Just ignore my strange ideas...
This is a Sailor Moon/Dragon Knights crossover. Dragon Knights, for those of you that haven't heard of it, is my favoritest manga in the whole wide world.
It's kind of post-apocalyptic, one of those hopeless-seeming stories where everything turns out all right if you can ignore the dead peoples. I suck at writing action... [sighs]
Like I said, ignore the strange ideas and read the damned story.
There had been others, a long time ago. She still remembered them vaguely, like a hazy dream. She remembered the time before the darkness, before the hopelessness, before defeat. And that was all there was; just herself, suffering defeat after painful defeat.
She hated this endless round of battles. Every time she lost to those terrible masked figures, more people died. The stronghold was shrinking, and only Tokyo remained free of the dark. She tried to protect those few people left with her. But it was too hard to fight alone day after day. It was too painful to return to her safe haven and cry herself to sleep every night.
Some nights she dreamed of the others, of those hazy memories she had of them. There was a school, an arcade, a house with a family inside, a temple. There was one with long, dark hair, two with long blond hair, and one with hair that might have been brown. One of the blonds was clearest; she remembered her as a princess, someone she had to protect at all costs. Meaning she had failed. She seemed destined to loose forever but never die.
Until they came.
"Why do you insist on fighting us?" The cloaked, hooded, and masked woman before her asked. "Spare yourself the pain, Mercury. Surrender and join us."
The offer was very tempting; she could forget the people that blamed her each evening for not saving their friends and family, leave behind her pain and the endless battling. One thing kept her from even considering it, however: the sight of Serenity-hime being used by this figure's master, then tossed aside like a broken, bleeding ragdoll to die on the cold ground as if she were nothing.
"Your fire is misguided, Senshi of Water." The figure continued as they always did, tossing a fireball at her here and there just to make her jump. "You still insist on making it hard for everyone involved. Stop getting in the way and messing it up. If it hadn't been for you, we wouldn't have to keep killing people as examples. If you hadn't run away back then like a little coward and left your friends to die, most of those pitiful humans would still be alive." The woman summoned her bow and called an arrow made of black fire to rest on the strings. "Die now and save everyone some pain."
She couldn't move. She couldn't get out of the way in time. No matter what, the arrow speeding towards her would hit, and she would die, leaving humanity completely unprotected. She closed her eyes and resigned herself to her fate, praying that the figure spoke the truth, and no more would die.
But the arrow never hit. She waited what seemed an eternity, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes slowly to find herself staring at the back of a man in some kind of armor.
"What the hell kind of hero are you?" He asked. "You could have at least tried to get out of the way."
"W-who are you?" Was all she could think to say.
"Intro later." He said. "Work now." Then he switched his focus, gesturing his sword angrily at the figure. "Hey, you! Yeah, you in the freaky mask! I don't like people who pick on women, even if they're women themselves! What the hell is wrong with you, huh? You want me to kill you right here and now?"
"You can try, boy." The figure laughed, readying another arrow and shooting it at him.
"You're going after the Knight of Fire with a measly little arrow?" He asked contemptuously. He caught the arrow with his bare hand an inch from his unprotected neck and smiled. "Quite a lot of energy packed into this little thing. Thanks." Tendrils of dark red fire licked around his fist, creeping along the arrow until it was completely covered. Then it vanished, arrow and all.
"Who are you, boy?" The cloaked figure demanded, sounding scared at last. "How could you absorb that arrow? No creature of Light should be able to touch it and live!"
"Then it's a damn good thing I'm a demon, huh?" He said, still smiling. "Now, Rune!"
Another man sprang from behind a pile of rubble, this one with long blond hair and a small blue creature hovering near his shoulder, and threw himself at the figure, bringing his sword down on her mask, which cracked in half under the attack.
She fell backward from the force of the blow, the halves of her mask falling to the ground with her. The second man- Rune- stood over her, sword ready if she tried anything.
"What the hell was that?!" The first man demanded angrily. "She's the bad guy here, Rune! Why the hell did you go for the most protected area? Why not cut her in half or something? The worst you did was give her a really bad headache!"
"Rath," Rune said quietly, "shut up. She was being controlled. Without the mask, she's one of the good guys. Her fire will burn as red as yours now." Rune grounded his sword and walked the rest of the way to the woman, who scrambled back. "Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you. We're not enemies anymore."
"P-promise?" The woman asked, her voice trembling like a five-year- old who'd just been spanked.
"Promise." Rune said, and she stopped moving away. He knelt next to her and removed her hood, letting loose a waterfall of raven black hair. He fumbled a little over the cloak, but finally got it loose. It fell away to reveal a very familiar outfit. It looked exactly like Mercury's except where hers was blue, this one was red, and instead of boots, she wore simple high-heeled pumps.
"Mars!" Mercury exclaimed, abandoning caution to throw herself at the dark-haired woman of her memories and dreams.
"M-mercury?" Mars asked uncertainly, hesitantly wrapping her arms around the frail blue-haired woman. "W-what happened? Are you okay? We thought you were dead, like S-s-ser-ren..."
"It's okay, Mars." Mercury said reassuringly into Mars's hair. "You and I are safe now. That's all that matters."
