Earth Guardian Prince Endymion

By Senshi of Ruin and Mizu no Senshi

Act Ten Recap:

(Mamoru’s POV)

“My Youma has taken over the local radio station. My song will be broadcast twenty four hours a day.”

“Sounds like a bit of an overkill” Mars muttered angrily.

Venus smiled sweetly, “It’ll be worth it when I capture the Prince and kill the enemy. I had one of them before don’t forget. They are not invincible.”

Dark Venus tried to find the Prince by using a song that made all the Princes in Tokyo ill so that she might eliminate them and find our Master before we could.

“Do we know where the radio station is?” Kisho asked.

When Taro nodded he turned and made to walk out of Crown, “Lets go then.”

“You can’t just go charging in there!” Taro protested, a part of him annoyed as he was the only one who seemed to have a problem with this.

She took over the radio tower so her song played over and over. We went to stop her, but Venus had been expecting us and had her strongest Youma there waiting.

Clutching the Moon Wand tightly, Sailor Moon again called out her attack and the crescent beams of light struck the Youma from behind. It screamed and exploded, leaving nothing but a fine layer of dust covering the surfaces and the kings.

“Sailor Moon” Tuxedo Kamen whispered in awe and gratitude.

“I’m just returning the favour” she replied, though the very sentence almost brought tears to her eyes, “We both seek the Ginzuishou. That means that we are enemies, are we not?”

Sailor Moon saved us, but it would seem that she has decided that we are now enemies. I don’t know what to do. Even though we have the same goal, how can I fight against her? And what is worse is that the Dark Kingdom are trying to kill her. Do I help her or leave her to her fate? If I help her I will be betraying the Prince, but if I don’t I’ll be betraying my heart!

*****

Act Eleven:

Mamoru mentally winced at the loud thud the door made as it clicked shut and he braced himself for the upset of his fiancée. After the fight in the radio station, he and the others had gone back to Crown to discuss the mission. This had pretty much taken up all his day and Mamoru had totally forgotten that he was meant to be meeting Hina so that they could go and see her parents together. Now, he knew she would be upset and rightly so, but the fight had really tired him and Mamoru wasn’t sure if he could take another confrontation.

The bedroom door opened as he slumped down on the sofa and Hina came out. Her face was flushed, but she didn’t appear unduly upset and this puzzled Mamoru. If anything she seemed excited which was unnatural as Hina was usually quite a reserved person.

“Mamoru-kun!” she planted herself on the sofa beside him and threw her arms around his neck in an almost suffocating embrace. “Where have you been?”

Here it comes, Mamoru thought gloomily as he replied, “I’m sorry. I was held up. I’ll make it up to you I promise.”

“Oh don’t worry about that. My parents didn’t mind at all. They just said that you should go and see them tomorrow or something” Hina shrugged, “But that’s not important now. I have some great news” she was practically shaking in excitement as she continued, “The hospital called. As part of their charity day tomorrow they’ve invited Komoro Seiichi to come and look round the ward.”

“Komoro Seiichi?” Mamoru asked blankly and Hina pouted.

“Mou, Mamoru-kun. I only own every CD that he ever recorded and only listen to his music twenty-four hours a day!”

“Oh, that Komoro Seiichi.”

“Yes! And guess who’s been given the job of showing him around the hospital?”

“You?”

“Yes!” Hina tightened her hold on Mamoru, “I just can’t wait to meet him!”

“And I should be happy that you’re spending a whole day with a man that you have a crush on?” Mamoru questioned teasingly. “I might have to play the over protective boyfriend and come with you.”

“Mamoru!” Hina laughed, “You know I love you! It’s just that…” she trailed off, “He’s been my idol for so long. His version of the Moonlight Sonata is so beautiful and moves me to tears every time I hear it. How many pianists can achieve that?”

Mamoru didn’t know much about the piano so he kept quiet. Hina seemed a little disappointed at his lack of enthusiasm, but brushed it off as tiredness.

“I’m going to bed,” she announced at length, “Are you coming?”

“In a while” Mamoru replied.

