Cyber Scouts, Prophecy Saga: part 6
Evil Unleashed
By Ryan Edgerton, author of TEAM REVELATION and CARDCAPTORS: the Realm series.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from the Sailor Moon TV show- Serena/Sailor Moon, Amy/Sailor Mercury, Rei(sorry if that's not the correct spelling)/Sailor Mars, Lita/Sailor Mercury, Mina/Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Pluto, Molly, Melvin, and anybody else I forgot to mention. The ArchAngel Shiro belongs to Eternal Studios and the ArchAngels: The Saga comics series, as does the demon assassin Phalyn. I'll make a list of the characters I do own at the end of the fic, as per usual.
Chapter 21- Raging Darkness
Tasha knew she had to come here, that much she was certain of. Valerra's ship hummed in silent power all around her as she made her way through the labyrinth of hallways and walkways. She had been fortunate to get this far, to even have been able to get aboard the ship. She feared Valerra had known she was coming. How else would the shields have been so conveniently down when she tried to teleport onboard? She hoped that, somehow, she would elude the evil illusionist long enough to fulfill her reason for coming here.
She turned a corner and entered a large room with a ceiling so high and walls so far apart that it was nearly impossible to see their end. The actual floor was far below her; where she now stood was a platform hovering high above the steel floor of the massive central room. Around her, each geometrically positioned to perfection, were six or eight mirrors that, she guessed, served as teleportation doorways. The room was very dark, so dark in fact that the only light came from the portals. She feared she'd taken a wrong turn and turned to go.
She stopped mid-step. Valerra, like a living, shadowy nightmare, stood in front of the doorway, leaning semi-casually against it's sides and glaring at Tasha.
"I knew you'd come." Valerra stated.
"In that case, you know what I'm here to do."
"Of course, but I must say your plan is rather repetitive. You're just as predictable as ever." Valerra taunted. "Blow up my ship's reactor core to save your petty friends. How cliche!"
"And I knew you'd try to stop me."
"Oh the contrary; I won't have to do a thing to stop you."
"What are you talking about?" Tasha probed.
"I'm not the one who's going to stop you... they are."
Valerra pointed beyond the mirrors and a sudden flash illuminated the massive room. Tasha gasped in surprise. There, in the room below the platform, floating limply in two large cylinders filled with transparent black liquid, were Kevin and Zack.
"They're very much alive." Valerra stated, standing upright. "I decided to use them as my... insurance policy against you. I knew you wouldn't dare destroy this ship with them onboard, and don't even try to run; I've reactivated all the shields around my ship. So, that would mean your only choice now..."
"... Is to face you one on one." Tasha surmised. "But you'll have to catch me first." With that, she back flipped off the platform onto the room's main floor far below.
"Easy enough." Valerra mused, then teleported after her.
A sudden flash of light illuminated the small meeting room of the Cherry Hill temple. All the Scouts shielded their eyes against the brightness, but in a second or so it faded away and Sailor Pluto stepped into the room.
"Pluto!" Serena jumped off the couch and rushed over to the tall warrior, then suddenly stopped as she read the distress in Pluto's face. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"It's Tasha. I've been searching all over for her, but it's like she's just vanished." She stated, then looked aside nervously. "I'm afraid she may have gone off to face Valerra on her own."
"What?!" Michelle exclaimed.
"That's suicide!" Amara added.
"I'm afraid that may be just what she has in mind." Pluto stated. "She said something about destroying Valerra and the CyberShadow Crystals all together to protect Jason. I don't even want to think of what she may have in mind."
"We've got to stop her, before it's too late!" Lita exclaimed.
"I've tried transporting onboard Valerra's ship, but something is blocking me, likely a temporal shield barrier."
"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Saturn stated.
"... I'm afraid... it's out of our hands..."
"Nebula Power Storm!"
Multi-colored electricity erupted all over the massive chamber, it's source being Tasha's staff. Valerra blocked easily, a black shield forming around her as she hovered in mid-air.
"Somebody's been eating their Wheaties." Valerra scoffed.
"Your sense of humor is as bad as ever, Valerra." Tasha stated.
"Oh, did I offend you?" Valerra mocked, then dove at Tasha with a missile kick. Tasha dodged as metal from the floor flew up all around where Valerra had landed, shards of it leaving small cuts on Tasha's exposed legs and arms. Tasha retaliated, teleporting just behind Valerra and slamming her to the ground with a wide swing from her staff. Valerra dodged the follow-up strike, teleporting away as Tasha brought her staff down so hard that she left a moderate dent in the steel floor. Valerra made the next move, blasting at Tasha from a distance with a massive shower of black energy beams. Tasha dodged, darted, and weaved her way in-between the blasts with incredible speed and skill, only getting struck by a few small blasts as she went.
"Nebula Cosmic Blast!"
A huge swirling surge of energy erupted out of Tasha's staff, striking Valerra's energy beams and reflecting them safely away while it sped straight at the villainess herself. Valerra teleported away just as the blast got close, causing it to explode against the ceiling way up above, sending little bits of what looked like loose rock and steel cascading down.
Valerra reappeared nearby, and the two exchanged kicks and blows with survival intensity. They had both been on this stage before, each knew their part, and each was playing to win. Everything was on the line. Tasha was the only other person besides Valerra who could use the CyberShadow Crystal's powers without the gems being separated. Valerra was now the key threat to the Scouts. Only one of them would walk away from this fight, and it would be winner take all.
Back flipping high into the air, the CyberShadow crystal suddenly materialized in Valerra's right hand. Tasha prepared to counter the inevitable blast, forming a Protective Cloud around herself as her staff glowed with power. If she didn't put every ounce of her power into this one defensive move, it was game over.
Valerra prepared to attack, the crystal's energy coursing through her arm like electricity as the gem itself glowed with incredible dark power.
Tasha braced herself, pouring every bit of power she could muster into her defensive barrier as sweat rolled down her forehead like water.
It was the moment of decision. Which was stronger, the crystal that the forces of evil had fought so long and hard to control, or the Sailor Scout who once guarded that crystal with her life? The crystal's power surged outward, clashing violently against the defensive field of energy and causing an explosion that reached to the edges of the room as the two forces grappled with each other.
For a moment, it seemed to Tasha that her field might hold, forcing back the powerful evil until Valerra exhausted it's powers.
With a sudden sound like a hundred windows breaking at the same time, darkness consumed Tasha's world, tearing her life violently away from deep inside of her like a hand punching through her chest and tearing her beating heart out in the same motion. Her eyes went dark as she lay there on the floor, her body thrown down by the sheer force of the beam. The beam faded away as the staff fell out of her hands, hitting the steel beneath her with a loud 'clink'ing sound. The energy faded from her Scout uniform as Valerra floated gently to the ground, crystal power still flowing through her.
'Jason... I'm... sorry...'
With that final thought still echoing through her mind, a sudden sound like a snapshot of her soul echoed out of Valerra's ship, penetrating the shields, and headed to earth at speeds faster than any human mind can imagine.
"...The light pierces the darkness, and the darkness has no power against it..."
Jason collapsed inside, overcome by waves of grief, and sat there, tears pouring out. How much was he supposed to endure???? He wanted to believe that he hadn't heard what he had, but looking up for a moment and seeing the looks on Mina and Rei's faces, he knew that could never be true. First Kevin, then Zack, now his own sister had been torn from him. His sobs only increased the amount of pain from his injuries, and he suddenly fell over as a new shockwave of unbearable fire-like torture hit him. He grabbed his side in pain, then looked at the sky suddenly with only one word on his mind. Circles under his bloodshot eyes, dried tears staining his face, and dry blood from yesterday's battle against Valerra still covering the holes in his coat and where it had dripped onto his pants, he was nothing short of the most pathetically destroyed person any human being had ever laid eyes on.
