Shadow Of A Scout

by StrkHwk

A new Scout is reborn in the Time of the Gundams. He collects the Gundam pilots for a special mission, but they get sent back in time, where they meet the Scouts. Will sparks fly? AN: Stay tuned, maybe another chapter soon...

20. Identities Revealed

ATTENTION READERS: Finally! This is the next installment, my best so far. It took me so long to write this because I had a lot to say in this chapter. I hope you guys enjoy this, a lot of action. I would like to say a very special thank you to Sailorcelestial, for being a good friend and reading this long piece of work for me. And a big thanks to all whom reviewed my story thus far, and giving it thumbs up, you know who you are! Still, those who haven't reviewed, tell me what you would like to see happen next, or what you liked. Have fun reading this everyone. P.S. - I strongly recommend to everyone that you download 'What's Going On? (Reality Check Mix)' because it kicks ass!

Chapter 20 - Identities Revealed

"What were those things, Luna?" Sailor Moon interrogated.

The Sailor Scouts were still at the park field where the battle that was started by Sailor Universe and ended by those seven weird suits. Trees lay across the grounds, uprooted and multiple holes in their trunks. Craters from the energy blasts were scattered about the field. Burnt foliage littered the field and splinters stuck in the ground like spears. A battle certainly raged here, and the Scouts wanted to know what those things were: enemies or allies?

"Well-er-you see..." Luna fumbled for an explanation.

"And what about you, Artemis?" Sailor Venus grilled the cat.

"I haven't the slightest clue," Artemis calmly answered.

"You better not be lying to me," Venus said, a twitch in her eye.

"Mina, would I lie to you?" Artemis asked sweetly.

"YES!!" Venus yelled. "Now tell me the truth!"

"Those are our allies," Artemis sighed. "They're the reincarnation of the Royal Guard."

"Funny," Sailor Mercury piped. "I seem to remember Sailor Universe disappearing during the fight and not reappearing. Plus, another suit joined the battle a little later than Universe's disappearance. There's probably a connection."

"Right you are Mercury," Luna said. "Sailor Universe was the suit that was late."

"So, who are the others?" Mars asked, her words slurred.

"I cannot tell you that," Luna replied. "They have secret identities, like you."

"No fair!" Venus retorted. "We're the Sailor Scouts! We have a right, as the protectors of the world, to know who our allies are!"

"Not this time," Artemis said.

So the scouts were in the dark, so to speak. The soft moonlight played across the field, shedding a dim light over the shadows and the Scouts. Sailor Pluto was even at a loss for words or thoughts. She should've known who the new allies were but the future was never written in stone, so she couldn't be sure. Her fingers from her free hand over her mouth in concentration, she pondered over the faces of the people she knew from the Silver Millennium. She couldn't remember for the life of her the Royal Guard. She knew she was in love with one of them back then, but she couldn't even remember his face.

'I'm too old for this shit,' she thought.

"Pluto," Sailor Neptune interrupted her thoughts.

"Yes?" Pluto acknowledged, snapping out of her reverie.

"What are you thinking about?" Neptune wondered.

"The Silver Millennium," Pluto answered simply. "I was trying to remember the faces of the Royal Guard, because I know that seven of us were in love with six of them, except Venus who was in love with Sailor Universe."

"Hey!" Sailor Mars announced. "I can do a fire reading and see the faces of the Royal Guard we were in love with!"

"Great idea, Raye!" Sailor Moon said excitedly. "Let's get going then!"

Sailor Mars tried to get up, but she gave a whimper of pain and sat down again. She told her friends that she was okay, but they told her to stay where she was and rest.

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Shawn was dejected, to say the least. He was the only survivor of the Mall Massacre, as he called it, for he had no choice but to kill the lieutenant that came out with him. As he sat in the mostly empty troop shuttle, he leaned against the wall of the shuttle and placed his head in his hands, crying in shame. Once again, Tre had bested him, but it was the spirit of the Gundam he piloted that let him go. That bothered him the most; of all the times Tre and his Gundam, what was it called, DreadScythe, had tried to kill him, why would the spirit want to let him go? This caused even more tears to flow, puffing his eyes up and redness setting in.

The shuttle docked with the cruiser and Shawn retreated to his quarters immediately. There, he flopped onto his bunk and pulled the covers over his body. He wanted to go to sleep, and never wake up. His future father-in-law was pissed at him; time after time, men died under his command; his fiancée wanted him to kill her father so he could be king; he just wanted to die and make everybody happy.

"Feeling depressed, are we?" a voice shattered Shawn's silent quarters.

"Who's there?" Shawn demanded. "I'm armed!"

"Don't be stupid," the voice said. "You couldn't hurt me with your weapon."

A faded form of a man with pale skin and blue, shoulder-length hair was staring at Shawn from the opposite end of his quarters. Shawn's eyes bulged out of their sockets when he saw this entity. Fear crept into his very heart as he tried to get as much space between himself and the man in his quarters. With ragged breaths, Shawn panted,

"Who are you?"

"I am Lord Sven Cadgrade, of the Dark Sect," the man introduced himself.

"What do you want?"

"To kill the Sailor Scouts and the Royal Guards," Sven said. "The Royal Guard are the Gundam pilots. I know that you want them dead."

"With all my breaths, yes," Shawn answered. "They are the thorn in the side of our cause; the cause of the British to conquest the entire Earthsphere and the colonies!"

"What a noble cause!" Sven said excitedly, then whispering, "I can help you."

"How?" Shawn asked.

"I can make your mobile suits unstoppable," Sven cooed. "And your men, I can turn them into the Scouts worst nightmares. Sure, they've faced minions of failures like Queen Beryl, Witches Five, Mistress Nine and that Pharaoh Ninety, not to mention Queen Naharenia and her Dark Circus. Those pitiful Amazons weren't worth any of the dark energy used to make them. And Galaxia, ha! She's a pushover!"

"Why are you telling me this?" Shawn asked.

"Because they all used magical fairies," Sven hissed. "Never did they use human flesh; real humans have something that magic could never have made, a soul! That soul's desires are brought to the surface when I enhance a human with my dark energy. I can do that to your men, and I guarantee you that the Gundams couldn't help the Sailor Scouts with these human minions! What do you say? Have we got a deal?"

Sven extended his shadowed hand, greed flickering in his eyes. Shawn seemed to have no trouble with this decision and immediately shook his hand.

"So I seal my fate, is that it?" Shawn stared Sven down.

"No, not exactly," Sven said. "You have just given me an opportunity to strike back."

"You're using my man power to do your deeds?" Shawn sounded aghast.

"No, YOU are using your man power to do my bidding," Sven cackled.

With that, the shadowed form of Sven materialized into the once more fierce warrior he started as. He flashed a menacing, fanged grin at Shawn. Shawn, being the human he is, backed away in fear, his breath coming out in short pants. Sven just cackled some more, then said,

"Oh, don't worry! I won't eat you ickle boy!"

Sven gave an all out laugh, shaking the very foundations of Shawn's room. Shawn was very close to fainting from fear and lack of blood to the brain; his blood vessels had contracted from the overall shock and the high pumping of his heart was pumping more blood than the constricted vessels had room for.

"Come," Sven motioned.

Sven walked out of the room toward the flight deck. Shawn followed, but at a considerable distance. They reached the flight deck within minutes, Sven took no detours because of wrong turns. He waved his hand over the door and it slid open. Sven walked in like it was home, despite the gasps and screams from the crew. He made his way to the captain's seat, which was currently vacant. Sven turned around and announced,

"Crew members of this vessel! I am Lord Sven Cadgrade of the Dark Sect, and I am taking control of this cruiser...and your lives!"

He raised his hands and shot yellow sparks into the air. Each spark touched a crewmember and they instantly fell unconscious. Shawn was still unaffected. He watched in horror as his subordinates fell to the floor in a deep sleep.

A dark lilac mist crept up on the still flight deck and shrouded the bodies. Each OZ officer aboard immediately started to take on a metallic appearance, not to mention naked. However, certain anatomical parts where generously blended into the body of each metallic being. The former women had their individual faces but they all characterized the same bust in their metallic forms. Their hair turned a silky silver color and their eyes all stone gray.

The men had all gained a muscular-toned body and short hairstyles, which was mountain rock gray. Their eyes were the color of polished steel that were very piercing and analyzing. The very sight into those steel pools would freeze an ordinary human dead in fear.

