Dragon's Fate
by Rikugou//...// indicates thought.
:...: indicates telepathic communication.
Chapter 3
"Okay, this is the blueprint of the base. Kris and Kristine managed to get a rough location of where Treize and Zechs are through their psychic search. Elios and Chibi-Usa will bring us there and will expect us to come back out of the base with the two soldiers. Trowa and Quatre will blow us a way using their Gundams while Duo, Heero, and I search the lower levels of the base. Got that?" Usagi said. They all nodded.
Wufei was grumbling about some injustice for leaving him at the palace. Feihong had his arms around his waist and whispered something into his ear. Wufei's annoyed expression was replaced by a mischievous one. He turned and dragged Feihong out by his braid. Since everybody were so concentrated on their mission, nobody noticed.
"How much time do we have?" Heero asked.
"It is about a ten minute drive from the end of the anti-teleportation barrier to somewhere relatively safe near the base. From then on, we will have to walk about a kilometer. Trowa and Quatre along with a couple of my students will provide the necessary chaos needed to go into the base with no problem. We have thirty minutes to locate them and get out. As long as you keep those devices that prevent you from being detected visually or any other way, you will be safe. The soldiers you encounter on the way are your only problem. Are you ready?" Usagi said, looking around. All nodded. "Good. Elios start driving. Mission will start in 0200 hours."
The small van drove in total silence. Equipped with the same cloaking device Heero and Duo had, they made it through the front line of defense with no problem. "Five, four, three, two, one. It's show time," Usagi counted down. The second she finished, explosions from the front line was heard. Immediately, soldiers boarded their mobile suits and went to help them. Usagi's long hair was cut just for the occasion. No longer floor length tresses, it reached just above her waist and was in a tight braid, stuffed under her black clothes. Over her head was a black cap.
"You know, if we had the same hair color, we could have been twins," Duo whispered. Usagi glared at him.
:Unless you want to be caught, shut up!: she said telepathically. Duo was about to exclaim something in surprise but Heero clamped a hand around his mouth. He took the psychic message much more calmly than his lover. The second they made it through the door, they split up into three separate groups.
Heero went into the lower labs. Duo went into the cells and Usagi went down into the dungeons. If any of them found Treize or Zechs, they were to contact the others with the communicator. Usagi scrunched her nose in disgust as she made her way down into the dark and murky prisons which seemed to come straight out of some medieval flick she saw. Nobody was guarding the entrance to the dungeons so she supposed that they weren't there but it was better to check rather than be sorry later.
She reached the end of the dungeon cells before she heard someone say, "There's a mobile suit battle up there."
"I wish I could get a hold of Tallgeese and blow them up till kingdom come," the other said angrily.
"We probably won't have the chance. It's probably the Gundams trying to destroy the base and if the base gets destroyed so do we," said the first voice. Usagi immediately ran in the direction of the sound. She found Treize leaning against Zechs with his head on his shoulder; his normally immaculate OZ uniform spoke of better days. They both had dark smudges under their eyes and were beginning to look haggard. In the dark, they couldn't see her but she could see them with her better eyesight.
Usagi stepped up to the bars and held two of them in her hand. She then pulled outwards; the screeching of metal broke the couple out of their reverie.
"Who's there?" Zechs shouted, immediately jumping to his feet in front of Treize.
"Your escape out of this place. It looks like some set from a medieval movie!" Usagi said, the metal giving way. Deciding that the two full-grown men wouldn't fit through the small opening, she took a lock pick out of her braid. Duo had shown her how to hide the things in her hair some weeks ago. With a careful twists of the pick, it opened with no trouble.
"You would expect Maxwell to be able to do that considering he is a thief," Zechs said. She didn't bother correcting him.
"Come with me," she said.
"Aa, we're walking from one execution to another," Treize said.
"I'm busting you out of here. Now shut up and let me work!" Usagi shouted. Walking briskly, they made it to the stairs leading up with no problem. However, the second they got out, there were at least fifty soldiers waiting for them. Usagi immediately took out her gun and began firing while at the same time maintaining a shield around herself and the former OZ soldiers. The bullets hit true but nothing happened.
