Uranus felt a sharp pain in her temples. And everywhere else for that matter. She tried to open her eyes and stand up, although doing so took a great amount of strain on her. 'Oi... this smarts...' Her eyes opened agonizingly slowly, and she looked around. The last thing she remembered seeing was her sea-love, Michiru in the hands of that.. monster... and Uranus had thought she herself had died... 'I guess not...'
Uranus looked up quickly at the sounds of battle. The move cost her dearly in pain, but she had to see who it was. And too her horror, she saw... Sailor Saturn.
"IIE!" She yelled. All the senshi turned to look at her.
"Uranus!" Neptune yelled, rushing to her side, taking her hand. "Daijobu ka?!"
"D... daijobu..." Uranus answered, clutching her side. "What the hell is Sailor Saturn doing here?!" Neptune looked at the ground. "Kuso! Someone answer me! OI-" She doubled over in pain, coughing up some blood.
"H... Haruka!" stuttered Neptune, wiping the blood away with a gloved hand. "This shouldn't have happened..." Healer groaned in frustration.
"What is going on?! Kami, isn't it good that we have another senshi on our side?!" Uranus glared at her.
"NO. Isn't good!" Uranus doubled over coughing, Neptune clutching to her protectively.
"This wasn't supposed to happen..." Mars said quietly.
"Tell us what you mean!" Healer yelled in frustration. Neptune looked up at her gravely.
"Look at her eyes, Healer." Healer snorted, and looked to where Sailor Saturn was calmly watching Sailor Moon run towards the fight. She turned momentarily, to give her captives a detached look. Healer cringed. There was nothing in her eyes. They were cold, and menacing. Ready for death. Healer looked away.
"IYA!!!" Mercury yeled suddenly, causing everyone to jump to attention.
They all looked past the black and purple wall of energy obscuring their
view.
Eternal Sailor Moon ran towards Hikyou, Utaguri, Fujitsu and Starlight no Knight, Sailor Saturn close behind. She summoned the Eternal Power Tier and concentrated on powering up.
"STARLIGHT HONEYMOON-"
"Oh, no you don't!" Fujitsu no Knight quickly disengaged himself from the fight with Starlight, and lunged at Eternal Moon, his sword raised in the air. Eternal Moon tried ducking from the attack, using her tier for protection. She clenched her eyes shut waiting for the blow, when she heard the metallic clang of weapon against weapon as Sailor Saturn intercepted the attack with her glaive.
"Hayaku! Sailor Moon!" Saturn yelled, pushing Fujitsu back, and attacking again.
"Wakata!" Eternal Moon cried back, and she stood, her eyes narrowing
in concentration. She raised the tier.
"What's this?" Mars said with slight detachment. She looked over to Sailor Moon, and realized where the pull of energy was coming from. Eternal Moon stood with the tier above her head, energy coursing into it. She was glowing a brilliant white, and the fighting knights hadn't even noticed it. The senshi did though.
"She's using the crystal in this attack, isn't she?!" Venus cried.
"K'so!" Jupiter swore.
"Can we give her energy through this barrier?" Uranus asked. Mercury began clicking on her computer. Lights flashed giving her face an odd glow. She looked up.
"Iie..." Healer and Maker looked on helplessly. Fighter growled.
"Take down the shield then!" She yelled at the senshi. They all stared back at her in shock. Not one of them had considered that. Neptune stood up.
"Sailor Planet Attack!" She yelled. The senshi nodded.
"MERCURY AQUA RHAPSODY!"
"MARS FLAME SNIPER!"
"JUPITER OAK EVOULUTION!"
"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!"
"NEPTUNE VIOLIN TIDE!"
"STAR GENTLE UTERUS!"
"STAR SENSITIVE INFERNO!"
All the senshi stood, their hands pointing towards the barrier.
A gigantic flash of light came simultaneously from their fingertips, meshing
together to create a large sphere of energy that hurtled straight for the
barrier.
Utaguri, Hikyou, and Starlight saw bright energy being collected
behind them, and as it got stronger, they could feel it concentrating,
and getting stronger.
Suddenly, a large explosion caused all four of the knights to stop
what they were doing, looking towards the source of power.
