Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or her characters, and have no right to it except as a long time fan.

Reconnoitering and the Formidable Tree

Monday: Day Twenty Two

Late Afternoon

Jadeite waited across the street outside the front main gate of Crossroads Junior High School for the school day to end. He was alert and kept his eyes peeled for the one he was there to see even though no one had yet to leave the campus.

He wasn't alone either. There were others waiting around as well, either standing or in cars, so he wasn't out of place. The only ones that would recognize him were Usagi, Naru, Makoto, and Ami since they all attended the school, and he would make sure to stay out of their view so he didn't give himself away by them reacting to his appearance.

And he knew they would react in some way, either large or small, because they had no idea he was going to be there. That was something that was decided on when his prince had spoken to him of what he wanted last evening.

Jadeite and his friends and fellow shittenou had been over at their prince's apartment for a few minutes, talking about the weekend, before he heard his prince's voice.

"Do any of you have tomorrow off from work?" Endymion asked, and Jadeite looked over to him.

"I do." He said.

"So do I." Nephrite said.

"Okay. That makes this a bit easier." Endymion said as he nodded. "Usagi had the idea that we should do some reconnaissance on the two siblings that go to her school to try and find out once and for all if they're actually the two beings we've been seeing at fights."

"We're particularly concerned about the brother because he seems to have developed some feelings for Usagi, and is uncomfortably focused on her; watching her from a far while at school when he isn't trying to start up a conversation with her, and instances where he just happens to show up where she is."

"You two are perfect for the job," Endymion said as he looked to Jadeite and Nephrite. "because you wouldn't be recognized by the siblings like the girls would."

Jadeite was surprised that this was what his prince wanted, but could understand why. He recalled him explaining about their new enemy and the suspicious timing of a brother and sister transferring into Serenity's school, and the sister actually into her class where she spent hours in the same room as her.

And it was bad enough they were suspicious that the brother could be one of their enemies, but then to have him take an interest in Serenity was another matter entirely. Clearly if they were concerned with the guy's interest in Serenity that meant he likely was ignoring the fact or didn't care that she was in a committed relationship.

"Even Minako would be recognized?" Kunzite asked. "She goes to a different school."

"Yes, because the brother has seen her with Usagi and Naru during one of those times he showed up where Usagi was." Endymion said, and then looked back to Nephrite and Jadeite.

"Tomorrow I want one of you to follow and watch what the sister does, and the other to follow and watch what the brother does. To see where they go and what they will do; if you can tell if they are our enemy or not."

"What do they look like?" Nephrite asked.

They all watched as Endymion summoned his golden crystal to his hands where it floated and glowed softly. In the next moment gold light flared around the room and they all found themselves suddenly standing in a dark hallway with their prince and Serenity and two others who were unfamiliar.

"This is the last time I saw both of them up close and together." Endymion said as he gestured to the frozen scene. "The girl is Natsumi, and the guy is Seijuro."

The Shittenou carefully took in the appearance of both siblings. The girl's pale skin, red hair, and brown eyes, and the guy's average fair skin, orange hair, and purplish blue eyes.

"Is there anything else we should know about the girl considering the way she looks at you?" Zoisite asked Endymion.

The other guys looked to the girl and saw that she was looking at Endymion with clear attraction in her eyes.

"The first time I saw her was before this scene, and she tried to ask me out. Obviously I was uninterested, but judging by this scene she's still attracted to me. Although, I don't know if that's still the case since I haven't seen her since then." Endymion explained.

The guys all nodded as they continued to look at the siblings, and after a few long moments the scene began to fade and they all found themselves sitting and standing where they had been before.

"Will the girls be aware of this?" Jadeite asked.

"No. The girls don't know." Endymion answered. "Usagi is aware that I was going to speak to you guys about it, but she doesn't know when. It would be better if none of the girls are aware of you."

Jadeite nodded and looked to Nephrite.

"Do you have a preference on which one you want to follow?" He asked.

"I'll follow the girl, because I want to see if her attraction for Endymion is still there." Nephrite said.

"Then I'll keep my eyes on the guy." Jadeite said.

Since Endymion wanted both siblings watched Jadeite knew that Nephrite was also in the area, but he wasn't trying to find him since it would be easier for this mission to work if they were unaware of each other.

Plus, he knew Nephrite would also be trying to keep out of sight of the girls; especially since one of them was his girlfriend.

That thought brought his mind back to the previous evening spent with the girls before the attack had interrupted them.

It was the first time since they had all remembered who they really were that he had seen Nephrite and the new Sailor Mars, Naru, together. They had looked cozy, comfortable, and smitten with each other.

He could honestly say after yesterday that he liked Naru and thought she would do justice to the position of senshi of Mars. In fact, he had already seen that she had during the fight against the cardian the evening before. She had acquitted herself very well. There had been no hesitation in her movements or her attacks.

He thought she and Nephrite looked good together and that their personalities meshed well as far as he could tell. What he couldn't tell was if he got along better with her now or with Jupiter in the past.

But then I shouldn't be trying to compare the two young women. They are two separate people. I can't even be sure if the present Jupiter is completely like the past Jupiter. He thought.

Jadeite had spoken to her for a while the evening before but he hadn't spoken to her much in the past, so that was no help in determining if she had the same personality.

Although, part of him wondered how she would react when she remembered the past and what she had with Nephrite. Would those feelings come back, would she accept that he had moved on, or would she herself have moved on? He didn't know, but he knew that he had enjoyed talking to her.

Before Jadeite could continue with that thought he heard a bell ring loudly coming from the campus. He straightened and trained his eyes on the main gate.

He watched as uniformed students began to stream out of the doors of the buildings and head for the open gates, and he focused his eyes on the males dressed in gray looking for one with the features he had memorized.

Eventually he spotted Serenity, Usagi, and Naru walking out of the gates and away from the campus, and a moment later he saw his target trailing them at a slight distance. Far enough not to be noticed, but not so far that he would loose them.

At least if they were regular school girls, but I'm sure they both know or will know that they're being followed when the crowed thins. He thought.

Jadeite moved away from the tree he had been standing near and began to follow after them from the other side of the street. He casually moved along the sidewalk, swerving and sidestepping around people, as he kept an eye on his target and one eye on where he was going.

The minutes passed as he followed the guy as he followed Serenity and her friend/senshi along sidewalks and across streets. The guy would stop a ways back and lean against the wall of a building when the girls came up to a stop light then he would hurry after them when the light changed so he didn't get caught at the next light and lose them.

Eventually the girls entered a quiet neighborhood and made their way to a house. Jadeite wasn't sure if it was Serenity's or Naru's and he decided it didn't matter. What mattered was that the guy had followed them there and appeared to be waiting.

He guessed the guy thought they might come back out soon. It didn't matter to him. His task was to watch the guy and see what he did without being seen himself. He was far enough away not to be seen by him or be seen out of any window of the house the girls had entered.

As the minutes passed his target stood leaning against a light pole staring at the house and occasionally shifting as if he couldn't stand still.

Jadeite on the other hand had no problem remaining perfectly still. He simply kept his eyes on his target and periodically looked around the area to make sure he wasn't being noticed by any neighbors.

He thought that would be unlikely since most people were still at work or hanging out with friends for the younger residents.

This continued on as they both stood there Jadeite watching his target and his target watching the house. Then a little over an hour and half later the two young women came out of the house and began to walk down the block.

Naru was dressed differently in comfortable clothes, so he guessed she was going to do some exercising or training or both.

His target followed and he noticed that the girls were walking faster than they had before and then they turned the corner. When he reached the area with his target he watched him looking around in confusion.

Jadeite realized that Serenity, Usagi; I need to get used to her present name, and Naru were gone. If he had to guess he thought they might have teleported away to keep the guy from following them any more.

From there he watched and followed as the guy began to walk around the area, looking here and there, as if he thought the girls were hiding. Eventually his target left the area and seemed to be walking around randomly, and Jadeite suspected he was hoping to come across Serenity somewhere else.

They walked around for a while, his target going to a park and walking around as if searching, then he followed him to a few shops where he went in bought nothing and left.

It was more proof that his target was searching for Serenity.

He eventually must have given up because his target walked and walked until he reached a quiet neighborhood that was thankfully nowhere near where his prince, him and his fellow generals, or the girls lived.

Jadeite stood across the street and watched from a distance as he entered a high rise building that wasn't quite as tall as his prince's apartment building. He waited twenty minutes to see if his target would come back out, and then he walked along the sidewalk until he was directly across the street from the building.

He obviously hadn't been able to go inside with him without being seen, and now after waiting as long as he did it would be pointless because he wouldn't know where the guy had gone.

Still, he noted the address and name and decided to let his prince know.

Jadeite lifted his wrist to reveal his dark blue communicator watch, and pressed the dark blue button to open the communicator portion of the watch. He then pressed the gold button with the tiny dark blue symbol for Earth on it and waited.

Meanwhile…

Mamoru stood outside the dojo where Kunzite worked after having parked his car a few blocks away since there was no parking spot closer. He was waiting for him to start his break so they could have lunch together as they had planned after returning to his place after the cardian had been defeated.

He looked around idly at the passing people and cars as he wondered how Usagi was doing. Of course he could check her thoughts and emotions or simply ask her, but he didn't want to interrupt her; not to mention other couples couldn't do that.

They weren't normal so that usually didn't count for them, but it was nice to keep things normal when they could.

Suddenly the door to the dojo opened, and he looked over to see Kunzite step out.

"Kiyoshi." Mamoru said in greeting, remembering to use his birth name.

"Hello Mamoru." Kunzite said. "Come on, I know just the place for us to eat."

"How was your day so far?" He asked as they walked.

"It was okay. My classes went well. I have some homework, but I'm putting it off until after we have lunch." Mamoru said.

"I hope nothing interrupts you." Kunzite said.

"I do too." Mamoru said as he nodded since he knew very well an attack could happen.

"Can I ask what Usagi is doing since you're here with me?" Kunzite asked.

"She's spending time with her friends or at least one of them." Mamoru replied.

"Ah." Kunzite said and nodded slightly as he idly looked at the people around them.

"What is she doing here? We're nowhere near Usagi's school." Mamoru wondered suddenly.

"What?" Kunzite said as he glanced to his prince.

"Look at the girl in the school uniform walking in our direction." Mamoru told Kunzite as he looked at him.

Kunzite looked, his eyes flickering briefly, and easily spotted her, being the only school girl walking around in the area, and instantly recognized her as the sister sibling, Natsumi, from the image his prince had showed them last night.

"What is she doing here?" He asked. "I find it hard to believe she somehow just happened to be in the area."

"True." Mamoru said before he glanced back to her and then onto the path ahead of them as he made sure not to run into anyone. He was determined to not look at her any more than he had to, so she wouldn't somehow think he was interested in her.

Natsumi could hardly believe her eyes. She hadn't been able to speak to Mamoru before school let out as she had planned because, much to her surprise, he hadn't been there. And she knew he hadn't shown up, because before she left the area of her school altogether she had seen Usagi walking with another one of her classmates.

Now after walking around she had unexpectedly spotted Mamoru, but he wasn't alone as she had wanted when she thought up her plan. Still, he wasn't with Usagi so she decided to go ahead with her plan.

She reached him and, after a glance at the guy with him, smiled brightly.

"Hey Mamoru, what a surprise!" She said cheerfully. "I can't believe I ran into you. Do you want to go hangout with me?"

"No." Mamoru said bluntly, and finally looked at her. "I'm not interested in spending time with you or even talking to you. I have a girlfriend I'm perfectly happy with, so you're only wasting your time and mine."

"Leave me be! I don't want to have this conversation again." He added.

Kunzite ignored her words and looked around as they stood off to the side on the sidewalk. It took him a few long moments but he eventually spotted Nephrite across the street.

Good. He thought as he looked away. Nephrite was tailing the girl as he was supposed to. He wondered how Jadeite was faring with the other sibling, but he supposed he would find out at some point.

"If you will excuse us." Mamoru said politely yet abruptly. "I only have so much time with my friend, and I don't want to waste it before we both have to get back to our responsibilities."

He then began to walk away without another look at her with Kunzite easily falling into step beside him.

"Both of those siblings seem to have a problem staying away from people who don't want anything to do with them." Kunzite commented.

"Yes." Mamoru agreed. "I can't understand it. All it seemed to have taken was for them to set eyes on me and Usagi. That's bad enough but if they turn out to be the enemy then it will be all the more disturbing."

"True." Kunzite agreed. "I hope Nephrite and Jadeite find something that can give the answer to that once and for all."

Mamoru nodded as they walked hoping more for Jadeite to have found something. He could deal with a girl liking him, after Rei this Natsumi girl would be no problem even if she turned out to be the enemy, but he seriously didn't like that Seijuro guy practically stalking his princess. She didn't need to be dealing with some possibly obsessive guy that might very well be the enemy.

If he tries anything he'll find out just what I can do aside from ignoring him. He thought darkly.

The friends walked a few more blocks before they came up to a diner with outdoor seating.

"Do you want to sit outside or inside the restaurant?" Kunzite asked.

"Outside is fine since it's a nice day out." Mamoru replied.

"We can order and get our food brought outside." Kunzite said in response.

They went inside and, since there was no line, ordered their meals before heading back out into the sectioned off seating area.

As soon as Mamoru was seated in his chair he heard his communicator beeping. He and Kunzite exchanged a startled and apprehensive look before he looked around to make sure no one was paying him any attention.

He lifted his wrist, revealing his black communicator, and pressed the gold button. The cover opened and showed the dark blue button flashing.

"It's Jadeite." He quietly announced as he pressed the button. "Mamoru here." He said, and watched as Jadeite's face appeared on the screen on the inside of the watch cover.

"Your highness." Jadeite said. "My target appears to have gone home. I'm currently standing outside a high rise apartment building."

"Did Seijuro do anything?" Mamoru asked.

"He followed Serenity and Naru after school let out all the way to Naru's house, and waited outside until they came out almost two hours later. He tried to follow them again, but they had disappeared after turning a corner; if I had to guess I would say they teleported away." Jadeite reported.

"After that he walked around in an obvious attempt to find Serenity before eventually going to the apartment. I wasn't able to follow him inside without being seen." He said.

"I understand. I wouldn't have wanted you to risk being seen." Mamoru said. "What's the location of the apartment building?"

"The building is called Juuban Odyssey Apartment Complex." Jadeite reported before he rattled off the address.

"Thanks. You don't have to hang around there anymore. Now that I have their address I can see what I can find out." Mamoru said.

"Good luck with that." Jadeite wished. "Jadeite out." He said before his face disappeared from the screen.

Mamoru pressed the dark blue button to end the connection on his end and closed the cover to his communicator.

"What are you going to do now?" Kunzite asked.

"I'm going to look through the earth and see what I can find out about the siblings while they're in their home." Mamoru said.

Kunzite nodded and Mamoru trained his eyes on the table as he concentrated on the address he had been given while he tapped into his connection with the Earth. On top of that he pictured the two siblings in as much detail as he could.

Show me the siblings. Show me Seijuro and Natsumi. Show me where they live, and what they are doing. He thought.

Images flashed rapidly through his mind showing people and buildings before it slowed and stopped on a high rise apartment building. He could clearly see the name Juuban Odyssey Apartment Complex on the building, so he knew it was the right one.

From there his view entered the building and began to flash different apartment doors before it stopped on one that was clearly on one of the top floors. His view changed after that to show him the two siblings sitting in what looked like a living room.

That view alone told him their suspicions about them actually being the enemy was highly likely right. They had just spoken to Natsumi and he knew that apartment building was nowhere near their current location. There was no way she could have gotten there so quickly without some form of teleportation.

The two siblings were talking, but he couldn't hear them. She was sitting on the couch and Seijuro was leaning against the wall next to what he thought was a balcony.

After a few moments Seijuro began to walk toward a hallway, and he willed his view to follow him and watched as he walked halfway down the hallway and stopped in front of a doorway with large double doors that didn't match the rest of the apartment.

They slid open and revealed a dark room that was so dark it looked almost pitch black, but then he stepped inside and the doors slid closed.

That's when Mamoru noticed the massive tree that was giving off light. It was green with a thick canopy of reddish pink leaves. The room was cavernous in order to accommodate it and its massive network of roots.

He focused back on Seijuro and watched his appearance change to one that was familiar, and finally confirmed their suspicions.

His eyes glowed a bright red before they changed to dark blue, his skin became light green, his ears became pointed and elf-like, his hair lengthened to stretch down his back and became light blue, and he was now wearing a dark blue full bodysuit.

Mamoru released his connection with the Earth and sighed as the scene faded from his mind.

"They are the enemy; they're the two beings we've been seeing at fight scenes. I just watched the guy change into the male being that wears all blue." He said.

"Confirmation is good." Kunzite said. "Do we know if they know who you and Usagi are? Your secret identity?"

"I don't believe so. I highly doubt they would be expressing interest in me and Usagi if they knew who we were, and those beings clearly don't like us when we're out fighting." Mamoru explained, and Kunzite nodded.

"I'll inform everyone later." Mamoru said with a sigh.

