By Yohann DeSabrais
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE 50
FROM WITHIN THE DARKEST POOL
Facing precious little resistance from the senshi, Black Baron had
captured two different dark splinters from them in just a few minutes.
With the flow of darkness reaching summits not attained, it had been
child`s play for him to create a vortex of black energy in which the
senshi, Umino and Endymion had gotten sucked into, and from that
point three more had come in his grasp.
Now he was after the last one he needed: Sailor Moon`s. Laughing his
head off, he was putting unimaginable pressure on her soul, squeezing
it like one extracts juice from a lemon.
"COME NOW ARMAGEDDON!!!" he yelled as Sailor Moon screamed in pain.
She couldn`t hold up against this very long and she knew it, but
what could she do? Not even Endymion, the messiah and the Starlights
together could stop him from assaulting her spirit with his evil
power.
The Starlights looked at Sailor Mercury, Terra and Saturn who had
been depowered by the attack of Black Baron, and felt helpless to
rescue them as well. The objects of their love were in deadly peril,
and their powers were by far insufficient to do anything. They
wanted to scream their frustration, but even that had been taken
away from them. All they could do was to yell out their pain with
their minds, which were ready to snap. The last remnants of their
former glory, sharp shards of their smashed sacred weapons, spun
around with them as silent testimony to their failure in defeating
their mighty enemy.
Something else entirely happened instead.
According to a legend that the Starlights were once told by their
adoptive mother Queen Kakyoku, when a sailor senshi reaches the
height of peril and yet keeps her unshakable will to triumph and
overcome all danger, her spirit transcends to new levels of power
and understanding of self.
Soul power, she called it.
Deep from within their beings, Star Maker, Star Fighter and Star
Healer felt a surge of holy power greater than any they had ever
experienced before. A globe of golden light engulfed their bodies,
infusing them with the strenght of legend. When the light vanished,
their fuku had been changed- they now had a full body suit with an
open star cutout on their stomach, tibia and forearm metal
protectors, comfortable battle boots instead of the old, very
impractical high heels and a visor covering their eyes.
Acting on intuition, they called out the name of what they knew they
had gained- a sacred weapon that reflected their soul`s unlimited
potential.
"Skybreaker!!!" called out Star Maker, summoning a long sleek lance
made of the most resilient platinum, its hamp engraved with
remarkably detailed sigils and symbols.
"Nightstar!!!" yelled Star Healer, calling forth a slender french
renaissance style rapier made of pure silver.
"Sunfire!!!" called Star Fighter, materializing a sturdy two handed
double edged sword whose hand guards were razor sharp as well.
"SOUL POWER!!!" The three starlights yelled all at once, building up
golden energy in their weapons and pointing them down towards the
center and aiming to the dark shadow himself.
Fear left their hearts as their newly acquired weapons glowed
brightly and unleashed three golden streams of the holiest power
that Black Baron had ever felt. Struck directly, he flinched under
the relentless might shown by his enemies. Within a few seconds, the
vortex disappeared, releasing its helpless prisoners. However, they
found themselves falling down to the ground rather fast.
Endymion was able to catch Sailor Moon and land on his feet, used to
doing this sort of agile manoeuver whenever he got his girlfriend out
of trouble as she fought youma and other fiends. Secure in the arms
of her precious knight, she looked up and worried over her friends`
fate- but her worries were put to rest as she saw Fighter, Maker
and Healer soar through the air to catch Usako, Ami and Robin on
their way down. As for Umino and Naru, well... they just seemed
to FLOAT down!!!
"Is it too late to lend a hand?" came a familiar voice. Sailor Moon
recognized the voice, but not the costume- Ami`s mother, dressed in
her old dark kingdom battle uniform, holding up a hand charged with
gravitation manipulating energies.
"Of course not... Quartzite, I do believe?" asked Sailor Moon,
getting back on her feet as Endymion gently put her down. "So that`s
what Ami`s mom looks like in leather..." she couldn`t help but
think, remembering the description her friend had made of Akane as
she had rescued Rei from the dual attacks of the youma Cancera and
Manticide. She looked over to Black Baron who was still reeling from
his blow, his shadows shifting even faster than usual. She saw her
three friends in the starlights` arms, shivering from the cold coming
from their torn souls. She knew that somewhere nearby, Makoto and
Setsuna where going through the same.
"You dont`have much time to heal your friends, Sailor moon, he`ll be
on your case again in a few moments." said Quartzite, concerned over
her daughter`s painful condition.
"Right- Naru, I need your help here... we have to do this even
stronger than last time!" said Sailor Moon, producing her moon
crescent wand seemingly out of nowhere.
"So we need to reach out all five of them at once, I do believe?"
asked Naru, looking over in the distance and trying to evaluate how
much power she would need to generate to do that.
"Precisely."
Black Baron, on the other hand, was less than receptive to the idea.
Rising back up to his full height, he growled angrily and rose his
hands in the air, shifting them to what seemed like gigantic claws-
large enough to rip apart both girls at once.
"Uh oh... this is so not good!" whispered Sailor Moon, her heart
gripped with fear.
A second shadow leaped into the battle zone, yelling a loud
incomprehensible war cry as it did so. Its shape barely human, its
hands were large enough to match those of Black Baron. No one could
recognize who or what that shadow was, save for one woman whose heart
was beating only for him.
"Please be careful, Mitchell..." she whispered as she looked upon the
two shadows locked in hand to hand battle. The two twisted shades
were battling each other in physical and magical combat at once,
Black Baron trying to overpower his opponent with brute strenght
and dark power simultaneously.
Naru and Usagi used that distraction to their advantage- the messiah
summoned as much healing power as she could muster, and channeled it
through Sailor Moon`s body who focused it in her wand. In one single
golden explosion, the energy was released in a large burst which
split itself in five thin streams that sought out their targets with
almost intelligent accuracy, healing the horrible damage done to
them by the dark fiend.
Ami, Usako and Robin stirred gently, waking up from the spiritual
shock they had suffered, while at the same time Makoto and Setsuna
did the same some distance away. "Get them out of here, we can
handle this!" ordered Sailor Moon to the starlights who relunctantly
agreed. They wanted to stay and fight, but the powerless senshi were
at risk in the presence of the fully powered evil shadow.
"You lose this time, 'master'!" mocked Ronmar, insulting his former
teacher in a voice filled with contempt as he wrestled him to a
standstill.
"I should have rended your soul by now, ungrateful brat, why are you
resisting my immense power?" asked Black Baron, annoyed at his
enemy`s resiliance.
"Your power is that of the weaving, monster, you can only control
those souls more dark than light or destroy more light than dark-
you`re powerless against one such as myself, who is precisely half
black and half white!!!" boasted Ronmar, his shape returning to his
usual dread knight form to match the form of Black Baron who himself
solidifed back to his earlier shape.
"So I can`t touch your soul, big deal." taunted Black Baron.
Suddenly evading the grasp of his agressor, he pointed to Quartzite
and released a blast of semisolid dark energy which caught hold of
her, lifting her up in the air as she cried out for help.
"Let her go, monster!!!" yelled Ronmar who was horrified at the
idea of his lover being hurt instead of himself.
"As you wish." replied the unfocused voice of Black Baron. The
strands of energy retracted back into him in a second, leaving her
to fall down at full speed. Ronmar could feel that she had been
quite exhausted from stopping the fall of Naru and Umino mere
minutes earlier, and she couldn`t save herself this time. Shifting
into dark smoke to move as fast as he could, Ronmar reformed
himself directly under the falling warrior, taking the brunt of
the damage as she fell on him heavily and his body broke her fall.
"Your half of light is dragging you down, Ronmar. And to think that
you were such a promising pupil back then, you had more raw
potential than the great Andreyus himself." said Black Baron
as he looked upon his former student sprawled on the ground,
wounded seriously after heroically rescuing Akane.
"It ends here, monster!" came the voice of Sailor Moon.
He looked at the three warriors left standing there, Sailor Moon,
the messiah and the prince of earth Endymion. The prince was bleeding
under his armor he could see, no threat there. Sailor Moon would
prove a much greater challenge to him, but first he would need to
eliminate a rather large thorn on his side. The three warriors
circled around his position in a clever tactic to ensure that he
couldn`t wipe them all out with a single blast of energy.
"You`ve been an annoyance since day one." said black Baron,
focusing his attention on the messiah herself. "Time to handle you,
now."
"I`m not surrendering my dark splinter to you or anyone else.
Besides, mine isn`t like the others, it`s useless to you." argued
Naru, readying her sacred weapon for battle.
"Who said I wanted your splinter? I only wish you dead." replied
Black Baron. Pointing his hand towards her, his fingers deformed
themselves and extended into what looked like five pointy
tentacles, soaring forward to kill her where she stood.
"NOOOOO!" screamed Umino whom everybody had forgotten about, jumping
in front of her and taking the attack meant for his girlfriend, the
five fingers of death tearing their way through his chest and
ripping his insides apart. Before he could fall down, the fingers
had retracted to their original size, Black Baron`s hand reforming
itself back to its original shape.
Naru yelled in pain as she caught Umino- he was too heavy for her
to hold up, but she prevented him from hurting himself further as
he slumped down. He was bleeding to death, his thick lifeblood
spurting out irregularly along to his heartbeat which slowed down
fast.
"Foolish boy." whispered Black Baron. "This isn`t over, Sailor
Moon. Face me if you dare." challenged Black Baron, vanishing into
nothingness as he finished issuing his threat to the only opponent
who, in his view, posed any real danger to the completion of his
plans.
