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.

45. Even the Mighty Can Fall

A/N Sorry about the long wait. To put it all in a nutshell, life has been way beyond crazy. Family stuff and career changes have really gotten the way of my writing, but I've finally put the finishing touches on this battle. I just hope that it meets with your approval. This is the climax of the fight with Discord, but there will be more to come. We still have at least a couple of weddings to get through. Thank you all to everyone that has reviewed this story. I would take the time to give out hugs to all of you personally, but that would probably take me a few months. So I'm just going to dive right in. I hope it lives up to your expectations.

ENJOY!

---

The Galactic Trinity

Chapter 42

Even The Mighty Can Fall

---

DJ took a flying leap and somehow managed to tackle both his girlfriend and his best friend at the same time. The twins had gone berserk when they had sensed their mother's power radiating out from Crystal Tokyo and had felt the need to rush to her. DJ had acted without thinking in an attempt to hold them back, calling subconsciously on Gaia's powers to help him. Luckily it seemed that the goddess's powers had helped keep the two of them from teleporting away.

"Let me up!" Katie screeched in his ear as he held her partially pinned down with a leg thrown over hers and half of his chest pressed against her.

"Not happening, sweetheart," he drawled back in an attempt to sound like his usual cool, aloof self. "If you go charging in now it could blow our chances of winning this."

"Who gives a damn about chances right now?" Alex roared up at him as he attempted to throw him off. "Our mother is facing off against that bastard! This could kill her!"

DJ rolled his golden eyes. "If you two hotheads would calm down for a minute and take a good look at what's going on you'd get the bigger picture."

The writhing underneath him stopped as they both ceased struggling against him.

Katie's silver eyes blazed hotly up at him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

He sat up slowly, but remained cautious in case either one of them attempted to leave again. Then he swept his hand out in a grand gesture. "See for yourself."

The twins grumbled as they sat up, shooting glares at him before turning their heads to look back toward Crystal Tokyo. And then both of their mouths fell open.

"She's not attacking. She's shielding," Alex muttered after a few seconds.

Katie shook her head. Since half of her mother's powers came from the moon she was able to partially sense her energy through her own moon powers. And whatever was going on was something huge. "No. This is more than just simple shielding."

DJ nodded, having picked up on the Earth half of the energy surging out of the city. "I agree. It's a strong shield, but there is a lot of power radiating through it as well. I bet anything that is consumed with negative energy would be toast if it touched it."

Alex snorted. "You two have lost it! You know mom doesn't have the ability to make a barrier and channel her energy through it at the same time. It always backfires on her and something gets blown up. She'd never take that chance inside the city."

"Unless she had some help," DJ said quietly.

Katie and Alex looked at each other in bewilderment for a moment before his words suddenly clicked, making them exclaim together, "It's mom and Jess!"

DJ's expression turned smug. "Took you long enough. I'd say it looks like they've decided to clean house. There probably won't be a guardian or sentinel left by the time she gets the whole city covered."

"You're probably right," Alex murmured as he watched the expanding blue shield that was growing out from near the center of Crystal Tokyo. Almost half the city was covered with it now. It wouldn't be long before all of it was blanketed by the protective energy.

Then a voice whispered through his head. 'Alex!'

He started in surprise. 'Em?'

'What's going on?' Katie and DJ both demanded silently.

'You two just butt out for a minute!' Alex exclaimed, flapping a hand at them to tell them to be quiet. Then he focused on the bond with his soul mate. 'I'm here, baby.'

'Oh, thank god! I didn't think I would ever get through to you. It took me a minute to realize that mental bonds don't work when the power of the Celestial Crystal is between the two trying to talk, so I'm having to keep on the move so I can stay in front of the shield. I just thought you might want an update.'

'What's going on in there?'

'Our plan was a flop. Discord wasn't interested in any of us, well, except Rini. But she's fine. Instead he just turned his goons loose on us. The next thing I knew your mom and Jess were at the top of Starlight Tower and had whipped out their crystals. I ran into your dad a few minutes ago, and he told me that according to your mom, she and Jess are working on wiping out Discord's army and pushing him out of the city so that you guys can have your shot at him. Just thought I'd give you the heads up.'

'So that's what she's doing! There for a minute I thought she'd lost it and decided to take that bastard on by herself.'

'Nope! She's just trying to level the playing field.'

'That's some of the best news I've heard all day. Now do me a favor and stay under my mother's protection until this is over.'

'But…'

'No buts! I'll be able to concentrate better knowing that you and everybody else are safe. So please, just do this for me. As soon as Katie, DJ, and I get a chance, we're going to take it. It's time to end this.'

'Okay. I'll stay. But you better be careful. I love you.'

'I love you too.'

Alex felt the connection between them grow fuzzy and then disappear, and he knew it was because Emma had allowed herself to be swallowed up by the power of the Celestial Crystal. He heaved a sigh of relief at knowing that everyone inside the city would be safe.

"Care to share?" Katie snickered. "You were off in La La Land for a few minutes there. Speaking to Emma, I presume."

He grinned and reached over to tug on her light blonde ponytail, knowing how much that irritated her. "Yes, Miss Nosey-pants, I was talking to Emma. She thought we might like the lowdown on what's going down on the inside." Then he related to them what his fiancée had told them.

"Ah! I see," DJ mused when the tale was completed. "It does make a lot of sense. Discord won't be able to get into the city and everybody will be protected. And without his army around to back him up it will leave our path wide open to him.

Katie studied the dark cloud that was still hovering over the city and almost blending in with the blackened sky. "He does look like he's been pushed back a bit. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything. He may decide to run rather than face us."

DJ's eyes flared a brighter gold for just a moment. "Let him try! I don't know about you two, but the last thing I'm going to let him do is get away when we are so close to taking him down."

Both twins nodded and responded together, "We're with you!"

---

Mount Olympus

Zeus sat back in his chair in Chronos's domain and stretched his incredibly long legs out to prop his feet on the table before him. "Sooo…are things going the way you planned for them to?"

Both Selene and Gaia shuddered at the question. Neither one of them quite knew how to answer him.

Apollo shrugged. "Do any plans ever actually unfold the way they are meant to, father? I do have to say that this has been entertaining thus far."

A soft growl rumbled from a translucent woman who was nearby. "I don't think entertaining is quite the word I would apply in this situation, Lord Apollo."

The sun god smirked, but inclined his head respectfully. "My apologies for my lack of tact, Lady Serenity. I was merely commenting from a spectator's point of view. And may I also compliment you by saying that you have become quite an assertive woman. I remember well when you were just a young girl and would blush and stammer the few times I spoke to you when I was fortunate enough to be graced with your presence."

"Oh, for the love of Creation," Gaia muttered under her breath.

Selene's melancholy expression became irritated as she stalked over to the much taller god. Reaching up, she yanked harshly on a lock of his flaming red hair. "Do you mind leaving your unamusing banter until later, Mr. Sunshine. In case you haven't noticed we happen to have a potentially cataclysmic situation on our hands."

Apollo bellowed in pain, his golden eyes flaring in disbelief as he glared hotly at the petite moon goddess. "Damn it all, woman! There is no need to get physical. I was just trying to relieve some of the tension around here."

A second ghostly woman sniffed disdainfully. "Well it's not helping."

Apollo rounded on Hades, who was sitting with Zeus at the long table in Chronos's chamber. "Why in the universe did you let them out of the Elysian Fields again?"

Hades merely grimaced as he swirled a goblet of wine in his hand. "To save myself from a potential migraine. The four of them planted themselves at the gate and caused quite a commotion, especially the women. I thought that nobody could outdo my Seph when she gets on a rant, but those two queens could give her a run for her money. They wanted to know how the battle was going, and they refused to back down until they had answers. In the end I figured it was just easier to let them see for themselves."

This wrung a few giggles from Gaia. "Why Hades, you big marshmallow! Are you finally turning soft on us after all of these eons?"

"I am not!" he sneered back. "I just didn't feel like putting up with the racket."

Selene leaned over to whisper in Gaia's ear. "I think it is more along the line that he is just too tired to care. I heard Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis gossiping in the Great Hall this morning, and it seems that they saw someone who looked an awful lot like Persephone sneaking into Hades's chambers last night. It is doubtful that he got much sleep."

Gaia choked back a laugh. "Aphrodite strikes again. I was wondering why she decided to throw that dinner party last night on such short notice, and why she insisted on Demeter attending when we all know that there is no love lost between them. That little sneak!"

Apollo, who had been eavesdropping on them, bent down to join the hushed conversation. "Well that could turn into quite the catfight if Demeter ever finds out that others are conspiring to help her daughter spend time with her husband. My money would be on Aphrodite though. She may appear sweet and delicate, but she can be as lethal as they come."

Serenity and Althea tuned out the gods' chatter as they ghosted over to where Jonathan and Edward were standing with Chronos in front of his time mirror. The two normally jovial and playful kings were subdued and serious as they watched the events unfolding before them, letting the rulers that they once were shine through.

"How are things?" Serenity asked as she slipped her hand gently into her husband's. Although they were only in spirit form and would pass right through solid objects, being made of the same energy allowed them to touch one another.

Jonathan's fingers tightened around hers. "It's hard to say exactly. Discord keeps changing the rules. He got that one lucky hit in on the kids earlier, and now he's ignoring them like they don't exist."

"Something is going to blow soon," Edward growled. "I can feel it. I can understand them not wanting to take the fight into a populated area, but they are at a stalemate and the city is under siege. Eventually one side will have to give."

Althea clung to his arm. "Melody is the one I'm worried about. How long do you think she can keep using her power like this before it either kills her or destroys the planet?"

A deep chuckle had the four deceased monarchs turning to face Chronos. The time god had been focusing intently on the scenes that were playing out in one corner of the mirror, and whatever he had seen had greatly amused him.

He turned his mischievously glinting garnet eyes on the foursome. "Have faith in your lineage. I don't give a damn what man's so called modern science says about genetics. It doesn't matter that none of your descendants share your blood. Heredity is passed on through more than genes. Who they are is buried within their souls. Just look at your children. Although the kingdoms they were originally meant to rule have long been gone, they still managed to become the king and queen of a great kingdom. And it is all thanks to the guidance and knowledge you gave to them in their previous life. In return, that has been passed down to the next generation. So take comfort in the knowledge that you live on in all of them. And don't lose hope in your family."

Serenity watched as his eyes flicked to the mirror where it showed Sailor Pluto saving a little girl from one of Discord's demented followers. His expression softened even more when he witnessed his granddaughter kissing the cheek of a tall man with white blonde hair.

"Now I see where Setsuna gets her words of wisdom from," she murmured. "She always did have a way of helping me put things into perspective, even when she was just a child. She must take after you."

Chronos shook his head. "Serenity, you know better than that. You knew my dearly departed wife, so you know that she is the one to be credited for the way my family turned out. I was an ass before I met her, an arrogant god who thought he knew everything. And in my arrogance I broke Zeus's law about no contact with the mortal world and I met her. I wanted her from first sight, so I just thought I would take her and bring her back here to keep me company until I tired of her. But then she smiled at me and spoke, and it was if my entire outlook on existing changed. Her kindness and sincerity touched something deep inside of me, something I didn't know I was missing, my humanity. That was passed on to our son, and through him to our grandchildren. Setsuna was always a bit more introspective than her brother though. Nathaniel was the more outgoing of the twins."

Althea huffed a quiet laugh. "I don't care what you say, Chronos. There is more to you than you give yourself credit for. And like you just said to us, it lives on in our descendants. Setsuna may carry herself with all of the gentility of her Plutonian heritage, but there is no mistaking that the blood of a god runs through her veins as well."

"All of those who fight carry a piece of us in some way," Selene remarked as she, Gaia, and Apollo joined them.

The mahogany haired earth goddess nodded. "Even Endymion's generals are not immune. Every living thing on Earth, whether it be plant, animal, or human, has been touched by my energy. They also have the little added bonus of being blessed by the deities of their soul mates as well."

Apollo grunted grumpily. "Oh sure, they all have impressive abilities of their own, but it's the three that we have chosen that have to step up and take care of business. And so far I haven't seen them do anything outstanding."

Althea visibly bristled, but when she spoke it was with all of the regality of the queen she had once been. "Try to contain yourself for just a bit longer, Lord Apollo. I may not have been a member of the original Galactic Trinity, but I can assure you that this fight isn't over yet. Genetics may not officially tie me to those three, but they are still as much my grandson and great-grandchildren as if they had been born directly from my blood. I have a feeling that they will end up impressing you in the end."

