By Yohann DeSabrais
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
Through the ozone filled outer atmosphere of the earth, a shooting
ball of light flew across the emptiness at near light speed, bringing
the senshi squadron to the north pole at D-point where they were
going to face their enemies of the dark empire and reclaim their
lost comarades Sailor Jendra and the Emerald Knight.
The entire trip took mere seconds, the light sphere landng softly on
the icy wasteland and then dissolving into nothing to leave its
passengers to fight for their own lives and their friends` against
an opponent the likes of which they could not even dare imagine.
"That way, behind that snow dune!" said Mercury, looking at her
laptop to check for the right direction to go, not bothering to take
her eyes off the small digital screen.
Without saying a word, Sailor Venus placed her finger under Mercury`s
chin and slowly lifted her head until she could see the huge black
fortress that was clearly visible despite the howling winds charged
with cutting ice pellets.
"Oh." she said, blushing in embarassment.
"Let`s hurry, we don`t have much time!" said Sailor Moon, charging
forward through the ice storm with a determination that would have
made Luna proud.
They all followed her, but stopped when Sailor Mars screamed in pain
and collapsed, clutching her chest with both hands.
"It`s... too late..." she said, feeling the same pain Laurella was
experiencing as the Malachite Warlord`s halberd was impaled in her
chest. "She`s already dead." she whispered.
* * *
CYCLE OF LIFE: EPISODE 33
TIME OF PROPHECY
"You lose, young warrior." said the Malachite Warlord, holding his
halberd solidly in place inside Jendra`s body, twisting it slowly to
make the suffering that much more excrutiating.
Darkness fell around her eyes, blurring her vision and filling her
ears with a loud ringing sound that came from nowhere. She knew she
was dying, and surrendered her existence to the merciful release of
death. In that brief instant when she was on the threshold of passing
into the great beyond, she saw the image of her murderer, the
Malachite Warlord, but she did not feel anger or rage... she felt
compassion for the man who had saved her from herself, she felt love
for the sweet man she knew was buried deep under layers of corrupted
false memories.
She felt a spark of radiance cross over from over the dark beyond,
sweep over her wounded soul and drag her right back into her body,
filling it up with the most powerful energy she`d ever felt in this
life or the previous one.
Sailor Jendra`s inanimate body began glowing with blinding intensity,
building up inside the shaft of the halberd that was piercing her
chest side to side and invading the very armor that was covering
Shingo`s body and made its way within the black collar.
The halberd couldn`t take much of this; it slowly cracked along the
blade, then the shaft, until the entire lenght of the waepon was as
brittle as glass. It detonated violently, propelling the warlord
backwards to the ground where his armor fractured in a thousand dark
green pieces, which was immediately followed by the collar who did
the same.
"What the hell happened?!?" screamed Aebonite who didn`t expect
this sudden turn of events to rob him his victory over the wretched
girl.
Sailor Jendra, her heart fully healed and her wounds closed, stood
up. Her senshi fuku had the white and silver color scheme of the
ancient Jendra honor guard, while her arms and chin guards were
made of pure silver. Her visor had a metallic glint, and her right
thigh showed the golden kanji readng NANAIRO NO SENSHI, soldier of
rainbow colors.
"Impossible! You should be DEAD!!!" he screamed violently, energy
charging in his eyes. This wasn`t happening! The dead girl warrior
was still living, more powerful than ever, and his loyal general
had been defeated by her power, his mind purified of the dark power
warping his thoughts.
"You`re right, I was... for a moment. But the power of my love
brought me back to life, as it has already done before. It`s the
end of the line for you, Aebonite, your energy draining plan is
finished." she said.
"And you think you can stop me, girl? No way, no how... I have all
the earth`s energy at my fingertips!" said Aebonite, a surge of raw
power building up inside him. Laurella could feel it, he wasn`t
lying... but she wouldn`t go down without a fight.
"Oh great eternal, give me the sting of cutting storms, give me
BLADEWIND!!!" she said, throwing her hand high in the air. A burst
of multicolored light formed around it, concentrating itself into a
diamond chakram, a thin circlet throwing weapon with a razor sharp
outer edge. Before he could react, she threw it to Aebonite- he fell
back in pain as the weapon grazed his face, then the chakram bounced
on a wall and flew back to Sailor Jendra. As she looked at it, she
saw that its outer side was coated in blood...
Aebonite screamed in pain, holding his hand over his right eye.
Blood was trickling between his fingers, staining his immaculate
uniform. "My eye... MY EYE!!! You... bitch... you`ll die... for...
this... and you`ll suffer a long time before you do!!!" blurted out
the ruler of the empire of darkness, charging a bolt of power in his
other hand and unleashing a deadly blast of power towards Jendra and
Shingo. She threw herself over her lover to protect him from the
lethal blast that was too large in size to dodge, shielding him with
her own battered body.
The loud shriek she let go as she took the brunt of the attack was
like music to Aebonite`s ears.
"I love to hear you scream..." he whispered, "DO IT AGAIN!!!"
Another blast followed, even stronger. Then another one. And another
one. Aebonite`s laughter mixed with Jendra`s screaming of agony in a
dreadful symphony of suffering.
When she stopped screaming, Aebonite halted his brutal onslaught. He
hoped he hadn`t killed her too fast... he wanted to hear he scream
some more before he put an end to her life. He had a wicked grin when
he saw her stir, then crawl in an effort to stand up again. Oh, this
was too good. He was like a cat playing with a mouse before eating
it...
Forgetting the pain of his slashed eye, he placed his hands together
and started charging up power for another round of energy waves, one
he knew would kill them both. He looked at Sailor Jendra- her fuku
was torn up in many places, her guards and visor were cracked and she
was bleeding all over, but still she had this stubborn determination
in her eyes.
