Sailor Moon-Violence and Corruption
Part 7: "Battle for Souls"
By Bill K.
Usagi got to the corner of the block and saw it. Police cars bunched in
the middle of the quiet residential street, their flashing lights illuminating
the approaching dusk with the red of danger and the blue of tragedy. The scene
pierced her heart like an arrow. They were grouped in front of her house.
Police officers in protective body armor were tucked against the outer walls
around the house, waiting for a chance to storm the building, guns drawn. What
could have happened? Could it be . . .
As if in answer, the air was pierced by a golden beam of energy. It
emanated from the broken door in the front of the house, lanced through the open
gate and struck the rear gas tank of a parked police car. The auto exploded in
a fireball when the tank ruptured, sending flaming fuel spilling over the other
cars near it and forcing the assembled police to scatter for safety. If you
listened closely through the chaos and screams, you could hear three female
voices laughing.
Usagi heard the shouted warnings from behind her to stop. She ignored
them. Bolting forward, she raced toward her home, praying that there was
something she could still do. At the curb, though, she was intercepted by a
burly police officer.
"Stop!" he shouted. "You can't go in there! It isn't safe!"
"That's my house!" screamed Usagi, pulling to get free of him. "Are they
in there? Are they hurt?"
"Sergeant!" bellowed the cop. "Calm down, Miss! You say you live there?"
A ranking police officer ran up. "Sir, this girl says she lives here!"
"What's your name, Miss?" demanded the sergeant.
"Usagi Tsukino! Is my family all right?" Usagi replied desperately.
"We don't know, ma'am. We can't get close enough to find out. There's
some sort of something in there. It's keeping us at bay with electricity and
some sort of flame thrower. And then there was this energy discharge. How many
others are in your family?"
"Three," Usagi said, heartsick because she now knew who was inside.
"Fujihara!" the sergeant barked into a radio. "New information. There
may be three civilians in there! Try to confirm, but do not move without my
order unless the situation demands!"
"Roger that," came the response.
"Let me go!" squealed Usagi. "I can talk to them!"
"Out of the question," the sergeant said, thinking she meant her family.
"Watanabe, do not let this girl get near the perimeter. Cuff her and lock her
in a car if you have to."
"Yes, sir!" responded Watanabe.
Just then four figures leaped over the perimeter. To the astonishment of
the police, they landed in the front courtyard of the house. The four, women
none of the officers recognized, deftly evaded a bolt of electricity that shot
out of the house, and leaped inside through the broken door and front window.
"Nooooooo!" wailed Usagi. She recognized them.
Tearing away from Officer Watanabe while he was distracted, Usagi spotted
Artemis at the end of the block motioning to her. Reluctantly she tore off
toward him. Watanabe started to chase her, but gave up since she was headed
away from the situation. She got to Artemis seconds later, tears in her eyes.
"Artemis?" she cried, helpless to know what to do next.
"Transform!" Artemis told her. "All the sisters can do is occupy them!
You need to try to change them back! But be careful! If you try to change
them back all at once, you might hurt yourself! Besides, they're gunning for
you, so don't just lock onto your goal!"
Usagi nodded and ripped the brooch off of her blouse, jamming it into the
air. "Moon Eternal Make Up!" she shouted, not caring who saw her.
Seconds later, Eternal Sailor Moon ran up to the perimeter the police had
established. Already there were sounds of a pitched battle from inside. Again
she was intercepted, again by Officer Watanabe.
"Stay back!" he ordered. "Let the police handle this!"
"I have to get in there!" Sailor Moon cried. "I can help them! I can end
this!"
"It's too dangerous!" Watanabe argued.
"LET ME GO!" screamed Sailor Moon. The crescent moon on her forehead
flared with brilliant golden light. Suddenly Officer Watanabe was shoved away
by an unseen force. He landed hard in the street. "I'm sorry!" Sailor Moon
offered weakly, torn between aiding him and aiding her friends. Quickly her
friends won and she shoved through the police line and raced into the house.
Inside was utter chaos. Her father was unconscious on the floor in the
hall. Sailor Moon ran to him. She knelt beside him and wanted to weep over his
battered body. For a moment she thought him dead until she noticed his
breathing. Quickly other things caught her attention. Sailor Mars was off in
one corner battling Cooan and Beruche single-handedly. The furnishings of the
living room were utterly destroyed. Shingo lay against a far wall, battered
into unconsciousness or worse. Then Karaberas moved into her field of vision,
her energy whip caught by the Love and Beauty Shock wave from Sailor Venus.
