rest of part 4

[draegyn]

previous

Sailor Moon rolled to the ground at the same time as she sent a golden discus spinning through the air. She cursed herself silently. She should have taken the time to make herself something to focus the greater of the two battle spells she was limited to. Without a channel of some sort, if she cast it, the illusion around her would burn away and get her in no end of trouble. That, of course, meant she was limited to her ‘tiara magic’ as Rini had dubbed it, which, although useful, wasn’t as effective as she could wish.

She regained her feet at the same time as the thunder from one of Jupiter’s attacks resounded through the air. It was strange that thunder relaxed her but the storms she’d seen on the television the night before had only put her on edge. Perhaps it was due to the knowledge that an experienced and skilled storm caller was in control as opposed to the chaos of the natural weather. Three roses shot past her and connected with a bolt of black lightning. Moon wove between the droids that reached for her, occasionally striking one in such a way that it fell to the ground, disabled. Not far from her she watched the source of the dark lightning, a green haired woman with the same black crescent on her forehead as her sisters bore. There was only one person she could be; Catzi’s description had been too detailed to mistake. She was Prisma and the woman battling Sailor Venus in the distance was the fourth sister, Avery.

Moon ducked another volley of roses and wondered lightly if Frog-face wasn’t using the battle as an opportunity to get rid of her. The roses did hit their intended target, which hadn’t been her, and she grabbed her chance to rush past the last few droids to Prisma’s side. The tall woman turned to face her but by then it was too late. The Lunarian had already grabbed her wrist and had dived into the woman’s mind. Sailor Moon raced about within the other woman’s psyche, hurriedly tracking down and erasing centres of brainwashing. Distantly she sensed another presence approaching her victim and when the newcomer struck out at her, Moon’s free hand darted out and caught the woman’s fist.

The newcomer was none other than Avery and Moon found herself in the difficult situation of trying to heal two different minds simultaneously, in a state that inhibited the majority of her magic and limited the remainder. She was forced to devote the entirety of her attention to the task at hand and did not notice the blast of energy that threw her away from the two women. She hit the ground hard, her head impacted with a rock and she lay motionless as her mind reeled in shock. Distantly the arrival of a new threat registered but she was unable to react, stunned from both the blow and backlash shock of an interrupted spell.

Her eyes refused to focus and she caught only the briefest impression of darkness approaching her before she was engulfed in blackness.

***

Andrew flinched. He had sensed his sister’s fall into unconsciousness but it was not that which worried him. He had absolute trust in Darien and the scouts to keep her safe while she recovered from both concussion and backlash trauma but there were other consequences from the blow to the head that Bunny had received which he would need to deal with. There were some very fundamental differences between Lunarians and humans that would become quite obvious if he didn’t interfere immediately. Differences such as the colour of their blood

“Andy?” Rini’s voice intruded on his thoughts.

He looked at her and smiled at ice cream stains on the girl’s face. “Nothing’s wrong Kiddo, just thinking ‘bout somethin’.” A slight mental stretch allowed him to touch his sister’s mind and the kinbond between them allowed him to make the slight alteration necessary in the disguise that hid his sister’s nature. He disengaged from his twin’s mind and returned to Rini. He faked a leer and grabbed the pink haired child. Rini squealed as Andrew jumped with her into the pool.

“ANDREW!” she protested when he pulled them back to the surface.

“What?” he asked her innocently.

Still held firmly in his arms, she scowled at him. “Why’d you do that?” she whined.

“You had ice cream everywhere. I thought it was the easiest way for you to get clean.”

She pouted, then smiled slyly and splashed him.

“What?!” he spluttered in amusement.

“Gotcha! Now we’re even!”

He pursed his lips in consideration and then grinned. “Not for long,” he warned.

***

In her confused state, she almost mistook the darkness for death but the warmth that surrounded her was at direct odds with the impression of coldness that death had always given her in the past. She luxuriated in the warmth and savoured the aura of absolute safety and contentment that she couldn’t help but feel. The sensation was one that she had not known in centuries and so it was only with the greatest reluctance that she responded to the emotions of those around her. Concern and irritation in an even ratio invaded her mind and she opened her eyes to meet Tux’s staring at her. As soon as he noticed that she had awakened the concern vanished and only his irritation remained.

“Gods, Meatball Head, it’s not safe to let you out on your own. A two year old has a better sense of self preservation than you do,” he snapped harshly.

She frowned at him and realised that he was still holding her. She tried to pull away but he refused to release her. “Let me go,” she grunted and then stilled as she felt the trickle of blood on her temple. A quick check revealed that her illusion had been modified and she detected her brother’s touch in the spell.