Before Kunzite could say anything Mamoru's communicator began to go off for a second time. He lifted his wrist and pressed the gold button to open the cover, and saw the dark red button flashing. He pressed the flashing button and watched Nephrite's face appear on the tiny screen.

"Mamoru here." He answered.

"I followed my target after she left her school campus and saw you and Kunzite." Nephrite reported. "After that I continued to follow her for a few blocks, but I lost her after she walked into an alley."

"That's okay. I know where she is. Jadeite followed his target to an apartment building, and I took a look just a couple of minutes ago and saw the siblings there together." Mamoru said.

"Did you find out anything definitive?" Nephrite asked.

"Yes. They are the two beings that show up at fights." Mamoru said. "I saw Jadeite's target actually change into the male being that wears blue."

Nephrite sighed. "At least we know for sure now." He said.

"True." Mamoru said. "Thanks for your work today. I hope you find something to enjoy for the rest of the day."

"Thanks; Nephrite out." Nephrite said.

Mamoru pressed the dark red button after Nephrite's face disappeared from the screen, and then closed the cover on his communicator.

"What are you going to do about them now that you know the truth of them?" Kunzite asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but I think we'll eventually take the fight directly to them; stop them before they can do any more damage." Mamoru said.

Kunzite parted his lips to speak but just then their food and drinks arrived, so instead he focused on eating because he knew his hour break was winding down and he would need to get back to work soon.

Meanwhile...

Usagi and Naru sat on Naru's bed in her bedroom working through their homework and relaxing as much as they could.

They had walked straight there after school, not going to any stores along the way, because they had a set schedule they were trying to keep.

However, regardless of their purposeful trip it didn't stop them both from noticing that the new guy Seijuro was following them. They had seen that he was staying on their trail regardless of how fast and how long they walked, and that he was still there when they made it Naru's house.

Neither one of them liked that he knew where Naru lived now, but they were hoping he wouldn't care since he was clearly following Usagi and not the two of them together. Still, they were hoping he would be gone by the time they finished their homework.

Naru finished off the last math problem of her homework and then stretched before she checked to see what else she needed to do. She was happily surprised that she had reached the end and was finished with her homework.

She closed her textbook and began to put her finished homework all together as she glanced to Usagi. They had started out on different subjects and she looked like she was in the middle of her English homework.

Naru placed her homework in her school bag and grabbed it and her textbooks and stood up and headed to her desk. She placed everything neatly on top before she moved to the window. She peeked out through the curtain, and saw that the new guy was still standing outside. She frowned at this further proof of his unhealthy fixation on her best friend.

"Is he still out there?" Usagi asked.

"Yes." Naru answered as she looked over at her.

Usagi sighed and closed her eyes. She definitely didn't like that he was following her like this, and definitely didn't want him following them to her house.

"We're going to have to ditch him somehow and then teleport to my neighborhood so he can't follow us to my house." She said as she opened her eyes. "The last thing I want is for this guy to show up at my house and try and talk to me or anything else."

"I wish we could have done that for me." Naru said.

"Me too." Usagi agreed as she nodded. The only reason they hadn't was because they hadn't come across a suitable location where they could teleport without being seen.

"I'm almost done with the last of my homework, so you can go ahead and get changed." She told her best friend.

Naru nodded and glanced out the window at Seijuro once more before she headed for her closet.

She grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants and began to pull off her school uniform having no problem changing in front of her best friend. She changed into the comfortable clothes and hung up her school uniform.

She then walked back to her window and once again peeked out through the curtains, and saw that the new guy was still standing outside in the same exact spot. She shook her head and moved away from the window.

Usagi sighed as she finished up her last sentence. She briefly looked over what she had written, and then began to put her homework away into her school bag.

"Alright, I'm ready to go." She said as she finished and stood up, and watched her friend nod.

"Seijuro is still out there." Naru said.

"When we get outside we're going to have to walk fast in the opposite direction from him. I'll do the teleporting to my neighborhood." Usagi said, and Naru nodded.

"I'll find us a place so we can do that." She said.

With that decided the two friends and senshi left Naru's bedroom and the house altogether, and immediately started walking fast away from the guy that had followed them. They didn't bother to look back to see if he was still following, because they didn't want to let him know that they knew he was following them.

They rounded a corner at the end of the block, and Naru grabbed Usagi's hand before she ran toward a small side alley between two houses that was more for parking extra cars.

Usagi quickly focused and willed the two of them to a similar alley in her neighborhood, and the two disappeared in a flash of white light and reappeared where she had pictured.

"Alright!' She said as she looked around. "We're home free; let's go!"

Naru laughed lightly and they began to walk toward her house, arriving only a few minutes later, and Usagi unlocked and opened the door. They could see Usagi's mother in the living room sitting down and watching TV.

"Hi mom." Usagi said.

"Hi Mrs. Tsukino." Naru said as well.

"Hello girls." Ikuko replied.

"I'm going to change and head right back out." Usagi informed her mother.

"What do you two plan on doing?" Ikuko asked curiously as she looked at Naru's casual clothing.

"Exercise and training." Usagi answered.

"Alright." Ikuko said as she nodded.

The two friends headed up to Usagi's bedroom and closed the door. Usagi placed her school bag on her desk and took her brooch off her uniform top and placed it in her subspace pocket before she began to take her uniform and shoes off.

When she stood in her underwear and socks she went to her closet and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, and quickly pulled them on before she pulled her hair free.

She took off the rose locket necklace her prince had given her, to not chance anything happening to it, and placed it on her vanity table before she sat on her bed and pulled on her tennis shoes. After she checked to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything they left her room and headed out of the house with a passing goodbye to her mother.

They headed to the park where the group training usually happened, jogging the whole way, and when they arrived they sat in the grass and started stretching.

When their limbs were all stretched and loose they started on their exercises. They did sit-ups, push-ups, jumping squats, and then started running laps in a wide circle around the area they had been sitting in. When they finished they stretched again before they came together and began to spar physically.

Usagi kicked her leg in front of her toward Naru's stomach, and Naru twisted out of the way before she moved back to her best friend and tried to kick her in the back. Usagi twisted away from the potential blow and toward Naru and tried to punch her in the face.

Naru blocked it and threw a punch of her own, which was blocked in turn. Usagi pushed Naru away from her to gain some room and watched her stumble back slightly before she swung another punch at her.

The two best friends continued to strike out at each other with their fists and feet punching kicking, and ducking and dodging as they moved across the grass of the park.

Naru sent a straight punch at her best friends face, but Usagi stepped aside since her back had been close to a tree and went to kick her in the side.

Naru twisted away and quickly circled around the tree to try and get a hit in, but Usagi saw that coming and moved away. She dropped down and tried to sweep Naru's feet out from under her but she jumped over her leg and dropped low and aimed a low kick at her.

"Stop!" Usagi called out after she had rolled away and stood back up. "I think that's enough for today. We should start working on our combination attacks."

Naru nodded and they both looked around to make sure they were still alone before they quickly and silently transformed.

"I've tried this with Mamoru, but I haven't gotten around to trying it with the girls yet since it keeps slipping my mind." Usagi said as she took her tiara off and charged it.

"Combining one of my attacks with your tiara." Naru said.

"Yes." Usagi said as she nodded. "I don't know when I would be in a situation to use it since I have my new scepter, but I want to be prepared."

"I understand, and you can always use it in place of your scepter or in addition to your scepter." Naru said.

"True." Usagi agreed as she nodded.

"I think my Fire Soul attack will work well." Naru said after a few moments. "The only other one I think would work is my Fire Soul Bird, but I think that would be too much just to combine with your tiara."

"Let's give it a try then." Usagi said.

"I'm ready." Naru said with a nod.

Usagi threw her tiara high into the air, and Naru lifted her hands and launched her Fire Soul attack sending a fire ball flying toward the glowing disk. Her fire ball missed but she tried again, and the second time it connected and spread around the tiara until it was a glowing red disk.

"Nice." Usagi said as she nodded at the sight. "Let's try it again."

They did, over and over, making the connection between the tiara and the fireball faster and faster each time. Usagi then took the chance to use her Infinite Moonlight Illusion Beam attack in combination with her tiara.

The combination worked, and worked even better when she used her scepter to launch the attack.

They then moved on to just combining some of their energy attacks together. They first tried to combine one of Naru's fire attacks with Usagi's Moon Twilight Flash attack, but they found that the beam of light moved too fast and cut through the fire as it tried to connect and combine.

Trying to combine Naru's Fire Soul and Fire Soul Bird with Usagi's Moon Sparkling Sensation didn't work either, because they just couldn't combine when they came together.

The same turned out to be true with Usagi's Moon Scepter Elimination attack and Naru's fire attacks.

They knew the Fire Soul and Infinite Moonlight Illusion Beam attacks worked together, but they still tried them as further practice just to make sure they had it down.

The last combination they could try that they thought would work was to combine Usagi's Infinite Moonlight Illusion Beam with Naru's Fire Soul Bird.

The beam flew straight into the air where she aimed it, and the fire bird flew toward it and wrapped its wings around it, which turned the white beam red with the repeating image of the silver blue tinted crescent moons showing slightly.

Satisfied with that they began to run through the combinations again with them standing at different angles and locations.

.:xXx:.

Naru walked as she made her way home having just split up with Usagi after they finished training for the day. She thought it had gone well, in fact she was sure it had, and she was glad for that.

She had faced her first cardian and thought she had done well against it. She hadn't freaked out or hesitated. She had been nervous, but it hadn't stopped her from attacking. The training she had done had payed off. She had been prepared, and she was seriously intent on staying that way.

However, now that she was done training her mind was back on the new guy and his sister and if they could actually be their enemy.

We really need to find out if they're our enemy or not, because I really don't like that we're going to school with a possible enemy. She thought with a frown. And I definitely don't like that that Seijuro guy is so focused on Usagi.

Her best friend had already dealt with the Hino girl being obsessed with her boyfriend. She didn't need to deal with that guy becoming obsessed with her.

Naru once again recalled Usagi's words about the senshi of Mars being able to get guidance through fire meditation. She had bought the candles a few days ago, but had yet to actually do anything with them. She hadn't even placed them around her room if only to just look at them.

Now's the time. She decided. She was going to try meditating as soon as she got home, and see what happened. She had the time and had already finished her homework, so she knew she could take as long as she wanted.

She looked around as she walked. She wasn't in a place that had a lot of people, and she didn't see any security cameras around, so she focused and willed herself to an alley near her house.

When she reached her door she unlocked it and opened it and went inside. As she closed the door she heard nothing and knew that her mother wasn't home.

I wonder if being alone in the house will have any effect on my meditation. She thought as she made her way up to her room.

Naru grabbed the bag of candles once she reached her room and began to place them around her room. She put the tall square pillar candles on the floor around her bed, the candles in the round jars on her nightstands and on her desk, and one of the candles in a flat rectangular jar on her desk.

She then went around and placed the tall candles on candle holders so she didn't chance getting hot wax on the floor.

Naru looked around and nodded then hesitated before she reached into the bag and grabbed another of the candles in the round jar and placed it on her bed.

She placed the bag down by her closet and then went looking for a lighter or matches so she could light her candles. She found one of those long lighters in the kitchen, so she hurried back up to her room and closed the door.

The last thing she wanted was for her mom to come home and see her surrounded by burning candles and meditating. Although, she already had an excuse if that did happen.

She lit all the candles and then sat with her legs crossed in the center of her bed holding the candle in the jar that she had placed there.

She closed her eyes and took slow deep breathes. She had never meditated before, but she knew the basics of how it was done. The soothing fragrances of the candles she had chosen were filling her room as the candle wicks burned and the wax began to melt and it helped her relax.

She wasn't exactly sure how to get started on asking the fire for advice, didn't know if she should be speaking out loud or in her mind, or if she should just focus on images and specific words.

Naru continued to breath deep and slow, and opened her eyes to gaze at the candle flame in her hands. Long moments passed as she gazed at the little flame and suddenly she knew exactly what to do.

Please help me and give me the guidance I need to help my friends and keep my best friend and princess safe. She asked the fire.

She then closed her eyes and focused on the Cardians that had been attacking around the city. She recalled the one that had attacked her personally before she became a senshi, the one she had just experienced fighting, and the ones she had seen in between.

She concentrated on wanting to learn more about her enemy; who was sending out those Cardians and what exactly they looked like.

Long moments passed as she kept thinking of those things, and gradually she began to see images in her mind. First she saw what looked like a tall building, and she immediately had the feeling that it was an apartment building.

Then she began to see a massive green tree with red or pink leaves almost glowing inside a dark cave-like room. Finally she saw the two siblings Ginga Seijuro and Ginga Natsumi.

She easily recognized them, but then their appearance changed. Their hair changed to light pink and light blue, their skin color to green, their eyes to dark hot pink and dark blue, and their outfits to dark blue and dark red bodysuits.

Their appearance kept flashing back and forth between the one she knew and the changed one she was seeing for the first time.

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. It kept going on and on and then the massive tree appeared in the background as their appearance continued to flash, and behind that the apartment building appeared.

Naru's eyes snapped open suddenly, the images disappearing from her mind, as she heard her communicator going off.

She careful placed the candle down on her bed in front of her crossed legs and lifted her wrist. She pressed the dark red button and watched the cover open to reveal the blue Mercury button flashing.

"Naru here." She said after she pressed the flashing button.

Meanwhile...

Usagi appeared in a brief white flash in an alley near Mamoru's apartment after having parted ways from Naru when their paths took them in different directions before she began to walk the rest of the way to the building.

She would have teleported directly inside his apartment, but she didn't know if she would need to walk out instead of teleporting out when she left.

Once inside the building she took the elevator up to his floor and when she was in the quiet hallway she teleported inside his apartment instead of bothering with unlocking the door. She released the concealment on her hair with a sigh, allowing the natural color to show, as she stepped out of her shoes and then walked into the kitchen.

What to do? She wondered as she grabbed a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. She leaned against the counter as she drank it, her eyes drifting around as she tried to think of what to do.

Maybe a shower. She considered, and after a few thoughtful moments she nodded firmly. She placed the bottle on the counter and headed for her prince's bedroom.

She hadn't trained enough to be gross and in actual need of a shower, but she wanted to relax and felt she could do it since she had finished her homework for the day and had nothing else to do.

When Usagi reached the bedroom she stripped out of her clothes, leaving them on the floor next to the closet, and walked into the bathroom.

She flicked on the light and turned the hot water on in the shower before she took her hair down and placed her hair pins on the counter surrounding the sink. She then adjusted the cold water in the shower until the water spraying out was the right temperature before she stepped under it.

Usagi sighed at the heated water before she turned around and let the water soak her hair and warm and soothe her scalp. She washed up quickly and rinsed off before she took her time washing her hair using Mamoru's shampoo.

When she finished she turned off the water and rung out her hair as much as she could before she wrapped it in a towel. She then dried off with another towel and wrapped it around herself as she stepped out of the shower.

She walked out of the bathroom, turning the light off as she went, and sat on Mamoru's bed before she unwrapped her hair from the towel. She dropped the towel on the floor and then focused on her silver crystal and what she wanted to do.

Her hands glowed white with the power and she began to run her fingers through her hair, feeling the heat as the power worked to dry it as she wished it to.

Long minutes passed as Usagi continuously ran her glowing fingers through her hair. When she was sure her scalp and all the hair at the top of her hair down to her knees was dry she pulled the remaining tresses to rest over her legs and focused on drying it down to the end.

"Oh!" She suddenly heard a familiar masculine voice exclaim, and sensed intense surprise flow through her link with her prince.

She looked to the doorway and saw Mamoru standing there with his eyes slightly wide.

"What a pleasant surprise. You look beautiful." Mamoru said.

"Yeah, dressed in a towel." Usagi said, rolling her eyes slightly.

"And with your hair loose and in its natural color. You're showing your natural beauty." He said.

Usagi blushed and looked down shyly even as she smiled in pleasure.

"So how did you spend your afternoon?" Mamoru asked.

"I spent it with Naru." She replied. "We went to her house and did our homework, and then went to exercise and train afterward. We had a good time and got a lot done."

"After we finished I decided to come here since I wanted to relax." She added as she continued to run her glowing fingers through the ends of her hair.

Usagi glanced over to Mamoru when he didn't say anything and saw him staring at her, his eyes dark.

"Why're you looking at me like that?" She asked.

"I can't help it." He said as he stared at her. "My love is sitting on my bed wearing nothing but a towel with her long hair loose. You are a complete temptation."

"What do you plan on doing with this temptation?" She asked as she finished drying her hair.

Mamoru didn't speak, instead he simply moved in front of her and kissed her deeply. She moved her hands under his shirt, still glowing with her power as she slid them along his skin, and broke the kiss with a sigh before he pulled his shirt off.

He tossed it to the ground and placed a knee on the bed as if he was going straddle her and gently placed his hands on her face as he brought his lips back to hers.

They kissed for long moments their tongues dancing as their hands were busy on their own missions; his to stroke through her hair and hers to touch as much skin as possible.

After a while they began to move back on the bed Mamoru easing on top of Usagi to cover her body as they went. Their lips parted and returned again and again, their tongues playing a little game of follow the leader, as their hands slid along each other's body's.

