By Yohann DeSabrais
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
Prologue
A thousand years ago...
Safely hidden behind a cloaking shield of his own design, the Prime
was peering outside of the starship Equinox through the cockpit`s
viewscreen. It was showing a sharp image of his home, Saturn Station
Alpha, as it was being showered with laser fire from large, dark
ships whose jagged forms sent shivers down his spine.
The station was litteraly flooded by quantum light particule beams
as the fifty or so dark destructor ships bombarded it mercilessly.
The hull buckled and warped under the onslaught, breaching open and
detonating in millions of twisted shreds.
Saturn Station Alpha was no more.
"Pity we had to lose the station as well in this operation... oh
well, sacrifices must be made to reach results." thought the Prime.
He finished entering his final observations in his timetable log and
closed it definitely.
"Under what name shall this file be stored?" asked the computer
system.
The Prime thought long about this one. With the hundreds of thousands
of files his systems contained, he needed a name he could easily
remember.
He punched in the name: "Queen`s Gambit"
Even with the terrible destruction being commited throughout the
entire solar system by the forces of darkness, he still felt that
his goal was one step closer to being attained. He was going to head
for the new homebase of the guardians, Saturn Station Beta, but then
he thought of something. Something that could make a great difference
in the end.
He changed course and headed for the moon, where the most terrible
battle ever fought in the history of the silver millenium was taking
place.
* * *
CYCLES OF LIFE: CHAPTER 23
IN FINAL ANALYSIS
Usagi ran out of the hospital screaming, bowling down a couple of
doctors on her way out. She was running from the doctors. She was
running from her friends. But first and foremost, she was running
from herself.
The memories that she`d lost a few days ago when she came back on
earth crashing down in an escape pod were returning to her rapidly.
That`s exactly where the prolem was, as what she wanted so desperatly
tried to remember was now threatening to destroy her very sanity.
Usagi was now just as desperate to shove back down those unwanted
memories.
And so she ran.
* * *
"What do you mean, 'we have to find Setsuna'?" asked Rei. "What does
she have to do with this?"
"I`m... not sure, all I know is we have to contact her!" replied
Robin.
As if on cue, a ringing sound then came from Robin`s purse- she
opened it and answered her cellular.
"Hello?" she said. It was Meioh Setsuna`s voice on the other end.
"Robin, I know what`s going on. You and Rei must come over to my
place with Chibi-Usa, right now." she said.
"But, we have to catch up with Usagi before she..." argued Robin.
Setsuna brutally interrupted her.
"NOW! And hurry over, Usagi`s mind won`t last much longer until it
collapses! (click)"
"So was it her?" asked Chibi-Usa.
"Who else has this kind of dramatic timing? Let`s go, she`s
expecting us right now." replied Robin.
* * *
Sitting among the carboard boxes containing the many trinkets she
collected over the centuries of her seemingly endless existence,
Setsuna stared at the blan walls and empty rooms of what was going
to be the home of herself as well as Haruka and Michiru, not to
mention Robin who was now without a home because of her appartment
having been destroyed by Gallagher. But now was not the time to
consider trivial details such as where to put Robin`s things or
available closet space... something much more tragic was about to
unfold.
The doorbell rang... in addition to fists being slammed brutally on
the door. She was there, right on time. Setsuna went to the front
door to find there the distraught Usagi, a look of pure horror on
her face and tears running down her face, badly messing up her
makeup.
"I was expecting you." said Setsuna. She was going to invite her
in, but Usagi reacted faster, slapping her as hard as she could
and leaving a large red mark on her cheek.
"HOW DARE YOU, YOU HEARTLESS BITCH???" screamed Usagi, denouncing
Setsuna`s earlier warning that "death is sometimes preferable to
life".
"If I`d told you EXACTLY what was going to happen, would you have
gone???" asked Setsuna, wiping a thin stream of blood flowing from
her mouth.
"That`s nowhere near the point and you know it... do you have any
idea WHO`S blood is on my hands??? You made me a cold blooded
murdered, you damn witch!!!" she yelled as she hurled herself
forward to strangle the guardian of time.
Setsuna tried to defend herself, but the temporarily insane Usagi
was much stronger from her deranged mind. She made Setsuna fear
for her life as the blonde girl`s iron grip was cutting the
circulation to her brain- but this same madness saved her life,
as the flow of memory kept on making Usagi remember more and more,
until she collapsed in pain, unconscious and just one step away
from death.
Setsuna sobbed silently, feeling guilty over the fate of the poor
Usagi. She felt responsible for this turn of events, but it was
nonetheless inevitable. She held in her arms the unconscious senshi
until her friends arrived there to help her.
"I`m so sorry, Usagi..." she whispered in her ear.
* * *
Void.
Utterly empty, blank, non-descript void.
This is all that surrounded Usagi as she floated in weightlessness,
naked and curled up in a comforting foetal position. Nothing around
her to disturb her peaceful slumber.
