WHEN HEROES COLLIDE

by Dreamcatcher

Part Three: When Lightning Strikes

A day has passed since Ryo of Wildfire and Sailor Mars
have defeated Flarea, the creature that emerged from
the Fire Stone. Serena, Amy, Rae, Mina, and Rini were
in their room, all dressed in their pajamas, waiting
for Lita to join them. The day had been pretty
miserable so far. Storm clouds had blocked out the sun
around noontime, and it had been raining heavily ever
since. Serena and Rini were sitting on the only bed in
the room, while the others sat on top of sleeping bags
that Mia provided for them. “This storm is becoming
very severe,” Amy mentioned as she looked out the
window at the dark billowing storm clouds. Suddenly,
there was a brilliant flash of lightning, followed
quickly by a roaring clap of thunder. Two screams were
heard by all, and the three girls turned toward the
bed, where the screams came from.

They tried to suppress their giggles when they saw two
lumps under the bed covers, where Serena and Rini were
once sitting. “Serena, don’t you think it’s about time
for you to overcome this stupid fear of yours?” Rae
complained. “I’m not afraid, Rae,” Serena’s muffled
voice replied from the larger of the two lumps. “I’m
just trying to comfort Rini, that’s all.” “Stop lying,
Serena,” the smaller lump replied. “You’re afraid of
thunder and lightning as much as I am!” “I am not!”
“You are, too!” “Not!” “Too!” “Not!” “Too!” The other
girls groaned as the arguing continued.

“Why are you two hiding under the covers?” a familiar
voice asked Serena and Rini. They got out from
underneath the covers to see who was talking to them.
The speaker was Lita, who was standing in the doorway
with Luna and Artemis at her feet. She was wearing a
T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, and she had her hair
wrapped up in a towel. Another flash of lightning
occurred, followed by a clap of thunder. The girls
screamed again and pulled the cover over their heads.
Lita laughed and closed the door, while Luna and
Artemis jumped on the bed. “Come on now, Serena,” Luna
pleaded. “Is that any way for the leader of the Sailor
Scouts to behave?”

Luna’s speech convinced Serena to come out from
underneath the covers. Lita sat down on her sleeping
bag and unwrapped the towel from around her head. She
pulled up her slightly wet auburn hair back into a
ponytail as she asked, “So, Rae, what was it like
fighting that creature? What should we expect when our
turn comes around?” “Well...” she started until she
was interrupted by a knock at the door. “Who is it?”
Lita asked cautiously. “It’s me, Sage.” She got up and
opened the door. Sage was standing at the doorway. “I
was wondering if you were all right,” he asked. “We
heard some screams from your room and...” “Oh, don’t
worry about that,” Lita said cheerfully. “Serena and
Rini were just spooked from the lightning, that’s
all.”

“Well, if everyone’s okay...” Sage murmured. “Good
night, everyone.” “Good night, Sage,” the six girls
chorused as he closed the door. Lita sat back down as
Rae continued. “Well, Flarea, the creature that
emerged from the Fire Stone, was incredibly powerful.
It took the combined attacks of both Ryo and me to
destroy her. You’ll have to expect the same thing with
any other creatures that emerge from the remaining
Celestial Stones.” “Did you pick up any more of those
stones on your tracer, Rini?” Artemis asked. Rini
reached over to the bed stand, picked up her tracer
and turned it on. “Still nothing,” she replied as she
turned it off and put it back on the bed stand. “It
probably only picks them up when they have a certain
energy level.” “Well, I don’t know about you guys,”
Serena yawned as she laid down on the bed, “but I’m
ready for bed. Good night, everyone.” With that, she
fell fast asleep. The other girls and the two cats
giggled as they settled in and went to sleep...

