Malech, Cryo, and Thoriun, all stood patiently before the two rune-covered, obsidian pillars. The relatively small room, carved of living stone, was filled with the sound of shadow mages chanting. Within moments, the space between the two pillars at the far end of the room began to ripple, like water suddenly disturbed by vibrations. The chanting of the cloaked figured lining the sides of the room began to increase in volume and the disturbance grew in size accordingly. Within moments, the portal had reached its full size, and the traveler came through landing on his feet before the three mages that stood before it. The dark figure rose to his full height and eyed the three, stepping forward with pole-axe raised. Malech stepped forward to greet him.
"Hematite!" Malech cried with a smile, reaching out and shaking his friend's hand. "Some of the students in Van's class were betting whether or not you'd make it back in one piece."
"It's not like we haven't opened portals to other dimensions before." The dark haired mage said. "That's why we have this thing." He said, pointing to the dark, rune covered pillars.
"We've never opened one up to the Dark Kingdom before, though." Cryo interjected. "It's a lot harder to breach the wall of that dimension for some reason."
"That makes sense." Hematite responded. "Come, I'll tell you all about my trip later. First, I want to see everything on your past two encounters with the Sailor Soldier, and later I need to speak with the elders about something."
"Always thinking of work, eh?" Malech said with a grin. "You're determined to make the rest of us look bad."
Cryo turned back to the gate. "Hey, why is the portal still open?"
"Because my traveling companion has not yet arrived." Hematite said, walking to the entrance of the gate.
The other three looked at him and with that, another figure sprang forth from the mouth of the gate and into Hematite's arms.
"Th... that... was new." The blue-skinned, silver-haired girl said, still somewhat shaken by her experience.
"Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Giva." Hematite said, setting the girl on her feet. "Our new ambassador from the Dark Kingdom."
Malech, Cryo, and Thoriun merely stared.
"So that's it?" Rei said indignantly. "They just up and leave like that?"
"It seems that way." Ami replied.
What was to be a typical study session in the den of Rei's home had quickly turned into a senshi meeting, as many had a habit of doing. It was somewhat difficult, understandably so of course, for the girls to keep their minds intently focused on their studies when they could be called into battle at any given moment and end up fighting for their lives. The bizarre and seemingly random attacks of their new enemies, and now the apparent desertion of the Outer Senshi, Haruka and Michiru, had put far more on the young girls' minds than the common distractions facing the more average school girls.
"But... they're Sailor Senshi too!" Makoto responded. "Why would they just up and refuse to help us?"
"They're treating us like we're... children or something!" Rei continued.
"Maybe we are." Ami said glumly.
Rei turned to Ami. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, maybe we've been getting too complacent lately." Ami continued. "When Helios brought us to our super levels, and then when we learned our newest attacks, maybe we started getting complacent in our abilities."
"Ami-chan is right, Rei." Minako added. "When was the last time we tried to use strategy or teamwork in a battle?"
Rei's eyes drifted to the floor.
"In our super forms, we're much stronger, maybe even stronger than they are, but do you think we could beat them if it came down to it?" Minako continued. "Their teamwork is a lot better and well practiced, while we..." She shrugged her shoulders.
"It doesn't help that we're spending all our free time helping Usagi study." Luna replied.
"Luna!" Usagi yelled. "Are you trying to say I'm dead weight?!"
"No." Chibi-Usa replied. "A bag of sand wouldn't eat or complain as much as you do!"
"Good point." Rei smiled.
"Ack! You're ALL against me!" Usagi wailed.
"Calm down, Usagi-chan." Makoto said reassuringly. "Finals are the day after tomorrow. After that, we can spend more time with our training."
"HAH!!! Then we'll show them that we've earned the right to call ourselves Sailor Senshi!" Minako said, going into an obviously phoney karate stance. "I'll make Haruka admit how awesome the mighty power of Sailor V is!"
"Assuming you convince her to fight blindfolded and with her hands tied." Makoto said.
Minako fell over.
"So much for teamwork." Artemis whispered to Luna. "First they want to work with the Outer Senshi, now they want to beat them up!"
"I don't think that's it, Artemis." Luna said. "I think all Haruka-san and Michiru-san wanted to do was... how would you say it?"
"Light a fire under their asses?"
