HIII! We're the Amazoness Quartet, and we're finally going to get to introduce a

chapter!

Yup! It's awesome, you see last time Reichmann Gyro did something evil and

everyone was going to fight him in Tokyo and...

What do you mean we're done?

Well FINE, we didn't want to do your stupid recap anyway!

C&A Productions Presents

A Work of Blatant Self-Insertion

Hybrid Theory

Chapter 28: Reanimation - B Side

The sound of water dripping surrounded Nabiki as she opened her eyes.

There was a clock here, an elaborate series of gears and springs that was

powered by the steady fall of water droplets. One per second, each marking out

the slow, inevitable passage of time.

"So, what do we do now?" Nabiki asked the woman next to her. Sailor

Pluto was also looking at the clock. Her expression was melancholy, her soft red

eyes seeming to not really take in what she was seeing.

"You could try..." Pluto waved her hand at the sword Nabiki was

carrying. Nabiki looked down at it, belted safely to her waist again. Her hand

hadn't withdrawn from the hilt since Pluto had returned it. Nabiki had nearly

laughed when the Senshi had given it back. A few minutes earlier, and the 'deal'

with Link would have been a moot point.

When you really thought about the timing, it seemed like too much of a

coincidence. Link's attack on Nabiki, Ryouga taking the sword, Ukyou's talk with

Link, Ryouga's confrontation with Hotaru... they all happened in such a precise

order. Pieces of a puzzle fitting together in ways that were only obvious in

hindsight. Accomplishing little changes that added up to world-shaking events.

When Nabiki had first felt Pluto and the others return from the void in

the undercity of D-Point, she had immediately scanned the Senshi's mind to find

out what had happened. Akira's mind was as annoyingly off-limits as it had been

since her 'union' with Ukyou in the Oversoul, and Nabiki was not about to touch

Ryouga's mind without his permission. But Pluto was a person she could sneak her

way into without being noticed.

After seeing what had happened in the undercity chamber, Nabiki wished

she hadn't. "I... I tried." Nabiki looked down at the sword, her lips curling.

All her effort to save this last wish, and it did nothing but fail when she

needed it most. "Hotaru and Chris, they're both beyond my ability to effect at

this point."

"I thought as much," Pluto replied with a sigh. "To think, he could

accomplish so much..."

Nabiki nodded. "I know. He erased the last twenty-four hours from the

mind of everyone in the city, including Tethys. I mean, I could do that, but the

sheer scale of it..." Nabiki shook her head. "Chris makes what I can do look

like nothing."

"Yes." Pluto adjusted her grip on her key staff. She held it almost as

protectively as Nabiki did the Wishing Sword. "I think he actually reversed time

around here. He didn't just repair the damage caused by the fight, he erased it

retroactively."

"Great, so he can manipulate time, too," Nabiki grumbled.

"There's only one person who can deal with him," Pluto said, turning to

face Nabiki.

"Yeah." Nabiki looked across the chamber. The room was a masterwork, a

titanic indoor plaza built as the very hub of the City of Black Ice. It was

three levels tall, with concentric tiered balconies arrayed around the great pit

in the centre. The pit that extended down into a darkness lit with flashes of

rainbow lighting. Down that pit was the original D-Point, where the few youma

too violent to join Tethys' kinder, gentler Dark Kingdom still lived. Nabiki's

layman estimate figured that Tethys could fit most of the population of the city

in this plaza. From the way people were gathering, she guessed that was exactly

what the Dark Queen wanted.

Opposite them, all the way across the chamber, were Ukyou and Akira.

Akira looked surprisingly healthy for someone who had just been bleeding from

every orifice not a half-hour ago. Pluto and Seras had been forced to carry her

out of the undercity, but now she was back on her feet and looking almost none

the worse for wear.

Except for her eyes. Akira and she had passed each other briefly while

they were heading to this meeting. Akira had looked the same as always, except

that there seemed to be something behind her eyes. It was small, and unless you

knew the woman very well, you might have missed it. But there was something

strange and alien there now. It sent a shiver down Nabiki's spine.

As soon as Ukyou had returned from the surface, Akira had grabbed her

and dragged her off to the most private corner of the plaza she could find.

Nabiki very much wanted to know what they were talking about. Unfortunately,

they were both quite successfully blocking her. But then again, there were a LOT

of people here. It was a bit of a chore, focusing on so many people, using them

to filter the sound of the room out. But it was within her abilities. It was a

trick Nabiki had discovered to allow her to operate without alerting a nearby

zoalord. Just tapping dozens of minds subtly and using their unified perceptions

to paint a picture of what was happening.

"...going to stay behind trying to heal something that can't be healed,"

Akira was saying.

"Akira, I can't stand..."

"What, the thought of me getting hurt?" Akira replied sharply. "Get used

to it. I'm not a china doll. I fight. I hurt. I bleed. If this is going to be

any kind of relationship, you need to get used to that."

"It's not that..." Ukyou looked down. "If you died fighting some monster

or some psychopath, it would hurt. I... care about you a lot. But I could accept

that, I think. I can live with it. But every time I use the Third Circle, I'll

just hurt you more. The Paradox I generate doesn't go away. It pollutes, it

corrupts..."

"It'll do that whether I'm with you or not," Akira reminded her.

"Indeed." Ukyou placed her hand on the wall. "I can't avoid it, Akira.

Not after what Link told me. If what she said is true, and I find it

frighteningly easy to believe, then I'm going to have to use the Third Circle

again. In fact, I'm going to have to push it more than I ever have before."

"What did she tell you?"

Nabiki perked up.

"I... it doesn't matter." Ukyou waved her hand. "It doesn't really

change anything. Either I'm going to have to face Chris, or Hotaru, or the

Nameless itself. I'll need the Third Circle to stand a chance."

Akira paused. "You think it'll be easier if I'm not there."

"Akira, I-!" Ukyou cut herself off.

"If I'm there, right in front of you, screaming and bleeding because of

what you're doing, you're afraid you can't go through with it." Akira crossed

her arms. "You could kill me, and if it comes down to a choice between that

and..."

"I'm not certain I can do it," Ukyou murmured.

"Get over it," Akira snapped. Ukyou looked up sharply.

"Akira, you're not developing a martyr complex..."

"NO! Do I look crazy?" Akira grabbed Ukyou's shoulders. "I've almost

died twice today. In the last hour, I was almost wiped out by Hotaru, and my own

stupid bravery. I very, very much want to live!" She looked down. "Heck, you're

lucky I didn't grab you and strip off your clothes like a wild animal right

there in front of everyone."

"I..." Ukyou paused. She quirked an eyebrow. "Really?"

"I..." Akira blushed. "We'll talk about it later, okay?" She took a

breath. "Because there IS going to be a later, for both of us."

"You know... when you say it..." Ukyou reached up and wrapped her

fingers around Akira wrists. She pulled the taller woman's arms down and cradled

them against her chest. "I almost believe it."

"Don't 'almost' anything," Akira snapped in mock-anger.

Ukyou laughed. "Yeah, you're right." She leaned forward, placing her

forehead against Akira's, making the other woman blush even deeper. "If it

comes down to a choice between your life, and something even worse... I'll just

find another way."

"Any idea what that will be?" Akira asked softly.

"No. Not a clue." Ukyou was still laughing. "As far as I know, it's

impossible."

Nabiki pulled herself back to the core of her own being again. She

allowed the walls between herself and the Oversoul to rise. Maybe it was best to

give them some privacy. Pluto was looking at her.

"Is she ready?"

"No. Probably not." Nabiki shook her head. "But how can anyone be ready

for this? Are you?"

Pluto chuckled grimly. "No, I suppose I'm not. Seven years I've had to

prepare myself for these last moments." She looked down at the pouch at her

side. "Can you feel it? Can you feel what Hotaru is doing?"

Nabiki nodded. It was almost like a wound in the Oversoul, if such a

thing was even possible. Nabiki had been wondering ever since she had regained

her powers why it felt so familiar, and she had finally but it together while

listening to Ukyou and Akira talk. It was exactly like the void that had been at

the centre of Lotus Infinite. It was a all-consuming nothing, an aberration

against everything that was natural. She could feel it, distantly, but growing

closer.

Someone was drawing it closer. Someone in this world. Gyro. Whatever he

was doing, it was feeding it. He was drawing it closer to the world with each

passing second. If he wasn't stopped, if Hotaru wasn't stopped, then it would

burst free from the confines of the land of dreams and enter the physical world.

And then...

"If Hotaru manages to pull Oblivion free, it'll be too late," Pluto

answered Nabiki's unasked question. "It's been building in Elysium for years,

ever since the last battle in Tokyo, when Akane sealed Pharaoh 90 in the space

between worlds. Now it's come full circle. Reichmann Gyro is gathering the power

of Chaos in that city, right beneath the hole Akane sealed. If the power grows

too great, he'll pop the barriers between worlds like a soap bubble. At that

point, Hotaru can allow Oblivion unfettered access to the physical universe."

"So, all we have to do is go down there, prevent Reichmann Gyro from

gathering any more power, follow Hotaru into a world of dreams and nightmares

and fight her at the heart of HER power, all while still worrying about Chris

interfering at any point he feels like it?"

"That about sums it up." Pluto rubbed her forehead. "The worst part is,

I don't think any of us stand a chance against Hotaru at all. Not you or Ranma

or Tethys will be able to stop her. In the undercity, we had her overwhelmed

with sheer power and she still won..."

"It wasn't your fault," Nabiki cut in quickly.

"I never said..."

"You didn't have to." Nabiki tapped the woman's forehead. "It's oozing

out of your subconscious like swamp gas. You can't blame yourself for what

happened down there."

"I COULD have ended it. I could have destroyed the Star Seed-"

"So?" Nabiki frowned and drew her blade free a bit. "You think that

would have been the end of it? Don't you find it convenient that this sword just

happened to be down there, when you had the 'last' chance to avert the Prophecy?

I bet if you'd gone through with your threat, I'd be short my final wish right

about now."

Pluto had no response to that. Nabiki sighed and pushed away from the

wall. "You can't think of yourself as a puppet, Pluto." She walked through the

crowd to the railing, leaning against it. Across the plaza there was a stage

that floated in mid-air, directly above the pit. "I've learned a lot of things

about the human soul since I made my wish. There are things I know that would

frighten people. If they knew how small, how fragile their being was, how much

all of them are connected... How EVERYTHING is connected, it would terrify

them. But the most frightening thing of all I've learned is how strong we are.

"I can invade your mind, and rewrite your entire memory. I can use your

body like a marionette. I can learn all your deepest secrets. I can do almost

anything I want. But I can't change your SOUL. I can't change YOU. That thing,

that small fragile little piece of the cosmos that is the only thing that

separates you from a rock or a gust of wind, is the most powerful thing in the

universe. I can't destroy it. Bison couldn't destroy it. I don't even think

Chris can destroy it. Not with a million Kalias.

"You're the first person I've ever said this to, because it's too

humbling. But I think I've been humbled enough. I think there is only one thing

sacred in all creation, and this is each and every soul. So even if Fate is

trying to push you around like a pawn on a chessboard, you have to realise that

there is something in you, something precious, that can NEVER be changed."

For a long time, Pluto did not respond. Nabiki turned, to see what the

woman had to say. She could have picked it out of her mind, but for some reason

she found the thought distasteful. Then she came to a sudden stop, her eyes

widening.

Ryouga looked back at her. His eyes were sunken, his face more than a

little pale. She gulped and looked him up and down. His body was covered with

scars, hundreds of them. His sleeves had been torn off his shirt, and the scarf

he wore around his neck had vanished. Aside from his face, he looked like a

roadmap of pain. For a long moment, he just stood there staring at her. She felt

her heart speed up.

"Ryouga..." she breathed. How long had he been there? She hadn't even

felt him approach.

"Ryouga!" Ranma called, bouncing over. He landed next to the slightly

taller man, grinning from ear to ear. "You're looking good as new. Man, having

your arm chopped off must suck, huh?"

Ryouga grunted. Ranma grabbed his arm and started probing it with his

fingers. "So, what's the secret, old pal?"

"I am not your 'old pal'," Ryouga informed him, pulling his arm away.

"Then as one martial artist to another, how do you do it?" Ranma slid up

and pushed his face in close to Ryouga's. "The putting your arm back on thing."

"It's not a martial arts technique," Ryouga replied coolly. He looked

over Ranma, towards Nabiki. "Why don't you ask her how to do it?" He smiled.

"She can 'help' you."

Ranma looked at Nabiki, his eyes narrowing. "No offence, Ryouga. But

Nabiki is as likely to help me as I am to grow a second head."

"Thanks," Nabiki replied dryly.

"So, whatcha say you help me out?" Ranma smoothly returned his attention

to the eternal wanderer.

"Just leave me alone, Ranma," Ryouga snapped. He started pushing away

through the crowd. "I don't even know why I came here..."

"Hey!" Ranma ran after him. "Come on, Ryouga. Don't be such a stick in

the mud. We're getting ready for some genuine heroing here. A one hundred

percent pure battle against no-nonsense no-grey-area evil. Don't tell me you're

going to miss out on that?"

"Do you practice being this annoying?" Ryouga yelled.

"Yes." Ranma grinned. "Now, come on, I'll introduce you to this guy

Skullomania. He's a hoot..." Ranma wrapped his arm around Ryouga's shoulder and

dragged him away. Nabiki watched until they vanished from sight. She released a

breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

"You've got it bad," Pluto said.

"Yeah." Nabiki looked at her. "If only figuring out what to do about him

was as easy a problem as Chris and Hotaru." Pluto chuckled. "Hah. I knew you

were still capable of laughing."

"I guess so," Pluto tossed her hair. "I think I've made a decision,

Nabiki."

"A good one?"

"A very risky one," Pluto replied.

"Well, welcome to the club." Nabiki tilted her head to the side. "Though

you should tell me later. It looks like our host is about to make a speech."

OoOoO

Tethys did not appear in front of them in a burst of magic. She did not

float out of the sky, nor rise from the ground like a phantom. She was capable

of all these things, but she chose not to do them. Instead she walked to the

floating platform, up a spiralling staircase made of impossibly delicate-looking

ice. She walked to the centre of the room like a mortal.

Nabiki could feel the crowd respond. They knew how powerful Tethys was.

She had demonstrated her power for them sufficiently. Now, they saw her as a

woman, a mortal that walked with them. The feeling passed through the crowd like

a fire. It was a silent awe, a respectful silence that infected the entire

crowd.

Suddenly Nabiki realised the truth about Tethys' power. It wasn't in her

magic, or her tricks. It was here, in this room. It was in every person in the

room. Nothing sinister or fiendish. Nabiki could feel the people's devotion. It

united them.

While other powers in the world had concentrated on personal power,

Tethys had been gathering a nation. They had made themselves gods. They had

created weapons of men. They found the special people and elevated them ever

higher. But Tethys had done none of that. She had scoured the world, finding the

lost, the disenfranchised, the hurt and the weak, and she had created this

nation.

Nabiki gripped the guardrail tightly as she looked out across the plaza.

It was full of Tethys' people. It was her nation, forged from the scraps thrown

away by the rest of the world. It was her army. It belonged to her through bonds

of trust and faith and loyalty that Nabiki wouldn't have thought possible before

coming here.

When she reached the centre of the room, Tethys stretched out her hands

to call for silence, though it was hardly necessary. Everyone was paying

attention to her. All of Nabiki's friends and every citizen of the city; human

and youma and Senshi and other things.

"I will not waste words pandering to your emotions, or trying to candy-

coat what I am about to ask you." Tethys' voice carried all over the room. It

spoke without echo or intense volume. She sounded like she was standing right in

front of Nabiki, speaking directly at her and her alone. "I am going to ask you

to die."

A murmur went through the crowd, but it was short-lived. Tethys brought

her arms down slowly, and the murmur died off in time with the gesture. She

frowned. "For seven years, we have made this land a sanctuary. In this city we

have existed apart from the pointless war and bloodshed. This can go on no

longer. There comes a point where people can't hide anymore. Where we have to

risk our personal safety for the safety of the world. There is a responsibility

we have to the world, no, all creation. A responsibility to stand up and be

counted."

Tethys' platform slowly rotated, allowing her to take in the entire

room. "Far south of here, in the city of Tokyo, a madman has gained great power.

He wields it like a hammer. Witness the extent of what he is capable of..."

Tethys gestured and the room darkened.

In the air above them, an image formed: light reflected and refracted by

a multitude of crystals, tracing together to form a hologram. It was a picture

of an immense sea, seen from far up in the atmosphere. The land around it was

dry, full of great hills and mountains. The Red Sea; Nabiki managed to pick the

information from the many minds around her. It was the centre of Arkanphel's

'Project Noah', the master plan that Chronos had turned its attention to for the

last seven years. Nabiki herself only knew a few things about the plan, but the

main thing she knew was that it involved space travel.

As the crowd watched, a flaw developed in the image. At first Nabiki

thought it was a distortion in the view, but then she realised that it was

happening inside the vision. The air was twisting, like a lens or mirror

swirling the image so everything beyond it seemed to twist and distort. Slowly

the distortion collapsed, forming into a tiny ball of darkness surrounded by

crackling arcs of blue lightning. The sea began to writhe beneath it. Great

gouts, waterspouts dozens of meters across, began to spiral free of the surface

and surge up towards the tiny ball of darkness. More and more spawned, growing

and multiplying until there were thousands of waterspouts, some over a hundred

meters across, rising into the sky. A great shape ripped free of the sea, and

Nabiki realised it was a ship.

Only then did she get a sense of the true scale of the image. The ship

looked like a child's toy. It was long and organic, looking like something more

at home in those places of the ocean where there was no light than in the air.

There were things, tiny dots racing across its surface frantically. Nabiki

realised with a sick fascination that those were people, more accurately

underwater-form zoanoids, desperately clinging to the surface of the ship for

salvation. As the ship rose, it was like a great hand grabbed it and began to

squeeze; large sections of the hull collapsed inward as the entire thing began

to implode under the pressure of its own weight.

More ships began to be wrenched free of the water. An entire armada.

Nabiki could only stare open-mouthed. The tiny ball of darkness seemed to pulse

once, twice...

Then it exploded.

The image slowed down, so they could all see every nanosecond of the

devastation. Everything near the orb was thrown back violently, shredding into

ribbons by the sudden reversal of forces. The water vapourised into a cloud of

steam that boiled out in all directions. The entire sea. Billions of liters of

water, gone in an instant. The ground distended downward, the surface cracking

apart with great red lines. A geyser of molten lava erupted from the centre of

what had once been a sea, rising nearly two kilometers into the air. Smaller

geysers began to appear at random, racing out from the central pillar in all

directions like some demented version of a starscape.

And as the image drew back, and back even further, Nabiki could see the

devastation. Entire mountain ranges, entire nations torn apart by the shockwave.

What had once been Saudi Arabia and Egypt were swept clean. The blast reached up

into the Mediterranean, sending great tsunamis across to the southern nations of

Europe. It devastated much of northern Africa and nearly all the Middle East.

In its wake it left a crater nearly two thousand kilometers wide.

Nabiki felt her knees giving out. She clutched to the guard rail, trying

not to fall. Others near her were not so strong. Many were weeping. Others

vomiting. Some were praying.

Ukyou's face had gone pale, her eyes wide. Akira held her from behind,

but her eyes were closed and she was looking away. Ranma looked somber, his blue

eyes having lost some of their cheerful glow. Ryouga's fists were clenched, his

jaw working angrily. Pluto was the only person who didn't look surprised.

The image faded away, the lights coming back. "That is the power of our

enemy. Reichmann Gyro is strong. Stronger than me. That single strike... the

world will be feeling the ramifications of that for eons. Make no mistake when I

say that this is the horror which we must fight now."

Tethys drew everyone's attention back to her with a gesture. "Make no

mistake, many of you will die. But I do not intend to lose this. Powerful he may

be, but Reichmann Gyro is still mortal. He can be defeated. WE can defeat him."

She looked around the room. "And we will not be alone. The heroes of Japan will

fight with us. And those I have allied with over the years will come to our aid.

Even now I appear to them, to gather up all our power. Because we must strike

now. Gyro's power grows with each passing second, and he wishes to test that

power against Arkanphel and his former comrades. Trust me when I say that the

battle he wishes is not one that we, that anyone on Earth, will survive.

"So we will give him our battle. Our war. I understand if you don't wish

to go. There are ships within this city. I can send those of you who fear what

is coming away. There is no shame in running."

For a moment, Tethys looked straight at Akira and their eyes met. Nabiki

couldn't help it. She launched her mind forward, piercing into Tethys' mind like

an arrow. There she saw it. The truth.

Tethys was willing to die for this. She was willing to die to defeat

Gyro, and Chaos, the force he served. Nabiki absorbed all of Tethys' great plan,

her mad, suicidal plan to end all war in the universe. And she saw the one

weakness in that plan.

Desire. The desire of one human soul for another. The yearning that

every human soul had for another. It was intrinsic to the human condition. From

the Oversoul we are born, Nabiki knew, and to it we will one day return. In

between, we all strive to capture some small memory of that unity, that perfect

togetherness. For a moment, Tethys had found that unity. She had found love.

It would have destroyed her. That was why she had turned against Akira.

That was why she had made the girl hate her. Not out of malice, but because to

undertake her plan she could not afford to be human. She could not afford to

care about anyone, or anything. Because if she loved anyone, then in the end she

might not be able to give up everything. Then, Chaos would win. And to Tethys,

that was worse than any other fate.

Tethys looked at Nabiki and made a dismissive wave at her brow. Nabiki

felt her trying to force her out, and allowed it. She lowered her head as Tethys

continued.

"Seven years ago I set out to learn what it was that humans fight for.

And I found it. We fight for each other. We fight to survive. We fight for what

we believe in. We fight because it is our nature. Choose the answer that most

pleases you. But when there is no other choice but to fight or to die, I choose

to fight. Not just against Reichmann Gyro, but against all the things like him.

All the mad demigods that would use our world as their battleground.

"In their struggles with each other, they have walked over your lives.

They have destroyed your homes. They have slaughtered your families and driven

you into exile. But you preserved. You rebuilt. You made new homes, here. You

made new families, here. You found something worth fighting for, each other. So

you wish to give up, just because he is so powerful? Will you sell everything

you have made here so cheaply?

"Or will you fight?"

The roar from the crowd was deafening.

OoOoO

Akane placed her hand against the clear crystal wall and stared out. The

sun was dipping below the horizon, turning the curve of the planet into a

brilliant pearlescent egg. It looked so small from up here. The mountains and

forests and plains vanished into tiny blurs, the oceans and seas were glittering

and huge. White clouds swirled beneath them, thick and thin they ran. It was

breathtaking.

"Why hasn't anybody noticed this?" she asked.

Chris chuckled. "Because I didn't want them to," he answered. He walked

up behind her. She didn't turn around and look at him. She couldn't. She

couldn't look at his face. She couldn't look at that horrible empty eye. Her

hand wrapped around the hilt of the sword Katsuhito had given her.

"You tore an entire mountain out of the earth and placed it in orbit,"

Akane continued slowly.

"Yes." Chris paused. "Perhaps a bit ostentatious, I admit. But I suppose

I can be allowed a few affectations. Besides, this isn't just for my benefit,

its for theirs as well."

Akane turned and looked to where Chris was gesturing. They weren't what

Akane had been expecting, these people in white lab coats and glasses. They

looked like scientists, doctors, and philosophers; not fanatics and apostles.

Then again, what HAD she been expecting? She'd never really given much thought

to Chris since their last meeting in Tokyo. Even after Washuu had begun to tell

her a bit about what he was doing, Akane had not really wanted to be part of any

movement against him.

But these people did not look insane. They looked more rational and

composed, truth be told, than the kind of people that Akane had been associating

with in the resistance. When Chris had arrived back at his hidden base in

Luxembourg, the residents had barely batted an eye. A few had approached him to

give reports on various projects and forecasts they were tracking. He had

responded to them with a few brief words and simple instructions. Then he had

made certain that Akane and Angel were taken care of for a few moments as he

proceeded to the centre of the base.

His voice had rung out across the entire structure. Akane was certain of

it. He had said only one thing. "I am going to raise us into low Earth orbit

now." Which he did. Akane had no idea how large the complex was, but she stared

as she looked out a nearby viewscreen and watched it tear loose from the earth.

It had been built under an abandoned city, which shattered and toppled away as

the massive metallic base floated free from the grip of gravity.

What struck Akane was how unaffected the people in the base were. It

wasn't that they didn't notice. Even though there was no shaking or the

slightest bit of turbulence as they levitated majestically into the sky, Chris

had set all the viewscreens through the complex to display what was happening

outside it. No, the people noticed, they just accepted it with a casual ease

that made Akane shiver.

To these people there was no need for awe and worship. They knew Chris

was a god, as he claimed. There were no sudden conversions of the doubtful,

because there had been no doubtful among his flock. And yet...

Akane looked over to the other side of the room. Angel was sitting with

a red-haired woman, holding her hand and talking softly to her. From what Akane

had gathered, the woman's homeland had just been devastated by the massive

explosion she had seen out of the observation deck less than a half-hour ago.

And she wasn't the only one. More than a few people here had been horrified by

Reichmann Gyro's casual display of wanton destructive power.

But with a smile and a chuckle Chris had informed them that it was 'not

a problem' and would 'soon be taken care of', so the people here had soldiered

on. Some of the men and women in this complex displayed looks of stoic

disinterest they were using to cover their sadness. In other words, they were

acting like human beings.

Akane almost wanted them to be mindless fanatics. She wanted them to be

automatons, or monsters, or something. Because if they were it would have made

that gnawing doubt in the centre of her gut go away. She would have been able to

safely say that Chris was very much a monster, that no matter his power or

aspirations he only accomplished evil ends. But Akane had been given a tour of

the facility while Chris was 'busy' with other matters.

These people genuinely believed they were working towards the greater

good. She had seen them working on projects that she barely understood, but that

did not look malevolent as far as Akane could tell. There was an entire lab

dedicated to finding cures for biological superplagues, another dedicated to

averting natural catastrophes and on and on. In fact, most of the staff seemed

to be busy at the moment dealing with the aftershocks of Gyro's explosion. How

much more devastating would the blast had been if these people, with their

frighteningly advanced technology, had not stepped in to stop the natural chain

reactions?

There was no doubt about it; Akane had watched them working, and had

seen it happening. Watched Chris occasionally step in when a problem was too

large for them to deal with. They stopped the earthquakes from spreading across

the globe, they stopped the chain reaction of volcanic eruptions that would have

made the Pacific "Ring of Fire" a less poetic description. As horrible as the

devastation was, without Chris and his cadre working from up here it would have

been much worse.

"Angel," Chris said, turning to face the young woman. Angel turned to

him, her expression perking up. "Would you take Petra out for a while?"

"I..." Angel paused and looked at Akane. Akane stared back, unsure what

the other woman was thinking. Finally Angel nodded and wrapped her arm around

the distraught redhead. The two walked down the spiral staircase in the centre

of the observation bubble Chris had created shortly after he had placed them up

here at the top of the world.

Chris gestured and the staircase sealed up behind them. Only then did he

return his attention to Akane. "I know what you're going to ask."

Akane had no idea how to respond to that. Her mouth was dry. She reached

up to her shirt pocket... except the Star Seeds were gone. One stolen by Kalia,

the other lost back at the City of Black Ice.

"You're wondering why, if I can do all this, if I could stop Gyro's

attack from wreaking an environmental catastrophe that the world might never

recover from, if I truly have no limits... why didn't I just stop him in the

first place? Why didn't I keep all those people from dying?"

"Yes..."

He nodded. "Of course. I understand, Akane. It's not that I don't care.

I do. But I can't do this for people." He turned, staring out the crystal dome

of his observatory into the vastness of space. "I don't wish to stand here, atop

the world, and rule it. I don't want or need to be worshipped. I already have

all the power I need - I can do anything. But what would it mean if I did?

"I don't believe in mindless subservience to God. When you look to a

higher power to solve your problems, you stop working to solve them yourself. I

could reach out and stop Reichmann Gyro easily. I could repair the damage he did

and bring everyone back to life just as I did in the City of Black Ice. But then

I'm taking on the role of God, Akane. The saviour, the protector. I could erase

the memory of the event, I suppose, but even then I'm still protecting them,

shielding them. And if I do it now, why not again? Why not every time? Should I

let nobody die? Ever? I could, you know. But I won't."

He placed one hand on the transparent surface before him. His dark red

hair fell back as he craned his neck back, staring off into the universe. "I

don't want to save humanity. I want it to save itself. I want more Ranmas. I

want more Akiras. I want more of you, Akane. I want people to fight their own

oppressors. This universe put humanity in a bad position, but I know they can

rise to overcome the challenges, and not rely on any god to fight their battles

for them. They need help to get there, yes. And in the meantime, and even

afterwards, many will die. But you know about that, Akane." He half-turned,

affixing her with his good eye. "You've learned the costs. You know that

sometimes you have to fight, to kill or to die, to do what you know is right.

I'm going to let as many people as possible learn the lessons you did. But if I

just step down and save everyone, then what is 'right' is just what I want. Look

at Angel. She's a good girl. I care for her deeply. But she's not what I want

humanity to become. I want them to be like you, Akane. Like Ranma. Like Akira.

That's why I can't save them all, though I'm sorry for it."

Akane still couldn't look directly at his face. Instead she looked at

the hand he had placed against the clear wall. Beneath them the sun was sending

out its last brilliant rays before slipping beneath the horizon. "So this is

what you meant, this is the 'perfect possible future' you told me about?"

His lip turned up slightly. "Allow me to show you something."

Chris waved his hand and images began to form in the impossibly

delicate crystal walls. They were flat, like television programs, but incredibly

detailed. At first there were only two, one of a man standing atop a tower in

the centre of Tokyo. Except Reichmann Gyro could hardly be called a man now: his

entire body seethed with elemental power and his great black wings beat at his

back with abandon. His horned head sported a smiling, inhuman face. The other

image was of a woman. She sat on a throne of crystal in a place without walls or

floor. She wore golden armour, cut at sharp angles and with a skirt of golden

slats, over skin the colour of volcanic glass. Her red eyes stared out from the

shadows that had covered the upper half of her body. A partially silhouetted man

with green hair whose face Akane could not make out but that struck her as wrong

somehow stood behind her throne. The woman was clutching the arms of her chair

tightly.

"This was not our agreement, Reichmann," the woman said. Her voice was

cold and tightly controlled. It was like a whip being wielded by an expert,

cracking and snapping with lethal and sudden force.

"Our agreement means nothing," Gyro said, his twisted smile becoming a

frown. "I learned of what happens to those who trust you, Lady Galaxia. I was

nothing more than a pawn to gather the Star Seeds and zoacrystals of this

planet." Then he smiled again, a vicious slash across his craggy features. "But

now I am a law of nature, Galaxia. Now, all the power of Paradox is mine. The

combination of Oblivion and Chaos, the primal forces of the universe, within

me!" He laughed. "Come, come to me, little Sailor Senshi. If you think you can

defeat me, do so."

"You presume much, Reichmann," Galaxia stood up. Her face coming into

view. It was a human face, but utterly black and with eyes like blazing coals.

"I gave you the power to defeat Sailor Moon. The Silver Crystal, and Arkanphel's

crystal, they belong to me. I WILL come to collect."

"So be it," Gyro said and laughed. the image suddenly snapped out of

existence. Chris looked at Akane. She was clutching her shoulders and shivering.

Gyro. The man who had killed her. It was hard to face his image, even as warped

as it was now.

"I intercepted this communication between them shortly after Gyro's

temper tantrum," he explained.

"Who is that woman?" she asked.

"Sailor Galaxia," Chris replied. "The strongest of all the Sailor

Senshi. Think of it like this, Akane. Each of the Senshi you know, Sailor Mars

and the others, represent a single planet. They carry within them the Star Seed

of that planet, and gain their powers through this. Sailor Galaxia is the Sailor

Senshi who carries the Star Seed of the entire galaxy." To demonstrate, Chris

waved his hand showing an image of Earth within the walls. Then as he pulled his

hand back the image zoomed out and out and out so quickly it was dizzying. Then

Akane was looking at the entire Milky Way, the whole of the entire galaxy. "On

top of that, she had gathered the Star Seeds of most of the other planets in the

galaxy. Her power is to any other Senshi as the entire galaxy is to a single

planet.

"And she is coming here. But that is not all..."

Another image, this time of a large room that was in shadow except for

the spotlights that came down behind the twelve seats of a large oval-shaped

table. Eight of those seats were occupied, but for the most part the

backlighting made it impossible to tell much more than the general shape of

them. Some of them Akane could only barely call human.

A man, long-haired and elfin-featured, stood at the front of the table.

He wore elaborate white robes like a Roman toga but with large metal

shoulderguards that flared out like wings. Akane had never seen Arkanphel

before, but she recognised him on sight.

"Gentleman, the situation is grave," Arkanphel explained, his voice calm

and assured. "Gyro has apparently made deals with forces outside of our

experience. His destruction of the Ark production facility signals his

intentions. I do not believe he will be satisfied with anything less than my

complete destruction." He paused. "It appears I was overly compassionate to

allow his previous indiscretions to go unpunished. But that is the past. Today,

we must defeat Gyro."

"My lord!" A bald old man with a long flowing beard stood up. "Let us

take care of this traitor. Amniculus' death must be avenged by the Zoalord

Council."

"Yes..." Arkanphel nodded. "But even your abilities alone will be no

match for him. I shall accompany you." He held up his hand. "We depart in five

minutes. Make whatever preparations you need before then."

"And so the participants gather..." Chris mused, waving his hand and

the image changed again. This time it was to a massive plaza in the City of

Black Ice. Tethys was giving a speech to her followers, preparing them to strike

at Gyro. Akane caught a glimpse of Nabiki standing on one of the balconies. Then

the image changed again. This time it was of a normal-looking office, an

American flag hanging from a pole in the corner. Two men were there.

One of them was Doctor Tofu. His companion was speaking into a phone.

More accurately, he was listening. He nodded a few times. Then he sighed. "Yes,

I understand, Mr. President." He hung up.

"Well?" Tofu asked. The other man was around Tofu's age but looked a

bit more worn out. He had brown hair and was taller than the doctor. He rubbed

his temples before responding.

"About what we expected," the man explained. "The President wants no

interruption to the timetable. In fact, he wants us to speed things up."

"That's insane!" Tofu shouted. "That explosion killed millions, maybe

even billions of people! Our fleet is halfway across the Atlantic..."

"But the S.T.A.R.S. fleet is almost within striking distance of Tokyo,"

the man continued. "Like it or not, the President is right. With the collapse of

Shadowloo and Millennium, the return of Sailor Moon and this recent explosion,

Chronos is reeling. If Operation Foxfire is to have any chance of success..."

"Redfield, with all due respect, we have a duty to the world. This is a

humanitarian crisis. The destruction to Europe will be unimaginable. We need to

return the fleet, deploy the graduates there performing damage control..."

"You trained soldiers, Tofu!" the man barked, banging the desk with his

hand. "They need to do what soldiers do. The plan has always been to try and

take Japan first. Now, now all we can do is pray."

"Pray to who?" Tofu asked, his voice suddenly tired.

"Whatever gods are listening."

This caused Chris to chuckle. He waved his hand and the image faded

away. "And so, all the great powers gather. In the end, I expect Gyro to

destroy them all, and then do battle with Arkanphel. Who wins will depend on how

much Gyro is bled in the coming battle. It will not matter, however. Galaxia

anticipated Gyro's treachery. She knows he cannot win against her. How could he?

He is tainted by Chaos. He is destined to lose. She, however, defeated and

sealed Chaos within herself. Galaxia has no such flaw in her character. She will

watch. Whomsoever wins, she will destroy them, and then she will destroy the

planet. She will strip everyone on it of their souls, of their crystallised

Destiny, and will march forward to conquer the universe." He smiled. "Or would,

if I were not here. Someone will arise from the ashes of the great battle.

Someone will unify the remaining defenders and lead them against her and her

forces. Someone will destroy Galaxia and save the universe for a generation.

Someone will become the shining hero that ten thousand years from now will still

be a figure for the weak and downtrodden to aspire to.

"I want that person to be you, Akane."

OoOoO

Tethys' office was an island of serenity in a sea of chaos. Her little

speech had certainly motivated everyone in the Dark Kingdom. Watching the people

here prepare for war made Ukyou feel vaguely uncomfortable. Mainly because she

was certain this was foolish. The power Gyro had now, the sheer destructive

force he could wield, was beyond anything an army could defeat.

"You think this is a fool's quest," Tethys said from behind her desk.

She was looking at the monitor. Aaron could have read the text reflected in her

eyes, but chose not to. If she wanted Ukyou to know what she was reading, she

would tell her. Pluto and Akira came in behind Ukyou, exchanging glances. Ukyou

had invited Nabiki along, but the woman had demurred.

"I think a lot of them are going to die," Ukyou replied.

"You're right." Tethys looked up. "Unless... you think you can do it."

"It?" Ukyou frowned. "Use the Third Circle? No. I can't. Not... not just

like that."

Tethys' smile was icy. "Then I suppose we mortals will have to solve our

problems the only way we can."

"That's enough, Tethys," Akira snapped.

The Dark Queen's eyes flashed as she looked at Akira. "Do you have a

better suggestion?"

"Please..." Pluto stepped between them. "This isn't the place."

"Why did you want to talk to me?" Ukyou put in before things could

degrade further.

"I didn't." Tethys looked up. "But someone else did."

Ukyou raised an eyebrow. The only person Aaron hadn't sensed at the

gathering had been Seras. But the young vampire wasn't here. He frowned and

narrowed his eyes. He could sense another life force nearby. It was tainted with

the whispers of oblivion, something inhuman. It was very familiar. "Who is it?"

Ukyou asked, though she was already afraid she knew the answer. It would be just

like Chris, to send a messenger...

"No need for theatrics," Tethys said with a smirk. She waved her hand

and one of the shelves moved aside, the wall behind it fading away into mist. A

young woman walked out of the mist. Ukyou staggered a bit, surprised. The young

woman was pale-haired and skinned. Her eyes were inhumanly gold. She wore a

yellow cloak. She looked almost nothing like Angel, being thin where Angel was

toned and angular where Angel was curved.

"Vampire," Akira announced. Aaron was forced to agree, though there was

something strange about her. The girl seemed almost exactly the same as Angel.

Her aura was almost indistinguishable. Now that he could feel it directly, he

could tell the difference. But Akira was looking confused. Her own perceptions

were probably good enough to pick up the similarities, but not so keen they

could spot the subtle differences.

"Not by my own choice," the young woman said. She bowed slightly. "My

name is Nanami Kiryuu." The name was familiar, but Aaron couldn't place it. Some

anime character or another, he suspected. "I've been chosen to guide you."

"Guide?" Pluto asked.

"To your battle with Hotaru."

"I don't intend to fight her."

"As you say..." The woman bowed again. "But that doesn't change my

purpose."

"Did you have any part of this?" Akira asked the blue-skinned woman.

"Me?" Tethys shook her head. "No. I found her awake in my dungeon." She

gave Ukyou a mocking smile. "By the way, next time you feel like springing one

of my prisoners, I would like to be asked first."

"We'll see." Ukyou turned to Nanami. "So what is this about you guiding

me?"

"Hotaru is awaiting you," Nanami explained. "She has set herself at the

very centre of Elysium, the World of Dreams. It is there that the Well of the

Void exists, as much as it can be said to exist. I am one of the few people who

has ever been to Elysium, and without a guide you will never make it through the

realm to the destined meeting place."

At this point she looked at Pluto. "As you already know, even that will

be impossible. No mortal can survive in Elysium. Time there is meaningless. Any

person of mortal descent who enters Elysium will vanish like mist as their body

ages epochs in seconds, or is torn apart by the stress of the phantom winds..."

"I am familiar with Elysium," Pluto returned stiffly. She was clutching

the bag at her waist again.

"What happens if I don't believe you?"

She shrugged. "This isn't a threat, Ukyou. I'm not a monster sent to

fight you. I'm not an obstacle. I'm just a girl who was thrust into a situation

she didn't want, just like you. I was visited by the former guardian of Elysium

when he fled the destruction that had been unleashed on his homeland. He had

hoped that together we could find a way to reverse the problem.

"But before I could start, Chris tore out my soul. I spent two years in

a coma, trapped in a fate worse than death. But while my soul was ripped from my

body, I learned things. It talked to me, Ukyou."

"It?" Ukyou's knuckles went white.

"The Nameless. It told me what had to happen."

Ukyou took a long few moments to process that. So far, this was playing

out exactly as Link had predicted. Was it true? Was this all really about HER?

"What does the Nameless want?" Ukyou growled.

"You." Nanami held out her hand. "It wants YOU. More than anything else.

I hung there for two years, trapped in the space between living and dying. I

felt it. It's... it's indescribable, Ukyou. It's so pure, so pure and awesome.

The Nameless is truly infinite. Infinitely powerful. Infinitely passionate.

Infinitely merciful. Infinitely vengeful. But one thing I felt, one thing I have

been aware of ever since Chris tore my soul in two, was that it wanted you. That

it wants YOU to confront Hotaru. That everything comes down to that moment."

Tethys, Pluto and Akira all looked at Ukyou. She closed her eyes. So

this was it. The moment where she and Aaron made the choice. Face their Destiny

head on, with eyes open, or don't. They could battle the Nameless' plan with

their last breath, struggle against everything it was. Or they could play along.

Let it get what it wanted until there was a chance to turn things around.

But what if that never happened? Neither of them wanted to claim that

stray thought, but once it was there it was hard to dismiss. If Link was right,

and nothing Ukyou had seen could disprove her, then the Nameless was the next

best thing to omnipotent. There might never be a chance to get the better of it.

It might not have made a mistake she could exploit. So the choice was between

facing an impossible battle, or hiding from it.

Akira slipped her hand into Ukyou's. Ukyou squeezed it and looked into

her lover's eyes. Then suddenly she realised something. This was how it would

end. The universe's fate did not hang on the edge of a blade. It would not be

made by a great battle. It would not be determined by a pretty speech. The

world's fate was not a puzzle to be solved, or a mystery to be unravelled. It

was this, right here.

One decision. One decision by one person. That was the fate of the

world. That had ALWAYS been the fate of the world. This decision. And the next.

And the next.

"How do we get to Elysium?" Ukyou asked.

OoOoO

"God, I love having my powers back!" Fevrier said, grinning from ear to

ear. The dust from the wall she had just punched in was still settling.

"Wait, up until Sailor Moon restored Marz you were limited to the powers

of being a superhuman acrobat with enhanced strength and the ability to shoot

guns really well," Mamoru pointed out. He was still adjusting the engine. Who

would have thought that Mamoru had such skills? Then again, if she recalled

correctly from the extensive files Mars and Satsuki had compiled about his life

and that she had just happened to catch a glimpse of and certainly hadn't

studied intensively, he did use to drive a motorcycle before meeting them.

"Yes," Fevrier snorted. "And I see where you're going with this. But you

see, the difference is that now I am a more POWERFUL superhuman acrobat with

enhanced strength and can shoot guns very, very well!" To demonstrate, she

pulled a handgun from her holster and hip-fired it at the blockade three hundred

meters down the road. Not only did she hit the C in the painted Chronos sign

dead centre, the otherwise mundane bullet created a hole nearly a meter wide

through the fifty-centimeter-thick concrete barricade. She also did so in a

flash of motion so fast that human eyes could not possibly have perceived the

motion. "Ohh, I almost forgot the simple thrill of wanton destruction."

Mamoru was sweating a little bit. "Marz, have you gotten any responses

yet?"

"Yes, Mamoru dear," Marz said with a smile. Mamoru smiled back at her

and Marz made a point of adjusting her blue hair back behind her ear. Normally,

Fevrier would have been annoyed with such flagrant posturing, but she found it

impossible to be angry at her fellow ex-Doll now. The overwhelming joy, the

sheer physical euphoria of discovering that Marz wasn't dead hadn't worn off

yet. Heck, the two of them and Satsuki would have still been celebrating if

Marz hadn't insisted that they needed to take care of more important things.

Fevrier sighed and adjusted her gun belts. It just wasn't as fun unless they

could tease Mamoru about it, anyway...

"I haven't managed to get in touch with everyone, but most of them

responded," Marz said, turning her attention back to her laptop. Her fingers

flashed across the keys, as quick with her keyboard as Fevrier was with her

guns. "They are all making their way to Tokyo."

"Is there really anything we can do?" Satsuki piped up. She was sitting

in a shadow. Her skill had returned with a vengeance as well, now that Sailor

Moon had 'healed' them all. In fact, she blended in with the shadows so well

that she had to actually try not to vanish into them now. "Reichmann Gyro..."

"Is going to threaten the entire world," Mamoru growled. "The entire

zoanoid force left." He pointed to the deserted blockade. Chronos had

constructed it within minutes of their ill-fated attack on the city being

rebuffed by Sailor Moon. Up until a few hours ago, there had been thousands of

zoanoids and a small but considerable number of hyper and neo-zoanoid models as

well. It was an entire army, one that could easily have crushed the city beneath

its heel. But now it was empty. The entire army had deserted their posts without

so much as a word. "And we've seen the reports Marz managed to intercept. Gyro

is a menace to everyone. He has to be stopped."

"You may have your powers back, but that doesn't mean you aren't still a

wuss." Fevrier growled. "Satsuki's right. We should think about this."

"What's there to think about?" Mamoru frowned and crossed his arms. His

sniper rifle was strapped to his back, the barrel pointing up above his

shoulder. "Can we come up with any plan that can help us? Is there any strategy

that will give us a chance against this kind of power?"

"This isn't like when we fought Thancrus!" Fevrier roared back. "We

should get in this bike and head for the mountains..."

"You don't mean that," Mamoru said to her.

Fevrier clenched her fists and turned to stare at the city of Ohtori.

She just wanted to be away from this place. Away from all the bad memories. Away

from the life that Bison had taken from her. Away from the promise of a normal

life. Away from watching a city burn because of their arrogance. Away from

collapsing sobbing over a gravestone. But it had all been made better. Sailor

Moon's power, when she had revived Marz, had restored them all. Marz was alive,

Mamoru had his magic back and the ex-Dolls were all at peak strength again.

Better actually. The last seven years of training had improved them, after all.

"We're going to get ourselves killed," Fevrier said.

"Yeah, we probably are." Mamoru grabbed her chin and pulled her face up.

"And I'm sorry."

"Sorr-" Then he cut her off by pulling her in and kissing her. At first

her eyes widened. Then she snapped her arms around him and pulled him in deep,

purring, drinking him in. He stiffened, obviously not expecting such a response.

Well, he hadn't been paying much attention then, had he? She wasn't satisfied

when she released him, but she did release him.

He fell to his knees, his eyes wide. "Wow."

"No fair!" Marz cried. "Why does Fevrier get the first kiss?"

"Well, I just sort of..." Mamoru was cut off by Satsuki sliding up next

to him without any of them noticing and deciding to get her own taste in. Marz'

eye twitched as the kiss deepened. Where Fevrier had been strong and constant,

Satsuki's was soft and came in many parts. It was as elusive and as mysterious

as she was. Finally Satsuki released Mamoru and turned to her sister.

"Uhm..." Satsuki blushed. "I..." She grabbed the back of Mamoru's head

and pushed him forward. "Here. Your turn."

"Hey, I'm not a thing!" Mamoru protested.

"Oh shut up," Fevrier snorted. "You started this. You finish it."

Marz nodded sternly and lifted him up. She perhaps acted the most

traditionally of the three, allowing Mamoru to be the lead as he embraced her

and slowly tilted her back for a long deep moment. It was Mamoru and not Marz

who finished up, allowing the giggling girl to get back to her job.

"I'm sorry I never did that sooner," Mamoru said simply. "Consider this

my promise. If we get out of this fight alive, I will no longer hold back with

you three."

"What's this 'if', wuss?" Fevrier grumbled.

"Excuse me?"

Everyone turned at once, Satsuki had her blade halfway out of its sheath

before the newcomer even had a chance to finish talking. The woman's eyes

widened behind her golden opera mask and she backed up a step. Fevrier holstered

her handgun when she saw who it was. V, also known as Minako Aino. The

travelling companion of one Ranma Saotome, and a noted expert in the

extermination of vampires and other undead. An 'ideologically compatible but

unassociated freelance metahuman', as Marz would have put it. Or, as Mamoru

preferred, 'one of the good guys'.

But that didn't mean Fevrier had to like her. In fact, she pretty much

thought the woman was an arrogant bitch. After Marz had... gone, it had been up

to Satsuki and Fevrier to help hold Mamoru together. The loss had almost torn

him apart. And while he had been suffering, this woman had been ranting at

Sailor Moon, the person who had ended all the fighting. The person who had

brought Marz back. Fevrier may have holstered her gun, but she kept her hand on

it. Satsuki also kept her palm balanced on the butt of her sword.

"Minako," Mamoru said stiffly.

"Mamoru..." She looked him in the eyes, but her body language said she

wanted to look away. "I need your help."

"What makes you think we're-" Fevrier started but Mamoru cut her off by

holding his hand in front of her.

"Let her say her piece."

Fevrier seethed, but kept silent for a moment.

"You are going to Tokyo, right?"

"Yes. Gyro needs to be stopped."

"I need to go too." Minako's voice was growing in strength with each

word.

"Why?" Fevrier barked.

"You have to stay here," Marz said. She alone, of all of them, did not

look angry. She walked towards Minako. "Your place is here, stopping what's

going to happen."

"No. I have to find and save Sailor Moon," Minako said, her voice hard.

Marz considered that. "And Tokyo was the last place she was seen

alive..." She lowered her head. "This isn't supposed to happen this way."

"I don't care." Minako threw her hand to the side. "No matter what

happened between us, Sailor Moon... Usagi is still a good person. Misled, yes,

but that doesn't mean she deserves whatever fate she's fallen into. I have to do

what I can to help her." She looked at them all. "I have to."

Mamoru looked back at her. Slowly, he smiled. "Okay. You can come with

us. Though it might be a tight squeeze."

"What? You're not serious!" Fevrier shouted at him.

"She's right." Mamoru looked at them all. "Once upon a time, I was her

defender. I lived to protect Sailor Moon. Now, you three are what I live for.

But this is the least I can do."

"I suppose I'll have to redo the calculations again," Marz said with a

sigh.

"Calculations?" Minako asked in an almost frightened tone.

"Yeah." Fevrier stepped aside and revealed their transportation. "It's

going to be a bit of a squeeze."

"Where did you get that?" Minako breathed.

"Some old abandoned rich person's house," Fevrier said with a shrug.

"I meant the vulcan cannon attached to the handlebars."

"Some questions are better left unanswered," Marz replied ominously.

OoOoO

Chaos.

It seethed across the city like a visible force. Everywhere they had

gone, there had been more chaos. Humans transformed into mindless engines of

destruction. First had come the rains of black lightning. Strokes of brilliant

oily light that passed through buildings and vehicles without pause. Bolts that

unerringly sought out humans, striking them down. A few at first, just enough to

give the initial survivors enough time to panic. Then more and more, until it

seemed the sky had unleashed an unending cascade.

