We do not own "Sailor Moon" nor any of the characters.
SAILOR MOON ETERNAL
"The 6th Season of the Sailor Moon Saga"
By Haruka Kou
Chapter 30: Replaying the Drama Over Again
A phone rings in the high rise apartment of another set of four girls. These four were long and far away removed from girlhood though. The youngest of which had just turned twenty-one. She and her older sisters, all, through trial and hardships and countless sibling arguments, had stuck it out together, living here in this newfound home, slowly but assuredly. They accepted this 'good' way as their true path and all traces of their past evil were gone leaving the four very normal (well, how normal can four sisters living together under the same roof be?) young women behind.
"Hello?" Catzie's scratchy voice answers the phone. She sat down with a plop, putting her overexhausted legs up on an easy chair across from the couch.
"Catzie? This is-"
"Serena? How're ya doing? Oh, oh, I mean 'Mrs. Shields.' Haven't had a chance to talk to ya since the wedding. Was that last year already? Well, babe, let me tell ya! You looked so stunning! We've been really busy these past few months, sorry for not callin' or anyth-"
A talk-your-ear-off-talkaholic on a binge of a long absence of speaking to a dear, dear friend-Catzie starts to ramble on and on in her accented voice until Serena has to stop her.
"Catz! This is really important. Is Birdie there?" Serena asks, her voice on the other line sounding very...anxious.
"Birdie? Oh my Gawd! Did something happen? Oh, Gawd, Serena, where? Was it a car crash or what?" Losing her marbles over the very thought of her sister and best friend's safety, Catzie jumps up, rushing to slap her clothes back on, running tears in her nylons without a care for her up to date fashions, and flys about in concern for her younger sister.
CRASH!
Indeed, Birdie does have a crash accident. But not the kind Catzie supposed as she and her white haired sister slam right into each other. Catzie, in a panic, with her cell phone still in hand, rushes right out the living room door into her poor sibling.
"BIRDIE! Oh, thank Gawd!"
Serena was still trying to explain herself on the other end but was not able to get a word in edgewise as she hears Catzie's first overwhelmingly joyful, then overwhelmingly annoyed in .03 seconds voice at her on the other side of the receiver.
"SERENA! Why'd ya scare me like that! You're a toasted chicken now! Birdie's right here! Jeez! You gone and made me run my nylons and everything! Jeez!"
Shaking her head, Serena sighs, handing her phone to a more take-charge Rei, who was more accustomed to speaking in between Catzie's non-communications.
"Catzie, just quit your whining! Look, we've got big business. You get your sisters together and come down to my temple right away!" Rei orders.
"Oh, hi, Rei. I'm just so tired..." She starts to whine.
"GET YOUR BUTTS DOWN HERE PRONTO, CATZIE!" Rei shouts in only true Rei fashion. She and Catzie's relationship was good enough to withstand hurricane-mouth-force gales.
"They're on their way." Rei says succinctly, hanging up before Catzie even had a chance to reply, as all of the gathered Scouts gaze from Rei to the unconscious white-haired young woman laying on the bed in front of them.
It was positively strange to come face to face with your spitting image double, though over the past few months nearly every Scout has had that redoubtable pleasure.
But for an abnormal young woman with the unusual name of 'Birdie', whose youthful eyes had seen many a strange thing would not be sent into shock over this.
"Who is she, you think?" Birdie's high pitched voice asks calmly, as disattached as a scientist studying a laboratory microscope.
"We thought you might know, since she looks almost exactly like you, Birdie." Serena says to her friend as they all look down at Birdie's indeed nearly identical twin.
"No. Not at all." Birdie shakes her head, no recognition coming as her long braid sways back and forth the negative.
"Ya have to admit, she does look like you, Birdie." Catzie comments, kneeling down to get a better view.
"Maybe she's a relative or someone from the Black Moon come back from the future again or something?" Lita offers a theory.
"A twin sister you never knew about! I saw an 'Opal' show just yesterday on that! Oh, it was sooo sad!" Mina, the boob-tube freak, throws in her wasted morning watching fare.
"That's 'Oprah', not 'Opal', Mina." Artemis sighs, endlessly correcting his protege's mixed up language problem. He had to endure through whatever Mina insisted on watching.
"Admit it, Artemis! You watch it, too!"
"You would know, Artemis! Lazy cat watching television at a time like this!" Luna mumbles under her breath, jealous in the belief that her furry guardian partner was only interested in the sordid lives of those over made up floozies on those kinds of shows.
"LUNA!" Artemis' jaw hangs in insulted pride, with a guilty kitty look on his face.
"Well, we would know if our own mother had a fifth child, I think." Avery's voice dripped still with a touch of sarcasm as she gives Mina a smirky look.
"It was just a guess." Mina shrugs.
"And, what about him? Somehow, he seems...very familiar..." Wandering away from her three sisters' scrutiny of the 'Birdie-lookalike' in question, Prizma finds herself strangely drawn to the unconscious man on the bed on the other side of Rei's temple room.
