Forgive me if I, a So-Cal native, get any things about Japanese law or victim culture heinously wrong at a certain point in this chapter.
SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES
-CHAPTER START-
Realm SN-03
"Are you absolutely sure about this, kid? You know what you're getting into?"
At Dusty's question, Seiki nodded, a serious expression of resolve on his young face. "I've done a lot of thinking the past few days, especially after everything that went down two days ago. And… I want to help Himei. She… She means a lot to me. I want to fight beside her, help protect her… I'm ready to fight as a 'Kamen Soldier'. Go ahead, Dusty."
The 'uplifted' cat-Familiar let out a soft sigh, and then called upon the power he carried. A circle of magical power appeared at and around Seiki's feet, a soft upward 'wind' from it blowing at his hair and clothes. Sparks of light flowed upward, circling around him, and then they converged and flew into his chest. A second later, he felt as power flowed through him, while light 'wrapped' around his body and formed into a transformed state. The outfit was an odd mixture between his school uniform and a tuxedo, a blend of grey and white, together with a grey-rimmed domino mask over his eyes and a white elastic headband.
"I'll have to think of a superhero name later" he said. "Nothin's coming to me at the moment."
"You'll figure something out" the magic cat replied. "For now, you should find the Sol Guardians' Kamen Soldier so he can teach you some new tricks and help you figure out what powers you have… and let's hope Himei doesn't take you choosing to put yourself at risk like this too badly…"
-Break-
Kongō Shin let out a breath as she leaned back in her chair of the apartment she lived in (after what her parents had done in the wake of her vile uncle's actions, she'd left them to live on her own, 'laws' against minors living alone be damned), taking a break from her attempts to dig up any leads on the Yamiko's origins; actually, she might've found something with this latest tale, or at least it seemed close enough that she was planning to bring it up with the others. That wasn't the only thing she'd been doing, actually; there'd also been something a bit more… personal. She had finally started admitting to herself that, just maybe, she and Kotashi had kind of a 'thing' going, and the two of them were presently 'testing the waters', so to speak. Thanks to various things, she was aware that he kinda-sorta felt for her in 'that way', and when she thought about him, she… well…
She was startled out of her musings (and her steadily increasing blush) by a knock on the door. She called for whoever it was to enter, and watched as Nanoha strolled in.
"Good morning, Shin-chan" she said, before then shifting into a more serious expression as she sat near the younger girl. "I've come to tell you about something we've been handling 'behind the scenes' since we arrived here. We've had the Phoenix League's Naval Intelligence Officer – the 'good counterpart to ONI', I believe you described it as? – using the Gates of Time with Sailor Pluto's assistance, to gather information and evidence from the present and the past. Audio recordings, DNA evidence, computer files, paper trails, even security camera footage… And now, we've gathered enough ironclad evidence against your uncle for what he did to you and others, and against your parents for letting it happen and then shaming you and trying to cover it up, to take them down for it."
Shin was frozen in shock and disbelief, barely remembering to breathe. She stiffened slightly as Nanoha placed a hand on her shoulder, and the young woman then brought up a holo-screen with the various data waiting to be perused. She let Shin have a look, the young truth-seeker sifting through the reams of evidence and information. It was all made to look like it was in fact 'local' in origin instead of gathered by hyper-advanced magitech alien-humans (and in fact, the N.I.O. had mostly just hacked through security systems no match for future-tech cyberwarfare, placed (or reactivated present but deactivated) cameras and recorders, genuinely dove through present-day paper trails and deliberately hidden DNA test results and the like, and so forth), so it would be immediately recognized as genuine and admissible evidence.
"Shall we?" Nanoha asked softly.
After a few seconds, Shin gave a shaky nod.
-Break-
Within a few days, the scandal had shocked Tokyo and the surrounding areas. An undercover investigation by detectives & PIs (NIO Agents) had uncovered that Kongō Akira, one of the most powerful men in the capital, was not only a pedophile/ephebophile rapist with his then-12-year-old niece as only the most recent of at least three victims, but he also had several peoples of high import, including in the city and national governments, in his pockets.
The ensuing storm was all over the news, as the man was exposed – via a mountain of undeniable evidence the 'investigators' had uncovered – and stripped of his position as CEO of his company, on the fast track to prison, to be joined by several other people (including city and state officials) on charges of corruption. Also in serious trouble were nearly all of the remaining Kongō family members, especially Akira's brother and that man's wife for not only leaving their daughter with a man known to have forced himself on other family members, but treating her as a shamed outcast once she tried to stick up for herself after the fact (the Americans who found out about this via internet or other sources were particularly outraged, since Western culture saw this as far more heinous than Japanese culture apparently did; many American and Western-European companies promptly severed all ties with Akira's company and any company connected to it, even though it was abundantly clear the man and his underlings would never work there again).
