of the bed, who stumbled forward when she got her feet planted on the ground. "Lean on me."
Rei felt absolutely stupid acting so clumsy like this. "I feel like Usagi." The two girls shared a laugh as they began to take a few steps. Rei was able to walk a little better than before when she had first tried to walk to her room earlier in the day. "I'm feeling a little better."
Makoto smiled. "That's good, but you're still not up to par." She reached out and opened the door to Rei's room. Surprisingly, standing outside the door with a huge smile and a tray with two plates of food on it was Mr. Hino.
"Hello, girls." He said cheerfully. "I thought you might like some food after what happened today." Not finding it strange at all that the words he just spoke were in reference to the fight the Senshi fought, he walked past the girls into Rei's room and set the tray down on his granddaughter's desk.
It took a few seconds for his words to sink into the girls' heads; and when they finally did, they couldn't believe what he had just said. "Ex.excuse me, grandpa?" Rei stuttered her words as she became fearful of what he knew. "What do you mean? Nothing happened today except for the study session."
Her Grandfather continued to smile as he began to poor some tea into two separate glasses for each of the girls. "Come now, you can't have expected me not to notice such a commotion, dear." He picked up one of the glasses and held it out for Rei to take. "Drink up, it'll help you to regain your strength."
Rei just stared at the old man in awe. She couldn't believe it; that was just another person to add to the list of people knowing their secrets. "So.you saw?" She reached out and grabbed the glass.
Makoto shook her head in disbelief. "I don't believe it. I wonder if the tourists saw."
Mr. Hino shook his head as he poured another glass of tea, though this time for himself. "No, I hurried them away, along with Yuuichiro." He handed Makoto her glass of tea as he took a sip of his own. "Don't worry, dear, your secret is safe with me."
Rei wasn't really worried that her grandfather knew, that wasn't the point. She knew he wouldn't spill the beans for her, it was just the fact that no one was supposed to know of their secret. The only other people who knew about them were the people in Usagi's parents' friends. "Are you angry that I didn't tell you?"
Mr. Hino shook his head as he watched his granddaughter take a sip of her tea. "There's no reason to be. You just make sure you stay alive."
Rei grinned. "Oh I plan to."
~*~*~
Usagi went home that night not knowing what to do. She had reluctantly given her broach to Ami for her to study it and find out what was wrong with it. She had been promised that it would be done by the afternoon of the following day; that she and Bulma would work on it nonstop through the night. She hoped they would be able to find a way to remedy the problem As much as she didn't want to responsibilities of being the Moon Princess, she couldn't help but feel insecure without her most guarded possession. She knew it that it was a pretty-much pointless object to have at the moment, but she couldn't get over it. She had been guarding it and protecting it for a little over two years now and she felt incomplete without it.
She had flown home with Mamoru, who had insisted upon going with her to make sure she got home all right for a strange reason that neither of them could explain. He had just felt like it was the right thing to do after such a let down on Usagi's part. They had said their good-byes, and as Usagi went into the house Mamoru flew off back to the city where he lived.
Usagi entered the house with her eyes turned down to the ground. She wasn't in much of a mood to do anything, and had completely forgotten her books at Rei's house. She didn't really care that she wouldn't be able to finish her homework. She needed to make sense of the events that had taken place. That was top priority. Earth was under attack again, only this time the enemy wanted the energy from the heart. This guy seemed to be smarter than most and had put a barrier around his creatures, which wasn't that much of a shock. There were ways to counter it, people who were stronger than the barrier. She, for example, was stronger than the barrier. Her father, Gohan, and Vejita were all stronger than the barrier.
It was five o'clock when she got home. The aroma of dinner filled the house and made a rush at her as soon as she stepped in. She was hungry, but she wasn't really in the mood to eat. "Hi." She mumbled under her breath as she entered the kitchen and plopped down at the table next to her father, who was ready to eat right then and there.
Goku noticed his daughter's solemn attitude and forgot about his stomach. "Bad day?"
Usagi looked up at her father as she continued to try and make sense of what had just happened. "You could say that." She quickly looked back down at the table, which was already set for dinner. It would only be a matter of seconds before it would be served.
Not knowing the situation, Chi-Chi grinned as she placed a pitcher of juice on the table. "Uh oh, someone had a bad day at school."
Usagi sighed. She wished that hit had only been a bad day at school, but that was only wishful thinking. "No, not at school." She looked up at her mother. "And no, me and Rei didn't have another fight. In fact." She paused, thinking that it might not be a good idea to tell them. Of course, it was exactly Senshi business, and if it was, her parents knew about the Senshi now. "Well, there was an attack."
Chi-Chi's heart dropped to the floor as she immediately dropped what she was doing and sat down at the table next to Goku. "What?!"
Goku frowned. "Is that why you guys were fighting today?"
