Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon or the Chibi Scouts. I wish I did.
Then I'd have all kinds of money. Anyway, I decided to have the Sailor
Scouts children from the future do a little time trip. If you see any
characters that you don't know then that means I created them! OMG! Ravyn
has an original idea! The world is ending! Aaaahhhh! This will be rated
PG to PG -13 as later chapters get a little dark.
Big Trouble, Little Brother -- By Ravyn Knyght
Annika -- Tough Love
Seeing that Annika was well distracted playing a game with Gloria and Hope, Raye decided to speak with Colt about his approach to training Annika. Don't get upset! Don't lose your temper! she told herself as she made her way along the corridors to the training room. Colt seemed to be a lot more argumentative than Annika. I guess my temper went to him. Raye thought and laughed to herself. She reasoned that if she kept her temper in check maybe she could convince Colt to be a little more softer in dealing with Annika's shyness. Raye didn't like the way Colt had looked at her earlier and the effect it had on Annika, she decided to try to figure out why he was acting so cold to them.
She saw the light of the training room was on and knew that would be were Colt was hiding. As she came to the window she was shocked to find Colt lying unconscious on the training room floor. She went to open the door when a warning sounded. "Current gravity setting is 310X normal tolerance. Access is denied." The droning voice of the computer sent a shiver through Raye as she disengaged the gravity system and ran into the room to check on her future son. Realizing he was in serious trouble Raye pulled out her communicator and called Amy. "Amy where are you!" Raye's frantic voice called over Amy's communicator. "I'm just putting Ariel to bed. What's wrong?" Amy asked seeing that Raye was worked up about something. "It's Colt! I found him unconscious on the floor of the training room! That new gravity system was set at 310X! Please hurry!" Raye pleaded with her and after telling Greg and Snow what had happened Amy headed off to the training room.
After having two palace guards to help get him to the palace hospital, Colt started to come around. He tried to get up but Amy and Raye pushed him back into the bed. "I'm fine!" he snapped at his mother as Amy examined him. "You were lying on the ground unconscious. That does not constitute as being fine in my opinion." Amy muttered as she continued her exam. "Is anything broken? Is he going to be all right?" Raye asked highly concerned for the young boy's well being. "From what I can tell he seems to be all right except for an extreme case of exhaustion. I suggest you rest here for the night." Amy said calling the on duty nurse to inform her that Colt would be there over night. "I told you I'm fine." Colt insisted as he got up off of the bed. "Don't argue! If Amy says you need to rest then you'll rest!" Raye said trying to make Colt get back to the bed. "Fine!" he grumbled and laid down on the bed. "What were you thinking of when you set the computer that high?" Raye asked trying not to scream at him. Colt just rolled over.
"Answer me!" Raye demanded. Colt faced her and told her point blank why he did what he did. "Because I'll need to be prepared to fight on my own because I know that in this time Annika will more than likely cringe and hide when the fighting starts!". Raye tried to keep her emotions in line. "When the time comes to fight Annika will do just fine! She has never let anyone down yet when they needed her. She's brave when she needs to be and she's come along way and I don't want you derailing her by driving her into her shell. So could you please be a little more nicer to her. You'll find that the more softer you are with her, the more you will accomplish." Raye said trying to convince him not to push Annika too hard. Colt thought for a few moments. "Very well. I won't do anything to upset her but when it comes time to train her I will have no interference from you or anyone else. Everything I teach her will be for nothing if she's too afraid to use it in a fight." he explained to his mother-to-be. Just then a thought came to Raye's mind. "Well why don't you train her how to not to be afraid. If you manage that then you won't have to worry about wasting time in training her." Raye said sounding hopeful that this would get Annika and Colt closer. "I'll consider it." he sighed and rolled over and went to sleep. Raye hoped that the two would get along and wondered how they got along in the future.
The next morning, Annika woke up early. As per her usual Saturday morning schedule, she would get up early to watch her favorite cartoon shows. After getting dressed and leaving her room she went to her parents room with Stardust following behind. "The door is closed again." Annika sighed, "Why is the door closed sometimes?" Stardust asked as they headed for the living room. "I guess they want to sleep in." Annika said and shrugged. In the middle of the living room floor Annika found Colt sitting crossed legged with his eyes closed. "What's he doing? Is he asleep?" Stardust asked her owner as she investigated the scene. "If he is then don't bother him!" Annika whispered. "Wierd." Stardust commented still observing their new guest. Stardust noticed that when Annika turned the t.v. on, the sound seemed to make him wince. Well if he's awake.... Stardust thought. Stardust pawed at him trying to get his attention. "Um...s'cuse me. Mr. Colt...What are you doing?" the curious cat asked.
"Stardust!" Annika hissed coming over to scold the cat for bothering the older boy. "You'll never know until you ask!" Stardust shot back in defense. Colt gave a sigh and opened his eyes. "Well if you must know I'm practicing a technique that allows you to supress your lifeforce energy in order to avoid being detected by enemies." he told the two of them. "We thought you were alseep." Annika replied. "Why do that?" asked the need-to- know cat, breaking Colt's concentration again. "I'm not one to run or hide from a fight but I discovered that when you supress your lifeforce, the amount you supress gets held in reserve allowing you to last longer if you are fighting someone stronger than you. Although I've rarely encountered someone that was stronger than me." he explained. "Something like a battery." Stardust concluded. "In a way." Colt said trying to get back to his training. Just then Annika's stomach growled as a sweat drop appeared on both her and Stardust's heads. "Mama's not up yet. Could you please make me breakfast?" Annika said softly hoping he would. Colt remembered the conversation he had with his mother last night and decided to give in for now. "All right. What would you like?" he asked to Annika's delight as she started listing off some of her favorite breakfast foods. Stardust was getting a little hungry herself with all this talk about food.
"Mmmm!" Raye moaned as she rolled over in bed. The delicious smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the Mars' home bidding everyone a good morning. Chad must be up making me breakfast in bed! How sweet! she thought feeling a familar lump then frowned when she opened her eyes to see her husband lying next to her. "Should've known!" Raye muttered getting up. "If it isn't Chad cooking, then who?" Raye got up and dressed quickly to find out who was in their quarters this early. It wouldn't be Annika. Raye thought, knowing that she warned her daughter well not to use the stove. "Then who?" Raye wondered out loud as she came into the kitchen. She found Annika squeezing a generous amount of syrup onto a stack of pancakes with Stardust sitting on a chair next to her, drooling. "Good morning, mama!" Annika said running over to hug her mother. Raye hugged her happy daughter back as she looked over to see Colt coming from the stove with a plate of bacon. "Well this is a surprise! Maybe you should come back to the past more often so I can sleep in mornings." Raye kidded as she sat down to a full plate. Within a few minutes, Chad was waking up to the aroma that was filling the bedroom. He was suprised to find that Colt was responsible for the breakfast feast.
After they were finished eating and the dishes were cleared away, Annika reminded her mother of what they were going to do today. "Mama, could you come with me to the craft store? I wanted to pick up some more materials." speaking softly as she knew her mother would rarely refuse her when she did. Today was different though. "I'm sorry sweetie but daddy and I have a meeting today with the queen." Raye felt bad as she watched her daughter's face fall. "Oh, okay." Annika replied sadly. Then Raye had an idea. She turned to Colt and Chad who were washing the dishes. "Colt. Could you take your sister shopping this morning? We'd take her but we'll be busy." Raye asked her son to be and with a heavy sigh he agreed.
After the dishes were finished both Colt and Annika left for the shopping mall to get whatever Annika needed. She recently took up knitting and was becoming very skilled at it. She had already ensured that her and her family would have plenty of scarfs and mittens for the winter and now Annika wanted to move on to larger projects. She wanted to knit a sweater for her mother's birthday but needed more yarn. As Colt and Annika walked through the mall court Annika slowed down. "Why are you dragging behind?" Colt wanted to know as he noticed Annika was staring ahead towards the open doors of the craft store. Annika stopped when she saw Miyaki's mother at the counter with her back to them. Annika's fears grew stronger when she saw Miyaki come up to the counter with a box of items her mother was stocking on one of the shelves. "Maybe we should come back later." Annika's voice trembled fearing the upcoming confrontation. Colt was getting tired of standing there waitng for Annika to decide if she should go in or not. He took her by the hand and lead her into the store.
