DISCLAIMER: Neither DBZ or Sailor Moon are owned by me. Any characters in this story are the property of their original creators. (Example... Akira Toriyama owns Trunks, Naoko Takeuchi owns Ami, and I own Rosemary, Angelica, or Chamomile, though I'd be willing to trade. XD)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a sequel to Love In A Ruined World, my Mirai Trunks/Ami romance fic from last year. (The Trunks in this fanfic is Mirai Trunks, and the Bulma in this fic is from Mirai Trunks' future timeline.) If you haven't read Love In A Ruined World, you can still read this, but you might be confused, so if you want to read the first fic in the series, it's in my profile. ^_^ In the continuity of both series, this fic takes place after Mirai Trunks goes back to the future after the Cell Saga, and after the SuperS season in the Sailor Moon continuum.
Reviewer Thanks-
Kaiya: Hee, yeah... I kinda liked the idea of a dominatrix-esque villain going after Trunks, especially since most of my villains have been lusting after Ami. Call it equal opportunity targeting! ^_^ Or something like that. Thanks for reviewing!
GracedAngel1854: Glad you liked the chapter so much! I hope this one's even better!
NickeyWhite2: 7,000 words is great? Not for my fingers! ^_^ Nah, I see what you're talking about... hope you like this chapter!
---
Patrick's hand became illuminated with a bright, light blue glow, and almost immediately, the air began to take on a terrifying chill.
"What's he doing?" Sailor Mars asked, wrapping her arms around her chest to counteract the decreasing temperature. "It's... it's so cold!"
"I kn-kn-know...." Sailor Moon said, putting her hands over her ears as her teeth began to chatter. "But we still have to keep fighting!"
"Too late!" Patrick shouted. He pointed his hand out at the Senshi and Tuxedo Mask, sending out a large stream of icicles from his hand. The icicles flew at the warriors with incredible speed, and they had to duck to avoid being cut to ribbons by the icicles' deadly sharp tips.
"Urgh!" Sailor Venus shouted, an icicle brushing against her cheek and making a slight scratch as she dove to the ground. Blood trickled from the wound, staining her clean, white glove. "Dammit, that'll take a whole hour of washing to get out! You'll pay for that!"
"Trunks, hurry!" Ami shouted down to Trunks from the top of the Ferris wheel, as he continued to help the stranded passengers escape. "They need your help!"
"I'm going as fast as I can," Trunks said, smiling up to her. "In the meantime, they can make do with your help, Ami..."
Trunks quickly flew up to Ami and plucked her from the top of the Ferris wheel. She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck, carefully hanging on as he floated her to the ground below.
"Trunks," Ami whispered, "what about-"
"They need you, Ami," Trunks whispered back to her, kissing her on the cheek. "Go into one of the bathrooms and transform... hurry!"
Ami nodded, and dashed toward the portable bathrooms as quickly as he could. Trunks immediately resumed his task of rescuing people from the Ferris wheel, as he only had a few more left to help. Meanwhile, Flarinsa and the other villains watched Patrick, who was taunting the Senshi as they slowly stood up.
"Afraid of a few measly icicles, hmm?" Patrick asked, holding up his hand and charging it with energy again. "Perhaps I should-"
A quick flash of light green caught Patrick's eye. He turned his head slightly to the side, where he could see three girls among one of the last crowds fleeing the carnival. One of the girls in particular persuaded him to give her his full attention. It was Cammy, though there was no way Patrick could have known her name. Still, as soon as he saw her, he knew that she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen, and to him, she looked even better when she was running for her life.
"Such incredible beauty..." Patrick whispered. "So-"
Suddenly, a golden energy chain wrapped around Patrick's neck from behind. He let out a loud, choking gasp, and looked behind him to see Sailor Venus, holding the other end of the deadly chain.
"I told you you'd pay for messing up my glove!" Sailor Venus shouted. "Now, I'm going to... urk!"
