I appologize for the extreme delay in updating and hope this is up to typical standards.

Disclaimer: I own no parts of Sailor Moon or anything associated with Sailor Moon.

Chapter 12: Vengeful Enemies

I didn't fully realize the doors to the elevator had closed until the warmth of magic from my transformation had faded away. Tuxedo--no Mamoru was trapped alone on the other side of these doors fighting a mutual enemy and I needed to get to him fast.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

I hurled my discus attack at the slit in between the doors, making the entire elevator quake with the energy I used. I had never used my attack on something like this, but desparate times called for equally desparate measures.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

I screamed frantically while throwing my attack a second time. Where the first attempt had failed, the second succeeded. The doors were blown apart, leaving a gapping hole for me to scramble through.

Once on the other side and clear of the smoke and steaming debris, I saw the standoff. They stood on opposing sides of the massive room. The floor was cluttered with abandoned roses and bits of glass shards.

I gasped as I saw the scout's had indeed found me. Mars made eye contact with me and gave a grim smile and nod at the situation. I guess that was her way of saying they would help. However, they could not help much at the moment because the standoff had evolved into a fullout battle once more. No one seemed to trust their attack accuracy enough to interfere with such a fastpace and hectic battle.

The speed they both demonstrated made me envy their agility. They struck, retreated, and stuck again in the span of a few blinks of my eyes. My head seemed to spin as it tried to keep up with the movements.

I could see the toil the fight was taking on Mamoru though. His limbs seemed to move gradually slower as the moments ticked by. His strikes seemed less powerful and his retreats were becoming more frequent than his counters.

'..No...hang in there'

My thoughts raced as I tried to think of ways to end this before something terrible happened to Mamoru. I couldn't see if Mercury was using her computer to figure out a weakness in the enemy, but I highly doubted she would find one in time if the fight kept going like this much longer.

The fight had paused once again and my eyes could noticeably see the strain Mamoru was going through in order to stand. He swayed a little and favored one side clearly above the other. His face was set as stone though. He seemed entirely focused on the task at hand and looked to give his outward injuries little attention.

"Tired?" the general sneered while wiping at a tiny scratch on his forehead.

"I won't stop until I defeat you, Malachite," Mamoru said with such conviction that the general actually seemed to reconsider something.

Suddenly, I saw a glint moving behind Mamoru. There is not enough light in the room to create a stark glare like that. My mind tried to piece together what I was seeing. Was the floor moving?

'Nani...No? NO!'

"Mamoru lookout!!" I screamed as I made a mad dash towards him.

I knew I was too late before I had even begun to run. The sharp glass crystals that had been scattered almost harmlessly on the floor were now viciously maiming Mamoru. By the time I reached him, his body was nearly motionless in a pile of his blood and crimson rose petals.

"You make this too easy," a different general announced smuggly as he materialized close by.

I removed his mask so that I could see his face more clearly. The intense pain he was in showed over every inch of his face. I tried to use my hands to smooth away wrinkles of hurt, but I knew that it was more for my sake than his. No matter how much I tried to ease his pain, I knew his wounds were mortally inflicted.

"What have you done?" I whispered as I cradled Mamoru's head on my lap in another gesture of trying to give comfort.

"My thoughts exactly," the general that had been fighting Mamoru spoke as he walked towards us," Our queen gave us specific instructions, Zoicite, and you will not go without punishment for this."

"He wounded me and I merely returned the favor."

I stopped listening to everything that was going on around me at that time. I didn't even notice the scout's were still standing adjacent from me and were probably trying to get me away from the generals. All of the world had faded away until there was nothing but Mamoru's eyes looking into mine.

"Mamoru?" I pleaded with him for something that I wasn't even sure could be.

"Odango, you shouldn't be here," He replied as he reached for my hand and grasped it tightly," Silly girl, you could have been hurt trying to help me."

I couldn't speak. Everything that came to mind to say to him, every retort or smart comeback that I normally would have answered him with found itself choked behind my tears.

'Don't leave me?' I whispered a silent plea as I looked down into his eyes.

'I'll always be with you Usako..'

I felt the grip Mamoru had on my hand start to slip away and I heard heart wrenching sobs. It never dawned on me that those sounds were coming from me. I no longer felt a part of myself. I felt as if I was a witness to everything that had happened and not actually there to participate.

"Damnit, Zoicite. If he dies.." someone said standing near me, but his voice seemed so far away.

"Forget him. Look at the crystals!" another voice spoke urgently, but still from a distance.

Okay I know that's a horrible place to stop a chapter after being away for so long, but the next chapter is being revised and will be up later this week.