"WHY!!!!?"
His tortured scream echoed throughout the barren tundra before it was lost, vanishing off into the wind only to echo back at him from mountains too far away for him to have heard.
Valerra stood over the unmoving body of her worst enemy in total silence. She observed Tasha's fear-filled look of imminent death that remained frozen on her face, noted that the glow that always seemed to reside within her staff was now little more than the light of a dying ember, saw that all the energy had gone out of her Sailor Scout outfit, leaving it a full-form white with neither glow nor energy. This was, indeed, the body of one of her greatest foes, one of her most elusive and cunning adversaries, one of the greatest threats to her.
Valerra began to laugh. At first, a mere snicker escaped her lips, then a chuckle, then she burst out in hideous evil malicious laughter as she kicked the fallen corpse, causing it to roll a few feet as blood spilled out of Tasha's open mouth in small dots across the steel floor. Valerra laughed, kicking the body over and over, much to her enjoyment.
Valerra had, however, neglected to notice that something was amiss in the large chamber. Right in front of her, breaking her suddenly out of her fit of seemingly intoxicated bliss and causing her to jump back in surprise, a shadowed form emerged from amidst the outer darknesses of the room. His white cloak flowed behind him as if it were part of him, hiding his entire body except for his non-descript hands, and his face was hidden beneath the shadow of his hood.
The one who called himself 'a voice crying out "prepare the way" '.
"You! How did you get here??!" Valerra exclaimed, bringing the CyberShadow Crystal to bear on him. It's power once more coursed through her as she prepared herself to eliminate this mysterious pest. The white-cloaked warrior stood his ground. "You think what I did to her was bad, just wait until I get through with you!"
"I'm not here for a fight, servant of darkness." He stated, his Hebrew accent as clear as day as his voice echoed throughout the massive chamber. "I've come for Tasha."
"So that's the pest's name." Valerra mused. "Sorry, but I don't let anyone take my trophies, not even you, 'Mr. Voice'."
"She belongs to a higher power. Step aside."
"Not on your life, freak face! Take one more step and I'll atomize you!" She threatened.
"Take your best shot." He challenged. "You remember what happened last time we met; do you want to find out if I can send you flying through steel with a lightning bolt?"
Valerra was annoyed. Jumping high into the air and hovering there, she unleashed a beam of black energy out of the CyberShadow Crystal straight at the mysterious white-clad figure. Just as the beam was about to hit, the figure held out one hand as if to block the beam, and at that moment the whole course of the beam reversed and plowed mercilessly into Valerra, sending her flying off towards the outer edges of the room. She disappeared into the dark edges of the chamber and a moment later a sound like a small explosion was heard.
The figure walked calmly over to where Tasha's body lay. Observing her for a minute, he then reached down and with his right hand closed Tasha's eyes and wiped the blood from her mouth. With his left hand he then gently touched Tasha's forehead, causing her to vanish in a small flash of almost invisible light. The only thing that remained was her staff. Reaching over, the figure picked up the staff, it's glow suddenly getting brighter and changing colors to a neon green at his touch. He nodded, thinking silently to himself, then vanished himself, blinking seemingly out of existence without so much as a flash or sound, and taking the staff with him.
A split second after he vanished, Valerra tore out of the shadows like a bloodthirsty animal, black and dark blue energy surrounding her body as her visor glowed a neon red and black flames surrounded her fists. She suddenly saw that both the figure and Tasha were gone, stopped for a second in surprise, then, with a massive surge of black flames around her fist, she punched a crater into the steel floor, scarring it with the very heat of her flames.
"I'll get you for this, you scum! I'll make you pay!!..."
Chapter 22- Demon Vengence
"No...! Not Nebula too...!" Serena cried, her face in her hands as tears streamed out of her eyes, hey eyeshadow running through her fingers. All the others looked at her, still shocked themselves at the sudden defeat of one of their strongest allies. Amara turned and looked out the window, then hung her head in silent apology. 'Not even Tasha deserved this.' She thought to herself as Serena wept. "How many more are we going to lose, Darien?" Serena cried, looking at Darien through tear-filled eyes. "I'm telling you it's happening all over again..."
At that point, Serena just broke down. For once, Darien could think of no words of wisdom or encouragement that could help her. He himself, based on what Serena had told her of her experience against Queen Beryl, had to agree with her. It was all happening again, 'and this time there may not even be a way to stop it.'he thought to himself.
Pluto turned her back to the group for a moment, trying to hide her own tears.
"I... should go get Jason and the others." She said to the others over her shoulder before vanishing once more.
At that moment, a thought hit Amara. A thought the likes of which she thought she'd never expected to come into her mind.
'Imagine what all this is doing to Jason...'
Standing just outside so as not to attract attention to themselves, Zetax and Phalyn listened in with keen interest. As soon as they heard Serena say 'I'm telling you it's happening all over again', the same evil thought hit both of their minds at the same time. A mischievous, merciless grin came over Phalyn and he looked at Zetax with a glint of demonic inspiration in his eye.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking...?" He inquired, grinning profusely.
"I take it you've heard of Princess Serena's battle against Queen Beryl, in that case." Zetax stated, the same glint in his eye as he looked in past the wall straight into the room, looking particularly at Serena as she collapsed repeatedly into tears. "It's her worst nightmare, the one thing that could totally destroy her spirit and will to fight."
"First, all of her friends fall." Phalyn surmised. "Then, with a few extra ingredients, she'll be begging Valerra not to kill her."
"For all the good it'll do her." Zetax folded his arms as he scoffed at the weakened princess. "But if we're lucky, we can get her to surrender the Silver Crystal just before we destroy her."
"Imagine how impressed Abaddon'll be when we bring her soul and all her friends souls to him as trophies. At last we can finally get these kids out of the way!"
"We'll need to plan it out ever so well, though, so as to totally tear her up inside until there's nothing left." Zetax stated. "We'll need to pick our targets in just the right order, with just the right amount of time in-between so as to turn her into a weak, shaking little insect."
"This should be very enjoyable, very indeed. C'mon, let's get started!" Phalyn enthused.
The two vanished in a flash of black flames.
Jason, Mina, and Rei returned to Tokyo at about 3:30 the next morning, after Sailor Pluto had spent a few hours searching for them. All three were frozen up pretty badly, and it was hot water bottles and coco for a while. Saturn bandaged up Jason's multiple wounds, observing that "he's very fortunate to have made it so long without medical attention. It's a miracle he didn't bleed to death. The only thing I can think of is that the frigid temperatures may have helped cut the loss of blood by creating semi-frozen blood clots in and on his coat." Rei was the quickest of all three to recover from the effects of the frigid climate, using her own fire powers to help warm up. Mina was feeling better about an hour after Rei, and immediately attempted to console Jason.
Jason was a wreck, inside and out. His powers were once more snatched away from him, leaving him defenseless against the Negaverse, but that was the least of his problems. His mind and heart were still half in shock and half on the verge of collapse from the death of so many people so close to him in such a short time. His will to fight was almost completely gone; his will to live wasn't holding up much better. His spirit and soul were as if they'd been hit with Napalm, leaving them bleeding through burnt flesh and pulverized insides. His injuries, while not life threatening anymore, were painful in much the same way as scorpion stings, only the pain almost never seemed to fade even in the slightest.
"I'm not sure how much longer I can take all this, Mina." He cried, long having used up any tears he left in him. He lay in one of the temple's sparse beds, gauze wrapped around his forehead, chest, stomach, and upper right arm. Mina sat at the bedside, holding his left hand. "I just want it all to stop. I want the pain to stop. I wanna see Kevin and Zack again. I want to see Tasha. I just want to die and go to Jesus; I don't know how much longer I can take people being ripped out of my life anymore."
