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.

44. Power Play

A/N Yes, I'm still alive. And believe it or not, this story just might be too. I'm sorry about the long wait, but life has been rather crazy lately. My grandfather, who had been sick for a while, took a turn for the worst right around Christmas and recently passed away. So I have been traveling a lot and having to deal with family issues, which hasn't left me much time to devote to my writing. I do want to say thank you to all of you who read the DJ/Katie Christmas story, Catching Dreams, and left such wonderful reviews. Sadly, that was not supposed to be my main holiday story this year, it just happened to be the one I had finished before all the madness in my life descended. I have a Princess Serenity/Prince Endymion multi-part Christmas story that I was hoping to get up in time for the holidays, but unfortunately it is still incomplete and sitting on my flash drive. Maybe I'll get a wild hair and finish it up and post it out of season. Hmm…a Christmas story for Valentine's Day or Easter wouldn't be too strange…would it?

Anyway, this chapter was originally longer…a whole lot longer. I meant for the battle to end in this posting, so when it grew to massive proportions I started taking out scenes, which I felt completely killed the direction I wanted this story to go. So I've decided to split it into two chapters and have restored it in its entirety, which makes me feel loads better. Now I'm working on revamping the second half. In any case, I hope you guys like this.

Also, some of you may have noticed my new avatar. It's a picture of DJ, Katie, and Alex during this final battle. I have a very dedicated reader who had this made for me, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Thank you again, Meg! It was, without a doubt, one of the best Christmas gifts ever! You rock!

Sorry for not giving out individual hugs for reviews this time guys, but you know who you are. I appreciate each and every one of you. I hope you all know that. So here's a giant hug from me to all of you. I couldn't continue doing this without your support. Now, on with the show!

ENJOY!

Last time on GT…

Serenity felt like screaming. The palace was full of innocent people. Her family, both by blood and by extension, was in there, as was a large part of the population of the city that trusted her to keep them safe.

Rage boiled through her, giving her a shot of adrenaline that reenergized her and set her feet in motion toward the palace. Without thinking about it, she blasted two guardians that got in her way, lashing out with strong enough attacks to reduce them both two a pile of dust in seconds. That should have been enough to bring her to her knees, but she kept going. She didn't care if it meant sacrificing her own life; she had to save the people in the palace.

"Serena!" she heard Endymion, at least she thought it was Endymion, yell in the distance. But she ignored him. He'd probably rake her over the coals for it later, if she survived, but she was determined to protect the palace.

She felt a fissure run through the air and spun around in time to see a massive wolf sentinel leaping through the air toward her. Knowing she didn't have time to even begin to defend herself, she froze.

Then something swirled in front of her. Black and red flashed across her vision along with a glint of silver. And then something slammed into her fairly hard. She felt something that she hadn't felt in a long time, cool metal armor beneath her fingers, as she fell to the ground with the heavier weight on top of her.

Gold light flashed around them as the ground shook under her back.

And then she heard a voice screaming, "Darien! Darien! DARIEN!"

Silver light exploded, swallowing the gold.

And everything went eerily silent.

---

The Galactic Trinity

Chapter 41

Power Play

---

Serenity felt like she had been sucked into a vacuum as Silver Crystal energy that was not of her making surrounded her. Combined with the weight that lay heavily on top of her, she almost felt like she was suffocating.

It was a very strange sensation to not be able to see or hear anything. In fact, it was almost as if she had been struck with complete sensory deprivation. There was not even the slightest rustle of sound around her and the backs of her eyelids were just a plain white page.

Then slowly, as if waking from a dream, her senses began returning. It began as a low whistle in her ears, like a teapot that had reached its boiling point but was far away. Gradually, it began growing louder and louder until she was able to start identifying the individual noises; the shrieks, screams, snarls, and growls.

Soon after that the light suddenly faded, making her feel like it was now safe for her to open her eyes without the threat of her retinas being burned out. She cracked her eyes open experimentally to test whether her theory was right, only to have them fly open in shock less than a second later.

The face pressed next to hers was one that she knew as well as her own. She had spent many nights over the years, in both of her lives, tracing her fingers over those high cheekbones, firm jaw, and straight nose. And that glossy black hair that fell over the closed eyes that she knew were the deepest sapphire blue behind their lids was the same hair that she adored tunneling her fingers into as she snuggled in bed with her husband at night.

But she also knew immediately that the man on top of her was not the man she had married…exactly. In a way he was, but even though the armored breastplate digging into her ribs was a huge giveaway to his identity, she recognized the other little signs, like how this face lacked the few tiny lines around the eyes and mouth brought on by years of laughter and stress.

And then abruptly his body was pulled away from her and a nearly identical face was hovering over hers.

"Sere!" Endymion cried worriedly as he began running his hands over her in search of injuries.

"I'm fine," she told him, batting his hands gently away. Then, with a bit of his help, she sat up. She tried to take a deep breath and almost immediately choked on dust. "What happened?"

Endymion was still fussing over her slightly, tucking loose pieces of her hair behind her ears and swiping at the dirt and dust on her skin. "It all happened so fast. After we were separated I was trying to make my way back to you. But two guardians and a sentinel boxed me in. Luckily, Drew and Andrew were close by and were able to give me a hand. I had just gotten away from them when I felt your anxiety spike and saw you sprinting away with a sentinel right behind you. I yelled after you and tried to get an attack off, but I knew that it would be too late. Then out of nowhere, my past self threw himself on top of you to protect you."

Serenity looked over at Darien, who was lying only about two feet away from her. His princely armor had faded, returning to the tuxedo of his alter ego. But what concerned her was the blood that she could see beginning to seep into the white fabric of his shirt. "Is he going to be okay?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Endymion told her as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm still here, aren't I? He managed to put up a barrier to protect you both, but I think the sentinel's claws caught him just before it was complete. They must have found a weak spot in the armor. I always said that it had a few design flaws."

"I completely agree with you," Tuxedo Mask groaned as he came to. His eyes slowly opened to look at his future self. But when his gaze fell on Serenity they flared wide.

"Serena!" he exclaimed as he struggled to push himself into a sitting position. His breath hissed painfully between his teeth. "Where is she? Is she okay? The last thing I remember is feeling her panic. And then it felt like she, I don't know, exploded."

"Take it easy," Endymion cautioned him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You need to heal yourself first. Sentinel poisoning is nothing to fool around with. And as for Serena, well, I guess saying that she exploded is a good way of putting it. She had a freak out moment when she saw that sentinel attack you and lashed out with the Silver Crystal. It was a meltdown I think even Jess could be proud out."

Serenity smacked him on the shoulder. "Oh, ha ha! You wouldn't think it was so cute if the Silver Crystal had drained her and I vanished along with Rini and DJ. Would you?"

That shut the king up.

Tuxedo Mask was still struggling weakly against his future self, his pain evident in the way he clenched his jaw and the tightening of the skin around his eyes and mouth. "But where is she? I can't sense her."

"Calm down, buddy. She's right here," Andrew told him as he approached. He held an unconscious Serena in his arms. Her blue jean clad legs dangled over one arm while her head lolled against the other, her long blonde ponytail hiding half of her face.

"She's out cold, but she seems to be okay," he explained to his friend as he laid Serena down next to him. "She put on one hell of a show though. She went supernova and fried every scumbag around here."

"Almost every scumbag," Kunzite chuckled as he, Kunz, and both Venus's joined them. "There were a couple of them that were on the outskirts of the fighting, and they hightailed it out of here real quick when they saw their comrades exploding into dust. But she still took out more than a dozen of those bastards on her own, and that is impressive."

Tuxedo Mask heard the words of praise being said, but he barely paid attention to them. He was too busy looking Serena over to make sure that she was really okay. He heaved a large sigh of relief when he checked her pulse and found it to be normal. And her chest moved up and down in a steady rhythm as she took deep, even breaths.

Then his head began spinning dizzily and he felt a burning in his veins. He knew it was the sentinel's venom making its way through his system and he quickly tapped into the healing powers of the Golden Crystal. Gradually the dizziness and burning vanished and he felt a quick sting on his back as the few scratches the sentinel had managed to give him just under his right shoulder blade healed themselves.

He was bone weary when he was done, but he couldn't help but do one final thing. He placed a still-glowing hand on Serena's chest and shared just enough energy with her to wake her up. She'd probably fuss at him about it, but he needed to see her awake to give himself peace of mind.

Her body jumped under his hand and she sucked in a gasping breath as his energy passed from his body to hers. His transformation faded away just as she slowly blinked her eyes open.

For several long seconds she just stared at him. Then her crystalline blue orbs began filling with tears. Her arms crept up at a snail's pace, almost like they were too heavy for her to lift, to wrap around his neck.

Being in a weakened state himself, Darien found himself easily pulled down on top of her as she held him close. Then he felt her breath brush his ear as she barely whispered, "You are in so much trouble."

He managed to raise his head a bit to look down at her. A ghost of a smile played around his lips. "And what would you have done if it had been Endymion who was in danger?"

She nibbled on her bottom lip as her cheeks flushed, which gave him his answer. If she had seen his future self about to be attacked from behind she would have thrown herself into the middle of the situation with no concern about the possible danger to herself.

"I rest my case," he told her in a slightly smug tone.

"What the hell is going on?" Sailor Mars demanded as she arrived with the rest of the inner scouts and generals, both past and present, along with Talon, Evan, Kyrian, and Julian. When she saw Serena lying on the ground she immediately went into protective friend mode. "Serena, are you okay?"

"She'll be fine, Raye," Serenity answered quickly. "She and Darien have just over-extended themselves in using their crystals, that's all. But am I sure glad to see all of you."

With Endymion's help she stood up and quickly reassumed her leadership role. "We are in a tight spot and need to take immediate action. The kids hit a slight snag in their plan and had to return here briefly. But they have gone back outside the city now and will try to lure Discord out to face them. Jess and her past self have hidden in order to keep from igniting a fight between them and Discord. But a few enemies have managed to infiltrate the palace, so that is our main concern at the moment. We need to do whatever we can to clear the palace and secure it."

"What did you have in mind?" Eternal Mercury asked her.

She thought for a moment. "We need the protective shield up. I want my scouts to make their way to the security room and cast their energy, just like they did when the Dark Moon attacked. Take your husbands with you so that they can stand guard for you."

Eternal Venus nodded her head. "We can do that."

"The rest of us are going to have to concentrate on getting rid of the guardians and sentinels that have gotten inside," Endymion stated. "I don't think there are more than a handful of them, but the palace is full of powerless people that don't stand a chance against them. So break into pairs and start scouring the palace. Check every room for any sign of them. If you find anyone who has been infected by their venom, contact me. Healing them will be my main focus."

