Chapter Twenty-Four, Part 1
Sailor Nemesis continued to fall, plunging ever downward into an abyss from which she might never escape. It was like a dark, haunted well, this place that she found herself in, complete with the slick, no-grip sides. And just like any haunted locale, this place had a monster to call its own. Nemesis could hear it beckoning to her from somewhere down there – from somewhere close below.
This treachery of yours will come to a bad end, the monster hissed. Make no mistake about that. It had a little girl voice but spoke with a curious intonation. The tone and timbre of the voice carried with it a certain world-weariness that you wouldn't have expected from your typical 7th grader.
Nearly exhausted by the effort it took, Sailor Nemesis nevertheless projected her own message back to the creature: A bad end for you, perhaps. Make no mistake about that! I've grown strong. She also knew the truth – that the thing with the little girl voice was not a child at all, but rather an ancient protective entity originating from somewhere beyond the earth's orbit. In that respect, the Sailor Saturn persona could be viewed as an alien intelligence. It also lacked form and substance, and for that it could also be thought of as a ghost.
Ghost or alien, it was most certainly a parasite. What else could you call it? It had been feeding on her for as long as she could remember, sucking the life right out of her body, showing no consideration at all for the welfare of its host.
But now the long-suffering victim had blossomed into a formidable adversary. And she would labor under these oppressive conditions no longer.
I have the power now. Nemesis bit down hard on her lip, mingling the red of blood with the scarlet of her lipstick. She strained. Beads of sweat broke out at her temples in a glistening pattern. She resisted. A massive Y-shaped vein sprouted to throbbing life on her forehead.
The darkness was subsiding, which would have been a blessing had it not been for the purple light that replaced it. It swelled gradually, lighting the tumbling Sailor Nemesis from underneath.
A true warrior wouldn't run, said the alien/ghost thing from Saturn.
By now the light had overwhelmed the darkness. Shades of violet. Everywhere, shades of violet. Pulsating like a heart.
It's not running. It's called regrouping. Credit me with a little tactical expertise.
Using her mind as a grappling hook of sorts, Sailor Nemesis threw it out. A sharp pain struck her not a moment later at the base of the skull, signaling that it had latched on to the side of the well. Grunting, grinding her teeth so hard that, to her ears it sounded like two plies of sandpaper rubbing together, she hoisted herself up.
The purple luminance faded.
Then a new light superseded the old – a blinding white expanse, not unlike the fabled Great White Light often reported by those who claim near death experiences. Was that the case for Sailor Nemesis, then? Was she gliding through the tunnel of death, approaching the great hereafter? Had the Saturn parasite somehow tricked her?
No. It was milk. She was still alive. The white light had been the white of the spilled milk, the milk that the overturned truck had strewn about. She was back. She'd made it back.
Sailor Nemesis smiled a crocked grin that would've looked right at place in an old Archie comic book. The smile brightened her face somewhat. In that moment she looked less like the emissary of death that she claimed to be and more like the little girl she actually was. The only thing detracting from the pretty picture was the trail of blood running from her left nostril. But she paid it no mind. She had won. Score: Sailor Nemesis 1, Sailor Saturn 0. And she was keeping track. Oh, you better believe it.
Wanting to relieve her sore leg muscles, Nemesis tried to rise. Her head swam with the effort, and the world pitched forward suddenly – sending her sprawling backward on her rear. Splat. After a quick look around to make sure her fall had gone unseen, Sailor Nemesis laughed off any lingering embarrassment. She had exorcised the last of her inner demons and she felt fine.
Her victory also brought with it a profound sense of patience that she now utilized to the fullest as she crouched behind the bulk of the tractor-trailer and awaited for them to cross her path.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
And after a good fifteen minutes of silent waiting, the cord of patience snapped.
Sailor Nemesis jumped to her feet (fighting off waves of nausea) picked up her scythe and left the truck behind. They had passed her by. They had walked right on past, leaving her none the wiser. They had escaped her vengeance thanks to the meddling of Sailor Saturn. She had planned it that way. Of that, Nemesis was certain.
How long had she been out? It had only felt like a few seconds, but must've been much longer. Five minutes? Ten? Long enough for them to slip by, at any rate. Sailor Nemesis looked skyward, hoping to track the passage of time by the position of the sun or the stars, but of course saw nothing. Nothing but a flame-soaked sky. The sun, moon, and the rest of the heavenly ensemble were hidden behind a blanket of fire and smoke, nowhere to be seen.
So she had lost them. Oh, well. No big loss. There'd be another chance. And even if not, she'd already won her own personal war. After all these years she was finally rid of the parasite. No more Sailor Saturn. No more frail, helpless Hotaru. Sailor Nemesis had conquered both. And that was enough to satisfy. For now.
…
So involved was Usagi with thoughts of Hotaru that when the surrounding debris fields began to clear out, she at first took no notice. Then she happened to glance up and the sight before her sent her heart racing and clenched her throat shut. But her face retained its calm façade and her legs continued on, never breaking stride.
They had arrived. At long last, she (and those under her care) had reached the end of the road. This was to be the culmination of a long, hard night of struggle and sacrifice. The upcoming battle was to be a clash of iron wills, a struggle against two would-be rulers – one, an agent of light, the other, a disciple of darkness. This was to be the battle that decided the course the future would take.
Mystical silver versus black poison.
"So, you've come," said Death Phantom. "And with quite the tagalong band." If he was nervous or hesitant, he did not show it – not in the tone of his voice or in the posture of his body.
Usagi's face remained as stone. She was not intimidated. She would not back down. Not now. She had left the last remnants of girlhood behind. The night and all of its horrible events – the deaths upon deaths, the loss of friends and family – had tempered her resolve like steel in a furnace. She now stood before her adversary strong-willed and regal, a girl no longer. Now, this night, she had earned the right to think of herself as a woman. "We come before you as masters of our own fate," she said, her voice hard as polished rock. "We refuse to sit idly by and be subject to your dictatorship. Tonight we take control of our lives and our destines. We're ready to fight and willing to die."
