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-
Zyppora: Oh, I'm sure Cammy's going to get a chance for revenge sometime soon... I mean, all her friends are here now!
GracedAngel1854: Well, Cammy's not out of the woods yet... Patrick still has her, and he could always come back! Hope the good guys get there in time...
---
The control of the space station was ablaze with motion. Sirens were blaring, lights were flashing off and on, and several workers were busily milling about as they viewed the monitoring screens that recorded all sorts of activity taking place just outside the station. Trunks' capsule was rapidly approaching, and Pandemonium had been called into the room to be notified of the current situation. But he already knew, he could already sense the capsule's approach. Trunks was drawing nearer, and Pandemonium could feel it.
"Sir, the capsule is heading straight for us!" shouted a hysterical worker, pointing at a video feed of the capsule's approach.
"Here for their friend, no doubt," Pandemonium said, still slightly annoyed with Patrick and his abduction of Cammy. "Though this should not have happened, it was inevitable that they'd have to come to us some time. I have already ordered my best soldiers to prepare. If they wish to find their friend, they'll have to fight all the way to her."
Pandemonium turned and walked out of the room, hurriedly striding down one of the corridors.
"I just hope Nikashi's recovered in time... she won't want to miss her chance to take Trunks on," said Pandemonium. Though he knew he'd have to face Trunks himself, he also knew that it wouldn't hurt to have Nikashi soften him up first. He didn't plan to let Nikashi die, however... he would swoop in at the last moment, get Nikashi out of the room, and fight a badly-weakened Trunks himself. That was the plan, anyway... he just hoped that his warriors would be ready to distract the Senshi while he worked on Trunks. The sooner they could be separated, the better.
---
As the capsule approached the space station, Trunks checked the controls at the middle of the ship to confirm that he was still on course. He brought up a view of the outside on the capsule's large screen. There, nearly filling the screen entirely, was the space station itself, becoming larger and larger as the capsule drew closer and closer.
"That's it?" Sailor Moon asked, looking at the huge citadel on the screen. It was an impressive sight, consisting of a large, wide, circular disk with eight spikes jutting out, like the spokes of a wheel. "It looks kinda small..."
"That's just on the screen, Serena," Trunks said, continuing to stare at the picture. "It's probably more than a mile wide."
"And somewhere in all that is Cammy..." Rose said, a solemn look on her face. "It'll take forever to find her... where do we start?"
"I've already pinpointed a large opening in one of the spikes, probably some sort of landing bay left open," said Trunks, pressing a few buttons to make the camera zoom in on one of the spikes, making the opening much clearer to the seven girls. "That's where we'll come in."
"Are you sure it's not a trap, Trunks?" Sailor Mercury asked. "Maybe they're expecting us...""I bet they are," Trunks replied, "and that's why we'll have to be at our absolute best."
"I'm still a bit tired from training..." Sailor Mars said, still slumped against the side of the capsule. "Trunks, could you maybe slow down a bit so we could get some more rest?"
"No!" Angela shouted, rising to her feet. Tears began to pool up in her eyes, and all of the Senshi, as well as Trunks and Rose, could tell that she was extremely determined to get Cammy back. "With every second that goes by, Cammy is in more and more danger! I'm not going to stand idly by and let my sister get hurt, or raped, or killed! We're all going in and we're all going to save her!"
"Angela's right!" agreed Sailor Jupiter. "Cammy needs us, and we've got to help her out!"
"She'd do the same for us, no matter how exhausted she was!" Sailor Venus said.
"I know that, you guys, but... we're no use to Cammy if we go into battle tired and we get our butts kicked," said Sailor Mars.
"You've been training all day," Trunks replied. "Once you get into battle, you should feel stronger than ever. I know that whenever I gain new strength, even if I'm hurt or tired, I feel like I'm completely healed. All of that new energy overrides everything, and completely takes over... like when I ascended during my battle against Frieza. Frieza had beaten me to near-death, but once I became a level two Super Saiyan, all the new energy seemed to heal my wounds... of course, it didn't, so I was bandaged up quite a bit until my mom could make some new Senzu Beans."
"In other words, what Trunks is saying is... don't worry about being tired out from training, just do your best and you'll do fine!" Sailor Moon said, simplifying Trunks' speech. "Right, Trunks? Did I get it right?"
"Absolutely right, Serena... thank you," Trunks said. Suddenly, a sharp beeping noise focused Trunks' attention back on the capsule's viewscreen. "Well, we seem to be approaching the opening now. Remember, they're probably expecting us, so be on your guard."
Everyone who had been sitting stood up, including Sailor Mercury, who walked over to Trunks and placed her hand on his shoulder. She looked up at him and nodded, and he nodded back to her, knowing that both of them were ready for whatever was to come.
