I don't not nor have I ever owned the Sailor Moon characters.

Chapter 5

Seth felt the sudden shift in the air pressure and immediately slammed the Silver Shadow into the bookshelf as a black beam of destructive energy sailed past them and over Ami's head as she dropped to the ground.

"Thanks." the Shadow said helping Seth back up.

"No problem." he said as they leapt in unison at the two women who had fired on them.

"The Library?! Well that's a first!" Usagi said into her cell phone.

"I know, but we'll need you down here quickly. Seth and the Silver Shadow are fighting the enemy right now." Ami replied.

"Did you say Seth?!" Rei gasped.

"Yes." Ami answered.

"What is he doing there?" Rei shouted and Ami had to pull the phone back from her ear.

"He came to get a book. This happened shortly after." Ami answered hoping she had calmed her friend down a bit.

"Fine we're on our way." she replied and Ami caught a glimpse of Rei grabbing Usagi by the ear as she dragged her away. Shouting that if they did not get there in time she would never let Usagi hear the end of it.

They ducked down as Seth and the Shadow sailed by.

"Damn, they're fast!" Seth said landing silently on the floor.

"They always were. My question is how they managed to not only stay alive after our first battle, but remain so young. You see I thought I had killed them more than a thousand years ago." the Shadow said staring at them in curiosity rather than fear or concentration.

"Your mind is wavering away from this fight. That's bad." Seth countered glancing over at the Shadow.

"Not when your a commander, sometimes even on the front lines you have to consider your options and ponder the questions others don't have the time for during battle." the Shadow stated matter-of-factly as if Seth should have known this. "You'll come to understand soon. You are no mere soldier."

"What are you saying?" Seth asked in obvious confusion.

"Your mind would be wrapped in confusion too. You see I did not simply leave them to die, I had turned them into ash as well. The Aku Futago. Evil twins. Kumoda and Sasori." he stated.

"How do you tell them apart. They're identical." Seth glanced at them as he side stepped to avoid a ray of dark energy.

"Well, that's the detail you really have to pay attention to." the Shadow began once they had gotten close enough together for him to be heard by Seth in soft spoken tones. "Their eyes are different. Sasori has green eyes and Kumo has brown eyes."

"You seem to know a lot about them." Seth added.

"As I had said earlier I had fought them before." the Shadow stated as he side stepped another rush of pressure created by a right jab from Sasori.

"To think we would be so fortunate as to get our revenge today." Kumoda grinned.

"We'll just start with the Silver Shadow and take out the weaklings as they appear." Sasori added giving a malicious grin of her own.

"Mercury Aqua Raphosdy" Ami called as a stream of gushing water the width of a human arm rushed forward to crush Sasori, who turned and diverted it with a gentle brush of her hand.

"If you're going to attack me at least put some power behind it. Some speed would be helpful as well." she chuckled at Ami. Seth seized this opportunity to jump forward quickly and get behind Sasori. All Ami caught was a blur of motion that she assumed was Seth before he appeared behind her former target. He slammed his fist into her back with enough impact to tear the carpet as Sasori moved away in time to avoid the crushing blow. She appeared standing behind Seth ready to blast him with a beam of energy, but was forced to jump back as a beam of Silver energy from the Shadow flashed past where she had stood.

"Watch your back closely. I won't always be around to back you up." the Shadow said appearing crouched beside Seth.

"I'll be more careful." Seth nodded as he and the Shadow both disappeared from Ami's vision.

"The child is getting to be more annoying than the other." Sasori spoke softly to her twin as they appeared side by side watching their opponents moves.

"I agree, keep the Silver Shadow distracted. I'll take care of the boy." Kumoda said sternly as she and her twin again disappeared from Ami's sight. She leapt aside as Sasori crashed into the bookshelf she had been standing next to. Ami moved to freeze her in a sheet of water, but she had already disappeared by the time Ami had lined up her arm for the attack.

"I have you now!" she heard Kumoda shout and turned in time to see Seth on his back looking up into her palm at a black sphere of energy.

"Oh shit! Seth!" Minako shouted as she and the rest of the Senshi appeared behind Ami.

