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Relena sat quietly in her room, staring at her locket. So much had happened recently that she was having a hard time handling it all. First, her brother had shown up with strange stories of aliens, then strange people showed up at the mansion while she was being stalked by a cat, then she had learned that she was Sailor Moon, the future Queen of the solar system. On top of it all, she hadn’t really existed in this world and all her accomplishments would fall to someone else! It had been a hard week.
How can this be? How could fate be this cruel? she wondered, caressing the locket gently. It still fascinated her, even though she knew every part of it down to the last detail. Something about the locket was comforting to her, something that seemed familiar in this period of chaos.
“There are only two more Senshi left. After that, time will be corrected and the past changed. You will not be credited with all that you have done, but you will gain more nobility in the future. This is the true path of Time.” Relena recalled what Setsuna had told her, hoping to find some inspiration in her words. Why? Why is this happening? Relena begged. She clasped the locket to her chest, trying to melt into its warmth. She started to cry, small tears dripping off her chin. And Merimeia is my daughter? Since when!? She was broken out of her revelry by Trowa’s intrusion. What’s HE doing here?
“Miss Relena?” he asked quietly.
“What do you want Trowa?” she asked, trying to put on a mask of calmness.
“Don’t try to hide it. I know you’re sad.” He walked in and closed the door behind him.
“What do you want?” she asked again, putting an edge into her voice.
“We are having a meeting. Your presence is required.” He walked closer to her and sat down on her bed.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” she said curtly.
“It’ll be okay,” Trowa told her as he got up to leave.
The remark caught her off guard. “What?”
“I know that you’re having a hard time adjusting to this. We all are. This isn’t exactly normal,” he said quietly. He put a hand on her shoulder as she stared down at her lap. “It’ll be okay.”
She looked back up at him, calmer now. “Thanks Trowa.” He really seems to think through his words. He knows just what to say. That’s probably why he’s so quiet. Ironic. Trowa left the room, Relena in tow.
* * *
Setsuna stood at the head of the huge table in the conference room. When Relena and Trowa entered the room, she signaled for Relena to come up and join her in the front. Everyone, including Merimeia, was there. Trowa took a seat next to Cathrine and the conference began.
“The future that humanity has been dreaming for is at hand,” Setsuna announced. “As the time draws near, the Silver Crystal’s power increases. However, it is not complete. In order to bring the Crystal’s power to full capacity, the other two Senshi, Uranus and Neptune, need to be awakened. Then…” Setsuna was cut off by Cathrine.
“Isn’t there a Senshi for EVERY planet in the solar system? What about Saturn?” Cathrine asked.
“And Earth?” Noin followed.
“Both planets have Senshi yes, but Saturn will be taken care of when Uranus and Neptune are found and Earth, well, that’s another matter,” Setsuna said.
“How so?” Heero asked. “How is Earth different from the rest of us? Where is Sailor Earth?”
“There is no ‘Sailor Earth.’ The Senshi of Earth is a man named Chiba Mamoru. He goes by the name ‘Tuxedo Kamen.’ And he is already taken care of.” Setsuna received questioning looks, followed by the general thought, What does she mean? She decided that it would be best if she told the whole story. “Chiba Mamoru is the future King of Earth, Endymon. When we altered history, it was decided that Endymon should be sealed away in a place known as Elysion.” More questioning stares. “Earth is the name of the surface and physical shell of the planet, Elysion is the place inside the planet that is the representation of its soul. Its priest, Helios, is like a spirit parallel to Endymon. When Serenity used the Imperium Silver Moon Crystal to change history, Endymon, along with most of the mana on Earth, was sealed into Elysion. Endymon sleeps there, waiting for the Princess to wake him up.” She looked at the group, hoping they were satisfied with her response. Not getting any questions, facially or mentally, she continued.
“I have been doing meditations this last week, trying to get more information on where Uranus and Neptune can be found and what our enemies, the Star Destroyers, want. Apparently, they are working to summon the demon Chaos. They’re trying to get the Star Seeds because they need the energy of the planets to accomplish this. If they can get the Star Seeds, which they have failed to do thus far, they will combine them in something known as the ‘Cauldron’ and summon Chaos. We also know that less the Knights are killed, they can’t get the Star Seeds for themselves. Now this is secondary to the pressing issue; we do not have the other Scouts. Until we find them, we don’t have the strength to destroy the Star Destroyers. I think I have found the others though. Both are defenders now, although one works in space and the other is very near to here. Both will come to us, but we have to be on the look out for them. Now for a final issue; from now on, things will be up to the Princess. She is our leader and will have to be so in both combat and cooperation. From this point, I turn command over to her.”
