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: Well, remember, Trunks was fighting magical foes, whom he can't sense unless they're REALLY strong. ^_^ Besides, I wanted to have Ami helping Trunks out.
NickeyWhite2: ^_^ Thanks! What in particular was sweet though? I'm glad you liked the chapter!
---
Marika Mizuno sat at her desk in an office on the 5th floor of Juuban Hospital, making notes about one of the patients she'd seen earlier that day. She kept a clean office, and on the top of her desk rested only a nameplate, several pens, a notepad, and a picture of Ami, wearing a light blue dress and smiling a warm smile. Marika glanced at the picture for a second before returning to her notes, neatly scribbling down a few key facts that would help in her patient's treatment.
"Temperature is consistently 101... down from 103 a day ago, that's good... nausea has subsided... it seems like the antibiotics are working," said Marika, scribbling a few more notes. "Young Kosara has had quite the fast recovery... she's such a resilient child..."
The office's tall, wooden door quietly creaked open. Marika looked up to see Ami walk into the room and take a seat across from her at the desk.
"Hello, Ami," Marika said, greeting her daughter.
"Don't worry, I won't stay long," Ami replied, noticing that her mother was busy with work. "The training went really well today! We quit around two and then I came right here."
"I can see that," said Marika, replying with a smile. "I'm glad it's been going well... you haven't had any trouble with being attacked yet, have you?"
Ami shook her head.
"No more villains yet, but we've got to be prepared for the next time they come," Ami said. "Tomorrow, we're going to train in five times normal gravity. Trunks says that once we finish that we'll be absolutely invincible!"
Marika's eyes widened in surprise. Her smile disappeared, and Ami could immediately sense her mother's worry.
"I'm a doctor, not an anatomy specialist, but... the effects of five times normal gravity on the human body can't be very good for-"
"Trunks trains in over a thousand times normal gravity," Ami replied. "Our Senshi forms are much stronger than our normal forms, and we can withstand a lot more... plus, our bodies recover much faster."
Ami stood up, leaning over and kissing her mother on the cheek.
"I'm going to go back to the apartment now... Trunks stayed in his world, but he already said he was coming to see me tomorrow," Ami said.
"Ami, be safe... you know I love you and that I worry about you," replied Marika, looking at Ami with a hint of sadness on her face.
"It's okay, mom," Ami said as she put her hand on the doorknob. "I won't be hurt like I was by Frieza again... Trunks and the others won't let that happen to me, and neither will I."
---
Back at Rei's Shinto shrine, Rei had barely stepped through the door before her grandfather approached her, with a young, pink-haired girl by his side. Rei and the girl immediately recognized one another.
"Rose, what brings you to the Shinto shrine?" Rei asked, reading the troubled look on her friend's face. "You look kinda worried..."
"Well, she's not telling me," said Rei's grandfather, slowly exiting the room. "I just hope she stays long enough to have tea!"
As soon as the old man left the room, Rose let out a loud, annoyed sigh.
"Rei, did you know your grandpa tried to put his hand on my thigh? Twice?" Rose asked, and Rei emitted a humiliated groan.
"Grandpa's a lecher, I thought you knew that already," Rei replied. "Sometimes it can be so embarrassing... that's not what you're here to talk about though, is it?"
"No," Rose said, and Rei sighed with relief. "What I came to talk to you about is something you probably won't know how to deal with, but... for the last few nights, my sisters and I have been having these horrible dreams. Every single night, they get worse and worse... Cammy even woke up screaming and crying."
"That's terrible!" Rei replied. "I wonder what they could be dreaming about that could make them so afraid? Does it have anything to do with their past lives?"
"I know," said Rose. "I'm just worried about Cammy, she's really having the worst dreams out of all of us..."
"Did she tell you what the dream was?" Rei replied, leading Rose into the next room, where a small flame was quietly burning on an elevated pyre.
"She said that she was in a field, and there was thunder and lightning everywhere," said Rose, beginning to shudder. "And there was something chasing her... it pushed her down, she tried to scream, but then something went into her mouth and she couldn't... and that's when she woke up..."
