The Galactic Trinity

by PrincessSerenity1976

Sequel to Lunar Princess of the Earth. Three teens are on the run from an enemy in Crystal Tokyo. They find themselves in present day Tokyo with our favorite heroes. What will happen when their identities are revealed? Read to see. Full summary inside.

25. Rally at the Gate

A/N Sorry about the wait for this you guys. My life has been hectic lately and I just haven't had much time to work on my stories much. But this is a nice long chapter with lots of stuff going on, so I hope that it makes up for it. Things are finally starting to come together and our heroes are about to storm the time gate to face Discord. I would tell you more, but I think I'll just let you read it for yourself. Now let me get my hugs out so you can get on with it. BIG HUGS TO:

saveme57

Atem's Sister Atea

Seredhiel05

MeganLeBlanc

nileena

silvermermaidprincesskerry

blk0912

sabina21

GoldenDragon326

CharmedSerenity3

gots2luv

R.I.P. Jake AmaraMichelle

jade2nightwing

anime-lover10

KageNoNeko

Isis2010

Ailzzzz

YingYing

S dot Serenity

FanaticArmy

sunbeam07

SailorMercuryROCKS

Chibi Kitt

Lilcala

Katie

Thank you so much! You have no idea how much I think you guys rock! Now since I know how much you have been waiting patiently for this I'm going to let you get on it with it. Oh, and Rekindled readers, give me a few days and hopefully I'll have an update ready for it. I've just been super slammed lately. Okay, nuff said!

ENJOY!

---

The Galactic Trinity

Chapter 23

Rally at the Gate

---

"Shhh," Rini cautioned as the group entered the clearing. "I can't pass this opportunity up. It's too perfect."

She crept closer to the sleeping form of her brother and knelt down next to him with a wicked smile on her face. Her twitching fingers attacked DJ's ribs at the same time she screeched "Wake up, dummy!" at the top of her lungs.

DJ jerked awake, his eyes instinctively turning gold for a moment until he realized it was his sister that had so rudely awakened him. The gold faded back to blue as he glared at her. "What the hell, Bubblegum Brains! Are you trying to kill me?"

Alex snapped upright where he was lying several feet away. His eyes flashed bright red-orange. "Wassa matta!" he exclaimed groggily.

"It's nothing; just an annoying sister problem," DJ told him as he propped himself up on an elbow. "I hope you're proud of yourself, Rini."

"Immensely," the pink haired girl proclaimed smugly. "It's not often that I get the drop on you. You usually wake up at the tiniest sound."

He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "I guess I must have really sacked out. Probably because I knew that nobody was getting in here that wasn't supposed to. But I think Mercury needs to check her barrier again if it let you through. You are probably the most evil person I know."

"Ha ha," Rini intoned dryly. "Now get up. Andrew brought breakfast for you guys."

"Rini," Serena scolded lightly from where she stood nearby with Darien. "That's no way to wake somebody up. How would you like it if someone did that to you?"

Rini stuck her nose up in the air. "He's had it coming for a long time, believe me. You have no idea some of the things he's done to me over the years."

"Oh, I'm sure I could come up with a fairly decent idea," Serena countered back. "Don't forget that I have a little brother too, so I know what pains in the butt they can be."

DJ rolled his eyes. "Wow! I feel so loved right now. Please feel free to stop complimenting me any time you want to."

Then he glanced over at the empty space on the rumpled blanket next to him and bolted upright. He shot a glance over toward where Alex was laying alone with a blanket pulled over his head. "Hey, Lex! Where are the girls?"

That caught the brunette boy's attention. He sat up quickly and scrabbled to pull the blanket off his head, making his hair stand up in spikes. "What! They were here when we went to sleep. And I know Kat wouldn't go anywhere."

Rini snorted a laugh. "Don't blow a gasket, guys! They're right over there," she pointed toward the center of the clearing. "I guess you two snored too loud and ran them off."

The boys looked in the direction she was pointing and breathed sighs of relief as they saw Jess and Mina bent over and shaking awake the two blonde girls that were asleep on a blanket there.

Alex smirked as he took in the empty juice bottles and potato chip bags next to them. "Looks like they had a midnight party without us."

DJ chuckled. "Yeah it does. But they did fall asleep way before we did last night. They didn't even make it halfway through the first movie before they were out cold."

"Well, we told you guys to get plenty of rest," Andrew said as he began unpacking things from the bag he was carrying.

"Please tell me that you have something caffeinated in there," Katie grumbled as she stumbled toward them. She fell to her knees next to DJ and reached for her black backpack to shove the notebook she was carrying inside.

Andrew chuckled. "Yes, Miss Grumpy Bear, I brought you a caramel latte, made just the way you like it. And I didn't skimp on the espresso. I thought you might need a pick me up."

"Oh, thank god!" she groaned as he handed the lidded cup to her. "Sleeping on the ground was murder. Please tell me that we're moving in on that bastard today, because I could really use a hot bath and a real bed."

"Amen!" seconded Emma as she accepted a white chocolate mocha from Andrew. She tried to finger comb her tangled golden hair and then snorted in disgust. "I am so not the outdoorsy type."

"Like mother, like daughter," Kunzite snickered, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Mina.

"Hey!" she snapped. "I went camping with you once, just so I could say that I had been. I can't help it if I prefer the luxury of electricity and indoor plumbing."

"Camping's not that bad," Jess protested as she joined them. "My parents and I used to go all the time when I was growing up. We'd go hiking and horseback riding during the day, and then at night we'd roast hot dogs and marshmallows over the campfire and make up stories. I always had fun."

"Thanks, but no thanks. I prefer the city," Mina sniffed haughtily. "All of those bugs and other creepy, crawly things…Ew!" she shuddered.

"Anyway, getting back to the main subject," Darien broke in. "Yes, we are planning to move on the time gate today. In fact, those of us that are going in first are meeting Trista in a couple of hours, so we wanted to make sure that you guys had time to wake up and prepare yourselves."

Katie shuddered. "I don't know if I like the idea of driving Discord away from the time gate like this. He has nowhere to run except back home. What's to stop him from attacking the city once he gets there?"

Alex nudged her shoulder with his. "Trista said that she's pretty sure that he'll go back into hiding for a while. And with her back in control of the time gate she'll be able to see if he makes a move and let us know. And if he does attack the city we'll just have to trust the parents to hold the fort until we get there."

"That could still turn into a disaster" Katie exclaimed. "Crystal Tokyo hasn't come under a direct attack in years. And you guys remember what happened last time."

This time Rini shuddered. "Don't remind me. At least the rest of you were out cold through the whole thing. But this won't be like when the Black Moon attacked. This time everybody will be on the lookout for something to happen and be ready for it."

DJ nodded. "She's right. And the security has been stepped up a lot since then. Discord would find it hard to march his army right into the city. If it came down to it mom, dad, and the others would seal him away again before allowing the city to be destroyed."

"Which would make everything that we've done here absolutely worthless," Katie grumbled as she picked at the cinnamon roll that she had taken from the container Andrew had set between them.

"Wow! And people say I'm cranky first thing in the morning," Jess muttered snidely. "Quit thinking about what may happen and start focusing on what we can do now. At least with Discord away from the time gate we won't have to worry about him time hopping and messing with past events anymore. He'll be stuck in one place and under Pluto's watchful eye. If he so much as sneezes, she'll know."

Andrew chuckled. "Usually you are ready to bite somebody's head off if they even speak to you before you've had your first cup of coffee, but you seem to be uncharacteristically energetic this morning."

Jess stuck her tongue out at him as she cracked her knuckles. "That's because I know I have a fight waiting for me. I'm hoping to get a swipe or two in at that bastard before he runs away with his tail between his legs. I still owe him for that dirty tick he played on me on the bridge that night. And I'm holding a grudge about that."

"Ooo, bloodthirsty much?" Serena laughed.

Jess's eyes gleamed bright blue for a moment. "You better believe it! Nobody takes a cheap shot at me and gets away with it. If I get a chance to ruffle that old bastard's feathers I'm going to take it. I may not be able to throw everything I want to at him, but I'm sick of him screwing up my life. And now he's messing with my kids too? Oh yeah! If I get the chance to make him bleed, I'm going to take it!"

---

The Time Plane

Sailor Pluto glanced over her shoulder nervously as she ran past the doors lined up on either side of her. She was pretty sure that she had escaped Discord's notice, but she was keeping a safe lookout in case one of his minions noticed her and reported her presence to the evil entity.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the door that she was looking for without incident and quickly removed the spell that she had placed on it before Discord had taken over the time gate.

She slipped through the door as fast as she could and then replaced the charm to prevent Discord's access. This was one place that he could not be able to get to. If he did it could mean the destruction of Earth.

A small smile lifted her lips as the familiar hallway of the Crystal Palace appeared around her. A small gray cat jumped to attention on the cushion set across from the door that she had just come through.

"Lady Pluto!" Diana exclaimed. "I have been hoping for your return! Is all well in the past?"

Pluto stooped and gathered the feline into her arms. She nuzzled the furry head with her cheek. "It is good to see you too, Diana. Yes, everything in the past is as well as can be expected at the moment. You haven't been spending all of your time sitting outside that door, have you?"

Diana shook her head. "No, not all of it. But her majesty has asked me to keep an eye on things. We hear things behind the door sometimes. Discord had tried to force his way through a few times, but your spell has kept him out."

"Well you're probably about to hear a lot more coming from behind that door," Pluto muttered, and then asked. "Where is the queen right now? It's imperative that I speak to her."

Diana nodded. "I believe both the queen and king are still having breakfast in the morning room. Things have been in a bit of an uproar since Discord popped in from out of nowhere and took Sasha and Jack a few days ago. They have been working with the scouts and generals nonstop since then to make sure that the security around the city is as tight as possible."