---
The capsule ship entered the hole and floated into a large, open room, completely empty of everything but a few small space rocks, floating inside the room. As the ship landed, the large hole suddenly closed, and the rocks fell to the ground as gravity returned to the room.
"What's going on?" Sailor Moon asked. "Why did the hole close?"
"It's probably triggered by the entrance and exit of a ship," Sailor Mercury replied. "Or... Trunks could be right about them expecting us, and it was closed remotely."
"Whatever the reason, I think we should get out and begin our search, quick," Trunks said, pressing a button on the console and opening up the capsule ship's door. "Ladies first."
Rose and Angela stepped out of the ship, followed by the Senshi, and finally Trunks. The door closed, leaving the eight warriors standing inside the middle of the large room. The room's walls shined with a bright, silvery glow, indicating that they were made of some sort of metal which reflected the light shined off. Trunks looked all the way down to the end of the room, where three small, metal doors sealed the room off from the rest of the ship. Trunks, the Senshi, and the two sisters ran down to the three doors and began to ponder their next course of action.
"We should stay together and search these doors one by one," Trunks said. "If we split up, we're bound to end up in big trouble. There could be some very strong people in this place, and-"
"But if we stay together, we won't cover any ground!" Rose shouted. "Angela and I can take the door on the left, and then Trunks, you can take a door, and the Senshi can take the other door! We just want to find our sister, beat up whoever it is that kidnapped her, and get out of this grody place!"
"Hey, now who's the leader here?" Sailor Moon asked indignantly. "I am, and I say that-"
"Who's the strongest?" Sailor Mercury replied, obviously indicating Trunks. "I think Trunks is right about strong people... but we're all just as strong as they are, and Rose does have a very good point. We've got to find Cammy as quickly as possible... Trunks and I can search the center door, Rose and Angela can take the left door, and the rest of you can take the right door. Trunks... I'm sure that's okay, right?"
Trunks began to nod, but then replied with another idea.
"Ami, I... I think you'd be better off with the other Senshi," Trunks said. "I love you, and I cherish every moment I spend with you, but... the Senshi is your group, and there are a lot of things they can't do without your help... no offense, Serena."
Sailor Moon groaned, and Trunks continued.
"You're strong, Ami... I still worry about you, but somehow, I know you'll be safe. You need to help your friends, okay? They need you just as much as I do."
Sailor Mercury nodded, but her eyes still reflected a look of great concern. Trunks' eyes widened. Was Ami hurt? Had Trunks said something that had made Ami feel like a burden to him? It wasn't the message he'd wanted to convey to her, because she was anything like a burden... she was his strength, his will to fight, his will to live... but her fellow Senshi needed her. She was brilliant, she could help them, and only with her could they use their Sailor Planet Power attack, an attack strong enough to harm even Trunks himself. With Ami, the Senshi were unstoppable. Without her... Trunks wasn't sure.
"It's just that... I'm worried, Trunks," Mercury said. "Not for myself, but for you... I'm scared they'll gang up on you, Trunks... I don't want to leave you alone, I don't want to go away and come back and see you hurt, I don't want... I don't want to leave you, Trunks..."
Those words surprised Ami even as they were coming out of her mouth. Had she become so dependent on Trunks that she couldn't stand to be away from him for even a second? She'd spent days without him before, even as recently as a month or two ago... that wasn't it, though being without Trunks hurt Ami, it wasn't like she couldn't stand it, but... it was something else. He feared and prayed for her safety, and she feared and prayed for his. Being away from Trunks meant being helpless, unable to save him if something happened, if someone attacked. She knew that Trunks had taken serious damage in his fight with Pandemonium, and if Ami had been there, maybe... the mention of Trunks' fight with Frieza just a short while ago aboard the capsule brought a chill to Ami's spine. The most painful part of that entire ordeal hadn't been the terrible wounds and injuries inflicted upon her body, but the complete sense of helplessness and shame that she had felt as she watched Trunks sustain those same wounds, his body battered and mutilated as he fought to save her life. The horrible agony of not even being able to tell Trunks that she still loved him despite all of the pain she had endured because of being with him, of thinking even for a second that Trunks truly believed she hated him... her telepathic connection with Trunks in close proximity would prevent something like that from ever happening again, but even then, if she was more than a thousand feet away, their connection would be severed again, and she didn't want that to happen either. No, Ami had to be with Trunks, to pull him out of the water if he fell in too deep... she knew that even he might need rescuing one of these days.
"Ami, I... you know your friends need you, but if you really want to come with me, then you can," said Trunks. "Thank you, Ami..."
"I don't want to be a burden, Trunks, I just want to make sure you'll be alright," Sailor Mercury replied. "Serena, is that alright with-"
"Go ahead," Sailor Moon said, a smile on her lips. "This is like when Fred and Daphne go off on that Scooby-Doo show... they SAY they're going after the bad guy, when they're really making out in the Mystery Machine! Nah, Trunks and Ami aren't like that... they know what they're doing."
