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
Gloria -- What A Pain!
After dinner, Mina resumed her interogation as to her son's life. "So what kind of work do you do?" Asai asked seeing Brad was starting to squirm under Mina's questioning. "I'm running my own business. I'm a systems analyst." Mina's pride shot up when she heard her son ran his own business. "So does it pay well?" Mina asked wondering if he made enough to support a family. "Well Midori is a corporate accountant so if we need extra money she just skims some off of the top." Brad joked. Noticing that Gloria wasn't paying attention as she Annika and Hope played a game, Mina decided to probe about Gloria's future. "How does Gloria turn out in the future?" Mina asked knowing that Gloria shirked responsibility at every chance. "Let's put it this way. It's blind luck that I'm here. If Gloria had her way I'd be with the gypsies right about now." Brad said remembering a scene from his childhood. "What?!" Mina gasped demanding he explain. "It's not her fault entirely, I was wearing her nerves thin and she stuck me outside the palace with a sign that said 'Brother for sale. Foreign offers welcome.'" he laughed. Asai joined him while Mina flashed a grim look towards her daughter.
"I am an agent of love and justice and on behalf of the planet Venus I will punish you, Miyaki Chino!" Chibi Venus said as she powered up her attack. "This is for always picking on Annika! Venus Beautiful Shockwave!" her attack struck Miyaki full force and sent her to the ground unconscious. Just then a hard slap found its way across her backside....."Wake up! You have training in half an hour!" Brad sang, waking up Gloria. "You're a jerk! A real jerk!" she screamed as she got out of bed still rubbing her stinging bottom. "Hey! I've got twenty-five years of pent up agression and revenge to let out. I'm far from finished." he grinned evilly. "Come on you two! Stop that fighting or I'll give the both of you the spanking of your lives!" Mina ordered coming into the room. "I don't like this early morning training either but it's something that has to be done, so hurry up and let's get to it, young lady." Mina grumbled. Brad woke her up in the same manner he woke Gloria.
After a quick breakfast, the trio were off to the training room. Both Gloria and Mina were not the most energetic people at five-thirty in the A.M. Brad on the other hand looked as if he had energy to spare. "Okay, pile in! Let's get to it!" he sang and smiled to his half awake mother and sister. "Computer begin program!" he quickly stated as soon as the door closed. Both Mina and Gloria got an even ruder wake-up call when 2X gravity pulled them to the floor. "Hey!" Gloria snapped trying to get up. "Okay let's power through this and get you up to 4X." Brad said as he began teaching his family how to adjust to the gravity. "The easiest way to move is to get yourself on all fours and crawl like you're at your senior prom and totally hammered." his comment got a stern look from Mina. Within an hour the two were on their feet and were managing quite well, so Brad upped the gravity to 3X. "Okay, time to play a game." Brad instructed. "What kind of game?" Mina asked. "Tag!" he said with a smile as he tagged his mother.
Being stronger than her daughter, Mina quickly adjusted to 3X and had tagged Gloria. Gloria had trouble keeping up with her mother and Brad as she was not used to the gravity yet. "This is sooo stupid!" Gloria grumbled, not able to tag anyone. "What's the point of this anyway?". "The point is to get you used to the gravity, work on your speed and train your eyes to see something that moves faster than normal." Brad said. "As soon as you start getting used to the effects we'll start training drills to strengthen your attacks. But for now we will be working on speed and agility." he told them as they continued. What a jerk! Gloria thought to herself.
After a grueling first training session, Gloria was ready to go back to bed and sleep it off. Mina had other ideas as she instructed Gloria to get to her chores. "Let's see...next is Mercury, then Jupiter...then I'll have to train Rini..." Brad muttered as he reviewed the training schedule. Mina interupted his thoughts. "So will you be losing much business now that you're back here?" Mina asked, Brad looked like he needed a distraction. "Well the attacks are all over so business is pretty much shut down." Brad said as he thought about Midori as he fiddled with his wedding ring. "Are you worried about her?" Mina questioned, Brad nodded. "I just wish..." he started then stopped. "What?" Asai invited him to continue. "I just wished I could've taken her with me. That way I know she is all right. I just feel like I'm sitting here doing nothing, like I've run out on her.". Both Mina and Asai could see that the safety of his wife was weighing heavy on their son. "I think I know what you and all the other Scouts feel like when you go off to fight. Constantly wondering and worrying if everything will turn out all right. If anything will be left when its over.". Mina looked at her son and smiled, "You should lighten up more or you'll be old before your time." she commented trying to lighten his mood. "I can't help it. I've never had this kind of responsibility dealt to me before. I guess I'm not cut out for this type of thing.".
Later on in the morning, Mina and Brad met up with Raye and Chad, who were coming from they're meeting with Serenity and Endymion. "So did you really wake sleeping beauty up at that hour of the morning?" Raye said with a look of disbelief. "Yes I did." Brad said, "Gloria was fine with it, but mom.....?" his voice trailed off, his comment brought out a round of laughter from Raye and Chad while Mina gave him a light swat on the shoulder. "So are we bankrupt yet?" Mina joked, seeing the stack of financial reports Chad was lugging around. "We could save money on food expenses if we stapled Serenity's mouth shut." Raye shot back. "Then that would put office supply funds in the red." Chad laughed thinking of how many staples it would require to acomplish the job. "So where's Mr. Wonderful? I heard about the late night training session of his." Brad asked Raye, not sounding too concerned. "Well he seems all right now. This morning he really surprised me by having breakfast ready for Annika." Raye commented. "Annika turns on the charm and guys fall head over heels for her. Better keep an eye on her once she starts dating!" Mina joked.
Just then they were interupted by a crying Annika. Not seeing Colt around, Brad guessed that Colt mouthed off and upset Annika. "Somebody has a hearing problem and if not they will have when I'm finished!" Brad muttered as he walked off to find Colt. Mina followed along, not liking the tone Brad used, to prevent anything serious from happening. "Before you go raging off just take a minute to hear his side of things." Mina said, Brad gave a grunt. "Believe me. I have no intentions of listening to his excuses! I've made my point crystal clear about his attitude long before we came here." he bluntly stated as they headed towards the main doors of the palace. As they rounded the corner, they caught sight of Colt. "Care to explain the reason you had for sending Annika home crying?" Brad growled. "Once again it's my fault, but then that doesn't surprise me." Colt muttered as he tried to push his way past but was stopped by Brad. "You're not leaving until you tell me what happened." he coldly stated, holding Colt in place. "Annika got told to grow up! That's what happened!" Colt shot back freeing himself of Brad's grip. "It's going to be hard enough doing what we came to do without you running around and screwing things up! I don't want to hear anymore complaints about you or believe me I will not go easy on you!" Brad warned as Colt walked off. Brad was about to go for the kill when Mina urged him to back off for now.
Later on Brad and Gloria stopped by to check on Annika and to discuss Annika's training. After Gloria and Annika left for her room, Brad informed Raye about when Annika would be trained. "So for the next day or two I'll train both you and Annika. I've rescheduled tomorrow's training and you and Annika will be trained at nine tomorrow morning.". "That's fine but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Raye started. "Well what then?" Brad asked. "It's about Colt. What happened to him to make him the way he is? I mean was he always that cold?" she asked thinking about Colt's attitude in general. "If I knew, I'd tell you regardless of what Setsuna said about revealing too much about the future. He started off fine but as son as he hit thirteen he started changing. To be honest I don't know where it all came from." Brad said. "Why thirteen?" Chad asked. "Well when he turned thirteen that is when Brooke was born." Brad told him. "Why would that cause a problem?" Raye questioned. "I guess you fawning over Brooke and Annika always needing you took the spotlight away from him." Brad concluded.
"Just wait 'til I get my hands on that little snot!" Gloria growled, ready to kill Miyaki for what she did to Annika this morning, but was happy to hear about Miyaki's little accident. "Too bad she wouldn't walk in front of a bus." Gloria muttered as she had a little day dream of Miyaki getting run over by a bus and giggled to herself. "I don't want to talk about it." Annika sighed as she pulled out the half finished sweater she was making to show Gloria. "Gloria?" Annika started, "What?" Gloria questioned back. "Do you and your brother Brad get along?" she asked. "That creep!?" Gloria partially shouted, her reaction made Annika smile. "Well from what I've seen he's got 'Mama's boy' written all over him! I have a feeling all I'm going to hear while Brad is around is 'Why don't you be more like Brad?' from mom." she said rolling her eyes. "I don't think Colt likes me." Annika admitted. "Why? Everyone else does!" Gloria told her. "I don't know. It's just a feeling I get from him that he doesn't want anything to do with me.". "That's crazy talk." Gloria stated but Annika could feel the deep resentment Colt had for her. "No it isn't. I can pick up on his aura and I think he really hates me but for what I don't know. Also I didn't tell mama but I sensed a dark presence in him." Annika whispered in case anyone was listening.
