Chapter 4
The Shadow Game is a Deadly One

The toll the battle had taken could be seen everywhere. The Starlights lay fallen at Kakyuu's feet, trying to protect their princess until the very end. Kakyuu stood shaking, wounded in her arm, it seemed to hang from her torso by a single thread. The Orange Knight and Super Sailor Tranquility lay dying together, holding hands with a weakening grasp. Serendipity and Eternity leaned on each other, trying to remain standing. Infinity lay in her knight's arms, as her last breaths slowly escaped her.

The shadow family lay dead. Chibisha's dress had faded slowly into her Princess Saturn gown. Shade and Murk had slowly gone back to being Serenity and Endymion. They lay on the floor entwined with each other. They had died in each other's arms, begging the Senshi for mercy. Mercy, that if given, could tear the whole galaxy apart.

But still, the shadow would not be beat. He loomed above the dead and dying. It was Eternity who first noticed it, and began attacking.

"Gilded Yellow Shaft, SHATTER!" It tore through the shadow, doing little harm. A tear ran down Eternity's cheek. "Its impossible-" she began to say, but was cut off by,

"Pink Dust DESTROY!"

"Red Eternal Bliss!"

"Shading Magnification!"

Weakly, "Orange Enfold!"

Weaker still, "Blinding Green Blaze!"

And then, barely audible, "Crystal Blue Saturation!"

And then, the shadow laughed. And all knew that it was impossible. And all knew that they would die fighting. And so they fought.

The attacks rang out everywhere; everyone was filled with a new invigoration to fight this ancient evil, to avenge the lost, to save the living. One by one they fell, if not dead, then close enough to it. Only the young Usa, forgotten in the fight, remained standing, or huddled in a ball, rather.

"I have ripped through the galaxy, tormented it, attacked it, wounded it. And now, with this final blow, I kill it!" cried the ultimate shadow. It readied its most powerful attack at Chibiusa. One that nothing, once hit with it, could avoid a long, and painful, death. She foresaw it, and managed some how, with incredible luck, it miss it and delay the shadow long enough to shout,

"Taiyou Crystal! I must transform! Help me become the ultimate Senshi of the future! I must become Sailor Sun!"

A few seconds later and there she stood, Sailor Sun. The daughter of the galaxy. "I am sailor Sun! The ultimate champion of our Galaxy! Darkening shadow, I will undo your dark deeds and triumph over evil! And incase you forgot, that means you!"

Chibiusa was completely changed. She was tall and elegant. Her once pink hair was now a white-yellow, as opposed to the last time when she transformed, and it had turned silver. Her fuku was like Sailor Cosmos's, only with a slight yellow tint. Her eyes were bright yellow as well, and she held a staff with a glittering yellow orb at the end. On her forehead was a sun shape.

"Don't make me make you're death more painful than I intended!"

Sailor Sun laughed. "I should be saying the same to you."

And the final battle ensued.

"Solar Flare!"

"Masking Shade!"

"Solaris Sun Dial, Sever!"

"Murky Shadow Game!"

"Golden Ray!"

"Oh come now, little girl, why don't you quit while you are ahead? You know that you cannot win! You will surely die, either way, though I daresay if you give in right now I'll make it short and painless."

"Oh, come now, don't make me laugh!"

It was nearing the end. Sun was half hoping that she had indeed given in, but she knew that fighting till the end was the right thing. She had managed to put a good sized dent in the shadow, though she knew it was not enough. If only there were other Senshi here to help here. As she looked around at the bodies of her dead companions, she knew she was on her own.

"We will always be with you," a shimmering vision of Ami, or Infinity, or Mercury.

"We will never truly leave," whispered Makoto.

"We are with you forever," said Minako.

"Because we will be friends forever," whispered Hotaru.

"We are bound together by our experiences," said Haruka.

"And our common goal, saving this world," said Michiru.

"Chibi-chan, never give up hope!" said Setsuna. The shadow had apparently reached her, even at the gates of time.

"Usagi, my lovely daughter, you will never ever be alone," whispered Mamoru.

"We will always love you," whispered Usagi, and all were gone.

