By Yohann DeSabrais
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE 48
JUST A DREADFUL FEELING
Umino removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, revealing to Ami the
remarkable green eyes he usually shielded behind the thick lenses
he required to see. She was marveled at how handsome the nerdish
boy looked without them, and discovered one more of the many reasons
for Naru being so taken with him.
"All done." she said, tightening the final screw in the last one of
the many gadgets the two of the them had built over the day.
"Thank god we`re done in time. You`re amazing, being able to design
these things so fast." replied Umino, smiling and fighting back a
powerful yawn.
"When Usagi came to me with her idea, the designs just popped in my
head. Getting the pieces I needed was a big help, Umino. I couldn`t
have done it without you." she added. She put her screwdriver in
her toolbox and officially ended the mad building race.
"The pictures you gave me allowed me to get them, Ami." he said.
"So I guess you`ll finally take a break from work and enjoy the
evening, huh?"
"No way! I have a school project to work on with Taiki, I`m meeting
him in an hour." said Ami.
Suddenly, Umino remembered something. He had met Taiki earlier that
day, and had totally forgotten about that.
"I have something for you here." said Umino as he opened his laptop
and recalled the image file he traded with Taiki. "I got this at the
coffee shop where I ate breakfast this morning... I met Taiki, and
he seemed pretty taken by one of the Sailor Mercury pictures I had."
Ami was intrigued. Why would Taiki be so taken by a picture of her
powered form? He was usually so composed, so calm...
"This is what he traded me for it. Those Sailor Starlights you`ve
been meeting when you fought the blighted ones, I take it?" asked
Umino as he showed Ami the picture of the three young women
warriors.
"Yes, that`s them all right..." she mumbled, fascinated by the
image, especially by that of Sailor Star Maker. She wondered why
of all people Taiki would have the picture of these three
relatively unknown women, but she was so lovestruck by the
beautiful brunette that she didn`t even pursue that line of
thought.
"Hum... Ami? Are you still here with me?" asked Umino when he saw
that his brainy friend was almost oblivious to the outside world all
of a sudden. "Ami? AMI!!!"
* * *
The soft classical music CD turned rapidly in the stereo system as
its laser read thousands of digital bytes to turn them into soothing
Mozart. Setsuna loved his music, even though she had thought him a
spoiled brat when she had met him in person a few hundred years
before. Then again, her memories of time were not all continuous-
maybe she would meet him in the future after going back in time,
or perhaps it was in her life before she was reborn after she dared
use her forbidden attack to make time itself stop... regardless,
the teenage prodigy had made a pass at her, and it was one of the
rare times she`d ever lost her temper. Few people have ever seen
Meioh Setsuna slap anyone, and her expression at the moment was
a frightful one indeed.
She sat in the living room of the large house which had been
unofficially dubbed the "Outer senshi headquarters" by Usagi. It
had become a place that she really called home now, and she loved
spending time alone there. Michiru and Haruka had gone out for a
doctor`s appointment, Hotaru needing her very first vaccination
shot.
Through the darkness of the outside, two highbeams pierced the dark
veil of night. Setsuna saw them reflect through the living room and
knew that Naru was coming back with Robin... a more powerful Sailor
Saturn, a young girl who knew more about herself and the nature of
life itself.
Once again, everything was going just as she predicted. Time was
unfolding the way it was meant to, exact to the smallest detail.
She took a sip of her green tea and smiled when her young senshi
sister entered the house, her face blank from fatigue.
"How was your day?" asked Setsuna.
"It was one to remember... (yawn)... I went to places of the
spiritual I didn`t (big yawn) even knew existed, and I even (really
big yawn) heard dad`s voice again..." explained the young girl, her
eyes holding open by force of will alone.
"You`re so tired, why don`t you go to sleep?" offered Setsuna. Robin
nodded and walked upstairs to her bedroom slowly, holding on to the
handrail as if her life depended on it.
Setsuna looked back to the open door and saw Naru standing there.
"Don`t just stand there, friend messiah, come in."
"Thank you." replied Naru, taking off her winter coat.
"What`s on your mind?" asked Setsuna.
"As if you didn`t know." snarled Naru.
The guardian of time felt offended by her tone of voice, but that
last remark was right on the mark: she knew exactly what the messiah
wanted to discuss.
"My soul ascension is no concern of yours, I`m afraid. My destiny
is well traced, my role defined by the tides of time. I know
precisely what must happen."
"Do you?" wondered Naru. Her expression had become harsher, quite
obviously irritated by the implications of Setsuna`s comments.
"Time has already decided its course, I can only follow it. I can
no more stray the course than a river can change its course."
replied Setsuna, punctuating her phrase in a way to put a final
end to the discussion. She knew what Naru would reply to that, of
course. She always knew. "Your powers can do nothing to change
that."
"You don`t know what I`m capable of, you arrogant bitch!" snapped
Naru, letting her anger flow freely. Setsuna was taken aback- that
was NOT supposed to happen.
"WHAT did you say?" she replied, trying to compose herself not to
let her surprise show.
"You heard me! You think rivers are fixed... but they don`t go in
a straight line all the time, you know, they have little cascades,
swirls, eddies..." explained Naru, slowly walking towards Setsuna
and shoving her tea cup from the coffee table where it was set. It
smashed on the floor, spilling the green tea on the carpet.
This was NOT supposed to be happening, thought Setsuna.
"Damn right! Call it an incoherence, an eddie, a freak occurance...
you see, this sort of thing comes easily to the more powerful
beings of this universe... and if we can do small things easily..."
she said dramatically, suddenly changing her shirt and skirt into
a full senshi fuku identical in shape and cut to the other senshi`s.
"Now imagine the implications of the LARGER deviations!!!" she
screamed, summoning a swirl of golden energy between her hands.
Seeing the raw power crystallize into the messiah`s sacred weapon,
the glaive Ouroboros, the guardian of time felt her chest squeezing.
None of this had, should or was ever supposed to happen, not now or
anywhen. She was caught totally off-guard, and would have to fly
this by ear, not relying on temporal knowledge.
For the first time in her life, she felt panic because she didn`t
know what to do.
"DEFEND YOURSELF!!!" screamed Naru, bringing down her weapon in a
deadly arc, narrowly missing the dodging Setsuna and ripping apart
the cusions of her sofa. Knocking over her coffee table and the tea
kettle it supported, she nearly flew across the room.
