Chapter 199
"If we run out their batteries now..we can get rid of this menace for sure," Sailor Pluto said.
"Why aren't they doing anything?" Sailor Jupiter asked.
"Maybe they uh..are surrendering?" Guardian Neptune said.
"Unlikely," Sailor Uranus said. "And even if they were." Uranus World Shaking!"
The blast rippled along the ground and hit them. The robots stood there unphased.
"Well...don't you look stupid," Guardian Neptune said.
Mercury hurriedly pulled out her computer.
"That explains it.." she said.
"What?" Sailor Moon asked.
"They're energy level is slowly rising," Mercury said. "I believe that means they're going to overload."
"Overload!" everyone else shouted.
"Oh..geez..that could be bad," Mercury realized.
"A self destruct device," Tuxedo Mask said. "Destroy them quickly!"
The scouts all built up their power and let loose another attack. The blasts hit the robots. The scouts all gasped for breath, their strength rapidly disapearing.
"Sailor Scouts build up your power to it's fullest, we don't have much time," Mercury said. "Everyone else weaken them."
"Neptune Trition Impale!"
"Uranus Fire Spike Attack!"
"Pluto Storm Fist Punch!"
"Saturn Ice Rings Blast!"
The four attacks hit the middle robot.
Tuxedo Mask threw a massive barrage of roses at a second.
"Uranus World Shaking!"
"Neptune Deep Submerge!"
"Saturn Mist Wave!"
"Pluto Dead Scream!"
The third robot was hit.
"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"
"JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!"
"MARS FIRE SOUL!"
"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!"
"MOON SPIRAL HEARTS ATTACK!"
The five attacks blasted across the roof and slammed into the robots. They were pushed back to the roofs edge and tumbled over.
"Oh no!" everyone shouted and rushed to the edge. The people below scattered as the three robots smashed into the street and vaporized.
"Great..they wait till they hit the street to vaporize," Sailor Mars muttered.
"At least we did it," Sailor Jupiter said.
"Can we go home and sleep now?" Venus muttered.
"Sailor Moon..we will talk later," Tuxedo Mask said and jumped away.
"Wait!" Sailor Moon said and collapsed from exhaustion.
Later that day at the Diet building. Chief Ozaki, General Nagumo, and General Patterson were standing in front of Prime Minister Coral's desk. Ozaki had a sling on his arm. Nagumo was covered with bruises. Patterson had a large bandage around his head. Coral has a very menacing cut on her cheek.
"Gentlemen...this was a mess wasn't it?" she asked. The three solemly nodded. "Thankfully you built that failsafe device."
"At extremely high cost I might say," Nagumo said.
"I approved it in the budget didn't I?" Coral asked.
"Yes you did to your credit," Nagumo said.
"Still, it would seem to me that you managed to let this city, and indeed this country's defense get taken over quite easily," Coral said.
"Prime Minister, this was an extremely powerful creature," Patterson said.
"Uh..and might I add Prime Minister, we're not the only ones who have been taken over.if you know what I mean," Ozaki said.
"I am well aware of that.." Coral growled. "However I believe that we should redouble our efforts to keep these enemies from using our own forces against us..don't you agree?"
The three nodded.
Coral stood up.
"Well come on, we've got a mess to clean up," she said.
"It was a nice touch with your own mob and all," Nagumo said.
"You liked it?" Coral asked with a smile on her face.
"Lita..thank god.." her father said as they met at home. "I was worried, after all the fighting started."
"I'm fine. Very tired, but how are you?" Lita asked.
"I've been through a very disturbing experience," her father said.
"I can just guess," Lita said.
"Yeah..I come back from my trip up to Yokohama, and I find the entire force completely turned against you."
"You weren't there!" Lita screeched. "Oh..uh..of course you weren't..I knew that."
"What? You forgot?"
"Kinda...I got a little worried, nothing to worry about though I guess."
"No..guess not. Heard it was quite a fight."
"Yes...it was..." Lita said.
"Lita..if you had had to fight me what would you have done?" her father asked.
"Like I told my friends, I would kick your butt," Lita said with a grin.
"Really?"
"Of course," Lita said.
"I'd like to see you try."
