A/N I finally get to post this. Yay! I was hoping to have this chapter up days ago, but I had some issues come up. (My life is always full of issues…lol) Anyway, I had to go out of town for a few days. The place I was staying at claimed to have wi-fi, but it was very iffy and impossible to keep a connection for more than 5 seconds. On top of all of that I was in the middle of nowhere, so there was no Starbucks or even a McDonald's for me to go and try to get a signal, so I gave up. The good news is that since I had no internet access, I spent my time working on this. So this chapter is about 50% longer than usual and has lots of stuff going on. Okay, where are my wonderful reviewers so I can hug them? Oh, there you are! BIG HUGS TO:

Seredhiel05

Atem's Sister Atea

silvermermaidprincesskerry

haylee

VAlvr04

anime-lover10

MeganLeBlanc

tiny2008

nileena

CharmedSerenity3

amaramichelle

mandii-xo

ailzzzz

GoldenDragon326

S dot Serenity

KageNoNeko

Swinkinator

SailorMercuryROCKS

SlackerDee

TanithLipsky

Thank you sooooo much! I was happy to see that everyone seemed to like the fluffiness in the last chapter. There's a little of everything in this one, action, drama, comedy, and some romance. Just as I warned you at the very beginning of this story, even though some of our heroes are still teenagers, they will be dealing with some sexual situations. It's nowhere near lemon quality because I want to respect my readers and the rating, but come on! They're hormonal teenagers in love and things are bound to get heated. Okay, nuff said. Let's move on!

ENJOY!

The Galactic Trinity

Chapter 14

Sparks Fly

Mount Olympus. Home of the gods. A timeless paradise where the deities that had reigned over the universe since the beginning of time spent their immortal existence either in frivolous pastimes or watching over the lives of the mortals.

Most of the gods claimed that watching the humans was no fun since they were forbidden to interfere in their lives, but there were some that still kept watch over the human realm.

One such goddess was doing this now as she sat beside a fountain and used the water as a mirror to look in on the billions of people of Earth as they went about their daily lives. Their existence was so extremely fragile. She watched as a new life was born into the world. The crying infant drew in its first breaths of life as it was laid upon its mother's chest. At the same time another soul reached the end of its journey and departed for its next adventure.

The blonde goddess thought of how life was full of opposites. Life and death, love and hate, light and dark, good and evil, these were all things that had to exist to make life possible. Each negative balanced out the positive.

She looked up as she saw a shimmer of light and smiled as a woman appeared. "Well, Setsuna, it's been a while since you've graced Olympus with your presence."

Sailor Pluto inclined her head respectfully. "It has been far too long, Athena. It feels almost surreal to be here and to hear myself being addressed by that name."

Laughter sparkled in Athena's emerald green eyes. "And you will never hear me address you as anything else. Setsuna is the name you were born with, so that is what I will always call you. I assume you have come to meet with your grandfather."

Pluto nodded. "Yes. He sent me a summons to come see him as soon as possible. I'm actually surprised that it took him this long to contact me."

"I am too," Athena agreed. "I thought the old man would have snapped long before now. You've been a very naughty girl. There are so many people out of their proper place and time that I can't even keep up with who belongs where anymore. And then there's the little problem with you losing control of the time gate."

"Don't remind me," Pluto moaned. "There's no telling what he's going to do to me for this."

"Well I must say, your antics have kept things amusing around here," Athena giggled. "You wouldn't believe the screaming matches that have been going on. Your dear grandfather cornered Apollo, Gaia, and Selene the other day and gave them a real earful about all of the stuff that's going on with their little chosen ones messing up the timeline. The Fates are about to have nervous breakdowns because they don't know whose life lines to cut anymore, and Aphrodite is about to pull her hair out because the soul bond between the little prince and his girlfriend keeps bouncing back and forth between weak and strong. Your Uncle Hades keeps grumbling that he better get at least one dead person from all of this mess, and on top of all of that you have Ares, Hermes, and Poseidon taking bets on whether or not it's all going to end in Armageddon."

"Great!" Pluto muttered sarcastically. "I may as well say my prayers now, because I'm toast if Zeus gets a hold of me. I'm shocked he hasn't already sent a lightning bolt down to fry me."

Athena waved a hand. "You don't have to worry about him just yet. He's been really stressed out and short tempered recently, so Hera threatened everyone with mortality if they say a word to him about your little problem. So you should be safe for now."

Pluto sighed. "Thank goodness for small mercies. I guess I better go face the music. It's not going to get any easier if I keep standing here."

Athena bid her good luck and she made her way into the subterranean levels of Mount Olympus. She shivered in both cold and anticipation as she followed the cold, damp, dark passageways down deep into the ground. This was the domain of Chronos and Hades, so she should have felt right at home. But she had taken more after the Plutarian side of her family, making her detest the cold, wet darkness.

There were a few torches to light her way, and she followed them until she reached a set of tall double doors. She knocked and then waited.

Several seconds passed before the doors swung open and a deep, baritone voice called, "Enter, Setsuna."

She took a deep breath and then stepped into Chronos's chamber. She flinched as the doors slammed shut behind her, but she kept her head bowed respectfully, waiting to be acknowledged by the god of time.

She heard a deep sigh, and then the voice spoke again. "What am I going to with you, Junebug? It seems like every few centuries I turn around to find you in some kind of a bind."

Pluto's head snapped up in surprise when she heard the affectionately teasing voice instead of the harsh angry one she had been expecting. "Grandfather?"

Chronos laughed deeply at her shocked expression. "Come now, my dear, you act as if you expected me to strike you dead the moment you set foot in here. You should know that I would never do that to you."

"You never hesitated to kill the time guardians before me for much lesser crimes than I have committed," she muttered under her breath.

"Of course I did!" he snapped. "But they were all twelfth cousins, twenty times removed, or something of that nature. But you are my granddaughter and my last surviving descendant, so I tend to be a little more lenient in your case."

A rare smile touched her lips as she took in the sight of her only living blood relative. Chronos was thousands of centuries old, but to look at him he appeared to be a man in his prime. Tall, broad, and muscularly built, his resemblance to his granddaughter was uncanny. He wore his long, dark green hair in a ponytail that hung down to the middle of his back and his garnet eyes shown with affection as he studied the woman before him.

Chronos had a reputation for being a just, but harsh god. He expected perfection from himself and all of those around him. He had lived out his existence as a confirmed bachelor until a little over a thousand years ago when he fell in love with a young Plutonian princess. Despite the fact that relationships between the gods and mortals were frowned upon, he took the princess as his wife and within the year she bore him a son.

He had watched with pride as his son grew to be strong and powerful man. When his wife's father stepped down as king, the throne was passed to the young demigod. The new king married his sweetheart, who was a lady of the court, and made her his queen.

But the couple suffered heartbreak after heartbreak as they tried repeatedly to start a family of their own, only to have it end in the tragedy of miscarriage every time. When the young queen almost lost her life due to hemorrhage, they decided to give up the dream.

But then fortune smiled down on them when the queen became pregnant yet again, and after nine anxious months gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. The firstborn, the boy that was named Nathaniel, was named as the heir to the throne, while the girl, Setsuna, was chosen by Queen Serenity of the Silver Millennium to become Pluto's guardian princess, thus Sailor Pluto was born.

Chronos was extremely proud of both of his grandchildren, and when the time came that he needed a new guardian for the time gate, he offered the position to Setsuna. She had accepted the offer graciously, even though it meant leading a mostly solitary existence. The entrance to the time gate had been moved to the moon castle so that she could juggle both of her responsibilities easily.

Things moved slowly and peacefully until the fall of the moon kingdom. After the death of Queen Serenity, the rest of the solar system had fallen apart. Civil uprisings sprouted from the panic on all of the other planets, and without the sailor scouts to help keep the peace, they destroyed themselves. Sailor Pluto was the only one to survive because she had been ordered to never leave the gates of time when there was a battle that could threaten the timeline.

When word had reached Olympus about what had happened, Chronos had hurried to Pluto. What he found there had been a sea of destruction and devastation. The palace had been overrun and the royal family assassinated. He had found the bodies of his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and grandson and taken them to Mount Olympus. Then he had fetched Setsuna from her post and together they gave their family proper burials.

Now here they were over ten centuries later. The combination of being blessed by the Silver Crystal and her being a one-quarter goddess had given Setsuna a lifespan that was practically infinite. Eventually the princess she served and the rest of her fellow scouts had been reborn and she reunited with them. She had even adopted the civilian persona of Trista Meioh in order to have a semblance of a somewhat normal life, but Chronos was her blood family and she never forgot that.

"So why don't you fill me in on what's been going on," Chronos prompted her. "I gave you permission to move the Trinity holders to the past, but it seems that a lot more people have been misplaced since then."

She glanced down, her face flushing with guilt. "Things got complicated. There's an event that may or may not take place in the near future that could have devastating consequences. There are also some other unforeseen guests making an appearance. I felt that there was a need to bring in additional reinforcements. But I'm sure you've seen all of this already."

He nodded. "I have, but I wanted to hear your reasoning behind your decisions. Even you have to admit that you tend to go above and beyond simple rule bending when comes to Serenity and her brood. I just wanted to make sure that you're doing this for the right reasons."

"Of course I am!" she retorted. "Serena is not only my princess and future queen, she is my friend. And I pledged my loyalty to Jess when she was born as Princess Melody in the Silver Millennium. These are their children that I am trying to keep safe."

Chronos's gaze narrowed slightly on her. "And the fact that the twin boy died in this new timeline isn't affecting your decision at all? Alexander is not Nathaniel!"

Pluto's garnet eyes blazed. "I know that! But he wasn't supposed to die. I've spoken to the Fates. I know that Nathaniel's life played out exactly like it was meant to. But Alex is different. He has a bright future ahead of him full of love and happiness. That's why I couldn't deny Katie when she came to me and begged for my help. I couldn't let time continue on that path! Not as long as the correct timeline exists."

Chronos's face turned deadly serious. "You and that girl are playing a very dangerous game that could have severe consequences. At this point even I am unsure of what the outcome will be. And let me tell you, that is a very strange feeling for a god."