"Dammit! We gotta help him!" Makoto said charging forward. Mamoru appeared behind Usagi ready to move when something no one expected happened. The Shadow did an unbelievable thing.

He moved forward quickly before Sasori could recover. He knew he didn't have much time pull it off, but if he wanted Seth's help in the future he had to do this even if it was too early for him. He made it in time and grabbed Kumoda's wrist and placed his palm into the swirling sphere of dark energy and placed his other palm against Seth's chest.

"Stop him!" he heard Usagi shout, but it was too late. Whatever they had in mind they would not make it in time. He began pulling the energy into his body and absorbing the darkness. He winced in pain as the darkness entered his body and attempted to over power his system, but with no energy behind it was over powered by his immune system shortly after entering. He pushed the pure energy through his body and into his other palm and forced the condensed material out through the pores of his palm and through the pores of Seth's chest. He felt Seth give a momentary jump as the energy rushed into his body and his bloodstream began rushing it through his body. Seth's body calmed and began to pull the energy faster from the Shadow's palm. I guess his body wants more. He grinned to himself as he absorbed more energy from Kumoda and cringed as the onrush of energy into his body brought a sharp stabbing pain with it. He poured more into Seth and the pain began to recede. He could feel that Seth's body had grow accustom to the energy and begun a sort of jump start to his system. Almost there, just a little bit left and his body will remember how to reach his own stores of energy. The Shadow shoved Kumoda into the floor as he pulled his arm away from Seth just in time to stop the absorption before Seth could begin to pull from the Shadow's own energy.

"What the hell was that?" Seth gasped as he fell back.

"A glimpse of things to come." the Shadow said softly as he grinned and fell back onto the floor.

"I'll kill you!" Kumoda shouted appearing above the Shadow holding and energy ball in her palm the size of a basketball.

"Like hell you will!" Seth shouted as his body overrode his commands. His arm shoved forward towards Kumoda he opened his palm and felt a tingling sensation forming on the skin of his palm. His mind was still swirling from the moment, all he could do was stare in amazement of the tiny ball of energy that was forming just centimeters in front of his palm. A rush of dizziness poured through his body as the tiny ball turned into a large beam of white energy that pierced through Kumoda's body turning her to ash.

Mamoru stared at Seth in disbelief. Did the Shadow just force his body to use energy? How could that be possible? The only way you could do that would be if the person's body had cellular memory of how to use it. If not the lack of control would tear the body apart. Just what the hell is happening here?

"You bastard!" Sasori shouted as she flung a ball of dark energy at Seth who turned to face it a slammed a ball of solid white energy into it. Just what the hell is going on here. Everyone has energy sure, but white energy should only belong to members of the royal families of the planets and the moon. How can Seth fire such holy energy. Just who is he really?

"This isn't over yet!" Sasori screamed and disappeared.

"She's right." the Shadow said standing up and offering his hand to Seth. "This is just the beginning, but now we have a fighting chance." he said calmly yet it looked like he was staring off into a future that no one could see.

"What... wh-what the hell did you do to me?" Seth asked standing up and looking suspiciously at the Shadow who was busy brushing off his pant legs.

"I pulled her attack into myself and fed your body the pure energy while my system dealt with the negative aspect of her attack." the Shadow explained standing back up to face Seth, who was staring at his hand in astonishment. "Kind of a rush, huh?" the Shadow grinned.

"I didn't think..." Seth trailed off.

"That you could use energy?" the Shadow chuckled placing a hand on Seth's shoulder as the Senshi transformed back into their normal attire and stood around them. "I gave your body a bit of a jump start, but the memory of how to use energy was always there. That's why your still alive and why your body reacted without your command. Though I'm hoping that was still your intention." the shadow added as his grin grew wider and he stepped in closer toward Seth. "Just make sure to clean things up here. Take care of yourself and your sister." he whispered and disappeared.

"Sister?" Seth asked in confusion.

"So how is he?" Usagi asked.