But Mars pushed Mercury away savagely, tears streaming down her cheeks. "How can you say that? How can you hug me? How can you still love me after what I've done to you? After I betrayed you, our duty, and S- serenity-h-hime?"
"Because you didn't." Mercury said simply. "Because we're more than just friends. Because you were under that bastard's control when you betrayed your duty. Because you never betrayed Serenity-hime."
"Whoa!" Rath yelled suddenly, waving his arms to call attention to himself. "Stop right there! Are we talking THE Serenity-hime? The princess of the Moon Kingdom and the Queen of the Crystal Millennium?"
"Yes." Mercury said, blinking in surprise. "Why?"
"Because the whole reason we came to this place was to save her! Dammit! Can't anybody do anything right? How are we supposed to save her if she's dead?"
"The Ginzuishou!" Mars exclaimed. "Mercury, please tell me you gathered the shards of the Ginzuishou after he took the rest of us!"
"Of course I did." Mercury said. "But it's missing a few shards."
"And her body? Did you save that as well?"
"Yes. But it's useless without those shards."
"There are six missing shards." Mars said calmly. "He took them after you left and gave one to each of us, to make us more powerful! If we can free the others, then we'll have the whole Ginzuishou!"
"And we can bring Serenity-hime back!"
"What the hell are you two babbling about over there?" Rath demanded, irritated beyond description. "What's this Ginzu-whatever, and how can it bring someone back from the dead?"
"Ginzuishou. The Silver Crystal. The source of Serenity-hime's power." Mars explained. "It can do anything."
"'And from the Goddess's tear was born a Crystal with the power to shape and change the world,'" Rune quoted quietly, his sword and armor dissolving. "'And the Goddess held in her hand the remedy of death, the source of all light, and the power of all wishes.' Scriptures of a Silver Moon pass ten, verse twenty-three."
"You're kidding, right?" Rath said, his own armor and weapon disappearing. "How can she be our Goddess if she's dead? Deities can't die."
"Well, this one did." Rune said matter-of-factly. "It would appear that we were sent to this place and time to free these girls and help them revive the Goddess."
"And just who are you two, anyway?" Mercury asked, devolving into Ami. "How did you get here?"
"Oh, that's right! I'm Rath, the Dragon Knight of Fire, that's Rune, the Dragon Knight of Water, and that really hot chick with the staff and miniskirt brought us here. I guess she's a smart as she is gorgeous..." Rath trailed off, daydreaming and drooling slightly.
Rune sighed heavily, shaking his head at his partner. "Let's get going. Do you have some sort of safe ha- Hey, your clothes changed!"
"We aren't Senshi all the time." Mars said, turning back into Rei. "But you do have a safe haven, don't you?" She seconded, glancing at Ami.
"Of course I do." Ami said. "If Rune would grab that slobbering fool who's fantasizing about Pluto and earning a solid whack from the Time Staff over there, we can get going before someone else shows up."
Her long blond hair spilling over her shoulders, Hate knelt trembling before her master, grateful that her mask hid her fear from him, though she was forbidden to approach him with her hood up.
"How could you allow this to happen?" He demanded angrily, and her whole body shook for an instant. "How could you allow that sniveling bitch to turn Fire?"
"I-it was not Mercury who turned her." Hate explained, wincing at the tremor in her voice. "Two strange men in armor broke her mask and reverted her."
"And where did these men come from?" He asked, his voice too calm. "You expect me to believe that there are warriors that strong here and they didn't challenge us before?"
"They s-said that Pluto brought them here from another world." Hate added quickly, not wanting to be punished too severely.
"Pluto, eh?" His voice became thoughtful, and Hate almost sighed with relief. "That time-hopping witch has meddled too much this time. Send Thunder and Sky to deal with Pluto. You deal with our traitor. Take Death."
"Death, Lord?" Hate repeated, her head coming up to stare at him. "Surely these nuisances don't warrant Death's involvement!"
"I said to take Death! Do as I say, or feel the pain of disobedience!"
"Yes, Lord. Forgive me for my outburst. It was out of line."
"Better. Go."
Hate stood immediately and all but ran out of the dark room, feeling unbelievably lucky that she was still alive.
"My temple?" Rei remarked upon seeing Ami's chosen stronghold. "Quite an unusual choice if you ask me."
"It's holy, though." Ami said. "I have a room to myself, in the shrine, but the temple itself is the new home of dozens of survivors. You and the others couldn't seem to get near it once he'd turned you."
"A wise choice." Rune agreed. "I hope we will not impose too much during our stay."
"You two are strong." Ami said, smiling. "Two more defenders of home are always welcome and never a burden."
A small child suddenly burst out from behind a stack of downed trees, an ill-made sword pointed at the four.
"Hello, Tidus." Ami said tiredly as the boy almost dropped his sword. "Go tell the others that I'm back, and I've brought help."
"Okay!" Tidus said happily, turning and running towards the temple and the large group of people in front of it.
"Miss Ami, are you sure you don't want me to carry you?" Rune asked for about the fifth time in the last minute. "You're severely wounded. You shouldn't be walking."
"I told you, Rune-san. I'm fine." Ami said, her voice tinged with exasperation. "We're almost there; I can make it up this hill with a little help. And for the love of Kami, don't tell them that Rei was the enemy, okay? Let's say she was captured or something."