No battles to fight. No memories to haunt her. Nothing.
Just void.
Then a sparkle of light appeared in front of her eyes. It was a
beautiful glint of life, a gentle and reassuring presence, an ancient
soul come to heal her own wounded soul. Without even thinking, she
held her hand toward the shining spark- which then turned into the
form of Sailor Chibi-Moon, her daughter from the future.
"Hello, Usagi." she said.
"Oh, it`s you small lady..." she whispered with a smile. "Tell
me... where are we?"
"Inside your soul, mother, your terribly hurt soul. I`m here to
help... to heal you. Setsuna was able to send me here the same way
the you and the others entered my dreams during my first visit to
the past." said Chibi-Moon.
"But... why? I`m much better now. There`s nothing here to hurt me,
nothing to scare me ever again." argued Usagi.
"But if you retreat here any longer, you`ll die!"
"What reasons would I have to leave this comfort? Why should I feel
that horrible pain again?" asked Usagi.
"Because they all care for you... and because I love you, mommy!"
This argument touched Usagi. In a flash of pink light, her body was
wrapped in a beautiful gown of silk and lace. "I wouldn`t do this for
anyone else but you, my precious daughter." she said.
They vanished from the void.
* * *
The sleeping Chibi-Moon laid peacefully next to Usagi on Setsuna`s
bed, under the watchful eyes of Sailor Saturn, Mars and Pluto. The
three of them were really worried for Usagi; she had witnessed some
truly horrific things as Chibi-Moon would soon discover.
"Can we do anything to help?" asked Sailor Mars.
"Yes, Mars, you can. Pray for our friend`s soul." replied Pluto,
gently stroking the short blonde hair of the dying Usagi.
And so she did, while Saturn held Usagi`s hand and cried in silence.
* * *
"Where are we now?" asked Chibi-Usa.
"Inside Saturn Station Beta, this is the memorial room, where the
last piece of Gallagher`s sword, Heresy, was hidden." she explained.
Chibi-Moon and Usagi saw the scene replaying in Usagi`s mind with
crystal clarity; like a video replay, they witnessed the account of
Sailor Moon`s final confrontation although they could not affect
its outcome in any way.
"Let us watch, small lady- and learn the truth." she said, beckoning
silence from her daughter.
Sailor Moon was getting up, and getting hold of the now reforged
black sword, the forgotten and forsaken Heresy.
"You must destroy him, Sailor Moon, he`s responsible for all the
pain you ever went through!" said Gallagher, pointing to the Prime.
From their unique perspective, Usagi and Chibi-Moon heard the words
of the Prime out loud, even though he was really transmitting them
through wordless telepathy.
"He`s lied to you, young senshi, he manipulated you in his bid for
total anihilation!!!"
Sailor Moon looked at them both, her face hardening in anger and
pain. Blood trickled from her nose after having her face repeatedly
smashed in a computer screen by Gallagher only moments before.
"One of you has lied to me. One of you deserves to die." said
Sailor Moon.
She turned to Gallagher.
"You did trick me, used guile and deceit every step of the way,
nearly killed my friend in a mad quest for vengence... but I won`t
lower myself to take away your life." she said, to his relief.
"No... there is another one who DOES deserve to be struck down...
and that someone is you!!!" she said, pointing the Prime
accusingly.
"Why?!?" resounded the suddenly audible words of the ancient being
clad in an armor of his own solidified skin.
"I read it all in your personal logs... your 'Queen`s Gambit'
file... you couldn`t control the evil Beryl who didn`t trust you,
or my mother Serenity, so you betrayed one by selling her off to the
other- you are responsible for the destruction of the entire silver
millenium, you monster! In your mad goal to MAKE YOURSELF A LIVING
GOD, you destroyed billions of lives, leeched off the natural Technum
flow of the sun and tried to usurp the name of the messiah by trying
to create her yourself!!! You wanted it all..." said Usagi,
suspending her accusations to take a dramatic sword wielding pose.
"...And now you lose EVERYTHING!"
Usagi lifted the great Heresy whose temporal vibrations sang to her.
She felt the call of the Heresy, and her philistine hands were ready
to fulfill their great role.
With one swift blow, she struck down the mighty Prime, slicing
through his armor as easily as a white hot metal sword through warm
butter. An inhuman telepathic scream resounded throughout the whole
station, waking up the sleeping guardians despite the large sleeping
gas dose they`d received earlier. They quickly began withering, as
their continued existence depended on their creator`s life force,
though they did not know it except for Gallagher who knew all too
well that his success in killing the Prime would ensure his swift
death.
"Come on, let`s get out of here." said Usagi, droping the now dead
sword at the feet of the Prime`s lifeless corpse.