“Easy Moon,” she heard Venus murmur, “Mercury says that you’ve got a nasty bump on the head as well as backlash shock-”

“If you hadn’t been so careless you wouldn’t-”

Jupiter glared at him, “Can it, Capeboy. Can’t you see that she hasn’t gotten over it yet?”

“No, I’m fine Jupiter,” Moon insisted weakly and pushed away from the tuxedo-clad hero again. He allowed her to try and stand but when her legs almost gave out on her again he swept her back into his arms.

“Give it up Meatball Head,” he grunted, “You’re hopeless at the best of times; right now you have no chance of staying on your feet.”

She scowled at him once to tell him that he couldn’t just get away with insulting her but rested her head against his shoulder instead of retorting. She saw the other scouts look at her in concern and she smiled slightly as she reached to touch her temple.

“Don’t worry,” she told them, “Give me a moment and I’ll be as good as new.”

Venus nodded, her doubts assuaged by the faint silver light that radiated from Moon’s fingers. “Fair enough. By the way, scout meeting at the temple at one. We need to start acting and stop reacting.”

Tux’s lips twisted. “I’ll make sure she gets there. We need to collect Rini first.”

“Rini?” the blonde scout asked, “What do you have to do with Rini?”

“Nothing, we’ve just run into each other a couple of times. At the moment Andrew’s watching her. I’d better get Moon back before we’re missed.” Without another word he leapt into the air and carried Sailor Moon back to the pool.

“I was so close,” she whispered as she healed her concussion and the wind blew her long ponytails out behind them, “If I’d only had a couple of minutes longer, Prisma and Avery would have been freed.”

“That’s what you were doing?” Tuxedo Mask exclaimed. He screeched to a halt on the rooftop of a building two blocks from the pool. “You really are crazy. Taking that kind of a risk during a battle is unacceptable.”

She frowned. “I had to,” she growled.

“Had to? Had to-”

“Yes!” she screeched at him and squirmed away from him. This time her legs held and she darted away from him angrily. Why couldn’t he give her the benefit of the doubt? Why couldn’t he just trust her to know what she was doing? Why did it aggravate her so much that he kept dismissing her?

***

Tuxedo Mask finally caught up with her when she jumped down into the alley behind the pool. He followed after her and grabbed her arm just as she released the spell that made her Sailor Moon. The rush of power that coursed through his gloved fingertips, combined with the shocking, split-second sight of an angel, caused him to lose hold of his own transformation. Moments later it was as Darien that he faced Bunny. Her liquid sapphire eyes flicked to where his hand easily circled her wrist before they caught his own. Something in those blue orbs made him let her go when she deliberately pulled away from him. She continued to stare at him and he felt himself start to get defensive for no apparent reason.

He opened his mouth to speak but was forestalled when she raised her abused hand. “No, Darien, not another word. If you don’t understand that I cannot hurt when I have the opportunity to heal then I cannot explain it to you. Instead, let me say this; it doesn’t matter whether or not you think I’m of any use to you and the scouts, it doesn’t matter if today makes you think that I’m useless, because, you see, I had no more choice than if I saw a child on a road. What I did was right, whether or not you think so. I had to try and heal them.”

Darien considered his reply for a moment before he responded, “That may be so but you must realise that you were in the middle of a battle. When you lost your concentration like that you could have gotten yourself killed. In fact, you almost did.” He paused and took a deep breath before he continued, “And you’re wrong when you say that I don’t understand, I do. The sisters are victims and they deserve more than a summary death but there are better times and situations in which you could help them. Next time wait until you can spare the concentration for the task.” He held her eyes and willed her to keep eye contact.

“Come on,” she softly said and Darien understood her unspoken submission, “Andy and Rini must be wondering where we went off to.”

Darien nodded and let her walk away from him to the fence. She crouched down as if she were about to jump the fence and he sighed. Before she could try, he gripped her about the waist and lifted her to the top. She pulled herself up and looked at him in surprise. He looked at her sourly and let her think that he’d helped because he thought she’d klutz out. He did but that wasn’t why he’d helped. The protective urges she had aroused in him earlier hadn’t died away yet and he couldn’t risk her hurting herself. Of course he’d never let her know that... nor would he ever let her - or Andrew - know just how nice it felt to hold her as he had. And, strangely, how familiar. The strange thing was that she didn’t scowl at him or show any other sign of displeasure at the autocratic way he’d manhandled her, instead she just stared at him thoughtfully.

