*Disclaimer* Sailor Moon and everything and anything having to do with her is the property of Toie and Naoko Takeuchi. X-Men though belongs to Marvel comics. Everything in this is entirely fictional. AN: fuzzy_elf@hotmail.com it's not that hard to remember folks! AN: Yay! Another quote. Correction, another quoted quote! (If you don't like em, skip em.) "Goodnight, sweet prince." -Frieza (The End of Vegeta, DBZ season 3) (This is even more confusing than Vegeta's quoted quote. I mean, the man, (er thing?), has never been to Earth, ever! How does he know Shakespeare's great works? I know! Shakespeare is really a traveling *alien* bard, who Frieza once met on his travels through space!) Oh and the rating. Very important no? OK, here goes: PG. Or maybe not. Probably though, there's violence galore in this particular chapter, maybe even more so than the last one. Anyway, the injuries are more serious. Oh, and Access tends to swear a lot. He just seems like that kind of person. AN: This chapter is really long but was finished super fast. It's sort of a way to make up for chapter nine, which I realized took all summer to write pretty much. OK, OK, enough dawdling, on with the show! Marvel/Sailor Moon Crossover: One Marvelous Day "Hello girls, more of the interfering Xmen I see, and, ah, one of the Sailor Brats as well." Diamond laughed nastily "You will wish you'd stayed in your own universe when I'm through with you X-man." "That's X-woman buddy-boy!" "Ah of course, my sincerest apologies. And you have come here to take back Sailor Moon I presume?" "..." "You may be wanting this I think?" he extended his hand, showing Serena's stolen brooch in his hand. Shadowcat tensed and prepared to leap. She could remain phased until she reached the brooch and then grab it. She was a trained ninja, she was sure she could make it. She never actually made it though. Just as she was about to jump for the brooch, Prince Diamond's black crescent moon transformed into a third eye which began to glow ominously. Suddenly a black wave swept over the three girls, rooting them to the spot. "Leaving so soon?" his voice became menacing. "I think not." "I have a few plans for you two girls, none of which you will like. You may find them rather, painful. I'm sure Wiseman knows a thing or two about torture." He strode over to Serena "You monster." she hissed through clenched teeth. Those are my friends." "You still have power to speak?" he asked her amazed "Well no matter, soon those words of hate will be words of love." He reached up to stroke her hair when a flying red rose sliced his hand. A second hit his other hand, knocking Sailor Moon's brooch out of his hand "What? Who dares?" "Nice to meet you to mac." "Ah, more of the Xmen I see." "C'mon mac. We've seen what you did to those girls and we know how to avoid it. So why don't you pick on someone my size." "Ha! Very well then." He floated into the air and glowered at them "No one shall take my prize! Neo- Serenity is mine!" A ball of black energy glowed in his hand, which he suddenly flung at Wolverine and Tuxedo Mask. Wolverine knocked Tuxedo Mask out of the way, the blast hitting him dead on. "One down!" laughed Diamond. Shadowcat, who had been watching the fight with her eyes, had seen her friend go down. But now, she would of grinned if she could. Diamond had already turned his attention to Tuxedo Mask though. He quickly threw another energy blast, which Tuxedo Mask dodged. They kept up the game until Diamond was suddenly struck down from behind. He wrestled with his attacker. "Who?" "Guess bub." He jumped back from Wolverine. "But I killed you!" "Surprised eh? I got news for you bub. I got a healing factor that'll take care of almost any wound. Including the one from your energy ball." Diamond knocked him back with a blast of energy. "Enough toying. The sooner I'm finished with you, the sooner Serenity and I can be together again." "You will never have Serena!" screamed Tuxedo Mask, as he launched a flying kick at Diamond. It struck his head, sending him tumbling back where he hit the wall. He slumped down, unconscious. Serena, Sailor Mercury and Shadowcat were suddenly able to move again. "It must be connected to his consciousness," murmured Shadowcat. "Thanks for the quick save guys. You OK Wolverine?" "Never better Kitty." "'K. Let's get going before this guy wakes up!" Tuxedo Mask extended his hand to Serena and dropped her brooch into her open palm. "Come on, Wolverine and I will show you where we got in." ***** Droid Terror had found a new victim. Sailor Mars had been terribly hurt after been thrown into the wall by a combo energy blast from Sapphire and Emerald. She was remaining conscious by will only. She was the creature coming, but found no strength to oppose it. Fortunately, you can always count on your friends." "Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!" The droid gave a raspy, inhuman scream before turning furiously to see its attacker. Sailor Jupiter limped towards her. She'd been pretty badly banged up and there was blood gushing out of the five scratch marks Sabretooth had given her but damned if she was going to let any negacreep's droid kill her friends. "That's right you jerk! Here I am, just try and get me!" she growled The Droid attacked with surprising speed knocking her off her feet. Jupiter made an attempt at punching it but it caught her balled fist with ease. It then chucked her a good fifty meters. As Sailor Jupiter opened her eyes she found it looking at her, grinning horribly. It raised its clawed hand for the final