Luna play-swatted Artemis. "That's not exactly the term I would use, but yes. The competition will make the girls try harder and train better than they have been since Nehelenia's defeat."
"Let's just hope the new enemy decides to wait awhile before launching another attack." Artemis said, knocking on wood for good measure.
After having shown Giva to her quarters, the four mages debated the current situation.
"So who is she?" Malech asked. "Are you two...?"
"No." Hematite flatly stated. "She is no more and no less than what I said earlier, Malech."
"She's pretty cute." Cryo interjected. "Not as beastly as some of their kind I have seen."
"You'd be surprised." Hematite stated. "Beryl didn't pick the youma for her ranks based on their looks. Some are quite attractive."
"Especially their new leader." Malech said with a grin.
Hematite rolled his eyes at the comment.
"You must be tired, I bet you did not get too much sleep after the battle." Cryo said.
"Alright... that's enough of that." Hematite finally said. "I didn't rush back here to verbally spar with all of you, we have work you know."
Malech sighed. Hematite was clearly tired from his journey through the fabric of reality, and probably had little rest from the recent battle fought. Malech sometimes wondered where his comrade found his seemingly limitless reserves. "As I said when I... contacted you, Fluffy was destroyed. The information we gathered was very interesting, though."
"How so?"
"It's all in my report." Malech replied. "The researchers say they are ready to try again in just a few days."
"Won't we need more time to prepare?" Cryo asked.
Hematite slowly brought his axe to within an inch of Cryo's head. "Cryolite, my good man, why in all of creation's name would we need even more time?"
"Because..." Cryo began, gently nudging the axe away with his finger. "...these other soldiers, the ones named after the outer planets, are supposed to be much stronger than the ones we have been going up against so far."
"Cryo has a point." Malech said. "If our Demon Seeds can't even beat the regular Sailor Soldiers yet, then what chance will they have against the other two?"
"Because, Malech, if we are going to test the prototypes, then we need to test them against the best our adversaries can muster." Hematite said as he turned to his comrade. "From what we know, that is the two that saved the others from Fluffy."
"Wait, wasn't there supposed to be another one with them?" Cryo interjected. "A woman with a staff?"
"She hasn't been seen or heard from since the incident with the Infinity Academy months ago." Hematite replied. "And if there is one for each planet, then that means a fourth we haven't even seen yet."
"Two groups of four each, plus Sailor Moon herself, Tuxedo Mask, and the little one." Malech stated. "God almighty... that's a lot of powerful little girls."
"The sages will not like this news." Thorian flatly stated. "They will now have to work even harder to produce a more effective fighter."
"Bah!" Hematite exclaimed. "The old men could use a challenge instead of just gathering dust in front of their musty books all day and night and playing cards in their spare time."
"You should be pleased, then." Malech said. "They've all been working around the clock on this next bugger."
"Oh?" Hematite said, arching an eyebrow.
"Win, lose, or draw, these "outer soldiers" are going to know that they've been in one hell of a fight."
Three days passed with no incidents on the part of the senshis' new adversaries. In that span of time Usagi and the others focused intently on their studies. To everyones' shock and surprise, Usagi's focus improved. She attacked the books, and her studies, with the single-minded determination of a lemming on the march.
"Th... that's correct!" Ami exclaimed.
"Wow, so how many did she get right?" Makoto asked.
"Sixty-five percent." Ami replied.
"Th... that's a record!" Rei exclaimed.
"For Usagi-chan anyway." Minako added.
"Does that mean I don't have to stay up so late studying anymore?" Usagi asked, almost zombie like. She proceeded to let out a yawn that would have endangered low-flying aircraft had she been on the roof of the house.
"Unfortunately, no." Ami replied. "Usagi-chan, you need at least a seventy-five just to pass." Ami didn't want to state what she was thinking.
"We're doomed."
Rei, on the other hand...
"That's not fair, Rei-chan." Minako responded. "Usagi has been trying so hard lately."
"If only we had a little more time." Makoto said. Worrying as much about her own grades as those of her friend.
"Usagi had her whole life to study." Rei began. "Her legacy was to sit on the throne of Tokyo and bring peace to the world. Now, instead, her legacy will be a pile of the manga she borrowed from me and never returned!" Rei waited for a cry of protest from Usagi, but all that came was a light snoring. Rei turned to see Usagi dozing in a sitting position.
