[Pokémon] Rescue mission [PG-13]

Rating: PG-13 for curing, Poke violence and some mild sexual content
Fandom: Pokemon
Characters/Parings: Saturn/Mars, Ariana, Team Dark (original team), male Rocket grunt/Jupiter
Genre: Adventure, Friendship
Status: on going
By: Gothitelle
Comments: Here I am, attempting to do this story again, this time this chapter came out the way I wanted it to. Also this story like everyone I've done takes place in Unova.


?Okay, you know the plan guys??

?What plan??

The smack of a palm against human flesh echoed through the area.

?You know what plan, stupid. We quietly sneak into the Team Galactic building and get what the boss wanted us to get??

?Which is??

?THE FINDINGS, YOU IDIOT! THOSE GODDAMN FINDINGS ABOUT TIME AND SPACE!?

?And to capture those two commanders for our boss to interrogate??

?Wait? when you say commanders, which is plural, that means we?re going to capture that girl? you know the one that?s really hot? We?re going to capture her to??

?Yes? we are going to attempt to capture the **** as well as the brat??

The sound of her Pok?mon growling startled the red haired commander from her sleep. She listened quietly to discover that her Purugly was reacting to the sounds of people talking outside, She couldn?t make out what they were saying, but it was clear that the unfamiliar voices were close to the building. Opening her eyes confirmed the suspicion as she saw the shadows of people lurking near the window projected onto the opposite wall by the streetlights.

She quickly sat up on the bed as she pulled the covers over her bare chest. The room was dark as it was midnight. The faint light from the neon colored stickered stars on the ceiling brought her some comfort as she stared at them for a good while. Whoever the shadows belonged to, they weren?t supposed to be there, and people who loitered around places they weren?t supposed to be after midnight were usually up to no good. The conversations outside were getting louder and noisier as the shadows were beginning to move at a fast pace, almost as if they were running back and forth. The cat Pokemon still growled angrily as the girl looked over to her left and saw her male partner sleeping next to her peacefully on his side with his body partially buried in the sheets.

Her heart rate quickened as she attempted to wake up her companion. Her hair stood on the back of her neck as adrenaline was kicking in while the redhead shook her partner pretty hard, hissing for him to wake up.

?Saturn! Please, you have to wake up!? she whispered tersely as she shook her heavily-sleeping partner. ?Now, Saturn! You have to wake up!?

The shaking and urgent tone of her voice immediately got through to Saturn as he quickly rolled over on his back and proceeded to sit up on the bed. The blue haired man rubbed his eyes as the girl clenched to his arm warningly. She squeezed his arm in order to get his attention as her red eyes shot to the window to indicate something outside. He followed her gaze, but the shadows had passed and the conversation was now silenced, so he saw nothing. The girl remained tense, however. As Saturn was done rubbing his eyes, he looked at the nervous girl and proceeded to put his arm around her for comfort.

?Yeah? What?s the matter, Mars?? he asked with concern. ?Why are you freaking out like that??

?What?s the matter? What?s the matter?!? Mars hissed in annoyance. ?There are people outside our building! I do not know what the hell they want from us but, they are up to something and we need to go after them, Saturn!?

Mars?s words sunk in, chasing all thoughts of sleep from his brain. He quickly jumped from the bed and proceeded to pick up their clothes from the floor next to the bed. He picked out Mars?s clothes from his own and threw them to her. The redheaded young lady dressed at double speed, but no one could outmatch Saturn?s pace. By the time she had her leggings and boots on the blue haired man appeared by her side fully dressed.

?Come on, you need to get dressed faster,? he said while picking up the remaining two articles of her clothing.

While the figures returned to the window, Saturn managed to help Mars put on and hook her brassiere as he took her small hooped dress and held it up for her to slide her arms through. When she finally got her uniform on, Mars went over and picked up her purugly as she was still growling. Saturn made shush noises to calm her down, however, that moment was soon interrupted by scratching on their window. They quickly turned towards the window as they saw a figure, with a tool in their hand, fidgeting with the glass.