Shawn looked over the metallic forms of his crewmembers and smiled in victorious satisfaction. Looking at Sven, he smiled even wider.

"Can you do me a custom job?" Shawn demanded.

"Why, of course," Sven sang. "You want your old body, I suppose?"

"Yes, but the strength my crew possesses, tenfold!" Shawn said with a fiery determination. "I don't want to be in command and not be stronger!"

"Absolutely," Sven said in a low voice, then he started chanting in an ancient tongue. "Gwir saun thet yesder BONG!"

As Sven recited this incantation, he swirled his hands in an invisible pool, concocting a sickly brown ball of energy. He brought the ball to Shawn and shoved it into the human's body.

Shawn staggered backwards, losing his balance. He coughed horribly harsh, almost like he was going to upchuck at any moment. He then started to scream in the most extreme agony. His body felt like it was going to tear apart, then it felt like it would collapse in on itself. Shawn threw himself about, flinging his body into walls. He flew from one wall to the other, throwing his entire weight into it. He would have crushed his skeleton completely if he were still a normal human, but he wasn't.

After five minutes of this, Shawn righted himself to stand on two feet, but he was still doubled over. He was panting heavily and slowly. Sven approached, concern flicked across his face for an instant but changed into a grin of utmost victory.

"How do you feel?" Sven asked.

"Like I'm going to jump out of my skin," Shawn groaned.

"That is expected," Sven nodded. "But it will pass in little time."

"Let's get them," Shawn hissed, fangs protruding from his mouth.

"Let's wait until you're ready to fight," Sven soothed. "Your body isn't yet prepared."

"Fine!" Shawn growled. "I hate waiting!"

"So do I," Sven agreed.

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The seven pilots were just leaving the mall through the smashed glass door and they headed back to their rides. They were all very tired and decided to rest up a bit. Tre had thought that the Scouts would show up and aid them but that obviously wasn't the case. That bothered him, for two reasons: 1) it meant that they didn't defend the world against a military threat, and 2) that Japan was in trouble without them. Would taking them to the future really be a good idea? That was uncertain, for now, anyway.

"Why didn't the Scouts show up?" Tre thought out loud.

"Because it didn't have to do with a monster?" Duo suggested.

"Probably," Pyrone acknowledged. "That is strange."

"Very," Tre sighed. "But why is it only a magical creature gains the attention of the Scouts? Why isn't it something that could threaten human lives, like military tyrants like that Shawn? One of these days, it just might happen, and they won't be here to stop it from doing its work on this world."

"Dude," Duo sat up. "Don't sweat over it! As long as we're here, the Scouts have nothing to worry about but taking care of those magical fags and lesboes, while we knock out the militant shit."

"You're worse than me sometimes," Pyrone commented. "I've never heard anyone use that term in forever."

"Pyrone, you'll not live long enough to see forever," Wufei offered.

"Well, not in the flesh," Pyrone explained. "But, I will in the afterlife, in Heaven."

All the pilots seemed to sigh inwardly, thinking of their slice of heaven; what it would be like when they died, where they would go based on their Judgement (Heaven or Hell), and most importantly, who'd they share it with. Tre seemed to be right at home here in the past: no work to do, no Italian Mafia trying to destroy your business, and no worries. Hell, he wasn't even born yet according to this time, and he won't be for many years.

He sighed loudly, smiling, and lay across the hood of his car. He just wanted to stare at the stars, but that damned parking lot light was interfering. Pulling out his gun, he shot the bulb, allowing it to shatter into pieces and fall to the pavement with a tinkling sound. This startled the other pilots and they stared at their friend who was staring out into space, if you will.

"I could live here forever," Tre said.

"Yeah, this would be a great slice of Heaven," Duo agreed.

"I could live with this any day," Quatre added. "And I wouldn't care if I were broke!"

"This is serene," Trowa said. "Very peaceful."

"Ah, few words, however, wise," Wufei complimented. "The stars sure are beautiful, though. I must say that this primitive land does have its beauty when it is shrouded in the cloak of night."

"Oh please don't go poetic on us, Wufei," Pyrone laughed. "I'm starting to well up!"

"Everything's so blurry, and everyone's so fake," Heero sighed.

"Quoting Puddle of Mudd, huh?" Tre recognized. "I like that, Heero."

"I just like that line is all," Heero retorted. "It is very poetic. (sigh) I wish I had a someone to share an intimate moment with."

"And I suppose Relena wouldn't do," Tre sighed.

"Oh Hell no," Heero spoke. "I think I'd enjoy this much more with Serena."

"Oh?" Quatre smiled.

"Something new has been added," Duo jested. "Heero likes a girl!"

"Props to Heero," Pyrone acknowledged. "I hate to be serious, but I think I can make an exception this time around."

"Thanks, Pyrone," Heero mumbled.

They lay atop the hood of Tre's car for about twenty minutes, making idle chat about them. It was quite possibly the only time where all seven pilots were honest with one another; old friendships were repaired and new ones were just beginning to solidify. It was as Quatre was staring at the sky that he noticed a rather prominent meteor streak across the sky. What made it so significant was the fact that its intensity increased as it moved through the atmosphere, instead of burning up and dimming out. He alerted everyone else immediately as the streak landed in the direction of the park.

"Guys!" Quatre blurted. "Something's up!"

"What is it, Quatre?" Trowa spoke first.

"I saw something that looked like a meteor fall to the park where we just left!"

"What?" Tre jumped up. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Quatre answered.

"SHIT!!" Tre exclaimed. "Come on! Get in the car! Go, go, go, go, go!"

The pilots scrambled into the car and Tre hopped onto the bike. Duo hopped on behind him, gave him a thumbs up, and Tre kick-started the engine. The funnel of afterburning fuel shot back as Tre twisted the throttle full blast. He then released the brakes and shot forward, Pyrone driving the car in close tow.

They roared out of the parking lot and screamed toward the park. Tre spoke into the mic situated at the top of his windshield.

"We have to help the Scouts out again, guys. Are you ready?"

"Yes!" they chorused.

"I will save Trista," Pyrone spoke up. "And hopefully she'll be extra nice to me!"

"Pyrone, if you do this for her," Heero started, "she'll gladly give it up."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What was THAT!?!" Sailor Mars asked.

"I don't know," Sailor Moon answered. "But I have a feeling it isn't going to be nice."

The Scouts were just about leave when they heard a low whistling sound and an earth-shattering crash. None of them noticed a glowing streak coming out of the sky. They only knew that it was their duty as Sailor Scouts to investigate this incident. As they approached, they noted the fiery glow still emanating from the vessel.

The vessel looked like a long, metallic box with truncated corners. The Scouts noticed it took a long time to stop, for its front end was completely covered in a huge pile of dirt it pushed up as it skidded from about fifty yards back. A dirt trench signified this craft skidded to a halt from that distance, knocking over trees or snapping them in half completely.

Suddenly, a door on the craft opened up and outward. A man staggered into view, silhouetted against the smoke producing from the cabin. The shape of this figure looked familiar to the Scouts: the long hair, the beefed muscular body, and the towering stature. But it couldn't be-

"I'm back!" the figure said. "So nice to see you lovely Sailors again!"

"No!" Sailor Pluto gasped.

"It can't be!" Sailor Mars breathed.

"How is this possible?" Sailor Neptune questioned. "How did Sven survive?"

"No matter," Sailor Uranus smirked. "I've been dying for some payback!"

She ran at Sven with her Space Sword drawn. She dove for Sven, slicing away. The enemy dodged every one of her offensives. She fell to the earth in a crouch, ready to strike again. She nodded at Sailor Saturn, who nodded back. Then the two charged the enemy.

"Space Sword Blaster!" Uranus yelled, bringing down her sword.

"Silence Glaive Surprise!" Saturn yelled, swinging her glaive.

A silence followed for a few seconds time, then a huge explosion rocked the earth. The light from Uranus' attack flew at the spot where Sven was. After the dust cleared, the ship was still there but it was badly dented and crushed; in other words, no longer flight worthy. But, Sven still remained. This shocked Sailor Saturn the most because that was a very deadly and dangerous attack. Still, Sven cackled like a madman.

"Can't you stupid soldiers see that I am invincible?" he gloated.

"This is impossible," Sailor Moon cried.

"How can we beat him if he can't be killed?" Sailor Neptune sounded worried.