Usagi nodded. "Yeah, you know. It's the same old stupid stuff. Some evil guy wants something, we fight it off. But these guys are totally off. They steal your crystallized heart energy from you."
Goku looked back at his wife, who shrugged back at him. "Odd." He looked back at his daughter. "Is it a Sailor Senshi thing?"
Usagi shrugged. She'd rather not have gotten onto that subject with them. "Probably not. The monster's have got a barrier around it to keep lower level energy from hurting it, but my level of Super Saiyan can hurt it."
Goku cocked his head backward with a sigh. "That really lowers our playing field. There's only four of us who can get to that level."
Usagi frowned. "But there's someone out there who can kill these things pretty easily. I just don't know who they are."
"Interesting." Goku commented, smugly. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back into his chair as his daughter plumped down next to him; her face falling onto the hard surface of the table. "I wonder why we didn't feel them."
Usagi gave an exasperated groan as she felt her mother's hand on her back. "Maybe they're evil too."
Chi-Chi frowned. "Could it be that these guys are in the middle of a war and they've just somehow stumbled upon earth?" No one answered her empty question; they seemed too deep in their own thoughts to really care to. "Maybe once one side wins they'll begin to attack earth."
Goku blinked; his wife had said just the right words to bring him back to reality. "You may be on to something there, Chi-Chi." He peered down at his exhausted daughter. She seemed to quiet; like something else was bothering her. He debated on weather or not he wanted to ask her what was up, but decided to keep to the subject at hand. "We may have two possible enemies to deal with."
Usagi let out yet another groan at the thought. "Great."
Chi-Chi looked into her husband's eyes with worry. She had hoped he would have disagreed with her theory. "What should we do?"
Goku shrugged as he leaned his head back and stared straight up at the ceiling. "Dunno. I'll tell the others to be on the lookout. Meanwhile, Usagi, I want you to pulse your energy whenever you encounter another attack. .I want to see these new enemies for myself."
Usagi shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She wasn't sure if she liked the idea of having her father come to the next fight. She wouldn't be able to turn into Sailor Moon and he would want to know why; just another problem to deal with. It was bad enough that her friends knew, she didn't want her father to know too. But what could she say? He would get angry if she didn't tell him. "Alright." She mumbled.
Chi-Chi lowered her head so she could be at the same level as her daughter. "Why don't you get washed up, Usagi? You've had a long day."
Usagi was too tired to be surprised over her mother's words. She just stood up and began making her way out of the kitchen without another word. If the conversation went any longer there was a good chance that she would end up slipping and telling them that she wasn't able to transform into the Senshi of the moon.
Goku watched his daughter stalk out of the kitchen with a look of worry. He hated seeing her like this. He waited for her to be fully out of view before he exchanged looks with his wife. "That's not all that's bothering her."
Chi-Chi nodded. "I know."
~*~*~
Usagi walked rather solemnly into her room and let herself fall onto the bed, face first. She didn't know what to do anymore. Too many things were happening at once; she knew she hadn't fooled her father, he knew something was up. She could see it in his face; she had never been able to hide anything from him. At times it was a good thing, she wouldn't have to tell him exactly what was wrong; he'd just guess. But at other times, such as this one, it was almost a curse. Sometimes she needed to just keep things to herself, she didn't need her father to know everything that went on with her. She wanted to keep Senshi business just that, Senshi Business.
Luna quietly pushed the door to her Princess's room open and poked her head in. "Usagi?" She whispered even more quietly as she stepped in. "What's the matter? Is everything all right? I heard you talking with your parents."
Usagi groaned as she buried her head into her pillows. She didn't need to be talking to anyone right now, and that meant her advisor. "Not now, Luna. Please."
Staring at the creature before her, Rei let out a whine of fear. She was in no position to battle something right then. But nevertheless, she tried to scramble to her feet, but was swatted down to the ground by the Heart Snatcher. This time she was more alert and rolled forward with the hit so she could land back on her feet. With her knees clenched against her chest, she made a quick dive to her right and rolled sideways so she was behind the creature. She pressed her hands firmly on the concrete and lifted her legs in the air so she could kick the back of her attacker. "Take that!"
The creature stumbled forward, but was quick to recover. He landed on his hands and performed a back flip while turning in the air so he could face his target face-to-face. With a snarling growl, he darted straight for the girl, who in turn reacted with a quick kneeing to his face.
With her attacker stunned, she grabbed him by the neck and flipped him over on his back, causing the concrete below to crack. She didn't pay any attention to the damage as she jumped away from him hoping to gain the upper hand quicker than later. She was in the middle of a mental dilemma all the while this was happening. She had no idea where this thing had come from, let alone who it was working for.
