By Yohann DeSabrais
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
A lone man ran along the filth ridden tunnels of the Tokyo sewers,
trying his best to outrun his relentless pursuer. The deadly silence
of the noiseless movements she made drove him crazy... well,
crazier than he already was anyway.
Coran Demsy was scared out of his mind, now. He thought he`d outran
her way back there at the asylum, but she found him again. Psyche
knew she was right there behind him, even though the only noise he
could hear was the dirty water splashing under his feet.
"You`ll never get away from her, you know." said the all too familiar
voice of Sailor Jendra whose image haunted him day and night.
"Shut up!" he snapped back, running as fast as his tired legs would
allow.
A putrid stench assaulted his nose, but he didn`t take notice as the
sewer was pugnant enough already. He did notice, however, the black
shroud which suddenly surrounded him. Psyche stopped running, his
mind seized by total panic.
"There`s no way you can possibly live through this." taunted the
haunting hallucination of Sailor Mercury, mocking him as she always
did.
Demsy wanted very much to pull out that gun he stole from one of the
asylum guards, but he ran out of bullets days ago when he tried to
kill those two insolent sailor scouts that followed him everywhere.
Besides, this creature that was after him was less than likely to be
affected by hot lead.
"You`re going to die, now, psychic freak!" said both hallucinations
at once.
Psyche wanted to object to them, but his answer was cut short by a
flash of cold steel that materialized from the black shroud and
killed him instantly.
The two images vanished as the blood of the fallen madman Coran
Demsy spilled into the filthy waters, a wicked feminine laughter
filling the dark tunnels.
* * *
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE 31
ALWAYS LOVE THE ONES YOU HURT
Flowing freely in the patterns that had been shaped through billions
of years of continuous circulation, the molten magma emitted immense
amounts of heat that radiated through the earth`s crust and upwards
to the surface. It had given much needed heat to the ecosystem over
this very long period and had taken a great part into the creation
of life, but now this precious energy was being diverted and stolen
away a clever network of aebonite crystals.
The smaller pieces took this raw geothermal energy and altered its
form slightly for ease of redirection, and sent it to some larger
pieces placed nearby. These pieces then transmitted the energy to
strategically located chunks of greater size, and so on as the pieces
grew larger and the stolen energy flow increased in power.
Unknown to the creators of this crystalline network, one of the major
pieces of aebonite mineral was flawed; it was a tiny crack, nothing
even visible, but large enough still to be trouble. The unrelenting
flow of powerful energy was exerting an unimaginable stress on the
crystal`s surface, which had began to slowly gnaw at the microscopic
flaw until it had grown into a rather wide crack. As time went by,
the increasing energy flow became too much for the worn out piece of
crystal, until it finally called it quits and shattered into a
hundred pieces, leaving a gaping hole in the earth`s natural energy
distribution grid.
* * *
Monitoring the energy patterns arriving into the collection orbs
scattered all around his secret fortress, Aebonite noticed the sudden
drop in asian energy collection. It didn`t take him too long to
realize WHAT had happened, that one of his major crystal fragments
had been destroyed from the stress of energy influx. Not something he
liked to see, but not totally unexpected either. The amount of energy
going through these crystals was enormous, and even though the most
resiliant pieces were used to create the redirecting crystals, a few
of them were bound to break along the way.
Fortunately, he`d planned for just such a situation.
Aebonite passed his hand over the small quartz sphere floating in
front of his throne, changing the image on his viewing crystal screen
from a diagram of earthly energy patterns to that of the dining room
of his officers where his generals were having their meal.
"Attention to my superior oficers, an urgent matter has arisen. Meet
me in my throne room in minutes for mission specifics." said
Aebonite. Thorelia, Ghangoroth, Dokuryo and Shingo bowed to their
master and the crystal then went blank.
The ruler of the dark empire figured he would need a full squadron
of his best forces to deal with the replacement of his broken
crystal. These meddlesome girl warriors had been there to put a stop
to his plans every chance they got, no matter how discreet his agents
had been. Now that the location of his next strike was being
broadcast all over the planetary energy web, no way could they
possibly miss his next move.
* * *
"There it is, I spotted it barely half an hour ago." said Ami,
showing her allies the energy diagrams on her laptop screen. They
did something there, though they didn`t really know what to make of
it.
The Sailor Senshi were all there with their allies, save those who
couldn`t be there, namely the still recovering Mars, the paraplegic
Jupiter, the temporarily insane Venus and the missing Emerald Knight.
Laurella had made it to the meeting called by Ami at her home,
although she was visibly affected by her boyfriend`s kidnapping.
"Can you pinpoint the exact location?" wondered Mamoru.
"Easily. I studied the smaller crystal I got from fighting that tiger
youma, and discovered that sending geothermal energy through it
creates a natural shielding process... but this incident I just
detected suggests that a very large piece is located right there in
the Osaka region, and because it`s broken I can tell you exactly
where it is within a 1 mile radius more or less." Ami went on to
explain.
"So we must expect that they`ll try to replace it, if they are to
carry out their plan..." added Michiru.
"Precisely. This hole in their energy draining matrix is
destabilizing their entire effort." said Ami.
"The dark empire will send out the big guns on this one for sure."
said Haruka, cracking her knuckles. She wanted a rematch with the
jerks who had almost killed both her and her lover.
"Figures. This is so obviously detectable, they`ll expect us there!"
added Robin.
"Ami, if they use their portals to go there... do you think you could
find out where they`re hiding out?" softly said Laurella, speaking
for the first time since she got there. Ami looked at her friend,
who was showing a glimmer of hope that the man she loved so much
could be rescued before something awful happened to him.
"Of course, Laurella, I`ve prepared several backup plans to try and
figure out where he`s held." she said, bringing a faint smile to her
friend`s face. Of course, she wasn`t being totally truthful to
Laurella, as most of these plans were hypothetical and not even close
to being applicable, but in her current state Laurella`s usually
keen empathic skills were so impaired that she couldn`t tell whether
her friend was lying to her or not.
"Say, Ami, you called this meeting this morning... and yet you
detected this... whatever it is only half an hour ago! What else did
you want to discuss that was so important?" wondered Usagi.
All stares went from Usagi to Ami, as everyone realized that Usagi
was right.
Ami blushed, and looked down on the floor. "Why don`t we discuss
this later when we`ve taken care of this situation? It`s a bit of a
touchy subject, and we need to remain focused when we strike..."
"Okay, but when we return we want the full story, Ami. And remember,
we`re your friends." said Usagi, giving Ami a big smile to offer her
support.
"Deal!" replied Ami.
At this moment, the doorbell rang and everyone froze for a second.
Could Ami`s mother be back already from her hospital shift?
"Don`t worry, even if mom is here she won`t mind at all having you
all here... she`s been on my case about having more friends for
years now." said the brainy girl, getting up to answer. She opened
the door, but saw someone she didn`t expect, not in a hundred years.
Aino Minako was standing there, her honey blonde hair and pure blue
eyes restored to their true colors, her face streaked by the tears
of someone who spent many hours crying.
"I heard the general message you sent on the communicator... do you
mind if I join?" said Minako, holding back even more tears.
"Err... sure, come in..." said Ami, hesitating to answer.
A sudden cold chill infected the atmosphere of Ami`s living room as
everyone stopped talking, simply staring at Minako who entered the
room and shyly looked around.
"I can`t believe your nerve, showing your face here after what you
did." said Haruka accusingly, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"I know that I did some terrible things, and I`m not expecting any
of you to forgive me... but all I ask is that you give me a second
chance to prove myself, that I`ve come around..." said Minako,
looking at Ami the whole time.
"She`s sincere, I know that look..." said Ami. "We should give her
a chance."
The rest of her friends seemed uncomfortable about welcoming back
the girl who went on the bloodiest vigilante rampage in recorded
history, but they trusted Ami very much and accepted out of respect
for her.
"We`ll need another fighter on our side, I guess..." conceded
Haruka.
"You won`t regret it, I promise!" said Minako whose face suddenly
gleamed with the chirpiness the old Minako was known for.
* * *
She`d looked everywhere for him; no matter where she went, Luna
simply couldn`t find Artemis, a pattern that had been repeating
itself more and more recently. At first she thought he might have
been feeling tired over the recent serie of cataclysmic battles
that shook Tokyo, but he`d been missing meetings and strategic
planning sessions a lot lately. Since that reunion where he
explained to everyone the nature of aebonite crystals, he`d been
skipping all meetings and dodging everyone.
Luna just didn`t know what to make of it, Artemis seemed like a
whole new person. She wasn`t sure if she liked that or not...
* * *
It took her several minutes to get from her wheelchair onto her bed,
but Makoto did it all by herself, no small achievement. She smiled
at the thought that she might soon be able to return to a life of
independance, though she`d have to change a lot of things to
accomodate her new condition. Access ramps, modified kitchen,
adapted bathroom... all these things she learned about from the
readaptation service. It seemed like a lot, but she was up to the
challenge.
Then something weird happened. Again.
She could see images in her mind, images of strange humanoid
creatures moving around, preparing for a strike somewhere. And there
were a few people there she recognized from Shingo`s torture session
which she saw in the same manner...
"What`s happening? Why am I seeing this?" she wondered.
She wanted to do something... intuitively, her hand went to her
precious Jupiter transformation wand, but once again it failed to
do the desired change. She heard evil voices resounding in her ears,
yelling orders to be ready to kill her friends when they would be
there. Tears came to her eyes, she wanted to be there for them!!!
"I want to be Sailor Jupiter... no, I AM SAILOR JUPITER, I ALWAYS
WAS!!!" she thought with more conviction than she had ever felt
about anything. This she was sure, a child of lightning she was and
justice was the path set for her.
Then it clicked in her.
