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Chapter updated 22/07/2014 - Beyond this point, chapters without this prefix will not follow on chronologically.
Mamoru's hands shook as he bowed before Beryl; sweat beading on his forehead as he tried to resist her control. "Still you fight Endymion?" she said, "I would give up if I were you. I have some more questions."
"I won't answer," he hissed.
"You will have no choice. Where is the silver crystal?"
"Sailor Moon," the words slipped from his mouth without any effort and entirely against his will.
"Is she the princess?"
"Yes."
"Hidden in plain sight all this time… Nephrite, Zoisite, give me the rainbow crystals. It seems as though we are not required to rebuild the silver crystal. The energy it possesses may be used to awaken Metallia at last." Mamoru wanted to jump up and scream, wanted to attack this woman so callously sentencing the Earth to ruin but her control stopped him.
"Enjoy this, Endymion," she said softly, "This is freedom compared to what comes once Metallia is free. Tell me the names of the Princess' senshi." One by one the names fell from his lips and he winced as each one was uttered.
"My shitennou," Beryl ordered, "go to them and take the pens that allow them to transform. We can gain power from them to give to Metallia. Leave Sailor Moon for now, I have something special planned for her."
"Think this lesson could go any slower?" Minako muttered to Makoto, who didn't even reply. She was too busy doodling in the corner of her notebook. Ami, who would usually pay attention through even the dullest of Haruna's lessons, was sat at a nearby desk glancing at Usagi's empty chair. They hadn't seen her in days and whenever they went to visit her Ikuko would tell them she was ill. She didn't even answer her communicator. Luna was unwilling to spend too much time away from her, flitting out only once and even then only for five minutes.
Minako yawned, closing her eyes as she placed her hand over her mouth. When she opened her eyes again she screamed, jumping back with the rest of the class. Three men stood there before them, the shitennou of the dark kingdom.
"Venus power, make up!" she shouted, allowing her henshin to flow over her and moving before the class, knowing that the others could not transform. She looked upon Kunzite and her heart skipped a beat. Was this how Usagi felt whenever she saw Mamoru?
"Princess Areia," he bowed, "I don't believe we have met this lifetime.
"And I don't think introductions are really all that necessary," her hand went reflexively to her stomach. "You're not Kunzite, just the piece of shit possessing him and with the power given to me as the sailor scout of love and beauty I will kick your ass right out of his body!"
"Like to see you try," he leered, "But then you have friends here to help you do you not. Princess Amalthea!"
Nephrite leapt across the room, pulling Makoto into a tight embrace, his arm around her throat, "I never paid you back for your gift at the cram school," he hissed into her ear.
"And Princess Minerva." Zoisite disappeared and flashed back into existence dragging Ami forwards by the hair.
"I've no idea what you're on about," Minako bluffed, "They're no more the senshi than you are the shitennou of the golden kingdom."
"Do not try to fool us," Kunzite spat, "We have their identities from Endymion himself."
"Well then why didn't you say so sooner?" Minako flashed him a smile, "Crescent Beam!" The attack arced across the room and hit Zoisite, pushing him back and forcing him to let go of Ami.
"Mercury power, make up!" she shouted and then, "shabon spray!" as the bubbles filled the room Minako moved forward and grabbed Nephrite's hair in both her hands. He yelled as she pulled, but his shouts of pain were drowned out by another shout.
"Jupiter power, make up!" The electricity banished the bubbles, but now it was three against three and the playing field was level. The class cowered behind the senshi as they looked upon their foes.
"I am Sailor Jupiter, senshi of thunder and courage."
"And I am Sailor Mercury, senshi of water and wisdom."
"In the name of the moon we will punish you!" they said together along with Minako as they advanced upon the shitennou.
"Supreme thunder!" Makoto shouted, sending lightening at the three of them at once. They shouted, but only Zoisite was caught in the blast as the others leapt clear. He shouted in rage as electricity continued to crackle up and down his body and he clapped his hands above his head. The senshi in turn clapped their hands over their ears as a high, painful noise ripped through the room.
"Areia!" Kunzite taunted, "How will you save your friend?" she span around and saw that he was holding Naru, a dagger pressed against her throat. The fighting stopped instantly. "You will cooperate quickly and without any further fighting," he said, pressing the dagger against Naru's throat with enough force that a thin line of blood trickled down her neck. "You will remove your transformations and leave the wands with Nephrite." One by one Ami, Makoto and Minako let their fukus fade, dropping the pens on the floor.
"The three of you may stay here to tell your princess what has happened. Know that we have already paid a visit to Hino Rei," Zoisite pulled the pen of gold and ruby from his pocket. He threw Naru forwards and Minako caught her even as the three shitennou disappeared. Her eyes darted around the room, passing straight over the stunned faces of Miss Haruna and her fellow students until she spotter her schoolbag. She leapt for it and pulled out her communicator, calling Artemis before gabbling out what had happened. After only two minutes she snapped it shut and slid it back into her bag.
