A/N Okay, here we go, next chapter. I really debated long and hard over this one. I've written and rewritten it a few times, but it still leaves me a little disappointed. So I apologize in advance if this one isn't quite up to par. I want to give a quick thank you to Atem's Sister Atea for pointing out a glaring mistake that I have made concerning Emma. She has Mina's blonde hair and Kunzite's gray eyes. I know I have slipped up and said that she has blue, and that was just carelessness on my part. I guess I keep confusing her with Mina in my mind. So just disregard what I said about blue eyes. Emma's are gray.
All right, moving on. I've gotten so many wonderful reviews from all of you, and I wish I could hug you all in person. But since I can't I'll have to do it this way. BIG HUGS TO:
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As always you humble me with your words of praise. I love hearing from each and every one of you guys. Well I'm going to let you move on now.
ENJOY!
The Galactic Trinity
Chapter 11
The Party Never Stops
Crystal Tokyo – The Far Future
The once beautiful city no longer resembled the grand place it had once been. The streets that had once been filled with people and the sounds of them hurrying about their daily lives now stood as silent as tombs. The survivors of Discord's rampage had fled years ago, fearing that it made them too much of a target to stay in the city. Small villages and communities had popped up all over the countryside and in the mountains, and to people's relief the powerful entity had never come after them.
Instead he had targeted the large cities around the globe; decimating them and breaking down society, sending the people of Earth back a couple of thousand years in the way they lived.
He had been met with resistance. His enemies had even attempted to seal him away once again, but with his prized pupil at his side they hadn't stood a chance. He had originally planned to reduce the planet to a cloud of dust and rubble, but had been thwarted every time. So for know he just sat back and enjoyed surveying the destruction of what had once been a great and powerful planet.
War raged between his forces and the inhabitants of the Crystal Palace. He had expanded his army of guardians and sentinels over the years, but it was his little pet who had proven to be his biggest asset in the battle. She fought with a ruthlessness and anger that could outshine a whole platoon of his most powerful warriors. His warped, twisted being always beamed with pride when he saw her pitted against those that had once been her friends and loved ones. After all, he wasn't called Discord for nothing.
But for now the woman in question lay inside the confines of a small clearing that had been protected by Sailor Mercury over a thousand years before. It was one of the few secrets that she had kept from Discord when she had begun working for him, and it had become her sanctuary over the years. His power had been unable to touch this place since he wasn't aware of its existence, and it remained much as it had before. Green grass stretched out across the ground and the trees stood tall and leafy.
A small fissure distorted the air as a man appeared. He looked around until he spotted the woman lying in the grass, his face twisted in anger as he stomped toward her.
Her head lifted when she heard his steps, and in a snap she was on her feet, the sword that had been lying at her side in her hand. "What the hell are you doing here?"
A smirk twisted his lips. "Contrary to what you and your boss think, this is still a free planet. I can go wherever I damn well feel like. But to answer your question, I came to find you."
She snorted. "What's wrong, do you feel the need to have your ass kicked? I came here for a little peace and quiet, but I'm game if you are."
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Would you just shut up a damn minute and listen to me? You had to have known that Emma would tell me about your little trip onto the palace grounds the other day, and she came to some interesting conclusions about you."
She groaned. "Emma! I should have known! That girl has always had the biggest mouth on the planet."
He looked her over as she grumbled. Gone was the girl he remembered. The hair that had once spilled down her back now hung to just below her shoulders. She wore a pair of tight fitting jeans and a mid drift revealing black tank top that showed off her slim, lightly muscled body. A pair of dark sunglasses shielded her eyes even though night was beginning to set in.
She studied him in return. This was the first time in fifteen years that they had been in each other's presence for more than five seconds without going for one another's throats. His hair was longer than he used to wear it and was shaggier than ever. His jeans and black button down shirt hugged his broad, muscular frame. His haggard face was in desperate need of a shave and he also wore a pair of opaque sunglasses.
He raked a hand through his hair. "Look, I didn't come here to fight. I just want to know, are you planning something? Emma came up with some crack pot idea that you were going to try to change the past."
She countered with a question of her own. "I don't see how you are here at all. How did you find me? It's not like you can sense where I am anymore."
"You're changing the subject," he growled. "I may not be able to sense you anymore, but don't forget that I know you. I probably know you better than you know yourself. I've known for years that this place was still here and that you come here often. And now it makes sense. Discord can't see inside the barrier, so it's the perfect spot for you to hide if you are plotting something against him. Now tell me what you're up to!"
Her face flushed red. "It's none of your business! Maybe I'm not planning anything. Emma tends to have an overactive imagination. I've been known as the crazy one for the last fifteen years, so why would anyone believe that I'm hatching some grand scheme? I work for the enemy, remember?"
He shook his head. "I never thought you were crazy. I just couldn't understand why you turned your back on all of us the way you did. It didn't make any sense for you to go crawling to Discord after everything that he did to us. He ripped our lives apart, and then you betrayed us all by joining him. I've never been able to accept that. So if this has really been part of some plan, please tell me."
Her hand began to tremble and she dropped the sword to the ground. "I'm going to save him. I'm going to give him the chance to live. I will erase this time, and I hope that it will be better. It was my fault that he died, so I'm going to set it right. Our lives will turn out differently."
"It wasn't your fault. You didn't kill him," he protested. "Hey, I miss him too, every single day. But you can't go playing around with the timeline like this. Sure, things may turn out better, but they could also be a lot worse. The whole planet could be destroyed!"
She could feel his eyes on hers through both pairs of dark lenses. "I may not have physically killed him, but it was my actions that led to the events of that night. I will not allow it to happen again. I already have my orders from Discord to kill our past selves. I think he got a kick out of giving me a suicide mission. He told me to be sure to kill myself last so that I don't disappear before the job is done. Sick bastard!"
"So don't do it!" he snapped. "Don't go to the past. Come back home and we'll come up with a way to defeat him. We may not be able to change the past, but we can save the future."
She shook her head. "You don't get it! He owns my soul now. When he gives an order I have to follow it or I will die! That is the only thing that has made me do the things that I have done over the years. I had to bide my time until we reached this point so that I would have the chance to go into the past and change history. So I'll go and rough our past selves up a bit to keep him happy and wait until I have the chance to strike. The moment I betray him I will die. But it doesn't matter because time will reset itself and I'll be alive again, just hopefully with a different future."
He gaped at her. "What do you mean he owns your soul? How could he have that much control over you?"
She fingered the tattoo on her right shoulder. "He wasn't stupid enough to blindly accept me into his service. I had to pay my dues in order to get into the position I'm in today. He was leery of me in the beginning, and rightly so. So I had to pledge my ultimate loyalty to him by turning the control of my life over to him. If I ever betray him or not follow an order that he gives me, my life is over. The first order that he ever gave me was to kill you on sight. That's why I attack every time I see you. But here he can't see, and that's the only reason why we are even having this conversation."
He took a step toward her. "Kat…"
She jumped back, shaking her head. "Don't! I knew what I was doing when I started this. I'm not afraid to die. Sometimes I think I'm more afraid of living, especially with only half my heart. Half of it died with him that night, the other half belongs to you. So this is my chance to put it back together again."
He pulled his sunglasses off to reveal irises that swirled with a mixture gold, silver, and red-orange. "Kat, look at me, please."