The pair then quietly and quickly ran towards the bedroom door as it sounded like the person could almost push the window in from the outside. As Saturn was opening the door, there stood a guy coming out from one of the rooms with a flashlight and a lantern in one hand and a small step ladder under his other arm. He had on orange striped pajamas and green bunny slippers. The brown haired guy just stood there, giving Saturn a weird expression as the blue haired man as doing the same thing.

?What?? the young man asked with an attitude as he hunched his shoulders. ?Okay so I have on bunny slippers and pajamas. Even if I were naked, I?d still do what it takes to help protect Team G?s building!?

A girl giggling could be heard in the background as the couple looked at this brown haired man with an unreadable expression. Mars glanced over in the hallway to see who was laughing. She immediately rolled her eyes as she spotted her near her room. She was an older girl and she stood there with a smirk on her face while she held her skuntank her her arms. Her messy long pink hair and the fact that it was down suggested that she just got out of bed but, however, got dressed rather quickly. She only had her rather semi-revealing one piece suit to deal with at the time.

?You?re going to protect me, aren?t you Steve?? the young woman asked worriedly.

?You?re going to protect me, aren?t you Steve?? Mars mimicked quietly under her breath, making fun of the woman?s voice. While she scoffed at the girl, Saturn quickly turned to her and whispered ?no? while he shook his head side to side. He then quickly turned to Steve who was busy assuring the rather gorgeous girl that she would be okay.

?Well, now that you?ve calmed down some, mind telling me what the ladder is for?? The blue haired man asked.

?The ladder? Oh yes, the ladder!? Steve answered as his girlfriend came and stood beside him. ?Well the thing is that, don?t laugh, but I literally rolled out of bed as soon as Jupiter shook me to death, talking about how there were people outside her window. So I go up to put some clothes on and then when I came out of the room, I needed a weapon of some sort. So I grabbed the ladder to you know? keep them again from her and the headquarters.?

?First of all Steve, that ladder isn?t going to really help you keep the thieves away from Jupiter,? Saturn explained. ?Also, we know that Jupiter could fight for herself. In fact, maybe she could help you with the goons in case your ladder idea fails. There is something you can do with that ladder and it?s-?

While he was talking, all of a sudden, the lights started to go out as they heard a loud pop outside the building. Now the building was dark enough to not clearly see, however Steve?s flashlight and lantern made seeing a little bit better as they were able to see the path in front of them. As she heard the scratching of the window getting louder and louder, Mars ran to pick up her bag, which had important stuff in it. However, they also heard scratching from the room down the hall where Steve came from. While her Pokemon growled loudly, Jupiter went towards the room slowly to check out what was going on. She then turned to the rest of the guys and pointed towards the room.

?Okay, now we?ve GOT to do something about this!? Steve exclaimed as he attempted to walk down the hallway. ?Now those creeps are attempting to break into Jupiter?s room!?

?Hold on!? Saturn yelled as he took the ladder and lantern from the young man and gave the ladder to the pink haired girl. ?Okay, Steve and I got the outside covered. Now Mars, I want you to wait in the living room. Jupiter, after you put the ladder away, I need you to cover the inside. Stand on guard and if the intruders attack from inside the building, you fight them off. Understood??

Upon registering what Saturn had said, Steve and Jupiter nodded in agreement while Mars? eyes widened, then narrowed into a defiant glare. She knew Saturn meant well and was only trying to look out for her, but like Saturn and Jupiter, she also was a commander of Team Galactic and could fight on her own merits even though she was the weakest by comparison to the others

?B-but, Saturn,? Mars stuttered, shocked by the request to run away and hide while danger was afoot. Especially since her and Jupiter were going to be inside, however Saturn only instructed Jupiter to take action. She shook off the surprise and said, ?So you?re telling me while Jupiter gets to cover the inside by herself, I have to sit in the living room? And do what? Do I even get to fight? I?m certainly not letting you get yourself killed out there...?

?You know, he?s right Mars,? Jupiter started to say she put the step ladder against the wall. ?Weak little girls shouldn?t be involved in these kinds of situations. Let the grown ups handle this, okay? Plus, Saturn is a strong man. He doesn?t need you to defend him.?

?Shut up, Jupiter!? Mars shouted.

She put down her Pok?mon and walked toward the pink-haired woman, glaring menacingly. Jupiter?s stuntank growled at the perceived threat to her trainer. The ferocity the skunk displayed prevented Mars from moving any further. Saturn quickly placed his arm in front of Mars to keep the situation from escalating.