"Umino, don`t die, please..." pleaded Naru, trying to use her
already strained healing powers to close the five horrid wounds
and stop the hemorrage, but she was helpless to do that as her
powers could only accelerate the flow of life energy within a
body to accelerate natural healing. umino`s life was slipping away
between her fingers, and she could feel his soul about to depart
into the great beyond. The shadow of death was above him and she
couldn`t stop it.
Sailor Moon and Endymion could only look upon the sad scene, unable
to do anything.
"I can`t accept this... I WON`T LET YOU DIE!!!" yelled Naru. Her
pure aura flared around her so strongly that it became visible to
the naked eye exactly as it did when she was initially revealed
as the messiah in the final battle against the vile lord Aebonite.
Holding him tight in her arms, she kissed him with more passion
than she had ever felt before.
Half blinded by the celestial glow surrounding Naru and Umino`s
nearly lifeless body, Sailor Moon and Endymion were barely able to
make out what was going on, but they did see something happening.
Umino`s body started to float in the air while Naru held on to him
and kissed him still. The senshi of the moon suddenly realized what
was going on- the messiah`s aura, as far as she could see, was
flowing into Umino`s body.
"She`s giving him her life..." she whispered. "Or at least, part
of it."
When the glow finally subsided, the both of them lied down
motionless on the ground, their clothes soaked in Umino`s drying
blood. As far as they could tell, both of them were alive and
well, although very weak.
"Naru! Why did you risk your life like that? You had no idea if
it would even work!!!" asked Sailor Moon as she helped Naru sit up.
She smiled faintly as she looked upon her boyfriend who breathed
regularly.
"I told him I`d give him my life... now he has half of it." she
whispered with difficulty, then fainted with the smile still on
her lips.
Sailor Moon`s face hardened as she looked around her. Akane and
Ronmar were both gravely hurt and could barely move. Umino had
nearly died and so did Naru. Her senshi sisters were all struck
down and powerless. All this the work of just one fiend.
"Usagi... I know you`re feeling angry right now..." whispered
Endymion, trying to calm her down. He knew just how she felt, and
had a pretty good idea what she would want to do.
"Damn right I`m angry." she whispered, her every muscle tightened.
Her teeth were clenched, her nerves tense to the absolute limit,
ready to snap in a second.
"Usagi... my little bunny... don`t let your anger take over, you
won`t..." argued Endymion, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"I`ve been keeping my anger in check long enough!" snarled Usagi,
pushing the prince of earth away from her and picking up her crystal
sword. "It`s about damn time I unleashed it on somebody deserving."
she said, running away to the Poldzer Triangle`s main office
building.
"Sailor Moon, wait!" yelled Endymion who started to run after her,
but stopped immediately as the chest slash wound given to him by
the blighted one reopened and bled anew. "Please, be careful..."
he whispered as he fell to his knees, holding his hand over the
open wound.
* * *
"Take it easy, Setsuna, you`ve been under a terrible shock." said
Makoto to Setsuna as she helped her get back up slowly.
"So have you, as I recall." argued Setsuna.
"Yeah, but I`m not going to let that stop me from helping out a
friend." replied Makoto, smiling to Setsuna.
"I appreciate that." said Setsuna, looking away from Makoto`s eyes.
"What`s wrong?"
"It`s just that... well..." said Setsuna, hesitating to speak her
mind.
"You`re not afraid I believed that load of garbage Black Baron told
you, are you? I don`t believe for a second that you`d ever do
anything to endanger us, or feel some sick pleasure out of knowing
about the pain that we are yet to suffer!" said Makoto.
The guardian of time smiled back, feeling a little better. Not so
much for the healing she had received from Sailor Moon and the
messiah, but for knowing that she would always have friends in the
other senshi who regarded her not as a cold and calculating
guardian, but as a living, emotional woman.
"Thank you, my friend. You have no idea what that means to me."
said the guardian of time.
"So I guess it`s the sidelines for us, now?" asked Makoto.
"Not quite." objected Setsuna, pointing to a group walking their way
composed of Rei, Minako, Haruka, Michiru, Laurella and Shingo. With
them was the original Sailor Saturn, dressed all in black. "Our help
will be required again before the night is over."
* * *
"Can you put me down, please?" asked Usako who felt herself strong
enough to walk again. Star Fighter let her down gently. "Thank you
for your help, and for saving us from Black Baron."
"It`s our pleasure to be able to do something for you all." replied
Fighter.
"Indeed it is." added Star Maker, her gaze lost in the loving blue
eyes of Ami.
"Now you know our secret..." replied Ami, who knew she was strong
enough to walk as well, but decided to milk it for all it was worth.
She felt safe in the arms of Maker.
"I assume we can trust you to keep our real identities to
yourselves?" asked Robin, still a bit woozy from the brutal assault
of Black Baron.
"Of course..." replied Healer, giving the same kind of lovestruck
gaze to Robin who felt a bit uncomfortable from that much attention.
"You know, it`s a shame to hide those pretty emerald eyes under a
visor." Healer added.
"Can... could you let me down? I`m... capable of walking now..."
asked Robin, who was really sweating now.
"What is it?" wondered Healer.
"I`m sorry if I mislead you before, but my heart is already promised
to somebody else..." explained Robin. "I`m in love with Kou Yaten."
she said in a low voice, ashamed of hurting the feelings of the woman
who twice saved her life.
"Actually... I think now would be the time to share our own secrets,
don`t you think, girls?" asked Fighter, who knew that the time was
right to show their cards.
"Agreed." the other two said.
"I`ll go first." volunteered Healer. A golden glow bathed her body,
and those around her could see her silhouette change radically, her
hips narrowing, her shoulders broadening and her height increasing
by several inches. When the gloden light subsided, Sailor Star
Healer was gone, the bishonen idol singer Yaten standing in her
place.
If Robin had been a cartoon character, her jaw would have dropped
down and hit the ground.
"You see... me and Healer are one and the same." said Yaten.
Robin smiled, then jumped in his arms, kissing him harder than she
had ever kissed him before. Tears fell from her eyes, she knew that
she had found true love at last- someone who cared about the life
of his friends, someone who valued that serie of new and strange
experiences called life.
"My turn now." said Fighter. She depowered under the bewildered
eyes of Usako, turning into Yaten`s brother Seiya.
"Seiya... I never would have imagined..." she muttered.
"I know, I was kinda surprised about you too, you know..." said
Seiya.
Ami looked at Maker, a large smile on her face.
"Not too hard to figure, now, is it?" Maker asked.
"Not really, Taiki, now that I know that the other two starlights
are your brothers... or should I say sisters?"
Maker depowered with Ami still in her arms, giving the blue haired
girl a chance to enjoy the warmth of the transforming light in which
all senshi were bathed as they changed forms.
"Depends on our forms which term you should use... but the female
form is our original one. We came to earth following our princess
who was tracking down an ancient evil trying to rise again, and
this male form disguise was her mother`s idea." explained Taiki.
"I hope this doesn`t freak you out, Robin..." said Yaten, a little
nervous.
"I don`t care about that, silly... it`s the kindness in your heart
I fell in love with." she replied before hugging him and resting
her head on his chest.
"The same goes for me." added Ami, kissing Taiki with wild abandon.
Both Usako and Seiya looked at the other two couples, then at each
other. The scarlet lady waited until Seiya would take her in his
arms and show his love for her which she knew he had, but he just
stood there, trying to say something although the words remained
stuck in his throat. He tried saying something, but he failed. He
jerked his leg as he started to move in her direction, but stopped
in an awkward manner, putting his hand behind his head in a gesture
of embarassment.
"Oh, for crying out loud..." sighed Usako who took Seiya in her
arms and threw him backwards out of balance, holding him hanging
above the ground as she pressed her lips over his in the wildest
kiss anyone of the others there had ever seen in their lives. As
she broke the kiss, she helped him retrieve his balance, grinning.
"About time these two finally noticed they were made for each
other!" observed Yaten. Normally, this should have resulted in a
quick slap behind the head from his brother Seiya, but this time
he was too taken by his kiss to even realize that Yaten was making
fun of him.
"Whoa, what a woman..." whispered Seiya. Usako heard him, but she
just giggled.
"Ahem..." came the voice of Rei who interrupted the moment of
unbridled emotion. Loud sighs came from Makoto, Michiru, Haruka and
Minako who had their eyes filled with glowing hearts.
"Rei, what are you doing here?" wondered Ami.
"Err... what are the three lights doing here anyway?" asked Rei
right back.
"It`s all right, they know." replied Usako.
"They`re the starlights, those mysterious senshi who've been helping
us for a while now." explained Ami.
"But they`re... guys!" objected Rei.
"Handsome, good looking guys..." added Minako who got elbowed in
the ribs by Makoto.
"This is only a disguise. Our real form is female, as you`ve seen
us before." said Seiya.
"Regardless... we could sure your help right about now." said Makoto.
"She`s right. The forces of light will need all the strength they
can gather if the great evil that is to pass is going to be
defeated." explained Sailor Saturn.
"Hey, who`s this?" wondered Robin, pointing to Hotaru.
"I am the silent messiah, Sailor Saturn." she replied.
"Hey, -I`M- Sailor Saturn! I was given the title when my predecessor
got... killed... but she... wait a minute... Hotaru? Is that really
you?" went Robin, as she looked at the dark eyes yet serene eyes
behind the black visor, trying to recognize the short girl who
seemed about fourteen years old.
"Yes, Robin, it`s me." replied Hotaru, smiling for the first time
since she had grown to her teenager state.
"Wow... my little sister... and do you remember how I sing to you
before you go to sleep?" asked Robin.