Nine sailor senshi stood in the remains of the explosion; a very badly cracked sidewalk and mutilated ground.
"Nani?!" Hikyou cried.
"Sailor Moon!" The senshi yelled. This caused the knights to look at Eternal Moon, who had the tier poised above her head. Uranus, still lying on the ground, looked defiantly at Hikyou.
"We WON'T give up! Minna! Help Sailor Moon!" She yelled, and everyone nodded in agreement. They stood still, and closed their eyes. One by one, the symbols of their respective planets appeared on the foreheads of the Sol senshi.
Hikyou and Utaguri took an involuntary step back. Saturn noticed Fujitsu, staring at Sailor Moon, eyes wide, and swung her glaive at him, hitting him squarely in the back, he howled in pain, and turned on her fiercely, ignoring Eternal Moon. Saturn smirked, and the symbol of her planet shone on her forehead.
Starlight smiled at the descending silence the moon-born was creating. He charged at the two gaping knights, who broke out of their trance to resume fighting with him.
A brilliant white light shot out of Eternal Moon's crest, and she pointed the tier forwards.
"STARLIGHT HONEYMOON CRYSTAL THERAPY KISS!!!" She screamed. The power of the ginzuishou coursed forwards, and everything was still. Starlight and Saturn leapt away, leaving the three knights. They all looked slowly at Eternal Moon, fear written ever their faces. Hikyou growled, charging forward, gathering dark energy to himself.
"Hikyou-kun no baka!!!" Utaguri yelled, knowing what the light meant, but made no move to stop him. A dark flash of light behind Fujitsu and Utaguri revealed a cloaked figure. Utaguri gasped, but could not turn, due to the incoming power.
"Ikinie-san?! Nani..." The figure growled.
"Shimatta! That idiot! Come!" Utaguri and Fujitsu were gathered
in a transparent shield, which promptly disappeared, along with the cloaked
person.
Hikyou charged forward, threatening the beam of light with his
ball of dark energy. He laughed hysterically, then gasped when the light
broke through the dark force. It moved towards him, gaining speed, and
struck him in the forehead, causing him to fall over backwards. He screamed
in agony as the white light washed through his mind...
A rip opened up in the sky above downtown Tokyo, and three figures fell out. Utaguri landed gracefully with his kinetic powers, and 'caught' Fujitsu and Ikinie, lowering them to the ground.
An explosion of bright light caught their eyes, and they turned towards it. The light seemed to expand, then pulled in on itself, to finally shoot off into the dark recesses of space.
Fujitsu punched the roof of the building. "Kusottare!!!" Utaguri growled. He turned to Ikinie, who pulled the cloak off. Deep black eyes regarded her comrades calmly, and she shook her head. Her hair was a light silver which, done up with a dark silver clasp at the top of her head, went down to her mid-back. She wore armor like Utaguri and Fujitsu, but her outfit was roman cut underneath, and in a deep purple.
Fujitsu and Utaguri turned to her.
"What do we do, Ikinie-san?! What the hell are we going to tell malevolence-sama?!" Fujitsu yelled. "Why didn't you bring him with us?!" She looked at him menacingly, and he looked away from her quickly.
"Malevolence-sama was the one who told me of your plight." The knights gasped.
"Nani?!" Utaguri exclaimed.
"He wasn't in the range of the dome spell, so I simply could not
bring him. You saw what he did. We are better off without him and his strong-headed
thinking. It will get us nowhere against the Trinity." She said quietly,
and turned away from them. She looked back for a fleeting moment, and then
was gone. "I expect you to find a way back on your own." They heard her
say, then her presence was no longer felt.
Fujitsu let out a shaking breath. "Kuso! This isn't good..."
Utaguri turned to him.
"You know what this means, ne?"
"With that damned Starlight no Knight..." Fujitsu muttered. Utaguri shook his head.
"I thought he was dead..." he shook for a moment, losing self-control. "Kiza-sama confirmed it! His foresight confirmed it!"
"What, by Kami, is going on?!" Fujitsu fumed. "Gah, let's get
out off this worthless planet! I can't stand it!" Utaguri nodded, and the
two disappeared.