A sensor went off to announce the arrival of customers, "Good morning!" Mrs. Chino sang cheerfully but lost her friendly manner as she saw who had come in. "Good morning." Annika shyly answered back as she quickly went to the yarn rack, Mrs. Chino glaring at her all the while. Colt turned to give her an equal look. Mrs. Chino returned to her work as Colt went to catch up with his sister. He watched as Annika walked by the aisle where the yarn was wondering why she'd do that. Miyaki knew that Annika had been in last week with her mother buying yarn and thought that was the reason why she was here again today. She guessed right as she decided to reorganize the yarns. Annika saw Miyaki standing on the small step ladder pretending to work and decided to avoid her. Just go somewhere else! Annika thought as she walked over to another shelf and started looking though some craft magazines. "You came here for yarn and that is what you are going to get." Colt told her as he took her hand and lead her back to the yarn racks.
Miyaki knew by instinct, which colours Annika was going to choose and moved them up out of her reach while giving Annika a look that made her shiver. Annika tried to ignore her and looked over the other colours, wishing Miyaki had left that royal purple on the lower rack. "Could you get me that that colour yarn please?" Annika asked in a squeak to Colt who was taller than her. "It speaks!" Miyaki commented in a shocking tone, Annika lowered her head trying to keep herself from getting upset. Colt paid no attention at first, but as they turned to leave Miyaki noticed she got to Annika and started up. "Come on crybaby! Where are they?" Miyaki asked in a sneer as she pushed past Annika. Annika's nerve was failing fast as tears started to well up in her eyes. Colt saw this and lead her back down the aisle. "They were only words! You have to learn how to ignore things like that! And when people push you, you push back...harder!" he scolded as Annika choked back a sob. "I can't!" Annika admitted as she looked down the aisle to see Miyaki waiting for her at a sun catcher display pretending to arrange the glass works. Colt remembered from what his mother had told him in the future about how much Miyaki picked on Annika. He remembered when he was younger, he wished he was there to give that little punk what for, for making Annika cry.
"Stop that crying so we can pay for this stuff and go. Don't forget you have training this afternoon." he told his sister. Annika nodded and did her best to calm herself. Miyaki started up her usual chant as they walked past her to the counter. Mrs. Chino saw Annika's condition and gave a warning look to her daughter. As Annika paid for the yarn and other supplies Colt glanced over at a contented Miyaki. As much as Annika's crying and shyness bothered him, something about that little torment triggered something within him. As they were leaving, Miyaki felt a strong force knock her forward into the turn-style rack. The rack toppled over and the sound of breaking glass filled the store. "Miyaki!" her mother bellowed as she went over to scold her daughter for the mess she made. Colt gave a cold smirk as he watched an angry Mrs. Chino bawl out her now crying daughter. "Colt...Did you...?" Annika said as she looked back at the scene. "I was no where near that girl when it happened. You saw that yourself." he said as they walked down the mall court. Annika wondered.
"When I start training you, the first rule will be no crying and no being afraid." Colt started as they walked home. "That's two rules." Annika interjected, Colt gave her a cool look. "You know what I mean." he said in a warning tone. "But I can't help it! Mama says..." Colt cut her off. "Mama this! Mama that! Mama says!" Colt growled out, his tone started to upset her. "Sooner than later that umbilical cord is going to have to be cut! You depend too much on her and not enough on yourself!" Colt snapped, Annika could feel her tears build up. "I like being with mama..." Annika started again but once more Colt cut her off. "I think it's time that a wall got put between you two or else no one will have much of a life. Mom and dad can do more than what they are doing to teach you to stand on your own and I think it's time they did so!". Annika had reached her limit. She dropped her shopping bags, burst out crying and ran off ahead of Colt. "Terrific..." Colt grumbled, snatching up the bags as he prepared himself for what would happen when he got back to the palace.
Annika ran through the front gates crying hysterically. Raye and Chad's meeting with the king and queen had ended and they were talking with the Venus family when a hysterical Annika came barreling towards them. Raye quickly rushed to her daughter, picked her up and started working to calm her down to find out what had put her in such a state. Brad had an idea when Raye mentioned that Colt had taken her shopping. Annika was here but there was no sign of Colt. Brad left Annika to Raye and the others to go look for Colt, Mina followed close behind to act as a peace keeper.
After Colt got back and had a heated argument with Brad, Colt came face to face with Raye. She immediately went on the attack and started in on her son. "Didn't I tell you not to upset her! I told you to go easy in her! But did you? No! Now you ruined the whole day for her! Why can't you accept Annika for the way she is!" Raye roared out. Amy was with her to make sure Raye didn't get too carried away with her temper. Amy observed Colt's posture as Raye berated him for upsetting Annika. She could tell Colt's own temper was reaching the boiling point. Trying to keep himself in line he turned to walk away. Raye grabbed at him and turned him around, "I'm not finished with you!" Raye yelled but quickly closed her mouth when she saw the look Colt was giving her. Complete and utter hatred. You were finished with me a long time ago! Colt screamed silently. Raye instantly calmed down knowing she went too far from the wild look in his eyes.
She gave a sigh then started over. "Colt..." he cut her off. "Why don't you go check on Annika? Why don't you run to Annika! Like you've always done while saying to hell with me!" his voice sounding just as hateful as his look. Amy studied him as he walked away. His fists were clenched, his entire body was trembling with rage and his voice sounded empty and cold. He was obviously supressing the true rage he was going through right now. His short verbal out burst told Raye everything she needed to know. She guessed that in the future Annika was still kept in the center of her attention and Colt hated her for it. Raye wasn't sure what to do about it though seeing that the damage had already been done. The best she could do now was try to calm everything so that something worse wouldn't develop.
Raye spent the rest of the morning with Annika doing her best to calm her down. "Why doesn't Colt like me? All the others like their sisters." Annika said still crying. Raye didn't want to answer that question so she just held Annika tighter, "Don't think about that for now, baby." she tried to convince her daughter as she wondered where Colt took off to. Raye was worried about him and what he might be doing considering the state he was in. A knock came at the door and Chad left his wife on the couch with Annika to answer it. On the other side was Brad and Gloria. Chad invited the two in and they came over to Annika and Raye. "I just thought I'd tell you that Annika won't have to train this afternoon considering what happened. But she will have to be trained tomorrow morning. I'll train her until things calm down with Colt." Raye was glad to hear that. "Annika, baby. Why don't you and Gloria go to your room and play. I've got somethings I want to talk to Brad about, okay?" Annika tightened her grip on her mother. "Come on Annika. You can show me the -thing- you are working on for you-know-who for their you-know-what." Gloria's suggestion seemed to get Annika to go with her.
Later on that night Raye sat staring out her bedroom window, her thoughts as far away as the stars. "Come on, it's late. You should get some rest for tomorrow." Chad tried to convince Raye to go to sleep, she didn't hear him. "Chad do you think that we don't do enough to help Annika stand on her own?" she asked absent mindedly. "No I don't. I think if we keep doing what we've been doing she'll come along at her own pace. Forcing her would only set her back." Chad assured his wife as she got into bed. "Maybe Colt had a point about Annika." Raye continued but Chad stopped her. "No he doesn't. His only knowledge of Annika is of the future. He has no idea what Annika has gone through in the past.". "But you didn't see the look in his eyes. He looked at me with complete contempt as if he could care less if I lived or died. I couldn't have ignored him that much, could I?" Raye wondered out loud staring at the ceiling. Chad had heard enough. "Stop this right now! I know you. There is no way you could ignore your own child. You are a good mother, Annika is proof of that. Don't let Colt's actions convince you otherwise. Just get some sleep and I'll talk with Colt tomorrow about his attitude." Chad told his wife as he went to sleep. Raye stayed awake thinking about where she would go wrong in the years to come. I wonder where Colt is? was her last thought before she fell asleep.
After breakfast, Brad came over to take Raye and Annika to their first training session. Chad had asked him about where Colt might have gone and Brad told him to ask Alex, seeing the two were best friends. After Alex listed off a few places Colt might go to Chad was about to leave when Colt came in. "Where were you all night? You had us worried." Chad started, Colt just gave a grunt. "Out." he answered. "That's obvious. Where 'out'?" Chad inquired trying to get the young boy to elaborate. "What does it matter. I'm here now aren't I? As for worrying about me don't bother." he was still a little angry about yesterday. "Yes we will bother. Look I don't know what happened in the future between us but you're in the past now and the things you say and do can greatly affect how things turn out." he tried to reason with his son. "It doesn't matter what I do or say then or now because the outcome will be the same." Colt informed his father. "All I'm asking is that you take it easy with your sister. She's not the same now as she is in the future." Chad stated. "Yeah. Take it easy with her until you're all standing around her coffin wishing someone else had taken it easy on her as well." Colt muttered as he walked off. The image his last words painted brought a cold shiver to Chad. Maybe he does have a point? Chad thought.