Makoto had wondered for some time how it felt to achieve soul power
as most of her allies had done already. It was the most glorious
sensation she had ever felt, more profound than any of the crushes
she`d had over her past boyfriends, more divine than the first time
she felt what she later learned was an orgasm. Her mind was aligning
itself with her soul to perfection, unleashing wave after wave of
surging power that flooded her entire being.
When the golden light died down, Makoto was wearing the green fuku
of the Sailor Senshi which was complete with the forearm and shin
guards, with the addition of the light green visor. On her right
thigh were the kanji RAI NO SENSHI, soldier of lightning.
"This is amazing..." she thought, sitting up in her hospital bed to
look at her new suit.
But that wasn`t going to be the biggest surprise of all. She felt
that her knee-high boots were a little tight around her calves. Wait
a minute? She FELT the boots?!? She had sensation under her waist!
She felt her feet, her legs! She could even move them!!!
Proceeding carefully at first, Sailor Jupiter stood up from her bed,
then took a hesitant step, a bit shaky on her feet; after all, she
hadn`t walked in a long time. Then the next step was easier, then
the next, then she was runnning out of her room, and outside the
hospital.
Sailor Jupiter was back, and she knew her friends would need her
tonight.
* * *
She sat alone in her studio, exhausted by the huge effort placed on
her by the huge order for the largest youma horde ever created in
history. All this for a single operation, the one strike that would
make or break the rebirth of the dark empire. She looked around,
seeing her workshop naked of any of the dozens statues she had
created for the empire and animated into humanoid beasts.
Thorelia was so tired that she didn`t even care about her synthetic
flesh mask that was almost ready to give up on her, melting in large
drops and forming a small puddle at her feet.
Moving his body in reptilelike sways as his clawed feet raked the
sheer stone floor, Dokuryo joined the tired sculptress in her dark
studio. He sat besides her, looking at her with warmth and
compassion.
"I heard how hard Aebonite had you working to animate all these
youma. He`s driven you like a slave with a whip. Here, I brought you
this." he said, handing her over a soft fleshlike mask of delicate
beauty. Thorelia was astounded.
"Where did you find this mask? I didn`t have time to craft a new one
myself..." she said, dragging her finger over the soft surface of
the feminine face she held in her hands. A large glob of melted
synthetic flesh fell down from her cheek onto Dokuryo`s hand.
Thorelia let out a small sob and turned away in shame.
"Don`t be sorry for who you are, Thorelia. I learned long ago to
accept my form, even if it revulsed me and all those around." said
the toxic dragon.
"Thank you, Dokuryo, you`re very kind... and I always thought your
scales to be very beautiful, old friend." said Thorelia.
"Why don`t you put your face on, friend artist?"
Thorelia smiled, then blushed. "But that means I have to take the
old one off first..." she said, whispering as she looked at the
puddle on the floor.
"You can do it in front of me, you could never do anything to make
me feel uncomfortable, you know that..." said Dokuryo.
She hesitated, but did it nonetheless. With a swift motion, she used
her hand to scrape the rapidly liquifying mask off her face,
revealing the full horror of her condition. She had no skin
whatsoever over her disfigured face, her facial muscles and
throbbing veins fully exposed to Dokuryo`s view. It took all of
his strenght not to cry at the terrible curse that afflicted her.
Thorelia noticed his discomfort, but pretended not to be aware of
it as she slipped on her new face. The soft lines of her new
appearance were quite flattering on her, and brought a smile to the
artist as she looked at her reflection in a nearby mirror. "It`s the
most beautiful I`ve ever looked... thank you, Dokuryo... where did
you get this mask?" she asked, a sparkle of joy in her eyes.
"I... made it myself, in my spare time." he said, blushing, if such
a thing was possible for one whose skin is made of thousands of tiny
interlocking light green scales.
"Thank you, Dokuryo. It`s wonderful." she replied, kissing him
before he could say anything else.
Breaking the kiss after a while, the toxic dragon apologized for
having to leave. "Time to fight for the empire." he mumbled, leaving
in a hurry.
Thorelia sighed as the dragon left, wondering if she`d ever be so
lucky as to have a real face-a-face to win the heart of the only
one who really cared about her feelings. This face he made wouldn`t
last more than two hours, she knew it well- she was the only one
who knew the many intricaties of creating masks that could resist
Beryl`s curse for more than a day.
But she didn`t care. She`d stay in front of that mirror for as long
as her new face would hold, admiring the masterful crafting that
went into the loving sculpting of the face she was given.
"I love you, my toxic dragon..." she whispered, as she prayed for
him to return safely from his mission.
* * *
"Thanks mom... we`ll give you news of how it went as soon as we come
back." said Usagi on the phone, then hung up. She felt relieved that
her parents would keep an eye on Chibi-Usa in the absence of herself
and Mamoru... she didn`t know why the small lady had entered this
strange cocoon she had spun in her room, but Usagi was determined
that nothing happened to her while she was in this defenseless
condition.
"She`ll be in good hands. I know we can trust them with the life of
our daughter." said Mamoru as he snuck up behind her and put his
arms around her waist and hugged her tenderly.
"Yeah, and they`re really understanding about my being Sailor Moon
and all. They encourage me with all their heart, even if I know that
deep down inside they`re worried sick every single time I
transform..." she said, closing her eyes and enjoying the moment to
the fullest before the storm arrives.
"Just the same as we worry of our small lady... isn`t that what
being a parent is all about?" asked Mamoru. Usagi giggled at the
thought... she still figured herself too young to be a mother and
yet fate had sent her this sweet young girl who would be born of
her love with her darling prince...
"The others are waiting for us, my bunny." whispered Mamoru.
"Just give me a kiss before we join them, please?" she pleaded
softly.
"Granted, one kiss... a small token of what I have planned for later
tonight..." he said.
Usagi`s eyes lit up with desire as she realized what he meant, and he
brought his lips to hers for a single kiss, charged with all the
passion that burned in his heart for his princess.
Time stopped for just an instant, bolts of lightning going from the
tender man`s lips through hers, descending through her spine in
little sparks of pleasure.
"A-hem..." voiced Haruka loudly to get the couple`s attention.
Mamoru and Usagi snapped back to reality, noticing the heart-filled
eyes of the entire contigent of sailor senshi set upon them. Several
girlish giggles resounded from their audience.
"Are the lovebirds ready to go?" asked Setsuna, barely able to
contain her laughter.
"Yes, let`s transform and go!" said Usagi. Ami`s place was suddenly
filled with flash after golden flash as the girls transformed into
their heroic forms.
"MOON SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"MERCURY SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"VENUS SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"NEPTUNE SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"URANUS SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"SATURN SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"JENDRA STAR POWER MAKEUP!"
"PLUTO STAR POWER MAKEUP!"
Following in the lead of his feminine allies, Mamoru`s form was
blurred in a flash of red light to reveal the chivalrous Prince
Endymion, dressed in his black suit, cape and breastplate.
"Show me the location, Mercury." asked Pluto, holding up her time
key and standing ready to open a gate.
Sailor Mercury held up her laptop, pointing to a small deserted
location in a rocky region of western Japan. "Be especially careful
of the location`s altitude- it`s underground!" she said.
"I`ll keep that in mind." replied Pluto. With one dramatic move of
her staff, a glowing purple portal opened up in front of them.
"Say, Pluto, is the big act really necessary when you do that?"
whispered Neptune to Pluto.
"Not really, it just makes it look more impressive!" she whispered
back with a smile.
The six senshi, two scouts and the prince stepped in, leaving the
luxurious appartment for what would certainly turn into a bloody
battleground.
"Waaaaaaaait!" resounded a voice from the corridor, and Sailor
Jupiter came charging in, panting hard as she had run the entire
distance from the hospital right to her friend`s place. Seeing the
shimmering portal, she understood that she was not too late. She
jumped for it, making it inside half a second before it closed.
She landed down on the other side of the rift in space inside a dark,
damp cavern somewhere in the underground cavern maze where Sailor
Pluto had brought everyone.
"Ouch, that was a tough landing..." she said, rubbing her sore arms
and knees.
"JUPITER!!! You`re here... and you`re walking!!!" said Sailor Moon,
completely astonished.
"Yeah, soul power did the trick! You were right about that, it`s the
greatest feeling in the world!" replied Jupiter.
"Well... second best, actually, isn`t that right Sailor Moon?" said
Jendra, giving her a small elbow jab and laughing. Sailor Moon
blushed bright red along with Endymion.
"Okay, enough with the joking here. We have a big fight on our hands,
and we have to stay on our guards for a..." started Uranus, but she
was interrupted by Ghangoroth who finished her sentence.
"SNEAK ATTACK!!!" resounded his voice in the cavern as a pyrokynetic
ball of flame soared towards the young warriors. They broke apart in
a second, dodging the projectile which then hit the ground harmlessly,
detonating into a scorching streak of flames that moved forward in a
straight line, splitting in three different directions to form a huge
fiery version of the greek letter PSI.
Recovering from the sudden assault, the girls quickly regained their
confidence and were ready to face the man whose flame engulfed head
was giving away his position in the cave`s darkness.
"I am Ghangoroth, general to Lord Aebonite of the Dark Empire, and
your path stops here, my worthy enemies." he said with unwavering
calm.
Another warrior emerged from the darkness, his reptilian anatomy
making him a shocking sight to his opponents. "I am Dokuryo, and I
have been sent by my lord to put an end to your efforts of
resistance once and for all." he said.
A third figure, even more ominous figure appeared. It was wearing
the dark green armor forged a decade ago by the mighty Kunzite.
"Call me the Malachite Warlord. Fear me for I am the death of you
all." said the warrior, speaking in a loud, dreadful voice.
