-->PLEASE READ THIS<--
This story is a SERIES. That means there 
are more chapters that come before this one.
You can start with these chapters, but I will
promise you will be confused.
The series in order goes as follows;
Don't Let Me Go: Broken Promises
Don't Let Me Go: Insanity
Don't Let Me Go: Roses
Don't Let Me Go: Apparition
Don't Let Me Go: Debauchery
Don't Let Me Go: Analogous
Don't Let Me Go: Barrage
I hope this doesn't make everyone
go screaming and not read my fic ::sniff::
I promise the first couple of Main titles
are not that long ^^

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't Let Me Go: Barrage
Chapter: 1
By: Bethany and Patch
Rated: PG 13
Editor: Meara
Send your commetns, suggestions,
etc. to us at Patchkhan1@hotmail.com
and Bethany212@aol.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Bright torches barely lit up the large, 
hollow walk way. The eerie glow of orange flames 
danced against the ceiling, and on the faces of 
four frightened Senshi.

	Sailor Saturn turned on her heel, glaive in 
hand.  "Who's there?" she demanded. Her eyes 
narrowed and her mind repeated her attack's words 
over and over in her head, ready to spill from her 
mouth, should the need arise.

	The response was an exhalation of breath and 
a small giggle. "Hotaru-chan?" Slowly the figure 
came into the light and all four Senshi gasped.

	"Minako-chan?!" Sailor Moon rushed forward, 
but was stopped by Mika's hand going out and pressing 
softly, but firmly, against her shoulder. 

	"No Sailor Moon, it could be another clone," 
she whispered.

	"She is not a clone." The new voice was soft, 
but with a quiet authority that sounded as if she 
had once known great respect. Again, out of the shadows, 
a figure emerged. She was tall, but not overwhelmingly 
so - as the tall Senshi of Jupiter usually was. The 
torch cast a glow over her, showing greenish highlights 
with gray mixed in at her temples and streaked throughout 
her mass of long hair. Soft hazel eyes, with wisdom buried 
in their depths, found and locked with Mika's. "This is 
the true Leader of the Royal Court of Princess Serenity, 
Princess Venus."  

	Minako instantly straightened as her full title was 
spoken.  A pride that was hers long ago making her stand 
taller and prouder. Sailor Moon broke away from Mika's 
grip and rushed over - hugging Minako tightly. 

	Michiru gave a small smile before turning back to 
the old woman. She blinked once, her eyes growing larger.  
"Where did she go? Who was she?" 

	Minako hugged Usagi back tightly before regaining 
her composure. "That was Koboe.  She helped me regain my 
energy and come to help you."

	"But why?" Mika questioned, doubts floating through 
her mind as she too searched the hall for the woman who 
had disappeared.

	"We have to find the others, I'll explain on the 
way," Minako went over to help Mika carry Uranus.  As 
the five started, once more down the hall, Minako explained 
how the Mother of Time fit in with everything that had 
happened over the last couple of years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	The God Chronos walked into the dark room, his 
eyes holding a light of insane eagerness that bordered 
on a line somewhere near bloodlust. His remaining victim 
remained chained to the wall, head hanging limply. 
Everyone else had been used, the clones had been made 
and everything was working according to plan. Now this 
man was the only one left.

	"Ah, the famous Earth Prince, know to so many to 
be so strong and so bold, hanging like a weakling on my 
walls!" He let out a harsh laugh at the irony of it. He 
would soon achieve his goal... it was so close.

	He slapped Mamoru across the face a few times.  
"Open your eyes Earth Prince, I want you to be wide 
awake for this."

	Mamoru slowly opened his eyes and groaned, feeling 
completely disoriented. He lifted his head slightly, 
groaning again at the sharp pain in his neck.   His eyes 
focused on the figure in front of him and he inhaled 
sharply as his vision cleared.

	"You!" he whispered harshly. "I know you from 
somewhere.  Who are you? What do you want?"

	"Ah, Earth Prince, don't you know that curiosity 
killed the cat? Be patient and you will get your 
answers in due time." He smiled, enraging Mamoru.

	"Bastard! What have you done with the others?"

	"They are in good hands. You will join them soon 
Earth Prince," he hesitated for a moment and his smile 
turned almost feral. "Actually we can begin right now."

	"Nani? What are you going to do?"

	"You'll see Earth Prince." Chronos stretched out 
his hand towards Mamoru's head, his eyes gleaming.

	Mamoru tried to avoid Chronos' hand, turning his 
head back and forth. But it was to no avail. He felt 
his hand touch the skin of his forehead and in the next 
instant, felt an incredible rush of energy surge through 
him.

	The intensity of it became so great, it turned 
painful and Mamoru closed his eyes and gritted his 
teeth against screaming out loud. He heard Chronos' 
laughter, a mocking sound that he tried to block out. 