"I know," Pluto said softly. "But I think that things can be set right again. I just have to keep believing that."

"Do you really have that much faith in these children?" her grandfather asked her.

She nodded. "I do. I trust in them enough to believe that when the time comes they'll make the right decisions."

Chronos regarded her solemnly. "I sure hope you're right, for everyone's sake. I've always had faith in your judgment, and I don't see any reason for that to change now. So I'll do what I can to keep Zeus off your back."

Pluto smiled and gave him a huge hug. "Thank you, grandfather."

Outside Crystal Tokyo – The Far Future

The female guardian paused and glanced nervously at the door before her. Of all the people sent to fetch her ladyship, why did it have to be her? She took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the door.

"My lady?" she called out in a trembling voice.

A few seconds later the door was almost ripped from its hinges as it was wrenched open. The guardian stumbled back at the terrifying sight of the enraged woman in front of her. Pale blonde hair stuck out in wild disarray around her head and her swirling eyes blazed angrily as she glared.

"You better have a damn good reason for disturbing me!" Katie ground out in a low voice.

The female bowed her head. "My apologies, Lady Eclipse, but the master sent me. He said that was imperative that he speak with you right away."

"Fine!" she growled. "Tell him I'll be there soon."

She slammed the door in the guardian's face and leaned up against it for a minute, trying to catch her breath. She had woken from a nightmare only moments before the knock at her door and it was still fresh in her mind.

He chest heaved under the worn button down shirt she wore to sleep in. At one time the shirt had been black, but after fifteen years of washing and wearing, the fabric had dulled to a gray color and had become almost threadbare. Most people would have thrown it out long ago, but she couldn't bear to part with it.

She had taken very few things with her when she left her old life behind. Among these mementos was a locket that her parents had given to her on her thirteenth birthday that had a picture of them on one side and a picture of her and Alex on the other. The pillow that she slept on had come from Alex's bed. She had brought her old, raggedy notebook with her, although she hadn't written any songs since before her brother had died. She had brought one other very important item with her, but it was currently in Sailor Pluto's possession

She couldn't help but smile as she carefully removed the shirt she was wearing. She had snuck into the Crystal Palace one night not long after she had entered Discord's service as a test to see if she had been successful in her attempts to block the bond that allowed DJ to sense her when she was near.

It had worked, and she had slipped into the palace without being detected. She had one hair raising moment when she almost walked right into Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion in one of the hallways and ducked into a room to keep from being discovered. When she looked around, she was shocked to find that she had inadvertently taken refuge in DJ's room. Luckily it was empty, but she had found this shirt thrown carelessly over a chair and had taken it.

She smiled as she laid it across her bed. She always wore it to sleep in whenever she wasn't out on a job somewhere that prevented her from sleeping in the bed that had been hers for the past fifteen years. His smell had disappeared after the first washing, but it was still a comfort to her.

She quickly pull on a pair of low riding jeans and the form fitting black tank top that had become her standard uniform over the years. Since her powers were not always reliable she had to do a lot of physical fighting, and bulky clothes would get in the way. She laced up her black boots and skimmed her hair back into a short messy ponytail before grabbing her dark sunglasses and shoving them onto her nose and stalking from the room

She felt somewhat better as she left the nightmare behind as well. It had been a long time since she had dreamed of her brother's death and the events that had followed after, but she guessed she shouldn't be surprised that the old dream had resurfaced since the time was growing closer for her to try to prevent it. Her little encounter with DJ the day before had also awoken long buried memories, and she tried to shove them back into the dark recesses of her mind.

She arrived at Discord's chamber and wasn't surprised when the doors swung open as she approached. The despicable bastard would have known she was coming. She walked in confidently and stood before the monster that had ruined her life.

Discord showed no emotion as he flicked his burning red eyes over her. "I was surprised to learn that you had returned to this time. I figured my past self would be keeping you busy in the past."

She shrugged. "I was feeling a little out of sorts from the long exposure of there being two of me in the same time, so I thought it was best to return here and regroup."

She was lying, of course. Pluto's garnet orb had done a wonderful job of protecting both her and her past self from the effects of her intruding in the past. But after her heated interlude with a certain prince she had felt the need to escape somewhere he couldn't follow her so she could try to get her head back on straight.

"Hmm," Discord mused. "Well now that you've had a chance to rest, I think it's best that you return to my past self. I'm sure he has something for you to do."

"I'm sure he does," she muttered as she opened a portal to the time plane and stepped through before she could act on the urge to try to rip Discord's stupid head off. She hated the sight of his gloating face and contented herself with the knowledge that she would soon wash her hands of him, one way or another.

She materialized at the time gate and the past form of Discord looked up at her in annoyance. "There you are! I was wondering where you had gotten off to this time!"

Oh how her hands itched to wrap around his throat. "Even I have to sleep sometime. I'm not a robot." She rolled her eyes behind her dark lenses as she observed the other person there. "What's Queen Bitch doing here?"

Beryl snarled, baring her fangs. "Impertinent brat! You better watch how you speak to me! I am more powerful than you could ever hope to be. Keep it up and I may just decide to wear your entrails as a necklace. I have more than enough power to take care of a spineless, sniveling creature like you."

Katie didn't even bat an eyelash. "Go ahead, Beryl. If you're feeling froggy enough, then leap."

"Ladies, please," Discord interrupted. "Must things always turn into a spitting match whenever you two are together? I would prefer you to direct that hostility toward our enemies rather than each other. We don't need any catfights here."

Katie snorted. "I don't catfight. If there's one thing my momma taught me it's how to kick ass the old fashioned way. So if Beryl's in a hurry to get her face pounded in, let her bring it on."

"Enough!" Discord bellowed. "I need the two of you to get your head back into the game. We have work to do."

Beryl sniffed. "Well I hope you don't expect me to work with this ignorant little upstart. My youma and I are perfectly capable of carrying out our mission without her interference."

Katie crossed her arms. "Likewise. I work better alone."

"I would never dream of asking you to work together," Discord placated them. "But I do need you to coordinate your next moves. I still require energy to grant Metallia the body she wants, so Beryl will take her youma to collect what we need from the humans. I'm sure that Serenity and her little group will be alerted to our presence and attempt to interfere in some way. That is where you come in, Eclipse. I need you to take a few guardians and sentinels and set them loose a distance away from where Beryl attacks. With any luck that will split their forces up. Perhaps you will even get a chance at one of the Trinity bearers."

Katie fought down the urge to punch that excited look right off his face. "Fine! When do we leave?"

"No time like the present," he told them. "Now go and make me proud."

"Stay out of my way!" Beryl hissed as she swept by Katie, making sure to ram her shoulder into the other woman's in a juvenile gesture.

"How mature," Katie muttered, shaking her head as she went to choose which of Discord's creations to take with her. She was careful to only choose the ones that seemed to move slightly slower than the others. She didn't doubt the abilities of her past self, DJ, Alex, or her friends, but she wasn't going to take any unnecessary chances either. The last thing she wanted was anybody getting hurt.

Her lip curled in disgust as she looked over the mutant cat sentinels. One of the first things that she had done when she joined Discord had been to track down the tiger sentinel that had been responsible for Alex's death and kill it. Her dislike for the giant felines had always motivated her to use those of the wolf variety whenever she had to use sentinels in her missions, and as a result there weren't many canines left.

"Looks like I don't have a lot to choose from," she grumbled as she quickly picked out a handful to accompany her and opened up a portal to the past for them to travel through.

Tokyo – Present Day

"You have got to be kidding me!" Jess moaned as the gray clouds that had been threatening rain all day opened up and sent precipitation plummeting to the earth. There was no starting off as sprinkles and building up to a downpour, it swept in swiftly like a solid wall of water.

"Damn it! This is just my luck!" she growled as she tried to juggle the now slippery plastic wrapped parcels in her arms. The sky answered her angrily with a loud rumble of thunder.

She glared up at the dark clouds. "Don't backtalk me! You can't blame me for this one. I'm not making you do it!"

With only half of her power coming from the Earth, she wasn't in tune with it as much as Darien or DJ was, but she could have sworn that it almost felt as if the planet beneath her feet was laughing at her as it drank in the water that was falling on it as she shifted her load to one arm so that she could wrestle open the door to the campus art building. A few minutes later she was knocking on the door of her art professor's office.

"Come in," a softly spoken, feminine voice called out.

Jess pushed the door open. "Professor Dubois, I came to drop my project off."

The tiny, middle-aged woman behind the desk jumped up at the sound of her voice. "Miss Alexander! What are you doing here? You know my best friend, Nora, is Dr. Shields' receptionist, and she passed on to me that he told her that you were really sick. You still look rather peaked, dear. You should be at home in bed. Does that young, good looking fiancé of yours know that you're out and about?"

Jess couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her. "No, Drew's at work. I was hoping I could sneak out and get back without him finding out I left. But today is the due date for the projects, and I wanted to make sure mine got turned in on time even if I wasn't in class."

Professor Dubois patted her arm. "You know I would have made an exception in your case. You couldn't help getting sick. You must be mindful of your health."

"I know, but I've always turned things in on time. It's a pet peeve of mine," Jess replied stubbornly.

The professor laughed. "I can't say I'm surprised. You've been one of my most attentive and devoted students. Well, let's see what you have for me."

Jess carefully unwrapped the plastic from the canvases she had carried in and set them up for viewing. She held her breath as she waited for a response.

"These are simply amazing!" Professor Dubois finally whispered after studying them for several minutes. "Where did you find the inspiration for them?"

Jess smiled wistfully. "From my dreams. I wasn't sure if they would all fall into the category of the project, but this is what I came up with."

The project had been to come up with a series of three paintings that portrayed a fantasy scene. For the first one she had painted the golden palace of Elysian, surrounded by its expansive gardens of flowers. Helios was in his Pegasus form, flying high in the sky while Rini, in her princess dress, gazed up longingly at him.

The second one depicted a darkened ballroom lit by only a few candles. In the center of the empty floor stood a shadowy couple. Neither one's facial features were clear, but the man was dressed in black and silver armor with a long, red lined cape. The woman's long, golden blonde hair was visible, trailing down in pigtails over the white gown she was wearing to lightly brush the floor. The couple appeared to be dancing as they held one another close with their faces tipped toward each other.