strike. ***** "Well, Quicksilver? Are you loyal to me?" demanded Magneto "Or will you ally yourself with the human dogs and join the traitorous Xmen. Quicksilver's fist remained suspended in midair. Venus opened her eyes a bit. Quicksilver gritted his teeth in preparation. And then he let his fist drop. It was a silent action, yet it spoke loudly to all present. Magneto dropped Sailor Venus unceremoniously to the ground. "So be it then traitor!" with all his force, Magneto picked up Quicksilver using his magnetic powers to hold him suspended in midair. "No...Murmured Sailor Venus as she watched the proceedings "No! Don't do it!" "You chose your path Quicksilver. I will choose your death!" And with that he hurled Quicksilver into the forcefield around the Dark Crystal. Pietro Maximoff released a tortured scream that everyone on the battleground heard. Then he stopped and fell to the ground, ten feet away. ***** "Shit!" "Calm yourself!" "If he's dead... And Magneto...He would never do that to his own followers would he?" "He is from your universe. Do you not know?" "Look, it's not like I go around checking up on people throughout my world. I don't have the time." "You have all the time in the world boy." "Maybe you do. Anyway, don't call me boy. I'm older than you!" "Are you? Are you really?" Access suddenly remembered whom he was talking to. The ageless guardian of time who'd been standing at her post for a millennia. He was barely in university. It was pretty much safe to assume that she was older. He turned back to the gap in the mists of time, through which he could see Quicksilver's mangled body, lying prone on the pavement. "Shit, shit, shit, shit!" ***** "No!" screamed Sailor Venus. She stood, confronting Magneto, all the fear and exhaustion were gone now. "How could you? How could YOU?!!" "That worthless traitor deserves it." "Is that all he is to you? You don't care that he's a person?!" Sapphire floated behind her. In this emotional state she was oblivious to everything. It would be so easy... He stopped though. He wanted to hear this little tirade. "I don't care what you think about humans and mutants. Even if some of us have incredible powers that others don't, it's still what's inside that counts! No matter what the outside is." "Is that so? Then why is it you fight us mutants then?" "I fight you because you threaten the world, because you threaten the universe. I fight you because you will hurt my friends. That is why we fight you. Not because a difference in genes." Magneto snarled, and using the Dark Moon teleporting technique, disappeared. "Quicksilver!" Sailor Venus rushed up to him, praying he was still alive. "Pietro! Oh no!" Scarlet Witch darted towards her brother. The Xmen let her go. Magneto had other ideas. He teleported in behind her and grasped her shoulder. She turned her face livid with fury. "You! You killed him! You killed him! I'll get you for this Magneto." "HAHAHAHA! Not today little girl!" Wanda's voice had dropped to a dangerously low level "Emerald, how can you still help this man, knowing what he's done." "Ha! It's the same to me! Besides, I like him better like this. At least now he'll keep his mouth shut." "You monsters!" Wanda was now crying. "How could you kill him?" she let force an awful blast of her hexing power. Magneto and Emerald were swept back, as by bad luck, a typhoon wind, which had a million to one chances of hitting them, did. Then she collapsed, her probability-changing factor spent. Venus crouched over Quicksilver. His face was a mask of pain. It must be horrible to die this way, she thought as her hand brushed one of the many burns on his back. To her surprise though, he gave a small moan. He was still alive! Meanwhile, Magneto and Emerald had staggered up. They lay both their hands on Wanda. "You are coming with us traitor." There was an overjoyed exclamation from Sailor Venus suddenly. "We have some great things in store for you!" Emerald gave a vicious laugh. Then her eyes turned to the Scouts, Nightcrawler and Colossus who were now forming a tight circle around Sailor Venus and Quicksilver. "Sapphire. Finish up here will you?" "My, Brotherhood, you have witnessed my power, kill them! You know you will die if you do not!" "No problem boss man." growled Sabretooth. "It'll be my pleasure." ***** "Woohoo! Daylight!" shouted Serena joyously. She was busy scraping sewer sludge of her shoe when she became aware of an odd sound behind her. When she turned around she realized it was Wolverine, who was sniffing the air. His face hardened. "What is it Wolvie?" asked Shadowcat "Sabretooth's here." "Oh no! The other's must still be fighting!" "Quick Serena transform!" "Right." In a flash of light Serena transformed to Sailor Moon. "Let's go!" Nightcrawler was exhausted. He'd been forced to teleport far too many times and he doubted he would be able to teleport himself let alone Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury and Shadowcat. The strain would probably kill him. He cursed mentally. Then he no longer had time to think as he was charged by a now recovered Toad. He was the only member of the brotherhood who was anywhere close to his acrobatic abilities. He made a quick dodge of his flying fist, but was knocked off his feet by Sapphire's projected energy shield. He was tired, and he was getting slow. He wasn't going to last much longer. Colossus grunted in pain as Sabretooth's admantium claws sliced neatly through his metal skin as though it was no more than paper. He grabbed Sabretooth on his next lunge and flipped him over backwards. The fight