The sound of a door sliding open and then quickly sliding closed caused Trunks and the Senshi to turn their heads toward the left door. Both Rose and Angela were gone.
"They must have gone ahead," said Trunks. "They're really eager to find their sister... I just hope they don't bite off more than they can chew..."
"We'd better get going ourselves," said Sailor Jupiter, walking over to the control panel on the right door and opening it up. "Wow, I got it the first time..."
"We'll see you two later!" Sailor Venus said as she, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Moon, and Sailor Mars walked through the door. "Don't get too comfortable being by yourselves... Sailor Moon said we're going to try and meet up with everyone somewhere."
As the door on the right closed, leaving Trunks and Sailor Mercury alone in the room, Trunks walked toward the center door's control console and pressed the button on its front panel, causing the door to slide open.
"Let's go, Ami," Trunks said, walking through the doorway.
"Trunks, I hope we find Cammy soon," said Sailor Mercury as she followed Trunks inside and watched the door slide closed behind her. "After we do, are we going to.... end this once and for all?"
"Yes," Trunks said, walking down the hallway in front of him with Sailor Mercury following close behind. "I won't let those fiends attack the people I care about anymore. They're all going to pay."
---
Rose and Angela's route had taken them through several large rooms consisting of walkways precariously perched over long, straight drops.
"I wonder what's down there?" Angela asked as she turned her head and looked down from the walkway while still running across.
"I don't know, and I don't wanna know," Rose said. "Just keep running until we reach the exit!"
As the girls continued to run, they could see a wide door at the end of the walkway, with a long, solid crossfloor just in front of it, stretching across the length of the room."Looks like that door leads to the end of these dumb rooms!" Rose shouted."It's about freaking time," Angela replied. "I'm afraid of heights!"
But just before the girls could reach the end of the room, a strong wind began to blow, sending the girls screaming and flying across the long walkway, all the way to the middle. They landed on top of one another, groaning in pain as they slammed into the hard, metallic walkway floor. They stood up, and saw Elbarzad standing at the other end of the walkway, laughing at them."If you foolish girls think you're leaving this room alive, you're more naive than you look," Elbarzad said, his arms across his chest.
"This walkway's the only thing keeping you from plummeting to your doom!" shouted a voice from behind the two sisters. They turned around to see Grenate standing all the way across the room on the other side of the walkway, creating a pincer-attack situation that left the two girls trapped in the middle. Rose and Angela looked back and forth nervously before standing back-to-back on the walkway, Rose facing Grenate while Angela faced Elbarzad. Sweat was pouring down the sisters' faces.
"It's about time you met your maker!" Grenate shouted. Suddenly, the room began to shake with incredible force. The strong metallic walkway began to buckle and crumble beneath the two girls.
"No! He's going to make it collapse!" Angela shouted.
"Hurry!" Rose ordered, pointing toward Elbarzad and the end of the room. "We've gotta get across before-"
But it was too late. Without warning, the floor fell out from underneath the two girls, and the entire walkway, except for the small part that Grenate was standing on, and the crossfloor under Elbarzad's feet, plummeted toward the vast, dark hole, sending the two screaming girls falling to their demise.
"Excellent work, Grenate," Elbarzad said. "Those girls will never bother us-"
Suddenly, a long, thorny rose vine wrapped around Elbarzad's torso, pinning his arms to his sides and piercing his skin, pulling him into the hole with Rose and Angela. A loud, piercing scream was the last thing Grenate heard as his comrade sank into the black pit."Damn it!" Grenate shouted. "Well, I guess they didn't want to die alone. At least they-"
Another thorny vine wrapped around Grenate's ankle. As he cried out in pain, the vine began to pull him down into the crevasse. Desperately, Grenate grabbed for the precipice as he was pulled down, and barely managed to catch it with one hand. Now, he was hanging on for dear life from the remnants of the walkway, screaming loudly as his hand began to slip.
"Bitch!" Grenate yelled out as loud as he could. "Let me go this instant! You'll pay for this, I'm warning you!"Suddenly, Grenate could see a woman with long, blue hair, climbing up the vine connected to his ankle. It was Angela, and before Grenate could do anything about it, she had carefully climbed over him and onto the precipice.
"Hey there," Angela said, looking down at Grenate with a big smile on her face. "How's it hangin'?"
"Damn you, pull me up!" Grenate shouted. "Your sister's hanging on the vine, and if I fall, she dies too!"