Zeus spoke up before any other inflammatory remarks could be made. "Let's all hope that you are right, Lady Althea, for the sake of humanity."

Edward chuckled. "I wouldn't question my wife's intuition if I were you, Almighty Zeus. She is very seldom ever wrong when she makes a pronouncement. If she says that those kids can pull this off, then they can. You'll see."

Hades kicked back in his chair and propped his feet up on the table. A small, smug smile played around his lips. "I think what everybody is failing to remember is that despite the fact that even though those three kids have been blessed by the Silver Crystal, just like everyone else on Earth in their time, and have almost infinite life spans because of that, they are still only mortals. All the god powers in the universe won't be able to help them if they mess up."

"You know something, don't you?" Selene snapped, her eyes crackling with silver fire. "Please don't tell me that you set those nasty little Fates that you like to coddle to hovering over our Trinity bearers lifelines!"

Gaia sniffed disdainfully. "He probably did, knowing him. He has been doting on those three little bitches for more eons than I care to remember. And they have been hovering for weeks just looking for an excuse to whip out their scissors and begin snipping."

"Not to mention that we all know how much he likes to collect strong souls into his realm," Apollo drawled in a lazy tone, although his expression was filled with both irritation and fury. "I'm sure he would just love to add Alex and the others to his little menagerie."

Hades surveyed the three angry gods coolly. "Don't get your feathers so ruffled. It is true that the Fates are observing your little champions' strings very closely, but they will not cut them unless there is absolutely no choice but for them to die. And you three would do well to remember that no one is truly immortal…not even us. We might be gods, but we have our weaknesses as well. And for all our power, even we can die if the right being were to discover what those weaknesses are. Just keep that in mind."

"That's what I've always admired about you. You possess the rare ability to always keep the atmosphere around you light and carefree," Zeus muttered sarcastically. "Now why don't you put your dire predictions of doom and gloom to rest for a while and pour yourself another glass of wine? Whatever is meant to be will be. And all we can do is wait."

---

Crystal Tokyo

Sailor Ishtar skidded to a stop in front of the group congregated at the base of the Starlight Tower and bent over for a moment with her hands on her knees, panting for breath.

Crescent Moon snickered. "Getting out of shape, Emma?"

"Stuff it, Rini!" Ishtar growled. "This has been the longest day of my life, and I'm really not in the mood right now."

"Wow! I bet those words have never come out of a love goddess's mouth before," Sailor Callisto chortled snarkily as she leaned against Kyrian's shoulder. The young sorcerer bent his head down to bury his face in her hair to hide the grin that popped up on his face.

Flame snorted. "Yeah, it's already been a long day, and it's not even half over yet. It's just barely after lunch time."

A loud rumble filled the air and Sailor Moon clasped both hands over her stomach. "Oh please don't mention anything even remotely associated with food around me right now. I'm absolutely starving after all the energy I've used today."

"Typical you," Tuxedo Mask chuckled; ignoring the glare she shot at him.

"I think we're all getting off the subject," Sailor Caloris stated primly as she glanced up from her hand-held computer.

Drew's bronze armor clinked softly as he stopped his nervous pacing. "That's right. Emma, were you able to get in touch with Alex?"

Her golden blonde head bobbed rapidly. "Yes. I had to run like hell to stay in front of the energy shield, but I was able to tell him what's going on in here. He, Katie, and DJ are ready to make a move the moment they get the chance."

"What in the world is going on here?" a deep, angry voice demanded as King Endymion strolled onto the scene along with Neo Queen Serenity and all of the scouts and generals from both the present and the past.

Andrew rolled his eyes. "What do you think? As usual, Jess has decided to do things her own way and take matters into her own hands. And it seems her future self is just as reckless and impulsive."

Drew rounded on him. "I admit that my wife can be hard-headed at times, and her artist mentality can make her appear a bit flighty sometimes, but she's one hell of a woman and a damn wonderful mother. Her capacity to love is endless, and she would never intentionally do anything that would endanger those she cares about."

"Hell, you don't have to tell me that," Andrew muttered. "I know as well as you do how big Jess's heart is. I just wish that sometimes she would think about herself before she jumps into a potentially dangerous situation."

Sailor Moon flapped a hand. "Yeah, yeah! We all know how she is. The question is what is everybody doing here?"

Serenity's eyes narrowed. "I could ask you the same thing. I distinctly remember parking you in my garden gazebo and telling you to stay put."

"Did you really expect us to do that?" Sailor Moon countered.

"I suppose not," Serenity sighed. "But to answer your question, we all decided to come and see what was going on. Since the entire city is covered by the power of the Celestial Crystals, we figured there was no need to keep up the shields around the palace and the hospitals. We left Talon and the rest of his crew behind to keep an eye on things, but there is no negative energy left inside the city. The Jesses have obliterated every bit of it, except for Discord himself."

"Now let's just hope that he is destroyed before those two run out of juice," Endymion grumbled. "I don't want to jinx us, and I don't want to brag, but although events have unfolded differently this time than they did before it hasn't been as bad as it could have been. It would be nice to end this before things take a nasty turn."

Eternal Venus disengaged herself from the hug she had been giving Ishtar. "The only problem is that things almost always seem to take a nasty turn for us."

Her younger counterpart nodded. "That's sad but true. I can't even begin to count how many times something unexpected has jumped up to bite us in the ass just when things seem to be going our way."

"Probably because you can't count past five," Jupiter replied snidely before turning to share a high five with her future self. Neph and Nephrite muffled chuckles behind their hands.

"Okay, that's enough!" Serenity snapped, cutting off the irritated grumbles that were beginning to rise from the other scouts and generals. The last thing they needed right now was a bickering match. "The main thing we need to focus on is making plans for what to do if Jess and her past self run out of energy before the kids can take Discord down. If that barrier drops he will be in here and on top of them and the rest of us before we can blink."

Drew paled a bit at her words. "And on that note, I think I'm going to head up to the top of the tower. Jess is holding herself together, for now. But she's already tiring some and won't be able to keep this up forever. I'm not leaving her alone." He turned to his past self. "Are you with me?"

Andrew nodded. "All the way. We can't leave them wide open to a possible attack. I know that both of them are stronger than most people can imagine, but everyone has their limits."

"Well I'm staying here," Sailor Moon stated firmly. "Jess is one of my closest friends, and I'm not leaving her alone when her life could possibly be in danger."

Tuxedo Mask clasped her shoulders from behind and gave her a wry grin when she turned her head to glance at him. "And wherever you stay, I stay."

Endymion rolled his eyes at his wife. "Don't even say it, Sere. I've learned better than to argue with you when it comes to situations like this. Wild horses couldn't drag you away from here right now."

"You got that right, buddy!" the queen told him as she nudged him in the ribs with an elbow. "But the big problem is that we need to decide who is staying and who needs to go back to the palace. We can't leave our family, friends, and the rest of the people unprotected in case Discord breaks through."

"Well if you think I'm leaving, you've got another thing coming, Meatball Head!" Eternal Mars snapped. "Ares only knows what kind of trouble you would get yourself in without me here to keep an eye on you."

"And that goes double for me," Mars announced as glared at her princess. "Not that I'm doubting Darien's ability to keep you safe, Serena, but you do have a bad habit of getting yourself into some bad situations at times."

Jupiter nodded her head. "You have a point, Raye."

Even Mercury had a look of concern on her face. "It is a proven, yet sadly true fact."

"How soon everybody forgets the many times that I was the last one standing and had to save all of them," Sailor Moon muttered under her breath to Serenity.

The queen offered her a small smile as she shook her head. "Oh, they remember. They just choose to come down with cases of temporary amnesia whenever tense situations come up."

As small arguments broke out between the scouts and generals over who would go and who would stay, Flame motioned for Crescent Moon, Ishtar, and Callisto to join him and Caloris where they were standing a short distance away from the adults. The three scouts wandered over with Helios and Kyrian trailing behind them.

"What's up?" Crescent Moon asked immediately.

Flame frowned. "Not sure. But it could be a problem. Tell them about it, Hannah."

Caloris looked up from where she had been studying her computer. "Everyone is just taking it for granted that the Double J team up on the tower took care of all of Discord's flunkies. And they did, for the most part. But that was only inside the city. There were a few who were milling around outside the city limits, and a couple of more were able to slip out before they could be destroyed by their power."

Crescent Moon sucked a hissing breath between her teeth. "So you're telling me that there is still a group of guardians and sentinels prowling around outside the barrier where DJ, Katie, and Alex are?"

"I'm afraid so," Caloris confirmed. "I can't get any clear readings through the shield, but I estimate about ten or twelve of them are out there."

Helios squeezed Crescent Moon's hand gently. "Maybe you should tell your parents about this."

"Hell no!" Callisto retorted. "I say we go out there and take care of them ourselves."

Kyrian shrugged. "If Hannah's right, then it's a relatively small group. If DJ, Katie, and Alex come across them I'm sure they can handle them."

"But it's supposed to be our job to clear the way for them," Flame argued. "The whole point of us training with them all of this time was so that we could take care of the little guys while they conserve energy and focus on Discord. We can't do that if we hide in here like a bunch of cowards."

"What do you think, Emma?" Crescent Moon asked the golden haired scout who had been standing beside her quietly.

Ishtar chewed her bottom lip nervously as she fought an internal battle. On one hand she wanted to run out and blast every damn monster that was left. On the other hand, she had told Alex that she would stay safe inside the barrier. But he hadn't known at the time that there were more enemies around than just Discord.

After a few more seconds of deliberation, she made a decision. "I'm going out there. I'm not leaving them alone to face everything by themselves. We are supposed to be a team…and I think it's time we got back on track."

The others nodded in agreement. Even Kyrian and Helios decided to go with them to lend a helping hand wherever they could. The adult scouts and generals were still so wrapped up in their debate that they didn't notice when the seven of them silently slipped away.

---

"I'm starting to feel sleepy," Jess moaned as she felt her body begin to sag from the effort of expending her energy so long.

Her older self wore a similar expression of exhaustion on her face, but her voice was firm as she encouraged her, "Come on! You can go on for a while longer. Just make sure you keep the power level steady. You're beginning to slip just a bit."

Jess took a deep breath to try and rejuvenate herself before throwing herself back into keeping the shield up. She felt a strong wave of energy surge through her as she called on the power of the Celestial Crystal. Dark blue lightning and gold and silver sparks snapped in the air around her in response.

The other woman standing next to her jumped in surprise. "Whoa there! You don't need to be quite that enthusiastic. You do much more than that and everything will go ka-boom."

Her younger counterpart was not amused. "Not enough…too much…I wish you would make up your effin mind already! I'm getting damn sick of this shit. I wish the bastard would just hurry up and die already so we can get this whole ordeal the hell over with!"

"Wow! Somebody sounds ticked off," an amused male voice chuckled. "It's amazing that a mouth that can spill out words like that can kiss the way it does."

Both dark blonde heads snapped around to gape at the two sandy haired men who had snuck up on them without them sensing them. Behind them stood Serenity, Endymion, Sailor Moon, and Tuxedo Mask.

"What are you guys doing here?" they demanded in unison.

"Trying to keep you from doing something even more incredibly insane than what you've already done," Drew answered as he stepped up behind his wife and pulled her back so that she could lean against his chest.

Andrew did the same with his fiancée. "How are hanging in there, slugger?"

Jess took great comfort in his support. "Honestly, I'm almost too pooped to pop. I've never done a shield this large before, and I've never kept one up this long. Every muscle in my body feels like it's made out of rubber."

Her doppelganger snorted. "Don't let her fool you, Andrew. She's been doing a great job. Though I have to agree with her about how tiring this is. I'm starting to feel like a piece of cooked spaghetti."

"And that's why we're here," Serenity announced. "Since the Silver and the Golden Crystals are parents to the Celestial Crystal, they should be more than compatible enough to share energy with it."

Jess shot a quick look at Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask's tired faces and took another moment to register the fact that the queen and king didn't look to be in much better shape. She shook her head. "No way! You guys looked wiped out enough as it is. The last thing we need to do is take all of us out of commission. If by some chance we can't hold this shield up until Discord is gone, you're going to need all of your power to help protect as many people as you can. I'm not taking any of your energy."