Usagi fell to the ground, her powers spent, transformation gone. The other senshi, those who could move anyway, rushed to help her up. She winced, as she bruised when she fell down. They heard a moaning, and they all looked to where Eternal Moon had spent her energy.
There, lying on the ground in a pile of rubble, convulsing violently, was Hikyou no Knight. Dark smoke rose up from him, pouring out of his eyes. He gagged, choking and coughing up the evil smoke. The senshi who watched it could have sworn it had taken a form and laughed at them.
But just like that, it disappeared into the starry knight, leaving a broken person behind.
He made a move to sit up, and the senshi moved around Usagi protectively. His hands covered his face, his hair was loose and all over the place. His cloak was torn, ripped to shreds, and his sword had disappeared. He moved his hands away from his eyes, still blinded momentarily, and looked towards them. They gasped.
"Masaka..." whispered Mars.
"Sonna..." Uranus choked, looking intensely at the battered knight. He blinked, and all of them stared at his eyes, no longer black, but a bright blue-green, sparkling, as if there were a compassionate person behind them. He suddenly opened his eyes wide with shock, and turned away from the quickly, hugging himself tightly. They could all see his shoulders shaking violently.
Usagi whimpered, and stood up slowly.
"Nani? What are you doing, Usagi-chan?" Venus asked her. Usagi looked at her, eyes full of tears.
"I have to help him..." She said quietly.
"Demo... Usagi..." Neptune whispered. None of the senshi stopped her as she walked slowly over to Hikyou. She put her hand lightly on his shoulder, and he flinched away from the touch.
"Onegai, Dokyou-san... don't be afraid..." She said quietly, with care in her voice. He only shook harder.
"Iie, Serenity-sama... I mustn't... you... you should have killed me! You should have rid the universe of me..." He broke down into racking sobs, and Usagi gathered him up into her arms. She rocked him back and forth, the senshi watching on, questioning looks in their eyes.
"Shh... don't think like that... don't blame yourself..." He silenced momentarily, then fell into unconsciousness. She held him close for a moment, hugging him as hard as her small arms would allow.
"Daijoubu... everything will be alright..." She kissed the top of his head. "I'll make everything better..."
After a few minutes, she got up, gently lowering the knight's head to the ground. She turned towards the flabbergasted senshi. "Minna, we have to help him..." She looked to over to Fighter, who had gone unconscious, and a badly injured Uranus. "And we need to help those two." The senshi looked over to the two in surprise, having forgotten about them with the whole scene.
"I think Uranus needs to go to the hospital," said Sailor Saturn, kneeling down by Uranus and Neptune, taking the blond senshi's hand into her own. "Iie..." She whispered, closing her eyes. "She has many internal injuries and broken bones." She looked to Neptune, who nodded.
"Wakata. Ara... how do we get her there without hurting her more? Her car is fast," She smiled grimly, "But unsuited for such things..." Maker stood beside Neptune, and put her hand on the demure senshi's shoulder.
"Daijoubu ka. We will take her in our car." Neptune looked up to Maker, and nodded. Saturn sighed warily, and stood up.
"I will do my best to keep her from bleeding on the way there." Said Saturn as Maker picked up Uranus.
"Hai. Minna, we should be back soon!" Neptune said with determination, as the three turned towards the limo.
"Ahm... matte!" Eternal Moon called after them. They turned back.
"Ara? What's wrong?" Neptune asked. Eternal Moon looked at them with a bewildered look on her face.
"Uh... maybe we should de-transform..." They gasped.
"Nani? I never..." Maker stuttered.
"I... suppose it would be rather odd for us to show up as senshi, ne?" Neptune laughed nervously, and they de-transformed. The rest of the senshi followed suit.
"AHH!" Everyone turned to quickly to Hotaru who had made the anguished cry. Their mouths all opened in surprise.
"K... Kami-sama!" cried Minako.
"Hotaru-chan?! You're... you're..." stammered Makoto.
"You've turned back into a child!" Gasped Usagi. Hotaru, who moments before had been a complete teenager, had changed back into a child, and her eyes were no longer cold, but child-like and frightened.
"Iya!" She whimpered, and began crying. Usagi rushed to comfort her. She looked up to Michiru and Taiki.