There had been over fifteen million people living in the greater Tokyo

area, and Cologne would not have been surprised if there had been exactly one

lightning bolt for every single one of them; no more, no less. Thankfully, the

Quartet had shielded them from the assault. It had required all three of the

still functioning Amazon Stones to hold off the barrage of black lightning, but

they had managed.

For a few minutes they had walked through an eerily quiet Tokyo. The

girls couldn't teleport them out of the city while there was so much chaos in

the air, so they had been forced to walk. Having to carry around Frederick's

unconscious body had slowed them down. Not to mention that Cologne herself could

barely walk. Her vision kept fading in and out if she put too much weight on her

injured leg. She was fairly certain that the wounds she had taken were far more

severe than she had initially thought, but she didn't want to let this on.

The girls had enough to worry about. The walk through the bizarre

mausoleum that had once been Tokyo had been short. The bodies scattered across

the streets had all been alive, Cologne could feel their life forces, but they

were also shattered. Black gems, diamonds the size of hen's eggs, hovered above

the bodies. Then, all at once, the ground around the bodies had erupted with

black tendrils.

Inky vines had wrapped up each of the bodies, cocooning them in a few

seconds. Cologne had felt the terrible need to start running, but where was

there to run to? Then the cocoons had receded, and they had been left surrounded

by nightmares. Thousands of them, wild-eyed screaming monsters that had once

been human and were now grim parodies of themselves. No, not thousands:

millions.

So they had run. The individual creatures had been no match for even an

injured Cologne or one of the still magically empowered Quartet, but there had

been far too many to fight. They needed a place to hide.

Unfortunately, those were in short order. They had been forced into a

skyscraper, and engaged in a running battle up the stairs. The magic of the

girls helped, allowing them to block off many of the creatures' routes to them.

Finally they had been forced onto the roof, and there they had remained. The

girls had done something to the door, preventing any of the creatures from

following them up to the roof. This had, unfortunately, left them with an

excellent view of the rest of the city.

Chaos.

Without any humans to turn on, the mad creatures had turned on each

other. Cologne could only stare down at the streets in horror. They were killing

each other, tearing each other apart. Their clownish attacks should have been

comical, which made Cologne feel all the more unnerved by it all.

"What does Gyro want?" Cologne said.

"Who cares?" CereCere said tartly. "We have to get out of here. We can

run. Run and hide. Get away from him."

"Run where?" JunJun said brusquely. "Run where, CereCere?"

"Anywhere but here! Across the planet! Across the universe! Until we are

far enough away!"

"We can't fly out," VesVes said. "Not with the old man in this

condition." She turned to PallaPalla. "Any change?"

"No..." PallaPalla held a wet rag over his forehead, dabbing away beads

of sweat. "I can't see anything wrong with him. He just won't wake up." She

looked at Cologne. "He is going to wake up, right?"

"Palla..." Cologne trailed off. She could lie to the girl. It was what

she wanted to hear. She wanted to hear that everything was going to be alright.

That this all hadn't been for nothing. But Cologne had no answer to that

question. She had no idea if things were going to be alright. Gyro had played

them all for fools; him, and the forces allied with him.

They had played Cologne, played the Amazoness Quartet, played the

entire world. And for what? Cologne wasn't certain she would survive without

medical attention. Frederick was still unconscious, and showed no signs of

waking. PallaPalla was helpless, and the other girls were scared, truly scared,

for perhaps the first time in their lives.

"I don't want this!" CereCere screamed. Her head was lowered, her palms

pressed over her ears in a childish attempt to keep out the shrieks and crashes

from the city below.

"There's nothing we can do..." Cologne started to say, but CereCere cut

her off with a sob.

"It's not fair! Everyone is in pain. Everyone's hurting. Mr. Purgstall

isn't waking up and you're hurt and PallaPalla lost her magic and the entire

city is being destroyed..." She raised her head and tears were pouring down her

face, her eyes were quivering and her mouth was twisted with grief. "And it

hurts! It all hurts!"

"CereCere..." Cologne blinked.

"All of you are hurting and it makes me hurt, too!" CereCere clenched

her hands helplessly. "I care! I care, a... and it hurts! I don't want to care

anymore! I don't want to hurt anymore! I want suffering to be funny again!"

"I don't think it works that way," JunJun replied softly.

VesVes bit her lip and looked away. PallaPalla just continued dabbing at

Frederick's forehead. But there were tears in her eyes now, too. Cologne's mouth

opened slightly. She suddenly felt something... something warm and pleasant

inside her. The heat burned up from her heart, up her cheeks and out of her

eyes.

"Now you've gotten the old hag crying!" VesVes said accusingly to her

pink-haired sister.

"No... no, VesVes," Cologne gasped. "It's... it's okay."

"But tears are bad," PallaPalla said softly. "They're what happens when

you're hurt." She brushed at her eyes. "I don't want to cry. I don't want to!"

"Sometimes tears are good, girls," Cologne said. But how could she

explain? For seven years she had been around these girls, and not once had she

ever seen them care, truly care, about someone other than themselves. It hadn't

stopped her from loving them, which she could now admit to without hesitation.

But she had always felt secretly sad that these girls would never truly know

what it was to be human. That they would be children, innocent and cruel by

turns, forever.

But this...

Even in the centre of all this chaos, it made Cologne proud.

OoOoO

The monsters started down the highway. They cackled and crowed, leapt

and cavorted. Their bodies were like something out of an insane circus. Twisted

parodies of human forms. A single sedan sped ahead of them. Noizi Ito was at the

wheel, her hands gripping the steering wheel as if it were a life preserver in a

stormy sea. She hadn't wanted to be attacked by monsters today. In fact, she had

just hoped to return to Tokyo for the day and retrieve her art supplies.

But fate had other plans. She had been just outside the border when the

black lightning had come. She had hid while the unnatural weather had raked back

and forth across Tokyo. When she had finally had the courage to get out from

under the seat, the city had gone quiet.

'Too quiet', her mind had unhelpfully filled in for her.

She knew then she should leave. Leave quickly. Leave NOW. Of course, the

car had refused to start. Noizi used to be a fan of horror movies. The really

bad ones with all the cliche plots. The kind that used to be produced in America

about men in hockey masks or with chainsaws and so on. She had a large

collection of bootleg copies that would probably get her fined if Chronos SecOps

found out about them. But as she sat there, desperately turning the key and

pushing the gas pedal over and over again, she swore she would burn them herself

if she got out of there.

The car had started up just as the first tendrils of darkness had

erupted from the ground to encircle the people caught within the city. She

reversed, her eyes widening as she watched the... things emerge. One young

police officer had driven right into the city as soon as the barrage had ended.

He had been bravely doing CPR on one of the bodies while calling for backup. He

had tried to run, but the things were upon him in seconds.

Noizi would never forget that moment. With adrenaline-fuelled strength

she had kicked her car around, spinning it almost perfectly in place while still

backing up at top speed. She could hear the screech of the tires, smell the

burning rubber. She jerked the stick into forward and pushed the pedal to the

very literal metal.

Looking in the rearview mirror had been a mistake. The things had

snapped their heads up like dogs scenting prey. Then their faces had split in

perverse grins and they'd loped off in chase. Noizi had managed to outrun many

of them, but there were a few that were very fast indeed. One had reached the

side of her car and began smashing at her door with its deformed paw-like hands.

Acting on instinct she had jerked the car into the thing, knocking it aside. But

she'd almost lost control. Worse, a few seconds later the cat-headed beast was

still after her.

Her eyes widened as she saw another one in the road ahead of her. This

one was big, almost two meters tall. He wore a black coat that flapped around

him, and underneath it he wore a navy suit. His face was scarred, one eye

missing. He frowned as she screeched towards him. There was no way for her to

turn. She screamed and clutched the wheel tighter.

He stepped towards her. Then up, his foot easily clearing the hood of

her car. It left a dent as he pushed off the hood and leapt up and over her tiny

sedan. She could hear him shout. His voice was deep, loud and full of righteous

rage. Noizi continued screaming but pulled on her wheel, sending the car into a

spin. She lost all track of space as everything whirled around her. She was in

full panic mode.

Then something caught her car. She felt it settle gently into

something's grasp, like a ball into a catcher's mitt. She turned and saw

something green pressed against her window. She screamed again. The green thing

backed away and a hand appeared. It was much too large for a human hand. It

fumbled at her door. She screamed some more. She hadn't thought to lock it. Oh

god, why hadn't she locked the door?

Then the door came off.

'Oh, it wouldn't have done any good anyway,' a part of her thought with

odd rationality. She screamed again.

"Sorry," a huge voice said. A face peered down. It was huge and round,

with a big goofy grin. "I'll fix it, okay?"

She screamed.

"Gan, you're scaring her!" a smaller, more nasal voice said from the

side.

"Oh... right." The huge man backed away. "You help her out, Edge."

A thin man wearing a bright purple jumpsuit appeared. He had blonde hair

pulled up in a set of spikes that rose almost thirty centimeters straight up off

his head. He squinted at her with one eye while he widened the other all the way

as he leaned into the car. "Hey lady, be nice and get outta the car, okay?" He

grinned, a manic grin. "It's okay. You're safe with us." He pulled his hands

from his pocket and he was carrying eight small black objects between his

fingers. "See?" There was a series of clicks and each of the objects sprouted a

thin blade. "Ain't no-one gonna hurt you with me around!"

She screamed.

"Edge! You're scaring her, too!" the big man's voice said.

"I am not, you lummox!" Edge shouted over his shoulder. "I'm comforting

her. You know, explaining the situation."

"I don't think you should have your knives out..."

"Do NOT dis the knives!" The little man waved the blades in a vaguely

threatening manner towards his companion.

"I'm just sayin-"

"EDGE! GAN!"

Something in that voice prevented Noizi from screaming again. She looked

out her car and saw the other man. He was standing further down the street, in

the middle of a crater that extended all the way across the eight lane highway.

Bodies of the circus freak monster people were scattered around him, obviously

unconscious. There were about three dozen more at the edge of the crater,

cavorting nervously. One of them stepped onto the shattered asphalt.

The man snapped his head around, his one remaining eye locking onto the

malformed creature. It gulped, a huge bulge working down its throat, then backed

up onto the undamaged pavement. The man turned his scarred face back to the two

next to her car. "Leave the poor woman alone." Edge and Gan muttered 'sorry' in

stereo and walked around the car and away from her. The scar-faced man looked at

her. "I'm sorry for my companions, Miss."

"No... that's okay..."

Now that was a MAN.

"I'd escort you out of the danger zone, but it appears there are more of

those beasts approaching. I fear that once they reach a critical number, their

bloodlust will overcome their good sense and I will be forced to engage in

punitive action." Noizi nodded up and down slowly. She was memorizing his body.

As an artist, she had a good eye for anatomy. This had the side benefit of

making it very easy to picture people naked.

"Edge, Gan, get over here." The man swept around to face the growing

horde of circus freak monsters. The two wildly different men ran up behind him.

The huge man had to be at least a half meter taller than the scarred one, and

built in a manner that would make champion sumo weep in envy. The little one was

bouncing on his feet, using a quartet of knives to comb his long punk hair.

"Let's teach these bullies how we deal with those who don't know how to

treat a lady," the scarred one said.

"Right, Daigo!" the skinny one cried. The big one just laughed and

stomped his foot, sumo style, so hard the ground shook.

"Daigo..." Noizi mused to herself.

OoOoO

"RAIJIN!"

Lightning sprang from the ground, erupting right in the middle of the

crowd of monsters. They scattered like ten pins, falling in all directions.

Hinata ran straight into the opening, her short brown hair snapping behind her.

Her body lifted up as she moved, spinning her legs out in a tight circle, then

again, then again. Flames burst from her foot, sweeping out and pushing the

carnival freak monsters back yet further.

Batsu came in behind her, sprinting with his hands cocked back. He

concentrated, pulling up his chi, focusing it in his fists. A half dozen of the

things had survived the first two assaults, and it was up to him to finish them

off. He came in straight, smashing an uppercut into the chin of a female

creature. This was followed by a quick sidestep into a backhand, levelling a

second beast. The next three were in a tight group, so he just pulled back his

hands and released his Kaiaken power wave with a fierce yell. The pulse of

compressed air hit them with the power of a runaway train, picking them up and

smashing them into a wall which shattered at the impact.

Kyosuke appeared behind him, slashing out with one hand and catching the

last remaining carnival demon. The blow was vicious, struck right to the thing's

neck. Batsu heard its bones snap before it collapsed. Batsu smirked and gave his

companion a thumb's-up. Kyosuke just adjusted his glasses with his index finger

and turned away.

"You let your guard down. That one almost had you from behind."

"Ah, what are you worried about? These things are nothing!" Batsu

exclaimed. He turned to Hinata, who was crouched in the street. They'd cleared

out pretty much this entire block, but she was staring down the road. A dozen

more of the monsters were pouring out of the buildings on either side of the

roadway.

"Maybe, but there are a lot of them," Hinata pointed out. She stood up

and adjusted her oversized karate gloves one at a time. "We have to get to the

Pillars. They're the source of all this madness."

Batsu shrugged and started down the street. "Yeah, but nothing's to say

we can't have a little fun on the way."

"Only if you consider killing innocent people fun," Kyosuke stated.

Batsu stopped and turned to the tall blond boy. Kyosuke was looking down

the street at the assembling mob of carnival demons. From the looks of it, they

were smart enough to gather together in large numbers before challenging the

superior martial artists. But Batsu had no idea what Kyosuke was talking about.

Sure, these things were humanoid, but they looked about as human as something

seen in a funhouse mirror. Their bodies were distorted grotesquely, often with

skin colours that ranged across the entire rainbow. Not to mention the fact that

their costumes ranged from the ridiculous to the outright insane.

Granted, Batsu had met Skullomania, but that was a special case.

"What are you saying, Kyosuke?" Hinata's orange skirt played along the

bottom of her thighs.

"Each of these monsters was once a human being." Kyosuke crossed his

arms. His expensive white suit wrinkled up slightly around his body. Batsu

snarled.

"Even so, that can't stop us," he said.

"You're right. But it means we have to get to Gyro." Kyosuke unlimbered

his arms as the creatures began to charge. "Needless fighting like this will

only weaken us in the end and do his work for him."

"Tell them that!" Batsu roared, and began to charge up towards the

approaching horde. He summoned his chi again, but not so much that it began to

seep into his aura. While allowing the energy to leak from his body did look

impressive, if he pushed himself too much the energy lost was extremely

inefficient in the long run.

Kyosuke and Hinata hesitated a moment, then followed him. Batsu smiled.

He knew that as long as his friends were with him, they couldn't lose. For seven

years, they had lived and fought as one. Forged again and again in the gauntlet

of Chronos. There would be no doubt among them.

Then a giant purple energy ball fell from the sky and smashed into the

monsters. Batsu scrambled to a stop, his eyes widening. The blast had left a

hole in the street nearly five meters across. Whatever had caused it had some

serious power.

Then something started shouting. Batsu frowned. It was too far away for

him to hear fully. He tilted his head back, and his eyes widened again.

He had seen a lot of zoanoids before, but this one was certainly one of

the strangest. It looked nothing so much like a giant minotaur, easily the size

of a city bus, complete with cloven hooves and bull's horns. But it also had a

tiny little tail that had to be an eel of some kind and what looked like a pair

of wings on its back. The wings were too small to possibly support the titanic

beast, but despite that it was hovering over them.

There was also a young woman on its head. She had long purple hair that

rippled out behind her in direct defiance of the prevailing wind. She seemed to

be posing and shouting something. But she was so far away that Batsu couldn't

make out a single word. Kyosuke and Hinata joined Batsu a moment later.

"Any idea what she's trying to say?" Hinata asked Kyosuke.

Kyosuke adjusted his glasses again and squinted his eyes. He crossed his

arms sternly and his entire posture became alert and tense. Then he sighed and

looked away. "I think she's telling the thing to fly lower."

Batsu and Hinata gaped as the woman began to kick and punch at the

flying minotaur's head, shouting and pointing at the ground. The thing snorted

in annoyance and began to lower itself to the ground. Finally it landed with a

loud crunch, its hooves digging slightly into the pavement. There were a few

carnival freaks around, but it took care of them with a few sweeps of its

massive arms. The purple-haired woman, who Batsu could now see was wearing a

pink and purple frilly outfit that looked more like it belonged on an idol

singer than a monster's rider, was still standing on its head. He could also

just barely see another person on the thing's back. A brown-haired schoolgirl

who was doing her best to hide from them.

"Fellow champions of justice, well met!" the girl cried out. "I saw your

dire peril and came at once to assist you!"

"Dire peril?" Kyosuke murmured.

The young woman spun, sparkling lights flaring around her. "Fear not,

for in this great age of darkness a trio of lights still shines! With the power

of friendship and unity we oppose the minions of chaos and oblivion this

day! Together, we can not hope but to succeed!"

"Oh man," Hinata rubbed her forehead. "It's another Skullo."

"SHE'S SO COOL!" Batsu crowed, clenching his fists with tears streaming

from his eyes. She was... she was... just like a real superhero! He wondered if

she could sing, too.

"Oops, we lost Batsu," Kyosuke said laconically.

Hinata looked at Batsu, back to the purple-haired woman, then back at

Batsu. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Hey!" She stepped in front of Batsu with

her arms extended. "What do you think you're doing here, anyway?"

"Why, joining you to fight the good fight." The woman preened. "Besides,

it looked like you could use a ride. Since this city is terribly full of

phages."

"Phages?" Kyosuke asked.

"The carnival monsters you face," the girl explained, her tone suddenly

grim. "Human beings with their star seeds removed and infused with the power of

chaos and oblivion. Though they're different than normal phages a little bit..."

"So you're offering us a ride?" Kyosuke folded his fingers together.

"Awesome! We get to ride that big ugly monster!" Batsu cheered. The

thing tried to smash him and Batsu barely managed to sidestep in time. The fist

was as large as he was, and had gone through the pavement like it was tissue

paper. The thing glared at him. "Hey! Get control of your pet monster, lady!"

"Oh, he's not a pet!" The girl waved her hand. "He's my boyfriend!"

Hinata gaped again.

"He's cursed," the woman explained.

"I see," Kyosuke muttered. "Well, never look a gift giant flying

minotaur in the mouth..." He jumped onto the thing's back. Batsu tried to

follow, but the thing glared at him so hard he thought better of it. Instead he

was allowed to sit near the thing's butt. Just as Batsu sat down, the thing let

loose a massive fart. Batsu choked and coughed, clutching at his mouth while the

thing laughed derisively.

"Bad!" The purple haired woman smacked the thing in the head with her

heel.

Hinata gave Batsu a concerned look, but she jumped onto the thing's

back, far away from the smell. Traitor, Batsu growled as he tried desperately to

wave away the stench. But Hinata became distracted from his predicament quickly

when she saw the other passenger. She blinked, her mouth forming a comical

little oh. She pointed.

"It... can't be... can it?"

Wait, now that Batsu looked closer, the brown-haired girl looked pretty

familiar. Also she looked a little old to be wearing a sailor suit. The girl

laughed nervously, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Heh. Long time no see, Hinata..." she trailed off, her face flushing

with embarrassment. "Long time no see."

"What are you..."

"I can explain!" the young woman yelled, holding up her hands. "I don't

even like these people! It's not my fault! Really!" Then she was clinging to

Hinata, wrapping her arm around the shorter woman's waist. Tears poured down her

cheeks. "Hinata! You have to save me! Take me away from all this!"

The monster was looking over his shoulder at them. It raised an eyebrow

and grinned.

"Pervert!" The other girl slammed her foot into the thing's skull. It

glared up at her. She pointed to her temple. "Psychic powers!" The thing

snorted. "Now, I believe the Pillars of Heaven are..." She looked around.

"Uh..."

"That way." Kyosuke pointed.

"Right!" The girl bounced. "Up, up, and away!"

"I'm going to ignore that," Kyosuke murmured as the thing began to beat

its tiny little wings. Somehow this carried them all up.

"Uhh... Kyosuke, a little help, please?" Hinata gestured helplessly to

the woman clinging to her waist, now sobbing and mumbling incoherently. Batsu,

meanwhile, was just busy trying not to fall off the minotaur's ass.

OoOoO

The last seven years had been a special kind of hell for Mamoru

Kusanagi. Despite the fact that he was perhaps the most powerful fighter in the

Resistance, Akane had refused to use him in most jobs. Especially the high

profile ones. In fact, he had been forced for the last seven years to play

little more than a glorified bodyguard. He just hung out with whatever loser

Akane thought needed protecting again this month, until Akane could get them

smuggled out of the country.

Of course, he could understand why she did it. Kusanagi might have been

a powerful fighter, but he admitted that subtlety wasn't his strong suit. A man

with green hair and orange skin stood out, even in a country with a growing

population of zoanoids. Combine that with the fact that he was the last

surviving aragami specimen, and that meant Chronos wanted him. Badly.

So he'd been forced to pretty much stay on his own, hiding in the

mountains and not getting involved in much action. Staying in the mountains...

with Momiji.

Now, there was something important that had to be understood. Kusanagi

loved Momiji. His puppy-dog adoration had only matured along with the girl.

These days, he found the idea of not waking up next to her breathtakingly

beautiful face such a foreign idea that he might well have reacted with more

shock to the prospect of the sun setting in the north. Maybe at first they'd had

a bit of a rocky time. What with his 'I loved your sister and killed her spirit,

condemning it to eternal oblivion' and her 'I'm a sixteen year old girl'

respective issues, but seven years was a long time.

They'd gotten over their personal hurdles.

No, what was really the issue here was that Momiji was dedicated to

becoming... special. Apparently being the Kushinada and having the ability to

sense and commune with aragami wasn't really enough for her, what with all the

aragami being destroyed or lost at the end of the last crisis in Tokyo. Kusanagi

had heard rumours of mitamas showing up other places in the world, and he didn't

doubt that the girl who had absconded with Susano-oh's broken god-seed was up to

something bad, but the fact was that none of it had ever affected him or Momiji.

Sometimes he wished it had. Then maybe Momiji wouldn't have felt that

overwhelming desire to develop her own superpowers. She'd tried everything.

She'd tried binding shikigami and other Shinto spirits after training with her

grandmother as a priestess. That hadn't taken. She tried developing her 'sixth

sense' and expanding her mystical awareness. Apparently that took a lot of

meditation and discipline that Momiji simply lacked. Akane had tutored her a few

times in martial arts before she began finding increasingly more strained

excuses not to. Momiji had even asked Fevrier and Koume to teach her how to

handle a bazooka once.

The less said about that, the better.

"Wait, wait, Kusanagi!" the woman pleaded. She was reaching into her

pouches. "I know I have something that will work! Just gimme a second!"

"Why don't I just blast them?" Kusanagi growled. He was leaning against

a building. The hordes of carnival monster freaks were coming in from every side

street, effectively blocking them off from any ground-based escape. Kusanagi

sighed and crossed his arms behind his head.

"Just give me one more second!" She adjusted her giant array of pouches.

Her 'combat poncho', as Kusanagi had come to call it, was perhaps the most

sublimely silly thing he had ever seen. It consisted of a loose bit of long

fabric that draped over Momiji's shoulders such that it looked like she was

sticking her head through an especially thin mushroom. The poncho itself was

made out of kevlar, with a wire mesh over the entire top of it. The mesh served

as the perfect thing to hook all the various pouches and boxes and other things

Momiji had picked up to. Inside each pouch was some crazy mystic object. Here a

magical knickknack, there a charm or talisman, there a Christian cross and right

next to it a set of Buddhist prayer beads. And a Star of David, a stone

inscribed with the Islamic shahadah, a voodoo doll and some contraption called

an 'e-meter' for good measure.

If it was in any way vaguely mystical and Akane hadn't found a better

use for it by now, Momiji was probably carrying it somewhere.

"Aha!" She held out a piece of chalk. "This will defeat them."

"Chalk?" Kusanagi gave her a flat look. "They aren't speaking up in

class, Momiji."

"You just watch!" She knelt and began to draw a series of diagrams in

the ground. "This is actually the ancient art of Alchemy. Using a series of

diagrams, I can transmute matter itself through a process known as 'equivalent

exchange' that will..."

Kusanagi lowered his arm and fired off a series of shots from the mitama

embedded in the back of his hand. The blows scattered the approaching freaks.

Momiji frowned up at him. "What? They were getting close." She muttered

something he couldn't hear and returned to her drawings. He shrugged. Sooner or

later she would catch on and he could just get her out of the danger zone. Then

he could really cut loose. He grinned in anticipation. That was going to be fun.

OoOoO

Cracker Jack had never liked Japan. Where Jack came from, the world

existed in a steady state of semi-corruption at all times. People got drunk in

the streets and started fist fights over hookers. The cops were on the take. The

politicians lied with smiles on their faces and everyone knew this. It still

made him nostalgic to think about.

But Japan was another matter. Everything here was so clean and sterile.

Except where it wasn't. Japan had this strange sort of deal going on where it

was expected that in public you were perfectly polite and happy and a productive

citizen. Then, in private, you got to tie your girlfriend up in leather straps

while your wife relieved herself on your back or something. Japan was a place

where you were either totally lily-white pure, or completely bugfuck crazy with

no apparent middle ground.

Jack always preferred the way of moderation, himself.

His bat cracked as it connected with the head of another of the

monsters. The thing flew a good hundred meters before vanishing into the side of

a building in a cloud of broken glass and concrete. He sighed and tapped the

weapon off on his boots.

Who was he kidding? He just didn't like being in the middle of a war

against alien zombie clowns. But that's what he got for hitching his wagon to

the new boss.

Rose was doing a remarkably good impression of Bison now, which made

Cracker Jack reconsider his plan to submit his resignation, effective the moment

he could get out of her line of sight. She was floating down the street, her

long brown hair waving behind her like a living thing. Her eyes were glowing so

bright you could barely make out the rest of her face. She was gesturing with

her hands, sort of like a conductor. When she did, the demon clown things died.

Some of them were thrown into walls so hard they shattered... both them

and the walls. Some were crushed by cars, others impaled on telephone poles.

Some of them just exploded, apparently when Rose just couldn't think of anything

more creative to do with them.

With a sigh she slowly settled to the ground, glimmering orbs of purple

light swirling around her. Her hair fell and the glow in her eyes receded until

he could see her baby browns again. Her expression was partly relieved, partly

disgusted.

"So, any reason you took me along on this little trip?" Jack asked,

walking up to her. "You seem able to handle them yourself pretty well."

"I am not Bison," Rose snapped. Then she immediately looked frightened

and she waved a hand over her face. "Forgive me. Sometimes my emotions get the

better of me. I have not been forced to wield my powers so intensely since my

reintegration with Bison." She looked away. "The effort is more taxing than I

thought it would be."

Cracker Jack shrugged and adjusted the brim of his hat. If she was going

to have some sort of identity crisis deal, it wasn't his problem. He'd just keep

an eye out for the inevitable breakdown and remember to make himself scarce just

before everything went south.

"The immediate area is clear."

Jack never jumped when Eidolon showed up anymore. Since the 'oldest' of

the Dolls could appear out of virtually anywhere, she had a habit of doing just

that. The thought that other people were concerned about things like walls and

floors apparently never really occurred to her. He turned slowly to look at the

young woman.

Rose had attempted to convince the Dolls to wear something other than

their skin-tight black catsuits, but thankfully without much success. Jack

concealed a smirk behind his hands by lighting a cigarette. He always liked

Eidolon. She was a full-grown woman, with the kind of shape that Jack thought

was pretty much ideal. The Doll looked at him and he swore she smirked a little

and arched her back just a bit.

Well, Rose had made it clear he could no longer ORDER them to sleep

with him. She hadn't said anything about asking...

"What is the situation?" Rose growled, crossing her arms and glowering

at the two of them. Eidolon snapped to attention.

"The other Dolls have secured the area for a five block radius. All

hostile entities in the area have been neutralised," she explained with

mechanical precision.

"Call the others back here." Rose turned to look at the Pillars of

Heaven. It was a rare section of Tokyo that did not have a fantastic view of the

massive towers. Eidolon nodded and vanished into a nearby wall in a flare of

purple sparks. "We're going to have to make a push for the Pillars now."

"Not the brightest plan," Jack said around his smoke. He tapped his bat

against the ground. "I doubt a Louisville Slugger is going to do much good

against a guy who can blow up entire oceans."

"Maybe, maybe not." Rose looked back at him. "But we can't risk that it

won't. The plan is simple. We attack Gyro as quickly as possible. If anyone can

get in a killing blow, then it's worth it."

"So we just throw ourselves at him like lemmings until one of us chokes

him with our corpse?"

"Perhaps put a little more crudely than I would have liked." The other

Dolls were showing up now; in teams of two they hopped and bounced over the

debris and came to settle in a rough circle around them. "If you didn't want to

play the role of hero, you shouldn't have chosen to be on the side of one."

"Heroes are cool," Jack said with a shrug. "Heroes get fame, chicks,

respect... all that nice stuff. It's martyrs I have a problem with. Specifically

being one." He looked at all the Dolls around him. "And these young ladies

didn't exactly get a choice in the matter."

"They can leave if they feel like it!" Rose insisted, a vein in her

forehead throbbing.

"And if you die?" He spread his hands. "They're still connected to your

life force..."

"Jack, don't push this." Rose snarled. "We need to be here."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I just... know. This is important enough to risk

everything for."

"Lady Rose!" the Doll called Noembelu called out. "There is a powerful

chi force moving towards us at high speed!"

Cracker Jack looked at the Native American Doll. She was already

unlimbering her hatchets and turning to face down the road. Noembelu was a

tracker. Bison had chosen her because of her sensitivity, and she had the

ability to hunt down just about anyone no matter where they went. If she said

there was danger approaching, he was getting ready. The other Dolls followed

suit. Rose looked somehow both annoyed and worried at the same time, but she

turned to face the same direction as the copper-skinned Doll.

Jack heard it before he saw it. It was the roar of a motorcycle,

straining past its breaking point. Then a plume of dust on the horizon, coming

straight down the centre of the street at them. The plume grew and gradually a

shape resolved itself in front of the dust cloud. Jack tilted up his hat

slightly, not certain if he could believe what he was seeing.

The bike was cherry-apple red, all smooth and glistening. It had an

attached sidecar and looked like it belonged to some rich kid who knew about as

much about motorcycles as Jack knew about legitimate finance. And there were

five people on that.

Wait, make that five people and an octopus.

A pink-haired woman was bent over the handle bars, grinning insanely.

She was steering with one hand while she manipulated a huge gun that had been

welded to the handlebars with the other. He could hear the deadly purr of the

weapon going off just under the roar of the motorcycle. A man was sitting with

his back to hers, hip-firing a sniper rifle behind them. A young woman with

brown hair was hanging by one arm and one leg to the right of the bike, opposite

the sidecar. She carried a sword in her other hand, which she was wielding with

deadly accuracy. The sidecar had two women crammed into it: one was facing

forward and clinging to a laptop computer with all her strength, apparently

shouting directions to the driver. The other was a woman in golden armour

straight out of a fantasy novel. As he watched she slashed her arm through the

air behind them, a ray of brilliant gold light following in her hand's wake.

And on top of the gatling gun welded between the handlebars was a tiny

octopus, clinging onto the barrel of the weapon with his eight little tentacles.

He was wearing aviator goggles.

They were surrounded on all side by monsters. And more kept joining them

every second. Jack, however, couldn't take his eyes off the three non-armour-

wearing women on the bike. It couldn't be... weren't they DEAD?

"Minako," Rose murmured. "Everyone, help the people on the bike. They

are not enemies."

The Dolls needed no other orders. Like a black, lithe and sexy wave they

poured forward. The driver of the bike spotted them, her eyes widening. She

turned the bike sideways, slamming on the break and burning off a few

millimeters of rubber as she screeched to a halt. She whipped an Uzi up that had

been slung around her neck to point at the oncoming Dolls. Her face had drained

of all colour and she was mouthing something to herself over and over.

Then the Dolls flashed past them and struck into the pack of demons. She

blinked.

Jack sauntered up to the bike. "Hey, Fevrier, long time no see."

"Cracker Jack..." The woman frowned. Then she pointed her gun directly

into his face. The muzzle felt warm against his nose. "I am NOT going back!" she

snarled.

"Cracker Jack?" Marz said, blinking and looking up at him. Her eyes

widened and she pulled her computer to her chest. Satsuki dropped from the bike

and landed in a fighting stance. The as-yet-unidentified man and woman turned to

face him, only reluctantly tearing their attention away from the battle going on

behind them.

Jack smiled. "It ain't like that anymore, babe. New management."

"I'll believe that when I see Bison's body," Fevrier replied sharply.

Colour was returning to her cheeks, but her eyes were cool and deadly.

"I'm afraid this will have to do," Rose said as she floated down next to

them. The five looked at her. The gold-clad woman frowned as she looked at the

new leader of Shadowloo, but it was hard to read her expression behind her mask.

"Minako, you're looking well."

"Do I know you?" the woman replied.

"In another life," Rose said, waving her hand. "I am Rose. Or what is

left of her. Or what Rose became..." She closed her eyes and rubbed her

forehead. "It is complicated. I am still trying to discover what it all means

myself."

"BISON!" Marz suddenly cried out, stumbling out of the sidecar. She was

pointing at Rose. "Stay away from me!"

"Marz, please, I have no intention of..." Rose trailed off as a sword

appeared at her neck. Jack, however, had known better than to take his eyes off

Satsuki for even a split second. The blade had halted after cutting halfway

through his bat. Still, it had come close enough to draw a bead of blood from

the woman's neck.

"Nice try, but she signs my paycheques," Jack said, then backhanded her

with his free hand. Satsuki rolled with the blow, coming up in a fighting

stance.

"Satsuki!" the boy shouted. He vaulted the bike and came down at Jack.

He was wearing military gear and wielding a sniper rifle, but he moved with the

speed of a martial artist. Still, Jack was just fast enough to backstep out of

the way. "Leave her alone!" the boy shouted.

There was a clatter and a hatchet on a chain snapped around the boy's

arm, pulling his rifle to the side as the boy tried to draw a bead. Then there

was a loud bang and the chain went limp. Smoke wafted from the barrel of the

pistol Fevrier had just drawn. The other Dolls had finished with the horde of

demon freaks and were beginning to circle the group now. Noembelu adjusted her

grip on her remaining hatchet and its attached chain.

"ENOUGH!" Minako roared, snapping her hands out. Instantly golden walls

appeared all around them. Jack blinked. They appeared to be made out of tiny

little golden hearts that glowed brightly. But then again, he'd seen this woman

cut through a half dozen monsters with a single shot, so he wasn't about to test

these walls no matter how silly they looked. "Everyone calm down!" Minako

continued shouting. "We don't have time for this. So somebody had better start

talking about this like a rational human being or so help me, I'll put you all

in the hospital."

"It's very simple, Minako," Rose said. She sounded unconcerned with the

fact that she was surrounded on all sides by a glowing prison. "You remember me,

correct?"

"I knew someone named Rose. She hung out with Sailor Pluto. You look

nothing like her."

"And appearances are so convincing?" Rose snorted. "With your boyfriend,

you should be more open-minded."

"I am." Minako smiled. It was just possible to see her and most of the

others through the gaps between the links in the wall. "That's why I haven't

started blasting you."

"Good." Rose crossed her arms. "When we left you last, we were on a

mission to rescue Ukyou's child from Bison. We defeated Bison, but he was

inhabiting this body. So in order to fully defeat him, Nabiki was forced to

reintegrate my psyche with Bison's. Thus, Bison has become me and I have become

complete."

Jack knew there was a lot Rose was leaving out of her explanation. He

still had no idea exactly what had happened during the last few hours back in

Bisonopolis. Then again, he didn't really care.

Minako looked at her a moment. "That face looks familiar." Then she

gasped, a short, sharp intake of startled breath. "You're...!"

"Yes."

"Ranma..." Minako began.

"I don't know." Rose looked aside. "He went north with Ukyou."

Minako sighed. "Okay, you three, is that convincing enough for you?"

"She certainly doesn't sound like Bison..." Fevrier muttered.

"Her waveform isn't exactly the same either." Marz explained. "It is

more level than Bison's was. I think she is telling the truth."

"I sense no evil from her," Satsuki added. She sheathed her sword.

Jack relaxed as the walls of golden links vanished. Minako immediately

slumped against the bike, breathing heavily. That had taken more out of her than

she had let on. Good for her. Bluffing was a valuable skill.

"So, you don't intend on taking them away," the boy said to Rose.

The brown-haired woman looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "I'm impressed

you were able to humanise them so much, Mamoru."

"You know me?"

"I've heard of your... predicament." She frowned. "I find myself in a

similar condition." She leaned in closer to him. "How did you hold them off for

seven years?"

Mamoru looked at her, then back at the rest of the Dolls. They were

moving with their usual grace as they approached the trio of ex-Dolls that had

been missing since Vega's ill-fated trip to Tokyo seven years ago. Enero walked

up to Fevrier, her expression curious.

"We thought you were dead," Enero said.

"I thought about you as little as possible," Fevrier returned with a

grunt. She had holstered her pistols, but kept her hands on the hilts.

"You've aged," Enero noted curiously.

Fevrier smirked. "So will you."

Jack adjusted his hat. This was going well. He slowly moved away,

noticing Minako and Rose doing the same. As well as the land octopus, which

was hiding behind Minako now.

Mamoru chuckled. "I don't know. I don't think I did." He turned to her.

"They kind of sneak right into you."

"I most certainly hope not!" Rose snapped. She grit her teeth and

clenched her fists. "But enough about this. I assume you are here to confront

Reichmann Gyro?"

"Yes..."

"Good. We'll need everyone we can get." Rose turned to Minako. "We have

to attack Gyro to keep him off-balance. Your boyfriend is coming, as are Ukyou

and Tethys. We have to keep him from spreading his madness further until they

arrive."

"Ranma..." Minako shook her head. "I'm sorry, Rose. I can't stay with

you." She stood up straighter. "There's someone I need to find." The octopus

behind her nodded vigourously.

Rose stared at her a long moment. "I see. I doubt you'll locate anyone

in this city. But I can't force you to come with us."

"I..." Minako lowered her head. "If you see Ranma..." She paused. "Never

mind. I'll tell him myself." Then she jumped up and backwards, landing on a

small building before vanishing over the other side.

OoOoO

"Captain, why have we stopped?"

Sakura Yamazaki did not pride herself on her patience. She prided

herself on her stunning beauty, her overwhelming talents, her superhuman

charisma and her attractive modesty. Patience, however, was not a virtue she had

ever really understood the point of. So after seven years of careful planning,

seven years of deferring to the next year and then the next, when the plan that

would eventually free the nation of her birth from the tyranny of Chronos hit

even the slightest hitch, she did not feel bad about displaying her annoyance in

the loudest possible way.

The captain of the submarine was a heavy-set man, with a florid face and

a balding head. He was also one of the sharpest minds in the US Navy. He had a

grasp of naval tactics that exceeded his peers by leaps and bounds. More

importantly, he had been one of the few members of the so-called old guard who

had immediately grasped the tactical and strategic changes that the usage of

metapowered operatives introduced to the world. After seven years of playing

undersea tag with Millennium and Chronos, the captain was perhaps the single

best man at his job on the entire planet.

That wouldn't stop Sakura from giving him a piece of her mind. However,

he neatly sidestepped her tirade by standing to the side and gesturing out to

one of the sonar screens. As a Shinto priestess, and a national hero, Sakura had

never bothered to learn much about sonar. She pretty much dealt with mystical

things and left all the tiresome technical details up to the people trained in

those disciplines.

However, even she was certain that there wasn't supposed to be a giant

green wall across the screen of the sonar station. Pulses of sonar pinged out

from the ship, represented by concentric waves on the screen. But they all

reached that green line and then vanished. She pointed to the screen. "What is

that?"

"We don't know, ma'am," the captain replied. He pointed to some tiny

green dots on the screen. "Those, however, are our ships." Sakura stared. That

couldn't be right. These submarines were over a hundred meters long, each. For

that scale to be right, the thing in the water ahead of them had to be...

"I see you understand the situation." He adjusted his hat. "Oh, and it's

lobbing depth charges at us."

"Depth charges?" Sakura looked up, blinking.

There was a loud boom, and the ship shuddered slightly. Sakura stumbled

but kept her footing by grabbing a pipe above her head. The captain didn't so

much as flinch. He nodded slowly.

"Ayup." He squinted and ran his tongue up against the inside of his

cheek. "Nothing coming close to us, really. But every ship that tries to move

gets a depth charge exactly..." He looked over at one of the officers. "What was

that again, Charley?"

"Fifteen meters, sir!" the man replied quickly.

"Ayup. Exactly fifteen meters off their bow."

Sakura stared at him. "Captain, I think you should surface," she said

seriously.

"Why is that?"

"You have over three hundred highly trained martial artists on board

these ships. They have, among them, more firepower than anything short of a

nuclear missile. However, trapped in these boats a hundred meters beneath the

surface they are about as useful as insults and spitballs." She tapped the sonar

screen again. "So unless you think you can defeat that, I suggest you surface so

my people can do their jobs."

"I think that may be a good idea." The captain grabbed a small

microphone off the wall, hitting a button. "All ships, surface. I repeat, all

ships are to surface immediately."

Sakura was already leaving the bridge by the time he finished speaking.

She snarled and pushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. This was not

happening. She had made a promise. A PROMISE. Sakura Yamazaki did not go back on

her word.

Seven years ago, just before Chronos had made their move, Sakura had

swept through Japan like a reaper. Except instead of killing people, she took

them away. Fighters. The best and the brightest. Many of the highly skilled

martial artists of Japan had taken her up on her offer. Sanctuary from Chronos

within the US, in exchange for helping to fight the good fight.

And her promise to all of them had been that one day, they would return.

One day, they would head back and free their homeland from the enemy. Too many

of the people she had promised that to had not lived to see this day. Too many

people had died protecting her adopted homeland. Too many had sacrificed

themselves to protects strangers. Now, when they finally had a chance to strike

back, to regain everything they had lost...

No giant fucking wall in the middle of the ocean was going to stop them.

"Whoa, Sakura!" Shingo caught her a second before she barrelled into him

at top speed. She thought briefly of trying to push past him, but Shingo was

perhaps the single strongest human being on the entire planet, so she knew it

would be futile. "What's the rush, babe? And did I just hear we were surfacing?

I thought we were still several hours outside of Japan?"

"Yes, we're surfacing. There's been a snag." She frowned at him. "I have

to get topside."

"What is it? Zoanoids? Millennium remnants?"

"I don't know." She pushed at his hand. "Excuse me..."

Shingo released her, frowning. He adjusted his sunglasses as she walked

past. Why on earth he wore sunglasses in a nuclear submarine she had no idea.

Did he really think it made him look cool?

"Sakura, wait!" Shingo caught up to her at the ladder leading up the

tower. She stiffened. "You've been avoiding me for weeks now-"

"This isn't the time, Shingo..." Sakura snarled, cutting him off.

"I know." He rubbed his scruffy little brown beard. "And I understand. I

hid important things from you and I've never exactly treated you right. But

Sakura, I want you to be able to trust me." He took off his glasses and stared

at her with his soulful green eyes. "Japan is my homeland. Sailor Moon is MY

sister. She's the one that gave us this chance. I want... I NEED to be here for

this fight. I need to make a difference here. But I can't if you don't trust

me..."

Sakura felt her heart melting just a little bit. She knew this might

very well be another false confession. But damn her, she had never been able to

stay mad at him. He just looked so adorable when he was faking being sorry.

Plus, he was the best sex she had ever had.

She threw up her hands. "Fine." She leaned in and kissed him. "You're

forgiven, okay?" The alarm indicating they had breached the surface went off.

Sakura began to climb the ladder. "Just make certain you keep that lecherous

master of yours away from me."

"No problem," Shingo called out as he followed her. She was probably

giving him a good show, given her high-cut skirt. But if she cared about that,

she would have worn pants. It was fun playing with Shingo a little, now and

again.

True, he would probably be gone the moment this battle was over. True,

he would be leaving a trail of broken hearts behind him as he travelled. But it

wasn't like Sakura was above playing the game, too. She was damn proud of the

fact that any man pictured on her arm was an instant celebrity. No, she and

Shingo would just have these moments here. Fun while it lasted.

It wasn't like there were any emotions really invested between them.

Certainly not.

That would be stupid.

The hatch opened with a soft pop and a cascade of salty water. Sakura

made a face as it poured over her outfit. Damn, red leather didn't handle water

well. Maybe she should get out her priestess robes? No, not enough time for

that.

It was pouring rain when she exited. The clouds overhead were thick and

black, run through with blasts of lightning. Strangely enough, there was no

wind. The rain came straight down in sheets, drenching everything instantly.

Sakura walked over to the edge of the tower, pulling her glasses from between

her cleavage.

Shingo came up behind her and stopped at the edge of the tower, his

hands grabbing the guardrail to keep himself steady. "Is that what I think it

is?"

Sakura nodded. It was a crimson wall. A wall of blood, her nose

instantly told her. It rose out of the ocean nearly twenty meters, and must have

gone down beneath it several hundred more. It stretched out for kilometers in

either direction. Shingo was looking at it through a pair of binoculars. "Whoa,

who is that?" His voice had the unmistakable tinge of lust to it. Sakura had

heard it before, whenever Shingo spotted a new, attractive young woman. It was

like a reflex. He didn't even think about repressing it.

Personally, she found it cute.

"Give me those," Sakura snapped, grabbing the binoculars away from him.

A glance through the lens showed the woman Shingo had seen. She wasn't tall, but

she was definitely big in other areas. For her part, Sakura thought that too

much up top made a woman look like a cow, but that wasn't an opinion shared by

nearly enough men. The woman had blonde hair and wore a black outfit, some kind

of uniform that looked like it was designed for a fetish costume party rather

than actual combat use.

And she had guns.

No, 'guns' was too small a word. She had cannons. She had howitzers. She

had huge giant barrels nearly three meters long and with nozzles the size of

dinner plates. These were connected by a belt of half-meter-long shells to giant

containers on her back, presumably filled with more ammo. That woman was

probably carrying enough firepower in those two cannons to sink their entire

fleet.

The woman looked right at Sakura. They had to be hundreds of meters away

from each other, but the woman looked right at her nonetheless. She had red

eyes.

"Vampire," Sakura hissed.

"Did we think to bring any blessed ammo?" Shingo asked.

"Nope."

"Shit."

"Any idea what she wants?" Sakura said, holding up the binoculars for

Shingo. They were already being joined on deck by some more of the S.T.A.R.S.

units. Sakura could also see other dark shapes through the rain - the rest of

the fleet. Ten subs in all.

"I don't think she wants us going any further." Shingo shrugged. "But

she isn't attacking."

"Should we hit her?"

"I wouldn't suggest it." Sakura turned slightly. The captain had joined

them on deck. He had thought to put on a rain slicker beforehand. "Not unless

you think your men can fight without ships underneath them." He lowered his own

binoculars. "Those cannons could likely punch through my ship like it was made

out of tissue paper."

"We're not giving up now!" Sakura slammed her fist into the guardrail.

"We're so close!"

The captain shrugged. "Maybe somebody doesn't want you joining the

party?"

"Who?" Sakura snapped.

The captain shrugged again. But Sakura could see he had some ideas.

"Anyway, we're only a few hundred clicks off the coast now..."

"Little good that does us." Shingo crossed his arms. The rain ran off

his broad shoulders. His t-shirt was plastered tightly to his muscular chest,

and the rain water ran down the channels carved out by his physique in ways that

were distracting enough that Sakura resolved to keep her eyes on the florid-

faced captain instead.

"Maybe, maybe not." The captain smirked. "These aren't standard nuclear

subs. They're mobile launch platforms for metahuman operatives. We've

retrofitted them so we can deploy agents anywhere in the world in a few moment's

notice. Of course, against a vampire of that kind of obvious power, you'd

clearly need spiritual potency to slip by unmolested in any sort of vehicle."

"So?" Sakura tapped her foot.

"Either of you two know how to fly a helicopter?"

OoOoO

Rei sat in lotus position, her back to the Rose Gate. All around her,

the ground was covered in paper wards. They extended in all directions, forming

an elaborate mandala. She had used every trick she could remember, all the

techniques and seals taught to her by her grandfather and Katsuhito. She hoped

it was enough.

As she waited, she prayed. Prayed to the souls of those who had gone

before her. Prayed to the spirits of the earth and the sun. Prayed to any god

that would listen. Her hands clapped together, she continued praying until the

creak of the iron gates into what had once been the duelling forest announced

their arrival.

Rei opened her eyes and rose to her feet. Akio and Anthy stood just

inside the entrance. He wore a uniform of white silk and golden cords. His long

lavender hair spilled out behind him. His thin face was smiling. Anthy wore a

dress that was red like blood, velvet folds flowing out around her. Her long

violet hair was held up by an array of pins and a golden tiara. She looked every

part the princess.

"So... this is it?" Akio seemed amused. "This is the best He could do?"

In his hand, Akio carried a sword. Rei had never seen it before, but she

knew instantly what it was. It was a perfect blade, shining white and pure. She

felt a little part of herself die. But she blinked away the tears before they

could form. She had a job to do. She raised her hands and summoned her magic,

forming the Flame Sniper. She pulled the flaming arrow back.

"One Sailor Senshi and two cats?" Akio chuckled. "Is this all He has

left? Is God's attention so invested in Tokyo now that He can spare nothing

else?"

Fire, a small part of her said in the back of her mind. Don't listen to

him. Just fire. He killed Sailor Moon. He KILLED her. He defiled her and tore

out her soul and now he carries it like a damn trophy. He destroyed a girl whose

only crime was being too trusting. A girl too innocent for this world. A girl

who loved too much. A messiah whose message this world didn't want to hear. He

turned that around. He twisted it. He made it wrong, and awful and dirty...

KILL HIM!

But she hesitated. At her feet she could see the two moon cats tensing.

A bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. She needed time. That was it. She

needed time. She had to wait for something. But she had no idea what.

Akio stretched his arms out to his side, still holding the blade. "Come

then, Rei. Strike me down. That is your purpose, isn't it? That is what you were

put on this green Earth to do. To strike down evil." He smiled, a winning

smile that made his entire face light up.

"You're afraid, aren't you, Rei?"

Don't listen to him, a part of her said. Strike now. But she needed

time. She had to wait. But every fibre of her being told her to attack. There

was no miracle to wait for.

"It's okay to be afraid." Akio brought his arms back down, and placed

the tip of the blade on the ground in front of him. "He is afraid too, you see."

"Who?" Rei snapped.

"God, of course." Akio waved his hand through the air. "Or whatever He

calls himself. You see, He's beginning to think He made a mistake. The mistake

of letting me be here.

"I was placed here with a purpose, just like you." He chuckled. "I was

once like Him, Rei. I've been of the Third Circle. I could make miracles

happen." He shrugged. "But in the end, the universe does not want miracles. It

wants laws. It despises gods who think they can live among men."

He gestured to the young woman behind him. Anthy did not look nearly as

nonchalant as her 'brother'. Her eyes were hard and cold. Rei couldn't help

picturing her as she had seen her seven years ago, her body pierced by

thousands, millions of swords. And her eyes, hard and cold and uncaring about

her suffering. That had been Anthy's true self, not this image before her. When

all the illusions of Ohtori had been shattered, this one had remained.