During her preoccupation with the mission, she failed to notice the dark energy which seemed to surround the entire base. //No wonder Chibi-Usa and Elios were fidgeting. Why didn't they tell me?//
"I thought you were a better shot than that, pilot 02," Zechs said wryly.
"I hit perfect marks 99.9% of the time! It's just that it's not affecting them. I never thought I would be using this again," she muttered under her breath. Her right hand shot out to go into her subspace pocket away from the prying eyes of Treize and Zechs. In a pulling motion, she took out a gold and red scepter.
"What are you going to do with that? Hit them over the head?" Treize said.
"Moon Scepter Elimination," she said calmly. Bright golden energy shot out of the scepter, traveling through the soldiers and destroying them at the same time. Nothing was left but a couple of scorched places where the blast had hit a bit too close to the wall.
"What kind of weapon is that?" Treize exclaimed.
"No time to explain. I'm sure that whoever is controlling this base will know I'm here. Come on, we still have a kilometer to run before we're in safe hands," Usagi shouted, grabbing Treize's hand who in turn grabbed Zechs. :Usagi here. I got them and you better get out quick because those soldiers can't be destroyed by bullets!: she sent to Duo and Heero.
:We realized that some time ago: came Heero's voice. The communicators that Ami had gave them allowed them to be able to speak telepathically to prevent any intervention from taking place. Usagi made it through with relative ease since most of the soldiers were concentrating on the battle outside. She met up with Heero and Duo on the way. Treize and Zechs were wondering which one was Duo Maxwell.
"There's the van," she said. To her communicator she said, "Sandrock, Heavyarms, Zeus, Phoenix and Aphrodite, fall back. The mission was a success. Use shielding device. Serenity out."
Duo, Heero, Treize and Zechs scrambled into the van as Usagi made sure they weren't being followed. She jumped into the van after the last person boarded.
"Have we made it out of the anti-teleportation barrier yet, Elios?" Usagi asked, taking off her hat and pulling out her braid from the inside of her shirt.
"We're almost there and with the suits battling, it's getting harder to drive. We run a risk of being killed by the explosions around us, Serenity-sama," the white haired man said.
"A girl saved us?" Treize and Zechs exclaimed. Usagi rolled her eyes.
"For supposedly observant people, you sure are stupid. He thought I was you, Duo," Usagi said.
"Must be the clothes," Duo grinned.
"Can't tell a blonde from a brunette," Usagi grumbled under her breath.
"We reached the edge, mama," the pink haired version of Usagi said. The car immediately stopped.
"Excellent. Moon teleport!" she shouted. The van disappeared from the road and reappeared in a garage. Everybody got off except for Treize and Zechs who were frozen in shock.
"Kaasan! You made it. Thank Selene and Gaia," he cried.
"Have the rest of them arrived yet?" Usagi asked nervously.
"We're okay, Usagi, so you don't have to worry your little Odango Atama about it," Rei said smugly.
"Shut up, pyro. It escapes me to how Feihong is actually related to a hot head like you!"
"Why you," Rei sputtered. She began throwing little fireballs at Usagi who nimbly jumped out of the way.
"You wouldn't want to destroy the beams supporting the ceiling now, would you?" Usagi giggled. Treize and Zechs were staring with their mouths hanging open. Duo merely cheered them on while Heero looked at them with a raised eyebrow. Elios, Chibi-Usa, Makoto and Minako had huge sweatdrops on the side of their head.
"They're what? 2,139 going on three?" Chibi-Usa asked her husband.
"Stop now! We have better things to do. Mother, there are mobile suits situated at colony X302E. They are getting ready to destroy it!" Shingo shouted.
"Nani? I thought everybody forgot about that colony! Get the rest of the senshi to get into their suits now! Get Wufei and Feihong as well," Usagi commanded, all mirth drained from her voice, as she switched into her older form. She turned to Zechs. "We would ask you to fight with us but in your condition, you can't pilot a mobile suit into an empty room. There is a room prepared for the both of you. My servants will see to your needs."