Ami sighed. "We might as well let her sleep a little bit. She has had a long day."
"All right, but two hours and then we brew another pot of coffee." Rei said. "We're going to get Usagi ready for this test even if we have to pour the stuff down her throat with a funnel."
"Your idea for Plan B seems to be working, Rei-chan." Makoto said.
"I agree." Ami said. "The idea of Usagi not seeing Mamoru-san again outside of a battle seems to have motivated her."
"I'm just afraid that if she doesn't pass she'll come over here every day to pray for monster attacks." Rei said sarcastically.
"This is it? Three days preparing and this is the best they could give us?" Malech sighed.
"Why does it always have to be bugs?" Cryo complained. "I hate bugs."
All four battle-mages stood in the center of a rather ordinary warehouse. Ordinary with the exception of all the crystals, potions, machines, and monitoring devices, that had been smuggled in the previous night. There was also the circle on the floor inscribed with various runes, and a very bored rhinoceros beetle in its center that seemed the length of an American football. Other than that, it was a perfectly ordinary warehouse with shipments of handbags waiting to be rushed to the stores that had ordered them. The handbags quietly sat in their crates, doing nothing to interrupt the actions of the mages, which is one of the reasons why the mages chose this warehouse, and not one with something that might get in their way.
"Their bodies are more resilient than those of mammals." Thoriun replied in his usual monotone. "The elders had considered using a reptile, but their cold-blooded nature makes them unsuited for any kind of prolonged physical combat."
"Let's get to it then, there's no sense in putting it off any longer." Malech said.
"And let's see if we can make this one go off a little more smoothly than your last two attempts." Hematite said.
The four battle-mages gathered around the circle of runes and began their chanting. Within moments, the runes began to glow with an un-earthly power. Brighter and brighter they glowed until an almost blinding column of light rose from floor to roof of the warehouse. Through the glowing column the single demon seed slowly dropped from above and passed through the shell of Ringo, who was currently wondering whether it was a good idea to have eaten those mushrooms that had grown in its tank. The light died down and for a moment all was silent.
"So how long is..." Hematite began, before seeing Malech, Cryo, and Thoriun running and diving behind several crates of handbags. "What the h..." was all he managed to get out as a massive explosion proceeded to blast him clear off his feet and onto his back. "Ow... you bastards could have at least warned me." Hematite groaned.
The smoke cleared and from within the center of the circle of runes a huge, black shape emerged. It's body was wide and powerfully armored with chitinous plates. From its head a massive horn emerged that widely branched off in two, while a pair of red eyes stared with apparent menace. The four mages came to attention to await the first words of their newest creation.
"Hi, name's Ringo."
Haruka Tenoh slammed on the gas pedal, propelling her car ahead of the pack. One particularly ambitious driver came in, trying to force her to the side. She wasn't so accommodating. The other driver's recklessness cost him dearly, and as they went into the turn he swerved and crashed into the sidelines. Haruka kept her mind focused, trying to achieve the zen-like state where the entire world became what was on the racetrack. No more. No less. In a race where one drives a car at nearly 200 kph, even the slightest distraction, the slightest drifting of thought, can spell disaster not only for the driver, but everyone around him... or her.
Haruka's mind drifted.
Not having seen the other driver come in, she overcompensated for his move. With only an extra inch turn of the wheel than what was needed, her car had suddenly become a five-hundred kilo projectile that flew with a terrible destructive impact into the wall of the racetrack.
"Something on your mind?" Michiru asked.
"What would make you say something like that?" Haruka asked with all seriousness, trying to ignore the image of a generic-looking digitized racer in full body-cast on the screen of the arcade game.
"You only play games like this when you want to take your mind off of something, and you only crash into walls when you can't." The aqua-haired girl replied.
"Am I that transparent?"
"Let's just say that, I'm glad you're better at clearing your mind before a real race."
Haruka looked at the flaming debris that was once her virtual racing machine and sighed. "I'm getting too predictable." She said, getting up out of the machine.
"Predictability can be a good thing sometimes." Michiru said, walking with her partner out of the arcade. "It can make it easy for those close to you to know if something is wrong."
"And I suppose you know what's bothering me."