Silence. The two combatants stared down the other from across their arena, a six-way pedestrian crossing flanked all around by still-standing skyscrapers. The edifices towered upward, majestic wonders of modern architecture. Usagi took note of their sleek construction of glass and metal, free of neon, and determined that they had arrived in Tokyo's business section. The buildings here looked enormous, made all the more imposing due to the fact that most of the city had burned flat to the ground. Only this small dark cluster remained – looming over the crowd gathered like silent witnesses to the upcoming fray. But as large as they were, the Black Poison Crystal dwarfed them all.
It hovered a few scant feet above the ground, rotating slowly in place, showcasing
its many dark faces. It reached high into the sky, bypassing the roof of the tallest skyscraper by a length of several stories. Its tip seemed to pierce the very fabric of the sky. It was a black monument of evil, its black surfaces marred only by occasional flashes of color. A blip of faint red here, a shimmer of yellow there. The Sailor Crystals encased within winked at Usagi, as if acknowledging her, as if pleading for help.
And sitting cross-legged at the base, Death Phantom. His crystal ball rested on his lap and his hands remained in constant orbit around the misty sphere, as though he were tugging information from it.
Silence.
Then: "So you've come with the intent of altering your destinies. To change the unchangeable, what an arduous goal you've set before yourselves."
Instead of responding verbally, Usagi reached out and linked hands with the men standing beside her. Her right hand found Mamoru, her left enfolded within Shingo's grip. It continued on from there, with Shingo taking Naru's hand and Mamoru taking Artemis'. And so on and so forth. Within minutes, the entire group, all 200 plus, were united via the joining of hands. But it went deeper than that. There was something else that came along with, or resulted from, the physical touch: a sense of true, complete unity. But it was even more than that. It felt as though their souls were one. They were no longer just a ragtag collection of like-minded survivors – they had achieved amalgamation. Usagi fancied she could even hear the thoughts of those standing with her. And why not? For she had joined together with these people, considered them all to be her family, and more than that, believed them all to be extensions of herself.
They stood like an impenetrable blockade of humanity, more than two hundred strong, acting as a single invincible unit.
Death Phantom stood with a rustling of fabric – a movement so elegant it seemed to be happening in slow motion. The crystal ball followed its master up, coming to a stop chest-level. "You have your followers and I have mine."
At this, the shadows came alive. Blackness separated from blackness. The surrounding darkness took on humanoid silhouettes.
Shingo squeezed Usagi's hand. They were surrounded. Surrounded by an army of ghosts.
"Look upon your kinsmen!" exclaimed Death Phantom, his voice shaking in the throes of villainous rapture. He swept his hands out wide like a magician performing a particularly impressive trick.
The ghosts had become flesh. Usagi saw them lined up before her in a semicircle – hundreds of everyday citizens, young and old alike, all standing against her, having aligned themselves with Chaos and the power of the Black Poison Crystal.
"I give you your brothers, your sisters, your neighbors dear! You may have refused my hand but these fine people had no such qualms. And for that, I have blessed them. For my master, the Lord God Chaos, has granted me authority to judge the souls of men and so have I done!"
He went on from there, raving like the madman he was, but Usagi heard not a word. She was staring straight ahead at the multitude of faces staring back at her. Some were old and wrinkled; others were young with the pimples to prove it. Some of those looking back at her, clothed in out of date fashions that clung a little too tightly to the frame, had obviously come from the poorer side of the tracks, while others touted their life success in crisp suits and designer jeans. They were all so different – this odd conglomeration of faces and bodies. But as different as they were, three things remained constant across the line: One, each had the mark of the Black Moon upon their foreheads. Black and inverted, a decorative blasphemy against the White Moon Kingdom. Two, each earlobe present sported a dangling pair of Black Poison Crystal earrings. The perfect evil accessory, it complemented their Marks quite nicely. And third –
Third was the expression frozen on each face. Hard and seemingly chiseled into place, Usagi recognized it immediately as a glare of utmost hatred and contempt. She knew it at once. Hadn't she been on the receiving end of such a look many times before?
Yes, she answered herself. But that was different. It's one thing to see it in the eyes of the enemy, to see it written across the face of a rebel Sailor or read it in the movements of an evil sorceress, but these people aren't my enemies. They're…
Brothers? Sisters? Neighbors most dear?
Yes. Usagi lowered her gaze, tried to focus on the bright light of the Silver Crystal, but there was no hiding from those looks – so black and cold, so uniform across the crowd that perhaps the expression had been handed to them straight off a printing press.
Out of the top of her lowered vision, Usagi saw movement. Raising her eyes, she saw that one face had distinguished itself from the rest of the crowd and with a feeling of sledgehammer-like dismay, she found she knew that face. It was, most certainly, a neighbor most dear. It was Unazuki Furuhata and she came with all the trappings of evil: the Mark of the Black Moon, the Black Poison Crystal earrings, that look of hostility smoldering behind the eyes… All those things were present, but Usagi found that she was much more concerned by the man standing next to her.
It was Motoki Furuhata. Or at least a fairly accurate representation of him. It looked like him, sure - especially if you wanted to believe it. But on second inspection, you couldn't help but notice a few things were missing. The eyes, for example. Usagi knew Motoki's eyes; they had been kind and had always sparkled with a nice guy's sense of humor. These things, by contrast, were pebbles. The eyes of a walking corpse. She'd also known his face, a face that had always been smiling or wearing an expression of concern for a struggling friend. The face next to Unazuki was nothing but a wax caricature. The skin was off. It looked shiny, not like flesh at all but like something made of plastic. The features, the eyes, nose, lips, all looked stretched as well, like the product of some botched botox procedure. Also, the Motoki stand-in lacked both the Mark and the Crystal earrings – something present on every human forehead and earlobe.