"Okay." Rath said, scanning what was left of the beautiful cherry orchard that had once surrounded the temple. "We know all about war and the like. You don't have to tell us twice."
"See?" Tidus shouted when the group reached the temple itself. "I told you she brought help! I told you she found someone to fight for us!"
The adults looked wearily to the four warriors as the younger children flocked around them, demanding names and proof that they were really magic heroes.
"Everybody shut up!" Rath yelled over the rising babble, calling everyone's attention to him. "Ami's wounded, and I won't tolerate any questions or demands until after she's been taken care of, am I understood?"
Complete silence met his statement, and he nodded once before picking Ami up against her protests and carrying her into the temple.
"Rune!" He called sharply. "Get in here now! You can't heal her if you're out there and she's in here! Rei, keep those civilians out of here!"
"Yes, sir!" Rei called, laughing as she shooed Rune inside and firmly closed the door behind him.
Rath stared at the gaunt faces around him, watching the firelight make shadows dance across eyes full of newfound hope and old fear. Ami sat to his left, Rune to his right, and Rei to Rune's right, keeping the hordes of curious children away from them.
"I mean no offense," One of the men was saying, his voice full of doubt, "but how can we trust them? Where were they when the attacks started and we really needed them? When the queen died?"
"We were in our own world, sir." Rune said politely. "It wasn't until a woman by the name of Sailor Pluto came to our king that we were even aware of the situation here."
"Sailor Pluto?" Someone spoke up from across the fire. "I ain't never hear a no Sailor Pluto!"
"That's because Sailor Pluto is forbidden under pain of death to leave her post at the Gates. She's stayed there for thousands of years, making sure nothing comes through the gates from another time or dimension." Rei explained. "She brought us the help she could not provide herself."
"And what about the other Senshi? Will they be coming back, too?"
"Our main objective at the moment is to find them." Rath said. "After that, we'll find a way to bring back Serenity-hime and defeat this enemy. Then we'll hopefully be able to go back to our own world."
"Well, this is fun." Rath said sarcastically, shifting a large chunk of concrete out of his way. "I wish one of those girls would show up so we can fight already."
"You're a very bloodthirsty man, aren't you?" Rei said, following him with a large sack of food.
"Of course. All men born to war are bloodthirsty." He said. "Your men are a bunch of weak cowards. They can't even protect themselves from their own home. It really sickens me how crippled this place is."
"I'm so sorry you disapprove, Master." Rei said, stumbling a little over a loose rock. "Please, allow me to change the world to your liking."
"Careful there, girly." Rath said, smiling. "I just might take you up on that."
"I hate you." She said, glaring at him as she shifted her load, her frown deepening as she glowered at the bag he was carrying.
"Why? Because I'm stronger, smarter, and better-looking than you?"
"Shut up."
"What's this, Fire?" A voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once asked, laughing cruelly. "Found yourself a lesser master to roll over for already?"
Two black-cloaked and hooded figures appeared in their path. The taller of the two had a white mask with dark orange flames climbing up the left side, and carrying a long, thin black chain; the shorter had a purple mask with angry black slashes running from above the right eye to below the left one, loosely holding a black scythe that towered over her small form.
Rei took an involuntary step backwards, dropping her burden.
"Which ones are these two?" Rath asked, also tossing his load aside and summoning his sword and armor.
"Hate and Death, once known as Venus and Saturn." She explained, pulling out her henshin wand. "Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!" She shouted, transforming. "Mars Flame Sniper!"
Hate watched impassively as the arrow of fire sailed unerringly towards Death, who almost contemptuously batted it aside with her scythe.
"Really now, Mars." Death said quietly, turning her hidden gaze to the two warriors of flame. "You must try harder than that if you want to hurt me."
"Shut up." Super Sailor Mars snapped, glaring at the two black figures.
"Which one's stronger?" Rath asked, looking from girl to girl to girl and back again. "Cause I don't know about you, but all this talk is boring me. I want to fight, and I want to fight now."
"You do not feel very strong, boy." Death said, stepping forward. "Rather, you feel strange. As if you are not human."
"Wow, check out the brains on Shorty!" Rath exclaimed. "As if the pointy ears and fangs weren't a dead giveaway! I think I'm gonna call you Pip- squeak from now on."
"And for the rest of your very short life, I believe I shall refer to you as Smartass." Death said, and Mars could almost hear the soft smile in Death's voice.
"Now that that's over with, let's get down to fighting, shall we?" Rath suggested, swinging his sword into position. "Y'know, before I die of old age?"
"Certainly." Death said, giving a mocking bow before attacking, jumping so she came down just out of range of Rath's blade.
Or rather, what was supposed to be the range of Rath's blade. He'd moved forward enough that rather than attacking when she landed, Death was forced to block a heavy blow at her midsection and move out of her own striking range, only to block again.
Mars, meanwhile, had engaged Hate in a vicious battle of magic rather than blades. Arrows of fire and blasts of dark energy sizzled through the air, sometimes finding marks, sometimes not. Hate used her chain with masterful skill, snapping it across the space between what had once been the best of friends, tearing deep gashes in Mars's arms, legs, torso, and face, distracting the red-clad warrior for the needed moment to launch another sphere.
