CHAPTER 5 - Barging into Battle

\Rei's Temple\

"Where are they?" Serena asked impatiently. Rei and Mina exchanged glances. "Relax Serena. They still have another 30 minutes." Rei replied setting down a tray of tea. This was unbelievable. Serena, not only not late to a meeting, but early? To add to that, she was acutally impatiently waiting for the rest of the team to arrive. Rei raised an eyebrow at Mina. Mina returned the raised eyebrow.

It was just so weird to see the roles reversed so Rei just had to ask. "Why the rush Serena?" They met each other's eyes and Rei thought that it was almost as if Serena was glaring at her. "Our world is in danger. The longer we leave this, the more time we're giving them to attack." Serena glanced at the door hoping someone would walk through.

Rei felt her temper start to rise. "We know that Serena, but we're trying to do this carefully so that we don't have any unnecessary casualties!" This time, Serena was clearly glaring at Rei.

"Unnecessary casualties?!" Serena scoffed. "Too late for that! Those monsters have been attacking innocent civilians for the past few months!" Rei returned Serena's glare. "It's always the same Serena. You always have to get what you want!"

Mina slowly backed away from the two girls. Anytime these two argued, no one really wanted to get involved.

"What is that supposed to mean?? Is it so wrong to want a safe and peaceful world?" Serena spat out.

"Of course not! But you just can't go about doing it your way!" Rei snapped.

Serena's glare intensified. "What's so wrong about my way? As long as we save the world, that's all that matters!"

Rei fumed. "What's wrong about your way?? You never think about the consequences, that's what's wrong about your way!!"

Mina laughed nervously. "Alright you two, I can't listen to this anymore. Let's wait for the rest of the girls to get here before we say anything else about this." Serena and Rei just continued to glare at each other. Mina swore she saw daggers coming out of their eyes.

It was awkward for the next several moments. The tension hung so thickly in the air that you could break it in half with a karate chop. Mina glanced at her watch. There was still 15 minutes to go. She wished that the girls would get here already.

Mina needed to break the silence. "Any new visions about the enemy Rei?" Rei sighed. "I sat in front of the fire for a long time yesterday, but I didn't get much. All I got was this uneasy feeling like something dangerous could very well happen."

Upon hearing those words, Mina's stomach became queasy. "Well something dangerous can always happen." Mina replied trying to comfort herself more than anyone else. Rei nodded, but said, "But this time I sense that it's even more probable than ever." Mina dropped her gaze to the floor.

Rei sensed Mina's uneasiness. "Hey." She said, giving Mina a comforting look. "We're the sailor scouts. As long as we work as a team, we can beat anything." Mina nodded triumphantly encouraged by Rei's bravery. "Right. As long as we stick to our plan, nothing can stop us." Mina looked to Serena for her agreement, but found that she was staring down the floor. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

Where are they? What's taking them so long?! Serena nervously fidgeted. The longer they waited, the longer it was until she would see Darien. Her heart wrenched as the memory of Darien being with another girl resurfaced in her mind. The only comfort she received was knowing that he would come to rescue her and she would be close to him once again. She could almost feel his arms wrapped around her and the warmth she felt when he was near. This waiting was tormenting.

Just when Serena thought she was going to go insane, in walked Ami and Lita along with Luna and Artemis.

"Finally!" Serena blurted out. Lita and Ami had the most absolutely bewildered expressions on their faces after spotting and hearing Serena.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day! Serena's not late!" Ami said. Lita laughed and added, "It's a miracle! Could it be?" Mina and Rei laughed along with Lita while Serena sat silently with her arms crossed.

Lita immediately stopped laughing after seeing that Serena was not in the joking mood.Is it because I didn't bring any cupcakes? Lita shrugged. "Hey, there's still 6 minutes left. Rei, can I quickly use your bathroom?"

Rei nodded politely, but Lita heard Serena sigh in exasperation. Whoa,someone's eager. Lita decided not to take it too seriously as she made her way to the bathroom.

Luna and Artemis decided to showcase their amazement with Serena's being on time as well. "Well, well. The princess is actually acting like a princess." Luna laughed softly. "One step at a time, I guess." Artemis said jokingly and laughed along with Luna. Still, Serena sat silently with her arms crossed.