“We both seek the Ginzuishou. That means that we are enemies, are we not?”

Sailor Moon… Mamoru thought to himself as her words echoed over and over in his mind. Enemies… Mamoru had, at one time, been willing to fight against her, but now… he did not know anymore…

******

“Venus” Sailor Moon implored to the Senshi, “Please don’t. I don’t want to fight you! We’re meant to be on the same side. You must remember?”

Venus snorted, “What are you talking about?”

“Luna told me! She said that we’re the Senshi who protect the Princess. Beryl has corrupted you to work for her!”

“Stop trying to confuse me! You’re the enemy! Venus love-me… chain!”

“She truly thought that you were once on her side?” Mercury sniggered to herself “What a fool.”

Venus nodded; not portraying just how much Sailor Moon’s strength had frightened her, not that the Senshi understood why. All she knew was that Beryl was right. Sailor Moon must die.

“It is valuable insight, don’t you think?” she asked the blue haired girl. When Mercury frowned, Venus continued, “As long as she believes this then she will not attack us to kill. That gives is a significant advantage over her.”

Mercury looked curiously at the leader of the Dark Senshi, “What are you suggesting?”

Venus smiled and turned back to leafing through her song sheets, “You’ll see…”

******

“Kimi-kun. You have to work late because you’ve been neglecting your job recently”

Taro scowled to himself as Motoki’s lecture played itself over and over in his mind. It was true, he was missing a lot of work, but the others were missing things, too. It was almost funny how insignificant and mundane life had become.

“Problem?” Kisho asked when he noted the angry look on Taro’s face.

“No” he sniped back half-heartedly and wished that Mamoru and Masaki would hurry up and arrive. He and Kisho were seated in their meeting room at opposite ends of the table. Kisho kept his gaze fixed on the wall behind Taro’s head, an act that annoyed the younger man slightly and his annoyance often turned to anger. He had, had an entire day of Motoki nagging at him and Taro did not need anyone, especially Kisho, adding to this stress.

“Some meeting this is” Kisho casually observed after a few moments more, “I don’t know what we have to talk about anyway. We are no nearer to either of our goals so it is pointless meeting up like this all the time.”

Taro had to admit he partly shared the same sentiments, but it was more than just meeting. Mamoru still yearned the normality that Taro and the others had felt so frustrating. A part of their leader still could not come to terms with being Tuxedo Kamen and these meetings helped remind him that he was not alone, even if his friends had found it easier to accept the mission that was given to them.

“It’s called team work” Taro shot back acidly as a retort to Kisho’s remarks, “If we talk about the mission and go through the things that have happened then we might actually learn something new. Not that you would know the first thing about team work, that is.”

Kisho leaned back in his chair and smirked, “I don’t need, too. All team works serves to do is slow one down.”

“And alone you were just kicking the shit out of that Youma, right?” Taro snapped sarcastically.

Kisho frowned, not liking to be reminded of this and Taro smiled as though gaining a small victory. At that moment Mamoru and Masaki chose to enter.

“Sorry” Mamoru smiled at the two kings as he sat down between them, “I had to take Hina to the hospital for her volunteer work.”

“What’s your excuse?” Kisho asked Masaki when the latter did not give a reason for his own tardiness.

“Family stuff” Masaki shrugged, “Not that anyone here cares, right? I thought we were going to talk about the Prince?”

Taro was stunned at his friend’s hostility and shot him a questioning glance. Masaki avoided his gaze and prompted Mamoru to speak.

“I know” the young leader began, choosing his words carefully as though he were picking his way through a field of landmines, “Our mission hasn’t exactly been a success and we have no idea where to find the Ginzuishou or our Prince.”

“Tell us something we don’t know” Masaki added in.

“The Dark Kingdom is after energy, the Ginzuishou and, it would seem, they have some sort of interest in the Prince, too. So it stands to reason that we complete our mission before they do. Are we agreed?”

Taro voiced his agreement whilst Masaki glanced round the table and then hesitantly nodded. Kisho, however, remained silent.