Seeing as there were literally no of-age living relatives not deemed implicit to some degree, Shin was legally declared emancipated, her record (basically manufactured by her uncle's lackeys four years ago) was wiped clean, and she'd finally gotten the justice denied to her years ago. Upon seeing her vile uncle being led away in disgrace and handcuffs, she'd impulsively kissed Kotashi. …Now they had a 'kinda-sorta date-like thing' planned in a couple of days.
In more fantastical topics, the Yamiko had been pretty quiet the past few days – only two new Yamiko, easily dealt with by Sailor Neptune and Tuxedo Kamen & his new 'student', respectively. Now, however, they received an anonymous offer/'tip', informing them of a chance to tip the scales further in their favor…
-Break-
A dark portal swirled into existence, and Dark General Neon stepped through. Looking around, her quickly spotted his target from the file Cobalt had lent him, claiming it was a 'new discovery' and that he didn't have time to collect on it and so he was letting Neon have it. It was a tall late-teen girl with brown hair in a high ponytail, sitting on a bench and reading a book, seemingly unaware of his arrival. Smirking, he began to stroll leisurely toward the girl, calling the dark power of the Yamiko Creation spell up in his hands. As he drew close… the girl spoke.
"Hello, Neon…" she said as she looked up from her book with a smirk of her own.
The Dark General paused, shocked as he was addressed by name. Then, there was a sudden flare of magical power, and a barrier encircled the area; right away he could sense that it would prevent him from 'jumping' out. Then, the girl closed and set down her book, stood up, and was enveloped in surging green lightning and magic. When it faded, Sailor Jupiter was there, grinning.
"You're not going anywhere" she said, pounding her fist against her palm with a spark of green electricity and the faint sound of thunder.
Neon leapt back a few meters, drawing a curved scimitar-like blade. Just his rotten luck that the one new material Cobalt's sources had found turned out to be a Sailor! His aura 'flared', deep purple with wisps of black. Sailor Jupiter slowly brought one fist back, and then as she thrusted it forward she released a bright-green Lightning Hound, crackling and charging across the distance quite rapidly. Eyes widening, Neon leapt to the side to evade the construct, only for the hound to pivot and change direction, coming at him again from the side and behind. He swung with his sword, cleaving it in half, but its component Lightning chakra hit him, making him cry out as it surged through his body.
Trailing a little bit of smoke, Neon snarled, the sclera of his eyes turning black. He charged power to his scimitar, and roared as he swung it a few times, each swing releasing a fast slicing wave of dark magic. Makoto nimbly dodged them all, and then put magic into her legs and dashed straight toward Neon with frightening speed. As she moved, her right arm was pulled back and wreathed in Lightning chakra, crackling with a sound like birds chirping as she held her hand and fingers in a 'spear' shape. When she got close, she thrusted it forward, and when Neon used his blade to block the enchanted metal only held up for a second before shattered, the Chidori breaking the sword in half and continuing on to cut across the upper arm of the Dark General as he frantically dodged to the side, leaving a spray of blood and Darkness particles.
Injured, and now even angrier, Neon leapt away to gain distance, and then his aura erupted in a roaring dark blaze. He brought his hands back, and fired a huge wave of dark energy bolts. In response…
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
The green-clad Sailor Soldier released her own storm of leaf-shaped green mana bolts, impacting Neon's incoming ones and striking, canceling them out. A few of them got through, and Neon braced himself as they struck, hammering into his arms that he protected his face with. When it was over, he lowered his arms, wincing… and then glowing green Binds of magic took hold of his limbs, holding him in place. He looked, and his eyes widened as he saw Sailor Jupiter holding one hand high, as Lightning magic swirled in the air above her, coalescing and growing in power. Soon, the energy 'pulsed', and a roar sounded out as the huge mass of magical power formed into a giant dragon made of green lightning.
"Vanish with the thunderclap…" she said, and brought her hand down.
The 'Supreme Thunder Dragon' crashed down on Neon from above, a surging explosion of light and force engulfing him. The pillar of lightning surged and whirled, scorching everything close to it, for several seconds. When it dissipated in a final flash of lightning, the ground around Neon had been scorched black and torn up… and Neon himself had been reduced to a blackened, carbonized human-shaped lump, still standing in a pose of looking upward, nothing recognizable of the face that had recently been frozen in horror at the sight of his incoming doom. His corpse toppled over, breaking apart into black ashes and Darkness particles.
As the barrier was lifted, Sailor Jupiter turned as Sailors Mercury and Beauty emerged, the latter looking at her with awe. Jupiter grinned, giving a thumbs-up.
"Another one down" Ami M. said. "Let's hope the rest are as easy…"
-Break-
Yami-Gaia – Royal Palace
Argon and the Yamiko Queen watched and listened as Cobalt and his assistant Ohta tried to defend themselves against the accusations of treason levied against them by the newly-returned Dark General Radon, formerly known as 'Magnificent Kamen'. It wasn't looking good for the 'outlier' General and his cohort, as Radon listed off evidence after evidence against them. Finally, Cobalt snapped.