"Hold on, mister. Where's our sister?" Angela shouted. "I love Rosie-chan very much, but I'd be more than pleased to let you and your big stinky friend fall to your doom. So tell me where Cammy is, or-"
"Or you'll do what?" asked Grenate, his grip on the metallic walkway becoming more tenuous as his grip continued to loosen. "I think you're bluffing... you wouldn't dare risk your other sister's life.... "
"WHERE IS SHE?" Angela shouted, her hand clamping over Grenate's, her fingernails beginning to break into his skin, causing his grip on the precipice to slip even more.
"I don't... I don't know!" Grenate shouted. "That perverted Patrick is keeping her locked up in a room somewhere, I swear I haven't seen her!"
"Okay, thank you, that's all I needed," Angela said. "Okay, Rosie-chan!"
Another thorn-covered vine flew up and wrapped around Angela's wrist, but none of the thorns were anywhere near Angela's skin. She tugged on the vine until her sister Rose was safely on the precipice, and then pulled the vine back. Two vines coming from her left hand were still wrapped around Grenate and Elbarzad, and as they disappeared, a loud, desperate scream could be heard coming from thousands of feet below. Grenate was still hanging from the remnants of the walkway, still trying to pull himself up.
"That's your buddy, plummeting to his death," Rose said, lifting her foot above Grenate's hand. "And very soon, you'll be joining him."
With a burst of strength, Grenate quickly pulled himself up onto the ledge and kicked Rose's leg out from under her, knocking her to the floor on her back. Angela gasped, but Rose simply stood up and kicked Grenate all the way out of the room, into the previous room, which contained another long walkway. He slammed into the walkway face first, groaning as he climbed to his feet. Angela and Rose entered the room just after him, standing on the long crossfloor inbetween the walkway and the door.
"Not very much space to fight, is it?" Grenate asked, stepping back away from the two girls. "Damn you... you lousy, cheap, dirty... you killed Elbarzad!"
"I can't believe you guys even care about one another," Rose said. "Besides, you guys are the dirty fighters! You trapped us on that walkway and tried to send us falling to our deaths! That's just pathetic!"
"Well, I'm more than happy to take the two of you on by myself," Grenate said. "Unfortunately, since we're in such a cramped area-"
"This is a good place to fight," Rose said, stepping out onto the walkway. "Angela, stay in front of the door. I don't think he'll try and take out the walkway with both of us on it, but-"
"I don't have to take out the walkway!" Grenate shouted, running toward Rose. "I can take out the two of you just fine!"
---
The Senshi, meanwhile, had been wandering through much more conventional corridors, made up of long hallways with hundreds of doors lining them. They checked each and every door, but could find none containing anything of any consequence, including Cammy. Most of the rooms seemed to be living quarters, containing beds and closets, but none of the people inhabiting those rooms seemed to be present.
"They must be mobilizing for something," Sailor Moon said, having inspected what must have been her fiftieth empty room. "This is insane!"
"Cammy could be anywhere in this place," Sailor Mars said. "I don't think she'd be anywhere near here, though... these rooms are for regular, low-level soldiers... the beings we fought seem to be much stronger.""So whoever kidnapped Cammy must be holding her somewhere else, like in a secret area of the station," said Sailor Moon as she stood next to Sailor Mars in one of the hallways. "Are you sure she wouldn't be kept in an ordinary soldier's room? It's the last place anyone would look..."
"But she could easily escape if kept with a weak, low-level soldier," said Sailor Jupiter. "She's just as tough as we are, and I know I could escape if an ordinary person kidnapped me. She's gotta be somewhere that's extremely well-guarded..."
"Hey guys, I think I found something!" shouted Sailor Venus from one of the adjacent hallways. As the other three Senshi ran toward the source of Sailor Venus' voice, she could see that she was standing in front of a large, open door with the words "Training Area" engraved on a golden plate just above it. When the Senshi looked inside, they could see a large, wide-open room, similar to the hangar where they'd landed but not quite as big, with weapons and other training equipment lining the walls, as well as a large, raised fighting ring in the center of the room. The Senshi walked into the room and leapt up onto the ring, which was about fifty feet in diameter. The hard, tiled floor of the ring was stained in blood, indicating spots where the training had gotten especially violent.
"This must be where their soldiers or whoever are trained," said Sailor Venus, looking all around the room. "Eww, it smells all sweaty in here... this room must've been used recently. It's a shame they can't clean it up once in a while..."
"I wonder who trains the soldiers?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"That would be me," came Flarinsa's voice from another entrance to the room, at the opposite end from where the Senshi had come in. She was being accompanied by Patrick, whose expression indicated that he was not happy to be there.
"Where are you two jerks keeping Cammy?" Sailor Moon shouted.
Upon the mention of Cammy's name, Patrick's head jerked up. He smiled a sick smile in Sailor Moon's direction.
"That information will remain confidential," said Patrick. "Besides, it won't matter once all of you are dead."