"PLUTO SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!!!" she yelled, turning into Sailor
Pluto. Her garnet battle staff Eternity formed in her hands, ready
to block the deadly assault of the messiah. Ouroboros` razor sharp
blade clashed violently against the solid garnet shaft, Pluto`s
arms shaking under the sheer power of the blow.
"Naru, stop it!" pleaded the senshi of time. She didn`t wish to hurt
the messiah, and besides, this wasn`t even supposed to be happening.
As far as she could tell, she was meant to be driking green tea
while having a pleasant chat with Umino`s girlfriend all the while
listening to some Mozart music.
So much for that vision of the short term future. Now she was
fighting for her life against the raging daughter of the goddess,
the megami no musume. As much as Osaka Naru had been helpless
against youma attacks in the past, she had turned into a ruthless
fighter capable of standing up even to a sailor senshi such as
Sailor Pluto.
"What are you doing?" asked Pluto, parrying strike after lethal
strike, the echoes of the two gemstone weapons echoing in the outer
senshi`s house. The blows dealt were so powerful that the impact
traveled painfully through Setsuna`s body and made the ground
itself shake.
Furniture was being broken, decorations smashed, nothing was
spared by the winds of battle.
Then, Sailor Pluto hesitated for a moment, wondering why all this
rucus wasn`t waking up Robin upstairs... that`s when Naru surprised
Pluto by making a low sweeping strike with her left foot and knocking
her flat on her back, Eternity slipping from her fingers and clanking
down on the floor. Fighting to catch her breath back, she saw the
messiah looming over her, Ouroboros pointed directly at her throat.
"And sometimes... the river floods over, its raging waters destroying
all in its path." she heard Naru tell her as the cold blade touched
her throat.
She tried to find a way to reverse this situation, but there was
nothing she could do. Her heart was beating faster than when she
was having her daily run, her muscles frozen in panic. Fear had
control of her mind, clouding her spirit and choking her soul with
the promise of an impending death she just never saw coming because
it wasn`t meant to happen this way.
Then, just as tears formed in her eyes, she understood. Nobody was
supposed to know everything, not even her.
"Well done, my friend." came the soft whispering voice of Naru to
her ears.
After blinking once then twice, everything in her home was back to
normal. No furniture was demolished, her crystal animal set was
intact, the coffee table wasn`t missing a leg and even her green
tea cup and kettle were safely resting where she set them herself.
"I... I don`t understand..." said Setsuna.
"We beings of power have ways of making things happen." said Naru,
smiling. "All an illusion."
"So... none of it happened then."
"Well not quite... it really did happen, but in your mind." said
Naru.
Setsuna understood what her friend meant, that none of what she
saw would have any impact on the world. That was why she couldn`t
see it in the future earlier, because it never really happened.
And yet... she felt different somehow.
"What was the point of this, then?" asked Setsuna.
"Just transform and you`ll see." said Naru, putting her boots and
winter coat back on.
Setsuna did so- to her great surprise, her fuku now had extra armor
pieces and a full breastplate. She quickly summoned Eternity and was
baffled by the beauty and skillful craft of the adamant enhancement
on the shaft and striking surface, as well as on the garnet orb
itself.
"But... none of this happened!" mumbled Setsuna, baffled of this
blatant aberration to the flow of time, but which somehow felt like
the right thing to have happened.
"Just call it a gift from a friend, Setsuna... see you tomorrow!"
said Naru, closing the front door and walking to her car.
Turning to a mirror close by, Sailor Pluto looked at the improved
senshi fuku she had received thanks to her soul ascension- she
silently thanked Naru for teaching her this lesson in humility.
"Maybe I have become arrogant... but there`s still time to
change." she thought.
* * *
Amidst the many warehouses located around the Poldzer Triangle
complex, a lone man was busy discreetly surveying the premises for
possibles places to hide a team of several people.
Skillfully avoiding night watchmen teams, Shingo went from one
warehouse to the other until he found what he was looking for: one
of them was located conveniently close to the three main buildings,
yet showed no sign of recent activity. He took a peek inside and
noticed it was a storage facility for containers of some of some
older computer system parts that the data transfer research
department was wondering how to use. As computer science grew so
fast, this place was rapidly turning into a white elephant no one
wanted to associate themselves with.
"This looks just perfect." thought the young man. He left as
silently as he came.
* * *
High atop the nearby Poldzer Triangle main building, Crystallite and
her loyal protector Fenris awaited. The tension in the room was
getting to be unbearable as the daughter of Beryl fiddled with the
half-complete black crystal, feeling its sharp spikes on the
sphere`s exterior and the smooth cold surface where more pieces
would be joined.
"Things are unraveling rapidly. The quickening has begun, I can feel
it." she kept repeating over and over in an almost obsessive manner.
"Stop dwelling over this. Things will happen asthey will, you know
that better than I do." reassured the manwolf, sitting next to her
at the large glass table where she had spread a deck of tarot
cards. Admist them were also the cards of Gallagher representing
the last remaining six senshi and the messiah.
"Now YOU`RE the one telling ME not to panic? This is interesting.
Just last week you were the one telling me not to trust Black
Baron..." she snarled in sarcasm.
"And what do you want us to do? Turn back and fight him? Because you
know I WILL fight him if you ask me to." whispered the manwolf in
his most soothing voice. It still sounded like a menacing growl,
but Crystallite had learned to interpret his voice over the years
and she felt his desire to reassure her.
"We can`t... either we go along with the darkness or it consumes
us whole along with the light. My path has been set... I can`t go
back. Never go back." she replied, a tear going down her face.
Just as her single tear touched the glass surface and splashed on
the nearby messiah card, a looming shade entered the luxurious
penthouse. Both the crippled girl and her hulking lover knew who
it was.
"About time you returned... are you going to continue your mission
now?" asked Crystallite, giving the nightmarish figure an angry
stare.
"Yes." echoed a displaced voice, one without any specific source.
In an agile motion, the red-haired girl picked up the seven cards
and spread them in a fan to Black Baron so he might make his choice.
Instead of picking any one card, he greedily took the whole hand,
laughing as he looked at all seven cards. His evil laughter sent
a soul chilling tingle down her spine. Her gloomy intuitive feeling
was right- the situation was indeed heading to critical mass.