"Talon," Serenity spoke up softly. "I want you and your group to head immediately up to the third floor. Your family is there as well as all of ours. I'm trusting you to keep everyone safe."

Talon bowed his head respectfully. "I will protect them all with my life."

"What about us? What do you want us to do?" Drew asked, gesturing to his past self. "I know you don't expect us to stand around and do nothing."

Serenity's expression turned calculating. "Of course not. In fact, I'm giving you one of the most important assignments. She turned to pin Serena and Darien with a sly look where they still lay in exhausted heaps on the ground.

Serena immediately began shaking her head. "Oh no…"

"Oh yes," Serenity informed her in a voice that left little room for argument.

---

"This isn't working, you guys," Alex grumbled as he lowered his arm to his side. "That was the sixth energy blast we've sent up trying to get Discord's attention, and he still isn't showing any signs of coming out."

"The bastard is ignoring us," Katie fumed. "If he is too much of a coward to come out and face us, I say we go in after him. We can kick his ass just as easily in there as we can out here."

"And we could also level the entire city in the process," DJ snorted. "You heard what Kunzite and Mina said earlier. Not everyone was willing to relocate to the palace during the fight, which means that there could be people hiding in the buildings. If we go in and start blasting people could be killed. And I don't want anyone's death on my hands."

"None of us want that," Sailor Crescent Moon stated firmly. "But we still have to come up with what to do next. The longer we let him continue, the worse it's going to be."

"Well I'm up for hearing it if anyone has any ideas. It looks like mom and the others have the palace on lockdown for now. But I don't know if even that will stop Discord's forces for long," Callisto pointed out as she nodded her head in the direction of the palace where a rainbow of blue, red, green, and orange light had shot up into the sky.

Flame nudged Caloris with his shoulder. "Tell them what you told me a minute ago, Hannah."

The small, blue haired scout shrugged uncertainly. "There's not really anything to tell. It was just a thought."

Ishtar tossed her long blonde hair back. "Any idea is a good idea at this point. If you have something on your mind then spit it out."

Caloris sighed, but snapped open her blue hand-held computer. "Okay, I was thinking that we could do this…"

---

"Deep Submerge!" Sailor Neptune called out as she felt the sensation of ocean waves crashing around her. A second later a ball of aqua blue energy flew from her hands toward an approaching sentinel that resembled an overlarge, rabid coyote.

A second cry of, "Submarine Reflection!" rang out at almost the same time, and a wave of energy in the same color joined her attack. The two slammed into the sentinel and it burst into dust.

Eternal Neptune laughed softly. "Nothing like a bit of teamwork, hmm?"

Neptune nodded in agreement. "It does come in handy. Now I just wish we could convince a couple of others to do the same."

"Amara has always been overly competitive, as I'm sure you well know," Eternal Neptune commented as she looked over to where two shorthaired blonde scouts were fighting a short distance away. "She's not even above trying to compete with herself."

Neptune giggled slightly. "They are both too stubborn to realize that they could rack up more kills if they worked together instead of trying to see which one of them can take out more than the other."

"Have you actually expected her to change after all of these years?" Eternal Saturn asked as she jogged up to them, followed by her younger self.

Saturn crossed her arms and huffed. "What do you expect after she's spent so many years competing against men? I'm all for sexual equality, but she takes it to a whole other level."

Pluto joined them in her stealthy way, seeming to materialize out of nowhere. "I think now would be a good time for us to think about going ahead and putting up a shield. The immediate area is clear for the moment, but there are enemy forces still all around. It will be easier to protect the medical district that way."

"But it will be less fun," Eternal Uranus chuckled as she loped up.

Uranus elbowed her future self with a grin. "I don't think the others find as much fun in fighting as we do."

"I'm afraid not," Pluto drawled dryly as she rolled her eyes. "Now I was thinking. Usually it would take all four of us outer scouts in order to erect a barrier, especially one of considerable size. But with the visitors from the past being here our numbers have increased significantly. With that being the case, I was wondering if the six of you could handle this on your own. I have a few situations that I would like to check in on."

"Of course we can handle it. It's not that big of a deal," Eternal Uranus scoffed.

Eternal Saturn gazed at the time guardian with wide, solemn eyes. "Be careful, Trista-mama."

Pluto smiled at her and ruffled the younger woman's hair before doing the same to Saturn. "All of you be careful too."

As she disappeared in a puff of pink smoke she murmured to herself, "You girls will be fine. If all goes according to what I have seen, you won't have to expend your energy for long."

---

"Is everyone in here okay?" Serenity asked as she looked around one of the drawing rooms on the ground floor of the palace. It was filled mostly with middle-aged couples, though there were a few older teenagers and young adults in the mix, probably their children.

"We're all fine, your majesty," a young woman who didn't look much older than her early twenties answered her. She sat on a small settee next to a young man who looked only a year or two older than her as she cradled a small, blanket wrapped infant to her chest. Four older adults, two men and two women, obviously their parents, hovered behind them protectively.

One of the men spoke up. "We've heard that some of the monsters managed to make it inside the palace, but so far we haven't seen any. There was a loud commotion from toward the ballroom a few minutes ago though."

Serenity nodded. "I'll check it out. In the meantime, all of you stay here and lock the door. I know a locked door might not be able to stop one of those creatures from getting in, but it will slow them down for a moment. The scouts and generals are patrolling the halls to try and catch them. Somebody will give you the all clear when it is safe to come out."

She started to turn away, but was stopped when a hand reached out to grab hers. She looked down into the eyes of the young mother.

The woman blushed slightly before murmuring, "You saved my life once before when I was a little girl. It was back before the Great Freeze. I was shopping with my mother when a monster attacked. I was very young, so I don't remember much about it, but I remember you picking me up and telling me that everything was going to be okay before handing me to my mother. I know you can beat these guys. So go get them Sailor Moon!"

Serenity shared a smile with her, and then ran a hand over the sleeping baby's head. "I'm going to try my best."

She slipped out into the hall just as Endymion came out from another room across the way. "Everything okay in there?" she asked him.

He nodded. "I had one man I had to heal. He was bitten by a sentinel while trying to get his fiancée to safety. It wasn't serious though. But they did tell me that they were near the ballroom when the attack happened."

"I heard the same thing," she told him. "I guess that's the direction that we should be heading."

They hurried down the hall, stopping at the rooms they passed along the way to check on the people inside. There were a few injuries that required Endymion's attention, but for the most part the citizens were just anxious and afraid. But they seemed to draw courage from the sight of their king and queen trying to protect them. They ran into Mercury where two corridors met.

"I'm sure glad to see you," the blue haired scout told them. "Zoicite and I just took out a sentinel down this way, but it managed to get a hold of a few people before we got there. Nobody has been killed, but there is one boy who looks pretty chewed up. Zoicite has the injured gathered in this room." She gestured to a nearby door.

Endymion went in to heal the injured while Serenity and Mercury stayed in the hall. After a moment, Mercury spoke up. "I just spoke to Venus. She and Kunzite are on the opposite side of the palace and have found and destroyed a guardian and a sentinel so far. No injuries to report there. I guess the people did a good job of getting out of the way when they realized the enemy had come inside."

Serenity rubbed her temple where it was beginning to throb lightly. "That's good. What about the others?"

The Mercury computer appeared in Sailor Mercury's hand. "Mars, Jadeite, Jupiter, and Nephrite are one floor up. They caught a couple of guardians and sentinels on the stairs on the way up, but haven't found anything else so far. It seems we got here before they moved past the first floor. I was trying to track where they were, but my readings have gotten fuzzy since the guardian scouts started casting their powers. My last scans did show a possible enemy in the central area of the ground floor."

"The ballroom," Serenity stated. "That's where Darien and I are going to check next. We've had a couple of people tell us that there was some activity going on there. I just hope we're not to late to stop someone from getting killed. There were a lot of people in there earlier. It would like being a kid in a candy store to Discord's flunkies."

Endymion and Zoicite came out of the room where they had been tending the injured. Zoicite's gray uniform was sporting a few blood spots, but otherwise looked like his usual, unruffled self. The king, on the other hand, was a bit paler than normal and slightly shaky.

Serenity was at his side in an instant, pushing back his sweat dampened bangs to look into is eyes. "Are you all right?"

He took her hands in his, removing them from his face. "I'm fine. I'm just starting to feel a tiny bit run down from all the healing I've had to do. Now, let's go check out the ballroom."

"Do you want us to come with you?" Zoicite asked immediately.

Endymion waved a hand toward the next corridor. "No. Serena and I can handle anything we come across. You and Amy keep checking that way. We can't afford to leave any stone unturned."

Still gripping one of his wife's hands in his, the two of them almost sprinted into the main foyer of the palace.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Serenity asked worriedly.

He gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry about me, love. I still have a lot of juice left in me. I have to admit that it would be a bit easier if my past self hadn't tapped himself out and was here to help, but I can't really complain. He saved your life."

"Yes, you did," she murmured as they turned toward the large doors that were behind the grand staircase that led into the ballroom. She shared an apprehensive look with her husband as they heard the yells coming from behind the doors.

"I hope we're not too late," Endymion muttered as he twisted the handle and flung the doors open wide. He and Serenity froze as they took in the unbelievable sight before them.

It was like walking into a stadium during a professional wrestling match. People were everywhere, even standing on tables and chairs, as they shouted animatedly and waved their fists in the air. They all seemed to be focused on something that was happening in the middle of the room.

"What in the world…" Serenity exclaimed.

A woman nearby heard her and turned around. Her eyes widened for a moment, and then she began screaming, "Make way, everyone! The king and queen are here!"

Just like magic, the sea of people parted, giving the stunned monarchs a clear view as to what was causing all of the excitement. Their jaws dropped.

A group of close to fifty men and women stood in the middle of the room, all of them holding various items in their hands. Many of the women wielded large handbags and several older teens were swinging backpacks. Some of the men had removed their belts while others had picked up lamps. One large man in particular held a rather heavy chair in his hands.

And in the middle of the fray, lying curled up in a ball on the floor, was a male guardian who had to be at least thirteen or fourteen feet tall. Amazingly, this group of ordinary humans had managed to take him down and subdue him.

"We were just keeping him entertained until you got here," one of the men called out, causing a cheer to ripple through the crowd.

"But how did you…I don't understand," Serenity murmured in confusion.

A woman reached out to grab her hand. "We don't have powers like you and your guards do, but we weren't about to just sit here and let that overgrown ass come in here and kill us all."

Other shouts began echoing around the room.

"That's right! It's time we showed these monsters what the people of Crystal Tokyo are really made of!"