"You're worried about them, aren't you?" Michiru replied. "Both of us are."
"I wish there was another way."
"It would be nice if someday we could all relax and not worry about anything, but you know as well as I do, we don't have such a luxury."
"Normal people have their problems, too." Haruka said. "The average person's life is no less challenging, just less dangerous. We all have our responsibilities, now even more than before, and we aren't released from them until we die."
"I wonder." Michiru mused.
"What?"
"Nothing." Michiru said, wishing the subject hadn't taken such a downturn in mood. "I know something that may cheer you up, though."
Haruka stopped cold and looked uncomfortably from side to side. "Isn't there an awful lot of people around here for that?"
Michiru rolled her eyes. "That is NOT what I meant, and you know it!" She protested. "Now come on."
Haruka followed, her mood already vastly improved by Michiru's presence. As they walked by, they failed to notice the eight-foot armored creature on the other side of the outdoor mall with its face pressed to a store window.
Malech appeared out of thin air and stood, staring for a moment. There were now more than a few passers by that stopped to stare as well at the strange creature. When Ringo failed to move an inch, Malech finally spoke. "What, exactly, do you think you are doing?"
"It's a drum set.... I've always wonted to play the drums." The creature said.
Maclech sweatdropped.
"I don't 'ave any money on me, you spot me a few pounds 'till Friday?"
"I've got a better deal, you lure out the two Sailor Soldiers we want, then hurt them very badly, and I'll buy you the drum set."
"Really?" That's all I 'ave to do?"
"That's it."
"Groovy... now which way is the ocean?"
"The ocean?" Malech replied, knowing he probably was going to regret doing so.
"Ye said ye wonted sailors, so we got to find me a navy port."
Malech tried desperately not to explode. "Look, just start breaking stuff, okay? Anything will do."
It was at that particular moment that a mall security guard who had been watching the two characters stepped up. "Alright, if you two are part of some kind of store promotion I'm going to have to see a permit. There was some kind of mess at the Shinjuku Mall and the Happy Sunrise Supermarket with some freaks in costumes and we've had to beef up security."
"Start with him." Malech said, pointing at the guard.
"Hey, waitaminute... you're the one that... AHHHHH!!!!" The guard yelled, as he was tossed across the mall and into a ramen cart.
"See how easy that was?" Malech casually said as people ran in all directions screaming. "Now go do that a few more times, and some property damage while you're at it, and we should see the Sailor Soldiers show up soon enough."
"Alright then, should be easy enough to take on a couple sailors. Doesn't seem like a very sporting fight them not 'aving their ships out 'ere and all."
Malech sighed, and wondered just what he'd done to deserve this.
"WORLD... SHAKING!!!"
Malech, thanks in no small part to his extensive combat training, teleported completely out of instinct the second the sound of the attack mantra reached his ears. This was a good thing for him as the deadly yellow sphere passed through where he had been only a second ago and slammed with full devastating force into the unsuspecting Ringo. Malech reappeared several meters away from where he had been in time to nearly be blasted out of the air from the shockwave of the explosion. He looked and saw the exact two whom he had wanted.
"I'll be damned, fate must be in a good mood today." He said, looking up to see the two figures standing upon the roof of a store.
"Invited by the new age, I am the magnificent Sailor Uranus."
"Invited by the new age, I am the elegant Sailor Neptune."
"This is the third time you've shown your face to stage some kind of ridiculous attack." Uranus stated.
"Who are you and what purpose are you serving by doing this?" Neptune demanded.
Malech looked up at the two senshi for a moment with a cocked eyebrow, and began to clap his hands nonchalantly. "Yes... yes... you're both very impressive looking." He said, ignoring their questions entirely. "You obviously neither have self-esteem issues with a speech like that. I wonder if you have the power to back up your claims of magnificence with my friend here, though."
With that, both Senshi looked to see Ringo lumbering to a standing position. The only visible damage to his body was a minor scuff where Uranus's attack had struck. "Ere, are those the sailors I was supposed to hurt?"
"Go get em, mate!"
Ringo scratched his head for a moment. "They don't right look like any sailors I've ever seen, you sure that's them?"
"Yes!" Malech said, beginning to lose his temper.
"DEEP... SUBMERGE!!!"