Meanwhile, the Ronin Warriors were in their room
across the hall. Like the girls, they were also
discussing the battle between Ryo, Sailor Mars, and
Flarea. “So, you’re saying that this ‘Flarea’ creature
was so powerful, that it took your attack combined
with Sailor Mars’ attack to defeat her?” Cye asked.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Ryo answered. “That’s why it’s
important for us to find the rest of those stones
before it’s too late.” “You know, Ryo, it seems pretty
suspicious that the Celestial Stone of Fire was inside
Mt. Fuji, the very same place where you were resting
after our first encounter with Talpa,” Sage mentioned
thoughtfully. “Maybe the other stones are in the exact
same places where the rest of us were resting.”

“You could be right about that, Sage,” Rowen agreed.
“We’ll look into that tomorrow,” Ryo interrupted, “but
now, let’s get some sleep.” Rowen got up and turned
off the lights. Everyone feel fast asleep, except for
Sage, who was just lying there, staring at the ceiling
in deep thought. After a few hours passed by, he
slowly got up and carefully made his way to the door.
“I’m sorry, Ryo,” he thought to himself as he slowly
opened the door, “ but if we wait till tomorrow, it
might be too late.” Sage walked out the door and
carefully closed it behind him. The hallway was pitch
black, so he flipped on a light switch. With the
lights on, he noticed that the girls’ bedroom door was
open a crack. Sage slowly crept to the crack and
peeked inside. Everyone in the room was asleep, so he
carefully closed the door and continued making his way
downstairs...

Unbeknownst to Sage, Lita did wake up from the hallway
light. She was about to get up when she heard someone
sneaking up to the door. To play it safe, Lita lied
back down and closed her eyes, but kept one eye
slightly open. Through her slightly opened eye, she
saw Sage come up to their door. He looked around at
the girls, and slowly closed the door. After hearing
his footsteps on the stairs, Lita opened her eyes and
got up. She looked at the digital alarm clock on the
bed stand, which showed that the time was 1:03 AM.
“Now, where would Sage be going at one o’clock in the
morning?” she thought to herself as she put on a pair
of sneakers.

When Lita finished tying her shoes, she heard the
front door open and close. She looked out the window
and barely saw Sage, in his green and white sub-armor,
running through the darkness and the pouring rain
toward the woods. “I better follow him,” Lita muttered
to herself as she rummaged through her backpack. She
pulled out her transformation wand, a poncho, and an
oversized flashlight. “I’m going to need these,” she
said as she zipped up her backpack and put on her
poncho. Lita quietly made her way to the door and was
about to leave the room when she stopped. She looked
at the bed stand, where Rini’s tracer was. She picked
it up and turned it on. “Still nothing,” she muttered,
“but I’ll take it with me just in case.” With that,
Lita put the tracer in her pocket, along with her
transformation wand, picked up her flashlight, and
left the room.

Lita carefully made her way downstairs toward the
front door. She unlocked the door and opened it
slowly, being careful not to wake up anyone. She
stepped outside and carefully closed the door behind
her, not realizing that she didn’t shut the door all
the way. “Aww, man!” Lita murmured as she pulled up
the hood of her poncho. “It’s still raining cats and
dogs!” She turned on her flashlight and ran into the
direction she saw Sage run off in. After a few
minutes, she stopped to catch her breath. Lita was in
a small clearing and Sage was nowhere in sight. She
also noticed that it was getting lighter outside, so
she turned off her flashlight.

Suddenly, Lita noticed a faint green glow coming from
her pocket. She pulled out the tracer and looked at
the screen, which showed a solid white blip and a
flashing green blip not far from it. “That has to be
the Celestial Stone of Spirit!” Lita cried out. “Rini
must have been right about the tracer. Otherwise, we
would have picked up the signal sooner.” She took one
final look around and left, following the directions
from the tracer. “No time to look for Sage now!” she
thought to herself. “I’ve got to find that Spirit
Stone before it’s too late!”

In the meantime, Sage was standing in front of the
opening of a cave. “The Cave of the Pinnacles,” he
thought to himself. “I can sense it. The Spirit Stone
is in there and I’m going in after it.” He was about
to enter the cave when a noise caused him to turn
around. He heard a twig snap coming from the woods.
Not knowing who or what made the noise, Sage decided
not to take any chances. He went behind a bush near
the entrance of the cave and crouched down, preparing
himself to spring on the figure emerging from the
woods if it turned out to be an enemy. He saw a figure
emerge from the woods, but he couldn’t tell who or
what it was because of a hood covering the stranger’s
head...