Through the doorway leading to the kitchen she could see her mother slumped on
the floor. Behind her, Petz and Sailor Jupiter were engaged in a deadly battle
of electricity. There was so much going on, she didn't know who to help first.
"Crescent beam!" brought her out of her shock just in time to evade an
energy beam from Venus, who then evaded another whip stroke from Karaberas with
uncanny ease.
Summoning the Tier, Sailor Moon focused on Mars. Mars was closest. Mars
was occupied with two combatants and was the easiest target. And it was Rei.
"Silver Moon Crystal Power . . ." began Sailor Moon. Then she had the Tier
knocked from her hands by a flaming arrow. Spinning from the force of the
impact, Sailor Moon crashed to the floor near her father, the Tier bouncing away
from her.
Struggling up, Sailor Moon saw Beruche nail Mars with an ice blast.
Beruche, though, was struck in the back by a vicious Love Me Chain stroke.
Spurring herself on, Sailor Moon scrambled on all fours for the Tier.
"Beat it!" she heard Venus yell. "The odds suck here!" Venus, Jupiter
and Mars rushed for the nearest exit. Mars was about to pause to take another
shot at Sailor Moon, but a blast of fire from Cooan changed her mind.
"Don't let them get away!" bellowed Petz. Instantly the four sisters
were on their heels. Petz stopped briefly by Sailor Moon. "Tend to your family,
Sailor Moon. Catch up to us when you can. They won't escape us."
Recovering the Moon Tier, Sailor Moon knelt down next to her father.
Gently she rolled him over and cradled his head in her lap.
"Daddy?" she whispered fearfully. Her hand stroked his temple. Her touch
seemed to bring him around briefly.
"Princess?" he said, almost in a dream state. "Thank the fates you
weren't hurt." His eyes opened a crack and he stared up at her. Kenji smiled.
"You look like an angel."
The tears came pouring down Sailor Moon's cheeks. She continued to cradle
him as police stormed the door. Only when one approached her, touching her
shoulder, did she acknowledge him.
"Help him," she said, looking up at the armored officer. "Please?"
* * * *
The renegade senshi and the four sisters each easily outdistanced the
pursuing police. To their chagrin, however, the senshi couldn't evade their
pursuers.
The battle renewed in the playground of the elementary school Shingo
attended. Jupiter's foot was snagged by a whip cast from Karaberas. She had no
time to gloat, though. A flaming arrow from Mars severed the whip and the
energy feedback knocked Karaberas down.
Petz quickly came to her sister's aid, battering Mars with a charge of
lightning. It was all Beruche could do to shove Petz under the shockwave from
Venus, a shockwave that leveled the nearby monkey bars. By then Jupiter was up
and her Oak Evolution attack kept them both pinned with a barrage of exploding
electrical bursts. Meanwhile Venus was diving beneath a flame blast from Cooan.
"Heeeeaaaaagh!" roared Karaberas as she jumped onto Jupiter's back. The
woman quickly brought the severed end of her whip across Jupiter's throat and
pulled back. Jupiter staggered backward, trying to summon her lightning. The
pair finally toppled to the asphalt surface, Karaberas keeping her strangle-hold
on Jupiter.
Beruche managed to get off an ice blast that clipped Venus on the hip.
She tumbled to the pavement awkwardly, but in a second her Love Me Chain was out
and wrapped around Cooan's throat. With a vicious wrench of the chain, Cooan's
neck was snapped around. She struck the playground surface, bounced once and
didn't move.
"Cooan!" cried Beruche as she and Petz were rising. At once, a fire arrow
nailed Beruche in her side, passing through with deadly efficiency. Beruche
crumpled, holding her side. Petz shot a blast of electricity at Mars, but the
senshi evaded it. She could see Venus off to her right preparing to attack.
Beruche struggled to contribute, but they both feared it wouldn't be enough.
"Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss!"
Silver energy shot out and snatched up Sailor Mars. She writhed in its
grasp, struggling to get free, then howled up into the air as if her very soul
were being wrenched from her. Venus turned to the new attack, ready to launch
her Love and Beauty Shock. That's when Petz struck. Her bolt hit Venus square
and the blonde convulsed in place for several seconds. Mars and Venus sank to
the asphalt in unison.
"Perfect timing, Sailor Moon," gasped Petz. Sailor Moon turned to her,
the shock of how Petz must have looked mirrored in her sweet face. Then a
lightning blast struck Sailor Moon down. Petz turned to see Sailor Jupiter to
her right, chest heaving, Karaberas dangling limply from the senshi's right hand.
"You four never could beat us," panted Jupiter. She threw Karaberas to
the pavement contemptuously and glanced at Petz. "After I take care of her, I
take care of you."