Colt decided to go back and start training Annika and his mother but the quarters was empty when he got there. Seeing how they were gone he decided to work off some of his argession in training. He was surprised to see Brad and his mother and sister entering the training room. He followed them in. "I'll take over from here." he ordered. "Maybe you should just take the day off. I can handle this." Brad said not wanting a repeat of yesterday. "We don't mind." Raye said to Brad, wanting a chance to smooth things over with her son. Raye turned to Annika, "You'd rather have your brother train you, wouldn't you?" her voice sounding upbeat to convince Annika to go along with the idea. Annika gave her mother a worried look, she really didn't want to have Colt train her. "Oh now come on baby, Brad would like to spend the day with his family and I'm sure you'll learn a lot from Colt. I know I'm looking forward to him training us." Raye sounded confident even though she told a partial lie. She had her heart set on Brad training her and Annika but now that Colt was here an opportunity to straighten things out and get off to a better start emerged.
"Transform then sit down on the floor. Getting down on the floor now will prevent an injury when I start up the program." Colt ordered and the two did so. After an hour, Mars was able to steady herself against the gravitational pull. Chibi Mars was another story. She made several attempts at getting to her feet but failed and was on the verge of giving up when Colt shut the program down. Chibi Mars was ready to scrap the whole training session but Colt had other plans. He knew that his sister lacked the confidence to endure the training. He paced back and forth for a few moments trying to decide on how to train Chibi Mars. He knew that the gravity training had to be completed in order for Chibi Mars to deal with the upcoming fights but if she refused to continue then she would more than likely end up dead. Her self confidence and self esteem would be his major stumbling block in training her as he thought of a way around it. "Alright then let's try something different." he said walking over to the control panel and tapped a few keys. "Transform back." he told them.
As they transformed back a holographic image appeared in the training room that instantly filled Annika with dread. The image was of Annika's tormentor Miyaki. Even though Annika knew it wasn't really her, it still made her want to run away. "Your main problem is the fact that you don't have much confidence. The main cause is because of this person. As of right now you will learn to stand up for yourself." Colt told her as he lead a protesting Raye out of the room. "I don't approve of this at all!" Raye argued as she watched the hologram follow Annika around the room. Raye could tell by the look on Annika's face that she wanted to get away. She tried to shut the program off but Colt stopped her. "What are you trying to do! Put her in a mental institution!" Raye yelled as she watched Annika start crying. Colt ignored her and went back into the room.
When the door opened, Annika went for it. "Mama!" she cried out but Colt locked the door behind him. "Yeah! Run to mama, crybaby!" the false Miyaki tormented. Annika tried to open the door but Colt pulled her away from it and knelt down to her. "Make it stop, please!" Annika begged, crying hard. "The only one who can make it stop is you. So get to it!" Colt ordered. "I can't!" Annika wailed. Raye watched through the window, her heart breaking. She wanted this stopped but Colt had locked both the doors and controls out. "I want mama!" Annika wailed trying to get past Colt. Colt grabbed her and pulled her back. Annika started screaming and wildly swinging her fists and kicking at Colt trying to free herself and get out of the room. "You will attack someone who is trying to help you but not the one that hurts you? I am not the one making you cry Annika, she is." Colt pointed over to the sneering hologram. "She should be the one you hit, not me." Colt coldly stated as he shut the program off. Once deactivated, the door was unlocked and Raye ran in. "Annika, baby!" she cried rushing to her daughter. Colt picked up a struggling Annika and carried her away. "NO!" Annika screeched and started hitting Colt harder.
"If you want to get to mama then you have to go through me!" Colt screamed pushing Annika back. "Leave me alone!" Annika screamed, now in a full blown hysteria. "Make me!" Colt growled. Raye had enough and was about to pull Annika away when Chad came in and stopped her. "Don't interfere!" he ordered holding Raye back. "What do you think you're doing!?!" Raye roared as she tried to break her husband's grip but failed. "This is something that has to be done." he calmly told his wife. Colt got on his knees and grabbed Annika. Annika flew into him in full tantrum mode punching and kicking and screaming. A fist landed on Colt's lip cutting it. As Colt wiped the blood from his lip Annika ran to Raye's arms. "Shhh, shhh. It's okay baby!" Raye said as she held Annika tightly while giving a hateful look to both Chad and Colt as she carried her exhausted daughter out of the room. "When she calms down bring her back here. The gravity training can wait a few days. The main problem is her confidence. That's why I had Carson and Snow build this program, to help her learn how to deal with people like that. You know yourself that it's right, or else you wouldn't have let it continue." Colt told his father. Chad thought.
Chad came back to their quarters knowing he'd be in for it and he was right. Raye had just put an exhausted Annika to bed. "Amy will stay with you baby." Raye said kissing her daughter on the forehead as she motioned Chad towards the front door. She couldn't believe Colt could do something that cold and cruel to his sister. Also she couldn't understand why Chad would let it continue like that. "How could you condone what Colt did to Annika!" Raye yelled at her husband after taking him out into the corridor. "I felt it had to be done. Colt had a point. Annika has to learn to fight back and the sooner the better." Chad told his upset wife. "Not like this!" Raye barked as her temper let go and her eyes burned. "Yes like this! At least here it can be in a controlled setting. Colt explained to me what he intends to do and after I made some changes to his plans I think we should let him continue." Chad tried to convince Raye but she was not going to hear any of it. "No! Colt is not training myself or Annika any longer! I'll be speaking with Brad about training Annika with Gloria.".
Chad let his temper go, "Look! I understand how you feel but Colt painted a very vivid picture of what could happen if Annika doesn't stand up for herself. I don't like seeing Annika in this condition either but I think it would be better if we got this over with now. I don't want to see her get hurt." he explained his view but Raye refused to listen. Just then Colt came down the hallway. At that time Raye didn't care how upset Colt got she was going to tell him off. "You will not be training my daughter! I want you to stay away from her! Understood?" Raye snapped, Colt just glared. "I've worked too hard with her to have you destroy her like that. You aren't any child of mine because I know in my heart I could never have a child as cold and as heartless as you!" Raye bluntly stated then flew back into her quarters to take care of Annika. Colt just stood there burning from what Raye said. But before Chad could do or say anything Colt walked off. Chad went back in to see how his daughter was doing. "I hate him, mama! And he hates me! I don't want to train with him anymore." Annika cried into Raye's shoulder as Raye did her best to calm her upset daughter. "It's okay, baby. I'll make sure he doesn't upset you again." Raye promised while glaring at Chad.
After Annika calmed down, Raye went to the Venus family quarters to see if Brad would take Annika for training from now on. After Raye told him what had happened he agreed to Raye's request. This seemed to settle Raye down a little as she headed back to her quarters. Unfortunately for Chad she wasn't calmed down enough as she instructed him that he would be sleeping on the couch for the night.
Over the next several days Raye and Annika's training went well. As Raye had predicted, Brad was doing a great job of working with Annika. As the days went on, no one saw any signs of Colt. Despite Alex and Chad checking all the places where he might have gone no one could find him anywhere. Colt's disappearance lead to an argument Between Alex and Brad about Colt's responsibilities. Raye was also starting to regret what she had said to Colt. "Tell me again what I said." Raye said with a tired sigh. "He wasn't your child....blah blah blah. Cold and heartless...blah blah blah." Chad repeated sounding just as tired. "What possessed me to say such a thing!?" she groaned as she buried her face in her hands. "You were upset. You couldn't stand what Annika was being put through, so you let him have both barrels." Chad explained. "Has anyone seen him?" was her next question. "No but if he shows up everyone is going to have more than a few words to say to him. Especially Brad. He's seems to be fed up with our son's behaviour." Chad noted as he thought about the mood everyone has been in the last few days.
The phone rang and Raye answered it. Chad could tell it was something serious from the look on Raye's face. After Raye hung up, Chad inquired. "That was Serenity. Colt just left their quarters. He asked for one of the empty quarters in the servants wing of the palace." Raye told him. Within few minutes a knock came at the Mars family door. It wasn't Colt but one of the servants to collect his personal affects. Raye found out from the servant where Colt's quarters was located exactly and Raye decided to try to convince him to stay with them and try to work things out. Chad offered to go with her but Raye declined. "This is something I have to take care of. If you don't mind I'll take those to him." Raye said as the servant came back from the bedroom.
