Act6: Every Single Thing Goes Wrong
Everything was dark. It was always dark. Kari knew this place. It was the dark side of the moon. Strange, she thought, that a senshi of light could survive in such a place, but there she was. It was where she was needed. Where she belonged. "Star? You out there?" Kari whirled around to see a woman wearing a strapless baby blue dress, barely long enough to be acceptable, peeking out of the doors of a palace. She too was wearing a dress, though hers was a long, flowing sleeveless dress, white lined in gold. The woman stepped through the door, closing it behind her, and approached Star. She had long wavy blonde hair, parted on the side, and sparkling blue eyes. "Aries has been looking all over for you," she stated matter-of- factly. "Figured you might wanna know so you can get in there before she comes out here and kills you." "What's she want?" Kari asked, a bit confused. "Dunno, but I would highly suggest finding her if you value your life," the woman told her seriously, "She's getting pretty frustrated." Kari shrugged. "In a few minutes." A moment of silence. "You're not going, are you?" It wasn't a question, but Kari answered anyway. "I don't know." She shrugged again. "Maybe." The woman opened her mouth to answer, but at that moment they both heard a faraway sound. It was strange to say the least. "What was that?" Kari asked. Her friend shrugged to indicate that she had no idea, but she didn't seem the least bit worried. "Let's go check it out," she said. "That's what we're here for, right?" "Right," Kari answered. Together, they started walking cautiously toward where they thought the sound had come from. Soon they were far away from the palace; though they could still see it, Kari doubted anyone near it could see them. "Is anyone out here?" Seemly out of nowhere, a man stepped in front of her. Even in such dim light, she recognized him immediately. "Serpens!" Kari grinned. He held a sword, she noticed, completely silver, except for the sapphire eyes of the serpent engraved on the handle. "What's that for?" she asked, confused and more than a little curious. Serpens smiled slightly. "If you come closer I'll show you." Kari obediently took a step toward him and gasped as she felt a sudden pain. She looked down to see the end of the sword patruding from her stomach and the rapidly spreading red stain on her dress. "Wha-What the hell do you think you're doing?" her friend screamed, sounding almost hysterical. The pain of Serpens pulling the sword out seemed strangely far away. Kari swayed for a moment before falling to the ground. "She said she'd rather die..." What did he mean by that? It didn't matter, because at that moment, everything faded to black.
* * * *
Kari woke in a cold sweat, and it took her a moment to realize that she wasn't on the moon and she defiantly wasn't dead. "It was just a dream," she whispered. "Just a dream." She couldn't seem to shake the feeling that it was something more, though. It had seemed so real... Kari decided a walk might help her think, or at least forget about her dream for a little while. She quickly got out of bed and got ready. It didn't take long. She was used to leaving in a hurry. As she stepped outside, she noticed it was still dark out and absentmindedly wondered just how early it was. Gemini slipped out behind her, unnoticed.
* * * *
Two senshi stood facing each other in fighting stances. One, dressed in yellow and blue fuku, was Sailor Star. The other, dressed in black fuku, was one of many sailor phages. The phage powered up an attack, which it then sent hurtling toward Sailor Star. She easily dodged it, then dropped to the ground and swung her foot under the phage, knocking it off its feet. The phage quickly got back up and powered up another attack. Star ducked that one and yelled "Supernova!" A flash of bright light, then she was standing behind the phage. "This is getting too easy," she muttered. Realizing its opponent was behind it, the phage spun around. She sidestepped its next attack, then yelled "Shooting Star!" It failed to dodge and was incinerated. "You would think it would be easier to find possibly the only other senshi around here," she muttered and continued walking, detransforming as she went. Kari had been wandering around for at least an hour now. She decided that she might as well do something useful rather than waste her time, so she was searching for the senshi whose boyfriend or whoever he was had been killed. The problem was those damn phages kept attacking. They were easy enough kill, but it was getting rather annoying. About two blocks later, seemingly out of nowhere, Serpens stepped out in front of her. He had a habit of doing that. At any other time, Kari would have loved to talk to him but, she didn't really feel like it then. "Do you spend all day following me around or something?" she asked. He smiled slightly. "Perhaps." "Great," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "I've been caught by my own personal stalker! My day is complete!" His smile faltered. "What's the matter, Star?" "My name's Kari! I just need to be alone right now..." Kari tried to walk past Serpens, but a sword appeared in his hand and he held it out to block her way. Her first thought was that she couldn't believe he was too lazy to step the couple feet it would take to block her, after all, he had taken the time to head her off. She was about to duck under the sword and continue walking when she noticed. It was completely silver, except for the sapphire eyes of the serpent engraved on the handle. "No...no way," she muttered. "It wasn't real...it can't be." "What's wrong?" Serpens asked. Kari glared up at him, and he was slammed into the side of a brick building. "I need some time to think," she whispered, rushing past him.
