Cyber Moon: Chronicles.

Act 3: Dark Kingdom.

Episode 25: Exodus Again.

By Razor Knight

Last update: July 13, 2006

"Grim Edge!"

Dexite blocked the wave with his own energy blast, then blocked a slash from Sun with his sword. "Annoying little brats..."

"Aqua Pillar!"

"Storm Wave!"

The General staggered back as both attacks hit. A Twilight level attack wasn't enough to bring a General down, but it sure caused a lot of pain. "Okay kids, that's it!"

Saturn frowned. "His power's going up..."

"How do you know?" Uranus asked.

"Other than the thin black aura around him?" Sun muttered.

"That, and I've got weak psi skills," Saturn explained, her voice as unemotional as ever.

"Aqua Pillar!"

The pale man chuckled as the attack hit. It still hurt, but with the energy rush he was feeling, it didn't quite matter. "I'll show you real power!" As he shouted that, he punched the ground, creating a wave of energy that knocked the Senshi down to the ground.

Pluto frowned as she risked looking away from the two Generals she was facing. Dexite had somehow powered up, which meant even in Twilight level, her group would have quite a lot of trouble fighting him. She'd love to help them, but she wouldn't be able to until she'd beaten her own foes. "Tired yet?"

"Not a chance," Jadeite snapped as he charged at her, while Aurite gathered energy for an energy blast.

Upon knocking them all to the ground, the corpse-like man had taken on the two Twilight Senshi, and was right now fighting them both. Neptune was leaning on a wall, recovering her breath, while Uranus tried to resist Dexite's flurry of punches and kicks.

Sun frowned. He wanted to help, but he was quite out of energy, and the General was too strong. He looked up to see Pluto was still busy fighting two of those freaks, so there'd be no help from her.

He looked at his two friends. Their new power was amazing, even though Dexite was still on the winning side. If only he could... He frowned as he felt something in his mind, then smirked. "Playtime's over, Dexite."

The General turned to him as he blocked one of Uranus' punches and laughed. "What could a weakling like you do against me?"

"This. Sun Twilight Power!"

Dexite leapt away from Uranus, taking his time to recover and wait for Sun's transformation to end. Flames had surrounded him as soon as he'd shouted out his transformation phrase, and were still swirling around him, though they kept on inching closer to his body. As the flames touched him, they vanished. The changes in his suit were quite a show. His formerly golden boots were now trimmed white, as were his gloves, and his sword had a longer hilt, which looked like a golden dragon with the sword's blade pouring out of it's mouth, it's wings were spread out and served as the sword's guard. And like the female Twilight Senshi, the planet's symbol was drawn on his suit's chest.

Sun didn't waste time with speeches, instead aiming his sword at his foe. "Sun Gravity..." The blade glew white for a second before he tapped it on the ground, releasing an invisible energy wave. "Hold!"

Dexite gasped as the wave hit him, then laughed. "That didn't harm me in the least. You're still a weakling."

"And you're still braindead, if you can't figure out why that tech's name is 'Gravity Hold,'" Sun snapped.

As he tried to move, Dexite realized what Sun's 'attack' really did. "You brat, as soon as I get out of here I'm going to..."

"Problem is, you won't move unless I run out of power," Sun commented.

"Got any energy left?" Uranus asked.

Neptune shook her head. "I'm out of power."

Uranus frowned, then noticed Saturn wasn't moving. "What's the newbie doing?"

Saturn wasn't paying attention to them, instead trying to figure out how the others had powered up. She focused in that, leaving herself open for an attack, not that there was anyone around who'd be able to attack her right now. There, she knew what to do... "Saturn Twilight Power!"

"She learns fast," Neptune commented.

As her transformation ended, she stepped forwards, glaive aimed at Dexite. Her suit had suffered the same changes as Uranus and Neptune's, but the weapon was unchanged. "Time for the Senshi of Death to do her job," she said coldly.

"Hah! You can't defeat me, girl, I'm still stronger than you all!"

"You are not," Saturn snapped back. "You were dodging most of the blasts Uranus and Neptune shot at you, tiring them out until you could get them easily. You're as out of energy as any of us, only we don't bluff out of it."

Dexite glared at her. "Why you..."

"Let's see if you can resist one more strike," Saturn said as coldly as ever. "Keep in mind I most likely wouldn't be able to hit you if you weren't locked in Sun's attack... So I guess he's the one that defeated you, not me."

"I'll kill you, stupid ki..." Dexite's gloating was stopped by Sun, as he used his tech to slam the corpse-man through a brick wall.

"It's not just for keeping you in place, as you can see," the Dragon commented. "By the way Saturn, attack him before I run out of power, will you?"

"Was about to," Saturn muttered. "Saturn... Death Bolt!"

