ENDLESS LOVE
Chapter 2
By Jackie Punsal
It was dark; Darien's eyes couldn't focus well. His head was
hurting, like there was a knife behind his neck. He lifted his hand to
try to rub his eyes, but then he realized that his arms were
restrained. "Shit," he whispered as he tried to move. He could barely
move; he was so badly beaten. There was a graze above his left eyebrow
and the blood from his nose had dried. He groaned as a sharp pain
pierced his side. Suddenly, the door opened and a bright light flooded
in. Darien winced and saw a silhouette step in.
"Ah, I see that our dear king has awakened," Cirrus said. A slow
smirk ran across his face. "So good of you to grace us with your
presence, your highness. Would you like something to eat? Drink? I'm
sure that the dirty water beside you will suffice."
Darien stared at him with deep contempt. He didn't answer. His
head turned down. Cirrus's smile turned into a frown and anger filled
his expression. He stooped down and smacked Darien. Darien's nose
began to bleed again.
"Don't you dare turn your face away from me when I talk to you,
" Cirrus raged, "I won't tolerate it."
Darien slowly looked up and spit in Cirrus's face.
"You son of a bitch!" Cirrus raised his hand to strike him again,
but he was stopped by Cumulus.
"Cirrus," Cumulus held his hand from striking. "We don't want his
highness to be too badly beaten. We want him conscious enough to
witness his future crumble."
Cirrus looked at her and rose. She in turn went down to face
Darien. Cumulus grabbed his face to look at her. Her sharp nails dug
deep into his flesh. "Besides, his insolence only justifies our
cause." She let one nail trace the contours of his face. "So handsome,
even when he was younger. Too bad you have to die." She shoved his
face violently and got up.
"What do you want from me?" Darien said as he struggled to face
his enemies.
"Why Endymion, we want only for you to experience the pain that
you will put us through." Cirrus said as he stepped closer to Darien.
"For years my people have led a life of shame and torment. We have
watched our brothers die under the hand of you and your court. We have
hidden and led a life of secrecy, banished from a place we once called
our home." He started to smile. "Now we will seek our revenge." He
started to walk away.
"Sailor Moon will kill you. You are no match for her, she is too
strong." Darien said in a hoarse voice. Cirrus turned around, his
smile even wider. He and Cumulus started to laugh.
"Sailor Moon? Haha." Cirrus laughed even harder. "I don't think
Neo-Queen Serenity can fight...now that her heart is crushed."
"What?" Darien's anger exploded. "What the hell did you do to
her? If you laid a finger on her, I'll..." He lunged forward but was
hindered by his restraints.
"You'll what? You're in no position to threaten me." Cirrus
kicked him. Darien, obviously hurt by the blow, fell hard against the
wall. "Besides," Cirrus said as he regained his composure, "How could
I hurt her when you were the one who broke her heart?"
Darien looked up in confusion as Cirrus threw a small cube to the
ground. On impact, a light emerged from the cube. A holographic image
appeared before Darien, replaying the events that happened earlier.
Darien couldn't believe what he was seeing; he was the one talking to
Serena, he was the one making her cry. The holograph looked so real
that he struggled to go to Serena, to hold her, to comfort her. But
the holograph ended and the light returned to the cube. "How did you
do that?"
"Oh it was fairly simple," Cirrus said. His figure started to
shift. Changes occurred throughout his body in a ripple effect. Soon
Darien was looking at his own face. "If you have the right costume."
Cirrus said in Darien's voice. "You see Endymion, the Ominous Clouds
possess a rare feature. We can alter our molecular makeup to resemble
any thing we want, from just a single touch." Cirrus slowly morphed
back to his original form. He cracked his neck, "Ahh, if I could only
come near enough to touch the king in the future, I wouldn't have to
deal with this shit."
"How could you do that?" Darien said, his eyes flared with rage.
"How could you be so cold, so heartless?" He turned his head down in
exhaustion. "Just kill me and spare Serena. She doesn't deserve
this."
"Oh, we will Endymion." Cirrus said as he started his way out of
the room. "We can't have you go back to your lovey and ruin our plan.
But I'm afraid that we can't spare anyone. We have to destroy the rest
of the chain, now that we have broken the strongest link." Cumulus
followed him out and shut the door, leaving Darien in darkness once
again.