"She's right," her older self agreed. "If all six of us are down and Discord gets in here it will be a disaster. The scouts and generals are good, but they wouldn't have a snowball's chance in hell against him. And if, by some chance, the kids don't get a shot at him, I want you guys to promise me that you'll try to seal him away again. It may piss the gods off, but it's better than everyone dying."

Sailor Moon smirked. "I knew they would say something like that."

Tuxedo Mask nodded. "I was expecting it too."

"This subject is not open for debate," Endymion growled. "The point is that we all need to work together. All vigilante heroics is going to accomplish is getting someone killed. And that is what we're trying to avoid. So both of you shut up and accept our help."

Both dark blondes stared at him with wide, shocked, dark blue eyes. Their expressions turned mutinous for a moment before they appeared to swallow the angry words that they were dying to spit out. To everyone's surprise, they looked away and muttered quietly, "Yes sir."

Andrew shared an astonished look with Drew. "Did I just hear what I think I heard? It must be a sign of the apocalypse. High Queen Hardhead never gives in without a fight." His breath whooshed out softly as Jess shoved an elbow back lightly into his stomach.

Drew shook his head and chuckled under his breath, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Over the years he had witnessed a few times that his wife had bowed to her former father's wishes without putting up too much of a fuss. And he had learned the hard way that it was best to never mention the incidents.

Serenity rolled her eyes at her husband. "It's not like we're alone in this. All of the inner scouts and generals stayed behind with us and are positioned down below."

"That's only because they are all stubborn and refused to leave us," Sailor Moon grouched as she thought about the heated debate that she'd had with her friends before coming up the tower. Venus and Mercury had been stoically quiet in their refusal to leave their princess behind while Mars and Jupiter had been loud…very loud.

"You may as well get used to it, Serena," Serenity told her. "Sometimes I'm amazed that they allow me to go to the bathroom in peace. But I admit that their being here is a huge help. The scouts can share energy with us while the generals will give Endymion and Darien a boost. Between all of us we should be able to give the Celestial Crystals enough juice to hang in there a while longer."

The older Jess looked over at her past self in concern. The younger woman indeed appeared ready to drop from exhaustion at any moment and her power levels were beginning to fluctuate badly, which could cause the barrier to become unstable. And as much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't feeling near as steady as she would like herself. Both of them were already seriously pushing the boundaries of their powers to the breaking point and would soon either have to give up and hope everything turned out okay…or unleash the fury of their full power, which would probably destroy the Earth.

She heaved a big sigh. "Okay. Let's see what we can do about holding this bastard off for just a little while longer."

---

Discord felt a fissure of glee run through him as he sensed the energy barrier around Crystal Tokyo begin to pulse wildly. The two little half-blood princesses had thought to hold him off, and he had to admire them for their spirit. But he'd known that if he was patient that they eventually would fall, leaving themselves wide open for him to swoop in to kill them and relieve them of their crystals.

If he had been in a human body he would have been licking his lips in anticipation. He had been waiting for this moment for over two thousand years, ever since Talon had unwittingly released him from the seal that Serenity, Jonathan, and Edward had cursed him into.

When he had first been freed he'd thought to only use Talon and his group of sorcerers until he had gotten strong enough to go through with his original plan to destroy the Earth. But once Talon had let it slip that such a power had once existed and might one day be reborn into the world his plans had changed. He'd allied himself with the magic wielders and helped them search throughout the centuries for the next person who would be born as the next master of the Celestial Crystal.

He had to give the former moon queen credit, she had hidden her granddaughter's reincarnation well, even going as far as locking the crystal away in Elysian until the girl had become old enough to reclaim her legacy. But once he had discovered that the Sailor Shadow who was fighting against them in an attempt to keep the crystal out of their hands was the reincarnation of Princess Melody, one time heir of both the Moon and Earth Kingdoms and the true holder of the Celestial Crystal, he had been plotting her demise. He wanted that power for himself. With it, not even the gods would attempt to thwart him, even if Zeus let them off their leashes.

He could still see them through the blue haze of their power. The two women stood boldly at the top of the tall tower with their solarian lovers and the past and present versions of their former parents. The assembled group must be thinking to protect the princesses when they fell, but they wouldn't stand a chance. His forces may have been obliterated for the most part, but they had done a good job of wearing down his enemies. As soon as he got the chance he was going to swoop in and claim his prize before any of them knew what was happening.

He was completely focused on the task of getting one or both Celestial Crystals, but he hadn't forgotten about the Galactic Trinity. He'd made sure to keep his senses in tune to the three brats in case they decided to make a move against him, but so far all they had done was watch from a distance. They were probably too scared to face him after the blow that he had dealt them earlier. That's what the gods got for choosing children to be avatars for their powers. No matter. He would deal with them soon enough.

A flicker of movement and a flash of light slightly to the west of him caught his attention and turned it that way. How interesting! A small group of his army, about twenty or so, had managed to escape the Celestial Crystal's purging of Crystal Tokyo and had regrouped nearby. But since he had been distracted and really had no use for them at the moment he had completely forgotten about them.

Well, he had forgotten about them until this moment. Now it seemed that a small group of junior warriors, led by that pink haired princess had shown up and decided to engage his pets in a little fight. Oh well, at least the confrontation would keep those brats out of his way for a while.

The pressure in the air around him changed and he turned his interest back toward the barrier that was keeping him from what he wanted. The power level of the shield was beginning to fluctuate wildly, dropping down and then spiking up every several seconds as weak spots began to appear in the dome of blue energy. He knew that neither one of the princesses would draw upon their full power, so he figured that they only had a minute or two left in them before they would be forced to drop this charade of a defense. He readied himself to make his move.

Just when he thought the shield was about to fizzle out and die, it suddenly sprang back to life, shining just as brightly as it had when it had first been cast. Only now there crackles of gold and silver that raced across the surface like the lightning that was still flashing in the sky above him.

He turned his attention back to the tower and an ominous snarl rumbled from him when he saw that the two pinpoints of blue light at the top of the tower had now been joined by silver, gold, and bronze as well. In fact, there was a multi-colored rainbow of energy wrapping around the entire area.

"So her family and friends have rushed to her aid in an attempt to hold me back," he grumbled to himself. "This is annoying, but not completely unexpected I suppose. But that is of little importance. There is more than one way to achieve my goals. I may not be able to get my powers through that barrier, but there are many ways to use a person's mind against themselves if the right opportunity presents itself."

He swirled around for a moment, and then settled in as close to the barrier as he could without sustaining damage. His red eyes gleamed like lasers inside his misty form as he whispered, "All right, princess. Let's play our game. We'll see just how far you can take it before you crack. But I don't believe it will take long. Much like your daughter, I know your deepest fears and weaknesses. I will bring you to your knees."

---

Katie kicked the toe of her boot against the ground in frustration. "We may as well face it. He's not coming after us."

"Kat's right," Alex growled. "As much as we wanted to keep the fight as far away from the city as possible, I think we're going to have to move in closer to get his attention."

"I guess you guys have a point," DJ sighed. "I was just really hoping that once Jess locked him out of the city that he would come after us. But the bastard seems content to try and wait her out. He knows she can't keep it up forever."

Katie's silver eyes speared through him. "And every second that we waste here brings him possibly one step closer to getting his hands on my mom's crystal. If that happens we can all kiss our asses goodbye because this planet is history."

He nodded as he watched Discord settle down even closer to the city, hovering like a hawk searching for its prey. "Okay. It looks like we really don't have any other choice. Let's take this fight to him and get it over with."

Just as the three of them were preparing to teleport, Alex bit out a curse. "Damn it! Of all the times for this to happen!"

"What is it?" Katie and DJ both asked out loud, but at the same time they were already getting the answer straight from his mind thanks to their mental bond.

'What in the hell do they think they are doing?' Katie screeched in her head as she felt through her brother's thoughts that Emma, Rini, and the rest of their friends were locked in a violent battle against a fairly large group of Discord's minions.

DJ's voice was just as loud in their minds. 'I thought they were all staying inside the city.'

Alex rolled his eyes. 'Emma claims that they are just doing their job and trying to make sure nothing gets in our way. But things aren't exactly going the way they planned. Helios and Kyrian are with them, but the group is larger than they anticipated. Even with the extra help they are still outnumbered about 3 to 1.'

'Then I guess we better make sure they are all okay on the way,' Katie murmured. 'They have all already been through so much today trying to help us. I don't want to see any of them hurt again.'

DJ snorted. 'Hmm…I can't promise anything. I just might be tempted to throttle my sister once I get my hands on her.'

'Same thing with Emma,' Alex agreed.

Katie arched a brow at him. 'For some reason I don't either you or Emma would take that as much of a punishment.'

Her brother gaped at her for a moment before turning to glare at his best friend and yell, "You pervert! You have completely corrupted my innocent sister!"

DJ merely smirked. "I hate to break it to you, buddy, but there was no corruption involved. There is a whole other side to your sister that you choose not to see. She may look sweet and innocent on the outside, but there is a dark side to her personality that likes to come out and play sometimes."

Katie squealed in outrage and stomped her foot. "Do you two idiots mind? I happen to be standing right here! Now are we going to just stand here and discuss who has the dirtiest mind out of the three of us, or are we going to go kick some ass?"

Both boys flushed and looked sheepish as they mumbled, "Yeah, yeah. Let's go."

They teleported away in flashes of gold, silver, and red-orange.

---

Elysian – In the Future

Katie jumped up from her seat on the sofa as she watched her past self and the past forms of her brother and lover disappear from sight on the viewing portal. A peculiar feeling swept through her, making her clasp her hands over her suddenly queasy stomach.

DJ shot to his feet beside her only a second later and hovered protectively. "Honey, what's wrong? Is it the baby?"

Rini and Emma both exclaimed in concern as Alex crowded in on her other side to place his hands gently on her shoulders. "Kat, what's the matter? Do you feel sick?"

She shook her head at both of them. In truth she did still feel a bit nauseous, but that wasn't what was bothering her. She had a horrible, gut-deep feeling that something was about to go terribly wrong. And whatever it was had to do with what was going on in the past.

Terror shot down her spine like a shard of ice as a vision burst through her brain with blinding intensity. She saw Alex, the younger one that she had just observing in the portal, on his knees, screaming, as he rocked the lifeless body of Sailor Ishtar in his arms. Her golden hair was soaked red with blood while her peach and white fuku hung in tatters from her body, along with what appeared to be strips of skin. The poor girl looked as if something had literally tried to rip her to pieces.

Katie swallowed hard, trying get rid of the lump that had risen in her throat so that she could breathe. All she could think of was a dark night from long ago when her dear twin brother had died. His body had been much in the same condition after being mauled by that sentinel. The damage had been so bad that his funeral had been a closed casket service to spare family and friends the grief of having to look at his destroyed remains.

To her horror, the vision didn't stop there. Crescent Moon and Helios were in a crumpled heap together on the ground. And from the unnatural positions of their bodies, she was pretty sure they were both dead. Callisto and Kyrian were still on their feet, but they were severely battered and bruised and looked as if they could drop at any second. Caloris and Flame were sitting down, leaning against each other and covered in blood. She couldn't tell if it was his or hers, but there was so much of it that she suspected that came from both of them.

Then she became aware of the odd angle in which she was viewing the horrific scene, and realized that she was laying on the ground. A blinding agony of pain tore through her a second later, and she looked down in shock to see that a hole, the size of a man's arm, had been blasted through her chest. Hot blood gushed from the wound in a steady stream to flow down her sides and pool around her like a ruby red pond.

Black flashed across her vision, and then DJ was above her, kneeling in her blood. His expression was terrified and tears streaked from his golden eyes and down his cheeks where they fell onto her face.

His voice cracked as he whispered, "Oh baby, I'm sorry. I didn't see that guardian behind you until it was too late. But don't worry. I'm going to make you better." His hands began to glow gold.

She tried to draw in a breath, but couldn't. Her lungs didn't seem to work and she could taste blood as rose thickly in her throat. Panicking at the choking sensation, she jerked her head to the side as the red liquid spewed past her lips like a fountain.

"Oh god, Kat! Just hang in there for another minute!" DJ almost screamed at her as he forced his healing energy into her body.

She lay there, unable to speak or breathe. Normally the healing power of Earth caused a warm, fuzzy feeling in the person being healed, but this time she felt nothing except a frigid cold creeping over her and making her limbs shake uncontrollably. In that moment she knew the truth. She was too far gone to be saved. The damage was too extensive and she had lost too much blood. She was dying.

