Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Unity ❯ Unity 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Unity

Chapter four:

Xavier's school:

Haruka and Michiru went along with Jean and Ororo while Setsuna stayed and discussed with Henry.

"I've heard a lot about the strange incidents in Japan," the blue-furred man said, "and although I am a man of science, I cannot help believing that what transpires there is of paranormal origin."

"It's rare to find another doctor who believes in the existence of magic," the mocha-skinned girl chuckled gently, "But if you don't mind, McCoy-san, I would like to talk about the school. What is its purpose?"

"To teach of course," he answered matter-of-factly, "Mainly, to have the children accept what they are." Henry looked at his claw and sighed. "It's quite obvious that I once despised myself for what I was becoming. There was a time when Henry McCoy vanished from the face of the Earth completely."

"I know, I read about it in several medical magazines." The emerald-haired woman wasn't going to admit it openly, but she had been an admirer of Dr. McCoy's work for some time. She'd personally met several people whose lives had been saved thanks to him. It was quite unfair, although understandable, that Henry McCoy had to remain hidden for so long. Setsuna knew solitude quite well but not the pain of self-isolation. "Umm, McCoy-san, how did you manage to overcome this problem?"

"Charles helped a lot. We've been friends for years, since college. When he told me about the school, I realized how selfish my actions were. There are many out there whose condition is even worse than mine, both physically and spiritually. To make a long story short, I overcame myself and am now in charge of physics and philosophy." Henry noticed a peculiar gleam in Setsuna's ruby-eye. "Is something wrong?"

"Ie, it's just that you reminded me of a good friend of mine."

"This Usagi girl you mention sounds like quite an interesting character," Ororo commented, "She's Chibi-Usa's cousin, right?"

"Hai, her parents allowed her to come along with us in this vacation," Michiru answered. Jean scratched her chin, she could sense that the aqua-haired girl was lying a little, but she was too respectful to pry and figure out the truth. "Naturally, we never expected to meet you or have anything like this happen."

"Do you think Chibi-Usa's mother would've have forbidden her to come otherwise?" the redhead asked worriedly. Haruka thought for a moment.

"Ie, I think she would've still allowed her to." As a matter of fact, if Usagi-chan were to meet these people, she would've actually encouraged us to come.

"How about heading for the kitchen?" Ororo suggested, "You're our guests and we haven't offered you anything yet."

"Arigato," the racer said, "I was feeling a bit thirsty."

David and Bobby were leading Hotaru and Chibi-Usa through the gardens. The pink-haired girl directed her attention towards a baseball game. There were two unusual things about it: one team was three members short, and said team had a player that, thanks to teleportation, was catcher, shortstop and right fielder simultaneously.

"I think I saw a gray, anime rabbit do that once. Are all your games as much fun as they look?"

"Don't let appearances fool you, this isn't camp," David answered, his voice was quite severe for a fourteen year old, "Things may seem to be relaxed, but that's only because it's summer. Professor Xavier and the others are very strict teachers, and the special training is even worse."

"Special training?" Hotaru asked.

"Our mutant powers," Bobby explained, "they're not that easy to control you know."

"Which reminds me," Chibi-Usa pointed out, "we still don't know what you guys can do."

"We'll show you," the fair-haired teen promised, "as soon as we get to the others. They're right there under that tree." The four approached and met with two more friends. "Hey guys, we want you to meet someone. These are Hotaru and Chibi-Usa, guys, these are Kathy and-"

"Remy LeBeau, mon cherie, at your complete service!" he greeted cheerfully as he took both princesses' hands. The pale girl had no idea how to react, except to blush terribly. This was the first boy to ever approach her in such manner.

"Otherwise known as: the New Orleans swamp rat," a voice from above spoke. The Japanese girls looked up and were shocked to see a girl with reptilian features up in the tree. She had light-green skin, with a few scales developing, claws, fangs, yellow eyes and long black hair with green highlights. "And I resent the fact that I wasn't introduced."

"Well what do you expect?" Dave countered, "You're way up there were no one can see you."

"Whatever." The green-scaled girl came down and stood before the guests. "I'm Giselle, and if you want sound advice, don't believe a word this guy tells you. He'll hit on anything with curves and a pretty face."

