Last Time:

The groups moved towards each other, the Senshi de-transforming as they all began to chatter about that woman’s threat of returning to fight with them.

Ami was for the moment uninterested, the situation still surreal to her as she couldn’t believe she was finally out of that wretched place. One look at Trowa told her he felt the same as he breathed deeply, just trying to get his bearings. Catching her eyes, a small smile tugged on the corner of his lips. She returned it, her feet moving her forwards and into his arms before she told herself not to act like this in front of the girls, who were sure to make a big deal out of it later.

Trowa hugged her tightly, for the moment just happy to be home.

The Finale Part 1

The group was all equally exhausted as they arrived at Quatre’s estate, Trowa and Ami more so as they felt like they had been gone an entire week. The estate had fortunately only been about a half hours walk from city hall.

As they walked up the driveway, Quatre was in the front explaining to the group how old the estate was, and that his family was originally from L2.

Ami was inattentive for the most part, glancing over at Trowa every few minutes but mostly staring straight forwards. When they beat this enemy.....that meant that she would have to go home, right? Then she would never see him again, and the thought caused a dull ache in her chest.

“Ami!”

She glanced to her left and saw Minako staring at her calculatingly.

“I called your name a few times. You never space out girl, what’s wrong?”

“Oh,” Ami said, trying to think of something to say. “I’m just excited to get out of this bloody dress.”

“I believe it,” Makoto said from behind her, going back to her conversation with Mamoru as the group approached the front door. Minako stared at her a moment longer, glancing at Trowa and back at Ami before a slow smile began to spread across her face.

Ami, recognizing the grin instantly, was quick to shuffle through the door that one of Quatre’s maids had opened and avoid her.

“I’ll show you all to your rooms and see if we can get you all a change of clothes,” he said, “I’m sure you’re all tired so we’ll wait to talk until tomorrow.”

A couple of maids followed Quatre upstairs as the group trudged up behind him, all being given rooms to share immediately while he searched for his family’s old clothes to get them all sleeping clothes and clothing for the next day.

“I’ll go help you Quatre,” Makoto offered, heading up to the third floor with him so they could get some clothes.

Ami exited the room she had been given to share with Rei, desperate for a shower and to get out of the bloody dress but waiting for some clean clothes first.

Rei was talking quietly with Heero by the wall, Minako was following Wufei up and down the stairs, Duo was hassling Usagi and Mamoru, and Makoto and Quatre were grabbing everyone clothes.

Where was Trowa? She turned and jumped when Trowa’s hand grabbed her shoulder.

“What’s with you?” He asked, smirking at her unease.

“Oh nothing, just jumpy I guess,” she explained with a smile, unable to fight how happy she was whenever he was around, even at the simplest of words.

“Hey all, we got the clothes!” Makoto hollered from the stairs with Quatre, both coming down and looking pleased with themselves.

“Great,” Trowa said from behind her. “I need a shower and clean clothes.”

“Then a nice warm bed,” Ami finished somewhat dreamily. “It’ll sure beat sleeping on the floor.”

Before any of their friends could call out to them Trowa leaned down and muttered in her ear, his breath tickling her. “I believe you slept on my lap half of the days. You sure a bed beats that?”

She blushed, Trowa responding to Quatre’s shout for him and moving past her towards the group, ushering for her to follow.

Ami stepped out of the shower, feeling like a different person after that much needed hot shower. Spotting the change of clothes or rather sleep wear that Makoto had brought down for her, she felt her fist tighten when she saw that it was a tiny pair of shorts and little camisole.

‘Makoto,’ she thought, rolling her eyes as she slipped them on. It didn’t really matter; she was just sharing the room with Rei.

Stepping out of the bathroom, she was not too surprised to see Usagi, Minako, Makoto, and Rei all sitting on Rei’s bed awaiting her patiently. All had showered and put on their sleepwear, and unfortunately all four of them were smiling from ear to ear.

“Guys, I really missed you,” Ami said casually as she approached the bed, sitting across from the four of them on her own bed. “Don’t ruin it.”

“Ami Ami Ami, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Minako said, flicking her hair of her shoulder and rolling her eyes as she watched her.

Usagi giggled slightly, looking like she was just dying to say something. Rei glared at Usagi, and she stiffened and smiled sheepishly at her. Makoto rolled her eyes at Usagi and Rei, glancing at Minako and sighing.

“Fine, since the other three want to play games then I’ll just be forwards about it. What’s going on between you and Trowa?” Makoto asked bluntly.

Ami glared at her, glancing over to make sure the door was closed.

“Nothing, quiet down,” she said as Usagi and Minako began to giggle, Rei’s smile growing wider.