"Usagi could not have lived that way, Rei." He walked sideways, and Rei

turned to keep a bead on him. He stopped and draped himself against the wall.

"She would not have been willing to make the sacrifice. To force all the pain,

all the misery onto another. It's the only way, Rei. God can not exist. His very

nature defies creation. He destroys possibilities, and the ravaging hatred of

those stillborn universes... they never go away."

Rei heard it. It was a distant growl. A sound like a wild animal.

"That's the true secret, Rei. The truth about all of this. The power of

Miracles does the impossible, and in so doing it unmakes the world. It shatters

reality like an egg, to make the world anew. But it can not truly destroy

things, Rei."

The roar was growing louder. It swept around the bare field like a wind,

rising and lowering. Rei thought she could see the glint and shimmer of metal,

undulating around the outside of the walls. She tried to focus on Akio. She had

to be ready. She might only have one shot.

She needed more time.

"You see, the soul, alone among all things, is sacrosanct. Even the

Third Circle cannot unmake it. It cannot truly destroy it. Washuu must have

told you of souls, Rei. She told you how they divide, endlessly. How they

propagate across all the possibilities of time and space. How right now, there

are a billion yous, all standing there in that spot. Each slightly different.

Differences so small we could not even notice them. A stray quark here, a

neutrino's worth of weight more or less. But all of them are YOU, Rei."

Rei's eyes widened. The wave had crested high enough above the

surrounding wall that she could see it for what it was now. It was swords.

Millions and millions of swords.

"The Third Circle collapses all that, Rei. It shatters the cycle,

unmaking all those other yous and leaving only the person that God wishes there

to be. But He can't make those souls, those other Reis, truly vanish."

There was a cracking sound. A stone dislodged from the wall. Then

another. A rent appeared. Through it, Rei could see more swords. Every type and

make. Then she realised the truth. She could feel it. These were not swords. No

more than what Akio carried was a sword. A crack appeared near his head and he

calmly walked away from the wall, making certain that Anthy was between him and

it.

"They are cast into the darkness. Into Oblivion itself. There they

become crushed, distorted... but you can never make them truly go away. They

return over and over. Except there is nowhere to return to. No place for them to

be. Except for the soul of the one who cast them out."

The walls were vanishing, piece by piece. Chipped away. Rei felt her

knees shaking. It had to be an illusion, she told herself. It couldn't be real.

But a part of her, an increasingly loud part, told her to fire now. That it was

almost too late.

"You see, one who has touched the Third Circle is a gateway. He is the

only one who remembers the world as it was. Who can experience that which was.

So He is the only one who can experience the anger, the hatred of the souls He

has cast out. Of the universe's worth of lives He has destroyed.

"Unless he can find a shield."

Anthy spread her arms wide, her hair suddenly flying free. The swords

burst through. The walls disintegrated. The roar was defeaning. They swirled all

around the dueling arena, carving up the earth if they flew too low. It was a

tornado, a tornado of sharp flashing blades. And they were in the centre of the

tornado. Rei and Akio and the two moon cats. They were safe within the eye of

the storm.

But Anthy was not. She was on the edge of the cyclone. No, she WAS the

edge of the cyclone. Her body spasmed and jerked as the swords flayed at her

skin, cutting her dress to shreds. But she held them back.

The swords ripped at her flesh. But they weren't swords. They were

souls. The souls of those denied. Those destroyed by the Third Circle. Lost in

Oblivion, full of nothing but hate and rage at the existence that had been

denied to them. Rei felt tears falling from her eyes. It was monstrous.

"This is why Usagi could never have been the champion she wished to be,"

Akio explained. "This was the truth she could not stand to see. This was what I

protected her from." He held out his hand. "To change the world, to save it,

means to destroy. And nothing we do can be attained without sacrifice.

"So, Rei, do you see why I have to get past you?" He held up Sailor

Moon's soulsword. "With this sword, Usagi could have broken past the Rose Gate.

She could have attained the power of miracles. But she was unwilling to pay that

price. So, I must do it for her. Then, Rei, then I will make the world a better

place. God sent you, Rei, because He is scared of me.

"Unlike Ukyou, I will not be a novice to my power. I will fight Him as

one God against another. I will wrest the destiny of this world from His grasp.

And more besides. He is nothing but a phantom. He has no identity. He sacrificed

it a long time ago, to protect Himself from the souls he has destroyed. They can

not find Him, as long as He does not exist. But I can find God, Rei. I can

punish Him for the horrors He inflicted on this world.

"You are the last defence. You are what He hopes will stop me. You are

playing His game. You are a puppet, being used by this phantom God. You're all

He has left. He can risk no greater miracle now, so close to His purpose. Will

you play for Him, Rei?"

Akio walked towards her. "The thing that created this world of sorrows.

The thing that plotted out your life. Used your destiny like a hook to drag you

from one horror to another. Make no mistake, Rei. It was He that killed your

grandfather. It was He that destroyed your life. It was He that did everything

to you. Just so that you would stand here, now, between me and that door."

Akio's expression was serious as he looked straight into her eyes.

"Don't give Him the satisfaction, Rei. Don't let Him win."

Rei closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She believed him. She didn't

know why. She realised he had every reason to lie to her. But she believed him.

She KNEW, deep in her heart, that he was telling the truth. Because she had

always felt it. The call of Destiny.

That was His touch, wasn't it? Guiding her from one place to the next.

She had always been drawn to it. She had been born to it. She was a Sailor

Senshi, chosen to protect the world and strike out against evil. Chosen by who?

Protect it from what? Which man's evil?

No. Akio's words had struck a chord inside her. She could feel that

small part of herself screaming at her. She now recognised it for what it was.

The voice of Destiny. The voice she had always listened to for guidance. The

voice of whatever had created this world.

She opened her eyes.

"I believe you, Akio." He smiled. "And you're right. If I stand up to

you, here, now, I'm doing His work. I'm fighting for something cruel and

nameless. And that would make me worse than a puppet. Because a puppet doesn't

know it's being manipulated, but I do. If I fought you, I would be knowingly

condoning all the evil that He has done to this world.

"And maybe that sin will damn me. Maybe when it grows tired of this

world, my soul will be cast into Oblivion, torn apart by Paradox, and I'll join

the swords around us. Just another damned soul, screaming mindlessly in hell."

Akio was frowning. He stepped back from her.

"So be it. If that is my destiny, I accept it. Because if I'm going to

hell... you're going there before me!

"FLAME SNIPER!"

OoOoO

The further Minako got away from the others, the more deserted the city

became. It worried her. It did mean that there were less and less demons to take

care of, but it also made her feel strange, like she was overlooking something.

Truth be told, everything about this felt wrong. She wanted desperately

to abandon the search. She wanted to go and help Mamoru and the others fight

Gyro. Or maybe head back to give Rei a hand fighting Akio. Anything but be

hopelessly scouring the city for Sailor Moon.

"How am I even supposed to find her?" Minako asked herself as she looked

down the four nearly identical streets leading away from the intersection she

was standing in. Minako had no idea where to even look. Tokyo was a huge city

and Usagi could be in literally any part of it. If she was even in the city at

all.

Akio could have taken her anywhere in Japan. Anywhere in the world. She

had no idea how powerful he or his sister were, or how limited they might be.

There was no clues, no insights she could discover in herself.

But why bother? Did she even like Sailor Moon? She was a brat, a spoiled

self-indulgent child. She had never lost anything. Not like Minako had. Her

family was safe. Prospering. Everything she loved and cared for was protected.

Her world was one of ease. Her battles were nothing compared to the fights

Minako had undergone.

Minako clutched her head and closed her eyes. No. That didn't matter.

She had to think past that. No matter what she thought of Sailor Moon, it didn't

matter. Because she needed to be saved.

Minako's eyes flashed open.

She could feel a pressure inside her. No, not just inside her. It was in

the whole world. The entire city was heavy with it. It was that feeling you get

when you realise you have to make an important decision. When your entire life

comes to a halt and everything hangs in the balance. It was a profound, almost

otherworldly feeing.

The weight of Destiny.

She took a step forward. The weight seemed to increase. It was like the

city was focusing on her. The whole world. The entire universe. Every step she

took, the pressure increased. It was pulling on something inside her. Her heart

was racing. The air was thin in her throat. Her legs felt like lead. Her entire

body was betraying her.

She kept walking.

Anger. She could feel it. It was huge. It seeped out of the pavement. It

thickened in the air. It filled everything. She wasn't supposed to be here. She

was supposed to be elsewhere. She needed to be elsewhere. She needed to turn

around. To go back. To fight with Rei. It HAD to be done.

"This is MY life!" Minako shouted. She had no idea who she was yelling

at. She had no idea why she was even yelling. She stumbled and fell to one knee.

Her eyes closed. Tears poured out.

What would Ranma think? Abandoning your friends wasn't something he

would appreciate, was it? Minako could almost hear him. "Minako! We fight evil!

It's what we do! Akio has to be stopped. You can stop him. Stop wasting time on

a fantasy. It's just like in England all over again. You can't lose yourself in

your own stupid quest. You have to realise that there are some fights you just

can't win, and choose the ones you can. Just go back and punch Akio in the face.

Everything else will just take care of itself."

No.

He would never say that.

Ranma would fight Akio, just like she wanted to. But he would not give

up on Usagi. She knew. She knew how much he hated himself for giving up on

Ukyou, all those years ago. How he had run away. How THEY had run away. Ranma

would never give up.

"And neither will I!"

And just like that, the weight vanished. She almost collapsed, sobbing

in relief. She had no idea why, but she felt more exhausted than she ever had.

It was like she'd just fought a harder battle than any other. Even after Rip van

Winkle had blown open her chest, Minako hadn't felt this bad. She had no idea

what had happened. But she knew that it wasn't over yet.

Minako managed to stagger along. She had to clear her eyes and wipe the

sweat off her brow. But as she continued walking, she began to hear a voice.

"...Chuuko, reporting for Galaxy TV, here from the ruins of Tokyo..."

A voice, here? Minako stopped. It was coming from further down the

street and around the corner. She knew she should walk away. She was looking for

Sailor Moon, not some survivors. And this place was full of monsters. Monsters

that could trick her. Lure her into a trap. But if that was a survivor...

She ran around the corner.

The woman was shorter than any adult Minako had ever met. She was

practically tiny, with a childish figure. If it hadn't been for her pinstripe

suit and matching hat, Minako might have assumed she was a child. She was

standing there, talking nervously into a microphone. In front of her was a

parody of a human being.

It looked like it had once been male, but now it was hard to tell. It

wore a dress with a short skirt, and had cerulean blue skin. Its hair was tied

back in two buns which, upon looking closer, were actually satellite dishes. The

thing's right arm ended in a large camera which it was pointing at the young

woman. She was adjusting her collar and looking nervously at the thing's other

hand, which was carrying a cat-o-nine-tails made up of loose television cables.

"As the last survivor of Tokyo, I certainly have no idea how I could

have persevered this long! Chuu!" the woman laughed. "Nor would I really like

some HELP, getting away from this PHAGE, that is threatening me! Chuu! He is a

nice Sailor Cameraman, chuu, and won't hurt poor little Nezu as long as she

continues to report for him! HAHA-CHUU!"

Minako raised an eyebrow and began to walk towards the woman. It was

possible that someone had survived the initial attack. If so, she needed help.

But something about this seemed off. Maybe it was the convenience of them

showing up now, of all times. Maybe it was how Minako was certain there was more

to this woman than met the eyes...

"It's not like I survived the black lightning because I don't have a

Star Seed to extract, chuu!" The woman continued, laughing. "Nor that I think

the world is soon going to end at the hands of Sailor Galaxia, who I most

certainly haven't heard of, chuu!"

Or maybe her babbling was giving away the game. Minako sighed and held

up her hand. "Crescent Beam!" she announced and blasted away at the demon thing.

It was caught completely flat-footed. Her attack left a hole in it which smoked

as it toppled over. She hated having to do that, but she knew that, like ghouls,

there was probably no helping a human once they had been turned into one of

these things.

"My saviour, chuu!" The woman bounced up and down. "You came along just

in time!"

"Yeah." Minako waved. "It's dangerous here. You should leave right

away."

"It really is dangerous..." The woman sneered. "For you!" She jumped

backward, pulling off her outfit in a single flourish. Underneath she was

wearing a white costume that looked like a little girl's pyjamas. She also had a

mouse tail, and mouse ears in her white hair to match. "You fool, you got too

close to me, chuu! Witness the wrath of Sailor Iron Mouse!"

She snapped her wrist together and a pair of gold bracelets appeared.

Minako sighed and flicked her wrist. Her Love Me Chain snapped out and around

the woman's arms, binding them together and then looping around the arm so much

they vanished within the golden glow.

"Now, I'll take your Star Se-" The woman blinked, only now noticing her

bindings. "Huh?"

Apparently she wasn't able to stop whatever attack she had started

because a moment later a golden explosion enveloped her body. She was thrown

back against a wall, moaning. The blast had disintegrated Minako's chain,

meaning Iron Mouse's arms were free. But she didn't look very good. Minako

rushed across the street.

She grabbed the woman by her sailor-style collar before she had a chance

to slump to the ground. Then she banged her against the wall. "Okay, now I get

to ask you a few questions."

"OWCHUU!" the woman moaned. "Not so rough! I just got blown up!"

"Not my fault," Minako pointed out. "And unless you want to end up like

Sailor Cameraman, I wouldn't worry too much about what happened then, and start

worrying about what's going to happen next."

The woman's eyes narrowed. Minako allowed herself to smile, an evil

threatening smile. It was good to know they were on the same page.

"I'll do anything chuu want!" the woman whined. "Just don't hurt me!"

"Really? This easy?" Minako mused. She held up her hand, conjuring a bit

of light on the tips of her fingers. "I was just getting started."

"No, no! I'm a craven coward, chuu have to believe me!" The woman shook

her head violently. "I sold out my entire race to save my hide! Chuu!"

"Who sent you?" Minako asked bluntly.

"Sailor Galaxia," the woman replied.

"Who is that? What does she want with me? Is she trying to stop me from

getting to Sailor Moon?" Minako emphasised her question by shoving the woman a

little each time.

"Whoa, slow down, chuu!" the woman gasped. "I can only answer one

question at a time!"

"Why are you after me?"

"I wasn't... not after you specifically." The woman gulped. "I work for

Sailor Galaxia. Chuu. She wants to collect all the pure Star Seeds in the

galaxy. Some guy named Reichmann Gyro was supposed to be doing that for her.

Chuu. I was just supposed to keep an eye on him. Well, chuu, he betrayed her and

plans to blow up the Earth. Chuu. So, chuu, when I tried to run away, chuu,

planning to use the excuse that she needed to know what he was up to, chuu, she

sent me back. Chuu. She told me, 'You have to collect the true Star Seeds of the

other Sailor Senshi on this world before Gyro destroys them in a fit of pique.'

So, chuu, I started looking for them and yours was the first one I found

and..."

"Hold up," Minako insisted, putting an end to the girl's babbling. "So

this has nothing to do with..." Minako trailed off. How could she say it without

sounding insane? The entire universe, trying with all its might to stop her from

reaching Usagi? That was silly. Whatever she had felt back there, it couldn't

really be that. Could it?

"So you just attacked me for no reason?" Minako asked.

The woman nodded. "I would have taken Sailor Moon's, but Gyro already

took her Star Seed. Then someone else took her soul-"

"Wait, what do you know about Sailor Moon?" Minako smashed her against

the wall again. Cracks radiated out from her body. The woman moaned. "Answer

me!"

"I saw it all!" Iron Mouse squeaked. "I was keeping all the Sailor

Senshi under surveillance. You, Sailor Mars, Pluto, that girl Akane, and Sailor

Moon..." She coughed. "Please stop hitting me, chuu."

"Where is she?" Minako restrained herself.

"It's too late. She's already dead. Without her Star Seed, she can't

survive. But someone took out her soul as well! So she's even more dead, chuu!"

"I'll determine that!" Minako roared. "Where is she?"

"I..." Iron Mouse coughed. "I sent some phages after her. Even if she

isn't dead, they'll take care of her..."

"You what? WHY?"

"I... I don't know." Iron Mouse frowned. "I just... it felt... like I

had to. You know? Tying up loose ends? Though, now that you mention it..."

Minako allowed her magic to radiate from her, giving her a golden aura.

She knew from experience that the aura reflected from the eyes of her mask,

completely blocking out the ability to see her actual eyes and turning them into

radiant pools of violent golden light.

"Where. Is. She?" she bit out.

OoOoO

Mamoru Chiba had not always gone by that name. In a previous life, he

had been Prince Endymion, the next in line to rule the Earth. Then his world had

been overrun by demons and he'd been killed trying to protect his true love from

that evil. Thousands of years later, when that story had vanished beyond myth,

he had been reborn. He hadn't known this, but he had inherited some of his

previous incarnation's magical powers. So he had developed the ability to assume

a magical form, garbed in a tuxedo and top hat with a little domino mask to

conceal his identity. During this time, he had called himself Tuxedo Mask.

Then that had been taken away from him. A young woman known as Ukyou had

bound his life force to three dying girls in a desperate attempt to save them.

As a result, he had lost all his powers. But heroes don't give up just because

they have lost their powers. He had continued fighting, finding ways through

modern technology to try and compensate for his human weaknesses.

Then that had all changed. Sailor Moon, the reincarnation of his one

true love, had cleansed him and all of Ohtori of their wounds. Now, he had his

powers back. But he now felt a little silly going around in a tuxedo throwing

roses, so he had activated the magic and simply kept it on while he changed into

an outfit more suitable for fighting.

Because he and the three young women he had come to love were going to

go into the fight of their lives. A fight they very well might not come back

from. It frightened him. He wasn't the kind of person who got excited at the

thought of pushing his skills, or testing his talents in battle. He much

preferred peace to war. But they had to do something.

Reichmann Gyro's evil was spreading. He had seen it on the ride here.

The demons he had unleashed from this city were slowly drifting out into the

rest of the country, seeking prey. The forces of Chronos had been chaotic and

disorganised, completely unprepared for the sudden cataclysm. They had run three

separate roadblocks getting into the city, and Mamoru had found each of them

wanting. The zoanoids staffing them were strong, but undirected.

That was always the problem with Chronos. It worked very well when it

had a plan. It worked very well when a zoalord or similar being was in charge.

But it reacted poorly to surprise and disintegrated utterly when there was no

one around to give orders. Akane had managed to keep the resistance alive for

seven years because she understood these facts. Chronos was a behemoth, an

oncoming train that plowed over everything in its path... and one that could be

derailed by the slightest bend in the rails.

So if anyone was going to stop Reichmann Gyro, it was going to be them.

The woman who called herself Rose said that Tethys, the Dark Queen, would be

arriving with reinforcements soon. He didn't think it would matter. Marz had

shown them all the footage being played all across the world. The entire Red

Sea, destroyed in an instant.

Not even Tethys could stand up to that kind of power.

The plaza around the Pillars of Heaven was strangely quiet. There was

nothing there, no sign of any of the carnival freak monsters they'd been

fighting to get to this point. In fact, the closer they had gotten to this

place, the less of the monsters they had been forced to fight. Mamoru felt a

warning tickle at the back of his mind. Something wasn't right here.

He entered the plaza as quietly as he could, sliding along in a half-

crouch. His rifle was slung over his shoulder. Satsuki was just ahead of him,

examining the way and signalling when it was safe to move. Marz and Fevrier were

behind him, both advancing with the softness of a gentle breeze. Out and around

them the other Dolls, the ones that until a few weeks ago had still been under

Bison's control, were spread out. He could only see a few of them, and knew the

others were probably moving just as quietly.

Of course, pretty soon they would run out of cover of any kind. There

was nearly seventy meters of open ground all around the Pillars, just meter

after meter of grass and pavement without any sort of cover at all. It was

specifically designed to prevent people from doing exactly what they were doing.

At some point, they would have to sprint the distance to the buildings. Then it

was only a matter of sneaking up hundreds of flights to the top of the largest

buildings in the world and confronting a madman with the ability to lay waste to

entire continents. And he had a sniper rifle.

But this was his world. Even if he had no hope of winning, he had to

try.

"Sir Mamoru, I have located other people." Satsuki appeared from around

a corner, speaking softly.

"Friendly?"

"I recognized Batsu and his squad, but there were three unknowns."

Well, Marz had put out the all call. Batsu, Hinata and Kyosuke were good

people to have at your back. "See if you can find anyone else," he ordered.

Satsuki nodded and vanished around the corner again. Mamoru turned to his two

remaining companions. "Marz, see if you can contact anybody else in the area.

We'll need to coordinate if we're going to have any hope of winning this."

"Already on it," Marz replied in a chipper voice. Her laptop was out,

her fingers running along the keys so fast they were a blur. "I can set up a

scramble communication channel. Should I include Rose?"

"If possible," Mamoru replied. Fevrier snorted. "I know you don't like

her, but we need all the help we can get."

"Don't worry, wuss." Fevrier grinned tightly. "But I'm keeping my eye on

her. You don't know what Bison was like..."

"And hopefully I never will."

"Sir Mamoru!" Satsuki appeared again, her face pale.

"What?"

"I believe there is a problem..."

"What is..."

"REICHMANN GYRO! Come out and face me!"

"Who the hell?" Mamoru poked his head over the wall and stared. There

was a woman walking towards the Pillars of Heaven, making every attempt to be

obvious about it. Her body was surrounded by a purple aura that flared dozens of

meters into the air. She had long purple hair to match and wore a ridiculous

outfit with too much lace. She stopped halfway across the dead zone and extended

her hands to both sides.

"My name is Athena Asamiya, and I've come with my friends to challenge

you for the fate of the entire Earth!"

"Well, there goes stealth..." Mamoru growled. When Skullomania had left

with those four strange girls, he'd thought they wouldn't have to deal with this

sort of thing.

"Maybe not," Fevrier said with a shrug. "If he's distracted killing her,

we might be able to get in a clean shot."

"Fevrier!"

"What? You were thinking it too."

"I don't say it out loud," Mamoru chided her.

"I doubt Gyro is even paying attention to her," Marz pointed out. "And

my sensors don't detect any monsters in the building at all."

"I wouldn't count on that," Mamoru said, shuddering.

"What is it, sir Mamoru?"

"I can feel him..." Mamoru shuddered again. "All the sickness in this

city. It swirls around these buildings. It spirals up to him. And he's coming

down."

"Well..." Fevrier pulled out a rifle. "Best not to waste this

opportunity."

She slipped to the right. Satsuki nodded and vanished left. Marz tapped

a few more keys and gave him the thumbs up. Everybody she had contacted knew to

hold back. Mamoru sighed and unslung his rifle.

As he looked through the sights he could feel the magic inside him

focusing. He'd always been a good shot, even after he lost his powers. But with

them, his accuracy was amazing. Once upon a time he could have knocked a bullet

out of mid-air with a well-thrown rose. He knew the power inside him could

create them. But he also knew, from talking to Minako on the way over, that his

magic was not limited to just that one shape.

He took a deep breath and cleared his mind. The entire Tuxedo Kamen

thing had been a creation of his subconscious. It was the magic shaping itself

to his dreams and desires, the last remaining pieces of his previous life. His

clearest memory of that time was dancing in a grand ball with the girl that

would become Sailor Moon. His magic had fixed on that and conjured up

appropriate gear. But he was past clinging to that memory now.

He cleared the chamber of his rifle and sighted through the scope. There

was a bullet in the chamber now. He hadn't placed one in there, but he knew

there was. It was gold, and shone in the darkness. It was sharp-tipped and

sleek. He had handled enough ammo that he could picture it clearly, right down

to the texture of it, the weight of it, the smell of it. There was a bullet in

the chamber. A magic bullet. As much more deadly than a regular bullet was as

his roses had been compared to regular roses.

He hoped.

"Little girl, do you think you can demand anything of me?"

The voice boomed across the plaza. It was deep and grinding, the kind of

voice that made you think of monsters from fairytales. Athena raised her head,

her aura flaring even higher.

"Show yourself!"

Laughter followed her outburst. Then a figure appeared in the air over

her. Mamoru sighted on it quickly but cursed. It was too translucent to be real.

It had to be some sort of projection. Still, even as an image, Reichmann Gyro

was disturbing.

He was just over two meters tall, with huge black wings three times that

length stretched out on either side of him. His skin was black, shining like

fresh tar, marked through with silver accents. His head was topped with a crown

of spines that grew out in all directions. His face was all lines and folds,

with a mouth full of tiny sharp teeth and eyes that glowed malevolently yellow.

In his forehead a black crystal was set, with shards of silver light floating

through it. In one hand he carried a fanciful-looking broadsword, nearly a meter

long and made of grim black metal. The air around the sword seemed to twist and

pulse, as if it was being warped by the very presence of the blade.

"You are of no interest to me, girl," Gyro's voice continued to boom out

across the plaza. "Nor are your friends."

Mamoru stiffened, but made no move to break cover.

"I have been chosen to save this world from the likes of you," Athena

told him. "Come and face me, if you dare."

"Save the world?" Gyro's face twisted into a parody of a smile. "I am a

law of nature. You could as much save the world from gravity or time as you

could from me. Pitiful child. I see the divine spark within you, and it seems so

small, so pathetic." He held up his blade. "Compared to the harnessed power of

Paradox, all your divine wrath is as nothing."

"We shall see, monster!"

Mamoru groaned. He wasn't even out there and still he found this

embarrassing.

"Bah!" Gyro scowled. "I have no time for this." He waved his hand. "You

and your friends made your way through my city only because I allowed you to.

Now my minions shall destroy you."

"Your minions are nothing!" Athena replied.

"Perhaps. They too are pathetic creatures." He smirked. "But unlike you,

there are millions of them."

Mamoru paused and then turned to look behind him. He could see them

coming. Not in small groups like before, but in a great mass. They clung to the

walls of buildings and scampered along the road. And not all of them were

humanoid. Many of them were great beasts, huge and distorted.

Zoanoids, he realised. If the carnival monsters were what happened to

humans when they were killed, then the hulking brutes among them were what

happened to zoanoids. He looked at Marz and her expression confirmed what he had

feared. Zoanoids were already much more dangerous than humans. The things that

Gyro had turned all the zoanoids of Tokyo into were more dangerous still.

"Tell everyone to fall back into the plaza!" he shouted. He could

already see explosions of chi and magic as Akane's resistance attacked the

approaching army. "Fall back to the Pillars. We have to try and get up to Gyro,

bring the fight to him. We can't hope to overcome this many." He cursed himself

silently. He had known that getting here had been too easy.

"It won't help," Marz pointed out. "Gyro was apparently suppressing my

scans. The building is full of zoaform monsters. If we try to break through,

we'll have to deal with thousands of them."

Mamoru considered this. He could see their companions falling back.

Akane would have known what to do. She might not have been a tactical genius,

but she would have known what to say. She could have given them all hope. She

could have rallied them together, maybe found a way to punch through the massed

monsters. But Akane wasn't here.

Which left him.

He looked up the Pillars. Somewhere up there was the cause of all this

madness.

"Marz. Hold the line."

"Mamoru dear?"

He crouched and gathered his power. Even if he had no hope of winning,

he had to try. "Just hold on," he told her, and with that he leapt up. He easily

cleared the seventy meters to the building, striking it on the side. Then,

calling on powers he hadn't used in seven years, he began to run up the side of

the building.

Someone needed to reach Gyro. Someone needed to stop him before it was

too late. He just hoped that his three precious girls would forgive him for

abandoning them.

OoOoO

ZX-Tole bounced backwards, unleashing a volley of energy shots. The

walls around him turned red, then white, then boiled away in clouds of

superheated metal. Ikazuchi moved through them like a phantom, his blue

lightning blade arcing side to side as he deflected the incoming lasers. His

strangely human eyes shone with tears as he charged his former commander.

ZX-Tole's only hope was to keep them both at range. Ikazuchi was far

more powerful than him. In close combat, he approached the level of a zoalord.

The ultimate secret of the neo-zoanoid was that for all their genetic

enhancement, for all that the scientists of Chronos had done to grant them power

beyond even a hyper zoanoid like ZX-Tole, their real power came from within.

"ZX-Tole!" Ikazuchi shouted, having closed to within a meter of the

giant beetle-like monster. "This does not have to end this way!"

"Damn stupid idiot!" ZX-Tole roared, his voice an insectile buzz. He

kicked up, driving his huge knee towards the blue-and-purple-skinned neo-

zoanoid. Of course, Ikazuchi slid back easily. But while his leg was in mid-

extension, ZX-Tole opened up the bio-lasers on his leg and fired. The blast

caught Ikazuchi totally flat-footed. The man's eyes widened as the bloom of red

light lifted him up and drove him into the ceiling with enough force that he

went up through the next several floors as well.

ZX-Tole brought his hands together and unleashed a barrage up into the

hole, screaming incoherently. When there was nothing to be seen but the slowly

descending cloud of metal vapour, ZX-Tole forced himself to turn and begin

running. He knew that the attack would have been less than enough to kill

Ikazuchi. He certainly hoped it would be.

Because he didn't want to kill the poor fool. He didn't want any of

this. He was a soldier; not a duellist, and not an executioner. His purpose was

to fight for Chronos, to fight for the zoalord council and all they believed in.

That was what he had been created for. He and his brothers.

And one by one, his brothers had died.

ZX-Tole made it to the edge of the Pillars. He looked out, across the

city. Out there somewhere was the unconscious body of Frederick Von Purgstall.

He could feel it. Zoanoids instinctively felt the presence of zoalords. It was

like a beacon. Even in a coma, the signature of Purgstall was unmistakable.

With a roar ZX-Tole blasted open the window and climbed out onto the

wall. He had to go. He had to keep moving. Because Reichmann Gyro's will told

him to. It was like a sickness in his mind, a vice that kept pushing him and

pushing him. Thankfully, the traitorous zoalord hadn't felt the need to give ZX-

Tole personal attention. If he had, ZX-Tole might have gone mad.

If he had, Ikazuchi might never have broken free of Gyro's control.

Then they would have slaughtered the helpless zoalord, the four girls and the

woman without hesitation. Then what? Once Gyro had forced them to do his

bidding, would their fate be the same as the rest of the people of Tokyo?

ZX-Tole had seen the remains of the zoanoids inside the Pillars. Twisted

and mutated by Gyro's magic, they had been turned into parodies of living

things. Mindless and savage, they had torn into each other. It was an orgy of

violence to fit the depraved amusements of Reichmann Gyro.

ZX-Tole didn't want to die like that.

He didn't want to die as a tool of chaos. He knew he was going to die.

He'd known it since the moment that Sailor Moon had shown up in that chamber.

The only question was how.

The wall above him exploded outward with a crack of thunder. His body

surrounded by blue lightning, Ikazuchi floated outwards. His chest was scorched,

and one eye was closed. He was breathing deeply.

"ZX-Tole..." Ikazuchi groaned.

"Ikazuchi..." ZX-Tole half-hissed, half-sighed. Every moment he fought

the powerful neo-zoanoid was another moment when he could resist the urge inside

his own skull. The compelling command of Reichmann Gyro was impossible to

overcome, but it could be deferred. So long as ZX-Tole could find a more

pressing mission, he could avoid hunting down Purgstall and his girls.

"This madness has to stop!" Ikazuchi yelled, spreading his arms wide.

"We are brothers in arms. I no more wish to harm you than you do me!"

"Shut up!" ZX-Tole kicked in a window and slid into the building, firing

with his wrist-laser. The man flashed sideways, avoiding the strike. "Every

time you open your mouth, I want to kill you!" It wasn't exactly a lie. If the

idiot kept trying to talk him down, ZX-Tole was afraid he would lose himself.

The sickening presence in the back of his mind might overwhelm him at any

moment.

Ikazuchi floated just outside the window. His aura was charging up. ZX-

Tole had seen him punch through a mountain at full strength. All he wanted was

for the boy to kill him, to end this here before it went any further. And there

was only one way he was going to do that.

Had he a mouth, ZX-Tole would have smiled. "Ikazuchi, there is something

about me you don't know." ZX-Tole leaned forward and concentrated. The armour on

his back split open. "I was built as the ultimate artillery." From his back

emerged two pairs of translucent wings. "But the scientists at Chronos never

tested the full extent of my power." The wings extended outward, unfolding and

snapping into place. ZX-Tole had never seen them, and for one brief instant

wished he could. "They were afraid that if I unleashed myself at full power, I

might very well kill myself... and everything else around me."

ZX-Tole activated his final weapon. It started small at first, like a

warmth from a pleasant fire spreading down the length of his wings. Then it

quickened, and quickened again. He could feel the energy leeching into him.

Drawn from electrical lines behind the wall, from the air, from the walls, from

the very light itself. The world around him was growing darker and darker as he

absorbed the light into himself like a siphon. It was filling him, filling him

to bursting. The bio-batteries in his body couldn't handle it. The strain would

destroy him.

He kept going. Pulling in more and more power. Ikazuchi was staring, his

eyes wide. "IKAZUCHI!" ZX-Tole yelled. "This is my ultimate attack!" With a

snap, the lens on his abdomen opened. "A destructive beam... and you know what

I'm aiming at!"

Ikazuchi looked behind him, and then back at ZX-Tole. "Purgstall..." he

murmured. ZX-Tole couldn't really hear him over the sound of his own body

sizzling. He was drawing in too much power. It would overload and kill him. But

he couldn't just let it. Gyro's imperative, his mind-numbing will, overrode even

the ability to choose to die.

Ikazuchi could easily dodge the attack. He was so fast that it would be

nothing to him. But if he did, the attack would strike across the city. ZX-Tole

could feel Purgstall. He knew exactly where the fallen zoalord was. Ikazuchi

knew better than to doubt ZX-Tole's ability to strike at this distance. The

Japanese neo-zoanoid, the prototype, the next step in human evolution... stood

his ground.

ZX-Tole chuckled. He wished Akane Tendo was here to see this. He didn't

know why. Perhaps he had spent so much time pursuing her that the thought of

dying at anybody else's hands was alien to him. Well, dying at the hands of the

neo-zoanoid who had never stopped loving her would be enough.

But mainly, he wanted her to understand. Akane and Purgstall both. He

wondered what they would think of this. He felt it would be strangely similar.

If only ZX-Tole had been able to work with the other zoalord. If only Akane

could have first met Purgstall rather than the monster that was Reichmann Gyro.

So much useless fighting...

"Don't disappoint me, Ikazuchi!" ZX-Tole roared, and unleashed his fire.

Ikazuchi roared back, and rushed forward. Red and blue light smashed together.

The explosion blinded out all sight, all sound. This is it, ZX-Tole realised.

This is my last act. It may not make up for what he had done, but it would have

to be enough.

He might not be human. But he would not die a monster.

OoOoO

His family was below him. They were fighting. They were suffering.

When had they become his family, Purgstall wondered? But the question

was meaningless. They were his family. He loved them all, more than he loved the

ideals of Chronos. He had thrown away everything he had worked for, for them. To

come here and protect them.

This little slip of a girl would not stop him.

They floated between two layers of clouds. They swept past above and

beneath, dark and menacing. Lightning arced between them. Flashes of power that

were the only light in this place. It was like the clouds and the lightning

stretched on forever. He knew it was insane, but he was certain that these

clouds had no end. That there was nothing beneath them except more clouds, and

nothing above them except darkness and lightning.

"Silly old man," the girl said with a giggle. She was floating back and

forth, swaying in mid-air. She was dancing, to a tune only she could hear. It

was a music with no melody, no sanity to it. "Three hundred years of loyalty and

you give it up because of a bunch of girls." She grinned. "Or should I say,

dirty old man."

"It's not like that!" Purgstall protested. He snapped out his hand and

lightning followed his call. It burst up from the clouds and down from them as

well. Eighteen bolts, arcing together like entwining snakes.

The girl snapped her hands to the side and the blasts collapsed around

her. They just vanished, swirling down into the gems implanted throughout her

body like water down a drain.

"Do you really think that love is all it takes to be human?" The girl

asked. She flashed forward, suddenly appearing in front of him in a flicker of

pseudo-motion. "That this one act makes up for centuries of cruelty?"

Her hand snapped up and he tried to parry. But despite Cologne's

encouragement, he was still not a martial artist. His head rocked to the side as

she struck him. He spiralled through the air. She appeared behind him and caught

him around the waist with one arm.

"Don't worry, you're not the first man to play at being god." She

grabbed his shoulder and bent him back. He groaned and tried to summon the

lightning again, but he couldn't. The power was draining out of him. "And they

all suffered the same fate."

"Let me go!" he shouted, and managed to push himself free. She laughed

and floated backward. What was she? How could he defeat her when his powers had

no effect at all?

"Oh, are you worried about your 'family'?" The girl placed a finger on

her lips. "Quiet your worries. I will let no harm come to them today. I still

need them."

"What do you mean?" He snarled.

"You are all such wonderful tools, did you know that?"

She flashed next to him. Somehow he managed to turn and catch her kick

with his forearm. But she vanished even as he blocked and caught him from

behind, pulling an arm around his neck.

"Your Amazoness Quartet, they are such trusting dupes. They will believe

anything anybody tells them, if it fits in with their need to be special." She

breathed in his ear. Her breath drained the warmth from his body. "Little girls

captured by a higher power, all their strength and potential turned to evil

ends. And they couldn't care less as long as they have shiny toys to play with."

"Damn you..." Purgstall grasped at her arm, but couldn't budge it. Her

other hand encircled his waist again.

"Cologne, such a worthless creature." The girl's voice dripped venom.

"Her own arrogance led her to ignore the warning signs, her laziness led her to

act too little, too late. And her great-granddaughter died for it." She laughed,

a little silver bell sound devoid of humanity. "She betrayed everything she

believed in to redeem her sin, to achieve vengeance. Selling out you, and all

that YOU believe in, for one vain chance at revenge. And she'll pay for what

she's done, I promise you. I won't let her live in his new world.

"And then there is you..." Her voice purred and she pressed herself

against his back. He felt helpless as she stroked the armoured plates on his

chest. Her arm tightened around his throat and he couldn't breathe. "You believe

so much in advancing the species, in your genetic destiny, that you never once

questioned if that was Arkanphel's real motive. You advocated a cause that was

just as much an illusion as the one the Quartet and Cologne did. But even worse,

because you saw the signs. You know Arkanphel's real plan is to leave this

planet and all of humanity behind, so he can pursue his creators like an

abandoned child seeking solace in his abusive mother's arms. You KNEW, and still

you fought for a lie."

"Not... true..." he gasped.

"Did you really think coming here would change that? That there is any

way to change that?" The girl's voice was sweet, oddly seductive. "If you truly

want to change the world, I can use you."

"Go to hell!" he managed to roar.

She laughed. "That is the one place I can't go. Only souls can, and I'm

empty." She spun him around suddenly and looked into his eyes. Hers were wide

and her pupils had shrunk. She leaned into him. "I need you, Purgstall. You must

live so that I can protect what is special to me. I need you, if I am going to

destroy the Oversoul to make him happy."

Then she reached out, and her finger slid into his zoacrystal...

Darkness.

"Frederick..."

He was floating, naked and alone, in the void. Around him swirled the

howling wind of Oblivion. He was used to this by now. Waking up from the dream

only to realise he was still trapped here, on the edge of death. For a moment,

he thought that he had seen a light, but it had abandoned him. Now he was alone

again.

"Frederick, can you hear me?"

"Lord... Arkanphel?" Purgstall opened his eyes wide and spun in place.

Had it been another dream, another nightmare to torment him? No. He had heard

it, he was certain of it. "I can hear you, Lord Arkanphel!"

Then he could see him. The man stepped out of the darkness. He was

dressed in silver robes, his short hair flickering slightly in the unseen wind.

His elfin features smiled when they saw Purgstall.

"I have found you."

"Lord Arkanphel... is that really you? This isn't another

hallucination?"

"I am here." Arkanphel extended his hands to both sides. Purgstall

vaguely felt other presences. Figures shimmered out of the corner of his eyes,

but he couldn't focus on them. "Your brothers have lent me their power, so that

I may speak with you, Frederick."

"My lord..." Purgstall bowed his head. "I am not deserving of such

effort. I betrayed you."

"Yes, but that is of no matter now." Arkanphel smiled. "You are my third

son, Frederick. I have always been proud of you." He clasped his hands together.

"You brought peace to this world. But now I need you to fight for me."

"Fight?"

"Yes. You must wake up, Frederick." Arkanphel gestured into the

emptiness. "Your youngest brother has betrayed us all."

"Gyro?" Purgstall's voice was cold.

"He killed Amniculus."

"NO!" Purgstall clutched the air impotently. Amniculus had been closer

to him than a brother. They had survived centuries together.

"Yes. And Gyro must be stopped." Arkanphel held out his hand. "You must

stop him."

"My lord..." Purgstall growled and reached for the hand. Then paused.

"But why do you need me, Lord? Why not crush Gyro yourself?"

Arkanphel's expression became stormy. "This is your chance to redeem

yourself to me, Frederick."

"Will you be fighting with me, Lord?" Purgstall's hand hovered just out

of his master's, his creator's, reach.

"I must save my strength," Arkanphel insisted. "I need loyal servants

such as you to do these things for me."

And like a light turning on in the void, Purgstall suddenly understood.

It was fear. That was what was motivating Arkanphel now. He wanted Purgstall to

fight for him because he was afraid of Gyro. Somehow the traitorous zoalord had

gained enough power that Arkanphel feared him.

But it went deeper than that. It had always been fear. Fear of risking a

zoalord in open battle had kept them from crushing the Americans while they

were still too weak to offer a resistance. Fear of counterattack had kept him

from destroying Millennium or Shadowloo. Fear of death had made him conspire

with Chris, the man who had killed Cologne's great-granddaughter. Fear was

behind everything that Arkanphel had ever done, in one way or another.

Whatever that child had been, she had been right. Purgstall had been

fooling himself. He had thought this man, with all his power and apparent

wisdom, was the messiah. He had thought he had all the answers.

But he didn't. He was just a man. A man who was afraid.

Purgstall closed his hand. "No, my lord. I will not fight for you."

Arkanphel's eyes widened. "I have something else I have to fight for now. I

would gladly fight with you. To protect this green Earth and everyone on it, I

would do that. But I will not fight for a man who does not have the courage of

his own convictions."

Purgstall straightened up and looked his former lord in the eyes. "So if

you have nothing else to say, kindly go back to hiding. I have to save my

family."

And with that, he woke up.

OoOoO

Ami lit another cigarette. It was her tenth one today. She needed to cut

down. As a doctor, she knew that they were bad for you. They had been linked to

everything from heart disease to cancer to bad breath, but knowing something was

bad for you and actually not doing it were two different things. She still

wasn't certain when she'd started. It had been sometime during her very short-

lived residency at the local hospital. A surprising number of the staff there

smoked 'just to keep the edge off', as they put it. So sometime between when

she'd started practicing medicine on actual people and when she'd mainly

stopped to move into the realm of research, she'd picked up this filthy habit.

"Ami, you should go take a walk."

Ami looked up from her books. Miki was standing in the doorway, looking

slightly concerned. Then again, he'd been looking like that ever since Akane had

returned. She put down her book.

"I need to work," she told him.

"Is that why the book is upside down?" he asked mildly.

Ami looked down. It was a medical journal. One of the ones she had

imported from America. She had no idea how it got through all the embargos, but

the Americans were years ahead of similar Chronos texts on the effect of

metahuman abilities on modern bio-medical fields. And she was trying to read it

upside down.

No wonder it hasn't made any sense, Ami thought to herself. "Maybe

you're right. I need to clear my head."

"Right. I'll get started on dinner."

She smiled up at him. Miki really was the best thing that had ever

happened to her. And if that idiot Minako thought she was going to risk losing

everything she had built with him...

Damn. She'd promised herself she wasn't going to think about that.

The air outside hit her like a hammer. She shivered and was forced to

put on a coat. It never got this cold in Ohtori. But it was November, and the

cold wind was blowing in off the ocean. Already Ami could see sheets of frost

where there were supposed to be puddles. Many of the gardens in the area were

also beginning to falter. As Ami walked she noticed one perplexed-looking old

woman just staring down at her flower garden, holding a trowel and watering can.

Everyone here is used to relying on Akio's illusion machine, Ami

realised. Even she had grown used to living in a virtual paradise for the last

seven years. Without it, most of the people here didn't appear to have any idea

what to do about their day-to-day affairs. Ami wondered how long the idyllic-

looking buildings would last once rain and wind and gravity and all the other

forces of entropy began to wear at them.

In a few years, Ohtori would be just like any other place in the world.

Ami took a long drag of her cigarette.

And sometime while she had been thinking, she'd ended up just down the

street from Makoto's place. She had no idea why she was here. It wasn't like she

and Makoto were really friends. They'd both drifted their separate ways once

Sailor Moon had made them retire. The only reason they still knew each other was

because in a small place like Ohtori, everyone knew everyone else.

Makoto was outside on the porch, talking with a young woman. Something

about the woman seemed familiar to Ami. She was short, with burgundy hair in a

pageboy cut and violet eyes. She wore some form of grey tracksuit, thick wool

from the look of it, with a hood that flopped on her back. She also carried

herself in a professional manner, her movements brisk and controlled.

She was trained, Ami realised suddenly. She'd had some form of military

training. Ami knew that this wasn't her problem. Makoto could take care of

herself. The best thing Ami could do was just walk away.

But she didn't. She had no idea why. She just felt like she needed to go

up there.

"Makoto," she called as she stepped onto the porch.

"Ami." Makoto looked at her. For some reason, she didn't seem surprised

to see her despite the fact that the number of casual visits they'd had with

each other in the last seven years could be counted on one hand.

"Oh, hello, Ami!" The woman smiled and stepped down towards her. "It's

been a long time."

"Long time?"

"This is Shiori Takatsuki, Juri's old friend," Makoto introduced her.

"You remember, she used to hang out with Rei when we first came here?"

"Oh... her." Ami looked at the woman. Yes. Her hair had been longer,

styled in a less professional manner. Her face had been a bit thicker than, the

chubbiness of youth. Now she looked more lean. More focused. "Sorry, my manners

are poor." Ami bowed.

When she stood up again she took out another cigarette, but just held

it. She really wanted to light up right away. Her nerves were on edge, and

smoking made them calm down. Or made her think they did anyway. But she felt

like she wanted to be nervous right then. It was a silly impulse, but for once

Ami let that guide her.

The woman bowed back. "No, it's no problem you forgot me." She shrugged.

"I just... came by for a visit."

Ami's eyes narrowed. She should have recognised her more easily, if the

woman had been living in Ohtori for the last seven years.

"Where is Juri, anyway?" Ami asked Makoto.

"She's in town, picking up a few supplies." Makoto leaned against the

railing. "She wants to head up to Fukui to visit her sister..." Makoto trailed

off.

"She must be worried about her," Shiori mused aloud. "Having not had a

chance to see her for seven years."

Makoto looked at her. "What do you mean? We've been out to visit her

sister at least four times."

"In the last two hours?" Shiori seemed surprised. "The blockade has

stopped anyone else from getting in or out!"

"The last trip was eight months ago." Makoto frowned a little. "Frankly,

I don't see why Juri cares so much about her family, considering what they think

of us. But with the chaos outside of Ohtori now, she wants to make certain

they're all okay."

"Wait..." Shiori held up her hand. "You've been coming in and out of

Ohtori for the last seven years? Multiple times?"

"Of course." Makoto shrugged. Ami frowned. Makoto was only partially

aware of the efforts Akio had gone through to protect Ohtori from the outside

world. Back when she was still Sailor Mercury, Ami had been only too aware of

those efforts. In the years since, she had successfully put most of them out of

her mind. Aside from giving her a place she could do her research in peace from,

she hadn't had much reason to think about that element of the town's character.

"You're from outside," Ami announced, looking at Shiori. Shiori looked

slightly guilty, but she nodded. "I find it hard to believe you just came by for

a visit, then." Makoto was beginning to tense up. "Most people couldn't get

inside Ohtori until the defence went down. And Chronos had the entire city

blockaded since then until two hours ago. There is no way you could have learned

about the city being open again and snuck through the blockade..." Ami stared at

the girl. "How did you get here?"

Shiori sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't ask that." She slumped her

shoulders a little. "I was able to get in so quickly because I was on the

blockade when it got deserted." She looked up again. "I work for Chronos."

"Shit!" Makoto cursed and vaulted the railing, landing in front of Ami

in a half-crouch. Her hands came up quickly. Shiori backed up three steps,

unconsciously falling into a simple self-defence stance. Ami reached up and put

a hand on Makoto's shoulder to calm her. It was actually kind of touching that

the woman had reacted to defend her. But Ami was becoming convinced this girl

wasn't a threat. "Ami, she could be a zoanoid!"

"I don't think so," Ami replied.

"I'm not!" Shiori held up her hands. "I just work for them." She

frowned. "Though technically I'm AWOL. The reason it took me so long to get into

town when everything disintegrated is because I ditched my uniform and changed

clothes so I wouldn't stand out."

"You're a Chronos soldier?" Ami asked.

Shiori chuckled. "No. I'm a secretary. I run files from place to place

and type up reports." She shrugged. "Not everyone in SecOps is a soldier."

"Your people killed hundreds of people in this town!" Makoto shouted.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't punch you in the face."

"Because I just work for Chronos?" Shiori replied evenly. "Over a third

of everyone in Japan does, you know. And those that don't work for it directly,

just work for it by proxy. They control every business on the islands, either

openly or not so much."

"Calm down, Makoto," Ami appealed.

"The people she works for are butchers!" Makoto insisted.

"Not really." Shiori shrugged. "I get this all the time from Rei. Most

people in Chronos are just people." She looked down. "True, they reserve all the

best promotions for people willing to go through processing, but it's like any

other place. Most of the people who work for it are just like me, people with

nowhere else to really go." She looked at Makoto. "Not that I don't think there

are people in Chronos that need to be taken out. Some people I've seen scare me

to death. But what am I supposed to do about it? I'm not some superhero. I don't

have the power to stand up to those people." She held out her hands. "And

Chronos does good work too. Some of the people I work with-"

"Save it," Ami snapped, suddenly feeling annoyed. She knew all about

Chronos' 'good works'. They had the knowledge, the technology to make the world

a better place for everyone. Instead, they doled it out in tiny packages to

maintain strict control. She lit her cigarette. "We don't need a sales pitch."

"Fine..." The woman looked away, chewing her lip. "I just don't want you

to think I'm a monster."

"You're not," Ami replied, waving her hand, trailing smoke behind it.

"You should leave," Makoto said.

The girl looked at Makoto. Then she frowned and stepped up to her,

Makoto tensed and for a moment Ami thought she was going to lash out, but she

held herself in check. "Don't judge me, okay?" Shiori snarled into her face.

"You and Juri, you're special people. You don't know what it's like to be a

nobody like me." She stepped back again. "All my life I looked up to Juri

because of what she could do. But I couldn't follow her. I just wanted to be

special too, you see. That's originally why I joined Chronos." She clenched her

fist. "I was going to become a zoanoid. Maybe even an elite. I was determined to

make something of myself. Be a hero." She smiled. "I believed the propaganda

about zoanoids. Who could blame us? They'd single-handedly saved Japan from

starvation. Seven years ago, this island was a barren wasteland." She looked up

at Makoto again. "I wanted to be like them. Someone larger than life who could

be looked up to."