"Don't talk like that, Jason." Mina scolded. "Don't you dare die on me, not after all we've been through."
For a long moment, Jason was silent.
"What I'm afraid of most, though," He looked at Mina with eyes fearful of what the future might hold. "Is that you might be next."
"Don't talk like that. We're gonna beat Valerra and get the CyberShadow Crystal back, and we're not going to lose any more friends, I promise."
"Don't promise, Mina." He replied, trying to sit up. "Serena said it herself; it's all happening just like it did against Queen Beryl . . . I'm sorry, I shouldn't-"
"Jason, remember what you told me before we left for the Arctic? No matter what happens, no matter what the opposition, we'll go the distance *together*."
"I'm really worried about Jason." Mina said. It was now about 4 in the morning and all the remaining Scouts were meeting once again in the small studying room of the Cherry Hill temple. Serena and Darien sat together over near the left wall, Amara, Michelle, Saturn, and Pluto were over on the far right, and the other Scouts sat on small pillows scattered about the room. Jason was still in the next room, trying unsuccessfully to sleep. Luna and Artemis sat next to Serena as Mina talked. "I've never seen him so... torn up. I'm really worried about him."
"I know what you mean." Amara replied. "Even I feel sorry for him."
"Yeah, me too." Rei stated. "I mean, I know I would just wanna lay down and die if I suddenly lost so many of my friends so suddenly."
"Please, Rei, don't say things like that." Serena stated, then looked down and whispered. "You're scaring me..."
"We should all go get some sleep." Darien stated, trying to change the subject. "We're useless against the Negaverse unless we can stand and fight."
"Darien's right." Saturn stated. "Let's meet back here in the morning to plan our next move."
That night Jason slept fitfully, dreams and nightmares clashing before his mind's eye. Images of Kevin, Zack, and Tasha lying on the ground, their still-living bodies torn into pieces and thrown about randomly. Blood and darkness were everywhere. Somewhere far off, then suddenly as close as if it was right next to him, he heard Valerra's evil laugh. He threw his hands over his ears and dropped to his knees, eyes closed tight, as suddenly the voices came to him...
"... Why didn't you save us, Jason..."
"... You could have stopped it..."
"... You should have seen it coming..."
"... Can't you see..."
"... it's all your fault..."
He screamed, trying without success to block out the voices, but they pierced through his scream like as if it never existed. The voices grew louder and louder until they no longer became voices, instead becoming unending death screams. Jason fell to his face, trying desperately to make it all stop.
Suddenly, one voice cut all the others away.
"And you know what, Jason?..."
Jason looked up to see, towering over him like the Goliath of ancient times, a ninja-like figure with blazing red eyes, four fingered clawlike hands, and black armor straight out of the Abyss. Zetax. Jason didn't know how he knew, but he knew.
Somewhere, far behind Zetax, a sudden female scream was heard, accompanied by a sound like an earthquake.
"...She's next!"
Zetax disappeared as a sudden invisible light illuminated the area behind where the menacing evil warrior had stood. Jason gasped and froze in silent horror. There before him, impaled on a tall, thin spike jutting cleanly out of the ground, her limp body hanging there with the tip of the spike coming out her back...
... was Mina.
The voices suddenly returned, merciless, horrifying, a thousand living speaking nightmares surrounding him on all sides and assaulting every part of his being, so intense that Jason screamed out in pain as each sound pierced him like a sharp dagger.
"You killed her!" Rei's voice screamed.
"This is all your fault, Jason!" Lita's voice added in outrage.
"Why, Jason? We trusted you!" Amy's voice exclaimed, tears audible in her tone.
"Traitor!" Amara's voice cried out.
"Worthless scum!" Pluto shouted.
"Where is your God now?!" Darien accused.
"Betrayer!" Serena added.
"Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! . . ." Jason screamed in horror, collapsing completely to the ground, his knees slipping out from beneath him. For a minute or two, the voices continued their attack, then faded into the background as Zetax, reappearing in front of Jason, clamped his hand down on Jason's neck and lifted him high into the air. The two came face to face as a blood-stained dagger materialized in Zetax's left hand.
"And there's nothing... nothing you can do, human."
With those words, Zetax plunged the jagged weapon into Jason's stomach.
At that exact moment, Jason awoke with a start, instinctively sitting up in shock only to be driven onto his back again as pain shot through his body like electricity. He lay there for what seemed like an eternity, catching his breath painfully and waiting for the intense pain running through him to subside. At last it did, and he slowly and cautiously sat up, sweat staining his clothes and dripping like rain off of his forehead.
As he sat there, thoughts raging through his mind, he could still hear Zetax's words clear as day...
"... and there's nothing... nothing you can do..."
Chapter 23- Nightmare's Foundation
Rei suddenly awoke to find a hand clamped down over her mouth and a kitchen knife pressed against her throat. She struggled for breath as Azurite, the one holding her down and holding the knife, threatened in a low voice "Make a sound and I'll kill you right here and now, 'Marsy'."
"I've got the transformation wand." Alexis whispered from somewhere across the room. "Let's get out of here while the getting's good."
Jason suddenly heard a sound from somewhere in the small building. He listened more intently and suddenly heard it again. Something suddenly told him there was something very wrong with those sounds. He got out of bed as quickly as he could and dashed out of the room, still wearing his clothes from the arctic.
It wasn't long before he ran across Azurite and Alexis. They were at the other end of a short hallway, pushing Rei along with a gag in her mouth and a knife pushed against her throat. Alexis held Rei's transformation wand in her left hand and a ninja sword in her left.
"Well, look who decided to have a sleep over in the 'pagan' temple." Alexis mused.
"Let her go!" Jason shouted.
"Another loud noise like that, and she gets it." Azurite warned. "And don't get testy with me; you have no idea how badly I want to do the same to you."
"We don't have to put up with this little sap." Alexis stated, pointing the transformation wand at Jason. "I think it's time for a little firepower-induced co-operation."
"All it takes is one spark, and this place is a cinder." Azurite threatened. "Whatcha wanna bet whoever else lives here'll never make it out alive?"
"What do you expect me to do, stand here and let you kidnap one of my friends??" Jason exclaimed.
"You don't have a choice, brat. One wrong move, and this little spark goes out permanently." Azurite stated, holding the knife up under Rei's chin.
"Come to think of it, you're no real threat at all." Alexis stated. "Azurite, look at the little squirt; he's bandaged and weak, no challenge to defeat."
"I'll fight you!" Jason retorted.
Without warning, Alexis lunged forward in a super-fast roundhouse kick, scoring a clean hit on Jason in the chest and sending him easily to the ground. Jason lay there, reeling in pain as suddenly the reality of all his injuries reasserted itself.
"Yeah right." Alexis scoffed, then turned to Azurite. "Should we take him, too?"
"We follow our orders." He replied, then turned to Jason. "We'll be back for you later, twerp. Say goodbye to your little friend here!"
With that, Azurite and Alexis rushed down the hallway past Jason, pushing Rei along with them and leaving Jason there on the floor, sprawling in pain.
"Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!"
The Doom and Gloom Girls easily evaded, darting out of the way of the ball of electricity. Lita used the moment to leap down into a nearby alleyway, trying her best to lose the menacing creatures. She pulled out her communicator and tried frantically to reach the others as she dashed out of the alley and down the city's sidewalks. All she got on her communicator was static; something was jamming her.
Without warning, the D&G Girls appeared above, vine-arms whipping out at Lita like whips. Cement chucks flew up behind her as she dodged as best she could, electricity building on her tiara and hands in preparation for a counter-attack.