“Don’t worry Ami, Mamoru’s room is next door and he knows we’re in here grilling you. Spill,” Minako said.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ami said calmly, sitting down and tugging at her shorts, which felt like they were leaving her behind exposed. “Mako these are too short.”

Makoto laughed. “I guess some things never change.”

“Seriously Ames, what is up with you two,” Usagi said, Rei nodding energetically and adding “Did he kiss you? He must have done that, the guy seems crazy about you!”

“I...he-,” Ami blushed, trying to cover it quickly as Minako let out an ear shattering scream of excitement.

The remaining occupants of the house were standing in the doorway of the room a split second later, half of them out of breath and having dropped what they were doing to come running in fear. Mamoru pushed passed the Pilots, looking into the room and beginning to laugh as he had been pretty sure that Minako was just excited about something.

“Why...are you laughing,” Wufei panted, looking annoyed. “What the hell happened? We thought someone was attacked or something!”

“Yes, is everyone alright,” Quatre asked, surveying the women sitting in the room, who were laughing.

Trowa stepped into the room as well, staring at all of the girls and allowing his eyes to rest on Ami, not letting his eyes linger on her sleepwear appreciatively for too long lest her friends and his all notice. He was exhausted but the scream had sent fear ripping through him and he was currently just trying to recover.

Ami was blushing as she glared at Minako, who leapt on her from Rei’s bed and tackled her to the floor, beginning to mutter in her ear something as she laughed. Ami laughed but fought her off, Makoto also standing to help Ami up and get the psychopath Minako Aino off of her.

"Dude, that's hot," Duo commented, watching the scene before him. All of the men in the room turned to glare at him.

Rei quieted her own laughter down, rolling her eyes as Makoto tried to pull Minako off of Ami. Usagi was currently muttering something in Mamoru’s ear, who was slowly beginning to grin although no one knew what she was saying. Ami sighed, finally getting to her feet and resisting pulling down her scandalous shorts as she glared at Minako.

“Mina!”

Minako continued to laugh, Makoto clamping her hand down on her mouth.

Rei turned back to the baffled pilots at the door, sighing. “I’m so sorry guys. Mina is an idiot.”

“I resent that!” Minako said, her voice muffled by Makoto’s hand. Heero stared between Rei and the other girls in bewilderment, not used to having so many screaming females around the house. Rei gave him a small apologetic smile and he nodded thoughtfully.

“No one minds ladies,” Duo said gallantly, stepping into the room. “We appreciate your sleepwear almost as much as we appreciate your little Senshi outfits!”

Five male hands reached out to smack Duo, those being Mamoru, Heero, Wufei, Trowa, and Quatre.

“Sheesh, I get it!” Duo hollered, taking off down the hall running.

“Well,” Quatre said with a sigh, having calmed down. “Goodnight then ladies.” He smiled at Makoto and exited the room.

Mamoru kissed Usagi and said goodnight to the other girls, also exiting the room. Wufei, still somewhat sour, waved goodnight to everyone and allowed his eyes to linger on the still giggling Minako a moment before shaking his head slightly and departing.

Heero waved at Rei and exited the room as Trowa glanced back at Ami and smiled, also saying goodnight to everyone.

Ami stared after him a moment, frowning slightly and turning back to face the other girls. Rei frowned at Ami’s demeanour towards Trowa. Why did Ami suddenly look so sad?

“What was it like in the time gates?” Rei asked Ami, sparing her from further questioning.

“It was....... pretty awful actually,” Ami said. “We did experience a lot of historical events, but nothing good. That and when we walked for hours, which we did every day, we were usually walking through a blizzard....or once we walked through a desert. We.....got attacked a lot. The fact that our clothing was so different from the times we were in didn’t help that I guess. Come to think of it, the injuries that we sustained there were too much on our bodies. It’s no wonder we didn’t die- we were already dead. It just felt so real....”

The next morning, everyone in the house was on the move. Quatre was downstairs, seeing that the cook made enough breakfast for everyone.

Ami headed to Usagi, Minako, and Makoto’s room to get some extra towels for herself and Rei. Before she entered, Trowa passed by her. She stiffened. She had thought she was in the clear sneaking by in her scandalous pyjamas.

He smiled warmly. “Good morning,” he said, “How did you sleep?”

“Oh..... great. You?”

“Good,” he said, tipping his head at her odd behavior. In truth Ami had spent a little time before she fell asleep the night before thinking about Trowa. They were after all from two different dimensions, and it was likely she would be back in her dimension by the next morning or even that evening, they just had to wait for Pluto. Her thoughts had led her to realize just how attached she had become to Trowa that week and it scared her. She was already going to be crushed when she left, so wasn’t it better to just cool it a bit and not mess with both of their feelings?

“I....I have to go.....and change.....” her words lingered in the air as she hurried into the girls room to get the towels, feeling more anxious as she could feel his eyes on her.

