Chapter: 11 Title: The Golden General Authors: Auston and Jade Email addys: Auston - DmacIn@Neptune.on.ca Jade - tnag@lightspeed.bc.ca --------------------------------------------------------------------- 11# Austin Jade This is me again!! Auston, If you have any comments, questions, flames please either send it to me or Jade, we would love to hear from you!! Hello to Kathryn, Joel, Anita and too you too! HELLO!! Well thats it for the authors note, so lets get on with the story, Oh yes one more thing I finally got my homepage up so if anyone is interested it is at http://www. neptune.on.ca/~dmacin this story isn't up yet but I hope it will be soon. K now that is it you can read on now if you like! *Jade peeks around a corner* "It's about time! Our authors notes just seem to be getting longer and longer! And before you say it, I know this little interuption isn't helping with that so don't worry, I'm going, I'm going! And to all those reading this, please ignore me right now. Read the story, not the notes." ^_^ ------------------------------------------------------------ Kunzite was sleeping in his bedroom, having troubled dreams of his Zoisite dead. Dreams, ha! If you could call them that. They felt a whole lot more like nightmares than dreams, but at least he didn't wake up screaming like he had the first two times these so called *dreams* had roused him from his sleep. And the worst of it was, these weren't just dreams or nightmares, they were memories, and a reality, because Zoisite was dead, nothing could change that. Nothing. And Kunzite knew it. And the only thing that *kept* him from waking up screaming each time a new nightmare broke into his sleep was the fact that he also dreamed of Crystal with each one. He knew her real name now, Serena. He had heard it being used in the argument with Darien, the one she had called Tuxedo Mask. He didn't know what her reaction would be if he told her that he knew all about her and he didn't want to find out. She could be rather violent at times, especially when she was angry. So he still called her Crystal. Some how he liked that name better than Serena; maybe that name reminded him of Sailor Moon which she was not anymore. The first few times he *had* woken up screaming Crystal had immediately come to his side, soothing and comforting him, and he had been grateful for her presence. He didn't think he could have survived if she wasn't there for him. He awoke to a demanding voice echoing in his head. It was his Queen. Queen Beryl, demanding for him to come to her. He thought grimly. But no one should disobey the Queen's orders, he was damn tired of that. He got out of his bed and straightened his clothes before he used his dark powers to teleport him to his Queen's throne room. Crystal had told him that she would tell the Queen about Zoisites after he had stopped crying. He hadn't wanted to face Beryl at the time so he accepted her suggestion by taking a nap and letting her worry about his problems. He shouldn't have, she was just as out of shape as he was now. In a flash he was there, standing beside Crystal in the throne room with Beryl. He looked at Crystal worriedly, checking her over for any signs that she had been punished or anything like that, but she had not, although she did look bone tired. She looked at him but said nothing, just simply nodded reasuringly. "I have heard the bad news Kunzite, from Crystal. It's is a shame, a real shame. But we can not do anything about it. We are in a war, and that is what happens in a war. People die." She told him with no apparent warmth in her voice. Kunzite just bowed his head down. Anger flashed through his eyes and he made sure he directed his gaze to the ground. "Crystal, I want you to leave, I have a few things to say to General Kunzite. Alone." Queen Beryl ordered. Crystal looked up at the Queen for a moment with blank eyes before she stood up straight and then bowed. "Yes, Queen Beryl." Crystal said in response looking at Kunzite with his head bowed. She could tell that he was angry and she wanted to help him before he did anything.... foolish. But now was not the time. With Beryl looking at her expectantly, she flicked her fingers up quickly and was gone; leaving Beryl alone with Kunzite as was her request. "I have something to say to you Kunzite that is very serious." Kunzite looked up at the Queen who he loathed the sight of, but he made sure to hide his feelings well before looking at her. "What is it, Queen Beryl." He asked, despite himself, he was curious. ______________________ Crystal was worried sick for Kunzite. Were the questions running round and round in her head as she paced about Kunzite's room in a near frenzy of panic. She didn't know what the queen wanted with Kunzite, but she knew that Beryl was not to be trusted, not in anything, and she couldn't help but wonder if Kunzite were being disiplined or something like that. She'd kill Beryl if she hurt him in any way! Forget about the fact that she wasn't in her best condition right now, she'd kill that idiot queen without a second thought if she even..... Her thoughts were cut short when Kunzite suddenly appeared next to her, a little pale, but none the worse for wear. Crystal could still feel anger coming from him, but he was holding it in check, keeping it under lock and key, and Crystal was worried about that. She knew that if you kept feelings locked up inside you, stowed away, without ever showing them at all they just kept building and building until they exploded and Crystal wasn't sure she wanted to be around when Kunzite lost control. But she kept her peace. Why push when he had everything under wraps.... for now. She knew she'd have to talk