The last picture showed a riotous garden of pale flowers growing out of a rocky looking white ground. The sky was dark and peppered with brightly shining stars. A bubbling stream flowed through the center of the garden. And beside it a young, sandy haired boy lay on a blanket next to a little girl with long, curly, golden hair as they both stared up at the sky toward what looked like a blue marble.

"Like I said, amazing," the professor repeated. "Of course I don't have the final say since all of us art professors get to evaluate these projects. But I'm sure the rest of them will be as blown away as I am. Just from my point of view, I think it's safe to say that you've passed this project with flying colors."

Jess's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? That's the best news I've heard in days."

Her professor chuckled. "Well maybe this will lift your spirits and speed up your recovery. But for now I want you to get home and out of this deplorable weather. We don't need you having a relapse, do we?"

"No ma'am!" Jess agreed. "I'm leaving now. I hope to be ready to come back in time for your next class. I don't want to fall behind."

"I think you'll be fine," she was reassured. "I'll e-mail you the lesson outline if you're unable to make it to Wednesday's class. Now go home and get out of those wet clothes and have something warm to drink."

Jess said her goodbyes and headed back to the front of the building. She groaned when she looked out the doors and was confronted with a heavy downpour. The art building was situated near the middle of the campus, that also meant that it was far away from parking. It looked like she was about to get really wet.

She took off across the wet grass and was soaked to the bone in mere seconds. She had always been a fast runner, but today she was moving slower than normal. This little trip had tired her out more than she cared to admit, and all she wanted to do was get home and curl up with a blanket and a cup of hot cocoa.

When she reached the extensive library building she decided to cut through. The crabby old librarian would probably give her hell for tracking water in around her precious books, but she didn't care. It was better than going the long way around the outside of the building and it would put her close to her car when she came out the other side. She stopped under an overhang to wring as much water from her braid and her clothes as possible before going inside.

A blast of cold air hit her as she opened the door, raising goosebumps up and down her arms. The silence of the library seemed almost deafening after the constant racket of rain splattering on the ground. In fact it seemed too quiet. There was no sound of quiet voices or whispers of pencils on paper or pages turning. There was only silence.

She crept over to the double doors that led into the main part of the library and peered inside, expecting to see it full of hard studying students as always. Instead she found it full of dozens of unconscious people. Most were students, but there were a few library employees as well as a couple of professors in the group.

From what she'd heard about the attack the other night this one looked to be caused by youma. She had no idea if the enemy was still there, so she backed away from the doors quietly, lifting her wrist to use her communicator to call for help.

She cursed soundly when she was greeted by nothing but bare skin, remembering only now that she had left the apartment in such a rush that she had forgotten her communicator lying on top of the dresser. And to make matters worse she left her cell phone in the car to keep it from getting wet. So now she had no way to call anyone.

"Of all the stupid, idiotic, rookie mistakes to make," she growled under her breath. One of the first lessons she had been taught as a sailor scout had been to never leave home without her communicator in case there was an emergency. The best she could hope for now was to make a mad dash to her car and the cell phone that was resting in the cup holder, because another one of those lessons she'd had pounded into her head was never go into a fight alone. It didn't matter how powerful a fighter you were, you never confronted an enemy without back up unless you had to. One small misstep without someone to watch your back could mean the difference between life and death.

She was almost to the door when she felt a presence behind her. She spun and almost fell when she jumped quickly out of the way of what appeared to be a long, reptilian tail that had been aiming for her only seconds before. The tail missed her by several inches and left a deep depression in the marble floor right where she had been standing.

"Looksss like I missssed one," the youma hissed like a snake. Long seaweed looking hair swirled around the obvious female. Instead of skin she was covered in sickly green, slimy looking scales. Her eyes were slitted and bright yellow while that lethal tail whipped back and forth menacingly. "I thought I got all of you missserable humansss. But that'sss okay. I'll take care of you now."

"That's what you think, freak!" Jess growled. She picked up a chunk of the busted marble and chunked it at the youma, bashing it upside the head, stunning it long enough to make a break for it.

The door she had come in through was blocked by the youma, so she had no choice but to run through the library. She leapt over unconscious bodies and overturned tables and chairs as she sprinted toward the other exit of the building.

There was a crash as a bookshelf in the Earth Science section fell over, and she ducked down an aisle, peeking around it to see two more youma. One had pale blue skin and a long, pointed face with sharp claws instead of fingers and leathery looking black wings sprouting from her back. The other one was probably the most normal looking one she'd seen. It had normal looking skin and shoulder length black hair, but the set of black horns sprouting from its head gave it a demonic appearance.

The first youma joined the other two and she knew she only had moments before they began tearing the place apart looking for her. It seemed that the only chance she had of making it out of here without ending up like the other victims was to transform. It would serve a dual purpose. Not only would it give her an extra boost in case she had to fight against these monsters, but it would also help her contact the others. Andrew and she hadn't perfected the art of speaking telepathically yet, but he could sense her when she transformed and would be able to find her.

She backed further into the shadows and let their comforting presence wrap around her as she gripped the sapphire pendant that hung from the gold chain around her neck. "Celestial Shadow Power!" she whispered.

The shadows swirled even closer around her mixed with the blue glow of energy from the Celestial Crystal. In that moment that her transformation began her mind was completely open and she reached out to connect with her soul mate. 'Campus library…youma…hurry!' she sent out to Andrew, hoping that it wouldn't take long for him and the others to get there. Normally taking out three youma wouldn't be an impossible challenge for her, but she couldn't be for sure that there weren't more around and she wasn't exactly on top of her game right now.

Deciding to take the high road, she jumped up to the top of a bookshelf. From where she was she could see the exit to the parking lot not too terribly far away. If she stayed up high and the youma didn't look up, she just might be able to make it outside to wait for the others to join her without being seen.

She almost cried out in relief when she felt a sensation as warm as the sun flood through her and felt Andrew's aura brush lightly against hers. It was faintly tinted with irritation and anger, so she knew that she was probably going to get the third degree for being out in the first place, but she didn't care as long as she knew that help was on the way.

Only three more shelves separated her from her goal, and she cleared them quickly without being seen, or so she thought until she dropped down to the floor near the exit. She was only feet away from her destination when a swirling black portal opened and a woman stepped out of it.

Sailor Shadow skidded to a stop as she gazed upon the face that had starred in hundreds of her nightmares, a face that she had never thought that she would actually ever see in this lifetime. Anger burst through her as she glared at the self-proclaimed queen that had been responsible for bringing about the fall of the Silver Millennium a thousand years ago.

"Beryl!" she snarled, barely able to keep herself from flying at the woman and ripping the sallow skin from her bony frame. She fought back a cough and forced her voice to remain strong. "I should have known that your anorexic little ass was lurking around here somewhere."

Beryl sneered hatefully at her. "I don't allow people to address me in such a way. I am Queen Beryl, and you would do well to remember that. Now who are you? You're obviously a sailor scout, but I don't recognize you as being one of Serenity's rag tag bunch."

"Well pardon me for forgetting my manners," Shadow shot back sarcastically. "I don't see what exchanging names is going to accomplish. But if you're really that interested I'll tell you. I'm Sailor Shadow. And I promise you, bitch, you're going to regret crossing my path before this day is over."

"Spare me!" Beryl snapped. "I expected to be met with at least a small amount of resistance, but other than my one brief encounter with Serenity and Endymion I've been faced with nothing but a bunch of imitation scouts and generals. When am I going to get to face my true enemies?"

Sailor Shadow smirked at her. "I've got a feeling that you won't have to wait very long for that, but allow me to be the opening act."

Tired of listening to the psychotic witch boast about herself, she sprang into action. Blue energy erupted from her fingertips. It wasn't her strongest attack, but she felt so tired and drained already. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to the others to take out the Negaverse queen before they had a chance to exact their own revenge.

Beryl threw up a barrier of dark energy, but still had to teleport out of the way when Sailor Shadow's attack crumbled her defense like it wasn't even there. She reappeared several feet away from her original location and glared angrily at the scout.

"You have talent, I'll give you that," Beryl sneered. "But in all honesty, my dear, you look like you're about to drop. What happened to the days when the sailor scouts actually posed a threat?"

"Why don't you follow me outside and I'll show you," Shadow growled. She had just spotted a few people that had managed to escape the youma's rampage through the library hiding under a table. She had to get Beryl and her minions out of there before any more innocent people got hurt.

"I have had enough of people disrespecting me today!" Beryl raged. "The energy of a sailor scout could prove to be beneficial for me, so I think I'll relieve you of yours. Youma! Drain that scout of her energy!"

"Oh hell no!" Shadow exclaimed as she dodged the three youma that suddenly sprang at her and ran out of the library into the gray, gloomy day. The rain had let up some, but it was still coming down in a steady drizzle. She breathed a sigh of relief as both the youma and Beryl followed her out.

"You can't run from me!" Beryl taunted the lone scout. "So you're the infamous Sailor Shadow that I was warned about. There doesn't seem to be much to worry about from you. You look as if a gust of wind would blow you over."

"Just try me!" Shadow growled in retaliation, her temper overriding her common sense that told her to keep Beryl talking and distracted until help arrived. She got lucky and took out the lizard youma with an energy blast as they rushed her, but as she spun to avoid the other two a wave of dizziness hit her and sent her stumbling to her knees.

She fell to the ground and tried to throw up a barrier to protect herself, but she was so cold and light headed that she couldn't focus her energy properly. The remaining two youma were almost on top of her when a sudden jolt of energy sent them flying away.

A pair of arms snatched her up off the wet ground as an amused chuckle tickled her ear. "Looks like I got here just in time, huh princess?"

"Ugh! Somebody please remind me why I wanted to be a teacher again," Serena moaned as she dropped heavily into the padded booth.

Mina looked at her and grinned. "I'm pretty sure I remember hearing you say something about adoring little kids and wanting to help them expand their minds."

"I must have been drunk when I said it," Serena groaned, laying her head down on the table. "Do you know how nerve racking it is to be completely surrounded by a dozen four year olds when they're all trying to talk at the same time?"