Rei washed up and got ready, hearing Minako, Usagi, and Minako call out to them that they were heading downstairs. Mamoru waved as he headed down as well, Wufei and Duo at his heels. Heero exited his room a bit later and Ami saw him heading downstairs as she shut the door, changing her clothes. Frowning, she realized that Rei was slipping on a pair of jeans and a navy camisole. Quatre had mentioned that he had many sisters, although Ami wasn’t sure just how many.

Spotting the jeans and white tank top, Ami frowned. The jeans looked low and she had a sneaking suspicion that Minako was somehow involved.

Glancing over at Rei, who was smirking, she was quick to realize it wasn’t just Minako. Having nothing else to wear and not wanting to complain and make Rei outright smile, Ami slipped on the clothes as she and Rei headed downstairs.

She followed Rei down the hall, gasping as she was suddenly grabbed as she passed the closet.

Rei glanced behind her. Hadn’t Ami just been there? She shrugged. Maybe she had run off to grab something. Smirking, she thought perhaps she had even run off to change.

Ami fought whoever held their hand over her mouth, sighing when they released her and she saw that it was Trowa.

“What are you doing?” She whispered, glaring. “The girls would just love catching us in a closet!”

“What you’re doing is the more interesting question,” he said calmly, staring right into her eyes so she couldn’t evade him. “What’s with you today?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ami responded, not tearing her gaze from his.

“You do,” he said softly, and she shrank from his gaze, lowering her head.

“Ami,” he said grabbing her chin. “What’s wrong?”

“I told you, nothing’s wrong,” she insisted, pulling back.

“Ami stop lying! What’s wrong with you?” He demanded. She was acting so strangely...and she was so reluctant to speak with him. Seeing her eyes narrow, he knew she was about to respond truthfully.

“What’s wrong is that I’ll probably be gone in less than a day. Don’t you think what we’re doing is a little careless? Let’s just cool things down....be friends. It’ll make it easier,” she promised. Trowa frowned at her.

They could hear their friends calling them for breakfast. Duo was hollering to Usagi down the hall that he was looking for Ami and Trowa. The closet door suddenly opened up and they saw Duo staring in at them, looking somewhat stunned. They stared back somewhat angrily, so he shut the door quickly and rushed off, telling Usagi he hadn’t found them.

Trowa turned back to Ami, who was blushing slightly.

“You’re wrong Ami,” he said.

“No I’m not,” she said.

“Ami,” he said with a sigh. “If it’s really our last day together, don’t you think we should make the most of it? Anyways, if you were able to come here, doesn’t that mean that we could see each other again?”

“It doesn’t work like that,” Ami insisted. “There are implications and I don’t know anything abou-”

His lips were against hers a moment later, silencing her. Pulling away, he stared at her a moment before speaking. “I know we only just met a week ago.....but I have very strong feelings for you and I won’t pretend that they’re not there.”

Ami’s jaw dropped. “You- you can’t.” She said, backing further from him.

“Is it so bad that I do?” He countered, stepping closer and grabbing her arm.

The closet opened once more. Minako stood in the door, confusion being replaced by a sly grin.

“Did you find them Mina,” Makoto called from down the hall. “No!” she hollered loudly, slamming the closet door and bouncing off.

Trowa turned back to Ami, expecting her to be blushing at Minako’s antics. She was instead staring at him. “You sure you’re not just feeling this because of what we’ve been through?” She asked seriously. “We have been through a strange experience and naturally it’s exciting, but when the excitement wears off........ it’ll just be me.”

Trowa pondered what she had said a moment, catching her insecurity within the statement but also thinking about the point. He chose his words carefully, the answer always having been clear for him.

“Ami,” he said. “I hope we never have to go through an experience like last week again. I said I have feelings for you.”

She paused, staring at him carefully and if he knew her at all, picking apart his statement in her head before finding her words.

“Good,” Ami finally said, the words slipping from her mouth more naturally than anything she had ever said. “I don’t know what I’m feeling right now.....but I know I’m going to have a hard time leaving tomorrow and.......and I’m not sure what I’m going to do without you.”

Trowa’s lips were crushing hers not a moment after, pushing her back against the wall of the closet. Ami was quick to deepen the kiss, stepping forwards and grabbing a hold of his shoulders as his arms wrapped around her waist.

A scream from the other room tore the two apart as Trowa pushed open the closet door. The two of them rushed into the hallway and followed the commotion as they saw their friends all gathered around the doorway of the dining room. The table was already prepared with breakfast, a few maids glancing up with confusion as they finished setting it.

Ami and Trowa joined the group, realizing that Rei was passed out and everyone was checking on her. Duo glanced over at the two of them and smirked but said nothing, Minako also winking but remaining silent as the situation at hand was more important.