She sighed and removed her own sunglasses. Her eyes matched his perfectly.
"Let me help you," he whispered.
She smiled sadly. "You can't. The moment we leave here I'll have to try to kill you or die. It's the tragic story of my life nowadays. But hopefully that will all soon change."
He stalked forward and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. "I won't let you sacrifice yourself like this! We've already suffered through enough loss and death. Don't add to it."
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Don't worry. You won't even know I'm gone. The future will be rewritten, and if the fates allow it we will be together again, all of us. Now, will you do me one favor?"
He sighed and laid his head on her shoulder. "Anything."
She pulled back, breaking the embrace so that she could look at him. "Tell mom and dad that I love them and miss them. And tell them not to worry about me. I don't want any of you to worry about me. I'll be fine."
His multicolored eyes blazed brightly before he let out a fierce snarl and teleported away.
Her shaking knees gave out and she slumped to the ground as tears began to fall from her own swirling eyes. "Alex, DJ, everyone, I'm sorry. I'm going to try and make it right. I promise."
DJ sighed and put a hand over the two that were twisting in the fabric of the black skirt. "Would you stop that! You're going to rip a hole in it."
Startled hazel eyes flew to meet his. "I can't help it! I'm just so nervous! I just know that I'm going to screw this up somehow."
From her other side Alex chuckled. "Yeah right, Kat! You haven't missed a single note since you were like ten."
"Shows what you know," she retorted in a quivering voice. "You never sat in on my lessons with Michelle. You only heard me play when I was playing for fun. Trust me, I've made my share of mistakes."
"Everybody makes mistakes sometimes," DJ told her soothingly. "And even if you were to miss a note, I don't think anyone would hold it against you."
"Hey! What's with the long face?" Andrew asked as he walked up with Jess on his arm. "You're not worried about the performance, are you sweetie? I just know that you're going to be brilliant."
Katie blanched white at his upbeat words. "Oh god! I think I'm going to be sick!" She jumped from her seat and took off in the direction of the nearest ladies room.
"What did I say?" Andrew asked, bewilderedly.
Jess patted his arm. "Don't worry about it. I'm on it. It seems she inherited my nervous stomach. I'll go calm her down."
"What a spaz!" Alex said with a grin. "I hope Jess catches her before she locks herself in a stall or she'll never get her out of there."
DJ wandered off, leaving Andrew and Alex to laugh about Jess and Katie and their wacky antics. He saw Serena over by a refreshment table talking to the scouts. It was funny how they always ended up together. Lita had catered the food tonight. Mina and Raye had come because the general's company had donated a nice sum toward the building of the new children's wing of the hospital. Amy had been attending these functions for years since her mother was on staff at the hospital. Michelle was there, of course, to play her violin.
The only ones missing were Amara, who was gone to a race and Rini and Hotaru, who said that they had other plans. As for Trista, well, she was around earlier, but no one ever knew when or where she would pop up or disappear.
Not wanting to get caught up in the women's conversation, he made sure to make a wide circle around them. He saw Darien talking to couple of doctors that he had been introduced to earlier and recognized them as being the chief of staff and the head of emergency medicine for Tokyo General.
He inched closer, hoping to hear some interesting medical things. He may not ever get to become a doctor himself, but he would always be fascinated by it.
"So Darien," said the older, portly gentleman that was in charge of the hospital. "Have you thought any more about my proposal for you to head the pediatrics emergency center when we get the new wing opened later this year?"
Darien took a sip of his wine. "I have, Conner, and I'm honored that you offered it to me. But I'm sure there are older, more qualified doctors for the job."
"Nonsense, my boy!" the other man protested. "You're just the man for the job. I was just telling Eric the other day how lucky we were to have you. You went to Harvard for crying out loud! Some American hospital could have convinced you to stay there and work for them. Didn't I say that, Eric?"
The third man nodded. "Yes, you did. I must admit I was a little apprehensive about you in the beginning because of your age, but after the first few shifts I worked with you I was convinced. How old are you now?"
"I'll be twenty four in August," Darien answered.
"Amazing!" Conner exclaimed. "Most people your age are only halfway through medical school. And you're getting married at the end of the summer too! What does your lovely fiancé do?"
A smile lit up Darien's face. "Serena is studying to become a teacher."
Eric snickered. "A doctor and a teacher, huh? Well you two will be quite the couple."
DJ couldn't contain a snort of laughter. A doctor and a teacher indeed! More like a future king and queen.
Three heads swiveled in his direction. "DJ, what are you doing?" Darien asked him.
"Oh yes! This is your cousin that you introduced me to earlier, isn't it?" Conner asked in a booming voice. "Come join us young man."
DJ shuffled over to stand next to Darien, seeing both doctor's eyes widen as they took in the resemblance between them.
"So do you have any interest in medicine, DJ?" the older man asked.
DJ's face brightened. "As a matter of fact I do. I've taken just about every form of math and science course available in hopes of going pre-med when I start college in the fall."
Eric nodded. "So you're graduating this year. And how old are you?"
"I'll be seventeen in May," he stated proudly.
Conner chuckled. "Another early graduate in your family, huh Darien? You must have some good genes being passed down."
Darien shared a conspiratorial wink with DJ. "You could say that."
"Well there's someone I think you ought to meet. Now where did they go?" Conner mused. "Oh there they are. Joseph, come over here for a minute and bring that darling daughter of yours with you."
A tall, brown haired man walked over and Conner introduced them. "Joseph Wellington, meet Dr. Darien Shields and his cousin DJ. And the young lady hiding behind him is…"
"Susan?" DJ said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
A light blonde head peeked out from behind Mr. Wellington. "Oh! Hi DJ. I didn't know you were coming tonight."
"How wonderful! You two already know each other," Conner cackled in glee. Just then some music started playing. "DJ, why don't you take Susan out for a spin on the dance floor. You young prodigies have to stick together you know."
"O…oh, but…" Susan stammered.
"Susan!" Joseph Wellington snapped. He eyed her coldly and cocked his head toward where other couples were beginning to dance.
Susan bowed her head. "Yes daddy. Come on, DJ," she muttered, grabbing his hand and pulling him after her. But instead of dragging him to the dance floor she led him through a set of glass doors and onto a terrace.
"I'm so sorry about that," she apologized profusely once they were out in the warm night. "My dad can be a little overbearing sometimes. My mom usually comes to these kinds of functions with him, but she's out of town on a business trip. He made me come with him because he thinks it's good for me to get out and mingle."
DJ felt a rush of sympathy for her as he thought about all of the long boring events he had suffered through being a prince. "Hey! I understand completely. We'll just hang out here for a few minutes until the heat passes."
"Thanks DJ! You're the best!" Susan cried, throwing her arms around him and pressing her lips to his.
DJ flew back into the railing that surrounded the terrace. He automatically wrapped his arms around Susan to keep them both from tumbling to the floor. When he had them both steady on their feet he ripped his mouth from hers. He was about to lay into the girl when he looked up and felt his blood freeze in his veins.
A pair of eyes pinned him in place. The hazel green gaze made his heart stutter for a moment as they stared at him with heartbreak before blazing into anger. Then the fury cooled to an icy glare that he had hoped to never see on her face ever again.
