Hello! I'm back at it again! As always, the characters in this story aren't mine, unless they were created by me. The ones not created by me are owned by Naoko Takeuchi, Bandai, DiC and other large corporations. I won't ever say that I own the characters, unless I do, so there! Also, if I step on anyone's toes by using characters similar to theirs, my bad. I can't read every fanfic that is posted on the internet or anywhere else. It's almost humanly impossible. Shadows From the Past by: M. H. Torringjan Part five: The Fires of Destiny Raye awoke in the middle of the night, disturbed by a dream that she had had. It was another one about her mother. Raye had always been disturbed by these dreams, but recently, the dreams had been growing in intensity. She was beginning to become worried about herself, and perhaps even her future. She decided to check the sacred fire for any signs of trouble. As she sat down at the fire, she felt a presence in the room. Chad was asleep by the door. He would cause her no trouble in her reading. Raye concentrated on the warmth of the flame. She felt the presence fill her as she looked into the fire. "Sacred fire, show me the answer which I seek," Raye began. "I must know what is wrong with me." Raye looked at the flame for a moment. As she looked, she saw many sights, all in a second. Most of them, she couldn't clearly make out. One was her mother's casket, empty. Another was of Raye at her current age standing next to her mother. The final was of Raye lying in a bed of roses with her friends standing over her. These views disturbed Raye and completely overwhelmed her. She was flooded with different feelings. The strongest was sadness. She didn't like to think of her mother's death. Another was fear; what did the bed of roses mean? And what was with her standing next to her mother? She didn't want to think about it. She was too tired. But, she was too awake to sleep. She hated being that way, especially this early in the morning. It was cold, so Raye decided to go back to her bed. She was asleep in fifteen minutes, by some miracle. Rubeus looked at the healing chamber with disgust. Jupiter had pushed Mercury into the sewer, breaking Mercury's leg, then went and got herself healed by Sailor Moon. The whole affair smelled of conspiracy. Rubeus couldn't afford those sorts of mistakes. He knew that his attack force of one Scout would fail against a full-fledged force of five Sailor Scouts. He would send a Droid with Mercury on her next mission to ensure triumph. "Droid Juggernaut, come forth!" The Droid that approached was as tall as a one-story city building, and about as tough. About as fast and smart, too. It looked like a tank with eyes and a head on the top of its hatch. He had designed it so that it would take no damage from any Scout-originated attack. It had only one weak point, and the Scouts had lost it before they were even Scouts. He looked over at his mirror to choose his next target. It didn't matter which one he went after. The pair would win anyway. He chose the old man who had caused so much trouble to Zoicite when she had tried to capture him. It would be an easy enough target, and perhaps a chance to kill a Sailor Scout. All he had to do now was wait for the blasted healing chamber to finish its work. The thing had never gotten any use before that, and it had to go through all these system checks, dusting the cobwebs off and all that. For now, he would wait. Raye awoke at seven o'clock. She had to get ready for school quickly. She needed some food after her little prophecy the night before. She was getting bored. She hadn't been in any battles in the past two days, and she had a lot of pent-up energy that she would need to let out. Raye left at about seven thirty for school. She hated it that she didn't go to school closer to the Temple. She hated having to leave Grandpa unguarded for such a long time. On her way to school, she came across Luna. "Luna, hi!" Raye greeted. "Good morning, Raye!" Luna responded cheerily. "Has anything happened in the past two days that I need to know about?" Raye asked. "Yesterday, Hercules got taken. We got Lita back." "That means that you're off guard duty! Can you go to the Temple and look after Grandpa until I can get back there this afternoon?" "Of course, Raye," Luna said. She considered asking Artemis to come with her, but she knew that he would just be trying to make passes at her. She wasn't about to ask Rigel for obvious reasons. She figured that she could fly it solo for one more day and hoped that she could do better than she had guarding Hercules. Luna went in the direction of the Temple in the fastest manner possible, taking every shortcut she knew. Raye watched her go, and hoped that Grandpa would be all right under Luna's supervision. She hurried back on her way to school again, and she hoped that she wouldn't be late because of her meeting Luna. Raye hadn't told Luna about her visions because she wanted to be sure of what they meant herself. Raye got to her school on time, but just barely. She sat down at her seat next to her friend, Jessica Tanten. She was a little taller than Raye, had black hair, and weighed a little more (give or take). Shee was overly religious and about as smart as Raye. As she sat down, Jessica greeted her. "Hi, Raye! What a beautiful day that we've been blessed with," she said. "What's new with you?" "I had a weird vision last night," Raye responded. "What was it about? Did it show your death or something? You look about as white as a sheet when you talk about it." "Well, I'm not sure." She went on to explain