“Taro-kun thinks he saw the Prince, so I still say that it is probable that, that man is the Prince we are looking for. You said he had similar clothing to your transformations, right?” when Taro nodded Mamoru continued, “And we know that he is also after the Ginzuishou. That is our common ground.”

Mamoru took a piece of paper out of his pocket and smoothed it out on the table in front of them; “I got this off of the internet this morning. It’s a list of all the jewellery stores in Tokyo. If the man is after the Ginzuishou then there is a chance that he’ll turn up at one of these looking for it.”

“There are at least sixty” Kisho pointed out, “We can’t hope to cover them all.”

“We’ll keep to this district to start with. It stands to reason that he and Sailor Moon both live in or around Juuban. There are four in the surrounding area. If we each take one to keep an eye on at night then one of us is going to meet him eventually.”

“And what do we do when we find him?” Masaki asked, “Just ask him if he’s the Prince?”

Mamoru nodded, “Why not?”

“And what if he’s an enemy?”

“We kill him” Kisho replied easily, “One less to deal with that way.”

“No ones going to be killing anyone” Taro snapped a little irritably, “Why do you always have to attack first and ask questions later?”

“This is serious” Kisho replied smoothly, “I don’t intend on letting anyone stand in the way of the mission.”

“That’s just it” Taro said, “Is your mission the same as ours?”

A deadly silence befell the group as these words escaped Taro’s lips and he instantly regretted his hot temperedness. He averted his gaze when all eyes fell upon him and Mamoru demanded to know what he meant by that.

Taro, if he were honest, didn’t know. He had this feeling…. He was the only one not to remember their past life, either in whole or part and this hurt him more than he would let on.

“Nothing” he said at last, “Nothing at all. I was just angry.”

“Are you sure?” Kisho asked, obviously enjoying the way the conversation was headed, “Because if you have doubts about my trustworthiness then I would rather that you voiced them now.”

“I don’t” Taro snarled, “I was angry, that is all.”

Mamoru nodded, but the conversation had set the tone for the remainder of the meeting.

*****

“You shouldn’t use up time for unnecessary things!”

Komoro Seiichi appeared at ease as he followed the bright and bubbly young girl down the stark white hospital, pausing to shake the hands of patients and sign the odd autograph. He had to admit this was a welcome change to the hordes of female fans that had been gathered outside of his hotel ever since he had arrived in Juuban. Seiichi didn’t mind the attention, but he couldn’t even go outside without an escort and he was beginning to regret announcing where he would be based for the next six months. Of course, the Juuban District had not been his choice. He had been born in Tokyo but his family were from Kamakura City, north of Tokyo. His family… Seiichi bit his lip as he thought of them. He hadn’t seen them in at least a year. Ever since…

“Komoro-san?” the girl, Hina, turned as she noticed the look of anxiety on his face. “Daijobu?”

“I’m fine” Seiichi replied. He could tell by the way that Hina gripped her clipboard tightly in both hands and the flushed colour of her face that she was also a fan of his. Seiichi sighed and wondered again if this were truly an unnecessary thing. He liked coming to the hospital and seeing the patients. If having him shake their hands and sign a few autographs made them happy then Seiichi was glad to give up his time to do it. He wasn’t at the hospital for publicity; in fact the young man hated all the attention. He was there because he wanted to be.

“I thought we could go up to the children’s ward next?” Hina suggested shyly, “Though I doubt many of them will know you. It’s mostly teenage girls and young adults who listen to your music, right?”

Seiichi shrugged, “I don’t mind.”

“If you are sure?”

He nodded and Hina led the way to the elevator. Seiichi knew he should make the effort to talk to her more, but he just couldn’t concentrate on anything at the moment.

“Are you sure you’re ok, Komoro-san?” Hina asked again as they stepped into the aforementioned elevator.

“I’m sure” Seiichi responded, though at the moment he really wasn’t sure.

“You shouldn’t use up time for unnecessary things!”

Unnecessary… Seiichi shrugged to himself. It was he who deemed what was necessary and what wasn’t. Coming here may not mean much, but it was a relief in a way and a very welcome one.