"Pardon me, but Remy is not a hormone-driven buffoon."

"Do you expect us to believe that?" a new voice mocked. Everybody turned and saw Rogue approaching with ice-cream bars in her hands. It struck Hotaru odd that she wore long-sleeves in a warm day. "Not even Giselle's skin condition stopped you." The red-eyed boy grumbled and crossed his arms.

"Fine, say what you will, but Remy knows the truth."

"Eto," Chibi-Usa had become a bit lost with all this arguing, "well, Hotaru-chan and I are glad to meet all of you." She then took notice of the white-haired girl, who looked a bit older than her. "You're Kathy-chan, ne? You haven't said anything this whole time." Kathy's response was to tap her throat and shake her head.

"You can't speak?" Hotaru asked.

"Can, but mustn't," Rogue explained as she sat and put the snacks next to Bobby, "You see, Kathy's power resides in her voice, she can scream with the force of a megaton cannon. But she has no control of what she does either, so Dr. McCoy had to help a little." The white-haired girl nodded at each detail. "He tried to build this device that controls the volume of her voice, the choker she wears, but couldn't adjust it right. So finally, Kathy asked for one that didn't allow her to talk at all."

"Ara," the pale girl gasped, "Kathy-san, I'm so sorry." The silent girl gestured that it was okay.

"Dr. McCoy is still working on that thing," Bobby pointed out, "But enough talk, I'm hungry." He put his hand over the ice-cream bars and chilled them. "Perfect."

"Cool," Chibi-Usa praised, "er, no pun intended. What about the rest of you?"

"We are as varied as the stars in the night-sky," Remy said as he picked a leaf and made it glow. He threw it into the air and it was gone in a tiny explosion. "And each of us has a tale to tell."

As the four grown women came into the kitchen, they saw someone else already in there.

"This is just like a home alright," Logan grumbled as he looked around, "no one ever leaves a damn thing in its place." He got up and greeted the newcomers. "Hello again. How's the kid doing?"

"Hime-chan is quite well," Michiru answered.

"Are you looking for something, Logan?" Jean asked.

"Pliers, I think Scott left them here when-Aha!" He picked up the tool and went to the fridge for a beer.

"Working on the jeep?" his white-haired friend inquired.

"Yup, and I think it's finally on its last legs."

"I might be able to help," Haruka offered, "I know a thing or two about mechanics." She heard a warning cough. "Eto, Michiru?"

"Go ahead and play," the aqua-haired girl said with a grin, "I'll stay here with Jean and Ororo-san."

"Great!" The sand-blonde went to the fridge and got herself a drink. "Let's go see the patient, Logan-san."

Haruka was amazed by the size of the garage, and even more by the many vehicles stored there. She was actually feeling a bit jealous. They made it to the jeep and checked it out.

"(Whistle) How long did you say you had this thing?"

"Very long, and it's never given me so much trouble before." The feral man started moving parts here and there. "What do you think?"

"Nothing a few replacements can't fix. I'm not quite fond of jeeps really, too slow for my taste. But I now someone who's a real fanatic, he's got parts that can't be found anywhere else."

"Good to know." The pair kept on chatting and fixing what they could. "So your choice is speed, ne?"

"Hai, I just have to become the wind. I did drive one of these once at an off-road race. I came in first, but it wasn't that satisfying."

"I've seen one or two of those races. Didn't you feel just a little victorious being one of the few women there?"

"Hai, I guess it did-" the racer's eyes went wide in realization, "How could you tell I'm female?" Logan chuckled as he tapped his nose.

"You can disguise it with clothes, make your voice deeper or even splash on a gallon of cologne, some people's senses are too acute to be fooled that easily."

"I'll admit my surprise. Changing the subject, your Japanese is quite good, Logan-san. Have you ever been to Japan?"

"Hai, I had a home there once." The feral man's attitude suddenly became quite saddened; he grabbed the beer and took the last swallow. "I had someone there once." Haruka was about to say something but made an awkward pause.

"Uh, gomen nasai, Logan-san, but we have to go now."

"I understand, you guys have a vacation to enjoy." He made no attempt to stop the sand-blonde, he'd received a telepathic message at that moment, addressing him as Wolverine. And use of that name meant trouble.