to him about it later, but right now she had more important things to worry about. "Kunzite? What happened? What did the queen want? Are you alright? She didn't hurt you did she?" And she kept piling on the questions and despite the seriousness of the situation Kunzite laughed when Crystal began fumbling for words because she was firing questions at him so fast. His deep velvety laughter surprised Crystal. She'd never heard him laugh like that before... so light and care free. She decided she liked the sound of it and joined in on his laughter after staring at him in surprise for a few moments. "So," she asked when both of them finally got over their fit of humor. "What *did* happen in there?" Kunzite took a moment in answering, sobering up quickly as they moved on to more important matters. "Beryl introduced me to a new adition to the Nega- verse today. This new... *person* is very powerful, very strong... and he doesn't come from this solar system. His powers are incredible. I think he might even be able to rival you in magic if you two ever fought." His face got dark at the thought of her fighting the... *creature* he'd seen in Beryl's throne room and he quickly wiped the shadowed look from his face before Crystal noticed. He continued before she could fully react to this surprising news of a new visitor to the Nega-verse or the fact that there really was life outside Earth. He knew what he had to say next would wipe all thoughts of what had gone on behind closed doors from her mind. "And Beryl also wants us to stage another attack on the sailor scouts. She doesn't want us to defeat them this time for some reason, but she wants us to drain them... to wear them down." He watched with a small pang of sadness Crystal's face seemed to fall at the mention of having to fight her former friends again but she simply nodded after a few moments, wiping the downcast look from her face as best she could and Kunzite smiled at her, trying to cheer her up and she gave him a tenuous smile back before turning around and sitting in one of the chairs Kunzite kept in his room. "So," She began, trying hard not to think about what her betrayal was probably doing to the scouts. "What's the plan?" _____________________ What the *plan* was, was almost exactly what they'd done before, only..... there was only two of them this time. Crystal did her best to steer Kunzite's thoughts away from that fact, but his silver eyes still seemed to take on an abstract kind of sadness even as she spoke to him of what they were going to do. This sadness in his eyes..... it was one that seemed to occupy most, but not all of his mind. Crystal knew that type of sadness well. Everytime she went with Kunzite to fight the scouts she could feel it. Pulling at her and struggling to surface from a far corner of her mind that she thought she'd buried when she first joined the Nega-verse. But no, it was still there. It still bothered her. It was almost like a conscience, only much worse. Because in this part of her mind her affection for her friends and her love for Tuxedo Mask resided, and she could feel those feelings trying to break through when ever she attacked any of them. She cared for them, yes that was true, but she reminded herself that it was them who'd drove her to join the Nega-verse in the first place, what with their constant teasing and criticism toward her abilities, and they'd killed Zoisite who hadn't really been a friend of hers, but his death had caused Kunzite great pain and that thought strengthened her resolve slightly. She hadn't been able to take there abuse before, and it was because of *them* that she was in this as far as she was already..... so it was their fault..... But that fact however did little to comfort her although it strengthened her resolve even more. But she couldn't help but feel some remorse at what she was going to do. She'd had a choice, and she'd chose evil. Now, because of that choice, she had to deal with the situation as best she could. Without Tuxedo Mask, without the scouts, without Luna.... but *with* Kunzite. And that alone made her feel better. And now, it was time to fight again. It was time to face the scouts yet again, and watch as they were slowly drained.... until they would be too weak to fight her, and she would have to kill them. That was what it all came down to. Their deaths. And Crystal knew that when they died, she would not feel joy or pleasure as so many Nega-verse denizens would. She would feel nothing but sorrow and misery, because when they died she would lose everything. She would be truely alone except for Kunzite...... and she would know that she had *chosen* things to be this way. Kunzite nodded to her and Crystal nodded back, telling him that she was ready to go when she wasn't ready in the least to commit the act she had been ordered to. But she had no choice, and so, with a sinking heart, Crystal stepped into a dark potal with Kunzite, holding his hand, and disappeared quickly, not noticing the dark eyes watching her from the corner as they laughed and smiled evily, knowing that soon, very soon, Crystal's soul would belong to them.... and then they would take over the Earth and enslave this pitiful planet. The girl couldn't hold them off forever. Yes, soon... they would have everything they'd ever wanted. ____________________ The scouts had all gathered at the temple again, including the cats and Darien, for their second meeting since the fight that had killed Zoisite. Mars still felt remorse for his death, but she managed to hide most of it and what little got through was of little concern. The scouts were trying their best to work together easily, but it was very hard with the thought