******

Usagi walked dejectedly down the garden path, staring in dismay at the red lettering marring her latest essay for school. She had, had no time to concentrate on studying and now Ikuko was going to yell at her again.

“We both seek the Ginzuishou. That means that we are enemies, are we not?”

Did she still mean that? Usagi knew in her heart that she couldn’t fight against Tuxedo Kamen. There was something about that man… something she just couldn’t explain. But she wanted the Senshi back. Usagi could do anything… she took a deep breath and opened the front door.

“I just have to be strong” she told herself, “Once I have the Senshi back then maybe it will all just fall into place. The Princess will be revealed and I can go back to being Tsukino Usagi.”

This was an attractive thought and the pigtailed girl couldn’t help but smile.

The Tsukino household was silent as Usagi entered and for this she was grateful. Leaving her bag on the kitchen table, Usagi hurried over to the fridge to fix herself a little after school snack. Her stomach rumbled loudly as she was faced with the tough decision of having chocolate or strawberry flavoured ice cream. It had been a horrible week, Usagi reasoned as she took a huge scoop of each before sitting down to eat and muse over the local paper as she did so.

Bypassing the news, Usagi went straight to the entertainment section. According to the paper, star pianist Komoro Seiichi was at the hospital that week doing some charity work. Usagi knew that Naru-chan had a huge crush on the man and made a mental note to let her friend know so that Naru could stalk the hospital with the hundreds of female fans already doing so.

She was about to turn the page when a small article near the bottom of the page caught her eye. It was a black and white ad, but the letters stood out as clear as day to the teenager.

“Sailor Moon. We remember our past lives and wish to meet with you. We will be in the Yuri Hall at three o’clock tomorrow afternoon. From Dark Venus and Dark Mercury.”

Usagi’s heart skipped a beat. It was a trap. It had to be, but it wouldn’t stop her from going. Perhaps she could reason with them? Usagi nodded as though to convince herself of this. She at least had to try.

*****

Mamoru was glad when the meeting finally came to an end. Taro and Kisho had continued to be at each other’s throats for the remainder of it and Masaki had met every sensible suggestion with sarcasm and Mamoru was glad to call it a day.

Taro had stayed at Crown, complaining that he had over time and Masaki had been anxious to get back home. Now, Mamoru walked back with Kisho as the older man’s home lay in the same direction to Mamoru’s apartment. For this, Mamoru was glad, as he had wanted to talk to Kisho alone without the others presence.

Kisho seemed to sense this and slowed his gait to allow Mamoru the opportunity.

“I found this in the paper this morning” Mamoru held out the black and white article for his friend to read.

“Sailor Moon. We remember our past lives and wish to meet with you. We will be in the Yuri Hall at three o’clock tomorrow afternoon. From Dark Venus and Dark Mercury” Kisho read out loud. He frowned and stared at Mamoru, “What of it?”

“I just thought” Mamoru begun uncomfortably, “It sounds like a trap. I was going to go just to keep an eye on things, but with my powers not being fully awakened…”

“You wondered whether I would accompany you” Kisho finished for him, “Why not bring this up at the meeting?”

“I don’t know” Mamoru admitted. He knew all of his friends had reservations about Sailor Moon. He glanced at Kisho, “Will you come with me?” he asked.

“Only because you’d go alone if I said no” Kisho declared a little haughtily, but Mamoru could see the beginnings of a smile on his face as he said those words.

He didn’t know why he trusted Kisho over Masaki or Taro. No, trusted wasn’t really the right word. It just seemed natural to Mamoru that he would go to Kisho for help.

“Thank you” he said gratefully to Kisho’s agreement.

The older man shook his head. “The chances are that it is a Dark Kingdom trap, but this” he gestured to the piece of paper, “I don’t know why, but it seems to have a ring of truth to it.”

“It does?”

Kisho frowned, “We should definitely see what Venus and Mercury are up too. It could even get interesting.”

*****

“Where were you?” was what greeted Masaki as he stepped into his front room. The broken vases and coffee table still lay where he had left them this morning and by the furious look on Haru’s face, Tori still hadn’t come down. Masaki mentally winced as he recalled the screaming and shouting that he had woken up too this morning.