Suddenly Rei’s eyes flew open with a gasp, and everyone helped her up immediately.

“Are you alright?” Heero asked, sounding unlike himself. A few of the Gundam Pilots glanced at Heero oddly but said nothing as Rei was led over to the couch.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she insisted, pulling free and sitting fine. “We don’t have a moment to spare.” She turned her attention to Quatre. “I know you wanted all of us to talk and clear up everything during breakfast, but you have to tell all of your employees to clear the estate within the next five minutes.”

“Rei, you had a vision?” Usagi asked, eyes widening.

Rei nodded. “I’m sorry, but the enemy ‘cult’ you were investigating are sending troops here to finish us off right now. It ends today.”

Quatre nodded, moving to gather his four staff. Once they were all gathered he gave them the keys to one of the cars and hurriedly explained that the house was unsafe and that they were not to return until he called, no matter how long it took, a few hours or a few days. Passing the chef a credit card, he hurriedly directed them to a hotel. The staff fled immediately, knowing their boss’s line of work and understanding that a mission had probably gone wrong.

Quatre thanked God that his estate was so secluded and far from any neighbours lest anyone be hurt in the crossfire.

Meanwhile the remaining pilots worked at getting any weapons ready immediately.

“How many are coming here Rei?” Makoto asked.

“It’s hard to say,” Rei answered, looking worried. “I wouldn’t underestimate them.”

Ami found her transformation pen. One of her friends had picked it up when she had been killed in city hall, and after a week without it Ami felt relieved to have it back.

Seeing a flash of light to the right, she saw that Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen had transformed.

The other girls followed suit, Ami hurriedly joining in.

“Mercury Star Power!”

The familiar rush of power coursed through her veins as she was surrounded by her element.

Trowa glanced over at the bright lights, noticing that where Ami had stood a moment prior stood Sailor Mercury.

She immediately double clicked her earring, and he diverted his eyes from her outfit and watched with interest as a blue visor spread over her eyes, beginning to get covered with strange symbols. In her hand she held a small blue computer, which she was hurriedly typing on.

Sailor Venus moved to stand next to her, frowning and speaking. “They close Merc?”

Mercury frowned. “My readings are scrambled, I have no way of knowing....then again if my readings are scrambled then they could be messing with them.”

“Damn,” muttered Venus, glancing up as Sailor Jupiter approached them. Mercury closed her visor and Mini-computer, having no use for them.

“Let’s just pair off then. I don’t think the pilots guns will do much good right now.....I wonder if the ‘cult’ leader is coming too.”

The lights in the room suddenly began to flicker, silencing all of them.

The Senshi and Pilots all gathered in the center of the living room tensely, as the lights finally went out. The sun streamed in from the dining room windows, filling the living room with light still.

Trowa grabbed Mercury’s wrist, wanting her to keep close. Although, he noted to himself, Mercury was much more capable in taking care of herself right now than when they had been lost in time. She had powers now......

A loud crash echoed through the house as both the front and back doors were smashed open.

The distinct sound of shattering glass followed within a moment as windows all over the house were broken, upstairs as well.

“My God, they came in from everywhere to trap us,” Mars shouted as a sharp wind tore through the house. Everyone braced themselves, not disappointed when swarms of youma came in from every entry and came running at them from the halls and upstairs, while the group was still in the living room.

To say that the situation was purely chaos was an understatement. Mercury felt suffocated as she tried to get off of the floor, having destroyed the youma that had caused her to end up there.

She couldn’t see a single one of her friends, although she was positive that the fighting had branched out from the loving room and into the dining room, kitchen, and various other sitting rooms on the main floor for now.

Hearing a familiar shout, Mercury attacked three of the youma to her right. Trowa came into view, kicking a youma away from himself and shooting it in the head three times before it fell.

“Are you alright?” She asked, dodging an attack from the youma behind her as she spoke. He nodded, the two turning to face the youma.

Jupiter and Quatre fought off youma in the dining room, having a little more space to move in there. Where were the rest of her friends? Quatre smashed a plate into a youma’s face next to her, shaking her from her thoughts as she attacked four more in front of them.

“Jupiter Thunder Crash!”

Quatre stepped out of harm’s way and she smiled sheepishly at him, the two having a moment’s peace before he was suddenly shooting at two more youma behind her.

Venus leapt over the island in the center of the kitchen, dodging an attack and also taking out the unsuspecting youma standing next to it. Wufei had just finished cutting down two youma to her left and was currently dodging the attacks of six more.

Using one of her more precise attacks so that she didn’t hurt Wufei, Venus shouted “Venus Crescent Beam! Smash!”

The youma nearest to Wufei was destroyed with a scream, the others freezing a moment.