Meanwhile, Lita looked up from the tracer. She was in
another small clearing. There were a few scattered
bushes and a cave right in front of her. “According to
this tracer,” she whispered to herself, “the Spirit
Stone is inside that cave.” She put the tracer in her
pocket and walked to the entrance of the cave. She was
about to go inside when she felt a hand grab her
shoulder. Lita responded by grabbing the attacker’s
arm and flipping him over her head onto the ground.
She grabbed his shoulder and was about to punch him in
the face when she recognized the attacker.

“SAGE!” Lita yelled as she removed the hood to reveal
her face. It was indeed Sage, who looked up at her in
disbelief. “I can’t believe it!” he thought to
himself. “Lita flipped me over like a rag doll!” “What
was the big idea, Sage?” Lita asked angrily, which
snapped him back to reality. “I’m sorry, Lita,” he
explained as he stood up, “but I didn’t recognize you
with that hood covering your head. Now, what are you
doing here?” “Probably the same reason why you’re
here: I’m looking for the Spirit Stone,” she answered.
“How were you able to locate it?” “I used this
tracer,” Lita explained as she pulled the pocket
tracer out of her pocket to show Sage. “It’s been
programmed to track down the five Celestial Stones.
This is how Rae found the Fire Stone at Mt. Fuji.” “I
knew it!” Sage muttered half-aloud. “You knew what?”
Lita asked. “I’ll explain later,” he replied. “Right
now, let’s find that stone!” With that, he grabbed
Lita’s arm and led her into the cave...

Meanwhile, back at Mia’s house, Ryo woke up and
noticed that Sage was missing from the room. He
silently walked out of the room into the hallway. He
quietly walked down the stairs and heard a noise from
the kitchen. As Ryo opened the kitchen door, he
whispered, “Sage, is that you?” “Sage isn’t in here,”
he heard a female voice reply. Ryo looked down and saw
Luna and Artemis looking up at him. “Hey, have you two
seen Sage down here at all?” “No, we haven’t,” Artemis
responded. “You’re the first one we’ve seen down
here.” “Are you sure he’s not upstairs?” Luna asked
with concern in her voice. Ryo shook his head no. “We
better split up and look for him.” Ryo and Artemis
nodded in agreement as the trio split up to look for
Sage.

A few minutes later, Luna shouted, “Ryo! Artemis! Come
here quickly!” They ran over to Luna, who was at the
front door. “Look, the door has been left open,” she
pointed out. As Artemis approached the door, he
shivered from the cold air near the door. “Brrrr! This
door has been open for a few hours, at least,” he
observed. “Which means,” Ryo muttered, “that he must
have left in the middle of the night.” “But, why would
Sage leave the house in the middle of the night?” Luna
asked Ryo. “He probably went to look for the Spirit
Stone.” “But, how would he know where to look for it?”
Artemis asked. “I’ll explain later,” Ryo replied.
“Right now, we should wake up the others and let them
know what’s going on.” “Right,” the two cats agreed as
they followed Ryo upstairs.

Luna and Artemis ran into the girls’ room and
screamed, “GIRLS! TIME TO WAKE UP!” Serena and Rini
screamed from the unexpected wake-up call, while the
other girls yawned and got up. “Luna, Artemis, what’s
going on?” Amy asked the two cats in a drowsy voice.
“We have a bit of a crisis on our hands,” Luna told
the girls. “Sage is missing. He left the house in the
middle of the night. Ryo thinks that he might have
went looking for the Spirit Stone.” “But, how would he
know where the Spirit Stone is?” Mina asked. “We’re
not exactly sure,” Artemis admitted, “but Ryo said he
would explain later. Now, let’s get going!”