	The pressure became too intense and as hard as 
Mamoru tried he could not stop the hoarse cry that 
tore from his throat.

~~~~~~~~

	Usagi suddenly felt a sharp pain at the back 
of her head and fell to her knees. She grabbed her 
head and hunched over, stopping the scream that 
threatened to erupt from her.

	"Sailor Moon!" The Senshi surrounded her, fear 
written on their faces. They could not lose their 
leader... their savior. Not now, not ever.

	"Usagi-chan, are you okay? Say something!" 
Mika urged, kneeling next to her.

	Usagi could not say anything for a few moments.  
It was as though her brain had been frozen as 
tumultuous emotions rocked within her. 

	"Mamo-chan," she whispered, tears escaping her 
eyes.  "He's in pain, I can feel him and I can't help 
him!" she cried. She now knew what he felt whenever 
she transformed or got injured in a fight. But Kami, 
this felt so much worse!

	"Usagi-chan, don't give up hope," Minako began, 
putting an arm around her. "We now know that we have 
an ally, she helped me and I know she'll protect 
Mamoru-san."

~~~~~~~~

	Chronos was enjoying this show of pain and torture 
but something else struck him as wrong. He knew something 
was missing, he should have had it by now... what was going 
on?

	"Where is your Golden Crystal, Earth Prince?" he 
hissed.

	Through the haze of pain, Mamoru heard Chronos' 
voice but refused to acknowledge. The fool didn't 
deserve even that. Instead he concentrated on his and 
Usagi's link. He was awake now and he used his entire 
being to focus in on Usagi so that maybe there would be 
a chance in her finding him.

	"Damn you, where is the Golden Crystal?!" Panic 
laced Chronos' voice. This weakling had to have the 
Crystal. If it were destroyed then the Prince wouldn't 
be alive. "No! I must have the Crystal! What have you 
done with it, boy?" Chronos increased the energy flow 
and Mamoru was forced to cry out again as the shock 
took hold of him.

	Finally Chronos snatched his hand away and took 
a step back, fury emanating from him. "It is not possible! 
You must have the Crystal. No one could have taken it... 
no one!" He thrust out his hands and would have ended the 
Prince's life right there until a thought occurred to him.

	Of course... he knew who had taken it. The anger 
within him curled up again at the thought of the person 
who had snatched his goal just when it was in reach. A 
snarl left his throat and he whirled around, walking out 
of the room and completely forgetting Mamoru. His thoughts 
were now on this person, the one whose life he'd make 
miserable. He would make her pay.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	Black and empty. Those were the eyes that stared 
at the clones of Jupiter, Mars and Mercury. Slowly the 
Senshi of Pluto, brainwashed by her father, walked back 
and forth in front of her audience.

	"They are here and we must find and destroy them. 
I want Sailor Moon alive. We must have the Silver Crystal 
that she holds to finish our mission."

	"Which is...?" Jupiter asked. She ran her hands 
over the tight green body suit and made a face of disgust. 
It was tight in one too many places and she wondered, 
not for the first time, why they couldn't just wear the 
fuku's that the Senshi did. 

	"To take over the universe you idoit!" Pluto 
bellowed, her face angry.  

	A small, fat man came into the room. His face and 
body was covered in open wounds and blood dripped from 
his eyes and lips.m "Excuse me, I have news."

	Pluto turned on her heel and glared at the sight 
before her.  "Richie, what do *you* want?"

	"Twentyth Century Tokyo is almost ready and the 
Senshi are in wing three.  There are five of them."

	"Five?" Pluto repeated, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. 
"They must have help... but who?" She quickly dismissed the 
thought with a wave of her hand and continued. "No matter, 
they can be easily disposed of. Jupiter, Mars - take wing 
three and capture the Senshi at once. Mercury, come with me. 
We have to oversee the Earth side of this."

	As the Senshi clones and Richie left the room, a 
woman came from the shadows and removed the hood from 
her head. "My daughter, what has he done to you?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	"Empty again." Hotaru again rested her glaive at her 
side and closed the thick door. "How many rooms does this 
place have?"  

	"It feels endless, ne?" Usagi commented. They moved 
down to the next set of doors. Hotaru turned and opened it. 
She looked back out with a delighted smile on her face.

	"Hurry! I found Haruka!" 

	The five Senshi rushed in the room and quietly closed 
the door behind them. Just beyond the door the hall way came 
to an end. Around the corner two clones turned and started 
down wing three. "Check every room, they must be here 
somewhere," Mars said, opening doors.  

	Inside the room, Michiru ran to the wall where the 
body of Haruka was bound up by her hands and feet. "Haruka, 
Haruka wake up!"  she whispered, using a hair pin to undo 
the chains holding her up.

	Mika helped Michiru lay Haruka's cold body on the floor 
and Usagi and Minako brought the clone over to lay on top 
of its origonal.

	"Voices, we must hurry!" Hotaru advised from the door, 
holding her glaive up. She bit on her bottom lip as the 
energy clone rejoined Haruka's body. It was taking longer 
than expected, or perhaps it was merely her imagination. 
Hotaru smiled as she remembed Michiru once telling her 
'A watched pot never boils'. Instictively, she removed her 
eyes from Haruka's body and concentrated on the door she 
was guarding.