The time of peace wasn't lived long as the monster-like creature scurried back to his feet. He was determined to perform his job, but the girl was putting up too much of a fight for him to try anything at the moment. But he would persist as he had been programmed. He made a quick dive for Rei, but she was too fast. He stumbled forward and made a quick jump turn to face her once again.
Just as Rei was about to summon her inner strength, her friends arrived on the scene. The four of them made a mad dash from the house portion of the shrine with their power levels already raised. None of them looked too happy over the attack of their friend.
Makoto, who was already upset over her father, made an unplanned attack upon the creature. Her glory was short-lived when she was backhanded to the ground. She hit the ground hard on her back, but she wasn't about to let that stop her. She jumped back to her feet but didn't go full force on another attack. She wouldn't let her emotions get the best of her again. Next time she would plan out her attack.
Rei tried running for her friends, but the creature took this opportunity to reach out and grab a hold of her by the arm. "Ah!"
Usagi clenched her fists. "Rei!" She gritted her teeth and let out a loud growl of anger. "Let her go!" She didn't even stop to think of why they were being attacked, or by whom they were being attacked by. She wasn't about to try and contemplate things when her friend was in trouble.
She allowed her power level to skyrocket; but their attacker didn't seemed to be phased, as he couldn't detect power levels. A golden aura appeared around the whole of her body as she charged for him. She could hear the footsteps of her friends following closely behind. "You."
Just as she was going to make her move, she noticed that Rei seemed to be struggling, though not of trying to free herself. She seemed to be hurt. She stopped her charge, as did her friends. "Rei!" She cried out as she watched the creature lift its free hand up and reach into Rei's chest.
Makoto narrowed her eyes into a frown of hatred. "What's that bastard doing to her?!" She made another charge but was yanked back by Ami. "What are you doing?!" She only received a stern look from her blue-haired friend. Grunting, she looked back up to where the action was taking place to see probably one of the most disgusting displays of an attack she had ever seen. The creature had ripped out Rei's brightly shining Heart Crystal. Her eyes widened as she watched the display. "What is that?!" She gasped as she pointed at the shimmering item in its hand.
Minako shivered at the site of what had just taken place. She had seen some pretty horrible enemies, but never anything that would rip something out of your body. "We have to help her!" She shouted as Rei was dropped to fall to the ground.
Usagi jumped to set out and catch her falling friend, who was now unconscious; but she was stopped when an unexpected person caught her instead. "Mamoru?!"
Yes, it had been Mamoru. He had come just in time to contribute his powers to the fight, but he wasn't concerned with showing off this time like he always had in the past. There was a job to be done, and he planned on making sure that he was done. "Ami, find out what this thing is!" He ignored Usagi and cradled Rei in his arms as he ran to safety. "Don't just stand there, Usagi! Fight!"
Usagi wasn't exactly sure what to do; she had never seen Mamoru act in such a concerned manner. But there was no time to analyze the situation; she knew what she had to do. Nodding, she sprang into action along with Minako and Makoto. Ami pulled out her Computer that she had received when she had become Sailor Mercury and immediately began analyzing what the monster's weaknesses were. She gasped at what she saw displayed on the screen and looked up to Usagi and the others, who were doing their best to battle it out with their attacker. "It won't do good to attack it with regular power unless it's really strong."
Usagi kicked the monster in the face, causing it to fall into a punch from Makoto. Minako acted fast and performed a roundhouse kick beneath its feet, causing it to fall on its back. The girls took their chance and flew into the air and immediately began pounding it with their Ki attacks.
Mamoru set Rei down next to a small pool of water and stared up at Ami, who had a dumbfounded expression on her face. "What? How strong?" He quickly shifted his eyes downward at Rei once again to make sure she was all right. Her skin had a very pale green tint to it.
Ami punched a few buttons on her computer. "Usagi would have to upgrade to Super Saiyan." She pressed another button to pull up another screen, which showed what the monster was made of. "It seems to have some sort of a barrier around it, which is almost as strong as a level one Super Saiyan. I have no idea how they did this, but the person who made this thing must have been a genius. Just a minute." She began to examine the monster for further weaknesses. There had to be a way to destroy it without having Usagi use all her power to go Super Saiyan. "Oh my." She paused her keyboarding and looked hard in at the screen.
Usagi was the only one that was able to overhear what Ami had just said over all the attacks. She paused her attacking for a short moment and looked down at Ami, who was currently sharing a glance with Mamoru. "What's wrong, Ami?" She quickly glared down at the creature on the ground to make sure that it wasn't going to get up now that she had cut her attack off, but it seemed to be stopped by just the power of Minako and Makoto.
Ami looked away from Mamoru to peer up at Usagi. She covered her eyes slightly to block out the sun but was still able to look into the Saiyan's eyes. "Try transforming into the Sailor Senshi! It has a barrier against lower level spirit energy but the planetary power may work against it!"