As soon as Lita came back into the room, everyone's expressions turned serious.

"Alright, everyone. I've got some important information." Ami said gathering everyone's attention. "Like Luna mentioned, the enemy's base is located at the northern point of Ohamen mountain. It's a very rugged terrain around that area and dense with trees therefore making it difficult to use any communication devices. Any wireless network just wouldn't work there. Once we reach that area, our communication with the rest of the world is severed. If any of us get lost, there's no way of communicating with each other and so we must stick together." Ami looked around to make sure everyone was still with her before moving on.

"Now, about getting past that barrier. I can't quite tell much more about where or what it is until I can scan it with my mini computer meaning we'll have to wait until we're in the vicinity of the barrier. " Everyone absorbed this information preparing themselves, each of them knowing it could take longer than anticipated.

"Also, we've got to be careful because like Luna said, the barrier is invisible. We can't go wandering aimlessly only to walk into the barrier without even knowing what it is and how to get past it."

Mina could feel the adrenaline start to rise in herself. "Luna mentioned the barrier gave off some sort of energy. Any information on that?" Artemis shook his head. "We don't know much more about it than what was previously mentioned. The energy waves that the barrier released was picked up by our energy analyzer. Like Ami said, we have to get closer to get more information."

"When we get there, we'll figure everything else out." Ami said reassuring everyone that they would succeed.

By this time, everyone's adrenaline level had increased. Heart rates and pulses had increased and energy levels had suddenly surged.

Lita smiled. "What are we waiting for then? Let's get this show on the road." The rest of the scouts nodded and everyone headed out into the courtyard.

"Everyone transform!" Serena commanded as soon as they stepped outside.

"Moon Crystal Power!"

"Mercury Star Power!"

"Mars Star Power!"

"Jupiter Star Power!"

"Venus Star Power!"

In just a matter of moments, all the girls had transformed. Without having to be told, everyone gathered around in a circle, joined hands and closed their eyes focusing on the task at hand. Everyone could feel the immense surge of energy around them as they continued to concentrate on teleporting. Sailor Teleport! everyone yelled in their minds. Luna and Artemis watched as once again as their scouts went off to battle.

Suddenly, everyone felt weightless as if the laws of gravity didn't apply or exist. It was an odd and mysterious feeling, but everyone knew they couldn't just stop and marvel at the sensation of teleportation. All of them had to focus and keep their destination at the center of their thoughts.

Everyone knew that they had arrived when they once again felt the pull of gravity and could feel solid ground beneath their feet. "Owie!" Everyone opened their eyes to see Serena had landed on her butt. "I guess the laws of gravity apply more to some than others." Rei muttered. "I heard that!" Serena snapped as she pushed herself off the ground.

The scouts took a look around them and saw that indeed they were in an area dense with trees. The area was so thickly populated with trees that it was difficult to look into the distance which made it even more difficult to find your way around if you were lost.

"Remember everyone, we stick together!" Ami said glancing up to make sure that everyone had teleported safely. She then quickly took out her mini computer and began tapping on the keys while everyone else waited for her to make a discovery or observe the surrounding area. Rei still couldn't shake that feeling that something was going to go very wrong.

Without warning, the ground began to shake tremendously. It caught everyone off guard as the sound of the rumbling became even louder. "Ami, what's happening??" Lita asked frantically as she ran towards a tree and held onto its trunk. All the other scouts followed Lita's example and held onto nearby trees.

"Ahhh!" Serena yelled as she tripped on a rock and fell to the ground as she attempted to reach a tree. "Get up butter toes!" Rei yelled at Serena. Serena seethed as she quickly got up and was able to grab hold onto a tree.

"Hold on tight everyone!" Ami commanded as she used one arm to hug a tree trunk while the other held onto her mini computer. It felt like someone was dribbling the earth as if it were a basketball and the shaking only continued to became more intense.


Author's Note: Well there you go, an extra long chapter! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. If you didn't, let me know. I'd like to hear your opinions. If you did like it, I'd still love to know was well. The more people that review, the more encouraged I am to continue writing. )