Again, Sven cackled. This time, though, his laughs were colder and higher. Then, when he spoke, his words were so cold that they literally seemed to freeze in front of his face.

"What could be more worse? I'll tell you, the return of Princess Snow Kaguya that's what! HA! She will freeze you all to your very soul now that she is under my power!"

The sky darkened even more, and blanket of snow now appeared. A thick layer of ice coated the pavement of the sidewalk. The Scouts heard a high-pitched laugh from behind them, and whipped around to see the familiar blue-skinned princess. A thin, see-through shroud flowing from her headdress covered her half-nude body. She smiled at the Scouts as she spoke.

"So, Sailor Scouts, did you miss me?"

"NO!" the Scouts shouted in unison.

"Too bad," the princess tsked. "This time, my snow dancers won't be so easy to deal with, thanks to Lord Sven's power."

The princess closed her eyes, then began to sing. A white flurry escaped her lips and began to whirl around itself. It then turned into a snow dancer, but that snowdancer began to break off into others, multiplying rather quickly. Soon, there were about 70 snow dancers floating in the sky, beneath their cackling princess. The snow dancers charged the Scouts, this time with intense victory written in their eyes.

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"As soon as we stop," Tre spoke the final line of instructions to his team, "transform into your suits."

"What do we do if that Sven dude shows up again?" Pyrone asked. "I mean, that magic shit does get very technical sometimes, you know."

"Yeah," Tre agreed. "OK, just do what you did last time and you'll be fine."

With that said and done, Tre squeezed the brake handles to stop the bike. The reverse thrusters were lighted and sustaining their power, slowing the bike down immediately. The car however, had to screech to a halt. With one last rev from both vehicles' engines, they shut down. The seven pilots all piled out of the car or off the bike. They gathered together in a circle and transformed into the Gundam suits. All the sudden, a freak cold blew in and snow covered the ground, while ice coated the various pavements. The Gundams didn't know what to think, but they fired their rockets and flew off in search of the Scouts.

It wasn't long until they heard the grunts of extreme effort and the feminine 'Indian-calls.' The suits rounded a bend of trees and stopped so short that one knocked into the other, still hovering.

The Scouts were locked in a furious battle with a bunch of white, flying figures. These figures were the source of the 'Indian-calls', as they flung their icy blasts at the Scouts. They all flitted about, leaving long white trails behind them. A lone figure with blue skin floated above the scene. Off in the background, Tre could just use enough binocular vision to make out a crashed ship with its door opened and a figure standing in the doorway. That figure was Sven, Lord Sven Cadgrade.

"Hmm," DreadScythe grunted, as Sven disappeared. "It seems our pal has come to play, after all."

"Son of a bitch," Backlash breathed, pumping its shotguns. "I'll have to take him out."

"No, I got a better idea," DreadScythe said. "Let's use this ice to our advantage. Take out your scythes, boys!"

"Umm, Tre?" Sandrock spoke. "What if we don't have scythe staffs?"

"Uh, hold on," DreadScythe pondered. "Deathscythe needs one, I have one, Backlash has one, Altron has the glaive, so he'll be fine. Heavyarms can take one of Deathscythe's staffs and you, Sandrock, can take the sword."

DreadScythe drew the long sword and handed it to Sandrock. The smaller suit seemed to have trouble handling it at first. The seven suits all made their presence known when they fired their weapons at the snow princess. She got hit in the shoulder by a stray bullet from Heavyarms. She shrieked in agony, clutching the wound and glaring at the seven suits. All seven of them stopped, landing on the ice. She threw a shining white orb of energy at the seven suits, which immediately exploded. The Scouts just yelled in protest, screaming out, "NO!!" Chunks of ice and gravel flew askew from the blast, thundering like an exploding bomb. Then, a glow in the smoke was seen, but not just one, five were seen. As the smoke cleared, the seven suits just walked out of the smoke, not a scratch on them, and their energy beam weapons ablaze. Princess Snow Kaguya was appalled to see that these metallic intruders survived. The Scouts breathed a sigh of relief, and DreadScythe spoke first.

"Hey you!"

"You address me?" the princess seethed.

"Yeah, I do," DreadScythe shot back. "Why don't you have those snow whores play with us? We could have so much fun!"

"What an idea!" the princess agreed. "My beautiful snow dancers, attack those seven metal-heads, and make sure they suffer greatly!"

The snow dancers diverted their attention away from the Scouts and went after the suits. They threw blast after blast of their icy power, missing completely for some reason. Before they were within point blank range, DreadScythe held up its hand and shouted...

"STOP!!"

...which the snow dancers did. They paused in their motions and stared piercingly at the seven suits. DreadScythe fumbled in its suit for a second until it pulled out a small, circular object about an inch thick; a hockey puck.

"Anyone up for a little hockey?" DreadScythe asked.

The snow dancers facevaulted, as did the Scouts. Then, when the former group retook their stances, spikes suddenly surrounded the puck. Six talon-like energy blades protruded from the edge around the puck and several conical spikes poked out at varying angles from the flats of the puck. Green energy blades had surrounded the small black object.

"Makes it more interesting, doesn't it?" Backlash questioned, leaning on his staff.

"Absolutely," Deathscythe said, swinging its staff like a bat.

"GO!!" DreadScythe said, chucking the puck high into the air.

As it fell to the earth, the suits opened their rocket's throttle enough to keep them warmed for their flight. With a thunk, the puck fell to the icy pavement, and the game began. DreadScythe blasted forward, skidding his feet against the ice with his rockets going full blast. He checked into one of the dancers as the other suits scattered, and took control of the puck. His scythe blade was ignited, but it didn't do any harm to the Neo-Gundanium puck. He dribbled the puck for a while, then slapped it to Deathscythe, who was all the way across the park field. Deathscythe did some fancy twirling and passed the puck to Heavyarms. Heavyarms just passed it on to Sandrock, who found it very difficult to hit a puck with a sword. Sandrock dribbled the puck before he passed it on to Altron. Altron received the puck and 'skated' backward like he had played hockey his whole life. He flew forward, skimming the slick surface of the ice and dribbling the puck with ease. Zero flew in and stole with his beam cannon. He blasted the puck, which flew into the air. It landed with a clatter and Backlash took control of it. All the while, the snow dancers chased after the puck like a cat does a ball.

DreadScythe 'skated' at a very high speed and ignited his armblades. The black blade split into five thinner versions. He shut down his rockets, and started sliding on his left side, the left-hand blades digging into the ice, leaving five long trails in the ice. He came to a stop as the puck was flying his way. He stopped it, then 'skated' off with it. DreadScythe hit the puck underneath his legs to Deathscythe, who was behind the former. Deathscythe almost fumbled too much with the puck, but regained control in time enough to pass it off to Backlash. By this time, the snow dancers had gained enough intuitive reasoning to realize the object of the game. Several of them had covered Backlash, but Backlash broke through and received the puck. He slanted his staff to create a ramp, which the puck traveled up on and smashed through a snow dancer's face. Backlash twirled around fast enough to clamp the puck underneath the end of his staff. The snow dancers raised their arms to block Backlash's view. DreadScythe had been signaling his intention of needing the puck. Seeing that he wasn't getting it, he started with the chatter.

"Hey dickless!" he yelled. "Give me the puck!"

"Hey, fuck you!" Backlash returned. "I can't see with these snow bitches in my way!"

"Well, pass the puck!"

"FINE!"

With an almighty roar, Backlash raised his staff high and slapped the puck to DreadScythe. Unfortunately, one of the snow dancers caught it; it's unfortunate for the snow dancer.

"Shit! She got it!" Backlash complained. "What now, genius?"

"Watch!" DreadScythe laughed.

The snow dancer's face contorted into an expression of confusion when the puck started to glow red. Then, it levitated out of her hand and started to spin like a top. Without warning, it tore through her head, destroying her. It flitted off at an amazingly high speed and started on a death trip. It slashed across one snow dancer's abdomen, leaving a deep trench in her torso. It then crashed through another one, head-on. It sliced through her body, from her head and down through her innards. Nothing was left of that one. One after another, the snow dancers fell victim to the puck's lethal attack.