"No... can`t go, I`m... dying." he said. "My life is... linked to
his... only Technuma could... survive this... ever since our soul
fracture he`s been... further away from the Prime`s influence...
that`s why the Prime tried to control him more than... the
others." he painfully said. "He still has a regen-cloning unit...
somewhere.. hidden god knows where..."
Gallagher coughed violently, spitting blood as he did.
"You mean he could reconstruct another body?!?" asked the horrified
Sailor Moon.
"Yes... but his essence must... be processed through the... central
computer core... still time to stop that... you must destroy it!
Destroy the core... then take... the escape pod out... won`t be
power to... release docking clamps... please... Usagi... don`t let...
guardians` lives... be in vain..." he uttered with difficulty.
"There`s one more thing I have to know... that crystal you gave me,
the one that told me the scouts had been cloned each time we died,
was it real?!?"
"The crystal itself... was a fake... but... it could be... possible
for the... guardians to have... cloned you... but... is that
really... what you want to believe?" he whispered, then closed
his eyes.
Gallagher was no more.
"I promise you, Gallagher... I`ll do whatever it takes to prevent
the Prime from returning!"
* * *
The memorial room vanished around Chibi-Moon and the silk clad Usagi
to be replaced by a very high-tech environment. In the middle of a
circular room, a large metal cylinder was linked to surrounding
processing units and memory banks by a great number of wires and
cables.
"Where is this now?" asked the small lady.
"This is the most painful part of the journey. Please, my daughter,
hold me tight!" begged Usagi to Chibi-Moon who did it willingly.
Avenger shining in her hand, Sailor Moon entered the room, looking
to what she had to destroy.
"Where am I supposed to even start?" she wondered, thinking out
loud.
"May I suggest the central core?" asked the bland, boring computer
voice.
"Hey, why would you assist me in your own destruction? You`re trying
to trick me!" she said, searching for the source of the voice.
"No I`m not, young Sailor Moon. As a matter of fact, I`d been hoping
for quite some time this moment would come... a thousand years to be
exact." said the voice.
"Why would you want me to destroy you? It makes no sense!" she
argued.
The central metal cylinder slid down with a slight humming sound,
revealing that the central core was not fully made of metal, but
really a glass tube covered by an armored protection.
Just as the lights in the room were about to light themselves up,
the replay in Usagi`s mind stopped, the images freezing in a still
picture.
"Wait, why`d you stop, mom?" asked Chibi-Moon.
"Because... this is the reason I don`t want to remember what
happened to me... it`s just too horrible to face again!" she said,
tears streaming down her face.
"But you`re not alone this time around, mommy, I`m here!" said
Chibi-Moon, hugging Usagi.
"Thank my darling... your presence gives me the strenght to face
this again, to remember..."
The images resumed their course.
Lights came on, directly shining upon the darkened glass cylinder.
Sailor Moon saw it to be filled with an orange liquid substance
sustaining something floating inside. She could see it was a humanoid
being, its body horribly mutilated with wires and cables linking it
to the rest of the computer system. Its right are had been cut off
to connect some fiber optic links, its head was covered with these
cables in an inhuman mane of technological hair, and its body had
been cut off under the waist- only more cable were connected there,
to sustain the life of this living computer core.
(There it is, the source of all my pain...)
Sailor Moon couldn`t see its face as it turned its back to her, so
she moved around to have a better look.
(Oh god she`s going to see that face again)
Looking through the glass, behind the orange liquid, Sailor Moon
saw a face... a face she didn`t recognize at first without the hair,
but the eyes, there was no mistaking them...
(No, Sailor Moon, please don`t look, oh god no, don`t look I beg
you...)
Sailor Moon finally recognized that face, those bright blue eyes,
that sweet smile... she was revolted to see that it was her own
mother from the past, Queen Serenity!!!
"Oh my god, what has that psychic bastard done to you, mother?"
asked Sailor Moon, dropping Avenger and holding her hands against
the glass cylinder.
Serenity smiled. She couldn`t speak through the liquid, but the
bland computer voice that spoke earlier was hers indeed.
"When Beryl destroyed everything and your souls were leaving for
earth, the Prime came for me... he said he would fix me up, preserve
my life... but I never would have agreed if I`d known it meant
THIS!" said the voice, suddenly choked up with sorrow.
Sailor Moon was in shock.
"I can`t believe he would have done that... but the monster is dead,
mother, I killed him!!!"
(Oh no... she`s going to ask me!)
"Yes, my daughter, but he is trying to rebuild a new body for
himself, unless you stop it! There is less than three minutes
remaining before he rises again. You know what must be done, my
dear." said Serenity, looking at the crystal sword on the floor.
"Oh god no..." whispered Sailor Moon. "ANYTHING but THAT!" she
pleaded, even though she knew it HAD to be done.
"Do it for the galaxy, my darling, so that the Prime may never rise
again... but mostly, please do it for me, to release me from this
prison, my dear princess..." said Serenity.
