Episode 1: Rising Stars; The New IPI's
On a small asteroid circling a barren moon, five Senshi waited anxiously for the return of the ragged Senshi, Sailor Mercurius, and hopefully the coming of new Senshi to replace her so they could get on with their mission.
"How long has Sailor Mercurius been gone?" the golden-haired Sailor Hikari asked. She was sitting at an ancient-looking table across from her partner and opposite, Sailor Mei.
'It's impossible to tell,' Mei replied in her usual telepathic manner. She was mute and so communicated directly, mind-to-mind. 'We have no basis for figuring out the passage of time.'
"It feels like forever," Hikari whined. Then she looked around the little dining room then waited in, realizing they were alone. "Say, where did everyone else go?"
'Daichi and Nebula said something about exploring the second floor,' Mei replied, looking to the ceiling. 'Nebula swears she keeps hearing something move up there.'
"And Tucana?"
'She's out on the surface. No, she's coming back in.' Mei and Hikari turned to the doorway into the dining room. Moments later, the brown-haired, green-eyed Sailor Tucana appeared.
"Did Mercurius say anything about food?" Tucana asked, going directly to the connected kitchen. She opened up cupboards, finding only a single empty box. She picked it up and tipped it for good measure, but it was empty.
"She didn't say anything," Hikari said as she got up and followed. "But she didn't say how long she would be gone, and if she thought she would be gone long, she wouldn't have left us without food, right?"
"Not unless she didn't THINK she would be gone long," Tucana said, putting the box back and searching other cupboards. Hikari watched her, realizing she was also getting very hungry.
'You don't need to worry about starving,' Mei said as she stood. 'Mercurius just arrived on the second floor in the company of three new Senshi. They are all coming down with Daichi and Nebula.' Mei, Hikari, and Tucana waited patiently in the hallway. They was the others come down the stairs and joined them as they followed Sailor Mercurius to the underground of the stone house.
"Please remain here," Mercurius said, Turning to Tucana, Nebula, Daichi, Mei, and Hikari. "You will not be permitted within, for you are not to become IPI's." They nodded and waited att he stairs, watching as Mercurius led the others across the bare basement to a set of stone doors on the other side. As they approached, the doors opened, but only enough for the Senshi to go in. As soon as they were past the doors, they closed. Sailors Geb and Anog Ite stopped and gasped. Sailor Ixtab, who they had been leading, was forced to also stop.
"What is it?" Ixtab asked. The two didn't respond as they stared. The room was small and dark, lit only by the light mysteriously coming from clear boxes that housed the sleeping, levitating forms of four young women and three young men.
"My siblings," Mercurius said. Geb and Anog Ite looked at her as she stood facing an eighth clear box in the middle. It was empty and dim. "My younger siblings and I were IPI's together, but I failed them." She turned to them. "IPI's, once inducted, cease to age physically, but are no less prone to injury. When an IPI dies, their body fades and comes here to their final resting place. Their share of the IPI power is divided among the survivors." Mercurius closed her eyes. "I watched as, one by one, my siblings died right before my eyes. Now, I will join them and we will be a family once again." She then opened her eyes and looked up at the three Senshi across the room. "When you take on the power of the IPI, our cases will release our bodies back to our dimension, where we will re-enter the cycle of reincarnation, and there will be three cases for you. In order for you to inherit the powers of the IPI's, I must die, and it must be at your hands."
"Wait, what?!" Geb shouted. "You can't be serious!"
"She is," Ixtab said. "Her honesty is matched only by her sorrow."
"I-I can't!" Geb cried. "I've never killed anything, and I never want to!"
"Just attack me," Mercurius said wearily. "Your combined unique attacks will all contribute and it will be quick, especially with me in such a weakened state."
Geb looked at Anog Ite and Ixtab. Anog Ite already had four white quills form her sash between her fingers, ready to throw; Ixtab was clenching her black noose at the ready. Geb sighed and summoned her staff.
"You must be in unison," Mercurius said. "Step into the circle, then attack." Mercurius motioned to a faded stone circle on the stone floor. Geb and Anog Ite, leading Ixtab, stepped into the circle as Mercurius closed her eyes. She held out her arms as the Senshi lifted their respected weapons.
"Earthly Strike!" Geb shouted, twirling twice and then stabbing the ground.
As the ground broke in Mercurius' direction, Anog Ite yelled, "Exsanguination!"
She threw the white quills as Ixtab screamed, "Death's Grasp!" She flung her noose forward. It stretched and flew at Mercurius of its own accord.
The ground broke beneath Mercurius. As she fell the quills impaled her in a straight, vertical line beginning in her neck and ending between her breasts. The Noose slipped around her neck and strangled her, intensifying the flow of the blood as her lower half was crushed by the closing of the ground. She bled freely, choking and sputtering as the last of her color drained from her face. Blood dribbled from the corners of her mouth as her eyes grew dark and she went limp.