Before she could attack, one of the vines found it's mark and wrapped mercilessly around Lita, constricting her painfully. Her face hit the sidewalk as another set of vines suddenly pulled her legs out from under her. She thrashed about violently, but the vines were too strong. She was left with only one tactic.
"Supreme Thunder Crash!"
The currents of electricity traveled up the vines like as if through power cords, hitting her two assailants with perfect accuracy. She focused all her energy into the attack, electricity cascading out from the small lightning rod that was part of her tiara. The surge of electrical power continued for almost a minute until Lita's power was finally spent. She collapsed, breathing hard from her effort to defend herself, as the four creatures laughed in victory.
"Is that the *best* you can do?" The lead inquired, then turned to the other three. "Take her away; you know what to do with her."
Amy back flipped out of the way as eight blasts of black electricity shot past the area where she'd been standing seconds before. She landed on a nearby tree branch, but before she even had a chance to catch her footing a second barrage of energy blasts tore the tree trunk below her into wood chips, sending the upper half falling to the ground. The two Cyborg warriors she'd been fighting, both from Valerra's personal army, immediately locked their cannons on the fallen Scout as she got to her feet.
"Asta-lavista, 'Scouttie'." One of the two laughed.
"Shine Aqua-"
The creatures blasted her before she even got the chance to finish her sentence. The water that was quickly surrounding her body in preparation for the attack dropped to the ground and vanished as Amy herself was thrown several feet through the air by the powerful blasts. She hit the ground, rolled, then slowly came to a stop, revealing that she was unconscious .
"Three down." The other creature stated. "We're done for the night."
Both the Cyborgs and Amy vanished in a flash of darkness.
A sudden sound, the phone next to her bed ringing, awoke Serena. Luna looked up sleepily as Serena rubbed her eyes and picked up the phone groggily.
Jason was on the other end.
"Serena? Azurite and Alexis just kidnaped Rei. I tried to stop them, but they were threatening to kill her. Alexis knocked me out with a kick and I just pulled out of it a minute ago. We've got to contact the other Scouts, STAT!"
Serena dropped the phone to the floor, a look of true horror etched on her face.
"They what?!" Mina exclaimed. "Don't worry, Jason. I'll try to contact the others."
"Be careful, Mina." Jason warned, holding the phone in one hand and grasping his side painfully with the other. "I had a nightmare just before I woke up... just be careful; there's no time to explain."
"I will, Jason. I promise."
Jason hung up the phone, a fear-stricken look on his face. He hated being powerless, unable to protect others, especially at times like this. He held his now re-bleeding side in pain as he dialed another number, hoping beyond hope that Darien was awake.
"Hello?"
"Darien, I'm glad I got a hold of you." Jason stated. "Rei's been kidnaped by Azurite and Alexis. I tried to stop them-"
" They kidnaped her?" Darien was startled for a minute, then became confident. "Don't worry, Jason. Tuxedo Mask is on duty."
"This is no time for stupid heroics. You could be next; just be careful."
"I will be, and I'll try to find Rei and her kidnapers. I know this city like the back of my hand; if anyone can find them, I can."
"Meet up with Serena and the others as soon as you can. I don't know their numbers, but hopefully Serena and Mina will be able to contact them. You can probably use Amy's computers to trace their communicators and rescue them."
Jason had no sooner hung up the phone than it suddenly began ringing. He picked it up to find Serena on the other end.
"Jason? Lita and Amy aren't answering their communicators. I tried and tried, but they didn't answer. Do you think-"
"Calm down, Serena. Darien's on his way over; we'll get to the bottom of this. Just don't panic."
The night wore on, daybreak came, and no one could find a trace of Rei, Amy, or Lita anywhere. Amara, Michelle, Saturn, and Pluto joined the search, but to no avail. All they found was a crushed, fallen over tree in the area around where Amy lived and signs of a battle near the Starlight tower.
"It's happening all over again." Serena cried as Darien tried to comfort her. The remaining Scouts now stood high atop the Starlight tower, looking out over the city as the sun slowly rose into the sky. "It's just like before... Darien, I'm scared..."
"We all are, Serena." Darien stated.
"As well you should be."
They all spun to see Valerra floating in the air just past the tower's roof, the CyberShadow Crystal in her folded hands. Serena stepped back in fear as Amara, Darien, and the others went into battle stances. Valerra didn't make a move.
"You've got a lot of nerve coming here." Amara scowled.
"Why are you doing this?" Serena exclaimed.
"Because it's so much more fun destroying you Scouts like this." She laughed. "One by one, the mighty Sailor soldiers fall, but I'll keep you guessing who's next. In the end, though, it's just gonna be you and me, moon girl. Then we'll see who's more powerful."
"You have a sick mind." Saturn challenged, holding her staff aimed squarely at Valerra. "Besides, what makes you think you'll be able to beat us all?"
"The same thing that made me think I could take out your other six Scout friends so easily, and ended up being true in the end. You'll never beat *me*, Scouts. Prepare to see your future's end..., permanently!"
"Uranus Space Sword Blaster!" Amara exclaimed, slashing the blade in the air and sending out a boomerang of golden energy.
The moment the attack touched Valerra, she vanished from existence.
"An illusion!" Darien exclaimed.
"Of course." Valerra's bodiless voice echoed out from nowhere. "But if you thought that was realistic, just wait until... my next deception..."
The voice laughed evilly as it faded from existence.
(To be continued... the end draws near, Cyber Scout fans. Beware...)
The characters I own, UPDATED AT LAST:
Jason/Sailor (Cyber) Genesis
Kevin/Sailor (Cyber) Exodus
Zack/Sailor (Cyber) Apocalypse
Azurite, the evil Negalord of the Darkshadow Crystal
Alexis, Negalady of the Darkshadow Crystal
Seti, ArchAngel warrior
Namor, heavenly warrior angel
Mevokra, demonic champ
Zetax, demonic overlord
Valerra, master of evil illusions
Tasha/ Sailor Nebula
That mysterious guy (Sorry, the name's a secret)
Concepts I own:
Imperium Cyber Crystal
Imperium Darkshadow Crystal
CyberShadow crystals
— The next, and final story should prove to be a champion amongst fanfiction. Let's review what's happened so far, shall we? Three kids hiking in the mountains discover the Imperium Cyber Crystal and, with it's powers, become Cyber Scouts. The bad guys (you know them by now) show up at a conveniently similar time. Skip ahead two stories. The CyberShadow prophecy begins, and it's up to Jason, Kevin, Zack, and Jason's sister Tasha to rescue all seven CyberShadow crystals. Three crystals are rescued / enter outer rim Scouts. Enter Valerra. Kevin meets his match, followed shortly by Zack. Valerra gets all CyberShadow crystals. Tasha is killed trying to protect Jason from Valerra. Scouts regroup in Tokyo, only to lose Amy, Rei, and Lita. Are they still alive? Are they dead? What have Azurite and Alexis been doing all this time? Will Serena be able to resist Valerra's evil scheme? When is Chaos going to enter onto the scene? Who is that mysterious figure?? Is Mina really next on Zetax's hit list? What is the mysterious guy gonna do with Tasha's staff? What exactly is Valerra's plan? Will anyone be able to save the earth, and it's Scouts, from total defeat against the Negaforce?
Am I ever gonna tell you the answers to any of these questions????