She let out a breath. "Thankfully, Rei talked me out of it. She let me

know the truth about zoanoids. She also had a friend of hers arrange it so that

nobody in Chronos knew that I was linked to this place." She smirked. "It seems

people who leave Ohtori have a habit of disappearing into zoalord Gyro's labs."

Makoto looked at her for a long moment. "Fine. So you're not a butcher.

Happy now?"

"I just wanted to talk to Juri," the woman said, on the verge of

pleading. "I just wanted to let her know that I'm happy for her. Check and see

how she is..."

"Juri's fine," Makoto said. "I make certain of that."

"I'm sorry I offended you, but..." Shiori sighed and sat down on the

steps.

"Listen, you really should come back later," Ami replied. "After you've

both had a chance to calm down."

"I can't," Shiori said slowly. "This may be the last chance I get."

"What?" Ami felt her heartbeat increasing slightly.

"There's been some sort of disaster in Tokyo. Everything is in chaos."

She looked at her hands. "The all call went out. Every available Chronos

operative is making their way to the capital, to try and help." She looked up.

"Once I leave here, I'll be heading there myself."

"So you can help them fight another war?" Makoto accused.

"NO!" Shiori clenched her fists. "Because I want to help, damn it!" She

looked between them. "Listen, I could have quit SecOps years ago, but our people

really can do good work. We're just like the old police force, only..." She

trailed off.

"You should quit," Ami said. She took a long drag of her cigarette.

"Why?"

"Because your people do bad things as well, and you're supporting them.

Which makes you also responsible in part."

"I can't quit," Shiori insisted.

"Sure you can." Ami snorted. "You think they'll miss you? They'll hire

another person to replace you in less than a day. You said it yourself. You're

not special, or important. You're not even a zoanoid." She shrugged. "You're

simply not going to make a difference at all."

"You're wrong!" Shiori stood up quickly. "I do make a difference." She

walked up to Ami. "When Rei convinced me to give up on becoming a zoanoid, I

considered quitting. But I have friends in SecOps now. People I care about. I

may not be there with a gun, or a biolaser, or whatever it is that could make me

a fighter. I was never given the gifts that would have made me able to stand up

and fight for what I believe in, like some people. But I try to do my best with

what I have. I make certain that little things happen. I've kept our department

from being like some of the squadrons people are too afraid to talk about, when

I could." She stepped away from Ami suddenly. Tears glistened in her eyes.

"I would give anything to be able to stand up and fight the big fights.

I want to be somebody special. But I can't be. I'm forced to just be a normal

human. So I make the best of it. I do what I can!"

"Being special doesn't make you a hero," Ami snarled back. She reached

up and clenched a hand over her heart. "It just makes you able to screw up on a

larger scale. It just makes you bigger and more powerful. Trust me, being

special is not some miracle that makes you a better person. It just forces you

to make harder decisions."

"I'd still rather be able to make those decisions myself," Shiori

snapped. "Unless you think sitting back and doing nothing makes you a hero. If

so, then I'm sorry for you."

The woman snapped her heels together and turned sharply, marching away.

Makoto growled, the veins on her neck throbbing. She waited until Shiori was out

of earshot before addressing Ami. "Who does she think she is?" Makoto snapped.

"What gives her the right to treat us like that? She works for a bunch of

butchers!"

"Maybe she does..." Ami looked at the cigarette in her hand. She knew it

was bad for her. When she'd first tried one, she had almost hacked up a lung.

But over time, they'd just become easier. Why let your nerves get the better of

you? Especially when a patient's life may be on the line? You needed a clear

head. It was quick and easy. Just one more cancer stick and you would feel

better. "But then, it's not like we have any right to judge her, either."

"What?"

"At least she's doing something she believes in." Ami dropped the

cigarette. It bounced off the frozen ground. "So, I guess if I want to be able

to judge her, then I'm going to have to start doing that, too."

"Ami?"

"Come on, Makoto. We have someplace we need to be."

Ami ground the smouldering cigarette under her heel.

OoOoO

Cologne jumped in front of the others the moment she saw the red light

lancing out from the Pillars. She had no idea what she was going to do, but she

knew that her place was in front of everyone. The quartet screamed as the flare

of energy grew larger, inching across the sky towards them. Then Cologne saw the

blue spark in the centre of that light. It seemed tiny in comparison, but

somehow it was slowing a blast that should be traveling at the speed of light to

a crawl.

"Ikazuchi," Cologne murmured. He was protecting them? She still didn't

understand. Of all the saviours Cologne could have imagined, the last would have

been the arrogant buffoon that served more often than not as the Elite Five's

comic relief. But she would take any salvation that was offered now.

With a suddenness that surprised her, the battle reversed. The blue

light flared out, blinding them with its shine. Then the red light faltered and

the spark shot through it, splitting the fountain of energy apart into a blossom

in the darkness. There was a sound like thunder and a roar, and a moment later

the blue spark appeared on the other side of the Pillars of Heaven. The red

light sputtered and died.

Then the Pillar exploded. Waterfalls of dust sprayed out from all sides

of the massive building. A moment later the top portion of one of the three most

massive buildings in the world slid off, toppling sideways down into the city.

Cologne clenched her fists.

She could feel the battle happening down there. The last of the martial

artists of Japan, fighting a titanic struggle at the base of the three towers.

There was so much force, that even from over half-way across the city she could

feel the chi generated by the conflict. She only hoped that those in the city

beneath had the presence of mind to flee the debris that would rain down on them

from the explosion.

"Cologne!"

The fear in CereCere's voice made Cologne spin around too fast for her

injured leg to stand. She nearly collapsed when it tried to give out on her. But

she managed to keep her footing by using her rake as a staff.

The quartet were staring at the door leading up the rooftop. A huge

dent had appeared in it. Then another appeared, accompanied by a loud smash. The

noise must have been blotted out by the explosions, Cologne realised. Whatever

was behind that door was powerful, and the thin steel would do little to stop

it.

"Girls, prepare yourselves. PallaPalla, stand with Frederick." Cologne

forced herself not to wince as she put weight on her leg, and moved her rake up

to a defensive position. She was proud of the way the three combat-capable

members of the quartet moved into an arrow formation in front of PallaPalla and

Frederick. They held their Amazon Stones at the ready, their expressions going

grim.

The door exploded off its hinges. JunJun did something with her stone,

sending the door flying out over the edge of the building. A massive creature,

some sort of cross between an octopus and a woman, with eight flailing tentacles

where her arms should be, was stepping out of the door. Cologne could see more

beasts beyond them.

These were not normal demons. Cologne could sense that much. They were

much more powerful. The twisted remains of hyper and neo-zoanoids, sent

especially to deal with them. "Whatever happens, protect each other!" Cologne

ordered. She began to draw her chi into her weapon, preparing to release it in a

single massive burst. If she was lucky it would take out the first half dozen or

so, giving them breathing room.

"Mr. Purgstall!" PallaPalla gasped.

"Make certain he's..."

Then Cologne felt a hand fall onto her shoulder. She turned and looked

up, her eyes widening. Frederick smiled down at her. His chiselled features had

never looked so perfect. Suddenly she felt like crying.

"Cologne, please..." He stepped past her. As he did, he transformed.

Always before, his transformation had been like an elemental force. Raw

lightning flashing out in all directions, scorching and destroying everything

nearby as his body tried futilely to control all the power of his zoacrystal.

But this time his transformation was more subtle. Silver lightning arced along

his body, tracing along his muscles. Where it went, his body was changed.

It looked almost the same as before. It was still covered in some form

of armour, with large pods on his shoulders. In fact, it was all exactly the

same except for his skin and head. In the past his body had been covered by thin

armoured plates, and his head had become more monstrous, with two thick stumps

that extended from his head in a V and spines growing from around his face. Now

his face was much more human, as was the rest of him. His skin had turned

ndigo, but aside from replacing his hair with some form of glistening armour and

the emergence of his zoacrystal from his forehead, that was all the changes that

occurred to him now.

"You will NOT harm my family," Frederick informed the monsters. The

tentacle woman and a dozen other massive creatures burst out of the stairwell,

ripping apart the wall as they did so. Frederick gestured with one hand and

called the lightning. One bolt for each beast, each perfectly aimed. A series of

cascading explosions lit up the rooftop; then there was nothing left alive but

them.

"Cologne, you're injured?" Frederick said as he turned to face her. She

nodded mutely. There was a light. A new light in his zoacrystal. A tiny sliver

of silver light floated in the yellow glare of his crystal.

"You got better!" PallaPalla shouted, jumping up and hugging him around

the waist. He started. Then he looked down at her and smiled.

"Yes. I've gotten better." He rubbed a hand into her hair. "Thank you."

For a moment, Cologne was certain she saw something glimmer on the

girl's forehead. Apparently Frederick saw it too, because he paused and stared

at her. "PallaPalla, you're... different."

"I lost my Amazon Stone," she explained simply.

"You... don't sound disappointed."

"Naw. She just mooches off of our magic." VesVes said. She was trying to

look cool and unaffected, but her eyes were glittering with unshed tears.

CereCere's weren't unshed. She was dabbing daintily at the corners of her eyes

with a handkerchief. JunJun was smiling and shaking with repressed joy.

"No, it's something else..." Frederick said. "Something inside of

her..." He frowned. "I can feel it."

"Huh?" PallaPalla looked up at him.

"It's... not important now." He looked up at Cologne. "We have to get

out of the city."

"The girls can't teleport us. Gyro flooded the entire city with chaos

magic."

"Mr. Purgstall, we want to leave!" CereCere said.

Purgstall looked at them all. "I..." He paused. His head snapped up. "Do

you feel that?"

"What?" Cologne frowned.

"Magic!" PallaPalla gasped.

"A lot of it!" JunJun agreed. She turned east, towards the ocean. "I've

hardly ever felt so much at once..."

Then Cologne felt it. Not magic, though she had trained herself to know

something of that enigmatic force, but something much more sinister. The

building was shaking. The windows were rattling. The loose stones on the roof

and smaller pieces of debris were bouncing. She looked around. It wasn't just

them, either. All the buildings within eyeshot were vibrating slightly. Leaving

suddenly seemed more important.

"LOOK!" VesVes exclaimed, pointing to the east. Cologne turned and saw

it. At first she wasn't certain what she was seeing. Then she realised it and

her heart sank. It was like the horizon was rising up, higher and higher into

the sky. But she realised it wasn't the horizon. It was the ocean. The entire

ocean. As far across as Cologne could see, it was rising up. A tsunami. No,

that was far, far too small a word for it.

"That fool! She'll kill everyone!" Frederick shouted, his eyes widening.

"What?" Cologne could hear the roar now. It was a bass rumble, at the

back of your skull. You didn't so much hear it with your ears as with your

bones.

"Tethys," Frederick shouted, trying to be heard over the approaching

roar. "There's no time!" He turned to CereCere. "I need a platform!"

She nodded mutely, unable to take her eyes off the approaching swell. It

wasn't like a wave. It was like the ocean itself was simply rising, tier after

tier. Great shelves of water, reaching into the sky. CereCere thrust her Amazon

Stone downward and it flattened out, forming into a pink disc beneath their

feet. Frederick knelt on it and thrust his hand downward.

There was a crack and suddenly they were flying. Cologne felt all the

hairs on her body stand up, and realised what he was doing. He himself could

fly, but he couldn't hope to carry them all. So he was using his power to propel

them off the ground. CereCere was also kneeling, hands pressed against the

platform. Her eyes were closed and sweat stood out on her forehead. She was

holding back the lightning, keeping them all from being fried. Then VesVes and

JunJun knelt as well, and suddenly the pink disk was shot through with lines of

green and red.

Still it almost wasn't enough. The wave hit the city with a force so

massive that windows shattered outward from the shockwave. The waterfront

vanished, swallowed entirely in the blink of an eye. The wave was almost three

hundred meters tall. It smashed into high rises on the outskirts of Tokyo

without stopping. The buildings exploded outward, sending clouds of debris in

front of the approaching wall of water. Eventually it reached a few buildings it

could not overreach. Those buildings were shorn from their supports. She saw the

radio antennae of one building swirl backwards in the wake of the tsunami.

Finally the massive wave crested, and plunged down into the rest of the

city. Some buildings were demolished, but many more were left standing. The

force of the water was terrific, but seemed to have suddenly lost a lot of its

power. Cologne felt something leave the air. Magic, she realised.

Purgstall just barely got them up and over the cascade before it struck

the building they had taken sanctuary on. The water continued flowing, a series

of smaller waves following the first huge one in. Within a matter of minutes the

entire city of Tokyo, and all the area for kilometers in every direction was

underwater.

"Damn her!" Frederick snarled.

"By all the gods..." Cologne gasped in horror. She had heard stories

about the might of the Dark Queen. She had seen the footage of her wiping out

the Millennium fleet in one swoop. But to see something from a distance and

to experience it here and now were two different things. Like it or not, Tokyo

had become her home. To see it so easily destroyed by such a massive elemental

force was humbling. "She destroyed everything," Cologne murmured.

"Not quite." Frederick frowned. He was looking towards the Pillars.

Cologne followed his view. The water was slowly receding around the massive

structures. "Chronos constructed the Pillars with such things in mind," he

explained.

The bottom third of the Pillars of Heaven were ruined, but standing.

Windows had caved in and such, but the greater part of the superstructure was

intact. The only true damage was to the top of the west tower, which had been

blown off by Ikazuchi and ZX-Tole's final battle.

"Why would she do this?" JunJun asked, her voice choked.

Cologne clenched her hand into a fist. "Gyro's army. His army of

transformed humans. She did this to wipe them out. Every single monster in the

city. With one strike."

"Not to mention all her allies!" Frederick snarled. Cologne nodded

grimly. All the people fighting at the base of the tower. She closed her eyes

and muttered a quick prayer to whatever force it was that guided heroes' souls

to the afterlife.

OoOoO

The Dark Queen walked into the ruins of Tokyo. Her hair was a dark blue

wave breaking down her soft blue skin. She wore armour, tight and contoured like

waves breaking against her body, dark as the depths of the ocean and glittering

with tiny stars. In one hand she carried a lance, black and glistening, with a

long thin tip that trailed in the water as she walked. Her stride carried her

across the swirling water that had flooded the entire city. Ripples radiated

from each of her footsteps.

Around her, Tokyo was all but gone. Only the largest buildings remained

in the area where the wave had crashed down, and most of those had been crushed

into unrecognisability. Huge pieces of what had once been civilisation were now

nothing but jetsam and flotsam, drawn here and there by the strange currents

created by the reefs of shattered buildings. Here an upside-down car floated

almost sedately; there, a shattered tree bobbed.

And behind her came her army. They moved across the water, their feet

moving as if they strode on solid ground. It was unnerving. Beneath them was a

tidal pool of destruction, water ripping through shattered pieces of the city at

staggering speed. Chunks of the city that had been reduced to jagged, tearing

edges existed down there, waiting for any soft human bodies that could be dashed

against them. The sections of the city that poked up out of the water were

crumbling and treacherous, offering no safe haven.

It left them all totally at the mercy of Tethys. Without her, they

wouldn't even be able to fight. It would be a struggle just to remain alive in

this devastated city. What unnerved Akira more than that, more even than the

fact she was relying on Tethys to allow her to fight, was how casually the Dark

Queen did it.

There wasn't even the slightest trace of tension or strain on her face.

Her army had to number in the thousands, and she was not having any trouble

keeping them all from sinking into the murky undertow. Everything about this

trip had rubbed wrong at Akira. The woman she had once worked for had

transported them hundreds of kilometers all but instantly, through the simple

expedient of ripping out a large enough chunk of the Arctic glaciers and

propelling them along on that. Akira had always known that Tethys was powerful.

She knew her better than most. But even she found these casual displays of god-

like power uncomfortable.

It always reminded her of how limited she really was. How human.

Ukyou reached out and grabbed her hand. Akira looked over at the brown-

haired woman. She wasn't smiling, and she was staring straight ahead with her

cold-eyed expression of intense concentration. But her hand was warm. Akira

squeezed it back.

"Was this really necessary?" Akira asked her.

"I don't know." Ukyou looked at her. Then she looked across the way at

Nabiki. The woman was walking just behind the front rank. Her head was bowed as

she tried to stay close to Ryouga without actually looking like she was trying

to. Ryouga, for his part, was ignoring her with all his attention. But Nabiki

looked up when Ukyou gazed at her and the two shared some sort of look. Nabiki

nodded and Ukyou seemed to relax.

"What is it?" Akira asked.

"I..." Ukyou looked up at the Pillars of Heaven. Akira realised that

Ukyou had never had a chance to see them before. Everyone in the world had seen

them at one point or another. Chronos used them as a propaganda tool, and

everyone else used them as a symbol of Chronos arrogance. "I can't say. But

Tethys has a plan."

"Killing all these people was a plan?" Akira snarled.

Ukyou ducked her head. "She killed the phage army."

"I know..." Akira forced herself to calm down. "There was nothing we

could have done for them." Ukyou didn't answer her. "Ukyou?" Ukyou looked away.

"The only reason anyone agreed to this insanity was because it was the only way

to wipe out Gyro's army, Ukyou." Akira realised she was getting upset.

"It'll work out, Akira." Ukyou murmured. "I can't say anymore. We're

being watched."

"Watched?"

And then Akira realised they had reached the bottom of the Pillars. The

waters rose up almost twenty meters above the base of the tower, a raging vortex

ripping around the base of the only intact structures left in all of Tokyo. And

waiting for them, floating a half-meter above the cresting tips of the waves,

was Reichmann Gyro. His black wings were extended out on either side of him, his

yellow eyes glowed, his thick black blade was held casually in one clawed hand.

He looked the very model of the perfect devil.

"Devil Gyro!" Skullomania shouted. He started sprinting forward across

the water. "You'll pay for your outrages, at the hands of justice!"

Tethys snapped her arm out, blocking the man's path. Skullomania skidded

to a halt. Akira could see the others in the group tensing. Ukyou hadn't

summoned her glaive, but she released Akira's grip and positioned her hand to do

so at a moment's notice. Ranma was practically bouncing on his feet. He was

actually smiling. Ryouga stood as still as a stone, his body flickering with a

faint green light. Sailor Pluto held her time key staff ready, and even Nabiki

looked tense. The strange vampire girl that had joined them pulled a pair of

short swords from behind her back. Akira reminded herself to keep an eye on that

one. She was not entirely certain she trusted Nanami Kiryuu, or her motives.

Behind them, the army was spreading out. Armed with the most potent

weapons Tethys had collected from on Earth and her forays into space, they

looked formidable, but Akira had to question the point of bringing them. Against

Reichmann Gyro, they were like gnats.

Then again, some people had said the same about her once.

But still, she couldn't help but think that to Tethys, all these people

were disposable. She would gladly kill every last one of them, just for one shot

at taking Gyro down. Akira realised that if she didn't want to see that happen,

she would have to make certain the devil went down quickly.

"Reichmann Gyro. We meet again." Tethys walked forward.

"The Dark Queen." Gyro left his sword on his hip and raised his hands

towards her. "I think a proper greeting is in order." Then he started clapping.

It was a hollow sound that echoed across the ruins of the city. "A fantastic

opening move. Such a brilliant display of cold-hearted tactical acumen. Truly, I

am impressed."

"I didn't do it to impress you," Tethys bit off coldly. She pointed her

lance at him. "I plan on making you pay for every life you stole."

"Don't be so coy," Gyro chuckled humourlessly. "It is not every day you

please a fundamental law of nature. I shall let you have this little piece of

glory." His face twisted up in an inhuman smile. "Luring all of my minions to

one place with a sacrificial force so that you would force me to fight you

personally, a spectacular display of inhuman cruelty. I appreciate it enough,

that I will honour your request."

"Sacrifice?" Akira felt her blood run cold. "Ukyou, what is he talking

about?" she whispered. Ukyou looked away. "Wait. There were other people in the

city besides the phages, weren't there? She didn't..." Akira felt the iron

certainty settle on her. "She did." Her voice was hard.

She felt something dark stir inside her as she stared at the back of the

Dark Queen. Something cold and malevolent. Her hands clenched. Her lips peeled

back from her lips. She had killed... She had killed not just the monsters. She

had killed anyone here still fighting Gyro. Akira's world began to narrow. That

hated bitch was going to pay for that...

"AKIRA!" Ukyou grabbed her shoulder, hard, and whispered harshly into

her ear. Akira shook her head. The darkness receded from the edge of her vision.

"You... that was..."

"I..." Akira grabbed her forehead. "I feel strange."

"You're bleeding," Ukyou noted, her voice oddly inflectionless.

Akira drew away her hand. So she was. But Ukyou hadn't used her power,

so why was she reacting like she had?

"Come now, woman," Gyro called out, pulling his sword free. "I offer you

a chance to throw yourself against the bulwark of infinity. Such conviction

deserves a swift death at my own hands."

Tethys looked at him, and the spear she was holding. She smiled. "I

didn't come to fight you alone." She reached up one hand and snapped her

fingers. "Attack."

And the army charged.

OoOoO

Ranma had been practically bursting since Gyro had appeared. He knew the

plan, but keeping to it was such a pain. It wasn't that Ranma didn't appreciate

the talking part. A good pre-battle smacktalk session was half the fight right

there. But it was the fact HE had to remain quiet during it that pushed his

buttons.

Then Tethys signalled the attack, and it was on.

Ranma quickly sprinted to the front of the formation. Reichmann Gyro

frowned, his yellow eyes narrowing. The air around Ranma filled with the whine

and sizzle and snap of all those alien weapons going off. Beams of light, every

colour of the rainbow, speared towards Gyro from all directions.

The man snapped up his sword and with a deft motion swatted them all

from the air. Ranma blinked. He had literally deflected each beam with that

blade. Ranma had hardly seen him move, but it was like his arm was everywhere at

once.

Then Ranma was too close for thinking. He bounced up, testing the devil-

man's defences with a series of snap kicks too fast for the human eye to follow.

Too bad Gyro had inhuman eyes. His sword managed to catch each of Ranma's

strikes. Thankfully, Ranma kept the edge from hitting him, but just hitting the

flat of that black blade felt bad. Whole worlds of bad.

He cartwheeled back as others came in to take his place. Ryouga roared

as he ran under Ranma, his aura exploding around him. From the other side Akira

slid behind Gyro, snapping her hands up and around to backhand him.

Skullomania took the monster's right side, planting his foot hard into the

disturbingly solid water and launching into a spinning punch. Once again, Gyro's

arms moved impossibly. It was like they were bending and multiplying to defend

against all the strikes.

And the barrage never stopped.

Tethys herself came in as the third wave. Her lance flashed out,

striking at Gyro's head. As his impossibly swift sword parried the blow the tip

of the ice lance shattered into a dozen pieces... and each piece suddenly

elongated into another lance. Tethys pushed forward, screaming and striking

again and again.

Each blow that Gyro parried shattered and the pieces turned into yet

more striking lances. Soon it was impossible to see anything but the flash of

black ice as Tethys' lances multiplied faster than Ranma could keep up with. And

apparently that went for Gyro was well, as there was a snarl of annoyance on his

face.

That's when Ukyou dropped from the air behind him. Her Silence Glaive

flashed downward. Gyro looked up, his eyes widening. He stepped up to parry her,

but suddenly a figure in yellow appeared at his side. Her blades snapped out and

Nanami bound his sword between the guards of her weapons. Ukyou extended her

blade straight at Gyro's shining zoacrystal. The steel tines smashed into the

water and the water itself vanished, unmade by the Silence.

Unfortunately, Gyro was not there. Millions of ice lances speared in

towards Ukyou, who had enough time to look surprised before they stopped within

centimeters of her flesh. Tethys waved and all but one of the lances melted,

dripping into the water beneath them.

"I see..." Gyro's voice growled from above them. Ranma looked up. "You

brought the power of Oblivion to fight for you." Gyro was floating above the

conflict now. The beams of all the attacks followed him the moment their firers

could get a new bead on him. He gestured with one hand and suddenly all the

blasts began to twist and spiral around him.

Ranma was forced to dodge as a number of the beams were sent arcing down

in his direction. His companions managed to avoid the suddenly erratic fire;

Nanami was actually deflecting the attacks away from herself and Ukyou, but some

of the people in the army were not so lucky. Ranma winced as a few of the

soldiers in the front lines were vapourised, or worse, by the reflected attacks.

"Hold your fire," Tethys ordered. The firing stopped.

"You think I can be defeated by such base methods?" Gyro sneered.

"All we need is one hit," Tethys informed him.

"Then despair!" he roared, and snapped out his hand. Ranma felt the

force of his will explode outward. It was like being trapped in a dark cave, a

cave full of something terrible and nameless. It crushed out all thought, all

emotion. He could feel his heart slowing as his brain began to shut down...

Then with a suddenness that left him gasping, the power reversed. Ranma

fell to his knees. He looked over at Nabiki. The woman wasn't moving. But her

eyes were closed and sweat was beading on her forehead so fast it looked like

she was leaking. The veins around her eyes and temples throbbed visibly.

"Girl, do you think you can-"

"JISATSU BAKUHA!"

Ryouga's suicide blast rocketed up towards Gyro. He snapped his head

around as the blast entered the field of distortion around him... then exploded.

Gyro cried out in surprise as the explosion of green light flooded the air

around him, bending and warping around his body.

"He's distorting space," Ukyou shouted out suddenly. Her eyes were

narrowed. "Like the event horizon of a black hole. He's using gravity to bend

light and energy around him."

"Any thoughts on how we defeat that?" Ranma asked. The light around Gyro

had cleared. The monster did not look happy. He also did not look injured in the

slightest.

"Quickly," Ukyou offered. Then she leapt up, swinging her weapon in a

wide arc.

Gyro's arm blurred and distorted, once again moving impossibly fast.

Ranma frowned. He was pretty sure he had it figured out. The devil zoalord

wasn't just parrying, he was actually bending space around his body so that he

could move his weapon to where it needed to be. With that kind of defence, they

would be hard-pressed to find an opening. His sword could literally be anywhere,

everywhere, at once.

The Silence Glaive and the Sealing Sword met in mid-air with a loud

crack and a spray of ebon sparks. Ranma felt something pulse through the air

around him, and down into the water. He staggered and saw that most of the

people around him were doing the same. He wasn't certain what had happened, but

whatever it was wasn't good.

Gyro seemed as surprised as him. He flew back away from Ukyou as the

girl was flung backwards towards the water's surface. Two shapes blurred to

catch her, but the yellow one reached her first. Akira skidded to a stop, then

stepped in front of the two women. Gyro's inhuman yellow eyes fixed on the

trenchcoat-clad woman. "What are you?" he asked, hissing.

"A distraction," Ukyou explained.

Then Tethys was behind him. Her lance flashed down, and he twisted to

protect himself. As he did, the water underneath him exploded upward. A

waterspout.

Ranma didn't think. He ran forward and stepped up onto the spout, riding

it like an elevator. He saw Akira following a few steps behind him, but she

didn't reach the top like he did. Instead, she began to sprint up the side of

the spinning tornado of water.

Ranma let himself get within the reach of Gyro's blades before moving.

He snapped his hands up, and Gyro responded instantly. Still holding off Tethys'

attacks, he bent space so he could parry Ranma's blow as well. Except Ranma's

fist vanished and he struck with his other hand. Again Gyro's sword twisted and

Ranma pulled his hand back before the black blade could touch him. Ranma kept

going; an elaborate series of feints, each one faster than the last.

On the other side he could see Akira doing the same thing. Her limbs

flashed as she struck not at Gyro, but with enough force that he was forced to

respond. Soon enough he was surrounded by a forest of blades. There had to be

some limit to how many times he could split his body among the different layers

of folded space.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ranma saw Ukyou grabbing Ryouga and Sailor

Pluto. She was whispering something in the lost boy's ear and he was nodding

reluctantly. But soon enough, Ranma was forced to devote all his attention to

Gyro. His body was reaching its limit. His arms and legs were on fire, the

muscles burning from the inside out as he pushed more and more chi through them.

But he needed to keep accelerating, staying one step ahead of Gyro.

Their one advantage here was that despite all his power, Reichmann Gyro

was really a mediocre fighter. He was a bully who relied on sheer force and

bluster over finesse. Granted, with that much sheer force, he could afford to

do so.

But with Ranma, Akira and Tethys all striking out at him from every

angle, even he would reach his limits. He had to reach his limits.

Why wasn't he reaching his limits?

Then, just as Ranma felt one of the muscles in his right arm give out,

the devil zoalord snarled and there was a flicker of motion. Then they were

striking at empty air.

"NOW!" Ukyou screamed.

"Dead Scream!"

"Jisatsu BAKUHA!"

Ranma allowed himself to freefall. He twisted. The fight had carried

them ten stories up without him noticing. The waterspout broke apart into a

shower, mist spraying out in all directions.

Gyro had teleported not far away, apparently getting ready to inflict a

blow on Tethys from behind. But he was distracted by a ball of purple light

flashing up from the ground right at him. Somehow Ukyou had sensed exactly where

he was teleporting to, such that the attack would reach him before he had a

chance to escape. Behind the ringed ball of light, another of Ryouga's powerful

soul bombs followed.

Gyro sneered and held out his hand. "This trick didn't work the first

time-"

The Dead Scream shot right into his palm, exploding against his hand

with a blast like a cannonshot. Gyro screamed and drew back his hand. Then the

green crystal of Ryouga's soul shot into him. The explosion this time was clean.

It drove Ranma towards the surface even faster. The water dented underneath the

shockwave of the attack, revealing pieces of rubble that cracked under the

pressure.

Akira landed on the water on all fours and Ranma followed her, wincing

as the impact sent signals of pain shooting up his overexerted hand. The dent

Ryouga had created was slowly levelling out.

The light above cleared, and they could all see Gyro now. He had drawn

his wings around him for defence at the last second. Dozens of holes now

peppered his wings, leaving them in tatters. Thick yellow blood, glittering with

silver light, oozed from them.

"FIRE!" Tethys ordered as she dipped beneath the madman.

The army opened up again. This time the weapons all struck home.

Hundreds of them. Most did nothing, harmlessly skittering along his black-

armoured hide like flashlight beams. But a few caused smoke to erupt from his

hide, leaving trails of scorch marks across his body. A rare few even began to

cut through the armour.

"Enough!" Gyro roared, snapping his arms out. Once again the blasts

began to twist and bend, slashing out in all manner of wild directions. The

army didn't need to be told to stop firing this time. The hum and whine of

their sci-fi weapons trailed off as the people on the water began to shift

nervously.

"How?" Gyro snarled. "How did you break my perfect defence?"

"What, like we're supposed to tell you?" Ukyou returned.

"I will tolerate no insolence!" Gyro roared and snapped his hand at her,

The water around them dented downwards again and all three fell to their knees.

The light around them dimmed.

"Ukyou!" Akira screamed.

Then suddenly the space around them collapsed into a tiny black orb

hovering in mid-air. Gyro's razor-teeth flashed as he smiled. And a moment

later, his smile faltered.

Ukyou stood underneath the orb, both hands clutching the Silence Glaive.

The air above her shimmered and wavered. Ranma realised that all sound around

her had utterly ceased. But she was still on her knees, and her face was pulled

into a rictus grimace of effort. Behind her Ryouga was holding Pluto, who looked

stunned.

"You can't hold me off forever!" Gyro informed Ukyou. Then he clenched

his hand. The orb above her began to pulsate, like a beating heart. Streaks of

silver lightning began to arc around it.

"RYOUGA!" Nabiki screamed.

Ranma flicked his head to her, then back towards Gyro. Nabiki's face was

filled with inarticulate rage. She roared again, and this time Ranma felt it. It

was just at the edge of his awareness, and he was glad he wasn't the target of

it. Gyro's head snapped back, and his hand jerked up. A muffled gasp escaped his

lips.

Tethys flashed forward, lance extended. It was a perfect chance to

strike him, Ranma realised. He was distracted and hurt by Nabiki's attack. She

might be able to strike a critical blow.

But then Ranma saw something else. Akira was running towards Ukyou. The

pulsar orb was still crackling. In fact, it was growing more unstable. Ryouga

was now holding up Ukyou with one arm, as she was slumped against him trying to

maintain her shield. Ranma dimly realised that the orb was going to explode, and

pretty spectacularly.

"NO!" Nanami shouted, trying to run towards her. Skullomania grabbed her

arm.

"Don't go forward!" he warned. "It's too dangerous!"

Ranma distinctly saw Tethys' eyes flicker from the orb up to Gyro. Her

face hardened as she continued up towards him. Ranma was watching it all happen

in slow motion. He was so hyped up that he was perceiving things at a much

higher level than most people. Akira was going to reach the orb. She was diving

for it. She intended to try and push it away, bat it out of range of Ukyou and

the others. It was suicide, there was no way she could survive touching that.

Then suddenly Tethys was there. Her hand extended and the orb was

suddenly swallowed in a block of ice. The ice cracked instantly, deforming

inward around the pulsar. With a snarl Tethys whipped her arm up. The iceblock

shot into the sky, so fast that Ranma couldn't even follow it.

A fraction of a second later there was an explosion high above them. It

seemed so tiny. Just a snap like a firecracker, and a few moments later a gentle

wind pushed down on the field.

Gyro started laughing. Ranma grimaced, but looked at Ukyou and the

others. Ukyou was breathing heavily, but seemed unharmed otherwise. Akira was

staring at Tethys, her expression unreadable. Tethys was looking up at the devil

zoalord.

"Very well played..." Gyro continued laughing, a loud bellowing sound.

"But I am Reichmann Gyro! My WILL is LAW! Did you think that the universe would

allow you to destroy one of its foundations so easily?" He smirked, his yellow

eyes flashing. "Though I admit, I underestimated you all."

He was floating up and backward. He held his sword out to his side.

"Everyone prepare yourselves," Tethys ordered them.

"What if he's going to use the attack he destroyed the Red Sea with?"

Nabiki asked. She was panting as well, but there was a grin of triumph under her

worried voice.

"I don't think I can make a shield powerful enough to protect everyone,"

Ukyou groaned as she rose to her feet. "Not even with the Third Circle."

"You mean, without killing your girlfriend," Tethys snapped. She shook

her head. "But I don't think that's what he intends. No... I know Reichmann

Gyro. I've studied him for years. I know how he THINKS. He won't be satisfied

with such an impersonal attack. He wants to crush us utterly first." She

fingered her lance. "It's his primary weakness."

"You fool yourself, Dark Queen," Gyro said between fits of dark

laughter. "Did you truly think this was the limit of my power?" He shook his

head. "Tell me, Tethys: do you know why they built the Pillars of Heaven here,

of all places?"

He was rising higher into the sky every minute, retreating further and

further from them. Yet somehow Ranma could see him clearly. He was bending space

again, Ranma realised. He wanted them to see what he was doing, so he was

distorting space so they could.

"I managed to convince the Zoalord Council to construct on this very

spot. I used some prattle about it signifying our victory seven years ago

against the aragami, but that wasn't my real reason." He began to run his

fingers along his blade. "Seven years ago, a great and terrible force was almost

unleashed upon the world. It was known as Pharaoh 90. It is... a planet, which

eats other planets. But when the portal opened to allow this thing to enter our

world, a great sacrifice was made and the portal was closed, locking it away

forever.

"Until now."

Tethys' eyes widened. "NO!" She gestured and from the water around them

a forest of icicles emerged. Then they began to fire upward, a steady rain.

Ranma held perfectly still as javelins of ice propelled from the water so fast

he could only perceive them as white flashes, even with his enhanced awareness.

But it was too late. Gyro had reached the top of the Pillars. He turned

and slashed once through the air with his sword. A black line formed in the sky

overhead.

Gyro smirked and vanished the instant before the ice reached him. The

strange doubled perspective vanished with him. But Ranma could still see the

dark mark in the sky, nearly a kilometer above them. It was spreading, widening

out and out. It stretched from horizon to horizon, quickly passing out of

everyone's arc of vision.

Then it snapped open all at once, like an immense eye opening. Beyond it

was madness. Horrible black and red madness and a swirling green sun.

"Oh fuck," Ranma said.

OoOoO

The witch watched the Senshi of Mars struggle with indifference. It was

just another hero fighting against the inevitable. Some people might have found

her admirable, but the witch had little room left in her heart for admiration.

This girl would die, like untold numbers had died before her, and that would be

the end of it.

"Akuryu Taisen!" Rei screamed, snapping her hand forward. The ward in

her hand exploded outward in a wave of red flame. Around her the world shifted,

and the swords that had been plunging towards her shattered and vanished. The

girl fell back, panting. "I won't fall for your illusions!" she declared.

The witch allowed herself the slightest frown. The Swords of Hate had

been summoned, and now her world had collapsed once again. It was the first

torment again. For her sin, the sin of unseating God, she had been punished for

so many years that she had lost count of them. Every day for her had been a new

torment, every moment a new agony. Molten metal pouring through her veins or

maggots devouring her flesh or barbed wire wrapped around her bones had been

some of the simpler punishments. But the first, the ultimate flaw that was her

fate was the swords.

'The witch, the witch...'

They teased her now. Their blades ran along the edge of her skin,

peeling away slivers but leaving the rest of her intact. Soon enough they would

come for her in full. They would pierce her flesh and her organs, they would

sink into the deepest parts of her. They would stab into her mind, her soul, her

very being.

'Kill the witch... Kill the witch...'

It was her brother who inflicted the swords upon her, she knew. She had

always known. Even back before the end, when he had been the Prince, she had

been the victim of his power. All other girls got to be princesses in his

utopia, but she had to suffer alone in silence.

'The witch, kill the witch...'

Then she had finally seized control of it. In one desperate moment she

had stretched out and grabbed hold of them. The great Paradox, the souls cast

forever from the universe whenever the Prince had used his powers, it had always

been within her. And she had taken that power and with it she had brought God

low. In so doing she had damned herself, because she had opened her soul to all

the endless worlds of creation.

'Kill the witch! KILL THE WITCH!'

For every possibility there existed a world, for every choice made there

existed a separate time and place. But none of it was truly separate. It was the

great secret that she had seen that day, the one that would drive most mad. All

realities existed at the same time, in the same place. What humans called the

soul was a buffer, a tiny kernel of awareness that only perceived some small

part of the cosmic all. But the Paradox tore down those walls, opened up the

floodgates to the infinite realms.

The blades began to sink into her flesh. She could hear their chanting.

The voices of those worlds whose very existence the Prince had denied. They

chanted for blood. For vengeance. They dragged her to the worlds full of nothing

but pain. Hells the likes of which human minds could not long survive.

And this impertinent brat had the audacity to call these swords

ILLUSIONS?

Rei had placed herself before the Rose Gate. In one hand she held her

bow of conjured fire, in the other a trio of Shinto wards. She was bent forward

slightly, panting. Ever since her first strike, she had been playing defensive.

When the witch had intervened to protect Akio by deflecting her attack, she had

been forced to stand back. Up until now, the witch had been probing her

defences.

The woman's magic was powerful. It was holy. Worse yet, it was

supplemented by God's will. Whatever nameless force had risen up to replace

her brother, it was determined not to allow its predecessor to ascend the lofty

heights once again. Her holy power could drive back the witch's magic. But now

it was time to show the lone Sailor Senshi the limitations of her ability.

Her brother smirked slightly as he watched the bladestorm. The cyclone

of paradox blades, held back by the witch's will, began to shift. The currents

of the swords changed. They began to weave in and out of the storm, ripping out

into the real world. The witch looked at her brother and drew strength from him.

She had not been forced to try and take control of the blades since the time he

had fallen from grace. Her brother no doubt would find it fitting that she would

use that same sinful power in his latest attempt to place him back on his

throne.

Rei pulled back her wards, drawing them across the flaming bow. They

ignited, the flames of them curling outward into three long, thick arrows. She

grit her teeth and aimed the weapon at the witch. All her magic was going into

this shot, her innate ability to dispel the grip of evil magnified by the

spiritual power of an entire planet. "I won't let you past!" she screamed as she

let loose.

The arrows snapped forward, greedily seeking their target. The witch

reached out and grabbed one of the errant swords. For a moment she held its

blade and it bit deep into her fingers. More and more of them came, ripping into

her. They would punish her for her audacity. Then she saw Akio's eyes.

They contained no real love for her. There was no real mercy or

forgiveness in him anymore. Those qualities had been long ago ground out of him

by the necessities of life among mortals. Yet his eyes compelled her forward

nonetheless. Perhaps if she did this, this final act, then they would soften the

slightest bit, became something like they once had been...

She held the hilt of a sword in her hand. She brought it down, and the

great tide of Paradox came with it. In some reality, the arrows struck the

witch. In some reality she burned away, screaming as her body was rendered down

to ash. But in the reality the witch chose to let others perceive, the sword

snuffed out the flaming arrows. The mass of the Swords of Hate came down on them

like the sea on a candle.

Rei barely had time to scream before the wave came towards her. The

witch almost smiled. Did the girl sense it with her finely tuned spiritual

training? Did she feel the difference between these blades and mere illusion?

They would rip her apart, tear into her very soul. They would sever her thread

from the Oversoul and cast her into Oblivion.

Then a woman appeared in front of Rei. She was tall and beautiful, her

posture more reminiscent of a man than a woman. She wore simple clothes, and

carried nothing more than a bamboo blade. Her long pink hair flowed behind her

as she screamed defiance...

The bamboo shaft came down and struck the oncoming wave of Paradox. The

swords parted around her, splitting around the two women. They flashed across

the dirt field, tearing great gouges in it. Some few struck the edges of the

Rose Gate. Those that did bent and warped, some shattering entirely, against the

barrier that could not be crossed. When the wave abated, the witch was left

holding the writhing form of the Paradox blade in her hand. It wanted to twist

and bite her, to reshape itself into something deadly and painful. But she

managed to keep it at bay, for now. Its brothers continued to tear at her body,

but as long as she held this one, she could keep fighting.

The newcomer stood up slowly. Her brown hair floated behind her as her

green eyes twinkled. The witch felt something oddly like disappointment. How

could she have mistaken such a detail?

"Rei, are you okay?" the newcomer asked.

"M-makoto?" Rei whispered.

"Yeah." The girl grinned. "Looks like I arrived just in time."

The witch's brother began to clap. "Well played. I must hand it to my

adversary." He chuckled. "But this is desperation. He is grasping at straws,

drawing in anyone whose Destiny He can get His hooks into. You can't hope to

stop me now."

Makoto pointed her weapon at the witch's brother. The length of it was

torn and shredded, so much so that it barely even contained its shape anymore.

"I don't know much about what's really going on here. But I do know that I won't

let you defile that sword you carry." Her eyes narrowed. "Maybe you're right and

this won't make a difference. But I'm sick of waking up at night, unable to keep

from shaking because I know that there is evil in this world. Evil like you."

"And after everything I have done for you," he replied, smiling

slightly.

"Shut up, you bastard!" Makoto charged towards him. She leapt and as she

did the air around her flared. The witch's brother raised a single delicate

eyebrow. He drew up the ur-sword of the Moon Princess, ready to meet the

crumbling weapon of the ex-Senshi.

There was a loud crack, a boom like thunder as the weapons came

together. The witch felt something like surprise. While a normal woman had leapt

at her brother, a Sailor Senshi had come down. Clad in white and green, wielding

a sword of pure liquid lightning. It seethed against the ur-sword. Her brother's

feet slipped back as the force of her blow pushed him through the dirt.

"And so the hero, driven by feelings of guilt and rage, draws upon the

power hidden within her," he mused. The woman backed up a step, her eyes

widening. "Did you really think it was taken from you, Makoto?" He chuckled.

"Sailor Moon does not have that power. Your Star Seed is as much a part of you

as your heart or your soul. She could not rip your Destiny from you. Only you

could choose to give it up.

"It was you that convinced yourself that Usagi did not need you. It was

you who gave up on saving the world. It was you who accepted the deal with the

devil." He bowed slightly to acknowledge his role. "Nobody but you."

"Damn you!" Makoto charged again, her body surrounded by flashing

lightning. The witch had seen enough. She gestured with the Paradox blade. The

ground before her brother sprouted a hundred swords, driving upwards like

stakes. Makoto was driven back, shouting as a half dozen of the blades pierced

her arms and legs. Rei gasped and leapt to her.

"Makoto!" she cried.

"Forget me!" Makoto snarled, pushing her away. "Get him." She looked at

Rei. "We have to focus all our attention on him."

The witch frowned. Her brother was no threat to them. No real threat.

All they had to do was prevent him from reaching the Rose Gate. Even with the

ur-sword, his powers were limited in comparison to her own. She was the real

threat here, so why should they ignore her...

Oh. Clever.

The witch held up her sword. Did they really think they could deceive

her, who had studied at the knee of the greatest liar the universe had ever

known? She brought her blade around, preparing to attack again. The two Senshi

were striking now, splitting up to circumvent her blade barrier. Unless she

afforded them all her attention, they would probably reach her brother and

overwhelm his defence.

The witch spun and struck out with her blade. Blue eyes widened. A mouth

opened. Hands that had been raised dropped, a sword clattering uselessly at her

feet. The witch stared back at the blue-haired girl who had been attempting to

sneak up on her. She twisted the Paradox blade in her gut. The woman tilted back

her head and screamed, her eyes losing focus.

Ami Mizuno would see it, now. She would see that terrible door opening.

All the horrors of existence spread out for her, waiting hungrily to take her

into them. To make her a part of them. It would be a swift mercy when her mind

shattered and she became one with the lost souls of Oblivion. At least she would

not linger on forever like the witch, caught constantly at the border.

Lightning and fire rained down upon her. Pain was something she was

familiar with, and could thus ignore. The force of the blows split heaven and

earth, however, and she was thrown from her feet. The blade she had grabbed

slipped free of her victim reluctantly, but the witch kept her iron grip. If she

lost control for even an instant, the maelstrom would devour her.

The blue-haired woman collapsed, blood gushing from her stomach. The

sword had ben wrenched in her gut when the witch had been knocked clear. The

wound left behind was mortal.

"NO, AMI!" Makoto yelled, landing next to her. Rei was a few steps

behind. "Ami, you have to use your power!"

"Oh god... it's full of hate..." Ami said, then coughed, bubbles of

blood forming on her lips. "So much hate..."

"You never lost it, Ami!" Makoto was saying, grabbing the woman's

shoulders. "It's still inside you! Find it! Find the power to be Sailor Mercury

again!"

Rei hesitated above her, as if doubting even a Sailor Senshi's

constitution could survive such a blow. But in the end, she no doubt would give

in to hope. It was the thing that they clung to. It was all they really had,

sad and alone in the harsh universe. She knelt down next to her former friend.

"Ami, I believe in you. I love you. Come through this for us."

She placed her hand on Ami's shoulder. The red gem on her chest flared

with light. The green gem on Makoto's ribbon flared as well. Then Ami coughed

once more, and reached up to where that light came together.

"Mercury... Make... UP!" she coughed out.

Her body flared with blue light. The witch hissed as she once again felt

the hand of God. Somewhere out there, His fetich soul was feeling the scourge of

more Paradox. He had altered the game again. When the light vanished, Ami was

being helped to her feet by her companions. Her wounds were gone. The witch

almost laughed. If that was all God could do, then He was lost already.

"You should not have come for your friend. You should have let her die,"

the witch told them.

The three Sailor Senshi faced her, their faces hard and determined. "Not

again," Rei said. "I'm never abandoning my friends again. I've watched too many

people I care about die!"

"You misunderstand," the witch corrected. "I merely meant that you

should not have taken your eyes off my brother."

Their eyes widened and as one they spun to face the Rose Gate. But they

were already too late. He stood before it, the sword of Usagi's soul clenched

tightly in his hands. He brought it down over his head, a perfect swing and one

he had long practised. Then the sword met the Gate.

The Rose Gate had stood inviolate for uncountable scores of years. It

was the ultimate immovable object. Beyond it was the Power of Miracles, the

Third Circle, the godhead, whatever you wished to call it. No mortal or immortal

hand could move its ivory surface. The swords of thousands of would-be Princes

had shattered against it, shattered like their bodies and minds and nobility.

Once, perhaps, the witch had truly believed that someday that gate would

crack. But not any more. The power that had been lost would never, could never

be regained. Now she kept playing her role through rote, loyal to an empty shell

of a memory of a brother she had once loved. She was never certain how much her

brother believed he would someday succeed. He had told her, some years prior,

that Usagi Tsukino would be the one. But he had said such things before.

With a sound like a cup chipping, a crack appeared in the surface of the

Rose Gate. The ur-sword rested at the centre of that crack, which slowly spread

from its tip like a spiderweb. In almost no time at all it stopped. The damage

covered not even a tenth of the Rose Gate's surface. The witch stared. Her

brother's eyes quivered, his mouth trembled.

"At long last."

He brought the sword down again.

OoOoO

Mamoru sat against a pane of glass, his body shuddering. His rifle lay

at his feet. He couldn't for the life of him figure out how he had gotten in

here. The windows were whole and undisturbed. The entire place was clean and

unaffected by the chaos. Not even a single jar of pens had been tipped over. Not

so much as a single piece of paper had scattered off the desks.

They were dead. He'd watched them die. The water had come and they had

died. He'd been above the waterline. He'd nearly been knocked loose. The water

hadn't been content to just crash into the building. He'd seen it surge up and

into it. It filled up the windows. It surged up inside the Pillars like a living

thing. He'd watched a demonically-twisted zoanoid get caught in the water. It

didn't drown. It didn't have time. It was torn apart. Desks and file cabinets

and bits of broken wall had swirled up in the water and crashed into it from all

sides, tearing it to pieces.

Mamoru could only stare in horror. He'd clung to the outside of the

building, somehow maintaining his three-fingered grip on the nearly nonexistent

sill beneath the mirror-tinted window. He'd watched the water receding, and

leaving no sign of them.

They were dead. And he had abandoned them.

He knew who had done it. When Tethys had arrived, he had KNOWN. It

boiled alive inside him. It ate at his gut. It burned his brain. He wanted to

kill her. He wanted to END her. The seething vicious hatred that surged out from

the depths of his mind frightened him even as it comforted him. Because if he

focused on that, on paying her back, he wouldn't have to focus on the pain.

He'd almost done it. He'd lined her up in his sights. He'd begun to

gently squeeze the trigger. He had no idea if his magic bullet could possibly

kill the Dark Queen, and he didn't care. He wanted it too, more than anything

else. He wanted to be able to kill her.

But he couldn't. It just wasn't in him. He could almost hear Fevrier,

screaming in outrage. She always called him a wuss. She complained that he

didn't have the spine for the kind of work that needed to be done. Maybe she was

right. But he just couldn't find it in himself to fire.

Then the fight had started. Mamoru had watched. He felt the hatred drain

out of him. The pain seeped into the space left behind. But he couldn't let it.

He still had a job to do. He had come here to take down Reichmann Gyro. So he

had stopped and waited, hoping for the chance to attack.