what she had seen, paying special attention to the bed of roses. "Sounds pretty rough. I hope it's not what we think. That would suck if you died." "I was thinking the same thing, but not quite in those terms." Raye sat in quiet thought until class began with a lecture on French history. Luna sat in the courtyard of the Temple, watching Chad and Grandpa do some training. Grandpa was showing Chad the correct way to meditate or something. Luna didn't really care. She was just there to do Raye's job while Raye was at school. She watched as Chad and Grandpa sat in the courtyard, motionless. People were walking past the gate, seeing if the place was open to sell any good luck charms, or at least at what hour they began selling. Luna got so bored sitting in the tree, that she fell asleep for a while. When she awoke, Grandpa and Chad were gone. She ran around the courtyard, looking frantically for the two. What she wanted to know was, why would the Negaverse take a son of a well-off family like Chad. It's like they would have any use for him. Luna went inside, where she found the two eating lunch. It was noon time, wasn't it? Luna stayed out of sight where the two men wouldn't see her. She was getting bored with this job, and she began to wonder why she had taken it. It was because Raye needed someone's help when I was the only one around, Luna told herself. After lunch, Chad tuned up his guitar and began to play a bit. Luna went outside to escape the faults that Chad's fingers made on the guitar strings. She wanted to get out of there, but she had a job to do. She would deal with Raye when she got back from school. Serena ate her lunch with a ravenous appetite, as usual. Lita and Michael watched the other kids running around, playing or joining their friends for lunch. They had finished their food long ago, and were waiting for Serena to finish. Serena looked up from her food for a moment and saw Rigel sitting in the bushes, urging her and the others over to him. "Rigel, what's up?" Michael asked as he and Lita got to the dog. "There's a new monster out and about, or there will be soon. We'll need all the help that we can get to beat it." "How do you know that?" Lita asked. "I got a message from Central Control that they've picked up a new reading coming from where these Droids are coming from," Rigel answered. "It's heading towards us slowly but surely." "Wait a minute," Serena said. "If we know where these things are coming from, then why don't we just go up there and annihilate them now?" "Tell me something, Serena. How do you think that five Sailor Scouts will do against an army of a thousand Droids? A hundred thousand?" "Good point. Never mind." "We need to be prepared for the attack. It's almost a given that the Droid will be tough enough that we'll all need to be there if we plan on beating it." "All right. When is it supposed to get here?" Michael asked. "At its present rate, it will get here at about five o'clock this afternoon." "Rigel, who is this Central Control anyway?" Serena asked. "Luna talked about it a lot before Artemis and Mina joined us, but now she doesn't say a thing about it." "Central Control is the group of people who gives us our orders. If I understand correctly, they are a small number of technical geniuses who we hired for our use. They monitor Earth for us and tell us what our best next move would be. Artemis was working for them at one time." "Wait, let me get this straight," Michael said disbelievingly. "You hired them, and they're giving you orders." "Yeah, that's about the size of it. Bureaucracy sucks, eh? Now, back to the point. I want us to meet after school at the Temple so that we can be ready for the attack, wherever it hits." "Works for me," Michael said. The bell rang, and Serena and the others went back into their classes. Serena didn't like the idea of going back in. She hated geography class. Mina got out of her class at the normal time, and prepared to go home. She was met by Artemis outside the school, and he had some important news to tell her. "Mina, we've gotta talk. There's going to be trouble in about thirty minutes. We've got to go to the Temple. The others are there, and they're ready for action already." "What sort of action?" Mina asked. "Is there another Droid?" "Good guess. We've gotta hurry, because the others are going to need all the help they can get. Do you have your transformation stick?" "Sorry, Artemis, I forgot it today," Mina said. "After I reminded you three times to take it with you. Let's hurry and get it. We don't have much time." The pair rushed to Mina's home and grabbed her transformation pen to take it with them. She got to the Temple at exactly five o'clock. The sky was getting darker by the second, and there was a large, black portal opening by the tree in the courtyard. The others had already transformed and were forming a defensive arrangement around the portal. They were prepared to send the threat back into the portal where it had come from. "Venus Star Power!" Mina called out, changing into her Sailor Scout. She took a place beside Europa, preparing to attack the instant that she saw the Droid. "Ready for some action, Europa?" Venus asked. "Always am," Europa answered, half of a sly grin crossing his face. "Don't you get hurt. I've just known you for a day or so, I don't want to lose you already." "You underestimate my abilities," Venus said. As the five Sailor Scouts watched, a giant tank-looking form came out of the portal, followed by Mercury. Mercury was carrying a sword that had been given her by Rubeus for the attack. It looked about as