"Maybe you will someday," Lita said and the two started laughing.
"Just what am I supposed to do with you two?" Amy muttered. The injured Greg and Patterson were now sitting on her couch, in various stages of pain. Greg still had a cast on his right foot. It turns out he reinjured the leg coming to their aid. Patterson wasn't showing his injuries off.
"What do you mean Amy? Aren't you supposed to wait on us hand and foot until we get better?" Greg asked with a grin.
"Greg..don't be a jerk," Amy said.
"Sorry..I couldn't resist," Greg said.
"I know," Amy said and laughed.
"Patterson, are you feeling okay?"
"Fine.."
She touched him on the leg. He winced.
"Thought so."
"Bruised..not broken," Patterson replied.
"I'll bet," Amy said.
"Hmm..perhaps I have been foolish," Mina said pacing back and forth in her room. "Perhaps I have not understood that the human heart, that once broken into must not be abandoned, or a robber will walk in and steal everything out of it.."
"How eloquent," Artemas said.
"So...from now on..I will turn over a new leaf, one that will not let pure passion and desire overide my intellect."
"A loaf of bread could override your intellect," Artemas muttered.
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry..I've got fleas.." Artemas said.
"Eww.." Mina said.
"You bet it is."
"Anyway..I will no longer treat members of the opposite genders as mere possessions to be won or lost, I will treat them as they should be, human beings, for whatever that's worth."
"What's the catch?"
"There's no catch to my emotions."
"I'll bet."
"Artemas you're so cruel, can't you understand that I'm changed?"
"Changed into what?"
"You'll see..I'll prove it to you, when I Mina Deveraux never two-time again!"
Artemas glanced at her.
"Well...maybe not with anyone I know really well.that would just be trouble..but let's be honest, I have to work into the new me, I can't just go cold turkey," she said.
"That's what I like to see," Artemas said. "Honesty."
"Is that a good sign?" Mina asked.
"Oh...uh..good question..it's going to take some thought."
"I'll wait."
"Well there's no need to do that," Artemas said.
"No..really." Mina said and leaned on her bed staring at him. Artemas sighed.
"You'd think Serena could have had the courtesy not to go charging in there like that," Raye muttered rubbing her face. "I took a hit right to the jaw."
"Sorry..." Rick said.
"So..what happened to you guys?"
"Oh..well..we got swallowed up by the mob, fortunately the King decided to give up control of them a minute in, or things could have gotten much worse. But aside from that we had fun."
"Fun? How could you classify this as fun?"
"I was joking, but still...it has it's moments. Mikey singing sea shanties in front of the SDF was one of them."
"You didn't tell me about that part."
"No I didn't," Rick said and smiled.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Tell me about it."
"Oh..no..you'd just be bored, it's not fun."
"Don't use my words against me," Raye said and kicked him out the door.
"Fair enough," Rick muttered scraping himself off the ground.
"You'd think the forces of the evil would just find somewhere else to terrorize," Haruka muttered.
"Come now, there's not enough order to the universe to allow that to happen," Michiru said.
"There's enough to bring all the scouts toghether in this city and also to have every evil force planning an invasion here too," Haruka said.
"Hmm..that is odd isn't it?" Michiru asked.
"Not when you understand the way the universe works," Hotaru said.
"Oh?" Michiru said.
"Yes," Hotaru said.
"Well..aren't you going to explain how the universe works?" Michiru asked.
"I do not know," Hotaru said.
Michiru grinned.
"Yeah..that sums it up I think," she said.
"Where's Setsuna?" Haruka asked.
"Went out to get dinner," Michiru said.
"Hmm...dinner..now there's a real problem, I'm eating way too much cholesterol," Haruka said.
"You're concerned too much with your health Haruka," Michiru said.
"Well..if the monsters don't kill me, heart disease will, if I don't eat right of course," Haruka said.
"You could also be killed a practically infinite other number of ways, nutritional awareness is an inneffective method of prevention in these cases," Hotaru said.
"Hmm..so why bother?" Michiru asked with a grin.
Haruka sighed.
Meanwhile in Andrew's apartment. Andrew was leaning back in his chair. Chad was sitting across from him.