Raye arrived at Colt's new quarters to hear Brad finish up an extremely loud monologue. "And further more both myself and everyone else is fed up with your attitude! If it's a simple case of middle child syndrome, get over it! If I hear of anymore disruptions like this, I will personally throw you through the Gates of Time and not care where you end up so long as you're out of my sight!". Raye decided to go in to put a stop to the argument, but before she could though Brad came out, looking ready to kill. "And the line-up gets longer." he said as he saw Raye. "Don't waste your time!" Brad muttered as he walked off. Yes I will waste my time! she thought giving Brad an annoyed look. The door was open so Raye went in. She stood in the door way and looked around the small room, thinking that it must be for a servant with no family. Despite being fully furnished, the quarters gave off a never-been-lived-in feeling. It was so quiet and sterile. How can anyone live like this? Raye thought as she thought about her quarters and how warm and happy it felt. She saw Colt standing by a window. "Knock, knock!" Raye mused, her words seemed to echo throughout the room, Colt just glanced at the door then went back to staring out the window. "I brought your stuff over." Raye said holding up Colt's duffle bag.
"Just leave it on the floor." was Colt's reply, several thoughts running through his mind. "I thought we could talk?" Raye tried to get a dialogue struck up, but Colt proved that such a task would be useless. "Everything that's going to be said has been said. There is nothing more to talk about." his voice sounding cold and determined. Raye walked in a little further into the room. "Then I guess a guided tour is out of the question? This is gettin' kinda heavy. Is the bedroom over there?" Raye asked as she decided to give herself a tour of her son's new accomodations. She quickly set to work unpacking his things and putting them into drawers. She came across his wallet and was putting it on the night stand when a small picture fell out. She picked it up and studied it. At first look, Raye could tell it was an old photo. In it was a picture of his family.
The first person her eyes fell on was Annika. She was all grown up and was a very attractive young woman. The picture gave Raye a boost of assurance that Annika would still be around in the future and from her expression she looked happy. Raye then looked at Colt who was still very young. Raye gave a deep sigh when she looked at the smiling happy child sitting on his mother's lap. She tried to imagine would things would be like in the future, still thinking of where she had gone wrong. She laughed a little at first when she looked at a greying Chad but her heart quickly fell when she realized how old he looked in the picture and realized that he wouldn't be around forever. The picture made her think about a lot of things. How would I be able to love anyone else in life other than Chad? Will Chad be around to see his grandaughter? these questions and more filled her head.
She cleared those thoughts out of her head and headed back to the living room to try to talk to Colt again. She found him still at the window so she walked over to him. "I know in your own hard way you were trying to help Annika but she has to be dealt with softly. Why can't you understand that?" Raye started off. "How she is trained is no longer my concern or my responsiblity." he flatly stated. "True but you can at least try to be nicer to her for the time being." Raye countered. "She is far to needy for my liking.", "She's just a child.." Raye started but got stopped. "If you think that will change in the years to come forget it. Everyday it is a different need or a different want. Everything upsets her! Well excuse my independance for upsetting Annika!" he growled out, trying to keep from exploding. It was obvious to Raye that Colt was harbouring a resentment towards Annika. "She's making great progress despite what she endures everyday. How can you look down on her when you don't know what she's been through!" Raye commented thinking about Annika's life since becoming a Chibi Scout.
"If you felt like you got less attention then maybe that's because my future self thought you didn't need to be babied so much. Maybe I didn't want you to lose your independance knowing what could happen if you did. So I pushed you so you could stand on your own. If that's the case then I'm glad I did that because Annika could really use someone strong like you to depend on if anything happened to me in the years to come." Raye added. "Maybe you should think about that." and left him hoping he listened and thought hard on what she said.
"Well Frost you failed in your last attempt. Tell me why I should keep you on and not kill you instead?" Chandelle asked a nervous Frost. "I assure you that I will not fail in my next strike your majesty. My next target is Annika Hino, Chibi Mars. She is far to cowardly to fight. All I need to do is get her alone!" Frost reported. "Then see that you do, or else suffer the consequences of your failure!" Chandelle warned her. I will not fail! Frost silently vowed to herself as she left.
Brad informed Colt that it was his turn to walk the girls home from school with Kota. Less than overjoyed with the task of babysitting, Colt agreed. Annika had another rough day and was intears when Colt and Kota arrived. Miyaki had tormented her the entire day and Gloria didn't stand for it. So in return for punching Miyaki, Gloria got a note to take home. "Don't think of it as a note, think of it as a badge of honour awarded to you for defending your friends." Kota tried to convince an angry Gloria. Colt just glared at Annika as she cried. Just wanting to be by herself Annika took off running ahead of everyone. "I'll keep an eye on the rest, Colt. Why don't you go check on Annika?" Kota said, Colt grumbled something under his breath. "Fine." he muttered and went off to find Annika.
A few minutes later Colt found Annika sitting curled up on a bench in a playground. He made his way over to her, and sat down next to her. "Go away! I don't like you!" Annika cried, Colt smiled. "Good." he stated. Annika raised her head to him. "That makes you happy that I don't like you?" she said puzzled. "Yeah. I don't want you to learn to like me I want you to learn to stand up for yourself." he told her. "I can't!" she sobbed. "Yes you can! You just don't want too!" he snapped back. "That is what I was trying to make you do. Want to fight back. Do you want to go through life constantly worrying mom as to whether or not you're going to turn out alright? Well do you?" he insisted for an answer. Annika shook her head. "What was that?" he growled. "No." Annika said. "You have a voice so use it!" he told his sister but got interupted when he sensed something. Annika sensed it too as her head snapped towards the direction of an evil presence. "Don't look!" Colt ordered and Annika looked away from a group of people across the playground.
"If they think we don't notice them then we have the element of surprise. I have a plan, walk towards them!" he told Annika as he walked away. She timidly complied. "Good she's alone now and heading our way! Alright let's get her!" Frost commanded and her youma rushed forward towards Annika. Without warning, two powerful blasts of energy struck the two leading youma, destroying them. "What?!" Frost screamed looking around to see who was attacking her youma. "Transform, now!" Colt yelled and Annika did so. "Mars Power Makeup!" she called holding up her transformation wand and quickly transformed into Chibi Mars. "I am an agent of love and justice and on behalf of the planet of Mars, I will punish you!" Chibi Mars called out. "Less talking and more fighting!" Colt barked as he charged towards the four remaining youma.
The four split up into groups of two and attacked Colt and Chibi Mars. Colt's two were no contest as he easily stayed ahead of his attackers. Chibi Mars on the other hand was having great difficulty dealing with her two. "Mars Firestorm!" Chibi Mars shouted as her attack flew out towards her persuers. They easily dodged the attack and grabbed hold of her and started draining her energy. Colt saw that she was in trouble and moved to quickly finish off his two. "Flaming Pheonix Ignite!" he shouted as he sent a large flaming pheonix at the two youma who were destroyed on contact. He then turned to Chibi Mars who was quickly losing strength to her attackers. "Get off of me!" She cried out trying to free herself, then remembered a technique Brad had taught her. She summoned up her remaining energy and used it to form a barrier around her and to push the youma away from her. While the youma were momentarily stunned she powered up her attack. "Mars Firestorm!" and struck and killed the two youma. Seeing that she was safe Colt charged after Frost. "You're mine!" he yelled as he landed a heavy kick that doubled her over. Fearing for her life she managed to escape. "Blinding Blizzard!" she gasped out and vanished.
Exhausted Annika powered down and started crying. The battle had taken a tremendous toll on her mentally and physically. "Come on let's go and report this." Colt said but Annika was still upset. "Stop that crying! The fight is over and you're still alive. If you want comfort then find it in the fact that you are still standing and that your enemy is defeated at your feet!" he told Annika. Sensing that she was severely drained and couldn't stand the long walk home, Colt picked her up and carried her out of the playground and headed back to the palace only to run into Raye who went looking for Annika when the other children told her what had happened. She stopped the car and rushed towards them. "Mama!" Annika weakly moaned seeing her mother heading towards them. "What happened?!" she cried taking Annika from him. "Frost showed up with some youma and attacked us. Annika got drained a little but she'll recover." Colt told her. "Let's get her in the car and take her home." Raye said. "I'm going to find Frost. She couldn't have gotten that far." Colt stated but Raye insisted he let her go for now. Raye got into the back seat with a weakened Annika while Colt drove.