“Hey, where’s Lita?” Rae asked, looking at her empty
sleeping bag. “She’s gone!” “So is my pocket tracer!”
Rini exclaimed, looking at the bed stand. “Lita must
be with Sage, so we better hurry,” Luna said. The
girls nodded as they began to change. The two cats
left the room to give the girls some privacy. Just
then, Ryo stepped out of the bedroom across from them.
He had already changed into a red sweater, jeans, and
a pair of sneakers. “The guys are awake; they’re just
getting changed,” he told the cats as he shut the
bedroom door. “Same thing with the girls,” Artemis
replied. “Ryo,” Luna started, “we have a bigger
problem now.”

“What ‘bigger problem?’ ” they heard Cye ask. Ryo
turned around to see Cye, Kento and Rowen standing
behind him, fully dressed. “The problem is that Lita
is also missing,” Luna explained. “I believe that
she’s with Sage. Do you have any idea where Sage would
look for the Spirit Stone?” The guys hesitated for a
second before Rowen answered, “He probably went to
look for it in the Cave of the Pinnacles.” “Then,
that’s where we’ll go first,” Luna replied as the
bedroom door opened. The girls were all dressed and
ready to go. The eight heroes made their way
downstairs, followed closely by Luna, Artemis, and
Rini.

Downstairs, the group ran into Mia, who was wearing a
bathrobe over her pajamas. “Good morning, guys,” she
greeted. “What’s going on?” “No time to explain, Mia,”
Ryo told her. “We have to go find Sage and Lita!” He
whistled for White Blaze, and the massive white tiger
came to his side. They left the house, leaving Mia
alone with Rini, Luna, and Artemis. “Would you like
some breakfast?” Mia asked the little girl. She turned
around and replied pleasantly, “Yes, please.” “What
would you like for breakfast?” “Pancakes, please.”
“All right, then, pancakes it is!” Mia walked into the
kitchen, followed by Rini and the two cats...

Meanwhile, Ryo had White Blaze sniffing around for
Sage’s scent, while the others watched. “That’s it,
boy,” Ryo encouraged the tiger as he walked around in
circles, trying to pick up the scent of the missing
Ronin Warrior from the muddy ground. A couple of
moments later, White Blaze stopped and looked up
toward the woods. He let out a roar as he ran into the
woods. “Quickly, this way!” Ryo said as he and the
others ran after the tiger, who was a few strides
ahead of them...

While the remaining Ronin Warriors and Sailor Scouts
searched the woods, Lita and Sage were still exploring
the Cave of the Pinnacles. Lita took off her poncho
and left it at the cave’s entrance. Sage held the
flashlight steady while Lita looked at the tracer.
“We’re not far from the Spirit Stone,” she told Sage
as they slowly headed forward. “According to this, the
Spirit Stone should be right about—WHOA!!” she
screamed as she fell straight down. Sage reacted
quickly by grabbing her arm, but in the process, Lita
dropped the tracer. She watched as it bounced off the
sides of the deep crevasse and disappeared from view.
“That could have been me,” she thought to herself as
she felt a tug on her arm as Sage was pulling her up.
As soon as Lita was back on solid ground, Sage asked,
“Are you okay, Lita?” “Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered
as she looked down the gaping ravine. Lita looked up
at him and said, “Thank you, Sage, for saving my
life.”

Sage was about to respond, but he saw something at the
bottom of the ravine. “What’s wrong?” Lita asked.
“There’s something down there,” he replied. She looked
down and saw what Sage was looking at, a strange green
glow coming from the bottom of the crevasse! “The
Spirit Stone!” they cried out simultaneously. “We got
to get down there,” Sage explained as he stood up.
“But, how can we get down there without getting
killed?” Lita asked him as she got up as well. “I have
an idea. Armor of Halo! DAO CHI!” Lita was astonished
as she watched Sage transform into the full armor.

“I ought to do the same,” Lita replied as she pulled
her wand out of her pocket. “Jupiter Star Power!”
After she finished with her transformation, Sailor
Jupiter asked Sage, “Okay, so what’s your idea?” “Just
hold on to me,” Sage said. Sailor Jupiter looked at
him and realized what his “idea” was. “We’re gonna
jump!?! Are you crazy!” “Only one way to find out,” he
responded. With that, Sage grabbed Sailor Jupiter and
jumped into the crevasse. Terrified, Sailor Jupiter
closed her eyes as they descended further down the
dark abyss. For some strange reason, she felt that
they were slowing down, so she opened her eyes.