Haru hadn’t come home last night and when he finally showed up the following morning he was drunk out of his mind and raving. Tori had been desperately worried and had made the mistake of waiting up for him and then enquiring to know where he had been. Masaki had stayed in his room when the arguing started. He had put his walkman on and tried to block out Haru’s yelling, but when things started to break he had forced himself to go downstairs to see what was happening.

It had been the worst fight yet. Haru was breaking anything he could get his hands on whilst Tori stood screaming at him, and when he grabbed her mother’s flower vase, Tori had made the mistake of grabbing onto his arm to stop him. Haru had thrown her onto the coffee table and it collapsed under her weight. Then he had fled the house as Tori started to cry.

Masaki had managed to get his mother upstairs and to the spare bedroom and then left for college all the while cursing himself that he couldn’t stand up to Haru.

Before going home, Masaki had even thought of asking for Taro’s help. Perhaps together they could do something about Haru. He had quickly dismissed this. Taro was too busy working and complaining about Kisho to care that Masaki was almost near tears from the stress and worry of what might greet him when he finally got home.

Haru seemed to have sobered up, but the angry frown etched across his face said it all. Tori must still be upstairs, Masaki decided and he was glad of this.

“Where were you?” Haru repeated, grabbing a hold of Masaki’s arm as he tried to simply brush past him.

“At college” he replied, struggling to keep his voice even.

“I checked your timetable. You only had a lesson this morning. Where have you been?”

“With a friend. We were studying.”

“The one who came round the other week?”

“Perhaps” Masaki managed to pull free, “How’s mom?” he shot back acidly, though he knew it was grossly unwise to antagonise Haru in the mood he was in.

“The bitch hadn’t cooked dinner” Haru replied, “Here” he fished in his pocket for a couple of crumpled notes, “Go and get us a takeaway or something.”

Masaki frowned at the money that was handed to him, “Later” he said.

“No” Haru raised his voice a couple of octaves, “Now or shall I ask Tori to go?”

“No” Masaki said quickly, “I’ll go. Just leave mom to sleep.”

Haru smirked, “Depends on how long I have to wait for you to get back.”

Masaki turned and left the house, walking until he had gone around the corner before breaking into a run. He didn’t even want to think about what would happen if Haru carried out his threat.

******

For Usagi the day had passed by so slowly. She had not been able to concentrate on her schoolwork and was constantly watching as the clock moved round to 3.00pm and it was time to go home.

“Usagi!” Naru called as the pigtailed girl practically jumped off of her chair as the final bell went, “We’re going to my house for a sleep over. Would you like to come?”

Usagi glanced longingly at her group of friends, but shook her head, “Another time” she said, “I have somewhere I need to be.”

“Ok” Naru smiled easily, though the disappointment in her eyes was clear to see, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow” Usagi whispered more to herself than her friend. Fleetingly she wondered if she would even be here tomorrow.

I can’t think like that! I have to try and rescue Mercury and Venus. Then together we can find the Princess and…

Usagi’s thoughts trailed off as she thought again of the Prince. Why was it that she felt so deeply for him, but when she saw Tuxedo Kamen her heart would beat twice as fast as usual and she would become tongue tied and say something stupid? Could it be that they were the same person? Usagi almost laughed at this concept. This was not possible. Tuxedo Kamen also sought the Prince. If he were the Prince himself then he would not need to look for him!

“Baka, Usagi” she murmured to herself as she turned the corner towards the Yuri Hall. “This is why Luna is always scolding you, because you think of silly things like that!”

She hadn’t told Luna where she was going, thinking it best that the cat did not know of her attempt to save Venus and Mercury until she had actually succeeded. Usagi didn’t want Luna to witness another failure from her, not when the plushie’s faith in Usagi’s capability as a Senshi was already at a low.

“This is my chance to put it right” Usagi told herself, “And I will.”