"We know you`re strong, but we don`t fear you, because we have our
powers, our courage and our faith!" said Sailor Venus, taking a
defiant stand. "Besides, we outnumber you by more than three to
one!" she added.
"Oh, really?" asked the toxic dragon, smirking.
Shadows crawled around the team of earth`s champions, revealing the
figures of the largest youma horde they had ever seen.
"As it stands, we may not even have to get our hands dirty..." said
Dokuryo.
"Come, generals of the empire, we have an aebonite crystal to set
up." said the psionic warrior.
The three generals left the cave, leaving the large contingent of
humanoid beasts to deal with the enemies of their master Aebonite.
"They`re getting away!" yelled Endymion.
"We`ll have to fight our way through to stop them!" replied Pluto.
Jupiter and Uranus were two steps ahead of her already, calling forth
their sacred weapons.
"Heaven`s Wrath!!!" screamed Uranus, an onyx katana forming in her
hand in a sudden gust of cold wind. "Mjolnir!!!" yelled Jupiter, a
jade warhammer appearing in her hand as the sound of crashing thunder
echoed in the cavern. Both warriors ran forward with a mighty battle
cry, piercing the barrier of youma with their drawn weapons.
Following their example, the remaining senshi called forth their
sacred weapons as well.
"Avenger!"
"Monsoon!"
"Soulstar!"
"DeadShot!"
"Dreadbane!"
The remaining three warriors readied their own weapons: Sailor Pluto
with her time key, Prince Endymion with his sharp sword and Sailor
Jendra who summoned her prismatic seven slasher to create seven
deadly boomerangs of solidified colored light.
The monster horde tightened the circle and charged forward, engaging
the warriors not already fighting through the lethal youma squadron.
For the next few minutes, the entire battle faded into a violent blur
for our heroes as they cut down through seemingly endless hordes of
the vilest creatures that only the most twisted subconscious human
minds could fathom in all the horror of its deepest, darkest
nightmares.
As the first wave was almost destroyed, a second large group moved
in to attack, composed of brutish ox-like humanoid female youma.
Sailor Venus saw them, and was ready to give those creatures just
what they deserved.
"DEADLY WINDS ON BANE!!!" She screamed.
A sudden gust of wind blew from behind her while a pinkish shroud
formed around her, blowing into the monsters who began to burn and
melt from the acid attack of Venus. The youma breathing in the
lethal gas cloud gurgled hideously, their destroyed lungs refusing
them their last scream of pain. Most of this new horde was thus
struck down before it ever got a chance to give a single blow.
Seeing an opening in the ranks of their enemies, Sailor Jupiter
sprang forward and bashed a pair of serpent women who blocked her
way; she ran down the corridor in pursuit of the three generals in
the hope of stopping them from activating the crystal.
And the battle went on.
* * *
Back in Tokyo, Tsukino Kenji held his wife Ikuko in his arms as they
sat by the window of the bedroom of the girl who would one day be
their grandaughter Chibi-Usa. Sitting in one of the few spots in the
room not overtaken by the large web of fibers holding the cocoon in
place, the loving couple wondered how their beloved daughter was
doing.
"I hope she`s not taking any unnecassary risks out there..." said
Ikuko.
"Even if we wanted her not to, she couldn`t help it but do so anyway.
She`s risking her life every time she transforms, fighting impossible
odds to ensure a better future for all of us." said Kenji, letting
his eyes wander onto the silver moon peering from behind a passing
cloud.
"Let`s face it... we have a wonderful girl who`ll risk everything to
stand up for what she believes." replied Ikuko.
High in the night sky, she saw the long burning streak of three
shooting stars falling down to earth. She was always told by her
parents since she was a child that a shooting star was a bad omen,
a sign of trouble ahead.
She didn`t dare imagine what three of them at once could harbor.
* * *
With the sound of Technum powered attacks echoing in the corridor
behind her, Sailor Jupiter ran as fast as her newly healed legs
would carry her, pursuing the three generals of Aebonite. She would
surely be outnumbered once she caught up with them, but she had her
power, her faith and this heavy jade warhammer in her hands, and
every blow she swung would be charged with the raw strength of a
thunderstorm.
"Where are you, monsters?" she yelled as she ran down the almost
totally dark corridors which were occasionaly lit by a flash of
power from one of the special attacks of the senshi.
She eventually emerged into another cave where she saw the reptile
man, the caped fire headed psionic and the malachite clad warrior
working over a four feet wide chunk of ice blue crystal that she was
sure was aebonite mineral. A cold shiver bit her skin, telling her
that the crystal was almost ready to be activated to full power.
"She`s here." said Ghangoroth, feeling her presence without even
turning around to see her enter the cave.
"We need to finish this quickly before her friends arrive." added
Dokuryo.
"I`ll take care of this, fellow warriors." said the Malachite
Warlord, picking up a large two handed sword with a jagged edge. He
walked slowly across the very large dome shaped cave towards his
enemy while making huge deadly slashes in the air to intimidate
Jupiter. His allies picked up the pace on their mineral activation
work, determined to complete their mission as fast as they possibly
could.
"I am the destroyer of souls, the end of your faith, I bring the
pestilence to the fields of humanity and pay the wages of sin..." he
said ominously, moving in for the kill. He swung down his sword with
all his strenght upon Sailor Jupiter who parried the attack with
Mjolnir. They began a savage exchange of blows, each one thundering
with the sound of clashing steel and crashing lightning.
Try as each one of them would, neither seemed to gain the upper hand,
every hack and slash either dodged or blocked. Jupiter panicked as
she felt the power of the crystal increasing rapidly, but was unable
to reach it because of this incredibly powerful warrior barring her
way.
Taking advantage of a slight misstep he took, she used her powers
to destabilize him.
"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!!!"
Forming a fist-sized ball of thunder in her hand, she tossed it
towards the warrior, hitting him directly on his studded helm which
flew right off his hand as he collapsed on the ground.
"OH MY GOD..." thought Jupiter as she saw the face of the warolord,
the sheer shock of this revelation freezing the words down her
throat.
The warlord crawled up on his hands and knees, trying to shake off
the convulsions caused by the electric shock. His face was one she`d
have recognized anywhere... it was Shingo, the kidnapped Emerald
Knight! He had the same features that she was used to seing, although
they were now twisted hideously by a burning fire of hatred and
loathing. He was now corrupt to the core, a true puppet of his evil
master Aebonite.
She didn`t have time to react to this sudden revelation; the aebonite
crystal was operating at full force now, and the cave rocked into a
sudden quake as a shield of raw energy formed around the crystal.
"VICTORY!!!" screamed Dokuryo while he backed away from the
energizing mineral.
"NOOOO!" screamed Jupiter. She knew then she had failed.
* * *
"What happened?" asked Venus as she finished slashing down a trio of
ratlike youma.
"I think the aebonite crystal just got activated... we`re too
late!!!" answered Mercury, aiming at an insect creature and shooting
it down with a well placed ice arrow.
A shooting ball of purple energy struck down the last monsters;
Pluto`s dead scream attack had put the final touch to the senshi
massacre. "Where`s Jupiter?" she wondered, noticing one of her
allies was missing.
"She ran to try and stop the generals when she had an opening
earlier. Let`s go join her!" said Sailor Moon.
A second earthquake shook the underground cavern, and the tunnel
that Jupiter took collapsed completely upon itself.
"This is VERY bad..." said Saturn. She got no disagreement on that
statement.
* * *
"Come on, you did great." said Dokuryo as he helped the Malachite
Warlord stand up. He was still shocked out of his mind from the
lightning ball hurled at him by Sailor Jupiter. He could barely keep
standing up even with the toxic dragon`s help.
"I`ll stay behind and finish our work. Bring him home, my friend."
said Ghangoroth.
Dokuryo agreed, and a dark portal formed in front of the two dark
empire warriors who entered and vanished the passage to the fortress
of Aebonite.
Sailor Jupiter got up, painfully shaking off the dizzyness she felt
after she lost her balance and hit the ground when the serie of
earthquakes struck. She looked at the last general who was still
there with her, the psionic warrior whose head was engulfed in
heatless flames.
Then it happened again. She was seeing herself through his eyes,
and she had no idea why.
"Don`t you understand yet, Jupiter?" asked Ghangoroth who seemed to
be reading her mind...
"Yes, I am reading your mind..." he said. "And you can read mine
too."
"How is that possible?" asked Jupiter.
"Don`t you understand yet... my love?" asked Ghangoroth. The flames
around his head wavered and died, revealing the face of the man who
rescued her when she was shot in that alley, the man she loved,
Xavier.
"X...Xavier? YOU`RE GHANGOROTH?!?"
"Correct. I`m one of the last surviving servants of Beryl, the
underling of her son-in-law Aebonite... but I fell in love with you,
Kino Makoto. I did my best to shield you from my duty to destroy
your allies, but you had to come here..." said Ghangoroth, a sad
look on his face.
"Are you going to kill me, now?" wondered Makoto. She prayed he
wasn`t going to, because she knew right there that she wouldn`t have
the courage to hurt him, that she`d rather let him kill her where
she stood.
"I don`t want t hurt you, my love, that`s why I lied to Aebonite
when he asked me to scan the mind of Emerald Knight... I clearly saw
he was the brother of Sailor Moon, but revealing that would have
led him straight to you. I couldn`t do that." he replied. The psionic
man then moved close to her and took her in his arms.
Makoto could feel his eyes peering straight into her soul, where he
saw the great love she felt for him. She then understood why she`d
been seeing things through his eyes: their mutual love had forged a
link between their minds through Ghangoroth`s telepathic abilities.
They were one mind now.
Not saying another word, they closed their eyes and kissed. Jupiter
felt her whole body relaxed, and her fingers opened up, letting her
sacred weapon slip to the floor where it clanked heavily. They lost
themselves in the moment, their mind, hearts and souls merging into
a single entity through the strength of their love.