"Look at it this way, it's good practice for the future. Being a queen probably isn't a whole lot different than being a teacher. You're the one in charge and have to keep everyone in line," Mina tried to console her.

She patted her friend's head and then pulled her hand back with a squeak. "Serena! Why is your hair all stiff and sticky?" She cast a professional eye over the long golden ponytail. "And when did you decide to get hot pink streaks?"

Serena raised her head to glare at her. "Red fruit punch was on the menu today for snack time. Thanks to those little monsters that masquerade as children I ended up wearing more of the punch than they drank."

A low chuckle came from beside her and she looked up angrily to find her soon to be husband leaning against the side of the booth watching her as he shook with the laughter he was trying to contain. Behind him stood Kunzite, who looked just as amused.

Her eyes glittered with angry, barely suppressed tears. "I swear to you, Darien, if you laugh at me I will pack up and move back to my parent's house so fast that you'll get whiplash trying to keep up with me. Then I'll tell my dad that you were mean to me and he'll come after you with his shotgun."

That wiped the humor right off his face. He slid into the booth beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean it like that. You just look so adorable with your new hairdo. I'm sure Rini would approve of the color."

"Ha ha!" she deadpanned. "Maybe I should go ahead and douse the rest of my hair in punch, then Rini and I would really look like mother and daughter."

"It's not that bad, Serena," Mina told her as she scooted over to make room for Kunzite. "How about we go up to the salon and I'll treat you to a shampoo and conditioning treatment? Things will look much brighter once you get that gunk out of your hair. Remember my motto, 'Looking good makes you feel good'. So what do you say?"

"Maybe in a little bit," Serena sighed, leaning against Darien. "I just need a few minutes to regroup."

"Was it that bad of a day?" Darien asked her.

She nodded. "You have no idea. But I don't want to talk about it right now. How was your day?"

He shrugged. "Fairly quiet for the most part. I think the dreary weather is keeping everyone inside. The only patients I saw today were people who were seriously sick or hurt. The usual slew of hypochondriacs had enough sense to stay home."

His comment brought a smile to her face and she began to loosen up. Andrew wandered over and set a cup of chocolate laden espresso covered in a mound of whipped and sprinkles in front of her.

"Here you go, Sere," he told her. "Lizzy caught me as I was walking by and asked me to bring it to you. She said that you looked like you could use it."

"Thanks!" she beamed as she directed a wave at Andrew's sister behind the counter and took a careful sip of the hot drink. "That's much better. It's just what I need on a miserable day like today."

Andrew glanced around the empty arcade and then toward the windows where the rain was coming down in buckets. "Yeah, it's pretty nasty out there. Sucks for business though."

Everyone froze as a loud rumble of thunder shook the building and the lights flickered briefly before going out completely.

Serena jumped at the loud boom and squealed as she latched onto Darien's arm like a vice. "This better not be Lita's idea of a practical joke or I'll skin her alive!"

"It's okay, it's just a little thunder," Darien tried to sooth her as he pulled her so that she was half sitting in his lap. "It's out there while you're safe in here."

She shrieked as another loud explosion hit. All heads turned as an answering scream came from outside and someone began beating on the doors that were stuck closed due to the power failure.

Andrew and Kunzite rushed over to manually push the doors open and wind driven rain blew in along with eight bedraggled, soaking wet figures.

DJ was holding onto an almost catatonic looking Rini as she shook in his arms. "It's okay, sis. We made it."

"I…I…ha…hate…st…storms!" she stammered out in a shaky voice.

Alex was behind them with what looked like a drowned blonde rat on either side of him as Emma and Katie stood there with water dripping in an almost constant stream from their long hair.

Jayden, Hannah, and Skye brought up the rear, just as drenched as the rest of them. They all stood there in the middle of a pool that was rapidly forming around them.

"None of you move!" Lizzy screeched. "You just wait right there while I go get some towels. There's no sense in soaking the whole place." She grabbed a flashlight and rushed into the backroom. She was back in under a minute with an armload of fluffy towels that she passed around to the group.

Serena jumped up, her own fears forgotten as she took in the sight of her future daughter's frightened features. She grabbed one of the towels and began helping Rini dry off as best as she could. Once her clothes were no longer dripping she led the younger girl over to a booth and sat her down before expertly unwinding the pink hair buns and toweling the majority of the dampness from it.

"What in the world are you lot doing out running around in this weather?" Darien asked the rest as they all managed to get somewhat dry and wandered over.

"It wasn't raining yet when school let out, so we thought we might be able to beat it back to the apartment," DJ answered as he rubbed a towel over his head, making his black hair stick up worse than usual. "We were only a couple of blocks away when the bottom fell out, so we decided to come here instead. Then the thunder started and Rini freaked out as usual."

"G…go to he…hell, DJ!" Rini stuttered angrily, glaring at her brother.

"Some thanks I get for leading you to a dry place!" he snapped. "Next time I'll just leave you standing there frozen like a deer in the headlights."

"Enough!" Serena told both of them harshly. "I've had a stressful day and don't want to listen to you two bicker. Rini, you should be thankful that your brother was nice enough to drag you here instead of abandoning you in the street. And DJ, you should be a little more sympathetic about your sister's mood at a time like this. You know she hates storms. Now both of you suck it up and drop the subject. You're not children anymore, you're practically adults, so start acting like it."

DJ took a few steps back, his eyes going wide while Rini slowly began to inch away from the rampaging blonde.

"Wow! Someone's PMSing," the pink haired teen muttered.

DJ nodded. "Either that or mom's found a way to possess her past self. I swear she sounded just like her on one of her tirades. Freaky!"

"Excuse me!" Serena huffed. "Just what do you two mean by that?"

"They didn't mean anything," Darien said, shooting a stern look toward both of his future children that told them to behave themselves far better than any of Serena's words ever could. It was a look that they both knew well, and they both also knew that their father meant business so they clamped their mouths shut.

Darien led Serena back over to her seat and pushed her coffee back into her hand. He looked out the window and commented, "It looks like the worst of the rain has moved out."

"Good," Kunzite said, standing up. "I can't wait to get home and relax. I've been stuck in meetings since early this morning and need to unwind." He glanced at Mina. "Are you coming with me?"

She shrugged. "I suppose. I was going to do Serena's hair, but with the power being out…"

Serena waved a hand at her. "Go home with your man. I think I'm capable of washing my own hair. Don't worry about it."

"I guess we'll take our houseguests with us so they don't have to go back out in the rain," Kunzite told them, twirling a set of keys in his fingers. "I'm glad I drove today and that I own a SUV, otherwise some of those kids would be walking."

He frowned as he looked over to where his future daughter was snuggled up close to Alex's side, giggling at whatever he was whispering in her ear. "Emma! Let's go!"

"But I have plans to study with everyone," she protested.

"Then you'll just have to change them!" he fired back. "Now say your goodbyes. I want you, Skye, Jayden, and Hannah ready to leave in two minutes. Got it!"

Her face turned as hard as stone and her gray eyes shown angrily as she gave him a mock salute. "Yes sir, Mr. General sir!"

Kunzite felt his temper begin to simmer at her insubordinate attitude, but he couldn't help but feel a rush of pride. The girl may look and act a lot like her mother, but at times like this he saw himself reflected in the eyes that resembled his own so much. She had already shown that she was a fierce fighter and loyal to her friends and loved ones, definitely a daughter any man would be proud to claim as his own. He bit back a smile and kept his face impassive as he stalked away.

Mina shook her head. "He is so on edge," she whispered to Serena and Darien. "I think this Beryl thing has him more worked up than he wants to admit. I have honestly felt like I am walking on eggshells around him for the last couple of days."

Serena nodded. "Raye said the same thing about Jed when I talked to her earlier. It's to be expected, we're all stressed out right now. But we'll find a way through it."

"Damn!" Andrew muttered nearby as he flipped his cell phone shut. "I was trying to call Jess to check up on her, but she isn't answering her phone."

"Maybe she has it turned off or she's asleep," Serena said placatingly.

He disagreed. "No, she never turns her phone off, and even if she was asleep she'd hear it. A feather dropping would wake her up."

Mina rolled her eyes. "Relax, Drew. She's probably in the shower or something. I know I'd feel grungy after being stuck in bed sick like she has. Besides, can't you sense her and tell that she's okay?"

His forehead wrinkled in concentration. "We've been working on it. But you know it only works when both minds are completely open. She's always slipping off into her zone, especially when she's working, and that makes it almost impossible to communicate that way."

"I know what you mean," Serena commiserated. "I can always tell when Darien's really wrapped up when he's at work. His end of the link turns into a blank slate. But that's how I can always tell if he's going to be late coming home or not."

Darien tugged on a strand of her sticky hair. "Been spying on me, have you?"

She scrunched her nose up at him. "No! I just like to check up on you from time to time. And don't tell me you don't do the same to me. Do you know how annoying it is to sit in class sometimes and feel like you're looking over my shoulder? The least you could do is feed me some answers, especially in English, that's the class I have the most trouble with."

Darien swapped from Japanese to English. "Come on, Sere. English isn't that hard to learn. It's not like you haven't been taking it since elementary school. I'm sure you've picked up on some of it by now."

"He has a point," DJ jumped in, also in English. "It's a lot easier to learn English than Japanese."

"Anything's better than learning French," Katie piped up. "That's one class that I wish I could drop."

"Arghh!" Serena groaned covering her ears. "Too much English! Jess does the same thing every time I complain about taking it. And she's ten times worse because she speaks it like a native born American since she lived in California for so long. It makes my head spin."

Andrew chuckled. "She does have that effect. I like it when she gets frustrated and mixes the two languages together. I find it adorable."

"Gag!" Katie growled, miming sticking a finger down her throat and muttering under her breath about hormonal, embarrassing parents.

Andrew grinned slyly at her. "You know, if it wasn't for those hormonal parents you wouldn't be here."

Katie's mouth fell open in a silent "O" and her face turned as red as a cherry before she buried it in DJ's shoulder.

Andrew just laughed as he hit a button on his phone and held it to his ear. After several long seconds he sighed and hung it up. "She still isn't answering. I can't shake this feeling that something's wrong."