Well, you'll have to find out in the next story, entitled 'The Wrath to Come'. See ya! (I know, you will probably never forgive me for doing this to you, for driving you insane with suspense while I seem to be doing nothing but adding FURTHER complications to the storyline.) This is Ryan 'Da Cutting Edge' Edgerton, AKA Sailor/Cyber Revelation, AKA that guy you'll probably be flaming for years if I never put out the next part of this series,... signing off once again!---
Evil Unleashed
By Ryan Edgerton, author of TEAM REVELATION and CARDCAPTORS: the Realm series.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from the Sailor Moon TV show- Serena/Sailor Moon, Amy/Sailor Mercury, Rei(sorry if that's not the correct spelling)/Sailor Mars, Lita/Sailor Mercury, Mina/Sailor Venus, Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Pluto, Molly, Melvin, and anybody else I forgot to mention. The ArchAngel Shiro belongs to Eternal Studios and the ArchAngels: The Saga comics series, as does the demon assassin Phalyn. I'll make a list of the characters I do own at the end of the fic, as per usual.
Chapter 21- Raging Darkness
Tasha knew she had to come here, that much she was certain of. Valerra's ship hummed in silent power all around her as she made her way through the labyrinth of hallways and walkways. She had been fortunate to get this far, to even have been able to get aboard the ship. She feared Valerra had known she was coming. How else would the shields have been so conveniently down when she tried to teleport onboard? She hoped that, somehow, she would elude the evil illusionist long enough to fulfill her reason for coming here.
She turned a corner and entered a large room with a ceiling so high and walls so far apart that it was nearly impossible to see their end. The actual floor was far below her; where she now stood was a platform hovering high above the steel floor of the massive central room. Around her, each geometrically positioned to perfection, were six or eight mirrors that, she guessed, served as teleportation doorways. The room was very dark, so dark in fact that the only light came from the portals. She feared she'd taken a wrong turn and turned to go.
She stopped mid-step. Valerra, like a living, shadowy nightmare, stood in front of the doorway, leaning semi-casually against it's sides and glaring at Tasha.
"I knew you'd come." Valerra stated.
"In that case, you know what I'm here to do."
"Of course, but I must say your plan is rather repetitive. You're just as predictable as ever." Valerra taunted. "Blow up my ship's reactor core to save your petty friends. How cliche!"
"And I knew you'd try to stop me."
"Oh the contrary; I won't have to do a thing to stop you."
"What are you talking about?" Tasha probed.
"I'm not the one who's going to stop you... they are."
Valerra pointed beyond the mirrors and a sudden flash illuminated the massive room. Tasha gasped in surprise. There, in the room below the platform, floating limply in two large cylinders filled with transparent black liquid, were Kevin and Zack.
"They're very much alive." Valerra stated, standing upright. "I decided to use them as my... insurance policy against you. I knew you wouldn't dare destroy this ship with them onboard, and don't even try to run; I've reactivated all the shields around my ship. So, that would mean your only choice now..."
"... Is to face you one on one." Tasha surmised. "But you'll have to catch me first." With that, she back flipped off the platform onto the room's main floor far below.
"Easy enough." Valerra mused, then teleported after her.
A sudden flash of light illuminated the small meeting room of the Cherry Hill temple. All the Scouts shielded their eyes against the brightness, but in a second or so it faded away and Sailor Pluto stepped into the room.
"Pluto!" Serena jumped off the couch and rushed over to the tall warrior, then suddenly stopped as she read the distress in Pluto's face. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"It's Tasha. I've been searching all over for her, but it's like she's just vanished." She stated, then looked aside nervously. "I'm afraid she may have gone off to face Valerra on her own."
"What?!" Michelle exclaimed.
"That's suicide!" Amara added.
"I'm afraid that may be just what she has in mind." Pluto stated. "She said something about destroying Valerra and the CyberShadow Crystals all together to protect Jason. I don't even want to think of what she may have in mind."
"We've got to stop her, before it's too late!" Lita exclaimed.
"I've tried transporting onboard Valerra's ship, but something is blocking me, likely a temporal shield barrier."
"We can't just sit here and do nothing!" Saturn stated.
"... I'm afraid... it's out of our hands..."
"Nebula Power Storm!"
Multi-colored electricity erupted all over the massive chamber, it's source being Tasha's staff. Valerra blocked easily, a black shield forming around her as she hovered in mid-air.
"Somebody's been eating their Wheaties." Valerra scoffed.
"Your sense of humor is as bad as ever, Valerra." Tasha stated.
"Oh, did I offend you?" Valerra mocked, then dove at Tasha with a missile kick. Tasha dodged as metal from the floor flew up all around where Valerra had landed, shards of it leaving small cuts on Tasha's exposed legs and arms. Tasha retaliated, teleporting just behind Valerra and slamming her to the ground with a wide swing from her staff. Valerra dodged the follow-up strike, teleporting away as Tasha brought her staff down so hard that she left a moderate dent in the steel floor. Valerra made the next move, blasting at Tasha from a distance with a massive shower of black energy beams. Tasha dodged, darted, and weaved her way in-between the blasts with incredible speed and skill, only getting struck by a few small blasts as she went.
"Nebula Cosmic Blast!"
A huge swirling surge of energy erupted out of Tasha's staff, striking Valerra's energy beams and reflecting them safely away while it sped straight at the villainess herself. Valerra teleported away just as the blast got close, causing it to explode against the ceiling way up above, sending little bits of what looked like loose rock and steel cascading down.
Valerra reappeared nearby, and the two exchanged kicks and blows with survival intensity. They had both been on this stage before, each knew their part, and each was playing to win. Everything was on the line. Tasha was the only other person besides Valerra who could use the CyberShadow Crystal's powers without the gems being separated. Valerra was now the key threat to the Scouts. Only one of them would walk away from this fight, and it would be winner take all.
Back flipping high into the air, the CyberShadow crystal suddenly materialized in Valerra's right hand. Tasha prepared to counter the inevitable blast, forming a Protective Cloud around herself as her staff glowed with power. If she didn't put every ounce of her power into this one defensive move, it was game over.
Valerra prepared to attack, the crystal's energy coursing through her arm like electricity as the gem itself glowed with incredible dark power.
Tasha braced herself, pouring every bit of power she could muster into her defensive barrier as sweat rolled down her forehead like water.
It was the moment of decision. Which was stronger, the crystal that the forces of evil had fought so long and hard to control, or the Sailor Scout who once guarded that crystal with her life? The crystal's power surged outward, clashing violently against the defensive field of energy and causing an explosion that reached to the edges of the room as the two forces grappled with each other.
For a moment, it seemed to Tasha that her field might hold, forcing back the powerful evil until Valerra exhausted it's powers.
With a sudden sound like a hundred windows breaking at the same time, darkness consumed Tasha's world, tearing her life violently away from deep inside of her like a hand punching through her chest and tearing her beating heart out in the same motion. Her eyes went dark as she lay there on the floor, her body thrown down by the sheer force of the beam. The beam faded away as the staff fell out of her hands, hitting the steel beneath her with a loud 'clink'ing sound. The energy faded from her Scout uniform as Valerra floated gently to the ground, crystal power still flowing through her.
'Jason... I'm... sorry...'
With that final thought still echoing through her mind, a sudden sound like a snapshot of her soul echoed out of Valerra's ship, penetrating the shields, and headed to earth at speeds faster than any human mind can imagine.
"...The light pierces the darkness, and the darkness has no power against it..."
Jason collapsed inside, overcome by waves of grief, and sat there, tears pouring out. How much was he supposed to endure???? He wanted to believe that he hadn't heard what he had, but looking up for a moment and seeing the looks on Mina and Rei's faces, he knew that could never be true. First Kevin, then Zack, now his own sister had been torn from him. His sobs only increased the amount of pain from his injuries, and he suddenly fell over as a new shockwave of unbearable fire-like torture hit him. He grabbed his side in pain, then looked at the sky suddenly with only one word on his mind. Circles under his bloodshot eyes, dried tears staining his face, and dry blood from yesterday's battle against Valerra still covering the holes in his coat and where it had dripped onto his pants, he was nothing short of the most pathetically destroyed person any human being had ever laid eyes on.