Mars, to her credit, managed to nick Hate's mask twice, cracking only the surface each time. She'd also managed to tear the heavy black robe, exposing the bare skin beneath it as a clearer target and a landmark to more vulnerable hits. She was able to forget, at least for now, that she loved her foe as a friend and sister and did not hate her at all. The Senshi of flame fought savagely for the people she'd abandoned and returned to, dodging with a newfound agility and attacking with untapped ferocity.
She tried for the mask once more, packing as much energy as she could into one arrow and firing at Hate's stomach. Under cover of the overt attack, she threw herself at Hate, prepared to rip the mask off her friend by brute force if necessary.
She succeeded, to an extent; the mask slipped off Venus's smooth face at the same time that the slick chain wrapped itself firmly around Mars's neck and began to tighten, even after Venus dropped it.
The blond Senshi of Love fell to her knees, shaking uncontrollably, not even noticing her still dark chain slowly squeezing the life out of Mars not a foot from her.
Death, however, did, and broke off her fight with Rath to gather both her former teammates against her.
"Looks like we'll have to postpone your death, Smartass." She said quietly.
"Like hell we will!" Rath yelled, ramming into Death before she could disappear. She lost her hold on Venus and Mars, who'd only just managed to loosen the chain's death grip on her neck.
"Well, little warrior, you've more fire than I expected." Death said. "You can come home with me, then. The Master yearns for a new toy." Taking Rath's neck in her small but powerful hand, she disappeared, leaving Mars and Venus alone in the rubble.
Death knelt before her master, glad she'd brought at least the upstart boy- warrior back with her. If she hadn't, she was certain she'd be living up to her name in Hell.
"You kept him alive and relatively unharmed at least." Master sighed, securing her life for at least another day. "You may leave us."
With a deep bow, Death rose and left, sighing with silent relief behind her mask.
"So little warrior." Master said, turning his attention to the dark- haired boy trying to pick the locks on his chains. "You think to challenge me outside the bounds of your own world?"
"Yeah, something like that." The boy said without looking up. "I hate chains. Man, I wish Thatz was here. He'd be able to get me out of these things in no time flat. So why the hell am I still alive, anyway? That's a little confusing, you know."
"You amuse me, child." Master said, chuckling quietly. "I have need of amusement, and a servant who will challenge me instead of blindly following me. One can only herd so many sheep before it becomes tiresome."
"What's a sheep? We don't have anything like that in our world. Is it edible? I'm hungry. Why is it that refugees never have any food? People should stockpile stuff like that. You should try it, for when Rune and I turn all those girls and come here to kick your ass. Damn, this is a tough lock."
"You are quite sure of yourself." Master said, loosing some of his amusement. "Vain pride should be replaced with proper humility, boy."
"I don't know who you think you're talking to, buddy, but it sure as hell ain't me. And quit acting like I'm younger than you. I happen to be an immortal demon over here. Even I don't know how old I am. What's your name, anyway?"
"I'm tiring of your arrogance, little one." He said, completely humorless. "Perhaps a night in the dungeons will do you good."
"Hold on a sec." Rath said. After a moment, a tiny red dragon appeared out of nowhere. "There you are, Fire! Go tell Rune I'll be okay for the night, and he shouldn't worry, okay? And you better come right back with some decent food, or I'll eat you as soon as I catch you, got me?"
The dragon nodded vigorously and disappeared again.
"Okay, you can throw me in the dungeons now." He said. "Some me time'll be real good about now. Three days in a crowded shelter can really kill your taste for interaction, let me tell you."
"Take him away." Master said, waving to the guards on either side of the room.
"It's not really all that bad." Rune said, sighing heavily.
"Rune, your comrade's been kidnapped by the enemy!" Ami protested, almost dropping what was left of her dinner. "How can you be so calm about this? Do you really want to face Rath across a battlefield?"
"Don't worry; no one can turn Rath." He said, smiling. "Rath's only loyalty is to himself and what he feels is right. Since he's not on our side but the side that'll get him home, he can't really switch sides, now can he?"
"That's kind of twisted logic, isn't it?" Rei protested. "You don't know what this man is capable of. He turned six of the most loyal people in our universe to serve him right after he killed their queen." She reminded him.
"Rath's probably complaining about the food right now or singing to himself or something equally annoying but harmless."
A tiny red dragon popped into the air above Minako, who shrieked and scrambled backwards. The dragon looked at her strangely before flying over to Rune and handing him a piece of paper it hadn't had a second ago.
"'Master is fine.'" Rune read before taking a second piece of paper from the red dragon. "'Master wants food.' See? I told you he was fine. Fire, tell Rath that if he's not even trying to escape, he'll just have to put up with whatever they decide to give him. We're not going to make this easy for him. Hey!"
"What?" Minako asked, pausing in packing leftovers into a makeshift bag. "The guy saved my life in more ways than one. It's only fair I feed him. Besides, this little thing is so cute!" She exclaimed, hugging Fire. "What harm can it be?"
"Oh... fine. Fire, tell Rath he has our regards and we hope he enjoys his stay. You two have fun, okay?"
Fire nodded, straining under the burden of all the food Minako had given him, and disappeared.
[sigh] My strangeness knows no bounds. I have no idea what I was thinking. Anyone think I should keep this one up, or should I just take it down? I think I'll keep it up, but it's nice to ask what the fans think.
Please review for me, okay?