Minako and Makoto didn't appear to have any problem with that request; however, Usagi seemed to be troubled. While the other two started to attack, Usagi slowly let herself lower to the ground with her head hanging low. She reached up and clenched the broach, which was placed perfectly on the bow of her school uniform. "I.uh."
Ami hadn't noticed that her friend had gone rather quiet and solemn. She had focused more of her attention on transforming. Mamoru, on the other hand, had noticed Usagi's strange behavior. "What's wrong? Why aren't you transforming?"
Usagi tucked her head into her chest. She was acting rather peculiar, which was beginning to worry Mamoru. He had never seen her so reluctant to take on a new fight; especially if it meant helping one of her friends. Usagi lowered her eyes on the ground wanting to cry. "I can't transform." All heads turned upon the young Saiyan with a gasp. She didn't look up at them. Instead, she turned her back to her friends and faced Mamoru. "The Crystal, it's lost its power. two days ago. I felt it go away." It was true that Usagi had felt the power of the Crystal die out. It had happened in her sleep two days before this. She had been having a dream of fighting off an enemy, and then, all of a sudden, her Crystal had died and she detransformed right there in the middle of a heated fight. It had been so sudden that it had pulled her right out of her slumber. She hadn't known what to do. She had told Luna about it, but the cat didn't seem to think it was a problem. She had been told not to worry about it; that she was probably worrying about nothing. She hadn't talked to her parents about it, and how could she? They didn't understand the workings of Sailor Moon and the Moon Kingdom. Her mother was annoyed every time the subject was brought up. She didn't tell her friends because she hadn't wanted to make them worry. And so she had kept it to herself.
~*~*~
~~Mugen School~~
Haruka and Michiru had been patrolling the school grounds when they felt it. Makoto, Ami, and Minako had turned into their respectable Senshi, which wasn't something that happened every day. They only transformed when it was absolutely necessary.
Michiru looked up at Haruka, who looked back down at her. Both of them shared a nod of agreement and pulled out their transformation pens. It looked as though the enemy had finally moved away from their school, but that didn't mean they, as the Senshi, wouldn't be able to stop the attacks. But they would have to stay far enough away from the scene of the fight to where none of the other Senshi would see them. They couldn't blow their cover.
~*~*~
Makoto, now Sailor Jupiter fired a quick Ki blast and their enemy to keep it at bay for a moment. She couldn't believe what Usagi had just told them about not being able to transform. This could put a serious damper on things; of course, there was always the fact that the girl could transform into a Super Saiyan to defeat the enemy. The Senshi could also pool all their energy together without Usagi's Moon power to defeat it as well. "You could have told us this earlier."
Usagi hunched her back in embarrassment. "I didn't want to worry you with it. I can't do it."
Mamoru frowned as he jumped in front of Usagi and grabbed her by her shoulders. He shook her hard until she looked him in the eyes. "That's no way for the daughter of Goku to talk! Hell, that's no way for the Moon Princess to talk! If you believe you can transform, then you can! Now do it, Son Usagi!"
Usagi looked deep into her eyes; and, perhaps for the first time since their first encounter, was afraid of him. "I."
"He's right!" Sailor Venus yelled back at her friend. "You can do it!"
Usagi didn't know what to think. She didn't really have the time to think either. She needed to make a decision and act upon it now. It was either never try and never find out, or try and find out if her feelings of anxiety were properly felt. "All right," She said with a look of persistence appearing on her face. She held tightly onto her broach as she called out her transformation words. "Moon Crystal Power!"
Mamoru backed away from the girl to give her room for the transformation. Things seemed to be running smoothly until a bright, white light shot out from her body. Her school uniform was replaced with the pink ribbons that should have tightened against her body to create her Senshi uniform. Nothing happened past that, except the creature had gained back its composure without anyone realizing it. They were all too busy staring at their Princess to realize what had just happened. He took this moment to realize for himself what was going on. He heard a voice whispering to him from the nearby trees: "Get that broach!"
He complied with his master's wishes and sideswiped the four Sailor Senshi down to the ground. Reaching out, he wrapped his free hand around Usagi's broach, which was emitting a massive amount of energy that she was unable to control. Usagi let out a scream of agony as her broach was ripped from her chest. With the loss of energy, the ribbons that had begun to form upon her transformation began to tighten against her body, though not because she was turning into Sailor Moon. Her school uniform was formed over her body once again.
~*~*~
Two new soldiers had just arrived on the scene to watch the event. They stayed in the shadows of the trees to keep from view of the other Senshi, though they knew that they would need to help. Without the power of Sailor Moon, a power that was stronger than the other Senshi, the monster could not be defeated.