In short, it wasn't Motoki. Usagi had known this from the start. Unazuki, however, had been thoroughly duped. She had one arm hooked lovingly around the waist of the creature and looked totally at ease. Usagi opened her mouth and tried to speak, tried to ask her why. Why? Why and what and how and everything else. But there seemed to be a great disconnect between her brain and her vocal cords. She couldn't focus. The here and now seemed far away. Her grip on Shingo and Mamoru faded, and then disappeared, leaving her feeling terribly exposed. She felt as though she were in the midst of a free-fall.
First Hotaru, now Unazuki. Another friend lost to the darkness.
Would there be others?
Usagi wanted to speak to Unazuki, to probe the recesses of her mind to find out her motivations for choosing the side of Chaos, but as it so happened, Rei beat her to it.
"What've you done? Unazuki, do you have any idea of what you've done?" The unbelieving, shocked-to-the-core tone of the Mars Princess mirrored the color of Usagi's thoughts perfectly.
Unazuki smiled. "I know perfectly well what I've done, thank you. I was neither brainwashed into this nor forced in any way. Death Phantom gave me what you could not." She turned from the line of Princesses and ran a hand through the Motoki-imposter's hair. The thing responded robot-like, turning its face to hers and pulling its lips upward into an uneven smile. "He gave me back my brother. Maybe even raised him from the dead. Could you have done the same?"
But Usagi found herself unable to answer. She was hypnotized by the black symbol peeking out from under those red bangs.
"Can't answer me, can you?" Unazuki eyes flashed with sudden anger. One backward jerk of the head sent her hair flying away from the face and for one brief second, Usagi saw the Mark in its entirety and she came to realize there would be no reasoning with her. She had her brother back and she would hear no arguments to the contrary. Perhaps she had been brainwashed into this sick discipleship, perhaps not. But now that the Mark was upon her, she was beyond Usagi's power to help.
"He has given me so much and asks for so little in return – only my allegiance, only my soul." Unazuki took a step forward. The rest of the marked crowd followed closely in step. Death Phantom remained a silent spectator. Then there was fire in Unazuki's hand - blazing flames of orange licking up her arm – and even though Usagi saw, she could not comprehend.
"But I'm sure killing you would serve as a nice thank-you gesture. Wouldn't you agree?" And then, before anyone could make sense of anything else: "Mars Flame Sniper!!!!!"
Everything that happened next happened at once. Usagi saw it, heard it, felt it, but could make no sense of the things unfolding around her. She saw the flaming arrow shoot past her, heard somebody (Deimos?) scream, "Take cover!" and with that, their impenetrable unit was broken. The connection was lost. Shingo broke contact and went scampering off to the side somewhere. Mamoru yanked his hand free of Usagi and then he was gone too. Gone with a flutter of cape. Then other battle cries were flung into the air and the sky was alit with magic.
"Jupiter Coconut Cyclone!"
"Mercury Aqua Mirage!"
"Venus Wink Chain Sword!"
Pop. Bang. Hiss.
Usagi saw it all but viewed it from a distance, as if watching the scene unfold from across a room. But she saw it. Oh, yes. The light of the Silver Crystal illuminated the bedlam perfectly. It was a strange sight, the frantic dashing for cover and safety highlighted in soothing hues of white. Usagi watched, mesmerized. She saw an elderly woman, probably someone's grandma, launch herself up into the sky with a mad cackle and followed her as she came crashing down behind Luna. Luna turned to engage but wasn't fast enough. With a cry of "World Shaking!" and a punch to the gut, she was sent hurtling backward like an acrobat in some charming circus production. Usagi tracked her path through the sky, coolly noted that she appeared to be on a collision course with one of the darkened municipal buildings, and winched as Luna disappeared from view, having crashed through a seventh story window.
A turn of the head brought another horrific sight: Minako bound up in her own love-chains, her captor (a little boy with a buzz cut) looming over her. Usagi studied the spectacle and thought crazily: It would make a good statue, this. Like some kind of New Age Pieta. That thought shocked her, not because of its cold detachment, but because up until a moment ago, she couldn't have explained the difference between Michelangelo's Pieta and a plastic statuette of Chuck E. Cheese.
Beyond Minako, she caught a quick glimpse of Rei with Unazuki in quick pursuit. Though Rei was quick, Unazuki was quicker. Plus, in the event her quarry did escape, the other girl had the Mars Arrow locked and loaded, stretched taunt against the bow, just waiting for the moment of release. Then they were gone, having been swallowed up by the seething crowd.
Thunder rolled, then crashed. The sound of several people screaming at once provided instant accompaniment. Lightning smashed through the sky toward the ground in a jagged line, eliciting a new series of cries. After the lightning strikes came the snow flurries, dainty cutouts of ice sprinkling down in a pretty spiral. It would've been a lovely sight, a sight demanding a moment for silent appreciation (especially for it being Spring), but Usagi couldn't focus on the beauty through the cold. It seared through the skin straight to the bone. A debilitating chill that felt like fire on her exposed bits flesh. She could feel it eating through her bare arms and back. It was working its way to her lungs now, turning the two organs into frozen meat bags, making it harder and harder to breathe. The quick gulps of air she did take in came out in fluffy clouds. Her teeth chattered. Her head ached.
She felt the cold like a knife cutting into her body. She felt the earth trembling beneath her feet and heard the screams of her people ringing sharply in her ears. And all the while the mocking words of Death Phantom ringing out loud and above all else: How does it feel to be on the receiving end?
Theanswer? Not so good.
"Oh, Princess!" Him again. Death Phantom. "Turn your attention over this way, Your Majesty. You wouldn't want to miss this next bit."
She felt her head rotating around like a screw in a socket. As the head turned, her eyes took in the full scope of the pandemonium unfolding around her in superb detail. It was a little like watching a widescreen movie presentation. A panorama of pandemonium, you could say – complete with state of the art special effects and stereo sound. The marked ones, the foot soldiers of Chaos, had gained the upper hand. Or perhaps a better way of putting it would be to say that they were maintaining the hand, for the advantage had been theirs from the very beginning. It was their hand, after all. Their hand was the iron and merciless Hand of Chaos.