Petz threw up her hand to launch a bolt, but Jupiter was quicker. Oak
Evolution began exploding all around Sailor Moon's prone, groggy form. Jupiter
poured everything she could into the attack, trying to make it the killing
stroke. But none of the electrical bursts reached Sailor Moon. After a moment,
Jupiter could see why. Sailor Saturn emerged from the hedge behind Sailor Moon,
glaive in hand.
"Dead Scream," was whispered behind Jupiter, followed by a sonic burst
that knocked her forward. Jupiter struggled to turn around, still prone on the
pavement. Behind her was Sailor Pluto. To Pluto's right was Sailor Uranus,
clutching her Space Sword in her good arm, and Sailor Neptune, with the Deep
Aqua Mirror in her bandaged hands.
"Damn!" fumed Jupiter, speaking the words of another. "You swarm like
cockroaches! How many of you are going to come out of the woodwork!"
"As many as it takes to defeat you," Neptune replied, her tone light and
mocking, but with an eyebrow arched in warning. "As many as it takes to protect
her."
Jupiter, still prone, looked in front of her, sensing a presence. She
saw the white boots of Eternal Sailor Moon. A look of pain was on her face, but
it wasn't pain from the bolt she took.
"Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss," Sailor Moon said gently.
The silver energy enveloped her and Jupiter reacted like she was bathing
in fire. Her lanky frame pulled up into a fetal ball and a grimace of agony
twisted her face into an ugly parody of itself. She resisted longer than Ami
or Rei had, but in the end a howl of intense torment tore itself from her
throat. Jupiter slumped to the asphalt and reverted to Makoto. Sailor Moon, on
the verge of crying again, struggled to keep her composure. She turned when a
gloved hand gently grasped her arm and found Saturn beside her.
"It's the only way, Sailor Moon," Saturn offered sympathetically.
Sailor Moon nodded sadly and moved wearily over to where Venus lay.
Saturn held onto her to catch her if she fell.
Petz had already managed to staunch the bleeding from Beruche's side. Now
she was checking Cooan. An ugly welt colored the girl's throat and she still
hadn't awakened. However, she was still alive and that was a step up from what
Petz had feared. As she ministered to her sister, she sensed she was not alone.
Looking up, she saw Pluto, Uranus and Neptune towering over her.
"Your other sister lives," Pluto informed her dispassionately. "She bears
the wounds of her battle well."
"Karaberas always was a fighter," Petz said, trying to suppress her
concern. "Thank you for checking her."
"Thank you for aiding our Princess when we could not," Pluto replied.
"It was a matter of honor," Petz responded, fussing over Cooan.
"We wondered why," Uranus said. "Now we understand."
Petz looked up at Uranus, trying to gauge the meaning of her statement
from her expression. There was just a hint of a challenge in the woman's poker
face, but there was also just a hint of respect as well. Then Cooan began to
stir and give voice to the pain she felt, and the moment passed.
"Oh, Petz, I hurt all over," groaned Cooan. "What happened? Did we win?"
The air was split with a gut-wrenching shriek from Venus.
"We won, Cooan," Petz replied, a lump forming in her throat.
At once, everyone on the playground felt a chill of evil swirl around
them. Uranus and Neptune looked to Sailor Moon and Petz followed their gaze.
Above Sailor Moon was a female cast in ebony with violet hair swirling around
her. She levitated about ten feet above Sailor Moon, staring down at the future
queen with vibrant white eyes.
"You dare!" the thing hissed at Sailor Moon. "You dare oppose the will of
my mistress!"
At once, the thing dived at Sailor Moon. Sailor Uranus shoved forward,
swinging her talisman as she shouted "Space Sword Blaster!" Sailor Saturn, too,
moved forward, swinging her glaive with a killing stroke. Yet Tenera evaded the
glaive and the energy arcs from the Space Sword and struck, plunging into Sailor
Moon through her eyes, through her ears and mouth, up her nostrils. Sailor Moon
dropped the Moon Tier and doubled over, as if smothering from the attack.
"NO!" cried Saturn. She watched helplessly, as did the others, for to
unleash an attack now was to strike the very person they sought to save. Uranus
ground her teeth. Neptune clutched her lover. Petz and Cooan sat frozen in
place. Only Pluto seemed unaffected, as if she knew something the others did
not.
And at once, the inky tendrils expelled from Sailor Moon's body as if
propelled by jet fuel. A horrible scream of terror resonated through the
elementary school playground and through the surrounding neighborhood. It was a
scream that signaled its owner had looked directly in the face of death and knew
its time had come. And it wasn't Sailor Moon who screamed; it was Tenera.