Sailor Jupiter couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Somehow, a massive sphere of green light was
surrounding the two of them, and was slowing down
their descent. When they finally reached the bottom of
the ravine, the green light faded away. Bewildered,
Sailor Jupiter asked, “What the heck was that?”
“Well,” Sage started, “it’s like a shield that can be
extended out through my armor.” “You mean that strange
light came from your armor?” Sailor Jupiter asked him.
Before he could answer, they both noticed a green glow
coming from a nearby tunnel. They both went into the
tunnel and followed it to the very end. The tunnel
emptied into a tremendous underground cavern, with the
ceiling and floor covered with towering stalactites
and protruding stalagmites.

“Look, over there!” Sailor Jupiter cried. Sage looked
in the direction she was pointing and saw it: a large
green orb resting on top of a massive stalagmite in
the center of the cavern, which was glowing with a
mysterious green light. “Stay here,” Sage instructed
Sailor Jupiter as he made his way to the stone pillar.
When he reached the pillar, Sage started to climb up
cautiously toward the glowing Spirit Stone. After a
couple of minutes, he finally made it to the top. He
reached for the glowing Spirit Stone when, suddenly,
he felt the pillar shaking underneath his body. He
tried to hold on, but the tremors intensified and he
lost his grip.

Sailor Jupiter watched in shock when the massive
pillar that Sage was on started to shake violently.
“Oh, no,” she told herself, “he’s gonna fall!” The
whole cavern was also starting to shake as Sailor
Jupiter made her way toward Sage as quickly as she
could. “Are you all right, Sage?” she asked as she
helped Sage up. “I’m fine,” he assured her, “but we
better get out of her quick! This place is gonna
collapse!” They both ran toward the tunnel they
originally came through. Suddenly, Sage noticed some
massive stalactites near the entrance starting to
break loose. “Sailor Jupiter! Get out of the way!” he
shouted. By the time Sailor Jupiter stopped, she was
right underneath the stalactites.

Sage had to act quickly before the jagged rocks
crushed Sailor Jupiter. He ran as fast as he could,
grabbed her by the arm, and pulled her out of the way
just in time. The stalactites gave way and crashed to
the ground, spraying debris and dust everywhere. When
the cloud of dust disappeared, Sage and Sailor Jupiter
got up and looked at the tunnel, which was now blocked
off by the fallen rock. “No!” Sage exclaimed angrily.
He punched a nearby stalagmite out of frustration,
leaving a noticeable hole in the rock. “Don’t worry,
Sage,” Sailor Jupiter assured him, placing a hand on
his shoulder. “We’ll find another way out, I’m sure of
it.” Sage turned around and looked at his current
partner. “You’re probably right,” he agreed. “There
has to be another way out of here.”

Before they could start searching for another exit, a
voice echoed, “You two aren’t going anywhere!” Sage
and Sailor Jupiter were on their guard. “Why don’t you
show yourself, you Dark Moon trash?” Sailor Jupiter
yelled boldly. “ ‘Why don’t you show yourself, you
Dark Moon trash?’ ” No response followed Sailor
Jupiter’s question. “What’s wrong? Are you afraid to
face us?” Sage shouted. “ ‘What’s wrong? Are you
afraid to face us?’ ” There was still no response.
“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Sage whispered as he
and Sailor Jupiter carefully made their way through
the twisting maze of looming stalagmites.