"What about me mother?" Chibi-Usa asked.
"I want you here. Go to the cats and scan that base for dark energy. I have a feeling that we'll have to reopen the senshi again," Usagi said grimly. "Come on, let's move, move, move!" she shouted.
Usagi quickly ran to the mobile suit storage and pressed her hand to a pad. The machine scanned her hand print before letting her in. She grabbed a suit on the rack next to the door and slipped the helmet over her head. Behind the door, was Selene, Usagi's personally made mobile suit. A bit more compact than the other suits and Gundams, it would have been considered one of the most powerful suits if its existence was made public. It was entirely black with huge metal wings. The only marking was a gold crescent moon on the forehead. Not bothering to walk up the ramp, she jumped straight on it and quickly opened the hatch. With grim determination, she sat in the seat and turned on the controls.
"Koneko, we are ready," Uranus said. They had all transformed into their senshi forms to give themselves a higher stamina. Usagi had a nagging feeling that she will need hers as well.
"Your majesty, I just want to inform you that I do not know of my own fate in this battle except that I am part of the solution," Pluto said.
"I know that. If you shouldn't be with us, you wouldn't be fighting along with us in case you inadvertently changed time," Usagi said with a smile. "Tell Elios to open the hatch and make sure that we stay cloaked. We'll have to do a sailor teleport if we want to get there in time," Usagi said, changing into her Sailor Cosmos form. The ceiling above her opened to reveal the pitch-black color of outer space. She turned on the thrusters and shot out of the storage room. Fourteen other mobile suits were waiting patiently for her.
"Where is colony E302E? I never heard of such a place," Quatre asked.
"It was built a century ago with the other colonies. They were made up of mostly my people. Those who did not possess starseeds were sent there to protect it. They kept their communications with the other colonies as minimal as could be. It is the only colony untouched by war or the Alliance. I want to keep it that way. Although they might have the most powerful military, they have never fought before," Usagi explained.
"Serenity-sama, why did you want me to go with you on this? You usually pull me out of the fights," Feihong asked.
"I have trained both you and Wufei in the two pronged attack, with the modifications to the Mars, your suit is nearly identical to his. That strategy is still an experimental one and I would like to test it out. I know your abilities have increased greatly since three months ago," she said referring the late night discussions she knew Wufei and Feihong had. "You'll have to trust each other completely for it to work. I think you both need the practice," she said.
"Usagi-chan, I just contacted the colony. They received this message just a couple of minutes ago," Ami said. Immediately, a picture of Lady Une appeared.
"It's that creepy woman, Lady Une!" Duo exclaimed.
"No it isn't, Duo. She may look like her but she isn't," Usagi whispered. The Lady Une look alike sneered.
"I am Metallia. Throw down your weapons and surrender to me. There is no point in fighting us. You are all too weak," she spat.
"Metallia?!" shouted the senshi, besides Usagi.
"I thought you said you defeated her a long time ago in Antarctica," Saturn said.
"We did, I guess she managed to survive the blast. Well, I'm ready for her. I don't think she knows the fact that as long as Usagi possesses the ginzuishou, we will live forever along with her. And we are much more powerful than we were a millennia ago. If we aren't powerful enough to defeat her, we can call on our children and grandchildren," Venus stated.
"We mustn't waste any more time. Gundam pilots, gather in the middle. Feihong are you transformed?" Usagi said.
"Hai, Serenity-sama," Feihong answered, her voice a bit higher than before.
"Good. Let's begin then," Usagi signaled. The senshi made a circle around the Gundam pilots and their mobile suits began to glow.
"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER!"
"MARS CRYSTAL POWER!"
"MARS, POWER UP!"
"VENUS CRYSTAL POWER!"
"JUPITER CRYSTAL POWER!"
"URANUS CRYSTAL POWER!"
"NEPTUNE CRYSTAL POWER!"
"SATURN CRYSTAL POWER!"
"PLUTO CRYSTAL POWER!"
"SILVER MOON CRYSTAL POWER!"