In any event, they were winning. With the turning of her head, Usagi saw the Black Moon Brigade (for that was what she had come to think of them as) advancing upon her own group. And though she was no war strategist, she understood at once what was going on. It was a roundup. The Brigade was pressing forward in a semicircle formation, narrowing and concentrating the opposition. In such close confines, it would be very easy to conduct mass extermination. Why, with all of them bunched together like that, all it would take would be a single attack. Just one attack, provided it was well aimed….
No.
The cold was unbearable but Usagi fought to ignore it. The waters of shock were deep and Usagi struggled to rise above them.
No!
Her journey would not end in defeat. How could it after she had come so far?
Death Phantom had risen and now stood before her, an effigy of evil draped in robes of violet. Both of his hands were raised, bent at the elbows like a priest preparing to offer benediction. The skin of his arms, though deeply tanned, looked startlingly white compared to the blackness that seemed to float inside his robe like a noxious, polluted river.
"Are you watching, Princess?"
You bet, you worthless piece of scum. Let's see this grand trick of yours. And you better make it last because afterward, we're gonna get busy, you and me. Now that she had returned halfway back to her senses, Usagi felt nearly invincible. She felt large and wonderfully in control.
She narrowed her eyes at Death Phantom, waiting for his next little performance. What was he going to do now? Pull a rabbit out of his cloak? Ask her to pick a card, any card? What two-bit act of trickery was he going to surprise her with?
Three seconds passed without incident. Then four. Then five. Usagi proved to be the ideal observer, patient and quiet, but after seven seconds of waiting with nothing to be seen for it, she decided to go ahead and draw the curtain. The show was over. She reached out with both hands, meaning to take hold of the Silver Crystal floating before her, but stopped short. Something was happening. She could see that now. Something was definitely going on with Death Phantom.
It was his hands. His hands and his arms. They were changing. Bits of the skin were flaking off like old paint chips. Usagi watched slack jawed as the epidermis shredded itself and chipped away, revealing a gruesome network of veins running over a moldy-looking collection of black and green muscle tissue. This occurred gradually, taking the better part of 15 seconds, and when it was done, Usagi found herself looking up at the Death Phantom she had battled during her time as Sailor Moon.
A chill suddenly took hold of her and she shuddered. Little Satoshi had come full circle.
Death Phantom, the terror of Crystal Tokyo, the reviver of crime and murder.
Usagi frowned.
A human boasting psychic abilities. Among these unholy powers was the Evil Eye, capable of controlling others with a glance, and - -
"Oh, Princess, you are indeed a kind and benevolent ruler. As such, you may be unaware of what I am about to tell you," Here his voice dropped and took on an even more sinister tone. "- to truly destroy your enemy, you must also destroy their legacy. Their lineage. And in so doing, you will blot even their memory from the history books. You will achieve perfect victory."
- - and his demon hands, able to reach great distances to attack the unsuspecting.
It dawned on her all at once, his plan. It hit with such sudden realization that Usagi was sure she would simply topple over backward in a faint. He's going after Shingo. Shingo or Mamoru. As if killing my parents wasn't enough, now he's going after Shingo. Or Mamoru. Or both. After all, he's got two hands.
Visions of Shingo as a corpse danced through her head, only to be replaced by the same vision but with Mamoru in the starring role. In each, Usagi could do naught but watch as the demon hands raced across the landscape, finally taking hold of Shingo / Mamoru by the throat. Then with a sharp squeeze and a crunch of bone, the body in question fell limp. And in each vision, Usagi fell down to her knees beside the corpse and commenced to sob uncontrollably, for now she was alone again. Truly alone and truly defeated at the hands of Death Phantom.
Then, horribly, mere seconds after envisioning them, her visions became reality.
Like striking twin blacksnakes, the demon hands of Death Phantom shot forward, racing past Usagi in a blur. They arched bonelessly up toward the sky, rolling out to a length of ten feet or more, then splintered off in two different directions. One zipped to the right, going after Mamoru, while the other darted past Usagi on the left, so close to her that her gown rustled in its wake.
Turning, she saw Shingo. He had been one of the few to escape the roundup and was now standing off to his lonesome, a look of dazed bewilderment upon his face. He looked like a small child near tears, having lost his parents in a crowded supermarket. He did not notice the hand streaking toward him. He did not realize he was moments away from death.
Usagi saw the demon hand as a black sliver. It kept close to the ground to keep out of sight, sliding over the uneven surface of highway, expertly interweaving among the feet of the Black Moon Brigade.
It had reached its target. Now it was rising off the ground, the wrist arching back like the head of an attacking cobra, the five fingers already expanding in order to accommodate the neck it would soon seize.
A squeeze and a crunch and it would all be over. The end of the Tsukino family, for Usagi herself would doubtless follow next.
Her little brother dead? No. It couldn't happen. She had already lost both parents. Hadn't that been enough? Her lover dead? That didn't sound too good either. She'd been to the future. She had seen firsthand the life they were going to live together and it was too beautiful a thing to die prematurely.
No to Shingo's death.
No to Mamoru's death.
No to it all.
"NO!" Usagi threw back her head and balled up her fists and screamed out resistance to the heavens. It was a cry powered by anger and righteousness and the desire for justice. It was a cry from the heart, and as such, the Silver Crystal reacted.
There was a flash of light, so bright and unexpected that it momentarily stunned Usagi. Then she understood. The Crystal followed her heart. And right now, her heart was on the offensive.
As if picking up on the change of emotion within her, the light suddenly solidified. In the blink of an eye it changed from harmless illumination to what looked like an elongated stark white saw, the massive ones Canadian lumberjacks use to cut down equally massive trees. It swept toward the demon hand poised to attack Shingo and sliced cleanly through it. Black liquid sprayed from the wound. An obnoxious odor assaulted Usagi's nose moments later, something very similar to the sour stench of lab formaldehyde.
Death Phantom screamed in surprise and (dare she hope it?) pain.
Another spray of black, the precursor to that horrible smell, followed by another scream. The demon hands rolled back, their targets still intact and, in Shingo's case, oblivious.
