Since two of the kittens, now humans, could not move as fast, Neo-Eternal Moon and Super Sailor Universe had Quartz put an arm over each of their shoulders, and Elizabeth had Diana do the same.
"Are you OK, Liz?" Diana asked her twin sister.
While not biologically twins, Elizabeth was the same age as Diana as Jewel and Elizabeth had been "frozen" in time from the defeat of Galaxia until Chibiusa's 913th year! Elizabeth smiled at Diana and nodded as she could not speak.
Quartz chuckled, "I never thought I'd live to see the day when I had to rely on the help of humans."
"Careful, Quartz. Chibiusa can't hear you, but I can. I have no problem dumping your sorry, furry ass off right here if you begin acting like a disrespectful jerk!" Universe snapped.
"You have been hanging around, Christen, again?" Quartz snickered.
"Seriously? I am forced to be around her because she is the new Sailor Mars!" Universe groaned under the strain of hefting around the young man.
"Princess, temper! Temper!" Selina tried to keep Universe calm. She knew the girl's anger could be rather violent.
Luna and Artemis, upon the former Dark Kingdom Princess's request, had given Selina a voice. It was similar to Kalonite because Jewel had been close to her despite the woman's treatment of Hotaru. Chibiusa disapproved of this. Yet it was Selina talking, not Pharoh 90's associate.
"Let's take a rest. I think Universe needs it." Diana squeaked innocently.
"If we keep taking breaks, we'll never get to...wherever we're supposed to be." Though she could not hear, Chibiusa piped up when she realized Universe could not drag Quartz much farther.
Excitedly, Universe's indigo-clad guardian pointed over their heads: Something gigantic and rough-looking lay before them!
"It's a pile of trash." Quartz deadpanned.
"There's more here than that..." Diana had Elizabeth place her down near one pile, and she pulled out two pairs of crutches! "We can use these to walk!"
Quartz's heterochromia eyes lit up, "Finally! I can be self-sufficient again!" Chibiusa and Universe dropped him. They're incredibly tired of his nonsense. "Ouch! What? OK, OK...Thanks, Princesses." Quartz added bitterly.
Soon, it becomes apparent that learning to use crutches is more challenging and less fun than others make it look! Regardless, Luna's youngest daughter and eldest son were making the best of a bad situation. Suddenly, as the group is scaling over the mountain of garbage, it collapses underneath the tiny, gray girl and raven-haired male!
"DIANA!" Chibiusa cried in tears.
"QUARTZ!" Though she could not see, Universe heard the screams and put together what must have happened.
Elizabeth grabbed her, now oil black-haired, charge's arm to stop her from walking straight into the pit, too! Coming to the bottom, Diana realized she almost could not see the top of the hole. Quartz was lying underneath her body. He had saved her! However, he had broken his right leg as well!
"Quartz...?" Diana tried to rouse the guy.
Quartz coughed, "Diana...are you alright?"
"You fought against Roshi's power to ensure I wouldn't get hurt...I'm sorry." Diana began crying.
Quartz noticed Diana was referring to his leg, "You're my little sister, Diana. I have to look out for you. Hey, don't start the waterworks just yet. We need to be strong for each other to find a way out of here. Now is the perfect time to use those crutches!"
As the man struggled, he winced as his leg was swollen, sore, and tender. Diana could not help the feeling they were not alone down there. Conceivably, even being watched. As they limped around, they did their best to avoid anything that might be wet as it could be toxic. As the two began to converse quietly, Quartz heard and saw some trash move in an off way. Hastily, the long-haired laddie shielded Diana as a monster, comprised of the materials around it, rose! Metal horns, a mane of fur/hair around its head, googly eyes, toxic waste dripping from its mouth, and jagged, glass claws!
Diana screamed as Quartz used the crutches to beat the monster's attacks back at it, but it seemed to become more enraged! It roared, and Quartz flew backward, falling on his back! Diana is at his side in seconds.
"It didn't work?!" Diana screamed.
