A/N: . . . *grr!* FIGHTING SPIRIT! Okay! I've been dreaming about this, so I may as well get my fingers in moving to finish- or at least move this puppy to a rollin' tailwag! ^^ Thanks for sticking with me this long, I've gotta refresh my memory by reading my own fic again. ^^
DISCLAIMER: Sailor Moon is awesomely not mine but belongs to Naoko Takeuchi. Hmm, after all-a these 'disclaimers', I think I can type it up in three seconds, two minimum. XD Good practice. *grin*
Are We FINALLY Ready?: Doubt It
Makoto Kino stared up suspiciously at the big mansion in front of her.
A cold marble white with flawless hints of paint centered around the shadows for glowing effects, its overbearing size was something they would have to think about once they infiltrated it. Racking her brain and thinking back to the events at the hospital, Makoto wasn't even sure if the thing was in its real form.
Apparently Ami's aunt could alter the range of planes and actual space coverage, and with her niece's mom in her clutches, the cold woman would stop at nothing to wound or kill any who stepped in her domain.
Surveying the whole waterfront around the house and the not-so-subtle growth of bushes encasing the whole yard and garden, Makoto wondered at the whole planning of where and what was to be used. Taking hint at the short ledges, the water surrounding the place like a moat would be a great escape route, but Rei could evaporate the thing with a flick of her wrist.
Brambles and bushes would hide a person, and multiple youma, for only so long. Sensing something missing, Makoto looked up at the sky. Thick clouds covered the moon, parting only to let a small shining slit through, and she glanced over at their Princess.
Usagi.
. . .
Eh?
WHERE WAS SHE?
". . . Hey guys? Just a small heads-up here, but. . . WHERE THE HECK IS USAGI-CHAN?"
Makoto stared back in disbelief at her fellow senshi and all but growled. Thunder crackled overhead and lightning flickered a discreet warning as she let her irritation bristle. Come to think of it, after all of them had escaped from the hospital, their Princess had snuck off, claiming to meet them over at Ami's after recruiting the Outers.
Wait. . .
"Aww, c'mon, Thunder! DON'T tell me you forgot Usagi-chan doesn't know her way out of a bakery if it was empty and the door was a centimeter away! She's never been here at Ami-chan's before, I'll bet my good miko robes on that."
Makoto groaned, coloring as she slammed the upper portion of her fist to her forehead. Of course. That's why the hyper odango-buns wasn't here. Looking back up at the sky, she grimly smiled.
The Outers.
Something had been brewing within the outer planets, she could feel it.
That distant scent of secrets kept from her, hidden, was something she hadn't sensed in a long time, not among her close friends or anything but. Makoto closed her eyes, exhaling. No need to be all riled up at a time like this.
There was something more at stake, something much more. . .
Now was not the time to attack.
"*growl* We really should go over to Setsuna-chan's to check if she's there. That's my best hunch, since she's pretty much clueless as to where we are right now and is asking Setsuna-chan that."
Makoto saw her fellow senshi's eyes flash as the thunder rumbled overhead.
Even away, their Princess had the power to summon them.
"Sets-chaaaaaan, I don'-no where they are, and- and, *sniffle* I forgot to ask the-e-e-em!"
Setsuna Meioh secretly grinned to herself as she heard the thunder roar outside and the instinctive shriek of her Princess outside the Outer's mansion. Opening the door before the blonde could knock, the Time Guardian was pleasantly surprised when Usagi glomped her, a drumroll of thunder announcing lightning's arrival outside.
Hesitantly placing a comforting arm at Usagi's back, Setsuna gently reached around and closed the large oak door, making sure her home was in well-protected stability before drawing Usagi away from her and pulling her gently to the living room.
The dark-haired woman was amused at the wide-eyed investigation Usagi tried doing, acting her best to be casual as she looked underneath the placemats under the vase of roses and up high in the rafters with practically every step the blue-eyed beauty took.
"Ah, so Koneko-chan's here, eh, Setsuna?"
"Ara, Usagi-chan, good evening. I'm glad you made it here in time, it's about to rain."
"Waaaaaaah, Haruka-chan, Michiru-chan, I got loooooost! But- But since I didn't know where to go in the first place, then that means I wasn't lost, right?"