Pluto listened as the petite cat quickly brought her up to date on what had been happening recently in Crystal Tokyo as she climbed the stairs to the main level of the palace. The heels of her boots tapped out a staccato rhythm as she hurried across the polished floor of the grand hall. She sat Diana down as she approached her destination.

The door to the morning room was closed, so she knocked firmly and waited until a slightly gruff voice replied, "Come in."

She eased the door open and slipped inside. But instead of finding the two monarchs enjoying a quiet breakfast together she found herself faced with two extremely agitated looking people and a black feline.

"Serena, some sort of statement is going to have to be released to the public," Luna was saying from her perch on the table near the queen's plate. "People are going to notice the increase in the number of guards in the city as well as the increase in patrols by the scouts and generals. It would be best if you address it before the rumors start flying."

Serenity raised a hand in greeting to Pluto before answering her advisor. "I know that, Luna. But it's going to have to be handled very carefully. If we flat out say that there is the threat of a possible attack there would be riots in the streets."

"I don't give a damn, Drew!" Endymion was barking into a cell phone. "That ambassador can just get pissed about me canceling our meeting, but I don't want any foreign diplomats or politicians in Crystal Tokyo right now. That's a liability that I don't want to mess with if the shit hits the fan while they're here. But we'll talk more about it when you get here. Trista just came in, so I'm going to see what she knows. See ya soon."

He disconnected the call and tossed the phone onto the table before pinching the bridge of his nose in irritation and sighing deeply.

"We'll figure something out, Luna!" Serenity snapped. "Right now I want to hear what Trista has to say. I seriously doubt that she chanced a trip through the time plane for nothing. So I'm sure what she has to tell us is important.

Pluto nodded. "It is. I told you the last time we spoke that things in the past have not gone exactly the way that you remember them. We have hit a few bumps in the road and had to make some modifications. And now we are about to try and clear a huge hurdle."

"Are my babies okay?" Serenity asked quickly.

Pluto gave her a reassuring smile. "Both Rini and DJ, as well as all of the others, are doing well. They have been training hard and have been diligent in their school studies while still managing to find a little time for fun. But Discord threw us a curveball and we've had to take some steps in order to deal with it. You see, originally Jack and Sasha were never supposed to come here. Discord used those poor brainwashed kids until he felt like he had gotten all he could out of them, and then he killed them. But thanks to some changes in the timeline they realized that he had been lying to them and got away while they could. But now that he has taken them back it has put a bit of a twist on things. Discord held Sasha hostage at the time gate and threatened to kill her if Jack didn't go to the past and kill either DJ, Katie, or Alex."

Serenity gasped, her hand at her throat. "That's terrible! Those poor kids! They were just starting to get their lives together too. Raye and Jed have been beating themselves up because Discord popped in and took them right under their noses."

Endymion sat forward in his seat with an intent look. "So what happened? The kids didn't have to fight Jack, did they?"

Pluto waved a hand. "It's too long of a story to go into right now. You'll probably start remembering some of it yourself when the time stream finally settles down and your past has a chance to realign itself. To make a long story short, I intervened on Jack's behalf and gave him a chance to talk to the kids without Discord knowing. Then we enlisted Talon's help, since he knows Discord probably better than anyone, and we came up with a plan."

Then she lined out everything that had happened over the last couple of days, including DJ, Katie, and Alex faking their deaths.

"So right now Discord thinks that all three of them are dead?" Serenity murmured when she had finished.

Pluto nodded. "Yes. And thanks to Chronos's help he also believes that this time is in complete disarray. So while he's busy rubbing his greedy little hands together and making plans your past selves and the others are going to confront him at the time gate. And when the time is right DJ, Katie, and Alex are going to pop in and take him by surprise. I need the time gate back under my control, and we're hoping that he will run. We also hope to rescue Jack and Sasha at the same time."

Endymion's eyes narrowed. "Are the kids ready for that? They haven't been training with their new powers all that long and they haven't discovered the keys yet."

Pluto inclined her head. "I think they're well equipped enough to handle this. We are not planning on this being a full-blown confrontation, but more of a shock factor. He will try to defend his position when your past selves go in, thinking that it's a retaliation for the kid's deaths. But once he realizes that he has been tricked he will have no choice but to retreat. Which, of course, will put him right back in this time, so I wanted to make sure that you were prepared. But from what I heard when I came in you're already one step ahead of me."

Serenity nodded. "We have secured the borders of the city and set up checkpoints at the entrances. Only residents or people that can prove that they have business inside the city are allowed in. And the palace is practically on lockdown. Nobody can get in unless they have the highest security clearance. I even convinced my parents to come and stay here for a while. Sammy and Hotaru are coming too and bringing little Kenny, so that makes me feel better. And Amara and Michelle have agreed to move in temporarily as well. Jess and Drew have been staying here more than they have at their house since this whole thing started anyway, and they're only a block away if anything does happen. So that takes care of the immediate circle, I just have to worry about the rest of the city."

"I don't think you have to worry about any immediate danger," Pluto told her. "I'm sure Discord will hide away and lick his wounds for a while once we chase him away from the time gate. I just wanted to warn you about what was going on so that you wouldn't be too concerned if you hear a lot of noise coming from behind the door to the time plane. I know both of you have the power to break my sealing spell, but I'm asking you not to interfere. As long as that charm is in place I have the peace of mind knowing that demon cannot enter the palace that way. I will unlock the door myself once I have reclaimed my position and the time key that Discord stole from me."

Serenity and Endymion shared a long look between each other and Pluto knew that they were having one of their silent conversations. But understanding and resignation appeared on their faces as they turned their attention back to the time guardian.

"We will not interfere," Serenity told her. "We will trust in the kids and our past selves. Just keep them safe for us."

Pluto bowed her head respectfully. "I will protect them with my life, your majesty."

Just then there was another knock at the door.

Serenity groaned and set her piece of toast down. "Can I not finish my breakfast this morning? This is beginning to feel like Grand Central Station. Come in!"

The door opened and two men walked in. Pluto immediately identified one as being Talon's oldest son, Kyrian, but the other one was a stranger to her.

"Kyrian!" Serenity squealed with a bright smile. "I wouldn't have been so snappy if I'd known it was you knocking on my door. How are you doing, sweetie? Have you had breakfast yet?"

Kyrian laughed and tossed his head to clear his longish, dark brown hair away from his glittering black eyes. "I'm fine, Aunt Serena. And no, I'm not hungry. Mom stuffed me full before I left this morning. Dad just wanted Evan and I to come and check in with you and see if you needed any help. He's been sensing that something is coming soon."

"Well that was nice of him," Serenity said. Then she turned to Pluto. "Oh, Trista! I don't think you've ever had the opportunity to meet Evan before. He is Talon's right hand man I guess you could say. And Evan, this is Trista; otherwise known as Sailor Pluto."

Pluto nodded her head to the man with the white blonde ponytail. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance."

He stepped forward and took her hand in his. "I assure you, Lady Pluto, the pleasure is all mine." Then he pressed his lips to the backs of her gloved fingers.

Pluto felt a tiny shiver run through her and her cheeks heat up at the combination of his deep, husky voice and the pressure of his lips. Her startled eyes flew up to meet his and she found herself lost for a moment in his unusual, golden amber gaze. And she had to look way up. She stood six feet tall in her bare feet, 6'2" in her boots, so she was used to being on fairly equal terms with most men. But this man stood every bit of 6'8", and she actually felt dainty and petite next to him.

She tore her eyes away from his and carefully pulled back her hand. Then she cleared her throat nervously. "I will take my leave now, your majesties. I still have a lot to do."

"Of course, Trista," Serenity said, a mischievous smile playing around her lips. "Please be very careful. I will be praying that everything turns out okay."

Pluto gave both monarchs a short bow and turned to leave the room.

"I look forward to seeing you again, Lady Pluto," Evan called after her.

She spared him a quick glance and gave him a small nod of acknowledgement before striding quickly out the door.

'And just what was that about?' Endymion asked his wife silently.

Serenity grinned impishly at him. 'I guess Mina was right. She said she had a hunch about those two. What a nice coincidence that they both happened to be here this morning. I'll have to report to Mina about what I saw.'

Endymion groaned mentally. 'Please don't tell me that you and Mina are going to try to play matchmaker again.'

Serenity's smile widened. 'I don't think we'll have to. Did you see the way they looked at each other?'

Out in the hallway, Pluto leaned against the wall with her hands pressed to her flaming cheeks while she tried to bring her suddenly pounding heart under control. She was a confirmed admirer of handsome men, but none had made her feel this way for many, many centuries. She had not been interested in a relationship nor had she taken a lover, not even for a one-night stand, since Tristan had died so long ago. No man had been able to touch her on the same emotional level that he had.

But there was something about this Evan that had sucked her in right away. It was almost like a giant magnetic pull. For the first time in centuries she found herself wondering what it would feel like to be held and kissed by a man that she cared for.

She shook her head sharply. She had no time to be pondering about stuff like this. She still had a lot of work before her. And besides, she had made her life choice. Once this ordeal with Discord was over, she would return to her post as time guardian. She did take some time away from her duties at her queen's insistence, but those sporadic breaks were hardly conductive to building a relationship.

She pushed away from the wall and began walking back toward the door to the time plane. She couldn't think about this right now. She had a job to do and needed to keep her head on straight. But even as hard as she tried, the vision of that long, light hair and warm golden eyes kept intruding in her mind.

---

Tokyo – Present Day

Sailor Venus shifted uneasily from one foot to another as she looked at the girl standing next to her. It was almost like looking into a mirror, only with a few subtle changes.

Sailor Ishtar was almost the same height as her and had the same long golden hair, but her fuku was a much lighter shade of orange and her father's serious gray eyes stared out from her face instead of her mother's blue.