Sailor Moon picked up Avenger, holding it tightly in her clenched
hands. Her arms shook like leaves at the thought of what she was
about to do.
(No, please, don`t do it!!! I beg you!!!)
Serenity looked peacefuly at Sailor Moon as she raised her sword,
preparing herself to swing the most heartwrenching blow she ever
gave. She struck dozens of enemies in the past, but never someone
she cared so much about.
"I love you, my darling Usagi." said Serenity.
"I love you, mother!" replied Sailor Moon, tears flowing down her
face.
And so she struck.
The helpless witnesses Usagi and Chibi-Usa closed their eyes, unable
to stand this awful sight. They heard the first blow break through
the cylinder, splashing the orange life support liquid, and two
more blows making sounds too abominable to even think of what was
happening. Then the only sounds left were those of the station`s
red alert siren and Sailor Moon`s tragic cries of pain.
Chibi-Usa heard an automated signal announce that primary computer
support was down, and that all functions would cease in thirty
seconds. She reopened her eyes to see that the scene had changed,
and that she and her mother were now in the launch bay where the
self-powered escape pods were the only way out of the doomed
station. Sailor Moon was covered in blood and the orange substance,
and she stepped in one of the pods which then launched itself out
to safety before the entire station was disintegrated in a ball of
flame.
So now she knew what had happened, and she felt so much sorrow for
her poor mother, Usagi, who was holding on to her like a frightened
child.
"Don`t worry, mommy, all will be fine, now..." she said.
The image of Sailor Moon`s escape pod soaring through space and
heading for earth vanished, returning the two girls into the void.
"All will be fine." repeated Usagi, a faint smile on her lips
peering through her tears.
The girls vanished as well, leaving the void to be content in being
its usual empty, depleted self.
* * *
Usagi slowly arose from her deep slumber to find herself surrounded
by her loved ones. On her way to Setsuna`s, Saturn had used her
cellular to give a few calls and warn everyone.
"Mommy, you`re back!" said the overjoyed Sailor Chibi-Moon who
jumped in her arms and hugged her tight enough to cut her respiration
short.
"Yes, and I... remember it all now..." she replied, more tears still
forming in her eyes. "Setsuna, I`m so sorry I did what I have done
to you earlier... those things I said... these were words of anger
that I was too cowardly to direct at myself..."
"I understand, Usagi." said Sailor Pluto. "Chibi-Usa explained us
what she saw in your mind, your soul was deeply wounded indeed."
Usagi looked around her to see the relieved faces of all those she
cared about.
The sailor scouts, Mars, Uranus, Jendra, Jupiter, Pluto, Chibi-Moon,
even Mercury who had finally agreed to leave Venus`s bedside for a
while, the senshi Saturn and Neptune, Prince Endymion whom she
thought looked sexy in his new attire, her brother the Emerald
Knight, her friend Naru and... Umino? Hell, her parents were
there!!!
"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" asked Usagi in surprise.
"Your brother felt that you would heal better if you had your entire
family by your side through this ordeal. It WAS a shock at first,
to learn both our children were reincarnated heroes of the moon,
but we accept it now." said Ikuko.
"You make us proud, Usagi, for all the heroic acts your brother told
us you did over the years!" added Kenji.
"Thanks, mom, dad... I`m so happy you`re here with me!!!"
"I gave some thought over this supposed cloning business you
discussed with Gallagher..." said Mercury. "I don`t think we were
cloned at all."
"Why not?" wondered Jupiter.
"I saw Minako`s x-rays yesterday... her collar bone had a fracture
scar from an accident she suffered as a child... clones can`t have
scars, they`re not in your genetic map!" explained Mercury.
Jendra looked at her wrists. The old slash scars she saw there
actually reassured her for the first time, rather than just being
painful reminders of her botched suicide attempt.
"I guess we can put this behind us at last, then." suggested Usagi,
as she hugged her hubby Endymion.
Everyone agreed with her.
* * *
Epilogue...
Rei stepped out of her shower, having washed off all her sorrows and
worries... except one.
She wrapped a towel around her and squeezed as much water as she
could from her long black mane. Wiping some steam off her full
height mirror, she took a deep look into her own eyes, wondering
if she could really hold on to her secret.
She lowered her towel, and took a long look at her bare chest. She
dragged her finger underneath her left breast, where she received a
large wound in a childhood accident. This accident had given her a
scar that had made her very self-conscious about her friends seeing
her naked.
This scar she never told anyone about. Not even Technuma could have
known, as her skin was too badly charred to allow him to see it.
After Technuma had "healed" her... that scar had vanished.
If the guardians had the knowhow to resurrect themselves... couldn`t
they easily duplicate scars as well? Scars they KNEW of, anyway...
Rei pulled her towel back off and decided never to think of this
missing scar again. This was one secret Rei was taking to her grave.