That stare unnerved him, could she have sensed the train of his thoughts? The idea that she knew she inspired a fierce protectiveness in him was not a pleasant one. He did not want the ditz to have a hold on him. Then again, what was he worried about? She was a ditz. Her head was so far in the clouds that she wouldn’t notice the pole in front of her until the bruise had turned green. Darien was startled out of his uncharitable thoughts when the object of them jumped down from the fence and walked away without looking at him.

The bewildered man gazed after her and he rubbed his neck in an effort to dispel his unease. His hand slipped over something wet and he looked down to find a smear of something silver. He held his hand up in front of his face and stared at the strange substance on his fingers in confusion. It smelled almost like vanilla but with a hint of something floral and exotic. In fact, it was very similar to what Bunny’s personal scent was. Caught between wondering what the substance was and why he had noticed what the ditzy teen smelt like, Darien dismissed the entire subject. Resolutely he turned his mind to other matters, easily leapt to the top of the fence and swung himself over.

“Hey, Dare! Over here!” Andrew’s voice rang out and Darien trotted over to where his blonde friend stood with Rini and Bunny. Bunny was studiously avoiding his eyes and Darien couldn’t help but frown at the tiny blonde. “You found the phones right Dare?” Andrew’s question broke Darien out of his thoughts.

“Huh?” he grunted, “Oh, yeah. Fine.”

Bunny reached for Rini’s hand. “Gotta book it, c’mon Spore.”

“Are you sure Bunny?” Andrew asked.

She turned and shrugged. “Yeah sorry Andy, something came up.”

“Oh... well I’ll see you later...”

She grinned at him. “I’ll probably drop by the arcade later.” She rolled her eyes towards Rini and added, “Someone decided to ‘fix’ Sammy’s Sailor V game... permanently and so now I gotta go out to get my daily fix.”

“It wasn’t my fault-” Rini protested.

Bunny led her away. “Oh sure, and I bet it was the Easter Bunny who told Luna P to make it bypass the food level and go straight to the space level!”

The two men watched the girls as they went into the changing rooms. Darien started to turn away when Bunny stuck her head back out. “Remember, Andy, the one in blue!” and with those words of wisdom she disappeared.

“One in blue?” Darien asked his friend.

Andrew merely shook his head and lead Darien back to their towels. Only one of the college girls was still there and she waved and laughed as Andrew walked past. The blonde man stopped and gave Darien a wide smile before turning back to the girl in the navy bikini. “Hey Darien, let me introduce you to Betty...”

***

“I think Rini should know who all of us are so she can come to us if necessary,” Mina told the four girls scattered on the floor of the contemplation room in Raye’s temple.

Bunny nodded from her cushion. “I was going to suggest it if you didn’t,” she informed her new friends. “Darien’s introduced himself but it’d be smart if she knew that she could trust all of you.”

“Does she know that you’re Sailor Moon?” Lita asked.

“Yeah,” Bunny ate another biscuit and added, “I live with her anyway, it’s easier if she knows. I don’t have to explain some of the weird things that happen around me this way.”

“Weird things?” Amy inquired with a curious expression, “What kind of weird things?”

“Oh... strange dreams, silver lights and stuff like that,” Bunny answered casually and hid a smile.

“Is that all?” a jeering voice scoffed. “I guess being a super-klutz isn’t a part of being a super hero-”

“Nor is being a super-jerk.” Bunny retorted and stuck her tongue out at Darien.

He smirked as he came through the door and took up a place by the window. Bunny guessed this was his accustomed place at meetings, he seemed to fit there. Chiba Mamoru, Earth protector. It was almost as if he were one of the Earth’s wild children, a hawk or a wolf, ready to break free at any moment. There was much to admire about him, his people skills not withstanding, if only she could get him to loosen up a little. Of course it was hard to dislike someone who could be so protective and caring towards her.

“That’s enough you two,” Raye cut in before Darien could respond, “We’re here on business. You two can squabble on your own time. Now Bunny, you said that Rini was safe at the moment?”

Bunny nodded. “Yeah, she’s with my parents. I told them I’d seen a weird guy hanging around so they won’t let her out on her own.”

“Good thinking Bunny,” Mina told her and Bunny noticed Darien glance at her in surprise. “Okay,” Mina went on, “We need to consider what we’re going to do about the Darkmoon Family.”

“Rubeus almost had us this morning,” Lita interjected, “If Avery and Prisma hadn’t lost it, we’d be history. Pity we can’t count on it happening next time.”

“Actually,” Darien drawled, “If you want to risk the Meatball Head’s life, then we can do that to them every time they attack us until she gets the chance to finish the job.”