of Serena's, ahem, *Crystal's* betrayal, and no matter how hard they concentrated on other things, they still couldn't help but think about Serena. She had been their leader and friend after all. Now they were all quietly discussing sailor matters, gathered around the table in the fire room, when suddenly Rei stopped talking in mid-sentence and doubled over, groaning as a strong feeling of evil invaded her system. As the other scouts moved towards her, concern masking their features she shook her head and whispered, "She's here." The others immediately went on the alert. All of them jumped to their feet and dropped into fighting positions, looking up and down, left and right, and all around. They could see no sign of her and when no attacks came their way they all relaxed slightly and turned back to Rei to ask what she was talking about when suddenly a very familiar voice echoed around the room. "You guys really are pathetic, you know that?" They barely had time to turn before they felt a wave of black energy crash into them from behind and Darien, the cats, Mina and Lita all went flying, catching Mars in the throng and bringing her with them as they all crashed into the far wall. They all shook their heads, trying to get rid of the suddenly apparent pain, and as they did two figures appeared before them, floating a few feet off the ground and they all looked up slowly, knowing what they would see and fearing it.... and sure enough, there was Crystal and Kunzite, neither gloating, neither smiling, but hatred burning in both their eyes. "Serena...." Luna whispered, extreme sadness lurking in her eyes as she stared at her former charge. Crystal shook her head, keeping her eyes on the scouts as she answer in a voice masked and carefully controlled. "No. Not Serena. I am Crystal now, one of the two remaining generals of the Nega-verse. There used to be three of us.... but you took care of that, didn't you?" This last bit was directed at the scouts and they all looked down in shame. They hadn't meant to kill Zoisite. It had been an accident.... It hadn't been intended. They could feel Crystal's eyes boring into them and lowered their heads even more. Darien finally broke the stretching silence that had descended upon the group. He knew that the longer no one said anything the worse things were going to get. "Look Ser- uh, Crystal, we didn't *mean* to hurt Zoisite. Kunzite would have been able to shield himself. The blast was meant for him, Zoisite just got in the way and-" He was cut off when Kunzite suddenly stepped forward, eyes blazing, and dark power surfacing in palpable waves around him. Kunzite thought it a rage. Crystal stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and a few whispered words in his ear. Kunzite contented himself with glaring balefully at each and every person on the floor, cats included. Crystal stepped in front of him and spoke to the scouts this time. "I told you last time we met scouts that I would show you no mercy, and I will not, so get up now and fight me.... while you can." The scouts were startled. She was giving them a chance at fair combat, no surprise attacks beyond the first one. Was this some sort of trick? But no, they could see in her eyes that she was being honest, in this matter at least. Yes there was something in her eyes that seemed to be sincere, and true to her words. It was almost as if she.. *wanted* them to get up and fight... while they still could? Suddenly Rei seemed to understand, at least part of what was going on. While they still could? Did that mean that soon they wouldn't be able to? Did that mean that soon Crystal would.... kill them? Suddenly Rei felt sick to her stomach again but managed to get to her feet slowly and then transform, keeping her eyes on Crystal every second she could. Crystal really looked sorry. Almost as though... she didn't want to hurt them at all, despite what they'd done. Darien and the others followed her example and tranformed into their alter egos. Crystal and Kunzite glanced at each other a moment, hatred and love waring in Crystal's eyes, and hatred for the scouts and love for *her* alone waring in Kunzite's eyes. Then both of them turned to their oponents and let loose a barrage of energy that would have knocked an elephant out. The scouts were not prepared for it. Mars and Tuxedo Mask managed to dodge the attack quickly and completely... but they were the only ones. Venus and Jupiter were both hit partially by it and the cats were hit fully. Luna and Artemis hit the floor without a word and Jupiter and Venus were thrown into the wall a second time, this time more brutally. Venus though woozily and attempted to gain her footing while Mars called upon her powers and sent her attack at Kunzite and Crystal. Neither moved and it would have hit them both dead on.... had it not been for the shield surrounding them. Mars cursed as her fire dissipated before it even got within two or three feet of where Kunzite and Crystal were standing. Venus, who had finally managed to stand up shakily pointed her finger at Crystal and shouted, "Crescent Beam!" The beam hit the shield and surprisingly only seemed to add strength to it. Venus immediately stopped her attack as soon as she saw this. It was almost like the shield was feeding off the energy they were giving it, and if that were true then they shouldn't attack it, but.... then what was there they could do? That question was answered when Kunzite suddenly gave a cry of pain and pitched forward, barely staying on his feet as he groped blindly for something between his shoulder blades, on his back. Crystal immediately went to his side, a concerned, nearly paniced look on her face, and