"Where's that damned signal?" Sentra muttered impatiently.
"I don't know." Diana said, sounding amused. "But the new Senshi of the Moon should learn to wait, right?"
"Keep quiet, cat." Sentra snapped. "I didn't ask to be Sailor Moon."
"You're not." Diana disagreed, shifting to a more comfortable position on the cold ground. "You're Sailor Silver Moon. Your mother is Sailor Moon. Two Sailor Moons can't exist at the same time. It's a physical impossibility."
"Thanks for the science lesson." Sentra remarked sarcastically as a bright light flashed off on the other side of the massed shadows. "That's the signal! Let's go!"
Niku winced as a brilliant flash of light went off somewhere near the palace, blinding her momentarily.
"Your majesty, something's happening!" One of the refugees exclaimed excitedly, waving King Helios over to the windows. "It looks like some kind of battle!"
"Everybody get away from that wall!" Helios ordered, leaving behind whatever he'd been doing and running up beside Niku. "You, too." He added, gently pushing her away from the window. "We don't want anyone getting hurt."
Niku's temper flared momentarily, and she felt her hand reaching for the dagger concealed in the folds of her skirt, but she stopped herself in time.
"As your majesty wishes." She said coolly, turning and stalking away.
As the only one of the trio with a license, it fell to Mercury to guide their shuttle safely to Earth. He wasn't an exemplary pilot, but he did all right, setting down in the mountains around Crystal Tokyo despite Mars's protests.
"What exactly are we going to be able to do all the way out here?" She demanded irately. "We can't even see the city!"
"Exactly." Mercury said as calmly as he could manage. "And they can't see us. We're seriously outnumbered, so a frontal assault is just plain stupid. You stick to what you know and leave tactical planning to me; I've have eight more years of practice than you."
Mars made as if to argue, but thought better of it and snapped her mouth shut.
"Let's go."
For shadows, Sailor Silver Moon's opponents were pretty damned substantial. Or their claws were, at any rate. She wasn't exactly used to fighting in heels, or with a friggin' tiara, but she was starting to get the hang of it.
"Silver Tiara Attack!" She yelled, throwing her tiara like a frisbee, cutting through at least three – but no more than five – shadows. The tiara flew back to her waiting hand, slicing neatly through another shadow as it went.
Silver Moon chanced a glance at her mother. Sailor Moon, having had much more practice at this sort of thing, was holding her own admirably, using some kind of wand instead of her tiara. Sentra wondered if she'd be getting weapons of her own any time soon.
"Diana, do I have anything besides a metal frisbee to work with?" Silver Moon demanded, barely dodging a shadow's claws. The cat was watching her back, glowing pink and emitting controlled bursts of energy. "Silver Tiara Attack!"
"Call upon the Earth!" Diana told Silver Moon, blasting the shadow to bits. "The Earth and the Moon are both your protectors and charges, and both will help you if you ask. Place your hand on the ground and call out Earth Storm Barrage."
"You have got to be kidding me," Silver Moon groaned, even as she placed one gloved hand on the ground at her feet. "Who names these things? Earth Storm Barrage!"
The ground bucked and heaved wildly, forming sharp blades of dirt and stone, and flung itself at the shadows. To Silver Moon's surprise, the earth ripped through the shadows and tore them to shreds, more effective than she'd dared hope it could be.
The attack was more powerful than her tiara, but also more draining, and she felt substantially weaker for it.
"They're here," Diana remarked cryptically.
"Priority one is Princess Sentra. Agreed?" Mercury asked as the three reached the outskirts of Crystal Tokyo. "We find her first, and get her to safety if we can. Then we'll figure out what else to do."
"You're the boss," Mars said with a shrug, tugging at the hem of her skirt. "Why do you two get to wear armor, while I'm stuck in a miniskirt and heels?"
"'Cause we're guys," Venus answered. "We'd look funny in skirts. Besides, at least you don't hafta wear orange."
"Can we maybe discuss the finer points of battle fashion after we're not all in mortal danger?" Mercury asked quietly, fighting to keep his temper.
"All right, all rea-" Mars broke off in mid-sentence, turning to stare off towards the palace. "There's a huge concentration of negative energy in front of the palace." She reported, suddenly every inch the warrior. "Sentra's over there, fighting, and so's Queen Serenity."
"Let's go," Venus said, leading the way towards their goal. "We don't want her to die before we get there, right?"
Sailor Moon was loath to admit it, but she'd missed fighting. There was a kind of rightness about battle, a satisfaction she found nowhere except locked in combat with evil. It was a strange sensation, but at the same time, it was natural. She was a warrior as well as a woman, and she'd been ignoring the former side of herself for a long time now.
It was amazing how much she remembered from her days as Sailor ChibiMoon, fighting alongside her mother. She slipped into the old patterns with surprising ease.
"Moon Gorgeous Meditation!"
The attack was just as powerful as it had once been, and her aim hadn't suffered much from lack of practice; a good portion of the shadow army disintegrated in its light.
One of the shadows tried to slip behind her, and she turned to get rid of it, realizing too late that she was exposing her back to the enemy by doing so. She tried to reverse and rectify her mistake, but the shadows had seen the advantage and started closing in.
"Mercury Ice Blades!"
Shards of ice tore into the shadows nearest the queen, followed by a young man in blue armor. The double attack dealt with Sailor Moon's tight situation rather effectively.
"Go help Sentra!" The young man yelled over his shoulder, and two children – a boy in orange and a girl in red – obeyed wordlessly, making for Sailor Silver Moon and the writhing knot of shadow surrounding her. "Are you all right, Queen Serenity?"
"Sailor Moon, please, and I'm fine." Sailor Moon answered, taken aback by the sudden arrival of help. "You are?"
"Heishi," He responded, looking slightly hurt even as he obliterated a shadow that leaped at them.
"Heishi? Boy, you've gotten so big since I last saw you!" Sailor Moon exclaimed. "Are you the new Mercury, then?"
"We can talk later, Sailor Moon," Heishi said, politely and respectfully but in a voice that brooked no argument. "Let's get you and Sentra out of here first."
"Excellent plan, Mercury."
Marcus was having the time of his life, even if he had to have the time of his life while wearing orange and yellow armor.
He, Marcus, Crown Prince of Venus and 10-year-old boy, was being entrusted with the protection and assistance of the Princess of Crystal Tokyo. He was following in his mother's footsteps as a warrior, and he got a kick-ass whip, to boot.
"Venus Star Burst!" Marcus yelled at the top of his lungs, using his whip to scatter glowing stars among his shadowy enemies. The stars burned away the shadows, but had absolutely no affect on Stephanie, who'd run out in front of him.
Stephanie had a big red bow and arrows made of fire instead of a whip. Marcus thought that was just a bit unfair, but he was fine with what he had; he'd never been very good at archery, anyway.
"Hey, Beanpole, behind you!" Marcus called, aiming his whip at a sneaky shadow trying to surprise Stephanie. "Ha, ha, saved your life!"
A burning arrow soared past him, boring into a shadow behind him and disintegrating it.
"Right back at'cha," Stephanie said, sticking her tongue out at him. "C'mon, we gotta get the princess in the palace!"
"Right, Beanpole!" Marcus laughed, tearing through a few shadows with his whip.
Yes, by any interpretation of the phrase, Marcus was having the time of his life.
Marcus really likes being a Senshi. And what's up with nobody recognizing Heishi? Did Ami keep him locked up in his room when company came or something?
Ack. Enough of that; review, and I'll update again!