From: drgonwynd@aol.com (Drgonwynd) Nexus Chapter 4 The small group of girls, known only by themselves as the Sailor Senshi, were in a hospital room being used by, as some people might call them, the most powerful of the 9 senshi. Ami and Rei had woken up, still not believing that Jedeite and Nephrite were actually alive. Speaking of Jedeite, he had left to keep working on his job. Hotaru was, at this point, telling them what had happened to Setsuna and the others. =====[Flashback]===== Haruka and Michiru were strolling down a crowded street with Hotaru close behind, happily humming a tune she heard recently. They walked past several shops, stopping at many to view what was in them before continuing on. Hotaru stopped to pet a puppy that had wandered into her path. She eventually let the puppy go and asked, "Can we eat now? It's Noon." Haruka was about to answer when she noticed something. The crowded street they were on suddenly become un-crowded. Nobody was there, even streetlights were out. Stores were closed, the streets were empty, the whole city seemed silent. The skies were instantly covered in dark clouds, and lightning was flashing, yet there was no thunder. "What is going on?" Haruka asked. "Listen...footsteps..." Michiru stated, "One person, running in this direction, from.....the west," pointing down the street. They stayed silent so they could hear it. Someone was running down the street towards them, obviously in a hurry. "Can't we just get a break? We already had to take care of something earlier today," Haruka complained. "They're just around the corner..." Michiru said. Before they could move, someone came speeding around the corner, dark green hair waving. "Setsuna!!" Hotaru exclaimed. She ran up to them, and stopped, nearly collapsing out of breath. "What's wrong?" Michiru asked. "Thank goodness...I found you...before...they did," Setsuna said, gasping for air. "Before who found us?" Haruka questioned. Setsuna never got a word out of her throat. A long piece of metal sprung out from her stomach, part of a large spear that extended far beyond Setsuna's body. She was lifted up, screaming, by the piece of metal imbedded in the stomach. **Author's note: If you've ever seen Aliens (The second one), where Bishop, the synthetic, is lifted up by the Alien Queen by that thing sticking out of his chest, it's kinda like that, without all that white stuff coming out from her mouth.** "Setsuna!! What the," Michiru's voice was interrupted by her own shriek, caused by something behind her ripping it's claws into her back. "Michiru!!!" Haruka screamed, knowing quite now that they'd been ambushed somehow. Something behind Setsuna stretched an object to the form of a spear and sent it flying toward Haruka's head, but Hotaru made it first. By jumping, she was able to place her body in front of Haruka's. The spear-like object imbedded into her right arm, shattering the bone. The attacker itself shucked Setsuna's body to the ground. Michiru was on the ground, unconcious, her back oozing with blood. Her attacker grabbed the back of her neck and lifted her up. Haruka sprinted as fast as she could toward her, but the creature flung Michiru's body into the side of a car. Haruka rammed her shoulder into Michiru's attacker, but it didn't even budge. The creature seemed to have a dark, hard shell protecting it. It did, however, notice Haruka's attack. She brought her fist back and delivered a solid punch to it's midsection. The shell cracked, but the punch did even more damage to Haruka's fist, which nearly shattered from the blow. She bent over, cradling the broken hand like a young child protecting a hurt pet. As if it was nothing, the creature gripped Haruka with it's hands, sinking it's claws into her shoulders. Hotaru only got out a mouthed-utter, "Haruka...," as it ripped into her friend's body. As she fell unconcious from her own wound, which had actually reached inside her chest, she could swear she could see two other people, both human-like and both wearing a variation of the sailor fuku, but that's impossible...isn't it?