something shot past her vision and struck the floor right where she'd been standing scant moments before. She glanced at it. A rose. Venus thought, noticing how Tuxedo Mask's roses had sliced through the shield like nothing. Meanwhile Kunzite had found the rose that had hit him in the back and was trying to remove it, but pain lanced through his spine and upper back whenever he pulled on it. Crystal stayed his hands as they tried to pull the rose out and then she carefully placed her fingers on the stem of the rose and allowed a carefully measured amount of energy to hit the rose. It disintegrated instantly and Kunzite sagged minutely as the pain in his back subsided somewhat. Crystal placed a hand over the wound and it immediately healed. Kunzite straightened and gave her a short smile of gratitude before they both turned back to the scouts..... only to see that they weren't there. Crystal anticipated what they were going to do before Kunzite did and grabbed his hand quickly, before an attack could hit them, and teleported them to the temple rafters. As expected, the attack that had been coming at them from behind passed right benath them now. They both looked down at the confused scouts and then smiled grimly. The scouts had attempted to hit them from behind. Dirty fighting... and now it was their turn. The scouts had no idea where Kunzite and Crystal had gone. One minute they'd been standing in front of them, and now they were no where in sight. The attack hadn't been powerful enough to kill them... so where were they? They got their answer when all of them felt and saw a blue pulse of energy come at them from above. This time no one had time to dodge fully. They all *tried* to get out of the way.... but the attack was coming too fast and it hit them all dead on. Venus and Jupiter who were already hurt barely managed to stay on their feet under the attack and Mars and Tuxedo Mask had to fight not to stagger at ther sheer energy in this attack held. Crystal and Kunzite floated down from where they'd been standing and Kunzite chuckled quietly at the scouts predicament. Now they were getting somewhere. Soon they'd be able to leave. The scouts were nearly beaten, and Crystal and Kunzite, though not injured or drained very much, wanted to get back to the Nega-verse to wait for another battle to face the scouts. No need to stay longer than needed. Suddenly Mars whispered something under her breath and jumped forward at blinding speed, surprising the scouts and Kunzite, but Crystal knew what she was going to do. She knew the positions and the words well enough. Mars pulled out a scroll and powered it up quickly, calling out to her planets powers before throwing the scroll at Crystal's forhead, hoping to stun her long enough to get a decent hit in... but Crystal merely smiled at the scroll neared and her eyes widened and flashed minutely for just a moment, and the scroll suddenly turned to ash before the scouts surprised eyes. Mars looked shocked. "No.." She sputtered. "That's not possible...." Crystal just smiled at her smugly. She pulled out a second scroll and powered this one up as well, getting ready to throw it... but suddenly she couldn't move. Her hand froze in midair, just as she was moving forward to throw it, and her feet felt as though they'd been glued to the ground. She simply couldn't move. Crystal smiled at her again and she realized that it was her doing. That she couldn't move because Crystal was stopping her. She tried mightily to move her feet, even inch them forward just slightly... but she couldn't move a millimeter. She was just stuck. Crystal walked up to her slowly, taking her time, and Mars suddenly realized that the others were stuck as well. No one could move but Kunzite and Crystal, and that meant serious trouble for the scouts. But Crystal didn't attack the others. She just slowly continued to walk up to Mars until the two of them were face to face. Then she narrowed her eyes and smiled dangerously, looking Mars straight in the eyes as she did. Rei could see that there was a noticable sadness in her eyes, but anger and hate were there as well and Rei couldn't see beyond those two emotions. Crystal's smile widened slightly and the sadness left her eyes, leaving only after images of it. "Are you stuck?" She asked mockingly, making Mars's eyes darken with anger of her own. But Crystal surprised her by saying, "Here. Let me help you." Then, not to Mars's complete surprise, she raised her hand and blasted her right into the temple doorway. Mars was knocked out cold as her head contacted the door frame and she hit the floor with a resounding THUD. Concern flashed through Crystal's eyes for a brief moment, but then disappeared quickly, leaving her face grim and dark. Mars would be fine. She could feel it. She turned back around and returned to Kunzite's side, releasing the immobility spell she'd woven over the scouts. They all suddenly pitched forward and Crystal and Kunzite laughed as they attempted to untangle themselves from each other. Then they both disappeared, relieved that they could report a job well done and wondering what would happen at their next encounter with the scouts. Actually, they both pretty much knew what would happen, but Crystal didn't want to accept it, and Kunzite didn't want to upset her, so they both kept quiet. They'd just have to see how things went. After they were gone Venus and Jupiter stumbled over and checked on Mars. Except for a large bump on the head she was fine, and the two of them weren't seriously injured in any way. The cats were unconscious, nothing more, and Tuxedo Mask was in the best condition of them all. They were all drained and battered, but other