continued. Sailor Mars stumbled up and made at attempt at her burning Mandala in an attempt to destroy the Droid. The weak rings did not even make the distance. Droid Terror countered with an attack of its own. "Black Fear!" it hissed. A blast of Dark Energy washed over Sailor Mars. She found herself completely paralyzed, unable to protect herself from the menacing droid. Sailor Jupiter threw Mastermind into Sapphire, taking out Mastermind and knocking away Sapphire's attack. Then she saw what was happening to Sailor Mars. Mars watched wide-eyed as it approached. It was picking up speed. In slow motion it extended it's clawed hand and fired a blast or Dark Energy. "Dark Shadow Strike!" it screamed With a quick dash and a flying tackle, Sailor Jupiter knocked her friend out of the Droid's path. The blast grazed her back instead and she fell unconscious and bleeding badly to the ground. Sailor Mars was also still in no condition to fight. As she crawler towards Sailor Jupiter many thoughts rushed through her mind. The man named Sapphire had said that the droid did not actually belong to the woman Emerald but to someone else. And so far, that someone else had not appeared. And whoever that person was, he was powerful. This droid was proving impossible to beat. They needed Sailor Moon. But it looked like even if she were to be freed she would be too late for her and Lita at least. Of course, the Droid apparently had miscounted. One scout was missing. Sailor Venus had been trying to help Quicksilver as much as she could but she knew she had to help her friends too. She leapt to her feet and gave a sharp whistle. "Hey fang face, over here!" "New...victim." it grinned maliciously "You're picking on the wrong girl, Terror." "Victim." "Victim this!" Her attack was fueled by her emotions. Anger at seeing Quicksilver almost killed and frustration about not having been able to do anything about it. "Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" The monstrosity dodged insofar as it wasn't fatal. But the Beam still tore a whole through its shoulder causing it to howl in pain. "Having fun yet Colossus?" asked Sabretooth as he dug his claws into him mercilessly "I only wish the runt was here too!" "Kill!" screamed the droid insanely "Kill victim!" "Is that so Sabretooth? Well, I would have been here sooner, but we had another party to crash." "Well well well, the shrimp finally made it." Venus was not even aware of the conversation. He entire focus was centered on the wounded droid. "Kill the victim," it hissed menacingly "Not, while I'm around. I am the Sailor Scout of the moon, who and I will protect this world. I'm Sailor Moon, and on behalf of the moon, I will punish you!" Sapphire appeared in front of her. "Not this time Sailor Moon." Nightcrawler realized how dire the situation was. Although they'd gotten half the team back, he and the others that had been fighting were hurt and exhausted. He decided it was time to make the call. They'd accomplished what they'd set out to do anyway. "Everyone fall back! We're done here!" He dodged out of the way of one of Sapphire's blasts and scooped up Sailor Mars, who was nearby and still to weak to walk Sailor Moon dodged Terror again and again. "I hate to seem like I'm bragging, but I'm afraid you'll have to do better than that. I'm the queen of dodging." "Kill." Nightcrawler cursed to himself again. Colossus was down, mostly from blood loss. Sailor Mars was essentially out of the fight. Jupiter could barely stand. He was nearly exhausted and didn't think he'd manage another teleport. And some of the Brotherhood was back. Blob had finally woken up and was lumbering their way. Mystique was beginning to get to her feet. Luckily, Mastermind and Toad were still unconscious but he had an idea that Magneto and Emerald would soon be back. Unfortunately, they were still pretty much trapped in this fight and Wolverine was too busy with Sabretooth to leave or be much help to anyone. Nightcrawler had been Logan's friend for a long time. He knew when he'd gone over the edge. Sailor Moon was worried too. She'd never seen her friends in worse shape they had to get out of here and to a hospital. "Mercury!" she cried to Sailor Mercury as she used her aqua illusion to knock back Mystique "Use you're bubbles to cover us! We've got to get out of here!" "Good call Sailor Moon! Mercury Bubbles Blast!" A thick blanket of fog surrounded the fight. The Xmen could see through it, but barely. "Everyone, we have to get out of here!" said Nightcrawler again "Kitty, try to get Wolverine!" "On it!" Kitty phased and ran to the fight. She unphased for a second and gave Sabretooth a swift kick in the jaw before dragging Wolverine a way. "I don't need your help 'Cat" said Wolverine "Yeah, well Nightcrawler needs your co-operation. We have to get out of here!" Wolverine growled under his breath but he knew the elf was right. He too could see that the others were in trouble. Colossus was stretched out nearby. Kitty saw too. "Damnit!" she cried and ran towards him Wolverine gave him a quick check. "He's still alive." Colossus, his skin now turned back to flesh, stirred as Wolverine and Shadowcat lifted him over their shoulders. "Oof. You're heavy Peter." "C'mon Petey, we're getting you out of here." Sailor Moon grabbed Venus' arm. "C'mon, we've got to go!" "No!" said Sailor Venus "What?" "Not without Quicksilver." Sailor Moon saw him lying beside her for the first time "Oh Mina." "He's not dead, but he will be if we don't help him." Jupiter limped over to the two just as the others caught