As Tenera forcibly expelled from her body, Sailor Moon drew upright. Her
hands spread out from her body. Her head drew back, her eyes closed. She began
to radiate a silver glow from her body. That glow grew until the entire
playground was lit by the glow. So bright was the glow that the outer senshi
and the sisters had to shield their eyes, lest they be blinded by her radiance.
Instead, they looked up to Tenera, writhing in agony twelve feet above them.
She danced a macabre pirouette in the air above them, battered by the waves
emanating from Sailor Moon. Each one seemed to diminish her as they struck her.
Her form began to fray, then to dispel like smoke in a howling wind. A final,
piteous wail came from the dark creature and then she dissipated into nothing.
The glow faded from around Sailor Moon. She relaxed, then folded her arms
around her stomach and bent over slightly.
"Ohhhh!" she shuddered, looking nauseous. "That was disgusting!"
"Sailor Moon?" Saturn gasped, propping the girl up. "Are you hurt?"
Uranus was instantly by her side, and Neptune close behind.
"What was it?" asked Neptune.
"Dark. Evil," swallowed Sailor Moon, revulsion evident on her face. "If
that thing is what possessed the others," and she shuddered, "oh, how they've
suffered!"
And she swooned. Uranus pushed forward and caught Sailor Moon with her
good arm before the girl hit the pavement. Her costume swirled into mist,
leaving Usagi behind.
Sirens approached. The police had finally caught up.
* * * *
"Tygos."
The sound echoed through the cavernous chambers below. Tygos, her silver
mane flowing behind her obsidian body, covered the distance between her and her
mistress in moments. She materialized at the foot of Talon Umbra's throne and
knelt reverently.
"Command me, my Mistress," Tygos said, head bowed in supplication.
"Your sister has failed," Talon Umbra stated. There was no anger, no
malice. It was a simple, impartial statement of fact, as if foreseen or
expected - - or perhaps unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
"She is thrice cursed," Tygos replied.
"She was not true to her skills," Talon Umbra advised, her snakelike eyes
narrowing as she studied a holographic representation of paramedics checking
Usagi on the playground, Haruka and Petz standing watchfully over her. "She
squandered her resources. She was over-confident, then in the end ignored my
warning. She has paid the ultimate price for her folly."
"Her failure is a stain upon us all," Tygos said, raising her head to face
her mistress. "Allow me to avenge this blemish."
"It seems I must," the woman said calmly, studying the representation,
ignoring Tygos. "You who are brutality may succeed where the subtlety of
corruption failed, if only through sheer force of will." She broke her fixation
on the hologram and looked at Tygos. "She is surrounded by powerful allies now,
allies who are on guard and who are willing to kill or die for their patron."
"They shall fall like stalks before the blade," Tygos pronounced.
Talon Umbra shifted on her throne, her skirt falling away from a sinewy
leg.
"Your target is very powerful. I warn you as I warned your sister. Do
not underestimate her. Strike quickly and strike true, and do not be swayed by
her. She possesses the power to bend vast armies to her cause with but a single
tear."
"She shall not sway me. You are my only mistress. Only Talon Umbra may
command me."
"You are confident, Tygos. Or are you over-confident? This is what
doomed your sister."
"My sister was a skulking fool. She squandered your precious gifts. I
live only to serve you." Tygos got to her feet, towering over the sitting Lady
of Below. "You are my will and my way. Sailor Moon opposes you and thus she
will die. I will bring you her head mounted on a baton of gold. This is not
over-confidence, my Mistress. This merely is. I shall be victorious or die."
"Yes," murmured Talon Umbra, "you will."
A moment later, Tygos disappeared from view. A small smile crept onto
Talon Umbra's mouth. Setting aside the holographic representation, she gestured
into the air. Tenera materialized before her. Her arms were bound at painfully
awkward angles behind her and she dangled from bound wrists so that her weight
increased the painful drag on her arms. The being hung limply, lifting her head
with great effort to look at her tormentor sitting placidly on her throne of
stone.
"Mistress," Tenera gasped with preciously short breath, "have I displeased
you?"
"You, specifically, have not," Talon Umbra commented placidly. "You are
newly born and have not had the chance to please or displease me. You pay for
the sins of another. Do you question my right to punish you?"
"No," Tenera choked out through waves of agony. "You are my mistress. I
have no will but yours. I serve . . .at your whim."
"Correct," Talon Umbra said, smiling maternally.
Then she unleashed twin bolts of crackling red energy from her cold
lizard's eyes. Tenera recoiled at the energy's touch, screaming wildly in pain.