~*~*~
Usagi's friends weren't about to sit by and watch the monster leave with Rei's life and Usagi's broach. They immediately started their attacks, but nothing really happened. The creature was caught off guard and thrown to the ground by the attacks, but he wasn't really hurt by them. As long as they attacked, he would be grounded, but as soon as they stopped he would just be able to get up and walk away. It would take a stronger Senshi to defeat him.
Mamoru ran to Usagi's side to make sure that the sudden drop in power hadn't affected her too badly. He knew how it could feel to suddenly have power ripped from your grasp. It was a sensation like no other with a feeling of being dropped off a building to hit the concrete below just suddenly. "Usagi!" He glanced up just slightly to see Sailor Venus performing one of her own attacks on the attacker: "Venus Love Me Chain!" She had used the chain to tie the monster's legs together, but he wasn't sure how long the chain would hold out. The creature struggled with its legs and immediately began to try and pry them open, but Venus's power seemed to be holding out all right.
Usagi let herself drop to the ground, as she lay silent for a moment. "What's wrong with me.?" She whispered. She had hoped that the Crystal's failure had all been in her head, but it was apparent that it had been all too real. She turned her head so her ear was against the concrete and her chin was on her shoulder. She could see Rei not too far from her own position lying there so lifelessly. She wrinkled her nose with a frown. "I won't lose."
Mamoru couldn't help but smile at the girl's determination. It was true that she had grown a lot over the past few years. Had this been just five, or even four years earlier she probably would have crumbled right there and given up.
~*~*~
Kaori, who was watching the fight from afar, was already counting her winnings. She would have never guessed that she could defeat the Sailor Senshi so easily; especially after all they trouble they had given her in the past few months. These ones seemed to be weaker than the other two she had been meeting up with, as three of them were unable to defeat her Heart Snatcher, while one of the other two would have easily defeated it with one attack. "Time to collect my winnings." She gave a quiet squeal of excitement as she realized what she was getting: a possible Pure Heart Crystal and Sailor Moon's broach. And who knew, maybe the broach could be useful to Professor Tomoe.
Just as the woman was about to step out and call her Heart Snatcher back, she noticed a small movement in the trees above. Looking up to make sure it was only her imagination, she saw something that sent chills right down her spine. In the trees stood the two people she feared most at the moment, and they didn't even realize she was down there. They were so intent on watching the fight that they hadn't even had the time to take notice of her. "Oh no!" She scolded half to herself and half to no one in general. "How do they always manage to show up!? Even when we aren't attacking at the school they show up!"
Now Kaori was worried. If she were pointed out to the other Senshi by these guys then the whole plan would be ruined. They would know that she was involved in things, which would mean that Professor Tomoe would be accused too. She would lose her job, or worse, the entire operation would be down the drain. Her face turned blue with the thought of angering the Mistress. Thinking it better to flee while she could, she turned around and hightailed it out of the area. She would just tell the Professor that the Senshi showed up and killed their Heart Snatcher before it got a chance to do its job.
~*~*~
Things were getting a little out of hand for the two Senshi in the trees. They were getting impatient with how long things were taking with destroying the Heart Snatcher below. The longer it took, the more time Kaori would have to show up and take the Heart Crystal.
Making a quick decision to intervene, Sailor Uranus readied herself for an attack. Sailor Neptune took her eyes off the fight to look up at her partner. "What are you doing?" She thought that they had agreed not to meddle around with things when the other Senshi were around. They weren't supposed to be seen.
Uranus frowned as she concentrated her energy for her attack. "What weaker Senshi can't." And with that, she commenced her attack.
~*~*~
Usagi had just gotten back to her feet and was ready to power up to finish the fight when she heard a strange sound from where the trees were standing. "What's that?" Her friends stopped their attacks upon seeing Usagi in her alerted state. None of them heard anything strange, but then again, none of them had Usagi's hearing abilities.
Mamoru looked all around and then he saw it. A huge, yellow ball of energy flying out from behind the trees toward the Heart Snatcher on the ground. "Watch out!" He didn't know if it was going for their enemy, or any of the four Senshi standing next to it. "Get out of the way!" He called out as he grabbed Rei and pulled her as far away from the point of impact as he could before it happened.
The Senshi complied and all jumped away; Usagi jumped back with Mamoru. "Who?!" She landed on the ground, but she didn't watch the blast. She was more interested in finding out who had thrown that attack. "Someone's in the trees."
Mamoru set Rei down on the ground once again. "The guy who sent this thing?" He glanced up at the trees, but figured it more important to look over at where the ball of energy had landed. There no longer lay their enemy. There were three items now: Usagi's broach; Rei's Heart Crystal; and a peculiar-looking seed, which was in the process of crumbling in on itself. "That's odd."
Sailor Mercury pulled out her computer and began examining the seed for any signs of life. "It's emitting a strange energy, but my computer doesn't seem to know what it is."