Later on in the afternoon Brad was preparing to train Rini. Serenity decided to watch her daughter's progress. "Okay let's do this." Brad said leading Cosmic Moon into the training room. "Will you be joining us?" he asked Serenity. "No, why?" she asked. "Well you have been packing on the pounds lately." he said giving a snickering Rini a wink. "What do you mean?" Serenity demanded, Brad waved good bye as he closed the door. Although he never looked back at the window he could feel Serenity's eyes cutting through him. Once the training started though, Brad was all business. Because of Rini's age, she didn't need as much verbal encouragement for the training and being the leader, she would also have to endure harder training than the others. "How high are you going?" Rini grumbled as she slowly trudged through 4X gravity. "I got clearance to take you to 15X. Aren't you special?" Brad commented as Cosmic Moon glared at him from under her sweat soaked bangs. "Well I guess getting to 4X is a good start seeing how out of shape you are." Brad said in a teasing sigh. "I'm in shape!" Cosmic Moon shot back. "Yeah, the shape of a cream puff. No wonder Gloria used to call you Chubby Moon!" he joked. Serenity listened through the intercom and was in hysterics.
After the Chibi Scout training was over with for the day Brad still had to take Shin and Kota for more training. Mina stopped by to see if he was ready to take a break. From his looks he looked as if he was ready for a break as he finished up Shin and Kota's training. Michiru was watching their progress when Mina arrived. "It seems that Haruka and I have a yearning for twins." she mused watching the men train. Michiru was truely surprised with Brad, he was the complete opposite of Gloria. "Japan hide your daughters!" the twins shouted as they left the training room. "That won't be necessary and you know why." Michiru reminded the two boys. "Let's hit those books." Michiru commented as she lead a depressed pair down the hall. "So have you had enough for today?" Mina asked her tired son. "I've had enough for two days." Brad groaned thinking that this would be the schedule for the next while.
Upon returning to the Venus quarters, they were greeted with the usual blaring of Gloria's stereo. "Dinner's just about ready. Excuse me while I do something about the rock concert." Mina groaned as she headed towards the bedrooms. Going to bed sounded good to Brad so he headed of to his but stopped in front of it, looking pensive. After screaming at the top of her lungs, Mina convinced Gloria to lower the decibals, coming out she noticed Brad standing in front of the door. "What's wrong?" she asked coming over. Brad gave the door a push and as it swung open a number of eggs rained down before them. "Did Gloria?....How did you?...." Mina asked. "I've spent twenty-five years surviving Gloria so it's a sixth sense thing whenever she tries to prank me." Brad stated with a sigh. Mina barged back into Gloria's room, "Get out here right now young lady!" she shouted. Gloria came out slowly, "What?!" she snapped. "Clean that mess up right now!" Mina ordered pointing to the mess on the floor of Brad's room. "It's Brad's room! Tell him to clean up his own room!" she shouted back. Mina lost her temper. "Maybe you should go to a hotel if you want to sleep tonight." Asai whispered. "What a pain!" Gloria muttered as she glared at Brad sleeping on the bed as she tried to scrub the egg stains out of the carpet.
"Now you're training four groups?!" Mina said wondering where her son would find the time to sleep. "Well the training will get easier in the next few days and I kind of figured that Colt would do something to get out of doing his part." Brad explained. "Yeah that Colt kind of shocked me. I mean Raye had a temper but Colt puts her to shame in that department." Mina said thinking of the earlier conversation. "Colt's one of life's great mysteries." Brad commented. "Do you think you should be so hard on him? I mean it couldn't have been an easy life for him and you and the others watching your families fight while you sit on the sidelines wondering if things will be okay. There were probably times that you needed us and we weren't there for you because of our responsibilities." Mina reminded. "That's still no excuse for his actions. Look, I don't want to talk about this now." Brad muttered and the subject was dropped for now. "Well I'm off." Brad said heading for the door, Annika and Raye were first up for training.
Despite his better judgement Brad allowed Colt to train his mother and sister. This gave Brad some free time in which he spent with his family. Gloria's mind was working overtime figuring a way to prank Brad for her five a.m. wakeup call. "Forget it." he muttered and Gloria gave him an innocent look. "What?" she questioned. "I know what you're thinking so just give it up. I've spent my life dealing with you and your practical jokes. There is no way you will get me. Not now, not ever." he stated. "Famous last words." Gloria said with an evil smirk. "Cool it you two!" Mina warned. "Oh but it's just getting started!" Brad said with a wink to his mother who in turned gave a tired groan. "Can we at least try to shoot for being a normal happy family?" Mina wearily stated. "Normal is boring!" Brad stated cheerfully and Gloria agreed. "Besides if it was quiet around here for more than five seconds you'd have to be committed. The silence would drive you nuts. At least it does in the future." Brad said thinking.
As they talked, a knock came at their door, it was Raye. One look and the Venus family could tell she was fit to be tied. "Brad could I speak to you in private." she curtly stated. Brad could tell that the way she was acting that the training session with Colt didn't go well. "So what did he do?" Brad said in a tired sigh. "Colt's idea of building Annika's confidence involves putting her into a mental institution. He had the bright idea to lock Annika in the training room with a hologram of Miyaki until she was an emotional wreck. If that wasn't bad enough he kept Annika from leaving the training room until she fought her way past him! Right now Annika is in no condition to be trained because of his actions. I know the training is important but if you could..." Raye stopped for a moment. "Train Annika later on?" Brad finished. He knew full well if Annika didn't complete her training she could not fight. And if she couldn't defend herself she would be nothing more than a target. "Alright. I'll work out a way to train Annika starting tomorrow. Where's Colt by the way, I intend to have a long talk with him about this matter." Brad said. "I'll tell him that when I head back. Thank you." Raye commented, happy that a more suitable trainer would oversee Annika's progress. I'm gonna kill him! Brad raged secretly to himself. He had serious doubts now as to whether a war fought at both ends could be won.
Monday afternoon, Annika was sitting in Amy's office. Amy wanted Annika to voice her opinion about the week-end's events, Brad had other ideas. Amy answered a knock at her door. Brad flew in, snatched up Annika from her chair and carried her out of the office. "And what are you gonna do about it?!" Brad stated as he stopped and turned back to Amy, then sped off. Amy just blinked a few times, trying to figure out what just happened. "Well shall we get to training?" Brad asked a slightly bewildered Annika. "Well..." Annika hesitated, but changed her mind when she saw her mother waiting at the training room doors. "Any trouble getting her away from Amy?" Raye asked, knowing Amy would not approve of Annika's new training schedule. "Can't stop what you don't know about!" Brad sang as he pushed them into the room, locking the door so Amy wouldn't come after him.
Inside Venus and Chibi Venus were waiting for them. "Gloria!" Annika squealed running over to her friend. "I figured that the training would go easier if Annika could train with Gloria." Brad commented. His guess was right as Annika quickly transformed and urged her mother to do the same "Come on, mama!". Annika's eagerness to train thrilled Raye as she transformed. If only it was like this with Colt. Raye wondered to herself as the training began. Chibi Mars' progressed much in her first full training session as Gloria managed to encourage her friend to keep going. Raye watched with amazement at how Brad was able to bring Annika out of her shell and by the end of the session Annika was looking forward to tomorrow's session. "Your brother is so much fun!" Annika exclaimed to Gloria. "Really? I'll sell him to you if you'd like." Gloria stated. "Don't even joke about that missy!" Mina snapped remembering what Brad told her about the future. "See you tomorrow!" Raye called as she lead a much more happy and emotionally secure Annika out. "Well that went well." Mina commented. "You seemed to have the right idea. Even Gloria looked forward to training today." the very idea of Gloria wanting to train filled her with hope that Gloria was willing to stick with the training. "Can we train with Aunt Raye and Annika all the time?" Gloria asked, her tone sounding hopeful. "For the time being, yes. Annika could use all the motivation she can get right now." Brad said, Gloria was happy.
For the next few days things seemed to go smoothly as far as training went. Alex was pressuring Brad to lay off of Colt for the next while. "Too damn bad about him that he's not the whole show around here! He has to learn that no one is above anyone else around here." Brad stated. "Does that logic apply to you as well?" Alex returned, Brad glared at him for a few moments. He was about to answer when Mina lead him away. "I think youy need a time out." she said softly seeing that Brad was ready to suffer a core meltdown. "When I get my hands on that boy, I'll...." Brad trailed off as his thoughts explored the numerous forms of punishment he could subject Colt to. "Bullying everyone into staying in line is something no leader should do. You should be trying to calm everyone down instead of tearing into them." Mina reminded. "It's just that sometimes I feel it's the only way to get everyone on the same page, to work together. It's hard enough to do what we were sent to do without everyone doing their own thing slowing down everyone's progress." Brad sighed. "I know how you feel. Being the leader of the Sailor Scouts and training the Chibi Scouts is just as demanding, even moreso than what you are experiencing. There were times I lost my temper and in the end I just made things worse for everyone." she explained.