Looking from Prizma to the man and then back down again, the Inner Scouts gathered, do a double take.
"That's right, Priz! You look just like him!" Avery walks up to her forest green haired sister. Her distinctive exotic eyes and pretty features almost mirrored those of the man, although in a more masculine way.
"You mean, he looks like me." As vain as ever, as argumentative with her rival sister as ever, Prizma purses her lips as she looks guardedly down at the handsome man.
"He does, guys. And she looks like you, Birdie, and he looks like you, Prizma. There's gotta be some connection." Rei moves between them. Her senses weren't able to detect the source of this familiar quandary though.
"There is, and, no offense, ladies," Alex's low voice and lowered eyelids nod to the four sisters with a smile on her face as she, with Sayer behind her, enters the room. "As you once were, so are they-agents of an evil force. I'm Alex Sokova. Nice to meet you." Alex offers out her handshake to the four sisters, to whom she had obviously done her homework on.
As they look to each other, not quite knowing what to make of this boldly honest woman, Sayer steps up.
"And I'm Sayer Starr. It's VERY nice to -" Sayer's wolf eyes light up at the sight of the stylishly long legged beauties, as he reaches out to greet them with a handshake. But instead, he receives Alex's knowing elbow in his ribs. "Ow..."
"So, you're a Sailor Scout, too, right?" Prizma addresses Alex, putting two and two together, as she was first to shake her hand.
Alex nods. Her eyes were glad to meet a woman of intellect beyond her good looks. Looking to the man on the bed, Alex too, immediately sees the resemblance between he and Prizma.
"Who do you think they are?" Prizma asks. She sensed a responsible soldier behind the wry smile.
"That's what we brought you here to find out." Alex answers, looking her straight in the eye.
"Hey, Alex!" Avery was another bold one herself, speaking out despite the serious situation. "Is this man taken? You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a looker like this these days." Avery says, studying Sayer with interested eyes.
He gulps under her gaze.
"Taken?" Alex adds, her own crooked eyes meet Sayer's raised brows as her green eyes flash back at him. "Yeah, I guess so, and don't let him tell you otherwise." She sends a playful warning to Sayer, and his adoring eyes smile back at her attention.
Silently wishing for the man she had loved and lost to be looking at her like that again, Prizma looks down, sad for a moment. Her eyes suddenly are caught in another's entrancing gaze.
In a soft voice, Susan hums to herself a love song that her baby's father had sung to her often. The nursery was a beautiful place-purple and lavender shades of color that brought a peaceful calm to Susan as she sits, sewing pretty little baby dresses.
Eight month pregnant Susan had spent many a long hour in this room that her baby would soon be part of.
My baby...
Susan smiles, lightly touching her bulging stomach.
"And yours, Terry, my love..." She whispers aloud, wanting her unborn child to hear her happy, to feel at ease within her body despite Susan's very anxious soul.
What Alex said...it is my duty to protect the Princess, yes. I swore that long, long ago. But now...
Susan's dutiful mind was now more and more ruled by her heart -a heart full of love and longing for another that she had sought many lifetimes for and now for this small life growing within her as well.
A motherly instinct was not enough to describe what Susan already felt. She wanted this child dearly.
And then there was Terry.
He only is trying to protect me and our baby. He doesn't mean anything else by it, Alex. Please understand that. I must do as he asks. I am his wife and he loves me. I can't go against his wishes, I love him too much. Forgive me...
Susan sadly gazes out the starry window, wishing Alex were there for her to explain it all to, so this misunderstanding didn't have to stand between their relationship. Susan knew how hard it all had been on their family.
Yes, we are a family.
Susan smiles wistfully. Her marriage to Terry and then Alex and Michelle's subsequent marriages to his brothers truly brought them all together as not only Outer Soldiers, but sisters at last. And sisters, Susan had found out, were precious things.
"Ohh!" Susan suddenly cries out, dropping the little lacy lavender frock to the ground.
"Susan!" Hearing her soft wail all the way across the house in his computer library room, Terry drops his research, rushing to his wife in ten seconds flat.
"Susan?" He asks, rushing in the door.
"Giselle...Giselle just kicked. That's all." Susan smiles at the joys that came with pregnancy, despite the pain at times.
"Where?" Terry's worried eyes smile as he kneels before her, touching her stomach gently.
Susan smiles as baby Giselle gives a gentle kick again, to Terry-papa's delight. He and Susan were sharing a sweet, happy moment when the doorbell suddenly rings to interrupt.
"I'll get it!" Tara's small voice calls from another room, as she trots from her homework, opening the front door...
"Tara!" It was just starting to rain on the outskirts of the city. A cold, hard kind of rain, the kind that the month of November rings in. But the young girl, wet and shaking at the front door, was not trembling just from its chill.
"Cattana? What is it?" Tara asks, worried for her new friend from the terrified look on her face.
"Tara, please! I have to find my sister! It's a matter of life and death!" The scratchy voiced teenager pleads.