"By the silence, that's awful," Hotaru gasped after hearing Rogue's tale.

"I don't know why I can't forget," white-streaked girl sighed, "yet, it's kind of cathartic to talk about it. But what about you, Hotaru? What's your story?"

"Well, it's not as good a tale as any of yours," the pale girl began, "I was about a year ago (I'm not so sure now, thanks to that loathsome Mistress Nine), a girl in my class had hurt herself with a paper-cutter. I placed my hand over the wound to stop the bleeding, when it began to glow all of a sudden. She was healed in a second, not even a scar remained. I looked into her eyes and noticed how terrified she was of me, not just her but everyone else who'd witnessed it." She took a deep breath. "To be honest, I was scared too." She looked up and noticed appalled stares from everyone, including Chibi-Usa, who'd never heard her story before.

"Give me a second to set this straight," Giselle requested, "You went through that, and in your opinion, what happened to Rogue was awful!?"

"That's right," the aforementioned girl agreed, "I put people into comas, I have a reason to be feared. But you, you're a healer for crying out loud!"

"Healing, hurting," Dave spoke to no one in particular, "it doesn't change the fact that the world is made out of jerks."

"Not everyone is that bad," Chibi-Usa protested, "you shouldn't have such an attitude, Dave-kun, no matter how bad people mistreat you. I've learnt that from experience." The future princess leaned back. "And by the way, what is your ability?"

"Does it look like I want to be a part of this story time?" the dark-haired teen spat, "Why don't you show me yours and maybe I'll show you mine."

"Uh…" The pink-haired girl was at a loss, she could have mentioned that she was actually 902 years old, but that was thanks to her crystal. And it would be too hard to swallow anyway. "Actually I'm not a mutant, I'm afraid I'm just a plain old human." She looked around nervously. Then Kathy put her hand on her shoulder and gave a welcoming smile.

"You're thinking about the people out there, we're not like that at all," the reptilian girl assured, "Besides, maybe you're just late."

"Or maybe she's just not one of us," Dave stated coldly as he stood up and left. Surprised stares followed him.

"I'll be right back," Giselle said with an exaggeratedly apologetic smile, "David, get your sorry ass back here!" she hollered as she gave chase.

"You must forgive Dave," Bobby told Chibi-Usa, "he didn't have quite a pleasant experience before coming here, and is still quite angry."

"We understand," the pink-haired girl replied.

"Hime-chan, Small Lady."

Both Japanese girls turned and saw Setsuna approach.

"Konnichiwa minna-san. Girls, it's time for us to go."

"Could we come back tomorrow, Setsuna-mama?" Hotaru requested, she had a lot more questions that needed to be answered.

"Well, that depends on what your new friends have to say."

"Hey, no problem!" Remy beamed, "They're welcome here any day, after all we are on summer vacation." Kathy pretended to write on her hand then made a 'thumbs down'. "What does that mean?"

"She means that some people are here because they failed their finals," Bobby translated, he got a nasty glare from his brown-haired friend for this comment.

"Very well," the emerald-haired woman approved with a cheerful grin, "I'll call tomorrow and arrange everything. But we really must leave now." The Japanese trio bowed and walked away.

"It's horrible the way Hotaru's been treated," the blonde boy repeated, "Her power actually helps people, unlike most of us."

"I hear you," the former bayou dweller said, "Can you imagine if she actually blew up things, like I do?"

"Look on the bright side," Rogue reminded them, "her mother seems to be quite an understanding person." Her white-haired friend pulled on her sleeve and gave a questioning gaze. "Join us? I'm not so sure about that, Kathy. Setsuna also looks the sort that can't let go."

"David, you stop right now!" Giselle sprinted and was in front of the black-haired boy in flash, burst of speed were a natural quality in her. "Now, what the hell does that attitude mean?"

"You heard what that bunny-eared brat said, she's not one of us." The reptilian-girl shook her head and sighed.

"Dave, that's exactly the way of thinking the professor has taught us not to adopt."

"Well that's easy for him to say, I'll bet he didn't go through what we've been through. Didn't your parents keep you locked up in their house?"

