DISCLAIMER: All of the characters mentioned in this story are either the property of, or are inspired by characters owned by Naoko Takeuchi, DIC, Madman Entertainment, and whoever else owns rights to Sailor Moon around the world. I stake no claim on any of these, and I warn anyone thinking of suing me that I am currently broke. Go figure.
Author's Note: This is the first fanfic I've posted, so please be nice… reviews would be highly appreciated. However, I must warn you that flames will be met by retaliation in like fashion from my resident dragon, Kylara. You have been warned. That said… enjoy!
The story is set somewhere late in the 'Queen Beryl' series, after Serena and Darien are revealed as the Princess and Prince respectively, but before the final battle with Beryl. Somewhere in there, not quite sure where exactly. This fic is… interesting for me. I don't generally write this sort of thing. But I noticed, in my fandom, that Tuxedo Mask is pretty much always there to help Sailor Moon/Serena out of a tight spot… so I decided to investigate what would happen if he arrived too late.
CHAPTER ONE
The alarm on Serena's bedside table rang. Luna opened one eye, familiarising herself once again with the somewhat-strange surroundings (she and Serena were staying at Amy's while Serena's parents were away on holiday) before raising herself into a sitting position. As usual, the alarm had not disturbed Serena in the slightest. Sighing, Luna padded forward and swiped carefully at Serena's hand, trying to wake her without hurting her.
"Ow!" Serena sat upright, and looked at the faint scratches on her hand, then at Luna. "That hurt…"
"It was the only way to wake you," Luna replied. "I swear you've built up such selective hearing, you don't even hear that alarm anymore."
"But it's Saturday!" Serena complained.
"And there is a Scout meeting at Raye's this morning, remember?"
Luna leapt from the bed just in time to avoid being flung from it as Serena flung the blanket back quickly. "Oh, yeah! Why didn't Amy fetch me when she left? Oh, I'm gonna be late, Raye's gonna be so mad…"
As Serena charged back and forth getting herself dressed, Luna watched her measuringly. "I will meet you at Raye's, Serena. Do try not to be too far behind me." And with that, the cat walked out of the bedroom.
Serena hurriedly brushed her hair, then darted downstairs, passing Amy's mother in the hallway.
"Serena, what – " Amy's mother began.
"Sorry, gotta go, can't talk, bye!" Serena waved behind her as she darted out of the door.
"Oh, I'm gonna be so late!"
Serena tore down the footpath, heading for Raye's temple. She just knew what Raye would say if she were late… again. As it happened, she was actually on time, but she was so used to being late that she was still running flat out. Suddenly, though, she slowed to a stop, looking around her. Something seemed… wrong, somehow. She could swear she was being followed. Shrugging, she continued at a fast walk, but the feeling that something or someone was following her simply increased.
She started running again, raising her communicator to her lips as she ran. Somehow, she knew she had to alert the others about this. However, she had just started trying to reach the others when hands shot out from the bushes beside her, and dragged her in.
Meanwhile, at the temple, Raye had started pacing. "Where is she?" the raven-haired girl demanded, her robes billowing as she strode back and forth.
"Calm down, Raye," Mina said soothingly. "Serena's not even late yet."
"Yeah," Lita nodded in agreement. "What's the problem? You know she's never here on time."
Raye stopped and looked at her friends. "Yeah, I suppose you're –"
She broke off suddenly, her head coming up sharply.
The other girls looked at her in concern. "What is it, Raye?" Mina asked urgently.
Raye looked troubled. "I'm sensing something very wrong… it's faint, but growing stronger."
The others exchanged looks. Luna sat up from where she and Artemis had started to take a nap. "I don't like this. I don't like this at all."
Artemis opened one eye. "Quit fretting, Luna. I'm sure everything's fine."
Minutes passed. Raye resumed her pacing, but her usual look of impatience was replaced by an expression of concern. Luna had gotten more and more agitated, and finally turned to Amy. "I really don't like this. Late as she often is, Serena still should have been here by now."
Amy nodded. "I know. I've tried scanning, but she's nowhere nearby."
Raye tensed. "My bad feeling just got worse, guys."
At that moment, their communicators started flashing red. They exchanged glances, each of them wearing an identical expression of concern and sudden fear. "Serena!"
The girls transformed, and within moments the four Scouts and the two cats were sprinting towards the signal.
As they neared, they slowed, concerned and shocked at what they saw.
Darien was standing in the middle of the path, gazing at something in his hand. He looked up at the Scouts, before silently showing them what he was holding.
It was Serena's communicator.
