Round 1 D
Sailor Venus smiled expectantly as she rematerialized inside a dimly-lit metal passageway, the dull roar of applause echoing off the narrow walls, filling her ears.
How could anyone not want to do this? She asked herself, gracefully crossing the distance between herself and the end of the passageway, her smile growing ever-wider as the roaring grew decidedly louder. Even from the distance between her and the crowd, she could hear wolf-whistles and cat calls emanating out over the senseless wall of noise, directed at her. A faint blush crept into her cheeks as she imagined the snide taunts Serena, Mars and Jupiter would make at her when she returned from the battle.
We'll see whose laughing when the three of them find themselves out of the running, she thought, clenching her fists as she reached the end of the passageway, bathed in shadows, surprised at how large the arena looked from ground level.
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I present...Sailor Neptune!" cried Serenity's deafening voice, and the hoots and cheers of the audience exploded into a wall of senseless noise ten times louder than its former formidibality. Venus narrowed her eyes slightly as Neptune stepped out of the shadows and into the brightly-lit arena, her beautiful features enlarged by the massive floating monitor that hung overhead. Her oceanic blue eyes sparkled in delight as she waved modestly at the crowd, a slight smile playing about her lips, an air of cockiness emanating out of her pixelated form.
Get ready, Neptune, Venus thought, tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder. I'm comin' at ya.
"And in the western side of the arena, her challenger, Sailor Venus!" shouted Queen Serenity, and Venus danced out of the shadows and out into the open, revelling in the uproarious din that assaulted her ears from every side, glorying in the limelight that was fixed solely on her, in the cheers of hundreds upon hundreds of fans driven insane with admiration.
A broad smile spread across her face, and Venus winked roguishly and blew a kiss at the crowd, before a voice very much like Artemis' sounded in her head. There'll be plenty of time to show off later, it said sternly, puncturing her bubble of isolated enjoyment. Neptune's waiting for you, and I'd get off that high horse if I were you; she's gotta be one of the toughest Soldiers in this tournament, after Uranus, of course.
Mastering herself, Venus stopped waving and walked towards the center of the arena, where Neptune stood, waiting with her right hand rubbing her left arm, looking perfectly calm, an expression Venus did not like to be upon any of her enemy's faces; calmness always indicated that they had a plan, something she did not have.
Oh damn, she thought, an icy jolt of fear tearing through her. What have I gotten myself into?
After an eternity of walking, she reached the center of the arena, and though the crowd's cheers were just as loud as they had been when she entered the arena, she felt disconnected from them, like they were a hundred miles away and submerged under water. Her heart pumped a mixture of anxiety and adrenaline through her veins, alternatively paralyzing her with fear and filling her with the desire to attack. Neptune smiled slightly at her as she halted before her, though whether it was mocking or not Venus could not tell. The next thing she knew, however, Serenity had declared, "FIGHT!" and with a soft little growl Neptune had lunged forwards, her hands outstretched and curled into claws. A cry of alarm escaped Venus' lips, for she had not been expecting her opponent to attack so soon, and she was thus unable to defend herself as Neptune rammed into her, causing her to tumble backwards and collide painfully with the ground, wrenching another cry from her lips, but this time it was an angry one.
"Neptune –" she exclaimed, trying to shove the Soldier of the Ocean off her, swatting at her hands when she tried to punch her. "What the hell...get off!"
On the last word, she succeeded in kicking Neptune hard in the stomach, destabilizing her, and with a grunt of effort she heaved herself backwards in an agile back flip, effectively throwing Neptune off her. She landed lightly on her gloved hands before sharply rounding off her acrobatic twist, landing upright in a tense half-crouch. She instantly dispelled the faint dizziness that had been lingering about her and zeroed in on Neptune, who had somehow landed upright, a look of detached fury upon her face as she glared back at her.
They stood there for a split second, sizing each other up, and then Venus broke the silence with a war cry of sorts, sprinting forwards and lashing out in a hard uppercut punch that caught Neptune in the stomach, causing her breath to rush out of her lungs in a huff. To Venus' surprise, she recovered almost immediately, and retaliated by bringing her knee up forcibly and ramming her in the gut, causing her to double over in pain, coughing slightly. She staggered backwards in a futile attempt to get out of her opponent's range, and Neptune, unimpressed, dashed forwards and rammed her hard in the middle of her back while simultaneously swinging her leg forwards and knocking her legs out from underneath her. Venus screamed in pain and bewilderment as she collapsed onto the ground in a throbbing heap, tears of pain blurring her vision, but her heightened sense of hearing told her that Neptune was fast approaching, and so, forcing herself to work through the pain, she twisted onto her back and, making the sign of love with one gloved hand, shouted, "VENUS LOVE CHAIN ENCIRCLE!"