“What? Scared now?” Wufei mocked.

“Venus Love Chain, encircle!” Wufei gasped as Venus held the remaining youma together with a chain made of energy.

“Go ahead Wufei,” she said. “They’re all yours.”

Mars and Heero were currently fighting in the hall, teamwork their strategy as they stood back to back taking out swarming youma.

A few youma sent a combined attack their way, its size not to be messed with as Heero cursed. The two separated and quickly moved away from the attack as it billowed into the wall by the living room, burning straight through it.

Sailor Moon, Tuxedo Kamen, and Duo were in the formal sitting room. Moon gasped as she realized that Duo was currently swinging from the chandelier in the room, shooting unsuspecting youma. Leave it to Duo to have fun.....

Tuxedo Kamen, busy with a few youma of his own, shouted for her to move and she dodged an attack by the youma besides her, turning and destroying it.

Hidden and surveying the battle, the self-proclaimed goddess clenched a fist. Her youma were going down like flies, and she would have to up it a bit although she didn’t want to lose more of her youma. Snapping her fingers, more youma began filtering into the house, which she had hoped would be a last minute precaution. Killing the Senshi and Pilots would be easy enough now, but she had wasted much of the energy that she had spent several months gathering in this dimension on her pathetic battles with them. It wasn’t enough to kill them now. She wanted their energy and powers. It was the only fair way to finish this.

In every room, the Senshi and Pilots began to fret as somehow even more youma began to fill the house, these new youma more vicious and powerful than the ones they were still fighting.

“Oh my God,” Mercury breathed, backing up next to Trowa as the two were cornered against the wall of the room, several more youma attacking them at once. The sheer volume of youma in the house was enough to make her lose hope as all she could see were them.

She threw her hands above her head, her and Trowa collapsing to the floor as several attacks hit them at once.

Disoriented, Mercury tried to climb to her feet, but felt the youma all begin to tug her away from where she stood, throwing her to the floor as they dragged her out of the room. She could hear Trowa shouting her name but he was in a similar predicament as well.

In the formal sitting room, Duo, Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen encountered a similar predicament.

Viewing the insane amount of youma spewing into the room, Duo was backing up and quickly muttering. “Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!”

Sailor Moon glanced his way, worse curses running through her head as Tuxedo Kamen pulled at her hand and indicated at Duo, who looked ready to run.

Run? Sailor Moon frowned. They never ran and left a battle unfinished. Were things really that bad?

Youma began to grab onto her, pulling at her uniform and hair and she was aware of Tuxedo Kamen pulling her away as the three dashed towards the exit of the room, cornered once more youma spilled in from there. The three of them were dragged out of the destroyed sitting room and still struggling, were forced into what seemed like it used to be a ball room in the estate. It was elegant but dusty and unused.

Duo tried to shoot at the youma restraining him and was beaten again, as some of the youma tied up Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen, tying him up as well.

Venus and Wufei were dragged forcefully outside and bound, to the backyard. Venus could hardly struggle against the youma now, injured and yet unable to comprehend how the enemy had possibly sent even more youma into the house. Looking around the lush green yard, her thoughts revolved around how it would have been a beautiful place had they not been in this situation. There was a gorgeous fountain, plenty of gardens filled with flowers, and a patio.

Wufei searched the ground for his katana, trying to stay alert as he caught sight of the cult leader floating above him and Venus. She stared down at him a moment, a fierce glare on her face, before she floated back into the house, her robes flowing behind her. Wufei’s eyes narrowed. What was she up to?

He tried to sit up despite that he was tied up, surveying the area. Looking next to him at Venus, her hands were tied behind her back tightly and she was slumped on her side, her ankles tied as well. Her long blonde hair obscured her face from view and she was silent for once. That fact, although Wufei was unaware why, disturbed him.

“Venus, are you alright?” He asked calmly. She sort of glanced up from where she lay, and he glimpsed her surprised eyes, probably due tot he fact that he had used her name. Immediately she glanced back down, muttering that she was fine. Wufei stared at her a moment longer, taking in her defeated attitude and posture before frowning himself.

Jupiter screamed as youma dragged her down the stairs of the basement, hearing Quatre’s shouts not far behind her. They were keeping all of the Senshi and Pilots far away from each other it seemed, and she guessed that only she and Quatre would be thrown down here. But why?

She was finally thrown on the ground and amidst her struggles some youma were tying her up. A blow to the head silenced her and she could hear them throw Quatre on the floor next to her.

Why weren’t they killed? Jupiter had to wonder in her delirium this fact. There were so many youma, why hadn’t their enemy killed them?

She heard Quatre groaning from next to her and could hear the youma head back upstairs.

“Quatre,” she murmured, her voice just slightly above a whisper as she tried to think past the pounding of her head.