***************
"I wonder where Serena went." Lita said as she stirred her soda
with her straw. "She was in an awful hurry."
"That was very peculiar," Amy said thoughtfully. "She looked
like she saw a ghost. She just jumped up in the middle of lunch..."
"That's nothing like her." Mina butt in. She looked down "I
still think that we should've ran after her to find out what was up."
"No..." Raye said firmly. She looked at the group. "Look guys,
I think that it would be better if she spent some time by herself. You
saw how she was when she was telling us about her problem. She barely
got a word out. Serena just needs time to sort things out. The best we
can do is wait until she's ready to confide in us."
There was a brief silence.
"Raye's right," Luna finally said as she stood up. "We should
just leave her alone. Besides, Darien's coming soon. When they are
together again, she'll realize that there was nothing to worry about."
All the girls nodded. A tiny beep came from Lita's watch. She
glanced at it. "Guys, it's getting late." She started to rise and the
rest followed. "I think we better go before the rain gets worse."
All of them stood by the restaurant's entrance. They were
opening their umbrellas.
"It's really pouring." Mina commented, "This is so weird,
especially since yesterday was such a nice day." She turned around to
see Raye staring into the rain. "What's the matter Raye?"
"I don't know...I feel something." Raye said as she squinted.
"Something strange about this weather...it doesn't feel pure...it
doesn't feel...natural."
"What do you mean?" Lita said. "Is there something evil?"
"I don't know," Raye put on her hood. "It's too vague to see. I
think we better keep our eyes open just in case."
******
Serena glanced up. It was beginning to get cold. The rain
drenched her entire body. She curled herself into a tight ball and sat
on the wet cement, trembling. Her vision was blurred from all her
crying, the raindrops beat savagely on her bare head. Her hair had
fallen down and her umbrella now lay a yard away from her. Just a foot
away from her lay the fragments of her locket. Their locket, the
locket that represented their bond, lay in pieces scattered before her.
She unwove herself from her safe position and started to pick up the
remains. Serena held up the locket and was startled that it started to
play its melody. The tune that she once cherished started to wither
away as it slowed down and came to a stop. She squeezed the broken
star in her hand and started to weep, only this time no tears came
down. She had cried all her tears. "How could he do this? How could
he do this?" She whispered. "How can all my dreams, all my happiness
end in just one single moment?" She began to rock. "There has to be
something wrong, he must be protecting me....But...he broke...our
locket...." She tried to sob again. "I was right..." She dug her head
deep into her arms and felt the raindrops slow until the rainfall
finally halted.
***********
"What is that?" Lita said as she spotted an object that was
blocking the sidewalk.
"It looks like someone's hurt." Mina said as she picked up her pace.
"Oh my gosh..." Amy gasped as she brought one hand to her mouth.
"It's Serena!" She started to run towards the figure that was sitting
on the ground a few feet away. All the girls started to run with her.
"What happened to her?" Raye asked as they came closer to her.
"I knew I felt something, I hope she isn't hurt."
The four girls slowed down as they approached the trembling girl.
Her head was down and her hair was out of place. Serena looked up, her
eyes bloodshot and her face tear-stained. Raye breathed a sigh of
relief when she realized that Serena wasn't physically hurt. She bent
down and sat next to Serena. "What's the matter?" She tried to
make her voice as comforting as possible, but she couldn't hide the
fear that she had in her eyes. She was so afraid that Serena was
harmed. She slowly placed her arm around her friend. "Are you ok?
Did you fall? How long were you out here?"
Lita, Ami, and Mina knelt down in front of Serena, each trying to
comfort her. Luna jumped down from Amy's shoulder and nudged Serena's
leg with her nose. "Serena, please tell us what happened. We can't
help you if you won't tell us."
Serena started to rock back and forth again. She held her legs
close to her body, her eyes stared blankly beyond her knees. "I was
right." She whispered.
"Huh?" Raye said. She then noticed that Serena was holding
something. Raye brought her arm from around and slowly opened Serena's hand.
The girls all gasped. The broken locket lay in Serena's
bleeding hand.