“Didn’t you hear me? I told you, you’re not going
anywhere!” the voice replied angrily. The massive
pillar, where the Spirit Stone once rested, shook
violently. Sage and Sailor Jupiter immediately dropped
to the ground and covered their heads. They heard a
powerful explosion, followed by silence. “Is it over?”
Sailor Jupiter asked as they stood up. “I don’t think
so! Look!” Sage exclaimed, pointing at the stone
pillar in the center of the cavern. The once massive
stalagmite was reduced to half its original size, due
to the explosion. Standing on top was a creature from
the Dark Moon. She had glowing green eyes that
sparkled with electricity, and all of her long neon
green hair stood on end, as though she had been
electrocuted. She wore a sleeveless green dress with a
jaggedly torn skirt and dark green high-heeled boots.

“Who are you?” Sage yelled to the creature, who was
staring at them coldly. “I am Electra, servant to the
Dark Moon Kingdom,” she stated menacingly. Her green
eyes focused on Sage for a moment, and then they
shifted toward Sailor Jupiter. Electra raised her hand
and a massive ball of electricity formed. With all her
might, she threw the ball of electricity straight at
the two heroes. “Duck!” Sailor Jupiter yelled. She and
Sage jumped out of the way in opposite directions,
narrowly avoiding Electra’s attack. The enraged
creature levitated off of the pillar and slowly
floated around the cavern. “Looks like we’re playing
my favorite game: ‘Seek and Destroy!’ ” Electra
chuckled evilly as she searched the cavern for the
Ronin Warrior of Light.

She stopped in mid-air, hovering over a small cluster
of stalagmites. She spotted Sage quickly moving from
one stalagmite to the next one. Electra snickered a
bit as another ball of electricity formed in her hand.
“Game over for you, Ronin Warrior!” She was about to
attack when suddenly, she heard “JUPITER THUNDERCLOUD
ZAP!” Electra turned around, but was flung into the
roof by Sailor Jupiter’s attack. “Sage, are you all
right?” she asked him, who was getting up from behind
the stalagmite. “I’m fine,” Sage muttered. He looked
up at the gaping hole in the ceiling and said, “Looks
like you took care of her, Sailor Jupiter.” “That’s
what you think!” Electra cried out as she flew
straight out of the hole, with anger burning in her
eyes.

“No way!” Sailor Jupiter exclaimed. “You’ll pay for
that, Sailor brat!” she yelled furiously as a long
bolt of lightning formed in her hand. Using it like a
whip, Electra swung it at Sailor Jupiter. The electric
whip struck the ground, causing a cloud of dust to
surround the Sailor Scout. When the dust cloud
settled, Sage saw Sailor Jupiter down on her knees.
“Are you all right?” he asked as he ran to her side.
“Don’t worry. She missed me,” she assured Sage. When
he wasn’t looking, Sailor Jupiter carefully examined
her ankle, which was already starting to swell up.
“You’ll pay for that, Electra!” she heard Sage yell,
which caused her to look up. “That’s a bold claim,
Ronin,” Electra muttered as her electric whip morphed
into a sword. “Let’s see if you can carry that out!”

As Electra flew straight at him, Sage held his own
sword up to block the upcoming blow. He succeeded, but
the force of Electra’s impact rammed him against the
cavern wall. As the fight raged on, Sailor Jupiter
tried to stand up on her own. She winced in pain when
she put some weight on her sore ankle. She leaned on a
stalagmite for support as she took in a deep breath.
“No time for this,” Sailor Jupiter muttered to
herself. “Sage is gonna need my help.” “THUNDER BOLT
CUT!” she heard Sage yell, causing her to look up.
Electra was trying to push back the massive bolt of
lighting, which was steadily pushing her toward the
roof of the cavern.

Suddenly, Electra broke through Sage’s attack. She
snickered evilly as the sword of lightning reappeared
in her hand. “Face it, Ronin,” she stated coldly. “You
don’t have the power to defeat me.” Sailor Jupiter
suddenly recalled what Rae mentioned last night: “It
took the combined attacks of both Ryo and me to
destroy her. You’ll have to expect the same thing with
any other creatures that emerge from the remaining
Celestial Stones.” “That’s it!” she exclaimed. “Sage!
We have to attack her together!” Sailor Jupiter
yelled. Sage remembered what Ryo said the other night
and realized that was the solution. “Get ready, Sailor
Jupiter,” he warned as he held his sword above his
head. “Now! THUNDER BOLT CUT!” “JUPITER THUNDERCLOUD
ZAP!”