?Jupiter, Mars... enough!? Saturn said in a stern voice. ?Now Mars, it might help our position if we?re not all cornered into the same spot. It also helps if we aren?t all fighting at the same time. If things start going wrong, I?ll call out for you and you can come in from behind and get the drop on them, okay??

?B-b-but...? Mars stuttered as she was trying to find the right response to his idea.

However she was quickly cut off by an involuntary kiss on the lips from Saturn.

?It?s going to be okay,? the blue haired man assured as he pressed the palm of his hand against her cheek. ?I promise it will work out.?

Saturn and Steve both took the flashlight and lantern and bolted down the hallway and out the front door while Jupiter and her skuntank headed to the living room. Mars stood there in the hallway as she lets out an annoyed sigh. She looked down at her Pokemon who gave her trainer a nudge on the leg. Mars was too annoyed at the moment. She proceeded to also walk down the hallway and into the dark living room, dimly illuminated by the outside light that shined through the window. As she sat down on the couch, she started to put her hands on her lap as she impatiently waited for a signal from Saturn. ?Come on, Saturn. Please signal me to fight.

Thunder started to sound off as rain could be heard hitting the ground, hard. Thunderstorms weren?t things that scared Mars, but for her, it had made this particular scene even scarier than what it was. People were breaking into their building, Saturn ran out to fend them off and now it?s raining and thundering. Thus, it was adding even more stress to the young lady as she continued to shake. While she continued to wait, she had an idea of what she could do to help. ?My P-phone!? she thought as she reached into her bag and pulled it out. As Mars began to dial the numbers ?9-1-1?, she could feel the presence of someone else sitting down right beside her.

?What are you doing?!? Jupiter asked in a snippy way. ?This is no time for checking your email??

?I?m calling the police to report a break in,? Mars scoffed as she held her phone up to her ear. ?Shows how much you know??

However, while she was itching to get through to an operator...

CRAAASSSHHH!

Windows breaking could be heard in the back of the building as Jupiter?s skuntank started to growl loudly. Jupiter got up from her seat and walked towards the back with a determined expression on her face. Mars stood up once she heard what seemed liked footsteps, coming at a quick pace, toward the living area. There were many voices that followed after as the redhead looked at her purugly, who lept into her trainer?s arms. Jupiter turned around when she heard Mars get up from her seat. The woman looked at the girl with a strange look while the redhead gave her a defiant glare.

?Mars, sit back down!? Jupiter commanded. ?Saturn said for me to cover this. When they come, you either get behind the couch or get in the pantry.?

?Will you shut up?!? Mars yelled. ?The boss is the only one in the world who's allowed to order me around. And since Cyrus isn't here, that's Saturn. Just because you are stronger than me and you were put in charge of the inside doesn?t mean you have any authority over me. You be quiet around me! Besides, I?m waiting for Saturn to give me a signal.?

?... Mars,? the pink haired girl said as she gave a stern expression. ?Saturn only said that to make you feel better. He doesn?t want you involved in the fights at all. Don?t believe me? When I went into the living room, he quickly texted me telling me that should anything happen here, then I have to tell you to go into the pantry or get behind the couch. He says that he has a hunch they are after you.?

While Mars still gave her a defiant glare, Jupiter quickly went into her bag and pulled out her P-phone. She pressed a few buttons until she finally found what she was looking for as she handed the phone to the girl. Mars took the phone and examined the text. When she read it, her eyes widened. It read:

Jupiter, the intruders were Team Dark. they are threatening to kidnap you and Mars if I don?t give them what they want. I?m concerned about Mars. If anything happens, tell her to hide in the pantry.

After reading that, Mars dropped the phone and her eyes narrowed into another defiant glare. She didn?t care if the intruders were Team Dark, she wanted in on the fight as well and Saturn said he was signal her to help. Now knowing that he changed his mind, she took her bag and ran out the front door. Towards the middle of the building, she could see Saturn and Steve engaging in battles with the Team Dark members across from them. She stopped for a minute to smile at Saturn and his purple toad like Pokemon. Seeing Saturn fight off his opponent with a determined expression made Mars happy as she lightly blushed at the scene. He just finished off an opponent?s Pokemon, a bee like creature with four huge drill-like stingers.