* * *
Mamoru`s car pulled up in the Tsukino house`s driveway, the young
man taking his very tired fiancee back home after a very long day
planning for the senshi preemptive strike. He looked at her falling
asleep in her seat and felt so proud... when he first met her, she
was acting in an immature fashion, thinking not about the future
and building her life, but only about food, manga, video games and
boys.
Like a normal teenage girl, essentially.
But everything she had gone through over the years had changed her,
like an iron in a forge, making her stronger, more resiliant.
Beryl.
The frail girl was now a powerful warrior.
Wiseman.
The young child had matured into a gorgeous woman.
Ronmar. Daemonfang.
So much evil she had faced, always coming out victorious.
Gallagher. The Prime.
Nothing could stop her, not a conniving manipulator older than
humanity itself or a forced journey through a hellish outer plane.
Aebonite.
And he would always be there for her. His love, his one true love,
his only love. He died for her a thousand years before and he`d do
it all over again if it could save her.
Black Baron.
Another test for the rabbit of the moon, one he was sure she`d
overcome, like all the ones before.
Getting out of the car, he opened the passenger side door and
proceeded to removed her seatbelt, making sure not to wake her up.
He gently carried her inside where Ikuko welcomed him with a warm
smile.
"She had a really hard day I see." said Ikuko when she saw Usagi
sleeping in her boyfriend`s arms, cuddling up against his chest.
"You should have seen her. She was consumed by her work, it was a
sight to behold. She was beautiful, she was fueled by her passion."
he replied, looking at her peaceful smile. He thought she was even
more beautiful in her sleep.
"Would you take her up to her room, please? She needs to rest
now." asked Ikuko.
"It will be my pleasure, miss Tsukino."
"Please... you`re engaged to be married to my daughter... call me
Ikuko!" replied Usagi`s mother, smiling warmly.
"All right, I will!" said Mamoru, returning the warm smile. He
gently walked up the stairs, careful not to awaken his dearest
love, setting her down softly on her bed and covering her up with
the covers after taking her shoes off. The small silhoette of a
three year old toddler snuck up on him- Chibi Chibi looked at
him with sleepy eyes, her bedtime past a long time ago already.
She was wearing the cutest pyjamas Usako had bought for her, the
pink one with little winged red hearts all over.
"You look tired honey... want to sleep with Usagi?" he whispered
to her.
Chibi Chibi nodded sheepishly, her mind still clouded from waking up
after sleeping less than two hours. Mamoru picked her up and tucked
her up next to his sleeping girlfriend where she went right back to
her healing slumber, craddled to Usagi with a large grin. Satisfied
to see them asleep, he went back downstairs, ready to leave.
"Going home so soon? It`s barely 10:30!" said Ikuko when she saw
him in the lobby, zipping up his coat.
"Well... since Usagi is sleeping, I really should..."
"I`ll have no such thing! I`m not letting you leave this house on
an empty stomach, Mamoru, you`re so good to my dear Usagi that you
deserve to get back some of the kindness you gave her... I have
some cake I made today, would you like some?"
A growling sound from his stomach answered faster than he could
find the words. Both of them laughed, Ikuko going to prepare some
coffee as Mamoru removed his coat. Going to the living room, he
noticed a video tape on the coffee table.
"CHRISTMAS SHOW" was written on it in Usagi`s handwriting, along
with a cute little rabbit head. He knew what was on that tape, and
he wanted to watch it again. He never got tired of seeing it.
After turning on the television and VCR, he put the tape in and sat
on the couch, feeling warm inside as the screen conjured up past
images of a special christmas pageant at Chibi-Usa`s school where
Usagi had agreed to help her with her act. Both dressed in lavish
traditional kimonos with matching fans, they danced and sang with
as much grace as a future queen and her crown princess could ever
be expected to have. The blonde teenager and her pink haired
daughter from the future had been amazing at that show, and had
received a well deserved ovation.
Absorbed completely by the tape, he never even heard Naru pulling
up the driveway and dropping off Usako. She came in the house and
noticed that her future father was there, watching something on
television.
"Watcha' watchin?" she asked playfully, jumping over the couch
and landing right besides him, her scarlet eyes sparkling like
stars. Mamoru was startled by her unexpected arrival, but he
quickly calmed down.
"The two ladies of my life." he replied, pointing to the screen
where Usagi and Chibi-Usa were making an encore performance for the
delighted public with another beautiful song.
"Ooooh I remember that! I had so much fun with mom that day..." said
Usako, smiling as she recalled the pageant.
"You were both so wonderful that day... I love both of you as much
as life itself, never doubt that, Usako." said Mamoru, looking her
in her eyes. She saw there that he meant every word, and she felt
just the same towards her parents. No words were exchanged after
that, but they both knew exactly how they felt for each other. She
put her arm around his waist and placed her head on his shoulder,
looking the tape play by a moment of happiness frozen in time.
When Ikuko returned a few minutes later with coffee and cake, she
took a few moments to bask in the glow of that tender embrace
between father and daughter. She was more certain than ever that
this young man would make her daughter the happiest woman in the
world the same way Kenji had done for herself.
* * *
Dawn arose in Tokyo.
Perhaps the last one.
Shingo placed a cup of strong, black coffee on the kitchen table
right besides the breakfast plate of his older sister, the young
woman lost in thought.
"You look worried." he said, sitting across the table from her.
"Why shouldn`t I be?" she replied, closing her eyes and placing her
head in her hands.
"You planned all of this so carefully, you accounted for
everything." he said.
"The unexpected always happens. That`s one thing I`ve learned, and
you can`t account for that. Only pray you can react fast enough
when it does happen." said Usagi, sighing deeply.
"I have faith in you, sis. You always pulled through before, and I
trust you again today. I`d follow you through hell if you told me
our path went through it."
"Thanks for trusting me with your life, brother... I`ll try and
live up to your faith in me."
"I know you will. With your plan in effect, we`ll put an end to all
of this madness." replied Shingo, finishing his coffee.
"Yes... one way or the other... it ends tonight." concluded Usagi
dramatically.
* * *
Fenris awoke to find that his mistress Crystallite was already up
and running... well, so to speak. She was dressed already in her
most intimidating crimson dress, golden runes decorating the long
flowing garnment with very wide sleeves that would facilitate any
spell casting she might need to do. She stood in a fragile balance
in front of the large bay windows of the penthouse, holding on to
the window`s frame for stability, her weakened body threatening to
let her down at any moment.