He pushed Susan away with perhaps a little more force than necessary. "Kat, wait! It's not what you think!"
"Oh really," she drawled in a cold tone. "I didn't just see another girl in your arms and you kissing her? Hmm, maybe I should go get my eyes checked because that's exactly what it looked like to me."
"K…Katie, really, i…it wasn't like that," Susan stuttered hesitantly. She broke off into a startled squeak as Katie swung her eyes to her.
"I had you pegged from day one, you little slut!" Katie growled. "The only reason I'm not ripping the flesh from your bones right now is because I would never embarrass my family and friends by causing a scene at such an important event. But you better hope I never come across your skinny little ass in a dark alley somewhere, because I can't guarantee that you will live to regret it."
She took a deep breath and turned back to DJ, about to say the words that would sever their relationship forever, but a voice began screaming at her in the back of her mind, telling her that if she did this she would be making one of the worst mistakes of her life.
She looked into his blue eyes and saw the conflicting emotions there. Fear was the most predominant; fear that he was going to lose her. She sighed deeply. "Look, DJ. I can't keep doing this ping pong thing. Either you're with me, or we go our separate ways. The choice is yours."
Relief flooded his face as he hurried to her side. "I'm yours, you know that. I don't want anyone else."
But Katie wasn't giving in quite that easily. "We'll see. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a performance to get ready for." She spun on her heel and stomped away, DJ trailing silently after her.
Susan stood there fuming. "That little bitch! She was supposed to kick his ass to the curb, not give him another chance. She was done with him. I saw it in her eyes. Why did she change her mind like that?"
"Maybe she's not as big of an idiot as you think she is," an amused sounding voice said.
"Who's there?" Susan squeaked, looking around the dark terrace. She gasped as a tall, slender woman in a black tank top and jeans stepped out from the shadows. Her hair was hidden by a black cap and she wore sunglasses even though it was night. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm either your best friend or your worst nightmare, whichever one I end up being is entirely up to you, Sasha," the person said in a voice that sounded eerily familiar.
Susan rolled her eyes. "You must have me confused with someone else, lady. My name is Susan.
The woman chuckled, a cold sound that sent shivers down the younger girl's spine. "You may be able to fool others, but not me. I know all there is to know about you, little girl." She snapped her fingers and the concealment spell around the teen shattered, revealing strawberry blonde hair and jade green eyes.
"How did you…" Sasha began weakly.
The woman tapped her chin with a long finger. "I told you, I know everything. And I'm here to tell you that if you don't want to die a long, tortuous, agonizing death you'll go inside and drag Jack out of there. Pull him out by his hair if you have to, I don't care. And then the two of you should run as far and as fast as you can. If you don't, I can't guarantee what will happen to you."
Sasha stalked over to the woman and pulled herself up as straight as she could, but she was still a few inches shorter than her adversary. "Do you think you can scare me? You say you know everything, so you have to know who I'm working for."
A smirk twisted the woman's lips. "Of course I know who your boss is. And I also know that he doesn't have any plans for you to be in his future, except as a gruesome Halloween decoration tacked to his wall, so I'm offering you a chance to save yourself and Jack. As for scaring you, well I can do that too." She pulled her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose.
Sasha jumped back with a screech at the sight of those swirling, multicolored eyes. "Holy shit! What the hell are you?"
The woman regarded her coolly. "I am Discord's Harbinger of Death, and your replacement. Now get the hell out of here while you can." With another snap of her fingers the concealment spell was replaced.
Sasha gave her a wide-eyed stare of fright before turning and running as fast as she could.
The future Katie sighed and rubbed her temples before saying softly, "You may as well come on out, Pluto. I know you're there."
Trista stepped out from the shadows and appraised the younger woman cautiously. "I was wondering when you would show up. I've been expecting you."
Katie gave her a wry smile. "I'm sure you have. Discord may have blocked you from the time gate, but he can't keep everything from you. So I'm assuming you know why I'm here."
Trista nodded. "I do. And while I don't condone the manipulation of time, I understand why you're doing it. I just hope that it works out in our favor. The timeline is already beginning to blur just by the few small things you've done already. In just a few short minutes you have already started altering the future."
"Well I couldn't have my past self make the same mistake I did," Katie grumbled. "I still kick myself in the ass when I think about how I broke it off with him right here in this spot all those years ago without ever giving him a chance to explain. I just made her stop and think for a minute. But that's not enough, things could still turn out wrong."
"That's true," Trista agreed. "One small, seemingly insignificant event can change everything. All you may have done is prolong the inevitable. That fight could still happen. The same mistakes could still be made. And he still may die."
Katie shuddered. "I know. That's why I'm begging for your help, Trista. You know what I need you to do."
Trista sighed. "Yes I do. And I'll do it only because I want to see the future put back the way it's supposed to be."
"Thank you," Katie said softly. "There's one more thing that I want to ask you. If this turns out badly, could you make sure he gets this?" She handed Trista a small box tied with a silver ribbon.
Trista eyed it for a moment before nodding gently. "I will deliver it to him personally."
Crystal Tokyo – Rini, DJ, Katie, and Alex's current time
"Good grief girl, I wish you would quit moping. You'll have your man back with you soon enough," Skye said as she flung herself down in a chair sideways with her legs hanging over the arm.
Emma blinked her gray eyes and turned her attention to her friend. "Sorry, it just gets kinda hard sometimes. Here it is Saturday night, and my boyfriend's a thousand years away. This sucks!"
"Well we could always go out and hit a club," Skye suggested. "It might do you some good to have a change of scenery."
"Ooo, is that an invite? I'll go with you lovely ladies and keep you company," said a curly haired blonde boy with bright blue eyes.
Skye snorted. "In your dreams, Jayden. You're not even old enough to get into a club. You're only fourteen."
He wasn't perturbed by her rejection. "I know, but everyone says that I can pass for sixteen. That's why I have this." He whipped something small and plastic from his pocket.
Hannah, who had been quietly reading a book, looked up, appalled at what she saw. "Where did you get a fake ID?"
Jayden smirked at the dark blue haired, green eyed girl. "I've got friends in low places. So what do you say ladies, should we go shake up the town?"
Emma shook her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. A club is no fun unless you're dancing, and I'm not dancing with anyone but Alex."
"But we need to do something," Skye complained. "It's no fun sitting around with the adults and the little kids."
Everyone was assembled in the large entertainment room of the palace that was bigger than some people's houses. Nick and Kyle were currently bashing each other on some video game while six-year-old Corey cheered them on and Ryssa sat nearby trying to appear bored but was unable to keep the interest from her eyes as they followed the characters on screen.
Serenity, Jess, Mina, Raye, and Lita were all teary eyed as they watched some romantic comedy on one of the large screen televisions. Endymion and Andrew were shooting pool. Amy and Zoicite were wrapped up in a game of chess. And Kunzite, Jadeite, and Nephrite were playing cards.
The four bored teens looked around dispassionately, thinking about the old days when DJ and Katie would have kept them entertained with their constant bickering and Alex would have them rolling with laughter as he desperately tried to break them up. It just wasn't the same without them.
"Come on! Let's go to the park or something," Emma said, standing up. "I need some fresh air."