"Why isn't it working?" DJ shrieked as he gathered her up carefully in his arms and began to rock back and forth, not caring that he was becoming covered in her blood. His voice was hot and feverish as he mumbled against her ear, "Stay with me, baby. Please don't leave me like this. I'll get you to my dad and he'll help me save you. Don't you dare give up on me…on us. I love you. Damn it! I love you so much!"

The pain in his voice hurt her worse than the wound that was taking her life, and she managed to lift her head just enough to gaze up into his beloved face. Her poor prince! She wished that she could do or say something to wipe that agonizing expression from his face. But all she could do was look at him, and hope that he could read her love for him in her eyes.

He had been her one and only love…her hero. She only hoped that he knew how much she had loved him. Gathering the last dregs of her flailing energy, she thought to him, 'I will always love you, my dark prince…for eternity.'

And then an empty, silent darkness washed over her.

Katie crashed back into the present, doing her best to bite back a scream as she bit down on the knuckles of one hand hard enough to break the skin. Yelling voices were erupting all around her, but she heard them as if she were in a dream. They were fuzzy and distorted.

Then her wide hazel eyes clashed with a calm, wise, amber gaze, and she felt a wave of calmness begin to settle over her. Helios spoke no words out loud to her, but his eyes said it all. Pluto may have thought that she was being sneaky during her earlier visit to Elysian to see her, but nothing happened in the land of dreams that its high priest wasn't aware of. And right now those eyes shone with encouragement and understanding.

And just like that, everything made sense. The vision she had just seen had been the sign that Sailor Pluto had told her to look for. And now she knew what she had to do.

"It must be the stress and the excitement of watching the events of the past. I'm going to take her to go lay down for a while," DJ was saying next to her.

Alex nodded rapidly. "Yeah, you do that. We can't have anything happening to my sister or my little niece."

Katie ignored them both and shoved her hand into the pocket of her jeans to take out what Pluto had given her earlier. She paused for a moment as her hand slipped effortlessly into the pocket with no problem. In fact, her pants suddenly felt a couple of sizes too big for her.

For a moment, she started to panic, but then she felt a tiny ball of warmth in her stomach and heard a girl's voice say, 'Bye, bye, momma. You're changing the past, so I'm going home to my own time now.'

She sucked in a startled breath, but remained calm at the realization that she was no longer pregnant. She had often wondered, since her daughter's soul had fought to exist in this timeline, at what age she would have her if her life hadn't been so screwed up these past fifteen years. Granted, she was still young, only thirty-one. But she had a feeling that if things worked out in the past that she and her prince would be married with at least one child in the new timeline by the time they reached the ages they were now. And Allie's departing words to her gave her hope that the past was being rewritten as it should be.

Well, at least she wouldn't have to worry about putting her baby's life in danger when she did what she had to do next. She closed her fingers around the small piece of metal in her pocket and pulled it out.

"Come on, Kat. Let's get you up to bed," DJ was saying as he tried to pick her up bridal style.

She shimmied slightly away from him, but remained in the circle of his arms. "No! I'm fine. Really I am."

"Bullshit!" Alex snapped. "Something was definitely wrong with you a minute ago. I thought you were going to pass out or start screaming or something."

Katie reached over and clasped her brother's arm tightly with her free hand. "I promise, I am perfectly okay." Her eyes darted back and forth between the two important men in her life. "I just need both of you to trust me right now. All right?"

DJ's eyes narrowed as he tightened his arms around her waist. "What do you mean?"

She gave them both a secretive grin. "Just hang on to your socks, boys."

She thrust her other hand, which was holding a time key securely in her fingers, up into the air. There was a flash of pink light…and then the three of them vanished.

"What the…?" Emma mumbled after a few stunned seconds.

Rini appeared equally stupefied…and then she got angry. "How…? Where did they…? How could they just take off like that and not take us with them? I swear I'm going to murder my brother the next time I see him!"

Helios merely sat back down quietly in his seat and turned his attention back to the viewing portal. He knew where the trio was heading, having studied the many outcomes of the battle with Sailor Pluto over the years, and he knew which path they were going down. Now all he could do was hope for the best.

He pulled his ranting wife into his lap and wrapped her tightly in his arms, praying with all of his might that she wouldn't suddenly fade away from his life.

Taken by surprise, Rini's tirade stuttered to a halt. "Helios? What is it?"

He shook his head and gave her a small smile before burying his face in her long, soft, pink hair. "It's nothing, my love. I was just trying to find a way to shut you up for a moment."

Rini wrapped her fingers into his silvery locks and tugged gently until he was looking up at her. She gave him a mock pout. "I would have thought that you could have come up with a better idea for that after all of these years." Then she bent down to cover his lips with hers.

As he found himself wrapped up in the feel and smell of his true love, Helios sent out a mental encouragement to the three that had just left, knowing that they couldn't hear it, but it made him feel better. 'Good luck, you guys.'

---

Crystal Tokyo

"Feeling better?" Sailor Moon giggled as she absorb the rainbow of energy from her inner scouts and channeled it through herself, using the power of the Silver Crystal to channel it into Jess. Beside her, Tuxedo Mask was doing the same thing as he manipulated the golden Earth energy tinged with planetary colors through the Golden Crystal to give the younger woman a much needed boost.

Jess heaved a sigh of relief. "Boy do I ever. I really hate admitting to this, but this was the closest I've come to meltdown stage since that day we faced Discord up in the mountains. It's scary when you feel like you can't control yourself."

"Hey, you held it together though," her future self mumbled from where she was receiving her own recharge from Serenity and Endymion. "I know I never would have been able to hold out that long when I was your age. Hell! I was barely keeping it together myself now."

"And you wonder why I always call you my ticking time bomb," Drew chuckled as he pulled her back more firmly against his chest. "Sometimes I'm amazed that you didn't bring our house crashing down around us years ago."

Jess felt Andrew's arms around her waist tighten, and then his chin was on her shoulder as he whispered in her ear, "Are you really feeling better? Or are you just saying that to reassure all of us?"

Her glowing blue eyes under her blazing moon and rose symbol on her forehead turned to gaze into his hazel depths. "I am feeling more stable. But…"

"But?" he prompted her gently.

"I'm scared," she barely breathed. "I thought I was prepared for this. All of the conditioning and training that I've gone through…I don't think it's enough. I feel like I'm barely holding onto my control by my fingertips. Serena, Darien, and the others can't keep feeding me their energy forever. And when they have to stop I'm afraid that…I'm afraid that I just might fulfill that ancient prophecy after all. I don't want to be the Angel of Darkness that destroys the world."

He hugged her close, knowing how scared she must be to voice her concerns out loud. His fiancée was a loving and open person, but she was also one of the most stubborn that he had ever met and always felt the need to appear strong.

"You won't blow up the planet," he exhaled softly, breath brushing her ear. "I love you, and I believe in you. You are my spunky princess, who tried numerous times to push me into the fountain of the Moon Castle gardens when she lost a game…and failed. But you are also my passionate artist, who always seems to be there at the end of a long day, ready to greet me with kisses and a relaxing glass of wine. You are my reason for living."

"And you are mine," she whispered back, tears shimmering in her gleaming eyes. She snuggled closer to him, soaking in the warm strength of the energy he was radiating to her. "You are my rising sun. Just promise me that you'll never let me go."

"Never," he vowed, and then he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

The sound of several throats clearing made them realize that they had become the center of attention, and they pulled their faces away from one another, flushing slightly as they looked around.

After a few seconds, Jess snorted. "I don't see why all of you are standing there snickering. You guys look like you're getting pretty touchy-feely yourselves."

It was true. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were in a position similar to theirs, with his dark head on his princess's shoulder. He had ditched the mask at some point, and his sapphire eyes glinted humorously as he lightly kissed the moon pale skin of his soon to be wife's neck.

She jumped a bit in his arms, cheeks flaming red as she wailed, "Darien! This is neither the time or the place!"

Endymion chuckled. "Believe me, finding the right time and place can be a pain in the ass sometimes. I've finally come to learn to grab every spare moment that you can find, because you never know when another one my come along."

Serenity had turned in his arms and had her front plastered against his so close that it would be impossible to squeeze a hair between them. She rolled her eyes playfully. "Sad, but true. Still, there are a few instances where perhaps we should have thought things through just a tiny bit."

He shot her a wolfish grin. "Maybe. But we sure had fun at the time." Then he gave her a quick, but very hot kiss.

The future Jess raised her head from Drew's shoulder where it had looked like she had merely been resting. But there was something on her husband's tan neck that looked suspiciously like a fresh hickey. She smiled wickedly. "You never know when somebody might pop in, do you? That's why I made sure that every room in my house has locks on the doors."

"Especially the kitchen," Drew purred as he dove his face down to her neck, making her giggle.

"Unbelievable!" Sailor Moon groaned. "I have been listening to Rini grumble for years now about hormonal parents, but I always brushed it off, thinking that she was over-exaggerating. Now I'm starting to think that there might be some truth to her words after all."

Tuxedo Mask huffed a laugh. "I don't see why you sound so surprised. She's said the same things about us from almost the first day she fell out of the sky and landed on us."

Jess's face burned red, though she tried to keep her voice nonchalant. "Yeah, yeah! So we are all adults with perhaps slightly higher than average sex lives. It seems to me that the kids have learned to live with it."

"Speaking of kids," Sailor Moon mused. "I wonder what happened to the under eighteen crowd. They were all downstairs with us for a while, and then they wandered off."

Serenity let out a delicate snort. "Knowing that crew, they probably went to the edge of the barrier to see if they could catch sight of any action. I think they are all a little bummed that their part in the fight is over."

Endymion sighed. "At least we know that they are all safe inside the city. I'm sure one of the Jesses would be able to feel if someone tried to breach the shield."

The two dark blonde women looked at each other with startled eyes.

"I…I don't know if I would or not," the older Jess stammered.

Her younger self shook her head. "I don't think I would. There have been so many energy fluxes in the barrier that it's hard to tell. Negative energy touching it is the only thing that I have been able to identify."

"I'm sure they have enough sense to not leave the city," Sailor Moon piped up in her brightest voice, though it sounded a bit forced. "Besides, the only enemy left to face is Discord himself, and there's nothing can do against him."

"Speaking of The Great Grumpy Thundercloud," future Jess growled. "Heads up, Thing #2. It looks like we have some company about to drop in."

Jess glowered up into the sky, where indeed Discord's vaporous form was descending closer to the city, but it didn't stop her from grumbling, "Hey! Who says that you get to be Thing #1?"

The older woman shot her a smirk. "Age before beauty, my dear. I know we may look almost identical, but in truth I am much closer to forty than I care to admit."

Serenity giggled. "Technically you are pushing close to 1,040."

"I didn't ask from any feedback from the peanut gallery," future Jess snarled. Then she told her past self, "Make sure you're keeping the energy flow steady. And really make sure there are no weak spots right above us, because the bastard is coming in close. I really hope he touches this barrier. If he does, he's going to get a jolt he won't forget even after he's dead and gone."

The dark cloud that was Discord lowered down just over their heads, coming as close to the shield as he dared. But even with the several feet of cautious space he kept between himself and the pulsating blue energy, he was barely fifty yards away from them. To conserve energy, the two women had pulled their energy in as close as they could, only making the dome tall enough to clear the tallest buildings.

Glowing red eyes glared at them from the murky darkness as he spoke in a maddeningly calm voice. "Aren't you ladies ready to give up yet? I mean really, you're only prolonging the inevitable. You know as well as I do that your energy supply will run out eventually. You have already exhausted your reserves, and your friends won't be able to help you for long without sacrificing their own lives. Soon it will be just you…alone…again. And when that happens you will only have two choices. You will either have to accept defeat and surrender to me, or you will have to draw upon your full power. Of course living up to your full potential will not only result in your death, but the deaths of everyone you love and the destruction of the planet. And between you and me, I think we both know that you are too pathetically human to do that."

Jess crossed her arms across her chest and returned his glare with one of her own. "Are you quite done now? I swear, I get so tired of listening to your predictions of doom every time I have the misfortune of coming across your sorry ass."

Her future self nodded. "It does become quite tiresome after a while."