Then she felt something disturbed her lover.
"Someone`s coming through the portal." his voice said in her mind.
Psionic flames surged around his head once again.
Pretending to fight Sailor Jupiter, he pushed her away in a blast
of telekinetic energy which knocked her down, but not so harshly
that it could harm her. She played along and pretended to be in more
pain than she really was. At that moment, Dokuryo stepped out of the
portal.
"Isn`t this over yet?!" he asked.
"She`s tougher than she seems. I`ll be done in a minute... why did
you come back anyway, toxic dragon?" wondered Ghangoroth.
"Aebonite thought you`d need help to carry her dead body back to the
fortress."
"We`re not staining our home with corpses!" protested Ghangoroth.
"Don`t worry about that... it won`t smell if it`s well preserved."
said Dokuryo, taking a small piece of white crystal from his jacket
pocket. Jupiter could feel that it contained a vast amount of power,
and she also felt her lover`s panic which he kept hidden from his
ally.
"What the hell are you doing? It`s my fight!" objected the psionic
man.
"Not anymore, by Aebonite`s order." interposed the reptile,
activating the crystal which he threw hard at Jupiter.
She barely had time to realize what happened next. She heard her
lover screaming a loud "NO!" and saw him throw himself in front of
her, a huge frost explosion swallowing him whole as the projectile
touched him. When the cold fog cleared, he was trapped inside a huge
piece of ice, his features frozen in icy stupor.
"XAVIER!!!" she screamed in pain.
Dokuryo watched at the scene in silent contemplation. Without a word,
he turned back, took the portal for the fortress and closed it behind
him. His ally`s fate had been sealed.
"I`m trapped, Makoto." echoed his voice inside her mind. Through
their shared link, she could feel his body getting colder and colder,
pressure building on his lungs who desperately fought for air they
couldn`t get.
"Can`t you use your fire generating powers to melt it?" she asked
telepathically.
"No, this ice is magical... it neutralizes my fire generating power."
he replied, his voice growing fainter in her mind.
"I`m not going to let you die!" she said, picking up her warhammer
and slamming it on the icy surface. The power of the blow was
returned to her by the mystic substance, blowing her flat on her
back.
"You know, Makoto, I never had a chance to tell you how much you
remind me of my deceased wife." said Ghangoroth, getting weaker as
his brain began running out of oxygen. "I always felt remorse for
not being there for her when she died, but now I repaid my debt... I
love you, Makoto..." she heard in her head. The love she felt pouring
from his heart was beautiful, and it increased her feeling of
helplessness as she felt him dying.
* * *
"Damn it, Pluto, can`t you just open a simple portal over a hundred
feet?!?" yelled Uranus, who was horribly annoyed of not being there
to help Jupiter trash these dark empire bastards over there.
"The energy shielding of the aebonite crystal is interfering with my
powers, I can`t get us that close! We`ll have to DIG our way
through." explained Pluto.
"Okay, then, digging it is! WORLD.... SHA..." started to say Sailor
Uranus, her extended hand starting to fill with energy to perform her
trademark world shacking attack. Neptune grabbed her wrists and
stopped her right there.
"Don`t do that! You`ll bury us alive if you do try and blast your
way through!" she objected.
"And how do you suggest we proceed? Dig by hand? That`ll take
forever!" replied Sailor Moon.
"All the more reason to start right now." said Endymion who sheated
his sword and started to pick rocks out of the blocked passage.
Uranus blushed when she realized how silly she must have looked for
losing her temper, then joined the prince in his effort. Soon after,
the senshi were all working together to open up the tunnel.
* * *
Using her own fists, she started bashing the ice block, to no avail.
It was resisting every hit she was giving, no matter how much
strenght she used. Tears began to form in Jupiter`s eyes as she
failed to crack the prison that was suffocating her lover.
She stopped throwing her punches for a moment, her hands hurting as
if they`d been caught in a garbage compactor. She looked at
Ghangoroth, but she couldn`t feel his thoughts anymore. She then
felt his spark of life diminishing, and then vanishing.
He was dead.
Makoto screamed at the top of her lungs in a mix of heartbreaking
pain and mindless anger, bashing her fists into the ice block without
any consideration to her own well-being. Her black leather gloves
soon gave out, ripping out and exposing her bare knuckles which she
kept slamming repeatedly while she screamed out her loss.
She kept on punching when her skin itself began to tear. She didn`t
care.
* * *
"All right, we`re almost there!" said Mercury, seeing on her laptop
that only two meters of rubble blocked their way now. It had taken
just over an hour to make it that far, and they were all glad to have
made it through at long last.
"Stand back!" commanded Uranus, whom no one tried to stop. She
concentrated all her inner power into a single blow, focusing on the
apparent weakness into the rock formation, a talent she got when she
transcended into soul power. The punch did its job, detonating the
rock barrier into pebbles.
The sight that greeted them was a tragic one. They saw a large block
of magical ice holding the man whom they knew as Xavier, Makoto`s
boyfriend, wearing a dark empire general uniform. Slumped against
this block of ice, Sailor Jupiter was crying uncontrollably. Her
knuckles were terribly wounded, her skin gnawed to the bone from
repeatedly striking something she just couldn`t break. The ice block
itself was covered with her frozen blood where she`d been punching
in a futile effort to release her now dead lover.
They realized at that point the real extent of their failure.
* * *
Epilogue...
A shimmering purple energy gate opened in the living room of the
Tsukino residence, allowing passage to the tired warriors from the
Osaka underground caves back to their hometown of Tokyo. Sad faces
and bruised bodies were the only thing the champions of earth
brought back from their expedition.
"What happened???" asked Ikuko in concern when she saw them
arriving in their battered condition.
"We lost, mom." said Sailor Moon. "And Jupiter lost even more than
just a battle..." she added, looking at her sobbing friend who was
helped by Endymion to sit down on the sofa.
"Oh." said Ikuko who understood what her daughter was hinting at.
"Can she stay over tonight? I wouldn`t want her to be alone..." asked
Sailor Moon.
"Of course, dear, she can stay as long as she needs to." answered her
mother.
"Thanks." said Sailor Moon. She then reverted back to her plain pink
blouse and pants in a flash of golden light. The others followed her
lead, reverting back to their more comfortable regular clothes.
"Usagi darling, I`m glad you came back in time, there`s something you
should see..." said her father Kenji as he came down the stairs.
"Mamoru... I think you should come upstairs too."
They went up and saw exactly what Kenji meant. In Chibi-Usa`s room,
the cocoon was beginning to stir from the inside.
"Do you think... she`s coming out now?" wondered Usagi.
"I... don`t know." replied Mamoru. Standing behind them in the
hallway, Kenji and Ikuko silently awaited to see if their future
grandaughter would emerge as they believed she was trying to.
With a loud cracking sound, the dried up fibers that covered the body
of the small lady started to give under the efforts of the awakening
young girl. Piece after piece of the now useless cocoon fell down
until Chibi-Usa was finally able to free herself completely and
stand up.
The small lady wasn`t so small anymore.
"Chibi-Usa... you`re..." uttered Usagi.
"...all grown up!" completed Mamoru.
Indeed, the torn rags that were just the right fit for Chibi-Usa
just days ago had been ripped apart from her supernatural growth.
She was now a fully matured young woman whose feminine attributes
were just as beautifully formed as her mother`s. Her breasts were
round and firm, while her hips had taken perfect curves.
"It took me 900 years, mom and dad, but I finally did it! I`m an
adult now!" she said with pride.
"Your hair..." observed Mamoru, "...it changed color!"
The hair of Chibi-Usa, once the softest shade of pink, had both grown
in lenght and darkened to a firey scarlet color.
"Err... maybe we should get her some clothes, don`t you think?"
whispered Usagi to her fiancee. It then occured to everyone that the
shock of seeing the small lady transformed in this way had diverted
attention from the fact that she was standing there totally nude.
They all blushed, and Mamoru covered his eyes with his hand, as did
Ikuko and Kenji.
"I`ll let you handle this, my little bunny, okay?" said Mamoru who
walked out of the room.
"Okay small... err... scarlet lady, I`ll lend you some of my
clothes... we seem to have the same measurements, it would appear."
said Usagi.
After a few minutes, Usagi came down the stairs along with a girl
whom her friends could have sworn was her twin sister. Dressed with
a light red blouse and skirt matching her hair that she had chosen
to wear in the same style her mother once had, she was a stunningly
gorgeous young woman.
"Hello everyone." she said to the stunned audience. "You all called
me Chibi-Usa, or small lady, but now I`m too tall for that... from
now, I`m Usako, the scarlet lady!" she declared amidst a sea of
"oooh" and "aaah" from her friends.
Seeing Makoto crying silently on the sofa, she went to her. Usako
knelt next to her on the floor and took her hands. "Usagi told me
what happened, I`m really sorry about your loss." she said.
"Sometimes I feel like I was meant to live my whole life alone..."
Makoto said in between two sobs.
"I know I shouldn`t tell you this but..." started Usako, looking at
Setsuna who nodded to give her consent to what the scarlet lady was
about to reveal. "...in the future, my future, you are NOT alone...
you found your true love, and have been living the most beautiful
love story that you could ever have dreamed of." said Usako.
"Really?" asked Makoto, stopping to cry.
"Yes, it will take time for you to heal this wound, but... you will
learn to love again." she said.
Makoto then hugged Usako, releasing all the tears she still held
back. It felt good to let go of her pain like this, because she knew
her friends would always be there for her.
"So where do we go from here?" wondered Haruka.
"The dark empire has completed their energy draining web... the
temperatures are still dropping fast all over the world... I just
don`t know what to do next." said Ami with a profound sigh.