This is a Sailor Moon/Dragon Knights crossover. Dragon Knights, for those of you that haven't heard of it, is my favoritest manga in the whole wide world.
It's kind of post-apocalyptic, one of those hopeless-seeming stories where everything turns out all right if you can ignore the dead peoples. I suck at writing action... [sighs]
Like I said, ignore the strange ideas and read the damned story.
There had been others, a long time ago. She still remembered them vaguely, like a hazy dream. She remembered the time before the darkness, before the hopelessness, before defeat. And that was all there was; just herself, suffering defeat after painful defeat.
She hated this endless round of battles. Every time she lost to those terrible masked figures, more people died. The stronghold was shrinking, and only Tokyo remained free of the dark. She tried to protect those few people left with her. But it was too hard to fight alone day after day. It was too painful to return to her safe haven and cry herself to sleep every night.
Some nights she dreamed of the others, of those hazy memories she had of them. There was a school, an arcade, a house with a family inside, a temple. There was one with long, dark hair, two with long blond hair, and one with hair that might have been brown. One of the blonds was clearest; she remembered her as a princess, someone she had to protect at all costs. Meaning she had failed. She seemed destined to loose forever but never die.
Until they came.
"Why do you insist on fighting us?" The cloaked, hooded, and masked woman before her asked. "Spare yourself the pain, Mercury. Surrender and join us."
The offer was very tempting; she could forget the people that blamed her each evening for not saving their friends and family, leave behind her pain and the endless battling. One thing kept her from even considering it, however: the sight of Serenity-hime being used by this figure's master, then tossed aside like a broken, bleeding ragdoll to die on the cold ground as if she were nothing.
"Your fire is misguided, Senshi of Water." The figure continued as they always did, tossing a fireball at her here and there just to make her jump. "You still insist on making it hard for everyone involved. Stop getting in the way and messing it up. If it hadn't been for you, we wouldn't have to keep killing people as examples. If you hadn't run away back then like a little coward and left your friends to die, most of those pitiful humans would still be alive." The woman summoned her bow and called an arrow made of black fire to rest on the strings. "Die now and save everyone some pain."
She couldn't move. She couldn't get out of the way in time. No matter what, the arrow speeding towards her would hit, and she would die, leaving humanity completely unprotected. She closed her eyes and resigned herself to her fate, praying that the figure spoke the truth, and no more would die.
But the arrow never hit. She waited what seemed an eternity, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes slowly to find herself staring at the back of a man in some kind of armor.
"What the hell kind of hero are you?" He asked. "You could have at least tried to get out of the way."
"W-who are you?" Was all she could think to say.
"Intro later." He said. "Work now." Then he switched his focus, gesturing his sword angrily at the figure. "Hey, you! Yeah, you in the freaky mask! I don't like people who pick on women, even if they're women themselves! What the hell is wrong with you, huh? You want me to kill you right here and now?"
"You can try, boy." The figure laughed, readying another arrow and shooting it at him.
"You're going after the Knight of Fire with a measly little arrow?" He asked contemptuously. He caught the arrow with his bare hand an inch from his unprotected neck and smiled. "Quite a lot of energy packed into this little thing. Thanks." Tendrils of dark red fire licked around his fist, creeping along the arrow until it was completely covered. Then it vanished, arrow and all.
"Who are you, boy?" The cloaked figure demanded, sounding scared at last. "How could you absorb that arrow? No creature of Light should be able to touch it and live!"
"Then it's a damn good thing I'm a demon, huh?" He said, still smiling. "Now, Rune!"
Another man sprang from behind a pile of rubble, this one with long blond hair and a small blue creature hovering near his shoulder, and threw himself at the figure, bringing his sword down on her mask, which cracked in half under the attack.
She fell backward from the force of the blow, the halves of her mask falling to the ground with her. The second man- Rune- stood over her, sword ready if she tried anything.
"What the hell was that?!" The first man demanded angrily. "She's the bad guy here, Rune! Why the hell did you go for the most protected area? Why not cut her in half or something? The worst you did was give her a really bad headache!"
"Rath," Rune said quietly, "shut up. She was being controlled. Without the mask, she's one of the good guys. Her fire will burn as red as yours now." Rune grounded his sword and walked the rest of the way to the woman, who scrambled back. "Don't worry; I'm not going to hurt you. We're not enemies anymore."
"P-promise?" The woman asked, her voice trembling like a five-year- old who'd just been spanked.
"Promise." Rune said, and she stopped moving away. He knelt next to her and removed her hood, letting loose a waterfall of raven black hair. He fumbled a little over the cloak, but finally got it loose. It fell away to reveal a very familiar outfit. It looked exactly like Mercury's except where hers was blue, this one was red, and instead of boots, she wore simple high-heeled pumps.
"Mars!" Mercury exclaimed, abandoning caution to throw herself at the dark-haired woman of her memories and dreams.
"M-mercury?" Mars asked uncertainly, hesitantly wrapping her arms around the frail blue-haired woman. "W-what happened? Are you okay? We thought you were dead, like S-s-ser-ren..."
"It's okay, Mars." Mercury said reassuringly into Mars's hair. "You and I are safe now. That's all that matters."