"So when you'd first find out who Sailor Moon was?" Andrew asked.
"Oh..hmm..that goes back a little ways," Chad said. "Yeah it was when I tried to kill Raye and Rick, now that was a miserable experience, I'll tell you."
"Yeah..when Rita got injured that's when they told me."
"Tells you how devoted and good they are at keeping it a secret," Chad said.
"Yeah, I couldn't believe, I had no idea."
"That's the secret. Of course objectively. Who would ever choose that group to be the defenders of the universe!"
The two started laughing their heads off.
"What are you two laughing about?" Lizzie said emerging from a side room.
"Oh..just the Sailor Scouts," Andrew said.
"Yeah.." Chad said.
"Oh..do you know who they are too?" she asked.
Andrew and Chad glanced at each other.
"Impressive, they can create planets..." Mike said.
"What are you talking about?" Steve asked.
"Oh..sorry..I slipped away for a minute," Mike said. "What were we talking about?"
"Antifreeze," Steve said.
"Oh..right..so anyway..I think the best antifreeze is that kind that..." Mike said.
"Mike..we weren't talking about antifreeze, what amazes me is that you can carry on a conversation like you've been talking about any subject for an hour even if you haven't!" Steve said.
"Why do I get the sense you guys have changed the subject on me like this before just to see what would happen?" Mike asked.
"Probably because we have."
"Yep, that would explain it," Mike said. "So..uh..anyway..what were we talking about?"
Steve sighed.
"Why doesn't he call?" Serena said pacing back and forth.
"Serena..calm down," Luna said.
"I can't calm down," Serena said. "I'm so confused, and now Darrien's making me wait like this..does he love me or doesn't he? And I don't even know if he does, if I do anymore, and even if I do and he does, do I want to get back toghether with him, because it might just lead to more trouble, and I don't like trouble, I've got enough trouble, you know what I mean..sure you do...you've never been part of a solid relationship you're entire life."
"Serena, I'm a cat!" Luna shouted.
"So..there are a lot of nice young cats out there.sure most of them wouldn't be much conversation..but..hey..you gotta start somewhere.." Serena said.
"Serena..you're really strange when you're uptight."
"When did you first notice?" Serena asked.
A rose, end first flew in the window and hit her in the head.
"Aw..geez..." she muttered. "The horror."
"What are you talking about?" Luna asked.
"Nothing in particular," Serena muttered and picked up the rose.
"Hey..there's a note attached, it must be from him!" she screeched.
"Quiet Serena, the world has no use for your gift of screeching," Sammy said sticking his head in the door.
"Go away..or I'll punish you!" Serena shouted.
"Big deal..you think I'm scared because my sister's Sailor Moon."
"YOU KNOW!" Serena shouted.
"I do now!" Sammy said.
Serena leapt out the door after him.
Luna sighed.
"So much for this being kept quiet, still it's not like her brother could tell anyone and have them believe him. It's Serena for heaven's sake," she said and jumped down to the floor. She
looked at the note Serena had dropped.
"He wants to meet with her...that could be a good sign or a bad sign," Luna said.
Serena came back in the door.
"Don't worry, he won't be telling anybody anything," Serena said.
"What'd you do? Kill him?" Luna asked.
"Well..yeah.." Serena said stoically.
"You can't hold that face for ten seconds."
Serena stared at her.
"Ten."
"Nine."
"Eight."
Serena twitched.
"Seven."
Serena burst out laughing.
"Not even till six..jeez.." Luna muttered. "You should read the note from Darrien."
"Oh that's right," Serena said and picked it up.
"A meeting? I'd better go!"
She hurried out the door. Luna heard a thud.
"What was that?" She asked herself.
Serena hurried back in the door.
"Gotta..put a bandage on my skinned knee..but then I gotta go," She said and rumaged around in her drawers for a bandage.
"You keep them all in the bathroom Serena," Luna muttered.
"Oh that's right," Serena said and rushed out.
A minute later she popped back in.
"Now...I can go."
"Good for you," Luna said.
Serena then hurried out the door and was off.
Serena arrived at the assigned meeting location and found Darrien standing there waiting for her. She approached him hesitantly. She stopped ten feet short of him.