After the last one was obliterated, the puck seemed to focus on the princess, still spinning like a top. The green spikes surrounding the puck were nothing more than a faded blur of green surrounding the puck like a halo. Princess Snow Kaguya leered at the puck and held her hands open toward the sky. In each palm formed a blazing blue-white ball of icy energy. The princess threw these at the puck with a growl. The puck raced toward the princess and collided with the orbs. The three objects created a very small explosion, but the shockwave was enormous. The bone-crushing shock knocked all the Scouts and suits down, not to mention remove all the dirt from the front of the ship with the constant vibration. In the end, nothing remained of the puck, except for a smoking mass of metal, the same metal that armors the suits.

All the Gundams looked at each other like they had seen a ghost. To put it frankly, they were worried. If that ice princess could do that to a Neo-Gundanium puck, then what could she do to a suit of Neo-Gundanium?

"Well, it can't be that bad," Backlash optimized. "Can it?"

"Why don't we just find out for ourselves," DreadScythe suggested.

"Good idea!" Backlash agreed. "Me first!"

He faced the princess, and underneath all that armor, he smiled with confidence. Twirling his scythe staff, the three blades of navy blue made trails in the air from the afterimage (a bright source contrasts a dark environment so quickly that our eyes don't adjust, so it leaves behind a remnant of the bright source). Then, he boasted like an egotistical freshman,

"I bet you can't kill me!"

"You have yourself a deal!" the princess replied with glee.

"Let's play!"

With a whoop of mock insanity, Backlash rocketed toward the princess. She glared Backlash down, then threw an icy blast at him. He dodged it and slashed at her as he neared her position. She dodged that, then gave him a chop in the spine. He fell to the earth, groaning from the pain repeating on him from the blow. She landed softly next to him, smirked, then spread her arms wide open. A small shimmer began then it grew it a huge shimmering orb of deadly energy. Pyrone was now very worried, he could tell that his suit wouldn't sustain this amount of punishment, magic or not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sailor Moon gasped as she surveyed the scene that was about to take place.

"She's going to unleash the same attack that she tried against the Silver Crystal!"

"Are you sure?" Sailor Pluto asked urgently.

"YES!" Sailor Moon shouted.

"We have to save him!" Sailor Pluto announced.

"No, Pluto!" Uranus jumped in front of Pluto, blocking her way.

"Uranus, move!" Pluto said firmly.

"No, I won't watch you get killed," Uranus replied, just as firm.

"I have my staff to protect me," Pluto countered, trying to move past.

"It won't do a damned bit of good as a defense," Uranus shot back. "Let those things handle it. Besides, they've proven their worth against those snow dancers."

Pluto stood down, accepting the defeat from this argument. Little did she know her decision to help out was justified, for her newfound love was about to be destroyed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What are you going to do to me?" Backlash grunted.

"Dispose of your worthless being," the princess replied coldly.

"Oh, great," Backlash mocked. "I thought you were going to kill me."

"I am," she retorted.

"Shit," he said, dejectedly.

As the orb grew, the glint of victory in the princess' eye was very prominent. As she flew above her target another flying object knocked into her back, shoulder first. Her face changed into an expression of utmost surprise and agony. Her eyes bulged and her mouth fell open, choking sounds emitted from her throat. DreadScythe hovered nearby, obviously the assailant. He flew to help his partner up, then both rocketed out of the line of fire.

"On three," DreadScythe started, "I want you guys to pump Frosty the Snow Bitch full of heat! Don't let up because she's a girl; treat her like a slut! Fuck her up!"

All the Gundams drew their weapons: beam rifles, beam cannons, machine guns, shotguns, and Gatling guns. All trained on the now and forever doomed princess. She was still too injured to even look at her killers. She just coughed up a bluish mass and slumped over in mid-air. That was the last thing she did.

"One," DreadScythe counted. "Two! THREE!!"

It was a mixture of pure noise: the loud explosive sounds of rifles and shotguns going off; the ratta-tatta-tatta of machine guns; the droning buzz of Gatlings. The environment was alight with the bright trails of tracer bullets, the wide golden beam of energy, the strobing of machine gun rounds, and the flashes of shotguns firing. Each round fired met its mark, tearing away at the ice blue body of Princess Snow Kaguya. She was shattered once again and this time for good.

The Scouts and the Gundams cheered. The battle was won and the victors remained victorious and this time, under control. The suits flew toward the Scouts, the ice and snow melting away like an illusion.

Just as the suits were about to meet the Scouts, something burst forth from the ground. A jutting brown tower of earth split the surface, spraying the Scouts and Gundams with soil. Sven paused in mid-air as the 'tower' fell back to the ground as loose soil. He growled with each breath, baring his fangs.

"You have insulted me long enough!" Sven barked. "I shall dispose of you with my ultimate creations! Cadspikes, come forth!"

Filing out of the ship in single file, a group of about ten silvery metallic beings of male and female form emerged. They glared at the Scouts and the Gundams with utmost hatred. Sven just made things worse.

"Kill them."

They flew at the Scouts and Gundams, but were stopped by something. A blaring of a car horn and the ear-splitting roar of a jet engine were heard. Out of the trees came the jetbike and the car. Both stopped in between the two groups, revving their engines. Suddenly, Tre had an idea.

"Deathscythe! Backlash! Fly with the bike!" DreadScythe started barking orders. "Pluto, Jupiter! Get on the bike, it'll drive itself!"

The two Scouts got on the bike, tearing out of there. The two aforementioned suits followed after the vehicle. DreadScythe sent the car off, which it did, peeling out and throwing dirt all over the Cadspikes.

"Altron, take Mars and fly off! Heavyarms, the same with Neptune!" DreadScythe continued with the orders. "Zero, do the same with Moon! Sandrock, circle offensive on flip two! Uranus, Venus, come with me!"

"What about us?" Mercury demanded. "What do we do?"

"Fight them off the best you can and Sandrock will help," DreadScythe answered. "If not, then get the Hell out of here; save your asses!"

DreadScythe ran off, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Venus in close tow. Sandrock took flight while three Cadspikes chased after the fleeing Gundam and two Scouts. Heavyarms, Altron, and Zero had all flown off by now, tailed by two Cadspikes each. One Cadspike had chased Deathscythe and Backlash and company. That left two Cadspikes for Mercury, Saturn, and Sandrock to play with. But along came another figure out of the ship.

"Hullo there," the figure said. "So nice to meet you all."

"Who are you?" Saturn asked bitterly.

"I am Shawn Chamberlin," the figure responded. "The ultimate ruler of the British kingdom. I will be king of all the earth and space colonies."

"No you won't!" Sandrock shouted, flying in a tackle at Shawn.

Shawn twisted his arms around each other, brought the heels of his hands together, and roared. A blinding beam of bright blue shot forth from his hands, knocking into Sandrock. The suit was knocked out of the sky, and it fell on its back. Mercury rushed to his side immediately. Sandrock grunted in pain, Mercury on her knees inspecting him.

"I'm fine!" Sandrock argued.

"But you're hurt," Mercury told him, concern shimmering in her eyes.

"I tell you," Sandrock strained getting up. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure you can help us in your condition," Sailor Saturn stepped in.

"Please, don't make me repeat myself," Sandrock sighed. "Amy, I appreciate your concern, but I'll be okay, for real."

Sailor Mercury was shocked that this suit knew her true identity. How did he know that? She decided to find out just what this guy was made of. She touched an earring on her right ear, and a transparent blue visor splayed across her eyes. Taking out her small Mercury computer, she furiously typed in command after command. Readings came up on the visor almost immediately, but what shocked her was that there was a human inside the suit. But the fact remained that she still didn't know who it was.

Whoever it was, he was holding his own against this Shawn character. He [Sandrock] was just flinging the two large sickles that were originally attached to his back at Shawn. Shawn didn't expect them to come so fast, so they caught him off guard, slicing into his shoulders. Sandrock gave a cheer of victory, but that was cut short when Shawn removed the two curved blades from his shoulders and slung them back at their owner. But, Sandrock caught them with ease despite that they were returned in a manner to harm him. Shawn's cuts healed rather quickly, which surprised the Scouts and Sandrock. Mercury did a quick analyzation of Shawn. No weak points were registering, which worried Amy. If this guy doesn't have any weak points, then how are we going to beat him?

Then, something did register. This being could be severely weakened by a direct blast from a large beam rifle or beam cannon. Mercury was relieved, but she was also very doubtful. While Sandrock battled with Shawn, flipping over him at the moment, Mercury looked around for a large beam cannon or beam rifle. Luckily, she found one! Zero had inadvertently dropped it when he picked up Sailor Moon. She ran off to get it, but was stopped by a Cadspike. It was a female, no doubt about that. She stared Mercury down with her piercing stone gray stare. Mercury used an old attack that was sure to trip this foe up.