* * * *
"You filthy snake!" Gemini hissed at Serpens. She knew he couldn't hear her, she was too far away, and it was probably for the best, considering he was a powerful evil person with a sword and she was a kitten. She wanted so much to attack him like she hadn't had the chance to last time, but there were others matters to attend to. Gemini turned and followed Kari, at a safe distance of course.
* * * *
Minako jumped as the front door flew open of its own accord. Kari stormed into the house, the door slamming behind her, and headed straight for her room. She wanted some answers, and she thought she knew who had them. "Gemini!" The moment the door opened, Kari quickly scanned the room. It was deserted. "Where the hell did that damn cat go?" Kari cried out in frustration. Nothing seemed to be going her way today. She spun around, ready to leave again, this time in search of her cat, but Gemini was sitting in the hall behind her. "We need to talk." Kari smiled thinly. "What a coincidence! I was just thinking the same thing. Let's start with this. What are you hiding from me?" Gemini ignored this and continued. "Serpens is evil," she said. "He was always evil and will always be evil! Is that really so hard to understand?" "It's more complicated than that!" Kari yelled angrily. "What do have against him anyway? What did he ever do?" "He killed you!" Kari was silent, a shocked _expression on her face. Then she took a step back. "No!" she cried, shaking her head and taking another step back. "No way! You're lying!" "I'm not," Gemini said gloomily. Kari stood there a moment longer before running outside and slamming the door behind her, only one thing on her mind.
* * * *
"Kari?" Hino hesitated a moment as she watched her friend run outside and down the street before running after her. She knew better than to bother Kari when she was upset, people who tried that had a tendency to get hurt, but she was too concerned about her to let her run off like that. "Kari!" For a moment, Hino thought she had hesitated too long, that she wasn't going to be able to catch up, but Kari stopped at the corner. "Kari? Are you alright?" Kari glared at her. She seemed close to tears. "Do I look alright?" she hissed. "Sorry.I just.I wanna help." "Well you can't." "Why not?" Hino snapped. "You don't understand," Kari said, suddenly so quiet Hino could hardly hear her. "You could never understand." Hino opened her mouth to ask Kari what she was talking, why couldn't she understand, when a figure appeared behind Kari. "What the-" Another one appeared to Hino's right, and another to her left, all dressed in black fuku. Before she had time to react, three more had appeared behind her. Kari glared at the newcomers in annoyance. She knew could take care of the phages easily, but not like this. Not with Hino here. "Hino," she said. "Run." Hino looked at her friend in confusion. "B-but..." What the hell was going on? Why was Kari suddenly so calm? "Don't worry about me." Kari glanced back at Hino, smiling slightly. "Just run. Unless you'd rather die." Hino hesitated another moment, then turned and ran. She'd hesitated a moment too long. She got no more than a few feet before one of the phages knocked her to the ground. Hino tried to pull herself up, but it was on top of her powering up it's fatal attack. Kari hadn't transformed because Hino was there, but it now seemed she had no choice. She did so and turned to destroy the phage attacking Hino when it burst into flames. A second later it was gone, leaving only Hino lying there, her eyes glowing an eerie shade of red and a symbol on her forehead. "Aries..." Kari shook her head. "No! No way! That's not possible!" She turned and ran, not knowing where she was going and not caring.