"They can't expect to come into our city and push us around!"

"We're sending out a message that we fight back!"

Serenity looked up at Endymion with tears in her eyes. "Are you hearing this?"

He nodded. "We've always said that we had some of the best people in the world living right here at home."

A loud snarl broke the moment as the guardian surged to its feet. Its red eyes darted around angrily as it glared at its attackers. Dark energy swirled around it as it prepared to retaliate.

Serenity readied her scepter. "I don't think so!"

A blast of silver energy left the scepter, joined milliseconds later by golden energy from Endymion's. The two attacks hit the guardian and immediately vaporized him.

The room was swallowed by dead silence for about ten seconds…and then the cheers erupted.

"God bless Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion!"

"Long live Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask!"

---

Elysian – The Far Future

"I knew I shouldn't have drank all that juice," Katie grumbled as she rinsed soap from her hands and then dried them on a small towel. "I swear I feel like I'm spending half of my time in the bathroom since I found out I'm pregnant. First it was the horrible morning sickness. Now it seems like I have to pee every ten minutes. And I'm not even that pregnant yet! I'm still wearing my own clothes for crying out loud!"

But she couldn't deny that the blue jeans that she had on at the moment were a bit tighter than they had been when she had worn them the week before. A part of her wished that she could claim that they had shrunk in the wash, but she couldn't fool herself. The jeans were the same size they had always been. She was the one who was changing.

She turned sideways and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Nobody who saw her would even be able to tell that she was pregnant, but she knew her body and what to look for. Sure, she had put on some weight since she had left Discord's service and started eating regularly again and getting proper rest, but she knew that slight rounding of her belly wasn't caused by the amounts of food she had been inhaling recently.

And she certainly knew that eating hadn't caused other parts of her body to swell. She looked down at her chest and sighed. She had always been a nice healthy C-cup, but this morning her breasts had protested painfully when she had tried to put on her bra. She'd flung the lacy undergarment away in disgust and opted to wear one of DJ's shirts instead of one of her usual tank tops. At least they had more room.

She ran a hand lovingly over her stomach. "Well, Allie, I guess I'll be in the market for maternity clothes soon. Of course I may end up having to wear a bed sheet like a toga if I don't get out of here soon. I'm afraid Elysian isn't exactly a hot spot for retail businesses looking to open shop. What I need is access to a city and a credit card."

She giggled as she felt the fluttering tickle deep inside her. "I know. Momma's being silly, isn't she? I have a feeling we'll be getting out of here one way or another soon enough. It all depends on what happens in the past. Speaking of which, I suppose we better be getting back to your daddy and the others and see what's going on."

She opened the bathroom door and stepped out, only to almost collide with Sailor Pluto as she appeared in a puff of smoke. She staggered back a step, slapping a hand to her mouth as she squeaked, "Trista!"

The time guardian held a finger to her lips. "Shh! I don't want anyone else to know I'm here."

"But you're supposed to be at the battle. I just saw you there in Helios's viewing portal," Katie babbled.

"I know," Pluto whispered. "But there are a few things I needed to take care of. One of them is to give you this." She placed something in the younger woman's hand.

Katie looked down at the small object, and lifted startled eyes to her. "Why are you giving me this?"

Pluto spoke in a voice that was barely above a hiss. "Because the pathway to the future has been narrowed down to two choices, both of them quite favorable I might add. But in one of the possible scenarios you are going to need this."

"For what?" Katie mumbled, still confused.

Pluto just gave her one of her mysterious smiles. "You'll know what to do if the time arises. I have faith in you."

Katie smirked. "Is this another one of your insurance plans, like sending my daughter and nephews into the past?"

The time guardian's smile grew bigger. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see." And then she vanished again.

Katie looked once more at what she held before slipping the object into the tight pocket of her jeans, cursing a bit under her breath when it didn't want to fit into the constricted space. She finally got it concealed and hurried back to join the others.

"There you are," DJ said as she sat next to him on the couch.

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry. It took me a minute since someone keeps refilling my glass every time it gets low."

DJ chuckled. "I'm not apologizing. Juice is healthy for you. And I only want the best for my girls."

She stuck her tongue out at him playfully before giggling. And then she turned her full attention to the events unfolding in the viewing portal.

---

Crystal Tokyo

"What now, genius?" Sailor Shadow hissed to her future self.

Eternal Shadow speared her with a sharp glare. "I could do without your smart ass comments."

Shadow just shrugged. "Sarcasm is my middle name."

"It should be pain in the ass. Honestly! Are you sure we're the same person," Eternal Shadow grumbled. "And to answer your question, I have no damn idea what the hell to do next."

Shadow let out an irritated growl. "I thought you had this planned out. After all, this was all your big idea. I guess you didn't take possible setbacks into consideration."

"Would you just shut the hell up!" Eternal Shadow growled right back. "I didn't do this back when I was in your position, so I'm flying just as blindly as you are. But Trista and I had several conversations about this. She knew that there could be some changes in the way that things unfolded, so we sort of hashed out this idea in case Discord actually managed to get into the city. So why don't you back off and cut me a bit off slack before I have to plant my fist down your throat!"

"Fine! But you don't have to get so pissy!" Shadow grumbled. After a minute she heaved a sigh. "Anyway, seriously, any thoughts about what we should do now? Maybe we should try to find a different spot."

Eternal Shadow shook her head. "I don't know where we could go. Trista and I picked this spot specifically because of its height and relatively central location. Those two things are important if we want what we are going to do to work."

Shadow arched a brow at her. "And what exactly are we going to do? You still haven't explained that part to me yet."

The older woman leaned back against the brick wall behind her and sighed. "When Kyrian was training you in Elysian he was reporting back to me on your progress. And from what I can tell you caught on to things very quickly, maybe even faster than I did. He also believes that you are capable of making a shield big enough to cover the city, just like I did earlier."

"I think I can," Shadow replied hesitantly. "But unfortunately I would run into the same problems you did earlier. The bigger the shield is, the more unstable it is. It would be full of cracks that anybody could slip right through."

"But not if you started out small and slowly expanded it," Eternal Shadow told her. "I'm sure you've found that if you do that you have an easier time channeling your energy and are able to keep better control of it. I didn't do that earlier because it was necessary to get the city covered as quickly as possible. So I threw up the biggest shield I could in the shortest amount of time."

Shadow shook her head. "But why put up a shield around the city now? All of the enemies are inside. Surely you don't want to trap them, especially him," she glanced up at the dark cloud above them and then looked down to the mist that was slowly crawling through the streets below, "inside here with us. The kids are trying to lure him out."

Eternal Shadow's expression turned smug. "And we're going to help them by pushing him out. We're also going to take out what's left of his so called army while we're at it."

"Okay, now you've lost me," Shadow grumbled as she pinched the bridge of her nose in agitation. "How exactly do you propose that we push out the big baddie and annihilate a small army on our own? I know you're not proposing that we go nuclear, because that would kind of defeat the purpose of trying to save the world if we destroy it."

"Of course not!" Eternal Shadow snorted. "But what I'm thinking could be risky to us both. Just like you, I too have a hard time trying to both create a shield and try to radiate the energy for an attack through it at the same time. So I was thinking that you could handle making the shield and I will handle funneling the attack energy. As the shield grows it will instantly fry any of the guardians and sentinels it comes into contact with. Discord won't want to take any chances with it for fear of getting sealed away again, so he will retreat, giving the kids the opportunity to strike."

Shadow gaped at her. "Have you lost your mind? You're talking about activating both Celestial Crystals at the same time, and in close proximity to each other! We could level Crystal Tokyo and every other city around the world! That's if the planet doesn't explode first."

Her future self's eyes narrowed. "Do you have so little faith in your ability to control your power?"

"I can control it!" Shadow snapped. "And I'm sure you're even better at it than I am. But still, that's a lot of power to be released at once. Talk about a double whammy!"

"I warned you that this could be dangerous," Eternal Shadow muttered.

Shadow crossed her arms and leaned against the wall next to her. "I'm not worried for my sake. I'm worried about everyone else. A lot of people could be hurt or killed if we screw up. Not to mention that Katie and Alex won't exist if I die."

Eternal Shadow placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed tightly. "Then we'll just have to make sure we don't screw up. I do think this could work, but I can't do it without you."

Shadow looked over toward Starlight Tower, which was only about forty feet away from them and crawling with guardians and sentinels. "Okay, I'm in. And I see why the tower is the perfect location. So how are we going to manage to get past all our little friends?"

Eternal Shadow chewed on her bottom lip. "I'm still trying to figure that one out. Maybe we'll get lucky and a miracle will happen."

---

Talon sprinted up the staircase of the palace with Evan, Kyrian, and Julian hot on his heels. They had run into a couple of guardians and sentinels along the way, but they had been taken care of by the scouts and generals who were going to check out the second floor, leaving the way open for them to continue to the third.

They were making good progress until they reach the third floor landing. Then they were practically run over by a horde of people who must have fled to the upper level when the enemy made it inside. They were mostly young high school or college aged girls, and they appeared wild and panicked. Several of them were screaming, "Monsters!" as they ran by, pushing each other as they fought to get back down the stairs.

"Shit! I was hoping that none of them had made it this far yet!" Talon hissed, fear for his wife, daughter, and youngest son slapping him hard.

The group of sorcerers began running down the halls, flinging open doors and checking rooms along the way. This floor mostly housed the private apartments for the scouts, generals, and the royal family, along with rooms set aside for family and friends that visited them. All of them were empty.

They flew around corners and through the winding halls, checking all of the parlors and sitting rooms. But as they neared the recreation room they began to hear crashes and screams that curdled their blood.

Talon threw open the doors and they rushed inside, only to pull up short at what they found. There wasn't one enemy in there, but four, two guardians and two sentinels.

Ilene Tsukino stood back in the corner behind the pool table, holding her young grandson, Kenny, close to her chest. Beside her were Kathleen Furuhata and her daughter, each of them holding tightly to the hands of Lizzy's two sons. In front of them, standing in defensive positions, were Ken, Sammy, Chad, and Andy.

But the majority of the fighting was coming from the center of the room, which was now littered with broken pieces of furniture. Anya and Taylor each held swords in their hands, as did Jack and Sasha, and were facing off against the two guardians.

Meanwhile, three pint-sized warriors were busy circling the two sentinels. The smell of burning hair came from the cougar looking sentinel as Ryssa, now wearing a sailor fuku with a brick red skirt and bright purple bows, shot a handful of fireballs at it. The attack wasn't very strong, and it seemed to do nothing but piss the sentinel off. It growled and turned on her, baring its teeth ferociously, only to be hit from behind by a combined attack of crackling electricity and what appeared to be tiny blades of light purple energy. The sentinel howled in fury and whipped its tail around, knocking Nick and Kyle off their feet.