"He's a little shaken, but he definitely likes it." Rei grinned at her friend. They were back at the temple they had all headed there after they had taken care of the draining affect from a few books and made sure that the victims had been looked after. The sudden rush of energy through Seth's body just after the Silver Shadow had left had overloaded his system and knocked him unconscious. "He's obsessed though, he's been training like hell since he woke up. Ami explained the elemental details of her technique to him and since then he's been working on calling different elements." Rei sighed.

"Well I wish him luck on that elements are pretty specific to where you came from originally." Usagi chuckled.

"Yeah that's what I thought too." Rei nodded. "But he's already summoned water, ice, and fire." she grinned in pride. He's the best student I've had so far. None of the other girls can use fire.

"Next thing you know he'll be trying to fly." Usagi chuckled.

"Yeah right, I've only been working on levitating for 30 minutes baka." Seth said coming into the room with Rei and Usagi wiping sweat off his face with a towel before bending down and kissing Rei gently on the cheek. "I just managed to hover a few centimeters for about a minute, but that wore my out. I need to work on getting used to this or else I'm gonna have only 30 seconds of power in a real fight." he sighed and sat down.

"You think you need to train more?" Usagi said stunned.

"Of course, not all of us can get by with being mediocre." he grinned at her and Rei chuckled.

"But you've been at it for six hours now!" Usagi moaned.

"Right, and all I've done is learn the basics." he shrugged as if it was no big deal. Rei couldn't hold back any longer as she burst out laughing.

"Seth, I don't know what impression you've been under, but mastering three elements isn't normal even by our standards. I can only manipulate fire, Ami can only manipulate water and ice, sometimes fog, Makoto can only manipulate lightening and thunder, and Minako and Usagi can only manipulate pure energy." she explained.

"Your kidding. So I'm an even bigger freak?!" he asked stunned.

"Let's just say you're special and leave it at that." she grinned at him and kissed him on the forehead.

"Well Usagi you better head home and get ready for you date with Mamoru tonight." Seth called laying down on the hard refreshingly cool wooden floor.

"Oh right!" Usagi said getting up. "See you guys later." she called back as she ran out.

"Speaking of dates it's almost time for ours." Rei said softly.

"I know why do you think I was getting rid of her." Seth grinned mischievously. "Do you mind if I use your shower I brought an extra change of clothes this morning, but I didn't think I would be this sweaty." he said looking down at his clothes which were covered in a layer of sweat.

"It should be fine." she smiled at him. "So where did you want to go tonight?"

"I thought maybe you wouldn't mind seeing a movie and then going to get something to eat afterwards." he answered.

"Your just avoiding Karaoke at all costs aren't you?" she chuckled.

"Pretty much, is there something you wanted to see?" he asked avoiding the subject from advancing further.

"We'll see when we get there. For now though I think we'll get a shower." she said standing up as Seth raised his eyebrows.

"We? Are you joining me or something?" he chuckled.

"You'd like that wouldn't you, but no I need one before I go on a date period." she said flicking him in the forehead. "Pervert." she called at him affectionately.

"I'm a guy, it comes with the genetic code. I guess I could study while I wait on you to get ready anyway." he said standing up.

"You're gonna train more?!" she asked astonished.

"No, I'm worn out. I meant studying for midterms. They'll be here in a month." he explained as they walked out into the cool evening air.

"Oh yeah, with all that's happened I had almost forgot about school." she sighed as the real world came crashing down around her.

"That reminds me. Are you planning to go to college after you graduate?" Seth asked as they made their way through a row of cherry blossoms towards the living quarters of the temple.

"I'm thinking about it." she answered looking up at the crescent moon. "What are you studying tonight?" she asked looking back at Seth.

"Japanese history, we have weekly quizzes and a big pretest before the midterms so I need to get ready and make sure I'm ahead of the class." he answered looking out over the lights of Tokyo before turning back to look at her.

"Your last mission did not yield quite the results we had planned, and that boy learned to control his energy." the prince said reviewing the recent loss at the library. "Also it would seem we collected the lowest amount of energy to date."

"A case of good timing on our enemies behalf. The boy showed up mere minutes after I had set the plan into motion." Akalyte explained.