up. Nightcrawler wasn't about to leave Quicksilver either. He and Pietro were not close friends, but Kurt knew that he was going to become and Avenger, but first he would have to live. "Alright, if you girls think you can lift him, let's go." Tuxedo Mask grabbed Sailor Jupiter. "Eep!" she said weakly as she was lifted up. "You won't last much longer either." The Brotherhood and Sapphire peered around the thinning fog. There wasn't a Sailor Scout or Xman anywhere. Then, Magneto and Emerald showed up again. "Hey, where's the Witch?" asked Sabretooth. "The only thing that may concern you about her fate Sabretooth, is that you do not share it. How could you of let them get away?!" The Brotherhood looked at each other in embarrassment. They knew they were in trouble for this. ***** The Scouts, Tuxedo Mask and the Xmen dragged themselves to a nearby alley and it was there that Nightcrawler stopped them. "Where's the nearest hospital?" he asked "There's one two miles from here," said Sailor Mercury "It's where my mom works." "Damn, we'll never be able to get there like this." "We'll take my car," offered Tuxedo Mask, "It's how I got here." Tuxedo Mask put down Sailor Jupiter and went to get the car. Then Nightcrawler began to perform some rudimentary first aid on Quicksilver, using bits of the Sailor Venus' skirt, which she was glad to give. Sailor Mercury checked over Sailor Jupiter. Everyone was in pretty bad shape. Tuxedo Mask finally arrived with the car but not everyone could get in. They finally decided to lay Quicksilver out on the back seat and put Colossus and Sailor Jupiter up front. It was a very tight squeeze. "You know where to go?" Mercury asked Tuxedo Mask "Yes. I'll meet you all there." The tires squealed and he was gone. The other Xmen and Sailor Scouts took off at a run too. They leapt over the rooftops and in less than half an hour, they were there. The first thing they noticed was Tuxedo Mask's car in the parking lot. "Good. He got here alright." "Let's see about the others." As they entered the ER room, they could tell that their arrival was not totally unexpected. The room was cleared of any other patients, which was a relief, but a half dozen doctors and nurses were standing in front of the door. The head doctor, Ami's mother, strode forward. "Don't worry," she said "No one but us know you and your friends are here, and we've managed to clear the entire floor. All the other patients have been moved to other hospitals, and were no longer admitting patients. It was tough, but we managed to convince them there was a chemical spill, which wasn't toxic but may elevate breathing problems in asthmatics. That way, no one's coming in, but it's not serious enough for a clean up crew. But they will be here in the morning." "Oh you didn't have to do that for us." said Sailor Moon "It's OK. It's basically a slow night around for every Tokyo hospital." "Hey," said a male doctor, looking at Sailor Mars "We'd better get you looked at." It was as the group strode towards one of the emergency rooms that they finally saw Tuxedo Mask. He was leaning against the wall, beside a closed door. "Is Peter..." said Kitty "And Sailor Jupiter..." "They're in there. They'll be all right. It's Quicksilver that has them worried." Tuxedo Mask assured them The Scouts and Xmen were about to move on to where the doctors were examining Sailor Mars but a young female nurse stopped them. "No one is allowed in. The doctors have to be able to do their work. Besides," she said giggling, "You wouldn't all fit." "Alright." said Nightcrawler, "But may we leave one person to watch outside the door?" "I will," volunteered Sailor Mercury "I'd like to watch." "Sure. Let's go check on the others." ***** When they entered the room holding the three other patients, the first thing they noticed was that Sailor Jupiter was already up and making the bed. "You should really be in bed young lady," said the nurse they'd been speaking to. "Oh, yeah well," started Jupiter, clearly embarrassed. "I'm feeling OK now, really. I mean take a look." The nurse lifted up the bandages and looked at her back. So did Kurt. He and the nurse were both surprised to find the wounds almost healed. "I didn't know you had a healing factor." "Oh no, it's nothing as good as Wolverine's or anything." "That's still incredibly fast for a human." "Pity the same cannot be said for me." said a voice behind the next curtain. "Hey Rusky. How you holding up?" asked Wolverine "Not bad at all Tovarische," he gave a rueful smile "The doctors said I'll be OK in a couple of weeks." "Quicksilver is probably behind that curtain right?" asked Sailor Venus "Yes," said the nurse. Then she faltered slightly "But you must understand, he's very hurt we don't think he'll last the night." "Oh no." The Sailor Scouts ran to the next curtain followed by the Xmen There lay Quicksilver, still unconscious and deathly pale. As Venus leaned over him, she could barely hear him breathing. "Oh Pietro." said Kitty sadly "Mein Gott! And this is happening in the past!" The Xmen were hit by this sudden revelation. Quicksilver was an Avenger, he had fallen love with one named Crystal, and they had had a daughter. They thought of all the lives he'd saved. Who knew what would happen to the future without him. The nurse kindly left them to be alone with their thoughts. And there were many thoughts. ***** Serena looked over at Tuxedo Mask. He was leaning against the wall, apart from all the others. He'd gone into rescue her. He'd seemed really pissed when he saw Diamond but now that they were out, he was back