Hotaru glared at Leo, the pistol gleaming in the moonlight. He stepped into the room, his gun pointed at her.
"Leo," Hotaru gasped, wondering if this was real or just a nightmare.
The senshi leapt onto the balcony one-by-one behind him. Each stepped into the room and with them Artemis.
All eyes were on Hotaru, wondering what she could have been doing in the bed naked before they arrived.
Hotaru stared back at them wondering what they could be possibly thinking, hopefully not the obvious. Her eyes shifted to the bedside where Mesno lay with a hole in his throat and his face flooded with his own blood. Hotaru looked at her love, and then at her friends, trying to choose, she quickly leapt out of the bed covering her body with the sheets and grasped the wound and concentrated. Her power radiated him for a moment, healing his wounds.
"I've seen the end of my twenty thousand year life, and isn't now," Mesno gagged, grasping Hotaru's delicate hands.
"You killed Queen Serenity." Tuxedo Mask snarled, pointing his cane at Mesno accusingly.
"What of it," Mesno said in his patented sly voice. He pushed himself onto his feet, rising from death like a phoenix. "Lady Uratoh, knew of this of course," Mesno smiled, gazing into Hotaru's eyes.
Hotaru stared at Mesno, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Stop this Mesno," Artemis grunted.
"It's too late," Mesno smiled. "It is nearly complete and now that all the stray pieces of the Kronus Crystals have gathered here I nearly have all that I need."
"What are you talking about?" Luna cried, she stood on two slender legs and her long sapphire blue hair rolling down her back and her beautiful heart-shaped face wearing a look of indifference to mask her fear.
"You'd think of all people you would know," Mesno grunted, "Besides, you were the inspiration for the draopo crystals.
"Talk is cheap," Jupiter groaned. Her antenna sprouted from her tiara and into the sky. Electricity crackled through it, building power. "Supreme thunder…Crash!"
Bolts of emerald green lightning shot from the antenna and for Mesno.
"Pathetic," Mesno giggled like schoolgirl. He squeezed his choker and groaned, "Inrezo!" The olive green lightning made a U Turn and crashed into Sailor Jupiter. Jupiter squealed in agony as the electricity tore through her system igniting her every nerve.
"Hahahaha," Mesno giggled maniacally, outstretching his hand and manipulated the electricity as if it were a puppet.
Jupiter screamed in pain as she was lifted into the air. The lightning shined a rich golden color, ensnaring and strangling the impulsive senshi. "Clearly," Mesno laughed hysterically. "She must have thought I was Kunzite."
Hotaru shut her eyes; she couldn't watch Makoto struggle for life. She gritted her teeth, trying to blot out the screams and gasps of her comrade.
Mesno turned to Hotaru, seeing the sorrow and hurt on her face. With a snap of his fingers, the electricity died and Sailor Jupiter dropped into the arms of Artemis.
"You bastard," Artemis muttered, staring at the terrible wounds and burns on Makoto.
"What are you up to?" Luna asked.
"The entire universe began as one giant gem, a crystal, nothing more. One day however, the crystal split into millions of shards. From those shards planets and stars blossomed. From the planet, the first humans were born and in wrapped in their heartstrings were spawns of the great crystals shards. Those first humans were the first Sailor Soldiers, and now all of you carry a shard within you. That is why you all have powers and abilities no other human has, the power within you however is dormant and needs to be summoned by a special means which is why I was asked to create draopo, by any means necessary. Even if it meant I would have to sacrifice human life to do it."
"What?"
"How could you not know," Mesno scoffed, "This entire facility is a draopo farm," He said spinning around, "The smallest one at that."
"How is it you've been experimenting on humans," Mamoru asked, "Someone would have noticed them missing by now."
"If I had Leo," Mesno smiled, glancing at the lunarian knight, "the draopo would be stronger because of his power to govern the mind and remove memories but since I didn't, I decided to save humans. I've merely taken the millions of homeless human beings who no one seems to give a damn about and molded them into my tools for better use rather than taking up space on a planet that soon will be no more, think of it as a salvation."
"You tricked them."
"Everyone has a price," Mesno smiled, "But now I'm going to destroy the Earth, just like I did the moon kingdom."
"That's pretty far-fetched since the Nega-verse sacked it."
"Wrong again," Mesno scoffed shaking his head, "How do you think they knew exactly how to get in? I helped them, I gave them the castle blueprints, plotted the war with Earth and once more I fired the blast that should have killed Princess Serenity."
"Why?" Artemis grunted.
"It was all apart of my plan, with Leo gone off to get married it would be so easy to attack the kingdom, and I knew that if the princess died the queen wouldn't hesitate to use the crystals power. And with the queen dead, I would have no trouble obtaining the largest and most powerful shard of the crystal, but when I picked it up, I didn't feel a rush of power of become a god. It became only a stone, a useless rock. The shine was faded and the power was gone, so I waited and after ten years of waiting I've finally discovered why."