tall as Mercury, and about as powerful as her. Moon wondered how Mercury could stand to hold something like that for so long. When both the soldiers were through, the portal closed. "Mercury, what are you doing?" Jupiter asked. "You shouldn't have betrayed us, Jupiter. We were going to spare your life, but now, we'll just have to kill you," Mercury yelled as she raised the sword to signal the robot to attack. The cannon on the Droid's arm targeted the Scouts and fired a stream of fire their way. All of them were able to dodge the attack easily. "Jupiter Thunderclap, ZAP!" Jupiter called as she shot a barrage of energy towards the giant Droid. The Droid stuck out a dish-type apparatus from its chest, blocking the lightning and sending it back towards the Scouts. Jupiter was at ground zero when the bolt struck the ground, and was thrown for a loop. The others were at a safe enough distance that they only felt a grand tremor and a slight shock. Mars rushed to check on her fallen friend, leaving the other three to do battle with the giant Juggernaut. "Venus, how about that combo?" Europa said. "What is it?" Venus asked. "The Earth Shocker!" Rigel answered from his hiding place. "Earth Shocker!" the two called out at the same time. A beam of energy ran out of Venus, meeting with a vine from the ground where Europa was standing. The vine rushed through the ground until it reached the Droid's position. A moment later, under the Droid, a blast came from under the ground, knocking the Droid on its side. Juggernaut immediately began working on getting up. Small jets came out of its side and started blowing it back upright. Sailor Moon took this opportunity to use her Scepter. "Moon Scepter, Elimination!" Moon called out, charging her Scepter's power level to the top. She let loose with a blast that hit the Droid, who sucked the energy into its own power systems. It had a momentary boost of energy, which righted it completely. It began moving forward at an increased speed. It didn't look like it was going to stop, either. "Mercury Ice Storm, Blast!" Mercury called out, sending waves of freezing rain over the helpless Sailor Scouts. Sailor Moon could feel herself slowing down, and she took her brooch off. The brooch opened as Sailor Moon tapped its power. "Moon Crystal Healing, Activation!" Moon yelled. The Imperium Silver Crystal channeled its power into Mercury, purging her of the evil that was in her. Amy fell forward, asleep from exertion. Sailor Moon, still slowed from the freeze that she had felt, got Amy to safety. Then, there was only one more problem. Europa, Venus, Mars, and Moon rushed to where the Juggernaut was going after Grandpa. The Droid ripped the roof off the Temple to get to the old man. "Man, that'll cost a pretty penny to fix, eh, Mars?" Europa said. "That guy's gonna pay for that!" Mars said through gritted teeth. "I wanna take him out!" She rushed up to the foot of the Juggernaut and started to attack it. "Mars Celestial Fire, Surround!" The flames went in rings around the base of the Droid, causing minor burn marks on its metal. When the Droid sensed this, it reached down with its large mechanical hand and batted Mars back into the others. It reached into the frame of the building and grabbed Grandpa. It opened another portal behind it and turned to leave. Mars got one last good look at it when it went through the portal. On its back was a symbol that looked very familiar. The symbol resembled a bauble that she had seen in pictures of her mother. Finally, all the pieces were starting to fall in place. The key to beating this Droid laid in Raye's mother somehow. She would have to ask Luna about it after she had helped the others. Everyone reverted to their original forms and was going back to help one of their friends. Mina and Michael were helping Jupiter, who had woken up when the Droid had gone through its portal, while Serena was helping Amy. Raye went over to help Amy. Amy was only asleep, and not wounded. Mina and Michael helped to get Jupiter to the remains of the Temple. When they got there, she reverted. "What happened?" Amy asked when she woke up. "It's a long story," Raye said to her friend as she went to check on Lita. She wished that she knew how to work Amy's computer so that she could check vital signs and whatnot. At that time, Chad emerged from the place that he had been hiding in for the duration of the attack. He was white and shaking like Serena usually did. "Raye, what did that thing do to our Temple?!" he exclaimed. "What does it look like it did?" Raye asked, slightly annoyed at Chad's denseness. "It trashed the place. Man, what are we gonna do? We're out of a place to live." Serena felt sorry about what had happened to Raye. She felt like she had to do something. "Raye," Serena began cautiously, "I'm sure that my parents wouldn't mind letting you stay when they hear what happened." "Serena? You'd do that for me?" Raye asked disbelievingly. "What about me?" Chad begged. "My parents don't like boys in the house," Serena said. "Especially not older guys." "Bummer. I guess I'll just have to get another job and make some money to rent an apartment." Chad looked slightly downcast at the prospect of having to work. "Come on, Raye! We've got to talk to my parents and convince them to let you stay with us!" Serena said as she started off in the direction of her house. The sky had cleared up after the Juggernaut had left, and it was almost like nothing had happened now. Except for the crumbling building and the fire-trucks and police cars gathering at the scene. The smoke from the wreckage rose