"Mercury Bubble Blast!" Sailor Mercury said.

Soon, several large bubbles surrounded the Cadspike, rendering it immobile. As soon as Mercury went around this enemy, it broke free of its bubble prison and punched Mercury in the back of the head. Mercury cried out in pain, and fell to the ground. The Cadspike took this opportunity to pick up the beam cannon. But that was a mistake, for Sailor Saturn had aimed her most lethal attack, Silence Glaive Surprise. It hit the Cadspike dead on; the silence was unnerving, despite that it was only for a few seconds. Then a huge explosion was heard, and the beam cannon thrown skyward from the blast. Sailor Saturn jumped high into the air and retrieved the heavy weapon. She glanced at the spot where the Cadspike had originally been, and was now absent from. At least there was a chance to beat these minions. Sandrock was just thrown toward the two Scouts from being punched so hard by Shawn. Saturn tossed the large weapon onto Sandrock, the latter oomphing from the weight crashing onto his chest. Sandrock looked up at Sailor Saturn and took up the rifle. Standing himself, he aimed the weapon at Shawn and the oncoming Cadspike. Sandrock wasted no time firing. The golden beam raced toward the offenders, and met them head-on. Shawn screamed in agony, the beam tearing apart his body although not completely killing him. The beam however, instantly destroyed his partner in crime. Sven even got a taste of the beam's power, for it caught him in the chest and burned at his flesh, believe it or not.

When Sandrock finally let go of the trigger, nothing remained of the Cadspike, but Shawn was very badly burned and bleeding all across his front side. His hair still remained in patches atop his head and his clothing was tattered and torn and blackened. For Sven, his injuries were more mild compared to Shawn's. He escaped with a burned chest, nothing more.

"Shawn, come!" Sven barked.

Shawn lifted what was left of his body off the ground and hobbled as fast as he could on a broken pair of legs. Sven met him halfway and carried the injured man to the ship. Before the two escaped into the confines of the ship, Sven turned to the Scouts and Sandrock, saying this,



"I will not cease my efforts to kill you. Count on me coming back again and again, until you are dead. Do you understand?"

"Leave now," Sandrock growled. "Or I'll kill you."

Sandrock threatened Sven with the beam cannon, which was primed for a very destructive attack. Sven flared his nostrils, then retreated inside the ship. The doors clamped shut behind him, then the ship lifted off the ground, slowly. It pointed skyward then shot off, leaving a white trail of rocket exhaust behind.

"Well, that's the end of that," Sandrock said, lowering the beam cannon.

"Yes," Sailor Mercury agreed. "You're right about that, Quatre."

"Huh?" Sandrock was taken aback. "Who's that?"

"Don't try and fool me, because my scanner has told me it's you," Mercury giggled. "Besides, with these visors, I can see through your armor."

"Dammit," Sandrock said simply. "Well, I bet you could guess who the rest of the suits are, and for that matter, who the Gundam's pilots are."

"Well, I hadn't quite figured that you were the pilots of the Gundams," Mercury informed. "But, I thought you might have some connection with the Gundams."

"Me and my big mouth," Sandrock shook its head. "Well, you got me."

Sandrock de-transformed into Quatre. It was then that Mercury blushed at the sight of him, the quiet blonde at the table in the mall was in fact a strong warrior. It was turning her on, to put it bluntly.

"A knight has shed his shining armor," Saturn commented. "Shall the princess kiss her hero, or will she just stand there like an embarrassed girl?"

"I think I'll make that decision for her," Quatre replied.

He stepped up to Mercury, took her head in his hands, closed his eyes and planted his lips on hers in a soft, tender kiss. Mercury, enthralled in the moment, closed her eyes as well, dropping her computer and wrapping her arms around Quatre's body.

'I sure hope they get a room,' Saturn thought.

Meanwhile...

"Shit!" Backlash cursed.

The Cadspike was blasting some silvery substance at him, and they were getting closer every time he tried. He almost hit the bike and the Scouts riding it. The pair of Gundams flying on either side of the vehicle were streaking along with it, over half the speed of sound. The jet engine had been going full afterburner the whole time it had left the park and didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon.

Sailor Pluto dared to look back at their attacker. The Cadspike was flying as well, shooting its silvery blasts, trying to hit the bike or the Gundams protecting it. Then, the Cadspike had tried to hit Deathscythe, but missed at the last minute.

"Oh no," Deathscythe yelled. "You do NOT shoot that silver shit at me!"

"VERY FUNNY, MAXWELL!!" Backlash shouted.

"SHUT UP," Deathscythe returned. "The girls might hear you!"

"OH FUCK IT!" Backlash shouted. "I'm getting tired of this game, time to play with different rules and toys!"

Backlash pulled out his shotguns, pumped them, and fired in tandem. The aqua bursts clipped their target, but not enough to deter it from continuing their pursuit. The Cadspike raced forward, trying in vain to reach the two Scouts and two Gundams. That's when they had to round a bend.

"HANG ON!!" Backlash warned the Scouts.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME TWICE!!" Jupiter shouted back.

She and Pluto clutched the bike where they could, and locked their legs against the metal frame of the bike. The two Gundams left the bike and flew hard in front of the bike, then banked sharply to the right, into the shadow of a building. There they waited for the Cadspike to round the corner. They levitated by their rockets ready to chase their enemy. They saw the bike flash by, then they saw a flash of silver and took off, rockets giving all they had at full throttle. Both suits were gaining on the Cadspike, so they formulated a plan.

"Duo!" Backlash called. "When we get near enough to him, take a swing at him with your scythe and lead him into the sky. Then, I'll come up behind him and blast his brains out. How's that for a battle plan?"

"Sounds good, Pyrone," Deathscythe answered back. "Here I go!"

"Give him Hell," Backlash encouraged.

Deathscythe flew off, drawing his scythe. Backlash took out one shotgun and loaded a black shell into it; the black shell signifies a miniature nuclear explosion is harnessed inside the casing of the shell. If Pyrone fires this shell, he would have to do it in a place away from civilization, hence the sky would be the perfect place to shoot this round off.

Deathscythe was pacing the Cadspike, flying at the same speed, but just behind his field of view. Deathscythe tapped the Cadspike on the shoulder, the latter wheeled around to see his intruder. Deathscythe ignited his scythe's blade, and swung the bright green blade at the Cadspike. The enemy dodged, just as Backlash anticipated, then Deathscythe pulled skyward. Unfortunately, the Cadspike did not follow.

Backlash cursed, a very dirty curse. He summoned Deathscythe over the intercom, telling him to repeat the plan. Deathscythe, high above the streets, dove at the Cadspike at full throttle. Deathscythe slammed so hard into his target, that the Cadspike did a faceplant right into the pavement. The Cadspike rolled over and over on the asphalt, the jetbike out of sight. It raised its head, seeing that its target had gotten away. That's when the two Gundams landed behind it, scythes drawn. The Cadspike lifted itself to its feet, facing the two Gundams. Backlash leaned toward Deathscythe and whispered,

"What should we do with this mofo?"

"I'd take pleasure in guttin' this boy," Deathscythe answered.

"I thought so," Backlash acknowledged. "All right, let's go."

They ran at the Cadspike, scythes held behind them in pre-strike position. The Cadspike ducked under Backlash's scythe, but it did not escape Deathscythe's double scythe onslaught. It got stabbed in the back and the left ribs, the blades deep in its silvery flesh. Deathscythe wrenched the weapons from the Cadspike, but no bleeding was eminent from the wounds. The Cadspike did a flying kick at Deathscythe, but flew over the suit. Backlash came behind it, swung its scythe, but it met wall instead of Cadspike. The Cadspike high-kicked Backlash in the faceplate, the suit reeled backwards. Then, the Cadspike wrenched the scythe out of the wall, holding it.

Deathscythe tackled the Cadspike with a rocket-assisted flight. The Cadspike dropped the scythe in its surprise. Backlash retrieved the weapon and swung it down on the pinned Cadspike's neck. The triple blades sliced through the foe's neck, but it did not completely sever the head from the body. Still, no bleeding, but a very thin piece of neck, about an inch wide and a half-inch thick, at the back of his neck kept it connected. The Cadspike had trouble getting its head on straight enough to where it could fight again. But, every time it had its head up, it would flop down again.