"Are you sure about this?" Venus asked for what felt like the hundredth time. "Speaking telepathically with your soul mate can be a tricky thing to learn to do. Even Kunzite and I haven't perfected it yet. If things get hectic it may be hard for you to contact Alex that way."

Ishtar shrugged. "Well I guess I'm just going to have to keep myself focused then. Alex and the others are depending on me to let them know when the time is right for them to show up, and I can't let them down. If they show up too early or too late it could be a disaster."

She closed her eyes for a moment to test her mental connection. 'Marco,' she thought sarcastically.

A few seconds later she heard a chuckle and then, 'Polo. Baby, you really need to calm down a little. Everything is going to be fine.'

'Easier said than done!' she snapped back. 'Sorry. I'm just so nervous.'

Then she felt a warm, comforting wave flow through her. 'Relax. You can do this. I know you can. I'll be waiting for your call and then I'll be by your side before you can blink. I love you.'

'I love you too,' she thought back to him. 'I better go now. Pluto just got here and I think we'll be leaving in a few minutes.'

'Be careful,' Alex warned her gently, and then his thoughts faded from hers.

"Hey! Is everything okay?" Jess's voice spoke up near her.

Ishtar opened her eyes to find Sailor Eclipse in front of her. The skirt of her fuku was just as dark a blue as her eyes; the same eyes that she shared with her future son, eyes that were watching her in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Ishtar's voice trembled a little as she spoke. "I'm just a little nervous that something will go wrong and Alex won't hear me when the time comes."

Shadow grinned at her. "It can be hit or miss sometimes. That's why Drew and I still rely on our cell phones so much. Distance can be a problem too, but Pluto swears that being on the time plane won't interfere with the reception. Just make sure you make the call nice and loud. That's what I do with Drew."

"That goes beyond being loud. It's more like listening to an alley cat screeching," Andrew chuckled as he walked over, his long black coat flapping around his legs.

Shadow glared at him and reached up to slide his dark sunglasses down the bridge of his nose. "I don't remember asking your opinion."

He pushed the glasses back up over his humorously sparkling eyes. "No, you didn't, but I gave it anyway."

"Smartass!" she grumbled, although her lips twitched like she wanted to laugh. "Anyway, Emma, just try to keep your focus. I've got your back, girl. Nobody's going to get to you without going through me first. You're dating my future son, so that makes you family. We'll go in, rough up a few baddies and when the time is right you'll call in our little surprise. We'll blow Discord's ship out of the water and be home in time for lunch. It's as easy as pie!"

"Don't get overconfident. He's still a sneaky bastard," Tuxedo Mask warned as he joined them. "We'll have to be cautious and on the lookout for any tricks he may pull. And he'll be gunning for you the moment he sees you, Jess. You're still one of his primary targets. He wants the Celestial Crystal badly, and we don't want a repeat of what happened on the bridge that night. That was entirely too close."

Now she glared at her past father's reincarnation. "You're killing my adrenaline high, Darien! I'm trying to stay upbeat and positive about this, but I plan on going in there to kick some ass. And I don't want any macho, He-Man bullshit out of either one of you guys! I'll gladly accept help when I need it, but don't steal my fight from me, please."

Both men grumbled, but looked away sheepishly. They couldn't argue with her logic. She had just as much right to get her hands dirty in this fight as the rest of them did; maybe even more so if you took into account the multiple attempts Discord had made on her life. But that didn't mean that they weren't going to keep an eye on her.

Sailor Moon walked over to them. "Are we almost ready? Trista said that we'll have to move quickly once she opens the portal. Discord will sense us the moment she does, and we want to give him as little warning as possible."

Tuxedo Mask nodded grimly. "I think we're about as ready as we're ever going to be. Let's do this."

They all turned toward Sailor Pluto, who regarded them all carefully. "Please remember to stick close to either Rini or myself once we enter the portal. It takes the garnet orb or a time key to be able to safely traverse across the time plane to the gate, and we don't want anyone going missing."

Everyone nodded solemnly. The time plane was a mysterious space full of twisting dimensions. Unexplained storms would blow up and attack anyone who tried to make it through the time plane without the protection of a time key. Any person attempting to do so would find themselves lost and unable to escape. And they would be doomed to wander the time plane blindly for eternity.

"And a word to a few of our more…temperamental fighters," Pluto's eyes rested briefly on some of them. Sailor Mars and Jupiter huffed in offense while Jadeite, Nephrite, and Sailor Shadow just grinned at her assessment. "There has never been a battle fought inside the time plane before, so I don't know exactly what to expect when the magic starts flying. So let's try to keep things under control. The last thing I want is doors opening and the backlash of our fight seeping into other times. The less mess I have to clean up later, the better. Now, are we ready?"

Sailor Moon looked around and took in the determined looks on everyone's faces. "We're ready."

Sailor Pluto held her staff up in front of her. "Be immediately on guard. I have not been able to get an accurate number of how big Discord's force is, but he does still have several guardians and sentinels at his disposal. I don't know if he will send them after us or if he will keep his defenses tight around the gate. So be prepared for anything. Emma, wait for my sign."

The blonde girl nodded tightly.

Pluto thumped the end of her staff against the ground three times and the garnet orb flashed brightly as a swirling portal appeared before them.

"Let's go," she said grimly and stepped through.

The rest of the group quickly followed her. There was another flash of light, and then the portal and the fifteen people that had been there only a moment before vanished.

---

The Time Gate

"I've done figured out how that bastard is going to kill us. He's going to starve us to death," Sasha groaned as she doubled over, clutching her cramping stomach.

Jack sighed and looped his bound hands around her to pull her close against him. He wished that he could say something to refute what she had just said, but he knew she might be right. He wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed since his watch refused to work there, but he knew that it had to have been at least three days since Discord had taken them from the park in Crystal Tokyo. That had been on Saturday, and neither one of them had eaten since breakfast that morning. True, he hadn't been tied up next to her until late on Monday morning, but food had been the last thing on his mind while he had been tracking and making plans in the past.

"How long do you think it's been?" Sasha murmured softly as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"I'm not really sure," he told her truthfully. "It's hard to gauge time here. My best guess is that it's Tuesday, maybe even Wednesday."

She sighed heavily. "Do you think they'll really come for us? I mean, we've done some horrible things to them. I wouldn't blame them if they left us here to rot. We'd deserve it."

He squeezed her a little tighter, trying to offer what comfort he could. "Of course they're going to come for us. They promised. And I'm not just talking about Katie, Alex, and DJ. The past forms of the king and queen and the scouts and generals gave their word as well, and we know we can trust them. They'll come and set us free and we'll be back in Crystal Tokyo before you know it. Lita will probably welcome us back with a huge meal and then we can have hot showers and sleep in a soft bed."

Sasha's eyes drifted closed and a tiny smile lifted her lips. "That sounds nice. I'm so hungry and tired."

He leaned his head against hers. "I know. I am too. But we've just got to hang in there for just a little bit longer."

Anger burned in his gut as he saw Discord walk by a short distance away. He wanted to yell at him, but he knew it wouldn't do any good. The evil entity had ignored them completely ever since he had thrown Jack down and tied him up here like an unwanted dog. He had turned a deaf ear to them no matter how much they had yelled at him, and Jack seriously doubted he had the energy to raise his voice much above a whisper now anyway.

Being held against his will like this made fresh guilt bubble up inside of him. Now he could see why Katie had turned into such a cold, emotionless creature after her experience at Discord's hands. He was already about to lose his mind, and his circumstances were nowhere near as harsh as what she had experienced. She had been beaten, injured, locked in the dark, deprived of food and water, and had Discord constantly plaguing her mind with doubts and false visions. And if that wasn't enough she then had nearly been drowned to death. He felt sick at the thought that he had helped orchestrate the entire thing.

Like Sasha had said, they deserved to be left to rot away. But he had faith that help was coming. He had to keep that hope alive. There would be nothing left to live for if he didn't.

'I'll help you, Jack.' He could still hear the firmness in Katie's voice and see the determined look in her eyes as she made that vow to him. He knew that he didn't deserve her help, but she had promised him that. And while Katie could be a temperamental hothead, she definitely wasn't a liar.

Both teens jumped when Discord suddenly let out a great booming laugh and hurried to the viewing pool. "How perfect! My little friends from the past have decided to pay me a visit after all. I must welcome them."

A little shiver of apprehension raced down Jack's spine at Discord's ominous tone, but a feeling of extreme relief flowed through him as well. He nudged Sasha gently. "Did you hear that, sweetheart? They're here. They came for us just like I said they would."

Her drooping lids only lifted about halfway as she murmured. "Good. I want to go home."

---

Tokyo – Present Day

"Alex, would you please stop that? You're making me more nervous than I already am," Katie complained as she glared up from where she was sitting on the ground with her arms wrapped around her pulled up knees.

Her brother's dark blue eyes looked at her in confusion. "Stop what?"

"Your pacing!" she half growled. "I swear you're wearing a rut into the ground. If you keep it up you're going to forge another Grand Canyon."

Alex looked down sheepishly and saw that there was a definite path to be seen where the grass had been trampled down under his feet. "Oops!" he muttered as he sat down next to her.

"So do you think they're there yet?" she asked quietly. "They've been gone for a while now."

Alex only shrugged as he propped his elbows on his knees and rested his chin in his palms.

"They probably are," DJ muttered from her other side where he was idly plucking at the grass. "But they said that they were expecting Discord to put up a fight and that they are hoping to take out a good chunk of what's left of his forces before we chase him out of there. So it could take them a while to call us if things are going well."

Katie began rocking back and forth slightly. "Do you think we made the right decision letting them put their lives on the line like this? I would feel like a coward if someone gets hurt while I'm hiding here."

DJ bumped her shoulder with his. "Hey! They'll be okay. They're not rookies and they know how to handle themselves. They've been fighting for a long time."

"Not all of them," Alex grumbled. "Not that I doubt Emma's abilities at all, I know she can be lethal, but if you guys could have felt how nervous she was…I never should have let her go."

