Enemy Strikes

The Super Saiya-jins sagged to the floor as they stepped from the shadows, their hair colors returning to normal. "Trunks," Bra asked. "Can I fall asleep now?"

"Sure." Trunks passed out, uncaring that he was on a rug. The others followed suit, Piccolo leaning against the wall. Ryouga carefully placed his mother on the couch and sat beside her. He glanced at Vegeta and gave a tired smile. "Do you mind if we explain later? I don't know how long we were in there, but I can't stay awake anymore."

Kakarot, sleeping with his arm around Usagi's waist, woke at the sound of Hotaru's terrified screams. Not bothering to dress, he bolted out of bed and ran into the other room, skidding to a halt. "Gohan?" His son barely registered his name, but lifted his head and smirked. A few of the women still awake, blushed and turned their heads.

"Uhmm... Dad. Can you put some clothes on?"

Kakarot looked down and shrugged. "Didn't have time to think about that. Where's Hotaru?" He turned back towards his room and paled. "Vegeta...? How...?"

"Kakarot." Vegeta noticed that Kakarot was tense, his anger starting to rise.

As Kakarot began to realize that Vegeta was really alive, he stormed out of the room, pulled a pair of pants and shirt on and flew out of his window. Vegeta had never expected Kakarot to be so angry. "I'll be back, and when I do return I want an explanation on how everyone can suddenly move through shadows like the monsters that I tried to kill."

Kakarot tried to keep a grip on his anger, but seeing Vegeta alive made it worse as each second passed. He sat down next to a vast body of water, the wind sifting through his thick hair. His power steadily rose, the last twenty four hours playing back in his mind. "Vegeta..." He growled. "How could you?"

"How could I what?" Vegeta asked, dropping behind Kakarot. Maybe he should have stayed back as Kakarot screamed and suddenly pinned him to the ground on his face, locking his arms behind his back. Vegeta struggled to get out of Kakarot's hold, but a knee pressing down on his tail, prevented him from powering up.

"Why? Why did you kill yourself? Dammit, you said we were friends. You promised and you broke it. I trusted you! Not only did you kill yourself, but you caused Usagi and Hotaru a lot more grief than what they had with Rei's death. She's falling apart and when I deserted you like you ordered, it made her feel worse. I hate running, but I knew you weren't joking!"

"Get off me, Kakarot!" Vegeta shouted. His position was humiliating, but there was nothing he could do, but let the taller Saiya-jin vent his anger and steam out. Unfortunately, the rage in Kakarot continued to mount with increasing speed and he began to scream in pain not able to stop the power hidden deep within him. Vegeta turned his head to watch Kakarot and nearly died on the spot from shock and fear. Right in front of him, Kakarot was powering up, not even realizing he was doing it. 'Does my death bother him that much?' "Kakarot! You'll kill me! Let me go!"

Kakarot didn't understand what was happening to him, but he continued to shout to the heavens, his anger and anguish at driving him to the brink of insanity. "You... left us... alone! We need you more than you'll ever realize you thick headed, prideful, arrogant Saiya-jin Prince!" Vegeta was shoved back as he watched Kakarot push past Super Saiya-jin four and almost stopped; then it happened. Kakarot allowed the rage of Super Saiya-jin 5 to take control of him. Vegeta knew from the first two times, that it took a great deal of control not to lose yourself in the overwhelming power.

Knowing he didn't have a choice, Vegeta blasted into Super Saiya-jin 5 and clashed with Kakarot, letting the angry Saiya-jin fight it out. It was the only way they knew how to work out their pain, sorrow, and rage. The planet shook and trembled as it felt the aftershocks of the two Saiya-jins fighting against each other. One to survive, the other fighting because he didn't have control of the Saiya-jin rage boiling through his blood.

Usagi woke when she felt the anger rise in her mate, and bolted from her bed. Artemis was right beside her when she ran out the door, but smashed into her leg as she stared wide-eyed at the group in front of her. Most of them were asleep except for a woman, standing next to the darkest part of the room looking out the window. Her face turned to face Usagi and she had never seen purple eyes before, nor the sadness that reflected in them.

Artemis was looking over the senshi when he saw a sight he thought he would never see again. Running over to her, he began licking her fur and face, trying to wake her up. When she did open her sleepy eyes, she jumped up in surprise. "Luna!"