Rei's eyes grew wide with shock.
"What a horrifying dream that must have been..." Rei thought. "When Ami was telling us about her experience in Trunks' world, the three girls... the three girls she told me about, Rose, Angela, and Cammy... she said that all of them died really horribly... I think I remember how Cammy died..."
---
"After Chamomile's tornado attack failed, Frieza attacked her," said Ami. A tear suddenly streaked down Ami's face, and Ami bit her lip as she recalled the horrible manner in which her dear friend had met her demise. "Frieza, he... he slammed his tail all the way down her throat... I... I was stunned, I couldn't move... I could only watch as she choked and gasped, trying to catch her breath... and then his tail came out her stomach-"
"That's gross!" Serena shouted, tossing down the bag of marshmallows she was eating. "Are you trying to make me sick?"
"Serena!" Rei snapped. "Ami's trying to tell the story... this is exactly how it happened, and you need to listen!"
"Go on, Ami," Lita said, her voice trembling slightly. She noticed more tears coming down Ami's face, and she knew that Ami was having a very hard time telling this part of her story. "But if you don't want to, that's-"
"No," said Ami, sniffling. "I can tell the rest... just give me a few moments to... to compose myself..."
---
"She was dreaming about Frieza killing her," Rei thought, biting down into her lip. "She doesn't remember anything from her past life, but in her dreams she's reliving her past death..."
"Can you please tell me why we're having these horrible dreams?" Rose asked. "Please, Rei... I'm really desperate, and I really want to help my little sisters..."
Not wanting to tell Rose anything about her past life as Rosemary, or anything about her sisters' past lives, Rei hesitated a few seconds before saying anything.
"These three girls deserve to live in peace... telling them the truth might... it might... I can't possibly think about what could happen!" Rei thought. "Maybe... maybe you should... Rose, I'm really sorry, but I'm not all that good at this kind of thing..."
"I understand," Rose replied. "Couldn't we... look into the fire? At least once? I just want these dreams to go away, and if I know what they mean..."
Rei was torn. She knew the truth, but telling it to Rose and her sisters might destroy their lives... the wonderful lives and the second chance that the fates had given them. And yet, every night, her friends were being tortured in their dreams by the phantoms of their past lives...
"Damned if I do, damned if I don't," Rei thought sadly. "Alright, Rose... we'll look into the flame... what harm could that do?"
---
"Mom, I'm going out," Trunks said, walking toward the front door of his house. After lunch, he and the girls had trained about an hour and a half more. Trunks hadn't had them use their Planet Power attack again, knowing the physical toll it took on their bodies after putting so much energy into the attack. Plus, Trunks knew he'd have to go Super Saiyan if they used it on him again... the attack did a surprising amount of damage to his body.
"You're going to Nihimo Town, rightt?" asked Bulma, walking into the room and wiping the inside of a glass with a white dishtowel. "Could you pick up some bologna? Serena ate it all, and-"
"Way ahead of you, mom," said Trunks, a slight chuckle escaping his lips. "That Serena, eating us out of house and home... mom said she hadn't seen anyone eat like that since Goku... Mom, should I pick up a few vegetables too?"
"Yes, and get some apples while you're at it," Bulma replied. "I want to make a pie for your friends when they come over and train tomorrow... on second thought, bring a lot of apples. I'm making a pie for each of them."
"Ami doesn't eat very much," said Trunks. "You know that, mom..."
"I figure Serena will just eat whatever is left over," Bulma replied.
"Good point," said Trunks, opening the door. "Bye, mom!"