"Serena, what happened? Who broke your locket?" Amy asked as
she picked the shards that dug deep into Serena's palm. Mina picked up
any pieces that fell to the ground and Lita ripped a strip from her
long skirt. Serena sat there, motionless and speechless as Amy slowly
wrapped her hand with the piece of cloth. "Thank you." She finally
whispered and returned to her initial position.
"Serena please tell us what's wrong." Lita pleaded. "We want to
help."
No answer.
"Serena, this isn't fair," Raye said. "We are so worried about
you, please answer, who broke the locket?"
Serena looked into her friends' concerned faces. "Darien broke
it."
"Darien?" The girls shot confused looks toward each other.
Serena put her head down again and mumbled, "He came back early.
I saw him at the restaurant. He was the one who broke our locket..."
She started to cry, still no tears. "He doesn't want the locket
anymore...he doesn't want me..." She looked up. Her face had turned
red as she tried cry. "I told you he wouldn't love me anymore."
The girls all hugged her and tried to comfort her.
"Maybe he's just protecting you." Mina said, "Raye felt
something earlier, there might be another danger that's coming."
Serena shook her head. "But he broke the locket...and looked me
straight in the eye...He wouldn't go that far just to protect me..."
They thought for a moment. None of them had a response.
"Come on," Raye said after a few minutes of silence. "We should
get you inside before you catch a cold. We can go to the shrine and
finish talking." She and the other girls helped Serena to her feet.
***********
They slowly walked through the streets. Surprisingly the streets
were empty and the skies were unusually dark for the time of day. Raye
suddenly stopped, leading the other girls to a halt also. "That
feeling," She started to look around. "I can sense it again...this time
it's stronger...guys, we better get Serena to somewhere safe." They
picked up their pace and covered Serena's head. A fog started to creep
around them, soon they were unable to see where they were heading.
"It's like a we're lost in a cloud." Mina commented.
"There's evil in this cloud," Raye whispered. "Pure evil."
She turned to Serena, who lay limply onto Lita. "We have to be careful."
They huddled close together, defensively guarding Serena. Amy
brought out her handheld computer and typed ferociously. "My computer
isn't picking up anything," She said, her eyes still fixated on the
screen. "Wait, something is coming near us."
"From where?" Mina looked around.
"I can't tell." Amy said, still typing. "The computer cannot
distinguish the object's position. It's coming closer...wait, the
computer is giving me some coordinates." She slowly looked up. "It's
directly above us." As soon as the words escaped her lips a red bolt
came from above them.
"Watch out!" Artemis yelled.
They jumped in time to dodge the bomb. The smoke cleared and the
fog rolled out.
"What was that?" Lita said as she recovered from the
hit. The girls got up, except Serena who was still on the ground,
frightened like a kitten.
"I don't know," Mina said. "But it sure was strong." Their sight
had become visible and realized that they were in a dead-end alley.
"I'm surprised you weren't killed," a voice called from above
them. They all looked up. Cumulus stood on top of the adjacent
building. "I was sure that it was strong enough."
"Who are you?" Raye yelled at her.
"I'm Dark Cumulus, but I don't think it matters," She jumped down
to a lamp post. They stood their ground. "You're going to die anyway."
She let another bolt of light escape her eyes and attacked the girls.
Raye reacted quickly and transformed.
"Mars Crystal Power, Makeup!" All the rest except Serena followed
her lead.
"Jupiter Crystal Power, Makeup!"
"Venus Crystal Power, Makeup!"
"Mercury Crystal Power, Makeup!" They landed and they were fully
transformed. Mars looked back to Serena who was clutching her brooch "No,
Serena, just stay there, you're in no shape to fight."
She looked towards Cumulus. "Mars Flame Sniper!"
Cumulus quickly jumped out of the way and landed on another post.
She laughed, "I'm so glad you transformed, I was beginning to think
that this fight would be too easy. Hehe."
"What the hell do you want?" Jupiter raged at her.
She continued to laugh, "Why for all of you to die, of course."
She said matter-of-factly and jumped down.
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Jupiter tried to catch her off guard,
but she was unsuccessful. Cumulus had dodged her attack. "Damn
it!"