On the last word, a long chain of interlocking golden hearts appeared around her raised hand, and with a sharp flick of her wrist, Venus sent it lashing out towards her opponent, whose eyes widened in shock as something she could only have identified as a streak of gold rocketed towards her, and in less than a second, the chain had bound Neptune tightly from the chest to her knees, cackling with lethal white sparks that caused the Outer Soldier to give strangled gasps and cries of pain. Leaping to her feet and wiping the moisture from her eyes on the back of one gloved hand, Venus seized the end of her Love Chain and pulled hard on it, dragging Neptune towards her and nearly causing her to overbalance. With a cry of concentration, Venus released her grip on the chain and twisted herself into a mid-air roundhouse kick, but it was at that precise moment that Neptune overbalanced and fell backwards, narrowly avoiding being kicked in the face. Twisting out of her attack, the Soldier of Love landed in a splayed crouch upon the ground, her teeth bared, pulse pounding deafeningly in her ears. She saw Neptune fall as if in slow motion, and with an outraged cry, she broke free of her Love Chain, shattering it with an almost musical smash, causing it to disintegrate into thousands of glittering fragments. The Outer Soldier hit the ground but rolled into a controlled backwards somersault almost immediately, and with blinding speed, she popped to her feet, a look of furious concentration upon her face as she raised her hands above her head, an orb of oceanic blue water appearing between them, while pillars of water erupted around her.
"NEPTUNE DEEP SUBMERGE!" she shouted, and with a graceful twist she unleashed the orb, which had expanded to ten times its original size in less than three seconds, and with the ear-splitting roar of the crashing sea, the ball of water rocketed towards a slightly stunned Venus, who had known what had been coming but had no idea as to how she was supposed to dodge it, and so it must have looked quite pathetic as she allowed herself to be slammed into by several tonnes of magically enhanced water, so forceful that the impact threatened to tear her limb from limb. Her screams were drowned out quite literally, for an onslaught of water hit her squarely in the face, flooding her mouth and nose, plastering her hair to her face. Gasping and spluttering, Venus slammed into an unforgiving, cold metal wall with the force of a bomb exploding, almost enough to plunge her into unconsciousness. The deafening sound of a small tsunami slamming into metal assaulted her ears from every side, and she slid down the wall in a drenched heap, collapsing limply into a puddle of waterlogged mud. Every part of her body ached with a thousand year's worth of pain, and yet, continuing with her quest to be eternally persevering, a quest she had embarked on because of Sailor Moon, Venus forced herself onto her hands and knees, coughing and retching as she expelled water laced with some sort of thick fluid from her mouth and nose, her eyes burning, pricking with tears.
Raking strands of wet hair out of her face, Venus looked up just in time to see a white and turquoise streak rocketing towards her, a high-heeled foot lashing out of nowhere. With a cry, she threw herself instinctively out of harm's way, and just in time; Neptune's foot collided with the place her head had been seconds before with the forcing of a charging rhinoceros, and she looked just as furious as one as she twisted around to face Venus, who was dismayed to see that she had not managed to land a single scratch on her opponent. She immediately leapt up off the ground and slid into a tense half-crouch, breathing as heavily as if she had just run a marathon, dripping wet, looking like a drowning rat in comparison to the pristine Neptune.
"ARGH!" cried the Soldier of the Ocean, and with that inarticulate declaration she lunged forwards, her arms reduced to gloved blurs as she initiated a blinding mass of hook and straight punches, her pointed face blazing with concentration. A huff of surprised exertion escaped Venus' lips as she ducked and twisted out of harm's way, sashaying left and right and skipping backwards to avoid being punched into unconsciousness.
"FIGHT-BACK!" snarled a frustrated Neptune, as Venus rolled out from underneath the range of a particularly ferocious straight punch that would have hit her squarely in the face.
"If that's what you want," Venus said in a mocking voice, and with that, she leapfrogged Neptune and spun around in a sharp twirl, extending one leg and knocking out the back of her opponent's knees. As Neptune fell forwards, Venus, lightning-fast, leapt onto the Outer Soldier's shoulders in sitting position and heaved herself backwards, catapulting her backwards through the air in a bewildered heap.