“What?”

“I don’t-”

“Bunny-”

“You tried to heal them didn’t you?” Amy’s voice silenced the other scouts.

Bunny sighed and nodded. “Don’t worry, Frog-face has already lectured me on the hazards of spacing out in battle. I’ll leave it until after next time... either that or I’ll arrange for someone to watch my back while I do it.”

Silently she cursed the limitations imposed on her by the effort of maintaining the illusion of humanity. She was not used to not being able to access the greater portion of her power but the more power she let free, the stronger her illusion needed to be and the less power she had remaining. It was a paradox that was best solved by crafting a strong illusion and caging the magic that it could not conceal but the downside was that she kept forgetting that her capabilities were less than what she was used to. After centuries as Selene’s Guardian she could operate effectively even when completely without magic... if only she remembered.

“He’s right-” Raye started and Bunny sighed.

“I know, I know,” she muttered, “Let it rest, I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Fair enough,” Mina allowed, “Alright, what do we know about the Darkmoon Family? A summary if you please Amy.”

The Mercurian reincarnate nodded and conjured her tactical minicomputer. “We know that there are three commanders who serve a prince and that the sisters serve the commander called Rubius. At the moment only the sisters and Rubius are of concern to us so we’ll concentrate on them.” She tapped a key and a hologram appeared above her computer.

Bunny’s respect for the Mercurian rose; it was quite advanced and Amy had done well to reconstruct so much of the old technology. She showed none of her true emotions; instead she affected giddy excitement that died under Darien’s sneer. She knew that the man was more perceptive than that, why wouldn’t he admit that he knew better? The more she got to know him the more she wanted to really talk to him, rather than just quarrel, and she couldn’t do that until he stopped treating her like an idiot. Bunny sighed aloud and dismissed the problem in favour of the hologram.

“Catzi and Bertie told us that Rubius’ base is in a flying saucer which is in geo-synchronous orbit above Tokyo. I have pinpointed its exact location and, between what the sisters have told us and the results of my scans, I have managed to create a fairly accurate set of blue prints. The saucer is three kilometres in diameter and half a kilometre high with major offensive and defensive capabilities. It’s powered by something Bertie called a dark crystal. From what I’ve been able to discover, it’s a very powerful matter-antimatter generator with a unique and sophisticated crystal matrix.” The image changed to one of a crystal cluster that began to rotate. Several spots in the hologram were hazy where Amy hadn’t gathered enough information for an accurate representation.

“I’m not entirely sure,” Amy went on, “But there is evidence to suggest that the crystal configuration is unstable which is something we have to remember if we want to do anything to the craft. The size of the vessel means that we cannot risk knocking it out of orbit and onto the Earth and any mishaps with the weapons systems will also affect all of Tokyo as well as the majority of Japan.”

“Exactly what are you getting at?” Darien questioned, intently.

Mina looked at him beseechingly. “I think we should go after Rubius’ saucer.”

There was silence. Of those present, only Amy and Mina had been party to the initial planning but Bunny thought it that it had been rather obvious and she was slightly surprised that the others hadn’t come to the same conclusion. What other target had they been offered? If the scouts wanted to go on the offensive then there was only Rubius’ space ship. Of course there were a lot of problems involved: transport, firepower, defence systems... not to mention, the actual goal of such an attack.

“Um,” Bunny wondered exactly how she should put this. Oh well, may as well just say it, “Why?”

“Why?” They all looked at her as if she was stupid and she shrugged defensively.

“Well how we go about it depends on what you hope to gain, right?” She looked at them uncertainly. None of them were inexperienced so surely they all saw what she was getting at but apparently none of them did. Instead they all stared at her as if she were speaking another language. In the end it required to Darien to get through to them.

“Meatball Head’s right. Our approach will depend on our objective-”

“We want to take the craft over,” Mina shrugged dismissively and continued, “What else?”

Bunny sat back and let the argument begin.

“I thought a reconnaissance mission would be wise,” Amy objected, “We simply do not know enough nor do we have the firepower for an all out assault.”

“I’d like to catch Rubius,” Lita interrupted, “The other two sisters as well but mostly Rubius. He could probably tell us heaps more than either Catzi or Bertie were able to.”

Raye shook her head. “No, I want us to take out the dark crystal. I have some very strong forebodings concerning it. Something very bad is going to happen soon and it will be involved.”