Jupiter: "You think it's from another world?"
Mercury shrugged. She wasn't too worried about that at the moment. She was more worried about finding out what it was exactly that was stolen from Rei. She set her computer up to analyze the shimmering item that now lie on the ground.
While Mercury was working out her own mystery, Usagi was preoccupied with another. She wanted to know whom it was that shot that energy blast. She wanted to know if it was a friend, or foe. "You won't get away from me." She whispered. Leaping into the air, she charged into the trees only to find nothing. Whoever it was had left already. "They're fast." She frowned as she searched the area for any clues of who it might have been that helped her. "I can't feel you." Seeming disappointed, she accepted her loss and slowly lowered herself to the ground.
Venus had retrieved Usagi's broach from the ground. "You might be needing this." She handed it to Usagi, who was rather reluctant to take it. Venus tried to smile at the girl, but it was obvious this wasn't just something that could be remedied with a few laughs. "We'll find out what's wrong, Usagi. Have you talked to Luna?"
Usagi nodded solemnly as she placed the broach into her pocket rather than in the center of her bow. "She said it was just my imagination."
"I guess it's not really part of your morbid imagination now, is it?" Mamoru chuckled as he approached the two girls, trying to relieve some of the stress from the situation. Usagi didn't look too happy at his words and neither did Venus. "Why don't you just try to transform again? Maybe if you don't get it ripped off your chest again in the middle of a transformation."
Usagi held her head tightly with her hands as if she didn't to hear his words. "It's not that. When I tried to transform it felt like there was too much power building up inside of me." She let out a sigh of frustration as she let go of her head to reach down into her pocket and pull out the broach once again.
Mercury approached the trio as she held the Heart Crystal in her hands. She seemed to be smiling regardless of the situation. "I've found out what it is." Her smile widened as she stared at Usagi, who was waiting for the girl to go on and tell everyone what she's found. "It seems to be the pure energy of the heart crystallized into this form. It's very powerful depending on how pure your heart is."
Usagi took the opportunity to forget about her troubles and talk about something else. She hated it when the attention was on her worries and nothing more. "So what are you saying, that people are stealing our hearts?"
Mercury nodded. "Kind of like that." She pushed past Mamoru and headed toward Rei. "It should just go right back in."
Venus found it a little hard to believe that anyone could just come up and take your Heart like that. "That's insane, who would want to take your heart?"
"And you can just put it right back into their bodies with no problem?" Mamoru watched in awe as Mercury bent down and placed the crystallized energy on top of Rei's chest. It hovered for a short moment, but it wasn't long before it was absorbed back into the girl's body. Almost immediately the girl's skin color turned back to its normal color. It wasn't long after that that she opened her eyes, though she wasn't quick to get up. She just lay there for a moment to try and realize what had just happened. "So a person can't function without this Heart Crystal?"
Mercury nodded. "Right. They'll die if they're away from it for too long."
Jupiter frowned. "But who would want it?"
"Who would want what?" Rei sat up very slowly. She felt the affects of being knocked in her head and bent forward. "What happened? All I remember was being attacked by something and then I wake up feeling so horrible."
Mercury smiled at her friend. "The new enemy seems to want crystallized heart energy. You seemed to be a target." She looked up at Usagi and left Rei to get her barring back. "As for you, Usagi." She pushed herself back to her feet as Usagi groaned. "I'm not really sure what's wrong with your broach. When you tried to transform my computer picked up more energy coming from it than usual, however. You might try taking it to Bulma to see if it's working all right."
Usagi frowned. "What? There can't be a lot of energy in it. It's dead; it won't work for me. You saw what it did."
Mercury shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, unless you want me to run some tests on it. Or you could do what Mamoru suggested and try to transform until you get it right."
Usagi lowered her head with a sigh. "I guess I could have you and Bulma test it for power, though I don't know how Bulma could really help. I don't think she has the right kind of machines for that kind of task."
Mercury grinned. "I bet I could come up with something."
Venus giggled at her friend's growing head. "Sounding a bit proud of yourself there, Ami."
Rei was still all too confused at what had just gone on. She wasn't sure she was following anything anyone was saying. "Let me get this straight," she interrupted, "you guys fought off our new enemy who is out to steal crystallized heart energy, Usagi can't transform, and Ami is gloating? This is all too much for me."
Jupiter smirked. "No, no. It gets better. We weren't even the ones to destroy the little Heart Snatcher. Someone else came and did the job for us."
Rei's eyes widened. "What? You mean we aren't strong enough to defeat these things?"
Mamoru frowned. "Don't be stupid, we have Sailor Moon."
Usagi, now, was sporting a frown of her own. "Maybe! But I can always transform to a Super Saiyan if needed."