"I did what you set out for me!" he shouted at the Dark Queen. "You gave me the order to 'restore the Yami-Gaia', and I worked tirelessly to carry that out! And when it all came crashing down, you opened my eyes to the true nature of the Yamiko, told me how it had been a fool's errand you'd meant to teach me! You-"
The Queen's power reached out, and everyone 'saw' as she combed through Cobalt's memories, including of – apparently – her speaking with him, teaching him, turning him against the Yamiko. When it was done, there was silence… and then the Dark Queen's power and presence surged to life, chilling the air as she let out a deep, unholy snarl.
"Her…" the Dark Queen hissed.
"…'Her', ma'am?" Radon asked.
"The Priestess – the one from whom I was spawned! I cursed her with immortality and set her to wander this Realm as a plaything for the Yamiko. But she has taken my form, altered and deceived Cobalt and his subordinate, used him against us all this time!"
Cobalt was in a state of stunned disbelief. All along… it hadn't been the Queen at all – it had been her Original?-! He was brought out of his stunned state as the Dark Queen stood up, pointing her palm at him and Ohta, charging and firing a blast of Darkness… that crashed against a suddenly-appearing barrier of Light. With a flash, a copy of the Dark Queen appeared… and then her colors shifted, revealing a human woman clad in an old, tattered miko uniform. The immortal priestess glared at her Yamiko, who snarled at her in return.
"Always meddling…" the Dark Queen said. "Even turning one of my Dark Generals against me…"
"He was never 'yours'" the Priestess replied. "I 'nudged' Xenon forth to create him, and then promptly used my magic to clear his mind of the Yamiko's uncontrollable impulses. It was part of a plan decades in the making… and it may have worked, were it not for the living result of my first plan's failure."
She turned to look at the recently-returned Radon. Argon and the Dark Queen looked to the man, who now appeared shocked.
"Radon, too, was purged of those impulses by me. I meant for him to be a weapon against the Queen. But even without those urges, his heart is still as black as coal – far too evil and wicked for me to use. So I gave up on that, and tried again. …Tell me, Radon, how goes your plan to usurp the Queen and take over?"
In a flash of dark light, Radon vanished from the Yami-Gaia, fleeing for his life before Argon or the Queen could react to that bombshell.
"Damnit, am I the only one left who's still actually loyal?" Argon muttered.
"So what now…?" Cobalt asked the Priestess.
"Simple, Cobalt: we run for our lives."
A dark barrier sprang up across the exit doors.
"Not gonna happen…" Argon said with a frown, he and the Dark Queen gathering their energies…
Suddenly, space-time twisted. Light bent, as Nanoha Takamachi emerged from an Instant Transmission jump. In a flash, she laid hands on Cobalt – whom Ohta had a hand on the shoulder of – and the Priestess. Then, with Nanoha homing in on Sailor Moon's energy signature, all four of them vanished again.
"…"
The Dark Queen sat down on her throne.
"…What do we do, My Queen?" Argon asked.
"…Prepare…"
-Break-
There was a flash of movement, followed by a thud and a grunt as a few people fell to the floor. The Sailors – both DDF and local – watched as Nanoha emerged from her Instant Transmission, along with Dark General Cobalt, another man, and a woman in a tattered old priestess robe. The woman was the first to regain herself, seeing the curious and wary expressions on the Sailor Soldiers.
She sighed. "It is… somewhat of a long story…"
-Break-
Later That Day
Dark General Radon skulked through the alleys as the sun set, frowning as he tried to figure out a new plan now that the priestess had outed his intent to the Dark Queen. Moving behind an old warehouse, he watched with disgust as a pair of humans walked away through the area, chatting and laughing together about some insipid thing. Withdrawing his cane, he prepared to start charging an energy blast that would permanently rid these ugly beings from his sight…
Suddenly, he raised a Dark Shield to block a trio of mana bolts from above and to the right. As the oblivious 'mundane' humans left the area, a lone figure leapt down from the roof nearby, landing in front of the Rogue General.
"So your name is Radon?" Sailor Nothing asked, a soft frown on her face.
The 'man' once known as Magnificent Kamen looked at his former tool, noticing the changes in her Sailor Soldier uniform and in her magical signature. Himei pulled out a sort of crystal, and revealed it to be a single-use Dimension-Shift Barrier caster; the field encompassed the entire of this vacant area behind the warehouse, along with part of the warehouse itself. Then, she shifted into a fighting stance, glaring at the man who'd been the cause of so much pain and suffering in her young life, and – sensing that this field kept him from opening a Dark Gateway to escape – he snarled and readied his cane, channeling his dark power through it.
"You were my greatest mistake," he growled to her, "one that I will now rectify."
Radon waved his hand out, releasing a handful of small dark mana bolts, only for Himei's 'Wall of Eternity' to protect her from the attack. She then lunged forward with a magic-fueled punch, and he grunted as he blocked with his cane, surprised by the force behind it. She struck with a few more blows, pushing him back, until a leg sweep from him made her break off a little. He then went on the offense, striking and stabbing with his darkness-enchanted cane, but her speed had improved to the point she was able to block and dodge all of his blows.
