***In an area not far from there...***
"Ouuuuuuch! Jessie, that hurt!" whined James as she patched him up.
"Quit complaining, or I'll let Meowth do it!" she threatened.
"You have such a gentle touch." he said, groveling at her feet.
"You baka!" she said, kicking him in the face. "Now, to help Arbok."
She approached the snake, but it hissed at her. "What is wrong, Arbok?" she asked, confused and a bit hurt.
"Arrrrr BOK! Arbok bokkkk arrrrbok." said the pokemon, thrashing it's tail.
"Jessie, this guy says he is Hotaru's pokemon, not yours." translated Meowth.
"Who?"
"That girl you just fought."
"Oh. Shoot!" said Jessie, glaring at Meowth. "What am I supposed to do? Go and tell her, ‘Sorry, I got your pokemon by mistake? Wanna trade back?'?!?"
"Yes." said Meowth, buffing his nails on his fur.
"But I don't wanna..." she sniffed.
"YOU WILL, YOU BAKA!" shouted Meowth, scratching her face up.
"Owwwch! Meanie. I guess I will. But I need to heal this Arbok because he's hurt." said Jessie simply.
The Arbok watched her approach, but didn't hiss. He bent his head and showed her a gash that was across his yellow stripes.
"Oh, you poor thing..." said Jessie. She cleaned the wound very gently with gauze and put some disinfectant in it. After she laid a bandage on it, she gave Arbok a treat for being so well behaved.
"Ar...bok!" said the happy snake, licking her cheek.
Jessie smiled and began to pack. They had a long trip to get back to the two trainers.
***Back with the two trainers that night***
Jessie's Arbok slithered over to Togepy. The small pokemon was sorting it's tulips in groups of size and color. It seemed very partial to the small red ones, and had made a ring of them around it's sitting area. "Toge toge!" it said gleefully.
Arbok was intent on it's target, and moved ever so s l o w l y closer unnoticed, until it was only one foot away.
Hotaru walked out of her tent and saw Togepy and Arbok. "Are you two playing a game?" she asked.
"Toge toge py?" said the little pokemon, not understanding why Hotaru would ask it a question. After all, it hadn't even know that Arbok was there.
"Hmm... then what is Arbok doing?" she played along, positive the pokemon were trying to play a trick on her.
"Toge...?" said the pokemon, looking around. When it saw Arbok so close, it jumped three feet in the air and shrieked. "TOGE PYYYYYYY PYYYY Pwwwweeee!"
Arbok lunged forward and grabbed the dropping pokemon by it's hard shell. It landed coiled tightly and neither pokemon was harmed.
"Thank you, Arbok!" said Hotaru. She started to walk over to where the pokemon sat, but froze when Arbok hissed around the Togepy. It set Togepy on the ground and wrapped it's tail around the poor baby completely, therefore immobilizing it.
"Toge toge pwwwwwwweeee!" said the Togepy, trying to free itself.
"Arbok, stop it!" said Hotaru, lunging for the pokemon.
Arbok reared forward and bit her on her hand. She screamed, partially in shock and partially in pain, and Brock came running.
"Wha...???" he asked, looking at the scene.
"Arbok is trying to take Togepy, I think. But... it won't listen to me!"
Brock examined the Arbok more closely, then opened his eyes in shock. (an: It's a Kodak moment! Brock has OPEN EYES!). "I know that Arbok! That's Jessie's personal pokemon!"
"How can you tell?" asked Hotaru.
"Trust me. When you see something enough times, you can pick it out of a crowd." said Brock dryly. "Anyway, your pokemon must have gotten mixed up during that battle. Which means Jessie has your Arbok... and her Arbok has your Togepy!"
Arbok made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. It turned and began to slither away. Hotaru once again tried to catch it, but the venom had started to work its way into her system. She moaned, and fell to the ground.
Brock was beside her in an instant. As her world grew fuzzy, he supported her and kept her from falling. The Togepy was briefly forgotten as Hotaru struggled for consciousness.
"What happened?" asked Brock, fearing the worst.