"This is going to be interesting," Backlash huffed, getting into a crouch.

"Yep," Deathscythe returned, also crouching and crossing both scythes in front of himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bike turned a one-eighty and fired its main engine again, slowing rapidly. Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Pluto were watching the fight between the Gundams and the Cadspike. It seemed the Gundams would win, but not without some help. Pluto had an idea.

"Jupiter, drive this thing at the Cadspike as fast as you can," she ordered.

"What are you going to do?" Jupiter asked curiously.

"I'm going to take this Cadspike's head off," Pluto answered.

"Oh!" Jupiter brightened. "Great idea!"

Jupiter revved the jet engine, then stepped on the shift lever. Twisting the throttle full back, the bike shot forward. Jupiter drove straight at the Cadspike, then she turned the bike to aim at the Cadspikes right side. Pluto yelled out to get the Cadspike's attention, the Gundams flying upward fast to get out of the way. It worked, the Cadspike looked straight at her and the Gundams were high above the scene, watching. Pluto got on her knees, held her staff like a baseball bat, and swung hard at the Cadspike's head. The plan worked, for the head rolled down the street like a football.

Deathscythe, who rocketed skyward to meet with Backlash, grabbed the body. When he reached his partner, Backlash pointed toward the heavens, Deathscythe flew higher. Backlash pulled out the shotgun with the black shell, aimed it at the body. Deathscythe let go and flew off. The body fell, from its original position, but Backlash fired and hit the target, setting off a huge explosion that knocked both Gundams out of the sky.

They fell to the earth, and bounced when they contacted the ground. The Scouts had just reached their position and jumped off the bike to be at their sides. Pluto sat next to Backlash as the suit raised itself to a sitting position, sighing roughly from the pain. Jupiter knelt by Deathscythe, the latter milking it for all it was worth.

"Are you hurt?" Jupiter asked concernedly.

"Oh! Ow! The pain!" Deathscythe moaned. "I don't think I'll make it! Lita, please-"

"Lita?" Jupiter said. "How did you know my name was Lita?"

"Oops," Deathscythe replied.

"You idiot!" Backlash said, smacking Deathscythe on the head with his scythe staff.

"Duo? Is that you?" Jupiter questioned.

"No, I am Deathscythe!" Deathscythe said quickly. "I am not Duo Maxwell, the Great Destroyer!"

"How did you know his last name?" Jupiter interrogated. "Or, his nickname, for that matter?"

"Well-you see-" Deathscythe tried to make something up.

"No point," Backlash said. "They know."

"DUO!!" Jupiter yelled.

With a sigh, Deathscythe de-transformed into Duo, and Backlash into Pyrone. Pluto gasped, Pyrone just stood up.

"Well, who did you expect?" he asked. "The Easter bunny?"

"No, but I-" Pluto flustered, blushing.

"Surprised Lita?" Duo asked.

"I'll say!" Jupiter exclaimed. "What else can I do, though? I can't kill you, because you're too cute to kill," she blushed, "but, I can't strangle you, that would hurt you too much-not to say that you couldn't handle it-"

"Lita, shut up," Duo laughed. "You talk too much. And besides, what's your angle?"

He gave her a very analyzing stare. By now, she was so red in the face, she could pass for a tomato. Again, she fumbled for words, trying to say something that would make her seem intimidating. Duo just walked up to her, placed one arm around her back, one behind her head, and dipped her. She gave a gasp of surprise, but soon found herself lost in the passionate reverie of Duo's kiss. Jupiter responded by wrapping her arms around Duo, holding herself closer to her love. Pyrone looked over to Pluto and cocked his head in the direction of the kids.

"Whadda ya say?" Pyrone smiled. "Shall we show 'em how it's done?"

"You bet," Pluto giggled, locking lips with Pyrone.

She too wrapped her arms around her man like Jupiter had done Duo. As her eyes closed, her grip on her staff loosened and it clattered to the ground. Pluto bent one leg at the knee, raising herself higher on one leg to get more pleasure out of the kiss.

'Please, oh please, oh please,' Pyrone begged mentally. 'Please God, let me have some action tonight! I don't think I can take much more of this without poppin' a bone!'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three Gundams carrying the three Scouts were roaring through the city, the Cadspikes streaking after them. Thus far, the Cadspikes hadn't done anything but chase the six.

"Zero! What are we going to do to shake these guys off of us?" Heavyarms called out.

"Oh, so that's your name," Sailor Moon gushed. "Zero!"

"Quiet," Zero said. "In answer to your question, I don't know!"

"Oh," Heavyarms said. "How about you, Altron, thought of anything?"

"No!" Altron spat. "I have to deal with carrying this onna!"

"ONNA!?!" Sailor Mars was in a fury. "I'm the Sailor Soldier of Fire, asshole!"

"Good for you," Altron huffed. "Heavyarms, you have to have something. You have the most ammo out of us all!"

"I know, but without Quat-" he paused. "Uh, Sandrock, I can't organize a battle plan."

"That's fine, we can formulate one together," Zero spoke. "Sailor Moon, is it?"

"Mm hmm," Sailor Moon nodded.

"Can you think of anything that we could do in our present situation?" Zero asked his cargo. "I take it you are the leader of the Sailor Scouts."

"Well, I don't know any battle plans or anything like that," Sailor Moon explained.

"I do," Sailor Neptune said. "Heavyarms, turn us around and take one of your Gatlings out. I'll wrap my leg around yours and put an arm behind your neck to secure myself to you. That way, you and I can fire at our enemies."

"Sounds good," Heavyarms agreed. "Altron, you hold onto Sailor Mars like you are now and use your tail stinger guns. Zero, find a place to get away from here with Sailor Moon; she's the one they're after, anyway."

"How do you figure?" Zero asked.

"That Sven character we took care of had it in for the Scouts," Heavyarms explained.

"I see," Zero responded. "Okay, I'm off. But I'll be back to fight later."

Zero pulled skyward, Sailor Moon squealing in fright. Heavyarms turned himself around, his right arm taken up by a Gatling. Altron, holding Sailor Mars by the waist, turned his tail stingers up. Mars just prepared herself to attack the Cadspikes.

"Remember," Heavyarms reminded. "No mercy!"

"We are righteous," Altron proclaimed. "We will conquer this battlefield."

"Yes," Sailor Neptune agreed. "Let's smash these dirt bags."

All the sudden a gigantic flame, a tidal wave, and green and golden streaks were racing towards the Cadspikes. Off the bat, the silver monsters didn't know what was happening until one of them was stricken and killed by the flurry of attacks. Soon, after another was killed, the rest started to dodge the attacks. Now, it became harder for the Gundams and Scouts to take care of these chrome crooks. Then, it became pure Hell.

The Cadspikes, starting to wise up, started to formulate their own battle plans. They started springing off of the buildings like Spider Man. Now the Scouts and Gundams couldn't even fire at the Cadspikes, for fear of knocking down the buildings inadvertently or destroying innocent lives. In short, they couldn't do a damn thing about it.

"I think we have a problem," Heavyarms spoke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zero had landed on the nearest rooftop, peering over the edge at the situation his allies were in. He saw the streaks of blue and black flash by, followed by a glimpse of silver blurs chasing the other streaks down. Inside the suit, Heero growled in disapproval; without his Buster rifle, he was useless in a long-range combat. Why he didn't attempt to disable the Cadspikes with his beam saber now was beyond his comprehension at the moment. The Perfect Soldier wanted so badly to fight, being deprived of the one thing he knew how to do best for one year was starting to eat away at his mentality. Pretty soon, he would be as soft as every other human. Heero shuddered at the thought.

"Are you cold?" a voice invaded Heero's thoughts.

"No," the stoic reply to the voice.

"Okay."

Zero turned in time to see Sailor Moon shrug her shoulders and walk away from him. She stopped about five yards away, back turned to him, when she sighed darkly. Heero sensed something was wrong, no one that beautiful should have to sigh like she were in pain.

'Dammit,' he thought. 'Remember your mission, Heero. You haven't the time to involve yourself with her anyway, so stop kidding yourself.'

Heero mentally slapped himself for that last thought. What he wanted more than anything was to hold this sweet angel in his arms and love her. He felt nothing but compassion for Serena, ever since he met her at the mall. Then again, there might be a catch to this girl. Why did she seem to come off as a bubbly, exuberant girl yet be so pained as a Sailor Soldier? What secret was she hiding? Heero wanted to find out, but to do so as Zero would be interesting.