Trusting his wife and the others to be able to hold their own for a moment, Talon dove forward to help the kids. After all, he had promised Serenity that he would protect her loved ones.

He swooped in front of the cat and had snatched Ryssa up in his arms in the blink of an eye while Kyrian and Julian quickly helped Nick and Kyle up and pulled them a short distance away. Evan took a mighty swing at it with his sword, forcing it to take a few steps back.

The second sentinel, one of the canine variety, blasted out a howl as it turned and lunged for the people in the corner. Sammy took a step forward with a determined look in his eyes, and spun around tightly before lashing out with a leg to deliver a punishing kick to its chest. Chad struck with a similar maneuver at the same time, and the force of both blows sent it crashing to the ground. Out of nowhere, Ken and Andy pulled out a baseball bat and a hockey stick that they had found somewhere and began beating it over the head and back.

Sasha let out a short scream as the guardian she was facing off against backhanded her, sending her spinning around to slam into Jack. The two of them hit the floor with a heavy thud.

Talon was about to go and help them when he heard Taylor yell, "Mom!" He whipped his head around so fast that it almost gave him whiplash. And then his blood began to boil.

The other guardian had somehow managed to get its hands around Anya's neck and had lifted her up off the floor. Her feet kicked, but her legs were too short to hit her attacker. Her sword lay uselessly on the floor where she had dropped it so that she could claw at the hands that were trying to squeeze the life from her.

Talon readied his sword, about to spring forward and skewer the creature that had dared to lay hands on his wife. He was vaguely aware of Evan, Kyrian, and Julian all growling in anger behind him and of Taylor crying out to his mother as he laid sprawled on the floor where he had be knocked down by the guardian when he had attempted to defend Anya, but it was all muddled noises in his brain. He had one focus, and one focus only, and that was saving his wife.

His leg muscles bunched and tightened as he prepared to lunge, but at the last second he pulled back. Anya had removed her hands from the ones choking her and held them out toward the monster. They began glowing faintly as she began pulling on her magic.

Talon quickly latched onto the magical connection between them and concentrated hard. Gathering up his own power, he sent every bit of it that he could through the link from himself to her. The glow in her palms flashed brighter for a second before she shot her attacker with a large blast of energy that made him let her go before he flew across the room and crashed into a wall.

Anya collapsed in a coughing, gasping heap on the floor as she fought to catch her breath. Talon was at her side in less than a second, pulling her tightly into his arms.

After a few moments she lifted her head and managed to rasp weakly, "Thanks for the assist, honey. I don't think I had enough juice to take him on my own."

Talon pressed his lips to her forehead as he whispered, "I just thank the gods that I got here in time. I don't know what I'd ever do if I lost you."

"Uh oh, this is not good," Kyrian muttered suddenly.

Talon looked up and saw that Evan, Kyrian, Julian, and even Taylor had formed a human wall in front of them. Ryssa, Nick, and Kyle, who had been standing with their backs pressed up against a wall let out startled squeaks and hurried over to join him and Anya behind the line of protection.

Talon surged to his feet and pushed himself between his brother-in-law and oldest son so that he could see what had everyone so worried. And it wasn't a pretty sight.

The canine sentinel had somehow managed to get away from its attackers, and it had retreated to where the guardian had landed after Anya had blasted it. The other sentinel and guardian had joined them, and it was pretty obvious that none of them were particularly happy that their comrade had been attacked so hard. Four pairs of blood red eyes glared around at the room's occupants.

Julian fidgeted nervously. "Um, I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any."

No one even bothered to reply. They all knew that even though they all possessed a decent amount of magic, there was no way that they would be able to fend off all four enemies if they decided to attack at the same time.

Just then, a voice gasped from the open doorway. "Holy shit!"

Talon spared a quick glance and saw that Sailor Mars was standing there, Jadeite right behind her. Sailor Jupiter and Nephrite were beside them, and both appeared to be just as shocked as they were.

Jupiter regained her composure first and grinned. "Looks like you could use some help."

"You think?" Talon sneered sarcastically.

More footsteps thundered out in the hallway. A few seconds later Sailor Venus, Kunzite, Sailor Mercury, and Zoicite joined the group in the doorway.

Venus pressed a hand to her chest as she panted lightly. "We heard a boom all the way down on the first floor."

Mercury already had her computer out and her visor in place as she did a quick scan. "Be careful, guys. These four are fairly strong."

Jadeite had his fists balled at his side. "Any ideas about how we can take them out?"

"How about the Sailor Planet Attack?" Jupiter mused. "That would probably fry all four of them at once."

Mercury shook her head. "It won't work without Serena. It would take all five of us to pull that off."

"Then allow me to take her place," a soft voice spoke up as Serenity joined them, followed closely by Endymion. "I know I'm not your Serena, but I would be honored if you would let me fight with you."

Venus beamed the queen a wide smile. "It will be just like old times for you. Welcome aboard."

"Whatever you're going to do, you better do it," Talon warned them warily. "These guys are getting a bit jumpy."

Serenity looked over toward the threats, seeing that they were indeed preparing to launch back into action. The two sentinels were crouched down close to the ground, looking as if they were about to pounce, while the two guardians held themselves tensely.

"Okay, girls. Let's do this," she stated, sounding an awful lot like her younger self as she and the four other women stepped through the door and into the room. She took her place in the center, with Venus and Jupiter to her right and Mars and Mercury to her left. As soon as they were in position they called out their battle cries.

"Moon Crystal Power!"

"Venus Crystal Power!"

"Jupiter Crystal Power!"

"Mars Crystal Power!"

"Mercury Crystal Power!"

A rainbow of colored energy in pink, orange, green, red, and blue swirled around the five of them. The multicolored mass began pulsating slightly as the planetary energies synched together to work as one.

Their enemies seemed to realize that they had bitten off more than they could chew. The sentinels rose from their crouches and their growls turned to whimpers while the guardians began backing away, their eyes darting toward the windows as they contemplated making an escape.

But it was too late. There was no escape for them.

"Sailor Planet Attack!"

A large burst of energy from the women flew across the room to encompass the enemies. Within just a few seconds they were nothing more than piles of dust on the floor. As they attack dissipated a few pictures rattled and fell from the walls and one of the windowpanes cracked.

"Oops!" Venus giggled. "I guess we might have given it just a bit too much juice."

"Ew! That is a very unpleasant smell," Ilene murmured as she left her spot in the corner and approached her daughter.

"Mom!" Serenity squealed as she caught the older woman up in an exuberant hug. "Are you and everyone else okay?"

Ilene switched Kenny to her hip to keep the little boy from becoming crushed between them. "We're just fine, darling. We had some fine protectors in our group. Your father and brother even got to join in on a bit of the action."

"I almost set that big cat on fire, Aunt Serena," stated Ryssa proudly as she stood up straight, still wearing her fuku.

Kyle snorted. "Are you kidding? You barely managed to singe it."

"I bet I could do more than singe you!" Ryssa screamed back at him as volcanoes erupted in her violet eyes. "At least I didn't get knocked on my butt the way you did, you loudmouth!"

"Leave her alone, Kyle!" Nick growled at his friend as he steered the infuriated girl slightly away from her tormentor. "I think she did pretty good considering this was our first run. Cut her some slack."

Jupiter smirked as she watched the young, dark haired girl turn adoring eyes on her future son. "Ooo, do I sense a love triangle brewing here?" she snickered.

Venus shook her head. "Nope, no triangle. It just happens to be a clash of personalities. Those three have a pretty set path. Of course I can't tell you what it is."

"Where's Corey?" Mercury suddenly asked in a concerned tone. Her blue eyes scanned the room, but she saw no sign of her young future son. "Wasn't he supposed to be here with all of you?"

Everyone began looking around anxiously.

Talon was helping Anya up off the floor when she realized that another little person was missing as well. "Abby!"

"I'm right here," a shaky little voice said as Corey's blonde head popped out from underneath the pool table. "Is it safe to come out now?"

Mercury pressed a trembling hand against her chest as she sighed in relief. "Yes. All the monsters are gone now."

"Thank goodness," the little boy cried as he shimmied out from his hiding place. "Those things were really scary."

"Is Abby under there with you?" Anya demanded as she ran over to the pool table and dropped to her knees to look under it. A second later she was straightening up, wild eyed with panic. "She's not here!"

Endymion noticed that Corey look really nervous. His head was bowed as he scuffed his tiny tennis shoes against the floor.

The king crossed the room and hunkered down in front of the small boy, placing a hand on his shaking shoulder. "Corey, do you know where Abby is? It's very important that we find her before she accidentally gets hurt."

Corey looked up, his big blue eyes filling with tears as he exploded, "I tried to stop her Uncle Darien! But she wouldn't listen to me. We hid under the pool table when those monsters came in because we were scared. She was crying because she wanted her daddy. She said that she was going to go find him. I told her not to, but then she just disappeared."

Anya gasped. "She teleported?"

Talon groaned. "There's no telling where she is then. She's too young and too inexperienced with her magic to orient herself while teleporting alone. She could be anywhere."

"She couldn't have gotten far," Kyrian growled; fear for his little sister evident on his face. "None of us were able to go very far when we first started teleporting."

Anya moaned, wrapping her arms around her waist. "Julian managed to teleport a mile away the first time he did it, and he wasn't much older than Abby."

The blood drained from Evan's face, leaving it sickly pale under his tan. "That would put her outside the palace grounds."

"But the scouts of this time have put up a barrier around the palace. Surely that would keep her inside." Kunzite spoke up.

Endymion shook his head. "The barrier only works one way, to keep things out. Anybody can leave anytime they want to, but getting back in can be tricky. They have to have security clearance or be escorted in by a member of the royal family or the guard. And there is absolutely no teleporting back inside. The only ones who might be able to accomplish that would be DJ, Katie, or Alex."

Anya jumped to her feet, tears streaming down her face. "I have to go find my baby!" She ran from the room, Talon hot on her heels.

Evan spun around, his golden eyes focused on his three nephews. "Julian, Taylor, you two are together. Go out and see if you can't track down your sister."

The two boys nodded before taking off after their parents.

Kyrian met his uncle's gaze with glittering black eyes. "You and I are splitting up."

Evan nodded. "I know you can handle yourself. Be careful out there."

"You too," Kyrian responded.

In a flash the two sorcerers disappeared.