Beaming she pushed open the doors to the Yuri Hall. It was dark inside and Usagi supposed this was to be expected. The Yuri Hall was the main concert hall for performances during the spring and summer, but in late winter was deserted most of the time. Its layout was the same as any concert hall. There were rows of seats both sides of her and a narrow walkway in the middle. The stage was at the front and boxes reserved for rich people overlooked it. The red satin curtains were pulled back with gold sashes and on one corner of the stage sat a piano. Usagi smiled to herself. All seemed to be ok.

As she processed this relief and double doors behind her slammed. Squeaking in alarm, Usagi whirled round and tried the handles; they were both locked.

“What is this?” she whispered, though knowing deep down that her first assumption had been right and this was indeed a trap.

“Welcome, Sailor Moon!” a voice rang out.

The stage lights went out and Usagi was plunged into darkness. Taking a deep breath Usagi vowed to herself:

“Mercury, Venus… I will save you! Moon prism power… make up!”

*****

Mamoru pounded on the door in frustration whilst Kisho, who was already transformed, looked on in a mixture of annoyance and almost satisfaction.

“It’s locked” Mamoru stated flatly, “Kuso why didn’t we arrive early enough?”

Kunzite shrugged, “The ad said 3.00pm did it not? Perhaps she was earlier.”

“Perhaps” Mamoru repeated doubtfully.

“Come on” Kunzite said, “We can go in the back way.”

“The back way?”

“Whilst you were at college I decided to check out this place for myself. It’s a good job I did, too. You know, as the leader you are supposed to think of these things,” Kunzite pointed out half teasingly.

“I thought the leader had the luxury of leaving such things to his underlings?” Mamoru shot back and laughed when Kunzite frowned at the term ‘underling’.

“You have a lot to learn” Kunzite replied and swept his cape over one shoulder as he started to head for the back of the hall.

“And don’t I know it” Mamoru whispered darkly as he followed his friend. A part of him, indeed, cursing his inability to plan ahead. Again he debated giving the role of leader over to Kunzite, but something caused him to hold his tongue.

Shaking his head, Mamoru managed a small smile when Kunzite indicated the unlocked backdoor. Leadership worries could wait. Mamoru could hear screams coming from inside the hall. Kunzite had drawn his sword and again Mamoru wished that his powers had fully awakened. How could he expect to defend Sailor Moon if he were unable fight properly?

Sighing to himself, Mamoru willed his Tuxedo Kamen transformation to come into place before joining Kunzite inside the Yuri Hall.

*****

“So you came, Sailor Moon”

Sailor Moon whirled round as the familiar voice of Dark Venus echoed around her. Blindly she stumbled around, trying to see in the gloom.

“Venus! You must listen to me!” she called out, “We’re on the same side!”

“Still the same ploy? You will not confuse me again!”

Then the lights came back on. Sailor Moon blinked at the harshness of them before uttering a stunned gasp of disbelief. On one side of her stood Dark Venus and on the other the Senshi that she could only assume was Dark Mercury. Mercury smiled coldly as Sailor Moon’s gaze locked on her own.

“I am the Senshi of vanity and unrequited love, Dark Venus” Venus stepped forward after speaking and struck a pose as Mercury added:

“I am the Senshi of icy hearts and wild water, Dark Mercury.”

“And on behalf of the Dark Kingdom, we shall punish you” they both chimed in together for the end.

“Venus! Mercury!” Sailor Moon cried out as they faced her, “Please, remember me! Moon healing… escalation!”

She held the Moon Wand up high, willing the beams of light that struck out from the wand to heal her Senshi… her friends and allies… Sailor Moon poured all of her feelings of hurt and sorrow into this one attack. It pained her and she fell to her knees, as the Moon Wand grew hot under her gloves with the sheer effort. Venus and Mercury stood still, unable to move, but unwilling to yield to the power of the weapon.

Finally Sailor Moon had to drop the Moon Wand to the floor. It was no good. She couldn’t keep it up. She whimpered at the burn marks marring her gloves and a tear slid down one cheek. She had failed. She wasn’t strong enough. Venus smiled and waved a finger at her.

“You won’t kill us that easily.”