While she was admiring Saturn?s strength, Mars? purugly gave an annoyed expression as she bit her trainer in the left leg. The redhead gasped as the pain hurt so much, she couldn?t focus. When she looked down at her Pokemon, that was when she realized that she wanted her to stop staring at Saturn. Realizing what she really came outside for, she went into her bag and grabbed three Poke balls. Being careful not to be noticed, she crouched down behind a pile of boxes and threw them about five inches from her head as a burst of light came from the three of them. Three Pokemon emerged from the white light; a small purple frog like Pokemon that looked similar to Saturn?s toxicroak, a purple bat like pokemon and a steel pokemon hat almost resembled a bucket. All of them were jumping up and down cheerfully when they saw their trainer.

?Okay guys, listen up,? Mars whispered as she motioned for her Pokemon to move closer. ?When we see that Saturn?s in trouble, we are going to get the drop on the opposition. I know that Saturn?s strong man, but I have to not follow his orders this time. I can?t allow him to get hurt.?

Mars got up from the crouching position and glanced over at Saturn, who was now battling a different Pokemon. This time, his opponent brought out a red crab Pokemon that had a huge boulder on it?s back. She had never seen anything like it but at the same time, she didn?t know about most of Unova?s Pokemon. Before she could reach for her Pokedex, she saw the Team Dark member?s Pokemon pick up a huge boulder and throw it toward his opponent, in which Saturn?s toxicroak countered the attack using brick break. The redhead sighed in relief when she saw that her partner was able to get himself out of that situation.

?Hm, tough...? the Team Dark grunt remarked. ?For a kid to be that strong, I didn?t see it coming!?

?So, are you going to retreat?? Saturn asked in a stern voice. ?I can keep doing this all night if I have to. If you want to mess with Mars, then you?ve messed with me..?

?Heh! How adorable,? the grunt laughed. ?It?s cute that you want to protect your little red girlfriend. Well then, it?s time for my gloves to come off. Now, Crustle! Use aerial ace!?

?Okay, Toxicroak, use focus pun-?

However, Saturn?s command was cut off when Mars ran onto the field with her Pokemon behind her. She could see that the foe?s crustle was quickly making his way towards Saturn's Pokemon. She knew that a flying type move could easily get Saturn to lose this round, however, not if Mars could help it.

?Crobat use wing attack!? Mars shouted as she pointed towards Team Dark.

The fossil Pokemon flew at top speed towards the grunt?s crustle, however the opponent?s smile grew at he saw Mars come at him with a determined glare. Now was his chance to get her, now that she came right in the middle of a fight with her boyfriend. As her Pokemon was about to ready her wing, the grunt looked at his Pokemon and just smirked.

?Alright Crustle, new plan!? the member shouted. ?Use rock wrecker on her crobat!?

The stone home Pokemon quickly picked up a nearby boulder and threw it at the flying creature, causing it to hit the ground... hard. Mars? eyes widened as she saw that she had lost that fight as she ran towards her fainted Pokemon. She looked up at her opponent, with fire in her eyes. She wasn?t going to let this one slip up deter her from fighting the rest of this out. Saturn ran to Mars? side, only to get in front of her and stretched his arms out.

"Mars!" Saturn yelled as he turned to her. "What are you doing?! Get back in your position!"

"Oh, you mean the one where I just wait in the pantry and listen to Jupiter fight?!" Mars shouted as she held out a Poke ball and used it to return her Pokemon. "The one where I run and hide while you get yourself hurt playing the heroic boyfriend part?! That position?!"

Mars was trying her best not to break down and cry, however, tears started to well up in her eyes as she quickly put her hand up to wipe them away. The thought of Saturn getting hurt while looking out for her well-being was too much for her as she looked up at him with a defiant glare. Meanwhile, Saturn looked at her poker-faced. He was trying his hardest not to show fear, but he couldn't keep the concern out of his gaze when his eyes met Mars'. She was knelt in front of him while sifting through her bag for potions. The fact that it was raining didn't make this scene any less safe. The blue haired man then glanced over at the few remaining Team Dark members as they huddled up. He turned back to Mars as he knelt down in front of her.