--End of part 3 : Annika -- Tough Love--
--Next, Part 4 : Gloria -- What A Pain!--
Questions, comments?
Mail to:
ravyn_knyght@yahoo.com
Big Trouble, Little Brother -- By Ravyn Knyght
Annika -- Tough Love
Seeing that Annika was well distracted playing a game with Gloria and Hope, Raye decided to speak with Colt about his approach to training Annika. Don't get upset! Don't lose your temper! she told herself as she made her way along the corridors to the training room. Colt seemed to be a lot more argumentative than Annika. I guess my temper went to him. Raye thought and laughed to herself. She reasoned that if she kept her temper in check maybe she could convince Colt to be a little more softer in dealing with Annika's shyness. Raye didn't like the way Colt had looked at her earlier and the effect it had on Annika, she decided to try to figure out why he was acting so cold to them.
She saw the light of the training room was on and knew that would be were Colt was hiding. As she came to the window she was shocked to find Colt lying unconscious on the training room floor. She went to open the door when a warning sounded. "Current gravity setting is 310X normal tolerance. Access is denied." The droning voice of the computer sent a shiver through Raye as she disengaged the gravity system and ran into the room to check on her future son. Realizing he was in serious trouble Raye pulled out her communicator and called Amy. "Amy where are you!" Raye's frantic voice called over Amy's communicator. "I'm just putting Ariel to bed. What's wrong?" Amy asked seeing that Raye was worked up about something. "It's Colt! I found him unconscious on the floor of the training room! That new gravity system was set at 310X! Please hurry!" Raye pleaded with her and after telling Greg and Snow what had happened Amy headed off to the training room.
After having two palace guards to help get him to the palace hospital, Colt started to come around. He tried to get up but Amy and Raye pushed him back into the bed. "I'm fine!" he snapped at his mother as Amy examined him. "You were lying on the ground unconscious. That does not constitute as being fine in my opinion." Amy muttered as she continued her exam. "Is anything broken? Is he going to be all right?" Raye asked highly concerned for the young boy's well being. "From what I can tell he seems to be all right except for an extreme case of exhaustion. I suggest you rest here for the night." Amy said calling the on duty nurse to inform her that Colt would be there over night. "I told you I'm fine." Colt insisted as he got up off of the bed. "Don't argue! If Amy says you need to rest then you'll rest!" Raye said trying to make Colt get back to the bed. "Fine!" he grumbled and laid down on the bed. "What were you thinking of when you set the computer that high?" Raye asked trying not to scream at him. Colt just rolled over.
"Answer me!" Raye demanded. Colt faced her and told her point blank why he did what he did. "Because I'll need to be prepared to fight on my own because I know that in this time Annika will more than likely cringe and hide when the fighting starts!". Raye tried to keep her emotions in line. "When the time comes to fight Annika will do just fine! She has never let anyone down yet when they needed her. She's brave when she needs to be and she's come along way and I don't want you derailing her by driving her into her shell. So could you please be a little more nicer to her. You'll find that the more softer you are with her, the more you will accomplish." Raye said trying to convince him not to push Annika too hard. Colt thought for a few moments. "Very well. I won't do anything to upset her but when it comes time to train her I will have no interference from you or anyone else. Everything I teach her will be for nothing if she's too afraid to use it in a fight." he explained to his mother-to-be. Just then a thought came to Raye's mind. "Well why don't you train her how to not to be afraid. If you manage that then you won't have to worry about wasting time in training her." Raye said sounding hopeful that this would get Annika and Colt closer. "I'll consider it." he sighed and rolled over and went to sleep. Raye hoped that the two would get along and wondered how they got along in the future.
The next morning, Annika woke up early. As per her usual Saturday morning schedule, she would get up early to watch her favorite cartoon shows. After getting dressed and leaving her room she went to her parents room with Stardust following behind. "The door is closed again." Annika sighed, "Why is the door closed sometimes?" Stardust asked as they headed for the living room. "I guess they want to sleep in." Annika said and shrugged. In the middle of the living room floor Annika found Colt sitting crossed legged with his eyes closed. "What's he doing? Is he asleep?" Stardust asked her owner as she investigated the scene. "If he is then don't bother him!" Annika whispered. "Wierd." Stardust commented still observing their new guest. Stardust noticed that when Annika turned the t.v. on, the sound seemed to make him wince. Well if he's awake.... Stardust thought. Stardust pawed at him trying to get his attention. "Um...s'cuse me. Mr. Colt...What are you doing?" the curious cat asked.
"Stardust!" Annika hissed coming over to scold the cat for bothering the older boy. "You'll never know until you ask!" Stardust shot back in defense. Colt gave a sigh and opened his eyes. "Well if you must know I'm practicing a technique that allows you to supress your lifeforce energy in order to avoid being detected by enemies." he told the two of them. "We thought you were alseep." Annika replied. "Why do that?" asked the need-to- know cat, breaking Colt's concentration again. "I'm not one to run or hide from a fight but I discovered that when you supress your lifeforce, the amount you supress gets held in reserve allowing you to last longer if you are fighting someone stronger than you. Although I've rarely encountered someone that was stronger than me." he explained. "Something like a battery." Stardust concluded. "In a way." Colt said trying to get back to his training. Just then Annika's stomach growled as a sweat drop appeared on both her and Stardust's heads. "Mama's not up yet. Could you please make me breakfast?" Annika said softly hoping he would. Colt remembered the conversation he had with his mother last night and decided to give in for now. "All right. What would you like?" he asked to Annika's delight as she started listing off some of her favorite breakfast foods. Stardust was getting a little hungry herself with all this talk about food.
"Mmmm!" Raye moaned as she rolled over in bed. The delicious smell of bacon and eggs wafted through the Mars' home bidding everyone a good morning. Chad must be up making me breakfast in bed! How sweet! she thought feeling a familar lump then frowned when she opened her eyes to see her husband lying next to her. "Should've known!" Raye muttered getting up. "If it isn't Chad cooking, then who?" Raye got up and dressed quickly to find out who was in their quarters this early. It wouldn't be Annika. Raye thought, knowing that she warned her daughter well not to use the stove. "Then who?" Raye wondered out loud as she came into the kitchen. She found Annika squeezing a generous amount of syrup onto a stack of pancakes with Stardust sitting on a chair next to her, drooling. "Good morning, mama!" Annika said running over to hug her mother. Raye hugged her happy daughter back as she looked over to see Colt coming from the stove with a plate of bacon. "Well this is a surprise! Maybe you should come back to the past more often so I can sleep in mornings." Raye kidded as she sat down to a full plate. Within a few minutes, Chad was waking up to the aroma that was filling the bedroom. He was suprised to find that Colt was responsible for the breakfast feast.
After they were finished eating and the dishes were cleared away, Annika reminded her mother of what they were going to do today. "Mama, could you come with me to the craft store? I wanted to pick up some more materials." speaking softly as she knew her mother would rarely refuse her when she did. Today was different though. "I'm sorry sweetie but daddy and I have a meeting today with the queen." Raye felt bad as she watched her daughter's face fall. "Oh, okay." Annika replied sadly. Then Raye had an idea. She turned to Colt and Chad who were washing the dishes. "Colt. Could you take your sister shopping this morning? We'd take her but we'll be busy." Raye asked her son to be and with a heavy sigh he agreed.
After the dishes were finished both Colt and Annika left for the shopping mall to get whatever Annika needed. She recently took up knitting and was becoming very skilled at it. She had already ensured that her and her family would have plenty of scarfs and mittens for the winter and now Annika wanted to move on to larger projects. She wanted to knit a sweater for her mother's birthday but needed more yarn. As Colt and Annika walked through the mall court Annika slowed down. "Why are you dragging behind?" Colt wanted to know as he noticed Annika was staring ahead towards the open doors of the craft store. Annika stopped when she saw Miyaki's mother at the counter with her back to them. Annika's fears grew stronger when she saw Miyaki come up to the counter with a box of items her mother was stocking on one of the shelves. "Maybe we should come back later." Annika's voice trembled fearing the upcoming confrontation. Colt was getting tired of standing there waitng for Annika to decide if she should go in or not. He took her by the hand and lead her into the store.