"What made you think you even had a chance?" Aebonite asked her.
"I didn`t. But you never get anywhere without taking chances..." she
replied. Suddenly, she rose her hands in the air and began spinning
around as though she hadn`t been wounded at all. Aebonite was
surprised to feel this sudden surge of power inside Jendra which
seemed to come out of nowhere, forming seven rainbow colored spheres
around her. Strong bursts of color lights spurted out of those
spheres, spinning insanely fast around her and merging into a single
focus point between her raised hands.
"TIAMAT POLYCHROMATIC DISINTEGRATOR!!!" she yelled.
Seven colors became one. One color became none.
* * *
A huge explosion rocked the dark empire fortress, shaking the ground
violently and sending the senshi down as they lost balance.
"What the hell was that?" asked Sailor Moon, getting up and removing
the snow stuck in her visor.
"I`m not sure... I think it was Sailor Jendra." said Sailor Mars.
"Didn`t you just say she was dead?!?" wondered Jupiter.
"Yeah, but... the pain is gone, and this detonation had her feeling
to it, somehow." replied Mars.
"One thing`s for sure... Aebonite`s not in full control of the
situation anymore... now`s our chance to strike!" said Venus.
"Yeah, let`s destroy him and finish this quick!" agreed Uranus.
They resumed their race towards the fortress from which now came a
thick cloud of billowing black smoke.
* * *
Amidst the collapsed walls and the large chunks of the destroyed
ceiling, the battered but unbowed Sailor Jendra arose from the
debris, a large smile on her face. She had faced her worst enemy
and had triumphed over him. Her great love Shingo, the reincarnated
Kitechnum Jendra, had been freed from the mind warping treatment
that had turned him into the evil Malachite Warlord.
As she pulled her boyfriend from the smoking ruins, she looked at
her senshi fuku. Although it was torn and ripped all over, it was
nonetheless a symbol of great pride, the sign of her love vanquishing
all obstacles and elevating her soul one step further towards
illumination.
"Huh... what... happened?" mumbled Shingo, regaining consciousness.
"Your ordeal is over, kit, you`re free!" replied Laurella, kneeling
next to him and kissing his lips softly. She felt once again this
magic go between them, this wonderful feeling of belonging together
regardless of the obstacles that fate might throw in their way.
"This place..." said Shingo, looking around and seeing the monstrous
Metalia statue still standing proudly amidst the smoking rubble,
"It`s that place where Usagi rescued Endymion from Beryl, isn`t it?
We`re in the arctic, aren`t we?"
"Yes, we are. And just like your sister, I pulled you from the
clutches of darkness..." replied Laurella, a tear of joy rolling
on her cheek.
Unfortunately for them, the trial by fire wasn`t over just yet. A
loud rumbling sound echoed in the half-destroyed fortress, making
the ground shake under their feet.
"That can`t be good..." thought Laurella.
As if on cue, a huge explosion rocked a rubble pile near the base of
the huge statue, sending a shower of small rock pieces all around.
When the dust cleared, Aebonite stood right there, in all his
monstrous might. His once spotless clothes were no more than
tattered rags, his shining aebonite jewelry ripped off his chest,
his cape torn to ribbons, his uniform soiled by the blood leaking
from his slashed right eye.
Intuitively, Sailor Jendra placed herself in front of the
defenseless Shingo, ready to act as a shield once again.
"How much does it take to kill you, monster?" she asked.
"More than you alone can muster, I`m afraid..." replied Aebonite, a
murderous glint in his eyes.
"Then maybe we should even out the odds?" answered the voice of
Sailor Moon. All three of them looked to the source of this challenge
and saw the silhouettes of ten feminine warriors and one male knight.
"Am I glad to see you all here! I could use more firepower right
about now!" said Jendra.
"Yes, the fighters of love and justice are here, Sailor Jendra, and
we intend to put an end to this madness once and for all!" added
Sailor Mars.
"Sailor senshi... I have a nickname for you girls..." said Aebonite,
a large charge of blueish energy surging from the mouth of the
Metalia statue and charging Aebonite. "...TARGET PRACTICE!"
Lifting his hands up, streaking bolts of energy shooting from his
fingers and narrowly missing the senshi who retaliated immediately.
While Endymion leaped for Shingo and took him away to safety, eleven
power attacks were unleashed at once.
"LUNAR SOUL POWER!"
"SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!"
"WORLD SHACKING!"
"DEEP SUBMERGE!"
"SATURN WINGS OF FURY!"
"VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!"
"BURNING MANDALA!"
"FLAMING HEART ATTACK!"
"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!"
"JENDRA CHROMATIC BLAST!"
"DEAD SCREAM!"
All eleven blasts screeched forward, connecting with an invisible
obstacle surrounding the all powerful lord Aebonite. Thus deflected,
they did not as much as scratch him.
"That`s not possible!!!" said Venus.
"We should have obliterated him!!!" added Uranus.
"Indeed you should... but no such luck, as I have all the earth`s
power in my grasp... thanks to YOU, Sailor Moon!" taunted Aebonite.
"You`re lying, I`d never help you!" she protested.
"Is that so? Then why did you let this trinket of yours lying
around???" said Aebonite, pointing to the statue whose outer layer
was cracking from the senshi onslaught. As the rock surface was
falling apart, the statue revealed itself to be nothing else than a
gigantic piece of aebonite mineral collecting the totally of the
earth`s natural energy field. Deep within the pillar of aebonite, the
senshi could see a dark shape whose form was all too familiar.
"It`s the master crystal of the entire network!!!" realized Mercury.
"Look, inside that thing, it`s..." started to say Jupiter.
"...my moon crescent wand!" blurted out Sailor Moon.