Uranus and Neptune gasped as a dark blast shot out of Saturn's glaive, piercing through the General's chest. Dexite didn't even have time to blink before vanishing. "She's strong..."

Saturn fell to her knees, dropping the glaive. "Tired..."

Sun leaned on a tree and sighed. "Finally, we got him."

"Well done, team," Pluto said as she walked to them.

"What happened to the other two?" Neptune asked.

"They vanished when they saw Dexite die," Pluto explained. "Guess they didn't want to take any risks."

"What happens now?" Uranus asked.

"I've been keeping an eye in Tokyo," Pluto said. "With the seven Rainbow Youma gathered, Beryl could summon the Shadow Youma to fight the Senshi there... Also, I know she'll want to focus her troops in that point, as the Tokyo Senshi have gathered most of the Ginzuishou shards."

"So, we go and help them?" Neptune asked.

"No. I've detected something else, an evil I can't yet identify, in Tokyo. It isn't anywhere near Juuban, so I could bet the Senshi there won't figure it out yet."

"You want us to go stop that evil?" Sun asked.

"No, just to investigate, and... Kage, Hotaru, you both need training, to improve your skills as much as Haruka and Michiru have the last few years."

"We were the ones killing Dexite," Saturn pointed.

"It was a team effort," Pluto said, "and you said it yourself, he was out of power by the time Sun got him."

Saturn frowned. "I see. So we're going to stay out of the Dark Kingdom battles from now on?"

Pluto nodded. "The Princess is already fighting against Beryl, even though for what I know, she still doesn't remember who she really is. "

"How can you know that?" Sun asked.

"Because if the Princess had awakened, Beryl's Generals would already be dust in the wind. In any case, Haruka and Michiru will go to investigate this new evil, while you and Hotaru go back with me and train for future battles."

"Why does Kunzite always have to interrupt our dates?" V commented angrily.

"I don't know, but I think we should kick his rear once and for all. "

V nodded at Ace, then looked around the wall they were hiding behind. Kunzite was searching the area, flanked by three cat-like youma. The only visible difference between the trio was their fur's color, it was red, blue and green respectively. "Here's the plan... I tackle Kunzite, you keep the youma busy until I'm done with him. "

Ace nodded. "Be careful."

"You too."

Kunzite smirked as the two heroes came out of hiding. "Finally."

"What are you up to this time around, Kunzite?" Ace asked. "Didn't drain anyone, just scared them off. That's just not your style."

"I would use my style if I didn't intend for this to be our final battle."

V looked around. The shopping mall they were at was large, but it's emptiness, even at daylight, was unnerving. "Let's see who beats who, then."

Kunzite leapt away from V as she charged, and one of the youma, the green-furred one, tried to tackle her. "Not this time, you'll have to get past one of them to get me," the General noted.

V punched the cat away, pointing her finger at it. "Crescent Beam!"

The cat-like creature dove aside, but as it stood up, it was clear V hadn't shot to kill. The Senshi was now running in Kunzite's direction. "I'll get that Senshi slut."

"Fireball!"

The fire blast knocked the cat to the ground. It stood up swiftly and noticed it's two lookalikes were also standing up. "Roshnyan, Azunyan, let's skin this little mouse alive."

The red-furred one nodded. "I like that plan, Vernyan."

Ace stood ready, waiting for their attack. As soon as they charged, he shouted "Teleport!" and the three youma ended up in a triple collision. "Didn't think you guys'd fall for that... You're quite stupid."

"And you're quite dead," the blue-furred cat snapped.

Ace dodged aside as it charged, slicing it's side with his sword. "Touche. Lightning!"

The other two cats flinched as their ally fell. "You killed Azunyan, we'll have to kill you," the red-furred one snapped.

Ace sighed as the cat run to him. "Shield." As the cat slammed head-first into an invisible barrier, he was already done casting another spell. "Ice."

Vernyan snarled at him. "You killed my brothers, human... That'll be your last mistake."

Ace smirked. "Go ahead, try like your friends did."

Vernyan laughed at him. "Not yet..." The bodies of the other two cat youma vanished, leaving black energy orbs behind. Both orbs entered Vernyan's body and it howled as it morphed. The cat grew in size to almost three meters, and it's formerly green fur was now black. "Human, Prepare to face Aronyan."

"Name's ugly, but you're uglier," Ace muttered. "Fireball!" The attack bounced off the cat's skin. "Okay, you might just be a little hard to defeat," he muttered before leaping aside as the cat's massive claw fell to him.

Meanwhile, V was trying her best to beat Kunzite. The General was as fast as usual, and without Ace helping her, she couldn't find a way to defeat him. From what she could see as she risked looking to the side, Ace had his hands quite full right now, as the three youma had seemingly fused into a single, large cat.

