Disclaimer remains the same: I own neither Sailor Moon nor Teen Titans. Sadly.

Chapter Two: Discussions

The room rang with silence at this piece of information as its many occupants struggled to comprehend how it could be true.

"But Firefly," Haruka protested as she tried to think of every little detail she'd heard of Hotaru's heritage. "I thought you were an only child?"

Setsuna cleared her throat for their attention, and once again took on the role of informer. "Let me clarify a bit. Raven is Saturn's half-sister, the key word being 'Saturn's.' Their father is…was…Trigon the Terrible, as he called himself. Back in the Silver Millennium, he was the one who helped bring Saturn into being. Most of the 'superheroes' around the world today have some sort of link to those from the Silver Millennium. Raven's connection is through her father who, incidentally, brought about the destruction you have all just witnessed."

"But why would he do such a thing?" wondered Makoto.

"It is the reason why he sired Saturn in the first place. It is from him that she gets her darker powers, and it is his evil inside of her that brought about Mistress 9. He wished to use her as a means to take over her planet, and in turn, the universe. He probably would have succeeded with his plan if Beryl hadn't gone through with hers first. Because Saturn died, he wasn't able to carry it through, which was just as well."

"So the Silver Millennium would have come to an end soon even without Beryl?" Rei questioned. Of the inners, she was the only one who had had a glimpse of how evil the entity Trigon was; the rest had only seen what he was capable of.

"Yes, Rei," Setsuna confirmed sadly. "The end of that peaceful era was near at hand with or without Beryl's help. Although his strategy failed with Saturn, Trigon did not abandon it. He was able to seduce a lost woman by the name of Angela Roth, or Arella, as Raven calls her mother. I won't reveal too much of her past, for it is not my place. The main thing is that he hoped to use her the way he had once hoped to use Saturn. And it seemed like he succeeded. For a while, anyway."

"But why didn't he just go after Hotaru?" Usagi asked with a shudder, not wanting to think of what would have happened if that…monster…had tried to use one of her good friends to take over the world.

"Because of you, Princess," the cultured woman smiled at her liege. "Your light and hope had already 'tainted' the evil that had once run rampant in his first-born. Saturn was protected by the Ginzuishou and the good inside of you. Raven, unfortunately, did not have that type of protection. Due to her somewhat different way of being raised, she was able to control the evil side. She joined the Titans in hopes that each good deed would bring out more good inside of her. But Trigon was relentless in his pursuit of conquer, and in the end, she herself accepted her fate. His taking over the world brought about The End, which you encountered. Her teammates may not have been able to defeat him without her, but they had one weapon which, though easily lost, can be almost as powerful as Love itself."

"What—"

"Hope," she answered the unspoken question. "Raven had given up hope, for a while, that she would be able to overcome her father's wishes—her 'destiny,' as he called it—though she did try. He was simply too powerful, with doubt in her mind. After all, she had been told all of her life what she had been created for. Once she discovered that he was not invincible, she decided to take her fate in her own hands. She was able to defeat him with her newly discovered powers of Light. For without Light there can be no Darkness."

"How was she able to overcome him in a head-on battle when we could barely withstand the destruction he wrought upon the earth?" Makoto inquired, impressed. She thought back to what was now barely over an hour before, when she and the others had first responded to Rei's urgent call for an emergency meeting. The moment they had all assembled, Mars had ordered them to transform and form a barrier around their clearly confused leader.

'Good thing we didn't waste time asking questions,' she mused. Scarcely a moment after they had done as instructed, fire erupted all around them. Time itself burned to a standstill, and True Evil made itself known. The horrors that spewed forth from Hell itself came at them with relentless fury; clearly, they had not liked the fact that there were those that had not yielded to whatever master was controlling them, whom the Senshi now knew was Trigon. They had all felt their strength slipping slowly away as what seemed like eternities passed, but the knowledge that they had to protect their princess kept them determined to deter the demons for as long as it took. For her part, Sailor Moon had used the Ginzuishou to help keep their energy levels up, since they still didn't know who or what was causing it all.

"She had his power that he had given her, and the power her friends made her aware of. Only she could have defeated him. Hotaru was not trained how to fight with her father's power in this lifetime, though her abilities as a Senshi are often quite similar. The rest of you would not have survived either."

The gathered took this in, and Usagi asked the question they were all wondering.

"Is it…over? Is he really gone?"