Sailor Saturn cleared her throat, then sang a lovely lullaby, one
that Robin had created just for her little sister, one that she sang
only for Hotaru. This amazing singing performance moved everyone,
especially Robin who was brought to tears.
"I love you, Hotaru!!!" she cried, embracing the black clad senshi
and weeping in joy.
"I love you too, big sister Robin." replied Hotaru. Although she
would deny this for centuries to come, Hotaru`s cheek was moistened
by a single tear rolling down her pale skin, glistening as brightly
as her love for this girl who had brought so much pride and honor
to the name Sailor Saturn.
* * *
The bleeding wasn`t as bad as he previously imagined, so he tried
to get back up. A sharp, stabbing pain erupted in his lower abdomen
as he got on his feet. Good, thought Endymion, I can still stand up.
He took a step and a dull throbbing followed through where the
stabbing sensation had left off, but he could live with that, just
as long as the bleeding remained under control.
Slowly, he limped in very slow pursuit of Sailor Moon, using his
sword as a walking stick to help him along the way.
"Hang on, my bunny, I won`t let you face those monsters alone..."
he said in a voiced hushed by a pain that would have knocked out
cold a weaker man.
"Where do you think you`re going?" came the deep menacing voice of
Ronmar.
"To help my angel!!!" he replied.
"You`re in no shape to fight, I can tell." replied Ronmar. "And
neither is anyone of us." he said, moving slowly not to hurt himself
more. He could feel that his previously broken ribs had been smashed
once again before they could get a chance to fully heal.
"I agree. It`s obvious you`re in deep trauma from that hemorrage."
observed Quartzite. "I`m a doctor, and I`m ordering you to take it
easy for now!" she commanded, painfully sitting up because of her
multiple bruises and pulled muscles.
"I don`t care." snarled Endymion, limping forward to the Poldzer
Triangle main buildings.
Suddenly, powerful bolts of black lightning fell from the swirling
dark clouds as powerful gusts of wind rose from everywhere at once.
Endymion was blown back like a rag doll, and he felt more helpless
than ever when he saw that the dark energy had formed a strong
force field surrounding the entire area of the three skyscrappers,
sealing Sailor Moon inside to fend for herself.
"NO! USAGI!!!" he yelled, dragging himself to the shield and
smashing it repeatedly with his sword to no avail. He screamed as
he slammed his blade onto the black shield, but he failed to
accomplish anything save tire himself further. "Usagi..." he
pleaded in tears, slumping down on the ground, totally out of
strength.
* * *
The solid crystal handle of her sacred weapon was a reassuring
presence in her hand. A sharp sword she could rely on to defeat
whatever sick abominations her enemy was sure to send her way.
Sailor Moon walked in the lobby with a steady yet careful pace,
moving her eyes left and right to pick up any movement, her ears
receptive to the slightest noise and her mind open to any intuitive
responses she might experience.
Nobody. Not a receptionist at the entrance, no security guards, no
clients running left and right, no hurried employees in a rush.
Silence. Terrible, ghastly silence.
"This has got to be the place." thought Sailor Moon. She tightened
her grip on the two-handed sword Avenger, then walked on to the
elevators. The familiar "PING" sound resounded as the doors opened,
and she couldn`t help but notice that the cabin still had the new
carpet smell.
The Poldzer Triangle had been completed so recently, it still had the
many odours of new materials and equipments, carpetting, rubbers,
plastic, and a vague smell of drying paint drifting about. The
lights on the elevator buttons flashed in sequence as the elevator
climbed the steel giant`s many floors, and a small beeping sound
accompanied the change of number on the floor indicator above the
door.
Ping! Sixth floor. Ping! Seventh floor.
Sailor Moon nervously hummed along to the kitch elevator music, the
oddly chosen piece by Barry Manilow adding a surreal atmosphere to
the situation.
Ping! Fourteenth floor. Ping! Fifteenth floor.
She thought about the life she always hoped she would have since
she was a young girl, the big wedding, the blissful marriage,
raising children with a beautiful, caring man and living old with
him. She knew she was meant to know all this, that her fate would
allow for those blessed moments of joy...
Ping! Twenty-fourth floor. Ping! Twenty-fifth floor.
Mamoru, her true love. The only man she`d ever loved, even when she
didn`t know who he was. She did it all for him, to get his attention,
to make sure he was safe, to become a better mother to the children
they would have... life meant nothing without him, she knew it well.
Ping! Thirty-seventh floor. Ping! Thirty-eighth floor.
Her family came to her mind. Usako, the daughter she would give life
to. Her brother Shingo, the annoying pest who turned out to be a
heroic knight who made her proud to call him her sibling. Her father
and mother, Kenji and Ikuko. She did all for them too, because she
loved them with all her heart.
Ping! Fifty-fifth floor. Ping! Fifty-sixth floor.
She also did it for her friends. Rei, Minako, Laurella, Ami, Setsuna,
Makoto, Haruka, Michiru, Naru, Robin, Umino, Artemis and Luna. All
of them counted on her, and she wouldn`t let any of them down. Her
love knew no limits, and she loved them all.
Ping! Sixtieth floor.
The door opened; this elevator didn`t go any higher than that point.
Bravely, Sailor Moon stepped out into the badly lit corridor where
only the occasional neon tube shone, creating an ominous atmosphere.
She felt a shiver go down her spine, but she knew she had to go on.
"Luna... you pushed me to better myself... I only wish you were here
with me right now to see what you made me become..." thought the
pretty soldier, thinking about her cat guardian who was still back
home with her parents and Chibi-Chibi, resting after her long
fruitless search to find the missing Artemis.
She took a few steps.
Nothing happened.
She walked on, ready for whatever was waiting for her.
The corridor lead her to a large room, a for conferences it seemed
by its size, although for some reason it was devoid of furniture of
any kind. The very large circular room suddenly went dark, its neon
lighting shutting down.
As frightening as that effect was, it was reassuring to Usagi in
some way. She knew her enemies were about to strike now, so it did
a lot to relieve the stress of this intolerable suspense. At least
she could do something about her opponents if they came out and
attacked her directly.
She took her battle stance, sword held up. She walked in slowly,
waiting for some god forsaken monster to assault her with bladed
hands or venomous fangs. She instead encountered something that
would horrify her much more than any hellspawned abomination.
The floor felt slippery under her feet; some sticky liquid was
covering the floor tiles, and she wondered what it was... yet the
odor felt disturbingly familiar, even if she couldn`t put her
finger on its origin.
"Usagi..." came a faint voice through the dark.
Her heart froze. No... it couldn`t have been HER... her mind was
playing tricks on her...
"Usagi... help me..." came the voice again. A small halo of light
shone on something she had unconsciously banished to the furthest,
darkest reaches of her mind all those months ago, something that
still gave her nightmares despite knowing it was something she
could not have blamed herself for.
In front of her was Queen Serenity, her body atrociously mutilated
by the Prime to turn her into his new computer core for Saturn
Station Beta. She was lying on the crowd in front of a shattered
glass tube which had been her life-preserving prison for hundreds
of years, the orange nutrient solution it contained originaly
spilled over the floor along with Serenity`s blood. She had three
huge sword slashes to her chest, slashes Usagi recognized for
having inflicted those herself at her mother`s own request.
"Oh god... mother, that`s not possible... you can`t be here..."
she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. She felt her grip become
uncertain on Avenger, her legs felt wobbly as her knees buckled.
"Usagi... why did you do this to me?" begged Serenity, reaching
out her only hand to Sailor Moon in obvious agony.
"I`m sorry..." she said, crying heavy tears. "You couldn`t live like
that... it`s what you wanted me to do, the only thing to be done..."
Sailor Moon appologized, feeling guilt like she never experienced
before.
"How could you do this... why did you kill me? How could my dearest
daughter resort to murder?" said the mutilated Serenity, pointing an
accusing finger to Sailor Moon.
Getting a grip over herself, the pretty soldier tightened her grip
on her sword once again. Standing back up in a flash, she held up
her sword and pointed it down to Serenity.
"NOOO!" she screamed as she saw the shard blade aimed at her, but
too late. The blade went down on her in a swift, fluid motion of
death. The blade went right through her head, pinning the dying
monster who no longer had its powers of illusion to disguise itself
as the long-dead Queen of the moon kingdom. It released a chilling
shriek of pain, it body thrashing as its life slipped away.
"My mother had too much dignity to live like that!" yelled Sailor
Moon, pushing down still on the sword as the dark, slimy creature
with no distinguishable face save a disproportionned mawing mouth
with huge fangs wriggled in its death throes. "She asked me to allow
her the death she was unjustly denied, and I gave her that, as
painful as it was... I refuse to feel guilt over this, I did what I
did out of love for her, you`ll never understand that!!!"
"We do understand." came another voice, more menacing and
contemptuous.
"It`s that love that`s made you weak." said another.
"Made you soft." added a third one.
"Made you forget what being a warrior is all about." said a
fourth one.
"And in the end, will make you DEAD." concluded a fifth one.
It didn`t take Usagi too long to figure she was dealing with blighted
ones. She looked in the direction of the five voices, and a some of
the room`s lights turned back on. The five warriors were indeed
minions of Black Baron, all wearing the black clothes inspired by
those of desert nomads. They held long scimitars made of black metal
which not only reflected no light at all, but also seemed like it
was absorbing it as well.
"I don`t fear any of you. If you`ll come closer, I`ll show you how
weak I truly am..." Sailor Moon responded calmly with a disturbing
smile on her face. She pulled her sword from the ground and out of
the disgusting monster`s head, its blade stained with a visquous
and sickening black ooze that could only be guessed to be blood of
some sort.