"Tara? Who is it?" Terry comes down into the hallway from the nursery at the sound of the commotion. He sees Cattana standing outside yet, dripping wet and shaking, causing his fatherly instinct to take over.
"Come in, child. You're soaking wet." Terry kindly invites the wide-with-fright-eyed girl in.
"Oh, dear! You're going to become ill like that. Do come in." Susan-mama comes to her husband's side in a moment, welcoming with care Cattana into their home, wrapping a towel around her shoulders.
"Tara! Mr. and Mrs. Starr..." Cattana looks at each concerned face imploringly. "Please take me to my sister! She's in grave danger! I didn't know who else to turn to." Cattana says.
"Of course we'll help, Miss..." Terry says, looking to Tara for a name.
"Cattana." Tara says, helping her friend towel off her long indigo curls.
"-Cattana. Where are your parents?" Terry asks responsibly.
"Our parents are dead. My sister, Swanette, watches out for me. And now I have to watch out for her! Please! Just tell me where you have her! Queen Meta-" Cattana almost utters Metallia's evil name but suddenly remembers to hold back. "-Someone important will be very angry if she doesn't come back soon."
"Where we have her? But I've never even seen your-" Tara begins to deny, looking into her friend's eyes when Cattana cuts her off.
"Yes, you do! I know it! Maybe not you in particular-Maker, Pluto, Saturn-but the other Sailor Scouts. They have her! And I've got to get her back now!" Cattana's look turns even more serious, blazing at the three now even more concerned faces.
Tara was more than a little shocked to find that her school friend was fully aware of their secret identities and the existence of the other Sailor Soldiers.
"How do you know of these things, Cattana?" Terrys asks warily, as he now scrutinizes the young girl before them.
"I-I can't tell you. I shouldn't have come here!" Cattana shouts, fearful all of a sudden, seeing the error in coming to her enemies.
Yes, they are my enemies.
And coming to their home and simply asking for her captured sister's whereabouts was not smart at all.
But Tara is always so nice to me!
Cattana suddenly turns on her heel, rushes away, flings open the door to everyone's surprise and runs out into the hard rain, crashing right into a sturdy object directly in her path.
"There you are, Cattana. Queen Metallia has been anxious over you and your sister's untimely departure. Perhaps you're thinking of crossing sides, too, hmmm?" The dark figure's voice is low and forboding with danger.
"You bring us to 'em, luv! Those wretched Scouts hideout and maybe we'll forgive you and your yellow-bellied sis and her dingo of a boyfriend! Don't tell these saps we're here, and we'll get you off Metallia's hook, okay?" Lady Ruby's voice was unmistakable, even in the darkness and just as threatening.
Cattana hears the familiar 'zzzt' of instant teleportation and knew that the pair was gone, just as suddenly as they came.
"Cattana!" Tara's small voice could be heard rising above the rain's clatterous din. But obviously, she had not seen them as she rushes up to Cattana, while Terry holds an umbrella over both girls protectively.
"Please come back inside and don't worry, everything will be all right. We'll take you to your sister, don't worry. We're friends." Tara's honest crystal eyes break Cattana's heart as she realizes that the only way to get Swanette back into the Queen's good graces was to betray Tara's friendship.
And you're the only friend I've ever had, Tara...I'm sorry...
Cattana thinks sadly as she nods. Tara takes her hand through her slender arm, leading her back into the house.
But I have to watch out for my sister no matter who else comes along. She's most important to me.
Cattana lets the kind hands of Tara's pregnant 'mama' dry her off as Tara brings her to her room and gives her one of her own dresses and sweaters to wear.
I'm coming...
"Very pretty..."
Prizma is startled by a pair of dark green eyes and the smooth words that accompanied them. She gasps for there was something behind those eyes that was so disconcerting to her.
"Who are you?" Immediately, the golden haired woman beside, who had just introduced herself as 'Alex,' speaks up, her voice commanding. The rest of the occupants of the room all look down at their now conscious guest with interest.
The man laying on the bed starts to prop himself up, but the warning look in Alex's eye told him to go slowly, no false moves. Cornered in a room full of soldiers that he knew were those dreaded Sailors, from the descriptions he had studied. Dracon sees no alternative but to obey-
And maybe smooth talk his way out of this one, like he had done so many times in the past, especially with the ladies.
"My name is Dracon, Mrs. Sta -ahem- Ms. Sokova." Dracon was well versed in this particular Soldier's profile. He catches himself, not wanting to get on her bad side just yet. Alex's steely eyes never waver as she looks down at him.
"I'll ask the questions here. Who do you work for?" Alex continues to grill the prisoner but Dracon seemed to have other plans.
"Such a lovely creature-a vision of beauty. Pray tell, what is your name, dazzling one?" Silver tongued devil Dracon was on the attack, but there was something more than just flirting-there was something different about this woman that he noticed. Something truly beautiful and he ponders this as he lets their matching green eyes lock.
"My name...?" Prizma says, becoming lost again in that oh-so-familiar gaze.
