Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 8: Hunting Season.
Episode 116: Jaguar.

By Razor Knight
Last update: July 11, 2016
Last edited: June 14, 2017

She knew it, she could feel it. The one who had imprisoned her. It was that person's energy which had awaken her from her sleep. Awakened her to the living nightmare her life was now. How long had passed since she had decided to simply drift away, to give up on trying to escape? She couldn't tell. But the energy she had felt when she woke up, there was no mistake about it. It was her. She could still feel that energy, faintly. Perhaps she was gone again, or perhaps she was cloaking her energy. The only way to find out would be to escape, and to her surprise, thanks to her being in her prison for so long, the only thing that she needed was time. Just a bit more time, and then she would be free, and once again visit her 'friend.'

She felt much stronger than she had been before - another side effect of her imprisonment. She could hardly wait to show her 'friend' just how much stronger she was now. She was sure it would surprise her. Just a bit longer, and she would see her once again. The one who had trapped her. The one who had abandoned her. The one she had grown to love, and then to hate. She didn't know how long it had been, but she could guess it had been a very long time, even by her standards. So she could stand waiting for a little more, now that the rewards - both her escape and her revenge - were so close to her.

"Finally, it's my turn to hunt."

Rex nodded. "Have fun, Jaguar, but be careful. Lion's still healing from his last battle."

Vulture looked up from the computer he was typing on. "That was quite a shock. That guy was stronger than-"

Hyena nodded. "Yeah. Dual Senshi are no joke."

Jaguar frowned at that. "Think that girl will be here soon?"

"I'm not sure. After all, we have a ship, and she doesn't. Still, things could get messy if she shows up before we can even kill one of them."

When Usagi reached the base, she saw someone she wasn't expecting to see. "Huh? What are you doing here?"

"I see you've forgotten your manners, Tsukino."

Usagi blinked at that, then bowed to the man. "Uh, sorry. It's good to see you again, Master Hakko."

Hakko laughed. "Girl, I was joking. I can't say I wasn't expecting it, but you're right now on a whole different level than you were back when I was teaching you and your group."

"I would be if I could use my powers," Usagi said with a sigh.

"Your powers are not there, but your training still is, and your physical strength wasn't affected either, from what I've heard, so you are still quite a fighter nonetheless."

"I suppose that's true." Usagi paused for a second, then smiled. "But back to my first question, why are you here?"

"You're the reason I'm here," Hakko noted.

"What, but-"

"Terry told me about your mood, and I can understand why you feel that way. I won't tell you I know how you feel, because I've never been unable to fight in the past, but maybe I can help you."

"And how exactly-"

"There's techniques I know that you could use even without your magic. Techniques your group has wanted to know about before."

"Why don't you teach them to everyone, then?"

Hakko smiled. "I see Terry was right, you're as selfless as always. But I don't just teach my best skills to anyone, I didn't even teach Terry about-"

"The Alphard? He used it at least once."

The man nodded. "I know that. It's not like there's no way to learn those skills on your own. Which is why I'm going to teach them to you, and you can then, if you want, pass that knowledge along. It's a pity, though, that I wasn't around when you fought Galaxia."

"You know about-" Usagi shook her head. "Of course, you may have heard the legends."

"That I did. Now, I don't mean I would have tried to fight Galaxia, that would have been downright foolish. However, I wish you would have been able to keep the power you gained that day."

"You mean you know about that? How?"

"That guy talks a lot," Hakko said with a smile.

Usagi figured he meant Terry had told him. Still... "I don't regret losing that power, it wasn't something I got on my own. I... Don't like cheating, even if that one time I needed to in order to stop Galaxia."

"I guess I should have expected you to say that. However, what I meant was, I would have liked to see just how powerful you were, with my own eyes."

Usagi looked around the room. "It's weird that nobody else is around, though..."

"Not my fault, unless news of me coming here did spread and they're all cowering in fear elsewhere."

"Yeah, that's probably it."

"I see you can use sarcasm," Hakko muttered. "Anyhow, we'll need someone who can use magic if I want you to learn those tricks."

Usagi nodded. "Aiko, are you there?"

"Sort of," Aiko's voice said from the console. "What's the matter?"

"Are you busy right now? I need someone to train with."

Aiko appeared right next to Usagi. "You forget I can be in more than one place at once." She turned to Hakko and nodded politely. "It's good to see you again."

"You'll do," Hakko said. "I want you to use Usagi as a practice target."

"... What."

Usagi chuckled at that. "I think I know what he'll teach me."

"Yes, I'll see if you can master the ability to reflect magic attacks without using any magic."

"I'll say it again, what."

"Aiko, just shoot him first, he'll show you what he means."

"Sure." Aiko's hands lit up as she leapt away from them, then she took aim at Hakko. "Phase Blast!"

Hakko looked at the incoming blast dismissively, then reached his hand out, slowly turning around and somehow forcing the blast to follow his lead, causing the attack to shoot right back at Phase. "There we go."

Aiko had used a shield to stop the blast, but she was still quite impressed. "I sensed no magic in you. I hate to repeat myself, but 'what.'"

