By Krysia
Rated: PG-13-ish
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is not mine.
Chapter 19
"OK, girls. Time for Plane C," yelled Minako. She thrust her henshin wand in the air. "Venus Power!"
"PLAN C," emphasized Mars once her transformation was complete.
Mercury pulled out her computer and began typing furiously. Jupiter looked over Mercury's shoulder to see what she was doing. "Do we even have a Plan C?" she questioned. Mercury shrugged as she worked.
Motoki staggered away from the girls in shock. His friends and co-conspirators were the Sailor Senshi. He looked around wildly, trying to comprehend the scene before him. Fortunately for him, no one was paying much attention.
Zoisite smirked at the girls standing before him. "Well, well, well. There are four of you here at least. So, where is your cowardly inept leader?"
Sailor Venus rolled her eyes at the arrogant general. "Like we're going to tell you. Senshi spread out. Mercury...please..."
At Venus' command, the girls moved quickly to opposite sides of the general, surrounding him. Mercury called out her attack obscuring Zoisite's view of their positions. Venus sidled next to the ice senshi and whispered quickly in her ear. "We'll keep distracting Zoisite from you and Motoki. Give him Usagi's broach and have him tell her what is going on. It's our only chance. We need to work together to give him time."
Mercury nodded to show that she understood. Venus jumped into the foray firing off a quick 'Crescent Beam' to announce her presence. Mercury backed slowly towards Motoki while not looking up from her computer.
"Motoki...give this to Usagi now and tell her we're here. She'll know what to do. And please hurry, we've already had one battle today," she whispered to her blonde friend.
Motoki shook his head in disbelief. "Go now!" she hissed under her breath. "We'll distract him so he doesn't see you leave." With a quick flick of her wrist, she seemingly pulled a small gold broach out of the air and placed it in his hand.
Motoki discreetly slipped it in his pocket, focusing his attention on the battle before him. Mercury's bubbles were fading and the senshi were methodically calling out their attacks. Zoisite's back was to him as he quietly worked his way towards the door. He slipped out just as Mars nearly hit Zoisite with her attack. The general was furious at the near miss, barely avoiding having his hair being singed. In response, the general tossed some crystal shards her way. As Mars dodged the attack, Zoisite found himself having to respond to Jupiter's thunder attack as it raced towards him. The Dark Kingdom lackey never noticed the absence of a male arcade employee who was running as if the hounds of hell were chasing him.
'Usagi is Sailor Moon. Usagi is Sailor Moon.' This phrase pounded though his brain matching the cadence of his steps. It took the young man ten long minutes to finally reach the apartment building that they had secured Mamoru and Usagi. He flew though the entrance and raced up the nearest stairwell, two steps at a time. He practically slammed into the door when he reached the end of the hallway. He fished through his pocket desperately looking for the key. Shaking hands tried to fit the small brass object into the keyhole before grabbing the knob.
The knob had barely started turning when the door was pulled open from his grasp and he tumbled to the floor while painfully drawing in as much oxygen to his spent lungs as he could. Bare feet were centimeters from his face and he could hear Mamoru's voice rather triumphant.
"We got him Usa! We're free!"
"Mamoru-kun...you didn't need to hurt him!"
Motoki remained in his prone position on the floor. He reached towards his pocket and pulled out the broach. He extended it towards the direction he had heard the blonde girl's voice. It fell from his nerveless fingers and clattered noisily to the floor. "Attack...arcade...senshi...Sailor Moon," he gasped.
Usagi's eyes widened and she snatched the broach up from the floor. She pulled her blanket around her tightly and ran towards the door. Mamoru flung an arm out to stop her from leaving.
"Usa...where are you going? You can't go like that alone." His eyes left her face and drifted down to her clenched fist. The one holding the locket.
Panicked, she stepped away from his close presence, burying the locket among the folds. "Mamo-chan...stay here with Motoki. He needs you." She darted around her roommate and ran out the door towards the stairs.
Mamoru's gaze switched back and forth between his best friend on the floor and his blonde angel fleeing from the apartment. From him. He knelt down to check Motoki before chasing after her. 'After all, she's wearing a blanket and is barefoot. How far can she get?'