As one they yelled out, "SAILOR TELEPORT!"Ten pillars of light surrounded the five stunned Gundam pilots as they disappeared to save a mysterious colony.
***
"Should we follow that strange shapeshifter's orders?" Treize asked the blonde man.
"I don't trust this place. Where are we and how did we get here? I never knew of an underground base about a kilometer away from the one we were held hostage in," Zechs answered.
"Well, let's make our escape then. Our 'hostess' seems to be rather lenient with our accommodations and I managed to see where they keep their mobile suits," Treize said.
They made their way through the unfamiliar complex which seemed to be more of a palace rather than military base. Finally, they reached the storage area. Usagi, who trusted all of her students, did not put a lock on the regular mobile suits, letting all of them do as they pleased with the suit as long as it made it back in once piece. If it wasn't, they had to repair it themselves.
"These mobile suits are amazing," Zechs said, looking around the room. He chose the Saturn as his suit. Treize chose Venus. Using the energy beams which Venus was equipped with endless amounts of, he blasted the ceiling, to make their escape.
***
Psychic alarms rang all over the palace. Neo-Princess Serenity rubbed her temples to soothe her headache. "I wonder how mama can stand those alarms," she muttered.
"Usa-chan, two mobiles suits, one Saturn and one Venus, were taken out of storage," said Karin.
"So it's a false alarm, right?" she asked.
"I'm afraid not, Usa. The ceiling was blown away to take them out. I'm guessing it's those two that the queen brought in. I knew we should have been watching them closer," Naomi grumbled.
"Get Kris and Kristine in here and I want you and Karin to get on your mobile suits with me to get them back here. The controls are more complicated than those Earth mobile suits so it would take them time to figure them out. Come on, we don't have much time!" Chibi-Usa shouted to her senshi.
Immediately, Kris and Kristine arrived. "What is it Usa-chan?" they said in unison.
"Treize and Zechs just blew out the ceiling of the mobile suit storage room. I need you two to seal it back together. I'm going to go get them. I haven't been using Lunarstorm much lately since there is so much more work than usual. I'm going to show those two that the wrath of a moon princess is something you don't want to see," Chibi-Usa said with barely contained fury. "We're lucky that storage room had the older versions of Saturn and Venus," she said under breath.
Karin and Naomi ran to their own mobile suits, Firestorm and Windrunner. Chibi-Usa ran to a steel enforced door and put her hand on the scanner. The machine acknowledged her presence and she ran for her mobile suit inside. She jumped onto the ramp, like her mother had done previously, and flicked on the controls with practiced ease.
"We're ready, Usa-chan," came Naomi and Karin's voice.
"We'll teleport out to surprise them," Chibi-Usa answered. Seconds later, they were in the pitch-black darkness of space. She opened the line which connected all of the palace's mobile suits. "We command you to surrender and return those mobile suits. If you comply, no harm shall come to you."
"The Earth and the colonies have the right to have such advanced technology for their suits," Zechs answered.
"So be it. You're going to find out now, why the cockpit is so much bigger than your mobile suits," she said with a snicker. Chibi-Usa put her suit on autopilot and teleported into the Saturn. "Hi! Would you like to surrender now?" she said cheerfully.
Zechs jerked around in the harness to see a woman who was the identical copy of that Usagi character that got him out of the dungeon except that she had pink hair and red eyes. "H-How did you do that?" he asked with wide eyes.
"Ooh, simple. Like THIS!" she shouted grabbing Zechs and teleporting him straight into the command center where she knew Mifuyu and the rest of her senshi were waiting. Chibi-Usa then teleported into the other suit. "Well, your second is in custody. Will you surrender willingly?"
Treize nodded stiffly. Chibi-Usa teleported out with the general in her custody. The others collected the mobile suits and put them back to where they belonged, under lock and key.
***
The five Gundam pilots and ten senshi arrived several miles away from colony E302E to prevent the enemy from detecting them. Quatre clutched at his chest in pain as he felt the evil of Metallia. "Quatre!" shouted all of the Gundam pilots.