"Oh don't be so cross Jupiter, it's not your fault that you're
too slow." Cumulus toyed with her opponents. Cumulus jumped high and
glanced at Serena in the corner. "Oh," She landed on top of the
building again, the Senshi got ready to attack her. A smile spread
across Cumulus's face, "Neo Queen Serenity...my, my, my...what's the
matter?" She said with fake sympathy. "Catch a little cold? Why don't
you join us...it would be fun. You could regain your....damn it!
Shit!" Cumulus looked at her shoulder, it was grazed and bleeding.
Venus had attacked her with "Venus Love and Beauty Shock." Although the
attack hurt her, unfortunately it didn't maim Cumulus. She started to
laugh again. "Well played Venus, but not good enough." Cumulus held her
hand on the wound. She lifted it and the graze disappeared. The
senshi gazed up at her in shock, but continued to attack.
"Mercury Aqua Mirage!" Mercury screamed. Her attack was also
left unfruitful.
"She's too damn quick!!" Mars yelled. She looked up to see
Cumulus laughing her head off.
"This is too much fun!" Cumulus said with a little giggle. "But
I'm afraid that I should finish the job I was sent to do." She did a
flip and landed on the ground. She flicked her wrist and revealed her
fingernails. With her left hand she deftly took each from the cuticle.
Every time she removed one, another long one grew in its place. She
now had unlimited daggers to throw. She did another flip in the air
and did an air assault above the Senshi. They dodged away. Venus,
showing some acrobatics of her own, jumped and did a quick Crescent
beam towards Cumulus. Cumulus seemed to curve herself around the
attack. She landed and raised her hand towards Venus. A strong force
pushed her into the wall of building. Two nails flew from Cumulus's
fingertips and pinned her down.
Jupiter ran towards Cumulus in an attempt to ram her, but she was
brought to halt. "I can't move!" Jupiter yelled. Mars and Mercury
were also frozen on the spot when they attempted to attack Cumulus.
Cumulus smiled evilly. She rose her hand higher and their bodies
followed.
Serena watched in horror as her friends were tortured. She got
up, her legs still shaky. "No, Serena." Luna said as her head poked
out from the dumpster beside her. "You can't transform now, you're too
weak to fight her."
Serena grabbed her brooch. "I can't just sit and watch her do
that to them. I have to do this. Besides, the crystal will give me the
strength I need." She stepped forward. "Moon Eternal Makeup!"
***********
Cumulus brought her hands even higher and suddenly plunged them
down.
"Stop!"
Cumulus rose her head. The girls were just inches away from
being slammed into the pavement. Cumulus's grin grew larger. "Why,
Neo-Queen Serenity, you finally decided to join the fun and transformed
into the legendary Sailor Moon." She snapped her fingers and let the
girls fall to the ground with a thud. "I am very impressed."
"You should be." Sailor Moon said as she stepped forward. She
was still unstable. The surge of energy from the crystal had left her
trembling even more. "I am certainly not having a great day today, and
you had to come and ruin it some more. Well, I'm not having it. I
stand for love and justice and all broken hearts. I will punish you,
in the name of the moon!"
"Cute." Cumulus said totally unaffected by the speech. "That's
awfully nice Sailor Moon, but I'm sorry, I just can't let you do
that." Cumulus threw five daggers (nails) straight at Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon rolled away from the attack. As soon as she got up a bolt
of light went towards her. Surprised at the attack, Sailor Moon was
caught off guard and flew to the wall. She hit the brick wall and five
daggers followed. She was pinned her down. "God, this is too easy!"
Cumulus exclaimed, "I've got the legendary Sailor Moon trapped and
cornered. How does it feel, huh, Sailor Moon?" She didn't answer, her
body was so weak. She hung limply on the wall. "Aww...too tired to
fight back huh? Well, we'll end that soon." Cumulus retrieved a sharp
nail from her finger and prepared to throw it at Sailor Moon.
"Aww shit!" She dropped the nail and looked to her leg. The two
cats had bitten her. "Troublesome cats. Why can't I just kill someone
in peace?" A bolt came from her eyes and blasted the cats off her leg.
Luna and Artemis flew back and slammed into the dumpster. "I hate
cats." Cumulus took another nail. "Good bye Sailor Moon. Tell me how
happy your life is when your dead." She flung it at her aiming for her
heart. Sailor Moon screamed in pain as the nail pierced through her
flesh....