To be continued...
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
A lone man ran along the filth ridden tunnels of the Tokyo sewers,
trying his best to outrun his relentless pursuer. The deadly silence
of the noiseless movements she made drove him crazy... well,
crazier than he already was anyway.
Coran Demsy was scared out of his mind, now. He thought he`d outran
her way back there at the asylum, but she found him again. Psyche
knew she was right there behind him, even though the only noise he
could hear was the dirty water splashing under his feet.
"You`ll never get away from her, you know." said the all too familiar
voice of Sailor Jendra whose image haunted him day and night.
"Shut up!" he snapped back, running as fast as his tired legs would
allow.
A putrid stench assaulted his nose, but he didn`t take notice as the
sewer was pugnant enough already. He did notice, however, the black
shroud which suddenly surrounded him. Psyche stopped running, his
mind seized by total panic.
"There`s no way you can possibly live through this." taunted the
haunting hallucination of Sailor Mercury, mocking him as she always
did.
Demsy wanted very much to pull out that gun he stole from one of the
asylum guards, but he ran out of bullets days ago when he tried to
kill those two insolent sailor scouts that followed him everywhere.
Besides, this creature that was after him was less than likely to be
affected by hot lead.
"You`re going to die, now, psychic freak!" said both hallucinations
at once.
Psyche wanted to object to them, but his answer was cut short by a
flash of cold steel that materialized from the black shroud and
killed him instantly.
The two images vanished as the blood of the fallen madman Coran
Demsy spilled into the filthy waters, a wicked feminine laughter
filling the dark tunnels.
* * *
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE 31
ALWAYS LOVE THE ONES YOU HURT
Flowing freely in the patterns that had been shaped through billions
of years of continuous circulation, the molten magma emitted immense
amounts of heat that radiated through the earth`s crust and upwards
to the surface. It had given much needed heat to the ecosystem over
this very long period and had taken a great part into the creation
of life, but now this precious energy was being diverted and stolen
away a clever network of aebonite crystals.
The smaller pieces took this raw geothermal energy and altered its
form slightly for ease of redirection, and sent it to some larger
pieces placed nearby. These pieces then transmitted the energy to
strategically located chunks of greater size, and so on as the pieces
grew larger and the stolen energy flow increased in power.
Unknown to the creators of this crystalline network, one of the major
pieces of aebonite mineral was flawed; it was a tiny crack, nothing
even visible, but large enough still to be trouble. The unrelenting
flow of powerful energy was exerting an unimaginable stress on the
crystal`s surface, which had began to slowly gnaw at the microscopic
flaw until it had grown into a rather wide crack. As time went by,
the increasing energy flow became too much for the worn out piece of
crystal, until it finally called it quits and shattered into a
hundred pieces, leaving a gaping hole in the earth`s natural energy
distribution grid.
* * *
Monitoring the energy patterns arriving into the collection orbs
scattered all around his secret fortress, Aebonite noticed the sudden
drop in asian energy collection. It didn`t take him too long to
realize WHAT had happened, that one of his major crystal fragments
had been destroyed from the stress of energy influx. Not something he
liked to see, but not totally unexpected either. The amount of energy
going through these crystals was enormous, and even though the most
resiliant pieces were used to create the redirecting crystals, a few
of them were bound to break along the way.
Fortunately, he`d planned for just such a situation.
Aebonite passed his hand over the small quartz sphere floating in
front of his throne, changing the image on his viewing crystal screen
from a diagram of earthly energy patterns to that of the dining room
of his officers where his generals were having their meal.
"Attention to my superior oficers, an urgent matter has arisen. Meet
me in my throne room in minutes for mission specifics." said
Aebonite. Thorelia, Ghangoroth, Dokuryo and Shingo bowed to their
master and the crystal then went blank.
The ruler of the dark empire figured he would need a full squadron
of his best forces to deal with the replacement of his broken
crystal. These meddlesome girl warriors had been there to put a stop
to his plans every chance they got, no matter how discreet his agents
had been. Now that the location of his next strike was being
broadcast all over the planetary energy web, no way could they
possibly miss his next move.
* * *
"There it is, I spotted it barely half an hour ago." said Ami,
showing her allies the energy diagrams on her laptop screen. They
did something there, though they didn`t really know what to make of
it.
The Sailor Senshi were all there with their allies, save those who
couldn`t be there, namely the still recovering Mars, the paraplegic
Jupiter, the temporarily insane Venus and the missing Emerald Knight.
Laurella had made it to the meeting called by Ami at her home,
although she was visibly affected by her boyfriend`s kidnapping.
"Can you pinpoint the exact location?" wondered Mamoru.
"Easily. I studied the smaller crystal I got from fighting that tiger
youma, and discovered that sending geothermal energy through it
creates a natural shielding process... but this incident I just
detected suggests that a very large piece is located right there in
the Osaka region, and because it`s broken I can tell you exactly
where it is within a 1 mile radius more or less." Ami went on to
explain.
"So we must expect that they`ll try to replace it, if they are to
carry out their plan..." added Michiru.
"Precisely. This hole in their energy draining matrix is
destabilizing their entire effort." said Ami.
"The dark empire will send out the big guns on this one for sure."
said Haruka, cracking her knuckles. She wanted a rematch with the
jerks who had almost killed both her and her lover.
"Figures. This is so obviously detectable, they`ll expect us there!"
added Robin.
"Ami, if they use their portals to go there... do you think you could
find out where they`re hiding out?" softly said Laurella, speaking
for the first time since she got there. Ami looked at her friend,
who was showing a glimmer of hope that the man she loved so much
could be rescued before something awful happened to him.
"Of course, Laurella, I`ve prepared several backup plans to try and
figure out where he`s held." she said, bringing a faint smile to her
friend`s face. Of course, she wasn`t being totally truthful to
Laurella, as most of these plans were hypothetical and not even close
to being applicable, but in her current state Laurella`s usually
keen empathic skills were so impaired that she couldn`t tell whether
her friend was lying to her or not.
"Say, Ami, you called this meeting this morning... and yet you
detected this... whatever it is only half an hour ago! What else did
you want to discuss that was so important?" wondered Usagi.
All stares went from Usagi to Ami, as everyone realized that Usagi
was right.
Ami blushed, and looked down on the floor. "Why don`t we discuss
this later when we`ve taken care of this situation? It`s a bit of a
touchy subject, and we need to remain focused when we strike..."
"Okay, but when we return we want the full story, Ami. And remember,
we`re your friends." said Usagi, giving Ami a big smile to offer her
support.
"Deal!" replied Ami.
At this moment, the doorbell rang and everyone froze for a second.
Could Ami`s mother be back already from her hospital shift?
"Don`t worry, even if mom is here she won`t mind at all having you
all here... she`s been on my case about having more friends for
years now." said the brainy girl, getting up to answer. She opened
the door, but saw someone she didn`t expect, not in a hundred years.
Aino Minako was standing there, her honey blonde hair and pure blue
eyes restored to their true colors, her face streaked by the tears
of someone who spent many hours crying.
"I heard the general message you sent on the communicator... do you
mind if I join?" said Minako, holding back even more tears.
"Err... sure, come in..." said Ami, hesitating to answer.
A sudden cold chill infected the atmosphere of Ami`s living room as
everyone stopped talking, simply staring at Minako who entered the
room and shyly looked around.
"I can`t believe your nerve, showing your face here after what you
did." said Haruka accusingly, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"I know that I did some terrible things, and I`m not expecting any
of you to forgive me... but all I ask is that you give me a second
chance to prove myself, that I`ve come around..." said Minako,
looking at Ami the whole time.
"She`s sincere, I know that look..." said Ami. "We should give her
a chance."
The rest of her friends seemed uncomfortable about welcoming back
the girl who went on the bloodiest vigilante rampage in recorded
history, but they trusted Ami very much and accepted out of respect
for her.
"We`ll need another fighter on our side, I guess..." conceded
Haruka.
"You won`t regret it, I promise!" said Minako whose face suddenly
gleamed with the chirpiness the old Minako was known for.
* * *
She`d looked everywhere for him; no matter where she went, Luna
simply couldn`t find Artemis, a pattern that had been repeating
itself more and more recently. At first she thought he might have
been feeling tired over the recent serie of cataclysmic battles
that shook Tokyo, but he`d been missing meetings and strategic
planning sessions a lot lately. Since that reunion where he
explained to everyone the nature of aebonite crystals, he`d been
skipping all meetings and dodging everyone.
Luna just didn`t know what to make of it, Artemis seemed like a
whole new person. She wasn`t sure if she liked that or not...
* * *
It took her several minutes to get from her wheelchair onto her bed,
but Makoto did it all by herself, no small achievement. She smiled
at the thought that she might soon be able to return to a life of
independance, though she`d have to change a lot of things to
accomodate her new condition. Access ramps, modified kitchen,
adapted bathroom... all these things she learned about from the
readaptation service. It seemed like a lot, but she was up to the
challenge.
Then something weird happened. Again.
She could see images in her mind, images of strange humanoid
creatures moving around, preparing for a strike somewhere. And there
were a few people there she recognized from Shingo`s torture session
which she saw in the same manner...
"What`s happening? Why am I seeing this?" she wondered.
She wanted to do something... intuitively, her hand went to her
precious Jupiter transformation wand, but once again it failed to
do the desired change. She heard evil voices resounding in her ears,
yelling orders to be ready to kill her friends when they would be
there. Tears came to her eyes, she wanted to be there for them!!!
"I want to be Sailor Jupiter... no, I AM SAILOR JUPITER, I ALWAYS
WAS!!!" she thought with more conviction than she had ever felt
about anything. This she was sure, a child of lightning she was and
justice was the path set for her.
Then it clicked in her.
