Chapter 10: The Heir to Ultimate Power

The year flew by in a tornado of fun and trouble. Darien and Raye were very close friends, and were always causing Serena trouble. Koaru and Amy had had a fight, and were not speaking too much anymore. Lita had started to pay a lot of attention to Koaru after this, and he didn't mind to much. Amy had started to have private lessons with a Mercury knight named Greg, and it was always awkward to be around the two. Raye and Mina were searching for boys, and had a few in mind. Mina liked a knight from Saturn, Jedite, while Raye had eyes for a Mars soldier called Hondorus, but preferred his nick name, Glave, because of the giant spear with a sword he used in combat. Serena and Nicholas didn't see much of each other anymore because Nick was now fighting in the army. The story continues at Serena's 13th birthday... hang on.

Serena had made a small mistake on her birthday. Darien had placed a bet that he would humiliate her before the night was over, and she accepted. So as she approached the table, she kept her eyes on the Prince...she should have watched the cake. In the kitchen, Darien had snuck in and switched the sugar with salt...and had made the lemonade...'accidentally' forgetting the sugar. Serena took a bite of her cake, only start to choke and cough, and the other paused in eating their own pieces. Koaru took a sip of the beverage, his eyes snapped open, and spit it out and yelled "Serena! Don't drink the"- she took a large swig-"...lemonade..." he ended slowly, watching Sere pull the most amusing faces.

The rest of the meal passed without incident. As the dance started, Nicholas came running into the room, and walked over to his bride-to-be. "Sorry I'm late." he said, "The general was being an ass." Koaru laughed, and Darien ran out of the room. During the third dance, Koaru and Lita were doing a slow waltz, while Serena and Nick were 'cutting a rug'. Amy and Greg were visiting on a bench out on the balcony, and Raye and Glave had mysteriously vanished. Mina and Jedite were also dancing, but they were having difficulty. Suddenly the doors burst open, and King Soul walked in, causing everyone to run out of the room. Queen Serenity, who had been expecting this, pulled out the Silver Crystal, and soldiers came pouring into the room, while Koaru, Greg, Nicholas and Jedite drew their swords.

"I see that you still haven't given my request any thought." Soul said as the soldiers surrounded him. "Leave now." Serenity said. Soul smiled, "Ok, but alow me to take a parting gift." His right hand glowed a dark purple, then Serena vanished and appeared beside him. He then grabbed her wrist and ran outside.

Darien was trying on one of Koaru's tuxedos when he heard the scream from the window. He ran over and saw King Soul and Serena being persued by a group of soldiers. As he watched, Koaru accelerated, passed Soul, turned around, and swung his sword at his head. Soul Threw Serena aside and drew his own sword, blocking the attack. Darien then looked over and saw that Serena was trapped inside a bubble, and she was fighting to get out. He ran and grabbed his own sword, then headed to the window, but thought, "No, they think I left...I will stay that way." Looking around, he saw a horn rimmed mask, which he slapped on and then leapt out the window into the tree.

Koaru had been fighting for a while when Soul finally blasted him with a sphere of black energy, sending him into a tree. Nicholas then lunged, missed, and was kicked in the face. Greg and Jedite both attacked, and Soul blasted them both with energy spheres. He was about to return to Serena when a rose flew at him, slashed his wrist, and caused his to flinch. He then turned to see a man wearing a tuxedo standing in a nearby tree, holding a sword in one hand, and in the other, another rose.

Darien was all "What the hell am I doing?" in his head, but he was still ready to fight. "Who are you?" King Soul demanded. Darien thought a moment, then looked at what he was wearing. "I am...tuxedo"- remembered the mask- "mask. I am Tuxedo Mask!" Koaru got to his feet hearing this. "God, what a stupid name." he thought, then he charged again.

King Soul blacked Koaru's lunge, then slashed at him. Koaru ducked under the blade and struck again, and Soul blocked again. Then Koaru ducked down and kicked up at Soul's jaw, just like before, and this time he connected. King Soul was sent up into the air, where Koaru jumped up, kicking him in the back on the way up, and striking him with his heel to the chest on the way down. Soul staggered to his feet, then blasted Koaru with a gigantic energy sphere, which blew Koaru straight through a tree.

Serena was scared. She was trapped in a bubble, no one could beat King Soul, and there was a guy in a tuxedo and a mask in a tree, whom she was really thinking to be cute. Just then her friends came running out of the Palace, carrying their wands. The following is not in order, but it was like this: "Mars Power! Venus Power! Mercury Power! Jupiter Power!" The four Sailor Scouts ran at King Soul, and he turned to face them. Amy struck first, "Mercury Ice Bubbles...Blast!" King Soul stepped back as the fog surrounded him. Then he heard "Jupiter Thunder...Crash! Mars Fire...Ignite!" The two attacks flew and hit him dead on, sending him flying out of the fog and near Koaru, who was up and ready for round three.

Koaru ran at Soul, raised his sword, then slashed, cutting Soul's side. King Soul collapsed to his knees as blood poured out of the wound, and he then leapt forward, grabbed Koaru by the throat, and held him up, strangling him.

Koaru gagged and gasped, trying to break free of Souls' grip, then felt a stabbing pain in his head, once again followed by voices and images of a king and queen.

King Soul watched the boy he held die, then gasped as a blinding light burst from his head. When the light faded, he saw the symbol of Tritus, and he realized who this boy was, and released him. "You..." he thought, "you have such power at such a young age...I can use this. You have so much untapped power...heh heh. You truly are the Heir to Ultimate Power." King Soul then picked Koaru up, and vanished.

"Where did he go?" Sailor Mercury asked as they ran to the spot where they last saw the two. "I don't know." Sailor Venus replied, looking around for a clue. The bubble Serena was trapped in vanished, and she fell to the ground, crying. Artemis and Serenity looked over at the scene. "Do you think he..." Artemis asked. Serenity shook her head. "Soul would want Koaru dead. I'm afraid we will never see him again." The Scouts heard this, and they all dissolved into tears, not of joy or sadness, but anger, anger at King Soul, anger at Koaru, and anger at their inability to do anything.

Koaru awoke with a start at the sound of footsteps. His eyes tried to focus, but it was pitch black. "Who is there?" he asked, tried to sit up, and discovered that his arms and legs were chained to the stone table he lay on. The footsteps stopped, and then a dim light appeared, and Koaru's blood ran cold. He was in a dark dungeon room filled with objects that were clearly used for torture. Beside him stood King Soul, his hand glowing a black/blue/silvery mist. He looked at Koaru, smiling. "You, you are the one I need to conquer this galaxy." he said, still smiling. Koaru spat on him. "I will never help you!" he shouted, and again strained against the chains. King Soul smiled more forcefully now, and, grabbing Koaru's left arm said "Oh, you will...you can bet your life on that." He then grabbed Koaru's left shoulder with his glowing hand, and Koaru's cries of pain were heard all throughout the castle, causing many Yomas to look up in interest, hoping for blood to be spilt.