The End
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
Prologue
A thousand years ago...
Safely hidden behind a cloaking shield of his own design, the Prime
was peering outside of the starship Equinox through the cockpit`s
viewscreen. It was showing a sharp image of his home, Saturn Station
Alpha, as it was being showered with laser fire from large, dark
ships whose jagged forms sent shivers down his spine.
The station was litteraly flooded by quantum light particule beams
as the fifty or so dark destructor ships bombarded it mercilessly.
The hull buckled and warped under the onslaught, breaching open and
detonating in millions of twisted shreds.
Saturn Station Alpha was no more.
"Pity we had to lose the station as well in this operation... oh
well, sacrifices must be made to reach results." thought the Prime.
He finished entering his final observations in his timetable log and
closed it definitely.
"Under what name shall this file be stored?" asked the computer
system.
The Prime thought long about this one. With the hundreds of thousands
of files his systems contained, he needed a name he could easily
remember.
He punched in the name: "Queen`s Gambit"
Even with the terrible destruction being commited throughout the
entire solar system by the forces of darkness, he still felt that
his goal was one step closer to being attained. He was going to head
for the new homebase of the guardians, Saturn Station Beta, but then
he thought of something. Something that could make a great difference
in the end.
He changed course and headed for the moon, where the most terrible
battle ever fought in the history of the silver millenium was taking
place.
* * *
CYCLES OF LIFE: CHAPTER 23
IN FINAL ANALYSIS
Usagi ran out of the hospital screaming, bowling down a couple of
doctors on her way out. She was running from the doctors. She was
running from her friends. But first and foremost, she was running
from herself.
The memories that she`d lost a few days ago when she came back on
earth crashing down in an escape pod were returning to her rapidly.
That`s exactly where the prolem was, as what she wanted so desperatly
tried to remember was now threatening to destroy her very sanity.
Usagi was now just as desperate to shove back down those unwanted
memories.
And so she ran.
* * *
"What do you mean, 'we have to find Setsuna'?" asked Rei. "What does
she have to do with this?"
"I`m... not sure, all I know is we have to contact her!" replied
Robin.
As if on cue, a ringing sound then came from Robin`s purse- she
opened it and answered her cellular.
"Hello?" she said. It was Meioh Setsuna`s voice on the other end.
"Robin, I know what`s going on. You and Rei must come over to my
place with Chibi-Usa, right now." she said.
"But, we have to catch up with Usagi before she..." argued Robin.
Setsuna brutally interrupted her.
"NOW! And hurry over, Usagi`s mind won`t last much longer until it
collapses! (click)"
"So was it her?" asked Chibi-Usa.
"Who else has this kind of dramatic timing? Let`s go, she`s
expecting us right now." replied Robin.
* * *
Sitting among the carboard boxes containing the many trinkets she
collected over the centuries of her seemingly endless existence,
Setsuna stared at the blan walls and empty rooms of what was going
to be the home of herself as well as Haruka and Michiru, not to
mention Robin who was now without a home because of her appartment
having been destroyed by Gallagher. But now was not the time to
consider trivial details such as where to put Robin`s things or
available closet space... something much more tragic was about to
unfold.
The doorbell rang... in addition to fists being slammed brutally on
the door. She was there, right on time. Setsuna went to the front
door to find there the distraught Usagi, a look of pure horror on
her face and tears running down her face, badly messing up her
makeup.
"I was expecting you." said Setsuna. She was going to invite her
in, but Usagi reacted faster, slapping her as hard as she could
and leaving a large red mark on her cheek.
"HOW DARE YOU, YOU HEARTLESS BITCH???" screamed Usagi, denouncing
Setsuna`s earlier warning that "death is sometimes preferable to
life".
"If I`d told you EXACTLY what was going to happen, would you have
gone???" asked Setsuna, wiping a thin stream of blood flowing from
her mouth.
"That`s nowhere near the point and you know it... do you have any
idea WHO`S blood is on my hands??? You made me a cold blooded
murdered, you damn witch!!!" she yelled as she hurled herself
forward to strangle the guardian of time.
Setsuna tried to defend herself, but the temporarily insane Usagi
was much stronger from her deranged mind. She made Setsuna fear
for her life as the blonde girl`s iron grip was cutting the
circulation to her brain- but this same madness saved her life,
as the flow of memory kept on making Usagi remember more and more,
until she collapsed in pain, unconscious and just one step away
from death.
Setsuna sobbed silently, feeling guilty over the fate of the poor
Usagi. She felt responsible for this turn of events, but it was
nonetheless inevitable. She held in her arms the unconscious senshi
until her friends arrived there to help her.
"I`m so sorry, Usagi..." she whispered in her ear.
* * *
Void.
Utterly empty, blank, non-descript void.
This is all that surrounded Usagi as she floated in weightlessness,
naked and curled up in a comforting foetal position. Nothing around
her to disturb her peaceful slumber.
