(Steve Stachowicz) gerrek@hotmail.com (Matthew Frey) drakkenfrey@hotmail.com Web page: http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/shores/2307 SWORDS OF DESTINY SIDESTORY By Eric Thorsen and Stacko TIME CONQUERER’S LEGAL STUFF: ** The characters and concepts used in this story are the property of their creators. Their use here should be seen as a sign of respect. Everything else is ours. PROLOUGE Looking out the view screen in the room he was in, Luthantis stared out at the void of null time. He was standing there at his full height of eight feet. He appeared to look human, but he had yellow eyes and his arms appeared to have two elbows. He wore his usual General's attire as he waited to strike another world. After conquering the last world, he was bored. The last world was enjoyable, but it only lasted for a little while. They had used a lot of their supplies to conquer that world; they also lost a few good men. But after they had quickly defeated that world's champion's leader, the world quickly fell. The remainder of the champion's became slaves for them. But like every slave, they try to escape. Now they are down to only one out of the four. He sighed as he looked away from the view screen. He wanted to attack a new world, but he had to wait until his supplies were replenished. He sat down at his desk and looked over reports that he came accustomed to. While he was reading over one of the reports, the sounds of a female pleading and screaming in pain were coming closer. He looked up from his report just as the door to his office slammed open and two of his officers walked in with a struggling female. He immediately recognized who the female was; it was the last of the slaves from the last world. The girl was struggling in the bonds that held her wrists together, which was tied to a long rope that was held by one of his officer's. The girl was young looking and was very much dwarfed in size compared to them. She had short, blonde hair that was mostly covered by grime and was a tangled mess. She had sparkling blue eyes that showed she was very frightened at being where she was, but it also showed intelligence that she knew how to use. When she first became a slave, her eyes showed an unwillingness to do what her Captures wanted, but she quickly broke. She was wearing the remnants of what was originally a skintight outfit of sorts. It was obvious by the holes and the scraps still on her that just kept her modest. What was still left on her was very stained to tell what the original colors were. Through some of the holes, large scabs, cuts, and bruises could be seen from various punishments she was dealt with. "What is it, Rafiss?" Asked Luthantis somewhat bored, looking at the officer that wasn't holding the girl. "This slave was caught trying to escape, Sir." Rafiss replied at attention. "I see." Luthantis said as he looked at the girl. He saw her cower under his gaze as he saw the look on her face that she knew she was going to die. "I'm busy right now, so I can trust your judgment on the punishment. Keep her alive though, dismissed." "Yes, Sir." Replied both of the men. The two men bowed, turned and left the room. Luthantis saw the look of horror on the girl's face as the man holding the rope tied to the girl was tugged and she fell down. They pulled the girl with them as she started to struggle and yelling 'no' as she was practically dragged out of the room. Rafiss closed the door after the girl was dragged out and went to punish the girl. Luthantis could hear her plea of mercy as they dragged her down the hall. After the noise quieted down again, he resumed reading the report he was reading before he was interrupted. Shortly, his communication console started beeping. He set the report down and turned on the monitor of the console. Shortly, the image of one of his scientists appeared on the monitor. "Yes?" Luthantis asked. "To inform you, Sir. The supplies have come in and are being stowed as we speak." Replied the scientist. "How long before we can strike another world?" "Once we consult the computer for a world, it should be one day, Sir." "Very well. I expect the coordinate to that world's Time Gate in two days." "Yes, Sir." Luthantis turned the monitor off, disconnecting the call, and leaned back in his chair smiling. * * * * At the Gates of Time, Sailor Pluto was relaxing while she read a book. She was taking some time off after she sent Chibi- Usa back to the past again. Chibi-Usa wanted to be with her friends again and had been granted permission from her mother to go. So after Pluto sent her to the past, she sat back and started to read a book, knowing about the timeframe where Chibi-Usa is now at. For most of the Senshi, they have all graduated from High School. They all passed their entrance exams with no problems, except Usagi who just barely passed hers, and having selected the colleges they wanted to go to. They all were enjoying their vacation before they had to start college. It was that timeframe that Chibi-Usa wanted to be at. During mid-thought, Pluto suddenly felt a disturbance in the time stream. She quickly placed the book down and grabbed her staff. She stood up and tried to find what the disturbance is that she sensed. But after a few moments, she couldn't find what the problem was. She became worried that she couldn't find the disturbance. She was about to inform Neo-Queen Serenity about the disturbance when she noticed something in the corner of her eye. She turned and saw a man with a gun aimed at her. She quickly let loose a 'Dead Scream' and smiled when the man screamed in pain. Then all of a sudden, she was tackled from behind and dropped to the floor, causing her to loose her staff. Pluto quickly brought her elbow back and rejoiced when she felt her attacker’s nose break and the man quickly got off of her. She quickly got back up and looked around. She noticed that four more men had showed up and had guns aimed at her. She jumped out of the way when they opened fire and grabbed her staff. She couldn't sense on how they were getting to the Gates of Time. She couldn't recognize them as any of the Enemy's that the Senshi fought before. She quickly took the four men out as several more showed up. "Stop her!" Yelled a voice from behind the men. Pluto looked at the person who yelled and gasped wide-eyed as she caught sight of him. When she noticed the symbol on the man's chest, she became very afraid. The man shouted out orders to take her out before she could do anything else. She quickly realized that they wanted to use the Gates of Time, so she went to try and shut it. The man realized what she was about to do and ordered people to stop her. She could hear them trying to stop her, so she hurried up on what she was doing. Just moments before she was able to fully shut the Gate; an energy blast hit her in the back of her head. She quickly dropped to the floor, blackening out for a moment, due to the impact of the beam. She regained consciousness enough to look on in horror as the enemy was going through the gate. After she saw the last one go through, she slowly made it to her feet, using her staff as a crutch. She scanned the gate to see when they went and gasped as she found out that they went back in time to moments after Chibi-Usa arrived in the past. She knew she had to warn the others and close the Gates of Time before the enemy could use it again. She limped to the gate and entered it. She hoped she could inform the others in time, before the world was taken over. She tried to think straight, but the headache she has gotten was getting worse. She could tell that she was about to pass out again, so she hurried up and shut the gate and go tell the others. Her last conscious thought was her watching the gates close as blackness over came her. CHAPTER ONE It is a nice sunny day out at the Tsukino residence. Usagi's mother told her that they were going shopping for new clothes and uniforms. Usagi was happy and a little reluctant to go to the mall. She wanted to go to the mall, but not to get new uniforms. She agreed to go and was a little surprised when Chibi-Usa wanted to go along also. Usagi made a silent comment that only Chibi-Usa could hear, about the real reason why she wanted to go along, Chibi-Usa just smiled. Since high school ended and Usagi graduated, life for her was going pretty easy. After the trouble with Rochefort and the Negaverse, the Sailor Senshi had no one to worry about. There were the few occasions with some immortals that came after Scott, Makoto, or Kevin, mostly Kevin. Those problems were quickly taken care of. The relationships between some of the Senshi and the Planetary Guards had increased. Usagi was happy that Rei and Kiersten now had boyfriends and were basically almost engaged to them. Then there was Kevin and Makoto. She couldn't believe how their relationship was going. Knowing that both of them are immortal and will live forever, she just wondered what would happen if one of them was killed by another Immortal. Usagi was happy for Makoto when Makoto showed off her engagement ring. The wedding is scheduled for next month. The next couple was Ami and Scott. To Usagi, their relationship was just as tough as Kevin and Makoto. How will they live their life, knowing that Scott will never age while Ami will grow older and eventually die of old age. Usagi and the others always gave Ami some teasing after they heard how Scott proposed to her. Kevin told everyone that he never knew Scott had it in him to propose the way he did. When Scott took Ami on a date, at a nice restaurant, after they had finished eating, Scott went down on his knee in front of her and had started singing "Will you marry me?" loudly. Ami froze when Scott started singing out. What made her blush in embarrassment was when Ami didn't respond right away, Scott started going to other people in the restaurant and asking them if Ami should marry him. Ami quickly agreed to marry him, just to shut him up. After Scott had placed the ring on her finger, the entire restaurant cheered for them. She was glad that Mamoru didn't propose to her in that fashion. Usagi was taken on a nice date, and her proposed to her, much to her father's displeasure, and she accepted. She wanted to get married as soon as possible, but relented to get married after she got out of college, to at least make her father happy. She found that Ami was also waiting until they were out of college to get married. So all three of them had talked about all of them getting married. They were still discussing about that subject yet. Now Usagi's mother wanted to get her some new clothes and uniforms. Since Chibi-Usa had nothing to do that day, she wanted to go along. So they all headed to the mall to start looking for clothes. Usagi went to many shops, looking for new clothes and had several bags with clothes in them. Chibi-Usa also had gotten some new clothes since they were shopping. They were headed to the next shop when Usagi noticed a familiar couple. "Ami! Scott!" Shouted Usagi to the couple. * * * Scott was over at Ami's apartment, helping her pack her stuff to send to her place in Germany for college. Since Ami's mother was at the hospital, she asked Scott if he would be able to help and take Ami out to get new clothes for Germany. Scott agreed and when they were done packing up most of the things Ami would need, they headed to the mall. While at the mall, Ami thought of a way to get back at Scott, of when he embarrassed her at the restaurant when he proposed to her. So she took him to every lingerie shop she came across and showed him every type possible she could get a hold of and always asked for his opinion. After the first couple of stores, she could see that Scott was getting nervous. After the forth shop, Ami stopped teasing Scott and made her final purchases. After they left the shop, they headed to buy other clothes. En route to the store, they both heard someone familiar shout. "Ami! Scott!" Both of them turned to where they heard the yell from, and saw Usagi, with her mother and Chibi-Usa, waving at them to get their attention. Ami waved back and both of them made their way over to Usagi. When Ami and Scott reached where Usagi is, Usagi noticed the sly grin on Ami's face and the look of embarrassment on Scott's face. She wondered why until she looked at the bags that Scott was carrying, and what stores they were from and realized what probably happened. "Usagi! What are you doing here?" Ami asked. "Out shopping for new clothes." Usagi replied. "Same here." "I can see that." As Ami and Usagi continued chatting away about their shopping and what they've been doing lately, Scott walked over to Chibi-Usa and Mrs. Tsukino. Chibi-Usa smiled as he walked over to greet them. "Hello Chibi-Usa, Mrs. Tsukino-san." Scott said when he got there. "Hello Scott." Chibi-Usa replied. "Hello, Mr. Schwartzstern." Mrs. Tsukino replied. “Where’s Sasami?” Chibi-Usa asked. “She’s back home for a ‘Right of Passage’ ceremony. She should be back by next month.” Scott replied "Oh, okay. Are you helping Ami with her shopping?" Chibi-Usa asked. "I sort of got roped into it. Dr. Mizuno had to work, so she asked me if I could take Ami shopping." Scott replied. "I see she took you to a lot of 'Interesting' shops." Chibi-Usa said, smiling at Scott's blush. "Chibi-Usa, it's not nice to tease people." Mrs. Tsukino scolded. "Sorry, Auntie." Chibi-Usa said. "Has she been behaving herself at your shop?" Mrs. Tsukino asked Scott as she saw that Chibi-Usa was really sorry. "She and Hotaru have been a big help." Scott said as he then messed up Chibi-Usa's hair a little. "Little Bunny here has made life a little easier." "Hey, I'm not a bunny." Chibi-Usa said a little angrily. "You'll always be a little bunny to me." Scott said to her as she pouted a little and then smiled up at him. Just then, Ami and Usagi walked up to them. "What you grown-ups talking about?" Usagi asked when she got up to them. "Nothing you little kids would understand." Scott said smiling at her. "Hey, I'm not a kid." Usagi whined. "You are compared to my age." Scott whispered in Usagi's ear. "Humph." Usagi said as she turned up her nose. "So what's going on?" Mrs. Tsukino asked the girls. "Since we're both out shopping for clothes, why don't we go together?" Usagi asked Scott and her mother. "I don't have a problem with that, do you?" Scott asked Mrs. Tsukino when he faced her. "No, I think my daughter would like the company." Mrs. Tsukino replied. "Okay, let's continue then." Scott said as he shifted the bags he had and they all continued shopping. * * * * At a secret place outside of Tokyo, Luthantis and his army of soldiers were plotting their attack. Luthantis went to the scanning room to see how the status was going. He entered the room and found a lone scientist working at a computer. When the door opened, the scientist looked over his shoulder to see who entered. When he saw it was Luthantis, he returned to working on the computer. "What do you got?" Luthantis asked. "I have figured out that the leader of this world's defenders is known as 'Sailor Moon'." Replied the scientist. "What can you tell me about this, 'Sailor Moon'?" Luthantis saw the scientist type into the computer. "Well, her and up to fourteen, at times, others, make up a group called the 'Sailor Senshi'. They fight in order to make the world a peaceful one. According to local information, they fight for 'Love and Justice'." "I see. What do you got on their structure of their group?" Again he saw the scientist typing again. "From what I can tell, it's basically consists of three groups. One group would be equivalent to being like law enforcers, another would be considered soldiers, and the last would be like the special ops group." "What do you have on their leader?" The scientist typed into the computer again. "This is what surprised me." "How so?" "Their leader is their strongest fighter, but is also their weakest link. You take her out, and the 'Senshi' have a hard time fighting their enemies." "Have you identified their leader?" "Yes." "Where is she now?" The scientist typed again. "In a shopping mall in the Juuban district." "Alright." Luthantis said to the scientist as he then left the room to inform his army the new plan of attack. * * * * The group was just about done shopping; they were in the last store they were going to be in. Scott was loaded down with several more bags that Ami gave him. While Ami and Usagi talked and continued shopping, Scott and Mrs. Tsukino chatted about other items, with only Chibi-Usa catching the double meaning of most of what Scott said. They were about to leave when all of a sudden; they could hear gunfire and people screaming. They turned in the direction of the screaming and saw other shoppers running away from what appeared to be three heavily armored troopers. They all knew from looking at those men, they were not human. They were shooting over the heads of the shoppers, to make them run and scatter. Their armor appeared to be similar to what the 'Predator' wore in the movie, with only minor differences. A forth person appeared from behind the three troopers and it looked like he was scanning for something. The forth person pointed in the direction of Scott and the others. The three armed men turned in their direction and aimed their guns. Scott realizing what they were about to do, when the armed men aimed their guns. He shoved Ami and Chibi-Usa out of the way, while dropping all the bags he had, and then tackled Usagi and her mother as the gunfire went over their heads. Scott yelled in pain as a shot hit him in his arm. While holding his arm, Scott looked back at Ami and Chibi-Usa and sighed with relief; both were all right but looked very frightened. Scott got Ami's attention and yelled to her to get the others. Ami quickly understood what he meant, nodded, and grabbed Chibi-Usa and ran off. Scott looked over at the four men and saw that they were advancing to where they were, appearing to be holding some sort of restraints. He looked down at the two women and saw that they were very scared. "Run!" Scott urged the two women. Scott got the women to their feet and started to run away from the men. Scott heard the men shout something and grabbed for their guns. The area that Scott and the two women were in was suddenly covered in gunfire. They continued running through the mall while dodging the gunfire from their pursuers. Scott was wondering why they were after them, when he noticed that most of the gunfire was aimed towards Usagi. He realized that their new enemy must have figured out who Usagi was and wanted her out of the picture before she could have a chance to transform. Scott knew he had to protect Usagi, but he also had to protect Usagi's mother. He couldn't keep track of both of them, so he hoped he was about to do wouldn’t be a mistake. He was glad that his arm was healed when they turned a corner in the mall; Scott shoved Mrs. Tsukino into a nearby store doorway. Scott silently apologized to her for what he did. He then continued running and told Usagi what he did when she wondered where her mother went. When Scott had shoved Mrs. Tsukino, she was shoved into a rack, full of clothes. The rack fell and covered her with clothes. She was knocked out cold for a minute when her head had hit the floor. When she came to, she remembered the danger that her daughter was in and wondered why those armed alien's were shooting at them. She got out of the pile of clothes and looked out of the store she was in. She noticed that the armed men were still chasing her daughter and Scott. She was wondering why they were after her daughter and Scott. She