"CORRECT!!!" screamed Aebonite. "You left it behind after you
destroyed Beryl, and I quickly realized that even though I couldn`t
use it directly, it still had the capacity to redirect infinite
amounts of power, the likes of which will ensure my final victory...
and now, you all die!!!"
A huge wave of energy surged from Aebonite`s body, knocking down all
the girls. They tried to regain their footing quickly, attempting to
combine their powers into deadlier attacks.
Venus`s love-me-chain charged forth, piercing Mercury`s bubbles after
being engulfed in the lightning of Jupiter.
"COLD THUNDER SPEAR!!!"
Using all at once their deep submerge, world shaking and dead scream,
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto fused their three power bolts into a single
strike with exponentially increased strenght.
"SCREAMING TIDAL WAVE!!!"
Finally, Mars, Terra, Moon and Jendra fused together their fire soul,
flaming heart, lunar soul power and chromatic blast into a searing
cone of flame whose colors kept on shifting as its energitic
frequency randomly shifted to prevent its target from effectively
shielding itself.
"SOULFIRE PRISM!!!"
Three strikes surged. Three monstrous detonations followed. One evil
laughter erupted as Lord Aebonite stood unbeaten.
"He`s too strong... we need something greater than anything ever
seen in this solar system..." said Sailor Moon. "We need... THE
MESSIAH!!!"
"Have you gone loopy, Sailor Moon? It`s just a prophecy, and besides
we don`t even have all eleven senshi anyway!" argued Mars.
"Yes we do." said Pluto. "But we`ll need a distraction, though." she
added.
"Leave that to me!" said Jupiter, summoning her sacred weapon, the
jade warhammer Mjolnir. She lifted it up in the air, mystical
lightning charging in it as she prepared to use her ultimate attack,
the greatest thunder blast ever unleashed upon the face of the earth.
She struck down her hammer with a mighty battle cry, ripping apart
the ground in front of her and releasing wave after wave of solid
lightning walls carrying huge chunks of rocks in a relentless
assault of thunder and earth.
"SUPREME THUNDERQUAKE DISRUPTOR!!!"
Despite his shielding, Aebonite was nevertheless blown backwards like
a puppet whose strings had been cut off.
"Quickly, while he`s helpless!" screamed Jupiter.
In a golden surge of light, Sailor Pluto`s form changed from her
ancient scout uniform into the purple and indigo fuku of the Pluto
sailor senshi, with the forearm and chinguards as well as the visor
just like her ten allies received in their soul ascension. On her
right thigh were the golden kanji reading JIKAN NO SENSHI, soldier
of time.
In her hands, the time key transformed itself into a bladed battle
staff made from solid garnet, her orb mounted gloriously on top of
it. "With this eleventh sacred weapon, the mighty Eternity, we may
finally call forth our holiest of guides, she who will guide us to
the summit of our potential... the messiah of legend!"
"Pluto... how did you manage to achive soul power like this, in
this precise moment?" wondered Sailor Terra.
"I always had it. Remember I`ve spent centuries alone guarding the
gate of time, which gave me all the time I needed to reflect on the
nature of my soul." explained Pluto. "And now, let us use our
weapons together!!!"
One by one, the senshi summoned their weapons, putting them in
contact so that their power may be combined as one.
"ETERNITY!"
"DREADBANE!"
"SOULSTAR!"
"HEAVEN`S WRATH!"
"MONSOON!"
"MJOLNIR!"
"DEADSHOT!"
"BLADEWIND!"
"HELLFIRE!"
As nine weapons merged their powers together, Sailor Terra summoned
her own weapon for the first time, a solid jet scythe of astonishing
beauty equalled only by its lethal combat effectiveness.
"HARBINGER!" called the scarlet lady, putting her scythe in contact
with the other weapons, further fueling the raging Technum maelstrom.
Getting back up from Jupiter`s mindless bashing, Aebonite felt that
something very bad was going to happen, and he wouldn`t take it
lying down. "I forbid you!!!" he screamed.
Refusing to heed her enemy`s command, Sailor Moon summoned her
crystal two-handed sword and put it in contact with all the others`
sacred weapons. "AVENGER!" she called, a blinding strobe of radiance
surging from the eleven weapons united at last.
And just as prophecy told, a huge portal of glimmering light opened,
letting through a young girl wearing a modified senshi fuku of
unequalled beauty. It was a long sleeveless dress, made of the
purest white fabric, with intricate motives sewn along the entire
lenght. She also wore long white gloves and a superb lightweight
chestplate molded to fit every curve of her body. Every step she
took spoke eloquently of her grace, an elegant tribute to the purity
of her soul.
Along the lenght of her dress were the kanji for MEGAMI NO MUSUME,
daughter of the goddess.
She had an aura of flashing golden light about her, masking her
facial features so that only her silhouette was visible, yet this
intense light did nothing to hurt the eyes of those who beheld her.
"She`s so beautiful..." whispered Sailor Moon, who found no other
thing to do than kneel in respect, offering her weapon in service to
her guide revealed at long last. All the other senshi did the same,
bowing their head in a silent show of loyalty.
"On your feet, my friends, I am not your leader, but merely a helping
friend in your quest." said the messiah in a voice that spoke volumes
as to the kindness of her heart.
"Pretty words from a pretty girl... and now you all die!!!" yelled
the bleeding Aebonite, calling for all of earth`s power at once. He
unleashed it all towards the messiah, yet she was unaffected as the
onslaught was diverted by an unseen shield around her and the senshi
who all silently prayed to their newfound ally.
From the eleven senshi of the planets, a huge force was released and
these eleven streams of power merged between the hands of the messiah,
forming a blazing ring of fire circling in an endless cycle without
beginning or end.