An elbow flew to Sailor Venus' stomach. She collapsed, her magical energy chain disappearing. Standing in front of her was Elbarzad, pulling back his arm and smirking. He turned around and extended his palm toward her face. A huge gust of wind flew out of Elbarzad's open hand, sending Sailor Venus flying back toward her friends. While Sailor Moon caught her, Sailor Mars and Sailor Jupiter rushed forward, ready to execute their own attacks.
"Mars Flame..."
"Jupiter Oak..."
Remembering what Trunks had taught them, the two Senshi focused their magical energy and pointed their arms at the four evil warriors, as wisps of magical energy floated into the Senshi's palms. Suddenly, Grenate, a powerful warrior of the earth element, rushed forward himself, and struck his fist into the ground. The earth began to tremble and quake beneath his fist, and the two Senshi lost their concentration, their attacks detonating in a large explosion.
"There we go," Trunks said, helping a small boy off of the last gondola on the Ferris wheel, just as the ground began to quake under their feet.
"Earthquake!" shouted the child, instinctively ducking to the ground and covering his head with both of his arms. Trunks shook his head, and helped the boy off of the ground.
"We've got to go!" Trunks shouted, picking up the boy and floating him over to his parents, standing just a few feet away. He handed the boy to the two parents, who nodded at Trunks and then ran out of the carnival. A loud lurching noise could be heard behind Trunks, and he looked up to see the Ferris wheel starting to fall on top of him. "Oh, crap!"
Trunks threw up both of his arms into the air, catching the huge mass of steel and iron as it fell on top of him, then lifted up the gigantic Ferris wheel and set it gently and harmlessly down on the ground. Meanwhile, the newly transformed Sailor Mercury had emerged from the bathroom just in time to see the smoke clear from her comrades' botched attack. She gasped, and ran over to help the Senshi.
"We tried... focusing our attacks like Trunks taught us..." said Sailor Mars, wearily standing up and holding her forehead.
"But then the earthquake started, and..." Sailor Jupiter stood up as well, a large stream of blood trickling down her forehead. Sailor Mercury gasped, immediately tending to her friend's wound, remarkably similar to the one she'd sustained eight months ago when Frieza slashed her with his tail. "I think a rock must have flown up and hit me or something..."
"Could this be any simpler?" Flarinsa shouted, cackling with glee. Granate leapt back to be at Flarinsa's side, and the earthquake he had created slowly began to subside. Elbarzad and Patrick fell back as well, the four villainous warriors regaining their formation and facing the slightly damaged Senshi. "You're all so pathetic!"
"Come a little closer and say that," Tuxedo Mask said, taking out a large, black staff. "You haven't seen any of our real power yet!"
"Really now?" Flarinsa said slyly, her finger to her lips. "Well, well, well... I just wish that boytoy of Sailor Mercury's were here... he's the one we're really after, you know."
"In that case," said Trunks, causing Flarinsa to gasp and turn around. "I guess you won't mind a little of this!"
"Not so fast!" shouted Patrick, leaping to Flarinsa's aid and pointing both of his palms at Trunks. "Mist of a Thousand Winters!"
A generous amount of freezing, stinging, transparent mist floated out of Patrick's hands and all over Trunks. The mist sifted around the half-Saiyan, who screamed and closed his eyes as a heavy layer of mist coated his face. Soon, the entire area was permeated with mist, blinding the Sailor Senshi. Trunks, who had instinctively closed his eyes to shield himself, soon found that he couldn't open them. A thick layer of mist had coated over his eyes, sealing them shut.
"Dammit!" Trunks cursed, collapsing onto one knee. Sailor Mercury, who heard Trunks voice and sensed that he was in trouble, quickly rushed to his side and put her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.
"Trunks, are you alright?" Sailor Mercury asked, intense worry lining her voice.
"No," Trunks said, slowly trying to get to his feet. "My eyes... I think they're frozen shut!"