Sailor Moon screamed as the love-me chain shot towards her, wrapping itself around her neck like a coiled snake and choking the life from her. She dropped to her knees, sobbing in fear and pain as the metal bit into her neck. Her gaze fastened on Mercury who had called up a frozen water dagger in one palm and now advanced towards her, raising the weapon up over her head.

“Sayonara… Sailor Moon!”

Sailor Moon closed her eyes, preparing herself for the end. It never happened. She heard Mercury scream in pain, seconds before the Senshi was thrown backwards into the rows of chairs in a flash of blue light. Venus faced a similar fate and joined her cohort. The chain went limp around Sailor Moon’s neck and the purple stars that had been forming before her eyes faded. She moaned and slumped against the person who gently removed the chain from around her neck.

“You again!” she heard Venus snarl. “Why must you always interfere? Venus love-me ch--”

“Looking for something?” Sailor Moon’s heart skipped a beat when she heard the low voice of Tuxedo Kamen. She looked up adoringly at his mask-covered face as he held up the chain in front of a very annoyed Venus.

“Give that back!” she pouted, an act seeming child-like for a Dark Kingdom Senshi.

Flouncing over to the masked hero she snatched it from his hand before teleporting away in an orange light. Mercury followed suit, not wanting to stay around and fight the enemy alone.

“Daijobu?” Tuxedo Kamen enquired as he helped Sailor Moon to stand. She nodded, even as he handed her the Moon Wand, feeling a blush spreading across her cheeks.

“Thank you” she murmured sadly, turning away so that he couldn’t see her pain.

“Why did you come? You knew it was a trap, right?”

“I hoped…” Sailor Moon trailed off. She was unwilling to divulge any of Luna’s secrets, especially to a possible enemy.

“It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter what I think anymore…”

Quickly she broke into a run, fleeing the hall before Tuxedo Kamen or Kunzite could say a word.

*****

“Sailor Moon!” Tuxedo Kamen cried out, taking a step to go after her, but Kunzite grabbed a hold of his arm and stopped him.

“Let her go”

“But she’s hurt!”

“Let her go” Kunzite repeated. He had the feeling that Sailor Moon was harbouring a secret, one that could get her into a lot of trouble and he did not wish for Mamoru to become mixed up in that.

“Let her go” Tuxedo Kamen repeated softly, “Perhaps that is best.”

“It is” Kunzite assured him, placing a comforting hand on his friend’s shoulder, “Come on. There is nothing else here for us.”

******

“You fools!” Beryl screamed at the terrified girls kneeling before her, “A simple mission and you blew it? Do you not wish to earn my respect?”

“W-we do!” Venus stammered, “It wasn’t our fault that Tuxedo Kamen and his cohort appeared! Give us another chance and we won’t fail you!”

Mercury, wisely, kept quiet. She knew that Venus was only repeating what Mars had already said on numerous occasions and this would win little favour with the Queen.

“Be quiet!” Beryl snapped, obviously disappointed. “I have no other use for you! Dark Jupiter!” she called and the last of the Senshi stepped out of the shadows and knelt obediently before her Queen, but not before giving Venus a cold smile.

“Dark Jupiter.” Beryl continued, “You will show these three fools how a real Senshi fights. You will send a Youma to gather energy and draw out the kings. When the time comes you will destroy them.”

“Yes, my Queen” Jupiter’s smile widened at the trust being placed in her, “I will not fail you.”

*****

“Would you like a coffee?” Hina asked shyly as she cast her gaze upwards to meet that of Komoro Seiichi’s. Showing the star pianist around the hospital for a week had been an unprecedented honour for her and it slightly hurt Hina that Mamoru wasn’t a little more supportive. Of course, she knew that he had a lot on his mind of late, things that Hina couldn’t help him with and this hurt her. They were supposed to be getting married in the summer and he was still hiding things from her! Yet Hina was loath to confront him with her feelings, as though by doing so she would somehow lose him.

So she focused on Komoro-san instead. The young man smiled and nodded to her question. He was always doing that, she mused. He would suddenly lapse into silence and she would have to repeat herself. In many ways he was a lot like Mamoru.