"So Patrick IS keeping Cammy somewhere," Sailor Moon thought, horrified. "I really hope he hasn't done anything to her yet... we've got to beat this sick perv and rescue her!"
"I didn't think you'd tell us, you perverted bastard!" shouted Sailor Jupiter. "So we're prepared to beat that information out of you!"
"We will get Cammy back," said Sailor Mars. "We made a promise!""And we plan to keep that promise!" Sailor Venus shouted."Because we're the Sailor Senshi, and in the name of the Moon... we'll punish you!" Sailor Moon shouted. The four Senshi stood in the center of the ring and remained in a fighting stance as Flarinsa and Patrick ran up and leapt into the ring to face them.
"Your death is imminent, Sailor Senshi... we've been training quite a bit since our earlier defeat, and you can rest assured we won't be beaten again," Flarinsa said. She pointed her arms at the Senshi and let loose with a series of small, red blasts that detonated in several explosions just in front of the Senshi and sent them leaping for cover. While this was going on, Sailor Mars ran at Patrick and slapped him hard across the face, stunning him and leaving a bright red welt on his cheek.
"How dare you force your perverted ways on an innocent young woman!" Sailor Mars shouted, her eyes flaring up with anger. "You'll pay for everything you've done to Cammy!"
Patrick didn't reply, but instead, turned around and blasted Sailor Mars with a thick sheet of ice, coating her entire body and sending her flying back. She landed on her stomach, causing the ice to shatter and leaving her lying face down on the floor, with shattered chunks of ice all around her fallen form.
"Jupiter Thundercloud Zap!"
Sailor Jupiter hurled hundreds of disks of lightning at Patrick. The disks surrounded him and shocked him several times with deadly electrical energy, before dissipating and leaving Patrick with several intense burns."Unnh..." Patrick groaned, stumbling about as smoke swirled up from his body. Before he could recover, Sailor Jupiter leapt forward with a powerful punch to Patrick's face that sent him sprawling out of the ring. He landed on the floor on his back, groaning in pain.
"I've gotta get back to Cammy," Patrick thought as he stood up, only to see an angry Sailor Jupiter stalking toward him. "This is pathetic..."
Meanwhile, Flarinsa had her hands full with Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus, using bursts of fire to block their powerful attacks. Suddenly, one of Venus' chains smacked across her leg, slicing a long, bleeding gash and catching Flarinsa off-guard for a large energy blast by Sailor Moon. The blast hit her squarely in the chest, detonating in a bright explosion. As the smoke cleared, Flarinsa was still standing, but was dazed for several seconds.
"Success!" Sailor Moon shouted, turning to Sailor Venus. "A few more of those, and we'll win this fight quick!"
Sailor Venus nodded. As soon as she did, a burning, red fireball slammed into her back, causing her to cry out and fall flat on her face. Flarinsa stood above her, glowering in rage.
"And you'd better stay down!" Flarinsa shouted.
"My friend!" Sailor Moon shrieked. She leapt back and concentrated a large amount of energy into her hands, preparing to fire a series of blasts at Flarinsa. But then, a cold mist suddenly engulfed her body, and she soon found her arms frozen to her sides. She fell over, shivering from the immense cold that had quickly overtaken her. "W-w-w-what the..."
Patrick smiled, and kicked the frozen Sailor Moon in the face, rolling her over toward Flarinsa. Flarinsa smiled, and looked back up at Patrick.
"Excellent work," said Flarinsa, stomping on the helpless Moon Senshi's head.
"Aaaaargh!" Sailor Moon screamed as Flarinsa's foot connected with the side of her face. "Gotta... break out of..."
"I'm coming, Sailor Moon!" Sailor Mars shouted, running toward her fallen friend and pointing her arms at Flarinsa and Patrick. "Take this!"
A bright fireball flew at Flarinsa and Patrick, exploding in their faces before they had time to dodge. The heat from the explosion melted the ice around Sailor Moon, freeing her and leaving her lying in a puddle on the floor of the ring. Flarinsa and Patrick screamed as flames scorched their bodies, while Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus stood up and joined Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars in the ring. When the flames subsided, the two were left with slight burns all over their bodies, but neither Flarinsa nor Patrick seemed to be too badly hurt.
"I told you we've gotten stronger!" shouted Flarinsa. "And now, we're going to-"
"Looks like your friend's had enough!" Sailor Venus remarked, pointing toward Patrick, who was fleeing toward the back entrance of the room. Flarinsa turned toward Patrick and gasped in shock.