The crowd went insane as Venus completed her no-hands back flip and landed hard upright, her breath coming in short gasps. Somehow, over the tens of thousands of screaming voices, she heard Uranus shouting angrily out to her partner, her low, almost masculine voice cracked with tension.
"Come on Neptune, she's just a little kid!" bellowed the Soldier of the Sky, and Venus barely restrained herself from making an obscene gesture at her. Remembering where she was, Venus whipped around, just in time to see Neptune withdrawing, incredibly, her Marine Cathédrale, her violin, a look of utmost concentration upon her face.
Venus was so surprised that she couldn't help but laugh. "Ooh, there's no way I'll win now," she said sarcastically, mocking terror. "How can I hope to win when you're about to assault my ears with a bunch of screeching strings?"
She would later regard that as one of the top three stupidest things she had ever said; if Neptune had been enraged before, it was nothing compared to the fury that was etched upon every line of her face after Venus spoke.
"SUBMARINE VIOLIN TIDE!" screamed Neptune, and with the skill of an expert violinist, the Soldier of the Ocean swept her bow across the taught strings of her priceless instrument, and with an ear-splitting roar, a positive tidal wave of water exploded out of the small piece of glossy wood, swirling and twisting and cackling with an impossible amount of magic. Venus could only scream as she was completely submerged in a hundred tonnes of lethal, magically enhanced ocean water, water that flooded her mouth and nose with its icy coldness, drenching her to the bone, while absolute, excruciating pain tore through her. She could not see, could not think, and only retained sense to keep herself from screaming, for screaming would surely result in drowning, no matter how powerful Serenity's precautions were. The world was naught but a mass of senseless, impossible roaring noise, and everywhere she looked as she tumbled head over heels, ferried backwards by the sheer force of Neptune's attack, was absolute, deepest blue, burning her eyes every time she opened them.
After an eternity of helpless tumbling, Venus slammed into a merciless, unforgiving something with awful finality, but even with this impact the water did not stop. Choking and spluttering, the Soldier of Love found herself pinned against the freezing metal side of the arena, unable to keep herself from taking wild breaths any longer, except these all came back up laced with fluid. A millennium could have come and gone and she wouldn't have noticed; the only way she knew time was passing was when the impossibly powerful waves stopped crashing down on her, relinquishing their iron grip on her limp body and allowing her to collapse upon the ground in a limp, harassed heap, splashing into several inches of displaced water.
Venus could not move, could not think, only choke down huge gasps of air, her whole form heaving with each one. Patches of black obscured her vision, and the only parts that were not obscured were full of glowing green orbs, spiralling lazily off her form.
I'm so close, she realized, flopping onto her back in attempt to speed up the clearing of her airways. One more hit, and all this pain will end...
Each breath brought caused her throat to sear painfully, burned by Neptune's lethal attack. Death, she reasoned, would have been more desirable over this, to be humiliated in front of thousands of people, to feel as though nothing but pain had shadowed her for the past five hundred years, to have every fibre of her being throb in agony-
But what good would I be if I were dead? Venus found herself asking, and she was surprised to find that this, over everything else, caused her waterlogged-head to clear, giving her the strength, at long last, to force herself to look up. If I were really finished, I wouldn't still be here right now.
Neptune, whether out of pity or shock, was not advancing upon her, but since the world was naught by an indistinct, fuzzy blur, she could not see the Outer Scout's expression. Retching softly, Venus raised a trembling hand to brush the hair that was plastered to her face out of her eyes, forcing herself to remain calm as dozens of tiny green orbs floated away from her, as good as a signpost that could tell Neptune that she was inches away from a KO.
Not if I have anything to say about it, she thought grimly, and with an effort that felt like it would kill her, Venus staggered upright, and there was a beat of absolute silence before the audience burst into uproarious applause, shocked that she had not been reduced to a pile of drenched and shuddering clothes.
"Yeah, Venus!" Jupiter's shouted, somehow managing to make herself heard over the insane racket.
"You can do it!" screamed Sailor Moon, any dignity she had forgotten as she, too, called out her approval. Venus smiled weakly, and her vision cleared enough for her to be able to focus on Neptune's face, and she was pleased to see that the Outer Scout looked incredulous, a soft gasp of surprise escaping her quivering lips.