"I'm sure everything's fine…" Serena began, but her communicator beeping cut her off. She flicked it open to find Amy's concerned face.

"Serena," Amy started speaking rapidly. "My computer's picking up some strange readings over near…"

Andrew suddenly jumped like he had received an electrical shock. "I'm going to strangle her!" he exclaimed. He grabbed Serena's wrist to talk to Amy. "Were you about to say the university library?"

The blue haired woman nodded. "Yes. I'm getting a negative energy reading from there. I think it might be a youma attack."

His face hardened. "I swear she's a walking, talking danger magnet. She told me that she wasn't going to class today because she still didn't feel good."

Serena's head whipped up. "Wait a minute! Are you telling me that Jess is where the youma are?"

He gave a tight nod. "Yes! And considering she just transformed a few seconds ago I'd say that she's probably right in the thick of it." That got everyone's attention.

"Well what are we waiting for? We have to go help her!" Alex exclaimed as he jumped up from his seat.

"No!" Darien commanded. "We'll go take care of this. I want you kids to stay here and out of the way."

"No way!" the younger group chorused together.

"Yes way!" Serena snapped. "If Beryl's there we've faced her before. We don't need to be distracted by having you running around. Now stay put and we'll be back."

She sounded so much like Neo Queen Serenity that none of them could argue with her, but they were all seething at being left out of the action.

Serena turned her attention back to her communicator. "We're on our way Amy. Mina, Kunzite, and Andrew are here with us."

"Right!" Amy answered. "Zoicite and I will contact Lita, Nephrite, Raye, and Jed and meet you there. What about the outers?"

"We'll call them if we need them, but for now let's try to handle this on our own," Serena told her and then cut the connection.

"You two stay here!" Andrew ordered Alex and Katie. "It's bad enough that I've got to go chase your mother down without having to worry about you two."

"This bites!" Skye grumbled as she watched with narrowed eyes as Serena, Darien, Andrew, Mina, and Kunzite hurried out of the arcade. "They're acting like we're toddlers or something. I was itching to bash something."

DJ, Katie, and Alex's heads snapped up a few seconds later as a familiar tingling sensation raced down their spines.

"You just might get your wish, Skye," DJ said. "Did you two feel that?" Alex and Katie both nodded.

"Guardians and sentinels are nearby," Katie whispered,

Alex had whipped out his mini computer and was typing away. "There's quite a few of them, but they're not what's over by the college. This reading is coming from the shopping district."

Rini had finally snapped out of her stupor. "So Serena and the others are heading for one attack while another one is happening across town?"

"Looks that way," Alex confirmed. "It looks like Discord decided to launch two attacks at once."

"You know what that means, don't you?" Hannah asked quietly.

Jayden pounded a fist into his palm. "That means that we have to go take out the trash in the shopping district while we let the parents take care of the attack at the university."

Emma stood up, her henshin rod appearing in her hand. "Let's go!"

A few minutes later Lizzy pushed open the swinging doors from the kitchen and walked in with a tray full of cups. "Hey guys! We're lucky that the stove is gas. I was able to heat up some cocoa. Now who wants some?"

She looked around in bewilderment at the empty arcade. "Where did everybody go?"

Sailor Shadow looked up in shock at the last face she had expected to see. Jet black eyes twinkled at her from under a fringe of medium brown hair that had been tousled out of its usual sleek style. A long jagged scar ran down one side of his face.

"Talon!" she gasped. "What are you doing here?"

He gave her a lopsided grin. "I guess you could say my Spidey-senses have been tingling for the past couple of days. And I see my intuition was right. How the hell is Beryl here?"

She groaned. "It's kind of a long story. To put it simply, your old boss has resurfaced and decided to stir up a little trouble."

"Ooo, fun!" he intoned sarcastically. "What is it about you that makes trouble seem to want to follow you wherever you go?"

She slapped at his arm. "If you came here to be a jackass you can just go on back home. Now put me down."

He eyed her dubiously, but set her carefully on her feet. "Whatever you say. But it wouldn't kill you to show a little gratitude every now and then when someone saves your life."

She rolled her dark blue eyes at him. "I am grateful, and I'll be sure to tell you how much I am later. But right now I'm so pissed that I can't see straight."

"That probably has more to do with the fact that you're still sick than it does with you being mad," a low, angry voice growled behind her. Her face paled even more than it already was at the sound. She had been so wrapped up in hoping that her head wasn't about to spin off her shoulders that she hadn't felt him arrive. She put on her best innocent expression and looked over her shoulder. "Hi, honey!"

Andrew's hard expression didn't show any sign of softening. He stood with his legs wide and his arms folded across his chest. His long black coat flapped in the wet wind. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes, but Shadow had no doubt that the hazel eyes behind them were glaring at her. Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Venus, and Kunzite all took a step away from the fuming man.

"Don't you 'hi honey' me!" he bit out harshly. "What in the hell are you doing here? You told me that you were staying put at the apartment today to try and get over the last of that cold. Instead I find you out here running around in the rain. Have you completely lost your mind?"

She stomped up to him and poked him in the chest with a gloved finger. "Don't you go getting all macho on me, you insensitive jerk! I had some business that I needed to take care of. The last time I checked that wasn't a criminal offense. I happen to be a big girl and I can take care of myself!"

It wasn't often that Andrew lost his temper, but when he did he could match his fiancé any day of the week when it came to angry sarcasm. "Rigghht! So that's why your voice was screaming in my head for help a few minutes ago like a lost little girl. Go try that line on someone else, sweetheart, because I'm not buying it."

Sailor Shadow's face flamed red. "Why you…"

"Uh, lovebirds?" Talon interrupted. "Do you two mind saving the bitch session for later? Right now I believe we have more important things to take care of."

He turned to Beryl, who was looking at him as if she had just seen a ghost. "Hello, darling! Did you miss me?"

"You!" she hissed. "You rotten, lying, faithless bastard! How dare you have the nerve to show yourself in front of me!"

A twisted smirk curled up Talon's lips as he surveyed his former lover from a thousand years ago. "Aww, don't be like that. And you're one to talk about lying and being faithless. Don't try and pretend that you weren't planning to screw me over. I know exactly how that warped, twisted brain of yours works. You were only going to keep me around until you stole the Silver Crystal. Then your plans were to kill Serenity and take Endymion for yourself as your king in my stead."

"Like you weren't planning to betray me!" Beryl screeched. "You became obsessed with that little half lunarian brat and her crystal and thought that you could become more powerful than me. I wasn't going to sit around and wait to be slaughtered in my sleep, so I went to Metallia for help."

Talon chuckled. "And that worked out so well for you, didn't it? You end up being sealed away for a thousand years only to wind up getting your ass kicked when you finally broke free. If it didn't work the first time, what made you think you could pull it off the second time?"

"Shut up!" she screamed at him. "I had the power of Queen Metallia behind me. I may have made a slight miscalculation about how much power Princess Serenity's reincarnation would have, but I won't make that mistake again. This time I will succeed in taking the Silver Crystal, and then the planet will be mine."

"You're deluding yourself!" Talon snorted. "I know exactly who you are working for now, and trust me, he has his own plans for this planet. He's just using you until he gets what he wants, and then you'll be disposable, just like your brother was."

"Bastian was a fool!" Beryl scoffed.

"I won't argue with you there," Talon agreed. "He definitely wasn't the brightest light bulb in the bunch, but for all of his evil ways he was loyal to Discord for over a millennium. And he paid for that mistake with his life. Luckily I came to my senses before I made the same mistake."

"So now you're working with the ones that used to be your enemies," Beryl sneered. "How noble of you. I've never known you to out of your way to rescue someone else from death, but you didn't think twice about snatching up that silly little scout a few minutes ago. Has the mighty Talon gone soft over the years, or is there something special about this girl? Hmm, could it be that you have feelings for her?"

His jaw tightened at the implication. "She's just a friend."

Beryl threw back her head and laughed. "Just a friend! The Talon I knew would never have said that about a woman. You thought you were so sneaky, but I knew how many other women you were sleeping with besides me. Women were nothing but a game for you."

"Yeah, like she wasn't running around lifting her skirt for every man she came across," Kunzite snickered in the background.

Beryl's reddish brown eyes snapped to him. "Why Kunzite, you know I only welcome quality men into my bed. You could have had your chance many times, but no amount of brainwashing could cure you of your Aphrodite complex."

Venus took a stance in front of him. "Well that just goes to show which of us is the better woman, doesn't it?"

"Please!" Beryl scoffed. "Venusians are nothing more than pretty faces with fluff between their ears instead of brains. They're hardly a step up from common whores in my opinion."

An angry sound unlike any ever heard tore out of Venus's throat. Her fingers curled into claws as she prepared to spring at the witch. Before she had a chance to act, Kunzite grabbed her by the arm and swung her toward Sailor Moon.

In just two long strides the platinum haired general was in front of the woman that had ruined his life and caused the death of his beloved twice. He clenched one hand in her snarled red hair and wrenched her head back. A blade of pure, light purple energy appeared in his other hand and he held it to her throat.

As the commander of the Earth's military during the Silver Millennium, Kunzite had earned a reputation for being the hardest man on the planet. He had never been unfair or cruel, but he had delivered justice with deadly accuracy, earning him the nickname 'Iron Fist'.

It was that man that now looked down at the woman in his grip. Not a shred of sympathy for her shown in his eyes. His voice was low and cold. "I have never, under my own free will, harmed a woman in my life. But you are not a woman. You are nothing but an evil, twisted bitch, lower than the lowest parasite that has ever existed in the history of the world. Killing you may go against every value that was ever instilled in me, but if you think for one second that I would ever stand by and let you insult the woman that I love in such a manner, then you have another thing coming."

Beryl glared up at him hatefully. A line of black blood was beginning to ooze down her neck from where his blade had already cut her skin. "Go ahead, Kunzite. If you think you have the balls to kill me, then by all means do it. There was a reason why I chose you to be my head general. I've seen into every part of your mind. I know how the bloodlust excites you. You always lived for the battle because you relished in the killing. It's who you are. So do it, my pet. Cut me down and show your precious Minako exactly what a monster you are. You try to act respectable, but you're not as different from me as you think."