Rei sighed as she lay back on the concrete. "This is amazing!" She sneered sarcastically. "Goodbye normal life."
~*~*~
When everyone left the shrine that night only Rei and Makoto were left to sort things out amongst themselves. Makoto had gone into further detail with Rei about what had happened after she had had her Heart Crystal Stolen. Even though she had gotten her Heart Crystal back, Rei still wasn't feeling all herself. She felt a little woozy, of course, that was probably understandable considering she had just had her heart's energy ripped away from her that same day. But nevertheless, she wasn't feeling up to doing a lot and had asked her friends to give her a little time, which was when they had decided to leave.
Makoto was the only one with Rei now, as she lived with her at the moment. She hated to see her normally spunky friend in such a state. "Why don't you get something to eat? It'll probably help you to regain your energy back."
Rei nodded as she slowly tried to push herself out of her bed, which she had been resting in for about an hour now. "That might be a good idea."
Makoto went to Rei's side and grabbed her by the arm. "Here," She said as she offered the girl some help. "You're pretty weak still." She helped Rei out of the bed, who stumbled forward when she got her feet planted on the ground. "Lean on me."
Rei felt absolutely stupid acting so clumsy like this. "I feel like Usagi." The two girls shared a laugh as they began to take a few steps. Rei was able to walk a little better than before when she had first tried to walk to her room earlier in the day. "I'm feeling a little better."
Makoto smiled. "That's good, but you're still not up to par." She reached out and opened the door to Rei's room. Surprisingly, standing outside the door with a huge smile and a tray with two plates of food on it was Mr. Hino.
"Hello, girls." He said cheerfully. "I thought you might like some food after what happened today." Not finding it strange at all that the words he just spoke were in reference to the fight the Senshi fought, he walked past the girls into Rei's room and set the tray down on his granddaughter's desk.
It took a few seconds for his words to sink into the girls' heads; and when they finally did, they couldn't believe what he had just said. "Ex.excuse me, grandpa?" Rei stuttered her words as she became fearful of what he knew. "What do you mean? Nothing happened today except for the study session."
Her Grandfather continued to smile as he began to poor some tea into two separate glasses for each of the girls. "Come now, you can't have expected me not to notice such a commotion, dear." He picked up one of the glasses and held it out for Rei to take. "Drink up, it'll help you to regain your strength."
Rei just stared at the old man in awe. She couldn't believe it; that was just another person to add to the list of people knowing their secrets. "So.you saw?" She reached out and grabbed the glass.
Makoto shook her head in disbelief. "I don't believe it. I wonder if the tourists saw."
Mr. Hino shook his head as he poured another glass of tea, though this time for himself. "No, I hurried them away, along with Yuuichiro." He handed Makoto her glass of tea as he took a sip of his own. "Don't worry, dear, your secret is safe with me."
Rei wasn't really worried that her grandfather knew, that wasn't the point. She knew he wouldn't spill the beans for her, it was just the fact that no one was supposed to know of their secret. The only other people who knew about them were the people in Usagi's parents' friends. "Are you angry that I didn't tell you?"
Mr. Hino shook his head as he watched his granddaughter take a sip of her tea. "There's no reason to be. You just make sure you stay alive."
Rei grinned. "Oh I plan to."
~*~*~
Usagi went home that night not knowing what to do. She had reluctantly given her broach to Ami for her to study it and find out what was wrong with it. She had been promised that it would be done by the afternoon of the following day; that she and Bulma would work on it nonstop through the night. She hoped they would be able to find a way to remedy the problem As much as she didn't want to responsibilities of being the Moon Princess, she couldn't help but feel insecure without her most guarded possession. She knew it that it was a pretty-much pointless object to have at the moment, but she couldn't get over it. She had been guarding it and protecting it for a little over two years now and she felt incomplete without it.
She had flown home with Mamoru, who had insisted upon going with her to make sure she got home all right for a strange reason that neither of them could explain. He had just felt like it was the right thing to do after such a let down on Usagi's part. They had said their good-byes, and as Usagi went into the house Mamoru flew off back to the city where he lived.
Usagi entered the house with her eyes turned down to the ground. She wasn't in much of a mood to do anything, and had completely forgotten her books at Rei's house. She didn't really care that she wouldn't be able to finish her homework. She needed to make sense of the events that had taken place. That was top priority. Earth was under attack again, only this time the enemy wanted the energy from the heart. This guy seemed to be smarter than most and had put a barrier around his creatures, which wasn't that much of a shock. There were ways to counter it, people who were stronger than the barrier. She, for example, was stronger than the barrier. Her father, Gohan, and Vejita were all stronger than the barrier.
It was five o'clock when she got home. The aroma of dinner filled the house and made a rush at her as soon as she stepped in. She was hungry, but she wasn't really in the mood to eat. "Hi." She mumbled under her breath as she entered the kitchen and plopped down at the table next to her father, who was ready to eat right then and there.