Serenity spun on the scouts and generals of the past. "Everyone spread out and search the grounds. I'm hoping and praying that Abby didn't get too far. If any of you wish to go beyond the barrier, you will have the freedom to come and go as you please. But if you do, please be careful. I don't want to chance losing anyone, but Talon and Anya need our help."

They all bowed their heads before sprinting away, none of them questioning the queen's request. Talon may have once been their enemy, but he and Anya had proven themselves to be loyal and trustworthy friends. And right now those friends needed help.

---

Alex pressed his lips into the silky golden hair on the head that was tucked up just under his chin. "I really don't like this idea at all."

Ishtar raised her head to look at him with perfectly calm, steady gray eyes. "I know you don't like it, but we really don't have a choice in the matter. Discord is inside the city, and he's too intent on getting his hands on either your mom or Jess right now to give it up to come out and face you guys. So we have to take some drastic measures to try and pull him out."

"By offering yourselves up as bait," he growled darkly.

Flame clapped him on the shoulder. "Dude! We are so not going in as bait. We're just going to go rattle the old man's cage a little bit and then split, hoping that he follows us back out here in the process."

Caloris sniffed delicately. "And who was it that just told me last night that plans don't always work out the way we want?"

Katie's silver eyes were wide in her face as she shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. "I don't know guys. Maybe Alex is right. Hasn't the whole idea all along been for us to stick together?"

"That was only as long as Discord had his army surrounding him," Crescent Moon stated as she tossed a pink pigtail over her shoulder. "Our main purpose was to clear a path through his forces to him so that you guys could get to him. But between the lot we took out earlier and the damage I'm sure the others have been doing inside the city, I'm sure there probably isn't much left of his army by now. The rest of this is up to you guys now. So the best thing we can do is do what we can to give you a fair shot at the bastard."

DJ reached out and pulled his sister into a tight hug. "You be careful in there, sis. You've already had a taste of how ruthless he can be. I don't want you to get hurt again."

She hugged him back. "I'll be as careful as I can. But I'm ready for this to all be over."

"Yeah, yeah! We're all ready for it to be over," Callisto muttered. "So can we please get a move on? I'm looked forward to ruining that asshole's day."

"I think it's more like you've got a certain someone you're in a hurry to get back to," Ishtar snickered. "What's wrong? Didn't Kyrian get the job done last night?"

Callisto' face burned bright red. "That's none of your business, Barbie!"

"Knock it off!" Crescent Moon demanded as she disentangled herself from her brother. "Let's move out, you guys. And that means no more sucking face, Emma!"

Ishtar sighed and pulled back from Alex's lips, which she had just started to kiss. She stroked her fingers down his cheek. "Duty calls."

He grabbed her hand as she stepped away and pressed a quick kiss to the gloved back of it. "Hurry back. I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered, voice trembling slightly. Then she spun away before the tears stinging her eyes had the chance to fall and raced down the hill with the others, leaving the three Trinity bearers alone and waiting.

Katie took a hand in each one of hers as she stood between her boyfriend in her brother, watching the blurs of pink, peach, mint green, red, and icy blue as they dashed back toward the city. "I hope we're doing the right thing by letting them go."

Alex gave a tired chuckle. "Like we could have stopped them if we wanted to. They're a stubborn group, especially Emma. They are determined to help us in any way they can."

DJ looked toward his home city, taking in the sight of the two pillars of light that were shooting into the sky. Coming from the palace was energy in orange, red, green, and blue. It was the energy of the inner scouts as they used their powers to protect the palace. And from the area he knew was the medical district, the outer scouts colors of yellow, aqua, and dark purple cast a field of protection. It seemed that Crystal Tokyo had fallen back to its last line of defense.

"This is it, guys," he murmured to Katie and Alex. "Our time is running out. We have to get him this time, no matter what. If we don't, there might not be much left worth saving."

---

The Time Gate

Pluto appeared in her realm in her usual puff of smoke and quickly hurried over to the time stream to check on how the future was shaping up. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw that the two timelines that were predominate earlier were still the ones that were coming in the clearest. One was slightly stronger than the other, indicating that it was the way that events were going to unfold, but at his point she didn't care which path was followed. They both had successful outcomes that secured the future of Crystal Tokyo.

That wasn't to say that either one were perfect. There were still some close calls and hair-raising moments to come in both. And if one little slip up was made it could send the entire timeline spinning down an alternate path just like it did when Alex died an untimely death. But for now things were looking good.

She walked over to the basin that held her scrying pool and braced her hands on either side, closing her eyes as she felt a prickle of relieved tears. "I can't believe it. I just might have pulled off setting things back in order."

She knew that she needed to get back to Crystal Tokyo in case her help was needed, so she straightened up, opening her eyes as she prepared to teleport. But then a vision in the pool of still waters caught her eyes, making them flare wide as she caught sight of an event that wasn't supposed to happen.

"No!" she whispered frantically. This wasn't an event that would impact the outcome of the battle against Discord, but it was something that could have a deep impact on her personal life.

The garnet orb in her staff flashed wildly in response to its mistress's emotions as she gripped the long, key shaped metal tightly. "It's not going to happen. I won't let it," she ground out harshly.

And in a quick flash of light, she vanished.

---

Crystal Tokyo

"Oh, come on!" Serena whined. "You two cannot be serious about keeping us trapped in here like this!"

Drew crossed his arms and shot her a stern look. "Sorry, Serena. I'm only doing it for your own good."

"My own good!" she shrieked, lunging up from her seat.

Andrew stood shoulder to shoulder with his doppelganger, wearing an identical expression. "I don't think you understand just how much you scared everybody, Sere. I was the first one to you, and there for a minute I could tell if you were dead or alive. And you were as limp as a dishrag when I picked you up."

She threw her hands in the air. "So I freaked out and overdid it a bit! I admit it! You can't say that you wouldn't have done the same thing if it had been Jess in a similar situation."

"Ouch!" Andrew muttered.

Darien reached up and grabbed Serena's hand, pulling her down to sit next to him again. "Just let it go, Sere."

She jerked her head around to glare at him. "This is all your fault!"

His blue eyes widened. "My fault! How the hell did you come up with that logic?"

"You just had to go and play the hero, didn't you?" she almost screamed.

Now his eyes narrowed, darkening like storm clouds. "If I'm not mistaken, I saved your future life. You're welcome."

She crumpled against his chest, sobbing as she clung to his shirt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. It's just that I've seen you die or almost die so many times. And I was scared that I was going to have to go through that again."

He sighed and pulled her into his lap, cradling her close to him as he smoothed down the tangled golden hair that had long since come loose from its ponytail. "Shh, baby. I know. And I'm sorry I made you feel that way. But I'm not apologizing for saving Serenity. She's you, and I couldn't let you die."

She nodded slowly. "I know. It's just like what you said earlier. I would have done the same thing if it had been Endymion in danger."

They sat there for a few minutes, cuddling and taking comfort from one another. But despite her tiredness, Serena still felt like she was full of nervous energy. She eventually stood up and crossed over to where her two blonde wardens were guarding the doorway of the garden gazebo that had become her and Darien's prison.

The two men had turned around to give her and Darien some privacy, and they were both looking out at the skyline of towers and tall buildings that were visible over the high walls that surrounded the palace grounds. She placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

"Have you guys sensed anything?" She didn't elaborate anymore than that, knowing that they would both know exactly what she meant.

Drew shrugged. "I've gotten a few vague glimpses, but nothing solid. Jess excels at being able to close herself off mentally when the occasion calls for it."

Andrew was shifting nervously from foot to foot, looking like he was about to jump out of his skin at any moment. "She's up to something. I just know it. I can't tell what it is, but I can feel it. She's blocking me from her thoughts and being able to communicate with her, but I still can't help but pick up a sense of anxiety from her."

"Which means that our two lovely hotheads are probably up to their pretty blue eyeballs in some kind of mischief," Drew groaned as he dragged a hand through his already messy hair. "I should have listened to my inner voice this morning that told me that I should have dissolved about a half dozen sleeping pills into her coffee. She can't get into any trouble if she's out cold."

"You're the one that would be out cold once she woke up," Andrew drawled wryly. "I grumbled something once about doing the same thing with some Xanaxes to chill her out the last time she got worked up over a gallery showing, and she threatened to emasculate me for it."

Drew heaved a sad sigh. "That sounds like her." Then he smacked a fist against one of the gazebo's support pillars. "Damn it! I was crazy to ever agree to her taking off like that. Even if she's not up to anything insane, I hate to think of her, or her past self either, out there sneaking around the city while they try to stay off of his radar." He glared up at the darkness that was Discord.

Serena placed a hand on each mans' shoulder. "Why don't you two go out and look for them? Even if they are blocking you and using their shadow powers, I bet you guys could track them down. And maybe you can find some way to sneak them back here without Discord finding out."

She looked out through the slight haze that now surrounded the palace grounds. "It looks like the future scouts have been able to put up their protective barrier, so it would probably be safer for her here anyway until whatever happens goes down."

Drew shook his head. "I can't. I promised your future self that I would keep an eye on you and Darien. You two have been through a lot today."

Her eyes flashed in annoyance. "And do you always do what your precious Neo Queen Serenity tells you to do? I don't see why she felt the need to confine us and sic watchdogs on us anyway. Sure, Dare and I pushed our limits earlier, but we're not helpless. I already feel loads better than I did."

"So do I," Darien claimed as he came over to join them. "So why don't you two take off and find them? I know I would be going nuts if it was Serena out there."

Andrew shared a look with his future self, who gave another negative shake of his head and said, "No. But it doesn't have anything to do with following the queen's orders. It's a matter of keeping my word. I promised Serenity that I wouldn't let you two out of my sight. And I always keep my promises."

Andrew's expression clouded. "Oh yeah! I guess we did promise that, didn't we?"

Serena's face began to take on a mischievous look. "True. You did promise to not let us out of your sight, but there are ways to work around that where you won't break your promise."

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Andrew asked, his eyes beginning sparkle excitedly. Then he grew concerned. "Are you sure you're up for that?"

Serena smirked as she pulled her transformation brooch from her jeans pocket. "Oh, I think I can handle it."

Drew caught on to what they were talking about and began to chuckle. "I'm willing if everyone else is."

Darien performed a face-palm and groaned, "Save me from crazy blondes, both the male and the female variety!" Then he looked up at Serena, Andrew, and Drew in exasperation. "And I thought Jess was the impulsive one."

---

"Any sign of her yet?" Evan asked Kyrian as they passed each other at an intersection.

Kyrian shook his head, his dark chocolate hair swinging into his black eyes. "Not a peep. I thought I caught a faint energy signature a couple of blocks back, but it fizzled out. I came across Julian and Taylor a few minutes ago, and they said the palace and surrounding grounds checked out clean. They also said that mom and dad were going to teleport home real quick on the off chance that Abby managed to get that far somehow."