But Mars pushed Mercury away savagely, tears streaming down her cheeks. "How can you say that? How can you hug me? How can you still love me after what I've done to you? After I betrayed you, our duty, and S- serenity-h-hime?"
"Because you didn't." Mercury said simply. "Because we're more than just friends. Because you were under that bastard's control when you betrayed your duty. Because you never betrayed Serenity-hime."
"Whoa!" Rath yelled suddenly, waving his arms to call attention to himself. "Stop right there! Are we talking THE Serenity-hime? The princess of the Moon Kingdom and the Queen of the Crystal Millennium?"
"Yes." Mercury said, blinking in surprise. "Why?"
"Because the whole reason we came to this place was to save her! Dammit! Can't anybody do anything right? How are we supposed to save her if she's dead?"
"The Ginzuishou!" Mars exclaimed. "Mercury, please tell me you gathered the shards of the Ginzuishou after he took the rest of us!"
"Of course I did." Mercury said. "But it's missing a few shards."
"And her body? Did you save that as well?"
"Yes. But it's useless without those shards."
"There are six missing shards." Mars said calmly. "He took them after you left and gave one to each of us, to make us more powerful! If we can free the others, then we'll have the whole Ginzuishou!"
"And we can bring Serenity-hime back!"
"What the hell are you two babbling about over there?" Rath demanded, irritated beyond description. "What's this Ginzu-whatever, and how can it bring someone back from the dead?"
"Ginzuishou. The Silver Crystal. The source of Serenity-hime's power." Mars explained. "It can do anything."
"'And from the Goddess's tear was born a Crystal with the power to shape and change the world,'" Rune quoted quietly, his sword and armor dissolving. "'And the Goddess held in her hand the remedy of death, the source of all light, and the power of all wishes.' Scriptures of a Silver Moon pass ten, verse twenty-three."
"You're kidding, right?" Rath said, his own armor and weapon disappearing. "How can she be our Goddess if she's dead? Deities can't die."
"Well, this one did." Rune said matter-of-factly. "It would appear that we were sent to this place and time to free these girls and help them revive the Goddess."
"And just who are you two, anyway?" Mercury asked, devolving into Ami. "How did you get here?"
"Oh, that's right! I'm Rath, the Dragon Knight of Fire, that's Rune, the Dragon Knight of Water, and that really hot chick with the staff and miniskirt brought us here. I guess she's a smart as she is gorgeous..." Rath trailed off, daydreaming and drooling slightly.
Rune sighed heavily, shaking his head at his partner. "Let's get going. Do you have some sort of safe ha- Hey, your clothes changed!"
"We aren't Senshi all the time." Mars said, turning back into Rei. "But you do have a safe haven, don't you?" She seconded, glancing at Ami.
"Of course I do." Ami said. "If Rune would grab that slobbering fool who's fantasizing about Pluto and earning a solid whack from the Time Staff over there, we can get going before someone else shows up."
Her long blond hair spilling over her shoulders, Hate knelt trembling before her master, grateful that her mask hid her fear from him, though she was forbidden to approach him with her hood up.
"How could you allow this to happen?" He demanded angrily, and her whole body shook for an instant. "How could you allow that sniveling bitch to turn Fire?"
"I-it was not Mercury who turned her." Hate explained, wincing at the tremor in her voice. "Two strange men in armor broke her mask and reverted her."
"And where did these men come from?" He asked, his voice too calm. "You expect me to believe that there are warriors that strong here and they didn't challenge us before?"
"They s-said that Pluto brought them here from another world." Hate added quickly, not wanting to be punished too severely.
"Pluto, eh?" His voice became thoughtful, and Hate almost sighed with relief. "That time-hopping witch has meddled too much this time. Send Thunder and Sky to deal with Pluto. You deal with our traitor. Take Death."
"Death, Lord?" Hate repeated, her head coming up to stare at him. "Surely these nuisances don't warrant Death's involvement!"
"I said to take Death! Do as I say, or feel the pain of disobedience!"
"Yes, Lord. Forgive me for my outburst. It was out of line."
"Better. Go."
Hate stood immediately and all but ran out of the dark room, feeling unbelievably lucky that she was still alive.
"My temple?" Rei remarked upon seeing Ami's chosen stronghold. "Quite an unusual choice if you ask me."
"It's holy, though." Ami said. "I have a room to myself, in the shrine, but the temple itself is the new home of dozens of survivors. You and the others couldn't seem to get near it once he'd turned you."
"A wise choice." Rune agreed. "I hope we will not impose too much during our stay."
"You two are strong." Ami said, smiling. "Two more defenders of home are always welcome and never a burden."
A small child suddenly burst out from behind a stack of downed trees, an ill-made sword pointed at the four.
"Hello, Tidus." Ami said tiredly as the boy almost dropped his sword. "Go tell the others that I'm back, and I've brought help."
"Okay!" Tidus said happily, turning and running towards the temple and the large group of people in front of it.
"Miss Ami, are you sure you don't want me to carry you?" Rune asked for about the fifth time in the last minute. "You're severely wounded. You shouldn't be walking."
"I told you, Rune-san. I'm fine." Ami said, her voice tinged with exasperation. "We're almost there; I can make it up this hill with a little help. And for the love of Kami, don't tell them that Rei was the enemy, okay? Let's say she was captured or something."