"Sweet!" Jayden exclaimed as he jumped from his seat. "I'll be the envy of Crystal Tokyo walking around the park with three hot chicks!"
"Call us chicks again and you'll be talking to my fist," Skye growled. "Put that book down, Hannah and join us."
The four left the room. The younger kids were oblivious to their absence, but the adults watched them with small knowing smiles twitching their lips.
Serena applauded ecstatically as the last notes from Michelle's violin faded away. The hotel ballroom that had been rented out for this fundraiser had wonderful acoustics, and the music that had swelled from the strings had filled every corner of the room.
Darien chuckled and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Michelle's playing always did have this kind of effect on you."
She smiled up at him. "I can't help it. It's almost like I can feel the waves of the ocean when she plays. It's very emotional."
The applause faded as Michelle began speaking into the microphone. "Thank you so very much. My next two pieces are a collaboration for both the violin and the piano. My usual accompanist, Amara Tenou, was unavailable this evening, so I've asked one of my students from Azabu High to assist me. Please help me welcome Miss Katie Morgan." There was another round of applause.
Next to Serena, Jess was chanting, "Please don't pass out," over and over under her breath. She had her fingers crossed on both hands as she watched her future daughter make her way toward the stage.
Andrew squeezed her gently. "She'll be fine. Stop worrying so much."
Serena frowned as she saw DJ attempt to touch Katie's arm to help her up the steps and saw the girl jerk away from him with a glare like he had burned her. "Uh oh, did the two of them have another fight?"
Serena and Jess both turned to Alex, who was nearby. He held his hands up in front of him. "Don't look at me! I haven't seen either one of them since Kat had her meltdown earlier."
They turned their attention back to the stage where Katie had taken her place at the piano and held her fingers poised over the keys. Michelle gave her a worried look, but at the sharp nod she received from the girl she situated her violin and raised her bow.
It started slowly with the notes from the piano tinkling softly in the background while the violin took the lead. But as time went on the piano became more forceful, weaving in and out of the violin's melody as if challenging it for dominance. The next song was even more compelling as the two instruments mocked each other in what sounded like eerie echoes.
Silence hung heavy in the air once the last of the music died away, and then the crowd went wild. The clapping and cheering grew louder as Michelle and Katie both bowed and walked off stage.
DJ stood at the bottom of the steps and held a hand out as Katie reached the bottom. Knowing there was no way to refuse him without causing a scene, she placed her hand carefully in his. Once her feet were securely on the floor she tried to pull away, but he held fast.
"Let go of me!" she hissed at him.
"Not on your life!" he growled back. "I think we need to have a talk."
She glared at him. "I'm too mad to talk to you right now. Maybe later."
He switched his hold from her hand to her arm. "Tough shit, because I've got some things to say to you."
"I don't care!" she whispered furiously. "Do you know how hard it was for me to sit up there on that stage and smile and play while I had images of you kissing another girl running through my head? This is the second time you've done this too me."
He blinked in confusion. "What do you mean the second time?"
Her mouthed opened, but she was saved from answering as they found themselves surrounded by the others. The stood there with their eyes locked on each other in a silent battle while everyone jabbered around them, neither of them moving a muscle.
At least not until Alex went to hug his sister. He tried to pull her away from DJ, but the dark haired prince refused to let go of her arm. A tug of war ensued between them with Katie trapped in the middle.
She finally snapped. "Would you two stop it! I'm not a rope! DJ, let go of me, now!"
"Not until you stop being so damn stubborn and listen to me!" he fired back heatedly.
He saw silver flash in her eyes a split second before he felt a stinging in his hand that had him jerking it back from her arm. Tiny silver sparks danced over her skin where his hand had been.
His face flamed red and his eyes turned gold for the briefest moment. "Fine! Let me know when you get a life!" He turned and stomped away.
"Don't hold your breath!" she called after him, jerking away from Alex and striding off in the opposite direction.
Alex stood there for a moment, his head swiveling back and forth between their retreating forms before he threw his hands in the air. "That's it! I give up on them! I can't take any more of their drama!"
Then he stalked off as well, leaving a group of shell shocked adults behind. They all looked at each other in astonishment for a minute before glancing around to make sure no one had witnessed the little power play that had just taken place. But the crowd was still mingling around, oblivious.
"Whatever it is, they'll work it out," Darien finally said.
Jess chewed on her lower lip. "I don't know. Maybe I ought to go after Katie and make sure she's okay. She seemed really upset."
Andrew put his arm around her shoulders. "Just give her some time to cool down. She probably just wants to be alone right now and think. Kinda like someone else I know."
Serena, like Jess, was debating whether or not to follow DJ to make sure he was okay. Then her gaze landed on Mina, and she grew concerned at the glazed look in her friend's eyes. "Mina, what's wrong?"
The blonde woman shook her head with a little laugh. "Oh, nothing. I just thought I felt something strange there for a minute. Probably because those two knuckleheads are bickering. It's no big deal."
"If you say so," Serena said doubtfully, shivering a little as a sudden burst of surprisingly cold wind blew through the room from the open terrace doors. She felt uneasy, like something big was about to happen. It was the same feeling she always got right before there was an attack. She looked out a nearby window toward the moon, but it seemed dimmer tonight than usual and didn't give her the comfort that it normally did. She felt Darien pull her closer to his side and she looked up to see a concerned look on his face.
Darien frowned as he felt an unexpected surge in the Earth's crust. As the reincarnated prince of Earth, he was in tune with his planet. Usually the energy was a comforting hum under his feet, but something had disturbed it.
He shot a glance at Jess and found her staring at him and Serena with the same look of concern on her face. With her power being born of the moon and the earth, she could sense when either were disrupted.
"Are the kids doing this?" she whispered.
"Doing what?" Andrew asked hurriedly. "What's going on? You look like you're about to pass out."
Raye was standing nearby. "Something's brewing. I don't think DJ or Katie is responsible for this. Someone else is manipulating the power of the earth and the moon."
"That's impossible!" Lita scoffed. "Jess is the only one capable of controlling both, and from the looks of her I think it's safe to say she's not doing it."
Shrill screams split the air and several people ran in from the terrace yelling, "Monsters outside!" One lady in particular was going on about how it looked like a zoo break with all of the large cats and wolves while another said something about creepy people with glowing red eyes.
Panic reigned supreme as people began rushing toward the exit that would lead them into the hotel and away from the threat outside. Serena, Darien, and their friends stayed put until they saw the last of the people push their way out the doors and leave the ballroom deserted. Then they ran for the glass doors to get a feel for the situation. It looked like Discord had finally made another move, they were just grateful that DJ, Katie, and Alex had left the scene. Perhaps the three of them would be safe.
They had just reached the doors when they felt a surge of energy surround them as an icy wind slammed all of the doors shut.
"Well that was easy," a voice said softly. "Did you know that the group of you move like a school of fish? You're always together. That makes it easy for me. Now all I have to do is sit and wait for the guests of honor to make an appearance."
They spun at the sound of the voice to find a blonde woman in a black tank top and jeans on the stage sitting cross-legged on the piano bench. A small pair of dark sunglasses were perched on her nose and a black baseball cap covered her hair.
"Great, is Discord getting so desperate that he's sending blind people after us now?" Lita snickered sarcastically.