Eventually Mamoru shifted and loosened the towel around his princess until it lay open and revealed her to his eager eyes. He brought his hand to her chest and returned his lips to hers as he squeezed and caressed her.

Satisfaction and pride shot through him at the sound of her soft moan and the desire and pleasure he sensed through their bond. He loved that he could make her feel this way, that he would be the only one to ever make her feel this way, the only one to see her this way.

Usagi for her part certainly hadn't expected this when she decided to come to his apartment but she wasn't about to complain. She would take any excuse to touch her love and experience his physical love for her.

That being said she found his pants uncomfortable and moved her hands down to start loosening them.

Off. Take them off. She said through their link.

Mamoru broke their kiss and pulled away from his love as he got up. He quickly took his pants off and returned to her, his boxers the only thing between them as he brought his lips back to hers.

She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck as their kissing resumed and then wrapped a leg around his for good measure. Their hands quickly got back to sliding and caressing much to both of their enjoyment as pleasure coursed back and forth along the link of their bond.

Mamoru deepened their kiss, determined to move things along, and began to rock his hips against hers, pressing down occasionally, preparing for what he wanted to do next.

Because he really did want his princess. The moment he entered his bedroom doorway to see her sitting on his bed wearing nothing but a towel with her long moonlight silver hair loose he wanted her.

She had said she had nothing else to do, and he didn't have anything that couldn't wait. They had all the time they needed, so why not?

Usagi moaned into her prince's mouth as she ran her fingers through his hair and slid her legs along his. Pleasure pulsed through her with every move of his hips, and she wanted to feel more.

Suddenly they were rolling, her towel being left behind, until she found herself lying on top of him. She broke their kiss and looked down at him as she automatically adjusted her hands and arms on the bed.

He grinned up at her, playfulness and desire coursing through their bond, and she laughed lightly before she brought her lips back to his.

Mamoru ran his fingers through her hair and caressed her bottom as she moved her hips against his, all of which she thoroughly enjoyed, but she still wanted more.

She broke their kiss and sat up, pushing her hair back as some of it slid over her shoulder and arm, and scooted back as she wrapped her fingers under the elastic of his boxers.

Just as she was shifting her arms to tug them back the echoing sound of beeping went off in the room.

They looked at each in surprise and consternation before they looked to their communicators. His was still on his wrist and hers was on the nightstand.

Usagi reluctantly climbed off Mamoru and grabbed her discarded towel before she grabbed her communicator and opened it. Mamoru did the same as he sat up, and they both saw the blue Mercury button flashing.

"Mamoru here."

"Usagi here."

They both said after they pressed the flashing button.

.:xXx:.

Teens and some adults walked and ran around talking and laughing, playing games and eating, and generally enjoying themselves at the festival the high school was hosting. Booths and stands were set up and music played over the intercoms to further add to the festive atmosphere.

High above them, floating unnoticed, was an unusual female sitting crossed leg on a large pink lotus blossom. She was wearing an orange sleeveless robe, an orange headdress with light jade green beads hanging from it, and an orange and black necklace with light jade green beads hanging down her throat.

She looked down at the large gathering seeing their happiness, their laughter, their energy, and knew they were just what she was looking for. There was an abundance of energy just waiting for her, and once she had it she knew her masters would be pleased.

She stretched out her arms and focused on what she wanted and watched as pink flower petals appeared in the air around her before they began to rain down on the gathering.

A couple walked together hand in hand as they pointed out which game stall they wanted to try next when suddenly the guy was smacked in the face with a large flower petal.

The guy cried out indignantly and tried to pry the petal off his face, but it wouldn't budge. His girlfriend tried to help but it still wouldn't budge. Then she cried out as she felt something land on her back, and reached back to feel and realized it was another of those large petals.

She turned as she suddenly heard screams and saw other people with the flower petals on them. That's when she realized it was coming from the sky. She looked up and saw them raining down, and what looked like a person floating, but she couldn't tell with so many petals falling.

"What's going on?" Her boyfriend asked.

"These flower petals are raining from the sky and sticking to everyone they touch." She answered.

"Can anyone get them off?" He asked even as he continued to pull at the one on his face.

"No. Everyone is struggling with them." She said wearily. "I'm tired." She added suddenly.

She grabbed his arm as her legs felt weak and then she lowered to sit on the ground. Her boyfriend joined her a few moments later; flopping into a seated position.

"I don't feel so good." He said.

The unusual female smirked down on the gathering from her position in the sky as the energy her petals were collecting streamed up toward her and began to gather into a growing sphere of hot pink energy.

The energy felt strong with their emotions and would really be appreciated by her masters. Many people were still down there and she could get their energy too if they stayed longer once she was finished harvesting the current energy she was taking.

"Yamandakka!" She suddenly screamed in pain as she was hit in her sides by something hot on one side and cold on the other.

Her concentration broken, she frown and looked around, her red eyes flashing in anger to see who had attacked her.

Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars nodded as they watched their respective attacks in the form of birds strike the cardian. They had both independently wondered how the cardian would react to two different attacks coming at it at the same time considering the alarming fact that it had four faces.

The fact that both attacks landed meant that despite having extra faces the main one was the only one that could see or focus at a time.

Before the cardian could do anything other than look at them angrily it was hit from behind by a large bolt of white electricity.

"Yamandakka!" It screamed and fell through the air slightly before stopping. Its head spun around on its neck so its angry face was facing behind it as it looked down.

Sailor Jupiter grimaced as she saw the cardian's head spin until a difference face was looking down on her. It was disconcerting but at least she knew it hadn't seen her attacking it despite the face that had been originally facing its back.

The cardian moved higher in the air and stretched her arms out, needing to get rid of these new people clearly trying to stop her from gathering energy for her masters, and focused before large pink flower petals appeared in the air and began to rain down.

Fire Soul Bird. Mars thought as she raised her hands into the air. A large bird of fire appeared and flew around at her direction burning the petals before they could reach any of them or the people still on the ground.

"Yamandakka!" The cardian yelled in frustrated anger. "Yamandakka!" She screamed in pain as she was hit in the chest. She spun her angry face back forward and saw multiple beams of light coming at her and striking her.

The cardian lowered herself in the air, drifting down, as she lifted and stretched her arms out once again and focused.

Large pink flower petals appeared in the air and began to rain down, and she focused further before she began to spin in the air. Hot pink electricity came streaking out her hands and down toward all the fighters.

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen appeared in a flash of gold only to leap back to avoid getting zapped by what looked like pink electricity. They looked up and grimaced at what they saw.

The cardian had four faces with black hair hanging down pass its shoulders, and from what they could see of the faces each had a single emotion expressed and different colored eyes; red, green, blue, and black. In addition to that it had six arms with three on each side of its body, and sat with its legs crossed on a large pink lotus blossom.

They exchanged a look and both attacked, not waiting for the cardian to notice their arrival. She raised her hands and launched her Moon Sparkling Sensation, and he summoned two roses and focused before he watched them shift into glowing red petals before they began to spin around his body.

Spinning Rose Evolution. He thought as he thrust his hand upward.

A loose beam of white sparkling stars sped toward the spinning cardian along with a beam of red rose petals.

"Yamadakka!" The cardian screamed as it was hit and knocked out of its spin and sent flying. Its scream cut off as it slammed into the side of one of the school buildings.

Mars didn't wait for the cardian to recover she lifted her hands and launched her Fire Soul Bird attack at it while it was falling.

"Yamadakka!" The cardian screamed as the fire burned it before it hit the ground, the concrete shaking to show just how heavy the creature was.

Mercury launched her Mercury Ice Bubbles down on the cardian from where she stood on the roof of the main building of the school hoping to freeze it solid and be done with it.

The attack hit and the cold ice spread but suddenly the cardian burst up from the ground into the air.

"Yamadakka!" The cardian yelled in a goofy tone as its main face switched from the angry red eyed one to the silly black eyed one. Hot pink electricity crackled around its body breaking off the ice before she sped forward.

It zoomed up quickly toward Mercury and she dove down onto the roof floor out of the way, and the cardian turned sharply on its large lotus blossom and sped down and circled toward each of the fighters on the ground that it could see.

Jupiter, Mars, and Venus ducked and dodged out of the way. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen were further back and they watched this strange scene.

It clearly hasn't seen us. Sailor Moon said through her bond with her prince.

Then let's take advantage of that. Tuxedo Kamen replied.

Sailor Moon grasped her tiara as if she was going to take it off, but instead she focused on what she wanted as she gazed at the seemingly crazy cardian.

Moon Twilight Flash. She thought and watched as a thick beam of white moonlight shot toward the cardian.

The beam slammed into the oblivious cardian as it was turning.

"Yamadakka!" It yelled in a tone that sounded almost bubbly before it was pushed back and slammed into the building it was passing.

Tuxedo Kamen took the chance to summon a couple of roses. He willed them to turn black before he threw them toward the cardian. They shattered mid flight and the razor sharp black petals sliced into the falling cardian.

"Yamadakka!" The cardian screamed in pain before it hit the ground. Its head then spun until the sad blue eyed face showed. "Yamadakka." It moaned in sorrow as it slowly sat up.

Jupiter raised her hands and sent her Supreme Thunder toward the cardian while it was down, but despite its sad face the cardian floated up on its large lotus blossom and launched electricity from its many hands toward the lightning coming its way.

The two collided and almost exploded brightly.

Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon moved forward and she launched her Infinite Moonlight Illusion Beam while he summoned a couple of roses and launched Spinning Rose Evolution.

"Yamadakka." The cardian said sadly as it quickly floated itself up into the air, avoiding the two attacks. "Yamadakka." It moaned as it began to spin as it continued to rise higher and send hot pink electricity and large pink flower petals raining down.

Tuxedo Kamen and the Sailor Senshi ran and tried to find some type of cover on the campus grounds they were currently fighting on.

We practiced with our powers, created new attacks, made sure everyone could teleport, and got weapons during our training retreat, but we didn't work on some type of shielding defense. Sailor Moon thought as she ran.

Can we actually come up with something like that? She wondered, but before she could continue the thought she cried out as she found herself blasted from the side and flying through the air.

From the sounds of it she hadn't been the only one. Her prince and at least two of her Senshi had experienced the same thing.

Suddenly she cried out again and grimaced in pain as she abruptly came to a stop. She cracked open her eyes and looked behind her to see that she had hit a thin tree and was nearly bent backwards around it.

She rolled onto her stomach with a moan as she looked around to try and see where the attack came from, and narrowed her eyes as she spotted one of the beings they believed to be sending out the Cardians.

The pink haired female was walking forward with a smirk on her face. Obviously pleased with getting the drop on them.

Are you okay love? Sailor Moon asked her prince as she climbed to her feet without taking her eyes off the female.

I am now. Tuxedo Kamen groaned as he began to untangle himself. His cape had gotten caught on a piece of fence and with the way he had tumbled he'd nearly been strangled with it.

Sailor Moon grimaced as she caught that thought but pushed it aside since he was okay enough to talk. Instead she focused on the female in front of her, and quickly launched her Moon Sparkling Sensation.

She watched the female's dark hot pink eyes glow and flicker before her attack slammed up against an invisible shield. She narrowed her eyes in irritation, but she still made a note of it.

So she's able to use an energy shield at least when she knows an attack is coming. She thought calmly.

Suddenly a group of roses went flying through the air pass her toward the female, and she watched as she dodged the roses.

Maybe she dropped her shield too soon and couldn't put it back up so quickly. Sailor Moon wondered.

The female held out a hand toward them and, even unknowing of what was coming, they dodged away. They were right to react as instantly as they did because the trees and bushes behind them waved crazily, and Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen shared a look and knew that attack had been what first hit them and was something to definitely avoid.

And then they attacked. She with her Infinite Moonlight Illusion Beam, and he with his Deadly Rose Petals.

Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars groaned as they picked themselves up off the ground, bruised and aching, but already looking around for the source of the sneak attack while making sure the cardian wasn't about to attack them.

Almost at the same time they saw Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen starting to fight a female they had seen before, they saw a familiar male slowly approaching them. Both were the two beings they had seen at a previous fight, and clearly they were now joining their Cardians in the fight.

As they were steadying themselves on their feet the male lifted his arm and pointed his hand at them, and they quickly dodged not waiting to see what attack he was about to use.

That turned out to be a good thing since as far as they could tell it was the same one that had sent them flying.

Mars didn't even wait until she had finished dodging before she launched her Fire Soul Bird at the male. Jupiter turned and planted her feet before she launched her Supreme Thunder at the male; hoping to get him if Mars' attack didn't.

The male dodged the fiery bird and ducked under the bolts of lightning before he once again raised his hand and attacked the two women blasting them with massive pressure.

Mars dove out of the way and rolled into a crouch as she had been trained to do before she twisted around and launched her Fire Soul Bird from her low position.

Jupiter moved to dodge to the side but unfortunately she didn't make it all the way, and cried out as her legs were pushed out by a large force from under her with enough force to twist her like a child's spinning top.

The male dodged the large firebird but Mars followed up by launching her Fire Soul multiple times to try and keep him from focusing on Jupiter after she heard her cry out.

Sailor Mercury stared down in surprise as her fellow senshi and Tuxedo Kamen were blasted by an unseen attack and sent flying. Her eyes flickered to the cardian, but she knew it wasn't the cause since it was only now stopping its own attack.

She scanned the ground and finally saw two figures walking away from the cover of trees and around a building. She immediately recognized them as the two beings that were sending out the Cardians, and guessed that they were the ones to release that attack.

She watched as Mars and Jupiter faced the male as they recovered, and Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen face the female once they had recovered enough to notice her. She then glanced to the cardian, seeing that it seemed to be satisfying its curiosity by watching what was happening, before she looked back down and tried to find Venus.

It took a few moments but she finally spotted her only now starting to move in the bush she had landed in.

Mercury turned her attention back to the cardian, and lifted her hands before she launched her Mercury Aqua Rhapsody at it. Swirling streams of water appeared and streaked toward the cardian before they came together and blasted it.

"Yamadakka!" The cardian yelled in surprised pain as she was hit from the side and dropped a few feet before she stopped herself and looked around to see what had attacked her.

She narrowed her eyes at the female figure in blue and white, and raised her hands and focused before large pink flower petals began to rain down toward her.

Mercury raised her hands and launched her Mercury Ice Bubbles, and spread the cool fog as far around her as she could and watched the petals freeze and start to fall from the air. She then launched her Mercury Aqua Rhapsody, and sent the swirls of water through the air quickly toward the cardian.

Sailor Venus groaned as she pulled herself out of a small flower bush that sat right up against the building they had been fighting in front of.

What hit me? She wondered as she steadied herself and looked around.

She blinked in surprise to see Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon engaged in a fight with a green skinned female, and Jupiter and Mars fighting a green skinned male.

She recognized them as the two beings that they suspected of sending out the Cardians to attack people. Then she remembered they had been fighting a cardian before the attack that blew them all away.

Venus looked around quickly and found the cardian still high in the air, and busy dodging swirls of water rapidly flowing toward it.

She quickly lifted her hand and launched her Crescent Beam as she aimed her finger at the cardian. The light beam flew through the air and slammed into the bottom of the flower blossom the cardian was floating on.

"Yamadakka!" The cardian yelled in surprise and then again, this time in pain, as the water attack hit her neck blasting her back.

"Yamadakka!" She screamed as she was blasted again, this time by multiple beams of light, and fell from the sky before she slammed heavily into the ground.

Venus stared at the cardian, seeing that it was rather large now that it was on the ground, before she looked up to Mercury. Mercury returned her look and nodded, which Venus returned before they both looked back to the cardian and prepared to attack.

"Yamadakka!" The cardian yelled before either of them could actually attack, its head spinning until the angry face was in front, and burst up into the air before it sped toward Venus.

Venus' eyes widened and she took a step back, but that was all she had time for before the cardian was literally on her. She cried out as a hand grabbed one of her wrists, another grabbed her other wrist, one hand grabbed on to some of her hair, and another her calf.

She struggled to try and free herself as it began to drift up into the air, and frowned as nothing worked. She couldn't even attack because the cardian had a hold of both her wrists and had her hands facing away from it.

Mercury gasped as her eyes widened at what she was seeing. She couldn't believe that the cardian had gotten to Venus so quickly, and she wondered what she could do given the situation.

It was clear Venus couldn't attack it, but she knew it was too dangerous for her to attack as well since she could hurt Venus in the process.

Her eyes flickered around and she saw that all of the others were busy with their own fights, so they couldn't help either. That left only her, but how was she supposed to help her fellow senshi without using her powers.

Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered her bow and arrows. She silently thanked Mars for asking if they use physical weapons since it led to them actually getting weapons. She was definitely in a position where she needed hers.

Mercury focused and summoned her weapon. Instantly the long blue and light blue curved bow and blue quiver of arrows appeared in her hands. She quickly swung the strap of the quiver over her head to rest on her back, idly thinking she needed to work on getting it to appear that way when she summoned it to save time, and pulled one of the blue arrows.

She put the arrow in place on the bow and looked back down toward Venus. She squinted as she lifted her bow to aim, but instantly began to worry about hitting Venus.

She frowned and blinked before she lifted her hand and pressed one of her earrings to activate her visor. As soon as it appeared over her eyes she focused on the cardian once again as she lifted her bow.