"Eternal is the cycle of life, no beginning nor ending, only the
glory of existence." she said in a solemn noice, while the assault
of Aebonite kept on raging around them in a futile attempt to smithe
the only obstacle between him and absolute power. "The Ouroboros
cannot ever be denied his infinite power!" she yelled, forming the
raging circle of fire into a weapon of the dealiest kind ever seen
on this planet, a halberd whose shaft was shaped as a long snake
coiled around a stick. With swift movements, she spun it around her
and the crashing waves of destruction surging from Aebonite began to
dance along to Ouroboros` rythmn, flowing around to be returned to
Aebonite himself in an out of control blast that even he couldn`t
hope to stop.
Aebonite screamed, as he saw his hands beginning to disintegrate
under this unforeseen turn of events, consuming in turn his arms and
legs, all the way through his entire body until there was nothing
left of him. The pillar of aebonite mineral cracked in turn,
exploding with the power of an entire planet`s power released at
once and wiping out the vile fortress of Beryl for good.
Then silence fell.
* * *
When Sailor Moon opened her eyes again, all was dark around her...
then she saw she was floating inside an energy bubble suspended high
into the earth`s atmosphere, all her sister senshi were there too,
as were her boyfriend and her brother, Endymion and Shingo. In the
middle of this bubble was the messiah herself, whose aura had
subsided and was now easily recongnizable.
Sailor Moon gasped. The messiah was none other than her best friend
Naru.
"Hello, Usagi. I`ll bet you never expected it would be me!" she said.
It all made sense, all of a sudden: the prophecy had spoken of one
who had died at the hands of Ronmar, and was resurrected by the
Prime and his children... and that was exactly what had happened to
young Osaka Naru! How could she possibly miss that?!?
"That explains why the energy sucking monsters always were attracted
to you, I guess..." said Sailor Moon.
"Yes... I knew this was my role ever since I came back from the dead,
although I had to keep this secret even from you until the moment of
prophecy came." explained Naru.
"You look so radiant in this dress..." said Sailor Moon, in awe
before the messiah.
"You look quite stunning yourself, old friend." she replied.
Endymion and the others began waking up around them, gasping in
surprise as they noticed WHERE they were.
"Hello my friends, your battle is won." said the messiah. "Even as
we speak, worldwide patterns of temperature are restoring themselves,
and life is returning to normal. Crops will be bad this year,
although given time nature will heal herself as well."
"Naru... I can`t believe you are the messiah!" blurted out the
astonished Sailor Venus.
"I was surprised to learn this myself... destiny has a strange way
of working things out. I have two gifts for you my friends, but first
let us return to our home." said Naru, lifting her hands and pointing
them to the edge of the energy bubble which accelerated and reentered
the earth`s gravity pull, streaking down to the surface like a
glorious shooting star.
* * *
When the bubble landed in the outer senshi home`s backyard, all of
them had returned to their regular clothes, looking once again like
the average yound adults that didn`t look a thing like the saviors
of humanity.
"First of all, a gift for you, Usagi." said Naru, pulling the moon
crescent wand from her inner jacket pocket and handing over to her
best friend. "Did you really think I`d allow this relic, your
birthright, to be destroyed? You will need it again in the future
when you reclaim your lost silver crystal."
Usagi smiled, fighting off her tears. It had been so long since
she`d held her mother Serenity`s gift...
"And now, as you all know, there can be no savior messiah without her
darker counterpart, the final destroyer who can end all things with
but a few words, the silent messiah..." said Naru. She lifted her
hands, and in a flash of light appeared in her arms the most
beautiful baby girl any one of them had ever seen, whose black hair
and eyes sparkled with the promise of untold powers of destruction.
"Michiru..." said Naru, turning to the speechless senshi of the
ocean, "Will you take care of the silent messiah, Hotaru?"
Michiru cried in joy as she took the giggling baby girl in her arms
and cuddled her. Haruka could tell that her lover had fallen
hopelessly in love with the little girl, the answer to all her
deepest desires.
"I... Yes... oh, Naru, how can I ever thank you?" she blurted out
in joy.
"By taking care of your new daughter, Michiru." said Naru.
"We`ll help you out, Michiru, we outer senshi have to stand by each
other!" said Robin, thrilled to have a little sister... well, sort
of anyway. Setsuna and Haruka agreed.
"So... is this really the end of our battles against evil? Or just
a temporary respite to regain our strenght before the next
assault???" wondered Shingo, who suddenly realized that the black
leather clothes given by Aebonite were gone, replaced by jeans, a
thick wool sweater and a nice looking winter coat courtesy of the
messiah`s great power.
"There`s still so much more to come, uncle Shingo..." replied the
scarlet lady. "It just comes in cycles, you know."
* * *
EPILOGUE
Deep within the center of the galaxy lived a figure so ancient that
she had long ago faded from memory, living in a few rare myths of the
earliest days of creation itself. She was one of the elder sailor
senshi, a living relic of the primordial past, the greatest hero of
the universe.
Her life had been a long one indeed, one marked with the constant
torture she had imposed herself in order to preserve the budding
life that was meant to spread throughout the universe. She had
sacrificed herself to prevent the spread of the almighty chaos,
making the gesture that any sailor senshi would have been willing to
do but only her could perform.
She had taken it within herself, inside her soul, acting as a living
prison to the malevolent force of evil.
After so many aeons, the ordeal had taken its toll on her sanity, as
the evil force was slowly tempting her with false promises, lies and
threats. Slowly but surely, Sailor Galaxia`s mind was wavering...
And then the unimaginable happened: in one horrible song of apocalyse,
Galaxia screamed from pain that arose from the deepest recesses of
her darkened soul. Her willpower failed her, giving into the dark
urges of chaos. The single greatest genocidal murderer the universe
would ever know was born in this single moment of dark rebirth.