Himei fired a double Nothingness shot, which Radon dodged and then returned fire with a wave of dark-crystal daggers, which were in turn swatted away by her Emptiness' Chains. Those thorn-like tendrils of black and white Void energy then gained spiked tips and surged out toward Radon, who leapt back while conjuring a Dark Shield that the chains eroded/pierced through, coiled around, and crushed. As the Void constructs dispelled, Radon fired a fairly powerful blast of Darkness at Sailor Nothing, who planted her feet, pulled her fist back while charging it with Void magic, and – to Radon's great and unpleasant surprise – punched the energy blast back at him. The blast blew him back, leaving him noticeably scuffed and injured, and he growled like a feral beast as he got to his feet, his eyes glowing red.
"I will destroy everything you are!" he snarled.
"No…" she said calmly, with utter conviction. "You will never hurt anyone, ever again…"
He roared and charged at her, his cane practically 'glowing' with dark power, and she silently ran to meet him, charging power into her hand. Even in his rage, he knew that Himei's willpower could manifest as a Yamiko-killing touch, so when they drew close and he made his strike, he simultaneously shifted to the side enough to dodge her hand… However, as she had close in, in the final second, her hand shape had shifted unconsciously, to the shape of gripping something cylindrical… like the hilt of a sword. Light sprang forth from her hands, forming into a long, thin fuzzy-edged 'rod' of magic which she swung as she passed. Both combatants came to a stop a few steps past/behind each other.
With a flash, the mass of Light/Holy magic extending from Himei's hand stabilized and revealed its form: a Keyblade, heart-themed in black, white, and silver. A split-second later, a 'slash' of white magic cleaved through Radon at mid-torso, and he let out an echoing cry as his body rapidly came apart into particles of energy that soon winked out into nothingness.
As she watched with grim satisfaction that the evil man who'd ruined her life was no more, Himei then finally noticed what she was holding, her expression changing to one of mild shock. She spent about a minute looking it over, getting a feel for it and of the powerful magic it carried. Then, she dispelled it, feeling its essence now 'resting' within her, linked to her soul – her Heart.
"Perhaps Tsukino-san's Silver Crystal giving me an upgrade somehow also had a pseudo-'Rite of Succession' effect…" she murmured. "…I need to report to the others now; between this, and Radon's death…"
-Break-
Night – 9:45PM
Seiki sat down on the couch beside Himei, the two of them presently the only people in the big, empty house he lived in, as they had a late-night snack before Himei left for the night. Tomorrow was going to be a very important day; using the group's Keyblades and Cobalt's power, they were going to open a gateway and assault Yami-Gaia, bring down the Dark Queen and her last surviving General and end this stupid war for good.
"…Seiki?" Himei's voice was whisper-quiet, as she shyly laid her hand atop his. "Thank you for… being here for me."
The boy nodded. "Same to you" he replied warmly, holding her hand.
"…We might die tomorrow" she said. "The final battle, assaulting the Yami-Gaia Palace, taking on the Dark Queen… W-We're so young, and yet this could possibly be it for us… I… I don't want to have any regrets when we got into that… So… Um… C-Can I… s-stay here with you… tonight…?"
After a couple seconds, Seiki blushed brightly, briefly forgetting to breathe, as he understood what she meant; Himei was similarly blushing, her head down as she shyly looked up at him from the corner of her eyes. He gulped nervously… and then stood up, helping her to her feet, and – still holding her hand – started toward his bedroom with her.
-Break-
Next Day
The whole combined DDF-Local gang, minus Kotashi, Ohta, the Priestess, and Dusty who would be watching via live magic-hologram feed safe at home base, stood together and ready. Even as she had spent the whole morning being very close and… 'cuddly' with Seiki, Himei couldn't help but notice the same thing with Shin & Kotashi. Good for them, she thought.
"Alright," Nanoha said, her Device at the ready, "let's do this. Go ahead, you three."
Cobalt extended his hand, and a few meters away a swirling shadowy portal formed. Sailors Moon and Nothing summoned their Keyblades (Usagi had given Himei a quick crash-course on handling the weapon and some of its abilities; a more detailed training would have to wait until later, from Aqua or Riku) and pointed them at it, firing twin beams of scintillating light into it. The portal 'convulsed', and then stabilized even as it widened to nearly three times its original size.
Everyone steeled themselves, and stepped through.
-Break-
On the other side of the portal, the group found themselves looking out over Yami-Gaia. It was, as Cobalt had said, in a permanent night-time state; presently, the moon and stars (the same sky as Earth's, due to the pocket dimension "not extending all the way up") were completely hidden by thick clouds overhead. In the distance was a huge, vaguely conch-shell-shaped white palace with a strange otherworldly beauty to it. Between them and that was a dark city – a perverted shadow of Tokyo, twisted and dilapidated, with barely any light other than simple fires made for basic warmth by the locals.