"How wonderful!" Flarinsa shouted, leaping in front of Trunks. The fog was beginning to clear, so Sailor Mercury could see Flarinsa perfectly. However, Trunks, eyes still sealed by the frozen mist, could not. "Maybe this will turn up the heat!"
"Maybe you should get the hell away from him!" Sailor Mercury replied, her soft, worrisome tone replaced with an immense anger. "Mercury Infusion Maelstrom!"
A huge wave of freezing water blasted over Flarinsa. She cried out in pain and was knocked several feet back, and when she regained her balance, she was shivering, still in immense pain from the thick, slushy ice still dripping from her body.
"So, how do you like the ice, Flarinsa?" Sailor Mercury asked, her fists clenched. "This is the first battle I've had in a long time... I can't be a burden to Trunks! I have to help him, just like he helped me!"
"B-B-B-Bitch!" Flarinsa shouted, pointing her arm at Sailor Mercury. "DIE!"
A large fireball slammed into the Water Senshi's chest and exploded, knocking her into the air. She screamed, but just before she hit the ground, a pair of strong hands caught her under her arms and gently set her down to the ground. She couldn't see who had caught her, but she knew immediately who it was. The ice covering Trunks' eyes had been melted by the heat of the explosion, and he could see just in time to catch Sailor Mercury.
"Trunks..." was the only word Sailor Mercury could form as he gently set the blue-haired Senshi back on her feet.
"Thanks for helping me out while I couldn't fight," said Trunks, a smile on his face. "Let's take it to these creeps together, okay?"
Flarinsa growled, looking past Trunks and Sailor Mercury to see Elbarzad, Granate, and Patrick locked in battle with the other four Senshi and Tuxedo Mask. Bright explosions and flashes could be seen from the area of the battle, as both sides had clearly sustained a moderate amount of damage.
"Hey, guys... I could use some help over here!" shouted Flarinsa.
"You're not going to get any help!" Trunks shouted. "You're going down!"
"I don't think so!" shouted Elbarzad from just behind Trunks and Sailor Mercury. "Take this!"
A large blast of wind flew out of Elbarzad's outstretched palms. Trunks simply turned around and swatted the magical blast harmlessly into the sky. Elbarzad emitted a tiny gulp of surprise and took a step back.
"We have everything we need," shouted Pandemonium, who had just showed up and was now floating about a hundred feet above the carnival, watching the ongoing battle. "It would be wise to retreat for now..."
"Who the hell are you?" Trunks shouted, turning around to face the mysterious new warrior. The fighting stopped immediately, and all of the Senshi and Tuxedo Mask, as well as the four evil warriors, also turned to see what Pandemonium had to say.
"All in good time, my powerful friend," said Pandemonium. Flarinsa nodded, and she, Patrick, Elbarzad, and Granate all flew up to meet their leader, floating in front of him with their arms crossed across their chests.
"You can't do that!" Sailor Moon shouted. "You can't attack innocent people and then just run away!"
"That's right!" Sailor Jupiter yelled. "You haven't faced justice yet, and it's our job to make you pay for what you did!"
"Oh, we will return to fight you," said Pandemonium. "But for now, our mission was to scout the powers of the Sailor Senshi, and try to spot Trunks... we have done both. It is a shame that I didn't get to see any of your skills, Trunks..."
"If you want to see them, then you'll see them right now, you coward!" Trunks shouted, his ki aura flaring up. He flew at Pandemonium and the four warriors, but as soon as he got up to their level, the four disappeared, leaving Trunks and Pandemonium all alone, the Senshi and Tuxedo Mask standing helplessly below them.
"Right now, I have other matters to attend to," said Pandemonium. "Don't worry, you'll be seeing Flarinsa, Patrick, Elbarzad, and Granate again very soon... they're my finest warriors, though they will be needing a bit more training to defeat the Senshi. You and me will meet as well, Trunks Briefs... on the field of battle, very soon. It is destiny..."