"Okay." Rath said, scanning what was left of the beautiful cherry orchard that had once surrounded the temple. "We know all about war and the like. You don't have to tell us twice."
"See?" Tidus shouted when the group reached the temple itself. "I told you she brought help! I told you she found someone to fight for us!"
The adults looked wearily to the four warriors as the younger children flocked around them, demanding names and proof that they were really magic heroes.
"Everybody shut up!" Rath yelled over the rising babble, calling everyone's attention to him. "Ami's wounded, and I won't tolerate any questions or demands until after she's been taken care of, am I understood?"
Complete silence met his statement, and he nodded once before picking Ami up against her protests and carrying her into the temple.
"Rune!" He called sharply. "Get in here now! You can't heal her if you're out there and she's in here! Rei, keep those civilians out of here!"
"Yes, sir!" Rei called, laughing as she shooed Rune inside and firmly closed the door behind him.
Rath stared at the gaunt faces around him, watching the firelight make shadows dance across eyes full of newfound hope and old fear. Ami sat to his left, Rune to his right, and Rei to Rune's right, keeping the hordes of curious children away from them.
"I mean no offense," One of the men was saying, his voice full of doubt, "but how can we trust them? Where were they when the attacks started and we really needed them? When the queen died?"
"We were in our own world, sir." Rune said politely. "It wasn't until a woman by the name of Sailor Pluto came to our king that we were even aware of the situation here."
"Sailor Pluto?" Someone spoke up from across the fire. "I ain't never hear a no Sailor Pluto!"
"That's because Sailor Pluto is forbidden under pain of death to leave her post at the Gates. She's stayed there for thousands of years, making sure nothing comes through the gates from another time or dimension." Rei explained. "She brought us the help she could not provide herself."
"And what about the other Senshi? Will they be coming back, too?"
"Our main objective at the moment is to find them." Rath said. "After that, we'll find a way to bring back Serenity-hime and defeat this enemy. Then we'll hopefully be able to go back to our own world."
"Well, this is fun." Rath said sarcastically, shifting a large chunk of concrete out of his way. "I wish one of those girls would show up so we can fight already."
"You're a very bloodthirsty man, aren't you?" Rei said, following him with a large sack of food.
"Of course. All men born to war are bloodthirsty." He said. "Your men are a bunch of weak cowards. They can't even protect themselves from their own home. It really sickens me how crippled this place is."
"I'm so sorry you disapprove, Master." Rei said, stumbling a little over a loose rock. "Please, allow me to change the world to your liking."
"Careful there, girly." Rath said, smiling. "I just might take you up on that."
"I hate you." She said, glaring at him as she shifted her load, her frown deepening as she glowered at the bag he was carrying.
"Why? Because I'm stronger, smarter, and better-looking than you?"
"Shut up."
"What's this, Fire?" A voice that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once asked, laughing cruelly. "Found yourself a lesser master to roll over for already?"
Two black-cloaked and hooded figures appeared in their path. The taller of the two had a white mask with dark orange flames climbing up the left side, and carrying a long, thin black chain; the shorter had a purple mask with angry black slashes running from above the right eye to below the left one, loosely holding a black scythe that towered over her small form.
Rei took an involuntary step backwards, dropping her burden.
"Which ones are these two?" Rath asked, also tossing his load aside and summoning his sword and armor.
"Hate and Death, once known as Venus and Saturn." She explained, pulling out her henshin wand. "Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!" She shouted, transforming. "Mars Flame Sniper!"
Hate watched impassively as the arrow of fire sailed unerringly towards Death, who almost contemptuously batted it aside with her scythe.
"Really now, Mars." Death said quietly, turning her hidden gaze to the two warriors of flame. "You must try harder than that if you want to hurt me."
"Shut up." Super Sailor Mars snapped, glaring at the two black figures.
"Which one's stronger?" Rath asked, looking from girl to girl to girl and back again. "Cause I don't know about you, but all this talk is boring me. I want to fight, and I want to fight now."
"You do not feel very strong, boy." Death said, stepping forward. "Rather, you feel strange. As if you are not human."
"Wow, check out the brains on Shorty!" Rath exclaimed. "As if the pointy ears and fangs weren't a dead giveaway! I think I'm gonna call you Pip- squeak from now on."
"And for the rest of your very short life, I believe I shall refer to you as Smartass." Death said, and Mars could almost hear the soft smile in Death's voice.
"Now that that's over with, let's get down to fighting, shall we?" Rath suggested, swinging his sword into position. "Y'know, before I die of old age?"
"Certainly." Death said, giving a mocking bow before attacking, jumping so she came down just out of range of Rath's blade.
Or rather, what was supposed to be the range of Rath's blade. He'd moved forward enough that rather than attacking when she landed, Death was forced to block a heavy blow at her midsection and move out of her own striking range, only to block again.
Mars, meanwhile, had engaged Hate in a vicious battle of magic rather than blades. Arrows of fire and blasts of dark energy sizzled through the air, sometimes finding marks, sometimes not. Hate used her chain with masterful skill, snapping it across the space between what had once been the best of friends, tearing deep gashes in Mars's arms, legs, torso, and face, distracting the red-clad warrior for the needed moment to launch another sphere.