Continued in part 8
Part 7: "Battle for Souls"
By Bill K.
Usagi got to the corner of the block and saw it. Police cars bunched in
the middle of the quiet residential street, their flashing lights illuminating
the approaching dusk with the red of danger and the blue of tragedy. The scene
pierced her heart like an arrow. They were grouped in front of her house.
Police officers in protective body armor were tucked against the outer walls
around the house, waiting for a chance to storm the building, guns drawn. What
could have happened? Could it be . . .
As if in answer, the air was pierced by a golden beam of energy. It
emanated from the broken door in the front of the house, lanced through the open
gate and struck the rear gas tank of a parked police car. The auto exploded in
a fireball when the tank ruptured, sending flaming fuel spilling over the other
cars near it and forcing the assembled police to scatter for safety. If you
listened closely through the chaos and screams, you could hear three female
voices laughing.
Usagi heard the shouted warnings from behind her to stop. She ignored
them. Bolting forward, she raced toward her home, praying that there was
something she could still do. At the curb, though, she was intercepted by a
burly police officer.
"Stop!" he shouted. "You can't go in there! It isn't safe!"
"That's my house!" screamed Usagi, pulling to get free of him. "Are they
in there? Are they hurt?"
"Sergeant!" bellowed the cop. "Calm down, Miss! You say you live there?"
A ranking police officer ran up. "Sir, this girl says she lives here!"
"What's your name, Miss?" demanded the sergeant.
"Usagi Tsukino! Is my family all right?" Usagi replied desperately.
"We don't know, ma'am. We can't get close enough to find out. There's
some sort of something in there. It's keeping us at bay with electricity and
some sort of flame thrower. And then there was this energy discharge. How many
others are in your family?"
"Three," Usagi said, heartsick because she now knew who was inside.
"Fujihara!" the sergeant barked into a radio. "New information. There
may be three civilians in there! Try to confirm, but do not move without my
order unless the situation demands!"
"Roger that," came the response.
"Let me go!" squealed Usagi. "I can talk to them!"
"Out of the question," the sergeant said, thinking she meant her family.
"Watanabe, do not let this girl get near the perimeter. Cuff her and lock her
in a car if you have to."
"Yes, sir!" responded Watanabe.
Just then four figures leaped over the perimeter. To the astonishment of
the police, they landed in the front courtyard of the house. The four, women
none of the officers recognized, deftly evaded a bolt of electricity that shot
out of the house, and leaped inside through the broken door and front window.
"Nooooooo!" wailed Usagi. She recognized them.
Tearing away from Officer Watanabe while he was distracted, Usagi spotted
Artemis at the end of the block motioning to her. Reluctantly she tore off
toward him. Watanabe started to chase her, but gave up since she was headed
away from the situation. She got to Artemis seconds later, tears in her eyes.
"Artemis?" she cried, helpless to know what to do next.
"Transform!" Artemis told her. "All the sisters can do is occupy them!
You need to try to change them back! But be careful! If you try to change
them back all at once, you might hurt yourself! Besides, they're gunning for
you, so don't just lock onto your goal!"
Usagi nodded and ripped the brooch off of her blouse, jamming it into the
air. "Moon Eternal Make Up!" she shouted, not caring who saw her.
Seconds later, Eternal Sailor Moon ran up to the perimeter the police had
established. Already there were sounds of a pitched battle from inside. Again
she was intercepted, again by Officer Watanabe.
"Stay back!" he ordered. "Let the police handle this!"
"I have to get in there!" Sailor Moon cried. "I can help them! I can end
this!"
"It's too dangerous!" Watanabe argued.
"LET ME GO!" screamed Sailor Moon. The crescent moon on her forehead
flared with brilliant golden light. Suddenly Officer Watanabe was shoved away
by an unseen force. He landed hard in the street. "I'm sorry!" Sailor Moon
offered weakly, torn between aiding him and aiding her friends. Quickly her
friends won and she shoved through the police line and raced into the house.
Inside was utter chaos. Her father was unconscious on the floor in the
hall. Sailor Moon ran to him. She knelt beside him and wanted to weep over his
battered body. For a moment she thought him dead until she noticed his
breathing. Quickly other things caught her attention. Sailor Mars was off in
one corner battling Cooan and Beruche single-handedly. The furnishings of the
living room were utterly destroyed. Shingo lay against a far wall, battered
into unconsciousness or worse. Then Karaberas moved into her field of vision,
her energy whip caught by the Love and Beauty Shock wave from Sailor Venus.
Through the doorway leading to the kitchen she could see her mother slumped on
the floor. Behind her, Petz and Sailor Jupiter were engaged in a deadly battle
of electricity. There was so much going on, she didn't know who to help first.