"WHY!!!!?"
His tortured scream echoed throughout the barren tundra before it was lost, vanishing off into the wind only to echo back at him from mountains too far away for him to have heard.
Valerra stood over the unmoving body of her worst enemy in total silence. She observed Tasha's fear-filled look of imminent death that remained frozen on her face, noted that the glow that always seemed to reside within her staff was now little more than the light of a dying ember, saw that all the energy had gone out of her Sailor Scout outfit, leaving it a full-form white with neither glow nor energy. This was, indeed, the body of one of her greatest foes, one of her most elusive and cunning adversaries, one of the greatest threats to her.
Valerra began to laugh. At first, a mere snicker escaped her lips, then a chuckle, then she burst out in hideous evil malicious laughter as she kicked the fallen corpse, causing it to roll a few feet as blood spilled out of Tasha's open mouth in small dots across the steel floor. Valerra laughed, kicking the body over and over, much to her enjoyment.
Valerra had, however, neglected to notice that something was amiss in the large chamber. Right in front of her, breaking her suddenly out of her fit of seemingly intoxicated bliss and causing her to jump back in surprise, a shadowed form emerged from amidst the outer darknesses of the room. His white cloak flowed behind him as if it were part of him, hiding his entire body except for his non-descript hands, and his face was hidden beneath the shadow of his hood.
The one who called himself 'a voice crying out "prepare the way" '.
"You! How did you get here??!" Valerra exclaimed, bringing the CyberShadow Crystal to bear on him. It's power once more coursed through her as she prepared herself to eliminate this mysterious pest. The white-cloaked warrior stood his ground. "You think what I did to her was bad, just wait until I get through with you!"
"I'm not here for a fight, servant of darkness." He stated, his Hebrew accent as clear as day as his voice echoed throughout the massive chamber. "I've come for Tasha."
"So that's the pest's name." Valerra mused. "Sorry, but I don't let anyone take my trophies, not even you, 'Mr. Voice'."
"She belongs to a higher power. Step aside."
"Not on your life, freak face! Take one more step and I'll atomize you!" She threatened.
"Take your best shot." He challenged. "You remember what happened last time we met; do you want to find out if I can send you flying through steel with a lightning bolt?"
Valerra was annoyed. Jumping high into the air and hovering there, she unleashed a beam of black energy out of the CyberShadow Crystal straight at the mysterious white-clad figure. Just as the beam was about to hit, the figure held out one hand as if to block the beam, and at that moment the whole course of the beam reversed and plowed mercilessly into Valerra, sending her flying off towards the outer edges of the room. She disappeared into the dark edges of the chamber and a moment later a sound like a small explosion was heard.
The figure walked calmly over to where Tasha's body lay. Observing her for a minute, he then reached down and with his right hand closed Tasha's eyes and wiped the blood from her mouth. With his left hand he then gently touched Tasha's forehead, causing her to vanish in a small flash of almost invisible light. The only thing that remained was her staff. Reaching over, the figure picked up the staff, it's glow suddenly getting brighter and changing colors to a neon green at his touch. He nodded, thinking silently to himself, then vanished himself, blinking seemingly out of existence without so much as a flash or sound, and taking the staff with him.
A split second after he vanished, Valerra tore out of the shadows like a bloodthirsty animal, black and dark blue energy surrounding her body as her visor glowed a neon red and black flames surrounded her fists. She suddenly saw that both the figure and Tasha were gone, stopped for a second in surprise, then, with a massive surge of black flames around her fist, she punched a crater into the steel floor, scarring it with the very heat of her flames.
"I'll get you for this, you scum! I'll make you pay!!..."
Chapter 22- Demon Vengence
"No...! Not Nebula too...!" Serena cried, her face in her hands as tears streamed out of her eyes, hey eyeshadow running through her fingers. All the others looked at her, still shocked themselves at the sudden defeat of one of their strongest allies. Amara turned and looked out the window, then hung her head in silent apology. 'Not even Tasha deserved this.' She thought to herself as Serena wept. "How many more are we going to lose, Darien?" Serena cried, looking at Darien through tear-filled eyes. "I'm telling you it's happening all over again..."
At that point, Serena just broke down. For once, Darien could think of no words of wisdom or encouragement that could help her. He himself, based on what Serena had told her of her experience against Queen Beryl, had to agree with her. It was all happening again, 'and this time there may not even be a way to stop it.'he thought to himself.
Pluto turned her back to the group for a moment, trying to hide her own tears.
"I... should go get Jason and the others." She said to the others over her shoulder before vanishing once more.
At that moment, a thought hit Amara. A thought the likes of which she thought she'd never expected to come into her mind.
'Imagine what all this is doing to Jason...'
Standing just outside so as not to attract attention to themselves, Zetax and Phalyn listened in with keen interest. As soon as they heard Serena say 'I'm telling you it's happening all over again', the same evil thought hit both of their minds at the same time. A mischievous, merciless grin came over Phalyn and he looked at Zetax with a glint of demonic inspiration in his eye.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking...?" He inquired, grinning profusely.
"I take it you've heard of Princess Serena's battle against Queen Beryl, in that case." Zetax stated, the same glint in his eye as he looked in past the wall straight into the room, looking particularly at Serena as she collapsed repeatedly into tears. "It's her worst nightmare, the one thing that could totally destroy her spirit and will to fight."
"First, all of her friends fall." Phalyn surmised. "Then, with a few extra ingredients, she'll be begging Valerra not to kill her."
"For all the good it'll do her." Zetax folded his arms as he scoffed at the weakened princess. "But if we're lucky, we can get her to surrender the Silver Crystal just before we destroy her."
"Imagine how impressed Abaddon'll be when we bring her soul and all her friends souls to him as trophies. At last we can finally get these kids out of the way!"
"We'll need to plan it out ever so well, though, so as to totally tear her up inside until there's nothing left." Zetax stated. "We'll need to pick our targets in just the right order, with just the right amount of time in-between so as to turn her into a weak, shaking little insect."
"This should be very enjoyable, very indeed. C'mon, let's get started!" Phalyn enthused.
The two vanished in a flash of black flames.
Jason, Mina, and Rei returned to Tokyo at about 3:30 the next morning, after Sailor Pluto had spent a few hours searching for them. All three were frozen up pretty badly, and it was hot water bottles and coco for a while. Saturn bandaged up Jason's multiple wounds, observing that "he's very fortunate to have made it so long without medical attention. It's a miracle he didn't bleed to death. The only thing I can think of is that the frigid temperatures may have helped cut the loss of blood by creating semi-frozen blood clots in and on his coat." Rei was the quickest of all three to recover from the effects of the frigid climate, using her own fire powers to help warm up. Mina was feeling better about an hour after Rei, and immediately attempted to console Jason.
Jason was a wreck, inside and out. His powers were once more snatched away from him, leaving him defenseless against the Negaverse, but that was the least of his problems. His mind and heart were still half in shock and half on the verge of collapse from the death of so many people so close to him in such a short time. His will to fight was almost completely gone; his will to live wasn't holding up much better. His spirit and soul were as if they'd been hit with Napalm, leaving them bleeding through burnt flesh and pulverized insides. His injuries, while not life threatening anymore, were painful in much the same way as scorpion stings, only the pain almost never seemed to fade even in the slightest.
"I'm not sure how much longer I can take all this, Mina." He cried, long having used up any tears he left in him. He lay in one of the temple's sparse beds, gauze wrapped around his forehead, chest, stomach, and upper right arm. Mina sat at the bedside, holding his left hand. "I just want it all to stop. I want the pain to stop. I wanna see Kevin and Zack again. I want to see Tasha. I just want to die and go to Jesus; I don't know how much longer I can take people being ripped out of my life anymore."