Makoto had wondered for some time how it felt to achieve soul power
as most of her allies had done already. It was the most glorious
sensation she had ever felt, more profound than any of the crushes
she`d had over her past boyfriends, more divine than the first time
she felt what she later learned was an orgasm. Her mind was aligning
itself with her soul to perfection, unleashing wave after wave of
surging power that flooded her entire being.
When the golden light died down, Makoto was wearing the green fuku
of the Sailor Senshi which was complete with the forearm and shin
guards, with the addition of the light green visor. On her right
thigh were the kanji RAI NO SENSHI, soldier of lightning.
"This is amazing..." she thought, sitting up in her hospital bed to
look at her new suit.
But that wasn`t going to be the biggest surprise of all. She felt
that her knee-high boots were a little tight around her calves. Wait
a minute? She FELT the boots?!? She had sensation under her waist!
She felt her feet, her legs! She could even move them!!!
Proceeding carefully at first, Sailor Jupiter stood up from her bed,
then took a hesitant step, a bit shaky on her feet; after all, she
hadn`t walked in a long time. Then the next step was easier, then
the next, then she was runnning out of her room, and outside the
hospital.
Sailor Jupiter was back, and she knew her friends would need her
tonight.
* * *
She sat alone in her studio, exhausted by the huge effort placed on
her by the huge order for the largest youma horde ever created in
history. All this for a single operation, the one strike that would
make or break the rebirth of the dark empire. She looked around,
seeing her workshop naked of any of the dozens statues she had
created for the empire and animated into humanoid beasts.
Thorelia was so tired that she didn`t even care about her synthetic
flesh mask that was almost ready to give up on her, melting in large
drops and forming a small puddle at her feet.
Moving his body in reptilelike sways as his clawed feet raked the
sheer stone floor, Dokuryo joined the tired sculptress in her dark
studio. He sat besides her, looking at her with warmth and
compassion.
"I heard how hard Aebonite had you working to animate all these
youma. He`s driven you like a slave with a whip. Here, I brought you
this." he said, handing her over a soft fleshlike mask of delicate
beauty. Thorelia was astounded.
"Where did you find this mask? I didn`t have time to craft a new one
myself..." she said, dragging her finger over the soft surface of
the feminine face she held in her hands. A large glob of melted
synthetic flesh fell down from her cheek onto Dokuryo`s hand.
Thorelia let out a small sob and turned away in shame.
"Don`t be sorry for who you are, Thorelia. I learned long ago to
accept my form, even if it revulsed me and all those around." said
the toxic dragon.
"Thank you, Dokuryo, you`re very kind... and I always thought your
scales to be very beautiful, old friend." said Thorelia.
"Why don`t you put your face on, friend artist?"
Thorelia smiled, then blushed. "But that means I have to take the
old one off first..." she said, whispering as she looked at the
puddle on the floor.
"You can do it in front of me, you could never do anything to make
me feel uncomfortable, you know that..." said Dokuryo.
She hesitated, but did it nonetheless. With a swift motion, she used
her hand to scrape the rapidly liquifying mask off her face,
revealing the full horror of her condition. She had no skin
whatsoever over her disfigured face, her facial muscles and
throbbing veins fully exposed to Dokuryo`s view. It took all of
his strenght not to cry at the terrible curse that afflicted her.
Thorelia noticed his discomfort, but pretended not to be aware of
it as she slipped on her new face. The soft lines of her new
appearance were quite flattering on her, and brought a smile to the
artist as she looked at her reflection in a nearby mirror. "It`s the
most beautiful I`ve ever looked... thank you, Dokuryo... where did
you get this mask?" she asked, a sparkle of joy in her eyes.
"I... made it myself, in my spare time." he said, blushing, if such
a thing was possible for one whose skin is made of thousands of tiny
interlocking light green scales.
"Thank you, Dokuryo. It`s wonderful." she replied, kissing him
before he could say anything else.
Breaking the kiss after a while, the toxic dragon apologized for
having to leave. "Time to fight for the empire." he mumbled, leaving
in a hurry.
Thorelia sighed as the dragon left, wondering if she`d ever be so
lucky as to have a real face-a-face to win the heart of the only
one who really cared about her feelings. This face he made wouldn`t
last more than two hours, she knew it well- she was the only one
who knew the many intricaties of creating masks that could resist
Beryl`s curse for more than a day.
But she didn`t care. She`d stay in front of that mirror for as long
as her new face would hold, admiring the masterful crafting that
went into the loving sculpting of the face she was given.
"I love you, my toxic dragon..." she whispered, as she prayed for
him to return safely from his mission.
* * *
"Thanks mom... we`ll give you news of how it went as soon as we come
back." said Usagi on the phone, then hung up. She felt relieved that
her parents would keep an eye on Chibi-Usa in the absence of herself
and Mamoru... she didn`t know why the small lady had entered this
strange cocoon she had spun in her room, but Usagi was determined
that nothing happened to her while she was in this defenseless
condition.
"She`ll be in good hands. I know we can trust them with the life of
our daughter." said Mamoru as he snuck up behind her and put his
arms around her waist and hugged her tenderly.
"Yeah, and they`re really understanding about my being Sailor Moon
and all. They encourage me with all their heart, even if I know that
deep down inside they`re worried sick every single time I
transform..." she said, closing her eyes and enjoying the moment to
the fullest before the storm arrives.
"Just the same as we worry of our small lady... isn`t that what
being a parent is all about?" asked Mamoru. Usagi giggled at the
thought... she still figured herself too young to be a mother and
yet fate had sent her this sweet young girl who would be born of
her love with her darling prince...
"The others are waiting for us, my bunny." whispered Mamoru.
"Just give me a kiss before we join them, please?" she pleaded
softly.
"Granted, one kiss... a small token of what I have planned for later
tonight..." he said.
Usagi`s eyes lit up with desire as she realized what he meant, and he
brought his lips to hers for a single kiss, charged with all the
passion that burned in his heart for his princess.
Time stopped for just an instant, bolts of lightning going from the
tender man`s lips through hers, descending through her spine in
little sparks of pleasure.
"A-hem..." voiced Haruka loudly to get the couple`s attention.
Mamoru and Usagi snapped back to reality, noticing the heart-filled
eyes of the entire contigent of sailor senshi set upon them. Several
girlish giggles resounded from their audience.
"Are the lovebirds ready to go?" asked Setsuna, barely able to
contain her laughter.
"Yes, let`s transform and go!" said Usagi. Ami`s place was suddenly
filled with flash after golden flash as the girls transformed into
their heroic forms.
"MOON SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"MERCURY SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"VENUS SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"NEPTUNE SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"URANUS SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"SATURN SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!"
"JENDRA STAR POWER MAKEUP!"
"PLUTO STAR POWER MAKEUP!"
Following in the lead of his feminine allies, Mamoru`s form was
blurred in a flash of red light to reveal the chivalrous Prince
Endymion, dressed in his black suit, cape and breastplate.
"Show me the location, Mercury." asked Pluto, holding up her time
key and standing ready to open a gate.
Sailor Mercury held up her laptop, pointing to a small deserted
location in a rocky region of western Japan. "Be especially careful
of the location`s altitude- it`s underground!" she said.
"I`ll keep that in mind." replied Pluto. With one dramatic move of
her staff, a glowing purple portal opened up in front of them.
"Say, Pluto, is the big act really necessary when you do that?"
whispered Neptune to Pluto.
"Not really, it just makes it look more impressive!" she whispered
back with a smile.
The six senshi, two scouts and the prince stepped in, leaving the
luxurious appartment for what would certainly turn into a bloody
battleground.
"Waaaaaaaait!" resounded a voice from the corridor, and Sailor
Jupiter came charging in, panting hard as she had run the entire
distance from the hospital right to her friend`s place. Seeing the
shimmering portal, she understood that she was not too late. She
jumped for it, making it inside half a second before it closed.
She landed down on the other side of the rift in space inside a dark,
damp cavern somewhere in the underground cavern maze where Sailor
Pluto had brought everyone.
"Ouch, that was a tough landing..." she said, rubbing her sore arms
and knees.
"JUPITER!!! You`re here... and you`re walking!!!" said Sailor Moon,
completely astonished.
"Yeah, soul power did the trick! You were right about that, it`s the
greatest feeling in the world!" replied Jupiter.
"Well... second best, actually, isn`t that right Sailor Moon?" said
Jendra, giving her a small elbow jab and laughing. Sailor Moon
blushed bright red along with Endymion.
"Okay, enough with the joking here. We have a big fight on our hands,
and we have to stay on our guards for a..." started Uranus, but she
was interrupted by Ghangoroth who finished her sentence.
"SNEAK ATTACK!!!" resounded his voice in the cavern as a pyrokynetic
ball of flame soared towards the young warriors. They broke apart in
a second, dodging the projectile which then hit the ground harmlessly,
detonating into a scorching streak of flames that moved forward in a
straight line, splitting in three different directions to form a huge
fiery version of the greek letter PSI.
Recovering from the sudden assault, the girls quickly regained their
confidence and were ready to face the man whose flame engulfed head
was giving away his position in the cave`s darkness.
"I am Ghangoroth, general to Lord Aebonite of the Dark Empire, and
your path stops here, my worthy enemies." he said with unwavering
calm.
Another warrior emerged from the darkness, his reptilian anatomy
making him a shocking sight to his opponents. "I am Dokuryo, and I
have been sent by my lord to put an end to your efforts of
resistance once and for all." he said.
A third figure, even more ominous figure appeared. It was wearing
the dark green armor forged a decade ago by the mighty Kunzite.
"Call me the Malachite Warlord. Fear me for I am the death of you
all." said the warrior, speaking in a loud, dreadful voice.