The Scouts looked stunned. "No way…" Venus whispered.
Darien nodded solemnly. He spoke three words, which echoed the despair in his eyes. "They've got Serena."
The group returned to the temple, Darien with them. Amy started scanning madly on her computer, trying to find some trace of where Serena had been taken. The others, having all returned to their usual selves, were gathered around Darien as he played Serena's half-finished message from her communicator.
Her voice sounded from the small device. "Serena to Scouts. I'm being followed, but I don't know what's following me. I'm going to try to lose them, then head for the temple… They're close…" Her tone suddenly became panicked. "I can't lose them! They're gaining on me! I –" There was the sound of a struggle, and the communicator went silent.
Raye looked determined. "We have to go after her."
As the others nodded assent, Darien just shook his head. "There's a slight problem. I can't sense her. Normally, I can tell whether she's in danger, but now I can't. Which means that I have no idea how to find her." He looked away.
Amy shook her head. "I can't find her either."
"So that's it?" Lita demanded. "There's nothing we can do?"
Darien looked around at her. "Trust me… If I could think of anything, I'd have suggested it. But there's nothing that I can do unless I know where she is." He slammed his fist into the wall behind him in frustration.
Luna leapt up beside him, and nudged her head against his hand. He picked her up, and scratched behind her ears absently. The others just sat watching, wondering what they could do.
Serena looked around at the darkened walls of her cell. From what she could tell, there was no way out except for the main door, which was locked and heavily barred. She tried throwing herself against it anyway – and fell back onto the floor, rubbing at her now-sore shoulder. "Owie…"
What she really wanted to know was who had captured her, and why. None of their enemies knew who she really was… did they? Nephlyte had known… but he had been killed before he could possibly have revealed her…
She looked up as someone entered, and hauled herself to her feet.
"My, my… having a bit of trouble, are we?" The newcomer smiled cruelly. "Don't worry – you won't be here long…"
"Who are you?" Serena asked, somewhat frightened by the fact that she could not see the other person clearly in the almost-darkness. "And why have you brought me here?"
The man laughed. "You'll know that soon enough… Sailor Moon."
Serena tried not to show her rising panic. "S-Sailor Moon? W-What are you talking about?"
Her captor snarled. "Don't play dumb with me, Sailor Moon. I know who you are. Did you honestly think that we'd never figure it out? May I remind you that we have discovered your friends on several occasions, and so would have the knowledge to be able to find you? It was only a matter of time, Sailor Moon. And soon enough, you will no longer be able to foil our plans."
"What?" Serena looked confused. "What do you mean?"
Her captor chuckled. "You'll find out. Soon enough."
Serena backed against the wall in terror as he laughed.
Two days passed, and still the Scouts had had no luck in locating Serena.
Darien was getting desperate. He paced the length of his apartment like a caged tiger, constantly berating himself for not getting to her in time. All the while, he kept glancing at the communicator lying on the table. Serena's communicator. It had been lent to him to enable him to keep in touch with the girls on their progress, but having it there hurt.
He was startled out of his reverie (and his pacing) by the sound of the communicator beeping. He walked over to the table and picked it up. "Darien here."
"Darien." Amy's face showed on the small screen.
"Any luck?" He repeated the same question he'd asked several times already, feeling sure he'd know the answer.
"Not with Serena, no," Amy replied. Just as Darien closed his eyes in frustration, however, she continued. "But don't give up. I've picked up a small area not too far from here, with some sort of energy disturbance around it. I think it's Nega-energy."
Darien looked at the image intently "Are you sure? If you're right, then –"
"Then that could well be where Serena is – and would explain why we haven't been able to pinpoint her location exactly." Amy nodded. "We're gathering at the temple to go investigate. Can you meet us there?"
He was already out the door before she could finish. "You bet. I'm on my way."
Scant minutes later, the four remaining Scouts and Darien were once again gathered at the temple. Amy produced her computer, and showed the others her findings.
Lita looked at her. "That's not too far from our school…"
Amy nodded. "Right. It won't be hard to get there." She looked up. "Ready, everyone?"
They all gave the affirmative, and powered up their individual transformations.
"Be careful, everyone," Artemis cautioned.
Luna nodded in agreement. She turned to Tuxedo Mask. "Bring her back, Darien."
He smiled slightly. "You know I will, Luna. We all will." He gave her one last smile, as much to reassure himself as the black cat, before turning to join the others as they made their way to the disturbance site.