Holding the sword with just one hand, she ran a finger over the
stained blade, her gloved hand drawing a crescent moon in the thick
ooze.
"So... who`s first?" she challenged them all, smiling like a
maniac.
* * *
Crystallite sat on the sofa of her luxurious penthouse, reading a
very old book which seemed ready to crumble at any second. She kept
the place barely lit at all, just enough so that she could
distinguish the characters, yet not too much as to not lose the
gloomy mood that the outside clouds swirling about the Poldzer
Triangle brought around the place.
"I can`t make heads or tails of this bloody book!!!" she finally
yelled in frustration, throwing the manuscript work on the coffee
table in front of her. Her breathing suddenly accelerated, her
heart beating fast as a burning, stabbing pain tore her chest
apart. This little outburst had just pushed her physical endurance
to the limit, and she now had the same reaction as any healthy but
untrained human would have trying to run a marathon at maximum
speed all the way through.
She felt like her chest was going to burst into flames. She tried
to relax, to breathe deeper, slower, and it helped a little. Her
heart was going a thousand miles an hour, and she felt horrible.
The front door of the penthouse cracked open with a long squeeky
sound of hinges in serious need of oil. A small beam of light
entered through the opening while the dark silhouette of a black
clad individual walked in silently. The door closed behind the
silhouette, bringing much needed relief to the photosensitive eyes
of Crystallite.
"So how did you fare in battle?" she asked, still trying to catch
her breath.
"I did extremely well." replied the shadow in a voice much too bright
and cheerful to be that a blighted one. In one swift move, the dark
cloak came off and flew off to the side, revealing Sailor Moon
holding Avenger whose blade was covered in a rapidly drying crimson
substance. "Your blighted ones, however, are not up to par I`m
afraid. You really should stop getting your underlings at Goons-R-Us.
And who might you be, by the way?"
"My name is Crystallite. You know my mother I do believe..." said
Crystallite, brushing her hands in her long, rich red hair and
uncovering her ears, pointed just like her mother`s.
"Beryl..." whispered Sailor Moon, taken aback.
"Indeed. Mother died at your hands... but I don`t really care, quite
frankly. It only made my rise to power that much quicker... just like
your killing my husband Aebonite." said Crystallite without showing
emotion, stretching her arm to pick up a glass of wine on the table
and drinking a sip.
"He didn`t mean anything to you, did he?" asked Sailor Moon, feeling
disgusted by the young girl`s total lack of concern for her husband.
"Nothing at all. Our wedding was just an empty one, to seal a
political alliance between my mother and Aebonite`s parents. He
took good care of me, made sure I was safe and comfortable, but it
went no further." she explained.
"Don`t you get lonely, consorting with fiends like Black Baron and
blighted ones all the time, never knowing love or compassion???"
asked Sailor Moon, taking a step towards Crystallite.
"I never feel truly alone, not as long as I have THIS, the key to my
triumph over you and your puny planet!" taunted Crystallite, pulling
the near complete black crystal. It was a horrendous sight to behold,
dark, irregular with sharp edges and spikes all over its ill designed
surface.
"That`s what I wanted to discuss." said Sailor moon, her face
hardening at the sight of the crystal. "You hurt a lot of my friends
to build that aberration."
"And is that so wrong to inflict on others what I was given
myself?!?" scowled Crystallite, pointing to a glass casing containing
a serie of delicately crafted porcelain dolls. "My body is just as
fragile as theirs, if not more! Tell me, Sailor Moon, how does it
feel to be the broken doll? To know the pain I have suffered for so
long myself?!?"
"That`s where I disagree. It is wrong to inflict pain on others for
selfish reasons, and I won`t stand to see you hurt even more
innocents. It stops here, and your precious crystal won`t get you
out of trouble without MY splinter, I`m afraid." replied Sailor Moon,
smiling. "I`m not in any state of mind where it can be taken from
me... and my only regret is that you never knew love before I end
your mad plans, Crystallite." she said, readying her sword.
"You`re wrong about one, dear." replied Crystallite with an equally
big smile as Sailor Moon lifted her sword. "I do know what love is."
A loud beastial growl caught Usagi`s attention and she saw in the
shadow the peircing glow of two burning red eyes staring right at
her.
"Meet my lover, Fenris Wolfang." whispered Crystallite in a hushed
voice reflecting her feelings for the manwolf.
She held her breath in surprise, and in a flash a huge shadow leaped
right at her, slamming right into her as it flew over the sofa in a
fast attack she barely saw coming her way. Sailor Moon was thrown
back against the wall, her breath taken away from the violent shock.
She slashed her sword wildly at the blurry shadow moving her way at
lightning speed, failing to hit it entirely. When it was right there
in front of her, she saw it clearly, in all his hulking stature, his
rippling muscles entirely covered in a deep black layer of short fur,
sharp claws on his huge hands and terrifying fangs from which dripped
a thin trickle of slobber, a tribute to his animalistic side which
he`d kept in check for so long without ever getting a chance to
unleash it.
Until now.
Sailor Moon Tried to stab him, but he brutally hit her sword arm with
his hand, sending Avenger flying away from her grasp. She screamed
in pain as the mad manwolf repeatedly slashed her, inflicting a
serie of deep gashes on her chest, arms, stomach and thighs. She
bled all over her body, and cried as she was unable to yell anymore.
"Finish it off, I can get the splinter from her dead body if need
be. Kill her, Fenris, KILL HER RIGHT NOW!!!" urged Crystallite to
her protector who complied immediately, grasping the pretty
soldier`s neck with both of his large hands and lifting her off
the ground as he held her against the wall and squeezed her neck.
"KILL HER!!!" screamed again Crystallite who barely felt the fire
in her chest as she winded herself out yelling.
Sailor Moon panicked. Her throat crushed, she couldn`t say the
command word "return" and retrieve Avenger. If only she had a
weapon, she could strike him but she was in no position to reach
for her sacred weapon.
Fenris closely watched Sailor Moon`s eyes, awaiting to see the moment
where she would shift from life into the mysterious realm of death,
hoping to catch a glimpse of what laid in the great beyond. Fear
and panic suddenly changed to smugness in the senshi`s eyes, to the
manwolf`s surprise however. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught
a glimpse of bluish light coming from Sailor Moon`s hand, and he
felt a stinging pain in his chest.
Looking down, he saw that Sailor Moon had just stabbed him right
through the heart with a sharp piece of lapis-lazuli, the fragment
of Monsoon she had picked up from the battleground where Sailor
Neptune and Sailor Uranus got their dark splinters taken away.
She had totally forgotten to hand it over to Ami for analysis,
but remembered it just in the nick of time before the died from
strangulation.
Fenris dropped Sailor Moon who wheezed as she breathed again,
staring blankly at the mortal wound he`d just received. He pulled
out the piece of gemstone, but the open wound only bled faster for
it. Staggering back a few steps, he looked back to Crystallite.
"I`m sorry... for... failing you... my love..." he whispered, not
even having enough strength to voice the last two words which
Crystallite read on his lips. He collapsed on his back, his heart
stopped dead and his breathing halting a few seconds later.
"Return!" whispered Sailor Moon, her sword instantly flying to her
hand just like Luke`s lightsaber in Star Wars. She got up on her
feet, anger flaring on her face. This time, there`d be no more wolf
men to prevent her from killing the daughter of Beryl.
Crystallite just stood there, paralyzed from shock. Fenris was dead.
The only man- the only person- who had ever loved her. Not her
husband, not her mother. no one but the large manwolf who kept warm
her shivering body every night, but not anymore. Sailor Moon raised
her sword and slowly walked towards her enemy, blood pouring from
her every claw mark. The stood in sword`s reach, but she hesitated.
Why wasn`t she reacting? Where was the magic attack she was
expecting Crystallite to fire, the threats, the boastful speech???
Nothing came from Crystallite. Her hand went limp, the incomplete
black crystal slipping out and dropping on the floor. Tears streaked
on her face, and she threw herself on Fenris` body and cried her
pain. She wasn`t the evil overlord anymore, gone was the twisted
daughter of Queen Beryl seeking to gain control of the universe
for herself. There were no plans, no schemes or plots left in her,
none of her webs of deceit left to carry her forward.
She was nothing more than a young girl who lost the only person
left in her life, alone to fend off for herself in a world as
unforgiving as she once was.
Sailor Moon was horrifed at what she had just done. In one moment
of hateful anger, she had struck down the only love Crystallite
had ever known. For one second, she had become capable
of snuffing out the true love that she fought so hard to protect
everyday. Usagi had become what she hated the most.
Falling to her knees, she cried, unaware of the tall black shadow
looming behind her, his hand outstretched towards her.
"You see child..." whispered Black Baron. In one mighty blast of
dark power, the dark splinter was violently knocked out of her body,
tearing her soul apart as it did. "...all of this had been planned
from the start by my mistress herself." he said as the splinter flew
to his hand and Usagi sprawled on the floor, her senshi fuku
disappearing in a flash of dull yellow light.
Next to her, Avenger detonated in a shower of crystal pebbles.
"You lose, Sailor Moon. You never had a chance." concluded Black
Baron, abandoning his fallen enemy and picking up the incomplete
black crystal. With remarkable ease, he fused the last piece into
place, creating a rumbling shockwave that expented from the crystal
to the building superstructure, flowing through his body without
affecting him at all.
A large earthquake shook the area, dreadful announce to Usagi`s
failure.
To be continued...
