Chapter 12: Combat of the Hearts

The Scouts stared, thunderstruck by the sight of their old friend. He looked very different, his long black hair hung freely around his head and down his back, the same length as Mina's. His clothes were in shreds, and his arms and chest were covered in scars. His head hung forward, blocking his eyes from view, but a small trickle of blood was dripping from his forehead. Artemis ran forward, followed by Jedite and a Jupiter mercenary, Seifer.

"Koaru, Jesus, are you all right?" Artemis asked as he approached, a bubbling pit in his stomach, filled with guilt. Koaru lifted his head, and Artemis skidded to a stop. "Koaru...what, what did he-" Artemis' words were cut short by Koaru rushing forward and striking him in the face. Artemis flipped backwards from the force, and Koaru kicked him in the back, sending him clear across the stadium. Jedite and Seifer both drew their swords and attacked. Koaru flowed with their attacks, and in a quick reversal, sent them both crashing into the wall behind him.

"What is he doing?" Sailor Mars asked as she watched Koaru easily beat the three men. Sailors Venus and Jupiter both ran at him, ready to stop him. "No, wait!" Sailor Mercury yelled, and Sailor Mars ran after them. "Jupiter Thunder...Crash!" "Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" Both attacks connected with Koaru, and they saw him fly out of the resulting dust cloud. He skidded backwards, then charged them with an incredible speed. "Mars Fire Wall...Defend!" Sailor Mars' newly mastered attack caused a fifty foot wall of fire to erupt betwen them and Koaru, blocking him. Amy sighed, feeling relief, then gasped as Koaru shot through the wall like it wasn't there. That was when they saw his eyes; both had turned storm blue, and in the pupils was a black a silver ying-yang. Also, the force of Jupiter and Venus' attacks had blasted his shirt off, and they saw that on his left shoulder was a mark: it was an inverted pentagram with a red eye in the center, the pupil a black slit, like a demon's eye. As they watched, from each point of the pentagram (five pointed star) a black rope like mark spread away from the point and snaked around his his body, then stopped. The mark stopped just above his elbow, halfway up his neck, and a quarter the way across his upper and lower back and chest.

Queen Serenity looked down from where she sat, and gasped when she saw the mark and Koaru's shoulder. Mina's mother, Queen Venus (I don't wanna make up new names sorry) ran over to her, and asked what was wrong. "Koaru...Koaru has a Shadow Scar."

"AAAAhhhhhhhhh!" Sailor Jupiter screamed as Koaru threw a handful of fire at her. Sailor Moon leapt forward, knocking Lita out of the way. "I thought that I was the only one with fire power." Sailor Mars said, slightly irritated. Koaru gathered energy into his hands. "You ain't seen nothing yet." he said, his voice a slight growl. "Tritus Pyro Stream!" he slammed his hands onto the ground, and a spiral beam of fire shot at the Scouts. The five split up, and Koaru ran after them, one at a time. First off he chased Sailor Venus, who turned and shot her Beam Smash at him, which he ducked under and, being five feet away now, palm struck her in the center of her chest, knocking the wind out of her and, at the same time, causing her to cough out some blood. She was still falling as Koaru ran past her, bearing down on Sailor Mars, who was ready and waiting. "Mars Fire Wall...Defend!" she said, only this time she had the wall erupt in a straight line, right where Koaru was running. The flames swallowed him, and Raye sighed in relief, then choked since she couldn't inhale. Koaru had accelerated so quickly that she hadn't noticed him zip behind her and grab her neck.

"Raye!" Sailor Moon shouted as she watched Koaru strangle her from behind. She ran at him, and grabbed her tiara. "Moon...Tiara...Magic!" She threw it straight at him, and struck him dead center, knocking him away from Sailor Mars, who collapsed to the ground. He got back his feet and charged at Sailor Moon, who assumed a Tai Jutsu stance he had taught her. They then started a super-sonic exchange of blows, most of which Serena was able to block. "You fool," Koaru said as they struck at each other, "I taught you that technique, so I know that to stop you, I need to do this!" he ducked down under Serena's punch, spun around, and kicked her feet out from under her, and she landed hard on her ass. He then raised his foot above his head, ready to execute an Axe Kick to her throat. As his foot soared down, he was blasted off his feet by a lightning sphere. "Get away from her!" Sailor Jupiter shouted as she ran forward, charging another Thunder Crash in her antenna. Koaru smiled, "This one will die."

Sailor Mercury watched the battle from the side, not moving, tears of sorrow flowing down her face. She watched Koaru strike down Mina, strangle Raye, overwhelm Serena, and now she watched as he leapt above Lita and blasted her with a blue bolt of lightning. Lita leapt backwards, and the blast just missed her, but Koaru's next strike didn't. He landed in a crouch, and holding his right hand in his left, gathered energy into his right palm. He then charged down Lita and struck out, with the battle command "Tritus Thunder Edge!" the energy took the shape of a large blade and Lita was struck down by the blast. As she slammed into the ground, she gacked, and blood shot straight out of her mouth and into the air, landing on and around her body. She was still alive, but one more hit would change that. But Koaru didn't consider her a threat anymore. He was interested in the last Scout still standing, and he wanted her blood to be spilt.

Sailor Mercury's heart was beating very quickly as she watched Koaru slowly advance towards her. She tried to summon her powers, but they wouldn't respond. Koaru was now eight feet away, and she saw a flash of white light, and before her eyes she watched her memories of Koaru and herself, the tricks he played on her, that kiss that they shared at thier young age, how they trained together, studied together, how she felt when he vanished, and how she felt seeing him again. Amy then realized that, even though she had developed a crush on Greg through the private lessons he gave her, she loved Koaru, and he loved her.

Koaru gathered energy into his hands and prepared to strike down the last Scout when she did something he didn't expect, she lunged at him. The shock of the surprise attack allowed Sailor Mercury to tackle him and pin him down. She looked into his eyes and saw, in the depths of the blue, a red glow, an evil force controlling him. Sailor Moon was back on her feet, and shouted "Amy, move! I'll finish this!" Amy just looked into Koaru's eyes, then closed her own, leaned down, and kissed him.

Serena's jaw dropped. Sailor Mercury had just kissed the enemy. As she watched, Koaru threw her off of him, got to his feet, then froze. His body started to glow with a purple energy, which kicked up dirt and dust, and he was thrashing around, screaming in agony. Then from his mouth shot out blood, followed by a small spirit ball, glowing with the same purple energy as he was. Koaru collapsed, and Amy ran to his side. He whispered into her ear, and she shouted to Serena, "Sailor Moon! Destroy that spirit!" Serena nodded and charged her tiara, "Moon...Tiara...Magic!" The disk struck the spirit, and it vanished in a flash of purple fire. Serena ran over to Amy, who was looking at Koaru with concern. He opened his eyes, looked at them, and simply said, "I'm sorry..." then he passed out.

Up in the Royal Box, while the others were tending to King Jupiter's body, King Mercury was looking down at his daughter and Koaru with distaste. He summoned a guard over, who asked what he needed. "See to it that the boy will vanish before my daughters next birthday." The guard nodded, and left the King to savor his plans.