And, judging by what they could see and sense coming, 'the locals' were aware they were here and were upset about it… or gleeful at the chance to spill blood and cause terror… or both. Already the streets were visibly 'seething' with hundreds of Yamiko coming out of the shadows and starting to head toward the heroes' location.
"Damn it, we don't have time for this!" Sailor Venus said. "Wiping these guys out will take too long, and it'll take up a lot of our energy that we're gonna need to take on the Dark Queen and Argon!"
"…Power of Saturn…" Hotaru invoked, her voice echoing faintly. "Destruction and might… come to me…"
Several of the Sailor Soldiers grew nervous as they sensed their young member's energies flaring. Gripping her glaive and holding it up at an angle, Hotaru… began to form hand-seals around the shaft of the weapon. The gem of her tiara glowed faintly, and a small pitch-black orb appeared floating just above the tip of the polearm. At her command, it shot up & forward into the sky at great speed. As the horde continued to approach, the tiny orb took position hovering high over the center of the dark city. Sailor Saturn formed a few more seals, and then spoke with a soft voice that was filled with silent power, heard across all of Yami-Gaia:
"Chibaku Tensei"
'Augmenting' her original domain of Destruction, Sailor Saturn now called upon her newer, secondary domain of Gravity. The technique's core 'pulsed' with a dark light, and then the city began to come undone. Chunks of building and ground, along with many screaming, cursing Yamiko, broke free and were pulled up toward the technique's core, compacting against it and forming into a rough sphere around it. As more matter became part of the technique, its power increased, and larger chunks of material were ripped free from the ground and the dead city to fuel it – a positive feedback loop.
Sailor Saturn kept her hands clasped in a Snake symbol around the staff of her glaive, intently focused. The others watched in open awe, as a titanic artificial satellite was formed by a 12-year-old girl. Finally, after about a minute and a half, it was complete; the entire Dark Tokyo, along with much of the ground it had stood on, had been ripped up from the earth, lifted into the sky, and made into part of an enormous sphere of rock and metal; only the Dark Imperial Palace remained untouched, half a kilometer away from the edge of the 'crater'. And of course, every Yamiko not in the palace had been caught in the area of effect, yanked up into the sky and crushed amongst the huge amounts of matter.
As the sphere stopped growing and simply stayed there, floating silently in the sky, Hotaru fell to her knees, gasping for breath and in a slight cold sweat; even for someone with her power, it had taken quite a bit of energy. "I won't…" she spoke between pants for breath "be able to… throw out anything big… in the coming fights… Not for a… couple days, at least…"
"I think you've done plenty…" Sailor Truth said quietly, still staring in awe up at the Chibaku Tensei 'satellite'.
"I never knew gravity magic could be taken so far…" Cobalt murmured, similarly awed.
"…Okay" Sailor Moon tried to break everyone out of the shock. "Let's get over there and finish things."
-Break-
They'd made their entrance by simply blasting down the front gates. They had then narrowly avoided a veritable storm of projectile blades from Dark General Argon, crashing against the quick shields that Nanoha and Himei had tossed up. Argon had then engaged those two in battle while the others were held back by constructs.
Considering those girls' raw power and Nanoha's considerable combat experience, this had not been a wise move on his part.
"Divine Buster!-!"
Now, as the pink beam of death came surging at him, Argon formed as many barrier-shields as he could. The attack shattered half of them in less than a full second, now shoving against and through the remainder, slowly drawing closer. Groaning as he held it back against his final shield, Argon… then smiled… and let the shield drop. The Divine Buster engulfed his pure-Darkness body, consuming and obliterating him in the blink of an eye.
"That does it" Cobalt said. "All that's left is the Queen…"
The whole gang moved deeper into the palace, following Cobalt's directions. Finally, they reached the throne room, throwing the doors open and passing in. There, seated atop a cushioned throne, the Dark Queen of the Yamiko calmly glared at the intruders in her castle. Sailors Moon and Nothing summoned and pointed their Keyblades at her, with Nanoha following suit with her Device. In response, the Dark Queen… smirked, and her form seemed to waver and vanish.
"Cloaking?-!" Sailor Venus shouted, as she and the others went on guard.
"I don't think so" Sailor Pluto replied. "It actually felt like… Ah, so that's it."
"What?" Cobalt asked, as confused as the rest.
"All this time… she's been using a projected avatar body to interact with others. The Dark Queen's real body must be elsewhere."
"Great, so now we have to hunt that down, too?" Chibi-Moon asked.
"Actually," Mars replied, a shiver running through her body as she sensed a potent dark presence, "I think she's coming to us…"
Then, the far wall exploded, and a wave of howling darkness surged out. The girls (and two males) braced themselves, as a low contralto voice softly chuckled, tinged with a hint of insanity. The figure that floated out, at the heart of the maelstrom they now knew to be her aura, was clad in the dark parody of a miko uniform, her long purple-streaked black hair wavering in her own 'wind'. The sclera of her eyes was black, the irises glowing red with no apparent pupils. Shadows danced and shifted at her command, forming into spiked and bladed tendrils that wavered around her.