Chapter 2
By Jackie Punsal
It was dark; Darien's eyes couldn't focus well. His head was
hurting, like there was a knife behind his neck. He lifted his hand to
try to rub his eyes, but then he realized that his arms were
restrained. "Shit," he whispered as he tried to move. He could barely
move; he was so badly beaten. There was a graze above his left eyebrow
and the blood from his nose had dried. He groaned as a sharp pain
pierced his side. Suddenly, the door opened and a bright light flooded
in. Darien winced and saw a silhouette step in.
"Ah, I see that our dear king has awakened," Cirrus said. A slow
smirk ran across his face. "So good of you to grace us with your
presence, your highness. Would you like something to eat? Drink? I'm
sure that the dirty water beside you will suffice."
Darien stared at him with deep contempt. He didn't answer. His
head turned down. Cirrus's smile turned into a frown and anger filled
his expression. He stooped down and smacked Darien. Darien's nose
began to bleed again.
"Don't you dare turn your face away from me when I talk to you,
" Cirrus raged, "I won't tolerate it."
Darien slowly looked up and spit in Cirrus's face.
"You son of a bitch!" Cirrus raised his hand to strike him again,
but he was stopped by Cumulus.
"Cirrus," Cumulus held his hand from striking. "We don't want his
highness to be too badly beaten. We want him conscious enough to
witness his future crumble."
Cirrus looked at her and rose. She in turn went down to face
Darien. Cumulus grabbed his face to look at her. Her sharp nails dug
deep into his flesh. "Besides, his insolence only justifies our
cause." She let one nail trace the contours of his face. "So handsome,
even when he was younger. Too bad you have to die." She shoved his
face violently and got up.
"What do you want from me?" Darien said as he struggled to face
his enemies.
"Why Endymion, we want only for you to experience the pain that
you will put us through." Cirrus said as he stepped closer to Darien.
"For years my people have led a life of shame and torment. We have
watched our brothers die under the hand of you and your court. We have
hidden and led a life of secrecy, banished from a place we once called
our home." He started to smile. "Now we will seek our revenge." He
started to walk away.
"Sailor Moon will kill you. You are no match for her, she is too
strong." Darien said in a hoarse voice. Cirrus turned around, his
smile even wider. He and Cumulus started to laugh.
"Sailor Moon? Haha." Cirrus laughed even harder. "I don't think
Neo-Queen Serenity can fight...now that her heart is crushed."
"What?" Darien's anger exploded. "What the hell did you do to
her? If you laid a finger on her, I'll..." He lunged forward but was
hindered by his restraints.
"You'll what? You're in no position to threaten me." Cirrus
kicked him. Darien, obviously hurt by the blow, fell hard against the
wall. "Besides," Cirrus said as he regained his composure, "How could
I hurt her when you were the one who broke her heart?"
Darien looked up in confusion as Cirrus threw a small cube to the
ground. On impact, a light emerged from the cube. A holographic image
appeared before Darien, replaying the events that happened earlier.
Darien couldn't believe what he was seeing; he was the one talking to
Serena, he was the one making her cry. The holograph looked so real
that he struggled to go to Serena, to hold her, to comfort her. But
the holograph ended and the light returned to the cube. "How did you
do that?"
"Oh it was fairly simple," Cirrus said. His figure started to
shift. Changes occurred throughout his body in a ripple effect. Soon
Darien was looking at his own face. "If you have the right costume."
Cirrus said in Darien's voice. "You see Endymion, the Ominous Clouds
possess a rare feature. We can alter our molecular makeup to resemble
any thing we want, from just a single touch." Cirrus slowly morphed
back to his original form. He cracked his neck, "Ahh, if I could only
come near enough to touch the king in the future, I wouldn't have to
deal with this shit."
"How could you do that?" Darien said, his eyes flared with rage.
"How could you be so cold, so heartless?" He turned his head down in
exhaustion. "Just kill me and spare Serena. She doesn't deserve
this."
"Oh, we will Endymion." Cirrus said as he started his way out of
the room. "We can't have you go back to your lovey and ruin our plan.
But I'm afraid that we can't spare anyone. We have to destroy the rest
of the chain, now that we have broken the strongest link." Cumulus
followed him out and shut the door, leaving Darien in darkness once
again.