Katie unwrapped her arms from around her legs to hug her brother instead. "Oh, Lex! I know it's hard for you to let her go into a fight without you there, but we didn't really have much of a choice. She's the only way to contact us without Discord knowing. It's not like one of the others can just whip out their cell phones and call us. And if one of them had stayed behind it would have looked funny. Discord will be expecting the whole team and he knows that the scouts and generals never split up during a fight."

Alex waved her off. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I just wish Pluto could have come up with a better way to contact us besides using Emma. And before either one of you say anything, I already know the answer. It would be too dangerous and too much of a tip off if Pluto opened a portal directly to us. Besides, we don't need a portal since we can teleport straight to the time gate thanks to our oh so wonderful powers."

"I'm glad someone took his happy pills this morning," DJ muttered sarcastically.

Katie nodded in agreement. "Apollo's not messing around with you again, is he? Because your attitude right now bites big time, bro."

Alex huffed and stood back up. "No! There's nothing wrong with me. It's just that this waiting is driving me crazy. I just want to hurry up and get it over with so we can…"

His voice broke off as a scream echoed in his head. 'ALEX!'

His eyes shot up to meet the other's, his normally blue irises already flaring red orange. "We have to go!" he told them.

And in a flash they were gone.

---

The Time Gate

Discord looked up with a wide grin as the figures began materializing through the mist that enshrouded the surrounding time plane. "Well, well, I see all of you were able to make it past my little welcoming party. I can't say I'm surprised. Those worthless beings that I sent to greet you were the last of my older models. You could probably take those out in your sleep."

"I'm not in the mood to deal with your shit, old man!" Sailor Shadow growled as she stepped into full view. Sailor Moon stood to her right while Tuxedo Mask and Andrew flanked them on either side. "You had to have known that we would come here eventually."

He inclined his head mockingly. "I had an idea that you might at some point. I just wasn't sure how soon you would cope enough with your…devastating losses…to be of a frame of mind enough to come and face me. Have you come to seal me away again?"

"What kind of readings are you getting, Mercury?" Sailor Moon whispered out of the corner of her mouth to the woman behind her.

The blue head shook. "Nothing concrete yet. I'm still waiting for the results of my scans. But what I have so far shows that the guardians and sentinels he has grouped around him are much stronger than the ones we faced coming in. Just keep him talking for another minute while I finish up."

"Tsk, tsk," Discord clucked his tongue. "Are you trying to figure out the secrets of my new pets, Serenity? Go ahead, I have nothing to hide. I believe you will find them far superior to the woefully inadequate beasts I have unleashed in the past. They haven't seen any action yet, but the test run I ran back a couple of weeks ago was promising. I do believe it would have been successful in killing that pitiful earth prince and that moon brat if there hadn't been any…interference."

"You sick bastard!" Sailor Moon snarled.

Discord let out a low chuckle. "I'm sorry, did I strike a nerve there? I suppose I did since your loss is still so fresh in your mind. I did warn you that those brats were going to die; you just chose not to believe me. Instead you continued to place all of your hopes in them; and in the end I was still the victor. The Galactic Trinity is no more, and that means that there is nobody left who can destroy me."

Sailor Shadow clenched her fists at her sides. "You wanna bet on that, asshole! You were too much of a chicken shit to face me head on before. You say that you're this all powerful entity, but you snuck up behind me and tried to ambush me instead of standing up and acting like one. So if you're so great, then bring it on! I'm right here in front of you, buddy! So come on and show me how good you are!"

Andrew grabbed her arm. "Good god, Jess! Mercury said to keep him talking, not call him out. Chill out a bit."

"Don't tell me to chill out! I want a piece of him!" she hissed back between clenched teeth.

Discord's expression had turned unexpectedly amused during Sailor Shadow's speech. "Do you honestly think I'm scared of you, little princess? While it's true that you have more than enough power to annihilate me, you and I both know that you won't do it. You are too much of a sympathetic fool. You had your chance once before to destroy me, but you let your weakness for that pitiful planet stop you. And I wouldn't suggest that you go too crazy here either. I'm not entirely sure what would happen if a large influx of power were to be released inside the time plane."

Sailor Jupiter cracked her knuckles as she stepped forward. "Who needs powers? You're so pathetic that I bet we could just kick your ass the old fashioned way."

"Hell yeah!" Jadeite seconded as he shared a high five with the green suited scout.

"Please, Jed, don't encourage her," Nephrite grumbled.

Discord merely shook his head at them. "How sad, all of this animosity over three little lives. I thought you were the heroes of Earth and devoted to protecting the entire planet. Yet here you are gambling away your lives in an attempt to exact some vigilante revenge for the loss of only three lives out of billions. That seems a little selfish to me."

A snarl ripped from Tuxedo Mask's throat. "Those weren't just any lives that you stole from us. They were our children!"

"Oh please, Endymion!" Discord scoffed. "That boy was not your son yet. You have no children at this time. Even that little pink haired brat that I see peeking over your shoulder right now does not fall into the category of being your daughter. In fact, you wouldn't even be aware of any possible children in your future if it weren't for the fact that Sailor Pluto was naughty and bent the rules to allow all of this time travel to take place."

"Just who the hell does he think he's calling a brat?" Sailor Crescent Moon muttered petulantly from where she stood behind Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. "And how dare he talk about my little brother like he's nothing! Ooo, I wish I could take him on myself!"

"I just wish he'd shut up," Jadeite snickered. "He monologues worse than any villain I've ever seen. I'm ready to cut the chit chat and get this party started."

"Patience," Kunzite warned quietly. "I'm sure we'll be getting our chance very soon. Zoi, how's it looking?"

Zoicite looked up from where he had been studying the computer screen over Mercury's shoulder. His green eyes looked slightly troubled. "The good news is that they only outnumber us two to one. The bad news is that they are a lot stronger than the guardians and sentinels that we've been fighting, so it will probably take us double teaming them in order to take any of them out."

"That could complicate things," Mars hissed.

Venus nodded. "But it's not impossible. We'll just have to stay in pairs and try to watch each other's backs as much as possible." She turned to Ishtar beside her. "Except for you. I want to stay with at least two people at all times. Got it?"

The blonde girl nodded determinedly. "Got it!"

Apparently Discord was ready to end the conversation as well. "So was there a reason for all of you coming to pay me this little visit, or did you just come here to talk? I have other business that I would like to get on with."

"Oh, I have a reason all right! It's called kicking your ass!" Sailor Shadow spat furiously. She took a step forward, but Andrew's hand on her arm kept her from going any farther.

Discord shook his head and chuckled. "Like mother, like daughter I see. That little moon brat had a nasty temper and loud mouth as well. It's no wonder that Jack went for her throat when he killed her. It was the quickest way to shut her up. Isn't that right, Jack?"

He ignored the outraged gasp from Sailor Shadow and the murderous growl from Andrew as he turned toward the two teens that were tied up beside the time gate. They both glared at him in disgust for a moment before deliberately turning their heads away.

He sighed as he looked back toward the group. "What a shame. They used to be so loyal to me. My world was the only one that they knew until they were sucked into your happy little fantasy of goodness and light. I took them in, two pitiful little children that had been abandoned by their whore mothers, and I gave them a home. Sadly though, they showed me how pathetically human they were when they gave into your corruption. But in the end my boy made me proud when he took out the greatest threat to me. It took a little persuasion on my part, but he is the one that killed the Trinity bearers."

"You forced him!" Sailor Moon ground out from between clenched teeth. Her eyes darted over to where Jack and Sasha sat, leaning against one another. They were both weak and rumpled looking as they stared at her with beseeching eyes, and her heart went out to them. "I can look at that boy and tell that he is no killer. You must have blackmailed him or something."

"Of course I did!" Discord snorted. "It was simple enough to do. You humans are so weak when it comes to love. All I had to do was take his little girlfriend away from him and he became my willing subject. And would you like to know how he did it?"

His hand appeared out from under his cloak to reveal Endymion's dagger clutched in his hand. A wide smile appeared on his face as he heard Sailor Moon's light gasp and a growl rumble from Tuxedo Mask.

"I see you both remember this," he said as conversationally as if he were discussing the weather. "It is a very impressive piece of craftsmanship, Serenity. It is Lunarian, is it not? I don't believe a metal such as this has ever existed on Earth."

Sailor Moon gritted her teeth together. "It's Venusian, actually. Where did you get that?" She knew very well where he had found it, but she had to play along with the charade in order to keep him from finding out about Jack's treachery.

He shrugged. "I found it buried away in some of Beryl's belongings inside her old base. I thought it would be symbolic to have it be the weapon that took the lives of those persistently pesky children. Who knows," he turned his eager gaze toward Sailor Shadow, "maybe next I'll use it to carve the Celestial Crystal from dear Melody's body. That way I won't have to worry about her foiling my plans again."

"Just try it!" Shadow snarled. "I've had enough of this shit! It's time to stop talking and settle this once and for all!"

Discord inclined his head to her. "I couldn't agree with you more princess. If I take care of you here it makes my job in the future just that much easier." He waved forward about a third of his forces. "They're all yours, my pets."

---

Crystal Tokyo – The 30th Century

The small group of people gathered in the lower level of the palace jumped when they heard a faint boom come from behind the door they were standing outside of. They all looked at one another in wide-eyed shock, but remained silent.

At least until Jess slid down the wall she was leaning against to sit on the floor and buried her face in her pulled up knees as she groaned, "This sucks so bad! I can't believe that there's a fight with Discord happening on the other side of that door and we're stuck sitting here."

Andrew smirked and leaned a shoulder against the wall opposite her. "Well, in a way you are on the other side of that door fighting, so at least some form of you is getting to kick some ass. Doesn't that count for something?"

She raised her head to glare at him. "Your dry humor isn't helping any. You know what I mean."