"Milady, you shouldn`t be making long efforts without me!" urged
the manwolf as he hopped out of bed, coming up behind her and putting
his arms around her waist. She let herself rest against his huge
body, resting from the strain of staying up on her own for so long.
She could feel a crushing pain forming in her chest where the once
murderous Fenris Wolfang had clawed her furiously in a murder attempt
funded by a mysterious man who had never returned to claim his
contract be completed in full.
"You look good with only those boxers on, my big bad wolf..." she
whispered, putting her hands on his and caressing his short coal
black fur.
"You`re tense, my love... why all the stress?" asked Fenris.
"Because of this." she replied, taking the half complete black
crystal from her robe pocket.
"Again this crystal... why is it so important anyway? Do you not
have enough power as it is? Aren`t strong enough to conquer this
world and make it bow to your will?" wondered Fenris.
"Yes... I am... but I want something more... to go beyond what
mother did, and show this entire UNIVERSE the power of darkness!!!"
said Crystallite, raising her stare to the dark clouds swirling in
the sky atop the Poldzer Triangle.
"Fenris... my love... it ends tonight."
* * *
"Excuse me miss Neko, we just got a call from someone who says that
you wanted to see her... something about a wine stain on her
blouse." went the voice on Cathra`s intercom.
"Yes, I did have a small accident with a glass of red wine in a
restaurant... I told the young lady to call me so we could arrange
for financial compensation. Is she still on the line?" she asked.
"Yes, miss Neko, she`s on hold on line number three."
"I`ll take her, thank you." replied Cathra, switching over the line
to her phone. "Yes, I`m so glad you called!"
"I would have called sooner, but I`ve been quite busy." said
Laurella over the phone.
"I can imagine, honey, aren`t we all?"
"I was wondering if I could drop by today and we could discuss this.
I don`t have class today, and it would really arrange me to replace
that blouse as soon as possible." asked Laurella.
"Of course, darling, but I`m about to go into a big meeting with the
high brass of the company, but if you come by I can have someone
take you for a grand tour of the Poldzer Triangle, how does that
sound?" offered the human looking youma with her sweetest voice.
"That sounds nice... could my boyfriend come too? He`s studying in
biotechnologies and heard about your top of the line labs."
"Sure, bring him along. Make a special day of it, you`ll find our
cafeterias to have really amazing food! What`s your name, by the
way?"
"Serena. Serena Moonrabbit." lied Laurella, careful to conceal her
true identity.
"Beautiful, Serena, I`ll inform security that two guests will be
coming by for the grand tour later today. I`ll see you after my
meeting." concluded Cathra, hanging up. She laughed, amazed at how
easy this all had been.
"By bringing over the senshi to the triangle, Black Baron will have
to push ahead faster than he anticipated... and Crystallite will be
forced to tip her hand and play this by ear, making hasty
decisions... oh yes, dance, my puppets, dance!!!" thought Cathra
as her human features faded back into her true catwoman form, her
auburn fur, feline eyes and pointed ears formed. She purred in
delight at the thought of all the power she`d forcefully grab from
those who thought her to be the pawn, never the master.
"Finally it will happen the way it was always supposed to... it
ends tonight." she whispered.
* * *
"You look worried Yaten." observed Taiki as he loaded the Three
Light`s instruments into their van. He looked at his brother who
stared blankly over to the dark clouds gathering above the sector
where he felt darkness growing like venomous mold.
"It`s almost time... we'll be needed again by our sister senshi."
said Yaten.
Seiya locked the door to their appartment and looked over at the
clouds as well. "So it`s about to happen, right?" he asked.
"Events have reached critical mass..." replied Yaten. "...it ends
tonight."
* * *
Wearing the best looking clothes they owned, Shingo and Laurella
looked up at the ominous shape of the Poldzer Triangle towering
above them. Standing in the central plaza, they were totally
dwarfed by the massive steel and glass buildings.
"I`m reassured you came with me, Shingo, I wouldn`t want to go in
there alone." said Laurella as her boyfriend held her by the waist,
her back turned to him. She took a long puff on her lit cigarette,
knowing she`d have to drop it before going inside.
"I agree, it looks gloomy from here with these black clouds... is
it just me or are they swirling around the place?!?" wondered
Shingo.
Laurella looked up and felt a tingle- something cold and dark was
indeed here, but her dysfonctional heart quickly pushed out this
hint of empathic receptivity. Her soul was not yet ready to feel
such a foul emission.
"It`s so dark here... there`s a good chance I might need the
Emerald Knight`s help to get out of that place alive, you know."
she replied.
"I`m always there for you, no matter what, you know that."
"Yes, I do." replied Laurella, still no sign of emotion in her voice.
That coldness made him feel horrible- like he had failed her. His
sister kept telling him that he couldn`t have stopped Black Baron on
his own and would just have been killed trying to prevent him from
attacking Sailor Jendra, but still... he felt guilty anyway.
"Come on, let`s go in. We have a lot to do." said the young woman,
placing her purse shoulder strap comfortably in place so she could
easily reach in for the precious content. She flicked off her half
consumed cigarette and headed for the main reception, Shingo
following her loyally.
A few moments later, two figures stepped from behind a small group
of trees decorating the middle of the Poldzer Triangle central plaza.
The tallest of these two men whose clothing was black and reminiscent
of desert nomads picked up the cigarette and brought it to his mouth
after pulling off his hood. His traits were quite attractive as far
as blighted ones went, his dark tan skin and latino features being
well completed by his small mustache and well groomed goatie. He also
had a very visible pair of scars shaped as an 'X' over his left eye,
a sign of past battles. Taking a puff on the cigarette, the smaller
blighted one came to him carrying on his back a sword as large as
himself.
"And why not now, Velasquez?" he asked in a weak raspy voice. "One
of them can barely defend herself, I would have triumphed for
certain!"
"Calm down, you`ll get your chance at the senshi... Black Baron has
promised you so, hasn`t he? Hasn`t he approved of my choosing you?"
replied Velasquez, inhaling the soothing tobacco smoke he hadn`t
tasted in so many decades... ever since he had failed in Black
Baron`s special training, and the arts of darkness had devoured
his soul whole, weaving it anew to Black Baron`s whim.
"Yes, indeed he has." agreed the short swordsman.
"Just a little more patience..." said Velasquez, tossing the
finished cigarette down and crushing it under the heel of his hard
leather boot.
"...it ends tonight."
To be continued...