A sensor went off to announce the arrival of customers, "Good morning!" Mrs. Chino sang cheerfully but lost her friendly manner as she saw who had come in. "Good morning." Annika shyly answered back as she quickly went to the yarn rack, Mrs. Chino glaring at her all the while. Colt turned to give her an equal look. Mrs. Chino returned to her work as Colt went to catch up with his sister. He watched as Annika walked by the aisle where the yarn was wondering why she'd do that. Miyaki knew that Annika had been in last week with her mother buying yarn and thought that was the reason why she was here again today. She guessed right as she decided to reorganize the yarns. Annika saw Miyaki standing on the small step ladder pretending to work and decided to avoid her. Just go somewhere else! Annika thought as she walked over to another shelf and started looking though some craft magazines. "You came here for yarn and that is what you are going to get." Colt told her as he took her hand and lead her back to the yarn racks.
Miyaki knew by instinct, which colours Annika was going to choose and moved them up out of her reach while giving Annika a look that made her shiver. Annika tried to ignore her and looked over the other colours, wishing Miyaki had left that royal purple on the lower rack. "Could you get me that that colour yarn please?" Annika asked in a squeak to Colt who was taller than her. "It speaks!" Miyaki commented in a shocking tone, Annika lowered her head trying to keep herself from getting upset. Colt paid no attention at first, but as they turned to leave Miyaki noticed she got to Annika and started up. "Come on crybaby! Where are they?" Miyaki asked in a sneer as she pushed past Annika. Annika's nerve was failing fast as tears started to well up in her eyes. Colt saw this and lead her back down the aisle. "They were only words! You have to learn how to ignore things like that! And when people push you, you push back...harder!" he scolded as Annika choked back a sob. "I can't!" Annika admitted as she looked down the aisle to see Miyaki waiting for her at a sun catcher display pretending to arrange the glass works. Colt remembered from what his mother had told him in the future about how much Miyaki picked on Annika. He remembered when he was younger, he wished he was there to give that little punk what for, for making Annika cry.
"Stop that crying so we can pay for this stuff and go. Don't forget you have training this afternoon." he told his sister. Annika nodded and did her best to calm herself. Miyaki started up her usual chant as they walked past her to the counter. Mrs. Chino saw Annika's condition and gave a warning look to her daughter. As Annika paid for the yarn and other supplies Colt glanced over at a contented Miyaki. As much as Annika's crying and shyness bothered him, something about that little torment triggered something within him. As they were leaving, Miyaki felt a strong force knock her forward into the turn-style rack. The rack toppled over and the sound of breaking glass filled the store. "Miyaki!" her mother bellowed as she went over to scold her daughter for the mess she made. Colt gave a cold smirk as he watched an angry Mrs. Chino bawl out her now crying daughter. "Colt...Did you...?" Annika said as she looked back at the scene. "I was no where near that girl when it happened. You saw that yourself." he said as they walked down the mall court. Annika wondered.
"When I start training you, the first rule will be no crying and no being afraid." Colt started as they walked home. "That's two rules." Annika interjected, Colt gave her a cool look. "You know what I mean." he said in a warning tone. "But I can't help it! Mama says..." Colt cut her off. "Mama this! Mama that! Mama says!" Colt growled out, his tone started to upset her. "Sooner than later that umbilical cord is going to have to be cut! You depend too much on her and not enough on yourself!" Colt snapped, Annika could feel her tears build up. "I like being with mama..." Annika started again but once more Colt cut her off. "I think it's time that a wall got put between you two or else no one will have much of a life. Mom and dad can do more than what they are doing to teach you to stand on your own and I think it's time they did so!". Annika had reached her limit. She dropped her shopping bags, burst out crying and ran off ahead of Colt. "Terrific..." Colt grumbled, snatching up the bags as he prepared himself for what would happen when he got back to the palace.
Annika ran through the front gates crying hysterically. Raye and Chad's meeting with the king and queen had ended and they were talking with the Venus family when a hysterical Annika came barreling towards them. Raye quickly rushed to her daughter, picked her up and started working to calm her down to find out what had put her in such a state. Brad had an idea when Raye mentioned that Colt had taken her shopping. Annika was here but there was no sign of Colt. Brad left Annika to Raye and the others to go look for Colt, Mina followed close behind to act as a peace keeper.
After Colt got back and had a heated argument with Brad, Colt came face to face with Raye. She immediately went on the attack and started in on her son. "Didn't I tell you not to upset her! I told you to go easy in her! But did you? No! Now you ruined the whole day for her! Why can't you accept Annika for the way she is!" Raye roared out. Amy was with her to make sure Raye didn't get too carried away with her temper. Amy observed Colt's posture as Raye berated him for upsetting Annika. She could tell Colt's own temper was reaching the boiling point. Trying to keep himself in line he turned to walk away. Raye grabbed at him and turned him around, "I'm not finished with you!" Raye yelled but quickly closed her mouth when she saw the look Colt was giving her. Complete and utter hatred. You were finished with me a long time ago! Colt screamed silently. Raye instantly calmed down knowing she went too far from the wild look in his eyes.
She gave a sigh then started over. "Colt..." he cut her off. "Why don't you go check on Annika? Why don't you run to Annika! Like you've always done while saying to hell with me!" his voice sounding just as hateful as his look. Amy studied him as he walked away. His fists were clenched, his entire body was trembling with rage and his voice sounded empty and cold. He was obviously supressing the true rage he was going through right now. His short verbal out burst told Raye everything she needed to know. She guessed that in the future Annika was still kept in the center of her attention and Colt hated her for it. Raye wasn't sure what to do about it though seeing that the damage had already been done. The best she could do now was try to calm everything so that something worse wouldn't develop.
Raye spent the rest of the morning with Annika doing her best to calm her down. "Why doesn't Colt like me? All the others like their sisters." Annika said still crying. Raye didn't want to answer that question so she just held Annika tighter, "Don't think about that for now, baby." she tried to convince her daughter as she wondered where Colt took off to. Raye was worried about him and what he might be doing considering the state he was in. A knock came at the door and Chad left his wife on the couch with Annika to answer it. On the other side was Brad and Gloria. Chad invited the two in and they came over to Annika and Raye. "I just thought I'd tell you that Annika won't have to train this afternoon considering what happened. But she will have to be trained tomorrow morning. I'll train her until things calm down with Colt." Raye was glad to hear that. "Annika, baby. Why don't you and Gloria go to your room and play. I've got somethings I want to talk to Brad about, okay?" Annika tightened her grip on her mother. "Come on Annika. You can show me the -thing- you are working on for you-know-who for their you-know-what." Gloria's suggestion seemed to get Annika to go with her.
Later on that night Raye sat staring out her bedroom window, her thoughts as far away as the stars. "Come on, it's late. You should get some rest for tomorrow." Chad tried to convince Raye to go to sleep, she didn't hear him. "Chad do you think that we don't do enough to help Annika stand on her own?" she asked absent mindedly. "No I don't. I think if we keep doing what we've been doing she'll come along at her own pace. Forcing her would only set her back." Chad assured his wife as she got into bed. "Maybe Colt had a point about Annika." Raye continued but Chad stopped her. "No he doesn't. His only knowledge of Annika is of the future. He has no idea what Annika has gone through in the past.". "But you didn't see the look in his eyes. He looked at me with complete contempt as if he could care less if I lived or died. I couldn't have ignored him that much, could I?" Raye wondered out loud staring at the ceiling. Chad had heard enough. "Stop this right now! I know you. There is no way you could ignore your own child. You are a good mother, Annika is proof of that. Don't let Colt's actions convince you otherwise. Just get some sleep and I'll talk with Colt tomorrow about his attitude." Chad told his wife as he went to sleep. Raye stayed awake thinking about where she would go wrong in the years to come. I wonder where Colt is? was her last thought before she fell asleep.
After breakfast, Brad came over to take Raye and Annika to their first training session. Chad had asked him about where Colt might have gone and Brad told him to ask Alex, seeing the two were best friends. After Alex listed off a few places Colt might go to Chad was about to leave when Colt came in. "Where were you all night? You had us worried." Chad started, Colt just gave a grunt. "Out." he answered. "That's obvious. Where 'out'?" Chad inquired trying to get the young boy to elaborate. "What does it matter. I'm here now aren't I? As for worrying about me don't bother." he was still a little angry about yesterday. "Yes we will bother. Look I don't know what happened in the future between us but you're in the past now and the things you say and do can greatly affect how things turn out." he tried to reason with his son. "It doesn't matter what I do or say then or now because the outcome will be the same." Colt informed his father. "All I'm asking is that you take it easy with your sister. She's not the same now as she is in the future." Chad stated. "Yeah. Take it easy with her until you're all standing around her coffin wishing someone else had taken it easy on her as well." Colt muttered as he walked off. The image his last words painted brought a cold shiver to Chad. Maybe he does have a point? Chad thought.