"Please! You make it sound as if they kept me in a cage down in the basement. I was never deprived of anything except my freedom, a fact I resented deeply." She paused a bit. "But mom and dad made sure I had everything else, and when the X-Men came to pick me up, they eagerly agreed, knowing that it would be the best for me."

"Did it ever occur to you that they were trying to get rid of that lizard-freak living in their home?" Dave asked cynically as he walked away. Giselle shook her head then ran up to embrace him.

"Why won't you give the world a chance?" she asked softly as she kissed him in the cheek, "You know I've given you plenty."

"I don't know," the dark-haired boy shrugged, "I guess some of us aren't that strong."

"What's the emergency, Chuck?" Wolverine asked as he strode into the room. The X-Men were all gathered there, in full uniform.

"I found the one who caused the explosion earlier," the telepath explained, "She's hiding now, an old part of Brooklyn. But others are also after her."

"Mutant-haters," Cyclops guessed, "and overly-armed no doubt. We've got to get to her before they do." Everyone nodded and ran for their ground vehicle, with good wishes from Charles.

The senshi drove through the gate, each of them felt their hearts a lot lighter.

"I for one had a great time with Ororo and Jean-san," Michiru said cheerfully, "I agree with Hime-chan, we definitely should make the most of our time here to come see them."

"Well, I don't know," Haruka replied doubtfully, "I did enjoy myself with Logan-san, but there's something he's not letting out."

"Well Rogue-tachi were very earnest," Chibi-Usa commented, "Perhaps Logan-san's story is a bit too painful to recall."

"It could be that, Chibi-Usa-chan, but I think Haruka-" the violinist's Aqua mirror began to hum. She checked it out. "It's a girl hiding in an old part of the city, she's scared but I don't see-Ara!"

"What is it?" Hotaru asked.

"There's a whole platoon after her, armed to the teeth!" Haruka didn't exclaim, she reacted. She shifted gears and took it out on the accelerator.

"Where to, Michiru?"

"Right around the corner if you keep up this speed," the pale girl quipped as they each summoned their henshin rods.

*****

An abandoned part of Brooklyn:

A blonde girl, about fifteen, was curled up in a corner, crying inconsolably. How was she supposed to know it would happen? There were no warnings, no clues as to her condition. Just like that, a fiery sphere dropped out of her hand, bounced, rolled and came to a stop near a propane tank. Instinct ordered her to run, but now she was wondering whether she should've stayed and been blown up. She was in the middle of these depressing musings when three or four rounds of bullets flew just over her head! She was utterly frozen in fear, which could've turned out to be a good thing.

"Did you manage to hit it?" one hunter asked.

"Nah," the one who fired answered, "we would've heard a scream otherwise, or running sounds after a spray like that."

"Yeah, but were after a mutie here. What if it happens to be bulletproof?"

"Good point, better make sure then." Both of them aimed and got ready to fire, that's when something that looked like an ignited tennis ball rolled towards them. Before their minuscule brains could come up with something, the orb exploded, leaving them both unconscious.

"Damn!" the blonde girl exclaimed as she ran away, "They talk about shooting me down, and refer to me as 'it'? Who are these people?" She wandered aimlessly until she met with a quartet of those hunters.

"Well, well, look at what the cat dragged in." Terrified, she tried to throw more of those bombs, but she wasn't able to do it anymore. She heard the weapons cock and saw her life flash before her eyes.

"World shaking!"

The amber orb took them all out.

"Be grateful that I'm considering the fact that you're only human," the wind senshi growled, "though only in the physical definition." She looked up and saw the blonde girl escaping from them. "Matte, we're here to help you!"

"It's no use, she's too scared to trust anyone," Sailor Saturn explained, "We must somehow convince her that we're not foe."

"And take care of these creeps as well," Pluto added, "We'll split up, Neptune and Uranus, you go one way, I'll stay with the little ones."

"Hai, let me do the talking," Sailor Chibi-Moon suggested, "I think I'll have the best chance to reach out to her."

Uranus and Neptune searched around warily and found two groups of those gun-toting bigots, on separate sides from their position.

"They haven't seen us," the ocean senshi noted, "but there too far apart, it'll take a while to take them out."