"Her name is Prizma and I'm Avery, her sister. It's soooooo nice to meet you." Obviously, a good-looking man wasn't that hard to find after all. Flirty Avery was always ready to step up to the plate.
"This isn't a party!" Alex huffs in frustration at the ditzy woman, giving her a shove out of the way. "Who sent you after us?" Alex demands again, her eyes ice cold serious on Dracon.
"Now you're too lovely a lady as well to be bothered by such mundane questions." Dracon attempts to turn his charm on her.
"Don't give me that cr-!" Alex remembers her presence amongst the younger ladies, whose eyes light up at her choice of words. She had just caught herself in time. She clears her throat. "Don't give me those 'compliments' of yours. Just tell me why you're here." Alex shakes her head when she realizes that Dracon was tight lipped.
"Yeah, pal! I'm the only one who can compliment my-" Sayer steps up from behind Alex, initiating a confrontation.
"Shut up." Alex snaps at him, as Dracon smirks at her tough attitude.
"Ahhh, Sailor Star Fighter. Thank you so much for this little bruise. I never did imagine a woman could hit so hard." Dracon taunts him as he rubs his still hurt jaw.
"You're welcome." Sayer says sarcastically with a crooked smirk, not at all insulted by the intended remark.
"Well, Dracon? You haven't answered the question. Who are you working for?" Lita asks, walking up.
"What's your purpose here?" Rei demands, but again, no reply.
"Why did you attack Sailor Neptune?" Mina tries to break the stone wall.
"Are you from the future?" Amy asks, trying to piece together the connection with the Four Sisters.
"The future?" That question at least, seemed to garner an interest in the man. "No." He answers simply, with an incredulous air. "You asked about Sailor Neptune." He turns an eye on Mina. "It was for the Heir." He answers succinctly. "The purpose...hmmm..." He ponders this one for a moment. "To play a vital role in the New Reign. Now, what else? Oh yes, who am I working for..." He rambles on, moving his quizzical finger from his chin, meeting everyone's gaze as if toying with them, until he lands with an impassive look on Serena, who had thus far, remained silent. "Do you really want to know?" He asks playfully, searching Serena's blue eyes.
"Yes! Please tell us!" She nods bravely.
"I suppose it won't hurt now. Her Royal Majesty, the Queen of Evil, Queen Metallia herself." Puffed up like a peacock, Dracon proudly announces this to them all, revelling in the fact when all the girls shrink back in horror.
But we banished her long ago! How can it be? How can this be?
"Metallia?" As our five Inner Scouts and two cats shout in surprise, they all gasp in the horror at the evil one's release from the darkness she was captured in they thought forever when Beryl was defeated.
"Is that bad, Ally?" A vague recognition of the name in his past, on his home planet flickered through his mind but he could only recall the hushed looks everyone had-the way Queen Melodia had held a frightened Robin close when someone said something about that name, in front of the trembling youngster that seemed so long, long ago...
"Very bad." Alex replies forbodingly. She herself had blurry memories of a battle in the distant past with the wicked Queen-an ancient battle, an ancient loss.
"So as you know, despite your finest efforts, your measly powers cannot contend with hers." Dracon continues with all his bluster to rub it in. Seeing this unexpected moment of their confusion as maybe a chance to flee out the open side window.
But what of Swanette...?
Dracon dismisses the thought and begins to move to his escape but not quick enough for Alex, who dives at his throat.
"Has Metallia been released yet?" Alex asks forcefully, shoving Dracon back down to the bed.
"Stop...You're...choking me..." Dracon tries to pry the iron hands from his neck.
"I asked HAS SHE BEEN RELEASED YET?" Alex repeats angrily, not loosening her tightening grip on his throat.
"No..." Dracon finally chokes out and she thrusts him back down with a thud.
"Then we still have time." Alex informs the shocked at her ferocity companions who look at her fearfully.
"On the Moon, Metalllia couldn't be-" Artemis starts to negatively replay the past defeat of the Silver Millennium but Alex cuts him off.
"She will be this time. She has to be." Alex says firmly, her eyes darting across into the adjoining room where Michelle lay peacefully.
Metallia herself would never be able to change that. She couldn't take away Michelle's peace, no matter what it took for Alex to stop her.
"No, I don't think so." Suddenly, another voice enters the conversation. A high one, with a pitch that seemed to have a birdlike, singsong quality and something else, too. Something almost frightening...
There behind where Birdie and Catzie were standing close to her bedside, Swanette suddenly rises as if wings were spreading, she unexpectedly grabbing the two women's necks. Her long, pointed fingernails threatened to dig into their flesh.
Dracon seizes the opportunity his lover supplied for him as he fires his stored up energy into a devastating blast, blowing all the girls back with a thunderous boom of sound waves, producing a horrid, piercing whine.
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" The girls scream, and Serena finds that everyone was shielding her, with Sayer and Alex in front of the pack.
"Everyone, transform!" Luna and Artemis' sensitive kitty hearing had been hit hard, but she still manages to call out the words before she and her furry partner collapse in agony.
"Right!"