With those words, Pandemonium disappeared. Trunks let out a loud cry of frustration, and then floated down to join the others.
"I couldn't defeat them," Trunks said, his head bowed. "I couldn't even hit them with a single attack!"
"It's alright, Trunks," Sailor Mercury said, walking up to comfort him. "That man said that he would come back..."
"That's what I'm afraid of," said Sailor Venus, rubbing her forehead. "Those four Negacreeps really packed a wallop..."
"I can't wait to get my hand on those jerks again!" shouted Sailor Jupiter.
"We don't know a single thing about them," said Sailor Moon, a look of worry on her face. "Why would bad guys want to attack again? I thought that for once, we'd have everlasting peace..."
"We can never have everlasting peace as long as there is evil in the world," said Trunks, frowning grimly. "This is the day I've been dreading for the past eight months..."
"Well... at least we have a reason to train now," said Sailor Mars, trying to lighten the mood. "We should probably return to your world first thing in the morning tomorrow to start training as hard as we can."
"What about you?" asked Sailor Moon, turning to Tuxedo Mask. "I know that your powers are different from our own... you're still really strong, but I'm not sure how much Trunks' training would help you... you're welcome to come if you'd like, but-"
"That's alright, Sailor Moon," Tuxedo Mask said. "I actually train with myself, quite often... to prepare for any evil that might show up, and to better protect you, my love."
"He's just like you, Trunks!" Sailor Mercury said with a giggle. "I'm still wondering whether or not to tell mom about this..."
"She'd find out eventually," said Trunks. "I'm telling mom as soon as I get home tonight. It shouldn't worry my mom too much...."
"But mine has never actually seen me fight before, and she's never really had to cope with our battling a new type of evil," said Sailor Mercury. By now, a steady stream of rain had begun to fall upon the abandoned carnival, and the water quickly drenched Trunks and the others, though they were still too stunned by the sudden attack from evil forces that they hadn't yet thought of getting out of the rain. "I just... don't know what to tell her just yet..."
"Well, if you need me to help you, I'll come along," said Trunks, brushing some of the rain out of his face. "Anytime you need me, you know I'll be there..."
"I know, Trunks," Sailor Mercury said, burying her face in his chest and gently stroking Trunks' rain-soaked hair. "I love you..."
"Guys, it's really starting to come down out here," Sailor Mars said, looking up to see a bolt of lightning streaking across the sky. "I think we should get someplace drier, don't you?"
"Mars is right... we'd better all hurry up and head on home!" Sailor Moon shouted. The five Senshi detransformed, their identities protected by the emptiness of the carnival. "Bye, everyone!"
---
"And then they all teleported away," said Trunks, sitting next to Ami atop a towel placed on the couch in Marika Mizuno's living room.
"Basically," said Ami, "what Trunks is trying to say-"
"Tokyo is under attack by another group of villains, right?" said Marika, shaking her head sadly. "And the only ones who can stop them are the Sailor Senshi..."
"And Trunks!" Ami said brightly, pointing to the purple-haired half-Saiyan seated next to her, his arm around her shoulder. "We have Trunks this time... we'll be safe, we'll beat these evil villains quicker than we've ever beaten anyone before!"
"I hope you're right," Marika said, looking up at Trunks and Ami. "I hope you're right..."
---
On the other side of Juuban, in a relatively small two-story house, Rose, Angela, and Cammy slept silently as thunder streaked in the sky above. Their past lives forgotten, they lived out their new lives peacefully, raised by two loving parents in a wonderful home in Juuban. However, deep within their minds, their past lives remained, buried under the memories of a wonderful new existence. Never had the girls been given any reason to suspect that they had once been Rosemary, Angelica, and Chamomile, powerful servants of the Crystal Empire. But fragments of their past lives remained, slowly leaking into their dreams...
---
"Angela? Cammy? Where are you?"