"We know you`re strong, but we don`t fear you, because we have our
powers, our courage and our faith!" said Sailor Venus, taking a
defiant stand. "Besides, we outnumber you by more than three to
one!" she added.
"Oh, really?" asked the toxic dragon, smirking.
Shadows crawled around the team of earth`s champions, revealing the
figures of the largest youma horde they had ever seen.
"As it stands, we may not even have to get our hands dirty..." said
Dokuryo.
"Come, generals of the empire, we have an aebonite crystal to set
up." said the psionic warrior.
The three generals left the cave, leaving the large contingent of
humanoid beasts to deal with the enemies of their master Aebonite.
"They`re getting away!" yelled Endymion.
"We`ll have to fight our way through to stop them!" replied Pluto.
Jupiter and Uranus were two steps ahead of her already, calling forth
their sacred weapons.
"Heaven`s Wrath!!!" screamed Uranus, an onyx katana forming in her
hand in a sudden gust of cold wind. "Mjolnir!!!" yelled Jupiter, a
jade warhammer appearing in her hand as the sound of crashing thunder
echoed in the cavern. Both warriors ran forward with a mighty battle
cry, piercing the barrier of youma with their drawn weapons.
Following their example, the remaining senshi called forth their
sacred weapons as well.
"Avenger!"
"Monsoon!"
"Soulstar!"
"DeadShot!"
"Dreadbane!"
The remaining three warriors readied their own weapons: Sailor Pluto
with her time key, Prince Endymion with his sharp sword and Sailor
Jendra who summoned her prismatic seven slasher to create seven
deadly boomerangs of solidified colored light.
The monster horde tightened the circle and charged forward, engaging
the warriors not already fighting through the lethal youma squadron.
For the next few minutes, the entire battle faded into a violent blur
for our heroes as they cut down through seemingly endless hordes of
the vilest creatures that only the most twisted subconscious human
minds could fathom in all the horror of its deepest, darkest
nightmares.
As the first wave was almost destroyed, a second large group moved
in to attack, composed of brutish ox-like humanoid female youma.
Sailor Venus saw them, and was ready to give those creatures just
what they deserved.
"DEADLY WINDS ON BANE!!!" She screamed.
A sudden gust of wind blew from behind her while a pinkish shroud
formed around her, blowing into the monsters who began to burn and
melt from the acid attack of Venus. The youma breathing in the
lethal gas cloud gurgled hideously, their destroyed lungs refusing
them their last scream of pain. Most of this new horde was thus
struck down before it ever got a chance to give a single blow.
Seeing an opening in the ranks of their enemies, Sailor Jupiter
sprang forward and bashed a pair of serpent women who blocked her
way; she ran down the corridor in pursuit of the three generals in
the hope of stopping them from activating the crystal.
And the battle went on.
* * *
Back in Tokyo, Tsukino Kenji held his wife Ikuko in his arms as they
sat by the window of the bedroom of the girl who would one day be
their grandaughter Chibi-Usa. Sitting in one of the few spots in the
room not overtaken by the large web of fibers holding the cocoon in
place, the loving couple wondered how their beloved daughter was
doing.
"I hope she`s not taking any unnecassary risks out there..." said
Ikuko.
"Even if we wanted her not to, she couldn`t help it but do so anyway.
She`s risking her life every time she transforms, fighting impossible
odds to ensure a better future for all of us." said Kenji, letting
his eyes wander onto the silver moon peering from behind a passing
cloud.
"Let`s face it... we have a wonderful girl who`ll risk everything to
stand up for what she believes." replied Ikuko.
High in the night sky, she saw the long burning streak of three
shooting stars falling down to earth. She was always told by her
parents since she was a child that a shooting star was a bad omen,
a sign of trouble ahead.
She didn`t dare imagine what three of them at once could harbor.
* * *
With the sound of Technum powered attacks echoing in the corridor
behind her, Sailor Jupiter ran as fast as her newly healed legs
would carry her, pursuing the three generals of Aebonite. She would
surely be outnumbered once she caught up with them, but she had her
power, her faith and this heavy jade warhammer in her hands, and
every blow she swung would be charged with the raw strength of a
thunderstorm.
"Where are you, monsters?" she yelled as she ran down the almost
totally dark corridors which were occasionaly lit by a flash of
power from one of the special attacks of the senshi.
She eventually emerged into another cave where she saw the reptile
man, the caped fire headed psionic and the malachite clad warrior
working over a four feet wide chunk of ice blue crystal that she was
sure was aebonite mineral. A cold shiver bit her skin, telling her
that the crystal was almost ready to be activated to full power.
"She`s here." said Ghangoroth, feeling her presence without even
turning around to see her enter the cave.
"We need to finish this quickly before her friends arrive." added
Dokuryo.
"I`ll take care of this, fellow warriors." said the Malachite
Warlord, picking up a large two handed sword with a jagged edge. He
walked slowly across the very large dome shaped cave towards his
enemy while making huge deadly slashes in the air to intimidate
Jupiter. His allies picked up the pace on their mineral activation
work, determined to complete their mission as fast as they possibly
could.
"I am the destroyer of souls, the end of your faith, I bring the
pestilence to the fields of humanity and pay the wages of sin..." he
said ominously, moving in for the kill. He swung down his sword with
all his strenght upon Sailor Jupiter who parried the attack with
Mjolnir. They began a savage exchange of blows, each one thundering
with the sound of clashing steel and crashing lightning.
Try as each one of them would, neither seemed to gain the upper hand,
every hack and slash either dodged or blocked. Jupiter panicked as
she felt the power of the crystal increasing rapidly, but was unable
to reach it because of this incredibly powerful warrior barring her
way.
Taking advantage of a slight misstep he took, she used her powers
to destabilize him.
"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!!!"
Forming a fist-sized ball of thunder in her hand, she tossed it
towards the warrior, hitting him directly on his studded helm which
flew right off his hand as he collapsed on the ground.
"OH MY GOD..." thought Jupiter as she saw the face of the warolord,
the sheer shock of this revelation freezing the words down her
throat.
The warlord crawled up on his hands and knees, trying to shake off
the convulsions caused by the electric shock. His face was one she`d
have recognized anywhere... it was Shingo, the kidnapped Emerald
Knight! He had the same features that she was used to seing, although
they were now twisted hideously by a burning fire of hatred and
loathing. He was now corrupt to the core, a true puppet of his evil
master Aebonite.
She didn`t have time to react to this sudden revelation; the aebonite
crystal was operating at full force now, and the cave rocked into a
sudden quake as a shield of raw energy formed around the crystal.
"VICTORY!!!" screamed Dokuryo while he backed away from the
energizing mineral.
"NOOOO!" screamed Jupiter. She knew then she had failed.
* * *
"What happened?" asked Venus as she finished slashing down a trio of
ratlike youma.
"I think the aebonite crystal just got activated... we`re too
late!!!" answered Mercury, aiming at an insect creature and shooting
it down with a well placed ice arrow.
A shooting ball of purple energy struck down the last monsters;
Pluto`s dead scream attack had put the final touch to the senshi
massacre. "Where`s Jupiter?" she wondered, noticing one of her
allies was missing.
"She ran to try and stop the generals when she had an opening
earlier. Let`s go join her!" said Sailor Moon.
A second earthquake shook the underground cavern, and the tunnel
that Jupiter took collapsed completely upon itself.
"This is VERY bad..." said Saturn. She got no disagreement on that
statement.
* * *
"Come on, you did great." said Dokuryo as he helped the Malachite
Warlord stand up. He was still shocked out of his mind from the
lightning ball hurled at him by Sailor Jupiter. He could barely keep
standing up even with the toxic dragon`s help.
"I`ll stay behind and finish our work. Bring him home, my friend."
said Ghangoroth.
Dokuryo agreed, and a dark portal formed in front of the two dark
empire warriors who entered and vanished the passage to the fortress
of Aebonite.
Sailor Jupiter got up, painfully shaking off the dizzyness she felt
after she lost her balance and hit the ground when the serie of
earthquakes struck. She looked at the last general who was still
there with her, the psionic warrior whose head was engulfed in
heatless flames.
Then it happened again. She was seeing herself through his eyes,
and she had no idea why.
"Don`t you understand yet, Jupiter?" asked Ghangoroth who seemed to
be reading her mind...
"Yes, I am reading your mind..." he said. "And you can read mine
too."
"How is that possible?" asked Jupiter.
"Don`t you understand yet... my love?" asked Ghangoroth. The flames
around his head wavered and died, revealing the face of the man who
rescued her when she was shot in that alley, the man she loved,
Xavier.
"X...Xavier? YOU`RE GHANGOROTH?!?"
"Correct. I`m one of the last surviving servants of Beryl, the
underling of her son-in-law Aebonite... but I fell in love with you,
Kino Makoto. I did my best to shield you from my duty to destroy
your allies, but you had to come here..." said Ghangoroth, a sad
look on his face.
"Are you going to kill me, now?" wondered Makoto. She prayed he
wasn`t going to, because she knew right there that she wouldn`t have
the courage to hurt him, that she`d rather let him kill her where
she stood.
"I don`t want t hurt you, my love, that`s why I lied to Aebonite
when he asked me to scan the mind of Emerald Knight... I clearly saw
he was the brother of Sailor Moon, but revealing that would have
led him straight to you. I couldn`t do that." he replied. The psionic
man then moved close to her and took her in his arms.
Makoto could feel his eyes peering straight into her soul, where he
saw the great love she felt for him. She then understood why she`d
been seeing things through his eyes: their mutual love had forged a
link between their minds through Ghangoroth`s telepathic abilities.
They were one mind now.
Not saying another word, they closed their eyes and kissed. Jupiter
felt her whole body relaxed, and her fingers opened up, letting her
sacred weapon slip to the floor where it clanked heavily. They lost
themselves in the moment, their mind, hearts and souls merging into
a single entity through the strength of their love.
