Retaliation, Victory At Any Cost, Make Them Pay
By Major Mike Powell III
Aino Minako, or perhaps, her previous incarnation to be precise, had always been close to Princess Serenity. They were the best of friends, they were each other's confidante. Their bond went far deeper than any of the other Senshi.
The whispers, the shadows of her previous self still haunted Minako's heart, a thousand years later. Memories that were still fuzzy, blurry, even now…the sensations, the feelings she could very well feel physically in her dreams on certain nights…Princess Serenity was the bringer of those emotions every single time, and Sailor Venus clearly reciprocated.
In any case, that was in the distant past, even if the past still echoes in modern day. For instance, here she was, Aino Minako, gently and lovingly threading her dexterous fingers through the near-endless, silky platinum tresses of Tsukino Usagi in the girl's bedroom.
Minako's practically identical counterpart was resting her head in her warm lap, her arms wrapped tightly around Minako's waist.
This situation…this was all-so-very familiar. Hauntingly so, given the current circumstances.
Chiba Mamoru, the reincarnation of Prince Endymion, Tuxedo Mask was gone. He took a killing blow meant for Sailor Moon and then, was taken prisoner, snatched right out of Usagi's arms after her re-awakening as Princess Serenity…a re-awakening triggered by sheer despair.
Neither Usagi nor Minako wanted to even imagine the torture that harpy Queen Beryl and her lackeys would put Mamoru through just to get their power-hungry claws on what they believed to be the Legendary Silver Crystal, when in reality, the all-powerful item was actually sitting right here, on Usagi's vanity in the girl's room.
"V-chan…Mina-chan…" Usagi's gentle voice echoed with sorrow and a touch of something that was no doubt dark, yet the warmth that Minako had long since enjoyed was still there, warmth in Usagi's voice that was for Minako, for Sailor Venus, and for her alone.
"Yes, Usagi-chan? What is it?" The blonde with the red bow in her hair replied, her voice a soothing whisper.
"If I asked you, Mako-chan, Ami-chan and Rei-chan to fight by my side…if I asked you to fight to kill…to fight and take no prisoners…would you do it?"
"In a heartbeat, Usagi-chan." No hesitation, no doubt, not the faintest whisper of a question in Minako's voice as she replied. She moved one hand to grasp Usagi's and squeeze it tightly. "If you want us to fight and kill every last one of our enemies, if you want to us to take no prisoners, burn the Dark Kingdom to the ground…we will do it. We won't hesitate. We won't waver. Know this, Usagi-chan. I give you my word as Sailor Venus and as a woman."
Usagi intertwined her fingers with Minako's.
"Then, when the time comes, when we take the fight to the Dark Kingdom after we go to the Moon…we will kill them all. We will rescue Mamo-chan, and then, I want you to help me burn the Dark Kingdom to the ground."
Minako knew, and so did Usagi, that this was not even a whisper of what the Moon Kingdom, what the Sailor Guardians' creed was supposed to stand for…but those that do not learn from history are destined-nay, doomed to repeat it.
And the Sailor Guardians and the reawakened Princess Serenity had definitely learned from history. They would not let history repeat itself. They would rescue Mamoru. They would burn any and all youma stupid enough to stand in their way. They would kill every last General. Usagi herself would drench with blood her pristine-white gloves as Sailor Moon or even her bare arm as Princess Serenity after she personally ripped out Queen Beryl's wretched, dark, still-beating heart.
And then, they would return home after wiping the Dark Kingdom from the pages of history, and they would also shove Metalia back into whatever dark hole spawned her, and then burn it.
Usagi moved and sat partially in Minako's lap, their arms wrapped tightly around one another; their faces inches apart, their beautiful, blue eyes steely with dark resolve.
They both knew, and Makoto, Rei and Ami most likely knew, as well. This was not vengeance, nor retribution, not even punishment. What they would do to the Dark Kingdom and its twisted, wicked minions was simply one of humanity's most basic instincts: Retaliation.
"Just like they laid waste to our land…" Minako began.
"…We shall lay waste to theirs."
The Sailor Senshi would make them pay. They would make the Dark Kingdom, and everything it stood for, pay. This was retaliation thousands of years in the making.
FIN