"Oh, dear PRINCESS, what VIOLENCE!" Death Phantom hissed the words through clenched teeth. Both injured hands lay cradled against his chest. Droplets of what Usagi supposed was blood dripped steadily from the wounds, hissing like acid upon contact with the ground. "I might corrupt you YET!!" He was mad. Beyond mad, actually. For the first time since meeting him, Usagi saw that he was on the verge of losing control. He was shaking with fury, his shoulders hunched, his eyes glowing red like embers beneath his cowl.
Good. Perhaps she could use this to her favor.
Usagi took a challenging step forward. "Why do you attack my friends and family when your real target is me? You say it's all part of your grand plan to erase my legacy, but I think you're just frightened. Intimidated. By me."
This observation did not sit well. It was several seconds before Death Phantom, shaking and shuddering inside his cloak, could string together enough coherent thoughts to form a reply.
"Let me assure you, O Highest Majesty, that I am not, have never been, nor ever will be, frightened or intimidated by you!" The statement came out rushed and dripping with venom. Those eyes of his blazed an even brighter shade of red, burning deep into Usagi's soul. But she did not falter. She did not cave under his evil stare. "Look around, Princess! Look at all I possess! The power of the Black Poison Crystal, the power of the invincible planet Nemesis, the power of my god-master Chaos! Why, even the power of the Sailor Crystals is mine to experiment with as I see fit. And what do you have to challenge me with? The power of friendship channeled by a shiny bauble? Ha! No, dear girl, I am not intimidated by you."
"Then prove it."
It was a challenge.
"Prove it by going up against me right here, right now. Just you and me. Surely you're confident enough in your abilities to do that?"
This seemed to amuse him. Death Phantom guffawed and the sound was like rolling thunder. "You're eager to dig your grave, but very well." He raised his hands skyward, the folds of his robe falling to the elbow. "Your best, Princess. Nothing less."
Usagi narrowed her eyes. The Silver Crystal flashed, seemingly in anticipation. "Yes," was all she said.
…
Ever since the surprise attack upon their followers and his separation from Usagi, Mamoru had been keeping an eye on her. Even entrapped and cornered by the disciples of the Black Moon, he made it a point to keep one eye trained on Usagi. Thus, he had seen the demon hand racing toward him. He had panicked, true, but then, from the corner of the Usagi eye, he had witnessed a brilliant flicker of white light and the hand retreated, wounded.
She had rescued him. Rescued him like countless times before. And seeing that, the notion struck him (and not for the first time, either) that he should leave her. For who was he to be with her? He was nothing. Nobody. A dirty commoner wallowing in all the pitfalls of humanity. She, by contrast, was a shining goddess. Merciful and kind with the powers of the cosmos at her disposal.
And who was he?
Now, wedged tightly between Artemis and Deimos, he saw the goddess confronting Death Phantom. She was a vision in white, speaking forcibly and with passion to the demon before her. And though he was too far away to make out words, Mamoru sensed that a face-off was brewing. He turned to Artemis, meaning to tell him this, when another explosion of white light halted him in mid-head swivel. This was immediately followed by another, darker flash – one so black that it seemed to suck the air out of Mamoru's lungs. Then there came a tremendous crash as the two powers collided. Windows shattered. Observers fell like bowling pins. The portion of highway closest to the two combatants shook and broke apart in slabs. Even the haughty followers of the Black Moon couldn't help but to emit sounds of startlement.
A curtain of up-spun dust veiled the two leaders from view, but Mamoru's eyes, perhaps powered by the love and concern he felt for the one he was not worthy to be with, managed to see through it. Quite clearly, he saw Usagi and Death Phantom locked in a stalemate, the powers of the Silver Crystal and Black Poison Crystal churning the air between them in a spectacular swirl of white and black. He also observed that Usagi was struggling. Her arms were heroically cast straight out without so much as a kink at the elbow, but her back was bent with strain and her eyes were slits of agony.
Seeing her like that, Mamoru's heart clamped to a stop, squirting the last few drops of blood painfully through his veins. She needed help. Now she was the one who needed to be rescued.
"Usa." He felt his lips form the word as he took a step forward.
WHOOSH.
A wall of flame blazed into existence suddenly, mere inches away from his face. Alarmed, Mamoru jumped back, his eyes inadvertently leaving Usagi for the first time in a long while.
The girl, Unazuki Furuhata, laughed at his reaction. She wiggled a flaming finger at him. "Uh, uh, uh! Let's just let them have a go at it for a while. Besides, we have confidence in our leader. Do you have the same for yours?"
Mamoru glared at her through his mask. He opened his mouth to order her aside but gagged on the smell of smoke. The girl reeked of it.
As if to show off her new powers, Unazuki ran her smoldering hand through her hair. Tongues of fire danced orange among the red strands. "Sucks, doesn't it? To just sit here, watching, knowing that there's nothing you can do to help her." A cavernous grin spread across the lower portion of her face. "Not one single thing."
Oh, but there is something I can do, Mamoru thought. His eyes moved from Unazuki's gloating face back toward Usagi. Even like this, powerless and at your mercy, there is one thing I can do.
And so, bowing his head but never averting his eyes from Usagi, he prayed.
…
Just as Mamoru was keeping his eyes on her, so too did Usagi focus her vision in on a singular point of interest. But where he was looking on to his beloved, she had in her sights the adversary. She could barely make him out over the combustive forces of the two Crystals but her eyes never wavered from his general location. A notion kept running through her mind that she should not turn away from him. That if she happened to glance away for even the briefest moment, that if she so much as blinked, he would seize that opportunity to strike like the snake he was.
So, shaking with the effort, with sweat rolling in rivers down her back and face, she continued to stare ever onward into the face of near certain annihilation.
The sensation of power running through her was incredible. It coursed through her body in crashing waves, a glorious infinite power capable of igniting suns or destroying planets. It was an amazing feeling, to be one with the Silver Crystal, to be directing it like it was merely an appendage of her own body – but it was a feeling matched only be the accompanying pain.
