Promenade

By: Lady Camigwen

-Chapter 5-

"World Shaking!"…"Deep Submerge!"…"Dead Scream!"

The three attacks combined and slammed into the daimon, but didn't have much effect. It grinned and launched itself up into the air and at the three Outer Senshi. They jumped out of the way and Pluto ran towards it with her staff in the air. She prepared to attack the daimon once more, but it was too fast and attacked her instead.

"Pluto!" Neptune cried in protest as Pluto flew halfway across the courtyard and into a bush. The senshi of time pushed herself to her knees and clutched a probably broken arm.

Neptune attempted to go to Pluto's aid, but the daimon grabbed her. She screamed and painfully wrenched herself from its grasp. She stumbled back and watched as a mass of energy came flying at her. Her legs froze in place and she was unable to move, unable to jump away.

In a quick lightening movement, Uranus lurched forward and shoved Neptune out of the way, taking the blast head on. Neptune and Pluto both cried out, but she barely heard them. She barely saw Neptune hovering over her, telling her she was going to be okay.

Her mouth wouldn't respond to commands and she couldn't tell the ocean senshi that she was going to be okay. Neptune must've understood and smiled meekly at her as her form melted into Duo's. "Hush, 'Ruka, everything's going to be okay. I promise."

Duo?

Her eyes flew open and she tried to sit up, but her arms, legs, and waist were held down tightly. That dream...it felt as she had been hit by that daimon's attack once again. Her head was throbbing and everything but her nails was aching. Where was she? How'd she get here?

The man who shot her with the dart. Tranquilizer…

She groaned. If this was another enemy, she was going to ride them up and down the wall. She thought all the villains had been destroyed when they killed Chaos so long ago. She needed to get out of here.

Her hand stretched out and she focused, trying to do something she hadn't done in nearly 30 years. She could feel the energy gathering and her senshi side leapt to life again, the mighty heavens senshi returning. "World…" she clutched the energy and made a tight fist. She could feel the heat on the side of her face. Carefully, she focused on her targets and steadied the attack. "…Shaking!"

The energy jumped from her hand and smashed into the restraints holding her in place, shattering them. She gained a few cuts and scrapes, but she managed to get out of the restraints. Her body protested as she jumped down from the table and made her way around the room, looking for something resembling a door.

But there was none.

Everywhere she looked, there were walls, just plain white walls. Well then, if there wasn't a door, she'd just have to make one herself. She threw her hand up in the air and preformed the attack once more, "World Shaking!"

An alarm sounded as the wall crumbled and she pushed through the debris. She cursed herself for not having her wand on her. If she could transform, she'd give whoever shot her hell on ice.

But this…it didn't seem like any of the other enemy bases. She'd never fought against the Dark Kingdom or the Black Moon Family, but she had heard from Makoto that they had palace-like bases. The Deathbusters had a laboratory, the Dead Moon Circus had their circus tent, and the Shadow Galactica had their little get-up. But, this place looked like some military operation.

She stopped dead in her tracks and glanced around at all the security cameras and rooms that required a pass code to enter. This was a military base. She was still on Earth…but where?

+§¤§+

Duo awoke around six in the morning and found he was alone. Had his dreams been reality, this would've been a typical result of a one-night-stand. But some events of last night weren't part of his dream. Haruka had been deeply hurt and had turned to him for comfort.

He had never seen that side of her. The weak side, the side she was ashamed of. It frightened him and the mere thought of seeing a trail of tears down her cheeks made his heart ache.

No! He shouted angrily at himself as he leapt to his feet. He was not falling for her, he wasn't! How could anyone love someone who could be so cruel? The only person she remotely got along with was Quatre, but of course, the Desert Prince got along with everybody. No, he wasn't falling.

He ignored what the little voice in the back of his mind was telling him… He had already fallen.

+§¤§+

"You've known Miss Haruka for a long time, it seems."

Michiru smiled at the male blonde and nodded, glad to be talking to someone without an attitude problem. She hadn't meant to snap at Haruka like that, or tick her off by calling her by her senshi title or bringing up the past again. All she wanted was Haruka's friendship once again. She was going to need her support for what was coming…

"When did you meet?" Quatre asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Oh, quite a while back when we were young teenagers. Haruka used to have a flare for racing and I'm surprised she hasn't become a professional racer. I saw her race one-day and she seemed to be just the subject I needed for my next painting. I asked her if I could paint her, but she declined. Her pride always gets in the way of things. I got into a jam shortly after and she helped me. We became close friends after that."

Quatre looked out a near window and smiled knowingly. "Battles do seem to bring two people closer together, wouldn't you say?"

Michiru blinked, "What do you mean by that?"

Quatre eyed her. "You think I haven't figured it out already? The way Miss Haruka reacted to meeting Mister Kolanto; it's obvious that you and Miss Haruka were once an item."

Her instincts told her to gasp in shock, but she kept her usual tranquil composer. "That obvious, eh?" She sighed, "I was hoping she would've accepted the fact that we were over a long time ago, but…"

"…some people take longer to realize the end than others."

Michiru nodded. "Yes, exactly so. She still seems angry. I hope things can be forgotten, I'm going to need her friendship."

Again, Quatre smiled. "Don't worry, Miss Michiru. I'm sure everyone's going to be happy to hear about the latest addition."

This time, she did gasp and Quatre laughed aloud. "H-how'd you…?"

He didn't give her a verbal answer, just another one of his famous smiles.

+§¤§+

They were catching up to her, and fast. One of them hit her with a tranquilizer and she was beginning to feel groggy. This one wasn't as strong as the last dart, but if they hit her again, she'd pass out for sure.

When she came to a dead end, she merely stopped and turned to face them. She was too weak to teleport or blast through anything. She'd let them win now and strike when she was ready.

The soldiers halted, but kept their guns armed and ready to fire. A man in a black suit stepped forward from within the crowd. Haruka gasped when she saw him and he smirked.

"You!"

The man laughed. "Yes me, who else?" He walked closer and looked her up and down. "You're a strange creature, Haruka. You have blood, but no heartbeat. When we ran a blood test, your trace elements were off and there were no residual anesthetics. Your brainwaves are off the charts and your reflexes are astounding! You are a fascinating creature...I can't wait to see how you work."

Haruka snarled at the man, at a loss for words. Her temper was flaring at and all time high, yet she couldn't retaliate. She wanted to scream and did as another dart pierced her skin. Using the last ounce of her strength she cried out with her mind before the darkness engulfed her once more.

**TBC**

Document: Well, guess what...I don't own them!

AN: Longer, isn't it? *grins* I actually had time this weekend to sit down and write a full-length chapter. And once again, special thanks to Maara for helping me with details and to Amber for the astrological help. To Damia, Aura-sama, and Myst Lady...thanks for continuing to read and review.

To Damia: Hey! Yeah, History teachers can be tough. Especially AP History teachers. *sigh* Anyways...no, they don't know that there's life on other planets besides Earth. I've made it so that everyone, save Haruka, has gone back to live on their respected planets. And, I think you can tell from this chapter who Haruka got captured by...

THE MORE REVIEWS, THE MORE I WRITE! HOW ABOUT 50 REVIEWS? ^-^