Motoki reached up and clutched Mamoru's arm. "Usagi's friends are in danger. She's going to save them." His voice was raspy from his run, but he was slowly recovering. "Mamoru-kun...Usa is Sailor Moon."
He reeled back at Motoki's declaration, shaking his head at such a ridiculous notion. 'Usa is Sailor Moon.' Just then, a fierce pain struck. 'Sailor Moon!' He rose and staggered towards the door. "Don't worry Motoki, I'll take care of Usa." He barely made it though the door before he transformed into Tuxedo Kamen.
Motoki caught a brief glimpse of a fluttering cape before he rested his head on the floor. 'Obviously he shouldn't have quit going on those early morning runs with Mamoru. When this was all over, he'd start those five-mile torture sessions as penance. His friend's lives were at stake and he barely made it here. If something happened to them because he was out of shape, he'd never forgive himself.'
Usagi barely allowed the stairwell door to close before lifting her broach in the air. The blanket fell to the floor as she began her transformation sequence. Sailor Moon, Champion of Justice, flew down the stairs, exited the building and ran to the arcade as if her life depended on it. Or in this case, her friends' lives.
Tuxedo Mask exited the building to see Sailor Moon jump up onto a nearby roof and head in the direction of the arcade. His heart hammered painfully in his chest and it had very little to do with the upcoming battle. 'Usa was Sailor Moon.' His heart seemed to accept this information with little fanfare, but his head was still puzzling though all the details.
Sailor Moon burst into the arcade ready for battle. The senshi and Zoisite turned to face the intrusion. Relief and fear were upon the soldiers' faces, whereas Zoisite looked with interest.
"If it isn't the errant Sailor Moon. So you finally decided to come out and play." The general taunted the tardy senshi.
"For daring to harm my friends and destroy a place where teens come to have fun, in the name of the Moon. I will punish you." Sailor Moon had barely completed her speech before pulling off her tiara and powering it up. She flung it at the Dark Kingdom general. "Moon Frisbee!"
Zoisite vanished and reappeared a few feet away. He tossed a crystal at the moon senshi who was focusing on having her tiara take a return path via the backside of the enemy. Unfortunately, with her attention on her tiara she didn't see the crystal until it was too late to move.
"Aaaaaah...oof."
Sailor Moon felt a pain from colliding with the floor and the wind knocked out of her by having an unknown weight pressing upon her. Unknown, but not unfamiliar.
She felt his breath as he spoke quietly in her ear. "I will distract him, you finish him off with your moon wand, Odango." Her eyes widened in shock. He jumped up quickly tossing roses at the Dark Kingdom general and brandished his cane.
As she stood, her mind tried to process what Tuxedo Kamen had called her. 'Odango. The only people to call her that were Rei and...Mamoru.' She pulled her wand out of her sub space pocket. She watched fearfully as Tuxedo Kamen, no...Mamoru battled with Zoisite. The senshis' auras lit up as they readied their attacks one last time.
As one, all five girls aimed their attack as Tuxedo Kamen dove to the side, preparing himself to rescue Sailor Moon if necessary. Fortunately, the general had been preoccupied with the hand to hand combat with the caped hero and failed to see the senshis' attacks much too late. He had spent an abundant amount of energy toying with them in the arcade in his hopes to flush out Sailor Moon and was unable to respond quickly. The overconfident general, worn from dodging the senshi's attacks and his personal combat with Tuxedo Kamen, tried to return to the Dark Kingdom.
The general felt the burning sensation of the senshis' powers and he knew no more.
The girls slumped to the ground in exhaustion. They literally had no more energy to expend. Sailor Moon's blue eyes worriedly caressed her teammates, torn to which she should go to first.
"Took you long enough to get here," rasped Mars as she raised a shaky hand to push her hair away from her face.
Sailor Moon took upon a furious expression as she marched over to the fire senshi. "It's your own fault, baka. If you hadn't taken it upon yourself to lock me in a room with Mamo- err.." she stopped guiltily and flushed. She glanced at her hero who was smiling at her rather mockingly and stood with his arms folded across his chest. She knew that look. She received it quite regularly from Mamoru-baka. She closed her eyes and mentally groaned.