***************
"I wonder where Serena went." Lita said as she stirred her soda
with her straw. "She was in an awful hurry."
"That was very peculiar," Amy said thoughtfully. "She looked
like she saw a ghost. She just jumped up in the middle of lunch..."
"That's nothing like her." Mina butt in. She looked down "I
still think that we should've ran after her to find out what was up."
"No..." Raye said firmly. She looked at the group. "Look guys,
I think that it would be better if she spent some time by herself. You
saw how she was when she was telling us about her problem. She barely
got a word out. Serena just needs time to sort things out. The best we
can do is wait until she's ready to confide in us."
There was a brief silence.
"Raye's right," Luna finally said as she stood up. "We should
just leave her alone. Besides, Darien's coming soon. When they are
together again, she'll realize that there was nothing to worry about."
All the girls nodded. A tiny beep came from Lita's watch. She
glanced at it. "Guys, it's getting late." She started to rise and the
rest followed. "I think we better go before the rain gets worse."
All of them stood by the restaurant's entrance. They were
opening their umbrellas.
"It's really pouring." Mina commented, "This is so weird,
especially since yesterday was such a nice day." She turned around to
see Raye staring into the rain. "What's the matter Raye?"
"I don't know...I feel something." Raye said as she squinted.
"Something strange about this weather...it doesn't feel pure...it
doesn't feel...natural."
"What do you mean?" Lita said. "Is there something evil?"
"I don't know," Raye put on her hood. "It's too vague to see. I
think we better keep our eyes open just in case."
******
Serena glanced up. It was beginning to get cold. The rain
drenched her entire body. She curled herself into a tight ball and sat
on the wet cement, trembling. Her vision was blurred from all her
crying, the raindrops beat savagely on her bare head. Her hair had
fallen down and her umbrella now lay a yard away from her. Just a foot
away from her lay the fragments of her locket. Their locket, the
locket that represented their bond, lay in pieces scattered before her.
She unwove herself from her safe position and started to pick up the
remains. Serena held up the locket and was startled that it started to
play its melody. The tune that she once cherished started to wither
away as it slowed down and came to a stop. She squeezed the broken
star in her hand and started to weep, only this time no tears came
down. She had cried all her tears. "How could he do this? How could
he do this?" She whispered. "How can all my dreams, all my happiness
end in just one single moment?" She began to rock. "There has to be
something wrong, he must be protecting me....But...he broke...our
locket...." She tried to sob again. "I was right..." She dug her head
deep into her arms and felt the raindrops slow until the rainfall
finally halted.
***********
"What is that?" Lita said as she spotted an object that was
blocking the sidewalk.
"It looks like someone's hurt." Mina said as she picked up her pace.
"Oh my gosh..." Amy gasped as she brought one hand to her mouth.
"It's Serena!" She started to run towards the figure that was sitting
on the ground a few feet away. All the girls started to run with her.
"What happened to her?" Raye asked as they came closer to her.
"I knew I felt something, I hope she isn't hurt."
The four girls slowed down as they approached the trembling girl.
Her head was down and her hair was out of place. Serena looked up, her
eyes bloodshot and her face tear-stained. Raye breathed a sigh of
relief when she realized that Serena wasn't physically hurt. She bent
down and sat next to Serena. "What's the matter?" She tried to
make her voice as comforting as possible, but she couldn't hide the
fear that she had in her eyes. She was so afraid that Serena was
harmed. She slowly placed her arm around her friend. "Are you ok?
Did you fall? How long were you out here?"
Lita, Ami, and Mina knelt down in front of Serena, each trying to
comfort her. Luna jumped down from Amy's shoulder and nudged Serena's
leg with her nose. "Serena, please tell us what happened. We can't
help you if you won't tell us."
Serena started to rock back and forth again. She held her legs
close to her body, her eyes stared blankly beyond her knees. "I was
right." She whispered.
"Huh?" Raye said. She then noticed that Serena was holding
something. Raye brought her arm from around and slowly opened Serena's hand.
The girls all gasped. The broken locket lay in Serena's
bleeding hand.