"Is everyone alright?" she asked at last, turning to the still silent room, "Naru, how's your neck?"
"It's not deep," she said, wincing as her hand flew automatically to the thin line of red.
"Go to the nurse anyway," Makoto advised, "The sooner it's sorted the better." She watched Naru out of the room and was just about to speak again when a small white cat leapt through the window.
"You were closer than I thought," Minako commented, "Now what the hell do we do now? We can't even transform."
"That's where you're wrong," Artemis said.
"No," Minako said, "You don't mean… no way!" a look of incredulous disbelief spread across her face as Artemis nodded. He then executed a perfect back flip, landing on all fours with the moon compact clamped tightly between his teeth.
"Fantastic," Minako whooped, taking it from him and holding it in the air, "Moon power, transform!" red light flashed through the room as Sailor V appeared. "Why didn't you tell me about this sooner," she grinned at him.
"Never needed to," he shrugged.
"I don't suppose there's anything for us?" Ami asked dispiritedly.
"I'm afraid not," he shook his head sadly, "We need to go find Rei and U-" Minako shook her head furiously. Usagi's identity was not yet compromised, "and Serenity," Artemis changed tack swiftly.
"Well then let's go," Makoto said, moving to the window and leading them as one by one they leapt down to the ground.
"Miss Haruna," Umino said slowly, "That was a talking cat, right?" Haruna only shrugged, no longer quite sure what the hell was going on.
"We have the henshin pens, highness," Nephrite bowed, presenting the four to Beryl.
"Good," she said, taking them, "Perhaps you are not as useless as I thought. You may go." The generals left the room, Kunzite glancing back only once to the still form of Mamoru upon the floor. "Our time is near Endymion," Beryl laughed once the door had shut, "With this power Metallia will be stronger than ever before and this pathetic world will be no more. Stand," Mamoru rose to his feet as though pulled up by strings, his movements jerky and uncoordinated. "Follow me." Mamoru's feet dragged behind him as Beryl led him around her throne and through a short stone corridor. They soon emerged into a chamber of huge proportions. They were stood upon a small jutting surface of rock, but the majority of the chamber was nothing but blackness.
"Metallia," Beryl bowed before the chasm, "Take this to awaken your majesty," she held out a hand, presenting two crystals to Metallia - indigo and red. She dropped them into the chasm and for a little while nothing happened. From where he stood, rooted to the spot by beryl's control, Mamoru prayed that it would not work, that the crystals (where had Beryl even got the red crystal from?) would merely fall and smash upon the ground at the bottom of the chasm, but it was not to be.
There was a flash of indigo light, followed swiftly by red and a roar. Lights burst into existence in the dark as Metallia's full consciousness at last entered the world. "My queen, take these tributes to increase your power!" Beryl threw herself onto the ground and Mamoru felt Metallia's power pressing into his back, forcing him to his knees. He saw flashes of light in yellow, red, blue and green as one by one Beryl threw the henshin wands into the chasm and Metallia absorbed their power. Mamoru looked to the ground and felt hot tears stinging the corner of his eyes. The senshi could not fight and there was no way Usagi could win now.
"Endymion," the voice was cold, crackling with both age and power, "You will go to Earth and bring me Serenity. Kill her soldiers, for they will stop at nothing to save her.
"I will do as you ask," Endymion bowed as the dark power of Metallia flooded through him, wiping away all traces of the man he had once been.
"This wasn't supposed to happen," Pluto bit her lip as she looked upon the threads of time, "The inner guardians are meant to be there, are meant to fight."
"You know far better than I the nature of time," Serenity gasped, leaning against the frame of the door for support, "What can be done to fix it?"
"I think… I think we shall have to call upon the outer warriors."
"All of them?"
"No. We could not wake Saturn should we need to anyway. Her awakening is a key part in the princess's story."
"But the others?" Serenity asked, grimacing a little.
"We must pay them a visit," Pluto nodded, "But not now. We must go back and give them enough time to prepare."
"Then let us go," Serenity straightened, "I will talk with them, tell them what must be done and why."
"No highness, you will need to speak with them at a later time." She turned to the doorway, raising the garnet rod in her hand. The door opened slowly and she stepped through into the past.
Minako left the others at the temple and headed on towards Rei's school alone (she was quicker that way). She was halfway there when she spotted Rei limping very slowly up the hill towards her. She jumped down from the rooftops and offered her support.
"Thanks," Rei smiled at her.
"The others are at the temple," Minako said, "It would probably be quicker if I carried you."
"Okay," Rei nodded. More than anything this drove home to Minako how serious the situation was. Rei would never usually allow something like this. It didn't take them long to make it back and once she was there Minako headed straight for Rei's room, where the others waited for them, and laid her down gently before allowing her henshin to fade.