Relena looked at Setsuna, surprised by her decision. Setsuna smiled at her and nodded her approval, urging her to take charge. Relena stepped to the head of the table, Setsuna taking a seat on her right. “I don’t know what I’m doing here, I really don’t. I’ll try as hard as I can to be the Queen that you all believe I will be, but just know that I will need time to improve on my skills, especially since I’ve never been in a battle before. I will fight as best I can because I know, somewhere in my mind, that it is my duty, to you and to this world. I promise to lead you as best I can.” Relena bowed to the other warriors, then excused the assembly. “I have a meeting with Sally Po and Wu Fei, so if you’ll excuse me…” She left the conference and set about making preparations for the Preventers’ arrival.
* * *
Sally and Wu Fei sat with Relena in the dining room, exchanging stories of the last year. Sally and Wu Fei had been in close quarters with each other most of the time, and while Wu Fei still held true to his ideals of justice and respect, Sally had given up being polite and was very blunt with Wu Fei.
“And there was this one time, he snored so loudly I couldn’t sleep for a week!” Sally laughed. Relena chuckled politely as Wu Fei scowled at Sally.
“Onna!” he cursed.
“He calls me that so much, you’d think it’s my name…” Sally said, rolling her eyes.
Relena smiled, genuinely this time. “It’s good to see you two getting along so well,” she teased. Wu Fei just glared at Relena as Sally laughed again. “At least you haven’t seen any space aliens,” she added under her breath.
“What?” Wu Fei asked.
Relena quickly realized that he had heard her. “Nothing. It’s not important.” Wu Fei and Sally exchanged worried glances, the room falling still. “What?”
Sally leaned forward and started talking in hushed tones. “A few weeks ago, we spotted something in deep space. Before we could investigate, it disappeared. We don’t know where it went, it just… vanished.”
Relena stared at Sally, not sure what to do. “What do you think it was?”
Wu Fei looked straight at Relena and said, “It was an extra terrestrial spacecraft.”
“Are you sure?” Relena asked.
“We’re not certain, but we haven’t ruled out that possibility,” Sally said.
“What else could it have been? Nothing just ‘disappears!’” Wu Fei said sharply, anger rising in his voice. Stupid women!
“Calm down Wu! Geez, no need to blow a gasket…” Sally grumbled. Wu Fei humphed but settled down. “Anyway, we think it might have been an alien spacecraft! Isn’t that exciting?”
Relena became uneasy, hoping that they hadn’t accidentally stumbled across the Star Destroyers. “Well, I’m full. Thanks for talking to me, I’m glad to hear that things have been well. If you’ll excuse me, I have to get an early start in the morning and I still have business to attend to,” she lied. She had really wanted a chance to talk to Setsuna but didn’t want to be rude to her guests. She stood up, shook both Sally and Wu Fei’s hands, then left.
“That was abrupt,” Sally said after Relena had left.
“Something’s wrong. We should find out,” Wu Fei said, getting up.
“Right.” Sally got up and they left the room. I hope everything is alright…
* * *
“He’s gone… How can this be?” Drakala whispered. Malore looked at her with detest, not sure whether to smack her or comfort her.
It’s her fault! If she had been working on getting to the Prince, we could have used him against the Princess! Malore knew that Drakala could hear his thoughts, but he didn’t care. Wench. It’s all her fault. If she hadn’t been so lazy, we would have a full team still.
“You think I MEANT for this to happen?!” Drakala screamed at Malore. She raged over to him, fist raised and ready to strike. Her anger overtook her though and she stopped before she could deliver a blow to Malore. She knew she had screwed up, as did Malore and the Queen, but she wasn’t about to admit it. That was Drakala’s only flaw, her pride. If anything could bring her down, it was being wrong, and THIS was one of those times. “What should we do now?” she asked meekly.
Malore sighed and looked at the floor. “Luckily neither of us died. Falon is replacable. He was strong, but very, very stupid. You know that just as well as I do. Now that the Moon Princess is awakened, the quest for finding the Sailor Senshi is shot. They have the upper hand with the Silver Crystal.”