Now he was here. He had no idea how he had gotten here. He moaned and

rose up. His body felt thick. It was the kind of feeling you get when you'd just

woken up. The way your body felt like it was wrapped in gauze. That hazy sort of

feeling where you realise you're still half asleep. Your brain is still half

stuck in the dream you were just having.

He placed a hand against the window pane. It was impossibly smooth. He

leaned over and breathed against it, panting. He wanted to cry. He had lost

everything. He should just lie here and remember. But he couldn't.

His breath wasn't clouding the glass. It was November. It was very cold

outside there in Tokyo. His breath should have left little white patches on the

glass. It didn't. He frowned and breathed out, carefully. A white line formed as

he lifted his head up. It was a perfect line. Exactly as he had pictured it.

Exactly.

His gaze traveled up, and up. The sky above was red, the colour and

texture of spilled entrails. The sun was the green of horror movie uranium,

bright and flourescent. It gave off no light.

"Elysium," he gasped. He knew this place. He knew it, somehow. Memories

from another life, squirming just below the surface. He could almost feel them.

A magnificent palace, on the edge of a lake. Serious men in grey and black

armour, talking in corners. He could see one of them turning the corner away

from him. "Father..."

Mamoru clutched his head. No. It wasn't his father. The memory faded

away. He was back in the office. The perfect office. The platonic ideal of an

office. He was still dreaming.

The office was cold. Wind howled through the shattered window. His right

arm stung a little, the piece of glass that had cut him when he'd smashed in.

The furniture was reduced to kindling. Everything was soaked. Water dripped from

the ceiling. In the corners it had already begun to freeze into thin sheets of

ice.

"Dreams," Mamoru groaned. He knew that place up there. It was Elysium,

the land of dreams. In the past, the ancient past, his family had been the

guardians of the gate. The only ones who controlled access in and out of it. Now

that gate had been thrown open, and it was leaking out into the real world.

And from the looks of it, Elysium was no longer the pleasant paradise of ages

past. He ran over and grabbed his rifle. Something in him had protected him from

the chaos. But he had been forced to fight his way out. His family was in charge

of Elysium, and he had been barely able to resist being drawn into it.

Tethys' army was mortal. He couldn't stand around grieving any longer.

OoOoO

The village was burning. Monsters ran through it, their claws dripping

red. Some carried the bodies of their victims, others were seeking fresh prey.

Cologne staggered through the smoke, her weapon dripping with gore. "Where are

you?" she screamed.

She was looking for somebody. She had no idea who. It was hot here. The

silk of her dress was stained red with blood. The heat kept it from hardening.

It made it slick. A small part of her mind told her that made no sense, but that

part was easily ignored.

She need to keep looking. She burst through a door. There was a boy

there. He was standing with his back to Cologne. His brown hair shifted slightly

in the thermal drafts. Cologne choked down a cry. He hadn't noticed her. He

hadn't turned. She drew back her weapon.

He had done this. Her homeland was being destroyed because of him. She

would have vengeance. She struck out... and a hand caught her rake in mid-

strike. The brown-haired boy didn't even so much as twitch.

"Wow, old lady, you certainly have violent fantasies!"

Cologne stared at the golden-skinned girl, with her silver hair and the

strange symbol on her forehead. "You..." Cologne murmured.

"Don't mind me, I'm just another part of your psychotic delusion," the

girl-thing explained. "Well, I wasn't, but I am now. Thanks for giving me a

front row seat, by the way. I'm busy, so I couldn't have come if you hadn't

dreamed of him." She smirked. "It gives me an excuse to do so many things!"

Cologne kicked out, her foot flashing through the air so fast it made a

crack like a whip. The girl floated around the attack, not even concerned. "Oh,

I'm not your enemy." She paused as Cologne continued her assault. "Well, I am,

but I'm not now." She giggled, a sound that echoed across the room and down into

Cologne's bones. The battle had carried them out of the sight of the boy, who

had not responded in any way. "I want you dead, but I can't actually do a

thing." She pointed behind Cologne, towards the boy. "Your enemy is there."

Cologne knew she shouldn't look, but she did.

Shampoo was rising from the ground. One hand was still holding the hilt

of the sword that had killed her. It was her own sword. She looked perfectly

healthy, except for the blade she had slammed into her own gut. Her purple hair

shone. Her red eyes flashed. Her lips twitched in that familiar annoyed frown.

"Old woman," Shampoo said, in her high-pitched annoyed child voice.

"Look what you did."

"Shampoo... I..." Cologne couldn't respond.

The girl pulled the blade from her stomach. It dripped hot blood onto

the floor. "Did you think you could replace me? Just forget about me? Have your

four little brats and your dashing monster of a fucktoy made you feel complete

again?" She started towards Cologne. "Have your pert new tits and your smooth

new skin made you forget who you are?"

The sword flashed out and Cologne instinctively raised her arms to

defend herself. The blade bit into her arm. She gasped. The arm felt brittle.

The joints flared with pain. The muscles seemed weak. It felt... old. She

stumbled back. Old, dried up blood oozed from the wound the sword had made.

"Wow," Kalia crooned, her chin cupped in her hands as she watched. "You

have serious issues, you know that, Cologne?"

"Shampoo, I didn't..." Cologne had no idea what she was going to say.

"Fuck you, old woman!" Shampoo held the tip of her sword at Cologne's

throat. "You let me die because you thought I needed to learn a lesson about

humility. Like you have the right to accuse me of-"

"Hey, leave her alone!"

All three turned. JunJun stood in the door of the hut. She did not look

pleased. Shampoo turned on her with a snarl. "Stay out of this."

"Oh please." JunJun reached out and tapped the girl's forehead. Shampoo

dissolved into ashes, her body blowing away in a stiff breeze. "Stupid

hobgoblins..." she muttered. Cologne could only stare.

"You're no fun," Kalia pouted.

JunJun turned to her. "You're not really here either."

"I'm not really anywhere, to be fair," Kalia countered.

"Leave Cologne alone!" JunJun shouted, shifting into a martial stance.

"Fine." Her eyes twinkled. "It was fun while it lasted. I'll see you

soon."

Cologne gasped and staggered. She nearly slipped off the edge of the

disc the quartet had summoned for them. Frederick caught her. Her pulled her in

tight, clenching her fiercely. "I thought you were lost..." he muttered.

"What..." Cologne's voice was weak.

"A living dream," CereCere explained. She was the sole person

maintaining the disc now. VesVes was busy holding her Amazon Stone up, creating

a dome of red light over them. Cologne looked up and immediately regretted it.

That sky was not something she wanted to see again. It had been the last thing

she had seen before...

"You got caught in your own imagination." PallaPalla was rocking back

and forth. "It happens. When you encounter too much dreamstuff. Sometimes you

just sort of shape it without realising. Little details at first, then before

you know it you're off in your own little world."

"Just a dream," Cologne muttered to herself.

"More than that." JunJun walked over and pulled Cologne's arm free.

Cologne stared. The dry old blood had clotted on her sleeve. Her arm still felt

brittle and arthritic. "You're mortal. You've got no protection against

Elysium's influence. Most of the time, it's harmless, but something's...

tainted it."

"It's bad!" PallaPalla explained.

"Liver and onions bad!" VesVes added helpfully.

"Frederick?" Cologne turned to him.

"I... I'm immune, somehow." He frowned and held her tighter. "But...

this has to stop, Cologne. That opening will only get wider. The stuff that

makes up Elysium is seeping into our world. Everyone who isn't protected by some

magic will be caught in it. I don't think the dreams they make real will be

pleasant ones."

Cologne paused. "You're going to fight him."

"I have to."

"You'll die!" Cologne shouted, pushing away from him.

"Perhaps." He walked to the edge of the platform. "But I'll die

protecting the people I love." He smiled, and for a moment Cologne's heart

stopped. She didn't want him to go. She wanted him to hold her. "Not just you

five, but all the people of Japan."

"When did you become a hero?" she hissed.

"I don't know." He shook his head. "I don't think it works that way."

He stepped from the platform.

OoOoO

They were falling towards the earth. The building sped along beside

them. Each floor marked off another moment before impact. He was reaching for

her, but she was just out of reach. If he didn't catch her, she would die. The

tiny slip of a girl would be crushed, and he would be forced to watch. They had

trusted him to save her, and that was what he was going to do.

Except, wouldn't it be better if he didn't? What if he just let her go

now? She would never have to see the horrors of this world. She would never

watch her father die. She would never see the horrors of England. She

would never awaken her awful destructive powers. She would never be abandoned.

She wouldn't watch her guardian die. She would never be violated by a madman.

She would never be killed, brutally, and then brought back, denied even the

reprieve of death...

Hotaru's purple eyes stared at him in horror. He was hesitating. His

hand was within reach of hers. All he had to do was close his fingers. He could

save her. But for what?

Then suddenly it wasn't Hotaru. It was Nabiki. She was screaming at him.

He could feel her, pushing into his mind. His eyes narrowed. His hands clenched.

How DARE she? He should let her plummet. He should let her die. The ground was

rushing up behind her. She didn't even see it coming. She probably wouldn't feel

a thing.

"Ryouga, take my hand!" she shouted, her voice almost torn away by the

wind.

Damn. He had done it. He felt her warm hand in his. No choice but to do

the rest now. He pulled her to him, cradled her with his body. Her figure was

soft and small in his grasp. He twisted his own body. He could take the

punishment. He was the immortal man, after all.

The ground he hit was wet. He gasped and pulled away, patting at his

back. No, not wet enough to activate his curse, thank god. Funny. He could live

forever, but his power didn't seem to think turning into a pig was a life-

threatening situation.

A form shuddered against him. Nabiki. He dropped her and she landed on

the solid water with a soft ripple. She looked up at him. He looked down at her.

"You were..." She trailed off.

"I was dreaming." He rubbed his head. "The sky opened up, and then..."

"It's the Oversoul." He looked down at her again and she continued. "I

never realised it until just now. Elysium, the land of dreams. It's the

Oversoul. It's the place where we are all connected, every one of us. It's the

thing we are all a part of. That why it reflects our dreams, because it IS our

dreams. It's our hopes and hates and memories and everything else." Nabiki

looked up. "And it wants us back."

"What?"

"It's taking everything I have just to shield you and me," Nabiki

explained. "That rift leads straight into the Oversoul. Except it isn't a place,

Ryouga. It's a state. It's the point at which the borders between us and

everyone else, everyTHING else, else break down. The closer we get to it, the

closer we come to vanishing forever." Nabiki gulped. "It takes very powerful

magic to maintain yourself. If you don't... you'll just dissolve into it."

Ryouga looked around. They were standing alone behind a large piece of

building. "The army..."

"Most of them are already gone." Nabiki ducked her head. "I couldn't do

anything to save them."

"And the others?"

"I think those with powerful magic might be able to protect themselves.

But those without..." Nabiki trailed off.

He clenched his fists. Up there, in the mad red sky with its lightless

glowing green sun, was Hotaru. "We have to stop it."

"How?" Nabiki gasped.

"Your sword. Wish it closed."

Nabiki grabbed the hilt of the blade. "I... already tried. The hole is

being held open by Paradox. I can't close it."

"There has to be some other way!" Ryouga roared, gesturing towards the

ruined city. "If this spreads, the entire world..."

"I don't know how to stop it!" Nabiki snapped back. "I don't even think

killing Gyro can do it! I'm not certain we can. The gate, once opened, can not

be closed!"

"There is a way."

They both turned.

OoOoO

The monsters slowly walked across the brown lawn. There were ten of

them. They varied in size and shape and gender, with the only constant being the

sailor collars around their necks. Alien mouths peeled wide, revealing rows of

sharklike teeth. The girl in front of them was a tiny thing. She looked like no

princess or saviour. She looked barely alive.

The lead one reached her. It probably thought that this was much easier

than it had been led to believe. It probably expected a fight, not just the

snuffing of a helpless girl. But it wasn't about to hesitate.

"LOVE ME CHAIN!"

The monster's arm dissolved as the chain severed it from its body. A

slim figure in golden armour appeared behind it. A trio of golden flashes and it

was dead. The other nine had time to react. Some drew back, others charged and

snarled. One just blinked. The result was the same regardless.

Minako was an angel of death. Her moves were quick, elegant and lethally

efficient. When she was done, there was nothing left but piles of dust. She

stopped and walked over to the prone girl.

"Usagi... what have they done to you..." She reached down, and checked

for a pulse. "Still alive..."

Then something distracted her. She turned and looked over her shoulder.

A great wall of water was coming down. She didn't even have a chance to scream

before it overcame her...

Ranma screamed. He smashed his hand against the glass, again and again.

His hands were raw, bleeding from where his struggles had rubbed away the skin.

"MINAKO!" he screamed, his voice was hoarse.

Her body floated up towards him. She looked like she was sleeping. He

screamed again, smashing his fist against the glass. "Nonononono..." He groaned,

slumping forward. "I should have been there..."

The image flickered again. It was starting over again. Like it had the

last thousand times. "I should have been there... I should have protected

you..." he moaned.

Why had he ever let her out of his sight? It was just like with Ukyou,

seven years ago. He had let his emotions get the better of him. He'd taken her

for granted, and run off to have adventures. He should have left a long time

ago. He should have found her.

Now she was dead. Dead and it was all his fault. Dead because he wasn't

there the exact moment she needed him. He couldn't take it. Not again. He didn't

want to see her body again. Not another body.

Not like Ran.

A hand settled on his shoulder. Ranma turned and looked up.

She was covered in blood. Her hand was cold. Her eyes were empty. She

smiled, her ruined face grotesque. "It's okay, Ranma. I'll forgive you." She

held out her arms. "How 'bout a hug, stud?"

Ranma screamed. He backed against the glass. If she touched him again,

he would go mad. He needed to get away... Wet arms wrapped around his waist.

Minako's voice gurgled in his ear. "Don't run away, Ranma. Be with us... be at

peace..."

"Just give in," Ran said, stepping forward-

"-OF IT!"

Ranma eyes came open. Hands were wrapped around him. But they weren't

wet and lifeless. One was etched with strange tattoos. The other was scarred.

The body pressed against his back was warm. He looked up. Akira stood in front

of him. Her face was not a bloody ruin, but blood was dipping from the corners

of her eyes.

"I think he's awake..." Akira moaned, then toppled backwards. Sailor

Pluto caught her. Ranma blinked.

"What... I..."

Ukyou released him and flashed across the distance to Akira. She took

the woman from Pluto, cradling her head in her lap. She was muttering something

over and over.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry-"

"What just happened?" Ranma asked.

"You were caught in the pull of Elysium." Ranma turned to the blonde

vampire. Namimi? Nakami? Something like that. She was standing on the edge of

one of the Pillars of Heaven. "It was trying to draw you back into itself."

"What?" Ranma frowned.

"When you go to sleep, your conscious self retreats to rest." The blonde

turned to face him, her red eyes narrowed. "All the barriers we build up within

ourselves, our pride and identity and emotions, they all recede. At that point

we come closest to perceiving the truth.

"We are all part of the Oversoul. What we call the soul is merely a part

of that, a small unit. It is like a drop of water, drawn from the ocean. It

mingles with other waters for a time, forming what we call reality. Then,

eventually, it returns to the Oversoul, as all water eventually makes its way

back to the sea.

"When we are asleep, we come closest to perceiving that reality. When

Gyro split open the barrier between reality and the Oversoul, he brought us much

closer. Our mortal bodies are not strong enough to hold us here. They're like

dewdrops on leaves; when a dam breaks and floods the valley. the droplets cease

to exist."

Ranma frowned and nodded. "I have no idea what you just said."

"Reichmann Gyro tried to suck out your soul. Ukyou stopped him," Pluto

explained.

"Oh. Cool." Ranma nodded. "So, we should get back to punching him in the

face, right?"

"We can't." The blonde vampire looked up. "Our Destiny lies elsewhere,

now."

"Huh?"

"She thinks that the rift was opened up for us..." Pluto frowned. "Or

more specifically for Ukyou." She gestured with her staff. "So that she can

follow Hotaru into Elysium."

"You know I'm right."

"Ukyou?" Ranma turned to the girl. She was still holding Akira, who was

just now stirring.

"Hey, don't cry..." Akira reached up and brushed a few tears from

Ukyou's cheek. Ranma blinked. He hadn't even noticed she was crying. "If every

time you have to use me like that I get to wake up with my head in your lap..."

Ukyou's face flushed and she backed off, dropping Akira's head against the

mysteriously solid water. "Ow..."

"Pervert," Ukyou muttered, but with warmth in her voice.

"I think it's the delirium," Akira pointed out. "Maybe you need to knock

me senseless more often."

"Don't joke about that," Ukyou snapped.

Akira looked her in the eyes. Ranma shifted uncomfortably. "Okay," Akira

said as she stood up. "Let's just move forward."

"But against who?" Pluto asked.

Ukyou ducked her head. "Tethys is fighting Gyro. She's distracting him."

She looked up to the pillars. "We have to get up to that rift and close it.

Something terrible is coming, and if we don't get up there in time, this will be

like nothing."

"Aww, Ucchan!" Ranma laughed. The woman was already walking around the

corner. He jogged to catch up, along with a few of the others. "Every fight with

you around is like this."

"I don't know how to stop it!" It was Nabiki's voice, from just behind a

large chunk of debris. "I don't even think killing Gyro can do it! I'm not

certain we can. The gate, once opened, can not be closed!" They turned the

corner and she and Ryouga came into view.

"There is a way," Ukyou said.

OoOoO

Tethys floated up towards Gyro. Her hand was waving in front of her

face, like she was trying to waft away a noxious odour. Her star-speckled black

armour shone in the green and red light of Elysium. Gyro waited for her, his

black wings beating lazily as he hovered in place. As she reached him, her face

was calm, almost mockingly so.

"So now you know the folly of bringing an army to fight a force of

nature," Gyro announced once she was level with him. He levelled the tip of his

great black blade at her forehead with one hand. Tethys lifted her ice lance,

the tip almost touching the end of Gyro's weapon. The rainbow starlights inside

it spun madly, swirling up and away from Gyro's weapon along its length.

"You destroyed an army of mortals, Reichmann Gyro." Tethys yawned

theatrically. "I wouldn't get cocky just yet."

Gyro chuckled. "Such coldness of heart towards the deaths of your

servants." Tethys nodded in acknowledgement. "You would have made such an

excellent addition to my new order. It will be a true shame to destroy you."

"The feeling is not mutual," Tethys hissed. "I will enjoy watching you

die."

"Then come," Gyro replied, drawing his blade up into an offensive

stance. "Let us show the world how gods do battle."

"Let's." Tethys voice was cold as she shifted to defend herself.

Purgstall decided to step in then. He flashed up over the side of the

Pillars, gathering power in his hand. Tethys saw him, her eyes widening. Gyro

did not. With a silent scream Purgstall unleashed a blast of lightning into

Gyro's back. The bolt took the devil zoalord completely flatfooted. He screamed

as he was thrown forward.

Tethys was quick. Seeing Gyro caught by surprise, she flashed forward, a

blue flicker Purgstall's eyes couldn't follow. A second later Gyro was flying

away from the Pillars, out across the drowned city. Purgstall raised his hand to

follow up, but the water witch held up her hand to stop him.

"Where did you come from?" she asked.

"Around." He narrowed his eyes. "Listen. You are no friend of mine, but

I might need your help to defeat him."

Tethys paused. Then she chuckled. "Oh, you're referring to me drowning

the city." She shook her head. "Don't worry about that. But if you're going to

help me, you have to help me draw him away from the towers."

"Why?" Purgstall stared at her.

"Because we need to keep him distracted while my companions try and

close this portal before the entire Earth is dragged into Elysium and everyone

on it dies. Unless you think you can protect them all from it?"

"He's coming back," Purgstall pointed out, turning to face Gyro. The

black-skinned monster didn't simply fly towards them. He seemed to shift across

space, the world literally folding around him so that he could appear before

them.

"Purgstall," he snarled. "You should be dead."

"Learn to live with disappointment," Tethys replied for him.

"No matter. I can handle two as easily as one."

Purgstall glanced at Tethys. The woman looked at him. He nodded. He

would have to follow her plan, for now. Gyro brought up one of his hands, a wave

of distortion clinging to it. They tensed themselves...

And ran.

Gyro's attack exploded through the air as they both plummeted like

meteors away from the towers. Purgstall's body was a silver comet, trailing a

wake of lightning. Tethys was a blue and black flash, diving like an Olympic

gold medalist toward the drowned city.

Gyro folded beneath them, bringing up his sword in a sharp arc.

Purgstall was familiar with the ex-zoalord's Incision Wave. It was an arc of

air, compressed through gravitational forces until it was as thin as a razor but

with the mass of a speeding train. Using it, there was very little Gyro could

not cleave.

This attack was in all ways greater. A brilliant black arc erupted from

the end of the great sword. Then it multiplied, becoming a hundred, then

thousands of crisscrossing blades. Purgstall snapped right as Tethys flowed

left. Moving with enough speed to be almost mistaken for the lightning he

wielded, Purgstall just barely managed to avoid the edge of the effect.

His desperate evasion had nearly thrown him into one of the broken hulks

of the ruined buildings. He snapped out his arms and legs, catching himself

before he slammed into it at full speed. His aura exploded on contact with

something solid, creating a crack like thunder and a cloud of dust as the

remains of the building were blown apart. Acting on instinct, he threw himself

backwards.

As he emerged he saw Gyro fold in directly underneath him. The huge

black sword he carried thrust into the dust. There was a burst of radiant

darkness and the back half of the building imploded. The shriek of metal and

concrete falling in towards the blade was deafening.

Purgstall gathered power as he flashed back over the demon zoalord's

body. He thrust his hand downward, watching as the charge of his lightning

gathered between his palms. Gyro reacted before he could finish building up

enough force to trust it would affect the madman. He didn't so much move as

twist, suddenly facing Purgstall. His needle teeth flashed in a savage grin.

The black blade came forward. Lightning exploded from Purgstall's hands.

The blade twisted, parrying the blast. Even as it did, it also shot forward

towards Purgstall's neck.

Then Purgstall was flying sideways. He saw a blue figure standing

between him and Gyro, her arm extended towards him. Then the black blade cleft

her from one shoulder to the opposite hip. Purgstall's eyes widened.

The female figure exploded, bursting outward in a cloud of mist. Gyro

flew through it, cackling madly. Purgstall roared in wordless rage as he snapped

up one hand and brought down the lightning.

OoOoO

The Pillars of Heaven were oddly deserted as they made their way up.

They didn't bother with stairs. Ryouga had suggested blasting his way through

the ceiling with his Bakusaitenketsu, but Akira had just sighed and walked over

to the elevator.

"Those must be offline," Nabiki had pointed out.

"I know." The metal doors screeched as Akira tore them back, bending

them like tinfoil. "But the shaft is a clear run straight to the top."

"We climb?" Pluto asked.

Akira shook her head as she looked down at the water that flooded the

lower part of the shaft. "No. We jump."

"How..." Pluto closed her mouth as Akira leapt forward. Her foot came up

and pressed against the far wall. With a grunt she heaved herself up and

backwards. She grabbed the cable and spun herself, then kicked off the other

wall. This repeated, as she gained altitude each time.

"She expects us to do that?" Ryouga groaned.

"Whatsa matter?" Ranma smirked at him. "Not really nimble?"

"I can do it!" Ryouga snarled.

"You guys coming or what?" Pluto looked up into the shaft at the sound

of a voice. Akira had paused about fifteen floors up. She was hanging from the

cable and looking down quizzically.

"It is the fastest way," Nanami pointed out. She leapt into the shaft.

She was surprisingly quick, bouncing from wall to wall like a yellow superball.

Akira started up again when Nanami had reached the third floor.

"How are Nabiki and Pluto supposed to follow us?" Ryouga snapped at

Ranma.

"Huh. You're right." Ranma turned to Nabiki. "Hold on tight, okay?"

Nabiki had enough time to realise what he was going to do before Ranma grabbed

her up and jumped into the shaft. The girl screamed and snapped her arms around

his neck.

Ryouga's eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. Snarling, he leapt into

the shaft after them. For a martial artist famous for brute strength, he proved

nimble enough to handle the unorthodox climb. Pluto turned to face the only

other remaining person.

Ukyou held out her hand. "Do you trust me?" Pluto didn't answer; she

just grabbed the woman's hand. Ukyou pulled her in tight before they began their

own ascent.

It was surprisingly pleasant. Ukyou's grip was gentle but firm. Even as

the woman twisted and spun constantly so she could always face towards the

incoming walls, she did so with a tranquil grace. The first few jumps were

jarring and shaky, but after that Ukyou soon fell into an easy rhythm. It was

almost like a dance in constant freefall.

"So, what is the plan?" Pluto said as they rose through the guts of the

deserted Chronos facility.

"I'm not certain," Ukyou admitted.

"You have no idea how to close that hole, do you?" Pluto said mildly.

"I know. I just don't like it." Pluto raised an eyebrow at Ukyou's

response. "That portal, it's cut from pure Paradox. The backlash power of the

Third Circle. I can sense it even down here. It's a tear in reality. But I think

I know how... or rather who can close it."

"You?"

"No." Ukyou closed her eyes. Pluto might have panicked then, considering

how much could go wrong with the slightest misstep in this suicidally foolish

ascent. "The worst thing is I think the portal can only be closed from this

side."

"You're planning on going through. After Hotaru." It wasn't a question.

"I have to. I can't run from this anymore, Pluto. It's time to face the

Nameless. If I have to do that on its terms, so be it."

"Ukyou... you won't survive in Elysium."

"I'm handling this fine..."

"No." Pluto shook her head. "You don't understand. This is still

reality. It still has shape and form and function. Even if the dreamstuff of

Elysium is spilling into our world through that portal, it's being... diluted.

The difference between this and heading through that portal will be like the

difference between vinegar and hydrofluoric acid."

"Maybe the Third Circle..." Ukyou suddenly paused, looking thoughtful.

"Would the Third Circle protect you from Ryouga ripping your head off?"

Pluto countered.

Ukyou frowned. "Okay, point. But I have to be able to get through,

Pluto. I'm not going to back down."

"Ukyou..." Sailor Pluto bit her lip. Did she really want to do this? A

part of her, a very large part, still wanted to turn against Ukyou. The very

thought of helping her was insane. Much less helping her with a part of the

prophecy that Pluto had seen. If she went forward, it wouldn't just be sitting

back and letting that terrible future occur. She would be actively helping it.

"Long ago, the land of Elysium was discovered by the Moon Kingdom. It

was decided it was too dangerous for humans to be exposed to, so it was sealed

away. The royal line of Earth was placed in charge of maintaining that seal. The

decision was also made to cut off all contact with the Earth Kingdom, to make

certain no knowledge of the land of dreams could escape to the other colonies.

This was why Earth was a forbidden land." Pluto carefully noted Ukyou's

reaction. The girl looked intrigued, but not particularly affected one way or

another. Pluto, of course, understood her queen's order. It was the same order

that had sealed away Pluto and the Gates of Time from the rest of society.

"But Queen Serenity knew that dangers might exist in the land of dreams.

Dangers that couldn't be fought in the real world. So she granted each of her

Senshi a small spark of the light of the silver crystal. It would protect them

from the ravages of Elysium should it ever be necessary for them to venture

there."

"Does this have anything to do with the Star Seed on your hip?" Ukyou

asked. Pluto paused, then nodded.

"Ukyou, I think I can-"

"Something's wrong," Ukyou hissed, her eyes narrowing. Pluto frowned and

looked up. The shaft above led up into darkness. Up above Akira had flared her

aura, a brilliant blue light that lit their way. The others had also followed

suit. Ranma's aura was a slightly lighter shade than Akira's, but where hers

raged like a storm-tossed sea, his pulsed like rippling water. Ryouga's aura was

a thick and heavy green. Surprisingly, the vampire girl Nanami was glowing with

the faintest yellow light. It took a moment for Pluto to realise that Ukyou was

also glowing. Her aura was pure white, like freshly fallen snow.

But Akira's aura was no longer climbing. She was hanging from the cable

in the centre. Up above them was a wall of pure darkness. As Ukyou and she

approached, Pluto could swear she saw it move. It was like something was pushing

on the other side of it. Something not human.

"What is it?" Ryouga growled. He had dug his fingers into the metal

walls like they were clay. Ranma had kicked open one of the doors and set Nabiki

on the ledge there. Pluto found herself deposited next to the young woman as

Ukyou caught up. Nanami was standing on the side of the wall, hanging perfectly

sideways with utter nonchalance. As if she defied gravity everyday.

Ukyou stared up at the almost liquid darkness. Her eyes narrowed. "It's

him."

"How much further to the top?" Ranma asked.

"This is it." Ukyou indicated the darkness. "Beyond this, it's just a

few more floors before we reach the top of the tower."

"So what's the hold up then?" Ranma grunted and leapt up and through the

darkness. Everyone else just stared.

"Heh." Ukyou chuckled. "He'll never change. Come on everyone, he'll need

our help."

One by one they vanished into the darkness. Pluto glanced at Nabiki. The

girl was frowning. "Pain, Pluto. Pain and anger."

"Shall we go?" Pluto held out her hand. "I'm no martial artist, but I

can carry us through this barrier, I think." Nabiki nodded.

Forcing her way through that darkness had to be one of the single most

unpleasant moments of Pluto's life. It slipped along her flesh, seeping under

her clothes. It touched her with its cold emptiness. It violated her. And not

just her flesh. It sunk into her bones, into her mind, into her soul. It was

like leaping through the psychic equivalent of raw sewage. When she finally

burst through to the other side, she released Nabiki, staggered a few steps away

and vomited.

It was the sound of clapping that brought her back. She looked up.

The man had hardly changed from that dark chamber far beneath the ice.

He wore a red fedora and matching coat. His hair was like writhing oil. His eyes

were red and slitted, and seemed to be staring directly into her. He sat in a

tarnished bronze structure that could only be called a throne. Directly behind

him spun the mad green sun of Elysium, and all around it the red skies of the

world of dreams boiled like blood.

"I'm so glad to see you all made it," the man said with a laugh. "It

wouldn't be nearly so much fun otherwise."

"Alucard," Ukyou almost spat the name. A small part of Pluto was

perversely glad to see that Ukyou was leaning heavily on her Silence Glaive for

support. Apparently she hadn't been entirely unaffected by the passage through

that hellish darkness. "What are you doing here?"

"I told you you should have killed me when you had the chance, Ukyou."

The man flowed to his feet, his coat snapping out around him like a living

thing. "I was promised that I would get to be here for the final battle... one

way, or another."

"So you're working for the Nameless now?" Ukyou accused.

"We're all working for God," Alucard corrected her. "Even you, Ukyou.

Especially you. The one He's waited all this time for. The final experiment.

After an infinite number of failures..." He chuckled. "But I'm ruining all the

fun."

"Why?" Ukyou snapped. "He tortured you for seven years! Why fight for

him?"

Alucard smiled, a thing of all sharp angles and lacking anything like

mercy. "Because then I can die, Ukyou. Because He promised me one last glorious

final battle, then an end to it all. No more petty games. No more tiny monsters.

Just a battle to end all battles, then Oblivion."

"I don't suppose you'd just let us beat you to death, if that's what

you're after?" Akira asked.

Alucard chuckled, a dry and unnerving sound. "Where's the fun in that?

Besides, I'm under strict orders. Only Ukyou and Nanami may pass me. All

others..." His grin widened. "I get to do with as I please."

Ukyou stiffened, her body locking up. Nabiki was shaking. Pluto could

suddenly feel it. She had heard Rose describe 'killing intent' a few times. That

slight change in the air that let you know that a fight had gone beyond the

point of no return. That the only way it could possibly end was with death. Up

until now, she had never understood exactly what that meant.

She felt her mouth drying out. Her heart was racing. She wanted to run,

to hide. She wanted to just stand there and hope that this thing didn't notice

her. She might have been a Sailor Senshi, but she was still a human being. She

was still prey. And this man in red, he was the thing that frightened you at

night. He was the nightmare from which you woke up screaming. He was the reason

men lit fires and prayed.

Alucard reached into his coat and drew out two firearms. They were

almost comically huge, barely fitting into his palms. Everyone took a step

backward. Then he spoke.

"Control Art Restriction Unlocked to Level Zero. The Divine Mandate is

now in effect. Level will be maintained until primary targets are eliminated."

OoOoO

Blood ran down Purgstall's chin. He coughed and rose slowly to his feet.

A beam of green sunlight streamed in through the hole in the wall he had

created. The room he was in was huge, some sort of theatre from the looks of it.

The water had flooded most of the lower half of the room, including the stage.

He was on the balcony, having crashed through several rows of chairs. This place

was filled with moisture. The floor was slick with it. The walls dripped with

it. Even the air was thick with a soft mist.

Gyro was unstoppable. Purgstall had thrown everything he had at the

madman to no avail. Lightning bolts just curved around him. Those he didn't

parry with his great dark blade were funnelled harmlessly around him, bending

through the distorted space he surrounded himself with. On top of that, his

attacks did not have to obey any rhyme or reason. He could appear absolutely

anywhere, strike at any area. It had taken everything Purgstall had to stay one

step ahead.

And now it looked like his luck was running out.

Gyro floated through the hole, casting a shadow across the balcony. He

smirked, holding his sword idly. Purgstall forced himself to stand firm. He just

hoped that Cologne and the girls would survive, somehow. Gyro drew back his bade

and folded forward, suddenly appearing right in front of Purgstall...

An icy lance intercepted the blade. There was a ringing clank as the

blade rebounded. Purgstall staggered backward. Tethys had appeared literally out

of nowhere.

"You live?" Gyro inquired with a smile.

Tethys didn't reply. Instead she pushed his weapon back and turned,

thrusting the butt of her lance at him. As she did the weapon shifted, the shape

reversing in the blink of an eye. Gyro blocked the suddenly reversed lance,

driving his sword against the black ice with enough force to shatter it. Her

weapon didn't even slow him down as he drove it up and through her chest.

Like before, the blue skinned woman exploded into a cloud of mist. But

even as she did she stepped sideways out of the air behind him. Purgstall stared

in confusion as she brought her lance up towards Gyro's back. Gyro's weapon

twisted through the air, somehow intercepting the attack.

He snarled and struck again, and again Tethys made no move to dodge. Her

body evaporated as his blade passed through. Purgstall didn't wait for her to

return. He began to gather his power...

A hand settled on his wrist, pulling it down. He turned to see Tethys

looking at him, shaking her head. He looked back in surprise. Tethys was also

coming out of the air above Gyro. Her body seemed to congeal out of nothingness

as it drove the lance down. Gyro slipped sideways, and cut her body in two as it

came down. Once again she exploded into mist.

Except she was still holding his wrist. "You don't want to do that in

here," she warned him.

In front of them Gyro was being drawn out across the pool of water that

was the flooded lower half of the theatre. A Tethys dipped down beneath him,

driving a lance up at him. The lance multiplied in mid-thrust, becoming a dozen.

Gyro roared and snapped his hand forward. A sphere of force shredded through the

wall of lances, ripping the weapons and Tethys to shreds.

Except it wasn't.

"The moisture..." He whispered. "You...?"

Tethys nodded beside him. "Yes. For a being so proud of his newly

ascended status, Gyro thinks in predictable mortal manners." She smiled. "He

assumes I need a body, for one."

Purgstall looked down at his hand. He could feel the pressure in the

room growing. The water was collecting on his cheeks and forehead now. He felt

like he was breathing in a sauna. Every time Gyro struck down one of the bodies

Tethys was creating, the room became saturated that much more. Unfortunately,

with all this water he couldn't risk using his own powers.

"You lured him in here. You used me as bait," Purgstall admitted

grudgingly.

"Not everything is as it appears, Frederick von Purgstall." Tethys

smiled as she watched another of her water clones continue to provoke Gyro.

"There is a lot hidden here, under the surface."

"You really are as cold and manipulative as he says," Purgstall grunted.

He wanted to do something, but had no idea what. If he unleashed lightning in

here it would arc through the entire structure. While the Dark Queen was able to

spread her consciousness throughout the entire room thanks to the moisture, he

doubted she'd appreciate a hundred thousand volts flashing through her.

"Don't confuse me with him," she snapped. In front of them, Gyro had

grown tired of trying to catch her with his sword. He floated in the air,

unleashing balls of high gravity force from his palm at any Tethys clone that

appeared. The pressure cannons ripped great holes in the structure and sent

geysers of water up all around them. "All I'm doing is playing for time. I need

to keep him busy until my companions can close that portal."

"And then what?"

She frowned. "Then I play my trump card."

"You have something that can cut past his defences?"

She looked at him. "You don't trust me."

"You slaughtered your own people needlessly," Purgstall barked. "It's

not a matter of trust, Tethys. It's a matter of dislike."

Tethys smiled. "Oh, ye of little faith." She turned back to Gyro. "Do

you realise how much fine control this takes, Purgstall? Not only talking to

you, but engaging in a battle with him at the same time. I'm controlling every

molecule of water in this room, forming bodies and weapons as I need them, and

discarding them as I don't." Her smiled deepened, became more predatory. "Do you

really think that someone with as much control as I have would destroy valuable

allies? Or do you instead think I would merely let Gyro believe that half of my

force was destroyed?"

Purgstall started and looked down. Tethys chuckled.

"Like I said, Purgstall, there is a lot going on underneath the

surface."

Purgstall was about to reply when suddenly the entire theatre shuddered.

The Tethys he was with staggered, her eyes widening. Purgstall braced himself

against a chair that had been ripped free of its moorings by his crash landing.

He looked up.

The top of the theatre was littered with holes from the fight going on

between Tethys and Gyro. Through those holes, Purgstall could see a shape in the

sky above. It was beginning to slowly eclipse the sun. It was huge. Impossibly

huge. A perfect circle of darkness, and from it radiated dozens of thin,

writhing silhouettes.

"Pharaoh 90..." Tethys hissed. "Ukyou, what are you doing?"

OoOoO

Ukyou crashed against the wall with enough force to send a crack running

down its length. She sat there for a moment, stunned. Then the shadow of the

wall ripped apart. Vermin of all shapes and sizes tore free of the shadow like

they were ripping out of something's flesh. Huge chittering millipedes wrapped

around Ukyou's arms and legs as flies and spiders crawled over her body. She

screamed.

"Ukyou!" Akira shouted, but she was busy holding apart the jaws of a

huge black dog. Its teeth writhed inside its mouth, its hundreds of eyes rolling

around insanely. Its tongue darted towards Akira, the tip splitting apart to

reveal dozens of lamprey-like mouths that snaked towards her face. The girl

screamed and threw her entire weight forward. A blast of blue light erupted from

her, snapping the jaws of the beast apart and ripping it in two in a spray of

blood.

Ranma was grappling with Alucard himself. But it was like trying to grab

smoke. The mad vampire laughed as Ranma futilely tried to disarm him. Every time

Ranma knocked the huge hand cannons away from the thing's grasp, it just grew

another pair of hands from some part of the inky shadows around it and clasped

the weapons again.

Ryouga roared in pain suddenly, a huge black spike snapping out of the

shadows and piercing him through the gut. Blood exploded from his lips and he

swayed forward as the spine pinned him up against the wall. But his hands

grabbed onto the spine. His knuckles turned white. The spine shuddered, then

shattered in his grasp. He snarled, blood still leaking from his mouth and from

the edges of the horrible thing buried in his abdomen, but he was still alive

and fighting.

Nanami was in worse shape. A dozen men in medieval armour had grabbed

her from behind, stepping out of a shadow cast on the wall as easily as one

might walk through an open doorway. They had pinned her for a second, then one

of them had brought an axe down on her shoulder. Her arm was lying in a pool of

blood at her feet.

But the men had not fared as well. Far from being hurt by the attack, it

seemed only to enrage the vampire. She spun, her yellow aura blazing through her

eyes, and drove the hilt of one of her curved swords through the head of one of

her attackers. The next three died from a single slash as she arced the blade

through their necks.

Pluto stood stiff as a statue. Her staff was held above her head and a

bubble of purple force surrounded her. Darkness howled all around her, swirling

around the outside of the sphere. It chattered with red eyes and probed with

white teeth. Legs like daggers crawled along the surface and bony hands clawed

beneath them.

Pluto was sweating, but her concentration was not wavering. Nabiki knelt

behind her, just barely inside the barrier. She was clutching her side. One of

Alucard's first bullets had been aimed at her heart. Ryouga had thrown her to

the side and nearly had his left arm disintegrated for the effort. Even given

his sacrifice the bullet had passed close enough to graze her. That graze had

peeled the skin from most of her right side, leaving it raw and bloody.

Nabiki blinked away tears. They were losing. They weren't fighting a

man, or even a monster. They were fighting an entire army. They were fighting

the legions of hell itself. Akira found herself dodging a hail of gunfire from a

group of men dressed in world war two uniforms. Ranma was blindsided by a

crocodile-like beast that emerged from the ground beneath him. The shaft through

Ryouga's stomach had turned into a three-headed snake, one of which had bit into

his thigh, the other his arm. The third head was being held back by one of his

hands, its forked tongue licking along his face. Nanami was tearing through a

throng of soldiers now, a virtual lawnmower that left nothing but bodies in her

wake. But every man she knocked down got up a few seconds later, their wounds

gone. And more kept coming.

Ukyou was driven back, smashing her head into the wall hard enough to

daze her. She moaned and slumped. Nabiki reached out to her and found the woman

was conscious, but barely.

"I can't hold this barrier forever," Pluto warned.

"I know..." Nabiki sighed and stood up. She drew the Wishing Sword from

its sheath with a hiss. "I only need a few seconds..."

"Ms. Tendo, you think to end our fun so soon?" Alucard whispered. His

voice sounded like it was coming from right next to her. She flinched as she

realised he was in her mind. With a snarl she drove him out. The laughter of his

presence receded quickly. He was no match for her mental power. But his will

was strong enough, insane enough that it was hard to focus on the actual person.

All of the horrors, the damned souls that fought them... they were a

part of him. Not just projections, either. He had consumed them; every living

soul had died in agony. But instead of being allowed to cycle back into the

Oversoul, he had bound them to him. It was from them that he had drawn his

power. Their cacophony of voices was endless. A shrieking wail of torment and

agony, caught forever between life and death and forced to obey this madman

until the end of time itself.

That was his shield. Nabiki might be able to find his true mind, his

real identity among that swirling chaos. If she did, Alucard would be no match

for her. She could break him as easily as a twig. Maybe a thick, gnarled twig,

but a twig. But she needed time. He was hiding from her, using his 'familiars'

as a smokescreen. In time she would break through, but not even the Senshi of

Time could grant her enough of it.

So it came down to this. "I wish..." she began.

"Nabiki, don't..." Ukyou gasped. Nabiki looked at her. The woman had

regained much of her wits. "You can't waste it on killing him."

"Hold that thought," she said to the sword. "Ukyou. He's killing us."

"Correction, I'm merely killing you." Alucard laughed. Ranma finally

tired of trying to disarm the monster. He leapt and drove his fist right into

Alucard's laughing face. The face caved in around Ranma's fist, bone erupting

from it in bloody spurts.

Then the bone spurts became teeth and the face folded forward around

Ranma's arm, clamping down like a giant mouth. Ranma screamed. His foot slashed

up, severing Alucard's head. He brought his other hand around in a chop, ripping

the bizarre mouth in two and pulling his wounded arm free.

Then the two guns emerged from the stomach of the man and unloaded

pointblank into Ranma's side.

"NO!" Nabiki gasped. She reached out desperately and found Ranma was

still alive. The boy had somehow managed to twist sideways just before he was

hit. The near-impact had shattered most of his ribs and sent him flying, but

hadn't actually managed to pierce Ranma's hide. "Forget it, Ukyou. I'm ending

this bastard now!"

"I mean it's too late." Ukyou moaned.

"Too... late?"

"We failed."

Nabiki's eyes widened. Ukyou let her in. Not all the way, but enough.

She felt for a moment what Ukyou felt with those superhuman senses of hers. And

what she felt was a great darkness. It was pulling its way free of the portal.

One great tendril, hungry and seeking, pushed out through the barrier between

reality and fantasy. It was... huge, unspeakably so. Another followed. Then

another. They curled into the world, digging into the sweet firm reality of it.

"What the hell is that!?" Nabiki shrieked.

"Pharaoh 90." Ukyou groaned. "We're too late. It found its way here."

Nabiki looked up. She could see it now. It was blotting out the tortured

sun of Elysium. A huge shadow across the land. Dozens of squid-like tentacles

extended from it, shooting downward. They smashed into the ground, ripping into

the earth itself. They were anchoring the beast. Then, in the centre of the

planet, opened a cyclopean eye.

"Welcome, sister!" Alucard called up to the thing in the sky. "Feed!

Digest this entire worthless planet! Turn this rotten world into shit!"

OoOoO

A great grey tendril shot down from the sky, crashing into the side of

Mount Fuji with enough force that the entire side of the great mountain was

obscured by a cloud of dust. The tentacle was immense: kilometers thick at its

thinnest point, and it thickened considerably as it approached the behemoth. A

dozen more tentacles erupted from the red sky, sinking into the earth with a

series of earth-shaking booms. One landed in Tokyo Bay, another pierced the

heart of the city. Still more crashed on the outskirts of the metropolis.

The sky seemed to bulge downward. Pharaoh 90 was the colour of charred

flesh, its huge shell covered with hills and valleys that resembled hideous

scars. At the very bottom of it was a single eye. It was strangely beautiful,

soft blue and with a single slit for a pupil. It looked disturbingly feminine.

"Neherenia..." PallaPalla whispered.

"What?" Cologne looked over at the girl. She was looking up at the

massive thing, the impossible planet that was pulling its way into their world.

The cyclopean eye was moving across the landscape beneath it, searching. It

looked almost amused. "PallaPalla, what do you know?"

"It's her, it's Neherenia!" PallaPalla shouted.

"It can't be..." VesVes moaned in fear.

"She's come for us!" CereCere shouted.

The sky gave a single great heave, and then suddenly the planet pulled

free of Elysium. Cologne gasped at the size of it. It dwarfed the entire city.

The country. It had to be larger than all of China. Somehow it hovered above the

city despite the impossibility of this, more and more of its giant tendrils

snaking free of its burn-scarred shell towards the Earth. The very sky around it

was twisting. Great columns of water were rising up from the city. Tornados and

lightning arced between the behemoth and the world, annihilating entire city

blocks in the process.

"You're right..." JunJun was looking down at her Amazon Stone. "I can

feel her. She's calling... she's calling to us through the Stones..."

"I don't want to go back!" CereCere shrieked.

"We don't have any choice!" JunJun snapped at her. "We CHOSE this,

remember?" She looked at her sisters. "All those years ago, back in the Before.

We found the mirror that Neherenia was sealed in. We let her out in exchange for

power. We helped her invade Elysium and capture Pegasus."

"Now you're beginning to sound like the old man," VesVes said with a

nervous laugh.

"Maybe I'm growing up," JunJun said simply. The others stared at her,

their faces filled with horror. "Maybe it's time we all did."

"We can still run..." CereCere trailed off.

"Mr. Purgstall will die." PallaPalla looked around at her sisters. "We

need to help."

OoOoO

Tethys watched Pharaoh 90 free itself from Elysium with an impassive

expression. Its massive tendrils crashed into the Earth so hard the entire city

shuddered. Then they began to feed. She could feel it. All the life energy near

the impact points was vanishing, slowly spiralling inward into those massive

tentacles. It was devouring the life energy, the chi and magic, of the entire

planet.

HER planet.

Tethys spared a bit more of her attention for Gyro. The devil zoalord

was still busy fighting her water clones. He could swing his sword around for a

million years and still not come close to actually cutting her. But it was

getting annoying. The man didn't seem to have a limit to his powers. It was

taking far more than she was comfortable with to continue to occupy his

attention.

Truth be told, she was straining a lot more than she had let Purgstall

see. In fact, she was pushing herself to her breaking point. It was taking a

great deal of power to protect all the martial artists she had caught in her

first deluge attack. They were floating in personal air pockets beneath the

surface of the huge lake she had turned Tokyo into. If she could have, she might

have released them. But her magic was the only thing keeping them from having

their souls torn out by the dreamstuff still pouring out of Elysium. Combine

that with fighting the sudden gravitational force of a small planet appearing

only four kilometers above the earth, and fighting Gyro, and she was nearing her

breaking point.

It didn't help that she had almost trebled the number of people beneath

the water when Ukyou had warned her about the dreamstuff. Choosing the most

powerful of her youma and human allies to protect had been harder than she

wanted to admit. But now she had a significant army beneath the raging surface.

She also needed a way to deploy them.

Perhaps a large enough force could defeat Gyro. Maybe if they could take

that sword from him, there might be a way to deal with the planet-eating

behemoth. If only she could make the pathetic 'heroes' beneath her trust her.

She had already noted that youma-human hybrids like herself were immune to this

magic. If she could just find a way!

Her eyes turned to Purgstall. He was clenching his hands in impotent

fury. His strangely human face was lined with frustration. She didn't need

Nabiki's powers to tell what he was thinking. He wanted to do something. To do

anything. He wanted to fight against Gyro, not just sit back and watch her do

it. He would probably do anything...

Tethys held her breath. It was a purely human instinct, one of the

things the part of her that was Hayato still did without her thinking. She felt

the colour drain from her features. She knew the only way to bring the heroes

into this fight. She knew the only way to make them trust her.

It was a risk. It was a greater risk than she had ever consciously gone

into. But the rewards...

Tethys held up her hand and with a thought ceased the flow of magic to

her clones. Instantly the air around Gyro drained of mist. She stepped forward,

towards the startled yellow-eyed devil. "Is that all you have, Gyro? You think

your pet planet will hurt me? My body is the entire ocean. My spirit can cover

this entire planet. Nothing you can do can defeat me."

His eyes narrowed. "You are persistent. I give you that." His lips

curled into a sneer. "But you mistake me for a being with limits." He began to

float upwards. "If you are the oceans of this world, then I will slay the

oceans!" He held a hand above his head. A speck of darkness appeared there. It

was not really darkness so much as a place where the light ceased to flow. It

entered that tiny dark dot and then... never returned. He began to laugh as he

floated into the air, rising higher and higher as the dot in his hand grew

larger and larger. Tethys could feel the pull of it. It was dragging in the air

around it. The storm howled as the wind rushed from all directions into the

rapidly expanding singularity in Gyro's hand.

"Tethys! Why did you stop distracting him?" Purgstall shouted.

"I'm out of power, zoalord, and we are out of time." She looked up at

Pharaoh 90. Its oddly feminine eye was half-lidded, glancing at them in

amusement. "My colleagues failed. In a few hours, that thing will devour this

entire world. All life will end. And that madman will feed on the misery and

chaos, eating it up like a sponge. I need to stop him now, before that happens.

Before the world I save is nothing but an empty husk."

It was only partly a lie. Tethys smirked to herself as she began to

float. "Stay back, Purgstall. You're no match for him. Your lightning will only

hold me back." That was the truth. She still vividly remembered her final defeat

at the hands of Ukyou. She remembered the woman pulling the iron bar from her

stomach, saving her life. She remembered Ukyou's words.