Discord made a disgusted sound. "Careful, princesses. You can talk a big game, and you possess quite a bit of talent, even if you won't use it to its fullest extent. Just remember that there is no grandmother here this time to grant you another chance at life once this one is over. Not that there would be a planet for you to live on anyway."

Both women's eyes narrowed in irritation, but they remained silent, drawing strength from their supporters who remained behind them.

"I do wonder though," Discord continued slyly. "Why you were so willing to accept help from the gods, and why you readily let your children become a pawn in this game to attempt to destroy me. The gods are vain, narcissistic beings that take great pleasure in playing around in the lives of mortals. And you, my dears, have been their greatest entertainment ever."

"What in the hell are you talking about?" the older of the two Jesses snapped.

A chuckle rumbled above them. "You mean you really don't know? I thought you were supposed to be highly intelligent, at least by human standards. I figured that you would have unraveled the source of your existence by now."

Jess snickered sarcastically. "I hate to disappoint you, big guy, but they teach that subject in elementary school nowadays. You see, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much they…"

"Jess!" Sailor Moon exclaimed in an appalled screech.

"What?" Jess shrugged. "I was just giving him the rundown of modern day sex education. He insinuated that I didn't know where babies come from. All the years of private school and college have to count for something."

"Very cute," Discord snarled. "It's easy to see where your son and daughter get their witty personalities from."

"I'll take that as a compliment," the mother in question replied.

"If I may continue," Discord growled. "What I was referring to wasn't your physical existence, but your soul. Have you never wondered why you were born into the circumstances that you were? It was planned that way. You see, once Zeus decreed that the deities could no longer interact with the human world, they lost their favorite pastime. After that, they had to come up with creative and inventive ways to have fun. The only problem is that humans have free will, so they had to find ways around that to get the results that they wanted."

"That's ridiculous!" Endymion snapped angrily. "You can't change a person's free will to make their own decisions. At least not without brainwashing them or something. And I'm sure that would have defied Zeus's order."

"Of course," Discord agreed solicitously. "But the decisions made by mortals can be influenced by outside sources…say by the placing of certain prophecies for example. It really isn't that hard for a god to show someone something or to whisper words into their ears. And they can do it without crossing the line between their world and this one."

Jess's mind was whirling fast as she processed his words. "Hold the phone just a minute! You say that the prophecies about me were planted. But if I'm not mistaken, Apollo, in addition to being the god of the sun, plagues, and lot of other things, is also a god of prophecy. And since he's one of the main ones trying to take your ass down, I seriously doubt that he would be playing around with me since he needs me."

Laughter boomed from the cloud. "I'm impressed! You know your mythology well. Yes, Apollo would be the first one that most people would assume to be passing around prophecies. But you are correct in saying that he was not the one behind the prophecies. After the debacle your grandparents made out trying to defeat me the first time he devoted himself to watching over Jonathan's descendants, because he knew that one day one of them would be the next sun holder of the Trinity. He even went as far as to confer with Aphrodite, Eros, and Psyche to make sure that a certain solarian soldier and the sailor scout of the sun ended up together. It seems that the two of them had been denying the attraction between them for a long time because of their positions. But they were wed, amidst much opposition, and then accepted positions on the moon, ensuring that solarians were there to help protect Jonathan's line. By default, he was also looking out for Serenity's as well, but I doubt he saw it that way. The gods are so selfish."

"Is there a point to this history lesson?" Serenity demanded, sounding annoyed.

"Patience, your majesty," Discord drawled. "I am merely explaining some ways that the gods have meddled. Now, back to you, princess. You know that I've recently spent a lot of time at the time gate. While I was there I was able to take good long looks at several different time periods and timelines. And of course, your lives were of great interest to me. I have to admit, what I found was quite shocking. You see, since I am a non-human entity, I can sense the glitches in time when a higher being has altered a human's path. And your path is riddled with more holes than swiss cheese. I dug back as far as I could to find the origins of why your lives have turned out the way they have. And do you know what I found?"

Future Jess sighed heavily. "It doesn't matter if I want to know or not. You're going to tell us anyway."

Discord cackled ominously. "You weren't supposed to exist when you did"

"What?!" the group on the tower exclaimed together.

The evil entity swirled excitedly. "I was just as shocked as you are. But I looked all the way back to when the original prophesy was made, and made a startling discovery. I found out that Eris…you do know who Eris is, don't you?"

"The goddess of chaos and discord," Jess ground out through gritted teeth. "I'm sure you two are big fans of each others."

"She does hold a special place in my limited affections," he agreed. "Anyway, it seems that poor Eris had gotten quite bored over the centuries and was looking for a bit of fun. One night she got quite drunk at a party being held by Hades and Persephone and overheard an interesting conversation between Aphrodite and Apollo concerning dear Serenity and her Endymion. They were talking about the future relationship between the two, and Apollo was encouraging Aphrodite to make sure that the two of them did not wed until Serenity was seventeen. It had been foretold to him that their first child would be born very powerful, but that it was important that the child not be born until after the princess had passed her sixteenth year. If the heir to the Earth and Moon Kingdoms was born any earlier it could lead both kingdoms to disaster. Aphrodite agreed and promised to keep the bonds of love loose around them until Serenity was seventeen.

Well Eris saw this as a chance to have a bit of fun, so she conspired with the Fates, and set them to work intertwining Serenity and Endymion's fate lines far earlier than they should have been. She then whispered the prophecy into Beryl's father, the old seers, ear, foretelling of the destruction that could come if the moon princess and the earth prince were to wed. She knew that that, along with weaving their strings together, would push the two young royals together ahead of Apollo and Aphrodite's schedule. Then, the moment they were married, the Fates began spinning your life string, Melody."

"And she was born almost nine months to the day after our wedding," Serenity whispered in a horrified tone.

Sailor Moon appeared just as troubled. "I was still only sixteen when she was born."

Future Jess snorted. "So what you're trying to say is that my being born when I was was all part of some trick being played by a bored goddess?"

"Yeah! What difference did that make?" her younger self snapped. "So I showed up a little earlier than expected. I don't see what the big deal is."

Discord chuckled. "It was a very big deal, my dear, because your birth completely changed the flow of time. If Serenity and Endymion had waited just a bit longer to be married, things would have turned out much differently. Instead of being distracted by his new wife and coming child, Endymion would have led his army to victory against Beryl, Talon, and their followers."

"You're lying!" Tuxedo Mask snarled. "Our marriage had no effect on the outcome of that war. Beryl was a sneaky witch who kept us running around in circles. Whether or not I was married had nothing to do with it!"

A growl rumbled in Endymion's throat. "If anything, my worries for keeping Serenity and Melody safe pushed me to fight harder in order to end the war as quickly as possible."

"Is that what you really think?" Discord sounded amused. "You always were a blind fool, Endymion. Admit it. Even when you weren't sneaking off to visit your little family, they consumed your mind. And your biggest worry was how to protect your daughter if the rest of the galaxy knew she was alive. You knew that she would be hated and hunted for merely existing, and those thoughts kept you from making the sound military decisions that you might have made. Whereas if you and Serenity had waited to bear the fruit of your union, peace would have been declared between the Moon and the Earth and you would have lived happily ever after. Instead, Melody's existence brought about the end of your kingdoms."

"I've heard enough of this shit!" Future Jess hissed. "You think I haven't blamed myself for what happened all of those centuries ago? I have! And the last thing I need is an asshole like you rubbing it into my face. But I don't buy all of this crap about how my whole life has been engineered by Eris."

Discord made a humming sound. "Well…not in this lifetime. Eris lost interest in all of you after the fall of the Silver Millennium and moved on to other things. After all, she had gotten the entertainment she wanted. But you, princess, had quite fascinated the Fates, and they weren't quite through playing yet. They have followed your current incarnation and have immensely enjoyed toying with different aspects of your life."

An angry breath hissed through Jess's teeth. "Just what the hell do you mean?"

"What I mean, dear princess," Discord drawled, "is that your life this time around would have gone very differently if the Fates hadn't interfered. Most of what they did was quite harmless, mostly just whispered thoughts or suggestions that would spark a quarrel for their amusement. But sometimes even the smallest things can have dire consequences. Allow me to show you an interesting blip I found while studying your timeline."

Dark energy swirled in front of him before forming what appeared to be a giant movie screen. Everyone held their breath as figures began flickering to life.

***Discord's Vision***

Suburban Los Angeles – almost 2 years before Jess moved to Tokyo

"I really hate these kinds of functions," Josh Alexander grumbled as he stood in front of the full length mirror on the back of a closet door as he knotted his tie.

His wife, Kim, giggled from her seat in front of a dressing table where she was inserting earrings into her ears. "I know you do, darling, but I can't help but be proud of you. This dinner is to honor you and your team for your work on your new program."

Josh groaned as he turned around. "Yeah, but it's not all about me. There were a lot of other people working on the project. I doubt anybody would miss me if I didn't show up."

Kim pursed her lips as she added a touch of lip-gloss. "You know better than that. Your cell phone would probably explode with the influx of calls that would come rolling in. You are a man that is in very high demand."

"I just want a bit of peace and quiet," Josh complained. Then a twinkle appeared in his brown eyes. "I've got an idea! Let's pull a disappearing act. We'll throw on some old jeans, grab Jess, and go out for a night of fun. We'll go to Mama Rosa's, pig out on nachos and enchiladas, have a couple of margaritas, and then go for a walk on the beach. I bet there has to be a band or two playing down there somewhere. What do you think?"

Kim slid a look at him over her shoulder. "Hmm…tempting."

Josh streaked across the room and swept her up into his arms. "I'm sure I can persuade you," he murmured before he gave her a long, lingering kiss.

Her eyes were glazed when he pulled back a minute later. "Well…since you put it that way…"

He began to grin roguishly.

Just then there was the slightest shimmer in the air next to Kim, and she tilted her head slightly as if listening to something. Her expression suddenly cleared and she pushed lightly against his shoulders. "No, we can't skip out on this dinner. Your colleagues will be expecting you there, and it would be rude not to show up. Besides, Jess has been holed up in her studio since right after lunch, so she's probably up to her eyeballs in some project."

Josh wasn't ready to give up. "You know as well as I do that the promise of a trip to Mama Rosa's will have her out the door before we are. That girl never turns down a good meal."

"That's true enough," Kim agreed. "But we'll just have to save your night of fun for another time. Maybe we'll all go out tomorrow night. But tonight we have to do the mature and responsible thing. You'll thank me for it later,"

"I doubt it," he grouched. "It's not like I'll be working with those people much longer anyway, By the way, when are we going to break the news to Jess that I'm being transferred back to Tokyo? You know she'll be ecstatic about it."

Kim slipped away from him to touch up her now smudged lip-gloss in her mirror. "I know she will. I thought we were going to have to physically drag her onto the plane last week to get her to leave Tokyo after our visit. I don't regret moving here. I know it was the best thing for her at the time. But she's missed home as much as we have. And now that she's older I think things will be easier for her there. I doubt anyone will remember her after eleven years. I had a devil of a time hiding the fact that you were gone to a business meeting from her while we were there though."

Josh smirked. "I bet you did. Hardly anything gets past her, and she's as curious as a kitten. We probably should have told her what the trip was all about when we went, but I didn't want to get her hopes up in case the transfer fell through."

"I tell you what," Kim replied as she turned back to him and reached to straighten his tie. "Let's plan on going out tomorrow night and we'll tell her then. That will probably be better than tonight anyway. The weather forecast is predicting rain for later this evening. Then we can celebrate properly. Besides, I bought this dress especially for tonight because I thought you'd like it."

"Oh, I like," he assured her eagerly as she spun in a circle before him. He eyeballed the hem of her bronze silk dress as it swung around her knees. "I look forward to helping you get out of it later even more."

She stroked his jaw with her fingers as she purred. "I'm going to hold you to that. But first we have to take care of the business of the evening." She moved to pick up a small black handbag from her dressing table.

He sighed. "For someone who dislikes big social functions as much as I do, you certainly seem eager to get going all of a sudden." He held his hands up in surrender as she turned icy green eyes on him in a glare and opened the bedroom door.

Kim preceded him into the hall and then walked over to a set of stairs that led up to the attic. Rock music pounded at a moderate volume from above as she called up the stairs, "Jessie, sweetie? Daddy and I are leaving now."

There was a bump and a thud, as if something, or someone, had fallen, followed by, "Shi-Crap! Don't worry! I'm okay!" Then there was a splash and a clatter. "Mother Pus-Bucket!"

