Sorry about the long wait, I hope you enjoy the chapter, and hopefully I'll have a new chapter of The Heart Remembers out by next week.
She Who Must Stand Alone Chapter 30
"It's her, it's really her."
"I can't believe it."
"What's going on?"
"Look at her hair, and her eyes."
"Is it some sort of new transformation?"
"I don't like this." Mercury muttered uneasily "I don't like this at all." This feeling of unease was similar to the one she had felt earlier when Sailormoon had found them in the mist, only then she had been filled with dark energy of their enemy and now, now she had no idea what was happening with her, and that scared her even more.
Mars shivered and rubbed her arms. She had a bad feeling about this as well, it wasn't just the change in color that was bothering her, it was her whole demeanor, it seemed a little cold, and her behavior was more then a little odd. She looked like Serena, but she felt and was acting like a stranger.
"Sailormoon?" Venus called out hesitantly as she took a step towards her, "Is that really you?"
Sailormoon tilted her head to the side and studied them briefly for a moment before turning her back to them without a word. She moved to stand over Darien.
Venus let out a soft sigh. "Well she's feeling talkative isn't she?"
Mars frowned as she studied Sailormoon's back. What was all that about, she hadn't even acknowledged them. She noticed the way she was studying Tuxedomask and it disturbed by it. Tuxedomask lay bleeding on the ground closer to death now then he's ever been and not once has she showed any signs of distress at his condition, in fact she was studying him rather methodically. It was scary. Show some emotion dammit! Take away this fear and uncertainty I feel when I look at you. Darien's dying, shed a tear, do something besides stand there and watch him bleed to death. Help him.
"Tuxedomask needs help, he's lost a lot of blood, there's nothing we can do for we, we have to get him to a hospital right away." there was no response. "If we don't hurry and get him some help, where going to lose him." Mars snapped, she couldn't take much more of this,
Darien was hurt, seriously hurt, Sailormoon was acting weird and she was scared out of her mind. She wanted to hit something, she wanted to bury her head in her hands and have a good cry, but at the moment she could do neither of these things.
They needed to get Tuxedomask some help they'd have to figure out what was wrong with Sailormoon later, if she was Sailormoon. The sudden thought made her even more anxious, how did they know that it was really her, her hair and eyes were silver but more then that she was acting so unlike her normal self and she was acting like she didn't even know them at all. Since she arrived she hadn't said one word to them and the last time they saw Sailormoon she had disappeared right along with the dark mist.
Was it really her? She had to know for sure. She started to walk towards her.
Jupiter was antsy and tired of standing around doing nothing; they were all just watching Sailormoon wondering what was going on with her and Tuxedomask lay bleeding on the ground. She didn't know what the hell was going on but she was tired of being ignored by their so- called leader. Tuxedomask needed help and it was time they had some answers.
While the Sailor scouts wondered and worried about Tuxedomask and Sailormoon they all seemed to forget one tiny little detail, which they were all soon quickly reminded of.
Sasha waited for her moment to strike and with all the quickness of a cheetah she sprang into action, her intent as deadly as any predator who had their prey firmly within their sights.
Sailormoon who had her back to her and whose attention was on Darien didn't see this but the others did and they cried out as one "Sailormoon look out!"
Sailormoon didn't flinch or react in any visible way and just as it seemed she was done for, she vanished.
Sasha snarled as her prey disappeared and her claws met nothing but air. She landed on all fours, skidding on the ground a few feet as her body was carried by her momentum. Her red eyes glowed with menace at having lost her prey, she looked around and saw only the other sailor scouts and snarled angrily, but then her eyes landed on Darien who still lay helpless on the ground, not more then a body's length away. She flexed her claws and smiled and licked her lips in anticipation. She was just about to spring into action and tear him apart when something struck her hard on the left side of her face and sent her flying.
The Scouts quickly got out of the way, hugging the walls of the alley, they watched as Sasha flew right pass them, hitting the far wall with a hard crack. It was an ominous sound, the sound of bones snapping and it sent a cold shiver down there spines.
They watched as she slid down the wall, landing hard on the ground, before keeling over. She seemed to be out cold. They turned back to Sailormoon with wide-eyed disbelief, they had all witnessed it, saw everything with their own eyes and yet they still couldn't believe it. Sailormoon had simply disappeared into thin air only to reappear again as if it were nothing, then with one solid kick she had sent Sasha flying through the air.
"What just happened?"
"Ummmm, one minute she was there and then she wasn't."
"It seems to be some kind of teleportation" Mercury stated glad that her visor was taking readings and that it didn't require much thinking or doing on her part because she doubted she could do much of any in that moment, she was completely flabbergasted at what she was seeing, unable to believe her eyes.
"Since when could she do that?" Mars asked in stunned disbelief
"Since when were her hair and eyes silver?" Jupiter remarked
"What is she doing now?" Venus asked and they watched Sailormoon stand over Darien with her arms extended and her palms facing down at him, they let out startled breaths as her palms began to glow and could only look on in wonderment as the light being emitted from her hands engulfed Darien completely, it could have lasted seconds or even minutes they couldn't be sure but it seemed that one minute the light was there real and pulsing with power and the next it was gone and Darien was encased in some sort of crystal.