Drakala looked at him, questioning. “So what is the plan?”
“If we can get a Knight before he awakens, we might be able to convert him to our side. The strength of a Knight is enough to replace Falon’s and just about ANYONE would have more cunning than him.” Drakala chuckled a little. “So, if we can find a Knight and capture him, Validaria could brainwash him and we’ll be set. Then those stupid Senshi will be at our mercy…”
“One small problem. All our plans have failed and Validaria isn’t in the best of moods, especially with us. How do we know that she’ll accept this one?” Drakala asked.
“She, like us, is getting desperate. Validaria will take any plan we toss out,” Malore said, reassuringly.
“You’re right. I can’t wait to get revenge on those Sailor Scouts…”
That’s what they think… I’ll take matters into my own hands… Validaria pulled her mind away from her minions and focused on finding her own targets.
* * *
“What were you thinking?!” Relena hissed as she slammed the door. Setsuna met her fierce demeanor with a calm look and a gentle sigh.
“I was doing what needed to be done. You have to learn to handle pressure and this is nothing compared to what you will have to face in the future. Just remember that before you become irate with ANYTHING I do,” Setsuna warned. “I’m on your side. I’m just doing what I have to do. And you ARE the Queen of the World…”
Relena wanted to argue that this was different, that she had no idea what she was doing now, but she knew Setsuna was right. She hadn’t had a clue what to do when she had assumed her current title and she had learned to cope. This would be no different she told her self. “Alright, I have to lead, but since you know more than the rest of us, you are my official advisor in all things spiritual until such time that I regain my memories,” she told Setsuna.
“The first of your Queenly duties.” She smiled and kneeled before Relena. “I accept this position and will do my best to help you.”
“Now, what should we do? You know who the other Senshi are. Will you tell me?” Relena asked.
“I do not need to. They will be made clear very shortly.” Setsuna stood and casually pushed open the door to reveal an eavesdropping Sally Po and Chang Wu Fei.
Sally stared at Relena, face pale, not sure what to do. “Um, we uh…” She search her mind for something to say, then turned tail and ran.
Wu Fei blinked a few times, then ran after Sally shouting, “COME BACK HERE ONNA! WAIT FOR ME!!”
Relena looked from Setsuna to the spot where Sally had been standing, then back to Setsuna. “Her?!”
Setsuna smiled, saying, “Perhaps…”
* * *
“Crap! She knows we were listening!” Sally panted as she ran down the hall.
“Really? Ya think?” Wu Fei yelled to her.
Sally ducked into a doorway and peeked to see if Relena had followed them. Seeing that nothing was behind them, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Gee, that wasn’t incriminating…” Wu Fei sneered.
“Oh shut up! Has it occurred to you yet that Relena knows what’s going on and that she was lying to us at dinner?” Sally asked, her voice intense.
“Yes, it has occurred to me,” Wu Fei said, rolling his eyes.
“What should we do?” Sally asked.
“You do whatever you want. It’s been almost a year since I’ve had some time off, I’m going to bed,” Wu Fei told Sally. “See you in the morning.” Wu Fei walked out of his hiding spot and retreated to the room he had been assigned.
“Yeah, see ya…” Sally had made up her mind that it was time Relena come clean. She knew that there was something BIG going on. Alright Relena. Let’s see what you know…
Sally walked quietly through the palace, heading for Relena’s room. If she’s not there, I’ll just wait for her. Sally found the huge door that indicated Relena’s room and knocked softly. No answer. She must be with that other woman still. Sally pushed open the door and let herself in, sitting on Relena’s bed, pondering what was going on. Who is that other woman? I recognize her for some reason… I seem to remember something about rubies, no garnets. A large garnet of some kind? And a mirror… Sally closed her eyes and a clear, beautiful mirror appeared in her mind. It was bordered in gold with a solid gold handle. There were two figures on it, one on each side of the mirror, people that appeared to be bending toward each other. The surface of the mirror was made of shining clear crystal which seemed to reflect the depths of the soul. Sally had entranced herself with the vision, completely lost in her mind. A burning desire to look into the mirror rose in her soul, urging her to see something. Gazing into the mirror’s crystal surface, a face unknown to her was reflected back. Sally’s image self was a woman years younger than Sally with sea green hair a deep green eyes. She was very innocent looking, almost untainted by humanity. Sally was so wrapped up in her trace that she didn’t hear Relena enter.