For a brief, world-shattering moment she wondered if this really was all

foreordained. If the reason she had been spared all those years ago was so that

she could do this, now. But she pushed that thought aside. She had risen up

through the ranks by her own will. She had broken all the taboos of her people

by entering an equal partnership with a human. She had defied her queen and her

god and won. She had done all these things because of who she was, not because

of some prophecy.

Gyro was almost finished. She paused below him, hovering over a hundred

meters beneath him. Her only hope was that he would dedicate so much of his

concentration to his attack he would forget his defence. Purgstall had managed

to catch him off-guard once. It could be done. She needed to strike one blow.

Just ONE blow.

Gyro's laughter cut off. He held a sphere of pulsating darkness the size

of a city bus above his head. Lightning arced from the sky and earth, wind

roared, chunks of the city and sheets of rain all spiralled into that horrible

darkness. "Now Tethys, witness the punishment for defying the Law of Gyro!

DISAPPEAR! INTO THE EVENT HORIZON!"

Tethys screamed and shot forward like an arrow. Her body flickered as

her spirit flashed through the rain all around Gyro. She reached him in the

fraction of a second between his cry and unleashing the blast. Her body formed

behind him. Her lance shot forward.

Gyro's eyes widened.

Tethys' eyes narrowed.

For a moment, there was only the roar of the wind.

Then Gyro looked down. The tip of her lance emerged from the front of

his chest. It dripped with blood the colour of tar. Gyro lost his grip on his

attack. The massive gravity bomb detached from his palm gently, floating for a

moment like a balloon. A second or so more and it would explode, taking Tokyo,

herself and almost all of Japan with it.

She screamed as she kicked Gyro down and released her lance. Both her

hands latched onto the underside of the gravity bomb. It was pulling her in. She

could feel the water of her form being siphoned through her palms into that

thing. It began to rock. It was nearing critical mass.

"I WILL NOT DIE HERE!" she roared at it, bending all her will, all her

magic to it. She had too much to live for. She had too much to fight for. She

realised she was crying as the tears flew from her cheeks and into the darkness.

It wasn't going to be enough. She was losing control. She would die. Everyone

would die.

Akira would die.

And just like that, she found the power to stabilise it. It would not be

long. But it would be enough. She reached down inside herself, and with a

wordless scream that very well might have been heard all the way across the

world she pushed.

The gravity bomb ascended into the sky like a meteor in reverse. The

massive eye of Pharaoh 90 widened as it realised there was only one target she

could be aiming at. But it was too huge to dodge, its tendrils too slow to

possibly defend itself. The darkness shrunk and shrunk until it was nothing but

a mote against the eye of that thing.

Then it exploded. The force sent Tethys back, pushing her down. She

found she didn't have the power to resist it. A scream echoed across the world.

A woman's scream. It roared through the air. It shrieked through her very

thoughts, her very soul. She had hurt it. It floated backward, its eye squinted

shut in pain.

"This planet bites back," Tethys told it with a grin. "You bi-URK!"

She gasped and grabbed at her chest. The huge black blade had shattered

through the armour between her breasts. She twisted her head to look back at

Gyro. Blood trickled from the corners of his lips. There was a hole in his

chest, but she realised dimly that it wasn't near anything vital. She had meant

to pierce his heart. She had missed.

"So it ends," he intoned. "The only way it could."

OoOoO

Angel stared. She was vaguely aware of her mouth hanging slackly open

like some sort of mentally deficient drunk, but couldn't help herself.

There, on the screens before her, were countless images that could have

been from some cheesy disaster movie. A huge... planet, too big to comprehend,

had appeared directly over Tokyo. Vast tendrils wriggled obscenely out from it,

their sinuous motions disguising their impossible bulk. Their touch deformed the

earth like a steel-toed boot coming down on styrofoam. Before her eyes, Japan

was literally being torn apart. Water was gushing in to fill the ravaged lands.

In other areas, cities crumbled before her eyes, tossed around like tops. New

mountains were rising even as old ones tumbled into the waiting sea. It was

nothing short of apocalyptic.

"The magnitude of this disaster is unparalleled," Petra commented

needlessly. She was staring at a variety of computer readouts, most of whom were

gibberish to Angel. The red-haired ex-Chronos spy leaned back in her chair,

shaking her head wearily. "Between the impacts, the gravitic forces, and the

distortion in reality caused by the rift, there's already fractures forming in

the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates." She rubbed her nose. "And it's

only getting worse. I can't imagine there's many Japanese survivors left outside

of the capital at this point."

"The capital?"

"It should be more than utterly destroyed, but seems to be protected

from the worst of it, presumably by Reichmann Gyro's intervention." Petra stared

grimly at the viewscreens of the ruins of Tokyo. "Small comfort, I suppose."

"Can't you do something?" Angel asked.

Petra shook her head. "This is beyond us, Angel. You'd have to look back

to the Theian impact event to find a greater disaster. It's all we can do to try

to lessen the force of the tsunamis, and the only reason we can do that is

because Queen Tethys is so distracted."

Angel stepped away, leaning against the back wall. For a moment, she

just stared at the horrible images.

Petra answered her before she opened her mouth. "This isn't like what he

did to the Red Sea. That was really nothing in comparison. We can't really do

anything except damage control for the aftershocks."

Angel shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the earlier cataclysm.

"Petra..."

"Stop worrying about it." Petra swung around to face her. Her eyes were

still red-rimmed, but her face was dry and set in determined lines. Those eyes

were dark and sharp, like an eagle's. They were the only features still

recognisable of the Syrian woman that had come to Chris's hidden sanctuary

barely a year ago. When she had later confessed her intent of spying and sworn

to serve Chris's goals instead, Link had changed her hair, her skin tone, even

the structure of her face. Petra, meanwhile, had taken the initiative to change

her name.

But she was still the same. Even before knowing the woman had been a

Chronos agent, Angel had sometimes been a little intimidated by the woman's

brilliance and those piercing brown eyes that seemed to see everything. It had

been a shock to see her emotionally overcome by what Reichmann Gyro had done to

the Red Sea, until Angel had remembered that her home country had been among

those almost totally devastated by the blast.

Yet here it was, less than an hour later, and the only trace left of her

tears was the redness of her eyes. But in a way, that was comforting. It made

Angel feel like SOMEONE was in control of the situation... even if she was,

apparently, only in control enough to calmly realise they weren't in control at

all.

"Somebody's got to close that rift, or get rid of that giant planet-

thing," Angel finally said.

"I'm sure whoever's left there is trying," Petra shrugged. "But I'm

having difficulty following the course of the battle with all the Second Circle

and Paradox distortions. We can only hope they succeed. Or perhaps that Chris

will intervene."

"He might," Angel said, hoping it was so. She knew interfering directly

was against Chris's belief in the perfect possible future, and why, but surely,

for something like this, He could make an exception. "It's such a horrible

disaster."

"Yes, well, it's exactly what He said would happen," Petra said. "It's

why we're working here."

Angel could only nod. "Maybe he's talking with Akane about it..." She

drifted off as Petra let out an inelegant snort. "What's wrong?"

"Akane Tendo. That's something that worries me almost as much as

whatever horror Reichmann Gyro summoned from Elysium," the red-haired woman

said, pursing her lips in distaste.

Angel stared. "Why? She's a hero, for sure."

"Exactly," Petra said with a wave of her hand. "No doubt she's a hero.

That's just the point. This isn't the place for heroes. Heroes belong on the

world, blissfully ignorant of us while they give hope to everyone else. Why is

Akane HERE? This isn't where she belongs. What does Chris want from her?"

"I don't know," Angel admitted. "He seemed really interested in her. I'm

sure it's for a good reason."

Petra shook her head. "That's a dangerous attitude, Angel." She held up

a hand to forestall protest. "No, listen. Chris is our hope. Chris is the only

salvation we have. And yes, Chris says he has come into His power and I do not

doubt Him or His destiny. But Chris can make mistakes. He's said so Himself. And

though I don't know exactly what happened in the Dark Kingdom, I do know Link is

missing, neither Tethys nor Hotaru nor Nabiki Tendo have been destroyed, and in

general things didn't seem to go at all according to plan." She looked up, as if

her eagle-eyed gaze could pierce the floors above and see into the chamber where

they had left Chris and Akane to talk. "I would probably trust Akane Tendo with

my life, but I don't trust what brings her here."

"Well, I'm here," Angel offered. "Maybe He wants her for-"

"Wants her for what? You said it yourself - she's a hero. I'm sure

you've seen the files on her. I can't imagine she'll join us. Even if she did,

what on earth does she possibly offer Chris? She's just a martial artist. If any

of her anti-Chronos resistance even survives this battle, she has no true

authority over them beyond being well-respected. And again, even if she could

lead them here, so what? Chris doesn't need or want them. They're supposed to be

out in the world doing good works, not here finding out how things truly are so

they can ignorantly object to it." She tapped a finger insistantly on the arm of

her chair. "No, I can't see anything she offers us. She's compromising our

secrecy, and to no tangible benefit, meaning Chris probably wants a more

intangible benefit from her. And I don't like that at all."

Angel shifted again. She didn't want to hear this, mostly because she

had no counterargument. Akane really WASN'T that special except as the powerful

symbol of hope she represented. Even if she had some sort of unique knowledge,

Chris could have plucked it from her brain without Akane even knowing. She still

wanted to say that Chris must have had some reason, something that would make it

make sense, something their limited perceptions just hadn't caught upon.

But every time she almost opened her mouth to say this, the vivid

recollection of seeing His ravaged body in that tube came back to her, and she

couldn't force the words out past her lips.

So she changed the subject instead. "Petra, have you noticed that

Kalia's missing?"

Petra blinked. "Missing?"

"Ever since Chris lifted the ship. She was with us in the Dark Kingdom,

but I haven't seen her since."

Petra shrugged. "Perhaps He had a mission for her? Or she just is

somewhere else causing trouble."

"No, that's what I figured first too," Angel said. "But then I got to

thinking when I noticed I hadn't seen or felt her around. Whenever Chris sends

her on a mission, she... well, she does what she does. She's there already, and

then she's back as soon as she's done. And the same thing when she takes off. I

can't remember any time since Chris created her, except when she was travelling

with Him, when she stayed away this long. She doesn't hide, either. She likes

making everyone uncomfortable too much."

Petra paused, considering that for a long moment. "You're right.

Normally I always keep noticing her out of the corner of my eye. I wasn't really

thinking about it." She bit her lip, an oddly delicate feminine gesture.

"Another worrisome problem. I never liked that creature."

"I'm sure Chris could find out where she is, if He doesn't know."

"No doubt." Petra raised her eyes to bore through the ceiling again. "If

only Akane Tendo weren't here, and we could bring it to His attention."

"I'm sure He'll be finished with her soon," Angel offered, somewhat

lamely.

"Let's hope so."

OoOoO

"Your friends will die."

Ukyou struggled futilely against her bonds. The things that held her had

pulled the Silence Glaive from her grasp, keeping it just out of reach. Razor-

sharp mandibles pinned her arms in place, thin trickles of blood running from

the tiny holes where they punched into her skin. Thick millipede bodies pinned

her legs to the wall. She was crucified, held in place and helpless while her

friends fought for their lives.

And lost.

"Oh, they are very good," Alucard said from beside her. He had lost his

hat at some point. He stood next to her with arms crossed and a naughty little

smirk on his face. "Few others would have lasted so long."

Akira leapt over a reptile-shaped shadow, kicking backwards. Her kick

caught the side of a massive bear that was trying to grapple with Ranma. Ranma

shifted sideways as the thing crashed and he punched forward, his hand chopping

a snake in two that had been trying to swallow Ryouga. Ryouga was forming

another of his suicide blasts, his body a mass of scars and blood.

But they were being exhausted. Ranma was still moving, but his movements

were stiff and his expression was pained. He was on his last legs. Akira was

gasping for breath, her normally inexhaustible stamina finally reaching her

limits. Ryouga's body was adapting to every deathblow Alucard landed... but he

was making no headway.

"I think I'll eat him," Alucard mused. "Do you think his immortality

will protect him from that?" He laughed. "I've never eaten a true immortal

before. I think the experience would be worth enjoying at least once before the

end."

"You're toying with them," Ukyou said. It wasn't a question.

"You refuse to play," Alucard said, looking at her out of the corner of

his eyes.

"Let me go, and I'll fight you," Ukyou promised coldly. She could see

fog forming in front of her lips. The temperature must have been dropping in

response to her aura.

"Break free, and I'll let you." Alucard chuckled.

Ukyou snarled and threw everything she had into it. She reached down,

down into the dark well between her and Aaron's souls and pulled all the power

she could from it. She tried to ignore Akira's sudden gasp. She didn't watch as

the woman toppled backward, barely caught by Nanami. She needed every bit of

concentration on just breaking the hold of Alucard's familiars.

Her lips opened in a soundless scream as she pushed the alien energy

through herself. Her chi doubled, then squared. The air around her turned white.

The ground in front of her crackled as it suddenly froze solid. And for a

moment, just a moment, it looked like she might break free.

Then Alucard backhanded her across the face with enough force to leave

her seeing stars. She slumped, able only for a few seconds to moan in pain. When

she came to she was still as tightly bound as ever, and now one of her teeth had

been knocked loose.

"Is that the best you can do?" Alucard sneered. "This is the great final

battle I was promised?"

Ukyou spat her tooth onto the ground. It landed amidst the frost with a

soft sound. Her eyes shifted up. The battle had gotten worse. With Akira down,

the balance had shifted dramatically. The girl was being held to the ground now

by a multiple-eyed Lovecraftian horror. Nanami was pinned to the wall behind it

by a spear of darkness through the heart. Ryouga was still struggling, tearing

through the constantly regenerating familiars. Ranma, however, was only putting

up a token resistance now. He was being pushed side to side by the ebb and flow

of the battle. He was barely conscious, but still trying to fight.

"Why couldn't HE have been the chosen one?" Alucard said with a sneer.

"Look at him. That one knows how to fight. He will die on his feet."

"Don't hurt him!" Ukyou cried.

"Stop me!" Alucard shouted at her, turning. His eyes flashed with fury.

"You have it in you! Your potential is limitless! Throw away this human frailty

and FIGHT ME!"

"I... I can't..."

"Ukyou!" Nabiki shouted. "Let me use the sword! This has gone too far!"

"No!" Ukyou snapped. "We need it. The whole world is in danger now,

Nabiki. Save it if you have to!"

The girl was still safe inside Pluto's barrier. But the barrier itself

had shrunk. She and the green-haired Senshi of Time were crouching inside it.

The nightmares Alucard had summoned from his flesh were pounding relentlessly on

the ball of purple light.

"Stay out of this, Tendo," Alucard growled. He turned back to Ukyou. "Is

that what is holding you back? Are you waiting for some saviour? Do you think

God will send someone to save you at the last minute, like He always has

before?"

'How many times have you been about to die, Ukyou, when someone saved

you? Someone who had no earthly right being there?'

"He isn't coming, Ukyou." Alucard grabbed her chin and pulled her eyes

up to his. "There is no prince on a white horse. Your friends are helpless. God

has forsaken them. You have to fight me. You must if you wish to pass." He

shoved her head against the wall sharply. Stars exploded across her vision

again. "Fight me, you stupid bitch! You have no choice!"

Ukyou looked down at Akira. The woman was coughing, blood leaking from

her lips. Ukyou squeezed closed her eyes. She reached out for the power again.

She felt it surge up through her-

Alucard drove his fist into her gut. She gasped, losing her grip on the

power. The man grabbed her chin again and screamed into her face. "Stop trying

to fight me and FIGHT ME!"

"I don't know... I can't..."

"This cannot be the limit of your powers. I sense it within you. The

power to destroy. It is your gift. God gave it to you. I sensed it seven years

ago." His fingers began to sink into her cheeks. Tears of pain welled up in her

eyes. "Find it! Find it and fight! Find it, find it, finditfindFINDITFINDIT!"

Alucard was knocked to the side. His lanky form smashed into the ground

with a muffled grunt. Ukyou blinked. Ranma was there. His body was covered in

blood and bruises. He was barely standing. But he was there. Despite everything,

Ranma had come. Because he would always come.

"Leave her alone!" Ranma screamed down at Alucard. "You want a fight so

bad, fight me! Man to man! Because the only way you're getting to my friends is

over my dead body!"

Alucard looked up at Ranma. Then he flowed gracefully to his feet. He

looked at Ukyou. He smirked. Ukyou felt her blood freeze. "Very well."

"RANMA!"

Ranma didn't even have a chance of dodging. Alucard drew his gun and

fired so fast that even to Ukyou's eyes it was just a blur. But then the world

seemed to slow down. She could see the bullet, rotating lazily through the air.

She could see Ranma. He was just beginning to react. His eyes only twitching

slightly as his danger sense registered the attack his mind hadn't even

perceived yet.

Ranma began to shift backward, but by that time the bullet reached him.

It was like the entire world just kept going slower and slower. She could see

the bullet pushing against the skin of his forehead. She watched in horror as

the flesh dimpled inward, a ripple passing across his brow at the impact. The

flesh slowly began to shred, little gem-like drops of red began to spurt from

under the bullet. They rolled out into the air, seeming to hang there...

And they were.

"DARK DOME ENCLOSE!"

Ukyou snapped her head back. She realised dimly that it hadn't been a

trick of her mind. Ranma and the bullet really had slowed down in front of her

eyes. Slowed and stopped. She turned her eyes to Pluto. The Senshi of Time was

holding her staff towards Ranma.

She had saved his life. Ukyou glanced back at Ranma. No, just stalled

the inevitable. The bullet was there. As soon as time started again, it would

rip his head open like a ripe melon. How long could Pluto maintain the time

stop...

Pluto gasped. Nabiki screamed in pain.

"NO! The barrier!" Ukyou could only stare. In order to protect Ranma,

Pluto had been forced to drop the barrier protecting her and Nabiki. Now the

horrors were upon them. A wolf-like creature had grabbed Nabiki's arm with its

jaw, trying to pry free the Wishing Sword. Five men in various military uniforms

archaic and modern were pinning Pluto to the ground. But she was still holding

her time key staff out towards Ranma.

"Nabiki!" Ryouga roared.

"Pluto!" Akira shouted almost simultaneously. She had recovered enough

to throw off the creature pinning her. She was running towards the green-haired

woman. Alucard smirked and pointed his giant gun at her back.

He was going to kill her. Her and Pluto and Nabiki and Ranma. Likely he

would kill Ryouga too. All of her friends. One by one. He would torture them to

death with all the mercy a spider would show a fly. All to get what he wanted.

He wanted one last battle and a glorious death.

All she had to do was give it to him.

"Bang," Alucard said. His gun went off. Akira spun to the side, her

right shoulder vanishing in a cloud of blood. She looked surprised more than

hurt. "Bang." Another bang, and Akira's left foot vanished. She stumbled

backwards. "Ba-"

The next crack was different. It was a gun going off, but not Alucard's.

The vampire's hand suddenly exploded, fingers flying in all directions as

something tore it to shreds. Ukyou looked up. A man in dark commando armour was

kneeling at the edge of a balcony. He was reloading a sniper rifle with

superhuman speed. Ukyou almost recognised him.

"Who?" Alucard snarled. He snapped his arm and a new hand dropped from

his sleeve. "No matter. I'll kill you too." The man on the balcony leapt away as

things emerged from the darkness all around him. He spun in mid-air, aiming at

Alucard with his rifle. There was another bang and this time the vampire's chest

exploded. He staggered back with a hiss. There was a golden glow around the hole

that sizzled and hissed. The hole was right where his heart used to be.

But he wasn't finished. Only slowed down. Ukyou looked at the young man.

Tux-boy, she realised suddenly. Mamoru Chiba. Tuxedo Kamen.

'...the Nameless finds the Sailor Senshi easy to touch because of their

"destiny".'

It was her last chance. She needed to act now. "Pluto, the Seed!" Ukyou

shouted.

Pluto looked up at her. The soldiers were crushing her, but they weren't

doing nearly as much damage as they could have. Alucard was still playing. For a

moment their eyes met and Ukyou knew that Pluto understood exactly what she

wanted. Then, for a moment, there was doubt.

"If you want to end the prophecy, Pluto, then all you have to do is

nothing," Ukyou said coldly. "Alucard will kill Mamoru soon enough. Then Akira.

Then you and Ranma and Nabiki and even Ryouga. And when I can't give him what he

wants, he'll kill me too. All of us.

"And the portal will never be closed. The Earth will be consumed by

Pharaoh 90, or destroyed by Gyro. But the prophecy will be over. I'll be dead,

and the universe will be safe.

"Or you can trust me. I'm asking for this, Pluto. It's time I stopped

running from my Destiny. It's time I stopped denying what I am. If I have to

become that thing to save the people precious to me, I will do it.

"But I will never betray the people I care about. I will never let them

come to harm. You have to believe me, Pluto! Please! Give me the Star Seed!"

Pluto closed her eyes, and when she opened them again they were set. She

reached down and pulled the Star Seed from her pouch. The soldiers only stared

impassively as she threw it towards Ukyou. Of course, they wouldn't think of

preventing this. This was part of the plan. This was what was supposed to

happen.

All of this pain, this entire senseless battle, just to put her in this

position. To force her to make this decision.

With a scream she drew on the Third Circle, and ripped her hand free.

She snapped her hand up and clamped it around the Star Seed. She could feel it

pulse, like a heartbeat, in her grip. She had no idea what she was doing. But

then, she hadn't when she'd taken the Silence Glaive from Hotaru. She hadn't

when she had joined those girls to Mamoru. She hadn't when she'd always pulled

off her miracles. Well, now she needed a miracle. She needed the power to fight

Alucard. She needed the power to defeat him.

"So be it," a cultured, feminine voice whispered into her mind from the

Star Seed.

OoOoO

"...allow me to explain this again, in simpler terms." Zoicite resisted

the urge to rub his temples and grimace. For one, he didn't want to show off how

frustrated he was. For another, the guy with the pantyhose wrapped around his

waist was perhaps one of the most appealing pieces of eye-candy Zoicite had seen

since Kunzite had died. He was also beginning to think the guy might like him

back, with the way he kept smiling. Thus, it was important not to appear like he

had lost his cool.

"Oh, I understand it," Athena replied in her chipper voice. "Basically

we let the youma possess us..."

"It's not possession!" Zoicite snapped. Then regretted it. He glanced at

the tall, luscious hunk of man-meat but the man was only smirking and leaning

against the side of the bubble with his arms crossed. "For the last time... it's

a partnership. If we wanted to possess you, we'd just do that! We don't need

your permission."

"But I have unbelievable psychic powers, so they would make me immune

to forced possession," Athena countered. "Therefore this could all just be a

ruse to trick me into letting my guard down."

"Boss..." One of the youma that had been assigned to Zoicite grabbed his

arm nervously. "The Queen..."

Zoicite looked up and frowned. Thanks to the Queen's magic, anybody in

the protective bubbles that floated here beneath the lake that Tokyo had become

had a clear view of the battle overhead. If Tethys died, then the people in

these bubbles would get a very rude awakening.

"I don't have time for this," Zoicite said, turning back to the three of

them. "It's very simple. If you enter into a contract by your own free will,

then the youma will bond to your soul. They will become a part of you, but not a

controlling part. Your human souls are more complete than theirs. They were

mutilated to turn them into weapons long ago.

"But if you do bond with them, you'll gain access to their magical

powers. It will protect you from the Elysium effect, allow you to join the fight

again." Zoicite gestured grandly. "But the bond is permanent. In order to ensure

that the youma could never 'possess' you like you're afraid of, the bond has to

be effectively unbreakable. So either you choose this now and forever, or you

stay down here and watch - or die - helplessly. I really don't care anymore."

"I'll do it."

The other two turned to the brown-haired girl in the sailor suit. At

first Zoicite had thought she was some local schoolgirl, but upon closer

inspection she looked to be in her mid-twenties. Which made her either very poor

or very strange. Not that Zoicite was one to complain about strangeness.

"Sakura!" Athena gasped, her purple hair flashing as she turned to face

the other girl. "What about our alliance against evil? Don't you think I can

protect you?"

"You'll promise I won't have to deal with her anymore, right?" Sakura

jerked a thumb towards Athena. "I mean, if she doesn't join up, she's not going

to be allowed in the clubhouse or wherever."

"Uh... sure?" Zoicite blinked.

"Feh." The tall boy smirked. "Don't let it be said some dyke is braver

than me." He looked over at the three youma that had been chosen for this

assignment. The Double-D Girls were some of Beryl's most powerful youma. They

had once been her top assassins. Now they mainly just hung around at D-Point

waiting for Tethys to find a use for them. "And if this is the kind of partner

I'm going to get, then I guess I can team up."

Zoicite raised an eyebrow. The Double-D Girls had not been named the

most imaginatively. They were, in fact, famous around the City Of Black Ice for

their most obvious assets. From the way the young man was looking at them,

Zoicite was fairly certain he wasn't concerned with their skills as assassins

either. Which was odd, considering the looks that he had been giving Zoicite.

Then again, maybe he swung both ways? Zoicite had no problems with that.

As long as he didn't have to touch a woman himself. There were places where you

just had to draw the line.

"And if I get to work with a fine young woman like yourself, it just

sweetens the deal," the man said, smirking at her.

"Uh, Tarou, you do realise that-OUCH!" Sakura glared at Zoicite and

began to shake her recently-stomped-upon foot. Zoicite loftily pretended not to

notice the 'accident'. "Look, I think Zoicite here isn't exactly the kind of

person you want-"

"Hey, back off, dyke-girl!" Tarou snapped. "Just because you're too gay

to appreciate my obvious sex appeal, doesn't mean all women are."

"I am not gay, you idiot!" Sakura snapped. She threw up her hands.

"Fine. I was trying to help you, you jerk. But go ahead, I'm certain Zoicite

here can take care of all your manly needs."

"I knew you were jealous."

Zoicite chuckled. "Well, then... I think we might have a deal?"

OoOoO

Daigo gazed upward with his one good eye. He had lost the other, along

with his depth perception, many many years ago. So it was hard to tell exactly

how far away Tethys was. But he knew she was in trouble. She could not easily

survive such a wound. He clenched his fist.

"You could make a difference," the woman-thing beside him said. She was

tall and thin, with hair the colour of burning embers and skin made of obsidian.

A youma. A demon, who existed only to fight and feed off the life energy of

humans. One of Tethys' pawns. "Join with me, and you can survive exposure to

Elysium for a time. Enough to fight."

"I won't give my body and soul to evil," Daigo growled.

"Evil?" The woman chuckled. "I don't think you understand how this

works. If we bond of your own free will, I cannot MAKE you do anything. All we

do is become connected. You gain my magic, I gain a portion of your 'humanity',

and the two of us become better for it."

"Why should I believe you?" Daigo grunted.

The woman shrugged. "I guess that's up to you. But the offer is ending

in a few seconds." She looked up at the Dark Queen, her magma-bright eyes

flashing. "That's my Queen up there. She has given us youma something we never

even knew we had lost. She gave us hope. I'm not going to stand here waiting for

long. Come with me, or I'll go fight Gyro myself."

"You'll die," Daigo pointed out.

"Maybe. I'm no match for him as I am." She nodded. "But that isn't your

problem." She began to step towards the edge of the bubble. "I have to go-"

"Wait."

Daigo grabbed her arm. He snarled. She might be a demon. She might be a

minion of a being that willingly called herself the Dark Queen. But she was

still a woman. An upright man did not let a woman walk to her death.

OoOoO

Fevrier fired another bullet into the water. It was no use. Bullets were

useless against water this deep. Even firing from underwater upward was no help.

The bullet just wouldn't go through.

"We need to get out of here," Fevrier snarled to her sisters. Fevrier

had no idea how they could be so calm. When the tsunami had fallen down on them,

she had thought for a moment that she was going to die. Surprisingly, as the

water had smashed in, her last thought hadn't been that she would never see

Mamoru again. It was just a sense of relief that Mamoru would survive.

"Yes, but how?" Marz asked, peering up from her computer. "We have no

recourse. It appears our only option for escape is to accept the terms of

Tethys' youma."

"Perhaps it would not be so bad?" Satsuki mused. She was sitting with

her legs crossed like a monk.

"Not so bad?" Fevrier screamed. "Satsuki, we just finally got our

freedom back. I'm finally me again. I'm finally..."

"Going to get some action with Mamoru dear and don't want to share with

anyone else?" Marz asked impishly.

Fevrier gave her the glare of death, but Marz just smiled at her.

"That concern requires that we survive this situation," Satsuki pointed

out.

"That isn't a concern!" Fevrier shouted. Her voice was growing hoarse.

"Your face turned very red when it was mentioned," Satsuki said.

Fevrier decided to try being more reasonable. "This is serious. Will you

two stop clowning around?"

"According to my scans, the area outside of this bubble is full of chaos

energy that would likely kill us upon exposure," Marz said, turning to her

computer. "If my scans are correct, the youma are partially immune to this

effect." She tapped a few keys. "Thus, even if we were to break free from this

confinement, we'd only be destroyed trying to help Mamoru dear fight."

"I do not wish to sit back," Satsuki said. "I wish to fight with sir

Mamoru. I want to help protect this Earth."

"Don't you two understand it's permanent?" Fevrier shouted again. She'd

tried reasonable and that hadn't worked. "If we go through with this, there is

no going back!" She clenched her fist in front of her. "It will be like what

Bison did to us all over again."

"Except that instead of losing everything we were, we would be gaining

new parts of ourselves."

"Marz, that's stupid."

"I did a full analysis of the proposed fusion from the data the youma

provided. According to my findings, there is no danger of losing our

individuality."

"How do we know they aren't lying to us?" Fevrier asked sharply.

"I..." Marz frowned. "I suppose it is possible. but I do not believe

that to be the case." She closed her eyes. "I think this is the only chance we

have."

"Why? What logical reason is there to believe them?"

"Sometimes we can not work on logic alone," Marz admitted. "Sometimes we

need to have faith. Sometimes we need to trust in others." She looked up.

"Mamoru dear trusted us. We were his enemies. He could have destroyed us. There

was no reason to believe that we would not betray him and return to Bison at the

first opportunity. But he chose to have faith in us. He chose to let us become

more than what we were." She looked down at her computer again, and her voice

grew soft. "And in seven years, he never abused the power he had over us."

When Marz looked back up at her, her eyes were shining. "When I died,

the thing I regretted most was that I had not really lived up to the kind of

person he wanted me to be. That I was never as good and true as he was." She

closed the laptop and stood up. "And he is still fighting, for us. Even now. I

can feel it, in my bones."

She held out her hands to the other two. "Something I took back with me

can feel it. It can feel God reaching out to him, drawing him to the fight up

above us. A fight he can't hope to survive." Her face grew dark. "To God, Mamoru

is a piece of the game that can be thrown away at any time. But to me, he is

faith. He is hope. I will not let that be taken away from me. If I have to lose

a part of myself, become a part of something else, then I will. Because I want

to be there to protect him."

Fevrier stared at her sister for a long time. Finally she could stand

looking into her eyes no more. She turned away with a little snort. But those

eyes hadn't been lying. She knew Marz better than anyone else. She and Marz and

Satsuki had been together for their entire lives. Ever since they had been

awoken in Bison's labs, they had been part of each other. Lovers, companions,

comrades in arms, sisters... There were no secrets between them. No games. No

power plays.

Marz believed this. And Fevrier believed in Marz. So really, that left

only one real choice, didn't it?

OoOoO

Akira tried to block out the pain. She tried to push it away. She called

up her chi, picturing it like a rising tide. The pain was dark eddies in the

waters of her body. All she had to do was channel that dark water away from her,

out into the world. She was intellectually aware of the damage she had taken,

but it didn't really affect her.

Her shoulder was gone, she realised. Not just with a hole in it. Most of

her shoulder was just gone. Somehow her arm had not been sent flying, but it was

clinging to her body only by strips of flesh. Her foot was gone as well. She

could feel her leg down to her ankle and then... nothing. She had to stop the

bleeding, she realised. By some miracle the bullet to her shoulder hadn't sent

bone shrapnel down into her chest, ripping her organs to shreds.

These pains, she could have dealt with. The task of recovering from them

was beyond her powers of healing, true. Even she couldn't regenerate lost limbs.

But she might have been able to do something. Instead, she could barely breathe.

It was there, inside her. Pure Paradox. The sensation was not unlike

somebody filling all the empty spaces of her body with acid. It was like every

cell was being stabbed with little pins. It was like the air was on fire. The

light was scouring her eyes. But she had to work past the pain. She had to

continue living, because Ukyou needed her to live.

Blue light, the colour of tropical seas, flashed out across the room.

Akira raised her head painfully. Ukyou was beginning to float up off the ground,

her arms stretching out to her sides. On her forehead was a symbol, a trident

with a slash across the bottom, the symbol of Neptune. The light washed down

Ukyou's body, and as it did she changed subtly.

She was still wearing the same clothes, for the most part. Her coat

seemed to gleam a little more brightly. Her shirt became a white leotard, and

her pants became black tights. The ties around her shins seemed to fuse straight

into the leggings, forming something like boots. The tattoos on her arms flared

aquamarine, pulsing with magical light.

Akira gasped; not in pain, but in shock. She could feel them. The

memories of Lotus Infinite, rising to the surface. She had absorbed seven years

of torment at Bison's hands. Akira and Nabiki had agreed that Ukyou did not need

to realise what she had lived through. They had decided to remove them. Akira

had taken the horrible memories, to spare Ukyou. But now she could feel them

rising up from the part of Akira's mind that Akira had forced them down into.

Then everything went still. The massive chamber the fight was happening

in seemed to fade slightly. The armies of Alucard's familiars halted in place.

Everyone held their breath. Ukyou settled to the ground with the sound of a drop

of water falling into the ocean. Her eyes opened.

When she moved, Akira knew what had happened. Ukyou did not move exactly

like herself anymore. Her motions were more efficient, more hypnotically

dangerous. She took a single step forward and reached out her hand. Akira heard

Pluto gasp. She realised that Ukyou had just stepped directly into the area of

stopped time around Ranma. She didn't even seem to notice.

Her fingers plucked the bullet from Ranma's forehead. She held it

between thumb and index finger as she walked easily back out of the zone of

stopped time. With a moan Pluto let her hands drop, the Time Key Staff smashing

against the ground. Ranma began to fall backward, his hand snapping up towards

the tiny bloody dot in his forehead. This was the cue for everyone else to start

acting again.

Alucard reacted first. He turned towards Ukyou, his face splitting into

a demonic grin. "See, was that so hard?"

Ukyou's head snapped up towards him. Her eyes narrowed. Akira could see

the air around her cooling. Mist began to rise up from the ground, swirling up

around her legs. She could hear the hiss and crackle of water freezing. Alucard

stepped forward.

Ukyou snapped up her hand and the Silence Glaive was there. She slashed

the blade towards him, and Alucard's eyes widened as he stepped backwards. The

mist around her vanished, then Akira felt it push against her, a wave of

pressure. She grit her teeth and dug in with the fingers of her good hand. The

creatures standing over her dissolved.

The beasts and monsters and madmen were turning to ash. The colour of

them faded first to impenetrable black, then down the shades of grey until they

were the colour of a washed-out photograph. Then they began to fall apart. Small

parts of them at first, then more and larger chunks as the ashen bodies

collapsed under their own weight. A soundless wind ripped through the room,

exploding out from Ukyou. The ash was blasted to clouds which swirled and

dispersed and faded until there was no trace of it left.

Alucard fell back against the wall, clutching at his heart. His brow was

coated with sweat. His eyes were bulging. "You... you severed the connection..."

Ukyou turned away from him. Her eyes settled on Akira, and Akira saw her

cold eyes soften. Akira felt a surge of relief flash through her. She hadn't

lost her. Ukyou walked over to her and leaned down over the woman.

"It's going to hurt for a while longer, Akira. Please forgive me." Her

voice was pitched low. These words were for Akira alone. Akira wanted to reply,

wanted to tell her that it was nothing. But when she tried to speak all that

came out was a whimper of pain. She reached up and clenched at her shoulder,

helpless. She hated this.

Ukyou placed her hand on the wound. Akira felt a sense of something cold

there. When Ukyou brought her hand away, the bleeding had stopped. The wound was

perhaps even more gruesome now, but she might survive it. Ukyou rose to her feet

and walked the few steps to Pluto.

"Pluto, I need to borrow your staff."

"Ukyou?" Pluto rose her head wearily. There were a bunch of bloody holes

in the back of her costume. Ukyou reached down and pulled the Time Key Staff up

for a moment. She reached out with her hand and touched the bullet she was still

carrying to the garnet orb atop it. Akira bit back a scream as she felt more of

the Paradox roll into her. For a moment, the bullet flashed with purple light.

Then Ukyou pulled it away. "Mamoru, come here please."

There was a soft clatter as the man who had saved her life landed in

front of Ukyou. He looked at her, his expression awed. The woman reached out and

pulled up his hand. She placed the bullet in his unresisting palm and curled his

fingers around it. "You'll know when to use it."

"I..."

"Take care of my friends."

"Ukyou..."

"I have a battle to fight."

Ukyou released his hand and turned sharply. The Silence Glaive appeared

in her hands again. She held it loosely as she walked toward Alucard. The red-

clad vampire had regained his composure. He chuckled.

"You destroyed my familiars. I didn't even think that was possible,"

Alucard noted.

"I'm going to kill you." Ukyou's voice was level, emotionless.

"That's my girl," Alucard said with a laugh. "This is what you were born

for. You were born to destroy. Let me witness it!"

"Ucchan!" Ranma groaned, trying to get to his feet.

"Stay out of this, Ranma." Ukyou shifted her grip on the Glaive. Then

she looked over her shoulder at him, and smiled. "It's time for me to play the

hero, just this once. Okay?"

Ranma blinked. Then, amazingly, he just chuckled. Despite his injuries,

he could not have looked happier. "Go for it, Ucchan!" He gave her a thumbs up.

"Thank you." She looked at all of them. "Thank-"

The crack of the gun going off was deafening. Nabiki gasped. Ryouga

screamed. Ranma stared. Akira narrowed her eyes. Alucard's black hand cannon was

smoking, white whips of gunsmoke flowing from the barrel. But Ukyou had moved so

fast that Akira hadn't even seen it. Her weapon had snapped up in front of her,

the blade edge pointed directly at the cannon.

There was a series of small cracks that broke the silence. Akira glanced

at the wall behind Ukyou. Tiny holes had been blown into the thick stone,

forming a pattern around the woman. The fragments of the bullet, Akira realised.

Then Ukyou moved, her body flashing forward. Alucard grinned one last

time before rushing in to meet her.

OoOoO

Purgstall was flying as fast as he could. His body was surrounded by a

streak of white lightning. And he strained more, trying to push himself faster.

Trying to become the lightning. Trying to move with the speed of light itself.

He knew he was already too late.

The black blade had pierced Tethys exactly where her heart should be.

Purgstall knew she was not human. No mortal sword could have delivered a fatal

wound like that. You might as well try to slay the ocean with a twig. But that

was no ordinary sword. Purgstall could feel it. It was evil. He had encountered

few things in his life that he would call pure evil. Major Krieg, leader of

Millennium, he had been evil. The strange young woman who had placed him in his

coma, she was evil.

And this sword.

Tethys was fading away. Her body was thinning out. It was like the water

that made up her form was simply draining away, leaving only the shell of her

body behind. She was growing translucent, her struggles increasingly feeble. She

was dying.

Then there was a blue flash. A figure appeared above her. Blue hair and

pale purple skin flashed. A sword of blue light formed in his hands. "Unhand

her, beast of the underworld!" the young man screamed.

There was a crack like thunder as the boy brought his sword down. Gyro

hissed and flashed backward. His sword pulled free of Tethys and folded through

space to intercept Ikazuchi's attack. Purgstall snuffed his aura as she caught

the plummeting youma queen.

She looked half-dead still. Gyro was fencing with the neo-zoanoid.

Ikazuchi was fast. His blade was lightning itself. But even he was no match for

the demonic zoalord's ability to simply will his blade anywhere he wished. The

brave young fool wouldn't last long at this rate. Purgstall found himself torn.

It was strange. Even a few days before leaving for Paris, he would never

have even thought about this decision. Tethys was his enemy. Ikazuchi was his

servant. Gyro was his colleague. He would have beaten the boy down for his

impertinence to challenge a zoalord, and slain the upstart Dark Queen for

defying Chronos.

But now he was torn between rushing Tethys to safety and staying to help

the boy kill a fellow zoalord. And it didn't really feel strange at all. It was

as if the coma he had been in had simply made everything clearer. Like he knew

now what things were important, and which were not. Like he understood what he

had to fight for, and what he had to fight against. It just came to him.

"Run, Lord Purgstall!" Ikazuchi shouted over the roar and crash of the

swords clashing together. Each time they struck there was a thunderclap and the

sizzle of sparks. "I shall not fail to protect you!"

Purgstall didn't hesitate. He surged back down to the flooded city. He

almost smiled. He had just taken an order from Ikazuchi. Ikazuchi of all people.

Perhaps he had gone mad?

No. This felt all too right to be madness.

Purgstall landed on the remains of a larger office tower which had been

toppled over by the tsunami. He looked down at Tethys. To his dismay, she was

still fading. Her normally blue flesh had turned white and her eyes had rolled

back into her head. She was shaking like a leaf, and despite her being large

enough he had to carry her with both hands, she weighed about as much as a leaf,

too.

"What do I do?" he mumbled.

"Put her in the water, of course."

He turned his head around. The woman wasn't very tall. She had long

black hair and brown eyes. He recognized her instantly. Rose, the woman who had

taken over Bison's empire. "How do you know that will help?" he asked.

Rose frowned. "Do you have a better idea?" she snapped. Purgstall

grunted and had to admit he didn't. He climbed down the side of the building and

gently floated the Dark Queen into the water. He gasped when she vanished,

dissolving like milk into a cup of dark coffee.

"She'll be fine." Rose said. "She needs a while to recover. In the

meantime, we have to keep up the fight."

"We?"

That's when Purgstall saw them. They rose from the water in groups of

three and four. There wasn't more than a few dozen of them, but he could sense

the power radiating from them. Men and women, each radiating a palpable aura of

energy. Martial artists, he realised, as he recognised more than a few of them.

But also something more. It was their eyes. They did not look exactly human

anymore. There was something behind their gaze now.

"Let's take this bastard down!" a red-haired woman shouted, snapping a

clip into one of her firearms.

Everyone nodded. Then the new army exploded into the air, taking flight

like birds. Some of them actually formed wings, but most just shot up without

any visible means of support. Purgstall looked around. Then he nodded and

followed them.

OoOoO

Ukyou shifted at the last moment, flipping up and over the vampire king.

He spun with inhuman speed. His red coat swirled around, her blade vanishing

into it. She realised instantly that she had missed. His hand snapped straight,

pointing right up into her face. Her head vanished sideways, the bullet cracking

the air next to her ear. Black hairs floated out in its wake.

Her leap turned into a spiral. Her free hand clasped the hot metal

barrel. She pivoted around it and drove her feet into Alucard's stomach. He was

knocked up and back. She held the gun, allowing his momentum to carry them both

back towards the edge of the room.

His smile never wavered. His red eyes widened in amusement and pain. His

body was twisted sideways. He twisted his arm up behind his neck. The elbow bent

unnaturally. Ukyou snapped the haft of the Glaive sideways. There was a hollow

crack moments before the cannon fired. The bullet shot wide, smashing into the

floor.

Alucard wrenched at the gun in her grip, pulling her in. She released it

and allowed the force to drive an elbow into his grinning face. She heard the

jawbone shatter. She felt his face cave under the impact. She dropped, allowing

the force of the blow to push him past her.

"DELEO!"

The Silence Glaive snapped up so fast there was nothing but a grey blur

even to her enhanced sense. The floor and roof in front of her vanished, unmade

in an instant. The nothingness spread like fire across oil, spreading out in a

wedge. Alucard snapped one arm to the side, the limb stretching grotesquely. He

caught a black marble pillar in his hand, his fingers sinking into the stone.

With a snap he swung just out of the path of destruction.

Ukyou wrestled with the Silence for a moment, taming it. Alucard came

around the other side of the pillar with his huge handgun levelled at her. His

face was uncollapsing, the dented skin filling out like a balloon. A bullet

erupted from the barrel.

Ukyou could sense the attack to every degree. Aaron didn't just float

in the back of her mind anymore. He was there, his consciousness evaluating

every move she made. He was her eyes and ears, her every sense. He was their

thoughts. She was their reactions. She was their spirit. It was like all the

walls between them had vanished. All the strain, all the pressure had just

ceased to exist.

Ukyou's legs had already begun moving even before Alucard had appeared.

She leaned back just far enough that the bullet passed harmlessly over her

shoulder. Then the next and the next bullet came. Aaron could feel them. He

could sense the bullet sliding into the chamber. He could smell the gunpowder

igniting. He could feel the puff of air from the barrel a moment before the

bullet exited. He could watch the flash of the shot unfold in slow motion.

Ukyou shifted back and up, lifting her arm just enough so the next

bullet passed just under her arm. She slid forward. Another bullet was avoided

by the slightest step to the left and rotating her torso. The giant chunk of

lead passed so close to her that the ripple of air in its wake tickled across

her leotard. It blew through the back of her coat.

Then she was on him.

She came in with the Glaive held back and low, allowing her to bring it

up in a vicious swing. Alucard snapped up his arm, catching the haft of the

weapon on his forearm. Aaron could feel the muscles in his body tensing. He

could sense the dark chi, the corrupt undead energy, flowing through his dead

veins. He could hear the pulse of Alucard's undead heart. He saw the vampire's

eyes flicker, the slightest of expressions.

Ukyou was waiting for the parry. The glaive bounced off Alucard's

forearm. She transferred the momentum, twirling the nine foot long polearm

around her body like a baton. The solid end smashed into Alucard's shoulder with

enough force that his bones shattered into dust.

The red-eyed monster snapped down his blocking hand, grabbing for the

haft of the weapon. Ukyou was already stepping back, beyond his reach. The

weapon spun in her grip, a chaotic pattern that rapidly switched the blade and

blunt ends around and around. Alucard took another blow to the stomach before he

wisely stepped back. Ukyou slid backwards on the soles of her feet, before

bringing her weapon to a rest held slightly behind her.

Alucard was hunched over, his head twisted up to face her.

"Magnificent." He chuckled. The bones in his shoulder began to regenerate.

"Everything I had hoped for."

Aaron was aware of the others. They were clustered together. Nabiki was

leaning over Akira. Ryouga stood protectively over them both. Ranma was crouched

near them, his mouth agape.

"I... I can barely follow her moves!" Ranma gasped.

"She isn't just a martial artist anymore," Pluto pointed out. "She is a

Sailor Senshi now. The magic of our transformations eliminates limitations,

multiplies its capabilities. When combined with her training... the effect is

dramatic."

"It's more than that..." Akira groaned. "That isn't just Ukyou fighting

there."

Alucard had finished regenerating. Ukyou might have attacked him, but

she needed to make certain she could land a telling blow. Nothing short of the

Silence itself would be able to prevent him from recovering from any wound she

inflicted. Even with her newfound speed, even with Aaron's ability to analyse

everything Alucard was doing, it would be hard to land a decisive strike. No,

best not to push too hard too fast.

Alucard was a wily bastard. They had the advantage now, but that could

shift at any moment. Giving him a chance to recover was a gamble. He might just

figure out a strategy to defeat her in that time. But on the other hand, if she

indulged his desire for a glorious final battle, she might prompt him into

making a critical mistake.

Plus, she had her trump card now.

"She's right, Alucard." Ukyou shifted back towards the edge of the room.

A huge section of the tower had been blown outward by some force. It left a

gaping hole into the dark sky. Outside, the massive presence of Pharaoh 90

hovered.

Even Aaron's senses shied away from it. It wasn't just large. A mountain

was large. A mountain was something that you stood at the base of and felt

humbled. It was something that you stood at the summit of and felt elated. It

was so much bigger, so much more THERE than you.

Pharaoh 90 was a planet. Not a large planet. Barely larger than the

moon. But still so large it covered the entirety of Tokyo with its massive bulk

blocking out the rest of the sky. Its tentacles were the size of mountains. Its

massive eye was the size of Tokyo all by itself. Tornados and waterspouts

swirled and roared behind them, hundreds and hundreds of stories tall. Great

chunks of the ruined city floated into the air, caught in the awful gravity of

the behemoth.

"This place is too small for our fight." She balanced on the edge of the

hole. "Let us go someplace more suitable."

Alucard smiled as she leapt out and back. He sprung after her without

hesitation. Both of his guns roared, releasing round after round. Ukyou guided

the glaive to where Aaron sensed the bullets would be, shattering the lethal

rounds into nothingness with short sharp movements.

Her foot inched backwards and caught the edge of an office tower. She

ran backwards up it. Her glaive spun around, slashing through the air in front

of her. It gave off a single perfect note. A razor-thin line of nothingness

carved down through the glass and steel before blasting through the air. Alucard

bent, shifting in mid-air with the grace of a bat. Ukyou launched from the

floating debris and soared backwards and up again.

Alucard followed.

She had to trust Aaron. His mind probed out, finding all the floating

debris. It swirled around without pattern or purpose. The pieces varied from

the size of a button to the size of a bus. They moved as fast as bullets or as

slow as glaciers. And Aaron needed to keep track of every little piece. Every

movement. They ascended through the storm, always leaping up and backward. From

debris to debris they rose. The slightest misstep, the smallest fraction of a

second would spell the difference between landing safely on a pencil-thin piece

of metal and having that same metal drive through her chest like a spear.

And as they moved, the fight continued. Alucard didn't have Aaron's

senses, but he had powers they didn't. He did not quite fly, so much as glide.

When he smashed into the side of a piece of shattered office tower with the

force of a speeding train, he barely slowed down. He didn't even notice when his

leg was sliced clean through by a spinning chunk of metal the size of a CD.

He just kept laughing and firing. Bullets whizzed through the air all

around Ukyou. She dodged some, parried others and even used the occasional shot

as a stepping stone when no others were available. And she returned fire. Waves

of Oblivion snapped free from her Glaive with each swing. All around Alucard the

cyclones and debris were sliced and slashed by the razor-thin attacks. But the

bastard flowed and shifted between them. He moved like a spider, like a crab,

like a snake and like a wolf. He leapt and glided and ran and scuttled.

With a final cry Ukyou poured power into the glaive and produced a

massive wave of nothingness. It smashed down, expanding out in a cone. Alucard

fell back, floating down and to the side to avoid the destruction. His bullets

vanished from the air, not even coming close.

In the brief reprieve Ukyou twisted, spinning her legs above her and...

dropped upward. Her feet came to rest against the impossibly smooth surface of

the giant eye. Her feet stood on the edge of darkness, a deep darkness. She had

landed in the middle of the great orb. For a moment, Ukyou wondered if the

behemoth could even see her. Or if Ukyou was like a microbe, no more noticed by

the thing she was on than a normal human would notice bacteria.

"Above" her Tokyo stretched out in all directions. She could see the

ocean and the lands beyond. The horizon here curved away just under her line of

sight. It was breathtaking; beautiful and horrible in equal measure.

Alucard landed on the eye with little fanfare. He came down in a crouch.

His red coat flowed around him. He tilted back his head slightly as he rose. His

eyes rolled across the destruction.