to being cold and distant. Perhaps he'd only gone in to save her because it was his duty. She wished she could figure him out. This was too hard on her. She decided she would ask him today. Until then, she had no choice but to stay here and watch a would-be friend slowly die. ***** Sailor Jupiter carefully sat down. Her back wasn't completely healed and she didn't want to do anything to it. It had been a heck of a night. She'd gotten more of a scrap than she bargained for. This Sabretooth was much worse than she would of though. The doctors told her she'd gotten lucky. She probably would have been in as bad a shape as Quicksilver were it not for the droids attack actually. The burns from it had burned shut her wounds from Sabretooth, saving her from anymore blood loss. Jupiter grinned to herself. If only those Negaverse lackey's knew what their own droid had done. Saved the life of a Sailor Scout! It was all she could do to keep from laughing, which was a good thing too. She realized what a very inappropriate time this was for laughter. She turned her attention back to the ailing Quicksilver. She had heard from Sailor Venus why he was like this. That his own leader, Magneto, had nearly killed him for not obeying his orders. As she thought of this, all merriment ended. Her fist clenched and her face twisted into a grimace of fury. How could anyone do that? Just callously destroy a human life? And it wasn't as if he was from the negaverse or anything. That really wasn't an excuse, but she just couldn't believe that anyone from earth was capable of that much depravity. She touched her back and flinched. And it wasn't just him. It looked as if Magneto had scoured the world looking for violent, sadistic people just like him. Like that shape shifter Mystique. Then she thought of something said in the battle. That Kurt was really Mystiques son. She would have to ask him about that. ***** Kitty plunked down in one of the chairs. She was exhausted even though she'd done very little fighting. She wondered at how the others must feel. It had been a close shave. Saved by Wolvie though. Again. It was almost routine now that she was back with the Xmen. She got in trouble, he saved her butt. She tried her hardest to keep him out of trouble. Story of her life. It had been different in Excalibur though. She and Peter had been an item. She could sympathize with Serena. There breakup hadn't been that bad. And there was Wisdom too. She smiled as she thought of the nasty, smoking, disgusting and moody Englishman who worked for Blackair but helped them. Her eyes shifted around the room. Everyone seemed preoccupied. Sailor Jupiter was fidgeting in her chair. Nightcrawler was staring into the middle distance. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask kept glancing at each other and looking away. Sailor Venus was staring intently at Quicksilver. He was going to die and Sailor Venus probably figured it was her fault. At any rate, she was taking it pretty hard. Kitty didn't like this. They were fighting friends and allies. First Quicksilver and there was his sister, the Scarlet Witch too. Mystique was a bit on-again off- again. But, for the most part, Katherine Pryde really wasn't very comfortable. Times like this, you had to fall back on you ideals. She thought about those. Bridge the ever-widening gap between mutants and humanity. They weren't doing much of that these days. These days, it seemed like they were only just surviving, their entire purpose to be alive. But still, if they had to stand for something, it might as well be that. And all things considered, they weren't doing to bad in this universe. Maybe there would be hope yet. ***** Sailor Mercury watched the doctors, fascinated. She was hardly ever at the hospital and she'd only been given a brief tour of the Emergency Room once, with her mom. Now she could watch the doctors and nurses in action, even if they didn't have much to do. Still, it was kind of fun looking at the equipment and trying to name them and remember what they do. She also liked watching her mom. What with her now being a Sailor Scout, and her mom working for long into the night most days, they barely saw each other any more. She waved to a worried Sailor Mars from outside the door. So far everything seemed to be routine, and from the looks of things Sailor Mars was probably OK. She tried to mouth this to her but didn't get very far before their view of each other was blocked by a nurse. When Sailor Mercury was able to see Mars again, she was rubbing her arm. It looked like she'd gotten a needle, probably to test her blood. Sailor Mars grinned and gave her a thumbs up sign. Sailor Mercury smiled back. Then her computer beeped. Sailor Mercury glanced down in alarm, fearing a droid on the premises. To her relief, the computer was only signaling that it had finished its scans of the Nemesis Family and the Brotherhood. Sailor Mercury scrolled through the screen and then smiled gleefully. They now had a full update on what each and every one of their powers was, and some weaknesses. The only funny thing was that Magneto's scan had failed to compute. Odd, thought Sailor Mercury, I wonder why. She glanced up back at Sailor Mars for a second. It looked like they were finishing up. She decided to go back to the computer, and try to figure out what was wrong with it. ***** Sailor Mars looked at the doctors nervously. "Is anything wrong?" "No, you're almost back to perfect health. It's really quite amazing. We think your ribcage and a few other bones may be bruised though. So you'd better