"What's up, Venus, giving up yet?" Kunzite snapped.

"I'm not... What?"

"Sailor V doesn't exist, you're Venus. And you're going to die today. "

"Just try," v snapped.

"Gladly," Kunzite snapped back. He started gathering energy and formed a shield to protect himself from V's attacks.

"Oh no, you won't!" V muttered. "Crescent Barrage!"

Kunzite cursed as his shield was hit dead-on by the laser rain, vanishing when the last few beams hit. A couple of them hit him, but that wasn't enough to bring him down. "Die, Venus!"

V gasped as a massive energy beam shot out of Kunzite's palms, then blinked as the attack didn't hit. Artemis was standing in front of her, a barely visible forcefield right in front of him. "Art?"

"It's good I decided to come check on you," Artemis said. "Tho I don't think I'll be able to stop another blast like that."

Ace frowned. He had to help V, but he couldn't until he got rid of the cat youma. He had tried all of his spells, and his sword, but nothing had worked so far. Actually, all his spells but one... "Okay kitty, it's time for you to take a catnap."

"Stupid jokes won't save you," Aronyan snapped.

"I know, but this will..." Ace focused in his sword, and it lit up with energy. "Demon Sword!" He slashed at the cat with the charged sword, leaving a deep wound behind, and the wound also lit up with power. "And here's where I run," he muttered as he rushed away.

The cat youma had time for one last painful howl before the energy inside it overloaded it's body, causing it to explode. "That was overkill," Artemis noticed as the whole building started shaking and small fragments of the roof started raining on them..

Ace shrugged. "We... Need to get out of here," he said weakly.

Kunzite laughed. "You won't." He shot an energy wave, not directed at his foes, but at the building itself, then vanished.

As the General appeared outside the building, he couldn't help but smile as it collapsed. "Ironic isn't it... All these months trying to kill Venus, and what killed her was her sidekick's magic."

With one last look at the now wrecked building, Kunzite teleported back to the Dark Kingdom.

Minutes later, a rat was running over the pile of concrete and steel that had once been a shopping mall. It stopped on a large piece of wall and sniffed around, looking for something to eat. The rodent leapt off it's perch as it started moving, turning as the wall segment was sent flying away several meters, and coming face to face with an angry-looking white cat.

"Boo," the cat said, and the rat dashed off. "Well, this is really a mess."

Venus was checking the damage. A scar in her left leg, a wound near her right elbow, and her suit was a mess, and had cuts all over. "Ace?" she called out, not getting any answer. "Oh no..."

"Gust!" came the muffled shout from under a pile of assorted debris, which was all sent raining over the area as Ace weakly stood up. "Mina, I'm sorry..."

"About what?" Venus asked.

"I almost kill us all," Ace noted.

"But now, Kunzite thinks we're dead," Artemis said, "and will surely tell that to the other Generals."

"And that's good because...?" Venus asked.

"If we stay in a low profile for a while, we could go help the Tokyo group when they need us, and suprise the youma."

"That's a plan," Ace said as he checked his own wounds. There was blood running down his right leg, a cut over his left eyebrow, and he could barely move his sword arm. "I think I'll need a few healing spells after this."

"What the hell was that?" Artemis asked. "I've never seen you use something as strong..."

"It's one of the Demon Hunters' strongest spells... And one that is better not to abuse, as it requires a lot of energy."

"You don't look tired," Venus said.

"I know... I added a drain spell to it, fed off that cat thing..."

"A human draining a youma... Strange irony," Artemis muttered.

"So, off to Tokyo we go!" Venus said and walked away, not waiting for the others.

"Artemis..." Ace said once she was out of hearing range.

"Yes?"

"I know you don't quite like me, and I'm not going to ask you to like me... But try not showing it so much in front of Mina."

Artemis shrugged. "Boy, it's not that I didn't like you, it's that I didn't think you were strong enough to protect Minako when she needed to..."

"You 'didn't'?" Ace noticed.

Artemis nodded. "In a way, you saved Minako back there. She was running out of energy while Kunzite wasn't even sweating. And after that display of power you gave us..."

"So... Friends?"

Artemis shrugged again. "Maybe. One thing though... You hurt Mina, I'll hurt you."

Ace nodded. "Fair enough, Art."

Artemis blinked. Everyone was calling him that nowadays... Worst thing was, he was starting to like the nickname.

A/N: Kunzite never read the Evil Overlord guide. As for the U. S. group, Haruka and Michiru will be investigating the Mugen Gakuen ('Infinity Academy') while Saturn and Dragon Sun train for a while.
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is a creation of Naoko Takeuchi, and I thank her for creating such wonderful universe.