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
CYCLES OF LIFE: EPISODE 50
FROM WITHIN THE DARKEST POOL
Facing precious little resistance from the senshi, Black Baron had
captured two different dark splinters from them in just a few minutes.
With the flow of darkness reaching summits not attained, it had been
child`s play for him to create a vortex of black energy in which the
senshi, Umino and Endymion had gotten sucked into, and from that
point three more had come in his grasp.
Now he was after the last one he needed: Sailor Moon`s. Laughing his
head off, he was putting unimaginable pressure on her soul, squeezing
it like one extracts juice from a lemon.
"COME NOW ARMAGEDDON!!!" he yelled as Sailor Moon screamed in pain.
She couldn`t hold up against this very long and she knew it, but
what could she do? Not even Endymion, the messiah and the Starlights
together could stop him from assaulting her spirit with his evil
power.
The Starlights looked at Sailor Mercury, Terra and Saturn who had
been depowered by the attack of Black Baron, and felt helpless to
rescue them as well. The objects of their love were in deadly peril,
and their powers were by far insufficient to do anything. They
wanted to scream their frustration, but even that had been taken
away from them. All they could do was to yell out their pain with
their minds, which were ready to snap. The last remnants of their
former glory, sharp shards of their smashed sacred weapons, spun
around with them as silent testimony to their failure in defeating
their mighty enemy.
Something else entirely happened instead.
According to a legend that the Starlights were once told by their
adoptive mother Queen Kakyoku, when a sailor senshi reaches the
height of peril and yet keeps her unshakable will to triumph and
overcome all danger, her spirit transcends to new levels of power
and understanding of self.
Soul power, she called it.
Deep from within their beings, Star Maker, Star Fighter and Star
Healer felt a surge of holy power greater than any they had ever
experienced before. A globe of golden light engulfed their bodies,
infusing them with the strenght of legend. When the light vanished,
their fuku had been changed- they now had a full body suit with an
open star cutout on their stomach, tibia and forearm metal
protectors, comfortable battle boots instead of the old, very
impractical high heels and a visor covering their eyes.
Acting on intuition, they called out the name of what they knew they
had gained- a sacred weapon that reflected their soul`s unlimited
potential.
"Skybreaker!!!" called out Star Maker, summoning a long sleek lance
made of the most resilient platinum, its hamp engraved with
remarkably detailed sigils and symbols.
"Nightstar!!!" yelled Star Healer, calling forth a slender french
renaissance style rapier made of pure silver.
"Sunfire!!!" called Star Fighter, materializing a sturdy two handed
double edged sword whose hand guards were razor sharp as well.
"SOUL POWER!!!" The three starlights yelled all at once, building up
golden energy in their weapons and pointing them down towards the
center and aiming to the dark shadow himself.
Fear left their hearts as their newly acquired weapons glowed
brightly and unleashed three golden streams of the holiest power
that Black Baron had ever felt. Struck directly, he flinched under
the relentless might shown by his enemies. Within a few seconds, the
vortex disappeared, releasing its helpless prisoners. However, they
found themselves falling down to the ground rather fast.
Endymion was able to catch Sailor Moon and land on his feet, used to
doing this sort of agile manoeuver whenever he got his girlfriend out
of trouble as she fought youma and other fiends. Secure in the arms
of her precious knight, she looked up and worried over her friends`
fate- but her worries were put to rest as she saw Fighter, Maker
and Healer soar through the air to catch Usako, Ami and Robin on
their way down. As for Umino and Naru, well... they just seemed
to FLOAT down!!!
"Is it too late to lend a hand?" came a familiar voice. Sailor Moon
recognized the voice, but not the costume- Ami`s mother, dressed in
her old dark kingdom battle uniform, holding up a hand charged with
gravitation manipulating energies.
"Of course not... Quartzite, I do believe?" asked Sailor Moon,
getting back on her feet as Endymion gently put her down. "So that`s
what Ami`s mom looks like in leather..." she couldn`t help but
think, remembering the description her friend had made of Akane as
she had rescued Rei from the dual attacks of the youma Cancera and
Manticide. She looked over to Black Baron who was still reeling from
his blow, his shadows shifting even faster than usual. She saw her
three friends in the starlights` arms, shivering from the cold coming
from their torn souls. She knew that somewhere nearby, Makoto and
Setsuna where going through the same.
"You dont`have much time to heal your friends, Sailor moon, he`ll be
on your case again in a few moments." said Quartzite, concerned over
her daughter`s painful condition.
"Right- Naru, I need your help here... we have to do this even
stronger than last time!" said Sailor Moon, producing her moon
crescent wand seemingly out of nowhere.
"So we need to reach out all five of them at once, I do believe?"
asked Naru, looking over in the distance and trying to evaluate how
much power she would need to generate to do that.
"Precisely."
Black Baron, on the other hand, was less than receptive to the idea.
Rising back up to his full height, he growled angrily and rose his
hands in the air, shifting them to what seemed like gigantic claws-
large enough to rip apart both girls at once.
"Uh oh... this is so not good!" whispered Sailor Moon, her heart
gripped with fear.
A second shadow leaped into the battle zone, yelling a loud
incomprehensible war cry as it did so. Its shape barely human, its
hands were large enough to match those of Black Baron. No one could
recognize who or what that shadow was, save for one woman whose heart
was beating only for him.
"Please be careful, Mitchell..." she whispered as she looked upon the
two shadows locked in hand to hand battle. The two twisted shades
were battling each other in physical and magical combat at once,
Black Baron trying to overpower his opponent with brute strenght
and dark power simultaneously.
Naru and Usagi used that distraction to their advantage- the messiah
summoned as much healing power as she could muster, and channeled it
through Sailor Moon`s body who focused it in her wand. In one single
golden explosion, the energy was released in a large burst which
split itself in five thin streams that sought out their targets with
almost intelligent accuracy, healing the horrible damage done to
them by the dark fiend.
Ami, Usako and Robin stirred gently, waking up from the spiritual
shock they had suffered, while at the same time Makoto and Setsuna
did the same some distance away. "Get them out of here, we can
handle this!" ordered Sailor Moon to the starlights who relunctantly
agreed. They wanted to stay and fight, but the powerless senshi were
at risk in the presence of the fully powered evil shadow.
"You lose this time, 'master'!" mocked Ronmar, insulting his former
teacher in a voice filled with contempt as he wrestled him to a
standstill.
"I should have rended your soul by now, ungrateful brat, why are you
resisting my immense power?" asked Black Baron, annoyed at his
enemy`s resiliance.
"Your power is that of the weaving, monster, you can only control
those souls more dark than light or destroy more light than dark-
you`re powerless against one such as myself, who is precisely half
black and half white!!!" boasted Ronmar, his shape returning to his
usual dread knight form to match the form of Black Baron who himself
solidifed back to his earlier shape.
"So I can`t touch your soul, big deal." taunted Black Baron.
Suddenly evading the grasp of his agressor, he pointed to Quartzite
and released a blast of semisolid dark energy which caught hold of
her, lifting her up in the air as she cried out for help.
"Let her go, monster!!!" yelled Ronmar who was horrified at the
idea of his lover being hurt instead of himself.
"As you wish." replied the unfocused voice of Black Baron. The
strands of energy retracted back into him in a second, leaving her
to fall down at full speed. Ronmar could feel that she had been
quite exhausted from stopping the fall of Naru and Umino mere
minutes earlier, and she couldn`t save herself this time. Shifting
into dark smoke to move as fast as he could, Ronmar reformed
himself directly under the falling warrior, taking the brunt of
the damage as she fell on him heavily and his body broke her fall.
"Your half of light is dragging you down, Ronmar. And to think that
you were such a promising pupil back then, you had more raw
potential than the great Andreyus himself." said Black Baron
as he looked upon his former student sprawled on the ground,
wounded seriously after heroically rescuing Akane.
"It ends here, monster!" came the voice of Sailor Moon.
He looked at the three warriors left standing there, Sailor Moon,
the messiah and the prince of earth Endymion. The prince was bleeding
under his armor he could see, no threat there. Sailor Moon would
prove a much greater challenge to him, but first he would need to
eliminate a rather large thorn on his side. The three warriors
circled around his position in a clever tactic to ensure that he
couldn`t wipe them all out with a single blast of energy.
"You`ve been an annoyance since day one." said black Baron,
focusing his attention on the messiah herself. "Time to handle you,
now."
"I`m not surrendering my dark splinter to you or anyone else.
Besides, mine isn`t like the others, it`s useless to you." argued
Naru, readying her sacred weapon for battle.
"Who said I wanted your splinter? I only wish you dead." replied
Black Baron. Pointing his hand towards her, his fingers deformed
themselves and extended into what looked like five pointy
tentacles, soaring forward to kill her where she stood.
"NOOOOO!" screamed Umino whom everybody had forgotten about, jumping
in front of her and taking the attack meant for his girlfriend, the
five fingers of death tearing their way through his chest and
ripping his insides apart. Before he could fall down, the fingers
had retracted to their original size, Black Baron`s hand reforming
itself back to its original shape.
Naru yelled in pain as she caught Umino- he was too heavy for her
to hold up, but she prevented him from hurting himself further as
he slumped down. He was bleeding to death, his thick lifeblood
spurting out irregularly along to his heartbeat which slowed down
fast.
"Foolish boy." whispered Black Baron. "This isn`t over, Sailor
Moon. Face me if you dare." challenged Black Baron, vanishing into
nothingness as he finished issuing his threat to the only opponent
who, in his view, posed any real danger to the completion of his
plans.