No battles to fight. No memories to haunt her. Nothing.
Just void.
Then a sparkle of light appeared in front of her eyes. It was a
beautiful glint of life, a gentle and reassuring presence, an ancient
soul come to heal her own wounded soul. Without even thinking, she
held her hand toward the shining spark- which then turned into the
form of Sailor Chibi-Moon, her daughter from the future.
"Hello, Usagi." she said.
"Oh, it`s you small lady..." she whispered with a smile. "Tell
me... where are we?"
"Inside your soul, mother, your terribly hurt soul. I`m here to
help... to heal you. Setsuna was able to send me here the same way
the you and the others entered my dreams during my first visit to
the past." said Chibi-Moon.
"But... why? I`m much better now. There`s nothing here to hurt me,
nothing to scare me ever again." argued Usagi.
"But if you retreat here any longer, you`ll die!"
"What reasons would I have to leave this comfort? Why should I feel
that horrible pain again?" asked Usagi.
"Because they all care for you... and because I love you, mommy!"
This argument touched Usagi. In a flash of pink light, her body was
wrapped in a beautiful gown of silk and lace. "I wouldn`t do this for
anyone else but you, my precious daughter." she said.
They vanished from the void.
* * *
The sleeping Chibi-Moon laid peacefully next to Usagi on Setsuna`s
bed, under the watchful eyes of Sailor Saturn, Mars and Pluto. The
three of them were really worried for Usagi; she had witnessed some
truly horrific things as Chibi-Moon would soon discover.
"Can we do anything to help?" asked Sailor Mars.
"Yes, Mars, you can. Pray for our friend`s soul." replied Pluto,
gently stroking the short blonde hair of the dying Usagi.
And so she did, while Saturn held Usagi`s hand and cried in silence.
* * *
"Where are we now?" asked Chibi-Usa.
"Inside Saturn Station Beta, this is the memorial room, where the
last piece of Gallagher`s sword, Heresy, was hidden." she explained.
Chibi-Moon and Usagi saw the scene replaying in Usagi`s mind with
crystal clarity; like a video replay, they witnessed the account of
Sailor Moon`s final confrontation although they could not affect
its outcome in any way.
"Let us watch, small lady- and learn the truth." she said, beckoning
silence from her daughter.
Sailor Moon was getting up, and getting hold of the now reforged
black sword, the forgotten and forsaken Heresy.
"You must destroy him, Sailor Moon, he`s responsible for all the
pain you ever went through!" said Gallagher, pointing to the Prime.
From their unique perspective, Usagi and Chibi-Moon heard the words
of the Prime out loud, even though he was really transmitting them
through wordless telepathy.
"He`s lied to you, young senshi, he manipulated you in his bid for
total anihilation!!!"
Sailor Moon looked at them both, her face hardening in anger and
pain. Blood trickled from her nose after having her face repeatedly
smashed in a computer screen by Gallagher only moments before.
"One of you has lied to me. One of you deserves to die." said
Sailor Moon.
She turned to Gallagher.
"You did trick me, used guile and deceit every step of the way,
nearly killed my friend in a mad quest for vengence... but I won`t
lower myself to take away your life." she said, to his relief.
"No... there is another one who DOES deserve to be struck down...
and that someone is you!!!" she said, pointing the Prime
accusingly.
"Why?!?" resounded the suddenly audible words of the ancient being
clad in an armor of his own solidified skin.
"I read it all in your personal logs... your 'Queen`s Gambit'
file... you couldn`t control the evil Beryl who didn`t trust you,
or my mother Serenity, so you betrayed one by selling her off to the
other- you are responsible for the destruction of the entire silver
millenium, you monster! In your mad goal to MAKE YOURSELF A LIVING
GOD, you destroyed billions of lives, leeched off the natural Technum
flow of the sun and tried to usurp the name of the messiah by trying
to create her yourself!!! You wanted it all..." said Usagi,
suspending her accusations to take a dramatic sword wielding pose.
"...And now you lose EVERYTHING!"
Usagi lifted the great Heresy whose temporal vibrations sang to her.
She felt the call of the Heresy, and her philistine hands were ready
to fulfill their great role.
With one swift blow, she struck down the mighty Prime, slicing
through his armor as easily as a white hot metal sword through warm
butter. An inhuman telepathic scream resounded throughout the whole
station, waking up the sleeping guardians despite the large sleeping
gas dose they`d received earlier. They quickly began withering, as
their continued existence depended on their creator`s life force,
though they did not know it except for Gallagher who knew all too
well that his success in killing the Prime would ensure his swift
death.
"Come on, let`s get out of here." said Usagi, droping the now dead
sword at the feet of the Prime`s lifeless corpse.