"Dammit, come back here and help me!" Flarinsa shrieked, her voice beginning to fill with rage. Patrick didn't even turn to look at Flarinsa as he ran out of the room, obviously going back to inflict more pain on Cammy. Sailor Mars realized this, and began to follow Patrick out of the room."Mars, where are you going?" Sailor Moon shouted. "We've gotta stay and finish Flarinsa off!""I can't let him hurt Cammy anymore!" Sailor Mars shouted back. "I know exactly where he's going!"But just before Sailor Mars could reach the door, she was engulfed in flames and fell to her knees, screaming in pain. The other three Senshi immediately shouted Sailor Mars' name."You're staying right here!" Flarinsa shouted. "I'm going to burn all of you to ashes!"
With a loud scream, Flarinsa let out a huge wave of magical energy in the form of flames that swept across the room. The Senshi put their arms up to the faces to shield themselves as the scorching energy wave rushed past. As Sailor Mars climbed back up into the ring and joined the other three Senshi, they could all see the incredible force that Flarinsa had been able to unleash at full strength. Her body seemed to be engulfed in flames, and the smiling, cackling Flarinsa was right at the center."Like I said, I'll destroy all of you pathetic Senshi!" Flarinsa shrieked. "Prepare to burn in the fires of hell!"
---
Meanwhile, Trunks and Sailor Mercury's search for Cammy had been equally fruitless. They wandered endlessly through mazes of corridors before finally reaching a large, jet-black door. When they opened it and stepped inside, they found themselves inside a huge room lit only with red light. As they slowly walked toward the back of the room, Sailor Mercury began to shiver, as if she'd sensed the presence of some great evil. Trunks sensed Mercury's shivering, and turned back to face her.
"Ami, are you alright?" Trunks asked. Sailor Mercury nodded, but then looked around nervously.
"I don't like this place... something's going to happen," said Sailor Mercury, her voice beginning to tremble. As Trunks reached up to touch her face, trying to reassure her, a cold wind began to blow in the room. It wasn't a wind of air, but a wind of energy, being pushed out towards Trunks and Sailor Mercury.
"What's that?" Sailor Mercury shouted, trying to glimpse toward the back of the room.
"Someone's here... I can feel it...!"And then, a brilliant black flash immediately drew Trunks and Sailor Mercury's attention to the black of the room. There, floating amidst a sea of red and black light, was Nikashi, her long, glowing red whip clutched menacingly in her right hand. Sailor Mercury's arms wrapped tightly around Trunks' chest as she felt the intense power coming off of Nikashi, rivaling that of Trunks himself. Trunks protectively wrapped his arm around her back, knowing that both he and Sailor Mercury were in grave danger.
"Well, look who we have here... what a lovely surprise!" Nikashi shrieked. Trunks gently released Sailor Mercury and stepped forward.
"Your fight is with me," Trunks said. "Leave Ami-"
Suddenly, a glowing, black barrier rose up between Trunks and Sailor Mercury, bisecting the room and cutting them off from one another. Now, Sailor Mercury was the only one who could possibly reach the exit of the room, as the barrier blocked both Trunks and Nikashi from the large, black door. Trunks turned toward the barrier and pounded it with his fists as Sailor Mercury looked at him fearfully from the other side."Trunks!" Sailor Mercury screamed as loud as she could, her voice muffled by the barrier. "Can you hear me?"
"I'm coming, Ami, don't worry!" Trunks shouted. Within seconds, he transformed into a Super Saiyan. "Ami, step back! I'm going to-"
Suddenly, Nikashi's long, red whip wrapped around Trunks' neck and tightened like a noose, pulling him back and cutting off his airway. As Trunks gasped for breath, Sailor Mercury screamed even louder, blasting the barrier with ice energy in a desperate attempt to break it and get to Trunks."You told me to leave Ami out of this," Nikashi said as she pulled back on the whip, pulling Trunks closer and closer. Finally, Trunks lost his footing, and fell to his knees on the ground, his golden energy aura still brightly pulsating around him. "Look at that, the mighty Trunks is on his knees already! This is going to be so much fun..."
"TRUNKS!" Sailor Mercury shouted, desperately pounding on the barrier as tears began to streak down her face. "This is what I was afraid of... Trunks, no!"
---
Once more, Patrick stepped into the small, dark room where he had been keeping Cammy as his captive. Now, he was all alone with her, and there would be nothing to stop him from getting exactly what he wanted out of his helpless prisoner. As she looked up at him, tears were still streaming down her face, and her eyes had grown wide and puffy from crying. The bandage was still plastered tightly over her mouth, muffling whatever sobs she could muster. The cut on her cheek had stopped bleeding, leaving a thin stream of caked-up blood on the side of her face. She trembled as Patrick slowly walked toward her and once more stroked his hand across her cheek.