"I'm unable to gather mana on my own," Hakko said, "but I can still sense it and, as you've seen, manipulate it. It's a skill that takes a long time to learn if you're not a magician, but it should be easier to learn for you guys. And with the power Usagi has - be it locked away from her or not - her atunement to magic should let her learn that skill in a matter of weeks, at most."

"Won't learn it until I try," Usagi said, "so, what do I do?"

"Try to sense the magic shot at you, and use your mind to tell it where to go. Moving along with the blast makes it easier to manipulate it."

"I see, just like how magic is easier to cast with motions and words."

"That's right. You may want to use the technique's name," Hakko noted, "Hecate's Touch."

"That's fitting. Hecate, Greek Goddess often associated with magic," Aiko said.

Hakko smiled. "And one of the most magically gifted Demon Huntresses ever born, if legends are to be trusted."

"Okay, I'm ready," Usagi said. "Go ahead."

Aiko shot a small blast at Usagi, who tried to do the same Hakko had done, but the blast hit her square in the chest. "Harder than it looks?"

Usagi was surprised, however, as she hadn't felt the attack at all. "Aiko, what was that?"

"A stun blast, weak enough to knock normal humans out. I use that to knock criminals out, but I guessed it wouldn't be enough to harm you, and my guess was-"

"That won't do."

Aiko looked at Hakko. "But-"

"While you shouldn't use something that would kill her, the weaker the magic used is, the harder it is to be able to sense and manipulate it."

"So I have to use actual attacks on her?"

Usagi sighed. "If you're not up to it, I'll just call someone else."

"Uh, no. I should have known that wouldn't be good enough. I apologize."

"It's not bad to not want to hurt a friend," Hakko said, "but when training, sometimes you have to risk it."

"Okay then, Phase Bolt."

Usagi tried again, and this time the blast moved slightly away from her as she reached out her hand. "Not enough."

Hakko muttered something under his breath. "I seem to have underestimated you."

"What do you mean?"

"Being able to affect a blast's direction on your second try? That's something I've never heard about."

"Guess we do learn faster than normal humans."

"This may take less than a week, then," Hakko admitted. "But enough of that, try again."

Minako looked at the guy standing in front of her. She was used to it by now, but that didn't mean she had to like it. "What is it with enemies and interrupting my dates?"

Jaguar shrugged. "You should worry about other things, Senshi."

Brad was trying to figure out what their enemy was meant to be. "So, seeing that your suit makes you look like a cat... What's your name, 'Catboy?'"

"Jaguar, actually. But I'm not here to chat."

"Yeah, the sooner I kick your rear, the sooner I can go back to what's important," Minako, or rather Venus, said.

"Can you kick what you can't see?" Jaguar taunted, then vanished.

Dragon Venus frowned. "Damn. He's invisible?"

Venus was still able to see Jaguar, albeit barely. "No, he's moving... Damn fast."

"Well, that shouldn't be a problem for you, right?"

Venus sighed and 'vanished' too. However, the Dragon figured things weren't that simple as Venus was knocked into a wall seconds later.

Jaguar chuckled, stopping for a split second before moving again. "You're too slow, kid."

Venus clutched her stomach. "Ugh, I hate to admit it, but he's right."

Dragon Venus smiled. "Well, you just need to be faster, right?"

"Right, why-" Venus said then groaned. "Oh, of course. I could use a bit of help."

"No matter how many of you I face, I'm still the fastest warrior in the universe," Jaguar snapped.

"Gloat all you want, but you'll see what speed is in a second," the Dragon said, opening his book at seemingly random pages. "Hermes' Speed. Griffin's Flight. Anzu's Wings. Vayu's Wind."

Venus could feel the effects of the spells instantly. True, she could have cast a few speed buff spells herself, but those would be using her energy and tire her down faster. Right now, Jaguar was, figuratively, facing two Senshi of light, and she was going to show him how fast she could be.

Jaguar wasn't quite sure what was going on. He had seen Venus vanish, and he had been hit several times in a matter of seconds. Was it possible, she was faster than even him? "What the hell are you-"

Venus smirked as she hit Jaguar again. "Something I've learnt from fighting evil for years: Don't tell your foe how you're doing something, unless having your strategies wrecked by them is in your 'to do' list."

Jaguar took another hit and growled. "Damn it, this can't be! I'm the fastest-" A kick to the face interrupted him, sending him crashing to the ground. He looked up and saw Venus there, looking at him as energy crackled around her.

"Not anymore," Venus said with a smirk, then 'vanished' again.

Aiko looked up and frowned. "Damn, I hate these guys."

"I hate not being able to sense them, too," Usagi admitted.

"Minako and Brad are fighting one of those Senshi Hunters," Aiko said, "I'm already telling the others about it."

Usagi frowned. No, not yet, but she had to keep training. She wanted to help them, but she had heard about the abilities these Hunters had, and without her magic, she wouldn't be any help. But perhaps after her training was done... "I don't like not being able to help, but I've learnt to trust my friends."