~~

	She looked over, one lap to go and someone was on 
her bumper.  No time to lose, she would have to floor it 
and hope she made the curve.  

	With timed movements, Haruka pressed harder on the 
gas petal and glanced in her rear view. "Dammit!" she 
cursed. "How is he keeping up?"

	Refusing to believe someone was a better driver 
than herself, she moved closer to the bend and pressed 
harder on the gas petal.

	The sounds of cheering filled her head, she wanted 
that medal so bad. She could taste blood in her mouth 
where she bit her lip in concentration. 

	Finally the finish line was in sight. She glanced 
once more in her mirror and blinked hard. "Where the hell 
is he?!" 

	Suddenly the car swerved and she felt the jar of 
impact as her car slid towards the wall. The opposite car 
was against her passenger side, causing her to crash. Any 
moment the car would burst into flames....

	Any moment it would all be over. As the flames blew 
up around her, the car passed over the finish line.

~~

	"Haruka! Haruka, please! Wake up!" Michiru begged. 
The energy clone had joined with her body, but still 
nothing. Tears slipped down Michiru's face. "You can't 
die!! YOU CAN'T!" 

	Sailor Moon stood just to the left, her face crumbled 
up in disbelief. This wasn't supposed to happen! She felt 
a sob deep in her throat. "No," she croaked. In response to 
her heart ache, the crystal on her chest rose from it's 
broach and a pure white light filled the room. 

	Across the room Hotaru put her weight against the 
door and placed her glaive through the handles as Mars 
and Jupiter beat on the opposite side. She wasn't sure 
how long she could hold them off.  She just hoped it was 
long enough.

	Mika, Michiru and Minako covered their eyes from 
the blinding light. When if finally died down, there 
was a small moan from Usagi's throat as she fell to the 
floor - dressed in her Princess gown.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

	"... residents are advised to stay in doors until 
the government can control the youma's destroying the 
city. At this hour the Senshi are still missing, authorities 
suspect that they may already be dea--"

	Kenji flicked the television off and threw the control.  
"That's bull, they are not... they are alive." His eyes looked 
the room over. Ikuko sat on the couch, her eyes wide and 
unblinking.

	The silence almost became deafening. Just as Kenji 
moved to reassure his wife, again, there was a small scratch 
on the door. At first it was so faint that neither was sure 
they actually heard it, until it came again.

	Shingo left the bottom of the stairs, where he had 
been sitting, and opened the door. Three felines came in; 
one black, one white, and one calico.

	"Luna, have you heard anything?" Ikuko asked immediately, 
trying to ward off the weird feeling that came with speaking 
to a cat and expecting it to answer you.  

	"Gomen nasai Tsukino-san, I have not," Luna replied 
and padded into the living room. She jumped on the arm of 
the couch and sat straight, her tail curving around her feet 
regally. Artemis sat in the floor beneath her and directed 
his attention to Kenji. 

	"Has the news had anything of interest to say?"

	"No," Kenji sighed. "They say that they are... but 
they aren't.  I know they are alive."

	"Two weeks," Ikuko cried, her tears returning once 
more.  "They have been gone so long."

	The brown, black and white cat sat at Ikuko's feet 
and purred reassuringly. "They have help.  We were 
contacted by someone who, I'm sure, is helping them. And 
according to the data we recieved from the portal they 
used, they are in a temporal nexus." 

	"Which means..?" Kenji waved his hand in front of 
his face, indicating he knew nothing of their 'time portals'.

	Luna picked up, noting Lynn probably had no idea 
how to explain what she was trying to say. "There is a 
place, where time stands still. That is all I can tell 
you of that.  As far as Usagi can tell, she has been 
gone no more than a couple of hours, at the most. Although 
to us, it has been weeks."

	"Time stands still," Ikuko whispered. "There is so 
much of our world we know nothing about. Man thought he 
knew this world we live in so well, when actually - we 
know next to nothing." 

	Luna and Artemis nodded in agreement. 

	The pounding of feet above them caused both humans 
and feline to look heavenward. Kenji rose from his seat.  
"I need to speak to Shingo."

	"Are you hungry?" Ikuko also rose from her seat. "I 
believe we may have some cat food in the kitchen."

	"If you don't mind," Artemis replied, following her 
into the kitchen. "I would like some fish and chips."

	For the first time in two weeks, Luna and Lynn broke 
a smile as they, too, headed for the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-End Chapter 1.

Eek! Sorry there is only one chapter out this week minna-san,
I got really busy ^^;; 
As always HUGE thanks to everyone who emails us and oc course
we must bow down to Meara, the master of editing skills ^_~

Email! Email!! Email!!
<3 Bethany and Patch
Bethany212@aol.com and Patchkhan1@hotmail.com
http://anime.at/bethsere