"That's highly unlikely," Evan muttered. "But I guess we can't afford to leave any stone unturned. Just keep looking. We'll find her."

"I'm tempted to blister her ass myself when we do," Kyrian growled.

Evan spared his worried nephew a quick smile. "Oh, I'm sure your mother will have a handle on the situation. Now get moving. I saw Venus, Kunzite, Mars, and Jadeite around a while back, so we've got plenty of people out looking."

Kyrian flipped him a mock salute and tore off down the street, his eyes darting around for any sign of his missing little sister.

Evan continued on the way he had been, also staying alert for anything that could possibly help find Abby. His heart pounded in his chest at the thought of his tiny little niece being out here on these dangerous streets. Granted, there weren't as many guardians and sentinels running around as there had been earlier, but there were still enough roaming the streets to make Crystal Tokyo a very dangerous place for a defenseless, five-year-old child to be, not to mention the fact that they also had Discord's seeking mist creeping its way through streets and alleys. If the evil entity discovered Abby and found out who her parents were…well…Discord was definitely the type to hold a grudge, and he had a huge one against Talon and Anya. He was also sick and demented enough to not be above using a child to get his revenge against them.

Evan longed to call out Abby's name in hopes of hearing her call back to him, but he held back. Sure, searching silently could take much longer, but the last thing he needed to do was alert any enemies to his location.

A loud snarl followed by a crashing sound had him ducking into the recessed doorway of a nearby shop for cover as his eyes scanned the area for a possible threat. A few seconds later he heard a scuffling noise and a series of growls before two large, lion-type sentinels dashed out of an alley, one chasing the other. Both creatures were covered in bite and scratch marks, suggesting that they had been fighting with one another.

After waiting several long moments he stepped out from his hiding spot, keeping the sword that he had pulled from its sheath clenched tightly in his hand as he did. Keeping all of his senses on high alert, he continued down the block.

Just as he reached the next corner he picked up on a faint energy signature that he immediately recognized as being Abby's. At the same time he heard a high-pitched, girlish voice wailing, "Help!" He darted around the corner to find a sight that made his blood freeze in his veins.

Abby was pounding down the sidewalk toward him as fast as her short little legs could carry her, her long, medium brown ponytail whipping behind her and tears pouring down her cheeks. And almost skipping along behind her was a demonic looking female guardian with stringy, snarled black hair, long, curled black claws for fingernails, and, of course, glowing, blood red eyes.

"Abby!" Evan yelled in panic.

Abby's wet, jet black eyes took a moment to focus on him. And then she screeched, "Uncle Evan!"

"No saving for you, little one," the guardian chanted in an eerie, singsong voice. "I'm going to gobble you up. I bet you'll make a tasty little treat." She sped up, closing in on her prey.

Evan surged forward, blurring with super-human speed. He would have teleported, but there wasn't time for him to summon the energy needed. But even with as fast as he was moving, he was afraid that he wouldn't reach Abby in time.

And then, the little girl tripped on a crack in the sidewalk, sending her sprawling out on the concrete.

Evan's legs burned as he pushed them as fast as he. But he was still several dozen yards away. He wasn't going to make it.

The guardian cackled. "You're mine, my little morsel."

Evan's heart almost stopped as Abby screamed.

Suddenly, there was a burst of smoke and pink light between Abby and the guardian, and a very angry voice snarled, "Dead Scream!"

A large ball of fuchsia energy slammed into the guardian, vaporizing it before it could make a sound.

Evan reached Abby and scooped her up into his arms, watching in amazement as the smoke and dust cleared to reveal the tall, trim woman he loved so much. "Setsuna," he barely breathed.

Pluto whirled toward them, and was at his side in an instant. "Is she okay?"

He hugged Abby's trembling body closer to his chest. "I think so. She's probably more scared than anything."

"What in the world is she doing outside the palace grounds?" Pluto demanded.

He shrugged. "From what I can tell, she got scared when a group of Discord's flunkies got inside the palace and she tried to teleport to find Talon, even though she has been told to not use her powers until she has been properly trained."

Abby lifted her head from his chest and hiccupped, "Sorry, Uncle Evan."

He gave her a squeeze. "That's okay, Sweet Pea. I'm just glad you're okay."

"That makes two of us," Pluto agreed as she smoothed back some wispy strands of the little girl's hair.

Abby turned to look at her second rescuer, and her eyes widened in awe. "You're Sailor Pluto, aren't you?"

Pluto gave her a rarely seen grin. "The one and only. Now, you should let your uncle get you back to the palace. I'm sure the rest of your family is very worried about you."

"I guess you're still technically on the clock," Evan chuckled as she turned away.

She tossed him a teasing look over her shoulder. "For just a little bit longer. It should all be coming to an end very soon."

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him before she could disappear. Then he gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

Pluto felt her cheeks burn with a blush. "You're welcome," she answered softly. And then she was gone in a small puff of pink light and smoke.

"I like her," Abby giggled against Evan's chest. "I think you like her too."

"I do like her," he replied simply. "Now I think it's time to get you back to your mom and dad."

His arms tightened around his tiny niece as he teleported them to the boundary surrounding the palace grounds. Then he took a deep breath. His sister was going to have ten litters of kittens to have her daughter returned to her, he just knew it.

---

Crescent Moon peeked over the edge of the building she was standing on and looked down at the fairly large assortment of guardians and sentinels on the street below. Then she turned back to look at her team. "Are you guys ready to do this?"

Ishtar, Callisto, Caloris, and Flame all nodded. So far their re-entrance into Crystal Tokyo had gone unnoticed by any of Discord's forces, but that was all about to change. They had made their way close to the heart of the city, where they had discovered this group of demons milling around the Starlight Tower.

Crescent Moon returned their nods with one of her own. "Okay then. You guys know the plan. Wait until everybody is in position, and then start whaling on those bastards. If we're lucky, Discord will be angry enough to come after us. If he does, run like hell back to DJ and the others."

"Right!" the rest of them agreed. And then they all split up to take up their posts on top of different buildings around the area.

Crescent Moon waited until she received the signs that the others were ready. Once she saw the quick flashes of orange, green, blue, and red light, she quickly sent them a fast flash of pink to let them know that she was ready. Then she leapt up onto the ledge of the building.

"Explosive Wave!" she cried, brandishing her wand as she unleashed a wave of pink energy onto to enemies below.

At the same time she did that, golden arrows, electrically charged stars, and icicles rained down from where the other members of her team were positioned. A large dragon made completely of fire swarmed down into the streets from the building where Flame was at, its mouth open wide as it sought to devour any enemies it came across.

The result of their little sneak attack came quicker than any of them thought it would. Up until now, Discord had ignored all attempts to get his attention. But this time he roared loudly, the dark cloud shifting in the sky until his glowing red eyes glared down at Crescent Moon.

"Pathetic little Future Queen!" he thundered. "You and your family have caused me enough problems over the centuries! I am going to make sure that everyone of Selene's line dies today. Starting with you!"

A large beam of dark energy shot from Discord, impacting the building she was standing on. It rocked crazily under her, and then began to collapse. As the front of the building began to fall away, she spun and ran to the far side of the roof, looking to jump to the next building.

Her foot was on the ledge, and she was just about to shove off with a powerful leap, when the bricks and mortar crumbled away beneath her, sending her plummeting out of control toward the concrete below. Figuring that this was the end for her, she closed her eyes and screamed.

Behind her eyelids, she saw a flash of white light, and then she landed on something. But it wasn't the cold impact with the ground that she had been expecting. Whatever it was was still fairly hard, and it rattled her teeth and knocked the breath from her, but it was also warm and moving. Something tickled her nose, and she opened her eyes to find her face full of silvery white hair.

"Helios!" she gasped, tightening her arms around the neck of the Pegasus that had swooped in and saved her from certain death.

'Are you all right, my love?' his voice echoed inside her head.

She nodded against his neck. "I am now. How did you get to me so fast?"

He turned his head to give her a censuring look with one amber eye. 'After what happened earlier I thought it would be a good idea to keep an eye on you. And it looks like it was a good thing that I did.'

She knew that she ought to be a bit peeved that her soon to be fiancé had been spying on her, but she couldn't feel any anger toward him. If it hadn't been for him she would probably be dead by now. She hugged him tighter and whispered, "I'm glad you did."

He flew them a couple of miles away before landing in an empty park. As soon as she had slid from his back and her feet touched the ground, he transformed into his usual form and gathered her up into his arms.

He buried his face into her pink hair, chanting, "Rini, Rini, Rini! By the gods, I thought I had lost you. I've never flown so fast in my life."

She felt a drip of something wet on her scalp and pulled back just a few inches to look at him incredulously. "Are you crying?"

He used the back of one of his hands to scrub at his wet eyes. "I'm sorry. It's just that I was so afraid for you."

She was stunned into silence for a moment. She had seen Helios go through a broad range of emotions over the years, but never had she seen him cry. She felt tears of her own beginning to sting her eyes as she pulled him closer and kissed him gently on the lips.

"I'm not going anywhere, Helios," she whispered against his mouth. "I'm afraid that you are going to be stuck with me for a really, really long time."

Despite the tear tracks on his face, he smiled. "I like the sound of that." And then he pulled her in for a deeper kiss.

A loud boom from the direction of Starlight Tower had her breaking the kiss and looking toward where she could see flashes of light brightening the sky. She sighed. "I have to go back and check on the others. I can't leave them alone like this."

Helios took her hand and squeezed it in understanding. "Okay. But this time I'm going with you." And then he teleported them away in a flash of white light.

---

"Son of a bitch!" Callisto screeched as she defeated a sentinel, only to have two guardians scramble onto the roof she was on.

At first she had been doing okay, keeping all of the enemies down on the ground level with her attacks, even managing to take out one or two in the process. But it seemed that once Discord had turned his sights on Rini, it had whipped his forces into a frenzy and they had started swarming the building faster than she could knock them down.

"This is so not good," she muttered, hearing the scuffling sounds behind her that indicated that more were coming up behind her. "Static Shock!" she yelled, bringing down a hailstorm of electrically charged stars on the two in front of her, paralyzing them for a moment.

She spun around to check her back, and let out a startled screech when she saw a cheetah sentinel leaping at her, it's poisonous claws reaching for her and it's sharp teeth gnashing. She quickly summoned a field of crackling electricity around her body and hoped that it would be enough to deflect the attack.