Kunzite hesitated at her words. Part of what she was saying was true. At one time he had been exactly what she was painting him to be. He had lived for his career and nothing else. He had taken pride in fighting to protect the kingdom he served and felt a thrill run through him every time he cut down one of the enemies that threatened it.

That had all changed when he and his comrades had followed Prince Endymion the night that he snuck up to the moon for Princess Serenity's sixteenth birthday ball. He had been trying to remain inconspicuous while keeping an eye on his liege when a sudden flurry of gold and orange had stumbled into him in the form of Princess Minako of Venus. He hadn't seen her since she had been a child, but as he had taken one look into her sparkling cornflower blue eyes, something changed. He had felt a flood of warmth and tenderness rush through him that was foreign and comforting at the same time.

Before he had known what he was doing, he had asked her to dance. And by the time he stood up next to her as witnesses at Endymion and Serenity's wedding, he had found himself falling in love with her.

Mina was Minako's reincarnation, and as such there were some differences between who she had been then and who she was now, but Kunzite wouldn't have her any other way. While she was still the leader of the sailor scouts, not having to deal with the pressures of court life had allowed her bubbly personality to flourish and mold her into who she was today. She'd had a calming effect on him and had taught him how to grab life by the horns and enjoy the ride.

His grip on the evil queen loosened and she smirked. "What's wrong, Kunzite? Don't tell me that you've gone soft on me too. Not my big, strong second in command. You were meant for better things than this mundane existence, Kunzite. Come back to me, and I'll give you the life you deserve."

He pushed her away from him so hard that she fell to the ground. Disgust was thick on his face and in his voice as he growled, "You despicable bitch! There is nothing in this universe that would make me willingly serve you. I'm perfectly happy with my life the way it is."

He turned to smile at his fiancé, who was being held in Sailor Moon's arms. "Mina, sweetheart, rip the bitch's head off and show her why the Venusian warriors were feared just as much as Mars and Jupiter's."

An almost sinister smile lit up Venus's face as her Love Chain appeared in her hands. "It would be my pleasure."

"I can't believe you've been turned into a whipped puppy," Beryl sneered as she got up off the ground. "You were always my favorite, Kunzite."

"That's funny, you used to say the same thing to me," an angry voice cut through the air.

Everyone turned to see that Jadeite, Nephrite, and Zoicite had joined them. Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury were also with them.

Jadeite's blue eyes blazed as he raked them over Beryl. "Yep! You used to fill my ears with those same poisonous lies. What about you, Neph? Did she try to play you too?"

Nephrite nodded. "Oh yeah, she was always spouting some kind of bullshit. Zoi?"

The normally cool and collected general looked ready to burst. "I say we throw her to the scouts and enjoy the show."

"Works for me!" Jupiter and Mars said together gleefully, taking up fighting positions. Mercury remained quiet, but she joined her sister scouts with a look of fierce determination on her face.

Beryl waved her two youma forward. "Bring on your worst, scouts. I'm in need of energy, and I'm sure your energy is worth a lot more than these pathetic humans. In fact, I think I'll take all of your energy."

She clapped her hands together and a portal opened. Several more youma spilled out of it to surround the group.

Talon grinned at Sailor Shadow. "Now this is starting to get fun! I don't know about you, but I've been itching for a good fight."

She returned the grin. "You know me. I'm always ready to rumble."

"Oh no you don't!" Andrew exclaimed. "Your little upbeat act isn't fooling me. I can tell you're about two steps away from passing out. As soon as you see a chance I want you to get out of here."

She jerked away from him. "You must be out of your ever-loving mind! I have never run from a fight in my life, and I'm not about to start now."

"Serena, help me out here," he pleaded to Sailor Moon. "Tell her that she needs to go home and leave the rest of this to us."

Sailor Moon shook her head. "You're crazier than I ever gave you credit for if you think I'm getting in the middle of that argument. You know you can't change her mind once it's made up. Just keep an eye on her."

"That's enough talk!" Beryl exclaimed. "Take their energy, youma!"

Fighting exploded all around as the youma and the heroes shot into action, ducking and diving as bursts of energy, punches, and kicks flew through the air.

Beryl watched with clenched teeth as her enemies slowly but surely worked their way through her youma. She growled every time one of her minions burst into dust. On the plus side though, she was managing to get a little of their energy from them, but it was slow in coming. Each time one of her youma managed to grab one of them, one of their friends would either force it back or kill it.

Her eyes narrowed as they focused on Endymion. As much as she would love to have the generals back to serve her demands, their prince was far more intriguing to her. There had always been something about the ebony haired earth prince that had set her blood boiling and her heart racing. The short amount of time that she had him brainwashed and in her service had been nowhere near long enough to sate her hunger for him. The fact that he had proven to have just as strong a will as his generals and refused to touch her infuriated her beyond reasoning.

In a flash she teleported behind the battling man. She took a moment to admire the way his tuxedo clung to his body, clearly showing the movement of his muscles as he fought one of her youma. She ran her tongue over her fangs as she recalled the striking figure he made when he was dressed in his royal armor. If she could successfully make him hers, she would enjoy peeling every piece of it from his body.

A small, black crystal appeared in her hand and she smiled wickedly. Most of her old base had been completely destroyed, but when she had gone to explore it she'd found several items that could still be useful. This crystal would completely zap his energy and make it possible for her to transport him without a fight. Once she had him before Metallia, she was sure that they would be able to brainwash him once more. This time she would be sure to purge his mind completely and make sure that she erased every trace of Serenity's existence from his memories.

Tuxedo Mask grinned as he took out another youma with a well aimed, golden energy charged rose. As it crumbled to dust he took a quick look around to make sure everyone was okay. After assuring himself that everyone was still on his or her feet and not in any immediate danger, he focused his attention on locating Beryl, but the witch seemed to have vanished.

His senses suddenly screamed to life, alerting him to a presence behind him. Before he could turn around, he found himself trapped by a pair of boney looking, but unbelievably strong arms. He began to struggle, but froze when he felt something prick his neck.

"Well, well, Endymion," Beryl purred in his ear. "It looks like I finally have you where I want you."

"You bitch!" he ground out through his clenched teeth.

"Uh, uh, uh," she scolded him lightly. "It's not nice to talk to your future queen like that, my prince. The crystal I am holding to your neck has the power to suck out your energy to the point where you will be paralyzed. The moment I shove it under your skin, your life will belong to me. But just to show you that I'm not completely heartless, I will allow you one last look at the moon princess before she dies and I strip her from your mind forever."

She slid the sharply pointed crystal from his neck to right under his chin, and with a slight amount of pressure made him turn his head toward Sailor Moon where she was battling a youma.

"Darien!" he heard her scream as she quickly disposed of the youma and began to run toward him. Her piercing cry got everyone's attention, but they were wrapped up with their battles.

"Oh screw this! I've had enough of this shit!" Sailor Shadow growled when she caught sight of the situation. She knelt down and placed her hands on the ground as they began glowing blue. The Earth trembled beneath her for a moment as she called forth a sizable amount of energy from the Celestial Crystal and sent it into the earth in a rushing blast. All of the youma disintegrated as she slumped to the ground, completely spent and exhausted.

Tuxedo Mask had felt the surge in his planet a moment before the blast and had prepared himself to make his move. In the second that Beryl was distracted by the bright blue light he jerked his head away from the pointed crystal and pushed out with the energy of the Golden Crystal, breaking him free from her grip and sending her stumbling away from him.

Her shriek of outrage rang through the air and her eyes gleamed maniacally as she watched Sailor Moon rush to Tuxedo Mask's side. "So, Endymion, I see that you have indeed reclaimed your past powers since the last time we met. But no matter, I will find a way around that."

Then she turned to Sailor Shadow where she was sitting on the ground in Andrew's arms and Talon hovering worriedly over her. Her lips twisted in disgust. "And I finally figured out the mystery about you. You're that horrible, filthy little half breed brat that Serenity gave birth to."

Sailor Shadow turned a glare on Beryl that would have sent most people fleeing in fear for their lives. "What did you just call me? I know I did not just hear you go there and start insulting my heredity because you don't have a lot of room to talk. Who were your parents, Ichabod Crane and the Wicked Witch of the West? Gotta be, because you're flat out the ugliest, toothpick looking bitch that I've ever had the misfortune to come across."

"Oh boy, here we go," Andrew muttered as he sat back with a sigh. Jess might be physically exhausted, but nobody could stop her voice when she was good and riled, and Beryl had seriously pissed her off.

Talon watched with a gleeful grin. He had been on the receiving end of Beryl's sharp tongue many, many times in the past, and he was ecstatic to finally get a chance to see her get taken down a peg or two by someone else,

"Whoo hoo, you tell her, girlfriend!" Jadeite cheered, sidestepping the predictable elbow that Mars sent for his ribs.

"Don't encourage her!" she hissed at him.

"Aww, why not?" Jupiter drawled. "This could get good."

Nephrite nodded. "I bet she'll have Beryl pulling her hair out inside two minutes."

"I would have brought popcorn if I had known there was going to be a show," Venus pouted.

"Help me up!" Sailor Shadow demanded, holding out her hands to her fiancé. When he just rolled his eyes at her, she turned to Talon who quickly took her hands and pulled her gently to her feet.

"Go get her!" he whispered to her once he was sure she was steady and wasn't in any danger of falling.

Her steps were slow and measured as she walked forward, but there was no fatigue showing on her face, only anger, and her voice was strong and true. "Let's get one thing straight right now. You don't come down here throwing your weight around and acting like you're such hot shit unless you've got a way to back up your claims. You've been walking around like you're the freaking queen of the universe or something, but I haven't seen a damn thing to prove to me that you're anything more than a desperate woman that has to resort to trying to stealing other women's men because you've got such a shitty personality that no decent man would ever look at you twice. But just so we don't have any confusion between us, every man here is spoken for, so you can sashay your scrawny little ass on someplace else. Because I promise you, if you insist on trying to sink your poorly manicured claws into our guys you're going to have me and my girls to deal with, and you don't want to see us when we're angry."

Sailor Moon grew concerned when she saw a vein throbbing in Beryl's neck and a tick form near her eye. "Uh, Shadow, I think you've said enough. Maybe you should start backing off."