"Crescent beam!" brought her out of her shock just in time to evade an
energy beam from Venus, who then evaded another whip stroke from Karaberas with
uncanny ease.
Summoning the Tier, Sailor Moon focused on Mars. Mars was closest. Mars
was occupied with two combatants and was the easiest target. And it was Rei.
"Silver Moon Crystal Power . . ." began Sailor Moon. Then she had the Tier
knocked from her hands by a flaming arrow. Spinning from the force of the
impact, Sailor Moon crashed to the floor near her father, the Tier bouncing away
from her.
Struggling up, Sailor Moon saw Beruche nail Mars with an ice blast.
Beruche, though, was struck in the back by a vicious Love Me Chain stroke.
Spurring herself on, Sailor Moon scrambled on all fours for the Tier.
"Beat it!" she heard Venus yell. "The odds suck here!" Venus, Jupiter
and Mars rushed for the nearest exit. Mars was about to pause to take another
shot at Sailor Moon, but a blast of fire from Cooan changed her mind.
"Don't let them get away!" bellowed Petz. Instantly the four sisters
were on their heels. Petz stopped briefly by Sailor Moon. "Tend to your family,
Sailor Moon. Catch up to us when you can. They won't escape us."
Recovering the Moon Tier, Sailor Moon knelt down next to her father.
Gently she rolled him over and cradled his head in her lap.
"Daddy?" she whispered fearfully. Her hand stroked his temple. Her touch
seemed to bring him around briefly.
"Princess?" he said, almost in a dream state. "Thank the fates you
weren't hurt." His eyes opened a crack and he stared up at her. Kenji smiled.
"You look like an angel."
The tears came pouring down Sailor Moon's cheeks. She continued to cradle
him as police stormed the door. Only when one approached her, touching her
shoulder, did she acknowledge him.
"Help him," she said, looking up at the armored officer. "Please?"
* * * *
The renegade senshi and the four sisters each easily outdistanced the
pursuing police. To their chagrin, however, the senshi couldn't evade their
pursuers.
The battle renewed in the playground of the elementary school Shingo
attended. Jupiter's foot was snagged by a whip cast from Karaberas. She had no
time to gloat, though. A flaming arrow from Mars severed the whip and the
energy feedback knocked Karaberas down.
Petz quickly came to her sister's aid, battering Mars with a charge of
lightning. It was all Beruche could do to shove Petz under the shockwave from
Venus, a shockwave that leveled the nearby monkey bars. By then Jupiter was up
and her Oak Evolution attack kept them both pinned with a barrage of exploding
electrical bursts. Meanwhile Venus was diving beneath a flame blast from Cooan.
"Heeeeaaaaagh!" roared Karaberas as she jumped onto Jupiter's back. The
woman quickly brought the severed end of her whip across Jupiter's throat and
pulled back. Jupiter staggered backward, trying to summon her lightning. The
pair finally toppled to the asphalt surface, Karaberas keeping her strangle-hold
on Jupiter.
Beruche managed to get off an ice blast that clipped Venus on the hip.
She tumbled to the pavement awkwardly, but in a second her Love Me Chain was out
and wrapped around Cooan's throat. With a vicious wrench of the chain, Cooan's
neck was snapped around. She struck the playground surface, bounced once and
didn't move.
"Cooan!" cried Beruche as she and Petz were rising. At once, a fire arrow
nailed Beruche in her side, passing through with deadly efficiency. Beruche
crumpled, holding her side. Petz shot a blast of electricity at Mars, but the
senshi evaded it. She could see Venus off to her right preparing to attack.
Beruche struggled to contribute, but they both feared it wouldn't be enough.
"Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss!"
Silver energy shot out and snatched up Sailor Mars. She writhed in its
grasp, struggling to get free, then howled up into the air as if her very soul
were being wrenched from her. Venus turned to the new attack, ready to launch
her Love and Beauty Shock. That's when Petz struck. Her bolt hit Venus square
and the blonde convulsed in place for several seconds. Mars and Venus sank to
the asphalt in unison.
"Perfect timing, Sailor Moon," gasped Petz. Sailor Moon turned to her,
the shock of how Petz must have looked mirrored in her sweet face. Then a
lightning blast struck Sailor Moon down. Petz turned to see Sailor Jupiter to
her right, chest heaving, Karaberas dangling limply from the senshi's right hand.
"You four never could beat us," panted Jupiter. She threw Karaberas to
the pavement contemptuously and glanced at Petz. "After I take care of her, I
take care of you."