"Serena, what happened? Who broke your locket?" Amy asked as
she picked the shards that dug deep into Serena's palm. Mina picked up
any pieces that fell to the ground and Lita ripped a strip from her
long skirt. Serena sat there, motionless and speechless as Amy slowly
wrapped her hand with the piece of cloth. "Thank you." She finally
whispered and returned to her initial position.
"Serena please tell us what's wrong." Lita pleaded. "We want to
help."
No answer.
"Serena, this isn't fair," Raye said. "We are so worried about
you, please answer, who broke the locket?"
Serena looked into her friends' concerned faces. "Darien broke
it."
"Darien?" The girls shot confused looks toward each other.
Serena put her head down again and mumbled, "He came back early.
I saw him at the restaurant. He was the one who broke our locket..."
She started to cry, still no tears. "He doesn't want the locket
anymore...he doesn't want me..." She looked up. Her face had turned
red as she tried cry. "I told you he wouldn't love me anymore."
The girls all hugged her and tried to comfort her.
"Maybe he's just protecting you." Mina said, "Raye felt
something earlier, there might be another danger that's coming."
Serena shook her head. "But he broke the locket...and looked me
straight in the eye...He wouldn't go that far just to protect me..."
They thought for a moment. None of them had a response.
"Come on," Raye said after a few minutes of silence. "We should
get you inside before you catch a cold. We can go to the shrine and
finish talking." She and the other girls helped Serena to her feet.
***********
They slowly walked through the streets. Surprisingly the streets
were empty and the skies were unusually dark for the time of day. Raye
suddenly stopped, leading the other girls to a halt also. "That
feeling," She started to look around. "I can sense it again...this time
it's stronger...guys, we better get Serena to somewhere safe." They
picked up their pace and covered Serena's head. A fog started to creep
around them, soon they were unable to see where they were heading.
"It's like a we're lost in a cloud." Mina commented.
"There's evil in this cloud," Raye whispered. "Pure evil."
She turned to Serena, who lay limply onto Lita. "We have to be careful."
They huddled close together, defensively guarding Serena. Amy
brought out her handheld computer and typed ferociously. "My computer
isn't picking up anything," She said, her eyes still fixated on the
screen. "Wait, something is coming near us."
"From where?" Mina looked around.
"I can't tell." Amy said, still typing. "The computer cannot
distinguish the object's position. It's coming closer...wait, the
computer is giving me some coordinates." She slowly looked up. "It's
directly above us." As soon as the words escaped her lips a red bolt
came from above them.
"Watch out!" Artemis yelled.
They jumped in time to dodge the bomb. The smoke cleared and the
fog rolled out.
"What was that?" Lita said as she recovered from the
hit. The girls got up, except Serena who was still on the ground,
frightened like a kitten.
"I don't know," Mina said. "But it sure was strong." Their sight
had become visible and realized that they were in a dead-end alley.
"I'm surprised you weren't killed," a voice called from above
them. They all looked up. Cumulus stood on top of the adjacent
building. "I was sure that it was strong enough."
"Who are you?" Raye yelled at her.
"I'm Dark Cumulus, but I don't think it matters," She jumped down
to a lamp post. They stood their ground. "You're going to die anyway."
She let another bolt of light escape her eyes and attacked the girls.
Raye reacted quickly and transformed.
"Mars Crystal Power, Makeup!" All the rest except Serena followed
her lead.
"Jupiter Crystal Power, Makeup!"
"Venus Crystal Power, Makeup!"
"Mercury Crystal Power, Makeup!" They landed and they were fully
transformed. Mars looked back to Serena who was clutching her brooch "No,
Serena, just stay there, you're in no shape to fight."
She looked towards Cumulus. "Mars Flame Sniper!"
Cumulus quickly jumped out of the way and landed on another post.
She laughed, "I'm so glad you transformed, I was beginning to think
that this fight would be too easy. Hehe."
"What the hell do you want?" Jupiter raged at her.
She continued to laugh, "Why for all of you to die, of course."
She said matter-of-factly and jumped down.
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Jupiter tried to catch her off guard,
but she was unsuccessful. Cumulus had dodged her attack. "Damn
it!"