The End
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
Through the ozone filled outer atmosphere of the earth, a shooting
ball of light flew across the emptiness at near light speed, bringing
the senshi squadron to the north pole at D-point where they were
going to face their enemies of the dark empire and reclaim their
lost comarades Sailor Jendra and the Emerald Knight.
The entire trip took mere seconds, the light sphere landng softly on
the icy wasteland and then dissolving into nothing to leave its
passengers to fight for their own lives and their friends` against
an opponent the likes of which they could not even dare imagine.
"That way, behind that snow dune!" said Mercury, looking at her
laptop to check for the right direction to go, not bothering to take
her eyes off the small digital screen.
Without saying a word, Sailor Venus placed her finger under Mercury`s
chin and slowly lifted her head until she could see the huge black
fortress that was clearly visible despite the howling winds charged
with cutting ice pellets.
"Oh." she said, blushing in embarassment.
"Let`s hurry, we don`t have much time!" said Sailor Moon, charging
forward through the ice storm with a determination that would have
made Luna proud.
They all followed her, but stopped when Sailor Mars screamed in pain
and collapsed, clutching her chest with both hands.
"It`s... too late..." she said, feeling the same pain Laurella was
experiencing as the Malachite Warlord`s halberd was impaled in her
chest. "She`s already dead." she whispered.
* * *
CYCLE OF LIFE: EPISODE 33
TIME OF PROPHECY
"You lose, young warrior." said the Malachite Warlord, holding his
halberd solidly in place inside Jendra`s body, twisting it slowly to
make the suffering that much more excrutiating.
Darkness fell around her eyes, blurring her vision and filling her
ears with a loud ringing sound that came from nowhere. She knew she
was dying, and surrendered her existence to the merciful release of
death. In that brief instant when she was on the threshold of passing
into the great beyond, she saw the image of her murderer, the
Malachite Warlord, but she did not feel anger or rage... she felt
compassion for the man who had saved her from herself, she felt love
for the sweet man she knew was buried deep under layers of corrupted
false memories.
She felt a spark of radiance cross over from over the dark beyond,
sweep over her wounded soul and drag her right back into her body,
filling it up with the most powerful energy she`d ever felt in this
life or the previous one.
Sailor Jendra`s inanimate body began glowing with blinding intensity,
building up inside the shaft of the halberd that was piercing her
chest side to side and invading the very armor that was covering
Shingo`s body and made its way within the black collar.
The halberd couldn`t take much of this; it slowly cracked along the
blade, then the shaft, until the entire lenght of the waepon was as
brittle as glass. It detonated violently, propelling the warlord
backwards to the ground where his armor fractured in a thousand dark
green pieces, which was immediately followed by the collar who did
the same.
"What the hell happened?!?" screamed Aebonite who didn`t expect
this sudden turn of events to rob him his victory over the wretched
girl.
Sailor Jendra, her heart fully healed and her wounds closed, stood
up. Her senshi fuku had the white and silver color scheme of the
ancient Jendra honor guard, while her arms and chin guards were
made of pure silver. Her visor had a metallic glint, and her right
thigh showed the golden kanji readng NANAIRO NO SENSHI, soldier of
rainbow colors.
"Impossible! You should be DEAD!!!" he screamed violently, energy
charging in his eyes. This wasn`t happening! The dead girl warrior
was still living, more powerful than ever, and his loyal general
had been defeated by her power, his mind purified of the dark power
warping his thoughts.
"You`re right, I was... for a moment. But the power of my love
brought me back to life, as it has already done before. It`s the
end of the line for you, Aebonite, your energy draining plan is
finished." she said.
"And you think you can stop me, girl? No way, no how... I have all
the earth`s energy at my fingertips!" said Aebonite, a surge of raw
power building up inside him. Laurella could feel it, he wasn`t
lying... but she wouldn`t go down without a fight.
"Oh great eternal, give me the sting of cutting storms, give me
BLADEWIND!!!" she said, throwing her hand high in the air. A burst
of multicolored light formed around it, concentrating itself into a
diamond chakram, a thin circlet throwing weapon with a razor sharp
outer edge. Before he could react, she threw it to Aebonite- he fell
back in pain as the weapon grazed his face, then the chakram bounced
on a wall and flew back to Sailor Jendra. As she looked at it, she
saw that its outer side was coated in blood...
Aebonite screamed in pain, holding his hand over his right eye.
Blood was trickling between his fingers, staining his immaculate
uniform. "My eye... MY EYE!!! You... bitch... you`ll die... for...
this... and you`ll suffer a long time before you do!!!" blurted out
the ruler of the empire of darkness, charging a bolt of power in his
other hand and unleashing a deadly blast of power towards Jendra and
Shingo. She threw herself over her lover to protect him from the
lethal blast that was too large in size to dodge, shielding him with
her own battered body.
The loud shriek she let go as she took the brunt of the attack was
like music to Aebonite`s ears.
"I love to hear you scream..." he whispered, "DO IT AGAIN!!!"
Another blast followed, even stronger. Then another one. And another
one. Aebonite`s laughter mixed with Jendra`s screaming of agony in a
dreadful symphony of suffering.
When she stopped screaming, Aebonite halted his brutal onslaught. He
hoped he hadn`t killed her too fast... he wanted to hear he scream
some more before he put an end to her life. He had a wicked grin when
he saw her stir, then crawl in an effort to stand up again. Oh, this
was too good. He was like a cat playing with a mouse before eating
it...
Forgetting the pain of his slashed eye, he placed his hands together
and started charging up power for another round of energy waves, one
he knew would kill them both. He looked at Sailor Jendra- her fuku
was torn up in many places, her guards and visor were cracked and she
was bleeding all over, but still she had this stubborn determination
in her eyes.
"What made you think you even had a chance?" Aebonite asked her.