"Mars..." Saturn started to say as he went and gave her a kiss on her lips. He came a little closer to her as he raised his hand to press his palm against her cheek while glancing over at the huddled group. "All I want is for you to be safe. It's raining, one of your Pokemon just fainted from a battle and you have no potions or revives. I don't want you getting hurt, Mars. I know what happened at the Spear Pillar two years ago and the thought of almost losing you..."

"But Saturn," Mars piped up as she interrupted him. "We could fight Team Dark together. I could fight with you side by side. I'm not as strong as you but I can still fight. You can guide me. Just tell me what attack to use and I'll do it…"

However, before Mars could finish her sentence, Saturn heard a Team Dark member shouting out a command.

"Magneton, use thundershock!" The grunt commanded.

Saturn quickly turned to see the magnet Pokemon floating towards him with its power charging. The blue haired man stood up as he assumed protective mode and stretched his arms out in front of Mars. Glaring at his opponent, the commander shouted out a command to his Pokemon, who was at the ready to go.

"Now Toxicroak, use brick break!" Saturn shouted as he pointed toward his opponent's Pokemon. "Mars, either you go back inside or you stay behind me and don't make any movements."

"B-but Saturn, wait!" the commander shouted as she quickly got herself up. "Please…"

Saturn harshly shushed her as he turned to the scene. His toxicroak dug his heels into the ground as he lept from the ground and proceeded execute a sift chop at the foe's magneton. As Saturn's pokemon landed on his feet, the linked magnet fell to the ground as the Team Dark member looked around in shock. He took out a poke ball to return his Pokemon as he gave a defeated expression. A few of the other members started to leave as the commanders turned to each other and smiled.

"Saturn, we did it!" Mars exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Yes, we did," Saturn whispered as he kissed her on the cheek. "Now, I know that Steve and Jupiter already fended off their half. Why don't you go inside and have them dry you off while I watch these four guys, okay?"

Mars got down as she smiled at the blue haired commander. She nodded as she took out two poke balls to return her brongzong and coragunk. She then began to walk towards the Galactic building with her bag and purugly in tow. Saturn watched her leave to be sure that she'd make it in safely. Once assured that her mate was going to be alright by himself, Mars turned towards the building and rushed towards the door. However, as she began to twist the knob…

ZAAAAPPP

A green light illuminated the outside of the building as a loud zapping sound could be heard. Even though it nearly made her jump, the girl turned around to see what caused such a reaction. From there, the commander froze as she couldn't believe what she saw. Saturn was… gone. He vanished, leaving his toxicroak behind. Near the four Team Dark members was an older woman dressed in a different outfit than the grunts. She wore a skintight one piece jumper with a blue letter D on the corner. Her brown hair was tied back and she was standing next to a yellow Pokemon that Mars had never seen this team use. The abra just floated beside her master as the woman smirked at the Galactic commander.

"Go back inside, my dear child," the woman said smugly. "Or else you'll end up like your little blue boyfriend who tried to get in our way!"

Mars ran down the steps and towards Team Dark. Her fists her balled as she began pumping them. She felt as if her face was about to burn and she had fire in her eyes. She gave the older woman a menacing glare as the Team Dark member herself began to chuckle.

"W-who are you?" Mars started to ask as the fumes were burning in her ruby reds. "Where's Saturn?!"

"Oh, how cute. The wittle kid is angwy," the woman mocked as she laughed. "Well little lady, I'm one of three super administrators. My name's Aida! As for that blue haired kid I used my abra to teleport him to our flagship. You know, you should thank him. Because of him, we have no further use of you or that pink haired little brat."

Mars began to shake as she proceeded to walk towards Aida, glaring menacingly. While the super administrator just crossed her arms and laughed, Saturn's toxicroak assumed his trainer's protective stance and jumped right in front of Mars to keep her from going any further. The commander was still shaking as the other members began to leave the scene, leaving the higher up member. As she gruffly turned, she said one last thing.

"Cute. Even that Pokemon knows you are a weakling and you say you're strong? Dream on little girl!" she said smugly. "I advise you to stay away. Stay out of Team Dark's way. Don't go chasing after us because you wanna wescue your boyfriend. This is your last warning."

