Alright people, here we go! Chapter 8! I got this done in record time! I was done Monday night, it only took me like two days to write! I'm good! Disclaimer: Want it. Don't own it. Nowhere to Run, Unable to Hide Chapter 8 Sailor Moon concentrated hard on her energy and her future self. 'For my friends. For Rini.' "MOON CRYSTAL POW-" Her chant was cut off by a sudden explosion around the palace. Sailor Moon gasped and opened her eyes, letting the built up energy fall from her crystal and back into her. Another explosion, louder this time, rocked the palace. Moon lost her balance and fell to her knees. A voice blared over the loud speaker; "THE SHIELD IS DOWN! ALL SQUADS PREPARE FOR BATTLE! ALL AVAILABLE MEDICAL PERSONAL TO THE CONTROL ROOM!" All of the people in the room exchanged a quick glance before bolting at break neck speed out of the room and to the section that the Sailor Scouts were in. Being careful to dodge the pedestrians and personnel, the warriors made it to the other end of the palace in record time. When the got there, Endymion threw the doors open and rushed inside, quickly followed by the untransformed Sailor Scouts, Rini, Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask. Several doctors and nurses were gathered around the fallen warriors, who were waving them off. Endymion rushed to the closest Scout, Sailor Venus, and helped her up. Sailor Venus held on to Endymions' arm as he helped her up. "Ohhh," she moaned. "Did anyone get the name of that truck?" "Its 'number,' you ninny," came Sailor Mars' quiet, half-hearted reply. Endymion steadied Venus and she stood on her own. "Is everyone all right?" he asked, quite concerned. Jupiter limped up to the King. "If you're asking if we fried any brain cells or not, I haven't gotten any stupider." She grinned and gave him the thumbs up sign. All the others quickly agreed that they were all right, just tired. The whole while this was going on, their younger selves and Rini stood off to the side of the room. Rini couldn't take it any more. She pulled away from them and ran to the Sailor Scouts. "MARS! VENUS! JUPITER! MERCURY!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. The women turned around and fell back down again. This time, at the force of a small, five-year old girl with pink hair running and tackling all of them to the ground. "RINI!!" all of them cried as they held the girl. Mars shook her head. "You're taking after your mother! Don't do that, you might pick up her clumsiness." Sailor Moon was about to snap at Mars, but decided against it. She'd do it later. The Scouts looked up and finally got a good look at *who* was in the room with them. "Whoa!" Jupiter yelled. "It's a few centuries younger usess!" The others nodded in agreement. "We were never *that* young," Venus muttered as she stood up. Sailor Moon looked at her friends. All of them were staring at their future selves. Each was a few inches taller, and they looked more regal and mature. Serena looked into their eyes and noticed that that part of them looked the same. Mars' eyes still held her life spark and fire. Mercury's still held wisdom beyond her years. Jupiter's eyes sparkled with mischief. Venus's eyes glowed with happiness and optimism. No, they were the same, just older. Another blast rocked the palace. The older Sailor Scouts fell over, being too weak to hold themselves up. Sailor Moon steadied herself by holding onto Tuxedo Mask's shoulder. "Forgot about that..." she murmured. She turned to her friends, "Come on, guys! We gotta move!" "Right!" they answered together. "VENUS STAR POWER!" "MERCURY STAR POWER!" "JUPITER STAR POWER!" "MARS STAR POWER!" It took only moments for the Sailor Scouts of the twentieth to be standing opposite of the thirtieth century ones. Jupiter of the future cracked her knuckles. "Alright! Real action!" she yelled ecstatically. Sailor Moon took one good look at the older Sailors. "No way, guys," she told them quietly. Everyone in the room looked at her in shock and confusion. "What?" Venus questioned. "What do you mean?" Sailor Moon gave her a look. They were tired, she could see that. There was no way any of them were fit to fight. "The four of you have spent, what a month? protecting the palace using your own energy. Can any of you even make a decent attack?! You're not even standing on your own!" The Scouts were about to say something but Sailor Moon cut them off. "We'll go this time. You stay and rest." With that she motioned for her Scouts to follow her and was out of the room before anyone else could open their mouth. "Well," Mars started, "I guess it's nice to have the Meatball Head back." The others agreed, somewhat dumbfounded that she had managed to do that. Artemis looked up to Endymion, "Is there anyplace we can watch them? It's not that I don't trust Serena but..." Mercury had walked away as soon as their younger selves had left, and gone to a station set up in the far end of the room. "Over here, Artemis." Mercury pointed to a screen that showed the outside of the palace. Her hands moved expertly across the controls and she brought up an image of the Sailor Scouts running through the palace and outside. "We can watch them here." The group headed over to where Mercury was and took places on either side of her, watching the battle begin. ******************************************************************************** The Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Mask hurried outside of the palace and stopped. Their eyes went past the UFOs. Past the droids and even past the enemies that were advancing towards them. They were looking at the devastation of Crystal Tokyo. Most buildings as far as the eye could see were in toppled heaps. The road was cracked and turned up, revealing dead earth. Sailor Moon closed her eyes in pain. 