"Umino, don`t die, please..." pleaded Naru, trying to use her
already strained healing powers to close the five horrid wounds
and stop the hemorrage, but she was helpless to do that as her
powers could only accelerate the flow of life energy within a
body to accelerate natural healing. umino`s life was slipping away
between her fingers, and she could feel his soul about to depart
into the great beyond. The shadow of death was above him and she
couldn`t stop it.
Sailor Moon and Endymion could only look upon the sad scene, unable
to do anything.
"I can`t accept this... I WON`T LET YOU DIE!!!" yelled Naru. Her
pure aura flared around her so strongly that it became visible to
the naked eye exactly as it did when she was initially revealed
as the messiah in the final battle against the vile lord Aebonite.
Holding him tight in her arms, she kissed him with more passion
than she had ever felt before.
Half blinded by the celestial glow surrounding Naru and Umino`s
nearly lifeless body, Sailor Moon and Endymion were barely able to
make out what was going on, but they did see something happening.
Umino`s body started to float in the air while Naru held on to him
and kissed him still. The senshi of the moon suddenly realized what
was going on- the messiah`s aura, as far as she could see, was
flowing into Umino`s body.
"She`s giving him her life..." she whispered. "Or at least, part
of it."
When the glow finally subsided, the both of them lied down
motionless on the ground, their clothes soaked in Umino`s drying
blood. As far as they could tell, both of them were alive and
well, although very weak.
"Naru! Why did you risk your life like that? You had no idea if
it would even work!!!" asked Sailor Moon as she helped Naru sit up.
She smiled faintly as she looked upon her boyfriend who breathed
regularly.
"I told him I`d give him my life... now he has half of it." she
whispered with difficulty, then fainted with the smile still on
her lips.
Sailor Moon`s face hardened as she looked around her. Akane and
Ronmar were both gravely hurt and could barely move. Umino had
nearly died and so did Naru. Her senshi sisters were all struck
down and powerless. All this the work of just one fiend.
"Usagi... I know you`re feeling angry right now..." whispered
Endymion, trying to calm her down. He knew just how she felt, and
had a pretty good idea what she would want to do.
"Damn right I`m angry." she whispered, her every muscle tightened.
Her teeth were clenched, her nerves tense to the absolute limit,
ready to snap in a second.
"Usagi... my little bunny... don`t let your anger take over, you
won`t..." argued Endymion, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"I`ve been keeping my anger in check long enough!" snarled Usagi,
pushing the prince of earth away from her and picking up her crystal
sword. "It`s about damn time I unleashed it on somebody deserving."
she said, running away to the Poldzer Triangle`s main office
building.
"Sailor Moon, wait!" yelled Endymion who started to run after her,
but stopped immediately as the chest slash wound given to him by
the blighted one reopened and bled anew. "Please, be careful..."
he whispered as he fell to his knees, holding his hand over the
open wound.
* * *
"Take it easy, Setsuna, you`ve been under a terrible shock." said
Makoto to Setsuna as she helped her get back up slowly.
"So have you, as I recall." argued Setsuna.
"Yeah, but I`m not going to let that stop me from helping out a
friend." replied Makoto, smiling to Setsuna.
"I appreciate that." said Setsuna, looking away from Makoto`s eyes.
"What`s wrong?"
"It`s just that... well..." said Setsuna, hesitating to speak her
mind.
"You`re not afraid I believed that load of garbage Black Baron told
you, are you? I don`t believe for a second that you`d ever do
anything to endanger us, or feel some sick pleasure out of knowing
about the pain that we are yet to suffer!" said Makoto.
The guardian of time smiled back, feeling a little better. Not so
much for the healing she had received from Sailor Moon and the
messiah, but for knowing that she would always have friends in the
other senshi who regarded her not as a cold and calculating
guardian, but as a living, emotional woman.
"Thank you, my friend. You have no idea what that means to me."
said the guardian of time.
"So I guess it`s the sidelines for us, now?" asked Makoto.
"Not quite." objected Setsuna, pointing to a group walking their way
composed of Rei, Minako, Haruka, Michiru, Laurella and Shingo. With
them was the original Sailor Saturn, dressed all in black. "Our help
will be required again before the night is over."
* * *
"Can you put me down, please?" asked Usako who felt herself strong
enough to walk again. Star Fighter let her down gently. "Thank you
for your help, and for saving us from Black Baron."
"It`s our pleasure to be able to do something for you all." replied
Fighter.
"Indeed it is." added Star Maker, her gaze lost in the loving blue
eyes of Ami.
"Now you know our secret..." replied Ami, who knew she was strong
enough to walk as well, but decided to milk it for all it was worth.
She felt safe in the arms of Maker.
"I assume we can trust you to keep our real identities to
yourselves?" asked Robin, still a bit woozy from the brutal assault
of Black Baron.
"Of course..." replied Healer, giving the same kind of lovestruck
gaze to Robin who felt a bit uncomfortable from that much attention.
"You know, it`s a shame to hide those pretty emerald eyes under a
visor." Healer added.
"Can... could you let me down? I`m... capable of walking now..."
asked Robin, who was really sweating now.
"What is it?" wondered Healer.
"I`m sorry if I mislead you before, but my heart is already promised
to somebody else..." explained Robin. "I`m in love with Kou Yaten."
she said in a low voice, ashamed of hurting the feelings of the woman
who twice saved her life.
"Actually... I think now would be the time to share our own secrets,
don`t you think, girls?" asked Fighter, who knew that the time was
right to show their cards.
"Agreed." the other two said.
"I`ll go first." volunteered Healer. A golden glow bathed her body,
and those around her could see her silhouette change radically, her
hips narrowing, her shoulders broadening and her height increasing
by several inches. When the gloden light subsided, Sailor Star
Healer was gone, the bishonen idol singer Yaten standing in her
place.
If Robin had been a cartoon character, her jaw would have dropped
down and hit the ground.
"You see... me and Healer are one and the same." said Yaten.
Robin smiled, then jumped in his arms, kissing him harder than she
had ever kissed him before. Tears fell from her eyes, she knew that
she had found true love at last- someone who cared about the life
of his friends, someone who valued that serie of new and strange
experiences called life.
"My turn now." said Fighter. She depowered under the bewildered
eyes of Usako, turning into Yaten`s brother Seiya.
"Seiya... I never would have imagined..." she muttered.
"I know, I was kinda surprised about you too, you know..." said
Seiya.
Ami looked at Maker, a large smile on her face.
"Not too hard to figure, now, is it?" Maker asked.
"Not really, Taiki, now that I know that the other two starlights
are your brothers... or should I say sisters?"
Maker depowered with Ami still in her arms, giving the blue haired
girl a chance to enjoy the warmth of the transforming light in which
all senshi were bathed as they changed forms.
"Depends on our forms which term you should use... but the female
form is our original one. We came to earth following our princess
who was tracking down an ancient evil trying to rise again, and
this male form disguise was her mother`s idea." explained Taiki.
"I hope this doesn`t freak you out, Robin..." said Yaten, a little
nervous.
"I don`t care about that, silly... it`s the kindness in your heart
I fell in love with." she replied before hugging him and resting
her head on his chest.
"The same goes for me." added Ami, kissing Taiki with wild abandon.
Both Usako and Seiya looked at the other two couples, then at each
other. The scarlet lady waited until Seiya would take her in his
arms and show his love for her which she knew he had, but he just
stood there, trying to say something although the words remained
stuck in his throat. He tried saying something, but he failed. He
jerked his leg as he started to move in her direction, but stopped
in an awkward manner, putting his hand behind his head in a gesture
of embarassment.
"Oh, for crying out loud..." sighed Usako who took Seiya in her
arms and threw him backwards out of balance, holding him hanging
above the ground as she pressed her lips over his in the wildest
kiss anyone of the others there had ever seen in their lives. As
she broke the kiss, she helped him retrieve his balance, grinning.
"About time these two finally noticed they were made for each
other!" observed Yaten. Normally, this should have resulted in a
quick slap behind the head from his brother Seiya, but this time
he was too taken by his kiss to even realize that Yaten was making
fun of him.
"Whoa, what a woman..." whispered Seiya. Usako heard him, but she
just giggled.
"Ahem..." came the voice of Rei who interrupted the moment of
unbridled emotion. Loud sighs came from Makoto, Michiru, Haruka and
Minako who had their eyes filled with glowing hearts.
"Rei, what are you doing here?" wondered Ami.
"Err... what are the three lights doing here anyway?" asked Rei
right back.
"It`s all right, they know." replied Usako.
"They`re the starlights, those mysterious senshi who've been helping
us for a while now." explained Ami.
"But they`re... guys!" objected Rei.
"Handsome, good looking guys..." added Minako who got elbowed in
the ribs by Makoto.
"This is only a disguise. Our real form is female, as you`ve seen
us before." said Seiya.
"Regardless... we could sure your help right about now." said Makoto.
"She`s right. The forces of light will need all the strength they
can gather if the great evil that is to pass is going to be
defeated." explained Sailor Saturn.
"Hey, who`s this?" wondered Robin, pointing to Hotaru.
"I am the silent messiah, Sailor Saturn." she replied.
"Hey, -I`M- Sailor Saturn! I was given the title when my predecessor
got... killed... but she... wait a minute... Hotaru? Is that really
you?" went Robin, as she looked at the dark eyes yet serene eyes
behind the black visor, trying to recognize the short girl who
seemed about fourteen years old.
"Yes, Robin, it`s me." replied Hotaru, smiling for the first time
since she had grown to her teenager state.
"Wow... my little sister... and do you remember how I sing to you
before you go to sleep?" asked Robin.