"Don't talk like that, Jason." Mina scolded. "Don't you dare die on me, not after all we've been through."
For a long moment, Jason was silent.
"What I'm afraid of most, though," He looked at Mina with eyes fearful of what the future might hold. "Is that you might be next."
"Don't talk like that. We're gonna beat Valerra and get the CyberShadow Crystal back, and we're not going to lose any more friends, I promise."
"Don't promise, Mina." He replied, trying to sit up. "Serena said it herself; it's all happening just like it did against Queen Beryl . . . I'm sorry, I shouldn't-"
"Jason, remember what you told me before we left for the Arctic? No matter what happens, no matter what the opposition, we'll go the distance *together*."
"I'm really worried about Jason." Mina said. It was now about 4 in the morning and all the remaining Scouts were meeting once again in the small studying room of the Cherry Hill temple. Serena and Darien sat together over near the left wall, Amara, Michelle, Saturn, and Pluto were over on the far right, and the other Scouts sat on small pillows scattered about the room. Jason was still in the next room, trying unsuccessfully to sleep. Luna and Artemis sat next to Serena as Mina talked. "I've never seen him so... torn up. I'm really worried about him."
"I know what you mean." Amara replied. "Even I feel sorry for him."
"Yeah, me too." Rei stated. "I mean, I know I would just wanna lay down and die if I suddenly lost so many of my friends so suddenly."
"Please, Rei, don't say things like that." Serena stated, then looked down and whispered. "You're scaring me..."
"We should all go get some sleep." Darien stated, trying to change the subject. "We're useless against the Negaverse unless we can stand and fight."
"Darien's right." Saturn stated. "Let's meet back here in the morning to plan our next move."
That night Jason slept fitfully, dreams and nightmares clashing before his mind's eye. Images of Kevin, Zack, and Tasha lying on the ground, their still-living bodies torn into pieces and thrown about randomly. Blood and darkness were everywhere. Somewhere far off, then suddenly as close as if it was right next to him, he heard Valerra's evil laugh. He threw his hands over his ears and dropped to his knees, eyes closed tight, as suddenly the voices came to him...
"... Why didn't you save us, Jason..."
"... You could have stopped it..."
"... You should have seen it coming..."
"... Can't you see..."
"... it's all your fault..."
He screamed, trying without success to block out the voices, but they pierced through his scream like as if it never existed. The voices grew louder and louder until they no longer became voices, instead becoming unending death screams. Jason fell to his face, trying desperately to make it all stop.
Suddenly, one voice cut all the others away.
"And you know what, Jason?..."
Jason looked up to see, towering over him like the Goliath of ancient times, a ninja-like figure with blazing red eyes, four fingered clawlike hands, and black armor straight out of the Abyss. Zetax. Jason didn't know how he knew, but he knew.
Somewhere, far behind Zetax, a sudden female scream was heard, accompanied by a sound like an earthquake.
"...She's next!"
Zetax disappeared as a sudden invisible light illuminated the area behind where the menacing evil warrior had stood. Jason gasped and froze in silent horror. There before him, impaled on a tall, thin spike jutting cleanly out of the ground, her limp body hanging there with the tip of the spike coming out her back...
... was Mina.
The voices suddenly returned, merciless, horrifying, a thousand living speaking nightmares surrounding him on all sides and assaulting every part of his being, so intense that Jason screamed out in pain as each sound pierced him like a sharp dagger.
"You killed her!" Rei's voice screamed.
"This is all your fault, Jason!" Lita's voice added in outrage.
"Why, Jason? We trusted you!" Amy's voice exclaimed, tears audible in her tone.
"Traitor!" Amara's voice cried out.
"Worthless scum!" Pluto shouted.
"Where is your God now?!" Darien accused.
"Betrayer!" Serena added.
"Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! . . ." Jason screamed in horror, collapsing completely to the ground, his knees slipping out from beneath him. For a minute or two, the voices continued their attack, then faded into the background as Zetax, reappearing in front of Jason, clamped his hand down on Jason's neck and lifted him high into the air. The two came face to face as a blood-stained dagger materialized in Zetax's left hand.
"And there's nothing... nothing you can do, human."
With those words, Zetax plunged the jagged weapon into Jason's stomach.
At that exact moment, Jason awoke with a start, instinctively sitting up in shock only to be driven onto his back again as pain shot through his body like electricity. He lay there for what seemed like an eternity, catching his breath painfully and waiting for the intense pain running through him to subside. At last it did, and he slowly and cautiously sat up, sweat staining his clothes and dripping like rain off of his forehead.
As he sat there, thoughts raging through his mind, he could still hear Zetax's words clear as day...
"... and there's nothing... nothing you can do..."
Chapter 23- Nightmare's Foundation
Rei suddenly awoke to find a hand clamped down over her mouth and a kitchen knife pressed against her throat. She struggled for breath as Azurite, the one holding her down and holding the knife, threatened in a low voice "Make a sound and I'll kill you right here and now, 'Marsy'."
"I've got the transformation wand." Alexis whispered from somewhere across the room. "Let's get out of here while the getting's good."
Jason suddenly heard a sound from somewhere in the small building. He listened more intently and suddenly heard it again. Something suddenly told him there was something very wrong with those sounds. He got out of bed as quickly as he could and dashed out of the room, still wearing his clothes from the arctic.
It wasn't long before he ran across Azurite and Alexis. They were at the other end of a short hallway, pushing Rei along with a gag in her mouth and a knife pushed against her throat. Alexis held Rei's transformation wand in her left hand and a ninja sword in her left.
"Well, look who decided to have a sleep over in the 'pagan' temple." Alexis mused.
"Let her go!" Jason shouted.
"Another loud noise like that, and she gets it." Azurite warned. "And don't get testy with me; you have no idea how badly I want to do the same to you."
"We don't have to put up with this little sap." Alexis stated, pointing the transformation wand at Jason. "I think it's time for a little firepower-induced co-operation."
"All it takes is one spark, and this place is a cinder." Azurite threatened. "Whatcha wanna bet whoever else lives here'll never make it out alive?"
"What do you expect me to do, stand here and let you kidnap one of my friends??" Jason exclaimed.
"You don't have a choice, brat. One wrong move, and this little spark goes out permanently." Azurite stated, holding the knife up under Rei's chin.
"Come to think of it, you're no real threat at all." Alexis stated. "Azurite, look at the little squirt; he's bandaged and weak, no challenge to defeat."
"I'll fight you!" Jason retorted.
Without warning, Alexis lunged forward in a super-fast roundhouse kick, scoring a clean hit on Jason in the chest and sending him easily to the ground. Jason lay there, reeling in pain as suddenly the reality of all his injuries reasserted itself.
"Yeah right." Alexis scoffed, then turned to Azurite. "Should we take him, too?"
"We follow our orders." He replied, then turned to Jason. "We'll be back for you later, twerp. Say goodbye to your little friend here!"
With that, Azurite and Alexis rushed down the hallway past Jason, pushing Rei along with them and leaving Jason there on the floor, sprawling in pain.
"Jupiter Thunderclap Zap!"
The Doom and Gloom Girls easily evaded, darting out of the way of the ball of electricity. Lita used the moment to leap down into a nearby alleyway, trying her best to lose the menacing creatures. She pulled out her communicator and tried frantically to reach the others as she dashed out of the alley and down the city's sidewalks. All she got on her communicator was static; something was jamming her.
Without warning, the D&G Girls appeared above, vine-arms whipping out at Lita like whips. Cement chucks flew up behind her as she dodged as best she could, electricity building on her tiara and hands in preparation for a counter-attack.