'Just like home...My real home.' Her eyes snapped back open a second later. No, she wasn't going to let it happen to a place that she would call home. Not this time. "COME ON!" she called to the others as she ran off. No speeches. No announcing that they were there. Nothing. The warriors simply started attacking anything in sight that had to do with the Nega-moon. Sailor Moon used her tiara more then her scepter. It took less energy to do, and it would weaken the droid enough that it would stop its attack for a moment. That gave Moon enough time to weaken many of them and then use her scepter. She fought long and hard. Never had any of them been in a free-for-all before, and this was certainly a learning experience. Sailor Moon was fighting so hard, that she didn't notice the figure coming from behind her... Ok, that's it for this week...NO, KIDDING! JUST KIDDING! I'm not *that* cruel! ^_~ (Don't even open your mouth, Nikki!) ******************************************************************************** The older Sailors watched the battle with interest. Even though there were only six warriors for their side, it was obvious that they were winning. Though happy that their younger friends were doing a good job, the girls longed to be out there fighting themselves. It had been too long since any of them had had a good battle. Even Mercury seemed a little restless. Mars was watching the screen with Sailor Moon on it and gasped. "Hey, Endy. Let's say that there was a big problem and they needed help, would we be able to go and help them?" she asked while looking at her king. Endymion nodded an affirmative and glanced at her quickly, "Why?" Mars shrugged, "Nothing really. Oh except this: Prince Diamond's sneaking up on Serena. None of them are exactly noticing so...Can we go?" Endymions' eyes glazed over when he saw what Mars was talking about. "We can," he answered her. Venus understood what he was saying and tried to talk to him. "You really shouldn't, Your Majesty. What if you get hurt? What will we do then? You were already hurt earlier from when they originally attacked, the last thing any of us needs is that to happen again!" He turned to Venus and all of them knew his answer right away. "He's the one who ordered the attack on Serenity. He's the one who tried to hurt Serena. I'm *going*." The others nodded and then concentrated. Quickly, a rainbow of light filled the room. The guard concentrated on their destination. In a flash of light, with out words, they were gone. Luna and Artemis looked astonished. "WOW! Individual teleportation!" Luna exclaimed. "I didn't know that they could do that! That's amazing!" Rini answered a faint 'Yeah' and kept her eyes glued to the picture of Sailor Moon. Diamond was right behind her now, and was preparing to strike. "Mommy..." she whispered as a tear slowly made its way down her pale face. "Oh, Mommy." ******************************************************************************** Sailor Moon dusted another round of monsters. She turned to her other side and noticed that there were no more around her. 'Odd...' she thought while looking around. "Hello, my Queen," a voice from behind her spoke. Moon stiffened. She knew that voice. Turning around quickly, she saw what she had not wanted to see, Prince Diamond was advancing towards her swiftly. She looked up at him and prepared her attack. "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!!" Her energy coursed through her scepter and went speeding towards him. He held out a hand and reflected it, causing it to dissipate. It never even touched him. Sailor Moon gasped and then heard screaming behind her. Turning around, she saw all of her friends trapped in a dome of dark power. Her eyes went wide, and she ran to it. Tuxedo Mask ran to the edge of the sphere and he placed his hand on surface. Sailor Moon repeated his action placing her hand against his. "RUN SERENA!" he called to her through the dome. "GO BACK TO THE PALACE!" Sailor Moon shook her head. "I WON'T LEAVE YOU!" she cried as tears ran down her face. She turned back to Diamond, "Please," she begged, "please let them go. You want me, not them. They have nothing to do with this." She looked at him intently and asked again. "*Please.