An Ancient Evil
Part 6
By Mystic Jade

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the rights to any of the characters in this story. All other disclaimers apply. Enjoy! An Ancient Evil, Part 6

"Serena? Serena, get up," Luna said to the sleeping blonde as she pounced on her stomach.

"Luna, go away! It's Saturday today, and I don't need to get up," Serena replied sleepily. "Just let me sleep . . ."

"Absolutely not," the black cat exclaimed. She grabbed Serena's blanket in her mouth, and pulled it back as best she could. "You need to go and meet everyone at the . . ."

"Oh my God, I need to get up and meet everyone at the mall," Serena interrupted. She jumped out of bed, throwing her covers off of her. Unfortunately for Luna, she was also thrown off the bed. "Oh sorry Luna!"

"That's ok," she grumbled. "Just grab your stuff and get into the bathroom. And make it quick! You've only got half an hour to get there."

"Sure thing, Luna," she replied quickly. After getting her stuff, Serena ran into the bathroom and jumped into the shower, and, in record time, she was finished. 'Wow, that didn't take very long at all,' she thought, surprised. Then, realization dawned on her. "Figures," she mumbled, as she wrapped a towel around herself, and ran back to her room to grab her razor and shaving cream.

"Serena, you'd better hurry up," Luna said as the girl reentered the room. "You'll only be a little late, so make it fast."

"Ok, Luna, I'll be back," she replied. Once she got back into the bathroom, Serena quickly began to shave her legs. "Why, today of all days, do I have to be running late," she wondered out loud. She jumped when there was a knock on the door, cutting herself in the process. 'Great! Oh, that Sammy gets on my nerves,' she thought to herself. She made sure her towel was wrapped tightly around her, and then opened the door and said, "Sammy, how many times do I have to tell you to use the other bathroom? You made me . . ." She let her voice trail off when she realized who was standing on the other side of the door.

"Sorry, Serena," Kento said, turning a bright shade of red. "I, uh, I didn't know you were still in here."

"It's my fault. I should have made sure I had everything," Serena said, embarrassed. "I'll be done in a few minutes, and then you can have the bathroom." She sighed in relief when Kento went back into his room. She finished shaving and then put on her robe. Peeking out the door to make sure the coast was clear, she ran back into her room, and closed the door.

"Serena, what's the matter," Luna asked. "You look all flushed."

"Oh, I only experienced the most embarrassing moment in my life," she replied. "I'm not used to having a teenage boy in the house, Luna! I know Sammy's a boy, but it's just . . . different!" Luna chuckled, as she understood Serena's dilemma. "Don't laugh, Luna! It's not funny!"

Sai opened his eyes groggily when he heard a soft knock on the door. "Just a minute," he grumbled. He looked around the room and remembered that his clothes were still in the dryer from the previous night. He slapped his hand up to his forehead, and wrapped himself up in his blanket. Carefully, he opened the door, and saw Amy standing there. "Oh, hello, Amy," he greeted her.

"Good afternoon," she replied, as she looked down at her watch. "I'm really sorry to have disturbed your sleep, but it's getting late, and we still need to meet everyone down at the mall pretty soon." For the first time since she knocked on Sai's door, she noticed that he didn't have anything on except his blanket. Blushing, she looked away.

"Sorry," he apologized, blushing as well. "My clothes are still downstairs in the dryer."

"I'll bring you your clothes. Uh, the bathroom is down the hall, and you can find everything you need in the closet. But be careful about your injuries," she began.

"Actually, I feel a lot better," he replied.

"That's great," she exclaimed. "When you're finished, come downstairs, and I'll take another look at them. Then I'll get you something to eat." They stood awkwardly for a couple of minutes. "Well, uh, I'll go downstairs and get your clothes and bring them back up here." With that, she turned and walked towards the stairs.

"Thanks, Amy," he said. She turned slightly and nodded her head, and then was gone. "Boy, this is going to be different," he said to himself as he made his way to the bathroom.

"Where do you think they are," Rei asked. She, Ryo, Mina, Rowen, Lita, and Sage were waiting in front of the mall, as the group had planned. "I know Serena is always late, but Amy never is."

"Do you think they could have run into trouble last night," Lita asked.