"How can you say I have it easier than you?! You and the other Scouts and Chibi Scouts are able to function together because you know you have to for the good of the world. I got put in charge of a bunch of guys who would rather be somewhere else right now than here. Not only that but several of them have serious problems that I have to deal with." Brad replied. "What problems?" Mina asked. "Well Shin and Kota are two walking hormones whose attention is easily diverted whenever a cute girl shows up, which results in the two of them pummeling each other senseless to see who gets to take her out. Colt...." Brad paused to chuckle briefly, "...thinks that everyone should bow down to him because he thinks he's perfect. I'd like to show him how perfect he is." Brad ran through the group.
"Then there's Carson." Brad muttered. "What's wrong with him?" Mina asked thinking that Carson seemed all right from what she saw. "Well you know Pluto spends her time dealing with probabilities of events to help maintain the time line right?" Mina nodded. "Well Carson was born with that ability to assess probable outcomes of actions and events. It tormented him his entire life to the point he went insane. From the age of fourteen to eighteen he was a hopeless drunk, his way of dealing with it at the time. After almost drinking himself to death, Gary put him into the psychatiric ward where he spent two years trying to get better. He was on medication daily. That treatment stopped two years ago since he was told he'd be sent back to help out. The drugs dulled his ability but also took a heavy toll on him physically, kind of like heavy sedatives. Now I've got to worry about whether he can hold himself together long enough to get this mission over with. Setsuna explained it all to Gary so he's keeping an eye on him and he's managing for now." Brad told his mother of what he had to deal with. Mina couldn't believe what Brad told her about Carson. "Couldn't anyone else take Carson's place?" Mina thought aloud thinking that Carson was a possible danger to himself and others. "No." Brad sighed, "Being the son of the guardian of time, he was trained specifically for this task. I wish there was though because I'm worried something might happen to him which would make him snap and never come back." Brad said worried as he thought about Carson's battles with his demons and what Rini and Chelsea were put through.
As Mina opened the door to her quarters, loud crashing and banging could be heard coming from the bedrooms. "What's that?" Mina said rushing to investigate. "GLORIA KATHERYN AINO!!!! Put that chair down NOW!!" Mina shrieked as Gloria was about to smash it over Annika's head. From the looks of the decimated room, Mina concluded that the pair had a massive fight. "But mom!" Gloria started but Mina grabbed hold of her and was about to spank the life out of her when Brad stopped her. "Gloria is helping Annika train. I taught Annika how to use her life force to create a shield around her to prevent anyone from hurting her!" Brad explained as he struggled to hold his mother back. "Is this true?" she asked Annika. "Yes Aunt Mina. Gloria threw all kinds of stuff at me and I didn't feel a thing!" she exclaimed. Mina calmed down and Brad let go of her. "Well I have to go home now." Annika said softly as she surveyed the mess that was once Gloria's room. "Clean it up!" Mina barked at Gloria, demanding that the room be spotless when she came back. Gloria growled and huffed as she looked around the room trying to decide where to start. What a pain! she thought then got to work.
Upon hearing of Colt's return, the first person to greet him was Brad. "You think you could hide out here from now on huh?" Brad started in. "I'm not in the mood for you." Colt growled but Brad paid no attention to him. "News flash! I don't care! You were way out of line in what you did with Annika! Instead of preparing her for Chandelle, you prepared her for an extensive stay at a mental institution of her choice! What the hell is it with you!?" Brad shouted out, Colt walked over to the window and stared out into space ignoring the older man. This enraged Brad as he stepped up his verbal assault. "If you think you can just worm your way out of doing what you're suppose to do you can forget it! You're going to roll your sleeves up and get your hands dirty just like everyone else around here. I thought Carson would cause me the most trouble, but he's nothing compared to what you did. As a result, I'm stuck with training Annika, Raye, Gloria, mom and Rini, no thanks to you. I'll train Annika and aunt Raye from now on but don't think you're not going to be doing anything, I'll find things for you to do, don't worry!" Brad stated, Colt still ignoring him. "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!". Brad warned then left the quarters. On his way out he almost fell over Raye, "And the line-up gets longer." he grumbled as he walked away. "Don't waste your time!" he muttered, Raye gave him an annoyed look, then went in.
Electricity snapped and crackled as Frost shrieked in agony. "You worthless failure! How dare you come back here and report that you failed." Chandelle growled as she increased the strength of her attack, Frost's cries grew louder and more desparate. From the sidelines, Aroura watched her sister writhe in pain, completely powerless to stop the torture. Chandelle ceased her attack and Frost's body fell to the floor limp. Aroura rushed to her fallen sister. "When she wakes up tell her she has one last chance before I kill her." Chandelle warned, then got an evil idea. Why dirty my hands with the likes of that failure! I'll have my special soldier deal with her! she thought giving a cruel smile towards the two women as she turned her attention to her still training third general. That's it. Grow stronger my pet. No one suspects you at all! she gave a cold laugh that made Aroura tremble with fear as she carried her sister out of Chandelle's throne room.
Several hours later, Frost came to. "Are you alright?" Aroura asked, seeing her sister starting to come around. "I've felt better." she muttered, sitting up. "Chadelle says she'll finish the job if you fail again." Aroura told her. "Then I'll just have to succeed then won't I?" Frost stated, trying to stand up. "You should leave, for your own safety. I don't want to see you get killed." Aroura pleaded, Frost refused. "If I leave she'll take it out on you sister. I can't let that happen. I'm going to die either way. To be honest, I'd rather die at the hands of the Chibi and Sailor Scouts than Chandelle.". The thought of being without her sister, horrified Aroura. "If you need help then by all means call on me." Aroura stated, Frost smiled. "I know you mean well but if the two of us fail then we're both done for. This is something I have to do on my own." Frost replied, a cold shiver ran through Aroura. She could feel the presence of Death as it loomed over her sister. I won't let your death be for nothing! Aroura vowed to herself.
Another day of Miyaki picking on Annika sent her home crying. Gloria tried to cheer her up but it didn't do any good. When she got home Gloria was in a foul mood because she couldn't get Miyaki without being suspended. Gloria proceded to deconstruct her room when the racket brought an outraged Mina to inquire. "And what may I ask is this about?!" Mina sternly stated glaring around at the torn up room. "Miyaki." Gloria snapped, kicking a waste paper basket. The name told Mina everything. She was called to the school and informed by the principal that if Gloria gets into another fight, she would be suspended for two months. "Well that is no reason to tear your room apart." Mina said trying to calm her fiery daughter. "I think I have a solution." Brad mentioned coming into the room. "And what would that be?" Mina asked. "Come with me." Brad said inviting Gloria to follow him.
They're first stop was at the Mars' quarters to check up on Annika. Chad answered the door. "Come in, keep the visit short though. Annika's still a little upset." Chad said letting them in. "Could we talk with Annika for a while?" Brad asked, knowing that Gloria would want to try to cheer Annika up. She had a hard few days and was even easier to upset since she and Colt were attacked. "Just for a few minutes, it's almost time for her session with Amy, and don't do or say anything to upset her." Raye warned Gloria who nodded in agreement.
"So you had another bad day huh?" Brad asked and Annika nodded. "Well I think I might have an idea to put you in a better mood." he mentioned and motioned for the two girls to follow him. "But her session with Amy is now..." Raye started when a knock came at the door. Chad opened it and Amy rushed in. "Ha! You're not pulling Annika away this time!" Amy stated taking Annika with her. Brad took hold of Annika's other hand. "She's coming with me and Gloria!" Brad shot back. Within a few seconds, a tug of war was being waged between Amy and Brad, with Annika being the rope. "She needs to talk about her problems!!" Amy growled pulling Annika closer to her. "She needs a good laugh!" Brad grumbled as he pulled Annika away from her. Sweat drops formed on Gloria's and Chad's heads as they watched Annika be pulled about. Raye instantly lost her temper. "My daughter is not a tug toy for you two to fight over like a pair of rabid dogs! Put her down this instant!" Raye demanded in a scream that made both Amy and Brad instantly comply. "But...but..." Brad started, "Out!" Raye barked in a tone that made both Brad and Gloria back out of the quarters. "This is all your fault!" Gloria grumbled as they watched the door slam shut in their faces.
"Well so much for the idea I had." Brad sighed as he and Gloria walked along. "So where are we going?" Gloria asked. "Training room." Brad simply stated. "Ugh! What a pain! It's not time for my training session today!" Gloria griped, not wanting to do anymore training than she had to. "It won't be that kind of training." Brad commented as they entered the room. There were a few chairs set up so the two of them sat down. "You don't like it when people pick on Annika. Why?" he questioned. "Duh! It's obvious! She doesn't deserve to be treated like that!" Gloria answered. "Why's that?" Brad wanted a little more detail. "Because she's nice to everybody and when I see someone making her cry it makes me mad." Gloria answered in a growling sigh. "Well it's getting you a lot of trouble in the process. Maybe you should let Annika stand up for herself?" Brad told her, the idea made Gloria instantly respond. "She doesn't know how to deal with people like that and besides why should she have to!? It's not in her to say mean and hateful things, it's not her way. If anyone should be getting picked on it should be me.". "But they don't because you fight back where Annika just cries." Brad pointed out.