Before she could attack, one of the vines found it's mark and wrapped mercilessly around Lita, constricting her painfully. Her face hit the sidewalk as another set of vines suddenly pulled her legs out from under her. She thrashed about violently, but the vines were too strong. She was left with only one tactic.
"Supreme Thunder Crash!"
The currents of electricity traveled up the vines like as if through power cords, hitting her two assailants with perfect accuracy. She focused all her energy into the attack, electricity cascading out from the small lightning rod that was part of her tiara. The surge of electrical power continued for almost a minute until Lita's power was finally spent. She collapsed, breathing hard from her effort to defend herself, as the four creatures laughed in victory.
"Is that the *best* you can do?" The lead inquired, then turned to the other three. "Take her away; you know what to do with her."
Amy back flipped out of the way as eight blasts of black electricity shot past the area where she'd been standing seconds before. She landed on a nearby tree branch, but before she even had a chance to catch her footing a second barrage of energy blasts tore the tree trunk below her into wood chips, sending the upper half falling to the ground. The two Cyborg warriors she'd been fighting, both from Valerra's personal army, immediately locked their cannons on the fallen Scout as she got to her feet.
"Asta-lavista, 'Scouttie'." One of the two laughed.
"Shine Aqua-"
The creatures blasted her before she even got the chance to finish her sentence. The water that was quickly surrounding her body in preparation for the attack dropped to the ground and vanished as Amy herself was thrown several feet through the air by the powerful blasts. She hit the ground, rolled, then slowly came to a stop, revealing that she was unconscious .
"Three down." The other creature stated. "We're done for the night."
Both the Cyborgs and Amy vanished in a flash of darkness.
A sudden sound, the phone next to her bed ringing, awoke Serena. Luna looked up sleepily as Serena rubbed her eyes and picked up the phone groggily.
Jason was on the other end.
"Serena? Azurite and Alexis just kidnaped Rei. I tried to stop them, but they were threatening to kill her. Alexis knocked me out with a kick and I just pulled out of it a minute ago. We've got to contact the other Scouts, STAT!"
Serena dropped the phone to the floor, a look of true horror etched on her face.
"They what?!" Mina exclaimed. "Don't worry, Jason. I'll try to contact the others."
"Be careful, Mina." Jason warned, holding the phone in one hand and grasping his side painfully with the other. "I had a nightmare just before I woke up... just be careful; there's no time to explain."
"I will, Jason. I promise."
Jason hung up the phone, a fear-stricken look on his face. He hated being powerless, unable to protect others, especially at times like this. He held his now re-bleeding side in pain as he dialed another number, hoping beyond hope that Darien was awake.
"Hello?"
"Darien, I'm glad I got a hold of you." Jason stated. "Rei's been kidnaped by Azurite and Alexis. I tried to stop them-"
" They kidnaped her?" Darien was startled for a minute, then became confident. "Don't worry, Jason. Tuxedo Mask is on duty."
"This is no time for stupid heroics. You could be next; just be careful."
"I will be, and I'll try to find Rei and her kidnapers. I know this city like the back of my hand; if anyone can find them, I can."
"Meet up with Serena and the others as soon as you can. I don't know their numbers, but hopefully Serena and Mina will be able to contact them. You can probably use Amy's computers to trace their communicators and rescue them."
Jason had no sooner hung up the phone than it suddenly began ringing. He picked it up to find Serena on the other end.
"Jason? Lita and Amy aren't answering their communicators. I tried and tried, but they didn't answer. Do you think-"
"Calm down, Serena. Darien's on his way over; we'll get to the bottom of this. Just don't panic."
The night wore on, daybreak came, and no one could find a trace of Rei, Amy, or Lita anywhere. Amara, Michelle, Saturn, and Pluto joined the search, but to no avail. All they found was a crushed, fallen over tree in the area around where Amy lived and signs of a battle near the Starlight tower.
"It's happening all over again." Serena cried as Darien tried to comfort her. The remaining Scouts now stood high atop the Starlight tower, looking out over the city as the sun slowly rose into the sky. "It's just like before... Darien, I'm scared..."
"We all are, Serena." Darien stated.
"As well you should be."
They all spun to see Valerra floating in the air just past the tower's roof, the CyberShadow Crystal in her folded hands. Serena stepped back in fear as Amara, Darien, and the others went into battle stances. Valerra didn't make a move.
"You've got a lot of nerve coming here." Amara scowled.
"Why are you doing this?" Serena exclaimed.
"Because it's so much more fun destroying you Scouts like this." She laughed. "One by one, the mighty Sailor soldiers fall, but I'll keep you guessing who's next. In the end, though, it's just gonna be you and me, moon girl. Then we'll see who's more powerful."
"You have a sick mind." Saturn challenged, holding her staff aimed squarely at Valerra. "Besides, what makes you think you'll be able to beat us all?"
"The same thing that made me think I could take out your other six Scout friends so easily, and ended up being true in the end. You'll never beat *me*, Scouts. Prepare to see your future's end..., permanently!"
"Uranus Space Sword Blaster!" Amara exclaimed, slashing the blade in the air and sending out a boomerang of golden energy.
The moment the attack touched Valerra, she vanished from existence.
"An illusion!" Darien exclaimed.
"Of course." Valerra's bodiless voice echoed out from nowhere. "But if you thought that was realistic, just wait until... my next deception..."
The voice laughed evilly as it faded from existence.
(To be continued... the end draws near, Cyber Scout fans. Beware...)
The characters I own, UPDATED AT LAST:
Jason/Sailor (Cyber) Genesis
Kevin/Sailor (Cyber) Exodus
Zack/Sailor (Cyber) Apocalypse
Azurite, the evil Negalord of the Darkshadow Crystal
Alexis, Negalady of the Darkshadow Crystal
Seti, ArchAngel warrior
Namor, heavenly warrior angel
Mevokra, demonic champ
Zetax, demonic overlord
Valerra, master of evil illusions
Tasha/ Sailor Nebula
That mysterious guy (Sorry, the name's a secret)
Concepts I own:
Imperium Cyber Crystal
Imperium Darkshadow Crystal
CyberShadow crystals
— The next, and final story should prove to be a champion amongst fanfiction. Let's review what's happened so far, shall we? Three kids hiking in the mountains discover the Imperium Cyber Crystal and, with it's powers, become Cyber Scouts. The bad guys (you know them by now) show up at a conveniently similar time. Skip ahead two stories. The CyberShadow prophecy begins, and it's up to Jason, Kevin, Zack, and Jason's sister Tasha to rescue all seven CyberShadow crystals. Three crystals are rescued / enter outer rim Scouts. Enter Valerra. Kevin meets his match, followed shortly by Zack. Valerra gets all CyberShadow crystals. Tasha is killed trying to protect Jason from Valerra. Scouts regroup in Tokyo, only to lose Amy, Rei, and Lita. Are they still alive? Are they dead? What have Azurite and Alexis been doing all this time? Will Serena be able to resist Valerra's evil scheme? When is Chaos going to enter onto the scene? Who is that mysterious figure?? Is Mina really next on Zetax's hit list? What is the mysterious guy gonna do with Tasha's staff? What exactly is Valerra's plan? Will anyone be able to save the earth, and it's Scouts, from total defeat against the Negaforce?
Am I ever gonna tell you the answers to any of these questions????
Well, you'll have to find out in the next story, entitled 'The Wrath to Come'. See ya! (I know, you will probably never forgive me for doing this to you, for driving you insane with suspense while I seem to be doing nothing but adding FURTHER complications to the storyline.) This is Ryan 'Da Cutting Edge' Edgerton, AKA Sailor/Cyber Revelation, AKA that guy you'll probably be flaming for years if I never put out the next part of this series,... signing off once again!---