Pulling back on the string she aimed her arrow as her visor zoomed in on the cardian and provided her the accuracy she needed. She released the arrow and pulled another one as quickly as she could, and nocked it before she pulled back on the string and aimed yet again.

She released the arrow and pulled another from her quiver as she watched the first two pierce the cardian's arms holding Venus' wrists. She aimed and released her next arrow and watched it pierce through the wrist beneath the hand that was holding Venus' hair.

"Yamadakka!" The cardian screamed as she was unexpectedly hit with arrows, her head spinning until her sad face showed, and released her captive's wrists and hair.

Venus quickly took advantage and kicked the cardian in the chest causing it to release her leg, and pointed her finger at it and launched her Crescent Beam Shower as she fell toward the ground.

A beam shot off from her fingertip and split into multiple orange-gold beams before they all slammed into the cardian.

Mercury put her bow away in her subspace pocket and lifted her hands. She launched her Mercury Aqua Rhapsody sending swirls of water streaming at the cardian before they came together and slammed into the distracted creature.

"Yamadakka!" The cardian screamed as it fell out of the air toward the ground.

Mercury lifted her hands and launched her Ice Water Phoenix as she watched the cardian fall. Water streamed out of her hands and swirled around her before it streaked down toward the cardian forming the shape of the mythical phoenix.

Venus' feet hit the ground, her knees bending slightly to help steady herself, before she leapt back a few feet to put distance between herself and the cardian as she watched it hit the ground.

The water bird hit the cardian and liquid spread over and around it before the four faced creature froze solid.

Venus raised her arm and pointed her finger before she launched her Crescent Beam Shower. The beam shot forward before it split and showered the frozen cardian in light beams that shattered its form.

Just like with the last cardian they defeated the frozen pieces of it fell and scattered across the ground making it clear no card would be appearing in its place to show what it had really been.

Mercury jumped off the roof down to the ground and began to retrieve her arrows, seeing that they had survived the cardian's defeat. She placed them in her quiver before she joined Venus, and together they looked at the other fights to see which one needed help the most if any.

Tuxedo Kamen pulled out a handful of roses and launched his Spinning Rose Evolution sending a beam of red energy rose petals flying at the female.

Sailor Moon lifted her hands and launched her Infinite Moonlight Illusion Beam sending a white beam of light with an infinite repeating image of silver blue tinted crescent moons toward the female.

Both beams raced through the air, but the female's eyes glowed and flickered and the attacks slammed up against an invisible shield. She in turn lifted her hand and a blast of massive pressure came speeding their way, and they both dodged out of the way.

Hold off on attacking for a moment. I have an idea. Sailor Moon told her prince.

Be careful. Tuxedo Kamen replied.

I will. She said before she focused and willed herself toward the space directed behind the green skinned female.

A moment later she disappeared and reappeared exactly where she wanted to be. She summoned her Holy Blade to her hand, and swung the sword down slicing across the female's back.

The female screamed at the sudden pain, but Sailor Moon ignored the piercing sound as she lifted her fingers to her tiara and quickly launched her Moon Twilight Flash blasting her from up close. The female screamed again and flew through the air.

Jupiter launched her Jupiter Thunderbolt, and two large bolts of white electricity flew toward the male before combining midair.

The male dodged but before he could return fire he heard a scream from a familiar voice. He looked over to see his companion and listened to her scream again as she flew through the air.

"An!" He yelled before rushing to her. He watched her hit the ground with a cry, and he slid along the ground at her side and pulled her into his arms.

"You'll pay for this!" He said angrily before he teleported away with his injured companion.

Sailor Moon put her sword away back in her subspace pocket as she jogged toward her prince, the other senshi heading for him as well.

"Is everyone okay?" She asked, and everyone nodded or replied in the affirmative.

"I think we need to have a meeting. I have some information I need to share." Mars said, and Sailor Moon nodded.

"Whose place is available?" She asked the group.

"Mine is." Jupiter replied before anyone else.

"Okay then; let's go." Sailor Moon said.

The fighters all began to rush from the high school campus grounds and toward Jupiter's place.

Minutes later…

The secret Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen were gathered inside Makoto's apartment sitting as comfortably as possible on the couch, chairs, and the floor.

"So I was trying to do a fire reading before I got the call for the attack." Naru said from her seat on the floor in front of the coffee table.

"First I saw a tall building that I had the feeling was an apartment building, then I saw a massive green tree with red or pink leaves almost glowing inside a dark cave-like room, and last I saw the two siblings Ginga Seijuro and Ginga Natsumi." She related.

"But as I looked at them their appearance changed. Their hair changed to light pink and light blue, their skin color to green, their eyes to dark hot pink and dark blue, and their outfits to dark blue and dark red bodysuits." She explained.

"Their appearance kept flashing back and forth from the new appearance to how I recognized them from school. It kept going and going and gradually I saw the massive tree in the background and a few moments later the apartment building appeared behind both their changing appearance and the tree." She finished.

Everyone blinked in surprise, but before anyone could comment on that Mamoru spoke up.

"I asked Jadeite to follow Seijuro around today to try and find out if he's actually an enemy, and he reported that he had followed him to an apartment building called Juuban Odyssey Apartment Complex. He couldn't follow him inside so I checked through my connection to the Earth to see what I could find out." He added, and everyone focused their eyes on him.

"I found the building and my view took me to an apartment on one of the top floors before it took me inside and showed the two siblings sitting in a living room. That told me that they probably were our enemy, because only minutes before I had come across Natsumi and there was no way she could have arrived at that apartment so quickly without some form of teleportation." He explained.

"I could see them talking but couldn't hear them, and then Seijuro walked toward a hallway and stopped in front of a doorway with large double doors that didn't match the rest of the apartment from what I could see." He continued.

"The doors slid open on their own to reveal a room so dark it was almost pitch black but Seijuro still stepped inside. When the doors closed I saw a massive tree that was giving off light. It was green with a thick canopy of reddish pink leaves, and the room was absolutely cavernous to accommodate it and its massive network of roots." Mamoru explained.

"Then I saw Seijuro's appearance change to a familiar one. His eyes glowed a bright red before they changed to dark blue, his skin became light green, his ears became pointed and elf-like, his hair lengthened to stretch down his back and became light blue, and he was wearing a dark blue full bodysuit." He informed them.

Everyone looked thoughtful as they silently went over the information they had just received.

Why didn't you say anything earlier? Usagi asked through their bond after a few moments.

I was distracted. Mamoru said honestly. I came home to find my princess sitting on my bed wearing nothing but a towel with her hair loose around her. The enemy was the last thing on my mind.

Usagi held in a laugh, but was pleased she had that affect on her prince.

Of course you do. He said, hearing her thoughts.

"From those accounts we now know the siblings are in fact our enemy and the ones sending out the Cardians, and they are based in the Juuban Odyssey Apartment Complex." Usagi said, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"I'm concerned about the tree you both saw." Ami said as she looked to Naru and Mamoru. "It might be the source of the Cardians considering they're all plant based."

"The tree might be what they have been trying to collect energy for." Minako said.

"It certainly looked big enough to need some type of food source." Mamoru commented.

"Definitely." Naru agreed.

"Do you guys think the tree might be dangerous or sentient to the point where we'll have to worry about fighting it as well as the Cardians and the siblings?" Makoto asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was since it was glowing and is so big. I think it's something we should be prepared to deal with just in case." Mamoru said, and everyone nodded in agreement.

"We need to deal with those siblings." Minako said, and everyone voiced their agreement.

"The question is when and how exactly are we going to do it? We know where they are, but that apartment building has to be occupied by other people. If we go there we risk hurting those people; especially since we don't know what will happen with the tree." Usagi said.

Mamoru sighed. "Until we can think of something we'll have to continue fighting the Cardians. Hopefully the siblings will make an appearance at the next fight to save us the trouble of having to go to their home ground so-to-speak." He said.

"Until then Usagi, Naru, Ami, and Makoto will have to keep an eye on the siblings when they're at school, and be extra cautious now that we know who they really are." He continued.

"Be careful if you find yourselves in close proximity to them as well since it's entirely possible that they can gather energy just as their Cardians can." Minako added.

Everyone nodded seriously in agreement.

.:xXx:.

Mamoru and Usagi appeared back in his bedroom in his apartment after the meeting they had just had with the girls after defeating another cardian and fighting the beings they now knew were the new siblings at her school.

"So what do you want to do now?" Usagi asked as she sat on her love's bed. "I doubt it would be a good idea for us to go back to what we were doing even if that is exactly what I want."

Mamoru chuckled. "I want to as well, but you're probably right. We would likely be interrupted again over something else just when things were getting good." He said.

Usagi just blushed and hid her face in one of his pillows.

"How about we go on a date tomorrow?" He suggested. "That way we hopefully won't be interrupted, and can take our time and thoroughly enjoy ourselves."

"That sounds good." She said as she moved the pillow. "Do you have anything in particular in mind?"

"No." He answered.

"How about a movie and dinner afterward?" She suggested. "And then after that we come back here and finish the date."

"Sounds good to me." Mamoru said as he nodded. "We can go after our personal training, and if you have homework we can go to Elysion and you could do it while we're there."

Usagi nodded. "So it won't take time away from our training or our date." She said.

"Exactly." He said with a grin, and then hummed thoughtfully. "We should head to Elysion now to get in some training together. I still need to do my training for the day, and I want you to work with your sword. After that I'm going to need to do my homework."

"I'm all for it." She said with a nod as she put his pillow back in its place.

She stood up and went and put her arms around him and he did the same before he focused on wanting to be in Elysion with his princess.

The couple disappeared in a flash of gold light leaving the bedroom once again empty.

Meanwhile…

Minako teleported in a flash of orange into a small side alley between houses in her neighborhood and wasted no time hurrying toward her house. She had left Artemis and Luna as well as her homework when got the call about the attack, and now she needed to get back to it and inform them of what they had learned.

Thankfully I already did my personal training, so that's something I don't have to worry about needing to do still. She thought as she walked.

She pulled her keys from her subspace pocket and unlocked the front door as she reached her house. She stepped inside and closed the door and greeted her mother as she saw her sitting in the living room then she hurried upstairs to her room. She opened the door and stepped inside and closed the door before she leaned against it with a sigh.

"Is everything alright?" Artemis asked, and she looked to him where he lay at the end of her bed with Luna not far away.

"Yes." Minako said as she nodded. "Everything's okay, and so is everyone." She added as she went and sat at her desk. "We defeated the cardian, but during the fight the two beings we believe are sending them out showed up and joined the fight."

"I wasn't part of the fight with either being, but I know they have the power to send a large blast of pressure that could blow us all away if we don't avoid it." She explained.

Artemis and Luna's eyes widened slightly, and they understood from that alone that the girls had been hit by that pressure blast.

"The female was injured and the male took her away, so obviously we didn't get a chance to defeat them. After that we went to Makoto's to have a meeting since Naru said she had some information to share with us." Minako continued.

"Naru had done a fire reading for the first time just before the call for the attack came, and she basically saw the new siblings that started attending hers and the other girls school, and that they were really the two beings sending out the Cardians." She informed them.

Artemis' eyes widened and Luna gasped, and Mina nodded.

"She also saw an apartment building and a massive tree that we think the Cardians are made from." She said.

"Beyond that Mamoru also had a report. He had checked through his connection to the Earth and saw the apartment building as well and the tree, which was in a cavernous sized room inside the apartment. He then saw the brother sibling change his appearance to look like the male being we've been seeing." Minako informed them.

"Oh wow, so it is doubly confirmed that those siblings are in fact the beings responsible for the Cardians." Artemis said.

"Yes." She said as she nodded.

"Why was Mamoru checking through his connection with the Earth in the first place?" Luna asked.

"He had had Jadeite following the brother sibling to see if he was actually an enemy." Minako answered. "Jadeite had tailed him to an apartment building but couldn't go inside to continue following him without being seen, so he reported to Mamoru and he in turn checked to see what he could find out from there."

"Did anyone follow the sister?" Artemis asked curiously.

"No one asked, but if I know Mamoru then I would guess that he had her followed as well." She replied. "He did mention that before he had checked through his connection with the Earth he had just spoken to the girl, and that she had been at the apartment when he saw through the Earth."

Artemis nodded. "She got there too quickly for her to be a normal human being." He said knowingly, and she nodded.

"It was further confirmation that she is also the enemy." Minako said.

"So the Cardians are coming from the tree." Luna said.

"It isn't confirmed, but that's what we believe since they are plant based. We also believe that the energy they are trying to collect is for the tree as a food source." Minako said. "On top of that we're concerned that the tree could be dangerous; maybe sentient and able to attack, so we'll have to watch out for that when we finally deal with the pair."

"Have you all decided when you will do that now that you know who the beings are and where they are?" Artemis asked.

"We haven't. They're based in an apartment building but there are other people living in that building, and we don't want to risk taking the fight there and them getting hurt." She answered.

"We're hoping the two will show up at the next fight and we can deal with them then, but until then the girls are going to keep an eye on them at school and be careful." She explained further.

"So now we just have to wait." Luna said, and Artemis and Minako nodded.

Tuesday: Day Twenty Three

Late Afternoon

Usagi jogged away from her house in the late afternoon to begin making her way to the park where she and her prince did their personal training. She could have simply teleported there, but she wanted to get warmed up before she got there. That way she and Mamoru could get started with their training right away.

Usually she would already be with him when he picked her up after school, but he let her know through their bond that he wouldn't be able to make it since he needed to speak to one of his professors.

He hadn't want her waiting at the campus by herself since the girls would be heading to their group training. He didn't want to chance that Seijuro guy trying to approach her; especially now that they knew for certain that he was their enemy.

With his concern, and hers, in mind she had been careful on her way home. She had constantly checked to make sure she wasn't being followed, and as far as she could tell she hadn't been followed.

Still, the first chance she got she had teleported away to her neighborhood. She didn't want to take a chance that he would find her. She especially didn't want him to know where she lived if he did find her now that she knew he was the enemy.

She had greeted her mom and changed out of her school uniform into something comfortable for training and left the house soon after.

Now Usagi was gradually moving through her neighborhood jogging along the sidewalks and crossing streets, and when she made it out of her neighborhood she started to run.

She kept her pace that of a normal person instead of running as if she was transformed. She didn't need anyone becoming curious about the girl with a unique hair style running faster than she should.

I just got to the park. She suddenly heard her prince's voice in her mind; she estimated about twenty minutes into her run.

I'm almost there. I can see the trees in the distance. She replied. Did everything go well with your professor?

It did. He answered. It was only about the topic to a paper I need to write. I needed to make sure the topic was approved before I started writing.

I can only imagine. Usagi said. I would be beyond frustrated to start writing a paper, especially if it was going to be a long one, only to find out the topic wasn't right for whatever reason.

And that's why I spoke to my professor; to make sure that didn't happen. I didn't need to be dealing with frustration right now or to have to spend time rewriting a lengthy paper. He said.

I'm glad you got it taken care of. She said, and paused briefly as she crossed the street. I can't wait for our date. She continued.

I can't either. He replied. Do you know of any movies that are playing right now?

No. We'll just have to see what… Before she could finish her mental sentence she felt a sharp tug on the stream of hair on her right side.

Usagi cried out and stopped abruptly in her run to try and relieve the painful pressure on her scalp, and the next thing she knew she felt firm arms wrapping around her waist. Her eyes snapped open and in the next moment she saw a flash of light.

Usagi?! She heard Mamoru's anxious voice, and when the light cleared she blinked to find herself in what looked like a living room.

She could feel warm breath on her neck and that scared and angered her, because the only breath that should be that close to her skin was her prince's.

Usagi! She heard Mamoru call her again, and she frowned.

Hold on. She said before she took a breath.

Usagi swung her head back sharply and felt it slam painfully against something hard and heard her a masculine pained groan. The arms around her loosened and she pushed them away and turned quickly and swung her fist at the person. She hit their face and she stepped back quickly as they cried out and stumbled back.

I'm coming. Mamoru said.

No! I can leave any time I want, but I want to see who this is before I go. She said.

With that she shifted her eyes away from the guy and looked around the living room. She saw a couch, a kitchen, the entrance to a hallway, and a balcony with sliding glass doors.

She returned her eyes back to the guy in time to see him straighten and look toward her. She immediately recognized him. It was Seijuro. She hadn't needed more proof that he was the enemy, but she would take it regardless.

She heard a door open, quickly realized it was behind her, and shifted back and to her side so whoever came through wouldn't be to her back and Seijuro wouldn't be closer to her.

She quickly shifted her eyes to the door and immediately recognized Natsumi coming through. Her eyes shifted behind her out into the hallway, and she saw half a door with a number on it and knew she was in an apartment.

I've seen all I need to see. Time to get out. She thought.

Usagi shifted her eyes back and forth between the two supposed siblings as she focused on the image of her love and wanting to be with him.

"Usagi." Seijuro said, and she narrowed her eyes on him before she disappeared in the warm white light of her power. She blinked as she reappeared outside in a flash among the trees of a park.

Instantly she was wrapped up from behind and this time she knew who it was. Her love was taller than Seijuro, and had firmer arms, a stronger grip, and love radiated from him toward her.