Setsuna took the time of Usagi's floundering and gave in to the urge to plop her head atop her Princess and wrap her arms around those energeticly soft shoulders. Peering between the blonde's odango-buns, Setsuna grinned at the knowing winks Haruka and Michiru shot at her and only grinned harder as Usagi instantly stopped, her back frigidly still.
When all was quiet except for the heavy breathing of a wiggling Usagi and the hard patter of rain atop their roof, Setsuna spoke, drawing Usagi back and feeling her favorite chair with the back of her calfs. Sitting down, the Time Guardian drew her Princess down into her lap and sighed contentedly at the blessed warmth.
"Now. I've got your attention, thankfully, and I have some information to share with you. I would very much appreciate it if you'd get the cookies I left by the door, Haruka?"
At the questioning but rabid gaze Haruka sent her way, Setsuna just smiled. Because there were two favors done, and all was in her favor. Haruka got up from her comfortable perch on the sofa's arm beside Michiru and practically ran to the hall to get her cookies.
With a giggle, Michiru pointed delicately at Setsuna, then over at a peeping Haruka's amazed look around the corner. Green eyes were wide in shock and disbelief.
Yes, Haruka Teno'h was the fastest racer around, she was the wind, she was the speed of light herself and close to just practically teleporting, she was so wickedly fast. But there was one thing that could beat her.
And that was Usagi Tsukino after cookies.
The fact that Usagi hadn't even moved from her awkward perch on top of Setsuna's lap and was now only relaxing into the gentle embrace was something of a wordly miracle. Time Guardian just sighed and pulled a little, and her Princess was there in her arms, content and protected.
"Usagi-chan!"
Until four choruses of surprised "Usagi-chan's" were sounded and Usagi became the rigid steel post once again in Setsuna's lap, her face a pure red tomato's, steam coming out of her ears as the odango-bunned blonde clutched at her lap desperately.
All the Inner Senshi appeared in the hall wearing looks just as incredulous as Haruka's, once they saw the racer chomping addictively into a cookie and their Princess not moving an inch to beg a crumb off the delicious goodie.
The world was coming to an end.
"I am honestly stating the world is going to end this morning, at 12:00! Priestess or not, Usagi-chan has got my vote for that!"
"Waaaah, no, Rei! But we just- *blush* We just. Yeah. Anyway. .! Usagi-chan! Take the cookie, girl, the world is NOT going to end on you not begging off an oversized bite! Setsuna-chan, let 'er go and she'll eat the cookie and the world won't- Whoa. Wait a MINUTE!"
Setsuna stared over innocently at Minako and Rei, and their mirrored expressions of surprised understanding. Grinning a bit, she shook her head slightly and leaned forwards a bit to sniff at Usagi's precious scent before letting her Princess go to 'nibble at the cookie that would cause world's ending'.
Heh.
These girls were so cute.
And as for Makoto and Ami, the two adorable kids that they were. . .
"NOW that I've got your attention, here's what you need to know to infiltrate the Mizuno household and get back Ami-chan's aunt. Hota-chan!"
With a silent glide to her, Hotaru Tomoe appeared behind her papa with a grin and walked into the carpeted living room, holding a rolled-up paper and ChibiUsa's hand. The pink-haired girl behind the Senshi of Death bounced happily with every step and squeezed her taller best friend.
"We got there before you but had to keep quiet, 'cuz we mapped out the whole thing and found out where Ami-chan's aunt here had her mom and Miki held captive-"
"WHAT!"
Makoto appeared beside the younger senshi in a flash of lightning, her green eyes blazing dark in worry and anger. The Senshi of Lightning seemed to be an actual bolt of lightning and roar of thunder right then and there, and just as scary and dangerous.
Hotaru calmly stepped in front of ChibiUsa and took on a firm stance, her dark eyes deadly but practical in her protecting her best friend. Makoto grit her teeth and lowered her head, her hand tightening into a fist and her breathing heavy.
"Fine. Go on, I'm sorry for the outburst. I'm not the only one who has a person at stake. The faster we hear this, the faster we can save them."
Hotaru nodded and gently put a comforting hand on Makoto's fist. With a whoosh of breath the ponytailed-brunnete let her hand go limp and nodded. Now walking to the well-smoothed tea table in the center of the living room, Hotaru and ChibiUsa laid out the map and pointed things out.
After a moment, Diana bounded in, in her mouth a small white grocery bag full of. . . Ryohizu's nibblets. While ChibiUsa accepted the bag and handed a small pouch to each of the senshi, explaining it was to use it for a self-defense mechanism against Ami's full-youma aunt, Hotaru went on.