"Venus Crescent Beam SMASH!" She spluttered, pointing a finger at her opponent, and with an explosion of noise ,a concentrated beam of blinding gold and white light burst out of her fingertip, rocketing towards Neptune at an insane speed, and she dared to hope that, at long last, she was about to cause some damage to the Outer Scout-
But to her horror, Neptune seemed to have been expecting her to do such a thing, and with startling speed she produced the Deep Aqua Mirror from out of nowhere, forcing it in front of her face just in as her Crescent Beam would have slammed into her. With a metallic explosion, the jet of golden light rebounded off its flawless, reflective face and turned back upon its owner, who, acting purely on instinct, threw herself onto the ground, her arms flung over her head, but unfortunately for her, not quickly enough.
Her attack flashed over her head, growing more deadly with each second it remained in the living spectrum, and it was nothing short of miraculous when, even though it slammed into her raised arms, it did not blast her into the participants' level of the stadium. A scream of pain escaped her lips as she was hit, and unendurable agony ripped through her arms, causing the orbs that were emanating out from her to go haywire, multiplying themselves by three so that it looked like a sort of ghostly green shield had erupted around her form. Every other sound had been drowned out by the deafening pounding of her heart that was sounding in her ears as she fell flat on her back, using every last ion of her willpower to keep herself from passing out. I'm not done with you yet, Neptune, she thought.
The Outer Scout had clearly had enough, and both shock and exasperation coloured her musical voice as she shouted, "DAMN IT, WHEN WILL YOU GIVE UP?"
With a Herculean effort, Venus raised her head off the ground to flash a pained smile at Neptune. "After you do."
An outraged snarl ripped itself from Neptune's lips, and then she burst into action, driven by her furious desire to end this battle, an act that was mirrored by Venus, who knew that this would be her last and only chance to strike, and with that knowledge she dug into the absolute last reserves of her energy, bringing it forth to use her most powerful attack-
"NEPTUNE DEEP SUBMERGE!"
"VENUS METEOR STRIKE!"
The air was rent apart by both the deafening crashing of the sea and the impossible roar of dozens of massive meteors exploding out of Venus' fingertip. With almost coordinated grace, the two attacks dodged around each other, neither about to fail in their quest to slam into their enemies-
Venus' strength was utterly gone, and with a helpless scream, she clenched her eyes shut, curling herself into a ball as Neptune's attack slammed into her. Agony only possessed her for a second before every trace of water had vanished, and she was no longer lying in a pool of muddied water, but on a soft, carpeted surface, disorientation threatening to overwhelm her. Five blurry faces were hanging over her, but the Soldier of Love was too exhausted to try to identify them. People's voices were sounding from all around her, shouting nonsense at her, but she did not know who they were or what they were saying. Her heart was still thundering in her ears, her headache was bordering on blinding, and her very cells seemed to ache from being constantly assaulted by Neptune. Suddenly, without knowing how she got there, she was on her feet, two remarkably dry arms supporting her from either side, causing her to dangle about a foot above the ground. Choking and spluttering, Venus forced herself to look up, and she was completely bewildered to see Neptune standing before her, held upright by Sailors Uranus and Pluto.
"W-what?" she spluttered, completely confused, this strange development too much for her berated brain to handle. Before anyone could begin to decipher her bewildered exclamation, her world was lost in a flash of silvery white light, and when it dispersed, it took the pain and weariness with it, leaving Venus standing upright all on her own, marvelling at how clear her head had become, but no less confused.
"Well done, Soldiers!" Queen Serenity proclaimed, her face shining with happiness as she looked between the bewildered combatants. "That was by far the most exciting battle so far!"
"Who won?" demanded Venus and Neptune in perfect unison, and most of the other Soldiers nodded in agreement.
"That's what I was about to determine," cried the Queen, and everyone cried out in pain as Serenity's magically magnified voice assaulted their ears. Turning to walk back out onto the balcony, she stowed her star-topped wand in the folds of her dress and, spreading her arms wide, cried, "Ladies and gentlemen, if you could please direct your attention to the monitor, the winner will be revealed!"
As one, every member of the crowd raised their head to stare intently at the massive screen floating above them, and for once, silence was absolute. Venus and Neptune led the rest of the Sailor Soldiers out onto the balcony, the latters standing on either side of Queen Serenity, gripping the marble railing of the balcony so tightly it squeaked in protest. For a moment, the screen did not respond, bearing the word, 'KO' in bright white letters, but then it vanished, in favour of displaying a massive pause sign. With a wave of her hand, Serenity caused the sign to vanish, and the last few seconds of the fight appeared upon the screen, though instead of happening in normal speed, Neptune's Deep Submerge and Venus' Meteor Strike were trapped in super slow motion, inching towards their opponents at a painfully slow rate. A collective gasp sounded from every side of them as the crowd drew in a tense breath, every eye glued to the screen, and then, all but one person exploded into life, cheering insanely as they watched Neptune be rammed into by Venus' Meteor Strike and blasted into non-existence a second before Venus. A dazzling smile split across Venus' face as she realized what had happened, and she beamed at the crowd for only a moment before hands were raining down upon her back, the jubilant shouts of her fellow Inner Soldiers sounding in her ears.