"Alright, you're the... WHOAH!!!" Ringo was once again knocked back with the force of a tidal wave. Shaking his head, the giant beetle once again got back up to his feet.
"Uranus..."
"I know, this one is way stronger than the last one." Uranus replied.
"Do me a favor luv?" Ringo said, looking at the outer senshi.
"Huh?" Uranus asked, somewhat surprised.
"Would you mind standing right there for about a minute or so?"
"Err... why?" Neptune asked.
"Need to hurt you two a lot, it'd make me job a lot easier if you didn't run away or anything."
Uranus and Neptune bigsweatted while Malech tried to hide his face in shame.
Ringo, wasting no more words, charged horn-first at the senshi, his crashing footsteps reverberating across the floor as he stampeded forward. Uranus and Neptune easily jumped over the creature, which made no attempt to either stop, slow down, or turn, and proceeded to crash through a small tree in the median like it was a blade a grass.
"Powerful, but not too bright, is he?" Uranus smiled.
"Yaaaaaaaaah!!!" The giant beetle cried, as it once again ran with incredible power toward his targets, who once again easily dodged the charge. This time Ringo smashed through the front of the music store and right through the wall inside. Ringo got up and looked at the remains of the drum set he'd been eying earlier. He stood silently for a moment, and finally leaned over, picking up one of the broken drums. A single tear fell from his red eye over his crushed dreams as a rock musician.
"If you don't mind, we'd like to get this over with today." Uranus yelled.
"I don't think that was a good idea." Neptune whispered to her partner.
Before Uranus could ask why, Ringo crushed the remains of the drum in his hand. Crying out in bloody rage, he charged again, this time much, much faster. Neither of the senshi had time to move out of the way quickly enough. Each was caught in one of the creature's massive hands as it stampeded between the two of them. Uranus and Neptune kicked and punched the creature's arms with all their strength trying to break its grip to no avail. Each arm was like a steel girder. The monster, holding both senshi out in front of it, crashed through the front of another store. Glass, display racks, and brick and mortar had been smashed with the senshis' own bodies acting as the battering rams. Crashing through the back wall of the store and through the front of yet another that was behind the first, Ringo then hurled both battered warriors across another median as if they weighed nothing. Neptune crashed into the middle of a fountain, while Uranus slammed into the statue that was in its center, breaking off an arm where her head had collided with it.
"Yes... yes... he's fighting them now." Malech said into his cell phone. Magical projection and telepathic communication were all well and good in the middle-ages and practice sessions, Malech thought to himself, but in actual field operations it was usually best to go the more efficient route when communicating with someone on the same dimensional plane as oneself. "Well, I have to admit, we are definitely on the right track in terms of raw power. The bugger is about as fragile as an eighty-ton Tiger II. Right, unfortunately, he also seems to be about as light on his feet as one. Oh no, he can move fast as hell when he gets good and riled, but agility seems to be a problem. Well, there's also the slight problem upstairs. Yes, he's a little dim and a good bit unstable. Do I think he could kill them? It's entirely possible, assuming the other shielas don't show up anytime soon. Wot? You're joking?!" Malech sighed. "Alright then, if you insist."
"Haruka... HARUKA!!!"
Haruka could here her beautiful partner's voice. How tragic, she thought, that her eyes should be full of tears and worry. Haruka could feel herself being carried off of the motercross track. Her leg, among other things, was broken, and probably her future as a track star along with it. Haruka could only smile. Even sad, Michiru's face was the most beautiful thing she could ever imagine. She hated putting her through such terrible worry. She'd have to be more careful on the track, she supposed. She felt like she should be in some horrible pain from her injuries, but she felt strangely light and at ease. Something was wrong. She tried to tell Michiru that she was going to be all right, but she couldn't seem to speak, or even move as they carried her. Michiru was crying even more now, her tears and desperation pouring forth, but her voice growing more distant. "Michiru!" Haruka tried to cry out. No one could hear her. Their faces were beginning to fade away. Haruka panicked. No. It wasn't fair. She had spent so much of her life so alone, so isolated. She felt such pain every day of being unable to get close to anyone. There was nothing, no torture worse than being alone in a crowd. It wasn't fair that she should just now find somebody she loved so much and be taken away so soon. Darkness began to surround Haruka. She suddenly felt cold, so terribly cold. Cold that seeped into her body, chilling her inside, numbing her. "Michiru! Please, help me! Michiru!!!" Haruka cried out once more, she cried out with all her strength, cried out with every emotion she had left for nothing more than to feel Michiru's warmth again.
