Opposing Protectors
Disclaimer: I still don't own Sailor Moon, and I doubt I ever will...but I can always dream.
Thanks again to my readers for your wonderful reviews. Please keep them coming.
Chapter 3: Serena's Predicament
"WHAT!?" the Senshi and Darien chorused in unison.
"But how is that possible?" Mina asked in utter disbelief.
"I don't know." Seiya replied.
"I might have a possible explanation." Darien's voice got everyone's attention, because up until now, he hadn't said anything. "This thing, Akuma, he must have kidnapped during the night and then forcibly taken the Silver Crystal from her."
"But wouldn't that wake at least one of you up?" Amy asked.
"Not if he used some kind of spell or dark magic on us." Darien replied.
"True, but unless there's some way to confirm that, there's nothing we can do. Unless there's something else that you haven't told us Darien." Lita said as they all looked in his direction once more.
Darien took a deep breath and began to explain his theory. "Well, I've been listening to Seiya's story while trying to think of possible reasons for Serena's disappearance. Then suddenly I remembered something that I had completely forgotten about in my worried state. When I first woke up this morning, I had this really strange feeling, which of course was replaced by worry when I noticed that Serena was gone. After hearing about Akuma and being reminded of the strange feeling, I realize now that it was an echo of a negative energy signature."
"And if he did use some sort of spell, then she wouldn't have been able to call for help." Hotaru commented.
"I think it's safe to say that she was definitely incapacitated if and when she was taken." Trista stated.
"Or, another possibility is that he coerced and/or forced Serena into serving him, whether through brainwashing or otherwise." Seiya suggested.
"What? How can you say that Seiya? You should know better than that! Serena may not be the strongest of us physically or even emotionally, but she has held her own on a countless number of occasions against nega-creeps trying to trick, hypnotize or brainwash her. In fact, out of all of us, she's probably the strongest one!" Lita declared, sticking up for her best friend.
"But..." Seiya started to say.
"No 'buts', Lita's right." Darien cut in. "Serena would never join with Akuma, nor would she ever give into his evil." His anger at Seiya's implications/accusations made clear by the tone in his voice.
Seiya apologized for saying what he had, and then they started making plans on what they were going to do next and how they were going to go about doing it.
Serena slowly opened her eyes. She felt very tired and weak. Slowly Serena lifted her head and looked around at her surroundings. Darkness surrounded her and she suddenly realized that she wasn't standing on the ground. As her senses cleared and her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed that she was in a large room with nothing in it. Her arms were raised above her head and bound together at the wrists by what looked to be some kind of rope made from negative energy. Whatever it was, it had an eerie green glow to it that gave her the creeps. Shortly after she woke up, she was joined by her captor, Akuma.
"So you're finally awake, I see," came a sneering voice from the shadows.
"Wh-w-who are y-you?" Serena asked, clearly shaken from the circumstances in which she found herself.
"I am Akuma, the ruler of the planet which we are now on. My question would be who are you and how did you come to be the owner of such a powerful stone?"
Serena's jaw dropped to the floor in shock as she watched the evil thing in front of her bring forth HER Imperium Silver Crystal. Akuma just smiled in amusement at the look of shock and amazement on his prisoner's face.
"H-how did you do that?" she asked in bewilderment.
"Hm-hm-hm. All in good time my dear, all in good time. But first I need a few answers from you. You see, I have always known of this stone and I knew who its previous owner was. I also know that that owner died a long time ago. I was, however, unaware that she had any living descendents to whom she could pass it on to before her death; it was said that her only daughter had died. So, you can imagine my surprise when I found it in YOUR possession. Now tell me, who are you?"
"And what makes you think I'll tell you, you nega-slime?"
"You'll find I can be very persuasive little girl. How about I show you a small sample of my power and then see how you feel?" As he said this, he threw a large negative energy blast at her.
"Aaaggggghhhhh!!!!" she screamed as she felt the energy blast impact and then pass through her body.
"Now, tell me who you are, you pathetic human."
"No way! I'll never tell you! It'll take more than a little blast from you before I'd even think about telling anything!" Serena knew that her captor realized how much damage his blast had actually done as she had hardly had the energy to say that much. Still, she had to at least try and bluff him...for no matter what; she couldn't give in to the darkness.
"We'll see about that. Remember that was just a small sample of my true power. You haven't seen anything yet." And with that, he disappeared, leaving Serena alone once more and on the verge of passing out.
Back at the Temple.....