"Artemis, is that really you?"

"I've missed you so much. It's been so long that I've forgotten how this whole mess started in the first place."

Usagi was happy to see everyone, when she remembered about Vegeta and Rei. The happiness quickly left her eyes as she started to walk towards the door. "Usagi?" Neptune asked.

"Yeah,"

"Are you ok?"

"Not really, but I'll live. See you guys in a little bit. I need a walk."

Haruka stretched after receiving the best sleep of her life and felt something warm against her back. Turning her head, she saw Turles softly resting against her with an arm and tail curled around her waist. Gently she tried to move out of bed, but an arm pulled her down to face a sleepy mate who looked into her eyes, searching for any remaining doubts that she may have had. "Where are you going?" Turles asked her.

"Why, do you have something else in mind?"

A sneaky smile came across his face as he flipped her onto her back. "I have a lot in mind if you wish to cancel that walk for a while."

He leaned in and began kissing her when they heard a scream run down the halls. Fun forgotten, they quickly got dressed and ran down the halls following the sounds of Hotaru's voice.

Turles was faster and passed Haruka, catching up with Hotaru before she blindly ran off the second story of the castle. She didn't stop screaming as she struck out at Turles, seeing the shadow demons coming out of the wall.

Haruka caught up with them and was immediately concerned about her little Taru. "Taru! Snap out of it!" Taru had curled into a ball and started crying hysterically, unable to stop. She thought she heard Ruka calling her, but only thought it was her imagination and couldn't get out of the dream she was in. Haruka never thought she would do what she did, but her hand came up and slapped Hotaru hard enough to stop her screaming and to snap her back into reality.

Holding her face in surprise, she blinked and saw Haruka in front of her and Turles holding her up by the waist. "Ruka?" She forgot about the sting in her face and ran into the woman's arms, crying again, but at least not as hysterical.

"What happened?"

"The shadows are back and they're taking on the forms of our friends!"

"You're not making any sense Hotaru! Breathe and tell us slowly what happened."

"I woke up to find out that Vegeta is a live and that he would tell us later what happened when we got some sleep and everyone was together. Not very much longer, I heard something moving in the room and when I opened my eyes, I saw figures coming out of the shadows and the woman had purple eyes. Then a green monster came out! You've got to help Geta before they get him again!"

"Where's Usagi and Kakarot?"

"I don't know... the monster probably ate them for breakfast. He had antennas on the top of his head to probably sting them with, and big sharp fangs to take the flesh off. You've got to help them!" Turles sighed as he quickly struck her on the back of her neck, rendering her unconscious and placed her in his room on the bed.

"Stay here," he ordered. Haruka quickly grabbed his arm and glared at him.

"I don't think so. That's my princess and I'm not going to have someone else do my job! We go together or you stay put!"

"No! I said I wouldn't let anyone hurt you again and that means you keep your ass here!"

"Iif you leave me, then I'll just follow."

To their surprise, Hotaru jumped out of bed with a glare in her eyes. "Saturn Eternal Power!" With a blink of an eye, Saturn was running down the halls with her death scy in hand, death on her mind.

"Oh no!" Haruka and Turles ran after her, hoping they would stop her before it was too late.

"Geta, Rena, Kakarot, I'll get the monster before he eats you up!"

Saturn made it back to the room and found Piccolo stretching and yawning from his nap, but to Hotaru, he was ready to strike at one of the people in the room. "What the?" He roared as he ducked her weapon that came two inches from chopping his head off.

Gohan woke up when he found his best friend shouting and someone trying to kill him. With a growl of anger, he shot up and tackled her to the ground by the waist, causing her weapon to fly away from her and hit the wall. "Who do you think you are?"

"Get your hands off her!" Haruka did a head but to Gohan, but not without getting a headache and a sore arm. Now that her captor was off of her, Hotaru jumped at Piccolo again, bent on killing him, before he ate one of her friends. She was on his back, with her ankles wrapped around his torso and her hands choking his neck.

Michuru woke up and nearly fainted from what she was seeing. Haruka and Turles were tackling Gohan, while Saturn was trying to kill Piccolo. "Haruka! Saturn stop it!" She ran up to Haruka and pulled her back with a strong grip that she didn't know she possessed, while Goten and Makoto grabbed Hotaru and kept her back from Piccolo who still didn't know what was going on.