As she left, tears were starting to well in her eyes. They took Saturn away from her and it brought up bad memories. Memories from three years ago when Team Galactic's former boss was taken from her into the Distortion World. As these thoughts consumed her, she started to feel rage. If only she were stronger, just a little stronger, this would have never happened. If only she had the power to defeat Team Dark, she could have protected him for a change. Just like with Master Cyrus, if only she was stronger, he wouldn't have been taken from her.

She could feel the fire burning inside her heart as these thoughts consumed her mind. Then, Mars decided… despite Aida's threats, she was going to get Saturn back and didn't care about the danger she was getting herself in. She already lost one person who was important to her and was not about to lose another. So, she ran into the city to track down their flagships. "You know, if only I were a bit stronger… just maybe, I would have prevented Saturn from being taken away from me…' she thought as she ran into the pouring rain into the edge of Castelia City, where a bridge was ahead. While she ran toward the bridge, she looked up and could see a large fleet a ships going toward the bridge. As she went into the tunnel, she screamed out his name a couple of time. She was determined to catch up to Team Dark, no matter the cost. She wanted to be the one to rescue her loved one for a change and she had all the willpower to do so.

However, because it was raining, Mars started to get really cold and somewhat dizzy as she finally reached Skyarrow Bridge. As she got on to the bridge, she started to run faster than ever. The rain however, made it difficult for Mars to see the ships as she began to get frustrated. Finally, she couldn't see them anymore and she stopped in the middle of the bridge, ignoring the fact that cars were passing by. She struggled to catch her breath as water was beginning to get into her nose. She then used the last bit of energy she had to call out for her partner again.

"Saturn!" Mars screamed out as she looked up at the sky.

She started to get weak as she became light headed and her legs felt like they wouldn't support her as she fell to the ground. Once she had hit the ground, she instantly blacked out.

It was the next morning as the bright light from the sun illuminated the semi-dark bedroom. The sound of spearows and pidgeys chirping outside was enough to awake the red headed girl from her sleep. She stretched and yawned while she sat up on the bed and began to look around. Mars then noticed that she was in a room, in a bed that didn't belong to her. Nothing looked familiar to her. The room was a plain white color with a plain bed that had green sheets. It looked more like a guest room than a real room. So she knew that she wasn't back in Saturn's room.

She also noticed that she was actually wearing an article of clothing. She wore a short white lacey nightgown that was about three sizes too big since the sleeves kept falling off her shoulders. The window was partially opened as the white sheer curtains flowed with the warm morning breeze. Mars quickly got out of bed and ran to the window, sliding the curtains apart to see through the window. She could see that the city was very peaceful, but had a different vibe to it. It was indeed busy as people were walking and driving along but the buildings seemed more commercialized. Most of the homes she was seeing were all apartments or two story houses. Most of them were also red brick houses with a staircase in the entrance. This looked nothing like the city she was in before which was by the sea.

Then, the door handle could be heard turning as the door began to open. This spooked Mars as she jumped back and looked towards the door. When the door opened, an older woman who looked as if she was in her late forties came in the room with a smile on her face. She also had Mars' clothes in tow as she laid them on the bed. As she looked at this red haired woman weirdly, she reminded Mars of someone. Someone she had considered to be her best friend. Someone she had hung with about two weeks ago.

"Oh you're up!" the lady exclaimed as she neatly folded the clothes on the bed. "I washed your clothes for you, dear. Now they are all nice and clean."

"… Who are you and how did I end up here?!" Mars demanded more than asked.

The red haired lady then came to her side of the bed and proceeded to sit near where the commander was standing. She patted one side of the bed, motioning for Mars to come sit next to her. While she grimaced, she decided to go over and sit next to the woman.

"Well what had happen was, I was driving along Skyarrow Bridge last night. It was going on to one o'clock-ish at the time and I was just coming from the grocery store," the older woman explained. "It was pouring so I really couldn't see that well. So when I was driving along the bridge, I saw something big lying in the middle of the road. I stopped and tried to take a closer look and when I did, it saw that it was actually a person, and that person was you. So I got out and I grabbed a towel to scoop you up and bring you back home. That's how you ended up here."