"If you're going to dump me..uh..you can just tell me now so I don't have to go any farther..I'm tired," Serena said.
"I'm not going to dump you," Darrien said. "I'm going to apologize."
"It's going to take more than that."
"I assure you I have what it takes," Darrien said.
"All right.." Serena said and walked up near him.
"Serena...I've been a jerk again. And I know you're giving more then you should by even coming to see me."
"You're right about that," Serena said.
"Uh..right..but you see...I've never been good at least as myself. You knew me before we really..got toghether..I was a jerk then..and I guess I just haven't gotten the hang of it. I didn't expect to fall in love so fast. And I've been under a lot of stress, the work has gotten harder, and it just sort of got weird."
"Darrien, just how did you think we could take a break?"
"I uh..meant that we wouldn't see each other while I finished my research and then back toghether."
"It wasn't just that was it?"
"Well..I..was tempted."
"Tempted to do what?"
"Uh..well..I uh.."
"Go ahead..."
"I thought I was in love with another girl."
Serena looked at him and then started laughing.
"What?" Darrien asked.
"Well do you love her?"
"No..I like her as a friend, a lot..but..she's uh..well she's not you.."
"That could either be a compliment or insult depending on the circumstances," Serena said.
"Serena, I was attracted to her, but in a way it was because I was nearby. Because of college we've been seperated, but there have been very few times when we've been toghether that I haven't felt the same thing I felt for her, only it's much stronger with you."
"Wait..a second..what about these very few times.."
"Oh..uh..you know..just a couple.." Darrien said.
"It happens," Serena said.
"So what I'm going to do is try to spend more time with you, and now I understand things better."
"Darrien, do you know how I felt?"
"I didn't try to guess, but.."
"You want me to let you know.." she said.
Darrien nodded.
She kicked him in the groin.
"Now consider that all over your body."
"Uh..it was actually painful.." Darrien squealed.
"At certain times," Serena said. "But..uh..well..that's the point I needed to make. Darrien, you really should read some books on how not to get your girlfriend to despise you."
"You despised me?"
"For a short time..well..a week or so."
"Oh? I deserved it," Darrien said.
"You're right you did," Serena said.
"But how do you feel now?"
"Darrien, it's our destiny to be toghether, and even if it wasn't, I know there's something between us, that's very strong, it goes beyond the scouts, it goes beyond the moon, whatever it is,it brings us together, so I'll give you another chance, but Darrien, let's not mess this one up okay?"
"That's fine with me..and I wanted to make sure you knew we were clear...Serena with you in high school and me in college we're going to have a lot of work to do."
"Work?" Serena asked. "Oh..yeah...right..if you say so."
"Anyway...we may come under more stress, but I think we can work through it if we talk about it."
"I'm all for that."
"So we'll try and keep from being seperated again if at all possible."
"Right."
"Serena, I will warn you, in my field, if an opportunity comes along, I may have to take it, it may mean I have to move, or do something else, but I will do everything I need to to keep you happy. And all this business won't last for longer then a few years.. You understand."
"I do," Serena said.
"But I want you to know..that I will never leave you on my free will ever again," Darrien said.
"I believe you," Serena said.
"Will you give me the same promise?"
"Sure..why not...I mean..of course...Darrien...I promise," Serena said.
"Well then..I guess there's only one thing left to do," Darrien said.
"Go get some dinner?" Serena asked.
"Uh..no..Serena..I don't know when yet...we may be talking a long time here..whenever you feel ready..but I thought the best way to make sure we feel better about all this is for me to do..is..uh..I don't know how to phrase it," he pulled something from his pocket. "When the time is right.." he asked holding out a small box.
"Will you marry me?" he asked.
Serena's eyes widened.
"Oh...Darrien..of course I will!" Serena said and hugged him.
CHAPTER 181 CHAPTER 182 CHAPTER 183 CHAPTER 184
CHAPTER 185 CHAPTER 186 CHAPTER 187 CHAPTER 188
CHAPTER 189 CHAPTER 190 CHAPTER 191 CHAPTER 192
CHAPTER 193 CHAPTER 194 CHAPTER 195 CHAPTER 196