No one said a word they just listened, hanging onto his every word.
"Because only a member of the moon's royal blood-line can use the crystal's power, but in the hands of another it's merely a rock."
"So how are you going to use it?" Artemis asked.
"You know how, old friend, I believe that's why you fled from London."
Artemis gritted his teeth as Sailor Venus eyed her guardian suspiciously. "Why are you after the crystal?"
Mesno down cast his eyes, his face filled with sorrow and melancholy, "None of your business."
"Fine then," Jupiter grunted getting on her feet, "We'll beat it out of you."
"So be it." Mesno groaned narrowing his eyes.
Hotaru sat on the carpet, observing the scene. She didn't know whose side to take, her fellow senshi, or this strange man who she seemed to be destined to be with. She watched, wishing the battle would stop but hoping it would help her choose.
Sailor Mars was the first to try, "Mars Flaame," She screamed taking an archer pose, "Sniper!" An arrow of fire burst from her fingertips and glided towards Mesno.
Mesno gripped the draopo stone in his choker tightly and cried, "Barimorsdre," A golden barrier encircled his body.
"Aaaagh," A newborn infants wails resonated from the barrier.
"Noooo," A small child's voice squealed in the golden barrier.
"Heeelpp," A pregnant woman cried as her voice filled the room and her face screamed in the barriers golden light.
"Let's hit him with everything we've got," Venus ordered.
All of the senshi nodded, they then turned to Artemis and Tuxedo Mask who stood on the side lines waiting to attack as how they didn't really have projectile attacks. They then turned to Leo, the silver soldier of the moon.
"Come on Leo, we need your help," Venus called, rallying him.
"…I think you're a bit confused," Leo said crossing his arms. "…I'm not on your side. Now that Princess Serenity is dead and I'm a soldier for the moon kingdom not Venus."
"How do you sound, we all support the moon kingdom," Mars snapped.
"…I came here for one reason, and it's to kill him…honorably." Leo grunted tossing his gun onto the floor.
"Hotaru," Jupiter called, but Hotaru couldn't hear her, her mind was fixed on weighing the pro's and con's of the side she could take.
"Forget about them," Venus grunted, she then shut her eyes and focused her energy and the other senshi did the same. Their energy hit their peaks as they focused together as one. They then outstretched their hands, "Saiiloorrr…Planet…AttACCKKK!" They screamed firing a kaleidoscopic ball of energy at Mesno.
The rainbow orb plunged into the barrier and was consumed by it instantly. "Can't you see," Mesno said sounding bored, "you're no match for me."
"…But I am," Leo said, unsheathing his long sword and charging at Mesno. Hotaru watched as Leo slammed his sword into the barrier with all his might. The steel howled and screeched, before chipping and shattering. Leo tossed the blade aside and stared at the barrier Mesno hid behind. He eyed it for a moment, before plunging his hand into it, flames hotter than the sun swirled around his hands trying to drive them away, but without so much as a twitch Leo ripped through the barrier and began hammering Mesno with his fist. Mesno grunted in agony as blood seemed to explode from wherever Leo hit him.
"No," Hotaru whispered, shaking her head in disbelief as Leo knocked Mesno out of his own barrier. "Noo," She cried as he slammed the heel of his boot into Mesno's nose, shattering it. "Nooo," She said in disbelief as he lobbed Mesno onto the balcony and into the moonlight. "No," She gasped as he tumbled out of the bed and for the balcony. With tears raining from her eyes, she dove after him, wanting to help him, wanting to take all the pain away from him.
Mesno laid on the ground his lips flapping back and forth and only sharp gasps flowing through his jaws. His eyes were wide and full of tears as the fear of death and not being able to accomplish his mission, not being able to keep his promise and save her dawned on him.
"Get away from him Hotaru," Leo barked stepping into the moonlight.
"No," She barked, standing over Mesno and blocking Leo's aim. She couldn't let Leo hurt him. Mesno was meant to be hers, they were star crossed lovers and though she just met him there had to be something there, something called destiny.
"Move," Leo repeated, outstretching his hand in front of her, "I won't say it again."
Hotaru stared into his eyes daring him to pull the trigger.
Leo's finger tightened around the trigger, without a second thought he aimed low and another BANG filled the room. Hotaru screamed in pain as a bullet entered her knee. She cried in pain as it crashed into her kneecap.
She fell to the ground yelping in pain as Leo outstretched his hand over Mesno and with an _expression on his face that would match a mannequin, he focused his energy, "Shadow," A ball of dark energy swelled in his palm.
"No," Artemis shouted grabbing Leo by the shoulder, "Let me end this."