"Why not use our talismans?"

"They're too powerful, and I still don't approve of you using your power a while ago."

"Fine then," Uranus said tiredly, "it'll be one on one." The wind senshi checked out her Star sword, "At least I can still use my weapon without activating it."

"Don't get me started," Neptune warned. Chuckling, her beloved took to the left while she took the right.

The hunters were ill prepared for the situation. Sure, they'd brought guns and knives, but their plan was to find and kill a mutant, they were not prepared for confrontation. This gave the shorthaired senshi an initial advantage. She managed to knock out six, three remained, one of which was armed with a machine gun of tremendous caliber. Uranus dove behind a wall as the bullets zoomed past her head.

"Gomen, Michiru, but if this keeps up, I'll have no choice but to use the Sword blaster." Boldly, she stepped out of her hiding place, to see a yellowish blur pass over her head. One of the Wolverine's lesser-known abilities is to leave friend and foe completely stunned with his actions. The feral man charged and slashed all three guns in half, then he threw a roundhouse kick at one. True to the cowardly nature of racists, the remaining pair ran.

"You're one of the girl scouts from the other day, right?" Wolverine confirmed as he retracted his claws, "You better leave this stuff to the professionals, rookie." He sniffed. "What the hell?"

"Che," Uranus took a look at her unrequired helper, he wore a brown and dark yellow suit, along with hood and a large, black mask over his eyes. The whole outfit and attitude displayed gave an air of fierceness, proper to a predator. "I happen to have experience in these situations (with daimon at least). I assume you're looking for the child as well."

"Yes, and you may also assume that we're wasting time just standing here." He ran off, with Uranus closely following. "You can tag along if you want, just make sure you don't get in the way."

"Once you see me in action, you're the one who's going to consider stepping aside."

Neptune met with a little trouble, her talisman wasn't a weapon like her lover's, and she wasn't as good in hand-to-hand combat, not against so many. The ocean senshi was going to have to break her own order and use one of her magical attacks. She was about to do so when she saw something that surprised both her and the hunters.

"Ororo-san!?" The ebony-skinned girl hovered above. She wore a black outfit, with no sleeves and bare shoulders, long gloves and a cape with yellow rim. That last article of clothing waved majestically in the wind she commanded.

"A chilling rain to douse your ire," Storm announced as water and wind hit her adversaries. It didn't take that much effort to scare them away; one however did not cower easily, he took aim and got ready to fire. That's when the ocean senshi knocked him out with a well-placed punch, the white-haired girl was quite surprised by the assistance. "Thanks," she said as she came down, "but who are you?"

"I am the senshi of the depths and embrace, Sailor Neptune. What sort of sorceress are you?" She had to feign ignorance, otherwise she'd compromise her identity.

"I don't use sorcery, you have nothing to fear from me," Storm chuckled, "and I can tell from your eyes that I don't have to fear you either. Perhaps we can help each other on this mission."

"Eto…" Neptune pondered a little, she had developed a high opinion of Ororo, but not enough trust for a situation such as this. Finally, her better judgement told her that she could use the help of a local. "Hai, let's go find the child." Both heroines retook the search.

"My name's Storm, by the way."

"Obviously."

Sailor Saturn, Pluto and Chibi-Moon had made their way into an old building, the young princess was certain that the blonde girl had entered the place.

"I'm finally beginning to realize what okousan means by 'more afraid of you than you are of her'," the pink-haired senshi said, "She's never going to let us find her."

"Finding her is only half the problem," Saturn added, "the real trick will be getting her to trust us."

"Feeling among equals should make her feel better," the time senshi guessed, "a little display from our skills should do the trick."

"No offense, Puu, but both yours and Saturn-chan's power is too destructive to make anyone relax." Chibi-Moon glimpsed into another room, "Nani? Whose voice is that?" She rushed inside with her best friend following.

"Don't you two wander off like that!" Pluto called sternly.

"We'll be okay," Saturn replied. The two youngest senshi peered through a window and saw three more hunters, one of then was the buzz-cut leader of the team, who were aiming their rifles towards a man in a blue outfit, the visor was a dead give-away.

"That's Scott-san!" the pink-haired senshi exclaimed, she was about to jump down when Saturn held her arm.

