Author's note: This is the story of an encounter between present and future.
Scribal Records: Untitled
The dark-haired teenager stepped quickly through the time-portal, turning to get one final glimpse as it closed behind her. She felt sick to her stomach. *I have to do this,* she thought. *I have to help my sister. I'm not running away from the battle. I'm not. Am I?* Shaking her head to clear it, she walked on into the city before her.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From her window booth at the ice cream parlor, Serena sighed as Darien passed by on his motorcycle. *I'm so glad Darien and I are together, even after everything we've been through. From the Dark Moon family to the Dead Moon circuis, I don't think I could have made it without him. I've even gotten used to having Rini around so much. I hope she doesn't have to leave again too soon.* Suddenly, she felt a sharp jab to her ribs.
"Hey, meatball-head, are you daydreaming again?" asked little Rini from beside her in the booth. Rolling her eyes, Serena sent Rini a sharp look before returning to her sundae; leaving the little girl's question unanswered. Across the table sat Amy working on a homework assignment, and Mina eating her own sundae. Rini shrugged her shoulders and was about to return to her ice cream when she sensed something oddly...familiar. Looking around the booth and seeing that no one else felt it, she decided not to worry about it and went back to eating.
+++++++++++++Later, inside Cherry Hill Temple++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"How do you work this problem, Amy?" Mina asked while pointing to a page of her math book. Amy leaned over to show Mina what to do while Raye and Lita worked on their own problems. Serena did what she usually does at study sessions: she slept. Rini was sitting on the porch outside, eating cookies, and she laughed when she heard Serena howl at being woken up by Raye. Rini finished her last cookie and was about to head inside when she heard shouting coming from the street. Turning back to the stairs, Rini strained to see what was going on.
"Go back where you came from, Nega-trash!" shouted a black-haired girl as she jumped into Rini's view. Rini's gasp at the sight was drowned out by a loud explosion caused by the energy-bomb the girl had just avoided. Immediately following came a black-green monster of grotesque proportions with no definite form. The monster looked like some putrid gas that randomly developed arms and legs, and Rini had to cover her mouth to block out its foul stench even at the top of the temple steps.
"Rini, what's going on out he- oh, gods, what is that smell?!" Raye shouted as the rest of the inner scouts ran out to check on the explosion. The girls and Darien also covered their mouths as the monster's odor invaded their nostrils.
"Geez, it smells like something died out here!" Mina said through the part of her sleeve covering her mouth. Her eyes widened as she witnessed the battle between the girl and the monster. "What in Queen Selenity's name is that- that thing?!"
"What does it matter? That girl's in trouble! I say we go help her!" said Lita, reaching behind her for her transformation wand.
"No," said Amy, surprising Lita by standing in her way. Turning back to the fight and typing in her mini-computer, Amy explained, "That creature has energy levels I have never seen before. Until I can figure out that thing's weakness- assuming I find one at all -there is nothing we could do but get in the girl's way." The rest of the group stared at Amy in shock. The idea of standing by and doing nothing made them uncomfortable, but they knew that Amy was probably right. They all turned back to the fight and watched as the girl avoided another energy blast by jumping into a tree. Unfortunately, the branch she landed on was unstable and broke under her weight, sending her tumbling to the ground. The girl rolled away in time to dodge the monster's huge fist then turned back quickly to catch it off guard with an attack of her own.
"Blue Rose Prick!" she shouted, and the girls by the temple watched as a blue streak of lightening left the girl's hand and embedded itself as a blue rose in the area of the monster's head. Though the rose landed accurately and had the desired effect of destroying the thing, the monster had shot off energy beams like small darts a moment before the rose struck. Unprepared for the final attack, the girl was caught full-blast in the right shoulder by the darts and was blown back several feet.
"Driena!!" Rini shouted, surprising the others, and ran down the steps to where the girl lay. After sighing in relief at the missing stench, the girls and Darien quickly followed Rini down to the stranger.