"Why did you sigh?" Zero spoke to Sailor Moon.

Surprised by this sudden opening of conversation, Sailor Moon just wheeled around to face Zero. The soft features of her face were alight with the glow from the moon overhead and the glare of city lights. Heero wanted so badly to kiss her, yet his stoic demeanor interfered with his human side. Instead of just quell the feelings of love, compassion, and sympathy, his soldier mentality brutally squashed it all. Heero wasn't quite himself, not now and not ever again; he would be a different person. But not yet.

"I was just thinking of my lost love," Sailor Moon replied.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Zero voiced. "Would you care to elaborate?"

"Well, I met this guy a few years back," Sailor Moon started. "He was gorgeous! At first, he seemed to hate me. But soon, he drew closer and closer to me as time passed. We even found out that we had a daughter in the future."

That statement didn't surprise Heero; a beautiful girl like that would never be without someone in a relationship. But, why did she kiss him outside the mall this evening? That question would not even have to be voiced, for Sailor Moon continued.

"But, he's . . . he's dying. After our last threat, a remainder of that evil embedded itself in the Earth. Since he and the Earth share a bond, he decided to take that evil into himself rather than it being in the Earth. Now, that evil has . . . has . . . turned him into a withered, old man. There's no sense of us being together again, so we broke off our relationship. Even Sailor Pluto didn't see this coming. (sigh) I guess the future is never really set in stone, huh Zero?"

"Hn," was what the suit said. "That certainly is a sad story."

"Yeah, but the good news is that I've found another! He's just as cute, and he's very mysterious, but he can be very romantic at times. He can kiss so well!"

Heero smiled inside, for the first time in a long time. He felt so good to be cared about by a girl like this. He couldn't stand being in his suit anymore, he needed to kiss this girl before he lost his mind. Hence, Zero de-transformed right in front of Sailor Moon. Heero didn't care, it wasn't a very good secret to keep anyway. Sailor Moon gasped, shocked that the guy whom she was just speaking of was the guy who rescued her from those monsters. Heero still put on his Perfect Soldier face, though, not knowing how to react to this girl.

Sailor Moon, however, was totally unprepared for this. Trembling, her hands were covering her open mouth, while her eyes were wider than saucers. She slowly lowered her hands, trying to find the initiative to speak. But all she could do was open and close her mouth. Funny enough, she was holding her breath and didn't even realize it. When she couldn't breath, she started to fan herself air, turning blue. Heero rushed to her side just before she collapsed to the gravel on the rooftop. She finally began to breathe again, as Heero caught her in his strong grip.

Staring into her deep blue orbs, Heero found himself swimming in a pool of fantasies. He saw himself with this girl, holding her delicate hand in his own strong one, running and laughing in a field of flowers. Then, flashes of a life with her started to run through his mind: going on a romantic evening with her, proposing marriage, getting married, caressing her sweet skin as he gently made love to her on their honeymoon.

No words passed between these two. Both just closed their eyes, and claimed each others lips, lost in a world of passion. She reached up and stroked his cheek while he slowly ran a finger down her side, subtlely passing his digit over her soft breast.

They continued to kiss, for quite some time. Neither wanted to break this tender gesture of love, nor did they want to break their probing of each others body. Heero had never felt so strongly about someone in his life. Now he, the cold-hearted soldier who knew no emotions, knew what this feeling called love felt like.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We have a big problem!" Heavyarms grunted, dodging attacks from the Cadspikes.

"Then why don't we fix it?" Altron snarled.

Altron just took a hit in the back, meant for Sailor Mars. He yelled out in surprise at the force behind the blast. Heavyarms and Sailor Neptune were holding their own, flying backwards still but they were attempting to annihilate the threat without interfering with innocent lives. As they moved deeper into the city, that task became even more difficult. Heavyarms had to seriously limit his firing, else he would probably destroy something that was not his enemy. But, this is where he finds out what his suit can really do.

"I wish I had some sort of targeting device that was accurate," Heavyarms voiced.

At that same moment, a transparent, complex network of diagrams, graphs, measurements, and crosshairs invaded Trowa's field of vision. Soon, all this combined into a single chart to Trowa's left eye. The right eye was tracking the crosshair dancing around, trying to find a target. A rapid sequence of beeping was heard, then it sped up and became higher in pitch. Soon, it locked on to a pair of Cadspikes with a growling buzz. Trowa knew what to do now. He willed his missiles loose, and they took flight. The many trails of rocket smoke were seen concentrating on one point and then they scattered. The Cadspikes attempted to dodge the missiles, even sacrificed their partners to save themselves. Four balls of bright orange light glared off the windows of buildings, and even blew some windows apart. The two originally targeted Cadspikes were still safe and sound, but the other four were gone.

'Well,' Trowa chuckled mentally. 'It seems there's more than meets the eye.'

"Impressive," Sailor Neptune said.

"Thanks," Heavyarms said back. "I thought I'd try to save all the fireworks for last."

"Well, Heavyarms," Altron sneered. "It seems your fireworks didn't work very well."

"Nobody's perfect," Heavyarms replied.

"I have and idea!" Sailor Mars piped. "Neptune, attack them with your Neptune Deep Submerge so they'll get distracted, and when you're doing that I'll throw a huge flame. Heavyarms, my flame will be hot enough to expand your bullets to knock out these metalheads for good, so fire your bullets into my flame."

"Sounds good," Heavyarms agreed. "Neptune?"

"Let's do it!" Neptune shouted.

Sailor Mars concentrated with all that her priestess training taught her, seeing herself making the monstrous flame. Her eyes were squeezed tight together, all her mental focus on creating the giant flame. All the screams and shouts from the other three warriors was shut out of her mind, her concentration trained on this one task.

Suddenly, her eyes flashed open and she screamed, "NOW!!"

Neptune geared up for her Neptune Deep Submerge, then let loose the power. The Cadspikes were indeed distracted by this oncoming attack and they dodged it easily. That's when Mars let loose her flame.

"Mars Fire IGNITE!!"

The flame shot from her fingertips, erupting into a tsunami of an inferno that blocked the Cadspikes from seeing that they were about to be slaughtered. Heavyarms fired his Gatlings from his left arm, the bullets passing through the wall of flame seemingly harmless. But, the fire was so intense in heat that the rapidly traveling bullets expanded to many times their original size; these bullets could not have been dodged so easily anymore. As the metallic projectiles pierced the flaming tsunami, the four Cadspikes had horrified expressions on their faces right before they were completely destroyed by the tank shells of bullets aimed at them. Chrome shards scattered through the air, bouncing off buildings and tinkling like shattered glass on the pavement below.

The Scouts and Gundams had won, the six Cadspikes gone forever. Heavyarms slowed his flight and landed, placing Sailor Neptune on her feet for the first time in fifteen minutes of being airborne. Altron did the same nearby, placing Sailor Mars delicately on her feet. Sailor Mars was taken aback by this gesture and absentmindedly thanked Altron for doing this. Altron, without thinking to be nasty to her to mask his true identity, just said,

"Your welcome, onna."

"I knew it!" Sailor Mars declared. "Wufei! How nice of you to keep this secret from me. I bet you thought it real convincing, too, didn't you?"

"I have no idea of who you are speaking of, onna," Altron gently said. "But this Wufei is not I. I am Nataku, the kindred spirit of the dragon. I protect those who are too weak to fight on their own, like yourself."

"I know a lot of people and what they are like, Wufei. So I know it's you; stop denying it already and come out of that armor."

"If he's Wufei, then you must be Trowa," Sailor Neptune deduced.

AN: For a soundtrack effect, play the Main Title from the Terminator 2 soundtrack.

Heavyarms stood steadfast, not saying a word, just staring down at the Scout he had carried through the city. The hard glare of Heavyarms' eyes didn't faze Sailor Neptune, but just made her more comfortable to know that under that exterior was the man she had grown to love in only one night of being together. Trowa had similar feelings about Neptune, knowing full well who she was already. He stared deep into those liquid aqua eyes, dreaming of how it might feel to see those eyes up close.

Well, he dreamt no more. De-transforming, Trowa had exposed both himself and Wufei (despite the fact that Wufei was still in disguise). Trowa didn't care, though. He just wanted to kiss Michelle/Sailor Neptune, and that he would do. Pulling her into a soft embrace, he ran his hand through her aqua hair, stopping at the back of her head, the other he placed at her waist. Then, they slowly closed their eyes and locked lips in a tender, passionate kiss.