"Way to go, Venus!" shouted Mars, hugging her tightly.
"Yeah!" cried Jupiter, punching her on the arm.
"Well done, well done, well done!" cried Serena, jumping up and down with joy and clasping Venus' hands in hers.
"I can't put it any better than that," Mercury said with a grin, thumping her on the back. Without really having a say in the matter, Venus was ferried back into the shelter of the participant's level, the roars of the crowd still sounding in her ears. Muttering indistinctly, she forced herself out of the gaggle of Soldiers to stand in front of Neptune, her joyous smile becoming an apologetic grimace as she took in the disappointment etched upon her face.
"Good fight," she said, her voice loaded with remorse as she extended one hand awkwardly, willing Neptune to take it. The Outer Scout did so, forcing a pained smile onto her face.
"I can't say that wasn't an upset," she responded, not quite returning Venus' compliment. "I don't know how you hung in there as long as you did."
"Don't worry," Uranus said, her low, almost masculine voice subtly threatening as her dark blue eyes bored into Venus'. "She won't last nearly as long up against me."
"Oho, I'm so scared," Venus retorted, rolling her eyes, an expectant smile flashing across her face as she sized Uranus up, daring the leader of the Outer Scouts to reply. Pluto opened her mouth to intervene, but as soon as she did so, she vanished in a flurry of glowing green orbs. All the tension between them vanished, and the room was filled with appreciative laughter as the others registered Pluto's and Mars' disappearances.
"People of the Solar System, Round One E!" declared Queen Serenity, and the crowd burst into applause.
Round One E
Pluto stood frozen for a second, the comment she was about to make to Venus and Uranus dying in her throat. Damn it, Serenity, she thought, clenching her fists as she pictured the smug smile upon the Queen's face. Then, The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can get back to the Space-Time Door.
Unlike the other Soldiers who had walked this hall before her, her mind was not fixed on the fight ahead. They were fixed upon the untraceable waves of Dark energy that had been emanating in waves out from the arena since its unveiling two days ago. And while nothing particularly lethal had emerged from it yet, it did not mean that evil was not lurking in the shadows.
But this seems...somehow more lethal than before, the Guardian of Time thought as she stopped just before the entrance to the stadium, completely detached from the screaming of the crowd. Like this time, it's personal.
Like someone is in mortal peril.
"On the eastern side of the stadium, Sailor Pluto!" cried Serenity, her magically magnified voice tearing Pluto away from her thoughts. Giving a little jolt of surprise, she forced her suspicions to the back of her mind and walked out into the open, a slight smile upon her face as she allowed the cheers of the crowd to wash over her, Saturn's whoops and cheers standing out like a black bear in the snow.
Hmm, she thought, crossing the distance between the edge of the arena and the center of the arena faster than any of her fellows for her height advantage. Maybe this won't be that bad after all.
"And her challenger, Sailor Mars!" declared Serenity, and at her name, the Soldier of Fire stepped out of the shadows, waving confidently at the crowd, her smile visible even from the hundreds of meters of distance between them, though Pluto was only amused by this.
She became perfectly still as Mars stopped before her, her long black hair gleaming in the dazzling artificial light, a cocky expression upon her face. "Scared, Pluto?" she asked through unmoving lips, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Pluto smirked at her opponent, a rare display of emotion. "Do you really want me to answer that question?" she retorted, matching Mars' skill effortlessly, tossing her long jade hair out of her face. Her comment only fuelled Mars' pigheadedness.