Colt decided to go back and start training Annika and his mother but the quarters was empty when he got there. Seeing how they were gone he decided to work off some of his argession in training. He was surprised to see Brad and his mother and sister entering the training room. He followed them in. "I'll take over from here." he ordered. "Maybe you should just take the day off. I can handle this." Brad said not wanting a repeat of yesterday. "We don't mind." Raye said to Brad, wanting a chance to smooth things over with her son. Raye turned to Annika, "You'd rather have your brother train you, wouldn't you?" her voice sounding upbeat to convince Annika to go along with the idea. Annika gave her mother a worried look, she really didn't want to have Colt train her. "Oh now come on baby, Brad would like to spend the day with his family and I'm sure you'll learn a lot from Colt. I know I'm looking forward to him training us." Raye sounded confident even though she told a partial lie. She had her heart set on Brad training her and Annika but now that Colt was here an opportunity to straighten things out and get off to a better start emerged.
"Transform then sit down on the floor. Getting down on the floor now will prevent an injury when I start up the program." Colt ordered and the two did so. After an hour, Mars was able to steady herself against the gravitational pull. Chibi Mars was another story. She made several attempts at getting to her feet but failed and was on the verge of giving up when Colt shut the program down. Chibi Mars was ready to scrap the whole training session but Colt had other plans. He knew that his sister lacked the confidence to endure the training. He paced back and forth for a few moments trying to decide on how to train Chibi Mars. He knew that the gravity training had to be completed in order for Chibi Mars to deal with the upcoming fights but if she refused to continue then she would more than likely end up dead. Her self confidence and self esteem would be his major stumbling block in training her as he thought of a way around it. "Alright then let's try something different." he said walking over to the control panel and tapped a few keys. "Transform back." he told them.
As they transformed back a holographic image appeared in the training room that instantly filled Annika with dread. The image was of Annika's tormentor Miyaki. Even though Annika knew it wasn't really her, it still made her want to run away. "Your main problem is the fact that you don't have much confidence. The main cause is because of this person. As of right now you will learn to stand up for yourself." Colt told her as he lead a protesting Raye out of the room. "I don't approve of this at all!" Raye argued as she watched the hologram follow Annika around the room. Raye could tell by the look on Annika's face that she wanted to get away. She tried to shut the program off but Colt stopped her. "What are you trying to do! Put her in a mental institution!" Raye yelled as she watched Annika start crying. Colt ignored her and went back into the room.
When the door opened, Annika went for it. "Mama!" she cried out but Colt locked the door behind him. "Yeah! Run to mama, crybaby!" the false Miyaki tormented. Annika tried to open the door but Colt pulled her away from it and knelt down to her. "Make it stop, please!" Annika begged, crying hard. "The only one who can make it stop is you. So get to it!" Colt ordered. "I can't!" Annika wailed. Raye watched through the window, her heart breaking. She wanted this stopped but Colt had locked both the doors and controls out. "I want mama!" Annika wailed trying to get past Colt. Colt grabbed her and pulled her back. Annika started screaming and wildly swinging her fists and kicking at Colt trying to free herself and get out of the room. "You will attack someone who is trying to help you but not the one that hurts you? I am not the one making you cry Annika, she is." Colt pointed over to the sneering hologram. "She should be the one you hit, not me." Colt coldly stated as he shut the program off. Once deactivated, the door was unlocked and Raye ran in. "Annika, baby!" she cried rushing to her daughter. Colt picked up a struggling Annika and carried her away. "NO!" Annika screeched and started hitting Colt harder.
"If you want to get to mama then you have to go through me!" Colt screamed pushing Annika back. "Leave me alone!" Annika screamed, now in a full blown hysteria. "Make me!" Colt growled. Raye had enough and was about to pull Annika away when Chad came in and stopped her. "Don't interfere!" he ordered holding Raye back. "What do you think you're doing!?!" Raye roared as she tried to break her husband's grip but failed. "This is something that has to be done." he calmly told his wife. Colt got on his knees and grabbed Annika. Annika flew into him in full tantrum mode punching and kicking and screaming. A fist landed on Colt's lip cutting it. As Colt wiped the blood from his lip Annika ran to Raye's arms. "Shhh, shhh. It's okay baby!" Raye said as she held Annika tightly while giving a hateful look to both Chad and Colt as she carried her exhausted daughter out of the room. "When she calms down bring her back here. The gravity training can wait a few days. The main problem is her confidence. That's why I had Carson and Snow build this program, to help her learn how to deal with people like that. You know yourself that it's right, or else you wouldn't have let it continue." Colt told his father. Chad thought.
Chad came back to their quarters knowing he'd be in for it and he was right. Raye had just put an exhausted Annika to bed. "Amy will stay with you baby." Raye said kissing her daughter on the forehead as she motioned Chad towards the front door. She couldn't believe Colt could do something that cold and cruel to his sister. Also she couldn't understand why Chad would let it continue like that. "How could you condone what Colt did to Annika!" Raye yelled at her husband after taking him out into the corridor. "I felt it had to be done. Colt had a point. Annika has to learn to fight back and the sooner the better." Chad told his upset wife. "Not like this!" Raye barked as her temper let go and her eyes burned. "Yes like this! At least here it can be in a controlled setting. Colt explained to me what he intends to do and after I made some changes to his plans I think we should let him continue." Chad tried to convince Raye but she was not going to hear any of it. "No! Colt is not training myself or Annika any longer! I'll be speaking with Brad about training Annika with Gloria.".
Chad let his temper go, "Look! I understand how you feel but Colt painted a very vivid picture of what could happen if Annika doesn't stand up for herself. I don't like seeing Annika in this condition either but I think it would be better if we got this over with now. I don't want to see her get hurt." he explained his view but Raye refused to listen. Just then Colt came down the hallway. At that time Raye didn't care how upset Colt got she was going to tell him off. "You will not be training my daughter! I want you to stay away from her! Understood?" Raye snapped, Colt just glared. "I've worked too hard with her to have you destroy her like that. You aren't any child of mine because I know in my heart I could never have a child as cold and as heartless as you!" Raye bluntly stated then flew back into her quarters to take care of Annika. Colt just stood there burning from what Raye said. But before Chad could do or say anything Colt walked off. Chad went back in to see how his daughter was doing. "I hate him, mama! And he hates me! I don't want to train with him anymore." Annika cried into Raye's shoulder as Raye did her best to calm her upset daughter. "It's okay, baby. I'll make sure he doesn't upset you again." Raye promised while glaring at Chad.
After Annika calmed down, Raye went to the Venus family quarters to see if Brad would take Annika for training from now on. After Raye told him what had happened he agreed to Raye's request. This seemed to settle Raye down a little as she headed back to her quarters. Unfortunately for Chad she wasn't calmed down enough as she instructed him that he would be sleeping on the couch for the night.
Over the next several days Raye and Annika's training went well. As Raye had predicted, Brad was doing a great job of working with Annika. As the days went on, no one saw any signs of Colt. Despite Alex and Chad checking all the places where he might have gone no one could find him anywhere. Colt's disappearance lead to an argument Between Alex and Brad about Colt's responsibilities. Raye was also starting to regret what she had said to Colt. "Tell me again what I said." Raye said with a tired sigh. "He wasn't your child....blah blah blah. Cold and heartless...blah blah blah." Chad repeated sounding just as tired. "What possessed me to say such a thing!?" she groaned as she buried her face in her hands. "You were upset. You couldn't stand what Annika was being put through, so you let him have both barrels." Chad explained. "Has anyone seen him?" was her next question. "No but if he shows up everyone is going to have more than a few words to say to him. Especially Brad. He's seems to be fed up with our son's behaviour." Chad noted as he thought about the mood everyone has been in the last few days.
The phone rang and Raye answered it. Chad could tell it was something serious from the look on Raye's face. After Raye hung up, Chad inquired. "That was Serenity. Colt just left their quarters. He asked for one of the empty quarters in the servants wing of the palace." Raye told him. Within few minutes a knock came at the Mars family door. It wasn't Colt but one of the servants to collect his personal affects. Raye found out from the servant where Colt's quarters was located exactly and Raye decided to try to convince him to stay with them and try to work things out. Chad offered to go with her but Raye declined. "This is something I have to take care of. If you don't mind I'll take those to him." Raye said as the servant came back from the bedroom.