And with a great amount of speed, Trunks flew out the door, quickly traversing the nearly fifty miles from he and Bulma's house to Nihimo Town, flying at nearly the speed of sound. Trunks could fly much faster, but he knew the sonic booms he'd make flying at those speeds would ruin the delicate ecosystem of the slowly recovering planet, as lichens and ferns had already begun to dot the landscape. After just five minutes, Trunks was over the town, its busy streets bustling with afternoon activity. Nearly half the town was made of new homes and businesses, constructed by the residents of Quadra Town who had come over after Frieza had destroyed their homes eight months ago. Trunks had stopped by to help with the new construction whenever he could, and now that it was complete, Nihimo Town was thriving, containing over two thousand people. Trunks knew that it was one of the largest human settlements on the planet. He swooped once over the city, and then made another pass about halfway before coming to a soft landing on one of the town's busy market streets. Several people smiled and waved to Trunks, greeting him as he walked toward one of the nearby shops.
"I love this town," Trunks thought with a smile as he walked over to a small market tent. "Mom and I are gonna have to live here one of these days..."
---
Back in the other dimension, in Juuban's shopping mall, Lita, Mina, Angela, and Cammy were sitting at a table in the mall's food court. Lita was eating a large salad, while Mina had part of a submarine sandwich in her hands. Cammy had one of the other parts of the sandwich, and Angela was eating a slice of pepperoni pizza.
"Mina, aren't you supposed to be on a diet?" Lita asked.
"I am on a diet!" Mina said, taking another bite of the sandwich. "Didn't you see the commercial? That Jared guy lost a million pounds in like, a month just eating Subway sandwiches!"
"Say it, don't spray it," Angela said, using her hand to wipe sandwich crumbs that Mina had inadvertently spewed onto her face while mumbling through submarine sandwich. "And I really don't think that's how Jared did it..."
"All I know is that if you want to diet, low-carb is the way to go. I was on that Atkins thing for a couple of months, and it did wonders for me," said Cammy.
"It's supposed to be an Atkins lifestyle," Angela replied matter-of-factly. "You know... your whole life? The low-carb lifestyle?"
"Whatever," Cammy said. "Hey, did I tell you guys about the dream I had last night? It was horrible..."
"No," said Lita, putting down her salad fork. "What kind of dream was it?"
"I don't really want to say what it was... but it was horrible, I'll tell you that," replied Cammy.
"She woke up screaming and crying and everything," said Angela quietly, causing Cammy to elbow her in the ribs.
"Angela! Don't tell them that!" Cammy snapped.
"Sorry," Angela groaned, clutching her midsection. "I had a bad dream too, you know... I was on the ground, crawling away from this really, really scary person... he was yelling at me and saying he was going to kill me, and it was really, really dark..."
"That's a lot like my dream," replied Cammy, "except that I was actually attacked by the person... it was horrible!"
"Has Rose been having these dreams too?" Lita asked, slightly concerned.
"Yeah, she has... we've all been having them for the past few days... every night they get progressively worse," replied Angela. "And we all have similar dreams... in the darkness, being attacked..."
"Okay, now I don't want to talk about it," Cammy said, turning away from Angela, her lip quivering as she recalled the previous night's horrific dream. "I know I'm the one who brought this whole thing up, but could we please stop talking now?"
"They're all having the same terrible nightmares at once," Lita thought. "Could this possibly have anything to do with..."
---
"Well, Trunks, what'll ya be havin' today?" asked a kindly old woman as Trunks looked over a large display of fruit that she had placed on a table in front of him.
"I'll take about fifteen apples," said Trunks, pointing to the large pile of fresh, clean, red apples. "They look really, really good!"
"Fifteen?" asked the woman. "Wow, you must really like apples, son... or are ya throwin' a party?"
"It's the second one... well, sort of, anyway," Trunks replied. "I'm having some friends over tomorrow, and-"
"Ah, I wonder if this is about that blue-haired girl you're always with? Annie's her name, correct?"
"Heh, no... her name is Ami," replied Trunks with a chuckle.
"So, you're hostin' her family, trying to impress her parents... the father, I assume. He's a real heart of stone, isn't he? Tryin' ta prove you're a man!"
Trunks chuckled even harder, and began to put the apples into a large, burlap sack he was holding in his hand.
"That's... not really even close at all," Trunks said. "But Ami will be over tomorrow. How much are these apples again?"