"Onegai, go help her!" They nodded, and rushed away. "Ne, ne, Hotaru-chan! Daijoubu!" She sighed warily, and stood up, the little girl clutching to her with trembling fingers. "This wasn't supposed to happen... everything has gone wrong!"
Michiru tenderly brushed a finger across Haruka's brow, then brushed back some of the blond bangs. As usual, they just fell back into their original place, as stubborn as the women who sported the short locks.
She smiled ruefully, a look of saddness to her eyes. She sighed, and sat back in her seat, holding Haruka's hand, squeezing it lightly.
"How is she?" She jumped slightly, at the sound of Taiki's voice from the front seat. She looked over in his direction.
"Not too good... her senshi powers are working at their fullest to heal her, but the damage is extensive. Thank Kami she's out." Taiki nodded, and glanced into the back.
"Are you okay? None of us saw what happened; whether or not you were both hurt..." She smile thankfully, and turned back to Haruka.
"I'm fine, nothing happened to me... they only went after Haruka for some reason..." Taiki started.
"Nani? Are you sure?" Taiki asked. Michiru nodded.
"Hai. They had me the whole time, and they said they wanted to have fun. I just don't get it." Michiru shook her head, and Taiki concentrated on the road.
"I don't trust him." Taiki said suddenly.
"Trust who?" She asked, puzzled.
"That knight that Usagi-chan says we are going to protect." He growled slightly. Her brow furrowed in thought.
"I know how you feel, but you three must learn what we have always known..."
"Which is?"
"That when the princess says it's going to be alright, everything will be okay." He frowned.
"I still don't know... she could be wrong... why don't you just over-rule her? You are older, and have more experience with these decisions..."
"Hai. Demo, if we had had it our way before, Hotaru wouldn't be alive, and Haruka and I wouldn't even be here."
"Nani yo?!" She giggled.
"Usagi-chan makes the right decisions... we respect her that much, and I suspect you'll understand how we feel soon." Taiki's nodded, smiling slightly, and looked back to the road.
"We're here!"
"Oh, Kami..." Usagi whispered, placing her hands overtop of Hikyou's.
He had just been placed in the spare room beside the one Seiya occupied.
Again. They brought him up and placed him on the bed, armor still on. Seiya
had fallen into an exhausted sleep, and was taken away to go sleep off
his energy wasting. Hotaru had been put to bed as well, for she had cried
herself to sleep.
Usagi was very worried for the knight, but her senshi were even more
worried for her.
"Usagi..." Rei murmured, as Hikyou moaned, causing Usagi to gasp. Makoto was about to ask Usagi a question, when she saw tears running down the moon senshi's face.
"Usagi-chan! Daijobu?" Minako asked worriedly.
"Minna..." Usagi whimpered, and buried her face in the blanket of the bed, sobbing.
"Usagi-chan... what's wrong..." Ami asked. Usagi didn't reply, only stopped crying. There was an uncomfortable silence until Yaten spoke up.
"I don't care who this monster is! I want someone to tell me what the hell is going on!" He said furiously. "We've been left in the dark too long!" Makoto snarled.
"How dare you?! Usagi-chan's-"
"Daijobu, Mako-chan..." Usagi said quietly, looking up at Yaten. "Things have been kept from everybody, so I may as well tell you..."
"Nani?!" They gasped. She nodded gravely, and pulled herself together enough to talk. She felt Hikyou's brow lovingly, and looked back at her friends.
"Everything is wrong... I told you all that earlier... I shouldn't
have, but I did, and now I have to atone for it." She sighed, as they looked
at her questioningly. "I told Setsuna-san I wouldn't be able to keep this
a secret...
"Spit it out!" Yaten said impatiently. Makoto glared at him,
and he stayed quiet.
"The problem with Hotaru-chan is complicated... She was never
supposed to survive." Yaten yelped as the other senshi nodded, knowing
what she meant. "I interfered with the timeline, and I- no we, saved her.
Instead of killing Hotaru or Mistress 9, we saved her, and gave her her
life back. She became a child, and was raised by Haruka-san, Michiru-san,
and Setsuna-san. When Galaxia came, which was another flux in the timeline,
she wasn't even supposed to be able to transform..." Usagi put her head
in her hands. "But you know us, ne? All stubborn to the very last breath...