than that there was nothing wrong with them and all those who were awake wondered why Kunzite and Crystal hadn't just finished them off then and been done with it. But... this was no time to think of such things. Now was the time to tend to their wounds and worry about things like that when they were done. And because everyone was so busy being unconscious or tending to themselves or those who were unconscious no one noticed the movement coming from the room off to the left of the fire room. ___________________ Darkness, darkness, sounds that was all she heard and saw. She felt like she was swimming in a dark pool, one with no moonlight, no reflections. Nothing, but a dark surface that showed her nothing, and so there was no light. None at all. But then she saw a light coming threw the darkness. Something glinting, something shimmering. She felt fear, and it only increased as a lady walked through the light, out of the darkness, where a reflection should have stared back at her if she had been looking in a real pool. She realized that the lady was speaking silently for her to wake up, telling her to do so, and slowly the darkness was beginning to fade. Ami tried to speak to her, tried to ask her what was going on, what was happening, but she couldn't... the lady wouldn't let her. Her eyes fluttered open and was amazed at what she saw. People fighting. She wondered. <*What is the use of fighting? I don't like it!> She couldn't make out the faces of the figures fighting right now, but she could easily see that on one side of the room there was four figures fighting off two obviously stronger oponents. She shrugged. Why worry about it when it didn't concern her? She decided to try to be brave and use her legs. She felt weak and disoriented, but strong enough to walk. But her muscles were like jelly and though she thought she may be strong enough to stand, she wasn't sure. She sat up slowly and put one foot on the floor. When that seemed all right she put the other foot on the floor and then stood up. She didn't fall, she didn't stumble. She was fine. She thought happily to herself. She looked around for a door or anything. She found a door near the far left wall and walked out, leaving the fools to fight over whatever they where fighting over. Leaving them to themselves. __________________ Sailor Mars could feel that something was utterly wrong.. besides *her* and the scouts. She looked around desperately trying to find out what this odd fealing meant when she suddenly realized it and went totally white, her injuries looking even worse than before on her suddenly colorless skin. Jupiter had woken her minutes before. She'd had a righteous headache and still did, but when she noticed what was wrong, other than the fact that all four of them had lost a fight, she ignored the throbbing in her head and nearly panicked. "Hey, you guys!" Mars called, startling the others. "What's up Mars?" asked Sailor Jupiter who was getting up as if to go over to her... perhaps Mars had hit her head harder than she'd thought. "Guys, Sailor Mercury is gone." They all froze, shock and concern being mirrored over every one's faces and Sailor Venus quickly ran to where Mercury had been laying, in the next room, peaking in the room to confirm Mars's statement, and when she was greated with nothing but an empty room she sighed and came back, nodding to confirm Mars's words. "She's gone." All the scouts and Tuxedo Mask groaned and put a hand to all their heads as they were hit with yet another problem. Tuxedo Mask thought. And then there was no more time for such thoughts. They had yet another problem to solve.... they hoped they did a better job than what they'd done about the betrayal problem. At the rate that they were dealing things they might all fall asleep from exhaustion with the way things were going! ___________________ Again, the red eyes peered at her. Yes, the girl was almost completely on their side now. Soon the darkness would take her, and then there would be nothing standing in their way. They would rule the universe, and destroy all the humans in it! As soon as this girl gave in to them they would have everything! She was the key. Nothing would stand in their way, because unlike the others, it knew what this girl was capable of, what her true powers could amount to if she ever really found out who she was, if she ever really discovered her past. Then and only then would they have a real problem. She was the only thing standing in their way... but now that she was almost one of them, the tables were turning. At last things were going their way. Yes, soon life as those silly mortals knew it would end, and with it, their existense. The eyes glowed darkly and for a moment they seemed to solidify and a form materialized around them, forming a hidden face and enclosed figure. Nothing could be seen for certain, but in the moment when the figure became solid it stepped forward and reached out a hand to the girl it had been watching, almost touching, almost there... but then the form faded and only the eyes remained again, and after a moment even they disappeared. There was no indication they'd ever been there, and yet there was much. Yes, soon they would get what they deserved.... the hidden figure could feel it. Crystal shifted in her sleep and ignored the evil feeling of foreboding that swept over her, even though she could feel it in her sleep. She did not see the eyes that had watched her, she could not.... but she could feel them. For a moment the red eyes winked into existense again, materializing just above her, and one thought, somehow transmitted to the sleeping girl, made it's way into her mind. <"Soon....."> TO BE CONTINUED....