"No... can`t go, I`m... dying." he said. "My life is... linked to
his... only Technuma could... survive this... ever since our soul
fracture he`s been... further away from the Prime`s influence...
that`s why the Prime tried to control him more than... the
others." he painfully said. "He still has a regen-cloning unit...
somewhere.. hidden god knows where..."
Gallagher coughed violently, spitting blood as he did.
"You mean he could reconstruct another body?!?" asked the horrified
Sailor Moon.
"Yes... but his essence must... be processed through the... central
computer core... still time to stop that... you must destroy it!
Destroy the core... then take... the escape pod out... won`t be
power to... release docking clamps... please... Usagi... don`t let...
guardians` lives... be in vain..." he uttered with difficulty.
"There`s one more thing I have to know... that crystal you gave me,
the one that told me the scouts had been cloned each time we died,
was it real?!?"
"The crystal itself... was a fake... but... it could be... possible
for the... guardians to have... cloned you... but... is that
really... what you want to believe?" he whispered, then closed
his eyes.
Gallagher was no more.
"I promise you, Gallagher... I`ll do whatever it takes to prevent
the Prime from returning!"
* * *
The memorial room vanished around Chibi-Moon and the silk clad Usagi
to be replaced by a very high-tech environment. In the middle of a
circular room, a large metal cylinder was linked to surrounding
processing units and memory banks by a great number of wires and
cables.
"Where is this now?" asked the small lady.
"This is the most painful part of the journey. Please, my daughter,
hold me tight!" begged Usagi to Chibi-Moon who did it willingly.
Avenger shining in her hand, Sailor Moon entered the room, looking
to what she had to destroy.
"Where am I supposed to even start?" she wondered, thinking out
loud.
"May I suggest the central core?" asked the bland, boring computer
voice.
"Hey, why would you assist me in your own destruction? You`re trying
to trick me!" she said, searching for the source of the voice.
"No I`m not, young Sailor Moon. As a matter of fact, I`d been hoping
for quite some time this moment would come... a thousand years to be
exact." said the voice.
"Why would you want me to destroy you? It makes no sense!" she
argued.
The central metal cylinder slid down with a slight humming sound,
revealing that the central core was not fully made of metal, but
really a glass tube covered by an armored protection.
Just as the lights in the room were about to light themselves up,
the replay in Usagi`s mind stopped, the images freezing in a still
picture.
"Wait, why`d you stop, mom?" asked Chibi-Moon.
"Because... this is the reason I don`t want to remember what
happened to me... it`s just too horrible to face again!" she said,
tears streaming down her face.
"But you`re not alone this time around, mommy, I`m here!" said
Chibi-Moon, hugging Usagi.
"Thank my darling... your presence gives me the strenght to face
this again, to remember..."
The images resumed their course.
Lights came on, directly shining upon the darkened glass cylinder.
Sailor Moon saw it to be filled with an orange liquid substance
sustaining something floating inside. She could see it was a humanoid
being, its body horribly mutilated with wires and cables linking it
to the rest of the computer system. Its right are had been cut off
to connect some fiber optic links, its head was covered with these
cables in an inhuman mane of technological hair, and its body had
been cut off under the waist- only more cable were connected there,
to sustain the life of this living computer core.
(There it is, the source of all my pain...)
Sailor Moon couldn`t see its face as it turned its back to her, so
she moved around to have a better look.
(Oh god she`s going to see that face again)
Looking through the glass, behind the orange liquid, Sailor Moon
saw a face... a face she didn`t recognize at first without the hair,
but the eyes, there was no mistaking them...
(No, Sailor Moon, please don`t look, oh god no, don`t look I beg
you...)
Sailor Moon finally recognized that face, those bright blue eyes,
that sweet smile... she was revolted to see that it was her own
mother from the past, Queen Serenity!!!
"Oh my god, what has that psychic bastard done to you, mother?"
asked Sailor Moon, dropping Avenger and holding her hands against
the glass cylinder.
Serenity smiled. She couldn`t speak through the liquid, but the
bland computer voice that spoke earlier was hers indeed.
"When Beryl destroyed everything and your souls were leaving for
earth, the Prime came for me... he said he would fix me up, preserve
my life... but I never would have agreed if I`d known it meant
THIS!" said the voice, suddenly choked up with sorrow.
Sailor Moon was in shock.
"I can`t believe he would have done that... but the monster is dead,
mother, I killed him!!!"
(Oh no... she`s going to ask me!)
"Yes, my daughter, but he is trying to rebuild a new body for
himself, unless you stop it! There is less than three minutes
remaining before he rises again. You know what must be done, my
dear." said Serenity, looking at the crystal sword on the floor.
"Oh god no..." whispered Sailor Moon. "ANYTHING but THAT!" she
pleaded, even though she knew it HAD to be done.
"Do it for the galaxy, my darling, so that the Prime may never rise
again... but mostly, please do it for me, to release me from this
prison, my dear princess..." said Serenity.