Sailor Pluto wasn't a person who would be surprised, or confused, too often. But this was one of those rare times when confusion was the one thing she couldn't help but feel. Even though she had never felt it herself, she knew what it was. Time itself being changed. It was why she had decided to stay out of her friends' current war. A war she had not foreseen, an interruption to the peace that had come earlier than she expected. And now, she could feel it, the ripples of time beyond the gate. What was worse, was the gates weren't opening. She could only think of two beings with the power to stop her from opening the time gates. Only a Serenity or a Senshi of Pluto could do it, so it had to be either her future self, or Usagi's future self, doing it. But why?

It wasn't just confusion she felt. There was something else, something she had never felt before. "So this is what it feels like," she said out loud, even though there was nobody around. She looked at the gate again. Yes, she could feel something - someone - approaching the gate. And she knew exactly who it was. But why. Why was she coming to this era? She concentrated and frowned. Time itself was changing, being rewritten. She couldn't see Crystal Tokyo anymore. Was the future she had worked for no more?

It was the first time she had felt like this. Helpless.

Venus stopped running and breathed heavily. She could see the Dragon was also tired. She could feel the buff spells fading one by one, and she also felt her own mana was almost gone. Still, they had given Jaguar quite a beating. "Guess you're a tough kitty after all."

Jaguar was glad his guess had been right, whatever Venus had done, was temporary. "Tired already? Good."

Dragon Venus saw his girl fly straight through a wall, and growled. "Damn it!"

Jaguar was about to gloat, but was hit by a few fire blasts. He landed on his back, but stood up quickly, noticing a new foe was there. "That's rude, Mars. Interrupting a fair battle is-"

"Shut the hell up," Mars said, "I don't care about your rules or your self-deluded motives, you're hurting my friends so I'll burn you to a crisp."

Dragon Venus shook his head. "No."

Mars saw the Dragon was shining, and smiled. "... Maybe I won't need to burn you to a crisp yet."

Jaguar knew what the Dragon was doing. "Oh fun, you kids keep on upgrading, that's cheating."

"As Rei so nicely put it, shut the hell up," the Dragon snapped. "Venus Cosmic Power!"

Mars could see the Dragon's book looked different. Its pages were golden and its cover was completely white and featureless. "Saw that coming," she mused.

The Dragon looked at his book as his transformation ended. "The Grimoire," he said. "It has a quite interesting ability."

Jaguar frowned. "Are you going to tell me what it does? Guess your girlfriend was smarter than you."

"Rei, shoot me with your best attack."

"What-"

"Trust me."

Mars sighed. "Okay, here goes." She rose her arms, and a rain of fire balls fell on the Dragon. Or, at least, that's how it should have gone, but instead the fire was all absorbed by the book, and the Dragon opened it, its pages facing Jaguar. "... Did you just-"

"Grimoire of Fire."

Jaguar could barely move after the attack. It had been quite unexpected, the book had shot a swarm of fire balls at him, but that was wrong, Dragon Venus' element was- "Damn... It. Cheater..."

The Dragon walked to Jaguar. "Tired already? Good." Jaguar said nothing about the Dragon's mockery of his taunt. Instead, he decided to leave and live to fight another day.

Mars was confused. "What the hell did you do?"

Dragon Venus was checking on his girl, and nodded as he saw she was just out cold. "The Grimoire lets me absorb magic thrown at me and shoot it back, using my own mana to increase the attack's power. That may sound broken, but I think you can figure out ways to bypass it."

"If magic won't work, I'll just punch you in the face," Mars said.

"Yeah, that's one way to do it," the Dragon agreed. He saw Venus staggering up and smiled. "Welcome back."

Venus saw his suit was different, and she also noticed his book. "Oh. You beat him?"

"You don't need to sound that surprised," the Dragon muttered, "but yeah, I did, with some help from Mars.

Venus sighed. "Good."

"You don't sound... Happy," Mars commented.

"That guy, Jaguar, was faster than me. I've been so sure of my speed and using it as my main weapon lately... But it's useless against that guy."

"Nobody is invincible," the Dragon said, "you just need to get a rematch."

"Oh, I'll be waiting for one," Venus said.

Elsewhere, two warriors were making their way through a place which they had rarely ever visited before, and weren't having an easy time doing so.

One of the two figures sat down, breathing heavily. "Damn it, I need to rest for a bit. I don't think stopping will make us any more lost than we already are."

"We need to hurry, they may already-"

"I know, and I'm sorry. It's been too long since I've been here, and I wasn't quite paying attention to the path for the first few hours."

"I... Yes, you're right. It's not your fault, all things considered, I'm also worried. And you also haven't eaten in several days, that-"

"You look as tired as me."

"Won't say that's a lie, but I'll drag you out of this place myself if it comes to that."

"Good," the first figure said, standing up. "Let's go."

"Are you sure-"

"We have to save them. I won't fail again."

A/N: I've not been in the mood for writing for months. Hopefully that will change now, but I'm not making any promises. Anyhow... What better way to get back into writing this story than with some foreshadowing?