The massive bolt of lightning from Sage’s sword and
the huge ball of lightning from Sailor Jupiter’s hand
skyrocketed straight for Electra. The two attacks both
met their target and Electra let out a long eerie
scream as the cavern filled with a bright light. Sage
and Sailor Jupiter both shielded their eyes. When the
light vanished, Sage opened his eyes and cautiously
looked around. “She’s definitely gone for good,” he
murmured. Looking around the cavern, his violet-gray
eyes spotted a small opening with a pale gray light.
“Another way out! Let’s go, Sailor Jupiter!” Sage
looked at the Sailor Scout, who was down on her knees
again. He ran to her side and asked, “Is there
something wrong?”

“No, I’m just fine,” Sailor Jupiter lied. Sage’s
glance moved from Sailor Jupiter’s face down to her
ankle. The swelling had increased, and it was starting
to turn black and blue. “What happened to your ankle?”
he asked calmly. “Remember when Electra struck at me
with that lightning whip and I told you it missed me?”
she reminded Sage. He slowly nodded yes. “Well, I
lied.” “Why?” Sage asked. “Well, you needed help
fighting Electra, and it worked, didn’t it?” Sage knew
she was trying to cover up her true intentions, but
didn’t say anything as he helped her up. “Come on,
let’s get out of here,” he whispered as he helped
Sailor Jupiter to the faintly lit opening. Unknown to
the both of them, Topaz was watching them from behind
the once massive stalagmite. In his hand was the
Spirit Stone. He snickered softly as he teleported out
of the cavern...

In the meantime, White Blaze led the remaining Ronin
Warriors and Sailor Scouts straight though the woods.
They soon reached a clearing, where the mouth of an
enormous cave loomed. “That’s it! The Cave of the
Pinnacles,” Ryo announced. “Good job, White Blaze,” he
congratulated his pet tiger as he patted him on the
head. Serena curiously approached the mouth of the
cave. “Wow! It’s really dark in there!” she exclaimed,
her voice echoing off the cavern’s walls. As her eyes
adjusted to the darkness of the cave, Serena noticed
two figures slowly approaching. She screamed loudly,
ran away from the cave’s entrance, and cowered behind
Amy.

“Serena, what’s wrong?” Rowen asked while Kento was
trying to hold in his laughter. “I-I-I saw something,”
Serena stuttered. “Serena! Is that you?” a familiar
voice echoed from the cave. “Lita?” Serena yelled as
she walked out from behind Amy. “Who were you
expecting, meatball head? Dracula?” Rae asked
sarcastically. “I told you not to call me that, Rae!”
Serena yelled. “Stop arguing, you two,” Amy
interrupted. Just then, Sage and Sailor Jupiter left
the cave and joined their friends. “Hey, guys,” Sage
greeted Ryo, Cye, Kento, and Rowen. “Hey, Sage,” Ryo
replied. “What happened in there?” “Well, we found the
Spirit Stone, this creature came out of the stone, and
we destroyed it together,” Sage summed up.

Mina looked at Sailor Jupiter and gasped when she saw
her ankle. “Lita, what happened?” she asked, pointing
at her swollen ankle. “Oh, that? It’s just a scratch,
Mina,” Sailor Jupiter told her. “Nothing to worry
about.” Suddenly, a shock of pain caused her to yell
out loud. “Lita!” the four girls cried. “Maybe I
should carry you back to Mia’s,” Sage suggested. “No
way! As long as I got one good foot, I’m gonna...”
Another burst of pain from her ankle caused her to
slump down to her knees. “Lita! Let me help you!
Walking will only make your injury worse than it
already is,” Sage told her sternly. “Fine,” she
reluctantly agreed. Sage gently scooped up Sailor
Jupiter in his arms, being carefully not to touch her
ankle. “Come on, everyone. Let’s head back to Mia’s,”
he announced as he entered the woods, followed by
their eight friends...TO BE CONTINUED