“Do you want to wait here?” Hina asked next and gestured to the plastic chairs that they were sitting on. Komoro-san had just been signing autographs and speaking with fans and seemed a little tired. He was perfectly at ease with his fans, despite his quietness, but Hina could tell that something was troubling him. It was the way he kept looking around and over his shoulder, as though expecting something to be behind them.

“I’ll wait here,” he agreed to her previous question and Hina hurried off towards the coffee machine around the corner. It was still early afternoon and they had yet to have lunch. Maybe they could go to a café in downtown Tokyo instead of the cafeteria? Hina instantly felt guilty at thinking this. Komoro Seiichi was good looking and she had a crush on him since he began his music career over a year ago, but Hina truly loved Mamoru and she was sure that a relationship with a fan was far from Komoro-san’s mind.

“Oh?” she started as she felt a hand on her shoulder as she knelt down to retrieve the coffee from the machine, “Did you decide to come after all?”

Hina gave a started gasp as she was whirled around to face the person, thing, before her. She dropped the coffee cups on the floor; brown liquid spilling over her feet, yet the heat did not burn her. She was too stunned at the beast that stood before her. It was at least six foot tall and its body was shiny like metal. Twin scythes branched out from its hands as it loomed over her, its metallic mouth curving up in a vicious smile.

Hina gave a small shriek and pressed her back against the vending machine as it reached towards her. Its eyes glowed bright silver for a moment and Hina blinked under the brightness. Her head dropped forward as she felt it take hold of her shoulders. Then she knew no more…

******

Act Twelve Preview:

He rolled away in panic, even as he heard the person whisper something under his breath. Mamoru froze when he realised that the voice was human and he berated his actions. He stood, trying to regain his composure, as did the young man that had run into him. Mamoru looked up at him and started to grown uncomfortable as the other continued to stare at him, long past the point of politeness.

Then, as Mamoru’s nerves calmed, he realised that he recognised the youth before him.

“Komoro Seiichi?” he was aware that he sounded like a stupid fan in the way stunned awe that he spoke, but he couldn’t really think of anything else to say.

~~~~

“I’m not Mamoru’s keeper!” Taro was shouting angrily whilst waving the mop he held in one hand under Kisho’s nose. Kisho, unlike Motoki who was hiding underneath the counter, was not scared of Taro’s wrath and simply swatted the mop aside.

“I didn’t say you were” he replied coolly, “I just asked if you had seen him. A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ would suffice.”

~~~~

“You were in a bit of a hurry.” Mamoru allowed, not wanting to let him off lightly, even if he was a celebrity.

Komoro-san shook his head, “You would be too if you had a couple of crazy fan girls chasing you.”

“Crazy fan girls?” Mamoru looked over Komoro-san’s shoulder, but couldn’t see anyone.

“I must have given them the slip” Komoro-san said in relief, “I don’t mind signing autographs, but chasing me around was just too much.”

Mamoru wasn’t sure what to make of this and instead enquired to know where Hina was.

“You must be Chiba Mamoru” Komoro-san replied to this, “Hina has told me a lot about you.”

“She has?”

~~~~~

Nephrite led the attack by slashing at it with his sword. The Youma screamed in pain and lashed out with a scythe like arm. Its arm struck Nephrite’s blade and he almost dropped it from the force of the blow.

“It’s strong,” he gasped as his aching fingers clutched onto his blade. Jadeite immediately tried to capture it in one of his domes, but the energy was simply reflected on its shiny armour-like skin and the magics struck the blonde king, throwing him to the ground.

“What the hell?” he swore as he rolled out of the path of more deadly magics. Again the Youma struck and both kings found themselves being forced back down the blind alley that the fight had led them down.

“What kind of Youma is that?” Jadeite demanded as their backs hit the wall behind them.

~~~~~

“Master” Nephrite repeated, now knowing whom the man was he could not bring himself to meet his eyes.

“Master?” Kunzite echoed almost scornfully.

“You are…” Mamoru spoke next, his confusion clear, but still he was respectful, “Our Prince?”