take it easy." "For how long do you think?" "Oh, not very" said Ami's mom, whom she recognized from when she'd been at Ami's house. "I'd say about an hour and you'll be fine. You and Sailor Jupiter have some amazing healing abilities. Is it the same with the others as well?" "Umm, I guess so. We all seem to heal after the fights pretty fast." She was just leaving when she noticed Ami's mother, Mrs. Mizuno, pick up the phone. As she dialed the number, Sailor Mars' hawk like eyes picked up on the pattern of numbers she was dialing into the phone. She was definitely phoning home. Mars stood still and was unheeded. She listened carefully to what Ami's mom was saying. "Ami, it's me honey, please pick up. I'm at the hospital now and you know where that is. So come over if your there. I'm very worried." then she hung up. Sailor Mars felt a need to comfort her. "It's OK, Ami's fine." "What? How do you know?" Sailor Mars realized how she had slipped up and thought furiously for a second. "Um, we helped to evacuate her earlier. Don't worry, she's with a girl named Lita in the opposite direction." "Oh good I was so worried. I wish I knew her phone number though." Sailor Mars almost gave it to her too. But she bit her tongue just in time. ***** Nightcrawler stared off into the middle-distance. He thought pensively about the future. And the past. He knew this had probably bothered Rogue to. But of course, Mystique had adopted, not abandoned her. No, that wasn't fair, he thought. In the future, they got along much better. He just wished sometimes, that he got some sign from his mother. Not trying to kill him on sight was one thing. Showing she actually cared was another. He glanced at Quicksilver. So much would be lost here tonight. Pietro and the Avenger named Crystal would never fall in love and marry. They would never have their daughter. Lives and battles would be lost. Perhaps even the world, for Pietro's death may cause the death of other superheroes, whom his lives his super speed had saved. And it would ripple on and on...until...how many Xmen and Avengers alone owed him their lives at least twice? Or perhaps the world would only change, going on without him as if he never existed, finding someone else to take his place. Sailor Jupiter disturbed his brooding. He silently thanked her, such thoughts were depressing, and shouldn't be thought about unless things could be changed or learned from it. "Excuse me, Mr. Nightcrawler, sir?" asked Sailor Jupiter, as politely as possible. He grinned "Mister? Well, that's a first." Kurt noticed she was blushing. "It's nice to be referred to that way, at any rate. But you don't have to call me "Mr. Nightcrawler sir." he grinned at that point, "you can just call me sir." Sailor Jupiter smiled a bit, more to be polite "I guess swashbuckling and comical spirit must be having an off night, huh fraulien? But anyway, you can just call me Kurt if you like." "Oh, OK ah, Kurt. Well, is it true what Mystique said earlier, that you are her son?" "Very true, must to her dismay." "What?" "Let me put it this way, she would never lie fake me being a son. She's not exactly proud of having me." "What? That's horrible." "Not really, she had her reasons when she abandoned me. I forgive her." "You can forgive someone like that?" asked Sailor Jupiter with a raised eyebrow. Now it was Kurt's turn to blush, if you could see it under all that fur. "It's just my way, I aim to be a priest some day and one of god's lessons are to forgive." "Well, have it your own way, but I prefer if it's people who have to forgive me, not the other way around." she said, slamming her fist into her palm. "No offence of course." "None taken." "It just seems odd that you could come from someone like her." "Not really, my mother too was an innocent child at one point. Sometimes, experience can sour us towards life, make us turn angry." Sailor Jupiter turned her head towards the bed. Some people could change no matter what happened though. "I wish there was something we could do." "I wish there was too." ***** Colossus flinched as he sat up in bed. He hated this. Wounded, he was useless to the team. They wouldn't care about that of course, they were his friends, but they still wouldn't allow him to fight. They couldn't. He was a danger to himself and others if he were to find with an injury. He clenched his fist. Going over the fight in his mind, he could see a dozen mistakes he made. A thousands things that he could of done to stay out of this situation. How could he help them now? Like this? Unnoticed, his curled fist slammed into the bed. Had he been in his armored form, he would of smashed the bed. As it was, all he managed to do was to pull his wound, causing him to grunt in pain. "Hey Pete, how you holding up?" "Katya?" Kitty Pryde pulled up a chair by his bed and sat down. "It's nothing Kitty." "Nothing eh?" she asked. She gave his back a prod "Ow." he said, through his teeth as he tried to contain it. "Look, what's bugging you?" "I'm just frustrated that's all. It is selfish of me I know, since Quicksilver is in far worse condition but I want to help you and the others. I am the only one who will not be in the final fight when it comes. And I think that fight may be soon." "Yeah, I have a bad feeling that keeps getting worse." she stretched "But don't worry. When we get back to the mansion, we'll see if we can fix you up at the medical center." "Da. I hope so." ***** Wolverine was off in the corner, not really wishing to be part of the group. He was a loner by nature and intended to stay that way. He was