After some more discussion, the group finally agreed to help Seiya save his planet, figuring that this would also be where they would find Serena. However, they knew that they would need some Moon power if they were going to succeed in their mission, so Sailor Pluto went to the future to enlist the help of Rini as Sailor Chibi Moon. Rini went to her mother to get her permission to bring the Silver Crystal of the future back with her to help in their fight against Akuma, and of course Neo Queen Serenity gave her consent upon hearing the situation. Several minutes after Sailor Pluto had left, she reappeared with Sailor Chibi Moon at her side.
"Hi everyone." Chibi Moon greeted them in a semi-cheerful voice. She was happy to see her friends' past selves again, but she was also worried about her mother's past self.
By this time all the Sailor Senshi had transformed, as well as Sailor Star Fighter and Tuxedo Mask. All this time since Chibi Moon's arrival, Sailor Star fighter had been just staring at the child with a look of confusion written all over her face, for she had no idea who this child was. This did not go un-noticed by the other warriors present. They quickly explained who Chibi Moon was, where she was from, and a brief history of how they had originally found out all of this stuff.
"Really?" Fighter asked with an inflection of intrigue and a small hint of disappointment. "You're the future daughter of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask?"
"Yep."
"Wow. That's...interesting." was all that Fighter could manage to say. She was too dumbfounded by all of this to come up with anything more intelligent at the moment.
"Look, we can get into the full story with all the details later...after we defeat Akuma and save Serena and your planet." Darien broke in with a sense of urgency in his voice. The others agreed, so they gathered around to form their standard teleporting circle with Tuxedo Mask in the middle as a passenger and Sailor Star Fighter just followed suit.
"Okay Chibi Moon, start us off." Jupiter instructed the young Senshi.
"Right. Moon Prism Power!"
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"Mars Crystal Power!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Uranus Planet Power!"
"Neptune Planet Power!"
"Pluto Planet Power!"
"Saturn Planet Power!"
"SAILOR TELEPORT!!!" they all yelled out as they all concentrated on their destination.
Moments later, they arrived on Nagare'boshi. They were all shocked at the sight that met their eyes. Fighter's eyes widened in shock as she saw that the once bright and sunny sky was now black and the people were now in the service of Akuma. She wondered what had become of her princess and friends, and then as if in answer to her thoughts, Akuma suddenly appeared before them. They were ALL about to get some of the answers, which they were seeking.
Disclaimer: I still don't own Sailor Moon, and I doubt I ever will...but I can always dream.
Thanks again to my readers for your wonderful reviews. Please keep them coming.
Chapter 3: Serena's Predicament
"WHAT!?" the Senshi and Darien chorused in unison.
"But how is that possible?" Mina asked in utter disbelief.
"I don't know." Seiya replied.
"I might have a possible explanation." Darien's voice got everyone's attention, because up until now, he hadn't said anything. "This thing, Akuma, he must have kidnapped during the night and then forcibly taken the Silver Crystal from her."
"But wouldn't that wake at least one of you up?" Amy asked.
"Not if he used some kind of spell or dark magic on us." Darien replied.
"True, but unless there's some way to confirm that, there's nothing we can do. Unless there's something else that you haven't told us Darien." Lita said as they all looked in his direction once more.
Darien took a deep breath and began to explain his theory. "Well, I've been listening to Seiya's story while trying to think of possible reasons for Serena's disappearance. Then suddenly I remembered something that I had completely forgotten about in my worried state. When I first woke up this morning, I had this really strange feeling, which of course was replaced by worry when I noticed that Serena was gone. After hearing about Akuma and being reminded of the strange feeling, I realize now that it was an echo of a negative energy signature."
"And if he did use some sort of spell, then she wouldn't have been able to call for help." Hotaru commented.
"I think it's safe to say that she was definitely incapacitated if and when she was taken." Trista stated.
"Or, another possibility is that he coerced and/or forced Serena into serving him, whether through brainwashing or otherwise." Seiya suggested.
"What? How can you say that Seiya? You should know better than that! Serena may not be the strongest of us physically or even emotionally, but she has held her own on a countless number of occasions against nega-creeps trying to trick, hypnotize or brainwash her. In fact, out of all of us, she's probably the strongest one!" Lita declared, sticking up for her best friend.
"But..." Seiya started to say.
"No 'buts', Lita's right." Darien cut in. "Serena would never join with Akuma, nor would she ever give into his evil." His anger at Seiya's implications/accusations made clear by the tone in his voice.
Seiya apologized for saying what he had, and then they started making plans on what they were going to do next and how they were going to go about doing it.