"I didn`t. But you never get anywhere without taking chances..." she
replied. Suddenly, she rose her hands in the air and began spinning
around as though she hadn`t been wounded at all. Aebonite was
surprised to feel this sudden surge of power inside Jendra which
seemed to come out of nowhere, forming seven rainbow colored spheres
around her. Strong bursts of color lights spurted out of those
spheres, spinning insanely fast around her and merging into a single
focus point between her raised hands.
"TIAMAT POLYCHROMATIC DISINTEGRATOR!!!" she yelled.
Seven colors became one. One color became none.
* * *
A huge explosion rocked the dark empire fortress, shaking the ground
violently and sending the senshi down as they lost balance.
"What the hell was that?" asked Sailor Moon, getting up and removing
the snow stuck in her visor.
"I`m not sure... I think it was Sailor Jendra." said Sailor Mars.
"Didn`t you just say she was dead?!?" wondered Jupiter.
"Yeah, but... the pain is gone, and this detonation had her feeling
to it, somehow." replied Mars.
"One thing`s for sure... Aebonite`s not in full control of the
situation anymore... now`s our chance to strike!" said Venus.
"Yeah, let`s destroy him and finish this quick!" agreed Uranus.
They resumed their race towards the fortress from which now came a
thick cloud of billowing black smoke.
* * *
Amidst the collapsed walls and the large chunks of the destroyed
ceiling, the battered but unbowed Sailor Jendra arose from the
debris, a large smile on her face. She had faced her worst enemy
and had triumphed over him. Her great love Shingo, the reincarnated
Kitechnum Jendra, had been freed from the mind warping treatment
that had turned him into the evil Malachite Warlord.
As she pulled her boyfriend from the smoking ruins, she looked at
her senshi fuku. Although it was torn and ripped all over, it was
nonetheless a symbol of great pride, the sign of her love vanquishing
all obstacles and elevating her soul one step further towards
illumination.
"Huh... what... happened?" mumbled Shingo, regaining consciousness.
"Your ordeal is over, kit, you`re free!" replied Laurella, kneeling
next to him and kissing his lips softly. She felt once again this
magic go between them, this wonderful feeling of belonging together
regardless of the obstacles that fate might throw in their way.
"This place..." said Shingo, looking around and seeing the monstrous
Metalia statue still standing proudly amidst the smoking rubble,
"It`s that place where Usagi rescued Endymion from Beryl, isn`t it?
We`re in the arctic, aren`t we?"
"Yes, we are. And just like your sister, I pulled you from the
clutches of darkness..." replied Laurella, a tear of joy rolling
on her cheek.
Unfortunately for them, the trial by fire wasn`t over just yet. A
loud rumbling sound echoed in the half-destroyed fortress, making
the ground shake under their feet.
"That can`t be good..." thought Laurella.
As if on cue, a huge explosion rocked a rubble pile near the base of
the huge statue, sending a shower of small rock pieces all around.
When the dust cleared, Aebonite stood right there, in all his
monstrous might. His once spotless clothes were no more than
tattered rags, his shining aebonite jewelry ripped off his chest,
his cape torn to ribbons, his uniform soiled by the blood leaking
from his slashed right eye.
Intuitively, Sailor Jendra placed herself in front of the
defenseless Shingo, ready to act as a shield once again.
"How much does it take to kill you, monster?" she asked.
"More than you alone can muster, I`m afraid..." replied Aebonite, a
murderous glint in his eyes.
"Then maybe we should even out the odds?" answered the voice of
Sailor Moon. All three of them looked to the source of this challenge
and saw the silhouettes of ten feminine warriors and one male knight.
"Am I glad to see you all here! I could use more firepower right
about now!" said Jendra.
"Yes, the fighters of love and justice are here, Sailor Jendra, and
we intend to put an end to this madness once and for all!" added
Sailor Mars.
"Sailor senshi... I have a nickname for you girls..." said Aebonite,
a large charge of blueish energy surging from the mouth of the
Metalia statue and charging Aebonite. "...TARGET PRACTICE!"
Lifting his hands up, streaking bolts of energy shooting from his
fingers and narrowly missing the senshi who retaliated immediately.
While Endymion leaped for Shingo and took him away to safety, eleven
power attacks were unleashed at once.
"LUNAR SOUL POWER!"
"SHINE AQUA ILLUSION!"
"WORLD SHACKING!"
"DEEP SUBMERGE!"
"SATURN WINGS OF FURY!"
"VENUS LOVE-ME CHAIN!"
"BURNING MANDALA!"
"FLAMING HEART ATTACK!"
"SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!"
"JENDRA CHROMATIC BLAST!"
"DEAD SCREAM!"
All eleven blasts screeched forward, connecting with an invisible
obstacle surrounding the all powerful lord Aebonite. Thus deflected,
they did not as much as scratch him.
"That`s not possible!!!" said Venus.
"We should have obliterated him!!!" added Uranus.
"Indeed you should... but no such luck, as I have all the earth`s
power in my grasp... thanks to YOU, Sailor Moon!" taunted Aebonite.
"You`re lying, I`d never help you!" she protested.
"Is that so? Then why did you let this trinket of yours lying
around???" said Aebonite, pointing to the statue whose outer layer
was cracking from the senshi onslaught. As the rock surface was
falling apart, the statue revealed itself to be nothing else than a
gigantic piece of aebonite mineral collecting the totally of the
earth`s natural energy field. Deep within the pillar of aebonite, the
senshi could see a dark shape whose form was all too familiar.
"It`s the master crystal of the entire network!!!" realized Mercury.
"Look, inside that thing, it`s..." started to say Jupiter.
"...my moon crescent wand!" blurted out Sailor Moon.