"Are you sure it was mere coincidence? Perhaps he knew something was wrong." the Prince offered.

"No, judging by his reaction and his inability to control his energy more effectively during the fight it seems he just stumbled onto the scene." Akalyte countered. The prince simply sat in his throne calmly observing his brother. Truthfully Akalyte would have preferred his brother to be upset, but he just sat there silently calculating. A beeping tone began to ring out through the chamber from the armrest display on the prince's chair. He pressed the dais and a voice came through the speakers surrounding the walls of the chamber.

"Your highness." came a soft male voice that closely resembled Akalyte's and the prince's.

"Ah, Garnité. No need to use formality here it's just family in the throne right now. Have you finished your discussion with the historians already?" the prince asked as a small smile spread across his face. The same smile had managed to find it's way onto Akalyte's face as well. Somehow he can always find a way to brighten up everyone's mood.

"I did indeed. It seems some of our suspicions were correct. The moon surrounding the third planet was indeed the host of the Moon Kingdom of ancient legends. The kingdom fell shortly after the defeat of the original Dark Army. The remaining inhabitants it is said were sent down to the planet below to live out new lives." Garnité explained.

"I see so these are the descendants of Moon Kingdom?" the prince asked.

"Perhaps. The Silver Crystal that was in the possession of the Queen of the kingdom was said to be unbelievably powerful. It is not much of a stretch to say that these may not be descendants at all. The may in fact be the very people themselves. It was said that the silver crystal could prolong life for well over a thousand years." Garnité continued.

"So we may be facing the true Silver Shadow and not some 18th generation child?" Akalyte asked out to his brother.

"It's very possible. This may in fact be the same man that sent the Dark Army to the area of space we have been occupying for over a millennium now." Garnité replied in a tone that they both new to be his way of analyzing every aspect of the situation.

"This would explain quite a few things. First, it seems we've been taking our enemy far too lightly. Sasori also told me that the Silver Shadow was confused upon seeing them. It seems as though he had known them from before. She believes that he is the same man she and her late sister fought with over a millennium ago." Akalyte contributed.

"At the very least this seems like the more likely reason and if this is indeed true we can no longer afford to play this game so recklessly. We must be cautious and assume the enemy knows us just as well as the Aquians did." the prince spoke towards Akalyte.

"Then by your leave I will oversee this next operation myself." Akalyte responded.

"Is that wise? Should we really risk the life of a ship commander?" Garnité replied through the speaker.

"It seems nothing less will be able to complete our mission accordingly." Akalyte answered waving away his brother's obvious concern. "Don't worry I will be setting up two alternate distraction points to make sure they are thrown off from the original point. If they cannot be taken care of then at least they can be stalled long enough to gather enough energy for us to make effective repairs and limp out of the system to somewhere more suitable. I will not risk myself lightly Garnité." Akalyte chuckled at his brother's concern.

"Very well, but take care." the prince warned .

"How touching your concern is." Akalyte grinned bowed and then disappeared.

"Such a troublesome brother." Garnité said through the speakers and the prince could almost see the grin on his brother's face.

"How is Akitaré fairing?" the prince asked in concern.

"I've been keeping him busy with training. Shall I send him over soon?" Garnité replied.

"That would be fine."

"I'll send him over after he's finished with his current session. He should be nearly finished." Garnité said and then disconnected as Krystyl walked in to give her report.

"What is it with you and karaoke anyway? You're an otaku, but you don't like karaoke?" Rei asked as they sat in the café they had met in just a few weeks back.

"It just seems kind of cliché." Seth answered.

"And anime and manga don't?" she responded sarcastically.

"I've been an otaku for years. It's what got me interested in Japan and Japanese to begin with." he shrugged. "What's the problem with me not liking karaoke anyway? I'm sure there are people in Japan that don't do it either."

"Yeah, but generally they're not otaku either." she explained. "Is it because you think you can't sing?" she teased him.

"I just don't like singing in front of a bunch of people." he explained.

"I see, so it's stage fright." she grinned.

"No, because I've been in plenty of plays. I just don't really like it, and I can't explain why." he answered.