The lady in question let out a throaty laugh. "I assure you, Sailor Jupiter, my vision is perfect. But my eyes tend to make others…uneasy."
"But you don't deny that Discord sent you here?" Raye sneered. "I can feel his dark power all over you."
"Please!" she scoffed. "Like I need that old fart's power. You're supposed to be the great psychic, Mars. I know you felt me a few minutes ago when I was summoning a few guardians and sentinels to scare everyone away so that we could have some privacy. I prefer to not have an audience when I work."
"You did that?" Jess growled. "Thanks for the unexpected little double whammy. I thought my head was about to spin off my shoulders. A little warning would be nice next time."
The mystery woman smirked at her. "Aww, what's the matter? Not feeling quite so special anymore? It's really not that big of a deal."
Jess took a threatening step forward before Andrew stopped her by grabbing her arm. "You're a real bitch, aren't you!"
The woman shrugged. "Bitch is probably one of the tamest words to describe me. I've been called a lot worse over the years. Now where did my three favorite little people in the world go? I'm anxious to see them."
Now it was Serena's turn to let out an angry snarl. "You're not going anywhere near those kids, you circus freak! Everyone, let's transform and teach her not to mess with us."
A bubble of energy sprang up around them before they could activate their transformations. It snapped and crackled ominously around them.
The woman on the stage sighed and put a hand to her temple. "I see we're going to have to do this the hard way. Contrary to what you think you know about me, I hate violence. I have no grudge against any of you. I'm just here to do my job and get it over with. Now why don't we just wait patiently, the ones I'm seeking will join us soon. The energy of that shield blocks transformation powers, so don't even bother trying to transform."
She uncrossed her legs and turned on the bench until she was facing the piano. She placed her fingers on the keys and began playing an eerie, haunting melody.
Discord let out a howl of outrage as the time stream flashed and several other alternate timelines erupted like spider legs, branching off from the original river. Some of them still showed him taking control of the earth, while some revealed an empty void in space where the planet once was. But what caused him the most concern were the timelines that showed Crystal Tokyo bustling as always, Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion still standing proudly as the rulers.
"What happened to cause such changes?" he growled under his breath. "Who is the one that would dare to try and sabotage my plans.
A quick look into the past showed his newest protégé with Serenity and her court all neatly restrained inside an energy shield. Obviously she was carrying out her part of the mission with very little effort, and that pleased him to no extent. So why the changes in the future?
"Jack! Sasha!" he snapped. There was a flash of light, and then the couple appeared before him. They were locked in a heated argument and oblivious to the change in their surroundings.
"Why would you believe anything that comes from a stranger?" Jack said exasperatedly. "For all you know she could have just been some psycho. Or better yet, she may be in league with Katie, DJ, and Alex."
Sasha shook her head. "I don't think so. She knew entirely too much. She saw right through my disguise and knew that you were posing as my father. If she was working with the others I think she would have told them that."
Jack threw his hands up. "Who the hell knows? She may have just been some nut job off the streets. I'm not putting a lot of stock in what she had to say."
"It was more than that, you imbecile!" Sasha screeched. "Her eyes were like something straight out of a horror movie. I think that she could have snapped me in two like a toothpick if she wanted to. She scared the living shit out of me!"
Discord decided to intervene. "So I see you've met my new associate, Sasha. Yes, she is quite intimidating, isn't she? But she is no concern of yours. Now tell me, how goes your mission?"
Both heads snapped around, surprised to find themselves at the time gate and in Discord's presence.
Sasha quickly pasted a smile on her face. "Everything has gone according to plan. Katie caught DJ and I together in a rather compromising situation earlier and about blew her stack. It's only a matter of time before she and DJ are ready to rip one another's heads off. Alex is always so overprotective of her that I'm sure he'll get dragged into it as well. They'll be so busy fighting among each other that the god's will never give them the Trinity. They'll be so weakened that they'll be easy to pick off."
"Good, good," Discord mumbled. "You have done well. Now I think you both have earned a little vacation. How about you return home and let my newest acquisition take over for a while?"
Jack snorted. "So Sasha was right! This freak that showed up told her that she was our replacement. Was it the truth?"
Discord's red eyes glittered dangerously in the wrinkled face of the human body he inhabited. "I'm sure that I can find a suitable place for both of you, but for now I believe my new pet is better equipped to handle the situation. You have both done well and will be rewarded. Now leave me so that I may concentrate on the task at hand."
The two bowed their heads. "Yes sir," they said quietly and stepped through the portal that opened behind them. They had barely landed on the lawn of the house they had grown up in before Sasha took off at a run toward the house.
Jack ran after her, following her to her room. He watched with interest as she threw a couple of suitcases on the bed and began piling the contents of her dresser and closet into them. "Sasha, what are you doing?"
She gave him a wild-eyed stare. "I'm not taking any chances. If what that woman said is true, I'm not going to sit around here and wait to die. I have my own car, money, and a good education, so I'm out of here. I think we made the wrong choice when we decided to stay here with him. We should have gone on to Crystal Tokyo like we originally planned. He's been using us all this time in a sick little game and I don't want to play anymore!"
Jack sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Give me a minute to pack my stuff before you go running out of here, okay?"
She spun around, clutching a shirt to her chest. "You're coming with me?"
He gave her a cocky grin. "Of course I am. You can't expect me to let you go gallivanting around by yourself. There's no telling what kind of trouble you'd get yourself into. Besides, we made a pact to always stay together. So wherever you go, I go."
Sasha squealed before leaping into his arms and peppering his face with tiny kisses. "Thank you! I knew I could count on you!"
Jack chuckled before placing a lingering kiss on her lips. "Well that's settled. Now finish packing while I get my stuff so we can blow this place."
In less than twenty minutes Sasha was speeding away from the compound in her loaded down, emerald green car. She smiled as she glanced in the rearview mirror at the boy on the black motorcycle behind her. She reached a main highway and turned her car in the direction of the safest place that she could think of for them to go, Crystal Tokyo.
Back at the time gate, Discord snarled as yet another timeline sprang to life. He had thought about it and had come up with the only possible conclusion for why this was happening.
Sailor Pluto was the only person capable of moving through time without passing through the time gate, thanks to her garnet orb. That was how she had managed to hide those miserable little brats from him as long as she had. She could travel from time to time almost without his knowledge. He could only locate the small space-time distortions when he was actually looking for them. And now that he looked, he could see that she had made a couple of time jumps this night.
The stupid, meddlesome woman! He had never believed that she would willingly tamper with the time that she held so sacred. It went against everything that she stood for. Even when the Silver Millennium had fallen and her precious queen had died, she had not turned back time or interfered in any way to try to prevent the events of that day. It would have gone against the laws of Chronos. Instead she had borne her grief for a thousand years and had waited until her allies had been reborn. So what was she up to now?
"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" DJ cursed himself under his breath. How could he have just walked away from her like that? Okay, so she had a right to be mad and upset right now. He would have been too if he had come across her in another man's arms and kissing him, but would it have killed her to at least listen to him.
'But you know how Kat is when she loses her temper. You're lucky all she did was freeze you out and glare at you. She could have kicked your ass,' his brain told him rationally.
That was true enough. He loved the girl with all his heart, but she was freakishly scary when she was mad. He could only hope that she calmed down soon so that he could talk to her. But she was so stubborn. It could be a cold day in hell before she would talk to him again.