That's right. "That's right." Mamoru said out loud and through their bond before he turned her around toward him. "Are you okay?" He asked as he wrapped her back in his arms.

"I'm fine. The only thing that hurts is my head from my scalp being abused and using it to help free myself." Usagi said.

Instantly Mamoru moved a hand up to her head and she felt a warmth before the ache faded away.

"Thanks." She said with a relieved sigh. "Nothing happened after he grabbed me and brought me back to his apartment. I freed myself from his hold and that's when I saw that it was Seijuro, and then right after I saw that it was him Natsumi walked through the apartment door."

"Looking back I can tell Natsumi looked surprised to see me there." She explained.

"I bet she was." Mamoru said. "I highly doubt she knew he was going to bring you there, and he himself must not have planned on letting you leave considering the way he brought you there. There was no way to explain away how you both got there after all."

"True." Usagi agreed. "And now that I left the way I did we really need to take care of them. I'm certainly not about to go to school with them. I just don't know exactly what to do."

"You're going to contact the girls, and we're going to go to that apartment building and finish off those two once and for all." Mamoru said firmly. "If they try to run like last time we'll go after them. This time they won't get away. We will be done with this enemy today!"

Usagi nodded and lifted her wrist. She pressed the gold button on the side of her communicator watch, and the cover opened to reveal an array of buttons. She pressed the green, blue, red, and orange buttons with their tiny dark planetary symbols on them and waited.

The girls answered quickly and she explained what had just happened to her, and what they were going to do and where they were going to meet up.

Meanwhile…

Natsumi stopped short just inside her apartment doorway and her eyes widened as she saw Usagi standing in her living room, but in the next moment she disappeared in a flash of white light.

"What the hell was that?!" She said looking at her companion as she closed the door.

Seijuro sighed. "I just wanted to talk to her, but her leaving like that was completely unexpected." He said.

"What happened? How did she get here?" Natsumi asked. "Considering she's been avoiding you I highly doubt she came here on her own."

"I found her while she was out running and brought her here." He said as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Brought her here." She repeated his words. "And how exactly did you do that?" She asked slowly.

"I teleported with her before she was able to see me or know what was happening." He admitted, and she groaned.

"What were you thinking?! Had you even thought your little plan through?!" Natsumi asked incredulously. "I want to get Mamoru alone and talk to him, but I haven't tried to kidnap him to do it!"

"Now Usagi knows not only where we live but that you at least are very different from other humans, and judging by the way she left she's a bit different herself. She might even be one of those female fighters that have been preventing us from getting energy." She continued, and this time he groaned.

"I know." Seijuro said as he went and sat down on the couch, and then he sighed heavily. "I just wasn't thinking. I was so frustrated that I wasn't able to get close to Usagi or talk to her that I just reacted when I finally saw her alone."

Natsumi sighed herself and walked over to him.

"I think we're being too distracted by those two. We were perfectly fine before we came here and laid eyes on them." She said. "Maybe if we hadn't been so distracted we would have more energy and still have Cardians."

"You're right." Seijuro said as he nodded. "I've never felt so, so obsessed before, and I don't like it. We were perfectly fine before we came here, we were fine with each other and that's how we should get back to being."

"Despite the feelings I developed for Usagi I've always thought of you as my constant companion, and that we would always be together no matter what." He continued.

"I do as well." Natsumi said. "Even in my wildest imaginings of what I could have with Mamoru I always thought you would be by me through it all."

"Then we should just take Usagi and Mamoru out of the equation, and get back to being completely loyal to each other." Seijuro said.

"Yes. Yes we should." She said as she smiled, and he nodded.

"You're right that Usagi might be one of those fighters, which means they might be on their way here. We should keep a look out and be ready. If they do come then we won't hesitate to finish them. We can't risk our Tree." He said, and she nodded firmly.

"I'm going to go check on the Makaiju Tree and get ready." Natsumi said.

"I'll keep watch out on the balcony since I doubt they would teleport right into the apartment." Seijuro said, and she nodded.

They both then stood up and separated to start their tasks.

.:xXx:.

The Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen gathered together across the street from the Juuban Odyssey apartment complex and looked up at the height of the building. They knew this was the base of operations for the siblings/beings that had come to their home planet and were trying to steal the energy of its people.

"I'm going to check to make sure they're still inside the apartment." Tuxedo Kamen said.

Everyone nodded, keeping watch, and he closed his eyes to better focus and block out visual distractions. He focused on the siblings/beings Seijuro and Natsumi.

Please show me what they are doing, and where they are? He asked the Earth.

Images flashed behind his closed eyes until they stopped to show him Natsumi in her green skinned form standing in the dark massive room before the massive tree he had seen the last time he had checked through the Earth.

Then the images flashed again briefly before stopping on the image of Seijuro standing on a balcony looking down.

"They're up there." He said as he released his connection to the Earth and opened his eyes. "Seijuro is standing on the balcony. I have no doubt the male can see us and is aware we're coming for them."

"I'm still not sure how we're going to go about this." Sailor Moon said.

"How about we split up and head toward their apartment from different directions." Sailor Mars suggested. "That way if we're attacked we won't be trying to fight as a group in a cramped hallway."

"That sounds good, but we should be paired up so we aren't traveling alone and risk being attacked while we're by ourselves." Sailor Venus said.

"Yes." Tuxedo Kamen agreed. "Especially since we still need to be cautious of the tree."

"True." Sailor Moon agreed as well. "If you see anyone direct them out of the building." She added.

"What if they want to know why?" Sailor Jupiter asked.

"Tell them the truth." Sailor Moon said seriously. "The beings responsible for the creatures that have been attacking people recently are living in the building, and you're there to deal with them and didn't want them getting hurt since you have no idea what would happen."

"Who's going where?" Sailor Mercury asked.

"With the height of the building there will be an elevator and stairs for emergencies." Venus said. "I'll take the stairs." She decided.

"I'll go with her." Jupiter said.

"I'll take the stairs as well, but start from the roof and work my way down." Mars said.

"I'll go with you." Mercury told Mars, and then took out her minicomputer and began to look for the blueprint to the building. "So we can know where to appear on the roof." She said as Mars moved next to her to see what she was doing.

Mars simply nodded as she watched.

"That leaves us to take the elevator." Tuxedo Kamen said as he looked to his princess, and she nodded.

"I'm sure we can handle it." Sailor Moon said.

"So here." Mercury said as she angled the screen to her fellow senshi.

"That's a good spot." Mars said as she nodded.

Mercury nodded in return before she closed her minicomputer and put it away.

"We're ready." She said to the group.

"Is everyone else ready? Everyone remember the apartment number?" Sailor Moon asked, and everyone nodded. "Then let's go, and remember to use your communicator if you need to relay information if you can."

Everyone nodded firmly and Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Moon, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus began to walk across the street toward the building. Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury teleported away to the roof of the building.

.:xXx:.

Watching from above on a balcony near the top of the building was Seijuro taking in what was happening as much as he could. The fighters had come just like they thought they would, which meant that Usagi really was one of those female fighters.

That wouldn't stop him. He had made the decision to let his feelings, his obsession, for Usagi go. Besides he didn't know which fighter she was, so it didn't matter anyway. He wasn't about to hold back on all the females to avoid hurting her.

He saw that they appeared to be talking amongst themselves for a few minutes before most of them began to walk toward the building while two of them disappeared in a red and blue flash of light.

Seijuro went inside and hurried to the room housing the Makaiju Tree, and saw his companion standing amongst the roots along the floor.

"An." He said as he walked over and to her side. "They're here and heading into the building." He informed her. Then his eyes began to glow before his appearance changed to match hers.

"How do you think we should handle this?" He asked.

"All of them are coming into the building?" She asked.

"All but two. Those two seemed to have teleported away." He said.

"We need to keep them away and protect the Makaiju Tree." She said.

"We'll have to intercept them before they reach the apartment; so at the elevator." He said.

"Yes." An said as she nodded, and then frowned. "Wait Ail! You said some had teleported away?" She said, and he nodded. "What if they're trying to come at us from different directions?"

"There's only the stairs besides the elevator, so we'll have to separate and meet them at each location before they can come to the apartment at all." Ail said, and she nodded.

"I'll take the stairs." She said, and he nodded.

"Then I have the elevator." He replied.

They looked to their Tree for a moment before they turned and walked from the cavernous room and back into their apartment. They moved through it and opened the apartment door and stepped out into the hallway and closed the door, making sure it was locked for good measure for all the good it might do them if the fighters got passed them.

Ail grabbed his companions hand as he looked at her, and An stepped toward him and hugged him, which he returned, and she kissed his cheek.

"Be careful." He told her quietly.

"You too." She said just as quietly.

They separated and looked to each other before they nodded without another spoken word, and turned away from each other to walk in different directions toward their self-appointed destination.

Mercury & Mars' POV

The senshi's of Mars and Mercury appeared on the roof of the apartment building, and quickly looked around before they headed to the door that would allow them access to the building.

The door was locked, which wasn't unexpected, but it had a keypad lock so Mercury used her minicomputer to find the correct code.

It only took a matter of moments, and she had the door open.

"Good job." Mars said.

"Thanks!" Mercury said as she flashed a smile; happy that her effort had been acknowledged, and once again happy that Naru had become Sailor Mars. Rei would have said nothing and just walked in ahead of her without a word.

Together they stepped inside and began to head down the stairs toward the floor that the two beings apartment was on, which was apparently only two floors down from the roof.

They had only gone down one floor, only steps pass the door leading to that floor, when they heard a door open below them. They paused and looked at each other, both wondering who that was; especially since it was close, just below them.

Mars shrugged. "There's only one way to find out." She whispered, and Mercury nodded in agreement.

Mars slowly leaned over the railing since she was the closest, and looked down the stairwell only to see the female being. Her head suddenly snapped up suddenly, spotting her, and lifted her hand toward her.

Mars' eyes widened, knowing what was about to happen before it did, and she leaned back and almost dove into Mercury.

She was just in time to avoid a massive blast of pressure that rattled the railings and even the doors above them.

Mars looked to Mercury as she helped steady her. "It's the female." She said.

Mercury nodded and took a breath before sighing it out heavily.

"I wish we didn't have to fight in a stairwell." She said.

"Yeah." Mars agreed. "There's no room, but at least it isn't a hallway where someone could come out of their apartment and get in the way."

Mercury agreed, and Mars lifted her hands and stepped back toward the railing before she launched her Fire Soul and sent a fireball down at the female.

Mercury moved to the stair below her and followed up by launching her Mercury Aqua Rhapsody.

An's eyes flickered with a red glow as she quickly generated a shield above her, which stopped the attacks before they faded away. Then she raised her arm and pointed her hand up at them and released a blast of pressure at them.

Mercury and Mars quickly leaned back and out of the way of the blast before they quickly moved back to the railing and attacked again.

Mars launched her Fire Soul twice, back to back, before she moved up a few steps to try and change her angle before she launched her Burning Mandala.

Mercury moved down a few steps, hoping they could split the female's attention, and launched her Mercury Aqua Rhapsody.

An narrowed her eyes and dodged the balls of fire before she quickly focused, her eyes flickering with a red glow, and put up a shield to intercept the fire hoops and streams of water. She then raised her hands and sent two blasts of pressure up at the two fighters.

Again Mars and Mercury moved back and out of the way of the pressure blasts.

Venus & Jupiter's POV

The senshi's of Venus and Jupiter calmly yet purposely walked down the hallway off the main lobby as they separated from Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen. They saw the door that was their target, clearly labeled, and headed for it.

Jupiter reached it first and turned the handle and pushed the door open, and held it for Venus as she joined her on the other side. As she let the door go they both looked up the stairwell and saw to their slight dismay just how many stairs they had to ascend to reach the floor the two beings were living on.

"Well, we might as well get started." Venus said.

"Yeah." Jupiter said with a heavy sigh.

They both stepped onto the stairs and began to make their way up, jogging together, and hoping they wouldn't tire before they reached the floor they needed.

While Venus watched her footing as she jogged up the stairs half her mind was wondering what the confrontation was going to be like when they reached their enemy, and the other half was worried about her princess and prince.

She knew they had to separate, but she didn't like it. She especially didn't like the fact that her princess had already been kidnapped even if it was brief. It was just proof of how far that guy's obsession with her ran if he was willing to take her while in his disguise.

There was no way for him to explain how he did it, so he clearly had no intention of letting her go.

She just wanted this enemy gone. They would be gone today. There would be no getting away and fighting another day. This ended today. Those two beings were going to be defeated, and if that tree was some kind of sentient plant she would summon her sword and crudely hack it to pieces until it was no longer a threat!

Jupiter breathed calmly as they jogged up the steps her eyes on the steps and stairway ahead of her. She wished they could teleport up to where they needed to be, but she knew that could be dangerous in their situation.

Someone could already be in the stairwell where they needed to appear or they could be coming through the door or there could be something different about the landing where they needed to appear. They just couldn't risk it.

She also knew they couldn't risk fighting in an enclosed space, but that was exactly what they were rushing to do. They didn't have a choice though. This enemy had to go. The male had already kidnapped their princess.

She had gotten away easily, but the fact of the matter was that she had been kidnapped and she had been seen leaving. They couldn't afford for their enemy to try coming after her again. They likely already thought she was a senshi with how she had left.

Although, she acknowledged that they might think she was another powerful human separate from the people they knew to be fighting them.

She doubted it though.

They were just passing the landing that lead into the tenth floor when they heard sounds. Jupiter and Venus paused and looked at each other as they listened.

Blasts, slight cries, the unmistakable sounds of a fight met their ears, and they both moved toward the railing and looked up. They could see flashes of color, and even feel the railing vibrate now that they were touching it.

"I see fire and water." Venus said.

"So Mercury and Mars are fighting." Jupiter said.

"Can you tell who they're fighting?" Venus asked as she squinted her eyes as she continued to look up the stairwell.

Jupiter hummed thoughtfully as she narrowed her eyes as she watched what she could.

"The female." She finally answered. "I caught sight of her leg with the red that she's wearing."

"Ah okay. We should hurry up." Venus said.

"Yeah. We can attack from our end catching her off guard." Jupiter said.

"Yes." Venus agreed. "We can defeat her quickly, and then see about meeting up with Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen."

"Yeah." Jupiter said as she nodded, and they began to hurry up the stairs.

"We're going to have to hope the fighting masks our footsteps." Venus said, and Jupiter grimaced.

"True." She agreed as she heard their shoes slapping against the concrete of the stairs.

As they practically ran up the stairs they occasionally paused to carefully look up the stairwell to see how close they were and how far they still needed to go.

When they were close enough that the energy attacks of their fellow senshi were brighter and they could hear the exertions of all the fighters dodging and avoiding attacks they slowed and proceeded cautiously.

They saw the fire hoops of one of Mars' attacks and in the next moment the female being appeared on the landing above them, slamming into the wall near the door in her attempt to avoid the attack.

Before the female could steady herself or even look their way Jupiter lifted her hands and quickly launched her Supreme Thunder. The bolts of lightning streaked through the short distance and slammed into her chest causing her to scream in pain.

Venus stepped sideways away from Jupiter's back and summoned her whip. She flicked her wrist and sent the delicate looking gold chain flying through the air toward the female.

She flicked her wrist again and the chain looped around the female before she pulled back sharply, tightening the chain around her while she was still dealing with the pain of Jupiter's lightning.

Mars and Mercury blinked and shared a look as they heard the female scream suddenly. They carefully looked over the railing as they cautiously moved down the stairs only to see lightning striking the female.

They quickly realized it was Jupiter and just as they were beginning to wonder where Venus was they saw her chain wrap around the female as soon as the lightning dissipated.

Venus reached forward and grabbed her chain with her free hand to have a better hold on her captive.

"Attack! Finish her!" She yelled out.

Hearing Venus' command Mars stepped on the landing just pass the door to the floor where the female had come from and launched her Burning Mandala at the trapped female.

Mercury stopped and stood next to Mars, and launched her Mercury Aqua Rhapsody.

Jupiter planted her feet and launched her Flower Hurricane.

An's head snapped up at the sound of a voice, and her eyes widened as she saw that two more females had joined the fight. In the next moment as her eyes shifted around she realized she was surrounded by four of the fighters she was used to seeing deal with her Cardians.

"No." She said in a quiet tone. "No!" She said louder as she saw the attacks coming her way almost at once.

"Ail!" She screamed as they hit her.

The four guardian Senshi watched as fiery hoops, swirls of water, and vibrant pink flower petals sped toward the trapped female and listened as she screamed as they all hit her. Her scream went on and on, and they were sure it would draw attention, but that didn't stop them from watching to make sure she didn't try to get away despite being under attack.

Venus lifted her hand off her chain and pointed her finger at the female as she concentrated. She launched her Crescent Beam Shower and watched as multiple beams of light crash into the screaming female.

And just for good measure she used the hand that was still holding her chain to launch her Crescent Beam, guiding the power down her whip.

The screaming went on even when their attacks ended and lasted nearly a minute before the female seemed to lose consciousness. She collapsed to the floor, but Venus kept her whip tightly around her.