Sailor Saturn cleared her throat, then sang a lovely lullaby, one
that Robin had created just for her little sister, one that she sang
only for Hotaru. This amazing singing performance moved everyone,
especially Robin who was brought to tears.
"I love you, Hotaru!!!" she cried, embracing the black clad senshi
and weeping in joy.
"I love you too, big sister Robin." replied Hotaru. Although she
would deny this for centuries to come, Hotaru`s cheek was moistened
by a single tear rolling down her pale skin, glistening as brightly
as her love for this girl who had brought so much pride and honor
to the name Sailor Saturn.
* * *
The bleeding wasn`t as bad as he previously imagined, so he tried
to get back up. A sharp, stabbing pain erupted in his lower abdomen
as he got on his feet. Good, thought Endymion, I can still stand up.
He took a step and a dull throbbing followed through where the
stabbing sensation had left off, but he could live with that, just
as long as the bleeding remained under control.
Slowly, he limped in very slow pursuit of Sailor Moon, using his
sword as a walking stick to help him along the way.
"Hang on, my bunny, I won`t let you face those monsters alone..."
he said in a voiced hushed by a pain that would have knocked out
cold a weaker man.
"Where do you think you`re going?" came the deep menacing voice of
Ronmar.
"To help my angel!!!" he replied.
"You`re in no shape to fight, I can tell." replied Ronmar. "And
neither is anyone of us." he said, moving slowly not to hurt himself
more. He could feel that his previously broken ribs had been smashed
once again before they could get a chance to fully heal.
"I agree. It`s obvious you`re in deep trauma from that hemorrage."
observed Quartzite. "I`m a doctor, and I`m ordering you to take it
easy for now!" she commanded, painfully sitting up because of her
multiple bruises and pulled muscles.
"I don`t care." snarled Endymion, limping forward to the Poldzer
Triangle main buildings.
Suddenly, powerful bolts of black lightning fell from the swirling
dark clouds as powerful gusts of wind rose from everywhere at once.
Endymion was blown back like a rag doll, and he felt more helpless
than ever when he saw that the dark energy had formed a strong
force field surrounding the entire area of the three skyscrappers,
sealing Sailor Moon inside to fend for herself.
"NO! USAGI!!!" he yelled, dragging himself to the shield and
smashing it repeatedly with his sword to no avail. He screamed as
he slammed his blade onto the black shield, but he failed to
accomplish anything save tire himself further. "Usagi..." he
pleaded in tears, slumping down on the ground, totally out of
strength.
* * *
The solid crystal handle of her sacred weapon was a reassuring
presence in her hand. A sharp sword she could rely on to defeat
whatever sick abominations her enemy was sure to send her way.
Sailor Moon walked in the lobby with a steady yet careful pace,
moving her eyes left and right to pick up any movement, her ears
receptive to the slightest noise and her mind open to any intuitive
responses she might experience.
Nobody. Not a receptionist at the entrance, no security guards, no
clients running left and right, no hurried employees in a rush.
Silence. Terrible, ghastly silence.
"This has got to be the place." thought Sailor Moon. She tightened
her grip on the two-handed sword Avenger, then walked on to the
elevators. The familiar "PING" sound resounded as the doors opened,
and she couldn`t help but notice that the cabin still had the new
carpet smell.
The Poldzer Triangle had been completed so recently, it still had the
many odours of new materials and equipments, carpetting, rubbers,
plastic, and a vague smell of drying paint drifting about. The
lights on the elevator buttons flashed in sequence as the elevator
climbed the steel giant`s many floors, and a small beeping sound
accompanied the change of number on the floor indicator above the
door.
Ping! Sixth floor. Ping! Seventh floor.
Sailor Moon nervously hummed along to the kitch elevator music, the
oddly chosen piece by Barry Manilow adding a surreal atmosphere to
the situation.
Ping! Fourteenth floor. Ping! Fifteenth floor.
She thought about the life she always hoped she would have since
she was a young girl, the big wedding, the blissful marriage,
raising children with a beautiful, caring man and living old with
him. She knew she was meant to know all this, that her fate would
allow for those blessed moments of joy...
Ping! Twenty-fourth floor. Ping! Twenty-fifth floor.
Mamoru, her true love. The only man she`d ever loved, even when she
didn`t know who he was. She did it all for him, to get his attention,
to make sure he was safe, to become a better mother to the children
they would have... life meant nothing without him, she knew it well.
Ping! Thirty-seventh floor. Ping! Thirty-eighth floor.
Her family came to her mind. Usako, the daughter she would give life
to. Her brother Shingo, the annoying pest who turned out to be a
heroic knight who made her proud to call him her sibling. Her father
and mother, Kenji and Ikuko. She did all for them too, because she
loved them with all her heart.
Ping! Fifty-fifth floor. Ping! Fifty-sixth floor.
She also did it for her friends. Rei, Minako, Laurella, Ami, Setsuna,
Makoto, Haruka, Michiru, Naru, Robin, Umino, Artemis and Luna. All
of them counted on her, and she wouldn`t let any of them down. Her
love knew no limits, and she loved them all.
Ping! Sixtieth floor.
The door opened; this elevator didn`t go any higher than that point.
Bravely, Sailor Moon stepped out into the badly lit corridor where
only the occasional neon tube shone, creating an ominous atmosphere.
She felt a shiver go down her spine, but she knew she had to go on.
"Luna... you pushed me to better myself... I only wish you were here
with me right now to see what you made me become..." thought the
pretty soldier, thinking about her cat guardian who was still back
home with her parents and Chibi-Chibi, resting after her long
fruitless search to find the missing Artemis.
She took a few steps.
Nothing happened.
She walked on, ready for whatever was waiting for her.
The corridor lead her to a large room, a for conferences it seemed
by its size, although for some reason it was devoid of furniture of
any kind. The very large circular room suddenly went dark, its neon
lighting shutting down.
As frightening as that effect was, it was reassuring to Usagi in
some way. She knew her enemies were about to strike now, so it did
a lot to relieve the stress of this intolerable suspense. At least
she could do something about her opponents if they came out and
attacked her directly.
She took her battle stance, sword held up. She walked in slowly,
waiting for some god forsaken monster to assault her with bladed
hands or venomous fangs. She instead encountered something that
would horrify her much more than any hellspawned abomination.
The floor felt slippery under her feet; some sticky liquid was
covering the floor tiles, and she wondered what it was... yet the
odor felt disturbingly familiar, even if she couldn`t put her
finger on its origin.
"Usagi..." came a faint voice through the dark.
Her heart froze. No... it couldn`t have been HER... her mind was
playing tricks on her...
"Usagi... help me..." came the voice again. A small halo of light
shone on something she had unconsciously banished to the furthest,
darkest reaches of her mind all those months ago, something that
still gave her nightmares despite knowing it was something she
could not have blamed herself for.
In front of her was Queen Serenity, her body atrociously mutilated
by the Prime to turn her into his new computer core for Saturn
Station Beta. She was lying on the crowd in front of a shattered
glass tube which had been her life-preserving prison for hundreds
of years, the orange nutrient solution it contained originaly
spilled over the floor along with Serenity`s blood. She had three
huge sword slashes to her chest, slashes Usagi recognized for
having inflicted those herself at her mother`s own request.
"Oh god... mother, that`s not possible... you can`t be here..."
she whispered, tears forming in her eyes. She felt her grip become
uncertain on Avenger, her legs felt wobbly as her knees buckled.
"Usagi... why did you do this to me?" begged Serenity, reaching
out her only hand to Sailor Moon in obvious agony.
"I`m sorry..." she said, crying heavy tears. "You couldn`t live like
that... it`s what you wanted me to do, the only thing to be done..."
Sailor Moon appologized, feeling guilt like she never experienced
before.
"How could you do this... why did you kill me? How could my dearest
daughter resort to murder?" said the mutilated Serenity, pointing an
accusing finger to Sailor Moon.
Getting a grip over herself, the pretty soldier tightened her grip
on her sword once again. Standing back up in a flash, she held up
her sword and pointed it down to Serenity.
"NOOO!" she screamed as she saw the shard blade aimed at her, but
too late. The blade went down on her in a swift, fluid motion of
death. The blade went right through her head, pinning the dying
monster who no longer had its powers of illusion to disguise itself
as the long-dead Queen of the moon kingdom. It released a chilling
shriek of pain, it body thrashing as its life slipped away.
"My mother had too much dignity to live like that!" yelled Sailor
Moon, pushing down still on the sword as the dark, slimy creature
with no distinguishable face save a disproportionned mawing mouth
with huge fangs wriggled in its death throes. "She asked me to allow
her the death she was unjustly denied, and I gave her that, as
painful as it was... I refuse to feel guilt over this, I did what I
did out of love for her, you`ll never understand that!!!"
"We do understand." came another voice, more menacing and
contemptuous.
"It`s that love that`s made you weak." said another.
"Made you soft." added a third one.
"Made you forget what being a warrior is all about." said a
fourth one.
"And in the end, will make you DEAD." concluded a fifth one.
It didn`t take Usagi too long to figure she was dealing with blighted
ones. She looked in the direction of the five voices, and a some of
the room`s lights turned back on. The five warriors were indeed
minions of Black Baron, all wearing the black clothes inspired by
those of desert nomads. They held long scimitars made of black metal
which not only reflected no light at all, but also seemed like it
was absorbing it as well.
"I don`t fear any of you. If you`ll come closer, I`ll show you how
weak I truly am..." Sailor Moon responded calmly with a disturbing
smile on her face. She pulled her sword from the ground and out of
the disgusting monster`s head, its blade stained with a visquous
and sickening black ooze that could only be guessed to be blood of
some sort.