Sailor Uranus bolted up, nearly coughing up the entire contents of the water fountain. She had been underwater. The dark blackness she had seen was the dark blue tiles on the bottom. She shivered slightly and began to pull herself up. She focused every ounce of her diminished strength toward standing, despite every instinct that told her to stay down. She refused to lay down and die so easily and forced her head up through the cloud of pain to meet the gaze of her opponent. Her vision was blurry, and she could swear there were now two of the monstrous creatures standing before her. She shook the cobwebs away and straightened herself, trying not to fall down again. Behind her, she heard coughing from her partner. Neptune, too, rose to her feet. Neither one looked like they could do much more. Both looked at the monster that had been patiently waiting for them to stand so he could take all the more pleasure in smashing them into the ground again. Both senshi went into a fighting stance, ready for another round. Ringo didn't disappoint them, and charged yet again like the very animal the rhinoceros beetle was named after. Uranus and Neptune dodged in different directions this time. Momentarily confused as to which way to turn, the monster paused and then came around to see the Outers behind it.
"WORLD... SHAKING!!!"
"DEEP... SUBMERGE!!!"
Ringo braced himself as both attacks struck simultaneously, sending the behemoth flying clear off its feet and its massive body crashing through the fountain statue as if it were a sand sculpture. Both Neptune and Uranus fell to their knees. They had both launched everything they had had left. Although greatly weakened, the combined attacks were still more than either one could manage alone. No monster they had ever faced in the past could have withstood that level of power. Ringo, shook his head and got up again, his chitinous armor scratched and marred, but otherwise undamaged. The unstoppable force reared again for yet another charge, but this time Malech appeared between him and the Outer Senshi.
"That's enough of that, mate." The mage said. "Time to go home now."
Ringo looked with apparent menace at the Outer Senshi, whom he knew would not be able to avoid another attack. He then turned his gaze back toward Malech and sighed. With a wave of Malech's hand, they were both gone.
Uranus, shakily, got to her feet. Neptune followed.
"I... don't think I like this." Uranus said, coughing blood. "Why... would they retreat when... we didn't have anything left?"
"I hate to admit it... but I think we may be the ones who need the others' help."
Uranus didn't have an answer. Hearing the police sirens, and with nothing left to be done here, she and Neptune left.
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Next chapter...
The seemingly indestructible Ringo, having already beaten the outer senshi once, is sent out yet again, but this time with the mission to draw out and defeat all the senshi, no matter the cost. Things don't go as planned and Uranus and Neptune must somehow hold off alone against the unstoppable titan as all the others are... err... taking their exams.
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Author's notes:
Yeah, I know this chapter is incredibly late, and I said in the last chapter that this would be the one where the senshi take their exams. The fight with Ringo went a little longer than I thought so I split what would have been one really huge chapter into two more manageable ones. Also, the translations of Uranus and Neptune's entrance speeches were based on the ones from Hitoshi Doi's website, rather than the ones found in my VKLL fansubs. Thanks to Janelle for helping to point out the more acurate one.
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Thanks go to...
Naoko Takeuchi, Toei Animation, Studio Chikashitsu, Mountain Dew, Hitoshi Doi, VKLL, Pioneer, Golden's Field Guid to Rocks and Minerals, and Macintosh Computers (think different).
Other thanks go to...
Jannelle Himenez, John Biles, and Jeff Hosmer, for writing what would be my very first exposures to fanfiction, and doing a good enough job to inspire me to take up writing. My favorite authors, Douglas Adams, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, J.R.R. Tolkien, and many others. All the guys I "convinced" to help me proofread this story (especially Cristal). The guys who made the "Deadlock" strategy game for an alien computer opponent that trash-talks me right before he razes my colony to the ground. The makers of "Master of Orion 2", for a strategy game that lets me live out all my megalomaniacal universe-destroying fantasies in a game, thus saving innocent alien armadas the possibility of me going out into space and doing it for real. The guy(s) that invented the internet, you rule.