"Twenty zeni an apple comes out to three hundred zeni, please!" said the woman, holding out her hand. Trunks smiled and placed 300 zeni into the woman's palm. By assisting with the reconstruction of infrastructural systems, such as electricity and water, within the towns, Bulma received a decent weekly pension of 5,000 zeni, while Trunks did his share of work by flying people to and from certain towns, charging them a flat rate of 500 zeni per flight. Though most of the world had been destroyed, the currency system had been kept intact, though a system of bartering was also in place. What kept most people in good shape was that neighbors helped neighbors, charging low prices for food and other items, and this system would hopefully continue, at least until the world returned to a relatively normal state of affairs, completely modernized once more. With a few parting words, Trunks walked away from the woman's tent, carrying fifteen apples with him. Before he could reach the next shop, however, he was approached by a brown-haired boy with glasses, wearing a brown t-shirt and blue jeans. It was Trunks' friend Chris, also out shopping that day.
"Chris... how's it going?" asked Trunks, greeting his friend. "Out shopping too?"
"Yeah," Chris said. "It's my little sister's second birthday, and mom wants me to find a gift for her... you know, a ball or something. What about you?"
"Grocery shopping," said Trunks, pointing to the apple-filled burlap sack that he was carrying around. "Got some apples here, and after I get some vegetables and some bologna, I'll be done... need any help finding your sister a gift?"
"Nah, I think I've got it covered. Like I said, I think I'll just get her a ball... one of those squeaky ones," said Chris.
"You think they make those anymore?" Trunks replied. "Last I checked, the only toymaker in this town just makes those little rubber superballs that you can throw up against a wall and it bounces back."
"Kiara could swallow that and then she'd choke," Chris replied. "What kind of a brother would I be if I got my sister a dangerous toy like that?"
"True, true... well, I'd better get going," Trunks said. "You're sure you don't need any help?"
"I'm sure, but thanks for offering!" Chris replied. "I'd better just head to the toymaker's house and-"
Suddenly, a large explosion blasted the roof of one of the nearby houses, creating a large gash in the top of the roof and showering rubble on the people inside. When Trunks looked toward the house, all he could see was a thin, string-like wisp of red energy lift up from the house like a whip. When Trunks followed the string up to the air, he could see that it was being held by a beautiful woman... the woman was Nikashi, and somehow, she had come to Trunks' world all by herself. As the people inside the house fled, Trunks and Chris looked up to see the woman floating toward them.
"Yoo-hoo, Trunksie-poo... I came all the way here to see you, aren't you going to say hi?" Nikashi shouted, smiling brightly at Trunks.
"Who in the hell is that?" Chris shouted. An angry scowl crossed Trunks' face, and he immediately flew up to confront Nikashi.
"Get out of here!" Trunks shouted down at Chris. "Hurry!"
With a loud crack, the end of the whip lashed across Trunks' cheek, creating a large cut that immediately began dripping blood. Trunks cried out in pain and put his hand to his cheek. When he looked at it, it was stained with crimson.
"Dammit, she drew an awful lot of blood..." Trunks thought. "I haven't felt an attack like that since my fight with Frieza..."
"Answer me, dammit!" shouted Nikashi, whipping Trunks across the arm. This time, Trunks caught the whip in his hand.
"No," said Trunks, gritting his teeth. "And we're taking this out of town, right now."
"Fine with me," Nikashi said. With a yank of her whip, Trunks was sent flying out of town, his hand torn away from Nikashi's whip as the force of her pull propelled him hundreds of feet away. She smiled and flew after him, floating just a few feet away as he finally came to a stop a good distance away from the town. "Besides, two lovers should always meet in private..."
Nikashi began to giggle, holding her whip tightly in her hand. Trunks could see that the thin strap, glowing with red magical energy, must have been at least ten feet long, and from the gash it had made across his cheek, possessed incredible power.
"Who are you?" Trunks asked. "You work for that fiend that attacked the carnival yesterday, don't you?"