"CORRECT!!!" screamed Aebonite. "You left it behind after you
destroyed Beryl, and I quickly realized that even though I couldn`t
use it directly, it still had the capacity to redirect infinite
amounts of power, the likes of which will ensure my final victory...
and now, you all die!!!"
A huge wave of energy surged from Aebonite`s body, knocking down all
the girls. They tried to regain their footing quickly, attempting to
combine their powers into deadlier attacks.
Venus`s love-me-chain charged forth, piercing Mercury`s bubbles after
being engulfed in the lightning of Jupiter.
"COLD THUNDER SPEAR!!!"
Using all at once their deep submerge, world shaking and dead scream,
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto fused their three power bolts into a single
strike with exponentially increased strenght.
"SCREAMING TIDAL WAVE!!!"
Finally, Mars, Terra, Moon and Jendra fused together their fire soul,
flaming heart, lunar soul power and chromatic blast into a searing
cone of flame whose colors kept on shifting as its energitic
frequency randomly shifted to prevent its target from effectively
shielding itself.
"SOULFIRE PRISM!!!"
Three strikes surged. Three monstrous detonations followed. One evil
laughter erupted as Lord Aebonite stood unbeaten.
"He`s too strong... we need something greater than anything ever
seen in this solar system..." said Sailor Moon. "We need... THE
MESSIAH!!!"
"Have you gone loopy, Sailor Moon? It`s just a prophecy, and besides
we don`t even have all eleven senshi anyway!" argued Mars.
"Yes we do." said Pluto. "But we`ll need a distraction, though." she
added.
"Leave that to me!" said Jupiter, summoning her sacred weapon, the
jade warhammer Mjolnir. She lifted it up in the air, mystical
lightning charging in it as she prepared to use her ultimate attack,
the greatest thunder blast ever unleashed upon the face of the earth.
She struck down her hammer with a mighty battle cry, ripping apart
the ground in front of her and releasing wave after wave of solid
lightning walls carrying huge chunks of rocks in a relentless
assault of thunder and earth.
"SUPREME THUNDERQUAKE DISRUPTOR!!!"
Despite his shielding, Aebonite was nevertheless blown backwards like
a puppet whose strings had been cut off.
"Quickly, while he`s helpless!" screamed Jupiter.
In a golden surge of light, Sailor Pluto`s form changed from her
ancient scout uniform into the purple and indigo fuku of the Pluto
sailor senshi, with the forearm and chinguards as well as the visor
just like her ten allies received in their soul ascension. On her
right thigh were the golden kanji reading JIKAN NO SENSHI, soldier
of time.
In her hands, the time key transformed itself into a bladed battle
staff made from solid garnet, her orb mounted gloriously on top of
it. "With this eleventh sacred weapon, the mighty Eternity, we may
finally call forth our holiest of guides, she who will guide us to
the summit of our potential... the messiah of legend!"
"Pluto... how did you manage to achive soul power like this, in
this precise moment?" wondered Sailor Terra.
"I always had it. Remember I`ve spent centuries alone guarding the
gate of time, which gave me all the time I needed to reflect on the
nature of my soul." explained Pluto. "And now, let us use our
weapons together!!!"
One by one, the senshi summoned their weapons, putting them in
contact so that their power may be combined as one.
"ETERNITY!"
"DREADBANE!"
"SOULSTAR!"
"HEAVEN`S WRATH!"
"MONSOON!"
"MJOLNIR!"
"DEADSHOT!"
"BLADEWIND!"
"HELLFIRE!"
As nine weapons merged their powers together, Sailor Terra summoned
her own weapon for the first time, a solid jet scythe of astonishing
beauty equalled only by its lethal combat effectiveness.
"HARBINGER!" called the scarlet lady, putting her scythe in contact
with the other weapons, further fueling the raging Technum maelstrom.
Getting back up from Jupiter`s mindless bashing, Aebonite felt that
something very bad was going to happen, and he wouldn`t take it
lying down. "I forbid you!!!" he screamed.
Refusing to heed her enemy`s command, Sailor Moon summoned her
crystal two-handed sword and put it in contact with all the others`
sacred weapons. "AVENGER!" she called, a blinding strobe of radiance
surging from the eleven weapons united at last.
And just as prophecy told, a huge portal of glimmering light opened,
letting through a young girl wearing a modified senshi fuku of
unequalled beauty. It was a long sleeveless dress, made of the
purest white fabric, with intricate motives sewn along the entire
lenght. She also wore long white gloves and a superb lightweight
chestplate molded to fit every curve of her body. Every step she
took spoke eloquently of her grace, an elegant tribute to the purity
of her soul.
Along the lenght of her dress were the kanji for MEGAMI NO MUSUME,
daughter of the goddess.
She had an aura of flashing golden light about her, masking her
facial features so that only her silhouette was visible, yet this
intense light did nothing to hurt the eyes of those who beheld her.
"She`s so beautiful..." whispered Sailor Moon, who found no other
thing to do than kneel in respect, offering her weapon in service to
her guide revealed at long last. All the other senshi did the same,
bowing their head in a silent show of loyalty.
"On your feet, my friends, I am not your leader, but merely a helping
friend in your quest." said the messiah in a voice that spoke volumes
as to the kindness of her heart.
"Pretty words from a pretty girl... and now you all die!!!" yelled
the bleeding Aebonite, calling for all of earth`s power at once. He
unleashed it all towards the messiah, yet she was unaffected as the
onslaught was diverted by an unseen shield around her and the senshi
who all silently prayed to their newfound ally.
From the eleven senshi of the planets, a huge force was released and
these eleven streams of power merged between the hands of the messiah,
forming a blazing ring of fire circling in an endless cycle without
beginning or end.