Sailor Shadow shot her a look that clearly said she must be nuts. "Oh hell no! I finally get a chance to take my frustrations out on the woman that thought it would be fun to stick a sword through my heart a thousand years ago and you think I'm going to back down? Not a chance! I'm just getting warmed up good."

"Oh for the love of god! Somebody make her stop!" Beryl screeched. "I thought that strange girl Discord has working for him had a big mouth, but this one's ten times worse."

"Time!" Nephrite called out.

"A minute and twenty two seconds!" Jadeite crowed as he looked at his watch. "You were right, Neph, less than two minutes."

"Idiots!" Mars growled.

Beryl looked like she was gearing up to go on a rampage herself, but she surprised everyone when she simply opened a portal and stepped through.

"I got what I came for. The next time we meet won't end quite so pleasantly. Enjoy your reprieve, because it won't last," her voice echoed around them. "I have a little surprise coming that I'm sure will get your attention."

Sailor Moon shivered at the dark queen's ominous words and stepped closer to Tuxedo Mask. "Darien, what do you think she meant by that?"

He shrugged. "Beats me! You can never know what to expect from her."

"She's probably just talking out her ass." Sailor Shadow spat.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Talon said somberly. "Sure Beryl has a high opinion of herself, but she wouldn't throw out a threat like that unless she has something planned."

"Then we all need to stay on our toes," Kunzite ground out. "I know it's impossible for everybody to stay together all the time because of our schedules, but everyone needs to make sure they carry their communicators with them at all times in case they run into any trouble."

"Did you catch that?" Andrew asked mockingly as he tapped his fiancé's unadorned wrist.

"So sue me!" she huffed. "This is the first time I've ever forgotten it so you don't have to be so cynical. But I'm worried about the kids. It's no secret that Discord's after them, but what if he sics Beryl on them too?"

Talon looked confused. "Kids? What kids?"

Shadow waved a hand in the air. "It's a reeaallly long story. Why don't you come over to the apartment and we'll fill you in. Not to sound like I'm whining or anything, but I'm way beyond tired and would like to sit down and put my feet up."

Sailor Mercury had pulled her computer out and had flipped her visor down. She seemed to be scanning something off in the distance as she sighed. "You might want to stay put for just a second, I think we have some company about to join us."

Almost before the words left her mouth there was a series of crashes in the nearby trees as two panther sentinels appeared followed by several running figures.

There was a burst of light as the girl in the black-skirted fuku that was in the lead shot ropes of silver energy at the cats. She screamed in frustration when they managed to leap out of the way. "Damn it all to hell! Can't those bastards stay still for one freaking second?"

Two figures in all black blew by her as she stopped and stomped her foot in anger. One of them laughed over his shoulder at her. "I think you're losing your touch, sis!"

"Bite me!" she shrieked back at him.

"Whoa! That's freaky!" Talon muttered to Sailor Shadow. "If I closed my eyes I could have sworn that was you screaming like a banshee. Is she related to you?"

Shadow's blue eyes twinkled. "You could say that. Like I said, I have a long story to tell you."

He nodded. "Obviously. I recognize Rini, of course, but the others are a mystery. I see resemblances between…" his head whipped back and forth between Tuxedo Mask and Phantom. "No way! Are you serious?"

"Just watch," she told him, and he stood back and watched as the younger group of fighters made quick work of the panthers and then whooped in victory when they were nothing more than two piles of dust on the ground.

"Wow! They're good!" Talon whispered in awe. "Discord must have finally worked out the kinks in his plans for developing mutant hybrids, and I know for a fact that they're not easy to beat."

"That doesn't change the fact that they were told to stay put at the arcade," Tuxedo Mask growled.

Kunzite gave a tight nod. "There's no rule that says we can't ground them, is there?"

Andrew snorted. "I don't care if there is, I'm tempted to do it anyway." Then he directed a hard look at his fiancé. "And you! I'm tempted to tie you up or something."

Sailor Shadow may have been tired, but she couldn't help giving him a saucy grin. "Ooo, baby! I didn't know you had such a kinky side to you. Sounds like it could be fun."

Sailor Venus nudged her in the side, "Oh it is, especially when the roles are reversed." She tightened her grip on her Love Chain that was still in her hands. "I could give you some pointers if you're interested."

"Eww!" a loud chorus of protests rose from both the younger crowd and a few of the older ones as well.

The blonde scout blinked innocently. "What did I say? It's my job to give out love advice."

"That's not love advice, that's perversion, Mina! How many times do we have to tell you that nobody wants to hear what you do behind closed doors?" Mars shrieked. "And wipe that grin off your face, Kunzite. We all know that you're just as sick and twisted as she is."

Ishtar moaned and buried her hot face in Phoenix's neck. "Somebody please make the mental images stop! I'm scarred for life!"

"I wouldn't mind hearing some of it," Callista said slyly, and then broke off into a stream of curses as Jupiter smacked the back of her head.

Phantom leaned close to Eclipse and whispered in her ear. "I think I've heard enough of this, how about you?"

She nodded eagerly. "Yeah, let's get out of here. I'm getting seriously creeped out."

"Hey! Where are you two going?" Sailor Moon called after them as they began walking away.

"We're going back to the arcade to get our books and then going home," Phantom tossed over his shoulder. "I don't think my stomach can handle any more of this conversation."

The two of them ducked into the trees. After making sure they were alone they let their transformations fade back into their civilian forms.

Katie giggled as DJ snaked his arms around her waist and jerked her hard against his chest before taking her lips in a hard, demanding kiss that sent her head spinning and her pulse rocketing.

"Wow!" she whispered breathlessly through reddened, slightly swollen lips when they finally had to break for air. "What was that for?"

He dipped his head to nuzzle at the soft skin of her neck. "You look so beautiful. Your face is flushed from fighting and your eyes are so bright and alive. I just couldn't help myself."

She let out a little squeak as his teeth nipped at her earlobe. "DJ!"

He raised his head to grin at her. He brushed his lips lightly across hers a few times until she moaned and sank her fingers into his thick hair, pulling him even closer as her mouth opened to his.

He went a little crazy for a moment when he heard her moan and spun them around so that her back was against a tree while he pressed every inch of his body against hers. Time seemed to stop as he proceeded to kiss the blonde with everything he had, pouring every ounce of emotion he had for her into that kiss.

Common sense began to slowly trickle back into his brain again as he felt her fingers trail down his throat where she began to feverishly unknot his school tie, her breathy little moans where mixing with the ragged gasps coming from his own throat. He jumped when she managed to undo the first few buttons of his shirt and her nails trailed over the exposed skin.

This was getting way out of control. They were out here hiding in the trees with at least twenty people not more than two hundred yards away. They could be found out any minute.

It was hard to do, but he pulled away from her tempting lips, dragging in deep breaths as he tried to cool his boiling blood.

Katie suddenly looked ashamed as she panted for breath. "I'm so sorry, DJ. I didn't mean to throw myself at you like that."

She looked so cute that he couldn't help but chuckle. "What are you apologizing for? I'm the one that started it."

She shook her head and began trying to straighten his shirt and tie with clumsy fingers. "Yeah, but you weren't trying to rip my clothes off."

He smirked at her. "Wasn't I?"

It was then that she realized that his hands were on her hips where her skirt was bunched up until it was almost as if she wasn't even wearing it. A few of his fingers brushed her extreme upper thighs.

"O…oh!" she stammered, blushing red all the way to the roots of her hair.

It was all he could do to keep from pulling her back to him and continuing where they had left off, but he was trying to be mature about this. True he was a normal, hormonal teenage boy, but he knew he had something special with the nymph in his arms and didn't want to risk screwing it up. He wanted to be with her forever, so they had plenty of time to explore other aspects of their relationship.

'But what if you don't?' A voice whispered inside his head. 'What if tomorrow the whole world comes crumbling down around you and you lose her forever? Won't you wish that you had taken the opportunity, just once, to know her like no other?'

Of course he would, but he refused to let himself think of that possibility. He may have inherited more of his father's stoic cynicism than his mother's cheerful optimism, but he had a bright hope burning inside of him, hope that they were going to defeat the evil that was threatening them and reclaim their lives. He wasn't sure exactly what their futures held for them, but he was certain about one thing, one day he was going to marry the girl in his arms and make her his princess.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to step away from her. He gently let her skirt fall back into place and smiled tenderly at her as he swept a few loose hairs away from her flushed cheeks. "I love you," he told her softly.

Her luminescent hazel eyes shone brightly at his words. "I love you too," she replied just as softly.

He quickly straightened his shirt and tie before taking her hand in his and pulling her slowly behind him. "Come on! Let's get back to the arcade. Maybe the power's back on by now and your Aunt Liz can whip us up a snack. Then I say we knock out what little bit of homework we have and just chill for the rest of the night. Maybe we'll watch a movie. I'll even let you pick it out. How's that sound?"

Katie heard him, but her attention was focused on something else. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched, and by more than one person. She glanced over her shoulder as a familiar female voice echoed in her head.

'The mistakes of the past are determined to be repeated, but history can be rewritten. Hold those that are dear to you close to your heart, or run the risk of losing them forever. Love can bring the greatest joy, but also the greatest sorrow. Lovers can become enemies and brothers can turn on one another. When the bonds that hold kindred spirits together fall apart, people die. Remember that.'

"Hey! Are you listening to me?" DJ's voice broke into her thoughts.

She gave herself a shake and stepped closer to him, wrapping both of her arms around his. "Yeah. A movie. That sounds like fun."

He frowned when he felt a shiver run through her. "Are you okay?"

She fixed a smile on her face. "I'm fine! Now let's go get something to eat. I'm starved!"

He had a feeling she was keeping something from him, but decided not to press the issue. He looked back in the direction they had come from, and for a second thought he saw a black figure watching them from one of the trees. But he blinked and it was gone.

He shrugged it off, thinking he must have imagined it and turned his attention back to his girlfriend with a smile. He gave into temptation and placed a quick kiss on her button nose, laughing when she scrunched it up. "Come on, Tinkerbell, let's get some food in us."