"He'll be all right," she assured with a grin, "just watch."

Cyclops was told to put his hands behind his head, an order he complied without questioning.

"Hey, I saw you on TV once," the brush-head said, "you're in one of those mutie gangs."

"Then what are we waiting for?" another hunter growled, "Let's blast him and do the world a favor."

"Blasting, good idea," Cyclops fired and blew all three guns into bits, he fired a fourth time at their feet. Seeing the large crater was enough to make them flee. The brown-haired man chuckled and went into the building his companions had entered previously.

"Wow! Saturn-chan, how did you know he was going to do that?" The silent senshi didn't answer, Chibi-Moon turned and saw concentration in her eyes.

"I hear sobbing. The girl's this way, come on!"

Beast and Jean Grey happened to be in the same building as the three senshi. The former walked along the corridors, looking into each room.

"With all of my animalistic features, one would think that my senses would be as keen as Logan's," the blue-furred man complained to himself. But he didn't need a sensitive ear to perceive the sound of a rifle behind him. He thought that his time was up, but instead of gunfire, he heard a yelp and a grunt. Beast spun to see his emerald-haired savior knockout the would be killer with an elaborate staff. "Umm, my thanks to you, Miss…"

"My guardian is the planet of time, I am the senshi of change, Sailor Pluto," was her introduction, "And just who did I happen to save?"

"At this moment, I respond to the name: Beast," he answered, a little taken aback by Pluto's proud intro.

"Well, Beast, it was nice to meet you, but I have two people to take care of, and a third that must be found."

"The child," the doctor guessed. Wordlessly, he decided to go along with her. "I owe you my life, and rest assured, I will return the gesture."

"Actually," the time senshi bit her lip, "you are the one who is being repaid."

The blonde girl was feeling miserable once more. She could faintly hear the sounds of battle right outside, and knew that she was the cause. Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching.

"Who's there!?" She saw Jean, Chibi-Moon and Saturn at the doorway. The trio had met just a moment ago and decided to postpone introductions.

"Please calm down," the redhead said softly, "we came here to help you."

"Get away from me!" the blonde yelled as she threw another sphere. Once again, inexperience raised its head once more, only this time, the attack carried too much energy.

"Silence wall!" The orb exploded harmlessly off the force field, surprising both female mutants.

"How did you do that?" the blonde asked with amazement and fear.

"Same as you, I guess," Saturn answered, "knowing how to do it came to me as an instinct." Emotionally exhausted, the blonde collapsed, Jean went over and placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"I DON'T WANT TO BE A FREAK!" the child wailed.

"You are not," Jean insisted softly, "you're a girl like any other, you just posses a slight difference. Whether that difference will be good or bad, depends on the choices you make from now on." She looked at her eye to eye. "We can teach you what the right choices are, if you let us." Saturn and Chibi-Moon observed from behind, silently rooting for the young telepath. Everyone sighed with relief when the blonde nodded her acceptance.

Elsewhere, the buzz-cut leader of the hunters was desperately running for his pick-up truck. All of his men had dispersed, and frankly, he didn't give a damn where they were. He was just about to reach the door when he heard an unearthly voice calling his name.

"You can still beat them, all you need is some more muscle."

"What?" Brush-head turned around but saw no one.

"You brought plenty of weaponry to destroy that mutie-bitch, but not enough to face such adversaries. It seems that you will require a bit of my assistance."

"Whatever you are, you keep your freaky help away from me! I don't want anything to do with the likes of you!" He turned again and saw the face of the speaker.

"It is not your choice."

While Storm took the girl over to the vehicle the X-Men had brought, both teams (team and a half technically) faced each other.

"What will happen to her now?" Neptune asked warily.

"Right now, we're taking her somewhere safe," Cyclops answered, "Tomorrow, after she's rested, she'll be able to make a clearer choice."

"Well we're not so certain about that," Uranus replied, "Hai, we helped each other moments ago, but how can we be sure of your intentions?"

"We could ask you the same question, bub," Wolverine retorted, "If you don't approve you can take the kid with you," he taunted as his claws were drawn, "you just have to get past us." The wind senshi narrowed her eyes at the man she'd finally recognized as Logan. Saturn approached and took hold of her arm.