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE 48
JUST A DREADFUL FEELING
Umino removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, revealing to Ami the
remarkable green eyes he usually shielded behind the thick lenses
he required to see. She was marveled at how handsome the nerdish
boy looked without them, and discovered one more of the many reasons
for Naru being so taken with him.
"All done." she said, tightening the final screw in the last one of
the many gadgets the two of the them had built over the day.
"Thank god we`re done in time. You`re amazing, being able to design
these things so fast." replied Umino, smiling and fighting back a
powerful yawn.
"When Usagi came to me with her idea, the designs just popped in my
head. Getting the pieces I needed was a big help, Umino. I couldn`t
have done it without you." she added. She put her screwdriver in
her toolbox and officially ended the mad building race.
"The pictures you gave me allowed me to get them, Ami." he said.
"So I guess you`ll finally take a break from work and enjoy the
evening, huh?"
"No way! I have a school project to work on with Taiki, I`m meeting
him in an hour." said Ami.
Suddenly, Umino remembered something. He had met Taiki earlier that
day, and had totally forgotten about that.
"I have something for you here." said Umino as he opened his laptop
and recalled the image file he traded with Taiki. "I got this at the
coffee shop where I ate breakfast this morning... I met Taiki, and
he seemed pretty taken by one of the Sailor Mercury pictures I had."
Ami was intrigued. Why would Taiki be so taken by a picture of her
powered form? He was usually so composed, so calm...
"This is what he traded me for it. Those Sailor Starlights you`ve
been meeting when you fought the blighted ones, I take it?" asked
Umino as he showed Ami the picture of the three young women
warriors.
"Yes, that`s them all right..." she mumbled, fascinated by the
image, especially by that of Sailor Star Maker. She wondered why
of all people Taiki would have the picture of these three
relatively unknown women, but she was so lovestruck by the
beautiful brunette that she didn`t even pursue that line of
thought.
"Hum... Ami? Are you still here with me?" asked Umino when he saw
that his brainy friend was almost oblivious to the outside world all
of a sudden. "Ami? AMI!!!"
* * *
The soft classical music CD turned rapidly in the stereo system as
its laser read thousands of digital bytes to turn them into soothing
Mozart. Setsuna loved his music, even though she had thought him a
spoiled brat when she had met him in person a few hundred years
before. Then again, her memories of time were not all continuous-
maybe she would meet him in the future after going back in time,
or perhaps it was in her life before she was reborn after she dared
use her forbidden attack to make time itself stop... regardless,
the teenage prodigy had made a pass at her, and it was one of the
rare times she`d ever lost her temper. Few people have ever seen
Meioh Setsuna slap anyone, and her expression at the moment was
a frightful one indeed.
She sat in the living room of the large house which had been
unofficially dubbed the "Outer senshi headquarters" by Usagi. It
had become a place that she really called home now, and she loved
spending time alone there. Michiru and Haruka had gone out for a
doctor`s appointment, Hotaru needing her very first vaccination
shot.
Through the darkness of the outside, two highbeams pierced the dark
veil of night. Setsuna saw them reflect through the living room and
knew that Naru was coming back with Robin... a more powerful Sailor
Saturn, a young girl who knew more about herself and the nature of
life itself.
Once again, everything was going just as she predicted. Time was
unfolding the way it was meant to, exact to the smallest detail.
She took a sip of her green tea and smiled when her young senshi
sister entered the house, her face blank from fatigue.
"How was your day?" asked Setsuna.
"It was one to remember... (yawn)... I went to places of the
spiritual I didn`t (big yawn) even knew existed, and I even (really
big yawn) heard dad`s voice again..." explained the young girl, her
eyes holding open by force of will alone.
"You`re so tired, why don`t you go to sleep?" offered Setsuna. Robin
nodded and walked upstairs to her bedroom slowly, holding on to the
handrail as if her life depended on it.
Setsuna looked back to the open door and saw Naru standing there.
"Don`t just stand there, friend messiah, come in."
"Thank you." replied Naru, taking off her winter coat.
"What`s on your mind?" asked Setsuna.
"As if you didn`t know." snarled Naru.
The guardian of time felt offended by her tone of voice, but that
last remark was right on the mark: she knew exactly what the messiah
wanted to discuss.
"My soul ascension is no concern of yours, I`m afraid. My destiny
is well traced, my role defined by the tides of time. I know
precisely what must happen."
"Do you?" wondered Naru. Her expression had become harsher, quite
obviously irritated by the implications of Setsuna`s comments.
"Time has already decided its course, I can only follow it. I can
no more stray the course than a river can change its course."
replied Setsuna, punctuating her phrase in a way to put a final
end to the discussion. She knew what Naru would reply to that, of
course. She always knew. "Your powers can do nothing to change
that."
"You don`t know what I`m capable of, you arrogant bitch!" snapped
Naru, letting her anger flow freely. Setsuna was taken aback- that
was NOT supposed to happen.
"WHAT did you say?" she replied, trying to compose herself not to
let her surprise show.
"You heard me! You think rivers are fixed... but they don`t go in
a straight line all the time, you know, they have little cascades,
swirls, eddies..." explained Naru, slowly walking towards Setsuna
and shoving her tea cup from the coffee table where it was set. It
smashed on the floor, spilling the green tea on the carpet.
This was NOT supposed to be happening, thought Setsuna.
"Damn right! Call it an incoherence, an eddie, a freak occurance...
you see, this sort of thing comes easily to the more powerful
beings of this universe... and if we can do small things easily..."
she said dramatically, suddenly changing her shirt and skirt into
a full senshi fuku identical in shape and cut to the other senshi`s.
"Now imagine the implications of the LARGER deviations!!!" she
screamed, summoning a swirl of golden energy between her hands.
Seeing the raw power crystallize into the messiah`s sacred weapon,
the glaive Ouroboros, the guardian of time felt her chest squeezing.
None of this had, should or was ever supposed to happen, not now or
anywhen. She was caught totally off-guard, and would have to fly
this by ear, not relying on temporal knowledge.
For the first time in her life, she felt panic because she didn`t
know what to do.
"DEFEND YOURSELF!!!" screamed Naru, bringing down her weapon in a
deadly arc, narrowly missing the dodging Setsuna and ripping apart
the cusions of her sofa. Knocking over her coffee table and the tea
kettle it supported, she nearly flew across the room.