The sun was a glowing ball of flaming red orange as it sank behind the horizon, signaling the end of another day. The teenage boy's blue eyes watched as it disappeared with a content smile on his face. He leaned his cheek against the blonde head nestled on his shoulder.

"I love you," Emma whispered softly as she watched the sunset with him. "It's nice that the rain went away in time for the sun to say goodbye."

"Hey," Alex said as raised his head up and put a couple of fingers beneath her chin to lift her face so he could see her. "What's with the gloomy sounding voice? It's not like you to sound so melancholy."

She shrugged. "I don't know. I keep having this funny feeling, like something bad is going to happen. It's like a rock sitting in my stomach and it won't go away. Sometimes I get so scared that I feel like I'm choking."

Alex put his arms around her and held her tight. "You've got nothing to be afraid of. We're going to kick Discord's ass and then we're going home. It's that simple."

She jerked away from him angrily. "What if it's not that simple, Alex. I can only help you so far in this fight. Then it's up to you, your sister, and DJ. So many things could go wrong. Somebody could get hurt…or even die. I don't know how I would be able to go on if something happened to you."

He brushed his lips gently across hers. "You would find a way to carry on. You may not think so, but you are one of the strongest women I know. Even if I were to die in this fight, I have no doubt that you would pick yourself up and continue your life. That's what I'd want you to do."

She sniffled as her eyes went bright with tears. "You would?"

"Sure I would," he told her. "I wouldn't want you to be miserable for the rest of your life just because I wasn't around. I would hope that someday you would find someone else to love, get married, and have that houseful of kids you said you wanted. My afterlife would be pretty shitty if I knew you were alone."

"Oh, Alex!" she cried, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest as her tears broke free. "I may find a way to go on living, but I would never be able to love anyone but you. You are my soul mate and the only person I would ever marry."

He chuckled. "Then it's a good thing that I'm not planning on going anywhere, isn't it?"

She looked up at him. "You can't guarantee that."

He shrugged. "Maybe not, but I think my odds are pretty good. Kat, DJ, and I make a great team. I sincerely believe that once we've proven ourselves to Apollo and the others and we get the power of the Trinity that Discord will be history. Then we'll move on together."

"I sure hope so," she sighed. She pulled a chain out from under her shirt that she wore around her neck. Dangling from it was a dainty topaz ring with a platinum band. "I can't wait until I can wear this where everyone can see it. I know that everyone will complain that we're too young to think about marriage, but I want them to know that I love you and I want to be with you. Even though I know I'd have to listen to Skye teasing me about robbing the cradle because of our age difference."

Alex quirked an eyebrow. "You're only a year and a half older than me."

"You know it doesn't bother me," she hastily reassured him. "But in another month I'll be eighteen and you'll still be sixteen until November. Some people have a way of making it sound bad."

"They'll just have to get over it," he said with a grin as he unlatched the chain from around her neck and slid the ring he had given to her the past Christmas onto her ring finger. "I want you to wear it when it's just us. It's our symbol of love and what we want for our future and it belongs on your finger."

She nodded happily and wound her arms around his neck before kissing him deeply. He responded immediately and returned the kiss with as much enthusiasm as her as he leaned her back until she was lying on the ground with him hovering over her.

He broke the kiss and glanced wryly around at the deserted rooftop of the high school they were on. "This isn't exactly the most romantic of places."

She smirked up at him as she began to slide his school blazer from his shoulders. "It doesn't matter where we are. Anyplace I can be with you is romantic enough for me."

He smiled at her as he stroked his hand from her cheek to her neck. "What time did your dad say you had to be back?"

She grabbed his wrist to look at his watch. "Um, in an hour."

He shook his jacket the rest of the way off. "Too bad it isn't longer," he murmured as he laid his weight on top of her and claimed her lips hungrily.

The Time Gate

"How much longer is it going to take? This has been going on for hours," Beryl complained for what felt like the hundredth time.

Katie snickered from where she was sitting on the misty ground. "What's the matter, Beryl, you got ants in your pants or something?"

The red haired woman spun angrily. "I wasn't speaking to you, you ignorant little wench! I don't see why you are looking so smug. Your mission today was an utter failure. At least I managed to collect the energy that I needed."

The mission wasn't a failure in Katie's eyes. It had gone off without a hitch. She had set the youma loose in a shopping center that was a decent distance away from the college without being too far away and waited. In what seemed like only a matter of minutes her past self had shown up with the rest of her friends. She had been thrilled to see them all together because that just strengthened the excuse of there being too many of them for her to face when she reported back to Discord.

She had remained hidden and watched as they plowed through her forces with just a moderate amount of effort. The rest had worked out without any interference from her. When there were only two sentinels left they ran away in fear and headed straight in the direction of the university. She had followed at a discreet distance and watched from the trees as the sentinels were destroyed and the younger group joined up with the older group.

She had been about to leave when she saw her and DJ's past selves walk away from the group. Curiosity got the better of her and she had hidden up in the branches as the two of them had drawn near. This was an event that had never taken place in her memories, and she watched in fascination.

She had almost fallen from her perch a few minutes later when she and DJ had practically jumped one another. Even now she remembered how hot her face had gotten as she saw how aggressive her past self had gotten with the prince. It had stirred up memories of the past she remembered and how she had crawled into his bed that one night and the clothes had flown in every direction.

It had been about that time when she'd felt another presence that had sent her straight into a panic. It had been very faint, but she had felt her DJ nearby. Cursing herself for her lapse in blocking their link, she'd clenched her eyes shut. If she didn't see him, she didn't have to attack him.

Below her she heard the teens compose themselves and move away. Mad at herself for her slip and furious with her prince for coming back to this time after she told him not to, she mentally connected with her past self and sent her a cryptic message. She may not be able to stop some events that were fated to take place, but she had to scare the girl into staying out of her way so she could do what she had to do to change the past.

She'd felt that slight brush of golden aura again and teleported back to the time gate where Beryl had been in the process of handing over the energy she had gathered. Now here she was a few hours later, waiting to see the results of what had been a long, drawn out ordeal.

"It is time," Discord said from where he stood in front of a giant, crackling ball of energy. "Queen Metallia, your new body awaits."

"At last!" the cloud of mist hissed as is slowly sank into the shimmering orb and disappeared. Everyone waited with baited breath for several long seconds until the energy ball seemed to collapse in on itself and vanished in a puff of thick smoke.

Katie waved a hand in front of face to try to clear the air so she could breath. As the haziness began to fade she looked up to see Discord and Beryl still standing where they had been, but now there was a third person standing with them.

As the last of the smoke disappeared, the newcomer's features came sharply into focus, wringing a sharp cry from to blonde woman as she jumped to her feet. "Holy shit! There is no freaking way I'm seeing this! I have got to be dreaming!"

Discord chuckled. "I assure you that you are not dreaming." Then he spoke to Metallia. "Now remember, this body is just a replica of the original. You will still have to take in energy to sustain it or it will begin to weaken and fall apart."

Metallia leaned over the river of time to study her new reflection. She turned her head in all directions and looked at her countenance from several different directions before a twisted smile appeared on her face. "Yes, I believe this will do quite well. Please accept my thanks for doing such a wonderful job, my lord."

He inclined his head to her. "You're welcome. Now what are your plans?"

A positively evil expression lit up her features. "Now I will go after my enemies. The people of the moon will pay for the atrocities that they committed against me. I just need to pick out my first target."

She swirled her fingers through the streams of time until she settled on the vision of a young man and woman that were walking through a park together hand in hand. "Ah yes, these two will do fine."

Katie gasped when she saw who her intended victims were. "You can't! Not them!"

"Do not question Queen Metallia's authority!" Beryl barked.

The newly corporeal queen turned cold, chilling eyes that held no feeling whatsoever on her. "Yes, them. They fit in quite well with my plans. This should get the moon princess's attention."

Katie sat back down for a minute chewing nervously on her thumbnail as she listened to Metallia and Beryl formulating their plan while Discord watched over them with an amused smile on his face.

She finally reached the point where she thought she was going to snap. The strange mixture of power within her made her feel like she was going to self-destruct at any second. It took everything she had to keep it under control and not start blasting the hell out of all of them.

She forced herself to stand up slowly and say in an even voice. "I'll be back soon. I need to return to my own time for a little bit."

Discord's eyes narrowed on her, but he nodded his consent. "Don't be gone too long. I may have use of you."

She inclined her head before opening a portal and stepping through. She returned to her proper time, but instead of transporting herself to Discord's compound that she had called home for the last fifteen years, she arrived in her secret hideaway.

Her silent prayers were answered when she saw DJ sitting on the ground with his back against a tree. His eyes were closed and he appeared to be asleep, but within seconds of her arrival they opened and he smiled at her.

"I was hoping you might show up here," he said as he stretched his arms over his head. "That was quite a little show our past selves put on earlier, wasn't it?"

She didn't say anything. She just stood there silently staring down at her feet. She heard a rustling sound as he got up, and then she saw his black booted feet enter her line of sight as her vision began to swim with tears.

A hand found its way under her chin and lifted her head up. "Kat? Baby, what's wrong?"

"Everything!" she cried as she threw herself into his arms. "Anything and everything that could possibly go wrong is going wrong."

His fingers trailed up and down her back in a soothing motion. "Hey! Whatever's wrong, we'll find a way around it."

She shook her head adamantly. "I don't think we can this time. You won't believe what that bastard has done. I think we may be royally screwed!"

A/N Oooo! What's going to happen next? Mwahahaha! You'll just have to wait and see. Metallia now has a body, and something about it freaked future Kat out bad enough to send her running to DJ. And who's the unlucky duo that Queen Bitch has set her sights on? Whoever they are, it sounds like it could be a major blow for Serena. And Talon made an appearance, yay! I'm not planning on him being a major player in this, but that could change at any time depending on my muse. I just felt like bringing him in a little since him and Beryl were an item in the past and they were both there on the last day of the moon kingdom. And if anyone's wondering about his and Anya's relationship, it will be answered in the next chapter. And we got a little peek into Pluto's life as well. Okay, enough rambling from me. I hope you all enjoyed this update as much as I had fun writing it. Don't forget to drop me a line and tell me what you think. Your reviews are what keep me going. See ya next time! Lots of love!

~Sere~