Petz threw up her hand to launch a bolt, but Jupiter was quicker. Oak
Evolution began exploding all around Sailor Moon's prone, groggy form. Jupiter
poured everything she could into the attack, trying to make it the killing
stroke. But none of the electrical bursts reached Sailor Moon. After a moment,
Jupiter could see why. Sailor Saturn emerged from the hedge behind Sailor Moon,
glaive in hand.
"Dead Scream," was whispered behind Jupiter, followed by a sonic burst
that knocked her forward. Jupiter struggled to turn around, still prone on the
pavement. Behind her was Sailor Pluto. To Pluto's right was Sailor Uranus,
clutching her Space Sword in her good arm, and Sailor Neptune, with the Deep
Aqua Mirror in her bandaged hands.
"Damn!" fumed Jupiter, speaking the words of another. "You swarm like
cockroaches! How many of you are going to come out of the woodwork!"
"As many as it takes to defeat you," Neptune replied, her tone light and
mocking, but with an eyebrow arched in warning. "As many as it takes to protect
her."
Jupiter, still prone, looked in front of her, sensing a presence. She
saw the white boots of Eternal Sailor Moon. A look of pain was on her face, but
it wasn't pain from the bolt she took.
"Silver Moon Crystal Power Kiss," Sailor Moon said gently.
The silver energy enveloped her and Jupiter reacted like she was bathing
in fire. Her lanky frame pulled up into a fetal ball and a grimace of agony
twisted her face into an ugly parody of itself. She resisted longer than Ami
or Rei had, but in the end a howl of intense torment tore itself from her
throat. Jupiter slumped to the asphalt and reverted to Makoto. Sailor Moon, on
the verge of crying again, struggled to keep her composure. She turned when a
gloved hand gently grasped her arm and found Saturn beside her.
"It's the only way, Sailor Moon," Saturn offered sympathetically.
Sailor Moon nodded sadly and moved wearily over to where Venus lay.
Saturn held onto her to catch her if she fell.
Petz had already managed to staunch the bleeding from Beruche's side. Now
she was checking Cooan. An ugly welt colored the girl's throat and she still
hadn't awakened. However, she was still alive and that was a step up from what
Petz had feared. As she ministered to her sister, she sensed she was not alone.
Looking up, she saw Pluto, Uranus and Neptune towering over her.
"Your other sister lives," Pluto informed her dispassionately. "She bears
the wounds of her battle well."
"Karaberas always was a fighter," Petz said, trying to suppress her
concern. "Thank you for checking her."
"Thank you for aiding our Princess when we could not," Pluto replied.
"It was a matter of honor," Petz responded, fussing over Cooan.
"We wondered why," Uranus said. "Now we understand."
Petz looked up at Uranus, trying to gauge the meaning of her statement
from her expression. There was just a hint of a challenge in the woman's poker
face, but there was also just a hint of respect as well. Then Cooan began to
stir and give voice to the pain she felt, and the moment passed.
"Oh, Petz, I hurt all over," groaned Cooan. "What happened? Did we win?"
The air was split with a gut-wrenching shriek from Venus.
"We won, Cooan," Petz replied, a lump forming in her throat.
At once, everyone on the playground felt a chill of evil swirl around
them. Uranus and Neptune looked to Sailor Moon and Petz followed their gaze.
Above Sailor Moon was a female cast in ebony with violet hair swirling around
her. She levitated about ten feet above Sailor Moon, staring down at the future
queen with vibrant white eyes.
"You dare!" the thing hissed at Sailor Moon. "You dare oppose the will of
my mistress!"
At once, the thing dived at Sailor Moon. Sailor Uranus shoved forward,
swinging her talisman as she shouted "Space Sword Blaster!" Sailor Saturn, too,
moved forward, swinging her glaive with a killing stroke. Yet Tenera evaded the
glaive and the energy arcs from the Space Sword and struck, plunging into Sailor
Moon through her eyes, through her ears and mouth, up her nostrils. Sailor Moon
dropped the Moon Tier and doubled over, as if smothering from the attack.
"NO!" cried Saturn. She watched helplessly, as did the others, for to
unleash an attack now was to strike the very person they sought to save. Uranus
ground her teeth. Neptune clutched her lover. Petz and Cooan sat frozen in
place. Only Pluto seemed unaffected, as if she knew something the others did
not.
And at once, the inky tendrils expelled from Sailor Moon's body as if
propelled by jet fuel. A horrible scream of terror resonated through the
elementary school playground and through the surrounding neighborhood. It was a
scream that signaled its owner had looked directly in the face of death and knew
its time had come. And it wasn't Sailor Moon who screamed; it was Tenera.