"What did you do?"
Sailormoon moved her hand along the crystal "Deathso close." she muttered
Why does she sound like that Venus asked herself worriedly, her voice, it was so cold, so distant. It didn't sound like Sailormoon at all. Shouldn't her voice reflect what she was feeling? Looking at Darien so close to death she should be feeling fear, anxiety and despair but none of those emotions came through her voice and the way she was acting, she wouldn't have behaved this way even if it was a perfect stranger laying before her. No, something wasn't right here; there was something really wrong with her.
She looked to the others and a silent message passed between them and then as one they all started towards Darien and this new Sailormoon, only to stop at the sound of a ferocious roar coming from behind them. It was horrible and loud and it sounded like an angry lion.
"Dammit." Mars barked, as soon as it seemed that Sasha was out of the way, and that they could finally demand answers she pops back up again, just like a bad penny.
"What do we do?" Venus asked anxiously. Did they stand back and let Sasha and Sailormoon duke it out or did they-
"We stay out of the way." Jupiter advised and went back to hugging the wall as much as she hated to stand by and do nothing, they needed to let Sailormoon handle this alone, they were no match for this transformed Sasha but hopefully this new Sailormoon was.
The others reluctantly followed suit.
"If it even looks like she's in trouble"Mars warned
Jupiter nodded her head in agreement, if it looked like Sailormoon couldn't handle this then yes they would join her she just hoped that Sailormoon could do this or they were more then likely done for.
Sailormoon turned around, the others saw her gaze find and settle on Sasha who leapt high into the air, landing on all fours no more then two feet away from Sailormoon. Her face was the picture of rage; all you could see clearly was the red glowing eyes, which were filled with hatred and menace, and a mouth full of snarling white teeth.
Sasha leapt at Sailormoon claws extended.
Sailormoon caught her by the wrists, and the two struggled against one another. Sailormoon glanced around. "No place for a battle." She starred down into Sasha's snarling face. "Come with me." An instant later they were both gone.
"Where did they go?" Mars barked looking around anxiously, she waited for them to reappear and when they didn't she swore. What was that meatball head thinking going off by herself with that mutated Sasha, how could they help her now if she needed it. They had no idea weather with this new transformation if that was what it was weather she could beat Sasha, they had no way of knowing, they had to find them and quickly before that meatball head got in over her head.
She embraced her anger, stroke it to new heights, knowing that anger was the only thing she could allow herself to feel at the moment because behind that anger, laying in wait, was fear. Fear that they were going to lose Tuxedomask, fear that Sailormoon was in more trouble then they realized and fear that there was nothing they could do nothing to help either one of them. She couldn't allow herself to dwell on those fears and risk being consumed by them, instead she had to focus and draw strength in from her anger.
Now the first thing they had to do was check on Tuxedomask's condition, and try to figure out what Sailormoon did to him since she had never seen anything like it, then once they did every thing they could for him, they could work on tracking Sailormoon down, although she seemed capable of handling Sasha in her new form they didn't know anything about this transformation or what had brought it on. Besides she was worried about the way she had been acting, they needed find out exactly what was going on with her.
"I'm tracking her now." Mercury stated, five seconds later she had a location. "They're in the park."
Venus blew out an exasperated breath "We should have guessed, tell me again what's so special about the park."
"Open area, plenty of room to maneuver, slim chance of being trapped inside and right now there should be very few people around to get in the way." Jupiter answered absently busy studying the crystal Tuxedomask was incased in. "I've never seen anything like it?"
"Can he breathe in there?" Mars asked worriedly as she joined Jupiter.
Mercury bit back a weary sigh and rubbed the back of her neck. She was exhausted, in both mind and body. Her body was ready to drop and her mind was on the verge of shutting down. So much had happened and at an alarming rate. They barely have time to catch their breaths before something else happens.
First Sasha split herself into three separate individual parts and then each one attacks a different target. One attacks Mars at the temple, another attacks Darien and the last comes after her and Venus.
Everything seemed to move quickly from there, before she and Venus knew it they were swallowed up by the black mist and what waited for them inside the mist was pain beyond their imagination. She thought she was done for, that she was going to die in that place, until Sailormoon yanked her out of the abyss. She saved her life, hers and Venus's but to get them out of the mist she had to stay behind, she sacrificed herself to save them.
Once she and Venus rejoined the others they tried to go back for her but the mist disappeared, taking Sailormoon along with it. She was gone and they had no way of tracking her, at least not with her mini computer. Darien had been there last hope, he had managed to reach her once before when she had been taken, they hoped he could do so again, those hopes were soon dashed as they found him barely clinging to life.
They found themselves once again helpless to help one they cared for, if they tried to help him Sasha would kill them him for sure, but if they stood by and did nothing then he would die anyway, they were in a dilemma and had just decided that they had no choice but to try and save him when in a flash of light Sailormoon appeared, once they knew it was her, and that she was alright, instant relief and yet there was something different about her, you first noticed the hair and the eyes you can't help but notice, but there was something else something she couldn't put a name too but it sent a chill down her spine, something was wrong she could feel it, she just didn't know what it could all mean. Now Tuxedomask was encased in some sort of crystal, the likes of which she had never seen and Sailormoon left just as she arrived in a flash of light, taking Sasha with her.