not playful, he was not a talker. He was a fighter. The others let him leave it at that, although the Xmen all knew he was their friend. He would always be there to help, in his own way. He could always be depended on and while not very talkative was a true friend. Hence, he knew what a true friend was. And he knew that when Quicksilver died, the world would be missing out on one. He also wondered at Wanda, Pietro's sister. They were twins, and had been together always. How would she take this? Even worse was that he'd seen that SOB Magneto take off with her. At the thought of Magneto, Wolverines claws slid out involuntarily. He snarled under his breath. He'd get Magneto, for everything he'd ever done. That was one thing he and the others would probably never agree on. He would kill Magneto if it was the last thing he'd ever do. The others didn't like to kill. They had higher morals than he did, he guessed. He growled under his breath. It was times like this that he was sorry for having friends. Because now, he may make them his enemies. He'd done it before, but he didn't like it. And he would to. It seemed he was the only one who found it wrong to let Magneto live. He undermined everything they did; he didn't care a thing about what happened to the people who stood in his way. He had practically declared was on humans and if he had his way, there would be genocide across the globe. And now he had become a cold-blooded murderer. This seemed surprising, even for Magneto, to kill his own so callously. In fact, Wolverine couldn't think of single instance when that had happened. To Logan, that only meant a more pressing mean to kill Magneto, before he got even worse. And he would have to kill him. Not just for vengeance anymore, but for his friends too. ***** Sailor Venus watched as Quicksilver slowly died. She couldn't believe that this was it. They got him this far, and he was going to die anyway. She lifted her head only momentarily, to watch Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury enter. Then, she turned her head back to Quicksilver. He'd stopped himself from killing her. No, she thought, tears coming to her eyes, I stopped him. I convinced him not to kill me. Maybe Magneto was right; that she was just a coward and that had subconsciously been a plea for life. And Pietro had spared her. And now he was going to die. Because of her. A tear trickled down her cheek and she swept it back. This was all her fault. Never had she ever cost anyone their life before. `Perhaps my time as a Sailor Scout is up' she thought mournfully. She couldn't afford to hurt friends like Serena and the others. They were too precious to her. And what if she really was a coward? She couldn't afford to put the team in danger. She shook herself and glanced at Quicksilver again. He was pale now, and his lips were turning blue at the edge. The only sign that he was still alive was his troubled breathing, as he gasped weakly for air. It couldn't end like this it couldn't! Sailor Venus began to think furiously. She stood suddenly, knocking back her chair. There was a chance, a small one maybe, but still a chance. She grabbed Sailor Moon and darted out of the room with her. "What's wrong Mina?" asked Sailor Moon, clutching her arm "I think we may be able to save him." "Wha? How?!" Here Venus paused, not knowing what to say. She doubted it would work and she slumped back against the wall and slid to the floor. Could they take the risk? She could lose them both, and for that she could never forgive herself. But, if they stopped in time, if it didn't work that is... "Sailor Moon, you must use the silver crystal. Please! Use your moon healing power! It may be his only chance!" "I, but we don't know if it will work! I've never used the crystal in that way. It's one thing to purify those who wish to turn good, but I've never been able to heal anyone with it." "You have the power in you Serena. I know you do." The girls turned in shock. To their relief though, it was only Tuxedo Mask who had said it. "Darien?" "I know you can do it Sailor Moon. I have faith." Sailor Moon through back her shoulders and took a deep breathe "What have we got to lose?" The group, which had been watching the door, allowed their eyes to follow the threesome in. Sailor Venus explained what they were going to do. "I don't know Sailor Moon, it sounds dangerous." cautioned Mars. "Well, I'm still going to try." The others edged away from the bed, giving Sailor Moon room. Sailor Moon held up her locket with the silver crystal exposed. She took a deep breath and called out "Moon Healing Power!" A wave of pink light washed over the group and then centered in on Quicksilver. Sailor Moon concentrated, trying to force the crystal to heal not just the soul, but the body too. She swayed suddenly, as she poured out her energy. Then she caught herself. She scrunched up her eyes and held her brooch in a white-knuckle grip. Sailor Venus finally stopped staring at Sailor Moon in awe. She tore herself away and looked at Quicksilver. Many of the burns, which had been crisscrossing his face, had gone, including the look of pain. His face returned to normal and his lips lost their bluish tinge. Sailor Moon collapsed to her knees but did not drop her brooch. Tuxedo Mask ran towards her and wrenched it from her grasp. Then he caught her as she fell forwards. "I'm sorry, I had to stop it. She was going to kill herself if she kept going." "It's OK," said Sailor Venus, not turning around "I think it worked." Now everyone was looking at Quicksilver. They all noticed the