"Eternal is the cycle of life, no beginning nor ending, only the
glory of existence." she said in a solemn noice, while the assault
of Aebonite kept on raging around them in a futile attempt to smithe
the only obstacle between him and absolute power. "The Ouroboros
cannot ever be denied his infinite power!" she yelled, forming the
raging circle of fire into a weapon of the dealiest kind ever seen
on this planet, a halberd whose shaft was shaped as a long snake
coiled around a stick. With swift movements, she spun it around her
and the crashing waves of destruction surging from Aebonite began to
dance along to Ouroboros` rythmn, flowing around to be returned to
Aebonite himself in an out of control blast that even he couldn`t
hope to stop.
Aebonite screamed, as he saw his hands beginning to disintegrate
under this unforeseen turn of events, consuming in turn his arms and
legs, all the way through his entire body until there was nothing
left of him. The pillar of aebonite mineral cracked in turn,
exploding with the power of an entire planet`s power released at
once and wiping out the vile fortress of Beryl for good.
Then silence fell.
* * *
When Sailor Moon opened her eyes again, all was dark around her...
then she saw she was floating inside an energy bubble suspended high
into the earth`s atmosphere, all her sister senshi were there too,
as were her boyfriend and her brother, Endymion and Shingo. In the
middle of this bubble was the messiah herself, whose aura had
subsided and was now easily recongnizable.
Sailor Moon gasped. The messiah was none other than her best friend
Naru.
"Hello, Usagi. I`ll bet you never expected it would be me!" she said.
It all made sense, all of a sudden: the prophecy had spoken of one
who had died at the hands of Ronmar, and was resurrected by the
Prime and his children... and that was exactly what had happened to
young Osaka Naru! How could she possibly miss that?!?
"That explains why the energy sucking monsters always were attracted
to you, I guess..." said Sailor Moon.
"Yes... I knew this was my role ever since I came back from the dead,
although I had to keep this secret even from you until the moment of
prophecy came." explained Naru.
"You look so radiant in this dress..." said Sailor Moon, in awe
before the messiah.
"You look quite stunning yourself, old friend." she replied.
Endymion and the others began waking up around them, gasping in
surprise as they noticed WHERE they were.
"Hello my friends, your battle is won." said the messiah. "Even as
we speak, worldwide patterns of temperature are restoring themselves,
and life is returning to normal. Crops will be bad this year,
although given time nature will heal herself as well."
"Naru... I can`t believe you are the messiah!" blurted out the
astonished Sailor Venus.
"I was surprised to learn this myself... destiny has a strange way
of working things out. I have two gifts for you my friends, but first
let us return to our home." said Naru, lifting her hands and pointing
them to the edge of the energy bubble which accelerated and reentered
the earth`s gravity pull, streaking down to the surface like a
glorious shooting star.
* * *
When the bubble landed in the outer senshi home`s backyard, all of
them had returned to their regular clothes, looking once again like
the average yound adults that didn`t look a thing like the saviors
of humanity.
"First of all, a gift for you, Usagi." said Naru, pulling the moon
crescent wand from her inner jacket pocket and handing over to her
best friend. "Did you really think I`d allow this relic, your
birthright, to be destroyed? You will need it again in the future
when you reclaim your lost silver crystal."
Usagi smiled, fighting off her tears. It had been so long since
she`d held her mother Serenity`s gift...
"And now, as you all know, there can be no savior messiah without her
darker counterpart, the final destroyer who can end all things with
but a few words, the silent messiah..." said Naru. She lifted her
hands, and in a flash of light appeared in her arms the most
beautiful baby girl any one of them had ever seen, whose black hair
and eyes sparkled with the promise of untold powers of destruction.
"Michiru..." said Naru, turning to the speechless senshi of the
ocean, "Will you take care of the silent messiah, Hotaru?"
Michiru cried in joy as she took the giggling baby girl in her arms
and cuddled her. Haruka could tell that her lover had fallen
hopelessly in love with the little girl, the answer to all her
deepest desires.
"I... Yes... oh, Naru, how can I ever thank you?" she blurted out
in joy.
"By taking care of your new daughter, Michiru." said Naru.
"We`ll help you out, Michiru, we outer senshi have to stand by each
other!" said Robin, thrilled to have a little sister... well, sort
of anyway. Setsuna and Haruka agreed.
"So... is this really the end of our battles against evil? Or just
a temporary respite to regain our strenght before the next
assault???" wondered Shingo, who suddenly realized that the black
leather clothes given by Aebonite were gone, replaced by jeans, a
thick wool sweater and a nice looking winter coat courtesy of the
messiah`s great power.
"There`s still so much more to come, uncle Shingo..." replied the
scarlet lady. "It just comes in cycles, you know."
* * *
EPILOGUE
Deep within the center of the galaxy lived a figure so ancient that
she had long ago faded from memory, living in a few rare myths of the
earliest days of creation itself. She was one of the elder sailor
senshi, a living relic of the primordial past, the greatest hero of
the universe.
Her life had been a long one indeed, one marked with the constant
torture she had imposed herself in order to preserve the budding
life that was meant to spread throughout the universe. She had
sacrificed herself to prevent the spread of the almighty chaos,
making the gesture that any sailor senshi would have been willing to
do but only her could perform.
She had taken it within herself, inside her soul, acting as a living
prison to the malevolent force of evil.
After so many aeons, the ordeal had taken its toll on her sanity, as
the evil force was slowly tempting her with false promises, lies and
threats. Slowly but surely, Sailor Galaxia`s mind was wavering...
And then the unimaginable happened: in one horrible song of apocalyse,
Galaxia screamed from pain that arose from the deepest recesses of
her darkened soul. Her willpower failed her, giving into the dark
urges of chaos. The single greatest genocidal murderer the universe
would ever know was born in this single moment of dark rebirth.
The End