"Armageddon," he whispered. "The final battle, where the chosen of God

shall triumph over the infidels. And in so doing bring about the kingdom of

heaven."

"If you believe that, you know that you're destined to lose," Ukyou

replied.

"Destiny?" Alucard chuckled. "Ukyou. I don't fight because I want to

fulfill any destiny. I fight because it is what I am. I am a tool for killing. A

weapon refined for the joy of pitting himself against the likes of you. I am the

army of the unrighteous." He lifted one gun and pointed it at Ukyou. "And if, in

the process, I get to kill you and fuck with God just a little bit, then I will

descend into hell with a smile on my lips."

"Indeed." Ukyou ran a hand through her hair. "Let's give them a show

they'll never forget, then."

"Of course."

Ukyou rushed forward again. Alucard dashed. His handcannon started

firing. The twin joined it a second later. The reports of the shots were so

close together it sounded like one long thunderous roar. Ukyou narrowed her

eyes, pouring on the speed. Aaron carefully tracked each bullet as Ukyou

zigzagged through the attack.

The vampire stood his ground. He chuckled as he braced himself and

brought his weapons to bear. Even with her speed, Ukyou couldn't hope to engage

him fast enough to land a telling blow and still avoid the lethal counter-

attack.

So she didn't.

Alucard's eyes widened as a half dozen bullets flashed through her body

in fountains of purple sparks. Ukyou was already bringing her Glaive around. Her

blow was aimed for his neck, but even caught off-guard Alucard was a wily

bastard. His body snapped backward, just out of reach. Aaron smiled. Ukyou

reacted to his input, adjusting the path of the attack with the slightest nudge.

The vampire fell back, both his hands coming off at the wrist. He hissed

as the hands fell to the ground, Like his familiars before him, the hands

rapidly greyed out until they became nothing more than ash.

His pistols, knocked free of his grip by the attack, were next. Ukyou

reversed her attack before they even had a chance to reach the ground. With the

harsh scream of metal cutting metal the Silence Glaive ripped Alucard's weapons

in two. Unlike his limbs, these weapons literally unravelled.

Alucard staggered backward, breathing heavily. "You could have done that

at any time..." he snarled.

"And you could still regenerate the wounds... if you had any human

beings to devour for blood nearby." Ukyou gestured around them. "I learned that

lesson fighting Rip Van Winkle."

"So that's why you lured me up here." Alucard threw his head back and

laughed. "You knew I couldn't resist following you," he said when he had calmed

down slightly. His eyes narrowed grimly. "A brilliant strategy. I commend you."

"We could still end this peacefully," Ukyou said slowly. She hated doing

it, and knew it was likely to fail. But a part of her desperately wanted to

spare Alucard. Even with all the evil he had done, even with all the danger he

posed, he was as much a victim here as she was. "You said yourself you hate the

Nameless. If you can help me, together we could..."

"Could what?" Alucard smirked. "Fight God?" He chuckled. "No." He raised

his handless arms to his side. "Strike me down, Ukyou. You've earned this

victory."

Ukyou forced her expression to remain cold and neutral. Then she flashed

forward, drawing the Glaive backward like a spear. With a wordless scream she

drove the tip of the weapon into Alucard's heart. His body bent forward, blood

exploding from his lips.

"Goodbye..." she whispered.

Then his arms snapped around her. Her eyes widened. Alucard hadn't

stopped smiling. "God Himself ripped out my heart, girl. You'll have to do

better than that." Ukyou did the absolute worst thing she could do, she froze.

Aaron was scrambling, running through all the data his senses were revealing.

That blow should have worked... "And you forgot about one source of blood."

Alucard's neck snapped as he jerked his head forward. His jaw distended

like a snake, row upon row of fangs appearing there. Ukyou tried to jerk back,

but it was too late. The ivory teeth sunk into her neck so fast she didn't even

feel them.

OoOoO

"How are we supposed to follow her?"

Nabiki looked over at Ranma. The water rushing in through the hole in

the wall had failed to trigger his curse; a minor enchantment Tethys had given

to him and Ryouga. It was almost surprising it was still intact, given Tethys'

current condition.

"You're not serious," Nabiki replied. She was still nursing the welts on

her arms. The soldiers Alucard had summoned hadn't done any permanent damage,

not like with Akira. Mamoru and Pluto were doing what they could for the girl.

But while Akira had the worst, none of them were up for any more fighting.

"Of course I am," Ranma said, turning around. He crossed his arm and

nodded outside. "In case you haven't noticed, the world is still in danger."

"How are we supposed to do anything about that?" Mamoru asked. He

gestured out towards the mammoth thing in the sky. Nabiki glanced at it and

shuddered.

She could feel its mind. It was full of hate. More hate than Nabiki had

thought possible. Not even Bison had come close to this. That thing out there

hated them all, everything that lived. It was an affront to it. It wanted

nothing more than to devour them all. To destroy everything.

And underneath it all was a frighteningly human mind. It was buried deep

within the core of the behemoth. But there was a woman's mind up in that

monster, directing its rage and hatred.

"We're not in any condition to fight that," Nabiki pointed out to Ranma.

"I... may be of some help."

Nabiki turned to the blonde-haired vampire girl. Nanami looked away. "I

was created by Hotaru. When she passed her blood on to me she also passed on

certain traits as my sire. Such as the ability to heal injuries."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Pluto asked slowly.

"Because I'm not certain if there won't be side effects," Nanami said.

"If I healed your wounds, I would have to transfer a bit of my blood to you. I

have no idea if I could... infect you with something."

"God never told you one way or another, did He?" Pluto mused.

"This is outside of His plan." Nanami shrugged. "But I do know that you

and I have to be at the top of that planet. We have to go into Elysium with

Ukyou."

"I'm coming too." Akira growled. "Do it."

"Akira, don't!" Ryouga snapped, stepping between her and Nanami. "You

have no idea what will happen. You could be cursed like me..."

"I'll take that risk," Akira growled. Then she winced, and coughed.

Nabiki noted grimly that the wounds Pluto had been trying to staunch started

flowing fresh again.

"If she doesn't do this, she may die, Ryouga," Pluto admitted. "And if

she does, then all the Paradox built up in her..."

"Will flash into Ukyou, probably killing her instantly." Akira nodded.

"I can't afford to die here." She looked at Nanami. "Do it."

Nanami nodded and pulled one of her curved duelling swords from her

belt. She walked over to Akira, slowly running the tip down her wrist. The blood

started welling up instantly. Akira braced herself as Nanami began to drip the

red liquid into her wounds.

The effect was immediate. Nabiki gasped. It was like throwing baking

soda and vinegar together. The wound on Akira's shoulder foamed, red blood

bubbling out in all directions. Akira bit down, refusing to scream. Nanami

paused as the foaming blood filled up the section where Akira shoulder had once

been. Then it began to seep off.

The flesh looked raw and thin, but it was there. Akira gasped and

shuddered.

"So, do any of us look like lunch yet?" Ranma asked.

"Haha." Akira grunted. "I... I can't tell. The Paradox effect, it blocks

out everything else..."

"It's too risky," Ryouga grunted.

"I need my foot back."

Ryouga turned his eyes away as Nanami repeated the process on Akira's

foot. Akira did cry out this time, but she managed to choke it off. In a few

moments there was a healthy, if slightly pinkish, foot back on her ankle. She

rose slowly.

"Now, we just have to get up to that place."

"I think I could do what Ukyou did..."

"Don't even think it, Saotome," Nabiki said with a snort. "That wasn't

just Ukyou's skill. That was Lotus Infinite as well. She's recovered all her

memories of her time as Bison's doll. Which means she remembers how to ghost

through things now." She nodded. "Ukyou is in no real danger in that hellstorm.

You, however, would be torn to shreds."

"So, how do we get up?"

"You could say please."

Everyone shifted quickly. Nabiki cursed herself. She should have sensed

them coming. But the Amazoness Quartet were still one of the only group of

people in the world who could block themselves from her senses unless she was

actively looking for them. Of course, once she knew they were there it was no

trouble dealing with them...

But something was different about the four girls that had appeared in

the room. They looked pale. They looked... older. Cologne was leaning on the

green-haired girl, JunJun.

"We can get you up to the planet," Vesves said. Her ridiculous huge red

braid bounced behind her as she stepped forward.

"Why are you here?" Pluto asked.

"There is... someone we need to see in that planet," JunJun admitted.

"And we saw you guys were hanging around being worthless lumps, so we

decided to recruit you as bodyguards!"

"PallaPalla!" the pink-haired one hissed. "You're not supposed to tell

them that part."

"Oh, sorry, CereCere!" The blue-haired girl looked at them and smiled

while sticking out her tongue. "Could you guys forget I said that?" She rubbed

the back of her head.

"Already forgotten," Akira said with a wave of her hand. "You can get us

up to Pharaoh 90?"

"Yeah..." They nodded. "Frankly, we were surprised you guys weren't down

in the big battle."

"What battle?" Mamoru asked.

"All the people Tethys saved from the tsunami versus Gyro," JunJun

pointed out.

"It's awesome!" VesVes added with sudden enthusiasm.

"Everyone..." Mamoru walked to the edge of the floor. "Are they...

alive?" He looked back at the others. "I..."

"Go." Pluto said. "We'll understand." He nodded. "One more thing,

Mamoru." The boy paused. "The bullet Ukyou gave you. She extracted a small part

of my temporal power to fuel it." She paused. "Earlier, when I attacked Gyro, I

was the only one able to cut through his defence."

Mamoru looked at the bullet in his hand. "So... one shot?"

"One shot," Pluto agreed.

"Good luck, all of you," Mamoru said before leaping out into the chaos

once again.

OoOoO

Gyro folded sideways, shifting through space so fast that for a moment

there appeared to be two of him. A half dozen opponents flashed through his

previous position, cursing as their attacks were wasted. They landed on the

remains of a shattered parking structure.

Fevrier tracked Gyro with her pistol. Her eyes narrowed. The black-

skinned demonic creature was parrying a series of attacks from above. Purgstall

was going all out, sending bolt after bolt crashing down into the ex-zoalord.

With the storm around them, Purgstall apparently had a lot of lightning to draw

upon.

Fevrier waited until the moment when she thought Gyro was the most

occupied. Then she fired. The bullet that exploded from her weapon flashed green

as it flew, trailing green sparks in its wake. According to her new "partner",

the shot would have ten times its former power.

Gyro didn't even acknowledge her attack. His blade flashed down,

parrying her bullet. He seemed to be surrounded by dozens of swords. Fevrier

cursed and swooped to the right, trying to line up a better shot. Her wings

creaked as she flew.

"I need to get closer," she said. "I have to try and catch him unaware."

"But we could break a nail!" the voice in the back of her head whined.

She stopped in mid-air. The eagle wings her youma partner had grown for her were

useful, but unfortunately seemed to be totally under the youma's control.

Fevrier strained a bit, but couldn't force them to move forward.

"You useless..." Fevrier growled. "Grow a spine, already!"

"I have a shpine, and I'd like it to shtay in one piece, shank you very

much," the youma replied. For some reason it spoke in an overdone lisp. Fevrier

resisted the urge to smack herself in the head with the butt of her pistol. She

wondered idly if Satsuki and Marz were having as much trouble with their

partners...

"Fevrier, why did you stop?" Marz' voice came to her suddenly. Fevrier

started. She was still getting used to that. The girl wasn't even anywhere near

them. She was literally blocks away, having been left behind by the battle

minutes ago. But she seemed able to communicate with them at any distance.

"I'm having a disagreement with Ganymede," Fevrier replied. "I need to

get in closer and she doesn't want to."

"Just a moment..." Marz murmured. "Io says that Ganymede always was a

bit of a coward..."

"Hey!" the voice in the back of Fevrier's mind protested.

"Shut up, you," Fevrier snapped. "How is Satsuki doing?"

"Patching her through..."

"I am in position," Satsuki's voice came in a moment later. "However,

even my improved weapon will do little good if I can not strike effectively."

Fevrier frowned, trying to locate Satsuki in the shadows that kept

shifting and moving around Gyro. The pyrotechnics of the battle around him and

the storm overhead made the lighting erratic at best. However, she couldn't spot

the girl.

Gyro, however, had stopped to make another stand. He was floating a

dozen meters over the water. His sword flashed and folded through space as he

deflected the incoming attacks from every angle. With his free hand he began to

fight back. Fevrier cursed and dodged right. Ganymede eeped like a child and

relinquished control of the wings as Fevrier dove between a pair of pin-point

gravity wells. She'd seen how much damage even a tiny blast from Gyro could do.

They'd lost two people the first time Gyro had pulled off this trick. Nobody

Fevrier recognised.

But they were slowly losing. Ikazuchi had lost one arm and leg to Gyro's

sword. He was back with Marz and Aprile. He was one of the lucky ones. In all,

about a third of the force that Tethys' youma had merged with were either dead

or disabled.

And Gyro was grinning. He wasn't even close to running low on power.

"Marz, tell everyone to back off for a moment," Fevrier said, knowing

that her friend was likely monitoring her. "Give Gyro a few moments to gloat

while we try to think up a new strategy." Fevrier cursed as she flew behind a

series of still mostly-erect skyscrapers to get out of the monster's line of

sight. As much as she hated to admit it, they needed more firepower here. Why

wasn't Tethys back yet? She couldn't be dead. If she was, Fevrier was pretty

certain her pact partner would have noticed and said something.

"If you're looking for suggeshtions, I shay we make a run for it."

Ganymede said in her silent voice.

"I thought Tethys saved you because you were a fighter," Fevrier

growled. She checked her magazines again. Both guns were fully loaded. Her

partner had the ability to just materialise ammo as she used it. But old habits

died hard. "We can't run away. There's no place to run."

"Fevrier?"

"I'm here, Marz. Tell me you have good news."

"I'll try..." Marz gulped. "I've analysed Gyro's defence. He is bending

space around him. While we see his sword moving to intercept an attack, he is

actually barely moving at all. He just bends any attack coming in to that sword

of his. In fact, his defence is even stronger now, and growing stronger every

moment. The gossamer energy being expelled from the portal to Elysium is making

space around here even more fluid and chaotic every moment. He has to expend

less and less energy on every attack."

"That must be the real reason he opened the portal." It was the voice of

Frederick von Purgstall.

"Zoalord Purgstall?" Marz sounded surprised.

"Sorry to eavesdrop on your link, girls." Purgstall made a grunting

sound. "Do you sense any weakness we can exploit, Marz?"

"I..." Marz hesitated. "None that WE could exploit. But the limitation

of the technique seems to be that he does bend space/time around his body. If we

could generate some sort of extradimensional energy, a force that travels

outside the flows of normal spacetime, then we could bypass his defence

entirely."

"So that was how Pluto did it," Tethys' voice whispered over the

communication link.

"Marz, is everybody on this channel?" Fevrier snapped.

"I'm sorry!" Marz sobbed. "I'm new to this telepathy thing. Io assures

me I'm doing very well for a first timer."

"Don't blame yourself," Tethys replied. "Io is my servant, and Purgstall

has been a telepath longer than you have been alive."

"Where have you been?" Purgstall asked.

"Recovering..." Tethys hissed. "Even now, my injury is still serious.

That blade of his does not just cut physical forms, it seems. I've recovered

some of my strength, but not nearly enough to overpower him again."

"Gyro appears to be finishing up his megalomaniacal declarations,"

Satsuki came over the link as Tethys finished. "I suspect he will soon begin to

renew the attack."

Fevrier peered around the corner. A quartet of youma-human hybrids were

standing in front of Gyro as he finished his raving. The monster had done

something with the local space so his voice carried over the entire battlefield.

But one of Marz' first actions had been to "mute" his voice for Fevrier and a

dozen others. Fevrier reminded herself to really thank the girl for that later.

"Adrasteia suggests I try to strike while he is distracted," Satsuki

said.

"Forget it," Fevrier replied. "You can't do enough damage. And he might

take you out in the attempt. It's too much of a risk."

"The risk is acceptable..."

"I said no!" Fevrier growled. "We need to..."

"Mamoru!" Marz gasped.

Fevrier snapped her head up. Her eyes focused in, much faster and

clearer than they had any right to. Another gift from her partner. She could see

him. He was leaping across the battlefield, staying to the shadows of the

shattered buildings. His sniper rifle was held tight to his chest as he bounded

with supernatural grace among the debris.

"Mamoru..." Fevrier muttered. Her vision blurred a little. She wiped at

her eyes absently.

"Whoa. He's cute..." Ganymede murmured hungrily. "You never told me he

was cute."

"Shut up!" Fevrier growled. "What is he up to..."

"I'm contacting him now..." Marz replied quickly.

"Marz?" Mamoru paused, flattening himself against a wall. An explosion

nearby forced Fevrier to fly across what had once been a boulevard and down

between a few buildings that had collapsed against each other to form an arch.

The four warriors confronting him earlier had decided to engage Gyro.

Fevrier recognised Skullomania. He didn't look different in the slightest. The

three with him she didn't recognise. But the important thing was that they were

keeping Gyro busy. She turned her attention back to Mamoru, flapping closer

while trying to stay out of Gyro's line of sight.

"I'm going to take a shot at Gyro," Mamoru was explaining.

"It won't do any good," Tethys replied through the mental channel. "We

need an attack that can pierce through his space fold with extradimensional

energy. If you could return to the tower and fetch Sailor Pluto, we might be

able to open up a hole in his defences long enough..."

"Pluto is on the planet," Mamoru cut her off. Fevrier looked up and then

down again. Her mind simply refused to accept the enormity of the thing above

them. Even with all his casual power, Gyro was still humanoid. He was still

something she could confront. But the planet hovering above them was too vast

for her to even see it all. She had an easier time imagining fighting the ocean

than the behemoth in the sky. "But I have a small fraction of her power here.

One bullet. I should be able to cut through his defence with it, we'll need..."

"Thank you."

Everyone stopped dead.

"Did you fools truly think you could prevent me, the most powerful of

all zoalords, from following this inane mental chatter?" Gyro's voice grumbled

over the mental link. "I am Reichmann Gyro! My will is LAW!" He turned his body

and pointed a hand at the building Mamoru was hiding behind. "Now watch as I

show you how futile hope truly is!"

"MAMORU!" Fevrier screamed, flying forward. She felt Ganymede resist her

for a moment, but she just screamed and pushed past that with a feat of raw

will. Her body blurred as she flew across the sky toward the black-clad man who

meant more to her than almost anything else in the world. There was no way she

would be in time.

Gyro laughed and launched a ball of darkness from his palm. It grew,

expanding to the size of a bus in a fraction of a second. A moment later, it

smashed into the building. The entire structure merely vanished, imploding

inward with a shriek and a pop. For a moment, there was a dimple in the water,

which began to rapidly fill with water again.

Fevrier could only stare. Then she screamed and threw herself at Gyro.

The black-skinned monster grinned, his yellow eyes flashing with glee as he

beckoned her forward.

OoOoO

"BAKUSAITENKETSU!"

Ryouga pulled back his hand, wincing a little. He'd almost broken his

fingers that time. "No good," he growled. "The technique only works on unliving

matter. Stone, metal... this entire planet is alive. Even this rock is suffused

with this thing's life force."

"There has to be a way inside," Ranma growled, clenching a fist in front

of him. He looked a bit better now that he had been given a few minutes to

regain his breath. Ryouga narrowed his eyes at his old rival.

"He's right, Ranma," Cologne replied evenly. "We've tried everything we

can. Nothing we can do will do more than dent this thing's hide."

"We need to get inside!" one of the girls who had introduced themselves

as the Amazoness Quartet shouted. Her blue hair bobbed as she looked around at

everyone. "We have to get to the core. That's where she'll be!"

"Who?" Akira asked, crossing her arms. She was looking down the curve of

the moon-sized monster they were on. Ryouga could easily guess what she was

thinking. Somewhere out there, Ukyou was still fighting Alucard. He could tell

because the girl kept wiping at her nose and lips to brush away the blood.

"Queen Neherenia," the red-haired girl replied.

"Our former master," the green-haired one explained.

"Our Amazon Stones can feel her," the pink-haired one added. She held up

a pink orb somewhat bigger than her fist. "She's drawing power through them. I

can feel it. It's like a funnel leading straight down to the heart of this

beast."

"I thought this was Pharaoh 90?" Ranma blinked.

"It is, and it isn't." Nabiki was kneeling against the dark purple

stone, her palm stretched across it. "There are two minds, two souls within this

thing. They've... merged."

"Yes," Nanami nodded. "When Akane sealed Pharaoh 90 inside Elysium all

those years ago, Neherenia had already been there for hundreds of years. Of

course, time has no real meaning inside the dreamworld. The two of them must

have fought."

"Who won, then?" Ryouga asked. "Which one is in charge?"

"Neither," Nabiki replied. "What I sense inside this thing is not what

I'd call sane. The minds of the two of them haven't been merged so much as

they've been mixed. It's like somebody melted their brains down and then forced

them together before letting them freeze solid again."

"Paradox," Akira responded. She looked down. "It was the Paradox.

Oblivion is made up of it. When Ukyou created the Paradox rift in Elysium, it

must have started growing. They must have gotten caught in it."

"None of this matters," the green-haired Amazoness said. "This giant

body is just a shell. Inside, at its core, is where the real monster is. If we

can make it there, we can destroy this thing!"

"How are we supposed to do that, JunJun?" Cologne asked mildly. "Even

Ryouga wasn't strong enough to crack the surface open all the way. We could dig

our way in, but it would take us years." She sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Who the hell...?" Akira gasped, looking back "up" towards the city.

Ryouga snapped his head up and around. "Above" them floated the flooded

ruins of Tokyo. The gravity storm ripped through the air between the rogue

planet and the Earth, creating tornadoes and lightning strikes and all sorts of

chaos. The Quartet had carried them through that in a three-coloured sphere,

avoiding the worst of the storm with their magic.

But there was something else climbing up through the storm towards them.

Ryouga rubbed his eyes to make certain he hadn't seen wrong. It was a

helicopter. Someone was insane enough to try flying through that mess? Whoever

it was, they were a good pilot. But they were having a hard time keeping stable.

"They'll be torn apart," Nanami gasped.

"Go back, you idiot!" Ranma shouted, cupping his hands over his mouth.

"You can't get up here like that, it's hopeless!"

Ryouga wasn't certain how Ranma could have expected to be heard over the

storm, when a faint reply came back. "Nothing is hopeless!"

The helicopter jerked sideways for a moment, coming perilously close to

one of Pharaoh 90's giant tentacles. A loud crash exploded out from it, and a

shape exploded from its side. It was a motorcycle, a huge American machine, with

a leanly muscled man astride it.

"Shingo?" Akira gaped in disbelief.

"And you know why?" The man on the cycle shouted, his voice just barely

carrying to them. He flew through the air, rearing his bike like a stallion.

First one, then the other wheel touched down on the giant writhing tendril.

"Because I have the strength..."

Ryouga realised, for one transcendent moment, that he was seeing perhaps

the most insane thing he would ever see. A man was driving a motorcycle up the

length of one of Pharaoh 90's tentacles. The writhing pulsing mass failed

utterly to throw him off. He zigged and zagged around blasts of lightning that

erupted from or struck against the tendrils. The hurricane-force winds didn't

push him free. The flying debris was deftly avoided.

"...of the great United States..."

The boy reached to his side and grabbed a katana sheathed at his side

with one hand.

"..of America!"

The boy threw himself from the bike with a wordless scream of defiance.

He flashed through the air, drawing the blade back and over his head. Some

instinct in Ryouga made him brace himself. Then the boy hit the planet at full

force, driving his blade in front of him.

The behemoth exploded.

Ryouga snapped his hand down, grabbing hold of some of the rocky folds

of the planet-eater's flesh. He could hear the others scrambling for support as

well, but his eyes remained glued on the spectacle in front of him.

A giant geyser of rock was spraying out of the side of Pharaoh 90. It

was the size of a mountain. A blast the likes of which Ryouga had never seen

before. He felt his mouth dry out.

Then a moment later the shockwave hit. The ground around them bulged

upward, buckling as it rippled like water. He snapped his head around, looking

for Nabiki.

Akira had caught her, holding on to her with one hand while she clenched

the tearing earth with the other. With a roar Ryouga threw himself at them,

bringing them both to the "ground" with his weight. Nearby he could see the

others doing similarly.

Then he heard it scream. It was a roar of pain, unlike any Ryouga had

ever heard before. He didn't hear it with his ears. He heard it in his bones. He

heard it in his flesh. It roared through his body. It roared in his mind. He

could feel it hissing against his soul. It was everywhere, it was everything...

Then it was over. He realised that the screaming he heard now was his

own. He rolled over, pulling his hands away from his ears. Everyone was slowly

coming to their feet now. From the looks of it, they hadn't lost anyone.

"What just happened?" Pluto asked, obviously shaken.

"That was their scream," Nabiki moaned. "I shielded us from the worst of

it. If I hadn't..." She shook her head. "He actually hurt it. I didn't..."

Everyone looked over at the area where Shingo had landed. There was

nothing there but a giant chasm. The boy had landed at the base of the tendril,

and his blow had severed the tendril from the rest of Pharaoh 90s body. Ryouga

didn't dare look up. He didn't want to see what sort of damage that falling

tentacle had done to the Earth. The chasm was more than a few kilometers across.

And climbing out of it was a man, no, a teenager, with a giant grin on

his face. Tied around his arms and legs and waist were dozens of Shinto prayer

strips. "Not bad, huh?" he said. He held up his sword. The blade had shattered

halfway up its length. "Looks like I broke my sword."

"How did you do that?" Ranma demanded as he ran forward.

"I'm the strongest man in the world, Ranma," Shingo said. He was swaying

drunkenly.

"He's right," the blue-haired girl said.

"What?" Pluto turned to her.

"Those wards he has on are designed to protect him from the dreamscape,"

the girl explained. "But I think whoever made them was guessing; they're kind of

amateurish. They're only partially protecting him." She nodded. "He's being

affected by Elysium. When he made that attack, he was as strong as he dreamed

himself to be."

By this time they had reached Shingo. He was sitting down, a manic grin

on his face. "What's that, Mr. President? Yes, I would like to meet your

daughter, now that you mention it..."

"He's losing it," Akira pointed out. "The wards are breaking down." She

turned to the Amazoness Quartet. "Can you shield him from the dream effect?"

"But we might need him to hit something else... ow!" the red-haired girl

glared at Cologne. "Okay, okay!" She walked up to him and touched him with her

orb.

The boy blinked. "Aren't you a little young to be the president's

daughter?" he asked.

"Shingo, you were dreaming," Nabiki explained.

"I was?" The boy frowned. "Then I didn't really almost kill a planet?"

"No, you did that all right," Akira said, peering over the edge. "I

think we have our way in now."

"That's good," Ranma muttered nervously. "Because I think we've

overstayed our welcome."

Ryouga glanced around. They were growing out of the ground. They looked

like statues made out of sculpted glass, completely white. They were in the

shapes of beautiful women... no, a single beautiful woman with long hair and a

pretty face, with slitted eyes and pointed ears. They were giggling as they

slowly grew and grew until they were the size of human beings. And there were

thousands of them.

"What are they?" Cologne asked the girls.

"Don't ask us!" the red-head replied. "I've never seen them before."

"They have no minds," Nabiki supplied. "They're puppets, created by the

force inside the planet."

"Like white blood cells," Nanami offered. "Coming to eliminate the

intruders."

The things had finished forming. Their soft laughter echoed all around

them. Then the things flexed their fingers, which snapped into long talons in

the blink of an eye.

"We can't take them all on!" Akira protested.

"Then run!" Cologne shouted, and jumped over the edge of the crevice and

into Pharaoh 90.

OoOoO

"Don't try to move, Artemis..."

Artemis didn't really want to die. His body, it seemed, had other plans.

It had been foolish of him. He didn't know why he did it... No, that was a lie.

He had done it because he was the only one who could.

The battle between Rei and the witch had been apocalyptic. But it had

been a battle between them. He and Luna had been forgotten. Not without cause,

he admitted ruefully. He winced as a chuckle passed through his body. What

difference could a talking cat make in the end?

Just enough, he hoped. He admitted that he had enjoyed the expression on

Akio's face when Artemis had landed on him, leaping from the top of the Rose

Gate. For a moment, Artemis had felt like a big jungle cat, something powerful

and fearsome. He had struck with abandon, drawing red lines across that pretty-

boy face.

Then reality had reasserted itself. Akio had grabbed him by the scruff

and with an inelegant snarl had smashed him against the gate. Artemis had felt

something inside him break. He wasn't certain what, but it hurt. He couldn't

breathe very well anymore. But the very moment Akio had struck him against the

unyielding gate, he had been driven away from it.

The girls had driven him away. They had retaken the gate. They

controlled it now. The crack running down its center was ominous, but not

growing. He had done it. He had made a difference.

Luna stood over him protectively. She looked so tired, so afraid. Her

eyes kept flicking back and forth, changing from the battle and back to him. He

wanted to tell her it was okay. He wanted to lie and tell her he would be fine.

But he couldn't seem to speak.

His attention drifted back to the battle. It was a stalemate. The three

Senshi could hold the gate and prevent Akio from getting to it, but they

couldn't strike at him or Anthy effectively. So it had come down to a standoff.

The girls grimly guarding the Rose Gate, and Anthy standing in front of her

brother, wielding the chaotic Paradox sword that made her so dangerous.

Except Artemis thought he had seen something that no one else had. Akio

kept glancing at the sword he carried. He did it subtly, when no one but Artemis

was looking. The girls, all of them, were too involved in trying to predict the

enemy's next move to pay much attention to Akio's eyes. But Artemis wasn't. Akio

was looking ever so faintly worried.

Like he wasn't certain if, when he looked, the sword would still be

there.

That was when it hit Artemis almost as hard as the Rose Gate had. Akio

was running out of time. Usagi, Sailor Moon, Princess Serenity... she was dying.

And if she died, her soul would go on to whatever final reward it had earned.

That sword was her soul. He had left her alive, Artemis knew. He had done it not

because he cared about her in the slightest, but because as long as she lived,

he could wield that sword. When Usagi passed on, his sword would be gone too.

And that was that. He lost. They won. By default, but still a victory.

All the Sailor Senshi had to do was run out the clock. He winced again as he

realised what he was thinking.

He was hoping a girl would die, so that Akio could be stopped. What

would Minako say to him? She had run off to save that girl. Everyone had called

her a fool for it. They had said that Usagi must already be dead. But if Artemis

was right, and he was certain he was, then Usagi was still alive. Minako could

find her.

She was right, he realised. He just wished that before he slipped away,

he would have a chance to say that...

"LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"

Anthy screamed as the blast took her from behind. She toppled forward,

collapsing to her hands and knees. Her grip on her sword faltered. Artemis felt

his heart skip a beat. Everyone paused.

She came through the storm, slumped to one side. Around her body was a

shield, a sphere of rapidly shifting and rotating golden heart links. Her Love

Me Chain wrapped around her as a bubble, keeping most of the Swords of Hate at

bay. Most.

There were cuts along her body. She had not emerged from the cyclone

unscathed. But her grin was proud and unfailing. It was the grin she had learned

from Ranma. It was the 'you all doubted me, but I'm just so badass I saved all

your lives' grin.

Artemis was never more happy to see that grin in his entire life.

"You have something that doesn't belong to you," Minako said. Only then

did Artemis notice the girl Minako was carrying. She was being held up by one

arm, leaning against Minako's shoulder. She looked so small and frail. Her hair

had lost most of its luster and hung limp. Her entire body was limp. She looked

unconscious.

But she was breathing.

"You never could resist making an entrance," Akio said, faintly

approving. He rubbed absently at the scratches Artemis had given him. Shallow

and temporary, but the sight of them made the moon cat feel much better.

"Give me the sword, Akio," Minako said, holding out her hand. "It's

over."

"Usagi..." Makoto said in awe. She was clutching her side where Anthy

had managed to sneak past her guard. Ami was speechless, simply staring in

disbelief. Rei was smiling.

"You hurt me..." Anthy said as she slowly rose to her feet.

"Yes, and I'll do it again," Minako warned, gesturing to her.

"No... you really hurt me." Anthy's eyes narrowed. She had long ago lost

her glasses. Her face looked exotic and malevolent. "I've been tortured for

eternity and a day, and nothing has ever really hurt me. I can't die. But you

hurt me... how?"

Minako lowered her hand slightly.

"God's work," Akio said simply. "He chose you, Minako. All those years

ago, back in England." Akio chuckled. "It's funny, really. Did you think He

designed you solely to kill vampires?" Akio laughed. "Oh, He is a tricky

bastard, I'll give Him that. That was His plan all along."

"What are you talking about?" Ami asked.

No, girls, Artemis thought. Don't let him speak. That's his game. Don't

play it. You have the advantage, seize it! He drew hin breath to cry out a

warning, but ended up hacking and coughing.

"Artemis!" Luna gasped, turning to him in worry. He saw Minako's eyes

turn to him, and they widened slightly. No. She was worried about him now. She

was worried about getting this over with and saving him now. He could see it in

the way her eyes refocused, he could read it in the shift in her stance. She

wasn't thinking about defeating Akio anymore.

"Minako was once touched by God, one of the few people that have been.

He gave her a gift. He made her able to kill the unkillable. He gave her that

power." Akio shrugged. "Except He hid it. He made it look like she was given

that power to destroy vampires. And her power worked very well on them indeed.

In fact, even I was fooled as to her true purpose.

"Because she wasn't made to kill vampires. She was made to kill

immortals. Like Anthy and me." Akio gestured with Sailor Moon's sword at the

three guarding the gate. "You three were never important. She was the chosen

one. God made her to kill me. All along, trying to guide her to this moment.

Quite a genius move. He placed me in check, without me even noticing."

"Then you'll surrender?" Minako said, her voice filled with hope.

Artemis wanted to cry. This was what he wanted!

"Of course..." Akio held out Sailor Moon's sword. He opened his fingers

and it began to slip through-

Usagi screamed, her body arching backward. The sword flickered. Minako

clutched at the girl, her eyes widening. The Sailor Senshi gasped. Luna screamed

her ward's name.

Akio grabbed the sword before it could slip through his fingers

entirely. It solidified in his grasp. Usagi fell silent, slumping against

Minako.

"Oh, I should probably mention something before I hand this over..." he

mused. "You see, Usagi is dying. Her Star Seed was ripped out. Without it, she

should be dead. Except I took this sword." He waved it around a bit. "Do you

know what a soulsword is?"

"Bastard! What are you up to?" Rei snarled.

"Nothing, Miss Hino, nothing at all." He gestured to the howling cyclone

of flashing steel all around them. "Each of these swords is a soulsword. When

the souls of these unfortunates were cast into Oblivion, all that they were was

drained away. All except this." He slipped a finger along the edge of the sword.

A bead of blood appeared on his fingers. "The thing which cuts."

"Of course..." Ami murmured. "Basic symbolism."

"Very good, Ami." Akio smiled at her and she blushed, before forcefully

shaking it off. "A sword divides, Sailor Senshi. It cuts. It rips and tears. It

is an instrument of breaking." He paused for effect. "It is the thing which

separates us from the Oversoul."

He spread his arms wide. "That is why when we are cast from the Oversoul

into Oblivion, all that is left is a sword. That is why I use a sword to try and

cut through the Rose Gate. Because it is the thing about us that is most unique

and personal. It is the thing which makes us... us. Which keeps us alive. Which

makes us LIVE."

He sunk the blade into the ground. "Usagi is already dead. All that is

keeping her here, all that is keeping her from being drawn back to the Oversoul,

is this blade." His grip loosened and Usagi screamed again.

"Stop it!" Minako shouted, clutching onto Usagi tightly. "You're killing

her!"

His grip tightened again and Usagi once again slumped into

unconsciousness. "Quite the contrary, Miss Aino. I am the only thing keeping her

alive." He tapped the blade. "I am eternal. The Paradox backlash that stripped

me of my powers also granted me eternal life. And that same force can make other

things eternal." He smiled. "Like this sword. So long as I hold it, it is as

eternal as I am.

"So you can see, if I were to release this sword to you, it would only

kill the woman you care so much about, Minako Aino." He gestured towards her, an

open palm extending peacefully. "You are free to take it from me, if you are

willing to kill Usagi to do so. But that would make your whole quest pointless,

wouldn't it?" He chuckled. "Did you go all that way, fight through all that,

defy the very will of GOD Himself... just to let Usagi die now?"

Minako's mouth opened and closed helplessly.

"I didn't think so."

OoOoO

It was strange. They were running straight down into the heart of the

beast. They were charging down the slope of the great chasm Shingo Tsukino had

cleft into the body of Pharaoh 90. They should have been forced to climb down,

or something. Ranma was fairly certain that you didn't just run into a planet.

There were things like gravity to worry about. But it appeared that they didn't

have to deal with that.

Just an endless supply of glass women. They bloomed before them like

flowers. They poured out of cracks in the earth, and leapt from side tunnels.

They fell from overhead and ripped through the earth at his feet. But he wasn't

about to let that stop him.

He ducked under a pair of claws. His arm swung up, catching the creature

under the arm. With a grunt he levered it up and over him, smashing it sideways

into two that had been approaching him from behind. Even as the three of them

fell behind him six more appeared in front of him. He leapt. His body twisted

sideways, their claws flashing diamond bright all around him. He felt one of

them brush against his skin. Then his feet slammed into a pair of faces, sending

them crashing back. He caught the next four with his outstretched arms, driving

his limbs into their necks. The monsters made no sound as he smashed them into

the ground.

Unfortunately he landed on his back. He kicked to his feet, but it was

enough time for more of the creatures to encircle him. He grimaced. He'd lost

his momentum for just a moment...

A trio of shots cracked through the air. Three of the mannequins' heads

exploded in shower of glass. Ranma dived through the opening, giving a thumb's

up to Shingo. The boy was busy reloading his pistol. He'd lost the other one

earlier.

The others were spread out all around them. Akira was slipping through

the endless crystal women like water, somehow finding her way through the

tiniest cracks and holes in their formations. Her fists and feet lashed out as

she moved, leaving detached limbs and divided torsos in her wake. Ryouga just

barrelled through them like a runaway train. Anything foolish enough to get in

front of him was swept aside. Occasionally he would lash out with a pair of

fingers, exploding the unliving mannequins with a wordless bark. Cologne

followed him closely, her staff flashing out and finishing off any that Ryouga

left too mobile. She had been limping heavily before, but had made a taciturn

request for some of Nanami's healing powers during a brief respite from the

attacks. Now she moved with a fluid grace that was nonetheless perversely

vicious, dealing destruction in movements so economical even Akira was put to

shame.

Pluto was breathing heavily. There were a trio of claw marks on her arm,

oozing blood. She wielded her Time Key Staff with one hand, firing round after

round of magic blasts from it into the horde. Nanami stayed near her, her twin

sabres flashing almost too fast for Ranma to follow. She kept anything from

getting close enough to do any more injury to the time Senshi.

Nabiki was in the centre of their loose formation. She was doing

everything she could just to keep up the pace they were forced to set. Everyone

took turns protecting her. Even so, Ranma knew she was doing far more than just

running. He could feel her, at the back of his mind. She was acting as a link,

helping them all coordinate. As erratic and as haphazard as their headlong rush

into the core of the planet seemed, Ranma knew that Nabiki was coordinating it

like a concert conductor.

Which left only the Quartet. They were leading the way. The three armed

with those strange orbs seemed to be the muscle, gesturing and producing blasts

and explosions of magical might. At first they had been using weird tricks,

producing cages of flowers and illusions and all sorts of other funky stuff. Now

they had exhausted their imagination, and were down to just throwing out raw

power.

"Everybody stop!" Nabiki's voice exploded across the group.

Ranma skidded to a stop. Everyone else did so as well, glancing around

nervously. The sky had long since vanished overhead. Only a small glimmer of

light reached from overhead. Most of the light was being provided by the glows

of the auras of everyone.

"What is it, Nabiki?" Pluto grabbed her bleeding arm. Ranma tensed up;

for some reason, the horde had backed off. He could see them, just at the edge

of the light provided by his flaring aura. They giggled and shifted amongst

themselves.

"Something big is coming..." Nabiki warned.

Then it was upon them. It exploded through one of the walls with enough

force that Ranma was forced to crouch to avoid being thrown off his feet. Others

weren't so lucky. He heard several groans as people began to try and orient

themselves again.

It was another crystal woman, but this one made the others look like

dolls. She had to be fifteen stories tall, and she completely blocked out the

passage in front of them. Her slitted eyes narrowed and her glass face shifted

into a grin. She brought down a set of claws the size of a city bus. Ranma leapt

backwards, just barely missing being slashed to ribbons.

"Bakusaitenketsu!" Ryouga roared, smashing his fist into the palm of the

other hand as it descended towards him. The hand exploded and Ryouga screamed.

He collapsed, oozing blood from a dozen wounds. Ranma frowned. Up until then,

his and Cologne's technique had been their trump card. But the shards of this

mannequin would be far deadlier than any released from one of the smaller ones.

And worse yet, the thing was regenerating. The stump of its hand was

rapidly regrowing, huge crystals popping into place with a disturbing cracking

sound. The giggles around them intensified.

"I can handle this..." Akira said, cracking her knuckles.

"You should save your strength," Ranma told her, stepping in front of

the girl. "I can take it down."

"Stop being a macho idiot, Ranma," Akira snapped. "You're in worse shape

than I am."

"I'm not being killed by Paradox!" Ranma replied, turning to her.

"That has nothing to do with this!" Akira responded angrily.

"Children!" Cologne shouted in warning. A shadow fell over them as the

colossus decided to attack the only two unwary-looking targets.

Ranma and Akira slid apart. The hand smashed down where they had been.

"Look at you, you're bleeding from your eyes!" Ranma accused as he leapt up onto

the thing's arm.

"At least I'm only bleeding from the holes I was born with," Akira

accused as she ran sideways up the arm, keeping exact pace with Ranma. "You have

more holes in you than swiss cheese."

"Says the woman who not ten minutes ago didn't even have a foot," Ranma

snarled. He reached the shoulder and bounced up off it as the colossus tried to

shrug them off.

"Macho idiot!" Akira shouted as she flew up over the thing's head.

"Crazy tomboy!" Ranma grunted as he slid under its chin.

His fist smashed into its jaw just as Akira's double overhand blow came

down on its brow. With a shriek of exploding crystal the colossal mannequin's

head imploded, the majority of the shards flying out behind it. Ranma and Akira

landed, glaring at each other as it slowly toppled.

Shingo ran in and grabbed the body by one ankle. "Everyone duck!" he

roared. Akira and Ranma did so. Ranma seethed, trying to think up a better

insult. The massive crystal creature flew over them and back up the tunnel.

There was a series of crashes and cracks as it plowed through the packs of

mannequins before becoming lodged in the narrow tunnel.

"That should give us a few seconds..." Shingo gasped. He was sweating

heavily. Power was one thing Shingo had in abundance, but his training hadn't

been very well-rounded. He was already running out of energy.

"Are you two quite finished?" Nabiki asked Ranma and Akira.

"It's not my fault!" Ranma pointed at her. "She keeps trying to steal my

thunder."

"Ranma," Akira sighed and put a hand over her face. "Listen, this isn't

a competition between us. I have no intention of TRYING to steal your glory,

okay?" The others all began to nod. "I just can't help it. I'm so much better

than you I do it naturally."

"See!" Ranma pointed at her again. "Totally after my thunder!"

"We have to go!" one of the quartet yelled. They pointed back up the

tunnel. Ranma could see the giant body beginning to shift. Bits and pieces of

crystal were popping out of it. They were beginning to look like faces and hands

and legs.

"You guys go," Ryouga grunted. He stepped towards the mass of mutating

crystal. His checkered scarf waved around him. "I'll hold them off."

"Ryouga!" Nabiki gasped.

He smirked at her. "Don't worry, I can't be killed." He held out his

hand and a green glow began to surround them. There was a pop as a mannequin

fell from the colossus' body. "Hurry!" Ryouga shouted.

Nabiki hesitated, then Ryouga looked at her. "Get out of here! You have

to live, dammit!"

"R-right!" Nabiki turned and started running. Everyone else followed her

a few moments later. They ran for almost twenty seconds, until the twists and

turns of this strange innerspace had blocked Ryouga from sight. Then they heard

him.

"Jisatsu Bakuha!"

The first explosions was loud enough it blocked out all other sound.

Then there was another shout, and another explosions. Gradually as they ran, the

sound grew dimmer and dimmer until they could hear it no more.

"We have more company," Akira warned. She glanced side to side.

More of the mannequins had arrived, but these ones were different. Their

faces had elongated and their mouths filled with fangs. Their arms and legs bent

at odd angles and they scuttled along the walls and ceiling like spiders. Ranma

felt a shiver run up his spine.

"What do we do?" Shingo said. His gun kept shifting from target to

target. Ranma guessed there were far more of them than he had bullets remaining.

Cologne's eyes narrowed.

"Girls, which way to the core?" she shouted.

"Straight down here!" the red-head in the lead shouted back, gesturing

towards a narrower tunnel leading off from the one they were in.

"Good." Cologne was beginning to lag behind them, slowing down subtly as

if she were still injured. Ranma glanced back and caught her eyes. What he saw

made him pause. He looked at Nabiki. Nabiki nodded to him.

They reached the tunnel just before the things attacked. Ranma saw

Cologne falling back amongst them. Soon he would lose sight of her. He grit his

teeth. He looked at Nabiki again. She looked grim, but refused to meet his gaze.

They both knew what the woman was planning.

Ranma leapt between a pair of spider-mannequins and rolled into the

tunnel. The others were only a step behind him. The Quartet was already running

down the tunnel ahead of everyone else. Ranma noticed, not for the first time,

that none of the creatures really seemed to attack them. They only used their

magic to defend the rest of the group.

Cologne's voice suddenly sang out loud and clear, and Ranma heard an

explosion behind them. But Cologne's target hadn't been one of the mannequins.

The entire entrance to the tunnel was collapsing behind them, with Cologne on

the other side.

"Old hag!" the green-haired girl screamed, turning around. Ranma grabbed

her and kept running. The others swept up the remaining members of the Quartet

as they moved. Behind them the tunnel continued imploding. Ranma grit his teeth

and pushed all the speed he could out of his legs. It was enough to keep them

ahead of the cave-in, which was more than the remaining spider-mannequins could

say.

They emerged into a large chamber, a plume of dust following them. The

girls were staring at the rockfall in shock.

"We have to go back for her!" the green-haired girl in Ranma's arms

shouted. She began to struggle with him. "Let me go, we have to..."

"We have to save the world," Nabiki pointed out. "Cologne knew that."

She smiled then. "Don't count that old woman out yet. It will take more than a

countless horde of unliving crystal killing machines to finish her off."

"Which way?" Akira asked the girl she was holding, the pink-haired one.

"T-that way..." she gestured towards another tunnel. Ranma leapt towards

it, and as he did he could see more of the things emerging. Once again they had

changed shape. Now they lacked legs, having fused them together to form

something like a tail. Their faces were more reptilian, and their perpetual

giggle had taken on a snake-like quality.

Ranma landed and put his passenger down. He turned to face the

approaching horde. His hands curled into fists.

A series of gunshots rang out, and in a few seconds dozens of the

mannequins died in showers of glittering dust. Shingo grunted and dropped his

handgun. He looked at Ranma. "You better get going." He reached down and grabbed

the ground. "After all..." With a grunt he stood up quickly, wrenching a boulder

ten times his size from the tunnel floor in a shower of dust. "...you don't want

to get left behind."

"Shingo?" Ranma frowned.

"Go." Shingo smiled and pulled a cigarette from his leather vest with

one hand. He stuck it between his teeth. "I'm not going to miss my turn to do

the whole heroic sacrifice thing." He grinned, the unlit cigarette dangling

between his teeth. "Besides, you're the best there is, aren't you? They'll need

you more than me."

"Damn it," Ranma hissed, clenching his teeth.

Shingo turned to face the horde, which was approaching more slowly after

Shingo casually wiped out the entire first rank. "If you see Sakura..." He

paused. "Heh. Never mind. She'll know."

Ranma clapped the man on the shoulder. "You're a good man, Shingo."

Ranma said. "You... you'd make your sister proud."

"Hey, no chick flick moments. Just go."

Ranma ran, and a second later he heard the boulder crash down over the

entrance behind them. He didn't like this. He could see the pattern. They were

losing people, one by one. The planet, Pharaoh 90 or Neherenia or whatever it

was now, was dividing them up.

They came to a fork in the tunnel. One led down, the other led up. The

girls looked at each other. "Which way?" Akira asked.

"I..." the red-head looked at her orb. "I can't tell... they both feel

right."

"Now what?" Ranma asked, crossing his arms. More of those things could

show up at any second.

Nanami stepped forward, placing her hands on the wall between the two

passages. She closed her eyes. "I smell..." She opened her eyes. "Pain and

bitterness. Paradox." She looked down. "That way."

"So that's the direction we're headed?" Akira said, starting towards it.

"Not so fast," Nanami held up her hand. "I think it's a trap."

"How?" Ranma asked.

"I just... feel it." She looked up. "Up. Head up."

"What about you?" Akira said suddenly.

"I..." Nanami looked at Pluto. "The trap needs to be sprung. If we don't

do it here, then Neherenia could shift it to ahead of us along the other path."

Pluto looked at her. Then she sighed. "You could be destroyed. Even

vampires can die."

"Maybe." She stared at Pluto for a moment. "But I think this is our

path." She gestured to the downward slope. "I think the Nameless isn't finished

with us yet. We both need to face this."

"This is insane!" Ranma shouted. "It wants to split us up!" He looked at

the others. "Can't you see that?"

"Of course we can, Ranma," Akira said slowly. "But what choice do we

have?" She chuckled. There was something... off about her laughter. It made

Ranma very nervous for some reason. "Let's go. We have a destiny to fulfill."

Ranma ground his teeth, but nodded. He hated this. Every fibre of his

being hated this. It was wrong. They shouldn't have left Ryouga behind. He

should have stopped Cologne. He should have stood with Shingo. He should not be

letting Pluto and Nanami walk into a trap, just to give the rest of them a

better chance. It wasn't the way he worked. It wasn't his style.

But he went with Akira and the girls as they ran up the sloped

passageway. He forced himself not to look at Pluto and Nanami running down the

other way. He didn't want to think about it.

For a few minutes, there was a strange peace. Then they came out into

the most massive chamber yet. Ranma stood at the lip of the tunnel, his jaw

hanging wide.

It was a castle. Something right out of a fairytale stood there, real as

day. It was the home of every evil witch ever dreamed up to scare children at

night. It was every lonely tower in the woods. It was every decaying keep

hanging atop a looming cliff. It was every fortress on a mist-shrouded island.

It was all those things at once.

Ranma felt fear. He knew it wasn't his fear. It was unnatural fear,

seeping into his bones, seeping into his very being. He was a child again. He

was a tiny boy, screaming in the night while the storm pounded down outside. The

lightning was ripping open the sky. He was screaming. His father wouldn't come.

He was supposed to be strong, he was supposed to be above fear. That's what

Father said.