Haruka was about to strike who had ever come up behind her, but that blue hair in her face and the feminine arms around her waist, made her pause and turn around. "Michi?" Michuru smiled and was nearly suffocated as Haruka bear hugged her. "Michi-chan! Am I glad to see you?"

"Let me go!" Saturn yelled. "I promise, I'll get him and make sure he won't eat Geta or Rena."

"What?" Piccolo shouted. "Why would I eat a Geta and Rena?"

"They're my brother and sister and you look like something that feeds on people."

"Are you insane? I don't even like food. All I need is water."

"Oh. Well if you're not bad, then why did you come through the wall?"

"That was the only way to get here from the time stream," Makoto answered.

Hotaru jumped up, ready to go find her sister when she saw Michuru talking with Haruka. "Michi-mama!"

"Hey, Taru!" Michuru couldn't believe how much she had grown in the last year. "You've grown into a very attractive woman, Taru. Have these crazy barbaric Saiya-jins treated you ok?"

"Well, almost all of them. Turles seems to be a bit over bearing and won't let me do the things I want. Geta refuses to let any of the men come near me, saying something about they have to meet his standards first."

Hotaru was so happy to see everyone, but didn't see Pluto. "Where's Pluto at?" She saw someone lying on the couch with a young man next to her, but that didn't concern her as she rushed over to the couch and threw him out of the way. "Sets-mamma!"

Ryouga was sound asleep when he landed on his head and was prepared to hurt someone when he froze. She was the most beautiful creature he ever laid eyes on. Even Akane, the one Ranma and himself fought over all the time, had nothing on this girl. Something purple came from her hands as she concentrated her energy on his mother and he hovered over her in awe.

Soon the fever disappeared, her heart rate returned to normal and she opened her eyes to see Hotaru sitting over her. A smile crossed her lips as she hugged Hotaru. "Thank god it was a dream. I had the worst nightmare that the time line was destroyed and everything relied on the past and... and..." she started looking around and saw all the people that had been in her time stream, plus Haruka, Turles and Hotaru together. "This isn't a dream... is it?"

"Mom?" Ryouga asked concerned. "It's not that bad. It may be a little messed up, but instead of worrying about what you can't fix, start focusing on the here and now."

Pluto sighed and nodded. "You're right. I need a break from the time line anyway. Wait a minute. How did we get out of the time line? Last time I checked, Mercury was still looking for a way to get here. What did she do?"

"Actually," Gohan said, "you might want to ask the two women that are separate from the rest of us and haven't spoken a word since we arrived."

Pluto glanced at the three women and couldn't say that she recognized Shadow Moon, but the one in brown, and turquoise caught her attention. The woman seemed familiar, but she couldn't place her. "I don't know them," she finally said.

Everyone turned to stare at the two women, waiting for an explanation. The woman that Pluto thought she should recognize stood up and walked to another window. "Is everyone present that needs to be?"

"No." Haruka said. "We still don't have Vegeta, Usagi, and Kakarot."

"What about Rei," Makoto asked. "Isn't she here?"

A deadly silence fell over Haruka, Hotaru and Turles as they turned their heads away. "I suggest we go ahead and tell you, so you don't ask that question in front of Vegeta. It's hurting him a lot and I doubt that he wouldn't be here now if it weren't important. Rei died throwing Sailor Moon out of the way of the Shadow Demon. She was trying to save Haruka, when it snuck up behind us. Rei saw it and took the death blow that would have finished Usagi off. Vegeta was so devastated, that he blew up the planet thinking it would destroy the monsters along with himself."

Raven found herself sighing, but was unable to stay angry with Saiya-jin Prince. "A noble sacrifice, for such a small reward."

Kakarot and Vegeta were still going heavily at it, bruised, battered, and the ground below them a battle ground as they tried to overpower each other. "Kakarot, would you stop this? I didn't do anything that you wouldn't have done!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Think about it! If someone attacked Usagi and killed her, would you be able to let it go."

Kakarot's rage lessened a little as Vegeta's words began to filter through. "I... never looked at it that way."