They watched her still form for a few long moments, wondering if she was dead, before her body began to become transparent. Just as they were realizing they could see the wall behind her and the floor under her she suddenly started to look like sparkling dust.

As the seconds passed the sparkling dust that was her body drifted apart, Venus' whip falling to the floor, before fading away to nothing.

"Let's go!" Venus said as she pulled her whip back toward her. "We need to meet up with Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen and deal with the tree." She added as she coiled her whip up.

Her fellow senshi nodded and they all hurried towards the door leading onto the floor where the apartment the beings lived in was; Venus putting her whip away as they headed into the quiet hallway.

Sailor Moon & Tuxedo Kamen's POV

The disguised royal couple watched Jupiter and Venus disappear around a corner that led to the emergency stairs as they reached the elevator. Sailor Moon pressed the up button, and took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"Are you okay?" Tuxedo Kamen asked quietly as they waited, and watched her smile up at him lightly.

"I am, but I'm not thrilled to be fighting inside a building. Or rather in a narrow hallway or inside an apartment." Sailor Moon said, and he nodded in agreement.

"I'm not happy about it either, but what choice do we have? We can't wait for them to attack again without risking more people." He said. More importantly I personally am not willing to risk you and your life by chancing Seijuro or the being that he really is coming after you again or attacking you. He said through their bond.

Sailor Moon nodded as the elevator door opened.

"I understand." She said as they stepped inside. She leaned against the back wall as the door closed, and he pressed the button for the floor they needed.

Tuxedo Kamen stood to the side next to the button panel and let his eyes roam around the elevator, and Sailor Moon trained her eyes on the numbers letting them know what floor they were passing, and then her eyes suddenly widened as a thought occurred to her.

"What if they're waiting for us at the elevator door since the male saw us?" She said as she looked to her prince, and he looked to her and hummed thoughtfully.

"I can try and check from here to see if they're there." He suggested.

"Try." She said as she nodded.

He nodded and focused on the two beings as he concentrated on his connection to the Earth, hoping it would work inside the elevator.

Show me where they are please. He asked.

His eyes lost their focus as he concentrated on watching images flash through his mind before they slowed to show the female standing in a stairwell landing attacking Mars and Mercury. The images flashed again before they stopped to show the male standing in the hallway right outside the elevator door clearly waiting.

"The female is attacking Mercury and Mars in the stairwell, and the male is waiting right outside the elevator door." Tuxedo Kamen informed her as he blinked and released his connection to the Earth.

Sailor Moon sighed heavily, not likely that at all.

"I don't particularly want to be attacked inside this elevator." She said.

Tuxedo Kamen hummed, fully agreeing, and looked up at the numbers passing. They were ten floors below their target floor, the ride going fast since the elevator hadn't made any stops. He focused on the hallway two floors below their target and just outside the elevator door before he grabbed his princess and willed them to that location.

They disappeared in a golden flash and reappeared just where he wanted, and Sailor Moon blinked in surprise as she looked around the quiet hallway.

"Okay." She said as she looked to her prince for an explanation.

"We're two floors below the male, and with the elevator still going that gives us some time to figure out how we want to proceed." He explained.

"Assuming all the hallways look like this one we can teleport to his floor, and attack him from the sides while he's busy looking at the opening door to the elevator." Sailor Moon said as she looked around.

"I like that." He said as he nodded. "There's another option. We can bypass him altogether and teleport straight into the apartment and go after the tree." He said, and she nodded.

"It's an option, but we don't know what the tree is capable of. I would rather we were all together when or if the tree reacts in any way." She said.

"Okay, first option it is then." Tuxedo Kamen said. He liked that option anyway since he really wanted to make sure the male would no longer be a threat to her.

"Which side of the hallway do you want?" He asked, and she looked back and gestured behind her.

"I might as well have this one." She said.

"Alright. Let's get into our positions, and I'll check to see if the male is still distracted by watching the elevator." He said.

She nodded and they walked away from each other and toward their chosen spots, which was to the point where the elevator was directly in the center between them.

Tuxedo Kamen then focused on the male being they were after and tapped into his connection to the Earth. Show me the male. He asked the Earth, and this time the images flashed by quicker before they stopped on the male. He zoomed out to widen his view to see him and the elevator at the same time.

"I'll let you know as soon as I see the door open." He said.

"Right." Sailor Moon said as she prepared herself to teleport, taking in the details of the hallway so she could visualize where she would be going. While she was doing that she also considered which attack she would use against the male when they arrived.

Now love. She heard her prince say through their bond, and she willed herself two floors up in the same spot she was currently in.

White light enveloped her and when it cleared she found herself facing the male that had kidnapped her earlier with her disguised prince further back in the same position she had last seen him in.

Moon Sparkling Sensation. She thought as she lifted her hands toward the male.

Tuxedo Kamen released his connection to the Earth as he pulled out a couple of roses.

Spinning Rose Evolution. He thought as he quickly launched his attack.

Both beams, one made of red energy petals and the other made of white sparkling stars, streaked toward the green skinned male in blue at the same time. They both slammed into him as he was still watching the elevator door open, and he screamed in surprised pain.

Ail hit the floor and was briefly thankful for the carpet covering it before he looked around to see what had happened. His eyes widened as he saw one of the female fighters and the male fighter standing off at a slight distance to his sides.

He looked pass the open doors of the elevator, and saw that it was of course empty. He looked back to them and saw more attacks already coming his way; what looked like black flower petals and a thick white beam of light.

He held up an arm stretched out toward the female and released a blast of pressure toward her while he looked to the male and focused on defending himself.

Tuxedo Kamen watched his razor sharp rose petals collide with an invisible shield and frowned before he pulled out a handful of roses and prepared to attack again.

Sailor Moon stopped her attack as she saw the male raise his hand toward her. Knowing what was about to happen she quickly moved to the side and pressed herself against the wall and braced herself.

She gritted her teeth and held her head down as the pressure blast hit her. This was why she hadn't wanted to fight inside the building. There was no where to dodge or seek cover.

It seemed to take forever to stop but was only a few moments, and when she looked up it was to the sight of her prince throwing roses at the male. He was dodging but more importantly he wasn't paying her any attention.

She lifted her hands and launched her Infinite Moonlight Illusion, and watched as silver blue tinted crescent moons flew out and scattered, rotating rapidly in every direction away from her.

The attack seemed to automatically adjust itself for the area they were in because none of it touched the walls, ceiling, or floor as it scattered. She then knelt down and launched her Moon Sparkling Sensation at his legs, hoping to take him down, and watched as a beam of white sparkling stars shot forward.

Ail dodged the roses rapidly flying at him as quickly as he could; irritated that he couldn't attack with how fast the roses were coming.

Suddenly he screamed as he was hit from seemingly every angle besides in front of him with something. It hurt so much he could barely think, and then he was screaming again as something hit the back of his legs.

Tuxedo Kamen watched in satisfaction as his princess' attacks took down the male causing him to collapse to his hands and knees.

This male who was obsessed with his princess, who dared to touch her, who had kidnapped her. He wanted him gone, wanted to make sure he was gone and would never trouble his princess again.

Secondary in his mind was the fact that this being was responsible for sending out the Cardians that were stealing peoples energy. He and his sibling or whatever the female was to him needed to be stopped, but this male had made himself a specific threat to her and he wouldn't allow it to continue.

He pulled out a couple of roses and willed them to turn black before he threw them sharply toward the male. They shattered into razor sharp black rose petals and moments later they pelted and sliced into the male.

He cried out and lifted his arms to try to protect himself, and only succeeded in getting his arms sliced up.

Tuxedo Kamen narrowed his eyes and dashed forward, his sword appearing in his hand as he silently summoned it, and ran him through the chest as the males arms blocked his view of the coming threat.

Ail grunted and gasped in pain as he dropped his arms to see what had hit him. His eyes widened to see a sword sticking in of his chest, and being held by the masked man with blue eyes that were clearly angry.

Tuxedo Kamen willed himself not to pant in his anger. Just looking at this male reminded him of the feeling that had rippled through him of his princess' pain and confusion as she was kidnapped.

He pushed his sword into the male further, glad that he wasn't human since he didn't think he could kill a human. Although, a part of him, the prince in him, highly doubted that was the case when it came to a threat to his princess.

Sailor Moon winced from her position still kneeling on the floor at the sight of her prince's sword piercing through the male. She hadn't expected that, hadn't expected him to get up close to the male in order to defeat him.

But she could sense his anger, so it wasn't completely surprising. She knew he had been very unhappy with the male's focused attention on her, and angry when he had kidnapped her.

Beyond that she would be a hypocrite if she disapproved considering how unhappy and angry she had been with Rei's obsession with him. It was just a good thing she didn't disapprove; she was only surprised at the hands-on-approach so to speak.

Tuxedo Kamen pulled his sword out sharply, twisting it on its way out knowing it would cause more pain and damage, before he thrust it back in a little lower.

Satisfaction raced through him as he watched the male visibly weaken before his eyes. He knew he shouldn't be feeling that way, but he couldn't help it. He was pleased and proud to be actively protecting the woman he loved; his soul and bond mate.

He pulled his sword out and stepped back and then took a few more steps back for good measure even as he watched the male collapse on his side blood trickling from his wounds and his mouth.

Sailor Moon remained kneeling on the floor, her eyes focused on the male as he lay on the floor. He was obviously seriously wounded, but she wanted to make sure she was prepared to react if he tried anything toward her prince.

Ail coughed and gasped as he lay on the floor, his vision becoming blurry as he stared at the masked man's legs. This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to lose. He hadn't expected to be caught off guard with surprise attacks.

He should have planned more, paid more attention to how the fighters had worked to defeat their Cardians. What was An going to do without him? Could she survive on her own with the Makaiju Tree? Would she survive her encounter with the fighters to even worry about that?!

"An." He said, and then as his vision began to grow dark the image of the girl he had been so attracted to appeared. He sighed at the sight of her long flowing hair and soft blue eyes.

"Usagi." He breathed out.

Tuxedo Kamen scowled in indignant anger at the sound of his princess' name on the male's lips. Even now as he was clearly dying he still had her on his mind. If he wasn't already dying he'd be making sure he was!

As the disguised couple watched, one passively and the other angrily, the male's body began to become transparent to the point where they could see the pattern of the carpet beneath him. Within moments his figure began to look like sparkling dust, and before they knew it the dust in the shape of a body began to drift apart before fading away into nothing.

Sailor Moon stood up and walked toward her prince, skirting around the spot where the male had been, and joined him as he put his sword away.

"Are you ready to continue onward?" He asked, and watched as she took a breath and nodded firmly as she let it out.

With that Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon turned and hurried down the hallway and around the corner toward the apartment the beings had claimed as their base.

Only moments passed before they saw the girls come around a corner and head toward them. The group all slowed to a stop outside an apartment door in the middle of the hall and looked each other over.

"Is everyone okay?" Sailor Moon asked.

"We're all okay." Venus said as she nodded.

"The female has been defeated." Mars said.

"The male has been defeated as well." Tuxedo Kamen informed them.

"Now we have to deal with the tree." Mars said, and everyone nodded as they looked to the door.

Sailor Moon reached out and tried the handle and found it locked.

"I'll take care of it." Jupiter said.

Everyone moved to the sides and out of her way, and Jupiter braced her feet as she stood in front of the door before she kicked it. The wooden door barring them cracked slightly before it fell off its hinges and onto the floor.

They filed inside into the living room, Sailor Moon recognizing it as the same place she had been brought to earlier, and spaced themselves out.

"It's down the hallway." Tuxedo Kamen said as he gestured toward the only hallway in sight.

They began to head down the hallway, Sailor Moon summoning her scepter to be ready, and stopped outside the doors that clearly didn't belong in the apartment. A few moments after they had gathered around the doors they slid open to reveal darkness.

"Are we sure anything is in there?" Jupiter asked as she peered inside.

"Yes." Tuxedo Kamen said. "It looks like nothing is there until you go inside. That's when you can see the tree glowing and lighting up the whole place."

"Everyone be on your guard, and be ready for anything." Sailor Moon said.

Everyone nodded and began to walk through the doorway and into the darkness. The more steps they took the more they began to see the light and the tree.

"I know you guys said it was massive, but I wasn't picturing this." Jupiter said.

"I didn't realize it was this big either." Mars admitted, and she had seen it through her vision.

Venus stared at the tree with its thick massive roots, and wondered how they were supposed to get rid of that thing. She had been all ready to hack at it with her sword, still was, but that would take weeks or months given how big and thick the roots were let alone the actual tree.

Will our powers even work on it with how massive it is? She wondered. I guess the only way to know is to try.

Tuxedo Kamen stared at the tree, his eyes trailing along a root that looked as tall as him and likely as thick as the doorway they had just walked through. He had seen the tree while viewing it through the Earth and knew it was massive, but seeing with his own eyes while standing in front of it was a different matter. The tree actually looked even bigger.

How are we going to deal with this? Sailor Moon asked her prince through their bond.

Your guess is as good as mine at this point. He replied.

A few moments later as they all stood still staring in shock at the massive tree the floor began to tremble. They all looked down before returning their eyes to the tree.

"Be careful everyone. We have no idea what this tree can or will do." Sailor Moon reminded everyone.

Everyone nodded as they felt the floor begin to shudder beneath them. Then suddenly they heard a rumbling screaming sound. They couldn't tell if the tree had a voice or if it was coming from the trees unseen movements.

It was unsettling either way and in the next moment the large roots lifted and began to speed at them. They all scattered and quickly dodged out of the way.

They ran along the floor until the roots started zigzagging at them along the floor causing them to leap onto the roots themselves and run along them.

Sailor Moon lifted her scepter as she ran and aimed it at the center of the tree before she launched her Infinite Moonlight Illusion Beam at it.

It hit but didn't seem to be affected and before she could try again she saw the point of a root speeding for her head. She cried out in alarm even as she allowed herself to fall back as she continued to run.

Her momentum caused her to slide along the root, but thankfully she had avoided the danger of the pointed one that went over her head.

Venus jumped over a thick root that seemed to pop up through the floor as if it couldn't contain it as she ran and summoned her sword.

She paused and quickly sidestepped a root speeding toward her chest and swung her sword down chopping off a piece of it before she continued on her way. She jumped onto a root that burst through the floor and ran along it before jumping over another one that came at her almost from the side.

She raised her free hand and launched her Crescent Beam Shower at the trunk of the massive tree raining down multiple beams of light.

Mars ran and jumped over the thick roots as they appeared until she found herself up against a wall off to the side of the tree. She huffed and looked around only to duck as the point of a root came speeding for her. She moved over and stood up as she looked back and saw that it had pierced the wall.

She looked away and jumped onto a root that was resting along the floor like it had grown along it and began to run along it toward the tree.

She lifted her hands and launched her Fire Soul Bird, and watched the large flaming bird fly toward the trunk of the tree. The fire bird hit but it seemed to splash against the wood and dissipate without any affect on the tree.

She frowned and jumped up to a higher root as she continued to run to try from a different angle and a closer vantage point. She lifted her hands and sent her Fire Soul Bird at the tree trunk.

Again the large fire bird flew toward the tree and hit with only minimal affect; only slightly burning the bark.

Jupiter caught her breath as a large root suddenly burst through the floor in front of her. It was too high for her to jump over with how suddenly it had happened, so she allowed herself to fall back and slid under it.

As soon as she cleared it another one shot up in front of her and this one had a leaf-like pod that opened as it faced her. She cried out slightly and rolled to the side, and when she looked back she saw purple blue liquid squirt out that smoked when it hit the floor.

Just great; acid. She thought with a frown

She got up and continued to run, this time toward the tree and raised her hands and launched her Supreme Thunder at it.

The attack did nothing and she sighed as she looked around quickly. Everyone was running from roots and attacking when they could. She saw Mars up high on a root attacking the tree and saw that her attack burned it slightly.

So following her example she ran and jumped up on a root and moved closer to the trunk of the tree before she launched her Jupiter Thunderbolt toward the massive trunk.

It hit and caused a bright flash and some smoke to trail off the bark, and she nodded since that was an indication that it had done some damage even if small.

Mercury ran through the cavernous room and jumped onto a large root that was headed for her legs and continued to run.

She launched her Ice Water Phoenix toward the trunk of the tree and watched long enough to see the water bird wing its way toward the tree before she was distracted by a another root coming her way.

She saw a leaf-like pod further along the root and watched it open and squirt out purple blue liquid toward her.

Mercury Ice Bubbles. She thought as she lifted her hands as she paused, and then continued running onward. Glancing back she saw her blue transparent bubbles freeze the liquid, which fell to the floor and shattered on impact.

She focused back on the massive tree and once again launched her Ice Water Phoenix at the large trunk. Once again the water bird formed and began to rapidly fly toward the tree.

Tuxedo Kamen leapt from root to root, having jumped up not long after the tree started attacking, as he made his way higher and toward the trunk of the massive tree.

He took out a couple of roses and launched his Spinning Rose Evolution toward a root that was headed toward him from the side then continued running, not bothering to watch what would happen to the root.

He leapt up over a root that swung at him, and used it to spring up higher and continued to run toward the main body of the tree.