"Work for Pandemonium? Pssh... he wishes I worked for him," said Nikashi. "We both have the same master... Lord Exeter, of the Galactic Research Armada! My name is Nikashi, but I already know who you are... you're Trunks Briefs, and you're even more handsome in person than you are on TV!"
"Wait a minute," said Trunks, coming to a stunning realization. "This is... my dimension... how can you be in two dimensions at once? It's impossible!"
"Trunks, we've studied you for a long, long time... we have data on many different dimensions, and can traverse them with ease!" Nikashi said proudly.
"You know, loose lips sink ships," Trunks replied. "You probably shouldn't be telling me so much about your organization... and now that you've attacked my home, I'm going to destroy you all!"
Trunks flew at Nikashi in a rage, punching and kicking at her several times. Nikashi dodged Trunks' blows with ease, her head, chest, arm, and leg movements perfectly timed to dodge Trunks' blows.
"Oooh, you like it rough... so do I!"
Nikashi quickly pointed her hand at Trunks' chest and fired a small red sphere of energy, knocking him backward and leaving a small hole in his black tanktop. As Trunks clutched his chest, grimacing slightly in pain, Nikashi smirked, and leaned down just enough for Trunks to get a good look at her cleavage.
"I hope you're not distracted," Nikashi said, a sensual quality appearing in her voice. "Because you know, your big, manly muscles are distracting me..."
"I've had enough of this," Trunks said, throwing off his purple jacket and letting it fall to the ground below. "No more games!"
A golden glow surrounded Trunks, and his muscles immediately bulged, growing slightly in size. His hair spiked up, and then went from light purple to bright blonde in a fraction of a second. His eyes turned a bright, piercing blue. Trunks had transformed to the first stage of a Super Saiyan.
"Well now, that's a lot better!" Nikashi said, looking back up at Trunks. "You look so much better as a blonde..."
"Shut up!" Trunks shouted, flying at Nikashi and letting loose with a furious kick at her face. This time, Nikashi was barely able to dodge as Trunks' foot passed just to the side of her head. Trunks threw a punch at Nikashi, which she caught with her left hand and desperately struggled to hold back. Trunks kicked at Nikashi's head again. She caught his leg with her other hand, beginning to strain under the force of Trunks' attack.
"Not... bad... Trunks..." Nikashi said, continuing to smile even as she struggled to hold Trunks in place. Trunks remained silent, twisting his other leg up and kicking Nikashi in the side of her head. Then, Trunks drove his elbow into her stomach. The stunned woman was knocked back, clutching her stomach and forehead at the same time. Trunks remained relentless in his attack, flying at Nikashi and throwing another punch at her already bruised head. Nikashi barely dodged the punch, swinging her head to the side and leaping even further back. Then, she pointed her arms at Trunks, a flurry of glowing magical energy spheres appearing in front of her.
"Better get ready for this..." Trunks thought, sensing the energy from Nikashi's attack. "I'm sensing her... that means her magical power must be incredibly large!"
Without warning, the energy spheres flew at Trunks, stopping just as they reached him. Then, they began to circle around him, forming a twirling ring of red energy as they whizzed around Trunks with incredible speed.
"You think that's going to stop me?" Trunks shouted, his golden energy aura flaring up. "I'm not afraid of you!"
Trunks flew at Nikashi, ignoring the ring of energy floating around him. That was a big mistake. As he touched the ring, it detonated in a giant, dome-shaped energy explosion, visible for miles around... especially to the people of Nihimo Town, who began screaming and running for their lives.
"I hope he's not dead," Nikashi said, a grin on her face. "Just incapacitated... for a long, long time!"
The explosion subsided, and the smoke and dust disappeared. Trunks floated out of the huge crater made by the explosion, slightly burned and slightly bruised. His pants and tanktop were covered with small rips and tears, and he had an angry look on his face, his eyes locked on Nikashi's.
"You... look mad..." Nikashi said, putting her finger up to her mouth. "I thought that attack would-"
"You should know a LOT better than that," Trunks replied. "If you've really been secretly watching me..."