* * * * "STAR! STAR!" Aries looked around frantically, hoping in vain to find at least some sign of the missing senshi. "WHERE ARE YOU STAR?! COME ON! THIS IS SERIOUS!" "Sorry..." She had been so worried about finding Star that she had run straight into a woman with long wavy blonde hair, parted on the side, and sparkling blue eyes. The woman, wearing a strapless baby blue dress, barely long enough to be acceptable, looked as if she'd been crying, but that didn't bother her in the slightest. At the moment, she could only think of one thing. "Where's Star? Did you find her?" The woman either ignored her question or hadn't heard it. "It's gone, isn't it? The Moon Kingdom's gone..." Aries just stared at her in shock. "She said she'd rather die," she muttered. "She didn't want to be alone on this rock..." Aries finally snapped out of her stupor. "W-What do you mean 'she'd rather die?'" The woman seemed to hear her this time. She stared at Aries for a moment, as if trying to figure out how to put it. "Her worst fear was that the Moon Kingdom would be destroyed. I always thought it was irrational, that the Moon Kingdom would always be there..." She laughed. "She told us she'd rather die." "Us?" "Me and Serpens. She didn't want to be around for its destruction. She told us she'd rather die than see the Moon Kingdom before. I guess she got her wish..." "She's...Is she...dead?" She nodded silently, then burst into tears
Everything was dark. It was always dark. Kari knew this place. It was the dark side of the moon. Strange, she thought, that a senshi of light could survive in such a place, but there she was. It was where she was needed. Where she belonged. "Star? You out there?" Kari whirled around to see a woman wearing a strapless baby blue dress, barely long enough to be acceptable, peeking out of the doors of a palace. She too was wearing a dress, though hers was a long, flowing sleeveless dress, white lined in gold. The woman stepped through the door, closing it behind her, and approached Star. She had long wavy blonde hair, parted on the side, and sparkling blue eyes. "Aries has been looking all over for you," she stated matter-of- factly. "Figured you might wanna know so you can get in there before she comes out here and kills you." "What's she want?" Kari asked, a bit confused. "Dunno, but I would highly suggest finding her if you value your life," the woman told her seriously, "She's getting pretty frustrated." Kari shrugged. "In a few minutes." A moment of silence. "You're not going, are you?" It wasn't a question, but Kari answered anyway. "I don't know." She shrugged again. "Maybe." The woman opened her mouth to answer, but at that moment they both heard a faraway sound. It was strange to say the least. "What was that?" Kari asked. Her friend shrugged to indicate that she had no idea, but she didn't seem the least bit worried. "Let's go check it out," she said. "That's what we're here for, right?" "Right," Kari answered. Together, they started walking cautiously toward where they thought the sound had come from. Soon they were far away from the palace; though they could still see it, Kari doubted anyone near it could see them. "Is anyone out here?" Seemly out of nowhere, a man stepped in front of her. Even in such dim light, she recognized him immediately. "Serpens!" Kari grinned. He held a sword, she noticed, completely silver, except for the sapphire eyes of the serpent engraved on the handle. "What's that for?" she asked, confused and more than a little curious. Serpens smiled slightly. "If you come closer I'll show you." Kari obediently took a step toward him and gasped as she felt a sudden pain. She looked down to see the end of the sword patruding from her stomach and the rapidly spreading red stain on her dress. "Wha-What the hell do you think you're doing?" her friend screamed, sounding almost hysterical. The pain of Serpens pulling the sword out seemed strangely far away. Kari swayed for a moment before falling to the ground. "She said she'd rather die..." What did he mean by that? It didn't matter, because at that moment, everything faded to black.
* * * *
Kari woke in a cold sweat, and it took her a moment to realize that she wasn't on the moon and she defiantly wasn't dead. "It was just a dream," she whispered. "Just a dream." She couldn't seem to shake the feeling that it was something more, though. It had seemed so real... Kari decided a walk might help her think, or at least forget about her dream for a little while. She quickly got out of bed and got ready. It didn't take long. She was used to leaving in a hurry. As she stepped outside, she noticed it was still dark out and absentmindedly wondered just how early it was. Gemini slipped out behind her, unnoticed.
* * * *
Two senshi stood facing each other in fighting stances. One, dressed in yellow and blue fuku, was Sailor Star. The other, dressed in black fuku, was one of many sailor phages. The phage powered up an attack, which it then sent hurtling toward Sailor Star. She easily dodged it, then dropped to the ground and swung her foot under the phage, knocking it off its feet. The phage quickly got back up and powered up another attack. Star ducked that one and yelled "Supernova!" A flash of bright light, then she was standing behind the phage. "This is getting too easy," she muttered. Realizing its opponent was behind it, the phage spun around. She sidestepped its next attack, then yelled "Shooting Star!" It failed to dodge and was incinerated. "You would think it would be easier to find possibly the only other senshi around here," she muttered and continued walking, detransforming as she went. Kari had been wandering around for at least an hour now. She decided that she might as well do something useful rather than waste her time, so she was searching for the senshi whose boyfriend or whoever he was had been killed. The problem was those damn phages kept attacking. They were easy enough kill, but it was getting rather annoying. About two blocks later, seemingly out of nowhere, Serpens stepped out in front of her. He had a habit of doing that. At any other time, Kari would have loved to talk to him but, she didn't really feel like it then. "Do you spend all day following me around or something?" she asked. He smiled slightly. "Perhaps." "Great," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes, "I've been caught by my own personal stalker! My day is complete!" His smile faltered. "What's the matter, Star?" "My name's Kari! I just need to be alone right now..." Kari tried to walk past Serpens, but a sword appeared in his hand and he held it out to block her way. Her first thought was that she couldn't believe he was too lazy to step the couple feet it would take to block her, after all, he had taken the time to head her off. She was about to duck under the sword and continue walking when she noticed. It was completely silver, except for the sapphire eyes of the serpent engraved on the handle. "No...no way," she muttered. "It wasn't real...it can't be." "What's wrong?" Serpens asked. Kari glared up at him, and he was slammed into the side of a brick building. "I need some time to think," she whispered, rushing past him.