A leaf-like pod came down a few feet in front of him suddenly, and he pulled out a couple of roses and willed them to turn black as he ran.

Deadly Rose Petals. He thought as he threw them.

He swerved to his right to avoid the purple blue liquid that came squirting out of the pod, and watched as his black roses shattered and the sharp petals spun and cut into the pod slicing through the thick stem and causing it to fall to the root beneath it and roll off.

He gestured with his hands as he ran and an open rose blossom appeared in each palm. Golden flames instantly surrounded the blossoms and he threw them one after the other at the trunk of the tree launching his Burning Rose Illusion.

The burning blossoms exploded like bombs against the bark, but other than the flames spreading a bit he didn't see that they caused any damage.

Tuxedo Kamen frowned and summoned two more rose blossoms to try again as he ran closer to the tree trunk.

Moon Sparkling Sensation. Sailor Moon thought as she listed her scepter toward a leaf-like pod that sprang up from a root somewhere beneath her.

The loose beam of white sparkling stars destroyed the pod and she looked around as she paused her running to see everyone spread out attacking the tree and avoiding its roots.

Then she watched with a worried frown as large thick roots began to burst through the walls more than before. They even began to come through the floor and ceiling.

.:xXx:.

The news helicopter for KNYD Juban flew through the air on a routine route to start filming traffic just before the start of the evening commute. The pilot was focused on his flying and the sky around him, and the two person camera crew was sitting in the back checking over their cameras in preparation.

The pilot glanced to his right and did a double take as he saw a strange phenomenon; thick green roots starting to burst out through a high rise building. It was shocking and surprising, and something he was sure the camera operators would want to know about.

"You might want to take a good look out the window to my right." He said after he cued into his mic.

They looked over curiously and exclaimed in shock at the sight of tree roots bursting out at various points along the building and some worming their way back in.

"We have to film this!" The female camera operator said. "This is sure to be a senshi fight, and filming that is better than filming traffic again."

"True." The male camera operator agreed, and pulled the doors open so they could position their cameras to the sides of the helicopter. "Call the studio and let them know what's going on; this is sure to be breaking news!" He told the pilot.

Shittenou's POV

xXx:Zoisite:xXx

Zoisite smiled at a woman as he finished scanning the books she was borrowing from the library and handed them to her before he watched her walk away.

He glanced around and saw that no else needed attention so he looked off to his side at the TV that was stationed there on the counter but out of sight of patrons. He picked up the remote and began to flip through the channels, but quickly stopped in surprise as he saw something that shouldn't be.

He turned the volume up just enough so he could hear it, and watched the obvious view from a helicopter showing a tall building with thick green roots sprouting from near the top down. It even appeared to be weaving in and out of the building.

"We are unsure of what exactly is happening, however, it could only be a Sailor Senshi fight taking place." The reporter said.

Zoisite agreed and was upset that he was missing the chance to be of use to his prince, but he knew that he still didn't have enough training to actually be of use.

Beyond that he couldn't just run out on his job. Although, he knew he was going to have to deal with such a situation in the future when he was trained enough to be called on to participate in enemy attacks.

He shook his head slightly and pushed the thought aside as he focused on what he was seeing.

xXx:Kunzite:xXx

Kunzite waved back at a student who was waving at him, clearly unbothered by his more stoic personality.

"Bye Kiyoshi-sensei. Thank you for the lesson." The student said.

"Bye. I'll see you at the next lesson." Kunzite said, and watched as they grinned before practically running out the door. He knew they were excited because they were getting good with using daggers.

He sighed lightly and turned and headed into the office that was attached to the large dojo room. It would be half an hour before the next class started, the time designated for the previous students to leave and the next students to arrive, and until then he was going to relax.

Kunzite sat in the chair at his desk and turned on the TV that sat on a stand up against the wall, and decided he was going to watch the news and see what was happening with the current events of the day.

He hummed lightly as he saw that the weather was on and listened to see what he would have to deal with when he left the dojo later in the evening. Suddenly a slight musical tune played over the meteorologist, and the camera view changed to a reporter sitting at a desk.

"We're interrupting this weather broadcast because we have just gotten word that our traffic helicopter has come across what appears to be a Sailor Senshi fight in progress." The man said.

Kunzite's eyes widened slightly and he sat up straighter as the image on the screen changed to show an aerial view of a building with green roots bursting out from the top sides and roof of the building.

Seeing this he was sure that the reporter was right. He wondered what happened to cause his prince and the Senshi to fight the two beings masquerading as siblings at this point. Last he was aware they hadn't wanted to confront them at the building, so the people living there wouldn't get caught up in it.

He listened as the reporter exclaimed in shock at what was happening and expressed concern for the safety of the people living in the building.

Kunzite couldn't help silently agreeing, and wondered again what had brought them to fight there since it obviously wasn't a cardian attack.

xXx:Nephrite & Jadeite:xXx

Jadeite and Nephrite walked through the door to their apartment, Jadeite closing it as Nephrite headed for the kitchen. He grabbed two bottles of water from the refrigerator and tossed one to Jadeite as he appeared.

Both young men gratefully gulped down the cold water having been out training all day physically sparring with each other and working with their powers.

Nephrite walked into the living room and sat on the couch with a sigh before he reached for the remote control to the TV. They were there to rest for a while before they headed back out to continue their training, so he saw no reason not to see what was on that could entertain them.

"What do you want to eat?" Jadeite asked.

"I don't know. I guess whatever we have that's quick." Nephrite said.

Jadeite nodded and Nephrite turned on the TV and began to flip through the channels only to stop abruptly moments later. On the screen was an aerial view of a building with green roots, thick roots judging by the size of the windows, coming out of the top and upper sides of the building.

Nephrite blinked in surprise at what he was seeing, and judging by the symbol in the bottom corner of the screen it was a news channel.

"Jadeite! Come here quick!" He called.

Jadeite did and sucked in a sharp breath as he looked at the TV, and then his eyes widened as he recognized the building.

"That's the apartment building those beings live in." He said as he sat on the couch.

"Something must have happened. Didn't Endymion say they didn't want to confront them at the apartment building?" Nephrite said.

"Yeah." Jadeite said as he gazed at the screen and the roots bursting out of the building and piercing back into it. "They didn't want to risk the lives of the people living there. Something serious must have happened; it couldn't have just been another cardian attack."

Nephrite agreed and they watched and listened closely to the reporter talking.

Tsukino's POV

xXx:Ikuko & Shingo:xXx

Ikuko hummed, vaguely listening to the TV in the background, as she dusted some items on the shelf of her living room and contemplated what she would do when she finished dusting the living room.

She wondered if she should make a snack since Usagi might want something after her training, assuming she came directly home afterward, and Shingo was going to be home soon and would likely be hungry for something. He wouldn't want to wait for dinner although she knew he would if she didn't make a snack.

As she moved along dusting she contemplated what she could make, and if she decided against making a snack then what she should make for dinner.

She picked up a picture frame, gazing at the photo of Usagi and Shingo when they were little, when she heard the word senshi on the TV. She looked over her shoulder at the TV, and gasped as her eyes widened.

There on the screen was a view that was obviously from a helicopter showing a high rise building with thick roots that looked like they belonged deep in a jungle somewhere bursting out of the top sides and roof of the building.

Ikuko hurried around the couch and sat down as she stared at the screen and listened to the reporter. They were positive it was a Sailor Senshi fight with a creature in progress even though they hadn't seen any sign of the Senshi or the masked man that fought alongside them.

Ikuko couldn't believe what she was seeing. Usagi had just left not that long ago to meet Mamoru for training, so what was this?

Was it an attack by one of those creatures they had been fighting? Were they even there yet since the reporter said there had been no sign of them? Or were they already inside with whatever was producing those massive roots?!

Suddenly she heard the front door open and she looked back to see who it was. She doubted it was Usagi given what she was seeing on the news, and her husband should still be at work.

So that leaves Shingo. She thought. The door closed and he appeared a moment later.

"Hey mom." Shingo said, and then he blinked at the TV before his eyes widened. "Woah!" He said as he stepped into the living room, dropping his backpack on the floor as he went.

"What's going on?" He asked, his eyes glued to the screen.

xXx:Kenji:xXx

Kenji walked down the hallway as he headed back to the office where he worked after picking up his lunch. His lunch, which consisted of a sandwich and drink, was in his hand and he couldn't wait to start on it.

As he walked part of his mind was on his lunch and the other part was on his work and what he still needed to do before he left at the end of the work day.

He passed by the break room, glancing in to see people standing around, since he usually ate at his desk so he could keep working, but paused suddenly as he heard someone say 'sailor'.

He backed up a few steps and looked into the room to see a couple of his coworkers gathered around and looking up at the TV that was situated on a mounted stand up in a corner near the ceiling.

He stepped in and moved toward the group of his coworkers as he looked up at the TV as well, and saw a high rise building being shown from the vantage of a helicopter.

Kenji frowned, not understanding what was going on since it was just a building, but he knew what he had heard and he was hyper sensitive now to any mention of any of the Sailor Senshi.

"What's going on?" He asked the nearest person.

"The reporter said there was a Sailor Senshi attack in progress." The guy to his left said. "They aren't showing the right angle at the moment, but there were green roots bursting out of the building."

"And this is live?" Kenji asked with a frown.

"Yeah. Just came on a few minutes ago." The guy said.

Kenji nodded as he watched and his eyes widened as the helicopter, and therefore the camera, circled around the building showing a different angle where the roots that his coworker mentioned were fully on display.

Compared to the windows and balconies he could tell they were large, and definitely capable of crushing a grown man with their size and how they were bursting through the walls.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he tried to contain himself knowing that his daughter, her boyfriend, and her friends were likely in there fighting.

Luna & Artemis' POV

Artemis casually walked down the stairs of the Aino household. He did that sometimes, wander the house, to make sure Minako's parents remembered that he was there.

However, at the moment he was doing it to give Luna, who was in Minako's bedroom, some space, so she could think without the pressure of him being there to see her reactions or respond to them.

He had of course seen and responded to her reactions when necessary, but he usually left her alone even when he noticed because he knew she needed to think uninterrupted all she could. It was the only way she was going to be able to get back into their princess' good graces.

He walked toward the living room where he scented that Minako's mother was, but paused as he heard the sound of a male speaking of a live suspected fight that involved the Sailor Senshi.

Artemis turned and quickly hurried back up the stairs and toward Minako's room.

Luna sat perched adroitly on the windowsill in Minako's room gazing at the street from the angle she was at lost in thought. She wondered when she would have the chance to talk to Usagi.

She thought she was ready, especially after speaking to her parents, and hoped that Usagi would forgive her and give her another chance to be her advisor.

"Luna!" She suddenly heard and turned her head at the sound of Artemis' voice, and saw him standing in the doorway. "Hurry! There's live footage of the girls fighting."

Luna leapt off the windowsill and hurried toward the doorway and after Artemis as he turned and ran back down the hallway.

They moved down the hallway and down the stairs and to the living room where Minako's mother was. They moved to the side of the couch farthest from where the woman was sitting so she didn't spot them.

It was one thing for cats that were 'pets' to be walking around, and another to see them watching the news so intently.

They peered around the couch and trained their eyes on the TV screen to see footage of a tall building that was obviously coming from the view of a helicopter that was gradually circling it.

As they listened to the reporter speculate about what was happening inside they could see thick green tree roots bursting out of the roof and top sides of the building.

"Do you think it's a another cardian attack?" Luna asked quietly.

"I think that it's the tree that Naru and Mamoru saw, so that's likely the apartment building where the two beings are based." Artemis said in a low tone, and she hummed thoughtfully.

"Something must have happened. I doubt it would be doing that without the girls in there fighting it, but didn't Minako say they didn't want to fight at the building because of the risk of the people living there getting hurt?" Luna asked.

"Yes." Artemis agreed. "Just as you said, something must have happened to cause them to take the fight there. I just hope the people living there can escape the fighting without getting hurt."

"Yeah." She agreed. "I hope the girls will come out of there safely."

"Me too." He agreed.

.:xXx:.

The rumbling screaming sound from before the root attack started echoing through the cavernous room again, and everyone not already looking at the tree took the chance to and saw the tree almost glowing before they felt the floor and roots begin to shudder beneath them.

Moments later they began to realize the walls and ceiling were starting to crumble as debris began to fall to the floor.

"Everyone get out! Now!" Tuxedo Kamen yelled.

They all rushed to the door they had originally come through; dodging roots and falling debris to get out.

"Head to the emergency stairway!" Sailor Venus called out as they entered the hallway and began to race through the apartment and out the door into the apartment building hallway.

The Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen ran through the hallway and filed into the stairway and onto the landing as the building shook.

Sailor Moon looked up as she put her scepter away in her subspace pocket, and saw cracks forming in the cement landing above them and cement dust falling.

We need to do something before that comes down on us. She said through her bond with her prince. I wish we could just leave the building altogether, but we still have to deal with that tree.

We can use our crystals to create a shield; no a barrier around the group. Tuxedo Kamen suggested.

Yes. A protective barrier that completely circles us from top to bottom in case the landing we're standing on gives out. She said.

We'll have to make it strong enough so we all don't go through it if the landing gives out. He added.

Yes. She agreed.

Then come here and let's get started. He said.

He wrapped his arms around her as she stepped forward and pressed herself against him, and they both focused inward on their crystals as they tried to ignore the shaking around them.

Still being tapped into the link of their bond they both asked their crystals to form a strong protective barrier around them and the Senshi so none of them would be hurt by any falling debris or they themselves falling down through the stairwell.

"Gather around us! Hurry!" Sailor Moon quickly told the girls.

The Sailor Senshi did just that, hurrying to form a half ring around the couple so their group was gathered close to the wall.

They watched as Sailor Moon began to glow white and Tuxedo Kamen glow gold before the energy streamed off them and outward, the energy warm as it passed through them, and mix together before forming a creamy gold bubble-like barrier around them.

It seemed it had formed just in time as the walls and landing above them began to crumble and thick pieces began to fall down on them.

Thankfully the barrier held strong, and the concrete pieces hit and slid off.

More and more fell until the walls and landing were completely falling down around them to such a degree that if it were not for the barrier they all would have been seriously hurt or crushed by the falling debris.

It went on for long minutes, some of them worried about the landing they were standing on crumbling beneath them and others were worried about the people living in the building particularly those on the floor they were on and those above them.

Finally the debris stopped falling and the shaking stopped. All was quiet and all they could see was thick smoke and dust that blocked their view of everything outside of the barrier.

Gradually the smoke and dust began to clear and they realized they were now outside, the sky visible all around them, and the wind was starting to clear the air.

They could also now clearly see that the massive tree was on what was now the roof since it had destroyed the floors above it and seemed to have risen up from the cave-like room it had been in.

All of them looked on grimly as they thought of the people that had lived on the now destroyed floors of the building. They looked at each other grimly before they pushed aside the thought of what had happened to the people and took stock of what they had to work with as far as their footing went.

It appeared that the floor was still intact with the now dirty carpet of the hallway and the floors of what had been the individual apartments.

There were small concrete chunks and large slabs scattered around, but plenty of room for them to take on the tree. They would just have to be careful to not trip and hope they didn't encounter a weakness in the floor so they didn't fall through.

Tuxedo Kamen looked down at his princess and she nodded up at him as they prepared to release the barrier.

"Is everyone ready?" He asked, and they all nodded seriously.

The couple released the barrier and everyone began to move quickly yet carefully toward the tree to get the best position to attack it while it was seemingly calm. They ended up in a slightly loose half circle facing the tree before they attacked.

Tuxedo Kamen launched his Spinning Rose Evolution, Sailor Moon launched her Infinite Moonlight Illusion, and Mercury launched her Mercury Aqua Rhapsody.

Jupiter launched her Jupiter Thunderbolt, Mars launched her Fire Soul Bird, and Venus launched her Crescent Beam Shower.

All six attacks hit the tree almost at the same time, and just as it had earlier it gave a rumbling screaming sound. This was quickly followed by roots, large thick pointy ones, speeding toward each of the fighters who dodged as quickly as they could.

Tuxedo Kamen twisted out of the way of a root and quickly launched his Spinning Rose Evolution while trying to keep an eye out for any more roots speeding his way.

Sailor Moon let herself drop down to avoid the root headed for her chest and rolled away for good measure before she came up launching her Moon Sparkling Sensation.

Sailor Mercury managed to dodge away from the root headed her way, but her eyes widened as she saw a leaf-like pod attached to it and moving closer looking as if it was about to squirt her with its liquid.

Mercury Ice Bubbles. She said internally as she lifted her hands; freezing the pod and the purple blue liquid that came out.

Sailor Jupiter jumped over and onto the root that had come in her direction and ran along it as she launched her Supreme Thunder at the tree.

Sailor Mars jumped back and away from the root coming at her and sent her Burning Mandala at it, and watched as the fire hoops sliced into it cutting it into pieces.

Sailor Venus dodged to her left as she avoided the root after her, and lifted her hand toward the tree and launched her Crescent Beam Shower at it. In the next moment she lifted her free hand summoning her sword and sliced into the root cutting off a large chunk as it was still speeding by.

