Dr. Betrayal of the heart
Chapter twenty-five: The Battle part three
I am sorry, Chibiusa...I'm sorry..." With a faint echo, Tomoe Hotaru's essence completely faded away into the Darkness inside Mistress Nine.
"It's finally gone." Mistress Nine's voice was calm and low, but it carried an overtone of annoyance towards Hotaru's mind. Princess Cosmos sighed heavily. "From within this Tau System, a great power is arriving. It is our great master of the Deathbusters, the Lord of Silence, Pharaoh Ninety. Now we just need to have the chalice in our hands, Pharaoh Ninety will appear in this system, and the Era of Silence will begin."
"Then we'll just have to destroy you now!" Uranus raised her right fist, converging beams of light above her head.
Water swirled around Neptune's uplifted hands as she said, "Prepare to die"
Princess Cosmos looked back and saw the two initiating their attacks.
"World Shaking!"
"Deep Submerge!"
The attacks did not even touch Mistress Nine.
"I told you to stay out of this" Princess Cosmos snapped. "If you can't follow orders, than you must not be true senshi" Neither Senshi knew how to respond to that.
Mistress Nine's eyes glowed red. Her long hair which scattered on the floor suddenly came to life and wrapped itself around Uranus and Neptune. The two were swung into a giant statue, and the hair around them melted into the statue.
"If you don't want to see them die before your own eyes, surrender the chalice." Mistress Nine threatened.
"Don't!" Uranus shouted from high up.
Mistress Nine's hair slipped around Uranus and Neptune's necks. "Maybe I should get rid of one first." Mistress Nine tightened the grip on Neptune's neck.
"You're a fool" Princess Cosmos said.
"If you give the chalice to her, I'll have no respect for you for as long as I live!" Neptune cried out.
"I wasn't planning on giving it to her" Cosmos snapped. "You two come waltzing into our lives after we have settled down normally, try to tell us how to fight, assume that we are weaker than, but you don't know anything about what we went through as teenagers. I am not as weak as you would assume" Mistress Nine was amused by this turn of events. "I will not surrendor the chalice"
Tomoe Soichi walked slowly out of the darkness with one hand to his chest, which seemed to be injured, causing him pain. Breathing heavily with every step, he walked into the middle of the room.
"Ho...ta...ru..." She gasped for breath.
Tomoe kept walking slowly towards Mistress Nine. His unexpected appearance surprised Princess Cosmos.
"Hotaru's father?" She enquired, surprised.
"Hotaru...it's me...it's papa..." Tomoe struggled towards Mistress Nine, and put his hands onto her shoulders. "It's all my fault...that it ended up this way..." During all this, Mistress Nine's face remained stone cold, and she did not even bother looking at Tomoe.
"Germatos' empty shell..." She looked down at Tomoe's face with an expression of disgust. "How filthy and irritating. Don't touch me!" She repelled him off her, then picked him up by the neck with her hair. Tomoe was too weak to even struggle.
"Ho...ta...ru..." He was still calling his daughter's name even as he was being strangled.
"Stop that!" Princess Cosmos shouted. She shot another beam towards Mistress Nine, causing the woman to release Professor Tomoe. "You will not harm him!"
Outside the Mugen Academy building, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Galaxial Jupiter, Masked Knight, Oparla and Celestial Venus were maintaining the energy field to keep the Daimons in. The red Daimons kept up their assault, only stopping inches before them.
"Everyone, hang in there!" Mars called for the others.
On Mercury's side, her barrier was barely keeping the Daimons in. "They're getting more powerful!"
"It's not going to get through us!" Jupiter was holding on strong.
"We can't let them out!" Celestial Venus said, while maintaining her field.
Tomoe was lying on the floor, groaning.
"Ho...ta...ru..." He continued to gasp out.
"Papa..." A weak voice came out of Mistress Nine's mouth. It surprised the three Senshi in the room. "Papa..." The same weak voice slipped out of Mistress Nine's lips again.
"Impossible!" She covered her face with her right hand. Seen between her fingers, rage filled her eyes.
"Hotaru...?" Princess Cosmos looked at Mistress Nine with a renewed sense of hope.
Mistress Nine started to feel the flesh rebelling against her. Her hair lost the grip on Uranus, and Neptune. "This body...is refusing me..." The pain caused her to fall to her knees. "This pain..."
"Papa..." Hotaru's voice again drifted in the room.
"Kill her now, Princess Cosmos!" Uranus shouted from high above. Cosmos knew what she had to do, even if it pained her to do it. If she killed Mistress Nine, she had the power to revive Hotaru, she was sure of it.
"No!" Sailormoon said with tears in her eyes. "Hotaru is still alive!"
"Hotaru? Are you in pain?" Tomoe asked.
"The chalice..." Pain was making it difficult for her to get anything out.
"Chalice?" Tomoe enquired.
"I need the chalice...Without it...I..." Mistress Nine trailed off. Princess Cosmos crossed her arms.
"But where is the chalice?" Tomoe asked.
"Papa!" Hotaru's consciousness shed traces of light inside Mistress Nine's darkness. She screamed and stood back up, but couldn't stand alone without falling over. With a determined look on her face, Sailormoon held both hands out. Between her palms, a small ball of light appeared.
"What are you doing?" Uranus screamed.
"You'll see" Princess Cosmos said. The beam of light got brighter and brighter. From between Princess Cosmos's cupped hands shed forth brilliant rays of light, piercing the darkness of the hall.
"That..." Mistress Nine said, pointing at the light.
"That's the chalice?" Tomoe looked back, seeing what she was pointing at.