Josh chuckled while Kim shook her head and muttered, "What are we going to do with that girl?"

He shrugged. "She's a free spirit."

"I guess that's one way of putting it. But I can't help but wish she would mature just a little bit. She is sixteen now, and college is a lot different than high school," Kim grumbled.

That mysterious shimmer appeared again next to Josh, and a few seconds later he shot his wife a reproachful look. "I thought you were proud of everything our daughter has accomplished."

Kim looked taken aback by his angry tone. "I am proud of her. I just meant…"

Her voice tapered off as footsteps thundered down the steps. A few seconds later, a young Jess, barefoot, in frayed cut-offs and a worn out, dark blue tank top whirled through the door like a miniature hurricane. Her dark blonde curls were pulled back in a messy twist on top of her head. Colorful paint splattered her arms and a dark streak of charcoal marred her cheek. A large wet spot on her shirt was a souvenir of whatever had spilled during her mad dash.

"I'm here!" she announced with a bright smile.

***End Vision***

Jess barked a laugh as the vision faded away. "You are so full of it, Discord! I learned to not fall for your wacky mind games a long time ago. Let me let you in on a little secret of mine. I am well aware of the fact that my father used to laugh at my antics and that I almost drove my mother batty because of my, as she put it, lack of decorum. But if you think that showing me some warped vision of the past is going to change my mind about holding you back, then you have another thing coming!"

The evil entity chuckled. "What makes you think what I showed you was warped?"

She ground her teeth together. "Because I knew them very well."

"Ohh…" he drawled. "Then you knew about the move they were planning to make."

"They weren't planning any move," she shot back. "You're just trying to confuse me with one of your tricks. And it's not going to happen"

She turned to her future self and demanded, "Come on! Back me up on this! Tell him that mom and dad didn't have some secret move they were waiting to spring on me."

"Actually," the future Jess murmured. "That part is true. Dawn let something slip years ago and I pestered it out of her. During that last trip to Tokyo we took about two weeks or so before they died, dad got offered a promotion and a transfer, and he took it. He and mom thought that we had spent long enough away for everyone to forget about us by then. But unfortunately they never got to tell me about it."

"Well that explains why dad disappeared a couple of times during that trip," Jess muttered irritably. "But that doesn't explain why Super-Psycho would bring that up now. That's not going to accomplish anything."

"True," her future self agreed.

"Did you stupid little girls not pay attention to anything that I just showed you?" Discord sneered. "You claim to know your parents so well. Surely you realized that they were acting a bit out of character that night. You forget that I have been inside your head, and I have seen all of your memories. What would your mother normally have done if your father had suggested skipping a mundane dinner party?"

Jess sucked in a sharp breath. "That was weird. They played hooky from stuff like that all the time. All dad had to do was suggest doing something else and she would be all over it."

"And the way dad snapped at mom about me," her counterpart whispered. "That was so not like him. It was almost like they were different people for a moment."

"Or like someone was influencing them," Discord stated smugly. "Come now, neither of you are blind. I know you had to see the mysterious wavering in the air around them. That, my dears, was the Fates at work. You see, I've seen the alternate timeline of your life. If those mischievous little imps hadn't decided to interfere that night, your parents would have never gone to that dinner. And if they hadn't gone, they wouldn't have been on that rainy highway that night and they wouldn't have died. Then you're little family would have packed up and moved back to Tokyo and you would have met your soul mate and friends much sooner than you did. Instead you gave the Fates almost two years of amusement as they watched you wallow in pain and grief. I'm sure they enjoyed it immensely."

"Why don't you go (insert a word that rhymes with duck) yourself, you bastard!" Jess screamed at him. A bright flash of blue blasted out around her, breaking the connection she had with Andrew, Sailor Moon, and Tuxedo Mask as they stumbled back.

"Hey! Don't start coming apart on me now, girl!" her future self exclaimed as she disengaged herself from Drew, Serenity, and Endymion in a much gentler fashion and rushed to grab the younger woman by the shoulders when she appeared to be preparing to jump from the tower.

"Go to hell!" Jess spat in her face. "You know what your problem is? You've gotten too damn soft! Maybe that's an effect of marriage and motherhood, and maybe I'll be the same way someday, but for now I am still me. I am Jessica Alexander, the sailor scout of the shadows. And being Sailor Shadow has always been the one way that I could channel my anger by taking it out on my enemies. You told me that you sometimes still feel that anger burning inside. Aren't you feeling it now?"

Blue clashed with blue as their eyes met. And then her older self began to smile. "You know what, I do."

"Then help me put a hurting on this guy," Jess pleaded. "We may not be able to destroy him, but we can definitely screw him up before the kids send him to hell."

They stared at each other for a few more seconds before her future self nodded. Then she turned to the others. "You guys better head back to the palace and put up a nice, strong shield. This fight is about to get down and dirty."

"The hell it is!" Drew and Andrew both exclaimed at the same time, and ran forward as the two women jumped up onto the railing that surrounded the observation deck.

"Don't worry. We'll be okay," Future Jess assured her husband. "We'll be back before you know it. I love you." She shot him a wink.

Jess gave Andrew a somber look. "You know I have to do this."

"No you don't!" he insisted as he reached for her.

"I love you," she told him as she dropped over the side of the tower only milliseconds before he could grab her.

As she fell though the air, with her future self at her side, they both transformed back into their sailor scout forms. They hit the ground, ignoring the exclamations from the inner scouts and generals, and paused for only a moment as their crystals retreated back into their bodies. Then the two of them struck out, running as fast as the wind toward the shimmering barrier their power had created, which was already beginning to fade.

---

"Cupid's Arrow!" Ishtar screamed as she shot her attack at the closest sentinel, one that reminded her a lot of a woolly mammoth. The beast slowed, but didn't stop its charge toward her.

As she quickly scrambled to charge up another arrow into her bow, she heard another battle cry. "Static Shock!" Electricity crackled to life all around it, shocking the creature and making it almost stumble to its knees. But it still kept coming.

"What the hell!" Callisto shrieked as she appeared at her blonde friend's side.

A flash blew past them and flew up into the air to land on the sentinel's back. Kyrian's sword glowed with magic before he brought it down, severing the head from the body. He leapt away as it crumbled into a cloud of thick, oily smoke.

The young sorcerer coughed and waved a hand in front of his face. "Geez! What the hell is Discord feeding these bastards? Whatever it is, it reeks."

"At least you were here to save the day," Callisto teased him with a coy smile.

Ishtar looked around anxiously to check on the rest of her friends, and sighed with relief when she saw that Crescent Moon and Helios had teamed up with Flame and Caloris and were holding their own for the moment. Then she turned back to her rescuer. "Thanks for the save, Kyrian."

She almost screamed a split second later when a red orange light flared next to her and Alex appeared. She cringed under the glare from his smoldering eyes and stammered, "Uh…hi honey."

"Is that all you have to say?" he growled at her. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Get back inside the city and stay safe like I asked you to."

She bristled under his chastisement. "You can't tell me what to do! I am supposed to be a leader. How can I lead if I stay hidden during a fight? The whole point of me going to the past and training was so that I could help get rid of the obstacles in your way so that you can do your job. So that's what I am trying to do!"

Alex opened his mouth to fire back another protest at her, but quickly scrambled out of the way as a giant guardian and a monstrous sentinel barreled between them, scattering him, Ishtar, Callisto, and Kyrian in different directions.

And then, he heard his secret fiancée scream.

---

"What the hell, Rini!" DJ raged as he and Katie flashed to his sister's side.

Crescent Moon tossed a pink pigtail over her shoulder as she glared at her younger brother. "Don't even start on me! I'm doing my job! What the hell have you been doing?"

"Trying to lure Discord away from the city so that no one will get hurt!" he shot back at her. "Do mom and dad know you're out here?"

"I'm almost eighteen! I don't need their approval!" she practically screeched at him.

He snorted. "This isn't a game, dummy!"

"Um…guys," Katie squeaked when she noticed the amount of enemies that were beginning to converge around them. But the siblings continued to argue like she hadn't said anything.

A jolt of fear that wasn't hers shot down her spine, and she spun around to look in the direction that she knew, thanks to not only the Trinity bond, but also to the twin connection she shared with her brother, that Alex was in trouble. She shrieked when she saw a sentinel and guardian barrel through him, Ishtar, Callisto, and Kyrian, and sent them tumbling in all directions. She also saw a second, wild cat sentinel leaping toward Ishtar with its fangs bared.

She took a half a step forward before a ruckus broke out behind her. She had barely glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of two guardians and a sentinel attacking DJ, Crescent Moon, Flame, and Caloris when every hair on her body seemed to stand on end. She turned on her heel and saw a guardian only a few yards away from her, charging up an energy blast in its palm that was aimed at her chest. There was no chance for her to even begin to summon a counterattack. So she just screwed her eyes shut and waited for the pain.

But it never came. A split second after her eyelids slid closed, she saw a flash of silver. After counting quickly to five, she opened her eyes to confront the most incredulous thing she had ever seen.

The guardian had paused barely two yards away from her, but now the hand it'd had pointed at her chest was now bound tightly to its side by ropes of silver energy. Approximately ten feet behind it stood a sailor scout in a familiar black-skirted fuku adorned with silver bows.

"Sailor Eclipse," she whispered as her knees suddenly went wobbly and she almost fell to the ground.

"You're not killing me, you punk!" Eclipse snarled as the ropes around her prey flared brighter, turning him into smoke. She dusted her gloved hands off on her skirt and smiled at her younger self. "I bet you're surprised to see me, aren't you?"

Katie let out a shaky laugh. "Just a little bit."

Eclipse strolled forward ad patted her on the shoulder. "I saw that that things were about to get ugly, and Pluto had given me a time key in case that happened. So we decided to pop in and help you guys."

"We?" Katie whispered as she looked around. Two blurs of black had also entered the fight, who she recognized as the slightly older versions of Phantom and Phoenix, and they had quickly dispatched with the threats to the others. At the sight of the unexpected reinforcements, the last few enemies ran away.

"Let them go," Phantom said as several members of the group made to go after them. "They will disappear as soon as Discord is taken care of."

"Here's hoping," DJ grumbled as he got to his feet and ran to Katie. "God, baby! Are you okay? I almost died when I saw that guardian sneaking up on you. But I knew there was no way I could get to you in time."

"I'm fine," she reassured him as he scooped her up into a tight hug, and then asked anxiously, "Is everyone else okay?"

"We're alright," Crescent Moon said as she and Helios stumbled over to them. Her maroon eyes darted back and forth between DJ and Phantom. "But I admit that I am very confused at the moment. I think I'm seeing double."

"Well you did hit your head slightly when you fell," Helios murmured.

She glared hotly at him. "And why did I fall? Oh, that's right! Because a certain dream priest decided to act macho and pushed me out of the way!"

He returned her glare with one of his own. "It was either that or watch you get clobbered! Just what kind of person do you take me for?"

"Katie!" Ishtar's shriek rang out over the voices of the bickering pair. "Would you tell your overbearing brother to put me down?"

Katie and Eclipse both turned and stifled giggles at the sight of Alex lumbering toward them while trying to contain the struggling blonde he was holding bridal style in his arms. Phoenix was about a half step behind them with a wide grin on his face.

Alex appeared far from amused. "Just hold still for a minute, Em! Damn it!"

"And I said I can walk on my own!" she yelled back at him. Then she shoved an elbow sharply into his stomach, causing his breath to whoosh out and his arms to lose their grip on her. She landed on her feet and took two wobbling steps before her knees began to buckle. Phoenix stepped quickly around his past self and caught her in his arms.

She crashed into his chest, and then looked up to blink at him several times. Then a drunken smile appeared on her lips as she slurred, "Hey there, handsome. Wanna go find a place where we can be alone? I bet we could have some fun."

Phoenix shook his head and chuckled. "Sorry, beautiful, but I don't think that would go over too well with my fiancée. She can be a bit of the jealous type sometimes, even of herself."

"What the hell is wrong with her?" Callisto demanded as she dusted off her skirt. "She's acting even ditzier than usual. Then she turned around to glare at Kyrian behind her. "Did you just pat my ass?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "There was some dirt on you."

Alex straightened up, rubbing his stomach. "See that blood on her shoulder? She was bitten. That damn sentinel tried to rip her head off! Luckily help arrived in time."