"Okay. Here, this is where all of you will go in, at Sherona-chan's bedroom door at the very bottom near the pool. Even though there's a lot of water covering Sherona-chan's bedroom window, you can all get in with a quick spell of hers."
"She helped get us in that way, too, and she'll be out for the next hours during the infiltration to sidetrack most of the riff-raff youma patrolling around. They're pretty dumb, anyway, all muscle-heavy brutes that can be won over with a small patting on the head! Me and Taru-chan, we tried!"
". . . ChibiUsa, you're my daughter, please don't do that if you can help it. I'm only going to let you do it once more, so you can teach me and we can bonk 'em after!"
Usagi's serious face broke the tension mounting in the room at the mention of all ChibiUsa and Hotaru had gone through, along with the help of Sherona, and everyone felt relieved at the strained laugh they gave.
"Don't worry, Usagi-chan, I'll look after ChibiUsa."
Setsuna watched as her daughter looked into her Princess' eyes and drew a silent pact with the future queen, ensuring her side by ChibiUsa in the future as her protector and best friend. With a small smile, the dark-haired Time Guardian moved to the front of the table and took up the plan.
"After all of you get into Sherona-chan's room after, you will have to go in pairs to split off in the three main hallways. I'm going to have to insist on Usagi and Chibi-chan sticking together with Hota-chan so they'll have more directions and extra force on their side. With these side hallways here, Haruka, Michiru, and I can defend the openings and make sure all of you don't have to watch your back. Is this okay so far?"
Watching the Inners nod and the younger children, Setsuna smiled. They could pull this off without a hitch, crossing out any enemies and going forward to face the real opponents. Now if only they were sure about one thing. . .
Moving back to the map, Setsuna had all of them crowd around and look at where she was pointing.
"Here there's multiple traps set. That's the reason the three main corriders underneath the outer eye's knowledge, except for a mighty imaginative mansion designer, meet up. Hota-chan and ChibiUsa had Sherona test out a few of these traps, but I'm sure Ami's aunt had them updated and possibly even replaced with new ones. So, be careful."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, HOLD IT!"
Everyone looked up to see Sailor V striking a pose of an 'X' over her face, much like Ami's attack of bubbles. Minako whipped off her sparkly glasses and leaned a hand on her hip, pointing up an index finger with her other.
"How do we know the good guys from the bad? I mean, c'mon, am I the ONLY one who doesn't know whether I should whack this guy or that?"
Immediately Ami got out her computer and her senshi communicator given to her earlier in the day. Gesturing for all the senshi to take theirs out, the Senshi of Ice ran her nimble fingers over the keyboard and the communicators glowed different colors, all belonging to their personal elements.
Drawing back, Ami smiled, pleased.
"There. Now, Minako-chan, you can FEEL which youma to whack and not, instead of wondering if you're hurting our side or not. These new communicators are personal to all of us, so I just customized them to send you a small 'sizzle' feeling of your element if you're close to friends. If all you get is nada, then, give 'em a swing!"
Minako looked down at her communicator and grinned over at an equally-grinning Ami. Blonde sidled over to a flushing miko and ran her hand over Rei's arm. When the two of their communicators connected at the wrist, both shivered, flushing hot as they looked at each other in wonder.
". . . You feel so good, Rei."
"I can't believe you're this hot."
Everyone was a bit hot after that small incident. Makoto quickly jumped in between the two and jerked their hands apart, flushing. When her own communicator sent a small thrill of lightning up her arm, she sighed.
"Well, I guess it's not this bad, there's not much of a shock, really- YELP! HEY!"
Makoto flailed around and glared at the grinning kit of a furball named Minako. As Rei flickered into her vision and bumped her playfully back into the ice senshi, Makoto yelped again.
Lightning coursed through her whole body and centered in on her chest and somehow spirited through her soul to flow outwards and down her arm to meet with that simple but meaningful touch of Ami Mizuno's shockingly erotic ice. Makoto felt as if she was being fried alive, Ami was so close to her, she was feeling everything her partner was in that moment-
"Mako-chan!"
And then Ami had yanked herself away, her blue eyes turning a frosty ice blue as she eyed Makoto like the brunette was a piece of delicious meat after a whole week of not eating. Makoto jerked under that look, felt herself blushing like crazy. Just what kind of innocent communicator did that?