Tuxedo Kamen and the Senshi dodged as quickly as possible moving left right and jumping up as the roots continued to fly at them like tentacles of a massive octopus. Those that had a sword had them out and were using them when they could to slice at and chop off roots.

Beyond that they were launching their energy attacks left and right at the tree sending colored and shaped energy streaking through the air.

Sailor Moon put her sword away after avoiding yet another root, happy they at least weren't bursting up through the floor, and summoned her scepter to her hand.

She quickly reached up and grasped her tiara and launched her Moon Twilight Flash at the tree, and lifted her scepter and sent her Moon Scepter Elimination at the same time.

Tuxedo Kamen landed after dodging a root and, seeing his princess attacking with two continuous attacks, he decided to add to her assault with his own.

He pulled out a single rose and willed it to turn gold and once it had he quickly surrounded it in his power until it was floating inside a transparent sphere of energy above his hand.

Rose Dragon Mirage. He thought as he gestured with his hand, sending it flying toward the tree.

The others were clearly paying attention and began to send their own attacks to add to the assault on the tree.

Jupiter sent her Jupiter Thunderbolt, Mars sent her Fire Soul Bird, Venus sent her Crescent Beam Shower, and Mercury sent her Ice Water Phoenix.

A water bird, a fire bird, multiple beams of light, two bolts of electricity, and a massive golden dragon made of energy rose petals flew toward the tree.

They somehow managed to get all of their attacks to hit in the same spot with those who could keeping their attacks going continuously the entire time to cause more damage.

They continued to avoid the roots, but the roots suddenly stopped mid flight and the tree gave a rumbling screaming sound again. The floor beneath them began to shake and rock and suddenly they were all blinded and deafened by a massive explosion; the tree giving a final assault as it was destroyed.

The Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen went flying back with startled cries from the concussive pressure of the tree exploding. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen went in one direction, Mercury in another direction although nearby, and Venus, Mars, and Jupiter went in another direction.

Sailor Jupiter flew back, almost looking like a green and white blur, before her back hit the ground. She tumbled backward, almost rolling feet over head, before she slammed into a large flat piece of concrete face first while she was upside down.

She groaned in pain and fell to the side vaguely wondering if she had broken anything. Her kneecaps certainly felt like they had shattered on impact. So did her nose for that matter.

Sailor Mars flew back with everyone else, her heels skidding along the ground, feeling like something was pulling her back. Suddenly her left side hit something and she spun around causing her to rotate a few times before she came to a stop.

She was surprised that she was still upright, but when she realized she was swaying back and forth she looked down, and cried out as she saw that she was balancing on the edge of the building.

Sailor Venus landed hard on her back, her head hitting the ground with a grunting cry, before she slid back with her momentum crying out in pain again as her hair was snagged beneath her and her skin was scraped.

She groaned in pain as she came to a stop and grimaced as she sat up slightly on her forearms, wondering if this was how road-rash felt, so she wasn't on her back and twisted to glance back as she heard an alarmed cry.

Her eyes widened and she cried out as she saw Mars almost rocking back and forth on a single heel at the edge of what was now the roof her arms windmilling as she tried to keep from falling back.

She cried out again in shocked surprise and threw her hand forward, her Venus Love-Me Chain coming out instinctively, just as Mars began to fall backward.

Mars reached out for the glowing chain streaking toward her, not knowing what it would feel like and uncaring as long as it stopped her, and grabbed it with one hand before reaching forward and grabbing with her other hand as she continued to fall.

She slammed hard into the side of the building, bouncing painfully away from it before swinging back toward it, but at least the energy chain stopped her fall.

Venus sighed in relief as she felt the weight against her chain, but then her eyes widened as she began to slide forward. She cried out in alarm as her eyes shifted around for some way to stop herself from going over the side.

In the next moment she felt a weight slam on top of her, which thankfully stopped her from sliding.

"I've got you." She heard Jupiter's voice in her ear and she sighed in relief.

Mars herself was also sighing in relief as she suddenly came to a stop after the brief heart racing drop.

Meanwhile, Sailor Moon immediately began to tumble back from the force of the blast. She cried out in pain as her back hit the ground again and again before her head hit a small piece of concrete and knocked her out.

Instantly her grip on her scepter loosened, and as soon as it left her hand it disappeared back in her subspace pocket.

Her limp form continued to tumble along the ground before her body reached the edge, and went over the side of the building backwards with her feet the last thing to disappear from sight.

Tuxedo Kamen groaned in pain as he slammed into a flat piece of concrete. His back and the back of his head throbbed with pain as he slid down into a seated position.

Usagi? He called through their bond as he groaned again, and frowned when he got silence.

He moved to the side to look around the concrete he had hit since he knew they had been near each other and would have been sent in the same direction. His eyes scanned the area only to widen in shock as he saw her red booted feet disappear off the side of the building.

He cried out in shocked alarm as he scrambled to his feet.

Usagi? He called again, but still got no answer, and knew that meant she was unconscious.

Tuxedo Kamen sprinted toward the edge and dove off without any hesitation and quickly began to fall through the air. He spotted his princess and the way she was falling, head first with her body limp, further proved that she was unconscious.

They were still a long way from the ground even though the top floors of the high rise had been destroyed, but he realized quickly that he wasn't getting to her as fast as he wanted to.

He pulled at his jacket, already having lost his hat during the fight, shifting in the air as he freed his arms from it and let it go, watching briefly as it and his attached cape fluttered away in the air before disappearing into his subspace pocket.

With it no longer slowing him down he angled himself in a dive with his arms pressed to his sides as he locked his eyes on his princess.

As soon as he reached her feet he reached out and grasped one of her ankles before he pulled himself along her leg and grabbed her hand before he wrapped his arms around her waist.

He sighed as he shifted one of his arms until it was diagonal along her back and with his other arm he shifted his hand down until it was cradling her neck.

He didn't see any wound but that didn't mean there wasn't one on the back of her head. He glanced beyond her face and was reminded that the ground was approaching, so he quickly focused on his golden crystal.

Please, please, wings! I need wings to get myself and my princess to safety. He asked it urgently.

In the next moment he felt a pulse inside him and then a warmth spread along his upper back before they began to slow abruptly. His princess jerked in his hold and he was glad he had a strong grip on her or she would have gotten lose from his hold or her neck would have been injured.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw a large thick golden wing, and looking over his other shoulder he saw the same. He silently thanked his crystal and focused on trying use the wings.

Thankfully it didn't take much to get them flapping, the appendages feeling almost like another set of arms, and they slowed to a stop in midair; bobbing up and down as his wings flapped.

Sailor Mercury hit the ground on her back and was somehow twisted until she found herself rolling on her sides until she came to an abrupt halt by a piece of concrete that she vaguely realized was shaped like a triangle.

She moaned in pain, feeling every ache and scrape, as she lifted her head; only to blink in surprise to see Tuxedo Kamen running. She then cried out in shock as he leap off the roof. She looked around briefly as she climbed to her feet realizing she was the only senshi to see him do it.

She ran forward to see why he would do such a thing and stopped at the edge and looked down. Her eyes widened and she instantly began to panic as she saw that Sailor Moon, her princess, was falling and that was why. She also wasn't struggling as far as she could see.

Mercury saw but ignored the helicopters that were likely filming everything and lifted her hand to her ear and activated her visor to try and see what was going on. The view on her visor zoomed in on her falling princess, and it became clear that she was unconscious and that was why she wasn't moving around.

She watched in horror as she wondered what would happen. That was all she could do since she didn't have any skill or ability that would be able to save the couple.

When Tuxedo Kamen caught her and somehow produced wings Mercury collapsed to her knees in relief. Although, even with what she was feeling she was still able to consider the horror of how this could have gone if he hadn't been there to save her princess.

She was the only one that had been close to Sailor Moon, she still didn't know what was going on with her fellow senshi, and even then she hadn't seen her fall.

And if she had seen her fall there still would have been nothing she could do to help her. She could have jumped after her, but that would have done nothing but have the both of them plummeting to their death.

Mars, meanwhile, was hanging on for dear life as the energy chain she was holding on to was pulled up. This was definitely not something she had imagined when she agreed to be a senshi and she didn't like it, but she also understood realistically that anything could happen and the role of a senshi was dangerous.

It was dangerous and I haven't even had the chance to actually protect Usagi yet, which is a situation that's sure to be even more dangerous since I'll be deliberately putting myself in harms way. She thought.

She looked up as a slight shadow fell across and smiled to see Jupiter kneeling at the edge of the roof.

"Hey girl. Hang in there just a little longer." Jupiter said as she watched her come closer. She glanced back to see Venus pulling even as she stepped back.

When Mars was close enough Jupiter reached down and grabbed her wrists before she carefully stood and began to pull her up and back onto the building.

"Thanks girls!" Mars said as she sighed in relief and let go of the energy chain.

"No problem." Jupiter said.

"Are you okay?" Venus asked as she moved closer.

"I'm fine aside from the serious scare of falling off a high rise building." Mars answered. "Are you two okay?" She asked.

"I'm good." Jupiter said.

"I'm alright too." Venus said as she nodded. "Let's go check on the others. I didn't see them when I came to a stop after the blast or any time after that." She said.

Mars and Jupiter nodded and the three of them began to look around and search for Mercury and the secret royal couple.

.:xXx:.

The Shittenou, Tsukino's, and feline advisors stared at the TV screen in front of each of them with expressions of concentration, surprise, awe, shock, or horror at what they were seeing.

First they were all shocked when the thick green roots bursting out of the building suddenly began to come faster and there were more of them. Then in the next moment they found themselves watching the very top levels of the building crumble and seemingly collapse in on itself with pieces here and there falling the long distance to the ground below.

A massive cloud of thick dust obscured everything causing those who knew the Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen personally to fear for their lives; now completely certain that they were inside that building.

Those who didn't know them, or didn't know that they knew them, were just as shocked and wondered what the fighters could possibly be dealing with to cause the complete destruction of the top of the high rise building.

All of them, however, waited and watched with baited breath as the dust gradually cleared. When it did their eyes widened to see a massive tree, and then some cheered to see a creamy gold energy barrier off to the side where they were sure the fighters were.

Within minutes the barrier dropped and they could see, for the first time since the cameras started filming, Tuxedo Kamen and the Sailor Senshi, and watched as they dashed off and began to attack the tree.

There were gasps from some of the viewers as thick tree roots sped toward the fighters, and awe and excitement when they all avoided them and used their attacks. It wasn't every day they got to see the fighters attacks so clearly.

"Woah! Look at that mom. Some of them are using swords." Shingo said as the camera zoomed in on the individual fighters. "Sailor Moon, Sailor Venus, and Tuxedo Kamen."

Ikuko simply nodded with her eyes still glued to the TV following the disguised figure of her daughter. She couldn't believe how dangerous this was. To her it looked like her daughter was barely dodging the roots, but then they all looked like they were barely dodging. She guessed that just showed how fast the roots were moving toward them.

Kenji stared up at the TV along with his coworkers trying to make sure his reactions were the same as theirs and not more than it should be if he didn't know the fighters personally.

But it was hard as he watched his little girl sidestepping tree roots that almost looked half her size, and swinging her sword with one hand and sending her energy attacks with the other.

Everyone watched as the fighters attacked the tree at the same time, and gasped as it exploded; the light briefly obscuring their view before it cleared and they saw all the fighters flying backward in different directions.

They gasped again and grimaced in some cases at seeing some of the fighters slamming into concrete slabs and tumbling and knocking into small chunks of concrete.

Nephrite's eyes widened as he saw Mars, his Naru, balancing on the edge of the roof before she fell backward, and then held his breath as Venus sent her chain toward her.

Naru grabbed it and her fall stopped, but then he and Jadeite gasped as Venus began to slid forward toward the edge from Mars' weight and momentum. Then much to their relief Jupiter leapt onto her and stopped her movement.

Kenji and Ikuko gasped as they saw their disguised daughter tumbling backward from the blast, and then cried out, unable to help themselves, as they watched her tumble right off the roof.

They stared in shocked horror as she continued to fall without any sort of struggle or action, and then they were further shocked as they watched her disguised boyfriend run and dive off the building and fall through the air after her.

He struggled out of his jacket and they watched it along with his cape disappear not long after he released them. Then he fell quicker through the air and caught up to and grabbed hold of their daughter.

In the next moments they and everyone else watching gasped in surprise and shock as a pair of large thick golden wings appeared on his back and slowed them to a stop in midair. Relief filled everyone as he began to fly back up toward the roof.

.:xXx:.

Venus, Mars, and Jupiter spent only a couple of minutes carefully walking around before they spotted Mercury on her knees at the edge of what had become the roof.

Before they could call out to her they saw the surprising sight of Tuxedo Kamen flying up in the air beyond her with a pair of golden wings. If that wasn't surprising enough then the sight of what looked like an unconscious Sailor Moon in his arms was.

They rushed forward just as Mercury was getting to her feet and moving their way. All of them were watching Tuxedo Kamen and reached him just as his feet touched down. He knelt down and gently placed Sailor Moon on the ground before his hands began to glow, his wings disappearing as if they had never been there.

"What happened?" Venus asked as she stared at her unconscious princess.

"I don't know." Tuxedo Kamen answered. "I just saw her feet going over and when I went after her I noticed she wasn't moving so I knew she was unconscious."

"She must have hit her head on one of those pieces of concrete during the blast." Mars said.

They all nodded as they watched Tuxedo Kamen move his glowing hands up to her head and move them around just shy of touching her skin and hair as he obviously healed her.

When Tuxedo Kamen was sure he had finished healing her he released his power and lifted her until she was leaning against him and his arm.

"It's time to wake up." He said as he caressed her face. Come on love. It's time to wake up. The girls are worried. Come on my princess. He said through their bond.

A few moments passed and she gave a little groan through their bond. Five more minutes Endy. She said softly.

Tuxedo Kamen fought to keep the smile off his face.

Sorry love, but the girls are worried about you, and you need to wake up at least long enough to reassure them. He replied.

What happened? She asked. The last thing I remember is flying back and tumbling before everything went dark.

You must have hit something that knocked you out. After that you went tumbling right off the building. He said, and she resisted the urge to grimace.

I'm glad I was unconscious for that. I don't like the thought of falling off a high rise and plummeting to the ground. She said, trying not to think about it. How did you save me? She asked, because she knew he must have.

I managed to produce a pair of wings thanks to my crystal and I flew us back up to the roof and healed you. He answered.

I'm sorry I missed that. She said.

Don't worry. I'll show you any time you want. He said.

I can't wait. She replied before she opened her eyes and blinked up at all the faces starring at her in concern.

"I'm fine." Sailor Moon assured them. "What happened?" She asked. She didn't want to let on that she already knew since she would have to explain that, and she didn't want them knowing about that aspect of their bond anytime soon.

"You fell off the building and Tuxedo Kamen jumped after you before producing a set of golden wings and flying you both back up here and healed you." Mercury said concisely.

You didn't say they were gold. Now I definitely can't wait to see them. Sailor Moon said through their bond.

"I'm glad I was unconscious for that." She said out loud, repeating what she had told her prince. "Is everyone okay? Was I the only one to be injured enough to be knocked out?"

"I'm fine. I hit a large slab of concrete with my back that stopped me cold." Tuxedo Kamen said.

"The same thing happened to me only I was upside down and facing the slab when I hit." Jupiter said, and everyone grimaced at the imagined pain of that impact.

"I landed on my back and skidded, so I'm sure to be bruised and scraped up pretty good but that's it." Venus said.

"I somehow managed to stay upright but hit a piece of concrete that spun me around before I fell off the building." Mars told them. "Luckily that spin slowed me enough for Venus to notice me and send her energy chain my way. She and Jupiter pulled me back up."

"Wow." Mercury said with wide eyes, realizing that was why she hadn't seen them before. "I hit the ground and rolled on my side before being stopped by a piece of concrete."

"Well, I'm glad everyone is relatively okay and not seriously injured." Sailor Moon said. "Is the tree actually gone?" She asked and everyone nodded.

"We didn't see any sign of it," Venus said as she gestured to Jupiter and Mars. "not even a piece of root, when we were walking around looking for everyone."

"Great!" Sailor Moon said as her eyes lit up. "That means the enemy is gone. No more attacks, no more Cardians trying to steal people's energy."

"We can relax and not worry about rushing off to a fight at any given notice." Tuxedo Kamen added.

Sailor Moon grinned, already hoping she and her prince could salvage the rest of the day to have their date.

"Let's get out of here and not give the cameras anything else to film." She said.

I'm more than ready for our date. Tuxedo Kamen said through their bond as he helped her up. A movie sounded relaxing right about now, and he was sure after everything that had happened he was going to be starving soon.

"Where should we go?" Mars said as she looked around at everyone.

"How about we all head home and relax?" Venus suggested. "I'm not feeling much like training after what we just went through. In fact, I'm having visions of a hot bath."

Mars nodded dreamily and thought that sounded like a good idea.

"Then I'll see you all at school tomorrow and Venus I'll see you on Thursday for training unless we make plans to hangout before then." Sailor Moon said.

Everyone nodded before waving goodbye and teleporting away to do their own thing. Mars in a red flash, Venus in an orange flash, Jupiter in a green flash, Mercury in a blue flash, and Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen together in a golden flash.