"Time to die…" she hissed, a fanged grin appearing on her face.
She pointed both palms forward at the group, black energy gathering in front of them. A brief, 'wordless' telepathic command bade several people to grab hold of each other, and then Nanoha used one hand to grab hold of Sailor Beauty – making it so now everyone was in the 'link' – and brought the other hand with two fingertips to her forehead.
They vanished, and an instant later reappeared outside the castle, to one side from the main entrance. A second later, a huge destructive beam of black magic blasted out from within, blowing a sizable hole out through the wall on the other side of the doors. Soon after, the Dark Queen flew out through the hole, making a sharp turn and coming straight at the heroes. Nanoha moved to intercept, and a shockwave rang out as she blocked a shadow-wreathed fist, wincing at how much power she could sense. She knew right away she'd likely need Sage Mode… but, to her unpleasant realization, this 'shadow realm' was so poor in natural energy that entering Sage Mode here would be virtually impossible.
"Amazing Grace!" "World Shaking!"
The two attacks hit the Dark Queen from either side in a pincer strike, but due to her protective barrier they didn't cause any damage; they just got her attention and annoyed her a little. She hit some of the other charging warriors with a 'sledgehammer' of force, blowing them all back, and a kick sent Nanoha skidding back on her heels. The Dark Queen then slammed her palm to the ground, and the shadows at her feet darkened and moved. From the earth, eight dark shapes began to emerge, rapidly taking form – pitch-black 'shades' of every single Dark General that had ever served the Queen in the centuries of the Yamiko's existence, stronger than the originals thanks to the Queen's energy.
"Divide and conquer…"
Obeying their queen's command, the Shades broke up and charged at the Sol Guardians and their local counterparts, while Nanoha and Sailors Moon & Nothing went for the Dark Queen. Spiky tendrils of Void magic were sliced away by a dark-purple energy blade formed around the Yamiko Ruler's left forearm and hand, while her right arm was fitted with condensed and hardened 'dark mana' in the form of a shield that left her hand free to strike or fire attacks with. She used that shield to block a few strikes from Usagi's Keyblade, and then leapt back to dodge a jumping downward strike from Himei's. Nanoha came in next, thrusting Raising Heart's Shooting Mode like a spear, only for the blow to be deflected by the shield, and then responded to with a stabbing thrust of her energy blade that Nanoha barely avoided.
Meanwhile, the 14-on-8 fight had broken up into multiple smaller skirmishes. Sailors Uranus & Neptune worked together against the Shade of Dark General Krypton (slain by Sailor Salvation #2), their combined Wind & Water attacks clashing with the blasts of Darkness it sent at them. Pluto and Cobalt were taking on the Shade of Argon, with Pluto firing her own Dark blasts and boosting Cobalt with her new Haste spell. Sailors Mercury and Jupiter took on the Shades of Neon & Xenon, matching them blow for blow. Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Chibi-Moon were taking on three more. And so on, and so forth.
Himei lashed out with a 'Fist of the Void', striking the Dark Queen's shield, which visibly 'rippled' as it struggled slightly to retain its form in the face of a Void-type attack of such power and focus. Sailor Moon's Keyblade hammered against it next, soon knocking small 'chips' off of the Dark Shield. The Dark Queen twisted and tried to stab Sailor Moon with her dark-mana sword… and Nanoha's Rasengan slammed into the base of the energy blade, disrupting and 'shattering' it. In response, the Dark Queen snarled as her fists were enveloped in dark power, and she unleashed a lightning-fast barrage of punishing blows that hammered against Nanoha's Barrier Jacket, blasting the veteran mage back several meters. A few powerful kicks then knocked Sailors Moon and Nothing back.
"Mars Flame Sniper!"
Sailor Mars' attack came streaking in. The Dark Queen raised her shield to block it, but – already taxed by the previous hits – the dark construct shattered, sacrificing itself to protect its wielder from the fire arrow. Most of the other heroes had managed to vanquish their opponents; only two Dark General Shades remained, being ganged up on by the four Outer Senshi, and from the looks of it the darklings wouldn't last much longer. The Dark Queen growled softly… and then roared out, a terrible beasty demon-sound in the low voice of a woman, as a mighty storm of dark aura surged out from her, nearly blowing everyone away. The two remaining Shades dissolved and flowed back into her, and her pupiless red irises glowed brightly. As she floated off the ground, what looked like wings of dark-purple and black energies formed behind her. She looked like an angel that had 'fallen' and become a demon.
"Is this… some kind of dark transformation or doomsday spell set-up?" Sailor Venus asked, nervous.
"No" Cobalt replied grimly. "She's just stopped holding back."