"PLUTO SOUL POWER TRANSFORM!!!" she yelled, turning into Sailor
Pluto. Her garnet battle staff Eternity formed in her hands, ready
to block the deadly assault of the messiah. Ouroboros` razor sharp
blade clashed violently against the solid garnet shaft, Pluto`s
arms shaking under the sheer power of the blow.
"Naru, stop it!" pleaded the senshi of time. She didn`t wish to hurt
the messiah, and besides, this wasn`t even supposed to be happening.
As far as she could tell, she was meant to be driking green tea
while having a pleasant chat with Umino`s girlfriend all the while
listening to some Mozart music.
So much for that vision of the short term future. Now she was
fighting for her life against the raging daughter of the goddess,
the megami no musume. As much as Osaka Naru had been helpless
against youma attacks in the past, she had turned into a ruthless
fighter capable of standing up even to a sailor senshi such as
Sailor Pluto.
"What are you doing?" asked Pluto, parrying strike after lethal
strike, the echoes of the two gemstone weapons echoing in the outer
senshi`s house. The blows dealt were so powerful that the impact
traveled painfully through Setsuna`s body and made the ground
itself shake.
Furniture was being broken, decorations smashed, nothing was
spared by the winds of battle.
Then, Sailor Pluto hesitated for a moment, wondering why all this
rucus wasn`t waking up Robin upstairs... that`s when Naru surprised
Pluto by making a low sweeping strike with her left foot and knocking
her flat on her back, Eternity slipping from her fingers and clanking
down on the floor. Fighting to catch her breath back, she saw the
messiah looming over her, Ouroboros pointed directly at her throat.
"And sometimes... the river floods over, its raging waters destroying
all in its path." she heard Naru tell her as the cold blade touched
her throat.
She tried to find a way to reverse this situation, but there was
nothing she could do. Her heart was beating faster than when she
was having her daily run, her muscles frozen in panic. Fear had
control of her mind, clouding her spirit and choking her soul with
the promise of an impending death she just never saw coming because
it wasn`t meant to happen this way.
Then, just as tears formed in her eyes, she understood. Nobody was
supposed to know everything, not even her.
"Well done, my friend." came the soft whispering voice of Naru to
her ears.
After blinking once then twice, everything in her home was back to
normal. No furniture was demolished, her crystal animal set was
intact, the coffee table wasn`t missing a leg and even her green
tea cup and kettle were safely resting where she set them herself.
"I... I don`t understand..." said Setsuna.
"We beings of power have ways of making things happen." said Naru,
smiling. "All an illusion."
"So... none of it happened then."
"Well not quite... it really did happen, but in your mind." said
Naru.
Setsuna understood what her friend meant, that none of what she
saw would have any impact on the world. That was why she couldn`t
see it in the future earlier, because it never really happened.
And yet... she felt different somehow.
"What was the point of this, then?" asked Setsuna.
"Just transform and you`ll see." said Naru, putting her boots and
winter coat back on.
Setsuna did so- to her great surprise, her fuku now had extra armor
pieces and a full breastplate. She quickly summoned Eternity and was
baffled by the beauty and skillful craft of the adamant enhancement
on the shaft and striking surface, as well as on the garnet orb
itself.
"But... none of this happened!" mumbled Setsuna, baffled of this
blatant aberration to the flow of time, but which somehow felt like
the right thing to have happened.
"Just call it a gift from a friend, Setsuna... see you tomorrow!"
said Naru, closing the front door and walking to her car.
Turning to a mirror close by, Sailor Pluto looked at the improved
senshi fuku she had received thanks to her soul ascension- she
silently thanked Naru for teaching her this lesson in humility.
"Maybe I have become arrogant... but there`s still time to
change." she thought.
* * *
Amidst the many warehouses located around the Poldzer Triangle
complex, a lone man was busy discreetly surveying the premises for
possibles places to hide a team of several people.
Skillfully avoiding night watchmen teams, Shingo went from one
warehouse to the other until he found what he was looking for: one
of them was located conveniently close to the three main buildings,
yet showed no sign of recent activity. He took a peek inside and
noticed it was a storage facility for containers of some of some
older computer system parts that the data transfer research
department was wondering how to use. As computer science grew so
fast, this place was rapidly turning into a white elephant no one
wanted to associate themselves with.
"This looks just perfect." thought the young man. He left as
silently as he came.
* * *
High atop the nearby Poldzer Triangle main building, Crystallite and
her loyal protector Fenris awaited. The tension in the room was
getting to be unbearable as the daughter of Beryl fiddled with the
half-complete black crystal, feeling its sharp spikes on the
sphere`s exterior and the smooth cold surface where more pieces
would be joined.
"Things are unraveling rapidly. The quickening has begun, I can feel
it." she kept repeating over and over in an almost obsessive manner.
"Stop dwelling over this. Things will happen asthey will, you know
that better than I do." reassured the manwolf, sitting next to her
at the large glass table where she had spread a deck of tarot
cards. Admist them were also the cards of Gallagher representing
the last remaining six senshi and the messiah.
"Now YOU`RE the one telling ME not to panic? This is interesting.
Just last week you were the one telling me not to trust Black
Baron..." she snarled in sarcasm.
"And what do you want us to do? Turn back and fight him? Because you
know I WILL fight him if you ask me to." whispered the manwolf in
his most soothing voice. It still sounded like a menacing growl,
but Crystallite had learned to interpret his voice over the years
and she felt his desire to reassure her.
"We can`t... either we go along with the darkness or it consumes
us whole along with the light. My path has been set... I can`t go
back. Never go back." she replied, a tear going down her face.
Just as her single tear touched the glass surface and splashed on
the nearby messiah card, a looming shade entered the luxurious
penthouse. Both the crippled girl and her hulking lover knew who
it was.
"About time you returned... are you going to continue your mission
now?" asked Crystallite, giving the nightmarish figure an angry
stare.
"Yes." echoed a displaced voice, one without any specific source.
In an agile motion, the red-haired girl picked up the seven cards
and spread them in a fan to Black Baron so he might make his choice.
Instead of picking any one card, he greedily took the whole hand,
laughing as he looked at all seven cards. His evil laughter sent
a soul chilling tingle down her spine. Her gloomy intuitive feeling
was right- the situation was indeed heading to critical mass.
