Disclaimer: Star Wars and Sailor Moon respectively belong to Disney and Naoko Takeuchi & Toei Animination.
The young teenager ran through the maze of Tokyo's alleys, the darkness concealing himself from city dwellers, who did even both to notice him. The teenager just ran with a seemingly inhuman speed, zipping past through the small cracks in the city.
The path the young non-human taken brought him to a large alleyway, where there was little light. The buildings surrounding the area had been abandoned for some time, and none ever thought of entering. It was the perfect place for the teenager as he entered the alleyway and his eyes darted from one place to the next, as if in search for someone.
"I see you have returned," a voice called out, one that was much deeper tone than the teenager's.
The red-skinned teenager turned and found a man with fiery orange eyes staring at him. The man was a decade older than the teenager and he stood tall in his black uniform, the hooded cape falling from his shoulders. On his hip was a cylinder similar to the teenager's own in design and length, but it carried two ends instead of one.
The teenager's blue eyes stared what he could see of the man's pale skin and short brown hair. "You saw everything?" he asked with a hint of concern as he lowered his hood.
"I did," the human answered, the displeasure in his tone.
The young non-human's cloaked shoulders sunk a little, his mind planning out the words that were going to come. The human took a step forward to the young teenager and crossed his over his chest as if he was about to talk to a young child. "Ajunta, what did I tell you?"
Ajunta suppressed the urge to sigh as he repeated what he had been drilled into his head, "Not to reveal myself."
The human shook his head. "Actually, no. That's not what I was going to say."
The answer surprised Ajunta as he stared at the human, the orange eyes looking back at him. The human took uncrossed his arms and walked towards Ajunta, continuing "You got careless, Ajunta. You allowed yourself to be surprised by the enemy. You were lucky enough to hold yourself ground."
Ajunta hung his head a little, ashamed of the scolding he received. "Yes, Master Zhargon," he muttered.
Zhargon just stared at him before turning around. "We have other concerns, Ajunta, Ajunta. Now, follow me."
The young teenager momentarily stared at Zhargon's cape as the human headed towards one of the many buildings, soon following Zhargon inside. After closing the door behind as he did, Ajunta found the black cape of a cloak come across his eyes and a long arm grasped his shoulder. The young teenager turned to a figure nearly hugging him to see someone in a black outfit similar to Zhargon's.
There was another teenager, one who carried the same red skin and cheek tendrils on his face. At least a year older, he looked much like Ajunta, save for the jewel red eyes staring at him. A grin was plastered on the teenager's face as he greeted him, "Well, how are you doing, Ajunta? I heard you had some trouble."
Ajunta managed to move his shoulder out of the other's grasp and gain some personal space. "Exal, please stop that," he almost pleaded. "I'm not a little kid anymore."
The older red-skinned being, name Exal, simply crossed his arms over his chest, the grin never leaving his face. "I'm still your older brother, Ajunta. That gives me the right."
Ajunta almost chuckled at that, remembering well of Exal's brotherly and almost overprotective attitude. At that point, Zhargon's voice rang out "That's enough of that."
The two brothers turned away from each other and towards Zhargon standing inside the room. Instead of looking like a rundown old room with cracks and leaking pipes, it was crisp and clean with a single table. Zhargon remained standing next to it, one of hands hung over a small disk in the table's center.
Ajunta hung his head a little in humility. "Sorry, Master Zhargon," said the younger of the two.
The fiery orange eyes turned to Ajunta, his own voice softening. "You don't need to call me that. I'm not your master, Ajunta," Zhargon reminded him. He turned to Exal with a stern stare. "I am your master, however, Exal."
Exal just gave his 'master' a carefree shrug, to which Zhargon ignored as he returned his attention to the small disk on the table. The human removed his hand from the disk and it glowed, releasing a bluish still-image of the woman Ajunta faced. "Tonight brought some interesting developments," Zhargon gestured to the image. "Mainly, this woman."
"Queen Beryl," came from Ajunta before looking at the human, "but she was destroyed all those year ago by the Sailor Scouts."
"Tonight's incident says otherwise," Zhargon interjected. He pushed a button the disk and the image of 'Beryl' died away with a sputter. He gazed at the two red-skinned teens and continued, "Whatever the case maybe, we now know she's after the holocron. We'll need to take it first before she does."
"But what about those girls?" Exal brought up.
"The Sailor Scouts will return to the museum," he answered. "Either to find more about Beryl or about the holocron."