“Sally?” No reply. “Sally?” she asked again. She walked over to her and shook her gently. Sally convulsed and flailed out, pulling out of her trance wildly.
“What the!?!?” Sally looked around, not sure where she was or what was going on. “Where am I? What time is it?” Sally asked.
“You’re in my room. It’s barely 9 PM. What happened?” Relena asked.
“I saw a mirror. And when I looked in it, I was someone else.”
“Really?” Relena sat next to Sally.
“I don’t know what it meant, but I’m sure that it was me. I even recognized the other face.”
“Are you sure that it wasn’t just someone you’ve known?”
“Yes, I’m sure of it. It was me.”
Relena waited until Sally had cleared her mind a little, then said, “It’s time I told you the truth. About the UFO you encountered and about your destiny.”
* * *
Wu Fei tossed and turned in his sleep. He had wanted to be back on Earth and sleep in a real bed for days now, tiring of the solitude of space. And the sarcasm of Sally. Dreams of war and oppression filled his mind, plaguing his heart. He saw his home colony explode during the war of AC 195, then saw the period when Merimeia tried to take over the World Nation. That was a dark time. He still hadn’t quite dealt with Treize’s death. It was still hard for him to believe that he had actually killed the general, someone that he had hated and revered at the same time. Wu Fei warred with his guilt, an alter-self appearing in his mind, telling him that he had done something wrong.
“You killed him. How could you? After all the death and destruction that you’ve seen, how could you do it? And Treize was a man with noble intentions. You respected him!” Wu Fei’s mirror self yelled.
“He started the war! He may have had good intentions, but can that bring justice to the thousands of people who died for him? He killed thousands to achieve his goal; that isn’t fair!” he shouted back.
“But did they have to? Was it really his fault? He was simply trying to bring control to the weak. The weak must be controlled after all. If no one had resisted him, then they wouldn’t have died.”
“True, but…
“No buts. There was no excuse. And you agreed to HELP one of these weaklings? Relena Darlian was the reason half of the battles occurred. And you agreed to work for her. You’re no better than they are, you who claim to be a bastion of justice and strength.
* * *
“Got him…” Validaria chuckled to herself. And those two thought they could handle this by themselves. Validaria doubled her influence on Wu Fei, manipulating his guilt and rage to turn him against Sailor Moon.
* * *
Wu Fei’s resistance to his guilt slowly broke down and disappeared. The more his mirror image talked about the battles started by resistance forces like the Sanc Kingdom, the quicker Wu Fei agreed with his anger. “Relena is the cause of this. She will be used as an example of what weakness does.” A third person faded into being by Mirror Wu Fei, a woman dressed in a sleek black dress, caressing Mirror Wu Fei’s cheek.
“I can give you the strength to make a mockery of the Peacecraft ideals. Give yourself to me and everything will be good.” She extended tendrils of energy to him, swirling around and through his body, invading his soul.
Wu Fei felt the sheer power filling him, awakening something deep within him. He invited it in, let it take him and in a flash of light, Wu Fei disappeared from his bed.
“Wu Fei?” Sally asked, knocking on her partner’s door. Relena had hit her with some huge news and she needed to talk. No answer. “Hello?” she called, opening the door. Wu Fei was a light sleeper and would have awoken when she knocked. Stepping into the room and turning on the lights, she saw nothing. “Oh shit…”
* * *
Relena had just climbed into bed when Sally burst through the door. Sitting up in shock, she was about to shout when Sally burst out with, “Wu Fei is gone! Disappeared!”
“Are you sure he didn’t just go to get something to eat?” Relena asked, her rantings suddenly interrupted.
“Wu Fei has a very set discipline. When he’s going to do something, he does and that includes sleep. He’s been DYING to sleep in a real bed. I don’t see why he would just leave,” Sally said, pacing back and forth.
Relena walked over and grabbed Sally’s shoulders, stilling her. Relena escorted Sally to a chair, then sat her down, trying to calm the distraught woman. “I’m sure everything is fine. Don’t worry about it. Go to sleep. Wu Fei will be back in the morning.”
“Something just seems wrong…”
Relena got a blanket from a massive wooden armoire and wrapped Sally in it. “You can stay here for tonight. Make yourself comfortable.”