"She'll be okay once she's healed," Caloris stated as she typed busily on her computer. "I know it looks like a lot of blood, but she really hasn't lost that much. None of her major arteries have been severed. It's just the poison right now that's making her act all loopy."

"Sounds like a job for me," DJ replied, but paused when a black-gloved hand landed on his shoulder. He looked up into a pair of dark blue eyes behind a black mask.

"Let me do it," Phantom told him. "You're supposed to be conserving energy, remember."

Katie nodded. "He's right. And we haven't exactly been doing a great job at doing that the last couple of minutes."

"This is so cool!" Flame exclaimed as he looked around at the visitors. "So these are your future selves that you guys were telling us about, huh?"

Katie pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just when I thought this day couldn't get any stranger, it does. We fall into a giant hole. Weird kids from some other time pop in to heal us. And now you guys show up again just in time to save our bacon. Can I have a rain check on this fight and come back to it after I've slept for about a month?"

DJ slung an arm around her shoulders. "I know what you mean. But I'm afraid we still have big business to take care of. And we need to move. Alex, come on!"

Alex looked up from where he was knelt next to Ishtar as Phantom was healing her. "B…but…"

Phoenix laid a hand on his shoulder. "Go on and beat that bastard. I'll make sure Emma is taken care of."

He closed his eyes for a moment, and then nodded. "Once she's healed, try to get everyone back inside the barrier so they'll be safe."

Caloris looked up from her computer with a worried frown. "Uh guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the barrier is coming down."

A quick look toward the nearby city confirmed her words. The blue haze of energy from the Celestial Crystals that had been protecting Crystal Tokyo was beginning to slowly fade away.

"Shit! It looks like mom ran out of juice," Katie groaned.

"We can't wait anymore," DJ growled. "It's time to end this, now!"

Alex quickly kissed Ishtar's hand that he had been holding and laid it gently down. "I'll be back, baby," he promised her softly, and then he was at his comrades' sides. "Let's get this over with, once and for all."

And in a blink they teleported away.

---

Eternal Shadow and Shadow both pushed off from the ground at the same time, leaping high into the air to land on the wall that surrounded Crystal Tokyo.

"You got a game plan?" Shadow muttered out of the corner of her mouth.

Eternal Shadow grinned. "Hey, I thought this was your rodeo. I'm just along for the ride."

A slightly maniacal smile appeared on Shadow's face. "Then I say we go to town on him. We whale on him and whale on him, and then we do it some more. He can be hurt. I've seen it. So between the two of us we should be able to cause some damage."

"It's also a good idea to get him to come down out of the sky," Eternal Shadow murmured. "I was worried that the kids wouldn't have a shot at him if he stays up so high. They have to get those swords in him if they want to have any chance of defeating him."

A flash of light caught her eye, and she turned to see a shield of sailor scout power beginning to wrap around the palace. "Good! It looks like Serena and the others got word to the outers to put their barrier back up. And once the rest of them get back to the palace they will be able to add their powers to it. That should keep everyone safe until this is over."

"Then let's get this party started," Shadow snarled. Then she yelled, "Hey, Discord! You wanted us so much, well here we are! Come on down here and face us!"

The dark cloud in the sky swooped down until it was hovering just a few feet above the ground, but it was massive enough that it billowed up taller than the wall. Two red eyes pierced out from the darkness to bore into them.

Discord chuckled ominously. "You two are either braver than I thought, or incredibly stupid. We are all aware that neither of you will use your full power to stand up to me. So why don't you be good little princesses and hand over your crystals quietly. I promise the end will be quick if you do."

"Not happening, pal!" Shadow snapped. She ran a few steps down the wall to one of the watchtowers and vaulted up the side of it to catch the edge of the platform with her fingers. Then she swung her legs up behind her and over her head and let go, somersaulting through the air to land on the roof in a gold medal-winning move. Her boots had barely touched down when she held her glowing hands in front of her and shot a wide beam of blue energy at him.

The blast took Discord by surprise as it tore through his form and came out the other side. Black, oily drips of his essence began to run down and form pools on the ground.

Shadow looked around for her future self, and found the woman still standing on the wall with her elbows on the ledge and her chin propped in her palms as she watched the fight. "What the hell! Why are you just standing there?"

Eternal Shadow shrugged. "You seem to be the one that has all the pent up aggression. I figured I'd let you have your fun."

"You really suck! Did you know that?" Shadow told her, even as she shot another attack at Discord. This one did almost as much damage as the first one had.

"If that's the way you want to look at it," Eternal Shadow answered blandly. "I'm just here to make sure you don't do something stupid, like get yourself killed. If you need my help, I'll join in."

---

"What do you mean we can't interfere with the fight?" Andrew demanded as he ran side by side with his future self.

Drew grimaced. "Look, it's hard to explain right now, but you have to let Jess do this. It's important to her future."

Andrew let out a disbelieving snort. "So I'm just supposed to let her get herself killed? Yeah right!"

"I have to agree," Sailor Moon said as she pulled up beside them. "It's too dangerous to let the two of them face off against Discord alone. One wrong move could change everything."

"You're just going to have to trust us," Serenity told her as she kept pace next to her past self. "Granted, things are not going exactly how they did when we were in your place, but this confrontation needs to happen."

"I get the feeling there is a lot that you guys aren't telling us," Tuxedo Mask grumbled from behind them.

Beside him, Endymion chuckled. "Just wait. It will all make sense soon."

"You guys slow down a bit! We can't all run as fast as you can!" Venus complained from several yards behind them.

The six leaders ignored the ones following them, continuing forward until they reached the city wall. They leapt up toward where they could see bright flashes of blue light.

"About time you got here," Eternal Shadow said with a grin as she straightened up from her slump over the wall. "I thought you were going to miss the show."

"How is she doing?" Serenity asked as she focused on the form of Sailor Shadow, who was currently doing a series of back handsprings along the wall in an attempt to dodge the blasts of dark energy being shot at her from Discord.

"About as well to be expected," Eternal Shadow muttered. "I'm just waiting for her to find that spark."

"What spark?" Andrew practically yelled. "Why are we all just standing here doing nothing? I've got to help her!"

Eternal Shadow blocked his way as he started forward. Her dark blue eyes snapped angrily at him. "If you try to interfere I will knock you out personally."

Andrew stumbled back a few steps from the infuriated woman. "What the hell!"

"I tried to warn you," Drew murmured sympathetically.

"Well I want to know what's going on," Sailor Moon shrieked. "Why are we letting Jess face Discord alone?"

Eternal Shadow rolled her eyes. "If everyone would stop shouting for a minute, I'll explain." Just then three flashes of light announced the arrival of DJ, Katie, and Alex, making her groan. "Oh great! You guys are early!"

"What do you…" the trio began to ask before they were forced down by Serenity and Endymion.

"Just stay down and out of sight for now," the queen ordered them.

"As I was about to say," Eternal Shadow continued, "what will hopefully happen soon will be a major part in me becoming who I am today. Just like it was imperative for Serena to tap into her greater power, it is important that my past self experience this confrontation. If she doesn't, then I may not become the person that I am now. It's not happening exactly the way I remember, but this has to take place."

"But mom," Katie hissed from her huddled spot by the wall," it's our job to take care of Discord."

Eternal Shadow smiled fondly at her daughter. "And you'll get your chance, darling. But first I need to make sure I become the mother that you know. Just bear with me a few more minutes."

At that moment, Discord roared at his tormentor, "You little brat! Just who do you think you are to oppose me the way you are?"

Sailor Shadow paused, poised on the edge of the wall in a crouch, as she surveyed the damage that she had inflicted on the evil entity. Her eyes began to glow bright blue as her crescent moon and rose symbol began to shine on her forehead.

"You want to know who I am?" she drawled in a silky smooth voice. "I'll tell you exactly who I am. I am Jessica Alexander, daughter of Josh and Kim. I am also Sailor Shadow. In the past I was Princess Melody Rose DeLune Terra, daughter of Serenity and Endymion. I was the heiress to both the Silver Millennium and the Golden Kingdom. I am also the mistress of one of the most powerful crystals ever born, so you should have thought twice before picking a fight with me, you asshole!"

"Finally!" Sailor Shadow sighed as she saw the blue glow that began to encompass her past self. "I have been trying to condition and steer her toward this all day." A slender blade of blue energy that resembled a samurai sword appeared in her hand.

The blue glow around Shadow increased, and she shrieked as it swallowed her up entirely. After a few seconds the blaze died down to reveal her again, in the identical eternal sailor scout uniform that her future self wore. A blue energy sword manifested in her hand as well.

"It's about time!" Eternal Shadow crowed as she dashed toward her past self, sword glowing in her hand.

"Did we miss anything?" Sailor Uranus asked as she and the other outers landed on the wall. "The future inner scouts and generals made it back to the palace and told us that we might want to see this since they have already experienced it."

Sailor Pluto stepped back to watch the show since she already knew what would happen. She had known from the moment that the inner scouts and generals of Crystal Tokyo had rushed in the doors and told the outer scouts of the past that they were there to relieve them so they could join their friends and the king and queen that things were beginning to line out. She smiled to herself.

---

Mount Olympus

Zeus threw up a shield of energy to protect Hades from the attack coming from the three enraged gods convening on him.

"I always knew it was a mistake for you to take in those three little brats!" Gaia snarled. "They have spent years playing with the life of someone who plays a huge part in this battle."

Selene growled, " You never should have offered those treacherous triplets sanctuary! Because of them all of our work may have been for nothing!"

Even the normally infallible Hades appeared shaken. "I had no idea that the Fates had gone to such drastic measures. I assure you that they will be dealt with."

"They better be," Apollo growled. "Do you know how messed up things could have become just because they decided to make Melody their own personal project?"

Serenity spun around with a snarl. "You better hope that everything turns out okay. If not I will make sure that I torment you for eternity."

Althea smirked. "Not to mention that I am sure that Gaia and Selene will be willing to help us make sure that Persephone is convinced that you are spending time with another woman."

The god's already pale skin turned a sickly shade of white as he gulped. "You wouldn't!"

Selene gave him a deceptively innocent smile. "Just try us, Sunny."

"Hey everyone! It looks like the time for the final showdown has finally arrived," Edward announced excitedly from where he was watching the events in Chronos's time mirror.

Jonathan rubbed his hands together with glee. "Yeah! I don't think you want to miss this."

---

Crystal Tokyo

"It's about damn time," Eternal Shadow growled as she landed next to her former self. "I thought I was going to have time to stretch out and take a nap since you were taking so long. But I guess it was worth the wait. You look almost as good in that outfit as I do."

Shadow twisted around, trying to get a good look at herself. "What the hell?"

Eternal Shadow chuckled. "I told you earlier that you had to wait just a little while longer to achieve your eternal status. Now you can see that I wasn't lying to you."

"I didn't know you meant only a few hours!" Shadow shrieked. "How did…"

"How about we save the questions for later after all of this is over?" Eternal Shadow interrupted her. "I promise, I'll treat you to the largest margarita outside of Mexico and answer any questions I can. But the kids are itching to put this asshole out of all of our misery. So what do you say we give him one last parting gift?"

"Sounds good to me," Shadow agreed with a grin. Then she held up her new weapon. "A samurai sword, huh? How appropriate."

Eternal Shadow shrugged. "We were trained with one from an early age. Besides, it's nice to have another way to fight instead of just shooting energy blasts from my hands all the time. I trust I don't need to tell you how to use it."

The blade in Shadow's hands began to burn brightly with energy. "Nope. I got this. Shall we?"

A crescent moon and rose symbol that mirrored her own sprang to life on her future self's brow as her eyes flared bright blue. "Let's do it!"

"You little bitches!" Discord thundered as he rose up before them. "I'm going to make you wish you had never been born!"

Eternal Shadow barked a laugh. "In your dreams!"

Then Shadow snarled, "Go to hell!"

The two of them swung their swords in an arc as he shot a blast of negative energy at them. Two long lines of blue energy erupted from the blades and crossed each other, forming an X as it flew toward the entity. It sliced neatly through his attack, dispersing it in a cloud of silver and gold glitter. Then it slammed into Discord, cutting through his vaporous body with the precision of a surgeon's scalpel.

A high-pitched keening wail burst from Discord as his misty body sank toward the ground.

Eternal Shadow spun around to where the others were watching and screamed, "Now you guys!"