"I know I do," Serenity said as she sank down next to her, muttering under her breath as the long skirt of her formal dress got twisted up underneath her. She wished that she'd had time to go change into something more comfortable, but she had rushed out of a formal luncheon the moment Diana had come to inform her that something was happening behind the time door.

"Serena! You're going to rip that skirt if you keep pulling on it like that!" Mina admonished her.

The queen rolled her eyes. "Big deal! It's not like I don't have a humongous closet full of other dresses to choose from."

"But I designed that one," the blonde love goddess pouted.

Kunzite placed an arm around her shoulders. "Sweetheart, we have more serious things to think about than whether or not Serena damages a dress."

She leaned against him and sighed. "I know. I'm just trying to keep myself distracted. I feel like I'm going to jump out of my skin if I don't."

"Amen!" Serenity and Jess both intoned together.

Serenity looked up at the one person who had remained stoically silent since they had arrived there. Endymion stood directly in front of the door with his fists clenched tightly at his sides. As she watched, one of his hands slowly lifted toward the dark, heavily engraved wood.

"Darien," she said in a low, warning tone. "We promised; no interference."

His hand dropped helplessly back to his side. "I know. But it's hard to not want to help them, especially since this is an event that we have no memory of. What if something goes wrong?"

Serenity scrambled to her feet, ignoring Mina's irritated sigh when her skirt got caught under her foot and there was a small tearing sound. She hurried to her husband and squeezed between him and the door so she could wrap her arms around his waist. She laid her head against his chest and whispered, "I wish I could help them too. But we just have to believe in the people we once were and in the kids."

The chest under her ear heaved with a sigh and then Endymion's arms closed tightly around her. "I miss them, Sere. Not just Rini and DJ. I miss all of them. It's not the same without them running around."

"It's definitely quieter," Kunzite chuckled. "I have to physically go look into Kyle's room most of the time to see if he's even there because he's so quiet. The only time a peep comes out of his room is whenever Nick is around and they're playing video games. I still haven't gotten used to not hearing Emma's constant chatter in the background. She's usually bickering with Kyle over something silly, on the phone, or has at least one of the girls around. Now it's just silent."

"I know what you mean," Andrew sighed as he slumped against the wall. "But at least you live here in the palace where there's usually some kind of activity going on. A pin dropping in my house would probably sound like a bomb going off. I never realized how much noise Alex and Katie actually made until they were gone. Now I find myself listening for doors banging and for footsteps running up and down the stairs. It feels weird to walk by their rooms and not hear them yapping to someone or any music or TV. It's kinda creepy."

"Kinda creepy? It's downright spooky," Jess retorted. "The other day I was up in my studio when I heard piano music start playing. I got all excited and ran downstairs hoping to find my kids. Instead it took me ten minutes to figure out that the old lady next door had a radio outside with her while she was working in her flowerbed. I was so disgusted with myself!"

Serenity giggled. "At least you're not as neurotic as I am. I've gotten used to Rini being gone over the years, but not DJ. For the first two weeks after he left I would go into their rooms whenever I was alone in our suite and turn on the TVs or stereos just so it felt like they were there."

Mina laughed a little bitterly. "We're pathetic, aren't we? If we're like this now, what are we going to be like if they all decide to go away to college? Amy, Raye, and Lita don't have to worry about it because Hannah and Jayden still have a couple of years left before they'll be ready to move on and Skye has already said that she is staying here to train under Lita so that they can open another branch of the restaurant. I don't know what Emma has planned yet, but I'm sure she'll follow Alex wherever he goes." She rolled her eyes at her husband's growl of annoyance. "Oh, be quiet!"

Jess shook her head. "I'm not sure what Alex's plans are. For a while he talked about staying here and going to the university, and then he's even talked about MIT or UCLA. As for Katie, well, if she's made as much progress in the past as I remember she'll be Julliard bound."

"Well I know at least one of my babies are staying here," Serenity sighed. "Rini made her decision months ago that she's going to stay here and take classes at the university. She also said that she wants to step up and start taking on more responsibilities as crown princess. But I don't know about DJ. A while back he said that he was going to stay here and take political science so he could be of use, but I don't think that's what he wants."

Endymion began chuckling, causing Serenity to look up at him curiously. "What's so funny?" she asked him.

He thought about the packet of papers that he had received from an old friend a few days before and shook his head. "It's nothing. There's no since getting worked up over where the kids are going to be in the fall just yet. Let's just concentrate on getting them home safe and sound from this ordeal first. Then we'll worry about what they're going to do next."

There were nods and murmurs of agreement from the others before silence fell over them once more.

After a couple of minutes of trying not to listen to the muffled sounds of fighting coming from the other side of the door, Serenity desperately broke the silence. "Hey, Jess? Do you remember that time during the Halloween party when Katie dumped the punchbowl over DJ's head because he called her Tinkerbell?"

Laughter erupted from the others.

---

The Time Gate

Sailor Ishtar blinked her eyes hard, trying to clear away the black spots left in her vision from the flash of combined blue and copper light that had just managed to take out a guardian. She felt someone grab her arm and then a wall of black was in front of her. She looked up to see that Andrew had shoved her protectively behind him. Sailor Shadow stood at his side.

Her boyfriend's future mother turned to glance quickly at her over her shoulder. "You okay, Emma?"

The blonde girl nodded. "I'm fine. What about Mina and Kunzite? Are they okay?"

Andrew glanced over to where Tuxedo Mask was being guarded by Sailor Moon, Crescent Moon, and Pluto as he worked as fast as he could to heal the injuries that Venus, Kunzite, Mercury, and Zoicite had received. But the masked hero didn't look so well himself at the moment. He'd healed several injuries already, and the drain on his energy was showing. He was sweating profusely and his hands were shaking.

This fight was definitely not working out in their favor. These suped up monsters of Discord's were unquestionably faster than their predecessors, and the difference in atmospheric pressure that had concerned Mercury before was without a doubt messing with the timing and the accuracy of the attacks that the heroes were using. They had managed to eliminate a few of the threats, but it was barely a dent in the opposing force.

Ishtar peeked around Andrew to check on her future parents and saw Kunzite waving Tuxedo Mask away from the wound in his side that he had received from a guardian's sword and toward Venus, who was cradling an arm that was sporting a vicious sentinel bite. She looked blurry eyed from the venom in her system.

Ishtar shifted nervously from foot to foot. They needed DJ there to help take care of the wounded. Heck! They just needed to go ahead and call in the cavalry and get this over with. But as she met Pluto's garnet gaze for a moment the time guardian shook her head at her.

The younger scout felt like screaming in frustration. She understood how important it was to try and take out as much of Discord's army as possible before chasing him from the time gate to help decrease the risk to Crystal Tokyo and to hopefully buy them some more time to prepare for the final showdown, but if things kept up like this somebody was going to end up killed.

Then things seemed to turn around for them for a moment as a few shouts of triumph went up. Sailor Moon and Crescent Moon managed to team up and take out a wolf sentinel while Jupiter and Nephrite caught a guardian by surprise and zapped him together. Mars and Jadeite cackled gleefully as their combined fire roasted another guardian to ashes.

That brought the grand total of number defeated to seven, which might sound impressive to some since that meant that there were only three enemies left out of the ten that Discord had set on them. But the evil entity still had twenty more surrounding him. There was no way that the group of heroes was going to be able to defeat all of them. Not with the way that things had been going. They would all drop from either exhaustion or injuries first.

"Oh crap! Look out!" Andrew exclaimed suddenly, and he shoved both Sailor Shadow and Ishtar away from him just seconds before a snarling cheetah sentinel plowed into him and knocked him to the ground. Both women hit the ground and rolled a few times, but they were on their feet again in seconds.

"Drew!" Shadow screamed when she saw her fiancé pinned to the ground by the cat. Her eyes flashed bright blue as energy began crackling around her.

Ishtar raised the bow that she had been clutching tightly in her hand. As she pulled back the string an arrow of golden energy notched itself into place. She had to try and help rescue Andrew. Not only did Alex's existence depend on his future father's survival, but also she genuinely liked and respected the man.

She fired off her shot at the same time Sailor Shadow released her attack. Maybe it was her imagination, but her arrow seemed to glow brighter than ever before. Its golden power merged with the sapphire blue of Sailor Shadow's and together the combined attack slammed into the sentinel. It let out a screech and then burst into dust.

Ishtar followed Shadow as she rushed to her soon to be husband's side and watched as the woman she hoped to one day call mother in law fell to her knees beside him and cried, "Drew! Are you okay? Did it get you?"

Andrew looked dazed, but he shook his head. "I'm fine. It just knocked the breath out of me."

But Sailor Shadow wasn't convinced. Her eyes and hands both roamed over his body looking for injuries. "Are you sure? It didn't bite you or scratch you?"

He caught both of her hands up in his. "Jess, calm down. I am perfectly fine. You and Emma took care of it before it had a chance to do anything more than knock me down."

Shadow's eyes flew up to meet those of her future son's girlfriend. "Thank you, Emma. I don't know if my attack would have been strong enough to take out that creep in just one shot. Your help probably made all the difference in the world."

Ishtar looked down at the ground as a blush of embarrassment stained her cheeks. "You're welcome."

"Are you guys okay?" Sailor Venus asked as she approached them. There was still blood on her glove, but the bite wound was gone and she looked much more alert than she had a minute ago.

"Yeah, we're okay," Andrew said as he stood and helped Shadow up. "How's everyone else doing?"

Venus sighed. "Darien's patching up Kunzite right now and everybody else is okay at the moment, but Serena wants us to regroup. Darien is exhausted from using so much energy to keep everyone going, so we need to rethink our strategy."

"I don't get it," Shadow muttered as she flung a quick look toward where Discord was watching the events unfold from inside a tight circle of his minions. She shuddered a little as his glowing red eyes briefly met hers. "I figured he would have kept the troops coming after us and keep us overwhelmed, but he's holding them back."