* Let them be." Prince Diamonds eyes went wide suddenly as five people appeared behind Sailor Moon. "That won't be necessary, Sailor Moon," came a masculine voice from behind her. Sailor Moon gasped and turned around wide-eyed. Standing behind her were the Sailor Scouts of Crystal Tokyo and King Endymion. "JUPITER THUNDER DRAGON!" The giant dragon of thunder and lightning went screaming towards Diamond. He dodged it easily and countered. The Sailor Scouts and Endymion scattered and began using different attacks. "MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!" A thick fog covered the area, preventing Diamond from seeing his targets. "VENUS LOVE CHAIN..." Her attack was cut off by Diamond using his power to blow the fog away. She looked at him questioningly as he attacked again with another dome of dark energy, trapping all of them except Sailor Moon. "NO!" she screamed as the dome solidified, preventing them from escaping. Diamond smirked and lowered himself so that he was standing right next to Sailor Moon. "If you come with me," he whispered to her, "I'll let them go. I won't hurt them." Sailor Moon looked up at her friends. Their eyes were pleading with her to leave, to forget about them. But her heart told her she had to help. "What do you say?" "If you let them go..." she started, trailing off. Diamond smiled evilly at Tuxedo Mask, who was desperately pounding on the walls of his prison, trying to get out. Trying to get to her. ******************************************************************************** Sapphire watched his brother in disgust. He was watching the battle for Crystal Palace back on the base, and suddenly felt very queasy. 'No, this isn't right!' The Wiseman appeared from behind Sapphire and laughed. Sapphire turned and gave the fortuneteller a evil glare and turned back to the holo. "Your thoughts betray you, Sapphire. You do not believe in our cause anymore," the Wiseman stated bluntly. Sapphire growled, "I agree that we should live on earth. I do not agree with what you are doing to my brother. He was never like this until you tricked him into doing whatever it is you want him to." Wiseman wasn't surprised. "It took you longer to see through my plan then I thought it would. I expected you to have seen weeks ago. I guess I put too much faith in your intelligence." Sapphire had to admit that the old man was right. There had been so many signs that he wasn't loyal to the Dark Moon or his brother. He wondered briefly how many people the Wiseman he managed to turn to his side and how many had been killed because they found out what he was really planning. It didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was proving it to his brother and getting rid of the so-called loyal officer. Sapphire whirled around, having sensed an incredible power coming from behind him. He saw the Wiseman glowing an dark black color and powering up. Sapphire took the hint and disappeared. He had to find his brother. ******************************************************************************** Sailor Moon's breath was coming in short gasps. She couldn't let her friends die, but she couldn't give in to Diamond. Her mind whirled with a thousand different thoughts and emotions. She grabbed her head and tried to force them all down. Trying to quiet them. All of them obeyed. Except one. A voice from long ago rang clearly in her head and she responded to its call. She knew what she had to do. She couldn't do what either side wanted her to do. 'I will do what you tell me to, Mother.' "I know your type, Prince Diamond," she told him while stepping closer to her friends. "You won't let them go. You would sooner see them dead then give them a chance to retrieve me." She turned around and her eyes flashed at him. "Wouldn't you?" He smiled at her, "You are indeed very wise, Serenity." Sailor Moon looked at the ten of them. They got what she was saying and nodded. On a silent countdown, all eleven warriors unleashed their most powerful attacks on their domes, Sailor Moon splitting her energy to go to both barriers. "VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" "JUPITER THUNDERCLAPS ZAP!" "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" "MERCURY ICE STORM BLAST!" Tuxedo Mask threw dozens of roses in the same spot the Sailor Scouts were hitting. In the other dome, the Sailor Scouts remembering to be mindful of not using their most powerful attacks as Pluto had instructed, they unleashed their power. "MERCURY ICE STORM BLAST!" "JUPITER THUNDERCLAPS ZAP!" "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!" "VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!" Endymion gathered energy inside of his sword and hurled it at the dome. "MOON SCEPTER ELIMINATION!" The force of the six attacks on each dome caused them to collapse, and the Sailor warriors were standing there again. Endymion aimed his sword at Diamond, "Your, turn," he said while narrowing his eyes. Diamond was about to call on his droids to attack when the Wiseman appeared. "We have a problem, Prince," he hissed. Sailor Moon shuddered at the memory of when she had last seen the man. She still felt the evil being inside of him that seemed to be