"Fight!" declared Queen Serenity, and Pluto instantly blocked out the insane approval of the crowd, her features twisting with concentration as she tensed very slightly, her grip tightening on Garnet Rod, ready to swing it at a moment's notice, which presented itself almost immediately; with a cry of something bizarrely like enjoyment, Mars flung herself forwards, twisting herself around so that she was flying forwards feet-first, but Pluto, above being hit by such a ridiculous attack, merely stepped to her right, allowing the Soldier of Fire to fly past her, her eyes widening in surprise as she realized she had missed. Pluto turned slowly, having no cause to rush, just in time to see Mars roll onto her side as she landed heavily on the sandy ground, springing upwards with alarming speed and whirling around to face her. Pluto's amused smile vanished in favour of an expression of wide-eyed horror as her opponent flung one hand above her head and drew a circle of fire around herself, shouting, "MARS CELESTIAL -"
"I don't think so!" snarled Pluto, dashing forwards and swinging her Garnet Orb through the air as effortlessly as though it were a feather, slamming its white marble butt into Mars' hands with crushing force, causing her to cry out in pain and staggering backwards and effectively vanishing her circle of flame. Anger flashed through her opponent's eyes, and with an outraged cry she flung herself forwards, her hands reduced to silken white blurs as she lashed out in vicious punches, aiming for the Guardian of Time's head, but she easily blocked each one, either sashaying out of Mars' reach or knocking her limbs out of the air in front of her head with her staff. After a dozen failed attempts to land on punch on her, Mars gave a frustrated cry and, more out of temper than anything, front-kicked Pluto in the stomach, something that caught the Outer Scout off guard and sending her staggering backwards, her air rushing out of her lungs in a huff. Her opponent capitalized on her temporary incapacitation by leaping impossibly high into the air and bringing one hand over her shoulder in a karate chop-style attack, a move that would have knocked her unconscious had she not forced her Garnet Rod horizontally above her face to block the blow. With a sickening sound of flesh ramming into something mercilessly unforgiving, the side of the Inner Scout's hand collided with her staff, and Pluto felt the painful vibrations resulting from the impact running through her weapon's toughened marble surface. The two of them stood there for a moment, both pressing back against their opponent with as much force as they could muster, narrowed eyes locked onto the other's, neither willing to relent. In a fit of frustration, Mars lashed out in a hard kick, but Pluto, who had been expecting something of the sort, threw her Garnet Rod high into the air and forced herself backwards into a bridge, sucking in her stomach as Mars' foot lashed out overhead. As soon as she followed through from her kick, Pluto gave a snarl of concentration and heaved herself backwards, her dark green, almost black boot catching her adversary sharply under the chin.
"Gah!" cried Mars, staggering backwards, and Pluto rounded sharply out of her back flip, landing upright so quickly that she was able to catch her marble staff before it hit the ground. She immediately zeroed in on Mars, who spat out a mouthful of blood before fixing her furious gaze upon the Guardian of Time, and they stared at each other for a moment before the Soldier of Fire plunged her hand into her skirt and withdrew, incredibly, a strip of white paper marked with inked-in black symbols.
"EVIL SPIRIT, BE GONE!" she shouted, hurling the spell at Pluto, who blinked in a bewildered sort of way, incredulous that anyone could have regarded her as an evil spirit. The paper hit her squarely in the face, obscuring her vision, and the moment it made contact with her, she gave a tiny gasp of horror as she realized the real point of throwing the simple spell at her.
She whipped her hand up to her face and tore the paper off of her, crumpling it as she did so, but it was too late; Mars had capitalized on her successful distraction by completing the circle of flame she had tried to draw before, and she clasped her hands in front of her face, her two index fingers pressed together, and the circle of flame morphed into eight fiery circles, each engraved with deepest black symbols that circled around her form before the Soldier of Fire shouted, "MARS CELESTIAL FIRE SURROUND!"
With a deafening cackle, the circles of fire shot forwards, reduced to burning orange streaks for the speed they were flying at, and in a vain attempt to protect herself, Pluto twirled her Garnet Rod above her head and made to slam it onto the ground in front of her, but unfortunately for her, raising her arms was perhaps the worst mistake she could have made. Eight streaks of blazing inferno slammed into her with the force of an atomic bomb exploding, and was about just as damaging; excruciating pain threatened to tear her from limb to limb as she was blasted off her feet, fire savaging her form, singing her hair and uniform and covering every inch of her exposed skin with angry red burns and soot. A blood-curdling scream of pain was wrenched from her lips as she writhed and twisted, surrounding by a burning cocoon of agony that refused to disperse, and she landed hard on the ground in a tortured heap, shuddering violently, every inch of her screaming in pain-
After what seemed like years, the fire around her dispersed, and Pluto, being the warrior she was, leapt to her feet, shaking her head to clear the pained confusion that had settled upon her mind like a fog, her dark red eyes roving wildly about for Mars, and she was just in time to see her opponent slam into her with bone-breaking force, a savage cry escaping her lips.