"Uranus, on this occasion we are the gaijin, the X-Men have priority on what to decide." The sand-blonde had no choice but to agree, besides, the senshi had no idea yet of what limits a mutant could reach.

"Each of us better go their own way then," Pluto said with an apologetic tone, "Perhaps we'll meet again." Just a she finished saying that, a loud crash was heard, everyone turned and saw a humanoid giant, with pitch black skin and spiky shoulders, wreaking havoc among the empty streets. It saw the heroes and roared with rage as it charged towards them, causing them to disperse. The monster then turned its attention towards Beast, who had ended up next to Chibi-Moon, and roared as it attacked once more. It was about to pound the blue-furred X-man when a large gash appeared on its forearm. Beast was quite surprised to see the petit Saturn with her glaive held forward.

"Why don't you take on somebody your own size?" the once dark-messiah challenged. The giant stood and sized up its opponent. Wolverine took a battle stance besides the silent senshi as he drew out his claws.

"You've got heart kid," the feral man recognized, "But do you know what you're doing? That stench is not from this world."

"Hai, it is not, and that's why we've got to stop it now," she explained as she readied an attack.

"Any idea of what we're up against?" Cyclops asked as he fired with enough force to stun an elephant, the ruby beam bounced harmlessly off the monster's hide. The brown-haired man cursed in surprise. He was a bit puzzled however, for some reason he recognized it.

"We know what it is," Neptune said, "it's a youma, an evil spirit."

"Huh?" Jean, who was standing next to the ocean senshi, stared incredulously, "What are you talking about?"

"Trust me, we have experience in this area." The redhead narrowed her eyes, she turned to face the dark giant and performed a quick mind scan.

"That's a person!!" she exclaimed, "Don't ask me how, but that thing is actually a human being!"

"Then he's possessed," Pluto explained, "The remedy is simple though, we just have to cleanse the evil out of him."

"We'll leave that to you people," Cyclops replied, "since none of us has a power to deal with the paranormal."

"The remedy is simple but unavailable," the mocha-skinned senshi added pathetically, "The one who could do it is miles away-Unless!" She glanced at the pink-haired princess who was being guarded by Beast, "Chibi-Moon might be able to pull it off."

"Who?" the brown-haired mutant asked as he fired a stronger beam. If it weren't for his visor, you would've seen his eyes widen after Pluto signaled the child. "You've got to be kidding!"

"Partly, the princess doesn't have nearly as much strength as her mother, but enough if the rest of us weaken the thing."

"Good plan," Uranus praised as she landed next to her friend, "What do you two say, ready for a new round?"

"Lead the way," Jean answered. They all came out of their refuge and stood firmly before their large opponent.

"World shaking!" "Deep submerge!" "Death scream." Cyclops and Jean pitched in with both an optic and a kinetic blast. The giant received each blow and staggered a bit, Wolverine growled and leapt up to land the coup de grace. The monster simply swatted him away, enough strength remained in its body for battle. It threw a tantrum, pounding its fists on the ground hysterically. The dark-skinned giant growled and charged against the five heroes. It was almost on top of them when a bolt of lightning struck it! Everyone looked up to see Storm swooping down.

"Hear and feel my name," the white-haired girl announced as she fired her entire arsenal: lighting, wind and ice. The multiple attack was more than fierce enough to bring the giant down for good.

"Chibi-Moon!" Pluto called, "you have to give it the final blow!"

"Nani?" It took a few seconds for the young senshi to realize her friend's plan. "Right!" She stepped forwards and summoned a Lunar Kaleidoscope, smaller than the one Usagi used to have.

"What in the world are you going to do with such an item?" Beast wondered.

"Quite frankly, try to pull off a miracle." The young princess aimed her weapon and looked straight into the giant's eyes, who was trying to get back into its feet after that barrage. She kept staring into those black eyes, she was waiting for them to give her a message, one that she needed to hear.

"Help me…"

"Moon gorgeous meditation!" Crystal-like bits of energy covered the giant. There was a blinding light for a second, and when it was gone, the X-men were astonished at the sight before them. The senshi were surprised at a lesser degree, this was routine to them after all. That dark-skinned monster was none other than the brush-head hunter.