"I've had enough of this!" Nikashi snapped, wiping a small trickle of blood from her lips. "If you don't want to play nice, we're not going to play at all... for now! We'll meet again, Trunks, and I just hope you'll be in a better mood!"
Nikashi disappeared in a flash of light, cackling loudly.
"You coward!" Trunks shouted, his Super Saiyan energy aura flaring up again. "Come back right now! Come back!"
Trunks sighed, detransforming and floating down into the middle of the crater. He inspected his arms and legs, noticing that they were dirty with blood and smudges of dirt. Slowly, Trunks floated up out of the crater and turned back toward Nihimo Town.
"I'm going to go see if everyone's alright... then I'm going to go back home and get cleaned up," Trunks said quietly. "I just can't believe... that they'd attack all the way here... my home, my world... my friends... they're all in danger again! DAMN YOU, YOU BASTARDS! WHOEVER YOU ARE, WHEREVER YOU ARE... I WON'T FORGIVE YOU FOR ENDANGERING MY WORLD AGAIN!"
---
Rei and Rose had been staring into the glowing flame for nearly half an hour, their silence only broken by Rei's quiet chanting.
"I'm not seeing anything..." Rose whispered. "Maybe this is-"
"Shh," Rei said, holding up her hand. "I'm just about... getting a glimpse of-"
Then, the fire suddenly burst upward, giving off a glare twice as bright as it had been giving before. Rose gasped loudly, shrieking and recoiled backward. Rei put her hand over her eyes to shield herself from the bright flames. Then, she slowly slid her hand away, staring directly into the bright flames.
"Rei, what are you... you'll be blinded!" Rose said. Rei ignored her, continuing to look into the flames. Finally, the flames died down. Rei closed her eyes and bowed her head, overwhelmed by what she had seen.
"Rosemary, Angelica, Chamomile... their deaths, I saw everything... their spirits are calling out to me, they want to come out... but what... what can I tell my friends? I can't tell them about their past, it would... it would hurt them! But they're already hurt now..."
"Rei?" Rose said quietly, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Are you..."
"I'm fine, Rose... I'm fine... maybe you should go home."
---
"How could you do something so foolish?" Pandemonium shouted, his rage flaring at Nikashi as she stood before him. "You knew that my minions and I were going to attack Trunks today!"
"But I wanted to go after Trunks!" Nikashi shrieked. "He's mine... he's all mine, and you're trying to ruin it for me! And I almost beat him, too!"
"Then why did you run from him?" Pandemonium asked.
"I didn't want to kill him and ruin our research..."
"Ruin our research?" Pandemonium yelled. "Nikashi, I'm going to kill Trunks... it won't ruin anything. You should have finished the job. Unless you were... scared."
"I WASN'T SCARED!" Nikashi shrieked.
"Well, at any rate... Ami is alone in her apartment, and I'm hoping to do her in very quickly by sending Flarinsa and Patrick to destroy her. Since she's alone, it will be a piece of cake, even if she does transform..."
"And Trunks?" Nikashi said. "Won't he-"
"He's in his world, remember?" Pandemonium asked. "There's nothing he can do to help her..."
---
Meanwhile, Ami sat alone in her apartment, watching TV in her living room and waiting for Dr. Mizuno to return home.
"Mom's running a bit late tonight..." Ami said, looking at her watch. "It's past five..."
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Ami smiled, springing to her feet and walking over to the door to see who it was. She opened it, and gasped in horror.
"Goodbye," said Flarinsa, pointing her hand at Ami and blasting her with a huge fireball. Ami immediately took out her henshin stick and transformed.
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
Sailor Mercury's transformation completed just as the large fireball reached her. Recalling what Trunks had told her, Sailor Mercury concentrated her energy and surrounded herself in an aura of blue light, holding back the fireball just long enough to block it with her hand and blast it back with a huge beam of ice. The ice beam disintegrated the fireball and slammed into both Flarinsa and Patrick, knocking them back into the wall just outside Ami's apartment and freezing them to the wall in a thick layer of ice.