Then she felt something disturbed her lover.
"Someone`s coming through the portal." his voice said in her mind.
Psionic flames surged around his head once again.
Pretending to fight Sailor Jupiter, he pushed her away in a blast
of telekinetic energy which knocked her down, but not so harshly
that it could harm her. She played along and pretended to be in more
pain than she really was. At that moment, Dokuryo stepped out of the
portal.
"Isn`t this over yet?!" he asked.
"She`s tougher than she seems. I`ll be done in a minute... why did
you come back anyway, toxic dragon?" wondered Ghangoroth.
"Aebonite thought you`d need help to carry her dead body back to the
fortress."
"We`re not staining our home with corpses!" protested Ghangoroth.
"Don`t worry about that... it won`t smell if it`s well preserved."
said Dokuryo, taking a small piece of white crystal from his jacket
pocket. Jupiter could feel that it contained a vast amount of power,
and she also felt her lover`s panic which he kept hidden from his
ally.
"What the hell are you doing? It`s my fight!" objected the psionic
man.
"Not anymore, by Aebonite`s order." interposed the reptile,
activating the crystal which he threw hard at Jupiter.
She barely had time to realize what happened next. She heard her
lover screaming a loud "NO!" and saw him throw himself in front of
her, a huge frost explosion swallowing him whole as the projectile
touched him. When the cold fog cleared, he was trapped inside a huge
piece of ice, his features frozen in icy stupor.
"XAVIER!!!" she screamed in pain.
Dokuryo watched at the scene in silent contemplation. Without a word,
he turned back, took the portal for the fortress and closed it behind
him. His ally`s fate had been sealed.
"I`m trapped, Makoto." echoed his voice inside her mind. Through
their shared link, she could feel his body getting colder and colder,
pressure building on his lungs who desperately fought for air they
couldn`t get.
"Can`t you use your fire generating powers to melt it?" she asked
telepathically.
"No, this ice is magical... it neutralizes my fire generating power."
he replied, his voice growing fainter in her mind.
"I`m not going to let you die!" she said, picking up her warhammer
and slamming it on the icy surface. The power of the blow was
returned to her by the mystic substance, blowing her flat on her
back.
"You know, Makoto, I never had a chance to tell you how much you
remind me of my deceased wife." said Ghangoroth, getting weaker as
his brain began running out of oxygen. "I always felt remorse for
not being there for her when she died, but now I repaid my debt... I
love you, Makoto..." she heard in her head. The love she felt pouring
from his heart was beautiful, and it increased her feeling of
helplessness as she felt him dying.
* * *
"Damn it, Pluto, can`t you just open a simple portal over a hundred
feet?!?" yelled Uranus, who was horribly annoyed of not being there
to help Jupiter trash these dark empire bastards over there.
"The energy shielding of the aebonite crystal is interfering with my
powers, I can`t get us that close! We`ll have to DIG our way
through." explained Pluto.
"Okay, then, digging it is! WORLD.... SHA..." started to say Sailor
Uranus, her extended hand starting to fill with energy to perform her
trademark world shacking attack. Neptune grabbed her wrists and
stopped her right there.
"Don`t do that! You`ll bury us alive if you do try and blast your
way through!" she objected.
"And how do you suggest we proceed? Dig by hand? That`ll take
forever!" replied Sailor Moon.
"All the more reason to start right now." said Endymion who sheated
his sword and started to pick rocks out of the blocked passage.
Uranus blushed when she realized how silly she must have looked for
losing her temper, then joined the prince in his effort. Soon after,
the senshi were all working together to open up the tunnel.
* * *
Using her own fists, she started bashing the ice block, to no avail.
It was resisting every hit she was giving, no matter how much
strenght she used. Tears began to form in Jupiter`s eyes as she
failed to crack the prison that was suffocating her lover.
She stopped throwing her punches for a moment, her hands hurting as
if they`d been caught in a garbage compactor. She looked at
Ghangoroth, but she couldn`t feel his thoughts anymore. She then
felt his spark of life diminishing, and then vanishing.
He was dead.
Makoto screamed at the top of her lungs in a mix of heartbreaking
pain and mindless anger, bashing her fists into the ice block without
any consideration to her own well-being. Her black leather gloves
soon gave out, ripping out and exposing her bare knuckles which she
kept slamming repeatedly while she screamed out her loss.
She kept on punching when her skin itself began to tear. She didn`t
care.
* * *
"All right, we`re almost there!" said Mercury, seeing on her laptop
that only two meters of rubble blocked their way now. It had taken
just over an hour to make it that far, and they were all glad to have
made it through at long last.
"Stand back!" commanded Uranus, whom no one tried to stop. She
concentrated all her inner power into a single blow, focusing on the
apparent weakness into the rock formation, a talent she got when she
transcended into soul power. The punch did its job, detonating the
rock barrier into pebbles.
The sight that greeted them was a tragic one. They saw a large block
of magical ice holding the man whom they knew as Xavier, Makoto`s
boyfriend, wearing a dark empire general uniform. Slumped against
this block of ice, Sailor Jupiter was crying uncontrollably. Her
knuckles were terribly wounded, her skin gnawed to the bone from
repeatedly striking something she just couldn`t break. The ice block
itself was covered with her frozen blood where she`d been punching
in a futile effort to release her now dead lover.
They realized at that point the real extent of their failure.
* * *
Epilogue...
A shimmering purple energy gate opened in the living room of the
Tsukino residence, allowing passage to the tired warriors from the
Osaka underground caves back to their hometown of Tokyo. Sad faces
and bruised bodies were the only thing the champions of earth
brought back from their expedition.
"What happened???" asked Ikuko in concern when she saw them
arriving in their battered condition.
"We lost, mom." said Sailor Moon. "And Jupiter lost even more than
just a battle..." she added, looking at her sobbing friend who was
helped by Endymion to sit down on the sofa.
"Oh." said Ikuko who understood what her daughter was hinting at.
"Can she stay over tonight? I wouldn`t want her to be alone..." asked
Sailor Moon.
"Of course, dear, she can stay as long as she needs to." answered her
mother.
"Thanks." said Sailor Moon. She then reverted back to her plain pink
blouse and pants in a flash of golden light. The others followed her
lead, reverting back to their more comfortable regular clothes.
"Usagi darling, I`m glad you came back in time, there`s something you
should see..." said her father Kenji as he came down the stairs.
"Mamoru... I think you should come upstairs too."
They went up and saw exactly what Kenji meant. In Chibi-Usa`s room,
the cocoon was beginning to stir from the inside.
"Do you think... she`s coming out now?" wondered Usagi.
"I... don`t know." replied Mamoru. Standing behind them in the
hallway, Kenji and Ikuko silently awaited to see if their future
grandaughter would emerge as they believed she was trying to.
With a loud cracking sound, the dried up fibers that covered the body
of the small lady started to give under the efforts of the awakening
young girl. Piece after piece of the now useless cocoon fell down
until Chibi-Usa was finally able to free herself completely and
stand up.
The small lady wasn`t so small anymore.
"Chibi-Usa... you`re..." uttered Usagi.
"...all grown up!" completed Mamoru.
Indeed, the torn rags that were just the right fit for Chibi-Usa
just days ago had been ripped apart from her supernatural growth.
She was now a fully matured young woman whose feminine attributes
were just as beautifully formed as her mother`s. Her breasts were
round and firm, while her hips had taken perfect curves.
"It took me 900 years, mom and dad, but I finally did it! I`m an
adult now!" she said with pride.
"Your hair..." observed Mamoru, "...it changed color!"
The hair of Chibi-Usa, once the softest shade of pink, had both grown
in lenght and darkened to a firey scarlet color.
"Err... maybe we should get her some clothes, don`t you think?"
whispered Usagi to her fiancee. It then occured to everyone that the
shock of seeing the small lady transformed in this way had diverted
attention from the fact that she was standing there totally nude.
They all blushed, and Mamoru covered his eyes with his hand, as did
Ikuko and Kenji.
"I`ll let you handle this, my little bunny, okay?" said Mamoru who
walked out of the room.
"Okay small... err... scarlet lady, I`ll lend you some of my
clothes... we seem to have the same measurements, it would appear."
said Usagi.
After a few minutes, Usagi came down the stairs along with a girl
whom her friends could have sworn was her twin sister. Dressed with
a light red blouse and skirt matching her hair that she had chosen
to wear in the same style her mother once had, she was a stunningly
gorgeous young woman.
"Hello everyone." she said to the stunned audience. "You all called
me Chibi-Usa, or small lady, but now I`m too tall for that... from
now, I`m Usako, the scarlet lady!" she declared amidst a sea of
"oooh" and "aaah" from her friends.
Seeing Makoto crying silently on the sofa, she went to her. Usako
knelt next to her on the floor and took her hands. "Usagi told me
what happened, I`m really sorry about your loss." she said.
"Sometimes I feel like I was meant to live my whole life alone..."
Makoto said in between two sobs.
"I know I shouldn`t tell you this but..." started Usako, looking at
Setsuna who nodded to give her consent to what the scarlet lady was
about to reveal. "...in the future, my future, you are NOT alone...
you found your true love, and have been living the most beautiful
love story that you could ever have dreamed of." said Usako.
"Really?" asked Makoto, stopping to cry.
"Yes, it will take time for you to heal this wound, but... you will
learn to love again." she said.
Makoto then hugged Usako, releasing all the tears she still held
back. It felt good to let go of her pain like this, because she knew
her friends would always be there for her.
"So where do we go from here?" wondered Haruka.
"The dark empire has completed their energy draining web... the
temperatures are still dropping fast all over the world... I just
don`t know what to do next." said Ami with a profound sigh.
To be continued...