"Rei, teach him how to make a psychic shield. Trowa, you stay with him. The rest of us are going in," Usagi said. Reluctantly, the four Gundam pilots complied and flew after the senshi. Usagi opened the line connecting the colony. "This is Usagi, help is on the way. Repeat, help is on the way."
Usagi pushed her mobile suit to the max as she rushed to save her people. She failed to save her kingdom last time; she was not about to fail them now. Over a five hundred mobile suits greeted them. Usagi slashed her way through the ranks, the rest of them not far behind.
"Aa, I am guessing that you are a descendant of the idiotic moon princess that dared to intervene in my plans," Metallia's voice said over the com link.
"You are right about the moon, but I am not the moon princess that will intervene in your plans, I am the QUEEN THAT WILL!" Usagi shouted as her beam saber clashed with the mobile suit Metallia was piloting.
"Well, I'm guessing that this pitiful colony is what is left of the great Queen Serenity," Metallia said sarcastically. Usagi growled and pushed on. All around her, the enemy mobile suits were steadily getting destroyed. Even Trowa, Quatre and Rei managed to arrive in time.
"Shut up and fight. Omae o korosu!" Usagi yelled.
In the cockpit of Deathscythe Hell, Duo shook his head. Still wearing the communicator, he contacted Heero. :See what a bad influence you are? You even got Usagi-chan saying it: Duo sighed.
:Hn: Heero answered.
"It seems that you also have your own weak senshi to protect you as well. I see that you have increased the number. Then again, since the senshi blood is so diluted, I'm not surprised to see that," Metallia said. All of a sudden, she turned around and aimed her beam cannon at a random senshi, Mars, and fired. Phoenix exploded in a display of manic proportions. Nothing was left.
"OBASAN!" Feihong cried out. Shenlong moved closer to the Mars mobile suit in an attempt to comfort his lover.
"NOOOOO! REI-CHAN!" Usagi shouted. She turned tearful eyes at Metallia. "How could you? Have you no honor? This fight was between the two of us, it did not involve my senshi!"
"What is honor, might I ask?" Metallia said in mock innocence. "We will fight again, pitiful descendent of a moon princess," Metallia said before teleporting away.
"Kisama!" Usagi shouted, banging her fists on the control board. "Rei, I'm so sorry. I failed you again," she whimpered.
"Oh, come on. None of that," somebody said, coughing a bit behind her. Usagi turned around to see Rei, lying on the cockpit floor.
"Rei-chan! You're okay!" Usagi cried out happily.
"Yeah, I am. I'm just a bit burnt and I have some major wounds here that I need you to heal. You can't possibly heal everything so I'll just have to live with it," Rei said weakly. "I was lucky I was in my senshi form," she said before closing tired eyes.
Usagi was quickly by her side, healing what she could. "Everybody, let's go home," she said tearfully. The usual calling of powers was held before a shout of "Sailor Teleport" found them back at the underground palace of the moon. Usagi carefully carried Rei out, making sure not to jar her.
"Obasan's alive!" Feihong shouted with barely restrained happiness. She just laid an enthusiastic kiss on Wufei which left him dazed. Ami was immediately in her doctor role, calling on her staff to roll out the gurney and quickly bringing Rei to the medical room.
Mamoru was there waiting for her. Usagi threw herself into his arms and for once in a long time, let herself weep for the destruction of what little peace there was before.
***
"You're a little burnt and a bit beat up with a couple of broken ribs from the flying shrapnel but you'll live, Rei-chan. But I don't think you'll be able to launch any major magickal attacks without hurting yourself worse or pilot a mobile suit," Ami said.
"<cough, cough> I know that much," Rei croaked. "Do me a favor, Ami-chan?"
"Depending on what it is," Ami said.
"Go <cough> get Feihong for me. I need to tell him something," she said weakly.
"I'll do that, but no more than five minutes. You need to rest. The only reason I'm doing this is because I know you're stubborn and you won't cooperate until I do what you ask," Ami said with a smile before walking out. Rei glared weakly at her.