"Well, me, Rowen, Serena, and Kento were all together when those Dynasty soldiers attacked us," Mina said. "You said the same thing happened to you, Lita, and you too, Rei. So I imagine Amy and Sai were also attacked."

"That makes sense," Sage agreed. "The Dynasty soldiers must have been keeping tabs on us all."

"Well, if they're not here soon, we'll go and find them," Ryo said.

"Worried about us," Kento asked. The group looked in the direction the voice had come from, and saw Serena and Kento standing there.

"Yeah, sorry we're late," Serena apologized. "We were up late last night snacking and talking, and slept in late." She blushed slightly as she remembered the whole bathroom scene. "But the important thing is that we're here now. Uh, where's Amy and Sai?"

"We don't know," Rei said. "We were waiting for the four of you to show up."

"What do you mean you don't know where she is," Serena asked. "Did you call her?"

"Before you got here, we were talking and found out that all of us were attacked by Dynasty soldiers last night," Lita began. "This could mean that Amy and Sai were also attacked."

"Yeah, that's right. We were," Sai said, as he and Amy walked up to them. "And I got banged up pretty good too. One of them almost got me, but thanks to Amy's quick thinking, I'm fine."

"It was nothing, really. You make it sound as if I'm a hero," Amy replied. "I'm sure you would have done the same for me." None of the Ronins seemed to notice as the girls exchanged nervous glances at Amy's proclamation.

"Well, the most important thing is that we're all here," Ryo said.

"Oh, most definitely," Serena quickly added. "So, let's go do some shopping."

"Yeah, we don't know how long your stay here will be, so the first thing you guys need are clothes," Lita said. "It will look suspicious if you only have one outfit to wear."

"You guys picked a great time to drop in from another dimension. With my fashion sense, all of our money, and not to mention the store-wide sales, we'll find you something," Mina commented.

"In other words, we'll be here for a while. So I hope you all have comfortable shoes on," Rei exclaimed. The guys exchanged horrified glances and stifled groans as they were dragged off into the store.

Several hours later the Ronins found themselves in the Crossroads High School courtyard. The girls told them that was the place the Scouts would meet them. So, once they dropped the Ronins off at the high school, and took the bags the boys were loaded down with, the girls were gone.

"Man, my feet are killing me," Kento complained.

"I know what you mean," Rowen replied. "I thought fighting the Dynasty was tough, but that pales in comparison to shopping."

"If I had to try on one more outfit," Sage began, "I swear that I would have . . ."

"Snapped," Sai suggested.

"Lost it," Ryo asked at the same time.

"Exactly," Sage replied. They all began to laugh. After a couple of minutes, their laughter subsided.

"It was nice of them, though," Rowen commented thoughtfully. "If you think about it, they're a lot like us. Except they had a choice to turn down the responsibility they hold. It was our destiny to become warriors, but they willingly decided to help the Scouts by keeping their secret safe."

"You've got a point, Rowen," Sai replied. "But we all willingly accepted our destinies."

"That's not true," Kento said. "I really wasn't all that interested in saving the world. Although I admit that fighting appealed to me, I just wanted to be a normal teenager. But after all the stuff we've been through, I've accepted my destiny. And I intend to see that the world is safe from the Dynasty once and for all."

As the boys continued talking, the Scouts stood above them, on top of the building. From the position they were in, the Scouts could hear everything the Ronins were saying.

"I feel bad for lying to them," Sailor Moon said. "No, not bad, horrible. They're so willing to accept that story we told them. They trust us completely."

"I feel the same way," Mars said, "but we've only known them a day and a half. Even if we do trust them enough to tell them the truth, Luna wouldn't be too happy."

Sailor Moon sighed in disappointment, but knew that Sailor Mars was right. "I know, and you're right," she said. "Well, let's go down there and talk." They jumped down off the roof, which wasn't very far off the ground and landed silently. As they drew closer to the boys, the Scouts noticed for the first time that the Ronins were wearing their sub-armor. "Greetings, Ronin Warriors," Sailor Moon said as they turned towards the sound of the Scout's footsteps.

"Sailor Moon, Scouts, thank you for coming," Ryo said.