Rose frantically ran through the halls of the house, her long, pink hair freely flowing behind her. Something was chasing her, but Rose didn't know what... suddenly, a bright flash appeared, right in front of her eyes. Then, a dark form slowly began to take shape. The pink-haired girl let out a scream, and then all was darkness.
---
Angela was on the ground, on her back, desperately crawling away from a darkness growing increasingly nearer. As she slowly crawled backward on the cold, hard ground of the cave that she was apparently in, she could sense the darkness, she could feel it drawing ever closer, something pulling her in...
"Please, let me go! I'll do anything you want! Anything!"
"I want nothing but your blood... you will die!" responded a loud, distorted voice, piercing the blue-haired girl's ears and causing her hands to fly to them, tears freely flowing down her cheeks.
"Please, leave me alone!!!"
---
But Cammy's dream was the darkest. The green-haired girl found herself standing in a field, all alone, as thunder and lightning mingled in the pitch-black sky above her head. The white nightgown she was wearing provided little protection from the cold rain, and the poor child quickly found herself rocking back and forth on the ground, her head between her knees, her face wet with tears.
"Get up!" shouted a voice, its intensity indicating its incredibly close proximity to Cammy.
"No! You can't make me!" Cammy shouted. "You can't-"
Suddenly, the girl was pulled to her feet by a strong force, completely beyond her control. She quickly turned around and began to run, but stopped and screamed when she saw a tall, dark figure, looming over her. As a gigantic bolt of lighting filled the air, she could see the sadistic smile on the being's face. She began to scream again, but suddenly, her screams were muffled by a razor-sharp, metallic spike, filling her mouth and slashing its way down her throat. She could feel her lungs bursting, and then darkness overcame her.
---
"Help me!" Cammy screamed, sitting up in her bed as tears and sweat streaked down her face. A large burst of thunder sounded, Cammy screamed again, and Cammy's sisters woke up as well, their beds across from Cammy's in the large bedroom the three girls shared.
"Cammy... what's wrong?" asked Rose, sleepily rubbing her eyes.
"I had... a horrible nightmare..." Cammy gasped, picking up a Kleenex from the small box on the desk next to her bed and blowing her nose into it. "I was so scared..."
"I had a nightmare too," said Angela, climbing out of her bed and walking over to Cammy's. "It'll be okay... we're all safe..."
"I know," Cammy said, tightly embracing Angela. "But it all seemed so real..."
---
But the three girls weren't entirely safe. Had they looked out the window for a brief moment, they would have seen Patrick, staring at Cammy for several minutes until she was startled from sleep by her horrible nightmare.
"So her name is Cammy..." said Patrick, his keen sense of hearing trained to the girls' conversation. "She seemed so afraid in there... poor girl... wait, did I actually say that? I wonder what's making her so upset..."
"You spying on her like some sick voyeur isn't helping, you know," said Pandemonium, causing Patrick to turn around and gasp. "You should be getting your rest. There's another mission tomorrow."
"I know, but... she's so incredibly beautiful, my lord," said Patrick, starting to smile. "One day, I'm going to take her for myself, and-"
"We came here to destroy this pathetic planet, not to rape and pillage," said Pandemonium, a look of disgust on his face. "You may do what you wish on your own time, but right now, you are to return to base immediately. That is an order."
"Yes, my lord," said Patrick, taking one last look at the sobbing girl through the window. "Soon, Cammy... soon..."
"First Nikashi and her fixation on Trunks, the very warrior we're supposed to be focusing on, and now one of my four elite soldiers is lusting after some pathetic Earth girl," thought Pandemonium. "I'm surrounded by freaking perverts..."
---
The next day, the Senshi found themselves back in the training chamber with Trunks. Again, Trunks asked Bulma to turn up the gravity in the chamber. She switched it over to twice Earth's normal gravity, and, like they had the previous day, the Senshi began to groan and strain under the effects of the powerful gravitational force.