couldn't think of any reasons why anyone would be after her daughter, she couldn't think of any reason why they were after Scott also. So she decided to follow them, at a great distance, to see if her daughter was all right. * * * * Scott and Usagi kept running and dodging gunfire as they made their way outside of the mall. They were about at the doors when a shot clipped Scott in his right leg. He dropped to the floor, grasping his injured leg in pain. Usagi heard his scream of pain and turned to see Scott on the floor. So she ran back to help him. "Run, Usagi. It's you that they’re after." Scott yelled at her as he tried to shove her towards the doors. “I won’t leave you.” Said Usagi as she tried to help Scott back up. “Don’t worry about me. Save yourself.” Scott kept arguing with her. “I’m staying with you.” Usagi said. Before Scott could argue again, they heard several clicking from guns. They both turned to face the sound and saw three guns aimed at them. They both raised their arms and waited for the guns to go off. They closed their eyes and waited. Just as the guns were going off, they heard the familiar attack phrases of Pluto Knight and Sailor Venus. “(PK PHRASE)” “Venus Love-me Chain Encircle!” Scott and Usagi opened their eyes and saw Pluto Knight in front of them, with his right arm straight out in front of him, and what appeared to be small energy balls hovering in front of him. Behind the three men was Sailor Venus, with her ‘Love-me Chain’ around the three men. “You two all right?” Pluto Knight asked. “Yeah. What kept you guys?” Scott answered. “Hey, me and your sister were on a date.” Replied Pluto Knight. “That and there are a lot more of these guys outside. The others are taking care of them.” “Thanks.” Usagi said. “You two better get going, we’ll take care of these guys.” Pluto Knight said. “Okay. Be careful.” Scott said as Usagi was helping him up. “We will.” Replied Venus as she held on tightly to her chain. Scott got fully to his feet and realized that his leg had healed enough so he could run again with a minor limp. Scott and Usagi decided to find a deserted area so they could change and help the others. They turned a corner and ran into two more of the armed men. Usagi gasped as she and Scott stopped running. Scott took a look at the two men and saw that one was standing there with no helmet on. The way he was dressed identified him as probably the leader. The other man was on one knee and had what appeared to be a modified bazooka aimed at them. Scott looked at the leader and saw that he was smiling a little at Usagi while looking up and down at her. Scott looked over at Usagi, who was standing next and a little behind him, and saw that she was very scared. He turned back to the leader and watched as he told the other man to fire. Scott reacted and jumped in the way of the blast. The blast hit him in his stomach and then the world went black for him. * * * * Luthantis looked on as the soldier with him fired the blaster. He watched as the man that was with their target jumped in front of the blast. The blast hit the man and the impact of the beam caused him to go into their target. Both of them fell to the floor unconscious, with a small green glow surrounding them. "Target taken care of, Sir." Replied the soldier as he checked over their target. "Good. So far everything is going according to plan." Said Luthantis. "Too bad the boys couldn't capture her; she would have made a fine looking slave." "Sir!" Came a shout behind them. Luthantis and the other man turned and saw another person running to them. "What is it?" Luthantis asked when the man reached them. "There is another Time Guardian around." Replied the man. "That will prove to be a problem. Send out the message that target has been taken care of retreat back to base." "Yes, Sir." The two men said and saluted and left. Luthantis watched as the men left him and then looked down at the fallen pair and smiled at them. "Soon the World will be ours." Said Luthantis and then vanished from sight. * * * * Scott came to a few minutes later, having a headache and a dull pain in his stomach. He opened his eyes and found himself lying on his back with his head on the lap of Sailor Saturn. He looked up at her and saw the look of concern on her face. Scott started to look around and found Mercury kneeling by his side, and it looked to him that she was scanning him with a concerned look. He continued looking around and found Usagi was awake, and holding her head as if she has a headache, with her head on the lap of Chibi-Moon. “How do you feel?” Mercury asked Scott. “Like I went head on with a truck.” Scott replied. “I can’t find anything wrong with either of you. Usagi told us what happened.” Mercury said. “What happened to the people that were attacking us?” Scott asked. “They all of a sudden vanished.” Saturn said. “Usagi!” Yelled a female voice behind them. Everyone faced the sound and saw a worried Mrs. Tsukino running over to them. She ran over to her daughter. “Oh my God! What happened? Are you all right?” “Yes mom, I’m all right.” Usagi replied to her mother. “What happened?” Mrs. Tsukino asked anyone. “Um ….” Usagi started but died off as she looked over at Scott. “After we lost the ones chasing us with the guns, thanks to the Sailor Senshi, we came across two more of them. One of them fired some sort of cannon at us and I jumped in front of your daughter to protect her.” Scott told Mrs. Tsukino. “Oh thank you. Are you all right?” She asked. “According to Sailor Mercury here,” Scott indicated Mercury. “There’s nothing wrong with us, but she doesn’t seem that is right.” “Thank-you for your help.” Mrs. Tsukino said to Mercury. “No problem Ma’am. We got to get going now.” Mercury said. Scott and Usagi shakily stood up, with Usagi mostly leaning on Scott. The three Senshi made sure that were okay and were about to leave when Mrs. Tsukino called out to them. “Wait!” Mrs. Tsukino called out. “Yes?” Mercury asked. “My niece and my daughter’s friend. Do you know if they are all right?” Mrs. Tsukino asked. “I’m sure they are. If we see them, we’ll tell them to come here.” Mercury replied. “Thank you.” Mercury and the other two Senshi quickly ran away, leaving Scott, Usagi, and her mother standing there. Mrs. Tsukino started to check her daughter over and making sure she was all right. During that, Scott apologized to Mrs. Tsukino for what he did. She accepted the apology and understood why he did it. After several minutes of Usagi being checked over by her mother, they all heard the cry of “Auntie!”. They all faced the sound and saw Ami and Chibi-Usa running towards them, carrying several bags. Mrs. Tsukino went and hugged Chibi-Usa and made sure she was all right. After that was done, Mrs. Tsukino asked about the bags and Chibi-Usa replied that on the way back to them, they came across their stuff and grabbed what was still salvageable. They said their good-byes and Usagi, Chibi-Usa, and Mrs. Tsukino left the mall, followed by Scott and Ami. Usagi and Scott were still walking a little unsteady, and had to lean on someone to walk. The effects of whatever the ray was, apparently was wearing off, and they started walking better. Usagi, Chibi-Usa, and Mrs. Tsukino went back to their place, while Scott and Ami headed back to Ami’s place. En route back to Ami’s place, Ami was informing Scott on what happened, and Scott told her all he could on what happened to him and Usagi. When they got back to the apartment, Ami resumed scanning Scott for whatever the effects of the blast had on Scott. * * * * Wesley and Kiersten were on date when they got the call from Ami about the attack on the mall. Kiersten looked a little disappointed, but she knew her job. After the fight with the mysterious enemy, they had resumed their date. “How are you doing?” Wesley asked Kiersten. “A little mad that they interrupted our date.” Kiersten replied. “I know what you mean.” Wesley commented quietly. “I’m also mad that they just disappeared just like that.” Kiersten snapped her fingers. “We went through all that trouble to capture them, and they just vanish.” “Yeah, that surprised me too. The only thing is that I could have sworn I felt something when they did vanish.” “Let’s not worry about that now. I just want to have a nice date.” Kiersten said, as she got closer to Wesley. “All right.” Wesley said as he placed his arm around her. They resumed walking in the park where they had settled to finish their date. They walked around the park, enjoying each other’s company. They sat down on a park bench and sat there watching what was going on around them. They held hands and Kiersten rested her head on his shoulder. They sat that way for several minutes. Suddenly, Wesley felt a tingling sensation go through his body. He sat up straight and started looking around. Kiersten was looking at him with concern and mostly confusion. “What is it?” She asked. “I sensed a disturbance in the Time Stream.” Wesley replied. “Shouldn’t your sister be able to take care of that?” “Normally, yes, but something doesn’t feel right.” Just then, a bright flash of light happened near them, and when they were able to see again, they saw Sailor Pluto lying on the ground. Wesley and Kiersten ran to Pluto to see what was wrong. They took quick glances around to see if anyone saw what happened and was glad that no one was around. Wesley grabbed his jacket and wrapped it around his sister so no one could easily identify her as a Senshi. He then picked her up and looked over at Kiersten. He saw that she had picked up Pluto’s staff and had a defeated look to her face. “It looks like we got to end our date.” Wesley said. “It’s no fair. It seems that someone just doesn’t want us to be on a date today.” Kiersten complained. “Don’t worry; I’ll make it up to you.” Wesley said and then saw Kiersten’s sly smile. “I’m sure you can.” Kiersten said slyly. They quickly walked back to Wesley’s car and placed Pluto in the backseat, Kiersten had set the staff next to her. Then they both got in the car and drove off. Wesley said that they should take her to Kevin’s place, because they couldn’t quite take her to a hospital. Kiersten agreed and Wesley grabbed the cellular in the car and dialed Kevin’s place. After several rings, the other phone was picked up. “Moshi, Moshi. O’Connell residence.” Came an elderly voice on the other end. “Jervis, this is Wesley.” Said Wesley. “Yes Master Wesley.” Jervis said. “Is Kevin there?” Wesley asked. “Yes. Master Kevin is here with his sister and her friend. Do you need to talk with him?” “Yes. Tell him that the Gryphon needs to talk to the Dragon.” “Very well, Master Wesley.” After Jervis sent the phone down, he went to go get Kevin. After a short wait, Kevin answered the phone. “Wesley, what’s up?” Kevin asked. “We got a problem.” Wesley replied. “What is it?” “My sister appeared in front of me and Kiersten and she is unconscious.” “Where are you guys?” “En route to where you are. Can you get the others, this seems important.” “Okay. How long until you get here?” “Another twenty minutes, at least.” “Meet you when you get here.” “Okay.” Wesley hanged the phone up and continued driving in a hurry. They got to Kevin’s castle in twenty-seven minutes. When he pulled up to the main entrance, he found Kevin, Michiru, and Haruka waiting for them outside. They took Pluto out of the car and up to a guest bedroom. Along the way, Kevin explained on what is keeping the others. Makoto is picking up Rei and James, Scott and Ami is picking up Minako and are on their way. Because of what happened at the mall, Usagi’s mom isn’t letting Usagi or Chibi-Usa out. Hotaru is with Chibi-Usa to keep her company. Mamoru is en route. They said that they would inform Usagi on what is happening. Once they got Pluto in bed, they waited for the others to show up. Around another forty-five minutes later, everyone had shown up and was in Pluto’s room looking at her and Ami, who was scanning her, was wondering what is wrong with her. After several minutes, Ami closed her computer and faced the group. “I can’t find anything wrong with her physically. Her brain pattern is very odd, like she is doing things but not really.” Ami told the group. “What do you think is wrong with her?” Wesley asked. “As far as I know, she’s in a coma.” Ami replied. “How long do you think the coma will last?” Michiru asked. “I don’t know.” Ami said defeated. “Don’t worry, Ami, you’re not expected to know everything.” Michiru told her. “We can’t help her by standing in here. Let’s go to another room.” Kevin told the group. They all left the bedroom and headed to the castle’s version of a living room. Upon entering the room, Scott found the closest chair and sat down in it, holding his head like he was in pain. Kiersten noticed that and was concerned for him. “Hey, old man, you all right?” Kiersten asked Scott. “Yeah. It’s just this headache. Whatever they hit me with is still doing wonders to me.” Scott replied. “Usagi said she still has a headache also. That was one of the reasons she stayed home.” Kiersten said. “Hope it gets better.” “Thanks, Cass.” Scott said. “Well, it’s pretty late. If anyone wants to sleep here, they can.” Kevin said yawning. “Thanks Kevin, but my parents expect me back.” Kiersten said to Kevin. “That’s okay, Kiersten.” Kevin said. “I’ll call you tomorrow to see if there is any change. Got to take Minako back home.” Scott said standing up with Ami. “Later, Scott-ol’-bean.” Kevin said. So Scott, Ami, and Minako left for home, leaving the others at the castle to sleep for the night. CHAPTER TWO Morning came the next day at the Tsukino residence. Usagi woke up and looked around her room. She saw that everything was still the same as she went to bed. She noticed that her headache was gone, so that made her happy. Usagi knew that Luna was over at Kevin’s place, trying to figure out what is wrong with Sailor Pluto. The only problem now that was worrying her was who this new enemy was and why did they want her dead. She also wanted to know what that blast that hit Scott and her was suppose to do. According to Ami, there is nothing wrong with either of them, but she wasn’t so sure. Since she was hungry, she decided to get out of bed and get dress so she could eat some breakfast. She got out of bed and made her way to her dresser while taking off her nightgown en route. After dropping her nightgown on the floor, she pulled out a bra and put it on. She found that the cup size and over all, the bra seemed a little big on her. So she took it off and tried on another one. She found that that one was a little big on her also. She went to the next one, which was an old favorite pink one of hers, and smiled when it fit her. Usagi then got dress in a pink skirt, which she could have sworn went down to mid-thigh instead of just above her knees, and a white blouse, which she found that the sleeves seem a little longer than normal. She then went into the bathroom to do her normal routine in there. When she was done, she headed down to the dinning room for breakfast. When she got down to the room, she only saw her mother and Chibi-Usa sitting there eating. She remembered that her brother and father had left yesterday for a weeklong father/son outing. So she sat herself down next to Chibi-Usa and got her some breakfast. As she started to eat, she noted the strange looks that her mother and Chibi-Usa were giving her. “How are you feeling today, dear?” Mrs. Tsukino to her daughter. “I’m feeling a lot better today. The headaches gone.” Usagi replied. “Did you do anything to yourself today?” Mrs. Tsukino asked. “No, nothing special, why?” Usagi asked now confused on where these questions were headed. “You look younger, that’s all.” Mrs. Tsukino said. “Yeah, you almost look to be my age.” Chibi-Usa said. “Huh?” Usagi said confused. Usagi turned to look at Chibi-Usa and noticed that she was about looking at her eye to eye. Needless to say, Usagi freaked. She got up from the table and ran up to the bathroom. She took a good look at herself in the mirror and all the size problems with her bras finally made sense and she screamed. Chibi-Usa and Usagi’s mother ran up to the bathroom when Usagi screamed. They found her curled up in a ball staring at the mirror wide-eyed. They went over to her and tried to snap her out of her dazed zoning. They made her look at them, but she was mumbling incoherently at them. They made her stop mumbling and start acting normally. They tried to figure out what was happening to Usagi when Chibi-Usa made a comment that it was probably something from what the men at the mall hit her with, and if so, Scott was hit with it also. “That’s right!” Usagi exclaimed. Usagi quickly stood up, knocking Chibi-Usa and her mother down, and ran out of the bathroom to a phone. They got up and followed Usagi to where she ran off too. They found her in Mrs. Tsukino’s bedroom on the phone, looking impatient. Then it appeared that someone answered o the other end, because Usagi started talking very fast. “Amiit’sme,Usagi. Ithinkthatthebeamdidsomethingtome becauseIlookyounger.” Said Usagi. She then took a few breaths and then started again. “I think that the beam that hit me and Scott may have done something, because I look younger now. … I look younger, which my mom pointed out, and I am the same height as Chibi-Usa. … I don’t know, let me ask.” Usagi turned to yell for her mother, when she saw her standing by the doorway with Chibi-Usa. “Mom, can I go over to Ami’s, please, please, please.” Usagi pleaded with her mother. “Why do you want to go?” Mrs. Tsukino asked her daughter. “Ami is really smart. She may know what is happening to me.” Usagi said after quickly thinking of a reason to tell her mother. “All right.” Mrs. Tsukino replied to her daughter. “Thanks Mom.” Usagi told her mother then went back to the phone. “Ami, she said yes. I’ll be over shortly. Is Scott there? … Okay. See you shortly, bye.” Usagi hung up the phone and was heading out to get her jacket and purse when her mother stopped her. “Honey, I’m coming along.” Mrs. Tsukino told her daughter. She saw her daughter give her a surprised nervous look. “You’re my daughter, and if Ami finds anything, I want to be there.” “Okay.” Usagi said defeated, because she couldn’t think of a reason to not have her mother along without revealing the connection to the Sailor Senshi. All three got their things and left for Ami’s. * * * * After Usagi hanged up the phone on her side, Ami placed the phone back on the receiver. What Usagi told her made her a little worried. When she scanned them at the mall, she couldn’t find anything wrong with them. If it was true, she had to see if Scott was having any side effects. So she started to look for him. She hadn’t seen him when she woke up. After a few moments of looking, she heard the shower running. So she went to the bathroom and waited for Scott to get out. Scott walked out of the bathroom ten minutes later, wearing nothing but pants and drying his hair with a towel. Scott looked out from under the towel and saw Ami standing there with a worried look to her face. Scott became concerned when he saw her. “What’s wrong, Ami?” Scott asked. “Usagi just called.” Ami said. “What is wrong?” “Do you feel any different?” “No, why?” “Usagi said that maybe the ray that hit you two might have done something. She says that she now looks younger and is the same height as Chibi-Usa.” “And you want to make sure there is nothing wrong with me?” “Yes.” “Okay. Let’s go to the living room so you can scan me.” They both headed into the living room and Scott placed the towel on the armrest of the sofa and sat on the sofa, waiting for Ami. Ami sat next to