Sailor Moon picked up Avenger, holding it tightly in her clenched
hands. Her arms shook like leaves at the thought of what she was
about to do.
(No, please, don`t do it!!! I beg you!!!)
Serenity looked peacefuly at Sailor Moon as she raised her sword,
preparing herself to swing the most heartwrenching blow she ever
gave. She struck dozens of enemies in the past, but never someone
she cared so much about.
"I love you, my darling Usagi." said Serenity.
"I love you, mother!" replied Sailor Moon, tears flowing down her
face.
And so she struck.
The helpless witnesses Usagi and Chibi-Usa closed their eyes, unable
to stand this awful sight. They heard the first blow break through
the cylinder, splashing the orange life support liquid, and two
more blows making sounds too abominable to even think of what was
happening. Then the only sounds left were those of the station`s
red alert siren and Sailor Moon`s tragic cries of pain.
Chibi-Usa heard an automated signal announce that primary computer
support was down, and that all functions would cease in thirty
seconds. She reopened her eyes to see that the scene had changed,
and that she and her mother were now in the launch bay where the
self-powered escape pods were the only way out of the doomed
station. Sailor Moon was covered in blood and the orange substance,
and she stepped in one of the pods which then launched itself out
to safety before the entire station was disintegrated in a ball of
flame.
So now she knew what had happened, and she felt so much sorrow for
her poor mother, Usagi, who was holding on to her like a frightened
child.
"Don`t worry, mommy, all will be fine, now..." she said.
The image of Sailor Moon`s escape pod soaring through space and
heading for earth vanished, returning the two girls into the void.
"All will be fine." repeated Usagi, a faint smile on her lips
peering through her tears.
The girls vanished as well, leaving the void to be content in being
its usual empty, depleted self.
* * *
Usagi slowly arose from her deep slumber to find herself surrounded
by her loved ones. On her way to Setsuna`s, Saturn had used her
cellular to give a few calls and warn everyone.
"Mommy, you`re back!" said the overjoyed Sailor Chibi-Moon who
jumped in her arms and hugged her tight enough to cut her respiration
short.
"Yes, and I... remember it all now..." she replied, more tears still
forming in her eyes. "Setsuna, I`m so sorry I did what I have done
to you earlier... those things I said... these were words of anger
that I was too cowardly to direct at myself..."
"I understand, Usagi." said Sailor Pluto. "Chibi-Usa explained us
what she saw in your mind, your soul was deeply wounded indeed."
Usagi looked around her to see the relieved faces of all those she
cared about.
The sailor scouts, Mars, Uranus, Jendra, Jupiter, Pluto, Chibi-Moon,
even Mercury who had finally agreed to leave Venus`s bedside for a
while, the senshi Saturn and Neptune, Prince Endymion whom she
thought looked sexy in his new attire, her brother the Emerald
Knight, her friend Naru and... Umino? Hell, her parents were
there!!!
"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" asked Usagi in surprise.
"Your brother felt that you would heal better if you had your entire
family by your side through this ordeal. It WAS a shock at first,
to learn both our children were reincarnated heroes of the moon,
but we accept it now." said Ikuko.
"You make us proud, Usagi, for all the heroic acts your brother told
us you did over the years!" added Kenji.
"Thanks, mom, dad... I`m so happy you`re here with me!!!"
"I gave some thought over this supposed cloning business you
discussed with Gallagher..." said Mercury. "I don`t think we were
cloned at all."
"Why not?" wondered Jupiter.
"I saw Minako`s x-rays yesterday... her collar bone had a fracture
scar from an accident she suffered as a child... clones can`t have
scars, they`re not in your genetic map!" explained Mercury.
Jendra looked at her wrists. The old slash scars she saw there
actually reassured her for the first time, rather than just being
painful reminders of her botched suicide attempt.
"I guess we can put this behind us at last, then." suggested Usagi,
as she hugged her hubby Endymion.
Everyone agreed with her.
* * *
Epilogue...
Rei stepped out of her shower, having washed off all her sorrows and
worries... except one.
She wrapped a towel around her and squeezed as much water as she
could from her long black mane. Wiping some steam off her full
height mirror, she took a deep look into her own eyes, wondering
if she could really hold on to her secret.
She lowered her towel, and took a long look at her bare chest. She
dragged her finger underneath her left breast, where she received a
large wound in a childhood accident. This accident had given her a
scar that had made her very self-conscious about her friends seeing
her naked.
This scar she never told anyone about. Not even Technuma could have
known, as her skin was too badly charred to allow him to see it.
After Technuma had "healed" her... that scar had vanished.
If the guardians had the knowhow to resurrect themselves... couldn`t
they easily duplicate scars as well? Scars they KNEW of, anyway...
Rei pulled her towel back off and decided never to think of this
missing scar again. This was one secret Rei was taking to her grave.
The End