As one, Lita, Mina, Rei, Amy and Serena, nod, producing their wands.
But seeing this, Dracon continues to batter them directly with deadly sound vibrations, making them all sink to their knees to the ground, covering their ears.
SHKKKKK!
A red rose zips through the small crack in the window of Rei's temple, breaking through Dracon's energy vortex, smacking him right in the head, causing him to stop his attacks.
"Sound is such a beautiful thing. What would our lives be without music? Do not desecrate our ears with your foul sounds! For that, I, Tuxedo Mask, will not forgive you!"
A black tuxedo flutters into the window. Tuxedo Mask gives the girls the signal at the enemy's pause.
"Now, Sailors! Transform!"
"URANUS CRYSTAL POWER!"
"FIGHTER STAR POWER!"
"JUPITER CRYSTAL POWER!"
"MARS CRYSTAL POWER!"
"VENUS CRYSTAL POWER!"
"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER!"
"ETERNAL MOON POWER!"
"MAKE UP!"
As one, seven Scouts transform into their Sailor forms. The room glows, blinding with colors of reds, blues, oranges, greens, yellows and white lights.
"STAR SERIOUS LASER!"
"MERCURY ICE RHAPSODY!"
Super Sailor Mercury and Sailor Star Fighter aim their powers precisely at the slender hands of that Birdie lookalike. Swanette squeals back, letting go of Catzie and Birdie.
"Catzie, Birdie, Prizma, Avery! Get out of here!" Rei yells, pointing a finger out towards a side door, over the din of battle as the four women, feeling useless without their own powers, do as directed, and race deeper into the temple through the door.
"URANUS SPACE SWORD BLASTER!"
"JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!"
Even together, these two powerful Soldiers' energies are just enough to match Dracon's stored up, Metallia-endowed sound blast, rocking the entire room with his explosion as the torrid energies collide in the middle of the room.
"What was that?" Outside, Susan asks as the entire temple seems to shake. She, Terry, Tara and Cattana were just at the top of the huge flight of steps leading to the temple.
"You three, stay here!" Terry orders, rushing off, his transformation wings flying from pocket to hand. He instinctively sensed danger up ahead.
"Maker Star Power...Make Up!"
He calls out, transforming into Sailor Star Maker, rushing in just in time to see his battle worn Sailor companions being blasted back by a flurry of feathers, all with sharp deadly spikes at their tipped ends...
"STAR GENTLE UTERUS!"
Sailor Star Maker's deep voice cries out. The volley of deadly tipped feathers were sizzled and melted mere inches away from Maker's downed companions.
"Maker!" Eternal Sailor Moon smiles gratefully at their rescuer, but that smile doesn't last very long as Dracon deftly avoids Sailor Mars' flaming arrow. He instead barrages them with what seems a million lightning strikes.
"SILENCE WALL!"
Super Sailor Saturn's calm little voice calls out into the temple room. Her hurried last minute forcefield as she and Super Sailor Pluto rush in, was only able to block the first blows from the attack. Saturn sinks to the floor from the strain, no longer able to withstand it, her wall begins to collapse.
"Ugh!" Jupiter grunts as she dashes in front, taking the brunt of the hits for the small girl, for lightning was her bag, and so had a high tolerance for its coursing electricity as it overtakes her body. But never before was it in this amount.
"Jupiter!" Eternal Sailor Moon calls out to her friend as Jupiter falls to her knees. Mercury and Venus, too, go down with Swanette's new attack.
"Mercury, Venus!"
"Susan! Leave here now!" Maker commands his pregnant wife as she tries to shield Tara and Cattana both. He then lashes out with all the acid energy at his disposal as he sees from the corner of his eye, a drained and wounded Sailor Uranus shooting him a nasty glare. The Scounts never before needed all the power of each and every one of them.
With her mighty sword, Uranus rushes to strike down Dracon herself.
"That may be good advice, Sailor Star Maker, but I fear your wife will not have the opportunity to heed it. By the way, thank you for leading us here." The words were sarcastic as Lord Opalson suddenly appears beside Dracon.
"Get behind us, Cattana." Swanette orders her younger sister, who freezes at this unwanted betrayal.
Effortlessly, Lord Opalson was ready for Uranus' sneak attack from behind. He grabs the steel tip of Uranus' blazing sword, all the while with a smirk on his face.
Some sort of powerful energy in his hands sends Sailor Uranus screaming, flying backwards, as her electrocuting body sizzles.
"Uranus!" From out of nowhere, Super Sailor Neptune races into the battle towards her cousin, sensing her pain, sweeping in like an ocean wave, as her warm waters envelop Uranus, taking some of the electricity away from the convulsing Uranus, and directing it to herself.
"U!" Fighter cries desperately, rushing to them both, but as he touches Uranus' shaking body, he falls as the electricity transfers to him as well, causing him to pass out as well, thankfully, before it damaged his brain synapses.
"Uranus! Neptune! Fighter! Everyone!" Eternal Sailor Moon cries out in a panic as she watches her Soldiers, her friends, fall, one by one, before her. Her guard was down and she races to her companions, never seeing Lady Ruby's sneak attack from behind.