him and pulled out her computer from sub- space. Scott sat patiently as Ami started to scan him. After several minutes, Ami’s computer beeped to indicate that the scan was done. Scott looked at Ami and saw her shocked and worried expression. He became a little nervous. “What’s wrong?” Scott asked worried. “According to the scan, you now have a body of an eighteen year old.” Ami replied. “What are you saying?” “That whatever the ray was, it is reducing you physically in age.” “Can you find a way of stopping it? What is the rate of me growing younger?” “Hard to say.” Ami replied to his first question. “I need to scan Usagi also to determine the rate. But at present rate, if you keep reducing four years a day, you have four more days until …” “I vanish from existence.” Scott finished for Ami when she stopped talking. She then slowly nodded. “I don’t know of a way, sorry.” Ami told Scott breaking down and crying. Scott reached over and pulled her in a hug and petted her hair, trying to calm her down. “That’s okay. We’ll find something out.” Scott said trying to calm her. “You better get dress; Usagi will be getting here soon.” Ami said after she calmed down and wiped away her tears. “Okay.” He said as he released her. Scott then got up from the sofa and went to finish getting dress. He picked up his towel and looked over at Ami as he saw her putting away her computer. He noticed that she had a glum look as she stood to head to the kitchen. Scott twirled the towel up and snapped the towel on her butt. She jumped a little and squealed in minor pain. She turned around and glared at a grinning Scott. She then tackled him, screaming at him about how he was going to pay for what he did. * * * * Usagi, Chibi-Usa and Usagi’s mother arrived at the door to Ami’s apartment and was about to knock when they heard Ami’s voice shouting threats at Scott and Scott yelping in pain, while he was laughing. For Usagi and Chibi-Usa, they were wondering why Ami wasn’t acting her usual self. Usagi finally decided to knock on the door and whatever was going on inside the apartment, suddenly stopped and they heard Ami’s voice saying, “They’re here.” They heard some shuffling around inside, then the door opened to reveal Ami. They saw that she was breathing hard and her hair was messed upped a little. Her clothes were slightly a mess also. They looked at her and saw that she was a little flushed from whatever she was doing. “Hello.” Ami said when she saw who was at the door. “Ami-Chan, what was just going on in there?” Usagi asked. “Scott snapped a towel on me, and I got back at him.” Ami replied. “We heard.” Chibi-Usa said giggling. “Sorry about that.” Ami said looking down blushing. “Don’t worry about that, he is your fiancé after all. What you guys do behind closed doors is none of our business.” Usagi told Ami, who blushed even more. “Come on in.” Ami invited after she regained her composer. Everyone walked into the apartment and took seats in the living room while Ami went to get some drinks from the kitchen. Usagi looked around and noticed that Scott wasn’t around. “Where’s Scott?” Usagi asked. “Right here.” Scott said behind her. He had put on a t- shirt when Ami opened the door. Usagi looked at him and saw that he didn’t look any different, but he did notice that Usagi did look a little different. “Hey, no fair. You’re not any younger.” Usagi whined. “That’s not true, Usagi. I am getting younger.” Scott told her in order to stop her before the crying came. “You are? But you don’t look it.” Chibi-Usa said. “It is true.” Scott replied. “How do you know that you are?” Mrs. Tsukino asked Scott, as Scott noticed Ami returning from the kitchen as she set the drinks down and sat next to Usagi. “Sailor Mercury scanned me recently and told me I was about four years younger.” Scott said getting a surprised reaction from everyone else. “But how come it looks like you didn’t age, unlike me?” Usagi asked. “You do know how old I am, right?” Scott asked. “Yes.” Usagi said when she remembered how old Scott really is. “That is why. My body stopped growing when I was eighteen.” Scott replied. “Oh.” Usagi said feeling stupid at forgetting that Scott was two thousand years old. “Why did Sailor Mercury say about your age reduction?” Mrs. Tsukino asked, wanting to get down to business. “Well, she said that at present rate of reduction, I have around four more day’s before I …” Scott just trailed off. “Grow too young.” Mrs. Tsukino ended; everyone missed the shocked expression Usagi had when she thought of her fate. “You could put it that way.” “Does she know of a way to stop it?” “She needs to compare me and Usagi first. She asked if we could meet her somewhere.” Scott saw the entire girl’s look of surprise, especially Ami’s. He just gave her a look to tell her to let him handle it. “Ami has to go see the movers concerning about moving her things to Germany.” “Oh yeah, I forgot about that momentarily. I wish I could go along, but I have things to take care of.” Ami said after she figured out what Scott was planning. Ami noticed Usagi and Chibi-Usa’s confused look. “Don’t worry Usagi; I’m sure Scott knows what he is doing.” She whispered in Usagi’s ear. “That’s alright, Ami-Chan, I’m sure you must be scared about what’s going on.” Mrs. Tsukino said to Ami. “Oh, uh, yes, I guess you could say that.” Ami replied. “So where are we going to meet Sailor Mercury?” Mrs. Tsukino asked Scott. Ami also waited for his answer also. “I was figuring at my shop would be a safe place for everyone involved.” Scott replied. “Okay, when do we leave and how do you get in contact with Sailor Mercury?” Mrs. Tsukino asked. “I was told by her on how to get in touch with her.” Scott replied. “Shall we go then?” Mrs. Tsukino asked. “Okay. Let me get my jacket and make a call to Sailor Mercury.” Scott said. Scott got up and went to the back to get his jacket. Ami followed him and they quickly talked on what he said. He explained to her that they needed a reason for her to not be there while Sailor Mercury was. He then explained about when he left with Usagi and her family, about her to follow them and then transform to reach his shop. Ami didn’t like the idea, but she understood that if Usagi’s mom didn’t show up, they wouldn’t need to deal with having to lie to her. Scott got on his jacket and gave Ami a hug and kiss, telling her that everything would be all right. Scott then left Ami standing there and went to see what Usagi and the others were doing. Scott saw them standing by the door waiting for him. Scott told them he was just about ready and went over to the wall where he had his sword leaning. Usagi and Chibi-Usa knew what he was getting, but their mother only saw Scott open his jacket and place something inside. Scott then walked over to them and escorted them to his shop. Mrs. Tsukino asked what he put in his jacket; he just replied that it was something that he carried all the time. She just let the matter drop since Scott wouldn’t say what it was. After they left, Ami waited ten minutes and headed over to Scott’s shop. * * * * They arrived at Scott’s shop a little while later. Scott let them in the back door and to the house part of his shop. He had them sit in the dining room while he went into the kitchen to get them some drinks. After he gave them something to drink, he told them that he was going to wait for Sailor Mercury downstairs. After he left them, Mrs. Tsukino looked around the place amazed. She was amazed by the way the place looked and set up. Chibi-Usa commented on she met the person who designed the place when she and Hotaru went with Scott to the Masaki shrine. Mrs. Tsukino said that was nice and Chibi-Usa made another comment about one of the walls in the dining room. Mrs. Tsukino took a look at the wall that Chibi-Usa was pointing at and only saw a wall with several square glass sections that appeared opaque. “What’s so special about that dear?” Mrs. Tsukino asked Chibi-Usa confused. Usagi was also confused at what she meant also. “I’ll show you.” Chibi-Usa said. Chibi-Usa got up and went down a hallway. A few moments later, Chibi-Usa appeared on the other side. What they saw mostly was a silhouette; the glass was very hard to see through, they could only make out the shape of Chibi-Usa. Chibi-Usa waved at them and then moved away from the glass. She returned to the dinning room and sat down. “Okay, now what was so special about that wall?” Mrs. Tsukino asked again as Chibi-Usa smiled devilishly. “I was standing in the shower stall waving at you.” Chibi-Usa replied. “That is what is on the other side of the wall!” Mrs. Tsukino exclaimed. “And you’ve taken showers here!” “Don’t worry, Auntie. Scott told us about that wall before we took a shower here. He stay’s down in his shop while we take a shower.” Chibi-Usa explained. “Hotaru and me didn’t believe it until we saw it. He told us that the architect was playing a joke on him. Scott didn’t really pay attention when he approved the plans, besides; this is Miyuki’s place now.” “Oh, I guess that’s okay then.” Mrs. Tsukino said. Just then, they heard footsteps approaching and turned and saw Scott approaching with Sailor Mercury. Scott showed Mercury a seat and noticed the surprised look on Usagi’s face, the not-so-happy look on her mother’s, and the devilish grin Chibi-Usa was giving him. He thought that it was better not to know what was going on and went to go get a drink for Mercury. When Scott came back with the drink, they got down to business. “Do you know what is wrong with my daughter?” Mrs. Tsukino asked Mercury. “I don’t really know, Ma’am. I need to scan your daughter first.” Mercury replied. “Please, go ahead.” Mrs. Tsukino said. Mercury took out her computer and started scanning. After a little bit, Mercury started to frown. “What is it?” “Your daughter has a physical age of fourteen now.” Mercury replied. “What is wrong with her? What is causing it?” Mrs. Tsukino asked. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what is going on. I would figure that whatever those people shot at Scott and your daughter is what the cause of this mess is.” Mercury said. “When I scanned them, yesterday, there wasn’t any trace of them de- ageing.” “Any way of stopping it?” Usagi asked hopeful. “I’m sorry Usagi, I don’t know of what is causing it in the first place in order to stop it.” Mercury apologized. “Will they keep getting younger?” Chibi-Usa asked. “As far as I can tell, yes they will. At the rate of them getting younger appears to be four years every time that they reduce in age.” Mercury said. “So unless there is a way to stop it, what will happen to them?” Mrs. Tsukino asked and saw Mercury just look down. “I see.” “I’m sorry, Mrs. Tsukino.” Mercury said. “Don’t worry; I have faith that you will find a cure.” Mrs. Tsukino said. “So Usagi will grow younger and have the intelligence of an eighteen year old?” Chibi-Usa asked. Mercury scans again and then frowns. “What is it?” “The chemical balance in the brain is reversing …” Mercury started before Scott interrupted her. “So what you’re saying is that when we get younger, our minds are growing younger also?” Scott asked. “Um, yes.” Mercury replied. “Thank-you for your help. If anything comes up, how can I get a hold of you?” Mrs. Tsukino asked. “Contact Mr. Schwartzstern and he’ll get a hold of me.” Mercury said. “Okay, thank-you.” Mrs. Tsukino said. “You’re welcome. Sorry I couldn’t help out more until I study these figures.” Mercury said. “I know you will try your best.” Mrs. Tsukino said. Scott escorted Sailor Mercury out of the dinning room as the rest just sat and looked a little gloomy. They sat there for a while when Mrs. Tsukino remembered a question she wanted to asked Sailor Mercury and excused herself from her daughter and ‘niece’. After she left the room, Chibi-Usa went to see if her mother was okay. “Mom, are you going to be okay?” Chibi-Usa asked Usagi. “Um, yes, I guess I am, for now.” Usagi replied after she got over the shock of Chibi-Usa calling her ‘mom’. Then she looked downcast from what she knew was in store for her. “Don’t worry, Ami will find a cure. I’m sure of it.” “How can you be sure?” Usagi asked as she saw Chibi-Usa grin evilly at her and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “If you die now, then how can I still be here?” Chibi-Usa said smiling. “That’s right!” Usagi exclaimed. She then gave Chibi-Usa a hug and after a bit, they broke the hug when Mrs. Tsukino walked back in looking somewhat dazed. “Are you all right, mom?” “Yes dear. We should get going now.” Mrs. Tsukino said. “Uh, okay.” Usagi asked confused. They all got their stuff together and when Scott came back, they said good-bye to him, which surprised him somewhat. As the women were leaving, Scott saw the look of that they didn’t know what was going on. Scott said good-bye to them, and he would see them later, as he walked them out. * * * * Mrs. Tsukino left her daughter, and who she thought was her niece, in the dinning room and headed downstairs to where Scott’s workshop was. As she was heading down, she saw that Scott was talking to Sailor Mercury. As she was getting closer, she noticed that they didn’t see her yet, and when she got into hearing range, she stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “… I don’t want to lose you.” Mercury said. “Ami, don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.” Scott said. “What happens if I can’t find a cure?” “I have faith in your ability. Believe in yourself.” “Okay. See you back at the apartment?” “Yes, later Ami.” Scott went up and gave Mercury a hug and kiss. After they broke the kiss, Ami left Scott’s shop. When Scott turned around, he could have sworn that someone was standing behind him. He shrugged and went back up stairs. When he got up there, he was surprised when Mrs. Tsukino was basically ushering Usagi and Chibi-Usa out the door. After they left, Scott locked the place up and went back to Ami’s apartment. * * * * Scott arrived back at Ami’s apartment half an hour later. He entered and found Ami sitting in the living room looking at her computer. He looked at her and saw she wasn’t too happy at whatever she was doing. He walked over and sat next to her. He placed his arm around her shoulders, and she tilted her head so it rested on Scott. “What’s wrong, Ami?” Scott asked concerned. “I’ve been trying to find what is causing you and Usagi to de-age, but I can’t find any trace of anything in you guys to cause it.” Ami explained. “Could it have been a side-effect of that ray hitting me, and my immortality altering it?” “I’ve already tried that one. It doesn’t cause it, but it is still making you two grow younger.” “Anything else you found?” “Only two things.” “What are they?” “One, your rate of growing younger is different from Usagi.” “How so?” “You took the brunt of the blast and passed on whatever it was to Usagi when you landed on her. So you’re going to grow younger at a faster rate than Usagi.” “Do I still have the same amount of time yet?” “I don’t know for sure, but I would say yes.” “What is the other item you found out?” “Because of the length of time you’ve been alive, the rate of your mind growing younger is dramatically slower than Usagi’s rate.” “So I could be a three year old and still have all my knowledge?” “As far as I know of. Why are you back so early?” “After you left, I went back upstairs and Mrs. Tsukino was practically pushing Usagi and Chibi-Usa out the door.” “Could she have been worried about what is happening to Usagi?” “I don’t know. We should call her and the others to let them know what is going on.” “You’re right.” Ami called everyone on their communicator and started to fill everyone in on the latest news she found out. After she was done telling everyone, they got the latest on Pluto from Wesley. Pluto was still unconscious, but it appeared that she was having some nightmares where it appeared she was fighting someone and barely winning. Ami told him she would be over when she could, to check it out. Before everyone signed off, Scott asked Usagi what was up with them leaving in such a hurry. She told him that her mother wanted to ask Ami a question before she left. Scott told her that he didn’t see her mother until he got back up to where they were and watched them leave in a hurry. He wondered to himself if she saw him talking to Ami before she left his shop. Usagi didn’t know the reason why they left in such a hurry because her mother wouldn’t talk to them. They let it drop for now until a later date and then went on with what they were doing. CHAPTER THREE “What information do you have on this second Time Guardian?” Luthantis asked one of his scientists. “I’m afraid Sir, not much.” The Scientist replied. “This is the first time we’ve dealt with a world that had two guardians.” “So what do you have?” “We’ve figured out that his Time power is weaker than the other guardian. He is really no problem to our cause, but he does have the ability to access the Time Zone. We have located where he is living.” “When can we strike this place he is living at?” “As soon as you can gather the strike force.” “Good.” Luthantis smiled and walked out of the room. * * * * * It’s been two days after Mercury had a talk with Mrs. Tsukino. In those two days, both Scott and Usagi has been getting noticeablely getting younger. After Ami scanned them, it was determined that Usagi was twelve years old and Scott was fourteen. Usagi was getting depressed as the days went on as she realized that she would have to tell her father what happened to her, she was glad that her mother would be there to help her. Ikuko, not wanting to see her daughter depressed, invited Scott, Ami and Kitomi over for dinner. They set the time for dinner and arrived a few minutes early. “You’re early.” Usagi exclaimed when she saw who was at the door. “Come in, come in.” “So how have you been holding up, Usagi?” Scott asked after he entered the house. “It looks not as well as you have been holding up.” Usagi replied after she shut the door. “Well, if it wasn’t for how my life has been, I would probably be going crazy right now.” Scott told her. “You have a point there.” Usagi said with a small smile. “Don’t worry, Usagi, we will be all right.” Scott told her as he gave her a small hug for reassurance. So they sat at the table and enjoyed the dinner that Ikuko had made. Throughout the meal, Ikuko asked several questions about why they think they were attacked. They answered as best as they could, without revealing the whole truth. As Ikuko noticed that Usagi was getting uncomfortable answering the questions, she stopped her questioning along those lines and started asking Scott about himself. “So what brought you to Japan, Scott?” Ikuko asked. “Two reasons actually.” Scott said. “The first being a friend of mine needed help with a family matter, which I’ll will not talk about, since it is a private family matter. After that was taken care of, I decided to stick around for a while.” “What was the second item?” Ikuko asked. “I had some personal business dealing with the Nashimoto Clan Shrine.” Scott replied. “What did you have to do there?” Ikuko asked. “I was named as the last living member of that clan.” Scott replied. “You’re a Nashimoto?” Ikuko asked surprised. “Yes, my ‘relative’ was adopted into the Clan several generations ago, and I’m now the last living member.” Scott said, with everyone but Ikuko catching the other meaning in that sentence. “What about Miyuki?” Chibi-Usa asked, just minorly confused with what Scott had said. “She was a Ronin that I adopted into the clan.” Scott said. “When something happens to me, she or her children will be the next Head of the Clan.” They