The voice that had recently been roaring out now rang with low, wicked laughter. Black energy crackled along the Dark Queen's upper body before coalescing into two masses of evil power at her hands. She then threw/fired both of them at the cluster of heroes, the twin black orbs spiraling around each other as they flew. Having recovered some of her expended energy, Sailor Saturn extended her power and briefly formed a high-yield gravity singularity slightly 'above' the blasts' path. The altered gravity 'yanked' them upward, sailing high into the cloudy sky and hitting the underside of the partially-cloud-shrouded Chibaku Tensei. Compared to the size and mass of the whole thing, the resulting explosion was 'small', blasting out a proportionately small 'chunk' of the underside that began to repair itself by drawing what mass hadn't been vaporized back to itself. But the heroes knew that, had it gone off amongst them, it would have laid them all out and down for the count, and probably killed some of them.
Nanoha, really wishing this shadow-world had enough natural energy for her to enter Sage Mode now, rushed at the Dark Queen, pink-hued aura blazing as her fists and feet crashed against the evil entity with steel-shattering force. Suddenly, one of her punches was caught by the Dark Queen's hand. The dark being grinned maliciously, and then roared out as a barrier-shattering punch and a stone-cracking shockwave simultaneously struck Nanoha, sending her flying back at great speed, into and through a lone Yami-Gaia skyscraper, damaged and tilting, that had been close enough to the palace to avoid the brunt of Saturn's technique. Sailor Moon charged in next, attacking with Keyblade and blasts of Light-type magic, but against the full-power Dark Queen they didn't do more than sting as she blocked some and ignored others. The Dark Queen then hit Usagi with an uppercut to the midsection that nearly ruptured an organ, followed by a point-blank dark energy blast that sent her hurtling away.
Everyone else attacked, blasts of pure and elemental magic rushing at the Dark Queen from multiple directions. The Dark Queen smirked, and then roared as her dark aura surged out, blowing away most of the attacks and weakening the few that got through enough that they did no real damage to her. She then charged in amongst them, flying low over the ground, and began to bring the pain.
Sailors Venus and Beauty barely avoided being decapitated by a slicing wave of dark-red energy, the backlash of the near-miss still sending them tumbling. A barrage of ice spears from Sailor Mercury, mixed in with a cluster of energy bolts from Seiki, crashed against the Dark Queen's one-handed dark barrier with little effect, and she returned fire by making her shield shatter and fly at them as a wave of razor-sharp fragments. Sailor Saturn intercepted the attack, casting Silence Wall to stop it and protect her allies, and then hit the Dark Queen with a gravitic 'hammer' strike that knocked her back a little but didn't seem to seriously harm her.
Sailors Jupiter, Uranus, and Truth fired a blast of swirling wind and thunder with a beam of piercing light at its core. The Dark Queen focused her power and, with a punching motion, released a spiraling column of black and red energy to meet it. The two attacks met in the middle, struggling against each other for a few moments, before the Queen's began to slowly prevail. The Sailor trio soon had to break off and scatter, letting the enemy's blast tear up the ground where they'd been standing.
The Dark Queen abruptly snapped her hand out, catching Sailor Nothing's Keyblade by the middle and stopping the stealth-strike. She savored the surprised look on Himei's face, before said face was struck by a knee blow that sent her tumbling away end over end. When Sailor Pluto hit her with a Slow spell, she simply crouched within a dark barrier and waited until it wore off, the shields successfully withstanding the barrage of attacks the heroes tried to hit her with in the meantime. A glowing golden chain of heart-shaped links then lanced in and wrapped around the Dark Queen's wrist, and Sailor Venus gave a mighty pull to yank her into a charged cane-strike from Tuxedo Kamen. …Or she would've, had the evil being not broken the chain with a chop of her darkness-wreathed hand, and turned her momentum into a flying kick that knocked both heroes for a loop.
For the next few minutes, it went the same – the Dark Queen shrugging off everything they threw at her, and dealing occasional crushingly powerful blows in return. What's more, she was beginning to attack more frequently, the damage to the heroes accumulating. …As they fought, they didn't quite notice that two members of the team had seemingly disappeared…
Now, the Dark Queen floated up into the air, grinning wickedly as she looked down at the insect who'd dared challenged her. She began to gather power, her red & black aura surging like an evil inferno as she made preparations to end this farce of a battle.
(MUSIC: Sailor Moon Crystal OST 1 Track 25 (Moon Healing Escalation) – START)
"Nothing is working" Sailor Mars said. "We don't have anything that can hurt her; she's too powerful…"
"And," Pluto cut in, "I think she's actually getting stronger, albeit at a rather slow rate."
"We need a game-changer" Cobalt said, holding a hand to his side while the other hand helped Sailor Nothing stay on her feet. "That Takamachi girl's nature-energy transformation could help, but the Yami-Gaia doesn't really have much of that energy…"
Tuxedo Kamen spoke up, looking curious and stunned. "Then why do I sense it converging on the area… and a lot of it? And something else… ki, and mana?"