Tuxedo Kamen smirked at the girl before him. He had been fearful when Zoisite attacked her and had moved quickly to prevent her from being injured. Now that the battle was over, everything clicked into place. Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako were the senshi and Usa was their leader.
He saw the look that Sailor Moon gave him. He was pretty sure she realized his secret. "Ladies," he drawled. With a quick nod and a flick of the cape he was gone. After all, there was the matter of dealing with a certain best friend and his knowledge of Tokyo's greatest secrets.
Sailor Moon stared wistfully in the direction that Tuxedo Kamen left. She had a pretty good idea where he was headed. Hopefully he wouldn't be too hard on Motoki. After all, he tried really hard to get to them quickly. Besides, as long as Luna never found out that others knew their secret, life would still be good.
"Sailor Moon!"
Her musings were interrupted by a female voice. Ruefully, Sailor Moon turned towards Luna. The black feline snuck out from behind an arcade game where she had been hiding unnoticed by the senshi or Zoisite. To her surprise, once the cat knew she had her attention, jumped up into the super hero's arms and began to purr.
"I need to talk to you." Luna stared intently at her as if trying to make sure for herself that Sailor Moon was indeed holding her and in good health. Sailor Moon grimaced and went to touch her locket to detransform, until she remembered where she had just come from.
"Give me the Luna pen," she ordered firmly. She held Luna with one hand and extended the other towards the senshi. She looked pointed down at Luna before meeting the gazes of each of the senshi.
Venus offered the Luna pen to Sailor Moon with a grin. The moon senshi set Luna down next to her and asked her to stay with the girls for a moment. Luna looked suspiciously at the others. There was something obviously going on that she was not privy to.
Usagi marched out of the restroom a few minutes later completely attired in a cute but comfortable outfit. The girls were still lounging on the floor, but had returned to their normal selves. Before any of the girls could voice their questions, Usagi held a hand up. "I refuse to talk about what happened. I can't believe you guys put me though that. Do you honestly think it was worth risking your lives for?" Her voice broke and her eyes welled with tears. "You guys almost died. I would die if something happened to one of you, especially if I wasn't able to..."
The girls rushed and embraced Usagi simultaneously. The fact that she wasn't wailing, but instead trying to choke back her tears reinforced the enormity of their leader's emotions. Minako pulled away slightly and reached over and tugged on the end of Usagi's hair. It was back to its original length and pulled up it her customary buns.
"Usagi-chan." Blue eyes met blue. Even though Minako was smiling, she was very serious as she told her friend, "It was for your own good."
"We should get out of here. Someone is bound to notice all the damage." Ami led them through a storage area and out a back door. Once they made their way into the alley, Luna addressed the girls.
"Ok. Now that Usagi-chan is safe. I want to know what happened." The black looked furiously at the other girls. The young ladies exchanged unrepentant glances with each other, with the exception of Ami who drew back from the menace in Luna's voice.
Makoto's eyes twinkled merrily. "We all do Luna. But Usa has already told us that she's not going to kiss and tell." She burst into laughter as Usagi's eyes widened in shock.
"He...I...we did NOT kiss!" The blonde blushed furiously at Makoto's outrageous suggestion.
"Sure Usa, sure. Like we're supposed to believe that," mocked Rei.
"We barely got along," huffed Usagi. "I said I didn't want to talk about it. Instead, I think you guys need to fill me in on what has been going on since Saturday, so I know what to expect when I get home and go to school tomorrow."
Usagi fluffed her pillow before settling into her bed. Luna sat on the end, staring at the girl. She had several times tried to get her to tell what happened in that apartment. After all, it was her responsibility to keep Usagi safe, and apparently she needed to add the senshi to her list of miscreants.
Sleepy blue eyes opened slightly. "Don't worry Luna. By the time I am done with them, they will think twice before pulling a prank like that again." Yawning gracefully, she turned on her side and began to snore softly.
Luna's eyes glittered in the near dark. She was not thrilled with her charge at the moment. Apparently it was going to take some investigating to find out exactly was did happen in that apartment. The black cat curled up and drifted to sleep, grateful that the girl that she had come to care for was home safe, right where she could keep an eye on her. Tomorrow was another day after all, and she would get to the bottom of this mess.