"Fine, but one of these days I'm gonna get you to do it for me." she smiled.

"We'll see." he grinned back.

"Maybe if I ask you really sweetly." Rei grinned and leaned in to kiss hip softly on the lips.

"That kind of encouragement might work." he grinned and kissed her back.

"It's time we finished what we came here to do. Sasori!" Akalyte called out and she appeared before him. The were standing in the middle of a park. It was around noon and the wind was blowing softly as the clouds rolled by over head occasionally blocking out the sun from the sky.

"Yes commander." she said stepping up to his side so they could speak softly.

"I'll be sending you here." he said pointing to a spot on a small holographic map in his palm. "Once there I want you to begin draining energy from the surrounding area. You are a distraction when the enemy comes I want you to keep them busy. Kill them if you must, but be careful. If it looks as though you might be in danger I want you to fall back here. This will be the second distraction point and you will not be alone. My second team will be here, inform them of the situation and help out as best as you can and I will join you soon. We need at least an hour to gather enough energy to limp out of this system. We won't be at full capacity, but we will be stable enough to affect better repairs before we return home." he briefed her.

"I understand." she growled.

"Sasori! I understand you lost your sister, but do not let your mind focus on revenge. If your feelings get in the way they can distract you and I would like to be able to bring everyone back. And I'm sure your sister would be grateful that you survived to carry on her memory." Akalyte warned her.

"I will do my best." she sighed heavily.

"See that you do." Akalyte nodded as she disappeared. He gave a heavy sigh knowing that his warning didn't matter to her and wondered if he were in the same position could he really do the same?

Usagi was sitting in the classroom on Sunday afternoon trying her best to pass the make up test she was taking when Akalyte gave his signal to begin. I was her second one this month. She was proud she had so few of them this month studying with Seth had really paid off. She looked up and rubbed her eyes in an effort to push the grogginess aside. She hated being in school on Sundays, it was her one chance to sleep in and the training Seth had been giving had gotten harder now that he could use energy. Her body was still kinda sore from yesterday's session. She looked around the classroom and at first it seemed everything was fine until she realized that everyone had there heads down sleeping not writing down test answers. Well, if everyone else is going to sleep no reason I shouldn't to. She smiled inwardly. Then she realized even the teacher was passed out at his desk, and if Usagi knew one thing it was that this teacher never slept during a test. She flipped open her phone and dialed Ami. Her face appeared on the screen as the communications device Luna had installed took affect.

"Hey Ami. We've got trouble at the school and it's not the extracurricular type." Usagi reported.

"Did she actually use the word extracurricular?" she heard Rei reply from off the screen in surprise before appearing on the screen as well. Usagi stuck her tongue out at Rei's image.

"I've got more bad news." Makoto said showing up on the screen as well. "I'm at the park and we've got the same problem here. There are people passed out everywhere." she explained.

"Two attacks at once? I guess they're done getting beat too soon?" Usagi chuckled. "Okay Ami you join me. Rei go help out Makoto."

"I'll join them at the park too. I'm close by." Minako added appearing on the screen as well.

"Why so many people? Don't I deserve a little protection?" Usagi protested.

"More than the average amount." Makoto teased.

"Don't you have Mamoru for that?!" Rei snapped at Usagi and she shut up.

"I guess it's time to start." Makoto said as Minako caught up with her.

"I'll help out Usagi's team." Seth said coming up from behind them.

"What the hell?!" Makoto jumped startled by him. "You can't fight. Rei would kill us, besides you're not used to using energy yet." Makoto protested.

"Look eventually they're gonna target me anyway and I'm faster then you guys right now. Plus it looks like you guys are gonna need all the help you can get." Seth said looking up to see the sky disappearing behind a thick set of dark clouds that had formed overhead. "Even I know this is not normal for you guys."

"I just don't think a normal person should get dragged into this fight." Makoto continued.

"You still think I'm normal? I'm flattered." he chuckled as Minako grinned. "Look, something feels... wrong ok? And I'm not gonna sit around and do nothing."

"All right, just be careful." Minako caved in knowing she wasn't going to be able to stop him.