Geb winced and turned away. Anog Ite had hear head bowed, as did Ixtab. They didn't watch as Mercurius' body faded, but the sudden light from the once-dim case caused them to look up. Mercurius appeared in her case, unharmed and serene. Then all of the cases began to glow much more brightly, then it became blinding. Outside, the other Senshi could see the light breaking through the outside edged of the stone doors.
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Geb and Anog Ite shielded their eyes from the blinding light. Then it faded. They turned to the origins of the light, but they were gone. In place of the eight clear cases were three dim, empty cases.
"I guess… it's official now," Geb said. Anog Ite stepped toward the cases, taking Ixtab with her. At Anog Ite's fifth wary step, the circle below them began to glow. Then, they began to glow. The couldn't see anything for a few moments, but even before the light had faded the Senshi could tell something had had been changed. They opened their eyes to find that they wore new fukus. They bore the same designs as the ones Mercurius and her siblings had worn, except that the colors were their own.
"Why did our uniforms change?" Ixtab asked as she felt the long sash-like collar of her uniform.
"Maybe now that we are IPI Senshi, we have different fukus," Geb offered as she examined her shoes.
"Mine is different, though," Anog Ite said, giving a slight tug on the sash that still held her quills. It was unchanged, and the belt of her fuku was altered to hold more quills.
"You know what, mine too," Geb said, running her finger over the symbol of her planet on her chest. Mercurius and the others had a different symbol. Then, Geb reached around and felt her back. The leather-and-stone holder she had made for her staff was still attacked to the back of her bodice.
"That's all fine and dandy," Ixtab said as she put a hand on her hip, "But maybe we should visit that pillar Mercurius mentioned that would help us understand our powers and positions."
"Yes, but quickly," Geb said, anchoring her staff. "The more time we spend here, the further 'The Collector' will get."
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"The entire asteroid moves through dimensions with us?" Anog Ite asked. Daichi nodded as they all headed outside.
"On our planet, we discovered a new and foreign satellite orbiting our planet, and when my partner and I investigated it we met Mercurius," Daichi explained.
"It was the same for us," Tucana added, "Except, when Nebula and I went to it, 'The Collector' was waiting for us. He took Nebula's mace. Right then and there." Nebula, who was leading Ixtab, hung her head in embarrassment. Hikari looked over at her and gently punched her arm.
"Hey, cheer up!" she said. "We'll get your mace back!" Nebula looked up at the cheerful Senshi with a sad face.
'Here it is,' Mei said, breaking up the conversation. They stopped and stood before a tall stone pillar. It was worn and looked older than old. Geb and Anog Ite stepped close enough to see very worn writing on it.
"It's really worn," Geb said. "It is a strange language, but…"
"…I can read it," Anog Ite finished. Geb nodded and the two began reading the text in the stone. After a short while, Anog Ite spoke again. "Three powers, three strengths, three weaknesses."
"What does that mean?" Ixtab asked, stepping closer to the sound of their voices.
"Apparently, there are three powers associated with being IPI Senshi," Anog Ite said, looking at Geb and Ixtab. "Three powers divided among the IPI's, no matter the number: The power of movement, sight, and sound."
"I don't suppose I got sight," Ixtab asked with a hint of hope.
"No, I did," Geb said. "It is the power of the leader. The power of sound is given to Senshi of two worlds, and movement is given to disadvantaged Senshi."
"Then I obviously have movement," Ixtab said, crossing her arms. "That leaves sound with Anog Ite, but are you of two worlds?"
"People thought so on my planet," Anog Ite said, rubbing her hand over the worn text. "Each half of my world is very different from the other, so I was always called the Senshi of two worlds."
"Sailor Mercurius must have used her power of sight to find the right Senshi," Daichi said. "Now, how to we find 'The Collector,' wherever he is?"
"That lies first with me," Geb said, placing her hand on the pillar and closing her eyes. "I have to find him"
"Then, it would be me," Ixtab said, reaching out and touching the pillar. "I would move the asteroid."
"And I," Anog Ite said, hesitantly reaching for the pillar, "Would guide up using the absence of sound between worlds." Her hand touched the pillar, and instantly the worn text became bright. The ground shook violently and suddenly, throwing the Senshi into each other, onto the ground, and on top of each other. Then the starry sky above them turned into a kaleidoscope of color. Then it was over as quickly as it had begun and the ground stopped shaking enough for the Senshi to stand. Tucana saw first a barren planetoid near to them, but it was Hikari who saw the beautiful blue and green marble in front of them.
"Look at that!" she exclaimed, pointing at it. "It's beautiful!" The other Senshi concurred and watched as their little asteroid slowly moved closer. Soon it seemed to stop, and moments after that the other three Senshi disconnected from the pillar. The looked a little peakish, but they seemed to recover quickly and joined the others in admiring the planet they now orbited.
"Do you think they will realize we are up here?" Hikari asked.
"The Senshi may," Tucana said.
"How do we know there are Senshi here?" Hikari asked.
"The Collector is here," Geb answered, "And he collects Senshi treasures, so that means there must be Senshi here."
"I hope we are not too late," Nebula said.
"Let us hope," Ixtab said with a hint of impatience, "But now let us go."