his whole essence, like with Queen Beryl. He was pure evil. Prince Diamond didn't even turn to his 'loyal' subject. "Not now, Wiseman." "This is important. You brother has made it clear to me that he is a traitor. He probably always had been, and always will be!" He needed the Prince to believe him in order for his plan to work. He needed to be rid of both of them once and for all. That got Diamonds attention. "WHAT!?!?!?" he cried. "I won't believe it! My brother is loyal to me!" The Wiseman seemed to smirk and answered the Prince, "I have proof back at the base, do you wish to see it?" Diamond looked back at the group of warriors who were now standing protectively in front of Sailor Moon. He made up his mind. "We'll finish this later, Serenity." He bowed to her and left. Wiseman laughed and prepared to follow. Sailor Moon called after him, "I won't let you hurt his brother!" The others turned to her in surprise. "I'm afraid, child, that you don't have much choice in the matter. I will get what I want. Sapphire is just a pawn!" he laughed again as he disappeared. Endymion looked at her, astonished. "How did you..." he trailed off, realizing that it didn't matter. Besides, she was practically collapsing. Sailor Moon ran to her friends and embraced them all. She and Darien hugged for a long moment before all of them set off again. ******************************************************************************** When they got back to the palace, Rini was anxiously awaiting their arrival. As soon as Endymion entered the room she ran to him and through her arms around his neck. "DADDY!" After a moment, he started to run out of air. "Rini...Rini, Honey, Daddy needs to breathe!" he managed to choke out. Rini's eyes went wide and she released her father from her vice hold. Blushing, she looked down as the others laughed, "Sorry, Dad." He just smiled and ruffled her hair. "It's ok, I'm used to it. Look at your mother!" Sailor Moon gave a sarcastic laugh as the others laughed whole heartily. "Well, today's been...interesting, for lack of a better word." Darien told the King. "No kidding," Serena mumbled. She yawned and down shifted to her civilian form. "I say, that we get some sleep! I'm tired!" Both Mars' sighed in disgust. "Somethings never change," Raye muttered under her breath. "And never will," Mars finished for her. Serena turned to the two priestess and stuck her tongue out, causing the others to laugh. "Serenity..." a voice called out to her, breaking the joyous mood. Serena whirled around and saw a man kneeling before her. He had dark blue hair and pale skin. He was wearing a dark blue jacket and white pants. The thing that got everyone in the room edgy, was his black crescent moon. Serena studied the man for a moment before speaking, "Sapphire?" The man looked up in surprise, "How did you..." "The Wiseman mentioned you turning traitor or something, no one else would come here." She smiled at him, making him automatically feel at ease. Lita walked up to Serena, "This could be a trick," she hissed as she stared at Sapphire. Sapphire stood. "NO! I'm not here to trick you or lead you to one of my brothers' traps! I have a question and was wondering if you could help me." Serena was about to open her mouth when a voice cut her off, "So the Wiseman was right!" Sapphire and the others looked up and saw Prince Diamond floating above them. He continued with a very hurt voice, "How, could you betray me, brother?" he asked. "How could you betray everything that we've worked for? This is what we've always wanted!" Sapphire turned and faced his brother as he landed. "Don't you see!?" he yelled. "I'm not the traitor, Wiseman is! He doesn't follow you or anyone! He seeks Crystal Tokyo for himself!" Diamond answered his brother with an equally angry response, "I won't believe that! The Wiseman has done nothing wrong, but you," he pointed a finger at Sapphire as he continued, "are associating with the enemy! You are even asking them for help!" ******************************************************************************** Unbeknownst to all in the room a dark cloaked figure was slowly powering up in the shadows. He had been in the room for many minuets and had so far gone unnoticed. He had a specific person he needed to take care of in order to destroy all of them. If he destroyed her, he could easily destroy the others. Their emotions would blind them and make their effort to stop him futile. His target, Serena Tusikino. TO BE CONTINUED... Yep, yet again! I love doing that! Hey, it's my onee-chan's fault! She's the one who really encouraged me to write and I followed her example of cliffhangers! Blame it on Nicole Cherre! Oh, yeah. You should probably read her story, too. I can't make fun of her with out saying something nice...She might hurt me! -_-; Hey, my parents think that Sailor Moon nuts are insane because some are in college and watch Sailor Moon! They don't know how close to the truth they are...^_~ N*E*WAYZ- Chapter 9 out next week! We're coming to the finale here! About two more chapters and an epilogue. Stef-chan