Sally snuggled up in the warmth of the soft, fluffy blanket and closed her eyes. “Thanks. It’s been a while.” Relena smiled at Sally who quickly slipped into the comfort of sleep. Relena climbed into her own bed and followed suit.
* * *
Quatre burst through Relena’s door, waking the two sleeping woman. He blinked in surprise and blushed slightly, trying to get his mind away from its current thought pattern. “Miss Relena? We have a problem…”
Relena was awake in a second. She was still a little disoriented, however. “What? Is Romefeller attacking? Prepare to flee!” she shouted, running about the room, throwing on her clothes and packing random bags with things.
“Umm, that’s not it exactly…” Quatre replied, giving Relena a strange look. “Wu Fei is missing…”
It was Sally’s turn to break into hysterics. “I knew something was wrong! We have to find him!”
A forth person strolled calmly into the room, standing silently behind Quatre. “We must have a meeting. It is vital.” Quatre nearly jumped through the ceiling, not having heard Setsuna approaching.
“Don’t DO THAT!” Quatre yelled in exasperation. Setsuna just smiled.
“Quickly, we have a situation. Something very bad has happened…” Setsuna warned.
“Shouldn’t we get the others?” Relena asked, her hair mostly done up and clothes hanging every which way from her body.
“I have already alerted them. Come now, we have no time to waste. Just get to the main hall.” Everyone followed Setsuna out of Relena’s room and through the huge palace in the conference hall, including Relena in her state of half-dress.
Once the team was gathered, Relena took her seat at the head of the table with Setsuna to her left. “Alright Setsuna, what’s the situation?”
“Wu Fei has been taken by the Star Destroyers. They know that if they can get a hold of him, they can use his power against us…”
Sally quickly cut her off. “What power?”
Setsuna looked straight at Sally and told her, “Wu Fei is your protector. He is the Knight of Neptune. They intend to warp him and turn him against us.”
“What do we do?” Cathrine asked.
“I say that we wait for them to attack. Surely they won’t wait long to attack with this new weapon,” Dorothy said. “I know that if I had just suffered a serious blow, I would be DYING to get some kind of retaliation.”
“I think so too,” Quatre said. “This enemy doesn’t seem to hesitate very much. Plus, if we CAN get Wu Fei back, he might be able to tell us more about WHERE the Star Destroyers are.”
“Very clever. You two show your strong histories in war tactics well,” Setsuna said. “What do you think, Princess?”
Relena thought silently for a moment, not sure what course of action to take. “We must get Wu Fei back, that much is certain. We can’t leave Sally unguarded.”
“But we don’t know if we CAN get him back. We might HAVE to eliminate him,” Heero said.
“I am the one in charge and I say we WILL get him back,” Relena curtly told Heero.
“How? We still don’t fully understand our powers or what we can do,” Trowa said, backing Heero.
“Things will work out. Just have faith,” Hirde said. “We have to decide what plan is best though.”
“She’s right. What should be our course of action?” Cathrine asked.
“I like Dorothy’s strategy. We’ll have to wait it out,” Relena announced. “That is my decision.” It was quite clear that she wasn’t going to be argued in her choice.
"We need a battle plan," Relena said calmly. Turning to the Venusian portion of the team, she said, "Quatre and Dorothy, since you both have knowledge of statistics and war, I leave this to you. Please give me a plan in an hour." Relena then addressed the assembly. "We are getting down to the wire. Let's make this fight what it's worth." Everyone stood up, bowed, and left the room. On her way out, Relena grabbed Setsuna and pulled her aside.
"How am I doing?" she asked.
Setsuna just smiled. "You'll see…"
* * *
"Validaria, what are you doing?" Drakala asked the Queen.
"Succeeding where you two have failed. I captured the Knight and now we have an edge over those Sailor Senshi. I have also devised an attack, worthy of a God's mind. After this battle, we'll see who's the strongest!" Validaria cackled.
Malore and Drakala exchanged worried glances, knowing what the other was thinking. Validaria had NO knowledge of war or battle tactics and her plan would surely be a flop. This could be the worst defeat ever. Both lackies shrugged their shoulders and gave in.
"So who is the Knight you've captured? Jupiter was a strong one," Drakala said.
"Or Mercury. He's both strong AND…" Validaria cut Malore off mid sentence.
"They do not know who this one is. I have captured the Knight of Neptune. He was already skeptic of the Princess's cause and I brought him completely over. Only an hour will be required to program him…"
* * *
Within an hour's time, Quatre and Dorothy had devised an plan to route the enemies into one part of the estate and keep them there. They had laid out the plan, telling each Senshi/Knight pair where to stand.