The pain was also incredible. No. More than incredible. It bordered on the indescribable. It was both physical and spiritual. Usagi could feel it settling in her bones and grinding against the joints like sawdust. But she could also feel the pain manifesting itself as fatigue. And in some ways, in a lot of ways, the fatigue was worse than the physical symptoms. The physical hurt she could deal with, but this other … it made her question. It made her want to lay down the Crystal and give up. There were hooks in her eyes pulling them down. She wanted nothing more than to sleep. Her body, her mind, and her spirit were tired.
Still, it was to be expected. Using the Silver Crystal did not come without certain risks. Usagi knew these risks and had accepted them long ago, but ….
But it hurts. It hurts so much!
Had it ever hurt as much in the past? She didn't think so. Then again, two years' worth of inactivity might have dulled her recollections.
I don't care if I die, she swore. Honestly I don't. But if that's what's going to happen, at least let me take him with me!
And at this stage in the game, death was a very real probability. She was expending massive amounts – lethal amounts – of Silver Crystal power. Dropping dead of a brain aneurysm, for example, could very well be a consequence of such an action. Come to think of it, wasn't her head feeling a bit strange? A little numb? A little like an aneurysm-in-progress?
No! I won't die! Usagi skewered her lip with her front teeth, bringing blood. She welcomed the stinging sensation. It meant her nerve-endings were still functioning. Not until I'm sure I've won.
But it was agony to continue.
And if that wasn't enough, there was a voice speaking to her, - a literal voice telling her to hand over the Crystal, to give up. Sometimes it called to her from far away and other times it seemed to be speaking from inside her head. Sometimes it sounded like a man's voice, other times a woman's, and occasionally it imitated Usagi's own voice so perfectly that she had trouble differentiating her thoughts from the other invading intelligence. All in all, though, it laid out a good case. You are tired, Highness, it whispered in soothing tones. You have fought bravely and rescued many. Yet now the time has come to hang up your sword. Listen to your body. It begs for a second's rest. You can feel it. The ache in your arms. The blisters on your feet. How good it would be to just rest. And only for a second! Then, if you so desire, you can return to the fray. Because, dear Princess, your spirit is tireless but your body is unable to keep the pace. The spirit is ethereal - the body, flesh and bone and sinew and prone to give out. Rest. Close your eyes and hand over the Crystal. I will keep it safe.
Yes, a good case indeed. She was so tired. Her body did ache. Maybe … a short nap. No more than fifteen seconds. Yeah, that sounded great.
Sure! And why stop at fifteen? Take as long as you need! I'll be sure to wake you. Just hand me the Silver Crystal and you can take that well-deserved rest.
Yes. Yes. Usagi's eyes were beginning to close already. She could feel her body relaxing. She could picture herself underneath the covers at home, snuggled in nice and warm, the scent of Ikuko-Mama's famous sugar cookies rising up the staircase in a fluffy yellow cloud. A summer afternoon. …No, a winter morning. But with the birds singing anyway. Yes. That would make it festive. The birds tweeting joyfully high above the frolicking children, bundled tight against the cold. With the Three Lights poster hanging over her bed and Luna resting by her feet and Mamoru waiting downstairs…
It's only a yawn away, the voice promised. Just let me take the Crystal from you. It's a terrible burden, yes?
"Yes," Usagi mumbled, totally unaware that she had said it.
Yes.
"Uh huh." Oh, she could smell the sugar cookies already! And the birds singing her to sleep! And the sound of children laughing outside!
Rest. Relax. Take a breather.
Butthen, just before the dream took hold, Usagi caught a glimpse of something twinkling before her. It was a golden something, pulsating like a slow heartbeat, hovering just above the meeting place of the two Crystals.
What the - -? Usagi frowned and looked closer, comically wrinkling her brow in the process. It looked like … an eye. It surely did! There was the iris, normally blue or brown or sometimes green, but here it was a flaxen topaz color – and … the pupil dancing in the center, springing up and down like a black bouncy ball. Humph. Strange. An eye. A golden eye.
An evil eye, perhaps?
"NO!" Usagi screamed and squeezed her own eyes painfully shut. The instant she did so, the voice dropped all polite pretense and commenced to curse her. It shrieked inside her head, calling her all manner of horrible names, slinging out all sorts of threats. But now that she was aware of its influence upon her, she was able to tune it out for the most part. She had great experience in ignoring unpleasant voices. It was a skill she had employed a great deal during her high school career.
Once she had regained her bearings, and with the voice no more intelligent than a fly's buzzing, she found the strength to speak. Though she kept her eyes closed. "So you've resorted to trickery to gain a victory. Classy."
The voice ceased its endless screaming at once. "No, I'm only using every advantage I have," Death Phantom replied in a normal voice born of vocal chords. "I'm giving it my all, which is something you should consider doing."
Angered by the insinuation that she wasn't pulling her weight in the battle, Usagi's eyes flew open. And with her eyes now unclouded, she looked and gasped at what she saw. The light of the Silver Moon Crystal had waned. During the time she had been wallowing in that induced daydream, the darkness of the Black Poison Crystal had advanced, pushing the pure light back. Now the only area illuminated was a small circle around Usagi's feet. Panicking, she tried to push back. She strained, trying to blast the light back forward, but it was no use. Death Phantom had her matched point for point. As hard as it was to believe, the Silver Crystal and Black Poison Crystal were two equals in power.
From a world away, hidden behind the darkness, Death Phantom laughed aloud. And why not? His powers were inching forward, overtaking hers. She had slipped and now there was no way to reclaim that lost ground.
A bead of sweat wrung itself out from the skin at Usagi's hairline, rolled down her forehead, took a sharp turn at the cheekbone and then slid down the rollercoaster of her nose. It dangled from the tip stubbornly, refusing to fall. Maddening. An itch begging to be scratched.
Just let it go, a voice suggested – and whether it was the voice of Death Phantom or of Chaos, she couldn't tell. What did it matter anyway? They were one and the same. We've reached the end of a path. You're tired and I'm just getting started. I could go on all night. And I won't give up. I'll keep pushing for eternity if that's what it takes. You know it. I won't stop and you won't stop. We're so alike. That's what makes it crazy. We're two stubborn fools. Except you have the option of calling it quits here and now.