"…Where is Nanoha-san, anyway?" Sailor Beauty asked.
"And where's Sailor Moon?" Mercury added.
Then, Sailor Jupiter turned her gaze further upward, away from the Dark Queen. "Why is the moonlight getting brighter? I can see it through the clouds…"
Everyone's gazes shifted upward, where the heavy clouds were beginning to swirl and part… and a few of their expressions changed to ones of shock and awe, even the Dark Queen's.
"That's not moonlight…" Himei murmured, her breath taken away.
(MUSIC AT 0:48)
The clouds parted to reveal a massive surging sphere of light-blue and white energy, giving off a characteristic thrumming sound, composed of natural energy from not only the Moon high above, but also from the Sol Guardians' Earth and all its creatures, as well as power from the Millennium Silver Crystal that gave it a slight silvery tinge. And floating just below it, holding it up above outstretched hands, Sailor Moon and Nanoha gazed down at the battlefield, against the Dark Queen below, who now bore an expression of surprise and nervousness. Nanoha had taught it to Usagi, just as she had been taught it by Goku. Seiki's knees felt weak as he was the first to recognize this mighty power:
"Spirit Bomb…" he whispered.
-Fade-Out Commercial Break – Go Get A Quick Snack or Something-
…
…
-Back to the Show-
(MUSIC: Sailor Moon Crystal OST 2 – Track 26 (Ai to Seigi no Sailor Senshi))
The enormous sphere of ki, mana, and natural energy hung in the sky, its blue and silver light illuminating the perpetual nighttime of Yami-Gaia more than the Moon ever could. Holding it aloft, Nanoha and Eternal Sailor Moon then threw their arms forward and downward. At their command, the Spirit Bomb began to fall, hurtling toward the ground, and right at the Dark Queen hovering a hundred meters or so in the air. The Dark Queen gasped in shock, fear appearing on her face for the first time, and she desperately reached her hands up, her energy flaring as high as it could go.
There was a shockwave like a thunderclap as the Spirit Bomb reached the Dark Queen, who groaned and growled as she desperately tried to push back at it, even as its holy Light and power began to burn at her, slowly shoving her downward and threatening to engulf and extinguish her. Down below, gale-force winds whipped across the battlefield. The heroes cleared the area, getting as much distance as they could. The Dark Queen's involuntary descent was still going, though it was slowing down as she put everything she had into trying to hold the Spirit Bomb back, to save herself.
In response, beams of pink and silver light from Nanoha and Usagi fired down and pushed against the Spirit Bomb, shoving it down with more force. This extra boost was too much for the Dark Queen to take; she struggled for a few more seconds, and then let out a final echoing scream as she lost the fight and was completely engulfed by the mass of energy, the enormous amount of Light and power utterly erasing her.
The Spirit Bomb kept going, hitting the ground and bulldozing through the dark royal palace, obliterating it. It carved a long trench along the earth, before finally detonating in a tremendous and beautiful display, like a heavenly star bursting forth. When it faded, all that remained was a sizable crater, with nothing left of the Dark Queen or her palace.
(MUSIC END)
Soon, a shudder ran throughout this entire shadowy pocket realm – without the queen, the whole Yami-Gaia was about to come apart and cease to exist. Nanoha Instant-Transmitted down to the others, Sailor Moon in tow, and Moon & Nothing used their Keyblades to open a hole. Everyone piled through, returning to the Realm of Light where they'd entered from, and seconds after the last one went through and the rift closed, the entire Yami-Gaia came apart into nothingness.
-Break-
Nanoha sighed softly, still feeling a little tired, content as she finished up the after-action report. In the wake of everything, Himei had finally let herself break down, thanking and praising her and Sailor Moon; it was very similar to when Homura-chan had been freed of her own long 'burden', the veteran mage thought.
The 'local group' had chosen to become part of the Dimensional Defense Force and use their powers to help others, once they'd rested and recovered from the end of the Yamiko War. Even Cobalt wanted in, though he wanted a non-combat job, maybe as part of the Engineering Corps…
-Break-
Meanwhile, Kongō Shin was interrupted from her own little musings about recent happenings as a holo-drone floated in through the window. She watched as it came online, projecting the 3D image of a woman in a tight black & white suit, with long wavy black hair.
"Hello, Miss Kongō," she said with an Australian accent, "alias 'Sailor Truth'. My name is Miranda Lawson, and I represent the Phoenix League's Naval Intelligence Office. We'd like to offer you a job…"
-CHAPTER END-
So basically, I did the 'commercial break' thing because the first song ended in a very commercial-breaky way, and the second song wouldn't have 'flowed' as well otherwise.
And for those keeping track, among the DDF, those who can use the same gravity-type techniques that the Deva Path of Pain used are Sasuke & Teana (because of their Rinnegan), Princess Luna, Sailor Saturn, and Albireo Imma (though he doesn't have the reserves to pull off Chibaku Tensei).
Next Time: Back to Team Ange's world, to see how things are going there.