Goku noticed his daughter's solemn attitude and forgot about his stomach. "Bad day?"
Usagi looked up at her father as she continued to try and make sense of what had just happened. "You could say that." She quickly looked back down at the table, which was already set for dinner. It would only be a matter of seconds before it would be served.
Not knowing the situation, Chi-Chi grinned as she placed a pitcher of juice on the table. "Uh oh, someone had a bad day at school."
Usagi sighed. She wished that hit had only been a bad day at school, but that was only wishful thinking. "No, not at school." She looked up at her mother. "And no, me and Rei didn't have another fight. In fact." She paused, thinking that it might not be a good idea to tell them. Of course, it was exactly Senshi business, and if it was, her parents knew about the Senshi now. "Well, there was an attack."
Chi-Chi's heart dropped to the floor as she immediately dropped what she was doing and sat down at the table next to Goku. "What?!"
Goku frowned. "Is that why you guys were fighting today?"
Usagi nodded. "Yeah, you know. It's the same old stupid stuff. Some evil guy wants something, we fight it off. But these guys are totally off. They steal your crystallized heart energy from you."
Goku looked back at his wife, who shrugged back at him. "Odd." He looked back at his daughter. "Is it a Sailor Senshi thing?"
Usagi shrugged. She'd rather not have gotten onto that subject with them. "Probably not. The monster's have got a barrier around it to keep lower level energy from hurting it, but my level of Super Saiyan can hurt it."
Goku cocked his head backward with a sigh. "That really lowers our playing field. There's only four of us who can get to that level."
Usagi frowned. "But there's someone out there who can kill these things pretty easily. I just don't know who they are."
"Interesting." Goku commented, smugly. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back into his chair as his daughter plumped down next to him; her face falling onto the hard surface of the table. "I wonder why we didn't feel them."
Usagi gave an exasperated groan as she felt her mother's hand on her back. "Maybe they're evil too."
Chi-Chi frowned. "Could it be that these guys are in the middle of a war and they've just somehow stumbled upon earth?" No one answered her empty question; they seemed too deep in their own thoughts to really care to. "Maybe once one side wins they'll begin to attack earth."
Goku blinked; his wife had said just the right words to bring him back to reality. "You may be on to something there, Chi-Chi." He peered down at his exhausted daughter. She seemed to quiet; like something else was bothering her. He debated on weather or not he wanted to ask her what was up, but decided to keep to the subject at hand. "We may have two possible enemies to deal with."
Usagi let out yet another groan at the thought. "Great."
Chi-Chi looked into her husband's eyes with worry. She had hoped he would have disagreed with her theory. "What should we do?"
Goku shrugged as he leaned his head back and stared straight up at the ceiling. "Dunno. I'll tell the others to be on the lookout. Meanwhile, Usagi, I want you to pulse your energy whenever you encounter another attack. .I want to see these new enemies for myself."
Usagi shifted uncomfortably in her chair. She wasn't sure if she liked the idea of having her father come to the next fight. She wouldn't be able to turn into Sailor Moon and he would want to know why; just another problem to deal with. It was bad enough that her friends knew, she didn't want her father to know too. But what could she say? He would get angry if she didn't tell him. "Alright." She mumbled.
Chi-Chi lowered her head so she could be at the same level as her daughter. "Why don't you get washed up, Usagi? You've had a long day."
Usagi was too tired to be surprised over her mother's words. She just stood up and began making her way out of the kitchen without another word. If the conversation went any longer there was a good chance that she would end up slipping and telling them that she wasn't able to transform into the Senshi of the moon.
Goku watched his daughter stalk out of the kitchen with a look of worry. He hated seeing her like this. He waited for her to be fully out of view before he exchanged looks with his wife. "That's not all that's bothering her."
Chi-Chi nodded. "I know."
~*~*~
Usagi walked rather solemnly into her room and let herself fall onto the bed, face first. She didn't know what to do anymore. Too many things were happening at once; she knew she hadn't fooled her father, he knew something was up. She could see it in his face; she had never been able to hide anything from him. At times it was a good thing, she wouldn't have to tell him exactly what was wrong; he'd just guess. But at other times, such as this one, it was almost a curse. Sometimes she needed to just keep things to herself, she didn't need her father to know everything that went on with her. She wanted to keep Senshi business just that, Senshi Business.
Luna quietly pushed the door to her Princess's room open and poked her head in. "Usagi?" She whispered even more quietly as she stepped in. "What's the matter? Is everything all right? I heard you talking with your parents."
Usagi groaned as she buried her head into her pillows. She didn't need to be talking to anyone right now, and that meant her advisor. "Not now, Luna. Please."