continued talking about general topics of Scott’s life and future plans, along with Ami’s future plans. After they were done eating, they cleaned the table and moved to the living room to continue talking. As they were talking, Ami’s, Usagi’s, and Chibi-Usa’s communicators started beeping. Usagi and Chibi-Usa quickly shut theirs off, but Ami wasn’t quick enough. So Ami played it off as she was checking her watch and saw that it was an urgent message from Makoto. Ami looked at her mother pleadingly and Kitomi sighed as she saw the worried look in her daughter’s eyes. “Oh that’s right dear, you have an appointment tonight, didn’t you. We seem to have lost track of time, why don’t you take Scott with you.” Kitomi said, come up with an excuse for her daughter and Scott leaving. “If it’s all right with Ikuko, can we take Usagi and Chibi- Usa?” Scott asked Kitomi, but was really meant for Ikuko. “Where are you two going?” Ikuko asked curiously. “To Drakkenheim Castle.” Ami replied. “Do you two want to go with them?” Ikuko asked her daughter and ‘niece’. Both of them were nodding their head rapidly. “Okay, then you can go with them, just don’t be out to late.” “Don’t worry, Ikuko, we’ll be sure to bring them back at a reasonable time.” Scott said. “Thank you.” Ikuko said. “You know, it’s going to take me a while to get use to a person that looks like a child calling me by my name.” “Do you want me to call you ‘Mrs. Tsukino’ while I’m young?” Scott asked. “Don’t worry about it, you four have to get going, so get going. I’ll just have a nice conversation with Kitomi while you are gone.” Ikuko said. “Okay, see you two later tonight.” Scott said as the four of them hurried out the door and made their way to Drakkenheim as fast as they could. * * * * * Kevin, Makoto, Wesley, Minako, Kiersten, James, and Rei were at the nearly completed Drakkenheim for a get together and have dinner. Their main topic’s of discussion was how the rebuilding of the castle was doing and what they were going to do about the situation with Scott and Usagi. Kevin explained that the reconstruction of the castle was just about done in another couple of months and then they could refurnish it. They continued eating as they continued talking. “What are we going to do about Scott and Usagi’s situation?” Kiersten asked. “I don’t know.” Kevin replied. “None of the scientists I know seem to have no idea what is happening to them.” “How is Setsuna doing?” Rei asked. “Still unconscious.” Wesley replied. “Any idea what is wrong with her?” James asked. “No, but it looked like she was attacked when she appeared.” Wesley replied. “Do any of you think that Setsuna’s attack and the problem with Scott and Usagi are related?” Makoto asked. “Could be.” Kevin said. “Those beings showed up and attacked Usagi like they wanted her out of commission for some reason and then Setsuna appeared and she is unconscious and looked like she was attacked.” “Do you think they know Usagi is Sailor Moon?” Rei asked. “Who knows, did you get anything from your fire readings?” Kevin replied. “Nothing on those beings, but the only thing the fire showed me was Scott and Usagi being reduced to infantcy and then the picture disappears.” Rei replied. “Do you think that Scott’s Immortality is what affected the ray that is now making them grow younger?” Kiersten asked. “I have no idea. This situation is confusing me also.” Kevin replied. Suddenly Wesley hissed in pain and held his head. “What’s wrong?” Both Minako and Kiersten asked. “Don’t know feels like all of my senses were on fire for a moment.” Wesley replied. “What could that mean?” Makoto asked. Suddenly an explosion was heard inside the castle. “You had to ask.” Kevin said as he went to the intercom. “What’s going on?” “Several unknown beings just appeared inside the castle.” Jervis’ voice said through the intercom. “I have the others evacuating. The beings appear to be heading towards where you are.” “Thanks Jervis, you better hide yourself.” Kevin said. “I will Master Kevin.” Jervis said before Kevin turned of the intercom. “Let’s transform.” Kevin stated as he turned back to the group. After they transformed, Jupiter quickly pushed a button on her communicator to alert the others. As she finished pushing the button, the door to the dinning room exploded and in rushed seven of the beings that they all ready fought. The Senshi and Knights were reluctant to use their powers inside the castle, so they ran outside the castle. As they made their way outside of the castle, minimizing the damage to the castle, they realized that is what the beings wanted, since there were more waiting outside. So they started unleashing their attacks on the beings and the beings started attacking back. As they fought, Dragon suddenly realized that the beings were trying to separate everyone from Gryphon. It was then that certain clue's about Setsuna’s attack with Usagi’s and Scott’s that made Dragon figure out the beings were after Gryphon. “Gryphon, they’re after you!” Dragon shouted. Dragon realized that Gryphon couldn’t do anything since he was getting ganged up. When Dragon saw one of the beings approach with an unknown weapon, and started aiming at Gryphon. Dragon pulled his sword out of sub-space and killed the being he was fighting, and made his way to the gunner. He avoided the beings that were trying to block him, and made his way to the gunner. Just as the gunner was about to fire, Dragon thrust his sword into the gun. Suddenly the gun exploded, killing the gunner and Dragon. * * * * * Kevin came too outside of the castle, laying on his back, with Scott looking over him. He looked around and saw that Ami was nearby scanning him with her computer, and Makoto was nearby with a worried looked to her face. He then noticed that he was in his normal clothing. “It’s about time you woke up.” Scott said. “Anybody get the number of that Mack truck?” Kevin groaned out. “No, but I’m sure you can fine it when you get back to your feet.” Scott said. “What happened?” Kevin asked. “Well, after you took care of the gunner, all of the beings disappeared, even the dead ones, and we found you on the ground as you are.” Makoto said. “Whatever was in that gun, it definitely packs a wallop.” Kevin said “Well, whatever was in that weapon, it has a minor effect on you that’s fading rapidly.” Ami said. “What is it?” Kevin asked. “Whatever powered the gun, it caused you to de-transform, besides killing you.” Ami replied. “What else did it do?” Kevin asked. “Because of the blast, you are unable to transform for about a day.” Ami replied. “That’s it?” Kevin asked. “As far as I can see, you are all right otherwise.” Ami said. “Then I guess we stopped them for now.” Kevin said. “So what happened, they were gone by the time we got here.” Scott asked. Kevin explained what he thought was going on, after they got back inside. He explained that he figured out that they were after Wesley, but he didn’t know why, other than thinking that the beings were trying to take them out one at a time. After they got done discussing possible ideas of what is going on, Usagi said that she had better start heading back home. Scott and Ami realizing that she was right, told Kevin to come up with a good reason to have Ami have an appointment at the castle. Kevin told them he would send some bogus paperwork in the morning for Ami. They thanked Kevin and Ami, Scott, Usagi, and Chibi-Usa headed back to Usagi’s home. * * * * * After Scott and the others left for the night, Wesley was in Setsuna’s room, watching over her. He watched as she slept and appeared to have a nightmare by the way she was mumbling in her sleep. He felt helpless knowing there was nothing he could do to help his sister. He sat down in a chair next to the bed and held her hand for a while. After a while, a thought came to him. A memory from his Silver Millennium time came to him on how he was able to talk to his sister back then. He transformed and called off a ‘Temporal Shield’. He was probing for his sister and when he was about to find her, something was blocking him off. So he stopped the probe and de-transformed, wishing there was something he could do to help Setsuna. So he just sat there, watching her and held her hand. * * * * * After Ami and the others left, Ikuko and Kitomi sat in the living room drinking tea. They talked about what each other has been doing lately. During a silent moment, Kitomi noticed that Ikuko wanted to say something, but seemed a little reluctant to say what it was. “Is something wrong, Ikuko?” Kitomi asked. “I really don’t know how to word what I want to say, it’s kind of hard for me to bring this up.” Ikuko replied. “Just start from a beginning, it always helps.” Kitomi replied. “I’ve been noticing for the past several years that my daughter would get a page or a message, and then run off for a while. When I asked her about that, she would tell me something about her friends needed some help.” “My daughter has been doing the same thing now since we moved here.” “Well, the part I’m having trouble trying to talk about, happened after the attack in the mall and the situation that my daughter is in with your daughter’s fiancée. When my daughter noticed that something was wrong with her, she had asked to see your daughter. When we arrived at your place, we found out that Scott was having a similar condition. It was then that he told us that Sailor Mercury wanted to see my daughter. We went over to Scott’s shop to meet her, and as she was leaving, I remembered a question I wanted to ask her and when I caught up with her, she was talking to Scott like they knew each other very well. I could have sworn that Scott said that her name was the same as your daughter’s.” “It seems like they weren’t being as careful as they should’ve been.” “What do you mean?” “Let me take a wild guess here, you’re wondering if Sailor Mercury and my daughter are the same person?” “Yes.” “You are correct, they are the same person.” “How do you know?” “It was by accident that I found out. It happened before the ‘Comet Incident’, I was able to get off work early, so I was home when Scott came in carrying Sailor Mercury in his arms. I could tell that they didn’t expect me to be home at that time, and I was about to yell at Scott for cheating on my daughter when I received the forth greatest shock of my life since I moved here.” “What happened?” “Sailor Mercury called me mother, actually it was more of a gasp, but the truth was in front of me.” “What did you do?” “Well, after Scott put my daughter to bed, because she really looked exhausted, he told me everything he could tell me. He explained from what the others told him on how my daughter became Sailor Mercury all the way to way he brought my daughter back home.” “Why did he bring her home like that?” “My daughter was in a fight and nearly exhausted herself; she couldn’t even change her clothes, so Scott was nice enough to bring her home for her to rest, and was caught by surprise upon seeing me in the apartment.” “How did you react to all of that?” “As I said, I was still recovering from three previous shocks when I was faced with that. After I had a good night sleep, everything that was a mystery about my daughter’s behavior suddenly didn’t seem like a mystery to me, it actually answered some questions I had. When my daughter woke up, I had a talk with her about what she was doing and was it something she really wanted to do, also why did she keep her being Sailor Mercury a secret from me.” “It seems you took finding that out rather well.” “If it wasn’t for the pervious shocks, I probably would have lost it.” “You’ve said about these shocks, what are they?” “Well, the first one was when my daughter told me she was dating a man that was several years older than her.” “I know that one, poor Kenji is still not taking that one well. What were the others?” “Well, the second was when Scott returned some of my family heirlooms, and gave me and my daughter the proper amount for the heirlooms that he was unable to return to us. I was still surprised over the amount for several days.” “How much was it?” “Over several million yen.” “Whoa.” “The third I can’t tell you. I made a promise not to tell anyone about it, but let’s say that it almost made me tell Scott that he couldn’t see my daughter again.” “It was that bad?” “Yes it was.” There was a moment of silence for a bit, when Ikuko thought up about another subject. “Have you found out who the other Sailor Senshi are?” Ikuko asked. “No, but I really wasn’t trying to. When I asked Scott about it, he told me that if I looked hard enough, I would be able to figure out who they were.” Kitomi replied. Kitomi watched as Ikuko sat in thought for a while. She just sat that drinking her tea, waiting for Ikuko to start talking again. It was several minutes later when Ikuko gasped at a thought that came to her. “Something wrong?” Kitomi asked. “It’s not something I want to talk about right now.” Ikuko said. “You’re thinking that your daughter may be a Sailor Senshi?” Kitomi guessed. “How’d you know?” Ikuko asked surprised. “Just a feeling, I have similar thoughts about it. I mean, my daughter really didn’t have friends until she moved here, and now she has several friends and she is a Senshi. My guess is that the friend's she hangs out with is the other Senshi members.” Kitomi said. So the both of them talked about Ami and her fellow Senshi as they waited for Ami and the others to return from Drakkenheim with Usagi and Chibi-Usa. * * * * * After a while, Ami, Scott, Usagi, and Chibi-Usa returned. Kitomi and Ikuko asked if they had a good time, they replied they did, nothing really happened when they got there. They said their farewells to each other and Scott, Ami, and Kitomi left to head back to Kitomi and Ami’s apartment. The last thing that Usagi, Chibi-Usa, and Ikuko heard from them was Scott asking if he could stay the night. As Usagi and Chibi-Usa was heading to their rooms, Ikuko asked if she could have a talk with them before they go to bed. Usagi and Chibi-Usa looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders and sat down on the couch in the living room. Ikuko came and sat down on a chair facing them. There was a moment of silence as Ikuko thought of how she was going to discuss what was on her mind. “What’s up, mother?” Usagi asked. “Me and Dr. Mizuno had a nice talk while you guys were away.” Ikuko started saying after a bit. “What did you two talk about?” Chibi-Usa asked. “Well, we were talking about our daughter’s and why they seem to run off a lot.” Ikuko said. She noticed that her daughter and ‘niece’ seem to get a worried look. “What did you come up with?” Usagi asked, dreading the answer. “The reason that you two seem to run off a lot is, that you two are Sailor Senshi.” Ikuko replied. Usagi and Chibi-Usa got surprised looks and suddenly both of them started stuttering denials. Ikuko held up her hand to silence the both of them. “There is no use denying it, I know it’s true. The more I thought about it, the more the unknown pieces seem to fit. The pieces were there, I just seemed to miss it until tonight.” Usagi looked over at Chibi-Usa and saw her worried look. Usagi then sighed in defeat when she realized that she couldn’t do anything but tell the truth. “You are correct mother, we are Sailor Senshi.” Usagi said. “I am Sailor Moon and this is Sailor Chibi-Moon.” Usagi then looked at her mother to see her reaction. “Are you angry with us?” “At the moment, no, but can you two tell me how it all started, from the beginning, and then we will see how it goes then.” Ikuko said. “Okay.” Usagi said. Usagi and Chibi-Usa started telling Ikuko about how they became Senshi. They told the history of the Silver Millennium and how they were reborn in this generation. Usagi told about how it was destiny about her and Mamoru getting married. The only thing they left out was Chibi-Usa’s connection with being from the future. So Ikuko sat there and took in what was told to her. When Usagi and Chibi-Usa finished talking, Ikuko just had one final thing to talk about. “There is just one more question I need to ask you two about.” Ikuko said. “What is it?” Usagi asked. “Who are you really?” Ikuko asked of Chibi-Usa. “I know you are not really my niece, so who are you?” Chibi-Usa suddenly got very scared and was about to hypnotize Ikuko again, but when she was about to do it, Usagi placed her hand on Chibi-Usa’s shoulder and shook her head no. She looked at Usagi and had a pleading look to her eyes and Usagi smiled at her reassuringly at her. “You are correct mother; she is not your niece.” Usagi said. “Who is she, and why did I think that she was my niece?” Ikuko asked with a little bit of anger in her voice. “The reason that you thought that she was your niece, is because we hypnotized you to believe that she was, so she could live here.” Usagi replied. “You hypnotized me to let a stranger live here?” Ikuko demanded angrily. “Mother!” Usagi shouted getting her mother’s attention. “If you give me a chance to explain everything before you start yelling at us, everything will be explained.” “All right.” Ikuko stated more calmly. “To let you know, her name really is Usagi, so not to confuse the two of us, we started calling her Chibi-Usa.” Usagi started explaining. “As I said, she isn’t your niece, but she is a member of this family.” Usagi stopped to take several deep breathes before she said what she wanted to say next. “She’s your grandchild, my daughter.” “What!” Ikuko exclaimed in surprise as she stared at the two on the couch. Usagi clamed her mother down enough to explain what she had said. She explained that Chibi-Usa was really from the future, and was sent back to the past to learn life during this day and age. She then explained that Chibi-Usa was her and Mamoru’s daughter. Ikuko had asked some questions and Usagi and Chibi-Usa answered to the best of their ability. When they were done talking, they sat there waited to see what Ikuko was going to do. “Have the two of you been truthful with me?” Ikuko asked. “Yes.” The both of them replied. “Now I know what Kitomi meant by getting so many shocks in a short amount of time.” Ikuko said quietly, but loud enough to be heard by the other two. “Mother?” Usagi asked confused. “Oh, I’m sorry Usagi, just talking to myself.” Ikuko said. “Are you okay with what we told you?” Usagi asked. “Well, I think I’m still in shock a little bit from what you told me, but I am happy you told me the truth.” Ikuko said. “So … um …” Usagi tried to ask a question. “I think I know what you are going to ask me, think about this. I have just found out that my daughter, who I thought was an innocent child, is a reborn princess from a kingdom long ago and is a super hero. To top it off, is the leader of that group. Then on top of that, I found out I have a granddaughter from the future visiting.” Ikuko said. “So what are you going to do?” Usagi asked. “There’s not much I can do now, you are a grown woman now, present situation excluded.” Ikuko said. “Now that I know what is going on, I will help you two out as best as I can in the future.” Both Usagi and Chibi-Usa smiled at the acceptance from Ikuko. Then Ikuko turned and faced Chibi-Usa. “Now you young lady.” Ikuko said. Chibi-Usa became mildly worried. “Come here and give your grandmother a hug.” Chibi-Usa smiled and ran over and hugged Ikuko. After that was over, they realized that it was getting late and Usagi and Chibi-Usa headed up to go to sleep. Before Usagi made it half way up the stairs, her mother had one final comment for her. “Usagi dear, we will have a talk about you and this Mamoru at a later time.” Ikuko said. “Yes mother.” Usagi said and