He began pacing back and forth. After he had stomped off from his girlfriend in anger he had found himself in front of the hotel, itching to just take off into the night and find a quiet place to think. But he knew it wouldn't be a good idea to wander too far away.
He felt anger bubble up inside him. He had caught on to what Susan had been up to fairly early in the game, but had turned a blind eye to it thinking that the girl would get the hint that he wasn't interested in her that way. He had thought it was working until tonight. Of all the times for her to throw herself at him, she had to pick right when Katie came across them.
His temper snapped and he sent his fist slamming into the brick wall that surrounded the hotel, grimacing as he unintentionally called on his alter ego's powers. He felt pain as a few bones in his hand crunched and a couple of bricks tumbled to the ground.
He looked around to make sure nobody had been witness to his little tantrum, and then he shrugged before using his crystal's power to heal his hand. The enemy already knew where they were, so why bother hiding his power?
Then the screams started. He looked up to find people pouring from the hotel, screaming about monsters as they ran for their cars to get away as quickly as they could.
'Great! This is just what we need right now!' he thought as he pushed his way through the crowd to head back inside.
'What a couple of absolute morons!' Alex moaned to himself as he threw himself down in one of the chairs in the hotel lobby. Every time he thought the two of them had their shit together, they had to go and pull a stunt like this. The idiots we're madly in love with one another. So why couldn't they just get along?
He ran an agitated hand through his hair, thanking the fates or whoever once again for delivering Emma into his life. His relationship with her was for the most part uncomplicated. Sure, they'd had a few spats, just like every other couple. He was his father's son after all, and even levelheaded Andrew had been known to lose his temper on occasion. And as much as Emma resembled her mother as far as personality went, she had a streak of her father's seriousness in her. But most of their arguments were short lived and were over something stupid like where to go have dinner.
Yeah, he preferred that any day over the explosive combination of his sister and best friend. He was trying his hardest to respect Katie's wishes and not interfere with her life, but he had seen the shattered look that had been hiding beneath all of the anger burning in her eyes. And then when the two of them had unintentionally called on their powers he had been afraid that they were literally about to go for each others throats, and it had scared the crap out of him.
Whatever had gone down between the two of them was serious this time, and it took all of his self control to not run after DJ and deliver on his promise to rearrange his face for daring to hurt his sister.
The smell of something burning wafted past his nose and he looked down in surprise where his hand was gripping the arm of the chair. It was glowing a fiery red orange and tendrils of smoke were beginning to rise. He jerked his hand away to reveal a scorch mark in the material that was larger than his palm.
"Great! Now they have me spazzing out too," he grumbled. "Why is this happening now? We are supposed to be a team, but now it feels like we're falling apart."
Screams erupted from the nearby ballroom and people began stampeding through the doors like a herd of frightened cattle. He jumped to his feet and moved out of the way as the hysterical people ran out the front exit, screaming about monsters.
He scanned the crowd, but saw no signs of his parents or friends anywhere. Of course if there were an attack they would stay to fight and not escape with the rest of the people. He edged his way toward the doors as the last of the stragglers darted through. Just as he was about to slip inside, a strong gust of wind blew the heavy doors shut with a bang.
He tried the knobs, but found the doors to be locked tight. He spun for the exit, intending to run around the building to the terrace doors to see if he could get in that way. Just as he reached the door, he collided with another body and went sprawling out across the marble floor of the lobby.
He looked up and glared at the other person who was in a similar situation in the doorway. "Shit DJ! Why don't you watch where the hell you're going?"
DJ shook his head and returned the glare with one of his own. "You've got a lot of room to talk, dumb ass! When did you turn into a human battering ram?"
"Can it asshole!" Alex fired back. "I would really love to drag you off somewhere and beat the shit out of you for whatever you did to hurt Kat so much, but right now we have bigger fish to fry. Something's going on. My senses are tingling all over."
DJ stood and dusted himself off. "Mine too. I heard some of the people talking about wild cats and zombies, so I'm assuming there must be some sentinels and guardians lurking around somewhere."
"Neither my parents nor yours or any of the others came out of the ballroom," Alex told him. "I tried to get in, but the door closed and locked before I could. I was about to go around to the back and see if I could get in another way."
DJ nodded grimly. "Then let's go. Kat's not in there too, is she?"
Alex's blue eyes flashed red orange for a second. "Would it matter to you if she was?"
"Of course it matters!" DJ yelled. "Look, I know she's pissed at me right now, but it's for all the wrong reasons. I thought that perhaps you at least would give me the benefit of the doubt."
His friend eyed him dubiously. "We'll talk about it later. Right now let's see what the hell is going on."
Katie's eyes were clouded with tears as she flew across the wide expanse of grass behind the hotel. She had kicked off her high heels at some point and her bare feet barely made contact with the ground before they were lifted again.
She knew that she was moving too fast, that she was using her scout power to give her added speed and would appear as a blur if anyone saw her, but she didn't care. She had to get away somewhere completely by herself before she exploded. She could feel it bubbling up inside her, trying to break free.
She finally reached her destination, a wooded area a short distance away from the hotel, but she didn't slow as she barreled through the trees, weaving through the maze of trunks until she was several yards in where nobody would be able to see her.
Gasping and sobbing, she fell to her knees. She held her glowing silver hands in front of her and stared at them for a moment before letting out a broken scream and falling forward to slam her hands into the ground where she harmlessly released the energy into the earth.
She sat back up, gulping in breaths of air in an attempt to bring herself under control. She knew that she was probably overreacting to the whole ordeal; she refused to believe that DJ would betray her so callously. But the sight of him locked in an intimate embrace with Susan kept replaying in her head like a bad dream.
To make matters worse, it conjured up the older images of him in a similar situation with Sasha the night of his parent's anniversary party. She had never told him that she had witnessed that moment between him and the strawberry blonde, but it had always haunted her that he had fallen so easily into the other girl's arms after kissing her only a short time before. Okay, it had really only been a brief meeting of their lips, but it was still a kiss, and it had been her first.
"I am so stupid!" she moaned. She should have known that just because DJ had professed his love for her that it wouldn't erase his playboy reputation. Even if he was just plain old DJ Shields here instead of Prince Darien James of Crystal Tokyo, he still had the looks and the magnetic personality that drew girls to him like a moth to a flame.
How could she ever compete with that? Sure he said he loved her now, but what about next week, next month, or next year? He had girls from affluent families all over the world throwing themselves at him. It was only a matter of time before he decided that one of them were better suited for him, and then she would be tossed aside. Perhaps it was best if she broke it off with him now so that she could begin to mend her broken heart instead of waiting for him to rip it to shreds later.
"I don't know what to do," she muttered, kneading the heel of her hand against her forehead.
Then an inner voice, the same one that had stopped her earlier when she had almost laid into DJ, popped up. 'Well I'll tell you what you should do. Get up off the ground and carry your skinny little ass back up to the hotel. Don't you feel the change in the air?'
Then she felt it, the shiver that always ran down her spine whenever a guardian or sentinel was nearby. Great! That's just what she needed right now. She jumped up and began making her way back the way she came. She paused at the edge of the tree line and stared in horror at the sight of a large number of Discord's little flunkies milling around. People were screaming in the distance, and she could see them scrambling back inside the hotel.