"Argh!" Patrick shouted, struggling to break free of his freezing prison.
"Now you know how it feels!" Sailor Mercury shouted back. "If you can't stand the taste of your own medicine, don't be a doctor!"
"That was just stupid," said Flarinsa, her body beginning to glow red with fiery magical energy.
"All I could think about was that silly thing mom said a few years back... I've really got to work on this superhero catchphrase thing, I'm getting really rusty..."
"Now die!" Flarinsa shrieked as the layers of ice shattered, freeing Patrick and herself. Flarinsa rushed at Sailor Mercury and hit her with the side of her arm, which was glowing brightly as fire coursed around it. Sailor Mercury screamed and fell back onto the coffee table, her face burning from where Flarinsa had hit her.
"After everything Trunks has taught me... I'm not going to lose, not to these two!" thought Sailor Mercury, picking herself up from the table. "I won't let Trunks down!"
"I wouldn't get up if I were you," said Patrick, charging up an attack of his own. "But it really doesn't matter... you'll die either way!"
"No... no I won't!" Sailor Mercury shouted, clenching her fists and focusing her energy. "Mercury... Infusion..."
Sailor Mercury stopped her attack and fired off a beam of ice just as Patrick launched a similar attack. The two beams of ice energy collided, creating an explosion that coated the entire living room of the apartment in a thick, freezing layer of ice. The two warriors were tossed back, Sailor Mercury to the back of the room and Patrick to the apartment's entrance. Flarinsa pushed him aside and walked into the room.
"Ice against ice is just going to lead to a draw... I'll melt her like a popsicle!" Flarinsa shouted angrily, marching toward Sailor Mercury. "I'll-"
"Pay for everything you've done!" Trunks said, standing just outside the room. He grabbed Patrick and tossed him at Flarinsa. The two collided and fell to the floor in a heap, groaning in pain.
"Trunks!" Sailor Mercury shouted, running toward him and noticing the large bandage on his cheek. "What happened-"
"No time," said Trunks, pointing his arm at Flarinsa and Patrick. "I'll destroy these two in no time... you don't mind me using a ki blast in your apartment, do you?"
"It's already coated in an inch-thick layer of ice," said Sailor Mercury sadly. "Maybe your blast can thaw it out..."
"You won't get a chance to use it!" Flarinsa said, looking up at Trunks from the ground. "You weren't supposed to be here... it's not fair!"
Flarinsa and Patrick disappeared in a bright flash of light, leaving Trunks and Sailor Mercury alone in the apartment.
"Ami, are you alright?" Trunks asked, not showing his anger over Flarinsa and Patrick's sudden departure.
"Mm-hmm," Sailor Mercury said, wrapping her arms around Trunks. "Trunks, what happened to you? Your cheek is-"
"One of those... those fiends, attacked me in my own world," said Trunks. "She wasn't like the ones you guys fought, though... she was much more powerful... I had to go Super Saiyan just to be even in strength with her. I could sense her power, Ami... it was incredible..."
"I can't believe they got to your world, Trunks!" Sailor Mercury shouted. "Are you sure she's-"
"I'm absolutely sure," Trunks said. "She told me herself that she and Pandemonium work for some mysterious man named Exeter... this thing goes really deep, Ami... I think we might be going up against an entire army..."
"Ami, I'm home..." Marika said, walking up to the apartment. As she got a good look inside, and she saw the thick layer of ice covering everything in the room, she gasped, putting her hand up to her lips. "Oh my god..."
Marika collapsed to the floor, fainting in shock. Trunks and Sailor Mercury quickly ran over and scooped her up into their arms, gently cradling her body.
"I guess we should... probably thaw this room out, wouldn't you say?" Trunks said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Mom... I'm sorry..." Sailor Mercury whispered.
---
So the bad guys have entered two worlds... and Trunks is getting even angrier! Can Trunks and the Senshi stop the growing threat? And what will happen to Rose, Angela, and Cammy? The answers lie ahead! Please review, everyone!