"Hey, there, luv. I think Metallia'll give us a big bonus for gettin' rid of this one!" Evil intent was clear in her red eyes, only matched by her triumphant husband's Sailor defeat, and wanting to outdo it. The wicked gleam in Ruby's eyes is the last thing Serena sees before the whole world turns red.
RRRRIPPPPP!
Beyond evil, beyond wicked, coarsely, Lady Ruby grabs hold of each of Eternal Sailor Moon's gorgeous white wings. She tears them wildly as Serena shrieks in intense pain. This Moon child's red blood cascaded down to the ground as Ruby viciously grabs Sailor Moon's trembling body, smashing the last hope from this Earth-the shining Silver Moon crystal, in her energy crazed fists.
After the red, Serena's world turns black as she catches a glimpse of Darien's tortured eyes reaching for her as she leaves the world behind...
"SERENA!"
Tuxedo Mask's screeches his beloved's name. Faster than could be believed, he races to her, ignoring the feathered spikes and energy blasts of the enemies he himself was battling. He rushes to her, gathering her in his arms like he always did, but something was missing. Something was wrong. She was gone, her brilliance had faded.
And all the light in the universe for Darien, was just turned off.
"PRINCESS!" The few Scouts remaining conscious shout in disbelief and horror at losing she who was so important to them. She who they had sworn to protect.
Shrieking in anger and pain, Super Sailor Mars explodes a gigantic fireball, frying mercilessly any poor enemy in its path, burning a hole in the far wall of her beloved temple, so crazed was she at losing Serena, before she too, collapses.
"Princess!" Star Maker agonizes as he watches the scene being played before him. The smoke filled the burning room as Lady Ruby narrowly escapes blasts of scorching flames and pure vengeful energy at the loss of this new princess, and the friends he had accepted now as his own. He should've done something to prevent this tragedy beyond tragedies and he feels the hope slipping away.
The bright future he had so longed for, faded from all existence.
If only...
If only...
If only there was more time.
Terry feels tears biting behind his eyes as his hands reach out to the woman he wanted to spend this future with.
And the hand is there. Sailor Pluto's slender fingers wrap around her husband's.
"There can be." With a resolve he had never heard before, calmly Susan whispers to him. Turning to her, Terry sees the Garnet Rod in her other hand, extending out to him as she somehow picks up his desperate thoughts through a link that was now uniquely theirs.
Timeless.
Both of them felt what they had to do.
"Susan."
One look in her eyes and Terry understands immediately what she was trying to say to him. He instinctively knew, as he grasps the Garnet gleaming in her hands. Time surged its powers through both their bodies.
The pact he had made with Time.
The love for his new Princess, his wife and their future brought a new power into being.
"GUARDIAN TIME REVERSE!"
Together as one, they call out, as the smoke in the room swirls into mists of time before their eyes. Pluto and Maker feel Time reversing, spinning, spinning backwards as the tragic past few moments rewind as if in a dream.
Fire dissipates, Mars reappears, the smoke clears, as with joy in their hearts, Terry and Susan watch their precious Princess stand tall once again, whole, with beautiful wings and beautiful Silver Crystal shone upon her.
"CEASE!"
Only through their great love's bond, could they have done this together. Neither could've accomplished on their own, such a feat. Maker and Pluto, now joint Guardians of Time, command everything to be frozen in place, in the moment Lady Ruby stands evilly behind Sailor Moon's back, preparing for her wicked attack. Looking into each other's eyes, they allow Time to roll on again, with not a soul, save for the two of them, the wiser, for this new saving power of Time at their command.
But this time, things would be different. This time, Maker is ready. In place at his Princess' side, Star Maker stands, prepared as Lady Ruby strikes out at Sailor Moon's unsuspecting back.
"You are no lady." Terry says disgusted at the undeserving title for this vile woman. Only he and Susan knew just what her sick mind was about to do to the most innocent of creatures the world had known.
Surprised at Maker's sudden materialization from out of nowhere, Lady Ruby is caught off guard for a split second, but it was all the time Maker needed to force her clawing hands back, holding them securely at the wrists, together in his powerful, determined grip.
"Let go, you bloomin' -" Ruby's Australian accent thickens as she struggles in his strong grasp.
Sailor Moon turns quizzically. She herself was amazed at her friend's quickness but grateful for any aid as she gives him that sweet smile that was only hers that Terry and every one of them cherished. Now, even more so.
Unaware of her changed destiny, Serena continues on her rush to aid Fighter, Neptune and Uranus, as Mars and Tuxedo Mask continue to spar with Dracon and Swanette. Jupiter, Venus and Mercury also rise to battle again.
On the other side of the room, Saturn crawls her way to the dark purple haired girl.
"Cattana? Did you know about this?" Broken hearted by her friend's betrayal in this conspiracy to lead them here, Tara rises to her feet, looking sorrowfully at the girl.
"I-" Cattana starts, as a raging lightning bomb off course, whizzes towards them.