"Arbok....bit.....venom..." she muttered, her words slurring together.
"Arbok venom! That's nasty stuff. It'll put you out of action for a few hours, but has no lasting effects." he said comfortingly.
"Head... feels..." Hotaru never finished her sentence. The venom overcame her, and she passed out. Brock carefully gathered her into his arms and headed to the tent she was sleeping in.
"Poor angel. I always seem to be carrying you everywhere, don't I? This just isn't your week." he said tenderly, brushing a strand of her raven hair away from her eyes as he set her in bed.
**Later that night, once again in Hotaru's dreams...***
"Usagi! Are you a complete idiot?!?!" asked Rei.
"I.. I didn't mean to..." said Usagi softly. Tears began to roll down her cheeks and she sniffed.
"Must you always cry?" Rei said coldly.
Usagi didn't answer. She bent down and picked up the shard of glass from the cup she had just broken. Tears blurred her vision, and a shard slipped and cut her.
"You are such a baka! You never do ANYTHING right. No wonder all the other Senshi are dead! I told you the battle was too dangerous." said Rei bluntly.
"We...we could have handled it.." Usagi murmured. Again, she began to sob quietly.
"Kuso! Usagi, you know Minako, Haruka, Makoto, Ami, Michiru, and Chibi-Usa are dead. Your own daughter, Usagi! And Mamoru is in a coma... all because of you. Setsuna used her forbidden attack to save him from death, and we haven't heard from her in weeks. You know why? BECAUSE YOU ARE A HORRIBLE SENSHI! You made a bad decision and your friends paid with their lives." said Rei, her voice filled with pain and anger.
"It's true. So true.." whimpered Usagi. "Mamo-chan is barely alive and won't respond. But I thought all the Senshi combining their powers could stop that horrible thing."
"But all the Senshi weren't there! We haven't seen Saturn in months, and she's the strongest of us all. How could you overlook that? How could you kill everyone?"
"I never meant too..." said Usagi, breaking into fresh tears.
Hotaru examined her more closely and was shocked. She was pale and gaunt as if she hadn't eaten in weeks. She had dark bags under her eyes and above they were red and blood-shot. Her hands were shaking, and she jumped at the smallest sound. What happened next was mind boggling to the poor girl - Rei reached out and hit Usagi. She brought her hand to Usagi's cheek with a solid *smack* and her fingers left harsh, red marks.
"Stop sniveling." she said cruelly.
It was then that Hotaru noticed the bruises all over Usagi's face. She ran over to her Princess and tried to comfort her.
"Oh, Usagi-sama, it's not your fault! I never should have tried that attack when it wasn't familiar. Please, it wasn't you!"
But Usagi couldn't hear her. All she did was curl up into a ball on the ground and cry.
"USAGI!!!"
Brock rushed into the tent, feeling a strange sense of Deja-vu. In fact, he was looking forward to maybe sleeping with her in his arms again... STOP IT! He commanded himself. You're such a baka! Leave the nice girl alone.
He woke her up, and wasn't surprised to see her in tears. She described her dream to him and he was horrified. He had learned bits about the girls during their trip, and he felt like he knew each of them enough that it was saddening to think they were dead. That, and Rei's treatment of Usagi, was enough to make him upset. He thought of something important, though.
"Hotaru?"
"What?" she said listlessly.
Her voice worried him, but he continued. "They said they hadn't seen you in months. That means that this hasn't happened yet, and is only a possible future. If we get you home soon, everything will work out."
"You're... right!" she said, her smile coming back. "Thank you!"
Brock, a teeny bit disappointed, turned to leave.
"Brock?"
"Yes?" he asked, turning around.
"Could you.... stay? I'm afraid the dream will come back..." she muttered hastily, looking a bit like a forlorn child.
"Sure." he said, and walked back. He sat next to her and held her hand. Both were soon asleep, Hotaru on her sleeping bag with Brock's head resting on the covers over her stomach. (An: I swear this is the last time I'll bug you, but this is such a cute scene and I have to say it. AWWWWWWWWWWWWW!)