"Why, I thank you for not leaving me out there," the girl said as she stood up from the bed. "I had no idea that I fainted in the middle of the road. All I knew was that I was calling out for someone and then my mind went blank."

"Well, what heck were you thinking Mars?" the older woman asked with concern in her voice. "You could have gotten killed out there. Didn't you see the cars? Thank god nobody ran over you. And that it was raining pretty hard so you could have caught a cold... "

Mars did not say a single word. She just looked at the older woman square in the eye. Now, all she wanted was for her to leave the room so that she could change her clothes. She did not care to ask how this woman knew her name; she just wanted her out of her sight. All Mars wanted was to get out of this strange home so that she can resume her search for Saturn. Now he could have been taken anywhere since she missed them last night and the more she stays, the worse it is for him. The woman appeared to be reading the girl's thoughts as she flashed a smile and stood up.

"Get dressed, and then come to the table to eat," she said as she proceeded to leave the room.

After she left the room, Mars lets out a heavy sigh as she quickly grabbed her clothes and proceeded to get dressed quickly. As she got dressed, many thoughts were running through her mind. 'Where could he be now? I really have no time for socializing. I need to track him down! But... if only I could predict where Team Dark was headed...' Before she finished getting herself dressed, she noticed that the zipper in the back of her dress was down. Normally, this wasn't a problem since Saturn would always zip up her dress, but now as she was bending her arms and wrist to reach it, she increasingly got frustrated as she just took her bag and left the room.

With a determined expression, Mars ran down the stairs and into the living room where her sight was set on the front door. She did not care to scan around the house at the decor, she just wanted to leave. However, before she could twist the knob to open the door...

"Oh! I didn't expect to see you here!" a familiar voice exclaimed.

Upon hearing the voice, Mars turned around, and when she did, she was shocked by what she saw. Her friend with short red hair was coming down the other flight of stairs with a smile on her face. She looked like she was an older lady, looked to be in her early thirties. She had on a white long dress with a black patch on the top corner. In that black patch was a red letter R in it. As the executive was putting on her gold earrings, Mars just froze. She looked just like the woman who brought her clothes, so she could only assume that she lived here and the woman she met was her mother.

"Ariana!" Mars exclaimed as she ran towards her with open arms.

"Mars!" Ariana shouted as she also ran towards her friend.

Both girls gave each other a short but endearing embrace as they gave each other a friendly kiss on the lips. Ariana raised her hand and made a circle like gesture as a motion for Mars to turn around. When she did, the older woman then reaches for the zipper that was on the back of her friend's dress and quickly zips it up for her. Mars quickly turned back around and thanked her friend for the zipper pull as she gave her yet another friendly hug.

"Boy am I happy to see you!" Ariana exclaimed. "What a good way to start a typical morning!"

"Hm, I know! Especially after what happened to me last night," Mars said as she was itching towards the door. "Speaking of that, I'm sorry Ariana but I really need to leave on short notice. I have an emergency I must tend to."

However, as Mars was almost at the door, Ariana ran right in front of her and stretched her arms right in front of the door. The girl looked up at her and gave her a confused look.

"Ariana, please… I need to leave!" the commander as she raised her voice slightly. "Why are you preventing me from leaving? What's your problem?"

"Mars… I saw on the news, about Team Dark," Ariana said as she looked down at the ground. "They were over this city not too long ago and I really don't think you should go out there."

Mars could sense that her friend was lying to her. She was on Skyarrow Bridge by the time she lost Team Dark. Now that she was in her friend's house this morning, she knew that they were much further down the road than Ariana claimed they were. Plus, the news only reports on Team Dark if they planned to do something that was devastating to the nation. Yes, they took Saturn, however it wasn't really a national crisis worth reporting about. Mars raised her eyebrow at Ariana as she was increasingly getting frustrated with her.

"Even if that really happened, I don't care," Mars said with frustration rising in her voice. "Saturn is on their ships and I have to save him. I'm telling you, I need to leave now!"

"…Mars!" Ariana piped up as she tried her hardest to keep her friend from leaving.