But this place was worse than any storm. This place was where he was

going to die. He was a child and this place was death. In it dwelt every horror

he had every imagined. He backed against the walls, clawing until his fingers

were raw and bleeding. He needed to escape. He needed to get away. But he

couldn't. He was going to die and...

"Fuck off, bitch!"

Ranma gasped and fell forward. He looked up. Nabiki was in front of them

now, her hand extended outward. Ranma could see it. He could see the fear in

front of her. It was like a cloud of poison. Nabiki hissed between clenched

teeth. "I can't... I can't hold it forever. GO!"

"Nabiki," Ranma stood up. "If something attacks you... you can't affect

those mannequins."

"If I move, it will escape," Nabiki looked at the others, who were just

now regaining their feet. "This is my fight, Ranma. Go find yours. Find this

bitch. Put her out of her misery!"

Ranma looked at her. Seven years ago, they had become engaged. It had

been a false engagement. A thing arranged by their families that neither of them

had wanted. Back then, she had been like an enemy to him. But now, they were

friends. He would never love her the way he did Minako. But this woman had

become one of his important people. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Nabiki, don't you dare die on me!" he ordered.

Nabiki smirked. "Saotome, I plan to live forever."

He nodded and then sprinted into the castle, the others on his heels.

OoOoO

Hotaru was tired.

The air here was thin. It smelled of dust. The cold here was so intense

that even her undead bones were being leeched of their warmth. The light was dim

and flickered fitfully. Everything in this place was fading. There was no drama

to it. There was no spectacular rift, no massive swirling cosmic spectacle of

destruction. There was nothing to this place, nothing at all.

Just a slow, encompassing sense of fatigue. The end of world was so soft

it could hardly be called a whimper. Hotaru clenched her hand around the handle

of Dylek.

The sword shifted slightly, its massive bulk rumbling in the grey and

hollow earth. The spirit that had once been within the blade had dimmed so much,

been so consumed by Oblivion, that it could barely be called alive any more. It

responded to her will now, but it did so without emotion or thought. Hotaru

envied it.

How much better this world would be, how much easier to endure if she

simply did not feel. If she was a mindless creature, a tool of God, that killed

what He said to kill and made no thought of it, then she would not have to

endure this. This waiting.

She felt His presence within her. She slumped slightly, the pressure of

Him filling her up almost to bursting. She felt His awareness on her mind. And

her mind shrunk back from him, like it always had. Like it always would. He was

so... so MUCH. Every time He came to her, she was surprised that the utter

presence of Him did not erase her. The slightest brush of His soul against hers

threatened to eradicate Hotaru Tomoe much like Hotaru had eradicated Dylek.

But then He was gone. Patience. Always patience. She had to wait. She

had to be strong. She had to stand longer. She had to endure. She had to endure

the hunger. The burning need in her throat, the ache in her heart. The desire to

feed. She had to endure the pain. The ripping, tearing force of Paradox inside

her. The constant build-up as He worked His will upon the world. He could not

risk bringing His full power to bear. She would shatter like an egg if He did

that. He was forced to work through coincidence, through chance, through Destiny

and Fate and all those other things. Even doing that built up enough Paradox

that Hotaru had long since forgotten what it was like to not be in agony.

But most of all, she was tired.

Her eyes opened and she looked out across the blasted emptiness that was

once Elysium, the world of dreams. From here her gaze could follow the entire

world. The fitful sparks of soullights shone like fireflies, rising from the

ash-grey ground and hovering for a moment before succumbing to the terrible

gravity of this place again.

She could feel the struggle in the world. Every soul engaged in the

battle was pushing hard. Their hopes and fears and struggles burned bright in

the bleakness. But the brighter they burned, the shorter they would last.

"I wonder if they would fight so hard if they knew the truth?"

"Kalia," Hotaru said, her voice carefully neutral.

The chaos puppet floated next to Hotaru. Of course, she hadn't been here

a moment ago. But in this place, the walls of reality were mere suggestions.

Hotaru was neither surprised nor particularly annoyed by the thing's presence.

She wondered idly if Kalia would be irked by that. Did it realise how little

Hotaru thought of it? Did it care? Did it even have a mind, or just a twisted

sort of programming?

"You sound so happy to see me, big sister!" Kalia gushed, floating

around in front of her. She was lying with her head across her wrists, kicking

her legs idly.

"Why did you come here?" Hotaru asked.

"I just dropped by to be annoying," Kalia said with a giggle. She

rotated, now miming lying on her back. "Little sisters do that." She floated

back away from Hotaru.

"Very well," Hotaru replied, and turned her attention away. She looked

out and found the one spark she was most interested in. It was no brighter, no

stronger than any of the others, really. But where each of those sparks

resembled a single light, this one seemed oddly double. If Hotaru were to

compare it to anything, it would be to the ouroboros. It flickered fitfully now,

dimming by visible degrees as she watched.

"What would you do if she died?" Kalia asked suddenly. She appeared

behind the spark, cupping her hands around it. "What if she was simply...

snuffed out?"

"She will live," Hotaru assured her. Kalia grinned, closing her hands

around the bright spark. Hotaru did not react. She simply stared. Then just as

the empty puppet's hands began to enclose the spark, she hissed and pulled them

back.

"Ouchie..." Kalia murmured and sucked on her fingers.

"There is nothing you can do to Ukyou," Hotaru told her. Kalia giggled,

her voice echoing obscenely across the empty landscape.

"You still didn't answer my question," Kalia said, wagging a finger at

Hotaru. "What would you do, if this all fell apart?"

Hotaru didn't respond. She didn't trust the words that would come out of

her mouth. Because the truth was that if His plans for Ukyou came apart now...

it would be over. It would just all be over. All this rotting flesh, all this

burning hunger, all this empty pain.

All the meaningless, excessive, juvenile sadistic struggle. All the

empty promises. All the lies and deceit. All the shattered dreams. All the empty

hopes. The wretched worthless struggle to just go on and on and on... with no

end, no reward. Ever.

It would just be over. It would be done with. He would scatter this

world like ash in the wind.

"You are trying to provoke me," Hotaru informed the thing. "It will not

succeed."

The girl-thing rose to her feet, stretching her arms to the side. And

she danced. Back and forth, swaying to a rhythym only she could hear and with no

discernible beat. "Imagine it, Hotaru, if it all just stopped."

Hotaru didn't reply. She could feel Him, distant now. He was busy. So

many things had come to a climax, so many threads of the tapestry he was weaving

coming together at once. He needed all His attention there. Hotaru could feel

the empty, angry pain of Paradox fill her like a gentle trickle as He tugged on

the strings of Fate and Chance. She realised this was why Kalia was talking to

her now.

Hotaru smiled, a thin and sad smile. "Say what you have to say. Your

time is almost up."

Kalia stopped and glared at her. Then she shrugged it off and smiled

herself, a smile devoid of sanity. "All this fighting, Hotaru. It's meaningless,

don't you agree?" Hotaru made a noise that might have been agreement. "If only

they knew. If only they knew that all their power, all their endless strength

and struggle, was just a game. If they knew how many times they failed, how many

mighty hero Ranmas had to die so that one of them could strike the final

dramatic blow. If they knew how many Nabikis had to go insane so one of them

could peek into the mind of another. If they knew how many lives were lost, over

and over and over again.

"They wouldn't want to play that game anymore, would they?"

"So that is the difference between you and them?" Hotaru mused. "They

have fooled themselves into thinking their struggle has meaning. You have fooled

yourself into thinking it does not."

Kalia blinked. Then she chuckled. "Touché." She floated back, curling

and uncurling her fingers in front of her hand. "I just want to play the game

too, in the end." Her white teeth flashed in the fading light. "I just want

someone to play with me. Why don't you play with me?"

"Because my purpose is here," Hotaru replied.

"Of course." Kalia laughed, a full blown body-shaking maniacal laugh.

"You are the end." She stopped abruptly and looked at Hotaru. "I... I guess I'll

just have to settle for being the Trigger of Destruction."

And with that, she was gone. Hotaru hadn't seen her leave. It was hard

to tell if she had ever even been there. Perhaps Hotaru had only seen what she

wanted to see. Something to distract her, for a few moments. To keep her from

looking out across the endless expanse of the world. To see what she saw now.

All the worlds stretched out before her. That was His gift to her. She

saw it all, all the many worlds. She saw all of the failures, all of the death

and misery and misfortune of all the people of the world. Every victory, every

triumph was so empty. There were so many ways that it failed, that everything

went wrong.

So Hotaru closed her eyes and leaned up against the mindless husk of

Dylek again. She was left alone at the edge of Oblivion. Alone with the silence,

and the dust and the gradual inexorable fading of the light.

She was so tired.

OoOoO

It couldn't end like this.

She wouldn't let it end like this.

Ukyou was surprised with how quickly she reacted. Her hands released the

Silence Glaive and latched onto Alucard's jaw. The needle-teeth had pierced her

neck, but not ripped it in two. She strained, barely holding the vampire at bay.

Even that was not enough to prevent his tongue from luridly slithering between

her fingers, licking away the blood oozing from her wounds.

Then she tried to ghost out, phasing up into the body of Pharaoh 90.

That would have saved her from any other vampire in this situation. But Alucard

was no ordinary vampire. With nothing more than a chuckle, he never even

loosened his deathgrip as he too sunk into the flesh of the planet-eater with

her.

Oh fuck, he could phase through matter?

"Of course I can, have you forgotten already?" Alucard's voice seemed to

whisper from right beside her ear.

"Get out of my mind!" Ukyou screamed. Alucard winced slightly, but

tightened his arms around her. They were falling deeper and deeper into the

planet now. There was no light here. No way to tell if they passed through solid

rock or vast caves within the behemoth. They were floating through empty

darkness. There was nothing there but each other.

"You know I can't do that," Alucard purred into her mind. His grip on

her neck tightened. She whimpered a bit as the teeth dug deeper into her. "You

said that together we could fight God?" He chuckled. "No, Ukyou. But I can hit

Him where it hurts. I can destroy you, and ruin everything He has made. I can

pay Him back for this world of misery and hate. I can make it right."

"Don't try and make this sound noble," Ukyou growl. She felt faint. He'd

managed to tag her artery, she realised. Not all the way, or she'd be dead

already. But she was bleeding out. "You're not doing this for anybody but

yourself. This is revenge."

"Perhaps it is," Alucard murmured. "But don't you deserve it?"

"Fuck you." Ukyou needed to think of something. She and Aaron were

struggling, trying to find some way out of this. But they needed every bit of

concentration, all the chi and magic they could summon to fight off Alucard's

implacable grip.

"You've said it yourself, Ukyou, or Aaron, or whatever you prefer to

think of yourself as," the vampire said lightly. His eyes flashed with

amusement. "You don't have what it takes to be God. That's what it would take to

defeat Him. To fight the Nameless, you must become Him. But you don't want that,

Ukyou. You've fought against it all your life, haven't you?"

It was impossible to tell where they were anymore. It was all darkness.

The vampire clung to her, pressing himself up against her obscenely. She felt

disgust and fear rising in her throat and the emotions only made Alucard laugh.

"Aaron, such a useless person. Never having the slightest hint of

ambition. He had an iron will to accomplish what he set out to do, but never any

goal worth accomplishing. And Ukyou, with so many noble goals. An entire future.

But never the will to do what was necessary. You erased yourself, erased the

girl Ukyou when you thought you had lost what you really wanted. When things got

tough, you crumbled. And then, when you found Ranma again, you gave up on even

your dreams of vengeance." He chuckled. "And him. You have nothing you wanted,

Ukyou. Where is your restaurant? What happened to your happy life with Ranma? Do

you even care about separating from Aaron anymore?"

She wanted to reply, but her vision was dimming. Her grip was slipping.

If she let go, he'd tear her throat out. She would die here, in the dark. Alone.

"No..." She groaned, and managed to push Alucard's fangs back. He

tightened his grip around her shoulder. Her bones felt like they were being

ground together. She pushed harder.

"Even now, you're not actually fighting FOR anything, are you?" Alucard

hissed into her mind. "Just mindless struggle against the darkness. You react to

this world. You make pretty speeches about how you've changed. How you've taken

your destiny into your own hands, but they are hollow and empty. You are empty.

Your life is a string of meaningless battles against great men and women."

Alucard's eyes narrowed. "Like Integra."

Ukyou's eyes narrowed. "So that's it... Alucard?" Aaron smiled. His

fingers began to dig into Alucard's jaws, pulling them back further. "That's the

truth."

"What are you talking about?"

"This is about vengeance too," Aaron said, his voice level. Somehow, he

and Ukyou were growing in strength. They were pushing Alucard back, inch by

inch. The vampire was clawing at their shoulders, trying to hold on. "But not

against the Nameless. This isn't about "God" at all. This is about you. This is

about the woman you dedicated your life to." Ukyou and Aaron screamed and gave

one last push, flinging Alucard back. "The woman I led to her death!"

"This has nothing to do with that!" Alucard snarled, and hurtled

through the darkness at them. Ukyou clutched her neck with one hand and leapt

upward. She wasn't certain what she was leaping off of, but it was there.

Alucard's fingers brushed against her heel, but then she was past him. In a

geyser of purple sparks she emerged atop the malevolent planet. Alucard oozed up

from the ground in front of her. He hissed.

"You talk a big game about being a monster, Alucard, but you're just as

human as the rest of us," Aaron continued.

"Please. You know what I'm capable of," Alucard said with a frown.

"What? All those flashy undead tricks?" Aaron chuckled. "It's just

power, Alucard. Anyone can have power. Ranma can run up a smooth wall of solid

ice, and he's still human. Nabiki can rearrange your brain like a Rubik's cube,

and she's still human. Pluto, Setsuna, can stop the flow of time itself... and

she is human, too."

"There is a difference between me and them!" Alucard roared and came in.

Aaron sensed his attacks before they even began. Ukyou danced between them. She

felt her power returning to her. All the energy drawn from the Third Circle hole

the Nameless had drilled into her was rejuvenating her.

"No, there isn't." Ukyou whispered she slipped past his guard, sliding

just to the side of his body and coming to a stop behind him. "You want to

believe there is. You revel in it. In your vampire nature. But that doesn't make

you not human. You kill and you rape and you turn everything you touch to ashes,

and that doesn't make you not human." Ukyou smirked, dodging another blow. "You

think there aren't human madmen?" Alucard just missed tagging her with a

haymaker. "You think there aren't thousands of people just like you in this

world?" She leapfroged over a clumsy charge. "Abusive husbands. Serial rapists.

Hatemongers and robber barons and war profiteers. You're just another version of

human scum."

"SHUT UP!" Alucard spun towards her, roaring and frothing.

Ukyou snapped her hand out and the Glaive appeared. She slipped

backward, her body bending so his grabbing hands brushed within inches of her

neck. Then she came to a stop behind him.

"In the end, Alucard, I don't need to fight for a high ideal," Ukyou

informed him. "I'm a human being. I fight for the things I hold precious to me,

just like you do." She rose to her feet. "You once said that only a real human

could defeat you in the end, and you were right. But you forgot about the human

in your own heart." She turned to face him. "It was that humanity that destroyed

you."

Alucard was dissolving. The slash had perfectly bisected him from crown

to sternum. He was turning to ash from the inside out, and the ash was being

carried away by the wind. "Well played," he gasped. "Remember that lesson. It is

the only thing that may save you from the Nameless..."

And then he was gone.

OoOoO

Tethys materialised and grabbed Fevrier from behind, holding her in a

full nelson. The eagle-winged woman screamed and struggled, trying to throw

herself at Gyro. The mad demon was laughing, his head thrown back. He was

exulting.

"Let me go!" Fevrier screamed, her voice hoarse. Tears flowed from her

eyes. "Let me GO!"

"You'll only get yourself killed," Tethys answered levelly. The hybrid

youma-martial artist was very powerful, much more than Tethys had actually hoped

for when she had begun experimenting with this process. But compared to Tethys,

she was still a mortal. She may as well have struggled against the bottomless

depths of the Pacific.

"It doesn't matter," Fevrier insisted through grit teeth. "I have to

HURT that bastard!"

"Your hatred only makes him stronger," Tethys advised.

"Then I hope he chokes on it!" Fevrier screamed.

"Come now, Queen of Darkness," Gyro said, beckoning with his sword. "Let

her fight me. The seconds it shall take me to end her misery will give the rest

of you a few more moments of life in this world." He howled in laughter. "It's

all you can hope for now."

Purgstall floated down beside the two of them. "Is there another plan?"

he asked.

"No," Tethys said grimly. "Mamoru's magic bullet is our only hope."

Purgstall glanced at her. She kept her expression grim and focused on

Gyro. She could only hope he picked up on the hint. She dared not say anything

else. Gyro was far too clever. Tethys had hoped that Io's telepathy could keep

them out of his reach, but there was no such luck. His powers were just too

great for any mere hybrid to defeat.

"Purgstall, we only have one chance left." Tethys continued to hold

Fevrier. "We need to kill Gyro in one blow. He must have no chance to survive.

You are the next most powerful being to me, and capable of generating more raw

power. Can you do it?"

"A bolt of that magnitude..." Purgstall nodded. "But there would be no

way for me to guide it. He could avoid it with ease."

"Don't worry about that." Tethys looked down at Fevrier. "I'll take care

of it when the time comes." She looked back. "You three," she said to a group of

hybrids, "take care of her."

She threw Fevrier at them. The huge green-clad man caught the winged

woman, holding her down. Everyone was here now, having come out of hiding. With

Gyro's display of power, everyone now knew hiding was futile. Good, they would

all get to see this.

Tethys refused to smile. It was time not only to win this battle, but

far more importantly, it was time to win the next as well.

Behind her she could feel Purgstall gathering up his power. The storm

around them would serve as a massive energy field for him. He stretched up his

hands, calling more and more lightning into the area. Soon the area was lit up

like noon. The air overhead was literally incandescent with the power Purgstall

was building up.

Tethys floated closer to Gyro, conjuring up another ice lance. She

floated up and to the side, putting herself between him and a crumbled piece of

what had once been a stadium. Gyro followed her, holding his corrupt black blade

at the ready.

"Your stubborn struggle begins to bore me," Gyro said with a needle-

toothed smile. "It is time to end this."

Tethys needed one last distraction. Something, anything, to hold his

attention for a fraction of a second. Then a miracle happened. Pharaoh 90

screamed.

It was a roar that rippled through the entire city. It tore into their

minds. It exploded across the entire Earth. Tethys flashed forward. Gyro had

looked up, just the slightest glance. It was enough. His sword snapped out,

parrying her ice lance with ease.

"Adrasteia, now!" Tethys screamed.

Behind her, a woman threw off a black cloak. Magic and mystic martial

arts combined had made her almost invisible. Her and the man she had grabbed out

of the path of danger at the very last second. Mamoru was already aiming.

The retort of his rifle going off was nothing compared to the scream

from overhead. Tethys felt the bullet flash through her shoulder. It tingled,

but did no real damage. Then it slammed into Gyro's forehead. Directly into his

zoacrystal.

He screamed as the crystal exploded out from his head in a fountain of

yellow and silver shards. "Purgstall!" Tethys roared, knocking Gyro's nerveless

hand away. She drove her lance into Gyro's chest.

Purgstall roared and unleashed the lighting. It came down, a bolt of

destruction worthy of Zeus or Thor, a single arc of electricity almost a hundred

meters across. Tethys stuck her hand up and into it.

Water conducts electricity, as she knew well.

The current surged through her, snapping down her arm, across her chest

and down her other arm. It flowed through her lance, right into Gyro. Right into

his dark beating heart. All the power of the storm, channelled all at once.

Gyro's mouth opened and light exploded out from it. His eyes shone from the

inside. The crater in his forehead sparked and surged. His body galvanised,

twitching like an insect pinned to the ground.

"No... this... this cannot be!" Gyro's voice roared out over the

explosion. Tethys could barely hear him. Her body couldn't take much more. The

lightning was ripping her apart. "I am... immortal! I am... invincible! I am a

law, unto myself!"

"All laws exist to be broken," Tethys managed to gasp, before letting

the last of the energy flash through her body. Gyro exploded. He simply ceased

to be, his body ripped apart. His form was swallowed up in the dreamstuff,

vanishing into chaos. Tethys grinned.

Then darkness took her.

OoOoO

Once upon a time...

That was how the story always started, wasn't it? Once upon a time,

there was a prince in an ancient castle. Once upon a time, there was a princess

on the moon. Once upon a time, there was a witch. Once upon a time, there was a

place where dreams came true. Once upon a time.

And for every once upon a time, there was supposed to be a happily ever

after. That was just how the story ended. Except it didn't, did it? Not really.

Usagi was mainly unconscious, but she was aware enough to know she was

dying. She had lost so much of herself. She had lost everything. How could she

continue on?

She had family, once upon a time. She had a father who worried too much

and mother who nagged too much. She had an annoying little brother who was

nothing but a pain. But she had sent them away, far across the sea. They would

be safe without her. She had protected them.

She had friends, once upon a time. Friends she loved with all her heart.

Friends she would have died for. Friends she would have given anything to keep

from hurting. She had listened to Akio, and driven them from her life. It was

for their own good. She had protected them.

She had dreamed she'd had love, once upon a time. He had been a man in a

mask, a man she still didn't even know the real face of. But that dream had

faded. She had found a new face. The devil's face. He had never once claimed she

could trust him. He had never asked to be saved. But she had set out to save

him, and his sister. She had thrown herself into his world knowing full well the

mistake she was making.

She just hadn't cared.

And so, she had lost everything.

Then someone had come for her. A golden knight. She couldn't see who it

was at first. She barely saw anything now. The world was dimming all around her.

But the knight had shown up just as the monsters had loomed large. The knight

had struck down the monsters and taken her into her arms.

It had been Minako.

Was this some dream? Was her mind conjuring this knight out of her own

guilty conscience? She had driven away Minako. She had tried to 'protect' her

like she had the others. And she had, in her arrogance, pushed away the voice

that was telling her to think. To look at herself and see what she was doing. To

look down at the void she was flying over, just waiting for gravity to catch her

and drag her down.

Her mind faded in and out. She was vaguely aware of being taken

somewhere. She could hear Minako's voice, catch bits and pieces of words. The

woman had sounded worried, sounded scared. But her words were comforting. She

was telling her it was going to be okay. She was going to live. She would

survive.

She saw the world they travelled through in brief flashes. She saw a

world in chaos. A world falling apart. She saw a wall of water descending

through the city. She saw the sky burn like fire. She saw green light swirling

madly above them. And, just as they had approached the city, she had seen

something coming down from that sky. Like a massive eye, the eye of God...

Then she had faded away. She was aware that something important was

happening, something she should be awake for. But she had no strength. She was

spent. For an agonising moment pain had spiked through the numbness that had

settled over her. She felt arms tighten around her. She heard people scream her

name.

Then the pain had faded, and the numbness returned. But now, now she

could see a bit. She was aware a little bit. She was being held gently. Someone

was crying, their hot tears falling onto her cheeks. She wanted to comfort them.

She wanted to take away their pain.

Except that wasn't the way it worked. There was no happily ever after.

There was no magic princess who could make everything right. She had been a fool

to believe that.

And many, many kilometers away, she felt herself die. She gasped, her

back arching. It felt like the bullet had smashed through her own chest. She

felt the Ginzuishou, the almighty Silver Crystal, shatter. And somehow she knew

that he was responsible. The man in the mask she had once loved had killed her.

She smiled. She wanted to thank him.

"USAGI!" a voice screamed.

"I can save her." It was Akio's voice. She recognised that voice. She

would recognise that voice forever. It had burned into her mind. It was like the

smell of him, the touch of his warm flesh, the colour of his eyes... it was him.

It was all part of him. "If you let me do this, I can save her."

She wanted to hate him, but found she was incapable. She was dead. She

knew she was dead. Something held her here. But it wouldn't for long. She was

going to fade away. No force under heaven could hold her here forever.

She wanted to hate him, but knew she never could. Perhaps it just wasn't

a part of her. Even now, with the world ending, with everything being lost

because of her arrogance and his ambition. Even now, she couldn't hate him. She

needed to make things right.

She was dying. There was nothing she could do. She had fallen. Akio held

her sword. Her Star Seed had been shattered. She was gone. There was no magic.

There was no salvation. God would not save her. He wanted her destroyed. She

didn't know how she knew that, but she knew. Perhaps now, as she was floating at

the edge of death, she could finally begin to see the truth.

She saw it all. Stretching out back so many years. She saw the all, the

Oversoul. She saw it stretching back and back, forever and ever back before the

beginning of time. From it, all the souls came. Every life, every mind was born

of it. And of it, all things returned. Each child, each world, each universe was

born of the Oversoul and to it they would always return.

And there was a sickness in it. A darkness, an emptiness. Like a cancer

it ate away. Paradox. When a soul failed to return to the Oversoul, it became a

part of the sickness. It was ripped free of the all, and became nothing but

emptiness and hate. It struck out, finding more and more victims and dragging

them with it.

Except one. It hid. It hid outside the Oversoul, outside the universes.

It was too large to fit inside anymore. It had grown too huge. Its endless

infinity was beyond comprehension. It could not touch the Oversoul, because its

touch was too large. If it did, the Paradox would find it. It would make it

suffer. It would drag it down into darkness.

It sat apart from all the worlds. It looked upon all that was, and it

desired. It wanted in, but it could never achieve that desire. It was too huge.

Its very presence would tear everything apart. So it searched, and it searched,

looking for that right combination... that impossible combination...

Usagi's eyes snapped open. She gasped. Minako looked down at her.

"Usagi...?" her voice was choked with pain.

"Minako... I'm so sorry..." Usagi moaned.

"She's awake..." Akio mused. "It's no matter. Her fate is sealed." The

fallen prince moved slightly. "Hate me if you will for what I did to her, for

what I let her do to herself, but you have to realise that I am her only hope."

"We won't let you win, you bastard!"

Was that Ami? It was. And Makoto, too. They stood proud, in the Senshi

uniforms once more. Rei, Sailor Mars, stood with them. They stood between Akio

and the Rose Gate.

Always the gate. The symbol of that which was beyond. The final barrier.

Now Usagi had seen beyond it. She had seen what was on the other side. And it

was great and awesome. It was terrible and hungry. There was no salvation beyond

the Rose Gate.

"You have no more time, girls," Akio told them. "Anthy, let them see the

world." Usagi only noticed the cyclone of swords as it vanished. The Swords of

Hate slowly faded, one by one, to reveal the world.

It was terrible.

Above them loomed a monstrous thing. A planet, massive beyond all

meaning of the word. It spread from horizon to horizon, curving gently up and

away from them. Great tendrils, thick and grey, swirled from its titanic form.

Usagi could see one of them where it had smashed into the Earth in the near

distance. It was like someone had smashed a mountain into the world, cracking

the crust of the planet. Storms raged. Lightning flashed. Thunder roared. Great

cyclones tore at the land. The ground began to quake.

And all around them, for as far as the eye could see, was devastation.

It took Usagi a moment to realise they were back in Ohtori, because Ohtori was

all but gone. The buildings that had not been shattered by the storm had been

rent apart by the earthquakes. The people that had not died in the cataclysm,

had died in the chaos that flowed through the world.

"This is your last chance, Sailor Senshi," Akio said. "This is

Armaggeddon. This is the end! This is what God wants! This is His judgement!" He

pointed the sword he had taken at the planet. "There is no saving the world from

this. It will rip this planet apart. Already Japan is no more. Every living soul

on the islands is dead, save for us and a few desperate people crouched in the

ruins of Tokyo waiting for the end. And the devastation grows. Tidal waves.

Earthquakes. Storms like you have never imagined. The very life force of the

planet, vanishing drop by drop.

"There is no-one who can save you!" Akio brought his sword down swiftly.

"Except me. I was once God. I can be so again. Step aside and let me go to the

Rose Gate." He held out his hand imploringly. "I will become God, and I will

fight Him. I am not just the best choice, I am the only choice. I know what it

means to be God. I can fight Him on His own terms. I can WIN! Give your hope to

me! I will save us ALL!"

The world suddenly shifted. A great crack shattered across the ground,

as if to punctuate his words. Minako screamed and lost her grip on Usagi as the

world shattered all around them. Only the Rose Gate was unaffected. Usagi landed

hard against the rock.

"Save humanity! Save yourselves! Save Usagi!" Akio yelled over the roar

of the wind. Lightning crashed down nearby, sending up a geyser of dirt. "But do

it now!"

"Damn you..." Minako snarled. She looked down at Usagi. "No. I won't do

it."

"That's God talking-"

"SHUT UP!" Minako screamed. "I won't let you win, Akio!"

"Even if it means dooming the entire world?"

"I don't believe that, I can't believe that!" Minako rose to her feet.

"I will not surrender, not even in the face of Oblivion! Because I have hope,

Akio. Hope. It's all we have to fight this, and I refuse to surrender as long as

I have it!"

"Hope..." Rei murmured. Then, more forcefully, "We still have hope!

While there is fire in my heart, we have hope."

"While there is breath in my lungs, there is hope," Makoto added.

"While there is blood beating in my veins, there is hope," Ami added.

Usagi's hand reached out. She had no strength, but she had hope. That

was what she had surrendered, she realised. What she had let Akio take from her.

She had believed so much, so much that she could save the world, that she had

lost hope. She had know that she could save the world, so there was no reason to

hope for it. And without the need for it, she had forgotten how to do it.

But now she knew.

"Akio..." Usagi climbed, unsteadily, to her feet. "There is still hope."

Akio's eyes widened. She heard her comrades... no, her friends, her good

and true friends, she heard them gasp in shock. Luna stared at her. Anthy

stepped back, her expression stunned.

"No..." Akio murmured. "How can you...?"

"Have you forgotten, Akio?" Usagi asked, her voice sad. "What it is to

hope?" She staggered forward. But there was something she was reaching. She

could feel God. She could feel His anger.

The storm ripped through the arena. The earth in front of her cracked.

Lightning struck less than a meter away. Makoto gasped and made to run for her,

but Rei and Ami held her back. Usagi kept walking.

"And Anthy, I'm so sorry..." She looked at the girl. "I thought you

needed saving. But I was wrong. You always had it in you to save yourself." She

started towards the girl. "Can you forgive me, for my arrogance? For thinking

that I could fix you?" She chuckled. "Because I can't give you hope, Anthy.

That's something you have to give yourself. Neither me, nor God, nor Akio can

take that away. No amount of torment or punishment can take it away. While you

still live, there is hope."

"No... that isn't true..." Anthy murmured. She was holding a sword. The

sword of Paradox. It was her burden, the one she had accepted willingly to save

her brother. The one that could never be taken from her, the torment that would

continue eternally, no matter what.

She knew that to be true.

But she had hope.

Behind her Usagi heard a loud crack. Akio gave out a strangled gasp.

"The Gate!" Rei shouted. Usagi didn't look behind her, she just kept walking

towards Anthy. With each step, there was another crack.

"NO!" Akio screamed. He pulled back his hand and cast away the sword. He

threw it into a crack into the earth. It fell and fell, vanishing into a rising

pool of steaming magma.

But Usagi didn't stop. It was like the world was opening up before her.

She could see it all, see how it all connected. She understood. And she knew

that, in the end, it was meaningless. That even this final epiphany was useless,

because in the end she would just start the cycle again.

She could feel the Paradox building. Every step she took. Every crack

that formed in the Rose Gate. Every word she said. She was defying everything

now, and the Paradox would come. It always came. That was the price of the

ultimate power. The price of being God, even for just a moment.

She reached Anthy, and her hands wrapped around the girl's wrists. She

looked into the Rose Bride's shaking green eyes. "You never really lost hope,

Anthy. You have always had it inside you." Usagi smiled. "You hope that Akio

will one day smile at you, and mean it. You hope that one day, he will love you

again." Anthy just stood there, stunned into silence.

"But he doesn't, does he?" Usagi asked. Anthy nodded mutely. "But that

hasn't stopped you from hoping. That hasn't stopped that secret part of your

heart. You hid it away, because it hurt too much, more than any torture. But you

could never get rid of it entirely. Because a person without hope can never

truly be hurt. Isn't that right?" Anthy nodded again, and as she did her eyes

began to water. Tears leaked down her cheeks.

"You don't have to punish yourself anymore, Anthy," Usagi told her. She

could hear them coming now. The Swords of Hate. The Rose Gate gave one final

great crack, then it shattered, falling in a cloud of dust. Every grain of dust,

every tiny bit of it, became a sword. They swooped up and around, streaming

through the broken sky towards Usagi. "Let yourself feel hope."

Anthy looked up at the swords. They paused, hanging in mid-air. Their

tips seemed to quiver, shifting minusculely. It was like they couldn't make a

decision. Usagi ran her fingers up until she was clutching Anthy's hand, the one

wrapped around the sword she carried.

"Believe."

Anthy let go.

The swords came down like rain. Usagi didn't scream out as the first

buried itself in her shoulder. Nor did she cry out when the next pierced her

hip. She turned and started to walk. The swords came and came. She heard Anthy

fall back.

"No... USAGI!" Anthy screamed. "What have you done?"

"Nothing," Usagi replied, her words clipped. They just kept coming. She

could feel each of them slide into her. She could feel her body being torn to

shreds. She kept walking.

"Usagi, no, don't do it!" Minako called out. "You don't have to do this!

This isn't what I wanted!"

"Usagi!" Rei cried, tears falling from her eyes.

Makoto could not force herself to look. Ami choked, falling to her

knees. Usagi kept walking.

Akio waited for her. Where could he run? He looked down into her eyes.

"You have come to punish me?" he said, softly.

"No, Akio." Usagi staggered towards him. She could barely walk now. The

pain was intense. She had no idea. She had taken it all. All the Paradox, all

the centuries of torment. She had just taken it away from Anthy. But it had to

go somewhere. Paradox refused to be destroyed. It just kept building. There was

no escape from it.

But she had hope.

"I just wanted to hold you, one last time..." she murmured. She wanted

to hate him, but she could not. She fell forward, and he caught her. There was

still enough of the Prince in him to do that. "I... love... you..." she gasped

out.

"Usagi..." He turned his head away. "You aren't going to kill me?"

"No..." She gasped. "But Anthy has lost her powers now, Akio." She

smiled. "She has lost the Paradox. I took it from her. You are no longer

eternal. It's over, Akio. I can't save you, but I can give you one last chance

to save yourself. Find hope, Akio. Please, for me..."

Usagi gave one last breath. Then her body dissolved, until there was

nothing but a vague shadow among the swords. Then the swords themselves

vanished, one by one. Then there was nothing.

OoOoO

Akira entered the castle last. She was walking on autopilot. She was

drifting. Her heart was racing so fast, she could barely hear the individual

beats. But outside she was calm, collected. She moved simply and easily.

There was pain, of course. Ukyou was still fighting, still drawing upon

the Third Circle. The Paradox felt like every torture ever imagined, all at

once. She felt like her skin was being flayed off. She felt like her intestines

were burning. She felt like her bones had shattered and her blood had turned to

glass. Her lungs breathed in acid and her eyes were being stabbed through with

sharp needles.

But for some reason, it didn't seem to be affecting her as much as it

should have. She should have been on the ground, wailing. But instead she was

walking, following Ranma and the Quartet into the core of the beast. It was like

her mind had a certain capacity to experience pain and it had simply been pushed

beyond that. She felt oddly detached. Like the pain was happening to somebody

else.

For the moment, she was thankful.

Neherenia was waiting for them. She sat on a throne of brass crow wings,

curtains of spidersilk waving around her. She was beautiful, in a horrific sort

of way. She had long black hair that shone with blue highlights, and a face of

sculpted artificial flawlessness. Her indigo eyes were slitted and her ears were

leaf-shaped. On her forehead was a trio of crescents, arranged in a triangle.

One of them was gold, another silver and the third black as pitch. She wore a

gown cut low on her chest and sat with a relaxed sensuality that made Akira

pause.

Then she realised that Neherenia was not sitting. Her arm was not

draped across the arm of her chair, it grew from it. Her feet were not touching

the floor, but fused into it. Her hair was not wavering in the half-light, it

was the air itself, thick and blue-black. If you looked carefully, you saw past

the illusion.

Neherenia was not there. Or more accurately, she was not only there. She

was also in the air, in the floor, in the walls and the ceiling and every other

part of this place. What sat on that throne was no more Neherenia than Akira was

her spinal cord.

"Our Amazoness Quartet, you have returned to us." Neherenia voice echoed

strangely. It had an oddly baritone echo to it, considering her voice was high

and sharp, like a blade raised to strike. "We have hoped this day would come."

"Mistress Neherenia..." the red-head, VesVes, said softly.

"You look terrible!" PallaPalla said. The other three gaped at her.

Neherenia's eyes fixed on the blue-haired girl. "It's like you're not even there

anymore," the girl continued despite her sisters' frantic attempts to motion her

to silence. "You used to be beautiful and creepy and interesting. Now you're

just creepy."

Neherenia's lips twitched upward. "In our old life, we would have

destroyed you for that." Akira noticed that her voice did not exactly sync up

with her lips. "But we have moved beyond an empty quest for beauty, child."

"Yeah, yeah..." Ranma stepped forward, rubbing the back of his neck.

"This is the part where you tell us your sob story about how you've been trapped

in Oblivion for seven years and you've been driven insane and now you want to

destroy the world in the name of some bullshit or other and blah blah blah..."

He shrugged. "Can we just skip to the part where we kick your ass and save the

world?"

Neherenia frowned and gestured imperiously. Ranma slid sideways as a

bolt of darkness erupted from a nearby shadow. It left a crater in the ground he

had been standing on. "I'll take that as 'yes'," Ranma said with a grin.

The boy leapt forward, arcing through the air. Akira briefly considered

joining him, but something held her back. Earlier, when they had been arguing,

she had just gone with her first instinct. This time, she felt like she should

wait, so she did.

To call it a battle would have been an exaggeration. Ranma dashed across

the room, avoiding a barrage of bolts. He reached Neherenia in the time it took

for Akira to blink. He roared and unleashed a punch, putting all his energy

behind it. There was a blue flash as his fist connected with the woman's skull.

She exploded.

Ranma stood in the centre of a meter-deep crater, breathing heavily. He

looked around warily. The Quartet shifted nervously.

"Do you think a fist alone is strong enough to defeat us?" Neherenia's

voice, with its peculiar feminine/masculine quality, echoed across the chamber.

"I am this world. It is me and I am it. When Oblivion consumed us, we came

together in our pain. There is nothing your mortal strength can do to hurt us."

"Worth a shot," Ranma said with a shrug. Then he skipped backwards as

another bolt of darkness leapt from the shadows. "I don't suppose you're one of

those villains insane enough to tell us your one true weakness, are you?"

The voice laughed. "We cannot be killed, Ranma Saotome," it purred.

"Seven years ago, weakened by the battle between the two parts of ourself, we

were overcome by Oblivion.

"Were we mortal beings like yourself, that would have been the end of

us, but it was not." The voice chuckled again. "We had ties to the outside

world. Even dragged down deep in the depths of that hellish nothingness, there

was something we could cling to."

"The Amazon Stones," the green haired girl, JunJun, said slowly.

"Clever girl." Neherenia faded out of a wall nearby. Ranma glanced at

her, his fingers flexing. He made no move to attack. "Long ago, when I-that-is-

Neherenia discovered you four, she gave you four magic stones. With those

stones, you could do magic. But through those stones I-that-is-Neherenia could

feed. Your beautiful dreams... so bright and powerful, were like fine wine. I-

that-is-Neherenia could glut on them and grow strong, and all you lost was your

age. You would forever stay the children you are, never growing or maturing in

mind or body. An even trade, you would have said."

"Is that why you brought us here?" JunJun asked. "You want our

life force?"

The Neherenia shaped thing smiled. "No, child. What need have we of your

small life force?" Then her eyes narrowed. "In fact, I curse you all for what

you have given us."

"What?" CereCere, the pink-haired one, sounded shocked. "But we... we

saved your life!"

"You have no idea, NO IDEA!" The room shook enough that Akira was forced

to alter her footing. "We were consumed by Oblivion, but we could not be lost in

it. The ties to your life force were too strong, your happiness too bright to be

lost entirely. So we were forced to live, always on the cusp of death, never

able to cross over. Seven years of existing as something-which-is-not!" She

reached a grasping hand towards the Quartet. "We called you here, so we could

destroy you personally. So that our nightmare of being one-who-is-both can end!"

Akira watched as the woman unleashed a bolt of power. It was a thousand

times stronger, a thousand times faster than anything she had used against

Ranma. The Amazoness Quartet didn't stand a chance. They were caught in the

blast, vapourised instantly, screaming their last...

Or that's what would have happened, had Akira not stepped between them.

She lowered her arms. The leather of her coat had been burned away by the

attack. The flesh was raw and bleeding underneath. But it was only pain. She

realised dimly that if she had gone with Ranma, she never would have been able

to intervene.

"Akira Kazama..." Neherenia murmured. "I see now that you truly are the

fetich soul."

"Akira, are you okay?" Ranma said, appearing beside her.

"I'll live," Akira informed him. She laughed a little and waved her arms

a bit. Blood spattered on the floor. Ranma looked at her. His expression was

strange. He seemed... frightened. He couldn't be afraid of Neherenia, could he?

"And Ranma Saotome," Neherenia said. "Two out of three." She smiled.

"Did you wonder why I let you two, of all those who came to visit, actually see

me?"

"I figured it's because you're insane," Ranma murmured. Akira chuckled.

"Because you are two of the three people in this world that Ukyou cares

about most." Neherenia held up her hand. The flesh seemed to ripple. It was the

air around it, and it wasn't as well. Akira felt her focus narrowing. At the

same time, she could see more things than ever. "Ukyou, who created the Well of

the Void, who created the sickening cancer of Oblivion. When she tore apart the

Destiny of Mamoru Chiba, her actions affected all the worlds. It was she who

destroyed the we-that-was." Her eyes flashed. "And you will suffer. She is

beyond my power, but you are not."

Akira turned back to the Amazoness Quartet. "So long as you carry those

stones, Neherenia can not truly die." She turned back to the woman-thing. "I

won't let you do anything to hurt us."

She started forward. Her heart was thudding in her chest. She could feel

the Paradox all around her. It was flooding her. It was ripping her apart. She

choked on it. She drowned in it. Neherenia backed up a step.

"You can not stop me," Neherenia warned. "You are still just a fetich

soul. Nothing but a repository for pain and misery."

"You're right." Akira felt her face splitting into a manic smile. "Allow

me to share that with you."

She ran across the room, hands trailing behind her. Neherenia threw her

hand up and the world was full of black lightning. It smashed into and through

Akira, ripping out her torso and blowing her into ash... or it would have, had

Akira not slipped sideways at the last moment. Neherenia began to vanish,

escaping back into the nebulous darkness. But that didn't happen. Instead, Akira

managed to leap up and behind her. Her hand snapped firm around the woman's

throat.

"How...?" Neherenia gasped as Akira put a bit of pressure on her grip.

Akira pulled her tighter. She was warm. Her body was close to female perfection.

Akira enjoyed the feeling of the struggling body against hers.

"I can see you," Akira whispered into her ear.

"W-what... what are you!?" Neherenia screamed.

"I can make you die."

Across the room there was a shared scream of frustration, then a series

of cracks. Like glass shattering against the floor. Akira twisted her hand once,

sharply. Neherenia could have survived any number of ways. She could have simply

dissolved her body, like she did against Ranma's attack. She could have ignored

the injury. Her body was the planet, and breaking this small part would be like

destroying a single brain cell to a human. She could have thrown Akira off. She

could have made her neck so hard Akira could not possibly have snapped it. She

could have done a thousand things.

But instead, her neck snapped like a twig. Neherenia died. Pharaoh 90

died with her. Akira giggled, like a child devoid of innocence.

OoOoO

"Really, I have to hand it to her. I certainly underestimated Tethys. I

suppose my only consolation is that I'm not alone in having done that." Chris

shook His head, a slight smile playing on His lips. "I almost want to see if she

can pull it off and live through the day. Of course, if she doesn't, neither

will much of anyone else on the planet."

"And if she does pull it off?" Akane's voice was terse, barely

controlled. Her hands had clenched so hard while watching the destruction that

had befallen Japan that her nails had bitten into her palms. She didn't seem to

have noticed. "What then?"

"Why, what she's wanted all along," Chris replied with a shrug. "It's

really quite clever. Her pet vampire kept the official American presence away,

and can't be traced to Tethys since she's been in an iceberg for the last five

years. Zoalord Purgstall played a large role in her victory, but Chronos'

deliberate inaction here and inability to protect Japan will have tainted their

public relations. Tethys is more than just a winner of the fight - now, she's

the undisputed saviour of the world." He tapped His cheek thoughtfully. "And

she's also now created a great army, one that fought under her command and are

permanently tied to her through their very souls. Most of them will eventually

join her. Her good public image is now unassailable; the Americans will have to

moderate their stance on her or be seen as petty as well as ineffectual.

Shadowloo is already her ally, and no other significant power is actively

hostile to her except the Vatican, who are similarly petty and ineffectual. If

she lives through today, many will flock to her banner. She'll make them all

immortal like she and her servants, and wait." He chuckled lightly. "That's the

beauty of her position, I suppose. She can take all the time she wants to take

over the world."

"She sounds just like you," Akane said. Her voice was not so much

hostile as suddenly tired.

"If you fancy all of humanity being turned into a weapon for her

personal revenge against Chaos, yes," Chris said. "She's not interested in

empowering humanity, Akane. She's going to use you, not free you."

A long silence fell after His statement. Angel shifted her feet

uncomfortably. She still had no idea why Chris had abruptly summoned her. When

she had arrived, the climax of the great battle against Gyro and Pharaoh 90 had

been occuring. She, like Akane and Chris, had just watched. Angel couldn't help

but feel a bit of jubilation. She'd watched everyone fight, from Ukyou to Ranma

to Akira to the revived Rose to V - although a few minutes ago, the battles at

Ohtori and Pharaoh 90 had abruptly vanished from Chris's observations. Chris had

blinked at that, then shrugged it off.

But what everyone had done in Tokyo... it had taken Angel's breath away.

She'd seen plenty of battles and been in a few herself, but nothing like that.

She wished that, somehow, she could have been down there.

Of course, that wasn't possible. That battle was for the heroes. It

wasn't Angel's duty to participate. That didn't stop her from wanting to cheer

when they finally wiped out that bastard Gyro, though.

"You shouldn't be so happy, Angel," Chris said.

Angel blinked. "Wh-what?"

"Certainly it was a great victory. But look at how many died to achieve

it. The people Gyro killed. The people Tethys drowned or let die. The people of

Japan. I don't think they're so happy, do you?"

Angel stared, and then suddenly remembered that Chris could now listen

in on her thoughts as if she were shouting them. But then, hadn't she been

taught in childhood that her most private thoughts were an open book to God? She

felt her face flush. "I'm sorry! I know that was terrible..."

Her words drifted off, as Chris had already turned back to Akane. "I

know you're horrified about what happened, Akane. This is exactly why I am doing

what I'm doing. Certainly, the theoretical good guys have won for now, but your

home country and much of the Middle East are devastated. Entire countries gone

in moments. And the day is not over. Arkanphel is still watching. Galaxia will

come. This was just the prelude. You see, Akane, why Ukyou is wrong? Maybe she

and her friends will survive, but there's no guarantee for the rest of humanity,

is there? They're not ready to handle this yet. They need time. And not Ukyou,

and not Tethys, can give them that time."

Akane refused to meet his gaze. She turned her head away from him, her

face draining of colour. Her eyes squeezed shut as her jaw clenched tight. Her

entire body was trembling. Angel could tell the woman wanted to do something,

anything. But she was controlling herself. Tightly. Then, with a suddenness that

startled her, Akane seemed to deflate. Her shoulders slumped. Now she just

looked tired again. She was shaking her head softly, but saying nothing.

Chris continued looking at her for a moment, then sighed. "I can see you

need more time as well. Well, Angel is here, like you asked-"

"Like SHE asked?" Angel blurted.

Chris smiled a bit at her. "Yes. I'm sorry I didn't explain when you

arrived. Akane wants to speak with you about me before she makes her decision."

Angel stared at Akane, but the older woman wasn't looking at her,

either. She was just staring at the crystal wall. Maybe at the ravaged remains

of Japan that were still shown on several panels, maybe out into space. It was

hard to tell.

"I suppose I should let her, as time is growing short," Chris noted.

"Don't worry, I won't listen in on you two. I'm going to be in my private

chamber." He paused, glancing at the crystal screen. "But hurry, Akane. I'm

going to come back when Galaxia arrives. I'm not certain the planet can survive

her."

"What will you do?" Akane said suddenly. She still wasn't looking at

Him.

"Excuse me?"

"What will you do, if I decide to go along?"

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you want, Akane. I'm prepared to be

flexible here. This is so big a tragedy it's rather disheartening rather than

empowering, I think. So if you want, I'll change it. I'll send you to stop Gyro

before he takes the Silver Crystal. There will be no battle. Neither Japan nor

the Middle East will suffer devastation. Gyro will be defeated, and you can do

it rather than Tethys. Then, when Galaxia or Arkanphel come, you can defeat

them. Or somebody else, if you think someone else is trustworthy enough to bear

that responsibility..."

"You could do that?" Angel said slowly. "Just like that?"

"Of course I can," Chris replied. "Just like in the City of Black Ice.

'Time' is really just a word, when you get down to it. Just a limit. But I don't

have limits unless I want to, Angel. That's the difference between me and

everyone else."

"All right, Chris, you've made your point," Akane said, finally turning

around. "But I still want to talk to Angel."

Chris nodded. "Very well. But when Galaxia arrives, I'm going to act.

With or without you. I might be able to fix everything when she destroys Earth,

but it'll be considerably trickier than fixing this. I'm going to stop her

before she has a chance. And I think you want to make sure you're part of the

process when I decide who's going to get to stop her." When Akane said nothing,

Chris glanced at Angel. "So tell her whatever she wants to know, Angel. I'll see

you both soon."

And then He was gone.

To Be Continued...

Epsilon: Hey there! Welcome back after our one month hiatus!

Blade: Which would have had SOMETHING to tide you over if SOMEBODY had actually

done the work they PROMISED they would do.

Epsilon: (sweats) I hope you enjoyed this, the longest ever Hybrid Theory

chapter! Or, uh, "half" a chapter.

Blade: I'm sure they WILL, since they WON'T enjoy the THING that was SUPPOSED to

come out LAST month.

Epsilon: (more sweat) And hey, this chapter puts us well over one million words,

making us, I believe the longest running fanfic on all of The longest running story on that is certainly an

ACHIEVEMENT.

Epsilon: Uh... are you feeling okay? That is actually an achievement.

Blade: I KNOW, but I can't STOP.

Epsilon: ...

Blade: ANYWAY, there's no PREVIEW this MONTH. This is because EVERYTHING WOULD

BE MASSIVE SPOILERS.

Epsilon: Yep, it's certainly not because the length of this monstrosity means

we're scrambling to catch up even after a month off and don't have enough to do

a preview with yet!

Blade: (GLARE)

Epsilon: (SWEAT)

Blade: SEE you next MONTH.

Epsilon: Or not! Anything can happen here at C&A Productions, after all!

Especially laziness!

OoOoO

Hybrid Theory Chapter 29: Faint