"I guess the question is what the hell comes next?" Minako sighed as she sat down.
"We need to talk to Usagi," Rei said, gratefully accepting the ice pack Makoto offered her and pressing it against the back of her head, "As soon as possible."
"You're in no state to go anywhere," Ami replied.
"I'll be fine," Rei snapped.
"No, you won't." The voice from the doorway made them jump to their feet. Endymion stood there, his eyes dark as he looked upon them.
"Moon power, transform!" Sailor V moved forward, pushing Makoto back in warning.
"So Sailor V makes an appearance," his voice was soft, barely more than a hiss, "We should have thought of this possibility.
"Well you didn't, tough luck," Minako's eyes narrowed as she flicked her compact open, "Crescent super beam!" she shouted, sending a super charged version of her normal attack straight at Endymion, blasting him off his feet. He stood straight back up, his eyes still glinting with the same dark energy.
"Crescent boomerang!" she tried again, but Endymion merely knocked the compact back at her. She caught it and her eyes narrowed. "You know I didn't want to do this, but looks like you aren't gonna give me any choice. Venus Megaton Shower o-"
"You would do that to your own Princess?" There was a flash of silver light and Usagi appeared, motionless at Endymion's feet. Minako stopped mid attack, the orange power collected at her fingertips. She looked between Usagi and Endymion before slowly lowering her hands and allowing the power to fade.
"Mamoru?" Usagi's voice was faint, "Mamoru, is that you?" She sat up slowly, looking between the scouts and Endymion before realisation dawned upon her face. She leapt to her feet and stood, arms spread, in front of Endymion. "Don't hurt him," she said fearfully, "He doesn't mean this, its just Beryl's control."
"Usagi!" Ami shouted as Mamoru swept her off her feet, cradling her against his chest so that Minako would not attack him for fear of hitting her. Endymion flicked his hand and a black rose shimmered into being. With one swift movement he threw it towards the senshi before twisting around and disappearing.
They didn't have time to think, to run or even raise a hand in defence. As it flew towards them the rose split into two, and those two split into four. In the short distance between where Endymion had stood and the senshi that single rose had become a great barrage of more than fifty roses, each one blacker than the next.
In the moment before they made contact with the senshi there was a shout, "Deep submerge!" A great torrent of water passed mere inches in front of them, knocking the roses to the ground. Shaking with relief Minako sank down to her knees. Then she remembered Usagi and tears spilled from her eyes as she realised the undeniable truth; they had failed.
"Get up," the voice was flat, unforgiving and Minako looked up into the stern face of Sailor Uranus. Presented with that glare, she found the strength to raise herself to her feet. Turning, she saw Neptune talking with the other three. "Beryl has the henshin pens." It was a statement, not a question, so Minako made no reply. "An amateurs mistake," Uranus sniffed and Minako finally spoke.
"They were going to kill people, what else were we to do?"
"More people will die now you cannot fight," Uranus replied, "Beryl has two of the rainbow crystals-"
"One." Minako interrupted, "they only got the indigo one."
"And the red," Uranus shook her head, "In a fight with us. We do, however, have the other five. Unfortunately the power of two will be plenty enough to awaken Metallia, and with the added power of four henshin wands there is no telling how strong she will then become, especially if the silver crystal is added to the mix."
"Then we have to go and help Sailor Moon," Minako's voice was resolute, her face determined.
"No, we have to. You've already proven that you are no use in battle."
"What!" Minako was outraged, "she is our Princess too,. You can't stop me from coming."
"Perhaps not, but I can refuse to take you with us." Uranus turned away.
"Sailor Uranus," the voice rang clear as a flash of deep green light lit the courtyard. Queen Serenity stepped towards the tall, blond senshi who bowed low before the Queen, "It is my wish that you take the guardian senshi with you to D-point, for that is where the dark kingdom has made its base."
"But they have no way of defending themselves," Uranus protested, "They would merely get in the way."
"Both the senshi of Venus and Mars have powers with which they may fight, while the senshi of Jupiter does not require a henshin to remain a formidable foe. You will need the senshi of mercury if you are to reach D point safely."
"But…"
"This is my final word upon the matter Uranus."
"Very well, my queen."
"We shall do ask you ask," Neptune bowed her head.
"Thank you," Serenity bowed her head and, with another flash of light, was lost from sight.
"I hope there will not be too much more deviation from our chosen path," Serenity said softly as she leant against Pluto, "Putting up the glamour was draining that time and I'm not sure I could do it many more times."
"We should not have to," Pluto said softly, "In fact the time line is straightening out again. We may now move forward."
"How far do we go this time?"
"Not far at all."
"So how do we get to D point?" Makoto asked, shivering a little in the wind.