“Y-yes Mako,” he responded, his voice cracking, and she knew he was in a lot of pain as the damage any of the youma had previously done to them had doubled when the second group of youma had entered the house.

She tried to drag herself across the floor with her limbs bound, attempting to see how badly he was injured. Noticing what she was doing, Quatre turned to face her, inhaling deeply when he saw she was also in no condition to move.

“Stop Mako- oh Jupiter,” he corrected this time, meeting her eyes in he darkened basement. “I’m fine.”

Mars and Heero were finally seemingly restrained, the leader noted with a frown, as they were dragged up the stairs.

Mars could only let out a small groan now, as she was thrown into a bedroom upstairs. Heero was thrown in after her, right on top of her as youma snickered.

He groaned, attempting to get up as he muttered an apology to Mars. Mars seemed too out of it to care and he was moved away from her by a youma that began to tie him up.

The bedroom was large, although Mars guessed every room in this estate was as she tried to recall whether or not she had slept in the room the night before.

She tried to get to her feet, but another youma pushed her down to the floor, grabbing her by her hair and dragging her towards the bed frame to tie her there. She cried out and Heero tried to move through his bindings and help, but was thrown into the opposite wall by a youma.

“Heero, are you alright?” She called, watching as the youma filtered out of the room. He nodded, noticing that they had tied her hands to one of the bed’s posts, above her head, and had bound her legs to restrict her from moving.

Mercury and Trowa were dragged upstairs as well, the youma pulling them past the bedrooms and around the corner of the hall, into two large double doors. Trowa racked his brain to try and remember what room it was, realizing it was the old library of the estate.

It was decently clean, he noted as he was thrown to the ground, although there had been staff at the estate to keep up with it.

Mercury was on the floor nearby, and he attempted to move towards her while she was beginning to sit up, trying to struggle free of the youma that were tying her up.

A couple of youma left the others to restrain her as they approached him, grabbing him by his arms and throwing him against a bookshelf in the room. He covered his head as he connected with the shelf, falling to the ground and trying to get up in vain. The youma were upon him before he could, tying his hands behind legs up and dragging him to a table where they bound his arms to one of its legs, ensuring he wouldn’t move.

Mercury was tied up a few feet from him, struggling feebly with her bounds. Her legs were bound at her ankles and her hands were also tied behind her back as she tried to sit up without success, falling back onto her side with a sigh.

“This is bad,” she said, turning to look at him. “We have to get free and go find our friends or we are all done for.”

“No point in you trying,” a voice lazily floated into the room. It was high pitched and self righteous and the two of them recognized it immediately, looking around the room wildly.

The shadow creature which had haunted them the entire prior week floated into the room.

“You,” Trowa spat angrily, his frustration towards the creature not yet forgotten.

“Yes me,” he sang with an evil twinkle in his eyes, laughing. “Thought you were rid of me?”

“I guess we shouldn’t have. You were working for the black moon, weren’t you?”

He nodded. “Yes. As part of the cult leader’s spell, myself and my brother were sent into the time gates after you. You surely remember my brother. I work for our goddess of the after-life.”

Thinking about the self-proclaimed goddess, the cult leader, Ami frowned. Who was she? When had she chosen this dimension to collect her power, and why was she still around after the defeat of chaos even though she supposedly was part of the black moon?

“Yes, we remember your foolish brother, and you’ll meet his fate soon enough,” Trowa said darkly from where he was tied up.

The creature growled, his red eyes glinting. “No. No I will avenge him.”

“You’re here already?” The cult leader’s voice floated into the room and the shadow creature fell to his knees.

“I was just about to send for you,” the cult leader continued, throwing her unbelievable long blonde hair behind her shoulders and floating down next to him. “I guess you’d like a chance to take your revenge?”

The shadow creature nodded. Trowa felt his own fists clench, remembering that he too wanted revenge against the shadow creature for harming them and inhabiting his body when it beat up on Ami.

“You may injure them some more I suppose,” the leader said flippantly.

“But Master, I want to kill them!” It seethed. She nodded, speaking. “You can, but first I need you to weaken them. I am planning on draining all of the scouts and pilots life energy to make up for the energy I have wasted having to fight them these last few days. Also I want to take their powers. For me to do this, they must be far more injured than they are right now. So torture them how ever you’d like but don’t kill them yet, they will die when I take their life force and powers.”

“Life force,” Mercury questioned from where she lay. “You mean when you drained those 200 missing people’s energy, you drained them until they were dead?”

The leader glanced over at her and nodded. “Of course. The enemies you fought before me were fools. They could drain people until they fell unconscious but they didn’t realize that draining the life out of the humans provided far more energy than what they were doing.”

“You disgust me. How are you even here? Chaos is gone.”