Holding the sword with just one hand, she ran a finger over the
stained blade, her gloved hand drawing a crescent moon in the thick
ooze.
"So... who`s first?" she challenged them all, smiling like a
maniac.
* * *
Crystallite sat on the sofa of her luxurious penthouse, reading a
very old book which seemed ready to crumble at any second. She kept
the place barely lit at all, just enough so that she could
distinguish the characters, yet not too much as to not lose the
gloomy mood that the outside clouds swirling about the Poldzer
Triangle brought around the place.
"I can`t make heads or tails of this bloody book!!!" she finally
yelled in frustration, throwing the manuscript work on the coffee
table in front of her. Her breathing suddenly accelerated, her
heart beating fast as a burning, stabbing pain tore her chest
apart. This little outburst had just pushed her physical endurance
to the limit, and she now had the same reaction as any healthy but
untrained human would have trying to run a marathon at maximum
speed all the way through.
She felt like her chest was going to burst into flames. She tried
to relax, to breathe deeper, slower, and it helped a little. Her
heart was going a thousand miles an hour, and she felt horrible.
The front door of the penthouse cracked open with a long squeeky
sound of hinges in serious need of oil. A small beam of light
entered through the opening while the dark silhouette of a black
clad individual walked in silently. The door closed behind the
silhouette, bringing much needed relief to the photosensitive eyes
of Crystallite.
"So how did you fare in battle?" she asked, still trying to catch
her breath.
"I did extremely well." replied the shadow in a voice much too bright
and cheerful to be that a blighted one. In one swift move, the dark
cloak came off and flew off to the side, revealing Sailor Moon
holding Avenger whose blade was covered in a rapidly drying crimson
substance. "Your blighted ones, however, are not up to par I`m
afraid. You really should stop getting your underlings at Goons-R-Us.
And who might you be, by the way?"
"My name is Crystallite. You know my mother I do believe..." said
Crystallite, brushing her hands in her long, rich red hair and
uncovering her ears, pointed just like her mother`s.
"Beryl..." whispered Sailor Moon, taken aback.
"Indeed. Mother died at your hands... but I don`t really care, quite
frankly. It only made my rise to power that much quicker... just like
your killing my husband Aebonite." said Crystallite without showing
emotion, stretching her arm to pick up a glass of wine on the table
and drinking a sip.
"He didn`t mean anything to you, did he?" asked Sailor Moon, feeling
disgusted by the young girl`s total lack of concern for her husband.
"Nothing at all. Our wedding was just an empty one, to seal a
political alliance between my mother and Aebonite`s parents. He
took good care of me, made sure I was safe and comfortable, but it
went no further." she explained.
"Don`t you get lonely, consorting with fiends like Black Baron and
blighted ones all the time, never knowing love or compassion???"
asked Sailor Moon, taking a step towards Crystallite.
"I never feel truly alone, not as long as I have THIS, the key to my
triumph over you and your puny planet!" taunted Crystallite, pulling
the near complete black crystal. It was a horrendous sight to behold,
dark, irregular with sharp edges and spikes all over its ill designed
surface.
"That`s what I wanted to discuss." said Sailor moon, her face
hardening at the sight of the crystal. "You hurt a lot of my friends
to build that aberration."
"And is that so wrong to inflict on others what I was given
myself?!?" scowled Crystallite, pointing to a glass casing containing
a serie of delicately crafted porcelain dolls. "My body is just as
fragile as theirs, if not more! Tell me, Sailor Moon, how does it
feel to be the broken doll? To know the pain I have suffered for so
long myself?!?"
"That`s where I disagree. It is wrong to inflict pain on others for
selfish reasons, and I won`t stand to see you hurt even more
innocents. It stops here, and your precious crystal won`t get you
out of trouble without MY splinter, I`m afraid." replied Sailor Moon,
smiling. "I`m not in any state of mind where it can be taken from
me... and my only regret is that you never knew love before I end
your mad plans, Crystallite." she said, readying her sword.
"You`re wrong about one, dear." replied Crystallite with an equally
big smile as Sailor Moon lifted her sword. "I do know what love is."
A loud beastial growl caught Usagi`s attention and she saw in the
shadow the peircing glow of two burning red eyes staring right at
her.
"Meet my lover, Fenris Wolfang." whispered Crystallite in a hushed
voice reflecting her feelings for the manwolf.
She held her breath in surprise, and in a flash a huge shadow leaped
right at her, slamming right into her as it flew over the sofa in a
fast attack she barely saw coming her way. Sailor Moon was thrown
back against the wall, her breath taken away from the violent shock.
She slashed her sword wildly at the blurry shadow moving her way at
lightning speed, failing to hit it entirely. When it was right there
in front of her, she saw it clearly, in all his hulking stature, his
rippling muscles entirely covered in a deep black layer of short fur,
sharp claws on his huge hands and terrifying fangs from which dripped
a thin trickle of slobber, a tribute to his animalistic side which
he`d kept in check for so long without ever getting a chance to
unleash it.
Until now.
Sailor Moon Tried to stab him, but he brutally hit her sword arm with
his hand, sending Avenger flying away from her grasp. She screamed
in pain as the mad manwolf repeatedly slashed her, inflicting a
serie of deep gashes on her chest, arms, stomach and thighs. She
bled all over her body, and cried as she was unable to yell anymore.
"Finish it off, I can get the splinter from her dead body if need
be. Kill her, Fenris, KILL HER RIGHT NOW!!!" urged Crystallite to
her protector who complied immediately, grasping the pretty
soldier`s neck with both of his large hands and lifting her off
the ground as he held her against the wall and squeezed her neck.
"KILL HER!!!" screamed again Crystallite who barely felt the fire
in her chest as she winded herself out yelling.
Sailor Moon panicked. Her throat crushed, she couldn`t say the
command word "return" and retrieve Avenger. If only she had a
weapon, she could strike him but she was in no position to reach
for her sacred weapon.
Fenris closely watched Sailor Moon`s eyes, awaiting to see the moment
where she would shift from life into the mysterious realm of death,
hoping to catch a glimpse of what laid in the great beyond. Fear
and panic suddenly changed to smugness in the senshi`s eyes, to the
manwolf`s surprise however. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught
a glimpse of bluish light coming from Sailor Moon`s hand, and he
felt a stinging pain in his chest.
Looking down, he saw that Sailor Moon had just stabbed him right
through the heart with a sharp piece of lapis-lazuli, the fragment
of Monsoon she had picked up from the battleground where Sailor
Neptune and Sailor Uranus got their dark splinters taken away.
She had totally forgotten to hand it over to Ami for analysis,
but remembered it just in the nick of time before the died from
strangulation.
Fenris dropped Sailor Moon who wheezed as she breathed again,
staring blankly at the mortal wound he`d just received. He pulled
out the piece of gemstone, but the open wound only bled faster for
it. Staggering back a few steps, he looked back to Crystallite.
"I`m sorry... for... failing you... my love..." he whispered, not
even having enough strength to voice the last two words which
Crystallite read on his lips. He collapsed on his back, his heart
stopped dead and his breathing halting a few seconds later.
"Return!" whispered Sailor Moon, her sword instantly flying to her
hand just like Luke`s lightsaber in Star Wars. She got up on her
feet, anger flaring on her face. This time, there`d be no more wolf
men to prevent her from killing the daughter of Beryl.
Crystallite just stood there, paralyzed from shock. Fenris was dead.
The only man- the only person- who had ever loved her. Not her
husband, not her mother. no one but the large manwolf who kept warm
her shivering body every night, but not anymore. Sailor Moon raised
her sword and slowly walked towards her enemy, blood pouring from
her every claw mark. The stood in sword`s reach, but she hesitated.
Why wasn`t she reacting? Where was the magic attack she was
expecting Crystallite to fire, the threats, the boastful speech???
Nothing came from Crystallite. Her hand went limp, the incomplete
black crystal slipping out and dropping on the floor. Tears streaked
on her face, and she threw herself on Fenris` body and cried her
pain. She wasn`t the evil overlord anymore, gone was the twisted
daughter of Queen Beryl seeking to gain control of the universe
for herself. There were no plans, no schemes or plots left in her,
none of her webs of deceit left to carry her forward.
She was nothing more than a young girl who lost the only person
left in her life, alone to fend off for herself in a world as
unforgiving as she once was.
Sailor Moon was horrifed at what she had just done. In one moment
of hateful anger, she had struck down the only love Crystallite
had ever known. For one second, she had become capable
of snuffing out the true love that she fought so hard to protect
everyday. Usagi had become what she hated the most.
Falling to her knees, she cried, unaware of the tall black shadow
looming behind her, his hand outstretched towards her.
"You see child..." whispered Black Baron. In one mighty blast of
dark power, the dark splinter was violently knocked out of her body,
tearing her soul apart as it did. "...all of this had been planned
from the start by my mistress herself." he said as the splinter flew
to his hand and Usagi sprawled on the floor, her senshi fuku
disappearing in a flash of dull yellow light.
Next to her, Avenger detonated in a shower of crystal pebbles.
"You lose, Sailor Moon. You never had a chance." concluded Black
Baron, abandoning his fallen enemy and picking up the incomplete
black crystal. With remarkable ease, he fused the last piece into
place, creating a rumbling shockwave that expented from the crystal
to the building superstructure, flowing through his body without
affecting him at all.
A large earthquake shook the area, dreadful announce to Usagi`s
failure.
To be continued...