then dropped her head in defeat and then continued up the stairs to her room and then went to bed. CHAPTER FOUR The next morning, Ami and Kitomi were having breakfast, waiting for Scott to wake up. After another few minutes, they heard some movement down the hallway and some grumbling sounds. A moment later, Scott walked into the dining room. Ami and Kitomi were about to start teasing him, until they noticed his appearance. They suddenly were staring at him wide-eyed when Scott noticed their looks and he became confused. “What?” Scott asked confused, still somewhat sleepy. “Have you looked at yourself recently?” Kitomi asked. “No, I just woke up, why?” Scott asked. “You’ve become younger again.” Ami replied. Scott fully woke up at that moment and looked down at himself. He then looked up at Ami in surprise. “Ami?” Scott asked. Ami catching what he wanted quickly pulled out her computer and scanned him. After the scan was complete, Ami frowned. “What is it Ami?” “According to the scan, you now have the physical age of a ten year old.” Ami replied. “This is going to cause many problems.” Scott said as he now noticed his younger sounding voice. “I suggest that you stay here for a while, also you may want to close your shop until your helper returns from visiting his family.” Kitomi said. “As much as I hate to do that, but you’re correct.” Scott said after thinking about it for a moment. “Can’t have people thinking that Ami is sleeping around with younger men.” “Scott!” Ami exclaimed and blushed in embarrassment at what Scott just said. Then suddenly stared in anger at Scott and her mother when they started laughing and realized that Scott was joking around with her again. Just as Ami was about to voice her opinion of their joke, the phone started ringing. Since she was the closest to the phone, she went to answer the phone. She found out that the person on the line was Usagi’s mother. Ami became more surprised when Ikuko addressed Ami as Sailor Mercury and was about to start her denials when she heard Usagi and Chibi-Usa shout over the phone that Ikuko knows everything. Ami sighed and asked what the call was for. Ikuko explained that Usagi had grown younger again. Ami told her that Scott had reduced in age also, to that of a ten year old. Ikuko said that Usagi appeared to be around that age now. Ami wondered what she was going to do, since she still couldn’t figure out what is causing them to grow younger. Ikuko told her she believed in Ami, that Ami would figure it out. Ikuko then told Ami that Chibi-Usa was taking Usagi out to get some new clothes, and since Scott is now younger, maybe the two of them should join Usagi and Chibi-Usa on that shopping trip. Ami asked Scott if he wanted to go get some new clothes, and after he looked down at himself, he agreed to go along. Ami then told Ikuko that they would join Chibi-Usa and Usagi at the nearby mall. They set the time and place and headed over there after they finished breakfast and got Scott in some clothes that would fit him. * * * * * Scott was sitting next to the fountain with Chibi-Usa after he was done shopping for his new clothes. Ami was with Usagi in a clothing store for women and Scott had decided to wait outside the store until they were done. Chibi-Usa, being considerate for him, decided to stay with him to keep him company. So as they were sitting there, they talked about general items as they waited, but the main talk was Chibi-Usa asking Scott how he was dealing the change. Scott told her he was handling it as best as he could. He then noticed that Chibi-Usa was squirming around a bit and looked kind of pale. Scott asked her if something was wrong and Chibi-Usa excused herself and ran to the female restroom. After several minutes, Chibi-Usa returned paler then when she had left. She came back and sat next to Scott and remained silent when Scott was looking at her questioningly. “What’s wrong, Chibi-Usa?” Scott asked concerned. Chibi- Usa blushed and looked down, still not saying anything. “What’s wrong, you can tell me, it’s Uncle Scott.” Scott noticed a small smile appear momentarily when he mentioned the ‘Uncle Scott’ part. After a couple more minutes of just sitting there, Scott was about to give up when Chibi-Usa leaned over and whispered her problem to him. As she was telling him, he understood what the problem was, but he knew he really wasn’t one to tell her how to deal with it, but he knew who could. When she finished talking, she looked at him pleadingly. Scott smiled at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly. “What’s wrong with me?” Chibi-Usa asked a little bit scared. “Nothing’s wrong with you.” Scott replied. “It’s just your body catching up with you.” “What do you mean?” Chibi-Usa asked confused. “I don’t think I can really explain it to you properly, but I’m sure Ami can.” Scott said. “What can I do?” Came a female voice in front of them, causing both of them to jump a little. Both of them looked and saw Ami and Usagi standing there with several bags and a confused looked at them. “Usagi, can you take Chibi-Usa with you and take the bags to the food court, me and Ami will catch up.” Scott said after he regained his composure. “Okay.” Usagi said and grabbed the bags Ami had and Chibi- Usa grabbed Scott’s bags and Usagi pulled Chibi-Usa along. “Come on, let’s go.” “What’s going on?’ Ami asked when Usagi and Chibi-Usa were gone. “I think Chibi-Usa just had her first period and she’s a little shakened up about it. I think you should have a talk with her about it.” Scott replied. “Okay.” Ami replied. “We better hurry before Usagi makes trouble.” Scott said and Ami smiled. The both of them headed towards the food court to catch up with Usagi and Chibi-Usa. As they got there, Ami pulled Chibi-Usa off to the side after they ordered their meal. As Ami was talking to Chibi-Usa, Scott and Usagi collected the meal and sat there waiting for Ami and Chibi-Usa to return. Scott was sitting there; looking in the direction Ami and Chibi-Usa were, watching them talk, when all of a sudden he felt something hit his temple. He looked at Usagi and found her with a straw in her hand, smiling at him. He looked down and saw the straws wrapper on the table. He saw a straw by him and smiled back at her. Usagi suddenly looked surprised as Scott fired a straw wrapper back at her. The wrapper ended up getting stuck in her hair. Usagi then started shooting back with whatever she could grab. They kept throwing stuff at each other until they heard a person clear their throat. “What are you two doing?” Said an angry female voice. The two of them looked up and saw an angry Ami and a smiling Chibi-Usa. “Sorry Ami.” Usagi said meekly. “Scott, you should know better.” Ami said. “Sorry, got caught up in the moment.” Scott replied. “Let’s eat; we’re leaving after we’re done. And no more trouble with you two.” Ami said. Scott and Usagi finished eating and Ami took them back to Usagi’s house. When they entered, Ikuko was surprised to see them back so early and asked what was going on. Ami replied that Scott and Usagi were becoming a little restless. Ikuko frowned at Scott and Usagi and both of them looked sorry. Ikuko then commented about calling a friend of theirs and go do something for the rest of the day. So Ami called Kevin and Makoto and they said they would be right over. * * * * * Kevin and Makoto arrived a short time later and Ami explained what was going on. Makoto mentioned that there was an amusement park nearby that they could go to. Usagi suddenly became excided and practically dragged Scott out the door, telling the others to hurry up and went outside. “Is it me or does Usagi seem to be clinging onto Scott a lot?” Makoto pointed out. “I don’t know, but it might be because he is going through the same thing, and her ten year old mind is acting accordingly.” Ami said. “Could be, but let’s go before she comes back and drags us out.” Kevin said and the three of them started heading towards the door. It was then that he noticed that Chibi-Usa wasn’t following them. “Chibi-Usa, you coming?” “I’m not feeling well.” Chibi-Usa replied. “What’s wrong?” Kevin asked. “Um …” Chibi-Usa didn’t know how to respond. “She’s having a little female situation.” Ami said confusing Kevin but Makoto got what Ami was saying. “Oh, I got some medicine for you.” Makoto said to Chibi-Usa. “Thanks.” Chibi-Usa said smiling. “While Ami and Kevin keep the children busy until we get there, I’ll give you some. We need all the help we can to keep an eye on them.” Makoto said. “Yeah, you don’t have to go on any rides; you can just play some games.” Kevin said. “Okay.” Chibi-Usa said, knowing that they wouldn’t stop until she agreed. So Kevin and Ami kept Scott and Usagi, mostly Usagi, occupied as Makoto gave Chibi-Usa the medicine she was talking about. After they arrived at the amusement park, Usagi was dragging Scott to the first ride she came across. The others had a laugh at the situation that Scott was in. After an hour of riding rides, they were sitting at a picnic table for a breather. On the table, were several prizes they had won. The favorites for Chibi-Usa and Usagi were the plush bunnies that Scott had won for them. Just then, Kevin, Makoto, Ami, and Usagi heard some familiar voices that called out to Ami and Makoto, which caused Usagi to tense up. “Ami, Makoto, Kevin!” A female voice called out. Everyone turned around and saw some old classmates of theirs. “Madoka, Kitsune, what are you two doing here?” Makoto asked. “Having fun.” Madoka said. “What are you three doing here?” Kitsune asked. “Having fun and watching the kids.” Kevin replied. “Hey!” Chibi-Usa complained at being called a kid, but they ignored her. “Who are the two little ones?” Madoka asked, noticing Scott and Usagi. Kevin was about to reply when Scott cut him off. “I’m Devon and I’m here with my date, Serena, Chibi-Usa’s little sister.” Scott said, as he placed his arm around Usagi and bringing her in close. Makoto, Ami, and Chibi-Usa were surprised at what Scott had said, and Usagi blushed at what Scott had said and did. “Nice to meet you Devon, Serena, but we got to go now. Talk to you guys later.” Madoka said to them. “Bye.” Said everyone on the table. “Bye.” Said Madoka and Kitsune. After the two of them left, everyone at the table, except Usagi who was busy blushing and looking down, faced Scott. “What was that about?” Kevin asked. “Well, we couldn’t tell them that Usagi here was their classmate, when she is supposed to be eighteen and not ten.” Scott said, and everyone noticed that Scott still had his arm around Usagi and she was minorly leaning into him. “Plus I’m sure they know that ‘Scott’ is Ami’s boyfriend and is twenty- three and not ten.” “Okay, I can understand that, but why the other stuff?” Ami asked. "For calling Usagi Chibi-Usa’s little sister, all I can say is that if they really looked, they could see a family resemblance.” Scott said shrugging. “As for the ‘date’ part, me and Usagi are the same age, just something I came up with. Since I’m ten, I can’t be Ami’s date, since she’s eighteen. So unless Chibi-Usa here wants to be my date?” Scott then leaned his head on her arm and looked up at her and she backed away surprised. “I just thought to let your friends think there is something romantic going on.” “Scott.” Ami said with a hint of anger in her voice. “Uh oh, Ami’s angry.” Scott said and then grabbed Usagi’s hand and started running away from the table with Usagi. “Quick, Usagi, Ami’s going to get us.” Usagi was giggling madly as they ran into the crowds and disappeared from their sights. “Ohhh, I’m going to get back at him.” Ami said gritting her teeth. Suddenly there was an explosion nearby and they all turned to see it. The four of them saw several of the beings appear and started a bunch of mayhem. They ran behind a tent and transformed, except Kevin, who looked confused at why he didn’t transform. Suddenly he remembered what Ami told him yesterday and cursed. He told the girls to go ahead and he would he with them shortly. After the girls left, he tried transforming one more time, and this time he was able to transform. He then joined the girls face the beings, but all four of them failed to notice that a small group of the beings were following Scott and Usagi. * * * * * When the beings were noticed, Scott grabbed Usagi’s hand and ran off. Scott noticed that the other’s had transformed and were facing the group of beings. Just as Scott and Usagi turned a corner, they became face to face with a small group of the beings. Usagi screamed, but Scott quickly turned and ran in a different direction, pulling Usagi along with him. Scott noticed that there were only three beings there, and they were now chasing after them. Scott knew that in this race, the beings were going to catch up with them. Scott noticed that they were approaching the haunted house, and that gave him an idea. He pulled Usagi towards the haunted house and entered the place. Usagi realized where they were and became scared and griped Scott’s arm tightly. Scott told her what does she want to face, the haunted house or the beings following them. Usagi nervously swallowed and put a brave face and pulled Scott farther into the house. As they entered a forested area, Scott pulled Usagi into a high grass area. As they hid there, Usagi nervously asked Scott what they are going to do. Scott looked around to see what he could do, but no ideas were coming to him. When the beings entered the room they were in, Scott had to cover Usagi’s mouth before she screamed out and held her close. Scott looked through the grass, hoping the beings couldn’t detect them, and watched as the beings approached their location. Then Scott saw something that made him start thinking. He watched as one of the haunted houses display scared one of the beings. Scott smiled inwardly at an idea that was forming in his head, especially when he noticed that the beings didn’t detect them. When the beings left the room, Scott released Usagi and she punched him lightly for grabbing her like he did, he then quietly talked to her. “Ouch, that hurt.” Scott complained quietly. “It was supposed to.” Usagi said just as quiet. “I got an idea on how to get those beings.” Scott said. “How are we supposed to do that, if we transform, our powers are weakened.” Usagi said. “My idea doesn’t call for us transforming, it calls for something else.” Scott said and then whispered his idea to her. When he was done whispering, Usagi had a sinister smile to her face. They then set their plan into motion. * * * * * At the mean time, the others finally managed to either kill a few or drive the beings away. They caught their breath for a moment and Mercury pulled out her computer and scanned the area. She gasped at the results that came to her. “What is it?” Jupiter asked. “There are three more of those beings are still here, and they’re in the same location where Scott and Usagi is at.” Mercury replied. “Where are they?” Dragon asked. “The haunted house.” Mercury said. “Let’s go.” Chibi-Moon said. They ran towards the haunted house, hoping that they wouldn’t be too late. As they arrived at the haunted house, the three beings came running out of there in a hurry, with a scared look, and teleported away. They were confused on why the beings acted as they did, but they wanted to know if Scott and Usagi were safe. As they entered, they started looking around for Scott and Usagi. Mercury pulled out her computer and told the others that Scott and Usagi was in the room ahead of them. They entered the room and didn’t see them anywhere. Just then, an item came out of no where, and hit Mercury dead center on her chest, leaving a slimy area. Then other things started moving around and Chibi-Moon screamed in fright at what she saw moving. After Chibi-Moon screamed, everything stopped moving and Scott popped his head out from the nearby tree branches. “Oh, it’s only you guys.” Scott said chuckling. “What were you doing?” Dragon asked. “Defending ourselves, we thought those beings called in for reinforcements.” Scott said matter of fact. “Sorry for scaring you like that.” “Where’s Usagi?” Chibi-Moon asked. “Hey Usagi, it’s safe, it’s the guys.” Scott yelled out. Usagi’s head popped up from the tall grass at the far end of the room. “Come on; let’s go home, the parks closed now.” Dragon said shaking his head at what happened. “Shouldn’t you guys change back?” Scott asked. The others changed back just as Usagi reached them. “How did you guys scare those beings?” Makoto asked. “Well, it was like this.” Scott started saying as he climbed down from the tree. Scott and Usagi told them how they saw that the beings that were after them, got scared at what were going on around them. So they started using the place to scare them. As they were talking, they went to collect what they could from their stuff they had left behind. Most of their things were destroyed, but Usagi and Chibi-Usa were glad that the plush bunnies were safe. After that, they headed back to Usagi’s house to drop Usagi and Chibi-Usa off. As they walked to the door, Usagi turned to face Scott. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to kiss your date goodnight?” Usagi asked Scott, and then looked ready to receive a kiss. Scott realized what he caused, decided to play along in order not to hurt Usagi’s feeling and kissed her on the lips for a little bit longer than should have. Usagi was blushing hotly after the kiss ended. Chibi-Usa had to drag Usagi into the house because she wasn’t moving. Makoto and Kevin decided to head home and left Scott at Ami’s mercy. Kevin and Makoto told them that they would inform the others about what happened. As Ami and Scott were heading back, Ami told Scott that she wanted to have a talk with him, and Scott looked like he really didn’t want to have that talk. CHAPTER FIVE The next morning came and found that Scott and Usagi had reduced to six years old. That day had Ami visiting a counselor for the entire day, and with Kitomi at the hospital, Ami left Scott over at the Tsukino home until she was able to pick him up. So Ikuko was glad to watch over Scott, it gave Usagi someone to play with. Chibi-Usa had Hotaru over to keep her company for the day. Ikuko had to go shopping, so she asked Chibi-Usa and Hotaru if they would watch over Scott and Usagi while she was gone. She mentioned that they could go to the park for awhile if they wanted to. So the four of them headed to the park, after Usagi ‘persuaded’ them to go, and they brought along Luna and Diana to help watch over them. As Chibi-Usa and Hotaru were sitting at a picnic table, they watched as Scott and Usagi chased Luna and Diana around the park. They chuckled as they watched what was going on and they talked about general things for a bit. They continued talking until several shadows covered them. They looked up and saw for male classmates of theirs. “Well, well, well, what do we have here, the freak and her friend.” One of the boys said. “Leave us alone, Tojiro.” Chibi-Usa said. “I don’t think so.” Tojiro replied as he then pushed Hotaru off the picnic table and onto the ground. Chibi-Usa was going to go help Hotaru out, but another one of the boys grabbed her and held her fast. “Now, now, no interference from you.” The boy said as he held onto the struggling Chibi-Usa. “What do you want?” Hotaru asked. “To get a freak like you out of our school.” Tojiro said as he then started slapping Hotaru across the face. He continued slapping her until his hand was stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist. He looked at the person and saw that it was Scott holding his wrist. “I would really like it if you would stop hitting her.” Scott said. Tojiro jerked his arm free of Scott’s grip. “Why do you care for this freak?” Tojiro asked. “I have my reasons.” Scott replied. “What? You in love with her?” Tojiro asked mildly interested in the answer. “In a way.” Scott replied. “Hey guys, hear that, the freak is robbing the cradle.” Tojiro said and the other boys snickered. “Well, why don’t you go and be with your freak girlfriend.” As Tojiro went to push Scott into Hotaru, Scott twisted around and grabbed his arm. Tojiro suddenly found himself face first in the ground with his arm twisted behind him. Two of his friends seeing what happened, went to rush Scott. Scott used Tojiro as a spring board and kicked one of them in the chest and the other in the face. Chibi-Usa broke free and kicked the boy holding her in the groin. Tojiro was about to hit Scott, but he was suddenly hit in the back of his head. As Tojiro landed, holding his head, the others saw Usagi standing there with a thick stick and looking angry. The other boys got up, picked up Tojiro, and ran away. After the boys were gone, Usagi dropped the stick and sighed in relief. Scott checked on Hotaru and Hotaru told him she was all right. Chibi-Usa commented about heading back to Chibi-Usa’s house. Once they got back, they saw that Ikuko was home and she gasped at the sight of Scott and Usagi. “What happened to you two?” Ikuko asked. “Well, we were playing in the park when four boys started picking on Hotaru and Chibi-Usa.” Scott said. “Usagi and I ‘persuaded’ them not to.” “You fought them?” Ikuko asked. “They sort of forced my hand.” Scott said. “We’ll have a talk about that later, but the two of you go upstairs and take a bath right now.” Ikuko stated. “Together?” Scott asked surprised. “Yes together, it will save time and water, now get going.” Ikuko said. “But, Mrs. Tsukino, I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Scott tried saying, with Usagi nodding her head with Scott. “I don’t want to hear any lip from you two, now get up there and get a bath.” Ikuko said with a small amount of anger. Scott rushed up the stairs after Usagi and was reluctant to enter the bathroom, because he saw Usagi enter before him. He was standing out there wondering what to do when Ikuko came up the steps and saw him standing there. “I thought I told you to get in the bathroom and get a bath.” Ikuko said. “But Usagi’s in there.” Scott said. “I know that, get in there so I can wash your clothes, go on now.” Ikuko said. Scott sighed in defeat and entered the changing area of the bathroom. He removed his clothes and gathered his courage and entered the bathroom part. He blushed hotly as he saw Usagi enter the furo. He noticed that Usagi had a blush going as he entered the wash area. He quickly washed up and was reluctant to enter the furo with Usagi. After a little teasing from Usagi, Scott entered the furo. As Scott sat in the furo, he was blushing and looking down, not facing Usagi. Just then, he was splashed with some water. He looked up in surprise and saw Usagi grinning at him. He continued looking at her in surprise as she went and splashed him again. Scott got out of his dazed state and then grinned evilly as he then splashed her back. The both of them got into a splashing fight and kept going at it until Ikuko came in and stopped them. She made them get out and get ready for bed. Scott wondered why they were getting ready for bed, but one look from Ikuko and he didn’t argue. Scott knew that he was going to be staying late, but he didn’t know that he would be staying over night. During the bath, there was a serious thunderstorm came in and by the time the bath was finished, the rain was really coming down. After the bath, Scott was given an old shirt of Kenji’s to use as a nightshirt. After the talk about fighting he received from Ikuko, he was placed in Usagi’s room to sleep. As Usagi was lying on her bed, and Scott was on a futon on the floor, he could hear her whimper every time lightning flashed and thunder roared. During a sudden flash of lightning and thunder, Scott found that Usagi was suddenly in his bed with him. “Are you okay, Usagi?” Scott asked quietly. “I-I-I’m scared.” Usagi said and Scott saw tears in the corners of her eyes. “Don’t worry, Usagi, I’ll protect you.” Scott said as he then wrapped the blanket over the both of them. A couple of minutes later, the bedroom door opened and Chibi-Usa entered the room. Scott saw her look around the room and settle on him and Usagi. He noticed that she also had tears in her eyes. He waved her over and covered her in the blanket with Usagi and him. All three of them fell asleep even though the thunderstorm was still going on. Ikuko checked up on her daughter, because she knew that her daughter had a fear of thunderstorms. So when she looked in the room, she smiled at what she saw. Her daughter and her granddaughter were in the same bed as Scott, and he had his arms wrapped around both of them protectively. When a boom of thunder sounded, no one flinched, so Ikuko left them and went back to bed. * * * * * Early in the day, Kevin, Makoto, James, Rei, Wesley, Kiersten, Ami, and Minako were at the Tokyo Aquarium to talk about what they were going to do. Since Rei’s grandfather was having a meeting at the shrine, they came to the aquarium to talk. They were trying to figure out what they were going to do about Scott and Usagi, and the people that caused their problem. They were no farther figuring out what to do when the aquarium was attacked by the beings. They quickly transformed and started attacking the beings. Throughout the attack, Gryphon was getting the nagging feeling that he should know something but it was just out of his reach. It was when he saw one of the beings fire their weapon that he got a surge through him and that was when it clicked, the beings were using time to their advantage. Once he figured that out, he had to warn the others. “Watch out, they are using time to their advantage.” Gryphon shouted out. Once Gryphon shouted that out, the beings knew that they better make their escape. So they shot out the windows to the display aquariums and made their escape as the windows broke and the place was suddenly filled with water, dousing the Senshi and the Knights. After the water quit filling the room, the Senshi and the Knights noticed that Mercury and Minerva were dry, while they were soaking wet. “How come you two are dry?” Mars asked. “It’s a secret.” Minerva replied smiling. “Minerva.” Mars growled. “It’s a side benefit of our powers.” Mercury replied. “What do you mean?” Jupiter asked. “Let’s get out of here and I’ll tell you.” Mercury said and they all agreed. After they changed back and were far enough away they stopped at a nearby rest area and waited for Ami to tell them what happened. “Okay, Ami, spill it, how you and Kiersten are dry as a bone.” Makoto said. “It happened when Scott told me about my past self and what I could do.” Ami started. “Since a sub power of mine is to handle water, so I just controlled the water around me to not get on me.” “Uh, okay, what about Kiersten?” Rei asked confused. “A part of my power is telekinesis. So I just didn’t let the water touch me.” Kiersten smiled. Some of them grumbled at the smiling faces of Ami and Kiersten, about their abilities of staying dry. It was then that they noticed the storm clouds coming in and decided to head home. When Ami got back to Scott’s place, she decided to call Ikuko and told her that she could come pick Scott up, by Ikuko didn’t want her to go driving in the storm and told her that he could stay the night. So Ami told her she would pick him up in the morning. * * * * * In the morning, Ami came and picked Scott up. While she was there, she was wondering why Ikuko was laughing when she came, and Scott, Usagi, and Chibi-Usa was blushing. Once Ami stepped inside, she asked what was so funny. Ikuko told her that when Usagi told her about Scott starting a little harem, and after Ami nodded knowing about the running joke about the harem, was told that Usagi and Chibi- Usa were now added to the list. Ami asked what she meant, and Ikuko told her that she found her daughter and granddaughter in the same bed as Scott when she went to go wake them up. She’s been teasing them ever since. After another round of teasing was finished, much to the dread of Scott, Usagi, and Chibi-Usa, Ikuko asked Ami if there was any change to the condition to Scott and Usagi. Ami did a quick scan and found out that Usagi was now four and Scott was now five. Ikuko asked if they came up with any cure yet and Ami sadly shook her head. Ikuko thanked her anyway and Ami and Scott left. As they were driving back home, Ami was filling Scott in on what happened yesterday. “So after a while of fighting, Wesley shouted out that the beings were using time to their advantage.” Ami said, and noticed Scott was in deep thought. “What is it Scott?” “Can you go to my shop real quick, I need something, it’s very important.” Scott replied. “What is it?” Ami asked confused. “Let’s just say I may have an idea on what happened to Setsuna.” Scott replied, and Ami knew by his tone of voice, that was all he was going to say. So Ami drove to Scott’s shop and Scott went looking for the item he wanted. Ami asked to help him, but he just said for her to stay where she was while he looked for it. Ami didn’t like it, but Scott didn’t give her much of a choice. After several minutes, Scott returned carrying a leather pouch. Ami asked what was in it and Scott told her a bunch of old herbs. Ami was still confused, but she knew that if Scott didn’t want her to know, she would have to wait. As they got back in the car, Scott asked Ami to take him over to Kevin’s place. Ami looked at him questioningly, and headed over to Kevin’s place, knowing that Scott won’t answer the questions she wanted to know. CHAPTER SIX Ami arrived at Kevin’s place and met Kevin at the door. He escorted them to the living room where Makoto and Wesley were sitting. After Kevin went and got some refreshments for Ami and Scott, they talked about what they were doing there. Scott asked Wesley everything he felt or seen in dealing with the beings. Wesley told Scott everything he could about what he sensed or saw. Scott just sat there in deep thought and the others wondered what he was thinking, and it was Kevin that voiced the question. “Hey, Scott, what are you thinking?” Kevin asked. Scott jumped at little and looked over at Kevin as he was taken out of the deep thought he was in. “Oh, I need to use the bathroom.” Scott replied calmly. The other’s just stared in surprise at Scott as he jumped off the couch and ran to the bathroom. What they failed to notice, due to their shock, was Scott had grabbed a small bowl before he entered the bathroom. When Scott was in the bathroom, he turned on the sink faucet and waited for the water to become hot. Once the water was hot enough, Scott added a small amount of water into the bowl and turned off the faucet. He grabbed the pouch he had brought and added the contents into the bowl and started to mix them. He mixed the herbs until they formed a thick paste. When Scott approved of the consistency, he grabbed the pouch and the bowl and headed over to Setsuna’s room, after making sure that the others weren’t looking for him. As he entered Setsuna’s room, he found it rather dark. He made his way over to the bed and found Setsuna having a restless sleep. So he climbed up on the bed and startled himself over her waist to stop her tossing and turning. When she settled down enough, Scott grabbed the bowl and started spreading the paste substance on her face in a certain pattern. When he was done with her, he placed some of the paste on his face in a different pattern. When he was done, he set the bowl on the night table, closed his eyes, and started chanting until he went into a trance. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a stone walled hallway. He looked around, trying to get his bearings, when he heard a familiar female voice scream in pain. Scott made his way over to the sound and looked around a corner. He saw one of the beings, with a whip, whipping the bare back of a chained Setsuna. She was dressed in her sailor fuku, but the back was ripped off as the being continued whipping her, leaving several welts on her back to match the ones that were already there bleeding. She was chained at the wrists and the chain was fastened to the wall, having her facing the wall. Scott became angry and found a blunt object that was nearby, and hit the being in the back of the head. The being fell to the ground unconscious and Scott went over and grabbed the keys and went over to Setsuna. After Scott had unlocked her chains, and set her down, being careful of her back, and held her until she regained her senses. After a couple of minutes, Setsuna started coming around. She looked around some what confused before she settled on Scott. “Scott?” Setsuna asked weakly. “Hey Kiana, how you doing?” Scott asked in return. “I feel like crap.” She replied. “You look like it.” Scott replied. “Very funny.” She said sourly. “I thought it was.” Scott said. “But I’m glad you’re still here.” “What do you mean?” She asked confused. “Another day or two and you would have been stuck in this nightmare permanently.” Scott replied to Setsuna’s wide-eyed fear. “Why do you look so young?” Setsuna asked once she got over her fear. “These beings were after Usagi and I placed myself in the way of their weapon blast and now me and Usagi have been growing younger ever since.” “I see.” “You know who these beings are?” “Not really, but I heard rumors of them.” Setsuna said when she noticed Scott seem to sense something. “I don’t have much time here left, so I need you to do me a favor.” “What is it?” “I need you to find Cologne and get the mushroom she has. She’s … Argh.” When Scott collapsed into Setsuna, she looked up and saw that the being had regained consciousness and had shot Scott. She set Scott down and grabbed the object Scott had and proceeded to continually hit the being. She kept hitting it until it died and there was a small puddle of blood around the body. She dropped the object and tried to go check on Scott, but before she was able to get Scott, a bright white light happened, and she had to close her eyes from the brightness. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a darkened bedroom. She tried to sit up, but found out there was a weight on her. She looked down and saw there was someone laying on her. At a closer inspection, she saw that it was Scott, and he appeared to be unconscious. She smiled when she found he was all right, so she wiggled herself out of bed. When she got out of bed, she found out that she was wearing a nightgown. She didn’t think much about it and picked Scott up and headed out of the bedroom. * * * * * Kevin and the others were sitting in the living, talking about what Scott was thinking before he ran to the bathroom. They were also talking about why he wanted Wesley to answer his questions. They were wondering if he knew something. It was then that they started to think that something was up, since Scott was taking a little too long in the bathroom. “I’ll go and check on him.” Ami said as she was about to get up off the couch. “That won’t be necessary.” Came a voice from behind them. All four people quickly faced the person and stared in disbelief. There standing at the doorway to the hallway to the bedrooms was Setsuna, carrying Scott in her arms. “Sis, you’re awake.” Wesley said in disbelief. “I wouldn’t have, if it wasn’t for Scott here.” Setsuna replied. “What do you mean?” Ami asked worried. “He brought me out of the trance I was placed in.” Setsuna replied and then noticed that the others were looking at her strangely. “What is it?” “What is that stuff on your face?” Makoto asked. “What stuff?” Setsuna asked confused and then wiped her face with her hand and it came back with some stuff on her fingers. She then started wiping her face to get the stuff off her face as Makoto handed her a rag. “I don’t know, I never really noticed it. But now that you mentioned it, I think some was on Scott’s face.” “What is wrong with him?” Ami asked as she started a scan on him. It was about that time that Scott started coming around and Ami was by his side. “Scott, are you all right?” Scott looked up and looked around the room in a confused look. When Scott centered his sight on Ami, he smiled happily and latched himself on her in a hug. “Mommy!” Everyone in the room suddenly stared at Scott and Ami as Ami was staring wide-eyed at Scott. Ami subconsciously wrapped her arms around Scott and held him. She looked at the others with a plea for help. Makoto realize what needed to be done and came over to Scott and Ami. “Hey there, Scotty, why don’t you come and sit over with Auntie Makoto so ‘Mommy’ can finish what she was doing.” Makoto said smiling at Scott. “Okay.” Scott said cheerfully and released Ami and skipped over to Makoto. Makoto sat down and pulled Scott onto her lap and then looked over at Ami. Ami realized what Makoto was asking and looked at her computer and saw that the scan was finish. She quickly looked at the results and gasped at what they said. Everyone knew something had happened as Ami looked at Scott with worry. Scott was too busy playing with Makoto to notice the look Ami was giving him. “What is it Ami?” Kevin asked her quietly. “Whatever Scott did to wake Setsuna up, it cost him.” Ami replied just as quiet. “He is now a four year old with the same mentality of being a four year old.” “This isn’t good, is it?” Wesley asked. “I believe that is correct.” Ami said sadly. “Well, you better take him home and keep an eye on him. Besides, I think Setsuna needs to take care of some personnel business before we can do anything anyway.” Kevin said. “You’re right. I better head home anyway; I have a seminar to attend tomorrow. I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow.” Ami put away her computer and stood up. “Come on Scott, we have to head home.” “Okay Mommy.” Scott said cheerfully and hoped off of Makoto and ran over to Ami and wrapped his arms around her leg. Ami smiled at the others and left Kevin’s place, with Scott in tow. * * * * * Ami arrived at her mother’s apartment and met Kitomi in the living room. Kitomi looked at Ami suspiciously as she saw Scott clinging to Ami’s leg. “Something I should know about, Ami dear?” Kitomi asked. “Scott has regressed to be a total four year old.” Ami replied after she sighed. “Scott, why don’t you go and get ready for a bath?” “Okay mommy.” Scott said and ran off to the bathroom. Kitomi looked at her daughter in confusion. “What was that about?” Kitomi asked. “Whatever he did to wake a friend of ours out of a coma, he fully became a four year old and now thinks I’m his mother.” Ami replied. “I see.” Kitomi replied smiling. “Mother, this isn’t funny.” Ami said. Kitomi still smiled and just then Scott came out naked. “Mommy, can you help me with the bath?” Scott said sadly. Ami looked at her mother pleadingly. “You need to take care of your ‘son’ now daughter.” Kitomi said smiling. Ami sighed since she wasn’t going to get any help from her mother. Before they left the room, Scott had one more question. “Mommy?” Scott asked. “Yes Scott?” Ami replied. “Can I sleep with you tonight?” Scott looked at her pleadingly. Ami could hear her mother laughing and dropped her head in defeat. “Sure Scott, you can, but let’s get your bath first.” Ami said as she took Scott’s hand and lead him to the bathroom. After Scott had his bath, he got in an over sized shirt and slept in the same bed as Ami. Ami fell asleep, wondering