She had an option? Options were good. Very good.
Maybe…
The circle of light drew in. The darkness advanced its shadows forward.
Usa!
Now what was this? A new voice?
I'm here by your side! Take my strength. Make it your own. Defeat the enemy!
"Mamo-chan?" Usagi fluttered her eyes like a kitten just waking from an afternoon snooze. "Mamo-chan, where are you? I – I hear you, but I can't see you. It's too dark."
Don't worry. I'm here inside you. And not only me, but everyone.
And then came a chorus of heavenly voices – precious musical voices urging her onward, lending her power.
Mercury Power! Mars Power! Jupiter Power! Venus Power! Each proclamation was like the beat of a war drum. Pluto Power! Uranus Power! Neptune Power! Each was like the beat of a heart. I am Luna of Mau, joined to the Moon Princess by the bonds of friendship and servitude – my Power, too! I am Artemis, also of Mau, joined to the Venus Princess also by the bonds of friendship and servitude – my Power added to the Silver Crystal! I am Deimos of Coronis, linked to the Mars Princess by the same unshakeable bonds – my Power to our Princess!
All of our power - -
"Right here and right now," Usagi said serenely. And with that, she pushed forth with an eruption of light so massive and brilliant that the darkness fled and Death Phantom yelped with surprise.
But then he was back on track, matching her once again, resisting the light as she resisted the darkness - her goodness at a standstill with his evil. Then, with both of them silently toiling against the other, a strange thing happened. Perhaps it was a result of her friends' tremendous outpouring of power, or maybe she had just tapped into some new portion of her own abilities, but suddenly that psychic link Death Phantom had established with her was working both ways. Just as he had wormed his way inside her head, so too was she now able to peer inside his thoughts. And what she saw encouraged her.
Terrifying though he was, he was still a human. A boy - younger than herself by a few years. And he harbored no ill will against her personally. That was the encouraging thing. He bore no vendetta. Nor was he on some personal crusade. Usagi realized this within a moment's time of her unexpected arrival into his mind. In all honesty, he couldn't care less about her or the Silver Crystal.
Then why?
The answer was obvious. So obvious that Usagi had no need to investigate the workings of his mind further. He was doing it to please. In a perverse sort of way, he looked up to Chaos. Maybe even regarded it as a father figure. And if Chaos said kill, he killed. If it told him to lay down his crystal ball and make peace, he would do it instantly, without second-guessing the order. This was Chaos' war. Death Phantom, the boy whose real name was Satoshi Yomata – he had no stake in the matter.
Something wet struck Usagi on the cheek and for an instant, she thought that perhaps it was raining. But a quick check skyward debunked this and a moment's passing brought no more raindrops. Sweat, then? Maybe. Maybe so.
Then another wet something moistened the other cheek, just below the eye and she came to understand that she was weeping. This proved not to be a huge surprise, for she had certainly shed her fair share of tears this night, but what was surprising was the subject of her latest crying spell. In the past few hours, she had wept in sorrow over the deaths of her parents, in joy over the rebirth of the Silver Crystal and in hopelessness of the impossible situation she found herself in. Now, however, she discovered that she was crying in pity. Pity for Death Phantom.
She felt sorry for him. He was just a little boy pretending to be bad, killing and maiming and torturing all in an effort to please the devil. Just a child. Just a poor misguided child. Was he arrogant? Sure. Did he have some problems of his own, apart from the meddling of Chaos? Most definitely. But then, who didn't? Sure, he was a merciless killer with a severe case of hubris, but more than that, what Usagi saw and what touched her heart, was the realization of his insecurity. He yearned for approval. He could find no redeeming qualities within himself so he sought out others so that they might point out the personal strengths which he himself were blind to.
Sorrow and compassion flooded Usagi's soul. Her breaking heart served as the mixing tool. Tears streamed down both cheeks. Her breath shuddered and caught within her throat like a rusty car trying to turn over. She found it difficult to breathe, to express the words she wanted to say. But somehow she did.
"I-i-it does-does …. It doesn't have to be like this."
"Indeed," growled Death Phantom from someplace far away. "Surrender is always an option."
Usagi shook her head. "No, there's another option besides this fighting. It doesn't have to end in death for one of us and victory for the other. There is another way." She especially punctuated this last sentence, hoping to drive the point home in her opponent's mind.
A short pause. Then, "Is there?"
Though he was obviously being facetious, Usagi seized upon the opportunity for explanation nevertheless. She would present her proposal to him and he could take it from there. She could only do that much. She couldn't force him to accept her terms. But she could hope. With all her heart, she hoped he would.
"There is. Satoshi, you have all this power-"
Lightning slit the skies above, highlighting the wound with jagged flares of blue. The air suddenly seemed supercharged, full of static electricity. Usagi could feel the tiny hairs on her arm stand up. The sheer fabric of her gown clung tightly to her legs like a mummy's bandages.
"My name -."
Lightning flashed. The sound of thunder rolled like bowling balls. The air grew heavier still.
" – is Death Phantom."
Not wanting to loose ground over such an inconsequential point, Usagi simply nodded. The name didn't matter so much as the person behind it. "These powers of yours, your abilities – they're gifts. And gifts should be used to better mankind. Think about it. Think how wonderful it would be if you used your powers to help rather than to destroy. You have other options. You don't have to continue down this evil path you're on. What-" Unable to go on, she swallowed. The lump in her throat moved deeper down into the esophagus but did not disappear. "What I'm trying to say is…"
Now she found that she could see through the darkness and she gazed upon Death Phantom, at the withered corpse hidden inside the flowing robes, with warm, welcoming eyes.
"…I want you to be my friend."
Several seconds passed without reply. The figure hovering before her did not comment, nor did his posture give any sign that he'd even heard her. Usagi watched him, yearning for an outstretched hand, each minute passing by like an eternity. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She spoke again, knowing that she was in danger of overplaying her hand, yet not caring. "I want you to be my friend. It would be my honor. And I mean that with all my heart and soul. Please don't turn away from this chance. You're suffering and it pains me. So please. Please. We can be friends. It doesn't have to end in death."