"Oh don't be so cross Jupiter, it's not your fault that you're
too slow." Cumulus toyed with her opponents. Cumulus jumped high and
glanced at Serena in the corner. "Oh," She landed on top of the
building again, the Senshi got ready to attack her. A smile spread
across Cumulus's face, "Neo Queen Serenity...my, my, my...what's the
matter?" She said with fake sympathy. "Catch a little cold? Why don't
you join us...it would be fun. You could regain your....damn it!
Shit!" Cumulus looked at her shoulder, it was grazed and bleeding.
Venus had attacked her with "Venus Love and Beauty Shock." Although the
attack hurt her, unfortunately it didn't maim Cumulus. She started to
laugh again. "Well played Venus, but not good enough." Cumulus held her
hand on the wound. She lifted it and the graze disappeared. The
senshi gazed up at her in shock, but continued to attack.
"Mercury Aqua Mirage!" Mercury screamed. Her attack was also
left unfruitful.
"She's too damn quick!!" Mars yelled. She looked up to see
Cumulus laughing her head off.
"This is too much fun!" Cumulus said with a little giggle. "But
I'm afraid that I should finish the job I was sent to do." She did a
flip and landed on the ground. She flicked her wrist and revealed her
fingernails. With her left hand she deftly took each from the cuticle.
Every time she removed one, another long one grew in its place. She
now had unlimited daggers to throw. She did another flip in the air
and did an air assault above the Senshi. They dodged away. Venus,
showing some acrobatics of her own, jumped and did a quick Crescent
beam towards Cumulus. Cumulus seemed to curve herself around the
attack. She landed and raised her hand towards Venus. A strong force
pushed her into the wall of building. Two nails flew from Cumulus's
fingertips and pinned her down.
Jupiter ran towards Cumulus in an attempt to ram her, but she was
brought to halt. "I can't move!" Jupiter yelled. Mars and Mercury
were also frozen on the spot when they attempted to attack Cumulus.
Cumulus smiled evilly. She rose her hand higher and their bodies
followed.
Serena watched in horror as her friends were tortured. She got
up, her legs still shaky. "No, Serena." Luna said as her head poked
out from the dumpster beside her. "You can't transform now, you're too
weak to fight her."
Serena grabbed her brooch. "I can't just sit and watch her do
that to them. I have to do this. Besides, the crystal will give me the
strength I need." She stepped forward. "Moon Eternal Makeup!"
***********
Cumulus brought her hands even higher and suddenly plunged them
down.
"Stop!"
Cumulus rose her head. The girls were just inches away from
being slammed into the pavement. Cumulus's grin grew larger. "Why,
Neo-Queen Serenity, you finally decided to join the fun and transformed
into the legendary Sailor Moon." She snapped her fingers and let the
girls fall to the ground with a thud. "I am very impressed."
"You should be." Sailor Moon said as she stepped forward. She
was still unstable. The surge of energy from the crystal had left her
trembling even more. "I am certainly not having a great day today, and
you had to come and ruin it some more. Well, I'm not having it. I
stand for love and justice and all broken hearts. I will punish you,
in the name of the moon!"
"Cute." Cumulus said totally unaffected by the speech. "That's
awfully nice Sailor Moon, but I'm sorry, I just can't let you do
that." Cumulus threw five daggers (nails) straight at Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon rolled away from the attack. As soon as she got up a bolt
of light went towards her. Surprised at the attack, Sailor Moon was
caught off guard and flew to the wall. She hit the brick wall and five
daggers followed. She was pinned her down. "God, this is too easy!"
Cumulus exclaimed, "I've got the legendary Sailor Moon trapped and
cornered. How does it feel, huh, Sailor Moon?" She didn't answer, her
body was so weak. She hung limply on the wall. "Aww...too tired to
fight back huh? Well, we'll end that soon." Cumulus retrieved a sharp
nail from her finger and prepared to throw it at Sailor Moon.
"Aww shit!" She dropped the nail and looked to her leg. The two
cats had bitten her. "Troublesome cats. Why can't I just kill someone
in peace?" A bolt came from her eyes and blasted the cats off her leg.
Luna and Artemis flew back and slammed into the dumpster. "I hate
cats." Cumulus took another nail. "Good bye Sailor Moon. Tell me how
happy your life is when your dead." She flung it at her aiming for her
heart. Sailor Moon screamed in pain as the nail pierced through her
flesh....