if she was going to lose Scott for a second time in her life. CHAPTER SEVEN Ami awoke the next morning by feeling something wet, before a certain smell reached her nose. She sat up quickly and looked over at Scott. She noticed that Scott was younger again, to the point of being a toddler. So due to Scott being a toddler, Scott had wet the bed. At that point, Scott woke up and started crying. Ami quickly got Scott out of the soiled shirt and held him to try and calm him. She realized that Scott was somewhat dirty and needed to be cleaned, so she started towards the door. When she opened the door, her mother was standing on the other side. “Is everything okay, I thought I heard …” Kitomi started saying when she noticed Ami was holding a baby in her arms and gave Ami a questionable look. “Scott grew younger again.” Ami replied. “I can see that.” “And he also peed in the bed.” Ami said and then heard her mother chuckle. “That isn’t funny mother.” “I know dear.” Kitomi said smiling. “Let me handle Scott and you better handle your bed.” “Okay.” Ami said and then handed over Scott to her mother and then started heading over to her bed and started removing her sheets. “You can consider this ‘Mother Training’.” Kitomi said before heading towards the bathroom. Ami sighed at what her mother said and resumed working on her bed. After Ami got the bed as clean as she could, she left it to dry out and went to get dress. After she was dress, she met her mother in the kitchen, feeding Scott applesauce. When Ami made a comment about that, Kitomi said that it was the only stuff they had that they could feed him. Kitomi also pointed out that what Ami was going to do with Scott when she goes to her seminar. Ami realized what her mother was talking about. She thought of Usagi’s mother and decided to give her a call, after she scanned Scott to determine his age. It was Chibi-Usa that answered the phone. “Moshi, moshi, Tsukino residence.” Chibi-Usa said. “Hey Chibi-Usa, it’s me Ami.” Ami said. “Hey Ami, how you doing?” Chibi-Usa replied. “Good considering what’s going on.” Ami said. “I know the feeling.” Chibi-Usa said. “Hey, Usagi grew younger again.” “Scott did too, if they run the same, Usagi is probably a toddler right now.” “I would say so; Usagi woke all of us up.” “Is Mrs. Tsukino there?” “No, she had to make a few errands. Me and Hotaru are babysitting Usagi at the moment.” “Oh, I see.” “What did you want to talk to my grandmother about?” “Well, I’ve got a seminar I have to attend to and with Scott in his present condition, I was wondering if she would watch Scott.” Ami said and then she could hear Chibi-Usa talking to someone. “Bring him over; Hotaru is glad to watch him for you.” Chibi-Usa said after she was done talking to Hotaru. “Thanks, Chibi-Usa.” “You’re welcome Ami. We’ll see you shortly.” Ami drove to the Tsukino residence and dropped Scott off with Chibi-Usa and Hotaru. Ami thanked them again and left them for her seminar. After they left the few items that Ami brought for Scott, Chibi-Usa picked Usagi up and the four of them went outside to play for a while. After a couple of hours of playing, Scott and Usagi got into the dirt and became dirty. Chibi-Usa and Hotaru decided that they better give them a bath before Ikuko or Ami returned. So they took Scott and Usagi to the bathroom and got them ready for a bath. They were about to bathe them when they realized that Scott and Usagi couldn’t bathe themselves and if they leaned over the bath, they would get wet. They looked at each other and knew what the other was thinking. So they got undress and entered the tub with Scott and Usagi. As they were washing Scott and Usagi, Hotaru noticed something about Chibi-Usa. “Have you gotten bigger?” Hotaru asked Chibi-Usa. “What do you mean?” Chibi-Usa asked confused and then saw where Hotaru was looking. “Oh, ever since I had my period, they’ve started growing. I’ve already jumped up a cup size and grandma says that they may still be growing. I really hate it, because all my shirts are starting to get tight in my chest area.” Before Hotaru could comment on what Chibi-Usa said, a soft blue glow surrounded both Scott and Usagi. To the girl’s amazement, they started growing younger. When it appeared that they stopped growing younger, the blue glow disappeared and then Scott and Usagi started crying. When both of the girls got over what they saw, they tried calming the crying babies. Chibi-Usa rocked Usagi in her arms as Hotaru held Scott to herself. “Did you see what happened?” Chibi-Usa asked stunned. “Yeah I did, they look like newborns now.” Hotaru replied. “We got to tell Ami what happened.” “It may help her in …” Hotaru started saying when she felt a strange sensation on her left breast. She looked down and saw Scott suckling on her breast. “Gaah!” Chibi- Usa sees what is going on and started chuckling. “This isn’t funny.” “I know, but your facial expression was hilarious.” Chibi- Usa said still chuckling. “But my breasts aren’t growing at an alarming rate. Are you sure it’s not with milk?” Hotaru asked smiling as she pulled Scott from her breast. “Now that is not funny.” “At least he’s calm now.” “Same with Usagi here.” “Let’s finish and put them to bed.” “Okay.” They finished bathing Scott and Usagi and then dried them off and set them on the living room floor to sleep and then they went and got some clothes on. * * * * * After Scott and Usagi were asleep, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru sat down and talked about what happened in the tub. After a while they realized they didn’t know anything of what’s going on. Just then, there came a knocking at the front door. Chibi- Usa quickly answered the door before the knocking woke the kids up. She opened the door and found Kiersten and Miyuki standing there. “Hiya Cuz, how are you doing?” Kiersten asked. “Shhh, they’re sleeping.” Chibi-Usa said quietly, trying to make sure that Scott and Usagi didn’t wake up. “Who are?” Kiersten asked confused, but quietly. “Scott and Usagi.” Chibi-Usa replied. “Scott’s here?” Miyuki asked surprised. “Yeah. Come on inside.” Chibi-Usa said and stepped aside to let Kiersten and Miyuki through. Once they walked into the living room, they saw Hotaru sitting on the couch and two babies sleeping on the floor. “Hi Hotaru.” Kiersten said. “Hello Kiersten.” Hotaru replied. “Hiya little sister.” Miyuki said. “Hi Miyuki.” Hotaru replied. “Little sister?” Chibi-Usa asked confused when everyone sat down. “Yeah, when Scott accepted to be Hotaru’s foster father, she gained a whole big family.” Miyuki replied. “How big?” Chibi-Usa asked. “I’m still figuring it out, but there is another sister still around somewhere?” Miyuki replied. “Oh yeah, we met her already.” Hotaru said when she remembered Vree. “So what is Scott doing here?” Kiersten asked. “Ami dropped him off because of a seminar she had to go to.” Hotaru replied. “Oh that, I saw her there.” Miyuki said. “You were at the same seminar?” Chibi-Usa asked surprised. “Yeah, it had to deal with some Watcher stuff.” Miyuki replied. “If it’s done, she should be here shortly.” Chibi-Usa said. “Not really. I’m just a researcher, she’s a field operative. They have an extra seminar afterwards.” Miyuki replied. “And with her having to deal with the extra curricular activity you guys have, she has to talk to the heads of the Asian section.” “About what?” Chibi-Usa asked. “Don’t know.” Miyuki said. She then noticed that Hotaru had a questionable look to her face. “What’s wrong sis?” Hotaru jumped a little when she realized she was caught. Hotaru proceeded to explain everything that happened in the bath tub. Neither Kiersten nor Miyuki could answer about the blue glow, but Miyuki looked at Kiersten pleadingly. Kiersten remembered that Miyuki didn’t know much about relating to anything female yet, because Scott had explained to her Miyuki’s past. She Kiersten then explained as best as she could about what Scott did to Hotaru and about maternity. When Kiersten was done talking, both Chibi-Usa and Hotaru now understood what Scott did to Hotaru was a natural reaction. Then there was another knocking on the door and Chibi-Usa went to go answer it. Thinking it was Ami coming to pick Scott up, but was surprised when she Setsuna standing there with a confused look to her face. “Puu, what are you doing here?” Chibi-Usa asked surprised. “I came to ask for help with a riddle Scott gave me.” Setsuna replied. “Come on in, Hotaru, Kiersten, and Miyuki are here, maybe they can help.” Chibi-Usa said and stood off to the side to let Setsuna in. “Thank you, Small Lady.” Setsuna said and walked inside. Setsuna entered the living room and Saw Miyuki, Hotaru, and Kiersten sitting on the couch and Scott and Usagi, as Toddlers, sleeping on the floor. “What’s up Setsuna?” Kiersten asked. “I’m trying to figure out a puzzle Scott gave me before he was unable to talk.” Setsuna replied. “What is it?” Kiersten asked. “He wanted me to find Cologne for some sort of Mushrooms.” Setsuna said and looked around the room and only saw blank looks on everyone’s face except Miyuki’s. “Do you know something Miyuki?” “There is only one answer I know of, and that is for a person that’s in the Nerima Ward. She works in a restaurant called the Nekohatten and her name is Kho-Lon.” Miyuki replied. “She’s named Cologne?” Chibi-Usa and Hotaru asked amazed. “She’s the Elder of a Chinese Amazon tribe, and the whole tribe has names like that.” Miyuki said. “Nerima ward in a restaurant called the Nekohatten?” Setsuna asked. “Yes.” Miyuki said. “Thank you.” Setsuna said. Setsuna turned and left the house. She closed the door a little too loudly and woke both Scott and Usagi up. They started crying and Chibi-Usa and Hotaru quickly picked them up and tried to calm them down. Kiersten and Miyuki helped them out and when they were calm, Kiersten grabbed her camera and commented about taking some pictures of them so they could remember this time of their lives. Everyone agreed, so Kiersten started taking pictures. * * * * * “What do you have to report?” Luthantis asked his general. “All troops are ready and waiting for your command.” The general replied. “Excellent. Did the plan work for energy draining?” “Yes sir, the Senshi didn’t know we had drained energy from other places on the world.” “Good. Inform me when final preparations are done; we will attack within an hour after that. We will launch a full strike all over the world, but we will attack first in Tokyo.” “Yes sir.” The general saluted and left the room. Luthantis chuckled at what is about to happen and was pleased at their latest victory. * * * * * After Miyuki and Kiersten left, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru put Scott and Usagi back to sleep. Chibi-Usa and Hotaru talked for a bit, but both of them were feeling tired after watching Scott and Usagi for a while. Hotaru looked over at Chibi-Usa and noticed that she had fallen asleep. She smiled and leaned back to get a little sleep herself. As she was about to fall asleep when one of the babies started crying. She quickly sat up and listened to the crying and realized that it was Scott that was crying. So she quickly got up and went to Scott before he woke Usagi or Chibi-Usa up. She picked him up and tried to quiet him down. She went to a different room in order not to wake the others up. She found that Scott wasn’t quieting down and she was wondering what to do, when she remembered what happened in the bathtub. She blushed hotly at what she was about to do. She set Scott in one arm and lifted a section of her shirt over her bra and then lifted the bra cup off her breast and then placed Scott so he could begin sucking her breast. In a manner of moments, Scott calmed down and began nursing on her breast. Hotaru had to bite her lower lip to fight the sensations that were going through her body. She leaned back into the chair and closed her eyes as the sensations went through her body. “Now this is a sight I wouldn’t have believed to be possible.” Came a voice near Hotaru. Hotaru snapped her eyes opened and saw Setsuna standing in front of her. She blushed in embarrassment and looked down in order for Setsuna couldn’t see her blush. “Having feelings of wanting to be a mother or are you just having enjoyment with the feelings?” Setsuna asked. “I couldn’t calm him down and I knew this calmed him, but I didn’t know how good the feelings would get.” Hotaru said as she started crying. “Hush now, I didn’t mean to upset you. I was trying to joke around.” Setsuna said after she realized she may have gone too far. “I’m sorry Setsuna-mama, it’s just …” “I understand what’s going on. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone else that isn’t in this room.” “Thank you. What are you doing back?” “I got done talking to the person that Miyuki told me about. She said that she would have to check out Scott and Usagi before she can see if she can help.” “That’s good to hear.” “Where are Usagi and Small Lady?” “In the other room sleeping.” “Are you going to let Scott keep nursing or what?” “Ack!” “Here, let me hold him while you straighten yourself out.” Setsuna took Scott from Hotaru and let Hotaru, blushing hotly, straighten out her clothes. Once Hotaru was ready, Setsuna told her they better wake Chibi-Usa up, so Hotaru went and woke Chibi-Usa up. Chibi-Usa was surprised to see Setsuna there and Setsuna told her she was there because she needed to take Scott and Usagi to see the person Scott mentioned. So Setsuna also picked Usagi up and was heading out the door when Chibi-Usa, Hotaru, and Setsuna’s communicators went off. Chibi-Usa pressed the button and Minerva’s face showed up. “What’s wrong?” Chibi-Usa asked. “Those beings are attacking again and this time they are attacking in full force. We need your help.” Minerva replied. “Okay, me and Hotaru will be there as soon as we can.” Chibi-Usa said. “Uh, what about Scott and Usagi?” Minerva asked. “Setsuna’s here and she’s taking them to see Scott’s friend.” Chibi-Usa said. “Okay, see you two shortly.” Minerva said and then signed off. “You two better leave a note for Mrs. Tsukino and hurry to help the others. I’ll join you as soon as I can.” Setsuna replied. “Okay.” Both Chibi-Usa and Hotaru said. After Chibi-Usa left a note for Ikuko, they left the house and transformed, then joined the others while Setsuna took Scott and Usagi to the Nekohatten. * * * * * “Hmm, this is something I’ve never seen before.” Cologne said. “Can you cure them?” Setsuna asked. “Truthfully, I don’t know, from what you told me of these beings that did this, I don’t know if those mushrooms will work.” “We can only hope.” “Yes, we can only hope. Let me get the mushrooms ready. What did you say the girl’s age was again?” “18.” “Mousse! Get an 18 cm and a 22 cm mushroom.” Cologne shouted out. “Okay.” Came a male voice from the back room. “What does the size have to do with anything?” Setsuna asked confused. “That is the magic of the mushrooms, the size of the mushroom in centimeters will determine the age of the person.” Cologne replied. “How?” “You ask too many questions; watch the kids while I prepare the mushrooms.” Setsuna knew she couldn’t say anything else and just sat next to the kids and watched them as Cologne did her thing. She smiled as Usagi grabbed her finger; she wiggled her finger and watched as Usagi squealed in delight. Twenty minutes later Cologne came back carrying two bowls. She set the bowls down and Setsuna saw that inside the bowls was a mashed looking product. Cologne informed her that the babies had to eat the entire mashed mushrooms, but since they were toddlers, she had to mash the mushrooms. So Setsuna feed Usagi while Cologne fed Scott. “Now all we can do is wait.” Cologne replied after they finished feeding the two and set them in a bedroom. Setsuna then became worried on how the fight was going. * * * * * At the fight, the Senshi were having trouble because of the overwhelming odds. The beings had sent their entire army out across the world. The beings surprised them and used an item to trap Gryphon Knight in a ‘Time Trap’. Due to that, the Senshi and Knights had to fall back to avoid getting captured. When the Senshi fell back, the beings started destroying Tokyo, and around the world, started taking prisoners. CHAPTER EIGHT The fighting continued in Tokyo as the beings continued their attacks and taking slaves. It was spread through the news that the beings were spreading their attacks to other major cities throughout the world and were taking slaves back with them. Back in Tokyo, due to the overwhelming number of enemies, the Senshi were forced to withdraw to a safer location. They were forced to do guerilla warfare strikes to stop some beings group from taking a bunch of slaves. It was all they could do until the tide turned into their favor. In the Nekohatten, Setsuna was receiving the latest news on what was happening. She wanted to go and help her brother, but she needed to be there for Scott and Usagi. After the latest report, she began to get impatient. She started pacing back and forth, mumbling about what is going on. “Being impatient won’t make anything go faster.” Cologne said to Setsuna. “With what’s going on, what is there not to be impatient about?” Setsuna said frustrated. “You are worried about your brother.” Cologne said calmly. “How’d you …” Setsuna said surprised. “I may be old, but my hearing is still as sharp as ever.” Cologne replied. “Oh.” Setsuna said. “You are also wondering if the mushrooms worked.” “Yes.” “I told you there was a chance that they may not have worked.” “I know, but I hate the waiting, not knowing if it worked or not.” “You don’t have to wait any longer.” Came a male voice behind them. Both Cologne and Setsuna faced the direction the voice came from and saw Scott and Usagi standing in a doorway, with bedroom sheets wrapped around them. Setsuna noticed a small blush on Usagi’s cheeks; she figured it was due to them waking up in bed together. Once Setsuna got over her shock of seeing Scott and Usagi normal once again, informed both of them what was going on. Usagi then said that they better join the others quickly and stood up and was about to leave when Scott grabbed her arm. “What?” Usagi asked confused. “There is one thing that the both of us need to do first before we leave.” Scott said to Usagi. “What’s that?” Usagi asked confused and saw Scott face Cologne. “Is there any clothes we can borrow until we get some of our own?” Scott asked Cologne. Usagi blushed hotly when she realized what Scott was referring too. “Yes, come with me, both of you.” Cologne chuckled and leads both of them upstairs. * * * * * The rest of the Senshi and the Knights were at Kevin’s penthouse to regroup and take a breather. Without Scott, Usagi, Setsuna, and Wesley, they were having a difficult time fighting the beings. They were sitting in the living room wondering what the next step they were going to do is. “What are we going to do?” Makoto asked. “These beings are outnumbering us twenty to one, and now they have spread world wide.” No one could answer her question. “I wish Scott and Usagi were here, they would know what to do.” Hotaru said a little too loud and everyone heard her and caused a moment of silence where everyone wished the same thing. “If my figures are correct, if those mushrooms don’t work, then they are gone forever.” Ami said sadly. Everyone was feeling dread and sadness at the thought. “Then thank goodness that the mushrooms worked.” Came a male voice from a doorway. Everyone whipped around at the voice and found Wolf Knight and Sailor Moon leaning against the doorframe, smiling at the group, behind them was Sailor