"He seems to be all right," Beast said as he checked his pulse, "But what could cause such a transformation?"

"Whatever it was, we need to get him to a hospital," Cyclops pointed out.

"We'll take care of him," Saturn offered, "you still need to take that girl where she'll be safe." There was no time to argue, since sirens heralded authorities approaching. One final glance and each team went their own way.

*****

Manhattan:

The Outers and Chibi-Usa left the bigot at the hospital then went back to their hotel to get a well-deserved rest. It was sundown when they arrived, the girls went to bed while the grown-ups stayed at the living room a while. Setsuna turned on the television set.

"I don't want the little ones to hear us," the mocha-skinned woman said, "Small Lady won't approve of this conversation, and neither will Hime-chan I'm afraid."

"Hai," Haruka agreed, "It was quite a surprise to find out who the X-Men are, especially under those circumstances." She flopped down on the couch laughing. "I'll tell you one thing, those guys definitely need to work on their attire. With the exception of Logan-san, you can identify each of them right away."

"That reminds me," Michiru giggled, "When you were starting out as Sailor Uranus, you made that very same comment about our outfits."

"Hey! I didn't know about the magical field back then."

"What are the other racers going to say?" the violinist mimicked mercilessly, "Hey Tenoh-san, nice set you got there. How come you've been keeping it hidden?"

"Could we get back to the more important issue," Setsuna piped up, "What are we going to do about Xavier-sama and the others?" The couple sat together and thought for a minute.

"They're strong, and I respect that," Haruka admitted, "but we can't let our guard down. Are we letting ourselves be fooled by Xavier? Is he being fooled by someone else? What is that girl going to be taught, how to be a soldier?"

"The matter of it all is, we still ignore too much about mutants," the aqua-haired girl pointed out, "and the only solution for that in investigation. I hate acting like a hypocrite, but we'll have to keep close relation with them in order to do so."

"I feel awful about doing this to McCoy-san," Setsuna said, "he aided our Hime-chan, and during the fight, I saw him trying to defend Small Lady. But first impressions aside, we must do what's best for the princess." The longhaired woman bit her fingernail. "And then there's that thing we fought."

"I don't think we should worry about that yet," the racer replied, "it could've been an isolated incident."

"Maybe, but there was something familiar about that giant." The shorthaired girl sat up.

"Are you going back to the Time gate?"

"Ie, not yet. By the way, back at the school, did anyone else have a weird sensation as we left?"

"Now that you mention it," Michiru replied, "I was chatting with Ororo and Jean-san when I suddenly decided to leave."

"The same thing happened to me," Haruka said, "It felt as if someone-"

A loud noise interrupted her.

Hotaru and Chibi-Usa entered the bedroom, the pale girl sat down on the bed.

"Chibi-Usa-chan, don't you feel tired after using your power like that?"

"Not really," the odango-headed girl answered, "it was kind of like using a muscle that's been numb for a while. I felt a bit tired after doing it, but I think I'll end up becoming stronger if I keep it up."

"It is pleasant not to become exhausted every five minutes." The violet-haired girl went over to get her pajama, "But tired or not, I'm going to sleep early, there's a lot of things I want to do tomorrow."

"With Rogue-tachi you mean," Chibi-Usa cleared out, "You're the first person I know, besides Ami-chan, who'd willingly spend her holiday at a school."

"Come on, you want to see them again too."

"Hai, and I believe Remy-kun is looking forward to see us eagerly." Chibi-Usa giggled as she saw her friend blush. Her face became unusually serious, "Hotaru-chan, I want to ask you something."

"Hai?"

"Well, it's about the conversation you were having with McCoy-sama while he tended to you. Your healing power helped us blend in with the others, but do you think-"

An explosion was heard from outside! Both girls ran to the window and scanned the horizon, it didn't take long for them to find the fiery source. Hotaru glimpsed towards the other window and saw her parents there.

"So much for sleep," she complained.

*****

Author's notes:

In case you're wondering, Henry McCoy was once human in appearance, he merely possessed agility and large feet. It was much later when he became the adorable blue fur-ball we all know.