Andrew snorted. "He probably doesn't want to lose his protection. What a coward!"

Ishtar chewed on her bottom lip nervously. "Why won't Pluto let me call them? We're not necessarily losing this fight, but we're not really winning either. Wouldn't it be best to get this over with as quickly as possible?"

Venus shook her head. "Beats me! I quit trying to figure out Trista's way of thinking a long time ago. But her plans usually work, so she must be waiting for a reason. Knowing her, she probably has this one tiny speck of time that she has pinpointed as being perfect and she's waiting for that."

Shadow shrugged. "Who knows with her. I just wish that bastard would step out of his comfort zone for just a few seconds. I would love to bash his face in, but I could settle for popping a shot off and give him a nice sting in the ass too."

"You stay away from him," Andrew growled angrily. "I still have nightmares about what he did to you that night on the bridge and I sure don't want a repeat of that. You may not be as lucky a second time."

She looked like she was going to argue with him for a moment, and then her expression softened as she read the worry lining his face. So instead of delivering her usual tirade about how she could take care of herself and how she never backed down from a fight, she settled for rolling her eyes as she cupped his cheek in her gloved palm for a moment.

"Come on, you guys. Let's get with the others and find out what our next move is before Mr. Creepy decides to launch something else on us," Venus said as she and Ishtar turned and began walking back to where most of the others had gathered and were carefully watching as Mars, Jadeite, Jupiter, and Nephrite were continuing to battle the last two sentinels.

"Let's go," Andrew said softly, wrapping an arm around Shadow's waist as they followed.

They had only gone a few steps when a dark feeling shivered down Shadow's spine. She turned her head to look over her shoulder about the same time she heard a warning scream come from Sailor Moon and saw that Discord had finally left his protective ranks. And he was flying through the air toward them with incredible speed and Endymion's dagger still gleaming in his hand.

Without stopping to think she shoved Andrew away from her with every bit of strength she could muster and sent him crashing to the ground where he rolled a short distance away. Then she ducked at the last second as the dark figure flew over her head.

Discord pulled up short and turned, centering himself back on the ground a few yards away from her. A gruesome smirk twisted up his lips. "Nice evasive maneuver, princess. Now I believe that this is what you have been wanting, just me and you, one on one. Am I right?"

She snorted contemptuously. "Yeah right! Like you would ever fight fair. Don't think that it escaped my notice that you just tried to ambush me from behind…again. You're nothing but a pathetic coward!"

Fury flooded the entity's face. "I look forward to permanently silencing that tongue of yours. You and your entire family have been more trouble to me than you're worth, but now it's time to end this. Now tell your lover to back away before I unleash the rest of my army on your friends. I'm not interested in killing them right now. I will take care of them in the future. But you, you are no longer alive in Crystal Tokyo and I have been unable to pinpoint the moment of your death. So I figured I should go ahead and relieve you of your crystal now."

Surprisingly, she felt a small laugh bubble up inside her as she remembered Pluto's words the day before when she had asked if Chronos had killed everybody off when he planted the false visions of the future into the timeline and the time guardian had said 'Not everyone'. Well it seemed that she had been given that honor.

She turned her head to look at Andrew, who had just picked himself up off the ground. His sunglasses had fallen off and she could see the anger snapping in his hazel eyes. She also felt a surge in his energy and knew that he was about to power up. "Back off, Drew," she said softly.

"No chance in hell!" he fired back heatedly.

"Drew, please," she pleaded. "I promise, everything will be okay."

"Damn right it's going to be okay, because you're not doing this!" Tuxedo Mask snarled as he, Sailor Moon, and the others closed in around them. "Back away from him, Jess!"

His commanding tone grated on her nerves. She tossed her head and glared defiantly at him. "You can't tell me what to do! In case you've forgotten, you're not my father anymore!"

"Jess, honey…" Sailor Moon began.

"Save it, Serena!" she snapped. "I've waited a long time for this, and I never back down from a fight."

Discord eyed her gleefully. "Does this mean that you accept my challenge?"

"Damn straight!" she snarled.

"Let's give ourselves a little more privacy then." He raised his hands and one of his impenetrable barriers sprang up around them. "There! Now we don't have to worry about any outside interference."

"Works for me," she said as she tried to tune out the banging and screams that were coming from her loved ones outside. She took a moment to take a deep breath to calm her nerves. For a moment she could have sworn that she even heard Nebula's voice telling her to reach inside and find her inner balance.

A feeling of calmness fell over her and she looked confidently at her opponent. "I'm ready whenever you are."

Outside the barrier, Ishtar tugged on Pluto's arm. "Can I call them now, Pluto?"

Pluto seemed perfectly calm compared to the others around her. She shook her head. "Not yet."

Andrew stomped over and got right up in the time guardian's face as he yelled, "What do you mean, not yet? We need them here now! That monster could kill her!"

"Emma, call them!" Sailor Moon sobbed as she continued to beat her fists on the barrier.

"No, Emma," Pluto said calmly. "I'm sorry, princess, but this time I must disobey you. The time is not right for them to make their appearance. We need to wait just a little bit longer."

Tuxedo Mask joined Andrew in front of her and growled menacingly. "You better hope and pray that you know what you're doing. If something happens to her…" his voice trailed off meaningfully.

Pluto had been able to handle Andrew's angry tirade okay, but she had always found Endymion to be intimidating when driven by anger. And having two angry men looking like they were ready to rip her apart with their bare hands was definitely a frightening thing, but she stood her ground. "Do you underestimate her abilities that much?" she asked them softly.

Both men glared at her for a long moment with blazing eyes before turning back to watch the scene unfolding inside the shield.

Pluto placed a hand on Ishtar's shoulder and assured the troubled girl. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine. Just be ready when I tell you. It won't be long now."

The younger scout was torn about what to do. Part of her screamed to do as Sailor Moon said, yet she also remembered what Venus had said a few minutes before about how Pluto's plans usually worked out. She decided to go with her gut instinct and nodded tersely to Pluto before turning her attention to the fight that was unfolding; just in time to jump back with a yelp as a blast of blue energy crashed into the barrier with a thundering roar.

Sailor Shadow growled as Discord sidestepped her attack. He may possess the body of an old man, but he sure didn't move like one. He was fast. But then again, so was she. She flipped up into the air to avoid a blast of dark energy sent in her direction and landed in a crouch, only to launch herself to the side a split second later to avoid a physical attack as the black cloaked body appeared almost out of nowhere and slashed at her with the dagger.

She rolled quickly to her feet to face him. She summoned her energy and shot an attack at him at the same time he sent one her way. The two powers crashed together and exploded in a deafening boom. Before she had time to draw a breath he was coming at her again. She had figured that a fight with him would be purely energy based, but he was proving her wrong.

She dodged him at the last second and then spun, lashing out with her foot in a roundhouse kick. A small jolt of pain shot up her leg as her foot collided with his back. He didn't feel like an old man either. Kicking him was almost like kicking a chunk of concrete. Despite his fragile appearance, his body felt like a bodybuilder's. His evil energy must be fortifying the body to make it more durable.

Discord stumbled several steps after the unexpected impact and almost went to his knees, but he caught himself and whirled around to glare at her. The red of his eyes flashed brighter for a moment and then she felt a surge in his power. She knew what was coming next since she had experienced it already a few times in her life, most recently at the hands of Talon when he had warned her to get herself back on top of her game, and she clamped down on her mental defenses to keep him from breaking into her mind.

A hiss slid through her teeth as a searing pain shot through her head. She felt a cloud of dark energy descend on her and batter at her brain, but she focused on keeping the shield up and then pushed out with a burst of blue energy. A relieved sigh escaped her as the pain and dark presence disappeared.

Discord fell back a few more steps as the shockwave of her energy hit him. Then a begrudging look of admiration appeared on his face. "It seems that I may have underestimated you just a little. You're stronger than I gave you credit for."

A smirk lifted her lips. "Thanks. I've grown up some since our battle in the mountains. I was a novice with my crystal back then, but now I've had a chance to learn to understand it better."

"So it would seem," he said in a deadly soft voice. "It's just a pity that all that power is being wasted by someone that won't use it to its full extent."

She snorted. "Sorry, I don't have a death wish. You see, I kind of like being alive and having my home intact."

His gaze turned malevolent. "Even if you're living a life where you already know that you're going to have to bury your children someday? That sounds like a pretty sad future to me."

She knew what he was doing. He was trying to goad her into losing her temper and her focus. And if Katie and Alex had really been dead that's probably what would have happened. But knowing that her future children were alive and well gave her the strength to look at him calmly and say, "We'll see. To quote a close friend of mine, the future is not always set in stone."

Anger twisted his features. "It is as long as I'm around. In case you haven't noticed, I control time now, not your precious little Sailor Pluto!" Then he lunged for her.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl to her, and then the whole scene melted away. Instead of seeing her most hated enemy bearing down on her with murder in his eyes, she found herself envisioning a scene in the backyard of the house she had lived in most of her life.

She was standing on the mat that her father always laid out whenever he would help her with her sparring or wanted to show her a new self defense move that he thought she should know. Josh Alexander stood across the mat, facing her.

"Okay, Peanut," he said with a grin. "I know that in a fist on fist fight that you can hold your own. But these are dangerous times that we live in, and there are a lot of cowards out there that don't feel brave unless they have a weapon of some kind. But just because someone is armed and you're not doesn't mean that they can't be taken down."

He held his arm extended in front of him. "Now I want you to pretend that I have a knife in my hand and that I'm coming after you. Then I want you to try that move I showed you earlier." Then he chuckled. "Just take it easy on me though. It's only pretend."