The ball of light started to expand and took the form of the chalice. With the chalice floating in her hands, Princess Cosmos walked towards Tomoe.
Tomoe turned around to Sailormoon and begged
"Please...I need that to help my Hotaru."
Princess Cosmos shook her head.
"This will not help Hotaru" She said. "But I can" She walked past Tomoe towards Mistress Nine and thrust the chalice into Mistress Nine's chest. Uranus and Neptune gasped as light radiated from both women.
"Princess Cosmos!" Safir shouted.
Mistress Nine screamed as the chalice absorbed her energy.
"Stop!" She cried out. Suddenly the woman began fading back and fourth between Mistress Nine and Hotaru.
"Last and final Sailor Senshi, I command you to awaken!" Princess Cosmos shouted. Suddenly Mistress Nine let out a horrifying screech and vanished. In her place was a Sailor Senshi, holding a scythe.
Uranus and Neptune watched in awe. After the glowing sign of Saturn faded away
"The Soldier of Destruction...has resurrected..." Uranus murmered. "What have you done!" Princess Cosmos ignored her.
Back at the mansion, Demando was still keeping Serenity alive by channeling his own life energy into her body. A translucent form appeared before them. Demando looked up and saw her, but could not comprehend. Artemis and Luna sensed the presence and hurried into the room. They saw the ghostly form of Sailor Saturn floating just off the floor motionlessly in the air.
The transluscent image softly said:
"Serenity, everything's all right now." The faint figure further faded into nothing while floating forward, then reappeared just in front of Mamoru and Serenity. Sailor Saturn put her hands over her chest. When she lowered her arms, Serenity's heart crystal was in her hands. The light of the crystal made the faded figure even more faded. The crystal floated off her hands and back into Serenity's body.
"Sailor...Saturn...?" Artemis recognized the apparition as the Soldier of Destruction.
"Hotaru...?" Luna recognized the translucent form as the teen girl who was Serenity's friend.
"Thank you, Serenity. Thank you." Then she disappeared.
Suddenly, the ground started to shake like an earthquake. The ground parted, and everything started to tumble down. The giant statue with Uranus and Neptune trapped was no exception. The two were freed and fell to the ground as the statue collapsed. Whatever remained of the Mugen Academy building was no more. an evil entity was exposed and expanding quickly. All around its black body, buildings were reduced to rubble.
Uranus and Neptune were hurt from the fall. Much of their suits were torn in the fall. They slowly got back up on their feet. There was nothing they could do except to look in despair as Pharaoh Ninety expanded and destroyed its surroundings in the distance.
"In the end, everything we've done is pointless," muttered Uranus.
"It's over," agreed Neptune.
They looked at Princess Cosmos who was looking at her surroundings.
"Are you happy now!" Uranus snapped. "Awakening the senshi of destruction, when you should have destroyed all of Mistress Nine" Princess Cosmos whirled around.
"Without Saturn, we won't win!" She said angrily. "You think you know everything, but you don't" She turned away from them, as though she were waiting for someone.
"Princess..." Cosmos heard a soft voice calling her name. She knew that voice. She looked up to find the origin of the voice. In front of her, the image of Saturn floated down, then solidified. "Princess, thank you for protecting my body" Saturn said with a very soft voice. "I am here, thanks to you." She bowed low before her appearance.
"Hotaru!" The badly hurt professor called to his daughter. Saturn turned to Tomoe.
"Hello Papa" She said softly. She turned back. "You were right to awaken me. I am now the only one who can save this world from the Silence. Just leave the rest to me."
"You understand the mission?" Princess Cosmos asked.
"Yes. To destroy Pharaoh Ninety, I must do so with a single attack from within, as only the one with the power of destruction can" Saturn raised her right arm, and her Silence Glaive appeared in her hand. "But when I use that power, even I have no escape." She bowed before Princess Cosmos again. "Your highness, I know that if you could save me you would, so do not grieve if you cannot. Good bye" were Sailor Saturn's last words as she leaped backwards into Pharaoh Ninety. Explosions could be seen inside. Uranus and Neptune were not sure of the scene they had just witnessed.
"Goodbye, my child" Princess Cosmos said, backing up a bit. She knew that she had sent her most loyal senshi on a suicide mission. She did want to save her, but how. She turned to Uranus and Neptume. "Give me your power!" She cried. Uranus and Neptune didn't argue this time, as the gems began to glow. The other senshi could feel Princess Cosmos asking for thier power, and thier gems also began to glow. Safir was tendsing to Tomoe's wounds, but was aware of what was happening.
A glow surrounded Princess Cosmos. She leaped and flew towards Pharaoh Ninety. All around her were butterflies of light.
"Good bye" Saturn's voice was again heard from inside Pharaoh Ninety. The heart crystal in front of Cosmos penetrated the energy barrier around Pharaoh Ninety, and she sank into the black sphere. A series of explosions began inside. Then, with a dying howl, Pharaoh Ninety exploded into the sky, leaving behind a large crater in the ground.
Uranus and Neptune stood staring blankly at the crater, while water from the bay nearby began filling it. Pluto's voice echoed through their minds again:
"Princess Cosmos is..."
"is what?..." Uranus pondered about the meaning of those words.
The both of them looked up, and saw a trail of sparkles raining in the distance. Dancing down from the sky, sparkling butterflies of light gently fluttered down in the hundreds. Lying on the ground, the other senshi regained consciousness and saw the butterflies. Among them stood the silhouette of Princess Cosmos, with her outfit torn. Tousled hair waving in a light breeze, her eyes were vacant of emotion. In her arms, was a small sleeping infant. On her face, was a blank expression.
"It is Over" She said softly.