What do they do now? They couldn't help Darien not while he was like this, and yet they couldn't leave him, but someone had to go after Sailormoon.
What were they going to do, she couldn't think. For the first time in her life it actually hurt to think, she was so tired, but she had to gather strength from somewhere because this was far from over.
"Do we follow her?" Venus questioned asking her unspoken question.
"We can't leave Darien alone, someone needs to stay with him."
"Mars?"
Mars looked a Jupiter and a look of understanding past between them, unlike this new Sailormoon they couldn't disappear and reappear instantly in the park they would have to do some fast leg work and she was the one with a bum leg so she nodded her head in agreement. "I'll stay with him."
"I'll stay as well." Venus announced If I go I'll only end up slowing you down."
Jupiter grew worried, they needed to stay but she couldn't leave them defenseless. She had to know. "Can you still fight?"
Venus nodded her head. "Just a little slower then usual that's all."
"Alright then" she looked to mercury.
Mercury looked up from her mini computer, and sighed, "There's nothing I can do for him. He seems stable, whatever she did, it seems to have kept him from getting worse, but I have no idea how long he can stay like this, he's going to need blood sooner or later, preferable sooner."
"That settles it," she pointed at Mercury "You'll come with me; Mars and Venus will stay behind to watch over Tuxedomask." she looked to Venus and Mars. "Use your communicators, and keep in contact."
"We'll be fine, just go. The fight could be over before you quit your mothering." Mars grumbled.
Jupiter hesitated, then shook her head, Mars was right she couldn't stand here all day, she had some misgivings about leaving them alone with Tuxedomask but that couldn't be helped, somebody had to go after Sailormoon and somebody had to stay. "Let's go."
Sasha broke free of Sailormoon's hold and jumped back putting some distance between them.
She looked at her with blinding fury so it took a few moments to realize that they weren't still in the alleyway. She looked around at her surroundings in stunned disbelief. How did they get here?
She cast a wary glance at Sailormoon and found her starring at her with those eerie new eyes of her. "How did we get here?" Silence. Sasha growled she was not use to being ignored and by one so inferior. "Why are you so quiet, I thought you and the others couldn't fight before giving one of your corny little speeches." No response.
"Are you going to stand there starring at me all day?" She crouched down preparing to attack. "Do you really think changing the color of your hair and eyes will make any difference in the outcome of this fight? You don't have the strength or the power to beat me. It's going to take more then a few lucky punches for this fight to end in any other way then in your death."
She sprang, claws extended ready to tear flesh from bones and the next thing she knew she was on the ground gasping for air and clutching her throat. The move had been almost too fast to see and since she hadn't been expecting her to be able to move so fast she wasn't able to get out of the way fast enough.
She sat up glaring at Sailormoon who hadn't moved from the spot she had been in when they first arrived and she was still starring at her with that same fixed expression, her eyes held little warmth or even recognition at that. She knew that look but never had it directed at her before, it was the look of a predator contemplating its prey, behind those eyes she was digesting everything about her, deciding her fate, deciding weather to play with her or go in for the quick kill.
"Who are you?" she asked suspiciously, this was not the same person she had fought before, this one fought with the instinct of a born predator, there was no mercy in those swirling silver eyes they were cold, indifferent, the lack of emotion was chilling even to her, she showed no anger, no pain and absolutely no fear, there wasn't even a trace of the thrill of the fight in her eyes, they were lifeless.
"Or should I ask what you are, because you are definitely not Sailormoon."
.
"What do we have here?"
"I smell blood."
"Human blood. She was definitely here and she seems to have had a good time."
"I'm glad one of us did." She grumbled, and the two of them stepped off the edge of the building and landed in the alley. They looked around but there was nothing but the smell of waste, blood and the strange crystal. They stepped closer to it.
"Tuxedomask."
"He doesn't look too good." Sasha surmised smugly running her hands along crystal. She wondered what it was made out of it and if she could smash it, into little tiny pieces. He looked to be barely alive but she was sure she could have some fun with him before he breathed his last breath. She could just imagine the screams the other Sasha had wrung from him and was extremely jealous.
The other Sasha tensed and looked around, it didn't make sense why would they leave their wounded comrade here alone and unprotected. "I don't like it."
The Sasha rubbing the crystal snorted. "It seems our prey has moved on and look they left us a present."
"Why would they leave him like this?"
Sasha stopped rubbing the crystal as she thought on the other Sasha's words. She was right; those goody two shoes wouldn't just leave one of there own behind like this. "Do you think she had something to do with it?"
"Do you think she would leave her prey behind before finishing him off?"
The other Sasha slid her hands off the crystal; she'd get back to him later. "No I don't." she smiled with anticipation "So, do you think there hiding?"
She looked around they were in the middle of the alley way and while it wasn't very wide it was long, dark and dank, filled with all kinds of junk, with plenty of places to hide. "That could indeed be the case."
"Then let's go hunting."
..