"Children!" Motherly Pluto calls, not only Guardian of Time, but also of this special child named Tara as well.
Struggling with her own hefty weight, pregnant Super Sailor Pluto dashes in front of them, blocking the lightning bolt with her staff deflecting the hit that would've struck down fragile Sailor Saturn.
But Pluto was still too weak from that amazing Time Reverse to hold out for long.
"Susan mama!" Tara cries, cradling her 'mother' to the floor.
"Susan!" Terry releases Ruby, tossing her aside to fly to his beloved, holding her in his arms.
"I'm..." Pluto tries to whisper bravely that she was all right, but she faints under the pressure. The exertion was just too much for her delicate body in this state.
"My love..." Star Maker whispers in her hair and without a second thought, he takes hold of her and her Garnet Rod, and the two of them vanish. Their job here was now done in his eyes.
The vast nothingness that was Time's Doorway greeted them. He was no longer a stranger and it welcomed them both into this domain, that they now both belonged to. Star Maker knew what to do here as well. Pluto's safety was his responsibility. He swore that, no matter the cost.
He cradled his wife and caressed her cheek softly, as he laid her down on a billowy cloud that his mind willed to appear. He was so much a part of this place now that his intellectual mind and caring heart had opened up so easily all the possibilities here, that was hers.
"Sleep well, my sweet." Maker kisses her gently. "Farewell."
He promised himself that no matter what, it would not be 'goodbye.'
"You will be safe here. I will return for you." He gives her one final glance as he runs through the Time Doorway, leading back to the present battle on Earth. Sailor Pluto's Garnet Rod was in his hand and the belt of Time Keys hung from his waist as he leaves, locking all the Doorway's exits with his mind as he disappears through it.
Reappearing mere moments from whence he left the scene, Sailor Star Maker rejoins the battle. Grateful to find Fighter, Uranus and Neptune up and at it again.
"NEPTUNE DEEP SUBMERGE!"
She had doused the flames that Lady Ruby had just caused.
"Where's Pluto?" Uranus, eyeing Pluto's signature Garnet Rod and Key belt that Maker was now donning suspiciously, asks suddenly appearing at Maker's side.
"Don't worry, she's safe. I locked her away in the Doorway of Time." Terry thinks that Alex was also merely worried for her friend, nothing more.
"You did what?" Uranus defiantly asks in disbelief, hands on her hips as she huffs for breath in the midst of battle. Yes, she was concerned for her friend. Yes, she wanted Susan to be safe. But...to 'lock her away' like a pet? That was beyond unacceptable.
"Uranus, I did what I had to do. That's all there is to it." Maker tries to reason with this difficult woman, but his anger at being always looked down upon by her was rising.
"No, that's not all there is to it. Sailor Pluto is a soldier. We need everyone here. "She's not just a mere possession that you can just-" Uranus starts a tirade.
"-protect. Please be quiet." Terry had had just about enough. The two soldiers angrily glare at each other. Uranus was so upset with this...man...that she doesn't see the dark energy beams shooting at her from behind. Maker, fortunately, caught a glimpse and was able to knock her down with him, out of the way.
"GET OFF!" Ungrateful, Uranus shoves her rescuer away. She for one, didn't need his protection.
"SPACE SWORD BLASTER!"
Charged with pure anger, her energy sword slices at the barrier Lord Opalson had erected around the evil group. Everyone was trying to dent a hole in it somehow, so Sailor Moon could do her stuff, but as yet, to no avail.
The forcefield was created to evil specifications to withstand every one of the Sailors' attacks.
"What do we do?" Sailor Moon cries desperately as her friends all throw everything they've got out the now opened ceiling into the starry night as the shield continues to absorb their energies. The group inside begins cackling at the Sailor Soldiers, save for poor Cattana, who looks down at Tara apologetically as her sister scoops her away.
He could do this for them...to prove his love for her. He could protect this princess from another star as well. Terry reaches beyond the boundaries he had already shattered today, digging deeper, and feeling his love's presence nearby inside of him.
"STAR DEAD UTERUS SCREAM!"
Combining their strengths, using her powers, Maker holds up his beloved's silver Garnet Rod, for she was so engrained within him he was able to access its powers as well. Star Maker does indeed prove his worth, blasting an intense acid that encircles the forcefield bubble in the sky, immersing it as it sinks in and melts, layer by layer, until...
"Now, Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask calls as he sees the holes breaking through the sphere.
"Try to heal them, please!" Tara warmheartedly cries out for her friend, that she knew was good inside still.
"Right!" Sailor Moon says, whipping out her tiaru, thrusting light into the air.
"STARLIGHT HONEYMOON THERAPY KISS!"
The night sky explodes with the healing light. Feathers flying around as they try to break through the rest of the energy bubble and help those misguided people inside, but...
Before its shine reaches a single one of the five enemies, they suddenly are snatched away-disappearing by a hand other than their own into the night, leaving only the stars glimmering through the darkness again.