Serena slowly opened her eyes. She felt very tired and weak. Slowly Serena lifted her head and looked around at her surroundings. Darkness surrounded her and she suddenly realized that she wasn't standing on the ground. As her senses cleared and her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she noticed that she was in a large room with nothing in it. Her arms were raised above her head and bound together at the wrists by what looked to be some kind of rope made from negative energy. Whatever it was, it had an eerie green glow to it that gave her the creeps. Shortly after she woke up, she was joined by her captor, Akuma.
"So you're finally awake, I see," came a sneering voice from the shadows.
"Wh-w-who are y-you?" Serena asked, clearly shaken from the circumstances in which she found herself.
"I am Akuma, the ruler of the planet which we are now on. My question would be who are you and how did you come to be the owner of such a powerful stone?"
Serena's jaw dropped to the floor in shock as she watched the evil thing in front of her bring forth HER Imperium Silver Crystal. Akuma just smiled in amusement at the look of shock and amazement on his prisoner's face.
"H-how did you do that?" she asked in bewilderment.
"Hm-hm-hm. All in good time my dear, all in good time. But first I need a few answers from you. You see, I have always known of this stone and I knew who its previous owner was. I also know that that owner died a long time ago. I was, however, unaware that she had any living descendents to whom she could pass it on to before her death; it was said that her only daughter had died. So, you can imagine my surprise when I found it in YOUR possession. Now tell me, who are you?"
"And what makes you think I'll tell you, you nega-slime?"
"You'll find I can be very persuasive little girl. How about I show you a small sample of my power and then see how you feel?" As he said this, he threw a large negative energy blast at her.
"Aaaggggghhhhh!!!!" she screamed as she felt the energy blast impact and then pass through her body.
"Now, tell me who you are, you pathetic human."
"No way! I'll never tell you! It'll take more than a little blast from you before I'd even think about telling anything!" Serena knew that her captor realized how much damage his blast had actually done as she had hardly had the energy to say that much. Still, she had to at least try and bluff him...for no matter what; she couldn't give in to the darkness.
"We'll see about that. Remember that was just a small sample of my true power. You haven't seen anything yet." And with that, he disappeared, leaving Serena alone once more and on the verge of passing out.
Back at the Temple.....
After some more discussion, the group finally agreed to help Seiya save his planet, figuring that this would also be where they would find Serena. However, they knew that they would need some Moon power if they were going to succeed in their mission, so Sailor Pluto went to the future to enlist the help of Rini as Sailor Chibi Moon. Rini went to her mother to get her permission to bring the Silver Crystal of the future back with her to help in their fight against Akuma, and of course Neo Queen Serenity gave her consent upon hearing the situation. Several minutes after Sailor Pluto had left, she reappeared with Sailor Chibi Moon at her side.
"Hi everyone." Chibi Moon greeted them in a semi-cheerful voice. She was happy to see her friends' past selves again, but she was also worried about her mother's past self.
By this time all the Sailor Senshi had transformed, as well as Sailor Star Fighter and Tuxedo Mask. All this time since Chibi Moon's arrival, Sailor Star fighter had been just staring at the child with a look of confusion written all over her face, for she had no idea who this child was. This did not go un-noticed by the other warriors present. They quickly explained who Chibi Moon was, where she was from, and a brief history of how they had originally found out all of this stuff.
"Really?" Fighter asked with an inflection of intrigue and a small hint of disappointment. "You're the future daughter of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask?"
"Yep."
"Wow. That's...interesting." was all that Fighter could manage to say. She was too dumbfounded by all of this to come up with anything more intelligent at the moment.
"Look, we can get into the full story with all the details later...after we defeat Akuma and save Serena and your planet." Darien broke in with a sense of urgency in his voice. The others agreed, so they gathered around to form their standard teleporting circle with Tuxedo Mask in the middle as a passenger and Sailor Star Fighter just followed suit.
"Okay Chibi Moon, start us off." Jupiter instructed the young Senshi.
"Right. Moon Prism Power!"
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"Mars Crystal Power!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Uranus Planet Power!"
"Neptune Planet Power!"
"Pluto Planet Power!"
"Saturn Planet Power!"
"SAILOR TELEPORT!!!" they all yelled out as they all concentrated on their destination.
Moments later, they arrived on Nagare'boshi. They were all shocked at the sight that met their eyes. Fighter's eyes widened in shock as she saw that the once bright and sunny sky was now black and the people were now in the service of Akuma. She wondered what had become of her princess and friends, and then as if in answer to her thoughts, Akuma suddenly appeared before them. They were ALL about to get some of the answers, which they were seeking.