"Kinda sucks now that you can't do anything huh?" Gloria nodded to Brad's question. Brad got up and walked over to the control panel and called up a program. A holographic image of Miyaki appeared. "I thought about deleting this program, but I think now it might have a use after all." Brad commented seeing the look of contempt Gloria gave to the computer image. "So what am I suppose to do?" Gloria asked, glaring at the hologram. "What you can't do in school." Brad stated. "It's not the same." Gloria muttered as the Miyaki-gram started towards her. "Where's that little cry baby?" Miyaki called. Gloria's temper shot up. "Leave...her....alone!" Gloria screamed and flew at the hologram. Brad watched as Gloria tackled the the girl to the floor and started punching her sensless. Leave her alone! Leave her alone! Leave her ALONE!" Gloria screeched, almost in tears as she pounded Miyaki. After a few more minutes, Brad shut the simulation down.
"So have we got rid of all our agressions?" Brad asked as he knelt down next to his sister. "All the fun of pounding a punk with none of the consequences." Brad said as Gloria fought back a few tears. "Why can't she just leave Annika alone?" Gloria muttered trying not to cry. "You'd think she'd learn after all the poundings you gave her, but some people are like that. Maybe she's jealous of Annika and her life." Brad started. "Why?" Gloria asked. "Well Miyaki has only one parent, who works most of the time so she doesn't get to spend much time with her mother. Miyaki sees Annika over here in the palace with the dream mother -and- father that care for her and are always there for her. She sees how happy Annika is and is jealous because her life isn't like that. Instead she's by herself most of the time and probably seeing others around her so happy makes her angry that her life isn't like that so she lashes out at them." Brad finished. "So if she's miserable then everyone else has to be too?" Gloria asked. "In her mind, yes." Brad said. Gloria thought.
Mina noticed a huge change in Gloria and wondered what Brad did to settle her down. "I let her beat Miyaki to a bloody pulp." he simply stated. "You what!?" Mina shrieked. "Hoo-boy." whispered Asai. "Relax it was just a hologram. I figured she wouldn't be tearing things up here if she had a place to let her anger out without hurting anyone or anything." Brad pointed out. "Interesting way to deal with a problem." Mina muttered. "I was planning to get Annika to take a few punches but Raye insisted that she have a session with Amy. I feel that talking sometimes isn't enough, you have to do something, you know.". "I'm going to see if Annika is back yet." Gloria called leaving the quarters. "Be sure to tell her she has training in half an hour." Brad reminded her. Gloria rolled her eyes. "Whatever!" she said waving Brad off. "Why me?" commented Mina thinking about her daughter's attitude. "Why not?" Brad joked, "Don't worry she'll come around..eventually.". "Eventually." Mina echoed.
Which one? Frost pondered, trying to choose her next target. "Why not pick an easy one?" Aroura suggested. "No. I have to prove to Chandelle that I can do this. Hmmm...this one." she paused the image of Gloria in her crystal. "Before you go know this." Aroura called and showed her sister information that she gathered. "Who's this?" Frost asked. "Brad Aino. Sailor Cosmic Venus's brother from the future. They're all here helping their families in this time. He's very strong, watch out for him." Aroura warned. "Take this." Aroura gave a power crystal to her. Frost thanked her sister for the advance warning and then left. "Becareful." Aroura whispered, fearing that this could be the last time she would ever see her sister alive.
Gloria was less than happy when another day of Miyaki upsetting Annika went by. So instead of going home, Gloria decided to go to a local park where Miyaki would sometimes hang out. Can't get suspended in the park! Gloria thought as she roamed the park looking for her victim. Upon being informed of her daughter's intentions, Mina was about to go when Brad offered to go in her place. Brad quickly found Gloria who still didn't manage to find Miyaki. "We are going home right now." Brad ordered. "You're not my mother." Gloria mouthed back. "If I was you'd be spanked stupid right now. If mom had a dollar for every time she spanked you..." Brad started, "Well I'm doing my part." Gloria finished, Brad couldn't help but laugh. "Come on let's go." Brad said and Gloria reluctantly went along.
Frost watched as they left the park and followed them through the streets. No more failures! Frost thought as she prepared to attack. She ordered her youma to surround the pair. "Don't let them get away!" she shouted as the group of ninja youma drew their swords and rushed them. "Hurry and transform!" Brad ordered Gloria as he tried to lead the group way. "Perfect!" Frost said with a cold laugh. Frost appeared before Chibi Venus. "Looks like it's just you and me now!" Frost laughed. "Yeah keep laughing old cow! I am an agent of love and justice and on behalf of Venus I will punish you! Venus Beautiful Shockwave!". Frost dodged the attack. "How dare you, you rude little brat! Ice Storm!" Frost called and shards of ice rained down on Chibi Venus traping her in a make shift cage. Satisfied Chibi Venus was staying put, Frost left to check on her youma's progress.
Elsewhere, Brad was having trouble with the youma. The ninja demonstrated one of their most devastating techniques, Shadow Double. Where there were once ten youma there were now twenty. "This is bad." Brad muttered as he tried to stay ahead of the sword wielding youma. Brad quickly learned that although he couldn't hurt the copies, the copies could hurt him as one of them delivered a painful slash across his back. "Son of a..." Brad moaned as he fell to the ground. "That's it! I'VE HAD IT!" Brad screamed as he powered up. In order to take out the original ten youma, Brad had to bait all of them to get as close as possible to them so he could take them out. As Brad prepared to couter attack Frost showed up. "Back off! He's luring you in!" Frost warned and the youma backed off. Damn it! Brad growled as he tried to get up but his wound was severely reducing his mobility. He couldn't see it but he knew the wound was bad and had to do something fast. "Aw. Does that hurt?" Frost asked in mock concern, seeing the expression of pain on his face. "Then by all means my youma, put him out of his misery!".
"Venus Beautiful Shockwave!" Chibi Venus shouted as her attack freed her from her prison. She raced to where her brother was and saw that he was in real trouble. She pulled out her communicator. "Mom! It's me! Brad and I are being attacked. I'm alright but Brad's in trouble! Please hurry!" Chibi Venus pleaded. "I'll be there!" Mina replied. Chibi Venus then turned her attention to figuring a way to help her brother. There has to be something I can do! Chibi Venus wondered as she watched Brad do his best to defend himself.
"It's now or never!" Brad said as he attacked the youma. "Omni-Cresent!" Brad shouted as his attack flew out and managed to destroy some of the youma. As they regrouped, Chibi Venus rushed in and caught the remaining ones off guard. "Venus Beautiful Shockwave!" and destroyed the remaining youma. "You won't find me that easy to defeat Chibi Venus." Frost said in a low cold tone. "Deep Freeze Flash!" Frost's attack froze Chibi Venus from the neck down in a block of ice. To make matters worse, the ice block was draining her energy rapidly and she soon detransformed. "Now you get the pleasure of watching your brother die a very slow and painful death!" Frost laugh and turned towards a wounded Brad. "It must be sad to die so far from home." Frost said with a cruel smile. Brad could feel himself grow colder as his wound continued to bleed.
Gloria watched the battle between the two, unable to do anything to help. The ice was draining her energy and she was quickly losing consciousness. Brad could of easily destroyed Frost but he needed her alive so he had to pick his attacks carefully. He alos knew tht his sister wouldn't last much longer if he didn't free her. Frost knew this and made sure to keep Gloria behind her at all times to prevent Brad from using too strong an attack. "Better hurry! She's almost done for!" Frost teased looking over her shoulder at Gloria. Chandelle watched the battle from her castle and was pleased with her general's performance, as was Aroura. "It seems she's finally doing something right." Chandelle commented. Just finish them off! Aroura prayed but all that ws about to change for the worse.
"Mars Fireball!" Chibi Mars's attack melted the ice, freeing her friend. "What?" Frost shrieked as she turned to see that Mars, Venus and Chibi Mars had shown up. "We are the Sailor Scouts of love and fire and on behalf of Crystal Tokyo we will punish you!" Venus stated as she powered up. "Venus love Me Chain!" her attack bounded Frost preventing her escape as Mars checked on Brad's condition. "He's hurt bad!" Mars reported, "So's Gloria!" called Chibi Mars. "You'll pay for this!" Venus snapped as she got ready to attack Frost. "So much for that." Chandelle muttered "Get rid of her!" she ordered her mystery general to attack. "No!" begged Aroura but Chandelle ignored her.
"No we need her!" Brad shouted, Venus really wanted to waste Frost for what she had done. In an instant, a powerful blast of energy struck and vaporised Frost. "Where did that come from!" Venus said looking around but seeing no one. "No time for that now! We have to get these two back to the palace!" Mars reminded Venus.
--End of part 4: Gloria -- What A Pain!--
--Next, part 5: Daisy -- Those Fightin' Kino's--
Questions, comments?
Mail to: ravyn_knyght@yahoo.com
Big Trouble, Little Brother -- By Ravyn Knyght
Gloria -- What A Pain!