Then, almost indistinguishable from the thunder, a tiny voice spoke up. "What a sight it would be, me working alongside the Sailor Soldiers."
Could it be? Was he actually considering…. It sure sounded like it! He was testing the waters! Realizing that perhaps she had made a dent in that armor of his, Usagi nodded frantically and sped right on. "Sure! Stranger things have happened! You can join the Sailor Soldiers! You don't have to be a Sailor Soldier to actually, you know, be a Sailor Soldier. A part of the team, I mean. Heck, you can keep the name 'Death Phantom' if you really like it!"
She was rambling and she knew it. But she made no effort to rein herself back. How could she even if she wanted to? This was extraordinary! A black heart was turning pure!
"You would extend to me the hand of friendship?"
Yes! Usagi's mind screamed in response. I will and I have! Please take it.
"Your hand offers friendship, but mine is not so kind. Have you any idea how many people have died by my hand? I won't go so far as to hazard an actual figure, but I feel safe in saying it exceeds five digits."
And so the house of cards collapsed. He had rejected her hand. Yet perhaps… Perhaps a glimmer of hope still existed. Perhaps he could be converted yet. Usagi was willing to try at least. Like a prospector mining for gold, she would not give up until she had struck successfully.
"The past isn't as important as the future," Usagi said, her eyes downcast, her voice not quite as powerful as before.
Death Phantom chuckled. "You never cease to amuse me, Princess. You and your little girl ideas. Here you are, testifying and preaching to me! Me, the soon-to-be-victor! Your followers have been rounded up like cattle, will soon be killed, and you along with them. Yet you offer me the chance to join your side? I appreciate the offer, I truly do, but I have already chosen a side. The winning side."
"But you're wrong!" By now Usagi was weeping uncontrollably. Pity had metamorphosed into regret. Sorrow had turned a darker shade and was now despair. She wept with regret that Death Phantom had spat into her open hand of friendship. She had failed him, and for that she felt despair. "You're so wrong, Satoshi! This path you're on, it doesn't have a happy ending! Please. I've been to the future and I've seen the fate that awaits you! I've seen it with my own two eyes! I … I …"
…I killed you once. Please don't make me do it again.
Exhausted, she allowed for her words to trail off. She could think of no other words, no further arguments that could sway.
Death Phantom remained unmoved. "What a coincidence," he said. "For I, too, have seen the future - and you were nowhere to be found in it."
Then that's it, I suppose, thought Usagi sadly. What else can I do?
Nothing, an older, wiser portion of her mind reassured. Some people, you just can't reach. Some people are so proud they won't accept any kind of help, even if it means them falling blind over a cliff.
Yes. It made sense. That part of herself – the wise, logical part – usually kept itself hidden and did not make itself known too often. But on those rare occasions when it did offer advice, it was best to listen. It was a painful truth, Usagi supposed. A painful and difficult truth to come to grips with. A sad reality for many.
"Do you want to know the truth, Your Majesty? Do you want to know what I really think?"
Not really, Usagi thought tiredly. I've had enough truths for one night.
"I despise you," Death Phantom said simply, the words coming as no surprise to the one standing before him. "You present yourself as this tower of virtue, a pillar of righteousness – when in fact you're just as dirty and common as anybody else. Even your so-called friends think so. When I looked inside them, that's what I saw. On the outside, they present themselves as the loyal servants of the Moon Kingdom, but on the inside…" He snickered, clearly enjoying this. "It's a very different story. You have to peel back the civil layers of the mind to get to it, though. But it's there. There's a great deal of animosity brewing. Take the soldier of Venus, for example. She wants so much to be a star - an entertainer."
Laughing, Death Phantom waved a hand through the air, as if to dismiss the seriousness of such an ambition. "A childish dream to be sure, but her heart's true goal nonetheless. And that mousy little girl, the one representing Mercury, she wants to become a doctor! Two proud dreams, never to be realized. I'm sure it's the same for the rest of your team. I'm sure they all have their own private hopes and goals. But alas, they will continue to go unfulfilled. For they have given their lives to serve you. They made a vow to you once long ago, didn't they? A vow to discard their own desires and wants so that they could devote all their service to you."
Another fit of the giggles. "So Minako will never become a star. Poor little Ami will never get to play doctor. They're your slaves. There's so much more to them besides this Sailor nonsense. But they made a vow. A vow that they now regret, though they'd never admit as much. But I can tell you this: they resent you. Maybe subconsciously, but they do. They resent you so much."
Lies. All lies. Part 100 in a series. But… Usagi felt her lips tremble. Her mind began to wander dangerously. But if these were lies, why did they resonate so powerfully within her? Could it be that, maybe just this once, he was telling the truth? No. The man (the boy, Usagi amended) worked in lies – customized them the way a car enthusiast might modify an old jalopy into something sleek and gleaming. Sometimes when preparing his deceitful concoctions, he might take a notion to sprinkle in a bit of truth – mingling the two so perfectly that one became indistinguishable from the other. But in the end, all was lies.
They resent you. So much.
Hadn't she suspected as much? That very idea, that maybe she was stifling the ambitions of her friends, had crept into her mind on more than one occasion in the past. However it had proved a difficult topic to bring up. And with each failed attempt at breeching the subject, Usagi had shoved the issue aside, reasoning that if her friends were unhappy in their roles, surely they would approach her about it themselves.
And now her fears had been confirmed. They were her slaves. Their unfair servitude to her was choking the life out of them. Why, if it hadn't been for her, Minako might've become a star, Ami would've probably skipped the high school level completely and gone straight on to medical school and Mamoru would be in America, pursuing his own dreams of a career in medicine.
How many other dreams had she destroyed without even knowing it?
Usagi groaned.
The light of the Silver Crystal receded.
Death Phantom cackled.
(continued in Chapter Twenty-Four Part 2)