into the sky, adding a certain air of triumph to the afternoon. Triumph for the Negaverse, at least. All the other Scouts left feeling down and out. Mina and Michael decided to try and make something out of the afternoon by going to a movie together. Lita and Amy went to Amy's house so that Lita could give her the work that Serena had collected for her over the past two days from school. Tuxedo Mask watched from the top of a nearby building. He dearly wished that he had gotten there in time to help the Scouts, who seemed to have needed it by the looks of the Temple. Well, its remains, anyway. He might have been able to save Grandpa if he had tried. Of course, that could just be some major delusions of grandeur talking there. He could see that they had gotten the last of the group back. They had done well enough without him for the past couple of days, but he felt that he would need to help them soon. Rubeus sat in his mirror room gloating over his victory. He knew that the Juggernaut would do the job. Who needed that Scout anyway? She was a wimp when it came to fighting anyway. He listened to the screams and yells of those in the prisoner chamber for a minute. He loved listening to their tormented calls for help. Those gave him such a high. Juggernaut was recharging and getting some upgrades. It would be ready for another strike the next day. The Scouts wouldn't have a chance against the new Juggernaut. He watched his mirror as the firefighters tried to make sure that the Temple was safe and the police interrogating anyone who had the slightest idea of what had happened. Rubeus gave a laugh at the sight of part of the Temple collapsing on some workers. That would sting in the morning. Serena and Raye had reached Serena's house and were building up the courage to ask the elder Tsukinos for permission to let Raye stay. Luna was feeling proud of Serena for making the choice by herself to help out Raye. "Okay, so we'll start off by telling them about the Temple, then, we'll wing it from there," Serena said. "Okay, but you're doing the talking," Raye said. "You know better how to handle your parents than me." "I'm not arguing with you on that," Serena said, leading Raye into the living room where her parents were watching the news on TV. There was a report on about the Temple's destruction. "Hello, Serena," Mrs. Tsukino said in greeting. "Have you heard about what happened to the Temple on Cherry Hill?" "Yeah, I was right near there when it happened," Serena said. "Do you know what happened exactly?" "No. I would have stayed to talk to the police if I did." "I wonder what will happen to those people who lived in it. Your friend Raye lives there, doesn't she?" Mr. Tsukino said. "Yeah, and that's what I came to talk with you about." "I wish that there was something that we could do for them," Mrs. Tsukino said. She didn't know that Raye was standing right outside the room. "There is," Serena said. She beckoned Raye to enter. "Raye needs someplace to stay until she can get another place, and..." "I know what you're thinking, Serena," Mr. Tsukino said, "And I think that it'll be a tight squeeze for everyone, but we should be able to handle her staying here." Raye couldn't help but express the relief that she felt, and Mr. Tsukino saw it. "We're a bit short on beds, so you'll have to sleep on the couch down here." "I don't mind," Raye said. "I'm just thankful that you're being so generous." "Nonsense," Mrs. Tsukino admonished, "You're one of Serena's friends. We should help you when this sort of thing happens, just don't make it a habit." She got a laugh out of her joke. She was the only one, though. "Anyway, you go and get your stuff that you'll need, and we'll get you set up down here." Raye and Serena left the house and headed towards the remains of the Temple, hoping that they would be able to salvage some clothes from the wreckage. They were able to get through the police line easily enough when they said that they were the Temple's caretakers. Most of the rooms were full of rubble, and dangerous to enter. Raye was able to push her way into her room with little trouble, and she got a suitcase full of clothes and hygiene items to keep with her. The thing that made her the angriest at the droid was that he had taken Grandpa, although it was followed closely by trashing the Temple. Raye got into Serena's house and sat around for the rest of the night, meditating out of everyone's way about what her visions had meant, completely. She got nothing that she hadn't already figured out. She finally gave up and went to talk to Luna. She told Luna about her visions and the conclusions that she had come to during the battle. "That is truly puzzling, but I think that I know how to solve it," Luna said. "The Droid had a sign on its back that looked like the bauble of your mother's, right?" Raye nodded. "Then, we'll have to get this bauble. It holds some magical potential, probably. We won't know unless we get it from her directly." "Do you mean digging her up?" Raye asked offensively. She didn't want to dig up her mother. "No, I mean get her to give it to us," Luna said, laying her head down to get some sleep. Raye wondered what Luna had meant by that last statement, and she dwelt upon it until she went to sleep. She slept calmly for the rest of the night. End of part five Coming up: The Dead Come Back Well, that's the end of this chapter, too. Five down, four to go. As always, E-mail me with comments, suggestions, flames, etc. at: jmh6187@uncwil.edu. I'll read anything that is sent to me, because I just *love* getting E-mail. See you later!