"Mars, take the lower right wing, Mercury, the lower left," Quatre instructed.
"Pluto, Neptune, and Moon, stand guard by Relena's chambers. Jupiter, take the upper left wing and Quatre and I will survey the upper left wing. If you sight the enemy, report with the wrist communicators. Try to take them by surprise and push the enemy into the main hall," Dorothy said.
"From there, we will force them out the front door and into the main gardens. There, Sally will get Wu Fei and separate him. Relena will go with her and together you will have to try and revert him to his normal self," Quatre finished. "Now let's get ready!"
Breaking into their own groups, the warriors transformed, split up and went to walk the halls. The entire palace was silent except for the sound of footsteps as the warriors traipsed the halls in search of the Star Destroyers. Pluto and Moon returned to Relena's chamber, Sally in tow.
"What do I do? How to I transform?" Sally asked Sailor Moon.
"Pluto? Do you know?"
Pluto closed her eyes and put her right palm against the ball in the top of her staff which began to glow. "I put the power of the Talismans in this staff. If you believe, touch the Garnet Orb. You will receive your power."
Sally took a deep breath and touched the Garnet Orb. Her hand began to glow and a heart-shaped aquamarine crystal formed in her hand. The symbol of Neptune burned on her brow, her eyes becoming blank. When they focused again, she nodded to Pluto, clasping the crystal and crossing her arms over her chest.
"NEPTUNE CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE-UP!!!" A column of water shot up around Sally, engulfing her. The water crashed back in on her, instantly drying and leaving Sailor Neptune in Sally's place. "I'm ready!" she cried.
They stepped out of the room, three Senshi and a Knight, ready for battle. No sooner had they turned the corner then Drakala stepped forward to greet them.
"So we meet again," Drakala hissed, glaring at the group.
"Where is Wu Fei?" Neptune demanded. "We will get him back!"
"You can't help him! Right now, he's searching out your little friends," Drakala replied.
"Fine, they we will have to take our wrath out on you!" Zechs shouted. He charged Drakala with his staff, dodging her attacks and forcing her back.
"Damn! You die!" Drakala sent a fireball down the hall, attempting to fry the fighters.
"Deep Submerge!" A ball of water countered the attack and the two blasted negated each other.
"Fine! Darklings, get them! I'll deal with the others first!" Drakala cursed Neptune's water powers and vanished, several big hairy monsters appearing in the hall. The Darklings attacked, the Senshi countering the blows.
"CRSTAL STRIKE!" Zechs blasted forward a pinpoint of light, piercing one of the monsters. It screeched and crumbled into dust. "Not very strong…"
"CRONOS CYCLONE!!!" Gales of wind went flying through the hall, slamming the Darklings into the wall.
Sailor Moon pulled up the Moon Tiel and readied her attack. She held the Tiel above her head and bought it down in front of her, shouting, "Silver Moon Crystal Power, KISS!" The wave of light disintegrated all but one Darkling which turned and fled down the hall.
"Quick! Cut it off and herd it down the stairs!" Neptune yelled.
Zechs signaled for his sister. "Sailor Moon, come with me! We'll cut it off up ahead." They ran off to head off the monster and force it down the stairs.
Pluto turned to Neptune and nodded. "Let's get to it."
* * *
Jupiter looked around in shock, sure that she had heard something.
“What is it sis?” Trowa asked.
“Pluto. She was talking to me…” Jupiter said. Moments later, Trowa’s ears perked up and he scanned the corridor.
“I heard it too…”
They looked at each other and simultaneously chimed, “The enemy is here!”
“Let’s go!” Trowa said, starting to run.
“Right behind you!” Jupiter replied.
The two ran to the main hall in front of Relena’s room and saw the damage from the previous fight. “Just missed ‘em!” Jupiter said. Her wrist communicator beeped loudly, startling her. “What is it?”
“We’ve engaged the enemy in the lower right! The Mercury team confirms another squad of Darklings in the lower left!” Mars told Jupiter. “Yuuichirou and I have almost pushed them back to the main hall.”
“We’re on our way!” Jupiter responded. She looked at Trowa and nodded, heading for the battle. They were just about to leave when Quatre and Venus came in from the left.