Feihong walked in minutes later with a slightly tearful face. She was still transformed. "Did you want to talk to me, obasan?" she sniffed.
"Please detransform," Rei requested. Feihong's senshi fuku disappeared in a flurry of red and her body was replaced by that of a male one.
"Yes?" Feihong asked.
"Just before Metallia destroyed my mobile suit, Queen Serenity contacted me," Rei said with a slightly sad smile.
"Th-The Queen Serenity?" Feihong said, surprised. Stories of the queen who sacrificed her life for her kingdom were popular and rather widespread to remember that their lives were because of that one brave person.
"Yes, and she told me that Usagi-chan will not be able to defeat Metallia without both of your help," she said.
"Who?"
"You and your lover," Rei answered with a radiant smile.
"M-My lover?" Feihong stuttered, face red.
"I am one of the more observant ones that managed to figure it out. He has a special power, that one. He was descended from the dragons themselves who had taken on human forms. Although their powers became diluted over time, it is powerful in that one because of your love and bond with him. His power is steadily growing more powerful each day your love for him grows," Rei said.
"Never knew dragons were real," Feihong muttered.
"Well, the humans during the time I was a teenager didn't think the other eight planets had life on them once and especially didn't believe the moon had life as well," Rei said with a slightly pained laugh.
"How are we supposed to help Serenity-sama?" Feihong asked.
"Only time will tell. I want you to pilot Phoenixfire, my new mobile suit that I put on hold. Its never been used before but I have a feeling that it should go to you. It's going to be a while before I get to pilot anything. Usagi-chan will need a Sailor Mars and you will do just fine. Now go run along before Ami-chan comes in here to yell at me for keeping you too long," Rei smiled.
"Not only would I yell at you, I'll sedate you as well, Rei-chan. Now go before I turn you into a block of ice," Ami said jokingly.
"Hai, Aunt Ami!" Feihong said before running straight out. He didn't want to find out whether or not she would make good on her threat. He didn't stop until he reached his--no, their--room. Feihong opened the door and turned around the close it just as a pair of familiar arms wrapped themselves snugly around his waist.
"I missed you," the voice said huskily into his ear. A warm tongue traced the shell of his ear before darting teasingly inside
"Mmm," moaned Feihong. "I thought you didn't go for guys, Wu-chan."
"Would you like for me to stop then?" Wufei asked, letting a hand trail teasingly down the front of his shirt.
"Well, since you put it that way," Feihong said before turning in Wufei's embrace and pulling their lips together in a searing kiss.
***
"Mama, Treize and Zechs tried to escape and they destroyed the ceiling to the older versions of Saturn and Venus," Chibi-Usa said, filling in her mother on the previous events.
"I can't believe those two! I want everybody and I mean everybody either transformed or in their princess or prince form. I want to make sure that doesn't happen again. Spread the word. As for myself, I am going to pound something into their heads," Usagi said with death in her eyes. As she turned, she reverted to her Neo-Queen Serenity form and stalked out of the room, crescent moon glowing in annoyance and anger.
Neo-Queen Serenity walked down the corridors, her footsteps echoing in the empty halls. She finally reached the room she chose for the general and his second. Serenity knocked loudly on the door. Treize opened it. He looked at her with confused blue eyes and arched forked eyebrows. "And who may you be?" he asked.
"I am Neo-Queen Serenity, the ruler of this palace," she said, pushing through the door.
"Yes, your highness. How may we help you?" Zechs said from the sitting room.
"I am here to send you back to where you belong," she said, her wings fluttering in irritation.
"We have no more rank on Earth since Metallia had taken over. The reason we were thrown into the dungeons to slowly starve to death is because she couldn't possess us," Treize said.
"Well, I'll create one. I'm sorry but I don't want you here any longer than possible. I have enough things to worry about and I don't want to add former OZ soldiers tot he list as well," Serenity said. The second she finished the sentence, she was knocked to the ground and pinned.
"Move and I will rip these off," Zechs growled, tugging at one of her wings.