improvement. "Do you think he'll make it?" Asked Jupiter "Well in any case, I'm sure the doc'll be able to tell us," said Wolverine as he motioned towards the door. The young doctor they'd been speaking to earlier and Ms. Mizuno had come into the room. They made a beeline for Quicksilver's bed. One checked his breathing while another measured his pulse. "It looks like he's almost completely healed." "Then why isn't he awake?" asked Venus, concerned "His body is still exhausted. He just needs rest. When he wakes up he should be just fine." Colossus moved his arm slightly and realized something. It didn't hurt. "Kitty, check my back." he said quickly Shadowcat looked at him a moment. He was swinging his arm around with apparently no pain. The doctors swept her aside before she could though. Kitty didn't argue. "His wounds are completely healed too. What's going on here?" Colossus grinned. He had gone into armored form to make sure everything was all right. Completely healed. Just what he wanted to hear. He swung his arm back and winced. Then he slowly removed his elbow from the neat hole he'd left in the wall. "Uh oh." "It's OK, we can cover it with a poster." "Are you sure?" Finding it safe to laugh, they all did quite heartily. Even Colossus. Shadowcat slapped him on the back and cringed as she hit skin hard as steel. "Uh Petey?" said Wolverine "Da Tovarische?" "You might want to change out of your armored form." Colossus quickly did, before he caused any more damage. "Alright then. As long as everyone is in good health. I'll fill out your discharge sheets myself and then you can all go except Quicksilver, he'd better stay here until he wakes up at least." ***** "One 'o us had better stay to look after him." said Wolverine, after the doctors had left "Ja. I was thinking, Sailor Venus perhaps?" "Me? Oh, I guess so, sure." "Well, I for one am bushed." said Kitty "Do you want to stay at the temple?" asked Sailor Mars She looked at Nightcrawler who just grinned. It was nice to see her making friends. "Sure. I'd love to." "Later Venus!" They all left, except for Sailor Venus. When they were outside the door, Nightcrawler switched on his image inducer, miraculously undamaged, and the Sailor Scouts detransformed. Still, they made all haste, the Xmen were still in their "work clothes." Sailor Moon, now partially recovered was walking with the others. She realized Tuxedo Mask was no longer with them. She turned slightly and saw him getting into his car. She slipped out of the grasp of Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars who were helping to support her "Where are you going?" "I have to talk to Darien." "Alright we'll see you later then." "When are we going to meet?" They looked at each other. Serena watched Darien. He was getting into his car. "How about three." "OK BYE!" and Serena dashed off to catch up with Darien before he could drive away. ***** "Darien wait!" Darien tried to sound exasperated "What is it now Serena?" "We really need to talk." "I've told you before that there's nothing to talk about." "Oh but I think there is." Darien stared into her eyes. She knew then. Somehow. Well there was nothing for it. "Get in." he said gruffly "I'll explain on the way to your house." She hopped into his red car. She wondered at how what he would say, how he could do something like this to her. Darien knew she was waiting for an answer. But nothing came out. ***** Sailor Venus had transformed into Mina while no one was looking. She couldn't stay transformed for much longer. If anyone asked, she would say he had saved her life earlier and she'd heard he was here. Even though he was a bad guy, she would explain, she still felt she owed him a visit. She was by now very uncomfortable. You'd think they'd put a little more padding on these chairs she thought, as she shifted her weight around. She realized she was fidgeting. Nervousness. She'd never really had anything like this happen before. Beside her, Quicksilver stirred slightly. ***** AN: Ok, pretty dumb ending I know. But c'mon, look how long this chapter was! I think it broke my record. I thought it would be wise to cut off now before I went another two or three pages. Plus I've got another slew of AN's after this. An explanation and a question. Also my email address for those who seem to have forgotten it and can't email me. Just a helpful reminder for the forgetful. AN: Anyone else with questions, comments or pleas for me to come out with story parts faster, email me at fuzzy_elf@hotmail.com AN: OK. You may have noticed I have a habit of making up things and assuming things. I.e. Mina's ability to speak English cuz she lived in England. But I've watched a clip from one of the shows and she seemed just as hesitant as the rest of them. (Although she spoke it better than Makoto (Lita). Course, she couldn't speak English to save her life. "Thank you!" That's quite an unorthodox greeting, wouldn't you say?) Anyway, back to the point, I made an assumption on what Sapphire could do with that shield he displayed on the show where he died. (It kind of worked) I'm assuming he can use it offensively. So, in my story, he is! AN: Does anyone know about the final moments of Excalibur? Please email me! I'd really like to know how a fantastic group like that could go defunct. I'd also like to know what happened to most of the characters. All I have are back copies from two years ago at the latest. If you know what happened, help me! AN: Anyone else with questions, comments or pleas for me to come out with story parts faster, email me at fuzzy_elf@hotmail.com