The woman stared at her a moment, clenching a fist as she approached her.

“I am one of the rogue members of the back moon that was not destroyed when Sailor Moon defeated Galaxia and Chaos. Chaos will never fully be destroyed,” she seethed, staring Mercury in the eyes. “You died in the last fight with Chaos, right? You felt the power. It took all Sailor Moon and every soldier fighting that day had to fight Galaxia, and chaos at the time was within Galaxia’s body. Now Chaos is everywhere, as it should be, and grants power to any member of the black moon who is willing to fight. Understand me when I say that Chaos lives and breathes the evil in the heart of man, and man will always be flawed. No world will ever see an end to it.”

Collecting herself and standing, the woman took a deep breath and disappeared, needing to relax and prepare to take the life force and powers from everyone, not fight ideals with Mercury.

Trowa glanced over at Mercury, who seemed to be contemplating the woman’s words. He didn’t know what Chaos was, but the last thing that the woman had said, about evil in man, he knew that was true. The woman had said that Mercury had died in her last fight against Chaos. Just how many times had she died? Was the silver crystal always able to bring them back, or was it selective? Was it only able to bring everyone back to life if Sailor Moon was alive and had won the battle? Was if even more selective than that? The possibilities and limitations made Trowa’s head hurt.

The shadow creature meanwhile was murmuring to himself. “Can’t kill, only injure,” he muttered, glaring at them. “No!” It stomped its feet childishly, glaring at the two of them.

“If all I can do is injure you, I’m going to make sure its torture like you’ve never seen,” it seethed, approaching them and standing in between them while it debated. A smile came to its face suddenly, as it suddenly remembered the only time it had ever caused damage between the two of them in the gates of time. This time though, this time he could do it to both of them.....

The creature suddenly flew towards Trowa, and he gasped as it flew inside him, causing him to scream in fury as he remembered the last time it had happened.

Mercury trembled slightly, shouting “Trowa, no!”

Trowa’s eyes flew open, and she saw them flash red, confirming that the creature was now in control of his body. He sat still a moment, glancing at the ropes that bound his arms and legs oddly, before beginning to pull at them.

Mercury frowned, remembering that the shadow creature was horrendously strong and resilient in Trowa’s body, as he tore the ropes binding him with a shout and freed his arms from the table, reaching down and tearing off the ropes binding his legs.

Mercury tried to sit up and back up, her bindings stopping her from doing anything besides struggle as he approached her quicker than she had expected, picking her up her collar as though she weighed nothing and throwing her with as much force as he could muster against a bookshelf in the room.

She hit the shelf with a loud scream, the shelf toppling backwards while she fell amongst the rubble.

Trying to regain her senses, she tried to break from her bonds and run but had no such luck as Trowa or rather the creature was in front of her a moment later, grabbing her by her hair and dragging her across the room. She screamed and he glanced down, stopping a moment as he stomped down on her stomach.

Mercury screamed again and in response he repeated the action, her scream replaced with a small cry and groan as blood began to seep from the side of her mouth.

He grabbed her by her collar as he neared the window of the room, holding her up by her uniform as he smashed her back into it forcefully, managing to break the window with her back and head. Her scream faded as she blacked out a few seconds, coming to with a groan as he threw her to the floor. Gasping, he realized Trowa, who had been fighting for control of his body the entire time, was winning.

The shadow creature flew out of Trowa, and he gasped, crouching down next to Mercury.

Turning her over, he saw that she was awake. Her eyes flashed red a moment, and Trowa didn’t have a chance to back off even an inch before she kicked him the chest and sent him flying away from her. Now the creature was in her body? Trowa cursed their luck as Mercury tore apart the rope binding her arms and legs, standing as though she hadn’t just been injured at all.

Trowa backed up, in no way wanting to hurt her as he tried to think fast. Mercury, or rather the creature, refused to give him a chance.

Mercury’s hands were raised and he recognized the stance as one of the many attacks she had performed against some of the youma earlier.

“Shit,” he muttered, gasping as she shouted.

“Shine Aqua Illusion!” The attack came at him before he could blink, and the way she fired the attack with the water swirling around her would truly have been beautiful if she hadn’t been aiming at him.

Trowa collapsed to the floor with a scream, his whole body racked with shivers as he gasped for air, never having felt so cold in his life. His body felt like it was entirely coated with ice and he was sure his heart was about to stop as he convulsed, feeling like he had been stabbed several times.

It took him a minute before he could even open his eyes, and he saw Mercury standing over him although he couldn’t move.

“Pathetic,” she said, and he reminded himself that it was the creature saying it as she stood with her arms crossed, staring at him coldly.

His hands shook violently as he placed them on the ground, trying to rise and falling.

He heard Mercury stepping away from him and he wondered why, gasping as he heard her voice call out another attack.