"Must you do things the hard way?" Serenity sighed. She was suddenly surrounded by a golden light which threw Zechs off her. "If you studied your history, you would know of some of my powers."
"You are THE Neo-Queen Serenity? I don't believe you. You can't be at least a few hundred years old!" Treize said.
"Well, don't believe me," Serenity said, cupping her palms in front of her. The ginzuishou appeared before her and glowed slightly. "Silver Crystal, erase their memories of their stay here and anything and everything about their life as soldiers. Create new personas based on their original ones and send them to a new life. They deserve it," she ordered the crystal. It flashed once, engulfing Treize and Zechs before dulling, leaving nobody but herself in the room.
***
Meanwhile, in a rather secretive OZ base, Metallia was planning a scheme to make the universe hers once and for all. She was prepared to destroy it if she couldn't get it. If she couldn't have it, nobody will.
Besides, a youma possessed spy of hers would probably destroy those idiotic senshi once and for all with the dark energy powder she had him slip into their supply of condiments. With them out of the way, there would be no way she could not succeed in her plans.
***
"You Gundam pilots have been here for about four months. You'll have to return to the Earth and resume your missions sooner or later. I'm not very happy with that fact because I can no longer make sure that all of you are safe. However, you have all learned all that the systems can possibly teach you," Usagi said with a proud smile.
Each Gundam pilot looked around to see the place that had become something of a home during the months. For four short months, they were able to let go and relax, knowing that there would not be someone chasing after them. All of the Gundam pilots, even Heero, would miss the palace. Especially Wufei. He looked around with sad eyes, tucking a strand of black behind his ear. Ever since he met Feihong, he no longer pulled his hair back in a severe ponytail.
Besides, Feihong loved it down. He would do anything for his lover but he wasn't sure what their relationship would become after he went back to Earth to resume his missions. Wufei couldn't bear to be get used to the lonely life he had before he met the bright eyed senshi of Mars.
"We'll miss you all. And don't forget to have some fun once in a while, Heero-chan!" Chibi-Usa giggled. Elios wrapped an arm around her waist and smiled at the cobalt eyed pilot. He glared at the pink haired woman affectionately. Sometime during the time they were at the palace, they had made amends with each other and she became the sister he never had as he became the brother she used to have in Usagi's brother Shingo.
Duo threw an arm around Heero's shoulder and grinned at Chibi-Usa. Heero's hand tentatively found his braid and held onto it.
"Once in a while, we send one of our students down to Earth as a...vacation of sorts. Sailor Mars will go down there along with you," Usagi said before being interrupted by a rather loud and drawn out "WUUUUUU-CHAAAAAAAAN!"
Wufei turned around sharply just in time to catch the Martian bullet. A rather enthusiastic kiss was laid on him. He vaguely heard Duo shout out, "You go man! Never knew you would be able to kiss a girl without nosebleeding!"
"Didn't know you were the Sailor Mars going with m...us," he corrected.
"Well, mama already went down to the Earth. The other senshi already went to the Earth before on missions. I'm the only one who didn't so far," she said, kissing his cheek before bounding off to thank Usagi for letting her go.
:Hey, no problem. Just take care of the stubborn dragon: Usagi sent. Something felt strangely off in the senshi. Usagi just couldn't put a finger on what. She dismissed it as apprehension for Feihong's first but definitely not last time on the Earth.
:Dragon?: Feihong said, tilting her head. //Does Serenity-sama know?//
:It's a nickname I made for him. He is from the Dragon clan: Usagi shrugged.
"Should I bring Phoenixfire with me? Obasan said I could use it," Feihong asked.
"Just be careful not to get caught in traps," Usagi said, poking her in the nose. Her eyes crossed, following the digit before looking straight foreword again. Feihong giggled and went back to Wufei's side.
"I'm not that careless!" Feihong said.
"You shall be piloting your Gundams down there. With the cloaking system installed in Phoenixfire, you should not be detected by any satellites until you reach a secure destination," Usagi said. "And with the special encasement program, you don't even have to waist any fuel for flight."