"I'm ready for that gravity today!" Sailor Moon declared. "I could feel some of the difference as I was fighting those bad guys last night at the carnival... fighting under twice the strain really helps!"
"Good," said Trunks. "Mom, would you please turn the gravity up to three times the normal level?"
"What?" Sailor Moon shouted, her tone immediately changing. Sailor Mercury began to say something, but realized that Trunks would never do anything to hurt her. If the gravity was too much, he would change it back, simple as that...
"I'm ready," Sailor Mercury whispered. The gravity in the room grew stronger still, and now the Senshi could definitely feel its strength, as all of them except Sailor Moon feel to their knees. Sailor Moon's legs began to wobble and buckle under the gravity's force, and she too appeared to be on the verge of falling.
"I never knew... it was this bad..." said Sailor Jupiter, slowly standing up.
"When Rubeus... used his gravity on us..." said Sailor Mercury, also getting to her feet, "it must have been... about five times... Earth's normal gravity... and I couldn't... even stand..."
"We'll be going up to five pretty soon," said Trunks, turning toward Sailor Mercury. "Take some time to get used to the increased gravity... we'll start off with a round of jumping jacks. That should help."
"What?" Sailor Mars asked, her legs wobbling a great deal as she desperately tried to retain her balance. "What do you think this is, gym class?"
"I could throw a dodgeball at you," said Trunks, a smirk on his face. "I know it seems hard now, but this will all be worth it when you're in the heat of battle and you feel light as a feather. I should know... I train at a thousand times Earth's normal gravity."
"You WHAT?!" Sailor Venus shouted before losing her balance and falling painfully to the floor.
"He has," said Sailor Mercury. "I've seen him do it... from outside the chamber, of course."
"How can you possibly stand?" shouted Sailor Venus in disbelief, trying to stand up but falling again.
"It's because he's strong!" Sailor Jupiter shouted, gritting her teeth and doing several jumping jacks with ease, even though the gravity was pressing extremely forcefully on her body. "He's a fighter... he's got the fighting spirit, just like me! And if you want to get stronger, you have to train under the toughest conditions!"
"Lita's right," Sailor Mercury thought, steeling her will and resolving to keep standing. "Trunks has the heart of a warrior beating inside of him, and I have to find that same strength within myself!"
Despite the extreme strain on her body, Sailor Mercury began doing jumping jacks alongside Sailor Jupiter. Within a few seconds, Sailor Moon also did the jumping jacks, and soon, all five Sailor Senshi were doing jumping jacks together as the powerful gravity pressed down on them.
"You're all incredibly strong warriors," said Trunks, "with the potential to rank among the greatest fighters the universe has ever known. I've talked a little bit to Ami about this, but now I'm going to tell all of you... your power is great, but right now, you can only release it in short bursts, with specific attacks. If you can harness the magical power inside each and every single atom of your body, you can gain an incredible amount of power that will always be within your reach! The secret is learning to concentrate that power and learning to tap in to it at anytime you wish. Those four villains out there, they're already way ahead of you. You saw what one of their attacks did to me... I was put out of battle for more than half a minute."
"Trunks," thought Sailor Mercury, recalling yesterday's battle while continuing to perform jumping jacks. "I saw you, you were in pain... I can't believe one attack got to you like that... these new opponents must be incredibly strong..."
"But before we get to that, I want you to continue the jumping jacks for a little while longer, just to get completely used to the gravity in here before the next exercise," said Trunks. "So continue jumping until I tell you to stop."
For thirty minutes, the five Senshi continued doing jumping jacks. Though it seemed like it would get harder as fatigue inevitably started to set in, the Senshi found the exercise increasingly easy to perform as their bodies became accustomed to the gravity. Finally, after thirty minutes of jumping, Trunks was ready to have the Senshi move on. He smiled approvingly, knowing that it was because of the Senshi's own strength that they'd been able to get used to the gravity so quickly. He knew that once they could tap into their powers, they'd be able to withstand so much more.