Their journey led them to a disused warehouse. Venus sighed. "Do they always use places like this? You'd think they'd have a little bit of imagination…"
Mars stepped forward, but Tuxedo Mask stopped her. Producing one of his roses, he hurled it at the building. It flew a short distance, then suddenly turned to dust. "That energy disturbance you mentioned?" he asked Mercury.
Mercury had her visor deployed, and was looking intently at the building. "Yes. It's some kind of force-field, and there's no way we can penetrate it."
A sound from behind them made them turn.
Several Negaverse creatures stood before them. The Scouts assumed a defensive formation, before the five began their assault.
"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"
Mercury's fog bought them the time they needed for her to analyse the creatures. "Guys! These creatures are what's keeping that force-field up! If we can defeat them, it'll deactivate!"
"Yeah… if," Jupiter muttered, as she launched her lightning attack at two of the monsters.
Despite Jupiter's apprehension, after a long struggle they managed to defeat the creatures. However, just as the Scouts were about to begin congratulating each other on another battle won, the force-field went down –
and Tuxedo Mask cried out, falling to his knees.
"Tuxedo Mask!" The Scouts rushed towards him. Mars got down and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Are you ok?"
He looked up slowly, clearly in great pain; but as Mercury quickly ascertained, it was not his own. He gritted his teeth against it, his breath coming in ragged gasps. "Serena…" he whispered. He turned to the others. "Go back to the temple. I'll need you to be ready. I'll meet you there once I've got her out."
"But Tuxedo Mask –" Mars began, but he was already gone, a black blur leaping away into the building. She sighed, and turned to the others. "You heard him. Let's go. I don't like leaving him to face whatever's in there, but he's asked us to leave. We'll just have to trust him."
The other Scouts and Luna all looked distinctly uncomfortable about this idea, but realised that they really had no choice but to do as they had been told.
Tuxedo Mask walked quietly along a corridor leading to the mezzanine level of the warehouse. As he neared the main area, his sense grew stronger, along with the feelings inside him. He knew she was close… and in grave danger.
But even these feelings could not prepare him for what he saw below him as he approached the edge.
A mysterious individual, clad as one of the generals of the Negaverse, was launching energy bolts across the room. When the last of these cleared and he was able to see clearly, he had to stifle a cry.
Serena was lying on the other side of the room… as herself. She hadn't transformed. Which meant she surely couldn't stand up to much. She was trying to push herself upright, but having far more difficulty than she normally would as Sailor Moon.
Tuxedo Mask started forward, about to intervene, when a sudden action on the part of their foe inexplicably made him pause.
Transfixed by sudden fear, unable to move, Tuxedo Mask watched in horror as the general finally picked her up with a beam of energy, lifted her high in the air, and threw her against the wall.
Time itself seemed to slow down as he watched her fall, before hitting the floor and lying motionless.
"NO!" he screamed. The Negaverse general turned, suddenly aware of his presence. Fighting back tears, Tuxedo Mask hurled a volley of roses at his opponent. All hit their mark, and the general disappeared critically wounded.
Tuxedo Mask leapt easily to the floor, then rushed to Serena's side. Carefully, he turned her over, and could not contain a gasp as he looked at her. She was sporting several cuts and bruises, and her clothing was tattered and filthy. She was still alive – he knew that without checking – but only barely. He knew he had to get her back to the others, and fast.
He gingerly picked her up – grimacing when she gave a small pained cry – and leapt away, heading for the temple as fast as he could.
The Scouts had all but flown back to the temple, and were transforming back even as they made it to the top of the stairs.
"What happened?" Luna urged. "Where are Serena and Darien?"
Amy stopped, even as the others raced towards Raye's room. "We got there alright, but once we dispersed the energy field, Darien insisted we head back. He went in after Serena alone."
Luna was about to respond when, looking up at Amy as she was, she saw the familiar blur coming towards them. Seconds later, Tuxedo Mask landed in the yard, before reversing his transformation.
"Serena!" Luna streaked towards Darien, staring up at the prone figure in his arms.
Darien glanced briefly at Luna, before transferring his gaze to Amy. "She needs you. Fast." He looked at Serena sadly. "I… I'm not sure how long she's got."
Amy and the cats gasped, but she nodded. "The others headed for Raye's room. We'd better take her there." She and Luna moved to act as a sort of 'honour guard', preceding the others in silence, while Artemis followed behind Darien.
Author's Note 2: runs from angry SM fans I don't know where this came from... the only reason I'm posting it is because I know some people enjoy angst-type stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love Sailor Moon... which is why this fic scares me. But if even one person 'likes' it, then it will be worth the effort of posting. Please Review!