Thankfully, a tall, slim, strange man raised one of his hands. Portals opened, and beams of light struck the monster. Thus breaking it back down to nothing! This male's oddness was he was very pale and slim, almost bony, with entirely blue eyes. However, he carried himself steadily in his head-to-toe black and silver suit. Quartz could not discern if he were human or alien by sight, but he figured he should be polite nonetheless.
"Thanks, mister." Quartz breathed a sigh of relief.
"My name is Masked. You are fortunate." Despite this man's unnerving appearance, he spoke eloquently. He knelt to patch up Quartz's broken leg.
"Hi! My name's Diana, and this is my brother, Quartz!" Diana chirped, not bothered by this man's visage.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, both of you." Masked could not help smiling at Diana, which happened to almost everyone she met.
As Quartz got used to a strange contraption Masked had formed around his leg, he found walking easier! "Thanks, Masked."
"Thank you so much for helping him!" Diana squealed in happiness.
"You are very welcome." Masked replied as they walked through this trash labyrinth together.
"Listen, I hate to seem rude, but what are you?" Quartz asked.
"I beg your pardon?" Masked seemed more confused than offended.
"WHAT are you? Like a human? Alien? Robot?"
"I am like you, but more...efficient." Masked's tone was changing.
"Efficient?" Diana needed to learn what this word meant.
"It means better." Masked clarified.
"Diana, we need to get going. I appreciate all the assistance, Masked. Yet we need to get back to our friends." Quartz did not like how Masked thought he was better than them.
"Stay. Roshi will not let you or your friends go anyway." Masked said firmly.
"How do you know?!" Quartz growled.
"I WAS just like you. I believed I could find my way out of here. Shizaru took my movement, and Roshi wanted to force me to build his roads...I refused. I have hidden down here from him. He has not found me. I became sick and had to rebuild myself to survive: I am a cyborg." Masked explained.
"Masked...I'm so sorry, but is it better living in filth and fear it made you sick?" Quartz questioned.
"I am free here. No longer sick or inferior, and you can be too." Masked revealed, his tone sinister.
Red lights lit up the area around them, revealing two human-sized robot suits standing in the corner of this room they had been unknowingly led to! Quartz knew what Christen would say to this in a scoffing tone, "Yeah, that's not creepy at all!"
"We're not human..." Diana spoke up, terrified but trying to be logical.
"I am not following?" Masked kept his tone neutral.
"Those suits wouldn't work on us. We spend most of our time as cats." Diana elaborated.
"How?" Masked showed genuine surprise.
"Well...my Mom and Dad are from Mau, where the inhabitants can turn from cats into people and back. My parent's magic combined gave my adopted brother and sisters that ability, too." Diana concluded.
"I see. So, why are you in your lesser forms?" Masked pondered.
"Roshi did this." Quartz snipped.
Masked shook his head, "What a cruel joke. You and your friends should join me! You would not need to worry about your cat forms anymore. Moreover, your human forms would be improved."
"Who said we are worried about our cat forms? We stay in them because we like them." Quartz stated defensively.
"They are insufficient with the construct of these suits and will pale compared to what these upgrades can do for you." Now, Masked began to sound angry.
"Listen here, Dr. Frankenstein: I. Am. Not. Getting. In. That. FREAKY CONTRAPTION!" Quartz insulted in a bellow.
"What about you...Diana, was it?" Masked turned to the grey-clad young girl.
"I'm with Quartz." Diana stepped back to be next to her brother.
"Why do you not see what I am offering?!" Masked yelled.
"Why do you not see why we are not interested?" Quartz mocked.
"You are wasting precious time!" Masked shouted, and a gas spewed into the room, making Quartz and Diana pass out!
Quartz came to, securely strapped to an operating table, and his leg had been deprived of the brace, which had helped him move earlier!
Masked walked into view, "Good. You're awake. I want you to witness the birth of your new sister."
"New sister?" Quartz's head hurt.