Mamoru stood on her left while Shingo stood on her right with his wife, Yurimi by his side. Her gentle green eyes smiled at them in respect. Shingo playfully ruffled her purple hair and Yurimi surreptitiously yanked on his braid.
"Don't be a stranger," Shingo said. "We braided boys have to stick together you know. Make sure the little Mars senshi doesn't get into any trouble now, Wufei-san," he winked.
Wufei gave him a small smile. Haruka and Azurite made it just in time for the farewell ceremony. "Work on your form some more. You can always ask Sailor Mars for help. She knows most of what I know," Haruka said with a smile. During the couple of months, Haruka had given him some pointers and lessons on how to perfect his sword fighting. Even worked on his hand-to-hand combat skills as well.
"I will, Haruka-sensei," Wufei said, bowing respectfully. Haruka returned it in kind.
"Well, I guess this is good-bye for now. All of your school files for your next mission are complete and all you have to do is arrive at school. Detransform before you go to school, Mars, I don't think the Earth is quite ready for a reappearance of a senshi," Usagi said.
"Come on, people! I want to go see some earthlings! The only people from Earth here are you people and the guards but they have magickal powers so I don't count them. I can't wait!" Feihong said, rubbing her hands together. Wufei held onto her braid in the same way Heero did to Duo's. He smiled at his lover's exuberance. At times, it even rivaled the pilot of Deathscythe Hell but somehow her exuberance just felt a bit fake.
They stepped through the hanger doors and climbed onto the lift. Sailor Mars showed off by jumping straight into the cockpit. "There's no justice to these mobile suits. Can't they invent some kind of inside elevator or something," she commented to the other Gundam pilots.
"Great, another justice spouting junkie," Duo muttered under his breath.
"Let's get going!" Sailor Mars squealed.
"Did you get a hold of those sugar cookies, Makoto-san made before?" Wufei asked worriedly.
"I ate them all! They were so good I just couldn't stop! They did taste a bit weird though," Feihong giggled.
"Great, just what I need, a hyper violet eyed minx," Wufei grumbled.
The hatch opened and the six mobile suits blasted off. The second they went through the hatch, a bubble like object surrounded them. Feihong immediately activated the cloaking device and leaned back into her seat. Within a period of several hours, they arrived on the Earth.
"There should be one of my holdings down there. Rashid and the others should be there as well. I really don't want to know what he's going to say to me when I arrive with all of you and an extra pilot," Quatre sweatdropped.
"You could always tell him the truth, ya know?" Sailor Mars suggested.
"Unless I want to get sent to psychologists, no," Quatre countered.
"Well, let's go. I want to see some sights!" Sailor Mars said, her voice sounding slightly tired all of a sudden.
//Her sugar rush is starting to wear off// Wufei thought with a slight wince. They arrived at one of the Winner holdings with no problem, the Maganacs immediately running up to them. Sailor Mars's body arced through the air as she gracefully twisted to land on her feet. She swayed slightly and Wufei ran to catch her.
"I don't feel so good, Wu-chan," she said. Her purple eyes closed and her transformation disappeared in a burst of red stars, leaving Feihong in her place.
"Feihong?" they all shouted. They all looked at Wufei, who was sweatdropping, for answers.
"Yes?" he said in a flat voice.
"Never knew you went for guys or else I woulda chased af--ahhh! Let go of my braid Heero! I was just kidding! Really!" Duo shouted when he felt his cobalt eyed lover yank on his hair. Quatre looked worriedly at the fainted boy still in Wufei's arms.
"Let's bring him in. I'll go see if Iria is in. I don't think a sugar rush would do that to anyone," Quatre said. Wufei nodded, looking down at his lover in apprehension.
***
"He's totally fine. I cannot find any reason for him being unconscious," Iria said.
"Are you positive?" Wufei asked.
"Iria is a really good doctor. If she can't find anything wrong with him, I don't think anyone could," Quatre said, putting a hand on Wufei's shoulder. Feihong started thrashing on the bed, his face scrunched up in pain. Wufei ran to hold his hand.
"Wu-chan...darkness...onegai...help," he whispered, then fell limp.