"Alright, now you can stop," said Trunks, and all of the Senshi immediately stopped their jumping jacks and began gasping and panting heavily, trying to regain their breath. Sweat was dripping down all of their faces, and they all looked exhausted, but Trunks noticed one important detail. "You're all used to the gravity by now, aren't you?"
"Yeah... it feels just like normal now," said Sailor Moon, stretching out her arms. "We are still at three times gravity, right?"
"Yes," said Sailor Mercury, wiping beads of sweat away from her forehead. "I do feel a lot different than I did when I came in here..."
"Take some time to rest," Trunks said, sitting Indian-style on the ground. "We'll rest a half hour, and then move on to the next thing I want all of you to do..."
"And what would that be?" asked Sailor Moon, following Trunks' lead and sitting down with the other Senshi.
"I'll tell you when the thirty minutes are up," said Trunks. "Right now, I can tell that you all need the rest, so-"
"I'm actually ready to train some more," said Sailor Jupiter, standing up again. Sweat was still dripping profusely down her face, but her eyes showed an incredible willingness to keep on training. "We've got to use all the time we've got... we can't just sit around and expect to get stronger!"
"My legs hurt," whined Sailor Venus, rubbing her long legs with her gloved hands. "Can't we at least rest a few minutes?"
"Lita's right, I'm ready," said Sailor Moon. "Plus, I'm really curious to see what Trunks' training regime has in store for us next..."
"The Planet Power attack..." Sailor Mercury thought. "He's going to have us use..."
Trunks stood up, and the other Senshi who hadn't stood up already followed his lead.
"Alright then," Trunks said. "A while back, Ami told me about the strongest attack that the Sailor Senshi possessed... a group attack involving all of your magical energy, known as the Sailor Planet Power attack."
"How did I know he was going to say that?" Sailor Mercury thought, a bit confused. "It was like I could read his mind... is our bond growing that strong?"
"You want us to use the Sailor Planet Power attack?" Sailor Moon asked.
"Yes, but I want all of you to focus your energy and concentrate it into a single beam, like I taught you to do with your individual attacks," said Trunks. "Pour out all of your power at once and fire it directly at me... but first... mom, scenery change, please."
"Coming right up!" said Bulma's voice over the speaker. The drab white tile and stone of the training chamber disappeared, replaced by a hologram of a vast, grassy field, just like the previous day.
"Trunks, are you sure about this?" Sailor Mercury asked. "The Planet Power attack is incredibly strong, and-"
"It could hurt me, I know," said Trunks, a smile on his face. "Don't hold back, Ami... all of you have to learn to be able to synchronize and coordinate your energies... and a concentrated Planet Power attack could be almost unstoppable. I have faith in you guys... don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
"I just don't want you to get hurt, Trunks..." Ami thought. Trunks floated back about fifty feet from the Sailor Senshi, who began to link hands and form a circle to use their Planet Power attack.
"Now, remember what I taught you," Trunks said as wisps of energy began to float from the Senshi into the middle of the circle. "Concentrate and focus! Concentrate and focus! Put all of that energy into a single point!
The Senshi closed their eyes, mentally guiding the wisps of energy as they floated out of their bodies. As the Senshi performed the attack, they noticed that the increased gravity made it much harder to gather energy than it would have normally been, and the Planet Power attack put an incredible strain on their bodies. They pressed on, however, and focused all their energy into a large, glowing sphere just above the circle. The energy normally took the form of a mist, but because of the Senshi's efforts, it was gathering in a single, concentrated point, just as Trunks had instructed. The Senshi began to chant.
"Sailor.... Planet..."
"That energy ball looks pretty big," Trunks said, looking at the glowing white sphere floating above the Senshi. "I'd better prepare for this one..."
"POWER!"