"It's no problem," Sailor Moon replied.

"With the defeat of the Negaverse, we've . . . got some extra time on our hands," Jupiter said.

"You haven't had much time to think about this, but have you found any possible places that the Warlords could be hiding out," Sage asked.

"Actually, yes we have," Mercury answered, pulling out her mini-computer. "There have been several disturbances over the last couple of days. There were three different times two days ago."

"That's when we were brought here," Sai said.

"Yes. And then there were four different times yesterday that showed up on my computer," Mercury continued.

"That must have been when we were attacked by some Dynasty soldiers," Rowen replied. "It was a good thing the guides you sent weren't harmed."

"Yes, that's for sure," Venus commented. "But they would have notified us if they were in any danger. Obviously, you guys are great protectors."

"Something's not right," Mars said suddenly, with a frown on her face. "Sailor Mercury, scan the city." The girl looked confused, but did as she was asked.

"You're right, Mars," Mercury gasped. "There's a disturbance, and it's very close. Too close for comfort." No sooner were the words out of her mouth, then did an arrow shoot out from nowhere, landing a direct hit on Mercury's computer. As it shattered into pieces, everyone looked up in surprise. The site in front of them made the Scouts gasp in shock. However, the Ronins were not surprised at all.

"Sekhmet and Dais," Kento growled. "So you finally decided to crawl out from the hole you were hiding in, huh? Where are the rest of the scumbags?"

"Are you so eager to die," Sekhmet asked. He thrust his weapon forward, and ten Dynasty soldiers rushed towards the Ronins and Scouts. The Ronins were easily able to destroy the soldiers, however the Scouts stood in shock.

'How are we supposed to defeat them all,' Sailor Moon thought to herself, looking at the sea of Dynasty soldiers behind the two Warlords.

"Sailor Moon," Mars shouted, shaking the girl. "Snap out of it! We've got to help the Ronins."

"Mars, are you crazy," Sailor Moon exclaimed hysterically. "There's got to be thousands of soldiers, and two Warlords on top of that. We can't defeat all of them. We can't."

"Sailor Moon, calm down," Sage said in an even voice. "It's most likely an illusion made by Dais."

"Drop the illusion, Dais," Ryo shouted. "Or are you too scared to fight us?"

"Is it an illusion, Ryo of Wildfire," Dais challenged. "Or do your eyes see the truth? Fight, and we shall see." Dais ordered a dozen more soldiers to fight the Ronins.

"I wish I had my computer right about now," Mercury sighed. "Wait a minute!" She reached up to her ear and pressed her earring. Once she did this, a glass energy scanner slipped into place over her eyes. "Yes, it still works," she exclaimed.

"What works, Mercury," Jupiter asked.

"My energy scanner; the same one that I used when we were lost in Beryl's castle," Mercury replied. "Now if I could just focus the scanner on an energy source . . . There!" She pushed her earring once again, and the scanner disappeared.

"What did you find," Venus asked.

"The one Ryo called Dais is emitting some sort of energy wave. He must be causing holograms of some of these soldiers," Mercury answered.

"Then we better fix that," Mars said. She pulled out an ofuda and threw the thin paper at Dais.

"What's this," Dais demanded as he froze in place.

"You'll see soon enough," Mars retorted. "Mars Fireballs Charge!" The attack hit Dais and he fell to the ground. "Yes," Mars exclaimed as smoke rose from Dais' armor. Most of the soldiers disappeared as well, except for the ones the Ronins were battling.

"Don't celebrate so soon girl," Dais growled as he stood up. He sneered from behind his helmet at the look of shock on Mars' face. "The Dynasty will not be defeated so easily, especially by the likes of you." He pulled his extensor blade off his back. "My turn," he stated. "Web of Deception!"

"Mars, watch out," Sailor Moon screamed. She ran towards Mars, and as she pushed her out of the way, Dais' attack hit Sailor Moon. The Ronins had just finished destroying the remaining Dynasty soldiers when this happened.

"Sailor Moon," the Scouts said in unison. They rushed to her side to help their fallen leader. However, she was out cold.

"Leave them out of this, Dais," Ryo yelled.