"I will, take care of yourselves. I'll be back soon." he winked and moved so fast it seemed as if he had disappeared.

"Whoa!"

"Holy shit! I had no idea he could move so fast. He's coming pretty far for such a short time." Makoto gasped.

"Alright come out I know your here. I can smell you and it stinks!" Usagi shouted from the front of the school grounds.

"How dare you, you insolent little bitch!" Sasori shouted from the roof of the school and hurled a set of energy balls at Usagi as she leapt off. Usagi jumped back barely avoiding the blast. "your quicker then I thought, perhaps you could prove to be mild entertainment until the boy arrives." Sasori smiled wickedly.

"Sailor Moon!" Ami called running up dressed in her eternal Sailor Mercury uniform. "Sorry I'm late." she apologized.

"Just as long as you're here Mercury." Usagi replied with a grin as she leapt back to avoid another energy attack from Sasori.

"So now there's two of you. Good I'd hate for this to end too quickly." Sasori shrugged as she hurled another energy ball at them. Just before they could avoid it Seth appeared in the way taking the attack full on in the chest. He flipped back from the force of the explosion and landed on his feet a yard back.

"No wonder you were part of the first group, that was weak. In fact it kinda tickles." he said brushing off his shirt and charged forward at her.

"Well we got everyone outside of the park, but I still didn't see the enemy." Makoto said looking around the area as Rei approached.

"They're behind you, observing you from the trees." came a voice from behind them. They turned to see the Silver Shadow standing behind them looking directly at the trees. Some slight movement was all Makoto caught before he moved his head to follow it.

"Why are they just observing us?" Rei asked.

"I don't know, but this is definitely a set up." he replied. "Where are the others?" he asked.

"They're at the school. Something is happening there too. Sailor Moon and Mercury are already there. Endymion is on his way and Seth left to help out." Minako answered hoping to find out his intentions.

"I see, well they should be fine for now. Focus on the movements for now that should help if your eyes can catch them then your body will find a way to keep up on it's own." he offered.

"How are we supposed to do that? I can't even see anything but the after effects of the trees moving." Rei replied in exasperation.

"Focus some of your energy towards your eyes that should help you out." he answered. They did so and sure enough they began to catch subtle movements around them. Nothing really at first just a flicker of clothing here a blur of color there, but it was a good start.

"Dammit!" they heard the Shadow curse. "I'll lend you a hand shortly a have to go help them out right now. Will you be fine here for now?"

"We'll do our best." Makoto replied.

"I'm counting on you Sailor Jupiter." he nodded and disappeared. Rei could swear she heard him mumbling something about how that boy would be the death of him before he vanished.

She leapt up letting Seth slide by under her feet. She came down quickly only to flip back in the air to avoid being swept off her feet. She landed silently, lifted her hand, and fired an energy ball at Seth. He leapt back and raised both arms to cover his face from the blast.

"Not to bad Tarion." she smiled as dust cleared to reveal that Seth was perfectly fine.

"Tarion?" Both Seth and Usagi asked in confused unison.

"Stupid woman, they don't know who that is. Only we do. In fact he doesn't remember a damned thing." the Silver Shadow smiled from a tree branch. He hopped down next to Seth and stood ready to join the fight.

"You again huh?" Seth called over his shoulder.

"As always I have to protect you two above all else." the Shadow nodded towards Usagi.

"I know about her, but just what is so damn important about me?" Seth asked.

"You'll know soon enough, but it's not up to me to tell you. Besides for right now she's got the wrong person. I'm Tarion." the Shadow said softly so that Seth could not hear him.

"Well I can definitely sense them, but I can't see them very well." Makoto called to the others.

"I can sorta see them." Rei called.

"They'll strike soon if that's their plan." the Silver Shadow called appearing behind them again.

"So do you have some sort of plan this time?" Minako asked him.

"I guess we should make the first move, if they're not going to." he answered.

"So are you actually going to stay and fight this time. We were told to leave the girls alone, but if you showed up we were to eliminate you for all you done to our fallen comrades." a young man said stepping out from behind one of the trees.

"Are you in charge of this operation or are you standing in until the real mastermind shows himself?" the Shadow called out to the new man.