This time, I don't know how she managed it... her body... it was, and still
is too young to wield the power of Saturn and the Silence Glaive. She grew
up, which you all noticed... and now..." Usagi sighed.
"Whoa..." Yaten breathed, not just because of the whole problem
with Hotaru, but because Usagi had spent more than two minutes on the mature
side...
"The only problem is, switching from adult to child, in body
and soul, is tearing her apart from the inside... and..." Some tears ran
down her face. "I don't know what to do! Setsuna-san's gone! How can I
deal with this?!" She started crying, and Rei went to comfort her. The
others sat in a wary silence.
"We..." Usagi sniffled, "We can't let Hotaru-chan transform again! If she does..." She looked away from her friends.
They all turned suddenly as Hikyou started thrashing around on the bed. Usagi jumped off quickly, as one of his flailing limbs collided with where she had been sitting.
"Nani?! What's going on?!" Ami cried. Usagi gasped.
"Kuso!" The senshi stared at her, and she pointed at Hikyou's eyes. As he convulsed, his blue eyes flew wide open. His chest arched as a black swirl of energy tried to find its way into his eyes. It hovered around his head, then took the form of a devilish head, smiled, then soaked into Hikyou's eyes. Usagi yelped.
"Iya! He's being repossessed! I don't know how to stop it this time!!!" She ran to his side, grabbing his hand, and he seemed to hear her. His eyes, though opened, were unseeing before, and suddenly flickered to life. He turned his head to Usagi, eyes full of pain.
The senshi were shocked, as he jumped from the bed painfully. He started coughing, and then, as if he were suffering from an itch he couldn't scratch, began frantically ripping of his armor and clothing.
"Ecchi!"
"Hentai!"
Black mist began swirling across the room, trying to engulf him. He ripped his shirt off, and stood breathing haggardly.
A black tattoo that looked like linked chains ran in a crisscross pattern across his torso. He clutched his sides, and fell to his knees, gasping for breath. "O... onegai... Serenity-sama... the... the tattoo!" He yelled, writhing in agony. Tears welled up in Usagi's eyes, and she rushed towards him, and pulled him to herself. She hugged him tightly, and a white light enveloped them both.
Hikyou's head shot upwards, and light coursed out of his eyes. He didn't make a sound, but the screaming of the black mist as it was purged from his body made enough sound to cause the senshi to cover their ears in pain.
The light suddenly stopped coming out of Hikyou's eyes, and his head slouched down over Usagi's shoulder. His entire body sagged warily, and he breathed in slowly. Usagi held him, unsure of what to do. He moved away slowly, kneeling on the ground, his head in his hands.
No one moved. No one even dared to breathe. Hikyou looked up into Usagi's eyes, his own filled with tears.
"A... arigato, Serenity-sama!!!" He cried, hugging her waist. "Never, never again, Malevolence..." He muttered.
"Iie, she will never have you again, Dokyou-san!" Usagi stated, determination set in her eyes. He smiled at her weakly, and looked to the other senshi, fear in his eyes.
"Boku..." He stammered, unsure what to say. Usagi put a hand on his shoulder.
"Daijobu, they will understand..." He stopped for a moment, then nodded. He stood up, with the help of Usagi. He looked at the senshi, who were just staring at him, eyes wide. The chain tattoo was no longer there, replaced only with a light scar.
"Watashi wa Yuukino Tatsumaki desu. Dozo yoroshiku..."
"Chikuso!!!" Malevolence yelled, angrily knocking over the incense burner she was standing in front of. She stood growling, until the black essence swirled out in front of her.
"What is wrong, my child?" It rasped eerily.
"Forgive me, Chaos-sama... I... forget my place..." It nodded, grinning. "I have bad news. That damned moon-born ruined Hikyou! She removed the chains at my second attempt at repossessing him... the plans were ruined! Me may not get the chance to do this again..." She bit her lip, nearly drawing blood.
The essence wrapped around her, and she sighed warily. Meditative trances were difficult on her, and her attempts had been futile.
"Do not worry, my child." It soothed. "The time will come... I
have already sent another plan into action..."