Pluto. After everyone got over the shock, they all ran over and hugged Scott and Usagi. It took Scott and Usagi several minutes of the rejoicing, before they had the others clamed down enough before they were able to do anything. After everyone sat back down, Scott had asked them what was the latest news, before anyone answered, Kevin had one question. “Why can’t I sense you?” Kevin asked and then Makoto looked surprised when she realized she couldn’t sense Scott either. “It may be a side effect of the ray those beings hit me with and the mushrooms.” Scott had said. “I had my suspicions when I had scraped my arm at the Nekohatten and then became more solid when we came here and I couldn’t sense you two.” “Oh, so you are mortal right now?” Makoto asked. “Or as close to it as I can become.” Scott replied. “Now, as I was saying, what is going on?” “It seems that these beings are attacking world wide. They are taking slaves wherever they can. We were able to stop some of them, but they are outnumbering us, especially when both you and Usagi were out, Setsuna watching over the two of you, and Wesley trapped in some sort of time trap.” Ami replied. “A time trap?” Scott asked Ami and saw her nod, he then faced Setsuna. “Kiana, can you figure out how to get Wesley out of the trap?” “I can try.” Setsuna replied. Setsuna got up and walked over to the room where Wesley was laying in. As Setsuna approached him, she could sense the trap that was surrounding him. She placed her hand over his body and sensed what the aura of the trap was. She closed her eyes and targeted her powers into breaking the trap. After several minutes of trying, she was about to give up, when she sensed a crack in the trap, so she centered her powers there and tried with all her might. Just as she felt herself about to pass out from the strain of trying, the trap collapsed and Wesley was freed. She collapsed from the strain, but before she landed on the floor, someone had caught her. She looked up and saw that Scott had caught her. He smiled down at her and picked her up and carried her to the couch and laid her down on it. As she was being carried out, she had noticed that the others had entered the room. As Setsuna was resting, Wesley had come to and was confused at where he was. It was when he saw Kiersten and she told him what had happened that he understood what was going on. He was glad that his sister had helped him and was glad to see Usagi and Scott again. Kiersten had informed him what had happened since he was caught in the trap. When that was done, everyone met in the living room to find out what they were going to do. “So what do we know of these beings?” Scott asked. “Not much, except that there is a lot of them, and their attacks seem time based.” Ami replied. “Setsuna, do you know anything about these beings?” Scott asked. “I only know of rumors.” Setsuna said. “Rumors are better then nothing.” Kevin said. “The rumors are these beings call themselves Time Conquerors. They travel to other dimensions through the time stream and conquer the planet’s greatest heroes, and then conquer the world and take slaves. It’s been rumored that they never have lost.” Setsuna said. “Well, that sounds just like these beings.” Minako said. “But that still brings us to the original question, what are we going to do about these Time Conqueror’s?” Scott said. Everyone looked around, not really knowing what to do. They started tossing around ideas on what to do, but there was always one person that came up with a bad part of that idea. They were at it for several hours debating what to do, when they heard on the news the latest reports on what the Time Conqueror’s were doing. After several more ideas were tossed around, they all settled on one of them. The Senshi were going to drive the Time Conqueror’s off the world, while the Knights try and get to the Time Conqueror’s headquarters and try and make them from entering other worlds, while also trying to free the prisoners that were there. Once they knew what they wanted to do, they planned on how they were going to do it. They agreed that the Senshi would start at one area and try and drive the Time Conqueror’s out of the city, and then teleport to another city and drive the beings out of it. The Knights would some how sneak to one of the portal sites and go through it and free the prisoners and prevent the beings from ever attacking another world again. So they agreed and everyone that wasn’t transformed, transformed and they were ready to go. * * * * * The plan that they had come up with was working. The Senshi had started attacking groups of the Time Conqueror’s while the Knights made their way to a nearby portal. As the Senshi started attacking, the Knights used the diversion to make their way through the portal. Once through the portal, they had to quickly hide before they were caught. Once they were hidden, they looked around and realized that they were in a huge ship like structure. Once they got their bearings, they found where the prisoners were being kept and made their way there. Once they made their way to the prisoner section, they had to take out several guards before they were able to start freeing the prisoners. After they got the prisoners calmed down, they told them what they were planning on doing. Once they were ready to leave, a little girl came up to Wolf Knight and pulled on his pants leg and he looked down. “What can I do for you?” Wolf Knight asked the girl in Russian. “Those people had led a lady down that passageway.” The little Russian girl replied as she pointed down a passageway. “Thank you little one.” Wolf thanked the little and headed down the passageway with Lion and Tiger Knight following him. “How did you know that that girl spoke Russian?” Tiger asked Wolf. “You be around as long as I have, you pick up certain things like that.” Wolf replied. “Oh.” Tiger replied realizing that Wolf would go philosophical on him if he kept going. “So what are we looking for?” Lion asked. “A room where another prisoner may be at.” Wolf said. “This must be the room.” Lion said. “How can you tell?” Tiger asked. “It’s been the only room down this passageway with a red light near it.” Lion said pointing out the light. “It’s an electronic lock; it will take a while to open it.” Tiger replied. “Not necessarily.” Wolf replied. “What are you going to do to open it?” Tiger asked. “This.” Wolf said as he walked up to the lock and smacked his hands together and started rubbing them in a circle. After a few circles, he then took his right hand and placed it at the top of the lock. He then slowly lowered his hand until he reached the bottom of the lock. Within a few seconds, the red light turned green and Wolf opened the door. “How did you …” Tiger and Lion exclaimed in surprise. Wolf just smiled at them and didn’t answer as he entered the room. “You have got to teach me that.” Tiger said as he and Lion followed Wolf into the room. Once all three of them entered the room, they looked around the room and only found a nude female lying unconscious on a table. Lion looked around for a blanket and Tiger looked away blushing and Wolf went to see if the female was all right. Lion had found a blanket and placed it over the female. Wolf had then went and tried to wake the female up. When she came too, she looked around in fear as she screamed to get away from them. Wolf then tried to calm the female down and when she stopped screaming, she realized that she wasn’t surrounded by her captors, but by fellow humans. She then latched onto Wolf and started crying. After she stopped crying, Wolf helped her stand up, but she wouldn’t let him go. “There, there, everything’s fine.” Wolf said to calm the female down. “What happened, I heard a female scream.” Dragon asked running into the room. “Nothing much, just that we found another prisoner.” Lion replied. “What’s up with her?” Dragon asked. “I don’t know, but what I’ve seen of her, these beings weren’t very nice with her. From the marks on her, I know they beat her very badly, and who knows what else they did to her.” Tiger replied. “So what are we going to do with her?” Dragon asked. “Take her with us.” Wolf said coming over to the group with the female with him. “Why?” Dragon asked. “Her name is Nene, and she is the last of the bunch of slaves from the last world these Time Conqueror’s conquered.” Wolf replied. “You mean …” Lion started saying. “She is the last of her world. These beings ravaged her world and are now doing it to ours. We got to stop them.” Wolf said. “And stop them we will.” Dragon said. “You, Tiger, and Lion make sure these people make it back to our world. Gryphon and I are going to make sure these guys will no longer attack another world, permanently.” “Alright.” Wolf said. “And Wolf, remember, you don’t have your Immortality any more.” Dragon said. “I know.” Wolf replied. With that, Dragon ran out of the room and Nene looked up at Wolf. “Immortality?” Nene asked confused. “Tell you about it later.” Wolf replied and then led her out of the room. So after getting Nene some clothes and getting her a gun, Wolf, Lion, and Tiger were ready to escort the prisoners to a portal and back to their world. They made their way to a portal, but they had to wait because there were too many beings around to safely make it to the portal. While they were waiting, they realized that they were spotted, so they had to protect the prisoners. During them protecting the prisoners, they had noticed that Nene seemed to take attacking the Time Conqueror’s very personally. While the attacking by the portal was going on, Dragon and Gryphon had made their way to the command center. After taking out the guards in the room, both of them had come face to face with the person they figured was the being in charge. After they started talking to the person, they found out that the being was the person in charge and that his name was Luthantis. Dragon and Gryphon tried talking to Luthantis, to try and reason with him about stopping the attack on Earth. But after a while, they were realizing that the reasoning was not working. Back on Earth, the Senshi were successful on causing the Time Conqueror’s to withdraw from all the cities they were attacking. Now the Senshi was back in Tokyo, waiting for the Knights to finish their mission. As time past, they were becoming more worried on what was taking the Knights so long to get back. They just stood by and waited, dreading what was going on on the other side of the portal. Back in the room where Dragon and Gryphon were talking with Luthantis, they realized that talking will not work and decided to shift into their armor. Right when Dragon was going to attack, Luthantis had erected a force field around him and they realized that their attacks were not working. Luthantis started laughing at them in their attempts at attacking them. Gryphon started getting angry and decided to do one last attack. “Moment Clever!” Gryphon called out and then attacked Luthantis. Luthantis suddenly was surprised as Gryphon’s attack went right through his force field like a hot knife through butter. The last thing that Luthantis realized was that the attack didn’t just go through his force field, but it went through him also. Once Luthantis fell to the floor dead, the both of them headed to rejoin with the others. When they joined the others, they saw that the others had a little trouble being that they could get any of the prisoners through the portal when all the beings were coming back in through the portal. When Dragon joined up with Wolf, Tiger, and Lion, Wolf explained what their situation was. Dragon look at their situation and looked over at the portal and noticed something about it, it was getting smaller. Dragon pointed that out to Wolf and he nodded in understanding. Both of them realized that the only way to get to the portal was to bulldoze straight through the fleeing beings. So they told the other Knights and they agreed with them. So the ones that hadn’t shifted to their armor, did, and then they started to bulldoze through the fleeing beings and started sending the prisoners back through the portal. Gryphon had gone through the portal and found the Senshi nearby. He quickly filled the Senshi in on what was going on and he and Sailor Pluto went over and used their powers to keep the portal open so that the portal stayed open until the last prisoner came through. A group of the JSDF was nearby and helped herd the prisoners to a safe nearby area. Once the last of the prisoners that were still alive, were ushered to a safe area and the other Knights came through, Gryphon and Pluto released their powers and the portal collapsed. Once they knew the prisoners were safe, the Senshi, Knights, and Nene quickly made their escape before the JSDF could confront them. Once they were far enough away from everyone, Wolf introduced everyone else to Nene and told them of what happened to her world. Sailor Moon told Nene that they would be glad to help her out in whatever they could do. Once everyone was introduced to Nene, they all detransformed. Everyone then started snickering at what Scott and Usagi were wearing. Scott was wearing Chinese robe like garment, while Usagi was wearing a pink Chinese mini-dress. Scott chuckled back at them when he sudden got a sharp pain in his head. The others suddenly became worried at what was happening that they came over to see what was wrong with him. It was then that Scott suddenly got a familiar feeling wash over him that he looked over at Kevin and Makoto and saw that they were also wide-eyed staring at him. Scott suddenly realized what was happening to him, so he shoved the people that were near him and told them to stay away. The ones that Scott shoved were about to go back to him, when Kevin and Makoto yelled at them to stay away. Everyone was surprised at their yelling that they stopped. Scott had used that moment to get far enough away from the group. When everyone looked over at Scott, they then noticed a white mist forming around Scott. Then the mist absorbed itself into Scott and that was when the lightning started. The only one that now didn’t know what was going on was Nene, for the others realized that Scott was receiving a Quickening. After the Quickening ended, everyone rushed over to Scott after he collapsed. “What just happened?” Nene asked confused. “Yeah, what happened? That was a Quickening but Scott hadn’t taken a head.” Hotaru said confused. Nene suddenly was staring at everyone in shocked horror at what she just heard. “If I piece it together, I think Scott has gained his Immortality back.” Kevin replied. “What’s going on?” Nene asked nervously. “We do owe you an explanation if you are going to stay with us.” Scott said tiredly. Nene looked over and saw that Scott was being held up by several people. “But at the moment, I am to out of it to explain, so I’m going to let Kevin and the others explain Immortality to you while we head back to Kevin’s place.” So everyone started filling in the history of the Senshi and Immortality to Nene as they made their way to Kevin’s penthouse. EPILOGE It’s been one week after the fight with the Time Conqueror’s was over, and Scott had arranged a dinner for everyone at the Nekohatten. Everyone was glad that the latest battle was over, that they realized that they almost didn’t win it. The two that were the happiest were Scott and Usagi. They had realized how close they came from ‘Ceasing to exist’. Both of them, especially, were glad that the mushrooms that Cologne had worked. During that week, several things had gone on. One of them being Sasami returning from her Rites of Passage. She was very happy that she was back with Scott and the others, she didn’t mind being back on Jurai, but she had made friends on Earth. With her Rites of being officially being considered an adult to Jurai eyes, she had asked to return back to Earth. After she had returned, she had found out what had happened recently. She was upset that she couldn’t have helped out and she was surprised at what had happened to Scott and Usagi. Scott told her it was no problem for her to be concerned with and told her it was in the past now. She didn’t like how Scott was dealing with it, but she knew he was right, it was in the past. She then was asked if she wanted to join the others at the dinner party, she was reluctant, but when Chibi-Usa and Hotaru asked her, she agreed. Another matter was the return of Usagi’s father and brother. They were supposed to have returned on time, but due to the Attack of the Time Conqueror’s, their return was delayed. Before they returned, Usagi and Chibi-Usa had a talk with Ikuko on what they were going to do about what Ikuko found out recently. After a long talk into the evening, Ikuko agreed not to tell her husband or son about what she had learned until it was deem necessary to do so. Usagi and Chibi-Usa agreed with the terms that they had made. During times where Chibi-Usa was alone with Ikuko, she could call her grandmother. They all had a good time before they went to bed that night. After the battle was over, Kiersten had pulled Scott off to the side and told him what he had done with Hotaru when he was a toddler. Kiersten chuckled at his expression and walked off. So Scott had decided to set up the dinner at the Nekohatten to thank Cologne for her help. Everyone was gathered at the Nekohatten except Kevin and Makoto. They had volunteered to drop Nene off with Washu. When they did arrive, Scott asked them if anything was wrong, since they were late. “No, traffic was a little hectic getting back to Tokyo.” Kevin replied. “How is Nene handling it?” Scott asked. “She seems to handling what happened to her okay.” Kevin said. “How did she like living at the Misaki shrine?” Sasami asked. “Oh, she and Washu hit it right off, they are good friends now.” Makoto replied. “It’s the least we could do for her.” Scott said. At that point, Cologne and Shampoo brought out the dinner. “Thank you for your help.” Usagi said to Cologne. “Don’t worry about it child, I did owe Scott a favor, correct.” Cologne said and then faced Scott. “Yes.” Scott said. “So the debt is paid?” Cologne asked. “Yes.” Scott replied. “What debt?” Everyone wanted to know. “A debt to her family, and I’ll leave it at that.” Scott said and everyone knew they wouldn’t get anything more of it from him. After they were done eating, Scott and Usagi had gotten a gift for Chibi-Usa and Hotaru. Scott handed Hotaru a box and Usagi handed Chibi-Usa a similar box. Both of them opened the boxes to reveal Chinese silk dresses. Hotaru’s dress was purple and had black embroidered fireflies on it. Chibi-Usa’s dress was pink with white embroidered bunnies. Hotaru and Chibi-Usa wondered why they got the dresses, and Scott and Usagi told them they were because they were thanking them for babysitting them, especially when they were bathing them. Hotaru saw the look Scott was giving her and she realized what Scott was referring too. She started blushing hotly and Scott smiled at her. Kiersten then handed Scott and Usagi a photo album each. They looked inside them and saw it was filled with pictures of when they were toddlers. The pictures were of different poses of Scott and Usagi, with Hotaru, Chibi-Usa, Kiersten, and Miyuki in some of them. Scott and Usagi thanked them for the albums and they let the others see the pictures. When everything was done, they thanked Cologne and Shampoo for the lovely meal and they started for home. As the last of them left the Nekohatten, none of them noticed a person step out of the shadows and smiled as the last car left. “Soon everything will be set.” The person said and then turned and left.