But it wasn't pretend now, and she didn't have to hold back. Her vision cleared and she saw Discord still making his way toward her. She had been surprised that Pluto hadn't called the kids in the moment that she had agreed to this suicidal face off and had wondered what reason the time guardian would have for allowing it to happen, but now she knew what she had to do. There was a way she could help the kids in their fight.

"You must kill the human body he's in. Once he's without a physical form he will be more vulnerable to attack." Talon's words from long ago whispered through her head.

Time sped back up, and then he was practically on top of her. At the last possible moment she leaned slightly to the side so that his arm shot by her. She gripped his wrist tightly in one hand and gave it such a violent twist that she swore she heard something snap. Then she slammed the elbow of her other arm down hard on his.

He let out a harsh grunt, half in pain and half in surprise as the dagger fell from his hand to clatter to the ground.

Sailor Shadow didn't waste a second as she let go of him and bent down to retrieve the weapon. But just as her fingers closed around the handle, Discord let out a demonic sounding growl and kicked her solidly in the ribs.

She flew several yards through the air before hitting the ground and skidding a few more feet. She lay still for a second, taking a physical inventory. Yep, that little stunt had definitely cost her a cracked rib or two along with several scrapes and bruises, but the feeling of cool metal in her hand made it all worth it.

She took as deep a breath as she could and steeled herself for the pain as she pushed herself up and got shakily to her feet.

Discord was still standing in the same spot, his injured arm now hanging limply at his side. His red eyes blazed hotter than even Mars's fire.

"You half blooded little abomination!" he spat. "You never should have even been born! If it weren't for you the Galactic Trinity wouldn't even exist anymore because all three of the royal bloodlines would have died out centuries ago. You have been the bane of my existence for long enough, and I'm tired of toying with you!"

As dark energy began crackling around him in preparation for launching what was sure to be a massive attack, a wide smile appeared on Sailor Shadow's face. "Oh yeah? Well why don't you play with this?"

She flung her hand out suddenly, and something small and bright blue flew through the air to hit Discord in the chest. The energy around him faded as he looked down in shock.

Endymion's dagger was buried in his chest, glowing brightly with the power of the Celestial Crystal and embedded deeply into the heart of the human body that he had inhabited for so long. Without a beating heart to keep the body alive, he would no longer be able to use it. He would be reduced into a formless mist once more. The body, no longer under his control, began to fall.

Sailor Shadow couldn't stop the sob of relief that tore from her as the now lifeless body fell to the ground. She couldn't believe that she had done it! She had known that she was taking a huge risk by throwing that dagger. Discord could have dodged it or her aim could have been off, but luckily the element of surprise had been in her favor and she had been able to strike steady and true.

But her relief was short lived as the body burst into dust and a large cloud of inky black vapor rose from where it had been.

"Oh great!" she muttered under her breath. She had known that taking his physical body away from him wouldn't kill him, but she honestly hadn't thought about what her next move would be. Of course she had had never thought that things would get this far either. Now here she was, still stuck inside this damn shield with one seriously pissed off evil entity.

The group outside the barrier had fallen into stunned silence when they had seen Sailor Shadow perfectly deliver the fatal blow to Discord's body. But their shock melted away into fear once again as they saw the mist that was Discord's true form appear.

"Now Emma!" Sailor Pluto commanded sharply.

Startled, the blonde girl jumped. But after one last, wild eyed stare at the scene unfolding she clenched her eyes tightly closed and shrieked mentally as loud as she could, 'ALEX!' She felt his presence almost before the scream stopped echoing in her head.

Normally the air around the time gate was absolutely still, but a sudden wind blew through like it was announcing that a storm was on its way. And then the storm arrived.

Ishtar gasped as a bright red orange light flared to life next to her and Alex appeared. A short distance away a flash of gold and silver heralded DJ and Katie's arrival as well.

"You rang, my lady?" Alex quipped with a grin.

All Ishtar could do was point and gasp, "Your mom!"

That was all she had to say. The three newcomers took one look at what was happening and with three more flashes of light they teleported again, reappearing milliseconds later at spaced out intervals around the barrier. Power in their respective colors swirled around them as they each laid a hand on the shield. Immediately the barrier crumbled.

"Well they made that look easy," Mars grumbled irritably. Next to her Jadeite, Jupiter, and Nephrite nodded dumbly. All of them had been busy and hadn't seen any of the training sessions that had taken place since the three teens had received their new powers.

Venus, Kunzite, Mercury, and Zoicite had all stopped by the training clearing at least once to see how things were progressing, but that still didn't keep them from gaping in awe.

Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Mask, and the others didn't seem surprised at all. Of course since they spent the most time with them they would know more. And Sailor Pluto naturally knew more than anyone.

Alex turned his smoldering reddish orange eyes to Andrew. "Get mom," he said simply before disappearing again. He, DJ, and Katie all rematerialized between Sailor Shadow and Discord.

"Impossible!" Discord's voice boomed from the mist. "How are you three here? I saw you die and felt your auras vanish."

DJ smirked, his golden eyes looking very amused. "Haven't you ever heard the old saying, believe nothing that you hear and only half of what you see? Yes, you saw Jack kill us, but we decided that we didn't want to die. So here we are."

Katie giggled next to him, her silver eyes dancing with glee. "I don't know why he's still acting like such a big shot. From what I can tell it looks like he just got his ass handed to him. So it's only natural that he be a little moody."

"Moody?" Alex scoffed. "He sounds more like a whiny little bitch to me. I don't even know if he's worth the effort. I have better things I could be doing with my time."

Andrew had reached his fiancée's side by that time and gently scooped her up into his arms. He had seen the way that she was favoring her side and knew that she had to be in pain. That still didn't stop him from growling, "I hope you're proud of yourself! That stupid little stunt almost gave me a heart attack!"

She sighed tiredly and laid her head on his shoulder. "I am proud of myself, actually. I stood up to that monster and I beat him down. I was also able to help the kids. They'll have an easier time with him being outside a human body."

"It was still a crazy thing to do!" Andrew fumed. "It was dangerous, reckless, impulsive, and…" he broke off as he looked down to find her staring up at him with eyes that were beginning to tear up. He groaned. "And it was something that I should have expected you to do."

They had reached the others by now and everyone crowded around them.

"Are you okay?" Sailor Moon demanded in a teary voice. "You had me so scared there for a minute."

Shadow had the grace to look a little chastised. "I'm fine, Serena. I'm just a little sore. And I'm sorry for the way I snapped at you earlier. I shouldn't have done that."

Sailor Moon waved her off. "Don't apologize. It's no big deal. I'm just glad you're okay." She looked like she was about to say more, but Discord's bellowing voice cut her off.

"You miserable little brats! I should have taken my chances against the protection around you and killed you when you were nothing more than babies in your cribs!" the evil entity yelled.

The three teens glanced over their shoulders to make sure that Andrew had gotten Jess to safety. Then they resolutely faced the swirling cloud.

'Remember what Nebula and Pluto told us,' DJ said mentally to his two partners.

Katie's head nodded just a bit. 'Hit him hard and hit him fast, with everything we've got.'

'Let's do this,' Alex's voice said firmly.

There was no slow buildup of power. Instead the energy burst from them in a rush. The massive blast of gold, silver, and red orange light combined together and sped toward Discord, where it slammed right through the cloud of mist to leave a gaping hole.

A horrific sound that sounded like the howling of a hundred demons erupted from Discord. The swirling cloud seemed to almost swell for a moment before it flew away. It paused for a moment and settled over the remaining guardians and sentinels. The small army had vanished when it began moving again.

"This is far from over, chosen ones!" Discord sneered in a much weaker voice than he had used before. "You still do not have the power to destroy me completely. I will be back."

With that last ominous proclamation the time gate flew open with a bang and he disappeared through it, taking what was left of his minions with him. The atmosphere around the time gate was still and silent for a long minute.

"Is he really gone?" Katie finally whispered.

"I…I think so," DJ answered her hesitantly.

Alex blew out a breath. "Then is it okay if I sit down now? I don't know if my legs can hold me up anymore."

The other two let out tired chuckles at his words and all three of them slumped to the ground as the power around them faded.

"That was indeed a job well done," Pluto stated as she walked toward the time gate. "You did even better than I thought you would. You managed to deal him a devastating blow. I don't think we'll be seeing him again for a little while."

She tapped the end of her staff on the ground and the garnet orb flashed brightly. There was an echoing flash from the river of time and the gigantic doors of the time gate creaked slightly as they began to close. She took a quick peek into the time stream and smiled as Chronos's illusions faded and revealed the events of the future as they should be, at least to a point. There were still a couple of alternate timelines that branched off farther ahead, but they were pale in comparison to the main stream.

"Is everything okay, Trista?" a soft voice asked gently, and she looked up into the concerned eyes of her princess.

She gave her an encouraging smile. "Time is quiet now. Everything is flowing as it should. Discord is no longer a threat to the Earth of your time."

"But he's still a threat to the future," Sailor Moon stated as she came to a stop beside DJ. She reached down to smooth back his messy hair that was so like his father's.

"Don't let that worry you. I assure you that Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion have things under control," Pluto said as she walked over to the pile of dust that was all that remained of Discord's body. She picked up something small and shiny that proved to be the time key that he had stolen from her and returned it to the slender chain around her waist.

Then she picked up something else before waving her hand and making the remains disappear. She turned to Sailor Moon and held Endymion's dagger out to her. "You may want to return this to its rightful owner."

Sailor Moon took it carefully in her hand and looked down at it nostalgically as she ran her fingers lightly over the engraved inscription. She vividly remembered the first time that she had seen the weapon in a shop on Venus when she had taken a trip there with Minako right before she was to go to Elysian to spend the rest of her pregnancy with Melody there. The moment that she had laid eyes on it she had known that it was the perfect gift for her prince. Kunzite had done the engraving for her since her marriage to Endymion had to be kept a secret and she couldn't trust anyone else to do it, and he had done a beautiful job. She still recalled the way Endymion's eyes had lit up on Christmas morning when he had opened it. Ironically that had been the same day that he had given her the golden star locket that was still one of her most prized possessions.