After dinner, Mina resumed her interogation as to her son's life. "So what kind of work do you do?" Asai asked seeing Brad was starting to squirm under Mina's questioning. "I'm running my own business. I'm a systems analyst." Mina's pride shot up when she heard her son ran his own business. "So does it pay well?" Mina asked wondering if he made enough to support a family. "Well Midori is a corporate accountant so if we need extra money she just skims some off of the top." Brad joked. Noticing that Gloria wasn't paying attention as she Annika and Hope played a game, Mina decided to probe about Gloria's future. "How does Gloria turn out in the future?" Mina asked knowing that Gloria shirked responsibility at every chance. "Let's put it this way. It's blind luck that I'm here. If Gloria had her way I'd be with the gypsies right about now." Brad said remembering a scene from his childhood. "What?!" Mina gasped demanding he explain. "It's not her fault entirely, I was wearing her nerves thin and she stuck me outside the palace with a sign that said 'Brother for sale. Foreign offers welcome.'" he laughed. Asai joined him while Mina flashed a grim look towards her daughter.
"I am an agent of love and justice and on behalf of the planet Venus I will punish you, Miyaki Chino!" Chibi Venus said as she powered up her attack. "This is for always picking on Annika! Venus Beautiful Shockwave!" her attack struck Miyaki full force and sent her to the ground unconscious. Just then a hard slap found its way across her backside....."Wake up! You have training in half an hour!" Brad sang, waking up Gloria. "You're a jerk! A real jerk!" she screamed as she got out of bed still rubbing her stinging bottom. "Hey! I've got twenty-five years of pent up agression and revenge to let out. I'm far from finished." he grinned evilly. "Come on you two! Stop that fighting or I'll give the both of you the spanking of your lives!" Mina ordered coming into the room. "I don't like this early morning training either but it's something that has to be done, so hurry up and let's get to it, young lady." Mina grumbled. Brad woke her up in the same manner he woke Gloria.
After a quick breakfast, the trio were off to the training room. Both Gloria and Mina were not the most energetic people at five-thirty in the A.M. Brad on the other hand looked as if he had energy to spare. "Okay, pile in! Let's get to it!" he sang and smiled to his half awake mother and sister. "Computer begin program!" he quickly stated as soon as the door closed. Both Mina and Gloria got an even ruder wake-up call when 2X gravity pulled them to the floor. "Hey!" Gloria snapped trying to get up. "Okay let's power through this and get you up to 4X." Brad said as he began teaching his family how to adjust to the gravity. "The easiest way to move is to get yourself on all fours and crawl like you're at your senior prom and totally hammered." his comment got a stern look from Mina. Within an hour the two were on their feet and were managing quite well, so Brad upped the gravity to 3X. "Okay, time to play a game." Brad instructed. "What kind of game?" Mina asked. "Tag!" he said with a smile as he tagged his mother.
Being stronger than her daughter, Mina quickly adjusted to 3X and had tagged Gloria. Gloria had trouble keeping up with her mother and Brad as she was not used to the gravity yet. "This is sooo stupid!" Gloria grumbled, not able to tag anyone. "What's the point of this anyway?". "The point is to get you used to the gravity, work on your speed and train your eyes to see something that moves faster than normal." Brad said. "As soon as you start getting used to the effects we'll start training drills to strengthen your attacks. But for now we will be working on speed and agility." he told them as they continued. What a jerk! Gloria thought to herself.
After a grueling first training session, Gloria was ready to go back to bed and sleep it off. Mina had other ideas as she instructed Gloria to get to her chores. "Let's see...next is Mercury, then Jupiter...then I'll have to train Rini..." Brad muttered as he reviewed the training schedule. Mina interupted his thoughts. "So will you be losing much business now that you're back here?" Mina asked, Brad looked like he needed a distraction. "Well the attacks are all over so business is pretty much shut down." Brad said as he thought about Midori as he fiddled with his wedding ring. "Are you worried about her?" Mina questioned, Brad nodded. "I just wish..." he started then stopped. "What?" Asai invited him to continue. "I just wished I could've taken her with me. That way I know she is all right. I just feel like I'm sitting here doing nothing, like I've run out on her.". Both Mina and Asai could see that the safety of his wife was weighing heavy on their son. "I think I know what you and all the other Scouts feel like when you go off to fight. Constantly wondering and worrying if everything will turn out all right. If anything will be left when its over.". Mina looked at her son and smiled, "You should lighten up more or you'll be old before your time." she commented trying to lighten his mood. "I can't help it. I've never had this kind of responsibility dealt to me before. I guess I'm not cut out for this type of thing.".
Later on in the morning, Mina and Brad met up with Raye and Chad, who were coming from they're meeting with Serenity and Endymion. "So did you really wake sleeping beauty up at that hour of the morning?" Raye said with a look of disbelief. "Yes I did." Brad said, "Gloria was fine with it, but mom.....?" his voice trailed off, his comment brought out a round of laughter from Raye and Chad while Mina gave him a light swat on the shoulder. "So are we bankrupt yet?" Mina joked, seeing the stack of financial reports Chad was lugging around. "We could save money on food expenses if we stapled Serenity's mouth shut." Raye shot back. "Then that would put office supply funds in the red." Chad laughed thinking of how many staples it would require to acomplish the job. "So where's Mr. Wonderful? I heard about the late night training session of his." Brad asked Raye, not sounding too concerned. "Well he seems all right now. This morning he really surprised me by having breakfast ready for Annika." Raye commented. "Annika turns on the charm and guys fall head over heels for her. Better keep an eye on her once she starts dating!" Mina joked.
Just then they were interupted by a crying Annika. Not seeing Colt around, Brad guessed that Colt mouthed off and upset Annika. "Somebody has a hearing problem and if not they will have when I'm finished!" Brad muttered as he walked off to find Colt. Mina followed along, not liking the tone Brad used, to prevent anything serious from happening. "Before you go raging off just take a minute to hear his side of things." Mina said, Brad gave a grunt. "Believe me. I have no intentions of listening to his excuses! I've made my point crystal clear about his attitude long before we came here." he bluntly stated as they headed towards the main doors of the palace. As they rounded the corner, they caught sight of Colt. "Care to explain the reason you had for sending Annika home crying?" Brad growled. "Once again it's my fault, but then that doesn't surprise me." Colt muttered as he tried to push his way past but was stopped by Brad. "You're not leaving until you tell me what happened." he coldly stated, holding Colt in place. "Annika got told to grow up! That's what happened!" Colt shot back freeing himself of Brad's grip. "It's going to be hard enough doing what we came to do without you running around and screwing things up! I don't want to hear anymore complaints about you or believe me I will not go easy on you!" Brad warned as Colt walked off. Brad was about to go for the kill when Mina urged him to back off for now.
Later on Brad and Gloria stopped by to check on Annika and to discuss Annika's training. After Gloria and Annika left for her room, Brad informed Raye about when Annika would be trained. "So for the next day or two I'll train both you and Annika. I've rescheduled tomorrow's training and you and Annika will be trained at nine tomorrow morning.". "That's fine but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Raye started. "Well what then?" Brad asked. "It's about Colt. What happened to him to make him the way he is? I mean was he always that cold?" she asked thinking about Colt's attitude in general. "If I knew, I'd tell you regardless of what Setsuna said about revealing too much about the future. He started off fine but as son as he hit thirteen he started changing. To be honest I don't know where it all came from." Brad said. "Why thirteen?" Chad asked. "Well when he turned thirteen that is when Brooke was born." Brad told him. "Why would that cause a problem?" Raye questioned. "I guess you fawning over Brooke and Annika always needing you took the spotlight away from him." Brad concluded.
"Just wait 'til I get my hands on that little snot!" Gloria growled, ready to kill Miyaki for what she did to Annika this morning, but was happy to hear about Miyaki's little accident. "Too bad she wouldn't walk in front of a bus." Gloria muttered as she had a little day dream of Miyaki getting run over by a bus and giggled to herself. "I don't want to talk about it." Annika sighed as she pulled out the half finished sweater she was making to show Gloria. "Gloria?" Annika started, "What?" Gloria questioned back. "Do you and your brother Brad get along?" she asked. "That creep!?" Gloria partially shouted, her reaction made Annika smile. "Well from what I've seen he's got 'Mama's boy' written all over him! I have a feeling all I'm going to hear while Brad is around is 'Why don't you be more like Brad?' from mom." she said rolling her eyes. "I don't think Colt likes me." Annika admitted. "Why? Everyone else does!" Gloria told her. "I don't know. It's just a feeling I get from him that he doesn't want anything to do with me.". "That's crazy talk." Gloria stated but Annika could feel the deep resentment Colt had for her. "No it isn't. I can pick up on his aura and I think he really hates me but for what I don't know. Also I didn't tell mama but I sensed a dark presence in him." Annika whispered in case anyone was listening.