None of the enemies made a move to attack, and she found that odd. It seemed that they were there as more of a scare factor than anything. She knew that she had to find a way to get back inside and find the others, there were too many of these guys for her to try to take on by herself, and running away wasn't in her.
"Crap!" she whispered harshly. "How the hell am I supposed to get past these goons?" She looked at the space of several hundred yards that separated her from the terrace that sat just off the ballroom. The moon was dim tonight so it was pretty dark, but not dark enough to hide her if she tried to make a run for it. Those guys would be on her in a heartbeat if they spotted her.
Then an idea dawned on her as she studied the large clumps of tall bushes that were situated about every fifteen feet apart between her and her goal. They cast long shadows across the ground. Katie's power as Sailor Eclipse came from the moon, but she had discovered when she was younger that, like her mother, she could use shadows to conceal and camouflage herself. It was a power that had been a specialty of Queen Althea of Earth during the Silver Millennium, and it had been passed down to her granddaughter. Katie just hated using it because she was so afraid of the dark.
"Might as well bite the bullet on this fear too," she grumbled as she concentrated on the shadows nearest her, calling them in to swirl around her. She panicked for a moment as her vision went almost completely black, but soon discovered that if she squinted hard enough she could see.
She dashed out from the trees as silent as a ghost, and made a beeline for the nearest stand of bushes. She reached it with no problem. Great! One down, fifty gazillion more to go. She kept darting from bush to bush, having a few close encounters with the enemies along the way, but thanks the power of the shadows none of them saw her.
It took quite a few minutes, but she finally reached the stairs leading up to the terrace. She dashed up the steps as fast as her feet could take her, glancing over her shoulder to make sure she was still in the clear. She wasn't watching where she was going, so she completely taken off guard when she crashed into someone and they both fell to the ground.
"Oof," she felt a breath whoosh past her ear as she landed on a firmly muscled chest. Then a voice growled, "What is it tonight with you Furuhata's knocking me on my ass? Geez, Tinkerbell, that hurt!"
"Sorry!" she gasped as she realized exactly whom she had collided with, and she scrambled off of him without making eye contact. She was still confused about what to do about their relationship, and she knew that seeing him would just muddle her brain more.
"It's okay," DJ grouched as he sat up. "I don't think anything's broken. But you should really watch where you're going."
"I said I was sorry! What more do you want?" she snapped, still refusing to look at him. "I was trying to make sure that I wasn't about to be attacked from behind. In case you haven't noticed, there's a small army of guardians and sentinels out there."
"Yeah, we saw them," Alex interjected before anything else could be said. He reached down and helped her up. "We think mom, dad, and the others are still inside, but the other doors are locked so we snuck back here to see what was going on."
"Then what are we standing here jabbering about? Let's go!" Katie demanded.
The three of them tiptoed across the wide expanse of flagstones until they reached the glass doors that led into the ballroom they had been in earlier. Muted piano music drifted through the glass and out to them.
Katie shivered at the sound. "Moonlight Sonata. That has got to be my least favorite song I have ever learned to play. It always gives me the creeps."
They snuck a peek around the edge of the doorframe, all three let out a string of curses so vile that their mothers would have washed their mouths out with soap if they had been there to hear them.
Serena, Darien, and the others were trapped inside an energy shield, untransformed and obviously unable to escape since the men were all pounding against it with no effect whatsoever. An unknown woman sat at the piano on the stage, playing the haunting tune.
A burst of wind suddenly blew the doors open and the woman called out to them without looking up, "You may as well come in since you decided to not heed the warning I gave you before about running if you ever saw me again."
Katie's startled gaze met DJ's for a second before swinging to Alex's. The three of them shared a look of understanding before nodding and stepping into the room.
"So you're the mystery lady from yesterday?" DJ said cockily. "Nice to see you lost the druid look. I think cloaks and hoods went out quite a few centuries ago."
Her head turned toward them. Dark lenses covered her eyes, but a smirk turned up her lips. "Always the smartass, aren't you? Yes, I suppose that look is rather…dated, but it does come in handy from time to time when you don't want to reveal all of yourself to someone. I should have known it would be only too easy for a genius such as yourself to figure out that I was a woman."
DJ shrugged nonchalantly. "Actually, Katie was the one that convinced me that you were female. The way you kept changing the tone of your voice had me undecided for a while."
Katie felt goose bumps rise up on her arms, almost as if she could feel the eyes behind the glasses pass over her. She even felt a little light headed for a second before the woman seemed to turn her attention to Alex.
"And Alex, it's nice to see you this time since I missed out on the opportunity last time I dropped in," she said as if welcoming him to a party.
"Whoa, you weren't kidding, sis. She's a total whack job," Alex said in a loud stage whisper to Katie who nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh yes, ha ha," the woman said, never breaking stride in her piano playing. "But I'm afraid the time for jokes is over. Discord's little pets haven't seen any action for a while, so I thought I'd let them give you a warm up before I have a go. I'm sure you won't mind. And please make sure you're on your guard, because as you can see, your back up is a little…preoccupied."
The guardians and sentinels that had been outside began pouring in the doors, snarling and snapping, clearly ready for a good fight.
"Shit! What do we do now?" Katie growled.
"Well Pluto told us not to transform unless it was life or death. I think this would qualify as that," DJ said with a grin, already glowing as his transformation started.
"Sounds good to me," Alex agreed as he also began transforming.
"Hey wait up for me!" Katie complained. "I want a piece of these assholes too!" She grabbed the diamond at her throat. "Eclipse Power!"
She sighed in relief as the silver ribbons shot out around her and their energy helped chase away the nausea that had been churning in her stomach since she set foot inside the room. In a burst of silver sparks, Sailor Eclipse emerged to take her place between Phantom and Phoenix.
"So what's the plan boys?" she asked in a casual voice as she eyed the pretty substantial number of enemies they were facing.
"I say we pull an A19 on them," Phoenix said with a smirk, bringing up memories for all three of them of when they were younger and suffering through their long training sessions.
Phantom rolled his eyes. "What are we, twelve years old again?"
Eclipse had to agree. "For real bro, I thought we stopped naming our strategies over two years ago. You play too many video games"
Phoenix pouted at them. "You two are no fun anymore. In any case, I think that's the move we should pull on them."
Inside the energy shield, Serena was gaping at them in shock. "What are they doing? They're treating this like it's a video game at the arcade instead of something serious."
Next to her, Jess was practically twitching. "Whatever they're going to do I wish they'd get on with it. I just hope there are a few of those dirt bags left when I get out of here. I'm itching for a fight."
"Amen sister!" Lita agreed. "I wouldn't mind getting my hands on queen bitch up there either. She seriously irritates me."
"I'm a lover more than I am a fighter, but I could be down for a little rough and tumble myself," Mina said in a low voice. It wasn't often that she lost her cheerful demeanor, but she wasn't the leader of Princess Serenity's scouts for nothing. When push came to shove, Venus was as lethal as any of the others.
Michelle clucked her tongue. "It's a shame Amara isn't here. Then you could all stand around and trade your bloodthirsty little comments together."