"There there now, what's the matter?" Patrick asked mockingly. "You must know by now that your sisters came to rescue you."Cammy's eyes lit up, and she looked into Patrick's face, desperately hoping that her sisters were somewhere, anywhere nearby."But you see, the funny thing is... we killed them, both of them," Patrick said. "It was quite easy... they were so determined to save you, but being the weak, pathetic little girls they are, it was quite easy to-"
"You bastard, there's no way you could've killed them!" Cammy tried to scream out, but her words were muffled by the piece of tape. "You'll pay for trying to make me think they're dead! I'll destroy you! I swear, I'll destroy you!"
With renewed strength, Cammy tugged at the bonds around her ankles and wrists with all of her might, not realizing that the only thing she had accomplished was having the thick wires cut even deeper into her already injured skin. Her screams of anger soon mixed with screams of pain, and her struggling finally came to a halt when Patrick's fist slammed into her stomach, immediately knocking her back into a slumping position, now with a thin stream of blood pouring down from her nostrils. Patrick smiled, and then struck Cammy again, this time with another hard slap across her face. Cammy's head drooped down, and to Patrick, it looked like she had passed out.
"Oh, that simply will not do," said Patrick, placing his hand on her chest and sending waves of cold energy coursing through her entire body. The sudden cold shock jolted Cammy from unconsciousness, and Patrick gave a satisfied grin and pulled back his hand. Cammy groaned once, her eyes blinking open and closed as she floated back and forth between consciousness and unconsciousness, pain and numbness, anger and despair.
"What if he's... what if he's right?" Cammy thought. "What if my sisters are dead... no, no! I won't believe it! They're here, I know they're here... I know they'll come save me!"
Patrick's hand once again reached for the zipper on the top of her jumpsuit. Slowly, he pulled it down, revealing more and more of her skin. He once more reached the top of her chest, where he was barely able to see the middle of her green sport bra. As he continued to pull down the zipper, Cammy trembled more and more, her sobs becoming more and more frequent. It seemed that finally, Cammy had given up, resigning herself to her fate. But as Patrick pulled the zipper down to just above her stomach, he stopped again. His own hand was now trembling.
"What am I... what am I doing?" Patrick thought, briefly looking back up at Cammy's face, and into her wide, tear-filled eyes. "She... she's... she so scared... this... this can't be... can't be right... no, Patrick, what the hell are you thinking?"
He let go of Cammy's zipper and stood back up, turning away from the trembling girl. He took several steps away from her and ran his hands through his hair, shaking his head repeatedly.
"I can't go through with this," Patrick thought. "Dammit, I just need to get out for a few minutes to clear my head... dammit!"
Without even looking back at Cammy, Patrick exited the room, still shaking his head. As the door closed again, Cammy could only look up in amazement, wondering what could possibly have made Patrick stop.
"My sisters... my sisters must be here!" Cammy thought, her eyes lighting up. "That's why he stopped, that's gotta be! Rosie-chan, Angie-chan, I'm in here... hurry!"
---
But Rose and Angela were still in another area of the space station, fighting a two-on-one battle against Grenate. It should have been easy, but he had been putting up a surprising amount of resistance, and all three fighters had taken some considerable damage during the fight. A big factor was the location of the fight. Grenate had seemed completely fearless fighting on the walkway, thousands of feet above whatever was below, but Rose and Angela were much more weary of the great height, and they had been holding back somewhat to avoid one of them taking a fall. Now, the girls were facing down Grenate in the center of the walkway, ready to put him away for good.
"I can't be afraid!" Angela thought determinedly. "Cammy's life is depending on this!"
"Time for you girls to take the plunge!" Grenate said arrogantly. Once more, the room began to shake.
"What's he doing?" Rose thought. "If he knocks down the walkway with all of us on it, he'll die too!"
"Rose, he's trying to get away!" Angela shouted, pointing at Grenate, who was dashing for safety at the other end of the walkway. Rose began to growl.
"So that's his little game, huh..." Rose said, her knees wobbling as the room continued to shake. "I don't think so!"
Rose pointed her arms out at Grenate and shot two vines. One of them wrapped around Grenate's leg, the other around his waist. As the vines began to pull Grenate toward the two girls, the walkway started to crack and buckle, just as the other one had.
"Angela, run to the other end of the room, quick!" Rose shouted. Angela nodded, running to the crossfloor just in front of the door to the room with the collapsed walkway.
"Rose, hurry!" Angela shouted, barely able to stand as the room continued to shake. "Get back here now!"As more cracks appeared in the walkway, Rose leapt back, her vines still wrapped around Grenate's body. She leapt back to the crossfloor and released Grenate from her vines. As soon as she did, the earthquakes stopped.
"You thought... you could play a trick... on me..." said Grenate, stumbling to his feet. "Thought you could turn my own attack against me?"
Grenate began stumbling toward the two girls, not noticing the ground beneath his feet beginning to collapse.
"Now... you're trapped... and I'm going to make you pay!" Grenate shouted. Suddenly, the floor fell out from under him, and the entire walkway collapsed, sending Grenate plummeting into the oblivion below. Rose and Angela looked down the large, gaping hole, and then exchanged high-fives.