Later on in the afternoon Brad was preparing to train Rini. Serenity decided to watch her daughter's progress. "Okay let's do this." Brad said leading Cosmic Moon into the training room. "Will you be joining us?" he asked Serenity. "No, why?" she asked. "Well you have been packing on the pounds lately." he said giving a snickering Rini a wink. "What do you mean?" Serenity demanded, Brad waved good bye as he closed the door. Although he never looked back at the window he could feel Serenity's eyes cutting through him. Once the training started though, Brad was all business. Because of Rini's age, she didn't need as much verbal encouragement for the training and being the leader, she would also have to endure harder training than the others. "How high are you going?" Rini grumbled as she slowly trudged through 4X gravity. "I got clearance to take you to 15X. Aren't you special?" Brad commented as Cosmic Moon glared at him from under her sweat soaked bangs. "Well I guess getting to 4X is a good start seeing how out of shape you are." Brad said in a teasing sigh. "I'm in shape!" Cosmic Moon shot back. "Yeah, the shape of a cream puff. No wonder Gloria used to call you Chubby Moon!" he joked. Serenity listened through the intercom and was in hysterics.
After the Chibi Scout training was over with for the day Brad still had to take Shin and Kota for more training. Mina stopped by to see if he was ready to take a break. From his looks he looked as if he was ready for a break as he finished up Shin and Kota's training. Michiru was watching their progress when Mina arrived. "It seems that Haruka and I have a yearning for twins." she mused watching the men train. Michiru was truely surprised with Brad, he was the complete opposite of Gloria. "Japan hide your daughters!" the twins shouted as they left the training room. "That won't be necessary and you know why." Michiru reminded the two boys. "Let's hit those books." Michiru commented as she lead a depressed pair down the hall. "So have you had enough for today?" Mina asked her tired son. "I've had enough for two days." Brad groaned thinking that this would be the schedule for the next while.
Upon returning to the Venus quarters, they were greeted with the usual blaring of Gloria's stereo. "Dinner's just about ready. Excuse me while I do something about the rock concert." Mina groaned as she headed towards the bedrooms. Going to bed sounded good to Brad so he headed of to his but stopped in front of it, looking pensive. After screaming at the top of her lungs, Mina convinced Gloria to lower the decibals, coming out she noticed Brad standing in front of the door. "What's wrong?" she asked coming over. Brad gave the door a push and as it swung open a number of eggs rained down before them. "Did Gloria?....How did you?...." Mina asked. "I've spent twenty-five years surviving Gloria so it's a sixth sense thing whenever she tries to prank me." Brad stated with a sigh. Mina barged back into Gloria's room, "Get out here right now young lady!" she shouted. Gloria came out slowly, "What?!" she snapped. "Clean that mess up right now!" Mina ordered pointing to the mess on the floor of Brad's room. "It's Brad's room! Tell him to clean up his own room!" she shouted back. Mina lost her temper. "Maybe you should go to a hotel if you want to sleep tonight." Asai whispered. "What a pain!" Gloria muttered as she glared at Brad sleeping on the bed as she tried to scrub the egg stains out of the carpet.
"Now you're training four groups?!" Mina said wondering where her son would find the time to sleep. "Well the training will get easier in the next few days and I kind of figured that Colt would do something to get out of doing his part." Brad explained. "Yeah that Colt kind of shocked me. I mean Raye had a temper but Colt puts her to shame in that department." Mina said thinking of the earlier conversation. "Colt's one of life's great mysteries." Brad commented. "Do you think you should be so hard on him? I mean it couldn't have been an easy life for him and you and the others watching your families fight while you sit on the sidelines wondering if things will be okay. There were probably times that you needed us and we weren't there for you because of our responsibilities." Mina reminded. "That's still no excuse for his actions. Look, I don't want to talk about this now." Brad muttered and the subject was dropped for now. "Well I'm off." Brad said heading for the door, Annika and Raye were first up for training.
Despite his better judgement Brad allowed Colt to train his mother and sister. This gave Brad some free time in which he spent with his family. Gloria's mind was working overtime figuring a way to prank Brad for her five a.m. wakeup call. "Forget it." he muttered and Gloria gave him an innocent look. "What?" she questioned. "I know what you're thinking so just give it up. I've spent my life dealing with you and your practical jokes. There is no way you will get me. Not now, not ever." he stated. "Famous last words." Gloria said with an evil smirk. "Cool it you two!" Mina warned. "Oh but it's just getting started!" Brad said with a wink to his mother who in turned gave a tired groan. "Can we at least try to shoot for being a normal happy family?" Mina wearily stated. "Normal is boring!" Brad stated cheerfully and Gloria agreed. "Besides if it was quiet around here for more than five seconds you'd have to be committed. The silence would drive you nuts. At least it does in the future." Brad said thinking.
As they talked, a knock came at their door, it was Raye. One look and the Venus family could tell she was fit to be tied. "Brad could I speak to you in private." she curtly stated. Brad could tell that the way she was acting that the training session with Colt didn't go well. "So what did he do?" Brad said in a tired sigh. "Colt's idea of building Annika's confidence involves putting her into a mental institution. He had the bright idea to lock Annika in the training room with a hologram of Miyaki until she was an emotional wreck. If that wasn't bad enough he kept Annika from leaving the training room until she fought her way past him! Right now Annika is in no condition to be trained because of his actions. I know the training is important but if you could..." Raye stopped for a moment. "Train Annika later on?" Brad finished. He knew full well if Annika didn't complete her training she could not fight. And if she couldn't defend herself she would be nothing more than a target. "Alright. I'll work out a way to train Annika starting tomorrow. Where's Colt by the way, I intend to have a long talk with him about this matter." Brad said. "I'll tell him that when I head back. Thank you." Raye commented, happy that a more suitable trainer would oversee Annika's progress. I'm gonna kill him! Brad raged secretly to himself. He had serious doubts now as to whether a war fought at both ends could be won.
Monday afternoon, Annika was sitting in Amy's office. Amy wanted Annika to voice her opinion about the week-end's events, Brad had other ideas. Amy answered a knock at her door. Brad flew in, snatched up Annika from her chair and carried her out of the office. "And what are you gonna do about it?!" Brad stated as he stopped and turned back to Amy, then sped off. Amy just blinked a few times, trying to figure out what just happened. "Well shall we get to training?" Brad asked a slightly bewildered Annika. "Well..." Annika hesitated, but changed her mind when she saw her mother waiting at the training room doors. "Any trouble getting her away from Amy?" Raye asked, knowing Amy would not approve of Annika's new training schedule. "Can't stop what you don't know about!" Brad sang as he pushed them into the room, locking the door so Amy wouldn't come after him.
Inside Venus and Chibi Venus were waiting for them. "Gloria!" Annika squealed running over to her friend. "I figured that the training would go easier if Annika could train with Gloria." Brad commented. His guess was right as Annika quickly transformed and urged her mother to do the same "Come on, mama!". Annika's eagerness to train thrilled Raye as she transformed. If only it was like this with Colt. Raye wondered to herself as the training began. Chibi Mars' progressed much in her first full training session as Gloria managed to encourage her friend to keep going. Raye watched with amazement at how Brad was able to bring Annika out of her shell and by the end of the session Annika was looking forward to tomorrow's session. "Your brother is so much fun!" Annika exclaimed to Gloria. "Really? I'll sell him to you if you'd like." Gloria stated. "Don't even joke about that missy!" Mina snapped remembering what Brad told her about the future. "See you tomorrow!" Raye called as she lead a much more happy and emotionally secure Annika out. "Well that went well." Mina commented. "You seemed to have the right idea. Even Gloria looked forward to training today." the very idea of Gloria wanting to train filled her with hope that Gloria was willing to stick with the training. "Can we train with Aunt Raye and Annika all the time?" Gloria asked, her tone sounding hopeful. "For the time being, yes. Annika could use all the motivation she can get right now." Brad said, Gloria was happy.
For the next few days things seemed to go smoothly as far as training went. Alex was pressuring Brad to lay off of Colt for the next while. "Too damn bad about him that he's not the whole show around here! He has to learn that no one is above anyone else around here." Brad stated. "Does that logic apply to you as well?" Alex returned, Brad glared at him for a few moments. He was about to answer when Mina lead him away. "I think youy need a time out." she said softly seeing that Brad was ready to suffer a core meltdown. "When I get my hands on that boy, I'll...." Brad trailed off as his thoughts explored the numerous forms of punishment he could subject Colt to. "Bullying everyone into staying in line is something no leader should do. You should be trying to calm everyone down instead of tearing into them." Mina reminded. "It's just that sometimes I feel it's the only way to get everyone on the same page, to work together. It's hard enough to do what we were sent to do without everyone doing their own thing slowing down everyone's progress." Brad sighed. "I know how you feel. Being the leader of the Sailor Scouts and training the Chibi Scouts is just as demanding, even moreso than what you are experiencing. There were times I lost my temper and in the end I just made things worse for everyone." she explained.