"The sailor teleport," Luna said, "Do you remember it?"
"Vaguely," Minako shrugged, "but enough to use it. Circle time everyone."
"We'll come with you," Artemis said, moving forward.
"No," Minako said flatly, "You have to stay here and be ready when we come back with Usagi. If you came with us you'd just get yourselves hurt." She turned back and linked hands with Rei and Neptune, who in turn linked hands with those next to them. "Sailor teleport!" Minako shouted. Columns of light shot down from the sky, each one representative of the senshi upon whom it shone. Slowly at first but with ever increasing speed they rose into the air until, very suddenly, they vanished and the light disappeared.
When they landed in D point, snow whipped into their faces. Minako was glad of the mask she wore in her Sailor V form, as part of its power seemed to prevent the snow getting in her eyes. "There's someone coming," she shouted over the wind, "Ami, can you work out who it is?" Ami reached forward and pulled the Mercury computer out of the air, flicking the visor across her eyes. Her fingers tapped only a few keys before she knew who it was.
"The shitennou," she shouted back at Minako, "All three of them."
"Then this is our stop," Minako said, turning to Uranus. "We can distract them while you take Ami to the entrance and figure out how to get inside."
"But…" Ami began.
"No buts," Makoto said sharply, "Maybe we'll meet you there, maybe we won't. But that's not the point. The point is reaching Usagi." Ami nodded and then hugged each one of them in turn.
"Come on," Neptune took her by the arm and pulled her away, "You'll have to lead us to the door." Ami blinked the tears from here eyes as she moved away from her friends and into the snow storm.
"So you survived Endymion's attack," Kunzite said as he neared the senshi, arriving with an odd lull in the storm.
"And here was me thinking we were dead," Makoto rolled her shoulders and moved onto the balls of her feet.
"You prepare to fight even without your senshi powers and strength," Zoisite said incredulously, "That is nothing if not suicidal."
"Maybe," Rei shrugged, "But I'd rather die than let you live."
"And you seem to forget about me!" Minako pushed past Rei so that Kunzite and the others could see her properly, "Looks like you forgot about the Sailor V compact in your hurry to take the henshin pens."
He had, of course, done no such thing but as he had not been under direct orders from Beryl to retrieve the compact, Kinzite had let it slide without mentioning it to her. But the Kunzite that stood before her know was not to know, for he was purely the inhabited body left by the full control of Metallia's power.
"We know the shitennou are in there somewhere," Rei said, "We're not here to kill you, just to find the men you used to be."
"You may be looking for some time then. Zoi!" As Zoisite shouted he clapped his hands and waves of energy blasted out towards the three senshi.
"Rin, Pyo, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!" Rei threw three ofuda that she had conjured and they blasted through the energy, striking the shitennou squarely in the chests, rendering them motionless.
"Ok, so now what?" Makoto asked, looking at them.
"Not a clue," Minako shrugged.
"Well make a decision because that isn't going to hold for too long." Sure enough even as she spoke Kunzite roared and ripped the ofuda from his chest before charging at Minako who reacted completely on instinct, "Crescent beam!" Kunzite was blasted back into Nephrite, knocking the ofuda from his chest before he turned and ripped the final one off Zoisite.
"Looks like this might take some time," Rei hissed.
"Zoi!" Zoisite shouted again, this time conjuring a small dagger of black metal before running at Rei. She ducked the swipe and leapt back to avoid the next, but Minako could not watch for too long as Kunzite advanced.
"Venus sulphur smoke!" she shouted, sending a foul smelling cloud towards Kunzite, who merely laughed and passed straight through.
"You'll have to do better than that to defeat me, Princess Areia."
"Don't call me that!" she shouted, "Crescent slender beam!" again she pulled out her compact and sent the attack straight at Kunzite, but all he did was raise his hand and catch the energy before throwing it straight back at her.
Makoto and Rei were faring no better, and by the looks of things significantly worse. Rei wipe a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth, her other hand pressed firmly against the slash wound in her stomach. She knew that it wouldn't kill her, but it was certainly slowing her down. Makoto was also bleeding, but unlike the others she had managed to cause at least some damage to Nephrite, including breaking his nose once more, a favour he didn't seem all that pleased about. She jumped in the air, raising her leg and aiming at his face but he anticipated the move, grabbing her leg and using her won momentum to swing her round and into the ground. Now he had the advantage as he leapt down into the snow and straddled her, his knees on her arms as he threw punch after punch at her face.
Minako felt every muscle in her body stiffen, knowing on instinct that something was wrong. She turned; it seemed in slow motion, in time to see Rei falling to the ground as Zoisite pulled the black dagger from her heart. Even as she ran forwards he threw the weapon to Nephrite, who caught it and ran it across Makoto's exposed throat.
dum dum dummmm...