Leo turned to Artemis eyeing him suspiciously. He hadn't dropped the barrier, Leo had. He hadn't beaten Mesno an inch from his life, Leo had. So right did he have to kill Mesno?
"Please," Artemis pleaded, "I started this, I want to end it."
Leo lowered his hand and the ball of dark energy vanished in the blink of an eye. Leo turned his back to Mesno and looked over his shoulder at Artemis, "…Kill him quick before his bodyguards show up."
Artemis nodded to Leo, "Thank you." Artemis then stepped into the moonlight and drew his scimitar. Tears blazed his eyes as he stood over the bloody Mesno who stared into his best friends eyes.
"You kill me," Mesno choked, "You may as well open Pandora's box, because without me the Anima Sol Prophecy will be fulfilled." He gasped.
Artemis shed a tear and clutched the scimitar with both hand and plunged it straight for Mesno's heart, but his blade was met half way by another blade. The steel screeched and echoed through the room, Artemis immediately searched with his eyes and found standing before him Sailor Saturn.
"Wha-" Artemis sighed in shock.
"PSYCHOSHADE!" Sailor Saturn screamed, outstretching her palm to his face, shadow energy erupting from his hand and into the face of Artemis.
Artemis howled in pain and stumbled backwards and fell onto the floor screaming and writhing in pain.
"ARTEMIS," Venus called immediately running to his side. "Artemis, are you okay?" She asked but the only reply she got was chord of screams.
Hotaru had chosen love over the so-called loyalty of the senshi. There were no outer senshi left to help her and the inner senshi were always against her it seemed and now she had finally found someone who would stay by her side.
"Sailor Saturn, what are you doing?" Jupiter asked.
"What the FUCK does it look likes she's doing," Leo snarled, feeling it should have been obvious, "That bitch betrayed you."
"No," Mars said in disbelief. It seemed Hotaru could have been her sister a few hours ago and now they were enemies. "How could you?"
"Anyone who wants to hurt him has to come through me." Sailor Saturn said sternly.
"And me?" Another voice sounded, and at Sailor Saturn's side stood The Empress of Time, Katsumi with her daughter Setsuna, whose scarlet eyes instantly locked on Leo.
"Oh my god," Setsuna's eyes widened and her throat became as dry as cotton.
"Setsuna," Leo whispered, staring at her. Immediately the ice in his veins defrosted and his petrified heart softened.
"His death is the anchor of the prophecy," Katsumi said, her wrists decorated with golden bracelets and there's no way you're going to kill the chairman of The Council."
"So The Council condones the deaths of innocent people?"
"It is for the good of this world that Mesno continues his experiments." Katsumi said pompously.
"The good, if he removes the shards the universe will shrink into nothing." Artemis hissed.
"Shards?" Katsumi said, showing she had no clue as to what Mesno's true intentions were.
"LORD MESNO!"
Everyone gazed into seven more intruders all wearing hoods.
"The Forsaken," Katsumi gasped staring at the emblem on their hoods.
Without a command, three bulky members of Invido's posse leapt onto the front lines and assumed their mysterious stance.
Three shooters clutched their draopo and as if they were the Mavericks, fired accurate shots that all hit their mark and plowed Katsumi over.
Hotaru quickly slammed the butt of her glaive into the head of Setsuna, knocking her out.
Leo quickly charged at her Sailor Saturn, ready to tear her head off, but Mesno raised his hand and screamed, "Barimorsdre!"
The golden barrier encircled Sailor Saturn. Leo eyes widened just before he crashed into the barrier. Leo fell onto the ground in pain from his own force.
Invido barked a few orders in some language. Immediately the last three hooded goons dashed to Mesno and carefully lifted him and in a flash vanished.
Sailor Saturn gazed around. How would she make her grand getaway, were they abandoning her and leaving her to face the repercussions for her turncoat?
"Come on," Invido grunted grabbing her by the hand and dragging her and her body filled with a unique feeling. A jolt of adrenaline shot through her body and she felt weightless as if she could walk on water and clouds. All she saw became clouded as if she was lost in a thick fog. She gazed around searching tirelessly through it, but to no avail. Slowly the fog cleared and now she stood in a brightly lit room. The ceiling was decorated with chandeliers, long glass tables full of food as if a feast could be conducted here. Thousands of shrunken heads sat in glass jars lining the shelves and various portraits of a woman who was frail, pale with violet doe eyes and long violet hair were everywhere.
"She looks like-like" Hotaru stammered.
"You," Invido finished gazing at her looking not impressed.
"Where are we?" Sailor Saturn asked.
"We are…home," Invido said ardently with a sinful hiss in his voice as more people wearing hoods swarmed around her. All with a sinful glint in their eyes and not a rush of air filled their lungs as they stared at Hotaru.