In less than a second, DJ, Katie, and Alex had sprung up from their positions behind the ledge and had vaulted neatly over the wall. As they fell toward the ground they each unsheathed the gods' swords. When they touched down, they began sprinting over the meters that separated them from their enemy. The symbols on the black leather bracelets on their wrists were flashing wildly as they called on the gods' powers.

'We've just got to get close enough to stick the swords in him,' Katie thought determinedly.

DJ's voice echoed in her head, 'Right! It doesn't matter what part of his body it is as long as the swords are inside of him.'

Alex chuckled at them. 'Personally, I'm hoping to luck out and stick him right in his ass.'

And them he was right before them. DJ and Alex let out a whoop as they each ran up to the vaporous blob and plunged their swords into it. Black essence squirted out, making them both cringe and mutter, "Eww!"

But Katie's steps faltered at the last second as those hideous red eyes turned to her and seemed to burn straight to her soul. Then she froze.

"Come on, Kat! What are you doing?" DJ yelled at her.

That was followed by Alex screaming, "Get your butt in gear! This is no time for you to spaz out!"

She heard them, but was unable to make her body move. She was held transfixed by those eyes, the eyes that had haunted her dreams for so many months. She felt the pressure that was building in her head and knew that Discord was about to try one of his mind attacks on her. She scrambled to try and put up her mental shield, but before she could her vision went completely dark.

'Oh no! Not again!' she whimpered as she fought the instinctual panic that began to rise up in her at being confronted by her old fear once again. 'DJ? Alex?' she cried out pleadingly. They could talk her down from this. She knew they could. But she heard nothing but silence in return. Her ears picked up no sound and her brain was eerily quiet as the sensation of being wrapped from head to toe in heavy wool washed over her.

She choked for breath, feeling like she was being suffocated. And then she heard that horrible voice in her head. 'So predictable! I always knew that you would be the weak spot in the gods' trio. That was why I chose you to be my puppet. I admit that both you and your future self have been more trouble than I anticipated, but I knew that you would come through for me in the end.'

'Shut up!' she thought back at him angrily. 'I have never been your puppet. You may have tried to beat me down, but I came back from your torture stronger than ever. I won't allow you to use me!'

His laughter thundered through her brain like an earthquake. 'I have already used you, you silly girl. Because of your weakness, the Earth will fall to me. The god's were delusional to think that you could ever be one of their champions. You are definitely nothing like your parents. They both stood up against me, filled with all of their noble, righteous anger. You, my dear, are nothing more than a scared little girl that wants to run and hide whenever things turn ugly and let other people take care of you.'

Her anger began to simmer down as she wondered, 'Am I really that weak and cowardly? Is that type of person really what people see when they look at me?'

'Of course it is,' Discord whispered into her mind. 'Why do you think your friends and family have fought so hard today? Because they knew that in the end you would fail.'

Her brain whirled as bits and pieces of conversations she'd had over the last few months flew through her head.

***Flashbacks***

"Hey Jess," she asked as she looked up from her French book and gazed across the coffee table at the younger version of her mother. "Do you think I make a good sailor scout?"

Jess's head jerked up from the notes she was studying with a surprised expression on her face. "What a silly question! You are a wonderful sailor scout, honey. Much better than I was at your age. I don't think I could have handled the situations that you have when I was sixteen. I was too focused on anger and rebellion at the time. But if you don't believe anything else, just know this, I am so proud of you and I am honored to know that you'll be my daughter someday."

---

She shivered in the cool night air as she sat on the apartment balcony. She knew she should get up and go inside to bed, but she had a lot on her mind. Suddenly, a warm weight rested on her shoulders and she looked up to find Andrew smiling at her as he adjusted a jacket around her.

"Thinking hard, or hardly thinking?" he asked quietly.

"Maybe a bit of both," she whispered. "Sometimes things seem so overwhelming, and it makes me wonder if I'm cut out for all of this."

He sat down next to her and pulled her close against his side. He rested his chin on top of her head and murmured, "All we can do in life is try our best. As long as you work hard and put your best foot forward, that's all that matters. But I can't picture you failing at the task that has been set before you. You have my determination. And heaven knows you have your mother's stubbornness. You'll do just fine."

---

"Can't sleep?" Alex's voice whispered across the room they shared as she rolled over yet again.

She shook her head. "Nope. Too much on my mind."

"Thinking about us?" he asked. "You know, this whole Trinity thing?"

"I don't know if I can do it," she sighed. "You and DJ are just so much better at this stuff than I am. I'm afraid I'll end up holding you back."

A pillow sailed across the room to land on her. "You're completely crazy! Did you know that? We are a team. We need each other to even things out. DJ is the brains while I'm the suave, cool, good-looking one. But you, you help keep everything balanced between us. We couldn't do this without you."

---

She lay in DJ's bed with her head resting on his chest, listening to the thump of his heart as it gradually slowed. The covers were twisted all around them, and goose bumps began to pop up on her skin as her body cooled, but she made no move to cover up. She was enjoying being in her prince's arms and feeling his fingers comb through her long hair too much to disturb the moment.

Then she felt his breath ruffle her bangs as he whispered, "I never thought I'd ever be able to love anyone as much as I love you."

She twisted her head around enough so she could look up at his face. She huffed a tiny giggle. "You sound so serious all of a sudden."

He glanced down at her with those soft blue eyes she adored so much. "I am serious. I've been doing a lot of thinking about the way our lives have been going the past several months. And as much as I would love to keep you out of the upcoming fight, I can't help but be happy that you'll be at my side. You are what gives me my strength, Kat. I can't imagine myself without you."

***End Flashbacks***

'Of course the people who love you would tell you those things,' Discord hissed. 'They have protected you all of your life. They wouldn't want to hurt your little feelings by telling you that they didn't believe you were up to the job.'

Katie felt her anger from earlier return full force, but there were other emotions mixed in as well. She indeed had her father's determination and her mother's stubbornness. Her brother had faith in her and her prince loved her. All of her family and friends believed in her. She knew that deep down in her soul. It was time she cast aside all doubts and truly began believing in herself.

Pride in who she was and self-confidence rolled through her, and she felt the mental hold that Discord had over her shatter. Sound returned to her in a deafening roar, and she heard DJ and Alex yelling for her. But she kept her eyes shut for a few moments more, for once reveling in the darkness instead of fearing it.

Then she opened her eyes, a bit surprised to find that tendrils of Discord's misty form had wrapped around her and lifted her several feet off the ground. But all she was focused on was they glowing red eyes only a couple of feet from her face.

"You have no power over me!" she spat. "I will never again allow myself to be dragged into a world of fear by a disgusting creature like you!"

She glanced down quickly; relieved to see that DJ and Alex each still had their swords embedded in the demon. Her own sword arm was bound tightly to her side with Selene's sword barely dangling from her fingertips. But in one fluid move she jerked up, causing the silver blade to cut through enough of the tendrils to free her arm.

"I hope you enjoy eternity in hell!" she screamed as she embedded the sword right between his eyes. Then she took every bit of the moon goddess's energy that was flowing through her and shoved it through the sword and into Discord.

'Do it, guys!' she called out to DJ and Alex frantically.

---

"He's got her! We have to get her free from him!" Alex shouted as he watched tendrils shoot out from Discord and begin wrapping his sister up like a mummy.

"Don't you dare take that sword out of him!" DJ demanded. "We may not get another shot at this."

Alex glared at him in disbelief. "But what good is it when we only have two swords? We have to have Kat in order for this to work. He's got her completely tied up from head to toe and under some kind of mind whammy. For God's sake, I can't even sense her anymore!"

"Just wait," DJ growled at him.

"Don't you even care?" Alex yelled. "I thought you said you loved her!"

DJ shot him a look that stopped his words cold. "I love her more than anyone or anything in this world. You also told me that that she was one of the strongest women that you knew and that you believed in her. Were you lying about that?"

Alex looked down and muttered, "No. Nothing would ever make me stop believing in her."

"Then we have to hold our positions and keep hoping that she can work this out," DJ stated. "She's gotten so strong the past few months. I know that any second she's going to throw off his control and attack. We have to be ready when she does."

"Right," Alex agreed. "She can do this. And boy is she going to be angry when she does."

They watched anxiously as the black wrapped form of Katie was lifted off the ground by the tendrils and brought to hover just in front of Discord's eyes. The entity was quiet, but they had no doubt that plenty was being said inside Katie's head.

Alex shifted restlessly from foot to foot. "Whatever she's going to do, I wish she'd get on with it already."

A few seconds later, the tendrils unwrapped from around her head, and they both felt her presence slam back into them like a hurricane, swirling with too many emotions to even begin to explain.

"Kat!" they both yelled at her.

They saw her eyes open, and then she said something to Discord that neither of them could hear with their ears, but they heard it through their bond.

'You have no power over me! I will never again allow myself to be dragged into a world of fear by a disgusting creature like you!'

Then she glanced down at them with a look of relief in her silver eyes. With a quick jerk of her arm she had cut herself partially free and had buried her sword neatly between Discord's glowing eyes. She began to shine bright silver as she called upon Selene's power.

'Do it, guys!' they heard her scream in their heads. And both of them immediately began funneling Gaia and Apollo's energy from them, through the swords, and into Discord.

The ground rumbled as Discord roared. He began breaking apart as cracks appeared over his form and bright silver, gold, and red-orange light began to spill from him. Unconsciousness began to pull at the three teens, but they all held on to the end, throwing every bit of energy they could muster into their attack.

At last, Discord seemed to fold in on himself, and then exploded outward in a brilliant light show of color. When it finally faded, there was nothing left of the evil entity except a large lake of black sludge…with three bedraggled, unconscious teenage bodies lying in it.

---

"Well, it looks like they did it," Sailor Eclipse whispered as she stood in a small stand of trees not far from the battle site with her two black clad companions.

Phoenix chuckled. "You had me worried there for a second, sis. I thought your past self was about to blow the whole thing."

Eclipse stuck her tongue out at him. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"I knew you could do it," Phantom said lowly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I've always believed in you."

She arched a brow at him. "There are fifteen years in there that I'm not so sure about."

He grinned sheepishly. "Well, you know what I mean. I believed in you all the time that you weren't trying to rip my head off."

"That doesn't speak very well for us," she moaned. "We spent the first sixteen or so years of our lives fighting. Then we got a few months of happiness before spending the next fifteen years trying to kill each other. By next week we could be at it again."

"I'll take my chances." Then he kissed her softly before whispering against her lips, "Besides, that past doesn't matter anymore. It doesn't exist."

"Ugh!" Phoenix groaned. "Can you two please try not to act so lovey-dovey around me? I swear I need eye bleach to erase the horrifying images you guys have given me." Then he jerked his head toward their past selves. "Should we go check on them or anything?"

Eclipse giggled. "I think they have more than enough help heading their way."

Sure enough, their small band of friends were dashing toward the fallen bodies at the same time that several adults were leaping from the wall around the city. Their past selves were in good hands.

"We're still here, so that's a good sign," Phantom murmured. "So what do we do now?"

Eclipse pulled the time key from her skirt pocket. "I guess we head back to our time and to Elysian. Rini and Emma are probably going crazy by now."

"Actually," a humorous voice replied as Sailor Pluto arrived in her usual puff of pink smoke, "I have a little bit different destination in mind for you. How would you guys like to head home and get back to your lives the way it should be?"

Eclipse hugged her now completely flat stomach, missing the feel of the life growing inside of her. "You mean I can go home to my baby?"

Pluto smiled. "You'll just have to wait and see. I don't think you'll be disappointed. So what do you say? Are you ready to rejoin the land of the living?"

The three of them looked at each other, and then nodded. "We're ready," they answered together.

Pluto waved her staff to open a portal. And then the four of them stepped through it and disappeared. After fifteen years of grief, doubt, and uncertainty, they were finally ready to face the future that awaited them.

---

A/N So that is finally the end of Discord. Yay! The Galactic Trinity was successful…in a roundabout way. So there will be a follow up after this to go over the events that happen after this. We still have the Jess/Drew wedding and the Sere/Dare wedding at least after this. And what about the fate of DJ, Katie, and Alex? The battle may be over, but the story is not quite done yet. I'm sorry again for the wait. I hope some of you out there are still reading. If you are, please take a moment to tell me what you thought. Reviews are food for a writer's soul. More updates coming soon! Lots of love and hugs!

~Sere~