"Oh, no..." Serena whines with a sigh, wanting so badly to heal them if she could. She knew and was afraid of the fact that Metallia herself was lurking behind this all.
Queen Metallia...
Serena gazes up towards the cloudy moon, knowing it was there, though hidden from view by the mists.
Not again. I won't let it happen again.
She looks around in determination, despite the destruction at Rei's temple caused by the evil queen's emissaries trying to stop her.
"Wh-where am I?" Accustomed to speaking aloud to herself, Sailor Pluto's eyes blink open and in a blurring moment, it all seemed to be just a dream-a beautiful dream. But she was back here again. Back in the Doorway she was forever destined to be chained to-alone.
"No! It's not only a dream! My Terry is real. I felt his warmth just moments ago. His soft scent, his strong chest...but then...why am I here alone?" Susan stands as the mists swirl around her. The bleak emptiness of Time seemed even moreso now that she was no longer used to being lonely-to being without him.
Susan suddenly recalls the fierce battle and remembering how she fainted and how...
"He must've brought me here to be safe! Oh, I know I promised but..." Susan strides over to the ever-so-familiar doorway. "I have a princess to protect as well. This struggle is too great and more than that...I want to be by your side." Sailor Pluto moves forward, turning Time's doorway's handle to open to the present era and...
She finds it locked.
"How?" Susan's mind screams. Never before had Time been closed off to her. Never before has this Doorway denied her passage...
"Terry..." She whispers aloud, just noticing that not only was her ever present Time Rod missing, but also her belt of Time's Keys were gone as well.
She realizes the only other person with the ability to sanction her off inside the Doorway, the only other being with the power to seal her in was him. It was all part of the bargain Sailor Star Maker had sworn to, through his love for her.
"My love..." Susan whispers, saddened that she couldn't be with them. "Help them all..."
Yet somewhere deep inside, she was grateful, too, as tears of understanding well up in her eyes. Her hand reaches for her stomach, thinking of the child within she must protect at all costs...
"Thank you..." She smiles, though regretfully, for now all she could do, was hope and pray for his and all the rest of her beloved friends' safety. "Please...come back to me."
Susan prays with the intensity of their love. This empty life here, alone, was something she knew she could never endure again now that she had known him.
Leaving the battle scene in a hurry as soon as the fight was over as night turns into dawn, Sailor Star Maker rushes away, still worried for the wife he would've moved Heaven and Hell to protect...and just about nearly did tonight. He had bravely withstood the full hurricane force gale wind of Alex's tongue.
Through his tremendous love for Susan, Terry Starr had learned how to fully utilize the Doorway of Time, and that meant the powerful knowledge of the ability to lock another within its confines, even a person who had spent a millennia of her own existence there. Although the others, such as Uranus, may not approve, Terry did as he always had, what he believed in his heart to be right. Where Susan and their baby's welfare was concerned, he was absolutely certain he was just that.
Alone on a vacant avenue, on this cold and blustery mid-November morning, Sailor Star Maker lifts his beloved Sailor Pluto's talisman to the skies. The Garnet for a second, gleams, and seems to smile at him for protecting and loving its Mistress so deeply, as the Time Rod he had taken from her, easily teleports him as if it were second nature for this Soldier from a far off world, who had so embraced this one.
In the flash of a moment, Maker finds himself within the misty clouds of the Doorway of Time, but even through the mists, his love-filled eyes could pierce straight through, as he looks upon his lady, well and safe. It was the most beautiful and longed for sight for him to gaze at. Susan too, recognizes her husband through the same eyes. The depth of their bond, through Time and Space, was all-encompassing to them both. She rushes to him, the very moment he appeared-not by sight, but by the trembling of her heart.
"Darling!" Susan flies from her perch overlooking the Doorway that he had locked her behind. She had been anxiously awaiting his return the entire time as she flies directly into his warm embrace.
"My lady, are you well? I was so worried..." Terry stumbles over the words as he lands many kisses in his love's hair.
"Are you all right, darling? I was so worried!" Two minds that are truly one, speak at the same time of their concern for one another. Their eyes meet, and the anxieties soften into smiles as the simultaneous whispers turn into a kiss. Tender lips meet as they feel at ease at last within each other's arms.
Both had de-transformed into their normal selves once again.
"My lady, forgive my boldness, but I will do everything in my power to keep you from harm." Terry begins to apologize, though nothing would've altered his decision.
But Susan puts a finger to his lips. "Thank you, my love. For protecting me...for protecting..." She looks to her stomach and then back up at him. He smiles at her understanding of his position on this point, and he places his hand on her full tummy.
"But, I was so terribly worried about you going into battle. I couldn't bear not being by your side." Susan whispers into his chest, but Terry cuts her off, stopping her trembling lips with another passionate kiss.
"No more talk of danger. Come, my precious. I have a surprise for you." And with the ease of the flicker of a hand, Terry opens the exit of Time's Doorway, and leads his lady, his arm around her, from this misty realm to that of the real world, where hardship and danger were about each corner and all you could hold onto was one another.