"Wait!" she called. "Mamo! If you're dead, then that means I'm never born, which means-" She looked down at her hand, which was shimmering, and close to disappearing.

"Hah!" laughed the shadow.

"Before I die, I vow to destroy you!" even as she uttered these words, she knew it was impossible for her to be it.

Suddenly, a tall elegant figure stood beside her.

"Cosmos?" she gasped, taking a step back. The figure nodded. "What are we going to do?"

"There is little time to talk, my daughter," she whispered, "So I shall explain as quickly as I can. There was a time before crystal Tokyo, where you come from when you are Chibiusa, though as Sun you are my daughter, when the world was frozen over in crystal. This was caused by your final attack, Delayed Crystal Encase. It has incredible power. Even I am not yet sure what it does. I know it has something to do with Crystal Tokyo. In my future, Crystal Tokyo is far in the past, and there is another Millennium, where the princesses of love rule. The Rainbow Millennium."

"Rainbow Millennium?" gasped Sun. Cosmos nodded.

"I cannot explain now, but I think you will soon see for yourself the majestic beauty of it," said Cosmos. Sun nodded shakily. "I must now, for I too am fading. For there is another thing about my future, the shadow still looms. I am what would be described as deceased there, and so are you. You must act fast. Use this." She handed her staff to her daughter, and took her daughter's old staff, which disappeared as Cosmos touched it. "Good-bye," she whispered, and faded away.

"Okay!" said Sun to the shadow, who had been trying to attack during the who conversation, but Cosmos's power had kept it away, "Here we go!"

The shadow cackled as Sun held out the scepter shakily.

"Delayed Crystal Envelop!" The shadow's laugher abruptly stopped. It turned into a bone-rattling scream. A scream of pain, sorrow, evil over thousands of years, spread across the sands of time. An ancient scream. A scream of something that did not what to be annihilated. A scream of something, that was.

Sun was not yet done. Anther attack, or power, if you rather, came to her. She was weak, but she had to do this one last thing.

"Sands of time, rewrite!"


"Mother! How could you not wake me up!!" cried Usagi, running out the door. "Erg.....I don't even have a lunch!" She ran down the streets of Tokyo, her bag flying out behind her.

Makoto had just stepped out of her door when Usagi whipped by. "Hey! Wait up!"

"Not time! Not time! Gotta run! You should too! If I'm late, and you are standing there, that makes you late, too!" cried Usagi. Makoto glanced at her watch.

"For once you're right Usagi, lets go!"

On their way, they passed that temple priestess, what was her name again? Usagi struggled to remember, but decided running was more important. She couldn't be late again! And not for some priestess who liked her ravens more than people!

She and Makoto almost flattened a blonde girl with a red bow and a cat with a funny bald spot on his head. They were also rushing, but in the opposite direction. Every one had to get to school on time.

"Sorry!" Usagi gasped, and they kept on running towards the school. Another ten minutes and they would be late. She bumped into someone.

"Watch it meatball-head!" cried that annoying Mamoru who was always calling Usagi names.

"I don't have time Mamoru!" said Usagi. She secretly loved Mamoru, and he secretly loved her, but nothing could bring those two together! If only they had something in common...*koff, koff* like protecting the world*koff*

As they ran across the street, they saw that really brainy sixteen year old who should have been in their class, but had escalated on up to college. She was riding in a dark car next to her dark haired fiancée. They wouldn't be getting married until both were out of college.

Usagi wondered how some one could be so smart, and she figured that she just didn't have any distractions in her life, which was not far from the truth.

Usagi paused to wave to that nice girl Hotaru. She was with who Usagi assumed must have been her mother, a tall tan lady with beautiful, long green hair.

They passed a coffee shop, and Usagi noticed a couple near the window. She had often admired them. That beautiful green haired woman, and her handsome boyfriend. Or at least Usagi thought it was a boy...

As they turned the corner, the school came into sight, and both were happy, because they were still about two minutes early.

"See ya, Makoto!" said Usagi upon parting with her friend. They had different classes.

"Okay every one, pencils out!" said the teacher as Usagi walked in. "Pop-quiz!"

Usagi looked around for some one to turn to, and suddenly felt very alone.