"What the -?" Pluto gasped as she toppled over backwards, tumbling to the ground, pinned against the sand by Mars' body weight. She had dropped her Garnet Rod when Mars' Celestial Fire had slammed into her, and so she was reluctantly forced to use her hands to try to shove her enemy off, but she was too slow; Mars' gloved hand lashed out of nowhere, and with a crack of noise, the Soldier of Fire slapped her across the face, the force of the blow causing her to suffer mild whiplash as her head rolled to the other side.
"Hot enough for you, Pluto?" demanded the Inner Scout, her face blazing with battle-induced rage, drawing back her fist for another blow. Pluto gave an exasperated gasp, gingerly touching the place where her cheek was throbbing angrily with the tips of her fingers, but her incredulity promptly turned to rage, and with a positive scream of fury, she caught Mars' clenched fists with both her hands, and with strength that would have made Uranus proud, she yanked her legs out from underneath her opponent and, grunting with effort, flung her off of her by kicking her hard in the stomach and throwing her skywards. She used the Inner Scout's shocked expression as the incentive for what she did next, which was to leap to her feet and then jump impossibly high after Mars, the world reduced to a streaking blur of colour as she twisted upside-down, and she drew her knees into her chest before snapping them back into position in the form of a crushing kick that caught her foe hard in the chest. She felt at least one rib crack.
Mars' scream of pain trailed behind her as Pluto plummeted back to the ground, corkscrewing herself and landing in a tense crouch in the same spot she had jumped off of, her arms stretched out like the wings of an airplane. A dull thud sounded several yards away from her, telling her Mars had fallen back to the ground, and as if this were the signal she had been waiting for, the Guardian of Time leapt to her feet and sprinted towards her Garnet Rod, the ruby red gem that was the orb affixed to its top glowing brightly, marking its place.
"NO!" Mars cried a mixture of frustration and pain as she realized what Pluto was doing.
"Yes," Pluto hissed, too quietly for Mars to hear as she skidded to a halt just in front of her weapon, and in a single fluid motion, she snatched it up and whirled back around to face Mars, who she was dismayed to see seemed to have recovered from her kick in the chest and was running forwards as fast as she could her black hair flying about her face, as ominous as a storm cloud.
"MARS FIREBIRD STRIKE!" shouted the Soldier of Fire, her hands forming a gun-shape in front of her, and out of her finger tips burst a twisting column of flame that rocketed forwards at a blinding speed, and when it reached the midway point between its creator and Pluto, it morphed into a massive flaming bird, emitting an almost musical cry of rage from its titanic beak, pupilless eyes burning with a rage that was a hundred times greater than that which burned in its creator's eyes-
Pluto, however, was not about to suffer another assault at the hands of Mars, twirling her Garnet Rod above her head, she slammed it down upon the ground before her with a gong-like boom, shouting, "GARNET BALL!" and, with an uneartheal scream that sounded like a choir of the undead screaming, a blood red sphere of light exploded out of her Garnet Orb, forming a protective force field between herself and Mars' attack, which slammed into the barrier in a supernova-class explosion of noise, one that the flaming bird did not survive; Mars' outraged scream of denial was lost as her firebird vanished in a flash of fire and a flurry of sparks, and about a second later, Pluto's Garnet Ball flickered and died.
The Guardian of Time was merciless; slashing her staff through the air, she closed her eyes as a mass of swirling wind appeared around her, shielding her from view as it rose up in a towering column around her. "Pluto Deadly Scream," she whispered, letting her eyes slide open, and with a graceful twirl she banished the wind that had surrounded her, which converged into her Garnet Orb and exploded out of it less than a second later in the form of a glowing violently purple sphere that was accompanied by a blood-curdling scream of a hundred undead souls shrieking their displeasure.
The orb had grown to ten times its original size as it slammed into Mars, and Pluto was mildly surprised that the Inner Scout did not vanish in an explosion of sparks, which, in her opinion, would have been preferable to the undoubtable agony that was tearing through her at the moment. Sailor Mars flew so far that she would have continued on into the audience if not for the bolts of jagged lavender that burst into existence the moment Mars drew level with the wall of the arena. For a split second, a dome of lavender energy appeared over the arena, shielding the audience from view, and with a gong-like boom she slammed into its curving surface, toppling downwards in a limp heap, but then it was gone, and everything had returned to complete normality.
As she watched Mars' limp form tumbling back down to the ground, Pluto's vision suddenly tunnelled, and she felt as though she had been pushed hard from behind, regaining her balance an instant later, but when she raised her head, she was no longer standing in the stadium in the Moon Kingdom, but in a sort of alternate dimensional outer space, with a shadowy figure standing before her, only its head visible, but even that had been obscured by an ancient, ragged-looking grey hooded robe, its glowing red eyes the only thing visible.