The sound of raised voices pulled her from her memories and back to the present.

"Damn it, Jess! Stay still!" Tuxedo Mask yelled in exasperation.

Sailor Shadow had slid from Andrew's arms and was now half hiding behind him. She shook her head furiously. " I don't need you to heal me, Darien. You're already almost maxed out as it is. I'll be fine once I get a little sleep and by tomorrow it will be like nothing ever happened."

Andrew sighed heavily. "Sweetheart, let him do it. Amy said that you have two cracked ribs. There's no reason to suffer the pain."

Tuxedo Mask gave a hard nod. "He's right. I've got enough juice left to fix you up. Now come here, you stubborn woman!" He took her by the arm and pulled her gently toward him. Warm gold flared from his hands for several seconds and then faded away.

Shadow drew in the first deep breath that she had been able to take in what felt like hours as the pain disappeared. She was grateful for the relief her former father had just given her, but she was too ashamed to look at him after the horrible way she had spoken to him earlier.

"Hey!" he said softly, chucking her under the chin to make her eyes meet his. "Are you okay?"

The tears that had been stinging her dark blue eyes spilled over as she looked into his identical concerned gaze. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier," she whispered. "I never should have said that."

To her surprise he laughed and pulled her into a hug. "Is that what you're so upset about? You didn't say anything that isn't true. I'm not your father this go round and I had no right to order you around like that. But I am your friend, Jess, and I'm always going to look out for you."

She hugged him back, taking a moment to breathe in his unique scent of roses, chocolate, and coffee that always made her think back to another lifetime. "Thanks, Darien," she said as she stepped away from him and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Now I think I better go check on my two rugrats."

The whole group made their way over to where Sailor Moon and Pluto were still talking while DJ, Katie, and Alex sat on the ground with tired, dazed looks on their faces. DJ and Katie were leaning against each other while Sailor Ishtar, who had wandered over a few minutes before, had sat down next to Alex and had her head laid against his where it rested on her shoulder.

"Well it's probably about time to get all of you back home now," Pluto was saying. "I think you've done everything that you could around here. Now I have my work cut out for me. I need to get those two back to Crystal Tokyo," she waved a hand toward Jack and Sasha, who appeared to be in as rough of shape as the ones who had been fighting.

She looked toward three shallow stone basins and shuddered. "It also looks like I need to make another trip to Mt. Olympus to return those to Hades. I hope that makes that old grouch happy."

"What are those?" Sailor Moon asked, her curiosity piqued.

Pluto rolled her eyes. "You probably don't want to know."

A gasp came from Mercury as she read the scans from her computer. "Oh my! Are those really…"

The time guardian sighed. "Yes. You thought it was bad enough when Discord brought Metallia back, but he had more in mind when he did it. That was another reason why I knew it was imperative to get him away from here as quickly as possible. He also had plans to resurrect the Doom Phantom, Pharaoh 90, and Chaos as well. If he had been successful there is no telling what may have happened."

"All of them?" Sailor Moon squeaked, grasping tightly onto Tuxedo Mask's arm as he came to stand beside her.

Pluto nodded. "Yes. He was determined to try to build a strong enough force to overwhelm you. You may have been able to defeat all of them one on one, but he knew that there was no way that you could handle all of them at once. It would have been a disaster. Luckily he never got that far."

"He still got away with a nice size little army," Jadeite grumbled. "I was hoping that we would do more damage than that." Raye, Jupiter, and Nephrite nodded in agreement.

"You did more damage to him than you think," Pluto answered with a grin. "He lost a third of his forces, plus he was injured." She pointed to a puddle of what looked like black ink. "See that? It shows how seriously he was hurt. That is his, well…blood, for lack of a better word. Just because he does not have a solid form does not mean that he can't be physically injured. And DJ, Katie, and Alex really gave it to him."

"Our heroes!" Sailor Shadow exclaimed with a laugh as she crouched down in front of them.

Katie grinned wryly at her. "You're one to talk. I'm assuming that you're the reason why we found a floating cloud of vapor instead of a withered up old man when we got here. What'd you do, kick his ass?"

Her future mother tossed her braid over her shoulder. "Of course I did! What did you expect me to do, shake his hand?"

"Don't think you're getting off easy. I'm still a little pissed that you put yourself in that situation," Andrew grumbled as he hunkered down next to her.

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You'll get over it. Now I think we need to get this crew home so they can get some rest before they fall out. I think they've earned a bit of a break. In fact, I think you guys should take a few days off from training. I'll clear it with Nebula. She won't give me a hard time about it unless she wants me to haul her to the vet to have her spayed and declawed."

"I'm almost too tired to move," Alex groaned as he smothered a yawn behind his hand.

"Tell me about it," Katie seconded. "I'm almost tempted to just stretch out right here and catch a nap."

DJ let out a low chuckle. "I thought you wanted a hot bath and a real bed."

She snorted. "I'd probably fall asleep and drown myself in the tub, but the bed does sound nice."

"Hey guys," a strained sounding voice broke in, and they looked up to see Jack and Sasha standing close by. Their bonds had been removed when Discord had fled. The three teens climbed slowly to their feet as they eyed the other two warily.

"We just wanted to say thank you," Jack said sincerely. "If it weren't for you guys I'm sure we were both goners. Discord was perfectly content to leave us tied up there like dogs until we starved to death. There's no way that we could have gotten away from him on our own. We owe you our lives."

He held his hand out toward DJ, who eyed it like a poisonous snake for several seconds before sighing and shaking it. "You're welcome. I just hope I never regret helping you."

Jack laughed a little as he then turned to Alex to offer his hand to him. "No way! We're going on the straight and narrow. I've had enough of this kooky shit to last a lifetime."

"You better stick to that," Alex growled as he grudgingly shook his hand. "We'll come after you if you don't."

Sasha licked her lips nervously as she glanced shyly at her ex-boyfriend. "DJ, I…" Then she jumped at him and threw her arms around his neck as she planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you so much!"

DJ felt a flare of irritation come from the girl next to him and he looked quickly to Katie and held his hands up in a helpless gesture.

Katie may have been tired, but she wasn't so far gone that she wasn't ready to beat the snot out of the strawberry blonde that was mauling her boyfriend. But just as she was about to snap Sasha let him go of him and turned to her before hugging her tightly as well.

"Thank you, Katie!" the other girl gushed. "I know we've never been close friends, but I'm still grateful to you for all that you've done." She stepped back and looked at her and DJ. "You know, you two do make a cute couple. I always thought you would." Then she turned to repeat the process with Alex while Ishtar glared darkly at her.

Jack stepped in front of Katie and took her hand in his before lifting it to place a light kiss on the back of it. "I owe you most of all, Katie. You were the one that I had wronged the most; yet you were the one that took my side and made the others listen. For that I am eternally grateful. I also look forward to hearing you play again once you return home."

Katie couldn't stop the light blush that flooded her cheeks. "You…you're welcome, Jack. I look forward to hearing you play again as well."

Sasha snagged him by the arm. "Okay, smooth talker! That's enough flirting out of you. Can we go home now, Pluto? We haven't eaten in days and I think my stomach is touching my backbone."

Pluto nodded. "I will take you now. Do you other kids want to come? I'm sure I can wrangle you a few minutes if you want to say hi to your parents."

Crescent Moon, DJ, Katie, Alex, and Ishtar all looked around at each other for a moment before shaking their heads.

"It would just be that much harder to leave again," Katie mumbled. DJ and Alex both nodded in agreement.

"And it wouldn't seem fair for us to go when Skye, Jayden, and Hannah can't," Ishtar said softly.

Crescent Moon flipped one of her long pink pigtails over her shoulder. "I'm sure the parental units are doing fine without us. Besides, it's not like we're never coming home again. Just tell them that we'll see them soon."

Pluto inclined her head. "As you wish. Now Rini, do you think you can lead the others back to Tokyo while I get these two back to where they belong?"

"Sure thing!" the young princess said as she pulled the chain with her time key on it from around her neck. "Are you guys ready? I can't wait to get back and tell Hotaru everything."

"Lead the way," Sailor Moon said with a giggle. Then she turned to Tuxedo Mask and held the dagger out to him. "I do believe that this is yours, my prince."

"You know, I do believe you're right, princess" he said with a chuckle as he wound his fingers around hers where they gripped the hilt. "Do you still remember when you gave it to me?"

Her breath caught at the twinkle in his eye. "Of course I do." Then she stood on her tiptoes to peck a quick kiss on his lips.

Crescent Moon snorted in disgust. "Are we going or not? You two can have smoochy time later after you're alone. Geez! How did we grow up normal with parents like them, DJ?"

"I don't have a clue," her brother replied with a yawn. "But sometimes I wonder if you could be called normal anyway."

"Why you!" she screeched.

"That's enough!" Sailor Moon demanded loudly. "Let's go home."

---

A/N So progress is being made. The time gate is back under Pluto's control and Discord has been sent running. But don't think that it's over yet. He may have been cast out of his physical body and injured, but he'll rear his ugly head again. And just because present day Tokyo is now safe that doesn't necessarily mean that Serena, Darien and the others have seen the end of the action. In fact, I could use some feedback from you guys. I'm trying to envision exactly how I want the final battle to go. I have two different ideas going on. In one our teen brigade goes back home alone in time to fight Discord to try and save their world. And in the other our heroes from Tokyo end up in the future with them and have to team up with their future selves to protect Crystal Tokyo from Discord's lackeys while the younger generation bands together to provide support to the Trinity bearers as they face Discord in the final showdown. I would really like to know your feelings on it, and I'm totally open to other suggestions as well. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Remember, all reviews are cherished, so please feel free to tell me what you thought. Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~