“Mercury Ice Storm!”

Somehow Trowa managed to move from the floor and main target area, screaming and collapsing a few feet from where had originally laid as the attack hit him only slightly. Trowa knew this attack had been much more powerful than the last for two reasons, the first being that he was convulsing and unable to breath now, this attack only skimming him and yet having been much more painful than the previous. The second reason he knew it was more powerful was because when he was able to take a breath and open his eyes, he realized that the entire room was coated with a thick layer of ice.

Breathing deeply, it occurred to him that the attack would definitely have killed him if it made full contact, realizing that the shadow creature was not following his leader’s orders.

Looking for Mercury, he noticed that she was shaking in the corner, and he knew that she was probably gaining control over her body.

She collapsed to the floor suddenly and he knew the creature had left her body as she was probably suddenly feeling the injuries he had inflicted on her just minutes before.

Seeing something black in his line of vision, Trowa gasped but was too weak to do more as the creature took control of his body once more.

Mercury tried to stand from where she lay, gripping onto the ice covered floor and trying to stand as tears trailed down her cheeks. She had just attacked Trowa twice, she had probably killed him. She had never used an attack on a human before.

Finally getting to her feet, she gasped as she was face to face with Trowa, who was glaring. His eyes glinted red and she gasped. No, not Trowa. There was no way Trowa could have been standing unless the creature was back in his body.

With an inhumane shout, he tackled her back down to the icy floor, beginning to punch her repeatedly in her stomach and chest, also landing a few on her face, splitting her lip. Standing, he kicked her in the head, again and again until she was no longer struggling.

Grabbing her off of the ground, Mercury did not move to stop him as she blacked in and out. He threw her at one of the tables in the library, and it was knocked over as she tumbled over it and fell to the ground unmoving.

Grabbing a shard of glass from the broken window he approached her, and bent down next to her. Raising his hand, he jammed the large shard deep into her right shoulder.

She screamed in protest and Trowa screamed in fury, the shadow creature leaving his body. Trowa collapsed on top of Mercury, still injured from when she had attacked him before. She shifted from beneath him and he struggled to get off of her, gasping when he saw that her eyes held the red glint of the creature as she pulled the shard from her shoulder with an angry cry, pushing Trowa off of her and stabbing him in the side with it as deep as she could.

He collapsed again, Mercury screaming again as the shadow creature was pushed out of her body, allowing her to collapse next to Trowa.

The creature floated above the two of them, satisfied yet exhausted from having had to control both of their bodies twice as they had continued to fight him.

Mercury sobbed, trying to get to her knees to check on Trowa but crumpling to the floor again. Trowa feebly tried to grab at the shard of glass, trying to pull it from his side lest it go in deeper. Finally grasping it in his hand, he pulled it out with a scream of agony and threw it on the floor nearby, blacking out a few seconds before coming to.

The creature looked up a moment, sighing with detest as he floated up higher and spoke. “My leader needs me. I can hardly wait for her to come back here and kill the two of you.” With that it disappeared, fading into the air.

“Ami,” Trowa chocked out, reaching a shaking hand over to touch her cheek, the small action agonizing.

His hand felt ice cold on her cheek and waves of guilt passed through her as she chocked back her tears, turning her face towards him, their faces only inches apart. His own eyes were glassy as he stared at her face, focusing on her split lip and trying to assess how badly she was hurt.

“Are you having trouble breathing,” she gasped out, and he knew she was referring to her attack damage as he was still shaking violently.

“It’s not....” he exhaled shakily “....that bad.”

“How bad is the wound on your side,” she asked, her voice growing stronger as she stared at him.

“I’m okay, I was trying to ask about you and your shoulder,” he said, a dull and pained laugh escaping his lips as she closed her eyes, letting her tears fall now.

“If everyone else was tied up like we were, we’re all done for. I hope they’re all still okay...”

He touched hand lightly and her eyes flew open. “You’re freezing. We have to get you warm or your heart will stop.”

Mercury tried to get up but failed, sighing. Managing to scoot closer to him, she carefully wrapped her arms around him.

“The body heat will help,” she said, not bothering to blush as she knew it was vital to keep him alive.

Trowa wrapped his arms around her back carefully, wary that he had broken a window with her back. He wondered when the enemy would come back for them. Neither one of them could walk right now, that definitely wasn’t a question.

He turned to look down at her face, realizing she was watching him.

“You okay?” She asked. His eyes were probably only a couple of inches from her when he made eye contact and still she forgot to blush although she couldn’t tear her eyes away.

He nodded, lowering his face slightly and kissing her very tenderly, careful since she had a split lip.

There you go! Part two of the finale will hopefully be up soon, please review and let me know what you think! It truly helps me write!