"Beware, Sailor Pluto," snarled the figure, its raspy voice like shattered ice, sending freezing tendrils of fear running up her spine. "For all that you know is about to change."
And then the figure had vanished, returning her to the arena, disorientation threatening to overwhelm her. The world seemed to pulse, and with a little gasp of surprise, Pluto staggered backwards, her head spinning, heart pounding painfully in her ears. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone running towards her, a malicious air emanating out from them, fury etched upon their face, and, thinking that it was the mysterious figure she had envisioned, Pluto whipped around, outraged denial twisting her face into a frightening mask, and she slashed her Garnet Rod through the air, screaming, "PLUTO DEADLY SCREAM!"
The force of her voice, the amount of power she summoned forth for her attack, made the purple orb that exploded from her staff transform from devastating to deadly, and only after it had slammed into her attacker, who vanished in an explosion of green orbs, did she realize that she had just attacked Sailor Mars.
"NO!" she screamed, her eyes widening in horror, unable to comprehend why the people that surrounded her from every side were cheering when she had just savaged her friend with an attack that had been meant for a real enemy-
Suddenly, she was no longer standing in the center of the arena, but under the cover of the participant's level of the stadium, surrounded by Sailor Soldiers, all of whom were clapping enthusiastically, just as impressed as the fans that had been screaming their approval down at her.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Uranus shouted, clapping her on the shoulder.
"Nice work, Pluto," Jupiter admitted, smiling in a slightly shell-shocked way. "Couldn't have done it better myself."
"Yay, Luna-P!" shouted Mini Moon, elbowing her way to the front of the crowd and dancing up and down, looking ecstatic.
Pluto felt sick, hot bile travelling up her throat, feeling like she was about to faint. Though none of the Inner Scouts noticed the change in her state of her mind, Uranus' smile vanished, replaced by a look of shrouded concern, while Neptune froze in mid-clap, her ocean blue eyes widening in surprise, and Saturn staggered backwards, her violet eyes locking onto Pluto's half-closed red ones, but she managed to disguise this by forcing a laugh and explaining to Sailor Mercury that she had merely lost her balance.
"Well done, Pluto," Serenity murmured, walking in from the balcony, Sailor Mars following her, looking rather unsteady, though there was no trace of a scratch on her. Serena, Mercury and Venus rushed forwards and converged around their fellow Inner Scout, concern etched upon their faces, but Mars shook her head moodily and waved them away.
Pluto forced herself to ignore the feelings of shame that were threatening to overcome her and nodded once at Serenity, forcing a small, grateful smile upon her face, and murmured through unmoving lips, "Thank you."
Serenity nodded once and turned away striding away from the group of Soldiers and muttering to herself, while Sailor Moon followed, chattering happily to her mother about the battles, and Mercury, Jupiter and Venus followed her, all discussing their individual fights. Uranus, Neptune and Saturn withdrew from Pluto, knowing that she would tell them what was troubling in when she had made sense of it herself, and the Guardian of Time swallowed once before approaching Mars, who had deposited herself on one of the dozens of black couches placed strategically around the room, looking disgruntled.
"Mars," she murmured, keeping her voice deliberately soft, hoping it would give her the right impression. "I'm so sorry – really, I didn't mean -"
"I don't need your pity, Pluto," snapped Mars, her voice harsh, a vein pulsing in her temple as she folded her arms across her chest and glared up at her, anger passing across her face like a flame. "You beat me, fair and square." She snorted the last three words, and her tone indicated that she thought the way she had won had been anything but fair.
Grimacing in a pained sort of way, Pluto pressed on, hoping that the urgency in her voice would thaw the Soldier of Fire out. "Listen, when we were battling just now...towards the end, did you get a sort of...vision? Of -"
"If you're seeing things, maybe you should drop out of the competition," Mars suggested, turning away from Pluto and holding her head up high, determined to be in a bad mood. "I think the stress is getting to you."
Pluto gave an infinitesimal shake of her head, wishing that she had not been facing off with such a proud opponent, but she decided that Mars had really not seen anything during their battle and gave her up as a bad job. Getting slowly to her feet, she turned and walked towards her fellow Outer Scouts, motioning for them to move into a corner, her expression grim, mind far away, thinking of the frightening person she had seen in her vision.
All that I know is about to change, she realized, and an emotion she was unaccustomed to, something she identified as helplessness coursed through her. And there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.