The other two warriors stared wide-eyed at their colleagues. Wufei was aghast that Trowa was showing a sign of weakness, or rather, giving in to the hormone-driven thoughts of a teenage male that never was supposed to be seen. Sailor Mars was even more aghast that she was right. Maybe this priestess thing was coming in handy after all.

"Aren't you going to kiss me?" Sailor Mars asked coyly.

Like a machine, Altron turned its head slowly, glaring at her, "How do you propose I do that when I'm locked inside this suit?"

"De-transform, honey," Mars answered with attitude. "You're gonna need to."

The metal armor seemed to metal away, and Wufei emerged from it. Much to Mars' surprise, Wufei was smiling.

'So he does care,' she chortled to herself. 'I am going to have fun with him.'

"Is it just me," Wufei began, smiling, "or did you offer a kissing opportunity?"

"Lay it on me hottie!" Mars almost pleaded.

Wufei found himself pressing his lips to her own softer, sweeter ones. She parted hers and, using only her lips, 'bit' down on his upper lip. The feeling sent a shiver down his spine, his teenage desires stirring inside his body. Now he wanted to take her, with every fiber in his body aching to be inside her and pleasing his instinctive desires.

'Soon,' he reminded himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Shit!" DreadScythe shouted.

"What?" Venus asked, panting.

"They're gaining on us! We have to get to the car, fast!"

"I just hope you aren't going to make me drive an automatic," Uranus called.

"Automatic?" Tre scoffed. "Fuck, no! Automatic is for pussies; guy pussies, that is!"

DreadScythe was running along with Uranus and Venus, through the thick part of the woods where the Cadspikes couldn't fly. The three had reached the car. Uranus slid across the hood to the driver's side, Venus popped into the passenger seat, and DreadScythe latched onto the roof on all fours, like an animal ready to pounce; he faced toward the rear as Uranus started the car's engine, shifted into first, and put the pedal to the metal.

The Cadspikes finally emerged from the woods as the car pulled off, DreadScythe sent them a 'going away present': a blast from his rifle. Several trees cracked and splintered, bent in half. The three chrome cronies barely escaped the blast. They stared after the car, then shot after it.

"Uranus!" DreadScythe yelled into the driver side window, over the roar of the engine.

"What!" Uranus yelled back.

"No matter what, you keep driving and get out of the sight of the Cadspikes!"

"What are you telling me?" Uranus interrogated.

"You're not going to sacrifice yourself for us!" Venus shouted. "Are you?"

Her eyes were wide and soulful, looking at DreadScythe through the closed window. DreadScythe didn't have a chance to answer, the Cadspikes were on their asses. The three assailants were shooting silvery darts at the suit and the car. DreadScythe tried his best to dodge the projectiles, but he couldn't keep it up forever. He then had an idea.

"Make a sharp turn at this next right!"

Uranus obeyed. She jerked the wheel hard right, sending the car into a power slide, then righted the car's steering and drove forward. The Cadspikes shot past the turn, unseen for about five minutes. The whole time DreadScythe had his rifle at the ready, the energy brimming over the barrel. He jerked his head this way and that, searching for the metallic enemies.

Venus was also looking for them, her face and hands pressed against the window and scanning the scenery as it passed. Uranus was focused on driving and hadn't time to search.

"Where are you, you sons of bitches, you?" DreadScythe mumbled under his breath.

As Venus was looking, a silver fist punched through the window, shattering the glass into millions of fragments. Venus screamed, alarmed by the suddenness of the attack. DreadScythe reacted immediately, drawing the black sword from the holster on his back and plunging the blade deep into the Cadspike. The latter was knocked off the vehicle easily by this attack and was run over, crushed onto the pavement.

The second one was latched onto the driver's side of the car and made it's move without DreadScythe noticing. It attempted to punch in the driver side window, but all that happened was the glass crunched and spider-webbed from the impact but no shards flew and the window stayed together. Uranus was surprised that it didn't break, but that didn't stop her from swinging the door open and hitting the Cadspike square in the jaw. The Cadspike almost fell off, but it pulled a T-1000, and formed its hands into a pair of hooks and drove the hooks into the body of the car. DreadScythe heard this and fired the rifle, disintegrating the Cadspike completely; no trace of the enemy was left except for a piece of the hook left in the side of the car.

The third one was crawling up the passenger side when it saw Venus stick her head out of the broken window, her blonde hair flying wildly everywhere in the slipstream. Venus' lips were suddenly covered with a bright orange shade and she winked at the Cadspike. The metal assailant didn't know what to make of this when it saw Venus kiss her fingers, and blow. A small orange heart was seen above her open palm. Then things got interesting.

"Venus Love and Beauty SHOCK!!" Venus shouted.

She threw the heart at the Cadspike, the energy found its target and ripped through the Cadspikes body, effectively slicing it in two. DreadScythe and Venus both thought the Cadspike was defeated, but both changed their minds when each felt a hand grab their arms. DreadScythe had to think fast.

"Venus, get your head back in the car!" he ordered.

She obeyed, and DreadScythe gave new orders to Uranus. "STOP!!"

Uranus stomped on the brakes, sending the two halves of the Cadspike and DreadScythe flying off the vehicle. DreadScythe fired his rockets and landed softly in the glow of the headlights. The two halves of the Cadspike rolled far down the pavement, then assimilated into each other, becoming one again. DreadScythe de-transformed into Sailor Universe.

"I have an idea, metal man," Sailor Universe offered. "You and I duke it out, fist to fist, no shooting or swords. What do you say?"

The Cadspike nodded in agreement, raising its metal fists. Sailor Universe removed his sword holster, his scythe strap, his trench coat, and his shirt. After Sailor Universe finished removing all the aforementioned articles, he raised his own fists.

Sailor Venus couldn't help but be intrigued by the chiseled body of Sailor Universe. His muscles had a slight bulge to them, but they showed through so well; each sinew seemed to have its own contour against the bronzed skin of Universe's body. His abs were a perfect six-pack configuration, his pecs flat and densely packed.

"Let's go!" Universe taunted.

The Cadspike slowly 'hopped' to meet Universe, each rolling their heads and circling the other. Universe threw the first punch, a hard jab to the Cadspikes nose. Universe was taken aback by how hard the Cadspikes' nose was, and thus shook out his left hand. The Cadspike threw a right cross, Universe ducked, and then he used his position to throw a hard right uppercut. The Cadspike was thrown backward, off balance by the force of the blow. As the Cadspike flew backward, Universe moved underneath him and kneed the enemy in the back, cracking the metal spine.

The Cadspike fell to the ground, back arched, legs spastically kicking out. Universe kicked the Cadspike in the head, the Cadspike took the hard blow. Universe jumped up and landed on the Cadspike, elbow first. The blow hit the victim in the stomach, causing the victim to sit bolt upright. Universe sat upright, then threw a left jab into the Cadspikes face, several times. This didn't seem to be working, so Universe jumped up, willed his scythe and sword over, ignited the former, and swung both weapons at the same target, going in opposite directions and slicing the Cadspikes head off.

Universe, seeing a perfect opportunity, kicked the head like a football into a field goal. Then, the body disintegrated. Sailor Venus ran to Sailor Universe, wrapped her small arms around his neck in a hug. Universe wrapped his arms around her slim body once he had dropped his weapons. Both were laughing out of joy that they had defeated the Cadspikes. Without even realizing it, they stopped, stared into each other's eyes and locked lips in a very passionate and loving kiss. Both have been longing for this for over many millennia; to be in each other's arms again was a very relieving feeling, now that they had each other. The kiss would have gone on all night, if Uranus hadn't cleared her throat.

"Tre, Mina, I think it's time we headed back," she smiled.

"How-how-" Universe stammered.

"Never mind," Uranus laughed. "Get in the car, I'll drive."

Universe de-transformed into Tre Young, the shed clothing of Sailor Universe disappearing and Tre's clothing somehow coming back onto his body. Sailor Venus walked with his arm wrapped around her small shoulders as they headed for the car; she couldn't be happier. And Tre, well, for once after the death of his former girlfriend, Tre actually smiled like a happy baby.

Static Scythe: I finished the f-king chapter! WOOHOO!! OK, world, let it be known that I have written a long chapter that totally sucks! Just kidding! Review please! Peace.