The senshi of lightning finally made up her mind.
"A-Ami. . ."
Oh Kami-sama, her voice was all hoarse and husked out, like she'd been thinking downright naughty things when she wasn't supposed to, but she WAS, and Makoto felt like whining in all her self-dependent glorified life.
Ami was so cute.
But this depended on the safety of both their families, so she had to get this straight. Glancing guiltily at the Outers and Usagi with ChibiUsa and Diana, Makoto begged off a few private minutes and pulled her fellow senshi over to the side.
"Ami, I'm sorry, I would love to partner with you through the corridor, but since Setsuna-chan's absolutely POSITIVE those corridors aren't too dangerous, compared to the main connected ones, I-"
Makoto blinked as Ami flew into her like a puppy into its long-lost bone. That same electrical shock coursed through her, but she saw both their communicators being flung away by Ami onto the nearby sofa, and the feeling seemed to intensify as the snuggling continued.
When her ice-bubbled partner pulled away, Makoto groaned in loneliness, but smiled when those blue eyes grinned at her.
"I need to partner up with Minako-chan."
Makoto felt a pang of jealousy, but tamped it down firmly with the feeling of relief. Ami was especially precious to her, she understood, she knew what Makoto needed to stay alive. . . and what she needed when she was gone.
Nodding, Makoto turned to Minako and questioned the blonde, the determined fire in Rei's eyes reflecting her own.
"I think it's a good idea. Because, Makoto, if I was trapped in that long corridor the way we're going to be, Rei next to me would give me a tan in the dark, more than I'd need, she's so hot. I thought I'd melt, she felt so-"
"Minako, please. I'd love to tell you what I got from you and what I felt for you the first time- but right now, Miki and Ami's mom is in danger and we need to think here. I can't think if I'm with you. But yes, it's a good idea, because if Ami and I paired off- I meant in fighting, Thunder, don't electrocute me- well, our elements would probably negate each other if we bounced them off the knuckle-head youma. So, yes, I'm good."
Makoto nodded, then went to pick up her communicator. Tossing Ami hers, the pony-tailed brunette shivered at the thrill coursing through her. Smiling over at the smaller blue-haired girl, Makoto nodded.
"I guess that's settled. Let's hear what else Setsuna-chan has to say."
0000000000000000000000000
Setsuna-"chan", in fact, had nothing to say.
The Time Guardian was currently in the kitchen with Usagi the Queen herself, making a batch-load of cookies and trying to keep the odango-bunned rabbit away from the mix long enough to get a decent brown on the things in the oven.
So Haruka and Michiru took over, smirking a bit at the oh-so-obvious non-pairings tried and restarted the plan, occasionally giving small glances to the kitchen. Hotaru and ChibiUsa were sneaking around the vents upstairs that would let them look into the kitchen and snap a few shots of Setsuna in an apron with handprints of flour all over her. Diana had curled up into a ball between the newly-arrived Artemis and Luna.
There were really no other questions to ask.
The plan was to sneak in, break the captives out, deal Ami's aunt her due and hand her over to the Negaverse back in full adios, spare her if they could help it, and get out of there, pronto, seeing as there were youma that would use the illusion technique on them and innocent bystanders.
By that time Setsuna and Usagi had come out of the kitchen, humongously adorable blushes on their faces due to major bumpings in communicators, and Hotaru and ChibiUsa came bounding down the banister.
Artemis and Luna vowed they would keep an eye out for youma around the infiltrated mansion and contact any of the handy senshi around. If not, they would transform and take action themselves.
The plan was set, everything was ready.
For real this time.
As all of them started for the door, the hallway that would only admit two-people side-by-side passage practically shocked all of them with their elements and senseless.
What a way to start a fight.
A/N: Yes, I've been puttin' this off wa-a-a-a-a-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too lo-o-ong! XD But now there's no more to make clear. No more to explain ((except Ami's dad thing-y, but then, only with the now reminder, I'm sure that'll only not happen in the future. ^^ I'm so irresponsible. ;d)) and hopefully, it's all goin' good. Heh, wierd how I know this will end but tryin' to flesh it out. Thank you so much for reading, so much for giving me the time of day, night, morning, and for-neverland, oh yeah! ^^ Now, what about that promise about the house blowing up? Hmm, maybe I should get to that in the next chapter. . . XD Thanks, take care, ja!