But instead of releasing the energy after finishing the name of the attack, the energy remained concentrated, taking the form of a large beam that barreled straight toward Trunks. Trunks could feel some of the magical energy coming off of the beam, and at the last possible moment, flared up his ki aura.
"This is going to be huge, I can actually feel the magical energy... what have I gotten myself into?"
The beam slammed right into Trunks and immediately detonated, creating a huge, dome-shaped energy explosion, its brilliance blinding the Senshi and sending them all crashing to their knees, as the giant shockwaves generated by the explosion began to slam into the Senshi in the attack's wake.
"Trunks!" thought Sailor Mercury in desperation, her exhausted body flattened against the ground. "Oh no, I've killed-"
"I'm fine, Ami..." came the reply in Sailor Mercury's head, taking her completely by surprised. She lifted her head off of the ground to see the dust beginning to clear from the explosion, and was startled when she realized that Trunks was nowhere to be seen, a twenty-foot crater the only thing left of the ground where Trunks had stood.. As a tear began to form in her eye, Trunks' voice again rang through her head. "I'm in the middle of the crater, Ami... I'm fine, just stunned is all..."
Sailor Mercury stood up and brushed herself off. The other Senshi were slowly getting to their feet behind her, but Sailor Mercury knew that Trunks was the one who needed her help. Wearily, she ran to the crater, despite the tripled force of gravity pressing down on her body. About halfway to the crater, the gravity returned to normal, and the scenery changed back as well. That was when Mercury saw Trunks, lying on the hard, tiled floor, face down. His body was twitching, and Sailor Mercury could see his black tanktop and baggy green combat pants, torn in several places. Slowly, Trunks began to stand up, and Sailor Mercury leapt into his arms, her hand stroking his slightly singed cheek.
"Trunks, what in the world...?" Bulma said loudly, her face lined with fright. "All I saw was a huge explosion... your clothes are ruined!"
"Sorry, Mrs. Briefs... that was our fault," said Sailor Moon, smiling and blushing at the same time. "Trunks told us to hit him with all we had, so..."
"You guys held back," said Trunks, brushing himself off. "Just a little bit, though... don't worry, Ami. Next time I have you hit me with that attack, I'll go Super Saiyan."
"You'd better!" said Sailor Mercury, a smile returning to her face.
"Plus, you girls could've gathered a lot more energy in normal gravity," said Trunks. "Let's just see how those bad guys deal with the new Sailor Planet Power attack!"
"Well, are we going to continue?" asked Sailor Mars, stretching her arms toward the ceiling. "I'm a bit exhausted, but... I'm ready to go a few more rounds."
"Me too!" said Sailor Jupiter excitedly. "That was great!"
"I'm just glad you weren't hurt, Trunks," thought Sailor Mercury. "And were you really speaking to me in my head?"
Trunks smiled at Sailor Mercury and kissed her on the cheek.
"Yeah, that was me..." thought Trunks. "I'm not sure how it happened, but... just a few minutes ago, I began hearing your thoughts... so I concentrated on your thoughts and tried to speak back to you. I guess it worked!"
"I'm glad it did," thought Sailor Mercury.
"Don't tell me you girls want to start training again!" Bulma said. "I'm over fifty, do you girls want to give me a heart attack or something?"
"That's a pretty good sign," Trunks said, turning to the Senshi. "I never gave my mom a heart attack, so you girls must be pretty strong to make that happen..."
"Very funny, Trunks," Bulma replied. "I'll go turn the gravity back on now. Lunch will be in an hour or so, alright?"
Trunks and the Senshi nodded, eagerly ready to resume their training. For now, they had a reason to train, and an enemy to fight... and the Senshi were confident that they could win quicker than they ever had before. Just one more battle... that's all it would take.
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Or would it? Dun dun dun... three chapters down, this story is one-seventh of the way done! But we haven't even gotten to the exciting parts, oh no no no... thrills, chills, and a whole lot of spills are in store for Trunks and the Senshi... so keep on reading, readers! ^_^