"Whatever! Somebody just better get us out of this soon!" Raye snapped from where she was standing with an arm closely wrapped around Jadeite. The poor general's face was ashen and he was close to hyperventilating. He suffered from claustrophobia, and being closed up in this small, cramped space was starting to mess with him.
"Any ideas?" Darien murmured to Kunzite.
The silver haired general nodded. "Yes, several, and each one is more useless than the one before. We may not be able to transform, but we could try using our powers on the shield. But more than likely we'd just end up with the attacks bouncing right back at us."
Zoicite nodded. "Probably. This barrier is the same as the ones Talon used against us when we were fighting him a year and a half ago. So until she," a waved a hand carelessly toward the woman on the stage, "decides to let us go, we're stuck."
Nephrite cracked his knuckles. "So we're trapped like rats. That sucks!"
The future Katie watched her prey carefully as her fingers continued to dance across the keys of the piano like they had a mind of their own. She snickered to herself as the three of them pressed their heads together, talking animatedly. How she remembered those days. But she was on unfamiliar territory now because in her past this particular confrontation never took place. Instead it had been the beginning of the end of her life as she had known it.
She shook her head minutely. She couldn't afford to dwell on those thoughts at the moment. She had to concentrate on the mission at hand. The changes had already been put into motion, and it would take careful orchestration to see that things went the way she hoped they would.
She gave a nod to the guardian closest to her, signaling that they could attack at will, and the fight started. The guardians and sentinels sprang forward, converging on the teens that stood poised and ready.
Eclipse tried to control her rapid breathing as she vaulted over the head of the red-eyed man that rushed her, twisting and flipping in midair to land behind him. She spun and kicked him in the back, sending him sprawling on the floor before silver sparks shot from her fingers to surround him and he disappeared with a poof.
Phoenix sidestepped a charging wolf, grabbing it by the tail as it passed him. His hands flared with solar power before the mutated animal let out a piercing howl as it was incinerated by blazing flames and crumbled into ashes.
Phantom was a blur of black as he engaged a guardian that was wielding a sword. He had pulled his own blade out and met him blow for blow until he was able to slip under his opponent's defenses and send his sword plunging into his stomach. It glowed gold as he sent a burst of energy rushing through it, making the guardian vanish in a puff of smoke.
Katie watched in amusement as they slowly worked their way through half her forces. Then she felt it, the sign she had been waiting for.
"Enough!" she cried, banging the cover down over the keys of the piano with a thud as she stood. "Obviously your reputations as excellently trained fighters are well deserved. But warm up time is over. It's time to proceed to the main event."
All activity stopped at her words. The remaining enemies backed away, leaving the three panting, tired looking teen heroes to stare at her warily. Before any of them could blink, silver ropes had shot from her hands to wrap around both Phantom and Phoenix.
Eclipse was floored by the sight of someone else using one of her signature attacks against them. "Hey lady! That's my move! How the hell are you able to do that?"
"You'd be surprised at what I can do, little girl," she sneered. "Now let's you and I have a little chat. Here's the way I see it. On one hand I have your brother, your twin, the one that has been with you since the moment of conception. On the other hand I have your boyfriend, the prince that you've been fantasizing about most of your teenage life. I could kill them both with a mere flick of my wrist, but instead I'm offering you a choice. I'll give you the chance to save one of them, but you must decide which one is more important to you."
Sailor Eclipse's eyes widened in shock. "You can't ask me that! There is no way I could ever make a choice between them. I'll tell you what I'd like to do though. I'd love to beat the shit out of you right now. So what do you say you let them go and we take this little discussion outside, or are you too much of a chicken to take me on."
Her opponent shook her head. "If you only knew. You still have a lot to learn." Then an unexpected smile graced her lips.
The room suddenly lit up in a flurry of multicolored light as a golden arrow pierced the rope holding Phoenix and a snake of flame severed the hold on Phantom. A hailstorm of crackling stars and icicles rained down, destroying the remaining enemy forces.
Serena and the others gasped as the barrier around them faded and they were free. None of them wasted any time before transforming.
Eclipse scrambled to the two boys that had fallen to the floor. "Are you guys okay?"
They both groaned, but assured her that they were fine. "But where did those attacks come from?" they asked together.
"Thought you guys could use a little help," a voice said from the still open glass doors. Everyone turned to see three sailor scouts and a boy dressed in a red uniform standing there.
"Who are they?" Sailor Moon asked as she and the others rushed to join Phantom, Phoenix, and Eclipse.
Phoenix let out a whoop of glee as he ran to the blonde scout in a peach colored fuku and picked her up to spin her around. "What in the world are you doing here?"
She shrieked with laughter and flung her arms around his neck. "Pluto came and got us. She said you guys were getting in above your heads and might need some help."
Eclipse grinned for a moment at the sight of her brother being reunited with his girlfriend, but then turned her attention back to where that devil woman had been, only to find her gone. Her head whipped around until she caught sight of a shadowy figure slipping through the doors to the lobby.
"Get back here, you bitch! I'm not done with you yet!" she screamed, taking off after her at full speed. She heard the others yelling at her to stop, but the anger pounding through her was too great. She had a score to settle with this psycho for threatening two of the most important people in her life.
Some of her friends had nicknamed her Cheetah back when they were younger, and for good reason. The only to people that could hold a candle to her when she was running were her mother and Sailor Uranus. But as she chased the fleeing woman through the hotel lobby and out the front entrance, she realized that she might have found some healthy competition.
She pushed her legs to go faster as she hit the street, keeping the woman in her sights. She saw her duck into an alley and quickly followed her without thinking.
She gasped as she felt a hand wrap around her throat and her back slam into a brick wall. Stars exploded behind her eyes as her head snapped back with a hard thud. Her hands scrabbled to claw at the hand that was choking the breath from her. She opened her eyes and would have screamed if she could as she met a pair of swirling multicolored eyes.
Blue light erupted from the end of the alley as Sailor Shadow appeared and shot an energy blast at her attacker, but it bounced harmlessly off a wall that sprang up between them.
"Now you listen, and listen well," the woman rasped harshly in Eclipse's ear. "The time is coming that will change your life forever. You are the only one that can control what happens. So either you grow up, or someone you love is going to die. If that happens, you will suffer from a lifetime of agony unlike any you could possibly fathom. The darkness will consume you and you will become a creature just like me. I promise you that."
And then she was gone. Eclipse fell to the ground, gulping in breaths of air as she lay there. She heard Sailor Shadow speaking to her and the voices of the others as they arrived. Arms were holding her, but she didn't know whose. All she could think of were those parting words.
Someone she loved could die. And if they did it would be all her fault.
A/N So yes, now we know that Katie is the one that turned traitor, but she didn't really because she has an ulterior motive to try and change the past in order to save the future. One of the boys has died while the other one lives. I will be revealing which one is which very soon. Emma and Company arrived in time to save the day! Yay! Things are about to get crazy for our scouts and generals. If anyone is confused about whose child is who, there is a list of them in my notes at the end of chapter 2. Sasha and Jack finally wised up and took off, but they may appear again before this is all over. Future Katie has confronted her past self and scared the living daylights out of her. Okay, I hope that you guys enjoyed this, it was a pain to write for some reason, but I'm ready to move on. Anyhow, don't forget to tell me what you think. Reviews are the breath of life to me. Lots of love to you!
~Sere~