As Tenera forcibly expelled from her body, Sailor Moon drew upright. Her
hands spread out from her body. Her head drew back, her eyes closed. She began
to radiate a silver glow from her body. That glow grew until the entire
playground was lit by the glow. So bright was the glow that the outer senshi
and the sisters had to shield their eyes, lest they be blinded by her radiance.
Instead, they looked up to Tenera, writhing in agony twelve feet above them.
She danced a macabre pirouette in the air above them, battered by the waves
emanating from Sailor Moon. Each one seemed to diminish her as they struck her.
Her form began to fray, then to dispel like smoke in a howling wind. A final,
piteous wail came from the dark creature and then she dissipated into nothing.
The glow faded from around Sailor Moon. She relaxed, then folded her arms
around her stomach and bent over slightly.
"Ohhhh!" she shuddered, looking nauseous. "That was disgusting!"
"Sailor Moon?" Saturn gasped, propping the girl up. "Are you hurt?"
Uranus was instantly by her side, and Neptune close behind.
"What was it?" asked Neptune.
"Dark. Evil," swallowed Sailor Moon, revulsion evident on her face. "If
that thing is what possessed the others," and she shuddered, "oh, how they've
suffered!"
And she swooned. Uranus pushed forward and caught Sailor Moon with her
good arm before the girl hit the pavement. Her costume swirled into mist,
leaving Usagi behind.
Sirens approached. The police had finally caught up.
* * * *
"Tygos."
The sound echoed through the cavernous chambers below. Tygos, her silver
mane flowing behind her obsidian body, covered the distance between her and her
mistress in moments. She materialized at the foot of Talon Umbra's throne and
knelt reverently.
"Command me, my Mistress," Tygos said, head bowed in supplication.
"Your sister has failed," Talon Umbra stated. There was no anger, no
malice. It was a simple, impartial statement of fact, as if foreseen or
expected - - or perhaps unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
"She is thrice cursed," Tygos replied.
"She was not true to her skills," Talon Umbra advised, her snakelike eyes
narrowing as she studied a holographic representation of paramedics checking
Usagi on the playground, Haruka and Petz standing watchfully over her. "She
squandered her resources. She was over-confident, then in the end ignored my
warning. She has paid the ultimate price for her folly."
"Her failure is a stain upon us all," Tygos said, raising her head to face
her mistress. "Allow me to avenge this blemish."
"It seems I must," the woman said calmly, studying the representation,
ignoring Tygos. "You who are brutality may succeed where the subtlety of
corruption failed, if only through sheer force of will." She broke her fixation
on the hologram and looked at Tygos. "She is surrounded by powerful allies now,
allies who are on guard and who are willing to kill or die for their patron."
"They shall fall like stalks before the blade," Tygos pronounced.
Talon Umbra shifted on her throne, her skirt falling away from a sinewy
leg.
"Your target is very powerful. I warn you as I warned your sister. Do
not underestimate her. Strike quickly and strike true, and do not be swayed by
her. She possesses the power to bend vast armies to her cause with but a single
tear."
"She shall not sway me. You are my only mistress. Only Talon Umbra may
command me."
"You are confident, Tygos. Or are you over-confident? This is what
doomed your sister."
"My sister was a skulking fool. She squandered your precious gifts. I
live only to serve you." Tygos got to her feet, towering over the sitting Lady
of Below. "You are my will and my way. Sailor Moon opposes you and thus she
will die. I will bring you her head mounted on a baton of gold. This is not
over-confidence, my Mistress. This merely is. I shall be victorious or die."
"Yes," murmured Talon Umbra, "you will."
A moment later, Tygos disappeared from view. A small smile crept onto
Talon Umbra's mouth. Setting aside the holographic representation, she gestured
into the air. Tenera materialized before her. Her arms were bound at painfully
awkward angles behind her and she dangled from bound wrists so that her weight
increased the painful drag on her arms. The being hung limply, lifting her head
with great effort to look at her tormentor sitting placidly on her throne of
stone.
"Mistress," Tenera gasped with preciously short breath, "have I displeased
you?"
"You, specifically, have not," Talon Umbra commented placidly. "You are
newly born and have not had the chance to please or displease me. You pay for
the sins of another. Do you question my right to punish you?"
"No," Tenera choked out through waves of agony. "You are my mistress. I
have no will but yours. I serve . . .at your whim."
"Correct," Talon Umbra said, smiling maternally.
Then she unleashed twin bolts of crackling red energy from her cold
lizard's eyes. Tenera recoiled at the energy's touch, screaming wildly in pain.
Continued in part 8