* * *
Mamoru`s car pulled up in the Tsukino house`s driveway, the young
man taking his very tired fiancee back home after a very long day
planning for the senshi preemptive strike. He looked at her falling
asleep in her seat and felt so proud... when he first met her, she
was acting in an immature fashion, thinking not about the future
and building her life, but only about food, manga, video games and
boys.
Like a normal teenage girl, essentially.
But everything she had gone through over the years had changed her,
like an iron in a forge, making her stronger, more resiliant.
Beryl.
The frail girl was now a powerful warrior.
Wiseman.
The young child had matured into a gorgeous woman.
Ronmar. Daemonfang.
So much evil she had faced, always coming out victorious.
Gallagher. The Prime.
Nothing could stop her, not a conniving manipulator older than
humanity itself or a forced journey through a hellish outer plane.
Aebonite.
And he would always be there for her. His love, his one true love,
his only love. He died for her a thousand years before and he`d do
it all over again if it could save her.
Black Baron.
Another test for the rabbit of the moon, one he was sure she`d
overcome, like all the ones before.
Getting out of the car, he opened the passenger side door and
proceeded to removed her seatbelt, making sure not to wake her up.
He gently carried her inside where Ikuko welcomed him with a warm
smile.
"She had a really hard day I see." said Ikuko when she saw Usagi
sleeping in her boyfriend`s arms, cuddling up against his chest.
"You should have seen her. She was consumed by her work, it was a
sight to behold. She was beautiful, she was fueled by her passion."
he replied, looking at her peaceful smile. He thought she was even
more beautiful in her sleep.
"Would you take her up to her room, please? She needs to rest
now." asked Ikuko.
"It will be my pleasure, miss Tsukino."
"Please... you`re engaged to be married to my daughter... call me
Ikuko!" replied Usagi`s mother, smiling warmly.
"All right, I will!" said Mamoru, returning the warm smile. He
gently walked up the stairs, careful not to awaken his dearest
love, setting her down softly on her bed and covering her up with
the covers after taking her shoes off. The small silhoette of a
three year old toddler snuck up on him- Chibi Chibi looked at
him with sleepy eyes, her bedtime past a long time ago already.
She was wearing the cutest pyjamas Usako had bought for her, the
pink one with little winged red hearts all over.
"You look tired honey... want to sleep with Usagi?" he whispered
to her.
Chibi Chibi nodded sheepishly, her mind still clouded from waking up
after sleeping less than two hours. Mamoru picked her up and tucked
her up next to his sleeping girlfriend where she went right back to
her healing slumber, craddled to Usagi with a large grin. Satisfied
to see them asleep, he went back downstairs, ready to leave.
"Going home so soon? It`s barely 10:30!" said Ikuko when she saw
him in the lobby, zipping up his coat.
"Well... since Usagi is sleeping, I really should..."
"I`ll have no such thing! I`m not letting you leave this house on
an empty stomach, Mamoru, you`re so good to my dear Usagi that you
deserve to get back some of the kindness you gave her... I have
some cake I made today, would you like some?"
A growling sound from his stomach answered faster than he could
find the words. Both of them laughed, Ikuko going to prepare some
coffee as Mamoru removed his coat. Going to the living room, he
noticed a video tape on the coffee table.
"CHRISTMAS SHOW" was written on it in Usagi`s handwriting, along
with a cute little rabbit head. He knew what was on that tape, and
he wanted to watch it again. He never got tired of seeing it.
After turning on the television and VCR, he put the tape in and sat
on the couch, feeling warm inside as the screen conjured up past
images of a special christmas pageant at Chibi-Usa`s school where
Usagi had agreed to help her with her act. Both dressed in lavish
traditional kimonos with matching fans, they danced and sang with
as much grace as a future queen and her crown princess could ever
be expected to have. The blonde teenager and her pink haired
daughter from the future had been amazing at that show, and had
received a well deserved ovation.
Absorbed completely by the tape, he never even heard Naru pulling
up the driveway and dropping off Usako. She came in the house and
noticed that her future father was there, watching something on
television.
"Watcha' watchin?" she asked playfully, jumping over the couch
and landing right besides him, her scarlet eyes sparkling like
stars. Mamoru was startled by her unexpected arrival, but he
quickly calmed down.
"The two ladies of my life." he replied, pointing to the screen
where Usagi and Chibi-Usa were making an encore performance for the
delighted public with another beautiful song.
"Ooooh I remember that! I had so much fun with mom that day..." said
Usako, smiling as she recalled the pageant.
"You were both so wonderful that day... I love both of you as much
as life itself, never doubt that, Usako." said Mamoru, looking her
in her eyes. She saw there that he meant every word, and she felt
just the same towards her parents. No words were exchanged after
that, but they both knew exactly how they felt for each other. She
put her arm around his waist and placed her head on his shoulder,
looking the tape play by a moment of happiness frozen in time.
When Ikuko returned a few minutes later with coffee and cake, she
took a few moments to bask in the glow of that tender embrace
between father and daughter. She was more certain than ever that
this young man would make her daughter the happiest woman in the
world the same way Kenji had done for herself.
* * *
Dawn arose in Tokyo.
Perhaps the last one.
Shingo placed a cup of strong, black coffee on the kitchen table
right besides the breakfast plate of his older sister, the young
woman lost in thought.
"You look worried." he said, sitting across the table from her.
"Why shouldn`t I be?" she replied, closing her eyes and placing her
head in her hands.
"You planned all of this so carefully, you accounted for
everything." he said.
"The unexpected always happens. That`s one thing I`ve learned, and
you can`t account for that. Only pray you can react fast enough
when it does happen." said Usagi, sighing deeply.
"I have faith in you, sis. You always pulled through before, and I
trust you again today. I`d follow you through hell if you told me
our path went through it."
"Thanks for trusting me with your life, brother... I`ll try and
live up to your faith in me."
"I know you will. With your plan in effect, we`ll put an end to all
of this madness." replied Shingo, finishing his coffee.
"Yes... one way or the other... it ends tonight." concluded Usagi
dramatically.
* * *
Fenris awoke to find that his mistress Crystallite was already up
and running... well, so to speak. She was dressed already in her
most intimidating crimson dress, golden runes decorating the long
flowing garnment with very wide sleeves that would facilitate any
spell casting she might need to do. She stood in a fragile balance
in front of the large bay windows of the penthouse, holding on to
the window`s frame for stability, her weakened body threatening to
let her down at any moment.