Then there was a muted flash of light and the metallic sheen of a sharp blade as it sliced through the cheetah's neck. It crumbled to dust to reveal a large man, dressed all in black. His longish, dark chocolate hair was pulled back into a short ponytail, but pieces of that hair had fallen out to frame his handsome face and shadow his glinting black eyes.

Then he smirked. "I thought you might need a hand, Shocker."

"Kyrian!" she gasped. But the sounds of her other attackers told her that they were coming out of their paralysis. So she turned around and released the electricity surrounding her in a surge toward them.

It hit a female guardian head on, blackening her skin and burning away her hair before she crumbled into ash.

Callisto then turned her attention to a male guardian, but before she could act, Kyrian had jumped into action. There was a low glow as he called on his powers and his sword flashed menacingly as it sliced through the midsection of the guardian. It let out a demonic growl before exploding into dust.

"Trying to steal my fight?" Callisto asked in a teasing tone.

Kyrian turned to look at her with a mischievous grin. "Nope! Just looking to score a bit of action for myself. There's nothing like the heat of battle you know." And before she could say another word he had hauled her into his arms and started plundering her mouth ruthlessly.

Within seconds she felt herself turning into a limp, useless bundle in his arms. All she could do was cling to his shoulders helplessly as she moaned into his open mouth, her tongue boldly meeting his stroke for stroke.

After what seemed like eternity, but was really only about twenty seconds, he pulled back to grin down into her passion dazed face. "Yep! Nothing like a good fight to get the emotions flowing, huh?"

She nodded weakly, and then reality came crashing back down on her. "Oh my god! Rini! I have to go see if she's okay. Discord just brought a building down under her!"

Kyrian grabbed her hand as she started to turn away and tugged her back to him. "Rini's fine. I saw the building come down too, but Helios swooped in and saved the day."

She collapsed against his chest. "Thank goodness! Now I need to check on the others. I know Emma can handle herself pretty well. But Jayden and Hannah are still a bit green."

"Let's go then," he told her as they took off across the rooftops.

"What are you doing here anyway?" she asked as they ran side by side.

He shook his head. "My sister somehow managed to teleport herself out of the palace and we were out looking for her. Luckily my uncle found her. I was about to head back to the palace after the call, but then I sensed you nearby and thought I would check in."

Her steps faltered and then stopped. "You could sense me?"

He skidded to a stop, and then turned to face her. "Yeah. I've been able to sense you for years. But I have to admit that it's gotten even stronger since last night. Haven't you noticed the connection between us?"

She started to shake her head, but then thought back over the last couple of years. She had never really given it much thought, but now she remembered all the times that she just knew that he was in the palace, before she ever even saw him, and how she could immediately locate him, even in a crowded room.

That could only mean one thing. They were soul mates! She had known that they had an intense attraction for each other; last night had proven that. And they had told each other that they loved each other, but she had never delved into the deeper aspects of their relationship.

But Emma had known! That had been why her blonde friend and her mother had been so insistent about pushing her and Kyrian together, despite their arguments. And the little sneak had never once told her, even though she had begged many, many times to tell her who her soul mate was. The love goddess had some explaining to do!

"Let's get moving!" she growled. And they took off once more. In less than a minute they landed on the roof where Sailor Ishtar was trying to hold of a sentinel by rapidly firing golden arrows from her bow.

"Static Shock!" Callisto snarled, unleashing her attack at the same time one of the arrows hit the wolf-like sentinel. Between the two attacks it was reduced to almost nothing.

"Hey, guys!" Ishtar chirped in her bubbly way.

Callisto stomped up to her and whispered heatedly in her ear, "You are so dead when this is over, Aphrodite!"

Ishtar just smiled demurely. "Figured it out, did you? I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but some things you just have to learn on your own. The bottom line is that you're happy with him, right?"

Callisto rolled her slate blue eyes. "Well duh! I'm sure that's pretty damn obvious. The point is that you could have given me a sign or something. I wasn't sure if this was a forever type thing or something that would fizzle out in a few months. I don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to keeping relationships."

"That's because none of the guys you've ever dated were the right ones for you," Ishtar quipped back. "Now, you can just thank me for my meddling in your love life so we can get back to work."

Callisto gaped at her for a long moment as her anger ran out of her. Then, with another roll of her eyes she muttered, "Thanks. Now let's go check on the little guys."

"Um…what about Rini?" Ishtar asked as she ran alongside Callisto and Kyrian.

The other two filled her in on Crescent Moon's rescue by Helios as they flew over the rooftops. A short distance later they found the two youngest members of their group together on the same roof.

"Fire Dragon!" Flame bellowed as he unleashed his deadly flaming dragon upon a gigantic female guardian that Caloris had been hitting with a barrage of icicles that had little affect. The demon woman shrieked loudly as the dragon gobbled her up, leaving only ashes behind.

"My hero!" Caloris cried as the dragon faded away, and then she ran over to the blonde boy in the red uniform and threw herself into his arms. Two seconds later the pair were kissing each other ravenously.

"Holy shit!" Callisto gasped. "When did they become that involved?"

Beside her, Kyrian chuckled. "That's my boy! I always knew he had it in him."

Ishtar took a moment to sigh at the vision of young love with little hearts in her eyes, but then she snapped back to business. "Okay you two, that's enough. There will be time to play kissy-kissy later."

The young teens jumped apart from each other like they had been hit with an electrical shock. Caloris ducked her head, letting her shoulder length blue hair fall over her face to hide her pink cheeks. But Flame just grinned sheepishly, his blue eyes sparkling happily.

He snagged his girlfriend around the waist and kept her pinned close to his side. "So what's the story? It looks like our first plan is a bust, and I saw Horseboy flying off with Rini a few minutes ago."

There was a flash of white light, and then Crescent Moon and Helios were standing with them. Crescent Moon shot Flame the evil eye. "I'd watch it with the 'Horseboy' comments if I were you, Smoky. Especially if you want to live to be old enough to be considered a man."

"So what exactly were you guys trying to do by attacking Discord's little pets?" Kyrian interrupted, hoping to stop the bickering before it started.

Crescent Moon scuffed a pink boot across the roof. "We were hoping to lure Discord back out of the city to where DJ, Katie, and Alex are. They're afraid that if they confront him inside the city that it would cause too much destruction and somebody might get killed. It looks like it wasn't a very good idea for me to get involved though since he holds such a grudge against my family." She looked across the way at the crumbled building she had been standing on earlier and fervently hoped that no one had been inside it.

Helios noticed where she was looking and read the look on her face. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders. "There was nobody in there, sweetheart. I didn't pick up on any auras other than yours."

She blew out a breath of relief. "Thank goodness!"

"You guys are crazy. Did you know that?" Kyrian said with a shake of his head. "Not that I hold that against any of you. Crazy is a good thing. But I don't think there's anything that's going to make Discord leave this city right now. He's too fixated on Jess and trying to get his hands on the Celestial Crystal. His got his monsters and this funky mist stuff combing the streets looking for her. And I don't think he cares whether it's her past or present self. So far she's managed to stay off the radar, so that's good. But I don't think he's going to leave here until he has what he wants. He'd have to be pushed out, and there's not enough power around here to do it."

"What about the parents?" Callisto asked. "Can't they do something? Maybe if they acted like they were going to seal Discord away again he would leave."

"There's no way," Kyrian answered. "The palace was overrun a little while ago, and there was some heavy fighting. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask are completely wiped out and the king and queen aren't in much better shape. Your moms and dads have put up the barrier around the palace while the outers are doing the same for the hospitals. That just leaves us with the inner scouts and generals from the past and both Andrews. And to be honest, Discord isn't going to see that as a threat."

Flame muttered a curse and kicked a rock. "So pretty much what you're saying that we are screwed."

"It looks that way," Kyrian grumbled. "You might as well tell DJ, Katie, and Alex to storm the city, because I don't see any other way for them to be able to end this. Some lives may end up being lost, but that just might be the price we have to pay."

"I'll go," Ishtar whispered. She hated the thought of delivering such news to her fiancé and friends, but she wanted to see Alex one last time before the showdown.

Crescent Moon grabbed her hand. "We'll both go. Helios can teleport us there in a second."

The dream priest nodded his head. "It would be my pleasure."

A wild beeping noise came from Caloris, and she slid her small computer from her pocket. She quickly scanned the screen murmuring, "What in the world?" Then her head shot up and she pointed toward the top of Starlight Tower. "Look up there, you guys!"

"What is that?" Callisto muttered as she walked over toward the edge of the roof, looking up to where a small blue light had appeared at the top of the tower. As the seconds passed it grew bigger and brighter.

Crescent Moon felt her heart try to both sink and pound at the same time in fear and expectation. "It's Jess!"

---

"What in the hell were those kids thinking, taking on Discord's horde like that?" Sailor Shadow growled as she pounded up the stairs of the Starlight Tower on the heels of her older self.

Eternal Shadow shook her head. "I don't have a clue. I'm just glad it doesn't look like any of them got hurt. I about died when I saw Rini go down with that building."

"You and me both," Shadow agreed. "At least Helios was able to get to her in time. Maybe Endymion will lighten up about her relationship with him now that he's saved her life."

"Not freaking likely!" Eternal Shadow snorted. "He's way beyond protective when it comes to his little girl. Hell, he even got into it with Drew one time when he…oops! I guess I shouldn't tell you about that."

Shadow snickered. "Will I ever get to live down being Melody in my past life?"

Eternal Shadow let out a giggle. "To a point you will. But unfortunately some things never change no matter what life you're in. Serena and Darien mean well though, and I couldn't ask for better friends."

"True enough," Shadow sighed. "On a more professional note, it was nice of the kids to clear the tower for us."

Her future self tossed a grin over her shoulder. "It does make things easier for us. I was starting to get worried about how we were going to be able to try and pull this off."

The two of them reached the next to the last floor, the inside observation deck, and dashed across it quickly to reach the stairs that would take them up one more floor to the outside observation deck and its panoramic view of Crystal Tokyo. It was the perfect place to put their plan into motion.

Eternal Shadow flung the door open and ran inside. As she did, her senses roared to life with a warning, but it was a second too late. She crashed hard into something and went reeling back a few steps, colliding with her past self and sending the younger woman sprawling on the ground.

Then she saw the glint of metal flashing quickly and felt a burning sting in her arm as the at least fifteen foot tall female guardian she had just bumped into slashed out at her with a slender sword. "Shit!" she hissed painfully as blood began pouring down her arm.

The guardian began cackling and then called out, "Master! I have found her!"

"I guess our cover is blown," Eternal Shadow growled as she summoned a ball of blue energy and sent it slamming into the guardian's stomach. The demonic woman shrieked before turning into a pile of dust.

Shadow sat up in a daze. Everything had happened so fast. "What in the hell…?"