"How can you say I have it easier than you?! You and the other Scouts and Chibi Scouts are able to function together because you know you have to for the good of the world. I got put in charge of a bunch of guys who would rather be somewhere else right now than here. Not only that but several of them have serious problems that I have to deal with." Brad replied. "What problems?" Mina asked. "Well Shin and Kota are two walking hormones whose attention is easily diverted whenever a cute girl shows up, which results in the two of them pummeling each other senseless to see who gets to take her out. Colt...." Brad paused to chuckle briefly, "...thinks that everyone should bow down to him because he thinks he's perfect. I'd like to show him how perfect he is." Brad ran through the group.
"Then there's Carson." Brad muttered. "What's wrong with him?" Mina asked thinking that Carson seemed all right from what she saw. "Well you know Pluto spends her time dealing with probabilities of events to help maintain the time line right?" Mina nodded. "Well Carson was born with that ability to assess probable outcomes of actions and events. It tormented him his entire life to the point he went insane. From the age of fourteen to eighteen he was a hopeless drunk, his way of dealing with it at the time. After almost drinking himself to death, Gary put him into the psychatiric ward where he spent two years trying to get better. He was on medication daily. That treatment stopped two years ago since he was told he'd be sent back to help out. The drugs dulled his ability but also took a heavy toll on him physically, kind of like heavy sedatives. Now I've got to worry about whether he can hold himself together long enough to get this mission over with. Setsuna explained it all to Gary so he's keeping an eye on him and he's managing for now." Brad told his mother of what he had to deal with. Mina couldn't believe what Brad told her about Carson. "Couldn't anyone else take Carson's place?" Mina thought aloud thinking that Carson was a possible danger to himself and others. "No." Brad sighed, "Being the son of the guardian of time, he was trained specifically for this task. I wish there was though because I'm worried something might happen to him which would make him snap and never come back." Brad said worried as he thought about Carson's battles with his demons and what Rini and Chelsea were put through.
As Mina opened the door to her quarters, loud crashing and banging could be heard coming from the bedrooms. "What's that?" Mina said rushing to investigate. "GLORIA KATHERYN AINO!!!! Put that chair down NOW!!" Mina shrieked as Gloria was about to smash it over Annika's head. From the looks of the decimated room, Mina concluded that the pair had a massive fight. "But mom!" Gloria started but Mina grabbed hold of her and was about to spank the life out of her when Brad stopped her. "Gloria is helping Annika train. I taught Annika how to use her life force to create a shield around her to prevent anyone from hurting her!" Brad explained as he struggled to hold his mother back. "Is this true?" she asked Annika. "Yes Aunt Mina. Gloria threw all kinds of stuff at me and I didn't feel a thing!" she exclaimed. Mina calmed down and Brad let go of her. "Well I have to go home now." Annika said softly as she surveyed the mess that was once Gloria's room. "Clean it up!" Mina barked at Gloria, demanding that the room be spotless when she came back. Gloria growled and huffed as she looked around the room trying to decide where to start. What a pain! she thought then got to work.
Upon hearing of Colt's return, the first person to greet him was Brad. "You think you could hide out here from now on huh?" Brad started in. "I'm not in the mood for you." Colt growled but Brad paid no attention to him. "News flash! I don't care! You were way out of line in what you did with Annika! Instead of preparing her for Chandelle, you prepared her for an extensive stay at a mental institution of her choice! What the hell is it with you!?" Brad shouted out, Colt walked over to the window and stared out into space ignoring the older man. This enraged Brad as he stepped up his verbal assault. "If you think you can just worm your way out of doing what you're suppose to do you can forget it! You're going to roll your sleeves up and get your hands dirty just like everyone else around here. I thought Carson would cause me the most trouble, but he's nothing compared to what you did. As a result, I'm stuck with training Annika, Raye, Gloria, mom and Rini, no thanks to you. I'll train Annika and aunt Raye from now on but don't think you're not going to be doing anything, I'll find things for you to do, don't worry!" Brad stated, Colt still ignoring him. "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!". Brad warned then left the quarters. On his way out he almost fell over Raye, "And the line-up gets longer." he grumbled as he walked away. "Don't waste your time!" he muttered, Raye gave him an annoyed look, then went in.
Electricity snapped and crackled as Frost shrieked in agony. "You worthless failure! How dare you come back here and report that you failed." Chandelle growled as she increased the strength of her attack, Frost's cries grew louder and more desparate. From the sidelines, Aroura watched her sister writhe in pain, completely powerless to stop the torture. Chandelle ceased her attack and Frost's body fell to the floor limp. Aroura rushed to her fallen sister. "When she wakes up tell her she has one last chance before I kill her." Chandelle warned, then got an evil idea. Why dirty my hands with the likes of that failure! I'll have my special soldier deal with her! she thought giving a cruel smile towards the two women as she turned her attention to her still training third general. That's it. Grow stronger my pet. No one suspects you at all! she gave a cold laugh that made Aroura tremble with fear as she carried her sister out of Chandelle's throne room.
Several hours later, Frost came to. "Are you alright?" Aroura asked, seeing her sister starting to come around. "I've felt better." she muttered, sitting up. "Chadelle says she'll finish the job if you fail again." Aroura told her. "Then I'll just have to succeed then won't I?" Frost stated, trying to stand up. "You should leave, for your own safety. I don't want to see you get killed." Aroura pleaded, Frost refused. "If I leave she'll take it out on you sister. I can't let that happen. I'm going to die either way. To be honest, I'd rather die at the hands of the Chibi and Sailor Scouts than Chandelle.". The thought of being without her sister, horrified Aroura. "If you need help then by all means call on me." Aroura stated, Frost smiled. "I know you mean well but if the two of us fail then we're both done for. This is something I have to do on my own." Frost replied, a cold shiver ran through Aroura. She could feel the presence of Death as it loomed over her sister. I won't let your death be for nothing! Aroura vowed to herself.
Another day of Miyaki picking on Annika sent her home crying. Gloria tried to cheer her up but it didn't do any good. When she got home Gloria was in a foul mood because she couldn't get Miyaki without being suspended. Gloria proceded to deconstruct her room when the racket brought an outraged Mina to inquire. "And what may I ask is this about?!" Mina sternly stated glaring around at the torn up room. "Miyaki." Gloria snapped, kicking a waste paper basket. The name told Mina everything. She was called to the school and informed by the principal that if Gloria gets into another fight, she would be suspended for two months. "Well that is no reason to tear your room apart." Mina said trying to calm her fiery daughter. "I think I have a solution." Brad mentioned coming into the room. "And what would that be?" Mina asked. "Come with me." Brad said inviting Gloria to follow him.
They're first stop was at the Mars' quarters to check up on Annika. Chad answered the door. "Come in, keep the visit short though. Annika's still a little upset." Chad said letting them in. "Could we talk with Annika for a while?" Brad asked, knowing that Gloria would want to try to cheer Annika up. She had a hard few days and was even easier to upset since she and Colt were attacked. "Just for a few minutes, it's almost time for her session with Amy, and don't do or say anything to upset her." Raye warned Gloria who nodded in agreement.
"So you had another bad day huh?" Brad asked and Annika nodded. "Well I think I might have an idea to put you in a better mood." he mentioned and motioned for the two girls to follow him. "But her session with Amy is now..." Raye started when a knock came at the door. Chad opened it and Amy rushed in. "Ha! You're not pulling Annika away this time!" Amy stated taking Annika with her. Brad took hold of Annika's other hand. "She's coming with me and Gloria!" Brad shot back. Within a few seconds, a tug of war was being waged between Amy and Brad, with Annika being the rope. "She needs to talk about her problems!!" Amy growled pulling Annika closer to her. "She needs a good laugh!" Brad grumbled as he pulled Annika away from her. Sweat drops formed on Gloria's and Chad's heads as they watched Annika be pulled about. Raye instantly lost her temper. "My daughter is not a tug toy for you two to fight over like a pair of rabid dogs! Put her down this instant!" Raye demanded in a scream that made both Amy and Brad instantly comply. "But...but..." Brad started, "Out!" Raye barked in a tone that made both Brad and Gloria back out of the quarters. "This is all your fault!" Gloria grumbled as they watched the door slam shut in their faces.
"Well so much for the idea I had." Brad sighed as he and Gloria walked along. "So where are we going?" Gloria asked. "Training room." Brad simply stated. "Ugh! What a pain! It's not time for my training session today!" Gloria griped, not wanting to do anymore training than she had to. "It won't be that kind of training." Brad commented as they entered the room. There were a few chairs set up so the two of them sat down. "You don't like it when people pick on Annika. Why?" he questioned. "Duh! It's obvious! She doesn't deserve to be treated like that!" Gloria answered. "Why's that?" Brad wanted a little more detail. "Because she's nice to everybody and when I see someone making her cry it makes me mad." Gloria answered in a growling sigh. "Well it's getting you a lot of trouble in the process. Maybe you should let Annika stand up for herself?" Brad told her, the idea made Gloria instantly respond. "She doesn't know how to deal with people like that and besides why should she have to!? It's not in her to say mean and hateful things, it's not her way. If anyone should be getting picked on it should be me.". "But they don't because you fight back where Annika just cries." Brad pointed out.