"You're groggy, but I think you will still recognize her." Masked pulled a lever, and something sat up. It had been lying on a second operating table a few feet from the young man.
Stepping into the light was another cyborg! Quartz's eyes widened in horror as he realized the hairstyle, grey eyes, small stature, and grey outfit: Diana!
"NO!" Quartz's eyes shot open in shock as he realized he had only been having a nightmare. However, he was strapped down to an operating table, and so was Diana beside him, but, to his relief, she was still flesh and blood.
"Do not worry; you were only dreaming. Soon, you will not have to worry about those anymore either." Masked plunged some injections into Quartz!
Quartz hissed but tried again to reach Masked, "You don't understand! If you turn us into cyborgs, you take away what makes us human. What truly makes us happy is our friends...they won't recognize us. You can't be happy like this either! Where are your friends?!"
"I have no friends. I am not sure I ever did. They gave in to build Roshi's accused roads and left me to fend for myself." Masked did sound sad. He patiently waited for the shots to take effect.
"My memories..." Quartz moaned.
"I will download them for you, though you will not need them." Masked put a mechanical cap onto Quartz's head to store his memories. On a small screen, his memories played like a collection of clips!
"QUARTZ!" Shrilly, a female voice broke through to him.
Quartz's weary eyes flicked across the room to see Diana, her pale eyes full of fear. Quartz closed his eyes as he could not bear to look at Diana like that. As he could not shake her image out of his head, other images came to him, ones dear to his heart. He barely remembered Rose, Comet, Elizabeth!
Then he remembered two cats he'd long forgotten. Snowpaw and Nimbus, his and Rose's biological parents! Snowpaw was white with blue eyes. Rose inherited her beauty, and Nimbus was as black as Quartz with amber eyes! He was unwilling to forget his parents once more and concentrated on them. They were the ones who helped shape who he was. Quartz fought back, breaking from Masked's clutches!
Racing over to Diana, Quartz unbound her! Unfortunately, Masked was not done as he tried to use pronged wires on them!
"I am so done with this..." Quartz boomed an ear-splitting roar as Diana saw a golden, crescent moon-shaped gleam on his forehead! It blew away the wires, Masked, and all the trash! After that, the moon birthmark faded. "I guess those marks do come in handy."
"You looked good with one." Diana complimented innocently.
"You're just saying that." Quartz beamed, proud of himself.
"No, it's true," Diana affirmed as she and Quartz heard their names, Neo-Eternal Sailor Moon, Super Sailor Universe, and Elizabeth stampeded over to them and glomped them! As they hugged, Quartz noticed Shizaru crawling out of a small pile of trash, which Quartz had somehow missed with his 'hyper beam!'
"I think it's too early for us to celebrate just yet, girls," Quartz warned as Shizaru hopped closer and handed Quartz a bright light, seemingly encased in an invisible sphere! "What do I do with-?"
Quartz was cut off as the translucent sphere popped, and the light split in two, one arching around Quartz and the other around Diana. Thus allowing them to move as fluidly and strong as before! Diana's smile could not be bigger as she brightly skipped around.
Quartz pumped his arms, "Hello, muscles. I missed you." Then, kissed his biceps.
Hearing light giggles, he turned to see they had magically made it back to the rest of the team! Seeing his siblings and Emily cured made him happier, but he still felt for poor Trisha. While it is wonderful for two of each group to have regained their senses, what about the ones who did not? Suddenly, a gong sounded, and Roshi appeared! Those who could hear and those who could not hear jumped because their friends startled them!
"Dick..." Christen mumbled under her breath, referring to Roshi needing to ring a startling gong to herald his arrival.
"Seriously?! We're facing a God, and you still can't show some respect?!" Gracie shouted.
"Seriously? I still can't hear you!" Christen mocked what she could make out Gracie had said and reminded the redhead.
"So..." Roshi began, ignoring Christen for now, "I suppose you're all wondering what happens to those who did not regain your senses?"
Everyone hesitated until someone had something else to say!