"That was great, Rosie-chan!" Angela cheered. "We knocked both of them down the hole..."
"Now that that's over, what do you say about getting Cammy back?" Rose asked."Okay!" Angela said eagerly. "I just hope she's not hurt..."
But as soon as the girls entered the next room, they were confronted by a horrifying sight. The walkway in front of them had collapsed at the very beginning of the fight, and the walkway behind them was gone as well. The two girls were trapped.
"Oh no... what do we do?" Angela shouted. "Rosie-chan, we have to-"
"We've gotta try and jump," Rose said, turning to Angela. "Trunks said it's just a matter of magical energy, right? Focus, concentration... you know, using your energy to give your legs strength for the jump. Like this!"
Rose walked back onto the crossfloor in the previous room as much as she could. Then, getting as much of a running start as she could muster, she dashed into the other room and leapt out from the precipice, concentrating all of her magical energy into her legs to span the wide gap. Though the jump was more than 100 feet, Rose made it cleanly to the crossfloor on the other side, with about two feet to spare. She collapsed onto one knee and began breathing heavily, the jump having taken much more of her energy than she'd thought it would.
"C'mon, Angie-chan..." Rose said, standing up and beckoning her sister to make the jump. "You've gotta do this, for Cammy! Think about Cammy and try to concentrate your energy..."
"Rose, can't you just use your vines to pull me in?" Angela whined from across the gap. "I don't think I can do it..."
"Fine," Rose said, pointing her hand at Angela. "I just don't want you to get hurt by the thorns on my vines, that's all... but here goes."
Rose shot a vine out across the gap and wrapped it around Angela's waist. Sure enough, one of the thorns embedded into Angela's skin, making a small wound. Steeling her courage, Angela bit her lip and allowed Rose to pull her across the gap, slowly and carefully. After about ten seconds, Angela was across, and Rose loosened the vine from her waist. Angela's hand immediately flew to the large cut that the vine had inadvertently made in her flesh.
"You alright?" Rose asked, inspecting the wound. "I told you..."
"No, it's okay... maybe I should have just leaped across the gap," Angela replied, rubbing the wound. "I probably would've made it..."
"Well, Cammy needs our help... are you ready, Angela?" Rose asked. Angela nodded, and the two girls ran through the door. They immediately found themselves in a wide corridor lined with several doors, but not nearly as many doors as the living quarters that the Senshi had investigated. These rooms had specific names and purposes, such as storage rooms, utility rooms, and various other types of rooms. The two girls left no stone unturned, checking each and every room for any sign of Cammy. After several unsuccessful attempts, Angela found a door marked "Utility-W", and opened it up, not expecting to find much of anything except perhaps another boiler. She couldn't have been more wrong.
"Angie-chan?" was Cammy's first thought as the door opened and she saw the silhouette of her sister, standing in the doorway. She gave a muffled cry, and Angela immediately knew that she'd found her sister.
"Rose, I found Cammy! You'd better come quick..."
As the two sisters dashed into the room, they immediately gasped at the severity of Cammy's situation. Blood covered her face and arms, and her jumpsuit was unzipped all the way down to her stomach, though it remained in place, only revealing a small portion of her bra. Angela immediately bent down and removed the bandage from Cammy's lips, while Rose set about untying the bonds around her sister's hands.
"Angela..." Cammy whispered in a choked-out sob, "I'm... I'm so glad... I knew you'd both come..."
"Cammy, we're so sorry we let this happen..." Angela said, her own eyes beginning to tear up as she realized the pain her sister must've gone through. "We're going to get you down from here, alright?"
Rose had to use a small blast of energy to cut the wires from Cammy's wrists, and once they were finally cut, Cammy's arms immediately flopped down lifelessly to her sides. Once Angela had freed Cammy's ankles, the two sisters healed Cammy with as much of their energy as they could manage. They were able to heal her somewhat, but because they were exhausted from their battle with Grenate, Cammy's wounds weren't healed completely, though her bleeding was stopped, and Cammy was finally able to stand on her own. As she did, the three girls embraced, all of them crying tears of joy as they were reunited with each other once more.
"Did he... did he... was he able to-" Angela said, fearing the worst for her sister. Cammy shook her head.
"He was about to, but then he stopped..." Cammy replied. "I... I don't really want to talk about it right now..."
"It's alright, Cammy," Rose said, anger beginning to appear in her voice. "Those jerks won't get away with what they tried to do to you... they're going to get what they deserve!"
---
And so, Cammy is finally rescued! But can the girls really get revenge? And can Trunks defeat Nikashi, even if he's separated from Ami? And what of Flarinsa and the Senshi? All these questions will be answered in the next exciting chapter!