Eternal Shadow hauled her up with her good arm and began pushing her up the stairs. "Talk later! Right now we have to act quickly before all hell breaks loose."

They stumbled onto the observation platform, and Eternal Shadow immediately whirled on her younger counterpart. "Get a shield up around the two of us, Jess. Now!"

"So nice of you to ask politely," Shadow grumbled sarcastically. But she summoned her energy to create a blue bubble around them that crackled with silver and gold.

Eternal Shadow slumped to her knees. "Thank god! Just give me a second."

That was when Shadow noticed the blood streaming down the elbow length white glove on her future self's right arm. "You're hurt!"

"It's just a scratch," Eternal Shadow waved her off. Then she began to faintly glow blue. Within seconds the long cut on her upper arm had vanished.

"You can heal yourself?" Shadow screeched.

Eternal Shadow smirked. "Don't lose your focus, girl. It's not that big of a deal. It's just a little perk I got when I reached my Eternal status. I can't heal others or remove sentinel poisoning the way Darien and DJ can, and my power really only works on things like cuts, but it does come in handy sometimes."

"It must be a kick back from the Golden Crystal," Shadow mused.

Eternal Shadow shrugged. "I'd say from both the Golden and the Silver Crystals. Serena can do moderate healing too, but only on herself. We let Darien take care of the hard stuff."

She got to her feet and looked up into the dark cloud that was Discord. "Ready to do this?"

Shadow huffed a slight life. "As ready as I'm ever going to be, I suppose. It's not like I really have much choice in the matter now that we've called attention to ourselves."

"True," Eternal Shadow agreed with a grin. "Now power up. I need your best energy for this."

Shadow groaned. "Drew is going to kill me for this." But she reached down inside of herself to connect with the powers of the Celestial Crystal. There was a warmth in her chest as she summoned the crystal forth to float before her. As she reached up to cup the pulsing sapphire star in her palms, she felt her fuku melt away.

She looked down at herself and smiled when she saw the flowing royal blue gown with its off the shoulder design. The gold and silver stars that were embroidered around the hem and the low cut bodice matched the streamers of ribbons in the same color that tied at her waist. She felt her hair unravel from its braid to float behind her in long, honey kissed curls in the sudden wind that had blown up around her and a warm spot on her forehead told her that her symbol of a silver crescent moon shot through with a golden rose had appeared.

She glanced over at her future self and saw that she too had assumed her princess form. She supposed it was like looking in a mirror, but she still had a hard time believing that she looked anything like the angelic creature standing next to her.

She giggled nervously. "It's been a long time since I've done this. And it's only my second time."

Her older self shot her an understanding smile. "You'll do fine. You just concentrate on keeping the shield steady and expanding it. I'll take care of all the rest." The bubble around them glowed a brighter blue as she started adding her energy to it. The thunder and lightning rolled in as the sky darkened even more than it already was.

Then Discord's voice boomed overhead. "So my little princess finally decided to come out and play. And look at this, I get two for the price of one."

Jess took a deep calming breath and then told her future self, "All right! Let's teach this bastard a lesson."

---

Endymion was in the conference room of the palace with Serenity and the inner scouts and generals of the past, going over possible contingency plans in case things fell apart before the Galactic Trinity could be used. He was in the middle of speaking when he felt a large surge of energy flow through his planet…and then there was a slight tremor. His voice trailed off.

Serenity was at his side in an instant. "Darien, what's wrong?"

And then she felt it, a wave of energy that tugged at something deep inside of her. The Silver Crystal flared inside her chest in reaction.

"What is she doing?" she hissed.

"I don't know," Endymion muttered. "She was supposed to lay low. But we should have known that she would pull something."

Serenity ran to the closest window where she could see out to where sapphire light was beginning to radiate out from the Starlight Tower. The intensity of the light stunned her.

"She's not alone in this," she whispered in both dread and apprehension. "It's both of them."

---

Three blocks from the Starlight Tower, both Drew and Andrew fell to their knees.

"What's wrong?" Sailor Moon exclaimed as she ran over to both of them.

Drew's eyes gleamed as he looked up at the past version of the queen. "Jess decided to take things into her own hands."

Andrew nodded, his hazel eyes shining as much as his future self's. "It's both of them. I can tell."

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask both froze as they felt the tugging at their crystals that told them that the soul of their past daughter was calling upon the powers of the Celestial Crystal.

"She's playing with fire," Tuxedo Mask muttered angrily as he felt the tremors running through the Earth beneath him. The already dark sky turned almost black as thunder rumbled and lightning flashed.

And then Discord's voice crackled down, louder than the thunder, "So my little princess finally decided to come out and play. And look at this, I get two for the price of one."

"Oh, god! What is she thinking?" Sailor Moon moaned as she looked toward the Starlight Tower and the blue energy that was building and growing there.

"She's not thinking," Andrew growled. "That's one of her biggest problems. She doesn't think before she acts."

Drew nodded. "I'm so tempted to wring that blonde head from her neck right now."

The two blonde men shoved themselves to their feet and took off running toward the tower, quickly leaving behind the tired duo of Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Their promise to not let the two future monarchs out of their sight was quickly forgotten in the face of knowing that the women they loved could be in danger.

They rounded a corner and saw a stampede of guardians and sentinels headed toward them. But this group seemed panicked instead of intent on attacking as they ran from the wall of blue energy that was chasing them. As they watched, the blue light overtook the monsters, disintegrating all of them in mere microseconds.

As the canopy of power fell over the men, they both sucked in breaths as they felt the emotions that fueled their beloveds' actions. They could sense her anger, fury, and rage toward the evil entity that had plagued her for so long, but underneath that burned even stronger emotions. Her love for her family and friends and her fierce need to protect them offset the more negative emotions, creating a balance that was allowing her to maintain careful control over her volatile powers.

'Jess, what are you doing?' Drew moaned at his wife through their bond, which was now wide open between them.

Her voice whispered back, 'What needs to be done. Don't worry, my love. I won't overdo things. We're just trying to push him out of the city toward the kids. This has gone on long enough, and it's time to end it for good.'

A very different conversation was taking place between their past selves.

'You are insane! Have I ever told you that before? Completely insane!' Andrew ranted at his fiancée.

He could have sworn he heard a giggle in his head. 'Aw, baby! That's probably one of the nicest things you've ever said to me. Now please be quiet and let me do my work.'

Andrew threw his hands up in the air. "She's crazy!"

Drew gave him a droll look. "Are you just now figuring that out?"

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask jogged up to them, looking slightly winded. The blonde heroine looked particularly peeved as she panted, "Gee! Thanks for sticking with us, you guys!"

"Sorry, Sere. I guess I just lost my head for a moment," Andrew apologized sheepishly.

She waved him off; looking up worriedly to where she could now see the two women in the long blue gowns, light glowing around them as they cast their energy. "So what do we do now? Do we go up there and try to stop them?"

Drew barked a harsh laugh. "Do you honestly think you could stop them? You should know as well as I do, Serena, that there has never been another person in existence more stubborn than Jess. Once she sets her mind on something there is no changing it."

Even Andrew had to snicker. "A brick wall wouldn't stand a chance against her. We're just going to have to trust that they know what they're doing."

Tuxedo Mask didn't look convinced. "And if one or both of them manage to lose control?"

Sailor Moon slipped her hand into his and squeezed gently. "We can't give up hope. I believe in Jess. I always have, and I always will."

---

Discord was outraged as he stared down at the two identical women who sought to fight against him. They were determined; he'd give them that. But even after all of the centuries that had passed he could never understand how such a strong soul had been granted to a princess who was destined to wield such power. What had Cosmos been thinking when she had let that soul out of the Galaxy Cauldron?

Still, no matter how powerful the heir to the Silver Millennium and the Golden Kingdom was, she was still only human. And she had all of the weaknesses that came with being a member of that pathetic race. That was why he coveted her power so. She held a fondness in her heart for the Earth, and she had people that she cared for. Her love held her back from realizing her true potential.

LOVE! He scoffed. What a pathetic, useless emotion. Destruction…now there was something that he could admire. Nothing brought him more joy than seeing a planet suffering from an apocalyptic event. The screams of fear and agony were like sweet music to his ears. It was what he had been created for during the birth of the universe. He was Creation's opposite, meant to keep the balance between life and death. He just happened to like it when the scales were tipped in his favor.

And yet before him stood two women who each held the power to decimate a planet even faster than he could between their tiny hands. It was a shame that even now, when facing him, they refused to unleash their full power. It was such a waste!

He still had to begrudgingly admit that they were proving to be an impressive opponent, even while they were holding back. As their blue power grew and expanded he could feel his creations being destroyed by the handfuls. Soon there would be nothing left of his army. He'd even had to quickly reel in his misty tendrils when their power had begun burning away at them.

But it didn't matter that they were able to hold him at bay. Even with both of them working together they had no chance of trying to defeat him without one of them unleashing their crystal's full power. This was just a minor setback. Eventually they would either fold under the pressure or give in to their power. Either way he would win. And since there were now two of her in the same time, he might just get lucky enough to lay his hands on two Celestial Crystals.

He floated down as close as he could to the growing blue shield, almost moaning in ecstasy as her felt the hum of power rippling out from it. He couldn't physically pass through the barrier, even in this form, without sustaining injury. And he was fairly certain that any negative energy blasts he sent at it would just bounce right back. But that didn't mean that some of his other powers wouldn't work.

He felt the three impatiently burning auras of the Trinity bearers waiting for him outside the city, but they were just going to have to wait their turn. He had a couple of mongrel princesses to deal with first, and it was time for them to either put up or shut up.

If he had a human form at the moment, he was sure that he would have been grinning maniacally. But the lack of a solid body didn't stop the thrill of exhilaration that ran through him.

The game was on!

---

A/N Okay! I promise that the next chapter will bring the battle to a close. Like I said in the beginning, I was planning on posting everything up to the end of the battle in one go, but it is just too much. I even tried cutting out some parts in an attempt to shorten it, but it just didn't feel right to cut up the story like that. So instead I've split it into two and put back in all the parts that I started to chunk, and I feel much better about that. I'm even going back now and adding in some things in the next chapter that I originally scrapped for the sake of length. I'm hoping that it will make for a better end to this war that has lasted for over 2,000 years. Before I felt like I was rushing it to the end and my characters started losing some of their personality quirks, and that was just wrong. Anyhoo…I hope you guys enjoyed this. Please feel free to drop me those reviews and tell me what you thought. I know Rekindled is in sad need of updating, but I may wrap up this battle first before diving into the fight with Beryl. I'll just have to see where my muse leads me. Later gators! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~