“We don’t know enough about it Raye,” Mina contradicted, “We could do more harm than good if we interfere with it in ignorance. Amy told you of the risk of a disaster if the ship or weapons-”

Bunny paid only a little attention to the debate. Instead of involving herself she sent a part of her mind out to investigate the ship personally while another part listed possible goals from an attack. First was simple information gathering. For that they’d have to arrive and leave undetected to avoid alerting the enemy and possibly compromising the data they collected. The computers they would need to access were in the heavily shielded bridge. On the other hand, capture of Rubius and the sisters would mean separating to simultaneously invade two sets of living quarters that were located on opposite sides of the ship.

Then there was the dark crystal. Even the briefest of examinations of the energy patterns surrounding the crystal showed that Raye’s worries were well founded. A massive number of energy currents were being rerouted to the weapons systems. A quick check of the primary weapons that were being augmented told her that their power was soon going to be far too great to chance being used against Tokyo. The magnification of the weapons also demonstrated that things were going to get a lot harder in the very near future.

“We’ve only got one chance,” she murmured absently.

Darien looked at her sharply. “What?!”

Bunny looked up, her psychic probe snapped back and it was a couple of moments before she could focus again. “Hmm?” Darien glared at her impatiently and Bunny shook her head in an attempt to dislodge the beginnings of backlash shock. “Oh, they weren’t prepared for us,” she muttered, still slightly dazed.”

Darien frowned. “Meatball Head, try talking sense.”

Bunny paused and took a deep breath before she carefully explained. “The Darkmoon Family weren’t prepared for us when they got here. Now that they know that we’re here, they’re not going to be such pushovers from here on in. In fact, I bet the odds are against us now. We’re only going to get one chance at this. Darien I know that you think I’m an idiot but...”

“But what?” Without even looking at him she knew that he was re-evaluating her and for once his voice wasn’t mocking.

“I think Mina’s right.” Bunny looked Darien in the eyes and tried to convey the importance of the decision for, in the end, it was he who would decide. “I think we should try and go for the whole thing.”

***

He looked around in awe. The massive bulk of Jupiter dominated much of the sky. The thin rings glittered in the distant light of the sun and the silhouettes of three Jovian moons hanging just over the horizon.

“Wow,” he whispered.

A slender shape pressed itself closer to him and he looked down at his side to see a silver blonde head tucked close against his chest. It felt perfectly natural to put his arm around her shoulders and even better when her arm circled his waist. For a moment he was distracted by the sensation of her mouth on his nipple but before his mind completely melted she pulled away slightly and pointed at the sky with her free hand. He looked where she pointed and saw a distant point of blue-green light.

“Is that...?” he asked slowly.

She nodded and cuddled against him again. A part of him relished the feel of her breasts pressed against his ribs but most of his mind was focused on the far off star. “Earth...” he breathed.

“Earth,” she repeated, “A world where good and evil, honour and shame, violence and compassion all coexist. Earth, the last life bearing world in this sector of space.”

“Last?”

“Aeons ago, civilisation Fell and only one world survived the Fall with life. It was a world where life flourished and so, in time, civilisation once more arose.”

“Why are life and civilisation so important to you?”

She shrugged and nipped at him again, which sent ripples of pleasure across his chest, before she replied, “Everything else is just part of a circle, necessary for development, but without life there is no change and civilisation is the record of lessons learned and forgotten.”

“That doesn’t really seem right,” he paused and tried to explain, “That would imply that humans are more important than creatures like... say, worms. I can’t believe that-”

She chuckled and the sound lightened his soul. “You are a true prince of Earth. You know that each creature is as important as the next, that without one, all suffer. Yet even you do not understand that even a lowly worm has a civilisation of a sort. The important things are not what kind of buildings or monuments a race erects or the size of the area it makes use of. Civilisation is a reflection of the laws created by its builders and law and life are what I deem precious. The important thing is evolution of those laws that allow the race or species the chance to choose their own path. Whether it’s between good and evil, honour and shame or obscurity and notoriety, it makes no difference, the opportunity to choose must be there. So maybe the important thing is free will.”

“But some laws remove free will from the equation,” he had no choice but to add.

“There is always a choice even if it is only between slavery or death but feel free to argue the point.”

He looked down to find beautiful sapphire eyes staring back at him and he decided to leave the debate for later. Very deliberately he reached down and cupped one of her breasts. “I have better things to do,” he whispered and leaned forward-

***

Darien bolted upright, his dream shattered around him, and groped on the bedside cabinet for his alarm clock. In what seemed an eternity later he found the necessary switch and silenced the aggravating sounds. He rubbed at his eyes and looked out of the bedroom window. The sun hadn’t topped the horizon but the bright lining showed that dawn wasn’t far off and he’d better get up. It was going to be a busy day.