"A bit of both. I am Akalyte and I'm in charge of this operation until I get other orders." Akalyte stated for the benefit of the others.

"Then I should take you out first." the Shadow said leaping forward at him. Akalyte didn't even move. The Shadow swung his fist through the holo-image of Akalyte and landed a few feet behind it.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to do that. However the men I have here should be enough to occupy you time until I have things set up to come after you myself." the image of Akalyte stated calmly as two men of lean cut and build dropped from the tree branches they had been occupying. "Get rid of him if you can if the girls interfere take them out too." the image spoke and vanished as the soldiers hurled energy balls at the Silver Shadow. He side stepped the balls as they flew past him towards the girls.

"Get out of the way!" he shouted as they leapt aside to avoid the blast that turned the ground they had been standing on into a charred crater and a cloud of dirt.

"You may have caught her sister by surprise, but she's being more cautious. It looks like we're gonna have to double team her." the Shadow said softly enough for Seth to hear him.

"So who's going to protect the girls over there?" Seth asked.

"I'm surprised you can't feel it. Endymion is here watching from the shadows, he should be able to protect them while we go after her." he replied as Seth caught a glimpse of Mamoru standing on a tree branch watching everything from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, I'm surprised I didn't notice either." Seth mumbled to himself as they both charged forward.

"They're pretty fast, but they'll soon wear down. They can't keep up this pace for too long." the Shadow said to the girls as they ran and jumped around avoiding attacks. Minako ducked a jab only to be caught in the stomach by a stray energy ball that sent her flying through the air.

"How soon is soon?" Rei asked. "We can't keep this up for too long ourselves."

"They're just too used to being this fast!" Makoto shouted as she ducked and dodged enemies and energy attacks alike.

"At this rate we won't last to long." Rei said as she turned to see the shadow grab one of the soldiers by the wrist and flip him onto his back, but before he could finish him off the soldier disappeared.

"There's no end to this!" Makoto shouted dodging another energy ball as the Shadow appeared behind her and flung her to the side taking a beam to the back. He picked himself up and to to Minako who was busy fighting of a the soldier who had been fighting Makoto mere seconds ago. He leapt forward shoved Minako aside as slammed an energy ball into the soldier who flew backwards and landed on his feet. He turned to Minako with a wicked grin.

"You finally gave me a good opening." the shadow smiled and slammed an energy ball into her chest sending her flying into the trunk of a tree with a loud crack that could only have been the sound of her spine snapping. Rei couldn't believe what she had seen, but before she could react the Shadow was over her slamming another energy ball into her stomach sending her flying. She landed on her back and looked up to see that the sky had grown even darker in the last few moments. Anger boiled up inside her. The Silver Shadow would pay.

"Brother what is this. Why was I not informed that there were going to be extra people assigned to this mission?" Akalyte spoke to a small hologram of his brother.

"It was a last minute decision by the Foreseer and Krystyl." his brother answered calmly. "I knew this would upset you."

"I could have handled the girls on my own." Akalyte protested. "There should have been no need to send these mercenaries in."

"It was decided that your safety was more important, and I agreed." the prince replied a bit sternly this time. "The Foreseer simply didn't want to see our efforts go to waste this time."

"I don't trust the Foreseer or his soldiers. They are far too ruthless." Akalyte protested.

"I don't disagree, but they will get the job done. For now just let it be." the prince replied trying to calm his brother down a little.

"Did we really need to plant a fake Silver Shadow as well. The girls aren't that strong."

"Not now they aren't, but they have the potential to become as strong as the boy. The Foreseer also says he should be eliminated as soon as possible or it will become trouble for us later."

"How, I though we were leaving this system as soon as we got the energy we needed." Akalyte continued.

"The Foreseer says that there is a strong possibility that they might follow us now that they know we are back." the prince explained.

"Those mercenaries will be the end of us just you wait, as will the Foreseer." Akalyte sighed and turned off the hologram. He felt a pang of regret for the girls it was likely they would not survive without a miracle.

Sorry for how long it took, I had to find the time and that took a while.