* * * *
"You filthy snake!" Gemini hissed at Serpens. She knew he couldn't hear her, she was too far away, and it was probably for the best, considering he was a powerful evil person with a sword and she was a kitten. She wanted so much to attack him like she hadn't had the chance to last time, but there were others matters to attend to. Gemini turned and followed Kari, at a safe distance of course.
* * * *
Minako jumped as the front door flew open of its own accord. Kari stormed into the house, the door slamming behind her, and headed straight for her room. She wanted some answers, and she thought she knew who had them. "Gemini!" The moment the door opened, Kari quickly scanned the room. It was deserted. "Where the hell did that damn cat go?" Kari cried out in frustration. Nothing seemed to be going her way today. She spun around, ready to leave again, this time in search of her cat, but Gemini was sitting in the hall behind her. "We need to talk." Kari smiled thinly. "What a coincidence! I was just thinking the same thing. Let's start with this. What are you hiding from me?" Gemini ignored this and continued. "Serpens is evil," she said. "He was always evil and will always be evil! Is that really so hard to understand?" "It's more complicated than that!" Kari yelled angrily. "What do have against him anyway? What did he ever do?" "He killed you!" Kari was silent, a shocked _expression on her face. Then she took a step back. "No!" she cried, shaking her head and taking another step back. "No way! You're lying!" "I'm not," Gemini said gloomily. Kari stood there a moment longer before running outside and slamming the door behind her, only one thing on her mind.
* * * *
"Kari?" Hino hesitated a moment as she watched her friend run outside and down the street before running after her. She knew better than to bother Kari when she was upset, people who tried that had a tendency to get hurt, but she was too concerned about her to let her run off like that. "Kari!" For a moment, Hino thought she had hesitated too long, that she wasn't going to be able to catch up, but Kari stopped at the corner. "Kari? Are you alright?" Kari glared at her. She seemed close to tears. "Do I look alright?" she hissed. "Sorry.I just.I wanna help." "Well you can't." "Why not?" Hino snapped. "You don't understand," Kari said, suddenly so quiet Hino could hardly hear her. "You could never understand." Hino opened her mouth to ask Kari what she was talking, why couldn't she understand, when a figure appeared behind Kari. "What the-" Another one appeared to Hino's right, and another to her left, all dressed in black fuku. Before she had time to react, three more had appeared behind her. Kari glared at the newcomers in annoyance. She knew could take care of the phages easily, but not like this. Not with Hino here. "Hino," she said. "Run." Hino looked at her friend in confusion. "B-but..." What the hell was going on? Why was Kari suddenly so calm? "Don't worry about me." Kari glanced back at Hino, smiling slightly. "Just run. Unless you'd rather die." Hino hesitated another moment, then turned and ran. She'd hesitated a moment too long. She got no more than a few feet before one of the phages knocked her to the ground. Hino tried to pull herself up, but it was on top of her powering up it's fatal attack. Kari hadn't transformed because Hino was there, but it now seemed she had no choice. She did so and turned to destroy the phage attacking Hino when it burst into flames. A second later it was gone, leaving only Hino lying there, her eyes glowing an eerie shade of red and a symbol on her forehead. "Aries..." Kari shook her head. "No! No way! That's not possible!" She turned and ran, not knowing where she was going and not caring.
* * * * "STAR! STAR!" Aries looked around frantically, hoping in vain to find at least some sign of the missing senshi. "WHERE ARE YOU STAR?! COME ON! THIS IS SERIOUS!" "Sorry..." She had been so worried about finding Star that she had run straight into a woman with long wavy blonde hair, parted on the side, and sparkling blue eyes. The woman, wearing a strapless baby blue dress, barely long enough to be acceptable, looked as if she'd been crying, but that didn't bother her in the slightest. At the moment, she could only think of one thing. "Where's Star? Did you find her?" The woman either ignored her question or hadn't heard it. "It's gone, isn't it? The Moon Kingdom's gone..." Aries just stared at her in shock. "She said she'd rather die," she muttered. "She didn't want to be alone on this rock..." Aries finally snapped out of her stupor. "W-What do you mean 'she'd rather die?'" The woman seemed to hear her this time. She stared at Aries for a moment, as if trying to figure out how to put it. "Her worst fear was that the Moon Kingdom would be destroyed. I always thought it was irrational, that the Moon Kingdom would always be there..." She laughed. "She told us she'd rather die." "Us?" "Me and Serpens. She didn't want to be around for its destruction. She told us she'd rather die than see the Moon Kingdom before. I guess she got her wish..." "She's...Is she...dead?" She nodded silently, then burst into tears