Exal commented, "Not much different from what we're doing."
The comment went unnoticed by the other two as Ajunta gazed at the human curiously, and asked, "So, how will we get the holocron?"
A smirk spread across Zhargon's face. "I have my ways," was all he said.
The two brothers watched as the oldest of the trio walked past them and headed out of the building. The door was left open for Ajunta and Exal to see Zhargon's cloaked form disappear into the alleyway. Once the human was gone from sight, Ajunta turned to his older brother to ask, "He has a plan?"
Exal smiled at that replying with, "Doesn't he always?"
The rhetorical question was more than enough to Ajunta as he silently agreed with his brother and the pair walked off after the human.
Cherry Hill Temple was a modest Shinto shrine placed within the bustling metropolis of Tokyo. Inside the main chamber were the five Inner Sailor Scouts, all of them in the civilian clothing instead of Sailor Scout uniforms. The temple was currently under Raye's care since her eccentric grandfather Hino, the owner of the shrine, left for vacation a few days ago. It gave the Scouts the privacy they needed as Raye closed the temple from any visitors.
Speaking of Raye, the priestess grabbed a small ball of cotton from the first-aid kit placed next to her. "Here you go," she told Amy as she handed it to her.
The blunette sitting next to Raye took the cotton and turned to the leader of the Sailor Scouts beside her. "Now hold still, Serena," Amy told her as she brought the cotton ball close to Serena's face.
The cotton barely brushed up against a scratch, one sustained from tonight's events, and Serena cringed as she jostled slightly. "Ow!" she cried. "It hurts!"
"It probably wouldn't hurt as much if you didn't move, meatball head," Raye almost sighed.
"It won't take long, Serena," Amy told the Scouts' leader. Just as she said that, Amy placed a small bandage on the scratch. "There you go."
Serena's wails died away and a hand went up to the small bandage on her cheek. "Oh," she said.
Sitting across from the trio were the other two Scouts, Lita and Mina. They're injuries were already healed, but both were plagued with thoughts about the foe they encountered at the museum. "I still can't believe it," was all Lita could say. "Beryl's still alive?"
"I guess so," Mina spoke, her own voice soft. "It looks like she survived that battle."
From across the two, Serena almost shivered at the memory. She remembered seeing the other girls give their lives to fight against Beryl's forces and the victory was a lucky one. "But how?" she asked. "How did she even survive?"
"I'm even surprised she stood up against us," Raye interjected. "We've gotten stronger since our fight with her."
After closing the first-aid kit, Amy joined in on the conversation as she took out her mini-computer. "Well, I managed to get some readings," she stated as she typed on her mini-computer. "They seem to be Negaverse, but there was also something else."
Serena turned to the blunette. "Do you know what it was, Amy?"
Amy shook her head. "I can't. It doesn't match anything I've seen before."
Mina interjected, "Still, we now got to worry about Beryl being back. We have no idea what her plans are."
"And there's that guy," Lita brought up. "Just who is that guy he? He's definitely not human."
Amy almost froze at the mention of her savior. In their past experience, most of the Scouts' enemies were not human and sought nothing more than to drain a person's energy for their own gain. But Amy's savior was certainly different from the others the Scouts had seen.
"I didn't sense anything evil from him," came from Raye. "He seemed genuinely concerned."
Her statement was not something to be ignored to easily by the other Scouts. The priestess was the spiritual one of the group and was well known for her sixth sense, something that her friends known to be a fact.
"Guess that's true," Lita shrugged. "But we still don't who he is."
"He's a Jedi."
The Scouts' eyes turned towards the pair of talking cats, who remained silent for the conversation thus far. Out of the two, it was Luna who gave the answer and all of the Sailor Scouts kept their eyes focused on her. Like Artemis, Luna kept her eyes on the floor, her expression suggesting she carried some knowledge of the subject as well as some suspicions.
Mina blinked at the black cat. "You know what that guy is, Luna?"
"We both do," came from Artemis, raising his gaze to the Scouts. "And if Luna's right, then that guy was most likely a Jedi."
The Scouts were quiet as they all continue to keep their stares at the two cats, both taking in what Luna and Artemis said. Only Serena blurted out the question, "What's a Jedi?"
AN: Well, that's it. I hope you liked it. Please leave reviews and constructive criticism, if you can. Also, this story isn't up for adoption. Thanks.
Raika out!