“I heard the report! Let’s force them out to the gardens!” Venus cried triumphantly.
“Something’s wrong though… I can feel it. A battle plan never goes this well…” Quatre warned. “Wait, where’s Wu Fei?”
The four stared at each other for a moment, then Venusclicked on her communicator. “Hey Mercury, any sign of Wu Fei?”
“No! Just Malore and a squad of Darklings. Sorry.”
“K, thanks.” Venus turned off her wrist-com and looked up worriedly. “What now?”
“Let’s just finish the plan. Maybe Wu Fei is their ‘secret weapon.’” Quatre suggested. “Let’s move!” And hope this is all going right…
The four ran down the main stairs and found a huge mob of Darklings surrounded on all sides by Knights and Senshi. They rushed into the fray and attacked, destroying several monsters and pushing the rest back. Pluto blew the door open and they herded the monsters out into the garden.
“Where’s Wu Fei?” Neptune shouted over the yells and attacks.
“Good question! I haven’t seen him!” Yuuichirou yelled back.
“HA! Now we’ve got you!” Malore shouted. He and Drakala appeared in the air behind the Senshi, smiling wickedly at them.
“It’s time! Come forth and finish these fools!” Drakala commanded. A huge funnel of water shot out of the ground, destroying the Darklings. The wave crashed forward and knocked the warriors down, leaving them disoriented.
Salt water? That felt like my power… Neptune thought to herself. She looked up and saw Wu Fei, decked out in black samurai armor, holding a huge trident.
“This is the end! War is a thing of the past once I destroy you! Justice will be served!” Wu Fei shouted at his former friends. “OCEAN FURY!!!” He pointed the trident at the warriors, blasting them with another wave of water.
“Wu Fei! Why are you doing this?” Quatre begged, struggling to his feet. “We’re your friends!” He’s already doubting himself. He can’t stand to see us hurt! “Please stop this!”
“Listen to him Wu Fei. There is no need to fight,” Venus told him.
“Venus! Look out!” Quatre shouted, diving and pushing Venus out of the way of an attack from behind.
Moon stood ready, rallying the warriors together. “Let’s take care of them! Everyone, help me!” Sailor Moon began gathering energy from the others, readying for a huge attack. She held the Moon Tiel high in the air, summoning all her strength.
Stealthly, Neptune slipped away and sneaked up behind Wu Fei, making sure he couldn’t flee.
“Cosmic…” Drakala looked nervously at Malore. “Moon…” Malore nodded back. The two quickly disappeared before Sailor Moon could finish her attack. Neptune grabbed hold of Wu Fei and bound his energy to hers, ensuring his capture.
“Aqua Mirror, come to me!” She held her hand above her, the crystal clear mirror appearing in her hand. She shoved Wu Fei forward, turning the mirror to him. “SUBMARINE REFLECTION!” A spray of mist blasted out of the mirror, enveloping Wu Fei. His reflection appeared in the mirror, showing him his true Knight form. He stared at the image, the mind control slowly slipping away.
“He’s weakening. Help him,” Quatre said, feeling the waves of regret pouring out of Wu Fei.
“It’s okay Wu Fei. Let us help you. We will never forsake you. The future will be peaceful with us,” Venus said, taking hold of his doubt and turning it in on itself, bring out his compassion.
In Wu Fei’s mind, something clicked. His confusion over Treize vanished. In order to bring an end to war, Treize knew he and thousands of others would have to die. Shock WAS the only way to end it. For people, at least. I was doing what needed to be done when I beat him. “I understand. I will help you. In the name of justice.”
Sailor Moon smiled at him. Holding the Moon Tiel in front of her, she sent a warm light into Wu Fei’s body. The dark strands of Validaria’s power appeared, his armor cracking. Suddenly, the armor shattered and the bands of evil energy dissipated. Wu Fei fell to his knees, exhausted. The symbol of Neptune was glowing on his chest and quickly the aqua colored samurai armor from the Aqua Mirror appeared on his body. Neptune leaned down and pulled him to his feet.
“Come on, you could use a nap.”
* * *
“So we have one left to find, eh?” Relena asked Setsuna.
Setsuna nodded her head. “Yes, one more.”
Relena waited to see what more the enigmatic woman would volunteer, but not hearing any more she went on. “Who might this last one be?”
Setsuna smiled slyly. “I’d like to have another meeting with Merimeia.”