"Figures. I can't describe what it feels like to have the bond you have with a mate torn from you. She was my mate Kakarot, and I didn't keep her safe." Vegeta had lost the will to fight and dropped to the ground to let Kakarot do as he wished. When he never felt the blow, he looked up and saw Kakarot no longer power up, but staring at him.

"I'm sorry I lost my temper Vegeta. It's just; you're the only one that understands everything about me and the other way around. Kami, Vegeta. I felt like I failed when I let the last full blooded Saiya-jin of the race we came from die. My job is to protect you and everyone else around you. I hold myself responsible for even letting her go in the first place and if you want to kill me for it, then I'm not going to stop you."

Vegeta was speechless as Kakarot had his head bowed defeated, wanting the Saiya-jin Prince to take him out. In his entire life, Vegeta had wanted to see the Saiya-jin beaten, but not like this. Vegeta wanted the defeat to be one of battle, not emotional pain. "I'm not going to kill you, because a mate shouldn't rely on others to save them. There may still be a way to bring her back, so why don't we concentrate on that and not the past." Kakarot didn't look that reassured, but he nodded his head and flew off with Vegeta close behind.

Vegeta and Kakarot walked into the royal living room and saw everyone still camped out on the floor or the couch. Gohan was awake and ran to his father. "Dad. Are you ok? I felt your power raise along with Vegeta's and wondered if you guys needed help."

"I'm fine." Kakarot walked to his room and noticed that Usagi was gone. The nightmare from the day before was still fresh in his mind and he came rushing wildly out the door. "Where's Usagi? She's not in the room any longer."

Michuru looked up from where she was sitting next to Haruka. "She said she was going for a walk about two hours ago."

"What?"

Vegeta and Kakarot were about to leave and search for her when she walked in the door. They sighed in relief, but tensed when Usagi's face drained and looked at Vegeta with her eyes about to pop out. Backing up, she hit the wall, gasping for breath. "Rena?" Vegeta asked reaching out for her.

"AHHHHHHH!" Her crescent moon flashed and threw Vegeta back as she ran to her room and locked the door.

"What did she do that for?" Gohan asked.

Kakarot picked Vegeta up and checked to see if he was alright. "Usagi still thinks Vegeta's dead and assumes that he's a ghost. I'll get her."

An alert sounded on the planet as an intruder approached the planet and landed. Frieza, Zarbon and Jeice were walking towards the throne room, when they saw Eclipse walking with two male children in her arms. One of them was her child, but the other they did not recognize. Frieza smirked and thought of a way to get the King to join his military. "Kill Eclipse and those stupid brat's she has. For every minute he wastes on negotiations with me, we kill someone he cares about."

Zarbon laughed as he snuck up behind the Queen and grabbed her by the tail and flung her across the room. Not caring, he kicked Kakarot and was crushing Vegeta to the ground. "WHAAAAA!"

Jeice went over to the Queen and noticed she had blood pouring down her head as she struggled to rise, but a solid foot in her ribs made her scream and roll to her back. He kneeled down and rubbed his hand up her leg. "Maybe I'll have a little fun before I kill you."

Queen Selinity was humming in her room, rocking Ryouga and Selinity in her arms when a shadow appeared over her shoulder. She tried to jump up, but a hand grabbed her throat and slammed her face first into the wall. A mouth came to her ear as a body pressed close to her, restricting her movements. "I would stay and play a little longer, but seeing as how you have enough power to destroy me on your own, you're to be eliminated now." Selinity screamed as a hand shot into her back, ripping the flesh open and squeezed something that caused her to spit up blood and sag against the wall. Her attacker yanked her heart out and crushed it inbetween his hands, laughing the entire time. He never saw the two cats come up behind him and tried to grab the children. Artemis had Usagi and was under the bed, before the attacker could turn around, but Luna never made it as he turned around. A scowl of anger crossed his face as he blasted the cat into oblivion and looked all over for the other child. Usagi had been knocked on conscious during the fall and Artemis was greatful.

"Dammit! This child will have to do until I find that accursed brat. I can't have my revenge on Vegeta if I don't find his sister." Walking over, he picked up the screaming child and flew out the window and too his space ship. He decided to wait on Earth for his enemy to come, because he had a feeling his enemy would be alerted once they found out about the death of the Queen.