Setsuna pondered a moment before answering, choosing her words carefully. "His powers still reside in Raven. However," she held up a hand to stop any of the comments she knew would come at that announcement, "they live in Hotaru as well. We saw that when Mistress 9 took over her. I do not think that they will be any danger to our princess or the world, as long as Raven continues to fight for Good."

"Other than that though, we're set right? We just continue fighting the baddies that come our way?" Makoto grinned, punching her right fist into her other palm.

"Not exactly." It was Ami who answered this time. "In order to get Raven back, Robin had to go through Hell, quite literally. He teamed up with his archenemy Slade, who has fought against the Titans almost since the time they were formed. Slade had become a servant of Trigon after he was thrown into lava by a 'Terra.' He was to help bring about Trigon's plan in exchange for his body. As you can all guess, Trigon was not exactly a being of his word. So Slade showed Robin where to find Raven, who had not actually been destroyed in becoming the portal as they originally thought, and he went to get his body back. Now—and this part is speculation based on readings from my computer—he did achieve his goal. But in releasing his spirit, he also released others' that were in the deepest Circle of Hell."

"And that is what I've come to talk to you all about. Among those released were some of our old…acquaintances. They have been let loose upon the world once again, and will soon begin doing what they do best: harming the innocent in order to gain enough power to take over the world. Even a trip to Hell hasn't deterred all of them from that path," Setsuna said gravely.

Muffled "No!"s and gasps were her reply.

Minako, grasping the seriousness of the situation, nodded knowingly. "We'll have to help them out. I don't think our enemies will be satisfied with just attacking Tokyo this time around. Not when there's a city placed conveniently to welcome them."

Setsuna nodded. "Exactly. Some of us are going to have to go to Jump City in order to aid the Teen Titans in the battles that will invariably ensue. Those monsters are not theirs; they will not be able to stop all of them."

"How are we to know who is to go?" Michiru asked for the group.

"I will go," responded Hotaru without hesitation.

"I agree. After all, this does involve her half-sister. And I would like for Mercury and Mars to go as well. They will be able to detect the magical signatures even Cyborg's sensors cannot.

"I'm going to stay here," Minako spoke authoritatively. "Some of them might come back here, just for old times' sake." She gave one last longing glance at the display of Robin, then set her jaw in determination, and flashed her patented "V" for victory.

"Princess, you should stay as well. Most of them probably will come here. We will need the Ginzuishou."

"I don't like this at all. I don't like having my Senshi split up like this," Usagi shook her head.

"Odango atama, it's not like we've never fought separately before. Besides, unlike those other times, you'll know where we are, and what we're doing. We're just on the other side of the world, no big."

The small girl pouted at her nickname, but looked into the violet eyes of her best friend. She knew what she spoke was the truth. She nodded reluctantly.

"Good, the plan is decided upon then?" asked Setsuna unnecessarily. "Although, I think we could do with one more Scout for the mission."

"I'll do it! I wanna see how good this Robin guy is," Makoto exclaimed, standing up and stabbing the air with a few quick punches.

The others sweatdropped, knowing that a spar wasn't the only thing Makoto would be looking forward to.

"When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible. The Spirits of the Vanquished will waste no time, and nor should we."

The ones who had been chosen for the mission stood up, and prepared to leave. As Hotaru and Makoto did not have anybody outside of the fighting group to report to, there was no need for excuses to be concocted for their extended leave. Ami and Rei had long ago told their caretakers who they really were (though it was safe to assume that they'd already suspected), and so did not have to worry about it either.

Goodbyes were dealt with and soon the transformed company stood with cloaks over their uniforms in their respective colors. They grasped hands, and gathered their energy for the teleportation. They didn't need all of the scouts to do this anymore; in fact, there were a lot of things different from when they had first become a team. While the others looked on at a safe distance, rocks lifted from the ground, and the wind began to swirl around them faster and faster. In a sudden flash of light, they were gone.

"Kami-sama help them," muttered Haruka.

Michiru glanced at the taller girl in surprise. "You don't think the girls will be able to handle it?"

"I wasn't referring to them."

Okie dokie. I think that's the shortest chapter I've ever written. But these first two were mainly for background and transition. PLUS, I got them out pretty quick. So :P

Fear not fans of the Senshi who got left behind! I fully intend to keep up with their skirmishes as well, although the main focus will be on the crossover group. Unless y'all don't want me to. How would I know your wishes? Hmm…well, you could review. Just a thought :).

Stay tuned for the next installment, in which the Senshi and Titans meet! What will the teen team's reactions be? They might not trust them… But let's face it, BB and Cyborg probably wouldn't mind girls in short skirts!

Edited 9/26/2005