At this point, both girls were both getting exasperated. Ariana tried everything. She tried pushing her friend away from the door lightly since she was bigger and taller than Mars. She tried talking about how her mother would be upset if she left so soon and she even tried making up lies about crises on the news. Mars on the other hand was starting to get really upset. Saturn was out there on Team Dark's ships and she promised herself that she would stop at nothing to save him. But the older woman was blocking her way and this made her really mad. 'Okay, calm down Mars… she's never acted like this before. It's no use getting upset now. Just ask her why she is acting so erratically. Maybe you could sort things out and you'll be on your way' she thought as she was no longer as upset as she was before.

"You know what, Ariana?" Mars said in a calm but stern voice. "I've never seen you act like this before. Why are you doing this? What's the matter? I'd like to know because it's surprising that you would act this way. You're usually so calm and collected. I look at you as my mature other half. Are you alright?"

They both stared at each other in the moment. Upon staring at her, Ariana took Mars by her hand and lead her to the kitchen table. When they reached the dining table, they pulled out their chairs as they sat down and face each other.

"… Mars," Ariana started to say as she had calmed down a bit as well. "… I know what happened out there. You know… with you fainting in the middle of the bridge. I was just about to go the sleep for the night until my mother came home with you in tow. You were limp and wet so I asked what happened. She said you fainted in the middle of the bridge. When I heard that, my heart dropped. I feared for you, Mars. I really did. I bathed you, dried you and gave you a dry nightgown while my mother washed your clothes. Why did you run out in the pouring rain anyway? How could you do something so dangerous? That's not like you, Mars."

"Oh… that's why you didn't want me to go out?" Mars asked with concern in her voice as she moved her chair closer to her friend's. "Ariana, I did that because I wanted to chase after Team Dark. It started like this: headquarters was about to be invaded by a bunch of people from Team Dark. So Saturn and I quickly ran outside to fend them off while of course, Steve also had to go and protect his precious Jupiter since you know… she's sooo gorgeous and strong and can get anything she wants and…"

As Mars was beginning to ramble, Ariana puts up her hand as a signal for her to stop.

"Mars can we save your envy of Jupiter for say… later?" the red haired woman asked as she chuckled. "I mean she unnerves me as well but this is beside the point…"

"Oh sorry," Mars said. "Anyway, while Saturn won against them, they teleported him to their main ship. So that's why I ran out the way I did. You see Ariana, I need to save Saturn. I need to. I don't care what happens to me along the way. Yeah, I fainted in the middle of the bridge but I don't care. I was close to those ships and then I lost them and I'll keep going until I track down Saturn. I'm sick and tired of the most important people in my life being taken from me. Cyrus was taken from me two years ago and now Saturn."

"Mars!" Ariana screamed as she stood up from her chair and walked up to where Mars was sitting. "So you don't care what happens to you? Huh? Well you know something, Mars? My mother might be a pain in the *** sometimes but thank god she was the one who got you. You had me worried sick, Mars! Someone could have taken you and done horrible things to you. Someone could have just run over you and you would have died. You could have caught a bad cold or got struck by lightning. And you're going to sit here and tell me that you don't care? What the hell?!"

Mars gave the older woman a blank stare as she was listening to every word that was coming out of her mouth. She could clearly see in her eyes that Ariana was really worried about her. Tears welled in her eyes and flowed down her face as she quickly was trying to dry them. Even though Mars felt that Ariana didn't understand why she did the things she did and that she was being a bit selfish, she was sorry that she had worried her. She got up from her chair and proceeded to give her friend a hug as an apology.

"Mars… I'm so sorry for the way I acted," Ariana started to explain. "I was being selfish and immature. If you have to save Saturn, then I shouldn't have stopped you. You wouldn't have done that of it were me wanting to save Archer. It's just that, seeing the only person who even bothered to get to know me as a friend getting hurt scares me. It does weird things to my brain, Mars. Anyway, I am sorry and if you need to leave right now, I'd understand."

As Mars was pondering on whether she should just run and leave, she looked up at her friend with a smile. 'Maybe I should ask her if she wants to go with me. That way, everything will get handled in a mature way. Plus Ariana is a strong woman. She could also help me with Team Dark' she thought as she gave Ariana a huge smile.

"… if you want, you can come with me!" Mars exclaimed.

Ariana also flashed a smile as she took her bag and followed Mars out the front door.