Mars, to her credit, managed to nick Hate's mask twice, cracking only the surface each time. She'd also managed to tear the heavy black robe, exposing the bare skin beneath it as a clearer target and a landmark to more vulnerable hits. She was able to forget, at least for now, that she loved her foe as a friend and sister and did not hate her at all. The Senshi of flame fought savagely for the people she'd abandoned and returned to, dodging with a newfound agility and attacking with untapped ferocity.
She tried for the mask once more, packing as much energy as she could into one arrow and firing at Hate's stomach. Under cover of the overt attack, she threw herself at Hate, prepared to rip the mask off her friend by brute force if necessary.
She succeeded, to an extent; the mask slipped off Venus's smooth face at the same time that the slick chain wrapped itself firmly around Mars's neck and began to tighten, even after Venus dropped it.
The blond Senshi of Love fell to her knees, shaking uncontrollably, not even noticing her still dark chain slowly squeezing the life out of Mars not a foot from her.
Death, however, did, and broke off her fight with Rath to gather both her former teammates against her.
"Looks like we'll have to postpone your death, Smartass." She said quietly.
"Like hell we will!" Rath yelled, ramming into Death before she could disappear. She lost her hold on Venus and Mars, who'd only just managed to loosen the chain's death grip on her neck.
"Well, little warrior, you've more fire than I expected." Death said. "You can come home with me, then. The Master yearns for a new toy." Taking Rath's neck in her small but powerful hand, she disappeared, leaving Mars and Venus alone in the rubble.
Death knelt before her master, glad she'd brought at least the upstart boy- warrior back with her. If she hadn't, she was certain she'd be living up to her name in Hell.
"You kept him alive and relatively unharmed at least." Master sighed, securing her life for at least another day. "You may leave us."
With a deep bow, Death rose and left, sighing with silent relief behind her mask.
"So little warrior." Master said, turning his attention to the dark- haired boy trying to pick the locks on his chains. "You think to challenge me outside the bounds of your own world?"
"Yeah, something like that." The boy said without looking up. "I hate chains. Man, I wish Thatz was here. He'd be able to get me out of these things in no time flat. So why the hell am I still alive, anyway? That's a little confusing, you know."
"You amuse me, child." Master said, chuckling quietly. "I have need of amusement, and a servant who will challenge me instead of blindly following me. One can only herd so many sheep before it becomes tiresome."
"What's a sheep? We don't have anything like that in our world. Is it edible? I'm hungry. Why is it that refugees never have any food? People should stockpile stuff like that. You should try it, for when Rune and I turn all those girls and come here to kick your ass. Damn, this is a tough lock."
"You are quite sure of yourself." Master said, loosing some of his amusement. "Vain pride should be replaced with proper humility, boy."
"I don't know who you think you're talking to, buddy, but it sure as hell ain't me. And quit acting like I'm younger than you. I happen to be an immortal demon over here. Even I don't know how old I am. What's your name, anyway?"
"I'm tiring of your arrogance, little one." He said, completely humorless. "Perhaps a night in the dungeons will do you good."
"Hold on a sec." Rath said. After a moment, a tiny red dragon appeared out of nowhere. "There you are, Fire! Go tell Rune I'll be okay for the night, and he shouldn't worry, okay? And you better come right back with some decent food, or I'll eat you as soon as I catch you, got me?"
The dragon nodded vigorously and disappeared again.
"Okay, you can throw me in the dungeons now." He said. "Some me time'll be real good about now. Three days in a crowded shelter can really kill your taste for interaction, let me tell you."
"Take him away." Master said, waving to the guards on either side of the room.
"It's not really all that bad." Rune said, sighing heavily.
"Rune, your comrade's been kidnapped by the enemy!" Ami protested, almost dropping what was left of her dinner. "How can you be so calm about this? Do you really want to face Rath across a battlefield?"
"Don't worry; no one can turn Rath." He said, smiling. "Rath's only loyalty is to himself and what he feels is right. Since he's not on our side but the side that'll get him home, he can't really switch sides, now can he?"
"That's kind of twisted logic, isn't it?" Rei protested. "You don't know what this man is capable of. He turned six of the most loyal people in our universe to serve him right after he killed their queen." She reminded him.
"Rath's probably complaining about the food right now or singing to himself or something equally annoying but harmless."
A tiny red dragon popped into the air above Minako, who shrieked and scrambled backwards. The dragon looked at her strangely before flying over to Rune and handing him a piece of paper it hadn't had a second ago.
"'Master is fine.'" Rune read before taking a second piece of paper from the red dragon. "'Master wants food.' See? I told you he was fine. Fire, tell Rath that if he's not even trying to escape, he'll just have to put up with whatever they decide to give him. We're not going to make this easy for him. Hey!"
"What?" Minako asked, pausing in packing leftovers into a makeshift bag. "The guy saved my life in more ways than one. It's only fair I feed him. Besides, this little thing is so cute!" She exclaimed, hugging Fire. "What harm can it be?"
"Oh... fine. Fire, tell Rath he has our regards and we hope he enjoys his stay. You two have fun, okay?"
Fire nodded, straining under the burden of all the food Minako had given him, and disappeared.
[sigh] My strangeness knows no bounds. I have no idea what I was thinking. Anyone think I should keep this one up, or should I just take it down? I think I'll keep it up, but it's nice to ask what the fans think.
Please review for me, okay?