(Harro! Happy Holidays everyone and uh...yeah, about that. This took a while to get up and I have a long list of probable excuses for that but to sum it up: work, new games, family drama and more work. But now that I'm off for the next month or so, I can invest some time into this. Granted this probably won't be lightning fast updates like TLATA but I'll be working on this as diligently as possible. This couple however isn't going to be easy for me to write though so please bear with me. Also one more thing - all the other stories thus far have been pretty light-hearted save for some bits in the previous story but that changes now. This will be a darker tale than what ya'll are used to so keep that in mind. And apologies for the length but this is just a little taste of what's to come so let me know hat you think! As always, read, review, enjoy)

Disclaimer: I do not, and never will own Sailor Moon. That is the blessed creation of Takeuchi-sama.

The acrid smell of smoke filled the air as screams from dozens accompanied it, followed by what sounded like bombs going off. It was a scene of pure pandemonium; people were scrambling to get away from the rapidly encroaching flames and more urgently, the nightmarish shadows that were descending upon them.

It took little effort for her visor to pick out her targets, accurately pinpointing their location as well as their trajectories. They were close to the civilians and many were stumbling out of sheer panic. The shadows knew this and let out victory screeches as they dove upon them, like seagulls preparing to crest the waters of the ocean for their food.

Her reaction was swift.

"Mercury Aqua Mist!"

The Jetstream of pressurized water shot out from her cupped hands, drilling into the flock and dispersing it. Many were atomized by the sudden assault but the survivors flew out of range, aiming to locate her and retaliate. She didn't have to wait long.

The youma let out a shriek and descended on her, at least a dozen in total were this close to reaching her. She grit her teeth, cursing herself for making her presence known and braced for the pain.

"Mercury!" a familiar voice shouted, punctuated by the appearance of a familiar brunette who landed on and rode one of the youma down into one of the cars, crashing it. The youma squealed in anguish before it was put out of its misery by the Senshi. "You ok?"

"I'm fine, thank you Jupiter," Mercury replied, quickly scanning for more enemies. "Where are the others?"

"Mars and Venus are looking after the princess, so don't worry about them."

"…and the Shittenou?"

The grin that Jupiter had been faltered a bit at that, but she recovered quickly enough, "Probably looking after the prince," she said, turning to glare up at the reforming flock of youma. "Look, they can take care of themselves. We need to hold these creeps off until everyone can get away." And without another word, she leapt up onto the roof of a nearby store and took off running out of sight.

Mercury pressed on, passing by several burning vehicles with the ones that weren't either having their windows smashed in, or deep gouge marks bore into the surface. Her visor was constantly scanning for any stragglers that hadn't been able to get away in time, as well as bodies. But thankfully, she hadn't found any.

Instead, she made her way through the back alleys, avoiding the streets wherever she could all the while pushing towards the aura she had been tracking since her run in with the flock. So far it hadn't moved, and her analytical brain was already hard at work coming up with several theories as to why that was. It could've – no, she corrected. It was almost certainly a trap. The one who was causing all of this was trying to draw them out.

And she didn't intend to disappoint him.

As she made her way onward, a new sound filled her ears – the sound of sirens, lots of them. That was both good and bad for her and her friends. While it meant that much-needed help was arriving, it was the kind of help that would not be there to specifically aid them. If anything, with the way things had been going, they might just arrest them on the spot.

Her senses tingled more urgently now, as she closed in on the source of the aura. She was close now, and the trembling in her legs was starting to become more pronounced. She ignored it and pressed on, pressing up against a wall and sliding towards the edge. Peeking out slowly, she spotted her target.

The blond pony-tailed haired man was almost unrecognizable now. His once healthy-looking skin was now ghostly white, with his hair having been bleached to a matching shade. His uniform had also changed from the dull gray of the other former Shittenou to a sort of royal purple with red linings across his shoulders and down the length of his arms. But the one thing that made her balk at were his eyes – dull, purple orbs with reptile-like slits for pupils replaced the lively green orbs she remembered only like yesterday.

His aura had undergone a transformation as well, the essence of it making Mercury almost sick to her stomach. It was utterly alien compared to what she had felt from him before all of this.

Zoisite…

"You might as well come out, Senshi. I know you're there."

Mercury froze solid. Impossible! How could he have sensed her? She had been concealing her aura…hadn't she? Swallowing hard, she stepped into view and approached Zoisite, who watched her with an almost indifferent stare. "Zoisite."

"Sailor Mercury. How courteous of you to come to me rather than making me go to the trouble of hunting you down. And now that the herd is cleared out, we can settle our score."

Mercury shook her head, "I don't want to fight you!" she declared, clenching her fist.

Zoisite sneered at her, "Why? Because your little comrades aren't around? Perhaps you'd feel more comfortable with some of my brothers with you as meat shields."

The very concept revolted her, "What has that witch been telling y-!" A burst of air cut her off mid-sentence, followed by a sharp stinging pain in her cheek.

Zoisite narrowed his eyes at her, lowering his hand, "Careful of your words, brat. I will not have you besmirching my queen's name."

"Zoisite, you don't understand-!"

"I understand clearly, Mercury," Zoisite spat, smirking at her. "In fact, for the first time in ages, I'm thinking clearly. I can see the ingenuity of your little plan and even I have to admit, it's devious even for you."

"My plan?"

"Indeed. Your fellow warriors placed some sort of spell on my brothers making them doubt their true loyalties and abandon their sworn duty of serving our gracious ruler, thereby leaving her undefended when you inevitably attack her. It's quite cunning of you, and you clearly planned to do the same to me." Suddenly, his aura began to flare, "but I will not bend so easily like my foolish brothers. I have been blessed for my loyalty by our great ruler herself and have been tasked with ridding ourselves of you once and for all – hence, this little demonstration."

Her eyes bulged as white-hot anger surged through her, "Demonstration," she spat, sweeping her hand out to encapsulate their surroundings. "You call this chaos a demonstration, this terror?! How dare you involve innocent people, Zoisite! If you wish to fight us so be it but leave everyone else out of this!"

"Ah, but that just won't do, you see," Zoisite said with a leer. "You claim to protect this city – well, I'm aiming to test that."

Before she could ask what he meant, the sirens began to get closer and closer until tires screeching filled the air. She turned around and found a convoy of squad cars all surrounding the area, officer already aiming their service pistols at them. "No, wait please!"

"Stand aside, girl! This is your only warning!" the sergeant barked over a megaphone.

"Take a good look around you, Mercury," Zoisite's voice drew her attention back to him. "These are the people you and your friends claim to defend. But it would seem to me they don't need nor want your help. And in this war, well, casualties are an eventuality."

Feeling his aura rise, Mercury quickly shouted to the officers, "No, run! Get away from here!"

"Ready, aim…!" the officers all prepared to fire, even as the air began to vibrate with energy.

"Begone." With just that word, a wave of energy surged forth from Zoisite and forced her to roll out of the way as it slammed into the cop cars. Even as the officers fired their weapons, they and their vehicles were sent hurtling into the air and sent flying into the buildings, some of the cars even exploding on impact.

Screams filled the air anew as Mercury took in the carnage, her heart pounding in her ears like a drum.

This wasn't supposed to happen, she thought helplessly.

"It would be so easy to end you now," Zoisite said as he walked up beside her. "To end all of you, as a matter of fact. But instead, I'll show you how pointless your struggle is and when everyone and everything you love turns against you, only then will I grant you that. Remember your choice, Mercury. This your consequence."

(love it? hate it? Yeah I admit it isn't my best work and maybe it isn't the greatest way to start a story, but it's better than having you guys wait another year or so for its release. So, here ya go.)