"Kinda sucks now that you can't do anything huh?" Gloria nodded to Brad's question. Brad got up and walked over to the control panel and called up a program. A holographic image of Miyaki appeared. "I thought about deleting this program, but I think now it might have a use after all." Brad commented seeing the look of contempt Gloria gave to the computer image. "So what am I suppose to do?" Gloria asked, glaring at the hologram. "What you can't do in school." Brad stated. "It's not the same." Gloria muttered as the Miyaki-gram started towards her. "Where's that little cry baby?" Miyaki called. Gloria's temper shot up. "Leave...her....alone!" Gloria screamed and flew at the hologram. Brad watched as Gloria tackled the the girl to the floor and started punching her sensless. Leave her alone! Leave her alone! Leave her ALONE!" Gloria screeched, almost in tears as she pounded Miyaki. After a few more minutes, Brad shut the simulation down.
"So have we got rid of all our agressions?" Brad asked as he knelt down next to his sister. "All the fun of pounding a punk with none of the consequences." Brad said as Gloria fought back a few tears. "Why can't she just leave Annika alone?" Gloria muttered trying not to cry. "You'd think she'd learn after all the poundings you gave her, but some people are like that. Maybe she's jealous of Annika and her life." Brad started. "Why?" Gloria asked. "Well Miyaki has only one parent, who works most of the time so she doesn't get to spend much time with her mother. Miyaki sees Annika over here in the palace with the dream mother -and- father that care for her and are always there for her. She sees how happy Annika is and is jealous because her life isn't like that. Instead she's by herself most of the time and probably seeing others around her so happy makes her angry that her life isn't like that so she lashes out at them." Brad finished. "So if she's miserable then everyone else has to be too?" Gloria asked. "In her mind, yes." Brad said. Gloria thought.
Mina noticed a huge change in Gloria and wondered what Brad did to settle her down. "I let her beat Miyaki to a bloody pulp." he simply stated. "You what!?" Mina shrieked. "Hoo-boy." whispered Asai. "Relax it was just a hologram. I figured she wouldn't be tearing things up here if she had a place to let her anger out without hurting anyone or anything." Brad pointed out. "Interesting way to deal with a problem." Mina muttered. "I was planning to get Annika to take a few punches but Raye insisted that she have a session with Amy. I feel that talking sometimes isn't enough, you have to do something, you know.". "I'm going to see if Annika is back yet." Gloria called leaving the quarters. "Be sure to tell her she has training in half an hour." Brad reminded her. Gloria rolled her eyes. "Whatever!" she said waving Brad off. "Why me?" commented Mina thinking about her daughter's attitude. "Why not?" Brad joked, "Don't worry she'll come around..eventually.". "Eventually." Mina echoed.
Which one? Frost pondered, trying to choose her next target. "Why not pick an easy one?" Aroura suggested. "No. I have to prove to Chandelle that I can do this. Hmmm...this one." she paused the image of Gloria in her crystal. "Before you go know this." Aroura called and showed her sister information that she gathered. "Who's this?" Frost asked. "Brad Aino. Sailor Cosmic Venus's brother from the future. They're all here helping their families in this time. He's very strong, watch out for him." Aroura warned. "Take this." Aroura gave a power crystal to her. Frost thanked her sister for the advance warning and then left. "Becareful." Aroura whispered, fearing that this could be the last time she would ever see her sister alive.
Gloria was less than happy when another day of Miyaki upsetting Annika went by. So instead of going home, Gloria decided to go to a local park where Miyaki would sometimes hang out. Can't get suspended in the park! Gloria thought as she roamed the park looking for her victim. Upon being informed of her daughter's intentions, Mina was about to go when Brad offered to go in her place. Brad quickly found Gloria who still didn't manage to find Miyaki. "We are going home right now." Brad ordered. "You're not my mother." Gloria mouthed back. "If I was you'd be spanked stupid right now. If mom had a dollar for every time she spanked you..." Brad started, "Well I'm doing my part." Gloria finished, Brad couldn't help but laugh. "Come on let's go." Brad said and Gloria reluctantly went along.
Frost watched as they left the park and followed them through the streets. No more failures! Frost thought as she prepared to attack. She ordered her youma to surround the pair. "Don't let them get away!" she shouted as the group of ninja youma drew their swords and rushed them. "Hurry and transform!" Brad ordered Gloria as he tried to lead the group way. "Perfect!" Frost said with a cold laugh. Frost appeared before Chibi Venus. "Looks like it's just you and me now!" Frost laughed. "Yeah keep laughing old cow! I am an agent of love and justice and on behalf of Venus I will punish you! Venus Beautiful Shockwave!". Frost dodged the attack. "How dare you, you rude little brat! Ice Storm!" Frost called and shards of ice rained down on Chibi Venus traping her in a make shift cage. Satisfied Chibi Venus was staying put, Frost left to check on her youma's progress.
Elsewhere, Brad was having trouble with the youma. The ninja demonstrated one of their most devastating techniques, Shadow Double. Where there were once ten youma there were now twenty. "This is bad." Brad muttered as he tried to stay ahead of the sword wielding youma. Brad quickly learned that although he couldn't hurt the copies, the copies could hurt him as one of them delivered a painful slash across his back. "Son of a..." Brad moaned as he fell to the ground. "That's it! I'VE HAD IT!" Brad screamed as he powered up. In order to take out the original ten youma, Brad had to bait all of them to get as close as possible to them so he could take them out. As Brad prepared to couter attack Frost showed up. "Back off! He's luring you in!" Frost warned and the youma backed off. Damn it! Brad growled as he tried to get up but his wound was severely reducing his mobility. He couldn't see it but he knew the wound was bad and had to do something fast. "Aw. Does that hurt?" Frost asked in mock concern, seeing the expression of pain on his face. "Then by all means my youma, put him out of his misery!".
"Venus Beautiful Shockwave!" Chibi Venus shouted as her attack freed her from her prison. She raced to where her brother was and saw that he was in real trouble. She pulled out her communicator. "Mom! It's me! Brad and I are being attacked. I'm alright but Brad's in trouble! Please hurry!" Chibi Venus pleaded. "I'll be there!" Mina replied. Chibi Venus then turned her attention to figuring a way to help her brother. There has to be something I can do! Chibi Venus wondered as she watched Brad do his best to defend himself.
"It's now or never!" Brad said as he attacked the youma. "Omni-Cresent!" Brad shouted as his attack flew out and managed to destroy some of the youma. As they regrouped, Chibi Venus rushed in and caught the remaining ones off guard. "Venus Beautiful Shockwave!" and destroyed the remaining youma. "You won't find me that easy to defeat Chibi Venus." Frost said in a low cold tone. "Deep Freeze Flash!" Frost's attack froze Chibi Venus from the neck down in a block of ice. To make matters worse, the ice block was draining her energy rapidly and she soon detransformed. "Now you get the pleasure of watching your brother die a very slow and painful death!" Frost laugh and turned towards a wounded Brad. "It must be sad to die so far from home." Frost said with a cruel smile. Brad could feel himself grow colder as his wound continued to bleed.
Gloria watched the battle between the two, unable to do anything to help. The ice was draining her energy and she was quickly losing consciousness. Brad could of easily destroyed Frost but he needed her alive so he had to pick his attacks carefully. He alos knew tht his sister wouldn't last much longer if he didn't free her. Frost knew this and made sure to keep Gloria behind her at all times to prevent Brad from using too strong an attack. "Better hurry! She's almost done for!" Frost teased looking over her shoulder at Gloria. Chandelle watched the battle from her castle and was pleased with her general's performance, as was Aroura. "It seems she's finally doing something right." Chandelle commented. Just finish them off! Aroura prayed but all that ws about to change for the worse.
"Mars Fireball!" Chibi Mars's attack melted the ice, freeing her friend. "What?" Frost shrieked as she turned to see that Mars, Venus and Chibi Mars had shown up. "We are the Sailor Scouts of love and fire and on behalf of Crystal Tokyo we will punish you!" Venus stated as she powered up. "Venus love Me Chain!" her attack bounded Frost preventing her escape as Mars checked on Brad's condition. "He's hurt bad!" Mars reported, "So's Gloria!" called Chibi Mars. "You'll pay for this!" Venus snapped as she got ready to attack Frost. "So much for that." Chandelle muttered "Get rid of her!" she ordered her mystery general to attack. "No!" begged Aroura but Chandelle ignored her.
"No we need her!" Brad shouted, Venus really wanted to waste Frost for what she had done. In an instant, a powerful blast of energy struck and vaporised Frost. "Where did that come from!" Venus said looking around but seeing no one. "No time for that now! We have to get these two back to the palace!" Mars reminded Venus.
--End of part 4: Gloria -- What A Pain!--
--Next, part 5: Daisy -- Those Fightin' Kino's--
Questions, comments?
Mail to: ravyn_knyght@yahoo.com