"Be more concerned with yourself, Ronin," Sekhmet said. "Snake Fang Strike!" As the attack hit Ryo, he screamed in pain and Sekhmet laughed evilly. "What's the matter Wildfire? Can't you stand my attack?" The other Ronins ran towards Sekhmet, however Dais intercepted them.

"Four on two isn't fair," he stated. "Shall we even the odds?"

"Quake With Fear," Anubis yelled out as he jumped down from the school, towards the Ronins. For the second time, he caught them by surprise. Sage, Rowen, and Sai were caught in Anubis' chains, however Kento was able to escape.

"That's enough," Kento yelled. "Armor of Hard Rock, tao gi!" His body took on a white glow as his battle armor assembled on him piece by piece. When the glowing stopped, he was fully armored and ready to fight. Staff in hand, Kento looked at Sekhmet. "Let Ryo go! Iron Rock Crusher," he yelled as he hit his weapon on the ground, and sent his attack at the Warlord. Sekhmet jumped out of the way, barely avoiding the attack.

"Thanks Kento," Ryo said as he slowly got to his feet. "Armor of Wildfire, tao jin!" The Scouts watched as Ryo suited up into his battle armor, and pulled his swords from their sheath. Kento attacked Dais while Ryo fought against Sekhmet.

"I can't just watch this anymore. You guys stay here and protect Sailor Moon," Jupiter said as she looked down at the unconscious girl. She turned towards Anubis and walked over to him. "From what we've been told, you must be the Dark Warlord, Anubis," she said to him.

"And who are you," Anubis demanded. "You'd better run along home, girl, before you get yourself hurt."

"I am Sailor Jupiter," she replied. "And in the name of Jupiter, I demand that you release the Ronin Warriors now!"

Anubis chuckled smugly. "And if I don't," he challenged.

"Then I'll force you," she replied angrily. "Jupiter Thunder Crash!" She threw the electric attack and it hit Anubis in the chest. However, the three Ronin Warriors were the ones screaming in pain. "What? What happened," she asked, confused.

"Go on! Throw more of your attacks at me," Anubis taunted. He backhanded Jupiter and sent her flying towards the other Scouts. "Foolish girl! Your attacks have no affect on me, but they harm the Ronins ten fold!"

"We'll see about that," Mercury said. "Mercury Bubbles Freeze!"

"Mercury, no," Sai screamed as she sent her attack flying in Anubis' direction. The three Ronins watched in horror as the attack hit the chains. However instead of feeling pain, they felt themselves falling.

"Let's see if you feel this, Anubis," Jupiter yelled as the Ronins landed on the ground safely. "Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!" As the attack drew closer to Anubis, a figure jumped down in front of him and batted the attack away. Everyone stopped fighting as Jupiter's attack crashed into the school, and turned their attention towards Anubis.

"My, my Anubis. We certainly are getting clumsy," Lady Kayura said as she replaced her starlight sword in its sheath. "Pack it up boys. You've had enough fun for today."

"Are you crazy," Sekhmet asked angrily, releasing his hand from around Ryo's throat.

"Lady Kayura, we've got the Ronins where we want them," Dais agreed. "We can finish them and leave this pathetic existence. If you would be patient and allow us to . . ."

"Silence," she interrupted. "Do as I say, and don't question me any further." Kayura looked towards the Ronins, who were standing next to the Scouts. "Sorry, but we'll have to play later," she said before she jumped up and out of sight. The other Warlords followed, except for Anubis.

"This is far from over, Ronins," he stated. "Your new allies won't be a deciding factor when the real fight begins." With that, he was gone.

Sailor Moon slowly opened her eyes and sat up. "Ugh, why do I feel as if I was hit by a truck," she grumbled. She looked around her surrounding as and realized the destruction around her used to be her school. "Uh, guys, what happened?"

To Be Continued . . .

---

Author's Note: Sorry I took so long to get this part out! I'm sure some of you might be wondering what the whole tao gi/tao jin thing is (when the Ronins are transforming into their battle armor). Well, it's just something they say when they call for their (battle) armor. Each of the Ronin Warriors has a different saying. And if I'm not mistaken, the Warlords do as well, but I won't be using those. Well, thanks for reading my fic! I hope you liked it. Please leave your comments!

---