"Milady, you shouldn`t be making long efforts without me!" urged
the manwolf as he hopped out of bed, coming up behind her and putting
his arms around her waist. She let herself rest against his huge
body, resting from the strain of staying up on her own for so long.
She could feel a crushing pain forming in her chest where the once
murderous Fenris Wolfang had clawed her furiously in a murder attempt
funded by a mysterious man who had never returned to claim his
contract be completed in full.
"You look good with only those boxers on, my big bad wolf..." she
whispered, putting her hands on his and caressing his short coal
black fur.
"You`re tense, my love... why all the stress?" asked Fenris.
"Because of this." she replied, taking the half complete black
crystal from her robe pocket.
"Again this crystal... why is it so important anyway? Do you not
have enough power as it is? Aren`t strong enough to conquer this
world and make it bow to your will?" wondered Fenris.
"Yes... I am... but I want something more... to go beyond what
mother did, and show this entire UNIVERSE the power of darkness!!!"
said Crystallite, raising her stare to the dark clouds swirling in
the sky atop the Poldzer Triangle.
"Fenris... my love... it ends tonight."
* * *
"Excuse me miss Neko, we just got a call from someone who says that
you wanted to see her... something about a wine stain on her
blouse." went the voice on Cathra`s intercom.
"Yes, I did have a small accident with a glass of red wine in a
restaurant... I told the young lady to call me so we could arrange
for financial compensation. Is she still on the line?" she asked.
"Yes, miss Neko, she`s on hold on line number three."
"I`ll take her, thank you." replied Cathra, switching over the line
to her phone. "Yes, I`m so glad you called!"
"I would have called sooner, but I`ve been quite busy." said
Laurella over the phone.
"I can imagine, honey, aren`t we all?"
"I was wondering if I could drop by today and we could discuss this.
I don`t have class today, and it would really arrange me to replace
that blouse as soon as possible." asked Laurella.
"Of course, darling, but I`m about to go into a big meeting with the
high brass of the company, but if you come by I can have someone
take you for a grand tour of the Poldzer Triangle, how does that
sound?" offered the human looking youma with her sweetest voice.
"That sounds nice... could my boyfriend come too? He`s studying in
biotechnologies and heard about your top of the line labs."
"Sure, bring him along. Make a special day of it, you`ll find our
cafeterias to have really amazing food! What`s your name, by the
way?"
"Serena. Serena Moonrabbit." lied Laurella, careful to conceal her
true identity.
"Beautiful, Serena, I`ll inform security that two guests will be
coming by for the grand tour later today. I`ll see you after my
meeting." concluded Cathra, hanging up. She laughed, amazed at how
easy this all had been.
"By bringing over the senshi to the triangle, Black Baron will have
to push ahead faster than he anticipated... and Crystallite will be
forced to tip her hand and play this by ear, making hasty
decisions... oh yes, dance, my puppets, dance!!!" thought Cathra
as her human features faded back into her true catwoman form, her
auburn fur, feline eyes and pointed ears formed. She purred in
delight at the thought of all the power she`d forcefully grab from
those who thought her to be the pawn, never the master.
"Finally it will happen the way it was always supposed to... it
ends tonight." she whispered.
* * *
"You look worried Yaten." observed Taiki as he loaded the Three
Light`s instruments into their van. He looked at his brother who
stared blankly over to the dark clouds gathering above the sector
where he felt darkness growing like venomous mold.
"It`s almost time... we'll be needed again by our sister senshi."
said Yaten.
Seiya locked the door to their appartment and looked over at the
clouds as well. "So it`s about to happen, right?" he asked.
"Events have reached critical mass..." replied Yaten. "...it ends
tonight."
* * *
Wearing the best looking clothes they owned, Shingo and Laurella
looked up at the ominous shape of the Poldzer Triangle towering
above them. Standing in the central plaza, they were totally
dwarfed by the massive steel and glass buildings.
"I`m reassured you came with me, Shingo, I wouldn`t want to go in
there alone." said Laurella as her boyfriend held her by the waist,
her back turned to him. She took a long puff on her lit cigarette,
knowing she`d have to drop it before going inside.
"I agree, it looks gloomy from here with these black clouds... is
it just me or are they swirling around the place?!?" wondered
Shingo.
Laurella looked up and felt a tingle- something cold and dark was
indeed here, but her dysfonctional heart quickly pushed out this
hint of empathic receptivity. Her soul was not yet ready to feel
such a foul emission.
"It`s so dark here... there`s a good chance I might need the
Emerald Knight`s help to get out of that place alive, you know."
she replied.
"I`m always there for you, no matter what, you know that."
"Yes, I do." replied Laurella, still no sign of emotion in her voice.
That coldness made him feel horrible- like he had failed her. His
sister kept telling him that he couldn`t have stopped Black Baron on
his own and would just have been killed trying to prevent him from
attacking Sailor Jendra, but still... he felt guilty anyway.
"Come on, let`s go in. We have a lot to do." said the young woman,
placing her purse shoulder strap comfortably in place so she could
easily reach in for the precious content. She flicked off her half
consumed cigarette and headed for the main reception, Shingo
following her loyally.
A few moments later, two figures stepped from behind a small group
of trees decorating the middle of the Poldzer Triangle central plaza.
The tallest of these two men whose clothing was black and reminiscent
of desert nomads picked up the cigarette and brought it to his mouth
after pulling off his hood. His traits were quite attractive as far
as blighted ones went, his dark tan skin and latino features being
well completed by his small mustache and well groomed goatie. He also
had a very visible pair of scars shaped as an 'X' over his left eye,
a sign of past battles. Taking a puff on the cigarette, the smaller
blighted one came to him carrying on his back a sword as large as
himself.
"And why not now, Velasquez?" he asked in a weak raspy voice. "One
of them can barely defend herself, I would have triumphed for
certain!"
"Calm down, you`ll get your chance at the senshi... Black Baron has
promised you so, hasn`t he? Hasn`t he approved of my choosing you?"
replied Velasquez, inhaling the soothing tobacco smoke he hadn`t
tasted in so many decades... ever since he had failed in Black
Baron`s special training, and the arts of darkness had devoured
his soul whole, weaving it anew to Black Baron`s whim.
"Yes, indeed he has." agreed the short swordsman.
"Just a little more patience..." said Velasquez, tossing the
finished cigarette down and crushing it under the heel of his hard
leather boot.
"...it ends tonight."
To be continued...