Raye arrived at Colt's new quarters to hear Brad finish up an extremely loud monologue. "And further more both myself and everyone else is fed up with your attitude! If it's a simple case of middle child syndrome, get over it! If I hear of anymore disruptions like this, I will personally throw you through the Gates of Time and not care where you end up so long as you're out of my sight!". Raye decided to go in to put a stop to the argument, but before she could though Brad came out, looking ready to kill. "And the line-up gets longer." he said as he saw Raye. "Don't waste your time!" Brad muttered as he walked off. Yes I will waste my time! she thought giving Brad an annoyed look. The door was open so Raye went in. She stood in the door way and looked around the small room, thinking that it must be for a servant with no family. Despite being fully furnished, the quarters gave off a never-been-lived-in feeling. It was so quiet and sterile. How can anyone live like this? Raye thought as she thought about her quarters and how warm and happy it felt. She saw Colt standing by a window. "Knock, knock!" Raye mused, her words seemed to echo throughout the room, Colt just glanced at the door then went back to staring out the window. "I brought your stuff over." Raye said holding up Colt's duffle bag.
"Just leave it on the floor." was Colt's reply, several thoughts running through his mind. "I thought we could talk?" Raye tried to get a dialogue struck up, but Colt proved that such a task would be useless. "Everything that's going to be said has been said. There is nothing more to talk about." his voice sounding cold and determined. Raye walked in a little further into the room. "Then I guess a guided tour is out of the question? This is gettin' kinda heavy. Is the bedroom over there?" Raye asked as she decided to give herself a tour of her son's new accomodations. She quickly set to work unpacking his things and putting them into drawers. She came across his wallet and was putting it on the night stand when a small picture fell out. She picked it up and studied it. At first look, Raye could tell it was an old photo. In it was a picture of his family.
The first person her eyes fell on was Annika. She was all grown up and was a very attractive young woman. The picture gave Raye a boost of assurance that Annika would still be around in the future and from her expression she looked happy. Raye then looked at Colt who was still very young. Raye gave a deep sigh when she looked at the smiling happy child sitting on his mother's lap. She tried to imagine would things would be like in the future, still thinking of where she had gone wrong. She laughed a little at first when she looked at a greying Chad but her heart quickly fell when she realized how old he looked in the picture and realized that he wouldn't be around forever. The picture made her think about a lot of things. How would I be able to love anyone else in life other than Chad? Will Chad be around to see his grandaughter? these questions and more filled her head.
She cleared those thoughts out of her head and headed back to the living room to try to talk to Colt again. She found him still at the window so she walked over to him. "I know in your own hard way you were trying to help Annika but she has to be dealt with softly. Why can't you understand that?" Raye started off. "How she is trained is no longer my concern or my responsiblity." he flatly stated. "True but you can at least try to be nicer to her for the time being." Raye countered. "She is far to needy for my liking.", "She's just a child.." Raye started but got stopped. "If you think that will change in the years to come forget it. Everyday it is a different need or a different want. Everything upsets her! Well excuse my independance for upsetting Annika!" he growled out, trying to keep from exploding. It was obvious to Raye that Colt was harbouring a resentment towards Annika. "She's making great progress despite what she endures everyday. How can you look down on her when you don't know what she's been through!" Raye commented thinking about Annika's life since becoming a Chibi Scout.
"If you felt like you got less attention then maybe that's because my future self thought you didn't need to be babied so much. Maybe I didn't want you to lose your independance knowing what could happen if you did. So I pushed you so you could stand on your own. If that's the case then I'm glad I did that because Annika could really use someone strong like you to depend on if anything happened to me in the years to come." Raye added. "Maybe you should think about that." and left him hoping he listened and thought hard on what she said.
"Well Frost you failed in your last attempt. Tell me why I should keep you on and not kill you instead?" Chandelle asked a nervous Frost. "I assure you that I will not fail in my next strike your majesty. My next target is Annika Hino, Chibi Mars. She is far to cowardly to fight. All I need to do is get her alone!" Frost reported. "Then see that you do, or else suffer the consequences of your failure!" Chandelle warned her. I will not fail! Frost silently vowed to herself as she left.
Brad informed Colt that it was his turn to walk the girls home from school with Kota. Less than overjoyed with the task of babysitting, Colt agreed. Annika had another rough day and was intears when Colt and Kota arrived. Miyaki had tormented her the entire day and Gloria didn't stand for it. So in return for punching Miyaki, Gloria got a note to take home. "Don't think of it as a note, think of it as a badge of honour awarded to you for defending your friends." Kota tried to convince an angry Gloria. Colt just glared at Annika as she cried. Just wanting to be by herself Annika took off running ahead of everyone. "I'll keep an eye on the rest, Colt. Why don't you go check on Annika?" Kota said, Colt grumbled something under his breath. "Fine." he muttered and went off to find Annika.
A few minutes later Colt found Annika sitting curled up on a bench in a playground. He made his way over to her, and sat down next to her. "Go away! I don't like you!" Annika cried, Colt smiled. "Good." he stated. Annika raised her head to him. "That makes you happy that I don't like you?" she said puzzled. "Yeah. I don't want you to learn to like me I want you to learn to stand up for yourself." he told her. "I can't!" she sobbed. "Yes you can! You just don't want too!" he snapped back. "That is what I was trying to make you do. Want to fight back. Do you want to go through life constantly worrying mom as to whether or not you're going to turn out alright? Well do you?" he insisted for an answer. Annika shook her head. "What was that?" he growled. "No." Annika said. "You have a voice so use it!" he told his sister but got interupted when he sensed something. Annika sensed it too as her head snapped towards the direction of an evil presence. "Don't look!" Colt ordered and Annika looked away from a group of people across the playground.
"If they think we don't notice them then we have the element of surprise. I have a plan, walk towards them!" he told Annika as he walked away. She timidly complied. "Good she's alone now and heading our way! Alright let's get her!" Frost commanded and her youma rushed forward towards Annika. Without warning, two powerful blasts of energy struck the two leading youma, destroying them. "What?!" Frost screamed looking around to see who was attacking her youma. "Transform, now!" Colt yelled and Annika did so. "Mars Power Makeup!" she called holding up her transformation wand and quickly transformed into Chibi Mars. "I am an agent of love and justice and on behalf of the planet of Mars, I will punish you!" Chibi Mars called out. "Less talking and more fighting!" Colt barked as he charged towards the four remaining youma.
The four split up into groups of two and attacked Colt and Chibi Mars. Colt's two were no contest as he easily stayed ahead of his attackers. Chibi Mars on the other hand was having great difficulty dealing with her two. "Mars Firestorm!" Chibi Mars shouted as her attack flew out towards her persuers. They easily dodged the attack and grabbed hold of her and started draining her energy. Colt saw that she was in trouble and moved to quickly finish off his two. "Flaming Pheonix Ignite!" he shouted as he sent a large flaming pheonix at the two youma who were destroyed on contact. He then turned to Chibi Mars who was quickly losing strength to her attackers. "Get off of me!" She cried out trying to free herself, then remembered a technique Brad had taught her. She summoned up her remaining energy and used it to form a barrier around her and to push the youma away from her. While the youma were momentarily stunned she powered up her attack. "Mars Firestorm!" and struck and killed the two youma. Seeing that she was safe Colt charged after Frost. "You're mine!" he yelled as he landed a heavy kick that doubled her over. Fearing for her life she managed to escape. "Blinding Blizzard!" she gasped out and vanished.
Exhausted Annika powered down and started crying. The battle had taken a tremendous toll on her mentally and physically. "Come on let's go and report this." Colt said but Annika was still upset. "Stop that crying! The fight is over and you're still alive. If you want comfort then find it in the fact that you are still standing and that your enemy is defeated at your feet!" he told Annika. Sensing that she was severely drained and couldn't stand the long walk home, Colt picked her up and carried her out of the playground and headed back to the palace only to run into Raye who went looking for Annika when the other children told her what had happened. She stopped the car and rushed towards them. "Mama!" Annika weakly moaned seeing her mother heading towards them. "What happened?!" she cried taking Annika from him. "Frost showed up with some youma and attacked us. Annika got drained a little but she'll recover." Colt told her. "Let's get her in the car and take her home." Raye said. "I'm going to find Frost. She couldn't have gotten that far." Colt stated but Raye insisted he let her go for now. Raye got into the back seat with a weakened Annika while Colt drove.
--End of part 3 : Annika -- Tough Love--
--Next, Part 4 : Gloria -- What A Pain!--
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